Beyond My Grave: Exhumed

by AnnEldest

A Call For Help

Luna re-entered her bedroom. After her adventure from the night that ended only minutes ago, she was in no mood to sit down and rest, no matter how badly her wing hurt from all the running she had done. She didn’t even dare to take one of her pain pills. Not even a half of one.

Nothing made sense anymore. The world as she knew it was ended, replaced with a tumultuous, pendulous reality that swung between the mundane and the terrifying world of her own making. Or, was it truly of her own making? She could barely tell anymore. Ever since the first time that she told Celestia about it, she said she was crazy. At least, not directly. She would always tell her to get help. To see the doctor more often. To take more of her medication. Not that any of that helped for long. It always ended up going back to the same old nightmarish routine that she almost felt she should have gotten used to by that point. But, she didn’t want to be chased by shadows. Or fight off hellish demons. Or be visited night after night by unseen phantoms. She just wanted everything to be normal again.

“What can I do? What can I do?” Luna thought aloud as she paced around her room.

Getting help from anypony else was already far out of the question. They already proved to be no help to her, whether they tried or not. Bringing somepony along might have been the answer. She realized that every time one of her unnatural excursions happened, she always went on them alone.

“No. That wouldn’t work,” Luna said.

Even when she was with anypony during those times, they always ended up disappearing somehow. As if some force were trying to get her alone so that they could come out and get her more easily, any other creature with her was always absent. Just like when Discord went away in the cemetery. Or when Tiberius left for his nightly adventures. And all those other times when her company simply just went away. What was it that she could have done then? Never be alone? Stay with somepony forever and always? That would only confirm to everypony else what they already thought.

She could have simply used her magic to cast them away to whatever forgotten oblivion they had crawled from. But, that would never work, as her own magic always seemed to not go with her to that world of nightmares.

Of all the options that she could think of, the only one that seemed to have any kind of chance to work was to face the phantoms head on. Whatever they were, wherever they came from, whatever they wanted with her, the only thing seemed to be to confront the devils on their own terms. Without her magic. Alone. But, could she do such a thing? Could she in any capacity have the power to face those things?

As she passed by the balcony doors, the rustling of leaves made her ears twitch, and her attention was drawn outside. She stepped out onto the balcony and looked to the side, where she watched the ivy vines shudder and shake as a perfectly expected something made his way up to greet her. In almost a minute, Tiberius revealed himself and scampered his way across the railing into Luna’s waiting hooves.

“Hello, Tiberius. I trust your night was peaceful? Hunting crickets and eating the grapes at the royal winery, no doubt,” Luna greeted him.

Tiberius licked Luna’s face and rested his head on her shoulder, before he climbed up there for his ride indoors.

“Oh, how I wish my nights were as simple as yours. Doing the things that I love and want to do. Staying out to have fun with the other possums. It must be great to be a nocturnal marsupial,” Luna said.

She walked inside with her fluffy passenger, who crawled off to roost on his indoor tree. Even though Luna had set up a proper bed for Tiberius to lie on in that tree, he always preferred to hang from his tail by the underside of the bed to go to sleep, making her wonder if it had been a waste of perfectly good bits to do such a thing. Then again, Tiberius was getting use out of it. Just not in the way that Luna had originally planned. Not unlike a dog who would sleep on top of the doghouse that was bought for it.

Once Tiberius was settled, Luna decided to do something that day to take her mind off of things as she tried to sort out her problems. Except on that day, something would be decided for her.

There was a burst of green embers before herself, and a scroll of paper materialized from them.

“What’s this? A letter from Twilight so early in the day?” Luna wondered aloud.

She unrolled it, wondering what could be so important to try and tell her about so early in the day.

Dear Princess Luna,

This is Spike. I'm writing this letter to you on the behalf of my friend, Fluttershy. She said she wants to speak to you about something really important. She wouldn't tell me what. But she said it's really important. So if you have time and feel well enough to go, please speak with her. She really wants to talk to you.

Your truly,

Spike

P.S. Get well soon

A call for help from Fluttershy wasn’t an unusual thing. But, when she asked for help directly from one of the ruling princesses, it had to be something truly dire. Or she was just overreacting. Crying timber wolf was a common thing with that mare. It then occurred to Luna that Spike had wished her a ‘get well.’ That meant that Celestia had told Twilight about her stay in the hospital, who in turn told her friends about it.

“How perfectly intrusive,” Luna muttered.

Still, she saw no reason to disregard Fluttershy’s call for help. Taking an inked quill to the page, she wrote her reply in the margins:

Tell her I'm on my way.

Princess Luna

---

In the skies at the edge of the Everfree Forest, a royal carriage drawn by a team of pegasus guards fluttered down to the ground. Luna stepped off from the back, thanked the guards for their service and excused them until she summoned them later. The guards flew off, ready to wait for their next command, before Luna turned around.

There was Fluttershy’s cottage with its marbled walls and thatched roof. But, not about to keep Fluttershy waiting, Luna trotted across the cobblestone bridge, where a family of otters watched her from the water. A few more steps, and she was at the front door, where she was sure to knock gently so as to not startle Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy? Are you in? It’s Princess Luna,” Luna called.

She waited. Seconds later, she heard the quiet steps of Fluttershy tapping across the wooden floorboards. The door cracked open, and a single eye appeared in the tiny space, before opening to reveal the butter yellow face of the timid pegasus.

“Princess Luna! You came!” Fluttershy said, sounding more surprised than Luna thought she meant to.

“As if there were any doubt,” Luna joked. “Spike told me that you had an important matter you wanted to discuss. I simply couldn’t let it go unattended.”

“Oh. Um…Thank you…”

“May I come in? It would be rather distracting to talk with that family of otters watching me so closely,” Luna asked, glancing over her shoulder at the animals in the river.

“Of course. Please, come inside,” Fluttershy said, allowing Luna in.

The inside of Fluttershy’s house was something that warmed the hearts of all who entered, and Luna was no different. The wood-paneled walls and the wooden floor were something straight out of a fairy tale. And the homes for the animals that were built right into it all made it seem like a menagerie more than anything else. For Luna, it reminded her of a place where she once lived as a filly. All the memories that were made there. And the others that she had preferred to forget.

Luna took a seat on a couch, where she had a clear view of the Everfree Forest out the window. But, she couldn’t take in much of the view as Fluttershy sat on the couch next to her.

“I’m so sorry, but I didn’t have much time to prepare anything to drink for you. I hope that’s alright,” Fluttershy quietly said.

“Perfectly so. I always was a perky riser anyhow. It’s my sister who you don’t want to see this early in the morning,” Luna giggled.

Fluttershy giggled as well, before she noticed Luna’s bandaged wing and scooted away from it.

“Oh. I’m sorry. How’s your wing?” she asked.

“Getting better by the day. I simply have to take it slowly and let it work itself back into shape for now,” Luna answered. “I don’t mean to seem curt, but why precisely did you call me here? I can’t believe that this is purely a social call.”

“I-It isn’t. I wanted you here today because…Mmmm…Princess Luna? Have you ever lost somepony before?” Fluttershy said, fiddling with her mane.

“Of course I have. When you’ve been around as long as me, these sorts of things are inevitable. Why do you ask?”

Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably in her seat and pulled her mane over her mouth.

“It’s just that…somepony has gone away from here,” she said.

Luna could see it in her eyes. Hear it in her voice. Somepony precious to her was lost, never to return.

“Dear, Fluttershy. You must know that life is made of meetings and partings. And that some come sooner than others. But, it’s what we do to remember our loved ones that matter the most,” Luna said.

“It’s not like that…It’s Discord. He hasn’t been home in days!”

Luna’s mind went immediately back to the night in the cemetery. The last time that she had ever seen him was that night in the hospital. When he blinked himself out of her room, then to Celestia’s room. And then? She had no idea.

“I’m sure it’s not as serious as you make it out to be. I just know that any moment now he’s going to appear before us in a burst of– I don’t know– buttered noodles and mention some vacation that he didn't tell you about,” Luna said.

“That’s just the thing. He would have told me if he was going on vacation. He never leaves the house without telling me where he’s going.”

A thought entered Luna’s mind, and she spoke her curiosity. “Did he tell you where he was going the other night?”

“Yes. He said that he wanted to go to Trottingham for some fish and chips. And that he’d be back before morning. But…But, he never did…” Fluttershy said, tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m…I’m really scared. Because ever since he disappeared, I’ve been…hearing things…”

Luna hoped that she looked more concerned than surprised, but continued to ask her questions anyway. “What things have you been hearing?”

“Somewhere, out in the Everfree, I think I can hear a filly crying. And I…I think that Discord had been hearing it too.”

“What makes you think this?” Luna wondered.

“Because, he’s been saying that he has to check on somepony. He never told me who, but he sounded like he really had to do it. I never thought to ask who it was, or why…Oh…It’s my fault he’s missing, isn’t it?” Fluttershy began to sob.

“No. None of this is your fault. Although, I must ask you why you thought I would be able to solve this for you?” Luna wondered.

“Because, Discord had said you were hearing things that weren’t there for some time. I thought that…maybe you would know something about it.”

Luna’s mind froze. For as much as she wished to say anything, her words weren’t able to come. As a ruling princess, it was her duty to take care of the problems of others. This time, however, she could only tell the truth.

“I’m…afraid that I don’t know anything about these troubles myself,” she replied.

Fluttershy was silent, and all Luna could do was watch her. The view of the Everfree caught her gaze again, the darkness beyond it stretching endlessly through its trees. Whatever was there, Luna hoped that it never came to plague Fluttershy as it had plagued herself.

“Erm, Fluttershy,” Luna began, “I don’t know what to do about these unusual occurrences. But I promise you, as a Princess of Equestria, that I’ll do what I can to make things right.”

“Th…Thank you. It means a lot to me,” Fluttershy said.

“Well, I am familiar with not being taken seriously,” Luna said, before standing up. “I must go now to take care of other duties. But, if anything should happen, have Spike or Twilight send me a notice immediately. I’ll be standing by for any updates to the matter.”

Fluttershy only nodded as Luna took her leave. When Luna was outside, she walked back across the bridge to the forest trail beyond. Once she was there, she looked further down into the Everfree once more, and felt herself being drawn into it like a small boat on the very edge of a raging whirlpool. She shook the feeling from her head, and readied to summon the royal coach.

There was a loud cry suddenly from the Everfree. Not the sorrowful sobbing that she had heard so often, but a wail of pain. Somepony was in trouble.

“Fluttershy!? Fluttershy did you hear that just now!?” Luna called to the cottage.

No answer came. And Luna couldn’t wait for one when another scream echoed from the dark trees. It was then that Luna realized that it was a filly.

With no other thoughts, Luna ran into the forest, preparing herself for the worst.

Author's Note:

This was always one of my favorite chapters I wrote in the original. Glad to see it get fixed. As always:

Till Next Time!!!