A Promise Not Forgotten

Dan:

“See! Now you’re getting the hang of it!” I said, happy with Luna’s success.

“How do you people manage with only two legs?” Luna said, still struggling.

“What do you mean ‘you people’?” I asked with a smile.

“Right, I’m not a pony anymore, huh,” Luna replied.

“Ok, now try walking on your own again,” I said, slowly letting go of Luna’s hand.

“Ok…” She said tentatively. “Are you sure I’m ready for this?”

“You’ve already learned to walk once, how hard could it be?” I said.

“I think you would be surprised,” Luna said as she slowly took a few small steps.

“Keep this up and you’ll be walking like a pro in no time at all!”

“You really think so?” Luna asked. “Woah!”

I jumped to her side and caught her before she hit the ground, “Of course I do! You’re princess Luna! You raise and lower the moon for Christ’s sake; I think you can handle learning how to walk,” I said.

A knock came from the door before it was opened and Aidan and Discord walked in, “How’s things, Aidan?”

“Can’t complain…” He replied with a smirk. “And you?”

I sighed before looking back to Luna, who was now leaning on my shoulder, “Making progress.”

“Good, because we need to move soon,” Aidan said.

“Why is that?” I asked still a little worried for Luna considering her current state.

Aidan folded his arms and spoke condescendingly, “With the constant threat of guards marching in on us, and Celestia doing God knows what back home, and the lack of supplies I feel a bit on edge. Please forgive me…”

“Who pissed you off?” I shot back. At this Aidan glared menacingly.

“Shouldn’t you be wearing clothes?” Discord said gesturing to Luna.

My eyes immediately shifted to him and narrowed. He got the message.

“Oh, I guess I should,” Luna said. “Do we have any?”

“I got Miss Rarity some cloth for such a purpose,” Aidan said, with arms still folded.

“Thank you, Aidan,” Luna said as she tried to walk by herself again. She looked back before saying, “You coming, Dan?”

“Yeah, hold on, go with Aidan, I’ll be a minute…” I said looking to Discord with a grin.

As soon as Luna rounded the corner with Aidan I said, “Really man? I mean, really?”

“What?” Discord asked, with a grin on his face.

I shot a blast of ice right at his groin. “YOU KNOW WHY!” I said before walking after Aidan and Luna, leaving Discord to deal with his new predicament.

Aidan:

“So, how’s the walking going?” I asked as Luna walked with me, using my shoulder as support. We had to walk slowly and that made me a little uneasy. I hate doing things slowly, but for a friend, I’ll wait.

“It’s going nice- Ouch!” She said before buckling.

“It’s alright, I got ya,” I said as I held her. “Step on something?”

She looked down at the cracked stone she was stepping on, “Yeah.”

“Take my shoes. They might be a bit big, but they will help you more than they will me,” I said as I took off my shoes. Granted I will have to step on the rocks myself, but Luna was sensitive, having just been reborn earlier today. Besides, a few rocks were the least of my worries right now.

“Thank you, Aidan,” Luna said as she put on the shoes that were about five sizes too big for her. She took one step before almost falling again. “How do you walk in these things?”

“It helps if they actually fit you, sorry,” I said with a smile. A thought crossed my mind: it’s funny how fast I can switch personalities now. Before it was subtle, and predictable, now it is more uncontrolled and dangerous. I snapped at the day guard earlier for stepping on my toe… I don’t think he likes me anymore; the taze I gave him should be evidence enough for that.

Dan walked up behind us. “Hey, I got ya,” He said as he took Luna. “Thanks, Aidan.”

“No problem, just be quick. I don’t want to spend any more time here than we absolutely have to,” I said before leaving them to their business.

“Understood, wait is she wearing your shoes?” Dan asked.

“Yeah, she stepped on a rock,” I said as I kept on walking.

“That guy…” Dan said as he and Luna continued their walk.

I walked on my own vaguely aware that Discord wasn’t with Dan when he arrived but choosing to ignore it anyway. I decided that I better go check up on Iron Hoof and his guards; they should be packing the gear for our journey to the Southern Wastes. Nobody objected to the idea, not even Twilight, I expected her to object above all others because she would find some reason to say it was dangerous, but then again so was staying here in the ruins. She simply stopped caring since the confrontation with her mentor.

I hate to see people give up above all else. If something bad happens, fight, fail, hell renounce your faith if it keeps you going; just don’t give up. Seeing someone so lost in life that they just don’t care about anything breaks my heart, because I know how they feel, deep inside. Yeah, I gave up once, but I recovered and vowed never to give up again.

“How is everything going?” I asked as I approached.

“Smoothly, we should be ready within the hour,” Rain Dasher said.

“Good. For now I will be searching the castle for anything we can still use, come find me when you finish,” I said. The guards responded with a salute and went back to their work. God, I hate salutes.

I walked out of the throne room and into the entryway of the castle. The windows lining the wall had been shattered and everything was covered in a layer of dust and cobwebs. With no bearing, I decided to make a circle around the castle. It was now somewhere around eleven at night by my best guess. With every step I could hear the crunching of the dried leaves under my feet. It was so quiet that it felt like even the bugs were scared of the forest.

As I crossed a bridge over a small creek I noticed a door near the back of the castle. Most likely some kind of service way, or escape route. The door was locked by a rusty old chain; a few thousand volts took care of that quite nicely.

The tunnel was dark, as expected, so I lit up a hand. “HOLY SHIT!” I screamed as I fell backward. Starring me in the face was a statue of an angel, with its hands covering its face. “Jesus…” I said as I got up from the floor and gave the statue a once over. After satisfied that it was in fact a statue, I ventured deeper into the dark tunnel.

I was right in thinking that the tunnel was an escape route because it ended right under the throne room with a spiral staircase upward. I slowly ascended the staircase, fearing that the rotted wood might break under my weight. Luckily it held and I came to the top, at which was a flat wall; likely a hidden passage. On the other side I could hear voices of my companions, Iron Hoof namely, barking orders to the remaining subordinates.

“Well, we need to knock this wall down…” I said to myself as I ran a hand over the cracked surface of the wall. “Maybe there is a way to open it from this side…” I said, again to myself, and looked, but to no avail. “I suppose that makes sense though.” Why would they make a direct entrance point to the throne room?

“Hell, I better get back to the others…” I said as I started down the staircase. I walked a few feet more before a reflection caught my eye. “What the… OH HELL YES!” I yelled in success as I looked at Dan’s old Chevy Silverado, freshly painted too!

Upon the new discovery I ran back around the castle, and into the entryway. I could hear voices in the throne room, but not the familiar ones of my companions. These were new, and that meant that we had been found. I slowed down and, thanks to my bare feet, silently crept through the door to see seven day guards in a line, ready to attack my friends.

“YOU WILL SURRENDER,” The one in the middle said. “OR BE EXECUTED! PRINCESS CELESTIA WILL SPARE ANY WHO WILL GIVE INFORMATION ON THE HUMANS’ LOCATION!”

I saw the horrified look across the ponies in the room; some out of fear, some out of surprise, some out of anger. Dan and Colin stood stone faced staring at the line of guards. None of them had noticed me yet…

Dan:

I looked down the line of guards and counted seven. Who knows how many were waiting outside though? This could be it, the last stand. “Stop shouting… You are wasting your breath,” I said.

“YOU DARE TALK TO ME, HUMAN?” The lead guard shouted back. “YOU HAVE NO PLACE IN THIS WORLD AND MUST BE PURGED!”

The line of guards started charging their horns. Luna shuffled closer to me and grabbed hold of my arm. “Dan…” She said with pleading eyes.

“Don’t worry, Luna. We will be fine…” I said after I looked back to the guards and saw a certain friend of mine.

Aidan:

Dan stood with Luna and the others awaited the blast of magic. Why the hell none of them were attacking escaped me, but I had to move.

“HEY!” I shouted. The line of guards turned to face me. I stared back with fire in my eyes and a glare to kill. I started slowly walking closer to the line as they charged their magic.

“YOU WILL SURRENDER-

“OR WHAT?” I screamed back. “You’ll blast me? Hah, yeah like that would work!” I said, slightly laughing.

“YOU WILL SURRENDER OR BE EXECUTED!” Their leader shouted once more.

“Wow… you guards really are thick… Fine, have it your way!” I said before showering them with electricity. Being careful to avoid killing them I stopped after a few seconds. I walked closer and stopped just in front of the leader who had collapsed by now, “Tell your tyrant… I will never surrender… You will be spared, but next time… I don’t think I will be too forgiving. NOW LEAVE!” I shouted right in his face.

The guards, finally finding some sense, used their magic to teleport away.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked. Their faces were lit up with joy.

Resounding cheers sounded from the room as I walked to Dan. I turned back around to face my companions, “Everyone be careful! There may still be more lurking around.” Happy that the ponies would fend for themselves, or at least alert me if they see any more guards, I went to Luna.

“Hey, Luna,” I started. “Do you know the layout of this castle?”

Luna looked around the castle with a sense of nostalgia, “Yes, it was our old castle before Canterlot was finished.”

“Then you know about the escape route?” I asked.

“Yes, of course,” Luna said. “Wait… how did you?”

“Went exploring… show me the entrance,” I said. She began to walk to just behind the elevated throne. Beneath the throne was the door to the staircase down to the tunnels. We just had to get it open. “Know how to open it?”

“Yes, with just a bit of magic it should pop right open,” Luna said before she concentrated. The look of focus turned to confusion, then to worry, then to horror. “Why is my magic not working? DAN, WHY ISNT IT WORKING!” Luna yelled as she held onto his arm.

“Luna, calm down. It must be your new form. Humans have a different magic ponies do. You just need to learn how to use it…" Dan said.

"In the meantime, can Twilight perform the spell?” I asked.

“She should be able to…” Luna said with tears streaming down her face which was now buried in Dan’s chest. He held her closely.

“Don’t worry, Luna. It’ll all be okay…” He said in a soothing voice as he walked her away.

Twilight, looking hopeless as ever, came walking up. “What do you need?”

“Can you open this door? It leads to the underground tunnel system that we can use in the case of an emergency,” I said pointing to the stone wall.

“That’s a door?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Hidden door, yes, can you open it?” I asked again.

“I can try…” She said hesitantly as her horn started to glow brightly. A spark of magic flew off and touched the wall, lighting it up in a purple glow. After a few seconds the door vanished entirely.

“That’s some amazing stuff…” I said, still impressed by magic. “You might have to teach me that someday.”

Twilight, even being in such an emotional state jumped on the idea of tutoring me in the magical arts. “Do you really want me to teach you?” She asked now exited.

“Who better?” I asked in response with a wide smile. Not only did I actually want to learn some magic, but she was far too depressed for anyone’s good. I can’t have a friend living like that and do nothing about it. “But first I have to get back to work,” I said. Twilight nodded in understanding and trotted off happily. “DAN!” I shouted across the room.

The big man looked up at me and walked over, leaving Luna with the mane six. “What’s up, brother?”

“You will love this!” I said with a smirk as I started down the spiral staircase and into the dark tunnels below. Lighting up a hand, I continued. “You remember the day I left?” I asked.

“Yeah…” Dan said. I could hear the uneasiness in his voice. He still dreaded the day.

“Some things went into Equestria with me,” I said. I could barely hide it anymore. I knew exactly how much Dan loved this truck, and knowing he lost it when I left make it all the more exciting.

“Yeah… What are you getting at?” Dan asked, a little annoyed at my teasing.

“Heh, you will shit bricks…” I said as we reached the last step. I put some extra power into my hand to make the light brighter. “Dan… I give you-

“CAROL!” Dan yelled as he ran to the truck. “OH GOD I’VE MISSED YOU!”

“OH GOD MY SIDES!” I yelled, now in pain from all the laughing at Dan’s love for his truck.

“WAIT!” Dan said, holding up a hand. “There is one thing that can make this better!”

“And what might that be?” I asked.

“If there is an orangutan inside!” Dan gleefully ran to open the door.

“You moron…” I said as he opened the door, revealing nothing.

“AWW COME ON!” Dan shouted.

“Still got the keys?” I asked.

Dan reached over to the passenger side sun visor and flipped it down, letting a spare key fall to the floor of the cab. “Oh yes… My life is now complete!”

I grew a wide smile across my face. “You idiot…”