//------------------------------//
// Problems Follow 
// Story: A New Beginning 2 
// by Emeris Moonglade 
//------------------------------//

2: Problems Follow

“Celestia?” John shouted as he burst through the throne room doors. They cracked and splintered as they slammed against the stone wall, also cracking them upon impact. He strode into the room, fists clenched into tight balls, but he stopped. There were blood streaks all over the tile floor, however, whatever it happened to be spelling he could read from his angle. 
“Celestia?” he said in a softer, quieter tone as he proceeded into the room, being careful not to step on any of the blood. She wasn’t anywhere to be seen, the room appeared empty except for him, the blood, and the two thrones sitting at the far back. He stopped in the middle of the room, thinking of different possibilities of what, or might have happened. But that’s when he heard a shaky sigh coming from somewhere behind the thrones. He looked over, unsure of which one it was coming from.
“Celestia?” John had repeated, stalking closer and closer to the source of the noise. There was another whimper, and this time he was sure which one it was coming from. He slowly circled around Celestia’s throne until he began to see a gleaming white coat.
“Oh Celestia.” John whispered as he finally saw her entirely. She was sitting there, her head rested on her hooves, the fur on her cheeks soaked from her tears, and her usually perfect mane was a mess. John slowly walked closer to her, and then sat down beside her, leaning against the back of her throne. Almost immediately after sitting, Celestia moved her head and sat it down on his lap, almost like his horses back on earth. He smiled at the memory, but pushed away and focused on the matters at hand. Gently setting his hand down upon her royal head, he began to stroke her ratty mane. He had never seen her torn up like this. And he could only guess what had happened. Luna was gone.
“Celestia.” John said sensitively. “What exactly happened?”
“It was the Changelings.” She breathed. “They impersonated the guards and took us by surprise.” She shuddered and sniffed. “They knocked me out. And so easily, I couldn’t protect her. They just beat her and took her away.” She began to sob again, her tears soaking his jeans. He sighed, still stroking her mane, and closed his eyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“What do ya thinks takin’ him so long?” asked AJ as she pace back and forth, her shacks rustling as she did. All her other friends were seated at the dining table, staring down at their food, each deep in thought. Even Pinkie Pie seemed to be mellower as well. Obviously the situation had gotten to everyone. Eventually Rarity returned to reality, and answered her.
“I don’t know Applejack.” Was all she said, until she went back to staring at her plate.
“Well, maybe we should go check on him.” AJ suggested, looking from the door and back to her friends, which she was surprised were all gawking at her. “What?”
“You must be crazy to suggest such a thing.” Twilight Exclaimed. 
“Ya. A God versus…whatever John is. Who knows what’ll happen.” Rainbow put in.
“Ah don't care what he is or what might happen." AJ snapped, causing her friends to recoil in surprise. "He's our friend, hay they're both our friends. Twilight's most of all." They all cast their eyes down, ashamed of what they thought of John. "So, if ya'll don't mind ah'm gonna go help a friend. And like that she was gone, trotting down the long hallway toward where she thought John and Celestia had gone. The rest of the mane six looked at each other.
"Well, we can't let her go on by herself now can we?" Rarity said, fluffing her mane and trotting out the door as well. She paused, and looked back. "Well, aren't you coming." She said finally, then continued, the rest followed suit.
"Well, where do ya think they went?" Asked Rainbow as she flew circles around the group as they ran. "I mean... we are in a castle, and castle are really big." 
"This is just like the time we had to find him before that big fat meany came." Pinkie Pie stated as she bounced, instead of trotted down the halls.
"Ya, sure but he was following Celestia. Where would Celestia go." Asked Fluttershy, still hiding behind her hair, giving her pursuit after Celestia a second thought. "Twilight?"
"There are only two places she'd go if she were that upset." Why was she upset? "Either her throne room, or her bedchambers."
"Which one are we closest to deary?" Rarity said as she effortlessly trotted. 
"The throne room, here follow me."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Applejack came up to the large double doors leading to the throne room. They stood menacingly high, almost evil like, but that was probably because of what she thought lay on the other side. A torn up room with either John, or Celestia in pieces on the ground. Before she had met John she had never had thoughts like that. In fact, she had never known about death until he killed the manticore with his 'gun'. She shuddered at the thought, but she had to go in if she were to see what really had happened. He hoped both of them were still alive. Before opening the massive doors, they were slightly ajar and where shattered all the way up to the top, though they still held together well enough. Taking a deep shaky breath, she pushed the doors open. They swung slowly until the tapped the walls that were cracked too, then fell of their hinges and clattered to the ground. She looked at them in shock, she hadn't expected that to happen. She slowly tore her eyes from the doors, afraid of what she might see, but what she saw nearly made her pass out. There was blood all over the floor, streaks of it and puddles here and there. Whose blood was it? Celestia... John? Her eyes darted wildly around the room, looking for John or Celestia, she found none. Wait! Her gaze drifted over the thrones, and behind Celestia's larger one was a shoulder, a human shoulder. AJ gasped, he wasn't moving.
”John!" she shouted, galloping towards him. "John! Are ya alright. John!" She was almost to him, but he still didn't move. She skidded to a halt on the other side of the throne. Sitting there, was Celestia and John. Celestia was a mess, her mane was tangled and her coat was scruffy. She had her head in John's lap, who gently stroked her mane. Taking another look showed AJ that Celestia had been crying. She was still sniffling, but she was asleep now. Slowly John looked up at her, their eyes met.
"John, Celestia, AJ?" Shouted Twilight as she and four other ponies entered the room. Immediately afterward they heard four gasps.
"Go tell them it's alright and to be quiet." John asked in a near whisper. AJ hesitated for a moment, the reluctantly she went.
"Oh AJ. You're alright." Twilight breathed. "I thought..." she was cut short by AJ.
"Shhh. Somethin's happened. Follow but no gasps or shoutin'." Each of her friends looked at each other in confusion, but followed none-the-less. 
As they rounded the throne it was difficult not to gasp. At first the sight would have been terrifying. Twilight assumed Celestia was dead and John was holding her because he was sorry, but after realizing she was still breathing, Twi let out a sigh of relief.
"John?” she began.
"Twilight." He interrupted her. "Ah need ya to go to the library and find anythin' ya can on Changelings." He looked up at her with a look in his eye that said he was ready to kill. "While you do that ah want the rest of ya to gather supplies. Food, tent, etc. And while ya do that, ah'm gonna carry Celestia to her bed. Ah'll meet ya all at the library." A black mist engulfed Celestia, and she began to float, still asleep with tears staining her cheeks.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Celestia driffted slowly through who chamber doors. Making no sound as she floated in the air, and following close behind was John, who stared at the stone floor, deep in thought. He was pulled out of thought when he bumped into the footboard of Celestia's large round bed. He appeared quite startle, surprised that he was in the royal chambers of the alicorn goddess. His gaze moved to the hovering form of the sun goddess. He cocked his head slightly and sighed. Her breathing was shallow, which showed she was still sound asleep. He rounded the bed and carefully set her down, levitating the covers out of the way as he did so. He looked at her face, her features still bearing sadness and pain for the loss of her sister, even after she had gotten her back. He'd heard the stories of Nightmare Moon. But there was also still more untold. 
"John." Celestia whispered only moments after John pulled the covers over her. Slowly he turned and kneeled down beside her. He eyes cracked open, but only a sliver. He sighed heavily and continued. "I'm sorry I've kept you locked up for so long. I was just afraid of what you might do if I let you go, especially with your new-found power. But maybe I was wrong. Luna trusts you with all her heart, and I suppose I should too." She smiled weakly at him. "Keep my student and her friends safe please. And if you can..." she paused and began to whimper again. "...please bring my Luna back." That was all she said before tears began to form and she fell back into a deep slumber. 
John soaked the information up as he stood, but he didn't move. He stood there and stared at the princess, contemplating the event that had occurred and wallowed in memories of the past. Why was it so hard to forget his past and deal with what was going on in the present? Maybe because the present reminded him of that past. He sighed and bent over to pull the covers up to Celestia's muzzle. He smiled down at her, and whispered in her ear.
"Ah'll bring her back." And kissed her on the forehead. He didn't really know what had caused him to do that, it just seemed right somehow. His way of showing comfort to one of his friends, whether or not they lock you up and such. He turned and began to walk out the door and closed it behind him. All the bad had always followed him. Whether he was in one point in the universe or the other. Maybe everyone would be a lot safer if he just left. He placed his hand on the door and leaned on it. Maybe it was all his fault. Pushing the thought aside he quickly made his way down the hall he had just come, to the royal library where he hoped his friends would be. 
There were many turns to get the library and any new-comer would have gotten lost in the maze of halls and doorways. But had walked the halls many times, and knew exactly where everything was. The library doors where almost as grand as the throne room's. It was fitting however, since it contained he largest collection of books in Equestria. John pushed on the doors and was welcomed with the empty isle of books. He was slightly disappointed, he had hoped the rest of his friends would have been here. Especially Twilight since she was suppose to be digging up whatever she could about Changelings. He walked in further and looked around. It was just dark room void of life. The torches weren't even lit, which was strange all by itself since their suppose to be lit from morning till night and longer. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. 
BANG!! Engulfed in darkness John turned around, a sword of flaming fire. Startled he looked down at it. It looked just like his sword, with the symbols, but the hilt however, was a shining gold.
"What the hell is this?" He'd never done anything like this before, so how was he able to do it? His sword lit up the area around him quite a bit, casting a golden glow overt the walls and books behind him. Just then a cold gust of wind rushed by, threatening to blow him over. And following after it was a deep laughter he recognized.
"Why John. I see you learned a new trick." It said as a black fog circled around his feet and covered the sword, plunging him into darkness again. "Now, where did you learn something like that? Oh let me guess. It just magically happened. Probably the Element of Harmony." John's eyes darted to his sword, which he couldn't see. But could still feel it along with the cold black tendrils of the Nightmare creeping up his arm. It sent a cold chill up it and he struggled to keep himself from trying to shake it off.
"Like ah know." He spat. "Not like ah've done anythin' with them." He surged his dark power into the sword, but something stopped it. He pushed harder and harder, but nothing happened. Giving up he dropped his arm in exhaustion. What was wrong? Why wasn't his power working? 
"Haha. Simply pathetic." Once again the he could feel the darkness snaking up his arm. "You can't use your magic on me. I control you." The laughs were in his head now. "You can't use your Element or your own magic anymore." It laughed again. "Now that the princess has full faith and trust in you, why miss the opportunity take the body everyone cares about." John could almost see it smiling in his mind. The black, helmeted face of the Nightmare, just as she had appeared during the Summer Sun Celebration. His sword extinguishing, John clutched at the sides of his head, threatening to rip out his hair.
"Get...out...of...my...head!" John screamed just before he heard one last hideous laughter, and then finally was plunged into a dark dead world.