//------------------------------// // The Lunar Mare // Story: Soren the Alicorn Part 3: A True Hero? // by KingNyroc15 //------------------------------// Soren ducked just in time to dodge the Lunar Mare trying to tackle him. She shot past Soren and halted her momentum behind him. Unfortunately for Soren, he wasn't quick enough to dodge the mare's buck to his back. Soren was sent flying down the hall past the sneaking Twilight. As Soren, who was still unrecognized by Twilight, recovered himself, Twilight Sparkle found her way into Princess Luna's bedroom. She was shocked to find the princess not only in a magical cage, but doing absolutely nothing inside. She just sat there, not even trying to escape! "Princess Luna, why are you just sitting there? Get out of that cage!" Twilight started to use her magic to try to destroy the cage. "Calm thyself, Twilight Sparkle!" Luna shouted while waving a hoof at the mare. "We are in here for our own protection. We shall not interfere with Soren's battle. 'Tis the assassin we are safe from at the moment, but I fear he was backstabbed." Twilight looked back at the hallway through the hole in the wall, but she couldn't see much of anything from her position. She heard fighting (or at least a one-sided fight) happening in the hallway. "Wait...so that stallion is...?" Luna nodded. "I guess my dream makes more sense now, but it doesn't matter. We need to help Soren." "You are right, Twilight Sparkle. The assassin is gone, and we fear that Soren may need more help than we think now that that mare donned the Nightmare Guardian's armor." Luna smiled as she removed the magical cage. "What is it your Doctor said? Onwards and upwards?" Twilight gave a small smile and followed Luna into the hallway. Down the hall, in the direction that Twilight arrived from, the two ponies were still fighting, except one of them refused to fight back. "Soren, fight back! What are you doing?!" Twilight shouted as loud as she could to get the stallion's attention. Soren was too busy dodging a tidal wave of attacks to look at his friend, but he at least he heard her. Gathering his breath slightly, Soren decided to respond. "I...I can't. I won't hurt her." In Soren's mind, the attacking mare looks exactly like Nyra. It would be too much if he was the one that killed her (or killed a pony that looked too much like her). His conscience was internally fighting with his brain. Soren was so conflicted that he'd rather let the mare hit him than fight back. Down the hall, Twilight was panicking and thinking of a plan, while Luna was standing regal and calm. "Soren!" Luna shouted. "I know this is hard to do, but thou must either kill her or let us kill her. There are no other options." Deep down, Soren knew Luna was right, but it was still too much. Who knows what will happen if he has to re-live Nyra's death? 'I'll just look away...yeah, it's that simple,' Soren lied to himself. Soren glanced over at Luna and nodded. Luna knew his choice. "Twilight, hold down the mare if possible." Twilight nodded and began to focus on solely the Lunar Mare. As she did this, she couldn't help but realize how that mare and Nyra looked similar. It finally clicked to Twilight why Soren refused to fight: He lost a friend right before his very eyes, so why would he want to fight, or even kill, somepony that closely resembled them? Soren threw the mare against the wall and tried to hold her there but to no avail. She headbutted him and sent him stumbling back. The mare nearly tackled Soren but was suddenly stopped. She noticed that she was enveloped in magical aura. The mare panicked and mentally asked her ancestors for help. However, the ancestors of the armor knew she wasn't Nyra and refused her plea. Cursing under her breath, the mare was brought to the ground. Luna approached her slowly with a serious stare on her face. The mare was truly becoming scared now. She just lost and was about to be punished, or worse. Princess Luna looked towards Soren, who was being hugged by Twilight as he looked away from the mare. Luna turned back to face the culprit, who now had sweat forming on her forehead. "Thou disgraced the Lunar armor and what it stands for. Even the ancestors punish you by refusing to cooperate. Now it is time for the ultimate and old punishment for attempting assassination against the rulers of Equestria." Luna closed her eyes and her magic aura started turning grey. She opened her eyes, which were now completely white, and focused on the mare. Soren clutched Twilight harder as he heard all of this occurring. 'Even hearing it might be too much for him,' Twilight worried. Luna's aura surrounded the mare. Luna walked up to her and pushed the medallion to retract the armor. She took it from the ex-waitress and continued with the mare's punishment. The aura around the mare started to become smaller and smaller. Pretty soon, the mare felt immense pain and started screaming. Soren tried covering his ears, but she was just too loud. Before the screaming could hit its highest point, it stopped abruptly. It was over; the mare was gone, and not a single drop of blood was spilled. "Shrunken from existence..." Luna muttered before looking at Soren and Twilight. She walked over to the stallion, who was strongly fighting against the oncoming tears. Soren, now back to his normal colors, looked at Luna and wiped away any tears that were on his face. "Even though..." Soren began with sadness in his voice, "even though she wasn't Nyra...it was like experiencing it all over again. I'm done...I'm done with all of this." The two mares were confused, but Twilight asked the question before Luna could. "Done with what?" Soren stared blankly, yet still with a tinge of sorrow and anger. "All of these...'adventures.' Putting ponies in danger; getting ponies killed, innocent or not; and most inportantly: never having enough time to spend with the ones I love. I'm leaving for Ponyville as soon as possible. When I get there, I'm taking a very, very long vacation." Soren turned his back to the mares and walked away. Twilight sighed. 'That's how the discorded Doctor was started; he questioned his adventures. Looks like things never change, even in different regenerations." Luna saw the distress on Twilight face and put a wing around her. "It is alright, Twilight Sparkle. Soren indeed deserves a long time off. He has been through so much in such little time. He has suffered losses and experienced deaths. If this goes on, he will surely snap, if he hasn't already. Take care of him. Keep him in Ponyville with all of your friends. If a crisis arrives, I shall count on you to tackle it first, but do not be afraid to ask for help from my sister and I." Twilight smiled and shed one tear—only one—before heading out of the royal palace. It was dark outside; Twilight assumed it was around ten o'clock. She needed to catch up to Soren and take the last train to Ponyville. As Twilight entered the train station, she saw her friend sitting on a bench, waiting for the train to arrive. He looked very depressed as he stared at the floor. Twilight slowly walked up to him and sat beside him. Soren never looked at the purple mare but that didn't stop him from conversing with her. "Why does life have to be like this?" Twilight was taken off guard by the strange question. She thought for a few seconds before answering. "Sometimes life can be cruel...but it's best to move on. No pony is telling you to forget about what happens, they just want you to move past it and get on with your life." She paused. "Soren... I was with the Doctor when he started questioning his adventures like this. He always found a silver lining, but...I think that you need to find a rainbow lining." Soren looked at the unicron and stared at her. He then looked forward through the windows at the starry night sky. "I guess you're right, Twilight. I shouldn't doubt my ability to save ponies, but it doesn't mean I will accept death as an option. The second we get to Ponyville, I'm going to find Rainbow Dash right away. It's time I spent a lot more time with her." Twilight started smiling. Not only because Soren was feeling better, but because she thought of a fantastic idea. "Soren!" she exclaimed excitedly and suddenly. The alicorn slowly looked at her. "Hearts & Hooves Day is coming up! You and Rainbow should celebrate it with something very special." This time it was Soren's turn to smile. He nodded at the brilliant idea. Eventually, the train arrived and the two friends got onboard. In their own train room, Soren looked at Canterlot through the train window. His expression changed to sorrow for a little but changed back to content when he looked at Twilight. He could now argue that she was his best friend. (End of The Lunar Assassin) (Next Arc: Planet Zero)