Naked Uncertainty
Luna pushed herself up groggily. “What happened?”
“Why am I naked?” Ethan asked casually with a yawn, as if it was an everyday occurrence.
“Luna, did you do something to me in my sleep?” Thomas asked, his voice muffled by the ground. “Because I can’t feel my pants.”
“Also, is Scarlet naked, because I’m definitely sleeping on a pair of bre—” Ethan suddenly shut up as his eyes opened and he found himself looking into a very robotic eye.
“WHAT?! How dare you—offt,” Scarlet yelled as she jumped to her ‘feet’ moments before she lost balance and fell flat on her side.
“This isn’t right,” Luna muttered, getting onto all fours. For some reason, the position felt... awkward, and incredibly exposed. And why was her mane devoid of magic?
“Everyone, do not panic, but we are not in our normal bodies anymore,” Celestia calmly stated as she stared at her human hand. Scarlet also lifted her two forelimbs to see a pair of dark tan hooves. Her eyes shrank in horror.
“Well, this is new.” Aeron yawned, looking over his new body structure.
“Ethan, I swear to Faust, if you did this somehow then I swear by Celestia’s fiery tits that I’ll throw you into a fucking volcano!” Twilight shouted. Celestia turned to stare at Twilight with a look of shocked mortification.
Rainbow Dash yawned, sitting up and looking around at the others. “Geez, why’s everypony getting so worke— ... Uhhh...” She shut up as soon as she saw different people and ponies around her.
“That is a nice view,” Thomas muttered, staring right at Luna’s bare bottom, her cutie mark emblazoned on it. His dusty-brown wings stood fully erect at his sides.
“Let’s see...” Aeron felt his new form up and down until he found an odd, protruding, object on his forehead. “Well, that’s new, too.” Aeron’s form was that of a unicorn, and his coat was a dark brown colour, with a slicked back black mane.
“Sparky, if this was my fault then I wouldn’t be a pony. Also, Cassie would be here along with Sunny and she’d be a human too, then we’d have that orgy that her sister always talks about,” Ethan told Twilight as he rolled off of her breasts and onto his hooves. His coat was an earthy brown and his mane matched except for a strip of red running down the center. A unicorn’s horn emerged from his forehead.
“It’s obvious who has done this to us,” Celestia stated as she helped Scarlet up on all fours. Celestia had soft pink hair that reached to the mid-center of her back and her skin was a soft tan colour, nearly flawless, except some scars near her ribcage were visible.
“Yes, you’re right. Sorry, Sunny, blaming Ethan is a reflex that I’ve developed,” Twilight said with a shake of her head as she attempted to stand up on the long, unfamiliar limbs.
The woman was moderately well muscled with very little fat on her frame. A pair of medium sized, perky breasts stood out from her chest and her long purple hair fell over them slightly as she stood there, the streak of pink falling to the left side. One Violet eye and one blue robotic one looked out from a pretty, intelligent face and her lips pursed together as she tried to figure out how to balance effectively. Oddly, both of her arms were organic.
“This is odd,” Twilight said as she experimentally clenched and unclenched her fingers, especially those of her previously prosthetic limb.
“How do you walk on two legs all the time?” Luna asked, as she tried to stand. Compared to the others, her breasts were quite small, although the same could not be said for her posterior. Her skin was as pale as snow, and her waist-long hair was a delicate shade of powder blue.
“How do you stand being naked all the time?” Scarlet responded. Her coat was a dark yellow tan, and her mane and tail the same scarlet color of her hair when she was a human. She didn’t bear any wings or a horn, and was doing her best to hide her rear from everyone as she tried to keep her balance.
Rainbow realised where she was, finally, and what was going on. Figuring that she was a bit exposed, she placed an arm across her breasts and sat in silence, unsure of what to do.
“You seem to be in discomfort, Dash,” Aeron pointed out as he slowly tried figuring out how to walk on all fours - moving each leg at a time and developing a rhythmic pattern.
“Yeah... Wish I had something to put on. This feels weird...” Dash mumbled, causing Aeron to chuckle slightly.
Dash was, just like everyone else, naked. Her skin was a gentle tan and her hair the same rainbow colour. Her figure was skinny, but toned well, which was mostly caused by her athletic activities back in Equestria.
“Yeah, being naked gets weird without this fur, huh? Hopefully Kata isn’t so cruel as to make Ethan and Thomas stare at women’s asses all day. That’d be a challenge right there. No erections for them!” Aeron burst out laughing, smacking a hoof on the floor.
“Hey, I don’t get erections all the time. That implies lust. I just appreciate femininity and all,” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “Besides, I’m married and Cassandra would probably cut it off if she saw me looking at another woman like that,” Ethan added as he walked over to Twilight and helped steady her on her new legs.
“Meh, I’m asexual. This isn’t a problem.” Aeron sat on his haunches, next to the former pegasus.
“Yeah, well that’s all nice to know, but would you please keep stuff like that to yourselves?” Scarlet asked as she practiced walking in her new form.
“How do human women deal with these things?” Twilight grumbled as she rubbed her perky breasts. “They get in the way and they’re making me feel top-heavy,” she complained.
“I could say the same thing to you about your kind,” Scarlet said. “Though it’s more bottom heavy for me.” Scarlet spotted her gear and made her way towards it. Once there, she saw that everything was in place along with her armour and clothing, neatly folded next to her bag.
“Well, if this is Kata’s fault, I hope she’s providing clothing for you girls. I don’t want to deal with you dying of hypothermia.” Aeron sighed.
“Well it looks like Kata didn’t take our things when she transformed us,” Scarlet pointed out.
“Cool, do you think you can deal with forty five pounds of armor Sparky?” Ethan asked turning to Twilight.
“Forty five pounds? You got Power Armour hidden in there?” Scarlet questioned Ethan.
“Nope, it’s a thick layer of enchanted self repairing chainmail along with several large plates of armour to stop anything that makes it through that,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “And before you ask, I don’t wear power armour instead because dusters are cooler,” Ethan informed her.
“Magic,” Scarlet said in disgust as she rolled her eyes. “It’s bad enough it’s over powered, but that’s just killing it.”
“Well, it’s not all that advanced of spellwork,” Twilight spoke up as she attempted to put on the heavy duster. “It’s a simple self repair spell so that the entire suit doesn’t have to be torn open to repair any broken links of chain. There’s also a low level fire protection spell as well but that’s about all.” She pulled her arms into the duster and almost fell over backwards as its full weight settled on her shoulders.
“Careful, Twilight; you don’t want to strain your shoulders,” Celestia said as she started to slip the desert combat vest on.
“The weight just caught me by surprise is all. Thanks, Celestia,” Twilight told the pink haired woman with a smile.
“These appendages are difficult to work with; they’re much more complex than hooves,” Luna muttered as she attempted to pull on Thomas’s duster.
“Would you like some help, Luna?” Thomas asked as he stumbled over to her and began to help her with some of the straps. “I can’t stand to see a lady in trouble.”
“That would be much appreciated,” Luna replied.
“And it gives you a chance to cop a feel,” Ethan added with a chuckle.
“Ugh, is that all you can think about?” Scarlet asked.
“We’re men, well, stallions now, of course it is,” Ethan replied with a cheeky smile, hoping that Scarlet would get the humor.
“Speak for yourself,” Aeron said as he helped Dash with her armour.
“You know this is the reason why I don’t try to find someone. You don’t care about us, you just care about sex.”
“I thought it was because yo—” Ethan cut himself off mid sentence, he wasn’t that stupid. “I’ll have you know that I care very deeply for my wife thank you very much!” he said instead of the thing that would’ve gotten him shot.
“Humph, I don’t know why she married you. You’re annoying as a bloatfly. And if you dare speak about him, you won’t have a mouth to speak with.”
“Well you just haven’t known me very long, hardly long enough to really get to know me,” Ethan said with a shrug. “As for the other thing, why the hell do you think I stopped myself? I’m arrogant and overconfident, not suicidal.”
Scarlet was about to say something, but she was interrupted before she could. “Scarlet, would you help me in getting your Pip-boy on,” Celestia asked as she fumbled around with priceless computer.
Scarlet let out a heated sigh as she walked over towards Celestia. Celestia glanced at Ethan, giving him a warning glare. The man just shook his head and gave her an apologetic smile before turning back to Twilight and helping her pull on the armoured pants. She’d figured out the underwear by herself, but was having trouble with the leg aspects of the pants.
“So um, Luna, how do I use these wings?” Thomas asked as he turned to look at the wings, both of which refused to stay against his sides.
All you have to do is not think about it. Your body knows what to do, Kata informed him. No matter how much fun it would to be watching you all flop on the ground like fish as you attempted to walk, it would get tiresome quickly, Kata added.
“Well, that’s convenient, does the same carry over for magic?” Celestia asked.
Now how would that be fun?
“So these horns on our head are about as useful as a radroach with an extra arm sprouting out of it’s head?” Ethan asked.
Oh, you have magic. Good luck using it without any practice, though, Kata laughed.
“Cunt,” Ethan said with a roll of his eyes. “Oh and this reminds me, humans, or actually ponies who should be humans, we need to establish a leader for this little group of ours.”
“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but the idiot’s right,” Aeron added.
“Definitely not you, then, Ethan,” Thomas commented. “You’ve got less common sense than a drug addict snorting radscorpion venom.”
“I wasn’t suggesting it. Trust me, I’m a terrible leader, ask Sparky what happened last time the Guard put me in charge of an operation in the Wasteland,” Ethan replied with a shake of his head.
“How many did you lose?” Luna asked, stretching her fingers to get used to the new digits.
“Technically, we didn’t lose any. However, around half of them came back missing legs...” Ethan said with a scowl. “I forgot that most ponies wouldn’t know what landmines are,” He said with a shake of his head.
“I think the more pressing concern is our weapons,” Luna said, the former alicorn looking at her flail. “How do you plan on using your firearms?”
“How hard can it be to hold a sword with magic? I’m sure it’s not that difficult,” Ethan said with a shrug.
“And now that you’ve said that, it’ll be impossible,” Thomas commented, looking at his brush gun in consternation.
“I did say sword,” Ethan pointed out. “Besides, we’ve got three extremely advanced magic users standing around. If they can’t teach us basic telekinesis then they don’t deserve their wings.”
“How am I doing this?” Thomas asked loudly, somehow holding his brush gun as if he still had his hands and fingers instead of hooves.
“Tactile telekinesis,” Luna said as if it explained everything.
“Thanks for that all revealing knowledge oh great alicorn overlord,” Ethan said with a snort. “Now would you mind explaining how he’s doing that so that I can too?”
“I’m glad you asked, Ethan,” Twilight said with a worryingly large smile; it was her lecture smile, the smile that Ethan dreaded. It meant that she would go on and on about a subject forever.
“Well, Ethan, all ponies, whether unicorn, earth pony, or pegasus, have a natural telekinetic field built into our hooves, and wings as well in the case of pegasi. It isn’t very strong and isn’t nearly as flexible as your fingers, but it lets us hold things and turn doorknobs. Many unicorn scholars theorise that it exists thanks to—”
“That’s enough, Twilight,” Luna interrupted her little rant, earning her a disappointed look. She had a hand on the handle of her flail and was attempting to pick it up. “This is heavier than I remember,” she grunted.
“Well it is a flail,” Ethan pointed out helpfully as he attempted to pick up his sword in his hoof. “Yeah, I can’t see myself actually carrying the sword like this in combat,” he said with a scowl.
“Without my magic, I’m more helpless than I imagined,” Luna muttered.
“Take my power fist and my revolver,” Thomas offered, still getting over the novelty of his ‘sticky hooves’, as he called it. “Scarlet, I guess you’re carrying stuff, being an earth pony. You’d be the strongest of us.”
“I’m not a pack brahmin!” the earth pony exclaimed angrily.
“Relax Kathy, every team needs someone to carry things for them. If it makes you feel any better I’d volunteer except that I’m one of the only ones here with a sword,” Ethan told her with a shrug.
“I have a sword too, you jackass!” Scarlet shouted. “And for the last time the name is Scarlet!” She slammed a hoof down and wefts of green flame danced up it.
“This is the one I nearly maimed myself with, isn’t it?” Luna asked as she held the Sequoia, ignoring the mare’s angry yelling. She remembered the weapon well.
“You almost shot yourself?” Twilight asked curiously as she inspected her plasma defender, and pistol along with Ethan’s magnum which she’d strapped to her belt. She’d also strapped his chinese assault rifle to her back for safe keeping.
“I had never seen anything of the like before, and according to Thomas I was staring down the wrong end. Why do you have so many accessories?” she asked the former owner, complaining about the number of belts and straps.
“Ah, I can understand that. Only the griffins have anything close to guns in my Equestria and those aren’t really comparable for any reason other than the fact that they shoot bullets. Of course with Rainbow Dash being the current consort, and her penchant for things that go fast, I have the oddest feeling that the griffins might have actual guns pretty soon,” Twilight told Luna as she checked her energy cells.
“What are you talking about?” Rainbow Dash asked in surprise, perking up at the sound of her name. “Why would I be the consort of the griffin king?”
“Queen, actually,” Twilight corrected her with a shrug.
“But-but that makes even less sense!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“Blame it on Gilda’s lifebond. Although honestly they seem happy together and their cubs are adorable,” Twilight told her. Rainbow Dash just stared at Twilight uncomprehendingly.
“Okay, story-time’s over,” Thomas butted in, his rifle resting between his wings. “God this is uncomfortable,” he muttered. “We need to move. Odds are Kata’s gonna flood the room with acid or something if we stick around too long.”
I start with water. Acid is too deadly, and makes people panic too much for them to actually move on. Water, on the other hand, is just fast enough to make people urgent to move, Kata told them with a dark chuckle.
“You guys need to stop giving her ideas,” Scarlet muttered as she tried to get her bag and rifle on her back. “I mean how hard is it to keep your mouth shut for a long period of time?”
“Too hard for these people,” Aeron grunted, trotting forward with Rainbow Dash in tow.
“Becoming a stallion would have been preferable to this,” Luna muttered. “I wouldn’t have to worry about this new body then.”
“Yeah but where would the fun in that be?” Ethan asked as he attempted to pick up his sword in his magic, succeeding only in making it wobble on the ground for a moment before it stopped moving.
“You’re not building enough energy in your horn,” Scarlet pointed out.
“Being a unicorn requires intelligence. He lacks that.” Aeron smirked pridefully.
“That too,” Scarlet said as she finished strapping her bag onto her back.
“Dash, you remember how to use your rifle, right?” Aeron asked Dash who nodded to him as he focused his magic on the assault rifle and pistol, floating it to her. “It’s a lot easier with fingers, but don’t use all of that ammo. Last thing we need is to run out.”
“Ethan, focus on the sword with your mind, next imagine it floating in the air, and finally send those thoughts out through your horn,” Twilight explained as she practiced moving around in the armor. She was lucky, and it fit her rather well. The sword wobbled for a second, and then sprang into the air as a steady blue glow flowed around it.
“Heh, thanks, Sparky,” Ethan told her with a grin.
“You won’t be able to do that very long,” the former alicorn cautioned. “I doubt you’ll be able to keep it in the air for over ten minutes, if even that.”
“I suggest you use your mouth.” Aeron nabbed his combat knife from the ground, holding its hilt within his mouth. “Lebs shtrain.”
A vein on Ethan’s forehead pulsed visibly and one of his eyebrows began to twitch before he was hforced to drop the sword again. “Yeah, that’s a good idea Aeron,” the unicorn said before he went over and picked up the sword in his mouth. “Gha ma handths musht taste awfulth.”
Aeron dropped his knife for a second. “I wonder if your wife agrees.”
Ethan let his own sword fall to the ground. “Well she’s always seemed to like them,” he replied with a shrug.
“Meh. Anyways...” Aeron used his magic to pull off the knife’s sheath from Dash’s armour and tightened it around his left foreleg, placing the knife in it. “That’s better.”
You people are so distractible, Kata said with an annoyed sigh.
“What the fuck do you expect Invisicunt? You just gave us new bodies to explore,” Ethan asked her with a raised eyebrow.
“I gotta agree with him,” Dash said, brushing her rainbow hair from her eyes. “You kinda did this out of nowhere. Give us a chance or something to get use to it.”
Fine, you have half an hour, then your next challenge starts, Kata told them with an angry snort.
“Well,” Thomas started, “you either made this challenge easier or harder. I’m guessing the latter. Good going.”
Dash just rolled her eyes in response.
“I doubt it was going to be easy in the first place,” Scarlet stated.
“Whatever the case is, we’re still trapped in these bodies for the time being,” Ethan said with a shrug. “So I suggest that we eat, and try and avoid killing each other while we pick our leader.”
“Why do we need a leader? We’ve been doing great so far without one,” Scarlet said, trying to stand still as Celestia rummaged through the duffle bag.
“Because we need someone to direct us. Sooner or later we’re going to run into something that can’t be solved by us shooting it, and when that time comes I’d like to have someone I trust telling us what to do,” Ethan replied. “And no offense to Sunny, but I doubt that you know enough about the Wasteland to be capable of making those types of decisions.”
“That actually made a surprising amount of sense. Should I start worrying?” Thomas asked.
“I’ve been in your world for at least a week, Ethan. I’ve seen a lot during that time too,” Celestia stated.
“Oh, so I take it that you know what to do if we’re attacked on all sides by a combination of deathclaws, albino radscorpions, and robots while simultaneously retreating?” Ethan asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I’ve faced creatures far worse creatures than those.”
“I’m not saying that you’re incompetent, Sunny. I’m just saying that you don’t know how to handle some of the Wasteland threats like one of us would,” Ethan said as he practiced levitating his sword.
“It’s a good thing I’m a fast learner, but if you feel better, I won’t voice my thoughts on situations like that.”
“Thanks, Sunny. Anyways, I meant a leader for the ‘humans’ here. Like I said earlier, you’ll be leading the ponies,” Ethan replied with a shrug.
“And I guess that leader would be you,” Scarlet asked.
“Hahahaha, fuck no, remember what I said about the land mines?” Ethan asked with a sarcastic laugh.
“Then who do you suggest for our ‘leader’?” Thomas asked.
“Well Scarlet has too many issues, no offense,”
“Well if you stopped bringing them up then I wouldn’t have them,” Scarlet bitterly said.
“And Aeron, you just don’t strike me as the leader type,” Ethan continued, ignoring Scarlet for the moment.
“Mmm,” Aeron agreed.
“Which means that—” Ethan began, but Thomas cut him off.
“That I’m the only one left who can lead us,” he said with a sigh.
Scarlet closed her eyes. “No, that won’t work for me. I’m not following an NCR soldier.”
“I’m not an NCR soldier, I only worked with them because they were the best option for Vegas,” Thomas growled.
“That’s what they said when they took over the Divide, look how well that turned out.”
Thomas’s eyes narrowed at the mention of the Divide. “It’s not the same, if they try to do anything like what they did there then I’ll unleash the securitrons on them,” he said, giving her a hard look.
“You should have used them now before it’s too late, but then again you lost that chance at the Battle of Hoover Dam.”
Thomas was about to say something, but Luna stopped him by clamping a hand over his mouth. “Enough of this petty squabbling, we have neither the time nor the energy to waste on it. Let us leave the business of who will lead who for later when we are back in our proper bodies!” Luna exclaimed irritatedly.
“Yes, I agree with Luna,” Celestia stated. “Let’s cross that bridge later, and worry about what’s ahead right now.”
“Humans,” Twilight said with a shake of her head. She couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the statement.
“Don’t think like that, Twilight. Ponies were once that way too.” Celestia picked up her spear, and it started to glow faintly. “Now, is everyone ready?”
“I know, but by Faust’s sparkling white nipples it’s annoying sometimes,” Twilight said with a sigh. “Odd, being human seems to have made me swear more...”
“And decreases your swear vocabulary,” Scarlet added. “Or intellect in swearing. You sound like a child who has just learned what a boob is but doesn't fully understand.”
“I think I’m picking up mental interference from somewhere, hold on a second,” Twilight said with a frown as she tilted her head to the side. “By Celestia’s solar flaring orgasams, alright that’s definitely not something that I’d say...” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “Tia’s orgasms are more like—”
“Thank you, Twilight, but I think I don’t want to know,” Celestia said, cutting Twilight off. “Relax and focus on your thoughts and tongue. Don’t just say the first thing that comes to your mind.”
“Thank you, Sister. Your orgasms are the last thing I would like to be thinking about at the moment,” Luna said with a rapid shake of her head.
“Sorry...” Twilight said in a small voice as a blush spread over her face.
“Wow, Twilight, you’re actually out-doing Veronica in the lesbian business,” Scarlet jested.
“Is that even possible?” Thomas asked with a slightly astonished look on his face.
“It’s probably a combination of new hormones and a small amount of psychic interference,” Twilight said with a shake of her head.
“Sure it is,” Scarlet sarcastically said with a roll of her eyes. “That or really is just you and your dirty mind.”
“I’m not sure. Sparky’s mind usually isn’t this dirty. Or at least not unless she hasn’t gotten laid in a few weeks,” Ethan said with a shrug.
“Well, I’m sure Thomas would be happy to help fix that,” Scarlet said.
“Leave me out of this,” the pegasus said.
“I’m sure that having Celestia here isn’t exactly helping,” Ethan said with a shrug. Twilight meanwhile was blushing up a storm.
“Well she should lay off the sex for awhile anyways. She’s getting too addicted to it,” Scarlet said
“Let’s see you try and have sex with a goddess, or god in your case, and not get slightly addicted to it,” Twilight retorted.
“And gain what, some false pleasure? Sex by itself is a drug, and doing it over and over will get you addicted, and negative effects will form because of that. You’re missing a key part and I don’t see that in you whenever you talk about ‘Celestia’. All I see is someone eyeing on their next fix.”
Twilight’s eyes narrowed dangerously and before anyone could stop her she lunged forward and delivered a ringing slap to Scarlet’s face. “I love Celestia with all my heart, and I’m sorry that you’re just a bitter bitch who ended up killing her lover, but frankly fuck off!”
The room dropped into a shocked silence. Scarlet had her eyes closed and a small twitch was going under her right eye. A dark green fiery aurora wrapped around her body. “You think you know love, but you know nothing about it. The hardship it can bring and the pure joy that comes out of it. You might think you have the perfect life, but all I see is the perfect lie.”
“Perfect lie? You don’t even know m—” Twilight began but she was interrupted.
“ENOUGH! For fuck’s sake we have enough problems without all of this stupid bullshit going on!” Thomas shouted while stepping between the angry woman and the angrier mare. “Either shut up, or I’ll put a bullet in each of your throats to shut you up!
“Thank you. I thought that they’d never shut up about it,” Aeron muttered.
“Agreed,” Celestia said as she got in front of Scarlet, giving her a warning glare. “We’re all stressed out with our sudden change, but that is no reason we should be at each other throats.”
“Yeah, let’s save that for when we finally catch up to Invisicunt,” Ethan agreed with a nod to Celestia.
Your emotions are so fun to exploit Kata’s voice sang sweetly from around them. A little mental suggestion and you’re at each other’s throats! I barely even have to try! She giggled.
The green aura around Scarlet’s body slowly faded away. She got up and walked away from the group, not saying anything.
“Hmm, everyone I’d say that we’re all about thirty seconds from killing each other,” Ethan said with a sigh. “So I propose that we all separate for around five minutes, stay with your partner and talk about anything that’s troubling you. We’ll meet up again after that.”
“Good idea,” Celestia said as she walked after Scarlet.
“Yeah, Luna and I have things to talk about as well,” Thomas said with a nod.
“You’re all idiots,” Aeron muttered. ”Come on, Dash.”
Celestia walked up to Scarlet whose expressionless face was void of any emotion. “Don’t you dare try to talk this out to me Celestia. I have enough as it is. For once just drop the subject.”
“Fine then, I won’t talk about it,” Celestia replied as she sat down next the tensed mare.
“Thank you... See, how hard is it to drop a subject?” Scarlet muttered out loud to no-one.
“As hard as it is to forget it,” Celestia answered anyways. “Something you need to do, apparently.”
Scarlet scoffed. “It’s not like I want to remember what I did, Celestia. I just choose not to forget it. How many times do I have to point that out to everyone? Why do you think my name is Scarlet?”
Celestia remain silent. “You chose it because you believe that you’ve done a wrong that can never be forgiven.”
Silence grew between them. “I must congratulate you for not losing control of your anger, and your powers. I would’ve hated to fight you,” Celestia said, breaking the silence
“Years of practice. Emotions, especially anger, mess up with my sniping skills, so I learn to hold them back. You’ll be surprised how well that helps out in other situations.”
“I can imagine. I too had to hold back my anger many times in the past. It’s not an easy thing to do. The hard part is trying to hide that you are holding something back. Why do you think Ethan still tries in uncovering your past?”
“Because he doesn’t take a hint to shut up.”
“No, it’s because he’s trying to help.”
“Well he’s trying too hard and he’s only making it worse. I’ve met people who had more common sense and were a lot more helpful than him, and most of those people were tribals. He’s a bloody vault dweller. You would think he’d be a bit more respectful towards others.”
“Not every vault dweller is respectful to the outside world,” Celestia pointed out.
“I know that, but you would think he would still take a hint before I blow his head off.”
“You know you wouldn’t do that.”
“I don’t know, the idea has tempted me.” Scarlet let out a reluctant sigh. “But you’re right, I wouldn’t do something like that. I would have to use the C-Finder for something like that.”
Celestia let out a disheartened sigh. “You’re a very stubborn woman,” Celestia’s statement was punctuated by a grunt of agreement from Scarlet, “but I know for a fact you’re not a heartless killer. You fight for what is right, and for a just cause. You never take someone’s life without a good reason.”
Scarlet cringed at Celestia’s words. “Don’t say that; that’s not true. I killed many people who didn’t deserve to die.”
Celestia reached a hand out and put it on Scarlet’s back. “Then that at least shows that your heart still knows...”
“Enough!” Scarlet lashed out, knocking Celestia’s hand away. “My heart is in a vat floating in protein. I’ve got nothing to prove to you, or to anyone. I just work to survive, and I help others to do the same if they allow me. Those who tried to hinder in that will find a fifty cal. getting buried in their face.” Scarlet got up and left.
Celestia bowed her head, and let out another disheartened sigh before seeing a small flash of light in the corner of her eyes. She glanced up to see a cutie mark on Scarlet’s flank. A heart shaped symbol, with the right side of the heart black as pitch, and the left side a vivid crimson.
Luna and Thomas walked off to their own corner. The woman and the stallion stood there in silence, not knowing what to say to break the silence. “You look sexy in that,” Thomas said.
Luna snorted, looking at her form. “I can’t see the appeal. Why do human females have their udders on their upper torso?”
“Yeah, don’t call them that.”
“Is that not what they are?” the former alicorn asked.
“Technically, they’re breasts.” The pegasus shook his head to clear his thoughts. “We have more important things to talk about.”
“That we do,” Luna replied calmly. “Should I go first, or...?”
“I need help,” he stated.
“Thomas, you know I will do what I can.” She sat down and began to scratch him behind the ear.
“Ooh, that feels good,” he muttered happily. “But seriously, this is important.”
“Is it a personal issue?”
“I... I’m not sure that’s the best way to put it. Keeping Vegas in one piece is tearing me apart.” He plopped himself down on the ground and sighed. “The Three Families are trying to get me to do one thing, the Kings and Followers another and the NCR something else. If I don’t keep them all happy, the whole fucking place will tear itself apart.”
“And you want assistance?”
“More like advice. I need a way to... to get them to agree. To decide on something that’ll help the city as a whole. At the moment, they’re all too absorbed in themselves.”
“I see.” Luna paused for a moment. “I suppose delivering an ultimatum is out of the question.”
“Tried that, didn’t work,” he grunted. “I’ve tried bribery and blackmail too,” Thomas added.
“You clearly haven’t tried a big enough bribe, or found something worth blackmailing them about.” Luna looked at the stallion curiously. “Do you not run a casino? Wouldn’t it be simple to ply them with alcohol and record what they do in their stupidity?”
“Or have them end up owing me several thousand caps,” Thomas muttered thoughtfully. “Can’t believe I didn’t think of that. Wouldn’t hurt to mix something into their drinks either, get them drunker faster.”
“In politics, playing nice gets you nowhere. The only option is to be as underhooved, sadistic, and devious as you possibly can.” Luna snorted. “Even my sister is forced to resort to such tactics.”
“I guess that’s it; I’ve been trying to be a friend to all of them,” he grumbled. “Don’t know why, they’re all waiting for the right moment to stab me in the back.”
“Is that true, Thomas?” Luna asked in alarm.
“No, but it doesn’t hurt to think that’ll happen. It’s not paranoia if you’re right,” he added, flashing her a dark smile.
“That’s a morbid way of thinking, Thomas,” she said coldly.
There was another brief silence. “Luna, Ethan told me something earlier.”
She raised a hand and turned away. “I know where you are going with this, Thomas. Don’t. Please, it will be better for us both.”
“You can’t keep shit like that bottled up, Luna. It can’t be pleasant, having those memories, but—”
“If you say ‘I know what it’s like’ I will hurt you,” Luna hissed angrily. “No-one knows what it was like, to watch, to feel every vile thing that demon forced me to do. My true punishment is to remember, with perfect clarity, the things that happened.”
“Luna, you told me, you had no control. It wasn’t your fault. That’s what I was trying to say,” Thomas said warmly, leaning in.
She sighed unhappily “That’s not entirely true, but I suppose you are right. I shouldn’t hold myself accountable for what Nightmare Moon did.”
“But you will,” Thomas said. When Luna glared at him, he raised a hoof. “Hey, it’s who we are. We’ll keep on blaming ourselves. Evidence doesn’t matter. We just feel responsible,” he finished sadly.
Luna didn’t say anything, instead pulling Thomas a little closer to her. “Is that our fate, then? To forever condemn ourselves?”
“I guess so, Luna. I guess so. But, we move on. We accept what happened, and do what we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s all we can do.”
“You are wise beyond your years, Thomas. I have the benefit of thousands of years of experience, and yet...”
“Luna, stop. I’m not wise. I’m just pragmatic. No point dwelling on something you can’t change, right? Just let go and begin again.”
“You say you are not wise, yet you know what to say,” Luna said with a smile. “‘Let go of the pain’, isn’t what you told Shining Armor?”
“Something like that.” The stallion wing-shrugged. “But it was something I learned. I didn’t come up with it, I just delivered the message. It’s what I do,” he said wryly.
“Yes, being a courier I imagine it is,” Luna snarked. She held up the lifeless Pip-Boy. “Could you help me put this device on?”
As Thomas did his best to help her put on the Pip-Boy, they failed to notice the small flash come from the stallion’s flanks. Once bare, they were now marked with an envelope, a small heart tucked neatly into one of its corners.
Ethan pulled Twilight into one of the corners of the room and sat her down as the woman began to weep quietly. Instead of saying anything, the man simply wrapped his forelegs around her and pulled her into a hug. She knelt down and began to cry into his mane.
“Twilight, it’s alright,” Ethan murmured quietly.
“No it isn’t! I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I should never have said that!” Twilight exclaimed between sobs.
“Twilight, stay with me here. Where’s the mare who single-hoofedly tore apart a zombified dragon to save her nephew? I need that Twilight Sparkle with me right here, right now!” Ethan told her intensely.
“Well maybe she’s busy crying her eyes out right now!” Twilight replied heatedly.
“Well then maybe she should stop letting herself be manipulated by a sadistic bitch, and no, I don’t mean Kathrine,” Ethan scolded, Twilight’s eyes lit with fury and she drew back her fist to punch him.
Ethan simply gave her a raised eyebrow and stared straight into her eyes. Twilight met his hard blue gaze for a second before she crumbled again and pulled him into a tighter hug then before. He hugged her back for a few seconds before he began trying to escape her grasp.
“Twilight, as much as I’ve always wanted to be suffocated by a pair of breasts I think that I can wait for later to find out what it’s like,” he mumbled from within her cleavage.
“Right, sorry, I’m not used to these things,” the purple haired woman said as she released him.
“It’s fine, Twilight. It’s not exactly the worst way to die all things considered,” Ethan told her as he regained his breath. “Oh, and would you look at that, you’ve stopped crying,” he added with a smile.
“Yeah, I guess I used up all my tears,” Twilight said a little numbly.
“It’s okay, Twilight, you look like shit when you cry anyways,” Ethan told her with a wry smile.
His comment caught her completely by surprise and a giggle forced its way out of her mouth, she pushed him off of her chest with a chuckle.
“Goddess damn it, Ethan,” she said with a shake of her head as she fought down another giggle.
“I bet if Celestia heard you use that kind of language she’d give you a punishment,” Ethan said with a chuckle. The smile died on Twilight’s face.
“Ethan, is what Scarlet said true? Is my relationship with Tia really just a lie? Am I just a sex addict looking for her next fix?” she asked worriedly.
“Twilight, stop and listen to yourself right now,” Ethan told the woman. “This is Princess Celestia that we’re talking about. If she felt that there was a problem with your relationship, do you think that she’d continue it?” he asked.
“N-no,” Twilight said in a small voice.
“Of course she wouldn’t,” Ethan agreed as he put a hoof on her chin. “As for what Katherine said, does she seem like the kind of woman that you want to take relationship or mental advice from?”
“No, not at all...” Twilight trailed off.
“Exactly,” Ethan agreed with a smile. “She’s lost in the past Sparky. It’s not her fault, really, but don’t let what she said poison what you have with Celestia.”
“Ethan, there’s something wrong with me,” Twilight muttered.
“Don’t talk like that, Sparky,” Ethan told her.
“No, there is something wrong with me!” Twilight said intensely in a very quiet voice.
“What are you talking about, Twilight?” Ethan asked.
“This place, or maybe it’s just Kata, its affecting me. It’s making me erratic, and it’s messing with my emotions!” Twilight told him with an annoyed snarl.
“Now you know how I felt when the Nightmare was trying to take me over,” Ethan told her. “If it makes you feel any better, Sparky, I’ve felt the same thing; I’m just much more experienced at repressing things like this,” he told her as he lay down beside her. Twilight began to gently stroke his head, a thing that he’d always done for her, and Ethan let out a contented sigh.
“I guess you would be,” she agreed with a sigh. “Goddesses, Ethan, I just want things like this to stop happening. I want to be normal for a change!”
“Sparky, normality is boring. Even when you were a ‘normal’ unicorn you weren’t normal,” he told her. “Besides, you’re a fucking alicorn now; nothing you do is normal ,” he added with a chuckle.
“Thanks for reminding me,” the woman grouched as she idly played with a strand of her long purple hair.
“Deal with it, Sparky. I for one plan on being interesting till the day I die,” Ethan told her with a smirk.
“Yeah, till you die an early death in a shallow grave,” Twilight agreed with a chuckle.
“Actually it’s till my heart finally gives out from how awesome I am,” Ethan told her with a bop on her nose.
“Ethan, look at your flank,” Twilight instructed quietly.
“Why?” Ethan asked.
“Because you just got your cutie mark!” Twilight exclaimed while pointing a finger at his flank.
Ethan turned to look, there was indeed a new mark on his flank. It was an image of a shield, riddled with holes.
“Well that seems appropriate,” Ethan said with a chuckle.
“So your special talent is being shot?” Twilight joked.
“Looks like it, Sparky. Like I said, it does seem appropriate, since that’s what has been happening to me all my life,” Ethan agreed with an amused shake of his head.
“And you’re still smiling despite it all,” Twilight added.
“That too,” the man agreed with chuckle before he rose to his hooves. “Come on, Sparky, it looks like the others are ready. Let’s not keep them waiting.”
“They’re all morons.” Aeron sat on his haunches as Dash joined him.
“You call everyone that, Aeron.” Dash giggled softly.
“It’s the only insult I enjoy without having to curse. These people,” Aeron’s hoof pointed to the corners of the room, “are all idiots. Thomas knows how to govern, but hardly shows it. Scarlet is so deep into herself that she gets angry when someone asks her about something, and Ethan...”
A small vein bulged near the unicorn’s horn. “Don’t even get me started on him. I should have known the opposite of me would be some good-guy sex addict who has no sense of intellect.”
“You’re too harsh on them...” Dash stopped for a second, correcting herself. “I mean, they are all stupid... but you think everyone around you is stupid. You made the mistake of wanting to die, rather than waste a couple rounds on a gecko.”
“That’s because it had armoured skin. Why would I waste ammo that could barely penetrate or stop it? It’d just get pissed off.” Aeron sighed.
They sat in silence for a moment. Thoughts passing between them before the former pegasus spoke. “Do you consider me a friend, Aeron?”
“What?” Aeron asked, bewildered.
“Do you consider me a friend?”
“Why does that matter right now? There are more impo—”
“Just answer, dammit,” Dash snapped.
“I... I don’t know, Dash. I don’t know what to call you.” The unicorn sighed.
“So, I’m just another companion you threw away?” she questioned.
“No, Dash. You’re more than that. I just don’t consider you a friend,” he answered.
“Why not? You’ve told me a lot about yourself, things Jericho doesn’t even know, yet you have the audacity to consider me less than a friend?”
“Dash, I don’t know, okay?!” Aeron yelled. “I just don’t see the point in calling someone a friend! Why is it so important to you, anyways?!”
Dash pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. “Because I’d like to believe you’re my friend...”
Aeron stared at her, unsure what to say. Amata was his only real friend, and he was thrown out of her life and into the Wasteland.
“Rainbow Dash, I... I just...” he stopped himself, mouth agape.
“You just what?” Dash asked calmly.
Aeron closed his mouth, stood up, and started trotting away - his head hung low. I can’t tell her... I can’t tell her the real reason why I don’t have friends... I...
“Where are you going?” Dash yelled to him.
“For a walk... I don’t want to talk to anyone.” He sighed, trotting away from the ‘campsite’ and into a dark portion of the room.
Dash decided not to make effort to chase him. Knowing him, this was his time to recuperate and think of new ideas, rather than his emotions.
He laid down on the ground and closed his eyes. Tired, filled with emotions and confusion, Aeron didn’t want to deal with any of this.
You know, I can help you out of here, the voice of Kata whispered into his ear.
“Please, leave me alone. I don’t care.” Aeron calmly sighed.
Please, lighten up. I’m offering you a way out of this maze entirely. No need to see any of these guys anymore! All it takes is some knowledge of the future, my friend! Kata’s voice calmly spun around Aeron’s head.
“What do you mean?” He perked up, looking at the blankness of a wall in front of him.
Well... Let’s say, quite soon, there’ll be a challenge where you, and you alone, will get to leave. Simple as that. The others might not be so lucky, but hey, why waste a free ticket out of here? Kata laughed softly.
“...I’ll keep it in mind.” Aeron rested his head onto his forehooves, closing his eyes. A bright light emitted from his flanks and upon them was a talon gripping a human heart. Aeron didn’t take notice to this sudden change.
The group came back together in the middle of the room looking a bit more stable than it had before they’d separated. Ethan and Twilight stood side by side, her right hand gently stroking his head. Thomas and Luna stood in a similar position although Luna was not stroking him. Aeron and Dash were standing oddly separated from one another, as were Celestia and Scarlet. There was a slight sense of tension radiating off of Scarlet, but Celestia seemed fine.
“All of you got your cutie marks,” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow, breaking the silence.
The humans-turned-ponies looked at each others’ flanks, then, with the exception of Ethan, at their own.
“Huh,” Thomas said. “Guess that makes sense.”
“I wasn’t being serious when I said you’d know because you were a courier,” Luna added, kneeling down to get a better look.
“So, a bullet-riddled shield, an envelope, a two-coloured heart, and a Talon Company claw crushing a heart. Yeah, we’re a real cute bunch around here alright,” Ethan said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, well they’re meaningless,” Scarlet said after looking away from her mark.
The ponies-turned-humans stared at her in shock. “How can you even say that?” Luna asked in shock.
“Because I don’t believed a single ‘magical’ tattoo can dictate on what makes you special. It’s something out of an Old World children's fantasy story.”
“You realise that they have dragons right? It doesn’t exactly get more fantastical than that,” Ethan deadpanned with a raised eyebrow.
“Oooh, I’ve faced a minotaur, griffons, and God knows what. I know that they’re world is like a fantasy world, that still doesn’t mean I can like this stupid mark on my rear.” Scarlet mocked.
“A cutie mark is much more than a representation of what your talent is. It also represents who you are inside,” Luna replied.
“Well, then mine is wrong.” The mare said bitterly.
“Could it represent how you’re brokenhearted and dead inside?” Thomas snarked, smirking at her.
“Ba-zing,” Ethan said with a chuckle. Twilight for her part flinched slightly at the insult; that was rather harsh.
Scarlet looked harshly at the pegasus, and was about to strike him, but Celestia wrapped an arm around her neck, placed two fingers under the base of her head, and pressed down firmly. Scarlet winced in pain and tried to move away with little success. “Let’s drop this subject before someone gets hurt,” Celestia suggested.
“Yeah, it would be a real shame if someone ended up with a sword in their belly,” Ethan agreed with a casual smile as his sword floated half an inch out of its scabbard which he’d strapped to his flank.
“You do realise that my magic can shatter yours in a heartbeat,” Scarlet muttered as she stopped resisting Celestia’s hold. “Plus, as a unicorn my magic also acts like a deadly poison as it eats away your magic.”
“Well you know, I could just stay away from you, and then launch the sword at you, it would still deal some damage,” Ethan shrugged.
Small wisps of green flame danced once again around Scarlet body, making Celestia’s Pip-boy to click. “Bring it, Vault Boy.”
“Both of you, shut up and stop. Now,” Thomas ordered. “We need to work together, and not threaten to stab each other.”
“Aye aye, Captain,” Ethan told Thomas before he flashed Scarlet a smirk. “We’ll spar as soon as we get our bodies back.”
“No, Soldier Boy, if this Vault Boy wants a fight, then let me at him.” The wisps of flames grew larger, and Celestia was having a bit trouble holding Scarlet at bay.
“I am not NCR, and never will be,” Thomas growled. “Just because I sided with them doesn’t make me one of them.
“Calm your smoking tits Katherine. We’ll fight later,” Ethan told her.
“For the last time, the name is Scarlet!”
“Nah, that’s just what you pretend to be. Your name’s Katherine underneath that layer of bitch and self loathing you wear like a second skin,” Ethan replied with a shrug.
“I swear, I have more luck controlling chem addicts than this,” Thomas muttered, facehoofing hard enough to elicit a loud clonk.
The only response Scarlet gave Ethan was to charge at him. A small burst of fire engulfed Scarlet, knocking Celestia back as she broke into a full gallop towards Ethan.
The stallion stood stock still as the mare charged, and then stepped aside at the last second causing Scarlet to charge past.
Scarlet, however, recovered quickly as she slammed a hoof in the ground to pivot her turn around, and caused a flaming spike to erupt out of the ground and next to Ethan’s neck.
“Heh, I’ve had all of my flesh burned off by a dragon several thousand years old. This isn’t even close to as hot as that,” the stallion told Scarlet with a chuckle. “On the bright side, Kathy, it’s good to see that you can still react fairly quickly despite your blinding rage.”
“Years of practice. Now, if you don’t want your head to roll off of your body, I suggest you call me Scarlet.” Scarlet raised a hoof in the air, readying it for another strike.
“Kath-er-ine,” Ethan enunciated slowly with a smirk.
Scarlet glared daggers at Ethan and began to send her hoof towards the ground. A rope made of light wrapped around her hoof, and Scarlet was yanked away before her hoof made contact with the ground. Celestia then walked up to the mare, her spear glowing in a bright white aura as it cast out the rope. “Enough,” she said to both Scarlet and Ethan, “before I end this.”
“But it was just getting fun,” Ethan replied with a pout.
Celestia looked at Ethan, eyes filled with a vicious glare. “Don’t make this worse than it already is.”
“Who, me?” Ethan asked looking around in surprise. “I’m not making it worse, I’m making it better.”
“Well, stop.” Luna clumsily unholstered the Sequoia. “I may not have any experience, but I doubt even I could miss when you’re not even two feet from me,” she stated.
“Bullets?” Ethan asked with a raised eyebrow. “That won—” He was interrupted by Twilight who smacked him on the back of the head.
“Shut up and play nice. I swear, Ethan, you’re such a child sometimes,” she said with a shake of her head. “Oh, and just between the two of us, I’ve always wanted to kick you in the balls, and I’ve never had a better opportunity than this,” she added with a mischievous smirk.
As much fun as this is to watch, are you perhaps done yet? Kata asked suddenly, breaking the conversation that the group was having.
“Well if you’d said something earlier than we would’ve been,” Ethan replied with a shrug.
Whatever, it’s time for your next challenge. I hope for your sakes that you’ve had time to work with your new bodies, because the next room will require a little finesse, Kata told them with a dark chuckle.
“We’re not gonna like this, are we?” Thomas asked unhappily.
You’ll all find out very soon. In the meantime, you should move through that door, Kata said, a new doorway appearing in the side of the room.
“And what if we say that we don’t feel like playing your little games anymore?” Twilight asked.
Then I guess you don’t feel like breathing anymore, Kata replied, there was an evident smirk in her voice.
“You’re not very good at this,” Ethan told her before with a shrug and started walking towards the door.
What? What do you mean that I’m not good at this? Kata asked angrily.
“I mean just that; you’re not good at this,” the stallion replied with another shrug.
“Ethan, what have we said about making her angry?” Luna said disapprovingly, chastising the stallion.
“Well she shouldn’t let herself be angry, it’s unprofessional,” Ethan said. “I mean honestly, it’s kind of annoying when the all powerful ‘goddess of chaos’ can let herself be ticked off by us. Completely unprofessional.”
“Who here wants me to gag him?” Thomas asked, looking around at the rest of the group, there were several raised hands and hooves.
“On the bright side, it also means that she’s not nearly as powerful as she’d like us to believe she is,” Ethan continued, apparently ignoring what Thomas had said.
What nonsense is this? Kata asked with a growing tone of anger in her voice.
“Simply put, you’re new at this,” Ethan shrugged.
New?! You think I’m new at this? I who have tortured hundreds of thousands, I who have made men weep at the mere mention of my name, I who have brought emperors to their knee—
“Yes yes, you’re very impressive, and I’m sure that you’ve done some interesting things, but that doesn’t change the fact that you don’t recognize an obvious tactic,” Ethan told her with a shrug.
And what would that be? Kata asked, sounding like she was about to howl with anger.
“I’m not telling you. You’ll have to figure it out on your own. Come on boys and girls, we’ve got another room to beat,” Ethan said before he strode through the doorway.
“Is he always this foolhardy?” Celestia asked Twilight, who chuckled.
“Only when he’s angry,” Twilight said. “Besides, he’s right. Kata’s not nearly as powerful as she seems to think that she is.”
“So he gets stupid when he’s angry?” Aeron asked sarcastically.
“Not quite,” Twilight replied with an enigmatic smile. Then she walked through the door, leaving several annoyed and confused people behind her.
“They’re both insane,” Aeron muttered.
“Hmm... maybe they’re not...” Luna muttered with a tiny frown on her face.
“What do you mean?” Thomas asked, looking up at her face. “Damn that’s kinda weird.”
“I suspect I know what he is doing. I could be wrong, but if I’m right...” She trailed off uneasily. She knew Ethan wasn’t stupid, but he never really seemed to display any real intelligence.
“Regardless of whatever he’s doing, we should press onwards,” Celestia told them with a nod towards the doorway.
“Here we go again,” Aeron muttered with a roll of his eyes.
Princess Luna stood in Celestia’s room, the last place where her sister was seen before disappearing. A strong sense of chaos magic tingle in the air, but not the same kind of that of Discord’s. Luna spent all night and all day searching for her sister, but with no avail. Reluctantly, she was left with one decision in hoping to find some clue to where her sister was, but she didn’t want to do it.
Three interlocking ovals all sharing a foci were drawn on the ground. A circle enclosed the ovals and a number of runes had been inscribed into the floor on the outside of the circle. This was followed by another circle and another set of runes. Luna eyed her work critically. One mistake could be catastrophic, and the Lunar Princess had neither the patience nor the time to waste on cleaning it up.
She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. An obsidian coloured greatsword rested on a nearby table in case anything went wrong. She then began the summoning. “I call you from the neverending void, from the depth of nothing, I call for you... Ueirn.” Luna left her hoof and placed it on a single rune. It glowed bright and started a chain reaction with all of the others. Soon the whole symbol was glowing in a dark blue hue, but it did not last long. It faded away, and nothing happened.
Luna let out a disappointed sigh. “I guess that didn’t work.”
“Quite the opposite, actually,” a stallion's voice spoke out in a ghostly tone, “it worked marvelously.” Chills ran through Luna’s back, and her horn glowed as she drew her sword and swung it in the direction of the voice. Her sword chopped nothing but air.
“Oh come now, Luna, after all this time being with you that’s your first response? Why summon me if you were going to try to kill me? You know that won’t work. You can’t kill nothing.” Out of the shadows a stallion earth pony walked into view. His pupils were midnight blue, and his coat, mane and tail match the style of Nightmare Moon.
“Why aren’t you inside of my summoning circle?” Luna growled.
The stallion let out an amused chuckle before saying in a normal tone, “Because, Luna, the void comes and goes wherever it pleases. Plus, the summoning rune only works with spells of light, not with spells of darkness. Now to what do I owe the pleasure of being called out from the void?”
Luna held her blade at the stallion as she said, “My sister is missing. She was taken by some chaotic being. I need you to find out where she is.”
A curious eyebrow rose on the stallion’s face. “Is that all? Are you sure you don’t want something else?”
The tip of Luna’s blade pointed to the base of his neck. “I am not seeking power, not after how you tricked me with your false promise last time.”
The stallion eyed the dark blade, and then looked back at Luna. “Still sour about that whole Nightmare Moon thing, huh? For your information, I did not give you a false promise, I gave exactly what you wanted; power to make the night last forever.”
“You turned me into a monster!”
The stallion gave the alicorn an insulted look. “That wasn’t my doing, Luna, that was all you. All that rage, all that desire to be appreciated, every emotion and thought you put out as Nightmare Moon all came from your heart, not from mine.”
Luna scowled at the stallion, and the tip of her blade slightly inserted into his neck, making a small hissing noise. “Find my sister,” she ordered threateningly.
The stallion let out a small, pained grunt. “As you wish Luna, but your blade is making it hard to concentrate.”
Luna’s scowl deepened as she withdrew her blade from the stallion, but still held the tip towards him. The stallion rubbed the part of his neck where the blade had rested for a bit before walking towards a spot in Celestia’s room. He trotted around in a circle looking at nothing, or to Luna he was looking at nothing. She could tell he was studying something by the criticizing expression he was making with his face. He then stopped his circling pacing as he lifted a hoof up to the air and tapped it against nothing. His hoof made contact with an invisible wall, and a portion of the air rippled with waves as water does when a stone is thrown into it.
“Interesting,” the stallion remarked. “Not only was this portal made by the power of chaos magic, but I do sense a bit of void magic as well.”
“Can you reopen it,” Luan asked with some small sense of hope in her voice.
“Sadly, no. I’m not powerful enough to do something like that. However,” he glanced towards Luna, “if we merge together again, then our combined powers should be able to do it.”
“No,” Luna instantly responded. “I won’t let you trick me like last time.”
“Oh come now, Luna, I’m trying to help you here. That’s all that I have ever done for you since we met.”
“The last time that I trusted you to help me like that ended with me becoming Nightmare Moon,” Luna growled.
“A side effect of our merge, void magic is not always predictable. I did warn you that some changes would occur. You’re lucky they weren’t that major.”
“Weren’t major? Weren't major!? Do you have any idea what happened to me because of you?” Luna shouted.
“I only granted you power, like I said I would, everything else that happened after our merger was your doing. I can not change the nature of someone’s heart, Luna. Nightmare Moon is not me, it is you, or the darkness of your heart. Now I might have accidently drawn it out of you, but it’s not my fault. The actions you committed as Nightmare Moon all came from you, from your true dark nature.”
Her heart stung in guilt, knowing what the stallion said was partly true. But things were different this time... maybe she should... “Will my appearance change back to that of the Nightmare if we merge together again?” Luna asked slowly as she pondered the idea.
“Yes, but you can forge a new story, Luna. ‘Nightmare Moon’ is feared by many ponies, but by rescuing your sister, you can help ease that fear from them. You wouldn’t have to fear, or be ashamed to walk out in public view and have ponies run away in fear, you will be admired once more by everypony.” The stallion's voice was soothing as he spoke. He held out his hoof towards Luna. “Come, let’s join once more, together we can save your sister and become the most powerful force in all of Equestria.”
Luna thought deeply about this. She started to form a word, but she quickly shut her mouth while shaking her head. “No... I can’t...” She then lowered her head, allowing shame to cover her face. However, it quickly hardened and she looked up giving a strict glare at the stallion. “I won’t,” she firmly stated.
The stallion frowned. “Why?”
“I can’t trust you; you’ve lied to me before, and more importantly, I can’t trust myself. If you said Nightmare Moon was the result of the darkness in my heart, then I can’t risk letting that happen again.” She took in a deep breath. “I release you from this world, go back to the void Ueirn, go back to where you belong.”
The stallion gave a dark glare at Luna, but it quickly vanished. “As you wish, Luna. But don’t think you can get rid of me that easy. No matter how far you try in pushing me away, I will always be with you.” The stallion walked into the shadows and vanished.
Luna let out deep sigh, lowering both her blade and head. Thinking of the decision she almost made.