Bliss in Darkness

Opening Up

"Oh, my head...." Twilight complained as we walked to Ponyville. Well, Twilight and I walked. Rainbow and Fluttershy were flying above us. I remember being rather jealous. My powers got me pestered in school, and then full out tortured, and these ponies had gifts most would kill for. Their wings didn’t even look big enough to hold them. Could they have magic too? I got so caught up in my thoughts I didn't pay attention to where I was going and tripped over a rock on the trail. Such are the consequences of an overactive mind. I'm sure Twilight can relate.

Multiple laughs came from Rainbow Dash, while soft, suppressed giggles came from Fluttershy. Twilight, however, completely ignored my clumsiness. At first I wondered why she just kept walking, but I then thought back to the little fight we had only one night before. That reminded me, it had only been one night?  So much had happened in the past few days, I felt guilty for ruining the sleeping habits of the ponies around me. I could just sap a few bushes when I got tired, but the ponies must have been hating it. I made a mental note to do something to make it up to them later, for it was indirectly my fault.

"Hey Twilight... Equestria to Twilight..." Rainbow Dash said as she flew upside-down and backwards in front of Twilight's face. Now I was extremely jealous of the rainbow headed pegasus, and decided I would have to get some spare time to read up on possible wing spells.

"Hush up Rainbow, I'm not in the mood." Twilight said coldly. Now, we all knew something was wrong. Rather than ignore it, I ran ahead of the group of ponies and stopped. Being her friend I was dutifully sworn to help her in any time of need... or something like that. This was a land of friendship, so I assumed that had to be the mantra.

I turned my gaze down to Twilight, who seemed slightly smaller than she normally was. She was wincing and buckling in... pain? Pissed at me or not, I wasn't going to let this continue.

"Twilight... We aren't stupid, what's wrong? Is it because I'm here..." I said the last part in a whisper so only she could hear.

"No, it's not you guys... I just... My head really hurts. My horn feels like it had an electric shock going through it constantly and I can't feel my hooves. It feels like when we faced Nightmare Moon, only worse."

As soon as she mentioned Nightmare Moon I shuddered. The last thing I wanted to do was have another run in with that bitch. Much to my dismay, thoughts of Luna poured into my mind at the mention of Nightmare Moon. My heart was heavy, but I dismissed the thoughts. I needed to be strong now, and heartache would have the opposite effect.

"I'm pretty sure Nightmare isn't coming back Twilight. I mean... you defeated her once before I got here, and then you beat the hay out of me. I'm pretty sure you can handle anything Equestria has to throw at you." I said, trying to reassure my friend. I said Equestria, and left out Earth for a reason. I was pretty sure the Elements of Harmony wouldn't do jack shit against nine or ten Special Forces units marching through Sweet Apple Acres. I shuddered at the thought.

"I guess you're right. Nightmare Moon was hardly the worst thing we have had to deal with. Still, there is that rift out in the forest we are going to have to deal with sooner or later, and I definitely don't feel like it right now." She winced at the pain in her head and started wobbling around on the path.

I don't know what came over me, maybe it was the regret from fight we had the previous evening, but right then and there I did something unusual. I stood in front of Twilight again, this time kneeling down. I opened my arms and much to her disagreement, scooped her up and began walking. I was on thin ice with the locals as it was, and if anypony saw me with Twilight kicking and screaming in my arms... It would not be pretty. I could hardly get away with blowing on Twilight's stomach and dissipating the fear of anypony. In fact, I would probably get few hooves to my face.

"Stop your squirming. I know we aren't exactly on the best of terms right now, but I'm helping you whether you like it or not!" I said, trying to contain the fidgeting ball of purple unicorn I held in my arms. On one hand, it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. Like holding a large puppy. On the other hand, she was trying to force hooves where hooves should not go. I had half a mind to just drop her on the flank, but that would not accomplish anything.

"Oh you... put me down... I swear I'll... aughhh..." She grunted. I could tell she was in pain, so I tried to be gentle in containing her.

"Look Twilight, I'm carrying you home and you are going to like it. It's the least I can do after... you know."

"Ok, but it's not me you should be apologizing to!"

"What?" Replied Rainbow and Fluttershy simultaneously.

"Nothing. Let’s just get Miss Sparkly-pants home and then we can all talk like civilized beings." I chuckled on the inside at the nickname I had just created for my captive. I would have to use that more often, judging by her rage.

"How dare you..."

"Just shut up!" I said as I put my hand over her muzzle. I'd seen her do that several times to Pinkie, so it was probably a normal occurrence around here.

"Mmmmhm MMHpp MMHPPPHH!!!!!!!"

"You're welcome, Twilight."

***

"What's going on? Twilight? Charlie what are you doing!?" Spike exclaimed as I plopped his boss on the couch right next to him. Twilight had fallen silent, but her face was twisted in an expression of pure malice.

"Just taking care of some business. Where's Eliza?"

"Oh... she is just in the spare room. I tried to talk to her, but she won't come out. She said something about you, and then slammed the door in my face. She is kind of rude, bro."

"I thought you guys were getting along fine yesterday..."

"Yeah I guess we were. I caught her talking into this black box thing though. Somepony’s voice was coming through it; it was awesome! But then I lost my temper when she wouldn’t tell me what it was...” Spike said, looking down at the ground, seemingly in embarrassment.

"Jesus Christ! What?” I couldn’t believe my ears. She had a walkie-talkie? Who was she talking to… “I'll need a few minutes to talk to her. Spike, try to keep your boss from bucking me into next week while I'm in there."

"What is Jesus Christ? And why would she do that?"

"Heh... that’s a very good question spike, I’ll tell you all about it later... anyways hold on, I need to take care of the girl."

With that awkward exchange of words, I departed the main room of the library. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash went to look for the lovebirds, leaving me alone to deal with Twilight, and the spy. Some friends...

I made my way to the rear of the library where the spare room was located. Before I entered the room, I pondered whether or not I should just kill the girl. Sure it was probably not the right thing to do, but the last thing I needed was this little girl fucking up all my plans for happiness in this place. I hated my past, and she was my past. Regardless, if anypony knew I did her in, they would probably have Celestia banish me. Or lock me up. Or lock me up in the place that she banished me to. I shuddered at the thought.

Knock, knock, knock.

Much to my relief, and dismay, there was no answer. My heart pounded as I tried to put the puzzle together. Questions and half-answers soared through my head as I contemplated the worst.

‘Is she a spy?’

‘Of course, why else would she be in contact with anyone by radio?’

‘She must have been in the care of the government after we killed her parents.’

‘Why would they have sent a little girl?’

‘Maybe they figured she would be best suited for a job in a land full of ponies? Hell, she probably offered to come if it meant

somehow catching us.’

‘Yeah, she has damn good reason to want us locked up.’

After several seconds, I burst through the door and much to my surprise, I found nothing. The broken bed, the nightstand, even the dusty old books that were laying around. All of it, gone. Did this little girl steal all of Twilight's stuff? I hated her more and more every second.

I turned on my heels, and started to walk out the door when a purple blur of destructive rage hit me in the gut and sent me flying back into the dusty old room. She cast the same sound damping spell, again enveloping me in that strange static jelly. I cast a glance at the door as Twilight magically slammed it. I saw Spike mouth the words 'I'm sorry, dude' as it shit in his face for the second time today.

"What in Celestia's name is wrong with you?!" She screamed right in my face. Such volume was obviously not necessary, but then again, Twilight was female. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" I remember my father telling me when I was old enough to understand what it meant. I guess the saying applies to women of all species.

"I just wanted to help, Twilight."

"I don't want your help! You made me look like a fool!"

"You did that to yourself Twilight, I'm sure your friends don't care if I carry you...”

"You just... I just... the... AGH!" Twilight stuttered as she lifted me with her magic. At this point  I feared for my life, so I prepared to do what was necessary to survive. I reached out and prepared to start draining my magical friend if the need arose.

“Twilight this is stupid. What I did is in the past, and I can’t change it. All I can do is make a better future for myself, and Celestia already said I was allowed here.”

"This isn’t about you! Do you know how much pressure I'm under? The lives of every single Equestrian pony are in my hooves and the last thing I need if for somepony to see me being carried around like a filly!"

"So this is about your pride, Twilight? Everybody needs help sometimes. Would Equestria feel safer if their greatest defender was limping and staggering about the town? And besides, without me you will have no idea what you are going up against. You need me, like it or not, and I'm going to stay right here in Ponyville until this shit is solved."

"..." She responded with silence and glanced at the ground.

"Will you put me down please, Twilight?” I said as I saw her anger visibly dissipate.

“Only if you promise to never keep secrets from me. The Elements have sworn to protect Equestria from danger, and until I know the truth about you….”

“We need to solve this, and then I’ll tell you everything you want to know. What happened to the girl? When did she leave? She damn well could have been a spy."

"That little filly? A spy?” Twilight said, her voice quivering as if she was about to break down in tears. I wanted to comfort her as she had been through a lot today, but I needed information.

“Yes. That… girl… That’s what we are going up against. They are going to do whatever it takes to be back under control, and I'm willing to bet they will take all you ponies with them.”

“Well. After you left last night I sent her to bed and then I..” She cut off her sentence off abruptly. Was she part of the orgy last night too? I had to investigate…

“You went to Pinkies didn’t you… wow. What goes on there anyways? No wonder everypony loves Pinky parties…”

“No! I mean yes, I went to Pinkies, but I didn’t take part in that… I just wanted some comfort from my friends. I saw what was going on in there and I kinda… passed out from the shock.” Twilight said with a sigh.

“So… what was going on in there?” I said, suddenly interested in last night’s activities at Pinkies. I was joking when I said ‘crazy lesbian pony sex’ but now it was turning out to be somewhat true. All this talk of sex with all my female friends had me getting in some awkward situations. I decided I was going to try to patch things up with Luna as soon as I could, lest I give in to my temptations with one of the other girls.

“Well… I don’t know if I should tell you. It was very private.”

“Oh come on… I won’t call you Ms. Sparkly Pants anymore…” I said as coy as humanly possible.

“Oh shut it, I don’t even wear pants…”

“That’s the spirit!” I said, losing myself to my humor once again.

“I thought you wanted to be serious…” Twilight said with a somewhat angry tone. Not wanting to upset her further, I obliged.

“Ok fine, back to business. Where do you think the girl went? And what did she tell you exactly before you started yelling at me last night?”

“Well. She told me you killed her parents for no reason. She told me you smiled at her father and told him you were enjoying it.” Twilight recalled, looking like she was about to vomit. Was I really that brutal? That day was nothing more than a bloody haze.

“Its true… I did kill her father. But it wasn’t for no reason.” I lifted my shirt, “See these scars? All these ones down here… and here… and here… were from her father and all of his friends. The day those people came to take me away, he caught me out on the hill outside my house..” I recalled with much pain and malice. Twilight looked at me intently and seemed to realize how hard it was for me to recall these events. Her huge lavender eyes were glinting from tears, her coat matted from sweat. I took a seat on the bare hardwood floor, put my arm around her, and continued.

“His name was John. Jonathan Baxter. He led the group of people who teased me in school. They made fun of my eyes. Normal human eyes are like pony eyes, obviously mine are different. He was jealous of my relationship with Claire Richeson. She was… so beautiful.” I choked on the last few words. I hadn’t recalled these events in this detail to anybody since… well never. I don’t know why I felt like I could trust Twilight, but I could. She seemed sincere enough, and her eyes cut through me like butter. Like Luna's, but lighter and much more inquisitive. Luna’s eyes were deeper and more beautiful. They were a shade of azure I had never seen outside the spectrum of the night sky, just before the sun has cast its final rays. I sighed as I realized I was thinking about Luna again, and continued.

“She understood me, unlike all the other kids at my school. While others laughed at my differences, she complimented me on them. One day after school, John challenged me to fight him. I accepted, and beat him fair and square. The next night, he found me out in the hills behind my house with Claire. I got away, but they had Claire. I went back to try to save her and… they made me surrender in order for her to get away. John and his friends held me down and cut patterns into my flesh. I screamed, and they laughed. My pain was their pleasure. I guess they had nothing better to do than torture the local weirdo. Before I passed out from the pain, I looked out over the hills hiding us from the town. I saw one of the boys coming back with Claire all tied up and gagged.”

Twilight was crying full force now and it was all I could do to not join her. This world amazed me so many times that day. The whole town was terrified of me, but in a matter of hours I was the local favorite. Twilight hated my guts, and now I had her breaking down in my arms. Life is funny sometimes.

“The only way I was able to get away is by using my… abilities. I used them to take revenge on all the boys, trying to teach them all a lesson. I didn’t even kill a single one of them, although I'm sure that’s what they had in mind for me. I turned to Claire to find out that she had escaped, and was running away from me. I headed into town a few hours later and there were several vehicles outside her home. I knocked on the door, not knowing what to expect, and then several men injected me with something and I was out cold.”

Twilight was still sobbing, but no tears were coming to her eyes anymore. I asked if I should stop my recap, but she shook her head in disagreement. I had no idea why she cared so much about my life, but it honestly felt better to get it off my chest in detail. Having real friends who actually cared was the best thing that had ever happened to me, another reason I needed to make sure it remained untainted by my world beyond.

“I woke up a few weeks later in a small white room… I'm sorry Twilight, I don’t think you want to hear the rest.”

“No… I do. I told you I wanted to hear it, and I'm going to finish it.” She said with no discernible emotion.

“Ok… well. I woke up and spoke to a man named Salazar. He said he was there to help me… Then, they started… hurting me. They brought in some animals for me to feed off of, and they never stopped. Day after day, month after month, never a wink of sleep, never a bite of food. Two years went by and they kept cutting, and piercing and breaking me. After a while, they started bringing in other humans instead of animals for me to kill. Then they brought children. After a while, they brought my family. That was it, I had to escape. I broke out, killing countless people in the process. After they killed my parents, me and my brother left the place for good. We made our way back home, where I killed John. Then I took that memory erase potion, passed out and woke up out there in the Everfree. Then I was possessed by Nightmare Moon, and recovered my memory all over again.” I finished my story, leaving that one crucial detail out. She didn’t need to know about Claire. There was no way I could explain why I did it.

“So… now do you see why I did what I did? I mean I'm sorry, but there’s only so much someone can handle before they snap.” I said, eyeing Twilight closely. She hadn’t moved much in the past few minutes, and I was honestly a bit nervous.

“I… A simple I'm sorry won’t cut it…”

“It’s fine Twilight. Honestly. It’s over now, and I'm done being sad about it. I spent a good three months after my captivity killing, and punishing others for what happened to me. It’s over now, and I have a new life with new friends who actually care about me. It feels great. All I want now is to protect that new life. That’s why I can’t have you fighting me anymore. Ok?”

“Ok Charlie. Thank you.”

“Thank me? Thank you… I honestly was expecting you to kick me out again after I told you what I did…”

“Thank you for trusting me. I know how hard it must have been to say all that. I feel like Ponyville’s therapist sometimes. I help all my friends through their problems, and you are no exception. Now, we should get some rest. I feel a lot better… My head doesn’t hurt anymore at all. Whatever was causing that magical disturbance must be over now.”

“Whatever you say, Ms. Sparkly Flanks.” I said with a smile.

“Very funny Charlie. I would offer you this room but…”

“Yeah. She probably took it back to whoever she is with here.”

“We will deal with that tomorrow. Thank you for being honest Charlie, do you want to sleep on the couch tonight?”

“Nah… I need to go pay a visit to somepony. Somepony small and yellow that I think has a small crush on me…”

“Oh… be careful with Fluttershy. She may act small, but she has a big heart.”

I didn’t reply, as I was already out the door. I looked into the sky, my heart soaring free once again. It had been a good night, with a very good friend. I would have to find some way to repay her for being so great to me. I sighed as I walked down the path to my dear friend Fluttershy. I would have to let her down easily… I was still in love with Luna after all. I gulped as I thought about her again… what was I going to do with myself.

I looked up into the beautiful night sky, only to see a golden chariot fly above me, a pair of azure eyes gazing back at me as it flew.

***

“Do you want to go to him, Luna?”

“No sister… he brings me nothing but pain now.”

“Very well.”

Authors Notes: Sorry for all the delays guys, I've been traveling! Its beautiful here in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico and I wish you were all here with me. Unfortunately, the WiFi here is The. Worst. Possible. Thing! (Also, I've been drunk on the beach half the time) so, my updates will be irregular, if at all. I'll continue writing regardless, so at the end of the week you might just get a really long fucking chapter. Who knows? Have a good one!

Pic Related, Its the view from my room (You can't see it, so just imagine the beer in my hand.)