Project ARC

Project ARC: Chapter 2

glitchhunter5000

“Asleep once again... How I yearned for light... And when I received it, I was put to sleep once again.”

-After the Celebration-

Celestia walked down the corridors, each hoofstep echoing through the hallway. She glanced over to the door where her Dad’s lab was located and enter in. Sitting over a table, Luna frantically wrote all over each paper containing calculations.

“Luna dear, you must rest.” Celestia calmly spoke. Luna continued without hesitation, which concerned Celestia more. “Sister, are you alright? You seem tired.”

Luna placed down the papers and sat for a few seconds. After a while, Luna finally answered. “Sister, how canst thou not worry over this? Our Arc is once again sleeping, but he can be awake. How comest you attempt to stop me?” Luna picked up her papers once again. “If you shant continue, then we shall continue for you.” Luna pointed towards the door. “Now if thou wouldst be kind as to leave.” Luna then returned to writing over her papers.

Celestia sighed and decided to walk out. After closing the door behind, she began to ponder of what she could do to calm her wonderful sister. After a while of thinking, her eyes brightened and she jolted down the hallway.

Hearing her sister run away, Luna finally relaxed and started working again. She started scribbling down some notes until she noticed that Project ARC started shining.

-In Arc’s Mind-

“What do we have here?”

“That voice... Again? Discord, leave me alone! I’m already shut down, so you don’t have to bother me anymore!”

Discord started cackling. “Oh, so simple minded aren’t you? Though I may be defeated, I still have power.”

“Wh-What power?”

“Oh, you don’t know? I have the power to make you help me.”

“Me? Help you? I won't ever help you!”

Discord continued laughing to himself as he talked. “Oh, but I know you. I know you want to be free. So much is your want to be with Celestia and Luna. And I can free you if you choose to help me. Or not.”

Arc grunted. “I won’t help you. Never will I help you in the name of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!”

Discord groaned. “Oh, must you be so resilient?” Then an image of Discord appeared into Arc’s head. “I have more power than you know. Even in my stone prison, I still have enough power to control your body.”

Arc thoughts stayed silent. Discord laughed and flew around. An image of the courtroom appear in Arc’s head. “Remember this place? It’s where you attempted to try to save your little princesses. Your words were so useless, but I felt like playing along. At that time, I was planning my own thoughts into my head. I could have defeated Celestia and Luna at that very moment, but I thought of a greater way to make Celestia suffer. Her student pupil, Twilight Sparkle, would have been a great target in my plans. And for back-up, if I were defeated in some way, I would have to do something to their own little project in their castle.”

“Th-That means... You were the one who woke me up? You’re the one who gave me life and then destroy it!?”

Discord gave a victorious laugh. The image of the courtroom vanished and was replaced by the laboratory. “I also used you to weaken Luna. Only then could I been able to transform Luna into Nightmare Moon.” Discord showed Arc transforming into the monster before. After a while of the battle, Discord continued. “But in no case did I think that you would actually resist my power enough to break free.” Discord then showed Arc reverting to normal and the image afterward disappeared. “It was a trial transforming Luna into Nightmare Moon. Too much power was used.” Discord grunted to show his disgust. “So I put in a little adjustment to you. I knew Celestia would have broken Nightmare Moon and bring back Luna, so I made you fall back into your normal-sleep form if I was somehow defeated again. And looks like I was correct! Though, I hate being correct of my own destruction.” Discord showed even more disgust.

“So... What’s the point of telling this to me now?”

“I know that you don’t have the power to resist now. It’s time for a little practice.”

“Practice?”

Discord smirked. “Correct. Let me show you.” Discord disappeared and reappeared next to the stain-glass windows of the palace room. Discord made an image of Celestia in a room with Luna. “Celestia will dispose of you for being a meddler.” Celestia pointed for Arc to leave. “You’ll beg to stay, but Celestia will turn away from you.” Celestia faced away from Arc. “You’ll then beg Luna for help, but she will also turn from you.” Luna then faced away from Arc as well. “You will have no place to go. Everyone will despise you.” The image then turned to many ponies laughing at Arc. “You’ll be mocked, torn away from the world. You’ll end up as a criminal!” Arc then is shown behind bars before the image faded. “You are not meant to be. You’ll just be a nuisance to everypony.”

Arc thought nothing for a while. Discord smirked while waiting in a far end of Arc’s mind. Soon, Arc began thinking again. “Discord has no power over me...”

“I have much power over you.” Discord replied.

“Discord doesn’t have any power over me...”

Discord smirk grew into a wide spread grin.

“Discord is a liar... I won’t be rejected.”

“But you will. Celestia isn’t even caring about your being.”

“Liar!”

“Am I?” Discord then showed Celestia walking away from the laboratory.

“Enough Discord...”

“Celestia isn’t your friend.”

“Shut up... Discord...”

“Celestia thinks of you as an enemy.”

“ENOUGH!!”

Discord blinked. “That’s a new voice for you.”

A light entered into Arc’s mind. Discord squinted as he blocked away the light. Soon, Discord started disappearing as the light grew stronger.

“Arc.”

“Wh-Who’s there?”

“I am Akayreuel. The King of Equestria.”

“K-King? Then why haven’t I met you?”

Akayreuel appeared in Arc’s mind. Discord had completely faded from Arc’s mind.

“Y-You look... Kinda like me...”

“It is because you are a piece of me.”

“Huh?”

Akayreuel exhaled. “I am the one who created you in the first place.”

“Wait, I thought-”

“My daughters created you?”

“Celestia and Luna are your daughters?”

Akayreuel nodded. “Indeed. Now, I would like to speak to you in a form instead of speaking to darkness. It’s quite uncomfortable.”

“Wha-How?”

“Imagine yourself. Make yourself form inside your mind.”

Arc started focusing. Soon, Arc stood in front of Akayreuel. Akayreuel smiled and said, “You do look like me in some ways. The mane mostly points it out.”

Arc played with his mane a bit to see the color. It was a little darker than Akayreuel and had a little different pattern, but overall, Arc did have nearly the same mane as Akayreuel. “So, uh... Creator, if I should call you that... Why are you appearing to me?”

“I would like to meet with my daughters again,” Akayreuel replied. “But as I have no form, I would have to borrow another form. So Arc, I would like to make an agreement.”

“I don’t know if I should trust you yet,” Arc said. With uncertainty, Arc added, “And anyways, how do I know that you are the father of Celestia and Luna?”

Akayreuel sighed. “I always had that problem of trusting others out of the ordinary...” Akayreuel came to Arc and placed his horn to Arc’s. With a flash of light, memories of Akayreuel with his daughters came to Arc’s mind. After the light faded, Arc stood in awe. Akayreuel grinned and stepped away from Arc. “This is why I must speak with my daughters again. To tell them that they should stop worrying about me. And I know you. I made you from my own hooves. So I know you will allow this for me.”

Arc nodded. “I understand.” Arc then lowered his head. “Sorry for doubting you...”

Akayreuel laughed. Arc looked at Akayreuel suspiciously as he continued laughing. After he finished, Akayreuel explained, “You remind me too much of when I was a young colt. I’m sorry myself if I confuse you.” Arc settled a bit while Akayreuel continued. “So Arc, I would like to fulfill your request. Because you are giving me another chance, so will I give you another chance.”

“Uh...” Arc pondered a bit before his eyes brightened. “I can be with Luna and Celestia again?”

Akayreuel smiled and with a flash, disappeared.

-At the Laboratory-

Luna covered her eyes as she watched Arc. She rather have it darker, but she forced herself to stay in the room. As the light faded, Luna watched as Arc descended from his pod.

“Arc! You’re okay!” Luna embraced Arc in a hug as his warm smile grew.

“Luna, I am here.” Arc nuzzled Luna as he continued to feel the warmth of the embrace.

“Arc, how are you alive again?”

Luna released the hug as Arc continued to look over Luna. “It’s been a while my fairest Queen of the Night. You have grown so strong.”

Luna stared at Arc as realization started slapping her. With each hit, Luna’s tears began to grow. Arc wiped away Luna’s tear as he spoke. “I am proud of you, Luna.”

Luna continued to cry as her tear rolled down. “Dad...”

Celestia continued to look around the kitchen. Celestia thought to herself, “If I can’t get Luna to leave the lab by words, then I’ll have to attract her by using food.” She started pulling out many of Luna’s favorite foods; blueberry muffins, apple pie, a slice of chocolate cake, and some toast. Celestia giggled at the thought of Luna using a toaster and what chaos she might bring. As she placed all her favorite foods on a tray, she lifted with magic her tray and walked back to the laboratory. When she reached the door, she heard laughter on the other side.

When she opened the door, she could not believe what she saw. The tray dropped from her magical grip as she saw Arc standing right with Luna. “Sister, you... Did it?”

Luna continued to have tears roll down her eyes. “Tia... It’s... Him.”

Still confused, Celestia sat next to Arc and Luna. “So Arc... I see you’re back with us again.”

Akayreuel smiled to Celestia. “Arc is a wonderful colt. He will allow me this wish to finally speak to you once again.”

Celestia blinked once, then twice. “Father? Is that... You?”

Akayreuel nodded as Celestia’s eyes began to follow the lead of Luna’s eyes. “Both of you... My daughters... You both have grown strong and well. I am happy to have this chance to speak to you for one last time.

“I have missed you two. I wished to never have left, but I wouldn’t have any reason to live if I couldn’t protect you two. I am sorry for leaving you two. You two have done well without me though. You defeated Discord, and I could never be more proud. I made this project not only to defeat Discord, but for a being of perfection. But I was blind. I have the two most perfect beings here.”

Celestia then spoke through tears, “Couldn’t you just stay with us? You have Project ARC...”

Akayreuel looked down. “I cannot. My promise to Arc was that I would have time to say my final goodbye before finally leaving. Arc then will then have life that he wished long for. A life to be serving with you two.”

Luna smiled. “And anyways Tia, Arc is in a way like our father. He does have the genetics of him.”

Akayreuel laughed before returning to his warm self. “Celestia, I know you will protect the world. Always be strong and bright as the sun. And Luna, you reflect the sun. If any trouble happens, you must always be there to help Celestia. You two must always be together to help keep balance.”

Akayreuel then looked up. “It is time. I must return to my original place.” Akayreuel walked up to Celestia and Luna and embraced them with a final hug. “When I leave, Arc needs to rest. Make sure that when he awakens, he will have food ready as he will be almost completely drained of power. He will start a new life and he will need your help. Will you be ready my daughters?”

Luna and Celestia nodded while tears flowed down. Akayreuel smiled. “I will be watching from above. If you need anything, just think of me and I will come to your heart. Goodbye my princesses.” Arc’s body then fell on the ground limp.

-Arc’s Awakening-

Arc woke up and rubbed his eyes. After looking around, he noticed that he moved to another room. Arc jumped up and ran over to a mirror, nearly smashing into it. After pushing away, he watched as his movements mimicked his own. The door opened behind Arc and Arc saw a smiling Luna.

“Thou arest awake so early?” Luna walked over to Arc. “We thought you would stay asleep longer.”

Arc smiled at Luna. “Good morning Luna!”

Luna returned the smile. “Arc, thou shouldst know that the time is nearly daybreak.”

Arc stared at Luna. “Daybreak? You mean I slept through the day?”

Luna laughed. “Thou are on our schedule Arc. That means thou hast dinner as breakfast.”

Arc’s stomach lurched a loud noise at Luna. Arc sheepishly chuckled as Luna uncontrollably laughed. “Speaking of which, I’m sorta hungry.”

Luna finished laughing and finally spoke, “Come with me Arc! We hast food of plenty! Even blueberry muffins!”

Arc walked behind Luna as his smile grew. “Blueberry muffins?” He thought. “I wonder what those taste like?”

Finally, Arc and Luna reached the kitchen where Luna flapped her wings anxiously as she rushed to a chair. “Blueberry muffins please!” She sang as Arc reached the table. While Arc sat down, Luna added, “Thou shalt add more blueberries as well!”

Arc giggled at Luna’s excitement. As Luna excitedly watched the bakers make blueberry muffins, Arc thought if anyone could beat Luna’s excitement with muffins. Arc looked to the right and saw a gray pegasus who had a darker tint than his color and a yellow mane sitting next to him. Arc blinked and asked, “Luna, who’s this?”

Luna looked over. “What art thou speaking of?”

“I’m talking about-Huh?” When Arc turned over to point at the mysterious pony, she disappeared. “B-But she was...” Arc groaned. “Maybe I’m still tired...”

Luna smiled. “Either that, or thou art suffering from thy stomach’s emptiness.” Arc stomach groaned again, which caused Luna to burst into another fit of laughter.

Celestia walked over and eyed Luna. “I’m enjoying your excitement, but what in the world is so humorous?”

Luna wiped a tear of laughter away. “Speakest thou to Arc’s stomach, not us!” And she continued to laugh.

Arc shrunk down. “I have no idea if this is embarrassing or if I should laugh too...”

Celestia smiled and sat next to Arc. “Arc’s stomach, do you want food?”

Arc’s stomach replied with a loud grumble. Celestia smirked and continued. “Arc’s stomach, you don’t have to be so grumpy.” Arc’s stomach replied with a loud yell. Arc started to giggle. Celestia grinned at Arc. “Well Arc, your stomach doesn’t seem to like me, does it?” Celestia and Arc then joined Luna in the burst of laughter.

After a while of joking around with Arc’s stomach and cheerful laughter, dinner (or breakfast as Luna thinks of it) came on a plate with a lid. Luna rubbed her hooves together, readily anticipating her delectable meal. Celestia smiled as she levitated her fork and knife. Arc blankly stared at Luna and Celestia and wondered who’s lead to follow. When the meal was shown, many different foods were in front of Arc. He then looked at Celestia who stared at Luna. Arc glanced over to Luna to find on her plate was the same pony that was next to him for a little bit.

Luna then screamed out, “What hast thou done!?”

The yellow-maned pegasus smiled and flew away. Luna looked down in disdain. “Sister, didst thou make sure that this place was secured?”

Celestia blinked. “How did she get past them?”

Arc blankly stared. “That was the pony sitting next to me. I thought she was my imagination...”

Luna regained her composure. She turned to the cooks and demanded, “Cooks! Makest another blueberry muffin! And make sure no one eats of it.”

The cooks quickly ran back to their stations working. Celestia smiled and started eating at her food. Arc looked over his food and picked up what seemed to be a carrot of some sort. After taking a bite, he felt that the new taste washed over him like a wave of refreshing water. He continued to dig into each bite, savoring each taste.

Celestia smirked behind her next bite. “Does it taste good Arc?”

Arc gave a huge smile. “It’s wonderful!”

Celestia chuckled. “Luna thought the same when she bit into her first blueberry muffin.”

Luna looked over to the cooks. “Which we are waiting for!” She spoke more to the cooks than Celestia or Arc.

Arc smiled. “Anyways, what is this?”

Celestia grinned. “Hairy-Ferret Sallade.”

Arc smile fade instantly while his mouth dropped the food from his mouth. Celestia laughed. “I’m kidding, it’s Cherry-Carrot Salad.”

Arc gave a weak grin. “Are you sure?”

Luna gave a wink to Arc. “Our Sister didst that to us as well.”

Arc observed Luna a bit and continued eating. The grin returned as he delved deeper into the taste of the salad. The cooks then came in to serve Luna her muffins. Luna rubbed her hooves together as she looked over the muffins, mouth drooling. As she was towering over it, the muffin suddenly disappeared from her plate. Luna stared with her mouth open before searching for the muffin. But to her avail, she saw that the muffin was eaten again by the blonde-maned pegasus.

After the dinner and trying to capture the ‘muffin thief’, Arc walked around with Celestia and Luna. Celestia spoke after a while, “Arc, we need to discuss something together.”

Arc looked at Luna who notioned Arc to go with Celestia. Arc followed Celestia to a dark room. Celestia turned on the lights to show a room filled with many books. Celestia broke the silence by speaking, “You will need to start your studies.”

Arc quizzically looked at Celestia. “Studies?”

Celestia nodded. “If you continue each day without exercising your magic,” Celestia pointed at Arc’s horn and continued, “Your magic will grow out of control.”

“What will happen?”

Celestia levitated a book to Arc. Arc caught the book with magic. “You are already powerful with magic. You’ve been charged with magic ever since you were created and have collected magic ever since. Any magic you might use may cause much destruction, or worse.” The book that Arc held in his magic then started to freeze around the edges.

“I see...” Arc focused on the book that he continued to hold.

Celestia walked next to Arc. “But truth be told, you already have a great control of your magic. Although you might still need the practice to fully control your powers.”

Arc nodded. “When do I start?”

Celestia thought for a moment. “We’ll start tomorrow. You need your rest since you woke up recently.” Celestia then took the book from Arc’s grip and placed it back to the shelf. “Now I must get my rest too. It’s getting a little late, now isn’t it?”

Arc nodded again. “I’m going to bed too. Goodnight Celestia!” Arc then walked out the door.

Celestia then looked at the book that Arc held. “But why did you freeze the book with your magic instead of burning it?”

Author's Notes: I promise I'll create these stories quicker! I had some problems with my files being deleted, so I'm going to stick with Google Documents. So don't think it will take a month for these chapters. And I'll make these stories a little shorter than 6,000 words too. Heh, so... All I have to say. Hoped you enjoyed!