Chapters Draped in the Moon and Stars
The horrors of the night
have risen to burn it down.
to burn the fabric of creation
to end all life
from which the creation
of death, and creation itself.
Cloud Watcher stands, picking Fear up gently, "Would you mind traveling with me, as well as carrying her for a little while? I don't exactly trust my strength all that much right now." Stormdrift nods his head as he looks around. Cloud steps toward Stormdrift and lays her gently on his back, "Thanks for your help, it means a lot to me." He begins to walk down the path that Storm had been flying along, "Oh, I'm headed to Ponyville, in case you had been wondering."
Storm follows Cloud, making sure Fear didn't slip off his back. "I could fly her there ahead of you and admit her to the hospital, then come back and meet you halfway. If you'd like?"
"I'd appreciate it..." He begins to whisper quietly, as Storm leaves the ground, "Sleep well... Mayflower.."
"What was that?" Storm looks down to Cloud, hearing him say something else.
"Hmm? Oh, you must be hearing things." Cloud continues down the path as Storm shakes his head and turns forward, flying toward the Ponyville hospital. Cloud looks up into the sky, noting the shapes of the clouds, the direction they flow and the speed they cross the sky at, "Why can't I be like them, free and unerring? A cloud, not bound by rules and laws." He slightly speeds up, his canter being a jog while he watches his surroundings.
He continues on like this for three hours, as the sun begins to go down he becomes drowsy, and eventually falls asleep on a tree trunk. During his sleep he has a dream, a recurring dream that never seems to go away.
"Vale, you know your end, you always have. A change to be, the same as it were."
He turns toward the direction of the voice, speaking, his own voice the same monotonous tone as always, "You have no control of destiny. Mine, or others. Now please, go terrorize little foals' dreams why don't you. You should already understand by now, you can't claim my mind as your own."
"We shall see." As the voice dissipates, his horn begins to glow a white color. This causes vein like energies to run to his flank, the area where a cutie mark should be present, burning him as if he were coated in acid. "A destiny, is yours no longer. No talent is yours to flaunt. A current of magic you no longer have to. You have the weaknesses of a unicorn, with none of the strengths."
He wakes with a start, "I swear, these dreams get more ridiculous as they go along." He looks up to the sky, unable to see clouds the densely packed forest. "I don't remember this forest, not a bit, not at all. Where in the wide, wide, world of Equestria am I now?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Storm arrives at the hospital just as the sun began to sink, checking her in and staying by her side for an hour's time. As she awoke, she spoke three words. "You... may leave..."
The sudden sound of her voice, surprises him as he began to doze off in the chair, "I won't leave until I know you're alright, and not a thing you say will come close to changing my mind."
She sits up in the bed, taking the pain as if it were just a scrape on the knee, "Perhaps... you ought to visit... this Fluttershy you keep worrying about..."
Storm sits up in his chair, "How did you, know about her?" The blush apparent on his face, was all the proof Fear needed.
She looks toward Storm, "You kept whispering her name, on the way here... Of course I'd hear it... Even though I was out." She smiles, "Go, i'll be fine. The nurses will make sure i'm alright, I promise."
Storm thinks to himself, If I go... Cloud'll kill me for leaving her. If I stay... she'll be upset at me... I'll take Cloud being pissed. "Alright... Just, stay here, alright?"
"I'm not able, to go much of anywhere in my condition..." She looks toward her legs, trying to move them, acting as if they would not.
"Before I go..." He reaches into his saddlebag and pulls out a silver tiara, setting it gently on her head. "Just, a little gift I want you to have."
She smiles, "Thank you. I think, you should get going now, before she goes to sleep."
He nods and heads out the door, "See you in the morning Fear!"
Fear waits nearly an hour after Storm leaves and attempts to get off of the cot, falling down as soon as her legs took her body weight. "Thought so..." She tries several times to stand, only succeeding after a few moments of effort, and begins to slowly walk through the door. "Well... time to explore this town..."
She opens the door and silently walks down the hallways of the hospital, nearly getting lost until she noted the signs on the walls, nearly out of her right eye's vision. She follows the signs and eventually makes it outside the hospital into the cold, crisp night air, "Magic would help right now..." The tiara atop her head seemed to reflect the light from the streetlights, into unique patterns on the ground. "Pretty..."
Fear looks around and takes in as much as she can while she walks around the streets. Making it to the center of the town she sees a tall tree-house with a carriage in front of it, the symbol on the sides being a wand and a moon. "I guess... I should try to get some sleep.." She steps onto the carriage with one hoof, nearly slipping off, her hind leg catches the cobblestone path and she pushes herself onto the carriage. She curls up in the middle of the carriage and soon falls asleep, still feeling the crisp air from outside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 Hour Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Trixie must be leaving now, take care Twilight Sparkle!" The blue mare walks toward her carriage, unaware of the sleeping Fear that occupies it. As she walks forward humming the rhythm to a song she begins to hear steady breathing, "What the-" She arrives at her carriage and peers inside, seeing Fear, "What are you doing in Trixie's carriage!?"
Fear wakes with a start and cowers into the back of the carriage, hiding her face behind her hooves. "I.. I.. Don't hurt me... please..."
Trixie hears the fear in her voice and gets onto the carriage, holding out her hoof to Fear. "Trixie apologizes, the last my carriage was occupied, it disappeared for three days. Why have you chosen to sleep here? Don't you have a home to sleep in?"
"N-no... I just left.. the hospital.. earlier than I was supposed to..."
Trixie moves next to Fear, pulling off her cape and laying down. "Trixie wishes for you to lie with her, draped in her moon and stars."
Fear looks to Trixie unsure of what to do, she slowly moves closer to her and lies down, being pulled closer to Trixie and covered in her cape. As the cape settled over her she felt a hoof gently wrap around her. They both soon fall asleep, draped in the moon and stars.
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I'll Never Forget... (Part 1 of 2 Remastered)
Over the next year, the small mare didn't grow much, if at all. Her coat however, became a much more vibrant shade of pink that it was before. The scar around over her left eye had faded slightly, leaving a small pink indentation on her small, gaunt face that was nearly invisible unless looked at from an angle. She took very good care of her mane and tail, especially her tail. She sits for long periods of time brushing and smoothing her tail out.
One afternoon, she begins to cry almost as soon as she wakes up. She wakes up and slowly moves the blanket from over her, feeling a bit more air on the back of her hind legs, but didn't seem too bothered by it.She walk toward the door of her room, not feeling the brushing of her tail across her hind legs. She looks back at and her tail had completely disappeared, she had known it was coming for several months. Ever since she had seen hairs falling out in the shower each night. Now, the reality hits her and she begins to cry as she heads downstairs, locking the door only a few minutes before Cloud Watcher finished his morning routine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Moments Earlier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Cloud Watcher? Do you think that Mayflower would like this book?" Twilight spoke as she came out of her bedroom, her mane still a mess as she had just woken up moments before.
"I'm sure she'll love it Twilight-" He whispers the rest of the sentence to himself, "-She'll love anything you give her."
Twilight cocked and eye at his whispered phrase, "Why do you think that?"
Watcher's eyes widened a bit as he turned back toward Twilight, "I-I didn't say anything!" He nervously squeaks as his breathing becomes shaky for a moment.
"Now Cloud Watcher, I know you well enough to know when you're trying to keep things from me." She smiles warmly as her horn glows for a split second another book coming down from the bookshelf behind Watcher. "So, she'd like anything I gave her... That gives me lots of choices!"
Watcher gave Twilight a silly smile and started chuckling, "I think that giving her a flower along with the book, would be a nice addition." His smile widened and he took a few steps toward her, whispering in her ear. "You haven't realized how much she adores you, huh? You're so oblivious sometimes, you know that?"
Twilight stares at him, confusion spreading quickly across her facial features. "Sh-she adores me...?" Twilight looks around the room and then runs up the stairs into the bathroom. "I'll be down in a few moments! I have to find something!"
Watcher blinks a few times as he stares at the flight of steps, jumping at the sound of a loud thump.
"Spike! Spike where are- Oh... You're not here anymore..." Twilight lay under a pile of books, remembering the day that Spike had left. His greed had caused him major problems in Ponyville and nearly everypony wanted him gone. Even his lifelong crush, Rarity, had wanted to see him gone from Ponyville. "I wonder where you are now Spike..." She looks to the stairs as she hears Watcher coming up.
"You look like you could use some help there Twi." He reaches the top of the stairs and in mid-sentence walks over to Twilight, moving large books off of her back. "Please, if you're going to do something like this, ask for help. I'll have no problem lending a hoof to somepony that I care for as deeply as you. You're like family to me, you were one of the first ponies in Ponyville to actually understand and accept me."
Twilight stared at Cloud Watcher as he effortlessly moved the immense books off of her, wrapping her hooves around him as a sister would her brother. Unable to find any words to respond to him with, tears began to form in her eyes.
Watcher's eyes widened as he felt her begin to tremble, hearing sniffles coming from her as well. "Twilight, are you alright...?" He hugged her back tightly, but not tight enough to constrict her movement.
"Help me... My friends are all breaking apart... and I can't do anything to stop it..." She whispered in-between breaths, unable to find the ability to bring her voice any louder. "I-I don't know how... To help them Cloud Watcher..."
Cloud Watcher freezes as his eyes close, an image burning into his mind. Shattered glass, a scream, and a cape hanging from a window. He begins coughing shortly after and blood sprays from his throat onto Twilight's back and the ground behind her.
The sound of breaking glass shatters this premonition's hold on his mind as a mare screams loudly. Several ponies in Ponyville come outside their houses when they hear the scream, looking around to see what may have happened.
"Mayflower!" Cloud Watcher stands Twilight up and balances her before bolting back down the stairs and out the door, in the direction of his home. "Celestia tell me that wasn't what I think it was..." He whispers to himself as Twilight catches up to him, joining him on his mission, so to speak.
The tear trails were still easily visible on Twilight's face as she ran alongside Cloud Watcher, entirely off balance with her steps. The tone in her voice turned to a much more flat, and somber tone as she spoke. "Not her... Please tell me that wasn't my Flower..."
Cloud Watcher doesn't notice Twilight as his gaze was affixed dead ahead at his home, the upstairs window broken with Trixie's gift, her cape, hanging torn from the window. "No! I will not have failed you like this! Not again!" Cloud Watcher began to tear up a moment before they returned to normal, his face showing obvious signs of an immense anger just below the surface.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Twilight kept right alongside Cloud Watcher as two more ponies joined in the chase, but from above, and out of sight. "Scootaloo, go home. I understand quite well that you know her as well as I do but... I couldn't stand it if you got hurt." A cyan pegasi spoke, wiser than she had been in her younger years. "Please... I don't want to see you get hurt.."
"I know how to fly Dash! I can handle myself, stop being so overprotective! It's annoying..." The younger orange pegasus spoke much the same as Dash herself had when she was the same age. "Stop being such an old mare!"
"I'm not being an old mare. I'm trying not to get you killed." Dash spoke to Scootaloo as a sister, and a mentor. "You don't see it now, but I care more for your safety than anything else."
Scootaloo let out a sigh and looked over at Dash, "Sorry... I just hate when you act like I'm still a filly..." She blushes lightly as she feels a hoof through her mane.
"I know you do, I'm still trying to get used to you being like me." Dash chuckles a moment before looking forward again, "Now, to the most important thing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another sound fills the ears of the residents of Ponyville as Cloud Watcher freezes in mid-step, flipping head over heels and sliding several feet on his side. "Nggghh... Aaccchhh!" His heart ceases beating as he flips through the air, sliding across the ground with a sickening crack. Blood was coming from both nostrils and the left side of his mouth, a steady dripping as he lay motionless.
Twilight stops running as she sees Cloud Watcher flip through the air, the sound causing her to cringe and immediately start rushing to his side. She begins crying as soon as she reaches him, gently putting a hoof to his chest and feeling no heartbeat.
As Twilight rushed over to him, many other ponies rushed over as well, unsure of exactly what happened. One of these ponies was Pinkie Pie, the first pony that he met when he had arrived in Ponyville. She had asked the cakes for a room for him to sleep in for a while, and they began to form feelings. This, began to blossom into love, and quickly to marriage. One foal was conceived, but alas, had died only months after birth of complications.
She fell to the ground and put her hoof over Cloud Watcher, burying her muzzle into his chest. There she lay for an hour before the consoling hoof of Twilight on her back had left them at the hospital, where Cadance began trying to revive him. With no avail, she laid a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder, tears forming in her own eyes at the loss of her former guard captain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And in that horrible day,
A brother, a lover was lost.
A beaming ray of light
in this bleak night
Now resting in the clouds,
As he had always wished.
Was he a watcher?
Or rather a protector?
Who lost his will and way,
during the pain and the flay.
After all this time
The terrors are here still.
The rain keeps falling
though the sky is clear
The fire's dying out
No 'will' can save me.
/ Let me tell you a story. Believe it, or don't. Take it as the ravings of some madpony nearing his death. I don't care, just read it. /
She tosses and turns, she shivers and she shakes. The nightly tremors that course this filly's mind, seemingly coming to fruition every waking hour . The filly wakes to a voice, her father's, calling her name quite angrily. She begins to move the meager covering blanket from herself, baring the many bruises and scars she has received due to her father's harsh "punishment" for being useless.
"Fear! Get down here now, you little rodent!" The castle of Crystal seemed to shake with every word he spoke.
Fear quickened her pace and fell from her bed, hitting her muzzle on the cold floor. "Ow..." She stands and rubs her muzzle with her hoof as she slowly walked toward the halls, the dark, un-reflective crystal halls. As she walked she could hear her father yelling more unpleasantries toward her. The "guards" often try to comfort her, but they all succumb to the same fates as the last. Her father would slowly kill them, pushing a sharp crystal slowly through their back, and puncture their hearts. Death, is all the reward you received by comforting this hurting filly.
As Fear reaches the end of the hallway, she arrives at a tall staircase going down. She cautiously trots halfway down the stairs before her hoof slips. She tumbles down the stairs, her head or ribs, hitting each step as she went down.
Her father, Sombra, enters the room with a sneer. "Such an idiot, you can't even traverse the stairs correctly!? Your uncle Gale was more useful than you, and he "cared for you" more than I do." He got just about in her face and spoke again, "Too bad he's dead. Oh wait, that's right, I killed him!" He laughs loudly and pulls his head away from her.
His laughing caused Fear to shout, "Shut. Up!" She hid her head behind her hooves, afraid of the reaction her father would have.
Sombra stopped laughing, "Did I just hear you command me, to shut my mouth?" He picks her up harshly by her mane holding her so he could look into her eyes, "You believe that YOU, an unneeded filly, has the right to command me? The right to anything?" He waits a moment, expecting a response.
Fear closes her eyes, unable to speak, let alone speak to her "father." Sombra soon gets annoyed and brings his hoof hard across her face three times and drops her to the floor. He turns and walks away, a triumphant look on his face. As Fear lands a loud snap could be heard as her horn makes contact with the floor. Blood begins to quickly seep out from the horn's original place at her forehead. Fear opens a single eye and sees her horn moving away, as she sees this she feels a searing and uncontrollable pain from her forehead. Everything goes black.
/The punishment you've just heard, went on for 8 more years. Causing her to become blind in her left eye due to a "punishment." This "punishment" was done with a dagger, and it caught across her left eye, leaving a deep scar./
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8 Years Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sombra, becoming impatient while waiting for his 18 year old daughter, calls out to her in his home. "Daughter, I will not call you again!"
The mare trots slowly out of her room, limping to the left with each step. She comes to the top of the stairs and cautiously traverses them, she nearly misses a step but is caught by a guard, with a two-toned green mane.
"I've got you, don't worry Fear." He smiles and moves his mane from his eyes as he guides her the rest of the way down the stairs, "You going to be okay?"
"Y-you... know he'll kill you...?" Fear looks to the guard, surprised at his kindness as her hooves leave the last step. When she looks to her left down the hallway her father had called her from, she begins to get a pulsating pain from the shattered horn on her forehead. Her hoof goes to her forehead and she starts to get dizzy, a hoof still on her shoulder.
"I'll walk with you to the doorway, to make sure you get there okay. Among other things." As he finishes speaking, his voice becomes a little darker sounding.
She nods her head, unaware of the tone of his voice, "Th-thank you... Very much.." They walk down the hallway and can hear Sombra mumbling, knowing he's about to yell again. "I should... go in.."
"Alright, be safe Fear." He bows his head and stands by the door, silently breathing as she enters the room. He keeps focused on the room, so he can hear every word being said.
"You've failed to respond quickly enough, again! What are you going to do for this bloodline when you can't even come when you're called!?" He grabs her by her mane and throws her into the table that's in front of him.
A second later the door slams open and the guard from outside the door along with two others, charge at Sombra. He breaks off from the other two and goes straight for Fear, picking her up and jumping through a window. "I hate heights!" The guards helmet comes off in the air as he holds her away from the ground, ready to take the impact at any moment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A light blue pegasi is flying down the path toward the castle, his eyes darting back and forth as though he were looking for something. As he is nearing the castle he hears the sound of shattering glass and speeds up. As he comes closer to the castle he sees a unicorn holding somepony, falling to the ground. "No! He'll die if he makes impact like that!" He speeds up even more, making several near impact saves from hitting into trees as he flies near the speed of legends. He reaches them mere seconds before impact, being dragged down to the ground as he catches them, it knocking the air from his lungs. They land with a hard thud on the ground, the fedora no longer being on the head of the pegasi, "Ah damn! Now I have to get another one."
The Unicorn looks to Fear, making she she is alright. Surprised to still be alive, He looks to the pegasi breathing heavily and begins to speak, "Thank you... I didn't expect to live from that one, I just wanted her to get away from... here. My name's Vale, but i'm called Cloud Watcher by some. Such an irritating name, just for the fact that I like to look up into the clouds."
Breathing heavily the pegasi responds, "The name's Stormdrift, and you're an idiot! You both could have died you know!"
Cloud Watcher, Vale, begins his trek through the mysterious forest, knowing that it was not the Everfree. "I must move on, if I wish to arrive in Ponyville soon. I didn't sleep long it seems, as the moon is still rising." He looks to the sky and sees a certain constellation in the night stars, "Cadence. I swear on my life, she will be brought back safely." He heads farther into the forest, the constellation seemingly following him. The forest began to get thicker and thicker as went through, "Well, creepy forests are not that strange to me anymore. Nice try." He pushes on as the sounds of the forest became eerie, long and dark screeches. As a loud crack is heard he looks to the left, a tree falling toward him as he trips on a root.
He opens his eyes, and walks down the path to Ponyville, as if nothing had happened. One dream, had come to pass. One dream, had cursed him. He continues walking down the path for an hour, Ponyville coming into sight as the sun began to rise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fear awakes, the cloak still covering her, but with a note next to her. Reading;
"Trixie has business she must take care of. Do not worry of the cloak, it is in your possession now, wear it proudly." Such a simple note, simplicity that brings a tear to Fear's eye. "She... left..." She stepped out of the carriage as the sun started to rise. Seeing Cloud Watcher in the distance, she began to limp toward the outskirts of Ponyville.
"Fear? Why aren't you in the hospital?" Cloud Watcher asks himself as she steps out of the carriage and limps toward him. He begins to run toward her, tripping as remembers something.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"GIVE ME BACK MY SISTER YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" The 9 year old colt Cloud Watcher yells as he chases Sombra, carrying a filly in his hooves.
"Like Sombra is going to listen to a colt? Ha! You make me laugh you pathetic worm of a being." Sombra disappears in a cloud of smoke,
"Mayflower... Mommy... Why..." He slams head first into the ground, something slamming down onto him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mayflower... I've found you.. my sister..." He stands, and begins to run toward Fear, Mayflower, as fast as he can. "Mayflower!"
Fear stops walking, "My name... is Fear... why did he..." Her eyes widen, "Brother...?"