Author's Note

Hello again! You may have noticed already, but this chapter is a lot shorter than usual. That's because I actually wrote a really big one in an attempt to respect all the hints I left in the Author's Notes last time, but I realized that it was
a) A lot bigger than I expected.
b) So inconsistent regarding the content of that proto-chapter 22 that it was confusing.
C) A heck lot longer to write.

So I decided to divide it into three smaller chapters. A bit more than the first two-thirds are already written down, so expect the next one soon (meaning, later today or tomorrow at the latest).

No spoilers this time. Sorry.
Enjoy!

Chapter 22: Fear

"You... You have no idea what you've nearly done," I growled as I stood up.

Anger- no, wrath was starting to blind me with its red mist, and both Luna and Celestia immediately raised their wings into a reflex fight-or-flight position. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as my rage and my desire to punish the princesses was growing more and more. I wanted to hurt them, I wanted to see their blood cover the floor for what they had done, but I was still in that strange state where I was still able to think rationally while my wrath was threatening to turn me into a mindless beast.

"I warned you... I warned you about what could happen if you tried to expose him directly to death, Princess. I warned you about what I would do if you harmed him. And you still FUCKING DID IT!" I roared more than I shouted.

"We... We didn't think that-" Luna tried

"Oh, if you didn't think, it's fine!" I shouted, making the dumb princess shut up. "Or, even better, I'm guessing that one of you got herself the idea to test whether or not I would have lied about my brother's health? Maybe to make sure that I wasn't lying to him just to keep him on my side, hum?"

While I was expecting Luna to be the one that I would soon make beg for mercy, what with her doubting my every word since day one, Celestia was the one that looked horribly guilty. It surprised me a little, but not enough to distract me from my primary intention: finding out whether or not they were truly immortals. I felt the fire of magic reaching my hands just as I emitted my sense field the same way I had when I fought Luna. Sadly, they both recognized the spell and put up a shield to stop its harmful effects.

I still hadn't completely lost it, though, and didn't attack immediately after.

"I should rip you two apart piece by piece and make you scream loud enough to let your entire kingdom know what happens when you hurt my brother," I said, my voice boiling. "Maybe let one of you alive long enough to tell the story?"

"Verso!" Celestia called in a harsh tone. "Get ahold of yourself! We are sorry that-"

"I DON'T CARE!" I shouted just as I fired an energy beam that missed, thanks to my anger. "I don't fucking care if you're sorry! I don't fucking care if you thought it would be for the greater good! I don't fucking care if I get chased down by every living creature in this miserable world! I WILL make you pay for what you just did!"

And with that, I fired another beam, more accurate this time, that destroyed Celestia's shield. While her sister gasped in surprise, Luna replicated, casting some sort of spell on the carpet beneath my feet. It ripped itself into ropes and surged forward to me, trying to immobilize me. I burnt the fucker down in an instant and took hold of the ridiculous fountains under the throne, launching a heavy jet of water onto Bluebitch, effectively knocking her away. She quickly got back to her senses and her horn shined brighter. A sudden and powerful gust of wind threw me back a solid five meters and I fell harshly against the hard floor, cracking a bone.

Pain distracted me a little as I used magic to heal it quickly, with success this time, contrarily to my failure at the same attempt against Luna when we arrived. I sensed an impressive amount of water shooting in my direction and raised my own shield. The jet was still powerful enough to make me struggle, though, and I could do little less than maintaining a force-field around me.

"Verso, please! Calm down!" Celestia yelled again, and I realized that she was the one attacking me with water.

"I will fucking murder you!"

"It seems that we have no choice but to cool him down for a moment, sister," Bluebitch said from above me.

I looked up in a hurry, even though it was unnecessary. I had been so concentrated on my defense that I somehow didn't feel her coming only a couple meters above me, standing on my shield. She reared back for an instant and slammed her front hooves down with such force that my shield crumbled. I got hit by the water before I could do anything, and my ribcage nearly ruptured at the hit.

One of them magically forced the water to form a blob around my body, leaving my head and neck safely outside, and Luna casted another spell, freezing the water and imprisoning me in a block of ice.

I didn't really care at the time, but I probably looked stupid as fuck.

"Release me!" I shouted, trying my best to break the ice by moving around. That didn't do much, and I couldn't activate my magic for some bullshit reason. "Release me so that I can rip your heads off!"

"You do bring an appealing argument, but I think I'll pass," Luna said, smirking smugly as she landed in front of me.

I would have killed her for that alone. Killed her and put her head on a spike that I would have carried around the city. Celestia walked up to us and glared at her sister, making the younger princess lose the smirk and look away in shame. Then, she looked at me, sad. Myself, I was too occupied finding a way to make my magic work while the freezing cold was stabbing me. Have you ever been encased in ice? Well, I suppose such a concept doesn't really concern you, but understand this: painful and horrible doesn't begin to describe it. But the cold was calming me down, so I suppose it worked pretty well.

"Verso, I understand your anger, but listen to us, please."

"Why? So that you try and find a way to make my soul crumble?" I spat at her, still enraged. "That's not happening. I'm going to break free in a second and then I'll tear your fucking horn off and use it to rip out your tongue."

They both looked concerned, if a little disgusted. "He does get pretty graphic with his threats, doesn't he?" Luna commented.

"The lesser sibling can shut the fuck up, grown ups are trying to murder each other here." I would have smirked when the younger princess got immediately infuriated, but I didn't exactly feel like it.

"YOU LITTLE-" she started with her somewhat famous 'Canterlot Voice', but Celestia's golden magic force her mouth closed.

"As always, sister, your banter isn't helping." Luna looked outright furious at Celestia, and I continued.

"Aw, look, big sis knows best, as always. It's a wonder you're still trying to do things by yourself, Lulu."

Luna looked shocked -and satisfyingly hurt- at me and Celestia's stare hardened, but she didn't comment.

"Verso, before I start explaining my actions, I want the truth: what happened in Count Boddy's home?"

I looked angrily at her. "Oh, so not only did you try to kill Recto, but you're also accusing me of senseless murder at the same time?"

She stepped back, shocked and freeing Luna's muzzle. "I didn't-"

"It's simple: we passed out. Recto woke up first. End of the story."

Luna glanced at her sister, who was looking away.

"So you maintain that you didn't kill him?" she asked.

"Why would I have?" I yelled back at her. "For heavens' sake, I barely knew that guy for five minutes before we blacked out!"

"So that means..." Luna whispered for herself.

"We'll let the police officers make their investigation," Celestia declared. "We'll see what comes out of it."

"But, sister-!"

"I think we both falsely accused enough ponies for today, Luna. I don't want to had a name to that list."

"Oh, so you won't arrest Blueblood?" I asked, and they both looked at me, surprised. "What? Don't look at me like that. It's pretty obvious that he did it. They were getting agressive, the murder will drown the public's attention away from his affair with that Fleur-de-something and I'm the most likely suspect. Of course he killed the count."

Luna looked like she was about to say something but Celestia interrupted her, again.

"Theories aren't proofs, Verso."

I glared back at her. "Didn't stop you either of you from almost murdering Recto, did it?"

She looked away in shame again. "I thought that it would be harmless if I was wrong..."

"Harmless?!" I shouted. "I told you it would make him fade away, and you thought it was harmless?!"

"With the way that you described, I understood that he would simply fall asleep and that you would wake up in his place!"

"HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT?!" I shouted, burning anger returning to my head. "I told you about what I would do if you attempted to do that, and you thought that it would be because I'm cranky when I wake up? How fucking stupid are you?!"

"Watch your tongue, human!" Luna ordered.

"Shut your mouth, horse!" I replied, and she looked like she wasn't expecting a comeback. "How fucking psychotic do you think I am exactly? You think that I would manipulate my own brother into being a fucking constant twelve-years old? Is that what you think?"

"W-Well, no, but..."

"But WHAT?! Why do you think I have some sort evil plan going on? Why do you think I'm plotting against Recto?" They both looked away, but I wasn't having any of this. "Answer me!"

It took them a moment, but Luna raised her head and looked at me in the eyes. I could read her worries in her expression, as well as her distrust. But, most of all, I could see her resolve.

"I cannot help but think of Nightmare Moon when I look at you, Verso," she said and I rolled my eyes. "Your brother and you are so diametrically opposed. You are aggressive and untrustworthy. And I just know that you are trying as hard as you can to hide something from us. On the other hoof, Recto is so... innocent, and bluntly honest. I simply cannot believe you two are sharing in the same body. It simply doesn't feel... natural. To think that someone like him is... chained to you, who don't seem to perceive a pony's life as being worthy of consideration pains me for him."

I know what you would expect of me. Such comments usually would have made me explose in a righteous blood-thirst. You think that I would have tried even harder to free myself from that damned block of ice to eviscerate her before hanging her from the highest tower in her ridiculous place with her own entrails and crushing each and every one of her bones into a fine dust. (Hum..? Yes, well, Luna said it too: I do usually get rather descriptive with my ideas.)

And you would probably have been right to think so, had she chose any other way to put her insults and overall disgusts to words. As it was, her comments brought back memories I thought I had buried deeply in the recesses of my mind. I got entangled in them and barely even listened to the whole thing. She was unknowingly hitting a weak spot of mine, which was nearly enough to bring me to tears and to just start crying in front of them. It-It's just...

...

Yes, I'll be fine. Just needed some time to... Needed some time. No, I won't... We'll reach that particular spot later anyway. Where was I, again? Oh, that's right. Well then, let's keep going, shall we?

Luna's 'excuse' for her doubts cooled me down, at least, and I adverted my gaze from hers, fearing that I would just reveal everything to them and put Recto and I into even more danger. Retrospectively, I would bash me in the skull repeatedly with a shovel and yell at myself for not doing it. It would have changed so much...

Anyway, now is not the time to reflect on my stubbornness and -well, okay, it is, but I'm telling you a story, so stop interrupting me every two seconds, dammit. I turned my head to stare at the one that had the oh-so-great idea that could have killed Recto, only to find Celestia looking away, her shoulders low. She looked guilty as charged, reminding me of the source of my nearly drowned-out anger and slowly setting it ablaze again.

"And you, Princess Celestia?" I asked, my voice thankfully not showing the deep anguish that Luna's words had brought. "Why in the nine hells do you think I'm 'evil'?"

"I... Luna, could you leave us for a moment, please?"

I gotta admit, I wasn't expecting that. And neither did Luna, judging by her face. Her surprise was quickly replaced by pain and sadness. I figure she didn't like the idea that Celestia wasn't trusting her with something like that. For a couple seconds, it looked like she was going to try and persuade her sister to let her stay, but she decided against it and silently walked outside, her head hanging low. Celestia was looking at the ground until she heard the door closing behind her sister. Then, she raised her head and looked at me with tear-filled eyes.

I wasn't expecting that either.

"I hate having to keep secrets from her... It feels so wrong..." she said in a pained voice.

"Welcome to the club," I whispered ironically, somewhat enjoying to see her feeling a fraction of what I felt.

She stayed silent for a handful of seconds before she continued. "Did you know that prior to your arrival, Discord came to see me to know if he could bring you back from your world to Equestria?"

"I didn't and I don't really care. I suppose he said a sob story and that-"

"I was against it."

Truly, that conversation was playing with expectations. Seriously, I would have nearly bet my soul on Celestia, the nice, warm, gentle and fair leader of the ponies would being favorable to my coming to this world. Good thing that I'm not a gambling guy.

"Why?" I asked, confused, and a little bit worried. "What the fuck did he tell you about me?"

"He... Discord told me that you brought the end of your world."

My heart skipped a beat. I swear that I heard Kay chuckling darkly behind my ears, and I was horrified. Just what exactly did Celestia know about me? About Kay? About the Whispers? Why would that fucking bastard Discord tell something like this to her? I didn't bring the end of anything! And neither could have Kay and the Whispers, seeing as we were nanoseconds away from dying when that asshole of a draconequus came to save us!

Furthermore, it sounded a lot like the insanity those sons of bitches were thinking about me back in the Institute. I looked at Celestia's eyes and found the same deep fear that they were feeling when they were looking at me, only, without the madness their crazy cult leader had put inside their tiny brains. She feared me, yes, but she was only worried. She wasn't planning to use me for something else, let they did. Still, I felt the same disgust coming to me.

It had never truly made sense to me why they were keeping me alive on Earth if they thought I was some sort of demon that meant to destroy everything they held dear. Not until our very last moments on Earth, when that bastard on the other side of the screen started to say something about bringing a new Age or something like that. They were using me. They had kept me alive, imprisoned me and sometimes outright tortured me to use me and the Gate for something.

At that very instant, I was afraid that Celestia would try to do the same thing. That simple idea brought a cold, bitter furor to my head. Never again, I thought. I won't let that happen again.

Clearly, I thought about just gathering Recto's belongings and mine and to just leave this place, never to return. We had an entire world to at our disposition, now, I could find a place where none had heard about me and where none would immediately identify me as a world-ending force of destruction. But then, I thought about our acquaintances in Ponyville, about Recto's friends. Leaving them behind would devastate him, and that wasn't something I would do while I had the choice.

So, I thought of the next best thing.

"Let me go," I finally uttered after what seemed like an eternity. She looked at me, uncertain. "Let me go, and we'll never speak of this again. I won't hold a grudge, I'll go to your stupid Gala, and then I'll be back to Ponyville. This conversation will never have happened."

"But-"

"But if I ever feel you are treating me like those bastards did on Earth again... If you ever hurt my brother again... Then all bets are off."

"Verso, I'm so sorry..."

"I don't care. We could have been friend, your Highness, but I don't think we will be able to as long as you are afraid of me. Now, please, let me go."

I felt a wonderful warmth surrounding my body. The ice melt down quickly around me and the resulting water was being directed toward the throne's foutains. The warmth spell changed once I was free and dried me in an instant. I cracked my hands, both to check that the freezing cold hadn't done too much damage to my motor skills and to make the white alicorn flinch. When I was done checking for injuries, I bowed in front of Celestia.

"Your Majesty."

And I walked out. On the way out, I saw the guards waiting outside for their permission to get back in and protect the most unkillable creature in Equestria, but Luna was nowhere to be seen. I think that she went moping in her room, rather than staying and exposing her feelings of betrayal to her sister and working it out.

I don't know if you've noticed, but I know my stuff about siblings betraying each other.