A Promise Not Forgotten

In case it isn't clear, the breaks in the story like the one below are perspective shifts between Colin and I.

I looked over the features of the human standing before me. The man was a little taller than me, and was a lot bigger than me. He stood hunched like a lion ready to pounce as he glared into my eyes. His black hair was long and unkempt; it waved in the cool night breeze. That man was my friend, practically a brother to me. What Colin and I have is nothing compared to my relationship with Dan. We’ve known each other since I was born. Dan was older than us, and back on Earth, could throw me around if need be. I hate to think of what he could do now that he has powers.

“Dan! It’s me, Aidan!” I said, trying to get through to my friend.

“I don’t know you,” He said with a grim look on his face, and then lunged for me. I barely evaded his speed and jumped to the right and looked back, confused. Dan looked at me before punching me square in the face.

He would never do this.

He isn’t Dan anymore… Remember, Prophet has his ways of manipulation.

Understanding the message Vis was trying to convey I charged Dan. Whatever we had before was gone; Prophet wormed his way into Dan’s head and erased us entirely. I threw punches while dodging and blocking as many as I could, a few got through though.

Colin had just caught up to us and saw us fighting. He knew Dan, though they never saw eye to eye, Colin knew Dan would never do this.

I was fighting Dan with all my concentration; I couldn’t afford to let him get the advantage. He was too big for any small mistake. I noticed Colin out of the corner of my eye, he looked like he was watching us. I think I saw him talking too, but he was too quiet to hear over Dan’s angry roars. After about a minute Colin slowly moved his way around Dan and started punching him in the back of his head. Dan didn’t expect that, but Colin was no match for the powers Prophet gave him. Dan kicked me in the gut which sent me to the floor. Colin was an open target and Dan turned and was met by a sword swinging his way. A sword still could cut us, despite our powers. Dan decided that the best course of action was to dodge the quick slashes and jabs of the sword.

“Dan! STOP!” I screamed, knowing that if Colin couldn’t keep up his speed Dan would kill him.

“Shut up!” Dan yelled back. His voice was darker now, not the friendly tone he always used before. “It has already begun, there is nothing you can do!”

Looking back to Colin he dodged a few more slashes and stabs until I got back into the fray. At least I can survive if Dan gets a hold of me. I jumped onto Dan’s back and started choking him. He was far more powerful than I expected. I have just a portion of Vis’ power, Dan has far more than I do, and throwing me across the clearing into a tree was nothing. I slammed into the tree with a loud crack as Colin and Dan began their own fight again. Something was definitely broken somewhere. I had to wait for myself to heal before trying to get up again. Colin was on his own for now.

“Crap, that’s just what I need. Aidan is fucked up and Dan is pissed.” I kept up the swings as fast as I could, but this was getting tiresome. “I have to at least wait until Aidan can get back up… I have to hold Dan back.” I saw Aidan shudder as the bones reformed and snapped together, his screams of pain barely audible.

A few minutes of immense pain and screaming passed and I was fully healed. Damn, I’m never going to get used to that. It’s a good thing to have, but Jesus it hurts so much more than breaking the bones. I looked back to the tree, which was broken where I smashed into it. Small bits of bark were scattered across the ground and the tree was stained with blood, my blood. I turned my head and saw the worst thing I could. Dan was holding Colin by the throat with the sword through his stomach. As the blood poured out Dan stared into Colin’s eyes and let a wicked grin spread itself across his face.

I knew what Dan was going to do, and I couldn’t let him kill Colin. Not after all this, not after all the things I promised. I have to end this, now. I got up from my blood soaked spot in the grass and sprinted as fast as I could to Dan. With the rage flowing through me I kicked him in the knee with enough force to bend it backwards. I jumped and kicked him in the face which sent him back and made him fall down. Colin slumped onto his back coughing. I ran up to Dan and kicked him back down, jumped on top of him and punched him in the face. I kept hitting Dan until he stopped moving. I killed him, all because of this Prophet. I will find this Prophet, and when I do, oh when I do…

I finished my coughing fit and looked up to Aidan who was sitting over Dan. His blood-covered fists rest at his side; a few bones were jutting through the skin. Dan’s face was equally bruised and bloodied. Aidan slowly got off Dan and buried his face into his hands. He just killed his lifelong friend. How would you feel? He got up after a few moments and walked over to me, “Hey Colin, you doing ok?”

I could tell how much this pained Aidan, “Yeah, what now?”

He looked back to Dan and returned his regretful gaze to me, “We have to get you out of here, those ribs won’t heal themselves.” That was Aidan for ya, he could hide any emotions and bury them away so nobody could see. I’d hate to see what would happen if he burst.

I looked to Colin who was starting to stand up. I saw his eyes widen and a look of sheer horror on his face.

“What?” I asked.

CRACK!

Everything went limp, I felt cold…

“SHIT!” I screamed as Aidan fell to the floor with a broken neck.

Dan was standing there, his face healing just as Aidan’s would have, but faster. As the threads of skin pulled and wove themselves together Dan just stared at me. Before Equestria we never completely got along. Aidan always said that the way Dan acted was normal for him, nothing personal. Now it was, though, now Dan wants me dead. As much as I’d love to believe that I could bring down Dan, he was stronger than Aidan, and without my sword I can’t do anything.

Dan looked down to me and looked into my eyes. He looked at me with menacing eyes and quite literally kicked me back about ten feet. God damn that hurt and I think he broke a rib. Fuck this wasn’t going good. I didn’t notice the cliff I just flew off. Shit… time to think! Somehow the sword appeared back into its sheath, but that didn’t matter now. I grabbed it and rammed it into the wall of the cliff to stop myself.

The pain surged through me as my neck slowly clicked back into place. This was taking longer than most injuries. Ribs were done in a few minutes, arm was about thirty seconds, and skin was about ten. A neck injury was more complex and takes time to fix, time I didn’t have. Dan walked over and looked down at me. This was it, I may not go down easy, but that doesn’t mean I can’t die. I assume the usual severing of the head works still, I’ll have to avoid that, but right now I can’t even move.

Dan picked me up by my head, wrenching me around and slowing the healing process. Holding me there he took his hand and slowly and agonizingly pushed his hand into my chest. I never mentioned this before but my chest has a dent in it. I was born with it and it never mattered before, but now that made it a weak point. Dan easily forced his way into my chest, I could feel the muscles tearing as he looked around inside. Everything went cold again, was this it? Dying at my brother’s hand?

Out of nowhere came Colin, Thank God! With sword in hand he stabbed deep into Dan’s neck. The scream was terrifying, he was still my friend. It pained me to see him like this. He ripped the sword out of Dan and slammed the back of his head with the emerald pommel. Luckily that knocked him out, but with regenerative capabilities I didn’t know how long that would last.

I fell to the floor as Dan’s cold hand fell from my chest. I focused all my powers on healing as fast as I could, which I didn’t know I could do. I was almost completely healed when a black fog spewed out of Dan’s mouth and nose. A humanoid figure amassed out of the fog, the one from the dragon incident. I was burning with rage, but unable to do anything as I was still healing. I could do nothing but watch as the fog walked closer to me. The foggy tendrils that made up its arms picked me up and it looked me straight in the eye.

Screaming in horror as the fog lifted my contorted body up, Colin exploded in a fit of rage and power. Power that I didn’t know he had. A bow made purely of light materialized from nothing. He pulled out a rusty old arrow that when strung was turned into the same light material that the bow was made of. He and his weapon glowed as he shot the arrow. It was covered with a blue fire as it flew toward the fog.

My last hope vanished as the arrow slowed to a stop. The look frozen on Colin’s face was that of pure rage and sorrow. Dan’s slow but steady breathing was stopped too. All that moved was me and that damned fog.

“Wh- Wh- Wha-?” I choked out, barely able to form words with a hole in my chest. All the while it was burning in a fire of pain.

“Let me help with that,” The raspy sounding fog said as a few tendrils wisped around my open chest and it quickly closed. There was no pain, too.

“What do you want with me?” I asked bluntly.

“You still don’t see it do you?” He said, shaking his head.

“Who are you?” I asked demandingly.

“I am Mendax,” He said coldly.

“Mendax? What does Prophet want with us?” I asked.

“It’s what he wants with you,” Mendax said pointing at me.

“Why would he want me?”

“All will be revealed in time. But that isn’t why I’m here. I’m here to stop him,” Mendax replied.

“Stop him? I thought you and he were working together,” I said.

“You have to understand that pretending to be his ally was the best way to get close to him,” Mendax said.

“What happened when he changed? Where did you go? Why didn’t you stop him?” I was just rattling off questions at this point, nothing else mattered. He was the first person telling the truth since we got here.

“His soul was corrupt. Trust me, Prophet wanted nothing more than to see peace in Equestria. I left because alone, without a proper plan, and without much power, there was nothing I could do against him. I didn’t stop him because he is so immensely powerful that he alone can defeat Celestia, Luna, and the Elements at the same time!” He nearly shouted at me, voicing his anger.

“Ok, I get it. Why do you want me though?” I asked.

“You are the ‘greater and more powerful’ that was to come after him. You are the one who will defeat Prophet and reunite Equestria,” Mendax said.

“And why should I trust you?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t lie to you, not in this life or the next,” Mendax said.

I didn’t know what to believe. Mendax could be the only person who knows how to defeat him. “If I do defeat him, is there a way back to Earth?” I asked.

“You might not want to go back, not only will you lose the powers you have gained and the powers to come, but Earth has changed since then,” Mendax said. I looked to dan, he looked like he had been through hell back on Earth. I wonder what happened.

“Will Dan be alright?” I asked.

“Yes, and he will fully remember you again, I had to block his thoughts to get close enough to you,” Mendax replied.

“And what of Vis?” I asked confused by the many voices and the web of secrets and lies I was wrapped in.

Mendax looked down as if the mention pained him, “Vis, I’m sorry I took so long to come back. When the time comes, promise me you will do what you have to,”

Vis chimed in, “I promise, Mendax. Goodbye old friend,”

“Before I go, I must tell you about something. Remember this, Aidan, Pure Harmony is flawed... but it can be mended.”

"Wait! What does that even mean?" Aidan said, hoping to nothing that this would help him some day.

"You'll figure it out," Mendax said confidently. "Trust me."

“Why are you doing this?”

“I’m over two thousand years old, and I’ve seen a lot of shit. Besides, I have to, this was our dream, saving Equestria,” Mendax said as time started to speed up again. The arrow stabbed him in a flash of light. Just before he faded he said, “After all, I am his best friend.” Something about that was reassuring, familiar even.