To Befriend the Night

by LucidTech

Chapter Thirteen

Luna watched Hendrick as he walked away, his gait unsteady. He had kept his end of the deal; he had told her the answers to her questions. Even now, as the stallion walked away with his gaze locked on the ground, she could hear his answers playing in her memories. She had jumped at the opportunity, excited with the idea. It was all she had wanted from the stallion: some answers.

In her excitement, however, she had fallen upon a touchy subject with the stallion, and he had declined to continue. All credit to him though, he had answered the question that had bothered him, but the answer had caused a feeling of guilt with Luna for forcing him to answer it, though she hadn’t pushed him. She had ran ahead without thinking, and now she watched as the very defeated form of Hendrick walked away.

Sighing, Luna closed her eyes and turned her head skyward. Immediately, the memories rushed to the front of her mind.

“What did you mean when you said you always hurt people when you act like yourself?” Luna questioned first. The inquiry was the first one to her mind due to the words he had spoken in his drunken state. Hendrick took his time, placing the remaining wine bottle onto the ground and closing his eyes as he thought of his answer.

“It’s not always physically, I suppose. But I was enrolled as something I do not wish to go over. In the process of this ‘occupation’, I did things that I regret, things that I would undo if I could go back and do so, regardless of the cost that entailed. That’s who I really am, I think, deep down. The one who did all those things was me after all; no one pushed me to do them.”

Luna nodded, another question popping to her mind. “But, then, who did you hurt this time?” Instantly, the alicorn resented that question, as the stallion’s face contorted into a pained expression. She tried to take back the question, but he had refused, declaring that he wanted to be honest with her for once and not go back on his promise.

“Moon Light, Your Highness. I acted without thinking that she might be watching and I fear for what she thinks of me, now. Not because of my own selfishness, though that does play a role, I imagine. Rather, because she trusted me, and I broke that trust. I hope with all my heart she will be able to recover from my stories and lies.” His face twisted into a haunted expression and his eyes locked onto the table sitting in front of him. “If you wouldn’t mind, Your Highness, I was wondering if I could leave now.”

Luna sighed, her breath visible against the growing chill of the night air. Her eyes opened slowly and gazed upon the full array of constellations covering the sky in their bright spanning canvas. She let her eyes roam over the constellations, over the individual stars, and over the bright nebula glittering through the darkness of the sky, fighting the darkness with their own minute light. A broken smile came to the princesses muzzle and her horn flashed. A star detached itself and descended, scattering through the sky as it fell.

---

Moon Light walked. It was all she could manage at this point; her muscles burned sorely from the run she had taken. She hadn’t watched where she was going when she fled from the hospital and now found herself lost. Every few steps she would stop in fear; her attention would snap towards a sound she heard, or thought she heard. At this point, the filly was so scared of the encroaching darkness that she wasn’t sure of anything except the consistent pain in her hooves.

She continued on. She would have been scared of her own shadow if she could see it. Tears began to trickle down her face, but she continued to walk, knowing if she stopped now that any chance she had of getting back would be lost. She looked around for any landmarks she might remember, but no success was had. She was utterly lost and she knew it. With a sigh, the filly stopped underneath one of the few magic lights littering around the capital to help with night time lighting. She welcomed the light, letting it trickle over her, and imagined that it gave heat as well.

As she lay there, she heard a noise: hoof beats. Excited at the possibility of someone being around to help her, she took off towards them, a speedy walk all she could manage in her hurry. Her appendages announced their displeasure through her senses, but she continued on as fast as she could manage through the omniscient cold seeming to haunt the night. Reaching a corner, the filly glanced around it and spotted the source of the noise. She paused there, at the corner, and watched the pony. It was a stallion, by what his body frame told, and his steps were wavering and unsure, reminding Moon Light of her father when he came home drunk. The next thing that came to her mind was the searing pain he would rain down on her moments later.

Because of this mental connection, Moon Light waited, watching as he disappeared around a corner. She made no move to follow him immediately, hoping for someone else to arrive who could help her. Moon Light stayed there, looking for her hope to become a reality. No one showed up, however, and the filly reluctantly moved to follow the stallion. She decided she wouldn’t approach him directly; she would get a look at his face first and, if they looked dangerous, she wouldn’t talk to them. With as perfect a plan as that, what could go wrong?

Slowly, Moon Light tracked the pony in question through the streets of Canterlot, until he came to a brief stop. The young filly worried that he might go into one of the nearby buildings, leaving her alone in the cold, but was surprised when he went down an alley. She waited several moments for him to come back out. When he didn’t, she snuck around to look down it and check up on him.

When she peered around the corner, she spotted him. He was curled up against the wall of the nearby building and his eyes were shut. His chest rhythmically rose and fell as he inhaled the lifegiving air around him, then let out a shuddering exhale as if he was afraid the next breath he took would never come. Intrigued by the odd stallion, the filly silently approached, sliding around to look at his face and was surprised to identify the stallion as Hendrick.

The surprise hit her immediately and was followed by a deep feeling of hurt. He had threatened to do bad things to a pony, right? No good pony would do something like that. She stood, paused on the brink of waking him up and asking for his help in getting back home. As she stood there, motionless, her body counterattacked, hitting her with an unbeatable urge to sleep, the likes of which few could understand. Only partially aware of her actions through the sudden drowsy fog clouding her senses, her body brushed lightly against Hendrick. Then, she pressed herself against him, hoping to keep warm. Her breaths fell into rhythm with Hendrick’s and she drifted off into the realm of sleep.

Deep within her own mind, she found herself falling through darkness, and right before she hit the ground, she woke up. Or at least she thought she woke up, but it was far too dark. Impossibly dark, in fact. She stood on a solid substance, but to say it was ground would be a large stretch of the imagination. Glancing around, the filly tried to understand her surroundings, surroundings she had never seen before. Everything was an utter, inescapable black. Everything, that is, except for the fire burning a long distance off.

The flames brought out a silhouette of an odd creature to Moon Light’s attention. It reminded her of the stories about minotaurs, except it was less muscular. It sat, its body clenched together and its arms rocking a small bundle in its grasp to and fro. Wondering how she had dreamed this up, Moon Light approached the being, only to be stopped by some strange force holding her back. She tried once again to move, but when the force proved consistent, she stopped, instead.

“For all the light in all the world, I would pay to let you dream.
Let no fearful thing come out, no matter how small it seems.
I wish you peaceful sleep, my child, the world to cradle you away.
And in your wonderful dreams, I hope that you may stay.”

She was instantly reminded of Hendrick’s lullaby, but why would this creature be saying it? This didn’t even make sense for a dream, and that was saying something. A crackling noise echoed from behind her and as she turned, Moon Light spotted a very odd pony. She thought, at first, that he was on fire, but quickly came to realize he was flame. He had arrived unexpectedly, where before there had been nothing. It reminded her of Hendrick, though it barely resembled him at all. Slowly, it approached, a smile making itself visible against the orange movement of its body.

“Oh dear, it seems you’ve found yourself down the rabbit hole, deary. Hendrick is rather busy right now.” The living flame nodded towards the biped sitting perfectly still, except for his swaying arms, as if he heard nothing. “I’ll admit, I thought it was that cold lady again. She always tries to put me out when she’s around. I don’t like her. But Hendrick sparks me back to life again anyway, so I guess it’s fine.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Though you do feel like you’re going to dowse me.”

“What... what are you talking about?” Moon Light asked, afraid of the creature looming closer and closer. She tried to back away, but found herself caught by the unknown force again.

“I’m talking about that sad sack over there. He’s such a wuss; I’m surprised he’s still alive. Can’t even handle his past. What a worthless existence that must be, always scared of yourself, scared of the truth, scared of fire and flames and death. He’s scared to be alone and he’s scared to be with other people. So much fear, so much fuel.” The smile widened.

“What are you?” Moon Light had barely understood its words, but she had decided against asking the same question twice.

“I’m the cost he paid when he came to this world. Every now and then, I show up in the real world when he’s especially frightened to keep him on his toes and fuel his fears so I can stay alive. Why, one time, I convinced him I was Death. What a laugh.” The fire crackled idly, but the filly didn’t share the hilarity. “But I’ve said enough. You’ve been here too long, already.” Fire shot around the filly, scaring her. She burned in the flames, and when they were gone, the small filly found herself inside her own familiar dreams. So quick was the exchange that she forgot all about the realm of darkness and fire as she slept, though it remained at the back of her mind.

In the real world, a small filly slept peacefully next to a large stallion who fidgeted regularly, looking for a comfort that wouldn’t come.

Comments

[Tenkmaku]

Well at least the future don't look so dark now for Hendrick.

[Weavuh]

Good job, sir! Keep it up! Have some staches!

[dashdlkashd]

So... it wasn't death who brought him to this world... interesting.

[nobodyreallyimportant]

that moment when fire itself is a troll

[Avatar of Shadow]

i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/274/878/f62.jpg

[Avellon]

Well had me convinced it was death as well. I like this better I think

[AirG]

Bravo! Bravo! Excellent as always!

[Lux Aeterna]

1850347
you're only now realizing this? i bet he was one of the 'higher ups' of the nazi party

[Midnight Blues]

Alight good story so far. My only request is that there is a happy ending. A bad ending just makes me soooooo depressed.
Also, no good ponies should be harmed in the making of this story as that would be very depressing as well.

[Verdigris]

1850593 Okay, I think we can leave Godwin's Law out of this. Too easy, and irrelevant until we learn the truth.
Hendrick could be anyone, from any era. Celestia knows there's plenty of bad guys throughout Earth (and probably Equestrian) history.

[Verdigris]

Is it my imagination, or is (dun-dun-dun) Chapter Thirteen the one where all the really nasty truth stuff comes out?
Sure seems that way. And I don't mean bankruptcy, either.

[AdobE]

Glad I finally decided to read this.
Really interesting.

[Lazygamer313]

interesting...must be a demon of sorts that feds on his despair and anguish. Shall be quite the revelations once its revealed what this being is and what was the 'cost' of Hendrick being thrusted into Equestria. Well done man, keep up the good work.

[SpikeDark]

my my Luna that was a evil scheme to use your powers to take the filly to Hendrick

[CloudTwister]

Ok good when I saw death in the story I was like.. Well shit.. Cuz my story follows this... Also I am betting those nightmares are his pyromaniacal memories after wielding flammenwerfers.

[killaaxeman]

1849861 ya not dark, just burning anguish that will destroy everthing that he loves and send him into such a deep depression that not even suicide will solve anything,... but hey at least its not dark

[professionalHitman]

JESUSFUCKINGCHRIST, WHO WAS HANGED BY THE ROMANS
THIS STORY HAS TOO MUCH WIN.
I have read around 3000+ stories on this site and I must say the consent of HIE is overused, but you good sir have refined it to the perspective of another pony and have kept info of his past hidden wile hinting at something horrible. Also the way you write is captivating, how you can keep Hendrick in character even wile drunk is refreshing.
I look forward to future chapters and would appreciated it greatly if you could tell me when you plan to update.

[LucidTech]

1934220

Well I have a chapter currently in the works, I just need my editor to look over it, I can't seem to contact him though.

[.Tzeentch.]

wow thats some "night mare" fuel youve got there hendrick

[Ozymandias]

You know, if people would stop spreading the lie that good guys don't kill people and that all killing is always wrong, it would prevent a LOT of mental trauma.

[Cobramodder]

2750337 Killing is not always right , and i mean the justiced issued by hand , the community , the society impunds rules to be fair to what we call "justice" , if community doesnt finds another way but to kill the criminal , then its issued , but its not to be taken lightly.

[Kuumatona]

4792735 Killing is not always right, this is true, but it's not always wrong, a truth understood by few. Sometimes it's necessary to do to save a few. It may not be the easiest choice to make, but it's not always an evil that idea is fake.