//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: The Colt Lost to Time // Story: Soulbound // by GreyNimbus //------------------------------// Chapter 4: The Colt Lost to Time To nopony's surprise, Grey Nimbus' eyes turned to pinpricks, mixed with the expression of horror. He slowly sat up before asking as calmly as possible... "What did you say?" Luna clearly saw what was coming to her when she dropped the bomb on him. She could sense that Nimbus was a cool and collected pony and would allow others to explain so he could understand. Luna cleared her throat, "Allow me to elaborate; When I first saw you, I didn't recognize you. But after Twilight Sparkle told me that you possess dark magic, it all came flooding back. I remember now that you have the exact same appearance as the foal me and my sister had under our care." "But that was over a thousand years ago! How could I have existed way back then if I'm alive today!?", Nimbus exclaimed. "After we escaped the Legion's onslaught, we, along with the refugees, retreated due South to our nearest outpost. On the way, we took shelter in a cave on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. We were lucky to find the cave completely empty and large enough for all the refugees. After we settled in, Celestia and I were trying to get to the bottom of how we were going to counter the Legion's advances while, with equal worry, deciding what to do with Grey Nimbus." She turns to Nimbus who still looked disappointed. {Flashback} "Luna, we are losing the battle. At this pace, the Legion will triumph and leave no survivors." Celestia and her younger sister were sitting outside by the entrance of a cave where they decided to make camp for the night. All the other refugees were sleeping soundly further inside. As for the colt, Luna decided to personally keep watch over him. She had him cradled in her hooves and wrapped in a thick blanket as he slept like the foal that he was. Seeing how peaceful he looked in his slumber made Luna forget about the war they were facing. "Luna, are you listening!?", Celestia exclaimed. Luna lifted her head and let out a low 'ssshhhhh'. "Sister, please lower thy voice. Thou art going to wake this poor child.", she whispered. Celestia cleared her throat and said in a lower volume, "Forgive me, Luna, but we have more important matters to focus on. I know that you've taken a liking to this foal, but our fight with the Legion is our top priority. We can't just let anything distract us." "We know. But what can we do? Our castle has been destroyed, the enemy continues to advance and they have succeeded at pushing us back when we least expected. But worst of all, we have just witnessed the death of a mother and the birth of an orphan. And now...", Luna couldn't bring herself to continue on. Luna frowns and looks down at the foal in her forearms. She gently leans the sleeping colt against her chest while unfolding her wings and wrapping them around him for, surprisingly to Celestia, motherly protection. "Luna...", Celestia placed a hoof on her sister's shoulder. "We swear by our mother...", Luna whispered, "if we make it through this chaos, we shall take this poor soul under our wing and protect him with our life." Celestia smiled, her hoof still on Luna's shoulder. "It would appear you have found a new reason to continue fighting. You now have something worth protecting. Use that dedication to boost your moral, little sister." Luna lifted her head and stared at her sister in slight shock. "Sister... we..." Luna shook her head, snapping our of her daze. She pushed away all signs of doubt, fear or weakness...replacing them with confidence and strength. "Thou art right, sister. We feel like nothing can stop us." "It's good to see you in high spirits again, Luna. But save that energy for the morrow." Celestia yawns. Her sister reacting with her own yawn. "Good point. Let us get some rest. We'll continue along our route to the outpost in the morning" The two sisters stand up and trotted back into the cave. Luna carries the foal with one of her wings and they quietly trot back inside the cave. {Morning the next day} As Celestia rose the sun, it's bright beams of light touched Luna's face, making her squirm in her sleep. She slept with the foal tucked under wing, giving him more warmth. Celestia was still at the entrance facing away from the cave, her horn still glowing. As the sun was now at it's peak, she turned and trotted back inside to wake her sister. Celestia put a hoof on her sister's shoulder and gently rocked her, "Luna, it's time to wake up. We must move posthaste." Luna started groaning as she slowly opened her tired eyes. She let out a long yawn and rubbed her eyes. "Good morning, sister. We shall be up momentarily. For now, We must see how..." Luna slowly shifted her wing and notice that something wasn't right. She moved her wing out of the way only to reveal a piece of cloth... with no foal to wrap it around. She swiftly stood up and looked at her surroundings, hoping to find the little colt. She then turns to Celestia. "Sister, the foal hast vanished! We cannot find him!". Luna was stressfully panting Celestia walks over to her sister and puts a hoof on her shoulder, hoping to get her calm and focused. "Luna, please, calm yourself! We'll round up the refugees and we'll all search in and out of this cave." Luna's panting turned into long, heavy breathing. She looked up at her sister and nodded. Immediately, The two Alicorns woke up the refugees, who were all sleeping a little further in the cave, and asked them to help find the missing colt. {Present} "We looked for a whole hour, but you were nowhere to be found. You were too young to move around on your own, so the only explanations were that you were taken away. But that's not what happened." Everypony in the room listened carefully to Luna while Nimbus was trying to piece together what happened but to no avail. "What did you do afterward?", he asked. "I wanted to continue searching in the Everfree Forest for you, so I told my sister to take the refugees to the outpost without me. I encouraged her enough to let me go with my decision. After she left, I was searching in that cursed forest for a whole day. To both my shock and surprise, there was no sign of you... or the Legion. I found it very odd that the Legion's presence could not be found during my day of searching. Either way, I wasn't too stubborn to realise how deep in over my head I was, so I gave up the search and caught up with my sister and the others. On the way over, I was greeted by an allied Changeling who had a message for me from the outpost my sister was heading to. "It said that the Frozen Legion... vanished." "Vanished? Whatever do you mean?" Rarity asked. "I didn't understand it myself, but whatever happened during my search for Grey Nimbus, the Legion simply faded away like a bad dream. Besides the destruction they have wrought, it was as if they didn't even exist." "That doesn't make a lick of sense!" Rainbow exclaimed. "I agree. How can an army large enough to conquer the whole world just disappear without a trace?" Twilight asked. "Whatever was behind their disappearance, I'm afraid we have no clarification as to why. But the Legion wasn't all that faded away. The Crystal Empire went with it." "A whole city disappeared too? That's unheard of." Fluttershy said. "Indeed. It was both a victory and defeat. The threat was gone, but we lost a good city." Luna sighed. "So where does that leave me?" Nimbus asked, gaining everypony's attention. "How am I still alive in this timeline? Unless... when the Legion and the Empire disappeared... so did I?" "Exactly. Centuries later, you reappeared in the same cave where I last saw you." Nimbus lowered his head. After hearing Luna's shocking tale, he was overwhelmed with too much confusion to think straight. He faintly heard hoofsteps growing louder with each step, followed by the feeling a foreleg wrap around him gently. He raised his head to see Luna looking down towards him with a frown. "I understand that this is a lot to take in, Grey Nimbus. I'm sorry." she said calmly. Nimbus lowered his head again and leaned against Luna's breastplate. He then started to shiver and whimper, making Luna sit back down and wrap her other foreleg around him in a hug. The other mares slowly trotted closer to the traumatized stallion. Everypony wanted to try and comfort him, but none of them had any idea as to what will work. Rarity took the risk. "Are you going to be alright, darling?" "I... I don't know." he answered, sniffling "I left home because... because Mom told me to find... Princess Luna. Then... I hear the truth about where I came from... who I am... what I am..." His melancholy was effecting everypony in the room. Pinkie and Fluttershy had tears building up in their eyes, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Twilight had sad expressions on their faces and Applejack lowered her stetson hat to hide her face. "What am I suppose to do now?" Nimbus said, calming down from Luna's embrace "Even if I go home, I'd still feel guilty for what I did to Mo... I mean, Sweet Fields. I can't just cut my losses, I'd still be an outcast to society. I don't even have a home anymore." After hearing that last statement, Luna pulled back and looked directly into his eyes. "You do now. You're coming back to Canterlot with me!" The atmosphere in the library suddenly got colder. Everypony, including Nimbus, all had widened eyes. The six mares soon followed up with a long... "WHAAAT!?" "I mean it." Luna said, turning her head towards the Element bearers. "I have already made up my mind when I realized who you are. I did promise myself that I would take you under my wing, did I not?" Luna looked back at Nimbus. "The choice is up to you, though. So, Grey Nimbus, would you like to live with me in Canterlot? You will no longer have to fear about Equestria treating you like a monster. Because I will help you control your dark magic. What do you say?" His wide eyes slowly squinting as tears start to stream down his face. He then started crying before returning the hug. "Yes! T-thank you! You have... you have no idea how m-much this m-means to me! Th-thank you so much, Princess Luna!" Luna gently rubbed his back, reassuring him that everything will be alright. "Please... call me 'Mother'."