Alternative Reality

by Crystal Night

Stage Nine: Rematch

"You seem quite happy this morning." - said Luna.

"I slept very well tonight, I had a certain princess to thank for." After hearing those words, Luna's cheeks turned red, which made him chuckle.

During their brief talk, they arrived at the dinning room where Celestia was already finishing her breakfast.
"Good morning to both of you."

"I want pancakes this time." - he said.
Luna glanced at him.
"I didn't know you liked that." When he nodded, it gave her an idea for later.

"Luna would you like to speak with the ponies from yesterday while I ask Twilight for her help?"

"Of course sister, the faster we get this done, the better."

"I can help. What?" Luna and Celestia looked at him with a worried look. "It's not like I'm going to throw them into null space if they don't answer."

"Null space?" - Luna inquired.

"I'll explain later."

"What do you think Luna?" - asked Celestia before leaving her seat. Part of Luna's mind said no, saying it was a bad idea, but on the other hoof this could help him be less aggressive. It was worth trying.
"He can help me, don't worry."

"Yea, I got her back if anything happens." - he grinned. The lunar alicorn rolled her eyes.

"Alright then, make sure you can get any piece of information from them."

Infinite rubbed his hands.
"That's easy."

"Stars help me..." - Luna just facehoofed. Maybe this was a bad idea. Too late to go back now.

---

Along their way to the dungeons, Luna was feeling a bit nervous. It wasn't about the interrogation, but the partner she had. Infinite got awfully quiet, more than usual. At least he didn't pull out his mask, yet.
The princess glanced around making sure no pony else was nearby.
"Zero? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just thinking."

"About what?" - she inquired.

"It's nothing." - the jackal gave her a reassuring smile.

"You sure?"

"Yes, don't worry about it."
One of the guards that was standing at the entrance to the jails saluted Luna, to which she reply with a nod. Infinite had noticed before the guards seemed to have different armours from each other, at least the colour. It wasn't too difficult to guess which one was which.
"Tell me Luna, the ponies with golden armour, belong to Celestia right?"

"Yes, they do. Why did you ask that?"

"Just curious."

They approached one of the cells, but before they could begin, she turned around and looked at him.
"Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"Still thinking I'm going to hurt them? I won't get near them."

"I want your word."
Infinite stared into her eyes. There was something about them. He quickly looked away, scratching the back of his neck.
"Fine...you have my word."

"Good, shall we?"

What is wrong with me?

---

The room where questioning was being held is what any one would expect, small and less light than the rest of the castle, something that Infinite felt odd about it.
"This room feels different."

"Well, this is very old. It also haven't been used for a long while."

The door opened, revealing three ponies, two of which using armour and the other with shackles. He sat down, facing the duo. It was again the brown pony.
"Alright, what's your name?"

"Twisted Fate."

"Tell me Twisted, why were you all hiding in the castle? The actual reason."

"I already told you, we were camping."

"You're not good at lying aren't you?" - Infinite mocked.

"Why is he here? Is he your pet now?"
The princess quickly glanced at him, ready to intervene. Infinite punched the table and pointed at him.
"You're lucky Luna is here, otherwise I would be more than happy to get rid of you. I gave my word so I won't break it."

"Bo oh, I'm so scared pff."

"If I were you, I would chose my words very carefully. He might not do anything, however that doesn't apply to me." - Luna said in a calm but very threating way that sent shivers down Twisted's back. "Next time you call him pet, I won't be so polite. Is that clear?"

"Yes, of course!"

Note to self: don't get on Luna's bad side. Infinite thought it would be best to stay back and let Luna take care of this, she had a bigger saying in this.

"So, I ask again, what were you doing in the castle?"

"We...we were gathering crystals."

"Why?"

"That's what they told us to do, the crystals would be later taken."
The mention of the word 'they' got her curiosity even more.
"Who's they?"

"I don't know, I swear. They only approached us once, and they were wearing cloaks so I couldn't really see their faces."

"Anything else you might remember?"

"Well, they were three. I know one of them is a unicorn. That's all I know."

"What about the others?" - said Infinite, stepping forward.

"The others?" - he asked.

"Yes, your...friends." - he rolled his eyes which earned him a light tap from the princess. "What? I could have said something worse." Well he wasn't lying.

"They told me to find a few to help with the cause."
The princess moved her head closer.
"What cause?"

"I can't say it, actually I already said too much. If they know I just told this..."

"We can protect you from they."

"No you can't! They're everywhere! I'm not talking anymore." Infinite observed his body movement, whoever those guys, erm ponies, certaintly got him scared.

"Let him be. He ain't talking."

"But he..."

"Trust me, this guy reeks of fear." Luna noticed he was shaking a little and now trying to avoid eye contact.
"Alright then." She called out for the guards to escort him back to the cell.
"At least we got something to work with. Hopefully my sister had better luck."

When she glanced back at her partner, he was staring at a wall, not even blinking.
"You alright Zero?"
A couple of seconds went by until.

"I'm hungry."

"Really?! I was getting worried here!"

"Yea, I'm starving." The lunar alicorn let out a sigh as Infinite was about to leave the room, he quickly turned around. "And don't worry about me, no one does." With that said he left.

I do.

---

After many plates of food, Infinite decided to relax under a tree. He found it odd that after the interrogation ended, Luna was nowhere to be seen. It was quiet.

Almost too quiet.

Even though he didn't want to admit to anyone, Infinite was slowly starting to enjoy being around Luna.

"Infinite," - he opened one eye to glance at his surprise guest. "I lost track of you, how long have you been here?"

"I don't know, why were you looking for me?"
She took a seat next to him.
"You're my responsability."

"And here I was thinking because I'm good."

"Please, you're not that good."
The jackal grinned and got back up.
"Wanna try?"

"A rematch? Oh yes!"
They made their way to the training grounds, and Infinite was feeling very excited. This time I'll show what I'm made of.

"To make things easier, I won't change reality."

"Easier? We will see about that." All of the sudden they dashed forward. Luna used her hind legs to avoid his fist, however Infinite spun around to try again.
She blocked his attack with her wing and pushed him back, gaining some distance. The jackal grinned as he dashed right and left, Luna was amazed by his speed, he seemed to be faster this time.
She steady herself for his next attack. He dashed to her right side.
"Gotcha!" Luna was about to kick him, but he saw it coming and jumped over her.
"I don't think so." As soon as he landed, Infinite curved into a ball and struck Luna with a spin-dash attack.

His move was successful as the princess was knock away from him and fell on her side. "Perhaps hoof to hoof combat isn't ideal against him now." Spreading her wings, she nearly avoided a jump-kick.
"That's cheating."

"You can fly too!" She blew a raspberry at him.

"Well, I could use some target practice." - he said smiling. Luna about to ask what he meant by that, if it wasn't for the laser beams he was currently shooting. "Hold still for a sec princess."

"As if." Flapping her wings faster, she increased her speed, making a harder job for Infinite. Where did she get that speed? Maybe... Infinite had a new trick up his sleeve, but he never had a chance to test it. Now it would be a great time for that. Activating the ruby, his body was covered by the red cubes. Luna watched from a safety distance, wondering what was happening. The cubes disappeared, and instead of seeing Infinite, she was met with someone else or something.

Whatever it was, it certaintly looked shiny and very blue.
"Infinite?"
His new opponent turned to glance at Luna. Infinite flew straight up, doing a loop and speeding like a shooting star. After missing her, the metal faker did another loop, aiming his claws at Luna who tried to get as much distance as she could. "How is he that fast all of the sudden??"

Luna felt her wings growing tired, at this rytme he would catch up to her. She then dove straight down, quickly being followed. The ground was getting closer and closer. Just a bit more!

Literally inches from crashing, the princess opened her wings and flew up, taking the time to look back, only to see him hitting the ground with a loud crack.
"Infinite!"

The dust blocked Luna's view, she just hoped that he was alright. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if something serious happen to him. As she made her way back down, something emerged from the dust.
"You're mine now!" - stated Infinite, who no longer was a copy. Luna used her wings to shield herself from the imminent blow, although it never came. When she decided to look, Infinite was right infront of her with a smug face. "I win."

"But...what? How? I thought you crashed face first!"

"And I did, but the copy took the hit first which means I'm fine." - he explained. "I have been waiting to do this for quite some time now. Basically I turn into someone else, a copy so to speak, if the copy sustains a serious hit, it brakes, however it doesn't hurt me. The next hit will though."

They left the training area and made their way to a lake.
"It sounds like it's an illusion."

"A little bit."
Luna and Infinite sat down on the edge of the lake. He discovered this place was yet another quiet one. For a large city, it certaintly had a lot of quiet spots, specially near the castle. Two guards trotted by, saluting the princess but giving Infinite a side way glance.
"You seem to like illusions."

The jackal saw his reflection on the water.
"Sometimes life is like an illusion."

I know he's hurting inside. She was determined to help him, besides being her responsability, it was also her duty.

A duty she wouldn't fail.

Luna had an idea, she just hoped it would work. Getting closer to him, she took a deep breath and ever so slowly her head came to rest on his shoulder. Please work, please work.

"Um? What you doing Luna?"
She glanced at him, her cheeks softly red.
"I thought you wouldn't mind...I...I'm sorry." Luna was about to let go, however she felt an arm behind her back, moving her closer.
"I don't mind. It actually feels...nice."
Luna's blush came into full force.

They stayed like that for what felt like hours, simply enjoying each other warm embrace. No words were spoken or needed.

"Zero?"

"Yes?" - he replied back.

"I'm hungry."
He grinned.
"Me too, time to eat something?"

"Yes please." The duo got back up and went towards the castle, chatting some more.

Two shadowy figures watched from the distance.
"This is getting interesting."

"I thought they hated each other."

"I guess things changed, we need to report this at once." They quickly left, making their way back, without rousing any suspicion.

Comments

[sonicandmario826]

Well they gave up on the interrogation quickly.

Nice to see the copies make an appearance.

Still think it’s a bit quick for those two to get close.

[Crystal Night]

9780623
This story still has a lot to go, they will have ups and downs. Besides, Celestia also got some extra information, no one said they were done talking ;)

[Scorch234]

Would’ve been nice to see this story continue

[Scorch234]

Would’ve been nice to see this story continue

[Crystal Night]

10566587
It's still a work in progress, unfortunately I have been very busy, but I'm back on writing.

[Scorch234]

10567438
Okay