Fallen Kings and Crystal Hearts

Chapters

Introduction: A Man, A Princess, And A Fallen King
A pegasus with a see through heart and a mare with a broken one
A New day with Royalty, Court in a Castle, and a Mailmare with a Wall Eyed Stare
A Train to a Small Town, A foreboding dream and the Click of Friendship
Anxiety and Draconiquis and Döppelgangers, Oh My!

Introduction: A Man, A Princess, And A Fallen King

It is said that there are an innumerable universes that are in constant contact with our own. It has also been suggested that there are points where the boundaries are close enough for them to touch each other. These have gone by many names but a very common one is a “pole”. Normally this isn’t a big deal, even with constant contact, the universes never really affect each other but when they do…

On a dark, silent night, in the royal castle in Canterlot, a lone guard pony enters a room adjacent to the throne room and comes across a lone crystal encased in a dome of glass. The crystal was none other than a piece of crystal from the crystal city, a crystal sensitive to magic and emotions alike, a crystal that a certain pony knew the true power of. A wide grin cracked its way across the guard’s face and his eyes, glowing green from a dark magic of that certain pony, fixated on the shard of the beloved crystal. The guard pony’s hoof raised in the air and deftly fell upon the encasement housing the gem with a sharp smash. The pony the took the crystal in his teeth and began trotting through a doorway just as a few guard ponies, as well as princess Celestia charged into the room. Celestia’s mouth hung open seeing the smashed case.

“Your highness?” asked Shining Armor, catching her worried expression.

“This crystal…” Celestia began, her mind trying to think of who could have known about the crystal’s presence. Her eyes then shot open in. “No, it can’t be possible! He couldn’t have!”

Before any of the guards could ask any more, the princess was galloping down a hidden path leading to a room under the castle. The rest of the guards followed her, their eyes locked on the princess and their minds primed for anything that could have happened, or anything about to happen.

The passageway led to an old cave. One that was emitting a bright light because of crystals that lined the walls as thought they were naturally growing. The princess and the guards saw a figure facing a glowing pond in a large opening in the cave. The pond itself was glowing its own vibrant glow, a glow unlike any magic any pony was aware of, one ancient enough to evoke both fear and reverence. A deep laugh drew the focus of everypony to the figure standing at the lake, clad in full guard attire. The pony turned around and Celestia narrowed her eyes in scorn and a rage that would shake any normal pony to their core. A sickening green glow emanating from his eyes and a twisted grin played his face.

“My dear, Celestia,” cracked the dark voice, “what a secret you’ve been hiding from me.”

“Sombra…” spat the princess sharply “You are supposed to be banished, powerless because of the crystal heart!”

This statement incited one more depraved cackle. The figure shook with sadistic pleasure seeing the outburst the normally graceful princess had become prey to in his presence. The reaction of disbelief and fear from some guards also whetted his thirst for dominance.

“Ah, yes, that infuriating relic that MY crystal ponies used against me.” Hissed the black voice as a violent flash of anger swept through his visage, “It’s true that it has locked away my body, as well as most of my power, however,” that same smile slit across the pony and his eyes narrowed. “I won’t have to worry about that for too much longer…”

Once the puppet said his peace he quickly shifted his hoof. The princess watched helplessly as the shard slid into the pond with a plop. The figure then laughed its crackling cackle and a dark fog seeped out of the pony and vanished before the guardspony fell to the ground with a hard flop. The guardsponies around the princess began approaching hesitantly before the princess released a sorrowful, tired sigh.

“It is fine guardsmen. King Sombra is gone.”

The guardponies looked to her questioningly as a strained moan rose from the fallen pony in guard armor. Flash Sentry went to the pony and knelt to him. He slowly took of the helmet and the white Earth pony opened his eyes slowly, his fatigue apparent. His crystalline blue eyes listlessly floated around the unfamiliar surroundings he was in. When his eyes fell upon Celestia his muzzle moved showing much labor as he mouthed the name Sombra and fainted.
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With an apathetic yawn, Kaleb Brown, a brown haired, brown eyed young man wakes up. His hand scratched his ever-grown facial hair as his other hand fumbled around his bedside table before clamping lazily around a well-used, slightly cracked, black glasses case. He withdrew the spectacles contained within and began stretching in his room which, at the time, was dimly lit by the afternoon light. He knew it wasn’t the best idea to wake up at this time of day, but with the kind of life he lived, it didn’t much matter when he got up. He only wrote for a few small magazines or the occasional collections for local poets. He knew he could find better jobs but he didn’t really see much of a reason in making more. He never really had anyone to lavish with gifts or had any habits that needed to have excessive amounts of money thrown into them. All he really had was him and the bills he had to pay. To many, this would be a lonely, sad, life but it was all he knew. His whole life he loved being solitary; a few friends and the occasional time he’d go out to eat was enough for him, since crowds usually led to drama that he could deal without.

This fact of his life was even apparent where he lived. His house was slightly on a mountain, above a small town called Canterlot. It was the home town that he grew up in. Hell, he even went to high school with the current principal and vice principal. There were others he went to high school with but those two were his only “real friends”. He even remembers telling the freshmen that the stature outside the high school would take them to another world if they weren’t careful. That prank was one that was constantly re-hashed. No one even knows how or why it started but enough about that. It was actually because of something involving those women, or rather to one of them about the other, that Kaleb even got up in the first place. He began getting ready, thinking about the events that would happen today.

He was going to meet up with Principal Celestia at a local café that they always visited, it would be just the two of them since her sister, Vice Principal Luna, was away for a little while. He would take this opportunity to talk to his good friend and ask for her advice. He knew that now would be the only time for a while because after the day was done, Luna would be back and then the new school year would start. Kaleb had to talk to Celestia about this without Luna though and he was sure the clever Principal already knew why.

Since the three of them graduated, Kaleb began missing Luna, not just in a normal way though. He would miss the weirdest things about her, things that he would always hate about her. The biggest example he could think of was the fact that she overcomplicate an explanation when asked something and he would then have to cover her and simplify it; he despised doing such things usually, but these last years he would almost need to do them to feel calm. He knew that Celestia would have the answers to what he wanted to know, out of the three of them, she was always the one that was the best at solving personal problems.

As he turned off his shower a sharp crash snapped him out of his semi-meditary state as he jolted out of the bathroom and slipped on the hardwood floor of his room causing a rug to flip in the air and flop onto his nether regions. A groan scratched its way out of his throat, as his wounded ego gave him a mental face palm. He then lazily turned his head to the side to see his broken window and an assortment of its broken glass on the floor. He begrudgingly sat himself up before realizing that there wasn’t only glass in the pile in front of the door, but a crystal big enough to grasp lay amongst the shards.

Kaleb let out an exasperated sigh, got to his feet and replaced the rug as it was before. His steps then were cautious as he made his way to the mass of glass that rested before the window. He carefully placed the shards in his trash bin, before he picked up the crystal that was among them with great curiosity. It was then that he jumped up, remembering that he needed to finish getting ready if he wanted any hope of making it to the meeting place in time. He lightly tossed the gem onto his bed and commenced his morning rituals.
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Meanwhile, back in the equine universe, Luna, is greeted by her sister who has a rather somber expression on her face. Her interest piqued, the midnight blue alicorn silently trotted to her sister who then ushered her into an empty room, a bedchamber that, for years, had remained unused. The princess of the night looked into her sister’s eyes, steeling herself in front of her sister.

“Is something the matter, dear sister?” came Luna’s voice, her tone hushed but firm. “We didn’t expect to be greeted by thee at such an hour.”

“It’s about Sombra,” came the white alicorn’s reply. Her gaze pierced into the deep eyes of her younger sister as she continued, her voice little more than a breath. “and the crystal heart.”

Luna’s eyes grew wide as her dear elder sister recounted the events that transpired but mere hours earlier. Her very wings began shivering as Celestia described the strange, almost otherworldly, magic that the evil king seemed to have command over and, all at once, her mind raced to the memories of her alter ego created years back, Nightmare Moon.

“What of Twilight and the Elements?” she nearly spat in a fluster.

“My student is diligent as always. Even becoming a princess hasn’t stifled her sense of urgency; if anything, she’s become more quick to take action. She’s looking into all books of dark magic and ponytales.”

This calmed the majestic, blue alicorn a bit, not too much considering the circumstances, she knew if anypony could find even the slightest shred of a clue, it would be the new princess of magic, Twilight Sparkle. Still, this didn’t even begin to alleviate her more pressing worries, the princess of the Crystal Kingdome, Candice. She knew her sister had her worries as well but she was the essential face of the kingdom; she couldn’t check into a neighboring land with no word and Luna knew letting out the news of what happened wasn’t a possibility, even the name of King Sombra, the mad king, was one that was almost a taboo, almost as Discord’s was. Luna’s wings quickly shot open and with a glow from her horn the door to the balcony opened. Celestia looked into her eyes; she tried not to show her worry but her eyes betrayed her with an expression telling her sister to be care. Luna nodded her head, her eyes deadly serious. She took off as Celestia’s sun began getting ready to make its long trek across the sky.

Not wanting to worry anypony, Luna stayed in the sky. Her mind was racing and wracked with worry. She knew that if it really was as her elder sister said, then the power Sombra would have would be unfathomable. She knew this since the same thing basically happened to her as Nightmare Moon. Her repressed side finally broke through and all the things she was so ashamed of forced their way to her surface. She winced a bit remembering the pain and power of her raw emotions, a power that nopony, not even one as close to being a goddess as she, could comprehend. Her heart felt a slight prick of pain remembering the look that seemed to stain her sister’s face before she banished her. The tears had burned their tracks all down her face as the element of harmony glowed in her magical light. Then one last stream forced its way out as she closed her eyes and her magic petrified the elements to seal her away. She furiously shook her head at the mere thought of that moment as burning tears silently slid across her face.

“I hurt so many ponies.” Luna said, the pain in her voice causing it to waver before she shook her head. “No, I can’t dwell on that right now. I have to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again.”

Her newfound urgency boosted only further when the weather signified how close her destination was. Luna’s speed grew as the frost ridden wind’s tongue lapped and lashed at her, for she knew that the cold wouldn’t stop her. Her horn glowed a dark blue tint and her wings flapped with the beauty and speed of and bird of prey. Her eyes sharpened as she saw the one thing that she was waiting for, the barrier of the Crystal City, kept up by the princess herself, Candice, yet something seemed odd about the magic used with it this time. Luna hesitantly glided to the slightly dark tinted shield but only hovered in front of it as she heard a low hum. Luna gazed wearily at the energy that stood between her and her destination. She carefully placed a hoof upon the surface and the energy field crackled in response. Luna left her hoof there but the crackling was all that happened. After taking a deep breath and nodding in determination, the midnight blue princess passed through the field.
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A stream of steam rose from the cup of coffee that sat in front of a lightly smiling Kaleb while his friend, Celestia, a tall woman with light blue and teal hair sipped a mug of her own bitter brew. He couldn’t remember the last time that the two of them had sat there like this without her needing to worry about her job, even though there were more than likely many times they could have met up; this time, however, he had something that he knew he had to talk to her about. The professional, gentle looking woman gave a relaxed sigh as she sat her cup in front of her and looked at Kaleb with her soft, motherly eyes.

“So, what’s wrong, Kale?” she asked in a slightly playful, relaxed tone.

The question coaxed a slightly irritated sigh from his lips though his eyes held a light of joy at her nickname for him. Whenever they met, he knew she’d call address him with it, as a little, playful jab. The name surrounded a time in high school when he forgot his lunch and Celestia’s sister let him have some of her salad. The two of them ended up eating everything but the red kale, which Kaleb refused to eat, even though Luna kept pushing it in his face saying “it has your name on it.” This memory pushed the corners of his lips into a reminiscent smile, causing a smirk to appear on the friendly woman.

“Ah, I get it.” she began, her grin growing a bit. “You already miss little Luna, don’t you?”

This comment snapped Kaleb back to his present situation as his eyes took a new inquisitive glance at his friend’s teasing smile. His mouth contorted into a thinking frown.

“Well, to tell you the truth, yes.” Kaleb claimed bluntly. “As of late, I’ve been missing all the times Luna and I would spend together in high school.”

A thoughtful, soft smile inscribed the gentle visage of the woman in front of him as his thoughts went past his lips with a tone of confusion and slight sorrow.

“I don’t get it Celes, I used to dread having to do some of the very things that I’m beginning to long for.” Kaleb stated, his shaking slightly as his hands tightly gripped the mug in front of him. “I mean, this small time that she’s been away, I already miss arguing with her about going somewhere to eat or having to explain to others her reply to them.”

The brown haired man just let out an exasperated sigh as he brought his black liquid, now warm thanks to time, to meet his dazed lips. Celestia chuckled at his puzzlement and took a sip of her own to clear her throat. She looked into Kaleb’s addled eyes and gave a warm smile to soothe the storm no doubt plaguing his muddled mind.

“Kaleb,” she began, her cooling voice drawing his eyes to hers. “I think I know what’s going on, but it’s not my place to do anything.” His puzzled look only drew more warmth from her eyes as she continued. “You need to talk to Luna about this. She will understand and, I’m sure, you will too.”

Kaled looked down slightly from his loving friend’s eyes and drew an exasperated sigh before closing his eyes. This action on its own brought out a chuckle from the principal’s lips.

“Also, Kale, on an unrelated note, my sister doesn’t really like jewelry. She more likes the gems, as long as they’re ‘mysterious’ anyway.”

That brought out more confusion from the man’s eyes but also a spark of something else. His face softened a bit and he snapped his fingers.

“Oh yea, Celes, have you seen this before?” Kaleb asked producing the crystal from that afternoon from his pocket. It began to give a faint blue glow as he did so. “Someone threw this through my window and thought you might know who.”
His voice was calm as he noticed the faint glow of the gem. Celestia’s face, however, was the one the one flooded with confusion, this time. She lightly accepted the gem from Keleb’s palm and it began to glow a different color. She squinted her eyes for a moment before handing it back to Kaleb, shaking her head with a sigh.
“Nope,” she began, looking into Kaleb’s eyes with a serious look. “I mean, it’s mysterious, but that’s all I can tell you. I don’t even know where someone would get something like that.”
Kaleb put the gem in his pocket once more and Celestia laughed a little.
“I’ll say one thing though; it kind of reminds me of you.”
Kaleb’s eyebrow raised a bit at this remark as she giggled and took another sip from her coffee.
“I mean, the way it changed from you to me reminds me of how different you act to different people. There’s also the fact that I’m sure not many people have seen it.” Her chuckling, light purple, eyes peered into his. “You don’t really come out that much. A lot of the students began saying you are the student the statue took to a different world because your name’s about the only thing most know of you.”
That last part made Kaleb laugh a bit as he got up from the table. Celestia followed suit and gave him a quick goodbye and a hug before leaving the door to the small diner. Kaleb waited a moment, thinking about what his friend said before he too exited the familiar eatery.

The sky above grew grey as Kaleb exited the small diner and stifled a small yawn. His talk with the ever helpful principal went about as well as he thought it would. Her answers were a bit vague yet simple at the same time which caused him to scratch his head as he began to walk away from the small, usual gathering place. His hand then tucked itself away in the pocket of his green cargo pants and he sighed a bit as he withdrew the crystal from earlier this afternoon from his pocket.

“She said that I should talk to Luna herself about this huh?” he flatly stated, looking into the weird gen that he held in his hand. “Well, I guess Tia would know best. Still, she could have given me some help in putting this stuff together.”

Kaleb sighed as he looked into the crystal, his mind even more puzzled that it was when he awoke. The crackling of the sky above him raised his eyebrow a bit. As far as he knew, there wasn’t supposed to be a storm that evening but if there was, it wouldn’t surprise him. The thing that did was the fact that there wasn’t even a bit of rain coming down. His eyes began drifting to the skies above him before the crystal in his began to light up. His eyes peered into the gleaming gemstone resting against his palm to behold green and red eyes staring at him and a mocking, cynical grin that seemed to laugh at his very existence.

Kaleb could feel a bead of sweat clinging to his forehead as he witnessed the haunting sight that the crystal seemed to permeate before him. He swallowed hard as a bone chilling cackle cracked through the air and echoed into the very depths of his soul. His mind seemed to race with panic as a gravelly voice snaked its way into his mind.

“Ah, yes, the time is coming! Soon, my prison will fall and my subjects will once more bow before me and give me their power!”

Kaleb couldn’t even move as the voice once more broke into its hideous laugh, chilling the very bones of the man that held the crystal. He could feel heat radiate off the strange jewel that now glared a horrendous black tint. Soon the heat rose with the roar of the crackling voice’s cackle. Kaleb shot open his mouth to scream at the searing pain that traveled quickly up his arm and through his body, only to be met with burning air rushing from his throat. His brown eyes peered and pleaded to the grim sky above him that whatever deity was up there would help him and free him from this hell he was experiencing. It was then that one section of the desolate clouds parted and that the figure of what looked like a small group of stars and night sky resembling a small horse with a horn and wings gazed at him with a dull, beautiful light. It was then that the world around him began to grow black and his body began to feel weightless, as if he was becoming part of the night itself, but the burning was gone. A single tear rolled down his cheek in thanks before everything faded.
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Luna galloped through the crystal city, looking on in horror at the scene in front of her eyes. Everywhere she looked she saw black crystals piercing the ground and buildings, shaping it into a twisted vision of despair and madness. The crystal ponies were screaming in terror as the jewel spikes made their way toward them, petrifying them in black sculptures of fear as it touched them. The sight before her was worse than any pony could have imagined; a scene that would be straight from the nightmares of even Nightmare Moon.

Luna’s hooves beat the ground to match her racing heart as she sped to the castle of the crystal city. Her fears beginning to grasp hungrily at her throat with each scream that pierced the air all across the crystal city. Her eyes pleadingly darted from one statue to the other along her path, hoping against hope that her beloved family member, Candace was unharmed.

As she got to the grounds of the palace itself she saw that they were littered with statues of the princess’ guard, their determined looks to save their beloved crystal princess forever etched into their faces. The sight of this alone did not bode well for the princess herself. Luna pressed on, her wings swiftly bringing her to her destination. Throughout the halls there was nothing but the lonely isolation of the black crystal that was choking the life out of the once vibrant castle until the throne room was right there before her, blocked by the now black crystalline door. With a smash she broke through the demented obstacle and cast her eyes on the one thing she did not wish to see, before her was the scene of a fallen princess being protected by her head guard, and husband, forever trapped in unloving, unmoving, crystal. Tears built up in the eyes of the princess of the night as she mourned the scene of utter sadness that laid before her, a symbol, to her, of her weakness.

Her mourning was cut short, however, by a sickening cackle, one that would chill Celestia’s sun to nothing but a sock of ice. Her eyes shot to the source and widened at a sight she never thought possible, before her stood a unicorn with a jet black coat and a red horn clad in dark grey armor and a new pure black royal cape, his green and red eyes fixated on a glowing Crystal Heart that was slowly turning black and emitting an ear splitting scream. The sound from the Crystal heart caused Luna to wince as she tried to wrap her head around how it was screaming before her horn emitted a glow of blue that stopped the black pony from continuing his menacing laughter. A stream of concentrated magic then shot from her horn to the crystal heart, shattering it to pieces and silencing the screams. The jet black stallion then turned to her, his green and red eyes emanating pure rage toward the princess before him.

“You dare stand in the way of King Sombra?” the stallion shouted in a thunderous voice, his horn giving a menacing black glow.

Princess Luna had no verbal response for him, just a look of anger at the fallen king that took away precious family as well as betrayed his ponies. Her horn began glowing it’s dim, blue glow as she began to channel more magic. The sight of the serious looking mare before him drove the fallen king into a fit of fiendish laughter as a spiraling black stream of magic shot from his crimson horn. The princess kept her concentration despite the slight tinge of fear that racked her mind because of the mass of anger boiling up inside of her. Just before the beam stuck the mare of the night, a flash erupted in front of her, swallowing up the stream of dark power as it fizzled out of existence. Sombra slammed his eyes shut and Luna held a wing in front of hers as the light reached its concentrated peak.

When the light began to fade, the sight of hooves could be seen on the floor of the place before Luna. She put her wings back and felt a surge of power surge into her horn’s magic, causing cracks of magical lightning to cut through the air immediately in front of it. With a bewildered look her eyes fell on a pegasus before her with light brown fur and a messy dark brown mane. His eyes her closed but his hooves were firmly on the ground, his wing tightly tucked into his sides. A cry of frustration broke her back into reality, however, as she snapped to an aggravated King Sombra. Sharpening her eyes, and her boosted magic, on the dark king in front of her, a bolt of pure white magic surged from her horn and cut its way to a bemused, demented Sombra.

A scream of frustration and pain rang throughout the room as a flash enveloped the field of vision. The cracking of magical electricity and the shattering of crystal made a chorus of destruction that rang through the area until a giant shatter tore through the throne room and the harsh, magical light began to die and fade off, revealing a destroyed throne room, a completely destroyed wall, a worn out Candice and Shining Armor, leaning on each other, breathing heavily, and a passed out Pegasus with a light brown coat and a messy dark brown mane.

Author's Note

Well, here we go! The Powerful King Sombra has broken free with much more power than before, the living incarnation or the Crystal Heart has awoken in Equestria, and many many strange things await those involved.
I'd appreciate any feedback I can get and I'd love to make improvements. Thank you to all in the herd that read this story and I hope you'll all keep watching for more. Once again, thanks a lot!

A pegasus with a see through heart and a mare with a broken one

It had been a few days since the attack on the crystal empire and all the crystal ponies were slowly recovering from whatever magic Sombra had put them under. Their form began slowly to regain color and movement as a few unicorns form Canterlot began slowly using powerful healing magic. Those that were released from the spell laboriously gathered to see their exhausted crystal princess, Candice. The pink alicorn rose her head and looked at her precious ponies with tired, yet determined, eyes. Once the ponies saw the look in their beloved princess’ eyes, a smile grew on their muzzles.

“My little ponies,” began the royal pink mare, “it is true that one of our worst fears has come to life, Sombra has freed himself.”

Chatter erupted through the crowd as they heard their princess’ words. The glow of fear began to ebb away at the essence of hope that they were looking for, until their queen smirked with a look of defiance and courage. The crystal ponies stilled their tongues and their hollow, weary eyes looked , once more, to their beautiful Crystal Princess.

“However, Sombra underestimated the power of friendship between my sisters and me.” rang her words with a hint of the noble voice behind them. “My beloved sister-princess, Luna, came to us in our hour of need and refused that tyrant to have the power he wanted.”

Cheers rose from the crowd as the night blue alicorn mare came beside Candice. The cheers were filled with enough hope that surrounding crystals began to give a faint glow. The princess of the night smiled on the crystal ponies, her eyes slightly scanning the faces of the ponies gathered around. Her eyes stopped slightly, however, when she spotted one particular pony, a pegasus away from the rest, still unconscious from the encounter with the fallen king.

Sharp cheers broke through the fog of unconsciousness that had laid itself on Kaleb Brown’s mind. His ego began to struggle out of the comatose state it realized it was in and began to focus on the cheering as his body began to slowly stir its unusually sore muscles. The sounds of the world began slowly getting clearer as his body worked out all the kinks and knots it had built up until he felt something on him twitch that felt alien to him. He concentrated further on the foreign appendage and, after a bit of work, was rewarded with a spasm.

“Art thou alright?” came an elegant voice.

Kaleb slowly opened his worn out eyes and saw a midnight blue equine head blur into focus. Seeing this, his eyes shot open and something flared out around his sides. This made the pony stifle a laugh yet her eyes also looked a bit worried. Kaleb, in a bit of a panic looked around his shoulder and saw tense tan wings.

“Wings?” he said under his breath.

Princess Luna looked at the odd behavior of the pegasus before her and her concern only grew from what it was previously. The sight of that pony in the room during the confrontation with the fallen king Sombra was out of place as well as the surge of magic that came at the end.

Perhaps that blast damaged our subject? Luna thought to herself, silently observing the distraught pony toss his glance from side to side. It is not often we generate this much panic, fear yes, but not panic.

The tan pegasus then quickly spun around looking at his body and only showing the princess his flank in his mentally disheveled state. Luna’s eyes grew wide and she didn’t know whether to laugh or ask a nurse to look as the poor pegasus. In the midst of thinking this the princesses eyes drifted to the tan pony’s flank and her mind snapped back into being serious when she saw his cutie mark, a broken crystal.

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell aghast causing a few of her guard ponies to pay attention to the pegasus. The guards surrounded him with brandished spears and hollow looks. Many of them didn’t trust this pegasus and they made no effort to hide it. Their wings and magic tightened the grips held on their weapons, just waiting for the stallion to do something.

That’s when the pegasus looked at all the guards, stiff with terror and eyes brimming with tears. When one guard saw that he noticed them he lowered the spear, pointing the tip at the frightened stallion, who lowered himself as close to the ground as he could go while he laid back his ears and covered his eyes with his forehooves. As Luna saw the scene that was unraveling before her, her heart began to brake. She knew the feeling of fear, of wanting to hide your very existence from the arduous gazes of your fellow ponies and wanting all that was happening to go away. Then anger shone in her icy blue gaze as the guard took a step towards the terror stricken pegasus.

“Stop!” she boomed in her royal Canterlot voice, causing the guard to almost drop his spear in shock. “We command thee to stand down, lest thou wishes to face our wrath!”

The unicorn guard dropped his spear and shot back to the others in a speed that nearly made his helmet fly off. His amber orange eyes snapped to the ground as the midnight blue alicorn slowly approached the terrified tan pegasus.

Kealeb shook with fear as his eyes clutched shut behind his new hooved forelegs. His mind felt as though his grasp on reality could shatter at any moment. He felt his new appendages, his wings, lay pressed to the ground and so stiff that pain shot through his shoulder blades. Just as he was about to try to pull them in, however, he heard hoofsteps coming closer to him which only made him tense up more. He felt feather after feather become disheveled and try to stand on their own as the fur on his neck pricked up for fear of what may happen.

That is when he felt a nuzzle on his muzzle, that was now matted from his tears. His breaths began to become deeper and more regular and slowly the tension in his muscles began to simply melt away. The chaotic state of his mind that was, only a moment ago, like a blaring siren, became a soft murmur as order began to seize his tired mind. It was as if the fear, the anxiety and the worry were all shed with each peaceful, kind nuzzle.

Kaleb removed his forehooves and began to slowly open his quizzical, timid brown eyes to the night blue alicorn before him, and her soothing, blue eyes. The soft features and caring aura that seemed to be with her made him aware she was a female, a mare. She carefully brought her head down to Kaleb’s once more and gently rubbed her cheek against his. Her fir was soft and warm. It was like someone was carefully and caringly rubbing a security blanket across his cheek. The mare then looked at him once more with those soft, beautiful, blue eyes as a soul calming smile laid upon her muzzle.

“Thou needs’t not fear us.” came the ponies cool, soothing voice, “We are only here to thank you.”

These last words were all that Kaleb could make out, before a smile made its way to his muzzle and he gladly let the land of dreams take his weary mind away. His weariness melted deep below his subconscious to make room for his more than welcomed rest. The surrounding noises of the world steadily grew smothered by the comforting embrace of sleep.

Luna looked at the tan pegasus that was now resting his weary body. She gave a gentle smile as his wings steadily folded themselves against his body that lazily rose and fell in the gentle throws of sleep. His lingering smile gave her soul a comfort that she only felt a few times before, which caused her eyes glow in a content afterglow of joy.

“Lulu!” rang a voice full of relief and joy.

Luna turned around and saw her older sister, Celestia, galloping a short distance towards her followed by her guards that looked exhausted in an almost comical way, gasping for air and their tongues lolling out of their muzzles, hooves lifting heavily close to the ground. When Celestia reached her beloved younger sister she threw her hooves around the midnight blue mare and cuddled her neck into the neck of the princess of the night who looked on in bewilderment.

“Sister?” piped up the blue alicorn “What brings thou to this head of the forest?”

“Neck of the woods” grumbled the sleeping tan pegasus with a smile as though he was trapped in a good memory.

Celestia chuckled a bit as she brought a hoof to her mouth to stifle herself. She looked to the slumbering stallion with soft eyes and a smile to mach.

“I take it this is the young pegasus that you mentioned?” the sun princess asked, her eyes scanning the stallion carefully and resting her eyes on the cutie mark on his flank.

“Yes, sister,” Luna began, seeing where her sister gazed. “it was once he showed up that our powers could stop Sombra. It was as though…”

The princess of the night looked down at the pegasus, her voice drifting off as she remembered the feeling of her magic growing more powerful.

“He was the Crystal Heart?” Celestia finished for her, her eyes fixated on the cutie mark.

Luna nodded and her eyes softened on the slumbering stallion. Celestia saw this and a silent smile of serenity drew itself across her face. Her eyes were softly looking at Luna with the love of a knowing older sister.

“We should talk about this more at the castle.” Celestia said softly to her sister. “I will arrange my guards to transport him there as well.”

That statement shot Luna’s eyes open and she glared at the guard from before who looked at the ground in shame.

“We would not recommend that sister.” She stated keeping her gaze on the guard pony.

Celestia looked at her sister in a curious and worried look. She then looked down at her hooves to see the spear that still laid there. Her eyes softened and her heart began to melt as she them noticed the tear-matted fur below the slumbering pegasus’ eyes. She then turned to her sister whose anger she could feel in her gaze and nuzzled her.

“Alright dear sister.” The white alicorn said with a heart-warming smile to reassure her beloved sister. “He shall ride with us then and I’ll hear about what happened.”

The eyes of the princess of the sun then turned to the guard pony with a gaze that could burn a hole through the center of Equis itself.

“As for you, Shining Blade, we will speak to you later. Until then, you are relieved of your duties.”

It was at least a few later hours before Kaleb opened his eyes and found himself in a clean, white room. It was about as big as his master bedroom at his house but had a whole different style. The white floor glowed in dull light of the moon that seemed as though it was peering into his room in particular. The tan pegasus began to move his body as he started to pull his mind from the bog of sleep and the land of dreams. He lazily rolled off the bed and flopped onto the floor, cursing to himself silently and grumbling as he looked at his hooves and equine looking legs covered in tan fur.

His mind began sobering up as he studied his hooves. He looked up to the beautiful white marble ceiling that laid above him and slowly walked himself through the events that happened in the recent times he’d been awake. His eyes gave a look of pain, and shame as he remembered the last time he was awake. His wings twitched and flared open before weakly folding back to his sides. A soft, hollow smile spread across his muzzle as he got up on all hooves.

“Wings…”he muttered to himself mockingly as he cantered to where the moonlight was coming from.

The light of the moon peered through the glass of double doors that led to a balcony under the canopy of stars overhead. He pushed the doors open with a weak push and laid on his back and gazed up at the ceiling of beautiful stars above him with longing eyes that slowly brimmed with tears.

“These stars are beautiful.” Kaleb’s voice cracked weakly as tears began to fall from their full pools in his lonely, brown eyes. “I wonder where Luna is, or Celes. I guess an even better thing to know would be where I am.”

Kaleb gave a sad laugh as the small rivers of his sadness ran down to the white stone balcony where he laid.

“It’s a shame Luna can’t see these stars. She’d love this night sky. Then again, if she were here she might be a bit weirded out at my whole, becoming a winged pony, thing or maybe she’d rather have a picnic or something under this sky.” Kaleb closed his eyes and his laughter turned slowly into a sorrow filled cry. “It’s getting close to school season, I wonder how Luna’s gonna be without our weekly ‘dinner date.’”

Kaleb’s cries of sorrow rang through the brisk air of the night as his mind reeled in the realization that he would never see his only friends, including the one woman that made in actually feel like he wasn’t transparent, forever. His broken heart made evident with each wail and sorrow filled moan that hit the air of the, usually calm, Equestria night sky as well as the ears of a midnight blue pegasus that looked down on the broken stallion with eyes of sorrow filled recognition and tears of her own true sadness that resonated with his.

The blue mare’s wings unfurled and silently swept her to the weeping stallion and she held him close as he shook through his sobs. Her wing covered him to warm his body and calm his broken heart, a feeling she knew all too well. Her head nestled beside his own, rubbing against his tear soiled fur. The stars watched over the two ponies as the moon radiated in a soft, comforting glow. The blue alicorn and the tan pegasus slowly wept until the glow of the moon and the twinkling stars carried them off to sleep under the soft, motherly gaze of a white alicon that gave a small smile as she took over the duties of the night for her beloved sister.

Author's Note

Okay, here's what I have for the chapter. Not as much as the first one, I know but I thought this one would focus on the characteristics of Kaleb and the things that are similar between him and Luna. As always, I'd love to hear any constructive criticism and ways I could make the story better. If there is something you wish clarified please don't hesitate to tell me, either in the comments or by private message.

A New day with Royalty, Court in a Castle, and a Mailmare with a Wall Eyed Stare

The soft light that flooded warmly around Kaleb caused him to stir a little as the flat surface of the balcony refused to soften. The light of Celestia’s sun would not shirk its duties to awaken the brown stallion, however, and he had to open his tired, red eyes in a morose surrender. He wasn’t even surprised at his surroundings anymore; the night before dispelled any thoughts of them being a dream. Besides, the dull tightness of his back shattered any thought of recent moments being dreams as well.

“Note to self,” Kaleb murmured before a groan rattled its way, lazily out of his throat, “night air and a hard surface do not make the best bed.”

He slowly rose to his feet, his spade ears fluttering a bit at every pop from his knotted back. He leisurely cantered over to the double doors he left open the previous night, his tired eyes gliding across the surroundings while his mind sobered up from the relaxed haze the realm of dreams left behind.

The white stone reflected the sun’s awakening light and lit the room he was in with a warmer, yet harsher, light. The edges of the room seemed to be met with a style of a pillar, making Kaleb think of what he seen in a magazine of Rome, while the walls themselves were a beautiful, spotless white. The architecture of the room showed a love of style and nobility, the pillar corners helped establish a feeling of regality in the rather spacious room. A wooden vanity with gold trimming was resting against a wall beside the door as well as a dresser beside that which shared in the same royal fashion. When his curious brown gaze made its way to one wall, a big bed met his wide eyes. The cover sheets were of a deep red, as well and looked soft to his eyes. Above the bed was a satin, crimson, canopy. His back ached at the fact that such a bed wasn’t cradling it when it awoke causing the pegasus to once more sigh at his actions the previous night.

A gentle knock on the door snapped his mind away from the alluring bed he beheld and he cautiously cantered to the door as another set of knocks rapped the wooden door.

“Y-yes?” Kaleb breathed in a shallow whisper.

The knob of the door was then enveloped in a white aura as it began to turn. Kaleb backed a step away from the door as it was gently pulled open by said aura to reveal a white mare taller than him, with an ethereal multi-colored mane that appeared to be blown in a constant stream of wind, beautiful white feathered wings and a long, white horn. A golden chest piece rested gracefully against her pure white coat. The chest piece matched a golden crown that rested upon her regal, equine head behind her amazing horn. The sheer elegant and regal air of the mare before him caused the tan pegasus to give a gentle bow.

“You may rise, my little pony.” came the warm, motherly voice of the mare before him.

Kaleb brought up his head and looked upon the smiling face of the alicorn mare in front of him. Her crystalline eyes were fixed upon him and he felt his anxiety begin shaking his legs underneath him. His wings began to quiver nervously at his sides before they finally shot open to which the alicorn replied with a lighthearted chuckle.

“You really don’t need to be so restless.” the white mare said once more to the tan pegasus, “I would never harm one of my subjects.”

That phrase didn’t really settle any of the stallion’s nerves but with a stabilizing sigh, Kaleb, managed to steady his wings and slowly fold his wings back to his side. With another deep breath the stallion fixed his gaze more on the royal, white mare that stood before him.

“Thank you your highness.” Kaleb said, a quiver lightly lacing his voice, “I am sorry if I’m being rude but…where am I?”

A light, patient smile was reflected back at the stallion with the light tan coat and messy auburn mane.

“You are sitting in a room of our royal castle in Canterlot. My sister, Luna, had told me about what happened in the Crystal Empire.”

The bright, motherly, eyes of the white mare became a bit more studious in their gaze. Her muzzle was pursed, as though she knew that the verbal territory she was bringing up might be a bit painful. Kaleb felt the warmth of the princess’ kindness and gave her a steady nod as a slight smile spread across his muzzle. The alicorn’s gaze, once more, took on its motherly warmth and gave a nod of her own.

“I have come to ask if you would come to the throne room and talk with my sister and me about what happened.”

Kaleb bowed his head low again. His legs were steady and the light smile on his muzzle gave off similar warmth to the one her gaze held toward all her subjects. He took one more deep breath before he looked back to her.

“If you wish, your majesty.” Kaleb replied, the tremble in his voice, gone.
The alicorn mare before him returned his smile with her motherly one before the door closed by itself once more in the same magical aura.

Kaleb looked back at the door for a few moments as his mind went over what had just happened. The smile on his face slowly began to fade and be replaced by a furrowed brow. He’d never met royalty before, hell, his social interactions were close to none aside from Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna. His heart gave a twinge of pain when he thought about the two sisters but he knew he couldn’t get anywhere by moping. He had to stow away his feelings of sorrow and regret for a more…appropriate time. He took a deep breath and felt his heart moan as he stuffed away his deep sadness.

Luna looked toward the double doors of the throne room as the opened to her sister, Celestia, elegantly trotting to her throne beside Luna. Luna observed a slight smile on her beloved sister’s face as she saw her.

“Greetings this day, sister,” Luna rang to her sister with a smile of her own, albeit one more tired, “we trust that thou hast had a good morning?”

Celestia replied with a lighthearted chuckle as her smile widened ever the slighter.

“Indeed Lulu, this morning is going better than I could hope.”

Luna nodded to her sister and wearily stretched out her back, resulting in a few well deserved cracks and pops before she rose to her hooves.

“Tired sister?”

The midnight blue mare turned to her sister to observe an almost catty knowing smirk and returned it with one of her own. She tilted her snout to the ceiling and looked sideways at her sister.

“Well, when somepony is used to staying up at night and not in the morning…”

“Well, it’s not every day I find my lovely little sister sleeping the night away with a stallion.”

That comment brought a shade of red to the princess of the night’s face and elicited a chuckle princess of the sun. Before Luna could retort, however, the double doors opened once more and two Canterlot guards escorted a third pony, a unicorn with a stern look adorning his face but who’s eyes were reflecting a mixture of fear and sadness. The cutie mark of a sword shining in a ray of light was all it took to darken the midnight mare’s joyful mood. She looked toward her white sister who shared her serious look as she nodded to her.

“Shining Blade!” boomed the royal mare in her Canterlot voice, making the stallion wince, “Thou hast been charged with intent to harm a fellow pony while he was not posing a threat to anypony else. More so, you did so with a weapon.”

The disheveled orange coat and unkempt blonde mane only reflected the torment he had put himself through. The bags under his eyes mirrored the defeated look in his amber eyes as they drifter to the ground beneath him. His brow crinkled slightly as he took in the words that the princess was saying to him.

“Doest thou have anything to say in thine own defense?”

“No, your majesty.” The unicorn stallion sighed, still refraining from looking at either of his rulers.

Celestia stood to join her sister, her face serious as she took in the sight of the stallion before her. She looked to her sister, whose gaze was one of terrifying hatred directed at the wreck of a pony that stood before them.

“Do you have anything you would say to my sister, of the stallion you caused such pain to?” the radiant, white alicorn asked to the unicorn as another set of doors opened and the tan pegasus was led in the throne room by Shining Armor, who had arrived especially for this.

The unicorn looked to the pegasus with one of regret and sorrow. He bowed down so that the top of his horn touched the floor of the castle, and uncomfortable position for any pony to portray but one of utmost humility.

“I have brought shame unto the name of the royal guard from my actions and have endangered the life of one of my country’s charges. There are no words that I can convey to explain my upmost disappointment in myself but I wish that I could.” Shinning Blade whimpered through new tears that were forcing their way out of him.

The tan pegasus looked unto the stallion with soft eyes and carefully cantered to the unicorn before he looked to the princesses to make sure he could speak. Luna and Celestia both nodded to the stallion who then returned his gaze to the groveling stallion before him.

“Please stand,” he said with a soft voice, “I am not worth the tears you shed and I am not asking for apologies.”

The words struck both, Shining Blade and Luna, with confused expressions but Shining Blade did as he was asked as he looked into the kind eyes of the pegasus before him.

“I am a stranger to this land, in more ways than I’d like to mention, and you only made a mistake. You shouldn’t let your life be ruined by something so small.”

The unicorn stood there, unable to speak, as the pegasus trotted back to where he was before, his kind eyes and smile betrayed by a somber sadness in his steps. Luna also looked upon the stallion but her eyes reflected a sadness all her own, one that was awakened by his words to the unicorn. Celestia looked at her sister with tender eyes as tears threatened to break away; it always hurt her when her sister was like this, ever since she couldn’t help her before her banishment.

“Be that as it may,” the pure white alicorn said with a firm voice, “Shining Blade has broken a very important rule for the Royal Guard. There must be something done.”

The ruler of the sun looked toward her sister who returned her gaze with one that looked much more lost than enraged. The blank, confused eyes of her beloved little sister caused Celestia to smile as her voice became one softer, one that was considered more normal of the gentle ruler.

“What do you think, Luna? What should be done?”

The midnight blue mare opened her mouth as though she was going to speak but no words escaped her elegant muzzle. She looked at the pegasus that was now back by a rather concerned looking Shining Armor. The pegasus had a smile that only rang hollow and his brown eyes were joyless, almost lifeless as he gazed at an empty space in the throne room. She was more than familiar with having to put on a fake smile; her heart began to ache in pain as her muzzle frowned and her eyes were anything but emotionless.

“We…..we do not know, sister.” the alicorn slowly answered.

The boom of the Royal Canterlot Voice had faded and was replaced with another, very helpless tone. The eyes that were so full of conviction were now closed as a solitary tear rushed down her beautiful fur.

Kaleb could hardly fathom the scene that was unfurling before his very eyes. He didn’t know why this pony was crying but a pang in his heart began to resound in his soul as his eyes softened in pity and guilt.

“Miss Luna?” came Kaleb’s voice, cracking a bit, “Are you alright?”

The midnight mare looked over to Kaleb and cleared her throat. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, visibly calming down. She reopened her cool blue eyes and smiled at the tan stallion before she fixed her gaze firmly on Shining Blade, whose very essence seemed to become jagged and fearful.

“Shining Blade, step forward!” the moon mare boomed once more toward the orange unicorn.

The amber eyes set shakily on the midnight princess before he dropped his head and slowly cantered forward. Shining Blade’s visage was so full of fear that Kaleb could swear that if he listened closely he could hear the frantic beating of the shaken unicorn’s heart.

“Shining Blade, we have come to a decision.” Luna began with a focused stare on the orange stallion, “Though the crimes you committed were an offence to our guards, we will take into account the pleas of your victim. You will receive a demotion to guard the exterior of our castle as well as being under the watch of your superiors.”

Shining Blade looked wide-eyed at the princess, his visage showing a stunned pony before the two princesses. A slight smile curved the corners of Kaleb’s mouth as he looked to the shocked unicorn.

Princess Luna looked to Kaleb and weakly reflected his smile before looking back to Shinning Blade and clearing her throat, making sure to also compose herself as royalty should.

“Our word is final, be gone and prepare for thine new duties.”

Without another word, Shining Blade was escorted out of the throne room, the look of surprise and joy never leaving his face as tears rushed down his cheeks. The sight allowed a soft smile to grace Kaleb’s face as he looked to the majestic alicorn that sheepishly smiled back to him. When the heavy doors closed Celestia cleared her throat jumping her sister back into the moment.

“Ah, yes…” the midnight mare managed to stutter before clearing her own throat, “We are grateful that you came to us.”

Kaleb scrunched his face in confusion before lowering his head to the deep blue princess.

“My apologies, your majesty, but I got the impression that I was summoned.”

The tan pegasus brought his head back up and looked into the face of a slightly flustered looking blue princess and for some reason, he thought of Vice Principal Luna. He chuckled a bit as he remembered the time he read her a poem he wrote for a judging.

The two of them were fresh out of college and had already began putting their degrees to use: Luna and Celestia both landed jobs at their alma mater, which caused the three to burst out in laughter remembering various events from their school days, and Kaleb himself began writing for various magazines, short story books and the occasional contest. Kaleb had brought the beautiful woman to his house, new at that point amidst a mountain forest near the town no thanks to the large Apple family that helped found it, and sat her before him as he began preparing some tea. He knew that the two sisters loved their coffee but he also knew that Luna had a weak spot for chamomile and ginseng tea with a drop of honey.

“What’s this about my opinion on something Kale?” the young woman said cozying into a handmade wooden ball chair in the living room that was directly beside the dining room and kitchen.

Kaleb continued brewing the soothing liquid as he also began looking in the moderately sized fridge that stood beside the reliable stove oven browsing assorted vegetables, picking out a few stalks of rhubarb, groaning a bit as he heard Luna call him his most hated nickname.

“Well, you know, there is another small poetry contest coming up and I needed a bit of help.”

Kaleb seized the kettle as it began whistling its alert that it was done boiling and placed the stalks in a couple mugs before carrying it all out to the sight of a completely relaxed Luna cuddled into her choice chair. Kaleb smiled seeing that one of his best, albeit only, friends was so relaxed instead of being greeted by her stiff façade she showed almost everywhere else.

“Right, ‘cause we both know I’m so good at understanding poetry.” Luna scoffed, as her hands jumped to the mug that she knew was her own.

The porcelain had a night sky and moon painted at a small area of the otherwise white mug. This mug was one that she gave to Kaleb as a housewarming gift, though they both knew it was her way of saying that she’d be over quite a few times to unwind. Celestia did the same, though hers had a sun painted on hers, she also gave him a corkscrew for when the two sisters really had to go there to unwind.

“I know; I didn’t want the word of a bona fide lit major.”

The off duty vice principal gave a deadpan look and held out her mug almost demanding that he shut up and pour the damned tea.

Kaleb chuckled and poured the steaming liquid into her awaiting mug flashing her a playful smirk.

“Besides, can’t I ask a lovely lady to listen to my poetry just because?”

To this, Luna’s blue hued cheeks turned a light crimson and almost tried to sink into the chair as she sipped het tea with her flushed face.

Kaleb’s mind was pulled out of its reverie by a gentle cough snapping his gaze back to the thrones where the princess alicorns sat, the midnight blue still had a flushed face and was sheepishly looking at him. The tan pegasus could feel heat slowly fill his cheeks as he bowed once more.

“I’m so sorry, your highness!” Kaleb sputtered, “I have no idea where my mind is today.”

This statement caused the white mare to giggle a bit and snapped the blue mare out of her embarrassed state.

“Thou may rise, we wish only to talk.” the blue mare called in a normal voice, any boom from the trial had left and was now replaced with a more tentative almost shy sounding one.

Kaleb rose his head at that and gave a slight smile to the two mares. He took a deep breath and closed hit brown eyes, steadying his thoughts and focusing on his surroundings. With another breath he focused on his breath enter and leave his lungs. With another breath his eyes opened and he looked once more at the mares who had puzzled expressions on their faces. The blue one began to open her muzzle but closed it again.

“Sorry, it’s a relaxing exercise that I found growing up.” He calmly explained to the princesses, “I just thought you’d want me more…focused.”

The white mare nodded, poorly suppressing a giggle which visibly made the pegasus relax.

“First, let me say, thank you for helping my little sister. I don’t know how you helped her, but I’m sure you did.” the white mare stated, her eyes glistening with a warm brilliance that almost rivaled the sun itself.

Kaleb gave a hollow smile as he glanced into her eyes, eyes whose adoring gaze was truly misplaced. His brown eyes wavered from hers, not wanting to look into them anymore.

“I apologize, your majesty, you must be mistaken.” his lifeless voice breathed into the ether, “I don’t remember helping anyone. I don’t even know where I am.”

The stallion’s voice drifted off at the end, almost like his vocal cords demanded he stop. Kaleb’s own eyes reflected how dead inside he felt as he glanced back into the eyes of the white alicorn before him, against his better judgment. Her eyes that, only a moment ago, radiated warm praise and adoration, now held a look of sad pity and mourning. Kaleb, once more, tore his eyes away, it tore him up to look into those eyes; he could never handle anything like it.

The sharp sound of hooves made his equine ears twitch but he didn’t hazard to look at which of them was coming over to him. His eyes just glanced at the floor, the deep brown pools almost staring through the stone flooring. With each slow step, Kaleb’s heart seemed to wince; it was trying to hold onto the emotions that were held captive in its confines and with every laborious second it grew harder to do so. His wings began to ruffle on instinct when the one who trotted to him had stopped before him. He saw midnight blue equine legs with light blue hooves standing before him in the corner of his eye and waited for the owner to do what she wanted to do.

Luna looked down at the pitiable pegasus before her, her own heart threatening to break with his. When tears began to silently slap the floor beneath him, Luna’s eyes began to water, her own tears demanding to be set free.

“What is your name?” came a soft voice, wavering slightly.

“My name is Kaleb Brown, your majesty.”

Luna gently lifted up Kaleb’s head with a wing, looking into the downcast brown eyes of the pegasus before her. An understanding smile graced her face as Kaleb’s leaking pools glanced into hers.

“Dearest Kaleb, we know how you must feel but our sister speaks the truth.”

The stallion’s gaze searched the midnight princess’ kind one, his brow furrowed. He opened his mouth slowly but closed it as his gaze trailed down Luna’s now dried trail of tears on her fur. The lunar princess watched his brown eyes trace her visage, studying her. It was like he was almost looking for something, what, she couldn’t say but her gentle smile never wavered from his searching eyes.

“So what happens now?” the tan brown pegasus asked, his eyes softening as they glanced once more into hers. Her eyes shone with the beauty and gentle magic of the night as her smile softly grew.

“We hath arranged for transportation to a quiet town.” Luna replied with a voice as gentle as a slow moving current and as smooth as the finest silk, her visage becoming a bit more bashful after her words. “We know thou said this wasn’t thou’s kingdom, but…”

The lunar princess couldn’t look at the stallion in front of her anymore as her ears slayed back. She couldn’t say she felt obligated to protect him as one of her own subjects because not once had one of her subjects actually saved her when she couldn’t handle it. She couldn’t explain she wanted to protect this pegasus she was speaking with nor this feeling of…familiarity, for lack of a better word.

She knew she didn’t know this pony but there was almost a sense of warmth that radiated from deep within her soul when she first saw him, like when one sees a close friend after being apart for years. Not to mention, that power surge she felt when he appeared…it was warm, the same warmth she felt from him but more intense.

Luna could feel the heat rise in her cheeks as she recalled the feeling. It was not only a surge of magic, but the air after it felt like being embraced softly yet firmly. She looked once more at the stallion before her and saw that his gaze was now one of slight confusion before a slow, kind smile spread across his face.

As Kaleb saw the princess’ gaze now searching him in a familiar manner, a smile spread across his face. He could remember the countless times that he and Luna would be talking and the moment that he said something that sounded somewhat incredible, she would search in his eyes. That was one of the things, he had to admit, was simply too adorable and irresistible to him, not to mention why he could never lie to her.

“If you wish, your majesty.” Kaleb said to her with a slight bow. This caused a small bit of crimson show through her fir and caused him to chuckle a little to himself.

The princess regained her composure and her smile, while still bashful, was a bit more…genuine? Kaleb heard the heavy doors to the throne room begin to open, causing him to instinctively turn his head to the new arrival and was met with the sight of a slightly flustered grey pegasus mare, clearly pregnant, with a blonde mane being escorted in by a guard in golden armor, but that’s not what made him truly look as this pony, it was her eyes, her wall eyes nervously tried to focus on her path before almost tripping beside him.

“Y-your highness, you called for me?” the mare nervously asked after she gave a bow that seemed like it nearly threw her off balance.

Both of the princesses smiled at the new mare in the room. Kaleb just stared at her, her eyes almost hypnotizing him, with the way they almost always looked completely cross-eyed.

“Ahem,” came a voice from the throne, catching his attention and the mare’s. “don’t even think about it, my little pony, she’s already taken.” Celestia said to him causing him to fall flat on his face in shock.

“I-I’m sorry, your highness?”

“Oh, it’s quite alright, you only just met her, how could you have known?”

Kaleb deadpanned at the, now slightly smirking princess.

Now there’s a troll that could give Tia a run for her money.

“Um…” came the shaky voice of the mare beside him. “is something wrong, princess?”

“Oh no, I was just going to ask if you were really going back home for your maternity leave, Mrs. Doo.”

This caused the grey mare to brighten up a bit as she nodded.

“Yes ma’am, I gotta get back to my muffin and flower before her brother’s born.”

“Then might my sister and I ask you to escort this this young stallion to the train station?”

The mare looked at Kaleb before smiling back to Princess Celestia.

“Of course, I was just heading there. I’m in no condition to fly back to Ponyville.”

“Oh, that’s great, you two can get the same train too.”

Author's Note

There we are! The newest update. Thank you all for being so patient and I ask, as always, to bring any mistakes to my attention. I'm very sorry this took so long, A lot's been going on :pinkiesad2:

A Train to a Small Town, A foreboding dream and the Click of Friendship

Darkness awaited the opening eyes of Kaleb. The impenetrable darkness gave off a foreboding sense of sorrow as Kaleb grew more awake. The chill that was ever-present in the blackness surrounding him chilled him to the bone and made his teeth chatter, or was that the fear that seemed to accompany this darkness?

An eerie cackle slowly gurgled from the air around him causing his eyes to shoot open and for a cold bead of sweat to run down his face, cutting across his cheek before it fell into the vast emptiness. His body shook from a sense of doom and despair as the malicious chuckle only grew in volume, as if it was feeding off the poor pegasi’s trepidation.

“Ah, so you are the one with the power of the heart,” a voice slithered from the incessant dark. “You are a hard one to find.”

The tan pegasus looked all around the room searching for the owner of the dry, dark voice but couldn’t see anything through the blackness. Only after another wake of bone-chilling laughter did a pair of green and red eyes cut through the darkness, the only signs of his malicious guest.

“I cannot believe you are the reason Luna beat me,” the voice then cut with a wild rage. “I cannot believe that you could boost her magic so well, unconscious!”

Kaleb took a step back but couldn’t escape the eyes which only seemed to float in the dark void around him. His heart pounded against his ribcage as more and more droplets of sweat slid down his face, his pupils grew to the size of pin pricks. A devious smile emerged below the, now amused, glaring eyes, parting only for another shrill cackle to snake out and crackle through the air.

“Soon,” stated the slowly emerging feature, “soon, your location will be known and I can, once again, have my crystal heart.”

Nostrils flared as more of the muzzle seemed to melt slowly into existence. The smile grew as its pony ears flicked free from the sledge of the darkness around it.

“I will have you and ALL MY PONIES!”

Just as the horn of the black furred unicorn became visible, an explosion burst from the darkness, accompanied by a familiar midnight blue alicorn standing in front of Kaleb, her wings flared and her horn alight with power.

“Thou shall stay away from our charge!” Luna boomed to the fraction of the dark stallion.

With a stamp of her hoof and the light of her horn the figure and blackness dissolved into nothingness and a grassy field took their place with the night sky gently twinkling above them.

Kaleb’s unease slowly melted into a sea of tranquility as the sight of the beautiful sky above him. A small smile made its way to his lips and his mind thought about an old memory, one that he hadn’t thought about for some time. The only difference was, he could see it going on before his very eyes.

He saw himself a few years back, as well as a slightly tipsy Luna, walk into the clearing. Kaleb’s face was slightly flushed from alcohol and he nearly stumbled as he flopped onto the grass. Luna gave a bit of a smile before she “fell” onto him with a bit of a drunken chuckle.

“So, why’d we have to go drinking again, Madame Vice Principal?” He managed to slur out as his friend sat back-to-back with him.

The air rang for a bit in Luna’s rare bubbly laughter for a while before she rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes drifting lazily to the moon in the sky.

“Well, how else are we supposed to celebrate, Mr. Author? Besides, it’s been a while since we’ve hung out like this.”

The night wind lapped at their faces as they both looked into the sky. The smell of the air hung about the still air presenting the smell of water and wild grass. Cicadas and crickets both sang their tune for the two as the stars danced for then their slow, almost romantic waltz.

“Do you remember when we used to always come here?” asked Luna, “Back before we could drink and all?”

“Do I?” Kaleb scoffed with a smile, “How could I forget? You and Celestia always insisted we come here. Even when we were young you’d say this was your kingdom and that, as your loyal knight, it was my duty to defend you.”

“Well, sir knight, you were always good at you job.”

The two laughed the whimsical laugh of pleasant memories as they stared at the stars in the beautiful night sky. A smile crossed the face of the young Kaleb as he listened to the soft breathing of his drunk friend.

“You know, I never really got why you and your sister always wanted to come out here with me.” Kaleb breathed out. “I mean, it’s not like either of you were ever starving for friends.”

The red-cheeked new vice principal looked softly at her best friend, the one who was there for her even more than her beloved sister, and couldn’t help but tenderly smile.

“Tia was always the one with friends Kale.” She stated in a matter-of-fact tone. “She was the one that the guys wanted and that the girls wanted to be. I had you and that’s all I wanted.”

The tipsy woman brought her cheek to Kaleb’s before closing her eyes in bliss.

“You never treated Tia better than me and you didn’t just put up with me, you were with me because you wanted to be with me even when my head was in the air.”

“In the clouds,” Kaleb lazily corrected his friend while the warmth of her cheek spread to his.

“Right, that one.” Luna giggled “I don’t know if I could have chosen a better friend.”

Once more, the light breeze of the night licked the cheeks of the two as they basked in their company. Kaleb’s smile was just as lazy and content as it ever had been, while Luna now looked at the sky with a slightly serious look on her face.

“You’ll always be with me, right? You’ll never leave and never speak to me again?” she chimed in lightly.

“Do you really have to ask that?”

Luna turned her head on Kaleb’s shoulder to look at him, his eyes transfixed on the moon above them.

“I can’t even imagine life without knowing you. You and Celestia have been my only friends since I was a kid. You two have always been there for me and I’ve always been happy about that but out of the two of you, I’ve always gotten along with you the most. Not to mention, I don’t know who would correct you if I wasn’t around.”

Kaleb’s mirth was shown as he laughed and closed his eyes. Luna’s serious visage now had a smile and she brought her lips to his cheek before quickly getting up, nearly causing Kaleb to fall back.

“Come on, Kale, we’d better get back. It was nice drinking with you but Tia’s probably wondering where I am.”

Kaleb stood, in a daze, and softly felt his cheek before Luna took his arm and practically dragged him into the trees and back toward the city.

As Kaleb watched this shade of his past vanish, the sting of a tear came to his eye. He hadn’t really thought of that moment in a while and now it was all that it took to cause him to break.

The somber chorus of his wails struck the silent moon princess that also watched the scene. She knew not what those creatures were but she knew they held great significance for her quivering subject. The memories that came with that vision were warm and full of a love that she had never felt before and, for some reason, it caused her heart to beat for the mysterious stallion all the more.

It was then that with a glow of her horn the forest slowly faded away and was steadily replaced by a memory of her own: a stone flooring and regal rug cover the once grassy ground until stopped by a wall with a hearth and fireplace. The entire room that the two now found themselves in was almost medieval in furnishing without furs. The banners that were held on a wall held the old Banner designs from the founding of Equestria and a young blue filly lay close to the hearth.

Kaleb’s weeps slowly stopped as he beheld the scenery around him that seemed to appear out of nowhere until his eyes rested on the blue filly.

A little Luna yawned in silent content as the fire of the fireplace crackled for her drawing a smile to her face. She went about stretching like a cat as the gentle blaze of the fire helped warm her little filly frame. The gentle light making sure that she didn’t wake up too fast.

The door to the room then began to slowly open, casting a light into the room that cascaded across little Luna.

“Sister, are you still sleeping?” came a gentle voice in the pathway.

“Tia! We wew just waking up.”

“Oh, Woona, you know mother and father asked us to be up for them while they met with the different tribes.”

“We know, Tia, but the wight of the fiwe is so nice.”

The little blue filly finished her stretching and slowly trotted over to a slightly older Celestia. Both their manes and tails were in solid form signifying how young the two really were. The young Celestia nuzzled her little sister when she approached, a smile on both of their faces.

“I know, little sister, but rules are rules. Though, I guess a little nap might be fine after they get back.”

The two sisters laughed and giggled for a bit before Celestia opened the curtains to the room as a small ball of light rose in the sky, brightening it to its pastel blue hue.

“Daddy alweady wose the sun?”

“That’s right, mother and father will be back soon.”

“He always wises the sun when I’m asweep!” harrumphed the tiny alicorn.

The elder white alicorn giggled a bit as she trotted over to her downtrodden sister. She delicately put a hoof around her shoulder before nuzzling her affectionately.

“There, there, little sister,” she hummed, “father knows you are supposed to be up at night and he cannot ask you to forgo your sleep.”

The midnight blue filly looked up to her sister, a slight sadness reflecting in her eyes, before burying her muzzle into her.

“I just wanna see him wike you do ‘tia.” little Luna exclaimed through her sister’s fur.

The young Celestia placed a hoof on her younger sisters back and rubbed it reassuringly as she began crying into Celestia’s chest. The little blue filly hugged her older sister and cried her little heart out as the orange glow of the fire watched them as an ever-silent guardian.

The image that appeared before Kaleb began to waver and dissolve as Luna softly landed beside him watching as the two young shadows faded. A piercing silence permeated the air between the two as they stood on the now blank dreamscape. Kaleb looked to the mare beside him to find her still looking to the spot where the two fillies were just moments before, her eyes on the brink of tears.

“We…I just thought you should see our memories since we saw...”

The princess couldn’t bring herself to finish what she was about to say, instead diving into her own silence again. Her tears began to finally stream from her closed eyes as she lowered her head and began sniffling.

Kaleb felt his heart ache at the poor mare and did the one thing that he thought would cheer her up, he nuzzled the weeping mare’s cheek.

It was then that an outside noise crept through the atmosphere.

“Hey….wake up…Ponyville.”

The dreamscape began to tremble a bit and Luna righted herself as she walked away while the voice continued.

“…wake up! We’re in Ponyville!”

The world got hazy as Luna vanished from the crumbling dreamscape and reality finally broke through.

“Hey, come one you, wake up! We’re in Ponyville!” screamed a slightly angry Ditsy Doo. “My muffin’s waitin’ for me and I really gotta get home.”

“Huh…what’s that about a muffin?”

“Come on sleepyhead, we gotta go!”

The mare steadily pushed a still groggy Kaleb Brown out the door of the train where they were both met with a flash.

“Perfect! Just the kind of picture I was hoping for.” came a happy voice behind the temporary dots that the flash left behind.

“Muffin!”

“Hey beautiful, it’s been a bit huh?”

“Yea, stinkin’ overnight shipping.”

Kaleb’s vision finally began clearing up and her was greeted with a green stallion with a brown and orange mane and tail as well as orange fur covering half his legs.

“Nice to meet you, name’s Click.”

Author's Note

Here's your new chapter, sorry it's taking so long I will try and rectify that.

Anxiety and Draconiquis and Döppelgangers, Oh My!

Kaleb slowly followed Click and Ditsy as they trotted away from the station of ponyville. The sun was high in the Equestrian sky and, though Ponyville was still small, it was bustling with it’s residents in the morning rush. Kaleb tried keeping his eyes low to the ground, refusing to make eye contact with the ponies around him. His mind was starting to spin as his heart picked up its pace. He never liked being around groups of people, that’s what made school torture for him. He’d come to terms with the fact that this world is ruled by multicolored, sentient ponies, he even was fine with the fact he was one now, what made this bad was that he was moving through a crowd of sentient beings; beings that would judge him.

Sure, Kaleb knew no one payed attention to him, for the most part, but there was still that little part of him that scrutinized everything he did. He didn't want to offend anyone, so he always tried to be liked if he had to be in social situations, always second guessing himself and berating himself. It made him fear and dread being in groups.

While he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, he failed to notice that Click and Ditsy had turned a corner. He soon bumped into a little purple dragon, accidently knocking him down.

"Spike!" Came a worried voice in the distance.

"Oh, s-sorry..." Kaleb meekly murmured as the drake started getting up.

Kaleb slowly backed up a few steps before he bumped into another pony.

"What's your problem?!" Hollered the cyan pegasus.

Kaleb began running from the fuming pegasus and apologizing over and over. He kept his head down trying to ignore the inquiring eyes falling onto him, causing him to slip in a fresh patch of mud. A white unicorn shrieked as the soaked soil splattered onto her and the dress she happened to be wearing.

"Look what you've done to my ensemble! How could you?!"

Kaleb couldn't run anymore, a crowd was gathered and all looking at him. His vision blurred before he cowered on the ground his wings instinctively shielding him as he cried into his forelegs. He tried to calm himself down but that small part of him began getting louder and louder with each muffled murmur.

'Good going, not here even a day and you end up ruining everyone’s day.' the voice seethed, “Maybe you can get lucky and slink away like the sorry excuse you are.'

Tears streamed down his face as his mind kept it’s mental assault him. The only thing ponies could hear, barely, was “sorry” over and over again. The crowd kept getting bigger and his eyes shut themselves tighter while his wings on reflex tightened its wall of feathers to shield him from the glares and the stares.

A certain yellow pegasus watched him with a soft, knowing glance and her heart wept for him. After a moment, her gaze hardened and an uncharacteristic growl came from her throat.

"Alright everypony, that's enough!" she erupted, "You should all be ashamed of yourselves! Twilight, help me take him somewhere quiet."

The purple winged unicorn looked at the pony shocked before she quickly snapped out of it.

"R-right."

With a flash from Twilight's horn, the three were gone. Spike, the dragon, brushed some dust off him and looked around and shrugged before going to the white pony, mentioned helping her clean her dress and walked off. The rest of the crowd, with various degrees of shame carried on with their business.

After a while, Kaleb, regained his faculties and his primaries allowed him to peek out and see, what looked like, the inside of a cottage. The warm, inviting atmosphere caused his wings to slowly relax to his sides once again. He looked around in wonder at all the creatures he could see: birds, squirrels, mice, a couple snakes, a rabbit seeming to have an argument with a serpentine quasi dragon with other animal parts...okay that was, what's the word, different? Yes, different was definitely the word to use. He blinked and rubbed his eyes...yep the thing was definitely real. The rabbit eventually took out a few gold coins and angrily threw them the the ground before hopping off. The creature chuckled as the pieces jumped into his waiting paw giving a bark. He dropped the coins into a bag giving off a long falling whistle before giving a distant splash. Kaleb quirked an eyebrow as he watched the antics, never noticing the two ponies approaching him.

"Are you feeling any better?" came a soft, kind voice.

Kaleb's eyes snapped to the female voice addressing him and saw a yellow mare. his wings snapped open in surprise before one hid his face.

"I-I'm sorry!" he squeaked causing the yellow mare to giggle, the giggle caused him to peek between his primaries and his face heated up.

"There's no reason to apologize." she stated.

Kaleb waited for a while as he looked over the pegasus before him. She had soft curves to her and soft facial features, great, a woman-er mare, just his luck, he was never the best at making conversations with women back where he came from, well, usually anyway. He got along with Tia because he got along with Luna. He got along with Luna because the two of them were practically outcasts, especially in college.

"Are you okay?" asked the sweet voice again, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Don't be afraid, we're away from the crowds."

Kaleb's wing lowered a little at that.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything."

At that Kaleb's wing fully lowered and both wings were, once again, at his sides.

Silence, once more reigned, though this one was admittedly a bit more comfortable. The yellow mare smiled even though he could tell part of her was a bit nervous. His tension lessened considerably at the possibility that he was in the company of a kindred spirit. After a little while another pony came in, a purple winged unicorn causing Kaleb to jump a bit and push slightly into the couch he was on.

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy, it's been a while since I made tea. Spike usually kicks me out of the kitchen saying it's 'his territory' and that he 'doesn't want me burning down the crystal kitchen...again.'"

That last line made Kaleb smile a bit for a fraction of a second.

"Hey, it's nice to see you smile a bit." the purple one, Twilight, said. "I'm so sorry that I caused you to have an anxiety attack like that."

Kaleb blinked a couple times at that before the yellow one, apparently Fluttershy, cut in.

"I'm sorry, I saw how you were and I didn't step in sooner." Fluttershy squeaked, her ears slaying a bit.

Kaleb frowned a bit before giving a sad smile.
"I-it's not your fault," he says, "I'always like that. I always mess up in some way or another. I'm not really good in crowds."

The three sat there for a while before another voice sounded, this one a bit familiar.

"Oh, come on, this is hardly the time for an awkward pause, leave that for later." the creature from before said breaking the tension.

"Professor Discord? Is that really you, Dizzy?" Kaleb asked wide-eyed. "How did you get here.

"Do you know him Discord?" asked Twilight

"Nope." he said simply with a shrug, "Must know my doppelgänger."

"Oh, come on Discord, Neighry Curie, proved the scientific impossibility of different universes!"

"Oh, right, I'm sure she would know more about dimensions than the Lord of Chaos." He says with sunglasses randomly coming down from nowhere to rest on his snout, covering his eyes.

Twilight's eye twitched in irritation before she thew her hooves in the air and huffed.

"'Di Doppelgänger! du bleicher Geselle!/ Was äffst du nach mein Liebesled,/Das mich gequält auf dieser Stelle,/So manche Nacht, in alter Zeit?'" Kaleb quoted absentmindedly causing Twilight to twitch a bit.

"What was that?" asked Fluttershy.

"Oh, sorry, that's a little bit or a German verse. Roughly, it translates to: 'O you Doppelgänger! you pale comrade!/Why do you ape the pain of my love/which tormented me upon this spot/So many a night, so long ago?' It was written by Franz Schubert."

Once more Twilight's eye twitched.

"No, it was written by Furz Bleetbert! He was a Baaman composer."

"What's 'Baaman?'" Kaleb asked, tilting his head.

Discord laughed and started eating some un-popped popcorn. The three ponies looked at him with raised eyebrows before he motioned for them to continue. Kaleb repeated his question and before Twilight could answer, Fluttershy spoke.

"Oh, that's the language of the sheep in Goatmany."

Twilight looked at her a little shocked and she gave a shy smile. Kaleb just grew more confused.

"Sorry, but that was German. the language spoken by the people in Germany."

"Germany?"

"People?"

Kaleb raised an eyebrow.

"You know, humans in Europe?"

The ponies looked at each other for a brief moment.

"How do you know about humans?" asked Twilight.

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently, 'hyooman's is the race that exist in the world Twilight visited." Fluttershy commented.

Discord laughed as Kaleb's eyes grew.

"You know how I can get back?!" he shouted, causing the two to yelp.

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long everyone, a lot’s been happening but I should be on and updating more regularly now. Thanks for understanding.