The boy laid still on the cold, cobblestone, floor with a small window as the only source of light in his cell. A brilliant full moon shone through it, illuminating his still form. He was sitting down with his knees in his arms as he stared at the moon with an empty, yet alert, look. He'd been staring out the window the entire day, literally doing nothing else.
Despite this, the Night guards outside his cell remained on full alert, watching the sleeping creature like an eagle tracking its prey.
In comparison to them, the creature was tiny, only coming up to their chins or lower. This left them wondering why they'd been put on full alert when the boy was brought in. The princesses wanted every guard on duty to abandon their preordained posts in order to assist in making the dungeons as secure as possible. It didn't make sense.
If the boy tried anything, the guards posted at his cell were more than confident in their abilities to restrain or kill him. Because of the energy imbued in their armor, they harbored extraordinary strength and reflexes. Just one guard alone was enough to easily overpower a manticore or hydra, so they were pretty certain they'd have no problems dealing with the small creature that was said to have also come from the Everfree. Even if it was the cause of it all.
One of the guards, Night Year, shook his head.
"I don't get it."
"Get what?" said his partner and best friend, Shadow Phase.
"The whole thing, Shadow."
Shadow sighed and shook his head as well, remembering that the cell was sound proofed.
"The princesses deemed this thing a level one threat. They wouldn't lie to us, Night."
"I'd never accuse our rulers of lying. For all we know, this thing gives deadly hugs. I'm just wondering why they decided to lock it up instead of kill it if it's that dangerous."
"Doesn't matter to me." said Shadow with a shrug. "I'm three doors away from a promotion."
"How are things with the boy?" said an alarmingly soothing voice from behind them. The two guards turned around with their spears at the ready only to see Celestia standing before them. They immediately retreated their spears with a sigh before bowing before her.
"Our apologies your highness." said Shadow frantically. Celestia shook her head and waved a hoof dismissively.
"No need to apologize." she said with a warm smile. "Although my sister demands paragon-like discipline, I know that communication is vital in any profession. Even when it is unneeded."
Although he was grateful for her forgiveness, he had to resist the urge to tell her that he'd been apologizing for pointing his spear at her. She probably didn't care anyway, seeing as they posed no threat to her.
Not wanting to disregard her previous question, Night Year spoke up.
"Everything is fine your majesty." he said as he and his partner rose up from the ground. "The creature hasn't moved from that spot, choosing to look out the window."
"Good. You are dismissed."
Night and Shadow looked at each other as if to ascertain that they'd heard her correctly. They had.
"Y-Your highness?" said Shadow with an ear perked up.
"You are dismissed." Repeated Celestia calmly with a nod. The guards gave her a perplexed and worried look before nodding and starting off down the hall. Disobeying orders could land them guarding the gates to Tartarus, and that didn't end well for any guard. Rumors had it that just standing next to the gates could drive anypony insane. Guards unfortunate enough to be posted there often ended up in a mental hospital as a vegetable. Or worse. An actual vegetable. It was still a mystery how Discord could live there so peacefully.
When the guards had exited the dark corridor through a door, Celestia waited a while just to make sure they were out of earshot. She then turned her gaze back to the boy inside the cell.
One would think that an explosion and a conflagration would be enough to sear off its clothing, but it wasn't. His pants and shoes still looked the same as they did before the explosion.
They looked no different than they did when she'd sealed him away.
Her demeanor sagged and she took a step towards his door. She opened it and disarmed the barrier Shining Armor had cast on it. Then the sound barrier.
Then the boy's head turned.
He looked at Celestia as she entered the room, staring deep into her magenta eyes before averting them to the floor. Most ponies would have shrunk back upon seeing his eyes, but not Celestia. To her, they were no different than a cutie mark on a beloved child.
Upon closer inspection, Celestia could see burns and cuts on his face and hands. She could remember seeing similar wounds on his upper body when he was walking out of the fire with Thistle wrapped up in his shirt and hoodie.
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Shocked at what the gray haired pegasus had done, Celestia backpedaled to look at her unconscious form on the ground. She was still breathing, but from a quick scan with her horn, Celestia knew she wouldn't be for long unless treated soon.
Luna growled at Daring before turning her attention back to the creature emerging from the fire. She began to charge her horn once more.
"Stop."
Shocked with her sister's calm and quiet tone, Luna gave her a confused look.
"He APPROACHES, sister!" said Luna through gritted teeth.
"He's carrying a pony Luna."
"He's trying to use her as incentive to avoid our wrath Tia! He's done this before!"
Celestia squinted and scanned the bundled up pony the creature was carrying above it. It was a mare, and she was alive. The creature steadily made it's way toward them, the flames shadowing its form from behind.
"FOUL BEAST!" shouted Luna as she finished charging her horn.
"NO!" shouted Celestia as she reached for her sister once more.
But she was too late.
Before Celestia could tackle her sister, the dark, searing, blast zoomed towards the creature. Celestia recognized the blast's dark-blue, color, knowing Luna had fired a shot intended to kill. Then she looked towards the creature. Things seemed to move in slow motion as she saw the light from the blast illuminate it's face as it was now inches in front of it. Where she expected to see two pitch black circles with red dots in the center for eyes, she saw something that made her heart freeze.
His eyes were normal, Just the way she remembered them.
Then it's face was gone. The blast continued on it's merry way and completely disintegrated a few trees in the distance in an explosion, adding to the inferno. Celestia tumbled with her sister as she tackled her to the ground. Luna struggled to get free as Celestia pinned her to the earth.
"LET GO!" shouted Luna with her eyes strained shut.
"Luna, STOP!" Celestia shouted back. Realizing that her eyes had been shut, Luna opened them and began to charge her horn as she frantically looked around for the boy.
Her eyes grew wide in terror.
He was standing right in front of them. He was no longer holding the bundled up mare, and was staring down at her with his wide, unstable, eyes. They were now glowing, with his black pupils seeming to give off their own, dark, glow. His exposed upper body was covered in smoking burns and cuts, but he didn't seem bothered by them at all. He was standing completely still.
Celestia turned to see what her sister was gaping at and jolted, joining her sister in shock. Noticing that he wasn't carrying the bundled up mare, she looked around for her fearfully.
Backbone was standing over the now un-bundled mare with his ear to her chest. He let out a relieved sigh before cradling her in his hooves.
Luna began to shake. A voice at the back of her head had told her the boy wouldn't need a hostage to get to them, but another, bitter voice overpowered it. She wanted him dead. She always wanted him dead. Even if it meant harming an innocent.
Celestia, still confused, looked back at the boy. He was still staring at Luna, completely ignoring her. Slowly, she inched away from the boy while nudging Luna to do the same. Luna didn't want to move, or rather, her body did not want to. She felt like a normal pony standing before manticore, but she complied. Even as she got up, the boy followed her with his gaze.
"S-Sister-"
"Shh!" breathed Celestia as they stood over the boy apprehensively. Celestia looked over to Luna's horn to see it still gathering energy. "Stop charging your horn."
"But-"
"Do it Luna!" said Celestia sternly. Reluctantly, the moon princess quit charging her horn with shaky breaths. Then they waited, their breaths stopping. They waited for what seemed like hours, which could have only been seconds. Then, gradually, the glow in the boys eyes receded. He took a step back and looked up at Celestia, much to her surprise. But then he looked down at the ground by her hooves, seemingly unable to meet her gaze.
Taking this gesture as a good sign, Celestia spoke.
"D-Did you save that mare?" she asked, failing to keep the shakiness out of her voice. The boy slowly looked over to Backbone and his sister. Backbone was also staring back at him. After a few seconds, Backbone smiled appreciatively.
"Thanks pal." he said, barely audible above the roaring flames.
The boy turned back to Celestia and tried to look her in the eyes. But he couldn't. He looked back towards the ground and nodded. Celestia's mouth hung open slightly, her heart of gold growing bigger with the new strands of hope that were being laced into it.
Before she could ask her next question, she heard what sounded like wings flapping behind her. She turned her head to see Shining Armor and what looked like fifty Night Guards landing on the scorched earth, surrounding the princesses and the boy.
"*huff* O-Orders?" breathed shining as he and the other guards aimed their spears at the boy, waiting for the order to attack.
But it never came.
Composing herself and putting her mind back on edge, Princess Celestia raised her hoof.
"Restrain him, but do NOT harm him in any way."
With an affirmative nod, shining motioned for three guards to move in. The three guards he gestured to produced what appeared to be thin, transparent, cords from their saddle-bags before trotting towards the boy. One of the guard's horns lit up in a dark-blue aura that also enveloped the cords and levitated them towards the still motionless boy. Without any resistance, the guard was able to tie what he assumed were the boys wrists and ankles together tightly before solidifying the cords into diamond with his horn.
Then Shining's horn began to glow a powerful, radiant, purple. A similarly colored circle began to form around the boy, forming a bubble even stronger than his bindings.
Shining obviously wasn't a Night Guard. For the princess to have summoned him on such short notice at this time of night was strange to him. He became acutely aware that she may have summoned him purely for the purpose of capturing the creature.
It didn't matter to him. Being woken up at odd hours was nothing compared to Tarturus duty.
Luna, still recovering from her shock, looked back and forth between the imprisoned boy and Celestia worriedly.
"What are you doing Tia?" she asked.
"The same thing I did with you and Discord, Luna." said Celestia firmly without looking at her sister. "Saving what I can."
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She'd ordered the guards to give him back his shirt and hoodie when they locked him up. She would have ordered that they give him medical treatment, but his intentions were still unclear. He could have been putting on a facade just to get back into Canterlot.
She planned to find out right then.
With a desperate, determined look, Celestia's horn glowed a brilliant gold. The boy was encased in the golden aura and lifted up off the ground. He hung motionless in the air, averting the princesses gaze. If hew was alarmed by her sudden action, he didn't show it.
Celestia thought about what she was about to do. It wouldn't be the smartest thing she'd done, but she needed to know.
She flung the boy towards her and embraced him in a strong hug. Her eyes were shut tightly, trying her best to dispel all fear in her rapidly beating heart and replace it with as much love as she could. The side of the boy's head was firmly pressed against her chest. His eyes stared at the wall blankly, no emotion showing at all. He felt heavier than he should have been for his size, and his body was cold to the touch. It like she was holding onto an empty, yet heavy weight. A burden. An obsession.
Celestia waited. She waited, but she was conflicted as to what she was waiting for. It was one of those one-or-the-other type deals. Part of her waited for death, or something close to it. She'd actually come prepared for it. Although the embrace had the appearance of a hug, it was really a death lock. Something she'd forced herself to learn for just this occasion.
If her heartbeat were to cease for any reason, her body and anything encased in her magic would take a one way trip to the center of the sun. It wasn't perfected, seeing as a sneeze would ruin everything, but it was the best she could come up with. That way, the boy wouldn't be allowed to roam free and-
Celestia felt a pressure around the sides of her neck. Frightened, she looked down. The boy was embracing her back. Or about to snap her neck. She selfishly went with the former and chose to simply stand there.
Then her fears and doubts were dispelled.
She watched in elated fascination as the cuts and burns on his head and arms began to slowly glow a dense, bright, blue. They then began to slowly heal. The burned skin was replaced with new skin in seconds, leaving it as good as new. The cuts sealed up, not leaving so much as a scar.
As they were healing, she could feel something thumping in the boy's chest. A heartbeat, something that hadn't been there before. With every beat, the Boy's wounds healed a little more.
Once he was fully healed up, the blue glow that seemed to be doing the healing disappeared. Unbeknownst to Celestia, so had the blue glow in his eyes, which were now closed peacefully. She felt his heartbeat cease gradually, leaving her confused, but with a feeling of accomplishment.
It had worked. It had actually worked. His wounds had healed, and more importantly, he wasn't a threat. Not to her people.
Not to her.
Not to anyone.
Tears began to form in her eyes as she smiled lovingly. She embraced him tighter, her horn no longer glowing.