The Sins of Our Pasts

Meanwhile, across the universe...

A certain Princess of the Night and Moon woke up from, what she thought was, a nightmare...

The Princess of the Night and Moon got out of her bed and checked the Dreamscape of the world, seeing no nightmares...

... that is, until she saw something else.

In the Dreamscape, there was a nightmare, but this one, unlike the others, was in the shape of a paint blotch, as if someone had splattered paint on a wall...

... but the paint blotch was leaking a strange, purple liquid as the Princess of the Night and Moon looked at it.

The Princess of the Night and Moon shook her head from her mildly surprised state and went to go get her sister, the Princess of the Day.

When she got to her sister's room, she knocked on the door and said, with a female voice, sounding like that of a young adult's, "Tia! You must come and see this!"

The door opened, revealing the Princess of the Night and Moon's sister, Princess Celestia, the Princess of the Day and Sun, before Princess Celestia asked, yawning and groggy, with a more matured female voice, sounding older, "Ugh... what is it, Luna?"

"Tia, come with me, quickly!" The Princess of the Night and Moon, Princess Luna, said, grabbing Celestia's hoof and dragging her sister to her room.

When they got there, Luna opened the Dreamscape once more and showed her sister the weirdly shaped nightmare, catching Celestia's attention quickly.

"Sis... sister, wha... what is this?" Celestia said, fully awake and in awe.

"I do not know, sister... when I saw this, I knew you had to see it... but, what do we do now?" Luna asked.

Celestia narrowed her gaze at the weird nightmare, before she said "Sister, open the nightmare up... I want to see the nightmares of whoever or whatever is dreaming at the moment."

Luna nodded and opened the nightmare up, both Celestia and Luna expecting a typical bad dream...

... they were not expecting what they saw instead, however.

They saw a battle between two, bipedal beings, both beings wearing what looked to be armor, but the armor that the two wore looked more... unnatural... than normal armor.

They then noticed that one of the beings was darker than the other, with a malicious grin on the dark being's face, as the dark being held a katana, with the blade being darker than it should, as if it were made out of tungsten.

The dark being laughed darkly, the malicious grin always present on it's face, it's two, mismatched eyes staring down at the lighter being, looking like the dark being, but more... natural- with no sort of dark presence on it.

The lighter being was bleeding a mysterious liquid, the color of the liquid being a mix of two different shades of purple, as the dark being then spoke, with a deep, demonic voice, "Well well well... lookie here... it seems as though you're having a bit of trouble there, Octavious... what's wrong? Too tired to fight anymore!?"

The light being didn't speak, as the dark being continued to speak "Such a pathetic being, you are... I can't even believe you are the most powerful being to ever exist on the planet... no... I can't even believe that you are the Legendary Octarian GENERAL!"

The dark being then kicked the light being away, making Luna gasp internally... what kind of monster is this being!?

"You are a weakling! A failure! A fool!" The dark being said, walking over to the light being, it's katana in hand, before it stood over the light being, ready to plunge the blade into the light being, as it then said "... a mistake.", venom in it's voice.

Luna growled, surprising Celestia, before Luna entered the Nightmare and blasted a bolt of magic at the dark being, sending the dark being a couple feet away, into a wall.

The dark being growled and slowly got up, before it said "WHO DARES TO HURT ME!?"

Luna didn't answer verbally, instead, she blasted the dark being again, aiming towards it's head...

... The bolt of magic decapitated the dark being, making it fall down onto its knees before landing completely onto the ground with a small "thud".

Luna then trotted over to the light being and said "My friend, it is alright... The nightmare is gone.", as the area changed to a bright, beautiful area, the moon shining brightly and beautifully.

The light being groaned in pain, before it slowly got up, falling down a couple times, before it stood, hunched over slightly, as it held its bleeding arm.

The being then looked at Luna and said, with a deep, angelic voice, it's two, mismatched eyes showing, glowing purple slightly, "... T-Thank You..."

Luna smiled and said "Your welcome, my friend.", as she then placed her wing over the light being.

The being gave a heart warming smile and said "M-My name i-is Dr. O-Octavious I-Inkswell."

Luna gave her own heart warming smile and said "My name is Princess Luna... but... how did you end up in my Dreamscape?"

The being shrugged slightly and said "I... I don't know."

Luna frowned slightly and said "My friend, tell me... what happened to you?"

The being whimpered slightly and said "... S-Sit down... I-I'll try to explain."

The being and Luna then sat down, as Celestia watched in silence.

A few hours later.

"So, you say that you are a hybrid between two species- an Inkling and an Octarian..." Luna said.

"Mmhmm." The light being, Octavious, said.

"... who was created to stop a war and bring peace between the two races you were created by..." Luna continued.

"Yep." Octavious said.

"... and after hundreds of years after the events of said war, which ended in a loss to the "Octarians"..." Luna said.

"Mhm." Octavious replied.

"... now, you want to pay for your own crimes against the Inklings and your creators because you betrayed them to join the Octarians... correct?" Luna finished.

"Exactly!" Octavious responded.

The two were silent for a moment, before Luna said "Well, certainly isn't the most weird thing I've ever heard... yet it's oddly the most believable."

This made Octavious look at Luna in curiosity and ask "What kind of stuff do you go through?"

"Oh, the usual... Timberwolves, Manticores, annoying nobles, an annoying nephew that has too big of an ego to deal with, a God of Chaos, shapeshifters that feed off of love and other emotions, a dark Tyrant every once and while, a unicorn that had a bit of a God complex, and finally, a Centaur that's an idiot most of the time." Luna said, casually...

... however, this just made Octavious's jaw drop.

Octavious then shook "his" head from "his" utterly shocked state and said "Well... there's something I also neglected to tell you."

"Hmm? And what would that be?" Luna asked.

"... I'm only half of the being that was having a nightmare just then." Octavious said, scratching the back of "his" head, sheepishly.

"... what?" Luna said, deadpanning...

"Yeah... I'm only the good portion of this being. The other portion is the one you decapitated... although, he wasn't really hurting me all that much. I'm still the strongest portion, mainly because I'm not insane." "He" said.

"... is there anything else I should know that you kept as a secret from me?" Luna asked.

"Well, the Real Dr. Octavious Inkswell, since I'm just half of his being, has two souls in his body, but neither are his. They belong to those that were merged to create him." Octavious said.

"... The more you tell me this, the more I think that the real Octavious needs my help..." Luna said, sighing.

"I was hoping you would help him, actually... in fact, you two seem rather alike." Octavious said, making Luna's head shoot up...

"How so?" She asked.

"While you were talking, I could see various images flashing in your eyes... one about a black-furred demon that wanted to put the land into an eternal night... another about you berating yourself over letting the demon take control of you... and another about you wanting to overcome the demon and control it." Octavious began to explain.

Luna listened in silence as Octavious continued "You wish to make up for your mistakes while the demon took control of you... and even though your friends and family say that you aren't to blame, you still think you are to blame for letting your anger and rage take control."

Luna's eyes slowly began to widen in realization, as Octavious continued to explain "The Real Octavious, against his better judgement, betrayed his creators and joined the Octarians, but even with him on their side, the Octarians lost, and a hundred or so years after the loss, he left the Octarians... only to then realize what he had done half a year later."

"Because of this, he berates himself for his own actions and wants to pay for his own crimes, back during the Great Turf War between the Inklings and the Octarians... but he cannot do it alone." Octavious finished, as Luna was now letting out tears.

She was about to begin sobbing when she felt something embrace her...

... when she looked up, her sister, Celestia, was next to her and embracing Luna with her wing.

She sniffled and said "T-Thank you, Tia."

Celestia smiled warmly at Luna and said "Your welcome, Luna."

Octavious then smiled softly and asked "Now... will you help the Real Dr. Octavious Inkswell... and will you let him help you?"

Luna stayed silent for a moment, before she looked up, tears still in her eyes, but now, she had a fire in her eyes, determined to help him, as she then asked, more serious than she had ever been, "How can I meet him in the Real world, Octavious?"

Octavious smiled happily and said "You must build a portal and use my ink to bring him to your world. My ink can carry over to the Real world, outside of the Real Octavious's mind and the "Dreamscape", so no need to worry about that."

Octavious then got out a test tube and filled it with the purple ink that was leaking from him earlier, before he handed it over to Luna and said "Make sure not to lose it, Luna."

Luna nodded and picked it up with her magic, before saying "Understood."

Octavious then sat up and saluted Luna, who got up and saluted back.

Luna and Celestia then began to exit the Dreamscape and the Real Octavious's mind, only for Octavious to say "Oh, and Luna..."

Luna looked back towards Octavious, before he said, with a serious, yet sincere, look on his face, "Good luck."

Luna nodded and smiled, before she and Celestia exited the Dreamscape and the mind of the Real Octavious, leaving Octavious alone...

... however, the dark being from before that Luna had decapitated slowly stood back up and reattached his head, before the dark being groaned and asked "Argh... Damn that hurt like hell... Octavious, are you sure that this is a good idea?"

Octavious nodded and said "Of course it is, Inkswell... besides, Dr. Octavious Inkswell needs as much help as Princess Luna does."

The dark being, Inkswell, hesitantly nodded in agreement, before he said "So... what now?"

Octavious smiled and said "Isn't it obvious?"

Inkswell then smiled in response, as Octavious snapped his fingers and made a poker table appear, with the two souls that Octavious spoke of appearing with it.

"This'll be fun." Inkswell said, as he and Octavious soon sat down at the poker table.