Son of the Moon

"Where...?"

Polaris looked around, observing his surroundings, seeing familiar buildings once again. It was a place he knew all too well, unfortunately.

"I'm back in Rockmount?" He shook his head in an attempt to regain his bearings. He couldn't remember much. The last thing he could recall was his burning fury towards his Aunt Tia. No, former aunt; she was just Celestia to him now. After that, there was a flash of light, and everything after felt like a hazy memory, like a really long dream. He sat down on the ground cross-legged and folded his arms over his chest, his face scrunched up as he tried to recall any sort of memory after that moment. Thinking was never his strong suit, but he expected himself to at least have a better memory than this, especially with something so crucial.

"What... Happened?" He wracked his brain before suddenly, it all came rushing back to him. He had witnessed Celestia use the Elements of Harmony to banish his mother to the moon. "Mom..." He muttered to himself. "If Celestia used the Elements on her, then that flash of light... Did she use them on me, too?" He looked at his surroundings again, seeing the lack of the usual business within the city. "Did she banish me to Rockmount? Why? And where is everypony?" His face began turning a shade of red as he tried to think harder.

Nothing else came to him besides a headache.

"Ugh... My brain wasn't made for all this thinking..." He rubbed his temples as he stood back on his feet. "But this is just like that dream I had while training with Master Zen." He shuddered at the memory of seeing that version of himself caked in blood. "I wonder how the old geezer is doing."

Deciding to push those thoughts to the back of his mind, Polaris made his way through the town, walking at a slow pace to take in the surroundings. There truly were no other living things in the town besides himself. It gave him a great sense of unease, seeing such a normally busy town completely devoid of life. He looked towards the arena, breathing a heavy sigh as he had nowhere else to go, and so made his way there.

He cautiously made his way through the corridor, dreading the idea of what he may see at the end. Nevertheless, he pressed forward; he had to do this. He didn't know why exactly, but he could feel it within his very soul. He needed to confront this. Walking into the arena once more, there he stood at the center once again.

That distorted version of himself, spatters of blood dotting his body. He stood with his back turned to Polaris, as if he had been expecting him and didn't want to show his face. Polaris, this time, was more confident than he was during their first encounter, however.

"Release me." It spoke in that distorted voice. It sounded like his own voice, yet different at the same time.

"W-Who are you!?" Polaris demanded. "Why are you here!?"

"Polaris Starshine." It answered simply.

"YOU'RE NOT ME!" Polaris shouted in anger, his response almost like a reflex.

"The true Polaris Starshine."

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!! YOU'RE NOT ME, YOU CREEPY... THING!!!" Polaris held his head, refusing to accept the duplicate's words. The copy simply remained silent at his outburst. "YOU COULD NEVER BE ME! I'M RIGHT HERE! SO, TELL ME WHO YOU REALLY ARE!!!"

"Polaris Starshine." It answered once again.

"I SAID STOP IT WITH THAT!" Polaris screamed. As he glared daggers at the duplicate, it turned its head towards him, its face completely devoid of emotion, its silver eyes staring into Polaris' own purple ones.

"I am..."

BOOOOOOOM!!!!!

Polaris fell onto his butt at the sound of a loud explosion followed by everything beginning to shake violently. The surroundings were beginning to crumble away around him as he yelled out in fear.

Then everything went black.

As a rainbow-colored shockwave passed over the castle, cracks began to appear upon the chest of the stone prison that housed the moon prince. Slowly, the cracks began to spread across the body, reaching the limbs, and finally the face.

It shattered.

Polaris fell to the ground in a heap, gasping and wheezing. He took in deep gulps of air, his first taste of fresh oxygen in who knows how long. He coughed as he looked at his surroundings. It was an isolated room, apparently, yet the decor didn't match that of the castle he once called home; everything was too brightly colored. He looked down at his hands, clenching them a few times to regain the feeling in his fingers.

Just how long was he out?

He attempted to stand but quickly fell to his knees. Only now did he notice how much his entire body was aching. He wanted to scream in agony from the sudden waves of pain that were hitting him all at once, but he bit his tongue; it was better not to make his presence known, assuming Celestia wasn't aware that he was now free. Memories of his fight against Red Wind played in his mind. Evidently, his injuries hadn't healed at all while he was a statue. Another feeling flooded his mind.

Sadness.

Despite all of his training, how much stronger he had gotten, he still failed in his mission. Red Wind had handily beaten him in only a few attacks, and try as he might, Polaris couldn't even land a single blow. He had never felt so powerless in his entire life, and he hated it.

"Damn it..." Polaris grunted as he punched the floor in anger, tears falling from his eyes and landing on the ground below him. "I couldn't do anything! I'm as useless as I've always been! I don't get what mom saw in me..." He hung his head, crying quietly. "I'm not good for anything but fighting, and I couldn't even do that right when it mattered most."

He gritted his teeth as his sadness slowly began turning into anger. Celestia had banished her own sister, his mother, for wanting the attention that she rightfully deserved. If this was anyone's fault, the blame was hers! His vow to kill his former aunt ringing fresh in his mind, Polaris managed to rise to his feet, ignoring the searing pain coursing through his body every time he moved a muscle. His body would recover. It always did.

"But I can't just rush her," Polaris reasoned with himself. "Even if Red Wind isn't there for whatever reason, Celestia herself is way too strong for me as I am now. Not even adding in my injuries." He groaned as another wave of pain hit him, nearly making his knees buckle. "Gotta find out where I am..."

Polaris steadily made his way to the door, opening it just a crack to peek through and observe. He saw a long hallway, stretching out on both sides of him. This place was definitely bigger than the castle he knew. He wondered how long he was trapped in stone for them to have the time for this much renovation. Thankfully, he saw no guards at the moment, so he made his way down the hall until he came to another door. Slowly, cautiously opening it, he was relieved to see nobody inside.

It looked to be a bedroom, though it looked like it had never once been used since it was built. It almost looked like his old room, but brighter in color. Celestia apparently really liked the color white. Polaris swiftly entered the room, shutting the door behind him. Eyeing the room, he spotted something glistening on the nightstand.

It was his pendant that Luna had given him! But how did it end up here? Polaris pushed the question from his mind as he snatched the pendant, putting it into his pocket before making his way to the window. What he saw was a breathtaking view. Apparently, Celestia had decided to move Canterlot to the mountain that once overlooked the city. He would admit that this was the only good decision that Celestia made. However, as he looked off into the distance, what was supposed to be the old Canterlot was now a dark forest. Well, Canterlot was always surrounded by forest, but it looked even darker and creepier now, or at least from what he could tell at this distance.

"Just what all went on while I was out cold?" He questioned. Looking to the sky, he could see a trio of pegasi in what appeared to be blue jumpsuits fly overhead. "That's new..." He crept over to the door and opened it a bit to peek out. He still saw no guards, so made his way down the hallway, careful not to make a sound. He found it odd that there were none of the Royal Guard present at the moment, at least not in this area of the castle, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"I can't kill Celestia like this. I need to be stronger. Way stronger," He mumbled as he trekked through the many halls of this new castle that he found himself in. As he passed by a window, he paused to look outside. Only this time, he didn't look towards the old Canterlot he once called home. He now looked past that, looking out to the horizon as an idea began forming in his mind. "I'll need to train a lot. And fight a lot to gain experience. I'm kind of curious what Equestria is like now." He chuckled.

"I think it's time I finally get out more like they told me to." Polaris smiled brightly, a flame of determination burning within his eyes just as it had all that time ago.

"Hey!"

Polaris whipped around, spotting a guard approaching from down the hallway. He had a white coat with blue hair and tail that had a streak of lighter blue running through it. From the looks of things, he seemed to be a newer recruit.

"Who are you? State your business," The guard demanded.

"Prince Polaris Starshine, I'm just passing by." Polaris gave a shrug. He hoped that flaunting his title would help him avoid a fight in his current state.

"I've never heard of Equestria having a prince by that name," The guard said with malice. "You're gonna have to come up with a better lie."

So much for that. Apparently, either history had forgotten about him, or Celestia covered up his existence. Polaris leaned towards the latter; he wouldn't put it past her at this point. But just how long had he been sealed away for if everyone forgot he ever existed? He would have to find that out later. Negotiation had failed, and he was too banged up to fight currently. That left only one option.

"Later." Polaris took off in a sprint down the hall. It took the stallion a few seconds to register the sudden departure of the suspicious colt. When he finally realized what had happened, he swiftly gave chase, calling for reinforcements as he did.

Polaris sprinted through the halls as fast as his legs could carry him. he passed by several guards as they began to give chase. His injuries slowed his speed and lessened his stamina, yet he still continued to move through his willpower alone. He wouldn't let them catch him. He couldn't let them catch him. They would surely bring him to Celestia, and it would be all over. She would use the Elements of Harmony on him, turning him to stone once again.

He refused to let that happen.

Polaris swiftly turned a corner before ducking low, two guards who had attempted to tackle him from the front and behind instead rammed into each other. He slid between the legs of another, tripping him and causing to fall into another guard. Polaris jumped towards the wall, kicking off of it to gain height and landing upon the head of one of the many guards in pursuit of him. He began running along the heads of the guards before reaching the other side of the wall of ponies, landing with a roll before continuing his getaway.

"She sure hired a bunch more guards while I was gone. It's like a small army." Polaris began panting as his speed began to slow. His injuries were beginning to wear him down, sapping his stamina at a faster rate than he had anticipated. "Damn it... Not now..." He began to stumble, leaning against a wall. His vision started swimming as he fought off the allure of unconsciousness. At least it looked like he had lost the guards for now. As his eyes began to close, he could hear footsteps from around the corner. As he saw the figure responsible for the sound, his eyes shot wide open.

Celestia.

This was absolutely the worst-case scenario. He saw that Celestia seemed to be escorting a lavender unicorn filly around the castle. Had she adopted a child of her own? Polaris held his breath as they passed by him, thankfully not noticing the prince. He let out a sigh of relief.

"There he is!"

"Oh, come on..." Polaris groaned as he heard the sound of dozens of feet approaching him. Mustering every last bit of energy that he could, Polaris got back to his feet. But this was definitely a problem. He knew he couldn't run forever, and he had no idea what the layout of this place was. However, eyeing the nearby window, a lightbulb flickered in his head as he formed a plan. It was definitely going to hurt, though. Sprinting towards the window, he took one last look at Celestia.

For a fleeting moment, less than a second, his eyes met those of the filly.

There was a loud crash as the window shattered, Polaris having jumped through it. He looked at the ground far below him, instantly regretting his decision. They had been in one of the highest floors of the whole castle, and Polaris now found himself freefalling from a couple hundred feet in the air. He desperately wished he were a pegasus right about now. He looked to his left and right, seeing a couple of the pegasi among the guard that divebombed after him. Polaris gained an impish grin; he could use this.

Grabbing both of the guards, Polaris swiftly knocked their heads together, the surprise attack knocking them both out cold. He forcefully unfurled their wings and held the two guards above his head, using them as gliders. He soon landed on a clothesline and slid along it, dropping the guards as he did; they would survive such a low drop. Polaris jumped from the clothesline to the rooftops, making his way towards the mountain the city was built upon. He looked behind him to see a few guards on his tail. They wouldn't be for long.

Polaris took a big leap, planting his feet on the side of the mountain. He began sliding down the side of the mountain, not caring if it ruined his shoes in the process. His shoes quickly wore down in no time, leaving Polaris sliding on his bare feet, though he ignored the pain as he looked back and stuck his tongue out at the guards. He doubted they could see it, but it just felt nice to do.

From the castle, a lone figure watched Polaris' escape through a window. "So, he was freed early. Probably that explosion that jostled him awake."

"You seem antsy today." Celestia giggled.

"It's nothing." He shrugged, turning away from the window.

"I would like you to meet my new personal student, Twilight Sparkle." Celestia gently pushed the lavender filly forward.

"A student, hm? Never thought I would see the day, Your Majesty." He teased.

"She has astounding magical potential," Celestia said with a smile, showing her pride. Twilight fidgeted nervously beside her.

"Well, then, Twilight Sparkle." He bowed in respect. "Greetings. My name is Red Wind, Princess Celestia's personal guardian."

Polaris' sprint had slowed to a crawl as he now made his way through the forest that once housed Canterlot. He took deep, labored breaths, each intake of air causing pain to his chest. Still, he refused to stop moving until he was absolutely sure that he was safe. He was thirsty. He was hungry. He was lonely. He had grown so accustomed to having love from his mother that he had forgotten what it was like to live without it.

He hated it with every fiber of his being.

He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he wanted nothing more than to feel the warm embrace of his mother again. In the distance, through the fog, he could make out a familiar shape: the castle. But it was in ruins. Nobody had taken care of it for so long that it had become completely uninhabitable. But Polaris didn't care. He was home.

Weakly, he pushed the door open. Besides the added dust and spiders, as well as the crumbling walls, everything was the same. He made his way up the stairs and down the hallway, entering his own room. It was completely untouched.

"I'm... Home..." He mumbled, a weak smile on his face as the adrenaline left his system.

Polaris fell forward, collapsing to the ground.