A Do-Over

by Pip232

19: It Lives!

Moonlight panted as she walked along the stone pathway, Scootaloo’s body feeling like it was filled with rocks. She’d exhausted all her stamina and were it not for the Alicorn Amulet’s power, she wouldn’t be able to keep going. The heavy saddlebags on her back were no help, either, her legs slightly trembling beneath their weight.

Her whole body was sopping wet thanks to a late-night downpour. As she looked up a bolt of lightning illuminated the gates of Tartarus, thunder following soon after. It was a fitting punctuation for where she was going.

Her hooves splashed in the water as she pulled herself up the stone steps leading to the gate. When she reached the top, she put her hoof against the lock. A purple glow began to shine from her amulet. Despite her fatigue, her spirits were high.

The glow began to run through the lock, clicks sounding from it. The gates opened with the sound of metal grating against stone. Moonlight smirked as she stepped into Tartarus. When she crossed the threshold, the gates began to close behind her, shutting with a metallic slam.

She glanced from side to side, seeing rows of cages full of various creatures. They were all relatively docile compared to how they would normally act, but she could hardly care.

A distant set of pounding thumps suddenly drew her attention.

She tossed off her saddlebags and started digging through them. She’d packed something just for this situation, she just needed to find the blasted thing.

The pounding was getting closer, and she dared to glance in its direction, beginning to hear growling, too. Panic began to rise in her and she dumped out the contents of the saddlebags, finally seeing the object she was after.

She snatched up the stick she’d been looking for as Cerberus came into view. She held it in front of her and called out, “Who wants the stick? Do you want it? You want it, don’t you?”

Cerberus skidded to a stop, all three of his heads fixated on the stick. They smiled and panted with happiness, following the stick as Moonlight waved it around.

“Go get it!” She called before tossing the stick and watching him run after it. With the threat of being mauled dealt with she finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling her tired muscles relax.

“That was too close…” she muttered to herself, beginning to pick up her things and putting them back in her saddlebag. A moment later she heard laughter before a voice called from behind her.

“I thought for sure you were about to be his next meal.”

Moonlight placed her saddlebags back on before turning towards the source of the voice.

Seeing who it belonged to a frown crossed her face, but she began to approach. As she got closer, she was more clearly able to see its occupant. Within was a frail, emaciated centaur lying on the floor. “Are you disappointed that I didn’t, Lord Tirek?”

“Not really.” He slowly got up and stretched himself out, his joints creaking and popping. He leaned forwards and grasped the bars of his cage. “I so rarely get any form of entertainment here, it was amusing either way.”

Tirek smirked, peering down and getting a good look at her. “I must say, you look very different from the last time I saw you, little one.”

Moonlight huffed. “This body isn’t mine, I’m just borrowing it until I get mine back. What I need to get it back is hidden somewhere in here and I’m not leaving until I have it.”

This drew a sinister smirk from Tirek as his eyes seemed to glow with sickly yellow light.

“I know exactly what you’re looking for, and more importantly, I know where they are.”

This revelation made Moonlight’s eyes widen for a moment, but her skepticism immediately restrained any excitement. “Is that so? And you think you know what I’m here for?”

“Indeed.” Tirek slowly stepped back from the edge of his cage, gesturing to the area around him. “I’ve been here since Equestria was young. In my early days here I saw them bringing in a great many ponies like you and locking them away in a sealed chamber. I can tell you where it is.”

Moonlight raised an eyebrow, her skepticism reaching its peak. While Tirek did know what she was after, he seemed a little too accommodating. “You’d just tell me? You wouldn’t insist I take you there, or only tell me if I let you out first? There has to be a catch, Tirek.”

He chuckled, crossing his arms and sitting his back legs down. “Let’s not kid ourselves. I’m certain any attempt I make for my freedom would be denied because you know I would betray you at the first opportunity, and I have a strong suspicion you would be planning to do the same.”

“I won’t deny that.” She answered, occasionally shifting her weight around. Although the amulet’s magic was enough to keep her awake, it did nothing to abate the fatigue in her muscles. Eventually she gave in and sat down, giving her tired legs a break.

“You must want something. Nothing of value comes without a price.” She lied down and put her forehooves under her head. The temptation to just take a little nap was tempting, but she resisted. Soon sleep wouldn’t be an issue for her.

The centaur grinned, tenting his fingers. “You will provide what I want: Equestria to suffer.”

That took a few seconds to sink in, but when it did a quizzical expression began to cross her face. “And that’s really all you want?”

Tirek clenched his fists, his face morphing into a snarl. “I want many things, but right now I’m going to go for what’s closest to my reach. What I want is to see Equestria pay for twice foiling my evil schemes, corrupting my brother, and condemning me to an eternity in this dark, dank, claustrophobic dungeon. I’ll be happy to have it happen, even if I’m not the one to do it!”

Her excitement was beginning to work its way free, but she still kept it in check. “I can guarantee you that, Tirek. Taking my revenge will involve causing quite a bit of that.”

Tirek’s expression was incomprehensible for a moment. Perhaps he was excited about his dreams coming true, even if another was fulfilling them, or maybe he was disappointed that he wouldn’t be there to see it for himself. Moonlight couldn’t tell either way, nor did she care to figure out which it was.

He leaned forward, gazing down at her. “Then listen closely, and I will tell you what you need to know.”

---

Celestia and Luna were both sleeping contently until an intensely bright light abruptly awoke them. They shifted and tried to block the light, but in doing so Celestia accidentally rolled out of bed and landed on the floor. She threw off the covers and got to her hooves.

“Enough!”

With a quick spell the light vanished, leaving behind a scroll. Curious, she levitated it into her hoof and began to read.

Luna groggily sat up, blinking herself awake.

“Who’s that from, sister?”

“It’s from Twilight. Rainbow Dash is on her way, and she-”

Celestia was cut off when a pegasus-shaped shadow appeared on the carpet, Rainbow Dash crashing through one of the bedroom windows moments later. She landed on the ground, pointing a hoof right at Luna.

“There you are!”

Luna flinched when Rainbow Dash crashed into her room, the surprise startling her fully alert. “How did you know this was my bedroom?”

“This is the eighth window I’ve broken trying to find you, but that’s not important! Scootaloo’s gone missing”

This caught the princesses off guard and they shared a look before Luna lit her horn and teleported away.

“Where’d she go?!” Rainbow Dash demanded.

Celestia sighed, looking at the imprint on the bed where Luna had been. “If I had to guess, she went to Ponyville to help look for clues.”

Now it was Rainbow Dash’s turn to be surprised, but she collected herself quickly. “Twilight wants to start looking for Scootaloo in the morning, but she could be in danger. We can’t afford to wait.”

Celestia seemed confused. “I thought Scootaloo had died.”

“Maybe she did, but if there’s even a chance she’s alive we need to start looking right away!”

Celestia thought for a moment before lighting her horn and levitating her regalia over. “I agree with you, Rainbow Dash. Not only will I send you royal guards to help the search, but I will personally help you find her.”

Rainbow Dash’s surprise continued as she felt her anger beginning to leave with the promise of help. “Why are you helping me?”

“Because her sudden disappearance is very worrying, and I’ll admit that if I wasn’t with Luna the entire night I’d have probably come to the same conclusion you did.”

Dash hesitated for a moment. “Just to make sure we’re on the same page, what conclusion would you have come to?”

Celestia turned back to her uninvited guest. “That Luna was somehow involved. I don’t know what happened, Rainbow Dash, but I assure you she wasn’t. Head back to Ponyville, I’ll be there shortly.”

A sense of ambivalence weighed heavily on Dash’s shoulders. Celestia might have been telling the truth, but for all she knew she could be covering up for Luna, too. But she still had nothing to prove it other than the fact that Scootaloo was gone, but that didn’t automatically mean Luna was behind it.

She suppressed a sigh of frustration at the realization that her trip had been for nothing, and her only real move was to go along with the princess’s suggestion.

“Alright, I’ll meet you there.” She told Celestia before flying back out the broken window, racing back to Ponyville.

---

Every step Moonlight took was a challenge. Her borrowed legs felt like they were made of lead, and the idea of sleep threatened to lure her in like bait in a trap. She wouldn’t rest, and soon she wouldn’t need it.

She looked around, trying to see if she was in the right place. She grit her teeth in frustration, wondering if the centuries had skewed Tirek’s memories, or if he had intentionally led her astray for his own amusement.

The thought that she’d been sent on a fool’s errand only made her frustration grow, and a small growl escaped her throat. She needed to find them if she was going to defeat Celestia, and Twilight, and rule Equestria. If Tirek was tricking her she’d find a way to make him sorry.

Just as she was about to begin planning what she’d inflict upon him, she saw what she was looking for. A dark gray door, just like the one on the surface, but this one was different. There was no keyhole or indentation in the door.

Moonlight approached it and tapped on the door, feeling that it was indeed quite solid. She put her hoof against it and closed her eyes, trying to focus magic into any sort of lock, but she felt no response.

She withdrew, trying to find a way to open this door. There didn’t seem to be any sort of lock she could pick, and she didn’t have the destructive power to force it open. It seemed like an impossible challenge for her, and the idea made her tired frustration bubble up and boil.

“I… Will… Not… Be… Denied!” She slammed her hooves into the door, her only response being a stinging pain for her efforts. When she pulled back, though, she saw that her hooves were covered in a layer of dust, and markings on the door were visible now.

Curious, Moonlight reached forward and wiped more of the dust away, seeing similar markings and symbols beneath it. “Runes. Well played, sister.”

As she saw more of them, she focused, making sure she was reading everything correctly. What she saw made her roll her eyes.

“Of course you’d put something like that here. I’d be surprised if you had put anything else.” She cleared her throat, and read the runic inscription. “In your slumber, may you finally find peace, may your kin find closure, and the harm you bring to Equestria forever cease.”

The door remained tight, unyielding to her simple command. “Of course, I should’ve known. Not even she’s stupid enough to write the passphrase right on the door. So what is it?”

She thought hard, trying to think like Celestia. She’d use something memorable, probably something significant to her, but she was drawing blanks. “Ugh, for all I know she coded the door with gibberish she wrote down somewhere to remember it.”

She shook her head. “No. Celestia was never the kind of pony to follow proper safety standards.” She started pacing back and forth. “It needs to be something nopony inside would ever say by accident, or by guessing. She wouldn’t have bothered with the door if she wasn’t afraid of them waking up by accident, so she would have….. Should have accounted for that. So it could be…”

An old memory reared its ugly head in her mind. When they had both still been younger, Luna kept stealing Celestia’s diary, and eventually, Celestia put an enchantment on it that meant only those saying a certain phrase could read it. She never bothered keeping the phrase secret, because she knew that Luna would never say it for something this petty.

“Oh for the love of…”

Moonlight gulped. She took a couple of deep breaths, preparing herself for the worst thing she ever had to say.

After one last deep breath, she shouted, “PRAISE THE SUN!”

As soon as she finished the last syllable the door cracked open, stale air rushing out and making her step back. She practically gagged as the unbelievably musty odor invaded her nostrils, but it wasn’t enough to keep the smile off her face when she saw what the door had revealed.

Passing through the door Moonlight’s vision cut through the darkness, letting her soak in the sheer scale of the chamber and the rows upon rows of cages. Approaching one she saw the limp form of a pony with the same pointed ears she had.

“Silver Fang wasn’t exaggerating, there must be thousands of them here. But right now I’m only interested in one.”

---

Wind rushed against Scootaloo’s face as she soared through the skies, her tiny wings buzzing like there was no tomorrow. The sensation of speed, the freedom from gravity, the new view of the world, it was like nothing she’d ever felt before, and the hoof beneath her belly continually reminded her of who’d made it possible

She may not have been able to fly with her own wings, but her new sister Rainbow Dash was letting her experience what it was like to fly for the first time in her life, and it was even better than she’d hoped for.

Scootaloo’s only complaints were that she couldn’t do it herself, and eventually they’d have to stop, but for now she was enjoying the euphoria high it was giving her. She opened her mouth to give a shout of happiness, but suddenly everything was gone.

Darkness closed in around her, and she fell.

---

Scootaloo was unceremoniously slammed back into reality as she was flooded with feedback from her body. Everything was heavy and sore, and she could feel her legs trembling with fatigue.

A hoof brushed against the back of her neck and pulled on something. She tried to look up, but her vision was stuck on the floor. Whatever it was came away, and any vestiges of strength she had left her. She started to fall forward and squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation, but she felt contact not with a hard stone floor but a pair of forelegs.

Summoning all her strength, she forced her eyes halfway open to see herself pulled against a pony’s barrel, a hoof gently brushing up and down her back. She tried to speak, tried to move, but all that came out of her was a small groan.

“Shh, just go to sleep. I promise I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

Scootaloo didn’t recognize the voice, but she wasn’t in a position to argue with it. The warmth from this pony’s body and the gentle pressure on her back served to relax her, and her eyelids felt like they had the weight of trains pushing them down. Letting her eyes close, Scootaloo took their advice.

Author's Note:

HOLY CRAP! I can't believe it's been over 7 months!!! But after so long, I am very happy to release another update of this story!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll try my best to get the next one out in a shorter time!

Comments

[Pogmin]

Nice to see you back!

[Edguy0009]

Huzzah! You're back!

I love the scene that gif is made from.

[Zhafran]

“PRAISE THE SUN!”

By the way, thank you for the update.

[tsaukpaetra]

The best passphrases are those that the unwanted would find embarrassing to utter.
Let it not be said that Moonlight breaks her promises.
It is amusing that Tirek fully acknowledges the evil of his plans. How aggravating must it be when he realizes he has no real purpose?
It is fortunate that the bedroom windows are much cheaper than the main halls, but the bigger question is how Celestia will redirect the guards Rainbow has inevitably attracted with her stunt. Might as well make them the search party group, eh?
Praise the sun!

[Teraunce]

Well this was a nice chapter and it's nice to see you live. Found this cause it was featured. 8/10 Great story so far.

[Silent Wing]

I am happy to see you are back. hope there will be more of this soon. Maybe only wait six months this time?

[Redwolf777sg]

After one last deep breath, she shouted, “PRAISE THE SUN!”

https://youtu.be/h0iWJDx66Mc&t=1m53s

[Blackyoshi]

10904447
It's one thing to force someone down the road of darkness, but it's oh so much more satisfying to gently judge them into plunging themselves down the abyss

[Tempest_Flare]

I've always thought that Celestia should have some recompense for the cruel and unusual punishment she put on her sister so what anything that moonlight does as long as it isn't killing ponies or anything too bad I'm for it especially since the punishment she put on Luna could have driven her into even more Insanity had moonlight not been there

[JustSvenThings]

GOSH DARN this is one FANTABULOUS story i look forward to when this updates again. HOPE YOU HAVE A FANTABULOUS DAY/NIGHT!!