"But now I must ask you to come with me," the yellow pony told me.
I nod towards Fluttershy, showing her that I agreed.
She took the lead on the stone road with Angel on her back, covered by her wings to keep him warm. Many confused thoughts were racing trough my head.
'Why wasn't she upset? Upset isn't enough… But, how did she forgive me so quickly? I almost killed her pet, and I almost killed her! She said something about the Everfree Forest, and a princess... Celestia? Was she the leader or something? And what is that maisma?'
While I was sunk in my own thoughts, I barely realized that we were getting closer to the forest. I froze up. Was she mad or something? I had no intention of going through those moments of despair and fear again. I could still remember that voice. I stood there, feeling like I was being turned to stone.
After a while, she realized that she left me behind. She turned towards me and gave me a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry; my house is only near the Everfree Forest. Trust me, I won't lead you back in there."
Her voice melted away the feeling of being frozen. I followed her in her house.
After she closed the door behind me, she lowered her body, allowing Angel to get on the ground. He looked happy to be there.
At that moment, I realized that her tree house was filled with animals such as rabbits, squirrels, birds, mice, and many other animals.
"This is very nice!" I told her.
But I received no answer. She was too busy, as she began feeding all the animals.
During that time, my head was filled yet again with questions I couldn't find an answer to. I went to the nearest window to think. Unfortunately, the window was facing that forest.
'The maisma… What was that? And… Why was that voice that told me to kill so familiar?'
"Good, now, let's get back to you mister." I heard Fluttershy's voice behind me, bringing me back to reality.
Her voice saved me from my dark thoughts. I turned around to face her, only to notice that she was very angry.
"What were you doing there?! No pony is supposed to go there. It's dangerous for mature ponies, but for a young colt such as you? Have you lost your mind?!" she yelled.
"I'm sorry, but I didn't know…" I tried to defend myself.
"How is that even possible? This is one of the most important rules! Everypony knows them!"
"But… but…"
"But what?" she said with the same authoritarian tone.
"I'm not from around here. I'm new here, if I can say so…" I replied a little afraid of her.
"What do you mean?" the yellow pony asked me, finally softrening to better understand what I was saying.
"Well…It's a long story." Thus, I started to tell her everything I could remember, from the day when I woke up in that pit wounded, to this very moment. She was very surprised, but listened intently to every detail of the story. After I was finished, she apologized sincerely.
"I-I-I'm sorry for yelling at you… I didn't know that," she stuttered.
"It's no problem," I smiled broadly, reassuring her.
She sighed in relief. She wasn't angry anymore, a gentle smile curling up her lips.
"Maybe tomorrow I can talk to Twilight to help you."
"Twilight? Who is this Twilight you're talking about?" I asked her confused.
"Silly me. She is Princess Celestia's personal student and the bearer of the Element of Magic. She is a very good friend of mine."
At that moment, I was sure that Fluttershy will give her best to help me.
After a while, we realized that it was getting dark and, no matter how hard I tried to hide my yawn, Fluttershy noticed it immediately, letting out a soft giggle.
"You must be very tired after all you've been through. Let me prepare you a bed to sleep for the night."
Immediately, she threw all the objects from a hammock, leaving space for me to sleep.
I jumped in it while she searched for a blanked for me. It didn't take her long to find one, and she brought it over to me in her mouth. After she made sure she covered me well I felt the urge to ask her something:
"Excuse me but… what is this maisma you've been talking about?"
She was shocked. I could see that on her face.
"It would be better if we'd talk about this tomorrow," Fluttershy said.
I caught her off-guard with that question.
"Anyway, it's getting late and you have to rest for tomorrow."
I agreed with her. I was feeling very tired after those long days.
After she made sure I was comfy, she went to her bed to get some sleep too.
"Goodnight mommy!" I said out loud, making sure that she was in bed too.
"Goodnight," I heard her barely speaking.
She was definitely surprised, but she wasn't offended.
Slowly, but surely, I fell asleep.
A moment later, I felt my hooves burning. Immediately, I woke up and I realized I was tied to a wall. As hard as I tried to free myself, it was no use. The ropes were soaked in my own blood. I was terrified when I realized that I struggled so much that I could barely move my hooves.
I tried to relax, to stay cool, so that I won't go mad. I had to think things through.
For a moment, I studied my surroundings. The ground was covered by water. I couldn't tell how deep it was. From the water, some trees were growing. They all looked like they were burned.
But, what was that? In the horizon, I could see something standing on a branch of a tree.
Suddenly, he raised his head.
"Oh, it seems that you woke up. Heh."
He jumped from the tree, landing on the water. He seemed to be walking on water.
As he got closer, I could see him better. He was covered in a white robe, with a lot of cuts. I couldn't see his face because he was looking at the water. His hear was very spiky and messy.
While he was getting closer, I felt despair and fear coming back to me. He was related to the voice that told me to kill.
Was he?
Unfortunately, my body wasn't responding anymore to my commands. It started to twitch uncontrollably. Blood started to flow again, and the fur under the rope was burnt.
"Twitchy twitchy. Struggle as hard as you want, but you're not going to be free until I say so," he said before bursting into an evil laugh.
As he was getting closer, the twitching was intensifying. My hooves weren't moving anymore. I lost too much blood.
"Good, keep feeding me," the creature said.
In my mind I realized that the creature was feeding with my fear and despair. I tried to calm myself. Slowly, but surely, I was twitching less. When I stopped moving, the creature raised its head, looking directly into my eyes.
I could feel his thirst for blood.
"Are you dead yet and I don't know it? Did I tell you that you can stop feeding me?" the creature yelled at me.
His voice was still resonating in my head. It was the same.
"No," I replied to him.
"Oh, you're sure of that? Well, it was already getting boring to play with your mind. You're very weak, and this is no longer amusing."
The creature turned his back on me.
"But now at least I can give you a last gift. After all you've done for me."
The creature threw its white robe, revealing a body covered in wounds. Some of them were very severe because I could see his bones.
That image was terrifying. At that moment I couldn't hold the contents of my stomach inside; it was too much to bear. I threw up, horrified by his wounds.
"You still don't remember me?" The creature asked me very surprised. "Well, that is very upsetting." He started walking in circles in front of me. "Silly me; maybe you will recognize me like this."
In the next moment, the creature twisted its head upside down. A lot of cracks and bone cracks made the creature when he was twisting its head.
I couldn't help myself, feeling my stomach turning once again, emptying itself in the water. The acid burned my tongue. I coughed and spat, retching.
"So, you still don't recognize me."
The creature was even more surprised than before. His mutilated face contorted into a smile.
When he approached me, I could feel the smell of rotting flesh. My stomach was heaving, but there was nothing left to expel.
Without warning, he grabbed my snout. His grip was very strong and I felt like he was going to crush my skull.
"Don't you dare throw up on me!" He yelled.
After I swallowed whatever was left of my own vomit, I realized that his grip was getting lighter.
He retreated his hand, and he turned again his back on me.
"Weak… too weak. While I was dead you got weaker… brother."
'Brother? How is that even possible? He wasn't even a pony. And he looked like he just came from the graveyard.'
"You don't seem to believe me. Maybe I need to… illuminate you!"
In the next second, he trusted his hand through my body, piercing my chest. His hand went through my rib cage like a razor sharp blade.
When his hand pierced my rib cage, I started coughing, as my lungs started filling with blood, making me unable to scream.
"Wow, chill brother! Don't worry; I didn't touch any vital organs. I only destroyed one of your lungs and I broke 2 or 3 ribs." The creature said with a smile on its mutilated face.
"Why… *cough*… are you… *cough*… doing this… *cough*… to me?" I barely spoke, having a hard time breathing with his hand through my ribcage.
"Why not? It's for your own good."
'How is that even possible? What is he going to do to me?'
The creature took some distance between me and him so he could admire its work.
After he studied me, he raised his hand. It was covered in blood and it was holding in its hand a rib.
"Shall we begin?" He asked me ironical.
I was still coughing blood and, as hard as I tried to man up, the pain was too much for me to resist.
"I haven't heard a 'no' so…let's get started."
The creature hardened its grip on the rib and started to draw something on the wall behind me. The smell of the dead flesh and the view of the dead skin barely holding were horrifying.
After a while, he finished drawing on the wall and he retreated from me with small steps, admiring his artwork.
The feeling of terror and despair was swallowing me. I tried to move my head to see what he drew on the wall. All I could see was a big pentagon, inside a circle. The trenches the rib made were filled with blood.
"We can get started."
The creature made a backflip, landing in a crouched position.
In a split second, he charged toward me.
His chaotic sprint stopped right in front of me. He looked into my eyes while raising his hand. He grabbed my skull once again with an immense strength. At that moment I knew it was my end. He was going to crush my head.
Instead of that, his eyes started glowing. I felt like I was being sucked by him. All the strength I had left was sucked out of me. Having nothing left to fight him, I fainted.
After a while I woke up. When I tried to open my eyes, I was blinded by the bright light.
I tried to bring my hoof over my eyes, but instead I had a hand. When my eyes adjusted to the light, I began to study my surroundings as well as myself. I was no longer a pony. I was a human. I realized that memories were coming back to me.
But, I had no time to loose. Someone was getting closer to me. I hid myself behind a thicker oak while two pairs of footsteps were getting louder. I tried to take a peak. It was an adult followed by a young kid.
I recognized both of them. The younger one was… me. I was following my older brother, Zeke.
"Come one brother!" Zeke yelled.
"Can't we take a break?" He said panting.
I remembered that we were on a trip. After three months of begging, our parents have left us to go on a camping trip. But, a weird feeling was creeping on me. Something bad was about to happen. I couldn't remember what, but it was going to be something bad.
"We'll take a break. And you call yourself a basketball player…" Zeke taunted him.
"I'm not lazy… I just… haven't warmed up."
"If you say so" Zeke replied while messing his hair.
"Hey! Leave the hair."
They both laughed. Because I was getting curious, I tried to approach them.
While I was getting closer to them, suddenly a branch cracked under my foot.
I turned to stone. What would happen if two me would meet each other?
But all my worries were in vain. They weren't paying attention to me. They were still laughing.
While I stood behind the tree, I didn't realize that Zeke left me, him, me… it is weird to think about myself at the third person.
I was worried. I looked around me. He was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly I realized that he was behind me walking calm. Why wasn't he surprised? I stood there looking at him.
He continued walking until he went through me. I was like a ghost.
When he went through me, I felt like he transferred his feeling to me. He was happy. He was glad that he finally had some time off from college. I couldn't remember when I've seen him happier.
"Do you want to make a fire?" Zeke asked.
"Was that a question?" The other I asked him.
They gathered some branches in a big pile, and after a meticulous search, Zeke found a lighter.
They both sat happy in front of the fire.
After a while of admiring the fire, they realized that it was getting dark. The fire was going out.
Zeke was afraid of me getting cold. He covered the other me with a blanket, and he went to search for some new branches for the fire.
Unfortunately, I wasn't asleep. He was only pretending. After he realized that Zeke left the camp, he tried to follow him.
All day long I followed both of them, slowly some memories coming back to me.
I was afraid of what was going to happen. I couldn't remember, but my stomach was telling me that something bad was going on.
I knew that they couldn't see me, so I wasn't afraid anymore to stay by their side.
The other I was still following Zeke, but he had no intention to show his brother that he wasn't asleep.
After a long walk, I could finally see Zeke. He was gathering branches in his backpack. I was very proud of him.
Suddenly, he turned to the other me.
I could see on his face a terrified expression.
"Andrew… don't move." Zeke said.
My stomach was growling. I had an unpleasant feeling. He saw me?
"Brother, when I tell you, run." Zeke said, this time his face looking more frightened than before.
The other I wasn't moving. He slowly turned his head to see what was going on. At that moment I thought that the other I was looking straight at me. How was that possible?
But maybe he wasn't looking at me. I turned around. Behind me, there was a big black bear.
I knew I was something like a ghost, but I was still frightened. There was something like a bond between me and the other I. I was feeling whatever he was thinking.
The other me was frozen. He couldn't move.
I turned to look at Zeke. He was trying to reach to something in his backpack.
"Where is it?" Zeke whispered desperate.
In the next moment, I could see a smile on Zeke's face. He found a flare gun.
"Andrew, when I get to three, run as fast as you can." Zeke said pretty confident.
Unfortunately, the other I was too frightened to hear anything. His body was in full panic mode.
While the bear started to get closer, Zeke voice was calling for me.
"One…" He loaded the flare gun. "Two…" He aimed for the bear. "THREE!" He shot straight at the bear.
As the flare flew, the other I ran as fast as he could behind the nearest tree to hide.
The blinded bear was mad. He ran in the direction of the shooter.
Zeke was prepared for him, taking a fighting stance. This remembered me that he was in a wrestling club. But that wouldn't help him and both me and the other I knew that.
The bear charged to my brother. He wasn't afraid.
"Brother!" Both me and the other I yelled.
But it was no use. The bear was pushing him to the edge.
As hard as he tried to fight, it was no use. They were both standing on two feet, pushing each other.
Now, they were standing on the very edge. It was a battle on life and death.
The other I ran from his hiding place to help Zeke.
Unfortunately, the ground under them was crumbling. With tears in his eyes, the other I jumped, hoping to grab his brother's hand to save him.
"BROTHER!" He yelled while trying desperately to save Zeke. Luckily, he succeeded to grab his brother's hand.
"Brother, don't you dare give up on me." He yelled.
"Heh…" Zeke said while spitting some blood. "Twitchy twitchy. I'm proud of you… *cough*… but this is a fight you will have to finish on your own." Zeke barely said.
He closed his eyes, and slowly he let his hand slip.
"No… no… NO!" The other I yelled as he was watching helpless how his brother was dying right in front of him.
When he finally slipped from his grip, he was destroyed. I remembered now. I never felt like that. All the happiness was being drained from me, now being replaced by fear and despair.
All the night, the other I stood on the edge crying and yelling.
After all night long, being unable to cry anymore, he finally made his decision to try to find his brother.
I wasn't able to think straight anymore. I knew this happened in the past, but I felt like this happened at this moment.
The other I took out some equipment from his backpack, he tied a rope around a rock, and he started to escalade the cliff. I followed him without equipment, basing only on my pure talent.
I took a while, but we finally reached the ground.
When the other I packed his equipment back into his backpack, he started calling for his brother.
His search for his brother wasn't too long. He found a blood trail on the ground at a small distance from him.
We followed the trail, until we found him.
He was lying dead on the ground. His skin was thorn, in some parts revealing some of his muscles and even some bones.
I was horrified. The other I started puking from the view. He never expected to see his brother like that.
Because he wasted all his tears, he couldn't cry anymore. He searched his backpack, and he took the white blanket his brother covered him last night. He wrapped him tight and left him there. He couldn't bear to see his brother in that state.
After he left, the light got brighter and brighter until it blinded me. Instinctively I brought my hand in front of my eyes, trying to cover the light. It was no use. I fainted once again.
When I woke up, I was back in my rope prison.
"So, you're awake." The creature said complacent.
Now I recognized him. He was my brother.
"Why… why are you doing this to me?" I asked him between blood coughs.
"Why not?" He replied smiling.
His smile was horrifying. Whenever he was smiling, I could see his teeth and some muscles on his neck.
"But…"
"But what?" Zeke asked surprised.
"You'll never be my brother!" I yelled, spitting him in the face with blood.
After he cleaned his face with some skin that was barely holding to his face he smiled.
"Seems like you still have some guts."
He snapped his fingers, instantly making the ropes untie me.
When I fell on the water, I felt like I was going to be torn apart. The hole in my chest was bleeding once again, revealing some internal organs.
"If you still want to fight, then, let me see you try." He said before bursting into an evil laugh.
I had no chance to fight him. I was barely staying up on three hooves, while placing a hoof on top of the hole he made in my chest.
After he stopped laughing, he suddenly stretched his arm.
Was he going to do now?
From the water, suddenly rose a scythe. It floated into his hand.
After he got a good grip of the scythe, I realized that it was my end.
But, from nowhere, a light appeared on the cloudy sky.
Both I and my brother were blinded by this light.
This wasn't something any of us expected.
From the light, a cyan Pegasus came flying to me with a rope in its mouth.
When it got near me, I could barely see. I couldn't see what it was very well because my vision was getting blurry from the blood loss.
While the Pegasus was tying the rope around my bottom, my brother yelled:
"Why you bitch! I'll kill you for this one!"
After he finished his swearing, he swung his scythe as hard as he could towards the pegasus. It barely dodged the hit.
"O.K., are you ready?" The pegasus asked me.
My strengths left me, so I could barely node towards it in the sense of a yes.
The pegasus grabbed the rope again. Leaping its wings as hard as it could, it dragged me after it.
"You will never escape alive you cunt!" My brother yelled once again.
When I looked under me, I could hardly see Zeke running towards the wall and grabbing the scythe.
With another power throw, he swung the scythe at the pegasus once again.
Its crimson blade was getting closer, and the pegasus had no chance of dodging it.
As fast as the pegasus tried to fly, the scythe was getting closer to deliver to final blow.
When we got close to the light, I could see something like a portal that was leading to a library.
Before we reached the portal, the pegasus threw me with its last strength, trying to get me to safety.
I landed on the wooden floor of the library being surrounded by five other ponies.
I was more worried of the pegasus who saved than the five unknown ponies surrounding me.
I looked back in the portal, seeing the pegasus approaching. It almost reached the portal, when the scythe got closer.
"Watch out!" I yelled after gathering my last strength left.
It didn't listen to me, instead it flew faster.
Before it could reach the portal, the crimson scythe struck her. It cut her left wing.
Being unable to fly anymore, it started to fall.
From reflex, I jumped to the edge of the portal, grabbing its hoof.
"Don't you dare give up on me." I said.
With a strong pull, I got her in the library.
Before a lavender aura closed the portal, I could hear my brother's voice one last time:
"We'll meet again…"
And I fainted.
After a while, I woke up realizing that I was no more in the library, but in a clump of soft grass, in my human form once again. The spring like breeze was completing the majestic landscape. The whisper of the wind blowing through the trees branches was indescribable. Everything was so… innocent.
When I tried to get up, I realized that my arms had been numb while my head was dizzy. My first attempt to get back on my feet was a failure, resulting only in a painful drop. I wasn't fast enough to stop myself, that's the reason why my chest took the hit directly. I could feel shiver of pain through my spine. From reflex, I started coughing blood, staining the emerald grass.
"…don't dare you give up on me!" a voice started to echo in my head. I wasn't going to stay there and feel sorry for myself.
With an incredible effort, I pushed myself on my knees, leaning on my hands. From that position, I began to study the surroundings. I was in a dark forest, whose branches were filtering the light, making the forest have poor illumination.
"Over here!" a voice came from the forest.
"Who goes there? I yelled, knowing that I had no chance to defend myself, but I received no answer. Instead, a merely audible sound was approaching. It was like it was running towards me. The fear
was taking over my body. In this state I stood no chance against a possible threat.
I prepared myself for the worst when I realized that instead of an attacker, two children were running in my direction. As they got closer, I could see their faces better.
They looked familiar, but my lightheadedness was ruining my rationality, so I wasn't able to tell who they were. All I could figure out was that they were chasing each other, and one of them was older than the other one.
Suddenly, a happiness chill ran through my body. They were just playing in the woods, like two good friends. I realized that their joy was making me glad.
Because of his carelessness, the younger kid tripped on a stump. He was running so fast that he flew a long way, landing on his chest. The other child realized how bad the crash was, and ran as fast as he could.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Don't worry… I just scratched my knee. Why do you have to be so protective?"
"Because that's my job as your older brother."
"I know that but… you're making me look like a child!" the younger kid yelled.
"I don't get it? Is there any problem in this? Because as we both know you're young. You're supposed to feel like that."
"Why you…" he tried to argue, but he was stopped by his brother's hand.
"Trust me. Being responsible is a big burden, and at such a fragile age you don't want to grow up too fast. Enjoy your life."
"Zeke… what is wrong with you?" the younger brother exclaimed surprised. "Don't get so emotional from just this minor injury. I'll live."
"I'm very serious. I don't want you to waste your childhood with stuff like this. Let me be the mature one."
"I'm sorry but, I never knew that you felt like that."
"What were you thinking then Andrew? After mom and dad passed away I had to take care of you from when you were still in diapers!"
"Actually they passed away at my 3 years old birthday party." Andrew replied scared.
"I'm sorry if I lost my tempers. It's just…"
"They loved both of us. And I'm truly grateful that you took care of me. It's us against the world. Am I brother?" Andrew asked, with a grin on his face.
"You have this special talent of yours in bringing sense back in the people." Zeke answered.
Now I could finally remember this scene. Zeke took me to our old "playground". This forest was the place where we came every weekend to play. It was very important to us because our parents were joining our every game.
In my mind I could still see my parents joining our game, and acting childish so that they can please us.
It was too much. Too many sad memories came back at once to me. I felt like I took a punch in my chest. I could feel my heart beating faster than ever.
As I stood there, incapable of moving any muscle, I felt a hand on shoulder.
"Hey there." a familiar voice came from behind me. When I peeked behind me, I saw my brother smiling.
"Looks like you reached a crossroad." he told me while moving his hand through my hair. While he stood there, tears began to flow. Instantly, I stood up, despite the pain in my chest.
"It's us against the world. Am I ri..." but he was stopped by my sudden hug. I was too happy to see my brother once again, so I reacted from instinct.
Meanwhile in the library everypony was panicked from the view of Rufus and Rainbow Dash lying on a pool of their own blood.
While Applejack was dragging Rarity and Fluttershy to Twilight's bed because they fainted from the image of the two ponies lying on the floor, Twilight convinced Pinkie Pie to take Spike with her to the Sugarcube Corner.
"Applejack, please make sure that Fluttershy and Rarity are fine after you get them on my bed."
"Ihim," a guttural sound came from the orange pony, telling Twilight that she understood.
"Now, where is that book?" the lavender mare asked while moving back and forth in front of the book shelves.
"Honey… we have two injured friends and you're trying to read?" Applejack exclaimed surprised after dropping both passed out ponies onto the tiny bed.
"You don't understand. I'm searching for a book called "Spells you need to know when you go on your first trip"," Twilight replied.
"No offence sugar cube, but these ponies lost enough blood already and you're planning a trip?" Applejack asked confused.
"No! I remember that there are some basic spells, and somewhere in there is a spell for emergencies such as this one." the lavender pony explained while lighting up her horn, trying to use her magic to
find the book faster. Instantly, a small but thick manual started flying towards Twilight, hitting Applejack in the head, throwing her hat away.
"Ouch!" AJ exclaimed.
"Sorry Applejack for that but I need to find the spell," Twilight explained while researching the book.
"Here it is!" she exclaimed. After Twilight studied the spell, she opened the library's door and sent a red flare from his horn.
"Now what?" the orange earth pony asked.
"Now we wait and hope…" Twilight said while staring at the sky.
After a short time, two white Pegasi who were carrying a white carriage landed in front of the tree house. After they opened the doors of the carriage, one of them brought a stretcher while the other was going to Twilight.
"Excuse me ma'am. Are you the one who summoned us?" the massive white Pegasus asked Twilight.
"Yes. They're inside," Twilight answered him, quite frightened of its imposing stature.
"Fine then. Joe! Bring the stretcher in the tree house." he yelled.
After Joe attached the stretcher to a device on his back, he started walking towards the library. Still afraid, Twilight and Applejack waited outside while the two white Pegasi entered the tree house to retrieve the victims.
As the two mares were exchanging worried looks, the two white ponies were already coming out from the library, dragging Rainbow Dash and Rufus on their stretcher, leaving a blood trail after them.
"Don't worry," one of the white Pegasi said. "We will take them to Canterlot's hospital. There, they will be in good hooves."
"Thank you very much dear sir!" Twilight exclaimed happy to hear that their friends had a chance to survive.
"Although, if you keep chatting Ben, we might lose these two!" Joe exclaimed from the carriage.
Without saying anything, Ben went straight to the carriage, and with Joe's help, they flew away, to Canterlot.
"Great! Now that we solved this problem, we have to take care of our other friends. Applejack, you go and make sure that Fluttershy and Rarity are fine and if they woke up. In the meanwhile, I have to go Sugarcube Corner to check on Pinkie Pie and Spike," the lavender mare explained.
"Understood partner!" Applejack exclaimed.
After they said goodbye to each other, the two mares left on their each direction.
On her way to Sugarcube Corner, in Twilight's head were racing thousands of question which answer she couldn't find.
'What was he doing there? And how did he get there? Fortunately for him, Fluttershy told me of his disappearance only after
a short while. With a teleportation spell I could find him. But still, I never saw that place before. And I haven't told anypony, but I feel very exhausted after using that spell. That only means that that place isn't from Equestria. I must send a letter to Princess Celestia and ask her about thi..." but she was interrupted by the impact with a door.
"What the...?" she asked herself while looking at the object she collided with it. It had been the Sugarcube's Corner door.
The lavender mare tried to knock, but suddenly, a pink pony opened the door, throwing her out of the way.
"Ouch!" Twilight exclaimed, surprised by the sudden event.
"Oh! I'm so very super-duper sorry Twilight! I thought that someone knocked on the door and I wanted to check, but when I wanted to check who was knocking on the door I hit you with the door and the impact threw you away, and when I saw you I was like: "Oh! I'm so very..." but her mouth was covered by Spike's claw.
"I'm sorry Twi. I think she ate too many cupcakes," Spike tried to explain while his face blushed from the awkward situation he was in.
"Don't worry Spike. She is just...Pinkie." Twilight replied with a giggle.
"By the way, Twi. What happened?" Pinkie asked after using her hoof to release her mouth from Spike's claw.
"Well," but Twilight couldn't tell them about the horrifying view, because it was even making her want to throw up. "It's a long story. I will tell you later."
"You're not even going to tell your number one assistant?" Spike asked, while nudging the lavender mare.
"I'm sorry Spike. But a 'no' is a 'no'. After all, you're still a child. You wouldn't understand."
"Why do you always treat me like a child? Spike said disappointed.
Twilight couldn't stand seeing Spike so upset, but she knew that he wouldn't be able to resist. It was an image that even she was trying to forget. But the silence was disrupted when Spike felt his nose twitching as his lungs filled with a magical smoke, prompting him to retch a scroll bearing the royal seal: the usual way of communicating with the princess.
"A letter from Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked surprised.
"Maybe it's a party invitation!" the pink mare said while jumping around Twilight.
"Yeah Twi. Open it!" the purple dragon exclaimed.
"Here it goes," Twilight replied the two eager fellows while unwrapping the official royal seal with her magic. With a little suspicion, the lavender unicorn started reading the letter out loud.
'My dearest student Twilight Sparkle,
I was just told that you were helping a newcomer. I'd like to congratulate you for your kindness personally. Don't forget to bring your friends along.
Your faithful teacher, Princess Celestia"
"Wow Twily, princess Celestia is really proud of you!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Well, she seems to be very proud of me," she replied. But in her mind she knew that there was something behind that letter.
"Spike, we have to go back at the library!"
Spike, seeing Twilight so determined, he followed her without asking any questions.
When the three friends came near the library, they realized that something was wrong. The door was wide opened, and scratchy screams were coming from inside. Panicked, Twilight ran as fast as she could inside the tree house, realizing that the screams were coming from Rarity.
She was standing on the coffee table screaming at Applejack who was trying to get her out of there.
"What happened here?" Twilight asked.
"Well, this crazy pony won't get her hooves dirty by coming on the floor," Applejack said while pointing at Rarity.
"Excuse me if I don't want to ruin my exquisite mane. But the floor is stained with blood," Rarity replied while making a dramatic scene.
"Blood? What blood?" Spike asked frightened. He was already on Twilight's back because of his fear of blood.
"Don't worry Rarity. It's just your imagination," the lavender unicorn tried to explain to her.
"How dare you? It's so obvious that it's there!"
"FINE! If I clean it, will you come down?" Twilight asked annoyed.
"But of course!"
In the next second, Twilight casted a spell to bring a towel, a bucket of water and some soap to her. Using her magic, she cleaned the floor until it was shining.
"This is just marvelous, but, may I?" Rarity asked, receiving only an affirmative nod from Twilight.
Using her magic, she dipped the towel in the water, and she used it, in combination with the soap to brush Applejack.
After she was done, Applejack was as shiny as the floor.
"Marvelous!" Rarity exclaimed.
"As much as I enjoyed watching you two, we must find Fluttershy," Twilight said while getting between Applejack and Rarity.
"Well, she is in the bed, sleeping," Pinkie said while she was jumping in front of the stairs.
When Twilight climbed the stairs, she saw Fluttershy crying in her bed.
"What happened Shy?"
"You don't understand. He-he-he..." but she was interrupted by another burst of tears.
"Don't worry. They're on their way to the Canterlot's hospital. They will be taken care of."
"Oh, thanks Twilight. But I still feel guilty. He called me his..."
"That reminds me!" Twilight said while she remembered why she came here. "We have to go to Canterlot. The princess has requested our presence."
Everypony had been excited about the idea of going back to Canterlot. Even Fluttershy stopped crying.
"Come on everypony! Follow me to the train station."
"Okie Dokie!" Pinkie exclaimed while making a sign to everypony to follow Twilight.
The five ponies started marching as the warm sun shined fiercely in evening setting sky. In the quiet city of Ponyville, the only sound that seemed to break that silence was the noise made by our five pony's hooves against the cobblestone.
As they walked to the station quietly, the silence around them only made Twilight ask herself more questions about the true reason of their summoning.
'What is she hiding from us?' Twilight kept asking herself on and on, until she bumped into a pony.
"I'm sorry," Twilight said to the stranger while trying to get back to her senses.
"Geese Twilight, today you're a complete doofus!" Pinkie Pie said laughing.
"Yes sugar cube. Is there everythin' alright?" Applejack asked the lavender mare, worried.
"Everything is fine Applejack. I am just a little distracted today. That's all," Twilight lied, while looking in
Applejack's eyes.
"I know that whatever is going in there," the orange mare said, pointing with her hoof at Twilight's head, "you're goin' to surpass it."
"Well duh! She's Twilight!" Pinkie Pie said pointing again at Twilight.
"Pinkie, I must say that is not ladylike to point at ponies like that, but you're right," Rarity agreed.
"I'm sorry everypony, but I am just a little distracted. But now let's hurry! We must catch the next train," the lavender mare said while pointing at her turn at the train station, from where a loud whistle came.
The five ponies ran as fast as they could, managing to catch the train by a split second.
Everypony was staying on the left side, chatting and joking, while Twilight was staying in the opposite side, staring at Canterlot's majestic towers. She was lost in her own train of thoughts. Fortunately, Applejack realized that her friend needed somepony by her side.
She came close to the lavender unicorn, and after she put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder, she asked her:
"What's the problem sugarcube?"
"I know I can trust you AJ. It's just... I'm worried," Twilight said.
" 'bout what?"
"Suddenly a letter from Celestia came, congratulating me for a thing that I'm doing every day, and asking me to come with you guys to her palace. Don't you find anything strange here?"
"Well, if ya put it like that..."
"Now you see? I'm worried that the princess is hiding something from us. And I think that she is afraid of something. Otherwise why should she summon us so quickly? And second of all, I'm worried for Fluttershy. I mean, look at her," she said while pointing at the yellow unicorn standing all by herself in the far corner. "Something happened to her. She wanted to tell me something before, but I interrupted her. It might be related to that new pony."
"That colt... I've never seen him before in Ponyville. Maybe he's an outsider?" the orange mare asked clueless.
"No... he didn't seem so. I've never seen a pony like him. But I can't forget those weird marks on his body."
"What marks?"
"You know... the green ones. I think it reminds me of something. But I can't really remember." Twilight said while scratching her head with her hoof.
"Look sugarcube. From what I know, we already have a friend who needs help," Applejack said while making a sign with her head to Fluttershy.
"You're right. Now, let's cheer Fluttershy up!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Did somepony say... CHEER UP?" Pinkie Pie asked with a wide smile on her face.
"No Pinkie! Fluttershy is upset and she is staying all by herself. We don't want to scare her," Twilight explained to the pink pony.
"Okie dokie!"
While Fluttershy was staying alone in a corner of the compartment crying and sobbing, Rarity Applejack, Twilight and Pinkie Pie were preparing a plan to cheer up the yellow Pegasus. After they finished their plan, they surrounded Fluttershy. The yellow clueless pony was trying to cover
her eyes so her friends won't see her like that. In the next second, her friends came near her, hugging her.
"Group hug!" Pinkie yelled.
Now that Fluttershy was surrounded by her friends, she stopped crying.
Unfortunately, the happiness moment only lasted a few seconds, because the train suddenly stopped. The sudden break through the happy group on the ground.
"You look very silly!" Pinkie said while looking at all the ponies on the ground, making everpony laugh.
"Come on! We arrived," Twilight said while cleaning her lavender fur with her hooves.
After they came out from the train, they realized that they were staying once again in the face of the royal palace. On the edge of the cobblestone road, guards were staying proud, doing their duty.
As the ponies continued walking, they realized that the number of guards was bigger than the last time they came, only worrying Twilight more.
After they climbed the staircase to the castle, they entered a marble paved room, with royal decorations hanging from every white stone pillar, and with magnificent pictures hanging on the walls. They were close to princess Celestia's chamber.
When they got near the massive oak doors, two royal guards blocked their way with their spears.
"Excuse me sirs, but princess Celestia asked for our presence," Twilight said on a serious tone.
"Let them in," the soft voice of princess Celestia was heard from beyond the door. Instantly, the guards left their weapons away, so they could open the massive wooden doors.
"Leave us alone," princess Celestia ordered the guards after she was sure that everypony was inside.
Without any reply, the guards pulled the doors from the outside, leaving the ponies alone with the alicorn princess.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed, while running to her mentor.
"My dearest student...how are you?" princess Celestia asked Twilight, while she was rubbing her head to the alicorn's soft mane.
"I see that you're still the same Twilight," princess Celestia said with a smile on her face.
"But princess, what is the true reason of this meeting?" Twilight asked while retreating a few steps from her mentor.
"As I can see, you're as perceptive as ever," the princess said worried.
"But princess, then what did you summon us for?" Applejack asked.
"I think that none of you are accustomed to "Night's Dawn"?" Celestia asked them. But Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were clueless.
"How come neither am I aware of this?" Twilight asked her mentor confused.
"I think you deserve to know. In Canterlot's basement there is a secret library, where we keep the most important files and researches. "Night's Dawn" is a prophecy. It's said that when a crimson red Pegasus, with its body covered with emerald green runic symbols will come in Equestria, the true lord of the night will raise once again from its thousand years prison, bringing madness and despair in everypony's
heart," the princess explained.
"The true lord of the night? But haven't we defeated already Nightmare Moon?" Twilight asked in shock.
"Yes you defeated me," princess Luna said after coming from the other chamber.
"What do you mean? How many Nightmare Moons
can there be?" Pinkie asked confused.
"Unfortunately, this is a longer story," princess Celestia said, looking upset.
"This is one of those memories we hoped we would never have to remember," Luna continued.
"You see my little ponies, a thousand years ago, me, Luna and our bother..." but she was interrupted by the gasps of everypony.
"Brother?" Rarity, Applejack,
Fluttershy, Twilight and Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
"Yes, our brother, Alcyone. He was the youngest of us all. We were ruling over Equestria normally, until one day the evil god of death raised. Veradunus was its name. He initially offered us his power of darkness."
"But we refused it," Luna continued. "Thus he threatened us; we told him that we'd never accept his help. Until, he corrupted our little brother."
"It looked like only the presence of this god of darkness would grow the small part madness and despair in weak pony's hearts," Celestia took over. "Tempted by the power, our brother agreed to make a pact. But because we forbid him to ever do that, he fought us with ancient spells, the ancient magic being part of the forbidden magic, and he defeated us both."
"He was too strong for us. Thus, leaving us alone, in the ruins of the old castle, barely breathing," Luna kept saying.
"While we were using our combined powers to heal ourselves, he already started the "Death Ritual". He had to surrender his will, instead, gaining power at a god-like level."
"Unfortunately, we were still too weak to fight with him, so..." but Celestia suddenly stopped there.
"He summoned the power of Veradunus and completed the ritual," Princess Luna said while looking away from everypony. "It was our last chance of saving our brother from losing him.Unfortunately, he was already gone when I finished the ritual. That's the moment when I surrendered my own will to gain more strength and to defeat Alcyone. Becoming Nightmare Moon was our last hope."
"Ever wondered why it's called the Everfree Forest? Ironic isn't it? princess Celestia tried to joke.
"I defeated Lord Alcyone, as he called himself, and imprisoned him in the Dark Forest. But his powers were not completely sealed by the forest, meaning that the madness and despair in that parts of the forest where no coincidence," explained Luna.
"But after a while, Luna began to lose control over herself too. Nightmare Moon was taking over. At that moment, I summoned the Elements of Harmony, giving away my immortality in exchange. With
that power I sealed her in the moon, and from this part, you know the story." princess Celestia concluded.
"So, now you tell me that you have a brother which nopony ever heard of, and he is possessed by an evil god called Veradunus? And off course let me guess, he is trying to get his revenge."
"But of course Twilight Sparkle," Luna said serious. "And we're counting on you not to leave that mysterious pony from the prophecy fall in the hands of Lord Alcyone."
"Then it's no problem because..." but Twilight was brutally interrupted by a grey mail-mare who crashed through a window, falling on her.
"Special delivery!" Derpy said while grabbing a letter from her bag.
"Thank you very much, my dear subject," Luna addressed Derpy, while using her magic to unwrap the letter to read it. When Derpy left the room on the same way she came, trough the broken window, Princess Luna screamed in fear.
"This... this..." she could barely say.
"What happened, Luna?" Celestia asked her sister while approaching her.
"This can't be true..." Luna whispered while leaving the letter fall on the ground.
Celestia, confused, picked the letter with her magic and she started reading it. After a short while, she reacted like Luna did.
"What's wrong?" Twilight asked confused of their reactions.
"Red colt, Pegasus, weird symbols on its body, going up to its neck, and a blue mare, Pegasus, with a rainbow colored mane." Celestia said.
"What's this?" Twilight asked worried about Rainbow Dash.
"This is a report. A hospital carriage was attacked. The bodies of the Pegasi carrying the carriage were found at the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. They have been subjected to some unknown
torture spells. The victims which they were taking to the Canterlot's hospital were nowhere to be found, but their description is..." Celestia said stunned.
"What are we supposed to do?" Twilight asked while the other ponies were panicked.
"Now, we must make sure that the mysterious pony does not end in Lord Alcyone's claws. Second, Twilight, we must have a little chat... in private."
"Applejack, I leave you in charge here with the girls. Please, don't panic. We're going to be back soon," Twilight told Applejack.
"Don't worry Twi, these fillies are in good hooves," Applejack assured Twilight.
"Now, if you're done, please follow me," princess Celestia said while using her magic to create a door on a wall.
Twilight followed her mentor quietly through the door. Luna was a few steps behind Twilight, sealing back the magic door.
"Twilight, now we're going to show you a place unknown to pony kind. I can guarantee you that nopony except for us knows this place," Celestia said while going down the old dusty circle staircase.
After the white alicorn finished her sentence, they continued going down stairs, until they reached a large metal door, covered mostly by spider webs.
"Princess, what is this?" Twilight asked her mentor.
"Twilight, stand back," princess Celestia said.
After Twilight backed up a few steps, princess Celestia's horn lighted up, surrounding the massive steel in a white aura. She used her magic to open the door and reveal another door, as massive as the last
one. Now, Princess Luna used her magic to the massive steel door.
The door opened, revealing a dark lab.
"This, Twilight, is our brother's work," Celestia explained while throwing small fireballs to the torches on the walls, lighting up the room.
Twilight was revealed a lab with many files on the desks and many alchemy sets with different fuzzy potions. The lavender mare entered the lab precautions. She was amazed by all the files covered with hard to read handwriting, and complex formulas.
"Princess, what is this?" Twilight asked.
"My dear student. This is all we could save from our brother's lab. Before we knew that Alcyone was trying to join forces with Veradunus, we suspected him of something, because he would always lock himself in the old castle's lab. He was clever. He would always put a spell on the doors, so we could never catch him. Unfortunately for him, one day, I and Luna used our combined powers to perform an ancient spell. Once we unlocked the first door, the second door wasn't sealed with a spell, so we could open it bare hoofed. We caught him preparing the diagram of death. A blood circle with
a pentagon inside of it. At that moment, Alcyone was preparing the potion he had to drink while performing the Death Ritual."
"But we weren't fast enough to ruin his initialization ritual," Luna continued over Celestia's speech. "He used a spell he once invented to capture us in an orb of dark magic. The orb was sucking our powers, making him stronger."
"He was so inventive. If he could use that special talent of his in a better way," Celestia said with a bitter smile.
"But when he was finishing the ritual, he started screaming in pain, his powers suddenly disappeared, breaking the spell. Once we were free, we tried to go to our brother and help him. But when we got
close to him, from the margins of the circle, suddenly, a black fire raised, blocking our way."
"We tried to stop the fire, but it was a magic fire. We could only look, not being able to do anything, our brother. He was having a seizure. We were frightened and horrified. His twitching body was
after a while motionless. I can still remember that we actually thought that he was dead, until Tia showed me something to be more afraid of. We both watched through the window at the sky. It was covered with big black clouds. A wave of madness and despair came with those clouds. Veradunus was coming. We could feel his dark aura. Alcyone had finished the ritual," Celestia finished her words with a sob of sadness.
"Suddenly, a great orb of light an inside the circle. We were trying to cover our eyes from the blinding light. After the orb disappeared, we realized that the fire was extinguished," Luna said on a
sad tone.
"But... when we tried to find Alcyone, he was nowhere to be found. He disappeared with the orb," Tia said, trying to stop herself from crying.
"We were aware that he's been taken by Veradunus, but we couldn't just leave our brother alone. So I... was so absorbed by the event that I left the madness control me. I entered the circle, I used a spell do extract some blood for my hoof and I painted the diagram. As the blood kept filling the small trenches previously made, I brought the small vessel with a dark green heavy drink; I was starting to realize what I was doing. Unfortunately, my subconscious remembered me that
Veradunus was too powerful for me and Tia. So I drank the potion, and then I can remember that my vision was getting blurry, and I felt like I was being torn apart by an unknown foe. My body kept trembling as I was being tortured. But suddenly the pain disappeared. My inert body was lying inside the circle. I couldn't scream for help. I can still remember that I felt helpless, until I heard a voice inside my head saying: "You're just a pathetic weak pony, daring to call herself a princess. Let me show you how it's done." In an instant, I felt a shredding pain thorn my body. But, it was only the maisma taking control over my body," Luna said while looking at her crying sister.
"Excuse me princess Luna but..." Twilight took a break, trying to formulate the question so that she wouldn't hurt anypony's feelings. "What is the maisma?"
"Well, in old pony tales it's said that Veradunus and Arianrhod were once brother and sister. Their origins are unknown, but the legend says that they ruled over Equestria from a place, now known as the Sacred Temple. But Veradunus was jealous on her sister because she was the goddess of life, while he was the god of death. Everypony was worshiping her sister. He was so angry, that he declared war to his sister. His sister never took him seriously, until he gathered an army of mythological creatures, feared by every living animal and pony. Only then, Arianrhod realized that her brother wasn't joking anymore. She gathered all the troops from the royal army and fought by her army's side in the "Never Ending War". After 50 days and nights, the troops still alive in each army were too tired to fight, so, with Arianrhod's
advice, they sent a letter to the enemy camp asking them if they want to draw the fight. After, Veradunus read the letter to his army and asked them if they would agree, they accepted. At that moment, that Veradunus lost his minds, and he killed his army all by himself. Arianrhod couldn't bear to see her brother killing so many creatures for no reason. She instantly ran to her brother, trying to stop him. Once she arrived there, she realized that Veradunus already slaughtered his army. Unfortunately, Veradunus was still thirsty for blood, his madness carving for his sister's lifeblood. They fought 6 days and 6 nights, until the seventh day, Veradunus was careless, and he was stroke
in the heart by his sister's spear. As she was watching horrified what she has done, she realized that her spear was covered with black blood coming from the motionless body of her brother. Unfortunately, she never made a funeral for her brother, because he disappeared in thin air, leaving only a big pound of black blood on the ground. It's said that the blood contained the madness from Veradunus. The blood was called maisma. The maisma would grow the madness and the despair in everypony's heart," Luna explained to Twilight.
"But princess... if he died then... how did he come back to life?" Twilight asked confused.
"It seems that the maisma is actually like, part of him. The maisma hid somewhere for hundreds of years to reincarnate. Veradunus never expected his sister to be that strong. That was his mistake, he underestimated her. But after hundreds of years, when he was fully reincarnated, he came to us," Luna said, finishing with a sob.
Suddenly, a loud scratchy noise came from the throne room. Panicked, the two alicorn sisters, followed by the lavender mare climbed the old circular staircase as fast as they could. Ariving in the room, they realized that Applejack and the other ponies were missing.
They were all silenced by the sudden disappearence of Twilight's friends. As they tried to find some clues, Twilight found a blue feather. When she tried to look above her, she couldn't help herself not to scream.
"Twilight! What happened?" Celestia asked while running to aid her student.
When she arrived by Twilight's side, the lavender mare was crying, pointing with one of her hooves at the wall.
Celestia was in shock.
"We took your friends as they mean everything to you, and because you did this to us too." was written with blood on the wall.
"Tia!" Luna screamed from the other part of the room.
"What happened Luna?" Celestia asked after she arrived by her sister's side.
"Look!" she said while pointing at the two corpses.
In front of the massive oak doors, there were two bodies of princess Celestia's royal guards.
"I think I know who did this," Twilight said after she finally arrived at the murder scene too.
*********************************
Break...
Isn't it annoying when you make an ending in a moment like this?
