Is Your Friendship Mistaken?

During the night, a battle took place.  Inside Kyle, a memory and a curse battled.  The fought for control of Kyle himself.  The memory was horrible, full of anguish and suffering.  The curse was unnatural, promising only fear and pain.  The memory fought for Kyle, despite the pain it brought him.

Kyle convulsed and twitched in his bed, wracked by the battle inside him.  In the end, the curse won, and it took control of the innocent boy.  He began to bleed, the flesh on his back and limbs tearing open.  The blood soaked his bed, and dark gray hairs quickly covered him.

His arms broke, and healed at odd angles; they reshaped and moved, making him into something different.  In a minute the hex had run its course, making him something horrible.  It settled itself into his mind, making sure it knew his desires.

It leaped off the bloody sheets, landing on the floor without a noise.  Its wicked midnight claws marked the floor as it sauntered to the door, leaving a trail, but once again no sound was made by the scoring.

As it came upon the door, it nudged the block of wood next to it.  As it made contact, a purple spark flashed, and the block was replaced with something different.  One desire down, one to go.

It shouldered the door open, its four-legged form preventing it from using hands.  It left the door open, allowing the brisk night air to enter the tree home.  It sped up, following a dirt track to Canterlot Castle

It reached a full sprint, with speed born of unnatural dark power; it would reach the castle in a matter of minutes.

The phantom came upon the town before the castle.  Gathering itself for a second, it leapt powerfully up to one of the roofs.  It ran towards the castle once more, the distance from each roof not even slowing the hunter.

It soon reached the edge of the village.  It came to a full halt instantly on the edge of the roof.  It leapt wildly, and came into contact with the top of the castle.  It looked at the wall, checking to see if it had been found.  It was a futile gesture though, not even the Goddess of the Sun could find him unless it wanted him to.

It began its descent, knowing the exact location of his prey.  The night was young; there would be time to accomplish extra deeds.

Princess Luna awoke with a small gasp, feeling as if she was being watched.  She lifted her head slightly, her eyes searching every dark corner and finding nothing.

The window flew open without a gust of wind preceding it.  A scream caught in her throat.  She quickly scolded herself.  She was the Princess of the Night, why was she afraid of the dark?  She focused, and the window closed, a blue aura shrouding it briefly.

The lunar teenager closed her eyes, and just as she began to drift into oblivion, a pressure clamped down on her lips.

Her eyes shot open, and she saw a large gray paw clamped on her mouth.  She followed it.  It led to a huge deep shadow; it had another paw on her shoulder, while its legs were positioned near hers.

A suave voice whispered in her ear, “It’s been a while Luna.  Do you remember me?”  It quickly changed into a darker tone, saying, “Don’t try to escape, don’t try to fight, and don’t try to scream.  I’d hate to waste your energy.  But I’m going to let you speak.”  It removed its paw when she nodded

It was evil for sure, that much could be felt by being it its presence, but there was truth in its words.  It continued, “No, I suppose not, given my form.  I suppose you’ll recognize my old name.”  It flashed a wicked smile as it said “Kyle”

Princess Luna’s suppressed the urge to vomit.  This vile beast could simply NOT be her friend.  There was no semblance of the boy in its soulless black eyes.

  Since it’s time for new things, my name is Blackheart.  And you used to be my mother.”

Her eyes widened.  “Lies,” She whispered sharply, “I have no children.”

“Used to be my mother,” It corrected, “my mother is Nightmare Moon.”

The princess’ eyes widened to their fullest extent at the realization of her previous name.  Terror was creeping through her bones.

The lupine fiend removed its paws from her shoulder and lips and settled itself on her gut.  It was light, despite its massive size and strength.

It smirked, her terror feeding its dark purpose.  “How ironic.  You were a mother.  And now you’ll play that role once more.”

She looked at the intruder inquisitively, not understanding.  “I’ll carry on my mother’s sick legacy as long as need be.  You will bet the bearer of my children.  Then you will serve me until I deem you ready to be tortured and put to death.”  The canine explained.

This certainly wasn’t the ideal situation the Alicorn had in mind.  She thrashed wildly, in an attempt to keep this unholy… thing off of her.

Despite its weight, her thrashing accomplished nothing.  It waited until she tired her limbs out, and then pinned her from the shoulders again.  It gained a wicked and evil grin as it positioned itself atop her.

Her eyes filled with hot tears, and she closed them.  For all she learned, she couldn’t do anything to help herself.

She waited for the pain to begin, but nothing happened to her.  She opened her eye, and a large glob of foamy spittle splattered her throat.  She recoiled at its touch.

Suddenly, she saw that she could move, but where was the attempted defiler?  She looked around, and saw it rolling on the bed next to her, as if fighting something.

It flailed desperately screeching “I AM GIVING YOU A GIFT!  YOU WILL BE A GOD!  NO LONGER A FAILURE!  I WILL KILL-“  It was cut short by some force sending it flying across the room into the window, which cracked and shattered, sending whatever it was onto the courtyard tile hundreds of feet below.  She looked out the window at the body of the wolf, but instead saw the bleeding body of Kyle.

“KYLE!”  Luna screamed, shocked at the development.  Three guards dressed in gold rushed into the room.

“Princess Luna, what seems to be the issue?”  The sergeant asked her.

“My friend is lying bleeding down there!  Help him!”  She shouted, troubled by the night’s events.

The leader quickly turned to the stallion on his left, a Pegasus.  “Lightwings!  Get that civilian up here!”

The soldier nodded, and leaped out the window angling himself like an arrow downwards.

Lightwings felt the wind whip him, but he resisted the force of nature and spread his wings wide about ten yards from the solid earth.

His wings hurt from the stunt of course, but this guy below him was dying.  He wrapped his hooves around the human’s midsection, and carried him back to Luna’s quarters.

They laid him gently on the blood-and-sweat-soaked bed sheets.  The unicorn of the three-pony-team began examining the body.  He quickly wrapped his wounds in gauze tape to staunch the bleeding and save what was left of his blood.

His work was long and difficult.  He had not a clue if humans did well with magic, so he was stuck with conventional methods.

He administered the human’s fourth shot of the night while the sergeant and Lightwings guarded Princess Luna outside the room.  Being an aristocrat, the magical medic was surprised she had allowed her rooms to be used.

He must be something special.  The medic thought as he worked.

After several hours of arduous work, the unicorn was finished with his task.  He was tired, and staggered out of the room, only to be bombarded by questions.

He sighed and answered with the truth, “I don’t know how he’s doing.  It’s out of my hooves now.  But judging from the look of things…  He’ll get away with this so long as nobody moves him or anything.

A look of relief crossed the three’s faces.  The team left to file an urgency report, while the actual royal physician was called to see if anything else could be done.

‘Nothing more could help the boy’ was the verdict given by the aged pony who served as physician.

Luna stood watch over him all night, keeping vigilant despite the toll the night had taken on the poor pony.

Celestia was kept out of the loop for the time being.  She had enough on her plate as is.

Kyle awoke to greasy-feeling sheets and a pony standing over him.  “Hey Luna…?”  Kyle said, “Ya mind telling me why I’m covered in blood, on your bed, and you’re standing over me?”

The way he said it made the whole thing seem embarrassing.  But Luna faced the problem with dignity.  She calmly explained the situation despite the burning in her face she felt.

Kyle accepted it with surprising serenity.  After all, he had found out ponies could talk, so what was turning into a talking evil wolf?

“Sooooo…  What do we do?  Is there any way we can top this guy?  I can feel him in the back of my mind.  He’s taunting me, telling me no.”  He asked, then frowned and extended his middle finger to himself.

Luna didn’t understand this gesture, and continued talking to him about possible ways to stop Blackheart.  After several hours of debates, the two saw that there was nothing in the way of possibilities.

Luna left to fetch Celestia and get some rest.  The solar goddess arrived only a few minutes later, having had to be debriefed by her younger sister.

The two discussed the situation at length, trying their best to find a solution.  Then Celestia came with the most ridiculous, yet plausible idea yet.

“Why don’t we give Blackheart what he wants?”  She asked, excitement in her voice at this revelation.

“Uhhh… Princess?  I don’t want to rape Luna.”  Kyle asked, thinking the princess completely bonkers for this idea.

She flinched at the derogatory term, but obliged him explaining, “His name is BlackHEART.”  She explained, stressing the second syllable, “He wants love through force.  So we cage him with the most powerful weapon known: Love.”

Kyle, growing annoyed at the futility of his situation, snapped.  “Oh SURE!  I just need to find the love of my life in at the most turbulent and unstable age I could possibly be!  Simple.  Why don’t I just solve the mystery of life for Christsakes if that’s all you want?”  He grew in volume and anger, but stuck to the bitter truth, holding nothing back, “I LIVED FOR FIFTEEN YEARS TRYING TO FIND SOMEONE TO LOVE ME!  THEY JUST TOYED WITH MY HEART AND LEFT ME TO DIE!  NOW I’M AN EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE DELINQUENT AND I NEED TO FIND SOMEBODY TO SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH?  FORGET THIS!  I’LL NEVER GET THIS DONE!”

Celestia flinched but held her ground.  “I’m not asking you to find true happiness.”  She began softly, “Find somepony you enjoy the company of, give that affection a chance to settle itself in your heart and it WILL trap him.”  She gained more certainty as she spoke; knowing that this was exactly what Blackheart was trying to stop Kyle from doing with the outburst.

Kyle lay back on Luna’s bed, feeling the enormity of his actions, and realizing he was wrong.  “What can I do?”  He asked, “After last night, nobody will EVER get near me.  I’ll just have to leave.”

“You won’t leave until you’ve learned.”  Celestia said seriously, her tone of command once again asserting itself.

Then, Celestia grew another idea.  “Kyle, get up, you’re going on that date with Luna you two talked about.”

Kyle began to protest, but realized he had little to lose.

After a quick stop at Twilight Sparkle’s tree home to collect Kyle’s things, including an odd piece of carved wood, Celestia gave them to Kyle and explained the situation to Luna, who had had a wonderful rest.

Luna immediately sank back into her old self, forgetting the night’s events and fussing about her appearance.

Kyle was no different, besides the fact that he was informed that the wooden instrument known as a guitar was carved for him by Blackheart, who had acted upon Kyle deepest desires at the time:  Music and social interaction with Luna.

He played with his clothing and hair styles until he found something suitably casual.  He took the rest of the time he had to strum the guitar, testing to see if Blackheart had tampered with it.

An hour later, the two were outside Canterlot village, taking a long walk back to Ponyville.  Kyle explained his unfortunate situation to Luna, despite his reluctance to admit he depended on his affection for Luna to contain the dread beast locked inside him.

Luna agreed to keep a semblance of a relationship with him, but only as long as he explained himself.  When questioned what she meant by that, Luna replied that he said something about his heart being toyed with.

The teenage boy regretted the eruption of anger immediately.  He knew no matter what he tried, he’d eventually have to explain it to his friend.  He began with a sigh, and went from there.

Kyle was always an odd child, taking walks at midnight since he was five.  He was always serious, even from that early on his life, but responsible as well, which was why he was allowed to take nightly walks.  He never slept much, not caring for the oblivion it whispered of.

He used the night to think, and prepare himself for anything the coming days might hold.

It hadn’t caused problems until he turned nine, when people started to tease him.  It was light, mostly just being called a vampire or something childish like that.

Then came middle school.  He found little solace there, constantly being harassed for his seriousness, and always the brunt of bullying, due to his pride.  He wouldn’t admit he lost.  But he never fought back.  The anger built up over the span of a year.

One day he brutally beat and hospitalized a boy who had been only a minor part in his degradation.  At first he reveled in the popularity it brought him.  But he quickly fell in with the wrong people.

He met a girl who brought him out of that crowd.  At that time she seemed like his saving grace.  Yet it was not to last.  She took their relationship as a joke, and ended it with the simple truth: It has started as a bet, but she grew to love him.  He lost all control.

He left her in the rain.  She told him ‘I love you.’ And yet he was the one crying as he walked home.  He walked the five miles home in the pouring rain.  He stopped going to school at all.  He was going on his third month of truancy when he found himself in Equestria.

During that time he had only grown to show positive emotion only to his younger sister; believing that she shouldn’t have to go through what he did.

He listened to dark music that he felt explained what he was feeling.  And so he played such a song on his newly-formed guitar while singing the lyrics.

I can feel you fallin’ awaaayyy

No longer the lost; No longer the saaaammmeee

And I can see you starting to breeeaaakkk

I’ll keep you alive, if ya show me the waaaayyyy

Forevah annndddd evaaaah, the stars will remaaaaiiinnnn

Give me a sign; There’s something buried in the wiiiinndd.

Give me a siiiiggggnnnnnnn; you tears are everwhere

JUST GIVE ME A SIGN!; There’s something buried in here

GIVE ME A SIIIGGGGNNNNNN; your tears are everwhere

He sang beautifully, and Luna felt the words, while not his own, came from his heart.  This music was his way of releasing pain.  And she would listen to it forever if it healed him.

They arrived at Ponyville after several hours of walking the path in the dark.  They hadn’t felt fatigue in each other’s presence.  They gave each other some form of strength.

Kyle had just finished singing Dance with the Devil by his favorite musical group, Breaking Benjamin, when they arrived at the Ponyville Library.

Luna liked the music he sang too.  It felt as if the singer was sharing their loneliness with her, and she could let herself go.

Kyle was crying by the time they stopped.  Luna looked at him, concern in her eyes.  He noticed and wiped his eyes, but not trying to stem the flow of tears.  “You are the only person I’ve been able to open up to like that.  I feel so much better.”  He fell onto his backside in the dirt and let the tears flow freely.

Luna impulsively dropped to the ground beside him, and hugged him.

They shared their embrace for ten full minutes, each crying harder than they had in a long time.

When they finally parted from each other’s arms, Kyle felt that Blackheart would cause no more trouble.  Still, he needed to seal the deal.

He looked at Luna, and cleared his throat before speaking, “Luna, I’ve shared my past with you, you’ve seen my darkest moments, you’ve cried with me.  You found time to walk me home after what I tried to do.  In short-“He choked on the words, he felt inadequate.  But still, he continued, “You’re the person closest to me.  I’d like you to-“He searched for the right terminology, feeling foolish, “to… be my special somepony.”

Luna knew he would ask that.  She knew he would ask that at this time.  But she still felt the shock of hearing the words.  Finally, tears flowing with a vengeance, Luna began, “You’re the only person who I can share isolation with.  After what I’ve done to you, I’m surprised I’m not dead.  You are the only one I can share pain with.”

He looked at her, a new respect in his eyes.  “Thank you.”  He whispered to her, “Thank you so much.”

With that, he turned and left, heading inside the house.  Luna stayed outside for a moment before turning and disappearing in the wind.

They both slept soundly that night.  Their heads filled with thoughts of one another.

The Nightwalker stirred in its cage, anger evident.  This was not going well.  Nightmare Moon and Blackheart had failed to stop the two from coming together naturally.  There MUST be some form of strife between them, or it would die.  Even with their considerable power, they were overcome.  The Nightwalker looked skyward, toward the vile bright stars that lit the night.  It cursed them and screamed its name to the world,

“I AM NIGHTWALKER!  I AM RULER!  I AM GOD AND DEMON!  I WILL KILL YOU!  WITH MY LAST BREATH I. WILL. KILL. YOU!”