Well here's that sequel you've all been waiting for!
Not much else to say really, I think.
Begin!
Still A Nightmare!
The mare…the nightmare, she walks to me, ever closer as the seconds pass by.
"Stay away!"
She cocks her head to the side, a curious, yet cold smile upon her face.
"Why should I?"
"I'll…I'll hurt you, I'll kill you!"
Laughter, soft and sensual escapes her. I can feel myself shake evermore as I realize that it's genuine.
"Will you…no, no I don't believe you will. You're a man of many things, unique things now my love…but kill me? No, you lack to will to do so, and I'll prove it."
She ignores my warnings, my threats and comes closer, her steps graceful and precise. Her eyes are locked onto mine, determination with a smile upon her muzzle.
"Sta-I said stay back! Don't come any closer or I'll-"
"Kill me?" she laughs again, though this time I cannot miss the mockery within her tone. "No you won't beloved. I'm walking ever closer and still you shake and splutter rather than take action. You lack conviction, you lack strength of mind. And as soon as we're done with this silly farce, I'll take you back home and teach you how; I'll make you strong in all that I already have not."
Panic is rising within me as I back away, her cold eyes making me shake ever more. Could I do this, could I do want Ton requested and kill her?
I had nothing left, so what was it that made me stutter? Was it fear…
Her form now so close to mine it incites desperation, the deadly blade within my hand now pressed against my own neck, causing the Lunar mare to freeze in her tracks as her eyes widen in her own fear.
"You'll stay back or you'll have nothing to take back but a corpse!"
Eyes once so cold now so warm, so loving and calming, seemingly able to understand every woe ever to have befallen me. It makes me feel…
"I know you fear me for what I have done to you…" she says, soothing…so soothing. "But can you not yet see, have you not yet found out just what I have done for you? Do you not feel strong; do you not feel powerful in ways you have yet to understand?"
Confusion must be clear upon my face, for she smiles and…
"My magical capabilities are yours now beloved. Can you not feel the energy? Can you not feel the power crying out for release? I can teach you how, I can help you become so much more than you already are…You are already nigh eternal, but I can make you eternally powerful."
She edged ever closer between each word, each silky, sultry syllable that rode off her tongue. Her eyes were bright, loving still, ever loving and so soothing.
The blade shook in my grasp as I struggled to keep myself together, to not break down and weep bitter tears over all I'd lost…and what I felt compelled to accept.
"Think of it Xander. You and I together, ruling the most powerful country in the world. Think of all we could do together, think of how many lives we can save, now that there is no weak heart left to abandon those desperate to be loved…like you."
So close now, her wings touching the arm that held the blade so close, slowly, lovingly beginning to grasp and pull…
"Did you think that I do not know, my love? Did you not think that somepony as cruel and torturous as I have been to you, could possibly understand just how much you need someone to hold you, to love you and remind you that you are never alone…"
My arms stays firm…but weakens as her words, her gentle tugging, her tender and affectionate gaze witling down any reason I had left to say no…to end it all.
"Don't you want me to do that for you now? Do you not want me to hold you close, to nuzzle your neck and let you weep all your sorrows against mine?"
So…close…to…
She smiles.
"Do you not want me to end this nightmare?"
My grip slackens, the blade barely within my hand as…as…
An endless chain…
An endless cycle…
An endless nightmare…
"What if I told you that there was a way to escape this endless nightmare?"
…
And finally…I realize.
This is just a nightmare.
Before weakness can take hold once again, I grasp the blade firmly and drag it quickly across my throat.
"NO!"
I feel nothing as the world around me dims…nothing except the constant gaze of Luna's slitted eyes tearing up.
Nothing except Luna's slitted…slitted…ey…e…
"AWAKEN! THIS NIGHTMARE IS UNDONE!"
"I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE ME AGAIN!"
…
The steady sound of beeping was the first thing I became aware of. It was a constant rhythm, on and on in tune with my breathing.
"Ugh…"
With considerable effort, I raised my left hand to my blurry eyes and rubbed them weakly, all but begging whatever deity I knew to bring the room into focus.
And gradually, eventually…it did.
"A…hospital?" I croaked, looking around as best I could at myself and my surroundings.
I was wearing what looked like a hospital gown. The room itself was pretty plain. The walls were a uniform grey and had nothing on them, not a picture or portrait in sight. The bed I was lying in was fairly simple, though bigger than what I had come to expect from the ponies. Apart from that, there wasn't much else of interest in…the…room.
My vision began to waver suddenly, abruptly. Darkness came and went as I grasped my head and clenched my teeth.
I…I could almost remember…a face. A beautiful face, warm, loving…yet with eyes so cruel, so harsh.
"It is time for yet another session, my love."
That word; session. The moment I heard it, felt it reverberate within my very soul…A fear unlike anything I'd known burst within me, enveloped me with its terrible caress as I opened my eyes and-
"Found you!"
A memory!
Fear! So much fear, and fear, and pain, and agony, unrepentant and unrelenting as it wove throughout my body, bringing scream after scream after-
"AHHHH!" a scream tore its way out of my mouth, shockingly causing the wall around me to crack and shake. Fear drove my actions as I ripped every cord and wire from my body and ran, weakness forgotten and long buried as her giggling followed me out the door.
Pain, so much pain and hurt! Oh it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it HURT!
"AGH!" another scream, one of pain and fear intertwined ripped its way out of my throat as I ran.
Doors opened on either side as I did so, curious ponies sticking their heads out and blanching as they noticed me.
A cry followed, a voice shouting-
"Holy Celestia! It's him, somepony stop him and contact the Princesses at once!"
Hooves, many, many hooves behind me as I ran. I could hear them calling me, pleading with me to stop, to slow down and-
"Let them bring you to me, where you BELONG!"
All around me, yet right next to me. The voice, who it belonged to brought about more screams of utter terror, adrenaline filling my veins, forcing me to run evermore.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" I cried, tears of absolute dread spilling down my face.
I barrelled through a door, a large door, a double door. It smashed apart as I did so, breaking into little pieces as I tripped and rolled, the only shred of hope lingering because of the sunlight hitting my form.
I'm outside!
Without warning I felt something slam into the back of me, forcing me to the ground and rolling me over. A pegasus, a mare pressing her entire weight on my chest as she clutched a needle with her right wing, a clear drip of the fluid within dropping to the ground.
"Just calm down sir!" she pleaded, struggling to move the needle closer as I grasped her wing. "This is only a sedative, it'll help you to calm down so I can take you back home!"
Her eyes shifted, becoming slitted and turquoise as her muzzle morphed into a terrifying grin.
"I do this for you! For US! YOU ARE MINE!"
The needle dripped…
"NO, DON'T PLEASE!"
I didn't think, I reacted, fear driving my every motion as my hand became shrouded in a dark blue mist, sweeping to the side as the mist enveloped her and threw her away from me, the needle disintegrating on the spot.
I barely noticed the mare's shocked olive orbs as she flew high into the sky.
How did I…
Ignoring my thoughts, I scrambled to my feet and ran and ran, ponies of all sorts gaping at me in surprise. The mist was still surrounding my right hand, pulsating with what I knew to be power, driven by fear and desperation.
How…
I didn't know where to go, I just wanted to run and run, and then run again. I needed desperately to get away from her, the memories, the pain and terror…it was too much, TOO MUCH!
"Poor baby, MY poor baby. Come to me, let me heal your pain."
The voice, her voice, surrounding me, hounding me no matter how fast I ran.
"L-Leave me alone!" I pleaded, gasping for breath as I swallowed my own tears.
"It's for your protection beloved."
At the word, that word, another bout of horrible memories flash before my eyes. Protection meant hurt, protection meant pain.
I can't go through that anymore!
The air distorted as a crackle of magic struck behind me. I ignored it, I had too. I couldn't stay in one place, I had to run and run and run and-
"Alex stop!"
…
That voice…
As fast as I ran, I stopped on the spot and spun around to see…
"It honestly surprises me that you haven't figured it out yet."
"Figured what out?"
"That despite what she's said, Luna does not take prisoners."
Pink fur, magenta orbs so warm, mane reminding me of a lollypop long forgotten.
She hadn't aged a day.
"Cadey?" I whispered, hand reaching out, feet moving of their own violation as my tears continued to fall.
Her expression was…happy, so happy!
And yet as she broke into a wide smile and ran towards me…her eyes flickered, her smile became a smirk of utter insanity.
She was her!
"Stay away from me!" I screamed, lashing out with the mist instinctively and causing the ground ahead of her to crack and splinter.
Her eyes, now so lovely, so normal widened in shock and hurt.
"Alex," she uttered, her voice soft, safe…made me feel…safe. "It's me, it's Cadance. Don't you recognize me?"
She edged closer, words…her words so gentle. I felt my heart flutter in response.
"C-C-Cadance?" I stuttered, body shaking, breath ragged.
"Yes honey, it's me," she cooed soothingly, nearing me, her wings reaching out to touch my cheeks. "I want you to calm down and relax for me. Everything is okay now, I'm here now, nothing will hurt you anymore."
My lips trembled, fear and desperation driving it to do so. I was so afraid, everything was her, everything! But Cadance…I wanted her to be herself! I wanted her to hold me…
"And…we…will!"
Eyes, flashing turquoise, mad grin!
"Get away!"
I fell back out of sheer instinct, scrambling away from the worried mare.
"What's wrong baby?!" she asked, neigh, cried. Her voice was as desperate as I felt, her body struggling with the urge to rush forward and…and…
How do I know that?
"Because I made it so."
Gasping, I clutched at my head and let out pained, horrid wheezes.
"S-She's whispering to me," I whimpered. "She tells me to go back with her, that I belong with her, but something's wrong, WRONG!"
"Who's whispering, Alex?" Cadance pleaded, her tone, her voice urgent, desperate to rid me of my pain. "Who's taking what's rightfully hers!"
I clutched my head harder, very real pain flittering across as I shook it viciously, franticly trying to rid myself of her voice as I screamed and screamed and screamed-
And stopped.
It was as if every noise in the world had ceased to be. There was naught except the gentle caress of…something surrounding me, enveloping everything that I was.
My eyes, wet and…sticky, my vision tinted ever so slightly crimson…the scent of copper below my nose.
And her eyes, her real eyes weeping with me, a gentle pink glow around her horn…and us.
"You don't belong to anyone but me, Alex," Cadance soothed, reaching forward and gently, lovingly licking away the crimson fluid. "And I belong to you. We belong to each other, and nopony, not a one will ever change that but us."
"We'll see about that…"
"She won't stop talking," I sobbed weakly. "I tried to escape her, but she found me."
"Who found you?" she asked, hurt and concerned.
"I…she's-"
"Will you tell her, beloved? Can you?"
I grasped my head and shook…
"Alex please!"
…only to snap back up and see Cadance's desperate eyes.
"She won't let me tell you," I whispered, shaking my head without reason. "I c-can't, I can't."
"Such a devoted mate, hehehe."
The air distorted…
Cadance opened her muzzle to say…something, only to suddenly look behind me and smile thankfully. Confusion dominated my thoughts, unsure, unknowing of what could bring about such a grateful smile.
A weight feel upon my shoulder, warm breath soothing away my shakes bit by bit.
…
"Hush now baby," said…a voice, a maternal voice. "I'm here now. It's going to be alright."
That voice…
Confused and nigh inconsolable, I shakily turned my head to the right and looked into a pair of rose coloured orbs.
And a smile just for me.
White wings enveloped me, held me tightly, yet comfortably. A golden glow replaced the pink, shortly followed by an immense feeling of safety and warmth.
"Mom?" I croaked, new tears slipping down my face as I stared at hers.
Her smile, tender and affectionate, widened at the word.
"Yes sweetie," she crooned. "It's me."
Cadance, Celestia...Mate, mother…
Too much…
It was too much.
"Mom…"
I threw myself at her and held on as tightly as I could. I instantly felt her wings tighten and pull me ever closer, her muzzle nuzzling my neck lovingly.
I couldn't stop crying…I didn't care how like a child I sounded.
"I…hurt, mom," I whimpered. "I'm really scared, I'm s-so scared!"
"Shhh" she hushed, another muzzle kissing, touching my right cheek. "It's okay now, I'm here. Mommy's here. I won't let anything hurt you."
Her muzzle, the other muzzle, both soothed me, calmed my shakes if only a little. Their words, the loving, tender tone in which they were spoke became enough.
Enough for me to pull back, if only a little
And see slitted orbs, turquoise, gleaming down at me.
"What's the matter Alex?" Mom asked, her white fur changing, a dark blue overlapping it. "It's time for another session."
Fear, pain, so much!
"My love…"
Gold changed to blue.
Screaming…
Well there you go!
Till the next chapter. I don't know how long they'll be, but I do consider this a sort of opening. So maybe they'll be around 5000 again.
Probably.
Cya, stay snuggly!