Revenant

by Zimprus Nalune

Journey (Pt 1)

Lulamoon and I continued to make our way away from Ponyville. It was still early in the morning, so we had plenty of time to head wherever the road took us. I hoped that we would come across some sort of civilization before too long, however. Lulamoon was a pony, and needed food, which we had none of. I didn’t need to feed for a while, judging from the amount of love I had somehow gotten from that dream, but all the same, I wanted to have a food source readily available.

Neither of us spoke to the other, something that allowed me to focus on my own thoughts. Glancing down at myself, I realized I needed another disguise. ‘Night Wing’ had served his purpose, and there was no way I could convince another town to accept him. And if I ever ran into any former Ponyvillians, they would expose me in an instant.

I chuckled, flashing back to earlier that day. ‘Commander Orlok’ had definitely given the ponies what they deserved. Although, it wasn’t very reassuring that he was big enough to knock over a house by sneezing. If anything, that meant he would be an even bigger problem if I had to fight him.

I turned my thoughts to Dostya. Even though she and Orlok shared the same title, it seemed like she was the one in control. Orlok probably could have been there and scared the ponies into looking for me, but Dostya had just ordered them to and expected them to go along, only calling in Orlok once they didn't do what she wanted. In the end, it didn’t matter, I suppose.

Shrugging to myself, I focused on coming up with a new disguise. It was obvious now that I had to choose whether to be a unicorn or a pegasus. Earth pony was completely out of the question. So it was between those two.

On one hoof, being a unicorn meant I could continue to focus on magic. It was the only trait I had really put an effort into learning, and it certainly had its uses. And I could teach Lulamoon what she needed to learn, and not draw any attention to us if we had to practice among other ponies in broad daylight.

On the other hoof, I really needed to get more practice flying. I hadn’t done very much of it, and keeping watch in the sky as we approached Ponyville was the most use I’d gotten out of my wings. Plus, there was a feeling of being free that I just couldn’t get on the ground. Lulamoon could just learn by herself, and when we were alone I could teach her personally.

I nodded to myself. Pegasus it was. I let my mind go blank, picturing a pegasus mare and letting my mind randomly fill in the colors. The result was a rich, dark jade coat, bright yellow mane and tail, and finally, red eyes. My lip twitched in amusement at the last bit. Red eyes seemed to be a trend.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I focused on the pony in my mind, to the exclusion of all else.

Change.

With a flash, I felt my body change into the pegasus. My body became fuller, heavier. My fangs and horn disappeared, and my wings became larger, fuller, and feathery. I flapped my new wings a few times to get a feel for them.

Lulamoon stopped and gasped as I shapeshifted. I stopped and turned to face her, smirking and throwing my mane about, which was spikey at the tips, yet became straight as it went down my neck, ending in slightly curled spikes.

“I am an artist, aren’t I?” I asked smugly, hearing my mare voice for the first time. It was strangely smooth compared to my normal voice, but there was something about it that still sounded like me.

Lulamoon looked me over, eyes wide. Eventually her eyes stopped on one part of me, and for some reason, I knew what it was in an instant.

“What?” I asked, flicking my straight tail.. “Does this form make my flank look big?”

Lulamoon coughed into her hoof. “N-no, you just...” She looked up at me. “You have no cutie mark.”

I looked at my flank. Sure enough, it was blank. I frowned and thought to myself. I didn’t have a name for this form either. I thought about it for a moment. I was a pegasus, so I could probably get away with ‘wing’ or ‘feather’ in my name. I was colored jade and yellow, so maybe ‘green’ or ‘gold’.

With a grin, I shapeshifted again. This time, a feather made from jade appeared on my flank.

“Call me Jade Feather,” I said. “Stupid ponies won’t suspect a thing.”

All Lulamoon did was continue to stare at me, her eyes wide. “You look... good. Really good.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course I do.” I gestured with my hoof for her to follow me. “Come on, we’ve got lots of ground to cover.”

Lulamoon shook her head, seemingly clearing a daze from her mind. We continued on, silence settling in once more.

***

It took us awhile before anything of interest happened. We eventually came to a fork in the road, a wooden post in the ground with three arrows attached to it.

“Well,” I said slowly, coming to a stop. “Left or right?” I looked more closely at the arrows, making out names that were worn, but still legible. “Manehattan or... Las Pegasus?”

A sudden whimper caught my attention. I turned to see Lulamoon backing away from the sign, eyes wide with fear. “No...”

“Something the matter?” I asked, trying to keep the amusement out of my voice. The mare nodded jerkily.

“Bad place... anywhere but there...please...” she begged, still staring at the sign.

“Where?” I asked, confused.

“Las... Pegasus...” she squeaked. I grinned.

“You know what? Let’s go to Las Pegasus,” I said, grinning as I watched the unicorn tremble in fear. “I bet there’s lots of ponies for you to make friends with. Maybe you can grab a hat put on a little show for them.”

As I chuckled to myself, Lulamoon froze, not even blinking. I began laughing as twin streams of tears began flowing down her cheeks. She just stared ahead, completely oblivious to me. I waved a hoof in front of her face, her lack of reaction only making me laugh harder.

Eventually my laughter died down to chuckling, and I nudged Lulamoon’s shoulder.

“Come on,” I said, trying to suppress the laughter that was trying to come out again. “You can stop staring like an idiot. We’ll go to Manehattan.”

Lulamoon kept staring, dead to the world. Now that she wasn’t listening to me, it was a lot less funny. I frowned, giving her a light shove. She swayed to the side, but slowly stood up straight once more.

“Lulamoon, let’s go,” I said, tapping my hoof on the ground. She was becoming very irritating, very quickly.

“Snap out of it!” I yelled, moving to stand right in front of her.

“On the count of three, or else!” I raised my hoof. “One!”

No response.

“Two!” I brought my hoof across my chest, holding it high and ready.

Nothing.

“Three!” I swung, back-hoofing Lulamoon across the face. The blow sent her sprawling in the dirt, but she still did nothing, simply falling to the ground, tears still flowing.

I growled and kicked her in the ribs. “Get up.”

Lulamoon continued to ignore me.

An idea come to mind, but I didn’t want to do it. Still, nothing I did was getting me anywhere, so I was out of options.

“Fine,” I muttered. “I didn’t want to do this, but you aren’t giving me a choice. If you don’t want to listen... I’ll make you”

Quickly looking around to make sure there was noling around, I shapeshifted back into my changeling self. With a long sigh to myself, I closed my eyes, leaning down and touching my horn to Lulamoon’s. I felt a slight tugging in my mind, and the world faded away.

***

Like before, I was floating in a void.

Unlike before, I wasn’t greeting by a ball of slime, but by a crying little filly.

I was taken aback for a moment. The filly was colored the same as Lulamoon, but she had no cutie mark, and was dressed in a purple hat and cape with star patterns, both of which were too large for her.

I walked over to the mini-Lulamoon, pushing my slight discomfort aside. She needed to be taught a lesson, or else she’d probably keep doing this whenever she heard the name ‘Las Pegasus’, and that would just get annoying.

I stopped next to the filly, looming over her. She stopped sobbing and looked up at me with wide, tear-filled eyes. By ponies, she would be considered unbearably pitiful. To me, she was a frustrating wreck.

“Stand up,” I commanded. The filly’s lip trembled, and she looked ready to burst into tears again. I stamped my hoof down next to her, growling lowly. That proved to be motivation enough.

“Why?” she asked.

“Shut up,” I said.

“Why are you so mean?”

“Why are you so useless?”

“Please stop... please...”

“Stop whining and grow a backbone.”

Mini-Lulamoon took off her hat and threw it at me. I stood still as it hit my face, then sit it alight with a burst of magic.

“I hate you!” she yelled, turning and running away.

I grinned, taking off and flying in front of her, cutting her off as I touched down.

“I don’t care,” I said lowly, stepping towards her slowly. She turned and ran off in a different direction, but I took off and landed in front of her again.

“You can hate me all you want...”

“Go away!” she ran away again, but every time she did, I simply flew and landed in front of her, so she couldn’t get away from me.

“You’re mine now.”

“Leave me alone!”

“You can’t run, you can’t hide...”

“Stop it!”

“I’ll never leave you alone.”

“Please!”

My head ached for a brief moment. “We exist together now...”

“Stop!”

“...two corpses, in one grave.”

The filly tripped over her own hooves and fell face-first. I buzzed over to her, picking her up with my magic and slamming her against the non-existent ground. I touched down, planting my forehooves on either side of her head, leaning down and snarling in her face.

I was the predator.

She was the prey.

“You’re alive because of me. NEVER forget that.”

“I...”

“Now get up and stop wasting my time.”

I looked into the filly’s eyes. I was staring at her very soul.

And I saw something break.

The world faded to black.

***

I stepped away from Lulamoon, quickly shapeshifting back into Jade Feather. The unicorn on the ground groaned, her eyes snapping shut as she curled up.

“Get up,” I ordered.

Lulamoon froze, opening her eyes and looking up at me. We made eye contact for a split second before she flinched, looking back to the ground.

Then, slowly, she pulled herself to her hooves.

She didn’t look back up at me, keeping her eyes glued to the ground. The most she would look at me was a glance at my hooves. I scoffed, rolling my eyes so hard it almost hurt.

“Let’s go,” I said, glancing up at the sky. The sun was approaching the horizon, which meant that we had wasted almost an entire day at one intersection.

I turned left, heading down the road towards Manehattan. I heard Lulamoon’s hoofsteps behind me, trudging along.

***

The road to Manehattan was mostly dull and boring. The farther we got from Ponyville, the less controlled the greenery became, eventually becoming walls of grass and wheat that swayed in the breeze.

It was some time before the repetitive scenery faded away, becoming more controlled, as if the ponies that came this way kept it so. The sun was rapidly lowering, now only half above the horizon.

I noticed there was a dirt pathway leading off of the main road. The path led to a good-sized lake that practically glittered. Since it wouldn’t be long before night fell, I figured it was as good a place as any to settle down for the night.

“This way,” I announced, heading off the road and down the pathway. Lulamoon didn’t respond, but I was able to hear her dragged-out hoofsteps continue to follow me.

We made our way to the lakeside, heading slightly away from the path to avoid anyling that might stumble onto us.

“Here,” I said, laying down on the short grass. “We are staying here for the night.”

Lulamoon collapsed to the ground with a sigh. I could tell she was physically and emotionally exhausted. I grinned.

“Go take a bath,” I told her, pointing to the lake. “I could smell you from across the Everfree.”

Her lip trembling, the mare forced herself to her hooves, trudging slower than ever to the lake. She hesitated as soon as she got to the water’s edge, tentatively putting one hoof in and shivering at the temperature.

She glanced over to me, and I pretended not to pay attention, watching her out of the corner of my eye. She looked at me for a few seconds, then looked away and bowed her head. She slowly waded into the water, shivering increasingly harshly as she went deeper and deeper into the obviously frigid water.

I chuckled to myself as she tried pathetically to bathe herself, weakly splashing water over herself with her hooves. I watched as she stuck her head underneath the surface...

...she stayed under...

...still under...

…still under...

...a set of bubbles popped at the surface.

Immediately I realized what she was doing. She was trying to drown herself, just to get away from me. She would rather die than be my servant.

She wasn’t getting off that easily.

Enraged, I immediately shapeshifted back into my changeling self, snarling as I launched myself into the air. I created a magical blade around my horn, diving headfirst into the lake.

Thanks to the blade, the lake water boiled and evaporated as soon as the two made contact, allowing me to dive through the water almost as if I was still falling. I quickly dove down to the sinking Lulamoon, wrapping my forehooves around her and buzzing my wings as fast as I could to bring us back to the surface.

I pierced the surface of the lake, bursting out and practically throwing Lulamoon to the lakeside. She rolled limply as she hit the ground, as if she was already dead.

I landed next to her and flipped her onto her back. I quickly ran my eyes over her body, trying to see if she showed any signs of breathing again. When she didn’t, I stamped my hoof on the ground in anger and thought to myself.

I had a vague idea of pony anatomy, but no real idea of what to do when one drowned. I looked her over again. Water in the lungs... ribcage... diaphragm... there!

I placed my hoof just underneath Lulamoon’s ribcage, making sure I had the position right. I drew my hoof back.

“Stupid ponies...” I muttered.

I drove my hoof directly into Lulamoon’s gut, causing her to curl around it as she gave a miniscule wheeze of air, the rest going into propelling a large amount of lakewater out of her lungs. She fell back to the ground, eyelids cracked open slightly, eyes almost rolled back in their sockets.

“Breathe already!” I yelled, punching her again. A smaller amount of liquid came up, and this time was followed by a large inhale.

Lulamoon coughed and hacked, rolling onto her belly, which she clutched in what I presumed was pain. I hadn’t been gentle with her, so it was expected. As soon as she stopped coughing up what water was left in her, Lulamoon took several large breaths, her eyes fluttering open.

I cleared my throat loudly, getting her attention in full. Her next breath caught in her chest, and she turned her head slowly to look up at me. I scowled down at her.

“I told you,” I said matter-of-factly. “You can’t run, you can’t hide.” I leaned down closer to her, so that our noses were almost pressing against one another.

“You’re mine. And you will never escape me.”

I pulled back, turning into Jade Feather as I did so.

“Now get some sleep,” I ordered. “If you try and kill yourself again, you’ll have bigger things to worry about than finding a lake deep enough to do it in.”

The mare sniffed, but lowered her gaze and closed her eyes, nodding briskly. She curled up into a soaking wet ball, trying to keep herself warm. I scoffed in disgust and moved away from her, far enough so that she could feel alone but close enough to act if she tried anything.

I laid down on the grass once more shuffling my wings and trying to get comfortable. Compared to the stone of the Everfree Castle, the grass was a luxury. I kept my eye on the suicidal unicorn, watching her shiver from the cold the water brought on and mumble what sounded like ‘daddy’ over and over.

It was pathetic, really.

***

Night seemed to take forever to arrive, the moon crawling up into the sky behind the sun, but by the time it did, Lulamoon’s mumblings had stopped, and she seemed to have fallen asleep, however fitful it was.

Feeling slightly relieved, I closed my eyes, feeling a bit worn out by the day’s events. I began to drift off to sleep...

“Alright, everypony, here looks like a good spot!”

...oh no.

I opened my eyes and raised my head to see a crowd of ponies coming down the pathway from the main road. At their head were several ponies, and one lizard, that I recognized all too well. Twilight Sparkle, her friends and tagalong pet, and the one pony I despised above all others.

Pyrite Dreams.

With them was what I guessed to be the rest of Ponyville, except that the crowd here was smaller than I remembered seeing. I allowed myself a small laugh at the damage Orlok had done to their numbers. Twilight stopped and turned around, the rest of the crowd making a half-circle around her.

“Alright everypony,” she said sadly. “I know we’re all tired, so we’re going to stay here for the night. I’d advise you all to find your loved ones and keep them close, we’re not out of the metaphorical woods yet.”

I took advantage of the Ponyvillian’s distractedness to slink over to Lulamoon, waking her with a nudge. She started, but I held her down so we didn’t draw any sudden attention to ourselves.

“The Rules,” I whispered menacingly into her ear. She gave a slow, fearful nod in reply.

As the crowd began to disperse, somehow making it even larger as the ponies rushed around, Lulamoon and I stayed put, watching the scene unfold before us. Names were called out, and most of the time they were responded to.

Fluttershy timidly came over to us, her hair obscuring most of her face.

“I’m terribly sorry about all this...” she said softly. “We’ve just had a long, bad day... um, we’ll... try not to disturb you.”

I couldn’t resist snapping at her. “If you don’t want to disturb us, then why did you come here in the first place?”

The pegasus flinched. “I’m sorry, I just-”

“Get lost,” I said, waving her away.

Looking as if she was about to cry, Fluttershy hurried away from the two of us. Lulamoon exhaled loudly, as if she had been holding her breath. I grinned, patting her head softly.

“There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” I asked rhetorically. I heard hoofsteps approaching us, and I sighed, getting ready to send the pegasus away again.

“Didn’t I tell you-” I began, slowly looking up, greeted by the sight of Twilight instead of her cowardly friend.

“Shut up.”

I blinked. She was harsher than I remembered.

“Excuse me?” I asked, blinking in an ‘are you kidding me’ way. Twilight scowled at me.

“She just lost her pet. Leave her alone.” The mare shifted her gaze to a disheveled Lulamoon, both mare’s eyes suddenly widening.

“Oh my Celestia,” she said. “Trixie?”

Apparently, that name gave Lulamoon a sudden burst of energy, as she lunged at Twilight, tackling her to the ground, her horn lighting up a bright pink. She shook with rage, totally unlike the submissive pony she had been seconds ago.

“I hate you...” she seethed. Twilight’s only response was to gape in shock.

“Lulamoon!” I yelled. I waited a moment, then joined Twilight in gaping in shock as Lulamoon ignored me.

“I said, Lulamoon!” I repeated. Her horn only lit up brighter, and I could tell she was going to do something that would complicate things way beyond my liking.

Twilight’s eyes broke from Lulamoon’s stare and looked at me pleadingly. I glanced around, seeing a small crowd forming around us. I growled to myself. As much as I wanted Sparkle to be a smear on the ground, I had to act.

I darted forward, using my wings to propel myself faster than my hooves could alone. I grabbed Lulamoon by her mane and yanked her back, throwing her to the ground and standing over her.

“TRIXIE! LULAMOON!” I shouted, remembering the name Twilight had called her to set her off.

Immediately, ‘Trixie’s’ magic died down as she realized who I was. She closed her eyes and shielded her face with her hooves, expecting me to hit her. And as much as I wanted to, I didn’t. Instead, I backed off, turning my attention back to Twilight.

“She’s sensitive,” I said, blatantly lying and hoping that I could convince Sparkle otherwise. “She doesn’t like to hear that name.”

Twilight nodded dumbly. “Yes, I suppose you’re right...” I helped her to her hooves, looking around at the crowd.

“Alright everypony, show’s over!” I said loudly. They mumbled amongst themselves for a bit, then shrugged unanimously and dispersed.

“I’m sorry about that,” Twilight apologized. “I didn’t-”

“Save it,” I said, waving a hoof dismissively. “Just leave us alone, before somepony is really sorry.”

The mare bowed her head politely, then left to attend to the rest of the Ponyvillians.

I walked over to Lulamoon, dropping to the ground and looking her directly in the eyes. She immediately flinched and looked away.

“Look at me,” I told her. “Trixie.”

Slowly, ‘Trixie’ looked back at me, her eyes fearful, uncertain.

“Is that your name?” I asked, getting a nod in return. “Then why did you tell me otherwise?”

“My name is Trixie Lulamoon,” she said. “I didn’t lie to you.”

I couldn’t help but grin. All of a sudden, she had a backbone. I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that.

“You didn’t tell me the whole truth, then.” I narrowed my eyes. “What else aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing,” Trixie responded. “I really don’t remember anything.” She looked out at the lake, her eyes gaining a faraway look.

“My dad used to take me fishing here...” she said wistfully. “It was never sunny, we never caught anything... but I miss doing it.”

I regarded her for a moment. She had the same problem I did. Like me, her memory seemed to be triggered by certain things.

I... understood.

“That was then,” I told her. “We’re in the now.”

Trixie sighed and lowered her head to the ground. I expected her to cry, but she simply sat there in silence. I gave her a soft pat on the head, then turned my attention elsewhere.

Twilight and her friends all emerged from the scattered crowd, each one bearing an expression of sadness, some crying outright. Applejack in particular was wiping her eyes every few steps, moving very shakily. Even Pinkie Pie, who seemed like she was never down, had rivers pouring from her face.

I listened closely as they started talking, my grin at their distress becoming wider and wider the more they talked.

“Girls?” Twilight began. “The Mayor isn’t with us anymore. I don’t want to ask, but...”

“B-b-big Mac...” Applejack began, pausing to wipe her eyes. “He’s... he’s gone...” Everyling in their little group gasped in shock, all bearing looks of horror.

“He went down fightin’...” the farm pony continued. “Whatever good it did... thank Celestia he got Granny Smith out okay...”

“I’m so sorry Applejack...” the white unicorn said, trying desperately and rapidly failing to hold her composure. “I know what you’re feeling. My father... did not... he did not make it out of Ponyville.”

“Rarity...” Fluttershy whispered, moving over to her and holding her friend closely. “I’m so sorry. I lost Angel...”

“What about you Rainbow?” Twilight asked hesitantly. “Everypony you know make it out?”

“Lightning Dust,” the pegasus replied simply, her head held low. “She didn’t have a chance.”

Everyling looked at Pinkie Pie, who held what little composure she had left, then broke down and burst out crying.

“The Cakes!” she bawled, falling to the ground. “They’re all gone!”

Everyling drew together, sharing in their tears and sadness. I turned my attention away from them, lying down next to Trixie and grinning insanely.

“So many dead...” I whispered.

Trixie gasped in horror, but quickly steeled her expression and closed her eyes, scowling. She was horrified that ponies had died, undoubtedly, but I had a feeling she was in the same camp as me.

I allowed myself one more chuckle, then closed my eyes and fell asleep, hearing the cries of ponies who had lost loved ones ring out through the air.

I couldn’t decide whether it was a mournful pealing, or a wonderful melody.

Author's Note:

Sorry about any quality control issues, I couldn't get an editor for this one. Sorry for the wait, yadda yadda, you know the drill.

Also, CPR as I learned it from a Sergeant Major.

Comments

[ALIENwolve]

Ugh. Was hoping for "Dead pony is a changeling" and then saw "human."

[dashdlkashd]

Hm... this turned dark very fast...

[Dainn]

I was half expecting twilight to use her detection spell on revenant again

[Slip Kid]

Jesus Christ, what the fuck Revenant?

[BIGNICK]

I agree with the others, this became real dark real fast. But it is super interesting non the less
At this rate, you should prob put a dark tag on here