//------------------------------// // Nightly Intrusions // Story: Strangely Resilient Ember // by DeliriousCrimson //------------------------------// Gently, my eyes opened, a familiar looking ceiling greeting my gaze. I sat up on the cold hard floor while I rubbed my eyes and gazed at my surroundings. My eyes widened at the familiar cell that held me captive once more. I felt my body petrify as I heard a soft and grim rattling beneath me... Slowly, I inched my gaze downwards towards the exact same chain that had once bounded me to this exact same wall. My breathing became irregular as the sounds of a cell door being unlocked screeched into my ears. I snapped my head towards the sound, my eyes widening further as they took sight of the man outside. His scars extended from his forehead to his neck... a lusty smile being spread eerily across his disfigured face. My jaw trembled slightly as the man opened the cell, footsteps then echoing loudly while he menacingly approached. "He..hehe..he, Kuramaaa~... lets have some more fuuun~", he bellowed. Slowly, I extended a trembling hand out in a meager attempt to cease his terrifying stride towards me. "S-stay away..!", I pleaded. He released a hoarse chuckle and revealed a red hot necklace which he had concealed behind his back. He stood before my cowering self, licking his lips with an absurdly long black tongue. I clamped my eyes shut as I trembled uncontrollably, his perverted panting embracing the inner walls of my petrified ears. Everything then went momentarily quiet, an eerie silence filling my surroundings. Soon, the abruptly loud noise of demented chanting forced my eyes open. I frantically gazed down at a crowd garbed in white, the many candles surrounding my fully restrained body serving to highlight their sickened grins. At the front row of the crowd stood mother, father, Bakura, and Lee. They chanted furiously with the crowd, their pupils then expanding to inhabit their entire eye sockets. They stared at me with those horrible pitch black eyes while a masked man emerged from the ground next to me, his black scimitar gleaming dangerously in the candle light. "aCcePt yOuR fAtE...," he hissed in a raspy, deformed voice. I began to hyperventilate as the man menacingly pulled the scimitar well above his head, the crowd upping their insane volumes in response. My breaths came and went at alarming rates, sweat also pouring excessively down my torso. I watched on in fear as the masked man released an ugly deformed chuckle, the crowd then modifying their cryptic chant into actual words. "Spill his guts!" "Spill his guts!" "Spill his guts!" Tears began to flood my eyes as panic seized my entire being. The man swung his scimitar down towards my belly in compliance to his sickened onlookers. I gasped as the blade zoomed towards my vulnerable belly at alarming speeds. His swing however, was interrupted by a dark purple beam which shot both his blade and him out of existence. A dark blue alicorn flew up onto the altar and lit her horn, Her eyes then gleaming a radiant white as a surge of energy blasted outwards. The whole area was blasted out of existence upon contact, a white void being all that remained. I watched in confusion as my blurred eyesight focused onto the alicorn who stood before me. It was princess Luna. She had a horrified and aghast expression on her muzzle as she gawked in my direction. "Are these... your memories?" she asked. I wiped my tears and looked around me in shock. After a small realization of the situation, I scowled and turned away from her. "So you can raise the moon and invade other peoples dreams without consent too?" I grumbled. A short moment of silence ensued before I heard the sound of trotting. The source of the sound got closer and soon, Luna took a seat besides me. The white void then turned into a rocky terrain, a dark and cold void surrounding it. In the distance in front of us shone a vibrant, blue and green planet. My eyes widened at the beautiful glowing object as I glanced at Luna who had a sorrowful look on her face. She gazed longingly towards the beautiful planet. "Kurama.. while I may have been deserving of my fate.. you did nothing to deserve yours...", she comforted. I stared on in silence as she began to tremble. "I do not mean to shower you in my personal issues, but would you lend me an ear?" she asked without making eye contact. I was lost as to where this was going but I didn't mind, I was also curious regarding her fate. "Sure," I quietly answered. With that, she took a deep breath and began. "..I once committed horrible crimes against my dear sister as well as all ponykind.. I... I am the one who is deserving of suffering! Yet, why is it that someone such as you is allowed to experience nightmares a hundred times worst than mine!? If someone who has never done anything wrong is allowed to suffer like this, then how could I ever hope to be forgiven!?" she lashed out, her composure being quickly lost in this lonely terrain. I slowly glanced out towards the planet. It seemed so close, yet so far away. This was getting depressing, but I knew that she needed to let this out. I had to hear her out. "Im.. not sure of what you did, but you're not a bad person Luna. Im just a stranger, yet I can tell that you are loved by all of those who surround you." I answered in an attempt to cheer her up. Luna sunk her shoulders down and tightly shut her eyes in an act of self-loathing. "Sadly, It is a love that I am undeserving of..." "..It was the unjust jealousy which I held towards my sister that woke something sinister within me." "...In my ridiculous spree of ill-found anger, I hurt those which I held dear and deeply scarred Tia's caring heart with my wicked malice...", whimpered Luna. "My thousand year banishment to this dark and lonely moon was far too lenient on a villain such as I..." O-one thousand years!? For just a bit of sibling rivalry!? I gave her a baffled look as she sulked, a remorseful expression having been glued onto her face. After a while, I sighed and glanced back in front of me. "Luna, don't beat yourself up so much over it. Don't you think it would only rub salt on their wounds if they found out how badly you blamed yourself for it?" Luna's ears silently perked up as I continued. "Sure, my fate was pretty cruel and unfair, but yours was still waaay worst. Trust me, it doesn't matter what you did or didn't do, you have already atoned for it a thousand times over." I assured. My response was met with a shocked look from Luna. I gave her a wide grin and placed my arm around her in an act of comfort. "It looks like we have both had it pretty rough, eh? I was murdered in secret as my loved ones watched, and you were forced to watch over your family and friends for a millennia over silly reasons, never once being able to express how sorry you were..." A few moments of silence ensued while I continued to look at the huge, brilliantly lit planet. I was reluctant to glance at Luna as I did so, its just something about those big pony eyes that made her sad expressions heart-breaking. But I could feel a slight tremble coming from her body, she really did feel terrible about it didn't she? "So you just sat here in this cold and lonely place all by yourself.. huh? I for one would never have been able to bare that type of torment. It actually baffles me how you can still feel guilt after all that time... Haha, you're seriously something else!" "...And umm, besides, would you really be able to look Celestia in the eye and tell her what you told me?.. She would blame herself just like you are doing now, and you'd both get hurt all over again." I finished. I didn't know if I was helping or making it worst, for I felt moisture run down my fingers. I took the opportunity to glance over to her. She softly wept to herself as my words evidently sunk deep into her mind. I pulled her closer to me and embraced her as the tears continued. Oh dear Sozin, it was such a heart-wrenching sight, those darn eyes. Yet, they were honest and full of purity... I wanted to return to my home, but so far my inspiration was that I wanted to kill them with my bare hands. All of them, ma, pa, Bakura, Lee, the crowd, the scarred man, the hooded man, the emperor for allowings this, his whole accursed family too.. I wanted to make them suffer as their precious life was taken from them by my own cold fingers. But here is Luna, depressed and mortified even after one thousand years of torment. One fucking thousand! I felt pathetic, truly inferior. That I let thoughts of revenge drive me.. I thought that I needed this, that it was the only way it could ever work out for a Firebender like myself. And that would definitely have been the only way back at home.. but I wasn't at home was I? I was in this world full of cheerful beings, these ponies.. I envy them. If only my society were like theirs.. then I wouldn't be in this immense pain. Gah! Im tired of it all! Why should I even return to those devils anyway? After I get my revenge, then what..? Thats right, then nothing. Then.. I'll be empty. A simple vessel of who I used to be.. Fuck that. I tried my best to hold back angry tears of my own as Luna continued to softly weep into my chest. I succeeded and contemplated in silence, a certain idea then popping into my mind. "Lets make a promise, just between us." I whispered into her ear. "We will both only look ahead and move forward. For our sake, and the sake of those that we still have left, we shall wipe out all regret. Deal?" This was a promise that could have only been made between those who could fully grasp each others sadness. Me and Luna have had first hand experiences to events that filled us with endless regret towards the past. Thanks to this, we could both have a mutual understanding of each others suffering. And... although this promise could be summed up to two dogs licking each others wounds, it would also serve to illuminate our paths. Thus, it was necessary for her to avoid falling into her own guilt, and for me to avoid being consumed by revenge. Luna sniffed and gently pulled away from the embrace. She then wiped her tears and gave me a warm smile of acknowledgement. "Deal." she softly responded. I smiled and embraced her again as we both looked on towards the brightly lit planet in front of us. With that, I had decided. I was going to abandon any unnecessary thought I may have had of returning to my dimension, and simply live my life here in Equestria.