//------------------------------// // Ch 30: Painful Memories // Story: Out of the Darkness // by SergeantShenanigans //------------------------------// "This is bad, please don't let it be what I think it is" Celestia muttered to herself as she ran down one of the many hallways of the castle. She carried Star right behind her, who was still unconscious, and was also being followed by the ponies and dragon who had been in the room with him "What's wrong with him?" Twilight asked after finally catching up with Celestia "We will find out soon enough" she said in a worried tone After a few minutes of running they made it to the hospital "I need a doctor, now!" Celestia demanded "Right here princess, what is the problem?" Asked the doctor, who Celestia recognized as the one who had taken care of Star last time he was here "I need you to take a look at Star again, see if there is anything wrong with him" she said impatiently The doctor agreed and Star was taken into one of the many rooms in the hospital. After two agonizing hours of waiting the doctor reemerged from the hospital room with a confused look on his face "Is he okay?" Celestia asked in a voice full of dread "He is perfectly healthy, no more scars as far as I can tell, he just seems to be unconscious" he answered Celestia audibly groaned in despair "Please no, not this, please say I am wrong" she started to pace around the room "What is it?" Twilight asked feeling more scared than she ever had, usually when something went wrong the princess was still calm and in control, but with her being the one worrying it just made it all the worse for Twilight "I hope I am not right, I REALLY hope I'm not, but I think that his mind is catching up with his body" she explained "What? His mind left his body?" Pinkie asked in confusion "Not literally" Celestia hesitated before continuing "You've seen his scars and physical damage right?" she asked, she received nods from everypony "Well he received those while he was imprisoned in Discord's mind, but his physical body couldn't actually be transported into somewhere that only exists metaphorically, so his actual body was put somewhere else, while still taking the damage that he received while stuck in Discord's mind. When he came back to this realm, because he couldn't recall anything that happened, and because his body was mostly healed by then, his mind didn't register all of the damage that was done to it, but because his memories are coming back-" "His mind is simulating each and every scar and hit he received during his thousand plus imprisonment" Twilight finished her eyes widened in worry "That is just my theory, pray that I am incorrect" Celestia said with a nod before walking over to Star's room "But there is no way to tell until he wakes up" "What do we do until then?" Rarity asked "We wait" Celestia responded, a tear streaking from her eye All he could feel was pain, all he could think was pain, all he knew at the moment, was pure and agonizing pain. He didn't know what was happening, he didn't know why, or how, but all he could even register was pain so sharp that he felt he would rather end his own life or have it ended than endure this any longer. How long he had been there, he couldn't tell, but after what seemed like a hundred eternities, the pain stopped, it was so sudden that he couldn't register anything but the relief that the pain had ended. He could faintly make out laughing, maniacal laughter, laughter of triumph, laughter of revenge "It is time! I am finally being freed! Enjoy not being able to remember your life, and also enjoy your new life as an orphan earth pony!" he heard a delighted voice tell him, though he couldn't really register who's it was because most of his mind was still focusing on the relief of the pain's absence. He felt his eyes open, his brain was still having trouble coping with how much relief his body felt, after a few moments light started to fade into the endless darkness that now encompassed his eyesight, as his eyes slowly started to focus he could make out the color white on the ceiling. It took a long time, not that he noticed, he still couldn't focus his mind, but eventually his eyes focused enough to make out some of his surroundings, he couldn't move his head, but he could see the tip of something sharp above his eyesight. Eventually his mind started to become clearer, not enough to process deep thought or anything, but he could just see a light flooding in from the wall to his right "Or is that my left?" he thought, to his surprise, he was actually able to process thought. After what seemed like a very long time after that, he could finally see clearly again, his mind was just starting to clear up when he heard something moving near the wall on the opposite side of wherever the light was coming from. He heard a creak and an intake of breath, then all he could see was white. He heard heavy sobbing and felt his body being squeezed "You are okay! You woke up! I thought you weren't ever going to wake up again" he heard a voice say between sobs His mind started to clear up and he finally realized what had happened, he was spending time with his friends when he blacked out and "AH!" he inadvertently let out a yelp of pain The figure above him quickly got off of him "I am so sorry, did I hurt you?" He looked over at the figure to see none other than his mother. Her mane was disheveled, her eyes were bloodshot, and there were dried tears under her eyes "It's fine" he said quietly and carefully "W-what happened?" she asked hesitantly Star physically cringed at this "You don't have to think about it or say anything about it if you don't want to!" She said quickly Before Star answered to this he heard a slight sniffling noise and saw Twilight standing beside Celestia, her mane also a mess and just like Celestia, she also had bloodshot and tear streaked eyes "How long have I been out?" he asked "Two weeks" Celestia answered "Where am I?" he asked "Your room in the castle, you would have stayed at the hospital but, well, while you were living through THAT, you w-were screaming out of pain and terror, you sounded like you were being t-tortured, so I couldn't stand to be away from you for too long" she forced herself to explain As his mind went back to what had happened he cringed in pain again, just to have his mother immediately hug him in comfort again, whispering words of safety and comfort "Why aren't you back in Ponyville like I hope the others are?" he asked Twilight Twilight looked him the eyes and said "I had to make sure you would be okay" "I appreciate it, but you all have responsibilities in Ponyville, did the others go back?" he asked "Not without a fight, but yes, they went back, but they have all been sending letters about every day asking about you" she explained "I am blessed to have such great friends and family" he said a smile growing on his face A small blush grew on Twilight's face as she looked at the ground idly kicking her hoof "Thanks" "Do you know what happened to me?" he asked turning to Celestia "I-I have a theory" she said hesitantly before explaining her theory to him He tried to nod in agreement, but failed and gave her an awkward looking head bob as it moved left and right instead of up and down "That makes sense, but I-" he was cut off by a sudden wave of pain that was only comparable to what he had been feeling earlier He held his hooves to his head in pain before collapsing to the ground for a few moments before raising his head to look at Celestia "P-p-please just cast a sleep spell on me, or anything, just make it stop" he pleaded "As you wish" Celestia said her horn glowing Star woke once again, but this time he didn't have all of the difficulty of trying to make out his thoughts and surroundings, he woke just as he normally would, though he still felt hesitant about moving. Eventually he decided to move, and surprisingly, it didn't hurt. When he finally got up he felt strange, it had nothing to do with his mind or what had just happened, he just felt, off, there was something wrong. With that in mind he inspected himself, the illusions for his scars and wings were still in place. He couldn't find anything off about himself so he just decided to go inform his mother and friend that he was okay. Just as he walked out the door he was stopped by a palace guard who was apparently stationed nearby "I was ordered to keep you in your room until further notice" he said in a blank tone "I only want to get out of here and speak to Celestia and Twilight" Star asked "I only want to do my job, and that is listening to the princess, and she told me not to let you leave until further notice" he said with a blank expression "Look, I'm trying to be reasonable, but one of two things are going to happen here" Star paused for dramatic effect "I am going to either try to get past you, fail, resist, and get hurt, getting you in trouble for hurting me, or I am going to try and climb out my window, fall, get hurt, and get you in trouble for not watching me, how about we avoid these possibilities and you just let me past?" The guard rolled his eyes and sighed "I will just have to stop you and not hurt you now won't I?" "Then I will climb out the window" Star said turning away "The princess has the window magically locked in place, just in case you tried to leave in your current condition" the guard called after him with a snicker following him into the room "Well that foils all of my plans, how's about we play a game?" Star asked turning to him "Sure, what do you have in mind?" he agreed "I am going to ask you a riddle and you are going to try and figure it out" Star replied with a devious smile "Against my better judgment, alright" he answered "Okay, now what has four legs, can't climb, and is in one place at one time, yet isn't?" Star asked The guard cocked his head then looked at the ceiling with his hoof at his chin. After a few moments he shrugged "I don't know you've got me stumped what?" he asked After receiving no answer he looked around the room just to find out that Star had escaped while he wasn't paying attention, but now there was a piece of paper on the bed, picking it up he read it then facehoofed, the paper read "Me" on it "I am so fired" he thought with a sigh before crumpling up the paper, throwing it away, and returning to his post. Star started to make his way to "Wait, where am I going to find them anyway?" He wandered for a moment before deciding to try and find Twilight, if she was still there that was, it was about time he got rid of the illusions, he didn't mind them too much, but he would rather not have his physical appearance be changed by illusions. First he made his way to the library, seeing as that would be the most likely place for him to find her. After a few minutes he finally found the library, walking in he couldn't see anypony around, but he could hear a faint noise coming from deep within the maze of book shelves. Eventually he got close enough to hear that it was somepony singing quietly and it sounded beautiful. He finally got close enough to hear the song clearly, what he heard was one of sadness and isolation, but just as he thought it could get no more depressing, it started to pick up tempo and started to sound more upbeat and joyful, while still retaining a slight impression of the sadness that was evident just moments before. As the song ended he decided to find out who the owner of the beautiful voice was, as he turned the corner of the bookshelf he had been hiding behind he was surprised to see his aunt Luna looking at a book on the ground "That was beautiful" he complimented She nearly jumped in surprise before turning a deep crimson "Oh, you heard that….?" "Yes, you have a beautiful singing voice" he said with a smile "Thank you, and it's nice to see you out of bed, sister has been most worried about you" Luna said with a nod "Have you seen her or Twilight anywhere? I have to let them know that I'm okay, the last time I saw them it wasn't under the best circumstances" he asked while trying to avoid thinking of what had happened "Oh yes, Twilight Sparkle took sister into town to try and get her mind off of… well, you know" she answered hesitantly Star nodded in understanding "That was nice of her, but while I am here, would you mind getting rid of these illusions? I would prefer to look like myself and not some pampered fancy pony, it just feels unnatural" She nodded "I would be happy to" After that was said her horn started to glow a rich dark blue color, this color soon enveloped Stars entire body as he felt her magic go to work on the illusions. Luna's eyes suddenly widened in surprise as she retracted her magic from him "What's wrong?" he asked "I- but- how- when- it's- but- just- I- WHAT?" she exclaimed in a dumbfounded tone "What's wrong?" he repeated sounding much more worried this time "Well you see… It's kind of like… I guess that… When did…. I just…. What?" she said blinking her eyes Star waved his hoof in front of her eyes "Hellooooooooooo Equestria to Luna? Are you in there?" "Y-y-your wings" she finally managed to stutter "What about them?" he inquired "They're… They're…" she said regaining her former befuddlement (I love that word) "They're what? Did the illusion do something to my body?" he asked gaining a worried tone "Th…re …l" she muttered in disbelief "They're what?" he asked again "They're… they're…" she started "Yes?" he prompted her "Real" she finished "Real?" he asked confused "Real" she confirmed "What do you mean they're… WHAT!" he shouted looking back at his two new appendages, surely enough, his wings were still there, just as they were this morning, he didn't feel any different than then though. He experimentally tried to extend his new appendages and surely enough they moved just as he tried to make them "I- but when- how- what- just- but- I- what?" he said gaining Luna's dumbfounded manner After a few moments he finally recovered to hear Luna exclaim "Your scars are gone too!" "WHAT?" he said inspecting his body again, and surely enough he no longer had scars covering his body "HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?" he shouted in surprise "I don't know, but at least it isn't a bad thing, like the things that have been happening to you as of late" she pointed out Star nodded in agreement "I guess you are right, but just… how?" he asked himself more than her Luna simply shrugged "Okay, I no longer have scars covering my body, and my wings regrew" he told himself "yeah, because that happens normally" he added in disbelief Luna sighed "Yet another mystery we will have to solve" "I guess so" he said with a shrug They stood in silence for a few moments, well, Luna was lying on the ground once again looking into the book she was reading before he arrived, but that is irrelevant, when Star decided to follow her example and picked a book at random out of the many books around them Grabbing the first book on his left he turned it over and read the title Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone He tilted his head in confusion "I wouldn't expect a royal library to be carrying an adventure book" he commented "We collect any and all kinds of knowledge here, both real and fictional" she said simply For the next few hours he read through the book, which to his surprise held his attention more than most books he had read had ever done before. Eventually Luna yawned "It's about time that I lower the moon" she commented "Wait, it's night time?" Star asked "Yes it is, Celestia should be back soon to raise the sun" Luna explained shutting her book and placing it in a nearby shelf. Star did the same before following her out of the library and to the front of the castle where Luna stood in place and looked at the sky with a determined expression. Her horn suddenly started to glow while her eyes narrowed in concentration. Looking into the sky he saw that the moon was being lowered past the horizon, and the sky started to brighten as the sun followed the direction of the moon. As the moon lowered past the horizon the sun passed the opposite horizon and started its daily cycle. Luna turned to Star "Now if you will excuse me, I have to get up at night to raise and lower the moon so I don't usually stay awake during the first part of the day, goodnight" she said walking to the castle "What are you doing out of bed?" he heard the voice of his mother ask He turned to her "I am okay, really" he reassured her "….Alright, but how did you get out?" she asked A grin grew on his face thinking of what happened earlier that day "I tricked him" he said beaming at her "How?" she said with a raised eyebrow "I stumped him with a riddle and while he was thinking I made my escape" Star explained "What was the riddle?" he turned to hear Twilight ask "I asked him "Okay, now what has four legs, can't climb, and is in one place at one time, yet isn't?"" he recalled Celestia looked like she was deep in thought and Twilight was just the same, after a few moments of this Twilight sighed "Alright, you've got me stumped what is it?" "I can't tell you till my mom guesses" he replied They waited a few more moments before Celestia too looked truly stumped "Alright, you've got me, what is it?" she conceded "Me" he said simply He received two questioning looks before breaking out in a fit of laughter "The only reason none of you could figure it out is because I added "can't climb" to throw you off by making it seem like an important part of the answer" Twilight nodded "You've got me there" "So, how long was I out this time?" he asked changing subject "Only a few hours" Celestia answered "What did you do in town?" Star asked "Why don't we talk while we eat, I'm hungry" Celestia replied with a sheepish smile "Agreed" Twilight They made their way back into the castle then into the dining hall where they ate and explained to Star what they had been doing while they were gone, Twilight had taken Celestia out to see a play from Shakesmare, he was apparently a very famous play writer. They then questioned Star on his antics since he had left his room and his eyes widened and he froze in shock remembering what had happened, he hadn't quite come to terms with it yet "Well, you know it's a funny story, well not so much funny as it is shocking and unbelievable" he said in disbelief "What happened?" Celestia asked her eyes widening "Well, when I left I decided to go and ask Twilight to get rid of the illusions on my body-" he started "But we weren't there" Twilight interrupted "I am getting to that" Star said before continuing "When I got to the library I found Luna and found out that you two were gone so I asked her to get rid of them-" "But they are still there" Twilight interrupted again "I am getting to that!" he replied impatiently "So she agreed and tried and well…. I kind of….. sort of… regrew my wings" he said bluntly He received two disbelieving looks, so to convince them he flapped his wings a few times "WHAT?" Twilight shouted as the shock of it hit her "I- wait- when- how- but- just- what?" Celestia said in confusion "My scars are gone too" he added "B-but how? I can believe the scars being healed, that isn't hard, but it is unheard of to regrow lost limbs!" Twilight said incredulously Star shrugged "I have absolutely no idea" They both turned to Celestia who in turn shrugged and simply replied "Magic" "When did this happen?" Twilight demanded Star stared at the ceiling in thought "Well… it might have happened when-" *thud* he immediately fell to the ground and passed out Celestia rushed to his side "Are you okay?" she asked She turned him over and saw that he was passed out "I guess we just have to wait, the worst has already happened, now I don't know what is happening" she said helplessly "He will be okay" Twilight reassured her Inside Star's head was a different story, he found himself inside Starswirl's library, but it was still destroyed just like it was when he had discovered it, and unlike his usual flashbacks he found himself able to move around, it felt as if he was actually there. He heard the sound of hoof on stone and turned to see a figure approaching him, as it came into view he saw a pony that looked unbelievably just like himself, the pony smirked and greeted him "Hello, brother"