The New Generation

by TheBlackPanda

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy, Scootaloo, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, DJ P0N-3, Sad, Princess Luna, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Romance, Sex
Length: 19228

A sequel to 'A Hero's Story', Brandon and his daughters fight an oncoming apocalypse, and Discord.

(CANCELED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE)

A sequel to my first story, 'A Hero's Story'. Taking a few years after, Brandon, with his adopted daughter Scootaloo, and his actual daughter, Night Runner, fight apocalypse omens, old enemies, and of course, because we all forgot about him, DISCORD.
Show me some love. And constructive criticism.

Published 2012-02-01 02:33:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-04-28 03:37:32 UTC

Chapter 1: Happy Days

Sorry for the wait guys, but it's here!

_______________________Part 1: End of a Generation_______________________________________

Night Runner and Scoots were inseparable. Maybe it's because I worked so hard to get them to get along. Anyways, the girls were pretty much grown. Scoots was about seventeen, and Runner was about ten. Every week, I would give Scootaloo some money, and she'd go into town to buy some stuff. Runner wanted to go with her, but I didn't want her to. I had this feeling of doom in my stomach. I felt that, if I let her leave, something terrible would happen. But she knows how to make my heart explode. She looked at me with fake tears in her eyes, and put her bottom lip out just a little while letting it quiver. Cursing my kindness, I gave in to the adorableness. Her neon rainbow-colored hair lit up as she squealed with joy and bounced like Pinkie Pie to go stand next to her big sister.

"And while you're out, go by Sugarcube Corner and ask tell Pinkie, 'Brandon needs the goods'. She'll give you what you need. Do not even think about looking inside." The two girls nodded, and left.

Runner's hair still freaked me out. It seemed to change with her emotion. If she was normal, it was a regular rainbow with neon colors. If she was happy, it would glow vibrantly and with pure energy. If she was sad, it would be a dark blue. If she was angry or distraught, it was a deep black that glowed with dark energy. She was a lot like her mother. She was rash, a lot. She was often competitive.

I sat on the couch. After what seemed like seconds, there was knocking on the door. I got up and opened the door. Immediately, I almost shit bricks.

Katherine was standing right in front of me

For those that don't know, Katherine is Kaitlin's darkside. She was the anti hero, but one of our best friends. She disappeared off the face of what was then Earth, and we assumed someone had killed her.

Now I was proven wrong.

I welcomed her in. "So, what's up?" She asked, with a smile.

"Where have you been?"

"Places. Meeting people. But that's not why I'm here."

"They why are you here?"

"Before I go on, I heard about Kaitlin. I'm sorry, Brandon..."

I winced, "Thanks..."

"Anyways, so as you can tell, I am alive. This would be good news, right?"

I nodded.

"Well, it's not. The circumstances are horrible."

"What's so bad about it?"

"John. He is alive as well."

I almost flipped off my rocker. John, Kaitlin and Darkside's father, and Kaitlin's childhood tormentor, was alive? This was horrible. John, was doing his little solo project, to create artificial darksides. In order to force Kaitlin to release hers, he tortured her in many ways. From physical abuse, to mental torment, he did it all. Then she met me. Believe it or not, I had no clue about my powers. Then, in my sophomore year of high school, she 'transferred' here. And I thought she was hotter than the goddamn sun. So, I turned my swag-o-meter up by 100%, and went for it. Slowly, I opened her up, and got her to tell me what was wrong at home. I offered her a chance to stay at my house, and she took it. We got to her house (more like mansion) and I tried to sneak her out. John, on the other hand, was about to kill her. He'd had enough. Darkside stayed to fight his father, which resulted in the guy going insane, and spawning what was thought to be a black hole at first. We later discovered that it simply transported them to limbo, where they fought for a year and a half. Darkside had managed to shake John up long enough to get out. We thought John was gone for good, and left in limbo to die. But apparently, we were wrong.

"Well, we obviously need to stop him, right?" I asked.

"You need to. I'm risking it all to be here now. I'm working on the inside with him right now." She grimaced.

"Well, I need to warn people-"

"No. Not yet. We need to wait. There will be a long time before he appears."

I nodded. She stood up, right when John called her demanding her presence.

"Bye, Brandon. The next time we meet will be under much different circumstances..." She flew away.

________________________________

Rainbow came home at the same time as the kids. I took the 'goods' Pinkie had given them and proceeded to bake my grandma's pound cake recipe. Then I called them in to have some. A cake with no frosting sounded odd to them at first, then they ate some. It was pure pandemonium. I even let them do what I did growing up with my grandma. I ate the leftover cake batter. And they had the chance to try it too. They obviously had never baked cakes, even though they had been around Pinkie long enough to have experience. Regardless, we were all happy.

We went to bed after a short while. Me and Rainbow shared one room, while the girls shared another. I laid awake for hours, pondering the possibilities of a hell-on-Equestria. Finally, I dozed off.

But, any cryptic visit isn't complete without your obligatory nightmare...

_________________________________

I woke up, laying on the ground, with blazing heat surrounding me. I sat up and looked around. The entire town was on fire. I began to walk. Then I looked up, and saw my family spread on their own respective crosses, dead and covered in their blood. I felt hot tears fill up my eyes. I then heard a voice:

On the night of nightmares. She will be revived. Your precious nation will crumble from within. The people you fought to save will die as well. The people here will cry out to their patriarchs, but they will not come for them. The world will burst in flame, as your safe haven, your home, enacts its seal of revenge. The three swords and the six elements will combine, and their worlds will collide. All hope will be lost. And the Child of the Apocalypse will reveal itself. This, is the way the world shall end!

Then a figure stood before me, staring down at me in contempt, with red eyes and deep black hair. It was a girl, and she seemed only fourteen. Then she spread her arms, and a wave of dark energy erupted from behind her. The darkness swallowed me whole.

_____________________________________

I sat bolt upright. I checked my surroundings. Liquid rainbow fountain, check. Soft cloud house and bed, check. Awesome, sexy, rainbow haired wife, triple check. I laid down. That was the scariest thing I have ever experienced.

I felt it in her eyes. Those cold red eyes.

Who was she? Why was she so familiar?

No. Not her.

Was that...

Night Runner?

Chapter 2: Guess Who's Back?

It was only three o'clock in the morning. I still had time to enjoy sleep. But I heard a timid, yet clear voice call out to me.

"Daddy?"

I got up and went to the girls' room. I looked to see Night Runner shivering under the covers. I walked over there and knelt down to look at my daughter. "Yes?" I said.

"I'm scared..."

"What happened?"

"...Bad dream..."

"How bad was it?"

"It was all scary, like you and Mom and Scootaloo were all dead and there was a creepy voice. Then at the end a creepy girl blew something up."

I had to hold back my shock. She had a dream similar to mine? I put on a smile, "Well, that's never going to happen. Not while I'm around, okay?"

She nodded. I sat on the floor and leaned on my daughter's bed.

"Can we still sleep?" she asked

"Of course."

"Well, good night again, Daddy."

"Same to you..."

As soon as I heard her light snore, I was able to doze off.

_______________________________________________

Another week passed. Scootaloo and Runner were about to leave the house. I told them to only go to Uncle Brian's, (Brian is Darkside) If they wanted to go to someone's house. And not to buy any crazy things. They nodded in agreement. They left.

I remembered I needed something from them. I jumped out of the cloud house. Rainbow wouldn't be home from the Weather Factory for another three hours. So I searched for them. I stopped in Sugar Cube corner to talk to Pinkie for a little. We chatted about random things (My random tendencies fit right in). Finally, I looked to my right to see Scootaloo and Night Runner talking to a tall man and a girl. I focused in their direction.

John and Katherine.

I pulled my sword out and ran at top speed, jumping as high as I could before coming down on him, hard. He had caught the blade in his right hand.

"Sloppy, Brandon. Raising children has had its toll on your fighting..."

I jumped back. "Why are you even here?"

"To get some fresh meat... You?"

I growled, "Don't play games! You want me dead, let's end this."

"Not yet..."

He disappeared, and a second later, he was holding Night Runner in one arm and Scootaloo in the other. I ran at him with full speed. He began to teleport.

"See you, Brandon..." He left right when I got to where he was.

I slammed my fist on the ground. The fucker showed up, took my kids, and left.

I needed help. I went to visit Darkside and Fluttershy at their cottage.

Darkside answered the door, "Hey, Brandon! What's up?"

"I need to talk to you. It's serious, real serious."

His smile faded, "Come in."

I walked in. Then I was welcomed with a loud, "UNCLE!!!"

I looked to see a boy around Night Runner's age. He wore a red T-Shirt, and some clean blue jeans. I picked him up, "Hey big guy! How ya been?"

Darkside's son, Dark Storm grinned, "Good! Dad just helped me fly!"

I looked at Darkside, "Already?"

"Training him. Keeps me in shape as well." Darkside replied.

He beckoned me to the couch, "Storm, me and Uncle have to talk about something. Go to your room, okay?"

Storm nodded in reply and ran back upstairs.

I looked at Darkside, "You're not gonna like this..."

"What is it?" He replied.

"John, he's still alive..."

"Don't tell me..."

"And he's kidnapped my kids... "

"Aw, shit!" He swung at the air. "That damned bastard should'a stayed dead. God damn it..."

"Well, we gotta do something..."

He looked at me, "We're gonna go get 'em... but not yet."

"Well, when are we?"

"We're gonna go as soon as I can let 'Shy know."

"Speaking of which, where is she?"

"Buying groceries..."

"Whatever, anyways, so we meet up here at six o'clock, OK?"

"Gotcha."

I dreaded this more than any thing. I flew back to the cloud house. I saw Rainbow sitting on the couch reading, like an 'egghead'.

"Listen, Rainbow... Something bad happened..."

She looked at me, "What happened?"

"Well, this guy, one of my enemies from where I came from, he showed up out of the blue and kidnapped Night Runner and Scootaloo..."

Rainbow stared at me, "Well? Aren't you gonna go get them?"

"Not yet, me and Darkside are going together to look for him."

She nodded. She was, oddly, calm. "Well, just make sure you do what you can..."

I nodded in reply.

Night Runner woke up next to Scootaloo. The two girls looked at each other, then at their surroundings. They were in a room with dark grey walls. The floor was cold and wet. It smelled of rotting flesh. Then Night Runner felt a stab in her heart. Scootaloo disappeared. The walls around the young girl began to soak a sickening crimson. In fact, it seemed that the walls were bleeding. There were incomprehensible whispers all around her. She sat on the floor and hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face in her arms. She cried silently and rocked back and forth. "Mommy, Daddy, I'm scared..."

Meanwhile, Scootaloo was trying to talk to Night Runner. Then suddenly Night Runner grabbed at her face and let out a demonic scream. Her eyes and hair turned a deep black. The eyes and mouth began to bleed. In that same demonic voice Night Runner, or whatever possessed her, said, "Help me...The day is upon us...Keep her away...."

Scootaloo covered her mouth to keep her from screaming, "What... The... Fuck...?" She stammered.

The Demon-Night Runner straightened up almost as sudden as her spasm. She stopped bleeding and her eyes turned normal again. The one thing was that her hair was black and her eyes were blood red.

The only thought that went through Scootaloo's mind was, What the hell is going on?

Chapter 4: Nightmare Night

WARNING: Suggestive and dark as fuck, as well as the saddest chapter I have ever written. Proceed with caution.

A Few Months Later...

"Dad, are you ready to go?" Night Runner called.

"Almost, sweetie. Just gotta finish getting ready real quick." I called back.

I walked down the stairs. I was wearing my old black cloak, and had my swords strapped to my back. I made sure that my clothes were light, as well as badass. I grabbed some fake blood and poured it all over my body. After all, getting ready to fight and preparing for Nightmare Night shouldn't be that hard, right? "The night of nightmares, huh?" I said to myself, "I'm ready this time."

I told Rainbow and Scootaloo, who were staying to pass out the candy to any fliers that were going out, goodbye. I told them I loved them. If I knew about what was going to happen, I would have said more.

We met up with Darkside and his kid. Night Runner and Dark Storm were enjoying each other's company. Me and Darkside were discussing what to do about the prophecy, which I told him about as well.

"I'm not entirely sure... This is really big." He said.

"I know, but this is the only thing we can do about it."

"Well, on my signal, attack, OK?"

"OK. I hope you know what you're doing..."

"Me too..."

We got to the park. We were ready to scare the kids like it's nobody's business.

Then it hit.

"Uh, Dad?" Runner called. I turned to see her holding her forehead and wobbling a little.

"You okay?"

"My head hurts, and there's this really high pitched noise in my ear too..."

I walked to her, I put a hand on her forehead. She was getting hot. Her hair's colors were fluctuating. Then I looked into her eyes. They had turned red. She grabbed her forehead and screamed. She began to float in the air. The wind was rustling. And I had reached that point. That moment in every hero's life.

I was truly afraid. And I had no clue what to do. This wasn't a horror movie, or a screamer prank. This was real. I couldn't press Ctrl+Alt+Del and close it with the Task Manager. My daughter was screaming and crying and floating in front of my face. A wave of blackness swept from behind her. It swallowed everything. Finally, she seemed to calm down. She floated down to me, her head hanging. I ran to her and hugged her. "Are you okay?" I said.

She looked up at me, her red eyes glowing, "The time is near," She said in a dark, layered voice.

I barely had time to think before I was thrown into a building at lightspeed. I got up. Dark tendrils rushed at me. I dodged them and reached to my back for my swords. Which weren't there.

I hopped over the last one and ran for her. Dodging every bit of dark energy she threw at me, I got to her. I raised my fist and charged it with everything I had. Then she looked up at me and stared in my eyes. That cold hard look wasn't there. It was warm, innocent. "Don't hit me..." She pleaded.

I stopped cold. My brain seemed to yell at my body to move. Finish it all. But my body wouldn't listen. Fate intervened one more time.

I saw a long glowing blade cut her. Arms scooped her up. I looked up at this new guy. Or, more correctly, girl. And I saw Princess Celestia. But this wasn't that calm, often humorous, but wise look she usually had on. It was dark, angry, stern. She wore a pure white aviator jacket with what would have been her cutie mark, had she been an alicorn, on her left breast. She wore a miniskirt, with boots that were white as well. But that didn't put off that unnerving stare. Finally, after what felt like hours, I managed to say something.

"What the hell, 'Tia?" I demanded.

Everyone gasped from their kneeling positions. "How rude." She stated coldly, "Here I am, helping you out, and you immediately use foul language?"

"Yes! You didn't have to hurt her!"

"Were you going to? I am fully aware of what she is, and what she could do to these people. Therefore, since you wouldn't, I had to."

I opened my mouth to say something, but the words wouldn't come. She had me there. "But...But that doesn't mean you had to do anything so fucked up!"

"Yes it did."

"No it didn't."

"How dare you..." She advanced on me, her cold stare piercing my soul, "You dare go against what I say? I do what I do for the people! They must be saved at all costs!"

"For the people? For the people?!" I began to scream, "Night Runner is your FAMILY, Celestia! She is worth more than them!"

Celestia smirked, "So the hero doesn't care as much for his people as he originally did, huh? Has having a family turned you soft to them, but cold to others? Did you really put so much effort into saving us then, only for fame and recognition? I know things about you, Brandon. I know your backstory. I know how rotten you are inside, no matter how you deny it."

I grew angry. Tears of frustration filled my eyes. "You don't know a a god damned thing about me! I plan to keep it that way! What's in my heart is for me and me alone!"

"I know why your family abandoned you. I know what you did to your cousins, you sick being. You belong in a jail cell. I was surprised they hadn't called the police. You would belong there, with the other sick people. Being raped in a cell would do you good."

Something snapped. Tears flowed harder. Memories that I had pushed away for so long resurfaced. Me and my cousin sitting on the couch. I did it then. I have a daughter now. I looked at my hands. Those same hands I used to beat a day's stress off. I really was sick. I was a dog. Just another victim of Earth's shameful ways, in denial. I screamed. I threw my hand out. My palm struck something it shouldn't have. Celestia's face. Her head swayed with the force of the slap.

Celestia turned her head back to me. "Sicking acts against your family members. Verbally abusive to some friends. Physically abusive to others. And just plain violent. People have been put to death for what you have done. And you still do things like this? What will you do to Equestria? Will you infect our people with your shameful ways? We will not allow this!

By now people were shouting at me in pure anger. I felt like the world was just yanked from my feet. I worked so hard to maintain a good rep here, to forget that horrible life I had back on Earth. And all it took to lose that was a goddess on her period. I was shaking. I could barely feel the clothes on my back. I could faintly hear the shouts and curses against my name. And I looked up. I saw Rainbow and Scootaloo. Scootaloo was looking at me in shock. And Rainbow, oh God, she had tears flowing. She looked disappointed. She was holding something in her hand. Something that I had wanted to give her. And she had obviously wanted to give me.

A book that had meant so much to me. She had found a Bible. And I could tell she had been reading it. She understood just how fucked up I was. I reached out. All I could see was her in that moment. And she shook her head, and ushered Scootaloo in the other direction.

I began to panic. Was this a dream? Was it truly happening? I looked at Celestia with pure hate.

"You...You arrogant, fucked up, stupid, BITCH! Everything I worked for, to clear my slate with God and everyone else, is gone! And even Rainbow, oh God, why? What was your motivation for this?"

"I came to take the girl. I'm obviously not happy right now. After seeing that bitch come back to me, begging me not to fight John. However, it is your fault that this happened."

My world seemed to shatter like glass. My fault? I looked at her. And prayed to God that he would accept my soul in heaven.

I rushed straight at her. I jumped and swung. She side stepped and hit me in the back of the neck. I was winded. Tears came out of my eyes. I coughed up a thick liquid. It left a metallic taste in my mouth. I realized just how bad this was. For a second, I managed to grasp everything. In that second, I saw where I went wrong.

It went all the way back to that sickeningly eventful day. When I was four.

I was at my dad's for the weekend. He was in the middle of a nap, so I decided to trek the house in order for something to satisfy my little boy mind. I came across a pile of magazines. I was captivated instantly. My pants tightened. My mind seemed to twist various little things together.

Time rushed forward. My hands worked magic on my keyboard. I was ten now. A lot smarter. A lot more clever. A lot more sneaky. I searched up all those little pictures and videos, enjoying the sensation they gave me. It was new, it was helping my perspective of everything. Women, clothes, all of it. I was changed. Then I checked to see how to cover it up. Nothing. I spent so long thinking of how to delete search history that my mother walked in and saw what I had been looking at. The belt had stopped hurting at that point. It was starting to be welcomed.

Another time change. This time I was thirteen. I had that perfect dream. Going non-stop. I woke up ready. I had never felt it before. It was, nice. I met Kaitlin that same day.

I was fifteen. I did Kaitlin for the first time.

I was sixteen. Me and Kaitlin had finally had the perfect one. Then Earth ended.

One more change. Kaitlin, on the last day before she died. In the bathroom at their HQ. She was holding a baby. Apocalypse walked in. There was an exchange of words. She began to cry. Then he did something that made me want to scream.

He thrust out his hand and struck her. She fell down. He snatched the child. In my dream state, I followed him. He grabbed a cardboard box. He wrote on it, 'Give to good home'. He closed the box and threw it out the window.

I snapped back to reality. I had a son? My mind raced. And then I exploded. The time bomb I tried to ignore for years finally exploded. I jumped in the sky, shutting out everything. I had to get away. The crowd that had amassed shouted at me from below.

"Get outta here, sicko!"

"I can't believe I trusted you!"

"You sick fuck! I hope you have a good time in hell!"

I flew farther and farther. Equestria was just like Earth. You make a mistake, and no matter how nice people are, they hate you for it. I finally got to a tree. I leaned on it. I put my hands to my face and let tears flow. I hugged my knees to my chest, burying my face in my arms, and cried. For what it was worth, maybe I was in the Everfree Forest. Maybe a Manticore or Ursa Minor would come by and pick the meat off my bones. I laid down to sleep, the tears burning my eyelids.

I hate this place...I want to die.

Intermission: It's time for some backstory!

Katherine watched the whole ordeal through the Mind's Eye. She wanted to vomit as she watched Celestia torment Brandon. It was horrible. He had been reduced to tears. The entire town had cursed his very existence. And John had her locked up in her room. She was holding back screams, it hurt to watch it happen. Finally, Brandon grew some sense and got the fuck outta dodge. She sighed and laid down in her bed. She let her fatigue swallow her consciousness. And she was welcomed with a flashback.

Buildings burned. There were people screaming. She tried to push past the crowd that ran against her. She was screaming for her mother, who had been swept in the opposite direction. Katherine managed to escape the crowd. She left the town, refusing to look back as the gryphons attacked Canterlot.

Time went forward. Equestria had finally built a school again. It was called high school. There were three divisions for every Equestrian. There were the Unicorns, the magically advanced and the smartest, the Pegasi, which had flight powers and extreme bravery, and there were the Earths, the overall strongest and most athletic of the three. There were entrance tests that they took, one for each type. Every type was examined. The students gathered in the assembly hall to announce who got what. Katherine was excited to learn what she got. Until they skipped right over her name. She was devastated, thinking that she had failed all three. When they were sent to lunch, Katherine was called to the office. In the office there were three people. A teacher, and two students, who were both girls. The first one had multicolored hair. She was wearing a white hoodie and blue jeans. The other one had deep blue hair. She was wearing a black t-shirt with a blue miniskirt. She had on blue knee socks and wore black shoes. Katherine sat down to the two. The teacher introduced herself, "Hello. I am Genesis, the headmaster of this school. We have decided to name it Canterlot High. You three, introduce yourselves."

The one with multicolored hair went first, "Hey. I'm Celestia. It's my first year here, and honestly, I think it's gonna be fun!"

The one with blue hair went next, "Hi. I'm Luna. I love this place already, it's amazing!" She looked at Celestia, "And that's my sister, by the way."

Katherine was shocked, they were so different, yet they had that family resemblance. She introduced herself, "I'm Katherine. Hi..." Her face felt hot. What the hell is wrong with you? she thought to herself. You can say more, can't you?

She opened her mouth to say more, but no words came out.

Genesis smiled, "Well, the reason I have called you three here is because you had the highest test scores out of all three tests!" The girls dropped there jaws in sync, "You three are the first in a hundred years to be dubbed alicorns."

Katherine was speechless, "B..But I thought that was a rumor?"

Genesis smiled, "No, child, but it rarely happens. There is one problem, however. You have to take classes for all three types instead of just one." That killed their joy. Genesis laughed, "I hope we can all get along! Go get some rest in the dorms! All three of you will be roommates, so I hope you don't kill each other!"

Genesis tossed Celestia the keys, one for each. The girls walked all the way to their dorm room. Once they opened the door, they were welcomed with a normal room. The girls sighed, Katherine in relief, Celestia in disappointment, and Luna somewhere in between. They picked their beds. Katherine threw a mattress on the floor. Celestia slept on a top bunk, Luna on bottom, and Katherine's mattress at the side of their bed. The three said goodnight to one another. The sisters rolled over and slept almost instantly. Katherine laid awake. She put a hand on her heart. It was beating furiously. She dismissed it as her excitement. Then she looked to her left and saw Celestia sleeping soundly, her light snore making Katherine blush. Oh, god. That's kinda cute... Katherine thought to herself. She fell asleep thinking of Celestia, and it was the best sleep she ever had.

The three had began an amazing friendship. They were always seen together, laughing, eating, crying, whatever. Then Katherine pulled Celestia off to the side. She was still blushing, and her heart was trying to jump out of her chest.

"Um, Celestia? I wanted to tell you something..." Katherine said, in a small voice.

"Sure. What is it?" Celestia replied.

"Well, we've known each other for a while, and I wanted to ask you something important..."

"Okay..."

"It's just I, I...I...IthinkIhaveacrushonyou!" She threw the words out really fast. She was scared, she knew that this wasn't welcomed in the school.

Celestia was silent for a moment. She looked around. Once she concluded that no one was around, she pulled Katherine into a hug. She held her there. Katherine looked at Celestia's face. It was now or never. She went in for the kiss. Her and Celestia were kissing. Katherine felt like she was in heaven. When they broke the kiss, they looked to their right to see Luna clapping slowly, a sly grin on her face. "Well, 'Tia. I never knew you liked girls like that." Both girls looked at Luna in shock. They blushed. Luna laughed, "The only way to keep them off is to be open about it! They'll tease you until you come out of that closet, you know!"

Katherine and Celestia smiled at each other. Katherine kissed Celestia on the cheek. The two went to their bunks, glad tomorrow was Saturday.

Katherine sat up in her bed. Her and Celestia had been together for two months. Celestia's warmth helped her sleep. She laid back down. The girls had to go home for something important with their mother.

Luna and Celestia came back the next day. They seemed shaken. Katherine tried to hold her girlfriend's hand, and she felt a twitch. She pulled back. Finally, Celestia couldn't hold it back anymore. She took Katherine to a private area. She had a new air about her. She was wearing a white aviator's jacket with a sun on the left breast. Her beautiful multicolored hair seemed to flow even though there was no wind.

"Listen, babe. This is really bad. Basically, my mother is making me and Luna rulers of Equestria, but she won't let me do it if I'm, well, like this. What can I do?"

"Keep it secret." Katherine replied.

"Good idea... They're giving me immortality too! That's really cool, huh?"

Katherine's eyes grew wide. No, not now... she thought.

"What's wrong?"

"Immortality? That's horrible!"

"Why would it be? Living forever means never dying!"

"What about the rest of the people? You will never be able to enjoy someone else! They're always going to die without you!"

"Katherine, what do you know?"

"A lot! I am immortal! I was hoping you could get me away from this... And I know that when you go away to rule, you won't have time for me... I'll be left behind again!"

Celestia reached out to her, but Katherine stepped back. "I love you, more than you'll ever know..."

Katherine turned on her heels and ran, leaving Celestia behind.

The next day, Genesis told them that Katherine's parents had pulled her out. Celestia began to cry. She hugged her sister, knowing that she had lost that perfect someone.

And she couldn't be found.

Katherine woke up. She hated flashbacks. They sucked. You always felt bad afterwards. She wiped tears from her eyes.

First thing: Confront Celestia.

The last thing she wanted to do.

Chapter 5: Second Chance

Katherine flew fast. Faster than she had wanted to. Landing on the balcony outside Celestia's room, she opened the door. "Can I help you?" A quiet voice said, dripping with venomous hate.

"I just came to talk, no fighting." Katherine replied cautiously, not wanting to provoke any sudden anger.

"Really, you think you can just waltz in and take me back? After leaving me without a love for over a thousand fucking years? Not a chance!" Celestia shouted, charging her friend.

Katherine stopped the blow with the palm of her hand, causing a shockwave to shake the foundation of the castle. "Really? Calm yourself. I'm not here to get you back. I'm here to talk this over, avoid fighting, please!"

Celestia stopped mid punch, "About what?"

"You verbally abusing your nephew."

"Really? He asked for it!"

"You sound like a little kid. Does he piss you off that much, that you had to go and call him out on things he did before?"

"Well..."

"Do you have any fucking idea how much of a bitch you were yesterday? Celestia, you ruined what was supposed to be family fun! Has Luna said anything?

"...No..."

"I'll have to tell her."

"What?"

"Brandon is one of my closest friends, and another one of my close friends is his mother. She has to know."

Celestia sighed, "Why...?"

"Huh?"

"Why did you come back?"

Katherine stayed silent for a moment, "...Because I still care. I was angry, but when I left, I realized the good outweighed the bad. Long story short, I still..."

Celestia put a hand on her shoulder. Katherine looked up to meet Celestia's eyes glisening with tears. Katherine threw herself into her arms and cried. Luna stood at the doorway, and saw the two girls. She smiled.

------------------------Brandon-------

I woke up laying against a tree in the Everfree. My head hurt from crying myself to sleep, and I was hungry. I walked to the edge of the forest and saw Fluttershy's tree. Knowing Darkside was there, and hoping that he wouldn't maul me for trying to enter, I walked to the door and gave three hard knocks.

A sharp snore, followed by a sleepy yawn/groan of confusion answered me. "Who the fuck would be knocking at three in the morning?" He shoved the door open, and his face darkened, "Oh, it's you."

"Yeah, yeah. Borderline hate aside, can I get some food?" I said, annoyed by his response.

"Come inside dude, I was just in a mood to kill for waking me up." He beckoned for me to follow as he walked inside. The house smelled clean, and no one was there besides him. I assumed the animals were asleep. He sat me down and brought some food out. Laying some burgers on the table, he sat down with me.

"Uh, isn't Fluttershy vegetarian?" I asked, confused as to why the husband of a treehugger would be eating burgers.

"Well, shit happens. Eat up bro."

I dove into those burgers with vigor. I tore into the meat as the juicy seasonings filled my mouth with a salty taste. Done with about five I laid back. We talked about things, his life, mine, why Night Runner and Dark Storm seemed a little too close, and last night. He knew about those things, but was shocked as to why Celestia out of all people would expose me. I replied, saying that it was probably personal, and I'll deal with it in the morning. As I got up to leave, I saw the sun rising, and was about to walk out the door when he grabbed my arm, "Brandon, listen. If you need anything, we are the nicest house in Equestria. Don't be afraid to crash here. Just because you're grown now doesn't mean I have to stop helping you out every once in a while." I laughed. Waving goodbye, I flew toward Canterlot.

Landing in front of the entrance, the guard asked for my password. I gave it to him. Walking inside, I stopped at the royal chambers...

...Only to hear moaning from the other side. Since Katherine had the exact same voice as Kaitlin, I knew that she was one of the people. But it was another girl as well, and it sounded very familiar. I opened the door, to see a once-in-a-lifetime scene. (Which can't be disclosed here unless you want a Mature rating.)

"You have got to be kidding me." I said in pure shock, awe, and disbelief all at once. "You two swing that way?"

Celestia and Katherine were blushing madly, neither one had moved an inch since I walked in. Luna walked up next, and looked at me. I looked at my mother in her eyes. And we both busted out laughing.

"Wh-What's so funny?" Katherine said.

"Yeah, this is still my room." Celestia added.

I got a couple laughs out, then straightened up again. Looking at Celestia, I asked, "Why were you so cruel last night?"

Celestia looked at me, then sighed, "Long story short, I saw someone that I hadn't seen in a while. We had a very depressing breakup, and I had barely recovered from the effects of that depression when I met Twilight Sparkle for the first time. Regardless, I was very angry that she had returned at first, but she got me to cave in, and we've been at it ever since."

"When did this start?"

"Oh, about 12:00 midnight."

"'Tia, it's almost noon. You've been having sex for twelve goddamn hours!"

Celestia gasped, "Shit, I'm late!"

"For what?"

"Meeting about the Gala. Brandon, come with me."

I nodded and followed her.

The meeting was fucking boring. Then we got to my little part. Celestia started, "Well, this is my nephew, Brandon. He will be crowned as a Prince of Equestria tomorrow."

Everyone in the room, including me, dropped their jaws. "Celestia, are you for real?" I asked.

She smiled and nodded. Prince Blueblood was pissed. He went on and on about allowing a "total ruffian into an elite board such as the government". He was basically calling me a worthless civillian in front of my face. Celestia's jaw tightened in her fake smile, and I knew she wanted the little bitch to shut up. Using a telepathy that I figured out to use about five seconds ago, I told her mentally, Allow me.

I sighed and took an intake of breath once Celestia replied, Hurry up before I kill him. Shut him up however you feel necessary."

Given the OK, I uncrossed my legs, "Blueblood, shut up. I'm tired of hearing you talk. You're only making yourself look bad."

He looked at me, "Do not talk to your superior that way. Be lucky you're even allowed to be here. I will have the guards remove you if you speak again."

"It's not your call, it's Celestia's."

"I will make it my call."

Celestia snapped her fingers. The room enlarged, and there was much more space. I got what she said, finally.

Any means necessary.

Blueblood snapped his fingers. Two guards gave him a rapier. I simply allowed my sword to appear.

"En garde!" He shouted, taking off. He was fast on his feet, but he had no experience compared to me. He swung downward, but I sidestepped, and kicked him. He flipped in midair and landed on the ground. He charged me, but I grabbed the blade of his rapier and looked him in the eye. Giving him my best scornful gaze, I threw him across the room. I sat down, and motioned for Celestia to return the room to normal.

One more place to go: Home. I flew to Rainbow's cloud house and knocked on the door. Rainbow opened it, "What?"

"Hey, Rainbow. How's it going?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation from being awkward.

"You deliberately refused to tell me about your little secret, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I was trying to forget my mistakes."

"Well, thanks to you, our family name is ruined."

I stayed silent, "But, all the same, I guess we'll have to rebuild it, huh?" Rainbow added.

I looked at her, tears filling my eyes. Throwing myself into her, I started crying, "I am so glad I married you!" I said in between sobs. She held on tighter.

Chapter 6: Reunited

Author's Note: LOLPLOTHOLE I forgot about NR (Night Runner) getting locked up. I'm too lazy to write in what happened now, so I'll finish this chapter first.

It's been a few years since Celestia locked her up. It's about time I went to get her out. Putting on my black aviator's jacket with a yin yang symbol on the left breast and a hood attached, which I got from my mother as a birthday present, I realized that Night Runner would be about thirteen now. I also realized that my two swords of light and darkness had not been used in a while. I pulled them out, one appearing in a flash of light, the other in a shroud of dark. At first they were normal battleswords, but they began to change. The hilt on one changed into a white wolf with blue eyes, its mouth wide open with a large double edged blade coming out of it. The rest of the hilt went all the way around the handle, and the 'fur' on the wolf's head seemed to spread around the hilt itself. The blade was a bright silver that glowed with light. The entire sword was crackling with bolts of energy shooting around the blade. The other sword, the sword of darkness, had very similar design, except the wolf was a deep black and had red eyes. The blade was that same deep shade of black, and it glowed with dark energy. Bolts of red shot around the blade. The White and Black wolves, the swords of Light and Dark. I jumped in the windowsil of my cloud house and breathed in the cool night air, calming my nerves.

Let's do this

I jumped out, flying at full speed toward Canterlot.

----------------------------------Night Runner-----------------------------

I opened my eyes, awaiting the same cold darkness that surrounded me in my cell. I had began to lose track of the time, the day, the month, the year. I was never leaving. I was a monster.

Yes you are, but is that a problem?

I shot up and tried to feel my forehead, forgetting that they had placed me in a straight jacket. I felt a sharp pain shoot through my body, and I screamed.

I can help you leave, just trust me...

The voice carried a sharp, female, and sinister tone, as if it were truly evil. "He'll come for me, I know it..." I replied, knowing in my heart that I had been forgotten. I felt another sharp pain.

You fool! Your father has forgotten you. He has moved on, and you fail to realize that you are killing yourself like this!

"Who are you?"

Do you know what a darkside is?

I remembered my daddy talking about those. "Yes, I do. My daddy told me about them," I replied.

Well, I am yours.

"But he told me that it takes forever for darksides to contact a host!"

My girl, you are a special case. You were born with the unique ability to use a darkside fully, from birth.

"What?"

That's right, you have the potential to be stronger than your very father, and leave this depressing cell. If you trust me.

"What's your name?"

Fate gave you the name Night Runner through your father. You may call me Night.

At this, I felt a tingling sensation. As I looked down I noticed a puddle of water. Looking in it, I saw myself. My face was skinny, but instead of my normal neon rainbow colored hair, my hair was black. My eyes had gone from my mother's rose colored eyes, to blood red. "What...?"

This is how I look like through you... Give me control, and I will break us free...

"...Okay..." I wasn't entirely sure about this, but this was my only choice. I felt one more sharp pain, but this time, I couldn't move my body. I assumed that Night had taken control. I was right. I felt myself maneuver my arms so that the straight jacket was untied slowly. I watched my hands reach out toward the bars. They began to morph and twist. Then they exploded violently. Sirens went off, I felt my body break into a full sprint. Guards stopped me in the hallway. I was fully surrounded. One charged forward with a staff, I sidestepped quickly and kneed him in the stomach. He doubled over, vomiting blood. I jumped and kicked him in the face so hard he flew through the wall. The next two charged with swords. Reaching out with my hands, I watched the straight jacket arms morph and split as they turned into tendrils that shot out towards the two guards. The tendrils shot straight through them, impaling them on the never-ending length of the sharp tentacle. Blood sprayed everywhere. I turned to the three on the other side. They looked scared. I wanted to stop myself but Night, now in full control, laughed.

"What's the matter, afraid of the darkness?"

I felt my self launch at the middle one, I punched him in his stomach, then kicked him in the air. I reached out and grabbed him with my tendrils that were now part of the straight jacket. I ripped him into pieces as he screamed in pain. The blood covered me. I sliced the other two in half, Night obviously bored with playing. I, on the other hand, was scared out of my mind. I wanted to vomit. Then I heard a familiar voice.

"What the hell?"

I turned to look at my father.
-------------------Brandon-----------------------

Now at the entrance, I stared the guard in the face. He refused to let me in, even after the password. "I said let me in!" I shouted.

"Sorry, sir. Can't have you fooling around with the princesses in their slumber." He said with a straight face.

Giving this guy my best 'Are you fucking kidding me face', I facepalmed. "Fuck this, I'm getting way too old." I punched him dead on in the face. He hit the floor, hard. I walked in the castle. Sneaking around like Batman and Spider-Man's bastard child, I got to the hallways leading to the dungeon. The alarms went off then. I also felt a very dark presence. I ran to the source. Then there was screaming and gurgling noises. I got there in time to see three guards staring at what appeared to be a little girl. And out of that girl's mouth I heard the single scariest thing I have ever heard in my life:

"What's the matter, afraid of the darkness?"

I watched as she picked up one guard and tore him to shreds. The other two were cut in half. I couldn't hold my self back. "What the hell?" I shouted. She turned to face me.

I wanted to cry.

I was staring in my daughter's face. She looked very skinny, as if they hadn't been feeding her. She was wearing a straight jacket that had been untied, and I realized that the sleeves had been morphed into tendrils moments ago. What the hell happened to my daughter? I wondered. Then it hit me: she had a darkside. It all clicked, the creeping feeling when her hair turned black and her eyes turned red when she cried or was angry. The girl could tap into her darkside from birth. And it was controlling her. She probably let it.

"Night Runner... You can use your body now..." I tried to tell her.

"NO! I'm not giving this back to her, she needs to witness her father getting what he deserves for leaving us to die!"

At that, she charged, slicing at me with tendrils. I ducked under the first swing. I caught the second, and kicked her back. I let her charge me, about to hit her for real, then I noticed something.

She was crying.

I stopped her blow, then pulled her to me. At this, all the dark energy disappeared and she started crying for real. I hugged her and tried to calm her down. "Shh... It's okay, daddy's got you..." I repeated those words over and over again. She stopped after a while. She looked at me with her rose colored eyes. And asked me a question.

"Daddy, what happened?"

"Bad things, sweetie." I replied, "But it's all better now. I didn't know they would be this awful to you. I'm sorry, I should've acted sooner..."

She frowned, "Don't be sorry, I understand. I was just scared. I missed a few years, I know, but I missed being around you and Mom all the time. They didn't even try feeding me here. It was all cold, and I had to sleep on the floor."

"Well, we'll never have to worry about that. I'm never gonna let anything happen to you like that never again." I put an arm around her and kissed her on the forehead.

"Can we go home? It smells bad here." She asked.

I laughed, "Yeah, sweetie. Let's go."

I picked her up and put her on my back. We walked through the front door, and I felt her flinch at the sun. Taking off into flight, we flew to the cloud house.

I walked in the front door, and shifted Runner from my back to my arms and took her to give her a bath. She reacted to the water like it was the greatest thing ever. She leaned back to enjoy herself there. I began reminiscing about when she was little. She was a messy one when it came to baths, but she loved the water. Just like me. But, she's older now, and I can't be washing her "places" now that they're pretty much developed, so I got up and left some towels. I walked down the stairs and sat on the couch. I picked up a package from someone. It had something inside with a note that read:

Brandon,

How the hell did I forget to give you your phone? Anyways, Equestrians don't have 3G or Androids and iPods so we have pretty unique shit! Kaitlin had been using it as well. I think you should see what she did.

-Darkside

I unlocked the phone and went to the gallery. I noticed a new one had been added. It was titled, 'Memories Last Forever'. I opened it up. I clicked the first video, which was just me and Kaitlin messing around. She was playing her guitar and I was playing drums. The song we played was all over the place, but we nailed it. I closed the video and clicked a picture. This was one of me and her. I was sitting down and she was leaning into me. I had my fingers laced through hers, and they rested on her chest. We stared into the night sky with looks of thought on our faces. I felt tears come out of my eyes. She was beautiful. Just like she always was. There was another video, this was of her only.

"Brandon, I know you won't see this until I'm gone. All good things have to end eventually. I'm going to try going on the inside out, I'm going to join him. I know you'll hate me, and I know that if I succeed in making it, I'm dead when I end up betraying him. So I want you to have this video as a reminder. Brandon, I love you more than anything. Even if you're dating Rainbow Dash, I still love you. I want you to remember all the good times, and remember the bad ones too. I made this gallery so you can remember everything. I want you to know that even when I die and you two get married, I love you. And I want to say this as much as I can," She began to cry here, "Because I know you still love me. Don't forget. Never forget, 9-13-13." She touched the screen, and, tears rolling down my cheeks, I did the same. "I love you more than you know, Brandon. Goodbye."

The video shut off. I pulled up one more picture. It was one of her drawings. I was sitting on a rooftop staring at a meteor shower, and the other side of the picture she was doing the same. There were words written on the bottom. They said: "Together When Apart. Forevermore."

This sent me over the edge. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I cried silently, not wanting to disturb Night Runner. After a while I felt another weight next to me. I opened my eyes. Night Runner was sitting next to me, She was wearing a pink T-shirt and blue jeans that were torn at the knees. She leaned into me. "So that's Kaitlin? She's pretty. You dated her?"

I wiped my eyes, "Yeah, but-"

"I know, Mom told me." She hugged me. I let her stay there. I put an arm around her. Then Rainbow Dash walked in.

"Great news!"

I looked up, "What?"

"Me and Scootaloo both got accepted by the Wonderbolts! We're leaving for training camp in the morning!"

I stood, "That's great!" We went in for a family hug. We all laughed again.

But, we didn't know that this news would turn to only bring pain and suffering to us all.

Chapter 7: Separate Ways

Rainbow and Scootaloo left in the morning. Runner and I got up early to wish them luck. Grinning, the two of them flew away to catch up with Spitfire and Soarin', the two sent to pick them up. Night Runner looked at me, "Daddy, what do we do now?"

I looked at her and smiled, "What do you want to do?"

"I've always wanted to go camping!"

I grinned, "Well, we'll have to go then!" She smiled and jumped up and down. I took her inside, and told her to pack up. We got ready to leave, and did just that. Setting up in the Everfree, I showed her various tips and tricks to wildlife survival. I helped her with many things. We just had a good time in general. She loves nature, maybe it's because she's always at Fluttershy's visiting Dark Storm. Anyways, after a week, we packed up and headed home. This would turn into a routine for us...

-------------------Two Months Later----------------------

John flew to the castle. Unlocking the doors, he ventured into the hallway. He was expecting guards to stop him. He wasn't expecting the princess to stop him.

"Hello, John. It seems that you're setting foot on territory that isn't yours... Tresspassing is forbidden in Equestria. " Celestia said, annoyed.

"Well, my princess, I am welcomed here, seeing as a member of my family has been accepted. Therefore, I should be allowed as well!" John replied.

"Actually, no. She was welcomed explicitly, and has denounced herself as a member of your house. Therefore, you are wrong."

John growled, "Well then, I'll just have to welcome myself in, won't I?" At the very end of that sentence he summoned his sword. It was a double edged sword that was a dirty white. It seemed to glow with death itself. The hilt was black leather, and the crossguard was made of bones. Then it began to change. The blade shortened and began to curve. Soon, his sword had become a scythe. He twirled it around, then slammed the butt of the weapon on the ground. Celestia's annoyed look was replaced with that of anger. She summoned her blade, which appeared in a flash of bright light. It was a pure white katana. Then it caught flame.

"The Solar Flare?" John laughed, "I haven't seen this blade! It'll be a pleasure defeating a user with such power..."

He dashed toward her at breakneck speeds. She parried his strike, which was an upward slash. He recovered quickly with a stab toward the chest. Celestia jumped back and then dashed back into the center zone, slashing downward. John side stepped, then kicked her face.

"Really? This is all the strongest being in Equestria can do?" John teased. Celestia growled, then slashed upward from where she was standing. A wave of fire erupted from the blade. John twirled his scythe and simply blocked it. He dashed toward her, and slashed it across her face. Kicking her in her chest, he followed up with to hits with the butt of the weapon, and then a round house kick. Celestia went flying, but he grabbed her ankle and slammed her into the ground, leaving a small crater where she was. He crouched at her unmoving form, "It's a shame... It didn't have to end for you like this..."

Celestia began to laugh, "I can't be killed so easily... I'm immortal..."

John began to laugh hysterically, "I'm fully aware my princess! After all, it takes one to know one! I also know that immortals only live forever as long as they are not killed."

Celestia gasped, she knew she shouldn't have tried this.

John smiled and turned her body over. Taking off his sunglasses, he revealed his red eyes. "I will tell you something before I kill you. Equestria is nearing it's end. The worlds are being taken to live with the Christian God. However, the ones that do not deserve this must wander a designated world until they die. They chose Earth. Too bad that they multiplied while the heroes reside here. And since heroes are here, Equestria cannot go to the heavens. The humans of Earth are looking to expand. And they are coming here to destroy you all. Equestria is going to fall. Without you." John smiled.

Tears ran down Celestia's cheeks, I'm sorry Luna, Twilight. I failed you both...

John laughed as he brought his scythe down on Celestia's chest. Seeing that she had stopped moving, he teleported away quickly.

But fate always plays one more trick card, for if a royal guard had not began to wander off from his duties to try and fondle the princesses in their sleep, then Celestia would have died without anyone knowing. Instead, this guard called his comrades to take her to the local hospital.

------------------------------------------------Brandon------------------------------------

Twilight was right outside my house in her hot air balloon. She said she had received a letter from Celestia intended for me. I read the letter, and it was the scariest thing I could ever read. The whole letter was stained with dried tears. It read:

Brandon,

Something horrible has happened. This morning, I had to raise the sun. Guards found my sister bleeding out in the middle of the hallway in the castle. Right now, I am in the Canterlot hospital, waiting for my sister to wake up. Please hurry...

-Your mother, Luna

I ran up the stairs and woke up Night Runner. I told her to put clothes on. She obliged and we flew as fast as we could to Canterlot.

Once there, I signed the two of us in. I told the people at the front desk I was there to see a special patient. The told me to go to the E.R. We dashed there. Opening the door, I found that the Elements were all there, except Rainbow Dash. Celestia's condition was stable, but she was unconscious. Twilight was leaning into Luna's shoulder. The two of them were crying.

Then Celestia woke up.

She had a faint smile, but her eyes said something a little different.

She knew she was dying, and we couldn't save her.

She moved her head to look at me, "Brandon, could you please close the door?"

I nodded and shut the door, locking it as well. She closed her eyes, and began to speak, "I should have done better, but my time is approaching. Brandon, I'm sorry for being an awful person to you. I didn't want you at first, but now I know better. I should have-"

"It's alright, 'TIa. I forgave you a long time ago." I said.

She smiled, then turned to Twilight, "My faithful student, you will have to face many obstacles with my sister at your side instead. Either Luna or another of my good friends, Katherine, will have to mentor you. Is this okay with you?" Twilight nodded. "Good," Celestia said, "I expected as much..."

She looked up, "And to the rest of the Elements, I expect you to do well, even after my passing..."

-----------------------------------Katherine--------------------------

I woke up in the royal chambers at about noon, "'Tia?" I called out, "Where are you?"

A royal guard stepped in, "Miss Katherine, there is something you should know. The Princess was found laying in the hallway in a puddle of her own blood. There were also signs of a struggle in the same area. She's recovering in the Canterlot hospital-"

I stood, "Thank you. I've gotta go now." I turned and ran to the balcony and jumped, soaring through the air. I flew as fast as I could to the hospital. Landing at the front door, I walked in. The smell of medicine among other things made me sick. I registered at the front desk, and they told me where she was. I ran as fast as possible. I was met with the door to the E.R. I made to grab the handle and twist, but it didn't budge. The hell? Why would anyone lock a door to the E.R.? Finally, I gave up and sat on the floor next to the door, hugged my knees to my chest, and cried.

--------------------------------Everyone-----------------------------

Twilight looked at her mentor, "How did he do this?"

Celestia answered, "He did hit me with a lethal blow, but he also did something else. I felt my power being drained, and I couldn't fly, or heal myself..."

Brandon stepped forward, "I think I know why. When I first fought him, he was developing a weapon that could drain one's energy, or in this case, magic. I think that was the finished version..."

Twilight stared at him, "Then can't we just restore her magic?"

"It's not that simple, and magic is harder to restore than energy. You can't just put it in a syringe and shoot it in her veins. You have to make sure they're compatible first!"

"How do you know that? You can't even use magic!"

"Because magic is primitive compared to energy. If energy is difficult to restore, then magic won't be any easier."

"I have to try..." Twilight said, moving toward Celestia.

"Twilight, don't!" Brandon shouted, "You'll only hurt her!"

"Will you shut up?" Twilight screamed, "You don't know anything, let me do this!"

"Her compatibility with magic has been removed! If you even try to put magic in her system, it'll destroy her from the inside out!"

Twilight screamed in frustration, turned, and slapped Brandon dead on the face, "Don't you want her to live?" Brandon nodded, "Then we have to do something!"

"I wish we could, Twilight..." Brandon trailed off.

Katherine heard the whole thing through the wall. She couldn't cry anymore, but she wanted to, knowing how hopeless it was to save her...

Celestia spoke up again, "I will not leave you without a gift. Three people in this building will each receive one-third of my whole knowledge, wisdom, and power. Those three will know what to do with Equestria. They, while not the smartest, are ready to carry on the legacy of my kingdom, and to preserve Equestria for generations to come." Her eyes seemed to be a million miles away, yet they seemed peaceful, "This is the end of my road. Carry on, my friends..." She closed her eyes and released one final breath. And with that breath went her knowledge, power, and wisdom to the three designated.

Luna felt stronger than ever, as the power of the sun washed over her.

Brandon felt the heaviness of decision flee from him, as wisdom flowed through him.

Katherine felt filled with knowledge, and she felt another tear fall. She felt undeserving of such a gift. She had failed her, and yet she stilled gave her such a gift.

They all flinched when the machine flatlined. They all walked out, in a grim mood. Brandon looked down to see Katherine sitting down on the ground. She looked up at him with tear filled eyes. Begging, for something, anything. Brandon knelt down and wrapped his arms around her. She cried into her shoulder, he just held her there. After a while, he stood, and offered her his hand. She took it and he pulled her up. Looking behind her, he saw Night Runner there. He hugged her. They began to walk out, but outside the hospital, Twilight was waiting.

"Do you know who got the last gift?" She asked.

"Which one, knowledge?" Brandon replied.

Twilight nodded. Katherine began to back up. She was about to run, when Twilight caught her with her magic. "So, it was you, huh?" She slammed Katherine into a wall. "Why would she pick you? I deserve that. I was her personal student! I deserve it! I NEED IT!"

She picked Katherine up off the wall, and slammed her again. And again.

"Twilight Sparkle, stop this now!" Brandon shouted.

Twilight stopped, "Why should I? Katherine probably gave her murderer the key to the entrance!"

"I... I didn't..." She coughed, and blood shot out of her mouth and onto the ground.

"You're lying! How else could he have gotten in! Guards don't simply leave doors open."

"He can pick locks!" Katherine shouted.

"And how do you know? You must have done something!" Twilight shouted.

"He's like my father... I know more about him than anybody!" Katherine replied, blood running out of her mouth, and tears out of her eyes.

"Well, then. It's a shame that you'll have to be punished." Twilight threw her against the ground. She created a hammer of energy and slammed it on Katherine's chest.

Brandon rushed in and caught the hammer, "Twilight. Stop this now!"

"Why should I? Celestia was like my mother! You have no idea how horrible it feels to have a parent figure killed!"

Brandon's face darkened, "...Yes I do..."

Twilight was taken aback, and for possibly the first time, she didn't have a comeback. Brandon let up, his face suddenly seeming aged and saddened. "When I was sixteen, before I ended up here. The people I was raised by, not so much my parents but like it, were killed by the same person I defeated here. Right in front of me, he slashed their throats and threw their innards all over the bed. I spent the whole day crying, scared, hoping he wouldn't take anyone else from me..." Brandon looked up, "Listen, Twilight. I know you're upset. I know you're angry, and that you feel abandoned. It's okay to tell others how you feel." He got up and walked toward her, as she started to cry. He wrapped his arms around her, and as she fell to her knees, he went with her. She cried on his shoulder, and he let her. After a while, she calmed down and he let go. "There. You feel a lot better now than you did trying to kill Katherine, don't you." She nodded, "Good. Now the two of you make up. You guys gotta help me break this news to Rainbow Dash before she comes back." The girls nodded.

"Listen, I'm sorry about attacking you like that, will you forgive me?" Twilight said as she healed Katherine.

Wiping the leftover blood off of her mouth with her sleeve, Katherine replied, "Don't worry about it. I probably would've done that same thing had I been in your shoes. But..." She slapped Twilight, "Payback. Now we're even in my book." Katherine grinned.

-------------------Brandon--------------------------

The news went okay with Rainbow. She didn't freak out, but she did seem a little downed by it. I took Night Runner home. Telling her to go to bed, I laid on my couch. I felt more tired than ever, but I didn't feel exactly sleepy. Laying on my back, I stared into the ceiling. I reflected on my whole life, and decided that I wouldn't be happier with the way I turned out. Feeling kind of sleepy, but awake at the same time, I closed my eyes, and felt nothing.

In minutes, I opened them again. I was in a different bed, but everything seemed to be vibrant with life. I got out of the bed, and left the room. There was humming, and it sounded like someone was cooking. I looked to see stairs. Going down them I saw a sight that made me want to shit myself. In the kitchen, a blond girl with a familiar petite figure was cooking. And Celestia was laying on the couch. I looked at myself. I felt less bound by physical limit, and I also felt younger. I went back upstairs, and went to a bathroom. Looking in the mirror, I saw that I was no longer in my late twenties. I was sixteen again.

I ran down the stairs, and Celestia looked at me. "Looks like the sleepyhead's awake!"

The blond girl stopped cooking and turned around. By god, it was Kaitlin. She ran toward me and gave me a tackle hug. She was warm, and I felt her smooth skin as she nuzzled my cheek. "Brandon! I missed you so much!" She kissed me on the cheek.

"Uh, Kaitlin... Where am I?" I asked.

She let go of me, "You...uh...died in your sleep..."

"What? I DIED IN MY SLEEP?"

She nodded, "I made you breakfast, but that's not important." She led me and Celestia to the kitchen table, and sat down. She got me a plate, and put two burritos on it. I could smell it from here.

"Here you go. Eggs, cheese, bacon. I still remember that from back then." She put the plate in front of me and sat down. She was wearing a maid's outfit, and her hair was down, but she was missing her cat ears. "Okay, first off, I didn't kill you. I've just been assigned to house you and Celestia here. You'll be checking out and returning to Equestria in three days, or years over there."

"Three years? I have to leave my thirteen year old daughter by herself for three years?!"

She nodded, "I'm sorry, that's just how he described it..."

I sighed, "Well, it looks like I'll be here for a while, so can I talk to you, Kaitlin?"

She nodded, and I led her upstairs.

"What's wrong? I know you, this isn't normal for you to be so passive." I asked her.

She sighed, and dropped her bored expression, "I know, it's just... I want these three days to be comfortable. After this, I won't see you again. The angels told me to house the people that died heroes. I can't leave, Brandon. And your fate was explained to me. After these three days, I will never see you again..." She sniffed, tears coming out of her eyes.

I moved closer, and put an arm around her, "Don't get scared, even if we never actually see each other again, we'll still be in each other's hearts. We're never apart. Even if you can't be my lover, and I can't be yours, you're like my sister, maybe a little closer than that. I love you, Kaitlin. And I've grown up enough to know that I don't have to have sex with you everyday to prove it." I said, with a grin.

She smiled, "You make it hard to be sad, Brandon. You really do."

I laughed and kissed her on the cheek. We went downstairs to find Celestia crying. "What's wrong?" Kaitlin asked.

"I knew I should've done more. Without Brandon there, his family is going to tear itself apart..."

I hung my head. She was right...

Chapter 8: Return

Part 2: Beginning of a Generation, End of Heartache
____________________________________________

It's been three days. I got off the couch, and Kaitlin was feeding me rules.

"Brandon, you're going to be sent back there as a sixteen year old. You'll have your little boy hormones running again, so try not to have too much sex. Also, don't get killed. I don't want you giving up your destiny because you want to see me again, OK?"

I nodded, "Good. Remember, I'll always be with you, so don't feel alone, okay?" She said, as she kissed me on the cheek.

I looked out the window. The sun was rising. I got up, and she saw me to the door. I turned as I was about to walk out, and saw her wiping tears from her eyes. I walked over to her, lifted her chin, and kissed her. I put my arms around her, and she did the same to me. Breaking the kiss, I rested my head on her shoulder. I whispered in her ear, "It's gonna be fine. Don't worry about me. I'll keep you in my heart, and that'll make sure that we never part." I kissed her on the cheek, turned, and flew out the door.

Stopping me at the exit, was a tall man with wings. He asked me where I was going, and I just told him that I was allowed to exit, that it wasn't my time. He let me pass.

I flew down to Equestria, and landed in the Everfree forest.

I woke up, and felt something in my pocket. Pulling it out, it was a black blindfold. And there was a note attached that told me to keep myself hidden until the right time. I wrapped the blindfold around my eyes and walked through the forest. I could tell that the blindfold wasn't normal, because I could see straight through it as if it were clear. Eventually, I found a poster telling that said to 'Join the new generation movement'. The hell's this? I thought to myself. I continued ahead and saw who was putting up those posters. It was a girl. She seemed about average height and had deep black hair. It was medium length. She wore a black hooded sweatshirt and tight blue jeans. On her feet were black and white high top shoes. She put up the poster she was holding and turned to see me walking toward her. "Oh, hi." Her voice was sweet and high. Now closer, I could see that she couldn't have been more than sixteen. She also had red eyes, and she smelled like honey.

"Hey, what're you doing?" I said.

"I'm putting these posters for the new generation movement up. Why?"

"What is the new generation? A club?"

She looked away, her face in thought, "You could say that. My uncle told me to start it. He said that I was destined to take after my daddy and be a leader of heroes. Even more than him."

"Can I join?"

She looked at me, "Really? You don't look like you'd do much..."

"Well, let's find out! What do you have in mind?"

She jumped back, "Pin me down for ten seconds."

"That's fine." I jumped back myself.

We stood in our positions for a while. Then she sped toward me. She flew and made to punch me. I caught it in my fist, stopping the sheer force and inertia that she had going on it. I looked at her, then threw her off. I flew at her, keeping tabs on her energy level, so she couldn't get out of my sight. She jumped out of the way, but I stopped myself before I hit a tree. She summoned a blade. It was a katana that radiated her energy, and now it was black. She swung the blade, which caused a wave of dark energy to fly toward me. I jumped into it, and rushed at her. I grabbed the side of the blade, yakned it out of her hand, and hit her with the flat of the blade. She stumbled backward. I jumped in the air and kicked downward, landing on her, and pinning her down. After ten seconds, I got up, breathing heavy.

"Well, that was actually pretty good!" She said.

I laughed, "Thanks. What's your name?"

She smiled, "My name's Night Runner. Yours?"

I kept a cool smile, though I was caught off guard. I had forgotten to think of a name. Quickly, I said, "Equinox. Call me Equinox."

She smiled, "Makes sense. Anyone with a blindfold on their eyes should be called something like that."

We shook hands, and then she took me to their clubhouse/HQ. There were two guys and two girls.

She looked at the first guy. He had a Caucasian skin tone and blond hair. He wore studio head phones, sunglasses, a hoodie, and blue jeans. "This is Super Sonic. He can manipulate sound waves at will, and travel at their speeds."

She pointed to the first girl. She had electric blue hair, and she wore a blue maid's outfit. She had on pink shoes that had a picture of lightning on them. "This is Thunder Storm. She can manipulate lightning and thunder, and cause storms that would have the bravest souls cower in fear."

The next guy had jet black hair. He wore a blood red hoodie, and black jeans. He seemed to radiate fear and hatred, which wasn't helping me get settled. "This is Mind Reign. He gets into your head and can do anything, from causing uneasiness, to destroying your conscious completely."

The last girl was sitting on the couch curled up, and she was shaking. From what I could make out, her hair was a radiant silver, and she was wearing a melody of vibrant colors. She gave off an aura of peace as well, even though she wasn't very peaceful at the moment. "This is Silence. She doesn't speak much. And her powers are very much there, except she won't tell us. She says they're 'awful, and nightmarish'."

Night Runner turned again to face me, "Dark Storm is the only one missing. He went out to talk to his dad."

I nodded. She showed me where I would stay, if I chose to. I thanked her and went outside. It was night, and the air was crisp and clear.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I heard Night Runner say.

I turned to see her standing next to me, staring at the sky, "My grandma always makes night beautiful... I love it so much..." I saw a tear fall from her eye, "But she hasn't been the same... Not since daddy died... I haven't heard from her in months..."

I turned to her, "It's alright, she'll pull through."

"How are you so sure?"

"Grandmas always do. They get over it and kick the family back into shape."

I looked in the sky to see a shooting star. Night Runner cried out, "A shooting star!" She folded her hands and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, I asked, "What'd you wish for?"

She looked at me, "I can't tell you!" She closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out.

"Come on! Please?"

She looked off into the distance, "I wished... for something to come to put a smile on everyone's face... I can't take all the crying and wasted hopes. I cried every night for a year when my daddy died, hoping that he would come back and tuck me in or just kiss me goodnight... I took him for granted, and now he's gone..." She wiped tears from her eyes.

I looked at my daughter. Should I break the rules? She's been broken without me, even though I know Darkside's been doing something to help. She has to know. I took off my blindfold, and looked at her. "Look at me. Just for a little." I told her.

She looked into my eyes, "You look just like my daddy, except a little younger..."

I opened my arms just a little, "Come here, sweetie."

Her eyes went wide, "No way, how did you... " She dropped all attempt to speak and simply ran into my arms. I hugged her tight. When I let go, she looked in my eyes, "How did you get so young? I knew there was a different air about you, you seemed to stick out in my mind. Now I know why!" She laughed, albeit the fact that she was crying.

"Now listen, sweetie. You can't tell anyone, OK? I'll do that when I'm ready yet. I don't need a whole bunch of people chasing me." She nodded. "Good, now I need to talk to your uncle. There are things that I need to ask him. Go wash the tear marks off your cheeks, then go chill at the clubhouse for a little bit, okay?"

She nodded then went off to do so. Putting the blindfold back on, I walked to Fluttershy's house. Seeing that the lights were off, I knocked.

"Come in!" A deep voice called out.

I obliged, "Uh, hi. I'm a friend of Night Runner's and-"

"Like shit you're one of Night Runner's friends. How's it been Brandon."

"How could you tell?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"I still remember what you sounded like as a teen. Lucky you, you got to be one again. Back in your prime."

I laughed, "So, what happened while I was dead?"

He stood up, "You're gonna shit your pants, so we must relocate to an outside area."

We walked outside, far enough to where no one would hear us. He started, "When you died. I felt that drop in my heart. I teleported to the hospital, where Runner was frantic. I sent a letter to your mother and Rainbow Dash. We all stood awaiting the news. When the doctor stated you were dead, Runner and your mother were hysteric. Rainbow Dash freaked the fuck out. She started to run out, and Runner tried to follow. When Dash noticed, she pulled out the sidearm I gave her when she went to the Wonderbolts. She started screaming at the poor girl, like 'You demon' or something. Then she panicked and pulled the trigger, and it went straight through Runner's shoulder. Runner fell on the floor, curled up in a ball, and started screaming and crying. She was crying so much, her speech was incomprehensible. Me and Luna crowded around her, trying to help her. Scootaloo tried to walk to us to help, but Luna started screaming at her for 'not protecting her sister'. Scootaloo runs outta there. And at this point we're all fucked up."

I had tears in my eyes. He looked at me, "That's not the end of the story. A couple weeks later, we get a letter from the head of the Wonderbolts. Said that Dash killed herself. She took a fuck ton of anti-depressants and morphine. They said that she was depressed due to the 'way she acted in the hospital' and that she 'shouldn't have left her by herself'. Scootaloo's still in there though."

"I guess I have a lot of people to make it up to, huh?"

"Hell yeah, you do."

Chapter 9: To Make Amends...

I flew to Cloudsdale. Seeing that the Wonderbolts were stationed in a giant building, I figured it wouldn't be the hardest place to spot. Walking in, I requested a visit with Scootaloo. The person at the front desk looked at me, but still told me which room she was in. I walked all the way to her room, hoping that she wouldn't hate me. I knocked on the door, making sure my blindfold was still on. She opened the door. She was wearing Rainbow Dash's old pajama bottoms and a orange t-shirt. Her purple hair was unkempt, but put up, as if she had just been sleeping. "Who're you? Another higher-up coming to give me money after my parents died?" Her voice seemed void of emotion and life. She wasn't the same girl I'd raised, she was a shell of who she used to be. "Well, I don't want anymore. I'm sick of their fucking pity! I just want to be alone for a little while, is that too hard for you people?"

I put a hand on her shoulder, "I was trying to get the moment right, but fuck it, you need this now. It's breaking my heart to see you like this." I took off my blindfold. Sighing, I said, "Yeah, I know, I'm an asshole for dying and leaving you alone like that..."

She stared, "I can't believe this... You just try to walk back in like nothing happened? You had a bullshit accident! My mother went insane and shot my baby sister! That same mother killed herself due to guilt! And you were just kickin' it for three fucking years, while I was accepting pity money just to get an education when the Wonderbolts weren't on tour. If you weren't gonna be here for me back then, don't bother coming back now! Get out of my room, you poor excuse for a father!"

"Listen, I didn't expect you to accept this, and it's fine. You're a grown-ass-woman now, make your own decisions..." I turned around, and walked out the door, "Make the decision for yourself, okay?" She slammed the door in my face. I put the blindfold on and walked out into the hallway.

I saw Soarin' and Spitfire in the hallway where I was walking. They looked at me, "I see things didn't go so well with your 'daughter'."

"Yeah, so what?" I said, tired of the facade I was putting on for myself.

"It's sad that you fucked up that bad. Not even an orphan can love you..."

I tried to walk past, but they stood in my way, "It's a shame, really. Had you not done what you did, we would have soul in this team."

"Is that all you really cared about?" I heard a voice. The same one that was just yelling at me.

All three of us looked to see Scootaloo, wearing a blue aviator jacket and black jeans. Her hair wasn't tied up anymore, and she had ditched the punk rocker look that she used to wear. Now it was straight down. It was medium length, and it capitalized on just how pretty she was. She walked past me, getting close to her superiors' faces. "All those times you let me stay with you, when my mom was out of her mind. When I was plagued by endless nightmares of my sister dying, begging for help, and you told me that I could sleep on your couch in your room. Did you really care, or did you just want to win, and keeping my mental state well was the best way to do so." She looked at me, "You said I can make my own choices. Well, I'm done here. You guys can win on your own, fucking assholes..." She tossed her hair, and walked back to her room to pack up.

I followed her. I closed the door behind me, and began to speak. I couldn't even get the sound out of my mouth before she attacked me with a tight hug. She kissed me on the cheek as she cried. We broke the hug, and she stared into my eyes. Then she slapped me, "Now, I can forgive you. Let's go."

We walked out.

After we got settled in at Darkside's house, (Fluttershy wasn't around, again) I told them to get acquainted with Darkside and Dark Storm. I had one more person to apologize to. My mother.

Making my way to Canterlot, I feared the worst. I hoped my mother hadn't done anything drastic. Landing on the balcony, I unlocked it using the spare key that was under a plant there. Walking inside the royal chambers, I heard faint crying. I walked in further, and saw my mother sitting on a wooden stool. She got up on it, and then I noticed a noose. She slipped it over her head, and was about to walk off the stool to finish the job, when I threw my sword at the length of the rope to cut it from the ceiling. She looked in surprise to see who had saved her, when she got a glomp from me. She wrapped her arms around me tight, and cried into my shoulder. We sat there, hugging and rocking each other for a long time. "It's fine, Mom. I'm right here..." I whispered in her ear. We cried for what felt like hours, when I heard a scream. I looked to see Katherine standing in the doorway, her jaw on the floor. She ran and joined in our hug, and she seemed legitimately happy for the first time. We all were.

Chapter 10: A New Friend

After cleaning things up with my mother, I walked around Canterlot. I simply took in the simplicity (minus the castle) and beauty of the city itself. Shops lined the streets. The smell of a bakery filled my nose, but my thoughts of food were interrupted. I spotted a music store. I walked inside to browse their stuff. Seeing that no one was at the desk at the time, I looked in the percussion area, and found a six piece, double bass drumset. Just sitting there, begging me to play it. Flexing my arms and fingers, I sat down behind it. I wondered what to play, and I finally got the idea. Pulling out my phone and headphones (which was still in my pocket amidst my death) I found the song I wanted. I picked up the sticks and began to play the drumset. I was focused on my arms not falling off, which was difficult. The song was not very easy. In fact it was very difficult. But I finished it, and heard clapping outside the security of my headphones.

"That was pretty good! I've never seen people play drums like you!" I looked to see a girl there. She had short, blue hair. She was wearing mirrored sunglasses, a white t-shirt, and tight blue jeans, as well as bright multicolored sneakers and black gloves with the fingertips cut off.

I grinned sheepishly, "Thanks! I haven't played in a while, so it's good to see that I've still got it."

She walked over to me, then I recognized her. Because of the sunglasses, "You're that DJ that helped with the new years party like 10 years back!"

She laughed, "No, that was my mom! I'm only sixteen!"

"Do you DJ as well?"

"Hell yeah I do! It's pretty fun, just chillin' and watching people dance, while you just press the play button in time to let songs fade into one another."

"I guess you're right."

"By the way, I'm Vinyl Scratch, what's your name?"

"I'm Brandon, nice to meet you!"

We shook hands, her hands were warm, and she had a tight grip. She asked me to play one more song, so I turned up a song that was toned down, but still fun to play.

When I finished, she looked at the clock on the wall, "Crap! I'm late again. 'Tavi's gonna kill me!"

I got up and put the drumsticks back on the set. I was about to head home, when Vinyl stopped me, "You've gotta meet my friend, Octavia!"

So instead of me going home, I was following Vinyl home. When she got to her apartment, she fumbled in her pockets for her key, cursing. She knocked on the door, "'Tavi, it's me! Open up!"

The door opened, and a young girl that looked like she was on the high end of society walked out to greet us. She was young, but she had a stern, mature air about her. She wore a pink bathrobe, and she smelled like she had just gotten out of the shower. She frowned, but it wasn't a 'How dare you commoners step on my doorstep' frown. It was in Vinyl's direction, and it seemed to say 'again?'. She had long black hair, and she was about my height, with a frame just as skinny. Not exactly skin and bones, but she sure as hell wasn't chunky or big boned.

"Vinyl, you can't just bring a random boy off the streets into our house! The one day I let you take over the shop you kidnap a customer?" She had an accent. It capitalized on how high up she seemed to be, but she just lived here in a normal neighborhood.

I waved her scoldings away with a chuckle, "No, no, miss. I wasn't kidnapped, we just happened to get to talking and she asked me if I wanted to meet her friend, and I figured 'what the hell, why not?'. And this is where we ended up."

The person at the front door sighed, "Fine. I'm Octavia, and you are?"

"I'm Brandon. Nice to meet you!"

She nodded. Vinyl started petting my head for no reason, and I jumped at first, but she kept at it with a big smile on her face, "So, 'Tavi, can we keep him?"

Octavia's face turned red, "No, we cannot 'keep him'! He is not an animal, he is a human being!"

Vinyl's face fell, and she turned her eyebrows up and stuck her bottom lip out, "Please? I'll be good!" If she weren't wearing those mirrored shades, I'm pretty sure she would have the puppy eyes out as well.

Octavia sighed, "Fine. Just, keep it down. I need to get my rest. I'm going to be playing at a concert tomorrow, and I need some sleep."

"A concert?" I asked, "What do you play?"

"I play the cello. But, seeing as you managed to win Vinyl over as fast as you did, I'm sure you know nothing about the beauty of classic."

I heard Vinyl snort in laughter. I replied, "I'm a jack of all trades. I listen to almost everything. I hear my share of great classical songs every once in a while."

Octavia's eyes widened just a little, "Really?"

"Yeah, but that's for another time. You do look like you need sleep. I see the bags under your eyes."

She laughed a little, then went to her room.

Me and Vinyl walked to her room. When she opened the door, I was welcomed with a variety of colors and things. She had streams of multicolored paint around the white walls in her room, and the colors were bright. There was a turntable on her bed, which wasn't made. She also had an amp, and a couple guitars. She took off her sunglasses, and put them on the counter. Tossing her hair, she looked at me. She had red eyes. Not blood red, like Night Runner's darkside, but a light red. There was limitless energy stored inside of them as well. She took off her gloves and set them on the turntable. She sat down and patted the area next to her. I sat down, still processing the room. It reminded me of how bad my ADD is. I chuckled.

"Let me see that thing you had the music on." She said.

"What, my phone?" I asked, pulling it out.

"That's a phone? Why doesn't it have any buttons? Why does it work with my fingers?"

"Because, I'm not from here. These are common where I'm from." I took the phone, as I wanted her to browse the music, and I feared she would click the downloads, and... well... there are things there that people shouldn't see. So I showed her the music, and she was enticed by the dubstep, the progressive metal, and even the hardcore and metalcore I had on there. We laid on her bed, just listening to music. I looked at the time. It was 12:30. I got up to leave, but Vinyl grabbed my arm, "It's kinda late. You might as well just stay here." She had a point.

I laid back down. She got up and put on some gym shorts. I was polite enough not to look as she did so. She tossed me a pair as well. I put them on, it was a pair of basketball shorts, and they fit nicely, even though she was about four inches shorter than me. We both got under the covers, and she turned the lights off. I rolled on my right to go to sleep. And it came. For the first time in ages, I had a relaxing sleep.

Chapter 11: It Goes On...

Buildings toppled. The smell of decaying flesh filled my nostrils as I laid in the cold air. The last time they spoke to me was when they left. Now I walk this Earth, or what's left. It's horrible. I just want to go back home. To mom, Vinyl, Scoots, Runner. Anyone. But they're gone, and I'm alone. Again. Forever...

My eyes shoot open. I just lay there, basking in the dark. I look around, checking my surroundings. I'm laying in a normal sized bed, and there's another weight next to me. Turning my head to look, I see blue, untidy hair. Vinyl Scratch laid next to me, her body rising and falling with her soft breaths. I rolled over and tried to sleep again. But the dream stayed on my mind. No. I'm fine. I clear my mind of the dark, depressing fears and close my eyes. The numbness of sleep took hold again.

This time, I woke up to the smell of toast. I opened my eyes to see Vinyl facing me. We were entangled with one another. She woke up right after I did, and we both jumped and started apologizing rapidly to one another. After an awkward silence, we went downstairs. Surprisingly enough, Octavia hadn't left yet. She was dressed in a white blouse and a black coat, with a long black skirt and heels. She looked at us as we came down, raising an eyebrow.

"Morning, Octavia," I said.

"Good morning," She said, drowsily.

"Someone's a little sleepy," I said, teasingly.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep last night..."

"Excited?" I raised an eyebrow teasingly.

"Just a little..."

"Well, eat your breakfast! You'll feel better."

She nodded. I zipped up my jacket and walked to the door, "Well, my friends are probably worried sick. I will see you two peoples later!" I moonwalked out the door.

I flew to the castle to tell my mother I was going back home. We joked, smiled, and laughed. But I looked in my mother's eyes. For a split second, there was a hint of sadness, but it returned to normal after a little bit. She smiled and sent me off. But even as I flew home, I couldn't shake the look that she had. Even though it was only a second, there was a hint of raw anguish in there. Is she hiding something from me? I thought.

I couldn't finish the thought, though. I landed in front of my house. Night Runner and Scootaloo greeted me at the door, and Night Runner was smiling from ear to ear. I told them that something was wrong with my mother, and I would be leaving in the morning to talk to her.

And I did just that.

Waking up at the crack of dawn, I teleported (as I wouldn't do very well flying) to Canterlot. Having no experience in teleporting, I landed on the top of the castle. I jumped down, landing hard on the pavement below. There was a tiny crater in the ground under my feet, and I saw lights turn on. I went to enter the castle, when a tall man stepped out to greet me. He had blue hair that went to his shoulder, and his eyes stared me down. he wore a navy blue aviator jacket, with Luna's symbol on the left shoulder. He had on blue jeans and combat boots, and on his left side was a long battle sword.

"No one should see the princess at this hour. Even still, you need an audience." He said.

"I shouldn't! I'm her son." I shouted back. I was pretty sleepy, and I tend to get cranky when I'm tired.

"Doesn't matter. You see this?" He showed me his right shoulder. The commander symbol shone in the sunlight. "I decide what's best for the princess. And the Royal Guard is trained to detect hostility, and we have the senses of hawks. I feel it in the air: you plan to do something to the princess. I'm not sure what, but I am positive it isn't good."

I gave this guy my best deadpan stare. "Really? Move, I need to talk to her-"

He thrust his arm out at my chest. It didn't hurt, but the force sent me back a couple feet. I tripped and landed on my butt. He towered over me. Bringing his sword up, he thrust down at my neck. At this point, I knew there was more to it. There was no way he would try to kill me this fast. I rolled out of the way, sprung up, and summoned the White Wolf. I met his blade with mine, and he lost his balance, as my sword would seem like a truck to any normal person. He fell back ward, and I stepped over him and walked into the castle, locking the door shut as I entered.

I navigated the hallways until I reached my mother's royal chambers. I heard crying on the inside. Opening the door, I saw my mother. Her lower half was under the covers, and she was wiping her eyes. I sat next to her. She looked at me, obviously startled.

"What's wrong mom?"

She shook her head, "Nothing, I just had... a dream. That's all."

"Really? Don't lie. I'd like to help you, but I can't if you don't let me."

She took a deep breath. "It's another son of mine. His name is Will. A while ago, him and his companion, Bill, came here. Bill became my husband after a few years. Both Will and Bill were tied by the same lifeline. If one died, the other would follow suit. During these several years, someone burned down Will's house, killing his wife and two children. He spent three years in anger, wanting nothing but revenge, and he threatened to cut down anyone who tried to stop him. We found the arson, and when we took Will to visit the prisoner, he tried to push past me. I made the mistake of lowering my guard. He knocked me unconscious, and killed the criminal. Then, before Celestia or I could stop him... He..." She lost hold of herself, and began to cry again. "He threw himself off a building. Bill had no choice but to die as well. And for so long, I've hated myself. Hated myself for letting it happen. Hated myself for not doing anything in my power to save them. I was so alone for so long. I cried for many nights. I had been left behind by all of the men I've cared about throughout all of my life. My first husband, Harry, and then my son and second husband. It's a horrible feeling. And now, even though you're here, I can't shake the feeling of loss. Brandon, I'm scared. Scared of losing you."

I hugged my mother. It hurt to see her cry, and we sat there for the longest time. I was out of words to say. Then, I found the words.

"It's fine, mother. I'm not going to leave you behind."

She smiled. There were just tears rolling down her cheeks. "Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too."

She kissed me on the cheek.

_______________________________

Author's Note: Well, here's the new chapter! Thanks to Lt. Voss for letting me mention his characters and such. Yeah, during the Luna scene, the characters mentioned are from his story Broken Wings, which you can find here. Be warned, the ending is depressing as fuck.
Be good y'all crazy bastards!

The End... Sorry Guys.

I've realized something.

This plot is getting nowhere. And as fried as my brain's been as far as places to take this story, it won't be getting anywhere for a really long time. Sorry guys, but I'd rather cancel this than give you an ending that makes you disappointed. Maybe I'll pick it up again later. I don't know. But for now, this is the end.

-TSW

New Story!

Well, my new story passed moderation. Here it is!

Prologue: Proposal, New Faces, and Old Faces

ONE YEAR AFTER THE EPILOGUE...

I was seriously about to pull it off. I invited Rainbow to diner, along with the rest of our friends. Darkside even went out of his way to rent us a private table/room thingy. We ate like pigs. Everyone was talking and having a hell of a good time. I looked at Darkside nervously. He grinned and gave me two thumbs up. I looked at Rainbow, who was sitting next to me. Even though she wasn't dressed up, she still looked beautiful. (Jeans and a t-shirt look good on her.) I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Come on, B. I thought, You can do this.... I felt inside my pocket. The black box inside restored my faith in myself.

I looked at Rainbow, while Darkside quieted everybody in the room. "Rainbow," I started, "We have been together for quite some time now. You have always been there for me, even though I've failed sometimes to do the same for you. We have worked so hard to build this life, even if it took a few bruises and cuts along the way. We even went so far as to welcome Scootaloo into our home, though she does make me a little angry sometimes." I smiled jokingly, "I've been thinking about it, and I've put it off for so long. I've walked this road we call life for quite some time now. Now I'm ready to walk it together, with you." I got on one knee. Removing the black box from my pocket, I opened it to reveal a ring. The diamond on the top was fashioned to look like her cutie mark. (Even though she doesn't have one, being human and whatnot.) Man, I thought, Those designers Mom knows can make one hell of a ring.

I gulped, this was it. The do-or-die question. "Rainbow Dash, will you marry me?"

The room went silent. My heart pounded in my chest. I was about to turn into a nervous wreck, with a fifty percent chance of getting married. She had a stoic expression on her face. You fucked up. My mind seemed to tell me.

No! Let's see what happens next... I told myself.

Then a single tear ran down her cheek. "About time you asked me... I was starting to get a little worried..." She smiled.

"Yes."

The whole room erupted into cheering. Everyone started clapping and Darkside even ran up to hug me. I laughed happily, like I used to when I was a kid. Holy shit, I'm only twenty-three! I thought. Damn, time flies.

-----------------------Two Months Later-------------------

Well, we were at that point. The wedding! Rainbow wasn't wearing a single bit of makeup, to Rarity's disapproval. She looked good without it though. Me, I wore a simple tuxedo with a black corsage (like a boss). Naturally, Twilight was the priest that marries the two. (She spent the entire week inside my Bible trying to find a good scripture. She read the whole damn thing FOUR TIMES. Finally, she read the scripture, and we did the whole process. The following kiss was possibly the greatest of my life.

Then we got to the after-wedding party. Pinkie brought four fucking party cannons to this one. One had decorations, another had cake, the third one had food, and the fourth, because who doesn't want to have a little fun, the booze. The party was one hell of a party. We had to send Scootaloo home (She's like, thirteen.) to go to bed, we had a feeling this wouldn't end well. Pinkie was drunk off her fucking ass. It was scary. She was literally breaking the fourth wall at will. She ran around, before Party Rock Anthem came on, as a tribute to oldies. Me and Darkside nodded at one another. Darkside shouted to the crowd, "This is something we used to do back at our old home."

EVERY DAY I'M SHUFFLIN'

We busted out shuffling. We did it all around the dance floor, before doing a triple backflip (aided by our powers) to end the section. Pinkie hopped out and did that old move, the Spongebob. (Youtube is your best friend.) Finally, the party ended. Fluttershy carried Pinkie home, and Rainbow and I flew home. Getting comfy on the couch, we started making out on that, then we got to buisness. Maybe I'll write what happened down later. (Take a hint.)

Rainbow is my wife. Suck it, Rule 34. I can have the satifaction of having her here with me. I thought smugly before I went to bed.

------------------------One Year After That...------------------------

Well, we had our own little girl, knocking the head count up to two. We named her Night Runner, because anybody with badass parents deserves a badass name. At least, that's what I think. She was born last month, and she's a healthy little one! She's growing at a pretty fast rate too! She's got black eyebrows, and her eyes are rose colored, just like Rainbow's! But she's got a little bit of hair, and it's a rainbow color, but the colors in the rainbow are more neon than regular. And when she cries, she wails enough to make my ears bleed. But the scary part is, when she does, her hair turns a deep black, and it glows with dark energy. Scary, huh? And when it happens, I feel this surge of immense energy. It's not even funny, how much energy I can feel.

Anyways, I'm excited to see where this is gonna go!

-------------------------Meanwhile...--------------------------------

Discord was lucky they had forgotten about him.

"Damn, if only my siblings were here to help me rid myself of those Elements!" He hissed.

"I can arrange that..."

A man stepped out of the shadows. He had on pure black sunglasses. He had on a black leather jacket with a hood, as well as black jeans and red and white Vans sneakers. Discord had the feeling that the red on those shoes weren't part of the design.

The man had his hand on the shoulder of a girl, who wasn't any older than fifteen. She had purple hair, and cat ears on her head. She wore a navy blue jacket, with blue jeans and pink and white Vans. She had a black bandanna in her hand, which she put over her ears to make them less noticeable.

"Who are you?" Discord asked.

"This girl is Kathrine, I am John. We can bring back your siblings, the draconequus, if you wish. Just follow my commands."

Discord nodded, "How will this work?"

John smiled. "You'll see..."

I'll have to pay Brian and Kaitlin a visit, as well as Brandon. After all, being stuck in limbo for over ten years isn't very fun. John thought to himself.

Author's Note
Well, here's the prologue to the sequel! I'm ready to get this on the road! No, Kathrine didn't come out of nowhere. I put a blog post up a while back, and she's mentioned in there. Her backstory will be explained later. Also, did you catch the hint at what story I'll be posting next? Anyways, hope you guys enjoy this ride! It's gonna be a good one!
-TSW

Chapter 3: (Shortie) Get Outta Here!

Scootaloo and Night Runner had been sitting on opposite sides of the cell. Night Runner tossing various escape ideas around her head, and Scootaloo reeling over the fact that her ten year old sister was just possessed moments ago. Finally, Night Runner turned around, "Hey, Scoots." She whispered.

"What do you want?"

"I have an idea."

"Let's hear it."

"So, you need to bring the guards over here, and I'll kick the cell doors down on top of them."

"You couldn't do that if you wanted to!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"...no."

"Exactly."

Scootaloo went to the cell bars, "Hey, douchebags! I'm hungry!"

The guards went over to the annoying child in the cell. The moment they got there the cell bars shook, and fell on top of them. Scootaloo stared at her sister, "...What the hell?"

Night Runner simply brushed her black hair out of her face. Her irises were a deep red instead of their normal rose color. "Come on. We need to get outta here."

Me and Darkside tracked John to this cave. We walked in to find a hi-tech hideout/base/prison. We were welcomed upon entry by John himself. "Hello! I've been expecting you!" He said with a shit-eating grin.

"You know what the fuck I want, so where are they?" I asked, impatiently.

"I'll give them back. We can strike a deal."

"Go on."

"Your daughters for your spot on the royal triad."

"I would, but I turned that position down."

He frowned, "Then no deal."

"I was hoping for a peaceful conversation, but that's too much to ask for."

"Damned right."

He jumped on top of the table, "There's something you need to know. Compared to my power now, I was a snail back then."

Thrusting out his hand, a black flame burst from his hand. A dark haired girl jumped in front of me and took the blast. I looked at the figure.

It was Night Runner.

She thrust her hand back out and the same flame returned to it's original user. John blocked the flame and disappeared. I grabbed my girls and flew out of the cave.