On the Trails of Flame
Chapter 3
Part 3 of 5
The white light that enveloped the group had slowly began to fade, when it was gone they found themselves in a darkened landscape, there was no sigh of a castle no sign of a city, no signs of any kind of civilization. It took a moment for it to sink in before Celestia turned to the others and said with a somewhat solemn tone,
“Welcome to what are world use to be my little ponies, take a good look, this is what things where like when I was a filly.”
The group looked around for a moment, everything was dark, near colorless, the landscape was feral with thick dark forest, jagged mountains in the distance; it looked like a world that hated life itself. The fox motioned upwards before saying,
“What you’re all seeing right now is something of a reenactment, an illusion but it is what happened back before as seen from a point of view.”
The others nodded then looking on as they saw the fox point up seeing the form of Discord flying above, the chimera like creature laughing as a pack of shadow demons pulled itself from the darkness below him,
“Oh this is fun, we’ll have to do this more often.”
Looking down they saw ponies encircled by the demons, Discord then saying as if it was just some kind of twisted game, the demons making a hole for them to run though,
“So, this is what we’re going to do today my little ponies, we’re going to play tag everyone, doesn’t that sound fun??”
He laughed a little, a cup of tea pouring itself for him, he then says a dark glimmer in his eyes,
“You’ll get a ten minute head start before I unleash the hounds as it stands, go on get going. go on Shoo!”
There was a panic down in the herd of ponies that Discord had gathered, they started to run away before Discord went to drink his tea, only to drink the cup and then toss the liquid, looking then down to his wrist like he was wearing a wristwatch he then said as the ponies started to scatter,
“Oops, did I say ten minutes, I meant ten seconds. . .”
The shadow demons looked up as Discord snapped his fingers then shouting and pointing at the ponies,
“TALLYHO GENTELMEN, FETCH!!”
At which point the demons began their attack, those that didn’t get away fast enough where slaughtered by them. The sight was grisly to say the least but as the group of ponies felt their stomachs start to turn they hear the princess say,
“Yup, there we are.”
The group looked up to see what once was Celestia and Luna, the two young ponies caught up in the middle of Discord’s sick game, and with the shadows on their tails they took the only choice they had, they ran. The ponies looked over as the fox snapped his fingers, placing them all in what looks to be a transparent bubble, then saying as he did so,
“Lets follow them shall we?”
The nod, Luna clutching her sisters neck as she saw one of the demons nearly take off her past self’s tail,
“I remember that!”
The midnight colored pony then grabbing up her tail and petting it as she then said once more,
“I remember that part, nearly took my tail off, it missed by sheer dumb luck.”
They nodded floating along as they followed the younger Celestia and Luna, the shadow demons still hot on their tails as they made for the forest line, hearing Discord shout from high above,
“This is such great fun, I do so love playing with my toys, go on you louts get those little ones, don’t let them get away now!!”
He stops for a moment before he responds,
“I love watching the little ones cry.”
As Discord's laugh faded into the distance the two sisters found themselves getting more and more so lost in the forest and with the demons in hot pursuit it wasn’t looking good for them. The ponies once more looked up as the fox said sliding over a few buckets of popcorn to them,
“Here and enjoy, now if you’ll excuse me, the one thing I can’t replicate is myself so I’ll need to play along.”
They watched the fox hop up out of their bubble and vanish off into the forest, Luna tossing what would account for a handful of popcorn into her mouth with her magic as finally the two sisters where caught, trapped between the demons and a rocky cliff face. With the others watching the events unfolding before them, twilight then asked,
“But wait where does Alex come in?”
Celestia then says with a slight smirk,
“Any minute now.”
They looked on as the two young sisters tried in vain to try and find an escape route, only to find every path cut off by the shadow demons, the young filly Luna then crying out,
“wh . . What do we do now Tia??”
The young Celestia responds, with a stammer falling on her rear as she tried to back away from the approaching demons,
“I . . I don’t know Lulu.”
The two sisters then shirked in horror as the demons then charged, one leaping at them to try and get the first bite out of them. As it inched closer however there was a dark flash, a gust of wind, then silence, the shadows backing away for a moment to gauge what the hell had just happened, the two sisters then looking over as they heard growling coming from the forest, it didn’t belong to the shadows however, this one was darker. Finally a pair of blood red slit eyes emerged from the darkness of the trees, a familiar voice calling out, distorted as it was,
“Seems like you’ve been left. . . . to a terrible fate.”
The two ponies looked on, not sure if to praise a savior, or to fear a monster, they saw something begin lurching from the trees, the demons backing away from them when they knew a threat was approaching, and readied for it. The first thing they saw was a skeletal hand, wrapped in a murky black shadow emerge from the darkness wrapping its dagger like fingers around the trunk of a tree, said tree starting to wilt the moment it did. What came next was just as frightening, the figure before them, was what the group of onlookers recognized as Alex, however he was wrapped in a black aura, darker then the shadow demons themselves his red fur unable to be scene underneath, and he looked to be rotting for lack of a better word, the whole of his left arm, and several patches of his chest, legs and the near whole right side of his face naught but bone. The fox let out an almost demonic sounding growl as he finally stood in what little light there was to be had in the forest, the fox then saying as he stared down the demons,
“Beat it or die, I’m not in the mood for you locust.”
The demons however decided to attack, swarming the darkened fox who then let out a fang filled grinned then fought back, in moments reducing the demons to nothing. Once the short battle had ended the two ponies looked on, not sure if to thank the stranger, or to get ready to run again, the fox turning slightly then saying,
“So, I take it you two have had a bad day as well?”
The two ponies then approach for a moment, testing the waters so to speak before the young Celestia then saysid,
“Thanks for saving us mister. . .?”
The pony leading on her intent looked on as the fox turned away and responded,
“I can’t remember my name at the moment, you’ll have to ask me later.”
The pony nodded then joined by her sister as they approached the fox, only to shriek when the fox turned around in one fluid motion about to strike them for a split second before he managed to reign himself back in, Luna looking down after the explosion of movement to find the foxes bone claws nearly at her throat. He recoils after a few seconds then saying as he visibly looked to be fighting with himself,
“You’ll have to forgive me little ones, I’m extremely unaligned at the moment, you should count yourselves lucky I’m not any deeper then I am at the moment, any deeper and I‘d be picking through your corpses for your bones.”
It takes a moment for them to recover before they approach again, Luna asking however before she moved a hoof in his direction again,
“Its safe now right??”
The fox nodded then saying as he managed to get the blood from his eyes, the two slit pupils returning to something of a blue,
“Yeah, I’m got it under control for now.”
She nodded then joining her sister as they sat next to the fox, trying to unwind from what they had witnessed before hand, the fox then asking,
“So what are you two little ones doing here in the middle of a dark forest being chased by shadow demons?”
Little Celestia quickly responded in turn,
“Discord sent them after us, he . . . He was hunting us and a lot of other ponies, . . . . I’m not sure if any of the others made it out.”
The fox nodded then responding,
“The shadow demons will only follow one who has only evil intent, if they are willingly following this Discord then he is either a demon or a monster.”
They nodded Luna responding with an fatigued sigh,
“Monster . . Is a good way to put it.”
The fox nods then looks over as Celestia then asks,
“So what are you doing here?”
The fox looks up over the darkening sky, then responds after he managed to wrestle with his words for a few moments,
“I was in a battle, I had won but after words I needed a moment to center myself. Just my luck that I would find myself in a world so chaotic and tainted that it would make my condition worse, I‘m so misaligned right now that the shadow of death nearly took me.”
The two ponies look at him Luna asking,
“The what now?”
The fox shakes his head then responds,
“Its complicated, the simple version is that everyone has a shadow, the dark side of their heart, light after all does not shine without casting a shadow after all.”
The girls nod getting the basics of what he had said as the fox then resumes,
“And well, when your light is a bright as mine, it cast a very dark, very deep shadow, just look for yourself.”
The fox then holding out his arm, flexing the dagger like bone fingers that where his digits, Celestia trying to touch them only for the fox to jerk away saying as he did,
“No don’t touch them, they’re immensely toxic, a single scratch is enough to kill.”
The girl nods retracting her own hoof then asking,
“Do you need any help fixing it?”
The fox shook his head then saying,
“Just need enough time to center myself again, once I do that I’ll be fine. I‘m like this because in my unaligned state my shadow got the jump on me”
The girl nods, looking over to her sister, the young filly had since fallen asleep, laying her head on the foxes leg. The fox then saying looking to the remaining pony,
“Go ahead, get some sleep, I’ll keep an eye out till you two wake.”
The young pony nodded setting herself down next to him to get some sleep, the moment her eyes closed, however Alex looked over to where the group was and said,
“So how are you all holding up?”
He gets a nod from them the fox then saying as he looked down to the two young ponies,
“You know, I almost forgot how cute you two where back then.”
There is a shared laugh before the fox snaps his fingers, the lot of them looking up as the moon sped through the sky, the two young fillies tossing and turning in their sleep till finally, shortly after the two woke time seemed to return to its normal flow. Alex was sitting down in a meditative position trying to meditate, Luna at one point having cuddled next to him to keep warm. Once their eyes flickered open that morning they both took a look at the fox, gone was the aura and his flesh had been restored, but he was still out of it, after poking him a few times, they finally managed to get him to come to. When the foxes eyes closed then opened again, they had a shine to him albeit dull, he had a bit of a relaxing aura around him, he seemed so much more at peace then he was the night before, Alex then asking as he pat each of them on the head,
“So how are you too doing, sleep well?”
The two of them nod, Celestia then responding with,
“It was the first time we’ve slept in some days.”
The fox nods as Luna then asks,
“Well you seem better yourself, you remember your name?”
The fox nods then states,
“That I do, I’m Alex.”
They nod, Luna then looking on as the fox motioned to rest his hand on her sisters head, she flinched a little but her sister stood her ground, felling almost like the shock of electricity running though her body as Alex looked into her memories, her past, everything she had lived through up till now, the fox closing his eyes as he responded,
“Seems I was right, a terrible fate indeed. You two are on a quest of some sort then, looking for these elements of harmony to allow you to stand up to Discord?”
The girl nods then asking,
“What did you do?”
The fox smiles then responds,
“I have a few special abilities, you can call them that, I can look into any mortals past just by touching and focusing on them.”
The pony nods then saying,
“Yeah, we want to make the world safe for everypony, to end Discord’s reign of chaos, you’ve seen his madness after all, he treats everypony like toys, to use for his own amusement.”
The fox nods then says patting the ponies head,
“Well you are in luck my little pony.”
The girls looks up as the fox explains,
“Discord is slaughtering the people of your world, with evil creatures that don’t belong here, one of my jobs is to destroy those demons wherever they dare to trespass.”
The two ponies jump to their feet as Luna then asks excitedly,
“Does that mean you’ll get rid of Discord for us??”
The fox shakes his head then says,
“No, that I can’t do, you’ll have to deal with Discord yourself, I can only protect you from the demons in his employ.”
Luna looks down a little disappointingly at his response, her sister however said with a bit of optimism,
“That’s good enough for me, it gives us a fighting chance at the very least, some hope at last.”
The fox nods, then asking,
“So you’re looking for something, something you discovered in a story.”
The girls nod Luna then responding,
“Its suppose to be the harmony of the world, its said to be in the form of a large tree.”
The fox nods, he took a quick feel of the world around him, and drowned out in the sea of chaos around it, there was a spot that was calm, felt normal un-tainted, the fox realized that it must have been what they where looking for. Celestia asking as she looked at the fox,
“Can you lead us to it?”
The fox looked at the girl for a moment, a hopeful shine in her eyes, the fox then responding with,
“No, I can’t.”
Both girls lower their heads a little, the fox then responding with,
“That would after all cheapen your achievement, I believe this harmony would not accept you if I gave it to you on a silver platter.”
The girls both nod, knowing his words rang true, the fox then saying with a slight smirk,
“However, if I was to mistakenly point you in the right direction, then well shit happens, I can’t take you to it, it is against the rules, just like I can’t confront Discord for you, I can however advise you on the right path.”
They both nod, then responding with,
“Guess that’ll have to do, have to take what we can get it seems.”
Her sister nods, both ponies then standing, followed by the fox, who despite the fact he wasn’t to help them, pointed out the general direction for them, then following after them when they started to walk. They ventured across the landscape in their journey, the fox protecting them from the demons, and the trio quickly becoming something of friends, Alex always tormenting Luna by rubbing her mane, turning it into a mess, why? Because Alex found her cute with how she reacted to it, The older Luna growling at the fox each and every time she had to watch him do it again. After watching the months of the two ponies wandering, said trip going by much faster for the group on onlookers, with the two girls using the fox as something of a compass to point them in the right direction, they finally got close, the fox’s reaction wasn’t necessary to tell them that once they got there, the area felt nice, clam, peaceful, almost like Discord wasn’t even a thing. Once they had finally gotten this close, the sisters got excited, beginning to bouncing around in their glee, the older Luna and Celestia, blushing a little when the younger ponies alongside then started ribbing them a little bit, poking a bit of fun. However it would not last, the two ponies looking up when they heard Discords voice call out,
“Well well, what do we have here? A pair of mice chasing after a piece of cheese that doesn’t belong to them?”
Little Celestia looked up to the chimera as he hovered in the sky above, smirking at the two of them, as he then said, waving his finger at them in a ‘tisk tisk’ fashion,
“Naughty little ponies, now I’ll have to punish you.”
Celestia then shouted at him as he landed, his army of shadow demons forming behind him,
“How . . . How did you find this place??”
Discord laughed at her, like it was a stupid question, then responding to the little pony,
“Why you ask? I am the embodiment of chaos and disharmony my little pony, do you think I’d not be able to sense my mortal enemy's presence, even if it is a stupid little tree?”
The pony then asked staring down Discord,
“If you knew where it was, why leave it to chance? Why not destroy it the moment you saw it?”
Discord smirked at her, his answer enraging the filly,
“Why you ask? To give ponies like you hope. I did it to entertain myself you see, I let the tree live, then wait for somepony with the gall to try and stand up to me, let them quest for and maybe even find the tree, then.”
He stops for a moment, letting the anger fester in both girls for a moment,
“I take their hope away by destroying their precious little tree, then enjoying their sorrow, afterwards, I destroy them.”
The two ponies looked enraged at him, Discord then saying, trying to poke them with the proverbial stick,
“Aw, what’s the matter, don’t like my sense of fun Celestia? Would you rather we play tag again?”
Discord then turned to the demons behind him then said,
“Well lads, you know what to do, bring me the little ones, Alive mind you, I’ve not had my fill of fun with them yet.”
The demons then began to charge discord laughing as he vanished, Luna then saying to her sister,
“Tia hurry we have to get to the tree.”
Her sister nods then says,
“Right behind you Lulu! Alex,”
The fox nods then says drawing a sword from his cloak,
“Not to worry, no demon shall pass.”
They nod then rush off toward the tree, Alex staring down the demons, Luna however taking a moment to ask as they noticed they weren’t following them,
“Wait what’s going on we’re leaving, why aren’t we following us?”
Her sister then responds, having put two and two together,
“I think I understand, this is why he couldn’t replicate himself, this whole thing isn’t from our minds, its from his, this is the events of our past from his eyes, his point of view.”
The others looked on with wide eyes as they heard Discord say,
“My my, what do we have here? A god breaking the rules by helping two little mortals escape their fate, a fate that you drove them to mind you, isn't that right mister shadow of death. If it weren’t for me playing the fool here everything would be dead right now wouldn‘t it huh, I play the bad guy, you get the glory when it was you all along who caused the problem how is that fair?”
Alex looks away for a moment with a scowl then responds then keeping an eye on the multitude of shadows and other demons before him,
“Was it my fault I landed in a world inhabited by the spirit of chaos it was your fault and your fault alone that I couldn‘t center myself, you may have protected those two from my shadow at first but its your fault it almost took over in the first place, you‘re in as much fault as I am Discord.”
Discord responds with a chuckle his voice fading as he spoke,
“Mayhaps true, however shouldn’t you have been able to sense my presence before hand, maybe you’re not as all powerful as you think. Anyway I bore of this, I have places to go and pony’s to torment before they turn me to stone, doesn’t mean I’ll make it easy on them, or you for that matter. Demons capture those two ponies.”
Alex glared at the demon horde forced to stand his ground to protect the two behind him. Gripping tight his sword he began fighting with the demons, destroying any who would try to pass. He however quickly started losing himself in the fight, moves becoming more savage, less tactical and more and more vicious. Demons started getting past him as slowly the fox started turning once more, gripping tight his left arm as the shadow started enveloping him, the flesh on said arm starting to melt away, eye’s turning black and the pupil turning to a blood red slit. He turned in the direction the ponies had gone a grin taking to his face as he then walked that way. Meanwhile the two sisters had made it to the tree with relative ease, the two starting to hear the demons coming, Luna saying as they approached the tree,
“Some of them must have gotten past Alex, we’ve got to hurry Tia.”
Celestia nodded in agreement, the two sisters approaching the tree to try and waken the elements, however they where interrupted, a demon trying to charge Luna forced the ponies to try and protect themselves, but that was easier said then done. They where quickly surrounded the shadows circling them like a pack of wolves hoping around before trying to attack, which did come thankfully though Discord had ordered them to be taken alive so the wounds where shallow and not life threatening. There was a sudden pause however, the demons stopping for a moment to sense something else before a blade cut off several of their heads, a young fox, with almost strawberry red fur then putting herself between the young ponies and the demons. She looked back and asked looking to the two,
“What are you two doing here? Doesn't matter we'll protect you.”
They looked up confused looks on their faces, only counting one fox till suddenly as two larger demons tried to attack only to be cut down by two more foxes, a fox the same shade of red as Alex, and one a shade of light blue, the two foxes standing next to the older of the three, Celestia then asking,
“Who are you?”
The older of the group, after using her twin swords to kill another demons then says,
“I’m Sara, guess you can call me something of a guardian, these are my nieces, and well we’re looking for someone.”
As Sara was drawn back into the fight, the second red fox then said,
“He’s about the same shade of red fur as me maybe a little darker, about six, six and may or may not be turning into a colossal skeletal dragon bent on devouring all life as we know it, uh seen anyone like that?”
The two ponies suddenly turn pale, Luna then pointing a hoof at the fox in question, fully engulfed in shadows his flesh starting to melt from all over his body, the now demonic creature gripping tight a demon before biting into the creature and rending it to nothing. The trio of foxes look at him, the red twin fox then saying,
“Uh . . . . Aunt Sara . . . Think we found him.”
Sara looked over to him then saying,
“Crap he’s already at the second decent, this isn’t going to be good if he goes any further.”
Looking at the two ponies behind them Sara then says,
“You two need to get out of here now, this isn’t the place for you.”
Celestia then says pointing her hoof at the tree,
“But we need to waken the elements of harmony, they’re the only way to defeat Discord.”
Sara looked at the tree for a moment then saying,
“All of your worlds harmony is locked in a tree with a shadow of chaos running around unchecked? No wonder my brother is turning, the energy of your world must be so rancid he can’t center himself in it. Look if you two can waken the elements then the energy will start to flow again, you two get to it, we’ll deal with the demons and my brother.”
The two ponies nodded heading for the tree as the possessed Alex and the trio of Vixens dealt with the demons till they where gone, leaving only the tree young vixens and Alex remaining, Sara then saying to the girls,
“I’ll draw his attention, you two get ready to bind him with the ethereal chains.”
The two nod waiting for Sara to make her move, which she does charging Alex as makes some wild swipes at her the vixen leaping into the air to avoid them and then cutting his back a little. The twins follow after chains wrapping around their wrist and arms on the right side as they charged in both of them throwing a pair of spikes into what flesh of his remained, said spikes then embedding themselves in his flesh and trying to bind him, Alex noticing their actions sooner then they had hoped then gripping one of the chains and yanking the light blue fox toward him. She managed to avoid his grasp but that only lead to him backhanding her, sending her flying into the tree surprising the two young ponies who where trying to figure out how to wake the tree, the blue fox then saying as she stood once more after spitting out some blood,
“No rush or anything but the faster you do this the faster he gets back to normal.”
The two sisters nod watching as another chain wraps around her other wrist as she rushes back into the developing battle, more and more of Alex’s flesh melting into the shadow around him, leading Sara to say,
“We have to stop this here, if he gets to the third decent and we might not be able to stop him.”
The two nod ready to make another move to try and bind him with the chains, Sara dealing with him directly her dual swords clashing with her brothers exposed bone like claws. The two ponies where clueless however, they knew of the tree but not how to wake it up, and between thinking of ways to do it could only watch the unfolding battle, Celestia looking up as she saw the tree shake a little as Alex grew closer, the young pony then saying,
“Uh hey look at the tree, what’s going on?”
Sara looked up at the tree and saw a few of its leaves starting to fall off of it, her eyes going wide as she quickly put two and two together, saying as she then moved to shove Alex,
“Girls keep him away from the tree, he’s becoming toxic, he kills that tree and this world is screwed.”
The twins nod then move in, the twin vixens managing to get the chains around his neck as he looked at Sara who was trying to shove him away from the tree, the resulting action making him topple over and fall away from the tree, Sara then saying as the younger vixens tried to encourage the chains to bind him,
“You two need to wake up those elements, and fast, if Alex kills that tree before you get them and you can kiss your world goodbye.”
They nod, still not sure how to do it, but they tried none the less, focusing on nothing but the tree and it did start to react if only a little, they where on the right track, however their attempt ended prematurely, Luna had only a moment to look up as she saw it about to happen, she saw Alex turning on them having knocked Sara away, his claws where heading toward them and she made a split second decision, Luna shouting as she moved to shove her sister out of the way,
“TIA LOOK OUT!!”
Celestia found herself shoved out of the way then looking back as her sister was impaled on the demonic fox’s claws, the skeletal fox grinning at the pony as the life faded from her eyes. The group of on lookers where silent, all mouths agape as they watched the event happen, Twilight saying jokingly to try and lighten the mood,
“Guess it’s a good thing you don’t remember that part huh Princess Luna”
Luna looked up to her sister dumbfounded Celestia was in tears, muttering under her breath,
‘Why did I have to witness it again, was once not enough?’
Luna looked back at the unfolding seen as the trio of female foxes finally managed to restrain Alex with the chains and pull Luna’s body off of his claws. The twins pulled tight the white chains as finally they started wrapping themselves around Alex’s body, the creature roaring as it was finally bound in place, the two foxes then moving to positions opposite of each other and pulling the chains tight, Sara shouting,
“Keep them tight, don’t give him an inch.”
Sara then rushed over to Luna’s body trying to see if there was anything she could do, but when she saw the wounds had not only gone through her body but where laced with the toxic purple slime his blood turned to when he fell into shadow, she knew it was over the second his claws pierced her flesh. Sara shook her head, and muttered “I’m sorry” under her breath as she laid the ponies her back down, nothing she could do. The tree however at that moment began to glow, it started radiating a warmth that made them all look up to it, suddenly several gemstones falling from its branches, then beginning to float around the surviving pony, Celestia looking on as she felt a power flow through her, seeing her body turning white, a horn grow on her head and wings sprouting from her back and a sun mark replacing the mark that had been on her flank before hand, the elements then floating around her. They looked over to Alex as the shadow monster roared, hearing Alex’s voice then say as a orb of light fought its way out,
“Close enough, Tia, come here quickly, I can’t keep my shadow at bay long.”
She nodded hurrying over to him as the light formed a figure of Alex more and more, he pressed a hand to her head when she got within reach. the pony opening her eyes as he forced some kind of knowledge into her head, the pony then asking as the light was forced to retreat,
“Will that really work?”
Alex couldn’t respond as the shadow took over again the creature glaring at Celestia as it tried to break free from the chains, the twins pouring more energy into the chains to try and prevent it. Celestia took a combative posture readying to use the spell Alex and forcefully stuffed into her mind in his hasty action, the elements then shining on her as well empowering her, the pony getting her new found magical prowess to focus into her horn at which point she pointed at Alex and then unleashed it, the beam of light hitting the possessed Alex in the chest, the demonic Alex howling in pain as a light started to emit from the point till finally a bright flash was unleashed. When the light faded Alex was found to have returned to his former state, the fox having finally regained control of himself, slumping to the ground before saying,
“Is alright, you can let me go now.”
The twins where hesitant at first but then nodded breaking the chains from their wrist and letting him go, the rest of the chains vanishing into nothingness, Alex flopping down onto his knees as he panted trying to regain his strength. He looked up to Sara and the twins as they approached, saying once they he was able to speak,
“Took . . .you guys long . . .enough.”
Sara nodded then said patting his head,
“Sorry, it was harder then you would have thought to find this world, the halls aren’t exactly the easiest place to navigate after all.”
Alex nodded looked to Celestia who was sitting as well, her first spell seeming to have taken a lot out of her, Alex reaching over to the pony and patting her head, then saying,
“Not bad for your first spell, good job Princess.”
The pony looked up at him, then said trying to hold back her tears,
“What about Lulu is she really . . . . . Is she really . . . gone?”
Alex looked over to the other pony, not remembering what he had done in his former state, looking over at Luna’s body, seeing even from his poor vantage point that the girl was gone. He nodded watching the pony begin to break down in front of him, trying to look away as he felt his guilt beginning to eat him alive, then saying as he looked up to his sister,
“Sara, bring me Luna’s body.”
The vixen nodded then went to collect the fallen filly, Celestia then asking as the fox laid the lifeless pony down in front of him,
“What are you going to do?”
Alex said with a grimace as he saw the damage he had done to the poor pony much more clearly then he first did,
“I’m going to break a few rules, that’s what.”
Calling forth his companion, the small dragon fairy finally answering his calls now that he was back to normal and not in danger anymore, he called her close then whispered something into her ear, the small fairy nodding then landing on the small pony’s body then beginning to glow, Alex then reaching to Luna’s head and then pulling out what remained of her soul, the ethereal form of the dead pony was torn and cut but it was still hole, Alex nodding then saying,
“Good, she’s still in one piece, in tatters but in one piece, I can work with this.”
The trio of vixens look on as Alex went to work, Alex then saying,
“Take Tia and keep her out of this, its not going to be pretty.”
They nodded Sara collecting up Celestia who looked away as she heard Alex grab up Luna’s body.
~a short while later~
The lot of them watched Alex from afar as he did whatever he had been doing aided by the small dragon fairy girl, it had been hours since he had started whatever he had been doing, but finally he said looking back to them,
“Alright, I’m finished.”
Celestia was the first to rush over, the young pony asking once she saw her sisters body,
“Is Luna going to be ok now?”
The fox nodded and said,
“She will be, however I’m afraid she’s no longer of your world, she’s of mine.”
She was confused to say the least Sara then asking,
“What did you do to her?”
Alex said standing up and getting ready to do something more,
“In order to give her a second chance, I had to make her of a world I directly supported, so I had to remake her body, the soul is hers but the flesh is not of this worlds, it’s complicated I know, but rest assured, she’ll live and be just like she was before, just with a few different rules you could say.”
Celestia nodded and asked,
“Like?”
Alex quickly responded with,
“She now has a shadow, the dark half of herself, like my own shadow only to a much lesser extent. its a draw back, anyone who lives in one of my worlds in a sense has to halves of their being, one side the light, the other the shadow it cast, one can not be without the other”
Her sister nodded watching as Luna stirred a little,
“What is her shadow?”
Alex looked at the inquisitive pony and said, in a knowing tone,
“Jealousy”
Alex then held his hand onto Luna’s head then said as his hand began to glow with a white light his voice echoing with power,
“Wake my child, it is not your day to die.”
The young pony stirred a little till finally she opened her eyes again taking in a quick gasp of air to fill her lungs, looking up as the elements flew over to her, quickly transforming her into the midnight princess everyone would come to know, the young pony then asking as she looked up to her sister,
“Tia, Wha . . . What happened? I can't remember anything”
Celestia looked over to the fox who said as he messed with her mane again,
“You pushed your sister out of the way of a blow that would have killed her, you got knocked out however, hitting a rock wall that hard will do that though.”
The younger pony looked up to her sister looking for her to say if that was what happened or not her sister then nodding and hugging her, then saying,
“You saved my life lulu.”
The two nuzzled each other for a few moments before Alex held out one of the elements that had laid on the ground once the two had stopped using them going into something of an inactive state saying as the two looked up to him,
“Let me get you two a bag for these, after all Discord isn’t going to confront himself now is he?”
Snapping his fingers and having a saddle bag form in his hands, he put then gems inside then put it on Celestia’s back then said as he started to get up,
“Wish I could stay longer, but I think I’ve done enough damage already, give Discord a blast for me will you?”
The two nod saying their goodbyes as Alex opened up a gateway, the four foxes then entering it, Alex looking back to the midnight blue pony muttering to himself “I’m sorry, your future is not going to be easy” then looking forward as the gate closed behind him saying, as it did,
“Perhaps its best I didn’t give them your new reincarnations name, well till we meet again Nightmare Moon”
Looking forward as he and the group of foxes where now in the boundary halls Alex said,
“Luna is a much prettier name though, its for the best that I didn‘t tell them.”
At that moment the group of on lookers found themselves back in the throne room of the royal castle, Alex sitting in the throne looking a little tired, looking back to the lot of ponies trying to make sense of what they had just witnessed.
~end of chapter 3~
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