The images began flowing once more. But, I heard something this time; Whispers. Whispers, like souls of The Undead, crying to be taken free, and set unto their Afterlife. Whispers, like souls of some dark, primordial God, demanding to be freed, demanding to destroy a tainted world, and a tainted race. Whispers, like the souls of a million orphan children, crying and praying for their parents, who will never come.

Whispers... Like a dark secret, now known by the one who wanted to know it least.

I cried out. "WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!" I yelled, clawing at my flesh. Blood dripped down my face, and I felt it, even in this ethreal form. I roared. "GOD HELP ME!" And yet, I still heard the whispers, evil, dark whispers, lies that I could tell were the complete truth. They said, You are a God, you can help yourself, embrace the Truth... I couldn't believe what they said, and I just wanted them to STOP.

"No... No, you're lying! LYING! YOU ARE JUST VOICES! GOD, HELP ME! FREE ME FROM THIS DARKNESS! FREE ME, OR CAST ME INTO THE DEEPEST PIT OF HELL! EVEN ETERNAL DAMNATION WOULD BE A BLESSING IN PLACE OF THIS!" I cursed the place I was in, I cursed my state of being, I even cursed God Himself! I was screaming so long, and hard, it could have been a single second, or it could have been a trillion years. In the place I was in, Time might not even pass; All I knew was that I would be here until the Rapture came... Or maybe longer.

Then, I heard another, familiar voice, completely different from the others. General... It buzzed sweetly.
"L... Luna?" I whispered.
General... Love, you have to wake up... Please... Wake up...

Suddenly, Luna appeared beside me, in the form of a human. Her dark, flowing hair spilled beautifully down her back. She wore a silver gown, emblazoned with the Crescent Moon. Her beautiful blue eyes were decorated with a sapphire color around them, and she wore a silver crown in her hair. She appeared like a Spirit of the Night, a true Goddess of the Moon.

The beautiful Queen offered me her hand. I took it, and she drew me into a deep kiss. Suddenly, we both began to fade away. "Thank you, Luna," I whispered. "Thank you..."

.....

I awoke in a cold sweat. Luna's forelegs were wrapped around me, her lips pressed against my cheek. I was laying upon a hard, cold surface, covered by a blanket made of a thin silver. "L-Luna..." I whispered.
"Shh..." She whispered, holding me tightly. Her face was tear-stained and weak. Luna backed away from me, and I tried to rise up. "No," I heard another, familiar voice say firmly, but soft.

I chuckled weakly. "Calypso, how are you?" She pushed me back down against the surface, rolling her eyes sarcastically. "You must rest. Used so much energy, almost died. Only a God could have so much power." My eyes suddenly went wide, disturbed. I remembered what the Dragon-Born Warrior had told me in the vision, and I was afraid. "That's so wierd..." I whispered without knowing.

"What is?" Luna asked, having apparently heard me. I looked at her, and I knew not what to say. She grew suspicious. "General," She said kindly, yet with authority. "What happened to you?" I sighed, and just looked away. "Nothing happened, okay? It's... It's fine." She sighed, surrendering for the moment. But, I knew this wasn't the ending. No, not that easily.

"So... How long was I... Asleep?" I asked them both, directing it more towards Luna than Calypso. The Princess of the Night looked down. "You... You weren't asleep." She responded. "I know... You had no Dreams. You were... In a coma." I nodded. "Figures. But, how long?!" I was nearly snapped at Luna, but caught myself just in time. She sighed glumly. "Seven days. We spent an entire day in the Tower, and you were unconscious for a full seven." I sighed, part relieved, part upset. On the bright side, I hadn't missed the wedding, but on the down side... I hadn't been able to live for an entire week. I just couldn't believe all this, but I just sighed and shrugged it off.

"Well," I buzzed. "Looks like I'll just have to live through this all." Luna nodded, and leaned down next to me. I couldn't feel anything at all in my body, and it was a bit hard for me to breathe at times. "Uh, what, exactly, happened to me?" I asked them both, more towards Calypso this time.
"When you and Luna appeared, you were about a hundred meters above the ground," Calypso responded. "Luna didn't recognize the situation at first, and barely brought her wings up in time to catch the air. You... You hit the ground, and didn't bounce once. The fact that you're even still alive surprises me."

My eyes widened. "So, am I paralyzed, or something?!" Calypso shook her head, laughing slightly.
"No, your legs and arms were broken, and two of your ribs were fractured. Right now, you are just in a special mold that will reform your bones and heal you, perhaps stronger than ever. It should only take a few more hours." I sighed iin relief. "Thank God..."

.....

February 14, 2013

The Wedding Day

As I watched Luna coming up the aisle, beautiful in her midnight-dress, I felt my heart burst with joy, passion, and love. I was sincerely worried they would need a doctor there before long. But, I never felt pain, never got hurt, and everything was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

At first.

The Setting Sun and the Rising Full Moon appeared in the sky at the same time that day. Standing on the Altar of Spirits were 5 Representatives of the different kinds of ponies: Upon the symbol of the Flame was a Unicorn. There was a Sea Pony on the Trident. A Pegasus, Earth Pony, and Alicorn stood upon the Wing, Stone, and Flaming Blade, respectively. Only the the symbol of the Orb holding the others was empty.

Luna and I were to stand upon the Orb. This was the first true marriage between rulers of different nations Equestria had seen in over a millenium, so a special Wedding Ritual was to be performed. Each of the Representatives were to give us a blessing in their respective traditional languages, and then allow some of their energies to flow into us.

The Sea Pony Representative was Mare Puerum, and Celestia was the Alicorn, but beyond them, I recognized none of the people. There were two females and a male, but beyond that, nothing truly stood out. I ignored that, and looked back at Luna. She was truly stunning.

The Sunlight was afraid to shine upon the black silk of Luna's dress, and the Moonlight lusted after the fabric all the time. The lights all flashed from it, somehow turning into Darkness and shading the area. She had a calm face, eyes closed, movements slow, steady, and graceful. She had a small, sweet smile playing with her lips. Her eyes were decorated with a traditional paint the color of silver. The necklace I had made by our Greek friend back in Canterlot hung around her neck. She had shoes upon her hooves made from sapphire and blued silver. She wore a crown of an Ebony metal whose name I forget.

She finally reached the Altar, the veil over her face obscuring it a bit. We approached the Orb, and stood together. I smiled at her and, thought I couldn't quite see it, I knew she smiled back. The individual Representatives all gave us their blessings, allowing a moment for me to translate something to Luna if she didn't understand. Mare Puerum made good use of what he had learned from me and others in training as a scholar.

He said, "Eternal Joy unto you both. May you be blessed by all the Gods and Spirits in this Great Universe, Eternal. May you be together 'til Kingdom Come." As his blessing, the last, fell upon us, I heard a slight twang to the south of us.

And that was all she wrote.

The next thing I knew, my brother was on the ground, blood pooling from the wound surrounding the bolt through his throat. I looked, and realized the arrow had been going straight for Luna. My brother jumped in front of it just in time.

This was an assassination.

As Chaos erupted and all Hell broke loose, I looked over, and saw the assailant. I snarled, and ran after the figure. I didn't even need to fly, my Blind Fury making me a thousand a thousand times faster than my wings ever could. Before I knew it, I was holding a Gryphon with a cracked beak by the throat, clawing at my arm.

"Who do you think you are?" I growled at the foul beast, pure Hatred in my voice. The bastard didn't answer, still trying to claw up my arm. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" I repeated, shouting at the top of my lungs. The piece of shit gasped, then answered. "I am Dorcha, the one who was meant to be the Doom of your 'precious' Luna," The beast sneered, contempt in his voice when he said Luna's name. "I was sent to kill her, and capture you, for The Master. But then, that FOOL had to get in the way!"

I tightened my grip on the beast's throat, nearly crushing his trachea. "That FOOL was my fucking brother!" I spat in the Demon's eye. "Who sent you? Was it that bastard, Scriosadh?" The winged monster laughed, wasting what little air he had. "Scriosadh! That is just an Equestrian fairlytale! And if you really think you would get anything out of me, than you are wasting your time!"
I growled, "Then you are useless to me!" And it was all over.

Author's Note

To be continued in Book 4, and concluded in Book 5.