//------------------------------// // 3- Paralysis and Dead batteries // Story: Something worth fighting for // by Mr Andrews Pupil //------------------------------// Sleep is an interesting thing. While sleeping, your entire state of consciousness slips away for a few hours. You dont even remember when it happens. Its almost like dying...Almost. Your heart still beats. Your lungs still draw air. And you wake yourself in the morning. Your body basicly sets itself to autopilot. This enables us to achieve a state of "absolute peace". Unfortunately it also leaves one hopelessly vunerable; as Princess Luna was about to find out. /////////////////////////////////////////////////// Luna awoke but did not open her eyes. she knew there was somepony or something in the room with her. She did'nt move either. The sound of muffled hoofsteps on the carpet implied the source was only a few feet from the foot of her bed. "Who's there?" Luna asked trying not to sound afraid. No answer. Luna hesitaed briefly before opening her eyes. Upon doing so she was greeted by a tenebrious canvas. In short, her candle had gone out. She lifted her head and glanced towards the end of the bed. Luna had that gut feeling that something was there. "Show yourself" she warned. The response Turned her blood to ice. "Whats this?, the princess of the night unable to see?, how ironic....." This was accompanied by a sinister chuckle that washed away and doubt Luna had of who it was. "D- D- D- Discord?" she whispered. Suddenly the blackness beyond her bed was no longer perfect. A pair of yellow eyes revealed themselves to which Luna's heart quickned. The candle on her bedside flickered to life once more, Illuminating the villan's true form in a pale orange glow. "H- H- How?" "Let's just say i had help" "From who?" "That's irrelevant" he snapped sudenly. "All that matters is that im free and am about to exact my revenge". A lump began to form in lunas throat. She feared what was coming. Here she was alone in her room with one of the most dangerous beings in all of equestria. "How did you get b-" "The guards?" He interrupted. He began to slink closer to the bed. "What little there were, I put to sleep. They should awaken shortly" Discord said motioning towards the closed door. "But they would sound the alarm on sight" "Not with my disguise. You fell for it yourself after all". "You mean....." Luna started. "Tiffany was so easy to mimic" Discord chuckled. "Just act happy and blissfully unaware". Luna mentally alapped herself. How could she be so daft? She answered her own question almost instantly. Beacuse it's unpredictable. The most unpreditable being in equestria had been PREdictable by being UNpredictable. "But how could you shapeshift?" luna retorted. "As previously stated, I had help" There was a brief moment of silence in which discord let what he said sink in and luna try to comprehend it. There was an infinite amount of possibilities on for what could happen next and not very many looked good for Luna. Panic began to build deep inside her and in a few moments she came up with the only logical thing she could come up with. Scream for your sister. Luna opened her mouth but Discord saw it coming. He lifted his eagles claw and quickly enveloped luna in an aura of his insideous magic. Luna felt her entire body freeze in place. Including her vocal chords. She was now voiceless and unable to move. Discord levitated her up out of the bundle of sheets and to the middle of the room. *what does he want with me? * Luna thought. Then it hit her. He could do anything with her. Alone in the dark paralysed by a draconeqqus hell- bent on revenge. He could kill her. He could torture her. *No....No..NO!!!..* Luna screamed in her head. Discord, however had no such thoughts in his head. He raised his other random appendage and cast a purple ball of magic into the centre of the room near luna. It appeared to stop in mid air, flatten and become tall, wide and circular. Luna quickly recognized it as a portal once it began to spiral in the middle. She began to put the pieces together before Discord spoke again. "This is your one way ticket to pain, suffering, loneliness and cruelty. It took me a while to figure this spell out, but it was worth it in the end" Luna felt herself being lifted and moved closer to the now savagely spinning gateway. She was beyond terrified and still unable to make a sound. "With you missing your sister will search till the end of time for you. With her distracted i'll be able to take over faster than a sonic rainbom that that Arrogant element of loyalty makes. Soon she'll be exhausted and unable to even function. then taking care of her will be all too easy. He held luna feet away from being sucked in to the portal to who knew where. He leaned in and whispered one final time. "With the princesses gone equestria will be mine. First i'll break their will, Then i'll break their necks". He paused. "You wont last a week where you're going...you wont want to either. Goodbye Luna" With that he released his magics grip on luna. She was instantly sucked in. the last thing she remembered was the manical laughter of Discord echoing in her skull" Then here was nothing. /////////////////////////////////////////////////// The blue comet streaking from lunas bedroom off into the now setting sun was met with instant fear by princess celestia. She had seen that comet only once before. When nightmare moon was sent to her confinement. "GUARDS" She boomed using the royal canterlot voice for the first time in over a 100 years. "GET TO LUNA'S CHAMBERS, SHE'S IN DANGER" A half- dozen guard ponies quickly assembled and dashed off down the dimly lit halls of canterlot castle. Celestia followed hoping Luna would be there when they arrived. But even the guard's knew it as much as she did. They all knew she was gone. But the destination waasn't the moon. ////////////////////////////////////////// Back on earth......... Alec was able to recognize the Red Honda before he even saw it. The sound it made was that of a dying animal in a scrapyard compactor. A place he figured the piece of crap belonged in. He still wonderd how it was road legal. A majority of the accessories were functionless including the wipers which, given the fact that Halifax was one of the most rainy cities in canada, which completly baffled him. Then there was the body. It was red. Or at least he thought it was. Perhaps if there wasnt so much rust on it he could verify further. There was so much rust on it, the headlights, (which were a delightful piss yellow and lit up about 5 feet of road at night) were almost falling out, But it still started. only just though. And when it did it was a bitch to drive. Alec avoided the situation above to the best of his extent. But when he had to he mad sure he had a tetanous shot. The steering had more give than the salvation army. The engine had less power than a hobo running for parliament, and finally, the stench of fish hovered and stuck to it like an anti- chick magnet. Raymond could care less. It go thim from point A to B. That's what's important right? Right? The stereo worked. Alec could tell from the static filled "copperhead road" being blasted from the inside. The car pulled up outside Alec's garage. Inside was a smug, clean shaven face hidden behind a pair of aged aviators. As he got out he Alec recognized his usual wear. Above apair of worn nikes were a pair of dark navy blue jeans wih the knees torn out complimented by a graphic tee covered by a yellow element sweater. "Right where i left him" he said cockily in a slightly noticeable british isles accent. "Got nowheres better to be" Alec retorted in his (unfortunately) accentless voice. "You're still working on that thing?" "Yep, Almost done though" "Sweet" Raymond or "Ray" as he preffered to be called entered and approached Alec paying more attention to the car than his oil spattered shirt. It was then he noticed the tarp. "What exactly HAVE you been up to?" Ray quizzed him. "You wanna see?" Alec asked with a smile beginning to form on his face. Raymond caught wind of the surprise and gained one as well. Alec had spent weeks inside and no one, not even Raymond had seen the chevelle. The tarp covering it only added to his curiosity. "Man you bet i do!!!" he replied removing his sunglasses. Alec approached the relic and gripped the tarp with both hands. He then turned to Raymond. "3...2...1...TA-DA" With those words he ripped off the tarp as fast as he could. No sooner than he did this did Ray's jaw drop. "Ho-ly shit" he croaked. Originally the car was a rather sickly looking olive green. Alec had taken the body and painted it a striking blue that - once raymond thought of it, looked the exact same shade as the body of Alecs Favourite character. Princess luna. A pair of lighter coloured stripes went down the middle of the middle of the car which were the same shade as lunas mane. Upon closer inspection they almost seemed to sparkle like it too. On the left and right rear fenders was lunas cutie mark. Finally to top it off there was a chrome crescent moon hood ornament. Raymond took a few steps back in awe. He ran a hand through his short, black hair. All the while Alec stood there with a Satisfied grin glued to his face. "You like it? He asked already knowing the answer. "Um... Saying yes would be a huge understatement" Ray responded still looking over the Chevelle. They stayed inside the garage for another half an hour talking until the sun was just sliding beneath the horizon. Alec was the first to notice. "So you wanna come to castle way tonight?" "You're still into that arent you?" Raymond groaned. Castle way was a long, vacant stretch of asphalt about 5 kilometres long that had been abandoned when the coal mine it led to had closed 5 years earlier. Since then Alec had gotten into the rather predictable habit of using it as his own personal drag strip. "If the meatheads catch you out there both you and your car are fucked...you know that right?" Ray warned. The meatheads, A.K.A. the cops had a nasty reputation of being mean, unfair self centered jerks. Of course, driving like a man on the run kind of had that effect on them. Alec never really saw things their way. "Relax dude it's alright. They never patrol out there anyways. All thats there is a vacant lot" Alec said half- heartedly. "You always were a risk taker" "I aim to please" "What, the mortician?" "Mabye...." The two burst into laughter for a brief moment. A laugh, no matter how grim, should never be passed up. It was one of the many rules they had devloped for their" code" of friendship ove the years. "So are ya coming or not?" Alec repeated. "Well about that........" Raymond started. Alec saw the look in Rays eyes. It was the "avoiding eye contact look" . Popular among humans as a defense mechanisim when one may be hiding somehing bad. Alec already had a fair guess in his head. "Parents want you home for the week again? "He said emotionlessly. Ray nodded. His parents were exremely protective over him. They had to be visited at least on week every month or they would call the cops. Alec had met them before...but bonding was the last thing on his to do list with them. The garage suddenly went quiet. Both bronies knew how boring it could get out there. Unfortunately options were limited if not completely exhausted. It was the two of them against the world. "Alright then. When are you leaving?" "Tonight" "Packed already?" "This morning" Alec understood why Ray went away so often. Which was ironic considering Alec had nothing of the sort. It's too easy to forget something you want to have memories of. "Ill be going then. Watch the house as usual will ya?" "Sure" Raymond started to turn back towards his car. As he lef Alec Looked beyond him he noticed the sky was now clear of clouds. Stars were scattered across the ink black sky like foam on an ocean with no bottom. The moon was full tonight. Then alec had an idea. He had just gotten a brand new nikon for christmas last year. Raymond had given it to him. (Alec had stitched together a lifesize fluttershy stuffy in return which he completely lost it over. Flutershy was his absolute favourite) He figured a few full moon snapshots would be suitable to kill the time. Alec was a night owl. He ran inside and after digging through his closet for a few minutes, found the unused camera. He returned to the garage expecting raymond to be gone to the airport. He wasn't. "Um...dude...batteries um... dead" Raymond said in a quiet voice almost as quiet as the yellow pagasus which occupied everything from his ipod screen to his laptop. Alec groaned and threw the camera into the Chevelles passenger seat before going to the far corner of the garage. He soon located the booster cables and returned to the chevelle, opened the hood being and attached it to his battery. He paused to admire the polished V8 454 powerhouse he would soon be careening throught the night in. But first he had to move the" shitmobile." He approached Ray and held them out to him. "Well?" Ray simply shrugged. Alec knew then and there he would sooner kill himself than learn how to boost a car. So he decided to do it himself. He wentover to the Honda and pried the nearly rusted shut hood open. He then put up a rickety prop rod that look ready to snap. Alec just hoped it wouldn't be while his torso was in the crush zone. He couldn't help but crack a grin at he small 1.3 liter engine that boasted a mere 75 horsepower than his 390 horsepower chevelle. After attaching the jump leads He went back to the chevelle. He produced the keys and inserted them. He leaned out the door. "Might wanna cover your ears" he warned. He turned the keys and listened intently as the beast less than 3 feet away rumbled and spat to life. Raymond turned his keys and hardly heard his "hamster in a wheel" get going. Alec put the cables back and went to see Raymond off. "Text me if anything happens" "Like what?" Alec asked raising an eyebrow. "I dunno, suppose an angel crash lands while im gone. You'll need to tell me when you two start dating" he said desperately trying to keep a straight face. Alec gave him an unamused look. "You know i dont care about stuff like that" "Oh well....can't blame a guy for trying......See ya next sunday dude" "You too" Alec bro hoofed him through the window and then watched as the Honda (literally) putted off into the night. Alec stood in the middle of the driveway for a few minutes reflecting on what Ray had said. If he did have love in his heart, it died with his foster parents. "Oh well" Alec went back and got into the still running Chevelle. He then reved the engine before pulling out and sailing off into the night, not noticing the sudden appearence of a new star in the sky above. A star. The colour sapphire blue. Falling towards castle way, //////////////////////////////////////////////