After. Always After

A bright day; not just any day.  One of an odd beauty.  It seemed so average and casual, giving it an air that said, “Try a little harder, make every minute last longer.  The sun shone through the windows of Luna’s study.

She was at her desk, working hard on some documents about limits for some business.  Celestia said she’d re-acclimatize her with the east things, if terraforming and zoning laws were easy, maybe she’d just stick with the simple court cases and cut the work in half.

There was a tapping at her study’s window.  “It had a wonderful view of the gardens” She recalled as she crossed to it, thinking a bird might have been there.  If only it was a bird, but instead there was an image of Kyle.

She shook her head, trying to clear the foolish hallucination.  She’d wanted to see him and talk to him, and she fear her encounter had given her enough trauma to make her see things.

Yet there it stood, tapping over and over, a second or so between each rap.  Then is rapped insistently, almost smashing the window, but causing it to now sport a large crack.

She still didn’t believe it, she’d seen worse.  Then it got a look of the kind of immense irritation that amounted to rage.  It turned, showing her its back, and spun around, placing its fist on the other side of the window.

Kyle entered, hopping over the shards and stopped just in front of her.  He stood, waiting for her to say something, anything, really.  Then, she spoke obvious surprise in her voice, “Kyle… is… is that really you?...”

He cocked his head like a confused puppy and said wiht a complacent look on his face, “If I was another hallucination, wouldn’t I say yes anyways?  Perhaps I should deny it…”

She rushed forward, wrapping her hooves around him.  “No.  Don’t.  Please be real!”  He returned the hug.

“I just wanted to make sure you knew it was me.”

She smacked him lightly on the arm, “I hate you.  Why would you make a girl beg?”

He pulled away, staring at the floor, “because you have to know that I told you, and nobody else.  I can’t tell you here, we need to see your sister.  Now.”  Luna looked confused, “No, Luna.  Now.”

She led him, and he followed with the urgency of a hunted man.  When she stopped to knock at her sister’s door, he shouldered the door, barely turning the knob.  He came upon Celestia sitting at her desk; she glanced up a look of surprise on her face.

“Oh.  I was just working on some damage reports.  What would the two of you like?”  She said, casual as ever.

“We all need to talk.”  Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off.  “No.  I don’t have time, now I want to let you know something.  But it will hurt.  A lot.  But if you do, you’ll be that much the wiser.”

They both looked confused, but nodded.  He motioned for the two sisters to gather in the center of the solar ruler’s study, and they did so.  Then, he crouched, and raised his arm, his palm parallel to the floor.

A dark wad of some haze or vapor coalesced in his hand, and he slammed it into the ground.  A small white orb formed where he struck, and before either could voice their opinion, it grew and engulfed them.

The diarchs stood side by side in a strange, white, featureless... space, because to call it a room would imply that it had boundaries.  In the ‘middle’ of it stood not Kyle, no, the flaxen-haired boy was gone, replaced by another.

There, not too far ahead, was a raven-haired boy.  He was taller and more powerful and broad-looking than Kyle.  He was strong and wide-shouldered, but thin, as if he was the supposed image of beauty.  He was not afflicted by the facial infections that had plagued Kyle’s face, but his eyes were very dark, where color should be was only infinity and darkness.

His head was bowed, his short hair fell only to an inch or so past his ears, and his hands were on his shoulders, the backs of his hands facing them.  He raised his head, as if noticing them for the first time; he blinked quickly, as well, only cementing the idea that he did not know the royal pair.  Then he lowered his hands to his sides, and greeted them with a soft, but intriguing voice.

“Greetings.  I am Vaile.  I go by many titles.  Some call me the Boy Who Walked.  Or perhaps the One Who Answers.”  He put his left hand on his face and sighed, “I have too many names and too few friends to assign them.”

Celestia opened her mouth and spoke first, but no words came out of her opened lips.  He stared at her, then seemed to see the problem.  “You cannot speak here, I see.  Do not worry, this only means you were not meant to.  Then do not leave, children, and listen to me.”

Luna glanced at her sister, who noticed her younger’s stare and returned it, not needing words to communicate.  Both pairs of eyes scream unease, but compliance, for the moment.

“You do not know.  I will teach you.  Let’s begin with the boy, Kyle.  He was a puppet, created by Blackheart, who was in turn created by the Nightwalker, who was the Element of Evil.  He represented the Evil for the Sake of Evil.

He wanted more power to commit more sins, so he created a weak form unable to do anything correctly.  Blackheart.  But he adapted, and made a body that could grow, therefore following Nightwalker’s plan.  The body was Kyle, who didn’t know of the influence on him.  He is real, just not of his accord.  Nor any other being’s

He was wrong, Blackheart.  He is not the Evil of Almost; he is the Evil of Lies for the Sake of Fear.  He lied his way through Kyle’s life.  And you sought to fix what could have been evil.”  He gestured to Celestia before going on:

“Blackheart manifested himself because he had become a part of Kyle, and vice versa.  He acted to fulfill his desires: familiarity and love.  Two of the things we want most.  He was made to love people like him.  Outcasts and pariahs.  He’s very amorous, being so lonely.

That was going to kill the Nightwalker.  So he tried to kill you.  He found the final Element of Evil, Evil for Gain.  By meeting her and bonding, her absorbed her power, and probably told her to kill Kyle or make Luna hate him.  I can’t tell you who the Element is.  I can’t interfere that far.

Now, let’s fast forward a bit.  When Nightwalker killed Blackheart, he failed to use Blackheart’s opposite to kill him, hoping his rights as a creator would be enough.  But, Evil is impossible to understand, and he came back much later.

Blackheart declared Kyle’s love for Luna, killing Nightwalker, removing him and all his actions from time and space.  Blackheart and I can remember.  You did not have near enough power to keep your memories.”

He paused for a long moment, as if seeking the right words.  He simply stared at the two of them for what felt like hours, and then cautiously offered them something.

“I can allow you to relearn these events.  But this is where the pain spoken of prior to your entry comes into play.  You must stay inside a Ring of Memory for some time.  It will cause you great physical and emotional pain.  You will suffer beyond belief in your own ways.  But if you do, you will be better for it.  So it comes down to this: You can help your people, or you can keep yourselves alive to help your people.  You may well go insane or die.  You will not be blamed if you refuse.  Step forward if you want to proceed.  Only one of you truly needs to do it, as the other can relay the information.”

Luna stepped forward first, though hesitantly.  Celestia stayed rooted to her spot.  Luna looked back, a tear in each of her eyes.  She took another step forward, drawing ever closer to the stranger who claimed to be more.

Celestia waved her hoof regretfully, but stood still.  Vaile walked to her sister.  He stood in front of her now, an expression of sorrow dancing across his perfect features.  His piercing eyes glanced to Celestia before moving back to Luna.

The two were obscured by a white mist, when Vaile stepped out of the miasma.  It began to swirl, soon becoming a pale twister, engulfing Luna.

Celestia rushed to the side, but did not enter.  This was Luna’s battle now.  Luna shouted out of the whirlwind, “Celestia?  I can see mother.  She’s calling us.  Come in and see her.”

Celestia glanced to her left and saw Vaile, an odd smile on his face, but in a moment it turned to distress when he understood what Luna meant.  He looked to her and shook his head.  The message was clear: She’s seeing things.

“Celestia?  Are you still there?  Mother wants to see you too.”  A momentary silence, and then, “Fine.  Mother doesn’t want to see you either.”  Then a roaring gale pierced the silence of the nothingness in which the three resided.

Luna was screaming, hysterical.  “Mother?  AHHHGHGGH!  MOTHER WHY WOULD YOU- AAAAHHHHHMPH-“

Celestia rushed forward, but Vaile held her back with his hand.  “Don’t.  She chose to go in and you didn’t.  You knew what you were getting into the moment you stood there.”  His eyes held remorse and sorrow, but he held her back all the same.

Then, the storm faded, sound and misty hurricane both.  Luna was standing there, covered in scratches, and with the odd burn mark on her.  She was shivering violently.  Then, Vaile and the white space melted, and there the two stood.

Kyle stood up from his spot in the chair in front of the solar sister’s desk.  “Took you long enough.”  He said in irritation, as if they were merely late for tea.

“Blackheart” The older sister accused, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

“Ya caught me.”  He said at once, “I had hoped I could fool you into learning a bit, but it seems Luna was the only one.”  He explained, pointing to the sibling in question.

Celestia’s horn glowed, but Luna put her hoof on her sister’s back in a gesture to discontinue.  Luna turned and looked at the fiend in the boy’s body.

They seemed to have a silent conversation, and then Luna turned to Celestia and whispered in her ear.  The two talked back and forth for a time behind their hooves, and the newly-revealed Blackheart didn’t care, and stood waiting for their answer.

Celestia spoke first, “I don’t know whether to thank you or banish you.”  She began, “Saving Equestria, but harming others in the process.”

Blackheart responded with equal hostility, “Seeing as how you couldn’t banish me, I’d suggest the former.  I’m one third of Evil.  You couldn’t do anything without my permission.”

The two diarchs talked about this a bit more beyond Blackheart’s normal hearing.  Celestia once again spoke, finally regaining her regal tone, “You are to be thanked for your efforts, but we cannot abide you in this world.  We will do all we can to assist you in leaving.”

He smirked, “I was thinkin’ something similar.  Tell you what; you let me go, but keep the boy.  He’s still got things to learn.  After all, I saved the world, not him.”

Then Luna broke in, “But what about-“

He raised his hand and spoke, “He’ll be fine.  He’s just… got a bit of a problem.  He’s reverted to a stage prior to his being brought here.  He’ll likely have a bit of attitude adjustment to go through before he’ll be back to normal.”  With that he turned and waved, before a black haze flowed out of him and through the ceiling into the noonday sun.

Kyle turned and looked at where the shadow had passed through.  “F***kin’ creepy.  You should hear what  he has to say about you people… ponies.  Whatever, I don’t give one.”

Celestia sighed and went back to her desk; Luna followed Kyle, trying to start a conversation he was having none of.

She put aside the damage reports and began writing a note to Twilight about her guest’s change, and a list of rules as to how to deal with the human’s new behavior.

For lack of a better word, and most likely because the boy had begun to rub off on her, Celestia thought, “Today is going to be a bitch.”

A\N: Hope that cleared up your questions.  I’d gotten a lot of questions about this thing.  Also, I encourage you to take part in the poll on my FFN profile page, seeing as how 2 or 3 people total have voted.  And currently the votes have leaned in favor of original stories.  However, you are going to be disappointed, because I’ll have to do a few episode-based chapters to show of Kyle’s jerk attitude that I advertised at the beginning, and I’ll also have to advance the plot seeing as how this is all still post-episode-1.  Sorry for the delays, but life is a dirty *****, and more will be in the future.  Also, Vaile will be a reoccurring character in future stories.  Finally, to end this rant I’d like to thank Ice Assassin Ace for his OC, who will be making a cameo in a later chapter.  Sorry it’s taken so long dude.