The Fractured - Farcture-verse

Chapters

Chapter 1B - Search Interrupted (Non-Con Removed)
Chapter 2 - Wake Up
Chapter 3 - Magical World
Chapter 4 - Flying Zoo
Chapter 5 - Broken Misfits
Chapter 7A - What's in a Name? (Contains Non-Con)
Chapter 7B - What's in a Name? (Non-Con Removed)
Chapter 8A - Lost Princess (Contains Non-Con)
Chapter 8B - Lost Princess (Non-Con Removed)
Chapter 9A - Fixation Nature
Chapter 10A - Fruits of Solitude
Chapter 11A - Life Changer
Chapter 12A - Seen, Not Just Heard
Chapter 13A - Repayments
Epilogue A - The Eternals
Chapter 1A - Search Interrupted (Contains Non-Con)
Chapter 6 - Medical Assistance

Chapter 1B - Search Interrupted (Non-Con Removed)

I stood by the window, peering out through the cracked glass. A few drops of rain still clung to the glass from the storm in the night. I squinted as the sun finally decided to peek through the clouds. My left eye twitched and I rubbed it with the back of my hand. It didn’t help. It never helped. Only money could fix it and here I stood, in the dusty office of a long-abandoned smelting plant, without a cent to my name.

My name? Monochrome. I got it from the combination of my skin and hair. Midnight black skin with scruffy, white hair. It wasn’t the name I was born with. I forgot that name long ago; lost to the years of wandering.

It wasn’t a surprise for me to be in this kind of place. It was the sort of building I gravitated toward, especially when I had just arrived in a new town. It was a starting point. A place to centre myself, to scavenge parts to make whatever I could to earn some money. More importantly, it was cheap. That is to say, there was no rent. All so very normal for me. Usually, it wouldn’t concern me. I would be the only mouth to feed and I’d go hungry if needed. But, now, I wasn’t alone. She was here.

I wasn’t looking to be anyone’s hero. I was just investigating something which felt off about the world. Something which felt familiar, even homely. I guess that was what drew me to the girl. She had a, I don’t know, kind of aura about her. I can’t easily explain it. I wish I could. Especially why it felt broken, like a shattered pane of glass. I turned away from the window to find her still sitting where she had since yesterday evening.

She stared across the room with nothing but a graffiti-covered wall to meet her unfocussed gaze. She had interesting hair, I’ll give her that. Purple and mint streaks. Half her hair was roughly held up in what had been a pair of twin tails. The rest of it was mussed with errant strands sticking out all over. Her clothes, similar in colour to her hair, with a little cream thrown in, were dishevelled and torn. How much was from what she had been through or simply the style she favoured was difficult to tell.

Her name… I think she mumbled the word Aria at some point. Even if it wasn’t her name, it at least gave me something to call her by. She was quiet, still very much lost in thought. Not surprising, considering how I had encountered her.

I snarled at the memories then shook my head, attempting to force the thoughts aside. My nose still stung and my growing bruises ached. That was then. Now was something else. Oddly, with the events of three days ago, Aria had not wanted to go to hospital, nor the police. At least, while dishevelled and bruised, she remained clothed. I had interrupted before things could enter darker territory.

The latter didn’t surprise me. Like me, she preferred to be unnoticed by authority. The former, however… All things considered, I still felt like ignoring her refusal. I doubted she was physically all right, especially with her mental state, but it was hard to get her headed anywhere she was adamantly against visiting.

Her only request, not food, nor water. Not even money. It seemed so simple. Find her sisters.

That’s what we’d be doing today, now the rain had stopped.

* * *

“You sure about this?” I asked.

Aria gave a short nod and mumbled just one word. “Yes.”

“Okay.” I was puzzled. Of all the places she could think of, the one where she believed she might find her sisters was right in front of us. I blinked and raised an eyebrow. It was a school. A high school by the sign.

I don’t know why I was surprised. Aria wasn’t exactly an adult in appearance. Nor was I for that matter. Considering I wasn’t very tall I could pass for someone a fraction of my age.

The school itself wasn’t anything unusual to look at. In fact, it could’ve passed for being a school in any part of the state, let alone country. It had taken us a while to walk here so it wasn’t much of a shock to find the day had already started. I heard some cheering in the background and shrugged. It sounded louder than for a normal gym class. Maybe some sports carnival?

I shook my head and made my way up the steps to the front doors. Taking one of the handles, I tried to pull it open. No movement. I gave it a push instead. The door didn’t budge. I heard another cheer go up. With the door refusing to open, I grumbled to myself before turning to face Aria. She was in the last stages of fixing her second twin tail.

I gave a thin smile. At least she wouldn’t look completely like she’d had a run-in with a bear in a dumpster. And, I instantly regretted the thought. It wasn’t her fault how she currently looked. That honour belonged to a man probably trying to lay low from police at the moment. There was another cheer.

“Isn’t this a school day?” I asked.

Aria shrugged. “Think so.”

Wow. Two words together. We were improving.

With her appearance slightly improved, Aria began to look around. Her attention suddenly snapped to the direction of the cheering.

I stepped down to stand beside her. “Any idea where your sisters could be?”

When she didn’t respond, I called her name and looked at her. Her face was scrunched up with concern. The moment I looked in the direction she was staring I knew the reason. At least I could feel the reason. It was like a breeze washing over me. No, not just over my body, through it. Like rippling waves caressing me both inside and out. Yet, there was no wind. Neither our clothes nor hair were fluttering.

The ripples grew rapidly in intensity and frequency, striking through me over and over again. It vaguely reminded me of the feeling which drew me to find Aria in the first place, only this was much more intense. I swear I could taste it. I glanced at Aria. The look of concern on her face told me she felt it as well.

Then the ripples slammed into us. I staggered back from the hit. When I regathered myself, I was greeted with an intense lightshow in the sky. Out of the lightshow, emerged a… Okay, I know I haven’t had anything to eat since lunch yesterday, but did hallucinations of winged, purple female demons count as a symptom of hunger?

Looking to Aria again, I found her glaring at the demon. She then dashed forwards, running toward the demon and the area surrounding it. I shouted at her to stay but she kept going. I gave chase but lost sight of Aria around the end of a set of wooden bleachers. I heard screams and shouts erupting from the stands and felt several pulses of energy, similar to the earlier ripples as they burst around the area.

More screams erupted. I caught sight of Aria. She had stopped dead in her tracks, staring at something in front of her. The ground just beyond her feet was an oddly different colour to the rest of the running track she stood on. People were running everywhere. As I drew near, I could see the demon closer now, her mouth cracked in a nasty sneer. I reached out to grab Aria’s arm. There was another flash of light. I snatched my arm back to shield my eyes but forgot to stop running.

I crashed into the back of someone. Probably Aria. She was the only one in front of me at the time. I opened my mouth to apologise but couldn’t even hear myself as we tumbled toward the ground. I closed my eyes and prepared for impact, one that didn’t immediately happen. We just kept falling, a tangle of limbs. Wherever the ground was, we had to have passed it by now.

Falling. Falling. I could feel the wind pulling at my scruffy hair, even against the rest of my body, as we continued to tumble. The wind was so cold, I swear it was somehow passing straight through my clothes and licking at every inch of my skin. My body flipped over, forcing my face into the wind. Wow! It stung like a million needles. My eyes were watering and I couldn’t even open them to see what was happening. I felt my lungs begin to burn and realised I was gasping for a breath I couldn’t catch.

My mind started to drift. I could still feel the wind, but not the pain. It was like I was drifting off to sleep in a wind tunnel. Whatever was going to happen, I hoped it would be soon as my thoughts began to ease. Before I could black out, I had one last sense pass through my brain. Where was that ground?

Just as I lost all vision, I glimpsed an intense flash of pale blue light. Then… nothing.

Chapter 2 - Wake Up

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Chapter 3 - Magical World

So, time for a little mental compartmentalisation. Aria and I were no longer at the school. That much was very clear. Where exactly we were was very much up for debate. The sky was grey and we found ourselves in the most unusual of locations. The ground was solid, that was clear from neither of us falling through it. However, that was where its normal state ended, especially when we came to an edge.

Somehow, I wasn’t yet sure of the cause, but Aria and I had landed on the top surface of an island floating in the sky. We found this out in two ways. First, we discovered the edge, which we followed until we reached our starting point. The second was far more obvious. We could see other islands floating all around us. Above, below, across, near or far, it didn’t matter. And yet, those weren’t the strangest things.

We were no longer human. As Aria put it, we were now pastel coloured ponies. Well, she was pastel. I was still my monochromatic self. Only now, instead of hair and skin, it was fur and mane… and a tail. And for me, I wasn’t even the same gender. That wasn’t much of a sticking point but it was still rather jarring for my brain. Although, considering every other bit of me which had changed, it didn’t seem so far-fetched. Just… I was used to being male. I guess you could consider it a norm for me. Being a mare was different, besides the obvious pony bits.

By the night, my brain was a mess!

Trembling in annoyance, Aria glared over her shoulder at me and growled, “Would you knock it off?!”

I stopped slowly turning on the spot, trying to continue my physical investigations, and grinned sheepishly.

Aria shook her head, turned her attention back to our surroundings and muttered, “Nitwit.”

“Sorry,” I sheepishly apologised. I couldn’t help it. This body was new to me and I was curious about how every part worked.

“Whatever,” Aria murmured. “Now that I have your attention. You ready to help get us moving?”

I blinked at her. “What do you mean?”

Aria clenched her jaw, turned to face me, and thrust a hoof at the nearest island beyond the edge. Even further beyond the island, I could make out a mountainous outcropping with a haze of grey clouds draped around it in the far distance.

Following her direction, I stepped forward to peer out over the edge. There was an island, smaller than the one we found ourselves on. It had a grand total of two trees and what looked like a small pond of water between them. It was definitely more than here with its patches of long grass amongst the barren dirt.

I looked back to Aria. “So…”

“Ready?”

I arched an eyebrow. “Really? You did notice that big space between here and there, right?”

Aria rolled her eyes, moved close and tapped me in the chest as she spoke. “You. Have. Wings.”

I stared at her flatly. “That I don’t know how to use.”

“Then this is your chance.”

I eyed Aria, flicked my gaze back to the other island, then back to her. “And you don’t have wings. I doubt you can jump that far. How do you expect to get us both over the gap? Me carry you?”

Aria didn’t answer. She simply stared at me for several long seconds.

I felt my tail droop and my ears fold back as I cringed with realisation and concern. “You sure you want to try that?”

Aria continued to stare at me. I continued to shrink and squirm under her gaze.

“Okay,” I reluctantly said. “If you want us to plummet to our deaths, you better climb on my back.”

Aria didn’t need to be asked twice. I can’t say she was the greatest of climbers, though. Not that I was able to stand very still as she did her best to drag herself onto my back. I swear her knees and rear hooves found every tender spot in my side then back as she scrambled herself into place.

Once Aria had tried to choke me by wrapping her forelegs around my throat to brace herself and, subsequently, altered her hold to let me breathe, I glanced back at her over my shoulder and asked, “You sure you want to try this?”

I felt a prod to my sides as she squeezed me with her knees. “Get ya wings out already.”

I sighed and mumbled to myself, “Like I know how to do that yet.”

Aria shifted one of her back legs, rubbing at my sides. I shuddered as the movement sent a chill up my spine. Aria gripped me a little tighter and I felt leathery wings whip out from my sides. They snapped into place at full stretch while I still tried to recover from the chill.

“There,” Aria said. “They’re out. Let’s get moving.”

I sighed again and closed my eyes. “Our funeral.”

Not giving her a chance to bite back at my utterance, I snapped my eyes open, peered over my shoulder and started to back up a few paces. If this was anything like using a hang glider, I was going to need some speed. And speed needed room.

Aria gave me a sharp stab to the side with her hoof. “The island’s forward, dingus.”

I rolled my eyes. “You may have instant confidence in my flying abilities, but I’ve never done this as a horse with wings attached to my body before. I don’t exactly want my first day as a pony to be my last even before the sun sets.”

Aria squeezed my neck a little and gave an involuntary shudder. Maybe I had finally got through to her about my lack of confidence in what we were about to do. She leaned in close to one of my ears and hissed at me. “Never say that name to me!”

The venom in her voice sent another chill down my spine. What had I said? Why was she so mad? I can’t remember saying a name.

Doing my best to shake the moment aside, I stopped backing up and took a few seconds to steady myself for what I was about to do. I checked my wings. They were still extended and appeared ready for use. I let out a sharp breath which tapered off into a soft whistle. Come on, Monochrome. What was it people facing tough situations would usually say? No guts, no glory? Seize the day? You only live once?

It was time to see if I really could fly.

Aria dug in her heels again. Wow, she was getting impatient to die.

Fine! I scraped my right forehoof against the ground then started forward. I did my best to gain speed while keeping Aria from jostling around too much. Thankfully, my pace grew steadily as the edge came closer and closer. I drew in a breath and held it as my hooves passed the edge. My legs continued trying to run as I threw myself out into the space between islands and hoped…

My wings caught the wind, hurling us up as we approached the island. Our height didn’t exactly drop once we reached our destination. Instead, we kept on going. Aria had some choice words about the situation at that point. She also decided to make her protests physically known. Can’t say it helped.

As we passed over the far edge of our target island, she pulled my head to the side. Suddenly thrown off angle, my wings banked down. Then my nose. I wished I could say our next movement was gentle. I really did. Instead, we nose-dived.

Winds which had held us aloft suddenly whipped at our bodies. My eyes began to sting with the rushing air stabbing at them. It was oh so very familiar. Why was it that I found myself yet again falling to my imminent doom along with Aria? At least this time I could actually blame her.

Aria pulled back on my throat. I let out a strangled gurgle but her grip kept my words from escaping. Okay. Falling fast. Got… wings. Breathe. Breathe…

We were still pointed down. I could see a scattering of more floating islands, with the rolling blue of deep ocean waves further below. Aria wrenched back on my neck again. I winced. There just wasn’t enough air. My eyelids drooped. My throat and lungs were burning. Aria was screaming something, but I couldn’t make it out. My eyes closed. Sound vanished.

My body gave a jolt. Then another. Guessing we clipped an island before plummeting into the sea. Well, such is life, I guess. A third jolt. My limbs all spasmed as feeling returned to my body. I opened my mouth and air surged into my lungs. Aria was still clinging to me, but not so tightly I couldn’t breathe.

I could feel the air in front of me shift. Cracking my eyes open, I spotted the long tail feathers of a bird. It was no more than a pony length from my nose. Its body sliced through the air in front of me, disturbing it enough to keep the wind from stinging my eyes. I shook my head. The air was also strangely refreshing in the wake of the bird.

Something about this bird’s presence calmed my racing heart. My body subconsciously fell into formation with the bird, my wings and head shifting just enough to stay right behind it. Aria shifted position, her grip easing as the bird took a slight bank towards the nearest floating island. I followed. The bird angled down, I lowered my head.

We were coming in fast, but at least we had a target now. I blinked. Did the bird just glance over its shoulder at me?

“Ground!” Aria yelled in my ear.

My attention snapped back to the wider world. The top of the island was so very close. My wings shifted and I tried to thrust my feet forward, hoping to lessen the impact.

We hit the ground. Hard! My legs stiffened and my hooves dug into the earth, carving little trenches as I tried to bleed off the speed. Aria was once again trying to pull my head back. I guessed she thought it was somehow helping. Truth be told, it wasn’t.

My front hooves struck a rock embedded in the ground. My hooves went out from under me and I tumbled forward, hurling Aria from my back. I tumbled end over end a couple of times before finally flopping to a stop on my back, my gaze staring up at the clouds and other islands high above. I lay there for a few moments, giving the rattling of my brain a chance to settle before letting out a nervous chuckle. The tension in my body gave out, causing my legs and wings to splay out on the ground either side of me.

I heard the rapid flap of feathery wings as the bird landed next to my head. It eyed me for a bit, turned its beak to face me, bent forward out of my sight and gently thumped its head against mine just in front of my ear. It lifted its head, looked at me again and gave a series of clucks which sounded like it was trying to talk.

I eyed the bird, lifting my head to face it better. My brain still felt a little scrambled from the landing as I rolled onto my side. The bird hopped back a step but kept its attention centred on me.

“Hey there, birdy,” I said, trying to put as much kindness into my voice as possible. I cringed. All it did was remind me of how feminine I now sounded. Rising onto my hooves, I tried to shake off any dust from the impact and check for injuries. Seeming to have a mind of its own, my fringe flopped into place covering my forehead and most of my right eye. I tried to shift it but it stubbornly returned. Looking to the bird, I found it still watching me.

It was a decently tall bird. Including tail feathers, it was probably as long as my body from the top of my head, down to the bottoms of my front hooves. It was also incredibly sleek with a graceful mix of white and pale blue feathers. What kind of bird it was, I couldn’t say. I’d never seen anything like it before.

A grumbled, wordless curse caught my ear. I turned to the source and stopped at what I found. It was a very interesting view, I had to admit. I gave a whistle. The bird snapped its attention to me and cocked its head as if to ask, what? I would’ve questioned that if it weren’t for the more immediate scene before us.

Aria snorted to herself. Her chin, throat and chest were pressed into the dirt. Her rear was propped up on her stiff hind legs with her tail draped down her back, the end of which was tickling her nose from above. She let out a loud exasperated sigh before rising to her hooves again. After a quick once over in search of injuries, Aria shot me a death glare.

“What?” I asked, an oddly goofy grin on my snooter. Yes, I am very aware it is called a muzzle, I just don’t care. I did my best to spread my leathery wings and said, “Not like I’ve ever used these things before.”

Aria said nothing. She simply snorted, flicked her tail in irritation then turned her attention to our surroundings. While Aria was preoccupied, I let out a soft breath. All changes aside, I could note one particular thing, girls, mares in this case, definitely still interested me.

“You keep playing with the bird,” Aria grumbled. “I’ll look for another way down.”

The bird looked at me, bowed low, spread its wings, then launched itself into the air followed by a trail of glittery white powder. It swung around the island, gaining speed before aiming for Aria and tucking in its wings.

The bird swooped low over Aria’s head, the trail of soft powder landing on her scalp, covering most of her hair and snooter in what looked like snow. Aria stopped her search and snapped her head about to glare at whatever had brushed over her. Her furious eyes fixed on the bird. The bird swiftly landed in front of me, bobbed its head and chuckled.

I snorted a laugh, my eyes bulging a little as I tried to hold it in with a hoof. Aria’s fierce glare shot to me. She narrowed her eyes on me then snorted in annoyance. She plonked down on her rear and did her best to dust the powder from her twin-tails and head, muttering under her breath the whole time.

I looked at the bird. Somehow, it twisted its beak to grin up at me then cawed. I smiled at it, reaching out to rub its head with my hoof when I noticed something. The ground where it had launched from and the other spot it landed on was splashed with the same white powdery substance as had been on Aria’s head.

Redirecting my hoof, I lightly brushed at one of the spots. Oddly, it was cold to the touch, even through my hard hoof. Leaning down to examine it, I blinked and said, “Huh. Looks like tiny icicles. Kinda like frost.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” Aria muttered, adjusting her hair a little. “Keeping it as a pet?”

“Hadn’t intended to,” I replied. The bird hopped up, fluttering a little before landing on my head. Apparently I was being adopted. The bird leaned down to continue watching me. My eyes crossed as I tried to focus on what was an upside-down bird face to me. “You want to stick with me?”

The bird bobbed its head.

Okay. “You have a name?”

Another head bob.

“And I have to guess it?”

Two excited bobs. I could feel its claws as the bird shifted a little on my head. Okay. I rubbed at my chin with a hoof. I frowned to myself, wondering what its name could possibly be. Considering what we had already seen it do, maybe something that sounded cold. Something about that felt right to me. While running through a mental list, my mouth, as usual, decided to spout something detached from thought. “Sickle?”

The bird bobbed its head rapidly at me and cawed with excitement.

Huh. It accepted the name. Maybe that gut feeling I’d had truly was right.

“Come on, bird brains!” Aria called from the other side of the island. “Let’s keep moving!”

Sickle squawked and hopped down onto my back as I trotted over to Aria.

* * *

We made pretty good progress from there. At least that was my opinion. If the islands were close enough, Aria would hop the gap herself. The longer ones, however, meant she had to climb onto my back again. She wasn’t exactly pleased with the idea, considering what happened the first time. But resigned herself to it as there was just no other way to move forward.

At least the short hops gave me a little practice for the longer ones. Sickle flew alongside me at first. When she noticed me struggling, she looked concerned. She then slipped in front of me doing her best to guide me forward. We continued on that way for what felt like hours. At least the mountainous outcropping we had seen earlier was a lot closer by the time we stopped to rest.

I did my best to lay like I would as a human, but that wasn’t very comfortable. I shifted several times until I found the best position when laying on the exposed ground. Oddly, it meant curling up like a cat. Sickle took roost on the lone branch of our current island’s poor excuse for a tree. The night was chilly. Pony fur was a good insulator. Not the greatest, but good.

I felt a little warmer when I awoke in the morning. I raised my head and blinked sleepily as I surveyed the area. I froze when I found Aria curled up against me. I didn’t move until she finally woke up. She stretched as she rose to her hooves, doing her best to ignore the fact I was staring at her.

She looked at me from the corner of her eye then turned her head away. “Don’t read too much into it. It’s cold out here.”

Her voice quavered as she spoke as if she was trying to force her grumpy nature to the fore. Doing her best to forget the incident happened, she said, “Let’s move. I’m sick of these islands.”

We restarted our journey. Hopping from island to island. Gliding together only when absolutely necessary. Breakfast was a rather strange affair. Well, strange for a human. Simply put, it was grass. The meal was rather drawn out too, considering the small amounts available on each island.

I want to say it was about midday when we finally came to land on a narrow ledge of the mountainous outcropping. I dropped to the ground for a breather. Eyeing Aria, I was sure she was just as winded. Not that she allowed herself to show it. I was definitely beginning to see how her apparent grumpy nature actually stemmed from a stubborn streak as thick and long as the mint colour in her mane and tail.

I took a chance to examine the island we had just left. Its nearest face appeared to have the exact same pattern and shape of broken rocks as the cliff beside us. Maybe it and the other islands had broken away at some point in the past. Exactly how, I was at a loss to explain, but it was interesting to think about.

Our rest came to a quick end with Aria ordering us onward. I couldn’t blame her really. Wherever we were, there was clearly no sign of nearby civilisation. At least the ledge we were confined to meant we no longer had to hop from place to place just to move forward. That was alright with me. My wings were sore from all the gliding, particularly holding them so still every time.

It wasn’t long before I heard a bellowing rumble as it echoed off the mountains beside us. My ears perked up. Okay. That was an interesting sound. Not unlike something I had heard in a few fantasy movies I had snuck in to watch over the years. I turned in time to see Aria sprint past, her hooves pounding the ground as fast as she could manage.

“Run, you dingus!” she yelled back at me. “It’s a dragon!”

“A drag—” I repeated, still unmoving. Okay. Interest piqued! I looked back over my shoulder in time to glimpse a giant winged-lizard of yore lumbering through the sky just beneath the blanket of clouds. At this distance, it appeared to mostly be a white blur. A very large white blur.

A very large white blur which appeared to be lumbering our way. Sickle flew at me, screeching and flapping in my face.

I glanced at the dragon again. It wasn’t much of a blur anymore and was definitely coming towards us. It let out a roar. I shrank at the sight. My ears pressed back against my skull. It was time to go.

I spun on the spot in search of Aria. She was so far ahead already. I slammed my hooves into the ground and bolted after her. The world became nothing more than the pounding of hooves and panting of breath as I chased after Aria in an effort to escape the incoming beast. Thankfully, Aria wasn’t the fastest on her hooves, something I would probably be cursing any minute.

“Is every day in this world as crazy as this?” I yelled, doing my best to try and come alongside Aria. Sickle was flying next to me. Now that I was moving, Sickle didn’t look so flustered about our situation like we were.

“Only if you aren’t the beast hunting some prey!” Aria shouted back. Her head was down and eyes fixed on the narrow cliff edge ahead. There was a sharp left turn coming, one which would trap us against the mountainside if we didn’t move fast enough.

Glancing back, my eyes widened and my pupils shrank in fear. The dragon was a lot closer. Its wings struck the air with a terrible whomp sound from every flap. It was so big and close. Only ocean-going cargo ships would come anywhere near to a similar size and girth.

Its huge jaws opened. So did my tiny ones. Those were some terribly fearsome teeth and a colossal tongue it had.

I faced forward. Aria was barely half a length in front of me. Keep running! Keep running! The corner was so close now. Unfortunately, so was the dragon. Its head reared back as it appeared to draw in breath.

I lowered my head and forced myself forward as fast as I could. Aria was slowing to start the corner. Knowing what I had seen, I threw my left hip and shoulder into Aria, shoving her to the side just as a chilling roar ruptured the air and the coldest, most intense blast struck my right side.

My face twisted in agony. My right front leg suddenly refused to move. I could barely feel it. Same with my right wing. I missed the next step and crashed to the ground. There was a terrible shattering sound. My right side hit the ground and I slid on it before crashing to a halt against the side of the mountain.

Chapter 4 - Flying Zoo

I gasped. There was pain. Definitely pain. But I was just too shocked to feel its intensity. From what I could tell, it was pretty well everywhere. Wait, there was also numbness. I guess that was a good thing.

I squinted up from where I lay and glimpsed the rear legs and tail of the dragon passing overhead. The top of Aria’s head bounced into view a few times. When I caught sight of her eyes, they were filled with panic and horror.

“By the deep, your leg!” she gasped. I felt her hooves nudging at my body. “Your wing!”

I blinked to myself and started to move. When the pain flared, I gritted my teeth but kept moving to at least make an assessment of what hurt. What I saw was disturbing. The dragon had truly done a number on me. My right leg and wing were simply missing. Some icy fragments remained clinging to my fur. Sickle landed next to me having just spread a frost layer over my injured flesh. Even without her efforts, the exposed flesh was clearly frostbitten.

Aria was still moving about. Something on the ground nearby made her gasp and step back. I didn’t bother to look.

Instead, I stared at the frostbitten area. The flesh looked like it had been seared. It wasn’t bleeding. My mind was a potent mix of emotions roiling together. I had been a pony with wings for about a day. Now, a leg and wing were gone. Horror was an easy emotion to pick. If this were the real world, I would have just lost my entire right arm. And whatever my right wing had been before my apparent transformation.

There was anger. Anger at the dragon for what it had done. Anger at myself for not doing more to avoid the freezing blast. Not that I really knew what I had been doing when I still had both wings. And that led to the strongest of the emotions fighting for command of my mind; bitterness. All which I had gained in finding my wings was suddenly lost. The freedom, joy, even the thrill in what little hops I had made over gaps between the floating islands. All of that was gone, ripped away with the potential I had been looking forward to in learning to do more than glide.

It was a feeling I would never have again.

“Get up!”

Aria was screaming at me. Her eyes were wide with fear and she was trying to force me onto my hooves. I ignored her. My focus was elsewhere.

In that moment, I hated that dragon. I clenched my jaw and bared my teeth. Every muscle still in my body clenched in response as I metaphorically grasped that bitter feeling deep within myself. Risking greater blood loss, I rolled onto my side so I could see the dragon as it turned in the sky to target us once more.

Everything around me crackled with energy, yet I couldn’t glimpse a single spark. Yes, I now know that it was all inside me, but, at the time, I had no idea.

I let it out in a wordless yell. From the middle of my forehead I felt the power unleash. Whatever it was didn’t release as a simple trickle. No. Instead it burst forth with a thunderous roar which manifest itself as an intense beam of blue light and energy. The power from my skull shot towards the dragon diving straight for us.

The beam and dragon crashed together in the sky above. The dragon’s dive suddenly ended when, for a brief moment, the huge beast stopped before beating its wings to press itself against the tip of the beam and force its way forward.

I was sure there were sounds around me but I didn’t hear them. I simply pressed my remaining front hoof to the ground and forced myself up, bracing myself with my rear hooves as they rose too. Panting at the strain of keeping hold of whatever this power was within my core, I lurched my head up, forcing even more of this strange energy out through my forehead. My words were not to be denied their part in the effort and strain as I screamed at the dragon, “Go a-way!”

The strength of the beam increased along with its girth in a bulbous pulse which shot from my forehead and slammed into the dragon, stopping its gradual approach and hurling it into the distance. The clouds in its path vaporised as the beam and dragon riding it shot through, creating a beacon to be seen from the horizon in any direction.

I stood there, still panting, my eyelids drooping. The beam quickly thinned as I lost hold of the energy source. The dragon disappeared in the distant sky with a faint twinkle as the last of the beam faded from existence.

I gave a weak chuckle. “Hey, look at that. Something about me that isn’t black or white.”

All jokes aside, that was the most exhausting thing I had ever done. My legs suddenly gave out. And down I went. The ground didn’t feel so hard when I collapsed onto it again. In fact, I couldn’t feel much at all. Just the weakness which suddenly pervaded every inch of my body.

I caught a glimpse of a purple and mint coloured mane before passing out.

* * *

I slipped in and out of consciousness so much, my brain struggled to make sense of how long things took to happen. At first, I only glimpsed Aria and Sickle each time my eyes fluttered open. They both looked worried but no longer as panicked like they had been with the dragon.

Later, they were joined by two more fantastic creatures. Or, maybe I just dreamed it with my energy deprived body. The first had the head, beak and wings of an eagle while the rest of its body resembled a lion. Maybe a gryphon? The other looked even more imposing as much as fantastic. There was nothing else I could call this hulking being, other than a minotaur. My brain was swirling too much to argue otherwise.

Next time my mind brushed the world of the living, I felt myself being carried. My head and limbs hung limp and bounced with every movement, yet the arms which held me were incredibly strong. I didn’t glimpse much this time. My surroundings were too dark.

Every time after, I roused briefly only to feel that I was laying on my side. The ground beneath me was hard and cold. There were sounds around me. Nothing I immediately recognised, other than the creak of wood against wood, as more than pitiful groans. Considering my present state, I wouldn’t have been surprised if the groans were my own.

My head was pounding when I finally began to properly stir. I mumbled to myself, but wasn’t sure if anyone heard me. “Remind me…not do…again…”

Just lifting my head caused it to sway. The movement was more than enough to start swirling my brain about. My eyes bulged at the pain and I quickly squeezed them shut and clenched my teeth in a grimace. “Okay. Head still bad. Noted.”

There was a murmur nearby. My ear twitched then swivelled towards the sound. Okay. There were benefits to pony ears over human ones. They could move without aggravating my aching head.

“Monochrome?” The voice was familiar, yet softer than I remembered. “You’re…”

“Ungh,” I grunted, turning my head a little. “Aria?”

I caught a heavy sigh of relief. “You okay?”

I grunted again. “Head hurts. Body weak.”

I forced my eyes open a crack. I was ever so grateful that where I found myself was dimly lit in a pale blue. At least it wasn’t too bright for me to see. In fact, the light appeared to pulse, lighting the area a little stronger every now and again but always returning to that weak glow.

“You?”

A small movement caught my eye. I raised my head enough to get a better look, doing my best not to move too suddenly. Through the blue, I spotted the side of a pony and a vaguely familiar cutie mark on the flank pressed against a couple of evenly spaced metal bars. My brain gave a kick. It was Aria. She was looking anxiously at me.

She didn’t answer my question. She just kept staring at me. I watched her swallow heavily. “You sure you’re all right? You did fight a dragon.”

She cringed as her eyes took in other parts of my body.

“That really happened?” I mumbled. I tried to brush my fringe out of the way with a swipe from my right hoof. Nothing happened. I frowned then gently turned my head to see why. My leg was gone. Aria didn’t need to answer me. The truth was right here. It had all happened.

Still looking at where my leg had once joined at my shoulder, I asked, “Aria?”

“Yeah?” she softly called back.

I blinked slowly. “Why do I feel so tired?”

I heard her let out another sigh. I don’t doubt she thought I was going to ask about my leg. “You used a lot of magic against the dragon.”

My snooter scrunched up as I struggled to understand what she had just said. “What? What are you… What magic?”

Turning my gaze back to her, I could see her still staring at me. Well, not exactly at me. Maybe at my forehead or a little higher. I tried to turn my eyes in search of her fixation. This only caused me to turn my head up until I was staring at the ceiling.

I blinked to myself. There was a brilliant lightshow going on above me. It was clearly the source of the light in the room. Beyond a set of metal bars, I spotted some kind of deep blue crystal affixed to the ceiling. Stretching up to it was a long shaft of pale blue light. The light pulsed as it was sucked upwards and into the crystal. The other end of the light… I frowned again. It appeared to be coming from my forehead.

“Aria?” I asked, eyes fixed on the ceiling. “Why is there blue stuff coming out of my head?”

Aria took a breath to steady herself. “That’s your magic.”

I felt an eyebrow shoot up involuntarily in question. I frowned again. “Thought you called me a bat… whatever.”

“Bat pony,” Aria clarified. “I thought you were. Didn’t know your mane was hiding a horn.”

“Sooo.” My mind did its best to process what it was hearing. “I’m some kind of bat-winged unicorn?”

“Alicorn,” Aria said flatly. Well, what little I could hear of her words anyway. My head was throbbing from the thoughts now rushing through it and my body still felt so very weak.

“Don’t…” I mumbled, my head swaying a little. “Don’t know… what… is…”

My head flopped back to resting on the floor. My eyelids drooped heavily. I swear I heard Aria say something but the exact words were lost on me as I passed out.

* * *

The sound of jingling metal, like a set of large keys, rattled me from my latest sleep. I shuddered at the sound which felt like it was scraping in my ears. I took a small amount of solace in the fact that my body ached a little less and my headache had eased considerably.

I gently shook my head. It only throbbed a little and didn’t leave my head spinning. Lifting my gaze, I caught sight of Aria. She sat pensively watching as someone walked along the passage in front of the metal bars, I now found to be our cages. Still a little groggy, I caught sight of a huge grey form. It was incredibly muscular, walked on two legs and had a pair of long, pointed horns on its head. At least now I could put a bullish face to the minotaur I remembered from my deluded sleep.

Clad in little more than pants to show off his muscles, the minotaur used a gauntleted fist to haul the largest equine I had yet to see along the floor behind him. Much like the minotaur, this pony was muscular in form. Its coat was hard to determine in the light coming from my horn and, strangely, it had no mane or tail.

When the minotaur dragged the pony to the cage opposite mine, I could see several thick criss-crossing scars all around the flank of the pony. With a great heave from his arm, the minotaur hurled the pony into the cell and stood in the open door. Now that he was in front of me, I could see that the minotaur was clutching the thick handle of a whip.

A flicker of light, not unlike fire, burst into existence. The minotaur snarled, drew back his whip and struck the prone pony. I watched as the pony flinched, their body turning rigid at the pain. Even their mouth flew open but no whinny escaped their throat.

“Sit and stew about your actions, Pyrus,” the minotaur growled. “You’re lucky I need you for my greater comforts.”

The minotaur struck out with the whip again.

“Don’t,” I gurgled, watching the pony flinch once more.

The minotaur spun about at my voice, drawing back his whip. I doubted he even knew who he was aiming at when he roared at me and followed through with his whip. “Shut it!”

The whip lashed forward yet again. Instead of striking the scarred hide of the strange fallen pony, it snapped between the bars of my cage. I didn’t see the strike, but I sure felt it. Considering the intensely flaring pain to my right eye, I doubted I’d be seeing much more from it ever again.

My ears caught a high-pitched yelp of pain. It took me a few seconds to realise it was my own. I truly wasn’t used to my new voice yet.

When next I looked using my left eye, my right stung too much, I found the minotaur standing in front of my cage, glaring down on me. I swear there was steam huffing from his nostrils. He reached down, grabbed me by the throat using his gauntleted hand and pulled me so close to him I could smell his breath through the bars.

The moment his gauntlet came in contact with me, I felt my body weaken and the light of the magic being sucked from my forehead dimmed.

“How dare you make demand of me,” the minotaur seethed. “I am your owner, broken Alicorn.”

I swallowed hard. It was all I could do against the strength of his fist wrapped around my neck.

“You would’ve been such a prize had I caught you before you were injured,” said the minotaur. He nodded to Aria’s cage. “Your friend there was adamant it was done by an ice dragon.”

My eye rolled enough to spot Aria. She had moved as far to the back of her cage as the chain attached to her collar would allow. I gasped at the sight of her collar and chain. How had I missed that earlier?

“Far be it for me to call a lady a liar,” the minotaur continued, his rage easing a little as he turned me to keep looking at him. “Not since I have an Ice Dragon of my very own right over there.”

I followed his finger as he pointed to a cage at the far end of the row. There I caught sight of a white-scaled lizard of some kind. It was on the chubby side but I doubted it would be taller than me or Aria. The lizard in question was firmly held against the wall of their cage by thick metal clamps. Even their mouth was firmly clamped shut.

I felt him shake me by the neck again to regain my attention. I squinted at him as I tried to focus on breathing.

“Even without you being pristine. At least your magic can still be of use in powering my ship.” The minotaur nodded to the pony in the cage behind him. “Keep up your demands and I’ll take your tongue like his. Need your magic, not your words.”

I squirmed at the threat. The minotaur then tossed me aside and I crashed to the floor, sliding a little to the bars of Aria’s cage. I lay there, crumpled on the floor, listening to the sounds of the minotaur as he slammed and locked the cage door of the pony across from me. Then I heard his hooves clopping on the floor of the walkway before he disappeared through another door. Of course, he slammed it behind him in his anger.

I coughed a couple of times, feeling my throat relax. I don’t doubt my neck was bruised, every inch he had grasped with his fingers still felt like they were there, squeezing tight.

“He was polite when we met him,” Aria muttered. “Until he got us onboard. Then he threw us in here, slapped me in chains and put that ring on your horn.”

“Really?” I rasped, my throat still stinging. Now that he wasn’t holding me, the light of my magic increased, allowing me to see Aria more clearly.

Aria nodded, finally moving away from the back of her cage.

“Felt so weak… when he grabbed me,” I said, swallowing to ease my throat.

“That was his gauntlet,” Aria explained. “Bragged about it when he grabbed me to bring me down here. Suppresses even innate magic so you can’t hurt him.”

She eyed my forehead again. “Sort of like the ring. Said it sucks out a unicorn’s magic, enough to keep them weak but not kill them.”

She sighed and pressed her back to the bars between our cages. “Just wanted to find my sisters. Happy to be back in my home world but…”

Aria waved a hoof at the cage in general. “This—”

Her voice trailed off and she hung her head.

My head drooped. I had to agree. With all which had happened to us and now being imprisoned, we were a long way from our original purpose for being together. Aria’s sisters were back home. A place I had no idea how to reach. Not to mention, if I ever had the ability to get back home, would there be anything left of me to do so without collapsing in a bloody heap?

Also, I had magic? Something which, even if I knew how to use it to our benefit, was being sucked away to a crystal in the ceiling, apparently by a ring on a horn I didn’t previously know was attached to my head. There was nothing I could do. I was in a dark cage. One of many containing other fantastic creatures of this strange world.

Maybe I should rest more? Something I doubted would be easy after the whip strike. My right eye stung and throbbed much like my head had after the fight with the dragon. I set my head down and sighed, letting my breath form a soft whistle as I closed my left eye and tried to relax.

Author's Note

This chapter came out very differently from what I first envisioned. It was actually where Monochrome received all of her injuries and where she met Aria for the first time.

The chapter itself would've been at least two chapters originally and was called "Flying Circus". It was also a much darker concept, involving a lot more characters, which eventually morphed into what we see here.

Although greatly changed from its conceptual state, it still contains some of the most important elements from the original idea:

Monochrome's eye injury,
The Minotaur,
The flying ship,
The blue magic draining crystals,
Sickle,
Monochrome being used to power the ship.

Pyrus wasn't actually in the original concept. He just came into being one day and stuck around.

Although I am not happy with some of how this chapter came out, this one is not on the rewriting list as I believe doing so would do more harm to the story than good. It is nice to think on what might have been sometimes...

Chapter 5 - Broken Misfits

Many meals of incredibly dry hay followed. Not in massive amounts, but at least it was something. The ring on my recently discovered horn and the crystal high above were relentless in sucking up my magic, my physical energy along with it. The hay did little to replace any of it.

Add to that was the noise. It was a never-ending hiss of rain which grew in intensity then weakened only to rise again. It was slightly muffled, so I could easy to tell it was outside. It reminded me of some of the storms I’d listened to while hunkered down in a few of the older places I found abandoned.

It lashed at the outer hull of the ship, even causing it to creak to one side away from the strongest blasts of wind. It was a storm which I could swear, whoever was steering the ship, was constantly steering us into. It was the only explanation for how long it lasted without any reprieve. It also made sleep very light, not that it wasn’t already thanks to my low energy and the throbbing of my injuries; my eye in particular.

The headache I was cultivating was set to be one of the greatest ever felt by human or ponykind in all of history.

The only benefit of the constantly raging storm was the minotaur didn’t come visiting while it continued to buffet the ship. At least, I thought it was the only benefit considering it was also freezing in the cages, even with an actual fire horse nearby. That was until I spotted a pale mass of feathers lurking in the darkness.

I braced myself against a bar of my cell, one of the furthest away from Aria. Not my fault, the cage floor provided little purchase for hooves whenever the ship lurched to a side. Setting that annoyance aside, I squinted at the mass of feathers. It was piled against the wall at the end of the walkway between the cages. What it was or how it had come to be there, I wasn’t exactly sure. I was so tired I tended to slip into sleep for a few moments, only to awake what felt like seconds later with everything going on outside.

I shivered. It was so much colder on this side of the cage, closer to the feathers. Bitterly so. I let out a shuddering breath only for it to taper off into a weak whistle. I mentally cursed myself for doing so as it stabbed into my aching head. What I didn’t expect, was for the mass of feathers to move at the whistle as well. A bird head, draped in slick, pale plumage, snapped up from the mass of feathers and stared straight at me.

My jaw fell and I let out another shivering gasp. “S-Sickle?”

“What?” came a sleepy mumble from Aria’s cage.

Sickle didn’t jump to me as she had on previous occasions, at least not at first. She appeared to be fixated on something. What it was, I struggled to understand in the gloom of our prison. But when she finally did, she slipped through the bars of my cage and rubbed her head against mine. She was an amazingly slender bird after all.

After a quick reunion session, Sickle hopped away. I frowned as I watched her flutter up to the door lock then wrap her body around it as best she could. She perched awkwardly there for nearly a minute. When she finally hopped away, I was greeted with an odd sight. In the pale blue glow given off by my horn, I caught a strange shimmer of something clear now encasing the lock.

Whatever this bird was doing, she was clearly focused on continuing to do it as she moved to the lock on Aria’s cage. I couldn’t exactly inspect the lock for my cage. It was above my head and I was rather unsteady on my feet with the storm still shaking the ship. It wasn’t until Sickle had moved on from Aria’s cage to that of the huge pony the minotaur had called Pyrus that we discovered at least what she was doing.

Aria, balancing on her rear hooves, rose up and tapped at the lock of her cage with a forehoof. She sounded just as baffled by the bird’s antics as I was. “Ice?”

My brow furrowed as I watched Sickle working on the lock of Pyrus’ cage. What was this bird up to?

Evidently, Pyrus was just as interested in these strange events. He stood watching the bird intently but didn’t utter a word. When Sickle moved away from the lock, Pyrus approached. I watched as he carefully touched the lock with his nose then immediately snapped his head away from it as if burned. He stared at the lock for a moment, then a knowing smirk graced his snooter.

The huge pony took a step back then turned on the spot. Taking care to keep his eye on the lock, he tapped a rear hoof twice on the floor, eliciting a spark from the metal. With the spark came the most terrifying thing I had seen in this world since the approach of the dragon. The entirety of Pyrus’ hoof and fetlocks, up to almost his knee, erupted in flames. My jaw hit the floor.

I watched in a twisted mix of horror and morbid curiosity as Pyrus turned his hoof about. And, I swear, I’m not making this up, it looked as if much of his leg was now criss-crossed in a spiderweb of tiny orange rivers. The things even appeared to flow from where they first appeared near his hip, all the way down to his fire-engulfed hoof. And yet, the weirdest thing was, his flesh appeared otherwise unaffected by the flames.

It was completely mesmerising. Even the colour of the fire began to change! Starting with yellow, it shifted through orange and even green before intensifying into a deep blue.

Seeming happy with the state of the flame, Pyrus drew up his leg then lashed out with his fiery hoof. It struck the frozen lock with a dull ‘crack’. It was such a lacklustre sound for what it accompanied. Simply put, the lock exploded sending fragments flying. Thankfully, none of them hit me. I sighed. Finally, something went my way in this world!

With the lock obliterated, Pyrus turned and pushed his way out of his cage. This led him to standing in front of my cage. Looking at his hooves alone, they dwarfed mine. Taking in the rest of Pyrus’ body as he towered before me, I gulped. I felt so tiny. Sure I wasn’t very tall as a human, but as a pony in the shadow of this giant, I was probably considered a foal. Seriously. Were all male ponies this big? Because he was clearly a male pony from what I could see. The only equivalent I had for him horse-wise from my human life was to compare him to a Clydesdale.

I shook my head then squeezed my eyes shut and did my best to turn away. Crack. Pyrus’ hoof smashed the lock of my cage. I opened my eyes to find him standing there with a hoof holding the door open for me.

I swallowed heavily, taking a moment to carefully rise onto my three legs. I can’t say I was graceful on them, but, with a little effort, I managed to hobble my way out to the walkway between the cages. Pyrus gave me a short nod then let the door swing shut. He left me standing there while he moved on to the door to Aria’s cage.

The whole ship shuddered with the sound of wood grinding against something. I stumbled. Reaching out with a leg I no longer had for balance, I fell and hit the floor. I lay there for several long seconds, oddly grateful for the walkway between the cages being wood instead of the metal bases of the cages themselves.

When I recovered, I found myself with my nose pointed deep into the spot I had first seen Sickle. If I had to describe what I found first, it was that the spot was absolutely freezing. Not only to breathe in, but to touch. There was a clear layer of frost covering a small part of the floor where it met the wall. The wall itself was another story. Instead of frost, the wood was coated with ice, much like my door lock. Incredibly hard ice from what I found when I accidentally knocked my horn against it.

The wood didn’t even sound like wood. Instead, it gave a dull thud similar to the sound of striking a stone. And trust me, it felt like stone, as my horn clearly let me know. This was how I also learned how sensitive a unicorn horn can be as the unintended strike left my eyes watering. Great! Another point of pain for my body. Was this ever going to end?

I heard another loud crack followed by the grind of a metal gate shifting. I turned to see Pyrus pushing his way into Aria’s cell. Aria, of course, wasn’t yet on her hooves. I spotted Sickle in the gloom nearby, her body pressed to the floor and wings spread out. Exactly why didn’t become clear until after she abandoned her task and returned to press herself against the wall beside me.

I watched Aria cringe back as fire surrounded one of Pyrus’ forehooves. He held it up, letting his flames grow as he readied himself then slammed his hoof down. His hoof struck with the terrible crack of one of his door kicks, sending fragments of frozen metal flying. Thankfully, both he and Aria turned their heads away to shield themselves.

When Aria rose from the floor, I could see the results of Sickle and Pyrus’ work. The chain attached to Aria’s metal collar now ended a few links above the floor. How did I forget about her chain and collar again? Wow this bird and pony combo was effective! I noticed Pyrus turn his head to the dragon confined in the far cell as he pushed and held open the door to Aria’s cell with his body.

I rose from the floor in an attempt to hobble toward Aria, a smile gracing my snooter for the first time in what was probably a week.

Then I heard it. My attention snapped to the exit door of our prison. A gryphon strode in then, noticing us out of our cages, abruptly stopped. The gryphon didn’t remain in place for long. He flared his wings and let out a terrible shriek from his beak. “Hey!”

Even before the next words escaped the gryphon, Pyrus had turned his back on the dragon he couldn’t so easily help now, snatched Aria up and held her, much to her sudden look of protest, tucked under his front leg. Her words of complaint weren’t what reached my ears.

“Pets esca—!” the gryphon shrieked, his head cocked to the door even as he tried to keep an eye on us.

It was the last we heard from that gryphon as a loud bang reverberated through the ship. The ship lurched violently to the side, the floor tilting dangerously. The gryphon was thrown at the nearest cage, his head becoming lodged between two bars. I tried to scrabble at the floor with my hooves but found no purchase as I skidded backwards. My legs still flailing, I peered anxiously over my shoulder. There was Sickle, perched in the middle of the ice she was spreading through the curved, outer wall of the room.

A sound like fire consuming a vat of gasoline erupted with a fwoosh! My attention snapped back to the middle of the room in time to catch sight of Pyrus, his body engulfed in flames, as he kicked off from the floor. Even Aria, who was still tucked under a front leg of Pyrus, was wrapped in flames. My eye grew wide and jaw dropped in terror, watching as the flaming mass of pony sailed past me.

Sickle screeched. I caught a glimpse of her fluttering plumage before Pyrus’ flaming rear left hoof crashed into the ice-covered wall. His leg buckled with the impact, sending cracks through the ice and the wood. The rest of his body slammed into the wall and burst straight through. Where once was wall, I could now see the tops of trees as they reached for the ship.

Gritting my teeth, I scrabbled at the floor, flailing my legs in search of purchase. No matter what I tried, I could feel myself continuing to slip backwards, gaining in speed as the ship continued to list to the side. A mass of feathers and bird slammed into my face, blinding me from everything in the room and knocking me from the floor.

With Sickle wrapped around my head, I tumbled backwards and through the hole in the side of the ship. Thankfully, I didn’t crash against the broken edges of the hole as we passed. I closed my eyes at that point, not that it really helped. We were still falling and the rain was now striking my body with a thousand tiny needles. I felt Sickle shift from my head. I bit my tongue when her talons suddenly grasped the loose hide of my neck and shoulders.

There was a jolt. I swear my tongue was bleeding now. My back probably was too as the tips of Sickle’s talons suddenly pierced my flesh. That first jolt was followed by several weaker ones. Not that they stopped my hide from stinging any less. Seriously, was this world’s hatred of my body ever going to end? It was an answer I was soon to get, not that I would like it. At least the jolts made it feel like we weren’t falling any faster.

The needle-like rain was quickly joined by the sting and crack of what felt like hundreds of sharp branches striking and tearing at me as we fell. The only solace came with the fact that they helped to slow our fall even further. Not that it was a great thing. It was honestly an eternity in my mind before we reached the ground. We landed with a heavy thump and crumpled in a heap together. Sickle and I lay there simply trying to catch our respective breaths after the craziness of what probably, in truth, lasted only a few seconds.

Please world, can I go home now? The novelty of this place is long gone.

* * *

After a few minutes to gather myself both mentally and physically, I forced my aching body to sit up, unintentionally dumping Sickle onto the ground next to me. Sickle let out an indignant squawk, ruffled her feathers at me and shot me the best glare she could muster. I leaned forward and rubbed my cheek against her head. Seriously, this bird had just rescued me for the second time I knew of since landing in this world. It was the least I could do to show my gratitude. Hopefully I would be able to thank her properly with some kind of reward.

I looked about then frowned. Once we figured out where we were, other than in a forest during what felt like a monsoonal storm. My frown deepened. We would have to find Aria as well. Not to mention Pyrus. He was the one to physically break us out after all. Not to diminish any of Sickle’s work weakening the locks, chain and wall even the slightest. She was the key hero in my escape after all.

I peered up, hoping the somehow flying ship hadn’t spotted us in either our fall or landing. I doubted anyone would spot us from above, there was too much foliage even for me to glimpse the sky. I scrunched my snooter. Didn’t stop the rain from reaching us though. The plants I could see in the pale blue glow of my horn, apparently my horn was still active, looked like nothing I had seen before.

Of course I didn’t recognise anything. This was a completely different world populated by sentient quadrupeds who could fly or fling magic, sometimes both. Even self-immolation without injury was a very real possibility. By the night, there were even what I assumed were wooden sailing ships which could fly! And here I was, sitting in a mud puddle, injured far more than I ever thought possible with a clearly intelligent bird by my side surrounded by a strange forest which kept everything rather dark.

One good thing, even if my horn was still somehow emitting light, my energy wasn’t being drained as drastically as before. No matter which way I looked, there was no trail of pulsating light shooting off in search of the crystal back on the ship. I sighed with relief. At least the minotaur and his gryphons wouldn’t be able to track me that way. Small victories in a world which was clearly against me, I guess.

“Well,” I said, shifting my gaze from Sickle to my single front hoof. “We should probably be moving.”

Standing up was a peril I wasn’t looking forward to. Pony hooves weren’t exactly the best at gripping when compared to human toes. I would even give everything beneath the stars to have fingers and hands again. At least with them, I’d be able to crawl my way out of the muck. Still, I pushed forward.

Once I was finally on my hooves, albeit shakily so, I looked to Sickle, as I hopped for my first hobbled step, and asked, “Any idea where Ari-iiiiiiiiii!”

SPLAT!

My entire undercarriage was back in the mud. I snorted in annoyance then restarted the slippery job of regaining my hooves. Now that much of me was liberally covered in mud, doing so became a far more difficult task; one which was made harder with every return to the puddle which inevitably followed.

All right, this sucks. I was already sick of landing my snooter and chest in the muck. Curse that dragon. It didn’t help that my depth perception was all but destroyed. That minotaur can go rot for all I care. It was clear that, with all I had been though, this world hated me. There was just no other way to look at it.

Also, I was sure Sickle was laughing at me.

And, just to rub it further in, the world decided to prove me wrong as a set of mud-splattered pale purple hooves splashed into view. I rolled my eye up to peer past my sopping mane. There was Aria staring down at me. It was difficult to tell what she was thinking. Her expression was rather blank as Pyrus loomed into view over her.

Just from looking at them, it was clear how they had survived the fall. Even with the driving rain doing its best to strip the muck from their coats, it was still easy to see they had landed in a large puddle of mud, not unlike my own. The remaining streaks of filth ran in rivulets from the very tops of their ears, all the way to their hooves.

I blinked at that and frowned. Pyrus, the still slightly sizzling pony, was now standing on three legs. No, he wasn’t missing a leg, he was just keeping his rear left one gingerly raised even when he wasn’t moving about.

I let loose a heavy sigh, my chin still in the mud as I muttered, “This world can rot.”

“Sounds like you’re finally seeing this place from my point of view,” said Aria. “Equestria was never kind to those it deemed unworthy of living here.”

“Nice to know,” I said, studying the very tip of my nose. It was easier than trying to get to my feet and failing yet again.

My reward for giving up on getting up? Pyrus. The stoic pony limped his way to my side. His hooves hissed whenever they touched the wet ground. I caught a glimpse of dry, cracked ground whenever his hooves rose from the mud. He was baking the ground itself with every step. Wow this horse was interesting!

Although, this ground-drying ability wasn’t what Pyrus had in mind for helping me. Oh, no. Instead, he bent down out of my sight. I didn’t need to see him to know what he did next. He pressed his head against my rear. My head and ears shot up in alarm. The rest of my body stiffened instantly. Okay. I’m a mare now. Even if I was a stallion this would’ve been considered a rather personal interaction.

Thankfully, his contact with my back end didn’t last long. With a strong heave of his neck, Pyrus’ head forced me forward, out of the puddle and onto my incredibly rigid legs. I don’t doubt the look on my face was priceless. The teasing chuckle from Aria told me without words. My body, even after Pyrus had stepped back into view, was still rather shocked by the whole thing. It was several minutes before my muscles even dared to slacken to any degree.

Yeah… that was something, all right. Don’t judge the newly transformed who are yet to truly become accustomed to their new bodies. Maybe you would understand if it happened to you?

Now that I was standing and away from that infernal puddle, I took the chance to look over my companions, Pyrus in particular considering I had only seen him through the gloom of the cells on the ship until now. He still had some yellow-orange fire about him, specifically licking at his fetlocks and actually in place of a mane and tail. It was an interesting look with his mostly charcoal coat.

It was about that time, when I realised I was staring and, even though it was uncomfortable, I decided introductions were in order. Not that we needed to know his name. The minotaur had said it. I frowned. Wait, that didn’t mean Pyrus was his name. It could’ve just been something the minotaur had forced on him out of spite. Much like when he had called me broken.

I turned the question to Pyrus. All I got was an emphatic nod. Pyrus was indeed his name. So, I pressed forward with my stalled introductions and gestured with my wing to Aria. “This is Aria Blaze.”

The Stallion arched an eyebrow at that.

“And her name’s Chromia,” Aria announced before I had the chance to speak again.

I caught a snicker from her and glared in return. I turned to the stallion and did my best to correct Aria. “I’m Monochrome.”

I sighed in annoyance and let my head droop along with my ears. Looking up at the stallion, I said, “Thanks, Pyrus.”

Up went his eyebrow again. His focus on me didn’t last long. I was thankful for it being so brief. His huge, muscular form towering over my rather petite one was incredibly intimidating. The fact he couldn’t speak made him even more so.

It was also Pyrus who started us walking toward what we hoped would be the edge of the forest. Well, he began walking. Aria and I simply fell in with him. Even if we were a strange little group, it was probably better for us to stick together.

What followed was a long journey. One I tried to help us through by being my inquisitive self. I know it was probably annoying, but I wouldn’t say I was used to having travelling companions on my usual journeys.

Ignoring the unusual state I was in, I was still incredibly curious about things. Whether they were the strange plants we passed or something about ponies or other creatures in general. Pyrus was his stoic silent self during all of the mental musings I decided to air.

Aria, I can easily say, wasn’t so tolerant of my continuous questions and observations. I could see it was grating on her. Her shoulders were tense, much like her jaw, and, whenever she looked my way, she did so with a scowl of annoyance. Her sense of pity over my injuries was lost long ago in the forest behind us.

As I kind of mentioned earlier, keeping company wasn’t really something I had to do very often. Normally, as with Aria when I had helped her as a human, I would say little. There wasn’t much to talk about, especially when the other person didn’t talk back. But here… everything was just too fantastical for my brain to process without voicing it to all who could listen. It was when I wanted to know more about how Pyrus could exist while emitting flames from his body, that I realised I had pushed things with Aria a little far.

“He’s a what?” I asked, wondering if I had heard her correctly.

“A Nightterror,” Aria replied. “A rare type of pony from when I was last here.”

She gave a little shrug. “There were lots of different pony types back then. Pegasi, Unicorns, Sea ponies, Earth ponies, Sirens, Alicorns—”

I frowned. “Sirens? Like the singing fish women from fantasy tales who lead men to their doom using their voices?”

The glare Aria turned on me was so horrifying it was nigh indescribable. Thankfully, between my damaged right eye and ever-weak left eye, I barely noticed it.

“More than that,” Aria spat icily.

I glanced up at Pyrus. Unsurprisingly, he said nothing. Looking to the bird hovering above my head, Sickle gave a wary chirp. I should’ve heeded their warnings. Instead, I pressed on, asking, “What makes you so sure about what Sirens were supposed to do? They’re just myths from drunk sailors bored at sea.”

“I’m one, you dingus!” Aria seethed. “Sirens use their crystals to enhance their voices and adjust the emotions of others to feast upon. We do NOT cause the doom of others!”

I froze in my tracks and quickly put my third hoof down, lest I fall. My head turned toward Aria like that of a jolting clockwork toy. The look I gave, along with the time it took for me to speak again, stole away a touch of Aria’s anger, replaced by grimacing concern.

“So, should I wait for you to ensnare me with your wondrous voice?”

Aria’s concern was instantly incinerated at what I had intended as a light-hearted jab. Why wouldn’t it be true? I was the living embodiment of myth and legend right then. Her voice lashed ferociously at me as she snapped, “I can’t!”

I only blinked a second, not realising the hornet’s nest I had poked.

“Sure you can,” I said. “That’s what Sirens are supposed to do and you just told me you’re a Siren.”

She abruptly stopped and turned her head to face me. I could see the rage burning in her eyes and the strain in her jaw as she clenched her teeth. Maybe I pushed that a little far. I had no chance to correct myself as Aria unleashed another verbal strike. “Do you see a crystal hanging from my neck? Do I look like a depiction of what ponies call a monster?”

I shrank a little from her anger. Yep, definitely pushed her a little too much. “N-No…”

“Of course not!” Aria continued to fume. “My crystal was shattered when I was last at Canterlot High by some purple Alicron in human form, named Twilight Sparkle, and her friends! It was the last night I saw my sisters! Without my crystal I’m just a regular pony! But I doubt you know what that feels like.”

I couldn’t help but cringe. “Sorry. I didn’t—”

She glared at me before stamping a forehoof. I swore I heard the ground crack beneath her, even with it still being sodden from the rains, before she spat her rage at me. “I didn’t ask for your pity.”

“I-I wasn’t trying to—”

Pyrus hobbled up between us, doing his best to keep us separated. He eyed me for a few seconds, making sure I was paying attention to him, then shook his head. I guess that was his way of telling me to keep my mouth shut and drop the subject. He was right. My head sank and my ears flattened in humility. Pyrus was absolutely right.

From then on, much of the journey through the forest was conducted in relative silence. The anger I had unintentionally fuelled in Aria was more than enough for me to take time to think about my words. When I wasn’t thinking about keeping my balance and how much my hobbling was slowing us down, of course. I stole many glances at Pyrus as we continued on. Even with his broken leg, I was still the greatest burden on our progress.

It was thoughts like that which dragged me back toward the melancholy I had endured in the cages on the minotaur’s ship. Truly, this world hated me. It was the only explanation for everything it threw at me and how much of a burden I was becoming to those around me.

By the time we reached the outskirts of a small village, not only had another day passed and my melancholy had started to spiral into darker territory, but I was so tired from having to hurl my front leg forward to stop myself falling from every step that I was now several lengths behind Aria who had stalked out ahead.

Pyrus, however, repeatedly hung back, keeping Aria in sight while trying to silently encourage my huffing and puffing self onward. I took back the idea that the ring on my horn no longer had an effect on my energy. The damage was clearly already done, for when we finally caught up with Aria and stood beside her on the crest of a hill overlooking the village, most of which reminded me of old European townships, the last of my energy slipped away.

My eyelid drooped as I swayed on the spot. I tried to steady myself by throwing out my front right leg for balance. And down I went. My eyes were closed even before I hit the ground. I was so tired that the thump of my body as it finally fell prone in search of rest didn’t even register in my mind. I simply passed out.

Chapter 7A - What's in a Name? (Contains Non-Con)

Author's Note

As an original 'A' chapter, this chapter still contains the non-con aspect of the original storyline. Anyone following the Non-Con Removed version will need to move to the next chapter 7B.

Chapter 7A - What's in a Name? (Contains Non-Con)

I stared at Luna, my shield wavering in strength as my mind shifted focus. I sucked in a deep breath to steady my words. “My name is Monochrome.”

Luna cocked her head to the side and blinked at me several times. She raised her head to tower regally over me.

“We guess,” she said, scrunching her snooter, “it is a serviceable name, just from the sake of appearances. However, it was not the one thou were gifted upon thine birth.”

“G-Gifted on bir-th?” I panted, doing my best to follow the conversation. The ring on my horn had other ideas in drawing my attention as it continued to suck my magic into the shield. My body trembled as I tried to brace myself. I only succeeded at gasping in small breaths. “What a-are—”

Celestia must have noticed my physical struggle as she interjected. “Young one, please, lower your shield if you feel it strains you so.”

“Why?” I said, unintentionally snapping at her. I tried to nod at the purple Alicorn. “Th-That one will…”

I blinked hard several times. “Attack m-my friend…”

Even though I had more to say, I watched Celestia startle in surprise at my words. She glanced back at the purple one who opened her mouth and took a breath to speak, but stopped herself as she recoiled in a guilty cringe.

Celestia sighed and turned her head back to face me and my companions. “You have my word, neither of you will come to harm. You are all safe here.”

Even with the promise, I eyed the purple Alicorn warily before daring to focus on the energy passing through my horn. The ring erupted in sparks. I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my teeth, bracing against the pain as the sparks lashed at my face and mane.

I heard a gasp nearby but did my best to ignore it. I needed to concentrate and the strikes from each spark were already distracting enough. All I wanted to do was stop the flow of magic so I began a mental chant of ‘STOP! STOP! STOP!’.

It took several minutes of constantly thinking the same word before the shield began to weaken. By then, my mental chant was beginning to give me a headache. Keeping my eyes firmly shut, I didn’t notice anyone approach until I felt another horn touch the tip of mine. The instant our horns connected, my magic flow ceased. My muscles were so clenched against the flow that, when it suddenly stopped, I jolted forward.

“Easy now.” Again, the voice of Celestia graced my ears.

I opened my eye and found her smiling as she stood before me in place of Luna who had taken a step aside, her face gripped with concern.

Ignoring them both, I simply tried to steady myself. My head felt oh so very woozy and my body swayed in place.

With my barrier no longer distorting things, both groups could clearly see each other. Everyone grew quiet as each group studied the other from across the small divide. Unsurprisingly, my companions and I warily watched, waiting to be charged at like earlier. No one stepped to close the gap. Instead, it was Luna, who had been examining Aria and Pyrus from afar, who broke the silence.

“Thine companions are…” Luna paused as she looked over at Aria and Pyrus. “Interesting. It hath been many centuries since We have stood in the presence of both Siren and Nightterror.”

She closed her eyes and let out a breath. Her expression softened before she set her gaze on me again. A faint smile graced the corners of her mouth. “To see thou once more.”

Luna cocked her head as she appraised the side of my body facing her; my relatively undamaged side. “A grown mare by non-Alicorn standards…”

She shook her head as regret gripped her expression and breath. “We are greatly pained to have missed thy growth.”

I remained still, my mouth agape and snooter crinkled as I stared at this taller Alicorn in confusion. My left eyelid twitched as I tried to process what was happening, why this Luna was apparently familiar with me and why she was talking in what, even back on my home world, would have been considered an archaic dialect.

Unfortunately, my little moment of mental disconnection dragged on for longer than I intended and, when I noticed the rest of the room again, I found it with a thick air of expectation and silence. Everyone other than my companions were staring at me. Not that I could see Aria or Pyrus beside and behind me as my gaze flittered between the faces of the other ponies before returning to Luna. The dark blue Alicorn had an eager gleam in her eyes and—

My head darted back. Our noses were almost touching. When did she get so close? Glancing at the other ponies on Luna’s side of the room and quickly back, I sucked in a breath and said, “I’m sorry. Am I supposed to know you?”

Even as I continued to speak, I was witness to the soul crushing moment as what joy Luna had displayed slipped away into confusion. The glint in her eyes turned wary before vanishing altogether. The corners of her mouth drooped in question.

“I’ve only been in this world for at most a week,” I said. “If that is even a measure of time here. So, sevenish nights. We lost count when we were captured.”

This brought gasps from the other ponies. Luna’s eyes in particular grew wide.

I flicked my head back to Pyrus. “That’s where we met our Nightterror friend, Pyrus.”

Unfortunately, that movement of my head also brushed my fringe out of my face eliciting another gasp from my non-companions. They could now clearly see the condition of my right eye. To me, it still throbbed but there was next to nothing I could see with it.

All were speechless. I did my best to close my right eye but, as in previous attempts, I couldn’t exactly be sure I’d achieved it.

“Well, if that shocks you, then maybe you shouldn’t see the rest,” I said before turning to show the crowd the rest of my right side. More gasps and I witnessed the yellow pegasus and white unicorn faint away. The orange one removed her hat and pressed it to her chest as she hung her head.

The first to speak wasn’t Luna. She was too busy staring at my injuries in abject horror. Instead, it was Celestia whose voice graced the air with a mix of compassion and regret. “Oh, my little pony. How did you come to be in such a state?”

I explained how Aria and I had suddenly awoken in this world after setting foot on the grounds of Canterlot High School and the simple reason for us to be there; the search for Aria’s two sisters. This was followed by a brief explanation of the events which followed. As I reached the end of my tale, I only hoped it painted Aria, Pyrus and Sickle in such a good light that the purple Alicorn wouldn’t try to charge at anyone again.

Other than the purple one, the smaller ponies appeared somewhat bewildered by my story. Celestia, on the other hoof, cast a smile upon me and my companions laced in a motherly warmth with tinges of remorse.

Luna stood frozen; her eyes wide with horror. She seemed to stare through me in a manner I could only assume I took when processing my thoughts.

It didn’t last long.

The horror in her gaze quickly burned away. She lowered her head and an eruption of rage twisted her face, filling her voice with such strength that her words thundered through the hospital room. “How dare they! We shall make these vile beasts regret ever raising weapon and maw upon mine daughter!”

“Sister,” Celestia said, her voice strong, yet soothing. “Calm yourself.”

I stared at Luna whose head snapped to face Celestia; her teeth viciously bared and eyes alight with an infernal fire. Whatever she said next didn’t register in my ears no matter how loudly she bellowed. My mind was too fixated on another thing she had raged. Daughter? This pony, now the embodiment of wildly raging ferocity, actually thought I was… her daughter?

I blinked and shook my head. My mind quickly ran over the possibility and found nothing. I had never been here in all my years… until right now, of course. I’d travelled alone for as long as I could remember, never once did I recall encountering a place like this.

I chuckled to myself. The entire idea was absurd. I shook my head and said, “You think I’m your daughter?”

Luna’s rage instantly vanished at the sound of my voice. She looked at me, hesitating before giving a small nod of her head.

“Impossible,” I scoffed. “I’m a human.”

This brought a confused look from almost everyone else.

“Well, before I came here,” I clarified.

“It is far from impossible, dear niece.” It was the maternal voice of Celestia again.

I chuckled again. Now she was doing it. “How can you believe her? It’s crazy.”

Celestia, however, shook her head then settled her gaze upon me. It felt like her huge knowing eyes could peer directly into my soul. “It is not so crazy when you take account for the events leading to the disappearance of Princess Selene just over a thousand years ago.”

My chuckles kept coming. “Are you seriously trying to tell me that, not only was I born a female pony when I’ve lived my entire life as a human, but that I’ve also been alive for over a millennium?”

Not even the tiniest pinch of mirth entered Celestia’s words as she began her story. “Part of what I have to say has been embraced by historians in only the past few years as it is wrapped up in the banishment of the being called Nightmare Moon.”

I glimpsed Luna shudder and cringe at the name. Okay, there was clearly some history here. Apparently, Celestia had noticed her reaction as well. The motherly Alicorn approached Luna and tried to ease her thoughts using a rub of her head against Luna’s cheek.

“There is an easier way,” Celestia said, her voice incredibly soothing. She looked to me with a curious, hopeful gaze. “If the young one is willing, of course.”

Luna said nothing. She cautiously raised her head to peer across at me, her eyes reflecting deep pools of sorrow.

I scrunched my snooter warily.

“It would help us to understand many things and may shed light on your origins, dear niece,” Celestia explained, her eyes and smile were big and full of warmth. “We will accompany you and all we will see are your memories. Nothing more. Would you be willing to let us in?”

It was a difficult question to answer. I assumed they would perform magic in order to do it. But allowing access to my memories? I know no one can remember every second from their life, but some of the things I could recall I didn’t exactly want to share. They weren’t bad per-se, just personal.

On the other hoof, it would bring to light things I couldn’t remember. It should also make it clear to these ponies that I was just a human male stuck in a situation beyond my control. Those were some very big positives to the proposal. Ones I found incredibly difficult to overlook. Looking to Celestia again I gave my consent. This brought an incredibly grateful smile from Luna. And I was soon standing with both Alicorns.

“Considering your condition, might I recommend you lay upon the bed?” Celestia suggested.

I didn’t consider the request for long before turning to approach the bed. A strange weightlessness came over me and I found my hooves flailing for purchase on a floor which was getting further away beneath me. That was when I noticed the deep blue aura around my body. I landed on the bed then shot an accusatory glare back at the other ponies with horns. Luna, in particular, looked incredibly sheepish; her horn was aglow with magic.

Snorting my displeasure, I rearranged myself before laying on the bed facing the two Princesses and said, “Ready when you are.”

With that, Celestia and Luna approached me, lit their horns with magic then touched them to my own. The world was instantly washed away. I found myself standing in a dimly lit space. No one else was there until Celestia and Luna first spoke. When they did, they appeared in front of me and explained the truth of where we were.

To my understanding, it was some kind of dreamscape. Normally the home of dreams and nightmares, over which Luna claimed to hold dominion, this one was designed to help sift through the myriad memories lodged within my mind, no matter how deeply they were concealed.

I sucked in a deep breath at that but repeated my agreement to continue the process. The two taller Alicorns moved to stand either side of me, Celestia on my left, Luna to my right, in order to watch what was uncovered with me.

The world before us rippled before bringing a scene into existence. I soon found myself looking into an open stone room devoid of ponies. Thick layers of dust on every surface hinted at how long it had been since any hoof had stepped on the stone flooring. At the centre of the room stood a strange pedestal with five crystal orbs of differing colours on each of its circular platforms. Unlike the rest of the room, the orbs were untouched by the growing dust.

The creak of old hinges made my ears swivel and I turned to see a door partially open. What I saw next left me staring in confusion. An Alicorn filly with coat, mane and tail identical in colour to my own crept into the room. She took a moment to peer nervously back through the open doorway as if checking to see if anyone was following her.

I could hear Celestia and Luna making comment either side of me. I caught a regretful sigh from Luna of her name for me but pushed it all aside. The sight of a much younger version of my current form was too captivating. The filly, Selene, whipped her head around as if she had heard Luna’s voice. Not that she could have. This was just a memory according to Celestia. We had no agency here.

Selene’s huge eyes brimmed with tears. Her chest was heaving and she warily looked about again. She let out a gasp at the sight of the orbs. She spread her leathery wings and threw herself forward in a series of short gliding hops. It was only a few breaths before she skidded to a halt, almost crashing into the base of the pedestal.

Still clearly worried about anyone following her, Selene used her wings to hurl herself onto the top of the pedestal’s central pillar. There she perched herself as she warily eyed each of the entrances. Letting out a shuddering sigh, she plonked her rear heavily onto the top of the pillar then turned her teary gaze to the ceiling.

“Momma?” Selene whimpered. “Momma, we hope thy hear us.”

I tried to be annoyed by her use of archaic speech but little Selene somehow made it endearing. Maybe it was that she wasn’t belting it out like Luna? Maybe it was her fragile pleading voice and form? In a pinch, I’d say it was the latter.

“W-We miss thee, Momma,” Selene continued, her head hanging as the tears dripped from her cheeks onto the floor. “The Castle feels wrong with thee gone. Aunty, sh-she told us why thou went away. We… think we understand.”

Selene shook her head. “Nights are not the same though. We-we try—”

She squeezed her eyes shut and whimper-sobbed a few times. Her voice cracked when she could finally speak again. Her archaic speech fell away as sorrow gripped her tiny form. “I can’t. Momma, I need you!”

I heard a choked sob to my right, where Luna stood, then felt a feathery wing settle on my back. I bristled at the touch but let the wing stay.

“The face on the moon, I can’t look at it,” Selene said. “It hurts so much, Momma. Knowing you are there but can’t come back. The day still tires me, but the night… it isn’t your beautiful night, Momma. It isn’t as bright; the blanket of the sky is no longer warm.”

Selene buried her face beneath her hooves and sobbed. Her voice escaped her throat as a strained whimper. “Momma? Momma? I can’t stay here. Not without you. Please. Please, let me go where I can’t see Momma bound to the moon. It hurts so much.”

A tear slipped free of her cheek and fell, striking the top of one of the coloured orbs. “Momma? I miss you. Please, make it hurt less.”

With a second tear, the orb began to glow. While Selene continued to cry, the other orbs joined the first in releasing their glow. The light of the orbs grew brighter and brighter until they let out a flash of light. Just as soon as the light had appeared, it vanished. The orbs, their magic unleashed, grew cold, losing their colour as they became akin to stone.

A familiar white and pale blue phoenix flew into the room. She squawked and fluttered her wings when she didn’t find Selene. Sickle surveyed the room several times before perching herself on one of the stone orbs and lowering her beak in sorrow.

Luna was whimpering next to me. Mumbling how it was all her fault under her breath. Not knowing the background to her claim, I tried to calm her by moving to press my side against hers, letting her wing curl about my barrel. She may have been strange many times over, but it was beyond my nature to not lend comfort to one who was clearly hurting.

I looked back to the scene in front of us. It hadn’t ended with Selene’s magical disappearance. Instead, we joined her in the light which had otherwise ripped her from existence. Streaks of colour began to encircle the filly, wrapping her in a veritable rainbow of light.

The world slowly came into view while Selene remained cocooned in magic. It wasn’t until we found ourselves in the long grasses of a prairie that the light of the magic began to subside. From it, a young teenage boy emerged, laying amongst the grasses. His skin and hair matched those of my human form. The biggest surprise came in the fact he was dressed in nothing but a hide loincloth.

My mouth dropped open at the sight of the boy. That was a form I knew very well. I felt the breath catch in my throat. I glanced either side to Celestia and Luna. Neither was looking at me. My snooter scrunched with thought. So long as what I was seeing wasn’t being altered in any way, it was now going to be very difficult to argue against anyone who claimed I was Selene.

The scene changed as the boy awoke to his surroundings, bringing forth near countless others. Each scene showed the progress of the world as the boy slowly aged. The coming of others to claim the lands. Never staying in a single place for longer than a decade, the boy witnessed many wars upon the lands on which he found himself. That revelation struck both Luna and Celestia while I watched on.

To me, it was more the memory of the instinct which pushed me to move on, always urging me to seek a new place whenever others would feel more comfortable settling down and growing old. Maybe the near agelessness of my form, which I was now seeing, was a reason for it? Perhaps, on some level, I knew I was better off not watching others age while I would appear to not? It was definitely something to ponder later.

Most of the time the scenes were soundless, just giving us an overview of events. The ones with sound stood out from their importance. Most prominent was the topic the young Monochrome was most asked; how was he so good at the things he did, like crafting things from random junk. I, of course, knew the answer well. I mumbled it even as I heard my human-self utter, “I can’t remember. It just comes to me.”

The truth, however, was what we were watching. I had learned everything over many, many years, none of which I could now remember. That is, except for the most recent moments, culminating in the sight I had witnessed when I encountered Aria for the first time. The man I had confronted and fought to drag from her struggling form. I felt the strength grow within me, a sensation I now equated with the welling of my magic. The man was far bigger than me but what he was doing—

The scene vanished with the wave of a wing from Celestia, replaced with the moment I fell into Equestria with Aria. It was soon followed by our efforts to traverse the floating islands. Even the moment I had accidentally sent Aria sprawling from my first landing attempt.

Celestia’s horn began to glow and the images faded from sight as the dragon dived towards Sickle, Aria and myself. The last images were when my wing and leg were struck and frozen solid by the dragon’s breath then shattering as I struck the ground after falling. Celestia stood before me, her head bowed in thought. I felt Luna close by, her wing still protectively draped across my back.

The imagery may have dissipated, but we remained within the strange world at the edge of my mind. Luna stood beside me mumbling apologies almost continuously.

For her part, Celestia appeared contemplative. I, on the other hoof, found myself mentally swamped by having had so much information and emotion dumped on me from my past.

It was Celestia who let the first clear words slip. “Be it human or pony, you are a very kind soul. With all you have been through and witnessed in such a long life, it speaks volumes of you personally to stand before us as you are. It truly accounts for your scepticism regarding all you have encountered since arriving in Equestria and I commend you for taking such events in stride, no matter the injuries you have incurred.”

I blinked several times, still struggling to process everything I had just witnessed. My mouth began to move before my mind had a chance to catch up. “That… Did all of that really happen?”

Celestia gave a short nod. “As you have witnessed. I do not envy what you must now consider. If you wish it, we will grant you time to decide what you want to do with this new-found information.”

Still not fully aware of my surroundings, my mind was awash with so many memories. I bowed my head to Celestia and stammered, “I-I think I’ll need it.”

I felt Luna’s wing pull me firmly against her side. My body stiffened at the gesture. Luna leaned her head down and rubbed her cheek against mine. I felt a dampness to her fur and assumed she had been crying.

“We shall also give thee time,” Luna whispered, her normally bombastic voice now quavering with emotion. “All the time ye shalt need.”

Luna stood against my side until the empty dreamscape disappeared and we returned to the waking world.

Chapter 7B - What's in a Name? (Non-Con Removed)

I stared at Luna, my shield wavering in strength as my mind shifted focus. I sucked in a deep breath to steady my words. “My name is Monochrome.”

Luna cocked her head to the side and blinked at me several times. She raised her head to tower regally over me.

“We guess,” she said, scrunching her snooter, “it is a serviceable name, just from the sake of appearances. However, it was not the one thou were gifted upon thine birth.”

Celestia must have noticed my physical struggle as she interjected. “Young one, please, lower your shield if you feel it strains you so.”

“Why?” I said, unintentionally snapping at her. I tried to nod at the purple Alicorn. “Th-That one will…”

I blinked hard several times. “Attack m-my friend…”
Even though I had more to say, I watched Celestia startle in surprise at my words. She glanced back at the purple one who opened her mouth and took a breath to speak, but stopped herself as she recoiled in a guilty cringe.