Episode 3: The Swordsman and Dreamscape of Memories

It was the turn of Scootaloo to take guard in front of Canterlot High, and as she expected, it was really boring. She couldn't understand why someone like her – that was trained by the strongest and coolest person of Canterlot – had to do a meaningless task such as to guard the entrance of the school when, inside, it had many strong people.

"HELP!"

A scream for help called Scootaloo attention, making her stead her posture and stand up from her comfortable position lying in the step of the stairs with her trusted quarterstaff.

"HELP!"

She heard again, and now she was certain that the voice was from her former teacher, Cheerilee. She knew that Cheerilee had been out with the boring kid, but for her to scream like that something bad must have happened.

Looking around she quickly found the former teacher as she was running with tears in her eyes, but the kid was not there. So, with a fast movement, she reached Cheerilee as she almost fell to the ground.

"Teacher, what happened?"

It was obvious that Cheerilee was not accustomed to running like that, she couldn't even speak between the need to catch her breath and the sobs of fear.

"WE (sob) WERE ATTACKED (sob) MOONIE STOOD BEHIND!" - and with an unexpected movement, Cheerilee grabbed Scootaloo's shoulders as a stream of tears falls onto her cheeks -
"PLEASE... help..."

Cheerilee didn't need to say no more; Scootaloo then helped her former teacher to stand and gave her a big smile, the same Rainbow Dash would give her when trouble appears.

"Cheerilee, don't worry, everything will be okay" - Scootaloo then pointed inside the school with a finger as she took a running stance - "Tell the crusader that we have a mission of rescue; I'm going on ahead."

"Wait... are you going alone?"-Cheerilee asked.

"Of course, I'm the second coolest person here, I can do it!"

And Scootaloo started running, faster than any normal person could, and with each steep she could not hold her smile; not only she could prove to be great as Rainbow Dash, but she could slip out of that boring guard post and rescue that smug ass kid.

* Yeah* - She thought while running in the direction from where Cheerilee came - *it will be easy*

Darkness, darkness everywhere.

Moonshine felt as if he was falling down an infinite abyss of blackness for the longest time.

* Maybe I'm dead* - he thought as his body felt lighter and lighter - *or dying...*

Regret was the only thing in his mind, he couldn't protect anyone, not even himself. It hurt him to admit it, but there was no way he would deny himself the truth – even if he would never admit it to others. He was weak.

"Child of the Moon, stop right now with this pathetic way of thinking"

It was a woman's voice, beautiful and terrifying at the same time. That voice was one that Moonshine had heard before, a long time ago, from the lips of his mother. Maybe his mind was trying to play some tricks on him.

"No, I am not a figment of your foolish imagination."

* What? How can this be possible? *

"Oh, Son of the Moon, you know nothing about this world" - The voice continued, without a tinge of the recent outburst- "But you are right, you ARE weak... just like YOUR MOTHER"

*I can be weak, but WHO ARE YOU TO TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER! * Anger swell in Moonshine’s mind as he tried to scream within his own thoughts - *DON'T YOU DARE TO TALK ABOUT HER! *

A laughter echoed in the world of darkness that Moonshine was falling, growing in an almost maniac tone; what made Moonshine even more angry.

"YOUR MOTHER WAS A FOOL, AND SO ARE YOU!" - exclaimed the Voice - "BUT WHY TELL YOU THIS, WHEN I CAN SHOW!"

The world around Moonshine started to spin and get white, blinding him. He could no longer feel his body or the falling sensation; he knew something far different was going to help.

And as Moonshine felt an energy building inside him, he heard the voice one last time.

"Welcome, Moonshine, to your NIGHTMARE!" - With the maniac laugh at the end, fading slowly as his mind drifted away.

Moonshine opened his eyes, and for a moment he looked around. He was inside what looked like a cozy home, with a wooden wall covered in photos of his mother, his aunt and some of the people who studied in her school.

* The old home...* Moonshine thought, but his mind stopped with what he saw next.

From where he was, he could see the fireplace where his mother was with his aunt and their assistant, Ms Raven Inkwell, chatting intensive about something he couldn't hear.

He wanted to go there, to talk to his mother and aunt about what was going to happen, but he couldn't move. Only then he understood what the voice said about showing him – he was stuck inside the body he had when he was only ten-years-old; stuck as a spectator reliving the nightmare that haunted him every night... but now he could feel everything the same way he felt on that fateful day.

* No...* - He thought as his ten-year-old self approached his mom. - *PLEASE, STOP! FOR EVERYTHING THAT IS SACRED, STOP! *

The strange voice didn't come back no matter how many times Moonshine pleaded, so with a painful resignation, Moonshine accepted his role as just an observer.

Moonshine ran to his mother's, skipping some step as he swung a wooden sword he had got for his birthday. He could hear his mother talking to his aunt about something, but that was nothing compared with the amazing skill he had learned.

"Tia, this is nonsense!" - Luna boomed to his sister - "If you do this, you will be sacrificing EVERYTHING!"

"Lulu..." - Celestia had a somber tone in her word, making even the child mind of Moonshine understand the heaviness of her words - "Even if I go, you would still be here, there's twilight, Cadence and our little Moonshine".

Both sisters stared at each other as the silence settled in, and standing in between the sister was Ms Raven, faking fixing her glasses as to not get involved in the argument. And yet, both looked at her for an opinion—which made her put a hand in the stomach and run to the toilet.

Just as Ms Raven left , Luna looked at her sister again.

"But Tia... -" - she was going to argue but was cut short by an energetic voice.

"Mom, look, I learned a new move! Look!" - he started to swing the wooden sword left and right, showing all his prowess.

"Moonie, I'm talking to your aunt now" - Luna looked at his blue eyes and smiled - "You can show me all your skills later, okay?"

"Who would think that my tough sister would be a mama bear?" - Celestia smirked as Luna showed her the finger - "Maybe one day he will be as strong as you..."

"I WILL BE THE STRONGEST, Mom, this is a promise!" Moonshine spoke happily as he projected his chest to look bigger, which made both women laugh at the little one's antics.

"Okay, okay; Moonshine, I'm pretty sure you will be really strong" - Celestia spoke as Luna put a hand in Moonshine's back - "But for now, let's eat a cake and..."

The air grew heavy as the sisters looked at each other's eyes, Moonshine didn't know what it was, but he felt an uneasiness he couldn't control.

"RAVEN, COME NOW!" - Luna shouted again, louder than the first time "COME QUICKLY!"

"LUNA, I WILL GO AHEAD..." - Celestia spoke in an urgent tone, drawing her saber and running to the exit door- "COME AS SOON AS MOONSHINE IS SAFE."

Raven Inkwell returned to the room, her hair a mess, and looking at the situation she quickly understood what was happening, hugging Moonshine from behind. Luna didn't lose any time, smiling at her son as she drew her sword and followed her sister.

"Moonshine, don't worry" - Spoke Raven in a calm tone, as she carefully stroked the kid's shoulders - "Your mother and aunt are really strong"

"I know right!" - Moonshine spoke confidently, a smile shone in his face - "They are the strongest, Mom IS the strongest!"

"True... I really believe no creature in this land could defeat them normally..." - Explosions and screams could be heard coming from outside the house, Moonshine then tried to escape Raven's hands to see the action, but her grasp was strong, almost hurting him.

" Raven, what are you doing?"- the pain from Raven's grip was increasing rapidly, and when Moonshine was reading himself to argue with her, he felt a slime and long "thing" passing through his cheeks.

When he turned his face, what he saw made him open his eyes at their maximum. Ms Raven was there, but her face was all wrong.

From her mouth a serpentine like tong swung, dripping a green like drool all over him; her skin was all cracked, letting Moonshine seen a black armor-like thing beneath; her eyes were slit and a shinning green glow escaped from there; but what fright him more was the enormous fangs protruding from her mouth.

"You are right, Moonshine, they are powerful" - Spoke the Raven-Thing, her voice with a strange effect as if many were speaking at the same time - "That's why I needed to sent all my hive to give me the distraction that I needed."

"Wha-" - Moonshine did not have time to finish his sentence as the monster trowed him in the left wall of the house, blanking his mind. After that, the Raven-Thing approached him, passing its finger on his face.

"You'r luck, I like my meat a little more... seasoned" - Raven-thing then spoke something that Moonshine couldn't hear, and from behind him tendrils of a black substance passed around his body and mouth, binding and muting him. - "I will eat you when you have a little more magic, but for now, let's continue with the plan..."

With a devilish smile, the thing looked in moonshine eyes and, in a blink of an eye, engulfed itself in a green like flame. Moonshine couldn't believe his eyes.

Where once stood Raven-Thing, now a perfect copy of Moonshine stood, but with some bruises on its flesh. The only similarity between the two forms being the devilish smile and the evil green glows in the eyes.

"Now" – spoke the thing with Moonshine Voice – "Let's finish this..."game"of ours; right, my little Moonshine" And the thing laughed, slowly walking to the center of the room.

When it finally reached its intended spot, it raised its right arm in the direction of the right wall, and a giant ball of green fire erupted from its hand and longed forward.

The explosion that preceded was enormous, lifting a cloud of smoke and ashes all around the place; even so, Moonshine could still see the thing in the center of the room as it opened its mouth.

"MOM, HELP!" - The thing screamed in a fake distress - "MOM!"

And from between the smoke she came, shrouded in a soft blue glow as she flew with open arms to her son.

Moonshine could see the worry and fear in her eyes, but no matter how he tried to shout, to scream to her about the abomination that took his place; only silence in tears remained.

And, in front of Moonshine's eyes, his mom was impaled by the black insectoid arm of the monster as it was slowly unveiling its true form.

The scene froze, as if the time had stopped at that horrible moment. But now, Moonshine was free.

Anger swelled in the young man's mind as his fury was directed at the voice who threw him in this painful memory. His will was so strong that it manifested a "body" so he could finally speak.

"WHY" - Moonshine boomed - "WHY DID YOU MAKE SEE THIS?!"

The images in the memory started to get blurry, except for Luna; in her case, her hair started flowing as if made of fog. From her Moonshine heard his answers.

"To remember you the reason you fight."

Moonshine was speechless, the horror to see his mother die was one thing, but to witness her body be used by "something" was even worse.

His terror was so great, he didn't notice as a misty form creeping behind, only to twist around his mind-body, restraining him.

"Wha-"

"Hear me, Son of Moon" - The voice spoke from everywhere and nowhere at the same time - "I'm the spirit that dwells inside the blade of the Darkmoon"

Moonshine attention and fear grew, he never knew that something like this was possible, and if something like that existed in the sword of his mother, it was nothing good.

"You are chosen as a successor of the covenant of the night" - The fog thing around Moonshine's body tightens - "No matter what, the pact of souls must start."

Moonshine eyes widened as the voice boomed.

"NOW!"

And Moonshine screamed.

Author's Note

So, I kinda need a feedback...
See, i have been using another color to write when the POV change between the characters, but what you all think about it?

Should i just stick to more neutral color or maybe i can go nuts? or even, just write who is the POV and be done with it.

Any feedback is welcome.

I Will love any feedback.