Luna paced about her room as she awaited news from her sister. Celestia had left some time ago with a group of guards to pick up the "reformed" Discord. Luna however was still weary. She remembered Discord's tricks in the past, and even though she had faith in the ponies in charge of him, he was a crafty trickster. On top of that, this was the day the guards whom she sent out as a search party were supposed to return with news of their findings. If he wasn't found, then the search was to be called off until a new lead was found.
These things were silently chewing away at her mind, the stress creating more room for someone else to gain power over her being. Luna knew that Nightmare Moon had ample opportunity to take over. However for the past few days she had not heard a peep from the less savory side of her split persona.
Still pacing her bed room she caught a glimpse of something in the mirror above her dresser, spinning around to see what it was she saw....Nothing. She turned back to the mirror and staring back at her was none other than Nightmare Moon. Luna quickly glanced down at her own form and found that she still looked like herself. A laugh brought her attention back to the mirror in-front of her.
"Fret not dear Luna it's just me, and I have no intention of causing you any troubles. I'm simply here to assist you any way I can."
"Ha. Do you really think I am fooled so easily? Tell me, what is it you’re really here for?" The Blue mare stomped a hoof on the ground for emphasis, letting her wings spread wide to make herself look more intimidating.
Nightmare's gaze softened. "As I said I am only here to help you. Luna, we are two halves of a whole. You must keep in mind that I share your emotions, I can tell you're worried and you have subconsciously called for help. I am here to answer that call. "
"If you really are here to help me, then tell me. What should I do about everything that's going on?" she stated skeptically.
"Well, it would help both of us if you told me what was bothering you." Nightmare replied almost sounding kind, though she was starting become annoyed.
"Okay fine. I have been stressing so much lately because apparently I am losing my mind to you and am scared I'll lose control and hurt somepony. Also Discord has been freed and my sister trusts the elements to 'Reform' him. Even though she said she trusts them she's been in Ponyville watching over them the whole time. That means I have to pick up all the work she left behind so I barely have time for myself.
This is the first break I've had in days and I can't even sleep because whenever I try I see HIM staring at me with those eyes he had just before he left me. That's not the worst part though. Apparently we ether have a thief running around in the castle or the human came back to grab his possessions, which he wouldn't have been able to do if I hadn't sent out most of the guards into the forest to find him.
So it's my fault he ran away in the first place and when he came back I wasn't even able to say goodbye." A tear rolled down Luna's face as she finished her impromptu rant.
"It appears that you have quite a bit on your plate. But I know you can handle it, we've been through worse together. You just need to trust yourself and those around you that care about you. I can tell you right now that I have no intent to do anything too outrageous that would bring you any direct trouble. When it comes to Discord, I know the elements will be able to handle him. They've easily taken care of him before and with Celestia watching over them they'll be safe from any mortal danger. However I don't think she would step in if he were to keep his pranks relativity harmless." Nightmare brought a hoof to her mouth as she cleared her throat.
"As for the sleep issue, I can't help you there and for that I'm sorry. But please tell me what is it that attracts you to the human, you barely know him. Sure you've spent a couple nights together talking, but you don't know that much about him at all."
"I... I don't know. It's just like there's this strong bond pulling me toward him. Like a magnet, I don't understand it, but it's there. It's almost tangible, like I can just reach out and pull him in. I just feel like I can trust him. He was the first in a long time to look at me and not see you or a princess he looked at me and saw me for who I was. And somehow, he saw something in me that was likable. That's over now. He’s gone and I don't even know why."
"You need to give him time I'm sure he'll come back. Then you can talk to him and figure out this whole situation. I do need you to promise me two things however. First if the search parties all comeback empty hoofed, I need you to remain clam. The last thing we need is for you to lose your temper and draw every pony’s attention to me. Also, I need you to decide what you're going to say to Celestia about me. I need you to think carefully about it. You know how she feels about me and the last thing I want you to do is suffer because of me. On the other hoof lying or at least in this case avoiding telling any pony is dangerous road to go down for both of us."
With those words Nightmare Moon faded from the mirror, leaving Luna sitting on her hunches staring at the reflection of herself.
~{T}~{C}~{W}~{t}~{M}~
The wind blew past my ears carrying sounds from off in the distance. From here, they were undefinable, the source of the noise currently unknown to me. I ran on regardless. I held my back pack in one hand while I sprinted toward my destination. I jumped and ducked as I weaved my way through the forest. The trees zipped by me, the ground under my feet almost silent at the speed I was going. As I neared the clearing the sounds became clearer more distinct. The sound of a struggle was slightly muffled by the bushes up ahead. Breaking through the edge of the clearing, I spotted Gilda flying around overhead with a manticore hot on her tail.
I waved my arms so Gilda would spot me as she flew by. When she caught sight of me I pointed to her then the massive tree behind me miming what I wanted her to do with my hands as best I could. When she nodded acknowledging my improvised plan I started to climb the tree till I reached a branch that was in a suitable position. From my spot in the tree I watched as Gilda circled around and then headed upward gaining altitude.
Once she reached a reasonable height her wings spread wide slowing her down quickly. The manticore flew right past her as she started to fall to the ground. Gilda dove downward picking up speed at an amazing rate. By now the manticore had circled around and followed close behind. When Gilda flew under the tree I was in, the leaves rustled in the wake of the wind she was creating.
After preparing myself I waited for the right time, as soon as it was right below my branch I pushed off and started falling toward the manticore. I grabbed his wing on the way down, causing us both to spin in air before plummeting to the ground. As we crashed I felt an audible crunch underneath me followed by a roar of pain from the manticore.
The brute sprung to its feet. One wing flared out while the other just hung uselessly by its side, obviously broken from the landing. Fury burned in its eyes as it rose up on two hind legs. Using its new position, the manticore swung at me with its massive paw. Ducking I dodged the first paw with ease, however the second smashed into my back. The claws dug into my skin creating a burning pain as the flesh under tore, the force of the hit sent me tumbling several feet away. I lay face down on the ground with the warm feeling of blood pouring down my back clouding my senses.
A soft thump sounded on the ground beside me motivated me to look up from my new dirt pillow. Gilda's concerned gaze was all I could see as she stood next to me. A deep growl drew our attention back to our attacker as he got into position to charge at us. Gilda moved directly over me in a defensive stance, preparing to try and fight the manticore on her own. I rolled over onto my back as the beast started its charge at the both of us. Once he was close enough I pushed the griffin off of me, roughly tossing her to safety. This didn't faze my attacker as he rose to his hind legs once again to try to crush me.
I grabbed its paw mid descent and using its momentum against him flipped the beast over me successfully slamming the manticore face first into the dirt where his head promptly became stuck in the ground.
I laughed at the ridiculous sight before me. "Hey while you’re spending time as a tree, you should try to learn photosynthesis." I made my way to the scorpion tail. "And I'll just be taking this from you." The exoskeleton cracked under my grasp as I twisted and pulled on it. The manticore's muffled yelps of pain could be heard though the earth that it's head was buried in as I worked to retrieve my prize. When it finally managed to free itself he looked over to me and his pupils shrank as it saw that I was holding an over-sized stinger in my hand, while I wore a cocky grin. The beast made to move toward me but stopped when it noticed Gilda over to the side attempting to get to her feet. It took a charge at her and I did the same trying to get either in between them or to Gilda first.
I was not fast enough. The manticore reached her moments before me and slashed at her with its claws. I tried to tackle the beast out of the way but one of its razor sharp claws caught Gilda's side slicing through her skin and leaving a huge gash down her left side. My friend’s blood splattered onto me only fueling my rage as I wrestled the brute to the ground. After Pinning down one of its arms with my own I stabbed the stinger I had ripped from its tail and buried it into his right eye. Giving the beast a quick but brutal death, its lifeless corpse fell uselessly to the ground. Gathering myself, I grabbed my backpack and rushed to Gilda’s side. After making sure she was still alive and breathing I reached into my pack and pulled out a clean white shirt. Ripping it apart I turned it into a crude bandage and wrapped it tightly to her side to get the wound to stop bleeding.
I knew we couldn't stay out in the open like, so I moved her to my cave, lying her down on my bed I knew all I could do was wait and hope she would live.