Emotional Storm Finale
Apple of My Eye- Ch. 25
Emotional Storm Pt. III
AKA- Jumping The Shark
Okay… As soon as they managed to get out of this, Luna was going to go to the Captain of the Guard and ORDER him to start making her work out more often. This was just ridiculous! First that little parasite showed back up, then she lost the chance to watch Aurora sleep because she had to clear up what she had hoped was a rogue Winndego. And now here she was, drained of magic, in massive amounts of pain, and lying on top of some really uncomfortable rocks… What did she do to deserve this?!
“Well, I must admit Luna… I’m surprised to see you open your eyes again.” The Storm Serpeant rumbled, mocking her, “I wonder, which of your little subjects should I eat first? There’s so many elements to choose from after all… Hmmm… I could start with the Element of Laughter…” it said, looking at Pinkie Pie, who was just now staggering back to her hooves after landing in a bush. “But I feel like if I eat that one first, the rest of them will taste funny. Oh what to do what to do…”
“You monster… do you have any idea what kind… of a painful future you’re creating… for yourself? Nothing… and I mean nothing… will stop Celestia herself… from reducing you… to ash after… this…” Luna warned, her voice far from regal as she struggled to breathe. If she weren’t an Alicorn that was kept alive by the moon’s power, she’d have surely passed away long before this point.
“Oh please… I have bested you, I have put at least one of your precious Elements out of commission, possibly for good. Lucky for her too,” it said condescendingly, looking at Twilight’s unconscious form lying in the middle of a ring of singed grass, the only proof of the shield spell that had protected them up to that point. “If she is dead, then it will spare her from seeing what I am going to do to the rest of them… Wasn’t she the element of magic? A pity, I’d have enjoyed the little boost she would have given me if I assimilated her… oh well. Back to the task at hand… do you have a particular favorite?”
“They’re all… my precious subjects…” Luna answered, trying to sit up and failing miserably, her back still broken and healing. She was powerless. “If you must hurt anyone, then start with me…”
“Oh my, so brave, so noble. Sacrificing yourself in the hopes that they can escape…I know you’re smarter than that Luna… what are you planning?”
“No tricks… I just want you to swear that if you take me, that you will leave them be…”
“Hmmm… an interesting proposition… even as broken as you are, you would at least be a decent boost to my power… and I must confess, there is a certain sense of nostalgia I get when I think of the centuries we spent in each other’s company… But on the other hand, why have just one of you when I can take you all!”
Before Luna even had a chance to roll her eyes at the predictable answer, she felt herself being lifted by the wind of the storm, a miniature tornado forming below her and lifting her up to the beast’s grinning mouth.
“If it’s any comfort, you didn’t seem to feel any pain the last time I consumed you.” It spoke, its focus solely on her.
“Go to Tartarus…” Luna said defiantly, a blur of motion on the ground below catching her eye as the beast opened its cavernous maw to subsume her completely.
“Heh… I’d be more worried about where YOU’RE going to end up if I were you… although, I was you for a time, it was fun… still, I need more power, and you need to go, now do try not to kick on the way down.” The beast said, grinning wickedly and dropping her into the void of what passed for its mouth, an all-consuming darkness enshrouding her as she felt everything that made her her dissolved.
I remember now… Luna thought, her consciousness overwhelmed by feelings of isolation and regret that she had thought had been purged from her mind after the Elements freed her. This feeling… this cold… for a thousand years… Tia, I’m sorry… I failed again…
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“Grab Twilight!” Aurora shouted to Applejack, helping Pinkie to her feet and helping Rarity hobble away from the creature, hunched over a cluster of jagged rocks.
“On it!” AJ shouted back, making a beeline for the downed unicorn and managing to slide her onto her back, “Dash! You got Fluttershy?” she shouted towards the treeline.
“Working on it! She’s out cold!” Dash replied, finally working Fluttershy free from the hollow of one of the trees nearby, somehow managing to hold her up by just her forelegs as she made her way quickly back to Aurora, Applejack running along beneath the blue and yellow Pegasi, Twilight somehow managing to stay on the Earth Pony’s back.
“Is that everyone?” Aurora questioned, concerned about the two unconscious mares.
“Everyone but Luna.” Applejack confirmed, “Ah don’t know where she landed, but out of all of us, she’s got tha best
chance against that thing. We gotta get outta here, get a message ta Celestia and get those Elements out and ready!”
“First thing we have to do is make sure that everyone’s okay!” Rainbow retorted, glaring at Applejack, “How are you going to just run off when we don’t know where the HAY Luna is!?”
“Rainbow!” Aurora shouted, “I know, I want to help Luna too… but if we don’t save you girls, then there’s probably no way to stop that thing… the Elements can put a freaking Princess in the moon for a thousand years! If you all are lost, then there’s no hope!”
“But… Luna…” Rainbow sputtered, glancing back at the creature as it lifted an all too familiar dark blue form up to its eye level. “We have to save her!”
“Rainbow! If we don’t git while the gittin’s good, there’s gonna be a lot more ponies in danger than Luna!” Applejack shouted, determined to save as many as possible.
“Her life is tied to the moon! As long as it’s there in the sky, Luna’s still alive.” Aurora reminded her friend, barely managing to keep from following the Cerulean mare… She didn’t want to know what would happen to Luna, but she knew that if they stayed, then everything was for naught.
Rainbow hovered in place for a few tense moments, looking between AJ and Aurora, and the beast that had Luna in its grip…
“Fine…” she said dejectedly, turning to follow the rest of the group up out of the ravine. “Hopefully the Element of Loyalty is still tied to me after this…”
“Ya can’t go thinkin’ like that Dash.” Applejack chided, “That thing ain’t like anything else we’ve ever faced before… hay, even with Sombra, we had tha crystal heart… this thing? Our best bet is ta stay together, and hope that Twi and Fluttershy wake up in time ta help us beat that monster before anypony else gets hurt!”
“I know that!” Dash bit back, straining to fly while holding Fluttershy up, “But you wouldn’t get it AJ, it’s like asking you to lie to buy us time to get the Elements… I just have this gut feeling that right now, I’m not so loyal, and it’ll know! And then we’re in the same situation as when we don’t have the elements!”
“Dashie, there’s nopony I know of that’s more loyaler than you!” Pinkie called up, finally able to gallop in a straight line, and helping Aurora with Rarity. “But I also know that unless we run now, it’s gonna be bad for a lot of ponies in a lot of places…”
“Let me guess, your Pinkie Sense is telling you that?” Dash asked sarcastically.
“No… it’s just this feeling I have… running right now is the right thing to do…” Pinkie replied, uncharacteristically serious, but understandably so given the circumstances. Her voice still holding the traces of grogginess hanging around her mind.
“Now quit yer jawin’ and haul flank!” Applejack shouted as they neared the crest of the hill. “Who knows how much time Luna’s buyin’ us, but we ain’t gonna waste it!”
The five conscious mares hobbled, flew, and ran their way through the woods, almost to the ruins of the old castle when a flash of light, different from the lightning strikes up to that point, caused everypony to stop and look back in the direction of the valley they’d just escaped from.
There, peeking over the tops of the tallest trees in the forest, was the grinning face of the creature they were running from. At least, it WAS the creature they had been running from… it had changed… Instead of a body made up of storms, it had a more corporeal form now, with a less serpentine shape to the head, but with eyes that glowed a sickly green, with slitted pupils that chilled them all to the bone just by looking into them… and even more worrying, the creature seemed to look directly at them, smiling wickedly…
“Can… can that thing see us?” Rainbow asked, gulping nervously as she landed on the ground gingerly, careful not to drop Fluttershy.
“No way… we’re like, at least a mile off now… and we’re tiny compared to that thing… how could it see us for the trees?” Aurora answered, glaring at the monster despite her own rising sense of dread.
“Maybe the big bad monster has some magic that lets it hunt down interfering little brats like yourselves…” a voice said, sounding as if it were right beside them all, the fiends mouth never moving except to widen its own sadistic grin.
“Uhhh… Girls… we should run again…” Pinkie said, looking around at the stunned faces in the group.
“Oh come now… running won’t do anything but make you tired… why not just come back… I’ll even make sure that you can see Luna again.” The monster said, its words sickeningly sweet despite its deep, threatening tone.
“Luna?” Aurora asked, the look of fear transforming to one of anger and disgust, “What did you do to her?!”
“Nothing she hasn’t already been through before… except that this time, she’s inside me, rather than the other way around.”
“Y-you ate the bucking Princess?!” Dash said, leaving Fluttershy on the ground and zipping up to just above the tree
line. “You did, didn’t you!”
“Hmmm… Is it really eating somepony if they’re still alive?” the beast mused out loud, watching the polychromatic mare ready to zip over to its waiting maw.
“Rainbow, don’t!” Aurora yelled, too late to stop the weather Pegasus from flying towards the waiting creature, fueled by blind rage. “Gah… Pinkie, Take care of Twilight and Fluttershy! Rarity, can you keep up with them?”
“The hay with me! Go stop her before that thing takes her too!” Rarity answered, as the grey mare took wing and flew after Rainbow Dash.
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“Interesting… that worked a bit better than I thought.” The creature thought to itself, smirking, “I wonder if Celestia’s subjects always been so foolhardy. Oh well, no matter. All I need to do is subsume one of them, and there’s nothing to stand in my way…”
“HEY UGLY!” a shrill voice yelled, piercing through the creatures reflective moment
……Just in time for it to see a flash of bright colors flying directly into its eye.
“AAARGH! That’s it! For that, you’ll suffer!” it howled, thrashing around and looking around for the offending insect that dared to try and strike it.
“Like I’m not suffering already! You just ate one of my friends!” The blue Pegasus said from directly above its head.
“Oh do shut up…” the creature growled, reaching up with its newly created claw, one of the more interesting side
effects of absorbing Luna again… so much raw magic to be had and used…
“Rainbow! Move it!” a new voice called, flying in almost as fast as the blue one had, pushing the creatures target out of the way just as it was closing a blood red claw around its prey.
“Well now, what do we have here?” the monster said, examining the voluntary victim in its palm, the newcomers wings broken from when it had grabbed hold of the grey pony. “Hmmm… you’re not an Element…but you might have something I can use…” it said, opening its mouth wide, a dark pit just waiting for new prey…
“Wha-what do you mean?!” Aurora screamed, as she was tossed into the air and swallowed by the darkness of the creature, the sudden cold overtaking her as she felt herself begin to drift away into the void before she even had the chance to scream.
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“What’s happenin?!” Applejack shouted, glancing back at Pinkie Pie, “Hey! What’s wrong?!”
Pinkie Pie, who had stopped dead in her tracks, carrying Fluttershy on her back and somehow managing to help Rarity hobble along with them as the five ponies continued their exodus.
“Sh…she…” she mumbled, staring into the distance.
“Spit it out Pinkie! What happened?” Applejack asked again, her eyes growing wide with fear.
“She’s gone……” Pinkie said flatly, her hair deflating. “Aurora, she…”
At the mention of the Pegasus’ name, AJ turned around, galloping back the way they came, careful to place Twilight on the ground beside Pinkie first.
“Stay here with them!” she ordered, hauling flank down the trail, trying not to think about what Pinkie said. “She can’t be gone… she can’t… she can’t, she can’t, she can’t, she can’t!” she kept chanting, her hooves striking the ground and hurtling her back towards the beast.
As she charged through the woods, an ear splitting roar shook the trees and nearly blew her off her hooves.
“The hay was that?!” she shouted, barreling ahead and eventually making her way to the edge of the valley, looking down to see the creature clawing at the ground, Rainbow Dash standing at the edge of the woods at the other side of the valley. Applejack almost asked what was happening, but even at this distance, the shock and confusion on Rainbow’s face was obvious. Whatever had happened, had stunned the normally outgoing mare to the point that she was beginning to look like Fluttershy.
“What’s goin’ on?” AJ muttered to herself, looking down at the thrashing creature in the bottom of the valley, “Aurora… where are you? What did you do……”
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“W-where am I?” Aurora wondered out loud, opening her eyes. Well, not really opening her eyes so much as… becoming conscious? No, even that wasn’t the right word…
Come to think of it, how was she even having these thoughts? Last she remembered, she had been falling into the gaping mouth of that storm creature. She remembered feeling very cold, then exposed, then… nothing? No… she had felt something… but it almost felt familiar…
“The word you’re looking for is hateful.” Another voice said from the darkness. If she’d had eyes that she could control, Aurora was certain that they’d have popped out in shock.
“Who are you?” she finally replied, surprised by the fact that talking seemed to feel the same as before. “And where are we?”
“You already know where we are…” the new, familiar voice answered, “This is the belly of the beast. Both figuratively and literally… And you also should know who I am Aurora.”
“……Luna?” Aurora guessed. “Wait… if we’re in this thing’s stomach, how come it’s not all, you know… stomachy?”
There was silence for a moment, then a small giggle from the void. “Oh my… I have to say Aurora, you certainly have an interesting way of looking at things… this monster’s stomach isn’t really a stomach… hay, even its existence isn’t like any other living thing… except perhaps the Winndego.”
“The Winndego? You mean that thing from the Hearth’s Warming Eve story? I thought those things were gone…”
“Well, not really gone exactly… they’re just too weak to do anything… but this thing is on entirely different level. For example, the Winndego gets its power in creating blizzards from the cold feelings in the hearts of others… but by opening our hearts to love, friendship, and other good, warm feelings, we effectively counteract their innate magic and dispel them without any conscious effort.”
“So… why didn’t this thing cause some kind of blizzard? It seems to me like it was sticking to storms… does it react to a different emotion?”
“Correct. Where the Winndego thrived on things like distrust in others, this creature gets its power from the inner turmoil in ourselves. Those dark feelings like isolation, regret, fear, sadness… the very emotions that filled me to the brim in the days before my transformation into the Nightmare.”
“You must have been like some kind of buffet to this thing…” Aurora noted, “So, Nightmare Moon was just you under this things influence?”
“I wish I could say that… no, the actions I took as Nightmare Moon were my own. This abomination merely served as a catalyst and focused my magic and blinded me to the harm I was doing to others. It twisted my desires and turned them on the very ponies I wanted to share my night’s beauty with.”
“……So it wasn’t really you then… if this thing influenced you in any way, then it’s not really your fault…”
“I wish I could accept that Aurora… but it’s too late now, it’s just one of the many burdens I must forever bear. I’m only sorry that I didn’t tell anypony about this while I could…”
“You mean even Celestia doesn’t know about this thing?”
“No… at least, not everything… I told her that there was a creature that was controlling me, but I asked her not to press further into it. And now, my own desire to hide my past has brought this thing back, and more dangerous than ever… I’m so sorry Aurora…”
“………So you’re just going to let this thing take control, hurt EVERYONE you’ve ever loved or cared about, destroy Equestria… and all because this thing is too ‘sad’ or whatever?”
“It’s not that! This monster is literally a spirit of anger, regret, isolation… nopony can stand up to it because unlike the Winndego’s, which were dispelled by learning to trust others and see beyond our differences, this creature is the embodiment of the feelings that reside within our hearts.”
“So all you’d have to do is get over your anger and regrets and you could easily destroy this thing.” Aurora coaxed,
“How hard can that be?”
“You tell me Aurora… I have the ancient blood of innocents on my conscience, a thousand years of waste, anger at my own sister for not even trying to see what was happening before I gave in to the darkness… I am too deeply stained by my own feelings to fight back… So tell me Aurora, how exactly do I just, ‘get over it’ to destroy this abomination?!”
“……Well you could start by not snapping at me……”
“…I’m sorry Aurora… it is my own fault, and now you are stuck here with me until either the elements can destroy it and free us, or else we’re banished to the moon for another thousand years or so to starve it…”
“You were on the moon for a thousand years just to starve this thing out?”
“Well that and because at its heart, I needed a bit of a timeout… though I still say a millennia was excessive… if it’s any comfort to you, you won’t die… it has subsumed you, which means that you’re a part of it now.”
“……we’re part of this thing?!”
“Well yes… why did you think it’s so dark?”
“So this thing is completely connected to us?”
“Yes… Why?”
“And you said that this thing originally fed off of you, right?”
“Yes. Now will you please tell me where you’re going with this?”
“Well it’s just that, this connection runs both ways… and you said that if there were a way to overcome all the emotions that this thing feeds off of, that it could be dispelled…”
“And I also said that I could never overcome my guilt. So we’re back to step one.”
“You can’t… but you’re not the only one that’s felt those feelings… alone, ignored, angry, full of regret…”
“Aurora… I know that you want to help, but if you try and make that extra connection to destroy it from in here… I don’t know what will happen to you…”
“With all due respect Luna, shut up and let someone else risk their life… besides, you already saved my life… time to try and repay the debt…” Aurora replied, cutting the Princess off and focusing on going further into the creature, her mind already set on her decision.
She felt her mind slipping deeper into the darkness, falling for what felt like ages, with only a vague feeling that she was getting closer to what passed for a heart in this creature of nightmares.
What’s this? You actually want to completely disappear little one? The creature’s voice said, cutting through the darkness as a pinprick of light appeared beneath her, growing larger slowly as she continued to sink deeper.
“Oh I’m not going to disappear… you are…” she replied, focusing on that bright light.
Really? You think so? Well, we’ll see about that… let’s see just how tainted your heart is little one… I’ve yet to meet a creature that was able to overcome all that I am.
“First time for everything then.” She shot back, the light finally growing to the size of a door as she realized that she wasn’t sinking… she had been flying towards the entrance to a tunnel! But a tunnel to what?
Go on then, look inside and face your fate… It’s all entertainment for me anyway… the beast said, as if reading her mind.
Not wanting to give it the satisfaction, Aurora didn’t even try and reply, instead, she walked through the archway with
her head held high and determined to find some way to get back at the creature that threatened to destroy her new life…
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The light began to fade away slowly, finally allowing Aurora to open her eyes, rubbing at them with her hoof to get those stupid little circle thingies to go away……… wait a second… hooves weren’t this soft…
Aurora looked down and noticed a few things, the first of which was the fact that she had fingers instead of hands… the other things she noticed kind of flew over her head as she tried to wrap her mind around the fact that she was human again… and male!
“What the fu-” they began to ask, looking around, interrupted by a splash of darkness on the ground in front of them.
You don’t recognize this place? You should… this is your life. Well, it was at any rate… but now it’s just a memory… one of many that I can pick and choose from… Interesting though… It’s been awhile since I got to see a human’s soul laid bare. You truly are a deceptive little morsel. The creature said, stretching out in front of the young man.
“Will you please stop talking like that.” The now once-again-human said, glaring at the shadow and trying to step on it out of spite. “For one, you sound like a bad Disney Villain, and two, it just sounds wrong…”
Sorry, did I make you uncomfortable? The shadow asked, frowning slightly, I mean, give me a break. The last time I had true sentience was when I was bonded to that drama queen of a Princess a thousand years ago.
“Uhhh… okay… so what, you’re not really evil then? This is all an act?”
Oh no, make no mistake, I’m as evil as anything you’ll ever see. My heart, if I have one, is as black as the bottom of a pit, filled with mud, and covered with a boulder at midnight and with no moon or stars out… I’m just saying that if I’m melodramatic, blame Luna.
The human blinked. “……You are not making any sense at all… but that’s at least a pretty good description.”
Thank you. Now, on to business.
“What kind of business? This looks like an empty concrete field.”
That’s true enough, give me a second… the creature said, the shadow grinning in silhouette, clapping its hands and causing the ground to shake. After a few seconds, what looked like an infinite number of doors grew out of the ground, and each door seemed to have a combination carved into it… Not so empty now, is it?
“….. No… now it’s a mostly empty concrete field with some freaky looking doors!”
………Look, just humor me and open one of the doors… in fact, here, try this one. The creature said, pointing at one of the doors marked XIII/XI/MCMXCII, which swung open and filled the air with the smell of rain…
“What the hell?” the man said, walking forward and through the portal, a landscape made up of high walls and the air shrouded in a thin mist, the sky the color of dusk in early spring...
Well now that you’re here, why not stay awhile? The creature said, peeling itself from the ground and shutting the door behind the human.
“What did you just do?” he asked, turning around to try and escape… and slamming face first into a wall instead. “Gah! Mother-”
Oh relax… it’s not physical pain anyway, you’re nice and safely inside me after all. This is all in your mind… well, what’s left of it. The creature said, gently chiding the human and reaching up to grab him by the arm, pulling the young man through the mist, his objections cut off as he heard a quiet sound echoing around him.
“What… what is that?” he asked softly, looking around as a patch of mist dissipated about thirty feet away. A young child was sitting, their knees pulled to their chest and sniffling like they had just been crying. Before he could so much as take another step towards the child to see if they were alright, more shadows emerged from the mist, taking the forms of other children, but significantly larger than the one sitting on the ground.
“g-go away…” the child on the ground said, sniffling and trying to stand.
“Now why would we do that? Besides, not our fault that you can’t take a joke you little creep. Why are you crying anyway? Your parents finally tell you that they never wanted you?” one of the children said, sneering down at the boy.
“Shut up!” the boy screamed, much to his and the group’s amusement.
“Right, that’s gonna make us stop.” The leader of the group said, laughing loudly and looking at his cronies, “You seem to finally be getting the fact that you’re useless. No one wants you around here, and we damn sure don’t want you getting comfy hiding behind the teachers. Ooohhh, you told the principal that I hit you, big freaking deal. The only ones who were there were you and me and these guys, and I don’t know about you boys, but I don’t remember hitting this little gaywad. You?”
The man watched with tears in his eyes as he remembered what came next… the group would look around, blind to what was about to happen, and then that little brat would bring out the nightstick he stole from his father… and then the pain would start… he wanted to close his eyes and make the memory go away, but the shadow following him held his head in place, and all he could do was weep with rage and pain… because of those little monsters, he’d been sent to the hospital with a concussion, bruised bones, his asthma acting up to the point that he’d been on assisted breathing, and a knot on his head the size of a golf ball. The hospital bill hadn’t been covered by what little insurance his family had, and his parents had to work themselves ragged for the next four months just to make ends meet… all because of him…
Hmmm… pity… you could have fought back, might have saved you all that pain.
“No… if I’d fought back, the rest of them would have ganged up… I’d have been killed…”
Oh please, children murdering another? Please, you knew back then, and you know now that they’re just little punks… you didn’t fight back because you wanted to play the victim. Admit it…
“No… shut up shut up shut up shut up!” the man screamed as the mist closed back in on the memory, the dull thud of the night stick on his body muffled and then disappearing as his tears dripped down his face.
Still not ready to admit the truth? Fine, let’s see what else we can watch now…
“Don’t… please…”
Not until you admit that you’re weak, useless, unwanted… not until I hear you give in and confess to being alone… until then, you’re a bit of a captive audience… so let’s see what else we can dredge up from that past of yours, shall we?
The creature wrapped itself around him, binding him in place and grinning as more scenes from his old life as a human flashed through the mist. The day his grandfather had died, the night he’d been out trick or treating and he was tied to a tree in the middle of the woods by the same bullies from school. The time he was tossed off the diving board at the local pool without knowing how to swim. He could still remember looking at the surface and seeing his classmates laughing at him as he lost consciousness. There was the time that he’d had his notebook stolen and his poems were posted on the lockers of everyone in the school… then there were the truly dark moments… those moments of weakness that he’d never forget…
There was the night he’d tried to hang himself at the age of 12 and failed, the burn from the rope still burning when he thought about it… The one time he finally lost control and took his revenge on the kids that had tormented him for years when he was 13, he’d ended up grabbing a hockey stick and breaking it over one of their heads, going down kicking and screaming and crying as the teachers around them in the gym tackled him to the floor… the night he found out that his girlfriend in high school had been going out with him on a bet… the night he’d spent in prison during his first year of college because he’d tried to help save a classmate from killing herself and she’d accused him of assault… his tears as he sat in that cold cell, the police officers treating him like scum without even hearing him out. He remembered sitting there, staring at a blank wall, his dreams of teaching gone in the blink of an eye. After all, who would hire a ‘violent offender’ to look after children, help them grow…
Well would you look at that… you know, for such a short lived human, you have certainly had a rough ride haven’t you?
The man’s mouth stayed shut, his tears speaking volumes.
Just think, all of that, all those others telling you time and again that you didn’t belong, you were unwanted… even the good things you tried to do backfired… I mean, wow, I have to admit, I’ve seen some nasty things, but just… you’re really screwed up in the head, aren’t you? Hell, I’d be hard pressed to find anyone in Equestria that had so many things blow up in their face like all that… and the night you got mugged? That knife HAD to hurt…
“s-shut up…” he said quietly, his words barely intelligible because of the sobs racking through his body.
Oh but why would I want to stay shut when I can help you? The shadow said, releasing him and standing over the man as he collapsed to his knees, clawing at the ground in frustration. Just think, with me, you’d never be alone… we’d be joined together, forever… you’d have my power so you’d never be weak… you’d never have to regret anything again because you’d be able to do ANYTHING! Doesn’t that sound so much better than trying to slog your way through life every day? Trying to fit into a world of ponies that can never understand how you felt when you were a human… just give up and let me take control… I promise, it’ll be easy…
“…You still don’t get it… do you?” the man said, looking up, his tears stopped, and his face contorted in a look of pure rage.
… Get what?
“The reason that I kept going… the reason that I kept living! I didn’t do it expecting things to be easier. Would it have been nice, hell yes… but if it got easier, it would have made all the good things meaningless.” He said, the shadow’s grip loosening and allowing him to stand. “You say this is all in my head, well let me show you why those bad memories don’t bog me down in this technicolor world…”
As the shadow backed away from the man, he held out his hand towards the mist, and just as the monster had summoned his worst memories and thoughts, he now brought to focus all the good things that he’d experienced in his life.
He showed the creature every precious family moment, the happy times he DID have with the few friends he’d made on Earth, his accomplishments, the happy dreams that inspired his poems and his writing. He watched with a smile as he saw the memories of the books that made him want to teach, the teachers that made him want to do better just to spite those who put him down… the joy in his parents eyes when he was accepted to college.
Then, just to prove to himself and the creature that he’d never give in, he showed the monster the good times he’d had in Equestria. His first encounter with Luna, and the kindness that she’d showed towards him. His introduction and minor battle with Pinkie Pie and her party cannon. Rarity managing to convince him for the briefest of moments that he was actually wanted… Big Mac acting like the older brother he’d never had. The Cakes giving him a job with little more than a good word from Pinkie, and the fun he had (even if it was a bit crazy) working in Sugarcube Corner. Conversations with Spike and jokes. The party where everypony had just been having a good time and no one was excluded no matter what. He saw the faces of his friends, past and present, human and pony. He nearly cried again when he thought back on all the things that the girls had done after that spell to help him get adjusted, never once teasing him or mocking him… and even some of the thoughts from the sleepover played out in front of him, the memory of that kiss with Applejack, the daydreams he’d had of creating a life for himself in this world…
“This… this is why I can’t give up… I gave into the darkness once when I tried to end my life on my own terms… never again…” he said finally, looking down at the shadow, which was writhing against the wall and shrinking. “Now, you don’t seem to react well to all these happy thoughts… so how about you do the smart thing and give up…”
Never! How could you ever think that a worm like you could beat me? huh? What gives you the guts to come up to me, in my own realm, and tell me to give up!?
“Because… I’ve already overcome everything that you are… I beat that darkness, and now, I’m in a world that’s nothing so far but happiness… and there’s no way I’m ever going to let the likes of you taint it.” He said, plucking the shadow form the wall and dangling it in front of him as he stared at it, the sad excuse for a monster shivering with fear. “So
I’m giving you one chance. Leave Equestria, and never come back. I want you to dissipate out there, alone and incapable of harming another living thing ever again…”
Even if I was stupid enough to want that fate, I can’t! It squeaked, I can never truly die! I am a fact of existence, for every bit of happiness and light, there has to be a shadow of sadness. And because of that, I can never lose, because I can never truly be defeated!
“…You can’t die? Is that what you’re saying?”
Are you deaf or just stupid? Of course I can’t die! You could cast destructive magic at me until you withered away to nothing, and I’d still be there, as a shred of my former self, but there nonetheless. Why do you think that the Elements couldn’t destroy me?
“……Then I’ll just have to do something that the Elements didn’t do…” he said, grinning and lifting the shadow creature overhead.
W-what the hell do you think you’re doing? Do you know who I am? What I am?!
“I know that right now, you’re a whiny little thing that needs to disappear… and I’m the one that’s going to make you disappear…” the man replied, opening his mouth wide and releasing the shadow from his grip…
V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V
Darkness… that’s all there is… but it’s not the same as it was before…
This darkness isn’t as deep though… Aurora began to grow aware of subtle changes in her environment. It also didn’t feel like her mind was dissolving… if anything, it was getting sharper, less fuzzy… Luna was gone though… where did she go?
“Luna…” She tried to say, amazed that the sound actually came out of her mouth… was she still inside that creature? Was this all some kind of horrible dream?
“Girls, I believe she’s waking up…” someone said, off in the darkness, the sound almost like a whisper.
“Huh? Where am I?” She asked the far off voice… “Am… am I dead?”
“No little one… you’re safe…” the voice said, somehow calming her… She tried to turn around and see anything besides the darkness, and the voice spoke again. “Now now… there is no reason to worry. You’re safe now… here… open your eyes… everyone’s waiting for you…”
…..Well that didn’t sound ominous at all… wait, ‘open her eyes’? She had eyes again?! Wait… there was more… She could feel her heart beating… She could breathe! The darkness was changing. What the hell was going on?!
“I… why… what’s happening?!” Aurora cried out desperately in the remnants of the darkness, the world suddenly looking like the dawn breaking through a heavy fog.
“Open your eyes Aurora…” another voice said, this time accompanied by a gentle pressure in her side.
She didn’t know how she know it, but Aurora could tell that her eyes snapped open at that touch. Light flooded her senses instead of darkness, and her weight was supported as her limbs touched down on the ground… but where was this floor? It didn’t feel like the forest, but all she could make out was faint shadows that the light can’t pass through. Aurora whipped her head around frantically, trying to see anything, almost closing her eyes to shut out the burning light, but still afraid to slip back into the dark…
“Is she alright Princess?” a voice said to my right… a familiar voice…
“Unfortunately, there is still some damage from the creature… but we will do what we can…” a third voice said, this one she at least recognized as Luna.
“L-Luna… what’s going on? What’s wrong with me?” She asks, secretly afraid of the answer.
“……Perhaps if it were just myself and Celestia with her for a moment…” Luna said, hesitantly.
There was a shuffle and scrape of hooves across what sounded like a stone floor. Finally, a door closed, and she could feel herself being lifted by magic, and a softness that was most likely a bed, pressing into her side.
“…Now that we’re alone… Aurora, we have some important matters to cover…” the voice that was most likely Celestia said.
“Okay… but before that.” She said, trying to keep the panic in her heart from surfacing, “can someone PLEASE tell me why I can’t SEE anything!?”
“Well… you see… you were swallowed by the creature, just like I was…” Luna said, her voice right next to the young mare, and a weight on the bed telling her that the blue Alicorn had most likely just laid down next to her. “But unlike me, you’re not an Alicorn… so the fact that you managed to survive after being absorbed is nothing short of a miracle…”
“Unfortunately, it seems that the miracle of your survival didn’t quite extend to all of you… we’re not sure if it’s the sheer darkness that made up that monster, or if it was something more… but in any case, it seems that your vision is lost for the time being.” Celestia said, finishing Luna’s thought and laying down on Aurora’s other side.
“So…. I’m blind forever?” She asks numbly.
“……Luna, remind me to have Twilight teach her some listening skills…” Celestia said, nuzzling the side of her face… which was a LOT more startling when it came out of nowhere…
“Tia! This is hardly the time to be joking!” Luna said angrily, pulling the grey mare close into her wings, “After all she has done, surpassing not only myself, but also the Elements… defeating that monster… you really think it is appropriate to jest about her health?”
“Of course not Luna… I am sorry Aurora, I was out of line…” Celestia said, just a hint of sadness in her voice. One couldn’t help but think that part of the reason she kept her regal appearance up in order to cover up for her poor taste in comedic timing…
“So… what happens now?” she asked, trying not to break the tension too quickly.
“Well for starters, we need to get that little stow away inside your body isolated.” Celestia said, “I have a feeling that its presence is part of the root cause for your blindness.”
“What thing? That storm monster?! I thought Luna just said I beat it!” She responded, confused.
“You did… but it’s still around… it is quite literally impossible to destroy it. But you have done something that we thought impossible… you overcame its darkness with the hope you’ve filled your life with. I do not know what exactly it showed you in that void, but I know from my own experience that it loves nothing more than to make its victims relive their darkest moments… even I could not overcome the regrets, the memories, the pain… but you somehow managed to do just that.” Luna explained, her wingtips stroking down Aurora’s back gently, soothing her frazzled nerves.
“I must confess, I was surprised myself when Luna explained what happened… that does not happen often. But now we must deal with a bit of an unprecedented hiccup… you see Aurora, from what we know of what happened between the creature and yourself, when you defeated it, you actually absorbed its essence. We’re not sure if this was an unconscious effort to protect Equestria from a future run in with the creature, but now you are a living container.” Celestia said, rising from the bed. “This comes with an entire different set of risks. And we would be poor excuses for Princess’s if we were not able to protect all of our subjects from a danger of this magnitude form surfacing again...”
“…So… what are you going to do to me?” She asks, scared that they might banish her from Equestria, sending her back to Earth where at least if that thing got loose again, it wouldn’t be able to do much more damage than was already there…
“Now, we protect you.” Luna said, nuzzling the young mare and giggling. “Now please stop making that face, you’ve no reason to be upset… you have no idea the lives you saved, the difference you’ve made… I know my own view of life has gotten significantly brighter in the time I’ve known you… and you have far exceeded any hope I might have had when I brought you here.”
“Protect me?”
“Indeed. As soon as you were brought here with the others, I sent a message to Cadence informing her that we may be in need of an artifact that is in her kingdom’s possession. She was kind enough to bring it to Canterlot in person…” Celestia answered, walking over to a different part of the room, her golden hoof covers clicking against the floor.
“Cadence is here? And she came in person?! How long was I out?” Aurora asked shakily, really resisting the urge to shake her head for fear of smacking Luna in the muzzle.
“You have been in mine and Luna’s care for almost three days.” She answered, clacking her way back towards the bed.
“Three days!” The grey Pegasus shouted, louder than she’d probably ever care to admit, “……Ah crap… I hope the Cake’s still want me working for them…”
The room was quiet for a second or two, the silence finally broken by Luna snorting and shaking with laughter as she hugged me tightly to her side.
“……it’s not that funny…” She said, hurt, “I’m trying to get some bits together to get my own place in Ponyville so I’m not mooching off of Applejack and her family…”
“I apologize Aurora… but after three days of being unconscious… most ponies first thought wouldn’t be about work…. It’s funny…” Luna said, fighting through her giggles.
“I have to agree with Luna.” Celestia said, chuckling softly herself, “Now, Aurora, if you could please stay still while I try and remember how to work this…”
“Oh for mother’s sake Tia, give me that…” Luna said after a couple minutes of Celestia grunting and fussing with whatever it was she was fighting with. “Now Aurora, right or left ear?”
“Uhhh… right?” She reply uncertainly. “Why are you ask-CRAP THAT HURTS!”
“I’m sorry Aurora… but the artifact we mentioned is an earring made of a very special crystal… and well, I wasn’t sure how you would react to a piercing otherwise…”
“Since when is getting a piercing going to fix my blindness!?” She questioned, turning to face Luna… who was coming into focus? Wait… what?
Apparently she was funny looking or just funny to listen to… because Luna was staring straight at her and giggling.
“What now?” Aurora asked, the shadows coming into further focus each time she blinked.
“Your face… I think the crystal is working, because your face just now was the cutest little look of anger and confusion I’ve seen in centuries!” Luna answered, smiling and letting her laughter trail off as she got up from the bed. “What do you
think sister? She should be safe now, yes?”
“I believe so… that monster was formed from much of the same raw magic that went into making Sombra the threat he was, and that earring is part of the same stone that makes up the Crystal Heart… And besides, I imbued a part of my own magic into it to keep the darkness at bay…”
“So… I have a supercharged, magical earring, and a shadowy parasite inside me now?” She guessed, trying to make sense of things still… “Does this mean I can’t ever take this earring off?”
“That would probably be for the best. But I have to say, it looks rather good on you.” Celestia answered, smiling kindly down at the grey Pegasus, who was finally able to look around the room and see that it was her old room in the castle. “What do you think Luna? Doesn’t she look cute with that gem ring?”
Aurora turned to look at Luna, hoping that she would come to her rescue and save her from Celestia’s teasing… but no such luck. In fact, Luna was blushing and trying NOT to look at Aurora… wait, what?!
“Luna… are you alright?” Aurora asked, looking at the Princess warily.
“Hmm? Oh, yes… it is nothing… We are just caught a bit off guard by Our sister’s question…” she answered, her
speech oddly stilted as she glanced over at Celestia and glared at the white Alicorn. “Perhaps, if thou are feeling better now, it would be a good idea to go see the others… All six of the Element Bearers are waiting in the adjacent room, and We are sure that they would be much relieved to see that thou are feeling in better health now…”
“I agree, you should go see your friends my little pony…” Celestia said, smiling kindly at Aurora and trying not to giggle at her Sister’s flustered expression.
“uhhh… alright…” Aurora said, more than a little confused by the royal exchange, and thankful for the out offered by the sisters. “I’ll just, you know… go check on the others…”
After she left and the door closed behind her, Aurora became aware of a nagging feeling at the back of her head… almost like she was being watched…
V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V
“……Okay, I know we’re all worried about Aurora, but we really don’t need to worry. The Princess’s are going to take care of things.” Twilight said, looking around the circle of friends, almost all of them looking more dejected than she’d seen any of them in ages. Even Pinkie Pie, the perpetually perky pony of Ponyville, looked like she would never smile again… and her hair looked like someone had actually managed to straighten the unruly poof that was her mane.
“Well that’s easy for you to say!” Dash said, jumping up, “You’re not the one that she saved! I should be the one lying in that bed, and she should be the one out here, safe!”
“Rainbow Dash! Honestly, we’ve been over this. If she hadn’t saved you, then there’s no telling how things would have ended up… Besides, you were reckless when you went back there to try and fight that monstrosity by yourself.” Rarity said, coming to Twilight’s defense.
“I… I don’t mean to be mean Rainbow, but um… they’re right… I mean, I’m grateful that you helped get me to safety, but Luna told us to get the Elements, and if something had happened to you, then who knows what would have
happened…” Fluttershy said, speaking softly, trying not to exacerbate the situation.
“Now will y’all relax…” Applejack said, interrupting what was bound to turn into another fight, one of several that kept popping up after they arrived at Canterlot. She turned to Rainbow and tried to calm her down as best she could. “Dash, Ah know things ain’t sittin’ right with ya, but we gotta have a little faith that the Princess’s will know what ta do… yer not tha only one that’s worried either… Ah feel like mah stomach’s all knotted up and Ah couldn’t hardly sleep the last couple nights…”
“…you remember it too… don’t you AJ?” Rainbow said, looking up at the Earth Pony on the verge of tears.
“Course Ah do… ain’t like Ah’m gonna fergit that any time soon…” Applejack responded, looking away and shuddering… Besides Rainbow Dash, she’d been the only other one to see what happened after Aurora was consumed by that monster…
“Forget what?”
“Nothing Aurora… we’re just talki-AURORA!” Rainbow said dismissively, looking over her shoulder glumly at the grey
Pegasus before her brain processed the fact that her friend was awake and right there in the room with them!
“Rory!” Pinkie Pie shouted, her hair re-inflating as she launched herself at Aurora and tackling her to the ground in a hug that would have been considered a full on assault if it hadn’t been Pinkie giving it out…
“Pin-kie…” Aurora choked out, trying to tap out, “Air…”
“Oopsie… sorry Rory…” Pinkie said apologetically, letting her friend go and helping her up off the ground. “It’s just, well, we were all really sad… and worried… and now you’re here, and you’re fine and it’s just… you’re…”
Unable to continue, Pinkie contented herself to imply tear up with joy and back up so that the rest of the group could get a look at her.
“Heh, it’s okay Pinkie, really… that whole blindness thing was just a temporary side effect of being inside that creature… nothing to worry about.” Aurora said, smiling at her friends, who were all wearing similar expressions of relief.
“Come on Pinkie, move it so the rest of us can get a look at her…” Rainbow said huffily, trying to look upset while inwardly jumping for joy. “Aurora, what you did was really stupid, you know? I mean… you really, REALLY shouldn’t have pushed me out of the way like that… I mean… I’m glad, but…”
“Oh just get on with it and tell her how you feel!” Rarity said, exasperated with her Pegasus friend, and smiling with relief that Aurora seemed to be fine.
“I-I… I’m really glad you’re okay…” Dash admitted, blushing as she nuzzled Aurora.
“Heh… I’m sorry Dash, I probably had you worried, but there was no way I was letting one of my friends get eaten by that thing… and I’m glad that you all seem to be alright…” Aurora said, trying to fight the urge to cry. She had found friends that truly cared for her, and she was willing to do anything to make sure that they would stay out of harm’s way…
“Well next time… think about how everypony else would feel if ya… if ya…” Applejack said, sniffling and walking right up to Aurora, who smiled back regretfully and wrapped her wings around Applejack.
“I know… I’m sorry… I promise, I’ll try not to go getting eaten by giant, apocalyptic monsters again…” she said, hugging the apple farmer close, letting her cry silently into her side as she looked around the room and silently motioned for the rest of them to join her, Dash, and AJ for a hug.
As the seven young mares held onto each other, some crying, some smiling, and some breathing a huge sigh of relief, Celestia and Luna watched from the mirror in the upper room of the tower.
“You see, sister?” Celestia said, looking between the images and her sister, “You’re practically turning green with envy! I’m
telling you, you have a crush on your student.”
“……Oh shush. Even if I did, which I do not! Such a relationship would be inappropriate… it would be like Twilight and you starting a courtship…” Luna retorted, glaring at her older sister, who had done nothing but tease her in secret ever since she had brought the young mare into Equestria… granted, a few things had changed since then, not the least of which was a direct result of Luna’s own lapse in self-control.
“Oh believe me, I am well aware of the little ‘crush-on-teacher’ rumors that some put stock in… and I’ll be the first to admit that for a while, I do honestly believe Twilight Sparkle looked at me in THAT way, but that is different. That was a pony I had watched over since fillyhood. She is as much my own daughter as she is Twilight Velvet’s. But in your case, you brought them here from another world, and you have gone to some extraordinary lengths to be close to them…” Celestia teased, sticking her tongue out, “I say that you’re finally reaching that point in your life where you desire that one of a kind happiness that only a special somepony can provide…”
“And I say that you’re reaching that point in your life where you are turning into a nagging mother hen that had best stop teasing me unless she wants a repeat of the Princess Pink incident…” Luna shot back, shutting up her sister rather quickly.
“……I will say this much though Tia, you are right about one thing… they are certainly special to me… I just do not quite know what to do…”
“Luna….” Celestia said softly, all notes of teasing gone from her voice. “If there is one thing I have learned in my time as your sister, as well as watching the lives of those around me through the years, it is that there is no time like the present.
Besides, I believe that little spell of yours wears off tomorrow night. And Hearts and Hooves day is not far off… perhaps you could take a leave of absence from your post for a bit. It couldn’t hurt to try and be a bit closer to them than Canterlot…”
“You would bear the weight of the Sun AND the Moon just to let me have some time off?” Luna asked, skeptically, “What are your conditions?”
“Hmmm… you know, I was going to do it as a gift to my dear little sister,” Celestia replied, grinning mischievously, “But since you want me to set a few rules for you, I have two. You have to use the week off to try and pursue your own happiness, in whatever form it may take. And you must also spend that week without any help from the royal treasury… after all, you are not the only player in this game.”
“What?! You dare imply that I would try and pursue a mate in such an uncouth fashion as to attempt to buy their love?! Luna asked, offended and about to walk out the door, stopping on the threshold. “Um… say I were to accept your terms and take the next week off… would I at least have a moderate allowance for food and lodging and entertainment?”
Celestia smiled, “Gotcha!” She thought, pretending to think about it. “Hmmm… I suppose a couple hundred bits wouldn’t be too much of a burden on the royal purse… oh, but your guards will need to be undercover, and you’ll have to pay their room and board… I don’t want you going unprotected after recent events, but we wouldn’t want anypony thinking that you were scaring off any competition now, would we?”
“……You know Celestia, I forgot just how much you enjoy your little games…” Luna said, looking over her shoulder, “But on the other hand… it has been a while since I felt like this… very well, I accept your conditions.”
“That’s wonderful to hear Luna!” Celestia squealed, clapping her forehooves like a school filly that had just convinced her friend to send a love note to their crush, “Now, you go spend some time with them, and I will get the paperwork underway… oh, and Luna?”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“I really am happy to see you feeling like this for another… it is a refreshing change for you…” Celestia said, crossing the room and nuzzling her little sister. “I am also glad to see that the one who caught your eye is the same one that helped save
you… I love you Luna…”
“Awww… Tia… you’re being sappy again…” Luna said, grudgingly accepting the show of affection from her sister,
“……and for the record, I love you too. Now let me go so that I can tell everypony this news!”
“Heheheh… oh alright Luna…” Celestia said, smiling as she let her sister run off down the steps, looking significantly
UNroyal as she did.
As she walked calmly over to the window to fly back to her own room to draft the temporary leave of absence forms for Luna, she took a look into the mirror, her eyes focusing on Aurora as she sat on the ground, talking to her friends.
“This should be interesting to watch…” she commented to nobody in particular, smiling hopefully at the image and the possibilities that were running through her head eve now “I might even get to see a kiss.”
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First! Totally worth being a doucebag about it! Now to actually read the story!
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Ok, first things first. You said hand instead of hoof when Celestia and Luna are talking at the end of the chapter. And it's nice to see Luna back in the running. Adds a little variety.
Nothing I can really say about this chapter, except good job! The whole "reliving the past" thing was awesome! It's great to see Aurora's past, despite it being so gloomy and sad. But nonetheless, it was definitely cool. Keep up the good work
So is he going to turn back into a stallion or not?
Really enjoyed that chapter
Oh, hey, an update.
Shame you blew up the chance of him ending up with Luna, the other two, well... it's boring. I'll have to get to this at some point after I wake up, time for some shuteye.
I still think Rainbow should win, Luna is a protector/mother type and AJ is like a sister not really lovey dovey she is just protective. RD has actual feelings for Orion/Aurora
Oh well three out of four ain't bad.
2774805 did i? somehow i don't think i did...
2776014
I see what you did, interesting. Now that I've read it, anyways.
So, yeah. I'll be most glad to see Dash and AJ lose to Luna, just saying. Interesting choice, having him absorb an immortal creature. Wonder what other implications that'll cause further down the road. Additionally, it looks like you're going to make a push soon for the final romance decision, so, yeah... fingers crossed for Luna.
2776370 how much do you wanna bet one of those implications involves that gender change spell?
2776014
you spelled here as ehre in the author's notes
Call the Grammar Nazi's because we got a Grammar Felon here
This was worth waiting for. And for the record, I still think Aurora/Orion should be open to polygamy.
2776699 what do you mean "implications"?
2776884 i plead the defense of, "It was 5 AM and i was tired..." i believe that will more than suffice to cover my legal posterior until such time as i get around to fixing the grammatical error.
2777259 well, i do not believe that i have ever addressed the issue in the story thus far... so at this point, anything is possible
2777354 what I mean is I wouldn't be surprised if having an immortal evil spirit in aurora caused the gender change spell to change i.e. not wear off or become unstable in some other way.
2777526 ooohhhh... yeah, that's not going to happen. granted, it will have an effect on the story, but in a different way than you might expect. the whole gender swap thing was only meant to be temporary, and i am NOT changing my mind on that front... half the fun with this character was being in the minority, and seeing things from a flipped perspective than say, a male on Earth might experience.
good idea though, just not one i plan on using.
2777705 s2.quickmeme.com/img/c6/c65dca46c5f4490da0eb1d018d935f522e6ba9c600e98d69cc30f9aa91c83871.jpg