//------------------------------// // Two Masks, One Whole. // Story: Writer's Block. // by xXCondemnedSoulXx //------------------------------//         The two pieces to a whole puzzle sat there quietly, side by side on a magically drawn cart towards their destination. Daylight’s Break, and Darkmoon’s Crescent. There was a lingering tension, and a hidden rage buried deep within Daylight. The pressure wouldn’t calm, and then it manifested into a hideous and catastrophic anger.  After awhile, he finally snapped.         “Where in the living hell were you!?” Screamed Daylight, he couldn’t seem to cap his rage, it only seemed to grow as he sat beside Dark.         “Well, let’s see. hmm..” The elderly Darkmoon sat thinking for a moment. “I’ve been on the road for sometime now, first, about a couple weeks ago, I was sent on a mission by Celestia and Luna, it was a more than personal kind of mission but nevermind. Then, I went up to the old Gildergreen Hallows, they’re pretty peaceful this time of year, then I tried going back to the Hive but this kind of shield has been keeping me away from my wife and children. It’s like I’m being kept away for a reason, but as to what? I have no answers. I only wish to see my wife, and my children.” Daylight felt a twinge of sympathy for the old guardian, forgetting his own problems.         “I only wish to go back home, I don’t belong here.” Daylight told Darkmoon, to which caused Dark to look at him suspiciously.         “Why not just stay here?” He asked curiously. “You seem fine here, why would you want to go back to earth?” He didn’t seem to comprehend the severity of Day’s situation.         “I’ll explain it to you, but it might take some time.” He told the elderly guardian, to which he nodded and smiled.         “It’s ok, we’ve got plenty of time.” Time passed as did the miles, and after a lengthy explanation of his situation, Dark’s face seemed to be twisted by confusion. He was processing the whole scenario within the walls of his mind. Trying to solve the rubiks cube of a mystery such as this. After being told that he himself was a character in a fictional story, that if Daylight didn’t return to his own world, if he couldn’t continue the story, that he would cease to exist. He found security in his falsehood though. To Darkmoon, his world, his life and his family, they were all real within his mind and heart. Everything was real, and that’s all that mattered. But now, the old guardian had a new mission, to protect his creator, and to safely return him back to his own realm. “So Day, where do we begin our search to return you home?” Dark asked with a confused tone. “Well, the exact place we’re in the process of heading. I may not find the portal, or gateway back to my world inside the hive, but I believe I’ll at least find some clues as to where it is.” Daylight told the confused guardian. The elderly man began to rub his chin as he contemplated,“That’s not going to be easy, with the whole force field keeping us away.” He exclaimed. “I’ll figure it out when we get there, but for now..I guess it’s a good time as any to do this.” Daylight raised his hand and gave dark a shot to the arm. Dark gave a slight grunt in pain at the punch. “That’s for everything that’s happened since I got here!” “How was any of that my fault?” He asked as he rubbed his arm. Day thought to himself for a moment,“Well, if you had at least shown yourself to Celestia and the others, I wouldn’t have had to go through any of this and I’d probably already be back in my world by now, maybe even sooner!” Day snorted in anger as he finished yelling. “Well, since you’re my “Creator”, you should already know why I don’t go around Ponyville all that often anymore, having a family and all back at the hive.” He stated with a touch of frustration. “Still, it would have been nice to have been able to sleep. I’m just saying.” The roads ahead were a constant warzone on that small magic drawn cart, but feelings seemed to ease as their destination continuously came closer as the wooden wheels turned and clanked. As they rolled overtop a small hill, the once far distant Mystic Mountains were finally within a few miles. The cart trudged along as Dark reached into his pack and began strapping his armor on. That was when a far forgotten memory kicked into Daylight’s mind,“Hey, I’m sorry I forgot to tell you this, but I just remembered it! I went into your house back in Ponyville and took the scroll of dreams. Yeah, thought I should tell you.” Dark looked to him with a bit of confusion,“What did that actually do though? When I found it all those years ago, I never understood its purpose.” “Well, it basically grants the user the ability to summon anything he or she desires at any given time, though for it to be summoned, it needs to be within a certain distance of the user. I made it this way because someone could summon something extremely hostile, this way they’d be in danger as well so.. it basically “Nerfed” the scroll. Originally, in the rough draft of my.. our story, the scroll was meant to be stolen by someone.” Daylight thought to himself for a moment and gave a small laugh,“Then again, I did take it.. huh.” “So who was it going to be stolen by?” Dark asked with a hint of curiosity. “Well, think about it, who else has access to your house, your safe and basically knows everything you know?” Daylight asked. The elderly guardian began thinking to himself momentarily. His eyes slowly opened a bit at the surprise of his answer. “Oh.” Dark leant back against the seat as he finally finished strapping his armor on. “That’s a bit depressing. My own child.” “Yep, but then again, original draft, this is not the original draft. This is the final draft. And, if I am correct and I hope I am, this is the part of the story where the guild has been disbanded and the last book is just in progression?” He got an odd look from Dark. “Oh yeah, you wouldn’t know. Well, the guild isn’t still... going, right?” Asked the curious Day. The guardian shook his head and Daylight returned to his thoughts. Day placed his hands on his face, covering his mouth and began questioning himself,‘Alright, think. The guild’s been disbanded, the others are mercenaries, Dark’s spending a lot of time away from the cities. Wait.’ Day pulled himself away from his complexing thoughts and gazed over to Dark. He quickly reached over and grabbed Dark’s chestpiece and began unstrapping it.         Dark, taken by surprise, began questioning Day. “And just what do you think you’re doing?”         Day quickly responded,“I’m just checking something really quick.” He finally unstrapped the armor piece and drug his hand inside of Dark’s shirt, feeling his chest.         “What the?” The elderly guardian said worriedly.         Day gave a little laugh as he thought about what he was doing, it was actually surprising that even with his age, Dark maintained a well toned body. “Nice.” After he returned to the task at hand, he felt around for any weird markings. The moment dragged on, for both him and Dark, but he couldn’t be sure of anything at the moment. “Take your shirt off.”         “What?”         “Oh come on, it’s not like you have something I don’t.”         Dark gave this a thought for a moment, seeing as how they were technically the same person. “Hm. Ok, I guess. It’s still a bit odd though.” He undid his pauldron and then his shirt. With his chest exposed, Day examined in for a moment. He gave off a small ‘hmm’ and then told the elderly guardian to put his gear and shirt back on. “So? Find anything you were actually looking for?” He questioned.         “Thankfully, no. Other than the few cuts, scrapes and scars that come along with casual fighting, I didn’t see the ‘Seven’ scar. So that means the hive should still be normal.”         “Ok, I’m not sure what that means, but I’m going to just assume I shouldn’t question it.” Dark reassembled his clothes and gear then turned ahead. He saw that they were approaching the barrier that kept him away from his family for these past weeks. It shone with a bright yellow and orange, shimmering under the light of the moon that loomed over the two for these past few hours. “There it is, the barrier.”         Daylight looked ahead and seen it. It was a large sphere surrounding the entire mountain and the nearby hive. “I wonder, did Ditzy and Dusk get in?” The question rang throughout his mind and it almost began to worry him, but he pushed the thought away for the time being, assuming that they were safely inside the holds of the hive and the barrier.         “Dusk is here? You sent her to the hive?” Dark asked.         “Yes, I sent her, Ditzy Doo and one of my favorite creations there. Hopefully they made it inside, though I’m not sure if they are.”         Dark took a deep breath and smiled,“For the first time in awhile, I’ll finally be able to see my granddaughter.”         “About that..” Day gave off a few uneasy laughs.         “What? Is something wrong?” Dark asked.         Day placed his hand against his neck and rubbed it nervously,“Well, it could be considered that way, maybe.”         “What is it your not telling me Day?” Dark gave the author a confused glare.         Daylight took a deep breath and thought of the best possible way to explain his side of his story with Dusk. Their little moments, their fights, their laughs, their feelings. But as he thought of Dusk, his words became ramblings. He couldn’t seem to find the right words to express the way he felt for the mare. To him, she was almost indescribable. But there is never an easy way to explain to someone’s grandfather, that you’ve fallen for his adopted granddaughter. Sure, Darkmoon’s Crescent and Daylight’s Break were entirely different people, they were still considered the same person.         “I.. I.. I think I love Dusk.. and I think that I’d like to be more than her friend.” Daylight closed his eyes and awaited his punishment from Dark. Silence filled the air, the wind and the sound of the wheels chattering across the rocky path were the only sounds that occupied the air. There they sat, quiet and seated.         “I know I should refuse this, but from what you’ve told me. That you protected her from the stallion in the Canterlot dungeons, taken her on an adventure away from the lonely space of that small shop she worked in for years, exiling herself away from everyone and everything. How you’ve shown her so much within such a short time, I don’t think I have the right to refuse you. But  I am an old fashioned man, and I like that you told me this, and have asked me for my grandchild. You have my permission, though it is not up to me to make the decision, it’s up to Dusk to decide.” Dark gave Day a smirk and happy eyes, and Day did the same.         They finally arrived on the brink of the glowing force field and the cart came to a complete stop. Both exited the cart and stood before the wall, examining it closer and further. But that was when Daylight noticed something, the reflection. The reflection was hardly noticeable but it was just clear enough to make out something lingering. Daylight pulled back and wiped his eyes to make sure this figure wasn’t real, but it was. He stood there, eyeing the figure, unsure as to why it was there, where it came from or as to why it had shown itself. It was something he’d met before, though it was through another’s eyes.         It was the Inner Demon. Smiling, waiting.