Beyond My Grave: Nightlight

by AnnEldest

The Tail Cat-tinues

Capper was speechless as he came face to face with his uncle. He had never met any of his family and he lost the dream of ever meeting them years ago. To see someone of his own blood was beyond shocking. He didn't know whether to be happy or not. Arch stared at Capper. Capper stared back completely speechless.

"You're…my," Capper stuttered. "Unc-le?"

Arch chuckled at the feline's reaction. "Yes, I suppose being your father's brother would make me your uncle."

"Mother?" Capper whispered.

"Yup, I knew your mother as well."

"Capper are you ok?" Shira asked as she put her paw on his shoulder.

"Ok? I don't know my own parent's names. I don't even know what they look like."

"Like your mother actually," Arch said.

"What?"

"You look like your mother, Crystal." Arch pulled out a folded piece of paper from the belt around his armor. "Though you have your father's eyes."

Arch unfolded the paper and set it on the table. Capper took the paper to see that it was a photo. The photo showed Arch standing with a crowd of 7 other armored cats.

Arch leaned over the table and pointed to the cat on the far left of the photo. "That is Atreus, your father."

"Atreus," Capper repeated in a whisper. He stared at the strong-looking warrior in disbelief that it was his father. "What's my mother's name, Crystal?"

"Yes."

"Do you have a picture of her?"

"No," Arch sighed.

"What happened to them?" Capper asked the million-dollar question.

Arch sat down as he groaned. "They're dead. They died a long time ago."

Shira looked at Capper as she saw water starting to build in them. She saw his throat tense up as it held the water back.

Capper nodded his head and rolled his eyes. "Ya? What happened to them?"

Arch cleared his throat and drew his sword. "They were murdered."

---

"Do not lose your way, dream walker." The boney creature leaned over Discord and held his head down with its claws. "If you truly wish to save her then you must not stray from the path. They will claw at you from the nightmares and try to pull you away from the living. Do not let them. They are dead while you are in between."

"How?" Discord grunted. "My powers are useless against them. What do I do?"

"The Lord of Chaos you are no longer, for they fear no such thing. Soul Dreamer, you will become, for it is what they will come to fear."

Discord screamed as he sat up. Spike and Big Mac jumped back. Discord played down and rubbed his eyes and groaned. He somehow felt more tired after he slept than before.

"What in Equestria was that?" Discord panted.

"Well, the book says that the Mooti Mootu could give you the answers we seek." Spike skimmed through the page as if to confirm his statement. "Ya, so what did she tell you."

Discord thought back to his encounter with the dream witch. "Well, she said I was in the world between the world. The place where the sound of silence echoes."

"The Nether," Big Mac corrected.

"What?"

"The book says it's called the Nether," Spike answered.

"The Nether?"

"Ya, it says: "The Nether is a place believed by many to be a world behind the living world. It is a place where spirits wander. Many spirits that aren't at rest can be found stuck in this place." Spike skimmed through it some more as he skipped the non-important parts."It was believed at first that the Nether and the dream realm were one in the same, but it seems that they don't have as much correlation as originally thought. Instead, it seems that creatures simply travel through the Nether in order to get the dream realm. There have been reports of creatures getting a glimpse and peeks into the Nether when they traveled through it." Spike looked up from the book and smiled at Discord

"Alright, sure demon realm, cool. So what exactly was the creature thing I saw?"

"The Mooti Mootu, also known as the dream witch, is the gatekeeper of the Nether. She stands in the doorway between the Nether and the living realm. Many have called upon her for knowledge and even for making some deals.

Discord looked down at the ground in thought. "She called me a dream Walker and even a soul Dreamer. Does that have any meaning to you?"

Spike looked back at the book and continued reading. "Soul Dreamers, aka the Dream Walkers, are a minority of creatures that have the special ability to willingly travel to the Nether and do as they please. I stead of getting stuck in the Nether they can manipulate it in their favor. Their normal abilities have no meaning in the Nether but they do possess new and unique qualities and powers. These creatures at higher levels could even summon and command entities such as wraith, withers, skull crawlers, and even reapers.

Discord looked up at Spike in confusion. "I have no idea what those are."

"Let's just say they are really bad things," Big Mac implied.

"Anyways it says some of these abilities can even be used in the waking world." Spike set the book aside as he decided that he had read enough information for them to digest.

"Ok ok ok so to recap all of that I'm a Soul Dreamer. This means I can travel to this world of the dead while I sleep and freely control and interact with dead creatures. But my normal powers won't work while I'm sleeping. Correct?"

"Ya, pretty much," Spike said with a nod.

"But what?" Discord said as he began to pace. "Wh-why and how?"

Spike glanced back at the book. "I don't know. The book really doesn't say how you become a Soul Dreamer or how someone is born one."

"Oh ok, I see. That's the explanation then, I'm just a normal non-normal creature that can dream of the dead." Discord took a sarcastic bow.

"Discord, it does make sense," Big Mac protested.

"How does any of this make any bit of sense?"

"Well it does explain your dreams and the things you can do, right?

"Sure," Discord said as he shrugged his shoulders and sat on the ground.

Spike walked over to Discord and sat beside him. "Look Discord, I'm having my own troubles processing all of this. I really don't know what to make of all…."

"Silver Blitz," Discord whispered.

"What?" Asked Big Mac.

"I saw Silver Blitz."

---

"I don't get it. Why won't he tell me what happened to them?" Capper ranted on.

"He did. He said someone killed them."

Shira and Capper were walking through the dense forest as the sunlight started to dissipate. The darkness that followed meant that the creatures they saw before could Pursuit them. Arch left in a hurry and told them to take the sword and leave for the city. Capper carried the unnaturally heavy stone. They needed to keep moving and get somewhere where they could hide better.

"Well if he knows who did it and why then why wouldn't he tell me?"

Shira pushed through the thick trees. "He never said he knew who did it or…"

"Then why was he so quick to leave?" Capper struggled to keep up as branches flew in his face.

"I don't know. He was pretty worried about the keshas catching on."

"Keshas?"

Shira turned to meet Capper's eyes. "Ya the black demons that nearly killed you at the Casino. Keep up, dude."

Capper rolled his eyes. "I don't know I just don't get it."

"Get what?"

"Well first, how do you even know him?"

"I don't really "know him, know him". He's one of the royal guards."

"Well, he wasn't too happy to see you back in the casino. So what was that about."

Shira sighed as she stopped. "Look there's a lot you don't understand and I really don't have the time to tell you." Shira walked closer to Capper and looked around. "All I need you to know right now is that Arch is our unofficial protector, but he is not your friend. Stay clear of him as best you can and stay close to me. I don't care what he says. In the end just please listen to me and me alone."

"Why only you?" Capper asked as he crossed his arms.

"Look I've been through a hell of a lot to get that sword to you, so please do me the simple favor and just trust me."

Shira quietly and quickly continued. Capper stood for a second as he analyzed his situation. He could clearly see that his situation was far more complicated than it seemed. He didn't know who to trust, but it seemed that Shira was generally trying to warn him about something.
Arch didn't seem bad; he did save both of them in the fire. Capper couldn't just help be suspicious about him.

"Where are we anyway?" Capper asked as he pushed through the final trees.

"A little place called Canterlot."

Capper looked up at the mountain range of buildings. "Why are we going to the center of Equestria?"

"Why not?" Shira mocked.

"Can't the shapeshift into pretty much anything. Large crowds don't seem like the best idea does it?"

"Maybe," Shira shrugged. "But we don't know how many will show up and in public, they're not going to want to go all out. Besides, a large city means lots of places to hide."

Capper nodded his head in agreement. "I guess you have a good point."

---

"So if I'm reading this right I can send you into the Nether and I should be able to "rope" you back if things take a bad turn." Spike stood at the table with the book open up.

Discard sat in front of the table with Big Mac. "And you're sure I'll get to her?"

"I can't guarantee," Spike admitted. "I'm pretty sure most of that is going to depend on you and your abilities."

"So this depends on Discord?" Big Mac asked. "Well, we're screwed."

"Come on guys I can totally…." Discord froze in his thoughts. "Who am I kidding, I have no idea how to do this."

"Ya I know, but I feel like we can shoot you in the general direction you need to go in." Spike skimmed through the page. "Ya, I think that's pretty much it then."

"Alright sounds solid," Big Mac assured.

"So what do we need then?" Discord asked.

Spike turned the page which revealed a series of patterns and algorithms. The paragraphs were extremely lengthy and far more than Discord's tolerance could handle. Discord noticed the depiction of a bony creature covered in cloth. It had tentacles coming out of its back and long length hair. Discord swelled at the thought of what it looked like in real life.

"So apparently we need unicorn hair," Spike read.

"Done," said Big Mac.

"A lot of unicorn hair."

"How much is a lot?" Asked Discord.

"About 20 pounds of it."

Discord's jaw literally dropped to the floor. "That's a lot of freaking hair."

"Ya and the worse part is that it must be naturally grown," Spike chuckled.

"So?"

"We can't use any magic to get it or make any using magic," Big Mac groaned.

"How in Celestia's name are we going to accomplish that!?" Discord shouted. "20 pounds of pony hair."

Spike went to the door and opened it. He disappeared into the hallway and reappeared with hair clippers. "Well you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself."

"Spike, you want to go around Ponyville and literally ask ponies if we can shave their heads?" Discord crossed his arms.

"Well, anything sounds stupid when you say it like that Discord."

"Then what's your plan?"

"We're going to go around all of Equestria and shave ponies heads without them knowing." Spike crossed his arms and smiled with pride.

Author's Note:

This chapter was all about answers...and still no Luna. Don't worry, she will be coming soon.

Till Next Time!!!

Comments

[toshibafox]

a purrfectly good solution is to go to pony barber shops and acquire the hair there. then again any chance for an excuse to cause chaos between exposition dumps is welcomed by me in this story as it gives a cat's eye view of the bros being bros. While its seems like the cat has Capper's tongue with the revelation that his parents are dead.