Ghosts from the Future

by Pix

Epilogue - Conference in the Inferno

Epilogue – Conference in the Inferno

In the middle of a fleeting dream long past, in between several bleak towers, a tall black alicorn waited patiently, scanning the street that fell away into the impenetrable darkness in front of her.

The dreamer would be appearing soon enough, and the alicorn would not leave without contact, no matter how hard it was to keep herself here. The last time she had forced an encounter with the dreamer it had ended before she had any chance to communicate. That would not be happening again.

It was only moments later that the blue pegasus mare appeared, flying rapidly along the street towards the black alicorn, rainbow mane fluttering behind her. When the mare noticed that she was not alone she careered to a standstill and scowled.

“Do not fear, Rainbow Dash; it is I, Luna,” were the words that the alicorn spoke.

“Halt, Rainbow Dash,” were the words the pegasus heard.

As Rainbow rocketed off away from her, Luna cursed to herself. In her weakened state, it was taking everything she had just to project herself into this dream, and she therefore had little power over how she appeared or sounded, nor any control over the dream itself. It was not going to be as easy as she had hoped to communicate.

Luna extended more energy, trying to keep Rainbow Dash from departing, but she could feel her form start to flicker. She could not afford to weaken herself too much further, or she would be left defenceless when she returned to the wasteland. And that could have disastrous consequences.

Fortunately, the blue mare suddenly swung around and started flying directly upwards. As Rainbow was the one dreaming, she would not be able to see through the illusion around her, and thus was unaware that the buildings had no real height. Luna felt the ground disappear below her, but otherwise the scenery remained unchanged as Rainbow Dash exerted herself in her attempt to reach the sky, when in reality she was fixed in place.

When eventually Rainbow stopped, out of breath, Luna gathered herself and tried again.

“Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow spun around in shock.

“Nightmare Moon!” she yelled accusingly. “What have you done to this city?”

Luna struggled to hold herself together as the dream tried to impose the image of Nightmare Moon further onto her. She wouldn’t last much longer, and she doubted she would be able to locate Rainbow again if she departed.

“Please stay and listen, Rainbow Dash,” were the words Luna said.

“You will not escape me, Rainbow Dash,” were the words Rainbow heard.

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow replied cockily. “We’ll see about that.”

As Rainbow prepared to fly away, Luna began to panic. She needed to say something that Rainbow would hear, but that would also get through to her. Something she would understand had come from Luna. She thought back to what she knew about the athletic mare.

“You fly well, Rainbow Dash.”

At those words Rainbow grew noticeably uncomfortable. She must be realising something was wrong. Had she made the connection that those were not words that the Nightmare would speak? Whatever she was thinking, she had at least heard the words correctly. An idea occurred to Luna.

“I enjoyed watching you fly, Rainbow Dash. You should show me your tricks again.”

Once more, Rainbow Dash heard the words as spoken. And now Luna understood. Now she knew why Rainbow Dash was the only one she had been having any luck communicating with. Now she knew why Rainbow Dash’s dreams had been the easiest to enter.

Unfortunately, despite the words being conveyed correctly, the message had clearly still not got through. Luna was still in the form of an imposing black alicorn as opposed to her usual softer blue self, and Rainbow was shifting nervously. It would be a while longer before she was fully conscious of Luna’s presence, but at least this was progress. Luna just needed to find the right words.

But then, without warning, Rainbow plunged into a dive. The buildings may not have been moving around them, but Rainbow’s intention was clear, and the dream was co-operating with her, causing Luna to start to fade.

“No, Rainbow Dash!”

The blue pegasus ignored her, and within seconds Luna’s body fell apart and the dream was gone.

The weakened Princess of the Night was now back in the barren wasteland, and instinctively glanced around hurriedly. She was safe, at least for now. Every time she attempted to enter a pony’s dream from here, it took so much out of her that she was very weak upon returning. Right now she felt barely able to move, and thus it was fortunate that she was alone. In the future she would need to be more careful.

As she waited for her magic to return, she examined the area around her more critically. The wasteland looked unchanged, with dusty earth spreading unbroken into the distance. She still had no clue where she was, and the landscape continued to unnerve her. No place should be this empty.

Except… Was it empty? Luna narrowed her eyes at a specific spot. There didn’t appear to be anything there, at least not visibly, but there had to be something out of place, or it wouldn’t have caught her attention. There was none of the mist around, so it wasn’t anything she had seen before. How curious.

Luna started to walk towards the mysterious location. Of course, the fact she was walking was only an aesthetic choice on her part. She had no actual need to walk here, in the same way that she had no actual need for a body. She only formed one for herself in part out of convenience, and in part because the idea that she had no body was a little too close to the idea that she was dead. That may have been untrue, but it was probably not as untrue as she would have liked, which wasn’t something she wanted to consider.

Reaching the curious spot, Luna opened her mind and discovered that there was a presence here, although this presence had not created a body for themselves. It was not a threatening presence though, and in fact it did not appear to even be a conscious presence. She attempted to delve into it, expecting resistance, and to her shock she was immediately drawn inside somepony’s mind.

She was lying on her back in a white room, which Luna quickly identified as the hospital ward inside Canterlot Castle. It appeared she was in one of the beds, completely motionless. There was a pony beside her that Luna did not recognise.

Luna immediately pulled herself out of the mind and backed away from the stranger’s presence. She had never found a mind that had opened for her so readily, and she had therefore inadvertently been far more intrusive than she was comfortable being. What had happened to that pony to leave them so vulnerable? And what were they doing here? Or at least, part of their mind was here. How did that even work?

Luna looked around hurriedly and then started using her magic to conceal the location, the same way she had been concealing her own presence. It would not be good if he found it, although she had no idea if there was anything he would be able to do with the mind without magic like she had. Nevertheless, she had a sudden strong desire to make sure that this pony, whoever they were, was kept hidden and safe.

She departed the location, reasoning that if they remained together it would only attract further attention. When she was a good distance away she returned to her usual routine: Wait for her magic to fully return to her, and then force herself into the mindscape again. It took far more magic than it should, and she now felt like an intruder rather than its shepherdess, but it was the only way she still had a connection with her ponies.

Luna surveyed the network of minds with a heavy heart. During the time she had been absent, the nights had been filling with increasing numbers of bad dreams, and it pained her to know that there was nothing she could do about it. The result was that the entire mindscape felt like a raging storm, with Luna at the centre. Her every instinct was telling her to reach out and comfort those around her, to calm the tempest, but she knew that in her current state she would only make things worse.

For some reason, this night looked even more troubled than usual, with the same themes cropping up over and over in each of her ponies’ dreams: houses on fire, loved ones missing, and the regular appearance of creatures which Luna assumed must be Shards. What was happening in Equestria without her? Would she ever know?

Luna continued her downhearted wander through the mindscape, and then suddenly froze in disbelief, a shiver running right through her. Separate from the rest of the network of minds was an aura she would never have expected to sense.

There was no way that that mind could be here. Luna had never had access to that mind.

She reached out, not caring how much effort it would take. As she grew closer, a powerful force fought back against her, and Luna had to focus all of her magic into delving onwards to avoid being ejected entirely. Despite the fact that she currently had no physical body, Luna felt like she was burning up as she continued to push. That wouldn’t stop her though. Nothing would stop her now.

Luna was almost at her limits when she broke her way past the searing barrier and finally reached the aura of the pony whose mind she had sensed. After all that exertion she was unlikely to be able to keep herself here for much longer, but she would make every second count.

“L… Luna?”

The pony who had spoken projected a physical body for themself, and despite how much it would take out of her, Luna couldn’t help but do the same.

“Yes… Yes, sister, I am here.”

Tears were beginning to form in Celestia’s eyes, but she just stared at Luna and seemed unsure whether to approach.

“But, how? Is it really-”

Luna interrupted her sister by slamming into her and wrapping her in a tight embrace.

“It’s really me.”

Celestia sobbed and held Luna closer. Despite the fact that both of their bodies were only images at the moment, the two sisters clearly did not want to let each other go.

“I… I must be going mad,” Celestia muttered eventually. “You cannot be here, can you?” She pulled back and gave Luna a questioning, pleading glance. “Are you really here?”

Luna smiled. “Yes… and no. I’m not actually here, I’m in your mind. But I am alive Tia.” She suddenly stopped and glanced around at the blazing ‘scenery’, finally connecting the dots about why Celestia also had no real physical body currently, and what the searing barrier she had been forced to break through to get here was.

“Never mind about me, sister,” Luna exclaimed in horror. “Why are you here? What have you done?”

Celestia bit her lip and then slumped to her haunches in shame. “Oh Luna, I have done some dreadful things.”

Luna stepped closer and wrapped a wing around her older sister. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

Celestia shook her head. “How I wish that were so. I killed a pony Luna; a completely innocent pony. And for what? To prove a point, nothing more.” She dropped her head to the ground. “And through my actions I may have caused the death of many others. It is unforgivable, the things I have done.”

Luna faltered a little, but quickly pulled herself together. “That still doesn’t explain why you are here though.”

Celestia extracted herself from her sister and stepped away with a determined expression.

“Don’t you understand, Luna? I was in no state to remain in Equestria. Even when I killed that poor mare, I knew I was supposed to feel bad, but I didn’t. I could only think that I had killed the wrong pony; that if I had instead killed the stallion who would go back in time and infect you, then you wouldn’t have to die.”

“But still, Tia. Is this not a prison for you?”

Celestia looked ashamed. “It… It is. I am imprisoned just as you once were when the Nightmare had you.”

“Is there no way out? No way you can escape? How long are you trapped here?”

Celestia said nothing, and Luna’s spirits sunk as the realisation hit her.

“You didn’t think ahead did you? There… There is no way back, is there?”

For a second the white alicorn faded, as Celestia clearly lost the will to keep her image up, but then she returned determined.

“I thought I had lost you!” she explained desperately. “Please understand, I could not cope without you beside me. I had lost all will to rule Equestria any longer, and with Cadance and Twilight proving themselves time and time again I knew that Equestria had no need for me either. I did not care that this would be my eternal fate.”

Luna shook her head. “Oh Tia… You can be so sentimental, and so reckless.”

There was silence for a few moments, but Luna quickly realised how fast her magic was fading and she spoke up again.

“Sister, however long you are trapped here, even if it is eternally, you will not be alone. I will visit you in your mind, as I am now, as often as I can.”

Celestia wept in gratitude, but even as she did so she turned a questioning face towards Luna.

“How is this possible though? I saw you break apart before my eyes. I saw you die.” Celestia sounded as though she was still not convinced that she wasn’t just imagining Luna’s presence.

“My body did indeed break apart. My body did indeed die. I only live on through my magic.” Luna smiled. “As I was being infected, I was able to use my unique connection with the mindscape to free my mind from my body. I had hoped that I might be able to return to Equestria somehow, but instead I find myself trapped in a curious wasteland.”

“A… A wasteland?”

“Yes. I have no clue what or where it is, although it is clearly apart from Equestria and the Aether. From here I am able to force myself back into the mindscape, although it is difficult. I have tried to contact other ponies, but they only see me as the Nightmare.” Luna shuddered. “The one pony I have had luck with was Rainbow Dash, and I believe that to be only because her mind still bears traces of me; an imprint from when she allowed me access to her mind that day we met in Canterlot before my… disappearance.”

“So you escaped death through use of your mind magic?”

“Yes sister. Believe me, I am alive.” What Luna didn’t explain is just what the Infection had cost her. She knew that in losing her body, a part of her had died, but Celestia wouldn’t want to know how much her sister had lost just yet. She would probably work it out for herself, given enough time.

“But… But the others that were infected?” Celestia inquired. “The rest of our ponies?”

Luna’s smile dropped. “They… would not be able to escape as I did. The Infection is still a deadly force, I was just in the unique position of having my mind free from my body when I was infected. ”

“But how are you even able to use your magic? I have seen a Shard in your form, and you say that your body was infected. Does not the Infection drain a pony’s magic?”

Luna frowned in confusion, but then she understood. Celestia would not know. Nopony else would know.

“No sister, the Infection will incapacitate and kill a pony, but it is not the Infection that is draining our ponies’ magic.”

“Really? How do you know?”

“I know because I am not the only one trapped in this wasteland.”

“You… You aren’t?”

“No. I don’t know how he got here, but it is probably fortunate for Equestria that he is trapped here. Although he does somehow seem to be more attune with this place than I am, and is growing in strength at an alarming rate. In fact, I spend most of my time concealing myself from him to make sure I am safe.”

“Who?” Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Is it Sombra?”

“Sombra?” Luna shook her head. “No, I still understand Sombra to be dead.”

“Then who if not him?”

Luna hesitated as she recalled the wisps of black mist that patrolled the barren wasteland, and the giant shape that they would form, demonic and monstrous with glowing yellow eyes, standing taller every time she witnessed him.

“Sister… Do you remember Tirek?”

Comments

[Pix]

Blog post with concluding notes: GftF (Act I) complete

[Dream Seeker]

1.) When is the sequel?
2.) Was ending with 111,111 words total in the story intentional?

[Pix]

5077462
Good timing with the question! Up until a few days ago I'd been (very slowly) planning a different story, but I finally concluded that it really wasn't coming together, so I'll be back to this one now. If I can get myself back into my speedy writing schedule then you can expect the first couple of chapters of act II pretty soon. Maybe by the end of the week?

As for the word count? No it was not intentional. No I did not notice it was a neat number. No I definitely did not submit the epilogue and notice I was a few words short of 111,111 and then spend almost an hour trying to add the extra words . No, that would be stupid and pointless. Haha, nope, definitely not.

[Dream Seeker]

5078155 Really.