Beaten in the Twilightby Total HoundChaptersNightmaresLunch Recollection Nightmares"No, Don't!" you screamed at the top of your lungs, but it was to late, a sharp crack peirced through the air like it was nothing but paper causing your whole body to flinch as the now lifeless body of your sister slumped to the floor. She was dead, at the hands of your own Mother. Not knowing what to do and filled with unbelievable pain and rage you grabbed a knife hidden under your left wing and ran towards your monster of a mother as fast as you can go, when you reach your target you jump high in the air and land hardly on her head, causing her to slump lifelessly down to the ground with a resounding thud. You should have stopped there, but your sister meant the world to you. She was always there for you, always. So, without thinking, you drive the twelve inch blade deep into her skull enjoying the now permanent look of shock on her face as she finally gets what she deserved. Your Mother was a horrible person, always pushing you and your sister to do painful, unspeakable, deeds to each other (not sexual things at least, both you and your sister were still virgin, somehow), and never giving you a break from her relentless torturing and abuse. The complete opposite of your sister. Felling satisfied in a strange way, you get off your mother and run over to your sister, now in a pool of her own blood. You carefully dragged your dead sister out of her blood, held her in your front hooves and began to cry, hard. Your sister was perfect, in every way, she was a pegasus like yourself, but she was taller (by about a foot), and had beautiful hazy blue eyes which always seemed to sooth even your parents rage from time to time. Her coat was a golden shade of yellow with a small black pattern on her flank in the shape of a skull which hid her cutie mark (which was a shimmering blue heart that represented her ability to calm even the fiercest rage if you recall correctly). Her mane was candy cane red with golden yellow highlights, while her tail was a slightly darker candy cane red with a small chunk at the end of her tail that was pitch black. She was always kind to you, no matter what. Even when your mother made her whip your wings to the point where they would bleed, she would run over to you the minute your mother left and cry on your shoulder begging you to forgive her for what she had done to you. You were also really fond of your sister because she and you had to share a one pony bed growing up, normally one of you would sleep on the floor (almost always your sister, she insisted), but in the winter months, or when you had a nightmare she would wrap you in her wings and preen your wings and coat until you fell back to a comfortable sleep that wasn't full of nightmares, then she would stay the night in bed. She was like a mother, the best mother in the world, and you didn't know what you would be like without her. Then suddenly you felt something hard connect with the side of your head. You had been so busy mourning, you had failed to notice the dark figure approaching. You felt dizzy, and your head hit the ground with a hard THUD! You wake up with a large amount of pain on the right side of your head, and you realize that it had been a nightmare. A nightmare that was all too accurate to your actual past, leaving you cold and sweaty. You cautiously hold a hoof top your head and feel a sharp pain, causing you to pull your hoof away revealing a nasty blood pattern on your hoof, you quickly reach into your bag, pulling out a large stained cloth and place it on the side of your head. It was then that you realized that the spell that had been hiding the crystal on your forehead had ceased to work, most likely because that spell required a lot of energy. Something that you didn’t have enough of right now to hide your crystal, your wings on the other hand did disappear when you cast the spell. Personally I prefer hiding the crystal, but this will have to do for now, I'll just move my forelock so it covers it. You did have peice of jewelery that made the crystal look like it was decorative, but sadly you didn't have it with you at the moment. Sighing and fiddling with your forelock, you look around your small box car and quickly find what you hit your head on, a large, thin piece of metal that holds up your seat on the train. Feeling a bit light headed, you peer out the window of the train car to view your destination rapidly approaching, Las Pegasus. One of the most dangerous and advanced cities in all of Equestria. Las Pegasus was known for its long history of violence, gangs, prostitution and torture rings. Torture rings fit their name to a T. If you were unlucky enough to get caught in one, you would experience some of the most intense torture in any way, shape or form imaginable. Most of these horrible organizations were run by some of the meanest ponies you could imagine, while others were just trying to make a good sum of cash. For you, your father was the owner of the most dangerous torture ring in the world, The Anti-Marks, and you are the Ringleader. The Ringleader, is the second highest member of a Torture ring, his or her job is top walk around the inside of the ring and torture the ponies in it. You hated to do this, but you had to because if you didn't, you would be the one being tortured. The reason behind this trip to the horrible city, your father got in trouble with the National Guard when he kidnapped one of their best soldiers. What was his name again, Glistening armor or something like that, you weren't too sure, but god was he a pain in ass to tie up. You had been moving around a lot because of the National Guard, your dad was 3rd on the most wanted list, and you were 8th! None of this has anything to do with the trip though, the reason you hadn't moved with him is that he sent you to Fillydelphia for some "special training". Your life is actually pretty boring aside from the occasional thrill of being hunted down by somepony who wanted to try to get back at you for hurting somepony that they knew, or the guard. You'd think this would be fun, and at first, it kinda is, but then it loses the enjoyment after they start to break down in tears. Don't take this the wrong way, you still hated it. "On the plus side, at least I look pretty good in a tight, leather outfit and I'm in excellent shape to boot. Nopony is better with hoof weapons than me, but I take particular pride in my whipping skills, and the fact that I can perfectly balance myself on my hindlegs so I can walk, run, and even use my front hoofs to hold, throw or whip things with perfect accuracy." You always thought about this just before you went into the ring for a show to try to distract yourself from whatever horrible thing you were doing to somepony, but it never worked. Every performance was the same, you ended up getting sent backstage halfway through the performance and you father took you place. "I wish I didn't have this stupid gem." you said to yourself, then you thought about what was wrong with it. Nothing came to mind, you have a huge magical font, can fly (you are pegasus after all), and you can use magic. "Actually, I'm glad that I have this thing, I'm not glad about what I do for a living." you decided this just as the train to pull into the station. You put on your saddlebag and various holsters and left the train. As you left the station you heard somepony call out your name, by pure instinct and personal experience you whipped yourself around to confront the source of the sound, your hoof just inches away from the concealed throwing knife under your right wing. You grabbed the knife (god knows how), then you froze dead, because the voice that had spoken your name belonged to... End of chapter 1 Lunch Lunch "Dad" the words fell out of your mouth much like the knife that fell out of your hoof. Falling towards the ground, before you quickly dropped your wing to catch it, which resulted in the knife landing quietly in its holster. As you lifted your wing back up you found yourself being stared at by the piercing gaze that was your father’s eyes. "Son" in your mind you grimaced at the word "it’s been to long since I last saw you outside the ring. How was your training session in Fillydelpia?" You shuddered at the mention of that putrid city and all the horrible things that you had done there. You knew that you father wanted you to tell him that it was a great trip, but you also knew that he wanted you to be completely honest with him. gotta think fast. "I was best in class for the whole session, they even let me be the ringleader for almost all of the demonstrations." you calmly explained "In fact, they want me to go back next session as an official demonstrator. They even offered to pay me to come back." your father stared at you as though you were a supermodel asking to be starred in his next show for free, you didn't like that. After a minute of him constantly staring at you, you decided to him the evil eye, and you're really good at giving people the evil eye. Nopony could scare a pony to the point where they wet themselves but you. Finally though, your father backed down, giving you nothing but a shrug and an invitation "Come on, let's talk over lunch." You nodded, and hesitantly began walking beside him. Him being what he is of course. This little scene with you and your father has happened a few times to many. He gets ran out of town and sends you to an academy for something stupid that he thinks is important until he's settled down in a new town. Then, he calls you back to whatever town he's in now and buys you lunch, acting like a half good father the entire meal. You were eating lunch in front of what appeared to be a thirty foot tall wine bottle that had been turned into a restaurant. Tipsy Top. You thought to yourself. I think that name fits quite nicely. Lost in your own thoughts, you failed to recognize the food that was sitting in front of you. Dad seems pretty calm right now. Maybe he's been drinking, the last time I saw him this calm was when he drank six cans of beer. One can only hope this means he's turned over a new leaf and is now working at gay bars or in pornos. Then, why would he need me here? The only thoughts that came to mind were incredibly horrifying and perverted, you shuddered at the thought of being sexually tortured by your father. In public no less! If he tries that, I’m kicking him in the balls. Because I am not losing my virginity to my father! You shuddered again this time because of the fact that your father would probably think of that. Apparently you father noticed your slight shudder, because in a heartbeat he looked at you with actual concern on his face.Maybe he has turned over a new leaf. Son?" he asked, "Yes dad?" "Your flank's still blank. Plus you look a little pudgier than you did when you left. Did they not work you hard enough at that training session?" Nope, he hasn't changed at all. Well, at least he asked. "They only let us do anything in the ring for about a half hour at a time, and that was only like, four, maybe five times a day. Don't worry though, if you let go back next year I'll be a demonstrator and they're working in the ring almost fourteen hours a day." You replied calmly. In all honesty, they really didn't do anything useful in those lessons, you just wanted to go back so you could be away from your father for a month. You father looked somewhat annoyed at your statement about the training, but he quickly shrugged it off. "Well, I'm sure you'll be able to work it off in maybe a week or two, but for tomorrow nights show, be sure to cinch your fat ass up tight." "I'll keep that in mind father" you replied, a bit shocked to see that he would say such a thing in public, but then again, he was your father after all. You ignored the statement about the blank flank because you really didn't care anymore, after being bugged about it for your entire life the phrase "blank flank" didn't even register in your head anymore. You had not gained your cutie mark yet, despite all the painful things that your father made do to try to earn it. In all honesty though, you really didn't care that your flank was blank, it just made it easier to get a job. If a worker didn't know what their special talent was, an employer would be more willing to hire you because it meant you could be trained to become a master at your job. Even if it wasn't your special talent, it would give the employer hope that it might be. "This place is boring, let's go to my house." your dad commands in a slightly tipsy voice. oh yeah, he's definitely drunk You nod, and get up to leave, waiting beside your father until he starts walking to seemingly nowhere in particular, so you simply fell into step behind him, ignoring the fact that he had put you in this situation more than once. It's to bad that guard managed to escape though, I actually kinda liked Manehatten. You quickly put on your saddlebags and left the restaurant, slowly making your way down to an old alleyway. It was about five minutes after you left the alleyway, and had just begun making your way across a surprisingly open field (well, open for Las Pegasus anyway) when your father broke the silence. "Son, I noticed that your gem isn't hidden at the moment, are you tired from the train ride." nice to know he's still as perceptive as always. "Yep, and I hit my head on that sharp part of the seat to, see." you moved your forelock that had taken you so long to hide the cut with just a slight bit of hesitance, "I cut my head open a bit." the wound was still pretty fresh, healing spells weren't your specialty. "Son, this is horrible!" he exclaimed after he finished looking at the cut. why is he so concerned for me all of a sudden "Why is that dad?" "Why is that? WHY IS THAT?" your father was baffled "Because, have to do a show tomorrow morning," mystery solved you thought to yourself, a bit annoyed. "and a new client of mine's going to be there with some extremely good looking..." he looked around to make sure nopony was within earshot before turning back to you and saying in a hushed whisper "merchandise." must be some good looking mares if he's this uptight. "And I want to make a good impression on her, in case she wants to do business again sometime." a mare leads the ring? Rare but not unheard of. I've heard that rings with mares as their ringmaster are something to see. It was true that mares were uncommon in the business of Ringmasters (the leader of a torture ring, higher than a ringleader. The ringleader is second highest, the ringmaster is the highest.), but the shows run by mares were said to be amazing. Ranging from torture to lesbian to audience participation (male or female). "I don't want to talk in to much detail out here, but I will say this. If we make a good impression during the first half of the performance, she'll let us borrow one her, items. For the second half of the performance. And, if you do a really good job, I might convince her to let you have some fun with it after the performance. In other words, if you do really good in the performance, you're getting your first pet." great you thought now I have to be an ass twenty-four seven. You kept your mouth shut and just kept walking. After five more minutes of walking, you arrived at what appeared to be a junk lot. "follow me," your father whispered "no sudden movements, I don't want you any more beat up than you already are. Oh yeah, if I were you I would keep a sleep spell ready to go in here." you nod, your gem glowing slightly as you prepare a sleep spell, just in case. Suddenly, you feel a hard whack on the side of your body, you whip around, only to be staring at one of ugliest pegasus you've ever seen in your life. "Gimme the cash!" he screams "Gimme all of your ca......" he stops mid sentence (which is understandable considering you just knocked him out cold) slumping to ground in a seemingly lifeless heap. Giving you a chance to look at him without fear of getting hurt. boy is he ugly you thought in disgust. And Oh, was he ever. His coat was a sickly green colour, while his eyes were blood red, not to mention bloodshot, the veins in his eyes looked as though they were about to pop from the pressure. On closer inspection, you noticed that he had a giant scythe blade under his wing. Yet, for some strange reason he seemed familiar to you. "That's Booze Hound isn't it dad?" you deadpanned. "Yep." was your father's simple reply "can't blame you for what you did though, it has been a long time since you two talked. Or even saw each other for that matter." Booze Hound was the head guard of the ring, to make sure that the wrong ponies didn't end up wandering in and screwing their business up My only problem with him is that he was always so paranoid. You checked your side, as it still hurt a bit, and after a few seconds you found the source of your discomfort. A small chunk of wood was lodged in you left side, but with a quick shake of your body, the wood flew out, leaving only a small mark where it had once been. "We should get moving." your father said "I don't want you wiping out the hole ring guard." and with that, you both started walking towards a large pile of doors. why would he be taking me here you thought to yourself, but you knew better than to ask questions and just kept following him. You soon found yourself in front of that large pile of doors you saw earlier "Wait here." your father commanded, and you were all to happy to oblige. Dropping to your rump the second the words came out his mouth. Your father walked up a door seemingly at random, though you knew this to be false, and knock on it in an intricate pattern. THUMP....THUMPTHUMP....THUMP, THUMP.THUMP.......THWACK. (well, maybe not that intricate) The door quickly snapped open faster than you thought was possible and your father motioned for you to follow, so you did. The inside of this, door house was the complete opposite of what you expected, it was like someone had turned a torture chamber into a fancy hotel, and they did a really good job at it. The walls had a beautiful crystal blue sapphire wallpaper pinned up on them. same colour as my gem you thought in a slight haze, you were really tired from that train ride. While the furniture in the room looked antique, the leather smelled fresh. There was a fireplace in the center of the room that looked like a giant ass oil candle (you know, the ones on stands with those big, curved glass fire shields). Other than that it looked like the front lobby of a fancy hotel. There was a desk off to one side of the room, the left side of the desk looked like it could be tucked in to allow access to the door behind it, while shielding the door directly behind the desk from any wandering ponies. You assumed where they each lead, guessing that the one directly behind the desk (the one that you were walking towards), was where the entrance to the staff bedrooms and training areas were. While the one to the left of the desk was the main entrance to the ring. You and your father walked behind the desk and entered the door behind it, only to find yourself in small corridor which seemed to go on forever, which you knew, thankfully, was not possible. However, you never even came close to the end because your father had stopped a short way in waiting for you beside a door on his right (or your left if you prefer). Upon your arrival at the door, your father opened the door and quickly pushed you inside with him, quickly closing the door behind as he did so. "You're really freaking tired, I know that look in ponies eyes from working in the ring, if they pass out from exhaustion, the Ringleader's going to look pretty stupid torturing a sleeping pony." He smacked you in the flank, really hard, as to if to wake you up again, which you honestly needed at that moment to keep you up, but that hurt. Your father turned to open the door, " And don't think you're getting any special treatment princess. I gave the ponies who you're smacking around the ring tomorrow time to rest as well, like I said, it looks stupid and useless to torture sleeping ponies, or ponies that are so exhausted that they don't even have enough brains in their thick skulls to scream out in pain, let alone register it!" Your father was now outside your, what you guessed was your room. "SO GET SOME SLEEP!" And with his highly trained back legs, he bucked the door shut in your face. With your father out of the way, you finally took the time to take in the scene that was your room, and what you saw shocked you. If the room wasn't a shrine for your job, it could certainly be confused as one. The room was almost completely made of leather. The floor was made of a hard, (and judging by the hoofprints, hoofmade as well) leather that was so compacted, you could have mistaken it for hardwood if it weren't for the fact that leather had a slight give to it. The walls were made of the same thing, leather, same colour to, a somewhat dark tan colour to be more precise. On those same walls was every single torture device that you owned, ranging from whips, to bits, to your strictly decorative instruments of pain, including cat-O-nine tails with hooks and a sword that you could never remember the name of, but knew that the blade could split into ten small pieces connected to a steel braid that attached to the handle (you had played with it a couple of times, despite your father’s wishes). The bed was also leather, except for the frame, which appeared to be made out of oak, while the sheets and even the mattress were made of leather It's gonna get real hot in the summer time you thought groggily. As you continued to gawk at the room, comprehension dawned as you realized that you were alone, with that thought, you dropped the spell that hid your wings and dragged yourself over to the bed. You didn't even think to get under the covers, the minute your whole body was on the bed, you slept. And Dreamed. End of Chapter 2 Recollection Recollection Authors Note: I know that these are supposed to go at the end of the chapter but what the hell. This takes place two days after your sister’s death, specifically at 10:31pm. You set a preservation spell on her body shortly after she died (about three hours). The next day you dug the hole. Then at about 8:30pm that same day, you dug the six-foot deep hole. Now, you are at your sister’s grave, about to bury her. She is currently in her coffin (dead, obviously) about to be put under the ground and be covered by six feet of dirt. The dreams are kind of going to be showing the backstory of the main character (or, you). Now on with the Chapter. "Dead" that's the only word that came to mind as you approached the body of your sister, which was beside an old box that you had placed beside a hoof dug hole in the ground, which you had dug yourself. In truth, you could've used your magic to dig the hole, but it just seemed lazy and dumb to you, this was supposed to be about your sister, and she was anything but lazy or dumb. You also made the box in your spare time, hoping that it would become a beautiful coffin someday. Assuming that your father never found it that is. You were the only person who came to your sister’s makeshift funeral. Of course, this didn't surprise you. Dad hated her, and Mom (who also hated her) was dead. Her name was, by birth of course, Gold Digger, but she changed it herself once she realized her special talent wasn't hurting ponies. You had always hated your sister's real name and therefore, never used it. So you had quickly saddled her with a more appealing nickname. "I know you had a horrible life Skyliner, you should've gotten more, and I'm sorry it had to end this way, but you'll be glad to hear that mother won't abuse either of us ever again." You spoke with a voice of poorly concealed sorrow as you moved the lid off the coffin "But this is the best I can do for you." You slowly moved away from the coffin and thought of the words that had taken you so long to choose. "This is your final place Skyliner, and I shall do as you asked me all those years ago." Sighing, you slowly walk over to your sister's body and pull out one of the fanciest knifes anypony had ever seen. You had made it with your sister using your combined magic when you were foals, and it was sure a sight to behold. The handle was gold, with intricate patterns carved into it, while the blade was a strange luminescent crystal that was similar to the crystal that was embedded in both your heads. "Even though I don't understand why you want this, I won't ignore your last wish." you slowly envelope the handle of the knife in your hazy blue glow, and, regretfully, bring it down to her forehead. Right below her gem. As the knife inches oh so closer to its target, your magic falters. "What am I doing?" you said to yourself in a harsh whisper, almost accusingly. Closing your eyes to think, you can hear your sister in your head as if she was standing right beside you, "You’re doing this because I asked you to dumbass." Now that, scares the crap out of you. Until you remember that, because you have a crystal imbedded in your forehead, you are much closer to the spirit world than even the most advanced psychics. This helps calm you down, but more so does the fact that it's your sister talking to you from the other side rather than your mother. "Hello to you to sis, why the sour attitude?" you respond, mimicking her tone perfectly. "You know how I was pissed when I died?" "Yes?" "Turns out, when you die, if you try to communicate with the living, you are forced into reliving your emotions that ran through you the moment you died." "Oh...Kay." you deadpanned "So why are you here?" "Well for one, I wanted to give you a proper goodbye instead of my choice words that I had for...It. And I have a delivery from the other side to give to you." "And that would be?" "First, you have to take the gem out of my head." "But-" "!!!NO BUT'S!!!" "OKAY!" you yell as you begin to pick up the knife with your magic (which had turned a dark red). Slowly but surely you inch the knife towards its target...again. Finally at your target, you slowly slip the knife under the gem, only to find it slips in like a hot knife through butter. "You always were quick to fold." your sister states matter-of-factly, but, there's something off about her voice. "Sis." "What!?" there's that undertone again. "Why does it sound like you’re in the middle of orgasm during your estrus cycle?" "How do you know what I sound like during orgasm in the middle of my heat cycle!?" "We shared a room for fourteen years and the bathroom had a flimsy door that sound could easily travel through plus I can't sleep during estrus because the smell makes me and every stallion around hyper and you know my nose is really sensitive." you let out a deep gasp then continue "Also you weren't covert about it because before you started you would say and I quote, 'don't go into the bathroom because I'm relieving the symptoms of my female heritage' so this is not news to me." "I...You-" "Just answer the question." "Once it's out!" As if on cue, the gem pops out of her corpse’s skull and onto the ground with a dull thud. You hear a quiet sigh coming from your spiritual sibling followed by a "Thank Amaluna." "Who?" you ask "Hmm?" "Right I forgot that you're pretty zoned out after orgasm." "Hey!!!...Okay, who?" "Amaluna." "Oh right you don't know. She's Princess Luna’s Mother, believe it or not, the princesses haven’t lived since the beginning of time, and the celestial sisters are actually the celestial half-sisters, they came from different mothers.” You opened your mouth to speak, but your sister started again full force, “And if you’re wondering why I said her name instead of Celestia’s, it’s because Amaluna rules…essentially the eternal herd. It-“ “The what!?” you exclaimed “I was just about to explain when you interrupted me, now shut up and listen!” “Fine.” You grumbled. “Now, where was I…Oh yes the eternal herd. It’s the herd that the important and royal ponies go to when they die, I should know, I’m in it. I know you have questions but let me see if I can guess them.” You nod “Please do.” “Alright. Apparently we’re a lot more important than we think because of our connection with the spirits. No we didn’t get the gems by luck, we were chosen by Amaluna herself. And finally, Yes, I am done.” You smirked, “You missed a few questions sis. Why is Amaluna running the herd instead of Celestia’s mother? Who is the father? Where is he? And how are we important?” Your sister sighed then responded, “Amaluna is running the herd instead of Solaris, that’s Celestia’s mother by the way, because Solaris was forced to sacrifice herself to become the new sun and moon, after her mate destroyed it. Amaluna banished Hatred, that’s the celestial half-sister’s mate, to hell where he quickly started his rule on the entire after life world, heaven and the eternal herd included! Amaluna managed to fight him out of heaven and the herd, on the condition that he rules hell. With two after life worlds without a leader, Amaluna sacrificed herself and became the new leader of both heaven, and the herd. As for your last question…I don’t know, Princess Luna wouldn’t tell me and neither would Amaluna.” She sounded a bit disappointed behind the pissed-off attitude. “Wait, how did you talk to Princess Luna?” you ask “She comes by sometimes to see her mother, Celestia does the same with her mother from time to time I’m told.” “How d-“ “They have to meditate and send their minds there. And before you ask, yes Luna knows about you. And no, she doesn’t hate you or me, we’re actually one of her best friends you know? She watches your dreams all the time, try dreaming about her sometime so the two of you can have a conversation, she can enter nightmares you know? And she can also enter dreams about her.” “I’ll be sure to try that when I have a problem.” You deadpanned getting a bit bored by the conversation. “Skyliner, we’re getting off topic.” “Oh…Sorry. The message I was supposed to send, you already heard it, so I wasn’t technically off topic, you just thought I was.” You laughed at this. Skyliner let out a frustrated snort. “Why are you taking this so calmly!? I’m dead for crying out loud, I meant the world to you!” “And now you’re in a much better place than here, it’s hard to feel sorry for someone who just got the equivalent of winning ten-trillion bits, plus we can still talk to each other so nothing bad has come out of this.” “That’s not true!” you winced at her words, not because they stung but because her voice was in your head so it felt like somepony had just screamed into your ear, and honestly, somepony just had. “We don’t get to talk to each other anymore after this conversation because after today, I have to stay in the eternal herd permanently! And you can’t contact anyone outside the herd except for Princess Luna!” Right there, something inside you broke, making you feel completely emotionless. With the realization of not seeing or hearing from your sister for another eighty-six years, came a numbing pain, your brain needed to reload. “Pitch?” your sister asked, no response, “Half Pitch!” Sky then proceeded to moan at said pitch. “What!?” you said, your mind finally having come back up to speed, just as that happened realization hit and you ground your teeth. “I thought I told you never to call me by my full name, ever!” “I know, it’s jus-“ “We made that agreement four years ago when we were ten! Don’t you remember Digger?!” realization dawned on what you just said, “Sky, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean-“ “I know, you were upset, and it just slipped out. I’m sorry to, I just needed to get your attention, and, I’m sorry I made a sex moan.” “It’s alright…Sky, you sound less pissed, am I finally getting to you?” you said with a smirk at the end. “No, getting cheerier means I’m running out of time, I have about three minutes left. Ok, I know I won’t be able to see you for at least another eighty-six years, so that’s why I wanted you to have my gem, it won’t let us talk with each other, but it will give you an animal guide and unlock your spiritual guides.” You stood silent for a half-minute before answering, “What?” “Short on time, one minute left, not gonna explain. Just press the gem against yours.” You glance down at the previously forgotten crystal and bring your head down to it, pressing your gem lightly against it. You suddenly feel a sharp spike and your vision goes black. As your vision clears, you find yourself in a black room with no light source, strangely enough, you can see that you are standing at the foot of two large, Celestia sized ponies. The one on your right was completely black except for a white horn, the fur around said horn was also white, forming a small ring around it. The one to your left was the complete opposite of the one on your far right, white fur instead of black, with wings and a black spot on their forehead instead of white. They were on either side of a Luna sized pony who looked, strangely familiar, after a seconds thought, you came to realize who the center pony was “Skyliner?” said pony gave a gentle smile in return with a deep bow. It was then when you came to realize that she was missing her gem, and in place was a pink spot with a bright white glowing orb hovering above it, said orb launched itself beside you and solidified into another being, this one was white fox about your size, with hazy red eyes and a pink gem in its forehead, a quick backwards glace told you that it had six tails, each one a dark red at the very tip before easing into a pink about an inch or two in, finally fading to the colour of its coat about halfway up the tail. The now taller form of your sister approached you, leaned in and kissed you, before pulling back and shedding a tears from each eye, which fell from her face and started wrapping themselves around your left forehoof until they became two solid, hazy, crystal rings. “Take care of her.” She said, pointing a hoof to the fox. Before slowly dissolving from the hoof up, into gold powder that blew away on an ethereal breeze. “Amor Enim Quia Tu Me Nos.” were the last words you spoke to her before her head finally blew away on the breeze. Second Authors Note: For some strange reason, this chapter felt like it forever to write, so the next chapter’s probably going to be a half-dream half-real life style chapter like the first chapter of the story. Also, I think some explaining is in order for those who are interested. Okay, first I would like to explain the name Amaluna, for those of you who like Cirque du Soleil, you should know, for those who don’t know, it is the name of one of their shows, the name Amaluna is a mixture of words from different languages, Ama is Mother and Luna is Moon, so I thought that it would a good name for Luna’s mother. Second, the phrase “amor enim quia tu me nos” is Latin for “For you my love, for you, for me, for us.”…Deep…I’m gonna stop now before I become philosophical, Ok?
Nightmares"No, Don't!" you screamed at the top of your lungs, but it was to late, a sharp crack peirced through the air like it was nothing but paper causing your whole body to flinch as the now lifeless body of your sister slumped to the floor. She was dead, at the hands of your own Mother. Not knowing what to do and filled with unbelievable pain and rage you grabbed a knife hidden under your left wing and ran towards your monster of a mother as fast as you can go, when you reach your target you jump high in the air and land hardly on her head, causing her to slump lifelessly down to the ground with a resounding thud. You should have stopped there, but your sister meant the world to you. She was always there for you, always. So, without thinking, you drive the twelve inch blade deep into her skull enjoying the now permanent look of shock on her face as she finally gets what she deserved. Your Mother was a horrible person, always pushing you and your sister to do painful, unspeakable, deeds to each other (not sexual things at least, both you and your sister were still virgin, somehow), and never giving you a break from her relentless torturing and abuse. The complete opposite of your sister. Felling satisfied in a strange way, you get off your mother and run over to your sister, now in a pool of her own blood. You carefully dragged your dead sister out of her blood, held her in your front hooves and began to cry, hard. Your sister was perfect, in every way, she was a pegasus like yourself, but she was taller (by about a foot), and had beautiful hazy blue eyes which always seemed to sooth even your parents rage from time to time. Her coat was a golden shade of yellow with a small black pattern on her flank in the shape of a skull which hid her cutie mark (which was a shimmering blue heart that represented her ability to calm even the fiercest rage if you recall correctly). Her mane was candy cane red with golden yellow highlights, while her tail was a slightly darker candy cane red with a small chunk at the end of her tail that was pitch black. She was always kind to you, no matter what. Even when your mother made her whip your wings to the point where they would bleed, she would run over to you the minute your mother left and cry on your shoulder begging you to forgive her for what she had done to you. You were also really fond of your sister because she and you had to share a one pony bed growing up, normally one of you would sleep on the floor (almost always your sister, she insisted), but in the winter months, or when you had a nightmare she would wrap you in her wings and preen your wings and coat until you fell back to a comfortable sleep that wasn't full of nightmares, then she would stay the night in bed. She was like a mother, the best mother in the world, and you didn't know what you would be like without her. Then suddenly you felt something hard connect with the side of your head. You had been so busy mourning, you had failed to notice the dark figure approaching. You felt dizzy, and your head hit the ground with a hard THUD! You wake up with a large amount of pain on the right side of your head, and you realize that it had been a nightmare. A nightmare that was all too accurate to your actual past, leaving you cold and sweaty. You cautiously hold a hoof top your head and feel a sharp pain, causing you to pull your hoof away revealing a nasty blood pattern on your hoof, you quickly reach into your bag, pulling out a large stained cloth and place it on the side of your head. It was then that you realized that the spell that had been hiding the crystal on your forehead had ceased to work, most likely because that spell required a lot of energy. Something that you didn’t have enough of right now to hide your crystal, your wings on the other hand did disappear when you cast the spell. Personally I prefer hiding the crystal, but this will have to do for now, I'll just move my forelock so it covers it. You did have peice of jewelery that made the crystal look like it was decorative, but sadly you didn't have it with you at the moment. Sighing and fiddling with your forelock, you look around your small box car and quickly find what you hit your head on, a large, thin piece of metal that holds up your seat on the train. Feeling a bit light headed, you peer out the window of the train car to view your destination rapidly approaching, Las Pegasus. One of the most dangerous and advanced cities in all of Equestria. Las Pegasus was known for its long history of violence, gangs, prostitution and torture rings. Torture rings fit their name to a T. If you were unlucky enough to get caught in one, you would experience some of the most intense torture in any way, shape or form imaginable. Most of these horrible organizations were run by some of the meanest ponies you could imagine, while others were just trying to make a good sum of cash. For you, your father was the owner of the most dangerous torture ring in the world, The Anti-Marks, and you are the Ringleader. The Ringleader, is the second highest member of a Torture ring, his or her job is top walk around the inside of the ring and torture the ponies in it. You hated to do this, but you had to because if you didn't, you would be the one being tortured. The reason behind this trip to the horrible city, your father got in trouble with the National Guard when he kidnapped one of their best soldiers. What was his name again, Glistening armor or something like that, you weren't too sure, but god was he a pain in ass to tie up. You had been moving around a lot because of the National Guard, your dad was 3rd on the most wanted list, and you were 8th! None of this has anything to do with the trip though, the reason you hadn't moved with him is that he sent you to Fillydelphia for some "special training". Your life is actually pretty boring aside from the occasional thrill of being hunted down by somepony who wanted to try to get back at you for hurting somepony that they knew, or the guard. You'd think this would be fun, and at first, it kinda is, but then it loses the enjoyment after they start to break down in tears. Don't take this the wrong way, you still hated it. "On the plus side, at least I look pretty good in a tight, leather outfit and I'm in excellent shape to boot. Nopony is better with hoof weapons than me, but I take particular pride in my whipping skills, and the fact that I can perfectly balance myself on my hindlegs so I can walk, run, and even use my front hoofs to hold, throw or whip things with perfect accuracy." You always thought about this just before you went into the ring for a show to try to distract yourself from whatever horrible thing you were doing to somepony, but it never worked. Every performance was the same, you ended up getting sent backstage halfway through the performance and you father took you place. "I wish I didn't have this stupid gem." you said to yourself, then you thought about what was wrong with it. Nothing came to mind, you have a huge magical font, can fly (you are pegasus after all), and you can use magic. "Actually, I'm glad that I have this thing, I'm not glad about what I do for a living." you decided this just as the train to pull into the station. You put on your saddlebag and various holsters and left the train. As you left the station you heard somepony call out your name, by pure instinct and personal experience you whipped yourself around to confront the source of the sound, your hoof just inches away from the concealed throwing knife under your right wing. You grabbed the knife (god knows how), then you froze dead, because the voice that had spoken your name belonged to... End of chapter 1
Lunch Lunch "Dad" the words fell out of your mouth much like the knife that fell out of your hoof. Falling towards the ground, before you quickly dropped your wing to catch it, which resulted in the knife landing quietly in its holster. As you lifted your wing back up you found yourself being stared at by the piercing gaze that was your father’s eyes. "Son" in your mind you grimaced at the word "it’s been to long since I last saw you outside the ring. How was your training session in Fillydelpia?" You shuddered at the mention of that putrid city and all the horrible things that you had done there. You knew that you father wanted you to tell him that it was a great trip, but you also knew that he wanted you to be completely honest with him. gotta think fast. "I was best in class for the whole session, they even let me be the ringleader for almost all of the demonstrations." you calmly explained "In fact, they want me to go back next session as an official demonstrator. They even offered to pay me to come back." your father stared at you as though you were a supermodel asking to be starred in his next show for free, you didn't like that. After a minute of him constantly staring at you, you decided to him the evil eye, and you're really good at giving people the evil eye. Nopony could scare a pony to the point where they wet themselves but you. Finally though, your father backed down, giving you nothing but a shrug and an invitation "Come on, let's talk over lunch." You nodded, and hesitantly began walking beside him. Him being what he is of course. This little scene with you and your father has happened a few times to many. He gets ran out of town and sends you to an academy for something stupid that he thinks is important until he's settled down in a new town. Then, he calls you back to whatever town he's in now and buys you lunch, acting like a half good father the entire meal. You were eating lunch in front of what appeared to be a thirty foot tall wine bottle that had been turned into a restaurant. Tipsy Top. You thought to yourself. I think that name fits quite nicely. Lost in your own thoughts, you failed to recognize the food that was sitting in front of you. Dad seems pretty calm right now. Maybe he's been drinking, the last time I saw him this calm was when he drank six cans of beer. One can only hope this means he's turned over a new leaf and is now working at gay bars or in pornos. Then, why would he need me here? The only thoughts that came to mind were incredibly horrifying and perverted, you shuddered at the thought of being sexually tortured by your father. In public no less! If he tries that, I’m kicking him in the balls. Because I am not losing my virginity to my father! You shuddered again this time because of the fact that your father would probably think of that. Apparently you father noticed your slight shudder, because in a heartbeat he looked at you with actual concern on his face.Maybe he has turned over a new leaf. Son?" he asked, "Yes dad?" "Your flank's still blank. Plus you look a little pudgier than you did when you left. Did they not work you hard enough at that training session?" Nope, he hasn't changed at all. Well, at least he asked. "They only let us do anything in the ring for about a half hour at a time, and that was only like, four, maybe five times a day. Don't worry though, if you let go back next year I'll be a demonstrator and they're working in the ring almost fourteen hours a day." You replied calmly. In all honesty, they really didn't do anything useful in those lessons, you just wanted to go back so you could be away from your father for a month. You father looked somewhat annoyed at your statement about the training, but he quickly shrugged it off. "Well, I'm sure you'll be able to work it off in maybe a week or two, but for tomorrow nights show, be sure to cinch your fat ass up tight." "I'll keep that in mind father" you replied, a bit shocked to see that he would say such a thing in public, but then again, he was your father after all. You ignored the statement about the blank flank because you really didn't care anymore, after being bugged about it for your entire life the phrase "blank flank" didn't even register in your head anymore. You had not gained your cutie mark yet, despite all the painful things that your father made do to try to earn it. In all honesty though, you really didn't care that your flank was blank, it just made it easier to get a job. If a worker didn't know what their special talent was, an employer would be more willing to hire you because it meant you could be trained to become a master at your job. Even if it wasn't your special talent, it would give the employer hope that it might be. "This place is boring, let's go to my house." your dad commands in a slightly tipsy voice. oh yeah, he's definitely drunk You nod, and get up to leave, waiting beside your father until he starts walking to seemingly nowhere in particular, so you simply fell into step behind him, ignoring the fact that he had put you in this situation more than once. It's to bad that guard managed to escape though, I actually kinda liked Manehatten. You quickly put on your saddlebags and left the restaurant, slowly making your way down to an old alleyway. It was about five minutes after you left the alleyway, and had just begun making your way across a surprisingly open field (well, open for Las Pegasus anyway) when your father broke the silence. "Son, I noticed that your gem isn't hidden at the moment, are you tired from the train ride." nice to know he's still as perceptive as always. "Yep, and I hit my head on that sharp part of the seat to, see." you moved your forelock that had taken you so long to hide the cut with just a slight bit of hesitance, "I cut my head open a bit." the wound was still pretty fresh, healing spells weren't your specialty. "Son, this is horrible!" he exclaimed after he finished looking at the cut. why is he so concerned for me all of a sudden "Why is that dad?" "Why is that? WHY IS THAT?" your father was baffled "Because, have to do a show tomorrow morning," mystery solved you thought to yourself, a bit annoyed. "and a new client of mine's going to be there with some extremely good looking..." he looked around to make sure nopony was within earshot before turning back to you and saying in a hushed whisper "merchandise." must be some good looking mares if he's this uptight. "And I want to make a good impression on her, in case she wants to do business again sometime." a mare leads the ring? Rare but not unheard of. I've heard that rings with mares as their ringmaster are something to see. It was true that mares were uncommon in the business of Ringmasters (the leader of a torture ring, higher than a ringleader. The ringleader is second highest, the ringmaster is the highest.), but the shows run by mares were said to be amazing. Ranging from torture to lesbian to audience participation (male or female). "I don't want to talk in to much detail out here, but I will say this. If we make a good impression during the first half of the performance, she'll let us borrow one her, items. For the second half of the performance. And, if you do a really good job, I might convince her to let you have some fun with it after the performance. In other words, if you do really good in the performance, you're getting your first pet." great you thought now I have to be an ass twenty-four seven. You kept your mouth shut and just kept walking. After five more minutes of walking, you arrived at what appeared to be a junk lot. "follow me," your father whispered "no sudden movements, I don't want you any more beat up than you already are. Oh yeah, if I were you I would keep a sleep spell ready to go in here." you nod, your gem glowing slightly as you prepare a sleep spell, just in case. Suddenly, you feel a hard whack on the side of your body, you whip around, only to be staring at one of ugliest pegasus you've ever seen in your life. "Gimme the cash!" he screams "Gimme all of your ca......" he stops mid sentence (which is understandable considering you just knocked him out cold) slumping to ground in a seemingly lifeless heap. Giving you a chance to look at him without fear of getting hurt. boy is he ugly you thought in disgust. And Oh, was he ever. His coat was a sickly green colour, while his eyes were blood red, not to mention bloodshot, the veins in his eyes looked as though they were about to pop from the pressure. On closer inspection, you noticed that he had a giant scythe blade under his wing. Yet, for some strange reason he seemed familiar to you. "That's Booze Hound isn't it dad?" you deadpanned. "Yep." was your father's simple reply "can't blame you for what you did though, it has been a long time since you two talked. Or even saw each other for that matter." Booze Hound was the head guard of the ring, to make sure that the wrong ponies didn't end up wandering in and screwing their business up My only problem with him is that he was always so paranoid. You checked your side, as it still hurt a bit, and after a few seconds you found the source of your discomfort. A small chunk of wood was lodged in you left side, but with a quick shake of your body, the wood flew out, leaving only a small mark where it had once been. "We should get moving." your father said "I don't want you wiping out the hole ring guard." and with that, you both started walking towards a large pile of doors. why would he be taking me here you thought to yourself, but you knew better than to ask questions and just kept following him. You soon found yourself in front of that large pile of doors you saw earlier "Wait here." your father commanded, and you were all to happy to oblige. Dropping to your rump the second the words came out his mouth. Your father walked up a door seemingly at random, though you knew this to be false, and knock on it in an intricate pattern. THUMP....THUMPTHUMP....THUMP, THUMP.THUMP.......THWACK. (well, maybe not that intricate) The door quickly snapped open faster than you thought was possible and your father motioned for you to follow, so you did. The inside of this, door house was the complete opposite of what you expected, it was like someone had turned a torture chamber into a fancy hotel, and they did a really good job at it. The walls had a beautiful crystal blue sapphire wallpaper pinned up on them. same colour as my gem you thought in a slight haze, you were really tired from that train ride. While the furniture in the room looked antique, the leather smelled fresh. There was a fireplace in the center of the room that looked like a giant ass oil candle (you know, the ones on stands with those big, curved glass fire shields). Other than that it looked like the front lobby of a fancy hotel. There was a desk off to one side of the room, the left side of the desk looked like it could be tucked in to allow access to the door behind it, while shielding the door directly behind the desk from any wandering ponies. You assumed where they each lead, guessing that the one directly behind the desk (the one that you were walking towards), was where the entrance to the staff bedrooms and training areas were. While the one to the left of the desk was the main entrance to the ring. You and your father walked behind the desk and entered the door behind it, only to find yourself in small corridor which seemed to go on forever, which you knew, thankfully, was not possible. However, you never even came close to the end because your father had stopped a short way in waiting for you beside a door on his right (or your left if you prefer). Upon your arrival at the door, your father opened the door and quickly pushed you inside with him, quickly closing the door behind as he did so. "You're really freaking tired, I know that look in ponies eyes from working in the ring, if they pass out from exhaustion, the Ringleader's going to look pretty stupid torturing a sleeping pony." He smacked you in the flank, really hard, as to if to wake you up again, which you honestly needed at that moment to keep you up, but that hurt. Your father turned to open the door, " And don't think you're getting any special treatment princess. I gave the ponies who you're smacking around the ring tomorrow time to rest as well, like I said, it looks stupid and useless to torture sleeping ponies, or ponies that are so exhausted that they don't even have enough brains in their thick skulls to scream out in pain, let alone register it!" Your father was now outside your, what you guessed was your room. "SO GET SOME SLEEP!" And with his highly trained back legs, he bucked the door shut in your face. With your father out of the way, you finally took the time to take in the scene that was your room, and what you saw shocked you. If the room wasn't a shrine for your job, it could certainly be confused as one. The room was almost completely made of leather. The floor was made of a hard, (and judging by the hoofprints, hoofmade as well) leather that was so compacted, you could have mistaken it for hardwood if it weren't for the fact that leather had a slight give to it. The walls were made of the same thing, leather, same colour to, a somewhat dark tan colour to be more precise. On those same walls was every single torture device that you owned, ranging from whips, to bits, to your strictly decorative instruments of pain, including cat-O-nine tails with hooks and a sword that you could never remember the name of, but knew that the blade could split into ten small pieces connected to a steel braid that attached to the handle (you had played with it a couple of times, despite your father’s wishes). The bed was also leather, except for the frame, which appeared to be made out of oak, while the sheets and even the mattress were made of leather It's gonna get real hot in the summer time you thought groggily. As you continued to gawk at the room, comprehension dawned as you realized that you were alone, with that thought, you dropped the spell that hid your wings and dragged yourself over to the bed. You didn't even think to get under the covers, the minute your whole body was on the bed, you slept. And Dreamed. End of Chapter 2
Recollection Recollection Authors Note: I know that these are supposed to go at the end of the chapter but what the hell. This takes place two days after your sister’s death, specifically at 10:31pm. You set a preservation spell on her body shortly after she died (about three hours). The next day you dug the hole. Then at about 8:30pm that same day, you dug the six-foot deep hole. Now, you are at your sister’s grave, about to bury her. She is currently in her coffin (dead, obviously) about to be put under the ground and be covered by six feet of dirt. The dreams are kind of going to be showing the backstory of the main character (or, you). Now on with the Chapter. "Dead" that's the only word that came to mind as you approached the body of your sister, which was beside an old box that you had placed beside a hoof dug hole in the ground, which you had dug yourself. In truth, you could've used your magic to dig the hole, but it just seemed lazy and dumb to you, this was supposed to be about your sister, and she was anything but lazy or dumb. You also made the box in your spare time, hoping that it would become a beautiful coffin someday. Assuming that your father never found it that is. You were the only person who came to your sister’s makeshift funeral. Of course, this didn't surprise you. Dad hated her, and Mom (who also hated her) was dead. Her name was, by birth of course, Gold Digger, but she changed it herself once she realized her special talent wasn't hurting ponies. You had always hated your sister's real name and therefore, never used it. So you had quickly saddled her with a more appealing nickname. "I know you had a horrible life Skyliner, you should've gotten more, and I'm sorry it had to end this way, but you'll be glad to hear that mother won't abuse either of us ever again." You spoke with a voice of poorly concealed sorrow as you moved the lid off the coffin "But this is the best I can do for you." You slowly moved away from the coffin and thought of the words that had taken you so long to choose. "This is your final place Skyliner, and I shall do as you asked me all those years ago." Sighing, you slowly walk over to your sister's body and pull out one of the fanciest knifes anypony had ever seen. You had made it with your sister using your combined magic when you were foals, and it was sure a sight to behold. The handle was gold, with intricate patterns carved into it, while the blade was a strange luminescent crystal that was similar to the crystal that was embedded in both your heads. "Even though I don't understand why you want this, I won't ignore your last wish." you slowly envelope the handle of the knife in your hazy blue glow, and, regretfully, bring it down to her forehead. Right below her gem. As the knife inches oh so closer to its target, your magic falters. "What am I doing?" you said to yourself in a harsh whisper, almost accusingly. Closing your eyes to think, you can hear your sister in your head as if she was standing right beside you, "You’re doing this because I asked you to dumbass." Now that, scares the crap out of you. Until you remember that, because you have a crystal imbedded in your forehead, you are much closer to the spirit world than even the most advanced psychics. This helps calm you down, but more so does the fact that it's your sister talking to you from the other side rather than your mother. "Hello to you to sis, why the sour attitude?" you respond, mimicking her tone perfectly. "You know how I was pissed when I died?" "Yes?" "Turns out, when you die, if you try to communicate with the living, you are forced into reliving your emotions that ran through you the moment you died." "Oh...Kay." you deadpanned "So why are you here?" "Well for one, I wanted to give you a proper goodbye instead of my choice words that I had for...It. And I have a delivery from the other side to give to you." "And that would be?" "First, you have to take the gem out of my head." "But-" "!!!NO BUT'S!!!" "OKAY!" you yell as you begin to pick up the knife with your magic (which had turned a dark red). Slowly but surely you inch the knife towards its target...again. Finally at your target, you slowly slip the knife under the gem, only to find it slips in like a hot knife through butter. "You always were quick to fold." your sister states matter-of-factly, but, there's something off about her voice. "Sis." "What!?" there's that undertone again. "Why does it sound like you’re in the middle of orgasm during your estrus cycle?" "How do you know what I sound like during orgasm in the middle of my heat cycle!?" "We shared a room for fourteen years and the bathroom had a flimsy door that sound could easily travel through plus I can't sleep during estrus because the smell makes me and every stallion around hyper and you know my nose is really sensitive." you let out a deep gasp then continue "Also you weren't covert about it because before you started you would say and I quote, 'don't go into the bathroom because I'm relieving the symptoms of my female heritage' so this is not news to me." "I...You-" "Just answer the question." "Once it's out!" As if on cue, the gem pops out of her corpse’s skull and onto the ground with a dull thud. You hear a quiet sigh coming from your spiritual sibling followed by a "Thank Amaluna." "Who?" you ask "Hmm?" "Right I forgot that you're pretty zoned out after orgasm." "Hey!!!...Okay, who?" "Amaluna." "Oh right you don't know. She's Princess Luna’s Mother, believe it or not, the princesses haven’t lived since the beginning of time, and the celestial sisters are actually the celestial half-sisters, they came from different mothers.” You opened your mouth to speak, but your sister started again full force, “And if you’re wondering why I said her name instead of Celestia’s, it’s because Amaluna rules…essentially the eternal herd. It-“ “The what!?” you exclaimed “I was just about to explain when you interrupted me, now shut up and listen!” “Fine.” You grumbled. “Now, where was I…Oh yes the eternal herd. It’s the herd that the important and royal ponies go to when they die, I should know, I’m in it. I know you have questions but let me see if I can guess them.” You nod “Please do.” “Alright. Apparently we’re a lot more important than we think because of our connection with the spirits. No we didn’t get the gems by luck, we were chosen by Amaluna herself. And finally, Yes, I am done.” You smirked, “You missed a few questions sis. Why is Amaluna running the herd instead of Celestia’s mother? Who is the father? Where is he? And how are we important?” Your sister sighed then responded, “Amaluna is running the herd instead of Solaris, that’s Celestia’s mother by the way, because Solaris was forced to sacrifice herself to become the new sun and moon, after her mate destroyed it. Amaluna banished Hatred, that’s the celestial half-sister’s mate, to hell where he quickly started his rule on the entire after life world, heaven and the eternal herd included! Amaluna managed to fight him out of heaven and the herd, on the condition that he rules hell. With two after life worlds without a leader, Amaluna sacrificed herself and became the new leader of both heaven, and the herd. As for your last question…I don’t know, Princess Luna wouldn’t tell me and neither would Amaluna.” She sounded a bit disappointed behind the pissed-off attitude. “Wait, how did you talk to Princess Luna?” you ask “She comes by sometimes to see her mother, Celestia does the same with her mother from time to time I’m told.” “How d-“ “They have to meditate and send their minds there. And before you ask, yes Luna knows about you. And no, she doesn’t hate you or me, we’re actually one of her best friends you know? She watches your dreams all the time, try dreaming about her sometime so the two of you can have a conversation, she can enter nightmares you know? And she can also enter dreams about her.” “I’ll be sure to try that when I have a problem.” You deadpanned getting a bit bored by the conversation. “Skyliner, we’re getting off topic.” “Oh…Sorry. The message I was supposed to send, you already heard it, so I wasn’t technically off topic, you just thought I was.” You laughed at this. Skyliner let out a frustrated snort. “Why are you taking this so calmly!? I’m dead for crying out loud, I meant the world to you!” “And now you’re in a much better place than here, it’s hard to feel sorry for someone who just got the equivalent of winning ten-trillion bits, plus we can still talk to each other so nothing bad has come out of this.” “That’s not true!” you winced at her words, not because they stung but because her voice was in your head so it felt like somepony had just screamed into your ear, and honestly, somepony just had. “We don’t get to talk to each other anymore after this conversation because after today, I have to stay in the eternal herd permanently! And you can’t contact anyone outside the herd except for Princess Luna!” Right there, something inside you broke, making you feel completely emotionless. With the realization of not seeing or hearing from your sister for another eighty-six years, came a numbing pain, your brain needed to reload. “Pitch?” your sister asked, no response, “Half Pitch!” Sky then proceeded to moan at said pitch. “What!?” you said, your mind finally having come back up to speed, just as that happened realization hit and you ground your teeth. “I thought I told you never to call me by my full name, ever!” “I know, it’s jus-“ “We made that agreement four years ago when we were ten! Don’t you remember Digger?!” realization dawned on what you just said, “Sky, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean-“ “I know, you were upset, and it just slipped out. I’m sorry to, I just needed to get your attention, and, I’m sorry I made a sex moan.” “It’s alright…Sky, you sound less pissed, am I finally getting to you?” you said with a smirk at the end. “No, getting cheerier means I’m running out of time, I have about three minutes left. Ok, I know I won’t be able to see you for at least another eighty-six years, so that’s why I wanted you to have my gem, it won’t let us talk with each other, but it will give you an animal guide and unlock your spiritual guides.” You stood silent for a half-minute before answering, “What?” “Short on time, one minute left, not gonna explain. Just press the gem against yours.” You glance down at the previously forgotten crystal and bring your head down to it, pressing your gem lightly against it. You suddenly feel a sharp spike and your vision goes black. As your vision clears, you find yourself in a black room with no light source, strangely enough, you can see that you are standing at the foot of two large, Celestia sized ponies. The one on your right was completely black except for a white horn, the fur around said horn was also white, forming a small ring around it. The one to your left was the complete opposite of the one on your far right, white fur instead of black, with wings and a black spot on their forehead instead of white. They were on either side of a Luna sized pony who looked, strangely familiar, after a seconds thought, you came to realize who the center pony was “Skyliner?” said pony gave a gentle smile in return with a deep bow. It was then when you came to realize that she was missing her gem, and in place was a pink spot with a bright white glowing orb hovering above it, said orb launched itself beside you and solidified into another being, this one was white fox about your size, with hazy red eyes and a pink gem in its forehead, a quick backwards glace told you that it had six tails, each one a dark red at the very tip before easing into a pink about an inch or two in, finally fading to the colour of its coat about halfway up the tail. The now taller form of your sister approached you, leaned in and kissed you, before pulling back and shedding a tears from each eye, which fell from her face and started wrapping themselves around your left forehoof until they became two solid, hazy, crystal rings. “Take care of her.” She said, pointing a hoof to the fox. Before slowly dissolving from the hoof up, into gold powder that blew away on an ethereal breeze. “Amor Enim Quia Tu Me Nos.” were the last words you spoke to her before her head finally blew away on the breeze. Second Authors Note: For some strange reason, this chapter felt like it forever to write, so the next chapter’s probably going to be a half-dream half-real life style chapter like the first chapter of the story. Also, I think some explaining is in order for those who are interested. Okay, first I would like to explain the name Amaluna, for those of you who like Cirque du Soleil, you should know, for those who don’t know, it is the name of one of their shows, the name Amaluna is a mixture of words from different languages, Ama is Mother and Luna is Moon, so I thought that it would a good name for Luna’s mother. Second, the phrase “amor enim quia tu me nos” is Latin for “For you my love, for you, for me, for us.”…Deep…I’m gonna stop now before I become philosophical, Ok?
