“Selene? What?” Hunter blurted out in surprise. “You... my... and the... what?... no, what? dreams? In my head? What?”
“I know that this must be fairly confusing for you...” Selene began.
“You think?” Hunter interrupted.
“BUT if you would let me explain, I’m sure we can get this sorted out.” Selene continued. “It is true, I do exist in your mind; and I have since the moment you arrived in Equestria.”
“How?” Hunter asked, still unsure of what he was being told.
“Luna and I were two separate entities locked in the same body. When I was in control I was Nightmare Moon, a being fueled by jealousy and sorrow. When the Elements of Harmony were used on me by Twilight Sparkle and the others, I was pushed back into the deepest parts of Luna’s mind; where I was trapped, unable to do anything except watch as Luna lived out her new life free of me.”
“What does any of that have to do with me?”
“When Luna accidentally brought you here I saw my chance. In order to keep you alive she needed to infuse a small portion of her magic into you. I just made sure that I was sent along with it. At the time, my plan was to take control of your body, overthrow Celestia and bring about the eternal night.”
Hunter raised an eyebrow at what he had just been told. “What changed?”
“I couldn’t do it.”
“Do what?”
“Take over your body.” Selene confessed. “I couldn’t do it; you have an amazing amount of willpower for a creature with no inherent magic. Even though I had managed to enter your mind, I found myself trapped there just like I was with Luna. I struggled now and then, but ultimately I couldn’t take control of you.”
“Then those strange dreams?”
“Were an effect of the memory spell you are now in.” the memory being said. “The spell was designed to send these memories into your dreams.”
“However, since I was a part of your mind,” Selene continued, “the spell didn’t work the way it was intended. Whenever I struggled to gain control, it left you receptive enough to receive the memories, but not enough to make sense of them.”
“So then, the headaches I would get whenever I got near one of the other alicorns or the Elements, was you?” Hunter asked.
“No, that wasn’t me.” Selene answered.
“If it wasn’t you, what was causing them?”
“Truth.” Memory Hunter said.
“Truth?” Hunter asked, the moment before a blinding light filled his eyes.
When his eyes focused again, Hunter found that he was still in the same room but several new beings where there as well. A large man holding what was left of a sword that was made from a dark metal stood next to a woman wielding a blade that shone like the sun. On either side of them was an alicorn, the first was a light blue colour whose mane and tail looked like rolling clouds; the second was a deep brown and its tail and mane appeared to be twisting, leaf filled vines. In front of them stood a demon, twice as tall as the man, each of its four arms ended in a series of long sharp claws.
“Caelum, Terra, why are you doing this?” the demon asked with a small smile, showing off is maw full of needle-like teeth. “Why are you fighting me? We should be working together.”
“We will no longer be a part of your madness, Chernabog.” Caulum, the blue alicorn said, his eyes narrowing.
“Madness? What madness?” the demon asked. “Are you referring to my plan to bring peace and harmony to this world?”
“Harmony?!” Terra, the vine cover one shouted. “The only thing you are after is death!”
“Don’t you see; death is harmony.” Chernabog smiled. “With everyone united in death, this land will have harmonious peace at last. So why do you resist? This is the very purpose you are meant to fulfill, the purpose your blood demands, the purpose I created you for.”
“You may have been the one that created us, you may have even given us a purpose,” Caelum said, as he and the other three slowly spread out to surround the demon, “but that purpose is not yours!”
“We are meant to bring about harmony,” Terra added, “but harmony is not the silence of death, it is the sound of everyone’s voice singing as one!”
“So you choose these insects over your creator! You will pay for your insolence!” Chernabog roared. The demon lunged forwards, bringing its claws down in an attempt to rend the blue alicorn in two. In a blur of motion, the man dashed forwards and intercepted the attack with his broken sword. The woman quickly followed suit, bringing her sword in a low arc, striking at the demon. Chernabog jumped back, avoiding the weapon then roared in rage.
“Keep him busy!” the female alicorn yelled. “We’ll try to use the Elements on him.”
The next few moments were a blur for Hunter, as he was barely able to keep track of what was happening in front of him. The two humans assaulted the demon with blinding speed, their perfectly coordinated assault kept the demon on the defensive, but no matter how well timed, or precise their attack they could not land a solid blow on the demon. As the deadly dance of sword and claws carried on, Hunter finally noticed a strange glow had begun to fill the room.
Six gem stone floated in front of the two alicorns, each one glowing from some internal light. As their faces twisted in concentration, the two alicorns sent the gems forwards, so that they surrounded Chernabog. With a brilliant, multi-coloured flash, the gems shot out some kind of energy at the demon. The beams twisted together, forming into a rainbow before striking Chernabog.
“Damn you!” Chernabog howled in rage as his body began to turn into stone. “You think this is over? Think again! I curse you, traitors! May your bodies and those of your descendants forever bring pain and madness to all humans! I exhale all of my hatred for you, human! May the air of this land be forever poisonous to you!” With that, the demon Chernabog was turned to stone.
There was another flash of light, and Hunter found himself somewhere new. He was standing in a dimly lit cave, looking at a massive metal door.
“Will this work?” Caelum asked, his voice drawing Hunter’s attention to the same group of four that he had been watching just a moment ago.
“It should.” the man said, as a look of pain came over his face. “His curse will be the perfect key. The door will only respond to human blood, and since his curse is forcing my people to leave this land, his prison shall remain shut.”
“We have also made arrangements,” the woman added, “should one day a human return to this world, so that they know of this place and to never open the door.”
“I am saddened to see you leave.” Caelum said. “But I am glad to have met both of you; Vir, Mulier, my friends.”
The image slowly faded away, and Hunter found that he was once more inside the ancient castle with the memory image and Selene. “So, that’s it then?” Hunter asked. “That’s what happened here?”
“Yes.” the memory image replied.
“Then why are we still here? Why haven’t we woken from this... place yet?”
“Because you still have one more journey to undertake.”
“Father!” Blueblood called out as he entered the small study.
Royal Blood sighed, and turned to face his son. “What is it?”
“I’ve found the way to open the vault!”
“You found the human?”
“Umm, no; what I found out that we don’t need him to open it.”
“What are you blabbering about?” Royal Blood said sternly, his eyes narrowing.
“We only need his blood, not him.” Blueblood explained.
“I know that!” Royal Blood yelled. “But we don’t have his blood now, do we?”
“Before he was captured, a doctor took several blood samples from him; samples that I have managed to acquire.” Blueblood said, levitating several small vials that were filled with a red liquid.
“Congratulations son, you are not completely useless.”