//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Don't Say Goodbye // Story: Refracted Love // by Silentpegasus //------------------------------// Chapter 10 Don’t Say Goodbye. Geode sat in his room planning for his first Nightmare Night celebration. The sky outside was turning orange as the sun went down. He went through multiple ideas in his head, but they seemed idiotic. Hmm....maybe a barbarian? Nah. He thought as he exited his room. The red colt trotted downstairs to see Twilight looking at her Starswirl the Bearded outfit and smiled. “Hey Geode, what are you going as?” “I’m still trying to figure it out.” He said with a sigh. “I told you to plan ahead.” She said in a nagging tone. “Yes, mom.” He said in a sarcastic tone. The stallion sat on the couch and let out a sigh. The colt cracked open his copy of Lord of the Ponies: The Coltship of the Horseshoe. The red colt started reading where he left off. After getting through two pages an idea hit him. Geode closed the book and ran outside. “I’ll be right back Twilight.” He said as he hoped down into the tunnel system. Geode galloped down the passage until he got to the main room and made his horn flare. A chest appeared in front of him. The red colt smiled as he opened the chest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Across town at the Crusader clubhouse The CMC were putting their costumes on. The orange filly had donned a pirate hat and a brown coat over her back. The filly was also sporting a wooden sword and a cap pistol. Sweetie Belle was donning a white Princess outfit with a matching tiara. The farmer was wearing her mane in a ponytail and a dark cloak that dropped across her back. She had a pumpkin hat with two triangle eyes cut out in the front. “So what are you again Applebloom?” Scootaloo asked. “Like ah said before, I’m a pumpkin demon.” The filly said as the three walked out of their club house. The fillies then met up with Rainbow Dash, who was dressed up like Daring Do. Applejack, who was wearing a scarecrow outfit. Rumble and Pipsqueak. The blue colt was wearing a wonderbolt outfit, while the white earth pony who usually sported pirate attire was wearing a black mask with a similar dark costume. The orange filly thanked that she was wearing a mask to cover her blushing cheeks. “Hey Pip.....I thought you were going to be a pirate.” Scootaloo said in a nervous voice. “Aye, I was......I mean. You talked about ninja’s so much that I decided to look them up and they seemed cool.” He said as he blushed. The orange filly could feel her heart beating one hundred times a minute. “Can we get going?” Rumble asked. “I’m with ya on that one. There are tons of pranks to pull tonight.” Dash said with a laugh. As she took a step forward the ground opened up and a mud covered Geode made bone chilling scream. Rainbow immediately hopped twenty feet into the air with a scream. The red colt fell on his back clutching his sides at her reaction. “Gotcha!” He yelled as the farmer snickered to herself. “Good one kid. You got me.” Rainbow said as she landed on the ground. Applebloom felt her face flare up as she saw the colt brush the mud off his body revealing his deep red coat. “Hey where’s your costume?” Rumble asked. “Oh right I’ll be right back.” He said as his horn flared and a sphere of rock formed around him. Scootaloo walked up next to Applebloom with a smug grin on her face. “Your night is already made.” The yellow filly blushed at the Pegasus’s words. “Oh hush.” She stammered. “Come on now AB.” The orange mare said with a smile. “Ah've seen how you look at him.” “SIS!” The filly yelled. “Relax squirt. Everypony has a crush at your age.” Rainbow said with a sigh. “Really? I doubt he’s my knight-” She was cut off as the sphere broke away. The ponies looked in surprise as they saw the small red colt donning a shining suit of crystal like armor. The rocks were a deep red and the head piece covered the back of his head allowing his black mane to stick out. His face was exposed revealing his smile. “In shining armor.” She finished as she felt her face flare up. “Well, what do you think?” He asked as he looked at the ponies. “Dude you look awesome!” Rainbow said with a smile. “How’d you make that?” Applejack asked. “Just something I threw together last minute.” He said as he cracked his neck. He then noticed Applebloom’s costume and he blushed. “You look......good.” The filly said with a smile. “As do you. Now let’s go.” He said as he trotted off through the town. The group of foals were soon joined by Twilight and Spike. The lavender mare was wearing her Starswirl the Bearded costume. While Spike was wearing a dragon outfit. “Hey guys.” Spike said with a smile. “Sup Spike. Real creative costume.” Geode said in a sarcastic tone. “Ha ha. What are you supposed to be?” “A knight.” He said in a flat tone. “Nice costume. When did you make it?” Twilight asked. “Five minutes ago.” Geode said with a grin. Pinkie rushed up dressed up as a chicken. “Enough talk! Time is candy!” She said in a serious tone. “Aren’t you a little old for this Pinkie?” Geode asked as he cocked an eyebrow. “To old for candy?” The pink mare let out a gasp. “Never!” She said as she took off into the town. The ponies rolled their eyes and made their way through the packed streets of Ponyville. “Hey why don’t we get a group picture?” Pip suggested. The foals nodded and got in front of a tan Unicorn stallion who had a camera. Geode was between Applebloom and Rumble. The foals all smiled as the unicorn made the camera flash. The stallion opened the back and made six copies and levitated them over to the foals. After the picture the adult’s went off to chat with one another. The foals ventured off into the dark street’s of Ponyville. The foals stopped at a house and rang the doorbell. The foals held open their bags. After they received their they compared with one another. “I got a piece of gum.” The farmer announced. “I got a packet of licorice.” Rumble chimed. Geode stuck his hoof into his bag and felt something hard. “I got a rock.” The red colt said as he looked at the red object. The foals giggled at his response. “What?” “That’s not a rock. It’s a jaw breaker. You suck on it.” Pip clarified. “Hey why don’t we split up? We can get loads more candy that way.” Rumble said with a smile. “Good idea. We’ll meet back at the club house in an hour.” Pip said with a smile. The ponies broke into teams of two; Pip went with Scootaloo, Sweetie went with the Wonderbolt and Geode left with Applebloom by his side. The two foals kept quite as they tried to hide their blush from one another. “So.....how did ya make that costume in five minutes?” Applebloom asked. “Magic.” He said as he gulped. “What are you supposed to be?” “A pumpkin demon.” She said as she blushed. “Looks good.” He said as the two went to the next house. The two foals continued to go to the house chatting with one another. Once in a while Geode felt like he was being watched by something from the shadows. “So Applebloom, Where’s Big Mac?” “He’s off giving carriage rides to ponies around town and my sis is running the apple bobbing station.” She said with a smile. “Wanna go do that?” He asked. “Nah.” She said with a shrug. “Wanna go for a walk in the park?” She asks with a bright blush on her face. “Um...sure.” He said as he gulped. The two ponies made their way into the park and looked up towards the sky to see the moon shining brightly that was accented by the stars. “The sky looks good.” Geode said trying to make conversation. “Yeah, it does.” The filly blushed as the moonlight hit the colt’s costume making him shine a bright red. The filly sat closer to the colt. The filly gulped and gathered her courage. “Hey Geode can ah ask you something?” “Sure.” “What....What do you see me as?” The colt thanked Celestia for his deep red coat to help hide his blush. “I see you as a very close friend.” He said with a gulp. “A friend?” She asked. “Well....maybe a little more than that. I don’t know.” He said as his blush intensified. The filly looked at him and felt her chest start to beat loudly. Her body seemed to act on it’s own as he face drew closer to the blushing colt’s. Geode kept still as the filly drew her face closer to his. The colt could feel the filly’s breath against his face. Geode’s eyes shrank as he saw a shadow burst from the trees and towards himself and the filly. Geode grabbed the filly and jumped out of the way of the shadowy figure. “What in tarnation?” Applebloom said in shock. “Applebloom. Run.” Geode said with fear in his voice as he gazed upon the figure. “What?” “RUN!” He said as he threw her on his back and started to run away from the figure who charged at him. The red colt’s horn glowed and several walls of stone appeared behind him. The shadowy figure maneuvered through the walls and chased the two foals through the park. Geode’s horn glowed and a hole opened up in the ground. The tow foals went inside and found themselves in Geode’s tunnel system. “What are we doing down here?” Applebloom asked. Geode ignored the question and started shooting the support beams to the tunnel. As he reached the halfway point he heard the dark figure enter the tunnel and gallop after them. Geode waited at the end of the tunnel and smiled at the shadowy figure. “To quote Gandcolt the Grey; YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” The colt kicked the last support lose and the dirt from above started to fill in the tunnel. Geode’s horn glowed as he grabbed Applebloom and jumped up towards the ceiling. A bright red beam came from his horn and made a solid hole up to the surface. The colt grabbed the edges of the hole by his hooves and ran up the wall towards the surface. Twilight and her other friends were walking through town when a bright red magical beam shot up in front of them. The ponies looked down into the hole and saw Geode running towards the surface. Twilight’s horn flared and levitated him and the filly out as a massive amount of dirt spat out of the hole. The red colt landed and stared to pant heavily. “Geode, what in the name of Celestia is going on?” Twilight yelled. “Remember those Corrupted guys I told you about?” The mares nodded. “Looks like they’re still around.” He then got to his hooves and ignited his horn. The soil around him latched to his hooves and the red colt closed his yes. “Still down there huh?” He said as he sent a pulse of magic through the dirt and saw the outline of the stallion trying to dig up towards the surface. The red colt’s eyes started to glow as he raised his right hoof. He quickly brought it down on the earth and sent a massive wave of magic run through the earth. The ponies above felt the ground starting to shake and ducked underneath a few tables. As the shaking stopped the earth around the red colt crumbled away as he fell back and started to pant. Twilight and the others rushed to his side with concerned looks on their faces. The red colt slowly sat up and caught his breath. Deep below the surface the shadowy stallion felt all of his bones break and was laying in utter darkness. Master lend me the strength to complete my task. He thought as a pain on his left leg started to grow. The stallion opened his eyes which were now pitch black and spliced. The stallion grinned as he felt power flow through his broken body. The red colt’s eyes shrank as he felt a growing pain form in his shoulder. “No way.” He said as the ground started to shake again. A shadowy figure burst from the ground and landed in front of the group of mares. The once crystal blue stallion was wrapped in shadows and was heavily bleeding. “That hurt brat. Time for some payback.” He said in a spite filled tone. As he took a step forward Twilight immediately blocked his path along with the other five mares. “You lay a hoof on him and I’ll break you in half!” Twilight yelled. The stallion smirked and slammed his right hoof into the purple mare sending her flying against a table. Applejack and Rainbow Dash charged at the stallion who smirked and two shadows turned into two massive clubs and slammed the mares against the ground. “I don’t have time for this.” He stated. Pinkie appeared with what looked like a bright blue cannon with a pumpkin shoved in the end. “Eat this! Pumpkin Party Special!” She yelled as she hit the button on the back sending the orange vegetable flying at the stallion. The stallion smiled as two shadow’s formed blades and cut the pumpkin and cannon in half. The explosion from the cannon sent the pink mare flying back into a brick wall. Fluttershy was shaking as she stood between the dark pony and the colt. She glared at the stallion who seemed to freeze in place. “What in the name of-” “You do not! I REPEAT, DO NOT HURT MY FRIENDS!” She yelled. The stallion stood still as the shadows changed into tentacles and grabbed her hooves. The tentacles then whipped her into the side of the building. “Now where was I? Oh yes.” He said as he glared at the barely conscious colt. “Get away from them!” Geode bellowed. The stallion made the shadows into a large hammer and brought it down on the red colt’s body causing his armor to crack and come off. Geode could feel his diamond hard bones press against his inner organs and his mouth quickly filled with his own blood. As the stallion took another step forward he felt something land behind him. He spun around to see an enraged Princess Luna with her horn flaring a blue aura. The dark Princess brought her hoof down on the stallion who started to cough up blood. “THOU SHALL PAY FOR ACTIONS AGAINST OUR FRIENDS!” She yelled using the royal Canterlot voice. Her horn flared and a series of pillars sprouted up around the shadowy stallion. The stallion tried to move his body but found no strength. “What? But the power-” He said as the shadows stared to dissipate. “GUARDS! WATCH HIM!” Luna yelled as four night guards appeared and stood guard around the stallion. Luna quickly rushed over to Geode’s side and looked at the injured colt. “Are you alright Geode?” She asked in a worried tone. “I’m fine. Go check on the others.” He said as he slowly got to his hooves. Luna nodded and hurried over to Twilight. The lavender mare opened her eyes to see Luna looking down at her with a concerned look on her face. Twilight sat up and felt a splitting pain in her head. “Princess Luna? What are you doing here?” She asked as she put a hoof to her head in pain. “I sensed a large amount of dark magic in Ponyville and I came as soon as I was able.” She said as she helped her to her hooves. The Unicorn’s eyes shrank as she remembered the events. “GEODE!” She yelled as she ran over to the injured colt. Luna watched as the other mares sat up and looked around to see that the festivities had turned into a disaster. Geode was sitting up as Twilight looked him over and the five other foals crowded around their friend. The other mares limped over to the crimson colt who was panting heavily. “Are you okay?” She asked in a concerned tone. “I’ve been through worse.” He said as he got to his hooves. Luna let out a sigh and summoned a quill and parchment. She scribbled a quick note and made the piece of paper vanish. “I’ve sent my sister and Captain Armor a letter of what transpired here.” Luna said as she looked at the mares. “Thank you Princess.” Twilight said as she hugged the colt. “What did that psycho want?” Dash asked in confusion. “Me.” Geode said as he hung his head in shame. “That’s a corrupted member.” The mares looked at him in shock and then over to the guarded stallion. “My guess is that he was sent to kill me.” He said as he lowered his head. A bright flash of light filled the town causing the ponies to shut their eyes. As they opened their eyes they saw Princess Celestia standing beside Shining Armor. The guard Captain rushed over to his sister’s side and breathed a sigh of relief. The tall Alicorn Princess walked in front of the force field and stared at the barely conscious stallion. “You will tell us everything you know.” She said in a stagnant tone. “You’ll have to make me.” He barked. “Very well. Guards, escort him to the dungeon.” She said as the night guards nodded. The barrier was released and the guards surrounded the stallion. Geode saw the guard Captain approach the stallion with an angered look on his face. His eyes shrank as the stallion put something in his mouth and bit down on it. “Shining get away from him!” Geode yelled. “Huh?” The prisoner’s body started to shift and contort. Geode’s horn flared and slammed his hooves onto the ground. The stallion was suddenly surrounded by four massive rock walls, cut off from the guards and their captain. “What are you-” Shining was cut off as a massive crystal broke through the walls and sprouted towards the sky. The massive crystal started to break apart and fall to the ground. “What did he just do?” The captain asked. “He ate a creeping rock bomb. It’s a type of suicide pill Sombra issued for his soldiers. It explodes and makes the body into a living bomb.” Geode said with a sigh. The colt felt his vision blur as he blacked out. Shining Armor hurried over to him and scanned him with his horn “He’ll be okay. He’s just exhausted. A good nights rest is all he needs.” Shining said with a sigh. Celestia trotted up to the colt and looked at Twilight with a blank expression on her face. “Twilight, meet me in the library.” She said as she walked off towards the tree. “Bring Captain Armor and Luna with you as well.” She said without stopping to look back at her student. Twilight gulped and followed the white Alicorn with the sleeping red colt on her back. The other mares rounded up the foals and went home. Twilight had a feeling of dread as she entered the library and saw Princess Celestia sitting down waiting for them patiently. Twilight walked up stairs and gently placed the red colt in his bed. Twilight silently closed the door and made her way downstairs. Luna had made a pot of tea and was pouring it in a cup for their sister and the two Unicorns. Twilight took her seat across from her teacher. “What did you want to discuss Princess?” Twilight asked. “It’s about Geode. I’m sorry Twilight, but.....I have to take him away.” The other ponies looked at the solar god in shock. “What why?” Twilight stammered. “It’s for his protection. It’s obvious that these...Corrupted members Cadence had mentioned are still alive and will most likely come after him again.” She said with a sigh. “Isn’t that a little extreme your highness?” Shining asked. The Alicorn narrowed her eyes at the stallion who gulped. “I agree with Captain Armor sister. The poor child has spent a thousand years-” Luna was cut off as the white alicorn raised a hoof. “I’m well aware of the hardships he’s gone through.” She said in a flat tone. “So you should know that it would only damage him further.” Luna protested. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Celestia said in a stagnant tone. Twilight glared at her mentor in confusion. “Princess, I don’t understand. You’ve never acted like this before. Why are you so fixated on Geode?” Twilight yelled. The Alicorn Princess let out a sigh “I’m concerned for his safety and as Cadence explained to me. He still hasn’t gotten control of his magic.” “I’ve been teaching him.” Twilight stammered. “Please Princess, don’t take him away.” Twilight begged with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry Twilight, but my decision is final.” She said in a low tone. “I will return tomorrow for him.” She said as she got to her hooves. “Come Luna, we’re leaving.” The blue Alicorn looked at Twilight with a saddened look on her face. “Yes, sister.” Luna said in a spiteful tone. The guard captain gave his sister a hug and nodded at her. “It’ll be okay.” He said trying to sound reassuring. The captain stood beside the Princess’s and vanished in a flash of light. Twilight slumped to the ground and felt tears roll down her face. Spike walked over to her and put a claw on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay Twilight. Celestia is a great teacher and you can go and see him whenever you want.” Spike said with a smile. Twilight wiped the tears away and sniffled. “You’re right Spike. Geode might even be excited, he’ll learn from the best.” She said trying to convince herself. The mare trotted upstairs and peeked into the colt’s room. She saw him sleeping peacefully. The mare smiled as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Twilight closed the door and made her way to her own room. The mare crawled into her bed and tried to get some sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight woke up mid morning to the sound of somepony knocking on her door. She let out a heavy sigh and made her way to the door. She opened int to see Celestia, Luna, Cadence along with her friends and the other five foals. “Hey Twilight.” The farmer said as she and the others entered. “The Princess came to our houses last night and filled us in.” “Yeah, I figured.” Twilight said in a saddened tone. “Still, it’s a good opportunity he get’s to study under Celestia after all.” She said as she forced a smile. “Ya don’t have to lie to us Twi. We know how you feel.” Dash said with a sad look on her face. “We wanted to say goodbye and wish him luck.” Rumble said with a smile. “I think he’d like that.” She said as she went upstairs and trotted into the colt’s room. She saw the red object sleeping on it’s side with the covers pulled over.”Geode. It’s time to get up. There’s something we need to talk about.” The red colt refused to budge. “C’mon Geode.” She said as she jostled him. As he hoof touched his shoulder she heard a cracking noise. She screamed as the colt’s body broke apart like a glass vase. The ponies hurried upstairs and looked at the scared mare and the empty bed filled with dirt. “What happened here?” Cadence asked. “I just tapped him on the shoulder and then this!” She yelled as she pointed to the mound of earth. The dragon then noticed a red jewel in the center of the dirt. “Hey what’s this?” He asked as he held up the jewel. “That’s a recorder crystal. It’s a way of holding messages.” Cadence clarified. The dragon handed it to Twilight. As the rock touched her hoof the crystal started to glow and an image of the red colt appeared before them. "Twilight if you’re getting this now then that means that you’ve discovered my rock clone. I heard the conversation you and the Princess had last night.” The mare held her head in shame. “I know you want what’s best for me but I refuse to be treated like a prisoner again. I do agree with the Princess on one note; It’s too dangerous for me to stay here.” The mare’s felt tears forming in their eyes. “Don’t bother looking for me. I’m probably hundreds of miles away by now. I need to discover my own path in this world.” The image had tears in it’s eyes. “I’ve had to say goodbye to a lot of friends and I refuse to say it here. This isn’t goodbye, I’ll be back someday.” The yellow filly couldn’t stop the torrent of tears running down her face. “I’ll see you all again.” The image started to smile as it faded away. The ponies looked in shock as the image of the smiling colt evaporated. Applejack was comforting her distraught sister as Twilight slumped to the floor. Celestia gulped and hung her head as a small smile crept across Luna’s face. Good luck Geode. The blue Princess thought as a tear rolled down her cheek. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Off in the distance the red colt smiled as sun started to rise and the sunlight beamed over a mountain. Geode had a small set of saddlebags over his back and the red cloak Cadence had given him before he left for Ponyville as well as the knife he had received from the guard Captain. “I think it’s time for a new adventure.” He said with a smile as he ran down the road with a smile on his face.