Morning had come and both Luna and Volos were both up and about. Luna's blue fire burned out during the night leaving only burnt sticks and cold ash. Their slumbers went undisturbed that night and Luna was ready to move. The birds chirped and the sun poked out from the tops of the trees.
"Come on," she commanded, pointing to a small path in front of her. Volos nodded and followed Luna into the dense foliage and the insurmountable expanse of the trees. Volos watched Luna closely. His eyes never left the Midnight Blue Alicorn. Luna looked back and watched Volos bulldoze his way through the tree branches and shrubbery than she had moved with her magic. "You really are a wrecking ball," she muttered to herself. Volos groaned, signaling that he had heard her.
Volos caught up with Luna quickly and walked alongside her. They emerged out of the trees and into a clear space with a large cliff and the ruins of a castle on the other landmass across from it. From the distance that they were it looked like a great mass of rocks and overgrown weeds. The chasm that separated them was covered in grey fog and appeared to not have a bottom.
"We need to get over there. You're too big to teleport and I can fly over." Luna looked around and saw the decrepit rope bridge. "And that won't support you." She continued to think about their predicament.
Volos looked across the chasm and let his computer go to work.
...Activating leg muscle overcharge sequence...
...Sequence initiated...
The armor on his legs began to come apart revealing wires and spinning cylinders. Luna looked over, hearing the noise coming from his direction. She looked on as his legs began to glow blue and sparks flew across the wiring and circuitry contained within it. He took a running stance and waited for a second. His legs began to get louder with every passing second and the electrical charges began to increase.
...90 Percent....98 Percent...Fully charged...
The electrical currents arced from his massive legs and the cylinders arced with power. Volos pushed off the ground into a full sprint, enhanced by the charge in his legs became even faster. He reached the ledge of the cliff in less than a second and launched himself from the cliff.
He took off like a rocket and soared across the chasm with ease. Luna looked on dumbstruck. Volos landed on the other landmass and upon impact the electrical currents exploded from his legs and he fell to one knee. Luna worked herself out of her trance and flew to the other side. She walked up to him and watched as the plates and panels on his legs put themselves back into place.
"Well that solves that problem."
Volos stood back up and walked up to the front doors of the dilapidated castle. The wood was rotted all over and the brown of the lumber had turned near black by age. Luna joined him by the doors and opened them with her magic. She stepped inside with Volos by her side.
The grey stone walls were overgrown with Ivy and other wall crawling vines. The sunlight helped to illuminate the depressing atmosphere of the room. Two broken mounds of stone stood on one side of the room surrounded by intricate designs and the remains of, what had previously been sculptures. Luna walked up to the stone mound and put a hoof to it.
"This was Father's throne when he ruled over this place." She looked to the other. "And this was where Mother sat beside him," she remembered.
Luna walked away from the stone mounds and went across the room to a door on the other side of the crumbled thrones. She pushed the door with her hoof and the rusted hinges fell from their stone mounts and the door fell to the stone below. Behind the door was a hallway adorned with more overgrown vines and the remnants of pedestals that once held priceless treasures upon them.
Luna walked down the hallway and looking all around herself at the remnants of her previous home. She continued walking and her hoof landed on an object that made a crunching sound when he hoof landed. She looked down and saw a golden frame with an unrecognizable portrait on its canvas. Underneath the portrait was a worn and dirty plaque. Luna brushed dirt and grime of the plaque with a hoof and found a name etched into it.
"Alewar," she said aloud to herself. "That's father's name. This was his portrait. The only one there was of him." She knelt by the frame and looked at what was left of the canvas. "The one I destroyed." She was on the verge of tears when she felt a weight on her shoulder. She looked up and found that Volos had somehow managed to sneak up on her and was kneeling next to her. "I'm fine. It's just, this portrait, or what's left of it, brought up an unwanted memory." She stood back up and Volos did the same. "Let's keep going." They kept walking and found another large door inside the hall. They turned and opened the large wooden door. The hinges creaked with rust before coming to a halt.
The side room they had entered was slightly smaller than the throne room. The environment of the room was practically the same as the rest; overgrown and filled with rubble. In the center of the room was the rotted wooden remains of a large bed and broken wood was scattered all over the ground. Hanging limply on the wall was another unrecognizable portrait, again with a golden plaque underneath the frame. Luna walked over to it and stared at the plaque. Written in block letters was 'Drita.'
"Mother." Volos came up behind her and waited by her side. She turned away from the portrait and looked around the room again. "This was my parents room," she said in realization. I used play in here all the time. I would end up breaking lots of things and mother would give me a stern lecture but everytime I knew that she loved me. Father though, would scold me and ground me if even found me in here. I had to hide whenever he came in here and I was here." Her ear twitched and heard a noise coming from one of the rubble piles.
"Could you leave for moment please? I need to be alone right now." Volos complied and left the room, closing the door behind him. Luna waited until she could no longer hear his footsteps. "I know you're there. You can come out now." There was no response. "I can hear you. Come out, I won't hurt you," she said calmly.
A hoof appeared from behind a pile of rubble and a small colt came out from hiding. Luna was taken aback by his appearance. Light blue and mostly transparent. Luna was silent; not even her breathing could be heard.
"Is the monster gone?" he asked.
Luna waited before answering. "Yes, he's gone. Who are you?"
"I don't know, maybe my friend knows. Have you seen her?" he asked.
"Who is your friend?"
"I don't remember her name," he whimpered. "But she had wings and a horn, and a light blue mane." He was sniffling.
"Did she live here?" Luna asked. The little colt nodded. "What's your name?" she asked, her sense of dread growing.
He thought for a moment his face scrunching up in frustration. He made a series of noises as he thought hard. Eventually he spoke again. "Night Wind," he managed to say before relaxing.
Luna's face became one of dread and fear. "Night wind?" she asked, unsure of what she heard. He nodded. Luna placed a hoof to her mouth and her eyes began to sting. "No... No... Please no," she whispered. "What happened to you?"
"Um... Ah... Ugh," he thought, straining his young mind. "I remember being really frightened and then something really heavy hit me and then I was cold and I didn't hurt anymore."
Luna felt like her heart was about to explode with grief. Her world came crashing down around her again. Tears flowed from her eyes and she fell to her knees still holding her hoof over her mouth. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry," she choked out between sobs.
"Don't cry miss. I'm okay, really," he tried to comfort her. "Please. You're making me sad," he began to whimper.
"It's my fault. My fault you're like this," Luna cried. "Can you ever forgive me?"
"What's your fault?"
"Night Wind, my name is Luna. I'm the friend you've been looking for."
Night Wind's face scrunched up again. "But..." He thought. "You don't look like her at all," he half-yelled through his strained thoughts.
"It's me Night Wind. I've changed because I left."
"No! I don't believe you!" he shouted.
"It's me! I promise!"
"You're not her! She wouldn't leave me! She's still here somewhere! I just can't find her!" he began to cry. Luna inched closer to the apparition before her and reached out with a hoof. Night wind backed away quickly. "Stay back!" He ran off in the opposite direction screaming for his friend before vanishing from sight.
Luna dropped her hoof and lay on the ground. She curled up into a ball and cried. "Night Wind," she whimpered. "It's all my fault. All my fault."
2
Volos trekked through the hallway again, leaving Luna on her own. Volos looked around at the remains of what stained glass was still visible through the dirt on them. He noticed one that caught his attention. The glass was a dark purple and blue with a figure in the center. He walked over to inspect it closer.
He hummed a low sound and studied the figure in the center of the painting. A large moon hung behind her and the creature itself wore a helmet and had a pitch black coat and a starry mane flowing from her head. He let out one of his swords and jumped up to the window, stabbing the sword into the stone he hung there, looking at the glass.
After a while of studying the stained glass he sheathed the sword and fell to the ground. He landed with a *thud* and continued his stroll. He neared two passageways, each leading elsewhere in the castle. Volos stood at the entrances and remained, weighing his options.
As he stood his vision became full of static and fizzled for a second. He shook his head unsure of what had happened. He could hear a voice but it was faint. He turned back around and began to walk back to where Luna was. As he approached his vision was becoming staticky more often as he approached. He continued his approach relying on his scanners for direction as got closer. He stood in the doorway and found Luna reaching for something that wasn't there, with tears coming from her eyes and she was crying out to whatever it was.
Volos felt a cold chill pass through him and he groaned as his internal circuitries and other components cooled rapidly before heating back up to normal levels. As the chill went through him his vision staticked out and he couldn't see for a bit before his vision cleared itself again. He looked at Luna and she was curled into a ball and was mumbling to herself between her sobs. He knelt down and scooped her into his arms, her head resting by his shoulder.
He carried her over to the remnants of the bed and found a small piece of the mattress was still intact and he laid her down on it. She never acknowledged his presence and continued to cry. He knelt down once again and placed his hand to her cheek and stroked it slowly. He removed his hand after a bit and returned to his standing position. He went back to the door and looked around the entrance way. His scanner had picked up a faint electromagnetic signal. As he observed the signal became stronger and stronger until his vision was becoming staticky again. He followed his scanners directions and began to follow the signal, relying solely on the scanner. His could no longer see but the scanner gave him enough to go on until the found that the trail had stopped.
In front of him was a stone wall. He tapped the wall and his audio receptors found a hollow point. He stepped back and kicked the stone away. The stones crumbled under the force and they revealed a blue see-through doorway. He reached for the blue screen and his hand passed through it without trouble. He followed his hand and walked through the doorway into a dark room.
The only light was coming from the entrance that he had just made. His vision was still not functioning properly and he listened for any indication of where he might be. He heard loud clunks and a discharge of steam and a hydraulic system activate. A massive door shut, blocking the entrance. Volos felt the room begin to descend. He waited until it stopped and the large door opened again.
The static in his eyes cleared and he activated his night vision, encompassing everything in yellow lines and a green hue. He stepped through the door and looked at the limited amount of things he could see. He could see consoles and various types of medical supplies and equipment scattered about the room. In the center was a large metal table standing nearly upright. All around him were large metal hooks that dangled from chains on the ceiling. As he stepped farther in his shoulder clipped one and the chain links clanked and rattled.
The door shut once more and the lights in the room came to life in an instant, blinding Volos in his night vision mode. He turned it off and recovered from his temporary blindness. The room was now silver in color and plated in metal. He heard the console beep to life and he turned in that direction. Text appeared on the screens saying 'Sound Only.'
"Hello Volos," said a female voice. "I'm sure you already know who this is, but the video functionality is damaged." Volos grunted. "It's good to see you came to the coordinates I gave you, even if I had to lead in here myself," she said. "The time has come Volos. You are not yet complete and your abilities suffer for it." There was a silence from the monitors. "And as such you must be completed."
Volos heard something rolling and felt an impact in his shoulder. He grabbed the offending object and tried to yank it free but the hook was lodged in. As he struggled to remove the hook he heard more metallic clanks and the sound of scraping metal. He felt an impact on the back of his legs and he stumbled back and fell onto the metal table that was once in the middle of the room. His arms were restrained by large metal shackles that had come out from under the table and his legs were as well. The table moved back to its original position and lay flat. Volos struggled against the restraints and felt something smash into his chest. Another metal plate had come from the ceiling and was now holding him down. He could feel a burning sensation and immense pain. Clamps had attached to his shoulders and sent small drill head further into them to better hold Volos down. Then a number of medical tools came from the ceiling being guided by an unknown force. Drills spun as they neared, scalpels neared his body and needles pierced the weak points of his body.
He let out a loud roar.