Hear the voices of Samuel/HTVO: Arc 1: Samuel

Chapter 39: I'll be back

(My little pony is owned Hasbro and Lauren Faust, OCs belong to their rightful owners. Enjoy!)

Finally, the sun was able to rise into the sky. Though, the mushroom cloud was still in the sky, it was still able to rise and cast a radiant ray of light upon the world. Little Strife glanced up at the sky surprised that the sun was able to come up. It had to mean that Celestia was all patched up and able to use her magic. Looking to his right, he watched Fluttershy teaching ducks how to swim. He believed that it was odd how ducks couldn't swim, but that was soon changed when he found out that these ducks had no mother to teach them how to swim. He felt bad for the ducklings; he knew what it was like to be motherless. Quietly sighing, he looked at the pond in front of him. He felt relaxed for once in his life.

"Strife, are you okay, you seem tired?" Fluttershy asked, trotting to him with baby ducks following her behind.

Strife glances at her and nods his head, before he looks back up at the sky. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath feeling the wind brush through his mane. "Yeah, I'm kind of tired." He said looking at her. "How's the ducklings, can they swim yet?"

"Not yet, but they are close. I think that if I continue to encourage them to paddle their feet in the water, maybe then, they'll learn how to swim without my guidance." Fluttershy said looking at the baby ducklings playing with one another. She smiled softly and glanced at Strife who went back to starring at the sky. Something seemed quite odd about Strife. She never saw him this calm before. Usually he would tend to always be in a hurry. He was quite busy handling cult activity and never had a chance to relax and take a break. She guessed that perhaps this time of the day he felt at peace letting as much stress that he had fall off his haunch shoulders.

Strife slowly smiled as he let the air he breathed in out. Fluttershy sat by his side, laying her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and started humming a soft song. Her pink tail wrapped around his gray tail, as her right wing lay on his back. Strife’s eyes slowly open, taking in the small rays of light from the sun. The mushroom cloud meant nothing to him as he let his mind wander off into peace. The only things he paid attention to were Fluttershy, the blue sky, the pond, the grass, and the ducklings.

"Matrem, ut sis mihi ponere venisset? (Mother, may you please lay a blanket on me?) Potuistis cantare mihi iuvante sequi ad adiuvandum me dormitis? (Could you sing me a lullaby to help me sleep?) Planeta volutat sub tuo nocte (The planet revolves under the night), dae tuetur a sole lumen (as the sun protects it from the demons with its light). Sub custodia nocte dormiam (Tonight I shall sleep under your protection), dum caritate fulgentes in me (while you glittered me in your loving affection). Goodnight, mater mea die ac nocte (Goodnight, my mother of the night)." Fluttershy sung.

A glowing circle with six triangles forming one large triangle in the center appeared on her wings. Small bright tendrils formed out of the glowing circle extending outward into the air. They soon wrapped around each other and morphed into two pairs of massive white wings that had a pink trail from the end of her wings, all the way to her back. When they opened wide, while shedding glowing white feathers, they were larger than any wing pony wings would usually be. Fluttershy's eyes were glinting like sparkling diamonds every time the rays from the sun pass by her eyes.

This state she was in was her sin state but had a more heavenly look to it. She was a peaceful mare that believed fighting was no way to solve anything. Unlike her friends' sin modes, hers alone only gave her energy and abilities that a white mage would have such as healing. Strife and Nocta Deae are the only ones that seen her in this state. Whenever she is in her state, she would be called Madre Terra, due to her loving affection towards nature and its inhabitants. She was the mother of earth that would protect and discipline her children, like her animals.

Strife's eyes slowly closed again. He enjoyed Fluttershy's small lullaby that Nocta Deae had taught her. The "Lullaby for a Raven" was one of his favorite lullabies he once heard Nocta sing when he was young. Hearing Fluttershy singing part of the lyrics reminded him about the good times in his past. He wishes that he could stay like this with Fluttershy for the whole day. But he knew that was not going to happen. He still had to do his job of protecting as many ponies as he could from any threat.

"This feeling, I've never felt this so calm in so long." Strife said smiling again.

When Strife was still a colt

Dexilus and Strife were sitting together at a table inside a diner. The both of them were eating ice cream in a cup with a cherry on top and a straw by the side. Today was Strife's birthday and the day of mother's passing. The father and son did their best to spend a wonderful day together without having to be reminded of Timid. So far everything was going perfectly swell. Dexilus was able to take Strife to many places like the amusement park, R'yleh, Yesahphir Campground, any many other places he enjoyed going to.

Strife licked his lips starring at his ice cream. Picking it up, he tosses the straw away at started stuffing his hungry face in the strawberry banana nut ice cream. Dexilus looked at his son oddly surprised that he would resort to using his face to eat instead of the straw. Seeing him resort to this way of eating this way made him chuckled. When Strife finished his meal, he looked up at his smiling father and smiled sheepishly at him.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist it." Strife said.

Dexilus pats Strife on the head and continues to chuckle. "It's alright, I did the same thing when I found out it was my birthday. Just be glad Erebos and Lyncro weren't around today or you'll find yourself having brain freeze for the next few weeks." He said, folding his hooves around the back of his head. "Are you enjoying your birthday, Strife?"

Strife nodded his head happily. He started to stare down his father's ice cream, licking his lips in the progress. It was a double chocolate chip, one of his favorites. Dexilus noticed Strife gazing at his meal, so he nudged it towards him with his hoof allowing Strife permission to have it. Just like the other ice cream, Strife shoved his face into the tasty, sweet cream, frosted milk. To the alicorn's surprise, he didn't get a brain freeze. Perhaps it was luck that he didn't get one. But that luck soon changed when Strife's eyes widened. He clutched his head and groaned. His eyes squinted while he dripped some ice cream. Dexilus busted into a fit of laughter as his son groaned unpleasantly.

"Not funny, dad!" Strife said pointing at him.

Dexilus stopped laughing and looked at his son smiling. He levitated a small napkin towards Strife’s face, wiping away the ice cream. "Not my fault, Strife. Next time don't shove your face into the ice cream." He said levitating the napkin back onto the plate after cleaning Strife's face. "Unless you plan on becoming a clown in the future."

"No!" Strife yelled glaring at Dexilus.

Dexilus laughs and says, "I'm kidding runt, sheesh you’re so easy to trick."

"That was a cruel joke." Strife said pouting as he looked away with his nose pointed high in the air.

"Well Strife, what do you want to do next? We still have the rest of the day free." Dexilus asked.

Strife started to think of something else to do. They already had been to all of the funniest places known to pony and divine god. So far he couldn't think of anywhere else to go. Looking at his father calmly, he shrugged his hunched shoulders. "Beats me, hmm, how about you tell me a story?" He asked causing Dexilus to look at him surprised.

"A story, from me?" Dexilus asked earning a nod from Strife. "Well okay, what do you want it to be?" He asked.

"A story about the moon." Strife said smiling.

"The moon..." A quick, split second image of Timid's smile flashed through Dexilus’ eyes. He shook his head a little earning a confused look from Strife. Looking at his son again, he quickly thought of an excuse to ease down his son's worries. "Don't worry runt, that was just a headache I got by watching you get a brain freeze." He lied but Strife easily fell for it and gritted his teeth at his father.

"Hey, I'm not a runt." Strife said through his angry tone.

"I'm kidding, sheesh; you're so easy to fool." Dexilus said chuckling. "Alright, sit back runt and listen to me about the story of the moon. Now, once upon time there was a kingdom on the moon that ruled it with an iron hoof. There was no war and no threats made amongst the kingdom called Jūno. The ponies lived in an economically peaceful society. There was no pony that was poor nor rich excluding the rulers, but they split their money with their citizens. The rulers of Jūno were King Nexusix and King Syndixcates. They were brothers who both enjoyed learning about the astronomical and universal cycles that revolved around their planet."

"They wanted to explore the multiverse, just so they could learn what goes on in other planets, inhabited or not. Eventually they came across this planet which was 180,000,000 miles away from theirs. The kings wanted to visit this world, so they started to work on projects that would get them there. They had speeches given out to their subjects, enlightening them of the wonderful news of their planet's long distance cousin. They were all happy of this new and remarkable discovery and started working on the projects their kings made. After twelve years, they made a ship and had it go to this world. Mind you, Strife, they were very advanced in their technology." Dexilus said earning a nod from Strife who was happily quiet.

Taking a moment to breathe, Dexilus continued his story telling, "Now, when the ship got to this world, it was devoid of life forms similar to them. All that they found were grass, trees, mountains, water, and so much more that we see today. There were also mythical creatures like griffins and dragons, but they were all separate from each other in their lands. Now the ponies that had landed on the planet decided to mark a large part of land before doing research on other species. After they gained enough information about these species, they concluded they were the only ones that inhabited the planet; they both went back to their planet. The information received from the ponies that entered into this world made the kings happy. So, they had their subjects make a lot of rockets." He said.

"So what happened after they made a lot of rockets?" Strife asked.

"They all went into this world and had towns and kingdoms built. The rest of the rulers became aware of their landmarks. Some kings negotiated with the brothers into building places for them. The brothers agreed to their requests and were praised for their skills in craftsmanship. But there were a few kings that only wanted the technology the brothers had for war. Of course they were denied, for you see Strife, they were peaceful and friendly negotiates. When you try to negotiate with them involving violence of any kind they would not agree to any deal with you at all. No king could harm them or even frame them because the kings they made friends with wouldn't allow any sort harm toward them. And so, the two kings and their pony subjects ruled their land in peace and harmony." Dexilus said smiling.

"What kind of ponies were they?" Strife asked.

"King Nexsusix is a unicorn and his brother is an earth pony." Dexilus answered.

"I like the story, would you mind telling me another one?" Strife asked excitingly.

"Heh, sure runt, now let's see, once upon time..."

Current Timeline

"That story..." Strife was shocked that he still remembered the moon pony story his father had told him long ago. "I can't believe I still remember it."

"Remember what, Strife?" Fluttershy asked, gazing at him with curiosity.

"A story, that my dad once told me when I was a young colt." Strife said, glancing at her.

"Was it...bad?" She asked timidly.

"No...it was...alright. It kind of loosened up some stress in me, allowing some air to breathe without being strangled by problems." He answered calmly.

"Well that's good to hear." She said smiling happily at Strife. To hear him feel relieved from his stress made her happy because that means that he’s coming closer to gaining peace for himself. He noticed her smile and blushed. He was confused about her smile towards him, unaware of the inner peace he had accomplished with himself. Deciding to let it slide, he went back to looking at the sky, smiling softly. Fluttershy smiled and laid her head back down on his shoulder starring at the sky.

"Strife?" She whispered.

"Yeah?" He responded.

"When you go...will you...come back?" She asked.

Strife shuts his eyes and says, "Fluttershy..." He reopened them and looked at the pond spotting the baby ducklings swimming in the pond together. "I'll be back."