Alex or Xanderby ZamairiacChaptersStill A Nightmare!You're Just A Parasite!Alex Or...The Truth?Still A Nightmare!Still A Nightmare! The mare…the nightmare, she walks to me, ever closer as the seconds pass by. "Stay away!" She cocks her head to the side, a curious, yet cold smile upon her face. "Why should I?" "I'll…I'll hurt you, I'll kill you!" Laughter, soft and sensual escapes her. I can feel myself shake evermore as I realize that it's genuine. "Will you…no, no I don't believe you will. You're a man of many things, unique things now my love…but kill me? No, you lack to will to do so, and I'll prove it." She ignores my warnings, my threats and comes closer, her steps graceful and precise. Her eyes are locked onto mine, determination with a smile upon her muzzle. "Sta-I said stay back! Don't come any closer or I'll-" "Kill me?" she laughs again, though this time I cannot miss the mockery within her tone. "No you won't beloved. I'm walking ever closer and still you shake and splutter rather than take action. You lack conviction, you lack strength of mind. And as soon as we're done with this silly farce, I'll take you back home and teach you how; I'll make you strong in all that I already have not." Panic is rising within me as I back away, her cold eyes making me shake ever more. Could I do this, could I do what Ton requested and kill her? I had nothing left, so what was it that made me stutter? Was it fear… Her form now so close to mine it incites desperation, the deadly blade within my hand now pressed against my own neck, causing the Lunar mare to freeze in her tracks as her eyes widen in her own fear. "You'll stay back or you'll have nothing to take back but a corpse!" Eyes once so cold now so warm, so loving and calming, seemingly able to understand every woe ever to have befallen me. It makes me feel… "I know you fear me for what I have done to you…" she says, soothing…so soothing. "But can you not yet see, have you not yet found out just what I have done for you? Do you not feel strong; do you not feel powerful in ways you have yet to understand?" Confusion must be clear upon my face, for she smiles and… "My magical capabilities are yours now beloved. Can you not feel the energy? Can you not feel the power crying out for release? I can teach you how, I can help you become so much more than you already are…You are already nigh eternal, but I can make you eternally powerful." She edged ever closer between each word, each silky, sultry syllable that rode off her tongue. Her eyes were bright, loving still, ever loving and so soothing. The blade shook in my grasp as I struggled to keep myself together, to not break down and weep bitter tears over all I'd lost…and what I felt compelled to accept. "Think of it Xander. You and I together, ruling the most powerful country in the world. Think of all we could do together, think of how many lives we can save, now that there is no weak heart left to abandon those desperate to be loved…like you." So close now, her wings touching the arm that held the blade so close, slowly, lovingly beginning to grasp and pull… "Did you think that I do not know, my love? Did you not think that somepony as cruel and torturous as I have been to you, could possibly understand just how much you need someone to hold you, to love you and remind you that you are never alone…" My arms stays firm…but weakens as her words, her gentle tugging, her tender and affectionate gaze witling down any reason I had left to say no…to end it all. "Don't you want me to do that for you now? Do you not want me to hold you close, to nuzzle your neck and let you weep all your sorrows against mine?" So…close…to… She smiles. "Do you not want me to end this nightmare?" My grip slackens, the blade barely within my hand as…as… An endless chain… An endless cycle… An endless nightmare… "What if I told you that there was a way to escape this endless nightmare?" … And finally…I realize. This is just a nightmare. Before weakness can take hold once again, I grasp the blade firmly and drag it quickly across my throat. "NO!" I feel nothing as the world around me dims…nothing except the constant gaze of Luna's slitted eyes tearing up. Nothing except Luna's slitted…slitted…ey…e… "AWAKEN! THIS NIGHTMARE IS UNDONE!" "I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE ME AGAIN!" … The steady sound of beeping was the first thing I became aware of. It was a constant rhythm, on and on in tune with my breathing. "Ugh…" With considerable effort, I raised my left hand to my blurry eyes and rubbed them weakly, all but begging whatever deity I knew to bring the room into focus. And gradually, eventually…it did. "A…hospital?" I croaked, looking around as best I could at myself and my surroundings. I was wearing what looked like a hospital gown. The room itself was pretty plain. The walls were a uniform grey and had nothing on them, not a picture or portrait in sight. The bed I was lying in was fairly simple, though bigger than what I had come to expect from the ponies. Apart from that, there wasn't much else of interest in…the…room. My vision began to waver suddenly, abruptly. Darkness came and went as I grasped my head and clenched my teeth. I…I could almost remember…a face. A beautiful face, warm, loving…yet with eyes so cruel, so harsh. "It is time for yet another session, my love." That word; session. The moment I heard it, felt it reverberate within my very soul…A fear unlike anything I'd known burst within me, enveloped me with its terrible caress as I opened my eyes and- "Found you!" A memory! Fear! So much fear, and fear, and pain, and agony, unrepentant and unrelenting as it wove throughout my body, bringing scream after scream after- "AHHHH!" a scream tore its way out of my mouth, shockingly causing the wall around me to crack and shake. Fear drove my actions as I ripped every cord and wire from my body and ran, weakness forgotten and long buried as her giggling followed me out the door. I...I couldn't! Pain, so much pain and hurt! Oh it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it HURT! "AGH!" another scream, one of pain and fear intertwined ripped its way out of my throat as I ran. Doors opened on either side as I did so, curious ponies sticking their heads out and blanching as they noticed me. A cry followed, a voice shouting- "Holy Celestia! It's him, somepony stop him and contact the Princesses at once!" Hooves, many, many hooves behind me as I ran. I could hear them calling me, pleading with me to stop, to slow down and- "Let them bring you to me, where you BELONG!" All around me, yet right next to me. The voice, who it belonged to brought about more screams of utter terror, adrenaline filling my veins, forcing me to run evermore. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" I cried, tears of absolute dread spilling down my face. I barrelled through a door, a large door, a double door. It smashed apart as I did so, breaking into little pieces as I tripped and rolled, the only shred of hope lingering because of the sunlight hitting my form. I'm outside! Without warning I felt something slam into the back of me, forcing me to the ground and rolling me over. A pegasus, a mare pressing her entire weight on my chest as she clutched a needle with her right wing, a clear drip of the fluid within dropping to the ground. "Just calm down sir!" she pleaded, struggling to move the needle closer as I grasped her wing. "This is only a sedative, it'll help you to calm down so I can take you back home!" Her eyes shifted, becoming slitted and turquoise as her muzzle morphed into a terrifying grin. "I do this for you! For US! YOU ARE MINE!" The needle dripped… "NO, DON'T PLEASE!" I didn't think, I reacted, fear driving my every motion as my hand became shrouded in a dark blue mist, sweeping to the side as the mist enveloped her and threw her away from me, the needle disintegrating on the spot. I barely noticed the mare's shocked olive orbs as she flew high into the sky. How did I… Ignoring my thoughts, I scrambled to my feet and ran and ran, ponies of all sorts gaping at me in surprise. The mist was still surrounding my right hand, pulsating with what I knew to be power, driven by fear and desperation. How… I didn't know where to go, I just wanted to run and run, and then run again. I needed desperately to get away from her, the memories, the pain and terror…it was too much, TOO MUCH! "Poor baby, MY poor baby. Come to me, let me heal your pain." The voice, her voice, surrounding me, hounding me no matter how fast I ran. "L-Leave me alone!" I pleaded, gasping for breath as I swallowed my own tears. "It's for your protection beloved." At the word, that word, another bout of horrible memories flash before my eyes. Protection meant hurt, protection meant pain. I can't go through that anymore! The air distorted as a crackle of magic struck behind me. I ignored it, I had too. I couldn't stay in one place, I had to run and run and run and- "Alex stop!" … That voice… As fast as I ran, I stopped on the spot and spun around to see… "It honestly surprises me that you haven't figured it out yet." "Figured what out?" "That despite what she's said, Luna does not take prisoners." Pink fur, magenta orbs so warm, mane reminding me of a lollypop long forgotten. She hadn't aged a day. "Cadey?" I whispered, hand reaching out, feet moving of their own violation as my tears continued to fall. Her expression was…happy, so happy! And yet as she broke into a wide smile and ran towards me…her eyes flickered, her smile became a smirk of utter insanity. She was her! "Stay away from me!" I screamed, lashing out with the mist instinctively and causing the ground ahead of her to crack and splinter. Her eyes, now so lovely, so normal widened in shock and hurt. "Alex," she uttered, her voice soft, safe…made me feel…safe. "It's me, it's Cadance. Don't you recognize me?" She edged closer, words…her words so gentle. I felt my heart flutter in response. "C-C-Cadance?" I stuttered, body shaking, breath ragged. "Yes honey, it's me," she cooed soothingly, nearing me, her wings reaching out to touch my cheeks. "I want you to calm down and relax for me. Everything is okay now, I'm here now, nothing will hurt you anymore." My lips trembled, fear and desperation driving it to do so. I was so afraid, everything was her, everything! But Cadance…I wanted her to be herself! I wanted her to hold me… "And…we…will!" Eyes, flashing turquoise, mad grin! "Get away!" I fell back out of sheer instinct, scrambling away from the worried mare. "What's wrong baby?!" she asked, neigh, cried. Her voice was as desperate as I felt, her body struggling with the urge to rush forward and…and… How do I know that? "Because I made it so." Gasping, I clutched at my head and let out pained, horrid wheezes. "S-She's whispering to me," I whimpered. "She tells me to go back with her, that I belong with her, but something's wrong, WRONG!" "Who's whispering, Alex?" Cadance pleaded, her tone, her voice urgent, desperate to rid me of my pain. "Who's taking what's rightfully hers!" I clutched my head harder, very real pain flittering across as I shook it viciously, franticly trying to rid myself of her voice as I screamed and screamed and screamed- And stopped. It was as if every noise in the world had ceased to be. There was naught except the gentle caress of…something surrounding me, enveloping everything that I was. My eyes, wet and…sticky, my vision tinted ever so slightly crimson…the scent of copper below my nose. And her eyes, her real eyes weeping with me, a gentle pink glow around her horn…and us. "You don't belong to anyone but me, Alex," Cadance soothed, reaching forward and gently, lovingly licking away the crimson fluid. "And I belong to you. We belong to each other, and nopony, not a one will ever change that but us." "We'll see about that…" "She won't stop talking," I sobbed weakly. "I tried to escape her, but she found me." "Who found you?" she asked, hurt and concerned. "I…she's-" "Will you tell her, beloved? Can you?" I grasped my head and shook… "Alex please!" …only to snap back up and see Cadance's desperate eyes. "She won't let me tell you," I whispered, shaking my head without reason. "I c-can't, I can't." "Such a devoted mate, hehehe." The air distorted… Cadance opened her muzzle to say…something, only to suddenly look behind me and smile thankfully. Confusion dominated my thoughts, unsure, unknowing of what could bring about such a grateful smile. A weight fell upon my shoulder, warm breath soothing away my shakes bit by bit. … "Hush now baby," said…a voice, a maternal voice. "I'm here now. It's going to be alright." That voice… Confused and nigh inconsolable, I shakily turned my head to the right and looked into a pair of rose coloured orbs. And a smile just for me. White wings enveloped me, held me tightly, yet comfortably. A golden glow replaced the pink, shortly followed by an immense feeling of safety and warmth. "Mom?" I croaked, new tears slipping down my face as I stared at hers. Her smile, tender and affectionate, widened at the word. "Yes sweetie," she crooned. "It's me." Cadance, Celestia...Mate, mother… Too much… It was too much. "Mom…" I threw myself at her and held on as tightly as I could. I instantly felt her wings tighten and pull me ever closer, her muzzle nuzzling my neck lovingly. I couldn't stop crying…I didn't care how like a child I sounded. "I…hurt, mom," I whimpered. "I'm really scared, I'm s-so scared!" "Shhh" she hushed, another muzzle kissing, touching my right cheek. "It's okay now, I'm here. Mommy's here. I won't let anything hurt you." Her muzzle, the other muzzle, both soothed me, calmed my shakes if only a little. Their words, the loving, tender tone in which they were spoke became enough. Enough for me to pull back, if only a little And see slitted orbs, turquoise, gleaming down at me. "What's the matter Alex?" Mom asked, her white fur changing, a dark blue overlapping it. "It's time for another session." Fear, pain, so much! "My love…" Gold changed to blue. Screaming… Author's Note Well there you go! Till the next chapter. I don't know how long they'll be, but I do consider this a sort of opening. So maybe they'll be around 5000 again. Probably. Cya, stay snuggly! You're Just A Parasite!Watched a little bit of Doctor Who, got inspired and voila! Bet you didn't expect me to update it this quickly, huh? Begin! You're Just A Parasite! Cadance Pov "GRAHHHH!" The roar that left my lover's mouth shook not only myself, but the very walls and ground around me. The windows splintered and cracked, some completely shattered. This was all second notice mind you. I was far too busy struggling to keep him still as ponies around me attempted to strap him to a stone bed. My own pink aura was mixed with Celestia's brilliant gold, but as they flickered and died, only to reappear and struggle once more, any awe I might have had vanished very quickly. A young Pegasus, a doctor, ran up to Alex and attempted to keep him down with his body, gritting his teeth as he was shook and nearly thrown off of him. "SIR! You need to calm down, we're not going to hurt you, we're only trying to hel-SHIT!" My focus over my magic nearly died as I witnessed a stream of purple fire escape Alex's mouth, almost washing over the Pegasus as he dived to one side. "Somepony get over here and help me hold him down!" he yelled, three stallions and a mare of the guard obeying as they each clung to a part of his upper body. Chest, arm, shoulders, all was held steady as can be as two doctor's frantically attempted to tie his limbs in restraints. "AH THE PAIN!" the cry escaping my mate's muzzle tore at my heart. "Someone stop the p-p-p-AHAHAHAHA!" Bloody tears began to leak from his eyes, more dribbling from his nostrils. His entire body was shaking with such a force, that I thought with no uncertainty it would fall apart. When foam began to form inside his mouth however, that's when I lost all remnants of self-control and screamed to the high heavens. "SOMEPONY HELP HIM!" I cried, desperate tears, fearful tears falling down my face as my magic flickered and died. "We need a sedative, now!" my aunty ordered, her own voice powerful and authorative despite the distress clear in her expression. A mare in a lab coat seemed to burst into the room at our calls, a syringe hovering in her aura as she raced over to my poor Alex. As if knowing what was to happen, my baby snapped his eyes…his terrible, slitted eyes onto the mare and grinned a mad, foaming, malicious grin. The syringe wielding mare froze on the spot. "Can you HURT him?!" the voice that escaped his mouth was not my beloved. It was too cruel, too insane to be of kin to one of humour and sarcasm. "Will YOU?!" A righteous fury burst from within me at this…this THING. My instinct, my own inner power rose up within me, empowering my confidence, my love for the man weeping as this horrible being grinned through him. "Get out of him!" I screamed, my eyes alight with power long unfelt. The thing cackled madly though its insanity, foam dribbling from my lover's mouth and onto his ripped gown. "Why should I?" it laughed, body shaking from convulsions and sick humour. "He is mine! You have no say, mate thief!" Mate thief? The thought comes as quickly as my rage erases it, taking control of my actions as I push away the stallion atop his chest and lay myself atop him, baring my teeth viciously as I grasped my poor baby's head and stared right through his eyes at the…malevolent being inside him. "No," I whisper, the word barely forming through my fury. "He is mine, my mate, my lover. Whoever…whatever you are, YOU have no say. YOU will leave my Alex alone, or I will drive you out of him and rip you apart," The grin on his face, the grin not his own only seemed to widen at my declaration. "On your own?" it chuckled, a gleam shining through Alex's eyes. "You are a child, fighting against those so much greater than yourself. Do you truly believe that you can separate us, alone?" I make to growl out a respond, but before I can do so, a very quiet, very furious voice beats me to it. "She won't be alone," Celestia utters, her rose colored eyes now a very bleak shade of grey, flickering between that and pure white. "You have invaded my son's body, violating both it and his mind in the process. No, she won't be alone. I will rip you from my little colt's body and banish you into the endless void for what you've done to him." My aunty waved away the doctor's, the frozen mare following suit a mere moment after she was released from whatever had taken hold of her. The mare of the guard however, stayed. "Will you now?" it spoke, surprisingly lacking in any emotion. "The endless void, is it? Was the moon not good enough for me sister?" "Sister?" I echo, glancing back at my aunty and taking note of her shocked expression. "Luna?" Celestia whispered, her horn lighting up as she aimed it in the direction of a shattered window. "Did she not tell you, foal?" it...or Luna laughed, quickly recapturing my attention. "I found him before you even existed. He loved me, and I him. But dear Celly couldn't handle the idea of her 'baby sister' loving more than just her. So she took my beloved Xander from me, and banished me when I tried to bring him back!" These were words my aunty had more or less told me before, but to hear them from the apparent mare herself was…still surprising. Though what was more were the very words to escape Celestia muzzle not a moment later. "Do you still have that blanket with the half-moon emblem, Cadance?" she asked me, her eyes narrowed in undeniable anger. "I-I think so," I replied, the pure light of my eyes dying down to normality as I climbed off of my lover. "It's under my…our bed." Celestia nodded to the mare of the guard straight away, said mare apparently understanding what was to be done as she sprinted out of the door. "Aunty?" "It's alright Cadance," she said, tone as soothing as could be in that particular moment. "I believe I know what has happened to Alex." Before I could inquire as to what, the guard returned with the familiar blanket from…our picnic some time ago, and laid it out before Celestia. My aunt took no time in…what I believe to be scanning it as she ran the tip of her horn over it. "What do you seek to accomplish here sister?" Luna demanded, spittle flying from her…Alex's mouth. "There is NAUGHT in that blanket that can separate us again!" "I thought so," Celestia muttered, ignoring the loud voice as she rose and regarded it…with an expression so cold that frightened me. "You thought what, sister?" Luna spat, paying me not so much as a glance. "That you can finally see beyond your own reflection?" Celestia didn't answer the jeer, choosing merely to keep up the icy expression. "Celestia?" I spoke, almost flinching as her expression snapped onto me…before thankfully warming up a touch. "Apologies my dear," she replied, smiling a small smile. "Allow me to explain, if you will?" I nodded slowly as she came closer, looking at my beloved as gestured towards him. "You," she spoke, a shocking amount of venom in her voice as she glared at those slitted eyes. "Are nothing but a powerful echo of my sister. A parasite, clinging to his life force to stay alive." 'Luna' sneered at my auntie's explanation and shook my honey's head. "I am no pale reflection!" she snapped. "I love him as much as the day we first made love. I remember each touch, each wondrous sensation. And I have made him powerful, I have given him magic most mortals could only dream of having!" "We are not Gods," Celestia refuted. "And I never named you weak, I can sense the power you foolishly, cruelly forced into his very soul. Do you truly believe that one who once defied all magic could grasp the fundamentals of controlling it?" "I will teach him how," Luna growled…oh by the gods, the loving, sickening smile that crossed my lover's face. "As I was planning on doing before he killed himself and returned to reality." "He killed himself?!" I screeched, wings flaring in horror and fury, Celestia's sudden hoof and shake of her head the only thing stopping me from…doing something! "Just like I told you Cadance," she soothed, left eye twitching ever so slightly. "Only an echo, with none of the compassion or sanity my sister had." She looked back at 'Luna' and regarded her, once more, with an icy expression. "I remember Luna's joy when she befriended Xander," she continued. "I remember the love in her eyes that I unthinkingly believed was because of me. And I remember how she glowed when she told me of her plans to share her divinity with him. "I do not know what you did to make my child so afraid, but you…you are only a frail image. And once I find the correct spell to do so, I will banish you to the darkest corners of this world. Where nopony will ever hear you scream…" Aunty… It's moment's like these that remind me just how much Celestia loves Alex. And if my instinct, our Alicorn instinct reacts when the one we love is in danger, then how my poor aunty is managing to hold her own back after I all but let mine flare to the surface is beyond me… Her self-control is awe inspiring. 'Luna' narrowed Alex's eyes at my aunt and sneered defiantly…before the body she inhabited became limp very quickly. Said eyes returning to the green I love so much. Unable to restrain myself, I rushed forward and grasped his face as gently as I could, his eyes completely unfocused as I looked into them. "Alex, honey!" I spout, panicking as I get no response. "Baby please wake up! It's me!" I make to press my lips to his, only for a golden barrier to come between us. Unthinking, I snarl at the perpetrator and flare my wings in an instinctive show of protective dominance. Only to realize that my aunty is the one I'm 'protecting' Alex from. "What…what are you doing, aunty?" I ask…demand. "Protecting you from the parasite," she explains, eyes narrowed yet worried. "Do you remember what you told me about before this all started? That something left you and latched onto Alex?" Blinking somewhat dumbly, I open and close my muzzle several times, glancing back at my little snuggle honey and trembling at Celestia's implications. "A-Are you saying that I c-can't even…" Sadly, she shakes her head and comes a touch closer, eyes and tone firm as she says… "No Cadance…you can't kiss him," she affirms quietly. "In fact until I've found the spell to banish the remnant of my sister, I would strongly advise that you limit how much you touch him without me here." "I can't even comfort him?" I whisper, my eyes filling with tears as I feel my body try to defy this order. "Not without me here," she says once again. "If the parasite latches onto you without me here to protect you, then there would be nothing to stop it from killing you and returning to Alex." Of course…Luna 'found him first' and I'm just the mare that stole him. I didn't believe it, I didn't believe it for a second. Alex was my mate, no one else's. And the fact that I couldn't comfort him…the way, the amount in which it hurt me was…astronomical. "I don't care about myself, aunty," I growled, gritting my teeth as I fought off angry tears and looked up at her. "I just want…no, I need to hold him…please…" Aunty looked down at me, pained. Her muzzle was scrunched up, frustrated and angry at my pain…I could feel it. And after a few moments of apparent contemplation, she looked over at my Alex and lit up her horn, his entire body soon following. "Be quick," she said, her breath shockingly ragged as she gestured over to him. "I'm projecting myself onto him, no dark reflection can pass this kind of magic easily." "Soul magic," I whispered, more to myself than her, though she nodded nonetheless. Snapping out of my thoughts, I clambered onto the stone bed and gently laid myself atop my lover, reaching down with my muzzle and- "No!" Celestia gasped, shaking her head rapidly. "Soul magic…might not be enough for that. Just…only touch…might break through with lip contact…it's an ancient magic of its own...could take advantage and…" Fighting off evident fatigue, my aunty closed her eyes and kept up her slowly spluttering horn, tears slipping down her face, though from exhaustion or morose depression I couldn't tell. Whimpering quietly at the denial, I leaned down to my lover's face and…kissed his forehead with as much love as I could possibly give, before moving back and burying my face under his bloodied chin. The simple familiarity of his scent being defiled by coppery blood was enough to almost break me down. That such wrongness could mix with something so beautiful was horrifying. "C-Cadance…" Body shaking as I willed myself to move, I removed myself from the familiar comfort of his heat and backed over to Celestia. The mare in question let go of the exhausting magic and almost collapsed on the spot, but with sheer determination somehow managed to stay upright. But as for me…I couldn't stop myself from burying my face in her chest and finally weeping bitter tears as I broke down. It had been a month since my beloved collapsed. A month in which I was completely alone…unable to touch him while the doctor's tried to figure out what was wrong. I could do naught but sing…and hope he heard it somehow. "I will save him Cadance," Celestia soothed, nuzzling and kissing my head tenderly. "I promise, just try to hold on. Then we can both snuggle him back into the hospital, okay?" I chuckled weakly at her little joke, but appreciated it all the same and nodded. "I've never seen him so scared before," I mumbled sadly. "It frightened me." "I know sweetie," Aunty sighed, looking over at her son. "It frightened me too." Author's Note Done. Short, but it's all I could really think to write for this particular part. I don't expect this story to be long, but I know it'll have just the right amount of drama and fluff to keep you guys appeased. Til the next chapter! Cya, stay snuggly! Alex Or...Alex Or... Alex Pov I was floating amongst an endless sea of darkness, flashes of…memories, I believe, slowly flying past me, below me, above me, around me. I couldn't hear much, only glimpses of what was. "And a one, and a two, and a three, four, five! Oh yeah! Cadance remains the grand champion of EVERYTHING to do with arcade!" "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I swear I've played this before…hmm, let's try Pac-Mare over there." "Alllllrighty! But I'm gonna whoop your flank at that too!" "You take this stuff way too seriously." "And you don't. Lighten up a little, we've only got a little while before Aunty steals you for an afternoon cuddle." "Shut up Cadey." "Beat me at this and maybe I will." I can see that memory, see how young we looked, how happy and…not together, not yet, not then. But that grin on her muzzle…ahh that grin. So cheeky, so confident and cocky. There was the Cadance that I love…came to love. Another memory flashes right in front of me, steadying, slowing as I look at it and see… Griffonia…this is just before I was about to die. Mom…she… I feel the memory surround myself, the past me, the young, fifteen year old Alex merging with me. I can feel words escaping my mouth, words I'd already spoken, words that I… "I d-don't feel well…"I whimpered, a sharp, ragged cough ripping through my throat, blood splattering over the table as I fall to the floor and begin to convulse. "Alex!" Celestia cried, rushing over and cradling my shaking form to her barrel, uncaring of the blood now beginning to coat it. "GUARDS, GUARDS!" No one came; no one headed the calls of a desperate mare…a desperate mother. And through my blurred, tear filled eyes; I could see that desperation twisting into something…dark. "No one is coming, Princess," came a silky, smug voice from behind her, causing Celestia's head to turn sharply, myself still cradled in her hooves, heaving, gasping for breath. A few moments pass us by, during which I could practically see the gears turning inside her head. "You did this," she said, voice quiet and calm…a deadly calm. "I did," chuckled the griffon, his feathers ruffling in amusement as Celestia put me down and rose swiftly. "Ah, ah, ah! You attack me and the treaty will break. And you don't want something so…drastic to happen now do you?" Celestia was silent, completely. As for me, I could feel my life fading away…slowly. "You can cure him?" she asked suddenly. "I can," he drawled slyly. "But…first I would have something of yours. Two things really, small things." "Such as?" Dying though I was, I could hear the perverse nature in his tone…It made me feel sick, ironically. "First, I would have your complete support with the upcoming election," he explained mirthfully. "And second, well. I would be a fool to deny your beauty. So perchance a night with you…or several." A gargle of unintelligible words attempt to leave my lips, drawing Celestia's eyes back onto me. Oh those eyes…so warm, yet cold. Flickering a demonic green, black smoke barely escaping the edges. "You know the cure?" she asked once more. The griffon sighed dramatically and growled in apparent frustration. "Yes I know the cure, but you're not obtaining it unless you do what I-HCK!" I watched through unfocused eyes as the mare that comforted me at night, who lulled me back to sleep with her warmth, yank the griffon towards her harshly, choking him in mid-air. "You were a fool to think you could get away with this," Celestia hissed, her voice completely unnatural, demonic. "To think that you could play with my baby's life, to think that your treaty meant more to me than my SON'S LIFE! I'LL BURN YOU FROM THE INSIDE OUT AND PROLONG YOUR SCREAMS-" "LIES! SHE NEVER CARED FOR YOU! SHE HATED YOU, SHE HATED US!" I blinked…and found the memory I'd been reliving gone. Once more I was surrounded by other memories and darkness, but along with it were a pair of massive turquoise orbs, gazing down at me with as much anger as there was love. The fear I'd known so well through the past two years quickly began to overwhelm me, my breath becoming short and shallow, every thought demanding that I run, that I get away from she who tortured me. "Sister never loved us, she hated our love!" she yelled furiously. "She couldn't stand to see her baby sister defiled by an UNWORTHY being, so she sent you away and banished me in my grief." A tight hold, a loving hold, a…warm hold enveloped me, those eyes shrinking, a body, her body forming around it in but a few moments. And there she stood before me, wings around me, her eyes sad, muzzle contorted in a unhappy grimace as I tried and failed to move away, to run and escape the mad…thing that loved me. "Oh…my love," she crooned, eyes lidding as she continued to gaze softly into my own. "There's nothing to fear anymore. No more pain, no more of me left to meld into your soul. Now…it is time for us to leave." "I'm n-not leaving C-Cadance," I stammered, shaking terribly as she pressed us closer together, eyes changing not a bit from their warm…loving… "You don't need her anymore beloved," Luna cooed tenderly. "It is I who will comfort you, who will protect you, who will teach you, show you everything wonderful with the world…not Cadance." She moved her muzzle close to my mouth and nuzzled it soothingly, a smile of my own all but forcing its way onto my face. Oh I was terrified…and yet being with her made me feel…so happy. "Sister was correct about one thing though," she sighed sadly…before perking up just as quickly, a half insane grin on her muzzle. "I am only a remnant of what Luna truly is, but now I have the means to make us whole again. I can…no, I will become one with her, and together…we will be mated for life once again." No hesitation, no warning as she pressed her lips to mine, ignoring the way I tried…I tried to try…and… "There will be no royalty, no duties, no responsibility besides caring for each other," her words were slow, deep and sultry. I felt my body relax against my will…and buried my face in her neck. "We will be beautiful and we will have such a beautiful life. Just you and I Xander…just you and I forever…and no other mare than myself to love you." A speck of golden light materialized behind Luna, growing steadily…but she didn't seem to notice. No, for as her lips touched the side of my neck, the world warped and fluctuated around me, gold unseen grew as darkness fought against it. I knew who it was. "Mom…" … Cadance Pov I'd woken up alone…again. I suppose I should have been at least a little bit used to it by then. I'd been without my little snuggle honey for well over a week after all. Showering without him next to me wasn't any less difficult. I admit that I'd come to rely on his constant comfort…his constant love to keep me strong, to keep the world bright. Without him in it, it all just looked so…bleak. Come on Cadance, grow up! I silently chastised myself. You're feeling sorry for yourself when your mate is strapped to a stone bed…alone, and with that…that THING inside his head. No, it was time to grow up and stop with the self-pity. My beloved needed his mate by his side, and I was never going to deny him. Once I was thoroughly clean and ready, I left my chambers and all but stormed down to the bizarre chamber in which Alex was held. Celestia wouldn't tell me what it was for or why Alex had to be in it, but I knew my Aunty well enough to understand that this was something I wasn't ready for yet. Maybe one day, but not any day soon. The door was guarded by a pair of the usual guard, not a single difference in eithers' appearance. They took a look at me as I was to enter, a look, their emotions…all of that which all but screamed at me to stop, to go away and leave Alex to the devices of whoever was inside. They were loyal, but so was I. And my loyalty to my mate outshone whatever pathetic dregs of devotion they carried! …Relax Cadance…they're just doing their job. With nought but a cautionary glare at the two, I ignored them and entered the chambers confidently. My baby was still strapped down to the stone, symbol engraved bed. But this time he was also connected up to a heart monitor…and something else I didn't recognize. Medical subjects were definitely not my area. The monitor beeped steadily, strongly. Each one made me feel…relief. Celestia was inside, her horn alight as wave after wave of magic I knew not swam throughout the room. I could feel it enter me, effortlessly brushing aside whatever defences I subconsciously held with but a warm, gentle push. It felt…lovely, like the soothing kiss a mother gave to a skinned hoof. The soft eyes and gentle expression upon her face as she gazed down at my dozing lover all but accentuated this…and confirmed what was but a lingering doubt in my mind. Celestia really thinks herself your mother my love…I can feel it, feel her. Ohh…and she loves you with all her heart and soul. "Can I…help?" She shook her head almost instantly, the familiar 'You're not ready' look already on her face. I just want to make my mate better…I just want to… "The magic I'm using is too much for you to handle right now," she explained softly, not once looking at me as her eyes remained locked on my beloved. "Pure solar magic is the lightest of all magic's, but it's very dangerous in the wrong hooves. Thankfully I know how to use it quite well, and I could find no cure better than a constant stream…it is the only remedy to such dark magic, and dark spirits." "It's a spirit?" I asked. "Somewhat. Perhaps the better term would be a dark echo, a pale reflection of the being it used to be." she clarified, her eyes hardening slightly as she continued. "Unfortunately nothing about my sister was ever weak. This echo is powerful, powerful enough to give Alex magic as potent as any an alicorn." Yes…I forgot about that. His immunity was gone now, replaced by the magic it once repelled. A good…and bad thing. "How can Alex be this…Xander?" I asked, confused and upset all at once. "Alex is Alex, how can this thing mistake that?" Celestia smiled sadly and for the first time in a long while, shrugged. "Insanity can twist any mind given enough of a reason," she sighed. "Maybe it believes Alex to be him because they are perchance the same type of being. Or perhaps the alternative is simply too unbearable to think about." She turned to me and gave me a look…I'll never forget. One of utmost sadness…and understanding. "Love can make a pony do terrible things, Cadance," she said, her tone dangerously low. "Ponies have died for reasons so simple as trying to impress the one they desired, even knowing that they would never return their feelings. I knew that once…I knew ponies who believed they loved me, and used it to further my own selfish needs." "When you were younger?" I inquired, frowning sadly at auntie's steadily depressing emotions. "When I was unable to see past my own reflection, yes," she muttered, shaking her head slowly. "It was right you know…when it said that. I was cruel as a young mare, arrogant in my power and the way my subjects adored it. They didn't even know who I was." "You were…" I couldn't bear to finish. "Oh, I've taken lives before Cadance," she said darkly. "Poison in a drink for a foreign king, a dagger in the back to those who saw the truth...families butchered in their homes by those who thought I'd reward them for it." I didn't like the self-hating smirk on her muzzle…not one bit. "But then as the years flew by…I got worse, I got cunning, clever," she chuckled dryly, glancing back at Alex briefly. "It was easy, manipulating others into taking their own lives in my name. Saying that I loved them, that their pain inflicted because of me only made me love them ever more…and then watching on, laughing silently as they did so with the belief that I felt anything resembling pride and love to their sacrifice." The solar magic flickered around us briefly, but she didn't seem to notice, her eyes closed…a tear down her face. "Sometimes I think an Alicorn lives too long." Aunty… I always knew she regretted her past, I could feel disgust whenever she mentioned herself in it. But to still think that way about herself today… I refused to let do it. … "You're wrong Aunty," I spoke quietly, drawing her nigh defeated face to my own. "Maybe you were like that once…a long time ago. But ponies change…everyone changes as time goes on. I remember being shy and naïve before I met Alex. I remember only having wings before I turned thirteen, living on the streets with nothing before you found me…and guided me to understand love." Confidence flooding through me, I strode over to my adorably confused Aunty and nuzzled her neck lovingly. "But look at what you did," I cooed happily, waving my right hoof around the room dramatically…to make her smile if nothing else. "You took me as your niece and raised me from then on, you found and soothed a scared child not from our world…and welcomed him into your heart with open hooves." I stepped back slightly and smiled affectionately, said smile getting steadily wider as did her own. "And you gave me the confidence to tell Alex I love him," I exclaimed cheerfully, the solar magic brightening ever more with every second. "Celestia, you are a wonderful pony and so much more than just an aunt to me." Her head titled slightly as tears welled up in her eyes, a truly beautiful smile adorning her muzzle as her horn SHONE! "You're a mother to both of us, aunty," I giggled, choking on emotion. "The past doesn't define who you are. What you do now and who you are today does! And right now…Alex needs his mother as much as he needs me. So…let us heal him together, and drive out this parasite." I held out my hoof and laughed as she took it, allowing herself to be pulled to her hooves. This unfortunately left myself open to be pulled in return…and pull she did as I quickly found my face buried in her chest. She nuzzled and kissed the top of my head lovingly, laughing so beautifully all the while. "You'll be a fantastic ruler one day, Cadance," she praised happily. "With inspiration like that, I'll soon be left quite behind you in the polls." "Polls?" "For best Princess in the world," she exclaimed heartily. "Oh, shut up," I batted away…or tried too, her nuzzling was really getting ticklish. "I'd never leave you behind, royalty stays strong when united-" "And not apart," she finished proudly. "But never forget that we are family first-" "And royalty second," I completed, giggling at the now very ticklish nuzzling. She pulled herself back and regarded me with such…pride that it made me practically inflate with cheer. "You are the daughter I have always wanted," she crooned. "And if you will it…I shall with no hesitation take up the responsibility of a mother for you." "You've always been a mother to me," I replied, lips trembling with emotion. "A title just makes it official." Oh…the love… Without any doubt, without any second thoughts…we crossed our horns and united our magic. Her solar melded with my love, pure gold mixing with amorous pink. The feeling I was flooded with was indescribable. A mother's love, a mate's love…flowing throughout the room for but a few moments…before we both forced it into Alex's very soul. The mixture of color seemed to slowly encase his sleeping body, his breathing becoming ragged with every second as if…as if in pain. His eyes…no, those terrible slitted eyes opened sharply, a horrible, rasping breath escaping his shuddering form as he…as IT looked right at me and- "N-NO! I WON'T…LET HIM…GO…AGAIN!" An almighty explosion of raw, terrified magic overpowered us. A familiar instinct within forcing me to grit my teeth and growl at it sensed another…and another. I could just about see the demonic, shadowy orbs to my left. … … … "Cadance…" whispered a tiny voice, a weak, so, so weak voice. I felt my instinct vanish as quickly as it came. "Alex!" I cried, running over to my beloved, my right wing instinctively reaching out and touching- "Foal…" Another impressive explosion of magic forced me to cover my eyes, shielding them until the light vanished and… "Impossible," Celestia whispered. "His magic was drained to a minuscule amount…how?" "I touched him," I whispered, shame flooding away any of my previous cheer. "I didn't think, I didn't…I just wanted to…" I released that thing into the world…oh what have I done! … Alex Pov I blinked blearily as I opened my eyes, limbs struggling and straining with bizarre fatigue as I just about managed to lay back against a…wall? "Where am I?" I muttered feebly, attempting to stand and failing instantly as my legs collapsed. "Ugh! Why do I feel so…tired?" For a reason I couldn't quite…understand, I looked up out of the cave and to the bright moon. Upon it was the face I knew too well, the face of the mare in the moon. The one that…hadn't tortured me…or maybe had… I didn't know…I didn't want to think about it. All of a sudden, a horrible, retching sensation forced me to cough violently. To my further horror however, whatever did so refused to let my sight leave the moon…I…I couldn't move at all! "W-What's…going…OOAHHHHH!" A toxic, smoky looking substance all but erupted from my mouth and eyes. My body wouldn't move, my thoughts were paralyzed…I couldn't think. Together... That voice. Another bout of horrible torment escaped me, causing my body to shake wildly as I screamed in agony. When… The pain was unbearable. I… I wanted to throw up. Find… On and on, so much like so recent hurt. You… The moon flashed, the face upon it melting away. Again… The face was no more…the moon was bare early. My beloved Xander… And as the darkness took me…the visage of a demon flew towards me at speeds unknown to this world. My eyes closed…with nought but a toothy smile, a true, sane, loving smile filling up what was left of my vision. "My beloved Xander," crooned a deep…yet lovely voice. "You've waited so long…and I have returned to you. Your true and only mate is here." Comfortable, warm…enveloped my body…and I… "And she will take care of you." The Truth?Apologies, I considered making this the first chapter of the next story but saw that it made much more sense for it to be the last of this one. Begin! The Truth? I awoke with my eyes closed, the distant sound of birds chirping happily being the only reason I knew it to be morning. Sighing tiredly, I opened my eyes and blinked the sleep away, rubbing them lightly with my right hand before shaking my head and looking around the cave I appeared to be in. Where am I? The last thing I remember is…feeling afraid, deathly so. I remember…Luna, or a tiny piece of her. She brought me here and then…I don't know. There's something else…something flew at me, and spoke to me…but who? I stood up gingerly and grimaced at the sudden jolt of pain running through my legs. But with some determination, I gritted my teeth and began to hobble towards the entrance of the cave. The light was so bright it nearly blinded me…but I refused to let it stop me, I had a goal and I was going to achieve it. I have to get back home. I have to find Cadance and mom. I have to…I need- A deep, feminine giggle snapped me out of my thoughts and caused me to stop in instinctive fear. That voice… "Now where do you think you're going my lovely Xander?" she cooed softly. I flinched at the sudden weight of a wing trailing along my right shoulder, a blackness blurring the corner of my vision as it brushed against my cheek tenderly. A vision of pain, of torture and agony flashes before my eyes, and then is gone in a blink. But the fear…that stayed, I couldn't imagine it ever leaving. "Let me go," I whispered, unable to move, to do…anything more than that. The clop of hooves against solid rock indicated her moving forwards, and the breath…the warm breath against the back of my neck told me just how close she was. "Why would you want to leave me?" she asked, her voice gentle and…slightly hurt. "Why?" I echoed, incredulous to her question. "Haven't you t-tortured me enough by now?" A pause…then- "Xander…that part of me was insane," she whispers, breath tickling my ear. "Utterly insane, a mind without morality, love without restraint. You know me; you know I would never hurt you intentionally. I love you." "Know you? Before you tortured me I'd never even met you." Another pause, a breeze, birds singing…silence, nothing more…until she spoke again. "Look at me Xander," she asks pleadingly, quietly, softly. "That's not my name." "Yes it is…Xander please." I shake my head. "No." "Please." "N-No." A gentle sigh is the only response I get in that moment…but then she retracts her wing, her breath and walks around, her face almost in sight before I turn my head and look at the barren wall. "Xander please look at me," she says, a shoeless hoof grasping my chin ever so softly, turning my head, my eyes onto her turquoise, draconic ones. They plead with me silently, I can…read them with an ease I never thought possible. You know me, they said. You can trust me, they cooed. I love you, they soothed Nightmare Moon stood before me in all her glory, looking every bit the imposing, powerful alicorn she was meant to be…if not a bit thinner than any alicorn I'd met before. She looked straight into my eyes, searching for something…and then frowned, her ears flattening in sorrow as she failed to find whatever it was she wanted. "You really don't recognize me do you," she uttered sadly, falling onto her rump in defeat. "You used to look at me as if I was your whole world. You promised you'd never love another as you did me…what happened to change that my love? It was not me who hurt you, why do you look at me with such terror?" "I know who you are," I correct, somewhat bitterly. "And I don't just mean your real name either. I know you named yourself Nightmare Moon before your banishment." Nightmare looked at me and smiled knowingly. "Because you come from a world where I and everypony else is naught but fiction, I know." "W-What?" I backed away, stunned at her words. "How could you possibly…I never told you that." "You never told my insanity given form that, no," she agrees, stepping close and placing her immensely large wings around me, stopping me from moving any further away. "But you told me. You told me everything…so very long ago." As if sensing no resistance she comes even closer, her muzzle barely a scant few inches from my mouth. "You told me your name and age. You told me about your family and friends, about being an only child, about wishing all your life for someone who would love and care for you as you would for them." "I'm an only child?" I echoed, dumbfounded much to Nightmare's apparent confusion. "You don't know?" "I don't know much about my life on Earth," I admitted, not completely comfortable at how…comfortable I was beginning to be with her. I felt as if I'd known her for a very long time. Not the two years I spent in that hell, but before that…before I'd even met… It unsettled me, and the way she looked at me unsettled me further, like I was all she could see, like I was the only thing in the world she wanted to look at. I didn't realize until too late that she hadn't blinked once in a good ten seconds. "Your mind is fine but…" she bit her lip worriedly, eyes regaining the focus that had shortly been lost. "But there's more inside your head than there should be, and I don't just mean what my insanity forced there." "What are you talking about?" I asked, not very much liking the sheer concern in her gaze. Only a couple of ponies looked at me like that and this mare wasn't supposed to ever be one of them. "There are locked memories in your mind," she explained soothingly, stepping closer ever so slightly. Maybe in the hope that I wouldn't back away…and I didn't. "Old memories, I could briefly feel the age seeping from them." She bit her lip again in worry and stepped a touch closer, looking piercingly into my eyes once more…and then she blinked…and then she smiled warmly. "I have an idea that may work," she said, stepping closer once more, her kind smile and tender gaze all but consuming my vision. "If I could just give them a nudge then maybe I can break the lock." More mind torture? Fuck that! Looking out towards the exit, I tensed my legs and prepared to make a break for it…only to find my face pushed back, Nightmare's soothing expression filling up my sight. "Oh how has it come to this," she sighed, smiling tiredly. "I love you so much Xander. I do this only because my heart belongs to you." She shook her head and sighed once more, before looking me right in the eyes and lighting up her horn. "Xander Pentagast, I swear on my life and soul that I will never purposefully use my magic just to cause you pain," she promised, a sudden bright light glowing around her body right after. And I knew what she'd done. It was only whispered around Canterlot and very rarely glossed over by my old school's mages. That Nightmare had just done it, had just said what she did…I was aghast. "Do you have any idea what you just did?" I whispered, utterly shocked. She smiled. "I made a binding oath never to use my magic with the sole purpose of hurting you," she confirmed, smiling softly at my goldfish expression. "Because even if a spell might harm you, it will never be cast for the sole reason of doing so. That is my promise to you, because I can't think of anything else to help you trust me." I…I couldn't think of anything to say in that moment. An oath was completely irreversible and completely impossible to refuse after it was promised. Nightmare Moon has just vowed to never do what that…thing had, and hurt me intentionally. With her magic! a loud, angry part of my mind reminded me. There's nothing stopping her from knocking you out and going about it with a knife on your flesh for your own 'protection'. My face scrunched up in fear as that thought passed me by…but then it was natural, shocked as I remembered what'd she had just said, promised…and who to. "Pentagast?" "Yes, that's your last name," she said gently. "Xander Pentagast, you were twenty four years old the last time I saw you." "Twenty four?" I echo, disbelieving. "But I'm nineteen…or twenty one if you-No, I'm nineteen. I can't be this 'Xander' if you think I'm twenty four." "There are spells that can regress age both physically and mentally sweetheart," Nightmare explained, her ears flat in surprisingly enough, shame. "Celestia used them as a punishment for those who tried to defy her rule, mostly leaders of rebel factions." "Celestia would never-"I was cut off before I could start by a soft hoof on my lips. "Maybe she doesn't do it anymore Xander, but she did then," she continued, no heat in her words despite her obvious hatred for my mother. "Seeing your inspiration turned into a weeping foal and then watching as that child willingly embraced the enemy did wonders for eradicating morale." I couldn't help but feel sick as I listened to this. A large part of me simply couldn't believe that mom would do that to anyone…but then again it was one thousand years ago, things could have been different. Maybe mom was a bit more severe with her rule back then…yeah that's gotta be it! There's no way I'm going to believe that she did shit like that right off the bat, it must have been a last option kind of thing, where the enemy refused and threatened to do more if they were left as they were. That had to be it, I refused to think otherwise. "What did…she do with the children?" I asked hesitantly. Nightmare frowned and looked away at the question, her wings ruffling in…discomfort? "My sister had the potential to be very cruel when she wanted to be," Nightmare said eventually. "But never to children. She and I could mate with one who does not have our divinity, but we could never have their child. "The 'children' couldn't remember who they before, all of that was locked away in their minds. And they loved her dearly. Sister would take them to Sun Foaled Orphanage once they were fully regressed, and when she visited she fawned over them like she was their own 'mama'." She…she did? Noticing the hurt look on my face, Nightmare lidded her eyes warmly and stroked my check with a wing. "I'm so sorry Xander," she said sympathetically. "Whatever my sister treats you like, and whatever you may call her…she's done this many times before. You were not the first memory bound child manipulated into loving her as your mother." I staggered away from the mare as she finished her explanation. I…I don't know how to describe the sheer intensity of my emotions, my thoughts. Mom manipulated me into loving her? "B-But she took care of me when I first arrived here," I defended. "I had terrible nightmares and she used to sleep beside me so they would go away." "And what were those nightmare's about, hmm? Your real parents? Monsters and fears from the inner most part of your mind?" "H-How…" I couldn't even… "Because they weren't nightmare's Xander," she explained patently. "They were memories that have been locked away, by HER. I know her magical signature and it coats them." "But that's not possible, magic doesn't…didn't affect me back then." "But it did somewhat before you were banished, by HER!" she countered, heat in her words as I tried to defend my mother figure. "She did this to you! I wasn't beside you when she did it and that has haunted my sleep in the moon all these years, but that doesn't change the fact that she did it. She couldn't regress you entirely with your magic resistance, so she locked away what she could, regressed you to an adolescent and sent you away from me!" Nightmare was breathing heavily as she finished, her iris was thin and had a dangerous glint to it. "Because you were taken over by my insanity I was gifted with what it knew about you, blurred memories and such. It couldn't get everything because of your initial immunity but it got enough to show me the truth." "What truth?" I asked, though honestly I didn't know if I wanted to hear any more. She took a breath and sat down on her haunches, looking up a touch to gaze into my eyes. "When you woke up here as a fourteen year old child, Celestia came to the cell you were being kept in and looked at you." "Yes…and?" "Do you remember how she looked at you?" I blinked at the bizarre question and tried to think back to that moment. It was a long time ago so I couldn't exactly remember everything, but what I could… "She smiled at me," I remembered, voicing the memory aloud. "I remember feeling safe when she did so, warm even." A bright light was all the warning I received before the memory I was trying to picture seemingly materialized into existence before me. Nightmare's horn was alight and pulsating softly, her right hoof gesturing to the three dimensional image. Mom's smile brought one of my own so easily. "Look at her again now," she said, myself doing so and frowning as I found nothing that stood out. "Yeah, she's just smiling at me," I shrugged. "Yes, but look at her eyes, look closely." Sighing, I complied and looked at her eyes, smiling wider as I felt the warmth they were giving me and… Wait… Her eyes were warm, but… Nightmare smiled at the realization in my expression and nodded approvingly; as if proud I'd figured out a great puzzle. "Your magic immunity would have helped, but without touching her you wouldn't have noticed it right away. And even when you did she was ready for it so it wouldn't have mattered." I was…aghast at what I had noticed. For the eye was looked at me with such warmth and kindness…was too shiny, even for a pony. It flickered and shone unnaturally, hiding the truth behind it. And the truth looked at me with shock and familiarity. The truth knew me. "Glamour," I breathed. "Cadance uses them sometimes to hide the bags beneath her eyes in the morning before we go to breakfast, I-I always had to make sure not to touch her then." I barely noticed Nightmare wince at Cadance's name, but it was quickly overshadowed by a triumphant smile. "Yes, a glamour can hide what you do not want others to see," she confirmed, voice actually happy at me shock. "And you can see it if you look close enough. She knew who you were the moment she looked at you, maybe she didn't mean to send you to the future when she banished you but that doesn't change the fact that she knew you. "She knew you, she knew that she locked away your memories, she knew that she had regressed you by a decade, and she said NOTHING the entire time she was mothering you!" "I-It can't be," I whispered, overwhelming amounts of hurt and betrayal flooding through me at my denial. "She loves me…" "She doesn't beloved," Nightmare refuted softly, shaking her head and stroking my face with a hoof. "She doesn't see you as her child, she sees you as her toy to play 'mother' with." I paused momentarily but then smiled in hope at a memory. "But when I was poisoned she was so angry that she nearly destroyed the Griffon capital. Why would someone who didn't love me feel that strongly?" "Because she would have lost her weapon to use against me," she explained, her voice quiet and tender. "She's played you masterfully, moulding you into a 'son' who would do anything for her. And you would, wouldn't you? If we had never met and she begged you to use your immunity to try and kill me then you would have." I shook my head. "I…I wouldn't have-" Nightmare cut across me instantly, moving forward with a purpose. "Yes you would, if you really think about it then you know it to be true." The image of mom begging me to stop Nightmare, tears streaming down her cheeks as the dark mare neared made me gasp as I realized the truth to Nightmare's statement. I would have killed her if mom had asked me like that. "Xander," her voice snapped me out of my thoughts and back onto her, eyeing her as she lit up her horn and looked at me tenderly. "I'm nowhere near as talented in the arts of mind magic as my sister; my realm has always lied with dreams and black magic. But if you'll just let me, I can try and unlock those memories…and then you'll finally realize that I speak the truth." Her tone was pleading, even though she obviously tried to make it otherwise. I could see how much she needed to do this just by looking at her face, that expression unknowingly mimicking Cadance's after the prom. The longing was almost palpable. I had every reason to refuse her, to deny what she had shone and said and call it lies. But…but I needed to know if she spoke the truth. She had sworn to never intentionally hurt me with her magic, she had made an oath. I had to believe that she really did just want to help me. "Okay," I said quietly, watching as a wide smile broke out on Nightmare's face. "You can do it, but I have a question before you do." Nightmare looked worried as to my request, but nodded nonetheless and motioned with her hoof for me to continue. "If…If this is all true and mom…and Celestia really has been manipulating me, then tell me…what does that make Cadance?" The dark mare looked unsurprised by my question, however the sadness in her eyes, the droopiness of her wings…talking about Cadance hurt her. "I can barely recall anything from when my insanity was within her, only a few memories," she eventually said, sounding almost tired as she did so. "But I believe she has no idea of Celestia's manipulations. I believe that she l-loves you almost as much as I do, and I believe…I believe that Celestia will use her affection for you to make her hate me. There's no doubt in my mind that she do anything to get you away from me." "S-So if this really is true and…and Celestia is some kind of manipulator, then Cadance is just a pawn?" "Just like you, yes," she confirmed, shifting uncomfortably as she admitted such. "I…I don't like her. Unknowingly or not she took your heart from me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to tear her apart for doing so. I don't believe she even truly knows who I am, or what Celestia is." "You don't want to hurt her?" I asked, disbelieving. She shook her head and smiled sadly. "No, I don't. She's a young mare who loves Celestia as much as much as you do, my insanity felt it constantly." Nightmare sighed and her ears flattened as she continued. "Celestia took her in shortly after her parents died, but she was living on the streets before that happened. She's overwhelmingly grateful to her for that, and I doubt she'd even listen to you if you tried to discredit her." She never told me she was living rough before! "Why didn't she tell...no," I shook my head and filed it away for later. "How do you know that?" She shrugged. "I told you, when that part of my insanity was within her it was able to glance at a few memories, not all of them but enough for me to know that Cadance will never betray her mother figure." She looked at me and smirked gleefully. "In fact she's more like Celestia than you think, that's what I got from her memories." I…didn't like the way she said that. "What do you mean she's like Celestia?" I know that she's kind and loving…but Nightmare couldn't have meant that, right? Nightmare looked at me unblinkingly before shaking her head and whispering something to herself that I couldn't understand. And then she turned back to me, looking at me intently. "Xander, she-" BANG! The sudden explosion of magic outside made the both of us jump in fright. Nightmare was in front of me in an instant, her stance aggressively protective, wings out and teeth bared menacingly. "Whatever happens Xander, you need to stay behind me," she said firmly, looking back at me briefly and conveying the seriousness of the situation with but a glance. She was scared. Just as I was about to nod, she turned her head to face the entrance and snarled as a very familiar alicorn walked in. Celestia looked worn out, her eyes shone with exhaustion and her legs seemed to shake but a touch with each step. Upon seeing me however, her eyes lit up and a wide smile crossed her face…until she saw the dark mare in front of her. She looked positively inconsolable then. "L-Luna?" she asked, voice taught with emotion. "Is it really you? I saw the moon but I never dreamed that you actually escaped." Nightmare all but sneered at the alabaster mare and snarled her answer back. "Yes it's me, I am glad to see you've changed very little these past thousand years dear sister. How's the womb after I left it by the way? Did they ever manage to find a cure for a barren mare or are you still too much of a whore for it to take effect?" Celestia visibly flinched and backed away slightly at the sheer venom in Nightmare's voice. "Sister please, I'm sorry. If you would just let Alex go and listen to me than I could-" "NO! WE ARE THROUGH LISTENING TO YOU!" The power of her voice made the cave tremble, and me. I'd only ever heard two other's speak like that and it was never any less terrifying. "Alex?" I watched and felt despair overwhelm me as Cadance walked into the cave, a teary smile so wide and full of love that anymore and it threatened to break her face. But I couldn't move, I could…but after all Nightmare told me, how could have I? I felt like I hadn't seen her in an age…and really I hadn't. To see her then, looking at me but a short distance away took all my willpower to stay where I was. "Alex do you…do you recognise me?" she pleaded, eyes wide and watery. "It's me, it's-" "Cadance," I whispered, my voice carrying within the large cave. "Of course I recognise you, I love you." "Alex…" she moved ever closer but stopped at Nightmare's snarl, the dark mare eyeing her dangerously as she shuffled. Not that it seemed enough to make her stop, Cadance just looked at her pityingly and then to me, warmly, with love I'd almost forgotten "Alex honey, can you come over here please." Willpower all but evaporating, I took a step forward...but then stopped, Nightmare's revelations too heavy to ignore…even for her. "I can't Cadey," I refuse gently, wincing at the way her eyes flashed with hurt. "But why?" she pleaded breathily, looking back between Nightmare and I before the hurt turned to realization. "No, Alex whatever she's told you are clouded by her feelings for Celestia, your mother! Whatever she's said don't believe it!" I shook my head and glanced between the three alicorn's, my heart pounding as they looked at me intently. "I don't know what to believe anymore," I mumbled sadly. "Then believe in me," Cadance asked gently, shuffling but a touch closer, coming dangerously close to Nightmare's wings. "Believe that I love you and would never lie to you." The complete sincerity of her words actually made me move closer, the revelations of Nightmare being rethought with heavy doubt as I did so. And then there was laughter from the dark mare, laughter as she looked at Cadance incredulously. "Oh no my dear, let us not speak falsehoods around our beloved Alex," she giggled, her tone mocking the name. "Because we both know you're not entirely truthful with him all the time, don't we?" Cadance looked at the chuckling mare with a fury I'd never seen on her before, ever. And yet after but a few moments it turned pitying, as if sad for the mare she looked at. "I'm sorry Princess Luna, but he's not who you want him to be," she said softly. "Try to understand that the one you love isn't him. Please, I can help you, but Alex and I are mated and we love each other. Please don't deny us that." To my surprise Nightmare didn't scoff or snarl at Cadance's request, in fact she actually looked as though she was going to accept it. She glanced at my marefriend and sighed unhappily, her ears drooping. "Luna please," Celestia implored, walking fearlessly over to her sister before stopping at an arms distance. "I'm so sorry for what I did to you and Xander. Nothing I ever do can make up for the monster I was back then, but my son is not him. Just let him go and we can be a family again, please." Nightmare looked at my mother right in the eyes for what felt like a millennium, her eyes never blinking, never wavering as she stared and…relaxed her stance and breathed outwards, her form glowing a bright white before shrinking rapidly, forcing me to close my eyes. When I opened them a few moments later, a fully grown Princess Luna stood before us all, staring at the ground with her eyes closed, silent. … And let loose a horrible, keening wail as her knees buckled and she began to fall. Mom instantly moved forwards and caught her, pulling her sister into an embrace and shielding her from the world with hooves and wings. Horrible sobs escaped the lunar mare, the parts of her I could see shaking terribly as my mother soothed and rocked her gently. "I'm sorry Luna, I'm so, so sorry. Please forgive me for what I did," Mom had tears of her own streaming down her cheeks as she begged. "I was cruel and jealous, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" I was unable to hear what Night-um Luna said as I was suddenly turned around and embraced tightly by the mare I loved so dearly. Cold drops were falling onto my skin as her body shook with both happiness and sadness. "I missed you so much Alex," Cadance said softly, hiccupping as she swallowed and sniffled. "Please forgive me for putting that darkness in you." She pulled back and looked at me pleadingly, eyes wide and shining with tears as her lower lip trembled. "You didn't know that you had that inside of you to begin with Cadey. There's nothing to forgive," I soothed, reaching out and touching her face for the first time in more than I could remember. Being forgiven for something she couldn't have helped was apparently something my poor mare had dearly needed to hear, for the moment I did 'forgive' her she moved forward and kissed me with a passion I'd almost forgotten. I returned it as best I could but simply couldn't keep up in the state I was, and as if sensing this she slowed down and stopped, before nibbling my lower lip and giggling nigh hysterically. "I couldn't feel it before," she whispered, though I think more to herself than me. "Your love for me, I can feel it now…" Overcome with emotion, she put her head on my left shoulder and nuzzled the side of my head devotedly. As she did so I glanced over at the two sisters and instantly noticed Luna staring right at me, her own shoulder being nuzzled by mom happily. I was lost on anything to say…until her iris's thinned and she winked secretively, a kind of cruelty in her smile as she looked back at my mother. Was she just…acting? "Come Luna," the melodious, joyful tone in mom's voice brought me out of my thoughts and Cadance out of her nuzzling, herself flapping her wings twice before landing on the ground and wrapping her tail around my right leg. "Let us go home and-" "Be a family?" Luna's quiet, almost tortured voice interrupted, a shy smile on her face as she nuzzled her older sister. "I…I think I'd like that big sister. I'm really tired." Simply being called that was enough for mom's eyes to shine with tears, though it was dwarfed by the wide smile on her face. "It's okay, we can sleep together until I can organize a room for you," mom assured gently, nuzzling Luna as she yawned. "Okay," Luna whispered, leaning against her. "Let's go home." Mom smiled even wider and then looked at me, mouthing silently that she would speak with me later. In my stupor all I could think to do was nod and follow. Because between everything that had happened, that been told and revealed. Between the torture of Luna's insanity, and the supposed manipulations of a mare I loved like a mother. Between the hatred of a mare to her sister and then the sudden forgiveness…an act? I was honestly frightened of what was to come. To Be Continued
Still A Nightmare!Still A Nightmare! The mare…the nightmare, she walks to me, ever closer as the seconds pass by. "Stay away!" She cocks her head to the side, a curious, yet cold smile upon her face. "Why should I?" "I'll…I'll hurt you, I'll kill you!" Laughter, soft and sensual escapes her. I can feel myself shake evermore as I realize that it's genuine. "Will you…no, no I don't believe you will. You're a man of many things, unique things now my love…but kill me? No, you lack to will to do so, and I'll prove it." She ignores my warnings, my threats and comes closer, her steps graceful and precise. Her eyes are locked onto mine, determination with a smile upon her muzzle. "Sta-I said stay back! Don't come any closer or I'll-" "Kill me?" she laughs again, though this time I cannot miss the mockery within her tone. "No you won't beloved. I'm walking ever closer and still you shake and splutter rather than take action. You lack conviction, you lack strength of mind. And as soon as we're done with this silly farce, I'll take you back home and teach you how; I'll make you strong in all that I already have not." Panic is rising within me as I back away, her cold eyes making me shake ever more. Could I do this, could I do what Ton requested and kill her? I had nothing left, so what was it that made me stutter? Was it fear… Her form now so close to mine it incites desperation, the deadly blade within my hand now pressed against my own neck, causing the Lunar mare to freeze in her tracks as her eyes widen in her own fear. "You'll stay back or you'll have nothing to take back but a corpse!" Eyes once so cold now so warm, so loving and calming, seemingly able to understand every woe ever to have befallen me. It makes me feel… "I know you fear me for what I have done to you…" she says, soothing…so soothing. "But can you not yet see, have you not yet found out just what I have done for you? Do you not feel strong; do you not feel powerful in ways you have yet to understand?" Confusion must be clear upon my face, for she smiles and… "My magical capabilities are yours now beloved. Can you not feel the energy? Can you not feel the power crying out for release? I can teach you how, I can help you become so much more than you already are…You are already nigh eternal, but I can make you eternally powerful." She edged ever closer between each word, each silky, sultry syllable that rode off her tongue. Her eyes were bright, loving still, ever loving and so soothing. The blade shook in my grasp as I struggled to keep myself together, to not break down and weep bitter tears over all I'd lost…and what I felt compelled to accept. "Think of it Xander. You and I together, ruling the most powerful country in the world. Think of all we could do together, think of how many lives we can save, now that there is no weak heart left to abandon those desperate to be loved…like you." So close now, her wings touching the arm that held the blade so close, slowly, lovingly beginning to grasp and pull… "Did you think that I do not know, my love? Did you not think that somepony as cruel and torturous as I have been to you, could possibly understand just how much you need someone to hold you, to love you and remind you that you are never alone…" My arms stays firm…but weakens as her words, her gentle tugging, her tender and affectionate gaze witling down any reason I had left to say no…to end it all. "Don't you want me to do that for you now? Do you not want me to hold you close, to nuzzle your neck and let you weep all your sorrows against mine?" So…close…to… She smiles. "Do you not want me to end this nightmare?" My grip slackens, the blade barely within my hand as…as… An endless chain… An endless cycle… An endless nightmare… "What if I told you that there was a way to escape this endless nightmare?" … And finally…I realize. This is just a nightmare. Before weakness can take hold once again, I grasp the blade firmly and drag it quickly across my throat. "NO!" I feel nothing as the world around me dims…nothing except the constant gaze of Luna's slitted eyes tearing up. Nothing except Luna's slitted…slitted…ey…e… "AWAKEN! THIS NIGHTMARE IS UNDONE!" "I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE ME AGAIN!" … The steady sound of beeping was the first thing I became aware of. It was a constant rhythm, on and on in tune with my breathing. "Ugh…" With considerable effort, I raised my left hand to my blurry eyes and rubbed them weakly, all but begging whatever deity I knew to bring the room into focus. And gradually, eventually…it did. "A…hospital?" I croaked, looking around as best I could at myself and my surroundings. I was wearing what looked like a hospital gown. The room itself was pretty plain. The walls were a uniform grey and had nothing on them, not a picture or portrait in sight. The bed I was lying in was fairly simple, though bigger than what I had come to expect from the ponies. Apart from that, there wasn't much else of interest in…the…room. My vision began to waver suddenly, abruptly. Darkness came and went as I grasped my head and clenched my teeth. I…I could almost remember…a face. A beautiful face, warm, loving…yet with eyes so cruel, so harsh. "It is time for yet another session, my love." That word; session. The moment I heard it, felt it reverberate within my very soul…A fear unlike anything I'd known burst within me, enveloped me with its terrible caress as I opened my eyes and- "Found you!" A memory! Fear! So much fear, and fear, and pain, and agony, unrepentant and unrelenting as it wove throughout my body, bringing scream after scream after- "AHHHH!" a scream tore its way out of my mouth, shockingly causing the wall around me to crack and shake. Fear drove my actions as I ripped every cord and wire from my body and ran, weakness forgotten and long buried as her giggling followed me out the door. I...I couldn't! Pain, so much pain and hurt! Oh it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it HURT! "AGH!" another scream, one of pain and fear intertwined ripped its way out of my throat as I ran. Doors opened on either side as I did so, curious ponies sticking their heads out and blanching as they noticed me. A cry followed, a voice shouting- "Holy Celestia! It's him, somepony stop him and contact the Princesses at once!" Hooves, many, many hooves behind me as I ran. I could hear them calling me, pleading with me to stop, to slow down and- "Let them bring you to me, where you BELONG!" All around me, yet right next to me. The voice, who it belonged to brought about more screams of utter terror, adrenaline filling my veins, forcing me to run evermore. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" I cried, tears of absolute dread spilling down my face. I barrelled through a door, a large door, a double door. It smashed apart as I did so, breaking into little pieces as I tripped and rolled, the only shred of hope lingering because of the sunlight hitting my form. I'm outside! Without warning I felt something slam into the back of me, forcing me to the ground and rolling me over. A pegasus, a mare pressing her entire weight on my chest as she clutched a needle with her right wing, a clear drip of the fluid within dropping to the ground. "Just calm down sir!" she pleaded, struggling to move the needle closer as I grasped her wing. "This is only a sedative, it'll help you to calm down so I can take you back home!" Her eyes shifted, becoming slitted and turquoise as her muzzle morphed into a terrifying grin. "I do this for you! For US! YOU ARE MINE!" The needle dripped… "NO, DON'T PLEASE!" I didn't think, I reacted, fear driving my every motion as my hand became shrouded in a dark blue mist, sweeping to the side as the mist enveloped her and threw her away from me, the needle disintegrating on the spot. I barely noticed the mare's shocked olive orbs as she flew high into the sky. How did I… Ignoring my thoughts, I scrambled to my feet and ran and ran, ponies of all sorts gaping at me in surprise. The mist was still surrounding my right hand, pulsating with what I knew to be power, driven by fear and desperation. How… I didn't know where to go, I just wanted to run and run, and then run again. I needed desperately to get away from her, the memories, the pain and terror…it was too much, TOO MUCH! "Poor baby, MY poor baby. Come to me, let me heal your pain." The voice, her voice, surrounding me, hounding me no matter how fast I ran. "L-Leave me alone!" I pleaded, gasping for breath as I swallowed my own tears. "It's for your protection beloved." At the word, that word, another bout of horrible memories flash before my eyes. Protection meant hurt, protection meant pain. I can't go through that anymore! The air distorted as a crackle of magic struck behind me. I ignored it, I had too. I couldn't stay in one place, I had to run and run and run and- "Alex stop!" … That voice… As fast as I ran, I stopped on the spot and spun around to see… "It honestly surprises me that you haven't figured it out yet." "Figured what out?" "That despite what she's said, Luna does not take prisoners." Pink fur, magenta orbs so warm, mane reminding me of a lollypop long forgotten. She hadn't aged a day. "Cadey?" I whispered, hand reaching out, feet moving of their own violation as my tears continued to fall. Her expression was…happy, so happy! And yet as she broke into a wide smile and ran towards me…her eyes flickered, her smile became a smirk of utter insanity. She was her! "Stay away from me!" I screamed, lashing out with the mist instinctively and causing the ground ahead of her to crack and splinter. Her eyes, now so lovely, so normal widened in shock and hurt. "Alex," she uttered, her voice soft, safe…made me feel…safe. "It's me, it's Cadance. Don't you recognize me?" She edged closer, words…her words so gentle. I felt my heart flutter in response. "C-C-Cadance?" I stuttered, body shaking, breath ragged. "Yes honey, it's me," she cooed soothingly, nearing me, her wings reaching out to touch my cheeks. "I want you to calm down and relax for me. Everything is okay now, I'm here now, nothing will hurt you anymore." My lips trembled, fear and desperation driving it to do so. I was so afraid, everything was her, everything! But Cadance…I wanted her to be herself! I wanted her to hold me… "And…we…will!" Eyes, flashing turquoise, mad grin! "Get away!" I fell back out of sheer instinct, scrambling away from the worried mare. "What's wrong baby?!" she asked, neigh, cried. Her voice was as desperate as I felt, her body struggling with the urge to rush forward and…and… How do I know that? "Because I made it so." Gasping, I clutched at my head and let out pained, horrid wheezes. "S-She's whispering to me," I whimpered. "She tells me to go back with her, that I belong with her, but something's wrong, WRONG!" "Who's whispering, Alex?" Cadance pleaded, her tone, her voice urgent, desperate to rid me of my pain. "Who's taking what's rightfully hers!" I clutched my head harder, very real pain flittering across as I shook it viciously, franticly trying to rid myself of her voice as I screamed and screamed and screamed- And stopped. It was as if every noise in the world had ceased to be. There was naught except the gentle caress of…something surrounding me, enveloping everything that I was. My eyes, wet and…sticky, my vision tinted ever so slightly crimson…the scent of copper below my nose. And her eyes, her real eyes weeping with me, a gentle pink glow around her horn…and us. "You don't belong to anyone but me, Alex," Cadance soothed, reaching forward and gently, lovingly licking away the crimson fluid. "And I belong to you. We belong to each other, and nopony, not a one will ever change that but us." "We'll see about that…" "She won't stop talking," I sobbed weakly. "I tried to escape her, but she found me." "Who found you?" she asked, hurt and concerned. "I…she's-" "Will you tell her, beloved? Can you?" I grasped my head and shook… "Alex please!" …only to snap back up and see Cadance's desperate eyes. "She won't let me tell you," I whispered, shaking my head without reason. "I c-can't, I can't." "Such a devoted mate, hehehe." The air distorted… Cadance opened her muzzle to say…something, only to suddenly look behind me and smile thankfully. Confusion dominated my thoughts, unsure, unknowing of what could bring about such a grateful smile. A weight fell upon my shoulder, warm breath soothing away my shakes bit by bit. … "Hush now baby," said…a voice, a maternal voice. "I'm here now. It's going to be alright." That voice… Confused and nigh inconsolable, I shakily turned my head to the right and looked into a pair of rose coloured orbs. And a smile just for me. White wings enveloped me, held me tightly, yet comfortably. A golden glow replaced the pink, shortly followed by an immense feeling of safety and warmth. "Mom?" I croaked, new tears slipping down my face as I stared at hers. Her smile, tender and affectionate, widened at the word. "Yes sweetie," she crooned. "It's me." Cadance, Celestia...Mate, mother… Too much… It was too much. "Mom…" I threw myself at her and held on as tightly as I could. I instantly felt her wings tighten and pull me ever closer, her muzzle nuzzling my neck lovingly. I couldn't stop crying…I didn't care how like a child I sounded. "I…hurt, mom," I whimpered. "I'm really scared, I'm s-so scared!" "Shhh" she hushed, another muzzle kissing, touching my right cheek. "It's okay now, I'm here. Mommy's here. I won't let anything hurt you." Her muzzle, the other muzzle, both soothed me, calmed my shakes if only a little. Their words, the loving, tender tone in which they were spoke became enough. Enough for me to pull back, if only a little And see slitted orbs, turquoise, gleaming down at me. "What's the matter Alex?" Mom asked, her white fur changing, a dark blue overlapping it. "It's time for another session." Fear, pain, so much! "My love…" Gold changed to blue. Screaming… Author's Note Well there you go! Till the next chapter. I don't know how long they'll be, but I do consider this a sort of opening. So maybe they'll be around 5000 again. Probably. Cya, stay snuggly!
You're Just A Parasite!Watched a little bit of Doctor Who, got inspired and voila! Bet you didn't expect me to update it this quickly, huh? Begin! You're Just A Parasite! Cadance Pov "GRAHHHH!" The roar that left my lover's mouth shook not only myself, but the very walls and ground around me. The windows splintered and cracked, some completely shattered. This was all second notice mind you. I was far too busy struggling to keep him still as ponies around me attempted to strap him to a stone bed. My own pink aura was mixed with Celestia's brilliant gold, but as they flickered and died, only to reappear and struggle once more, any awe I might have had vanished very quickly. A young Pegasus, a doctor, ran up to Alex and attempted to keep him down with his body, gritting his teeth as he was shook and nearly thrown off of him. "SIR! You need to calm down, we're not going to hurt you, we're only trying to hel-SHIT!" My focus over my magic nearly died as I witnessed a stream of purple fire escape Alex's mouth, almost washing over the Pegasus as he dived to one side. "Somepony get over here and help me hold him down!" he yelled, three stallions and a mare of the guard obeying as they each clung to a part of his upper body. Chest, arm, shoulders, all was held steady as can be as two doctor's frantically attempted to tie his limbs in restraints. "AH THE PAIN!" the cry escaping my mate's muzzle tore at my heart. "Someone stop the p-p-p-AHAHAHAHA!" Bloody tears began to leak from his eyes, more dribbling from his nostrils. His entire body was shaking with such a force, that I thought with no uncertainty it would fall apart. When foam began to form inside his mouth however, that's when I lost all remnants of self-control and screamed to the high heavens. "SOMEPONY HELP HIM!" I cried, desperate tears, fearful tears falling down my face as my magic flickered and died. "We need a sedative, now!" my aunty ordered, her own voice powerful and authorative despite the distress clear in her expression. A mare in a lab coat seemed to burst into the room at our calls, a syringe hovering in her aura as she raced over to my poor Alex. As if knowing what was to happen, my baby snapped his eyes…his terrible, slitted eyes onto the mare and grinned a mad, foaming, malicious grin. The syringe wielding mare froze on the spot. "Can you HURT him?!" the voice that escaped his mouth was not my beloved. It was too cruel, too insane to be of kin to one of humour and sarcasm. "Will YOU?!" A righteous fury burst from within me at this…this THING. My instinct, my own inner power rose up within me, empowering my confidence, my love for the man weeping as this horrible being grinned through him. "Get out of him!" I screamed, my eyes alight with power long unfelt. The thing cackled madly though its insanity, foam dribbling from my lover's mouth and onto his ripped gown. "Why should I?" it laughed, body shaking from convulsions and sick humour. "He is mine! You have no say, mate thief!" Mate thief? The thought comes as quickly as my rage erases it, taking control of my actions as I push away the stallion atop his chest and lay myself atop him, baring my teeth viciously as I grasped my poor baby's head and stared right through his eyes at the…malevolent being inside him. "No," I whisper, the word barely forming through my fury. "He is mine, my mate, my lover. Whoever…whatever you are, YOU have no say. YOU will leave my Alex alone, or I will drive you out of him and rip you apart," The grin on his face, the grin not his own only seemed to widen at my declaration. "On your own?" it chuckled, a gleam shining through Alex's eyes. "You are a child, fighting against those so much greater than yourself. Do you truly believe that you can separate us, alone?" I make to growl out a respond, but before I can do so, a very quiet, very furious voice beats me to it. "She won't be alone," Celestia utters, her rose colored eyes now a very bleak shade of grey, flickering between that and pure white. "You have invaded my son's body, violating both it and his mind in the process. No, she won't be alone. I will rip you from my little colt's body and banish you into the endless void for what you've done to him." My aunty waved away the doctor's, the frozen mare following suit a mere moment after she was released from whatever had taken hold of her. The mare of the guard however, stayed. "Will you now?" it spoke, surprisingly lacking in any emotion. "The endless void, is it? Was the moon not good enough for me sister?" "Sister?" I echo, glancing back at my aunty and taking note of her shocked expression. "Luna?" Celestia whispered, her horn lighting up as she aimed it in the direction of a shattered window. "Did she not tell you, foal?" it...or Luna laughed, quickly recapturing my attention. "I found him before you even existed. He loved me, and I him. But dear Celly couldn't handle the idea of her 'baby sister' loving more than just her. So she took my beloved Xander from me, and banished me when I tried to bring him back!" These were words my aunty had more or less told me before, but to hear them from the apparent mare herself was…still surprising. Though what was more were the very words to escape Celestia muzzle not a moment later. "Do you still have that blanket with the half-moon emblem, Cadance?" she asked me, her eyes narrowed in undeniable anger. "I-I think so," I replied, the pure light of my eyes dying down to normality as I climbed off of my lover. "It's under my…our bed." Celestia nodded to the mare of the guard straight away, said mare apparently understanding what was to be done as she sprinted out of the door. "Aunty?" "It's alright Cadance," she said, tone as soothing as could be in that particular moment. "I believe I know what has happened to Alex." Before I could inquire as to what, the guard returned with the familiar blanket from…our picnic some time ago, and laid it out before Celestia. My aunt took no time in…what I believe to be scanning it as she ran the tip of her horn over it. "What do you seek to accomplish here sister?" Luna demanded, spittle flying from her…Alex's mouth. "There is NAUGHT in that blanket that can separate us again!" "I thought so," Celestia muttered, ignoring the loud voice as she rose and regarded it…with an expression so cold that frightened me. "You thought what, sister?" Luna spat, paying me not so much as a glance. "That you can finally see beyond your own reflection?" Celestia didn't answer the jeer, choosing merely to keep up the icy expression. "Celestia?" I spoke, almost flinching as her expression snapped onto me…before thankfully warming up a touch. "Apologies my dear," she replied, smiling a small smile. "Allow me to explain, if you will?" I nodded slowly as she came closer, looking at my beloved as gestured towards him. "You," she spoke, a shocking amount of venom in her voice as she glared at those slitted eyes. "Are nothing but a powerful echo of my sister. A parasite, clinging to his life force to stay alive." 'Luna' sneered at my auntie's explanation and shook my honey's head. "I am no pale reflection!" she snapped. "I love him as much as the day we first made love. I remember each touch, each wondrous sensation. And I have made him powerful, I have given him magic most mortals could only dream of having!" "We are not Gods," Celestia refuted. "And I never named you weak, I can sense the power you foolishly, cruelly forced into his very soul. Do you truly believe that one who once defied all magic could grasp the fundamentals of controlling it?" "I will teach him how," Luna growled…oh by the gods, the loving, sickening smile that crossed my lover's face. "As I was planning on doing before he killed himself and returned to reality." "He killed himself?!" I screeched, wings flaring in horror and fury, Celestia's sudden hoof and shake of her head the only thing stopping me from…doing something! "Just like I told you Cadance," she soothed, left eye twitching ever so slightly. "Only an echo, with none of the compassion or sanity my sister had." She looked back at 'Luna' and regarded her, once more, with an icy expression. "I remember Luna's joy when she befriended Xander," she continued. "I remember the love in her eyes that I unthinkingly believed was because of me. And I remember how she glowed when she told me of her plans to share her divinity with him. "I do not know what you did to make my child so afraid, but you…you are only a frail image. And once I find the correct spell to do so, I will banish you to the darkest corners of this world. Where nopony will ever hear you scream…" Aunty… It's moment's like these that remind me just how much Celestia loves Alex. And if my instinct, our Alicorn instinct reacts when the one we love is in danger, then how my poor aunty is managing to hold her own back after I all but let mine flare to the surface is beyond me… Her self-control is awe inspiring. 'Luna' narrowed Alex's eyes at my aunt and sneered defiantly…before the body she inhabited became limp very quickly. Said eyes returning to the green I love so much. Unable to restrain myself, I rushed forward and grasped his face as gently as I could, his eyes completely unfocused as I looked into them. "Alex, honey!" I spout, panicking as I get no response. "Baby please wake up! It's me!" I make to press my lips to his, only for a golden barrier to come between us. Unthinking, I snarl at the perpetrator and flare my wings in an instinctive show of protective dominance. Only to realize that my aunty is the one I'm 'protecting' Alex from. "What…what are you doing, aunty?" I ask…demand. "Protecting you from the parasite," she explains, eyes narrowed yet worried. "Do you remember what you told me about before this all started? That something left you and latched onto Alex?" Blinking somewhat dumbly, I open and close my muzzle several times, glancing back at my little snuggle honey and trembling at Celestia's implications. "A-Are you saying that I c-can't even…" Sadly, she shakes her head and comes a touch closer, eyes and tone firm as she says… "No Cadance…you can't kiss him," she affirms quietly. "In fact until I've found the spell to banish the remnant of my sister, I would strongly advise that you limit how much you touch him without me here." "I can't even comfort him?" I whisper, my eyes filling with tears as I feel my body try to defy this order. "Not without me here," she says once again. "If the parasite latches onto you without me here to protect you, then there would be nothing to stop it from killing you and returning to Alex." Of course…Luna 'found him first' and I'm just the mare that stole him. I didn't believe it, I didn't believe it for a second. Alex was my mate, no one else's. And the fact that I couldn't comfort him…the way, the amount in which it hurt me was…astronomical. "I don't care about myself, aunty," I growled, gritting my teeth as I fought off angry tears and looked up at her. "I just want…no, I need to hold him…please…" Aunty looked down at me, pained. Her muzzle was scrunched up, frustrated and angry at my pain…I could feel it. And after a few moments of apparent contemplation, she looked over at my Alex and lit up her horn, his entire body soon following. "Be quick," she said, her breath shockingly ragged as she gestured over to him. "I'm projecting myself onto him, no dark reflection can pass this kind of magic easily." "Soul magic," I whispered, more to myself than her, though she nodded nonetheless. Snapping out of my thoughts, I clambered onto the stone bed and gently laid myself atop my lover, reaching down with my muzzle and- "No!" Celestia gasped, shaking her head rapidly. "Soul magic…might not be enough for that. Just…only touch…might break through with lip contact…it's an ancient magic of its own...could take advantage and…" Fighting off evident fatigue, my aunty closed her eyes and kept up her slowly spluttering horn, tears slipping down her face, though from exhaustion or morose depression I couldn't tell. Whimpering quietly at the denial, I leaned down to my lover's face and…kissed his forehead with as much love as I could possibly give, before moving back and burying my face under his bloodied chin. The simple familiarity of his scent being defiled by coppery blood was enough to almost break me down. That such wrongness could mix with something so beautiful was horrifying. "C-Cadance…" Body shaking as I willed myself to move, I removed myself from the familiar comfort of his heat and backed over to Celestia. The mare in question let go of the exhausting magic and almost collapsed on the spot, but with sheer determination somehow managed to stay upright. But as for me…I couldn't stop myself from burying my face in her chest and finally weeping bitter tears as I broke down. It had been a month since my beloved collapsed. A month in which I was completely alone…unable to touch him while the doctor's tried to figure out what was wrong. I could do naught but sing…and hope he heard it somehow. "I will save him Cadance," Celestia soothed, nuzzling and kissing my head tenderly. "I promise, just try to hold on. Then we can both snuggle him back into the hospital, okay?" I chuckled weakly at her little joke, but appreciated it all the same and nodded. "I've never seen him so scared before," I mumbled sadly. "It frightened me." "I know sweetie," Aunty sighed, looking over at her son. "It frightened me too." Author's Note Done. Short, but it's all I could really think to write for this particular part. I don't expect this story to be long, but I know it'll have just the right amount of drama and fluff to keep you guys appeased. Til the next chapter! Cya, stay snuggly!
Alex Or...Alex Or... Alex Pov I was floating amongst an endless sea of darkness, flashes of…memories, I believe, slowly flying past me, below me, above me, around me. I couldn't hear much, only glimpses of what was. "And a one, and a two, and a three, four, five! Oh yeah! Cadance remains the grand champion of EVERYTHING to do with arcade!" "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I swear I've played this before…hmm, let's try Pac-Mare over there." "Alllllrighty! But I'm gonna whoop your flank at that too!" "You take this stuff way too seriously." "And you don't. Lighten up a little, we've only got a little while before Aunty steals you for an afternoon cuddle." "Shut up Cadey." "Beat me at this and maybe I will." I can see that memory, see how young we looked, how happy and…not together, not yet, not then. But that grin on her muzzle…ahh that grin. So cheeky, so confident and cocky. There was the Cadance that I love…came to love. Another memory flashes right in front of me, steadying, slowing as I look at it and see… Griffonia…this is just before I was about to die. Mom…she… I feel the memory surround myself, the past me, the young, fifteen year old Alex merging with me. I can feel words escaping my mouth, words I'd already spoken, words that I… "I d-don't feel well…"I whimpered, a sharp, ragged cough ripping through my throat, blood splattering over the table as I fall to the floor and begin to convulse. "Alex!" Celestia cried, rushing over and cradling my shaking form to her barrel, uncaring of the blood now beginning to coat it. "GUARDS, GUARDS!" No one came; no one headed the calls of a desperate mare…a desperate mother. And through my blurred, tear filled eyes; I could see that desperation twisting into something…dark. "No one is coming, Princess," came a silky, smug voice from behind her, causing Celestia's head to turn sharply, myself still cradled in her hooves, heaving, gasping for breath. A few moments pass us by, during which I could practically see the gears turning inside her head. "You did this," she said, voice quiet and calm…a deadly calm. "I did," chuckled the griffon, his feathers ruffling in amusement as Celestia put me down and rose swiftly. "Ah, ah, ah! You attack me and the treaty will break. And you don't want something so…drastic to happen now do you?" Celestia was silent, completely. As for me, I could feel my life fading away…slowly. "You can cure him?" she asked suddenly. "I can," he drawled slyly. "But…first I would have something of yours. Two things really, small things." "Such as?" Dying though I was, I could hear the perverse nature in his tone…It made me feel sick, ironically. "First, I would have your complete support with the upcoming election," he explained mirthfully. "And second, well. I would be a fool to deny your beauty. So perchance a night with you…or several." A gargle of unintelligible words attempt to leave my lips, drawing Celestia's eyes back onto me. Oh those eyes…so warm, yet cold. Flickering a demonic green, black smoke barely escaping the edges. "You know the cure?" she asked once more. The griffon sighed dramatically and growled in apparent frustration. "Yes I know the cure, but you're not obtaining it unless you do what I-HCK!" I watched through unfocused eyes as the mare that comforted me at night, who lulled me back to sleep with her warmth, yank the griffon towards her harshly, choking him in mid-air. "You were a fool to think you could get away with this," Celestia hissed, her voice completely unnatural, demonic. "To think that you could play with my baby's life, to think that your treaty meant more to me than my SON'S LIFE! I'LL BURN YOU FROM THE INSIDE OUT AND PROLONG YOUR SCREAMS-" "LIES! SHE NEVER CARED FOR YOU! SHE HATED YOU, SHE HATED US!" I blinked…and found the memory I'd been reliving gone. Once more I was surrounded by other memories and darkness, but along with it were a pair of massive turquoise orbs, gazing down at me with as much anger as there was love. The fear I'd known so well through the past two years quickly began to overwhelm me, my breath becoming short and shallow, every thought demanding that I run, that I get away from she who tortured me. "Sister never loved us, she hated our love!" she yelled furiously. "She couldn't stand to see her baby sister defiled by an UNWORTHY being, so she sent you away and banished me in my grief." A tight hold, a loving hold, a…warm hold enveloped me, those eyes shrinking, a body, her body forming around it in but a few moments. And there she stood before me, wings around me, her eyes sad, muzzle contorted in a unhappy grimace as I tried and failed to move away, to run and escape the mad…thing that loved me. "Oh…my love," she crooned, eyes lidding as she continued to gaze softly into my own. "There's nothing to fear anymore. No more pain, no more of me left to meld into your soul. Now…it is time for us to leave." "I'm n-not leaving C-Cadance," I stammered, shaking terribly as she pressed us closer together, eyes changing not a bit from their warm…loving… "You don't need her anymore beloved," Luna cooed tenderly. "It is I who will comfort you, who will protect you, who will teach you, show you everything wonderful with the world…not Cadance." She moved her muzzle close to my mouth and nuzzled it soothingly, a smile of my own all but forcing its way onto my face. Oh I was terrified…and yet being with her made me feel…so happy. "Sister was correct about one thing though," she sighed sadly…before perking up just as quickly, a half insane grin on her muzzle. "I am only a remnant of what Luna truly is, but now I have the means to make us whole again. I can…no, I will become one with her, and together…we will be mated for life once again." No hesitation, no warning as she pressed her lips to mine, ignoring the way I tried…I tried to try…and… "There will be no royalty, no duties, no responsibility besides caring for each other," her words were slow, deep and sultry. I felt my body relax against my will…and buried my face in her neck. "We will be beautiful and we will have such a beautiful life. Just you and I Xander…just you and I forever…and no other mare than myself to love you." A speck of golden light materialized behind Luna, growing steadily…but she didn't seem to notice. No, for as her lips touched the side of my neck, the world warped and fluctuated around me, gold unseen grew as darkness fought against it. I knew who it was. "Mom…" … Cadance Pov I'd woken up alone…again. I suppose I should have been at least a little bit used to it by then. I'd been without my little snuggle honey for well over a week after all. Showering without him next to me wasn't any less difficult. I admit that I'd come to rely on his constant comfort…his constant love to keep me strong, to keep the world bright. Without him in it, it all just looked so…bleak. Come on Cadance, grow up! I silently chastised myself. You're feeling sorry for yourself when your mate is strapped to a stone bed…alone, and with that…that THING inside his head. No, it was time to grow up and stop with the self-pity. My beloved needed his mate by his side, and I was never going to deny him. Once I was thoroughly clean and ready, I left my chambers and all but stormed down to the bizarre chamber in which Alex was held. Celestia wouldn't tell me what it was for or why Alex had to be in it, but I knew my Aunty well enough to understand that this was something I wasn't ready for yet. Maybe one day, but not any day soon. The door was guarded by a pair of the usual guard, not a single difference in eithers' appearance. They took a look at me as I was to enter, a look, their emotions…all of that which all but screamed at me to stop, to go away and leave Alex to the devices of whoever was inside. They were loyal, but so was I. And my loyalty to my mate outshone whatever pathetic dregs of devotion they carried! …Relax Cadance…they're just doing their job. With nought but a cautionary glare at the two, I ignored them and entered the chambers confidently. My baby was still strapped down to the stone, symbol engraved bed. But this time he was also connected up to a heart monitor…and something else I didn't recognize. Medical subjects were definitely not my area. The monitor beeped steadily, strongly. Each one made me feel…relief. Celestia was inside, her horn alight as wave after wave of magic I knew not swam throughout the room. I could feel it enter me, effortlessly brushing aside whatever defences I subconsciously held with but a warm, gentle push. It felt…lovely, like the soothing kiss a mother gave to a skinned hoof. The soft eyes and gentle expression upon her face as she gazed down at my dozing lover all but accentuated this…and confirmed what was but a lingering doubt in my mind. Celestia really thinks herself your mother my love…I can feel it, feel her. Ohh…and she loves you with all her heart and soul. "Can I…help?" She shook her head almost instantly, the familiar 'You're not ready' look already on her face. I just want to make my mate better…I just want to… "The magic I'm using is too much for you to handle right now," she explained softly, not once looking at me as her eyes remained locked on my beloved. "Pure solar magic is the lightest of all magic's, but it's very dangerous in the wrong hooves. Thankfully I know how to use it quite well, and I could find no cure better than a constant stream…it is the only remedy to such dark magic, and dark spirits." "It's a spirit?" I asked. "Somewhat. Perhaps the better term would be a dark echo, a pale reflection of the being it used to be." she clarified, her eyes hardening slightly as she continued. "Unfortunately nothing about my sister was ever weak. This echo is powerful, powerful enough to give Alex magic as potent as any an alicorn." Yes…I forgot about that. His immunity was gone now, replaced by the magic it once repelled. A good…and bad thing. "How can Alex be this…Xander?" I asked, confused and upset all at once. "Alex is Alex, how can this thing mistake that?" Celestia smiled sadly and for the first time in a long while, shrugged. "Insanity can twist any mind given enough of a reason," she sighed. "Maybe it believes Alex to be him because they are perchance the same type of being. Or perhaps the alternative is simply too unbearable to think about." She turned to me and gave me a look…I'll never forget. One of utmost sadness…and understanding. "Love can make a pony do terrible things, Cadance," she said, her tone dangerously low. "Ponies have died for reasons so simple as trying to impress the one they desired, even knowing that they would never return their feelings. I knew that once…I knew ponies who believed they loved me, and used it to further my own selfish needs." "When you were younger?" I inquired, frowning sadly at auntie's steadily depressing emotions. "When I was unable to see past my own reflection, yes," she muttered, shaking her head slowly. "It was right you know…when it said that. I was cruel as a young mare, arrogant in my power and the way my subjects adored it. They didn't even know who I was." "You were…" I couldn't bear to finish. "Oh, I've taken lives before Cadance," she said darkly. "Poison in a drink for a foreign king, a dagger in the back to those who saw the truth...families butchered in their homes by those who thought I'd reward them for it." I didn't like the self-hating smirk on her muzzle…not one bit. "But then as the years flew by…I got worse, I got cunning, clever," she chuckled dryly, glancing back at Alex briefly. "It was easy, manipulating others into taking their own lives in my name. Saying that I loved them, that their pain inflicted because of me only made me love them ever more…and then watching on, laughing silently as they did so with the belief that I felt anything resembling pride and love to their sacrifice." The solar magic flickered around us briefly, but she didn't seem to notice, her eyes closed…a tear down her face. "Sometimes I think an Alicorn lives too long." Aunty… I always knew she regretted her past, I could feel disgust whenever she mentioned herself in it. But to still think that way about herself today… I refused to let do it. … "You're wrong Aunty," I spoke quietly, drawing her nigh defeated face to my own. "Maybe you were like that once…a long time ago. But ponies change…everyone changes as time goes on. I remember being shy and naïve before I met Alex. I remember only having wings before I turned thirteen, living on the streets with nothing before you found me…and guided me to understand love." Confidence flooding through me, I strode over to my adorably confused Aunty and nuzzled her neck lovingly. "But look at what you did," I cooed happily, waving my right hoof around the room dramatically…to make her smile if nothing else. "You took me as your niece and raised me from then on, you found and soothed a scared child not from our world…and welcomed him into your heart with open hooves." I stepped back slightly and smiled affectionately, said smile getting steadily wider as did her own. "And you gave me the confidence to tell Alex I love him," I exclaimed cheerfully, the solar magic brightening ever more with every second. "Celestia, you are a wonderful pony and so much more than just an aunt to me." Her head titled slightly as tears welled up in her eyes, a truly beautiful smile adorning her muzzle as her horn SHONE! "You're a mother to both of us, aunty," I giggled, choking on emotion. "The past doesn't define who you are. What you do now and who you are today does! And right now…Alex needs his mother as much as he needs me. So…let us heal him together, and drive out this parasite." I held out my hoof and laughed as she took it, allowing herself to be pulled to her hooves. This unfortunately left myself open to be pulled in return…and pull she did as I quickly found my face buried in her chest. She nuzzled and kissed the top of my head lovingly, laughing so beautifully all the while. "You'll be a fantastic ruler one day, Cadance," she praised happily. "With inspiration like that, I'll soon be left quite behind you in the polls." "Polls?" "For best Princess in the world," she exclaimed heartily. "Oh, shut up," I batted away…or tried too, her nuzzling was really getting ticklish. "I'd never leave you behind, royalty stays strong when united-" "And not apart," she finished proudly. "But never forget that we are family first-" "And royalty second," I completed, giggling at the now very ticklish nuzzling. She pulled herself back and regarded me with such…pride that it made me practically inflate with cheer. "You are the daughter I have always wanted," she crooned. "And if you will it…I shall with no hesitation take up the responsibility of a mother for you." "You've always been a mother to me," I replied, lips trembling with emotion. "A title just makes it official." Oh…the love… Without any doubt, without any second thoughts…we crossed our horns and united our magic. Her solar melded with my love, pure gold mixing with amorous pink. The feeling I was flooded with was indescribable. A mother's love, a mate's love…flowing throughout the room for but a few moments…before we both forced it into Alex's very soul. The mixture of color seemed to slowly encase his sleeping body, his breathing becoming ragged with every second as if…as if in pain. His eyes…no, those terrible slitted eyes opened sharply, a horrible, rasping breath escaping his shuddering form as he…as IT looked right at me and- "N-NO! I WON'T…LET HIM…GO…AGAIN!" An almighty explosion of raw, terrified magic overpowered us. A familiar instinct within forcing me to grit my teeth and growl at it sensed another…and another. I could just about see the demonic, shadowy orbs to my left. … … … "Cadance…" whispered a tiny voice, a weak, so, so weak voice. I felt my instinct vanish as quickly as it came. "Alex!" I cried, running over to my beloved, my right wing instinctively reaching out and touching- "Foal…" Another impressive explosion of magic forced me to cover my eyes, shielding them until the light vanished and… "Impossible," Celestia whispered. "His magic was drained to a minuscule amount…how?" "I touched him," I whispered, shame flooding away any of my previous cheer. "I didn't think, I didn't…I just wanted to…" I released that thing into the world…oh what have I done! … Alex Pov I blinked blearily as I opened my eyes, limbs struggling and straining with bizarre fatigue as I just about managed to lay back against a…wall? "Where am I?" I muttered feebly, attempting to stand and failing instantly as my legs collapsed. "Ugh! Why do I feel so…tired?" For a reason I couldn't quite…understand, I looked up out of the cave and to the bright moon. Upon it was the face I knew too well, the face of the mare in the moon. The one that…hadn't tortured me…or maybe had… I didn't know…I didn't want to think about it. All of a sudden, a horrible, retching sensation forced me to cough violently. To my further horror however, whatever did so refused to let my sight leave the moon…I…I couldn't move at all! "W-What's…going…OOAHHHHH!" A toxic, smoky looking substance all but erupted from my mouth and eyes. My body wouldn't move, my thoughts were paralyzed…I couldn't think. Together... That voice. Another bout of horrible torment escaped me, causing my body to shake wildly as I screamed in agony. When… The pain was unbearable. I… I wanted to throw up. Find… On and on, so much like so recent hurt. You… The moon flashed, the face upon it melting away. Again… The face was no more…the moon was bare early. My beloved Xander… And as the darkness took me…the visage of a demon flew towards me at speeds unknown to this world. My eyes closed…with nought but a toothy smile, a true, sane, loving smile filling up what was left of my vision. "My beloved Xander," crooned a deep…yet lovely voice. "You've waited so long…and I have returned to you. Your true and only mate is here." Comfortable, warm…enveloped my body…and I… "And she will take care of you."
The Truth?Apologies, I considered making this the first chapter of the next story but saw that it made much more sense for it to be the last of this one. Begin! The Truth? I awoke with my eyes closed, the distant sound of birds chirping happily being the only reason I knew it to be morning. Sighing tiredly, I opened my eyes and blinked the sleep away, rubbing them lightly with my right hand before shaking my head and looking around the cave I appeared to be in. Where am I? The last thing I remember is…feeling afraid, deathly so. I remember…Luna, or a tiny piece of her. She brought me here and then…I don't know. There's something else…something flew at me, and spoke to me…but who? I stood up gingerly and grimaced at the sudden jolt of pain running through my legs. But with some determination, I gritted my teeth and began to hobble towards the entrance of the cave. The light was so bright it nearly blinded me…but I refused to let it stop me, I had a goal and I was going to achieve it. I have to get back home. I have to find Cadance and mom. I have to…I need- A deep, feminine giggle snapped me out of my thoughts and caused me to stop in instinctive fear. That voice… "Now where do you think you're going my lovely Xander?" she cooed softly. I flinched at the sudden weight of a wing trailing along my right shoulder, a blackness blurring the corner of my vision as it brushed against my cheek tenderly. A vision of pain, of torture and agony flashes before my eyes, and then is gone in a blink. But the fear…that stayed, I couldn't imagine it ever leaving. "Let me go," I whispered, unable to move, to do…anything more than that. The clop of hooves against solid rock indicated her moving forwards, and the breath…the warm breath against the back of my neck told me just how close she was. "Why would you want to leave me?" she asked, her voice gentle and…slightly hurt. "Why?" I echoed, incredulous to her question. "Haven't you t-tortured me enough by now?" A pause…then- "Xander…that part of me was insane," she whispers, breath tickling my ear. "Utterly insane, a mind without morality, love without restraint. You know me; you know I would never hurt you intentionally. I love you." "Know you? Before you tortured me I'd never even met you." Another pause, a breeze, birds singing…silence, nothing more…until she spoke again. "Look at me Xander," she asks pleadingly, quietly, softly. "That's not my name." "Yes it is…Xander please." I shake my head. "No." "Please." "N-No." A gentle sigh is the only response I get in that moment…but then she retracts her wing, her breath and walks around, her face almost in sight before I turn my head and look at the barren wall. "Xander please look at me," she says, a shoeless hoof grasping my chin ever so softly, turning my head, my eyes onto her turquoise, draconic ones. They plead with me silently, I can…read them with an ease I never thought possible. You know me, they said. You can trust me, they cooed. I love you, they soothed Nightmare Moon stood before me in all her glory, looking every bit the imposing, powerful alicorn she was meant to be…if not a bit thinner than any alicorn I'd met before. She looked straight into my eyes, searching for something…and then frowned, her ears flattening in sorrow as she failed to find whatever it was she wanted. "You really don't recognize me do you," she uttered sadly, falling onto her rump in defeat. "You used to look at me as if I was your whole world. You promised you'd never love another as you did me…what happened to change that my love? It was not me who hurt you, why do you look at me with such terror?" "I know who you are," I correct, somewhat bitterly. "And I don't just mean your real name either. I know you named yourself Nightmare Moon before your banishment." Nightmare looked at me and smiled knowingly. "Because you come from a world where I and everypony else is naught but fiction, I know." "W-What?" I backed away, stunned at her words. "How could you possibly…I never told you that." "You never told my insanity given form that, no," she agrees, stepping close and placing her immensely large wings around me, stopping me from moving any further away. "But you told me. You told me everything…so very long ago." As if sensing no resistance she comes even closer, her muzzle barely a scant few inches from my mouth. "You told me your name and age. You told me about your family and friends, about being an only child, about wishing all your life for someone who would love and care for you as you would for them." "I'm an only child?" I echoed, dumbfounded much to Nightmare's apparent confusion. "You don't know?" "I don't know much about my life on Earth," I admitted, not completely comfortable at how…comfortable I was beginning to be with her. I felt as if I'd known her for a very long time. Not the two years I spent in that hell, but before that…before I'd even met… It unsettled me, and the way she looked at me unsettled me further, like I was all she could see, like I was the only thing in the world she wanted to look at. I didn't realize until too late that she hadn't blinked once in a good ten seconds. "Your mind is fine but…" she bit her lip worriedly, eyes regaining the focus that had shortly been lost. "But there's more inside your head than there should be, and I don't just mean what my insanity forced there." "What are you talking about?" I asked, not very much liking the sheer concern in her gaze. Only a couple of ponies looked at me like that and this mare wasn't supposed to ever be one of them. "There are locked memories in your mind," she explained soothingly, stepping closer ever so slightly. Maybe in the hope that I wouldn't back away…and I didn't. "Old memories, I could briefly feel the age seeping from them." She bit her lip again in worry and stepped a touch closer, looking piercingly into my eyes once more…and then she blinked…and then she smiled warmly. "I have an idea that may work," she said, stepping closer once more, her kind smile and tender gaze all but consuming my vision. "If I could just give them a nudge then maybe I can break the lock." More mind torture? Fuck that! Looking out towards the exit, I tensed my legs and prepared to make a break for it…only to find my face pushed back, Nightmare's soothing expression filling up my sight. "Oh how has it come to this," she sighed, smiling tiredly. "I love you so much Xander. I do this only because my heart belongs to you." She shook her head and sighed once more, before looking me right in the eyes and lighting up her horn. "Xander Pentagast, I swear on my life and soul that I will never purposefully use my magic just to cause you pain," she promised, a sudden bright light glowing around her body right after. And I knew what she'd done. It was only whispered around Canterlot and very rarely glossed over by my old school's mages. That Nightmare had just done it, had just said what she did…I was aghast. "Do you have any idea what you just did?" I whispered, utterly shocked. She smiled. "I made a binding oath never to use my magic with the sole purpose of hurting you," she confirmed, smiling softly at my goldfish expression. "Because even if a spell might harm you, it will never be cast for the sole reason of doing so. That is my promise to you, because I can't think of anything else to help you trust me." I…I couldn't think of anything to say in that moment. An oath was completely irreversible and completely impossible to refuse after it was promised. Nightmare Moon has just vowed to never do what that…thing had, and hurt me intentionally. With her magic! a loud, angry part of my mind reminded me. There's nothing stopping her from knocking you out and going about it with a knife on your flesh for your own 'protection'. My face scrunched up in fear as that thought passed me by…but then it was natural, shocked as I remembered what'd she had just said, promised…and who to. "Pentagast?" "Yes, that's your last name," she said gently. "Xander Pentagast, you were twenty four years old the last time I saw you." "Twenty four?" I echo, disbelieving. "But I'm nineteen…or twenty one if you-No, I'm nineteen. I can't be this 'Xander' if you think I'm twenty four." "There are spells that can regress age both physically and mentally sweetheart," Nightmare explained, her ears flat in surprisingly enough, shame. "Celestia used them as a punishment for those who tried to defy her rule, mostly leaders of rebel factions." "Celestia would never-"I was cut off before I could start by a soft hoof on my lips. "Maybe she doesn't do it anymore Xander, but she did then," she continued, no heat in her words despite her obvious hatred for my mother. "Seeing your inspiration turned into a weeping foal and then watching as that child willingly embraced the enemy did wonders for eradicating morale." I couldn't help but feel sick as I listened to this. A large part of me simply couldn't believe that mom would do that to anyone…but then again it was one thousand years ago, things could have been different. Maybe mom was a bit more severe with her rule back then…yeah that's gotta be it! There's no way I'm going to believe that she did shit like that right off the bat, it must have been a last option kind of thing, where the enemy refused and threatened to do more if they were left as they were. That had to be it, I refused to think otherwise. "What did…she do with the children?" I asked hesitantly. Nightmare frowned and looked away at the question, her wings ruffling in…discomfort? "My sister had the potential to be very cruel when she wanted to be," Nightmare said eventually. "But never to children. She and I could mate with one who does not have our divinity, but we could never have their child. "The 'children' couldn't remember who they before, all of that was locked away in their minds. And they loved her dearly. Sister would take them to Sun Foaled Orphanage once they were fully regressed, and when she visited she fawned over them like she was their own 'mama'." She…she did? Noticing the hurt look on my face, Nightmare lidded her eyes warmly and stroked my check with a wing. "I'm so sorry Xander," she said sympathetically. "Whatever my sister treats you like, and whatever you may call her…she's done this many times before. You were not the first memory bound child manipulated into loving her as your mother." I staggered away from the mare as she finished her explanation. I…I don't know how to describe the sheer intensity of my emotions, my thoughts. Mom manipulated me into loving her? "B-But she took care of me when I first arrived here," I defended. "I had terrible nightmares and she used to sleep beside me so they would go away." "And what were those nightmare's about, hmm? Your real parents? Monsters and fears from the inner most part of your mind?" "H-How…" I couldn't even… "Because they weren't nightmare's Xander," she explained patently. "They were memories that have been locked away, by HER. I know her magical signature and it coats them." "But that's not possible, magic doesn't…didn't affect me back then." "But it did somewhat before you were banished, by HER!" she countered, heat in her words as I tried to defend my mother figure. "She did this to you! I wasn't beside you when she did it and that has haunted my sleep in the moon all these years, but that doesn't change the fact that she did it. She couldn't regress you entirely with your magic resistance, so she locked away what she could, regressed you to an adolescent and sent you away from me!" Nightmare was breathing heavily as she finished, her iris was thin and had a dangerous glint to it. "Because you were taken over by my insanity I was gifted with what it knew about you, blurred memories and such. It couldn't get everything because of your initial immunity but it got enough to show me the truth." "What truth?" I asked, though honestly I didn't know if I wanted to hear any more. She took a breath and sat down on her haunches, looking up a touch to gaze into my eyes. "When you woke up here as a fourteen year old child, Celestia came to the cell you were being kept in and looked at you." "Yes…and?" "Do you remember how she looked at you?" I blinked at the bizarre question and tried to think back to that moment. It was a long time ago so I couldn't exactly remember everything, but what I could… "She smiled at me," I remembered, voicing the memory aloud. "I remember feeling safe when she did so, warm even." A bright light was all the warning I received before the memory I was trying to picture seemingly materialized into existence before me. Nightmare's horn was alight and pulsating softly, her right hoof gesturing to the three dimensional image. Mom's smile brought one of my own so easily. "Look at her again now," she said, myself doing so and frowning as I found nothing that stood out. "Yeah, she's just smiling at me," I shrugged. "Yes, but look at her eyes, look closely." Sighing, I complied and looked at her eyes, smiling wider as I felt the warmth they were giving me and… Wait… Her eyes were warm, but… Nightmare smiled at the realization in my expression and nodded approvingly; as if proud I'd figured out a great puzzle. "Your magic immunity would have helped, but without touching her you wouldn't have noticed it right away. And even when you did she was ready for it so it wouldn't have mattered." I was…aghast at what I had noticed. For the eye was looked at me with such warmth and kindness…was too shiny, even for a pony. It flickered and shone unnaturally, hiding the truth behind it. And the truth looked at me with shock and familiarity. The truth knew me. "Glamour," I breathed. "Cadance uses them sometimes to hide the bags beneath her eyes in the morning before we go to breakfast, I-I always had to make sure not to touch her then." I barely noticed Nightmare wince at Cadance's name, but it was quickly overshadowed by a triumphant smile. "Yes, a glamour can hide what you do not want others to see," she confirmed, voice actually happy at me shock. "And you can see it if you look close enough. She knew who you were the moment she looked at you, maybe she didn't mean to send you to the future when she banished you but that doesn't change the fact that she knew you. "She knew you, she knew that she locked away your memories, she knew that she had regressed you by a decade, and she said NOTHING the entire time she was mothering you!" "I-It can't be," I whispered, overwhelming amounts of hurt and betrayal flooding through me at my denial. "She loves me…" "She doesn't beloved," Nightmare refuted softly, shaking her head and stroking my face with a hoof. "She doesn't see you as her child, she sees you as her toy to play 'mother' with." I paused momentarily but then smiled in hope at a memory. "But when I was poisoned she was so angry that she nearly destroyed the Griffon capital. Why would someone who didn't love me feel that strongly?" "Because she would have lost her weapon to use against me," she explained, her voice quiet and tender. "She's played you masterfully, moulding you into a 'son' who would do anything for her. And you would, wouldn't you? If we had never met and she begged you to use your immunity to try and kill me then you would have." I shook my head. "I…I wouldn't have-" Nightmare cut across me instantly, moving forward with a purpose. "Yes you would, if you really think about it then you know it to be true." The image of mom begging me to stop Nightmare, tears streaming down her cheeks as the dark mare neared made me gasp as I realized the truth to Nightmare's statement. I would have killed her if mom had asked me like that. "Xander," her voice snapped me out of my thoughts and back onto her, eyeing her as she lit up her horn and looked at me tenderly. "I'm nowhere near as talented in the arts of mind magic as my sister; my realm has always lied with dreams and black magic. But if you'll just let me, I can try and unlock those memories…and then you'll finally realize that I speak the truth." Her tone was pleading, even though she obviously tried to make it otherwise. I could see how much she needed to do this just by looking at her face, that expression unknowingly mimicking Cadance's after the prom. The longing was almost palpable. I had every reason to refuse her, to deny what she had shone and said and call it lies. But…but I needed to know if she spoke the truth. She had sworn to never intentionally hurt me with her magic, she had made an oath. I had to believe that she really did just want to help me. "Okay," I said quietly, watching as a wide smile broke out on Nightmare's face. "You can do it, but I have a question before you do." Nightmare looked worried as to my request, but nodded nonetheless and motioned with her hoof for me to continue. "If…If this is all true and mom…and Celestia really has been manipulating me, then tell me…what does that make Cadance?" The dark mare looked unsurprised by my question, however the sadness in her eyes, the droopiness of her wings…talking about Cadance hurt her. "I can barely recall anything from when my insanity was within her, only a few memories," she eventually said, sounding almost tired as she did so. "But I believe she has no idea of Celestia's manipulations. I believe that she l-loves you almost as much as I do, and I believe…I believe that Celestia will use her affection for you to make her hate me. There's no doubt in my mind that she do anything to get you away from me." "S-So if this really is true and…and Celestia is some kind of manipulator, then Cadance is just a pawn?" "Just like you, yes," she confirmed, shifting uncomfortably as she admitted such. "I…I don't like her. Unknowingly or not she took your heart from me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to tear her apart for doing so. I don't believe she even truly knows who I am, or what Celestia is." "You don't want to hurt her?" I asked, disbelieving. She shook her head and smiled sadly. "No, I don't. She's a young mare who loves Celestia as much as much as you do, my insanity felt it constantly." Nightmare sighed and her ears flattened as she continued. "Celestia took her in shortly after her parents died, but she was living on the streets before that happened. She's overwhelmingly grateful to her for that, and I doubt she'd even listen to you if you tried to discredit her." She never told me she was living rough before! "Why didn't she tell...no," I shook my head and filed it away for later. "How do you know that?" She shrugged. "I told you, when that part of my insanity was within her it was able to glance at a few memories, not all of them but enough for me to know that Cadance will never betray her mother figure." She looked at me and smirked gleefully. "In fact she's more like Celestia than you think, that's what I got from her memories." I…didn't like the way she said that. "What do you mean she's like Celestia?" I know that she's kind and loving…but Nightmare couldn't have meant that, right? Nightmare looked at me unblinkingly before shaking her head and whispering something to herself that I couldn't understand. And then she turned back to me, looking at me intently. "Xander, she-" BANG! The sudden explosion of magic outside made the both of us jump in fright. Nightmare was in front of me in an instant, her stance aggressively protective, wings out and teeth bared menacingly. "Whatever happens Xander, you need to stay behind me," she said firmly, looking back at me briefly and conveying the seriousness of the situation with but a glance. She was scared. Just as I was about to nod, she turned her head to face the entrance and snarled as a very familiar alicorn walked in. Celestia looked worn out, her eyes shone with exhaustion and her legs seemed to shake but a touch with each step. Upon seeing me however, her eyes lit up and a wide smile crossed her face…until she saw the dark mare in front of her. She looked positively inconsolable then. "L-Luna?" she asked, voice taught with emotion. "Is it really you? I saw the moon but I never dreamed that you actually escaped." Nightmare all but sneered at the alabaster mare and snarled her answer back. "Yes it's me, I am glad to see you've changed very little these past thousand years dear sister. How's the womb after I left it by the way? Did they ever manage to find a cure for a barren mare or are you still too much of a whore for it to take effect?" Celestia visibly flinched and backed away slightly at the sheer venom in Nightmare's voice. "Sister please, I'm sorry. If you would just let Alex go and listen to me than I could-" "NO! WE ARE THROUGH LISTENING TO YOU!" The power of her voice made the cave tremble, and me. I'd only ever heard two other's speak like that and it was never any less terrifying. "Alex?" I watched and felt despair overwhelm me as Cadance walked into the cave, a teary smile so wide and full of love that anymore and it threatened to break her face. But I couldn't move, I could…but after all Nightmare told me, how could have I? I felt like I hadn't seen her in an age…and really I hadn't. To see her then, looking at me but a short distance away took all my willpower to stay where I was. "Alex do you…do you recognise me?" she pleaded, eyes wide and watery. "It's me, it's-" "Cadance," I whispered, my voice carrying within the large cave. "Of course I recognise you, I love you." "Alex…" she moved ever closer but stopped at Nightmare's snarl, the dark mare eyeing her dangerously as she shuffled. Not that it seemed enough to make her stop, Cadance just looked at her pityingly and then to me, warmly, with love I'd almost forgotten "Alex honey, can you come over here please." Willpower all but evaporating, I took a step forward...but then stopped, Nightmare's revelations too heavy to ignore…even for her. "I can't Cadey," I refuse gently, wincing at the way her eyes flashed with hurt. "But why?" she pleaded breathily, looking back between Nightmare and I before the hurt turned to realization. "No, Alex whatever she's told you are clouded by her feelings for Celestia, your mother! Whatever she's said don't believe it!" I shook my head and glanced between the three alicorn's, my heart pounding as they looked at me intently. "I don't know what to believe anymore," I mumbled sadly. "Then believe in me," Cadance asked gently, shuffling but a touch closer, coming dangerously close to Nightmare's wings. "Believe that I love you and would never lie to you." The complete sincerity of her words actually made me move closer, the revelations of Nightmare being rethought with heavy doubt as I did so. And then there was laughter from the dark mare, laughter as she looked at Cadance incredulously. "Oh no my dear, let us not speak falsehoods around our beloved Alex," she giggled, her tone mocking the name. "Because we both know you're not entirely truthful with him all the time, don't we?" Cadance looked at the chuckling mare with a fury I'd never seen on her before, ever. And yet after but a few moments it turned pitying, as if sad for the mare she looked at. "I'm sorry Princess Luna, but he's not who you want him to be," she said softly. "Try to understand that the one you love isn't him. Please, I can help you, but Alex and I are mated and we love each other. Please don't deny us that." To my surprise Nightmare didn't scoff or snarl at Cadance's request, in fact she actually looked as though she was going to accept it. She glanced at my marefriend and sighed unhappily, her ears drooping. "Luna please," Celestia implored, walking fearlessly over to her sister before stopping at an arms distance. "I'm so sorry for what I did to you and Xander. Nothing I ever do can make up for the monster I was back then, but my son is not him. Just let him go and we can be a family again, please." Nightmare looked at my mother right in the eyes for what felt like a millennium, her eyes never blinking, never wavering as she stared and…relaxed her stance and breathed outwards, her form glowing a bright white before shrinking rapidly, forcing me to close my eyes. When I opened them a few moments later, a fully grown Princess Luna stood before us all, staring at the ground with her eyes closed, silent. … And let loose a horrible, keening wail as her knees buckled and she began to fall. Mom instantly moved forwards and caught her, pulling her sister into an embrace and shielding her from the world with hooves and wings. Horrible sobs escaped the lunar mare, the parts of her I could see shaking terribly as my mother soothed and rocked her gently. "I'm sorry Luna, I'm so, so sorry. Please forgive me for what I did," Mom had tears of her own streaming down her cheeks as she begged. "I was cruel and jealous, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" I was unable to hear what Night-um Luna said as I was suddenly turned around and embraced tightly by the mare I loved so dearly. Cold drops were falling onto my skin as her body shook with both happiness and sadness. "I missed you so much Alex," Cadance said softly, hiccupping as she swallowed and sniffled. "Please forgive me for putting that darkness in you." She pulled back and looked at me pleadingly, eyes wide and shining with tears as her lower lip trembled. "You didn't know that you had that inside of you to begin with Cadey. There's nothing to forgive," I soothed, reaching out and touching her face for the first time in more than I could remember. Being forgiven for something she couldn't have helped was apparently something my poor mare had dearly needed to hear, for the moment I did 'forgive' her she moved forward and kissed me with a passion I'd almost forgotten. I returned it as best I could but simply couldn't keep up in the state I was, and as if sensing this she slowed down and stopped, before nibbling my lower lip and giggling nigh hysterically. "I couldn't feel it before," she whispered, though I think more to herself than me. "Your love for me, I can feel it now…" Overcome with emotion, she put her head on my left shoulder and nuzzled the side of my head devotedly. As she did so I glanced over at the two sisters and instantly noticed Luna staring right at me, her own shoulder being nuzzled by mom happily. I was lost on anything to say…until her iris's thinned and she winked secretively, a kind of cruelty in her smile as she looked back at my mother. Was she just…acting? "Come Luna," the melodious, joyful tone in mom's voice brought me out of my thoughts and Cadance out of her nuzzling, herself flapping her wings twice before landing on the ground and wrapping her tail around my right leg. "Let us go home and-" "Be a family?" Luna's quiet, almost tortured voice interrupted, a shy smile on her face as she nuzzled her older sister. "I…I think I'd like that big sister. I'm really tired." Simply being called that was enough for mom's eyes to shine with tears, though it was dwarfed by the wide smile on her face. "It's okay, we can sleep together until I can organize a room for you," mom assured gently, nuzzling Luna as she yawned. "Okay," Luna whispered, leaning against her. "Let's go home." Mom smiled even wider and then looked at me, mouthing silently that she would speak with me later. In my stupor all I could think to do was nod and follow. Because between everything that had happened, that been told and revealed. Between the torture of Luna's insanity, and the supposed manipulations of a mare I loved like a mother. Between the hatred of a mare to her sister and then the sudden forgiveness…an act? I was honestly frightened of what was to come. To Be Continued
