Chapter 9 Part 2
There were no signs of civilization—north, south, east, or west. As far as my eyes could see, it was all pure, unbroken white. A white darkened by the oppressive overcast that hung overhead. A white that was slowly burying me up to my knees from the unending snowfall.
Black was the second color to grace my vision. The sunless sky, the frozen bark of a thousand trees closing in on me from all sides, the color of the blankets draped over my heavy coat. There was no vantage point for me to access, and I was sure I would lose the trail if I deviated from it for any reason.
Red was the third. The trail started strong—a smear of blood clinging to the backseat like cigarette smoke and splotches of frozen red snow leading away from the vacant seat. However, the further I left the car, the colder this trail became.
Periodic blots of red stained her tracks, which were little more than faint and wide flatfooted indents.
She wouldn’t have gotten far. Not in this storm. Not if Luna took her. Not if-
“-om! Mom!” I screamed through my wool scarf—snapping me out of my terrified ruminations.
The sound was carried away alongside the endless torrent of snowflakes that fluttered about in the howling winds. Perhaps if I had prepared more—stocked up on flares, a flashlight, matches…
None of it would have mattered.
The sobering thought fueled my pessimism. Even with the knowledge I had now, I was utterly powerless. And dwelling upon ‘what-ifs’ only made everything worse. Would selfish greed and self-preservation persuade me against my previous actions? What if I had stayed home during the storm? What if I had left my mom to fend for herself to save my own skin?
…What if Sarah had taken my place?
Exerting another chunk of adrenaline-fueled strength, I slowly trudged forward. My iPhone—which was currently nothing more than an expensive flashlight—weighed heavy in my left pocket, my emergency inhaler, and my grandfather’s lucky coin in my right.
A coin flip had been the deciding factor. It was the one thing that allowed my past self to flee the smoky wreckage of my car and brave the storm, but nothing would have changed in the end. My choice was already made the moment I drove out into the blizzard; this was all a formality.
I was hyper focused on each small, individual step I made.
Left. Right. Left.
The snow crunched underneath my boots as my mind raced as fast as my beating heart. The trail was already almost buried under another inch of snow, and I had to balance my attention between following it and my footing.
“Mom!” My lips wobbled as they struggled to contain my fear and sadness. The tears streaking down my face froze mid-journey as more and more of my psyche shattered.
Each footfall was more treacherous than the last—as if I was carrying the world's weight on my shoulders. And to some extent, I was. I would be nothing without my family, without my mother and Sarah. I became the man I was because they inspired me to do better. To be better.
I spared a single glance along the way I came. The burning embers of the gasoline fire were already being snuffed out, leaving an empty metal husk for the storm to reclaim. My animalistic side revered the flames and the warmth they provided, but I quickly turned away.
I was under no delusion that I would survive this trip. And truthfully, I was waiting to glimpse the frozen corpse of my mother half buried in the snow. I never considered the weaknesses of being flesh and blood creatures affected by temperature. And as my eyes scanned the desolate surroundings, I understood that humanity’s most remarkable trait, empathy, had doomed me.
The beasts that called this forest home knew of the stringent, narrow limits of heat and cold. They understood that the cold was the great equalizer. Nothing, predator or prey, survives the cold forever.
And yet, that doesn’t stop them from trying.
My body subconsciously nodded in understanding—past and present on the same wavelength. In this scenario, we were one and the same.
I knew I would do anything to stay alive, but I was being pitted against Mother Nature herself. No amount of determination would guard against the biting frost or a bear’s claw to the chest. No amount of courage would dissuade whatever beast was staring at me from the dark thickets of trees, for they were guaranteed to have nothing left to lose.
But I already had an inkling suspicion that this was no mere animal.
“Mom!” My pace quickened. Left. Right. Left. Right. Her chances of survival were next to none, not with hypothermic-based delusions clouding her judgment. This fear continued to gnaw at my insides, and I briefly wondered if I had already passed her frozen, half-buried corpse somewhere between this thicket of trees and the burnt-out wreck of my Honda.
More traitorous thoughts formed in my head.
Even if she was alive by some miracle… what then? I had left my vehicle in haste and thus had next to nothing to help stave off the cold for two people. I had no knowledge of first aid or any medicine to treat frostbite. The lack of signal meant I couldn’t communicate with the outside world.
And deep down, I remembered no help was coming.
Once in a while, between the brief periods of my eyes straining to spot my mother’s light footprints, I would find myself rubbing my face and nose with the back of my gloved hands. It was an automatic reflex, a response to an itch that I couldn’t scratch. The scarf wrapped around my face was not enough to beat the cold, and I already felt the wind’s chilling bite on my nose and cheeks.
Scratching my skin only made the flesh feel raw, like it was peeling off with each itch, but the instant I stopped, I’d lose all feeling—my face and nose becoming numb. It was another reminder of my unpreparedness, and my heart sank with each passing second.
This fear gnawed at my insides as the trail became less and less pronounced, and the terrain became more and more treacherous. The path went upward, scaling a seemingly too steep hillside to climb. Bracing myself against a dead pine tree, I slowly climbed parallel to it, my boots digging grooves into the snow and dead earth beneath.
Left. Right. Left.
My lungs were already burning from exhaustion, and I was forced to stop kick-stepping up the hillside as I wheezed.
Crack
I instantly almost lost my balance at the noise. Had my phone shattered inside my pocket? Or had one of my bones snapped like a twig?
Another bout of wheezing forced its way out of my mouth.
Crack
It was neither.
The drops of water I coughed out had frozen midflight, becoming tiny glass shards that broke with a painful noise. Again and again. Midflight, the glass drops shattered like priceless porcelain.
I began to scramble up the hill.
I didn’t know what the lower limits of temperature were in this hellhole, but I was all but certain that my breath would freeze in my lungs before long.
Left. Right. Left.
A noise, carried on by the wind, reached my ears. Flapping and the rustling of feathers. I never heard the noise over the storm, but it was a fear engraved into my subconscious memory. And then, I began to connect the dots and remember what this memory truly was.
A dark shape glided through the air out of the corner of my eye. I had no way to warn my past self as a hissing wind buffered against my left side. My body nearly twisted like a pretzel as I planted my feet into the snow.
Hands outstretched, I tried to maintain my balance. My eyes scanned the skies, looking to catch sight of the winged beast while I dug my feet into the snow. But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t see anything through the oppressive snowfall and darkened clouds. I turned toward the hill crest.
Left. Right. Left.
The wailing gales were increasing in tempo, determined to topple me down the slope. Self-preservation took hold, and all other thoughts left my mind as I trudged up the hill. My left arm was braced in front of my face, shielding my unprotected skin from the snow squall that assaulted me.
I gritted my chattering teeth. There was no other way up without backtracking for what seemed like miles. The terrain was too treacherous and steep in any other direction. Digging my heels, I crouched, flattening myself against the hill. Left. Right. Left. I punched holes into the snow with my fists and used any leverage I could find to scale upward.
Fear plagued me as I constantly looked back, waiting for the figure to leap out of the shadows. But not up, never up, no matter how much I tried to warn my younger self. My pleas fell upon deaf ears as we climbed.
My body’s stiff muscles strained from the exertion, and each inch of ground gained felt like a pyrrhic victory at best. But between the adrenaline still pumping through my icy veins and my idiotic stubbornness, I was able to reach the crest.
And then I made the mistake of looking up.
The oppressive cloud cover overhead had parted, allowing a white glass lidless eye to stare directly into my soul; its looming presence forced me to my knees. It was no moon I was familiar with—it was too large, flat, and symmetrical. A frantic glance at the stars sparkling beside it sent shivers unrelated to the cold down my spine. They were breathtaking, shining like diamonds in a bottomless sea… and I couldn’t find a single constellation I recognized. No light pollution dimmed the twinkling gems, and I could not spot the moving glow of a single low-earth satellite or plane among them.
The lingering and pained worry for my mother broke me out of the spell that had ensorcelled me, and my gaze landed upon a sprawling maze of buildings that jutted up to touch the night sky.
“Mom! Mom!” I shouted through cupped hands. A roaring breeze carried my voice into the cityscape, but my hope was dashed against the trees below. Without exception, not a single building looked familiar. No shopping districts or high-rises were in the distance to calm my nerves.
The colorful silhouettes in the distance resembled something ripped straight out of a fairy tale, with towering white and gold spires hanging off the mountainside in an incomprehensible display of architecture.
But before I could marvel at the hallucination of this fairy tale city, the wind hissed again, carrying with it the distant sound of fluttering wings.
Get out of there! Move!
“Mom!” Desperation bled through my voice as my body remained still, blind to the danger fast approaching on blue feathered wings.
Run!
There was no point in blaming my past self. They- I couldn’t have known. And no amount of running would have saved them or me. The game had been rigged from the start, and the Devil herself had come to collect her dues.
I didn’t have time to push myself off the ground as the fluttering of beating wings became more pronounced, nor did I have time to resist the siren call of sleep as a gentle voice whispered sweet nothings into my ears.
“Mom?” Confusion coated my murmured words, and I could do nothing as the beast’s fuzzy warmth coiled itself around me.
I didn’t understand the lyrics as the language was utterly new.
Paralysis. Numbness.
My mouth remained wrenched open, unable to utter a single syllable or guttural noise as I drifted in the ceaseless black. But despite the emptiness, I was still able to grasp a brief moment of clarity.
M-mom.
The waves beneath the ocean stirred.
My sight had long since been robbed, but my mind’s eye painted the picture for me, and I became aware of the distortions and ripples that swirled around like a whirlpool. In an instant, the emptiness inside me fled, replaced by another skull-splitting migraine.
And at that moment, I felt my skin crawl, as if something was watching me from all angles. A pair of eyes for every molecule of water that surrounded me. I wanted to curl into myself, become blissfully ignorant of the eyes staring at me in the dark, but then I remembered.
The door into my mind, the empty castle halls, how it cornered me into the servant’s quarters… how it flooded my mind with my previous memories and shared one of Luna’s innermost secrets.
I couldn’t help but ponder these contradictory actions, not when so much was at stake for me. Why did it act as Luna’s attack dog one moment and then seemingly betray her interests the next?
…Why?
The eyes blinked in unison. I suddenly began to wriggle in place, and the events of the previous dream played out repeatedly inside my head like an old filmstrip projected onto a white screen.
And each replay made it increasingly clear that it wasn’t some freak accident or happenstance that stole me away from my home. I didn’t need to be a weather forecaster to connect the dots, and the feeling in my gut during that storm only further confirmed my suspicions that it wasn’t just a freak storm.
Pushing aside my fears of the eldritch horrors watching me squirm, I held onto the scant images of my mother scattered across my memory.
Where? Where-
I focused on the bundle of blankets in the backseat of my car, the memory flickering back and forth between the seat being occupied and empty like a faulty lightbulb. Unconsciously, I kept trying to piece together the in-between on my own, but the answer remained out of reach.
Where is my mom?
Disappear. Reappear. The blankets faded in and out of view with maddening inconsistency, and my patience began to ebb away. Seconds passed, and the pressure on my forehead increased. Memories, sensations, and details flooded my headspace, crowding my already firmly packed mind with useless junk.
Candlelit rooms. Fur and feathers. Turquoise eyes and bright smiles. I shuddered in revulsion at every stray thought that suddenly flooded into me and their implications.
No! She isn’t- goddamn it!
Fighting to gain a stranglehold within my mind, I kept my grasp firmly upon the nightmare that plagued my soul. The blanket pile came back crystal clear within my mind’s eye, and I could almost taste the pungent smell of burning gasoline as I asked once more.
Where is she?
The tendril still spearing through my forehead writhed, and my eyes began to flicker.
Luna’s heavy heart pounded so loudly in her chest that I could hardly hear anything else.
I had little clue as to the cause of her distress as I was haphazardly crammed into her skull, too focused on acclimating once more to the unique sensations of her alien physiology. Instead of fighting against the bonds of this flesh prison again, I allowed myself to slowly assimilate.
After all, I had other things to worry about than suffering through another existential crisis.
By the time I was finally able to tolerate the differences in anatomy, large, wrongly placed organs and all, I could finally stare at the world through her eyes.
Familiarity, fear, and nostalgia all seeped into my soul as my eyes trailed down a lush red carpet, which spanned outward from the throne beneath Luna’s hooves to a pair of massive golden doors almost thirty yards away.
Moonlight shone through the stained glass windows, flanking the throne room on both sides, and bathed what I assumed to be the royal’s various advisors, guards, and aides in soft blue hues. Without exception, they were all murmuring or silently bickering and gossiping amongst themselves—quietly enough to avoid Luna’s ire but loud enough to make her eyebrows furrow.
Context flooded into me, pried from Luna’s thoughts as her eyes remained transfixed upon her current supplicant.
In each session of court, Celestia and Luna would meet with anyone who sought an audience with them, be it paupers or princes. The hunched-over figure that stood before Luna was no different.
Throughout human history, Griffons were always depicted as proud, powerful, and majestic creatures with regal and fierce appearances that commanded respect and admiration. But comparing these mythical beasts from my spotty memory to the husk bowing before Luna made these depictions seem like outright fabrications.
Once lustrous, the Griffon’s brown fur appeared as little more than thin and patchy tatters, which clung to its bony frame in matted clumps. Orange, sunken eyes stared directly through Luna and into me, and I could not tear my sight away from the hooked beak protruding unnaturally from its gaunt face. I stared grimly at the poor beast in sympathy.
They tried to hide it, of course, but their makeup and maroon clothing could only get them so far. And while Luna’s advisors were none the wiser or chose not to see it, nothing escaped her ageless eyes.
Her surface thoughts and feelings only further drove this point home—Griffonian pride was always seen as incorruptible and unwavering. For the situation to have gone so far south as to make them beg?
“-have already lost all contact with the Griffish Isles, and I fear that all of Griffonstone will be buried under the snow within two weeks' time,” a deep, resonant voice broke free from their hook-tipped beak, which was more reminiscent of a lion’s roar than a spoken language. The Griffon's talons scraped and pecked at the red carpet, almost like how a human would bounce their leg as he shook his head. “Princess, I beg of you, lend us aid! My people are dying, and we have no place to go.”
The crowd of ponies began to murmur louder, and my metaphorical skin crawled as they stared at the Griffon like an exotic zoo exhibit rather than a sapient creature.
“Beast.”
“Monster.”
“Filth.”
Luna’s wrongly placed heart continued to beat like a drum ensemble in her ears, and I felt sick to my very core, wondering if this memory would truly give me an actual lead or clue of my mother’s whereabouts.
Beyond those concerns, however, doubt started to creep in as the endless tirade of whispered insults flooded in. Had things been different, would I have been met with the same hostility? Was Luna just as bigoted as her courtiers?
Was this racism a driving force behind Luna’s actions?
“And why should that be our concern, you feathered fr-”
“Guards!” a white unicorn with golden fetlocks commanded from Luna’s left with a posh accent. Instantly, the name ‘Prince Blueblood’ flashed in the forefront of Luna’s memory as she turned her head. “Eject Countess Asteria from the throne room at once!”
Not a moment later, two dark ponies clad in familiar purple armor strode forth, locking their hooves around a disgruntled and surprised silver pegasus before they marched arduously away from the procession, despite her complaints and threats.
"Such flagrant disrespect will not be tolerated in Her Highness's court," Prince Blueblood declared, his gaze sweeping over the assembled nobles, which cut through the murmurs and whispers. "I remind you all that this is a court of the Diarchy, and their authority is absolute. Any who would undermine their rule or sow discord will face swift and severe consequences. His gaze lingered on a few of the more vocal dissenters, daring them to challenge his words. "Let us not forget why we are here. We serve the realm, and we serve the Princesses. Anything less is unacceptable."
Silence reigned.
The Prince shifted, his teal eyes meeting the Griffon’s golds.
“Such a plan would not be feasible, even if we could spare the cost, Your Excellency,” Prince Blueblood finally spoke. “The unchecked blizzards scattered across the region buried the only land bridge and the rail line connected to it. And if we could, by some miracle, ferry enough ponies to clear the blockage and tame the storm, we would still need to make repairs. There is no doubt in my mind that the rail line’s enchantments have long since failed to prevent embrittlement and breakage of the tracks.”
Luna’s eyes glanced toward the empty throne beside her. Guilt, moroseness, regret—she smothered these feelings within the blink of an eye, and I could only watch on in jealousy as her serene regal mask remained intact.
Looking through her eyes, none of the ministers, advisors, and assorted hangers-on noticed anything more than Luna nodding her head, but I couldn’t blame them. Luna was always fond of her masks, after all.
“How can you be so heartless? We can’t just abandon them in their time of need!” a mare at the far end of the semi-circle to Luna’s right proclaimed. Luna’s eyes instantly snapped to attention, and I felt a ghost of a smile spread across Luna’s muzzle as she laid eyes upon the source of the outburst.
Memories flickered before our eyes, and the room’s atmosphere became lighter and much warmer. To Luna, the purple unicorn’s gentle and rounded face was the picture of kindness—her generous spirit was infectious, and her smile was like a balm that soothed the soul. There was no undercurrent of lust in Luna’s affection for her, only a strong familial bond despite not sharing the same lineage.
But just as quickly as these feelings came, images of a black spiral notebook adorned with swirling stars flashed before her eyes, followed by an undercurrent of guilt.
Before, this sensation had been more restrained. Luna’s inner thoughts and desires had been guarded by some unseen force, and I could only pick up upon things that floated to the surface.
Something had changed, and a latch was unlocked inside Luna’s mind. An aged wooden door, not dissimilar from the dozens I had sprinted past inside the castle. Questions of my own arose from this development, but they all stemmed from a similar thread.
Was that monster responsible?
I hesitated, staring into the dark abyss that beckoned from the entrance.
Why help me now? Why betray its master? What was going on?
If I want my answers…
Luna blinked as I stepped through.
Color and sound washed over me, and my senses were overloaded as I felt myself being pulled apart. But just as suddenly as it began, the sensation subsided, and I found myself standing both inside a new place, yet also still trapped behind Luna’s eyes.
My mindscape had been nothing more than a simple bedroom, but Luna’s? It was a castle, a maze of endless corridors, each with rooms filled with seemingly useless baubles and trinkets. And without exception, each solitary one was almost double in size compared to my cramped, damp hovel.
It was pure happenstance that the room I ended up in had any value.
Instincts drove me forward, and I grabbed a faded portrait from off the wall.
Instantly, it started to crumble to dust in my hands, but not before I beheld the fleeting memories hidden within. Whispered lullabies, playful banter at morning breakfasts, stargazing in ever-expansive wheat fields—I parsed through them all, desperately searching for any clues I could find.
Not a second later, the rug was pulled out from my feet.
A presence, a shadow—it clawed its way through the wall to my right and barreled toward me like a wailing banshee. All the while, a ringing echo of pain resided within the emptiness it left behind, and I felt it because Luna did too.
Luna hissed in pain, and I hastily retreated into her mind's endless maze of hallways like a wounded burglar. Waiting in a side passage, I held my metaphorical breath as Luna blinked. Twice. Thrice. Her thoughts drifted toward the moon, which stared down at us unblinkingly.
The alicorn’s wrongly placed heart pounded faster inside her chest—fast enough that I thought it would burst out of her ribcage. And for a moment, the air felt thin and sterile.
…
“Then what would you have us do? We have no means to evacuate the population of an entire country, nor would the Griffons tolerate such a gesture,” Blueblood continued, remorse creeping into his voice like a cold wind on a winter’s night. “It is a sad state of affairs, but we hardly have the means to safeguard our population from the cold and hunger.”
Luna chewed her lip. The sound of blood rushing in her ears dulled, and her thoughts drifted instantly toward the debate.
I sighed in relief.
Twilight Sparkle, the faithful student of Princess Celestia, stared between Blueblood and the dejected form of the Griffon ambassador with fierce determination, her eyes never leaving them as she unfurled a map with her magic.
“Manehatten’s Fifth Fleet still has yet to be mothballed.” She pointed her hoof toward a coastal city bordering the edge of the ‘Celestial Sea.’ Judging by the map, the gap between both countries would be just an average cruise for the galleons and carracks of old. With magic in play, such a journey would most likely be trivial. “We can use Trottingham as a staging point to ferry supplies or refugees to and from the Guto River and Wingcrest city within the week.”
“Such an undertaking would require more pony-power than we can spare unless we run the ships on skeleton crews.” Blueblood’s eyes scrutinized the map as intently as a scholar decoding an ancient manuscript. “And even then, the weather alone will be arduous at best, assuming the oceans won’t freeze over before the Fifth can complete its voyage.”
“That will be of no concern. By my calculations, it will take at least a year before the oceans freeze over,” Luna suddenly interrupted. Unlike the past few nightmarish hours, Luna spoke plainly, like she used to when I was dancing upon her strings like a good little boy. Tilting her head, Luna regarded the ambassador, even as her heart still thumped loudly in her chest. “But I fear that this goodwill gesture will not be met with unanimous support from your people.”
The griffon’s gaunt head bowed to the floor as they lost themselves in deep contemplation.
“Our kind is no stranger to hardship and suffering,” he began, unaware of the small entourage of ponies slinking in through the throne room doors behind them. They thankfully had a sense of decorum to be as quiet as mice as they filtered in, much to the relief of Luna’s frayed nerves. “And many still see it as a badge of honor or pride, often to the point of utter delusion. O-our country has been in shambles for decades, even before this crisis, driven to ruin by the erosion of trust and kinship while avarice and selfishness are placed upon a golden pedestal.”
Pangs of empathy speared through Luna’s heart as the crestfallen Griffon paused to recollect himself, and I empathized with his plight, despite knowing how this all ended.
“I have sworn an oath to not mislead or lie to those of you here today, your h-Highness.” Despite the tremble in his voice, the Griffon remained unwavering in their address to Luna’s court. “So it is with a heavy heart that I must admit I do not know. I have no authority over Griffonkind or any landed titles, and I am nothing more than a glorified courier, but I have faith that my people will see reason in these trying times.”
“We cannot make a judgment call upon faith alone,” Blueblood replied. “Such a gamble could become an unmitigated disaster, and I will not be responsible for starting a war we cannot afford to wage.”
“That won’t happen,” Twilight countered, pointing dramatically at the prince. “We’re not enacting some grand military operation, and we wouldn’t need to set hoof onto Griffonstone soil if the Griffons reject our aid!”
“Irrelevant. A fleet of our ships darkening their shores alone would be seen as an act of war,” Blueblood shook his head. “And that’s not to mention the logistical nightmare that would ensue during this… relief effort.”
Blueblood’s tired eyes roamed to the Griffon representative and back to Twilight as he trudged toward the center of the throne room. “You are a very well-learned and studious mare, Twilight. So tell me, what does a Griffon’s diet consist of?”
Twilight Sparkle blinked before clearing her throat.
“Despite Griffons being omnivorous creatures, it is often overlooked that plant matter makes up a significant portion of their diet. In fact, many griffons actively seek out certain vegetation for its nutritional benefits, such as huckleberries, which are high in antioxidants, or Yampa roots, which are high in carbohydrates, respectively,” Twilight spoke clinically as if reading off a peer-reviewed study toward Luna’s courtiers.
I spared a glance of my own at the Griffon and Blueblood. A hot wave of embarrassment washed over the ambassador, causing his brows to furrow as he looked on with a tightened jaw.
Blueblood frowned.
“This is further reflected within their recipes for bread, pies, and cakes-”
“You do not deny that meat and protein are still a stringent requirement for a Griffon’s diet, Twilight?”
“Of course.” Twilight nodded with confidence. “But that will be a nonfactor in this scenario. Other dietary supplements will suffice for the journey, while fishing can be a fallback option should the need arise.”
“All good ideas in theory,” Blueblood sighed. “But we all know that even the best-laid plans can fall apart.”
“And what makes you think that?” Twilight countered, agitation creeping into her voice as she furrowed her brows. The crowds of courtiers around her began to murmur quietly like a small stream trickling over rocks. “We have the ships, we have the crew to commandeer them, and despite the storm’s best efforts, we still can supply and feed them all, refugees included.”
“Having all the supplies in the world would not matter if we cannot get them to where they are needed most,” Blueblood’s tone became exasperated as he rolled his eyes. “Need I remind you that we are already struggling as is to supply our cities and outer territories? Our shipping lanes are buried underneath hoofuls of snow, and our weather teams are stretched thin trying to protect our breadbasket regions from the cold.”
Blueblood paused for a second, and I could feel Luna becoming increasingly swayed by his words with each syllable, despite a lingering doubt creeping in from her tangled gut.
“But if we assume, for a mere moment, that we are able to supply the sailors of the Fifth Fleet, supply at Trottingham without being blown off course from the increased wind speeds, and then make port on Griffonstone without going aground, there’s still a small detail that you have missed.”
Twilight looked at him quizzically, and I could sense that she was unconvinced by his words, assuming him to be little more than a pony supremacist like the rest of the gathered ponies in the throne room.
Blueblood allowed Twilight’s silent judgment of his character to roll off his shoulders as he tilted his head toward the Griffon ambassador. “Your Excellency, may I inquire about the nature of grains you grow? What sort of grains do your people use?”
“Buckwheat, rye, and barley, your Highness,” the Griffon spoke dejectedly. His beak watered at the mere idea of food, clicking and grinding against each other like a clock ticking. “But I fear we must refer to growing in the past tense now. Nothing grows in Griffonstone anymore.”
“And this is the heart of the matter, is it not? You cannot feed your people, and we do not have the means to ship our meager grain output to you.”
“Equestria doesn’t-” Twilight began speaking, but Blueblood quickly cut her off mid-sentence.
“Grow enough grain. Hay was our primary domestic trade and export, while wheat only comprised twelve percent in comparison. And of that twelve percent, most of our grain output is scattered in pockets of farmland outside Fillydelphia and the valleys beneath Canterhorn Mountian, assuming there are even any left.”
Despite his best efforts to keep himself calm and collected, Luna could already tell that Blueblood’s mask was slipping. Willpower alone prevented him from pacing in circles or massaging his temple, among other subtle ticks that Luna had grown accustomed to whenever she saw him in private.
Instead, his brow creased, flicking away beads of sweat from his eyes as he wracked his brain for a solution.
“No choice is without sacrifice,” Twilight verbally pounced, taking Blueblood’s silence as a moment of weakness. “And I know you agree with me on this. We can afford, no, must give up this sliver of luxury if it means the Griffon race survives this endless night.”
The courtiers around them whispered, their voices as silent as scurrying mice to avoid the prince’s ire again, but Twilight remained resolute, and I found agreeing with Luna as she admired her resolve.
“...Find me a solution, Twilight.” Blueblood finally said. “Help me untangle this logistical nightmare, and you will have my support, but not a moment sooner. I will not let even more chaos befall our nation.”
“I already have.”
A scroll coated in violet magic floated in from behind Twilight, gliding in like an answer to a prayer. Blueblood instantly snatched it out of the air, bucking decorum to the wayside as his eyes darted over the contents.
Luna inwardly smiled with swelling pride.
“T-this,” Blueblood caught himself mid-stutter and paused momentarily as he violated the scroll’s contents with his eyes. “The science behind Clover the Clever’s Entangled Transport Spell was proven to be flawed and violated the very understanding of magical principles.” His widened eyes locked onto Twilight like a missile. “How?”
“Not how, why,” Twilight responded. “We didn’t solve it as much as unvaulted it. Clover the Clever had already created a solution to the frankly absurd amount of magic required for the spell. But just like her namesake suggests, she rightly feared the potential abuse such a spell could cause if it fell into the wrong hooves. Entire armies could teleport miles across any terrain at will, or entire towns could be displaced in an instant.”
Twilight wheezed, catching her breath for a moment.
“O-Of course, some fine-tuning was needed to allow for a longer range, but I have ninety-nine percent confidence that this spell won't suffer from any catastrophic consequences. So no, there’s no chance of displacing ponies into the earth or inside someone’s walls. Any questions?”
The crowd’s murmurs grew louder, with most of the gathered ponies in shock from the news, and I could sympathize. This spell had so much untapped potential, and I bet the savvy businessmen in the crowd were foaming at the mouth to get their hands—or hooves on it.
“May I?” Luna asked, motioning toward the scroll with an outstretched forehoof.
Blueblood nodded, hefting the scroll over to Luna with his magic.
Like every other book or scroll I had read in Luna’s castle, I couldn’t read the chicken scratch that passed for written language here, even with Luna’s knowledge. The disappointment I felt was an understatement, and I had to force myself to resist screaming as she studied the contents of Twilight's spellwork.
Thoughts and concepts utterly alien to me crossed Luna’s mind—spell resonances, arcane efficiency ratios, and fractal calculus, just to name a few. Had I even had the basics of knowledge in magic, all of this information would have been a godsend. Granted, I wouldn’t be able to whip up a portal home with the snap of my fingers, but I could have done something with this.
But just before I could sulk from the arcane knowledge slipping through my fingers, I heard a noise.
Looking up from the edges of Luna’s eyes, I peered over the edge of the scroll and into the golden throne doors, unsure as to what Luna’s ears subconsciously perked up from.
“I have seen enough,” Luna sat up from her seat on the throne, wings outstretched wide as she began her proclamation. “While Blueblood’s arguments are sound, it would be against the very ideals of Harmony itself to allow any species to waste away from the cold and hunger. Thus, I shall enact two initiatives immediately.”
The crowd stood with rapt attention.
I kept my focus on the doors.
“Firstly, I shall put into effect ‘Operation Outreach’ to ease the burden upon our overtaxed supply lines via Clover’s Entangled Transport Spell, which will be implemented post haste. This, by extension, will allow our weather teams to be redeployed to safeguard our cities and farmlands from the storms.”
Luna’s eyes fell upon Blueblood.
“Next, I shall begin preparations to execute ‘Operation Rough Seas,’ which will begin after ‘Operation Outreach’ has been implemented. Prince Blueblood, you shall oversee the Fifth Fleet personally for this mission. Ensure the safe passage of the Griffon refugees to our shores.”
“I understand, Your Majesty. The Fifth’s final voyage will be-”
CRASH
Everyone’s heads swiveled.
A growing cacophony of raised voices and shuffling hoofsteps could be heard beyond the throne room door, building into an unsettling clamor that threatened to drown out the proceedings within.
Not even a moment later, the floodgates yawned open.
The shapes and colors exploding before my eyes were as diverse as a garden in full bloom.
It took a moment for Luna’s eyes to adjust to the throng of ponies that descended upon her throne, which was as loud as a descending swarm of bees, with their buzzing and humming filling the air.
“Vile beasts!”
“Down with the moon tyrant!”
“Bring back the sun!”
“Your kind doesn’t belong here!”
“ORDER! ORDER!” Blueblood bellowed. His voice reverberated across the room, but it struggled to stay aloft over the tidal wave of complaints and racist remarks that flowed through it like a tidal wave.
Without hesitation, Luna’s guards went to work.
Two hurried the terrified Griffon along, positioning himself beside Luna’s throne while the others met the crowd head-on. Soon, the purple-clad soldiers formed a shield wall with their bodies, pushing back the crowds with the blunt end of their spears.
The masses, still flowing like blood seeping out of an open wound, continued to pour in through the doors; the bodies of the previous protesters pushed against the ponies in the forefront, crushing them against the soldier’s defenses.
Luna blinked, looking at the protesters in stunned disbelief, which soon turned to mounting fury as a familiar silver pegasus appeared at the forefront of the crowd. A splitting headache shattered my psyche as pressure built up in her forehead and cascaded into her spiral horn.
Rumbling. Something rumbled deep inside Luna’s too-long throat, shooting upward like magma flowing inside an active volcano. Her tongue scraped at the upper ridge of her mouth, suppressing the urge to bite down on her tongue as her rage reached critical mass.
“Go home, featherbrain!”
“Where is Celestia, vile beast?”
“Burn in Tartarus, Nightmare Moon!!”
“Bring back Celestia! Bring back the sun!”
“SILENCE!”
A wave of azure magic speared outward, enveloping the protesters in one fell swoop.
Instantly, my darkest thoughts and fears flashed before me as screams and shouts ceased, and silence filled the air. I dared not to look, knowing what kind of monster Luna was and what she was capable of. This was all in the past—a foul and dark memory… I knew I couldn’t change a thing, but it didn’t matter.
I did not want to be an accessory to her crime.
…
Thump. Thump.
Luna’s heart thumped inside her chest, shattering the silence that dawned upon the room.
Thump. Thump.
In. Out. Luna breathed shakily, her voice caught somewhere inside the vast tunnel that was her throat. The scent of pennies and gasoline danced across her tastebuds and sleuthed through her nasal cavities, causing her stomach to twist into a Mobius Strip.
Against my will, I peered through Luna’s ageless eyes.
They were strewn about like discarded toys in a child’s messy room. Lifeless dolls with glassy eyes—their twisted facial expressions were forever frozen in stasis. Undercurrents of red seeped through their pours, pooling onto the marble floor as it formed an ocean, which slowly began to rise.
All eyes were on Luna when she backed away. Her legs tangled against themselves, and she fell backward onto her haunches as the pooling red slithered up the throne’s steps.
Thump. Thump.
Azure magics pooled around her horn as she blinked-
Disappear. Reappear.
Luna blinked again.
We both stared, taking solace in the crisp scent of the throne room’s frosty air as everything returned to focus. Everyone, from the courtiers and soldiers to the protestors, remained silent, their faces turned downwards and their hearts pounding with fear.
She blinked again. And a few times more. It had been nothing more than a nightmare or a daydream—another sign of her ever-slipping sanity. Without another thought, Luna doused the magic around her horn and exhaled.
Silence reigned.
But there was no rest for the wicked, something Luna knew with absolute certainty as she pointed her hoof toward the crowd.
“Your expulsion from the court was an act of leniency, instigator,” Luna growled at Countess Asteria, who writhed under Luna’s soul-rending gaze. “But perhaps I have not made myself clear enough for you.” Jabbing with a forehoof, Luna began to shout. “Guards! Take the Countess into custody. I will suffer no fools within my court a moment more.”
“You’re nothing more than a monster and a tyrant!” Countess Asteria spat, glaring at Luna as the soldiers fanned toward her. History soon repeated itself, and a minor scuffle ensued. But before the mare could take flight, the soldiers circled her in a wall clad of purple iron.
“A beast who consorts with other beasts! You and Nightmare Moon are one and the same!” She screamed. Her temper tantrum was silenced as the guards ushered her out a side passage, presumably taking her to whatever constituted as a dungeon here.
“Does anyone else wish to join her?” Luna asked, wondering if anyone within the crowd were foolish enough to answer her rhetorical question. “None at all? None of you gathered here today wish to display your tribalism for all to see? Or wish to contest my right to the crown?”
Luna shook her head, staring at the amassed protestors, who balked at the mere idea of consequences for their actions. The rage swelling within her dissipated, replaced by a mental fog that clouded her mind. Exhaustion slowly crept up through her spine and into her legs as she opened her mouth to speak.
“Bemoan and complain all you wish, my decision upon this matter is final. This council is adjourned.”
They stared.
Luna blinked.
Blood and silence.
Life and sound.
The gathered protestors turned and shuffled toward the door, with only Twilight, the ambassador, and a few courtiers bowing toward the throne before leaving. Luna accepted their gestures with her own shallow nod, and they, too, left in swift succession.
A hundred. Fifty. Ten. The crowd thinned out.
“Celestia is proud of you,” Blueblood said, giving Luna a gentle gaze as he departed. “Wherever she is. Don’t forget that, Auntie.”
Luna gave another shallow nod.
It wasn’t until the grand throne doors closed behind him that Luna breathed a sigh, which she had held for far too long.
“We wish it were so, child.”
And like the flip of a switch, the throne room’s ambiance reflected upon its real-life counterpart—empty and barren. Just like it had always been… and just like how it always would be.
Luna's hooves scraped against the floor of her makeshift time capsule, her eyes drifting between the hall’s many stained glass windows as she did so. There were stories etched within each one—stories of bravery, heroic deeds, and overcoming impossible odds. The surface thoughts in her mind knew of them all and always felt comforted in their presence.
Always, except this time, however.
Luna ignored them all, electing to stare remorsefully at sun themed window above the throne. Mornfullness tinged with nostalgia spread through her insides, churning her guts and pressing down into her chest in mimicry of human emotion again.
“We never wanted this, sister,” Luna whispered. “Not then, and not now.”
Then why did this happen? Where did she go?
My question slipped through my sealed lips, bouncing into Luna’s skull like a stick of live dynamite.
—
Darkness flooded into Luna’s mind, and I was taken unwillingly with her into the depths of a verdant hell. Twisted, gnarled trees reached toward the sky with bony fingers, their branches covered in a thick blanket of green that blocked all light from the sun. It was a memory unwittingly dredged up from the depths of her consciousness.
“Sister!”
Dry leaves and bones crunched underneath her hooves as she ran, protesting vehemently at her trespassing into this cursed place. But despite the stillness in the air, Luna’s ears swiveled like a warship turret, twitching from the quietest rustle from deep within the shadows. She had every right to fear the creatures that stalked the foliage, as did any who dared to wander in these woods.
“Tia!” She screamed hoarsely. “Sister!”
Dark vines slithered toward her like snakes, alive and hungry for the soul of the outsider who dared to step foot into their hallowed grounds. She met them head-on with azure spellfire, and the trees whispered in their foreign tongues.
For every vine cut, ten more took its place. Exhaustion crept into Luna’s limbs as she fought on, her-
—
She blinked, her eyes adjusting to the moonlight.
“NO!”
Luna’s teeth clenched together, and flames licked at her mind as she focused her anger inward.
I huddled in the darkness, watching in terror as heat flushed throughout the endless hallways in a fiery haze, trapping me into a corner within a wall of flame. Luna’s entire body was shaking, and the few tattered shreds of attention not focused on me were dealing with the ever-mounting urge to lash out at everything.
“Have you come to gloat, beast? Or are you here to poison our mind with more lies?” she growled dangerously. All the while, the presence from before made itself known. I could only see its afterimage cast in the light of the sweltering flames, which provided enough forewarning to elude its grasp.
But the fire served as much as a prison as it did a shelter.
And dream or not, I knew Luna was fond of doling out disproportionate punishments for even perceived slights. And I didn’t need to imagine very hard what she would do if she got her grubby hooves upon me…
Or realized that this was all just in her head.
With seconds to spare and a world of hurt closing in, I found a sudden burst of inspiration.
“I’m just here to admire your work. Truly, I never expected you to pull the wool over that foolish old oaf like you did, but you somehow managed to exceed even my expectations!”
“Silence, wretch!” Luna snarled in disgust. An adrenaline surge flooded her veins, and the urge to scream and lash out increased with every drop. “You know not what you speak of!”
Do I not? One kingdom. One throne. There was no other way this could have ended.
—
A single beam of sunlight streamed down from a break in the canopy, illuminating a patch of soft grass at the center of the clearing as Luna approached. This place was a sanctuary once, an island of tranquility within a sea of chaos.
Lighting her horn, she fired without a second thought. Vines and branches snapped and crumbled under her assault, and the trees bellowed angrily. She had not fallen for their ruse.
—
“Enough! No more lies, no more games! We will never let ourselves fall prey to your machinations again, monster!”
The flames were within spitting distance, reaching out with gnarled and puckered hands, only stopping when her focus was driven elsewhere. Desperation filled my soul, both to escape alive and to find at least some worthwhile clue out of this.
Do not delude yourself. This is what you wanted, what you always strived for. Why deny it now?
“We will not preside over an ice-filled grave!”
Then bring her back. Bring your sister out from the cold, and return the sun to its rightful place.
Luna trembled, shaking from the intense heat and cold swelling inside her. And I was forced to feel every tense and spasm of her muscles as she began to hyperventilate.
—
Despite the air being thick with the scent of decay and death, Luna knew that her memory did not fail her. She was heading in the right direction, straight into the forest's heart and the storm's eye.
Her hooves dug into the damp forest bed, which attempted to glue her in place and hinder her at every turn. But she dared not slow down, not after seeing the bodies.
“Sister!” Luna cried out in desperation. None of the wildlife had been spared from the root's hunger. And each emaciated and crushed corpse tied within the thorny bushes that surrounded her was the sign of an ill omen.
—
“Stop!”
There was no rhyme or reason for the abominable floor plan that was Luna’s mind. Left. Right. Staircase, or corridor. They all looked the same and led nowhere and everywhere simultaneously.
A left turn. The hallway before me exploded in a shower of golden light. And through the pillars of smoke and ash, the shadowy monster clawed at me in desperation, but I held firm. I was so close to finding an answer, and perhaps even more.
Then admit it! Admit it was all your fault! You’re not fooling anyone by denying it!
“We did not hurt her! W-we l-love-”
—
Into the depths she went, with neither sunlight nor the promise of sunlight to guide her.
Brambles and low-hanging branches snapped against her legs and chest, each inflicting a death of a thousand cuts upon the demi god, who had thrown caution to the wayside for speed. There was not enough time to burn away the infestation and even less to grieve for the damned.
Behind her, the roots and vines pursued.
The forest canopy suffocated her, descending lower and lower with each step, but she did not stop. She had no time to feel fear or regret.
—
“S-She’s my sister. She will always be my older sister…”
—
Even gods could bleed.
It was something that Luna had to repeatedly remind herself of throughout her endless existence. But all too often, Luna and her sister would become complacent—fattened by peace and easy times.
Cuts and lacerations coated her bloodied fur and refused to mend despite her physiology and spellwork. No doubt a side effect from the evil lurking within the roots of this accursed forest, but still, Luna trudged forth.
Pain was an excellent teacher, and the forest taught her many lessons.
Exhausted, she took a fork down the path to her left.
—
“She has not… she… she-”
—
Luna fired, and the wall of deadfalls exploded.
It was the final bulwark of the enemy’s defenses, and Luna relished tearing it down with savage brutality, just like the forest had shown her. With hardened resolve, her hooves trampled over the enflamed kindling as she dashed into the secret hollow.
…
The Tree of Harmony once stood tall and proud, its crystalline branches reaching outward in gestures of greeting, and its blooms providing kindness and understanding. For generations, the tree was a source of life and healing, and Equestria owed its very existence to its generous gifts.
But evil had taken root.
And like the unfortunate souls caught within its webs elsewhere, malignant roots and thorny vines had coiled around it, snuffing it of its divine light.
Preparing her magic, Luna whispered a prayer to the All-Mother… until she spotted a solitary, bloody white pinion resting upon the muddy cave floor. And then a second.
A chilling breeze rushed through the cavern, twirling a dozen more within a wild dance as if trying to lure Luna’s attention.
She looked up and cried out in despair.
—
“Some things are forgotten.” Luna’s voice trailed off, filled with unfathomable sadness. The flames inside her mind flickered, fading in and out like the last gasp of a dying breath. Silence engulfed everything, and the walls enclosing us seemed like a flimsy stage set on the brink of collapse at the slightest disturbance.
“...For a reason!”
The flames reignited.
Searing air engulfed Luna’s mind, and the blue inferno scattered about like a wild animal, hunting and destroying everything within its path.
Playing my hand, I charged ahead with the shadow hot on my heels. The hallway before me stretched out seemingly infinitely, and each door I passed erupted, spewing light and smoldering ash and flame behind me as I sprinted.
Nothing was spared from Luna’s wrath. Good memories, sad ones, and anything in between were set to the torch. Hundreds upon thousands of years of memories went up in flame, all to smoke out a single ant. In spite of everything she did, this still put a sour taste in my mouth. I would never wish this fate upon anyone.
Not even her.
But I had no time to feel empathy or regret.
Where is she?
Through the smoke and haze, I white-knuckled the golden handle of an aged wooden door, diving through it out of fear and instinct as heat crept up my spine. Instantly, the door shut behind me with a resounding thud, muffling the pandemonium outside. It was like the sudden calm after a storm, the raucous catacombs of Luna’s thoughts giving way to a peaceful serenity that enveloped me in its warm embrace.
But as my gaze swept across the room, I quickly realized this wasn’t some far-off corner inside Luna’s consciousness. The walls. The ceiling. The polished marble floors. Everything was a deep shade of blue, and nothing was unblemished by the starry ambiance painted across every surface.
I was exactly where I needed to be.
I cautiously eyed the window at the far corner of the room as I ransacked the place. Drawers were wrenched open. Books were manhandled and tossed about. Hangers and clothes spilled out from the closet.
My eyes widened.
—
Dying embers. Flickers. A bundle of bloodied blankets and frail bones forgotten in the snow. I clutch tightly at the tattered blankets. The images start out hazy and indistinct but gradually sharpen and come into focus, just like the flicker of an old projector illuminating a darkened theater.
I watched from a bird’s eye view as my mother trudged through the snowy forest below, her bent frame swathed in nothing but blue pajamas and her footsteps leaving a trail of impressions in the pristine snow. Confusion was plastered across her face, and her steps became hesitant and unsteady as she crested a hill.
But despite her uncertain gait and the harsh blizzard, she pressed on, one step at a time, until Luna swooped down like a bird of prey.
—
In a flash, the blanket and the dream it cradled turned to ash.
I blinked.
Outside, through Luna’s eyes, I could see her psyche fall apart in real time as everything crumbled.
The world around us spun, and everything became weightless, as though I was floating mid-air. Usually, sensations such as these mark the end of a dream—the calm before the fall that shocks you awake from a nightmare.
But this never happened.
Another flood of sights, sounds, and smells overpowered Luna, combining with a kaleidoscope of colors to overwhelm her consciousness as we fell into the void. Space and time had no meaning in this in-between, and I could feel the psychotic mare’s psyche coming undone at the seams, one thread at a time.
Darkness took hold, and I could taste the pennies and gasoline on Luna’s lips as watery tar rushed down her throat. Her hooves kicked, slicing against the underwater waves rising and crashing against her. Her wings were waterlogged, dragging her deeper into the briny depths as panic set in.
But even as Luna’s eyes fluttered in the darkness, her eyes locked onto a pale and distant figure bobbing underneath the waves.
A pale, human-shaped figure.
Click
Click
Inside Luna’s mind, the doorknob shook like a rattled cage.
With frenzied determination, I scanned every item, nook, and cranny for any extra clues. No stone was left unturned as I jumped between memories and dreams, but my attention and focus were split.
Within a minute, Luna had already righted herself. And with each passing second, she swam ever closer, despite the ocean’s waves buffeting her from all sides. Behind each stride and kick of her legs was enough force to level skyscrapers in a single blow, and I became terrified as I felt a sense of deep yearning spread through her aching chest.
Click
Click
I turned towards my left.
A massive mountain of books lay scattered across the floor in front of Luna’s shelves, and each one had been less than useless to me. Besides the blanket haphazardly stuffed inside Luna’s closet, I had not found a single clue of my mother’s whereabouts or where she had taken her.
Click
Crack
Crack
Luna’s mind space room shook like an earthquake had struck, the walls trembling and the furniture rattling like leaves in a storm, as if a grenade had gone off right outside the door.
CRASH
I jumped back.
The bookshelves fell over like a forest of trees being uprooted, their weight and momentum crushing everything in their path, a reminder of the destruction wrought in order to create them. Deep blue hues stared back at me from the barren wall—utterly unremarkable in all fashions… until I caught sight of it.
Uneven wall texture. Small hairline cracks. Inconsistent temperature. They hinted at the presence of a hidden room beyond, and my instincts screamed at me.
It has to be behind this wall. She’s hiding it all there, I just know it.
Closer. Luna’s heart pounded with fear and adrenaline; each stroke of her mighty wings pushed her to the brink of exhaustion. The sea rebuked her efforts, sending sinew-like tendrils from the inky blackness, which swarmed her like bees.
But no matter how much the ocean depths challenged her, no matter how many obstacles put in her way, she blew through them all effortlessly. Nothing would deny Luna her prize.
CRASH
THUD
My fists struck the wall.
The answers to my questions lay just a few feet away, but I could not escape, even if I somehow broke down Luna’s mental defenses. I was trapped again. Second verse, same as the first.
But that didn’t mean I would leave empty-handed.
I scrambled, throwing anything and everything at the wall. Vases and lamps. Books and desks. I brought all of my willpower to bear, battering at it with all the strength I could find. But with each strike, I knew this was an impossible, Sisyphean task.
But I didn’t care.
The air was thick with the sound of crashing and splintering, the walls shaking violently with the force of our struggle. Time seemed to slow down as so many things happened at once.
The monster at the door. Luna in the sea. My futile efforts to uncover the truth. There was no point in my resistance, as I could not hold out against this onslaught from both sides, but I didn’t care.
Where is she? Where did you take her?
The table leg clutched in my hands struck the wall like a drumstick, and I created a rhythm that fueled my determination despite the odds. Again and again. Strike and bash.
THUD
THUD
CRASH
Fear gripped my soul as Luna fast approached my sodden body beneath the waves.
She was only a few yards away.
Strike and bash.
The door exploded, showering the room in splinters.
Strike and bash.
Luna dived, her hooves reaching out to embrace me.
I slammed the table leg against the wall, refusing to turn around.
Strike and bash. Strike and bash-
The shadow’s darkness coalesced, wrapping around me like a coiling serpent.
It was all fake, but the pain was real. The table leg crumpled like a paper cup, splintering in my hand and immobilizing me in place. Its embrace was as bone-crushingly strong as her master’s, and I wasn’t strong enough to fight it off.
Resist as I might, I could already feel myself slipping—my core essence being erased and overwritten by its malice and rage.
Meanwhile, sunspots danced across Luna’s vision, causing her hooves to grasp at empty, briny depths. Blinking, Luna pivoted, losing her sense of direction as her eyes darted around. There was no sign, hide, or hair of me anywhere. No signs of any life at all.
She tried to squint, peering through the darkness surrounding her as her eyes were forcibly readjusting themselves. Her singlemindedness bled away, replaced by confusion and mounting worry as she twisted around.
Pale magenta eyes met hers.
…
Silence filled the air, halting the shadow in its tracks.
Through Luna’s eyes, I could feel the gears in her head gummed up, refusing to turn as Celestia glowered at her. A persistent, burdening ache settled in her stomach as she spotted my unconscious body held protectively between her sister’s hooves. Unease filled her mind, and daydreams flickered in Luna’s thoughts—dying embers of a tattered and broken relationship.
But there were also pangs of jealousy. Hatred. Luna loathed and loved her sister equally, but everyone here knew there was no chance for reconciliation; their rift had widened too far, and no bridge could cross it.
Celestia looked through Luna and into me, beckoning me forth despite her eyes being heavy and downcast with sorrow. There was a moment of understanding between us—two victims suffering from the same abuser. But I knew the question on her mind, and part of me hated that there wasn’t another way.
We didn’t need to waste our breath. I nodded, and Celestia’s gaze hardened.
Before Luna could speak, a golden bolt struck her horn, robbing her of the opportunity to utter a word or dodge.
The window in her mind-space exploded at the same time.
Screaming in Luna’s voice, the shadow writhed and slithered away to the closet as the room was bathed in golden light. Poisonous as it was to the beast that stalked Luna’s mind, the light was a balm—soothing my aching soul and giving me the courage I needed as it washed over me.
The wounded sea thrashed, moaning and wailing in agony.
Celestia prepared another spell.
Luna began her counterattack.
And without a second thought, I leaped through the opening, with faith in knowing I would live to see morning.
Immediately, a thousand pins and needles assaulted me at once. A byproduct of becoming used to this… dream avatar once more, but it was a welcome change, even if this, too, was a facsimile of my human body. A deep chill permeated my bones as I adjusted, and I barely finished acclimating to the icy depths before I heard Celestia’s voice inside my head.
“Find the door,” Celestia said. “And stop for nothing.”
Her hooves, along with her momentum, spiraled me toward the surface.
Distant memories took care of the rest. Extending my arms, I began to flutter kick with my legs, working in tandem with my wings to paddle up the murky depths. Despite lacking air and the ensuing chaos behind me, there was no panic in my movements.
And in spite of my entire body vibrating and shaking from each deep, distorted boom and dull thud reverberating through the ocean, I continued upward.
Up and up. Kick and paddle.
Luna’s eyes locked onto my back, and I could feel her rocket toward me like a heat-seeking missile. Chancing a single look back, I witnessed Celestia cut her off, intercepting her just a few dozen feet away from me.
Black. Cold water splashing. I popped out from underneath the depths like a cork from a champagne bottle and into a familiar infinite starfield. Luna and Celestia emerged from the depths not a moment later, carving through ocean waves and clouds alike in streaks of blue and gold.
Enraged screams reverberated through the dreamscape, drowning out all other noise in a cacophony of incoherent rage.
I flew.
Up, up, and up further. High above the crashing waves. Up past the thicket of black storm clouds, which parted like the Red Sea as I fast approached. And higher still, beyond Luna’s reach, even as her spellfire raced past.
With each stroke, I felt a weight lifting from my shoulders and a sense of freedom that I had only known in my stolen memories. But I didn’t dare look back, not for a second. Luna’s fury was more pronounced, and her screams grew louder and more insistent with each passing moment.
Her anger was a frostbitten chill, which frosted over the nighttime air.
I pushed myself, my wings straining against the air’s currents and the atmospheric resistance. Below, the clouds were a boiling, churning mass of anger and fury, matching Luna’s savagery with their own brand of cruelty.
It was the distraction I needed.
Up here, beyond the grey sea of clouds, a floating stone path stood, unravaged by the bloody battle that had ensued before. My eyes followed along the trail, a favorable wind nudging me forth as I glided alongside the winding stonework.
Up here, beyond my greatest fears and regrets, stood a doorway and a glimpse of bittersweet nostalgia.
Luna’s furious cries rang through my ears as I dived into my mindscape.
The door closed firmly shut behind me.
A biting chill seeped into my bones as I stirred.
My limbs were numb, no doubt frostbitten, and even my ears felt like dangling icicles that threatened to snap off at any moment. Subconsciously, my body squirmed, reaching out for and rubbing against the source of heat that blanketed me. It was the only protection within reach, and I had little choice but to hope I’d unthaw before long.
Thu-thump
Thu-thump
I could scarcely hear my thoughts over a heartbeat drumming next to my ears like a lullaby.
—
“No! Stay away from me, you fucking abomination!” My arms and legs flailed about as I tried to delay the inevitable. All the while, a slight grin formed on Luna’s muzzle as she sat down on her haunches. Her mane and tail billowed from an unseen wind, and her blue-furred coat looked just as pristine as I remembered it, as if she wasn’t just duking things out with an entire army of magic droids and her ‘sister.’
Wings and forehooves wrapped around my naked, shivering skin like a weighted blanket. My muscles strained and tensed up as I tried to struggle and force her away, but I knew it was a pointless gesture.
“Daniel!” Luna whispered into my ears. “We… we were so worried!”
—
Terror seized my chest.
My eyes shot open, straining to escape from Luna’s death grip. Her hooves and wings acted as a straight jacket, preventing me from doing little else than squirming. I craned my neck, staring at her muzzle with mounting dread.
Her eyes were closed shut.
She’s sleeping.
My gaze swept the room.
The stained glass windows were still blown open, allowing the unceasing snowstorm to rage inside the castle walls. The wind howled, its mournful wails echoing through the cavernous room as snowflakes hurriedly rushed through the air, each one a tiny crystal glistening in the flickering light.
I peered out into the white void beyond, my breath crystalizing as it escaped my lips.
C’mon, Danny. We’re out of time!
Nearly dislocating my right arm, I wrenched it free from Luna’s grasp, pushing desperately against the alicorn’s forelegs and chest in a painful struggle to free myself. I wasted no time pushing it against Luna’s arms and chest.
But even unconscious, Luna proved tenacious, denying me any leeway or means of escape.
“God d-damnit,” I exhaustedly wheezed from my asthmatic lungs. The painful reality of my shortcomings came back to me in full force. I couldn’t blast or fly my way out of this mess, and I wasn’t strong enough to escape her by force alone. “C-come o-n!”
And already, my frigid muscles ached.
Trying a different approach, my free right arm hooked itself underneath her right foreleg, and with a pained heave, I began to pull. My muscles coiled, burning and freezing simultaneously at my concerted effort.
Let go of me! Get off-
The phrase “Let sleeping dogs lie” crossed my mind as Luna’s silent breathing suddenly hitched. I froze, staring into her tightly-closed eyes, and waited for the other shoe to drop.
Movement. Her head tilted, a pained expression painting itself onto her muzzle. Her brows furrowed, yet her eyes remained closed as unintelligible mumbles bled through her sealed lips.
Her grip tightened.
A moment. There was only a moment to act. Only a moment before Luna woke up from her dream.
Escape her grasp. Run. Hideaway under a bed or inside a closet. Repeat, again and again. There was no end to this cycle. No point to any of this. Everything I had accomplished and learned would be reset to zero, and Luna would assure me nothing was wrong with her goddam lies!
I squirmed. Pulling back with all my might as I struggled again. There was no plan, no forward thinking to my act-
Dull. Dull and sharp. It washed over the ball of my left foot, causing me to wince as my body jerked reflexively. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a glimmer of purple amidst the ocean of endless white.
An ironshod hoof. A leather sheath. They poked out from the snow like needles in a haystack.
—
"When can I go home?"
My muscles quivered as a wave of smoldering heat flushed through my body. I clenched my teeth alongside my fist resting on the worktable.
“How long do I need to pay for your mistake?”
I did not expect to see her vibrant eyes dull as they stared through me.
—
I was an eel twisting in a fisherman’s grip.
My limbs went slack as I pivoted toward the armored remains, turning and tilting my body with what little wiggle room Luna allowed. The biting chill chewed at my bare skin, nipping through the chinks her wings and hooves couldn’t cover. The sting was unbearable, but it was also the kick I needed to avoid succumbing to the siren call of sleep once again.
Poking my free arm outward, I kneeled down and reached toward the iron gauntlet.
—
I had that same dream again.
The one where the four claustrophobic walls of my room shift and constrict upon me like an insect in a venus fly trap. Luna assured me that she would stop these nightmares if I let her into my dreams, but I just-
I couldn’t do it.
Every fiber of my being screamed at me to run away and hide at the mere sight of her, and my extended stay in her castle hadn’t changed that one bit. Hell, I don’t think I’ll ever get acclimated to her presence. The hairs on the back of my neck always stand on edge whenever she’s near.
—
Close. Closer. Snowflakes swirled around in a dizzying dance, obscuring my view with a hypnotic flurry of icy crystals. I could hardly spot the gauntlet’s purple luster amidst the white chaos, nor the leather sheath strapped to it, but I never stopped.
I wouldn’t stop.
—
I remembered the smell of fresh morning dew that wafted in through the window to the hospital room and the cramped, sterile white walls that made everything feel far too cramped for comfort. There was nothing there on that bed, even though the steady rise and fall of something's chest underneath the bedsheets suggested otherwise.
A pair of dull green eyes stared right through me.
I stared back and saw nothing more than a ghost.
…
He didn’t remember my name.
—
How many times did she make me forget? How many times did I lose everything? She took away more than just my family—she stole my soul. My humanity. Sealed it inside a prison of nightmares and kept me locked in a gilded cage.
Did she not understand the suffering she caused me? Or did she not care?
These thoughts raced through my mind as my fingers brushed against sturdy, frozen leather.
Luna began to stir.
—
“Don’t you die on me now. Don’t you fucking dare, you goddamn idiot!”
—
Her grip slackened.
Instantly, I seized the moment, balancing all my weight forward as I fought against her grasp. Her hooves held tightly like a vice, fighting me tooth and nail for every quarter inch. My body ached, my muscles trembled, and my entire body shook from the chill creeping down my spine.
But I refused to submit.
The skin on my right arm turned plaid, blending in with the snowy backdrop as my fingers clasped and clawed at the sheath’s leather. Even within grasping distance, the damn thing remained just out of reach.
I could still feel Luna’s icy breath on my neck, making my neck’s hair tingle with her incessant somniloquies…
…until I lurched forward, tumbling free from the alicorn’s grip and into the freezing snow. Stinging, prickly. The sensation would have almost been jarring and unbearable had my skin not turned numb from the cold.
Scrambling. My hands dug through the snow, finding purchase within the powdery whiteness as I crawled on all fours like a beast.
Not a moment later, the dagger was pulled from its sheath.
—
Burning. I was on fire. My teeth clamped down onto my chapped lips, and my skin felt like it was sunburnt.
—
The burnished hilt seared at my frostbitten skin, shimmering with an inner flame. Despite being purpose-built for ponies, the red-hued grip fit perfectly in my shaking hands. Grasping it firmly, I stared briefly, enthralled by the embers dancing along the edges of the slender and sharp blade.
Inhale… Exhale… I breathed slowly until my asthmatic lungs could keep an even pace.
—
“Where the fuck did you go? As soon as I find my belt, I swear to god-”
—
My gaze fell upon Luna.
I white-knuckled the blade’s burning grip.
—
“I know not of the madness that has befallen you, Daniel.”
—
I stalked forward.
The wind roared.
—
“I have shown you naught but kindness and understanding, and this is how you repay us? With temper tantrums and mistrust?”
—
Left. Right.
Left. Right.
The snow yielded beneath my bare feet like broken glass.
—
“Where the fuck is it, you little shit!”
—
Her eyes were still squeezed shut, with each breath she took seeming to fill the room with a harsh, rasping sound that sent shivers down my spine. And the rise and fall of her chest were like the heaving of a stormy sea—violent and erratic in its movements.
She was still trapped in a nightmare of her own making. Still… vulnerable.
I stood over her like a looming shadow.
—
“Ah…” Luna spoke with that same fucking motherly tone. “There is but one place left for you to hide.”
—
In.
—
“I know you’re in here!” he half-slurred his words in a fit of drunken rage. “There’s no place left for you to hide!’
—
Out.
—
“It is time for your folly to end,” a blue-furred muzzle poked underneath the bed, and I stared into her bright turquoise eyes with abject horror.
—
Breathe.
—
A gnarled, puckered hand wrapped around my left ankle.
—
I plunged the knife into her neck. Again. And Again. Flames licked at the open wounds, and the scent of pennies and gasoline rushed down my throat.
She writhed and thrashed. I stabbed and twisted.
Pleading. Luna’s shut eyes flooded with tears, but only pained gurgles escaped her perforated throat.
Plunge. Thrust. Red leeched into white.
Her hooves kicked, thrashing with wild abandon.
Lance. Jab. The blade pierced through her chest.
Finally.
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This is a welcome surprise!
I wish I'd understand what's going on
Very intriguing so far but I gotta admit it's difficult to understand the many scene changes.
That being said I'm really looking forward to how you are going to wrap this story up.
I don't think it's gonna be a big happy ending.
11599876
The epilogue should clear a few things up, but I can see why this chapter is hard to follow.
Thank you for keeping up with this story to the end!
It updated, yay!
11600064
Yep, about to wrap this up Sunday! Stay tuned!
So was everything that happened so far been in a joint dream world and Daniel managed break free and wake up?
11600175
Everything from chapter 7 onward was in the dream realm, yes.
HOAH-ly fucking shit.
Here is the end of the story. We are waiting for the epilogue.
Nooooooooo