Interlude
THE CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE had grown accustomed to surprising, even bizarre events occurring around town. While Pinkie’s hyperactive behaviour had led to awkward situations, it had taken the tolerant folk time to get used to Twilight’s more destructive flair for disruption, not to mention the apparent magnetism their town had inherited for trouble. Even so, it was a great surprise to see the Princess of the Night, Luna, arrive in town unannounced. Usually Twilight would have planned a grand ceremony for the occasion, thereby letting everypony know about it beforehoof.
So when Luna set her silver-plated hoof down in the market-square just after noon, she caused quite a stir. Unsure of how to react, the ponies going about their daily business all bowed low to cover their indecision. Luna simply stared out over the crowd regally, waiting.
A full third of the assembled ponies vanished, the sound of their hasty departure covered by others approaching their rulers.
“Your Majesty . . .”
“What brings you here this morning, Your Majesty?”
“To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Care to try a carrot?”
Luna looked amongst her subjects, searching for a familiar face. While she strived to treat each of them personally, there were far too many for her to be on a first-name basis with everypony, and she needed some information. Seeing nopony, she began to move toward the library. Luna briefly stopped to address the crowd.
“Do not be alarmed, Ponyville. We merely have some . . . matters to discuss with Miss Sparkle.”
As she left, the square burst into a frenzy of gossip, discussing what Twilight could have done to warrant the presence of the princess. Fairly quickly the market had dissolved into chaos, with many fleeing the scene before yet another disaster befell the town. Where Twilight was concerned, as Ponyville had learned, it was best to play safe.
Luna, meanwhile, continued on, unaware of the disturbance she’d caused. Eventually arriving at the library, she knocked gently on the door, eliciting a vague cry from the dragon currently beginning his daily chores.
“Coming!”
Luna glanced around. She was very much impressed with the progress made in the town. Ponyville had come a long way since her return, and the changes showed themselves in small ways; coffee shops, full of tourists, scattered around the town, a much larger post office, and an obviously busy marketplace were only some of the details she picked out.
It was inevitable, really, given the fame the town had generated over recent years. Nonetheless, the change had been surprisingly rapid, even in this day and age.
“You know, you can just come in,” Spike said, opening the door. “It’s a public library, after all . . .” He paused at the sight of Luna standing in his doorway, before changing his tone, and sweeping into a small bow.
“Your Majesty! Why didn’t you say you were coming! I haven’t tidied, or dusted, or made tea, or-”
“Please, calm yourself, Spike. We do not wish to disturb your day, but it is imperative that we see Rainbow Dash immediately. Twilight Sparkle, too,” Lune said, cutting him off.
“Oh! Uhm . . . no. Not since they went into the Forest, anyway.”
Luna cursed. She’d been hoping to speak with the two of them before they went charging off in search of whatever had robbed Rainbow of her memory. Still, it was done now, and no amount of anger would undo that.
Spike looked worried, she realised. The little dragon was still young, and most of what was happening went over his head. He knew enough, though, to worry, and Luna’s reaction had caused him to re-evaluate. Maybe that jaunt to the Forest was more serious than he’d assumed. Maybe Twilight was in real danger.
“Please don’t worry, Spike,” Luna said, forestalling his questions. “Twilight is more than capable of handling herself. It is merely that what ‘Tia and I have concluded regarding the cause of Rainbow’s memory loss to be is complicated. We’d have preferred Twilight to allow us to handle it.”
“Oh, well, that’s alright, then. You know Twilight.”
“Indeed,” Luna replied, mouth quirking to match Spike’s grin.
“And when Rainbow asked her to go looking for it in the Everfree, she couldn’t resist—even after that letter.”
“Its is quite alright, Spike, I’m not angry. I’m just . . . worried,” Luna said distantly. “Please, do not mention this to the others. There is no need to worry them without cause. I will find Twilight, and Rainbow.”
She’d have to move quickly. Twilight was an exceptionally capable unicorn, and Rainbow Dash was no pushover either. They could have already discovered Lethe, and if they lost themselves in there, she’d be helpless to draw them out.
Bidding a hasty farewell to Spike, Luna stretched her wings, casting her gaze around the sky. It was a clear day, though there were still several clouds floating on the outskirts of town. Luna didn’t bother jumping into the air, instead simply slamming her wings down in a huge sweep, sending herself shooting upwards, quickly orienting herself towards the Forest, barely visible as a smudge on the horizon. With another mighty beat, she was gone.
***
Luna soared over the Forest, shivering as a piercing wind cut through her coat.. Her eyes, as sharp as any pegasus, picked out the river, following its bends through the canopy. She found no trace of either pony, however, despite passing over its entire length. The Forest obstructed it too much from the air. Instead, she returned to where it entered the Forest, and landed. Hopefully she’d have more luck on the ground.
If Twilight finds Lethe, ignorant … Nopony has ever recovered from Lethe’s influence. Perhaps we should have made it public. Ever since those two were rushed into Ponyville, blissfully ignorant with a wailing foal, it has been a danger.
But they couldn’t have. That magic had been forgotten for a reason.
The threat Lethe represents, isolated, is less than the risk it represents, propagated.
‘Tia’s words, those. Luna had found little fault with them, despite disagreeing with their principle. There was an implication, there, of mistrust in their subjects, and in their own superiority; a benevolent dictatorship, of sorts, focused on guiding and protecting those she felt capable of choosing for themselves.
But ‘Tia’s arguments were sound. The Everfree Forest kept Lethe in isolation. Nopony in the region had cause to venture that far into the wilderness, especially not since that young couple had decided they needed a better view of the dawn.
Luna kept walking, keeping a watchful eye for a tell-tale flash of chromatic mane, or lavender fur. It was hard not to become wrapped up in thought, here, where the background blurred together into a single grey-brown palette. The Forest hummed in constant monotone, lulling her into drowsy reflection.
Lost in thought, she was caught by surprise when a serpent, clad in fine, blue scales, rose from the water; shaking itself and sending shimmering water scattering around it, soaking Luna’s coat. Its head snaked forward to regard her coldly; no, not a serpent. A dragon, standing tall in the river it called its home.
“Hello, Luna. You look well,” the dragon said, teeth glittering, and spines sparkling under the midday sun.
“Do I know you?” Luna said stiffly, trying to hold her composure. The dragon’s eyes widened slightly, leaning its head back.
“Oh, this is rich. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten as well. How many of you is it going to take?”
“Do not toy with me now, snake. My friends are at stake here.” Luna stepped forward, holding it’s gaze. “You’ve seen them, have you not? Where are they? Has Twilight fallen to Lethe?”
“Tread carefully, little pony, there is no rush. I am the Drac, or Agyrt, if you prefer. Tell me, Luna, what has happened to you?” the Drac asked, his head inching closer to Luna, gaze unwavering.
“How do you know me?” Luna countered.
“We’ve fought each other, fought for each other. We’ve given valuable insight or wisdom, and offered a compassionate shoulder through hard times. We were … not friends, not quite. You’ve fallen so very far from those days . . .”
“You will take that back.”
“I am not your enemy here, pony. “
“Then why have you interrupted me?” Luna shook her head, pawing at the ground aggressively. She didn’t have the time to banter with this enigma. Part of her was intrigued—the dragon’s insinuations were far from subtle—but there was more at stake than her curiosity. Questions could wait.
“To talk.”
“Either help me find Twilight Sparkle or Rainbow Dash, or get out of my way.”
“Oh, I know where they are. I can take you to them … after we’ve had a little chat.” His voice carried a note of triumph.
“Fine. Talk.” Luna was on the verge of losing it. As aggravating as this creature was being, though, she couldn’t give in to those emotions again. She wouldn’t.
“My dear, try to relax. We’ve all the time in the world.”
“They could be in danger.”
“No, they’re quite safe. I’ve directed them towards Lethe, but they cannot find him themselves.”
Luna snorted.
“Neither can you, apparently. You’re swimming in it.”
“What?!”
“This river is Lethe, Lethe is the river. Did Twilight drink from it?”
“I . . . I imagine so. Well, that changes . . . surprisingly little, actually. The Chaser will lead them to its conclusion, and there they will find themselves again.”
“How can you know that?”
“I’m a Seer, Luna, like you. So please, calm yourself and talk. They won’t encounter Lethe, properly, until twilight tonight. We’ve all the time we need..”
“I’m going to them, right now. They’re following the river?” The Drac nodded assent. “Then they’ll be heading towards the castle. Come with me, and speak your mind. I will listen.”
“How much can you feel, reaching forward?” he asked, following her lead as she resumed walking. Luna grimaced, her thoughts turning inward.
“Very little. I fear myself too much for proper Sight, and I’m afraid my abilities in the area have grown . . . stunted.”
“You fear strength,” the Drac said. Luna didn’t reply. “Did you know a colt was born here, by this very river? On the day it was spawned, no less.”
“So?”
“He is powerful, in a way I haven’t seen before. He is not stronger physically, nor does he possess greater mental fortitude. But Luna . . . this child scared me.”
“Agyrt, eldest dragon, mighty Drac; scared of a foal?” Luna smirked.
“Yes,” he replied gravely. “There was . . . something about him. So I kept track of him, observed his life. Allow me to show you.” The Drac moved closer to the bank, rising out of the river as the ground curved upwards. He tilted his head towards Luna, meeting her gaze, and for the first time in years, Luna Saw.
***
The sky darkened over two ponies as they walked calmly along the trail. Both had wanted to get away from the others, do something special with each other this year. It was the Summer Sun Celebration, after all. Still, with the foal coming so soon, they could only get the one night to themselves, on doctor’s orders.
Coming to a stop near a shallow gully, the stallion turned to his wife. Framed against the skyline, profiled by the rising moon, he took a second to catch his breath, indicated a nearby patch of grass
“This looks nice, dear.”
Spreading a blanket on the ground, he lay down, supporting her as she carefully rolled onto her side. Both took the time to gaze at the overarching sky above them. Countless stars, swirling nebulae and gas clouds populated their dark patch of night, encapsulating all within their warmth embrace. Small sounds of wonder escaped their lips as they took it in, slowly falling asleep under the gaze of the moon’s shadow.
She woke first, roused by murmurs within her body. She noticed gentle contractions begin moving through her stomach. As she rolled onto her back, worried, the sky again captured her attention.
“Honey, the moon!” she exclaimed in fright, twisting her head to look at her husband, startling him awake. A few seconds later, he grasped her meaning and glanced skyward.
“What in the world? It’s . . . gone,” he exclaimed, sharing a concerned glance with her. They turned their gaze back to the sky, suddenly cold in the absence of the presence that had followed them all their lives.
She shuddered, turning away. “It’s so . . . large.”
He saw it too, the subtle shift. No longer warm, no longer sheltering, guiding, the sky took on a different tone. Not malicious, or evil, just indifferent, and inconceivably vast. It arched over them, a landscape unto itself, wrapping their world in its grasp.
“What happened?” he said, turning his mind away from that terrible expanse.
“I don’t know!” his wife replied, shuddering as tremors ran through her.
“Dear? The foal!”
“It’s . . . coming . . .” Her body was quickly becoming lathered in sweat. He sent up a pulse of magic into the air, filling it with a red shower of sparks; a universal cry for help. Turning back to his wife, he lifted a hoof, uncertain of what to do.
She cried out in pain as the contractions continued.
“Breathe. Calm down, dear, we’re fine. It’s fine. It’s going to be all fine. Just breathe. Focus on my voice,” he said frantically, trying his best to reassure her. Slowly, confidence seeped into his voice as the instructions returned to the forefront of his mind. But there were no doctors here, no medical equipment. He tried to hide his worry as he comforted her, supplying her with what little water they’d brought..
She began taking short panting breaths. Visible contractions were wracking her body, disappearing quickly only to return with a vengeance in intervals of several minutes. Gradually, continuing his constant stream of comfort, he helped as best he could, trying to use his magic to assist the birth..
For three long hours the ordeal continued, an extended wail of suffering and fear, punctuated by desperate sparks of joy. Eventually, though, and as dawn drew near, their son was born. He struggled to stand; an ashen unicorn colt, not even a minute alive.
“Look at him, dear. You did it!” the new father gushed, caught up in wonder. A pull on his foreleg directed his attention to his struggling wife.
“Please, honey. Water . . . I need . . . water,” she said, gasping.
He looked around frantically. The last of the water they had brought had gone half an hour ago. As he reached out with his mind and senses, straining, he began to hear a roar. A sudden smile split his face as he turned to face Canterlot, barely visible under the just-dawning sun. A wave of water crashed past them, filling the gully and exploding out of it, tearing through rock and soil to carve itself a new bed. Moving quickly, he refilled their stores, racing back to the blanket on which his wife lay.
“What . . . just happened?” She asked him.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
Neither of them spent much time thinking. They shared the water, gazing on their son. Adoration spread across their faces as the reality filled their mind.
Despite everything, the tired couple quickly succumbed to their weariness. Virtually passing out, they didn’t see the foal clamber out of his mother’s hooves, standing upright to face the east, and the rising light as the sun exploded from the horizon.
Around them, though, the night sky lingered. It fought against the rays of light spreading out from the east. all the while ignoring the unconscious couple, the medical team rushing to their location, and their crying foal, shivering in the cold dawn air.
***
Dr. Cross led his team, powering over the rough terrain lying between him and the couple. He had seen the signal; a red shower of sparks, while filling out the last of the paperwork before the ceremony. They’d have to miss it this year. The patients came first.
They reached the two . . . no, make that three ponies just after dawn. The run had been tiring, but they managed to get the wife on a stretcher, checking her vitals. Thankfully, the birthing had gone smoothly; any complication this far out would have been catastrophic.
Cross saw to the child. Unwilling to be led away from where he stood, the foal continually shrugged any blanket placed on him onto the ground. The doctor gave him a quick check before declaring him healthy, yet still the foal wouldn’t acknowledge him. He just stared, as if shell-shock at the very prospect of his own existence.
“Doctor! They’re not waking up!” A nurse called, leaning over the stallion.
“Make sure they’re breathing. Try to get a little water into them. Take a blood sample,” he rattled off orders naturally, already seeing them being carried out. His staff knew what to do.
“Now, what are we going to do with you, hmm?” He asked the foal, walking around and meeting his gaze. The foal flinched away, looking anywhere but at the doctor facing him.
“We have a male unicorn. Make the time of birth around 5am. We’ll know better when his parents wake,” Cross said, looking up and addressing a nearby nurse. She nodded, writing on a clipboard. Cross turned his attention back to the foal.
“You’re going to need a name, little one.” He smiled warmly at the child, then looked around, chuckling. “How’s ‘Boundless’ sound? Just for now.”
The child didn’t understand him, couldn’t understand. But the look of disgust he gave Dr. Cross transfixed the poor stallion.
No, it said; an absolute denial of self, profound and complete. .
A flash of light drew his attention to the child’s flank. Disbelieving, he cried out in alarm, watching the silvery light fade from the foal’s flank.
The colt had just gotten his cutie mark.
***
“I don’t know him. I don’t want him, can’t deal with him right now,” she said.
“I don’t know you! I don’t know me!” he replied, incensed.
“Please, everypony, if you’ll all calm down. This is an extremely delicate matter, and what we need to do is talk it through, not get angry and fight,” Cross said. He’d been trying to raise the issue of their son. The son neither of them remembered. Of course, they said they didn’t remember anything.
“I don’t want to sit here and talk!” the father said, raging. “I need to get out there! Explore! Discover who I am!”
“Your child’s life is at stake here. I demand you give this matter proper thought,” he said. The two ponies in front of him were beginning to make him mad, behaving like foals too small to understand the gravity of the situation.
“I’m not listening to this. He’s not my child.” The stallion stormed out, leaving an air of finality behind him. The doctor doubted he’d ever see him again.
Turning to the mother, he made one last attempt. Ignoring his pleading look, the mare sniffed once, before leaving the hospital in turn.
Cross sighed. Neither would take Boundless. Neither would take anything of their old life, despite the weeks of therapy, trying to get them to remember. It no longer mattered who they were.
He walked to the colt, lying in the maternity ward. The child, exhausted from constant attempts to clamber out of the cot, was asleep. He leaned close, whispering in his ear.
“Looks like you’re headed out east, son. You’re going to be a ward of the State of Manehattan. Good luck, and, for what it’s worth . . . I’m sorry.”
***
Boundless ran down the alley as fast as he could, little legs straining to outpace the much longer ones following him. Storekeepers, however, were not known for their fitness, and the foal, fuelled by the energy of youth, was able to gradually increase the distance between them, eventually losing them. There were not many who could catch him here, in the backstreets and alleyways of Manehattan.
He’d spent his life running these streets, and knew them better than he knew himself. Spinning around a corner, he jumped a pile of refuse and pressed himself up against it, breathing heavily. He doubted the shot keeper would want to pursue him this far, if he was even still on Boundless’ trail. Doubtless the authorities would sweep through the area—he’d been gaining something of a reputation, of late—but he’d be long gone by then, feasting on his stolen lunch and seeking new targets. The trick was to keep moving, and to never steal from the same spot twice.
He had food waiting for him, of course, back at the orphanage. As a ward of Manehattan, he was entitled to shelter, provisions, tuition, even a small allowance. His life was paid for by the good citizens of the city, doing what they could to extend a helping hoof to those in need. He hated it, hated the indulgent, demeaning, patronising manner of the entire affair. He hated their blindness, that they would feed him and so presume themselves good.
So he stole. He did everything he could to provide for himself. He took food from street vendors and clothes, drying on a line. He slept in gutters, under bridges. Each time he was caught, he was brought before the board, administrators sentencing him to various forms of community service, house arrest. They even gave him a probation officer, and, once, a twenty-four-hour guard, to watch him through each day. None of it stopped him. They had no real power, no jurisdiction over his life.
Every now and then, though, it would prove too much for the child to handle. He’d return, not saying a word, to sleep in his room, and to eat his food. He accepted their charity, and despised them for it. He didn’t quite know why.
***
Luna swam out of the darkness of her mind with the grace of a practiced swimmer, returning to waters she’d been absent from for far too long. She opened her eyes, regarding the Drac opposite her calmly, and resumed her journey without a word. They had been simply standing there, absorbed in the memories of the foal, for nearly an hour.
Luna eyed her companion as she walked. The Drac was swimming next to her, lazily keeping pace. The noon sun glimmered off his scales, colouring the water around him shades of turquoise. The creature seemed sincere; his vignettes about the foal struck true. She hadn’t been completely honest with him. Her Sight was as strong as ever; although she had elected to abstain from fear. That much, at least, was true.
But now, reaching forward through time, she could feel the same currents. The intricacies building around the child, ‘Boundless’, as he’d been dubbed. Luna doubted he appreciated the name, despite all the ways it seemed to fit him. It had the stink of prophecy about it.
She hadn’t been sure how much the Drac knew, couldn’t tell if he was merely worried and passing the problem to her, or genuinely trying to convey something. The child felt powerful, as the Drac had described, as if his existence had been a twist of fate, a pebble in the tracks of time; he created chaos where he went, tore asunder the barriers of the world and left ruin in his wake.
“And now?” Luna asked, breaking the silence. “Where does the child reside now? What does he do?”
“He remains in Manehattan, I believe, surviving. I cannot See what he will do. The future is unclear.”
Luna could. The art of Sight was her domain, and a pony magic besides. The Drac’s use could never compete with that of the Princess of the Night.
She took a deep breath, splitting her mind and setting part of it to continue moving alongside the river. She left her eyes open, guiding her way, and then dove back into the magic, casting her gaze through time, forward, until she saw the currents swirling around him, mists congregating and clearing.
She blinked, and she could see him. Years from now, he was speaking with an azure mare. He gathered others, speaking forcefully, dominating them with his presence and his history. He was very much the leader, the insane visionary set to break all he touched.
She could see his flank, the blank spot that held his cutie mark, unchanged from the night of his birth.
***
Boundless kicked at a stone as he paced along the sidewalk. Carts trundled past him, clattering down the cobblestone on some urgent errand. There was always an urgent errand.
It seemed the rule of the city. Everypony was always busy, always had something to do. There was growing or making goods, moving goods, selling goods, building, destroying, an endless cycle of civilisation that chafed at him.
So he did the only thing he could; nothing, in petty revolt against the motion around him.
He didn’t know where he was going, nor what he was going to do when he got there. He had moved past the crimes of his youth; crimes not of necessity, but of passion. He was more mature now, recognised the need for order even as his entire being chafed at it. He couldn’t work out why he was so different.
He looked ahead. In the distance, he could see the Manehattan Observatory. It used to lie on the outskirts of town, but the recent expansions had brought it well within the city limits. It had also involved the construction of another, larger one, further away from the city, leaving this building unoccupied.
He quickened his step. Now that he had a goal, he wanted to get there as soon as he could. It was, after all, difficult to wander aimlessly with a destination in mine.
***
Arriving, Boundless broke the lock open with a sharp burst of magic, quickly slipping inside and shutting the doors tight behind him, barricading them with a nearby chair. The Manehattan Council were surely going to demolish the building eventually. If they thought it was hosting squatters, they might hold off on that for a while. Equally, they might make it a priority. He didn’t want to take that chance; it was better to avoid detection at all.
He was not sure what called to him to the building. Glancing around, he saw old posters, maps of constellations and astronomy charts. In one corner, a small model of the solar system lay, gathering dust.
Approaching it, he blew sharply, creating a small storm as the particles scattered, to be corralled in his magic and deposited to the side. He wiped his hoof over the dirty orbs, revealing a simple setup; the Sun and Moon, orbiting the planet, or the planet orbiting them. It made little difference.
His eyes were drawn to the brochures beside it. Obviously left behind after a school tour, the pictures, designed for foals, were designed to elaborate on the mechanics of the celestial bodies. Day was the Sun, shining on Equestria in all her glory. Night was her sister, the Moon, reflecting the Sun’s light.
Boundless tore the brochure up, ripping it into smaller and smaller pieces with his magic. Blindly, he grabbed the model, hurling it against the far wall, where it shattered. He didn’t know why that one detail had infuriated him so. He didn’t particularly care.
But the noise attracted attention. Within the hour, there were police at the door, getting ready to break it down. Somepony must have seen him break in, and reported it. He was still on file at the station, and the orphanage wasn’t going to be able to protect him for much longer.
So he bolted. Out the back, over the fence, and away. They’d see him, of course. They might even catch him.
For the first time that day, he smiled.
***
Boundless rounded the corner, galloping as fast as he could. He was getting sick of running, for all the exhilarating joy there was in the freedom and economy of movement. He could stand to learn a deal of finesse, he decided, especially before trying anything larger. He’d never get anything done at this rate.
Boundless saw the mare too late. She had appeared almost out of nowhere, reaching the corner at the same time he had. He struck her like a freight train, ploughing both of them into the ground. He lay there for a moment, before scrambling to his feet, glancing at the azure mare, still lying where she had fallen.
A silvery mane elegantly graced her head, curling around her soft face. A matching tail directed his gaze to her cutie mark, a magician’s wand with sparkles, and though her eyes were fixed on him, hard, and full of anger, he grinned.
Turning to face his pursuers, that grin morphed into a snarl. There would be no running now; they’d be too close to lose them in the streets. Better to fight here, where the corner gave him some small advantage of surprise.
.
Just as they hurtled around the corner, however, an azure wall flashed into existence, blocking their advance. They crashed into it, piling atop one another, and sliding to the ground in a mess of groans and broken bones.
A proper mage, it seemed. This mare was beginning to intrigue him. He spared a smile for his pursuers, and then turned back to face his saviour, favouring her with a slight bow.
“Good evening, miss. My thanks for your assistance, and sincerest apologies for running into you. I simply was not watching where I was going.”
“And them?” she asked, glancing at the ponies trying to break through her barrier. It was obvious they were police.
“Business associates. I’m afraid we did not see eye-to-eye.”
“Indeed,” she said dryly, beginning to walk away. She left the barrier intact.
“Pray tell, miss, your name? I simply cannot allow you to leave without proper gratitude.”
She stopped, turning her head to catch his eye.
“I am called Trixie. Who are you?”
***
The Drac followed Luna as she walked downstream, slowly coming out of her trance. Boundless was a potential problem, to be sure, but for now, she needed to find Twilight and Rainbow, somehow restrain their physical vessels and extract their essence from the stream. Nopony had ever been recovered from Lethe before. Luna once again felt the tendrils of despair reach up to claim her.
“How did you lose your memory, by the way?” the Drac asked, jolting her out of thought.
“I don’t know what you’re referring to.”
“Well, whatever happened to you, I can tell you that you will recover. That it was necessary.”
“What in Equestria are you talking about?”
“The last thousand years; time spent stalling. Events have been set in motion, now. You cannot hold it back anymore.” The Drac’s voice steadily dropped to a near whisper, forcing Luna to lean close to hear him.
“Stalling?”
“Cannot you feel the portent in the air, the whispers on the wind and water? Harmony calls to me, Luna.”
“Stalling against what?”
“Only you and your sister know that. No one else remembers past the Veil.”
The Veil?
“What happened to you?” he whispered. “What happened to the Dreamer, the Guiding Light? You once stood against the heavens themselves in the name of Justice, and now you are content to rest in failure?”
Luna’s hackles began to rise as he continued. Those names dragged out painful memories.
“I gave in. I wasn’t strong enough.”
“Harmony will not allow you to fail again, Luna. They will need the Guiding Light. So, friend, here is my guidance to you: seek yourself; not in memory, but in time. Go beyond the Veil.”
“This Veil you speak of. I have never heard of such a thing, “ Luna said, glaring at the Drac.
“Then you have truly fallen, and we are lost without you.”
Luna kept walking. There was nothing left to say.
“Fare thee well, Luna. I pray you recover what you have lost.” The Drac wheeled around, facing upstream. Ploughing through the current, he disappeared in seconds.