Luna couldn't see anything. She was completely shrouded by darkness.
"What is this? What is going on?" The darkness around her faded, she stood in a throne room. It was a throne room she was all too familiar with. But it was not the one in Canterlot.
"NO! I cannot be here, why am I here?!" She shouted, her heart started pounding as she tried to move but with no success. She was completely frozen. She knew what would happen next, and was being forced to watch. Celestia barged into the room at that moment, surrounded by six of her most loyal guards.
"LUNA! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? YOU CANNOT RAISE THE MOON WHILE THE SUN IS STILL UP! RAISING IT NOW IS CAUSING TOO MUCH CHAOS AROUND EQUESTRIA!" her voice boomed throughout the huge room. Luna winced slightly at hearing her sister speak to her with such a tone, but then she remembered she wasn't talking to her, she was talking to the other Luna in the room. The other princess of the night walked out from behind her throne. A smug smile on her face, her pupils stretched vertically making her eyes look more feline and disturbing.
"Don't you see sister? Those foolish ponies that we have saved and ruled over for countless years do not appreciate the night I bring to them. They never have! I must make them appreciate me!" She lifted her hooves high and brought them down on her throne, it was obliterated at her touch, pieces of stone and obsidian flying in every direction.
"Soon I will be the only Princess in Equestria, as it always should've been." Her horn started to hum, and the room became very dark.
Celestia narrowed her eyes and her horn lit up with a yellow light. Her guards got closer to Celestia, trying to get as close to the light as possible and avoid the darkness. "I do not want it to be like this Luna, lower the moon and STOP THIS!" Celestia's warning was clear. But her voiced cracked slightly as she held back tears.
The night princess started laughing. At first the laugh of a gentle and beautiful Princess. But slowly the shadow she cast began to surround her. She was completely covered by the darkness and her laughter became harsh. There was an intense red light and all the guards looked away, but Celestia continued looking on in horror. The laughter reached maniacal levels, full of evil and hatred. The darkness cleared and standing before them all was a totally different Luna, a taller version with a jet black coat and a wild purple flowing mane.
"I am no longer Luna. I am now NIGHTMARE MOON!" She lowered her horn and shot a beam of pure blue and black light at Celestia. She flew up to avoid the beam and her horn began to charge with a wicked bright yellow light. Nightmare Moon's magic attack struck her guards and when the light and smoke cleared, three of them lay still in a small crater. The other three were groaning off to the left of their now deceased comrades.
"ENOUGH" Celestia's voice boomed, shattering every glass window in the throne room.
Luna was still frozen in the corner, she was sobbing uncontrollably.
"No stop please! That isn't me! THAT CAN'T BE ME!" She screamed to Celestia. Celestia fully charged her horn, and shot a blast of magic towards Nightmare Moon. As soon as it collided with her the explosion that followed forced Luna to awaken with a jolt.
She was sweating, and had a headache, but was back in Canterlot. Laying on her side atop the Castle's tallest balcony. She sat up confused, laying exactly where she stood when she raised the moon that night. In the corner of the room there was black smoke she did not see. It retreated out of a small crack in the window.
Luna had experienced something like this before. But not for over a thousand years. She stood up and went to the railing of the balcony, and looked over all of Equestria. She saw Ponyville down below the mountain that the castle sat on. There was a bright flash of red out the corner of her eye that got her attention. She looked over towards the massive Everfree forest, where her nightmare had taken place many years ago and spotted a huge black storm cloud spreading over the forest. Red and gold electricity surging in the clouds, the wind around her picked up, blowing her mane towards the storm. She looked behind her while opening and flapping her wings. Her eyes widened and she gasped slightly. Looking back to the storm.
"It cannot be."
The Everfree forest was always an unusual place, with the Timberwolves that howl when the Zap apples grow, the terrible weather above, the mirror pool or even the forests inhabitants. Even the mysterious old castle of Celestia and Luna lay in ruin there. But tonight, things were different, and Zecora was there to see it.
Zecora meditated peacefully in the main room of her small home. She stood on one leg, her other hind leg extended out forward. Her two hooves extended on the left and right of her. Her mind was clear. She began to sing a hymn from her homeland.
There was the sound of thunder rumbling in the sky above her home. Within seconds lightning began to flash different shades of gold, and red lighting up her living area. As the thunder shook her home she opened her eyes. Dropping down to all four hooves she looked out her window and saw two different colored bolts of lightning striking each other. The following explosion was so bright she had to look away. The sky lit up in a flurry of colors. Zecora looked up just in time to see something fall from the sky and land somewhere in the forest nearby.
"The weather of equestria seems to be out of control, Why have no Pegasi stopped the clouds from hanging so low." She said aloud to herself. She was very interested in what fell from the sky however. She wandered into her room to retrieve her hooded cloak, then headed back into the living room.
Making her way past the cauldron that sat in the middle of her house and out her door Zecora headed out into the dark forest to find what fell from the sky. She walking around the small garden of poison joke that outlined her home and following the trail afterwards. The smell of smoke filled the air, the lightning storm had cause fires, but it was going to rain soon, which would put those fires out. She eventually came across unusual skid marks on the ground, following them for a bit she eventually was lead to a fiery crater. It was wide, forcing her to believe what had fallen was nothing more than a rock from space. She was wrong.
There was movement down in the pit that shocked her into silence. There was a stallion in the middle, not a single bruise or cut on his pure white coat. His light blue mane without a strand out of place. He seemed young, around maybe the age of Big Macintosh from the Apple family. One thing about the stallion that confused Zecora was that despite his age, he had no cutie mark. His flank was bare. The mysterious earth pony looked up at the surprised zebra, his eyes looked right into her own. Zecora was old and wise, but this pony? His eyes looked older, much older and wiser than any pair of eyes she ever gazed into. He aimed a hoof towards her and muttered "help" before collapsing. Zecora jumped down into the crater, sliding down the hot rocked before coming to a stop right before him, she then struggled and lifted him onto her back. She slowly climbed out and then began to walk back to her treehouse, to further examine the pony. The white pony on her back was moaning lightly as if he were having a bad dream.
"Do not fret, not yet, soon we'll be at my home and you'll rest till you can stand on your own" she said to him. Though she wasn't sure he could even hear her. She continued to walk through the forest, she could feel the cold touch of rain even through her cloak. Thunder rumbled from the black clouds and there was some red electricity flashing on the inside. Zecora cursed in her native language. A storm was about to start and she knew she had to head to Ponyville immediately. Twilight becoming a princess years ago motived Zecora to inform her of any odd goings on in the forest. A pony crashing into the forest was definitely something she needed to know about.
She opened the door to her home with her front right leg… keeping her balance so she wouldn't drop the white pony. She closed the door with her back leg and carried him to her room gingerly laying him on her bed. She put a wet cloth on his forehead. The rain outside was no torrential. She walked over to her cutting board and chopped a couple of flowers together, and after saying a quick incantation brought a small brew she created over to the pony. She lifted his head up and slowly poured the drink down his throat. Once he finished the whole thing she laid him back down. She headed out of the room ready for the emergency trip to Ponyville. She looked back at the shivering white pony in her bed, and after muttering a quick blessing for him she turned and headed out her door galloping away into the storm.
Thunder caused the white pony to awake with a start, he tried looked around, needing a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room he was in, trying to figure out where he was.
"Hello?" he asked out loud. Vaguely remembering the striped creature that pulled him from the hole he awoke in. He groaned slightly, raising a hoof up towards his head feeling the wet towel laid across it. It hurt badly, but otherwise he felt fine. He slowly got up from the bed, it creaked like an old wooden board being stepped on late at night, only making his head hurt a little more. Looking around the small hut he was in, there were various masks, glass vials, unusual books and different flora scattered around, and a big empty cauldron in the middle. He came across a small mirror and looked into it, he saw a white pony, with a - mane… when he looked into the reflection is when he made the connection. He realized he had no idea who he was.
"Helloooo?!" he called out again, a little more desperately. And was again met with no response. He figured the striped one he saw before must've left, but where had she gone now? What did she plan on doing with him? He paced around the hut and contemplated leaving, after a moment of trying to decide he finally went through with it. He opened the door and was instantly blown back by the sheer amount of rain and wind. In a matter of seconds he was completely soaked to the bone, he used all the strength his muscles could muster to firmly shut the door. He shook his whole body, much of the water trapped in his mane, tail and coat was shook free. He started to think there was nothing else for him to do… he was trapped. As he looked around the wooden home, he heard a voice he'll never forget.
You need to find a way out.
The white pony jumped, he spun around and scanned the room for the source of the voice. "Who are you? And what do you want with me?"
Silence.
Then he heard pounding… sounding like drums against his skull. He felt pain from inside his head, his vision started to blur, he looked around the room for the place he was laying beforehand. Spotting the bed he started to slowly walk over to it and as soon as he reached the edge of it he collapsed, and allowed the pain to force his eyes shut.
He stood in the middle of the forest he woke up in… it wasn't raining. Looking down at himself he saw that he was transparent, he lifted his hoof up towards his face and looked through it.
"What is this…" he muttered… "I wonder wha-" he was interrupted by lightning flashing overhead. He looked up and gasped, there was a swirling black and grey cloud and a solid white and blue shape moving quickly… the two flew around each other for the moment, then it began.
The black cloud shot out lightning toward the white form, it moved swiftly to avoid the lightning, and responded with some gold lightning of its own. They continued lashing out at one another. The attacks would collide causing explosions of various colors in the sky above. The flashes were intense, seeming to turn the night sky to day. The cracks of lightning so loud and powerful they forced the trees to blow back. Suddenly bursting from the inside of the black cloud was a pony, a Unicorn that now stood atop the black cloud. His horn begin to glow from the base of his head... it was the deepest shade of red on the color spectrum, and there was a hum that radiated from him. The white streak stopped moving, as the speed was reduced it was revealed that the white and gold streak was a Pegasus, who was flying at speeds the white ponies' eyes could not register. He hovered in place flapping his powerful wings and with each flap the wind blew in a different direction. Golden sparks began to form in between every feather. He prepared his own attack… but the unicorn was the first to strike. His eyes glowed red, as red as the early rising sun.
"MIHI AUTEM!" The unicorn roared at the Pegasi, the language he spoke was ancient, something that hadn't been heard by anypony for thousands of years. But the white pony knew what he said.
"Die now."
From the horn a brilliant bright red arc of lightning was unleased toward the Pegasi, eyes glowing white, who flapped his wings quickly and aimed both of them at the Unicorn launching his own golden lightning to counter. The two blasts from the ponies collided shattering the sound barrier, a burst of air and pulse of sound washed over the still watching white pony. The entire forest around him danced from the force, the white pony had to close his eyes due to the bright light the two lights made in the sky. The red and gold bursts of electricity kept their forms and battled against each other, the gold light pushed the red back but once the Unicorn realized he was losing he cheated, he used his cloud and began to fly forward. The lightning from his horn grew thicker, sparks exploding over the forest causing various trees to be ignited, small fires like these spread all over the forest in a matter of seconds. The red electricity suddenly broke through the golden, and struck the Pegasi instantly. The light that followed was unusual. The lightning shocked the flying pony, causing him to flash the colors of orange, purple, blue, pink, red, and then magenta. Then in the place of the flying pony was an explosion, a line of smoke trailed downwards from it, a figure landed somewhere in the forest nearby causing a massive boom, the force of it putting out all the fires nearby. The unicorn sat atop his obsidian cloud. He began to laugh victoriously, his horn exploded out red light and more clouds formed above him, a funnel swirled above him. Then with a mighty yell his horn shot a red light into the funnel, and as soon as it hit the cloud spread all over the night sky, blocking out the full moon. Small little cold droplets of rain pecked on the face of the white pony who watched in awe of the Unicorn's power.
"So it is true, he has returned then." A sultry voice echoed all around him, hidden from view due to the darkness of the forest.
He took a small step back, looking all around, he raised a hoof at the darkness in front of him "Reveal yourself, and explain what is happening!" His tone was meant to show bravery, but he felt nothing but fear. A figure appeared before him, she seemed to be born from the shadows themselves.
"Hello again."
She was a tall pony, her entire body was purple, her mane and tail flowed like a river made not from water, but purely from the night sky, complete even with small stars that sparkled as she walked towards him.
Luna.
There it was again, that voice he heard, before he had fallen asleep, he looked around searching for where that voice could've come from… but found no other pony around.
"It has been quite some time since I saw you last, thou has not changed… well not completely that is." She spoke to him in a soft matter, as one would speak to a timid animal. The white pony scowled angrily.
Was that what he appeared as? A small timid and weak pony? He may not have had any memory. But he knew he was not weak.
"Are you the one who brought me here? I demand you tell me what's going on! Who, or what is that?" He asked, pointing a hoof at the Unicorn in the sky, horn still glowing, more than likely the source of the now escalating storm.
"A pony with no memory, making demands of a princess? Any other situation would've ended with punishment. But I couldn't hurt you even if I wanted to. Could I Aeolus?"
You could try. The voice. That damned voice from before. He was now sure where it came from… he was hearing it inside his mind.
"That up there, αγάπη μου, is the ongoing storm. An enemy we banished a thousand years ago. I always said we should've destroyed him… but my sister sometimes can be foolish, and decided that we imprison him instead."
The Unicorn's cloud raised itself higher into the sky, disappearing into the storm.
"What does any of that have to do with me? Why am I here?" He was confused, and just wanted a straight answer.
"I will see you again soon. For now Aeolus, you must find Twilight Sparkle. She is an Alicorn like myself." She opened her wings, and then tapped her horn. "Her magic will protect you. Tell her to keep you indoors, he thinks you to be dead, and as soon as he finds out you are not, you truly will be."
"Twilight Sparkle… magic…? But I am being held captive, how will I escape? Why should I trust you?" He asked her. She had a look of sadness, a look of regret… a look of failure.
"You once asked me to trust you. And because I was impatient and did not trust you, I paid the price. Do not make the same mistake I made, what does your instincts say about me?"
I trust you Luna, just not this Twilight Sparkle, I know nothing of her. The small voice in his mind responded. But only he could hear it.
"I… I don't know. I don't remember a thing." he answered honestly. She nodded her head.
"I understand, when I returned I had a hard time trusting anypony for a while too." She replied to him.
There was ruffling in the bushes to his right, He turned in alarm, stepping in to the shadows to avoid being seen, Luna however, stayed right in the middle of the path. A hooded figure appeared from the bushes. She walked slowly as the rain and wind tugged on her hood, and she had something laying across her back. It was a pony. Eyes shut, not moving. As she passed the white ponies' hiding spot he emerged from it, he looked at Luna, a look of shock on his face.
"That pony on her back, that's me!" He had a look of absolute confusion, which amused Luna. She flashed a tiny smile at him.
"Yes, we are revisiting the past, through your dream. Zecora found and saved you then. I am glad, but now it is time for you to awaken. Soon it will be daytime again, which is when you need to make your move. The events that follow with your disappearance… will put equestria out of balance."
"Aeolus… you keep calling me that… why can't I remember anything? Who are you to me?" He stared intently at her, thinking hard, trying his best to remember something… anything…
She didn't move for a second, she then reached a hoof out and touched his shoulder.
"Wake up now, the time will come again where we will speak. But for now wake up…" her eyes flashed white and he looked into them… becoming lost mystical light. The forest around him started melting away, Luna, the trees, the sky, the ground… it was all gone. When he opened his eyes he floated in darkness, he could see nothing. But he could still hear her voice.
"Wake up Aeolus. Wake up. Now."
He sat up in the bed drenched in sweat. He panted softly, and squinted his eyes slightly till they readjusted to the light again. Outside the small circular window beside his bed he saw it was still nighttime, and the storm had not ceased nor faltered, the only difference he noticed were the two voices in the next room. They whispered out of respect to not awaken him. He started to use his hoof to feel around different parts of the bed. He located the squeakiest parts and did his best to avoid them as he lifted himself up fully and slid off the bed. As his body rubbed against the silk sheets they invited him back to sleep, he was still tired, and the bed was quite comfortable. But he ignored their call and managed to successfully climb out of the bed.
His joints ached, and he had a horrible throbbing in his neck, but otherwise he was still unharmed. Yet. The voices in the main living area hadn't hurt him in any way but he didn't want to stick around and risk waiting. He didn't want to give them the chance.
Taking a deep and silent breath he slowly moved up toward the edge of the wall separating the two rooms apart. He carefully looked around the wall, daring not reveal more than just an ear and eye. He saw two other figures in the middle of the room sitting. They had moved the cauldron and now in its place were some pillows where they sat and talked.
"Has he woke up before? How do you know he isn't dangerous Zecora? The Everfree Forest has always been deceitful, he could be a creation of the forest itself!" A purple Unicorn spoke these harsh words, she was talking to the other pony in the room. Some sort of striped earth pony.
"Twilight long have I lived in these woods, living as peacefully as I could. But I have never seen anything quite like him, this pony fell from the sky and lived." The one named Zecora responded in rhyme.
The purple pony, Twilight, huffed out a hard breath of air, she stood up and paced around the room. "I know Zecora I know, but never has an earth pony just fallen out of the sky. Especially causing an impact crater of that magnitude! It doesn't make sense, it started raining so violently right after you saved him! Doesn't that seem somewhat strange to you?"
"No Twilight, The weather does not concern me, not nearly as much as that pony. I will go check to see if he's awoke, maybe then we can get some answers from this bloke. If he shows a sign of doing something tragic, you can simply put him down with your magic." Zecora rose as well and started heading towards the room he was in. it was only about a few feet away so she'd be in the room in a matter of seconds. Aeolus' heart pounded. He didn't know what to do, but the voice in his head commanded him.
As she gets close rush at her, catch her off guard, and then hit the damned Unicorn as you run for the door. Don't trust either of them. Only Pegasi can be trusted.
Aeolus shook his head quickly. "Stop talking to me! What are you?!" he whispered sharply.
Just do as I say, and I'll explain later, NOW GO! The voice was fierce, and sounded very familiar. Aeolus had no idea why, but he did as it told him. He jumped out from behind the wall and rushed at Zecora, who jumped at his unexpected appearance. He ran around her, as he ran at Twilight he scooped up a metal stirrer that leaned again the wall by the cauldron. Twilight turned with little time to react.
"What in Celestia's na-"
The stirrer smashed against the side of Twilight's head, instantly knocking her out. She collapsed, he leapt over her body as he ran for the door. His hoof wrapped around the handle for the door and he ripped it open, the rain and wind was as strong as before but he forced himself against the weather. Bounding out of the home he ran into the dark forest.
"You know not what you do! We only wish to help you!" Zecora yelled from behind him, but in a matter of seconds her voice was lost in the wind. Aeolus ran forward, continuing deeper into the forest, with no sense of direction or any idea where he was supposed to go. He was soaked and freezing, the wind's chill proving to be more he expected. He soon found himself in front of a cave hidden in the side of a small hill. He ran inside, shaking as much of the water off his body that he could.
Nice job, the look on that Unicorns face when you hit her. PRICELESS. The voice in his head laughed slightly.
"Ok who the buck are you? She didn't deserve that!" He looked out into the forest from the cave entrance, there was so much rain he couldn't even see the path he came from. He realized stupidly afterward that the Unicorn he hit was named Twilight… just like the pony Luna said he needed to find.
"Explain why I can hear you. Your constant talking is gonna drive me mad."
You don't recognize my voice? Think about how you just spoke, doesn't it all sound familiar? I am YOU Aeolus. He thought he could kill me, but even though our memories are gone, your conscious remains the same.
"That makes no sense." He said flatly. Looking back towards the darkness behind him, he figured he could go deeper into the cave and find a dry place to rest for the night. He continued to talk to… himself…
"So if you're me, what happened?" He asked.
I don't know. I was flying close to Canterlot when all of a sudden… I was attacked. I can't believe after all this time HE has returned.
Aeolus wasn't paying attention as he fumbled through the darkness of the cave. His eyes helped detect some light, but he was still careless, kicking rocks and talking loudly. As he continued to walk he kicked something very different then a rock. It was a bone. He looked down and found himself surrounded by bones, but to what creature they once belonged to he did not know. He shivered, but foolish dwelled deeper into the cave. Continuing to ask questions to the voice in his head.
"Who is he? That unicorn that flew in the sky? Wait a minute. I was that Pegasus?!" He yelled loudly. He found himself in a lit up room, there was a massive purple sparkling boulder. "Finally some light, I'll sleep here until morning and tomorrow will find a way to apologize to those ponies. But you didn't answer my question… who was that Unicorn? Why did he attack me?" He asked his subconscious. Its reply was not what Aeolus expected.
Never mind that you idiot! Run! Get out of here now!
"Why? What's going on?" Aeolus trotted up to the rock, and climbed on top of it, hoping to lay down. But as soon as he was on top he knew something was wrong. The rock had fur.
It shifted, and then slowly began to sit up. Aeolus jumped off and started to back up to the exit of the room. His mouth wide open, however fear took his voice. It was a giant… shiny… bear. As soon as it sat up it searched the room for what awoke it. His giant shining eyes soon found Aeolus. A low growl rumbling in its throat, it rolled over to all four paws and slowly advanced on him.
An Ursa Minor. RUN!
Aeolus turned and bolted out of the room. The Ursa roared behind him and took chase. Aeolus was galloping as fast as he could, hoping the bear would give up the chase. The Ursa did not. Aeolus could feel the cave shake around him as the massive creature stomped after him, its roar was deafening. Aeolus soon came to the entrance of the cave, and fled out into the cold rain once again. Thunder rumbled in the sky. Flashes of red lightning were seen overhead. He continued running, not daring to turn around, through the trees. But the Ursa kept up. He could hear bark being obliterated behind him as the bear simply crushed the trees. Aeolus ran until he was at the edge of a cliff. A fifty foot chasm lay before him. On the other side was the silhouette of a large building. He searched for a way to get across, and spotted a bridge far off to his right. He was about to make a break for it, when he heard the loud huffing of the Ursa Minor. It had snuck up on him.
It roared right in Aeolus' face. The smell of flesh was thick, washing over Aeolus and making him gag slightly. The bear slowly advanced, and Aeolus slowly retreated backwards, till his hoof felt the edge of the cliff. He had nowhere else to go.
"COME ON THEN!" Aeolus yelled back in the face of the bear. He knew he was going to die. But he did not wish to die a coward. Not like it'd matter. No one would remember a pony who couldn't even remember himself.
The bear swiped his hoof at Aeolus, who rolled along the edge and dodge the attack barely, but his luck did not last. Immediately afterwards the Ursa swiped with his other paw, which made contact with the white pony. He was thrown off the cliff, and fell into the deep dark crevice in the earth. As he started to fall he looked up at the stormy sky, the dark clouds surging with red electricity. Wishing he had never left Zecora's house. He closed his eyes, waiting to impact with the ground below.
He was stopped abruptly in midair. He opened his eyes and saw himself floating, raising his hooves in front of his face revealed his was completely shrouded with a magenta colored light. The light lifted him up and out of the chasm. Spilling him on the side of the cliff again. Aeolus looked around and saw the Ursa no longer looking for him, but now looking at Twilight.
The purple Unicorn's head hung low, her horn was glowing at its tip, she shouted over the rain, and the roar of the bear itself. "GO HOME, I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU!" Zecora ran over to Aeolus from out of nowhere, helping him up and trying to pull him back into the forest. "We must flee, come with me. Twilight will be fine alone, her magic will help her when she's on her own." She continued to pull him, but he wouldn't budge. He watched the Unicorn intently.
She saved you? Why would she do that…?
Aeolus ignored the voice. The bear raised both of its paws high above Twilight who ran underneath it. As she ran under its legs her horn pulsed out a blast of light, which brought the Ursa to its knees. Red lightning flashed intensely over the fight as soon as she shot her beam. It fell over and roared out in pain. Twilight ran near the edge of the cliff and turned, awaiting the Ursa face her. It struggled to move, but managed to stand up again. It turned and stamped its front paws in anger. It rushed Twilight who begged for it to stop. But it continued its advance. In a flash of purple light she disappeared for a second, reappearing behind the Ursa, then she shot a straight line of light right at its back... The blast threw it forward, and it fell into the chasm, screaming all the way down. The earth shook as it hit the bottom. Afterwards there was no noise. Just the sounds of rain and thunder.
Twilight looked over the edge and saw the Ursa at the bottom. Motionless. Its light slowly faded till it completely went out.
She then turned her head at Aeolus. Lightning flashed as she teleported directly in his face. She had a gash over her right eye from where he hit her with the metal stirrer. Her eyes narrowed on him. He started to apologize.
"Thank you so much, look I'm sor-" but he didn't get to finish. Her horn glowed and then after a flash of magic all he saw was darkness. He only heard one thing before he lost complete consciousness.
I told you, you can't trust Unicorns.