With the battle over and the changeling threat gone Ale can finally settle down and experience new emotions with his loved one. But what if something haunted him, occupying his thoughts every waking hour? A secret can threaten many things.
With the battle over and the changeling threat gone Ale can finally settle down and experience new emotions with his loved one. But what if something haunted him, occupying his thoughts every waking hour? A secret can threaten many things.
Follow Ale as he desperately races against time and his very being.
Walking down one of the many stone hallways in the Royal Palace, Luna breathed deeply. The warm air had a slight smoky smell to it, no doubt the filters in the wood furnace having been replaced recently. The winter was proving to be especially brutal this year, one of the worst Luna had seen since before the time of the unification of the pony tribes. The blowing wind and huge amounts of snowfall were closing down many of the smaller roads throughout Equestria, the Guard focusing on keeping the major roads clear to ensure that goods were still being shipped and received. These issues were currently at the back of Luna’s mind as something, or rather someone, dominated her thoughts.
She walked around a corner of the marble hallway and was confronted by a set of very large wooden doors with intricate gold details pressed into it. Two solar guards stood on either side of the door, staring ahead stoically. Luna met no resistance as she pushed one of the doors open with her magic and stepped inside. The room was pulsing gently with a dim golden light emanating from a few lit candles scattered throughout the bed chambers. Luna heard the faint noise of a quill scratching on paper and looked over to see her sister sitting at a decently sized writing desk, the dark wood aged older than its current occupant.
“Good morning sister. How was night court?” Celestia asked without turning her attention away from the parchment.
“Slow I’m afraid. Nopony has showed up during this winter as it is an extreme danger to travel at night in the unusually frigid temperatures.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Hopefully that will change after I finish writing this decree. The storm fronts moving in from the barren wastes of the north are too numerous for our current wild weather wranglers to handle. Any weather experienced pegasi that volunteer to help control the storm fronts will be rewarded handsomely. This should help balance the dreadful weather.”
Luna stepped up behind her sister and peered over her shoulder, the single candle on the desk lighting up the wall of text Celestia was writing. She waited patiently as Celestia signed her name and placed the royal stamp upon the parchment. She stepped back as Celestia turned around and addressed her.
“Now then, while I appreciate you stopping by for a visit I know there is something on your mind as you would have normally bugged me nonstop to finish my work. What’s troubling you?”
“Have you noticed anything unusual lately?”
“Unusual? Is there something wrong?”
Luna decided to get straight to the point. “Ale’s been acting strange. At least, I think he is.”
Celestia frowned as she tilted her head slightly. “Come to think of it, I have noticed something troubling him. But he’s acted strangely in the past, most of the time the issue being Ale over thinking immortality and such as he watches his friends age; grappling with coming to terms with it. What’s the difference this time?”
Luna thought carefully over the past few months, remembering as Ale seemed to go from a cheerful attitude to one of silent depression. “Well, he was still very talkative before, more than willing to reach out to us and seek comfort. Now, now he seems fatigued. It’s only getting worse and worse every day. I’ve also noticed his trips to his ship have increased dramatically. When I questioned him about it he only told me that it was nothing.”
“Well, what if he’s just reminiscing? Many of our own soldiers do that at significant places to them.”
Luna nodded. “Normally I would agree with you, but after I questioned him he tried to sneak his trips. The effort was commendable and extremely smart but when you have contacts underground like I do nopony can hide anything.” Luna closed her eyes.
Celestia placed a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “Hmmm, are you sure that Ale isn’t just looking for privacy?”
Luna shook her head. “I’m most positive that is not the case.” She closed her eyes. “I want to share a memory with you. Then you can tell me what you make of it.”
Celestia’s eyes widened in surprise. “If you feel that is necessary.” Sharing memories was not a painful process by any means, but it was considered an invasion of privacy by most. Celestia and Luna closed their eyes and pushed mana into their horns before crossing the protrusions, linking their minds together. Celestia allowed Luna to steer her consciousness, a picture forming in her mind witnessed through the eyes of Luna.
‘Celestia’ opened her eyes slowly, a dark starry mane meeting her vision. ‘She’ huffed out a breath, knocking it out of the way to allow ‘her’ a view of the room. ‘Her’ bedchambers were dark, the dawn light slowly starting to illuminate the room ever so slightly. ‘Celestia’ closed ‘her’ eyes again and rolled over, blindly reaching ‘her’ hooves out in search of Ale. When ‘she’ failed to find the large warm figure of ‘her’ lover ‘she’ opened her eyes in confusion. A slight clinking dragged ‘her’ attention to the foot of the bed. There ‘she’ could see Ale armoring up, the Spartan clicking a gauntlet into place before reaching for his helmet.
“Ale?” ‘She’ called out. He froze, his helmet clutched in his hand. “Are you alright? Why are you up so early?” ‘She’ looked over Ale in concern.
Ale moved again, placing his helmet back over his head before turning around. His silent cyan visor stared back at her, the silence unnerving ‘her’ slightly.
“Ale, what’s wrong? You’ve been acting strangely and you’re scaring me.”
Ale breathed slowly as his helmet looked down ever so slightly. He seemed to be thinking carefully as he shifted his weight from side to side ever so slightly. He tensed up suddenly, looking up again and straight at ‘Celestia’ before turning around and heading for the door.
“Ale! Please! Tell me what you need!” Ale stopped and turned towards ‘Celestia’ slightly. He started to speak but stopped, his hand halfway in the air before he clenched it into a fist. ‘Celestia’s’ hopes lifted slightly as he fidgeted his fist ever so slightly. He then mumbled something quickly before squeezing tightly, his hand dropping to his side. He quickly turned and opened the door.
“Wait!” Ale ignored ‘her’ as he disappeared into the hall quickly, leaving ‘Celestia’s’ room open, the light from the hallway illuminating ‘her’. ‘She’ could feel the tears streaming down ‘her’ face as ‘she’ began crying, confused as what was troubling him and why he couldn’t confide in ‘her’.
A ripple in front of ‘her’ vision signaled the end of the memory as Celestia felt herself being dragged back into her own body. She blinked a few times to regain her bearing before looking at Luna.
“I see why now you’re concerned. I’ve never seen him act like that before, certainly not towards you. Did this happen this morning?”
Luna nodded, her eyes slightly damp as the memory probably was still difficult to think about, much less actually ‘living’ it again. “I’m worried sister. I’ve pondered over and over as to what could make him do this and I keep drawing a blank.”
“What of his dreams?”
“Crystal clear. I blessed his dreams for as long as the moon shines.” Celestia nodded, trying to dig up another reason why he would act so strangely. The two sat there for a long while, the situation proving to be a tough nut to crack.
Luna perked up slightly as another idea came to mind. “Could something like our soul bond be affecting him negatively? I know he does not react well to magic when forced hard enough at him, especially if it’s something internally. Remember when Twilight had him take that pill that spread magical sensors throughout his body so that she could get an accurate scan of him? He was throwing up for weeks and was fatigued badly, not to mention in a terrible mood.”
Celestia shook her head. “No, the bond isn’t sustained by magic anymore. It’s completely run off of the love you two share for one another.”
Luna nodded slowly, the news not necessarily comforting as it still left them with the issue of solving as to what could be causing grief to Ale. Celestia shook her head.
“I will talk with Ale later today alright? I promise you that I will get to the bottom of this. Once we find out what’s wrong we’ll solve it together and you two can live on happily.” Luna nodded again. Celestia smiled before leaning towards her, both wings outstretched. “C’mere.”
Luna smiled slightly as she embraced Celestia. Her older sister always had a way to cheer her up. After a minute Celestia patted her before drawing back. “Now then, you better go get some sleep. You’re up earlier than usual after staying up the night for court.”
Luna smiled. “I will, dear sister.” With that Luna walked out. Celestia watched where she had disappeared for a long while, frowning slightly as she continued thinking. She was worried about Luna. If Ale was regretting his decision to marry Luna and began shunning her affection, well, Celestia was unsure of the repercussions. Her sisters well being was important to her and she did not want to see her hurt again. She shuffled her wings and turned back to her desk, pulling out another piece of parchment as she began her work again.
The crunch of snow accompanied Ale as he walked through the snow covered courtyard. The harsh wind tugged at his heavy form, the armor’s weight ensuring that its occupant was going nowhere. Ale’s visor helped him navigate the otherwise blinding snow as he made his way to a dark shape a couple dozen meters away. His steps were heavy, fatigued with an incredible amount of stress and loss of strength. He made it to the Pelican and opened the ramp, the steel door thumping into the ground solidly. Ale stepped up the ramp, closing the door behind him as he made his way throughout the cargo bay and towards the cockpit.
He fired up the engines with an unusual sluggishness, his mind blank as he did not want to think about anything, especially when they were filled with that dreadful memory and the predictions of things to come. He heard the ramp close behind him as he began to ascend, the beams of light emanating from the Pelican doing nothing to permeate through the driving gales of snow. The Pelican eventually stopped shaking from the violent atmospheric conditions as it transitioned into space. Ale had the auto pilot set to fly to the ‘Embers’ hangar. The machine hummed gently as it continued along its flight path, the darkness of space lulling Ale’s mind to think.
Ale struggled up the steep path, the gravel sliding out from below the injured Spartan as he continued to power up the slope. When he reached the top he placed the butt of his rifle to the ground as he crouched. After a few moments he spotted the hoof tracks he had been following for a few hours. The green blood he had been following earlier had long since disappeared, Chrysalis no doubt having stopped the bleeding. Ale had to resort to tracking by searching for crushed plants, scuffed ground, or tracks like this one. He noted its direction before looking over his own injuries. His bio scans reported that his body was already repelling the debris in his leg and that new tissue was growing. His suits gel dispensers worked wonders on his damaged body. His armor was already reporting most of its damage as fixed. His spider webbed visor had long since been repaired along with most of his scuffs, scrapes, and dents. His biggest concern was his hip. He looked down and saw that the most the nanobots could do was smooth out the fractured area to prevent cutting himself. He would have to manually fix that later.
The Spartan stood and began walking again. The mountain range he stood on was beautiful. It had many ledges to walk along, some being much larger than others, allowing trees and bushes to grow as well as small game to thrive. Ale looked around his surroundings as he walked carefully, always looking for signs of his opponent. A small mound of dried brown pine needles sat at the lower end of a scuff mark, Ale seeing where the bug had slipped as she tried to go uphill. He followed in the same general direction before coming to a set of cave entrances.
“Perfect,” Ale said sarcastically. He approached carefully, attempting to discern which cave Chrysalis had taken. The center cave had a small boulder sitting in front of the entrance, the side of it sporting a very small and horizontal white mark. Ale deduced it as damage from something hard sliding along it, say a hard hoof. Ale turned on the tactical lights on his rifle as well as the ones on his helmet. He stepped into the cave and began walking down it.
He didn’t have to go far before it opened up into a massive cavern. There was a giant pool of water in the cave, glow worms hanging from the ceiling illuminating the cave slightly as you could see the reflection of the water rippling on the ceiling. There were crystalline structures jutting out from different areas of the cave, adding a beautiful glimmer to the cave. Ale would have been enraptured by the view if he hadn’t spotted his target. Chrysalis was lying down on a small rock ledge jutting out into the small lake. Her green eyes stared at Ale, her form unmoving. Ale slowly began walking towards her, his rifle trained on her as she still remained motionless. He was only a few meters away from her when he stopped. The two simply stared at each other, both of them injured and eyeing the other for any sign of trickery.
“Well, well, well. I guess I underestimated you,” the changeling decided to start first. “You really are full of surprises. I thought you were dead when you destroyed my hive.”
“Don’t feel too bad. Many have made the mistake of turning their back on a previously thought dead Spartan. We don’t give up easily.”
“Yes, I can see that now.” Chrysalis grimaced in pain as she tried to move, Ale glimpsing a piece of debris under her. A long jagged spike was sticking out from the bottom of her abdomen, dried green blood sticking around the edges. Chrysalis began speaking again. “A wound I won’t survive I can assure you. Who would have thought the horn of one of my deceased minions would be the end of me?”
Ale lowered his rifle, not so much that he could be caught by surprise. “Why?”
The changeling didn’t even pretend to not know what he was talking about. “I don’t have to explain myself to you!” Violent coughs racked through her body before she continued. “I did what I had to do, what was necessary. I’m sure you’ve had experience in that department before.”
Ale nodded slowly. “The playing field and participants are just different this time,” Ale said aloud.
Chrysalis smiled cruelly. “And how about this for a game changer!” Her horn lit up and before Ale could react he dropped to his knees, clutching his chest as he roared in pain. Ale didn’t understand. He was supposed to be highly resistant to magic. “A changeling queen is attuned to the emotion of love and has much more control over it than a normal drone. While you are resistant to magic I’m simply piggy backing on the love flowing through you.” A surprised look crossed her face. “A soul bond with the caretaker of the night? An incomplete one as well. How interesting.” The insane pain stopped. Ale felt as if a cold fluid was flowing through his veins as he looked at Chrysalis. Ale found that he could move again, the butt of his rifle already swinging up into a crushing blow against Chrysalis’s head. She yelled out in pain as she dropped, Ale planting a very heavy armored foot on her neck.
“What did you do!?” Ale felt the cold presence recede in intensity, the feeling turning into a very slight dull throbbing.
The changeling began laughing manically. An increase in pressure from Ale’s foot ceased her laughing as she coughed out, a cruel smile still gracing her face. “Ten years. A decade to spend with your loved one. Spending your days knowing you will eventually cease to exist, your days growing shorter and shorter as your body becomes fatigued. This is the curse I have placed upon you.” Chrysalis began laughing again. “You should have killed me the second you were able to. Showing mercy is for the weak and dim minded.”
Realization set in Ale’s mind and instead of feeling regret or sadness he found only a cold fury. He slowly placed his rifle on his back while Chrysalis smiled up at him, completely unaware of what she had just unleashed. “Going to take me back to the castle now to show me off to your petty princesses? I hate to disappoint you but I’ll never survive the trip.”
“You’re right about that.”
Chrysalis’s eyes widened in fear as the Spartan reached down and snapped her neck swiftly. The last thought running through her mind before being consumed by darkness was just how wrong she was about Ale and his ability to perform his duty. Ale watched the light leave her eyes before dropping her head. He stood up and stared at her body for a few long minutes. He shifted his attention towards the underground lake and looked at it dully for a few moments before pulling out an explosive charge that had survived the bombardment with him. He placed it by the wall and headed towards the exit. He turned around and observed the cave once more, the silent body accompanied by the gentle glow of the worms and crystals. Ale pulled his rifle from his back and turned away from the cavern, counting his steps before mentally detonating the cavern behind him. Copious amounts of dust rushed past him as countless pebbles bounced off his over shield. He breached the dust and stepped out into the sunlight. He stared at the very distant mountain that held the city of Canterlot, said city was an absolute speck at this distance. The sun glinted off of Ale’s cyan visor, the armor giving an emotionless air about him. This was far off from the truth as if you could look past the visor, a solitary tear scrawled through the grime on Ale’s cheekbone.
The memory was banished from Ale’s mind as he noticed the Enduring Ember growing larger in his view screen. He distracted himself as he observed the ship. The green paint of the external hull was interrupted by silver patches of varying size. Ale had patched up the ship with a surprising amount of success. The ship was fully sealed and space worthy with the exception of a very important component. He still had the damaged coupling in the primary slip space drive. He had tried creating a replacement from memory and from what he could make out from the damaged coupling itself. So far he had no success.
The hangar door opened and the Pelican flew slowly in. It approached the metal grating on the floor where a built in metal brace could be seen. The Pelican docked with the brace, clamps from both the transport and the ship locked onto one another, securing the vessel in place. The hangar door closed and the room pressurized. Ale unstrapped himself from the harness and stepped out of the cockpit and out of the Pelican. Other than the patchy look of the repairs the hangar itself also looked good as new. Unfortunately, Ale was only able to salvage a few vehicles, the hangar space barely taken up with the lack of vehicles. He continued walking through the ship, reaching engineering in a few minutes. The heavy doors slid open as Ale stepped into the engineering control room.
“Cassandra?” The blue A.I. appeared on the holopad terminal by the glass pane that overlooked the engine room.
“Yes Captain?”
The A.I. had officially designated Ale as Captain since he was the last surviving officer aboard the crew roster. Ale didn’t mind too much but he didn’t count it as ‘official’ since there was no other UNSC personnel to really command.
“Have you found anymore designs that could work for the coupling?”
“Yes sir. I had one made just last night. It’s waiting in manufacturing for manual insertion.”
Ale nodded as he turned and headed a few more doors down. Ale gave the A.I. the input needed for it to try and design different coupling options that could replace the bad one. With it being a ‘dumb’ A.I. the process was slow going with Ale frequently having to put more and more creative input. The reason Ale was so adamant to fix the slip space drive was because of the curse. After he had returned he searched far and wide, from many different sources for a cure of a way to fight the curse. After a few years of searching, his excuse being that he wanted to see the world, he had found nothing. Not even a way to stall it. Apparently curses involving souls were so few and far between that nocreature on the planet knew of a remedy. The only thing Ale was able to find out was by pure accident.
He had taken Twilight, at her request, to the edge of the solar system. When they got there she had said something most peculiar. She said the ambient magic was ever so slightly weaker. After asking her more about it Ale learned that Equis must be the origin of magic, as it weakened the further and further you got away from it. Twilight was still very powerful at that distance but she did report a shift in her reserves of mana. When he returned from that trip he studied magic and its effects on the environment. That’s when he found his solution. He needed to get as far away from Equis as he could, and fast. Leaving on the ‘Ember’ under the power of the secondary slip space drives would work, Ale knowing his immortality would be unaffected since it wasn’t magical in nature anymore; meaning he could still come back to Luna after the curse wore out due to lack of magic. Unfortunately, when Ale did the math he learned that it would take too long. He missed his window of opportunity long before he discovered that particular solution. His only option now was to fix the primary slip space drives and become slip space capable.
He already had the new experimental coupling under arm, the box exerting a hefty weight. It would have taken a forklift for someone normal to transport the coupling. Ale stepped into the massive engine room and headed towards the drives. He approached the larger one and typed on a command pad one handed. The room’s doors locked and sealed shut as a loud alarm rang out. Red and yellow strobe lights lit up as the drive became unlocked and ready for maintenance. The room sealed itself because the drive emitted lethal radiation, Ale’s prototype armor being more than capable to handle it. He moved towards the side of the drive where the damaged coupling had sat before Ale removed it a long time ago. He tapped on another command pad, entering the pass code.
‘1, 2, 3, 4. I should really talk to the guy who authorized this code about protocol.’
A loud click greeted him as a green light lit up on the screen. Ale slid back a metal panel, revealing a bright red handle. Two large and heavy duty steel pins retracted from the handle. Ale reached out and pulled the handle down, manually opening the cover that ran along the power line. Ale locked the coupling into position and opened its internal valves, allowing power to flow through it. He stepped back and closed everything up, pushing the handle back into place as he walked towards the engineering control room.
Ale stepped into the room again and gestured towards Cassandra. “Charge up the drive without actually jumping. We need to see if this one stays stable.”
“Aye aye.” The A.I. went through the same motions as it had with the few other acceptable coupling candidates they had tested before. The drive lit up and hummed loudly as it began powering up. It was still only at 27% operating capacity but it should still be enough. If Ale believed in luck he would have had his fingers crossed. “Opening valves now.” The schematics of the drive, power line, and coupling were shown on a nearby screen. Ale watched as power rushed into the line and into the coupling. Data readings from the coupling came flooding in and Ale held his breath for a few seconds. When nothing happened he released a breath.
“How’s it holding up?”
“We’re not getting maximum efficiency but it is remaining stable.”
Ale nodded, his arms crossed over his chest. “Well then, let’s get-“ The room began blaring loudly as the schematic screen zoomed in on the coupling. It turned yellow and a certain part was highlighted orange and analyzed further on a separate screen. Data was spilling forth from it before the whole coupling schematic turned red, the drive slowing down rapidly as emergency shutdown procedures activated.
“What happened!?”
“Sir, a part of the coupling failed, resulting in the whole design to fail and melt.”
Ale slammed his fist into the wall, putting a solid dent in it. He breathed heavily and stared up into the ceiling. “Why?” he whispered. His shoulders sagged as he turned and left the room, all the while silently apologizing to Luna.
Celestia trotted rapidly down the hall, on her way to one of the side foyers. It was late but Celestia promised Luna she would talk to Ale. She heard the whining of the Pelican cease from outside as she waited patiently for Ale to arrive. The door opened quickly and allowed the Spartan through, Ale slamming the door behind him to stop the cold wind from blowing in. He turned around to find Celestia looking at him with a gentle smile.
They stood there in silence, both of them waiting for the other to speak. “Well, this is oddly familiar is it not?” Celestia giggled, remembering the first time they had met. Her giggling stopped when she realized her attempt at humor had gotten no response from Ale. “Ahem, so… how are you?”
“Green. Why do you ask?”
“We just haven’t talked in a while. Is there something wrong with wanting to catch up?”
Ale shrugged, “I suppose not.”
The two just stood there for a while, Celestia concerned at his lack of communication and tone of voice as if he was sick while Ale just wanted to get out of this situation and think more about his current lack of options. Celestia decided she needed to coax Ale out of whatever stupor he was in.
“You know if there’s anything wrong you can tell me.” Ale just stared at her, giving no response at all. Celestia tried again. “You can trust me. Come on, tell me what’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” Ale walked around her and began walking down the hallway. He was caught by surprise when a massive blow smashed him into the side of the hallway, the impact stunning him far more than actually hurting him. Celestia was right in his face as she pinned his arms down with her forelegs. She was surprisingly strong as Ale struggled to escape her grasp.
“Let me go!”
“No.”
“How the hell are you holding me down!?”
“After you arrived I realized I was out of shape. So I’ve been doing some crunches in the sun.” If Ale wasn’t in danger of dying and in a better mood he would have made a snarky comment, but for the moment he just remained quiet. Celestia then spoke in a much more soothing motherly tone. “Now tell me, what troubles you? Why have you been treating Luna so coldly?”
Ale remained quiet, unwilling to give her anymore grief than she would experience in the near future. Celestia sighed gently, “Ale, you’ll have to tell me eventually. I’m not leaving until you do.” When she still received no response she quirked an eyebrow. “Don’t test me. If I have to I will look into your head myself. It’s something I usually forbid myself to do but this is my sister we’re talking about and I do care for your well being. It’s rather not a pleasant experience.”
Ale remained stoic as ever, on the outside at least. On the inside he was screaming for any help he could get, but he knew there was nothing that could be done. Celestia muttered something unintelligible before her horn lit up. Her eyes turned white as she powered through Ale’s resistance to magic. She had surprisingly gotten fairly good at it and went straight for his memories. Ale felt a very uncomfortable pressure in his head and kept his eyes open as he did not want to relive that moment. Throughout the time he watched Celestia’s face morph through different emotions. Surprise, confusion, pain, anger, and finally sadness. Her white eyes were leaking out molten tears, the marble sizzling beneath their feet.
The pressure left and Celestia’s eyes reverted back to normal. Her tears also turned normal again and she stared into Ale’s visor. “I’m- I’m so sorry,” she whispered. She hugged Ale tightly for a while before pushing away from him. “Why didn’t you say something sooner!? We could have dealt with this right away!”
Ale shook his head, “I’ve already looked everywhere. There’s nothing.”
Celestia’s eyes lit up with determination. “No. No! You had to have missed something!” She pushed away from him and her horn lit up. “Don’t leave Ale. I know what you’re planning and I’m telling you that isn’t going to be necessary.” With that she disappeared in a flash. Ale breathed shakily before stepping away from the wall. He started down the hallway again, hoping that she wouldn’t tell Luna.
Ale stared up at the ceiling and watched the dawn light slowly crawl in, illuminating the room in a dull glow. The snow storms were really bad, greatly blotting out the sun and creating very gloomy days filled with the hazy snow falling from the sky. The Spartan looked towards his sleeping wife and smiled. She was lying on her side while facing Ale. Her chest gently rose up and down while her nostrils flared slightly with each breath. She was drooling slightly and, with her wings twitching slightly, created a whole new view of the ‘cold’ princess. Her mane was strewn along her slim body. Don’t think that she was too slim as she did posses very attractive curves. Said curves went on for miles and miles and miles…
Ale blinked and smirked slightly as he realized he was staring at her. He continued to eye her, roaming back up her body until he met a pair of teal eyes and a knowing grin. Ale’s eyes widened as he coughed and looked away.
“Good morning Luna.”
“I should say the same thing but I think you are having an exceptionally good morning,” Luna replied while smiling wider at his reaction.
“Oh, well uh… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Luna decided to mess with him a bit. “Who said you had to stop?”
Ale looked back over to her. “Maybe something else had caught my eye.” Luna’s smile dropped as she stared at him.
“What are you tal-,” her response was cut short as Ale moved in and kissed her. Her shock was short lived as he pulled away.
“The mare I love enraptured me with her eyes.”
“Why you cheeky b-,” she was again interrupted by Ale giving her another kiss. She absolutely melted into it and pushed deeper. Ale reciprocated her action and raised a hand to cup her muzzle. Luna shifted closer to him as she began caressing his chest with a hoof. Feeling frisky she made to move her hoof lower when Ale intercepted her.
“Easy Luna,” he huffed out. “We don’t want to be late for breakfast.”
She pushed against him harder as she replied, “We don’t need to take too long.” She felt tingly as she attempted to convince Ale.
“You don’t want your subjects to see a ruffled princess now do we?”
Luna huffed as she finally gave in to Ale’s reasoning. She quelled the growing fire that had been rising inside of her and instead focused on Ale’s eyes. They sparkled with enthusiasm and warmth. She didn’t care that he convinced her differently as he had not acted this happy in quite a while. She smiled, happy that she had her Ale back. They lied side by side for a few minutes before getting up and taking a quick ‘clean’ cold shower. They then prepped for the day, Luna placing her royal regalia on and scanning the days schedule while Ale slipped into his body suit and donned his armor, helmet clipped to the side. They walked out of their bedroom and headed towards the dining hall. They opened the doors to find a long wooden table. At the head of the table were two sturdy wood chairs, same as all the surrounding chairs in order to evoke a sense of equality to all who came for meetings. The exception to that was a large black and grey pilot’s seat located on the side of the table by the two head positions. Steel held the weight of the Spartan much better than wood after all.
The two took their respective seats as a waiter came out of a side door with a cart. The waiter used his magic to levitate several platters from the cart over to Ale and Luna. He left with a quick bow, leaving them to eat in peace. Luna opened the lid to her plate, revealing lots of the color green. The Spartan only smiled as he revealed one of the two platters he had. The impossibly tall tower of golden goodness flowed with a thick, dark sludge with a beacon of creamy yellow on top. The steam flowed towards Luna and she couldn’t help but follow it. Ale had turned to his other plate and was pleased to find a huge helping of mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, a loaf of fresh bread, and thick slices of ‘donated’ ham. He turned back around only to find over half of his stack of flapjacks missing. He peeked around what was left and stared at Luna, her cheeks swollen and sticky crumbs clinging to her muzzle.
“Ffffuuuttt?” Luna asked with incredibly innocent eyes.
Ale reached ever so slowly across the corner of the table, inching towards a wary Luna. He stopped, his every move scrutinized. He then began reaching for her plate. Fearing that he was going to take her food she reached towards it, realizing too late that she had let her guard down. With a swiftness matched by no other Ale gave Luna the jumper cable of the century, causing her eyes to bulge and a massive amount of half chewed pancakes to fly across the room. Luna coughed violently as she struggled to breathe. After she calmed down she glared at Ale. He was snickering slightly before a huge serving of gravy and mashed potatoes smashed into his face. Ale stopped laughing and held still for a moment, before releasing a violent sneeze, launching white fluffy goodness everywhere.
“Ow!” Ale exclaimed as he held his nose. “I think a bit of my brain went with that.”
“Serves you right.” Luna pouted, fighting with her compassionate side as she watched Ale fumbling with a cloth napkin. Her face started twitching as she desperately tried to stay cold towards him, her will breaking as she glanced at him again. “Oh! Give me that!” She used her magic to tear the napkin out of his hands and cleaned up his face with so much precision it would make a surgeon weep in envy. She finished cleaning him up and was happy when Ale returned the favor, wiping the sticky mess that was on her muzzle.
“Did you get it all?” Luna asked.
“Hmm, I think I missed a spot there.” Ale leaned forward and captured her lips, surprising Luna again. It was quick and simple however, leaving her surprise short lived. Luna and Ale smiled at each other affectionately before they returned to their meals, sharing the pancakes between them.
Luna was extremely happy, sighing in relief that what had been troubling Ale seemed to have left him alone. Ale heard her and looked towards her.
“Something up?”
Luna shook her head. “No, I’m just happy is all. You are suddenly so happy now. I guess you solved your own issues out huh?”
Ale’s smile suddenly disappeared as he was again reminded of his dire situation. He was so focused on spending his precious amount of time with Luna and making the best of it that he had, for a few heavenly hours, forgotten about the curse. Luna saw the change in his demeanor and watched him rapidly wrap it up in an obviously fake smile. “Y-yeah! I guess I did!”
She gave him a deadpan look. “Uh huh, sure you did.” After failing to trigger a response from Ale Luna let out an exasperated sigh. She then looked towards Ale, eating being pushed to the back of her mind. “Ale, please. Don’t make me beg.”
Ale slowly set down his silverware, staring straight ahead as he did so. He then looked down and replied, “I can’t.”
…
“Why?”
“You would hate me.”
Luna was caught completely off guard at his response. She blinked rapidly, struggling to come up with any reasonable reply to… that.
“Hate you? What?” she voiced her thoughts.
Ale reached for his helmet while still staring down at the table. He slid his helmet into place and clamped it down. He turned to look at Luna, his emotionless cyan faceplate frustrating Luna.
“I love you, you know that right?”
“Yes. But Ale, what do you mean? Why are you being like this?”
“Because it’s the only way.” Before Luna could reply a bright flash of white followed by an eruption of confetti burst between Ale and Luna. What sounded like kazoos bleated through the air. Ale already had his rifle leveled at a tall figure that popped into existence. When his mind finally registered what his eyes were seeing Ale immediately checked to make sure his body was clear of hallucinogens. The creature looked like it came from a Mary Shelley novel. He held steady as the creature finally opened its eyes.
“Luna! How are you my dear? Celestia treating you well? Ponies still shunning the night? Have you gained weight?” Luna looked incredibly pissed, not only at Discord’s offensive questions but also due to him interrupting their conversation. She was about to turn him into stone temporarily out of anger until Discord interrupted her again.
“Oh don’t look like that. You know I was just kidding.” When she still began charging up her horn Discord snapped his fingers. The aura on Luna’s horn instantly died out. “Ah ah, can’t have you do something you’ll regret. Now then what’s happened since I-,” Discord stopped speaking when he turned around and saw Ale for the first time. His eyes didn’t widen in shock like Ale expected. Instead Ale was the one surprised as an incredible sadness seemed to radiate from his eyes. “Luna, I’ll have to get back to you.” With that he snapped his fingers again. Ale felt the familiar tugging of teleportation magic and resisted against it. He was surprised again as it simply rolled through his mental defenses and consumed him, tingly needles making his limbs numb. Ale blinked and he instantly knew he wasn’t in the dining room. Instead he seemed to be standing on the top of a mountain, giving a bird’s eye view of the surrounding landscape. Well, that’s if there wasn’t a huge cloud layer covering everything. The sound of crunching snow instantly alerted Ale to someone’s presence behind him. He rolled forwards before swiftly turning around in a crouch, rifle leveled at the strange being.
“Hold your fire Aleksi!”
Ale literally almost dropped his rifle when he heard his name. His full name. “How- what- that?” Discord waited patiently for the Spartan to gather his words. Ale stood up, his weapon lowered slightly as he finally blurted out, “How do you know my name?”
Discord chuckled. “There are many things I know. For example, I know that a tree indeed makes a sound when falling in an empty forest, there are in fact some questions better left unanswered, large people can go skinny dipping, vegetarians can eat animal crackers, flies without wings are called walks, a turtle without its shell is both naked and homeless, and it takes --- licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop.” Discord seemed to think hard for a moment before speaking, “The only one I can’t get is, ‘if a quiz is quizzical, then what is a test?’”
Ale’s brain struggled to keep up with the absolute amount of randomness spilling forth from this creature’s mouth. He shook his head before standing in an aggressive stance. “Who are you!?”
Discord smiled widely as he struck a nobleman’s pose. “I am Discord, god of chaos.”
Ale relaxed slightly as he had heard Twilight speaking about someone they had reformed named Discord before. He placed his rifle on his back as he asked Discord again, “How do you know my name?” Discord went to answer before Ale interrupted him, “And give me a straight answer this time.”
Discord frowned slightly before shrugging. “I am a super magical being, I know your name.” Ale tapped his magnum suggestively, prompting Discord to sigh. “You’re no fun. Alright, fine. I simply read your IFF tag.” Ale noticed Discord looking above his head so he looked upwards.
“What the hell?” A line of blue text was hovering above his head, his name and service number glowing gently. He looked back down to Discord who was trying to stifle a giggle. “What is this?”
“Magic my dear boy!” Ale seriously considered shooting the next thing that said ‘magic’ to him. He shrugged it off and continued with his line of questioning.
“So why did you bring me here?”
“Well, I figured you would deserve some news.”
Ale waited patiently for Discord to continue on. When Discord simply stood there staring at him Ale spoke up, “And…?”
“First off, humanity is doing just fine. They are still fighting the remnants of the Covenant and a recent human insurrection but are successfully recovering.”
Ale was shocked by this new information. “How do you know this?”
“Okay, seriously? We just went over this.”
“Right, right…”
With Ale still seeming confused Discord huffed and explained. “While on vacation I visited several different dimensions, yours being one of them. I must say, your species history is quite exciting! Plenty of chaos to go around!” Discord frowned ever so slightly, “Though I do think war and murder is a step too far.” He then looked towards Ale. “Your most recent war really did put a damper on things didn’t it?”
Ale could only stare in disbelief at Discord. ‘Damper? Just a damper?’ “Well I hope you enjoyed it,” Ale said sarcastically, “Is there anything else you want to say? You’re kind of wasting my important time.”
“Yes, your time is important now isn’t it? Especially with so few of it left.” Ale’s head whipped towards Discord. The being raised his hands in a defensive manner as he continued, “All powerful deity, remember?”
Ale clamped his fists tightly before sighing, his shoulders slumping as he looked towards the ground. “Yeah.”
The two stood there silently for some time before Discord spoke up, “I’m truly sorry. I really am. I may have been making fun of Luna down there, but other than Fluttershy Luna was one of the first ponies to befriend me, especially since we were both misunderstood. You’re good for her, I can feel it.”
Ale nodded solemnly, sinking ever further into depression as he continued to think about the hopelessness of his situation. Discord walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder, “If there was something I could do I would gladly help, but even gods have a limit. Your situation is far beyond the ability of any magic I know.”
“Thanks…” Ale mumbled.
Discord patted him on the shoulder before stepping away. “I know what you’re trying to do and I can only wish you the best of luck.” Discord began stepping away before Ale raised his hand.
“Wait, if you’re as all knowing as you say you are I have a question.” Discord simply raised an eyebrow. “Is there any news on the chief? Did they find him?” Discord smiled as he snapped his fingers, disappearing in a flash.
“Fuck…” Ale breathed. At least he now knew that he was in fact in a different dimension. How that worked he had no idea. He frowned as he thought over the deities words. With trudging steps, Ale began to walk forward when he suddenly looked up. He glanced around quickly before yelling, “YOU FORGOT TO TAKE ME BACK!!!”
Meanwhile, in the void between teleporting, Discord stopped to have a quick snack. He sat in a floating chair by a floating table, eating a white plate as the sandwich was used as the plate. He finished chewing and wiped his mouth with the table cloth as he reached for the tea cup.
“You know there was something you could have done.”
Discord paused as he responded, “Now now, there are important things I mustn’t interfere with.”
“But what of the dark one? We can’t allow its rise!”
“I can’t. Everything will fall into place.”
“But we could make everything so much easier!”
Discord shook his head. “I did that once and you know how it turned out! While it was eventually fixed I still can’t forget about that insufferable Doctor.”
“Oh? You mean the whole, ‘Timey wimey, wibbly wobbly, timey wimey, wibbly wobbly, timey…’” The voices continued to ring about Discords head as he yelled in frustration. With a roar he shoved his thumb and finger claw into his ear and pulled out a blue ball of light. He dropped it into his tea and stirred furiously before drinking the tea cup itself. The blue brown tea splashed on the table, a smile forming on Discord’s face. He went to snap his fingers before he felt something upon his head. A reached up and pulled down a fez.
Luna was wandering through the halls again, having done so after Ale’s and Discord’s abrupt disappearance. She passed by very old torches burning with a dull blue light, the wooden shelves and benches slowly decaying. This was the abandoned part of the castle and strictly sealed off. She however wandered through, desperately trying to think of why her husband thought she would hate him. A thought struck her, the sheer idea of it slowing her in her tracks. ‘Does he not love me anymore? Has he found somepony else?’ Luna shook her head as she continued walking. ‘Preposterous! He loves me. Even if he didn’t he would tell me… right?’
Luna was passing a set of rotting doors when she thought she heard a sound. She stopped, looking back towards the room. She moved back and approached the doors cautiously. ‘This area is restricted. Surely nopony would be foolish enough to be back here.’ She armed her horn with a freezing spell just in case. She manually pushed one of the doors open slowly, the slight noise now turning into a loud scuffling as she entered the room. She identified the room as the old library, creeping through the aisles in search of the intruder. ‘I swear, if it is Twilight our sister will have much to teach her.’ She could hear the violent turning of pages around the corner. She crouched down and slowly peeked around the corner, shocked to see her sister out of all ponies ripping through books at an incredible pace. She cleared her throat as she stepped out of her cover…
Celestia scanned the book desperately, the last book in the whole library being her last source of knowledge that she had not already seen. When she had first arrived, she could tell somepony, or someone, had already been in here. It must have been a few years ago as the layer of shifted dust was only slightly shorter than the surrounding filth. She could tell by the tracks that it wasn’t a pony and was instead made by that of a bipedal. Ale, being the only other two legged creature here, was most certainly the culprit. She had just reached halfway when she heard somepony clearing their throat. She yelped as she dropped the book, causing a huge puff of dust to choke the air.
*Cough cough* “Luna!” *Cough* “What are you doing here?” Celestia picked her book back up and frowned, having to find the page she was previously on as it had shut when it fell. Luna watched her sister closely as she responded.
“I was brooding over something Ale had said.” She stomped her hoof in frustration. “I don’t understand sister! This morning I thought he was finally back! He seemed perfectly fine to me and we even had a great beginning to breakfast. But then he got this look in his eye, almost as if all hope was lost. And then he said the strangest thing! He said if he told me what was wrong I would hate him!”
Celestia had long since found her page and resumed reading at a break neck speed, lowering her face as Luna went on. “I just wish he would tell me already!” Luna breathed deeply to calm her nerves, looking towards the ground as she continued to think. She stayed that way for a few seconds before the continued sound of flipping paper roused her. She watched in confusion as Celestia still burned through the book, her actions odd as she would normally drop everything to help her.
Luna took a tentative step forward, slowly approaching her sister. “Tia? Is everything okay?” When she didn’t receive a response she glanced around the library. She could tell that every book had been moved and this caused a great amount of suspicion to arise within her. She looked back at Celestia and asked, “Sister, what are you doing?” Celestia dug her face deeper into the nearly complete book, desperately attempting to avoid her sister questioning gaze. “What are you hiding from me!?”
Celestia finished her book with a slam, dropping it as she faced her sister. She frowned and was almost in tears as she replied, “I’m sorry.” Her horn lit up as she fired off a teleportation spell. Right before she winked out of existence she saw the great confusion and sadness that filled Luna’s eyes, increasing her desperation in search of a cure.
Luna blinked, staring at the space in which her sister had just occupied. She recalled what Celestia had said before teleporting. ‘I’m sorry?’ What did she mean by that? I- just- argh!’ Luna fired a spell and obliterated a nearby statue, tears dripping down her face as she let out all her frustration and anger. ‘What is everypony hiding from me!?’ She dropped her head and moved back towards the door, scuffling through the books and other debris that littered the floor.
Luna sighed deeply, having just finished questioning her guards to the whereabouts of Ale. His Pelican was still in the courtyards but nopony had seen him since his unexpected disappearance with Discord. Luna frowned, worrying about Ale as he had missed lunch and it was well past afternoon. She continued to wander the halls, the guards beginning to worry about their princess. The voices of the past few days continued to speak in her mind, vaulting her into a state of confusion, anger, and loneliness. It seemed as if everyone was suddenly against her, as if they were hiding something and didn’t trust her enough with the secret. She continued to brood in her thoughts when she suddenly collided with something hard. She rubbed her head and looked up in surprise, finding Ale staring right back at her.
“Ale!” She leapt up on her back hooves and hugged him tightly. “Where have you been!?”
Ale hugged her back gently as he replied, “Discord forgot to send me back from the top of a mountain.”
Luna stepped back down from him. “Speaking of which, what was that all about?”
“Discord had information about my world and wished to discuss it privately.”
“Oh, and what did he say?”
“Humanity is still recovering from the war and we’re dealing with organized terrorists among our own as well as combating the remnants of the Covenant. By the sounds of it, the UNSC is having a successful campaign thus far, but it will be for the long haul that’s for sure,” Ale said. “It also turns out that this place is in a different universe.”
Luna nodded slowly. While glad that Ale had learned positive news she still had some serious beef to pick with him.
“Ale, we need to talk.” And just like that she could sense Ale clamming up. She continued, “I discovered Celestia in the forbidden library today, digging through books with a fervor that I have not seen in a very long time. She also said the most peculiar thing to me before she left. ‘I’m sorry.’ Do you know what she might have meant by that?”
Ale couldn’t lie to her, so he just remained silent. This provoked Luna to aggressively thrust her face towards Ale. “I know you two are hiding something! I demand that you tell me!”
“No.”
Luna recoiled. “No? NO?!” The stress of the situation finally caught up to her. She felt an immense anger build up within her as she screamed at Ale. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! DON’T YOU LOVE ME?!”
“Of course I love you!”
“THEN WHY WON’T YOU TELL ME?!”
“BECAUSE IT’S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!!!” Ale shocked himself when he yelled back, never having raised his voice at her before. He saw Luna step back away from him, anger burning in her eyes. He stepped forward, “Luna I-,”
“Get out.”
Ale stopped as he heard her. He reached a hand out to her only to be smacked away by magic.
“Don’t touch me!”
“Luna, please. I-,”
“I SAID GET OUT!!!”
Ale stopped and stared at her, watching as tears fell down her face and listened to her quiet sobbing. He stood tall and with a numb body and auto pilot brain, turned around and headed for the main doors. Luna listened to the heavy thuds of his steps as he walked away down the hall. She cried quietly, angry at Ale for pushing her away and distrusting her. She didn’t know how long she stood there but the loud whine of the Pelican engines dragged her back to reality. She suddenly perked up, realizing what she had just done. She quickly stood up and raced towards the doors.
“Get out of my way!” she yelled at the door guards as she crashed through them. A large shadow on the snow dragged her attention upwards where she saw the Pelican flying.
“ALE!” she yelled. It was for naught, as the Pelican continued to head in the direction of Ponyville, disappearing in the never ending blizzard. Luna collapsed in the snow and sobbed heavily, wishing she could take back everything she had said. A few guards rushed towards her and attempted to coax her back into the castle. She weakly complied, supported by the guards as they helped her stumble back towards the castle.
A loud thud awoke Ale abruptly. He stayed still and listened closely. After a few moments another thud was heard, emanating from the libraries reading room. Ale slowly shifted onto his side, the bed creaking under his armored weight. He then pushed himself up while swinging his legs off the bed. After sitting for a few moments his stomach growled, prompting him to get up and get some food. After his fight with Luna Ale had flown to Twilights as he was always welcome there. She was more than willing to let the depressed soldier spend the night.
Ale had already made his way down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen. He entered the doorway to see Spike busy toiling over the stove. He could see a plate stacked with waffles sitting on the counter next to Spike. Ale stepped up behind him, gaining a clear view of the stove top. Two frying pans occupied the burners, one filled with eggs and the other had hash browns. Just then the toaster popped, startling Spike enough that he almost fell over backwards. Ale quickly steadied him; holding behind his shoulders and pushing him back up onto his feet.
“Oh, thanks Ale.”
“No problem,” Ale replied, reaching over Spike and pulling out the toast and setting it on a nearby plate. “I got this Spike. It’s the least I could do for dropping in on you guys so late last night.”
“Thanks! But don’t worry about visiting us. We don’t get to see you often enough.”
Ale paused midway in buttering the toast, silently brooding over what he had just said. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” Spike looked at Ale, his eyes filled with curiosity. Ale waved him off as he continued his task. Spike shrugged, quickly stirring the shredded potatoes before they burned. The two tag-teamed the kitchen together for a few more minutes, staying silent as they focused on their duties. They soon finished and began setting the table, the sound Ale had heard earlier still occurring in the background.
“Hey Spike, what is that?” Ale asked as he gestured through the doorway with a thumb.
“Oh, that’s just Twilight. She’s searching for spells again, no doubt tossing books around in her search effort.”
“Ah, I see. Well,” Ale set down the last few items of cutlery before standing straight, “I guess I’ll go tell her breakfast is ready.” Spike nodded and watched Ale walk away. Ale stepped into the reading room and was not surprised by the view. Books were scattered everywhere with a few dropping from the air. ‘Typical.’ Ale looked up and saw Twilight hovering by the top shelves, books encased in a purple glow circling around her.
“Twilight!” The purple pony squeaked as she dropped all her books, spinning around to glare at Ale.
“What is so important that you had to interrupt me?”
Ale met her glare for a few seconds, his visor hiding his deadpan look. “Breakfast.”
Twilight looked as if she was going to argue until a dull roar echoed around the room. A blush lit up Twilight’s cheeks as she smiled sheepishly. “I… I guess I could eat.”
Ale shook his head as he walked back towards the dining room. He sat down next to Spike, watching Twilight settle in her seat across from him.
“This looks really good Spike! You fail to disappoint!” Twilight praised the little dragon.
“Ah, it was nothing.”
Ale reached an arm out and patted him on the back, nodding his way. The three began digging in, Ale having long since gotten over his closest friends seeing him without his helmet. It didn’t take long for the table to become devoid of food. Ale, along with the others, sat back and sighed in content. After a few minutes Ale began standing up.
“Well, I’ll get started on the dishes.”
“Nonsense! Spike and I will take care of it. A guest is meant to relax.” Twilight insisted.
Ale was hesitant, “Are you sure?” Both Twilight and Spike nodded.
“Don’t worry bro. Twi and I got it.” Spike offered a fist to Ale. Ale smiled and bumped his fist with the dragons. Ale took his plate to the sink and moved out of his host’s way. He walked over to the doorway and watched them clean the dishes. He smiled gently as he listened to them talk, laugh, and splash each other with water. Spike was pushed into the sink and came out with a soap beard. Twilight laughed mirthfully, prompting Spike to give his own good natured chuckle. Ale slowly backed away, locking that memory away forever. He strolled over to a chair and sat down, closing his eyes as he began thinking deeply.
He thought of Luna. Ale was… lost when it came to her. Avoiding the problem didn’t work out in the end as it had resulted in a fight. He didn’t know if Luna was regretting what she had said but Ale certainly was. Her look of betrayal and the hurt in her eyes had struck him deeply. Now here he was, spending the few hours he had without her.
‘How could I be so stupid? This is all my fault. If only I had talked to her about it earlier we could have come to terms with it.’ Ale took a moment to think about that. ‘No, she would have spent the entire time looking for help. I wouldn’t want her spending the rest of my life with her to go like that. This is for the best.’
Meanwhile, Twilight had walked into the room and, missing the tears crawling on Ale’s face behind his visor, continued her search. She flew up and ripped book after book out of the shelves. On the last book she stopped and a look of silent irritation crossed her face. ‘Of course it would be the last book.’
She flew down and set the book down on a table. After opening it to the correct page she looked under the table. Finding the saddlebag she had stored there earlier she pulled it out. She went to raise her head only to knock her head on the bottom of the table painfully.
Ale sat up at the loud knock and listened to Twilight swear under her breath. She eventually rose up from the table and rubbed her head. “You alright there Twilight?”
“Yeah, I’m just fine.” She reached over and picked up the saddlebag, placing it on the table. She opened the flap and rummaged around in it for a few seconds before pulling out a jar filled with a rainbow substance. Twilight gently set the jar on the table and rubbed her hooves gleefully.
“What do you have there?” Ale asked.
“It’s a jar of zap apple jam!”
Ale remembered Applejack telling him about it. If he remembered correctly, the zap apples were magical and only stayed around for a little while. So how was the jam still magical? “Hey Twilight, how is that still zap apple jam instead of normal apple jam?”
“I’m glad you asked. You see, the apples themselves are magical in nature. After it’s been processed however, it will stay as long as the jam is edible.” Twilight looked over at her book and read it over before looking back at the jar. Her horn lit up as she concentrated, a purple aura surrounding the jar. Ale watched with interest as frost seemed to cover the outside of the jar, the rainbow coloring on the inside slowly turning into a dark tan color. Twilight stopped her magic and breathed heavily, smiling in success as she viewed the results.
Ale leaned forward, “What just happened?”
Twilight smiled happily, “I negated the magical effects of the zap apple jam and turned it back into normal apple jam!”
Ale looked at her in disbelief. “How?”
“Simple! When a magical artifact is exposed to extreme cold the magic coursing through it instantly stops coursing through it. It’s still there, but it’s like the artifact is frozen in time while the magic is still active. They’re separated.”
Ale stared at her for a very long time, his silence beginning to creep her out. She was about to ask what was wrong when Ale asked, “Can this work on living beings?”
Twilight looked at him in confusion. “Well, if a Timberwolf was exposed to the extreme temperatures of the barren north it would cease to exist as the magic powering its wooden body would become separated from it. So I guess it could work on all living creatures.”
She watched Ale intently, watching as he seemed to think incredibly hard. She jumped back when he suddenly stood up and ran towards her. He scooped her up in a bone crushing hug.
“Thank you so much Twilight. I’m glad I met you. And I’m sorry at the same time.” Twilight was extremely confused as Ale dropped her. He bolted for the door before stopping, turning to face her. “Watch over Spike and keep him in line, especially around the mares as he ages.” He took a deep breath before speaking in a solemn tone. “You have a good life Twilight. See you on the other side.” Ale lurched out the door, leaving an extremely dumbfounded and concerned alicorn in his wake. She shook her head before standing up, running for the door. It was for naught as she heard the Pelicans engines boot up. By the time she made it to the window she saw Ale lifting into the air and fly away, disappearing in the infuriating blizzard. She turned around and ran through the reading room into the kitchen, intent on making Spike send a letter about Ale’s strange behavior. She never did notice the jar on the table. Water dripped down from the sides as it thawed out, a rainbow color slowly overtaking the dark tan.
Luna looked into the mirror and dabbed a damp wash cloth to her face. She observed her reflection. Bloodshot eyes, runny nose, and wilting ears greeted her sight. She sniffled at her appearance and tried to clean herself up as best as she could. Ale hadn’t returned the night before, worrying the lunar princess greatly. Her night had resulted in her tossing and turning, nightmares of her beloved leaving her haunting her dreams. Using her magic she picked up her eyeliner and applied it. After freshening up she dressed in her royal regalia and took a few calming breathes. After settling down she prepared her apology to Ale as she pushed magic into her horn and teleported to Twilights.
When the world came into focus Luna looked around. She was standing in the middle of the library and heard noises coming from the kitchen. She walked through the doorway. “Ale?” Her sight was greeted by Twilight talking to Spike. By the tone of their voices Luna could tell they were stressed.
Twilight looked up at her. “Princess? What are you doing here? Did Celestia send you?”
Luna frowned slightly, “No, she did not. Have you by chance seen Ale recently?”
Twilight nodded. “He spent the night here.”
“Where is he now?”
Twilight shook her head. “I have no idea. He just suddenly left an hour ago. I’ve been trying to contact Celestia but she hasn’t responded.”
Luna was disappointed that she had missed Ale but continued on with her questioning. “What’s wrong?”
Twilight bit her lip. “Ale. He said some really strange things before he left. Almost as if he didn’t expect to come back.”
Luna’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“His voice, his demeanor, it was very unsettling. Princess, what happened between you and him?”
Luna dropped her head. “I’m afraid I might have made a grave mistake. He was just so sad and secretive that I pushed him for the truth a little too far. I’ve come to apologize, that’s why I’m looking for him.”
Twilight thought for a few seconds before brightening up. “Have you tried his ship? I know he likes to go there when he wants some alone time.”
Luna hit herself in the head. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.” When she saw Twilight’s concerned stare Luna waved a hoof at her. “I’m fine. I just never thought about looking there. Farewell Twilight, and I hope you are able to contact my sister.”
Luna lit up her horn again and poured magic into a long range teleportation spell. With a flash she found herself in the hangar of Ale’s ship. She looked around and was shocked by the sight that greeted her. The trashed hangar was no more; instead it was cleaned and looked repaired. A few of the strange vehicles seemed to be in working order, mismatched with patched parts. She strolled through the brightly lit hangar and continued down pristine hallways. After consulting a few signs she finally reached the bridge. The doors slid open for her and, to her disappointment, the room was devoid of her beloved. She had almost turned around before an idea struck her.
“Cassandra?” She called out, “Can you hear me?”
A blue light flickered over a circular pad before turning into the form of a human mar- er- female. Luna had remembered Ale telling her that if she ever needed anything in the ship to ask ‘Cassandra’.
“How may I be of assistance?”
“Yes, erm…” Luna cleared her throat, “I’m looking for Ale. Have you seen him?”
“Spartan 02-05 has not been aboard since yesterday.”
Luna looked crestfallen as her ears hung. “Oh, okay. I’ll be leaving then.” Before she teleported another question pushed forth in her mind. “Wait!” Cassandra looked at her expectantly. “What has Ale been doing up here?”
The A.I. pulled up some records as it replied, “Spartan 02-05, or Ale as you refer to him, has done many things. He spent two years fixing the outer hull and another three patching the super structure. He then repaired the cabin areas of the ship and attempted to salvage vehicles from the hangar. His current project has been the repair of the primary slip space drive power coupling.”
‘Slip space, slip space…’ “What does slip space do again?” Luna asked.
“Slip space allows for the travel of interstellar star ships,” the A.I. droned on. “Without it a star ship would take hundreds, if not thousands of years to travel to other colonies.”
The color drained from Luna’s face. ‘He… he wants to leave? He wants to leave me?’ Luna fell on her rear as she struggled to digest this information. After a while she stood up, tears of anger beginning to flow down her face. “That… that bastard… will pay for toying with me!” Luna yelled. She casted another teleportation spell as she headed for Canterlot. A few seconds after a rapid beeping emitted from the navigation console. Cassandra pulled up the new notification and observed it.
SECURITY BREACH SECTOR: ENGINEERING ASSAILANT: UNKNOWN DAMAGE ASSESSMENT… … PRIMARY SLIP SPACE DRIVE CONNECTION: ACTIVE AVAILABLE POWER OUTPUT: 100%
Cassandra prepped a message containing the new information and sent it off to Spartan 02-05 as ordered too when she found a solution.
Ale approached Canterlot and settled the Pelican in the garden courtyards. He powered down the old war machine and lowered the loading ramp. He thundered down it and looked around the white gardens frantically. “Discord!” Ale yelled. “I know you can hear me! I need to speak with you!” Ale waited a few moments before beginning to call his name again, only to be interrupted by a voice.
“Stop yelling! I’m here already and I can hear you just fine.” Ale whipped around and spotted the creature he had been looking for.
“Discord! I think I found a solution to the curse!” Ale took a breath to begin explaining before he was again interrupted.
“What? Freeze yourself? Thinking about using the cryochambers aboard your ship?”
Ale simply stared at Discord before replying slowly, “Yes…” Ale shook his head. “Is there a problem with that?”
“Well, you may be able to delay your death but the second you unfreeze you’ll be dead as the magic will come back.”
A trillion tons of weight appeared on Ale’s shoulders as he slumped to his knees, slamming a fist into the ground in frustration. “I was so close… so close,” Ale whispered. He began shaking as the hopeful image he had created dispersed and revealed his dire situation. There wasn’t time left to do anything else. It was over. “I’m not making it out of this one am I?” Ale asked to no one. He breathed slowly, staring at the ground.
“Hmm, I disagree.”
Ale froze, trying to comprehend what he had just heard. He looked up to see a smirking Discord. Ale slowly felt anger rise within him as he slowly stood up. He stayed deathly still as he all but whispered out, “You better not be fucking with me, otherwise I will rip your head off and shove it up so far up your ass that you’ll be spewing shit the next time you speak.”
Discord frowned at Ale’s very colorful description before shaking his head. “You need to see a doctor you know that?” Ale began walking forward, reaching for his combat knife before Discord stopped him with his hands outstretched. “Alright, alright! I may have a solution to your predicament.”
“…”
“What? No excitement? No hopeful cheering?”
Schlink…
Discord gulped, “Huh, tough crowd. Anyways, if you were to freeze yourself and get out of Equis’ magic range, you should be rid of your curse given enough time.”
“Problem. I don’t have a working slip space drive.”
Discord snapped his fingers. “Now you do.”
Ale looked at him in disbelief before a message scrolled down his HUD, detailing the now working interstellar drive. He simply stared at Discord for a few seconds before asking, “God of chaos?”
Discord rubbed the back of his neck, “Actually, I may or may not have taken a few classes in UNSC officer school before being kicked out for being clinically insane.”
Ale had no response for that. Instead he decided to keep things on track. “Why didn’t you do this earlier?”
“Oh, you know. Can’t play with timelines.”
“Actually, I don’t know but I’m going to ignore that as I’m running short on time.” Ale began running back to his Pelican. “How long do I need to be gone?”
Ale stumbled when he heard that. ‘300 years!?’ Ale felt an incredible sadness well up within him as he imagined how pained Luna would be. He punched the ramp lift as he thundered towards the cockpit. He quickly strapped himself in and began firing up the engines. He throttled hard and lifted into the air. He turned and rocketed towards high orbit, missing the two bright flashes in the castle.
Luna appeared in the middle of her room, whipping her head around as she searched for her ‘beloved’. Failing to find him she thundered down the hallways rapidly towards the throne room. She had just burst through the throne room doors, tears of fury leaking onto the ground, said tears turning to ice as they were enchanted by her righteously glowing white eyes.
“AAALLLEEE!!!”
She was interrupted when another bright flash entered her field of vision. Her anger stopped and was replaced by confusion when she saw her sister; fur ragged and scuffs of blood staining her coat. She was also weeping loudly.
“Sister! What happened to you?!”
“I… I failed.”
“Tia, whatever may have happened I have urgent business to discuss with you about Ale.” Luna felt her anger rising again. “He wants to leave sister! He’s been playing me this whole time! He never loved me.”
Celestia looked at her sister in shock. She took in her appearance and realized that Luna truly believed what she was saying. “No…” she sniffled. “That is so far from the truth. Luna, Ale loves you.”
“No!” Luna yelled. “He does not! Why would he treat me like he has recently if it weren’t true!?”
Celestia shook her head and sighed. “Luna, do you know what I’ve been doing for the past 18 hours?” When Luna shook her head she continued. “I’ve been searching, searching the ends of Equis for a cure.”
“A cure? Tia what does this have to do wi-,”
“It has everything to do with Ale! Luna, ale is under a curse set upon him by Chrysalis.” Luna stopped arguing as she once again fell on her rear in shock. “This curse has been draining energy from Ale’s soul for almost a decade now. When the decade is up the curse will have absorbed every last bit of Ale’s life essence, killing him.”
Luna could feel tears welling in her eyes, both of guilt and sadness. Celestia continued, “Ale was hiding it from you so that you wouldn’t worry about him and continue living your life with him to the fullest. He shouldered this burden by himself because he loves you so much,” tears were leaking out of Celestia’s eyes as well.
Luna suddenly came to a dreadful conclusion. “But Tia, it’s been a decade since the destruction of the changeling hive and its queen.” Celestia only nodded, Luna feeling a very heavy wave of dread rolling down her body to her hooves, filling her up completely. She began shaking as her thoughts became incredibly jumbled, her chest painfully numb as she struggled to breath, much less speak.
A terrible pain erupted within her, causing her to release a silent scream as she collapsed to the floor. It was originating from Ale’s end of the bond. She breathed rapidly as her body twitched in pain, tears and saliva streaking on the floor and smearing her face. The sharpest of pain pulsed with her throbbing heart, her brain threatening to explode as the sharp pain was too much. She coughed violently and couldn’t breathe; darkness creeping in on the edge of her vision as both the pain and lack of oxygen was getting to her. Before the black abyss could envelope her in its sweet embrace she felt a tugging on her soul. She could literally feel Ale leaving. ‘I’m sorry Luna,’ she could feel Ale’s message to her. The bond slipped, the last little threads ripping apart, thrusting Luna into unconsciousness.
-------------------------------------------------
The Pelican flew into the hangar and clamped down onto its hard landing zone. The ramp door opened and settled on the ground with a dull thud. Nothing came out, the only movement and noise coming from the yellow strobe lights and gentle hum of the ship. The silence was gripping, the ship holding its breath as it waited for somebody, anybody to take charge once again. A loud slap was heard, emanating from the back of the Pelican. Security cameras zoomed in on the back of the Pelican, watching as a shadow stretched onto the ramp. A few seconds later an armored hand came into view, clutching the break between the cargo bay and the sloped ramp. The hand flexed and the Spartan came into view as he dragged himself to the edge. His other hand was clutching his chest, grunts and hisses of pain forcing out from the helmet.
The Spartan dragged himself over the ledge and slid down the ramp. He yelled in pain when he contacted the grated floor. Gripping the piston that lowered the ramp, the warrior pulled himself to his feet. He began stumbling out of the hangar and into the hallways. He lurched to the side as another beat of his heart lit his whole body on fire. He fell to his knees and, with an incredible amount of will power and effort, was able to heave himself to his feet again.
“Ca- Cassandra!” Ale heaved out as he struggled to remain conscious.
“Yes Captain?”
Ale continued to drag his feet rapidly down the corridor. “S- ssset, the ship… Ahh!!” Ale wanted to rip his armor to shreds in order to free up the amount of pain, even though that would prove to be a fruitless endeavor. “On a 3- 300 year journey…” Ale gasped out. He punched the door release into pieces as he slipped through another bulkhead and found himself in a room with a cryochamber on the other side.
“Aye aye sir. Drives are spinning up.”
Ale barely caught that before collapsing onto the deck. He heaved in pain and felt his eye sight twist and become unfocused. A dizzying inner pain shocked his sense, illusionary lightning arched across his vision. Ale’s extremities locked up and a creeping cold consumed him. It… it didn’t make sense. His exterior felt ice cold while flares of painful heat erupted within. All thought disappeared as he slowly began to close his eyes.
‘Luna…’
‘Luna…’
‘Luna?’
‘…’
‘NOOOO!!!’
Ale felt as if his muscles were ripping apart as he began to lift himself up to his hands and knees. He crawled across the floor in what seemed to take forever. He couldn’t feel anything but at the same time he felt as if he was being split apart atom by atom. Before he knew it his hand grasped the edge of the cryopod and he pulled himself in. He twisted his body in the most antagonizing pain as he put his back to the sloped wall. He struggled to push up with his legs, shaking in effort as he finally stood up straight against the sloped backing. His finger slipped across a button on the inside several times before he finally pushed it, watching as the glass casing came down into place, sealing the pod with a hiss. Ale felt a physical cold beginning to creep in at the same time he felt the ship stop for a mere moment. During this brief bout of silence Ale found that he could think clearly.
‘I’m sorry Luna.’
The ship lurched and Ale fell into the dark void as the cold finally took him.
The extremely soft sensation of cool silk sheets greeted Celestia as she woke up. She opened her eyes, staring into the darkness of her room. The dead silence drew forth memories from the depths of her mind, very recent and painful memories being at the forefront of her brain. It had been a year since Ale left and many things had changed since then. The elements, while seeming to have gotten over his presumed death on the outside, resonated with an inner sense of turmoil. They just weren’t quite the same. Many of the guards and citizens of Equestria pushed for a day of remembrance for all the heroic deeds he had done. Celestia had gladly accepted this request and had a national holiday in his honor. He even had a statue in the garden dedicated to him. The stone carving showed Ale in all his armored glory standing in a combat stance. His right arm clutched his rifle while his left reached behind him, comforting an earth pony foal.
Perhaps the biggest change to have occurred was the actions of Luna. After that fateful day she locked herself in her room, not once coming out. She had stopped taking care of the moon, forcing Celestia to take control of it. Celestia was worried about Luna, her cold, silent attitude certainly not good for her health. She hardly ate and, to the best of Celestia’s knowledge, refused to sleep a full nights rest. Celestia had attempted to comfort her or even break through her shell, failing every single time. Luna would either clam up and stare at her or simply ignore her.
With a sigh Celestia slipped the sheets off of herself and rolled out of bed. She slowly stretched and sluggishly headed towards her bathroom. She put on her eyeliner, the only make up she ever cared to use, slowly. It took her much longer than usual to prep for the day as her movements were hampered, a huge amount of stress weighing down every motion. After placing her royal regalia on she headed for her chamber doors. She stopped and breathed quietly for a few seconds. Sucking in a lungful of air, she straightened and stood tall, creating an aura of strength and leadership. She may be hurting but her ponies needed her. She pushed the doors open and stepped out into the torch lit hallways.
The two door guards nodded at her and took their place on either side of her while staying a respectable distance behind her. They headed along the hallway, Celestia nodding and giving polite greetings to the maids, butlers, government officials, and guards that they passed. Everypony other than the princess still seemed to have troubling thoughts on their minds. They were still saddened by the legendary warrior’s death and the fact that the night princess was suffering concerned them just as much. Celestia was honestly surprised that the Spartan’s death impacted her ponies so much. She smiled as she remembered them cheering every time he would fly or drive past, waving or performing stunts for the crowds. He had racked up quite a bit of fame globally when he went on tour with the Wonderbolts as a special guest.
They stopped by a very large balcony. Celestia stepped out onto the balcony by herself as her guards knew this to be a part of her daily schedule. Celestia pushed magic into her horn and flared out her wings, raising her head high. A dull orange glow began tracing the horizon, slowly increasing in width and intensity. Soon after the edge of a bright orange ball began peaking over the rolling hills in the distance. Celestia gave a very slow and gentle flap of her wings, her hooves slowly lifting from the marble ground. She levitated higher as the sun struggled to escape its earthy prison on the horizon. With a bright flare from her horn the sun finally pulled free and cleared the ground. The now blinding white sphere was only interrupted by the shape of Celestia, her form producing a majestic view of the infinitely wise ruler.
She slowly dropped back down and made contact with the floor. She stayed still, staring at the sunlit lands in silent contemplation. She didn’t know how long she stood there, but by the time she turned around she noticed her guards giving her very concerned looks. When they saw her face they saw right past her façade. They smiled softly and gave her understanding nods. Celestia smiled sadly. Many of her guards had confided in her with many things, slowly getting to know the other as if they were best friends. Celestia gestured with her head to get lost, the two guards smiling while bowing. They left her alone, trusting her judgment. Celestia sighed and began walking down the hallways again.
She soon reached her destination. The two lunar guards standing by the door looked at her with blank looks.
“Any change?”
“No, your highness,” the two guards softly replied.
Celestia sighed once again. “You may have the day off. I don’t think she’s going anywhere.”
The two bowed and left, their hoof steps quieting as they moved farther away. Celestia thought for a few moments before knocking on the door. “Luna? It’s me, Tia.” She received no response. “I’m coming in okay?”
Celestia opened the door slowly, the creaking of wood echoing loudly throughout the room due to lack of use. The light cut a path through the darkness, allowing Celestia to see a little better in the dull gloom. She looked towards the bed and found it to be unmade. She looked the other way and saw the dark shadowy form of her sister sitting in front of a covered mirror, the dusty sheet ruffling slightly in the draft of the room. Celestia approached her sister slowly.
“Luna?”
...
“Yes?”
Celestia was shocked that she had actually answered. It was short lived however as she realized how dull and scratchy her voice sounded, almost as if she never used it. She stepped closer.
“How are you feeling?”
“… Lost…”
Celestia faltered, the single word response cutting deeply into her. She nodded understandingly, her sister missing the action as she had her back towards her.
“I know…” she all but whispered back. “He won’t ever be forgotten.” Celestia wiped the tear that had escaped her eye. “Come, breakfast awaits us and many have missed you.”
“… No.”
Celestia stopped. She lowered her head slightly and shook side to side. “Luna, this isn’t healthy. You must get out of this room. Ponies are counting on you. I’m counting on you.”
Luna didn’t move an inch as she replied, “They don’t need me.”
Celestia became exasperated. “Listen, I know how you feel but you can’t jus-,”
Luna whipped around, “Don’t you DARE say that! You have no idea how much it hurts, the amount of pain and loss sucking endlessly at your very being!”
Celestia was shocked. Not just at her outburst but her eyes. They were dull, lifeless. As if they saw nothing.
“Luna, I just want to help.” Celestia reached a hoof out to touch her sister’s shoulder only for her to get slapped away, hard.
“Don’t touch me!”
Celestia backed away, tears beginning to fall freely from her muzzle. “Luna, I-,”
“Leave me,” Luna said.
Celestia slowly turned and walked sluggishly out, her eyeliner leaving sticky black trails on her muzzle. When she had cleared the doors they slammed shut behind her.
“… That’s what he did…”
Luna stared ahead at the dusty sheet. For the first time in months she felt liquid fire burning her eyes. Once the dam burst it kept flowing, her body shaking as she continued to cry silently. She opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling.
“Why? Why did you do this?”
…
“He saw your true self.”
Luna closed her eyes tightly and hung her head.
“But… he loved me. I felt it.”
“It was an act, a ploy to gain your trust.”
“No…”
“He was very similar to the enemy he was fighting…”
Luna curled up into a tighter ball, falling over and quivering violently as she continued to talk to herself.
“Nopony loves you…”
“It’s not true!”
A dark mist began pouring from her eyes, replacing the tears. Every time she spoke it vented out her mouth and nostrils.
“You can’t fi… ght the truth,” her voice split as two voices fought one another. “I love him! He will… never come back!”
Luna felt a sharp pain in her chest as she screamed loudly, tearing the sheet off the mirror with one of her flailing hooves. The Nightmare was standing in the mirror, her draconic teal eyes and bright white fang filled maw gleaming in the reflection. Luna screamed when she saw it and smashed the mirror hard, shattering it instantly. The glass showered around her form with a loud tinkering sound as if was raining. Silence filled the room and no movement came from the dark alicorn.
The room stayed that way for awhile, no pony coming to see what the commotion was about as there was nopony around to hear it. A scuffing sound was heard as one of Luna’s hooves slid across the glass debris. She shifted and rolled slightly to get her hooves under her. Smoothly, she rose from the floor, glass falling free from her pelt. She stayed silent as she stood, her eyes clenched tightly. The shadows in the room seemed to reach towards her as if they were possessed. They wrapped around her and covered her, hiding her from view. After a few moments they lurched away from her violently, still silent as ever. The night princess opened her eyes suddenly.
