//------------------------------// // Forcing the lock // Story: An offer you can't refuse... // by The Psychopath //------------------------------// Luna's usual time slate of slumber had been interrupted by this new furball into her life, and, once again, she found herself denied of proper slumber. However, she pressed on with the help of a good ol' cup of joe. Early in the morning, she woke up Aethul and sent him to the bathroom for his morning needs. Next thing to do on the list was to clean him up. She actually hummed as she cleaned up the foal in the tub with foal-appropriate shampoo, what with their delicate skin compared to that of a rugged stallion. Aethul coughed and spat as he tried to swipe away what was forcing him to take a bath. Luna would have none of that, so she scrubbed harder. "Stop. Struggling. I'm only trying to clean you. You came back filthy last night, and I don't want you to fall sick." Aethul continued to struggle. "If you don't stop struggling, I won't let you go outside." The foal immediately stopped and looked like he was cursing about something. Luna smirked and managed to get in his ears, making Aethul squirm like mad. Eventually, he was levitated into the air, his little body shaking like a leaf and his fur somehow melded onto his skin. Luna awwed at this and wrapped him around in a dry towel after drying him off with another. "There you go, Aethul. You'll stay right here in my arms until you're all better." "Why do they taunt me so? I have to show her how to close that damn breach. But how? Hmmm. When I get free, and if I'm lucky, when she meets up with Celestia, I'll bail for the yard and show them the hole...if nothing gets in my way..." "Wait...I have spell to heat you up immediately. I am feeling rather tired." Luna's horn lit up like a firefly, and was lowered to touch Aethul gently on the head, to which he immediately flew out of the towel and galopped around as if on fire. "Too strong perhaps?" "Too strong?! I'll kill you. That's what's too strong!" Aethul shouted as his entire body smoked like a sausage. "It's okay. Come here. There you go. What did Celestia do when I was little?...hmmmm...Ah!" Luna gave the foal a little kiss on the forehead, then backed up and smiled. Aethul stared at her. His face semi-disturbed and intrigued at the same time. He felt a smile trying to mine through the stone placed on the sides of his lips, but, so far, it was too much to remove, so they remained lowered. "How about we go see Aunt Celestia?" Aethul nodded, and was slowly levitated back to the ground. With surprise, he was allowed to walk alongside his new mother, slowly cursing what the werewolves had told him. "Uhhh. Testing. One. Two...what comes after two?"came a voice from nowhere. "What-guh-I can't belie-GIMME THAT! Geez. Some chief you are." ordered a more irritated voice. "Well excuse me for not knowing this new type of magic." "Is that the bitch fae playing a trick on me again?" Aethul thought angrily. "No. It's us. The Lycris. There's a problem. You won't have several hours to stop the widening of the barrier." "Why? There was more noise on whatever the Lycris were talking with. Aethul stopped for a minute and looked concerned. Luna stopped and turned to look at him with concern of her own. "Are you alright, Prince Aethuwulfl?" Luna taunted. Lyall's eyes lit right up and he ran back to her side, pride in his march. "It would appear that a Ghajit is causing a forced solar eclipse." "How come Luna, who apparently controls the moon, doesn't notice?" "When a creature is so evil and powerful that it's considered a demon by ancient cultures, you have a habit of not noticing all the tricks it can pull. We don't have much time. Drag your mother and aunt and find the breach by whatever means necessary." "What?! Oh shit! Maybe I should tug on Luna...I got it!" Aethul actually forced on a smile and tempted Luna to make this walk go faster. It took awhile, but the princess finally understood what Aethul was trying to do. "Okay, Aethul. We'll teleport to Celestia's throne. Come here." Luna wrapped her wing around the foal, and with a flash, both suddenly appeared right in front of Celestia's throne's circular staircase. Celestia actually looked surprised at the sudden appearance, and even more when Aethul jumped up to her. The sun princess picked up Aethul and hugged him powerfully before beginning to pinch his cheeks like an old lady. "I hate my life."Lyall thought to himself. "So, Luna. Tell me. How are you with Aethulwulf?" "I'm more concerned about all these spirits roaming the castle grounds and attacking us. I think we'll have to postpone the celebration." "We brought exorcists to determine where they are coming from. They are very good at what they do as well. By the way. You still haven't answered my question." Celestia leaned forward with a smirk on her face as Aethul began to climb her back. "Well...I've been doing better...But I really need my sleep. I'm exhausted." "I can tell that. We need to have his sleep cycle tuned to the day like yours is. That way, you won't be needing to sleep during the night anymore." "I would be grateful for that spell." "No. Luna. It isn't a spell. You just have to force him to stay aawake during the night and to sleep during the day." "But that--" "Is the only way." Luna cursed under her breath and stomped the ground. She was mad. "Fine. I'll try tod--" Aethul yoinked Celestia's crown in his mouth and scaled down his aunt to begin hopping off the stairs and running through the castle. Celestia tapped her head in surprise and decided: "Hmm. He certainly wants to play." "Or he's trying to show you two something." a voice echoed. "Who is there? Show yourself!" Luna roared, her voice vibrating within the throne room. "Nopony of importance. You best hurry to your child as he'll show you something incredible. Best hurry now. THe eclipse is starting." "What eclipse? I haven't planned anything like that!" "Luna. Look outside."Celestia urged her sister as she pointed to the upper windows. An eclipse was indeed going on, and it wouldn't be a pretty sight. "I hadn't planned such a thing." "Then you two best hurry. It is coming." "What is it?" "It starts with 'G'." The two princesses' eyes lit up and they both hurried outside of the throne room to find Aethul. Once the doors clapped shut, a gray, stony figure dropped from the ceiling, the sound of its wings similar to that of a cicada. It gently touched the ground, and, while its body details were not visible from whatever distance, its eyes lit up a bright pink. "Perhaps communicating with the spirits of the dead actually has its advantages." Rose chuckled in the end. The sun was starting to blot out, and everypony was just continuing their work as if nothing special was happening. The princesses were making sure to avoid any gazes. Any signs of the princesses panicking would make everypony panic. Stealth was key here. Using methods they had learnt as foals, such as using their magic to hide in nearby armor, the two sisters reached the yard outside, and searched frantically for the foal, who was waiting for them right in front of a wavy piece of air. "What is that?" Luna gasped. "I think he found the source of the spirits haunting us. QUICKLY! We must seal it away!" "Right." Luna nodded. Aethul was tossed to the side, gently, to allow the sisters to perform their magic. Both horns lit up like a firecracker and magic surrounded the portal, which began to close little by little, until the sun became blotted out, allowing a gigantic beast to burst forth from the hole and slap the two sisters aside. (Aethul transition) "Good god. What the hell is that thing?" I thought to myself. My new mother and my new aunt had started to fight it on their own. This thing was gigantic, and any guards who started to pop up were pushed back by Celestia. Its face looked twisted, as if its face was sinking into some sort of whirlpool. Its body was malformed with pieces missing and others bursting outwards like a misshapen bone. It even had extremely long, scrawny arms which ended in equally long and scrawny fingers. The problem was that it was halfway through the hole. It didn't seem to be able to get through. I tried to run towards Luna, to help, but she pushed me away, telling me that this was no place for a foal. I couldn't do anything. However, as I just watched blast after blast tear away at the creature which reformed its missing parts, I witnessed its fingers reach out and grab both my mother and aunt. Whatever was holding me in place was now gone, and I rushed towards the beast to try and distract it or pain it, however I could. "NO!" I stopped. "Don't. I won't let my foal get hurt. I'm responsible for you, so I won't permit you to be wounded." Luna shouted as she tried to free herself. I heard deep laughter, and the beast leaned towards me. I don't know how, but it begant o talk to me in my head. "So you're the one those wolves helped. Don't worry. I'm just one of the higher spirits to be taking advantage of this hole. I DID create the eclipse, but that's besides the point." "Get outta my head!" "Why would I? I can sense so much evil rooted in you. Just imagine what would happen if I clawed it all out to the surface? First. However, is the matter of killing these two." "NO! I won't let another die because of me. I won't let another die because I couldn't do anything to save them. I have a new life, and the promise of giving my cousin a new life in the future! I won't let you destroy that!" (Narrator transition) Both Celestia and Luna were choking on their screams as they were squeezed harder and harder. They were about to "pop". Aethulwulf, on the other hand, was glowing brightly, yet nothing came. However, the lines on his face began to lift themselves and concentrated on his forehead, slowly turning around to form what looked like a unicorn horn. He continued to concentrate as hard as he could, and several wolf howls were heard. Hundreds of timberwolves came running from the bushes and jumped onto the Ghajit to tear it apart. The spirit only yelled in pain and let the two princesses go, allowing their bodies to slam powerfully against the ground. Lyall ran over to his mother and tried to wake her up by nudging her. When that didn't work, he slapped her several times, making her moan and slowly open her eyes. He did the same with Celestia, who reacted a bit more violently. "Aethul...you have a horn?" Luna gasped. "No. It's the Vulf Magic doing that, yet. I have never seen it do something like that." Aethul grunted and hopped as he pointed to the Ghajit being attacked by the timber wolves. "Oh! Celestia. Stand back. I'll take care of this." Both Aethul and Celestia did as told, and, somehow, the wolves knew as well and hopped off the demonic spirit. As Luna concentrated, so did the light of the moon, glowing ever brighter. Suddenly, the princess began to float into the air, and opened her eyes, revealing them to be a bright, pure white. As they began to glow even brighter, a massive ray of light came from the moon, bearing down on the creature. It struggled and roared, but its body began to desintegrate upwards as the ray roared like an army of soldiers and shook the castle's being. Bit by bit, it evaporated, and, finally, the beam shone upon the opening to the other world, sealing it shut with ancient, arcane lunar magics. It was finally over, announced by Luna slowly levitating back to the floor as the old location of the portal sealed itself with flashes of blue lightning and distortions. The moon princess heaved for air while Aethul's horn slowly receded back to its original form. The barrier keeping the guards died down, allowing emergency crews to reach the spot quickly and without delay. "Well, Luna. You've surprised me. I'm quite proud of you. Not only do you take good care of your son, but you even saved Equestria from a spiritual invasion." "Lucky me." Aethul pushed on the tired princess' leg, showing that he was worried. "It's alright, Aethul. Mommy is okay." The foal actually gave her a real smile, a faint one at best, but still a start. "We should get you to the medical wing." Celestia suggested as she held up her sister from an eventual fall. "I've gone through worse, don't forget. A good rest and I should be okay. Now then. We must reassure the workers in the castle that everything is alright and that we'll continue the Pumpkin's Feast as planned." "If you believe yourself to be okay." "Yes." Both princess slowly walked towards the emergency crews galopping towards them as Aethul looked at the timber wolves running off the cliff. "Well...if I am to have a new life, it would be best to start things on a normal basis. I hope I don't have to deal with something so movemented like this again. I guess that I can accept my new mother." "Aethul!" Luna cried out for her son, who scampered back to her in delight, surprisingly. The group was accompanied back inside the castle, while only one sad looking little pony stayed outside, her smile faint and unnoticeable. It was Rose Milk. "Your magic won't have one usage, Aethulwulf Lyall. I am proof of that. Oh, my little Daisy Drop. I which you were still here to see this world and how it was shaping up. If only I...But the past is the past. I'll watch over Aethul and the spirits watching him. Have fun with your new mother. I must clean the graves now. It is my duty." the mare thought as she walked away, the moon following. It was a new beginning for both the feared "Nightmare Moon" and a feared Mafia Don. Good could only come in waves.