Luna's Secret World Redux

Luna’s Secret World

Chapter 7

Awakened and Awakening

By: Azurekaryu

Edited by: Tripy988 and Flameswordedlink

August 29, 1008 PN

Her body shook as her eyelids parted, dispelling the darkness that filled her dreamless sleep.

“Twilight!” The voice was no louder than a whisper, familiar and soft, “Twilight, I pray you wake, we must speak while others cannot listen.”

“Luna?” Twilight mumbled groggily, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. She lay upon a very comfortable surface, light cloth and blankets covering the majority of her body.

“Shh! We mustn't awake the guards.”

Guards? Twilight quickly remembered where she had been, and shot up in the bed quickly, blowing the sheets completely off of her. She quickly spun her head around and tried to gather information.

Twilight could tell it was night, but she could see fairly well. The walls around her were built of stone, a single window next to her bed and the size of her bedroom in the library, this place seemed like something a princess would be stuck inside of in a fairy tale.

“Where are we?” Twilight turned to Luna who sat just right of the bed. Her eye, it’s normal, and her mane too

“We are in the city I told you of, they call it Teren Pace, apparently this is one of the major cities on the edge of one of the major empires on the continent. They are trying to unite the people, and stop the wars.”

Remembering the battle before she passed out, she remembered the group of ponies running toward her and Luna, “Did they bring us here after the fight?”

“Yes they did. They…” Luna paused, looking down as if she had something horrible to tell her.

Worried, Twilight spoke up, “Luna?” She shifted closer to the princess, who was completely naked except for the natural coat her fur provided, and rested a hoof on her shoulder, “Is something wrong? You can tell me anything?”

Luna smiled, “No, Twilight, I’m sorry. Nothing is wrong, but the ponies were terrified of you. When I woke yesterday, you were in chains deep below the city surface. I was able to convince them to let you out.”

Twilight noticed Luna’s cuts were healing rather quick. They had closed a little bit more than previously, and what had already healed had left scars. The smallest cut, the one on her muzzle, was already completely gone. It was replaced by a tissue lighter than her fur that stood out considerably.

“I was in chains? Why?” Twilight was surprised, but she didn’t remember anything past the attack.

“You had used magic they had never even dreamed of, Twilight. When they found you, they said you looked like a ‘pony straight from a nightmare’.”

Twilight rose an eyebrow in question, “Did I really look that bad?”

Luna laughed and Twilight chuckled a little bit after, lightening the mood a little bit, “No, Twilight, you don’t ever look bad my dear, but you should see yourself right now. They do have a valid reason to feel the way they do about you...”

The purple mare blushed, “What do you mean? Is something wrong with me?”

“No, it is just a side effect of your magics mixing together. While it isn’t a normal part of life that most ponies go through, it is not dangerous. Here.”

Twilight was very confused. Magics? Two? Multiple? Mixing together? What does she mean? A bending of light constructed a mirror out of thin air, appearing directly in front of Luna and allowing the mare to look at herself. Twilight removed herself from the bed and stood on the hard stone floor to get a better look at herself.

Her eyes widened and jaw dropped open a little when she saw herself. My... my eyes! They were a brighter pink, similar to the color of her coat, instead of the normal purple. The biggest change was the shape of her pupil. It wasn’t entirely slitted like Luna’s was, but it was much more narrow than normal. Another shock was the large gash on her left cheek that was glowing a dark blue with tiny specks of purple. That wasn’t the only one however. Many of them covered her body, the most notable one was a large wound on her right foreleg near the hoof, covering three or four inches vertically. Another one was on her shoulder, and another on her left flank just above her cutie mark.

The weirdest thing was that she could feel none of them. Nothing, the wounds were not sore. She slowly lifted a hoof to the one on her cheek, and as she made contact she hissed as the magic covered wound burned her hoof and the sensation continued through her leg before dissipating at the knee. An identical burn also consumed the wound.

“Luna. What’s wrong with me? What’s happening? Be honest with me.” Twilight was serious now, very worried for her own well being. What is this?

The pseudo mirror disappeared and the light returned to normal, and Luna had a sad look on her face, a drastic difference compared to the lighthearted smile she wore earlier, “Twilight. This is my doing, and I’m so sorry for what I had to put you through, and what you are going to have to bear with in the near future and for the rest of your life. I wish there was another thing I could do, but I had no choice.”

Confusion filled Twilight's mind as she recalled having a conversation similar to this before, but then Luna had failed to elaborate further. The princess away from home wouldn’t be able to dodge the question this time though, “Luna, no more jumping away from this. No matter what you have done, I will not be angry at you, but I need to know. This is important I can tell. What are these marks? What happened to my eyes?” Twilight tried to channel magic just as a test, and as she expected it was very difficult to even illuminate the shaded room, “And why the hell is it so hard to use my magic!”

Luna still had the sad, serious look on her face, “Alright Twilight. When we were attacked by the group of ponies in the forest, I was forced to do something that is now completely forbidden and censored in modern Equestria. I had no other option, and I know I can never ask you to forgive me.” A tear was shed, silently it made its way down Luna’s cheek. What I have done to you my dear is something I will never forgive myself for.

Twilight wiped the tear off of her opposites cheek, and pulled her into a quick hug, “Luna. It is okay. I will forgive you no matter what, I owe so much to you. But you need to tell me what happened.”

“I... I had to… inject my magic into your body, for lack of a better term.”

Magic injection! I’ve heard of this, it’s been illegal in Equestria for centuries now!

“What is the problem with that Luna?”

“If I were just another normal unicorn there would not be much of a problem, hell even If I were a normal alicorn it wouldn’t be a problem. But I am not, Twilight. I am something much worse. My magic is not wholly my own anymore. It carries remnants of a dark time in my past.”

Twilight caught the gist of what she was saying instantly. Her eyes widened and a scared look appeared on her face.

“My magic is mixed with yours now. It cannot be controlled or contained. It will alter the magic in your well, and reproduction of your normal magic will stop. This does not mean you will be restricted to what I can do, not being able to use light magic for example. Your magic will change mine as much as mine changes yours. You will be powerful. Very powerful.”

Twilight was scared. I... I won’t be me anymore. Magic is everything to a unicorn. Their magic is more important than their blood. The energy of the aether resonated through the mind and heart, each pony’s magic unique to themselves and that was a defining factor in personality. Many ponies were known to go insane when their magic was tampered with.

A little sob escaped Luna as she saw the expression on the mare across from her. What have I done?… It’s all my fault we are in this situation in the first place.

“Twilight… you will not be the same pony, ...but there is a way you can avoid massive personality changes, and there is another problem that my magic brings you…”

Twilight recovered physically. She removed the scared look on her face and replaced it with compassion, although her heart beated much faster than normal and her mind was terrified, “Luna. It’s alright. Please tell me.” Twilight went in for another hug. She had never seen a princess in such anguish. Although her face showed little, her cracked voice and quiet tears let out more than enough information.

“Twilight… My magic is infected. It is infected with another’s magic. A persona that you ponies have come to know as Nightmare Moon. She was something that I created after a series of magical treatments I was subjected to. Another personality. One that I let get the best of me. This thing is much more powerful than myself, and I have learned to control it to my benefit now, which explains the phenomenon you witnessed with my eye and mane, …but you will need to learn to do the same or you might suffer the same fate I did a millennium ago.”

Nightmare Moon... is inside of me? Twilight came to a shocking realization. The voices! That’s what they are!

She tried her best to talk to the mare in her mind, Are you there!? Come out and speak to me? How does this thing work…

When she got no response she shifted gears again, “Luna... how can I destroy her? Can I?”

Luna, still encompassed in the hug, squeezed her counterpart for a split second before releasing her, “No, Twilight. You cannot. But you can control her, and stop her from grasping control of your mind. If you can learn to control the Nightmare it can be a huge asset, it is essentially its own person inside of you and when you let her magic mingle with your own it can become much, much more potent.”

Twilight was still trying to grasp onto the concept of different magic interchanging with her own. Normally when magic mixes the effects are seen within hours... why hasn’t it drastically changed me?

“Luna, why hasn’t this ‘infected’ magic already changed me so much like the recordings of magic treatment show?”

Luna had something to smile about finally and her lips lifted, “I put a curse on you. A curse that does the opposite of the name.”

Twilight tilted her head, “Huh?”

“I’m certain you remember the night that… hm… Well, the night you passed out because of an excruciating pain?” Luna avoided other descriptions, trying to avoid awkwardness. I still can’t believe that almost happened.Luna had mixed feelings, but she didn’t have much time to ponder her thoughts.

“Which one?”

Oh. Right, that happened more than once. Poor filly.

“The night after we were attacked by the ponies.”

“Oh, yes, of course I do. It was my neck, it felt like an inferno just popped up from nothing and spread throughout my body. One of the worst things I’ve ever felt,” Twilight shivered at the memory, she was good at dealing with pain but that was something else.

Twilight’s mind also wandered to the events just before. We have to talk about that. I can’t live with that being the end of something. Twilight was not afraid of what she had done, mainly because of how Luna reacted at the time. She allowed it to happen and it was obvious she knew what Twilight was doing. She must feel the same… right? Even though she didn’t regret the moment, she had doubts.

“That means it worked. I had to use rather unsavory methods, but I was able to create a restricting arcanic seal and place it on your neck. That was also the moment I mixed our magics, and the night that you passed out was the next day. The seal had broke, which was able to greatly restrict the amount of magic that you could make use of, which by proxy, greatly decreases the flow of magic through your head. That is the reason you have felt minimal effects of the infusion. It is only a temporary solution though, and you need to do the rest to secure your mind.”

Suddenly it made sense. That’s why I can’t use magic! That also does explain the lack of personality changes, but I get that voice every now and then… there must be a minimal amount of the infected magic getting through. What else can I do to stop it though?

As if Luna had read her mind, she gave a solution with a very serious look on her face, “Your magic’s probably still have not completely mixed. We should do this now. Locate your aether well and isolate the three different magics you will find, that is, your magic, my magic, and our magic’s mixed together.”

Twilight nodded, closing her eyes and finding the intangible well. She had done this hundreds of times before, it was like second nature to unicorns. Their second heart. It’s… huge!? Twilight’s well had increased in size massively, and although it wasn’t measurable by normal means, it had effectively doubled… no, tripled in size.

The well was a mess. Colors mixed all together, a murky brown the predominant color before separation. In a split second her original magenta colored magic wisped over to the left side of her well, the ethereal substance swishing around like a liquid. The color of the substance got darker, more like a black now. She tried to concentrate.

Pure. Find something pure. Purple, no it’s blue. Lighter blue. Got it! Left... No no no! The other left!

With a great deal of concentration, Twilight was able to move the lighter blue substance away from the murky compound and the other side of her well. With nothing else to mix into it, the compound quickly went from a dark brown to a royal purple, leaving only the already mixed magics behind.

There was a surprisingly small amount of her pure magic left, probably only a fifth of what her well currently possessed. A bead of sweat wet her brow. Now what? I can’t hold this very long!

“Alright, Luna. I’ve done it! It’s a lot harder than I thought!”

Luna quickly moved over to assist Twilight, “It is just as easy as using your magic normally if you get enough practice, but for now sit down, there is no reason to be standing. It is only a waste of energy,” She quickly put a hoof on the small of her back and pushed downwards, eliciting a light blush from Twilight. The unicorn sat down with the assistance of Luna’s hoof and refocused on the task at hand.

“Twilight, I know, this is hard, but you can do it. I need you to locate the magic circle limiting your flow of magic.”

Twilight initiated a search for anything emitting even the slightest trace of magic, and found it in a fairly simple three ring arcane circle, “Found it! What do I do now?” Twilight was trying her best to control her voice, but subtlety had already been thrown to the wind with her previous screams.

“Destroy it, and directly after that I want you to build up all of your magic and channel your magic through your mind. Encompass as much of your brain as possible, this will minimize the effects that my magic will have on your personality. There will of course be slight changes, but nothing major if you can do this.”

Twilight nodded. She took a deep breath, and with a great deal of concentration was able to move only her own magic to the seal. She channeled the pure magenta aether through each of the three rings, starting with the largest outer one and going to the two smaller inner circles, the tiny inscriptions engraved into the rune also lighting up. Hopefully the changes will be for the better then, right?

Her magic pulsed and the seal shattered, and Twilight wasted not a single second channeling the magic through her body. She directed it straight through her chest, leaving a trace of magic behind at her heart and the rest of it enveloped her mind. A tingle followed the mass move of magic and the other two isolated magics raced after it, coursing through her blood everywhere around her body. Her eyes shot open along with her mouth, and the sudden magic shock forced open Twilight’s eyes and a gasp escaped her lips. Her eyes lit an ethereal white, and the bright glow spread from her room into the hallway and forced Luna to cover her eyes with a hoof.

Despite the huge surge of aether coursing through her body, it was a rather calming experience. Her wounds healed immediately, the gashes on her body closing and her bruises repairing themselves and a warm tingling sensation overtook her. I feel so much stronger! Have I always had this much power or did her magic make me that much more powerful?

Twilight lifted a hoof, and she saw a thin blue aura emanating from it, and as she observed her others it was the same. She let it rest and observed the room, but not paying much attention to detail. She felt surreal. Everything around her seemed fake, like she was dreaming. She felt like she was floating, but the phenomenon was not meant to last. Her vision returned to normal and the glow emanating from her hooves dissipated and the surreal feeling left her body.

Twilight smiled and looked at her friend, who had a smile on her face and her eyes wet, “You did it Twilight. You did in seconds what took me years and years to figure out.”

Luna reached toward Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“What did I do exactly?” The mare was still a little bit dizzy from the experience.

“You sealed off your mind to the influence of my magic. If only others could do such a thing this method of treatment would not be forbidden.”

To the mare in the spotlight, the world was spinning, but she was doing everything she could not to pass out. I’ve been unconscious WAY too much, don’t you dare pass out again!

She grabbed Luna’s hoof and pulled herself into the alicorn, squeezing hard. It seems her efforts proved successful, the dizziness stopped prompting her to pull away from the mare. Luna hadn’t let a tear fall, but whatever she was contemplating must have brought back bad emotions. She still wore a smile though, “Luna, what's wrong?”

At the question the alicorn wiped her eyes, “Nothing, I’m just glad that I didn’t mess you up too much. I’m happy you could do that, but we need to worry about the guards now. They probably heard the ruckus.”

Oh yeah. That’s right, we are on a different planet.

“Crap! I forgot about that I’m so sorry!”

“It’s alright Twilight, but I’m going to recommend the translation spell right about now, remember, it’s similar to the language of the magi. Let me do the talking though.”

Twilight nodded in confirmation and sure enough frantic hoofsteps could be heard making their way towards the room. The unicorn mare took a deep breath and channeled magic through her horn. Her eyes flashed a golden yellow as she cast the relatively simple spell.

Wow, it feels so good to have my magic back.

She felt so much stronger. Her energy levels were high too, the restoration of her magic really having beneficial effects on her all around well being.

“Get the door open, quick! That monster is probably-”

The lock clicked as a key turned inside the doorknob and the oakwood door flung open, revealing two gray, extremely masculine stallions wearing red armor with black accents and scary looks on their faces. The one on the left had a lighter shaded coat, while the one on the right was closer to a charred black color. The guard on the left also happened to be the one that spoke up.

“What’s going on here!”

“Sorry sorry, this mare had a bit of a magical incident. It’s all fine, and as you can see her wounds have healed well.” Luna resonated calmness, and the tensed guards loosened up and a stoic look appeared in place of the previous one.

“Very well. I’m glad that you’re doing well miss. Please try and keep the noise down, we wouldn’t want you to wake up the rest of the castle,” The guards had no indication of rank on their armor, but the one speaking gave off an air of experience, “Sefulu Jaeger will be here by tomorrow’s end to speak with you.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course. We will have a guard posted outside your room. If you need anything, ask him,” The guard turned to leave the room, but a sudden illumination made him pause. The dark room and hallway suddenly lit with a faint orange glow, “Huh?” He turned around, and so did the two mares.

Outside the window, a large fiery ball flew at them from above.

What is that?

Twilight was tackled to the ground by Luna, and now the alicorn stood above her with her wings unfurled protectively and a tense look on her face. It wasn’t long before a loud bang deafened all in the room and a blazing heat rushed through the air. Twilight coughed, her ears ringing. She saw flames burning the rug near the window and a massive hole in the stone wall. The bookshelves had fallen over, destroyed and burning. Another shake and bang brought her back to reality where she saw Luna above her with a pained look on her face.

A cough from the mare on top spilled a small amount of blood onto Twilight’s side. Her eyes widened and worry filled but before she had a chance to voice her concern Luna made a demand, “Twilight, get up,” Luna moved herself so she wasn’t restricting the mare from getting up. Her voice was weak, but she moved fluently.

Twilight listened, coughing as she stood. They quickly moved to the door, “Hurry, hurry! We have to get to the inner walls!”

Luna hastened Twilight out of the room, “What’s going on?”

“We are under attack, from whom I’m not sure!”

The guard quickly guided the pair through the halls, the other one nowhere to be found. Twilight coughed more, the dust in the air getting to her. The trio ran through the narrow stone hallways to a set of stairs spiraling down five floors. Shakes and bangs accompanied every other hoof step as more objects impacted the castle.

Ponies ran about the halls, some even going up the stairs towards the damage. Most of them were mares and children, all of the males in armor and preparing to fight. Eventually the three ponies got to the bottom and ran out of the, wide open wooden doors.

“Where is my damn armor?!”

“Somebody call General Couteau!”

“It’s the Solari!”

The trio wrestled their way through the crowd. They passed dozens of stone buildings before reaching one at the end of the street, with barred windows and a metal door. “In here!” The guard paused in front of the door, lifting his hoof. His hoof started giving off a unique grey aura before he slammed it into the door, which went flying open accompanied by a loud bang.

“Hurry, get inside!” The light grey guard ordered, and the two promptly followed, entering the large stone building...

Inside is what Twilight and Luna discover to be an armory with a plethora of weapons. Most of them were hoof guards with a mechanism on the top of them which presumably controlled the two blades on top of each guard. Armor was racked along the left wall and the weapons on the right. The wall in front of them was barren excluding the door that led further into the building.

“This way.”

Bangs could be heard, but the walls muffled the noises considerably. The guard pushed through the door on the opposite side of the wall, leading to a room covered with maps. Luna entered first allowing Twilight a look at the mare’s back. What happened to her!? There were hundreds of tiny red cuts. None of them bled, and nothing was serious. Wait. That’s why she was over me, she was protecting me from the spray of shrapnel.

Twilight followed into the planning room, desks all over the side.

This looks rather like the planning room we have in the basement of the castle.

Twilight had of course seen every room in the Canterlot Castle after getting full security clearance a few years ago. An older stallion sat in the center of the room, ponies frantically working around him, wearing red armor with yellow accents on the side.

“Captain,” The stallion started, “What are our two guests doing here?” His voice was very deep and he was calm despite the chaos around him.

“Sir, I didn’t know what else to do with them. There is no other safe place to take them, and I wasn’t sure if you had something in mind.” Lightning had one hoof near his chest in what seemed to be a show of respect.

“At ease, I’m glad you brought them here actually. You two,” The general turned his attention towards the two mares, “Normally, we wouldn’t let mares fight, but my men have told me the things that you did to those wolves. I want to ask your assistance. I’m sorry that you have not had much time to become acquainted with myself or our people, and that your wounds have not healed, but we are in a bit of a tight spot.”

Why can’t mares fight?

Luna did the talking of course, “What did you have in mind?”

The stallion smiled, “You see, we do not have much of an army here, but we should be able to hold out for perhaps twelve hours. I cannot ask you to fight, but if you are willing to do us a favor, a few hours run to the east is a garrison located with a large enough fighting force to help us out.”

“Who ever said we can’t fight?” Twilight blurted out, somewhat offended.

Luna looked over at her, She’s rather forward about that opinion. “I apologize for the outburst, but she is right, we are capable of fighting. Do you not have any other messengers?”

The stallion raised an eyebrow, “We do, but it seems it would’ve been a bit quicker because of your flying abilities. From what we have seen, you have tremendous fighting capabilities, and if you would rather do that I will not stop you, but I thought you would be cautious to fight alongside those you just met.”

Luna contemplated for a second, “Twilight. What do you want to do?”

The question caught her off guard, she didn’t expect Luna to actually include her in the decision making, assuming that she knew what was best.

“Sorry hehe... I think we should probably deliver the message. He is right, we can get there faster than any of their messengers could by hoof.”

I don’t think I’m ready to fight other ponies seriously too… From what I hear there is no giving up, they will fight to the death and I’m not ready to kill.

What do you mean? You killed those wolves, remember? A voice not belonging to herself entered her mind, a whisper barely audible in the workings of her head.

I didn’t mean to kill them! Who are you and how are you in my head? Were you the one talking to me during the fight?

A few seconds passed, and no response from the mysterious voice, “Alright then, is there something we should know to get the message across?”

“Ah! Yes, there is, one moment.” The stallion lifted his hoof and a deep red aura spread out in all directions, “You will need to provide proof that I sent you. If you would please give me your right foreleg for a moment,” His words were directed at Luna, and she listened without hesitation, “This might burn a little bit, but no harm will be done.”

He held her foreleg in one hoof and pressed the other to her skin. A sizzling sound was heard and coincided with a wince from Luna. The hair had been burnt away in an interesting pattern. Four lines at the bottom spread out to be many branches of a tree.

I know that, what is that from?

“You too, miss, just in case.”

Twilight nodded and raised her foreleg to his hoof, where he grabbed onto it to support it and firmly pressed his hoof to her foreleg. Twilight bit her lip in anticipation of a burning sensation, and it came. She felt her hairs being burned away and very minor injuries forming on her skin, but in the blink of an eye the process was done, and she took some time to inspect the strangely familiar symbol.

“Thank you both for doing this. It is dangerous for my men to leave the city at this point, I imagine they are doing their best to surround and siege us. If you go directly east from here you can’t miss the camp.”

“Of course, you saved us after all.” Luna was still doing most of the talking, and it did only make sense, she at least had an idea of what these ponies are like, but so far it seemed that they weren't much different than the ones back home.

The officer nodded, “Captain, will you please see them out? I would offer you two some protection, but I’m afraid we do not have any armor fitted for your body types.”

“It is quite alright, we have our own.”

With that, the pair followed the guard that originally led them in. They passed through both rooms quickly to the smoke filled air of the outside world. Around them fires blazed, but the blitzkrieg of a siege slowed its pace, the projectiles only impacting once every few minutes now.

“Good luck, you two. Thank you for doing this,” The captain turned back toward the building, presumably to plan defence.

“East is this way, right?” Twilight said, pointing the opposite way of the castle they came from. Less damage had been done to the east side of the town, giving away that the city was either not surrounded or they had just set up positions there.

Luna smiled at Twilight, “That would be correct, but first I think we should don our clothing.”

“I don’t have any armor like you do, unfortunately.”

“That may be true, but the cloak I gave you will offer protection from small projectiles, and I imagine those are the only danger we face exiting the city.”

Luna’s horn lit a vibrant blue and a blinding light forced Twilight’s eyes away, like it did the first time she summoned her armor. The fachium plated armor shone brilliantly on the mare, the silver color a great contrast to the alicorn’s dark blue coat. Her billowing mane flew freely and she bore a content look in her eyes.

Those cuts do add personality to her face, to be honest.

Luna looked to the mare caught staring, and quickly Twilight averted her eyes, her cheeks heating up.

“Are you ready?”

“Um... I don’t know how to summon mine.”

“Oh, right, sorry about that. One moment,” Luna closed her eyes and her horn lit once again, a tear in space opening up just in front of the two. From the aether Luna pulled Twilight’s cloak and weapons, which Twilight quickly donned.

“Alright, I’m ready.”

Luna kneeled down in a jesting manner, “Well then fine princess, shall we be off?”

Twilight giggled and hopped onto Luna’s back. She had gotten rather good at getting on and off of the mare’s back throughout the couple of weeks they had been here. Twilight returned the jest, “Yes, we should get moving, my sweet,” and Luna leapt off of the ground, propelling the pair into the air and leaving the half destroyed city behind them.