Militis Corde

by Sanguine Eyes

Chapter 4: Laeta

Laeta

The poorly carved lumber locked into place just about as well as he could manage it. The foundation of the new cabin was rather easy to construct, and there was no shortage of lumber in the nearby Everfree forest. Seeing as he had no money just yet, at least no money that he was not spending on tools and medical bills. He was not paid very much for his help on the farm, the truth really was he got paid mostly in Granny's alcohol.

The griffon chuckled as he sipped from the flask and hammered the piece of wood until it finally sat level with the others, then he filled in the gaps with clay and straw. It felt almost natural to him, as if it was something he knew well enough but never really did, or perhaps something he had done once before long ago. He added the familiar sensation to the lump of details that hopefully would explain who he was someday.

From a tent just a little ways away the little changeling filly, Iris as he named her, mostly because unlike drones, she actually had Irises in her eyes. However, when ponies asked she was 'Cyan Iris'. The little changeling was still deathly afraid of everything that moved, running to Tyrin at the drop of a hat, hiding under him or behind him. When Luna came by he practically had to drag her over to the princess.

"It's okay, Iris, come on!" He waved to the little filly who came happily galloping to him for a hug, burying her muzzle into his feathers almost playfully, at least to the eye of the common pony. He did not feel even the slightest drain from her, but she was recovering very quickly from the love that she drank from him. It appeared that love given directly to a changeling willingly was far more powerful and fed them much better, it also helped that the love was authentic and growing every day. He could not explain it so easily, but he had grown very attached to the little one in such a short time. It was as if she filled a gap that he was not entirely sure he knew he had. Looking down he playfully rubbed her head and gestured for her to go back to the tent. Watching her happily gallop and frolic back made him smile.

Taking her back to Twilight's castle went far better than he had thought, but to him personally, it was still unacceptable. Firstly she had been worried sick about him and extremely concerned about his well being. He had not even realized that he had left promising to be gone only for a short while and coming back nearly 10 hours later. Then she was upset about being him being drunk, then drunk with a filly, then bringing a filly back with him. The whole ordeal should have been ten times as bad. However, the Princess of Friendship took it all far too well, it was something that did not sit with him. What he had done was out of line, he should have received far more than a firm slap on the wrist. He did not suspect some higher malicious planning, but he did very well consider what he would have done in their position. It just didn't sit right with him on a moral standard. Though it was not his intention, he violated trust and felt he needed to do something about it, even if they would let it pass, he did not deserve this sort of grace. Which was why he was living out of a tent, crafting his own home with his own talons.

He looked back at Iris who happily vanished back into the tent. With what little money he did have and could spare, he purchased her a few toys. He was most frightened at the moment of somepony showing up to take the little one away. He had no idea why his desire to keep her around was so strong now, especially considering what the darkness first impulsed him to do. He was afraid coming back that they would take her right away. However, Twilight waited till morning before contacting Luna, or rather she waited just the few hours left in in the night. Luna arrived quickly at the news of the development, and Tyrin found it incredibly hard to explain just how and why he came across then wanted to keep the little filly. To his great surprise Luna only needed to read the little one's dreams before she came to them both and said it was perfectly fine, in fact it would as she said 'Be good for Tyrin to have somepony to look after.' However, before she left Luna pulled him aside and told him very sternly that she could tell the little one had been through a whole lot, that he would be held accountable to an extreme if the little filly were to get hurt due to his negligence. She then proceeded to zap him with large amount of lightning. When Tyrin asked why she threatened and then shocked him, she answered by only by backing out of the room while glaring at him. The lack of her turning her back to him reminded him of the poem he had written earlier.

Tyrin chuckled and put another piece of lumber into place and hefted the large mallet.

---

"Luna... are you certain?" Celestia stared down her sister over the dinner table. They both knew that if the Lunar Princess was even a tiny bit hesitant, Celestia would send somepony to bring the little filly to an orphanage.

"Absolutely positive, Sister. I saw her dreams, the choice is an easy one. The little one's memories of her mother are so filled with fear she can't even see the face properly. It was all darkness and fear. However, if ever the little one does recover enough, we can get a name out of her and then find her mother just in time to put that fiend in prison. Who in their right minds would hurt their child so much? Celestia, our ponies should never EVER come to simply hurting each other like that. " Luna casually ate the salad as Celestia had a third helping of cake. "That poor thing, even when she woke up she was scared to death of me. That poor little filly has probably been through Tartarus. It seems, the only thing she is not afraid of is that Griffon. Odd considering how much about him there is to be afraid of."

Celestia took another sip of the tea and nodded. "I want the situation very VERY carefully monitored. And by the way, the analysis came back on the tears, they still can't place it. It's like the magic that created it is just not recorded. And of course, there was the scattered memories. This is turning out to be quite an interesting issue, I just hope he is safe to have here in Equestria."

"Don't worry, Sister, I am fairly certain that whatever he is, that darkness and evil is not actually his. I cannot really tell what it is or why he has it, but it's a certainty that it is not his own. Even his own self image blurs in his nightmares. He cannot see himself fully, as himself when he relives the nightmares. I will keep going back to his dreams but I do not know what we really can learn from him with something as simple as just skimming the surface of his dreams, we will eventually have to go much deeper. I pray that it will not be as bad as it could potentially be."

---

He had only just closed his eyes after drinking himself to into a stupor. She was right there waiting for him, the image of haunting beauty.
"At last I can have a good dream!" He smiled and rushed up to the image of Luna, embracing her, but he was promptly shocked with lightning before he could kiss her.

"I'M NOT A DREAM!!!!" She roared as he coughed and smiled looking back up at her. Luna continued still quite ruffled. "I... ahem, I am here to help you again, searching your dreams and such. You have recovered enough, but I cannot quite get into the areas I need to without what is essentially consent. I am confident the answer to all of these questions is in there, I just need to go a little deeper, it will require you to suffer through some of these memories, but don't worry, I will pull you out if it gets too bad."

Tyrin’s smile faded, he was all up for spending time with her, especially if she was going to say things that made innuendos even easier. Naturally she would shock him with lighting when he teased her. In fact just the fact that she responded to his teasing like that made him kind of want to do it more. It was like a little colt pulling a filly's pigtails because he liked her. Only this filly would turn around and fry him with lightning, still he could not see a reason within him to even be upset at the exchange. "If there is anyone who can truly help me... it's you. I trust you with my soul. Go ahead, lead and I will follow."

He smiled to her and she nodded, turning away and tearing the layers of dreams open further, only when she was further ahead did she smile again. As annoying as the Griffon was, it was comforting to have someone around who didn't tremble in fear or grovel at her hooves, her sister often talked about how 'a thousand years of ponies treating you like a God makes you really miss being treated like a normal pony'.

Taking some time to clear her mind, she stood upright and began to address the Griffon's damaged mind in its dream state, she turned and gestured for him to follow as she went further into his subconscious.

"Ah... here we are. Usually this place takes forever to find like this." She stopped in front of a door. Made of onyx and ivory and trimmed with crude iron. She chuckled, thinking of what it could mean on what kind of an individual Tyrin was deeper down within his self identity. Opening the door she gazed on in horror at the insides. He entered with her and stared blankly.

"...I take it this is bad right?"

Luna nodded staring at the sight before her. Every wall looked like swiss cheese. Not that they had holes in them, but the mind and stored memories that had been here were so damaged and fragmented that it was impossible to see what they were.

"This place is supposed to store your long term memories, I am surprised we could even find it, but this... this..." She stepped into the next hallway and saw simply more of the same.

"Tyrin, these halls are supposed to be filled like a museum, full of your dreams and all memories that could influence them, your strongest memories. But this... this is like somepony came along with a hammer and took their sweet time to ensure each and every one was destroyed. How could they even get in here- much less destroy it?"

Tyrin reached for the shattered memories but found he could not touch them, he stocked it up to being a part of this place not actually existing so he could not interact with it physically. "So whatever damaged my memory... just made a mess of things in here?"

"No." Luna spoke sternly but still with plenty of awe in her voice. "This kind of damage can only be done from within. Whoever did this, they specifically came into this room and damaged each memory personally. But I do not understand."

Tyrin stepped into the next hall, freezing as Luna continued. "I have seen your memories before, your dreams, those were excessively vivid, and you can still speak and other simple things that anypony has to actually learn. Where are those memories, or the memories that cause your nightmares... Tyrin?"

She had just noticed his face. Not fear or horror, but blatant confusion. "Princess? that door was into my mind right?"

Luna nodded as she turned the corner to see what he was gaping at. She too froze in shock and confusion.

"Then, um, what are these?" He pointed a single talon down the hall at the dozens upon dozens of doors lining the halls. The fabric of the hall had been torn and shattered, utterly obliterated to make room for these other doors, but each door was badly faded looking to be hundreds of years old, as if a simple sneeze could knock the thing off its rusted hinges. All save for one door.

"What is this?... surely this is the cause of your nightmares, but just what is it and where did it come from?" Luna stared at the massive pitch black door. It was utterly massive, and it seethed with darkness and pain. Whatever it was, this thing clearly did not belong here within him and his mind. "It’s partially open, and you would have to be brain dead not to feel that power coming from within. Tyrin, this HAS to be the source of your nightmares, let's get in there and resolve this problem."

---

Iris dove for cover in the bushes, whimpering in fear as the magic danced between them. The dream link was secured, but the black flames licking through the air made everything spark with fear and caution. To the little changeling's credit, she had a good survivor's instinct, and she was right in hiding.

Luna gasped as her eyes shot open. Shivering and shaking she fought not to vomit before she stared back over at the sleeping griffon. "W..what is that?!?"

She reached a hoof towards him but his eyes too snapped open, only the eyes profusely poured out blackness, ink and tar that smelled of rotting flesh. The only new feature was where his pupil should have been there was a bright, piercing white light which quickly centered itself, aiming clearly at Luna.

Even with all the power in her, that single gaze shot ice to the depths of her soul. It was all quickly becoming far worse as he began to sit up. As fast as she could muster the power, heavy wards encased him. Thick magical shields formed over him like an iron cage.

"Deuro!" The voice inside the griffon spoke. It did not sound like him, but it had an instant response. Dark magical energy gathered over Luna's shields and as if catching fire without smoke or flame, the wards were consumed and turned to nothing.

She froze in fear, an unnatural fear. Her eyes fixated on the beast before her, the thought ticked the fringes of her mind and she felt sick. She knew that she had to stop it, but this magic was incredibly powerful, she would have to kill him. But she could not rally the strength.

His opened talons reached for her and she shook with fear before quite suddenly, he collapsed. He twitched and sputtered, his body seizing before her, locked in a battle he may not win. Luna shivered, deciding on what to do. She had never seen or experienced anything like this.

Tyrin's eyes opened wide and stared up at her longingly, swirls of pain, anger, and far less flattering emotions burned through him, the magical aura was so powerful she could literally feel it just from being within proximity. Her attention snapped into a higher form as his talons plunged into the ground and he let out a low guttural growl. His other arm came up and began to reach for her before his entire body forcefully seized up and the light drained from his eyes just as he forced himself, shivering and twitching back to the ground. It was as if he was fighting a seizure, and oddly winning.

His voice gasped and his body remained trapped in its tremors and violent shaking. "Do it... please... don't ... let me ... hurt any...." The remainder of his voice was drowned out in painful gurgles as he fought to keep it back.

Luna felt a spark of cold run through her, she did not quite know if he was really asking for it, but she knew that if she was faced with a battle like this with her own darkness, she would want anypony to do literally anything to keep Nightmare Moon from coming back. Including a far more final solution.

She winced and lowered her horn. She knew a few spells that might work, but they were very powerful and did not often spare the target, each one was from a combat type of magic. However, she did not get the chance to use any such spell. Mostly because, the very moment she took a single step forward, a small squeaky voice shouted out and Iris ran forward.

"No!" She pushed past Luna and forced herself against Tyrin who was slowly losing any form of emotion from his face as he trembled harder.

Luna did not know what to do, she already found the mere idea of killing this griffon, even by accident as something unacceptable. But now, this little filly. She had done a lot of things for her own safety, for the safety of Equestria, for the safety of the world. Dark things, things she regretted, things that had to be lost to time in order for anypony to even trust the royal sisters. But she did not have what it took to kill the Griffon in front of the filly.

Luna rapidly searched her mind in panic as he raised a set of talons and swung them inward. Iris clenched her eyes shut and held herself to his chest with all her little might. The little changeling knew she was dead without him, but even moreso, he had given her his own love, free of any agenda or plans. This love was something she never wanted to lose. If she was to lose Tyrin, she had no real reason to continue. In her head it was clear, she would far rather die in his arms than to lose him.

The world seemed to grow dead silent, the sound of talons puncturing flesh was like thunder in the very same silence. Luna still refused to move, her soul refusing to allow her to move an inch.

"Carcere...."

Iris opened her eyes and looked up at the talons that had sank into Tyrin's own chest just above her head. Panic and pain shot through her when he seized up in silence. His eyes were blank and his body absolutely rigid, the Griffon fell to the ground solid as a stone. He did not so much as budge an inch even as the force of his body should have made his lighter limbs at the very least sway.

Iris, overwhelmed with the event and the harm to her only loved one just broke into tears. She honestly did not know what else she could possibly do, so her emotions flooded and overtook her young mind. Crying was all she could manage as she tried to shake the Griffon awake.

Luna on the other hoof, while still in the same state of shock, lay a single hoof on the little filly, almost instantly her crying began to lessen and was replaced with soft fitful breathing as Luna's magic forced her to fall asleep. Luna's mind was filled with questions that shot back and forth with a lot of weight behind each implication.

She sighed loudly and wrapped them both in her magic. She needed answers quickly, she needed to know more before she made any real choices. She could not let Celestia hear about this. If her sister caught wind of it she would take far more strict measures. What she needed was somepony who knew a thing or two and would not go public with her little restoration project on what anypony else would call a 'lost cause'.

"Damn it all, I can't believe I will have to go running to 'him'."

Author's Note:

Special thanks to both Cyanidefairy for the editing and Earl for the art.
You guys are amazing and I thank you for helping me master my work ^_^

Comments

[Pencil Melody]

Dang, this is good. I can't wait to read more.
~Melly~

[Sanguine Eyes]

8121104 Thank ye ^w^

Chapter five is complete, its just waiting its art and the editing ^w^

[Pencil Melody]

8121294

Awesome.

~Melly~