Redemption

Dream – present

I sit amidst the darkness, soothed by the tranquil nothingness. Glancing around, I frown slightly as I see a small circle of marble flooring, a light seeming to shine down upon it from nowhere, as dreams are apt to do. I look and on a whim I am standing on the edge of the flooring without bothering to take all the steps between here and there. Looking it over, I silently contemplate my surroundings.

This space does not belong. Something's changed. Focusing, I step forward, my world spinning and reshaping. Trees surround me now, representing some form or part of my psyche and body. I walk down a dirt path for what seems like hours, or minutes. Time still has no meaning, I must be weaker than I thought if I can't keep time moving steadily.

I come to a particular tree, this one seems gnarled and twisted. In place of the branches and leaves you would expect on a tree, it's branches are all vines, going out and wrapping back forming a cocoon of thorns and vines. My mental barriers, erected with Nightmare Storm's help to fight my connection to the Swarm's hive mind.

Walking around it aimlessly, I stop, noticing a sizable gap in the vines where something pushed its way in. Blood still drips from some of the vines, signifying the price the intruder paid for entry. Narrowing my eyes, I reach out to my world, causing the ground to rumble and collapse, great vines erupt from the ground as I focus my thoughts into finding and capturing any intruders. This is my mind, and here, I rule.

Then, I feel it, the imprint of another, and then their struggles. My world shakes before their power, but I persevere, this fight is purely mental, their power has no meaning here. I simply reach out and picture myself and whoever they are ripped out and placed in my sanctuary.

I find myself in the cool embrace of my nothingness, and open my eyes. Looking to the small circle of marble, I see the intruder for the first time. I feel my mouth drop open and almost fall to my knees until I stop, my eyes narrowing and rage curling inside me.

Before me, standing within a prison of light, stands a cruel imitation of my Queen. From the proud spire of a horn, to the beautiful folded wings, with the swirling stars of her mane and tail to complement it all. But where my Queen radiated power and the fury of a torrential storm, this one radiated a muted power, a cold, austere, touch on the cheek. Where my Queen's form was jet black, this one's form was a dark deep blue. Where fangs resided, this one had the flat, even teeth of an herbivore.

I find myself shaking, and rich purple strands of power take form in the darkness, causing it to glow and pulse as I stare at the creature watching me back semi-warily. "How. Dare. You." I snarl, enunciating each word with cold hatred.

"How dare you. I lost my Queen, I will not bear her memory twisted and mocked by some pale imitation drawn up by some errant dream-walker. Lose that form and explain yourself, or get out before I show you the true meaning of pain." I snarl and practically scream at the end.

The creature flinches at first but stands her ground, earning my grudging respect as I reach deep, pulling memories forth, ones bad enough even I don't touch them if I can help it, to 'gift' to the intruder's consciousness. I am confident they will not appreciate the experience. "Nay, hold thy wrath. We are sorry for our presence, but we had to be sure thou would be alright. You've been unconscious for a week now."

I stop, staring at the creature, rage still curling through the darkness around us. "Drop the form, show me your true self," I command coldly.

She shakes her head. "This is our true form, Redemit. We ... I am Princess Luna, Sister of Princess Celestia. I raise the moon, and she raises the Sun," She explains. My rage snaps and disappears as I sense the truth she feels. Instantly, I find us standing in the middle of my glade, trees surrounding us and the moon standing overhead.

I kneel. "Forgive my trespass, Your Majesty, I did not know. I only knew there was another who fulfilled Her functions in this reality, but beyond that, I did not know you would be physically similar." I apologize, wind whispering through the normally still glade at my unease.

I feel a hoof touch my shoulder and glance up to see her sitting next to me with a small smile on her face. "It's alright, I cannot blame you for reacting the way you did. We simply needed to ensure your mental fortitude."

I nod my head, turning my head as I find us both standing at the entrance to a path through my glade. "Indeed, then let us begin?" I turn to her and ask.

She considers the surrounding trees and the underlying concepts behind them and turns to me, her eyes going wide. "How...how did you make this place? I've only seen one other who could do this besides myself," she questions softly.

I sigh softly. "I had a good teacher, Ma'am. She taught me a great many things, including the barriers you had to force your way through to get in here."

She chuckles mirthlessly. "Felt like a thousand spines all tearing my flesh from me," she remarks, staring at me with a certain amount of venom.

I simply grin unrepentantly. "It is my mind, Ma'am. And that's hardly the worst thing you'll find here if you wander without my attention."

She stares at me a moment, her eyes seeming to bore into my soul. Seriously, I feel her lightly touching some of those highly unpleasant memories I conjured ever so slightly with my words. She stops, shaking her head and shedding a solitary tear. "Indeed, we shall not pry further, though we would like to hear more of this 'Nightmare Storm'," she remarks.

I nod. "I assumed as much. I expect once I do wake there will be a debriefing. But in the mean time, lets see how I'm doing." With that, I turn and start striding down the path, watching the trees around me for any signs of wilting or damage. And see some signs I do. Everywhere I look, there's little bits of damage or scars on normally pristine wooden constructs. Taking the time to focus on a few, I feel the damage, but can also clearly feel it slowly rebuilding and repairing itself.

I continue this throughout the grove, Luna at my side, checking many of the trees, and finding most of the 'scars' well on their way to healing. Coming to the last part of the 'forest', I simply ignore the sickly half-collapsed trees in this portion and move on until I notice Luna standing completely still, staring at the underlying concepts, a look of unadulterated horror upon her face.

I sigh and shake my head. Walking back to her, I rest a hand on her shoulder, and send a mental push, breaking her focus and causing her gaze to lock on mine. "Don't dwell on it, I lived, as so many others did not, I'm thankful for what I do have, and the rest . . . well, I survive," I state lightly, continuing to ignore the trees we stand amongst.

She follows me in a daze as I walk out and come back to the center of the glade. "Such darkness," she whispers with a shudder, causing me to spin and step up to her.

"Never fear the darkness inside yourself. Step into it without fear, the only thing you'll find is yourself. And while what you see in there may not make you very proud, in the end, it is part of you, and you should accept it. Embrace it if you can, but accept it if you cannot. Deny it, and you lock away a part of your power, no matter how small. And you may at some point need that power to protect the things you care most about, and that . . . is unacceptable," I declare, my eyes boring into her own.

She stares into my eyes for an endless instant, eyes sparkling in the quiet darkness. I raise a brow at her, causing her to shake her head and cough lightly. Shaking my head, I turn back to the glade, finding myself laid out on my back, arms pillowing my head as I stare up at the night sky.

I hear a shift and glance, seeing her emulating my position, on her back, wings slightly unfurled to her sides as she stares up at the sky, arms crossed over her chest. "You do seem to appreciate the night," she remarks, then starts examining the moon more closely with a confused look.

Glancing up, I see why, and close my eyes for a time, a tear rolling down my cheek. Opening them again, I banish the tear and focus on the moon, removing the shadowy cracks from its surface. Turning my head back to Luna, I look at her questioningly. "You seem very calm with my form. The last time I entertained a dream walker, they spent the first couple of hours demanding I drop the disguise," I remark before she can bring the subject up.

She glances at me with a small chuckle. "We were informed of your 'peculiarities" by our sister, Tia," she remarks, lapsing into a more formal tone of voice with the mention of her co-ruler.

I smile, nodding my head. The sight of which causes her a moment's disquiet, which in turn causes me to snicker. She glares at me, causing me to bite back a laugh. "Alright, before this snowballs too far, we should get going," I state, glancing away as I fight back the feelings of mirth and examine my emotional barriers. They're weakened, I'll have to deal with these problems, but now just isn't the time. Reinforcing them, I turn back to her.

She looks at me a moment. "Just like that? That's all it takes for you?" She asks, in an unfamiliar tone of voice, is that . . . pity?

I look back at her evenly, both of us on our feet and staring at one another as my mood shifts. "I felt nothing for a very long time, while they're nice, I won't let them interfere with my purpose." I state evenly, looking her in the eye.

She tilts her head a moment, then nods in understanding. "Alright, we shall inform our sister of your mental state. Can we expect to see you soon, then?"

I chuckle and shake my head. "Try now, Ma'am. I've already started the process, I'm going to need food, lots of it. Also some protein, my body's pretty beat up, but it'll repair with the right parts."

She nods her head, then tilts it to the side. "Ahhh, any peculiarities to your diet?" to which I sigh, and shake my head.

"No, I don't require emotions to survive. It's not pleasant without them, and most of my reaction times take a hit when I'm low, but I'm not addicted to survive, and I'll be damned before I turn into some kind of soul sucker. I never have reason to use... that part of my abilities. So I should be good for several months with my current levels." I state, curling my lips in disgust as I turn to stare sightlessly through the trees to the corrupted portions of the glade.

She nods solemnly. "That's good. We shall let your caretakers know to get you fed. I cannot promise meat I'm afraid."

I shake my head. "I haven't had much meat in my time, protein tabs, or nuts will suffice in the appropriate amounts." I state with reassuring smile, causing her to shiver slightly, and me to facepalm. "Oookay then, time to go, Your Majesty." I state evenly.

She opens her mouth with an affronted look on her face before she pops out of existence with a slight ripple in the air and I feel the darkness around me reach out to grab me.

Redemit

Coming back to a conscious state, I silently vow to murder whoever turned all the bucking lights on as I feel the light attempting to burn through my eyelids to burrow down my optic nerves in a bright ribbon of pain and general hate. Raising my right hand, I pause and set it back down very gently as I feel something taped to my wrist.

Focusing on the sensation, I ascertain what I think is an I.V. of some sort. This is probably why I don't feel like absolute crud, they must have kept me hydrated and fed to a certain extent. Raising my left hand, I find it unobstructed and use it to cover my face-plate, blocking out much of the painful light. Cracking my eyes open, I feel my retinas narrowing down as I keep my lids mostly shut to reduce the pain. Taking stock, I can still feel myself wrapped in most of my armor, excepting the chest piece, my belt, and most of the other reinforcing plates. Additionally, most of my pouches feel conspicuously empty.

After half a minute, I feel my sensitivity stabilize and open my eyes fully. Pulling my hand off my helmet, I stare around the room. Most of the cursed light seems to be coming from a window in the wall, sunlight, obviously. You'd think I'd be happy to see sunlight after so long without, but this doesn't appear to be the case. Odd.

I look down, assessing my person. Most of my armor has been removed. This was probably done by Celestia, since most of my gear was rather dangerous, not to mention the outright explosive components. I'll have to ask about it later. For the moment though, I seem to be in my under armor and helm. With the chest piece removed, most of my helmet's functions are unresponsive.

Patting various parts of my body, I feel my pulse accelerate as I start taking shallow rapid breaths. My weapons are gone. They took my bucking weapons. Knife – gone, Wire spool – still there, probably never heard of a garrote? What else do I have? No punch-knife, I took that off earlier, I didn't expect this, a failure that may end up costing me.

Casting my eyes about for my weapons, or a decent substitute, I take in the sight of a machine on my right. After I calm down, slightly, I realize it's a heart monitor, several wires lead down under the collar of my shirt to glowing patches stuck on my chest. Fighting the panic attack, I tear the I.V. out, the entry barely bleeding before my hyperactive regeneratives kick in and seal the wound. Reaching a hand down my collar, I rip the patches off and pull them up out of my armor. My chest stings, but I ignore it as I settle my helm's neck mesh more firmly onto the chain-mail under-layer.

The door opens and a white coated earth-pony nurse with a pink mane and tail with a red cross for a cutie mark step in scanning the room with practiced speed, probably because my heart monitor stopped feeding. Seeing me turn my head to look at her, she stops in place and stares at me with more than a little fear. Realizing the situation I'm in, specifically, at the mercy of these ponies, I ruthlessly suppress my combat instincts. After all, the only living human is one that doesn't harm its betters. Taking a moment, I carefully craft a peaceful mask for my facial features and slowly reach up to remove my helmet, suppressing another spike of adrenaline as I put myself in an open position. Deciding to keep my ability to speak hidden for the time being, I pull the helmet off and set it in my lap, then proceed to look at her with a blank expression and my head tilted slightly to one side.

She continues to stand there a moment before moving again, this time back to the door and returning with a cart. Perking up, I stare at the cart as she brings it in, seeing several covered dishes on it. "You hungry, boy?" I hear her ask, turning my gaze back to her, I give a deadpan expression like 'Are you kidding me?'. To which all she does is chuckle, much of her earlier nervousness gone as she pulls a lap table out and sets it in my lap. I pull myself up to a sitting position on the bed, causing her to start and stare at me some more as I give her a blank stare in return. Seriously mare, give me my darn food.

Giving a small huff, I look at the plates on the cart and lick my lips, causing her to shake herself and move towards the cart. "Sorry about that, boy." She states in a tone of voice you use with your slightly rabid pet. I have to hold back an ironic chuckle, if only you knew. Grabbing a plate in her teeth, she transfers it to my lap table. Reaching out, I lift the lid and feel my mouth water at the sight of mixed greens sitting on the plate, thankfully there are no flowers present in this salad. To the side sits a small bowl of pre-shelled nuts and a fork.

Glancing up at her as she pauses in transferring another plate over. I decide to let her move at her own pace for the moment. Grabbing a handful of nuts, I pop a few of them in my mouth, their crunchy dry texture causing a mild grimace as I reach out and grab the fork. Pulling the salad closer, I stab a few leaves of something or other and bring the laden fork to my mouth. Looking back at the nurse in question, I sigh as she sits there, plate sagging slightly as she watches me eat.

I wave a hand at her, causing her to outright boggle at me. I roll my eyes and point at the plate in her mouth, causing her to realize what she's holding and to bring it over slowly. Setting it down tentatively, she continues to stare at me as I focus REALLY hard on not grinning at her. My inner snark is begging for the chance to really blow her mental circuits, but sadly, I suppress the urge. I still remember the last beating I got for 'startling' a pony.

No way about it, I'll have to persuade her to relax. It's not like I don't remember a few tricks I learned out of simple self-preservation, and from experimenting on my handler . . . good times. Continuing to eat with my left hand, I reach out with my right and rub the side of her head and up one ear, causing her to relax and coo a little bit before closing her mouth with a click, a blush adorning her face as she shakes herself. "I'm so sorry, I was only told you were a combat trained human with peculiarities that wouldn't attack any ponies. I wasn't told you were . . . uhhh, intelligent?" She states, continuing to stare at me.

I snicker before I can catch myself, my momentary smile causing a shiver to go down her spine. "Right, yes, okay, let me know if you need anything else," she mutters abashedly, barely sparing a glance at the now dead heart monitor and I.V. no longer in my arm, causing me a minor daww moment at her adorable embarrassment, and a slight nod to my head that she didn't fuss about the medical equipment. I go back to eating my salad with the occasional legume. I think I could get to like this nurse. These nuts on the other hand . . .

She moves to the next patient in the room, pushing the curtain back. I'm met with the sight of Vine laid out on her side. Pausing with my fork halfway to my mouth, I sit up slightly more, muscles telling me in no uncertain terms I'm going to be laying back down soon, and no matter how I might wish it, I am NOT getting up except for direct threats. Glancing at the heart monitor, I watch her heartbeat cycle evenly and relax back into the head of the bed, focusing back onto my food, but keeping one eye on Vine.

Finishing off the first batch of food, I pull the second one forward and remove the lid. I hum happily at the sight of more food in front of me, including a weird wobbly substance that seems to just melt in my mouth. Grabbing a cup, I bring it to my mouth, sipping. I taste water, and drain half the glass, sighing as my body replies to the influx of liquids favorably.

Glancing over at the other bed, I watch as the nurse checks Vine over professionally. I watch her work for awhile as I eat until I try to take another bite of food and realize my utensil is empty. Looking at my plate, I'm rather disappointed to find it empty. I stack the two plates with the garbage on top, and place the lids back on top. I push them to one side and yawn, scooting back down into the bed as my body relaxes, taking me back down to deal with the food appropriately.

Closing my eyes, I drift off to sleep again.

I'm sitting in the space between dreams and consciousness, doing neither one, when I hear a quiet gasp, and open my eyes. Looking at the door, I see the purple Element of Magic. Tensing, I watch her, moving my limbs quietly, preparing for whatever is about to happen.

She's gazing at my helmet, sitting beside my stomach. Her eyes move from there, following my body up until we make eye contact, and she backs up seeing my cat-like irises watching her. Her initial reaction is surprise, quickly followed by curiosity, causing me to groan internally. She's living up to her Element alright, I prepare myself to be bombarded by questions.

She steps further into the room, watching me curiously as I stay still on my back staring at her. "What happened to your eyes?" is her first question.

I shrug, simple enough. "My Queen gave me her blessing when I joined her Night Guard," I reply.

She nods at this statement. Her horn then lights up causing me to raise myself to a seated position hands automatically going for weapons that aren't there right now, my wings unfurling enough to wrap forward around me slightly, ready to shoot out as secondary weapons as needed.

She jumps at my reaction, then starts talking rapidly. "Oh! I'm sorry! Don't worry, I'm just grabbing my quills and a scroll, I'm just taking notes, see?" she asks very quickly, holding up the items in question, and causing me to pause, watching her warily.

I nod, then settle back to the bed with a stifled groan, my muscles are still really sore. All that magic use wasn't doing them any favors. "Alright," I state tersely.

She smiles at me, and pulls a chair over with a leg, probably out of respect to my skittishness, and sits in it as she starts asking questions. Who I am, where I'm from, what it was like.

I answer most of the questions with one or two words, but refuse to divulge further information beyond my name and rank, that I came from my world. And no, I won't tell her about it, in fact, she should drop that subject right now. Seeing the pain in my eyes, she wisely does so, and we move to slightly safer topics. I spend nearly an hour giving her all the tactical information I can on swarmlings, figuring she'd see it put to good use, assuming we missed any.

After awhile I turn and look over at Vine. I smile, just watching her sleep peacefully. Turning back to Twilight, I find my jaw cracking as I yawn. Opening my eyes back up, I look at the clock, seeing the time I shake my head. "Okay Ma'am, I'm afraid I'm going to have to call it a day," I state, laying my head back down on the pillow.

"Oh. Okay," she responds, I can hear the disappointment in her voice, and find myself chuckling at her.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be back tomorrow," I chuckle in a conciliatory tone.

She smiles and nods. "Mind if I bring some friends?" she asks as she's packing her stuff back into her saddle bags.

I nod. "Sure, but not too many, please," I add.

"Okay, I'll only bring a couple," she replies, and then she's gone.

I turn my head back to the ceiling as another yawn racks my body. Closing my eyes, I feel sleep rising up to welcome me back to its depths. With one last glance to assure myself that Vine is alright, I surrender.

Coming up from a deep slumber that left me warm and cozy and never wanting to move again, I open my eyes to again see the same nurse with a cart of food entering the room. Instantly my stomach growls and I sit up, slowly scooting up to a sitting position on the bed as she brings the first tray over. Uncovering it, I find another salad with another helping of nuts, and also what I recognize as one of my protein tabs. Popping it in my mouth, I swallow it and turn my attention to the salad. While it's not meat, I'll make do. I always do . . . forget that, I'm getting meat at some point.

As I'm munching away mock-happily on my salad, I hear a throat clear itself nearby. Glancing up at the nurse, I see her staring at me . . . again. I thought she was over this. I raise an eyebrow as I stare at her. She clears her throat a second time before opening her mouth. "Sooo, uhh, you can talk?"

I snort a couple times suppressing a laugh. "Yes, Ma'am," I reply. She twitches, but otherwise doesn't move. Tough mare, I could really get to like this one.

She nods then pulls an envelope off the cart and carries it to me. I reach out and take it inquisitively. Looking at the envelope, I see a fancy seal, and guess it to be Celestia's as it closely resembles her own cutie mark. Glancing back at the nurse, I furrow my brow. "What is this?" I ask her inquisitively.

She shrugs. "I was told to deliver it to you. Also, I'm not to talk about your . . . uniqueness to anyone else." she replies.

I nod my head. "That makes sense, I guess." I flip the letter over some more before setting it on a side counter near the bed.

She stares at me kinda boggle-eyed. "It's a letter from Princess Celestia! Aren't you going to read it?" she asks in a semi-strangled voice.

I purse my lips and nod my head. "It'd be a really good idea, yes." I reply sensibly.

She stares at me a moment. "Why aren't you then?" she finally breaks down and asks.

I shrug. "Simple, really, I can't read," I snarkily reply.

She sits there a second, then nods. "That's a very good reason," she says. Either she's just as much a snark as I am, or she's serious, either way, I think I like this mare.

I shake my head. "I'm sorry, I don't even know your name, miss?" I say.

She grimaces slightly. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I completely forgot, my name is Redheart, Nurse Redheart." She replies, a cheerful bounce to her speech.

I nod my head. "Redemit, Ma'am. I don't know what title, I'm afraid, so that's all I can give you right now. How's Vine doing, by the way?" I change the subject, looking over at Vine as she continues to sleep peacefully.

She smiles at me. "She's just fine. Her body was very taxed from the magic overload, and we judged it best to keep her in a coma until the magic could work its way out of her soft tissues," she replies.

I tilt my head to the side. "Soft tissues?" I ask, to which she nods her head.

"It basically refers to anything that isn't bone, skin, or organ," she iterates further.

I nod my head, I've seen enough insides I can catch the general gist of what she's saying. "So she's being kept asleep?" I ask, to be sure.

She nods her head, and brings the other plate in. I suppress my aggression, this one's given me no reason to doubt her sincerity, plus they wouldn't harm a pony, would they? I'll just have to wait and see.

I finish eating the salad, and take the cover off the other plate, only to reveal a massive slice of cake. I instantly freeze, my mouth watering as I feel the early onset of a sugar coma just from looking at it.

I hear some giggling, so I glance over at Nurse Redheart, and watch her stare at me with a hoof covering her mouth as she giggles some more. My only response is to shrug, and to spear that cake like its a rowdy swarmling in need of purification. Breaking off a piece and bringing it up on my fork, I examine it a moment before bringing it to my mouth. As I slowly masticate the so-very-sugary confection, I feel my pulse skyrocket as my body prematurely shuts down from the sugar overload I can feel hitting my system.

Finishing my first bite, and moving on to my second, I can't help but hum in pleasure. Nurse Redheart just stands there awhile watching me eat with a smile on her face until I glance over. "You okay there, Ma'am?" I finally break down and ask. She shakes her head and moves to check on Vine Bloom as I finish off the glorious sugar-coma-inducing confection that is cake.

Glancing at her as well, and deciding I want to check her over myself, I sit up, and swing my legs over the edge of the bed. My eyes close as I stretch my arms out to the sides, muscles quivering as I stretch them out fully and pull against myself. Relaxing my arms, I spread my wings next, feeling them expand smoothly, joints popping from the long period at rest beneath my body. Folding them back in, I open my eyes.

To see Nurse Redheart staring at me, mouth hanging open. I blink a few times, then follow her gaze to my wings. Extending one slightly, I feel more than a little saddened to see them colored their natural crystalline brown. Glancing back at her, I chuckle softly. I extend and retract the wing as her gaze follows it a few seconds before she shakes herself and gazes at me, eyes narrowed.

I can only grin impudently, as I bring myself to a standing position, muscles responding slowly, but without a hint of stress or pain. I'm not back up to operational capacity, but my body seems to be over its bout of magical exhaustion. Moving slowly as I assess my situation, I move over to Vine's bed, noting now that I'm up close that it actually looks like a hospital gurney.

"You really shouldn't be out of bed right now, you know," is Nurse Redheart's only response.

"I know, I'll be back in it shortly, but I want to be sure she's okay." I respond, gazing down at Vine as I rest a hand on her shoulder softly. Leaving it there a moment, I give a soft smile. "Glad to see you're okay, Alpha" I whisper, then slowly move backwards, sitting on my bed. I don't feel particularly weak, but I figure taking it easy right at first is warranted as I feel my way into the situation.

Turning to Nurse Redheart, I smile and bow my head. "Thank you for the food and care, Ma'am," I state. She just chuckles.

"I'd do the same for anypony," is her response, causing me to chuckle.

"Ah, but I'm not a pony. So you see, it's ever so much more generous," is my witty retort, I really need to work on that.

She raises a brow at me before shaking her head at my horrid joke and collecting the dishes as she heads out the door.

Putting my legs back onto the bed, I lay back and reach out, grabbing the letter. Bringing it to my face, I consider it awhile, before putting it back on the table beside me. I'll deal with that later. I look around the room, but seeing nothing of immediate interest, I find myself with naught to distract myself.

Sighing, I focus inwards. I picture in my mind solid bulwarks. These massive walls hold back all the things I refuse to contemplate, things that are baying for my attention all the same. I understand the problems with bottling things up, my trainers had screamed it at me enough times, but the pain I feel boiling behind that wall scares me, and there are few things that cause me more than a passing moment's fear. I can die, yes. I am mortal like any other. But this pain won't end, it'll never stop. I could stand in a moonlit field, my queen's energy flowing through my being, and still be able to see nothing but shadows, as my broken heart grows colder and colder.

Feeling like a scared and lost colt, yet I refuse to run. Instead, I lay back, closing my eyes and focusing my will, stepping back from my surroundings as I enter a trance-like state. Standing in my grove, I kneel and raise my head, staring up at the heavens as tears stream down my face. I remember, I love, and I move on. But, oh, does it hurt to leave them behind.

I lose track of time as I retrieve and deal with the memories. Sorting, mourning, and celebrating the achievements of so many that would be forever forgotten on a world now bathed in fire and brimstone.

I feel something happening around me, and rise to the surface of my consciousness. I feel the path the tears I'd shed had taken down my face, and open my eyes with a sigh. I turn my head slightly, seeing a concerned Twilight Sparkle standing by my bed, as well as the Elements of Honesty and Loyalty, both staring at me with expressions of surprise on their faces.

"He's a human!" the blue pegasus exclaims. While I resist the urge to face-palm, Twilight's not quite so restrained.

"Well ah'll be darned. He is." is the orange-maned Element of Honesty's take on the situation. I can only stare at Twilight in bewilderment.

"Didn't you tell them?" is my first question, prompting the other two to freeze up like deer in front of an angry hydra.

She stares at me a moment, a blush darkening her cheeks. "No, we've been told not to discuss you outside this room, or in Celestia or Luna's presence." She's practically mumbling towards the end. I sigh and shake my head.

"Alright, let me get the ball rolling then. Hello, I'm Redemit, I AM a human, yes, but my circumstances are rather unique. If you want more information on that, feel free to ask Celestia or Luna, they'll know what you're cleared for." I say, watching the two Element Bearers relax as time goes by.

"I'm Rainbow Dash! Fastest Pegasus in Equestria!" is Rainbow Dash's way of introduction.

"Ah'm Applejack, ah'm pleased ta meet yah," the Element of Honesty, Applejack, replies.

After that, the three of them seem to be unsure of what to say, fidgeting and glancing around, finally the blue one opens her mouth. "So, how did you move so fast without using your wings?"

"I'm sorry, but that's probably classified, you'll need to ask your Princesses," I give the rote response, rolling my eyes. I had this out with Twilight dang it.

"Why are you here?" is her next question, simple.

"We're refugees," is my response. "We were fighting a war, and we lost."

"Who were y'all fighting?" Applejack pops in.

"When you were out there in the forest, did you see any of the black critters?" I ask, keeping my question as vague as possible.

"Nah, afteh we let you go, Princess Celestia sent us back ta Canterlot." is her response, obviously, they're not being told about the swarmlings, or the killing, buck. How peaceful was this place, anyway? They had some very good special ops ponies, that was for sure. So they did have SOMETHING to fight. But if the Elements were being coddled instead of being hardened soldiers, this world was definitely peaceful.

I sighed, laying back. Peaceful, not having to kill anything, not living in a fortress of storm clouds and stone. I could ... live with that to be honest. Maybe I could find a job somewhere, build a house out in the middle of nowhere, not have to deal with odd neighbors, screaming foals. Yeah, that'd be nice.

"I'm sorry, but I'm still waiting on a debrief, and until such time as I have my orders, I'm really not sure what I can or cannot discuss this with you," I apologize. Twilight looks disappointed, Applejack looks miffed, but they seem willing to accept my response. Dash on the other hand . . .

"Oh come on! You appear out of nowhere with awesome stuff and Nightmare Moon and you expect us to just walk away without any answers?!" She practically screams. In an attempt to not reach out and slap the mare in question (I really think we're gonna get along great), my brain chooses to latch onto one of the things she just said.

"Wait, who's Nightmare Moon?" I ask, the name is similar to my Queen's, yet not.

This causes Twilight to regale me with the story of Luna's jealousy for her sister's veneration, and the resulting war. I find myself sitting back with a silent look of horror and pain on my face as I compare chains of events and realize something. It's the same damn thing! There're variations, yes. My . . . Luna, she manipulated storms as well as the moon, and I'm sure my reality's Celestia had her differences as well, I'm not sure as I never heard much about her.

But Nightmare Storm had been having issues with her sister, and they'd just had an argument. This means she'd been on the path to the same sort of event as Luna. Which means the last encounter she'd ever had with her sister had been laced with jealousy and hatred. And then, by some twisted act of fate, she got her wish. Our Celestia was out of the picture, leaving 'Luna' to rule, alone, with her people so desperately looking to her for protection and guidance. Oh dear, dear, Nightmare Storm, words alone cannot describe my pain on your behalf.

The sudden silence in the room draws my attention. Glancing around, I see the three of them staring at me worriedly. Taking stock, I feel tears streaming down my face, my mental barricades are broken, and I feel painful memories surging forward. All the comrades I'd lost, even the ones who frankly hated my guts for what I was. All the others we'd fought and bled to save, all for naught.

Raising my hands ever so slowly to my face, I did the only thing I could do. I buried my face in my hands, and wept.

I don't know how much time passed, I'm not really sure what exactly happened during that time period. All I can really remember is all the pain and sorrow, the three Elements stayed with me awhile, before Applejack had to get back to her farm to take care of a younger sibling. This caused Twilight to remember somepony by the name of 'Spike'. Interesting name by the way, I'd just like to point that out in a land of sunshine and smiles, that name really doesn't seem appropriate, but I digress.

This eventually left me alone with the Blue Wonder. After my tears had stopped, and my stressed muscles had unclenched from the crying I'd done, we ended up just laying back on my bed, just talking. I knew I was breaking rules and probably protocol, but I didn't care. I was hurting, and I needed something to take the edge off the pain.

She'd just explained finished telling me about her juvenile years in school, where she'd picked up the very justified nickname of Rainbow Crash. Admittedly, I liked the implications, anyone tough enough to take that many hits but still stand back up and prove him or herself worthy was definitely alright in my experience.

After I explained this to her, she seemed rather taken by the thought, but ended up asking me about my foal-hood, to which I could only reply. "I don't remember much, I know a few places and people, but I don't remember much until I was about 9 years old, when I was out with my pack doing some recon in force while our handlers waited at the drop point."

She stared at me funny after that. I just shook my head. "No, I wasn't always . . . like this. I was your regular garden variety human for the first three quarters of my life." I state calmly. Watching her bemused expression.

"So something happened to you that turned you into . . . whatever it is you are?" is her next question.

"That's right, but as for what did it, I'm still waiting for word from your princesses on what I'm allowed to tell you. Oh! Speaking of word from your Princesses, can I trust you to hold a secret?" I ask her as I start looking around for the letter.

Dash grins at me, thinking I'm about to tell her something about my life she'll find really interesting, I assume. "Course I can!" she boasts.

I just grin at her, to her credit, she doesn't even flinch at the sight of my teeth anymore. "That's great, because I apparently forgot to share a little secret with my superiors. You see, I can't read."

Dash just stares at me, open-mouthed, until I gently chuck her chin with a loose fist, causing her mouth to close with a click. "You can't read? How can you not read? How can somepony that single-hoofedly kills hundreds of nasty insects not possible know how to read?" she sputters.

I open my mouth, then close it, looking to the side as an all too familiar burn starts on my own cheeks. Finally, after an agonizing period of time, I finally find my voice again. "Well, it might have something to do with the fact that I'm about three to four and a half years old subjectively? I was trained to break things, Ma'am. You need something destroyed, possibly in as brutal and messy a manner as possible, I can do it. But we were a little strapped for time to spend sitting down to teach the freak his A.B.C.s," I retort with a familiar hint of venom in my tone.

Rainbow Dash closes her mouth again with another click, prompting me to smile at her, which she thankfully returns, dispelling the mood. I reach out and grab the envelope from the Princess. Pulling it over, I hand it to Rainbow. "I received this, but I have no way to understand it, I'd appreciate it if you'd aid me in this endeavor, and I'd trust you not to make my . . . predicament common knowledge. You know how this could harm my pride and all." I state softly but firmly, looking her in the eyes.

She squirms uncomfortably at the emotionally charged moment, causing me to bust out laughing, which felt REALLY good by the way after all that crying, this in turn causes her to cringe. So she's not really used to my laugh, I can deal with that. I wave my hand at her apologetically. Glancing over at Vine to assure myself she's still breathing and wasn't disturbed, I return my attention to Dash as she uses her hooves to hold the letter and tear it open at the same time, still not sure how they do that.

Opening the letter up, Dash starts reading it, at least, I assume she does, her eyes are tracing something on the paper.

I cough lightly to get her attention. "Care to share, Miss Dash?" I ask in a pleasant tone.

To her credit, Dash blushes lightly before clearing her throat, and starting to read.

Dear Redemit,

First off, let me start by telling you that a 'debriefing' will not be happening in the immediate future. I received quite a bit of information from your Queen, and as such, I've decided I'll spare you the trauma such a process would entail until such time as you've adjusted to the changes taking place in your life. However, I will give a you a few guidelines for your actions here.

First guideline, no killing: I know why you do the things you do. But those reasons don't apply here, and you should be relatively safe. Or as your companion is wont to say: Life is a calculated risk. I believe you know which risks are worth taking.

Second: I haven't discussed what happened in the forest with the Element Bearers yet. You may feel free to, but anything you discuss must happen in a secure location such as your hospital room until you're discharged. After that, Twilight's abode will serve as well.

Third: Your identity, for the moment, we believe it would be best to keep your unique physiology a secret. Most of the population isn't even away of what happened in the forest, and the incident in the city has been passed off as a rogue dragon being dealt with by a mercenary team. So, any time you're not in your room, dealing with Nurse Redheart or the Element Bearers, your helmet needs to stay on. Most of your armor will be returned to you when you've returned for evaluation and placement.

Fourth: Your mobility gear and weapons have been confiscated for now, the underlying theories and enchants are several years ahead of our own, and for the moment, I must insist they remain in a controlled environment. They'll be issued back to you on an as-needed basis.

Fifth: Your rank. We're instating you to the Night Guard after Luna evaluated you, and found you to her liking. Your rank is Private, and we'll discuss your responsibilities when next we meet.

Six: For the moment, you may consider yourself under probation. Your queen trusted you, so I shall as well, but as your monarch, trust is something I cannot afford. So for the time, expect your actions to be under constant surveillance, which brings us to the concepts and artifacts from your world.

Seven: The supplies in your Alpha Site. Most of them have been confiscated and will be analyzed for the aforementioned reasons. We did however catalog some items that were obviously designed for your use, as such, we'll be transferring those article we deem safe to your possession. As an added reward, and to help you get yourself situated, both you and the other survivor, Vine Bloom, will be receiving a salvage bonus on the items we've recovered. It goes without saying that possessing these items is of great worth, but you'll have to make do with the sum of 5000 bits, your half of the salvage reward.

Until we meet again,

Celestia, Princess of the Sun.

At the mention of the monetary reward, Dash's eyes bug out so hard I have to bite back a laugh. She reads the rest of the letter in a breathy tone of voice as I hold my stomach, body shaking with my repressed mirth. "Dude! 5000 Bits!" is her take on the situation.

I shrug. "Not sure what it'll buy in your world, but I'll take your enthusiastic word that it's a lot." I respond, smiling at her.

She shakes her head a moment, doing some math, if I had to guess. "5000 bits is just over a year and a half's pay for a weather manager." She squeaks out, I nod my head thoughtfully.

"Great, so, first things first, don't you DARE tell a soul about this." I wave a finger at her, my eyes narrowed, a grin on my face as I admonish her.

She grins back. "You got it!" She enthusiastically responds, then checks the time, wincing when she sees the lateness of the hour. "Hate to break it off here, dude. But I need my sleep, I got a busy day tomorrow. But you better not go telling your story without me," she warns, handing the latter back to me. She then stands and stretches her wings out.

"Understood, take care, Ma'am." I respond, folding the letter up and placing it under my pillow for safe keeping. I watch her throw herself out the window and fly off. Yawning, I settle further into the bed. Pulling a sheet over myself, I roll onto my stomach to reduce the weight on my wings as I start thinking.

While I wasn't happy with losing all my weaponry, I could see WHY she did it. I wasn't exactly safe to be around, but that was because of my environment. And if I needed time to adapt, then I could . . . grudgingly accept that. But I wasn't happy, to say the least.

The rank kind of rankled if the forces I'd encountered were any indication, but then, I was used to speciesism. Then again . . . it might be more a way to get me on the payroll, than an actual indication of my responsibilities, I'd have to ask, but I knew what I wanted. Freedom, no more chains, no more bars. And if I get to kill something along the way, well, I can live with that.

As for the money, great, it was a pretty pocketful, I'm sure. I didn't know what a weather manager was, but I could guess. From what I could figure though, while it was a decent sum, considering the level of advancement they would acquire from the trove of tomes and other artifacts I'd seen in the treasury. It felt more like a backhand combined with a bone and the promise of more as long as they had my 'cooperation'. I didn't like it (obviously), but I couldn't change it, so I'd just have to swallow my pride, and bow my head, as I'd done so many times before.