Dread

Chapters

Prelude, Part 2: The Raid
Prelude, Part 3: Director's Notes, Compilation B
Chapter 1: The Rift
Chapter 2: Containment
Chapter 3: Starting Over
Chapter 4: Remnants
Chapter 5: Arrogance
Chapter 6: Of Catapults and Marmots
Chapter 7: Backlash
Chapter 8: Comfort
Chapter 9: Preemption
Chapter 10: The Dispute
Chapter 11: Acquisition
Chapter 13: Stripped
Chapter 14: True Potential
Chapter 15: Downfall
Chapter 16: Reflection
Chapter 17: A Time for Action
Prelude, Part 1: Subject 6043: Director's Notes, Compilation A
Chapter 12: Manipulations
By Popular Demand

Prelude, Part 2: The Raid

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Prelude, Part 3: Director's Notes, Compilation B

Subject 6043
Director’s Log:
11. 7/14
All the initiates in the New Hampshire branch have been transferred to the Vermont branch, after last night’s Purist raid (see the corresponding incident report.)

Joel played a major part in ensuring nobody got hurt; he evaded capture by using the ventilation shafts, rescued Lieutenant Joshua Clarke from sustaining further injury, and distracted the Purists in the training center, where they planned to execute the initiates via firing squad and broadcast the recorded executions to live television. Once Joel had caused sufficient mayhem among the Purists, the trainees quickly fled or fought back. It was during the mayhem that Joel found he was not affected by gunfire; he explained that his form ‘caught the bullets’.

Joel explained that he, reluctantly, invoked a Nightmare on Lieutenant Nathan Pierce, as part of causing a distraction; he undid the illusion as soon as he was able, but was remorseful nonetheless. He plans on not giving Nightmares to innocents in the future, if he can help it.

7/14 (ctd.)
Joel’s family arrived at the Vermont branch, demanding to see their son. I allowed Joel to see them after he worked to don his human form, but his family demanded that he be allowed to return home after last night’s raid. They stated that they will no longer stand for their son being a target of the Purists.

Before I could explain that he couldn't leave, Joel beat me to the punch. He expressed a desire to fully grasp his powers, and use them to help people as best he could. His family was reluctant, but Joel’s father finally admitted that Joel is an adult and capable of making his own decisions. His family departed after some time, and Joel quietly returned to his room. I could tell he, deep down, dearly wished to return home to his family.

Joel’s fellow trainees spoke highly of him regarding his actions during the raid. Some of those who fought back against the Purists said they were 'inspired' by his actions. I reviewed the camera footage from the raid; I actually had to watch it three times before I finally noticed Joel slipping around the gym, and even then I needed to adjust the brightness of the footage. When he fully revealed himself he used the havoc he’d created to the best of his ability; he showed the capability to move quickly between opponents, the ability to disarm and neutralize them, and a surprising amount of strength, as seen when he tossed a Purist against the wall.

I believe once we’ve fully learned the capabilities of the Nightmare and its applications, we can safely move Joel onto Basic Training.

7/19
The initiates from the New Hampshire Branch have been returned to their respective facility.
7/21
Joel began his training today. We started out small by having him perform in Simulation: Melee Combat, Level 1. He went at the challenge with great enthusiasm, but when he defeated the first hologram the challenge ended as a failure; he’d formed his claw into what could only be described as a glaive and attacked his target in a method that, if the target was real, would have killed them. Joel then grasped that the targets were to be considered human, and resolved to adjust his methods as necessary.

There were a few more rounds that, to Joel’s frustration, were marked as fails, however; there were moments when Joel would either hit his target hard enough to rupture internal organs, or toss them in a way that would break their necks. It appears Joel gets somewhat over-excited in combat, put lightly. When he attacks an opponent I can hear him snarling, roaring, even—quite literally, as in, more of a beast than a man; it’s almost as if he wishes to make his opponents believe he is the monster he appears to be. An interesting tactic, but the first thing MHAs are taught is not to kill humans, and that they will face severe consequences should an innocent die by their hands, intentional or not.

Still, when he fights in a way that would not prove fatal to a human opponent, Joel is quite efficient; he strikes them in a way that either disorients them or knocks them to the ground, allowing him to move onto another target. He even shrugs off blows, though this is no surprise, since he was unaffected by gunfire during the raid on the 14th. Any punches or kicks that land simply sink into his mass; Joel began using this to his advantage, gripping the fist or foot and bringing the aggressor to the floor.

At the end of the day, Joel managed to achieve gold status on Melee Combat Levels 1-5, through trial and error in terms of combat aggression. He noted that each level simply came with more opponents, and wished to face something different. Given his performance and capabilities, I believe I can bump him up somewhat; as a formality, he’ll need to pass Level 1 tomorrow on some challenges he might find simple (Firearm-disarming, environmental awareness and the like), but it should see him to the more in-depth aspects of training.

7/24
It has been over a month since Joel arrived, and he’s made more progress learning his powers than most ‘late-bloomer’ metahumans. There had been some bumps—Joel still had trouble maintaining a non-fatal fighting style, but after a while he managed to learn the trick to 'pulling his punches'.

He relished the chance to face opponents that weren’t considered humans, though; when we unveiled Simulation: Titan Combat, he literally squealed with joy at the sight of the FENRIR Automated Mechs that stepped into the simulation chamber. Joel also used this simulation to learn how sharp his claws could become; he found that his bigger blades, while not strong enough to entirely cleave through the Mechs, still did considerable damage. He also discovered a viable method of combatting larger robotic enemies; he would throw his mass into the robot’s circuitry, seep inside and tear it apart from the inside, or even force the robots to move 'like synthetic puppets'. He couldn’t work out a way to make the robots fire their weapons while ‘possessing’ them, so he resorted to melee attacks against his opponents, or allowed them to destroy their possessed friend.

At the end of the day, as Joel and I left the sim chambers, Joel admitted to a ‘rush’ when in combat. It is not uncommon for a metahuman to feel a surge of adrenaline when ‘stretching their wings’, so to speak, though I do hope the rush is exactly that—a rush. I've read my share of reports on more feral metahumans that eventually succumbed to their primal sides.

7/26
We discovered Joel’s weakness today. Joel is in recovery, though given his unique buildup we are unsure if there is anything we can do.

Fire. Joel’s form is weak to fire.

We dispatched PYRO Mechs as part of today’s training. Joel made to attack, but stopped. Joel called out to control, "Hold on a second," stood still and let a PYRO unleash its flamethrower upon him.

Joel began to scream in pain as the flames engulfed him. He withdrew from the PYROs and sped to the corner, his mass glowing like molten stone. He huddled in the corner and remained still, his cries slowly dying out. We quickly shut down the PYROs and dispatched a medical response team. I entered the chamber and found Joel, his form almost completely solidified. Only a claw and a portion of his tail remained unaffected. Fire appears to solidify Joel’s form like clay. The medical team managed to heft Joel’s form onto cart and bring him to recovery, but it is unknown if--

7/26 (ctd.)
Joel is okay. It took time but his form slowly regained its normal fluidity, utilizing his unaffected essence in breaking off his solidified mass. He is unnerved but otherwise okay, though he doesn’t wish to face the PYROs again anytime soon.

Joel wished to call his family and inform them, but I advised against it; it is common practice for MHAs to keep any weaknesses, be they physical or social (loved ones, friends), to themselves as much as possible, so that no Malefactors may use that weakness against them. He dryly noted that the Department knows his weakness, but sighed and vowed not to give them a reason to use that knowledge.

8/13
Joel has passed the physical aspects of training; it took a deal of trial and error on some tests, but, as Joel jokingly said, ‘no one makes the first jump.’

Joel got the hang of evading opponents armed with flamethrowers or similar weapons, working to disable the weapons or disarm the aggressors (Initially he worked to cut the fuel-lines on flamethrower-equipped opponents, but soon discovered that doing so just made a risk of igniting the environment.) In navigating a blazing environment, Joel simply extended his mass to move around and over the flames. Any burns he sustained were minor, merely solidifying and disabling the burned portion of his mass for a period of time.

A behavioral note regarding Joel; when he reached the simulation, Hostage Situation, there were a fair number of times he would ensure the simulated hostage’s safety before clearing out any threats, even though the primary goal of the challenge is to protect the hostages for a given amount of time. His mindset is understandable—stop a threat before it can hurt the hostages, rather than hover over the civilians and hope for the best. But I hope to teach him that he won’t be able to win every battle he fights—at least not immediately. Guardianship is one of the defining statistics of every MHA; the ability and will to protect the civilian population at any cost. There will be times where preventing casualties in the present is more important than preventing casualties in the future.

Other than that, though, he seems to have gotten quite comfortable with his new form. His almost instinctive abilities in combat have sharpened enough that I feel confident he won’t accidentally kill anyone, and he’s mastered the Nightmare well enough that he only invokes the visions if he wills it. With a few more days, Joel should be ready to be shipped off to the Moore Metahuman Academy for more advanced training. He is excited to work with other metahumans, yet seemed sad when he realized he was leaving; he’d made plenty of friends at this branch, even before the Purist raid. I told him that he may see them again at Moore, which cheered him up somewhat.

8/20
Joel has been transferred to the Moore Metahuman Academy facility in Montreal. I wish him the best of luck, and hope to see him again as a Metahuman Agent.
9/23
Received a concerning status report on Joel at Moore; whilst working in teams in certain simulations, he had been noted as prioritizing the neutralization of any threats before handling the main objective, regardless of any attempts at a plan by his teammates. He was quoted as "giving [us] some breathing room", or yelling for his teammates to focus on the primary objective while he dealt with the opponents. This rhetoric led to a fair few successful sims, but there had been reported failures in which he was too busy combating opponents to notice his teammates being unable to complete the primary objective without his help. He still has the issue of prioritizing; again, his ideals are sound, but in more time-limited challenges—the disarmament of bombs, for example—this could be a very risky prioritization.
11/24
Joel has been improving in terms of teamwork, in that he actually learned how to learn any stratagems set by his teammates, and then acting on them. I'm glad to see him realize his capabilities qualify him for more than mere combat, but I'm still concerned that he may hold a near bloodlust. He hasn't 'killed' any living opponents in his sims in months, but there were incidents where he seemed to be 'pushing it', breaking bones and the like. Some telepathic Moore staff reported that, while observing his brain patterns in the heat of combat, he is fully in control, with no risk of going feral—it seems he simply has... fun. Joel learned of these concerns and stated that he is rather brutal on the opposing holograms, "because they're exactly that: holograms." He plans on pulling back somewhat when he faces human opponents, though his instructors and I took that with a grain of salt; we've seen far too many good MHAs become fearsome Malefactors out of deeply-buried capacities for violence.
7/13/2027
After nearly three years of promising progress reports, Joel contacted me and excitedly told me he’d passed. He told me that he wouldn’t have gotten this far without me, that he owes me a great debt. I eagerly await the graduation ceremony on the 24th.
7/24/2027
Joel Nelson has been officially designated a Metahuman Agent, assigned to the New Hampshire Metahuman Task Force. He has chosen the codename ‘Dread’, which seems fitting enough. He is to primarily work alongside fellow graduates ‘Smite’ (Capable of erecting solid fields of pure light), and ‘Trauma’ (A class-4 telepathic).

Since communication between Task Force members is key, and Joel is incapable of carrying the smallest available earpiece, we commissioned a gift for him; a transmitter, the same size as a single grain of his mass, made of a very special metal that is attracted to the magnetic field that holds Joel together. With some assistance from Trauma, we were able to ‘sync’ the transmitter with Joel’s consciousness—or his soul, depending on how you see it—allowing him to communicate with his team telepathically. Joel opted to keep the transmitter hidden inside his mass as much as possible, to protect it from damage, but we assured him the transmitter could be repaired, even replaced.

In addition to being a neural transmitter, with some help from Illinois MHA, Scale, we were able to also equip the device with the basic workings of the MHA standard-issue PDA; with Scale’s size-alteration technology we managed to allow Joel a connection to the local DMHA office, access to various files, and the MP3 player petitioned by the MHAs back in the early 2000’s. (Joel noted he was eager to utilize the last feature to play ‘epic music’ while in combat.)

I’m eager to learn of Dread’s exploits as a fully designated MHA.

END OF COMPILATION B

Author's Note

"...Boss? Ponies...?"

*slaps your wrist with ruler* PATIENCE!!

Chapter 1: The Rift

♩ Hello, vent shafts, my old friends…
I’m going through you yet again… ♩

I flowed through the vent, peering down every turn as I went. This was my life now, I mused as I went along; thirty percent fighting, twenty percent Nightmare-inducing, fifty percent crawling through ventilation shafts. Really, why would criminals keep using places that had these things? I wasn’t even the first MHA who could do stuff like this; the metahuman who invented this method came around in the late 70’s. It was actually rather pitiful.

I finally found an exit and peered into the immense warehouse—correction; my life was thirty percent fighting, ten percent Nightmare-inducing, ten percent going into warehouses, and fifty percent crawling through vents—that housed the guys I was tracking. As expected there were six goons patrolling the place, all armed with rifles. I noticed, to my dismay, that some of their guns had been affixed with Ember attachments; their guns could shoot small, yet no less effectual, bursts of flame.

Of course… I thought bitterly as I continued to take in the environment. In the center of the warehouse was a large, circular metal ring, with countless wires protruding from the outer edge, all plugged into an immense computer. And working at the computer was…

Oh, hello… I thought. The man working at the generator was Dr. Johann, or ‘Perspective’, as he called himself. He was a known Malefactor who was obsessed with finding a means to break through the barriers between dimensions. He’d succeeded at one point in the early 90’s, breaking through to a completely random dimension; I could only imagine the joy he felt in the seconds before the other dimension’s radioactive atmosphere hit him and the portal collapsed. The effects both vastly increased his intellect, and drove him batshit insane. Ever since then he’d tried to locate that same dimension, hoping to expose the world to the same radiation and ‘make them see the truth’ or whatever. He’d been in prison for some time since he was busted in Kentucky a couple years back, but was among the Malefactors who’d escaped during the ‘Great Purge’, where a large number of Purists attempted to detonate a nuke beneath the Omega Security Prison off the coast of California.

I took another look at the guards; they had the same purple glow in their eyes as Perspective did in the photos I’d seen of him. Perspective had found a means of ‘ensuring loyalty’ by injecting his corrupted blood into his workers or ‘volunteers’. Anyone with his blood would be subjected to his will, blind to pain, fatigue and hunger. They could be saved, sure; a cure had been found shortly after Perspective’s first arrest. They hadn’t been exposed to the pure radiation of that dimension, so it wasn’t a one-way road for them, unlike Perspective. Until then, though, I needed to take it easy; these were probably the kidnap victims that had been vanishing across the state. I didn’t think their families would appreciate their loved ones being returned with their arms and legs broken by their ‘savior’.

“Dread?”

I slithered into the vents somewhat. “I’ve found them, Smite. They’re in the warehouse on the docks in Gloucester, across from the Coast Guard station. Perspective’s got ‘em, using them as his cronies. Looks like he’s building another Rift, dunno how long he needs, though.”

“Damn… Okay, just hold tight, Trauma and I’ll be there soon—ten minutes tops.”

I glanced at Perspective, still working at the machine. “I don’t like thinking about what this guy might be able to do in ten minutes…”

“Just don’t do anything rash, okay? Give us some time, we’ll be there. Please, Dread!”

I tensed in agitation; Smite always felt I was too hasty to jump into the fray. Sure, there had been times she’d said ‘wait for us’, and they arrived to find me already at work; but nearly all of those times had been me simply, quietly, knocking out goons and simplifying the cleanup, or trying to make a clear path for any hostages to escape. It wasn’t like I was charging in screaming “YOLO”... as fun as that would be someday, if only once.

I noticed some wires connecting the computer to a large plasmatic generator tucked in the corner, buzzing loudly. It was a hemispherical device with a pair of glowing blue pylons rising from the top. These things were fairly expensive, utilized in big laboratories, both legal and otherwise, capable of powering an entire small town for a decade. These had been sold on the Black Market, almost always to the ‘Genius’ category of Malefactors.

I considered my options; surely there’d be no harm in at least disabling it, right? I learned in training that these had a simple means of being broken beyond repair; a simple fuse, hidden under the control panel that, when broken, would short out the core. I could break the fuse and leave Perspective furiously working at his device by the time Smite and Trauma showed up.

I peered out of the grate and, waiting for none of the guards to be watching. slipped down the wall. Sticking to the shadows, I slithered towards the generator, keeping a close eye on Perspective. As I approached the generator, though, I noticed something different; this one appeared to be a newer model, judging by the slimmer shape of the pylons and the higher-pitched buzz I’d known these things for. Anxiously, I reached a tendril into the control panel and searched the inside.

Well, at least THAT’S the same… I thought as I spotted the fuse. Right, I’ll break this, then head back to the vent and wait for--

“Honestly, I’m amazed it took you so long to find me…”

I adjusted my focus to the part of my mass that wasn’t in the machine. Perspective was standing some distance away, hands behind his back. His goons glanced at him and noticed me before hurrying over, weapons primed. I quickly took on my normal form, leaving a single tendril, too thin to be seen, in the generator, and bared my teeth; well, I’d earned an ‘I told you so’ from Smite this time.

“Not that I wanted to be found, per se…” Perspective said, running his hand through the few strands of white hair that remained following his exposure. “It’s just, my companions weren’t very discrete in securing the equipment I’d need for the Rift. I’d expected you MHAs to be beating the door down days ago.”

“Looks like your help’s better than you think,” I said calmly. Keep him talking, keep him talking, keep him talking…

Perspective chuckled. “Or perhaps New Hampshire’s dedicated Task Force isn’t quite the… force of reckoning as other states’, hmm? Now, Kentucky’s Task Force, they’re something… Override, in particular, he…” He began to laugh. “He got the computer that controlled the Rift I’d built to… to play some Tiny Tim songs… I tried to open the portal and ended up getting Tiptoe Through the Tulips for my trouble!”

I chuckled a little bit; that was pretty funny. “Yeah, it’s important to find humor in what you do, huh?” I focused on my transmitter. “Smite, can you pick up the pace?”

“What’s wrong?” She replied.

“I’m an idiot, THAT’S what’s wrong,” I said. “Look, I can keep Perspective talking, but I don’t know for how long!”

Smite groaned. “Goddammit, Dread! Alright, we’ll be there in a minute, maybe two, just don’t let him turn on that portal!”

I stopped tuning Perspective out as he began pacing around his goons. “I envy your kind, you know? Those who so fear the light? I understand; the very secret of the universe is so close, yet you fear what it is… You fear you play a much smaller role in the grand scheme of things than you think, you’d prefer things to stay the same!”

My single tendril hung close to the fuse in the generator. I’d break it if I needed to, but if I did it now they’d fire their Embers at me, and that shit hurt. Just gotta wait for backup…

“We’re in Gloucester, Dread!” Called Smite. “Give us thirty seconds!”

“Oh, forgive me, I’ve been so selfish…” Perspective said, approaching the computer. “I speak of this glorious light, yet I hold it just out of your reach!” His hand hovered over the button. “Now, my dear Dread, see the glorious light, as I have!!”

NOW. I flowed some more mass into the tendril and thrust it into the fuse, shattering it.

My worries over this plasmatic generator being a newer model weren’t unfounded; the pylons spiked, sending a surge of electricity along the wires to the computer. Perspective barely had time to glance at the surge before the computer burst, sending him flying backwards and into the wall. His goons glanced back at the noise, allowing me to reach out with several tendrils and snatch the guns from their hands before ripping them apart. I formed my tail into a thick tentacle and swept it at their feet, sending them tumbling to the floor before launching myself at Perspective.

I grabbed him by his lab coat and hoisted him up. “Guess enlightenment didn’t teach you the dangers of monologuing, huh?” I asked.

He wasn’t listening; he was staring, bewildered, at the Rift. “What have you done?”

I glanced back; the inner ring of the Rift was sparking, a low hum emanating from the device, rising in pitch. “Uh…” I said.

There was a loud bang, and a portal filled the center of the Rift. I felt it pulling me towards it like the vacuum of space; it was gentle, but it was growing in intensity.

The door to the warehouse smashed open; Smite and Trauma flew in, gaping at the sight. “Dread, what did you DO?!” Smite yelled over the rushing wind of the portal.

“I thought I was turning it off!!” I called before turning to Perspective. “How do I turn it off?!”

Perspective sputtered; this clearly wasn’t the ‘enlightenment’ he’d been seeking. “The… the red wires! They keep the portal open! Break the red wires!!”

“Thank you!!” I said disingenuously before turning to Smite and Trauma. “HERE!” I hurled Perspective at them; Trauma caught him in his telekinetic field and placed him on the ground. Smite erected a tangible shield of light to keep her, Trauma, Perspective and his goons from being taken by the Rift’s pull.

“COME ON!!” Smite yelled.

“I GOTTA SHUT THIS THING OFF!!” I called before turning towards the Rift. I formed some claws and dug them into the floor, to ease my approach. I heard Smite yelling after me, but the roar of the portal had grown too loud. I reached the metal ring and, wrapping more claws around the rim, gave it a once-over; it was hard to tell if the red wires littering the Rift were all one long wire or not. Shaking my head I reached a claw out and began cutting every red wire I could find, like a bomb-diffusing bull.

When I cut the last wire, the portal fluctuated. I glanced back at Smite and Trauma. “I THINK I GOT IT!!” I yelled over the roar of the portal.

The pulling sensation suddenly spiked, catching me off guard. I lost my grip on the Rift and lurched forward. Some of my mass fell in; I could feel it being subjected to violent, twisting wind and conflicting temperatures. Gripping the Rift, I pulled back as hard as I could, but gravity seemed to work differently between worlds, and favored me going through the portal.

“Shit.”

With a yell I was sucked through, and I blacked out.

Department of Metahuman Affairs, New Hampshire Branch

K.I.A. Report

Subject Serial Number: 6043
Subject Name: Joel Nelson
Working Alias: "Dread"
Assigned Task Force: New Hampshire Metahuman Task Force, USA
Approximate Time of Death: 3:30 am, 2/13/2029

Cause of Death: Sucked into dimensional tear generated by Rift device. Ultimate fate unknown, considered dead for foreseeable future.

Additional Notes: After Dread was pulled through the portal, the Rift device was shut down successfully. Had it been allowed to keep running in that manner, it would have exploded and leveled half of Gloucester. Dread's file has been forwarded to the Dimensional Combing Branch, Search and Rescue Division. However, as with anyone subjected to the same fate, the odds of finding the correct dimension are astronomically low.

Princess Luna stood upon her balcony, completely lost in her work as she sent beautiful shooting stars across the canvas that was her beautiful night. She smiled as she heard the occasional awed exclamations from the ponies of Canterlot; ponies that worked nights, night owls and the like had become common these days, no longer leaving Luna’s night unseen.

I wish it was that way before… She thought sadly, before shaking her head. Past. That is in the PAST. Leave it… Just leave it…

“Beautiful as always, Luna,” came a voice from behind her. Luna smiled as she heard her dear sister approach from behind. Celestia stood beside Luna, staring up at the stars in wonder. “I only wish I had your natural talent. I could never shape the nebulae so fluidly…”

“It’s not your fault, dear sister,” Luna said. “Together we form a whole; neither can fully perform the other’s duties as well as their own.”

Celestia extended a wing and wrapped it around her sister, lovingly. “Being unable to form nights of such splendor is just one of many reasons I missed you so…”

Luna nuzzled her sister in response. “Though I suppose having to share your desserts wasn’t one of them?” She joked.

Celestia’s smile fell; she tapped a hoof to her chin in mock-thought. “Hmm… You bring up a good point.” She spread her wings in an overly dramatic flare of authority. “Back to the moon with you!!”

Luna gave an evil laugh. “Nay, sister! Thy precious pastries will be OURS--”

There was a deafening crack that echoed for miles across the sky, causing the two Princesses to jump. The sisters looked out over Canterlot and spotted a strange tear in the sky, painted an impossible number of colors. Lightning arced from the tear as it widened, crackling loudly.

“What is…?” Celestia breathed before extending her wings. “Come, sister! We must ensure this tear doesn’t threaten our subjects!”

Luna nodded and spread her own wings; together, the sisters took off and flew towards the tear. They kept their distance, horns alite, ready to act as necessary. “Can we close it?” Luna called over the crackling rift.

“I don’t know!” Celestia called. “The best we can do is ensure it doesn’t--”

The tear fluctuated; a bolt of lightning arced and nearly hit Luna, but only phased harmlessly through her astral tail. The sisters backed away from the portal warily. “What of the Elements of Harmony?” Luna called. “We can have them retrieved from the Everfree Forest, then Princess Twilight and her friends can seal it!”

“I don’t know if we have that much time!” Celestia called.

“We have to do something!” Luna cried.

“Luna, you must learn that there may not be an immediate solution for everything!” Celestia yelled. “Sometimes, the best we can do is to lessen the damage caused!”

Luna gaped at her sister, then nodded. The pair circled the tear; to Luna’s surprise, it appeared to be… shrinking? “Sister, I think it’s closing!” She called.

“Keep your guard up!” Celestia called back. “It may have further--”

There was a small flash from the portal. A moderate amount of what appeared to be black slime fell from the tear and plummeted to the gardens below.

“...surprises…” Celestia finished.

The tear quivered, expanded slightly, then shrank and vanished. The sisters stared at the spot it had been for a few moments; when nothing else happened, Luna approached Celestia. “I think it’s over…”

Celestia nodded, then looked down at the gardens. “What came out of it?” She asked quietly before glancing at Luna. “We should find out.” Luna nodded, and the pair descended quickly into the gardens. The sisters landed outside the hedge maze, their horns illuminating the area.

“Princess!” A battalion of pegasus guards descended from the sky and landed before the Princesses, bowing respectfully. “We saw the strange rift, your highness! What would you have of us?”

“Some strange black… slime fell from the rift before it closed,” Celestia reported. “We need to find it, ensure it is not harmful to anypony, and discover what it may be.”

“If you find it, call for us immediately,” Luna said. “Nopony is to touch it.”

The guards saluted in perfect unison. “Yes, your majesties!” They said simultaneously before taking to the skies and splitting up, combing the gardens.

Celestia turned to her sister. “Luna, search the hedge maze. I will search the amphitheatre.”

Luna nodded and nuzzled the elder. “Be careful, sister…”

“Always…” Celestia replied before taking off and flying for the amphitheatre. Luna took off and flew low over the maze, flying in an inward spiral, checking every spot in the labyrinth. As she searched, Luna’s thoughts remained on the tear; it appeared to be a portal of some sort, leading to another world… Was this an accident? Did somepony on the far side open it by mistake? Or was it intentional? And if so, what were their intentions? Part of Luna hoped the rift would open again, so she could find out--

Luna gasped as her gaze trailed over the statue of a gryphon, close to the center of the maze; it was draped in a dripping black sludge, almost like a shawl. Luna dropped down to the ground near the statue and drew in a deep breath. “I’ve found it!!” She yelled, marking the first time she’d used the Royal Canterlot Voice in months.

Within seconds, Celestia and the pegasi were there, flying in close formation above the statue. Celestia landed beside Luna. “Well done, sister! Now…” She approached the statue, examining the substance as close as she dared. “It doesn’t appear to be corrosive…” She took in a deep breath and waited for a moment. “...And I’ve yet to believe it is poisonous, at least not from inhalation.” She took a deep breath and lit up her horn. “Be ready…” she said, leaning in close. Luna lit up her horn, and the pegasi above braced themselves.

Celestia prodded the substance with a small magical field. The substance didn’t react. Celestia prodded it a few more times, then attempted to take a portion of it. When she pulled, however, she frowned. “What is it, sister?” Luna asked.

“Strange, I… I cannot… I cannot take a… sample…” Celestia said strainfully as she pulled at the dripping strand of slime. Finally, she gave up, letting the strand dangle loosely from the statue. “It appears to be a single organism…”

Luna prodded the substance with her own magic. “Strange…” she said, almost fascinated. She lifted the strand and turned it over in her magic, examining it from every angle. “It… appears to be a liquid, but I can… sense something… Sister, this substance, it… It’s alive!”

Celestia took a separate strand and examined it. “...I believe you’re right, Luna… I can certainly feel something within… A certain presence...”

A smile dawned on Luna’s face as she examined the substance closer. “I believe I… yes, yes! Celestia, I think… I think it’s dreaming! It’s actually dreaming! Perhaps I can--”

“No!” Luna jumped and released the strand before turning to Celestia. “No…” Celestia said, softly. “We may know the creature is alive, but we still don’t know what it is, what it can do… We’ll hold it in containment for now, we’ll keep a close watch on it. We need to learn what it is, where it came from, and what it intends to do.” She turned to the substance. “Souls come both light and dark…”

Author's Note

Aaaaaand we've made ponyfall.

Tags will be added as necessary. ("Meaning you haven't planned this story out past this point.") SHHHH!!

Chapter 2: Containment

Luna sat in her chambers, feverishly reviewing the recorded findings on the living substance, which had been dubbed ‘the ash’. With no way of knowing what it was, when it would wake up and what it would do, Celestia moved it in a magic field from the gardens, into the laboratories beneath the Castle. She had the brightest minds in Canterlot observe the substance trying to learn everything they could about it.

Initially, the Scribes had referred to it as ‘the tar’; however, close examination quickly revealed that it wasn’t a liquid, but more of a sand-like substance. As such, it was redubbed ‘the ash’, leading to other mentions of the word ‘tar’ in the report to be scribbled out. Any attempts to take a sample failed, as not even a single grain would detach from the whole form. Through careful study, the Scribes found that the mass was held together by a unique magnetic field, emitted by each individual grain and keeping it whole. On the bright side, Luna mused, it made moving the entirety of the ash much simpler, with no risk of any being left behind.

Whilst sifting through the mass, however, the Scribes had found something very interesting; it appeared to be a metal device, the same size as a single grain of the substance, yet clearly foreign to it. It was spherical with a single piece of blue glass, which periodically gave off a small flash. The device also refused to part with the ash, but the Scribes were able to move it to the very edge of the mass to examine it. Sadly, they were unable to find any answers from it, but Luna theorized that, if she could sense a presence in the mass, the device could play a key part in helping her understand it.

Luna found herself struggling to remain still; the ash so fascinated her—an intelligent, alien being, left on their doorstep! She wanted to be down in the lab right now, just in case the creature awoke, so she may speak with it first…

She laughed softly; Celestia had spoken of her student, Twilight, bearing similar enthusiasm in studying the unknown…

There was a knock at the door, jarring Luna out of her trance. “Enter.”

The door opened, and a guard poked his head in. “Princess Twilight Sparkle and the other Bearers have arrived, your highness; they’re on their way to the lab.”

Speaking of Twilight… Luna nodded, trying to contain her excitement. “Thank you.” Celestia had written a letter to Twilight asking her and her friends to come examine the ash; if it was indeed intelligent, she could think of nopony else more suited to the task of introducing it to their land. Celestia promised that, once they had arrived, they would make attempts to awaken the creature. Luna placed the various parchments on her desk and headed out the door, trying and failing to hide a spring in her step in the presence of the guard. Once she rounded a corner and out of sight, however, she broke into a full sprint.

Outside the doors to the laboratory, Celestia resisted the urge to roll her eyes when Twilight and her friends bowed to her, yet again; she appreciated the gesture, but had hoped they’d have grown out of the habit by now. Still, she smiled warmly at the six as they stood. “I thank you for coming on such short notice, my little ponies.”

“Anything for you, Princess!” Rainbow Dash said proudly, springing into a salute.

Celestia noticed Twilight practically leaning to the side, hoping to get a glimpse into the lab behind her. “What do we know about the creature?” She asked eagerly. “Is it intelligent? Is it friendly? Does it talk?” She did a little dance of excitement. “OOOH, I have so many questions!!” She quickly remembered her company, however, and calmed down with a blush and sheepish grin.

Celestia smiled. “Patience, Twilight… The creature does appear to be… alive, yet we know little else. We just need to wait for--”

“I’M HERE!!” Yelled Luna as she skidded around the corner at the end of the hall and galloped up to the group. “I’m… here…” she panted, her flowing mane sagging with exhaustion. “Sh-shall we… begin?”

Celestia giggled. “Yes, I believe you’ve been patient, dear sister…” She said teasingly; Luna blushed furiously as Celestia turned towards the door. The moment she opened it, Luna and Twilight immediately ran straight past her and into the lab.

“It’s here!!” Luna said, gesturing Twilight over to a wooden, circular table in the middle of the room. The edges of the table were affixed with six slabs of stone, each with a green glowing rune embedded in them. A solid green line encircled each rune before forming a line towards the center and forming another, much larger circle that connected each line. From the large circle, a hemispherical green barrier rose, two inches thick.

Within the barrier lay a sight that confounded the ponies; a puddle of a black substance, piled like an amount of dust, occasionally sending ripples across its surface. Twilight carefully approached the barrier to get a closer look, bewildered. “So this fell from the tear from last night?”

Luna nodded as she paced around the table. “We’ve dubbed it ‘the ash’; it was initially called the ‘tar’, until we found it isn’t made of liquid, but of something resembling sand. It doesn’t appear toxic or corrosive, yet we’ve taken every precaution; nopony has touched it with their bare hooves, and we intend to keep it that way until we know it’s safe.” She stopped pacing and leaned in towards the ash. “In addition, last night Celestia and I… sensed something from it. It was faint, but it was definitely there… It’s a living creature, capable of thought! I even sensed it dreaming! Yet we…” She glanced at Celestia. “...we felt it would be best if we played it safe.”

Rarity approached, regarding the ash with interest. “I must say, its texture is… intriguing.” She tapped her chin with a hoof before gasping with delight. “Oh, I’ve just come up with dozens of ideas! Hems, veils, ribbons—oh, they’ll be gorgeous!!”

“You ain’t gonna try to make this thang into a dress, now, are ya darlin’?” Applejack asked, sashing at the creature warily. “Ah don’t think it’d appreciate that…”

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no!” Rarity said, shaking her head quickly. “But I could design hundreds of ensembles using this color, this texture… I shall call it,” she gestured with a hoof to emphasize the name. “‘The Midnight Desert Collection!’”

“Good to see ya have your priorities straightened out, Rare…” Applejack muttered, rolling her eyes.

Fluttershy found the nerve to examine the ash; she delicately approached the barrier and leaned in, staring at the substance without a word. After a solid minute, she finally turned to her friends. “It’s definitely alive,” she said. “You can tell by the way the edge of the ‘ash’ keeps shifting, even slightly… Almost like it’s breathing. In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was unconscious!”

“WHAT?!” Pinkie Pie yelped, suddenly popping her head out of Fluttershy’s mane. “Everypony needs a conscience!” She suddenly threw her head back and burst into song. “Wheeeen you wish upon a staaaarr--”

“‘Unconscious’, Pinkie!” Twilight said, cutting Pinkie off. “As in, it’s asleep! We don’t know when it’ll wake up.”

“Well, hopefully it’s soon!” Pinkie said sternly, hopping out of Fluttershy’s mane, leaving the pegasus to wonder how she’d gotten in there. “Somepony needs to teach this thing right and wrong!”

Twilight facehoofed.

The ponies examined the substance in silence for another few moments, quietly forming theories regarding the ash, its origins and its intentions.

Celestia cleared her throat. “Now, my little ponies, listen,” she said. Luna, Twilight and the other Bearers gathered before her respectfully. Celestia took a deep breath and spoke in a serious tone. “We know not what this creature is. We don’t know what it wants, where it came from, or what it can do. All we know for certain is that we need to keep it contained, until we learn of its intentions. Until then, the creature shall not leave containment under any circumstances.”

Fluttershy dragged a hoof along the ground uncertainly. “W-What if it… doesn’t like being… contained?”

Celestia shook her head. “It won’t be able to do anything about it. This barrier is almost completely impenetrable whilst those runes are in place.”

“And even if it does break out and cause trouble, we can handle it!” Dash said, hovering some distance over her friends and jabbing at the air with her front hooves.

“Yeah!” Applejack said, rearing up. “That lil’ pile o’ dust ain’t nothin’!”

Luna bit her lip. “It might not be--” She began uncertainly, but Pinkie Pie suddenly shook violently.

“W-w-w-hoooaaaa!” She said. She batted at one of her ears. “Itchy ear,” she opened her mouth and pointed at her tongue. “Drah tunn,” and finally leapt to her hooves and shivered violently. “Chilly back!”

“What’s that one?” Dash asked.

“Oh, I’ve gotten it all the time while babysitting the Cake twins!” Pinkie said cheerfully. “It means somepony’s about to break out of something!”

Twilight frowned. “Break out of some--”

Her eyes widened. Pinkie’s smile fell. Slowly, all eyes moved towards the barrier encasing the ash.

An unseen force pulled one of the runes off the edge of the table, letting it fall to the floor with a dull ‘clump’. The barrier fell.

Slowly, I felt the world return to me, gradually pulling me out of a pitch-black darkness. I could hear voices, but they were muffled and unclear… They all sounded female, that much was certain.

My ‘body’ felt weak, yet as I slowly regained consciousness I felt more and more of my mass respond. I evolved from simple twitches to full blown ripples, and before long I was able to regain my sight.

For a moment, in my blurred vision, I could only see green. I could feel myself spread out across a smooth, flat surface. As my vision cleared, however, I could see something through the green… I was in some kind of… castle chamber? It wasn’t Perspective’s lab, obviously.

I finally remembered what had happened before I’d blacked out, my brain pulling out the memory in the same way you’d pull out the TV remote after sitting on it. The Rift… I’d tried to cut its power, but the generator overloaded and caused the Rift to open a portal; it wasn’t the portal Perspective was seeking, though, as evidenced by his confusion and panic. Smite and Trauma tried to get him and the kidnap victims out while I tried to… shut down the Rift. Dunno if I succeeded, since the thing sucked me in before I could find out.

And now I was… here. I examined the chamber; I was in what appeared to be a green forcefield of some kind, atop an old wooden table in the center of the chamber. I spotted six runic stones gathered around the barrier.

Okay… I thought. Wherever this is, magic calls the shots. Fair enough.

There were tables and bookshelves gathered at the far sides of the room, all littered with various alchemical fixings and dusty tomes, respectively. I rotated my gaze around the room, and my mass nearly bubbled in surprise.

Eight. There were eight horse… things, of a wide palette of colors. Their faces seemed capable of displaying a wide variety of expressions, as I noted from the looks of concern, curiosity and attentiveness they showed. They were standing on the far side of the barrier, examining me closely.

Keep it cool, keep it cool… I thought. Don’t panic, get a picture of what’s going on, then plan accordingly. I still couldn’t help but feel anxious; MHAs often reported being taken to alien worlds—it was an occupational hazard—but this was my first time, and now I was wishing I’d paid better attention in “Extraterrestrial Diplomacy” back at Moore.

Keep it cool, I thought. First off, I need to see if I can reach the team.

“Smite?” I said through my transmitter. No response. “Trauma?”

After a moment of silence I brought up the Neural Interface. I glanced at the Signal Status; it had a big red X over the bars. That only happened when there was a jammer nearby…

...or when I was very, very far from any link to the nearest Department Network.

The portal hadn’t just tossed me randomly around the country, or even the planet. Perspective’s gimmick was dimensional rifts.

...Ahh, shit.

The horses around me appeared to be different species. Two of them looked normal (relatively); one had an orange coat, blonde tail and mane, the braids making me lean towards female, and what looked like a tattoo of three apples on her flank. The other one, who seemed on a chronic sugar rush, had a violently pink coat, a darker pink tail and mane that bounced with every movement, and a flank tattoo of… balloons?

They looked ‘normal’, in that they didn’t have any extra features like their colleagues. There was one horse that I could only refer to as a ‘unicorn’, judging by the horn; it had a flowing, almost stylish violet mane and tail, a pure white coat and a flank tattoo of some form of three gems or diamonds. It stood with a real sense of grace, as if it felt a need to look good doing everything, even something as simple as standing.

Two of them were winged horses; pegasus, or pegasi, I believed was the correct plural. One had a cyan blue coat, and a blazing rainbow-patterned mane and tail. Its flank mark was a bit more… abstract than the previous three; a cloud with a rainbow-colored lightning bolt arcing from it. It was looking at me almost like it was eager for me to act out of line, giving me shifty, suspicious looks. The other pegasus, yellow with a flowing pink mane and a flank mark of butterflies, seemed to be the rainbow-horse’s opposite; it actually seemed very quiet, keeping its head down as though hoping not to be noticed. Yet it also seemed very interested in me, tilting its head to the side in curiosity. For a moment I feared that it had realized I was awake, but when it didn’t say anything I opted to keep the act going. Play dead… Play dead… Much easier when you don’t have to breathe.

The last three horses seemed to be of a higher status; they all had wings and a horn. One of them, roughly the same size as the first five, had a purple coat, dark purple tail and mane with pink highlights, and what appeared to be the image of a starburst on its flank. The remaining two horses, who appeared to be of authority given the crowns and jewel-embedded legguards they wore, were about twice the size of the ‘average’ horses.

One of them, the largest, had a radiant white coat, a mark of a glorious sun, yet its tail and mane were the most fascinating. They reminded me heavily of the Aurora Borealis; a mix of pink, blue and green that flowed in an unseen wind. The other horse, though smaller, looked no less… majestic. It had a dark blue coat and a mark of a crescent moon. Its mane and tail was also quite interesting, this one looking like a view into a gorgeous night sky, littered with stars and hemmed by a flowing blue outline.

Okay… I thought. Smart money’s on these being the locals...

The largest ‘Royal’ horse cleared its throat, with a female voice rather than the predicted ‘neigh’. Immediately, the other equines filed in front of her, at attention; perhaps ‘Royal’ was closer to reality than I thought. “Now, my little ponies, listen,” it said in a female voice.

Ponies… I noted. ‘kay, makes sense… Ponies that speak English, apparently, but… Constants and variables, and all that jazz.

“We know not what this creature is,” the white ‘pony’ continued. “We don’t know what it wants, where it came from, or what it can do. All we know for certain is that we need to keep it contained, until we learn of its intentions. Until then, the creature shall not leave containment under any circumstances.”

I frowned internally; that didn’t sound too friendly. Alright, sounds like they’re not keen on letting me out, and I doubt they’d release the ‘creature from the Black Lagoon’... or, rather, the actual Black Lagoon, if it asked nicely.

I tried to figure out a plan; if they weren’t as friendly as they appeared, I needed to get out, find a way back home. But first I needed to know where I was, and if there was a way home; I could ask them now, but they’d likely shrug me off as a guinea pig that talked. No, I needed them to see that this lab rat would bite; that any hopes they had at controlling me were quite futile.

“W-What if it… doesn't like being… contained?” Asked the yellow pegasus, her voice barely above a whisper.

Which I DON’T… I thought. I glanced around the barrier and looked at the table; it was old, built from a thick, glazed wood. It appeared to be built like a picnic table, with gaps between each plank; they’d probably assumed it wouldn't be a problem. I fed an ultra-thin tendril into one of them; yeah, I could get through this. It’d be a tight fit, and I had no idea if the barrier covered the underside of the table, but it was something. Once I got a tendril out I could feed the rest of my mass through. It wouldn't be a quick escape, one that would need a minute or so without any of the ponies seeing me, but it’d be an escape nonetheless.

The white pony shook her head. “It won’t be able to do anything about it. This barrier is almost completely impenetrable while all those runes are in place.”

...Or I could knock one of those runes loose, I thought, interestedly. Thanks for the tip. I began feeding a tendril into every gap I could find, about one grain wide. Just gotta find a clear way to the underside, then I can yank a rune out of place… Then we’re gonna have a chat that doesn't have this shield between us.

“And even if it does break out and cause trouble, we can handle it!” Said the rainbow pegasus proudly, doing her best Rocky impression in midair.

Though two of my tendrils found dead ends in the wooden maze beneath me, one found a crack that led to the underside of the table. Peering through it, I was relieved that the barrier wasn’t there. Carefully, I slid the tendril beneath the surface, feeding more mass to give it a better chance at gripping the rune. As the tendril reached the edge, I slowed to a crawl and moved it towards the closest rune.

“Yeah!” The apple pony said, rearing on her hind legs; I noticed she had a Southern accent. “That lil’ pile o’ dust ain’t nothin’!”

Oh, this pile o’ dust is SOMETHING, Deliverance… I thought as I wrapped the tendril around the rune, tight enough to get a firm grip. Just one big pull…

“It might not be--” the blue ‘royal’ pony began, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

A weird gibbering from the pink one made me stop and glance at them. The pink pony began twitching madly.

...Was that a mating call or something?

“What’s that one?” The rainbow pony asked.

“Oh, I’ve gotten it all the time while babysitting the Cake twins!” The pink one chirped. “It means somepony’s about to break out of something!”

‘Somepony’? I thought in a monotone.

A pause. ...Wait a minute, is she…?

The purple ‘royal’ pony frowned. “Break out of some--”

Her eyes widened. The smile fell from the pink pony’s face, and every pair of eyes in the room slowly turned to look at me. I felt my mass tense with fear, like a teen caught leafing through his father’s Playboys.

...Now or never!!

I yanked the rune off the table. The rune fell to the floor, and the barrier faded instantly. I withdrew my tendril as I rose to my normal form, adding some height for a bit of extra intimidation. I let out a vicious snarl, causing the ponies to jump back in fright; the yellow pegasus immediately cowered behind her friends, covering her eyes in her hooves. I slid off the table, baring my teeth and flexing my claws; it was my usual tactic to terrify my opponents before I even considered giving them the Nightmare. “Where am I? Who are you?” I growled.

I noticed a mix of horror and disappointment on the blue 'Royal's face, like the one you get when the Rescue dog you'd thought reformed suddenly bites someone. Before long, however, she and the white Royal scowled and stood in front of me. Their horns began to glow, yellow for the white, dark blue for the other. The ponies behind them, emboldened by their leaders, dropped into defensive stances (except for the yellow one, who remained prone behind them).

“We are Princesses Celestia and Luna…” the white one said; I assumed the smaller one was Luna, given the moon on her flank. “And I ask that you calm yourself.”

“Or…” I said, my mass rippling with agitation. “You tell me where I am and why you saw fit to imprison me.”

The pony called Celestia took a breath, and spoke in a louder tone. “You're confused, you've awoken in a world alien to your own, and you don't know who you may consider a friend—I understand...”

"You're right about that..." I replied harshly. "Though I'm a little hesitant to befriend someone who considers immediate detainment a form of greeting." I inched forward, flexing my claws. "Now... tell me where I am!"

Celestia narrowed her eyes. "Creature... First I asked, now I warn... Stand. Down. You've nothing to fear from us, so long as you comply..."

Oh, THAT was a threat…

“You’re right…” I growled. “I’ve nothing to fear from you…” I dropped into a combat stance, reading my claws. “But you've everything to fear from ME!”

The rainbow pegasus suddenly went airborne. “BRING IT, YOU BIG PILE OF ASH!!” She yelled before streaking towards me, hind leg ready for a divekick.

“RAINBOW DASH, NO!!” The purple one yelled.

Her hind leg landed in my shoulder with a dull ‘wump’. When I didn't flinch, ‘Rainbow Dash’ gave a confused “Huh?!” She grasped her hind leg and pulled, but I gripped her in my mass tightly.

I turned to address the Princesses. “Strike one. Wanna answer my questions, now?”

The Princesses gaped, but quickly regained her resolve. “Release her, beast!!” Luna yelled, a white glow overtaking her eyes.

I shrugged. “Sure.” I waited until Rainbow was pulling at her leg with all her might before releasing her; the pegasus flew back with a panicked yell before colliding painfully with the wall, sending books falling from the shelf. “Now…” I said loudly. “Where am I?”

The Princesses glanced at each other and nodded. “Twilight!!” Celestia yelled. The purple one she seemed to address quickly stepped forward, a purple glow surrounding her horn. The trio of royals bent their heads, and a collection of energy gathered at the tips of their horns.

My eyes widened—or rather, the places where my eyes should have been, flexed in a similar gesture. This could be bad…

Three concentrated beams of purple, yellow and blue energy flew from their horns and straight into me. The force of it made me stumble backwards, but other than a soft warmth from where the beams pierced my mass, did nothing else. That’s all the beams were: force. If they’d actually used a form of fire spell, then I’d be screwed.

The trio ceased channeling the beams, gaping at me, dumbfounded. “How…?” Celestia breathed.

I held up two claws. “Strike two…” I said. “Wanna see what happens when you strike out?”

“C’mere, varmint!!” Yelled the apple pony. I glanced to the side to see her completing the Southern Stereotype Trinity; stetson hat, southern accent and, to top it all off, she was tossing a lasso at me, with a rope I didn't know she even had. The rope fell around my head and quickly tightened as the cowgirl pulled on her end with her teeth.

“Get ‘im, Applejack!!” Rainbow yelled, still picking herself up off the floor.

I stared at the lasso around my neck; I could just let it slip through my mass and let ‘Applejack’ look a bit silly, but I was done. Sure, I wasn't exactly what you’d call a ‘common find’, even in an alien world; odds are I would interest what passed for a scientist. But from the sounds of it, they knew I was intelligent, yet treated me like a lab rat. They were gonna hold me in this lab and likely perform experiments on me, for whatever reason—maybe they sought to weaponize me. Wouldn't be the first I’d heard of aliens who attempted to utilize abducted MHAs to improve their arsenals.

I was gonna show them what a grievous error they’d made.

I wrapped a claw around the rope and gave one quick tug. Applejack stumbled forward, the rope flying out of her mouth. I moved to the side as she stumbled past and held a claw over her head.

I met Celestia’s gaze.

“Strike three.”

I tapped Applejack’s head.

At that moment, I realized I might have acted too rashly. I’d hit the pony with the Nightmare before glancing at what she’d see; I figured they wouldn't treat me any better.

But the moment Applejack’s eyes glazed over and the Nightmare overtook her, I saw her fear.

I saw her standing outside a farmhouse, engulfed in flames that reached up to the sky. Yet it wasn't the fire itself that terrified her. I heard her echoed cries in the vision, wailing at the inferno. “APPLEBLOOM!!” Over and over and over, she cried, wailed and screamed the name.

I snapped back to reality; Applejack was on the floor, screaming and sobbing uncontrollably, hugging herself in her forelegs. “NO!! NO, NO, NO!!” She wailed, her breathing becoming erratic and shallow.

“What did you do to her?!” Twilight screamed at me, unwilling to approach her wailing friend, likely out of fear of the Nightmare being contagious.

It wasn't the first time I’d earned some less than favorable response my power; people felt uncomfortable with how I could make them live their darkest fears at a whim. I wasn't so keen on the power myself; fear should never be in anyone’s control other than your own. That’s why I was content with using my mass to fight, only using the Nightmare as a last resort, or a show of strength to convince other opponents to surrender.

Yet this was worse… It was easier making someone fear something like fire, insects or darkness. This pony, though… I was making her mourn the loss of someone she clearly cared for, making her watch helplessly as that loved one died… This was beyond cruel.

I held my claw over the screaming Applejack and faced the Princesses. “I’ll make it stop if you agree to answer my questions,” I called over Applejack’s screams. Don’t call my bluff, please…

“But…” Celestia began, glancing between me and her wailing subject.

“YES!!” The yellow pegasus suddenly broke through the group and ran up to me, her face soaked in tears. “YES, WE’LL TELL YOU!! WE’LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING!! JUST PLEASE, PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP!!”

I stared at her for a moment.

...Good enough.

I touched Applejack’s head and dispelled the illusion. Applejack stopped her screaming and her eyes cleared, but she seemed to find it difficult to stop sobbing. Her breathing didn’t slow as she glanced around the room, trying to figure out what had just happened. She glanced up at me as I gazed at her sadly.

“I’m… I’m sorry…” I said. “I didn’t know what you’d see, but… But that’s no excuse. What I did is unforgivable. That’s something no one should have to experience.”

I slowly bent down and reached towards her; she flinched back, but otherwise remained still as I laid a claw on her. “I’m truly, truly sorry.” I said. Applejack stared at me with her bloodshot eyes as I straightened up and faced the Princesses. “I promise… I won’t do that to any of your subjects again.”

I slithered back towards the table, taking in their expressions; the yellow one seemed somewhat relieved that I’d dispelled the illusion, yet unsure of what that said about me. The others kept watching me, eyes wide in terror as I sat on the table and folded my hands.

“So, how about we start over?” I asked. “Where am I?”

Author's Note

So, yeah, I'm leaning towards a Luna romance. Haven't written a romance fic ABOUT two folks falling in love, wanna see if I can.

Feedback!

Chapter 3: Starting Over

The ponies glanced at each other as I sat patiently, my claws folded. I kept glancing towards the prone Applejack, who was slowly recuperating from the vision, the occasional sniffle escaping her. Finally, Luna took a breath and approached. “You are in a laboratory beneath Canterlot Castle.”

I shrugged and shook my head. “Don’t know where that is.”

“In… Canterlot?” Twilight said, raising an eyebrow. I shrugged and shook my head again.

“Capital of Equestria?” Celestia asked. Shrug and head shake.

“Most awesome nation on Equis?” Rainbow Dash said, spinning a hoof as though to jar my memory.

I sighed. “Yeah, sounds like I’m not just around the corner from home…”

“We could have guessed as much…” Luna said. “You did fall through that… tear in the sky…”

I nodded. “Yeah, I figured. See, that was a portal between dimensions. It’s no stretch of logic to assume I’m further from home than most.”

Luna tilted her head to the side. “You seem… rather calm about this…”

For NOW… I thought. “Well, I’m certainly concerned…” I said. “But, the thing is, in my line of work, we’re told that things like ‘logic’ and ‘normality’ aren’t exactly prominent. We’re subjected to all kinds of weird—hell, I’m not the first to be flung through dimensions.” My gaze fell to the floor. “...And I wouldn’t be the first who failed to return…”

The ponies gazed at me—the air of nervousness, with a dash of hostility, fading to one of concern and… sympathy, to my surprise. The yellow pegasus approached me, sadness in her eyes. “Gosh, I’m…” she said, her voice quivering. “I’m so sorry…” Rainbow gave her a quizzical look; she seemed to be saying, ‘Yes, comfort the being that plunged our friend into her worst nightmare.’

I breathed heavily—an act that never served any real purpose. “Don’t worry about it… I didn’t say I’m definitely here to stay, I’m just saying I should… Learn to accept that possibility. They’ll probably search for me—dimensional affairs aren’t unheard of back home, it’s just… The DSR—the Dimensional Search and Rescue—they haven’t found anyone like me yet… Someone lost in the laundry of the universe…”

Despair began to slowly creep up on me, but I pushed it back; there’d be time for that later. I looked up at them. “Unless you guys can send me home?”

Celestia blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“I mean, you’ve got magic…” I said, gesturing to the runes on the table around me. “It’s not completely implausible that you guys can handle dimensional travel?”

Luna put a hoof to her chin. “Perhaps, but… While we are capable of similar feats—teleportation, namely—nopony’s dabbled in such affairs.”

“We could probably look into it!” Twilight chimed in. “Maybe the space where that… tear thing was last night has some residue or something!”

I nodded slightly. “Maybe. It’s something…”

I stared dully at the floor to the left of the pegasus in front of me. She took another step closer. “Are you okay?”

I shrugged. “Guess I’m trying not to… think about it too much, at least not yet. I’ll… take stock later, probably.” I took a calming breath and sat up. “So… I have a… general idea of where I am, let’s move on to the ‘who’. I know you’re Princesses Celestia and Luna…” I pointed at the respective royals before addressing the other ponies. “I think I heard Twilight… You’re Rainbow Dash, and that’s…” My voice trailed off for a moment as I glanced at the pony on the floor. “Applejack…”

Applejack’s breathing had returned to normal. Her eyes were still red from tears, but she seemed to have calmed down. Slowly, she stood up on shaky legs. She half-walked, half-stumbled into a nearby table, taking deep breaths.

“Hey…” I said softly; she didn’t turn. “You gonna be okay?”

Applejack needed a few moments to find her voice. “...I… I think so…” she mumbled.

I glanced at Celestia. “Maybe we should get her some water, get her in a bed or something.”

“No, no, it’s…” Applejack said, her voice growing stronger. “I’ll be fine… Just need a minute…” She turned and fell to her haunches, leaning back against the table. She hugged herself with her forelegs and closed her eyes, taking breaths like someone practicing yoga. The ponies stared at her, all clearly suppressing a desire to comfort their friend. I figured I’d get my questions done quickly.

After a moment I turned to the others. “Right, where were we? ...Names, right…” I glanced at the three unnamed ponies.

“Um, I’m… I’m Fluttershy…” the yellow pegasus said softly, avoiding eye contact; if she hadn’t been so close I might not have heard her.

“I am Rarity,” the unicorn said with a small bow, though she didn’t drop the cautious gaze.

“That leaves…” I began, turning to the place the pink pony had been. “Wait, where--?”

POOMPH. The pink one’s head suddenly burst through my ‘chest’, grinning widely up at me. It was amazing how I didn’t notice her—my consciousness spread throughout my entire mass, almost giving every single grain of it a pair of eyes for me to see. I could usually sense something—whether it be sound, sight or smell—even if I wasn’t focusing in that direction. The point is, I basically had a wider range of sense than most, and I didn’t even see her move.

“I’m Pinkie Pie!” She said happily. She surfaced in my mass and backstroked down my body and to the floor, where she hopped on her hooves and rejoined her companions.

I gave (or tried to give) a bewildered glance to the other ponies; they acted like this was common practice for Pinkie, given the way they didn’t react the same way.

“...Right, so, that happened,” I said before turning to the Princesses. “I… think I’m good for questions—for the moment, anyway. I assume you have some of your own?”

Celestia and Luna stared at each other, uncertain. Finally, Luna turned to me. “Well, yes…” She said, a hint of eagerness in her voice. “If you’re willing, of course…”

I suddenly felt a familiar sensation ripple in my mass—it was the equivalent of a rumbling stomach. “Actually, mind if we discuss them over a meal? I hate to ask, but I don’t think I’ve eaten since… Pfft, I dunno, lunch… yesterday.”

Luna blinked in surprise. “Oh! Of, of course, we can!” She turned and hurried towards the double doors at the far side of the room, passing a nervous-looking Celestia. She opened one of the doors and poked her head outside. “Have the kitchens prepare lunch for nine, please--WAIT!” She peered back at me. “Is there anything you…?”

I shrugged. “Whatever doesn’t kill me.” Seeing as there was a pony in the room named ‘APPLEjack’, it was a safe bet they had familiar foods.

Luna nodded before poking out again. “Whatever they can prepare within ten minutes!”

“Yes, Princess,” came a deep, authoritative voice from outside. I slid off the table, causing the ponies to take a cautious step back. I sighed internally; I’d gotten similar responses back home, but at least there, most people knew I was an MHA. Here, from what they’d seen, I was a monster… Not that I hadn’t at least earned some of it.

Luna regained her confidence first. “Let’s head up to the dining hall, shall we?”

I nodded. “I’ll keep close to you; your subjects probably won’t freak out as much if they see me with you.”

The ponies turned towards the door, but stopped when they noticed that Applejack hadn’t moved. I stopped beside her and stared, concerned. “You coming, or you need more time?” I asked softly.

Applejack slowly opened her eyes and took a long breath. “...I think I’m okay…” she said softly.

Fluttershy walked up to her. “You sure?”

Applejack nodded. “I reckon a meal might help…” She walked slowly ahead of her friends, an almost sleepwalking-like stiffness in her step. I stared after her, not losing a bit of guilt. It wasn’t helped when Rainbow Dash shot a poisonous look at me once Applejack left the room. Silently, I followed Luna out of the lab, and the nine of us moved slowly up a dim, yet pleasantly designed corridor.

I fiddled with my transmitter in my mass as we walked upwards. It didn’t seem to be damaged, so I had that going for me. It had an efficient solar-powered battery and, as we reached the upper levels of the castle, sunlight wasn’t an issue for them. In fact, their sun seemed to be… different to the one I’d known (I was never an astronomer), so the battery seemed to charge quicker.

I tried to really grip these positives as we walked—find the brighter sides to this disaster. The locals didn’t seem too hostile (so long as you didn’t traumatize one of their own in front of them), they spoke English (or whatever they called it here), so no language barrier, and, from a glance outside, the world itself was actually quite a spectacle.

The city outside the castle was a bustling metropolis filled with hundreds of other ponies. The buildings were white-ivory affairs with purple, tower-like roofs. I noticed, though, that some of the locals seemed to be of a more “stuffy aristocrat” disposition, given the way they were dressed and aimed their noses skywards as they walked.

The guards lining the halls were pegasi of various colors, all decked out in gold-plated armor that looked to be straight out of Ancient Rome. They all stood stock-still, at attention, until they caught a glimpse of me; then they did a subtle double-take, trying to figure out exactly what I was. I kept to myself, trying not to attract too much attention as we walked down the halls.

Most of the ponies around me looked unsure whether they should be terrified or take action against me; only Luna, Fluttershy and Pinkie seemed somewhat relaxed around me (the latter hopping along, humming to herself in oblivious cheer). Applejack seemed to have forgotten me entirely, her face expressionless as she walked ahead.

Finally, we appeared at a tall set of double doors. Passing through we found a nicely designed dining hall, with a long table surrounded by five chairs on each side, with a more intricately designed chair heading both ends. A plain pony (no horns or wings), dressed in what could basically be described as a maid outfit, was busily wiping down the end of the table with a cloth. She glanced up at us as we entered and seemed to notice the Princesses first. “Ah, Princess, just finishing up in…”

Her gaze trailed over to me. Without any pretense of restraint she let out a loud shriek and sprinted out the door on the far side of the room. Some of the ponies gave me a look, which I responded to with a simple shrug. “I’m used to it.”

“Why doesn’t everypony take a seat?” Luna suggested quickly. “I’ll, ah… go check on the kitchen staff!”

By that she means, ‘tell them not to panic about the alien’, I thought as I slithered towards a seat at the left corner of the table. The ponies took some care in choosing their seats, leaving the seat to my immediate right empty, to no surprise. Applejack didn’t seem to care much, as she sat directly across from me, focusing a blank stare at the empty table in front of her. Twilight sat next to her, staring at her friend sympathetically.

After a moment of legendarily awkward silence, Luna returned from the kitchens. “They’ll have everything out in a moment!” She reported, trying to lighten the tone. She cantered around the table and sat at the end closest to me. I gave her a quizzical look; in spite of what happened downstairs, she seemed to have a strong interest in me. Unlike the others, she seemed ready, almost thrilled, to believe that there was still a chance of me being friendly.

Before long a pair of sharply-dressed unicorns entered the room; their horns were glowing with the same aura that enveloped the levitating water-filled pitchers beside their heads. The pair instantly noticed me but exercised better control than their earlier colleague. They cantered towards the table and began pouring water into our glasses; I noticed the pitcher being held by my server quivering anxiously as it poured. Their work complete the pair walked uniformly into the kitchen; the moment they broke line of sight I could hear hurried, almost panicked whispers between the two.

Applejack leaned forward and took her glass in her mouth; she leaned back and took a generous pull of water before laying it back on the table. She glanced up at me; I could tell she was trying to figure me out—the monster that plunged her into her own personal hell, now showing concern and remorse. I broke eye contact, in an attempt to get me off her mind.

Before long, several more suited ponies entered, pushing carts loaded with chrome trays of food. I couldn’t help but notice the signs of fear in their eyes as they placed the platters on the table before quickly pushing the carts back into the kitchen without so much as a backwards glance. The meal was an appetizing assortment of salads, desserts and fruit dishes. I quickly dug in, feeling my mass quickly dissolve the food in my mouth. Despite the ravenous welcome of the food, I couldn’t help but notice the tensity in the air; the ponies were trying not to make eye contact with me as they ate, not uttering a single word. I noticed Applejack only taking small amount of food, and even then, not eating it so much as playing with it.

I did my best to put it out of my mind and continued to eat, before noticing Luna watching with great interest. “I must say, I… didn’t expect you to be able to eat,” she said.

I shrugged. “Really, food and water sorta… fuels my consciousness, which stretches to every last part of my mass,” I explained. “Basically the same as how you’d eat or drink, to keep your strength up. No one back home could really figure out what I’d become, but we figured out most, if not all of how it works.”

“So you’re not… common among your people?” Luna asked; I noticed Twilight leaning forward, a similar curious gleam in her eyes.

“Well, it’s a rather long story…” I said. I shifted my transmitter to the tip of my claw and held it out. “I’d have an easier time showing you, but I doubt you guys have a projector or anything…”

“A projector…” Luna said. “Like the ones in movie theaters?”

I glanced at her. “You have one, then?”

Luna shook her head. “No, not here… They’re not commonplace anyway, at least not in Canterlot.”

“Eh, just as well…” I said, leaning back. “This thing can connect to projectors, but only if they’re wireless—this thing uses complex radio signals, you see? Too small for wires. And I’m guessing you guys don’t have anything like that.”

Luna pursed her lips in thought. “...I might have an alternative, actually… You say the device gives off signals?” I nodded. “May I see it?”

I hesitantly held the transmitter out towards her; the ponies tensed up slightly, Celestia more than any other. Luna’s horn lit up, and she aimed it as close to the transmitter as she could. For a moment, nothing happened. Then a bright light erupted from the tip of Luna’s horn, turning it into a magical spotlight. The light hit the ceiling, where I could see the ‘desktop’ of my transmitter.

“Yep, that’ll work!” I said, sifting through the files on my transmitter as I stood up. “If you could turn and direct that at the wall, please?”

Luna stood up and adjusted her seat so she could better aim the projection at the wall. The ponies leaned forward and backward in their seats to get a glimpse at the screen. I approached the wall, leaving a thin tendril to hold the transmitter close to Luna’s horn, in fear of disconnecting. I opened the onboard library in my transmitter—capable of holding roughly thirty terabytes of data—and piled up a presentation on Humanity 101. “Now, before I begin…” I said. “I’m not that qualified in this kind of thing—in terms of intellect I’m essentially a normal guy back home. I’m not a philosopher, a historian, or a scientist, or someone in politics, etcetera… So if you want more specifics in certain areas…” I gave a laugh. “I am the wrong person to turn to. So! With that in mind…” I stood to the side, creating a rigid ‘pointer’ from my mass.

I pulled up the Vitruvian Man. “This,” I said, pointing at it. “Is the native race of my planet; a human.” I noticed some weird looks. “Uh, it doesn’t have eight limbs, those are just to show the range of motion on the human’s legs,” I pointed at the man’s legs. “And arms.” I pointed at the man’s arms. “The arms end in hands, with five ‘fingers’, used for grasping things.” I flexed my claws meaningfully. “Humans are bipedal, meaning they walk on two legs, and have hair covering their bodies; depending on the part of the body, the hair ranges from ‘peach fuzz’, like on the arms and legs, to large patches on their heads, occasionally on their faces and in… Ahem, other areas.”

I noticed Twilight and Luna glancing between me and the Vitruvian Man, trying to find any similarities. “I’ll get to me in a while, I just think it would be easier to give you an idea of where I came from, so you can better understand why I’m like this. SO.” I moved ahead in the presentation to an image of an average human, with a carrot, an apple and a turkey leg to the side. “Humans are omnivorous, meaning we eat veggies, fruits and meat…”

The ponies recoiled somewhat, making me stop. “...So eating meat is… frowned upon here?” I asked hesitantly.

Luna shook her head. “No, I mean… There are other civilizations who… eat meat, namely those of the Griffon Kingdom. We’ve made efforts here in Canterlot to... accommodate emissaries, but otherwise, yes, ponies don’t eat meat.”

“Well, I can cope,” I said simply. I moved on with the presentation, giving a brief rundown on the immediately important aspects of humanity—technology, some anatomy, a brief glimpse into some culture. Truth be told, I likely had enough data in my transmitter to answer any of the more complex queries they had, but only I could access it, unless they figured out a way to use it themselves. I even disclosed humanity’s darker aspects—war, discrimination and the like. I figured it would be better to be truthful where I could, if only to help build a foundation of relative trust.

Finally, with a decent-enough image of humanity painted, I moved on to Act II. I pulled up a news article on the first metahuman. “So… In 1971, a brutal anarchist group in the nation of France seized the Louvre Museum, taking over thirty people hostage. They sought to burn the precious pieces of art there, to represent the nation ‘rising from the ashes of the past’ or whatever—I don’t really know, they were rather deranged. For a while it looked like the hostages weren’t getting out, but then the first metahuman arrived.”

“Calling himself ‘Epoch’, the metahuman created small fields of differing gravity—capable of pushing or pulling with various degrees of force—to disarm the anarchists and free the hostages. Of course, the sighting of a man with godlike power worried the governments; what would stop him from abusing this power? What would stop France from having him work as their superweapon?” I brought up another series of clippings, showing the reveal of many other metahumans in various nations. “That is, until hundreds of other metahumans popped up across the world; people who’d been terrified of what would happen if their powers were discovered, suddenly emboldened by the discovery that they were not alone. These people who were born with an impossibly diverse number of abilities—flight, super-strength, invisibility, super-speed… With no means of knowing when one will be born, or how these abilities came to be, the thought that any random schmuck on the street could suddenly spit fire at you, terrified the general populace.”

“The governments decided to have a long, adult conversation about what they were gonna do with the metahumans; some opted to have them militarized, to serve their respective nations… But that carried the implications that metahumans would, in the eyes of some, be used to conquer, to impose the will of a nation upon another. There was also the fact that the metahumans were still humans… Living, breathing, thinking humans, who might not want to fight in a war. There were discussions regarding their destruction, but they quickly died under the knowledge that metahumans might not die so easily, and might give them reason to wipe out normal humans, or ‘Basics’, as they’ve come to be known.”

I brought up a clipping regarding the DMHA’s founding, as well as its logo and a few images showing metahumans in training. “So, after much deliberation, the governments formed the Department of Metahuman Affairs—a global, government-funded organization that would locate and train new metahumans, whether they be born with these powers or given them in some freak accident, then enlist them as Metahuman Agents, or MHAs. MHAs would work to protect the population from threats and enforce the law in areas of their jurisdiction; from small time robberies to full-fledged invasions by forces terrestrial or otherwise. But more often than not, MHAs combat metahumans who use their abilities for their own gain—Malefactors, guys who decide working for the betterment of humanity is beneath them.”

“And what of you?” I turned to see Celestia narrowing her eyes. “Where do you fit in?”

“I’m an MHA,” I said flatly, bringing up my Basic Dossier; essentially my license, codename, area of jurisdiction and so forth. “Serial Number 6043, Codename ‘Dread’.”

Celestia narrowed her gaze further as she examined the screen. The other ponies seemed confused, even surprised, that this creature was an official. Luna seemed fascinated as she beheld the dossier on screen.

“So…” Twilight said slowly. “Where you come from, people with these… abnormalities… They use them to… protect people?” I nodded.

Pinkie Pie suddenly let out a shrill gasp. “You’re like superheroes!!” She said eagerly.

I shrugged. “More or less; MHA’s the official title, though. Calling ourselves ‘superheroes’ detracts from the professionalism expected of us. But if you wanna call me that, sure.”

Pinkie squealed. “This is so amazing!! Do you guys wear costumes? Secret identities? Secret lairs? Awesome cars you drive around like ‘VROOOOOOOOOOOOM’?!” Her voice was getting higher in pitch and volume. She stood up in her chair and bounced excitedly as she continued. “Ooh, what about sidekicks?! What’s your sidekick’s name? And what about arch-nemesis-is-is-is-is?! Do you ever beat him and he shrieks to the sky,” she climbed on the table, fell to her knees (impressive flexibility, for an equine), arched back and yelled to the ceiling, “CURSE YOU, DREEEEEAAAAAAAD!!!”

“PINKIE PIE!!” Twilight yelled, breaking Pinkie out of her rant. Pinkie gave a sheepish grin before hopping off the table and sitting back down. Twilight turned back to me. “So you’re an… MHA…”

I nodded. “And now we get to the ‘me’ portion of this presentation.” I turned off the transmitter and pulled the tendril back. “So… Four years ago—in my world, year 2021—I was a normal human, age 24. I was in my house when some weird truck dropped a canister on my lawn. In a moment of glorious intellect I picked up the canister; it ruptured and sprayed a substance in my face, not unlike this.” I pulled my mass out, in the same way you’d stretch out your t-shirt to show a stain. “Two days later, this is what I became. I submitted myself to the DMHA, to learn to control this new form. I found that, on top of this mass letting me shapeshift, slip into enclosed spaces and such, I could also…”

I trailed off, my gaze drifting over to Applejack again. She was facing me, laying her head on the table with her stetson tilting to the side.

I sighed. “I can also form a link with someone, through touch, and discover their… their greatest fears. I could then put that person into that fear… I call it ‘the Nightmare’.” I noticed a hint of surprise and sadness in Luna’s eyes, like I’d touched on something. “Basically, I can plunge someone into a vivid illusion of their deepest, darkest nightmares. I could make someone who’s afraid of fire suddenly see themselves bursting into flame. I could make an arachnophobe suddenly see hundreds of spiders all over their bodies. I use this power as necessary—like causing a distraction in more stealth-oriented situations, or to pacify criminals.”

The ponies weren’t looking particularly impressed, though that wasn’t my intention; I’d had my fair share of critics saying my power wasn’t exactly wholesome. Still, I probably wasn’t inspiring much confidence that I wasn’t a…

“Monster…” I glanced at Celestia, who was looking aghast and disgusted. Luna and the other ponies seemed to be trying to decide how they, themselves, felt about my power, but Celestia looked fairly confident in her statement. “You… are a monster…”

My gaze fell to the floor. “Not the first time I’ve heard that…”

Celestia stood up and walked around the table. “You use fear… as a weapon…”

I raised a claw. “Now, hold on…”

“You force people, no matter how deserving, into a state of pure, blind terror?” Celestia continued, walking towards me.

Hoo boy… I thought. “Can I just say…”

“There was another like you...” Celestia continued darkly; she closed the distance between us and leaned in close, baring her teeth. “A cruel being who enslaved an empire, and plunged those who defied him into their worst nightmares… Yet you believe yourself different because you choose to do it to those you deem deserving? Because you are authorized?!” She finished, eyes aflame with indignation.

I remained silent for a few moments. “I try not to use it.”

Celestia blinked. “What?”

“I only use it when I really need to.” Celestia opened her mouth, but I raised a claw to cut her off. “And yes, I’m aware that, within a minute of regaining consciousness, I used it on… on Applejack. But what you need to understand is, I don’t know you people. I woke up on an alien world, imprisoned in a laboratory, with no idea of what you were going to do to me. Then when I broke free and, however brashly, asked where I was, I took your request for compliance as a veiled threat, and responded with a not-so-veiled threat. Everything that happened downstairs could have been avoided—more on my part than yours, admittedly—but it happened. I felt the need to show you that I couldn’t be controlled, even if that wasn’t your intention… So I used it.”

I glanced at Applejack again. “But when I saw Applejack’s fear, I…” I trailed off; the blank look with a hint of curiosity hadn’t faded in her eyes. “...I hated it. The few times I use the Nightmare, they’re usually simple—heights, fire, things like that. That makes it easier for me to do it to the guys I’m fighting. But Applejack’s one of few who have something a bit… deeper… More personal. When I saw her fear I realized just how much of an idiot I’d been.” I glanced at Celestia again. “When I said I’d make it stop if you answered my questions, it was… It was a bluff. I would’ve stopped it either way and… and worked things out from there.”

Celestia’s expression softened somewhat; she took a step back. “I never asked to be made like this,” I continued. “And when I first discovered what I could do, I was horrified. So I decided, it’s only for emergencies. I hold my own in a normal fight, as you’ve seen, so I can still do my job without making people face demons they’re not ready to face. But even in times where I need it, I make sure to end it as soon as possible; because no one deserves that kind of punishment.”

“So if you still think me a monster because I do use the Nightmare, fine,” I concluded. “But believe me when I say, the times I do use it are few and far between. And, to reaffirm what I said before, I will not… EVER… use it on any of your subjects ever again.”

Celestia stared at me, an unreadable look on her face; she was either having a war in her mind over how to feel about me, or was simply remaining skeptical. Either way, she slowly turned and returned to her seat. I returned to my own and sat down, stiffly. The other ponies seemed a bit more relaxed now, though I could tell they were also skeptical about the legitimacy of my story.

The rest of the dinner passed in silence broken only by the occasional clink of silverware against plates. Even the mood of the, to put it lightly, ‘eager’ Pinkie Pie seemed dampened as she, too, tried to decide how to feel about me. The only one who seemed okay with it was Luna; on the surface it seemed she believed that I didn’t use the Nightmare very often, but something told me there was something deeper going on in her head. I wouldn’t press, though; I’d probably hindered any hopes at coexistence enough, as it is.

Finally, Luna and Celestia stood up simultaneously. “We must tend to the sun and the moon,” Celestia said. “Since today’s last train to Ponyville has likely departed, we will have rooms prepared for each of you.”

Rarity covered a soft yawn. “I must say, today’s… drama has certainly taken its toll…” she said softly. She and her companions each stood and headed towards the door.

I stood up and turned to Luna. “Should I… head back to the lab then?” I asked, half-joking.

Luna gave a small smile. “You’ll have a room as well.”

I noticed Celestia walking off stiffly, a look in her eyes that seemed to say, ‘I’d rather he didn’t.’ I ignored her and nodded appreciatively at Luna. “Thank you.”

“Why don’t you head with them and take your pick?” She suggested; this time the look from Celestia was far less subtle, and was shared by Twilight and her friends.

“Sure,” I said; I’m ashamed to admit that part of me only agreed to spite Celestia. She didn’t seem so bad, but I could tell her comparing me to that ‘other’ she’d mentioned was about as far from a compliment as you could get. Still, I hoped to patch things up between us—if I was here to stay, odds were we’d see a lot of each other for a while. I turned and followed the ponies out of the dining hall, who seemed somewhat eager to keep their distance from me…

Except, again, for Applejack; she seemed to have vastly recovered from the Nightmare, but also seemed to be trying to wrap her head around what exactly she saw. She walked sluggishly along, her eyes on the ground in a way that made me worry she’d bump her head into a wall. Before long, though, we arrived at what appeared to be the guest quarters; a long hall with eight sets of double doors on either side. Out of consideration I took the room at the far right, letting the ponies take rooms that were ample distance from my own.

The room itself was pure white, with marble furnishings and a four-poster, king-sized bed. Despite only being conscious for about an hour, I, too, felt the day’s events bearing down on me as I slithered towards the bed. Not caring to lift the covers I simply threw myself onto the red comforter and let myself melt into a black puddle of exhaustion.

Coulda gone better today… I mused, recounting everything that had happened. But it’s not unrepairable. I can work things out… I’ll HAVE to, if I’m stuck here…

My thoughts drifted to home…

To the rift, and to how it had tossed me to a completely random dimension, with only a glimmer of hope that I’d ever get home…

How I might never see my team again…

Never see my family again…

Never be home again…

My last thought before falling asleep was whether I could shed tears in this form.

On the balcony of the castle’s highest tower, Celestia’s sun fell beyond the far horizon while Luna’s moon rose, filling the sky with her beautiful stars once again. Yet, neither failed to notice that the other had done their job with none of their usual grace or reverence; their minds were busy, clouded with thoughts of the one called ‘Dread’.

Celestia couldn’t help but feel a dark foreboding sense in her heart. A being whose very essence could breed fear, who claimed to use it justly… Even if he was being truthful, even if he used it as little as he claimed, nothing good could come of fear being imposed at a whim. She’d worked for over a thousand years, seeking to ensure her beloved subjects would never face such terror… And yet this being had done it in front of her in less than a minute… She couldn’t bear to think about what poor Applejack must have been feeling at the moment, but was thankful her student and her friends would be there for her.

Luna, on the other hand, had a more curious and optimistic air when thinking of Dread. He’d admitted to being brash, and had profusely apologized for his actions… He’d shown legitimate concern for Applejack after putting her in his ‘Nightmare’, and seemed to make every effort to start over. He seemed eager to explain himself, where he came from and what he did; more encouragingly, Dread appeared to be someone seeking a worthwhile use of his condition, protecting innocents and defending his world from threats. On top of that, when things had calmed down he actually seemed rather friendly.

The two sisters did share some thoughts on Dread, however; they observed that he seemed to be in control of his abilities, and held a greater intellect than his beast-like tendencies implied. From what they could tell, he didn’t come here of his own free will, given the method he’d arrived in and how he’d asked where he was. He seemed to understand he might not make it home, though the sisters had differing thoughts on how he’d cope with this development.

“I’m not sure if I can trust him…” Celestia said, once the moon had been raised.

“He certainly has reason to earn your skepticism,” Luna said agreeably. “But I feel he wishes to start over. He has been open with us, and I don’t see what he stands to gain at this point from further hostilities.”

“Perhaps…” Celestia said. The sisters stood at each other’s side and stared up into the stars, which blinked as though having just awoken from blissful sleep. “We should still keep an eye on him… What he did to Applejack could be a very strong indicator for who he is.”

Luna frowned and turned to her sister. “This… distrust… It wouldn’t happen to stem from somewhere else, would it? Because you did compare Dread to King Sombra…”

“And you don’t see the resemblance?” Celestia asked softly; there was no hostility in her voice, only the tone of one affirming a point.

Luna lowered her head. “I do, it’s just… I don’t think we should be so quick to judge. Being viewed as a monster can take it’s toll.”

“One is not labeled a monster without earning it...” Celestia muttered.

Luna looked up at Celestia. “Did I earn it as well, sister?” She asked, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

Celestia looked at Luna, shocked. Her expression quickly softened to one of sorrow and remorse before she leaned over and nuzzled her sister. “Forgive me, dear Luna… It’s just… This… Dread… I’m worried about the person he may be.”

Luna remained still for a moment before returning the affectionate nuzzle. “Let us see for ourselves… And whoever he is, we will face him together.”

Knock knock knock.

With a startled quiver of my mass I awoke to the sound of someone knocking. For a moment I’d forgotten where I was, but quickly remembered—the Rift, the lab, the… ponies… the likelihood that I might be stuck with said ponies…

I quickly reformed when I also remembered that knocks are typically the sign of someone wishing entry. Wishing to illuminate the pitch-black room, I glanced over at the table next to my bed; it had an old-fashioned looking lamp sitting atop it. I reached over and turned its switch; it sprang to life like it had a lightbulb, but the flame-like light inside made me consider it a magic-powered device. The lamp gave the room some much needed light as I climbed out of the bed and hurried to the door.

I opened the door gently and peeked through it, trying to keep my teeth obscured—whoever wanted to see me probably wouldn’t appreciate a black Hellmouth greeting them at the door. “...Applejack?”

The pony was staring at me, a hint of sadness in her eyes. Quietly, I stood aside and held the door open, silently inviting her in. Applejack slowly entered the room, evading eye contact as she passed. For a moment she stood some distance from the foot of my bed, her back to me as I silently closed the door. She turned to me again, trying desperately to find the right words. Her eyes still had traces of red around the edges, and the fur on her face was matted down with dried tears… I couldn’t tell if it was from back in the lab, or if they were more recent.

“Again, I’m truly… truly sorry…” I said earnestly. I lowered myself to be more on her eye level. “Nothing makes what I did even remotely okay.”

“Just tell me somethin’...” Applejack said, with a firmness that conflicted with the sadness evident in her eyes. “What I saw…” She paused, needing to take a deep calming breath. “It... wasn’t real, right?”

I nodded quickly. “Just an illusion, formed of your mind. Nothing more.”

This seemed to make her feel a bit better, but only slightly. “...Will it ever be?”

“I’m sorry?” I asked.

“Will that… ever happen?” Applejack asked, almost pleadingly.

I stared at her, wishing I could tell her what she clearly wanted to hear. “...Applejack, I… I make illusions… They don’t have any say in what will or won’t happen in the future. So, I don’t know…”

She didn’t seem to be completely devastated—or surprised—by this news. “Yeah…”

“Also, it’s… You’re not afraid of losing her in a fire…” I said. “You’re afraid of losing her, period. So… I don’t know if it’ll happen. It might or might not be a fire…” I ran a claw through my mass awkwardly. “...Who’s Applebloom?” Applejack blinked in surprise for a moment, so I quickly clarified. “I saw what you fear—I could hear you screaming ’Applebloom’...” There was a pause, then I smacked myself in the head. “Crap, I’m sorry, I--That’s just twisted, I shouldn’t have... never mind…”

“No, no, it’s okay!” Applejack said calmingly. “She’s mah little sister. She lives with me, mah brother, Big Macintosh ‘n Granny Smith on our farm, back home.”

“...Cute kid?” I asked awkwardly, trying to keep the mood light.

Applejack frowned in confusion for a moment, before nodding slowly. “She’s a sweetheart, sure, but…” She smiled—the first I’d seen of her. “Heh, she ‘n her friends get into a mess ‘o trouble on a daily basis… They always say they ‘learned their lesson’, but then they go off and do something that teaches ‘em another!”

I smiled as she gave a healthy laugh. “Well, human kids are the same…” I said; I noticed her eyes tearing up again, though I couldn’t tell if it was from sadness surfacing again or from laughter. Applejack sat on her haunches and wiped a tear away with a hoof as she giggled; the smile on her face made me happier than I’d been since I got here. I moved up beside her and put an arm around her shoulder. “You know… The thing about… what you saw? It says a lot about you and… how much you care for Applebloom, if that’s the thing you fear more than anything.”

Applejack smiled warmly. “I ‘ppreciate it… Thanks.” She covered a yawn with her hoof. “Hoo doggy, I oughtta hit the hay…” She stood up and headed towards the door. As she opened it she looked back at me. “Ya might not be so bad afterall…” She said before departing, closing the door behind her.

I sat there for a moment before standing and heading towards the bed. “Well… that’s one…”

A blinding snowstorm buffeted the cliff face, sending showers of frost falling from the edge above and dusting the various surfaces in white. The wind howled in a manner reminiscent of the wendigos of Equestria’s past—a shrill, haunting noise that changed in volume and pitch with each change in the wind.

At the edge of the cliff, a portion of the snow began to glow a dim crimson, brightening and dimming in a manner similar to breathing.

Though the howling winds were deafening, they failed to obscure a single, piercing noise that hissed from the space...

A low, foreboding laugh.

Author's Note

Comment! Feedback! Tell me what sucks! What doesn't suck! What can I improve!

Chapter 4: Remnants

“Is the door locked?” Rainbow asked in an urgent whisper.

Twilight nodded. “And I’ve got a forcefield around the door. He won’t be able to get in.”

The five ponies stood in Twilight’s room, gathered to speak in hushed whispers. When the creature, Dread, had gone to his room, they each waited roughly an hour before quickly regrouping.

“What’s Princess Luna thinking?!” Rainbow asked. “I mean, no disrespect, but she’s crazy if she thinks we can trust that thing!”

“I don’t know…” Fluttershy said softly. “He seemed to feel bad for how he acted…”

Rarity shook her head. “The key word there is ‘seemed’, darling. He may be simply biding his time…”

“What are you three talking about?!” Pinkie said eagerly. “Didn’t you hear him? He’s a superhero where he comes from!”

“So he says…” Rainbow muttered bitterly.

“I certainly don’t think a hero would use something like that…” Twilight said, nodding.

“Exactly!” Rainbow said, heading towards the door. “So, here’s the plan. Twilight and I’ll head to the Everfree Forest and get the Elements back. We’ll hurry back, then we’ll--”

“No.”

Rainbow turned to Fluttershy, who was standing with an unusually stern determination. “I won’t use the Elements on Dread without giving him a chance. He did something bad, and he apologized; isn’t that a sign that he’s not as bad as you think?”

“So he thinks a ‘sorry’ is gonna make it okay?” Rainbow snapped. “Like it’ll make us forget what he did to--”

There was a pause. Suddenly, all eyes fell on the door. “Applejack!!” Rainbow, Rarity and Twilight all said, in a volume that couldn’t decide between ‘whisper’ and ‘shout’. Rainbow bolted up to the door and began madly pulling on the handle. “It’s stuck!!” She said.

Rarity threw herself at the door. “That fiend!!” She cried. “He’s trapped us! Oh, Celestia knows what he’s doing to our sweet Applejack!!”

“Oh, wait…” Twilight said. With a sheepish smile she lit up her horn; the door was briefly illuminated in a purple aura, dispelling the barrier. “Sorry…” she said before Rainbow flung the door open.

She, Rarity and Twilight hurried into the hall and bolted for the door to Applejack’s room, Fluttershy and Pinkie in hesitant pursuit. Rainbow burst through the double doors and landed roughly on the floor before the bed. “NO!!” She yelled at the sight of the empty bed, before spinning towards her friends directly behind her. “We gotta--”

“Uh, howdy?”

The group turned to look at the doorway; Applejack was standing in the hall, looking very confused. “What’re y’all doin’, causin’ all this ruckus?”

Rainbow flew over to Applejack and pulled her roughly into the room, Rarity pulling the doors shut behind them. “Are you okay?!” She asked. “What happened?!”

Applejack pulled herself out of Rainbow’s reach. “I’m fine! And whaddaya mean, ‘what happened’?”

“We thought that vile creature made off with you!” Rarity said, hurrying forward and hugging Applejack close. “Oh, we’re so glad you’re safe!”

“Ya mean Dread?” Applejack said. “Nah, I just… went ta see him.”

Rarity blinked. “Come again?”

“I went ta talk to him,” Applejack repeated. “I just… wanted to know about what I saw.”

Twilight bit her lip anxiously. “...What did you see, exactly?”

Applejack took a deep breath and closed her eyes; she clearly wanted to forget about it. “When he touched me, I… I saw the farmhouse burnin’, beyond savin’... But it weren’t the house I was upset about…” She opened her eyes. “Applebloom was trapped inside.”

Her friends gasped in terror, but Applejack continued. “There weren’t no way I could get in to save her, all I could do was stand there and watch the house burn… It was only for a few seconds, but…” She shut her eyes again, blinking back a fresh wave of tears. Fluttershy hurried forward and hugged her friend tightly, fighting back tears of her own.

“That’s what he made you see?” Twilight asked, horrified.

Applejack sniffled, but found the strength to continue. “But I went to him, ‘cause I wanted to know, fer a fact, that it ain’t real. He promised me it wasn’t… I asked if it ever would be, but he said he didn’t know… He said what I saw was ‘born of my own mind’, that his ‘Nightmare’ couldn’t tell the future…” Her words trailed off, her pain taking her voice again.

Rainbow shot a venomous glare towards the door. “Some hero…”

“But then he… he asked about Applebloom,” Applejack continued. “I told him about her, he said that… ‘human’ kids’re more of the same…” she smiled, then looked up at them. “I don’t think he’s that bad. He made some mistakes, sure, but… I think he’s a good feller.”

Rainbow frowned at the floor, trying to wrap her head around her friend’s words. Twilight stepped forward. “Come on, girls, let’s get some sleep. We can talk about this in the morning.” The group filed out of the room, leaving Applejack alone again. Once she’d heard the last door in the hallway close, she walked over to the window. Even in the dim night sky, with the moonlight she could just barely make out Ponyville in the distance.

After the day’s events, she found herself wanting to hold her sister close, and never let go.

Yep. Still here.

Thanks to the size of the bed, I hadn’t slipped off of it in the middle of the night. As such, when I woke up I found myself staring up at the white, domed ceiling up above—the universe’s way of saying, ‘Hey, that wasn’t a dream last night.’

I reformed and climbed out of the bed, flexing my mass and limbering up. The time on my HUD read 4:21 pm; either I’d vastly overslept, or I needed to change it to the local time. I slithered towards the door and reached for the handle when I heard something; a soft rustle of feathers. If it weren’t for my enhanced awareness I might not have heard it. I adjusted my focus towards the corner to the right; I spotted the barest glimpse of a cyan feather poking out of the curtains.

I turned my head towards it. “I see you there.”

The feathers tensed up, but the figure didn’t come out. With an annoyed sigh I slithered over to the curtains and pulled them aside. Rainbow Dash was standing on the cushioned windowsill, trying to find her balance on her hind legs after the curtains she’d been gripping were pulled away. With a yelp and a flail of forelegs she began to fall forward. Casually I reached out and caught her by the stomach, helping ease her to the floor. “Morning to you, too…” I said casually before turning and heading towards the door.

“Hold it!” Rainbow yelled, quickly shrugging off the embarrassing display. She hovered up to me as I turned, and stared me directly in the ‘eyes’. “What’re you up to?”

I tilted my head. “Could ask you the same. Why’re you spying on me?” A pause. “Actually, never mind, I can hazard a guess.” I turned around again to head for the door, but Rainbow suddenly flew around to face me again, not missing a step.

“You’d better watch your step, buddy…” she said, jabbing a hoof at me.

I bit back a snark. “I plan on it,” I said before moving around her and leaving the room; I didn’t need the expanded consciousness to feel her glaring daggers at me.

Deciding a breakfast was in order, I headed down the halls, reversing the path we’d taken last night from the dining hall. I could hear Dash walking some distance behind me, annoyance creeping up on me. THIS is gonna be the start of something… I thought as I rounded a corner. I quickly found the dining hall and entered, stopping to hold the door open for Dash. She didn’t pass through, though—evidently not wanting to turn her back on me. With an agitated groan I simply went in, hoping she’d grow out of it.

The other ponies were gathered at the table, having what seemed like a generally pleasant series of chats before they noticed my entry. Only a few of them—namely Luna, Applejack and Pinkie—seemed welcoming of my presence. Fluttershy glanced at Celestia, Twilight and Rarity, who were giving me looks, before returning to her own meal, pretending nothing was wrong. Rainbow sat near her friends, apparently trying to send them messages through facial expressions.

I sat down in the same spot as yesterday and beheld the morning’s meal. “Nice!” I said at the sight of the pancakes lining the table. I took a decent helping of the stuff and dug in; the ponies seemed surprised at my use of tableware, rather than tearing into the stuff like a… well, a monster.

I glanced around the table and gave a small whine at the glaring lack of bacon. “Hmm, I’m probably gonna miss... certain human foods more than others… But I’m glad your foods are familiar.”

Luna smiled. “I’d say you were fortunate; you landed in a world that’s similar to your own… relatively, at least.”

“I’m glad your world seems to understand courtesy…” Rarity said conversationally, not looking up from her meal. “I feared we’d both have customs that would confuse the other.”

“Like offering a hot meal would be considered a declaration of war back home?” I joked. Luna covered a snorting giggle that put a huge grin on my face.

“So, tell us about yourself, Dread…” Celestia said, also not looking up from her plate. “You’ve told us where you come from and what you do for… work, what about in your spare time?”

“Well, MHAs work in forty-eight hour shifts, then get a day off…” I said. “In the times we’re not called in for emergencies, I basically lounge in our team’s base. Watching television—I’ll tell you later,” I added, upon receiving a confused glance from Luna. “Chatting with my friends, reading, stuff like that… I spend time with my family, when I can—my parents, my little brother Jake. We go out to eat, see a show or just spend the day at home together, you know?”

“Not a bad way to spend yer time,” Applejack said, nodding. She was looking much better, fully rested and cheerful.

“What about when you’re working?” Pinkie asked eagerly. “Tell us one of your adventures!!”

I glanced around for a moment. “Uh, really?”

Pinkie nodded rapidly. “Yeah! Was there a big bad guy who wanted to do something big and bad? Or something big, but not necessarily bad, or something bad but not necessarily big? What if he was doing something small and good, but you thought he was doing something big and bad…?”

“All right, all right!!” I said quickly. I tapped a claw to my chin in thought; I did have a fair few I could pull out. New Hampshire was actually somewhat tame compared to most other places, with only the occasional Malefactor spicing things up, so I didn’t have that deep a trove of interesting stories.

“...Okay, here’s one,” I said. “So, a couple years back this guy, Derek Swayze—a real tech nut, designed himself a big suit of robot armor, right? Armed with big plasma cannons, made him around twice as tall as… as the Princess there.” I pointed at Celestia for reference. “He’d wanted to sell his design on the Black Market, make himself a profit, but when he put it on to test it, it gave him something of a god complex.”

“A what complex?” Fluttershy asked.

“Basically, when something makes you feel powerful or awesome, you feel pretty much unstoppable,” Twilight said helpfully.

“Like Rainbow, after every Sonic Rainboom?” Applejack asked with a smirk.

“Can you blame me?” Rainbow asked smugly.

“So the guy gets in his suit and calls himself ‘the Blitz’,” I continued. “He goes on a bit of a rampage through the streets, blowing up cars and stuff—thank Christ, no one was hurt, though I can’t say the same for their premiums—and challenging anyone to try and stop him. I show up, I actually feel a bit intimidated—more for the sake of the collateral damage, seeing as I might not have an easy time taking him down. The guy’s like a massive, bipedal mass of metal, his crazed face peering through a big glass window the thing had for a face. He’s just like, ‘You’re about to be Blitzed’, or something like that, and he aims his cannon at me.”

“So I just sprang like a snake at his arm, right? And the spot I was just standing is reduced to a crater about two-feet wide. I coil around his arm, trying to find a way to disarm the cannon and stop him from blowing anything else up. When I don’t see anything on the outside, I think, ‘Well, the wires and crap are probably on the inside of the armor.’” I stood up and backed off before forming my left arm into a thick blade. The more skittish ponies flinched, but I ignored them. “So I make my claw like this, and I swing it at the guy’s arm.”

“It was then we both realized, we’d vastly overestimated just how tough his armor was. While it took most of the blow, my claw ended up breaking the poor guy’s arm.” The ponies winced; I nodded. “Yeah; ouch. He falls over, his yells muffled in his suit, so I tear his armor open like wrapping paper to get him out. I managed to get him to the prison hospital—his arm got better... roughly a month into his life sentence.” I sat down, returning my claw to normal.

“What’d the guy think he could do?” Applejack asked, befuddled. “I mean, even bein’ good with machinery and all, that weren’t the smartest thing to do…”

“Well, people can do stupid things when their emotions get the better of them,” I said, returning to my meal. “Happens to the best of us.”

I noticed something strange from Luna; she seemed to be cutting her food slower, in the way one would when something sad crossed their mind. I noticed the other ponies reacting the same, making the occasional glance at the younger Princess. I opted to change the subject. “So, I’m just curious; last night, you said you needed to ‘tend to the sun and moon’. What does that mean?”

“At every dawn and dusk, Luna and I raise or lower the Moon and Sun, respectively,” Celestia said.

I ‘blinked’. “...No, seriously.”

Celestia frowned. “What?”

“It’s true!” Twilight said. “Every morning, Celestia brings up the Sun, and every night, Luna brings up the Moon!”

I scratched my head. “...Okay?”

“Is that strange to you?” Luna asked.

“Well, kinda…” I said. “In that, back home, our planet orbits around the Sun, taking a year to make a full revolution, while the Moon orbits around the planet. I’m no astronomer or geologist, but I think the mass of the Moon, or whatever, controls the tides of our oceans. Our planet, itself, rotates at one revolution every twenty-four hours; if the Sun or Moon were ‘raised’ at someone’s will, it could really throw off our world’s sense of gravity.” I took a needless breath. “But, again, constants and variables… Reality and logic gets really flimsy between other dimensions.”

“So the Sun and Moon rise and lower on their own?” Celestia asked, skeptically.

“If it were the same here, we’d be out of a job, sister!” Luna joked.

“Well, we call them ‘sunrise’, ‘sunset’...” I gave a little laugh. “Swiftly, fly the years… Anyway, they’re called that ‘cause they look like they’re rising or setting, but really it’s the planet, rotating in a way that they come into view. The Sun is on one side of the planet for twelve hours, then on the other side at a full revolution. The Moon, on the other hand, ‘doesn’t care about your rules, maaan!’ Sometimes it can be seen in the day, though it’s not quite as impressive as at night. None of that, ‘Hey, it’s my time to shine’ glow, just, ‘Um, hey guys, I’m… here, if anyone’s interested...’”

Another snicker from Luna. “Well, I think you’ll find our Moon has a better sense of timing.”

“I prefer the night, anyway,” I said. “Partly due to the fact that I try to scare baddies without the Nightmare, but it may be that I’ve become something of a night owl in this line of work.”

“You said you work for forty-eight hours at a time?” Rarity asked. “Surely, you must get the time to eat!”

“Well, really, if nothing’s going down during our shift, we’re really just hanging in our areas of jurisdiction,” I said. “If we’re not patrolling, we can spare a minute to grab a bite to eat from a take-out joint or something; anything we grab is billed to the Department, so we don’t need to carry a wallet in our utility belts. No, Pinkie, I don’t carry one, it’s just a joke.”

The meal found a lull in conversation for a few moments before Celestia turned to Twilight. “Twilight, once we’re done here, perhaps you can work with our Scribes and examine the spot where the Tear was the other night—find any abnormalities or residue. Anything that can help us find a way to help Dread return home.”

“I’m sorry that you don’t feel me to be worthwhile company…” I said, my voice quivering in mock-pain; I noticed Celestia’s lips fighting back a little smile, to my satisfaction. Tell jokes, get ‘em to like you, that’s right… EARN their trust.

“Is there an Aura Stone in the labs I can borrow?” Twilight asked. “It might help me locate and identify any lingering radiation. Oh! And I’ll need a copy of Aura: A Guide to Fields Both Controlled and Spontaneous; it might help identify what sort of magic the Tear was made of. And I’ll need somepony to record my findings, since Spike’s still running things back home, and if it’s not too much trouble, I’ll need a workspace in the lab, if I’m gonna be working with the Scribes…”

“You’ll have whatever you need, Twilight,” Celestia said with a patient smile.

“Speaking of home, perhaps the rest of us should get ready to catch a train back to Ponyville,” Rarity said, dabbing a napkin at her chin before standing. “I’ve many orders to catch up on at the Boutique.”

“And I need to get back to that poor, sick badger!” said Fluttershy. “I almost didn’t come here yesterday, I was so worried he’d take a turn for the worse! Angel said he’d take care of him but… ooh, I hope the poor thing’s okay!”

“Plus we got some storms coming in over the next few days…” Rainbow said.

“And y’all know what I gotta do,” Applejack said, flexing a hind leg and giving a quick buck kick.

“And I don’t have a purpose in the story anymore, so I gotta skedaddle!” Pinkie said cheerfully, hopping out the door. “Bye, Dread!” She was followed by her friends, who each bid farewells in varying levels of sincerity. Rainbow gave me one last, suspicious glare before turning and heading out; she clearly didn’t want to let me out of her sight, but seemed confident that I was being left with the Princesses.

I stood up, flexing my mass in the same way one would stretch stiffened muscles. “Any chance I could get some fresh air? This place is nice, but I wouldn’t mind getting the lay of the place if I’m gonna be here awhile.”

The look in Celestia’s eyes told me she would rather I didn’t; as she opened her mouth, though, Luna spoke up. “Sure! Why don’t I show you the courtyard?” She stood up and led me out of the dining hall. I gave a wave to Celestia and Twilight as I left; the suspicious looks gave me the impression they felt my wave was less of a friendly farewell, and more of a grim ‘see you soon’ deal. I dearly missed being able to give facial expressions. I mean, I could, when I put on my human form, but that was still vastly difficult; I only did it off duty, when I walked among Basics or hung out with my family.

I cursed myself for thinking of my family again. Not yet. Later.

Celestia watched as Dread left the dining hall, the tip of his black tail slipping out of sight. When she was sure he was out of earshot, she turned to her student. “What do you make of Dread?”

Twilight sighed. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in learning more about his culture… It’s just that, after yesterday, I’m not sure what to make of him. When he first woke up, I didn’t see any of that seemingly friendly demeanor we’ve seen afterwards… From the way he… threatened us? There was something in his voice… Something bestial… I was afraid, afraid of what had come to our world, afraid of what it would do.”

Celestia nodded. “I agree, Twilight… I wish there was something I could call a fact.”

“But Applejack said she talked to him last night,” Twilight said. “She said he was very nice, that he tried to assuage her fears… But that just confuses things even more… Is he truly trying to fix things?”

Celestia sighed. “For now, we can only watch and wait.” She stood up, as did Twilight. “Let’s examine the site of the Tear.”

Twilight nodded, and the pair headed for the door. “Best case scenario, we send Dread home, and don’t have to worry about him.”

Applejack hurried off the train the moment the carriage doors opened, onto the Ponyville platform. “I’ll see y’all later, I gotta get back to work.” Without another word to her friends she galloped off, hurrying towards the dirt road leading to Sweet Apple Acres.

“Something tells me it’s not work she’s so eager to return to…” Rarity mused before turning to her friends. “But I’ve many pieces I need to see to, myself. Why don’t we meet for dinner, later, girls? We can chat about certain… developments.”

Fluttershy nodded. “That sounds nice,” she turned towards Pinkie. “What do you two think--” She stopped and blinked. “...Where’s Rainbow Dash?”

“Oh! She got off the train after it left Canterlot!” Pinkie chirped. “I saw her heading for the caboose,” she stopped to giggle. “And I went after her, I asked her what she was doing in the caboose, then I began giggling and asked her what she thought of the word ‘caboose’, she was all,” Pinkie suddenly stretched and shaped her hair into a passable representation of Rainbow’s loose-hanging mane. “‘Pinkie, quiet!’” Her mane poofed back to normal. “And I was like, ‘why?’ And she said,” her mane switched to Dash’s shape again. “‘I’m going to Canterlot to make sure Dread doesn’t do anything!’ And I said, ‘You mean like walking? Eating? Talking? Seeing things?’ Then she rolled her eyes and said, ‘I just wanna make sure Dread doesn’t do anything bad! I’ll come home later!’ Then she flew out the back door and I went back to you guys! Then the train got here, and Applejack said…”

Before she could start styling her mane to look like Applejack’s, however, Rarity quickly shushed her. “That’s fine, Pinkie, you can stop.” She cast her gaze to the distant city of Canterlot. “I do hope Rainbow knows what she’s doing…”

Applejack didn’t let her growing shortness of breath slow her down as she got back to the farm; Big Mac wouldn’t like that she’d worn herself out before she’d even bucked a single tree, but she didn’t care. There was something she needed right now. She could only hope that…

With a relieved sigh she spotted Applebloom walking in her direction down the path, sided by her friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Before Applebloom could even utter a greeting, Applejack had already closed the distance and practically tackled her. Rolling onto her back as they hit the ground, Applejack held Applebloom close in a tight hug, ignoring her sister’s confused protests and her friends’ baffled looks. Applejack repeatedly kissed her sibling’s head, stroked her mane, relished the chance to hold her sweet sister close.

In a way, she was almost grateful to Dread; he’d made her realize just how much her sister meant to her…

And just how horrifying it would be to lose her.

The marble statues littering the Canterlot Gardens depicted some of their most prominent figures. Luna would gesture to each one as we passed, giving a brief history on their time period and the feats they performed that earned them the right to be immortalized in this courtyard. From griffons that defended both their kingdom and Equestria from great threats, to scholars that discovered new technologies that forwarded the world’s capabilities, it was clear each figure meant a great deal to this world’s history.

As we neared the hedge maze where Luna said they’d found me, she gestured to a space that looked to have held a statue for quite some time. “While all the other statues held individuals of great prestige, this space once acted as a thousand-year prison for a being of great power. A Draconequus, by the name of Discord.”

“What’s a Draconequus?” I asked.

“Essentially, it is a chimera—an amalgamation of various animals,” Luna said. “Discord was a being that loved and caused chaos. He held dominion over Equestria, over a thousand years ago, wreaking untold havoc and bringing great pain and despair to the land’s denizens. It wasn’t until Celestia and I found the Elements of Harmony that his great reign was brought to an end; he was transformed into a statue, and we placed him here.”

I glanced at the empty space. “And now?”

“Two years ago, he escaped,” Luna said. “Because the Elements were no longer bound to Celestia and I, we turned to their new Bearers: Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

“What’re the Elements of Harmony?” I asked.

“Essentially? They are Equestria’s most powerful magic, and acted as our best means of defense against those who would wish us harm,” Luna said. “They are Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic.”

“So Twilight and her friends are more than just good friends to you and Celestia?” I asked. “They’re… heroes?”

Luna nodded. “They’ve only used the Elements sparingly; the first time was…” She became sad again; I desperately wanted to know what was bugging her, but felt it would be more tactful to let her tell me when she wanted. “...well, it was some time ago. Then they used them to defeat Discord again, returning him to stone.”

I looked at the empty space again. “...So he got out, got put in again… Is he a statue somewhere else?”

“Oh, I can tell they sometimes wish it were so.”

I spun around at the new voice; male, a hint of mischievous smugness lining every word. Hovering some distance above us was a slender being, formed of multiple animal parts: a brown, eagle-like chest and left claw, a lion paw, goat head with a goat horn and deer antler, one lizard leg, one goat leg, a blue wing of some unknown creature alongside a batwing, and a tail that seemed to come from a red Chinese dragon. He had a single, curved fang on his upper jaw, and yellow eyes with piercing red pupils. He was floating in midair, lying on his side and resting his head on a paw, observing me with interest. Like Pinkie Pie’s antics the previous day, I hadn’t sensed his approach or appearance; did some of these folks just become invisible whenever they felt like it?

“I say, it’s always fun when somepony else stirs up the pot around here! Keeps it interesting, and gives me new ideas!” He floated closer to me, making me lean back a bit. “So… You’re this ‘Dread’ fellow I’ve heard about!”

I nodded, slowly. “And… you’re Discord?” I glanced at Luna, but she seemed somewhat relaxed; was he supposed to be out?

Discord snapped his ‘fingers’; with a flash, a duct-tape wallet appeared in his eagle talon. He flipped it open and presented what looked like an ID card. It had an old picture of him, only he had what appeared to be a 70’s afro and Beatles glasses.

Name: Discord T. Edgington
Height: ???
Weight: ???
Place of Birth: Butter

“At your service!” He said, sending the wallet away with a snap and giving a curtsy. “You certainly wasted no time in making a buzz around the castle! From your spectacular entrance, to the little spat you had with our friends here…” He wiped a tear from his eye. “Ah, chaos creates confusion, but sometimes, confusion creates some of the best chaos!”

I rubbed my gangly arm awkwardly. “Yeah, things got a bit… hectic down there. I’m trying to make it better.”

“Well, do take your time!” Discord said; he conjured up an old-looking video camera and zoomed it in on me, his eye poking through the lense as it stretched into my face. “I want to savor every minute of the effect you’ve had on this joint! The unease among the staff, the constant fears that you’ll suddenly turn around and eat somepony…”

“Not gonna do that…” I muttered.

He ignored me, spun the camera around and aimed it upwards; I followed his gaze and noticed a few ponies gathered around an empty space. I recognized two of them as Celestia and Twilight, holding various tools and papers in their magic fields as they examined where the portal had been. The others were either pegasi, decked in royal armor, or unicorns being held aloft in Celestia’s trademark yellow aura. “And the turmoil in the hearts of our dear, sweet Princesses! They’re acting like they've put those thoughts on hold, but, really, anypony can see just how anxious you make them!”

I glanced at Luna; she didn’t seem ‘anxious’. If anything, she was looking very annoyed at Discord. I looked up at him. “I don’t want to make ‘anypony’ anxious! I made a huge mistake, and I’m working to rectify it!”

“Oh, of course, no one’s disputing that…” Discord said, vanishing the camcorder as he turned to me, grinning. “I just wish to thank you for bringing your own special blend of havoc! I dearly hope to see more of it!” He gave a happy gasp. “Perhaps you can give me some pointers!! Ooh, I can’t wait!” He snapped his fingers and, with a flash, he vanished.

I slowly turned to Luna. “So... he on parole or something?”

Luna sighed. “Celestia decided that Discord’s power could be used for the betterment of our subjects. We had Fluttershy help reform him; she gave him her friendship and, to our surprise, he actually treasured it better than anypony could have expected. When he realized that his antics would cost him that friendship, he decided to… ‘play nice’, as he calls it. While he does still cause the occasional bout of mischief, it’s to a far lesser extent than before, and he’s quick to clean up his messes… for the most part. Though we do have to push him to use his powers to mend affairs that aren’t his doing.”

I glanced at the spot where his statue had been. “Not dissimilar to some stories I’ve heard back home; Malefactors who’ve opted to use their powers in a better way. Any metahumans with a criminal past are put through a more… ‘supervised’ training regiment. They need to train longer before they’ll become MHAs, to prove that their evil ways are behind them, but there’ve been some former Malefactors who’ve ended up saving hundreds of people at a time.”

“Just how many threats does your world face?” Luna asked. “Surely, if MHAs are as widely spread as you say, criminal activity must be at an all-time low.”

“You would think!” I said, gesturing wildly. “But, by some miracle, criminals keep doing that crap! Stealing, violence, terrorism—the thought seems to be that we can’t be everywhere at once. And, sometimes, they’re right; there’ll be times where we can’t stop a crime—only apprehend those responsible…” I sighed. “I’ve had a couple of those instances…”

Luna frowned. “What happened?”

I shook my head. “Another time…” I glanced up at the ponies above, examining the site of the portal. “I really hope they find something…”

Luna put a hoof on my claw. “We’ll do everything to get you home.”

I smiled at her. “Thanks, Princess.”

Luna raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Please, call me Luna.”

“That’ll be forty bits,” said the clerk at the stand, flatly.

Bulwark glanced at the price on the sign; the price on the number of ears of corn he’d purchased should have been thirty. With a sigh, however, he levitated the requested bits onto the counter and left without a word.

Every crystal pony he passed gave him a brief look—one of unease and distrust. He’d earned every single one of them, he felt, as he walked stiffly down the road from the marketplace. As he neared his home, Bulwark glanced up at the balcony of the Crystal Palace; for a moment, he thought he saw him standing there... The King he’d so proudly served all those years ago, his cruel grin visible even from such a great distance.

He’d turned his back on those days—his time as one of those who had aided and supported Sombra’s rise to power all those centuries ago, who’d reaped the benefits of loyalty… It was only after the Empire had been cursed to a thousand years, lost in some unknown void, that he’d realized how Sombra had manipulated him, had manipulated all of his ‘loyal’ minions, into servitude. He saw how Sombra had clouded his mind, made him his puppet…

If it weren’t for the Crystal Heart, he would be that way again.

Now he simply tried to live, tried to forget… Yet the distrust he’d earned served as a constant reminder of his folly… Him and every other who followed Sombra.

Bulwark entered his home stiffly, levitating the produce onto the kitchen counter. He threw himself onto the couch, his grim mood leaving him exhausted. A nap, that is all… he thought, feeling his head sink into a throw pillow. He shut his eyes. Perhaps my dreams will be pleasant this time…

“Wasn’t it your ‘dreams’ that had you follow me, old friend?”

With a jolt Bulwark sat up, glancing about his house for the source of the voice. “Who’s there?!” He called, his voice cracking nervously.

No answer. Quivering, Bulwark lay back down on the couch.

His question had been redundant; he very well knew whose voice that was. He very well knew it hadn’t come from anywhere in his house.

Tears formed in his eyes as he curled his legs inwards. “Please,” he whispered. “Please leave me be…”

Chapter 5: Arrogance

Twilight watched out of the corner of her eye as Dread and Luna continued to roam the gardens, idly chatting as they went. While she couldn’t tell with Dread, she could certainly see a hint of good cheer and enjoyment from Luna.

As she continued to take notes on the lingering residue from the tear, she found herself considering what would happen if they couldn’t send Dread home; would the news make him angry, bring back the monster she had seen when he’d initially awoken? Would they fill him with despair, make him lock himself away from others and mourn what he’d lost? What of afterwards? If what he said was true, if he truly sought to start over, perhaps he’d work to live peacefully with them… She certainly hoped so. If their efforts to stop him upon his awakening were indication, they may not be able to take him down, barring the possibility of the Elements...

All the more reason to search for a way to send him home, she thought, returning to her work with added determination.

Luna and I continued our tour of the gardens, swapping stories as we went; I told her of some of my more interesting exploits as an MHA, while she discussed some of the things she’d seen as Princess. I wasn’t so surprised at hearing that she and Celestia had lived for over a thousand years; magic and all that. What did interest me was that all her stories either happened within the last four years, or a thousand years ago—nothing in between. Once again I fought a desire to ask her. All I knew was there was something that caused great sadness in her past, and that involved those Elements of Harmony.

Leave it be… I urged myself. I glanced over at a nearby statue, depicting a thickly-built minotaur; he was bearing an ornately-carved halberd, his chest thrust out in pride. The plaque at the base of his statue read, ‘Labyrinth the Guide; Dwelling in the Everfree Forest, Labyrinth worked to protect and guide those who had lost their way or simply sought passage in the depths of its untamed wilds. His bravery and heroism ended up saving the lives of hundreds.’

I nodded, impressed; then I got an idea, for just a bit of fun. I slithered over, next to the statue, and reshaped my mass. I formed myself into my closest imitation of the Labyrinth statue, right down to the spear in his hand. Luna giggled and stamped on the ground, in what appeared to be their equivalent of clapping. “Impressive!”

“To be honest, part of me feared you’d think I was disrespecting the guy,” I confessed, returning to my normal form.

Luna waved a hoof dismissively. “Every time there’s a group of children here, there will always be at least one who climbs on the statues, without fail; even then, it’s not disrespectful, they’re simply having fun in the environment. You want disrespect? You should see some of the ‘additions’ Discord has made to some of these pieces.”

I leaned to the side to see another statue, this one depicting a zebra, hind legs crossed in a meditative pose; she was wearing a pair of those novelty disguise glasses, clearly not part of the piece when it had initially been completed. “Mmm…” I nodded. “Well, it’s not ‘Jebediah Springfield’ levels of vandalism.”

“Who?” Luna asked.

I shook my head. “Never mind.”

“Princess!” A pegasus guard approached in midair; he was much more professional, in that he didn’t so much as glance my way. “The Scribes require your aid regarding the tear from the other night.”

Luna nodded. “Very well.” She turned to me. “Sorry, I must see to this. I’ll be back soon.”

“I’ll amuse myself for a bit, then,” I said. Luna smiled before taking to the skies, the guard right behind her. It was only when she vanished into the castle that I wondered if my being alone would cause concern with my more skittish hosts. I glanced up at where the portal had been; Twilight, Celestia and the Scribes had left twenty minutes ago, so I wouldn’t be under their gaze. Still, not wanting to arouse suspicion, I simply sat on a nearby bench and began fiddling with my transmitter; the onboard PDA had a few books I’d downloaded to it.

A brief, depressing thought crossed my mind. Odds are I’ll get tired of them after a while…

I shook it off. Hope. Keep up hope.

I began flipping through On the Sidelines; a fiction centered around a man whose wife was an MHA, struggling to watch while she put her life on the line and spent a deal of time away from home. It was rather depressing, but it didn’t sell her as a ‘workaholic’; the man very much understood what she had to do, and she clearly hated having to leave as often as she did. Made me think about just how difficult having a normal life would be with powers, even if one hadn’t submitted themselves to the DMHA.

“You, there!”

I jerked back to reality and glanced up the path; strolling towards me were a trio of ponies—two pegasi, wearing white-plated, sapphire-embedded armor instead of the normal pure gold I’d become accustomed to, and one purely white unicorn, who had a hairstyle usually held either by rich jerks or the dude in some chick’s romance novel. All three of them were giving me looks of hostility that trumped anything Rainbow had given me earlier.

“Can I help you?” I asked, not standing up.

“Your presence in our city is not welcomed, creature!” The unicorn said, in the tone of voice a stuffy aristocrat would have when his server put too much seasoning on his helping of baby seal. “I’ve heard tales regarding your arrival—open defiance of our Princesses, even going so far as to threaten them!”

I sighed. “Look, I made a mistake, buddy. Several mistakes, in fact, not the least of which being what I did to Applejack.”

“Your actions against the commoners matter little,” the unicorn said; I failed to hide the grinding of my teeth. “Your arrogance in the face of royalty is the true crime, here!”

“And I suppose you’re royalty?” I asked.

He raised his nose skyward in pride. “I... am Prince Blueblood, nephew to her highness, Princess Celestia.” He resumed his glare. “And the disrespect you held for our fair Princesses was obviously understated; I hear it with every word out of your hideous mouth!”

Civility gave out to my desire to get under this jackass’s skin; I opened my mouth wide, reached up with a claw and began to pick between my molars. “Yeah, I figured I shoulda brushed this morning… I might offend someone important.”

Blueblood recoiled like he’d been struck; his cronies scowled at me, seething with hatred. “You… you arrogant…” Blueblood stammered, aghast.

I lowered my claw and glowered at him. “You’re calling me ‘arrogant’? See, that implies I think myself better than others, that I think I’m superior to everyone in every way. I think that title would fit better with you.”

Blueblood smirked, though the fury hadn’t left his eyes. “I don’t think the opinion of a worthless wretch carries much weight.”

I stood up and folded my arms. “Is that why I hadn’t heard of you until now?”

I saw the spark in the Prince’s eyes that usually preludes a temper tantrum. “Seize him!! Put the beast in chains!!” He screeched at his guards. The pair immediately took to the air and flung themselves at me.

Looking forward to explaining THIS, I thought. I quickly dropped into a puddle, letting the guards sail right over me; I heard the pair grunt as they collided with a nearby bush. I reformed and turned as they detangled themselves from the shrub; the pair galloped at me, snorting in agitation. When they got close they reared on their hind legs and wound their forelegs back for a punch. Putting my claws behind my back I casually curved and shaped my mass to evade their blows. They were well trained, attacking with equal parts speed and strength, but there wasn’t any military focus in their eyes; they clearly shared some of Blueblood’s arrogance, and probably would have wanted to punish me for my hubris even if he hadn’t ordered them to. They were probably just paid goons instead of the royal guards I’d seen, which explained their willingness to actually attack me rather than try to arrest me.

After about half a minute of evading their attacks, I decided to let them each get a freebie. I stopped dodging, and the pair simultaneously landed a punch in my mass. They stared at their hooves, each embedded roughly half a foot within me. They glanced up at me; I tilted my head. “Would it make you feel better if I said ‘ouch’?”

The pair yanked their hooves out of me, eyes wide in confusion and fear. “What are you?” one of them breathed.

I shrugged. “Better question; do you think it’s smart to keep this up? Or should I actually take a swing of my own?”

The guards exchanged panicked glances before turning and legging it, running straight past a flabbergasted Blueblood. He glanced after them, stammering. “G-g-get back here!!” He barked. “I ORDER YOU!!” I slithered up behind him and cleared my throat. He turned and yelped, his voice shooting up several octaves. Blueblood backed away, his legs shaking violently. I leaned in towards him, claws behind my back. “Y-y-you can’t do anything to me!!” He squeaked. “Auntie Tia will hear of it!!”

I scoffed. “From what I’ve seen of you, ‘Auntie Tia’ will probably be glad someone told you exactly where you can shove your privilege.” I leaned in closer, causing Blueblood to cower even further. “But… I’m willing to let you off with a warning. You may have been the aggressor here, but I wouldn’t benefit from knocking you flat on your ass. Next time, though? The beatdown you’ll get will be of higher royalty than you will ever be. Get me?”

Blueblood nodded slightly. I backed off, gesturing towards the way he’d came. “Off you go, then.” He immediately bolted down the path; I noticed a small puddle of liquid gathered in the spot he’d been cowering.

It wasn’t sweat.

“Lovely.”

Blueblood sprinted by the statue of the unicorn Aurora Heart, his breathing rushed and panicked. As he fled through the gate, Aurora’s eyes suddenly moved, gazing after him. Once Blueblood was gone, her mouth opened, and Discord slithered out, camera held in his eagle talon. Landing on the ground, he replayed the footage he’d gotten and fell on his back, guffawing with reckless abandon. “That was better than I could’ve hoped!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

He finally calmed himself, steadying his breathing as he stood. “Oh, oh... one more time…” he said, almost on the verge of hysterical tears. He rewound his camera a fair bit and hit play. The footage shown indicated that the camera was hidden from sight, getting a view of Blueblood staring down from a balcony. Discord was standing beside him, whispering in his ear.

“Did you hear about that alien that arrived the other night?” He asked. “I heard he was NOT very polite to the Princesses…”

Luna returned about ten minutes later, finding me where she’d left me. “Sorry about that, they just needed both me and Celestia to properly identify the form of energy used by the portal.”

“Oh, no trouble,” I said, standing up. “It’s pretty tranquil out here.”

“No trouble at all, then?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow; there was a hint of amusement in her voice, but a greater hint of disapproval.

I debated feigning ignorance, but decided to simply shrug. “...Hey, he started it.”

Luna sighed. “I don’t doubt it… Blueblood means well—” She paused, pursing her lips in thought. “Well, he… He’s not so bad—I mean... ...He’s…”

“...a total tool?” I said helpfully; Luna didn’t deny anything.

“Let’s head back inside and get some lunch, shall we?” She asked, turning around.

I nodded and made to follow before I noticed something. “Watch where you step--!!”

Too late. Luna paused, shutting her eyes and taking a breath. “...Please tell me somepony spilled something.”

King Sombra watched as the pair departed, never lifting his gaze from the one called ‘Dread’. He was grateful for the stupidity of the noble, for giving him the chance to observe the creature. Its body held a form of agility and speed matched only by him in his shadow form…

Yet it was capable of far more. It held a power that nearly made him water at the mouth, made him dearly wish he could take it now… It could spread fear at a whim, either by applying a touch that plunged its victims into their worst nightmares, or through simple intimidation… Both were quite potent.

This would be it. This… Dread, would be the key, Sombra knew this… But he needed to know more—know more about the creature, what manner of soul guided it, how he may acquire it for himself… But he’d stretched himself too far; he could feel his soul tearing like stretched fabric, threatening to break off from his last remaining anchor to this world. If his horn was here, he could afford to better examine the creature…

Thus does dear Bulwark come into play, he thought, a cruel grin lining his face. He turned north and began pulling himself back towards his anchor, eager to plan…

What? Sombra sensed something… It wasn’t the same feeling that had first drawn his eye to the creature, but it was definitely… connected. Curious, he floated down into the castle, through one of its many ornate stained-glass windows. He followed the scent through the halls, keeping to the darkened corners and dimly lit ceilings until he finally located its source, in the lower levels of the castle.

He peered into the room and ground his teeth in fury; them… She, who overthrew him, and she, whose wretched pet dragon had delivered the Crystal Heart, and, ultimately, his defeat, to those who had forgotten their place as his slaves… She had changed; her pair of wings appeared to be a reward for her loyalty. They were bent over several scrolls and tomes, brows furrowed in concentration. He spotted a thin, black haze rising from their heads, invisible to anyone but him; the fear... it was coming from them. He peered over the elder Princess, finding it to be stronger with her.

What has you so frightened, my dear Princess? He thought with a cruel grin, though he felt he could hazard a guess. Sombra peered into the black haze, and fought back a harsh laugh; he saw only the one called Dread, standing over the ponies who were either cowering in terror, both of him and of visions forced upon them, or dying, lying in pools of their sweet, sweet blood…

Yet the best part was Dread's shadow, lit from behind by a blazing building; Dread’s shadow was in the shape of Sombra himself...

She fears who he is… He realized. She fears he would follow my own path… He chuckled quietly. He would be wise to do so.

Yet this information gave him an idea… Fear is joined by distrust. If he could force her to take action against Dread…

Yes… He leaned in close to Celestia; he could see her mane quiver, as though sensing his presence.

“Your fear may be justified, or it may not...” he hissed softly. “Either way, it shall doom the peace you so adore. You think you’re afraid now?” He chuckled. “Not even your sister knows of the nightmares I shall soon bring…” He withdrew from her and slipped from the room, his laugh barely audible.

Celestia perked up. “...Did you hear something?”

Twilight glanced up at her, then around the room. “...No?”

Celestia shrugged it off, yet could not shake a chill that ran down her spine...

Chapter 6: Of Catapults and Marmots

The rest of the day was spent touring the castle, in equal parts getting a feel for the place and learning its history. Luna said that she and Celestia had once dwelled in an older castle back in what was now the Everfree Forest, but had erected and moved into Canterlot some time over the past thousand years. She said that efforts were being made there to restore it, though I had cause to wonder—why now?

As the day wound to a close, Luna and I headed to dinner. Since our party had shrunk to just us, Celestia and Twilight, we opted to eat in a simple, more casual room some distance from the dining hall. When we arrived, however, Celestia and Twilight weren’t there yet, likely still in the lab.

For a moment I figured it wouldn’t matter, until I realized that, until they arrived, it would just be me and Luna…

At dinner…

Alone.

“...Well, this is… awkward…” I said.

“Oh, they’ll be here soon,” Luna said as she approached the table. I hesitantly followed her in, and we sat across from one another.

It’s fine, dude, chill… I thought. You’re just having dinner. It’s not even SUPPOSED to be just the two of you—Twilight and Celestia should show up in a while. RELAX.

Despite my efforts to keep a civil demeanor, I couldn’t think of a damn thing to say; any topic I came up with, from hobbies to little tidbits of our cultures, was quickly designated as weak subject matter. Luna, it seemed, was struggling as well; she was biting her lip and constantly evading eye contact.

“...Alright, I suppose it is a little awkward…” she admitted after a minute of silence.

“We can chat easily while we’re walking, sure, but at dinner?” I gave a shrill gasp. “Heaven forbid!!” Luna giggled, but said nothing more. Another minute of silence passed; I fell into the bad restaurant habit of glancing at the door to the kitchen, hoping to spot our server. “...Okay, now they’re just trying to make us uncomfortable.”

Luna stood up, a little too quickly. “I’ll go see if there’s something wrong…” She said, heading into the kitchen. I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved that she’d ended the silent conversation, or concerned that she was eager to put some distance between us. I leaned back in my seat, drumming my claws on the table cloth. Seeking a distraction that didn’t involve my transmitter, I removed the napkin wrapped around the silverware, and idly fiddled a knife between my claws.

My thoughts drifted towards home again. I wondered how my family had reacted to my disappearance… What could be considered my apparent death… It wasn’t like they didn’t know the risks MHAs face, it’s just…

I zipped up my last duffel bag, which was full to bursting. I didn’t know why I NEEDED so many clothes; I only needed to wear them when I looked human. Everything else in my bags were basically time-fillers; things I’d have on me in my off-time. With a grunt I lifted both bags and carried them towards the door; I spared one last glance at my empty-looking home. My parents had done what they could to clean it every now and again, which I was grateful for. With a weary sigh I headed out the door.

My parents and Jake were waiting in the car outside; since I had no real need for a car of my own anymore, we sold my old one and put the money towards helping Jake get into college. I loaded my bags into the trunk, then climbed into the back seat alongside Jake. “Alright, let’s go…” I said, leaning my head back.

The car didn’t move. I glanced at Dad in the front seat. “...What’s up?” I asked.

Dad jerked his head like he’d just realized I was talking. “Right, right, let’s… let’s go.” He pulled out onto the road in a stiff manner that only made me more concerned. I glanced at Jake, who looked like there was an elephant in the room he DESPERATELY didn’t wanna discuss.

I heard a sniffle from Mom up front. ‘She’s upset I’m leaving,’ I theorized. I laid a hand on her shoulder. “Mom, it’ll be okay…”

Jake quickly shook his head. I glanced between him and Dad. “What’s going on?”

Dad sighed, reached over and turned on the radio. “...of San Francisco’s most prominent Metahuman Agents, Adjutant fought to protect her city for over seven years. Now, San Francisco is in mourning over the loss of one of their beloved guardians, after she was caught and killed in the detonation of a fusion-based IED, suspected to be laid by the Malefactor known as Frigate…”

I blinked at the radio. “Oh, god…”

Dad turned off the radio as Mom choked out a sob. “I, I can’t…” she said.

“Susan…” Dad began.

“No, David!!” Mom wept, pointing at the radio. “THAT’S where he’s going! Up against those sociopaths and psychos! I CAN’T be waiting by the phone every day, praying I don’t get a call from those Department bastards, I just can’t! I can’t…” She began weeping into her hands, her breathing fast and shallow.

“Mom, Mom, it’ll be okay…” I said. “I’ll be careful… I promise.” Mom didn’t respond. I leaned back, a hollow feeling in my stomach.

My phone buzzed. Frowning, I pulled it out; it was from Jake. I cast him a confused glance before opening it.

“You really think that’ll make her feel better?”

I texted back, “I can’t think of anything else to say that doesn’t involve lying.”

He gave me a look before replying. “Just because YOU’VE accepted the ‘occupational hazards’ doesn’t mean WE have.”

I stared at the message, rolling the words around in my head as though he’d actually spoken them. Before long he texted again.

“You may say you’re fine with putting your life on the line—mainly because you’re tougher to kill than other MHAs—but what about us? Did you think about what you’d do to us if we heard you’d DIED?”

“You say you’re doing this job to help people, but somehow you end up being selfish.”

I turned to him and snapped, “What do you want me to say?! Do you think I’m LOOKING to die?!”

Mom and Dad glanced back while Jake stared at me. “Do you think I’m gonna ‘heroically sacrifice’ myself at the first chance I get?! Do you think I WANT to leave you guys?!”

Jake stared at me, so I continued. “I became an MHA because I could put this condition to good use, but also so I wouldn’t be sent to the Haven, ALL THE WAY IN AFRICA!! So it was either this, or being tossed into what’s essentially metahuman quarantine, and never see you guys again! So PLEASE, don’t remind me of what’ll happen if I die, because it’s my biggest incentive NOT to!!” My voice cracked on the last bit, leaving me staring furiously at Jake.

Jake stared at me with an unreadable expression; through his eyes I could tell the gears were turning. I didn’t break eye contact, staring directly into his eyes.

Finally, I noticed tears forming in Jake’s eyes. Slowly, he scooched across the back seat and hugged me, a sniffle escaping him. “I just don’t want to lose you, man…”

I hugged him back. “Me neither… I know, bro…”

The car pulled over; Dad put it in park, then he and Mom each got out their doors and opened the back seat doors. They each clambered in behind each of us, and joined in on the hug.

If I didn’t already fear dying on the job, I certainly did after knowing just how much I meant to them.

The knife dropped from my claws as I daydreamed, the clinging of metal on the tile floor jogging me out of my trance. Shaking my head, I reached down and grabbed the knife when I noticed something poking out from beneath the tablecloth; I hadn’t noticed it before since the cloth was hanging so low, but now that I was bent double I could clearly see it.

The very tip of a multi-colored tail.

I growled in agitation. “Really, Dash?” I lifted the tablecloth up, seeing her cast a panicked expression at me. “This is something a child would do! And why the hell aren’t you back in… Ponyville, or whatever?”

“I—I…” Dash stammered.

“You didn’t go because you were worried I’d do something?” I asked. “While the Princesses were around? Seriously? Even if I was planning something iffy, you really think I’d do it while they were watching?”

“It’s not that, I--!!” Dash began worriedly before scowling at me. “What’s that mean??”

I gave her a deadpan expression, amazed she somehow took that as a threat. “What I mean is, I think I’m being watched plenty without you ‘pitching in’.” I pointed towards the door. “Now get going to Ponyville. And if I catch you spying on me again, I’ll catapult you there.” She didn’t move. “I’m serious!! Skat!!”

Finally, with a growl, she sulkily climbed out from under the table, never removing her glare from me. She stopped at the door to make it last; I responded by taking a spoon and salt-shaker, filling the spoon and launching the salt to mimic a catapult. Finally, Dash broke off the glare and stomped down the hall.

I leaned back in my seat, putting my ‘face’ in my claws; I actually preferred dealing with Blueblood and his goons. At least I had no respect for him, so I didn’t lose anything by making an enemy of him. Dash and her friends, however, seemed to be held in high esteem by the Princesses; it would be good to be friendly with all of them. Even Dash herself seemed worth getting along with, seeing just how concerned she was over Applejack and how furious she was with me afterwards.

Though, on reflection, threatening to launch her with siege weaponry probably wasn’t a very good call… I mused.

The door to the kitchen opened behind me. “They weren’t aware we were eating in here tonight,” Luna said as she entered. “They’ll be out in a moment… What’s this salt on the floor?”

Oops.

Celestia and Twilight joined us some time later, their eyes giving way to the exhaustion that comes with working all day; if they’d bumped into Dash on their way up, they didn’t mention it as they sat down, relieved groans escaping them.

I waited a moment. “...So, your day went well, I’m guessing?” I asked cheerfully. Luna tried not to smile, though she ended up getting her lips scrunched up in the process.

“A long, long day of leafing through every… single book in Canterlot that could even give us a clue…” Twilight said strainfully.

I frowned. “...Is this leading to some bad news?”

Celestia shook her head. “We’re not sure… We’ve found a number of promising leads, but nothing concrete…”

“If we eat quickly, we can probably check over some of them,” Twilight said insistently. “If we’re lucky, Dread could be home by…” She was interrupted by a massive yawn.

“Or,” I said, holding a claw up, pointedly. “You could call it a day. I’m eager to get home, sure, but not if you’re gonna burn yourselves out.”

“No, no, no, it’s fine!” Twilight said quickly, straightening up. “I’m fine, I’m fi…” The mere act of talking loudly, however, seemed to tucker her out even more as she slouched again. “Okay, maybe sleep is good…” The doors opened behind us as our servers entered. “So is food.”

We were given a more casual meal than last night’s—an array of fancy vegan sandwiches and what initially appeared to be french fries; once I sampled one, however, I found it to be made of hay. Making a face, I ignored that portion for the meal and stuck with the sandwiches, being careful to avoid taking any that had daisies and the like.

I was pleased to see Twilight and Celestia acting more calmly around me—but I could have just been confusing civil indifference with an attempt at passive observation. They didn’t so much as glance at me as we ate, and somehow the silence seemed to deepen, even after their arrival. After a few minutes I grew tired of the silence. “So Luna showed me around the gardens today,” I said conversationally. “The statues there are impressive. I can definitely see how one could look up to those figures.”

Celestia nodded. “I knew a great many of them, in their time. I felt their courage and sacrifices shouldn’t be noted in books alone. They were all heroes, in their own right.”

I glanced between her and Luna. “They must’ve been good friends to you two,” I said.

Luna bit her lip. “Well, I didn’t necessarily… know all of them, they were from…” Her words trailed off.

My curiosity burned even more; the more little hints I got about whatever was bothering Luna, the more I burned for something more concrete. All I knew was that it happened a thousand years ago, it involved the Elements of Harmony, and it caused her a great deal of pain and guilt. I couldn’t ask either—both because I didn’t want to press and exacerbate the guilt Luna was feeling, but also because I feared Celestia would believe I’d use the knowledge for ‘insidious purposes’. Maybe there were books or something about it? Maybe I could find the library tomorrow and take a look around, though I wondered if any librarian down there would be willing to do anything other than run at the very sight of me.

Celestia’s horn suddenly lit up; I tensed, but relaxed when a small, green wisp of flame flew from her horn, expanded and formed into a tightly-bound scroll. She caught it in her magic and opened it. “I’m sorry…” she said; I shrugged, not caring. Her eyes scanned the words on the scroll quickly before she smiled, amused. “Just a little something from the Gryphon Emperor, he wished to relay something that amused him greatly. Apparently, one of his generals brought up concerns regarding Equestria…”

“What does he mean by ‘concerns’?” Twilight asked.

“His general is concerned regarding what he believes to be our ‘gathering strength’,” Celestia said. “Between the Elements of Harmony and your coronation, Twilight, he fears we’re planning some ‘glorious rise to power’... The Emperor found the idea of us on the warpath quite hysterical, said he’d ‘sooner fear being conquered by marmots.’”

“...Not sure how to take that…” Luna said, frowning.

I shrugged. “Is he wrong? To be fair, you guys don’t seem the ‘warmongering’ type.” I reached out for the last remaining sandwich.

A fork suddenly plunged into my claw, its end vibrating from the impact. I frowned at it, surprised, as Luna took the sandwich with a feigned look of ferocity. She smiled mischievously before biting into it; I withdrew my claw from around the fork with a surprised laugh. “But I’ve been wrong before.”

We found a momentary lull in the conversation as dessert came around—a small, simple chocolate cake. “So I heard you met my dear nephew,” Celestia said casually as she took a slice.

My mass rippled awkwardly. “...You could say that…” I said, not looking away from my own portion.

“I’m fairly certain Discord played a part in how Blueblood confronted you, however…” Celestia admitted. “Just to stir up trouble. He thought it was hilarious.”

I glanced at her and smirked. “Did you, ‘Auntie Tia’?”

Celestia hesitated. “...More than I’d care to admit,” she said with a smile.

Author's Note

More of a lighthearted chapter this time around; things'll kick up next chapter, though.

Comment! Feedback!

Chapter 7: Backlash

Rainbow Dash grumbled as she threw her front door open. Her wings were aching from the flight back, since she’d missed the last train home; part of her wished she’d stayed at Canterlot, if only so Dread would follow through on his promise to send her home via catapult.

Tank was sitting lazily on Dash’s couch, smiling warmly at her as she entered. A trace of her irritation gone, Dash gave him a quick nuzzle before heading to her room. She threw herself on her bed with a grunt, unable to stop thinking about Dread.

It was so… frustrating. She’d watched him all day—she knew he hadn’t seen her, that was real surprise when he’d caught her under the table—yet he didn’t do anything… save for terrorizing Blueblood, but she was counting evil things. She watched as he ‘walked’ with Princess Luna, expressing interest in the statues, learning about Equestria…

The obvious answer was that he was biding his time for whatever he was planning…

The answer that seemed more and more likely was that he wasn’t planning anything.

Dash rolled onto her back with a sigh; the telltale whirring of Tank’s gyro-pack announced his approach. The tortoise flew into the room and, somewhat unsteadily, landed on her bed. Dash smiled and pulled him close; he laid his head over her stomach lovingly as she stroked him with a hoof.

Dash didn’t like to admit it, but Dread might’ve had a point; the Princesses could handle him, right? He seemed to think so… but then, if he was being honest about everything, he wasn’t just playing nice out of fear of having his butt handed to him.

Dash frowned, a thought crossing her mind; could that… thing, even feel fear?

I found that I’d overslept the following morning; the clock on my transmitter, which had been updated for local time, read 12:30. For a moment I was concerned that I’d kept Luna waiting, assuming she wanted to hang out again today, but quickly realized that she could wake me if she wanted to. In any case, I felt it would be a good day to head to the library to read up on history—my curiosity over what troubled Luna was getting to teeth-grinding levels of agitation. I left my room and headed towards where I believed the library to be. I did my best to look inconspicuous, but at the same time tried not to look like I was up to no good as I slithered down the halls. The guards, formerly wary and suspicious of my presence, had become relatively accustomed to me and maintained their thousand-yard stare as I passed.

For a while I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find the library; I had a general idea of where it was, but nothing specific. Before long, though, I was able to find it by following an unaware, bookish-looking unicorn carrying a bunch of tomes in her magic. When she couldn’t open the door, I helpfully approached and held it open for her. She opened her mouth and turned to me to say thanks, but froze when she took me in. I didn’t stick around for her reaction, but the lack of a scream was somewhat encouraging.

I approached the main desk yet kept my distance when I noticed the librarian, a pegasus, with his back to me. With a soft “Ahem,” I got him to turn around. He seemed much more confused than terrified at seeing me, but I still opted to avoid any sudden movements. “Hi, I’m just looking for any… major history books or the like?”

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t object. “Yes, of course… Follow me.” He came out from behind the desk and led me around the corner, towards a section of towering bookcases in the corner of the library. “I’ve heard about you,” he said. “You’re interested in our history, then?”

“Yeah,” I said. “There’ve been some… events that the Princesses referenced, and I figured they were tired of giving me a rundown on every one. It’s like asking someone to explain the humor behind every joke they tell, you know?”

The librarian nodded. “Understandable. Well, these should help you a fair deal, if you don’t mind doing some digging… We don’t have a lot of books that cover our history entirely, any major events are covered in their own texts.” I slithered to one of the bookcases and began scanning; I knew the year here was 1403 AD, so I had some point of reference.

“Thanks a lot,” I said to the librarian; he nodded politely and returned to the desk. I took a few books that seemed to cover a fair amount of the last thousand years and found a chair in the corner.

Five hours.

I sat there and read through seven foot-thick books for five hours. Even when I narrowed it down to a thousand years ago, there was still little to nothing that could help me learn what was troubling Luna. There were mentions of a ‘Mare in the Moon’, but they simply referenced books that the library didn’t seem to have.

Jesus H. Christ, this is HOPELESS… I thought, agitated. Asking Luna upfront about it was looking more and more like my only option...

“Dread?” I glanced up from the book on my ‘lap’; Luna was standing some distance away. “What’re you doing here?”

Well, here’s my chance… “Just wanted to check up on some history,” I said, finding solace in the fact that it wasn’t technically a lie.

Luna nodded; she seemed a little quiet at the moment. “You should come with me, Dread.”

I stood up. “Sure, but, uh… Can we… talk about something?”

Luna shook her head sadly. “There’s something we need to discuss first.”

I frowned. This can’t be good. I followed her down the line of bookshelves, giving the librarian a friendly wave of farewell as I went, and out of the library; as I passed the unicorn at the entrance, still stuck in a petrified look of dumbstruck horror, I snapped my claws in front of her, to no response. “...Maybe have someone get her outta here?” I asked. “Cause I give Discord five, maaaaybe ten minutes tops before he comes by with the magic markers.”

Luna led me to our dining room from the previous night; she didn’t say a word the entire way. I wanted to ask what was up, yet I had a feeling I’d find out soon enough. As we entered, Twilight and Celestia were already there; they were looking pretty tired, judging by the bags under their eyes. As they noticed me enter, though, their tone became one of sadness. “Dread?” Twilight said softly.

I had a hunch where this was going. Luna closed the doors behind us.

I stared at them, a faint, hollow feeling in my ‘heart’. “...I’m not going home, am I.”

“We looked, Dread…” Celestia said softly. “We tried every means we could find, but… There isn’t any spell that could bring you home. The residue from the tear is familiar to us, yes, but not in a way that we can shape it into a portal…”

“We asked Discord if he could help, as a last resort…” Twilight said. “But he couldn’t help, either; he says that his power lies only in this world, not any other. He doesn’t have any power in any other world, or in between.”

I heard what they were saying; I believed they’d tried. I believed that they truly felt there wasn’t a way home.

I told myself from the beginning just how unlikely it would be that I could return home, either by Equestria’s methods or the efforts of the DSR. I told myself that, while I didn’t need to lose hope, I should prepare to face the fairly likely possibility.

And yet it wasn’t enough.

Somehow, without realizing, I’d put all my chips on them getting me a way home; it was the only thing that kept me cheerful the last two days. And now that I knew for a fact I was stuck here, the full scale of my fate hit me square in the face.

All I could think of now was my family… How they’d take the news of my apparent death, how they’d find out that they didn’t even have a body to bury. How I’d never see my home, my friends, anything and everything I cared about…

All of it… gone.

My vision hazed dizzily, fading in and out in clarity; I felt myself swaying a little bit. “I… I…” I slowly turned and opened the doors.

“Dread…” Luna began, reaching out for me. I moved out of her reach and half walked, half stumbled, down the hall.

My common form was losing its shape; my arms and claws were melting into long, rounded stumps hanging from my torso. I only barely managed to keep myself in a stable form long enough to reach my room. I didn’t even open the doors, I just pushed myself through the cracks between them.

The room service was there, just finishing making my bed. She turned and yelped at the sight of me; I slowly moved to the far side of the room and gestured for her to leave, barely acknowledging her presence. She immediately bolted for the door, opening it and slamming it shut behind her as she fled. I reached over with a tendril and locked it, then closed the blinds, obscuring my view of the world outside.

There I was, standing alone in my room.

No, it wasn’t ‘my room’ the same way you’d call a hotel room ‘yours’; it was my actual room now. This was what I called home; Room Whatever It Was in Canterlot Castle, Equestria.

I began melting completely, turning into a puddle that covered a good portion of the floor. I felt like I wanted to vomit, to cry… But this form wouldn’t allow either--

This form. This goddamned form… It was because of this that I was landed here. It was this goddamned mass that got me thrown from my home, stranded me in a world of goddamned ponies!! It made me a freak, robbed me of a normal life, and when I tried to use it to improve the lives of others, what did I have to show for it?!

But I shared the blame; I was the one who said I should use it ‘for good’. I was the one who decided to become an MHA. I fucking knew what the risks were, but Jake was right; this form made me feel invincible, and because I was such an arrogant tool, I believed it. I didn’t think anything could hurt me, or kill me...

And now here I was; stranded, further away from home than anyone I’d ever know… A world where everyone either feared or hated me.

Not EVERYONE… Said a small part of my mind.

Luna. Pinkie. Applejack. Arguably Fluttershy, I thought bitterly. Yep, REALLY piling ‘em up. That’s four out of another, what, MILLION?

I lay on the floor as a quivering, inch-deep puddle of mass, wanting it all to stop, wanting to die… But I didn’t even know if this form could die, even if I doused myself in oil and lit myself aflame; I’d never been completely doused in flame before—I considered that too risky to find out for myself. Maybe it would work, but… I couldn’t see myself doing it, yet I couldn’t fathom why.

I felt my mind curl in on itself like a weeping child under the covers; I distanced myself from any outside stimuli as best I could, just wanting to feel nothing but a sweet, silent dark…

A knock drew me out of my stupor. “Dread?” Came Luna’s voice. “...Dread, please, talk to me…” She jiggled the handle in an attempt to enter.

I formed a head and called to the door. “Don’t… Just… I need this, Luna… Please, just leave me alone…” My voice was soft, quavering, yet there was none of that roughness of throat, none of the telltale signs that I was weeping.

I’d never wanted to cry so bad in my life.

Luna didn’t respond; after a few moments, I could hear hoofsteps moving away from the door.

I shouldn’t shut her out… I thought as I let myself melt again. Maybe some companionship is what I need…

I felt my mind slipping into darkness again. I’ll talk to her, I thought. I just need some time…

I’d only been awake for a few hours, but, somehow, I slowly fell asleep, partially hoping this was a Nightmare of my own…

Luna stared at the outside of the Guest Quarters from her balcony. She and Tia had just finished their evening duties, raising the Moon and setting the Sun, yet once again the stiffness of their performance revealed their troubled hearts.

Luna had known a deal of grief in her time… Mainly when she was banished, when a part of her realized what she’d done to herself, her subjects and her beloved sister. In the first days of her exile, she’d wept openly, her anguish somehow piercing the bitterness and hatred that drove her to commit those crimes… After some time her fury took hold once again, but her pain never faded.

Now she felt that grief again, but not for herself.

Tia stood beside her, sensing her sister’s sorrow. “He’s clearly in pain…” she said.

Luna nodded. “He spoke dearly of his family… His mother and father, his brother… They meant a great deal to him.”

“He said that he’d learn to accept the possibility that he may not return home,” Celestia said.

“A feat much easier said than done, dear sister,” Luna said. “It is difficult not to grasp on the one hope you have, and when that hope fades, you’re left tumbling into the darkness you weren’t ready to face.” She turned to her sister. “...Do you still think he should be watched?”

Tia sighed. “Only for now… Until I’m sure, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he means well. I’ve known some very patient souls, Luna… Individuals with dark motivations that they will wait a very long time to see through.”

“But your distrust comes from what he can do…” Luna said. “But, while he’s… skilled at what he does, he hasn’t shown intent to use it after he learned that we aren’t enemies.”

“You may be right, dear sister,” Tia said agreeably. “But do not ask me to openly trust someone who controls a darkness that enslaved thousands, centuries ago.”

Luna remained silent for a moment, considering Tia’s words. Finally, she nodded. “Very well… Allow him to earn your trust. But distrusting him doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t help him through what he faces now.”

Tia gave Luna a brief nuzzle. “Perhaps. I’m turning in for the night; Twilight will return to Ponyville on the first train, tomorrow.”

Luna smiled warmly as Tia withdrew into the tower. “Dream well, dear sister.”

Luna gazed up at the stars and began to shape them, same as any other night; the pain she felt for Dread, however, kept her from forming a beautiful night sky, simply not having the proper mindset. She kept glancing at the Guest Quarters, wishing to simply be there for him… To be the friend he so clearly needed.

The night passed on. Ponies across the land began drifting to sleep; Luna could feel their dreams taking shape in the air. Feeling that watching over dreams would act as a suitable distraction, Luna loosed her consciousness and let it spread over the land. For tonight, any nightmares were few and far between, and even then they were easily sorted out—spontaneous dreams of some incomprehensible horror that were easily dispelled, replaced with dreams of peace, joy and love.

Yet, when the dreams were clear, Luna found one that wasn’t so happy… She found one full of pain, longing and… mourning? She traced it back to Canterlot, in the…

Her heart sank; that distraction didn’t last very long. She could feel Dread’s dream, a somber, gloomy affair that made her heart ache just noticing it.

A dream like that may leave him with even DEEPER anguish… She thought, drifting towards the dream. ...Maybe, just maybe… I can… help him see that he doesn’t need to be alone? Just make an appearance, help prove to him that he doesn’t have to give in to his woes…

She nodded in determination. Yes. He needs this.

She entered his dream.

She found herself in what was obviously a house; it looked very similar to the more humble homes she’d seen, yet the walls were lined with the occasional strange device… A large black box tucked in the corner of what looked to be the den, with one side covered in glass; lights that hung in the ceiling, glowing despite not having a flame; small, rectangular panels built near the floor, with six holes each, some with cords plugged into them.

She looked from the den into what appeared to be a dining room; sitting around it were four… humans, that’s what Dread had called them, eating dinner and chatting happily. Three of them appeared to be male, given their deep voices and heavier builds, the fourth was female.

Somehow, Luna’s gaze fell on one of the males; one that appeared to have recently reached adulthood, with a short head of brown hair and a plain face. She could feel a sense of happiness from him, unlike his three companions; they seemed to be built of Dread’s mind.

...They’re his family… Luna realized; she glanced at the human again. ...Dread?

The world around them suddenly began to darken, though the human Dread and Luna seemed to be the only ones to notice. The chair beneath Dread vanished, yet he stood up as though expecting it. Soon, the humans and Luna were alone in complete darkness, yet could still see as though it was well lit.

The three humans, sitting at the table, still smiling lovingly at Dread, began drifting away into the darkness. Dread reached out to them, his face twisting in pain. “Please!” He called. “Please, don’t go…”

They fell out of sight, never losing their happy, loving gaze. Dread fell to his knees, a sob escaping him. “Don’t leave me…”

Luna gazed at him sadly before taking a firm breath. Now. She approached Dread, reached out with a hoof and laid it on his shoulder.

He looked up at her, surprised; he looked confused for a moment before his eyes widened in recognition. “...Luna? Why’re you…”

Some unseen force between them knocked the pair away from each other, bodily landing some distance away. The darkness around them seemed to coalesce around Luna; she felt her mind being seized by some external force before she blacked out.

What the hell was that?!

My mind was spinning—almost literally—as I fell through darkness, trying desperately to make sense of what I’d seen…

I was with my family… I recounted. They… vanished, then… then Luna was there… That’s it. But why did--

The darkness suddenly vanished; I was floating a few feet in the air in an older-looking, less stylized castle than the one in Canterlot. It was a long hall, with a pair of thrones at one end, sitting upon a raised platform with a podium at the edge. One throne had a banner of a Sun over it, the other had one of the Moon. Luna was standing in front of her matching throne, glaring bitterly down the aisle; I followed her gaze and noticed Celestia, standing at the double doors, a look of grim determination in her eyes. Standing behind her were Twilight and her friends; Twilight was wearing what looked like a golden tiara with a purple, star-shaped gem embedded in it, while the others wore golden necklaces, embedded with gems of differing shapes and colors.

What is this…? I thought, aghast and confused.

I glanced back at Luna, who scowled with a hatred I never expected of her. “There can only be one Princess in Equestria!!” She yelled, approaching the podium. “And that Princess… will be me!!” She reared up, then crashed her front hooves upon the podium, shattering it. A crack snaked up the wall between the thrones behind her, arcing and stretching into the stained glass window above them. The window exploded, giving a view of the Sun outside; Luna took to the air, raising her forelegs as though she were summoning an angry god.

She may as well have been, given the way the Moon rose and eclipsed the Sun; several rays of pure, unhindered darkness poured from the edges of the moon and surrounded Luna, causing a cloud of black dust to rise from the floor surrounding her. She levitated higher into the air, eyes widening as the darkness fully enveloped her and formed into a thick sphere, spinning with growing speed. The sphere began to glow like a sun, a loud hum emanating as the air rushed about the room; Celestia and the ponies tensed as the sphere blackened, then burst.

A pony I knew to be Luna, yet somehow also… not, floated where the sphere had been; she was another ‘alicorn’, yet her shape was more slender, her coat was a pure black, and her turquoise eyes looked similar to that of a dragon, with thin, slit-like pupils. She was wearing a light purple set of armor with matching helmet that only made her connection to Luna more strenuous. Her mane looked the same, a floating view of a night sky, yet it somehow seemed more… oppressive.

The pony who was, and yet wasn’t, Luna, began to laugh… A cruel, uncontrolled laugh that rang throughout the hall; she threw her head back and cackled at the skies…

But I noticed something; in her eyes, there was no cruelty, no triumph… There was only terror, horror…

Celestia charged forward, horn alite. Luna stopped laughing and scowled furiously, dropping into a defensive stance. Celestia fired a volley of yellow blasts at her, but Luna simply threw her mane in front of her; the mane completely absorbed the blasts, having as much impact as tossing stones into a river. Luna swung her head and whipped her mane again; the blasts flew out of her mane and directly at a surprised Celestia.

Every last blast hit Celestia dead on; with a scream she was sent flying backwards, slamming into the wall above the doors. The Bearers gasped in shock before turning on Luna, furious. The crown on Twilight’s head began to glow, as did the jewelry worn by her friends. The group began to float in midair, a stream of rainbow energy flowing from each gem and forming a line between them; a hum rang from the pieces, rising in pitch and volume.

I glanced at Luna, who was walking down the aisle towards them, a grim look in her eyes.

She smiled.

In one moment, her horn became enveloped in a dark purple aura.

In another, a large beam of the same color flew from her horn, about five feet wide, and slammed into the ponies.

The beam dissipated; the ponies were laying on the ground, scarred, wounded and beaten, their jewelry—the Elements—burnt out, shattered and useless. Celestia weakly lifted her head to look at Luna, her breathing quivering and pained. “L-Luna, please…”

Luna glared at her sister before stamping a hoof, hard, on Celestia’s head, pinning it to the floor and evoking a cry of pain. “I… am Nightmare Moon!” Luna yelled. She gazed upwards. “And if my night won’t be welcomed, enjoyed, loved, as your precious day is… Then this world will mourn the loss of the Sun it so clearly adores!! The night shall last… FOREVER!!” She began to cackle again; a small, almost demonic distortion found its way into her voice as she laughed, a sign of her further descent into… whatever this was.

Yet, once again, her true feelings were clearly evident; tears welled in her eyes. Tears of horror, of pain, of sorrow…

Luna damn well knew what she was doing, and clearly wanted to stop, but somehow couldn’t. All she could do was watch as she committed these atrocities… Hoping this was a--

...No.

No, it couldn’t be.

No, no, I was asleep!! There was no way I’d be able to do this to her!!

...Wasn’t there?

I ran over what I’d seen before; my family, then them fading into darkness, then… Luna.

I was dreaming. We both were. But how would she get into my dream? Could she do that? If she could, did she… trip something?

I had to end it. I had to get us out. Feeling like a moron for not acting sooner, I called out. “Luna!! LUNA!!”

Luna’s laugh didn’t stop, but her eyes flexed slightly; she could definitely hear me. “Luna, this isn’t you!!” I roared. “This isn’t real!! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!!”

Luna didn’t stop laughing; the castle around us began to crack, sunder and crumble, torn apart by a maelstrom of shadow outside, much like the one that had transformed Luna. The twisting storm lifted the Bearers and tossed them violently into the black, swirling abyss.

I have to stop this… I thought, glancing around. It’s a dream, for both of us… What if I wake up? CAN I?

I strained, feeling like I was trying to force my brain out of my skull. I ‘pulled back’ as hard as I could, trying desperately to pull myself out and praying it would do the same for Luna.

I felt something give in the back of my mind; the dream fluctuated. I stayed the course and forced myself further, yelling with the effort.

Finally, with one last push, I felt myself break free.

Then, with a deafening crack, everything went dark.

With a jolt I awoke, struggling to regain my sense of awareness. My mind felt like the fortune-telling die in a magic 8 ball, jostling around my mass, trying desperately to regain its senses.

A single, piercing scream in the night cut through my disorientation; the scream of someone being torn from their own personal hell. I regained my form and threw myself at the door. “LUNA!!”

Author's Note

Feedback!

Chapter 8: Comfort

Celestia woke with a start; somepony was screaming, in an all-too-familiar way… One she’d heard merely two days ago.

It was coming from the tower. There was only one pony capable of screaming so loudly, even inadvertently.

“LUNA!!” She cried, scrambling to her legs and galloping out of her chambers, practically breaking her doors down with her magic as she went. She sprinted past the guards that were charging towards the tower, looking to protect their Princess from whatever was causing her to scream in such a manner. She reached the base of the tower and, with a single powerful flap of her wings, threw herself up between the spiraling staircase, to the top floor. She reached the landing and barged through the door to the tower balcony. “Luna?!” She called.

Luna was sitting on her haunches, hugging herself tight in her forelegs as she screamed and sobbed, tears flowing freely from her eyes. As Celestia hurried to Luna’s side, she saw that her eyes were glazed over…

Just like Applejack’s… Celestia realized as she grabbed Luna by the shoulders. “Luna!! Luna, you must wake up!! It isn’t real!! LUNA!!”

Luna’s eyes suddenly flashed white before returning to normal; her scream continued for another few seconds before slowly dying down. Luna glanced at her surroundings, confused, before looking up at her sister. She hyperventilated and sobbed, trying desperately to calm herself, to no avail. “T-T-Tia…” She said.

Celestia hugged Luna tight. “It’s alright… It’ll all be alright…” She glanced at the door at the sound of approaching hoofsteps; three of the guards she’d passed on the way had arrived at the balcony. Their faces showed a mixture of concern, confusion and disbelief; the Princess of the Night, the Watcher of Dreams… had a nightmare?

When they saw that they weren’t needed, however, they turned and headed back towards the stairs inside. Luna was shaking violently, her breathing only gradually slowing. Celestia hugged her even closer. “Hold on, dear sister…” She whispered as she lit up her horn.

With a flash, she teleported them from the balcony, into the corridor at the base of the tower. Celestia helped Luna stand; she hadn’t seen Luna this upset since she’d… returned. Luna leaned against Celestia, who helped her start walking down the hall, past the confused but otherwise unneeded guards. “Let’s get you to your chambers, Luna…” she whispered as she walked her sister down the hall.

“Halt!!” Came a demand from the hall around the corner.

“‘Scuse me, ‘scuse me, ‘scuse me!!” Came another voice—one filled Celestia with a fury she hadn’t felt in ages. “LUNA!!”

I dodged past, jumped over and slipped under the dozens of guards, all headed the same way I was; towards the source of Luna's screaming.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!!" One of them screamed, once I was around the corner from Luna's tower.

"No thanks!!" I called back just as I rounded the corner.

What I saw was heartbreaking; Celestia, much like the older sister she was, was letting Luna lean against her. Luna was looking borderline sick with anguish, practically choking on sobs as tears poured freely from her eyes.

Oh, Christ, what’d I do? I thought, horrified. I moved towards them. “Luna…”

I suddenly noticed Celestia’s scowl just before she reacted; her eyes lit up, her wings flared and her horn became enveloped in an aura that made it look like it was aflame. “Stay BACK, you monster!!” She yelled.

I immediately moved back. “Please, wait, I…”

“You’ve terrorized my subjects, AND my sister!!” Celestia bellowed. “I should have NEVER…”

“Tia…?”

Celestia looked down at Luna, surprised; Luna was pressing a hoof to her sister’s chest, in a plea for restraint. “He didn’t… He didn’t do this…” Was all she could say before descending into quiet sobs again, pressing her face against her sister’s side.

Celestia stared at Luna, confused, before looking up at me. “Stand aside,” she said harshly. I did as she said, putting ample distance between us as she walked Luna down the way I’d came.

As they rounded the corner I noticed a piercing glare from the surrounding guards; they probably wanted to toss me into the dungeon, for whatever good that would do. I leaned back against the wall, putting my face in my claws; after a while the guards began to file down the hall, back to their posts, getting their fill of hateful glares before they left.

All I could hear were whispers—angry, accusing whispers of being a ‘monster’, ‘beast’, that I should be caged, banished, destroyed… I couldn’t deny any of them. When the hall had pretty much emptied, I slithered back towards my room, hanging my head.

On the way I crossed paths with Twilight, who was busily probing guards over what had happened. “Your Highness, please, just go back to your quarters, Princess Celestia will…” A guard was saying.

“What happened with Luna?!” Twilight cried; she noticed my approach and scowled. Her horn lit up and, with a flash, she suddenly vanished from where she stood and reappeared in front of me, horn still lit. “YOU!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

“It was an accident…” I said. “I don’t know how it happened, but…”

“What did you do to Luna?!” Twilight yelled; she loosed a few blasts that flew straight through me and burned the curtains hanging on the window behind me.

I barely noticed. “I don’t know…” I said, my voice quiet. “I really don’t know… One moment I was… I think I was dreaming, then I saw her in my dream and… suddenly I saw… I don’t know what it was…”

Twilight’s expression softened somewhat, though the fury didn’t go away. “Stay… away from her…” she hissed before turning and storming off. The guards shot their mandatory glares at me before following her. I slowly followed them down the hall towards the Guest Quarters; somehow I was feeling even worse than I had been when they told me I couldn’t return home…

Twilight didn’t take the turn towards the Guest Quarters; she was going somewhere else, it seemed… Towards Luna’s room? I glanced between her route and the route to the Guest Quarters.

I ended up following her, taking longer to make the decision than I’d care to admit.

Celestia helped Luna into her chambers, hugging her close with a wing. Luna hadn’t stopped crying the entire way there; Celestia didn’t know what she saw, but had a fairly good suspicion. Before she could put Luna in bed, though, her sister fell to the floor in the middle of the room, her legs giving out from under her. Tia frowned sympathetically and laid down with her sister, nuzzling her affectionately. “Take your time…”

“I didn’t know…” Luna said, her breathing finally under control. “I didn’t know it would happen…”

“Know what would happen?” Celestia asked softly.

It took a deal of time, but Luna managed to explain what had happened; how she’d peered into Dread’s dream, to help him see that he didn’t need to be alone. How his dream had suddenly turned on her and forced her into her own Nightmare… Her return to the monster she once was, her vicious assault against both Celestia and the Elements of Harmony, and the kingdom’s descent into darkness. She emphasized that, in the midst of her terror, she believed she could hear Dread urging her to awaken, some moments before she suddenly woke up.

Celestia listened intently, yet found herself more confused than ever regarding Dread… It was clear he was the cause, but was it intentional? Luna believed he wanted to stop it, but Tia had her doubts… If she knew for sure it was an accident, she’d believe it, but…

She shook her head; this wasn’t a time to think about Dread. Her sister needed her—here, now.

“I’m so sorry…” Luna whimpered. “Sister, I’m so sorry…”

“You’ve nothing to apologize for…” Celestia whispered.

“I was so sure it was happening again…” Luna said. “I was so scared, I couldn’t… I couldn’t stop…”

“It will never happen again…” Celestia said. “I promise you, I will do everything to keep you from walking that path… Like I should have done, centuries ago.”

The door clicked open silently; Celestia looked over to see Twilight tentatively poking in, concerned. When she took in the embracing sisters, however, Twilight nodded and quietly withdrew, closing the door with a soft ‘click’.

Celestia turned back to Luna; her crying had been reduced to sniffling. “I’ll be here as long as you need me…” Celestia said softly.

Luna moved closer into her sister’s embrace, laying her head over Celestia’s foreleg. “I know…”

“Sleep…” Celestia said. “I will handle the dawn--”

“No!” Luna said, looking up. “No… You did it for a thousand years… You’ve done it more than enough.”

I hid behind a marble pillar in the corridor as Twilight passed, returning to the Guest Quarters from Luna’s room. When I was sure she was gone and that no guards were gonna be a problem, I quietly withdrew from my hiding spot and tentatively approached the double doors. I fidgeted with my claws, not having planned this far ahead; if Celestia was in there, she definitely wouldn’t welcome my presence.

But I still had to clean up my mess. I couldn’t just shrug this off. I’d wait as long as I’d need to. I sat at the wall across from the door, staring intently at it.

As long as I’d need to.

I must have nodded off; the sound of the door opening made me wake up with a jolt. The morning sun was shining through the windows, cheerfully oblivious to what had happened last night.

Celestia was leaving Luna’s room, glancing back lovingly. As she closed the door and faced me, though, her expression shifted to one of shock, then anger.

I stood up. “Please…” I said; I leaned to the side meaningfully. “Is she…?”

A field of yellow magic, about five feet across, suddenly materialized in front of me and shoved me into the wall, flattening my form like clay. Celestia leaned in close, livid. “Listen well,” she hissed. “You have done nothing to prove you are not a monster. You have forced one of my friends, and my sister, to face their deepest, darkest fears, yet still you claim to not mean any harm. I don’t know if you are just a victim of circumstance, but should these ‘incidents’ keep repeating, I will not hesitate to protect my subjects, my family, my home, from you.” She leaned even closer. “Stay. Away. From Luna. If I see you near her again, I will show you what happens when you ‘strike out’.”

She released me, causing me to drop to the floor; she took a moment to give me a piercing glare before turning and walking away. I watched her until she rounded a corner, then looked at the door.

I remained still for about a half hour, Celestia’s words ringing in my head louder than any use of the word ‘monster’ and the like.

I could try and shirk the blame, say that I couldn’t have predicted things to unfold the way they had, but that didn’t matter; I’d done nothing but create fear in almost every pony in this castle—hell, maybe even the damn city. My stupid choices hadn’t just screwed me over, they ended up nearly traumatizing two people that, from what I’d seen, could not have been less deserving.

I clutched my head and stared at the floor. I was a monster to them, no matter what I did…

I glanced at the door again; I didn’t know what Luna was doing in there. Was she asleep, or was she just trying to be alone with her thoughts? Her vision of her becoming this ‘Nightmare Moon’ was clearly a very dark place for her… Did she know that was her greatest fear?

I stood up. Luna had been kinder to me than any other pony here. She’d been willing to give me a chance, been a real friend, one who didn’t harbor suspicion towards me… Yet here she was, suffering one of the worst pains imaginable, and I wasn’t even trying to be at her side.

No. She needed me, just like she needed Celestia. This wasn’t me trying to earn trust—this was me being there for my friend.

I knocked on the door. For a moment, there was no response; then, the handle gently turned and the door creaked open. I carefully opened the door and entered, tactfully closing it behind me. Luna’s room was clearly hers in theme; the carpets and walls were a dark shade of blue, and the ceiling was domed, painted to depict numerous stars and constellations that magically moved and flickered, unbidden. The walls had a few bookshelves surrounding the two windows, which had their purple curtains drawn. Her bed was large, circular, and had four posts around it that hung a thick purple curtain. The only light in the room came from an ornate chandelier hanging from the very center of the ceiling, its candles flickering brightly.

Luna was laying in the center of the room, staring at me. She looked awful; her astral mane hung lifelessly around her body, reflecting her mood, the fur around her face was matted with tears, and her eyes were almost completely bloodshot. Excepting the mane, it was the exact same way Applejack had looked the other day. Frowning miserably, I slithered over to Luna. “Hey…”

Luna nodded. “Hello…”

I ‘sat down’ beside her. “...Luna, I…” My words trailed off before they could even figure out where they were headed. “...God, I just… I don’t know what to say…”

Luna shook her head. “You didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“I don’t know what happened!” I said. “All I know is, I saw you in my dream, then… then that.”

Luna nodded. “I was there… In your dream. I can… I can enter dreams, help ponies overcome their troubles that manifest into nightmares… I saw your dream, how it was… almost taunting you. I thought it may deepen your anguish, so I believed that I could…” She stopped, but it was clear what she meant to say.

She wanted me to know I still had friends here. I still had people who cared, and could care about me. I didn’t need to feel alone. Another reason she was such a good friend...

I nodded slowly. “I get it… and thank you… truly.”

Luna smiled, which seemed to improve her mood given how her mane seemed to regain some movement. After a moment, though, she frowned and glanced at the floor. “...You wish to know about my Nightmare?”

I nodded; it hurt to do so, to ask her to tell me, but it was clearly something that continued to haunt her. Her horn began to glow; from a bookcase, a small, aged book floated out and levitated over to us. It levitated in front of me, opening to a specific page. I gently took it from Luna’s grasp and began to read; it looked something like a children’s book.

The first pages depicted an illustration of the land, and two alicorns I immediately identified as Celestia and Luna.

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria,
There were two regal sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land.
To do this, the Eldest used her powers to raise the Sun at dawn.
The younger brought out the Moon to begin the night.

The next page depicted the pair flying in a circle that, combined with their respective celestial bodies, formed a shape very much like a Yin-Yang symbol of Chinese philosophy.

Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies.

The next page showed ponies of various species, colors and ages playing under the sun, but sleeping during the night; I got an idea of where this was going.

But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night.

The next page showed Luna standing on a cloud, bitterly glaring at the ponies below.

One fateful day, the younger Sister refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her…

I turned the page and felt my mass tense; I would have guessed at what I’d see, but it was no less disheartening. I was looking at Luna in the form she’d transformed into—Nightmare Moon; the armor, the pure black coat, the twisted, almost oppressive night in her mane, those cruel, monstrous eyes…

...but the bitterness in the young one’s heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness, Nightmare Moon. She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night.

I glanced up at Luna; her eyes were shut in resignation, tears once again dripping down her face. I returned to the story, wanting to finish it quicker now that I knew the important bits. There was an image of an array of familiar-looking gems, one of Celestia aiming them at Nightmare Moon and blasting her with some powerful form of magic, and one of Celestia acting as Princess for both day and night over the land.

Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony! Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister and banished her permanently to the Moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since.

I closed the book and gently laid it on the floor. So now I knew; a thousand years ago, a bitterness and envy in Luna’s heart had driven her to become… well, a monster. And she was punished for it. It was obvious that she truly regretted her actions, and not just because she hated seeing herself going down that road again.

Luna took a deep breath. “...Three years ago,” she said softly. “I returned. I sent Celestia to the Sun, and planned on finishing what I’d started centuries ago. It was only when Twilight and her friends discovered their destinies as the Bearers of Harmony that they were able to unleash the Elements upon me again… They purged the darkness that had claimed me… For the first time in generations I could see clearly again, could feel things other than hate, bitterness…” She looked up from the floor. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I failed, Dread… Failed my kingdom, failed my people, failed my sister! I let my arrogance, my pride, drive me to commit terrible deeds…”

She was welling up again. I immediately moved closer and laid a claw on her hoof. “It’s okay, you don’t have to…” I began.

“I’m still a monster…” Luna wept quietly. “Nothing changes what I did… The failures I will need to bear forever… And I’m scared… Scared that I might, one day, fall back into that dark place… And not even the Elements could save me...” She looked up at me. “Tia believes you to be a monster, but… but you help people, Dread… You would never do the wrongs I did… You would never fail as I did…”

I shook my head. “You think I haven’t known failures in my time?” I said, partly laughing. Luna looked up at me, frowning. “Luna, two people died because of me. Because I couldn’t help them, no matter how hard I tried.”

Luna blinked slowly. “What happened?”

It was only fair; she’d told me of her perceived failures, I could tell her of mine. “...About six months into my line of work as an MHA, there was a Malefactor running amok—a telepath who was facing off against the police force. He was on a bridge over a river, the bridge was barricaded on both ends; he was demanding ransom money for the Basics still on the bridge. I showed up, ready to take him down… He tried to take a hold of me in his telekinesis, but found that, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep a grip on me that I couldn’t slip out of. So, he… went for the hostages.”

“He lifted a car with a single guy trapped inside and held it over the edge; it was pretty clear what he planned to do. He threw the car down into the river and legged it. I tried to save the hostage, but the thing is… this form doesn’t maneuver well in water—cause of it’s substance, you know? So I… dangled myself over the edge, hung myself low enough that I could reach the car—it was floating with the driver-side up, so I could just open the door then pull the guy out… But when I opened it, he was unconscious… I reached into the water to pull him out, but… His seatbelt was stuck, and my arm would just lose its stability when submerged. I tried to get a good grip on him, but his car began to sink, and I couldn’t get him out in time… No one could. All I could do was go after the Malefactor… I caught up to him and I… put him in the Nightmare. I know I said I try not to use it but… He’d just murdered a man in cold blood. I was… I was so angry… I didn’t remove the Nightmare until a good two hours after he was apprehended.”

Luna was listening intently, not making a single sound.

“The next one…” I continued. “...was a year later. Remember when I mentioned Purists? The xenophobes who hate metahumans? Well, there was this one, an extremist, even by their methods, who had reason to believe some of the folks in his apartment building were metahumans. He planted a few incendiary bombs around the place and detonated them… What wasn’t blown up was completely bathed in flames. People were injured in the explosions, but no one died… People started getting out, the place was empty when I’d arrived… Or I thought.”

“There was a woman who was screaming that her daughter was still in there. I immediately went in there, ev…” I stopped; I couldn’t mention fire. God knew what Celestia would do with that information if she saw fit. “...even though I didn’t know where the girl was. I found her on the top floor, in the corner, the floor had caved in around her and everything was on fire… Must’ve been, what, six years old? She was scared of the flames around her, but when I approached she practically started screaming bloody murder… She was scared of me, Luna… She was scared, even though I was there to help… I told her, all she needed to do was jump towards me, over the gap… I couldn’t reach her, there was so much fire all over the place—I mean, I wouldn’t be able to just reach over and grab her without getting her burned… I tried, tried to get her to jump, but she wouldn’t… She was scared of the jump… Scared of me…”

“The floor gave out underneath her and she fell into the inferno below.”

Luna gasped softly. “Oh no…”

I shook my head. “I got out… The mother screamed at me, saying I as good as killed her daughter… And she was right. The bomber was nabbed on his way out of town, but… It wouldn’t bring back what was lost…” I sat there, staring blankly at the floor; the Department had told me that it wasn’t my fault, that I tried, that there wasn’t anything I could do, but they just felt like lies to me. “...The man’s name was Danny Frost, and the girl was Abigail Cross.” I shifted my transmitter towards the tip of my claw and held it out. “I have a picture of each of them in here…”

Luna gazed at the transmitter. “...Why?”

“So I won’t forget how I failed them…” I said. “So I’ll always remember that my presence does not, by any means, guarantee peoples’ safety. People can, and will, still die under our watch… We take every step necessary to ensure they never do, but… There are times when we can’t save everyone… But that doesn’t make it any easier when we do fail one of those we should be protecting. To see the look of shock and despair in their eyes before they die, to see their families scream and mourn their loss, to constantly be looking back and thinking of ways I could have saved them…”

“Dread…” Luna said sympathetically.

I straightened up. “But I also use those failures.”

Luna blinked. “What?”

“I keep them in mind, so that I know what I face when I’m protecting people,” I said. “I use it to drive me, to make me do whatever it takes to make sure I don’t put another picture next to Danny’s and Abigail’s. Luna, we might not ever forget our failures… But that doesn’t mean they have to weigh us down. If anything, they can push us to improve, to strengthen ourselves, to make sure we never fail in such a way again.”

Luna furrowed her brow in thought. She looked down at the book next to me and picked it up gently. She flipped to the illustration of Nightmare Moon. She stared at it silently for an achingly long time.

Then, finally, she took a breath. “I can never forgive myself for what I did… The pain I put my sister through…”

She closed the book. “But I can’t let it haunt me. I was so focused on what I did that I neglected considering what I should do.” She levitated the book back to the shelf and replaced it. “Our memories should guide us, not torment us.”

I smiled and nodded. “Both bad memories…” My thoughts drifted to my family again. “And good…” I looked at Luna. “All that matters is what you do now, not what you should have done.”

Luna smiled. She sat up, leaned forward and pulled me into a warm hug. “Thank you, Dread…”

I hugged her back. “...Joel.”

“What?”

“My real name’s… Joel.”

Celestia stood outside the door to Luna’s chamber, listening intently. When she’d learned that Dread hadn’t returned to his room, she’d initially been furious to hear him in Luna’s room… But something made her stop from barging in. She listened intently through the door, hearing Dread’s words of… comfort? Words that, evidently, reached her sister… Made her feel better.

Part of her believed it to be a ploy, an attempt to gain her trust, but… His words rang true.

‘Don’t think of your mistakes as failures, but as lessons...’ Celestia thought with a small smile. That was something Twilight would put in one of her letters.

Celestia turned and headed back down the hall. She was still unsure about Dread, but… she was becoming more open to the idea of him being a friend.

Bulwark pressed his scarf against his neck with his magic, bracing against another piercing wind that buffeted him. He pressed on through the storm, considering the warmth that would welcome him upon his return to the Empire a secondary reward for his troubles.

But the peace that awaited him was what he would relish most.

He reached the cliff face, towering over him like a god waiting to judge him. He knew it was here—it had haunted his dreams ever he started hearing that accursed voice…

“I’m waiting…”

Bulwark growled, furious at being taunted again… He was not going to let it haunt him, haunt anyone ever again. He scanned the cliff and quickly found a low incline—not a path built for climbing, but not unscalable. He could make it.

Bulwark began his ascent, the adrenaline and exhaustion working wonders for helping him ignore the biting cold. As he climbed, he began to wish that he’d requested aid… If not from Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, then from the others… His ‘cohorts’, who had also aided in Sombra’s uprising… They would surely understand.

No, he thought. No, I… I must do this alone. He would only turn us against each other.

It was a long, laborious climb, but Bulwark eventually reached the top of the cliff face; it wasn’t terribly high, but no less exhausting. He stomped through the thick snow lining the cliff, keeping his eyes peeled. I just need to find it… He thought, grimacing against another freezing wind as he carefully crept along the cliff.

Part of him found this to be hopeless; he wouldn’t be able to find it, it would have been buried in the snow ages ago, maybe not even on this cliff…

“Bulwark.”

He glanced to the side, near the very edge. A small circle in the snow was glowing a blood red, beckoning…

Bulwark scowled. He stormed towards it and, with a single toss of his head, cast a spell that swept the snow away.

There it was… It looked no worse the wear, despite how it had been so violently parted from its master. Bulwark glared at it. “You lost. You know that, right?”

The voice chuckled. “I ‘lost’ a thousand years ago… but THAT didn’t take, did it?”

“This is different…” Bulwark said. “This time, there will be no banishment, no merely being turned into a shadow that can only haunt us further… No, I will end you—here and now. I will personally send you into whatever abyss would welcome a vile, hateful tyrant such as yourself…”

“And doing this will grant you peace?” Sombra asked. “Do you think they will forgive you? Forget what you did?”

“It will be easier without you whispering in my ear!” Bulwark yelled. “Or any of those who you manipulated into following you!!” He grasped the horn in his magic and lifted it into the air. “What I do now, it’s not just for myself… It’s for the sake of the Empire… the sake of Equestria! You will NOT TORMENT ANYPONY ELSE, EVER AGAIN!!”

Sombra was laughing again. “Tell me something, Bulwark… Why did you come here?”

Bulwark frowned in confusion. “You know what I came here to do…”

“But what DROVE you to come here? To seek me out, to ‘finish me off’?”

“Knowing what you will do if you’re allowed to run free…” Bulwark growled; where was he going with this?

“What you’re saying is, that what drove you here…” Sombra said.

A thick tightness suddenly seized Bulwark’s heart; he released his grip on the horn, yet it remained floating, unbidden, in thin air. He stumbled back, clutching at his chest in confusion. “What is…?” He began before yelling in pain, falling to his knees.

“...is FEAR…”

Bulwark glanced up at the horn. No… He pulled himself forward, fighting through the pain in his chest as he approached the horn. Before he could get close, however, Sombra’s horn flew straight towards him and slammed into his chest. Despite being so small, the impact of the horn sent Bulwark flying, landing painfully on his back. Bulwark glanced at the horn, which stood on his chest, almost triumphantly.

A thin crack suddenly began to snake from the tip of the horn, down to the base. Bulwark’s breathing became shallow. “No… NO!!”

The horn crumbled to dust; within seconds, the dust seeped into Bulwark’s coat. He began writing in pain, feeling it practically eating its way through his skin and to his heart.

After a few seconds, however, the pain ceased. Bulwark sat up, staring at his chest; he laid a hoof over his heart, utterly confused. “What… Where did…”

He looked up. “...Is he gone?”

“No.”

Bulwark glanced about in fear; the voice was clearer than ever, now! He glanced down at his chest and began to scream in horror. “What have you done to me?!”

“Secured your loyalty…” Sombra said; he began to laugh cruelly. “Even in a blatant act of defiance and ‘free will’, you STILL act as my pawn, old friend!!”

“Shut up…” Bulwark said, clutching his head. “Get out, GET OUT!!”

“Not quite yet…” Sombra said. “You will act as my vessel, Bulwark. First, head to the train station at the Empire.”

“I won’t…” Bulwark hissed. “I WON’T DO IT!!”

The world around him faded into a complete darkness. Bulwark glanced about in fright. “What is…?” He began.

An enormous pair of horrific red and green eyes appeared before him, making him jump back. The eyes glared at him, almost peering into the very depths of his soul.

“You WILL…” Sombra said. “Or you will suffer an ETERNITY facing the demons you so cowardly turn away from. You think you know terror? Your fears are childish, at best, compared to the darkness that awaits you, should you prove… troublesome…”

The darkness faded; Bulwark found himself on the cliff again.

Bulwark remained still, feeling a desperate urge to vomit.

He’d done it again. He’d played right into that monster’s hooves again. And now, there was no way out.

What have I done?

Author's Note

I mainly used the Story of Nightmare Moon intro from the MLP Official Guidebook when writing about Dread reading the story; I omitted any mentions of the sisters being unicorns, mainly since 'alicorn' has become a canon phrase in the show.

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Chapter 9: Preemption

It had been about a week since Luna’s nightmare. The city had been abuzz the following morning about the screams from the castle, but concerns died down after a while. It was uplifting, in a way—they were concerned for the wellbeing of the Princess, in a way that suggested they’d completely forgotten about her being Nightmare Moon. Though Luna seemed to be feeling immensely better, she was rather quiet for the rest of the day, when she wasn’t in her room. I supposed she just had a lot to think about. Twilight finally went home to Ponyville after being reassured countless times that Luna would be okay; to my surprise, she didn’t shoot me any further glares as she left. Had Luna talked to her? As a matter of fact, Celestia seemed to have calmed down; I know for a fact that she saw me and Luna walking in the garden the following day. At the time I was certain she would follow through on her threat, but she didn’t—maybe she felt she was being hasty at the time?

The first night, though, she seemed hesitant at the thought of exploring dreams again; she knew it was just my own dream that had affected her, but it seemed to have left an impact on her. She hated the idea that some of her subjects may suffer nightmares because of her anxiousness, but every time she tried to enter the dreamscape she would quickly withdraw.

So on the second night, I figured she’d need some support. I stayed up throughout the entire night at her side, giving her reassurances and promising she wouldn’t face that nightmare again. She started out small, simply peeking into the dreamscape and finding happier dreams; like helping an aquaphobe treat their fear by putting them in a kiddie pool. She was quickly able to get back into her element, though, and before long it looked like nothing was wrong in the first place; it might have helped that she knew I wasn’t asleep at the time and, therefore, wasn’t dreaming. When the evening’s nightmares were sorted out, Luna and I just sat there on the balcony, chatting amicably; she’d occasionally peek back into the dreamscape to see if any dreams had taken a turn for the worse, but otherwise we essentially had the entire night free.

We spent a deal of the night discussing what she saw in the dreamscape; she said it looked mostly like the real world, only without color. In her dream form she could travel across the land at vast speeds, capable of seeing, even sensing dreams through any surface. While unable to clearly see ponies, awake or asleep, she mentioned ‘seeing’ dreams as auras floating over the heads of those sleeping. She could tell what manner of dreams they were by their coloring; if they were white, they were happy dreams, if a little neurotic. Darker dreams reflected the overall mood of the dream—pitch black was a full-blown nightmare. Luna would seek out the darker dreams and help bring the dreamer back into a more light-hearted one.

By the time we started slowing down with things to discuss, it was already nearing dawn; Celestia came on schedule to relieve Luna, ending the night on a rather awkward note. She and I hadn’t spoken since our ‘chat’ outside Luna’s room, but she didn’t object to us hanging out like this.

Since she didn’t protest, I decided that, on the third night Luna and I would do the same thing; not that I doubted she could handle it again, but because I just liked… talking like that.

Also because staying up the entirety of the previous night completely knocked my internal clock out of loop.

Because we had a great deal of fun chatting on these nights, before long we made it a regular thing. We spent every night sitting on her balcony, chatting and swapping stories after she finished what I’d dubbed the ‘dream sweep’; she seemed to enjoy the company, same as me.

On the seventh night it was more of the same; I was some distance behind her as she sat, in a trance, observing the dreams of her subjects. I began wishing I’d been out here before; she had sense of tranquility while in the dreamscape, the look of a kind, loving guardian that would guide and comfort those who needed it. It was… nice to look at. Since she wasn’t in a position to chat, however, I was left with the stars as my only company, for the moment.

The stars were another of Equestria’s ‘pros’, which I’d been listing since I’d learned I couldn’t get home. While back home the night sky wasn’t that impressive, Luna’s sky was actually hers to command—her own little canvas to shape, form and design. You’d never see something like that on Earth.

I glanced at Luna, wondering whose dream she was in, and what they were dreaming…

There were many things Luna had missed dearly during her banishment—one of them being her watch over the dreams of Equestria. When she’d returned, however, she felt that her subjects wouldn’t respond well to their dreams being ‘haunted’ by the being who had, once again, attempted to plunge their world into darkness. So, she had waited; it was a good year and a half before she finally decided to venture into the realm she’d so longed to see again. She practically felt ashamed to fear it after the backlash she suffered from entering Dread’s dreams; now it was like being embraced by an old friend.

There weren’t many nightmares tonight, thankfully, and she was just about finished with sorting them out. There was just one more to cleanse… in Ponyville, no less. Luna flew gracefully through the night sky and traced the darkening aura to…

…the Golden Oaks Library; the residence of Twilight Sparkle. Feeling more of a personal stake in clearing the nightmare, Luna hastened into the hollowed-out tree, located the troubled dream and quickly entered it.

She was floating above Ponyville; the town was bathed in flames, spouting pillars of smoke that painted the sky a mixture of black and red. Luna shrugged off her initial terror at the display—neither she or Twilight would have to see this for very long, if she acted quickly. She flew over the streets, scanning the destruction; there wasn’t a sign of a single pony among the ruins. The devastation wasn’t what terrified Twilight… there had to be something else.

There. She was standing in the town center, stock-still. Luna hastened to her, landing some distance behind her. She opened her mouth to call out, when she realized Twilight was staring at something.

She followed Twilight’s gaze down the road; for a moment, there was nothing there save for another few burning buildings, billowing pitch-black smoke.

Suddenly, movement. As if drawn by some unseen force, the ash from the surrounding infernos suddenly began to fly towards the middle of the street; it piled and gathered quickly, until it formed a mound about fifty feet tall. The crackling of the fires and the crumbling of the buildings was suddenly drowned out by a low, ominous rumble from the ash.

It began to mold itself, rising upwards as it sprouted four long, pony-like legs for which to stand on. A tail sprouted from the rear of the mass, dancing as wildly as the flames that bathed the town. A tall black unicorn head emerged from its front, the smoke forming its curved horn slowly beginning to glow a bright red. A pair of red and green eyes formed in the head, glaring malevolently at the pair. The muzzle split into an immense maw, lined with razor-sharp, black teeth.

Luna frowned at the abomination; it was, quite clearly, Sombra, but… What had he become?

Her eyes fell on the mouth again, and felt a sense of familiarity.

The skies suddenly flashed with a distant boom. Luna and Twilight glanced skyward at the interruption, the sounds of the dream fading out completely.

With another boom, so did the dream altogether.

Luna was thrown backwards, tumbling as she flew from the collapsing dream and out of the library. She recovered quickly, seeking to regain her senses. Before she could slip back into the library to check on Twilight, she noticed a number of other dreams around the village suddenly flickering out; something was awakening those in Ponyville.

Luna suddenly broke out of her trance with a jolt, making me jump. “Luna?” I asked. “What’s up?”

“I don’t know…” Luna said, standing up. “Something is happening in Ponyville. We must wake Celestia.” She turned towards me. “Stand beside me and brace yourself.” I stood up and moved to her side, frowning in confusion. Her horn lit up.

A flash surrounded us and, with a rush of wind, we were suddenly standing in one of the castle’s many corridors. I was familiar with teleportation—I’d spent a week working with an MHA, Blink, who had that power. Still, the effect left me disoriented, likely due to my unique physiology. Luna hurried to a pair of illustrious double doors and knocked. “Tia! Tia, wake up!”

For a moment there was no response; then the door opened slowly, revealing a tired-looking but otherwise alert Celestia. She glanced at me for a moment before regarding her sister. “What is it, Luna?”

“I think something is amiss in Ponyville, Sister,” Luna said. “Something is waking up its citizens, and… I’m concerned. Could you send a letter to your student? Just to check in?”

Celestia frowned for a moment, then swiftly nodded. “Of course.” She turned and retreated into her room, leaving the door open for Luna to enter. I made to follow her, but stopped myself at the door frame. Don’t give her a reason…

Her room looked more like a library than a bedroom; the only ‘bed’ was a thick, cushioned rug surrounded by a number of pillows of various sizes and colors. The walls, like Luna’s room, were covered in bookshelves, broken apart by a pair of double doors to another balcony. Celestia approached a desk near the doors, opened a drawer and withdrew a piece of parchment, quill and inkwell. She quickly penned a message on the scroll, rolled it up and enveloped it in a yellow field of magic; the field quickly formed into a wisp of energy that flew out the window and into the distance. “Spike should get that… Assuming he doesn’t sleep through it,” Celestia said.

“Well, if he does, perhaps everything is okay…” Luna said. “...Hopefully…”

Spike cowered in the cupboard beneath the sink, quivering uncontrollably. He could hear the intruders tearing the library apart, from books being pulled off the shelves and tossed to the floor to entire pieces of furniture being upended and smashed. He’d been in here for a good two minutes, fearful tears forming in his eyes; Twilight had woken him up when she’d first heard their attempts at forced entry. When she realized what was happening she told him to hide while she ‘dealt with it’, and to send a letter to Celestia if things went poorly. It was only when he heard her shouting as she was dragged from the library that he realized that he didn’t have anything to send Celestia; he couldn’t risk getting the quill, ink and parchment necessary without being caught by the unknown assailants.

He was feeling so helpless… Even more so than when he and his friends were dropped into that Power Ponies comic, landing him as Hum Drum; now Twilight actually needed his help, yet here, he was just plain useless!!

He felt something rising up his throat, making him stop shaking; could it be?

Spike kept his mouth shut as he felt the burst of green flame fly out of his throat; he spat out the crumpled scroll, staring at it in disbelief. He risked opening the cupboard door just a crack so he could read it.

My faithful student,
Is everything alright? Luna says something is waking up the citizens of Ponyville, and expressed concern.

Spike blinked in shock; it was a miracle. Peering through the crack to make sure he wouldn’t be seen, Spike unfurled the scroll and flattened it against the floor of the cupboard. Without a quill, he was left with carefully digging his claw into the parchment, scratching an urgent reply into it as best as he could.

His work done, he rolled it up; he needed to give it a clear route back to the Princess… He peered from his hiding spot again; nopony had entered the kitchen. He glanced at the window; all he needed was a few seconds… He could make it.

He opened the doors, climbed out of the cupboard then, quickly but quietly, moved to the window. He clambered up to the sill and threw it open; it was caught in a very poorly timed breeze that made it slam loudly against the outside.

“What was that?” Came a voice from the library.

Nearly dropping the scroll, Spike held it out in front of him. The door behind him slammed open. “YOU!! STOP!!”

He took a deep breath; he heard several figures running up behind him.

He blew out a burst of green flame that enveloped the scroll, sending it to Canterlot as per usual. Spike was able to feel an all-too-brief sense of relief and pride before he felt himself being violently grabbed from behind, and was pulled from the window with a yell.

“Luna, take it easy…” I urged, hoping to get Luna to stop pacing. “It’s only been like thirty seconds, chill.”

“I can’t…” Luna said. “I have a bad feeling about whatever’s happening there…”

“Ponyville has been through a great deal, Luna,” Celestia said calmly. “I’m sure whatever’s happening will be easily sorted out.”

“I just don’t like not knowing…” Luna said. “What if they’re--”

She was cut off by a stream of green flame flowing through the open doors of Celestia’s balcony. The flame swirled in front of Celestia and formed into a scroll—the same scroll she had sent, only crumpled up. Frowning, Celestia unfurled it; it looked like something had clawed into it.

Her eyes widened; she turned the letter for us to see.

The word ‘HELP’ was, literally, scratched into the parchment.

“Oh, shit…” I breathed.

Celestia turned and hurried onto her balcony. “Guards!!” She called.

A pair of pegasus guards flew up to her immediately. “Yes, Princess!” They said in unison.

“Prepare two chariots to bring Luna and I to Ponyville!” She ordered. “And have a battalion prepared to join us, we must leave within the next five minutes!” The guards saluted, then split off to see her orders through.

I slithered towards her. “I’m coming, too.”

Celestia turned to me, a stern look in her eyes. “No. You’ll stay here.”

I shook my head. “Nope, not gonna happen.”

“Dread, if this is about earning my trust…” Celestia began.

“It’s about keeping people from getting hurt!” I snapped. “I don’t know what’s happening there, but I refuse to stand by while people—or ponies, rather—are at risk.”

Luna stepped towards me. “Dread, Celestia’s right, you should stay here… It’s our people at risk.”

I glanced at her. “Aren’t they my people now, technically?” Luna frowned in contemplation.

“Dread…” Celestia said firmly. “Listen to me. You are going to stay here…”

“Nope.”

I suddenly bolted past the shocked Princesses, threw myself from the balcony and began to plummet towards the courtyard below. “DREAD!!” I heard Luna yell behind me.

With a loud ‘FWOOMPH’ I stretched my mass into wings; I was still very bad at flying like this, but it would get me there. I scanned the moonlit horizon and noticed a small town not too far from Canterlot; it had to be Ponyville. I gave myself a few powerful flaps and, like a bat who’d had too many, flew jerkily towards the town.

I landed some ways outside the small town and ducked close to the ground, slithering from cover to cover in the shape of a snake. From what I could see, the town wasn’t in flames, but a few distant shouts told me things were far from okay. I reached the outskirts of the town, slipping into a dark alleyway, and peered down the street.

I saw a few winged figures flying overhead, up and down the street in a very professional, militaristic manner, carrying nasty-looking spears. Some of them were on the ground, glancing at each door and ordering any inquisitive denizens to get back inside. One of them got close enough for me to see in the moonlight—body of a lion, head and wings of an eagle; a gryphon, I realized. Celestia had mentioned them. What were they doing here?

A high-pitched scream down the street made me flinch; I glanced in its direction, and found that it was coming from a large, purple building that looked somewhat like a carousel. The screaming sounded like that of a child. I shot a glance at the rest of the street; no one else was in any immediate danger. I slipped down the alleyway and headed towards the building, sticking to the shadows and avoiding the gaze of the watchful gryphons. The front door was hanging loosely on its hinges; I deduced that the owner wasn't exactly consenting to a 2am visitor. I slithered into the building, quick and quiet.

The place looked rather similar to some joints back home that designed uniforms for MHAs, only with a much higher sense of taste and class; there were a few pony-shaped mannequins scattered throughout the room, some outfitted with elaborate dresses and ensembles, and there was a large, circular platform that looked like what a bride would stand on when being fitted for her gown.

The place was trashed; mannequins were laying on the floor, some broken, or the outfits they wore were torn to shreds. Several dressers had their drawers violently pulled out and searched, pieces of fabric and other loose objects tossed carelessly at the floor. Some mirrors were smashed, though I got the sense that it was more for the sake of “hey, while I’m trashing the place”, unlike the rest of the mess which implied the intruder was searching for something.

“NO!!” A voice screamed from up the stairs behind the fitting platform. I heard a figure coming down the stairs; I ducked beneath a nearby dresser, hoping to get a clearer idea of what was happening before being rash… That’s what had gotten me on bad terms with some folks here.

A gryphon with black and red plumage stomped down the stairs, his talon gripped tightly around the hoof of a small, white, unicorn filly; her mane was a light shade of purple, which gave me a vague sense of deja vu. “Let me go!!” She yelled, pulling against the gryphon’s grip.

“Sit down!!” He barked, swinging his front leg forward and sending the filly sliding into the corner. He towered over her, glaring intensely. “Now listen closely, hatchling... Where. Is. It?”

“Where’s what?!” The filly said; it was clear she was trying, and failing, to be brave.

“Your sister’s Element!” The gryphon hissed. “It’s here somewhere, I know it is!”

I narrowed my gaze at him; those Elements?

“It’s not here!” She said. The gryphon stepped towards her and gripped her face hard in his talons.

“You’d best avoid lying to me…” He growled. “I think we’d all prefer it if we left with the Elements, rather than their Bearers… Your sister…”

“Where is she?!” The filly cried angrily, tears spilling from her eyes as she fought against his grip.

“She won’t be harmed…” He said. “So long as you cooperate. Now, I will ask one last time… Where. Is. The Element?!”

“It’s not here!!” The filly cried desperately. “I swear, it’s not here!!”

The gryphon snarled, furious. He released the filly’s face, but wound his claw back in the manner that usually preceded a backhand. “It seems you must learn your place!” He said.

I streaked towards from beneath the dresser; I’d had plenty of reason to act before, but I wanted to learn what I could before she came at risk of actual harm. I formed up behind the gryphon and seized his raised claw with a low growl; the filly shrieked in fright as I spun the gryphon around to face me. “Your place is on the floor,” I said.

I spun and hurled the gryphon over my shoulder, throwing him at the wall with a loud slam. The thug slid to the ground with a squawk, but quickly recovered, getting on his feet and scowling at me. “What manner of demon…” he breathed.

“If a ‘demon’ stops you from harming a child…” I said, jerking my head towards the filly behind me. “Then maybe you should think about what you’re doing with your life.”

The gryphon charged towards me; as he got close he reared on his rear legs and slashed horizontally with both of his claws. Both of his swings cut deeply through my mass like a hot knife through butter, but to no effect. The gryphon’s eyes widened in surprise just before I grabbed his head and slammed him to the floor. He raised his head dizzily before I punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.

I turned towards the filly; she was cowering in the corner, front hooves half-covering her face, more terrified of me than she had been of the gryphon. Using an old method of mine, I shrunk myself to a less threatening size and withdrew my teeth, making my mouth more like a pair of enormous lips. “It’s okay…” I said softly. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“Wh-Who are you?” The filly whimpered.

Thanks for not asking ‘what’, I thought. Though I can tell you were about to. “My name’s Dr--” I stopped; my ‘alias’ may not be the most comforting. “...Joel. My name’s Joel. What’s your name?”

“Sweetie Belle…” the filly said, relaxing somewhat.

“Okay, Sweetie…” I said. “These jerks, they’re here looking for the… Elements?”

She nodded. “My sister’s the Element of Generosity… Her name’s ‘Rarity’.”

“That’s it…” I said. “I’ve met Rarity, you look a lot like her.” Sweetie gave a little smile, lowering her hooves from her face as she grew more comfortable around me. “Now, Sweetie, what happened in here?”

“I was woken up when I heard someone banging on the door down here,” she said, glancing at the entryway. “Rarity hurried into my room and told me to hide, that she’d handle it. I did what she said, but I... heard her being taken away…” Her eyes filled with tears again. “Then he came up to my room and started searching it, then he found me and… you know the rest.”

I nodded, reaching out and gently laying a claw on her hoof. “You’ve been very brave, honey… So you don’t know why they want the Elements?”

She shook her head. “No, but I know that my sister and her friends, they don’t have the Elements anymore… She said they put them back ‘where they came from’, but she never told me where that was…” Her face contorted as she fought back a sob. “...Joel, they took Rarity… They took our friends…”

I remembered the gryphon mentioning ‘the Bearers’. I gave Sweetie’s hoof a reassuring squeeze. “Listen, Sweetie… I promise, I’ll get them back. I won’t let anything happen to them.” I withdrew from her and regained my normal shape; I turned towards the gryphon and noticed something strapped to his chest—a satchel. Curious, I popped it open; there were a few scrolls stowed inside. I snatched and opened each of them; most of them looked like recent scouting reports on the town, but one of them was a hastily drawn sketch of a map—leaving an X on a particular point not too far into the woods outside of town.

“Huh. That’s convenient,” I said. I patted the gryphon on the head appreciatively. “Thanks, buddy.” Tossing the map to the side I hoisted the gryphon onto my shoulder and headed towards the door. I stopped and turned towards Sweetie. “Get back upstairs and hide again. Don’t come out unless you hear someone you know. Okay?”

Sweetie nodded quickly. “Thank you…” She said before standing and hurrying up the stairs.

Creeping outside, I heard a distant horn being blown. Any gryphons still in sight flew off towards the forest. They’re regrouping, I thought. I hurried into an alleyway, tossed the gryphon into a dumpster and shut the lid, praying I wouldn’t forget him later.

Luna jumped out of her chariot as soon as it touched down in Ponyville, glancing about in panic. Ponies were peering out of their homes in concern, even before the Princesses and their guards arrived. “Question the citizens!” Celestia ordered her guards. “Find out what’s happened!”

“Your Highness!” The pair turned to see Mr. Cake sprinting from Sugarcube Corner, where they saw that its door had been broken down. Mrs. Cake was standing in the battered door frame, cradling and comforting her two bawling foals. “It’s awful!! They took Pinkie!!” Mr. Cake cried.

“Mr. Cake, please, we need you to remain calm…” Celestia said, taking hold of the baker’s shoulders. “Now… Who took Pinkie? What’s happened here?”

Mr. Cake took a deep breath. “Gryphons… Several of them. Three of them barged into our home, stormed upstairs, and one dragged Pinkie away! The other two tore our bakery apart! They wanted her Element!”

Celestia blinked in shock. “Why would they want her Element?”

Mr. Cake shook his head. “I don’t know, but…” His eyes widened in realization. “If that’s what they wanted, it’s a safe bet they’ll want the others, too!!”

“Twilight…” Celestia said, horrified. She turned to Luna. “Go check on the homes of the other Bearers; I will check Twilight’s, Applejack’s and Fluttershy’s, you take Rarity’s and Rainbow Dash’s.”

Luna nodded. “Be careful, Sister…” She said before taking to the skies.

She headed for Carousel Boutique first, the home of Rarity; it was closest to where they’d landed. The streets were now flooding with ponies, awoken by the clamor outside. Luna found herself glancing at every street, into every darkened corner, searching for any sign of Dread...

She grit her teeth in anger; how could he be so stupid? He didn’t know what to expect here—she wouldn’t be surprised if he was doing this out of bravado…

She shook her head; there’d be time to be mad at him later. Luna arrived at the boutique to find the door smashed open. Fearing the worst she immediately flew inside, finding the place in tatters. “Rarity?!” She called. She bolted up the stairs, checking the upper floor. She hurried into what looked to be Rarity’s bedroom. “Rarity!!”

“Princess?” Luna glanced at the closet to the side; the sliding door, slightly ajar, slid open a little more, allowing a pair of eyes to peer out. “Princess Luna!” The door slid open all the way and a filly leapt out.

“Sweetie Belle…” Luna said, relieved. “Are you alright?”

Sweetie nodded. “Yeah… A gryphon found me, but… Joel saved me.”

Luna gaped at her in shock. “‘Joel’?”

Sweetie tilted her head to the side. “Do you know him?”

Luna nodded. “Yes, he… came here ahead of us. Do you know where he is?”

“He said he was gonna save my sister and her friends,” Sweetie said. “...I think he found a clue, actually! Follow me!” She bolted out the door, Luna right behind her, and down the stairs. Sliding to a halt in front of the dressing stand, Sweetie picked up a discarded scrap of paper in her mouth and held it out to Luna. “Here!” She said through her teeth.

Luna took the paper in her magic; it was a rough map of the town, with an X marking a spot some distance into the Everfree.

The mood of the forest clashed with the town it neighbored; its treeline hung low over the ground, blocking any hopes at seeing the Sun or Moon overhead. The canopy and plantlife looked almost ill… maybe even evil. As I slithered through the wood I could spot a deal of glowing eyes glaring at me through the darkness, but, thankfully, no ‘scary beasties’ jumped out—they were probably scared of me. Big surprise.

I headed towards the spot indicated on the map, slowly peering around every tree and triple-checking that it was clear before making every move. For about five minutes I didn’t see anyone; I cursed the thick treeline overhead for obscuring my view of the gryphons as they flew back to what I assumed to be their camp--

Wait. I froze at the sight of a campfire a fair distance away. I scaled a nearby tree and jumped my form to the branch of another, then another… Before long I was coiled within the dark leaves of a tree on the perimeter of a small clearing, illuminated by a campfire that sat in the center. The place had about thirty gryphons, all armed with spears, their brows furrowed in grim determination. One of them, larger than the others, thereby identifying him as the leader, was adorned in thick, silver armor; his chest plate had a sizeable hole in the back for his wings to poke out of, and his helmet obscured his whole face, save for his heavily-scratched beak, in a way that made me wonder how well he could see through it.

On the far side of the camp were Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack, their legs tied in thick rope and mouths gagged with cloth. Fluttershy was quietly crying in her binds, while Pinkie and Rarity were making silent, vain attempts to comfort her. Applejack, whose hat and braids were missing, was violently fighting at her bonds, to no avail. Twilight was completely still, a gryphon at her side with a spear to her throat, discouraging her from any magic. To Twilight’s side was a new creature; it was reptilian, about four feet tall with purple scales and green fins. Luna had mentioned Twilight having a ‘dragon’ for an assistant, named ‘Spike’.

I became aware of rapidly-approaching shouts. “Come on!! COME ON!! You want it?! Get me out of these and we’ll have a real fight!!” A pair of gryphons came flying into the clearing, carrying a tightly-bound Rainbow Dash, her wings tied down in rope; one of the gryphons was flying a bit jerkily, the disjointed feathers on his right wing indicating an injury. Her handlers tossed her carelessly alongside her friends.

“Shut her up!!” One of them yelled; another came forward, bearing cloth, and tied it around Dash’s muzzle, muffling her shouts.

“Crazy bitch nearly broke my wing…” The injured gryphon said bitterly. giving his wing a tender flex.

Uh, WHOA, I thought. Profanity’s a thing here, apparently… among gryphons, at least.

The leader approached the Bearers, leering at them through his helmet. He glanced at his cronies. “Did anyone find their Elements?”

Several of the gryphons shook their heads. “We searched their homes thoroughly in the time we had, Legionnaire,” one of them said. “We couldn’t find them.”

“We’d best work quickly, then…” The Legionnaire said. “If the whelp managed to get word to Canterlot, we haven’t much time.” He turned towards the Bearers and approached Twilight; he removed her gag. “I do not wish to harm you, or any of your people. I would much rather leave here with the Elements, not you. Simply tell me where they are, and you have my word, you will be released.”

Twilight blinked at him. “Why are you doing this? What do you want with the Elements?”

He leaned towards her. “To both relieve you of one of your most powerful weapons,” The gryphon said. “And to stand a better chance against what you still have, that we cannot also… confiscate. Now, I ask again… Where. Are. The Elements? It’s either them… or you.”

Twilight’s friends glanced at her; it was clear they didn’t want her to tell him. She gave them an apologetic look, however.

“We don’t have them…” Twilight said softly. “They’re… They’re at the Tr--”

“Fiends!!” Everyone present jumped at the sudden, booming voice that sent vibrations through my mass. I glanced towards the other edge of the clearing; Celestia, Luna and a large group of guards were emerging from the forest. Luna’s eyes were glowing white, her mouth set in a furious scowl. “Release them at once!!”

The gryphons immediately formed a defensive formation between the Princesses and the Bearers, spears at the ready. A pair of them hung back, holding their spears at the Bearers in a threatening gesture. “Hold!!” The Legionnaire yelled, stepping forward. He moved through the formation and stood boldly before the Princesses. “You’re here sooner than I’d thought.” With the majority of the gryphons distracted, I slid down the tree and moved swiftly along the edge of the camp towards the Bearers, keeping to the shadows.

“Who are you?” Celestia said. “What business do you have here?

“I am Legionnaire Pridefall,” the leader said.

Celestia narrowed her gaze. “I remember you… Your Emperor mentioned you.”

Pridefall nodded. “Our Emperor, wise and beloved as he is, is blind to the danger you pose. I was forced to address it myself.”

I reached the Bearers; their guards were focused intently on the Princesses. Silently, I formed into a puddle, keeping to the shadows made by the ponies in the firelight. I moved up behind Applejack and gave a very gentle prod with a small tendril.

She glanced back; her eyes widened in shock and recognition. I formed a very tiny head and tendril and made a ‘shoosh’ gesture. Applejack gave Rainbow a nudge; the pegasus glanced at her, then at me. Her eyes froze, then narrowed in distrust, but another nudge from Applejack convinced her not to act.

Carefully, I reached out towards Rainbow’s binds and, with a tiny blade, cut through the rope. A third nudge from Applejack kept her from opening up a can of whoop-ass right there. I moved to start cutting Applejack’s binds, but she quickly, subtly, shook her head; she worked her gag away from her mouth. “Just untie it,” she mouthed. I was confused until I remembered her attempt to ‘wrangle’ me on the day we’d met. Carefully, I reached a tendril into the knot tying her binds and undid it. She nodded gratefully, then jerked her head towards the others.

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked as I moved towards Rarity; Luna seemed to spot me, her eyes slightly flexing in surprise. I gave Rarity a tap; she glanced at me as I cut her binds, then to Applejack and Dash. She seemed to realize what was happening and gave me a nod.

Pridefall dug his talons into the ground in anger. “Did you think your nation’s growth wouldn’t be noticed?” He asked. “When the Elements first emerged I gave you the benefit of the doubt; they were your means of defense against monsters like Nightmare Moon and Discord…” He glared at Luna. “But then, Nightmare Moon returned and threatened the entire planet; rather than return her to her rightful prison, where she belongs, she was allowed to stay, thus giving your nation another ruler with the powers of a god.”

He turned to Celestia again. “Then the Crystal Empire returned, only to fall under the leadership your own niece… A land that can affect, bolster the entire nation? Then you fools sought to… ‘reform’ Discord; you earned the loyalty, however flimsy, of a being that can warp reality as he sees fit…” I was busy cutting Pinkie’s binds now; she actually looked like she was going to loudly greet me, but a harsh kick from Rarity kept her quiet.

“And then... her…” Pridefall turned and pointed a talon directly at Twilight; I froze completely. “Another alicorn… Another means of strengthening your nation…” He faced Celestia again; I heard Rarity make a very soft sigh of relief as I moved on to Fluttershy. “Do you think everyone else to be fools? Do you truly expect everyone to believe that you’re not on the warpath? Did you think no one would see through your illusion of ‘peace’, while you’re busy building an arsenal that would lay waste to all you saw fit?!”

Celestia frowned, feeling some sense in the gryphon’s words. Then she glared at him again. “Even if you were correct, do you truly think this is the solution? To threaten innocents?”

Pridefall sneered. “Given how loyal they are to you, I’d say they’re as far from innocent as one could be.”

“You don’t understand!” Celestia cried. “War is… it’s not what we do! It’s something we haven’t known in eons! Since before Luna and I were even born!” She gazed past him, at the Bearers. If she noticed me at work on Twilight’s bonds, she hid it well. “All we seek is to learn, to see the lessons these six ponies have learned taught to our children and theirs!”

Pridefall glowered at her. “Retrieve the artifact.” One of his soldiers withdrew from the formation, pulled out an item from a satchel near the campfire, and brought it to the Legionnaire. Pridefall held the object out for Celestia to see; it looked like a grey music box, its lower half consisting of four diagonal sides, its upper half consisting of six. Each face on the upper half had a differently shaped keyhole. “And this?” He asked softly. “I don’t believe you’ve mentioned this in passing… Will opening this teach these ‘lessons’?”

“I…” Celestia said; the look in her eyes didn’t say that she’d have preferred the box to be kept secret, but I could tell that, whatever it was, wouldn’t help her argument. “I don’t…”

“Or perhaps you seek what lies within…” Pridefall said, his voice growing louder. “You wish to use a deep, hidden power to further sate your lust for power!”

“That’s not true!!” Celestia cried desperately.

“YOU WOULD SEE US SUBJUGATED!!” Pridefall screeched. “YOU WOULD ENSLAVE THOSE YOU SEE AS BENEATH YOU, AND DESTROY THOSE WHO DEFY YOU!! I WILL NOT LET THAT HAPPEN!!” Pridefall stopped, taking a deep breath as he lowered the box. “But… I would prefer to do it with no bloodshed, on either side. So I give you this one chance, Princess… Relinquish the Elements of Harmony, and I will release your protege and her friends. You have my word.”

Twilight kept glancing between me and the Gryphons guarding her and her friends. I formed another small head and nodded; I positioned myself so that I could reach them both.

I’m just gonna wait… I thought. Pridefall still sounds like there’s a trace of reason in him...

“And you think this will sit well with your Emperor?” Luna challenged. “Lest you forget, he is a good friend of ours… He will see you imprisoned for this!”

“When I deliver this…” Pridefall nudged the box. “He will see that you have been keeping your share of secrets from your ‘good friend.’ Now, perhaps I haven’t been clear…” He pointed a talon back at the Bearers. “We leave here either with the Elements or the Bearers. It is your choice.”

“We will not allow you to abduct our subjects, cretin!” Luna yelled. She stepped forward.

The line of Gryphons tensed; the guards pressed their spears to Twilight’s and Applejack’s necks.

“Perhaps I’ve been too lenient…” Pridefall said hotly. “I was willing to give you the chance to prove you weren’t arming yourselves for war, but you clearly value your precious Elements more than the lives of your own people…” He stepped forward, wings flared in anger. “This… is your last chance… Give me the Elements, or I will kill their Bearers!!”

Fluttershy flinched in terror, breaking into a fresh wave of horrified tears and muffled sobs. Celestia gazed painfully at her endangered subjects, clearly hating to see them like this. Celestia glanced towards me, adding me to the equation; if she told him where the Elements were, I would hear it as well. I wouldn’t do anything with that knowledge, sure, but she didn’t know that.

She glanced at her subjects again.

She shut her eyes. “...We no longer have them…” Celestia said finally. “They were returned to the Tree of Harmony… Beneath our old castle in the Everfree...” She hung her head in mild shame.

Pridefall was silent for a moment. His men kept glancing his way, awaiting orders.

Then he clawed the ground again in fury. “You expect me to believe that? To send my men deeper into the most dangerous place in your land, on your word alone that the Elements are in the possession of some tree?!”

This really sounds unbelievable in a world of magical talking ponies? I thought, baffled.

“Another one of your lies, ‘Princess’!!” Pridefall spat; his voice cracked in a way that implied reason had left the building. “Another way to desperately conceal your true nature!!” He turned towards the gryphons guarding the hostages. “Execute two of them!!”

The guards blinked. “But, what if she’s…” One of them began.

“You would allow your nation to fall because of your hesitation?!” Pridefall screamed. “Execute them and show their beloved Princesses who they’ve made an enemy of!!”

The gryphons grasped their spears tighter, a heavy sense of reluctance in their eyes.

That didn’t stop them from raising their spears, ready to plunge.

“NOW!!” I roared.

I sprang up, extending tendrils that ripped the spears from the gryphons’ talons before they even realized what was happening. I snapped the spears in half, then reached out again, grabbed the pair and slammed their heads together, knocking them out.

Pridefall and his gryphons spun around at the noise, their eyes wide with confusion and fear. The Bearers sprang up around me, free of their binds, and bent into defensive stances. Pridefall’s gaze fell on me; he pointed a quivering talon at me. “DO YOU SEE?!” He yelled. “DO YOU SEE WHAT MANNER OF MONSTERS THEY COMMAND?!”

“The only ‘monster’ I see is the one that just ordered the execution of unarmed innocents!!” I roared.

“KILL THEM ALL!!” Pridefall screeched. His gryphons charged, both towards me and the Bearers, and towards the Princesses and their guards.

Two of the braver gryphons flew up and divebombed me, their spears aimed directly at my chest. I didn’t even play the ‘oops, that didn’t work’ game where I simply let them hit me and savor the startled look; I caught the spears by their points and pulled them downwards. The gryphons fell to the ground with a pair of squawks; they made to get up, but I grabbed their heads, pulled them close and snarled monstrously in their faces. “Stay. Down.” I released them, and the pair silently laid prone on the ground, eyes wide in terror. With them taken care of, I moved on to another combatant, mainly focusing on keeping as many off the ponies as possible.

As the fight went on, I noticed the other ponies were handling themselves well; Twilight and Rarity unleashing countless blasts that peppered their foes, Dash was using her speed to hit her enemies hard and fast, Applejack was using the ropes that had bound her and her friends to tie down opponents, and Pinkie was happily firing a barrage of confetti-filled air blasts from a multicolored cannon… though I could not fathom where she’d got it. The pegasus guards were dealing with the gryphons well, too, and any sucker that charged one of the Princesses was immediately sent flying with a powerful blast. The gryphons didn’t seem that into the fight; it seemed not all of them agreed with Pridefall’s sudden order to attack, mainly just acting in what they viewed as self defense. There were some who genuinely obeyed his orders, though, given how they were occasionally heard shouting something like “pony scum” or garbage like that.

Which was probably why I spotted one moving in towards Fluttershy, off to the side, away from the major skirmish; she was cowering in fear against a tree as he approached, his spear primed. She seemed to be trying to call for help but, once again, her naturally quiet voice seemed to keep her from being heard. He was scowling with a hateful fury that implied he shared the same mindset as Pridefall. “Be silent, little coward, and die!!” He snarled as he raised his spear.

He was stopped when I snatched it from his talons like a toy from a misbehaving child. He spun around as I glowered at him. “Once again, you guys prove to be world-class intellects…” I said. “Calling others by terms that would better suit you…”

The gryphon screeched and threw himself at me; I ducked beneath his lunge, grabbed his hind legs, then swung him around and slammed him into the tree. I dropped his unconscious form to the ground; Fluttershy looked between him and me. “Couldn’t you have been a bit more gentle?” She asked feebly.

A yell made me glance back; Pridefall had pinned a pegasus guard to the ground. He didn’t seem aware that he was one of few still fighting, most of his troops having either been defeated or been forced to surrender altogether. He was slashing viciously into the guard’s wings, sending blood and white feathers everywhere. The guard was yelling in pain, trying to push the crazed gryphon off of him to little effect. Celestia and Luna were still dealing with a couple other overconfident goons, but they were glancing in horror at their guard’s plight.

“HEY!!” I roared. Pridefall glanced over at me, ceasing his frenzied attack.

Scowling, he grabbed his helmet and threw it to the side; his eyes were bloodshot and baggy, like he hadn’t slept in days, and there was a faint hue of purple in his pupils. He stepped over the moaning guard and lurched towards me, wings spread. “You claim to be peaceful…” he growled, addressing everyone present. “Yet you employ monsters to fight for you!! I see through your deceit!! I KNOW YOUR TRUE FACE, PONIES!!”

There was a look in his eye I recognized; I’d seen it many times before. This was someone making decisions out of blind, overwhelming fear, unable to see even the faintest glimmer of reason. Something had happened to make him do this. I slithered towards him, and he readied his claws for a fight. “COME ON, THEN!!” He bellowed. “COME AND FACE ME, MONSTER!!! YOU DON’T SCARE ME!!”

“No, but something does…” I said. He swung his claw at me, but I casually caught it and stole a glimpse at his fear.

I could see what must have been his homelands; gryphon architecture looked more like it had a bit of Greek influence, with coliseums, forums and the like. The city was in flames, the skies painted blood red; towering in the distance were the shapes of ponies, their eyes glowing a cruel red as gryphons cowered, ran, burned and died under the devastation.

Yet there was something wrong with this vision, beyond just the subject matter; the very edges looked… wrong, like a picture that had been caught in a fire. There were glowing purple cracks around the edge… This implied some level of manipulation. This fear, it had been exacerbated, made worse by someone; turned a minor worry into a full blown… Nightmare.

I stopped looking at Pridefall’s fear just as he began swinging his other claw into me, repeatedly (and ineffectively) stabbing me in the side. Whatever had affected him, it was driving him to do this. I just wished I knew what.

I glanced over at Celestia; if she figured out Pridefall was being driven by fear, she’d suspect me… I had to keep this quiet for now. I didn’t like letting Pridefall be punished for something he’d been manipulated into doing, especially to cover my own ass. But I promised myself that, once I’d figured out what did this to him, I’d clear his name; I may not be able to do that with Celestia’s further distrust.

I suddenly realized that I’d been just standing there for about twenty seconds while he ‘mutilated’ me. I pulled a claw back and punched the crazed Legionnaire in the face; he fell to the ground, unconscious.

With the last of the gryphons rounded up, Celestia organized some guards to have them prepared for transport to Canterlot, to be held and released to officials from the Gryphon Empire. The only major injury was the guard whose wings Pridefall had mutilated; it was likely he wouldn’t fly for a long time. Thankfully, though, no one else was hurt save for some bruises and minor cuts. Since the Bearers had been through a very rough night, Luna suggested that they all stay under one roof for the time being; when the six of them all volunteered to have their homes open, they ended up drawing straws and settling on staying at Fluttershy’s.

While the guards dealt with the restrained gryphons, the Princesses, the Bearers, Spike and I walked through the forest, back to Ponyville. While I was on my way in, I could hear the curious growls and chirps of surrounding wildlife; with Celestia and Luna, however, the creatures in the forest didn’t even make a peep. The ten of us were left there, walking in near complete silence; the Bearers kept close together, still shaken from their traumatizing experience.

I glanced at Spike; he was sticking close to Twilight, in a way that implied he was more than an assistant to her. “You’re Spike, huh?” I asked casually.

He glanced at me and nodded stiffly. “And you’re Dread.”

“Yep,” I replied. “...You did good getting word to us, you know?”

He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “Well…”

Twilight nuzzled him affectionately. “You really did, Spike. We might not have gotten out of there if it weren’t for you…”

Applejack walked closer to Spike and gave him a friendly nudge. “Gotta stop savin’ our hides like this, sugar cube…” She said.

“You make it sound like it’s a habit,” Spike said, grinning.

“Twilight?” Rarity asked. “I hate to ask, but… Sweetie Belle may not have… responded well to what happened tonight, and she may not like…”

“Yes, she can stay with us, Rarity,” Twilight said, before she could ask.

“Thank you, darling…” Rarity said earnestly. She glanced over at me. “...And… thank you as well, Dread…”

I waved her off. “Don’t worry about it…” I began.

“Aw, no…” Applejack said, bumping into me with a mock-stern look. “None o’ that malarkey. You saved our lives tonight.”

“Was kinda hoping I wouldn’t have to…” I mumbled. “Not that I wouldn’t, mind you… The point is, I’m glad to help.”

Something suddenly latched onto me from behind; turning around I saw Pinkie wrapping her forelegs around me in a tight hug. I only had time to notice the onset of tears in her eyes before she suddenly started wailing. “OHMYGOSHDREADI’MSOSORRYI’VEBEENSOAWFULPLEASEFORGIVEMEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE…”

“WHOOOOAAA…” I said loudly, slipping out of her grasp; she fell to the ground, her mane suddenly losing its usual ‘puffiness’ and hanging straight from her head as she gazed sadly at me. “Pinkie, slow down, okay?”

Pinkie sniffled. “‘Oh. My. Gosh. Dread. I’m. So. Sorry…’”

“No, I got that…” I said. “How have you been ‘awful’?”

“I never threw you a party!!” Pinkie bawled, throwing herself on the ground in front of me. “I wanted to, but my friends told me it might not be a good idea, so I didn’t, but now you’ve done something really nice for us and now I feel really bad for not throwing you a party to begin wi-i-iiiiiiiith!!!!!”

She quickly fell into incoherent, almost comical sobbing, tears practically gushing from her eyes in a manner very similar to fountain. I glanced between her and the others, unsure of how to tackle this. Slowly, I reached down and gave her a gentle pat on the head. “...There, there?” No effect. “...Pinkie, if I let you throw me a party, will it make you feel better?!” I asked, taking a shot in the dark.

With about as much graduality as a light switch, Pinkie stopped crying, sat up, and her mane suddenly popped back into its usual poofy shape. “Okay!” She said cheerfully. “It’s gonna be the most fantastical, amazingest surprise party ever!”

She suddenly leaned into my face, stretching her neck to rather alarming lengths, and put on a grim, frightening face. “You won’t see it coming…” She said, as if predicting the coming of some dark, ancient god. Then she returned to her normal stance, resuming her good cheer, and continued bouncing happily down the path. I remained where I was, trying to process what had just happened.

“Don’t question it…” Twilight said.

I shrugged it off and continued walking alongside them. “Parties mean a lot to her, huh?”

“You have no idea…” Dash said casually. “You’d think they’d get old after a while, but she always finds a way to… spice ‘em up, you know?”

She glanced at me, and suddenly remembered who she was talking to. Instead of the usual glare, however, she simply looked away, brow furrowed in thought. Fluttershy, showing unusual assertiveness, moved up beside Dash and gave her an insistent nudge. Dash bit her lip for a moment before sighing and looking at me. “Thnksh...” she mumbled through her teeth.

I felt a need to be a bit of a jerk; smirking, I raised a claw to where my ear would’ve been. “Sorry, what was that?”

“Thanks for…” Dash began, her words fading into quiet mumbles again.

“One more time…?” I said, gesturing with my other claw.

“Thanks for the help…” Dash said finally; she was rolling her eyes, but I heard a trace of earnestness in her voice.

Fluttershy nodded approvingly at her, then walked around her and over to me; she hesitated for a moment, then rubbed her head into my mass affectionately. “Thank you…” She whispered. “Really, thank you…”

I gently ran a claw down her head. “It’s no problem… Happy to help.”

We finally reached Ponyville; a small number of guards were there keeping the citizens calm. The worried chatter stopped when they saw the Princesses return with the Bearers in tow, and the relieved sighs and exclamations ended when they saw me. Having already seen pretty much every possible reaction they could have, I simply gave a passive wave and paid them no mind. Judging by the more curious nature of their whispers, however, it was safe to assume they weren’t gonna lob rocks at me, since I was hanging with the Princesses.

We headed towards the center of town, where a pair of chariots were waiting, harnessed to a pair of large pegasus guards. As we approached, we heard a voice cut through the chatter. “RARITY!!”

I turned to see Sweetie Belle sprinting through the crowd, leaping up and tackling Rarity to the ground in a hug. “You’re okay!” Sweetie cried, happy tears streaming down her face. “You’re really okay!!”

Rarity winced somewhat when she took a look at the dirt that was covering her, but didn’t complain as she hugged her sister close. “Yes, Sweetie, I’m fine…”

Sweetie glanced up at me. “You got her back…” She said happily. Rarity shot me a confused look, surprised that Sweetie seemed to recognize me.

I nodded at her. “Well, it wasn’t just…” I began.

Sweetie suddenly climbed off of Rarity, ran over and hugged me as well, wrapping her little forelegs around my lower body. “Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you…” She said repeatedly.

Smiling, I shaped myself into a smaller form and hugged her back. “No problem, honey…”

Celestia was staring at me, once again trying to figure me out. Now I was getting a little irritated; what did I have to do to get her to loosen up? I mean, that wasn’t what I intended from tonight, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a small part of me that hoped she would.

I released Sweetie from the hug, and she hurried over to Rarity. “We’re sleeping at Fluttershy’s tonight, darling…” Rarity said to her before glancing at her friends. “I’ll meet you girls there, okay? There are just a few things I need from the Boutique.” She looked at me again. “Thank you again, Dread…” She turned, and departed with her sister in the direction of their home.

“Luna, why don’t you and Dread return to Canterlot?” Celestia asked. “I’ll stay here and make sure everypony’s okay.”

Luna nodded and turned to me; I glanced at her chariot. “Guess we’re sharing a ride, huh?” I asked. Luna nodded as she climbed inside without a word; frowning, I climbed in beside her. I turned back to the ponies. “I know it’s a bit late for it, but… Have a good night, alright?”

The ponies waved, with varying levels of gratitude. As the pegasi began pulling the chariot for takeoff, Pinkie began running after it; she stretched her neck again to meet my face. “Never see it coming…” She said in that grim voice again before stopping and resuming her wave of farewell as we went airborne.

As Ponyville faded into the distance, I turned around towards the front of the chariot; Luna was facing me, her expression impassive. “Uh…” I said.

She smacked my face with a hoof, which was like swinging a hand across the surface of water. My face regained its usual form. “Okay, you’re mad…” I said.

“What were you doing?!” Luna said angrily.

I gaped at her. “...What I’ve been doing for years!!” I said. “What’s the problem?!”

“You could have been…” Luna began.

“No, I really couldn’t,” I said flatly. There was a minor lie in there; if the problem had been, say, some kind of fire god, then I could have been killed. Jackasses with spears, though, weren’t so bad.

“You don’t know that!” Luna said. “You said you don’t know what you’ve become, you don’t know what does and what doesn’t affect it! You’re not invincible, Dread!”

“It wasn’t about being ‘invincible’!” I argued. “It was about helping people!!”

“You just felt a need to rush headlong into the fray without so much as thinking about the consequences!” Luna snapped. “You could have gotten hurt, or someone else! Or have you not gotten enough--”

She stopped with a shrill gasp, slapping her hooves over her mouth.

She didn’t have to finish for me to get the point, though. I didn’t feel much physical pain nowadays, but emotional pain and I were still well-acquainted, and her outburst hit me like a punch in the gut. I stared at her blankly. “Really?” I asked, disbelieving. “You’re really going there?”

“Dread, I…” Luna said softly. “Dread, I’m so sorry, I… I don’t know where that came from…”

I turned around and faced out of the chariot, stiffly gripping the edge. Was I just being an overconfident idiot? Did I just feel a need to throw myself into the fray?

Was this just a way of earning Celestia’s trust?

My thoughts fell to the skirmish in the woods; I felt that familiar sense of adrenaline during the fight, knocking goons senseless, especially getting that sadist away from Fluttershy… Did I just miss… fighting? Did I jump at the first chance I got to pummel some morally bankrupt jackass into the dirt?

Suddenly, a pair of legs wrapped around my mass in a hug; Luna’s head came to rest on my back. “I was just so scared you’d get hurt…” She whispered.

I slowly put a claw on her hoof. “I know… You’re right. I… I might’ve just missed a good brawl, you know?” I said with a laugh.

“No, that wasn’t it…” Luna said. “You wanted to help. I understand… Maybe that’s what you missed. Helping people.” She gave a soft laugh. “You certainly liked the look on Sweetie’s face when she saw Rarity again…”

I nodded in consideration. “Maybe.” That certainly sounded better…

The gryphons were bound tightly together, their wings tied down and beaks muzzled. Celestia watched as they were marched from the Everfree Forest, into the prisoner carriages to be transported to Canterlot; she would write to the Emperor as soon as she returned and tell him of his Legionnaire’s transgressions.

She watched as their leader, Pridefall, marched stiffly into the carriage, glancing about in what she couldn’t tell was hatred or...

She noticed something; a shade of purple lining his eyes…

...or FEAR… She realized. Their gaze met; Pridefall leered at her furiously, stopping at the edge of the carriage. One of the guards needed to give him a few less-than-gentle shoves to get him into the carriage.

Celestia stared, shocked, at the spot he’d been, even when the carriages were fully loaded and sealed.

Had someone… manipulated the Legionnaire into doing this?

Someone close to home?

Author's Note

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Chapter 10: The Dispute

It was only the night after the gryphons’ raid on Ponyville that I realized—I had no way of figuring out who had tainted Pridefall’s fear without letting Celestia in on it. He was held in captivity under close watch upon arriving in Canterlot, and his Emperor wasted no time in relieving Equestria of him. The Emperor himself came with the retrieval detail; his remorse and embarrassment for what happened was clearly evident as he apologized to Celestia, over and over again for his “former Legionnaire’s” crimes. The Emperor was a rather proud, boisterous gryphon with his fair share of scars, but he was, all in all, a fairly nice guy; he did express concern that Celestia hadn’t mentioned me to him, but shrugged it off as an ‘Equestrian concern’ and didn’t mention it again. He was very interested in conversing with me, though, as his men prepared Pridefall and his troops for transport; he offered me his respect as a fellow fighter, even if I did “stick to the shadows like a viper”, which he stated with raucous laughter.

At the end of the day, however, the Emperor and his men took the rogue brigade home, bidding fond farewells and a last few earnest apologies. But with Pridefall gone, I had no way of safely questioning him regarding what had made his fear so volatile that he was willing to execute innocents. I didn’t want anyone to know about it, and I worried that any attempts to speak with him, either in person or by letter, would arouse suspicion from Celestia. But I couldn’t just ignore it, either—something had happened to Pridefall, and I feared whatever did it would strike again… Though if it did, I’d have another lead, and could probably persuade Celestia to let me investigate, in the face of these repeating incidents. Until then, however, I could only watch and wait.

In the meantime, though, Luna and I continued to spend the nights together, all troubles forgotten. For six straight nights we’d sit beneath the stars, simply talking or enjoying one another’s company. There were even times Luna would seek my advice, regarding ponies whose real-world struggles had manifested into nightmares; they’d discuss problems that troubled them deeply, which Luna couldn’t find an answer for, so she’d turn to me. The first time this happened, she started speaking directly to me without slipping out of the dreamscape, explaining her issue and asking for some advice. I was glad to help, though I was so taken aback by her asking me for help I don’t think I was very helpful.

On the seventh night after the attack, Luna and I were sitting quietly on the tower balcony again. I liked this… sense of tranquility; back on Earth, every night on the job usually called for some measure of awareness, since some folks would think the MHAs of the day were dozing off. Yet here, Equestria was… peaceful. I noticed that there weren’t a great deal of criminal ponies, and any transgressors were quickly set upon by the quick-acting guards that patrolled the streets and skies of the city. I was glad to help when I was needed, sure, but that had happened a grand total of one time—otherwise I could just kick back, even with the concerns over Pridefall.

“Dread?” Luna asked, breaking the silence.

“Hmm?”

“Are you… happy, here?” She asked softly, carefully. “I know you must miss your home, but… Do you…?”

“If I’m gonna be stranded far from home, I’d rather it be somewhere like this…” I said simply. “Somewhere nice… Peaceful… Beautiful…” I turned to her and smiled. “A place where I can make good friends.”

She gave a faint smile. “Yes… Friends…” She said quietly, her smile fading somewhat.

There was a beat.

Luna slowly placed her hoof on my claw.

I stared at it for a moment.

...DOES NOT COMPUTE. ERROR ERROR ERROR. I suddenly, quickly, withdrew my claw. “UH…” I said… Then I said it a few more times for good measure.

What? Why? How? Does she…? What? I forced myself to focus. Need to think… NEED TO THINK…

“HOLDTHATTHOUGHTBEBACKINASECOND,” I said rapidly, before throwing myself off the balcony, spreading my wings and gliding towards the courtyard; I didn’t even glance at Luna to see her reaction.

I could only hope I hadn’t just made a horrible mistake.

I landed in the courtyard, some distance from the door leading inside. The guards on either side of it jumped at my sudden appearance, but, thankfully, did nothing else. “‘Scuse me!” I said quickly, my voice loud and stiff as I hurried over, threw the doors open and streaked inside. I moved swiftly down the hall towards the Guest Quarters, desperately needing some time to myself, time to think…

I arrived at my room, not even bothering to open the doors and simply seeping through the cracks. When I was sure I was alone, I bundled up at the foot of my bed, my mind still spinning, overflowing…

STOP. I thought, forcing my mind to come to a complete halt. I needed to take things into account. I needed to keep cool, to be rational about this…

I began to lay everything out in front of me; I needed to look at this, bit by bit. Okay… What just happened?

Luna made a move on me.

How so?

She put a hoof on my claw, which can be taken as a hint that she’s interested, in addition to the fact that she didn’t seem that thrilled to be just considered a ‘friend’.

So why the massive freakout?

Because I don’t know how to take this. Do I say ‘no’? Should I give this a ‘maybe later’? Do I return the gesture? WOULD I return the gesture? That’s just naming a few reasons…

My mind began to calm down, but it was still violently shaking at the thought of what I should do. Easy, easy… I thought. This doesn’t have to be VERY complicated… Either we do or we don’t, and neither is necessarily a permanent choice…

I straightened up. “Okay…” I said aloud. “Here’s what we’re gonna do…” I formed my claws into a pair of mouths, looking very much like I was wearing two black sock puppets. I shook my left claw. “You’ll be Yay…” I shook my right. “And you’ll be Nay. You’ll each argue why I should, or shouldn’t, be with Luna, respectively…”

I suddenly imagined how I must have looked, talking to my two hands and letting them make my decisions for me. It was not a very appealing sight. I sighed. “Alright, let the debate begin… We’ll start with pros and cons.”

“Well, for starters, you like Luna…” Yay said—I felt another wave of ‘dignity’ as I saw myself talking for them, muttering their speech out of the corner of my mouth. “You think she’s smart, kind, gentle or assertive when she wants to be, and, let’s be honest, for a pony she’s actually rather… pretty, especially in the moonlight.”

“This is all true…” Nay said. “But the key words there are ‘for a pony’. You’d essentially be dating a horse—a sapient horse from a world ruled by sapient horses, yes, but a horse nonetheless. Perhaps you could overlook this in time, but are you willing to commit to a relationship when you only might get over it?”

“But odds are he’s never going to get home,” Yay said. “And if he’s gonna be here, he might as well be happy… Might as well be with someone who makes him happy… and is interested.”

Nay nodded. “This is also true… The odds of returning home are, indeed, astronomical… But what if, by some miracle, the way home does become apparent, and he has chosen to be with Luna? He’ll have a very, very tough choice to make, assuming this hypothetical way home was a ‘one time’ deal.”

“But if he is stuck here, and he likely is…” Yay said. “Luna has been nothing short of amazing to him… She’s been kind, supportive, she gave him the chance to prove he’s not a monster, even after everything that’s happened… She actually cares about him, just as he does for her.”

“Yes, I’m not disputing whether it would work…” Nay said. “But what if he’s with her for the long term? Would he marry her?”

“...That’s kinda thinking way far ahead…” Yay muttered.

“But it’s a concern we should address,” Nay said. “And then there’s the… physical issue; this is something he would have faced on Earth, when thinking of a relationship. I hate to bring up the species issue again, but... Even if he was human here, it would be an issue… What about sexual affairs? What if he’s in it for the long run? What if she wants children? His… ‘condition’... Would it… ‘play ball’? He has no clue if his form even works like that…”

“Forgive me for being crass, but that’s basically talking about his metaphorical dick, in a discussion regarding a relationship that leans far on the more emotional side of the Romantic scale,” Yay said firmly. “If it does come to that, he’ll… figure it out as he goes. Not a very advisable way to approach things, but, hey. And if it doesn’t work, through ‘complications’ or making some kind of… well, aberration, Equestria has such a thing as ‘adoption’.”

“Of course, this is all hinging on whether or not he even wants to be with her…” Nay said.

“Yeah…” Yay said. The pair turned to me. “Ask yourself: how do you feel about Luna? Are you sure you just like her as a friend?”

I slowly lowered my claws, and leaned my head back against the foot of my bed. “...Do I like her like that?” I muttered softly.

I ran over the time I’d spent with her these past few days… Why exactly I’d spent every night at her side…

The first night was because I wanted to help her grow comfortable with going into the dreamscape again…

The second night was because I had such an enjoyable time with her… AND because, well, my internal clock was screwed…

But what exactly did I enjoy?

Her stories…

Her companionship…

Her laugh…

Her smile…

The way she practically GLOWS when she’s in the moonlight…

That sense of ease, of peace… of happiness when I’m with her, even when we’re… not saying ANYTHING…

I just like being with her…

I like being with her…

I like… HER…

I like her.

I LIKE HER!!

“Holy shit, I LIKE her!!” I blurted out, springing into a standing position. I slithered to the window and gazed out at the tower; I couldn’t see her, but I wanted, more than anything, to be there with her, to hold her close, to be there when she was sad, to be there when she was happy, to be there, period.

I wanted to hear her laugh, see her smile…

I wanted to be with her.

And I’d ran away when she seemed to want the same thing.

Shit.

I was out the door in seconds.

I didn’t bother taking the stairs up to the tower; I went back the way I’d came, out into the courtyard, past the guards, who jumped once again at my sudden appearance, and began scaling the tower like a mad cat. Please don’t be upset… I thought desperately.

I reached the balcony and peered through the bannister. Luna was looking heartbroken… I hated the scene before me—a miserable-looking Luna, sitting alone with only her night for company.

I’d never let it happen again.

I slithered over the bannister; Luna glanced at me, her eyes widening with surprise.

I reformed, fiddling with my claws anxiously. “...Hey…”

Luna didn’t say anything; I slowly sat back in my normal spot, the enthusiasm I’d felt moments before suddenly nowhere to be found.

I managed to reach deep into my mind and drag some willpower, kicking and screaming, from behind the sudden nervousness that had gripped me. “Sorry…” I said. “I… I just needed to think…”

“No, I’m sorry…” Luna said, her gaze falling to the ground. “I… I was too hasty… I shouldn’t have done that…”

“Well, actually…” I said, slowly placing my claw on the ground. “I’m… kinda glad you did… It made me… think about things…”

Luna glanced, shocked, at my claw, then at me. She blinked, astounded, her jaw slowly slackening.

Then her eyes relaxed, her mouth forming a warm smile. She put her hoof on the ground, some distance from my claw. I reached over and gently gripped it.

Luna scooched over, and rested her head on my shoulder; I firmed my mass at that point so she wouldn’t just fall through me, and gently rested my head on hers. I released her hoof and delicately reached around her back, pulling her close in a one-armed hug. She extended a wing over my arm and draped it over me. Her breathing was light, quiet, gentle… Her mane draped across my back in the wind, sending a surprising warmth through my mass…

“...We should probably keep this quiet from Celestia…” I said. “At least for now… Until she learns to really trust me…”

“Maybe…” Luna shut her eyes tranquilly. “But for now… It’s just us…”

I tightened the hug. “All I care about, really…”

Author's Note

This is all that I want in a relationship, really; someone who I can just love to hold close.

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Chapter 11: Acquisition

“Get up.”

Bulwark awoke with a start, his bones rigid from the cold morning dew that covered his crystalline coat. He shifted beneath the newspaper that was his ‘blanket’, wishing he hadn’t woken up at all. Despite being on his old master’s leash, he was left to fend for himself for food and shelter; he’d taken table scraps from the restaurants around Canterlot, and had lived, cold and (mostly) alone, in a dark alleyway near the castle.

Bulwark sat up, breathing heavily into his hooves and rubbing them together in an effort to warm up. The newspaper slid off his back; he turned to pick it up and read the headline.

“Rogue Gryphons attack Ponyville and are captured; Gryphon Emperor condemns the attack upon relieving authorities of Legionnaire Pridefall.”

Bulwark grimaced and tore the paper up in his magic. He leaned against the wall, clutching his head. He’d dreaded what would become of his forced trip to the Gryphon Empire; Sombra hadn’t revealed why they were there, he’d just instructed Bulwark to bring him close to the palace so he could ‘plant the seeds’... Bulwark had waited outside the palace for nearly an hour before Sombra returned, ordering him to get on the first train to Canterlot. Upon arrival, Sombra was completely silent for several days, but Bulwark knew he wasn’t gone… he could still feel the King’s eyes in the back of his mind. Then he’d heard of the attack and realized what he’d been accessory to; he’d been used as a vessel for Sombra to manipulate that gryphon, to trick him into attacking...

A thought occurred to him, putting a small grin on his face. “At least no one was killed there…” He muttered. “That must’ve been disappointing…”

Sombra laughed, making the smile fall from Bulwark’s face. “If that was the point, yes, that would have been a let down… But it held a greater purpose than glorious bloodshed, puppet… Go to the castle.”

Bulwark stood up, seeing no point in resisting. He lurked out of the alleyway and down the street, ignoring the disgusted looks from the local “well-made” denizens at the sight of the filth that covered him. He approached the castle and spotted the guards at the gates.

“Travel around the outer wall, towards the gardens.”

Bulwark veered to the left and moved along the outer perimeter as he was told, his gaze focused on the towers above. The Princesses were in there… They would likely help him, but he couldn’t think of a way to reach them without facing dire consequences…

“Stop.” He stopped, and felt his mane flutter as some unseen force flew from him; he could feel it leaving a single strand, keeping it anchored to him as well as keeping its gaze on him.

“There it is…” Sombra said, almost hungrily. “Take a look, puppet…”

Bulwark felt a sharp pain in his head before his vision went dark. It returned, and he was suddenly seeing through the King’s ‘eyes’, gazing into the courtyard. There, he could see Princess Luna, walking alongside… something… It was a strange, living mass of black ash, formed with the lower shape of a snake, and the torso of something like a minotaur, with thin, crooked arms and a plain black head, featureless save for a rather fearsome-looking mouth. Yet, the creature seemed comfortable walking alongside the Princess, chatting idly with her… Like it felt at home.

This is what you’re after? Bulwark asked. Why?

“This creature holds a power unlike anything I’ve seen… I know little about it, but with a vessel near, I can reach far enough to… examine it. Remain where you are.”

With a flash, Bulwark was suddenly in his body again, swaying dizzily. He leaned against the wall, panting heavily from the shock; from the strand that connected him to Sombra, he felt the shadow moving about, in a manner that could best be described as ‘poking’. For a minute, there was silence.

Then Sombra chuckled, a low, ominous noise that sent a chill down Bulwark’s spine. “It is WEAK…”

Weak?

“This creature… The mass that forms it is merely a substance, barely alive… But it is bound to another creature, has been for YEARS, it seems… A creature that is fully in control. This… ‘Dread’... It can spread fear with but a touch, can plunge its victims into such a beautiful darkness… Yet it CHOOSES not to… Rather than use the gifts at its disposal, it shirks, even FEARS what it can do… Such a waste… Even more so that I can’t claim it as it is now… Whilst the first creature, this… ‘human’... Is bound to the mass, it will accept no other hosts…”

So this is a waste of time… Bulwark thought, smirking. A sharp pain jabbed at his heart, but he savored it, enjoying the fact that he’d angered the tyrant.

“Not quite… There IS one who can separate the two, who is powerful enough to tear the human from the mass, leaving it open to a new host… And she already fears him enough that she wouldn’t protest.”

Who?

“Celestia… This creature, upon arriving, used its power on one of her subjects when it believed them to be enemies… Then again, inadvertently, when dear Luna peered into its dreams… Celestia believes him to have cruel intent… Sadly, that is not the case… But she doesn’t need to know this… Especially when Dread begins spreading fear throughout the city…”

But you said… Bulwark began.

“He wouldn’t spread fear, indeed… I, on the other hand…”

Bulwark felt his heart stop for a moment. ...You’re going to… frame it? Make Celestia believe it is invoking terror upon this city?

“Very good, puppet! The gryphons were merely our first step—the seeds of fear in Pridefall spread to the Princess, made her suspect Dread… We merely need to keep pressing on that suspicion. Now, in the dead of night--”

NO!! Bulwark stood up, scowling furiously. I will NOT let you do this!! I was foolish enough to fall into your trap, but you will NOT make anypony else suffer!! I no longer care what you do to me, so long as you do no more harm, monster!!

“Go ahead!!” He said aloud. “Plunge me into your darkness!!”

Sombra said nothing.

“DO IT!!” Bulwark said, not caring if he was heard by passers by.

Sombra began to laugh again. “How BRAVE of you, old friend… Willing to live in a nightmare to save others from the same fate…”

“I would rather suffer there, alone, than doom Equestria to suffer a worse fate,” Bulwark hissed.

“Ah, but don’t you see?”

Bulwark’s body suddenly froze, agony coursing through his very bones.

“You already have.”

What? His mouth was frozen, leaving him unable to speak.

“I never needed you, puppet… You, and this world, were doomed the moment you found my horn…”

But…

“You wonder why I let you retain your free will?” He chuckled.

“Because I enjoyed watching you squirm…” He said, as if he was whispering into Bulwark’s ear. “But it seems you will no longer amuse me… I suppose I will handle things myself.”

No…

“Goodbye, Bulwark.”

NO!!!

Bulwark screamed and fell to the ground, legs writhing in pain; his crystalline form began to blacken, his mane lengthened and became black, and his horn curved slightly upwards, gaining a blood-red hue.

His eyes remained stricken with terror, until, with a flash of purple and green magic, they relaxed into a cruel, sadistic gaze. His mouth opened in a cruel, fanged grin.

“Sir?” Private Gale called as he walked down the alley beside the castle wall; he’d heard somepony screaming and hurried to investigate. He’d found a unicorn pony—hailing from the Crystal Empire, given the look of his coat—laying prone on the ground, completely silent. The pony rose on shaky legs, panting heavily. “Sir, are you alright?” Gale asked, approaching the figure.

“I’m fine…” The unicorn said, his voice deep and oddly rough.

Gale narrowed his eyes as he approached. “Sir, you were just screaming… Are you sure it was nothing?”

The unicorn chuckled as Gale stopped, directly behind him. “Oh, don’t worry…”

He spun around, a purple and green aura surrounding his horn; the aura formed into a blast that struck Gale in the face, making him stumble back.

Gale heard the figure speak before blacking out.

“Soon, everyone shall be screaming…”

Author's Note

Bulwark, we hardly knew ye.

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Chapter 13: Stripped

“Alright, come on, Joel, you can do this…”

It was nearing nightfall; I only had so much time to at least get some practice in before Luna’s shift started. I limbered up—meaning I gave my mass the usual preparatory flex—and stared at myself in the mirror. “One step at a time…” I said, trying to keep focused. “Okay… here we go.”

I shifted my left arm into the shape of a pony’s left foreleg. I couldn’t do much to make my texture look like a coat, but I was more than satisfied with the shape.

Okay, one down…

I did the same thing to my other arm, then planted my newly shaped hooves on the floor. So far, so good…

Then came the trickier bits. I condensed my mass until it was in the shape of a pony’s body, then lifted it off the floor with a pair of formed tendrils that, with more careful shaping, would act as the hind legs. I took a long glance at the book I’d randomly grabbed from the library; on the cover was a detailed illustration of a male earth pony—perfect for me to mimic. I put a great deal of effort into making the body and hind legs look as normal as possible—once I’d perfected this shape, I could work on growing accustomed to shifting to it quicker.

Once I felt I’d put enough time into the body and legs, I glanced at myself in the mirror. All that remained was my head. I’d usually kept it in a shape vaguely similar to a horse head—all I needed to do was chisel in a few features and add a couple ears. As I focused intently on making my face, I considered adding a pair of wings—my body was looking a little bulky from the condensed mass, so having wings would take a deal of it away and give me a more reasonable shape. I still had the issue of not having eyes, normal-colored teeth and a cutie mark—I’d had enough trouble learning to change my mass to resemble human skin color, and even when I’d figured that out it left me feeling worn out whenever I did it. I supposed I could wear sunglasses, and maybe Luna could loan me some old guard armor to wear...

I could probably ask Luna for help with this…

I wasn’t fond of that thought; I wanted this to be a surprise for her… a way I could walk alongside her in public without inciting a panic about a living pile of ash stalking the streets. I didn’t know how Luna would react to me approaching her in the shape of a pony—she didn’t seem to care what I was, but, rather, who I was… and I felt the same about her. Maybe this wasn’t entirely necessary… but it gave me something to work on, since I hadn’t heard about any instances similar to Pridefall’s corruption.

A knock at the door broke my concentration, and I ended up putting a horizontal divot in what would have been my forehead. I sighed and dropped the pony shape. “Come in.”

The door opened; Tea Tray, one of the castle’s stewardesses, peered in. Tea Tray was one of the few castle staff that seemed comfortable around me. She was a unicorn with a beige coat and a cutie mark of, indeed, a tea tray. “Master Dread?” She asked. “Princess Luna requests your presence in her chambers, as soon as possible.”

I tilted my head in concern. “Did she say why?”

Tea Tray shook her head. “No, but… it seemed rather serious.”

I gave Tea Tray a nod. “Thank you.” I quickly moved past her—taking the time to savor that she didn’t flinch away from me as I did so—and hurried down the hall.

I was at Luna’s door within minutes. The guards had gotten used to my presence, now; I assumed it was either Luna’s good word, or perhaps the fact that it had been a while since I’d actually invoked their ire, however inadvertently. Whatever the case, they treated me like anypony else in the castle who didn’t wear a crown.

I slid to a stop at Luna’s door and knocked quickly. “Luna?” I asked.

No answer. Frowning, I tentatively opened the door and peered through. “Luna?”

Luna was standing at the window with her back to me; she wasn’t reacting to my presence. I entered the room, shutting the door behind me. “...Luna, what’s wrong?” I asked softly. No response.

Something was definitely wrong.

I began to slowly approach her. As I reached the center of the room, I held out my arms in an almost pleading gesture. “Luna, honey…”

Luna finally moved. She turned her head and looked straight at me.

In her tearful, reddened eyes, I could see pain, betrayal and anger—the latter of which I, somehow, knew to be both at me and herself.

She spoke, in a pained, almost broken voice. “Do it.”

There was a flash behind me. I had barely spun around in time to see Celestia and an unfamiliar unicorn with a strange, crystalline coat before a narrow column of flame sprang up around me, rising from the floor to the ceiling. The trap touched and burned the parts of my mass that had been too close to the edges, causing me to yell out in pain before shrinking myself away from the sides.

Through the flames I could see outside of the trap; I looked frantically between Celestia, the unicorn and, finally Luna. Shifting the burned parts of my mass towards my chest, I made a few confused, terrified attempts at speech as the three approached me. “Wh… Wh-What?! Why?! What the hell’s going on?!?!”

Celestia stood as close as she could to the column without getting burned herself; her horn was flaring a bright orange, indicating that she was the one channeling this spell. In her eyes was an anger so intense, I half-thought that the trap was formed of her rage, alone. I also noticed a hint of triumph and, conversely, regret.

I glanced over at Luna. I could see that she was doing everything to keep from sobbing as she approached, trying to stay strong for Celestia…

For the moment, my panic subsided, and I knew what this was.

Luna was the only one who knew about the only thing that could hurt me.

“Luna?” I said softly.

Celestia took a deep breath. “Your reign of terror is over… ‘Joel’.”

Eight Hours Ago

“So…” Bulwark said, his eyes showing exhaustion from his long discussion with Celestia. The pair had moved upstairs to the living room while Bright Dawn had gone downstairs to tend to the afflicted. “This ‘Dread’ says he was once a… ‘human’? That he had stumbled across a substance that made him into what he is today?”

Celestia nodded. “It would seem so… The human claims to be in complete control of the mass, but…” Her gaze fell to the floor. “Either that’s true, and he was always so cruel as to terrorize innocents, and is simply using the mass to his advantage… Or—and I’d actually prefer if it were so—he’s not as in control over the mass as we, or, perhaps, even he believes.”

“You think the mass may be controlling him?” Bulwark queried.

“Perhaps… Either way, the human is definitely bound to the essence.” Celestia rubbed her head with a hoof. “And I doubt he could part with it if he wanted to.”

Bulwark tapped his chin in thought. “...Perhaps… we could separate them?”

Celestia looked to Bulwark, raising an eyebrow. “Could we?” She asked, failing to disguise a glimmer of hope in her voice.

“If what Dread told you is true—though we have reason to believe he has been less than entirely honest—then the consciousness that drives the essence may be removed, practically torn from it…” Bulwark rubbed his chin. “We just need the proper--”

A bright flash interrupted him. When his vision returned, he found that the pair had been teleported into Celestia’s study within the castle. “...spell?”

Celestia stood up and briskly moved towards a nearby bookshelf, scanning her collection. “Luna and I used this spell at the Crystal Empire, a thousand years ago…” She murmured. “It was how we managed to purge Sombra’s influence from the Crystal Ponies he had entranced…”

Behind Celestia’s back, Bulwark’s eyes narrowed, flashing an angry green before returning to normal. “Indeed?”

She pulled a particularly dusty tome from the collection and began leafing through its pages. “We haven’t had need of it since then. I… Perhaps I could have used it when Luna became… misguided, but, at the time, I thought her actions were entirely her choice… Either way…” Celestia held the book open for Bulwark to see the spell; it detailed a bright orange beam that was enveloping an earth pony, pulling a wailing, shadowy apparition from out of his body, in the manner of a powerful gust blowing a pony’s cloak away.

“It’s not a spiritual possession with Dread, of course, but…” Celestia’s voice faltered. “...This is all I can think of, Bulwark…” She frowned at the floor.

“It’s perfect…” Bulwark said, a smile dawning on his face. Celestia looked up at him in surprise. “The spell is meant to purge a controlling influence from a separate being, Princess!”

Celestia looked at the spell again and smiled. “Then we have what we need…”

“It is a risk…” Bulwark said. “If the spell, for whatever reason, fails to work, then we are left to see Dread’s true colors…”

“He will either see that we have made our move, and will act in kind…” Celestia said, nodding. “...Or we were wrong, and he is simply furious at being betrayed… Either way, I know not what he may do. There’s also the event the spell does work, but removing him from the essence doesn’t free the victims from their Nightmares...”

“…I suppose there’s only one way to know for sure.” Bulwark said softly. Celestia gave a firm nod. “All that remains is how to keep him in one place long enough to perform the spell.”

Celestia was silent for a few long moments. Then she gave a deep, remorseful sigh. “...I might have a way…”

“You’re wrong.”

“Luna, please--”

“No. I refuse to believe it.” Luna stood up and stormed from the middle of her chambers, towards the window. After a few moments of trying to find the words, Luna turned to her sister, who lay in the middle of the room, a mournful expression on her face. “Still?! Still?! After everything, you still suspect him?!”

“I have reason to…” Celestia said; her voice carried a plea for a chance to speak.

“You simply refuse to see past what he does, what he can do!” Luna seethed. “You refuse to see him as anyone other than Sombra!!”

“Because there is little difference!” Celestia said hotly, standing up. “Luna, he has been working behind our backs…”

“He wouldn’t do that!!” Luna retorted. “But of course you wouldn’t know that—you never gave him a chance! The first thing you did was imprison him!!”

“You know why we did that!!” Celestia snapped, clearly trying, and failing, to keep her temper. “But that’s not the point…”

“Then what is the point?!” Luna cried. “What makes you think Dread is hoping to ‘plunge Equestria into darkness’?! What makes you think he has been lying to us all along?!”

“Pridefall was manipulated,” Celestia said, loudly; Luna’s expression softened somewhat. “Something made him… afraid, Luna… Afraid of us… Afraid of Equestria rising up as an overwhelming, military power… There was a look in his eyes, Luna, a look I haven’t seen since the Crystal Empire, so many years ago…”

“...Someone… drove him to attack Ponyville?” Luna asked.

Celestia nodded. “I’d… read that letter from the Gryphon Emperor in front of him, mentioned what were merely concerns on Pridefall’s part… A week later, he leads an attack that nearly kills the Bearers of Harmony? I doubt he would have grown so paranoid of us in such a short time… Not without somepony—or something—worsening his fears...”

“...B-b-but Jo—Dread, he… He would’ve needed to go all the way to the Gryphon Empire to do that!” Luna argued.

“Luna, it’s a mere three hour train ride there, three hours back… It’s not hard to believe he could board an early morning departure without anypony noticing.”

“But we were together practically every day since he’d arrived!” Luna argued; she paused and ran over the days before the Gryphon attack, muttering quietly. “...the evening the tear opened, the day he awoke, the day he and I spent in the gardens—that was the night with the letter, then…” Her voice faltered when she remembered something; Dread hadn’t been seen that entire day, until Luna had found him in the library towards the evening, when he would be given the news that he couldn’t return home…

...But no, he wouldn’t… He couldn’t have, the librarian had said he had been in there all day!

...As far as he knew.

Luna shook her head and looked back up at Celestia. “He wouldn’t have, sister—that’s not like him!”

“How do you know?” Celestia asked, simply.

“Because we’ve been together every night, for the past month!” Luna cried. “We’ve… talked, about so many things! We’ve been… been…” Her lips quivered; Luna blinked back a coming wave of tears.

Celestia stared at Luna, confusion and empathy in her eyes. “...You’ve been what?” Luna didn’t respond, yet her efforts to keep from breaking down were a clear enough indicator that there was something else. Celestia approached her sister. “Luna, what is it?”

Luna fell to her haunches and hugged herself with her forelegs. “I-I…” She whimpered, quickly beginning to break down.

Celestia sat beside Luna and pulled her close in a wing. “Luna, please, tell me…” She reached down and lifted Luna’s face with a tender hoof.

The briefest glance into her eyes—filled with pain, denial… a hint of regret—told Celestia all she needed to know.

“...Oh, Luna…” She whispered. Luna sniffled, a sob escaping her. “...How long?” Celestia asked.

“...N-Nearly four weeks, now…” Luna said. “We’ve been just… together… We haven’t… done anything, we’ve… just been… close…”

Celestia hugged Luna tighter. “...And you didn’t tell me because you worried how I would react…”

“We were going to…” Luna said quickly. “W-When we felt that you could finally trust him…”

Celestia understood. She couldn’t blame Luna for the secrecy—she was actually impressed that Luna had kept it under wraps.

She wanted to leave it here. She wanted to apologize to Luna, to say she was wrong, to apologize to Dread for being so distrusting… Anything to spare Luna this pain…

But the image of the terror-stricken victims in Bright Dawn’s home told her that she, as Princess, had a duty to uphold, for the good of her subjects.

“Luna…” Celestia said softly. “I’m sorry—truly, I am… But are we sure he--”

“Yes!” Luna snapped, pulling out of Celestia’s hug and glaring angrily at her. “There’s no ‘manipulation’ here, sister!! I…”

Luna hesitated, then straightened up and looked Celestia firmly in the eyes. “I love him… and he loves me.”

Celestia, however, shook her head sadly. “Does he?”

“Yes!!” Luna snapped. “I… I showed him that I… felt for him, and… Well, he was… taken aback. He left for a few minutes to… to gather himself, then came back, and… and showed he felt the same.”

“You made the… first move?” Celestia asked; Luna nodded vigorously. Celestia thought for a short time. “...Then… perhaps he--”

“Tia!!” Luna cried in both exasperation and disbelief.

“Perhaps he… saw an opportunity…” Celestia said; it hurt her, deeply, to say this, to further try and pull the wool from Luna’s eyes… She knew that Luna would be hurt, that she may struggle to trust anypony else after this… but it was for her own good, and for that of their home. “He… he saw that he could… earn your trust…”

“No…” Luna shook her head, glaring at her sister.

“Divert suspicion…”

“No!”

Celestia took a deep breath. “...Luna, Dread has been using you…”

“NO!!” Luna spread her wings angrily, her eyes glowing white. “You’re wrong!!” Her horn began to glow; wind began blowing through the room, causing the two sisters’ manes and tails to billow violently in the gale. “Joel is NOT Sombra!! HE IS NOT A MONSTER!! HE WOULD NEVER USE ME LIKE THAT!!!”

Celestia, unphased by Luna’s fury, closed her eyes and lit her horn. There was a flash.

When the light faded, the pair were in Bright Dawn’s basement. Luna’s eyes lost their glow, her horn dimmed and her wings folded back to her sides. “W-Where are we?” She asked, looking about in confusion. Her eyes fell on the ponies laying on the cots that surrounded them; the ponies lay shivering, whimpering, their legs folded inwards.

Luna had seen many ponies like this; when a pony was having a nightmare, they were often in such a pose as this… “What is this?” She asked softly.

“These…” Celestia said wearily. “...These are victims… They’ve been found over the past two weeks, all in the same state… We haven’t been able to help them.”

Luna stared, shocked, at the ponies, her breathing quickening. Her horn lit up as she stood over one victim and leaned towards his head. “M-Maybe I can…”

The aura around her horn suddenly flared. Luna yelped as, for an instant, pure terror struck her, then immediately faded as she stumbled backwards. The pony gave a short yell, his quivering becoming worse.

Celestia rushed forward and put her front hooves on Luna’s shoulders. “Are you okay??”

Luna caught her breath from the shock; the illusion, it… it had lashed out at her attempt to dispel it…

Like when she’d seen Joel’s dream…

Luna gave a shuddering gasp. She wanted to deny it…

...But who else could do such a thing?

“No…” She said, her voice cracking.

Celestia laid her head on Luna’s, affectionately. “...Luna, I’m so… so sorry…” She whispered.

“No…” Luna said again, tears streaming down her face. “No no no no no no no…”

Luna fell to her haunches; Celestia sat beside her and pulled her sobbing sister close. “It’ll be okay, Luna… It’ll all be okay…”

“Celestia…” I said softly as Celestia began circling the pillar of flame. “Luna, please, what’s going on here??”

Celestia was glaring sternly at me, while Luna was some distance away, keeping her gaze centered on anything but me. “You will no longer terrorize our home, Dread…” Celestia said firmly. “I gave you a chance to prove yourself… one of many mistakes I have made, over the years.” Her gaze flickered over to Luna.

“What are you talking about?!” I cried; I could have tried to find a way out of this trap, sure, but I was certain any movement on my part would encourage Celestia to suddenly shrink the column around me… I still didn’t know what would happen if I was completely burned, and this wouldn’t be a good time to find out.

“By my power as Princess of Equestria…” Celestia said firmly, stepping towards the unknown, crystalline unicorn, who was carrying a book in his magic. “I hereby strip you of your power.” The unicorn opened the book to a specific page and held it out for her.

I glanced frantically between them and Luna, who was still glaring bitterly, mournfully, at a nearby wall. “Wait! Wait!! PLEASE!!” I yelled; I didn’t know what they planned to do, or why, but I wasn’t very keen on finding out.

The glow of Celestia’s horn began to flare brighter. She grit her teeth with the effort and bent into a bracing stance as her horn began to form a bright ball at the tip.

I was able to meet her gaze before a massive orange beam flew out. The flame pillar dropped a mere instant before the beam hit me.

Agony.

I suddenly knew absolutely nothing but agony. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t hear, I couldn’t do anything. I felt like my brain was in a wind tunnel, with violent winds tearing past it, nearly blowing it out of my skull…

The agony began lessening, but only slightly. I could feel myself being pulled like a stubborn weed from… something, something that didn’t want to let me go. From the back of my mind I began feeling something tear from the pressure…

Whatever it was, it ripped open. The tear expanded rapidly, and I was pulled through what felt like some sort of bag. From where I could only see darkness, now I was completely blinded by light. As I was pulled through I could suddenly… feel, again.

I felt myself land on a carpeted floor; I was blind from the sudden light, as though my eyes hadn’t been used in years--

Wait, WHAT?

Cold… I was so cold… Laying on my… my side, I, almost instinctively, hugged my arms for warmth, pulled my legs close to my chest.

Oh god.

I flexed parts of my body. Five fingers. Five toes. Skin.

Oh my god.

My chest was suddenly feeling tight; I could feel something clutching, begging for something…

Breathe. BREATHE.

I made a loud, gasping inhale. I breathed in and out, continuing to rub my skin in disbelief.

My eyes quickly began to adjust to the light. After a few, worrying seconds, I could see Luna’s room again. Celestia, Luna and the unnamed pony were staring at me, eyes wide. In the middle of the room was what I instantly knew to be the mass I’d been controlling for the past four years.

I was laying, naked, on Luna’s bedroom floor.

I was laying, naked, on Luna’s bedroom floor as a human.

I was human again.

And the first thing I did was let out a scream of terror.

Author's Note

Oh noez.

(I felt I could have made this a bit beefier, but I want to get back into a steady momentum of posting new chapters.)

Feedback in the comments!

Chapter 14: True Potential

So there I lay; naked on Luna’s floor, curled up in a ball and shivering violently. I was still becoming reaccustomed to the sudden change—I’d gotten as far as moving my arms, twitching my legs and moving my face, but my body seemed to still be ‘booting up’. I was still breathing heavily, as if fearing that, if I stopped, even for a moment, I would forget how to do so again, having gone four years without needing to. The air around me felt freezing, yet I felt myself quickly warming up; I still remained curled in a ball, though, out of some instinct to cover my ‘bits’. I felt so… weak, so vulnerable…

I was staring at Luna, Celestia and the unicorn as the three approached me carefully. The anguish Luna had seemed to be feeling before had, momentarily, subsided, as she looked at me with concern. Celestia didn’t seem as angry, now; she seemed to be waiting for me to say something, for the first words out of my mouth since being stripped of the mass...

My eyes fell on the mass on the floor behind them; it was forming a sloppy pile, as though someone had taken a shovelful of ash and just dropped it on the floor. It was… strange. The thing I’d known to be my body for the past four years looked so… alien, now.

I was unsure how I felt about it, betrayal notwithstanding; on the one hand, I had plenty of times in that form where I deeply missed being human… Nothing was complicated, I wouldn’t be looked at like a monster, I didn’t always have the stress of keeping people safe looming over my shoulder...

And yet, that form had so many… ‘perks’, it had quickly grown on me… I’d ended up living a more interesting, fulfilling life than I would as a human. I’d made plenty of friends in training and in the Department… I’d been brought here… Where I met--

That thought quickly crumbled when I remembered what had just happened. In retrospect, I wasn’t that surprised that Celestia had played a part in this… It was Luna who made this betrayal sting the worst… Luna, who’d been a friend. Luna, who I trusted… And now, here I was… Naked, depowered…

Betrayed…

I looked up at the Princesses. “...What did you do…?” I whispered, my mouth slurring somewhat, like I was shaking off some numbing gel from a dental procedure.

Celestia stopped a few inches from me; Luna was standing some distance behind her, looking away from me. “You told us of how you became ‘Dread’...” Celestia said. “We theorized that your essence—your human essence—was bound to that of the strange substance. I used a spell meant to purge one entity—corporeal or otherwise—from another, and was able to remove you from the mass.”

I looked from her to the mass behind her. “...W-We were… bound…?”

Celestia nodded stiffly; she seemed to be holding back any judgment at this stage. “I believe that, when you were exposed to it, the mass… consumed you, in a sense—yet not in any permanent way. It simply… fused with you, granting it life and… binding it to your will. The spell purged your essence—while simultaneously reforming it—and separated you.”

I glanced to my hand, rotating it in front of my face. It looked… exactly… like it did that day… Nails short from biting, paper cut on the index finger… Physically, I’d been… preserved, while in that mass, not aging even remotely… I was the same man in body as I was on June 18th, 2021.

I glanced up at Celestia. “...Why?” I asked, my voice cracking with both confusion and pain.

Celestia narrowed her eyes. “...Because you betrayed my trust, Dread.”

I bit back a comment about wondering if I’d had it to begin with. “What?”

“You have plunged my subjects, my friends, my family, into pure terror…” Celestia said darkly. “You instigated an attack on Ponyville that nearly left my student and her friends dead. You made a grand display of friendliness to disguise your much crueler schemes—regardless of whatever they may be.”

Celestia leaned towards me; the anger in her eyes was quickly returning. “Yet, to me… your most hateful crime was in deceiving my sister, in one of the most sadistic ways imaginable…” I looked over at Luna; she was screwing her eyes shut to fight back another wave of tears.

Panic, confusion and desperation were quickly flooding my mind; I wasn’t thinking about what they were going to do to me—imprison me, turn me to stone like they had Discord… I was afraid of what had made them do this—the suspicion, the thought that everything I’d done for them being meaningless. I was afraid of my relationship with them—with Luna—suddenly turning so antagonistic… Even knowing that I’d be here for the rest of my life, I’d known it would be a good one… I’d be with good friends, good people… With Luna...

Luna, who had had been there for me since the beginning. Luna, who had been a friend when others would only be suspicious. Luna, who I’d… fallen for…

The thought of her suddenly turning on me like this… Of her leaving me... Of me being alone here, either imprisoned or in exile...

I looked back up at Celestia; for the first time in years, I felt tears start dripping down my cheeks. “...P-Princess, please, I don’t understand!!” I said, my voice quickly rising in desperation. “I haven’t… I haven’t done anything!! I don’t know what you’re talking about!! I didn’t… I didn’t ‘instigate’ anything, I’ve done everything I can to make up for what I did to Applejack and Luna!! And I… I didn’t deceive her!! Princess, please, you have to believe me!!! I never wanted to hurt ANY of you!! I WOULD NEVER HURT LUNA!! PLEASE!!”

Celestia shook her head, almost in disappointment. “We will hear no more of your lies, Dread.”

I looked over at Luna desperately. “Luna!” I cried; I tried inching towards her, reaching for her. “Luna—Luna, please…”

Luna glanced at me; our eyes met.

Luna closed her eyes and turned away, walking back towards the window.

I stared in horror at her before Celestia straightened up. The crystalline unicorn turned and approached the mass, examining it.

“Dread…” Celestia said, speaking in a tone appropriate for dispensing judgment. “By my right as Princess, I hereby charge you with terrorism of the populace, and intended treason against the Kingdom. You will be imprisoned, and shall stand trial for your crimes.”

She narrowed her eyes again. “No longer shall you instill terror upon the good citizens of Equestria.”

“Indeed,” the unicorn finally spoke, his voice deep, casual, and malicious. “Let somepony else have the pleasure.”

My eyes widened, as did Celestia’s; I practically heard glass shatter as I realized exactly what was happening.

I looked at the unicorn, who was grinning maliciously before he, dramatically, stamped a hoof into the mass.

“NO!!” I bellowed.

The unicorn’s horn began glowing a bright, blood red. The mass reacted violently, hissing as it quickly climbed up the unicorn’s leg and began enveloping him. Celestia and Luna both spun around, gasping in shock. “Bulwark?!” Celestia cried.

The mass only took a couple seconds to completely envelope the pony called Bulwark; now it was left as a large, convulsing, egg-shaped collection of ash. The occasional red flash from parts of the mass made it look like a black storm cloud, with crimson lightning raging within. Bulwark’s cruel, cruel laugh began rumbling from the mass, sending a chill down my spine.

Celestia was staring, agape, at the sight, taken aback by this, the true betrayal. Luna, however, was quicker to act. Her eyes began glowing, with a fury that can only come from true pain and anguish; her wings flared, and her horn lit up. “MONSTER!!” She shrieked, charging forward.

The mass suddenly extended a thick tendril, swinging horizontally from the left. It collided with Celestia, who had just been regaining her senses; it was meant to be more than a physical attack, it seemed, because it let loose a volatile black spark upon impact, evoking a pained shriek from Celestia. The blow sent her flying, a smoking burn in her side, into the charging Luna. The sisters grunted as they collided with the wall, and fell to the floor in a heap. “NO!!” I yelled. I tried to stand, but my legs were numb and, for the moment, unresponsive. I fell to the floor again and, desperately, began furiously crawling towards the dazed Princesses.

A black tendril suddenly reached out and wrapped itself around my neck—not tight enough to choke, but a firm enough grip that I couldn’t escape its grasp. The tendril tensed and, with a twirl, flipped me onto my back before pinning me to the floor.

I looked up as best I could as I wrapped my hands around the tendril, in a vain attempt to free myself. The mass began… deflating, the red flashes quickly ceasing, and Bulwark’s laugh growing louder.

The mass began taking a coherent shape… one of a pony, a unicorn to be exact. The body and legs formed first, leaving a trailing, cape-like tail that billowed ominously behind Bulwark. The head formed next, initially becoming a pure black, featureless unicorn head. The horn was curved upwards, quickly turning a thick, blood red. The mass shaped to add an unkempt black mane, and a cruelly shaped crown. The pony’s mouth took a shape similar to my own as Dread—a simple black maw, lined with savage teeth. The mouth was curved into a monstrous grin as Bulwark cackled; the head gained a pair of piercing red eyes, each with a thin, snake-like pupil.

Bulwark’s crazed laughter had reached its crescendo; he reared triumphantly, the mass rippling excitedly. “It… is… MINE!!”

I’d stopped struggling in the tendril’s grip, only watching in terror. Celestia had stirred, and was now staring, horrified, at the monstrosity before us.

“Sombra…” She whispered.

The door to Luna’s chambers shuddered as someone knocked on the far side. “Princess!” Came the voice of a guard. “Is everything alright??”

Sombra scowled as he glanced over his shoulder at the door. From his back, a thick tentacle rose up and flew at the door with terrifying force. It smashed the door off its hinges and pushed it out into the hall, where I heard several guards yell as it collided with them. The tentacle then pulled back and deformed. It draped itself over the doorway like a curtain and latched itself to the doorframe, barring access. Sombra looked back at us, his cruel smile returning.

Celestia and Luna had stood up, now, scowling furiously at Sombra. Celestia’s horn sparked, but sputtered out as she fell to a knee, the wound in her side clearly worse than it seemed. Luna’s own horn lit up, a fireball forming in front of her, ready to be hurled at Sombra.

Sombra shook a hoof condescendingly. “Now, now, dearest Luna…” he said, his voice deep, cruel and almost hungering. The tendril around my throat suddenly pressed down, choking me; I flailed my legs and tried, again, to free myself. “As I’m sure ‘Dread’ here would attest, there are many dangers in toying with fire…”

Luna’s eyes flickered my way. I kept trying to pry the tendril from my throat, yet a part of me remembered, all too well, how futile it was.

A small part of me hoped she would just fry the prick.

Luna hesitated… then clenched her teeth, screwed her eyes shut, and dropped the spell; the fireball flickered out instantly.

Sombra gave a mild chuckle. “Good.”

The tendril suddenly lifted off of me and flew to the side, colliding with Luna and slamming her into the wall again.

“NO!!” I roared, sitting up.

“LUNA!!” Celestia cried, running forward in spite of the pain in her side.

Sombra laughed as he whipped the tendril upwards. It met Celestia’s jaw in an uppercut and flung her upwards, slamming her into the ceiling; the ceiling cracked from the impact, scattering dust and chips of paint as Celestia fell to the floor.

Cackling joyfully, Sombra split the tendril in two and began slamming them, repeatedly, on both Celestia and Luna, evoking cries of pain that grew louder and louder with each blow.

“STOP!!” I yelled, getting on my hands and knees and crawling towards Sombra. “STOP!! STOP IT!!”

I made a mad swipe at one of the tendrils; the moment my hand made contact, they both suddenly fused back into a single tentacle and rounded on me. The tendril slammed me back to the floor, pressing down hard enough to constrict my breathing again.

Sombra loomed over me, all signs of his sadistic amusement gone from his eyes as he glared at me. He leaned closer, stroking the tendril with a hoof like it was a loyal pet. “And why do you care what happens to them?” He asked, jerking his black head towards the Princesses. “If it were me, I’d be thrilled to see a traitor get their dues… But then, of course, I may have had something to do with it…” He grinned darkly, clearly taking pleasure in the hateful glare I was giving him.

“So it was you…” I said through clenched teeth. “You were the one to make Pridefall attack Ponyville…”

Sombra nodded eagerly. “Yes, very good… You see, I knew our beloved Princess of the Sun was the only one who feared you enough to be willing to part you from this… glorious creature you were attuned with…” He gazed at a hoof in wonder for a moment. “I simply worked on that fear, gave her sufficient reason to act.”

“So you could take it from me…” I said, gazing at the tendril that was pinning me to the floor. If I thought it had looked unfamiliar before as a lifeless pile of ash, it was completely alien now that it was being used against me…

Sombra stroked the tendril again. “I believe it’s for the best, though…” He said, almost cooingly to the tendril, before looking back at me. “After all, you weren’t exactly letting it live up to its potential…”

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“You would have restrained it… controlled it… Kept it from its purpose, from spreading glorious, glorious terror to the weak, the foolish, those who would be fortunate to serve as slaves!!” His jaw was clenched furiously now; he looked ready to plunge the tendril straight through my chest. “Fear… is one of the most, if not the most potent form of magic, of control, in this world or any other!! Your childish, foolish ideals left this… this gift, WASTED, under YOUR control!!”

I stared in his eyes, unflinching. “Excuse me if your scorn doesn’t leave that great an impact.”

The tendril lifted me up and hurled me back; I smashed through one of the banisters surrounding Luna’s four-poster bed and rolled to a stop, tangled with the curtains that had surrounded it (yet also thankful for having some coverage, now).

I rolled onto my back and made to sit up, but found a large black blade, formed at the end of Sombra’s tendril, hovering over my throat. It slowly moved up and down, aiming its strike. I turned my head towards Sombra, who was grinning hungrily at me. Luna and Celestia were barely stirring, trying to stand but quickly falling with gasps of pain.

The blade pressed down on my throat; one strong enough push, and it would cut right through my neck with ease. My breathing quickened, panic threatening to seize control…

The blade lifted. “No…” The tendril retracted, being absorbed back into Sombra. He began walking towards the window, his tail lingering behind to keep obstructing the doorway with mass. “This is my gift to you… ‘Joel’... Your life, as thanks for this offering.” He glanced at me darkly. “Though I don’t see how much it will be worth in the days to come…”

He turned towards the window and thrust several tentacles forward, shattering it. He planted a hoof on the windowsill and gazed out into the evening skies before turning towards the Princesses, still laying on the floor yet quickly regaining consciousness. “I’ll be reclaiming that which is rightfully mine. Move against me, or don’t… it matters little in the end.”

Sombra turned around and backed towards the window; he began laughing again. “Fear the days to come… Dread what tomorrow brings, beware every shadow, let your minds be flooded with TERROR!!”

He prepared to leap out the window. “For these are the last days where fear will be your choice.”

Cackling, Sombra threw himself backwards; the mass that had barred the door quickly trailed behind him. Like a large, tightly-knit swarm of black locusts, Sombra flew over the Canterlot skies and vanished into the night, his laugh resounding throughout the entire city. With the blockage removed, guards hurried into the room; a pair of them—pegasi—immediately spotted the shattered window and took off after Sombra, though I somehow knew they wouldn’t be able to catch him. The others either stood guardedly near the Princesses, or surrounded me, wary of the second alien creature to arrive in Equestria in the past month.

I barely noticed them, though; I had sat up and was staring at the window, mouth agape. Celestia and Luna were gazing at it, too, the consequences of their actions not lost on them.

I only barely noticed a flash at the doorway; out of the corner of my eye, I could see Discord glancing about, a gallon of milk in his talon and a look of confusion in his eyes. “...Ugh, I leave for twenty minutes…” He sighed. When he noticed that his presence was only barely noticed, he glanced at Celestia, frowning with a concern I didn’t expect of him. “...Celestia?”

Celestia looked more terrified than any of us, her eyes wide, her breathing shallow and quick.

Slowly, she turned her head towards me.

I met her gaze.

“...What have you done?” I asked.

Author's Note

MUST... GET BACK... INTO RHYTHM...

Feedback in comments, as per the norm.

Chapter 15: Downfall

Shining Armor galloped down the spiral staircase, partly wishing he’d taken up Cadence’s offer to simply teleport him outside. The guard running behind him certainly seemed to wish he had, given his growing pants of exhaustion as he worked to keep up.

“So, tell me again what the guard reported?” Shining asked as the pair neared the bottom of the stairs.

“The guards stationed at the southernmost outpost were missing when Sky High and his CO were patrolling nearby,” the guard said. “His CO told him to report back here while he checked it out. Sky started flying back here, when he heard his CO… screaming…”

Shining grimaced. “Alright… I’ll debrief him, have the Diamond Guard organize a defense around the edge of the city, have all those stationed at the remaining perimeter outposts recalled back here, and have all civilians lock themselves indoors. We’re not taking any chances with this… whatever it is.”

The pair finally reached the bottom of the stairwell and hurried out the door, emerging from one of the structural supports at the base of the Palace, surrounding the Crystal Heart. The orange glow of the setting sun, while quite pleasing to look at, carried a sense of foreboding for Shining; it would be dark soon. If the Empire was truly under attack, its attackers would have the cover of night on their side. The guard quickly spread his wings and took flight towards the Diamond Guard barracks, while Shining approached a cluster of guards huddled near the Heart. They were surrounding, and restraining, a pegasus guard, who was struggling valiantly against them.

“Lemme go!!” Sky High barked desperately. “Lemme go, I gotta get back to him!! I should’ve gone back right then!! I shouldn’t have left him!!”

“Easy, soldier, easy!!” Shining said as he approached. The guards made way for him to put his hooves on Sky High’s quavering shoulders. Shining lit his horn, just in case, and spoke in as calming a tone as he could manage. “Listen to me, okay? Everything’s gonna be fine, you need to just tell us what happened… Where were the guards at the outpost? What happened to your commanding officer?”

Sky made to keep struggling, but quickly relented under Shining’s firm hold. “W-We… Sergeant Aero, he… he saw that the outpost was empty—at which point we knew something was up, since there’s always a patrol marching along the base of those towers… He told me that we didn’t wanna take any chances, said he’d check it out and told me to report back here… Which I was fine with, until… Until I heard him… heard him screaming… barely twenty seconds later!!”

Sky put his face in his hooves. “I left him… I should’ve gone back, I should’ve gone back right then!! Why did I leave him?!”

“Hey! Hey!!” Shining said loudly, shaking Sky by the shoulders, none-too-roughly. “Listen to me… You did good coming back here, and I’m sure Aero would agree; we have a chance to organize a defense against whatever’s happening. We’re gonna figure out what’s going on, alright?”

Sky relaxed somewhat, a mixture of both doubt and hope in his eyes, before nodding. Shining looked up to one of the other guards. “Get him to the infirmary, have somepony give him something to calm his nerves.” The guard gave a quick salute before taking Sky High in a gentle but firm wing-hold and pulling him towards one of the doors leading into the Palace.

Shining turned towards the remaining soldiers. “Listen up! While the defense of the city is organized, I’ll be leading Amethyst Company towards the southern perimeter to investigate. Emerald Company is going to split into three groups to ensure the same thing hasn’t happened to the other outposts, and to ensure those stationed there withdraw safely.”

“What about the Crystal Heart, sir?” One soldier asked, gesturing with his wing towards the slowly rotating artifact sitting upon its pedestal.

Shining shook his head. “Whatever’s happening can’t be bad enough to justify falling on it so quickly. We won’t be scared into using it.”

A low, booming laugh made Shining’s insides freeze. He slowly turned around, seeing nothing but the street behind him, quickly emptying itself of the ponies still hurrying to their homes.

The stone sundered in front of him with a loud ‘crack’. A pitch black crystal, as sharp as a dagger, rose from the crumbling ground and split down the middle like an egg. From within, a twisting black substance spilled out of the shell, swirling and shaping itself as the laughter grew in volume. Shining took a step back, caught off guard by the display before him.

The substance took the shape of a black pony, a unicorn, with piercing red eyes and a cruel, fanged mouth, grinning hungrily.

The ash-creature stared maliciously at Shining and chuckled. “Greetings… my prince.”

“Sombra…” Shining whispered. He quickly gathered himself and ducked into a defensive stance, horn flaring brightly. The guards behind him quickly held their spears, balanced upon their wings, and pointed them at Sombra.

Sombra gave them a single glance before frowning, unamused. Several tentacles suddenly sprang out from his back, flew past Shining and struck the guards, sending them flying back and their spears clattering to the ground. Before the guards hit the ground, they began screaming in blind terror, their eyes glazed over and their legs thrashing violently.

Shining could only give it a single, horrified glance before turning back towards Sombra with a furious scowl…

The tendrils suddenly combined into one that wrapped itself tightly around Shining’s throat, lifting him in the air as Sombra approached. The former King was smiling, clearly enjoying himself. “Your time has been enjoyable, I hope?” He asked casually. “Sitting atop my throne?”

Shining lit his horn and fired a blast into Sombra’s face; his features distorted for a moment, but quickly reformed, Sombra seeming unphased by the attack.

Shining put his confusion as to what Sombra had become, out of his mind for now. He kept struggling in Sombra’s grip, scowling at the monster. “You… lost…” Shining spat. “The Empire… doesn’t… fear you… anymore…”

To his surprise, Sombra nodded in a conceding manner. “Perhaps you’re right, Armor… In your victory, you’ve given the Empire hope… You’ve shown them that they need no longer fear the King they’ve known…”

Sombra turned Shining towards the Crystal Heart as he approached it, his mouth almost watering at the sight of it. The Heart, as though sensing the threat, began spinning faster, a soft ringing emanating from it.

“What’re you…” Shining said, only to be cut off by the tendril tightening further.

Sombra gave him another sneer before extending a single, small tendril towards the Heart. The tendril was stopped by a barrier of light that flickered into existence a few inches from the Heart, but only momentarily. The barrier quickly blackened from the touch and melted away, leaving the Heart exposed.

Shining heard ponies yelling behind him. He turned his head as much as he could to see a number of pegasi in the distance, taking flight from the streets and soaring towards them.

Shining dared to hope they could reach them.

“But of course…” Sombra said. “I am not the King they’ve known…”

The tendril touched the Heart; the Heart froze as the tendril suddenly pierced it, flooding it with the black essence and sending arcs of black energy from it. The ground beneath the pedestal began to glow a deep, blood red, and the ground began to rumble ominously.

The guards were mere seconds away, now. Shining wanted to shout to them, either words of encouragement or advice against whatever darkness Sombra now controlled.

“I am much worse.” Sombra said.

A wave of black energy suddenly pulsed from the Heart, and Shining blacked out.

I sat on my bed, wrapped in a blanket and staring blankly at the floor. I was feeling numb, and not from getting used to being human again; Luna had cast a spell on me, mainly used on those just freed from some form of petrification, to help loosen their stiffened muscles. I still moved rather stiffly, but I could stand again.

I felt like I was going to be ill… Part of me was happy that I was proven innocent, but it was drowned out by the pain of knowing that I, however inadvertently, had doomed this world… simply by being here. Alongside that was the pain of knowing that Luna had betrayed me… I knew she and Celestia had been used, mislead... I knew they wouldn’t have done this if they knew the truth… Yet a stubborn part of me didn’t want to forgive them; it kept asking how Luna could believe Celestia’s accusations, how she could question how I truly felt for her, how she could believe that all the time we’d spent together was meaningless… Try as I might, I couldn’t be angry at Luna, though; it was clear that it hurt her to play her part in the trap, and even more to see that she was wrong…

Celestia, on the other hand… I’d made my own share of mistakes, I’d done what I could to make up for them… yet it hadn’t been enough for her. I took a small amount of pleasure in internally raging against Celestia, furious at her stubborn refusal to see me as anything other than a monster. I wanted to confront her, to yell, scream at her, for not giving me a real chance to earn her trust, for being so quick to suspect me in the attacks on her subjects that she didn’t see the puppet strings until it was too late...

Yet at the same time, after seeing Sombra, I could understand… I could see how such a true, legitimate monster could make her so wary of someone like me… I could see how she would be so blinded to any other perspective, for fear of history repeating itself.

Understanding, however, doesn’t always bring forgiveness. Betrayal can be hard to look past, in any circumstance.

After Sombra’s flight from the castle, Celestia had stiffly penned a letter to Twilight, asking her to bring the Elements of Harmony to Canterlot, before retiring to her chambers. Luna had ordered the Royal Guard to prepare Canterlot’s defenses against the Crystal Empire, to the north; Sombra had made it clear that the Empire was his first target, and by the time a proper offensive could be mounted, he would likely be well-entrenched… And with the mass at his disposal, combined with the hellish powers he already wielded, no one knew what to expect. Guards had argued that a warning should be sent to the Empire, but Luna quickly deemed it hopeless; they had no pegasi who could hope to get a message to the Empire before Sombra could lay claim to it. On top of that, they couldn’t send a letter to someone she called “Princess Cadence” via magic, like they could with Spike in Ponyville.

All we could do for the Empire, it seemed, was hope—or pray—for the best.

As the corridors became congested with guards, running about and preparing every possible defense, Luna had brought me to my room. Neither of us spoke as we walked; I’d kept one of Luna’s blankets wrapped around me tightly, focusing on keeping myself covered rather than think about what had happened barely ten minutes ago. Once we reached the door to my room, I’d simply entered, shut and locked the door behind me without so much as a backwards glance. I heard Luna linger outside my room for a few moments before walking away.

An hour passed—almost in the blink of an eye. I found myself dipping into pure despair once again; I cursed myself for messing with that canister four years ago, for deciding to become an MHA, for being so stupid with the Rift and ultimately dooming this world… I cursed Sombra, cursed Celestia for being so… so damn stupid about it all… And I cursed myself… for letting myself get so attached to this world… to Luna… that this betrayal would sting all the worse.

I gave a shuddering breath, blinking back tears. In the entire time I’d been in Equestria, I’d never wanted to go home this bad…

There was a knock at the door. I didn’t respond, hoping whoever was knocking would either get the hint, or at least assume I wasn’t in.

Another knock; this time the door opened slowly. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Tea Tray peeking through the crack. “...D-Dread?” She asked softly.

“...Hey, Tray…” I mumbled, not looking up at her as I heard her enter the room.

Tray was silent for a time; I could feel her gaze, examining me closely before giving a quick cough. “Dread, the… The Princesses have… requested your presence, in the throne room.”

I didn’t move. I didn’t want to see them. I was worried about what I’d do if I saw them, so soon after their deceit.

I heard Tea Tray approach tentatively. “Dread?” She asked softly.

“It’s Joel…” I muttered. When she didn’t respond, I met her confused gaze. “My name, it’s… actually ‘Joel’. ‘Dread’ was just an… alias, you know?” My gaze fell to my hand. “It just… doesn’t apply anymore. I’m just… Joel.”

Tea Tray approached the foot of the bed, laying a hoof on the edge. “I heard what happened… Everypony’s scared out of their wits right now…”

“And you’re not?” I asked dully.

“Oh, I’m terrified…” She replied, a shudder running down her back. “I’m worried about what could be coming from up north… Thankfully, nopony outside the castle knows about it, otherwise Canterlot would be tearing itself apart before Sombra could have the pleasure… But I am scared, Dr--,” she caught herself. “Joel. I’m scared for my home, my friends… my son…”

I looked up at her again; she was looking at me, her eyes filled with despair, yet a dash of hope as well. “...Joel, what’s going to happen?” She asked softly.

I could practically see the truth, written flatly on a dull piece of paper in my mind; ‘Sombra’s gonna conquer the Crystal Empire, use whatever power there to march south and conquer the rest of Equestria, plunging its denizens into their deepest, darkest nightmares, and there’s little to no hope of stopping him.’

Yet the look in Tea Tray’s eyes… I’d seen it plenty of times. It was the look of someone being held hostage, looking to you, silently begging you to save them from the madman pressing the gun to their head. The look of a friend who had a fear, held deeply within, that was slowly eating away at them, and who needed your comforting words to put them at ease.

It was a plea for me to give her a reason not to just… give up.

I stood up shakily, walked over to Tea Tray, knelt down and hugged her tightly. “We’ll do everything we can to make it right…” I whispered. “I promise.”

Tea Tray sniffled and hugged me back.

I stood the doors to the throne room, the blanket still wrapped around me like some very crude robe; the usual guards on either side of the enormous doors were gone, likely drafted in the defense of Canterlot. I’d heard that the city proper was told this was a simple drill, to keep the guard’s senses sharp in the event of another attack, like the changeling invasion from two years ago.

I considered knocking only after I’d opened the door and entered, leaving it hanging slightly ajar behind me. I’d been in the throne room a few times in the past month, but never at times where Celestia was holding an audience with someone, whether they were a noble or one of her subjects. The room was basically your average, grandly designed throne room; the walls were lined with a series of stained glass windows, each depicting some major moment in Equestria’s history—a fair few of them depicting Twilight and her friends. At the far end was a raised platform, leading a pair of thrones, much like those I’d seen in Luna’s Nightmare—one designed with a sun motif, the other with a moon.

Neither of their respective occupants were seated, though; they were standing at the foot of the stairs to their thrones. They seemed to have been addressing Twilight and the other Bearers—all of whom were wearing the ornate jewelry, the Elements of Harmony, that I’d seen them wearing in Luna’s Nightmare—before I’d entered; all eyes were now on me. I was given looks of surprise, confusion, and mild fear as I approached, but ignored it. As I walked down the long, red carpet in the center of the hall, I could see a look of pure misery in Celestia’s eyes… She was probably telling the Bearers what had happened.

How she screwed everyone over…

I shook that bitter thought out of my head as the ponies took note of my entrance. The Bearers were surprised at the sight of me, but one by one they recognized me as a human, from the little slideshow I’d given them, the day after I’d arrived. I kept my gaze on them—I didn’t want to acknowledge Celestia or… Luna, just yet. “Hey,” I muttered emotionlessly.

Fluttershy, surprisingly, was the first to approach, followed closely by Applejack. “Are you alright?” She asked delicately.

“I’m okay…” I said automatically.

“C’mon, now, darlin’...” Applejack said, in a voice that was both stern and tender. “You can’t ‘spect us to believe that.”

I shrugged, saying nothing. Twilight carefully approached; out of the corner of my eye I could see Celestia turning away from us, while Luna was staring fixedly at the spot where Twilight had been standing. “Princess Celestia says, well…” Twilight began, trying to find the words. “All she said was that… she ‘failed us’... That Sombra returned, that you were made… ‘human’ again, that Sombra took your mass and… went up North… And that it was all… her fault?” Those last words sounded agonizing, coming out of her mouth.

Part of me wanted to tell her everything—everything—sparing no anger, no shouting, to tell her how her beloved mentor, her idol, had potentially doomed everything she cared about.

But it was the same with Tea Tray… Here, a blunt truth would do us no favors.

I took a breath, and told her everything, sticking to facts and nothing else; how a number of terror-stricken ponies were being found in Canterlot, in a state not unlike that of one of my Nightmares, how Celestia had suspected me, how Sombra had tricked her into stripping me of the mass as a means of depowering me, how he stole the mass…

“Were you doing it?” Dash suddenly asked, as I was wrapping up.

I blinked. “What?”

“Were you putting ponies into your Nightmares?” Dash asked, stepping forward and glowering suspiciously at me.

I heard a barely audible ringing in my ears. I felt my cheeks grow hot, and my jaw beginning to clench. “I…”

“Rainbow…” Applejack said sternly, approaching her, ready to step in if things got ugly.

“No, we have a right to know!” Dash snapped, pushing past Applejack. “I want to know whether the Princess was right to suspect you!!”

My hands began feeling numb as I stared, disbelieving, into Rainbow’s accusing face. My throat seemed to tighten, leaving me, for the moment, speechless.

“Cause, the way I see it?” Dash said hotly. “We might have just traded one monster for another…”

“Fuck. You.”

I felt my face quivering in fury as I glared at Dash, fighting an almost animalistic desire to outright attack her. Dash had taken a step back in surprise, clearly startled by the outburst that continued to echo in the large throne room.

I was angry, dumbfounded, at how I was still being met with suspicion, even now. All the understanding I had, about knowing what had driven Celestia and Luna to betray me, swiftly vanished, if only for the moment, leaving only a fury that had boiled over. The other ponies were staring, slack-jawed, yet didn’t step in as I leaned slightly forward, looming over Dash. “Nothing… is good enough for you… I gave you no real reason to doubt me, I did everything I could to make up for what I did to Applejack and Luna—the latter of whom I affected by accident—hell, I saved your fucking lives!! For a time, I even thought I might be considered your friend!! God knows that would’ve been nice to have, seeing as I’m stuck here for the rest of my life—however long that lasts!”

My rising volume made the ponies, except for Celestia and Luna, take an anxious step back. Fluttershy was hiding her face in her mane in sheer terror; part of me wanted to make me see reason, make me remember that I did have those I could count as friends here, but it was like trying to hold back a stampeding elephant with duct tape.

“But no…” I continued; I pulled my gaze from Dash to look at Celestia, who looked as though my rage was actually painful for her… it may as well have been. “Because of what I could do, because I reminded you so much of Sombra because of my Nightmares—something I didn’t ask for, mind you—I was suspected…” I glanced back at Dash. “...spied on…” Back to Celestia. “Plotted against and…” I made to glance at Luna, but… I simply couldn’t.

“...and betrayed!!!” I spat the last word; I heard Luna give the faintest choked sob.

I turned back to Dash, whose fearful expression had become one of shock and guilt. “So, no, Rainbow Dash… I was not putting ponies into Nightmares, because, believe it or not, I am not Sombra!! But Celestia didn’t believe that, and was ultimately duped… by the one who was putting ponies into Nightmares!! So because she refused to give me a chance, she ultimately gave fruition to what she was so scared of! So if anyone in this room would have doomed Equestria, intentionally or otherwise, it’s her.”

I gestured grandly at Celestia, panting furiously as I took in the ponies’ shocked expressions. Twilight slowly turned towards Celestia, who was gazing shamefully at the floor, eyes blinking back tears.

I couldn’t think of anything else to say that wouldn’t just descend into an incoherent series of swears, so I turned around and stormed back down the carpet, towards the doors. I was halfway down when I heard hooves galloping up behind me.

“Dread!” Fluttershy cried softly. “Dread, wait!”

I spun around to face her, making her come to a dead stop, skidding down the carpet before me.

“My name…” I said, my voice quivering. “...is Joel.”

I turned around again and continued heading towards the doors.

Once again, I heard hooftsteps approaching behind me. This time, I didn’t bother turning around as I continued towards the doors and pulled one open.

“Joel…”

I paused at Luna’s voice, my hand loosely gripping the handle. In her voice was pain, sorrow, a desperate plea for even the smallest chance at forgiveness…

I turned around and looked her in the eyes, just for a second.

I tried to speak, but couldn’t think of anything to say. Instead, I simply put everything I could into that one, brief gaze.

Why?

I kept the gaze long enough to see Luna’s eyes widen slightly before I turned around again and, finally, left the throne room, slamming the door behind me.

Author's Note

*drops chapter heavily on desk*
New chapter, done.
Original cover art can be found here. Bit iffy on using the new image since it's already the cover art for this story, but it comes closer to my image of Dread than any other image I can find. *shrug*
Feedback! I sleep now. *WHUMP*

Chapter 16: Reflection

Celestia stood mournfully on the balcony where she and Luna often performed their duties at dusk and dawn. The day’s events had been so stressful that they’d nearly forgotten to set the sun and raise the moon. Luna hadn’t said a word as the pair moved their respective birthrights, stiffly raising the moon before departing silently.

Celestia knew why; she kept her thoughts purely on her mistakes, as merely one form of penance. She forced herself to keep thinking of how she’d broken Luna’s heart, for reasons that were ultimately false. How she’d betrayed somepony who, though it had taken the impending doom of her home to make her believe it, genuinely sought her friendship, and a peaceful existence with the land he would now call home. How she had failed to truly learn one of Twilight’s earliest lessons in Ponyville: “never judge a book by its cover.”

How she had given in to her own fears.

“Princess?”

Celestia slightly turned her head to the side at the all-too-familiar voice of her student. “Hello, Twilight,” she said dully. Twilight slowly approached; as she stepped into Celestia’s field of vision, Celestia could see her staring fixedly at the horizon. The pair were silent for a time, both having trouble finding anything meaningful to say.

Twilight finally broke the silence. “...Believe it or not, even I know that you’re not… infallible…” she said softly, the words sounding painful for her to utter. “I can believe that no amount of experience—not even centuries—will keep you from making mistakes down the line, big or small.”

“On top of everything, you’re implying I’m getting old, Twilight?” Celestia asked, giving a soft smile. Twilight’s eyes flashed with panic for a brief instant, but quickly relaxed as she smiled back.

Celestia’s smile faded, the little joke only doing so much. “...And yet, it’s hard to forgive such a grievous error… especially when you’re the one who committed it, out of what could charitably be described as ‘ignorance’...”

This time the shock didn’t fade from Twilight’s eyes. “Princess…!” She began.

“And it’s nearly impossible to forgive yourself…” Celestia continued. “...when you’ve made this same mistake before…”

“...What?”

Celestia took a shuddering breath. “A thousand years ago… There had been signs… Signs of Luna’s feelings of bitterness and neglect… Of her unhappiness from being in my shadow… Signs that I may as well have laughed off. And in the end, because of my blindness, Luna was painted as a monster, and I as a hero… The hero who banished her sister to the moon for a thousand years, for lashing out when I wouldn’t comfort her in her darkest of moments…”

“Princess, that wasn’t your fault!” Twilight said.

“And when I felt I’d learned from that…” Celestia continued. “Dread arrives… Yes, his initial actions were aggressive, and the talent he held was… atrocious, but he quickly made efforts to redeem himself in our eyes, worked to be seen as a friend… Yet when the victims began turning up, plunged into their deepest fears, I was so quick to lay the blame on him… In spite of the signs that he wasn’t the monster who would do such a thing… In spite of the signs that the victims were… different to when Applejack and Luna had been stricken...”

“I’d told myself that his friendly attitude was a means of disguising his true intentions, told myself that the victims were different because I had no way of truly knowing just how much darkness lingered in Dread, and how much of that darkness took form in those he’d inflicted his Nightmares upon… All this, because… because it was so easy to blame him, to see him as another, somehow even more monstrous version of Sombra…

“Much easier than attempting to see the truly friendly demeanor past a shell built of fear…”

Twilight gazed sadly at her mentor. “...Princess, it… It wasn’t like you did it out of malice…” She said. “You were doing what you believed would protect Equestria…”

Celestia nodded stiffly. “Perhaps… I’ve had a fair number of misjudgments with Equestria’s well-being in mind, though… none with such dire consequences… Should we prevail against Sombra, perhaps I could, in time, learn to move on… to forgive myself for being so blind…”

She blinked back tears. “Yet I could never forgive myself for hurting Joel… My dear Luna…”

Twilight glanced towards the door, remembering how upset Luna, in particular, had looked in the wake of Joel’s furious outburst. “...What happened?”

“In order to… depower Joel, I needed Luna’s help…” Celestia explained. “It would have been difficult enough to convince her if she and Joel were simply good friends, but…”

Twilight’s eyes widened in understanding. “...Oh…”

Celestia nodded. “I made Luna think that the person she loved—and who I now believe loved her in return—was using her, Twilight… I… I hurt her, in ways nopony should hurt another… I broke her heart…”

“And when we realized our mistake, I saw that I’d… done the same to Joel…” She sniffled. “He’s right to be angry, to distrust us, to… loathe us… I’d be surprised if he could ever trust us again after this… If he can ever even speak to Luna again… and if Luna will ever speak to me again…”

Celestia fell to her haunches, eyes screwed shut in a vained attempt to block the tears that now dripped down her cheeks. “...What have I done, Twilight?” She asked.

Again at a loss for words, Twilight sat beside her teacher, threw a foreleg over her shoulder and hugged her tight.

Luna lay on her usual balcony, her eyes burning from tears. Even with her best efforts to ignore everything else—the shouts of the Royal Guard preparing the defenses, the glow of her moon, the cool night air—she couldn’t ignore just how empty it felt up here, now…

And she couldn’t get the image of Joel’s wounded gaze out of her mind.

She wished that Celestia had been right, that Joel truly was a monster… Then at least she had more of a hope of moving on, considering this a lesson learned…

But now, all she could think about was how she’d been tricked into throwing away the happiest days of her life since before her banishment.

Because of HER…

Luna’s eyes sprang open; the voice was not unlike her own, only lined with… bitterness.

...No.

Does everything she can to RUIN us… Keep us in what she believes to be our PLACE…

No, no…

Despite there being no breeze, the sound of a gust behind her made Luna sit up and turn around. Her shadow in the moonlight was twisting of its own accord; its head was turning to address her.

She MISSES those days, when we were up there… It gestured towards the moon. When SHE had ALL the power…

“No, no, you…” Luna muttered. “N-N-No, you were gone!!”

The shadow chuckled. You believe me to be some specter to be exorcised, dear Luna? No, no… nothing quite so simple. You see, every time you saw Celestia gain all the love… Every time you saw your subjects merely yawn at the sight of your glorious night… I grew within you. Over time, I was strong enough to take matters into my own hooves. The Elements merely restrained us… Silenced us… Made you COMPLIANT… Made you happy in your place as second fiddle… It gave a sickly-sweet smile. It was I that opened your eyes, remember?

Luna’s jaw clenched in anger, grateful for an outlet for her pain. “I remember…” She said, her horn and eyes glowing bright. “I remember what you cost me, all too well!! A thousand years!!”

Imprisoned for challenging the tyrant we called ‘sister’!! The shadow barked furiously. And even a thousand years isn’t enough for her!! Do you remember what she’s cost US?!

“That’s not her fault!!” Luna cried, though the words felt forced coming from her.

SHE RUINED WHAT WE HAD!! The shadow shrieked. Before Luna’s terrified eyes, the shadow began to rise from the ground, its body shaping to look less like Luna, and more like the archetype she’d made for herself. Its head and body were covered in plate armor, and its poise became less of grace and more of oppression. SHE WOULD DO EVERYTHING TO MAKE US MISERABLE, IN HOPES OF BAITING US INTO JUSTIFYING ANOTHER SENTENCE, THIS ONE ETERNAL!!

“NO!!” Luna screamed. Nightmare Moon began looming over her, the shadow threatening to crash upon her like a wave. Luna’s breathing quickened as she screwed her eyes shut, trying to drown out the shadow’s voice.

WHY NOT?! Nightmare Moon screamed. WHY SHOULDN’T WE HATE HER?! WHY SHOULDN’T WE MAKE HER SUFFER AS WE HAVE?!?!

Luna tensed as the shadow enveloped her; Nightmare Moon swirled around her, the wind rushing like a violent tempest. Luna’s breathing became constricted as Nightmare Moon squeezed tightly around her, a crazed, hungry look in her glowing eyes.

This was it. Luna was in no shape to resist, too drained to fight back.

“Tia…” She whispered. “Joel…”

We might not ever forget our failures, but that doesn’t mean they have to weigh us down.

Luna’s eyes slowly opened.

A blast from her horn flew into Nightmare’s face, breaking apart her shadow. The shadow reformed, backing away from Luna; Nightmare’s face was full of shock and surprise at Luna’s anger.

“It’s not whether we should…” Luna hissed, standing defiantly against her shadow. “It’s that I won’t.”

Nightmare Moon scowled. You would continue to live in her shadow? She challenged. You would continue to call her ‘sister’ after all she’s done?

Her voice quavered. “...After all she’s taken from us?”

Luna’s expression softened. “...I… I don’t know if I can forgive her…” She said softly. “...But banishing us… hurt her… In ways I cannot imagine. And I won’t hurt her that way again, even after today.”

Luna straightened up and narrowed her eyes at the shadow. “And I will never follow your path again… I will not become a monster again.” Nightmare Moon hissed in anger, but Luna’s horn flared brighter in response. “Go. And never return,” she said firmly.

Nightmare Moon glowered hatefully at Luna. ...Very well. I’ll leave. She took a step forward. But know that without me, you are doomed to slave under the sun… when you could have ruled from the stars.

In the blink of an eye, Nightmare Moon suddenly melted to the ground, reforming into Luna’s original shadow. Luna glared at the spot her darker half had stood before turning and approaching the door to the stairwell.

There was a deal of work to be done if Sombra was to be stopped.

I’d forgotten just how good a shower could feel when you were in a particularly dour mood. The hot, running water over my head helped me think without my thoughts suddenly melting into a mess of profane rage.

I had little trouble admitting how cathartic it was to unload on Dash, but I knew I was a bit unfair, myself. Not every pony in that room held that level of distrust; Applejack and Fluttershy, certainly, seemed sympathetic, Pinkie seemed to have warmed up to me quicker than the rest, and it was a safe bet that Rarity was thinking more kindly of me after I’d saved her sister. I felt I owed them an apology… though I wondered just how much that would matter if Sombra started moving south, with the mass under his control.

I turned off the shower head when I noticed that my fingers had started to prune; as I stepped out and started drying myself off, I quickly remembered that I didn’t have a change of clothes.

Guess it’s a toga party for the time being. Once dry, I gathered the blanket I’d tossed on the floor and robed myself again. I stepped out of the bathroom and into my--

“...Applejack,” I greeted quietly as I spotted the pony sitting patiently on the edge of my bed. She gave me a gentle nod as I approached, sitting quietly beside her.

We both made a few attempts at speaking, trying to find something to say. I wanted to apologize, to say that she was among those who didn’t consider me a monster, who held some semblance of trust. Yet I could tell she knew; if she didn’t, she wouldn’t have been sitting there with me.

The fact that she was there, however… It reminded me of how Luna had tried to appear in my dreams, the day I’d been told I was stuck in Equestria; it told me that I did have friends here, people who legitimately cared.

I turned to look at her, a grateful gaze in my eyes. AJ smiled, then threw her forelegs around me in a (very) tight hug. I smiled and hugged her back.

I didn’t know if I could forgive those who’d doubted me… Celestia, Dash, Twilight… Luna…

But I knew that, even now, I wasn’t without friends.

Author's Note

MUST.
WRITE.
NEW.
CHAPTER.
(So, yeah, been sorta busy moving to Florida for school; I'm gonna try and get back into the writing habits that had me putting out a chapter every few days, but no promises. *dives behind desk to avoid hail of gunfire* I'M SORRY!!)
Feedback as always, purty pleeeeez.

Chapter 17: A Time for Action

Celestia stiffly approached the doors to the throne room, Twilight sticking close to her mentor’s side. The pair had agreed that moping wouldn’t mend the day’s grievous mistakes, and opted to gather and formulate a plan. As the doors opened, Celestia’s eyes widened in surprise; Luna was already there, staring out the north-facing windows. She glanced towards Celestia and gave a curt nod. “Shall we decide on a course of action, then?” She asked softly.

Celestia blinked in confusion at Luna’s surprisingly civil demeanor; she’d spent the past hour practically welcoming a well-deserved hatred. “Y-Yes, we should…” She muttered; she turned to Twilight. “Twilight, why don’t you bring your friends here?”

Twilight glanced between Celestia and Luna before nodding. “Right.”

“See if Joel is willing to come, too,” Luna said, not looking away from the window. “Though I… doubt he will.”

Twilight’s gaze lingered on Luna for a moment, then she turned and hurried out of the throne room, the doors closing behind her. Celestia remained where she stood for a few long moments, unable to look at Luna. Finally, with a pained sigh, Celestia approached and stood beside her, gazing out the windows.

A minute passed in complete silence; Celestia couldn’t tell if Luna was having an equally hard time finding the right words, or if she was simply giving Celestia the chance to speak first. Either way, the silence was agony…

“I’m unsure of where I stand right now,” Luna finally said. “On the one hoof, I completely understand your motives—you’ve never made a harsh decision out of any form of malice. You perceived Joel to be a threat to us, and you weren’t willing to take any chances… I can name a few times where inaction wasn’t the best course to take.” She turned her head ever so slightly towards Celestia. “You would never seek to harm that which you hold dear, there is no question.”

Softening me up before the blow, Luna? Celestia thought sadly. She simply gave a soft nod.

“On the other hoof…” Luna continued. “You let your fear guide your actions, when logic dictated you stop and truly see what was happening. I told you that Joel wasn’t a monster—I’d told you from the beginning that his efforts to befriend us were genuine… Yet you held such a strong prejudice against him, you were quick to lay the blame on him for any misfortune that he had a tie to, even when he’d worked to resolve it. And because of that prejudice, you didn’t see Sombra manipulating you until it was too late… though, to be fair, I wonder if anypony could have—it was a reasonable belief that he was long gone, and therefore wouldn’t be responsible for the attacks.”

Luna finally turned to look at Celestia. “But in the end, you led me to share in your misguided beliefs, and ultimately made me hurt the one I love…” She stopped herself when her voice had started to raise slightly. “...I should have had more faith in him… I should have simply refused to help you, or simply made the two of you meet and discuss what was happening, yet this past month has been a fairly ludicrous series of… what I’ve heard to be called, ‘shoulda, coulda, wouldas’, hasn’t it?” She gave a hollow laugh as she returned her gaze to the window. “As it stands, I’ve hurt Joel in a way that I doubt he may recover from… I’ve lost his trust, and I’m all the poorer for it…”

Celestia watched sadly, fighting her instinctive, big-sisterly urge to hug Luna, to tell her that everything would be alright.

“Having said all that…” Luna said, her voice quavering. “I’m unsure of how to feel at this point… I could feel bitter at you, curse your name, hate you with every fiber of my being… yet we both know the result of that. I could tell you I forgive you, yet that would be lying to both of us…” She turned to face Celestia again. “I guess all I can say is… is that you hurt me, Tia… However inadvertently, you hurt me... but I’m willing to let you make up for it… so long as you do the same for Joel, because out of all of us, his pain may run deeper than you or I can fathom.”

Celestia’s calm visage had been fragile enough on her way to the throne room, yet now it was melting away like ice in the break of spring. She fell to her haunches and sobbed. “I’m sorry…” She whispered. “Luna, I’m so… so sorry…”

Luna sat down, leaned forward and hugged Celestia, her tears breaking through as well.

I wish I could believe that it will be this easy with Joel… She thought.

Twilight was surprised, as she rounded the corner to the guest quarters, to see Rainbow Dash sitting in the hall, across from the door to Dread’s room. She’d suspected that at least some of her friends might be trying to make amends with the ‘human’, but Dash was probably the last pony she’d expect to see. Dash had her forelegs folded patiently, yet had a familiar look in her eye… the kind she got when she was trying to look disinterested in certain, current events.

Dash looked over to see Twilight approaching, and gave a soft smile. “Hey…”

Twilight smiled in return, though failed to keep her gaze from trailing towards Dread’s door. “I didn’t, uh…”

“Didn’t think I’d be here?” Dash asked plainly. She turned back towards the door and leaned her head back against the wall behind her. “The others are in there with him… He invited them in, though he was… pretty specific about it…” Twilight noticed a lack of bitterness in her voice.

She coughed. “Well, the Princesses, they… they asked that we meet them in the throne room, along with Dr-- Joel, I mean, if he wants to.”

Dash motioned towards the door. “You should probably knock, I’m not keen on having the door slammed in my face…”

“Did he…?”

“No, I just... wouldn’t put it past him at this point…” Dash gazed at the floor, guilt surfacing in her eyes. Unsure of how to proceed with her, Twilight approached the door and knocked.

I shut the door to my room as Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity entered; I immediately felt guilty for acting as though Dash hadn’t been there when I’d invited them in, but I felt I needed to acknowledge who my true friends were at this stage.

What about--

That line of thought was quickly glared down as I approached the foot of my bed, where the ponies had sat down alongside AJ. I sat down across from them, ensuring my makeshift toga would keep me covered.

Rarity, who seemed to have been struggling not to wince at my wardrobe, quickly leapt on the opportunity to touch on that subject. “I can throw something together for you to wear, darling…” She said softly; there was a tenderness in her voice that I, honestly, wouldn’t have expected from someone so… well, glamorous. “I’m certain the princesses will lend me what I’d need—they had me craft a dress for Princess Cadence’s wedding, after all…”

I nodded, appreciatively. “That would be great… Really, just basic coverings are all I need; something I won’t trip on every few steps.”

Rarity smiled. My gaze trailed towards the others, and I sighed. “Alright, look… When I… well, snapped, back there, I made it sound like I held a grievance with everypony…”

“We know you didn’t mean that…” Fluttershy said.

“And I’d be lyin’ if I said I didn’t find a certain enjoyment in ya puttin’ Rainbow in her place…” Applejack said.

“However… vulgar it may have been…” Rarity said out the corner of her mouth.

I was about to make a joke regarding a swear jar when there was an explosion, barely three feet from my right. I yelled as my hands flew to my face, offering little protection against the shrapnel that…

...That was made of multicolored paper. Come to think of it, the ‘explosion’ had been little more than a fairly loud ‘pop’, like you’d get from a party popper--

I lowered my hands and gazed, dumbfounded, at the brightly colored cannon—the same one I’d seen on the night of the griffon attack—sitting in front of where Pinkie had been sitting, a little smoke still drifting from its barrel. Pinkie was standing behind the cannon, a wide smile on her face that failed to hide the look of panic and desperation in her eyes.

Before I could even fathom where the hell the cannon had come from, Pinkie cried out, “Surprise!!”

I stared blankly at Pinkie as she suddenly produced a slice of cake on a paper plate, bolted around her cannon and offered it to me. I didn’t take it, too baffled to respond. “Pinkie, what are you…”

“I-It’s your party!” Pinkie said quickly, pressing the cake closer to me. “I would’ve thrown it sooner, Joel, I really would have, but those meanie gryphons ruined my stockpile of decorations when they were looking for my Element, so I had to work extra hours at Sugarcube Corner to work on replacing it all, but then I had to throw more parties in the meantime, and with each one I couldn’t help but think, ‘I’m throwing this party before Dread’s’—this was back when you were calling yourself Dread—’so what if he thinks I didn’t prioritize his party after all he did for us?!’ So I had to keep working to afford to throw you the bestest party imaginable, but then we were called here today and when I found out what had happened to you I realized you needed this party, right now, cause nothing cheers up a Saddy Sadderpants better than a party, but the best I could do on such short notice was the standard Party Cannon party, and I-I… I…”

Over the approximate ten seconds it had taken Pinkie to explain herself, her cheerful air had started giving way. Tears welled in her eyes, and she began hyperventilating, though her grin stubbornly remained.

I quickly, gently, took the offered slice of cake and took a bite; it felt weird—yet also good—to eat normally again, especially with something this damn good. I smiled and quickly took several more bites, watching as Pinkie’s expression slowly brightened.

It didn’t last; while she wasn’t crying, she was clearly disheartened. Her mane sunk, she fell to her haunches and lowered her head. “It’s not enough, is it…”

“Pinkie, I’m fine with whatever you want to throw together…” I began.

“It’s not the party…” Pinkie said. “You were so nice, and yet…”

“Like I said,” I replied firmly, setting the plate on the floor. “You girls did nothing wrong. I was angry before, there’s no denying that, but I can safely say that I’m not without friends here.” I laid a hand on Pinkie’s shoulder. “I would’ve known that, with or without a party.”

Pinkie’s mouth curved into a trembling smile. She suddenly lunged forward and hugged me tight, her mane regaining its ‘natural’ shape with a soft ‘poof’. As I hugged her back, I suddenly felt something being placed on my head, secured by an elastic string that stretched beneath my chin. Frowning, I reached up and felt the pointy party hat that had been placed on my head.

I found some wry amusement at Twilight’s confused gaze when I opened the door and she saw my party hat and the confetti that was covering my impromptu robe. I noticed Dash was still there, facing down the hall in an effort to avoid eye contact; it didn’t keep me from seeing the look of sadness in her eyes.

“Hey,” I said evenly. While Twilight hadn’t actually acted against me, or at least continued to display distrust in the way Dash had, I was still wary of her; I had the impression that, had Twilight been in on anything Celestia may have planned, she would have aided her mentor without a moment’s thought. As such, I found her in something of a grey area, between where Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy stood, and where Dash and the Princesses stood.

“The Princesses want to meet us in the throne room,” Twilight said.

“‘Us’ as in you girls, or…?” I asked.

“That’s… really up to you, I suppose…” Twilight said, rubbing a foreleg awkwardly.

As Applejack and the others quietly stepped around me and out into the hall, I considered simply declining and remaining in my room; I didn’t think I was ready to face Celestia and… and Luna, yet.

Then I remembered… I still held some of the blame behind this mess. Whether it was from my actions, inactions or my simply being here, I still had a responsibility to help clean it up, however I could.

No matter what happened, this was my home.

And I still had friends here.

I took off the hat and sighed. “Let’s go, then.”

The nine of us gathered in the throne room a few minutes later. As we entered, I endeavored to keep my gaze fixed on the long red carpet leading up to the twin thrones, and not on the two princesses that stood before them. Despite my best efforts, however, I couldn’t keep from glancing, if only for a moment, at Luna. She was also keeping her gaze from me, almost pretending I wasn’t even there; I wondered if I preferred that. Celestia, however, held a faint look of misery, tears matting down the fur on her muzzle, and her mane hanging low and mournfully around her head.

Despite her grim demeanor, she seemed ready to get to business. “We received this missive from the Crystal Empire just moments ago,” Celestia said, levitating a slightly crumpled scroll before everyone present. “Sombra has made his move, and we’ve been unable to contact the Empire. We don’t know how long it will be before he can enact whatever plans he has for the rest of Equestria.”

“I’d assume his plans involve the Crystal Heart,” Luna said. “A thousand years ago, the effects of his use of it were felt all over Equestria; I shudder to imagine what he may accomplish should he… infuse it, with Dread’s essence.”

“Then we should go up there!” Twilight asserted. “The sooner we go, the less time Sombra has to prepare!”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Dash said encouragingly, giving Twilight a friendly bump on the shoulder.

Celestia’s eyes fell on the Elements of Harmony. “...If the Elements can be used on the Crystal Heart, that may give us an edge against Sombra—maybe even destroy him, or at least leave him incapacitated while I can perform the same spell I used to part Joel from the mass…” She mused.

“Don’t forget fire,” I mumbled. Celestia cast a surprised look at me, but quickly recovered, nodding.

“Y-yes, the mass reacts harshly to fire,” she explained. “It… hardens, and is evidently… painful… for the host…”

Fluttershy’s eyes flashed with concern as she looked over to me as she clued into how exactly Celestia had separated me from the mass. I gave a small shake of my head, nothing to add.

Twilight also noticed something Celestia had said. “Wait, ‘while you perform the same spell’? You mean you’re coming with us?”

Celestia gave a weak smile. “I think I’ve left enough world-saving burdens in your hooves, dear student.”

“The fault lies with us for causing such havoc,” Luna said, resolute. “It would be remiss of us to sit idly by while you risk your lives, yet again, to protect our land.”

“Chariots are being prepared to take us to the Frozen North,” Celestia explained. “They will land us as close to the Empire as they dare, and we will approach on hoof.”

“What about Discord?” Fluttershy asked. “I’m sure he’d be willing to help.” Dash gave a small, if rather reluctant nod; Discord’s lack of commitment to reality could be a great asset.

Celestia, however, shook her head. “I cannot risk whatever may happen should Discord fall under the sway of the Nightmare. Discord is powerful, certainly, but he is far from invincible; if he should become blinded with fear, I shudder to think what havoc he may wreak under Sombra’s control.”

“Then it’s up to us,” Twilight said, resolutely.

“When do we leave?” I asked.

Celestia and Luna’s silence quickly clued me in; I really shouldn’t have been surprised. “Oh, come on…” I said weakly.

“No offense, sugarcube…” Applejack said gently. “But I don’t think you’d be nearly as good to have at our flanks, without that fancy ash of yours.”

“But…” I was too tired to really come up with a fitting argument. I could only imagine us running around this ‘Crystal Empire’, with their efforts split between combatting Sombra and keeping me out of trouble; and my time as an MHA taught me that keeping civilians safe while combatting a larger threat was not fun.

Yet it was the idea of letting them risk life and limb to clean up my own mess that left me uneasy.

“Look, there’s gotta be something…” I tried.

“Joel…” Celestia said tenderly. “I understand. And I… I thank you, for your concern…” Her gaze fell to the floor. “Something you’ve given us for far longer than I realized…” She composed herself and looked me in the eyes again. “But the danger is simply too great.”

I noted a tone in Celestia’s voice that contrasted heavily with the attitude she’d had towards me from the beginning. I remembered the night of the griffon attack, when she refused to allow me to head to Ponyville to help—seemingly out of fear that I’d make things worse for her subjects.

Now, though… this was genuine concern. There was no apprehension or suspicion, just legitimate worry for my well-being.

The kind she’d show towards one of her own subjects.

I was so taken aback that I failed to argue any further. Celestia took my silence as an acquiescence and turned to the others. “Make whatever preparations necessary, everypony.” The Bearers all sprang into salutes, then started departing from the throne room; Applejack gave me a comforting bump and smile as she passed. I watched them depart, mainly so I could keep my back turned to Luna.

When she didn’t speak or approach me, I decided she was just giving me my space for the time being. I allowed some gratitude for that, and left the throne room.

It was almost as though he’d never left, Sombra mused, as he sat upon his throne.

‘Sat’, of course, was a relative term; he simply hovered closely around it like the amorphous black cloud he was. With a gesture of his shaped foreleg, Sombra was able to see parts of his domain, no matter where he was. At the base of the palace, his newly ‘drafted’ guards stood at attention, bearing spears made of the darkened crystals of his own creation; they shuddered in neverending terror, as though each of them feared some unthinkable horror was standing directly behind them, ready to consume them at the first act of misbehavior.

Sombra had dubbed this sensation ‘oversight’; a fear state where the victim was allowed to remain lucid, so long as they remained compliant. Any defiance would simply let them fall into their darkest nightmares, lasting for however long Sombra chose.

It was rather delightful, he felt, how easily he’d become accustomed to the mass. The human, ‘Joel’, had been a mere mortal when he had bonded with it—a simple being of flesh and blood.

Sombra, however… Well, a thousand years ago he’d have hardly said he’d ‘transcended’ mortality—he wasn’t very fond of his shadow state, initially. But over time he’d grown to appreciate the benefits, and now, he found that the mass was a boon beyond even Sombra’s wildest dreams. His magic, and his affinity with crystals, melded seamlessly with the mass, allowing for him to expand his influence all throughout the Crystal Empire…

And, within a short time, all of Equestria.

As he’d expected, infusing the Crystal Heart with the Nightmare quickly bent the Empire to his knee. However, for the Heart to influence the entirety of Equestria, he would need to pour every ounce of magic he could muster into it, and Sombra had found himself somewhat weary once he’d reclaimed his throne.

He simply needed time; with the Crystal Ponies in a constant state of fear, he wouldn’t need to feed for very long.

And in that time, he expected, the Bearers would come, seeking to stop him again.

Sombra even found himself hoping they’d come; he licked his lips hungrily and smiled.

I flexed my shoulders, getting a feel for the clothing that Rarity had made for me. She’d only been working for twenty minutes, and yet she’d made me something quite comfortable.

I’d been heading back to my room when Rarity had quickly run up beside me, curtly instructing me to stand still while she took my measurements. Ten seconds later she thanked me and bolted off; twenty minutes later she’d come to me with a simple, yet surprisingly comfortable navy blue tunic and matching pants. No shoes, sadly, but I wasn’t exactly in a prime market for them, so I was in no place to complain.

“I just feel dreadful, giving you garments that, on a normal day I’d barely consider in the alpha state, darling…” Rarity said anxiously, clearly in a hurry to meet up with the others. “But, well, heh heh, you know…”

“This is actually perfect, Rarity…” I said. “Glad I can ditch the yoga robe.” I gave a meaningful kick to the blankets I’d dumped at my feet.

Rarity nodded. “Well… I suppose it’s time to go…”

“I’ll walk you there,” I offered, walking over and opening the door.

Luna was standing at the door, her raised hoof indicating she’d been about to knock.

“Oh, hi!” I said, startled, as I almost walked right into her. Circumstance quickly reared its ugly head, and the moment took an awkward turn.

Rarity seemed keen to escape the awkwardness, clearing her throat and slipping past us. “I’ll just… meet you there…” She said as she hurried down the hall and out of sight.

Luna paid no attention to Rarity, simply gazing sadly at me. “...May I come in?” She asked.

I half-expected to feel the urge to deny her, but then remembered my anger had already burnt out. “Sure. Come on in…”

I let her in, then closed the door and simply sat down with my back to it. Luna sat a short distance from me, a surprising control in her breathing.

“Joel…” She said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I won’t deny that Tia and I wronged you—that I wronged you. A day won’t go by where I don’t think of the pain I put you through, and just what I lost by betraying you in such a way.”

She scooched towards me a bit. “But knowing what we can face at the Empire, I just had to see you. I’m not here to weep, to beg for your forgiveness—stars know I wouldn’t deserve it…”

“Luna…” I said softly.

“Please, Joel…” Luna said. “I just… I just want to… thank you.”

I blinked. “For what?”

“Ever since I returned from my exile, I felt nothing but remorse and guilt for my past, and dread for my future,” Luna said. “I spent a thousand years alone, and even when I returned, I feared that my time as Nightmare Moon would ensure I stayed that way... That everypony would see me as a monster, the tyrant always scheming to seize the throne from Celestia and drown the world in eternal night… I feared I would eventually fall down that same path again, and prove them right.”

“Then you came. You helped me see past my failures, relieved me of my doubts and made me see that simply mourning the past was a poor way of moving on.” She reached out and laid a hoof on my shoulder. Her touch sent a familiar, welcoming warmth through my body that I suddenly realized I’d dearly been missing. “You helped me see that… our fears, they only control us when we let them. There should come a time when... you deny them that power.”

I stared at her silently, raising a hand and laying it on her hoof. Her eyes were glistening now; I quickly discovered that mine were as well.

There was a knock at the door. “Princess?” Came the voice of a guard. “Princess Celestia says it’s time.”

Luna sniffled, then lowered her hoof and stood up. “Before I go, I… have something for you.” Her horn lit up, and with a small flash, a petri dish appeared between us, levitating a foot off the ground.

Frowning, I gently took it; it appeared to be empty. When I gave it a slight tilt, however, I felt the vibrations of something rolling around inside. I held the dish close to my eyes, and was just barely able to see a small piece of metal.

“...The transmitter?” I breathed. “But…”

“You said it was attuned to your consciousness, right?” Luna said. “Well, I theorize that it parted itself from the mass after Celestia separated you from it. I thought if I found it, we could… extract whatever you may have in it that you couldn’t access without the mass.”

“How did you find it?” I asked, astounded.

Luna lit up her horn meaningfully. “A bit of magic can do in a couple minutes what it would take hours to do with a magnifying glass,” she said, giggling; I could tell she was relishing the chance to laugh.

I lowered the petri dish. “Thank you…” I said, earnestly.

Luna smiled, but it quickly faded; she doubted giving me a present would help patch things up. “I, uh…” She said, her voice quavering. “I should go.”

So this was it. Luna was leaving. I was staying.

The fact that Luna might not come back seemed to grab my attention with a soft ‘ahem’.

Panic struck me; for an instant, everything that had happened over the past twelve hours suddenly faded from memory. “Luna…” I said, standing up.

“Joel…” Luna said, closing her eyes and turning her head from me.

“Luna, please…”

“No, Joel, I-I have to go…” Luna stammered.

For a brief instant, I felt like I was suddenly watching myself in third person; I suddenly reached out, pulled Luna’s face towards mine and kissed her. I quickly regained control, though hesitated to break the kiss. For a moment I wanted to ask myself what the hell I was doing, but the obvious answer kept me quiet.

Luna pulled back, her eyes wide in shock. She stammered as she tried to find her voice, before suddenly turning towards the door.

“Luna, wait--” I began, reaching towards her.

Luna gave a single, quiet sob before lighting her horn. A flash, and she was gone.

“Luna!!” I cried, spinning towards the door and swinging it open.

I would later marvel at how quickly I’d regained my grasp on running, given how I hauled ass down the halls, towards the courtyard where I figured Luna, Celestia and the Bearers would depart from. I sprinted down three separate staircases, three steps at a time, cursing the ludicrous size of the castle before I reached the courtyard. “LUNA!!”

I broke out to the courtyard. The chariots were gone. Looking up, I could see three of them in the distance. The one carrying Luna and Celestia was ahead of them; it seemed Luna had arrived, then quickly urged for a hasty departure.

I stared after them for a few moments.

Then I turned around and slowly walked back into the castle. I didn’t stare until they were out of sight, I didn’t keep running after them in a vained attempt to catch up, I didn’t fall to my knees and scream Luna’s name to the heavens. I just went back inside.

“Be careful…” I whispered.

Author's Note

...Yeah, there's no excuse for taking so long. Really sorry about the astoundingly long delay, guys.

REALLY wasn't expecting this story to explode the way it did, though... back in SEPTEMBER-- *slaps face*

Really grateful for all the feedback and comments. Comments are the main reason I love posting updates, just to hear from y'all. Comments are love. Comments are life.

Prelude, Part 1: Subject 6043: Director's Notes, Compilation A

Author's Note

Forward:
Before we begin, I'd like to clarify something. You may read the first portion of this chapter and believe the main character to be a Gary Stu trying to be Batman, and that this story is just a wank session of him being awesome across Equestria.

The REAL story I'm trying to tell is, I feel, a bit more complex than that (though that's not a very daunting task). This story, while not a horror, is about fear; about knowing what scares you, about fearing something that may happen to you, may happen to your loved ones, or fearing what you become.

This is a story about keeping your fears from manipulating you, from forcing you to make choices that ultimately lead you to that same nightmare, if not something even darker.

It's a story about finding the courage to trust those you know and love to keep you on the right path.

I hope I'm not coming across as pretentious or anything; this was just something I came up with, and wanted to share. If it doesn't sound up your alley, that's fine—but rather than just toss up a dislike and be on your merry way, I ask that you supply feedback. Tell me what exactly you didn't like. Tell me what I can improve.

Whatever the case, I hope you enjoy Dread.

Prelude, Part 1: Subject 6043: Director's Notes, Compilation A

Department of Metahuman Affairs, New Hampshire Branch

Subject File

Subject Serial Number: 6043
Subject Name: Joel Nelson
Working Alias: "Dread"
Attributes: Shapeless mass of microscopic black stones, held together by immensely strong magnetic field. Common form held is a slender torso with thin, raptorial arms that usually end in three claws, and a curved head with no eyes and a wide mouth filled with jagged teeth. Lower body is shaped like a snake, ending in a tail that trails two feet behind him. Despite lacking certain features, Joel is capable of all human senses. Subject can, with great concentration, reassume his human form; caucasian male, 6’, light brown hair.
Strength: *** (Varies depending on shape)
Agility: *****
Speed: ****
Durability: ****
Use of Projectiles: *
Stealth: ****
Cooperation: ***
Guardianship: ***
Response: ***
Abilities: Aside from his form being immune to physical damage—excluding fire—Joel can shape his mass to enter any space, flowing like a liquid and allowing him to use stealth to his advantage. Joel has learned to shape is mass into a pair of wings, thus allowing quicker transport. Manipulation of his mass allows Joel to perform feats of strength.
In addition, Joel's mass can also form a link with the amygdala nuclei of the human brain by touch, and incite fear in them. It also allows him to ‘peer’ into the subject’s mind and see their fears, judging the severity of the fear by the vividness of the vision. Joel can form ‘custom’ visions of fear for the subject to see, to suit his needs.
Age: 27 (DOB: 05/13/1997)
Residence: Portsmouth, NH, USA
Date of Reveal: 06/21/2021
Assigned Task Force:New Hampshire Metahuman Task Force, Team Gamma, USA
Date of Instatement as Metahuman Agent: 7/24/2024
Administrator: Daryl Freeman, Director of Metahuman Affairs, New Hampshire Branch
Director's Log:
1: 6/22/2021
Subject has been surprisingly compliant. In spite of how easily he could escape from his holding cell, he has shown no intention of doing so. There was a brief panic when guards checked his cell in the morning and didn't see him in his bed, but he quickly emerged from beneath it with rushed apologies; he stated that falling asleep must have made his form 'relax', causing him to spill from the bed and beneath it.

The subject, hereto referred to as 'Joel', seems to make every effort to avoid bringing down any legal flak. At 12pm on the 21st he stood out in the open, on a field some distance from the highway, and flagged down the nearest available MHA, Channel. Joel requested a meeting with an official from the Department of Metahuman Affairs, in light of his condition. Channel requested a pickup; Joel was escorted into a DMHA transport, and arrived at the Department without incident.

Upon arriving at the local Department, Joel was interviewed. He stated that, on the 18th, he heard something crash outside his house. Investigating, he found a canister rolling onto his lawn, and spotted a truck speeding down the street and out of sight; he stated he could see someone standing in the bed before the door quickly shut. Curious, Joel picked up the canister, and found it dented, likely having fallen from the truck.

Unfortunately, the canister ruptured, spraying a 'black liquid' into Joel's face. The moment the first drop hit his skin, the rest of the contents immediately followed, pouring out from the can and down Joel's throat. Joel dropped the empty canister and ran into his house, gagging, and passed out in his living room.

He awakened the following morning, in his basement, as a ‘puddle of black goo’, as he put it. Over the next few hours he worked on forming into a working shape that would allow him to regain his mobility. Over the next three days Joel debated what he should, or could, do. Finally, on the 21st, he opted to 'reveal' himself, hoping that, if he couldn't find a cure, he could at least 'find a use' for whatever ailed him.

Joel will be put through Anatomical Evaluation tomorrow, to see if his new form has any 'surprises' for us. I’ve had the canister retrieved from his home; other the serial number “09X733”, analysts have yet to learn of the canister's contents, its purpose or where it came from.

2: 6/23
At time of writing, Joel has not changed from when he was sighted by Channel. He has no human characteristics, merely a shifting, shapeless mass of a thick, black substance. In theory, Joel could form into a puddle at about a centimeter in depth, and a good twenty feet in width. When he wishes to have what he refers to as a 'normal form', he shifts into a relatively humanoid shape. This form has no legs, merely a tail-shaped trail of mass, making him look somewhat like a reared-up snake. His body itself is slim, rising into a torso, about 2.5 feet wide and a foot thick. His arms look similar to that of a velociraptor, ending in three jagged claws. His head is curved, with no eyes, nose or ears, but has a wide mouth with a vicious set of teeth. Joel stated that this form reminds him of something called a ‘hydralisk’, which he dismissively explained was a ‘video game thing’.

Regardless of what form he takes, Joel is perfectly capable of sight, scent, hearing, feeling and speaking, despite not truly having any of the requisite features. He found that he could speak, so long as he could form a mouth. He stated that his voice hadn’t changed from before his transformation.

Attempting to procure a sample has proven futile. Any attempts at scooping some of his mass results in it not parting from the entire form. Joel has attested that he has no control over this, but offered to allow scientists to examine him as a whole.
Dr. Roland has reported that, what appeared to be liquid is actually a mass of damp, microscopic stones, held together by a small but immensely strong magnetic field that shifts to Joel's command, allowing him to alter his shape. Joel referred to his form as “black sand”, which seems appropriate.

Joel has been fed appropriately. There have been no apparent issues with his appetite, in spite of him not having a stomach. He reported that he feels the food being dissolved when it falls down his throat; he noted that he is unsure whether he is feeding himself, or his mass.

Joel has stated that he wishes to work on his 'shifting', to see if he can make himself look human again. I have given him clearance to do so, under heavy guard.

3: 6/26
Joel's relatives have been informed, in full detail, of his status. They were, understandably, upset that he was 'sick' and 'under quarantine', but Joel was allowed to speak to them and assure them everything was fine. As a show of good faith, Joel has been allowed free use of a telephone, so he can remain in contact with his family.
Joel has been improving in learning the extent of his morphing abilities. He has learned how to change the color of his mass to the same tone as his human form, and is working on applying the technique to his whole body to look human again. He has stated that doing so requires vast concentration.

More interestingly, Joel has also learned how to shape his body, namely his arms, into various blades. Though this unnerved some of the staff, he claims this is merely for show, and I have no real reason to doubt him. He clearly wants to be here, if only to learn the true extent of his newfound powers.

4: 6/27
Joel has been placed in Isolation Chamber 401; as per usual, any attempted escape will cause the chamber to be plunged into the cryogenic stasis chamber, though I don't believe he will attempt an escape.

While en route to further testing this morning, Joel accidentally bumped into a passing officer. The contact between the officer's skin and Joel's mass suddenly caused the officer to begin screaming in complete terror and drop to the floor, repeatedly slapping his body and becoming unresponsive to any outer stimulus. It was only when Joel, in a panic, touched the officer again that he stopped screaming. Joel, however unnerved by this reaction, agreed to be taken to isolation; he, in fact, insisted upon it, fearing this new development.

The guard was questioned some time later, after he had been brought to the infirmary. He claimed that, upon contact with Joel, he suddenly believed he had burst into flames

This is the first time Joel made physical contact with someone's bare skin. All the scientists from the past two days were wearing thick, nylon gloves, in fear of any contaminants. This might have been the ideal choice.

6/27 (ctd.)
Interviewed Joel via the intercom in his cell. Joel attested that he did not intend, or even know, what he did to the guard. Joel stated that, when the guard began screaming, Joel had a sudden, brief vision of fire; Joel had no way of knowing of the guard's arsonphobia. His decision to touch the guard again in an attempt to get him to stop screaming was 'a shot in the dark'.
6/29
Joel has been allowed out of isolation. He agreed to, and indeed insisted upon, keeping his distance from any and all staff. Going the extra mile, Joel shrank himself somewhat, to reduce the risk of bumping into someone and causing another incident.
Upon returning to his cell, Joel 'lay' in his bed and did not move for the remainder of the day. Surprisingly, he opted not to call his family.

I am pleased to see Joel’s compliance and cooperation with the Department; I’ve seen my fair share of new metahumans who, understandably, loathe being treated ‘like animals’ when, in reality, we are simply taking every precaution we feel is necessary. Fifty years after the first metahumans, and there are still too many unknowns.

7/1
Joel has, reluctantly, agreed to demonstrate whatever phenomenon occurred on the 27th. He was asked to touch Sergeant Coulson, who has been noted to demonstrate complete emotional stability in the line of duty.

Upon contact, Coulson immediately stumbled away from Joel and began screaming. The subject’s screams were somewhat more coherent than the officers' from the previous incident. Coulson screamed about 'them' being all over him, and clawed at his skin, trying to swat something unseen from his chest. Joel promptly 'undid' the influence, and Coulson quickly calmed down.
Coulson explained that, upon contact, he suddenly saw himself being swarmed by spiders of various species and sizes. He has a severe case of arachnophobia.

In the meantime, Joel has finally managed to learn to shape himself to appear human again; he stated that doing so is extremely difficult, and he almost relishes the chance to resume his ‘black sand’ form. He theorized that, if assuming human form wasn’t so strenuous, he may be able to blend with his environment ‘like a chameleon’, but decided not to dwell on it.

7/3
Joel’s parents called asking if he may return home for the Fourth of July, or at least if they may come to the facility. Unfortunately, given Joel’s current state and inexperience with his abilities, we could not allow this. His mother was clearly upset, but did not argue.

After speaking with his family, Joel expressed concern regarding the event that he is unable to control his powers, and asked what would happen to him.

I told him we would keep trying, but I opted not to tell him what would happen; there had been some reports of those who couldn’t control their powers and needed to be kept in isolation, for the safety of the general public. I don’t think that’ll happen to Joel, though; he’s shown great progress these past few days. He even mentioned that, if he fully controls his abilities, he’d like to become an agent. He jokingly noted that the Department wouldn’t have to ‘spring for a costume!’

7/4
Joel has continued to test his newfound ability on willing participants. The material that composes his body appears to focus a frequency that reaches the brain and causes the victim to hallucinate their worst fears, or whatever Joel chooses, though Joel reported that it is ‘easier, and feels more natural, to make them live their own fears, rather than introduce new ones’. We’ve also discovered that, while a subject is under the influence of this technique, Joel is invisible to them; really, he can blind the subjects to anyone, make them only see the things they fear.

Joel has expressed a desire to see if he can better control this ability, in hopes of avoiding causing an accidental hallucination in the event of him bumping into someone again.

7/9
He’s done it!

It took several days, but Joel finally learned to control his ability, which he refers to as ‘Nightmare’. With sufficient focus and willpower, Joel managed to touch ten consecutive volunteers without incident; he did report that he caught a glimpse of something in each participant's minds. For example, he discussed that, upon touching subject Evans, he saw the subject being held over the edge of an impossibly high building, seeing the ground at least twenty miles down. The subject explained that he is ‘deathly afraid of heights’.

Joel considered this and analogized this finding with ‘peering into a glass of water. Unleashing the full Nightmare causes the glass
to spill over.’ After a moment he admitted that the analogy might not be particularly strong, but the point got across: Joel can see, and make people experience, their greatest fears.

END OF COMPILATION A

Chapter 12: Manipulations

For the next two weeks, Luna and I remained together, right under Celestia’s nose. We managed to keep our newfound relationship under wraps, mainly by making every effort to avoid looking the part of “the couple” when in public. At night, however, we could relax; Luna never saw anyone else during her nights on the tower—the night’s aerial guard often patrolled at levels below the top of the tower—so our secret wasn’t at risk. Not that we did anything on those nights; we simply sat close together, resting our heads against one another, simply enjoying each other’s presence.

I was getting so comfortable that I’d almost completely forgotten about Pridefall and his corrupted fear; I’d kept my ear to the ground, sure, but there hadn’t been any further signs of some extreme paranoia, or any similar incidents. From what I could tell, the other nations surrounding Equestria—including, but not limited to, the Minotaur kingdom, the nation of Zebrica, even some of the more rowdy clans of something called “Diamond Dogs”—didn’t have any immediately apparent gripes with the ponies, so there weren’t any signs of more overly paranoid leaders or militant commanders. There wasn’t anything. After a week of fruitless searching, I decided to call it quits, at least for now; if something sprang up again, I’d investigate while the trail was still hot, and this time I’d convene with Celestia. Until then, I was content to just be with Luna...

It was on the second week, when I met her atop the tower at the usual time, that I found she had brought a few things; a lit candle, a plate of cheese and crackers, and a bottle of what looked to be some aged cider. “I figured it would be nice to have a meal just for us…” Luna said sheepishly. “But it… might have looked suspicious if everypony knew we were having dinner together, so I figured it would be safer during… our time.”

I smiled and sat in my usual spot. We spent a few minutes quietly munching on the cheese and crackers before reaching the cider. Luna uncorked the bottle with her magic and poured us a couple glasses; I’d noted that Equestria didn’t have any alcoholic beverages, though it had been known to import some from its neighboring kingdoms. Cider, however, was considered their equivalent of wine, without its intoxicating qualities. I made to take a sip when Luna gave me my glass, but quickly stopped and raised it to her. “To two weeks without stirring the hornet’s nest,” I said.

“And to many more,” Luna replied, clinking our glasses together. We each took a sip; in my mouth the cider fizzled and bubbled, sending a rush of flavor through my mass.

“Delicious…” I said.

“A gift from Applejack’s family,” Luna said, nodding towards the bottle. “One of the oldest in the Apple Family’s collection.” She smiled fondly at it, though I soon spotted a sadness in her eyes. “One of many gifts the Bearers have given me…”

I lowered the glass. “What’s wrong?”

Luna gave a little empty laugh. “The first time they ever saw me, I was a monster…”

“Hey…” I said gently. “We talked about this…”

“I know I need to let go, but… It’s hard enough for me, what about everypony else?” Luna asked. “I endangered them, Joel, tried to kill them… I enticed a manticore to attack them, even attempted to send them plummeting from a cliff… But after I was restored, they… They treated me as a friend… Me! Even after everything I did...”

“Well,” I said, placing my glass down. “I can see a couple reasons for that. One, they know you’re no longer Nightmare Moon—you’re Princess Luna. End of discussion.”

“It did take many a while to see that…” Luna mumbled. “Some of the Bearers included…”

“But they see it now,” I said. “The point is, you’re not the monster in the book you showed me. You aren’t now, and you never will be again. They want you to move on from your mistakes as much as you do.” Luna gently nodded, silently conceding my point. “Secondly…” I continued. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t it you who ultimately made them as close as they are today?”

Luna frowned in contemplation. “Well…”

“Even if it might not have been intentional on your part,” I said. “You ended up uniting them and making them the closest circle of friends I’ve ever seen. And maybe they’re aware of that—how they have you to thank for bringing them together… And they simply wish to treat you the same they treat each other—as a friend.”

Luna smiled gently. “The same way you treat me…”

I made a mock-offended scoff. “Well, I’d say I treat you as more than a friend, but apparently…” I folded my arms and pouted skywards.

Luna giggled and scooched over, laying her head in its usual spot in my shoulder. As was customary I reached an arm around her back, while she reached a wing around mine like a mother bird hugging her hatchling. “I guess you treat me better than that…” She admitted with another giggle.

Her expression softened somewhat. “...I…”

I could feel a light tenseness in her wings. “What is it?” I asked.

“...I… love you.”

I tensed up.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, Yay and Nay seemed to lean in, metaphorical eyebrows raised. They both seemed to ask the same question.

“And you?”

There was a beat.

“...I love you, too.”

The words came out of my mouth without warning, though I noticed they didn’t feel forced.

After a few seconds, the tenseness in Luna’s wings faded. Her head sank deeper into my shoulder as she sighed contentedly, almost relieved.

Smiling, I adjusted my arm around her and held her closer.

Luna reached up with a foreleg, turned my head towards hers and kissed me. Almost without thinking, I shaped my mouth to look less like that of… well, to be honest, a monster, and more… human. For the past two weeks we were both hesitant towards displays such as this, mainly around the obvious physical reasons; I had some instinctive discomfort towards kissing what would come across as a horse back home, and she was hesitant to essentially kiss a pile of black sand. But as we kissed, any discomfort I had was just… gone; and I could tell it was the same for her.

Here we were; two people who loved each other, simply kissing. It’s funny how small an obstacle can seem once you’ve made the hurdle.

As we kissed, Luna’s hind leg moved and bumped the plate which, in turn, bumped the lit candle.

In slow motion, I watched as the candlestick fell over, letting the flame touch my mass.

Roughly two square inches of my mass quickly ignited. “Fuck!!” I yelped, springing back from Luna. She let out a surprised cry as I stupidly tried beating out the small, yet no less painful and terrifying flame, which only served to spread the flame to my claw. Before I could panic, however, Luna quickly took her glass of cider and splashed me with it; I was thankful this wasn’t the alcoholic kind as the flames quickly died.

I looked at the burnt areas as Luna moved the candlestick away, blowing out the flame. I’d suffered much worse as an MHA, even worse than my first experiment with fire in the early days. Still, this one wasn’t any laughing matter; my claw had hardened like clay, as had the initial area, though it would recover in a short while. Getting burned made it difficult to shape my mass—sort of like a clump in a box of cat litter—but the smaller burns usually recovered in a couple hours.

“That…” I said, staring at the burn. “...could have gone much worse.”

“Joel…” Luna breathed, in the way that usually implied a desire for an explanation.

I immediately made to start explaining, but hesitated; a few unpleasant scenarios flew through my head, namely around what Celestia might do if she found out about the only thing that could hurt me. I hadn’t (intentionally) given her any reason to distrust me, sure, but I felt a distinct… well, dread, over Celestia knowing that fire could be her ace in the hole.

But then I remembered, this was Luna I was talking to; if we were keeping quiet about our relationship, she could keep quiet about this… Unlike Celestia, Luna had absolutely no reason to use this knowledge against me. And besides, she’d probably be able to piece together the truth anyway—it wasn’t like I could realistically keep this from her.

“Fire,” I said plainly.

Luna blinked. “Fire?”

I held out my burnt claw. “Fire’s the… only thing that hurts me—hurts it, I don’t know… My mass isn’t that different to sand, in that it… hardens when exposed to open flame. We managed to keep my… weakness… a secret from any Malefactors; the Department knew, sure, but I never gave them any reason to use that knowledge…” My gaze fell. “Can’t really say the same about Celestia…”

Luna blinked for a moment, then leaned forward and examined the burn, gingerly taking it in her hooves. “Does it hurt?”

I shook my head. “Not when it’s stopped burning. It just needs a while and it’ll get better—it’ll sort of ‘thaw’, you know? ...Even though it didn’t freeze with ice, per se—you get the idea.”

Luna glanced down at the candlestick, a guilty look forming in her eyes. I immediately gave her hooves a little shake. “Hey. Accident.”

Luna looked back at me, then sighed. “Guess self-blame is a passion of mine, huh?”

“A burning passion?” I asked, smirking.

Luna gave me a deadpan expression. A cricket chirped in the distance.

I savored every minute of it.

Celestia maintained her normal, regal poise and smile as she walked down the streets of Canterlot, nodding warmly at her subjects as they bowed humbly before her. Her royal guard remained close behind her, yet strode in a somewhat relaxed gait; Celestia hadn’t been the target of a direct assault in years.

Yet it seems it is my subjects who are being targeted… Celestia thought sadly as she strode along. It had been about a month since the griffon attack on Ponyville. There hadn’t been any incidents with Dread in that time…

Or rather, it seemed that way.

Nearly two weeks after the attack, a guard had come to Celestia with grave news regarding a young Private of the guard who had been found just outside the castle wall. The Private had been left in something of a trance, screaming in terror, unresponding to outside stimulus…

It was a condition that Celestia was, sadly, familiar with nowadays. She’d had the Private sent to the home of a good friend of hers, on the outskirts of town; it was a sizeable home, with a basement large enough to house plenty of bedridden ponies.

Then more were found—ponies, left in a wakeless, screaming Nightmare. Celestia had had them all sent to her friend’s home, though she didn’t know how many more she could accomodate. She could have had them brought to Canterlot’s finest hospital, yes, but then word would spread… Word of some strange sickness claiming innocent ponies, plunging them into some horrendous nightmare from which there was no escape. Fear of this contagion would spread, leaving Canterlot—perhaps even Equestria—stricken with terror… A terror that someone could use to their advantage.

And Celestia had a hunch who that someone would be… And that hunch grew with each new victim.

It was when the fifth victim had been found that Celestia needed to fight the urge to storm into Dread’s room and openly denounce him then and there, to refuse to submit to the terror he sought to plunge Equestria into. She knew she had no means of combatting him—not yet, anyway—but she would be glad to at least try.

Yet she didn’t… this entire affair had been nothing short of baffling. When in hers and Luna’s company, Dread was anything but the monster Celestia suspected him to be. He was polite, caring, even one to tell the occasional joke… Yet, with each fear-stricken victim found, Celestia suspected a much more sinister being lying behind that kind demeanor; not unlike a changeling—maintaining an agreeable visage, whilst manipulating events to their advantage in the background.

Yet, if Dread was the one responsible, why was he doing this? Did fear strengthen him? And if so, was he creating sources of strength, with which to usurp power from her and Luna when the time was right? Was his arrival here not so coincidental, perhaps with the intent of ‘softening’ Equestria for the arrival of some conquering force from wherever he’d come from? Or was he truly sent here by accident, and simply making the best of a situation beyond his control?

Celestia wanted to believe that Dread was innocent, that he wasn’t tied to the victims, yet… there was no other potential suspect. Sombra was dead and gone, and, as far as she knew, there was nopony dabbling in similar

Celestia had neglected to tell anypony else about the victims; the only ones who knew were the ponies who’d found the victims, and her friend housing them. She’d urged every single one to remain silent, to neglect telling anypony, in order to prevent a panic. She’d even kept Luna out of the loop; she’d watched over the past month as her sister and Dread had grown ever-closer, nigh inseparable. If she went to Luna and attempted to explain what was happening, Luna may not believe her; Dread may even build on her disbelief and turn her against Celestia.

Celestia felt trapped.

She felt alone.

She felt… afraid.

Celestia rounded a corner and approached the home of her friend, Bright Dawn; it was a sizeable, two-story cottage on the edge of Canterlot. Bright Dawn had been one of Celestia’s favored doctors, and one of her closest friends, for a great many years, and had retired two short years prior; the two remained in close contact, though Celestia wished they wouldn’t be meeting today under such grave circumstances.

The guards about-faced and stood guard as Celestia knocked on the door. A few seconds passed before the door swung open, revealing an aged, harried-looking pegasus with a gray coat and pink mane. “Princess…” she panted. “I was just giving our… new arrival his medicine… Please, come in…”

Dawn stood to the side as Celestia entered, smiling warmly at her. “Again, I must ask, if this has been too much trouble for you…” Celestia began.

Dawn shook her head firmly. “And again, I must say: it’s no trouble. Anything for you, Princess.”

Celestia looked to the door that led to the basement. “So is our new arrival any different?”

Dawn sighed sadly. “No… He’s just the same as everypony else—the screaming, the lack of response to outside stimuli… I’ve given him the same dosage as the others, so he’s asleep now… Though sleeping only serves to cease their screams.”

Celestia nodded stiffly, choking back a sob of pain and sympathy for yet another of her subjects. But Dawn seemed to notice her pain, and laid a hoof against her leg. “We’ll figure something out, Princess…”

I dearly hope so… Celestia thought.

Dawn glanced towards the door. “There’s actually somepony here,” she said. “He’s the one who found this latest victim; he’s from the Crystal Empire.”

Celestia blinked in surprise; one who’d seen, perhaps even suffered from a similar torture? Perhaps he could offer insight? “I’ll go speak to him…” Celestia said, heading through the door and into the basement. “Thank you, Dawn… Truly.”

In the dark basement, lit only by a few firefly lanterns, about twenty cots were laid out in rows. Seven of them were occupied, bearing ponies that lay shivering on their beds, whimpering and twitching, clearly wishing to be awoken from their torment. Celestia sadly approached one of the victims and tentatively laid a hoof on his shoulder; he flinched away from her touch with a whimper, as though she was a part of the visions that haunted him.

“Not the first time I’ve seen something like this,” came a voice from down the row of beds. Celestia looked up, not having noticed the pony standing at the far end of the basement. He was a crystal pony, a unicorn with an azure, crystalline coat and a mark of an amethyst shield. He gazed blankly at one of the other victims before turning to Celestia. He approached her and bent to one knee. “It is an honor, Your Highness. I am Bulwark.”

Celestia blinked, the name familiar to her. “Have we met before?”

Bulwark gazed at her sadly. “I believe you found yourself at odds with my former… master?”

Celestia remembered; Bulwark was among those who fought alongside Sombra, one of those she and Luna had needed to fight against to free the Empire. He, and all those who’d ‘served’ Sombra had immediately been freed of his cruel grasp on their minds, but suffered the same thousand-year banishment as the whole of the Empire. When the Crystal Ponies had returned, Bulwark, and the others who had allied with Sombra, had unanimously agreed to face judgement for their crimes, yet had been offered amnesty. “Yes, I remember now…” She said, keeping this in mind. “What brings you to Canterlot, Bulwark?”

“A simple escape, I suppose…” Bulwark sighed. “It’s… hard to forget what we did back then, you see? I thought putting some distance between me and the Empire would help clear my head… But then I found him.” He gestured at the pony Celestia had tried to comfort. “I, myself, may not have been subjected to such torment, but I’ve seen it inflicted on others so many times that I know it when I see it.”

“You were the one who found him?” Celestia asked softly, laying on the floor in front of Bulwark.

The crystal pony did the same and nodded. “Not very far from the Castle, actually. It was last night, I was heading to the hotel I was staying at when I heard somepony begin to scream. I didn’t see anypony around when I found him…”

“You don’t know any way to remove the… illusion?” Celestia asked.

Bulwark shook his head. “Sombra, he… He was the only one. The only one who could place it, and the only one who could remove it… The only way to remove the illusion without his consent would be to destroy him.”

Celestia’s gaze fell to the floor; she blinked back tears as a rush of hopelessness flowed through her. As I suspected...

Bulwark frowned, noticing her reaction. “...Princess, do you… Do you know who might be doing this?”

Celestia hesitated, then nodded. “I… I think I do, Bulwark… I think I do… But I don’t know what I can do to stop him...” A sniffle escaped her. Bulwark walked to Celestia’s side and lay beside her, laying a sympathetic foreleg over her back.

Celestia failed to notice the brief flash of green in the Crystal Pony’s eyes.

“Tell me everything…”

Author's Note

Apologies for the lengthy delay; wrapping up New Hive, though, should leave me with more time to focus on Dread.

As always, feedback in comments.

By Popular Demand

I kicked the doors to the throne room open; Luna, Celestia and the Bearers were all there.

I walked up to them. "I forgive you all, entirely."

"YAAAAAAY!" The ponies cried.

I walked up to Luna and pulled out a wedding ring. "Marry me?"

"Yes!" Luna cried. We kissed.

"YAAAAAAY!" The ponies cried again.

MEANWHILE, IN THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE

"Muahahahahaha!!" Sombra cackled. "The world is mine-- HRRRRGGH..."

Sombra succumbed to a fatal heart attack.

And all was right with the world.