"Please!, don't die!, don't leave me alone!, I don't want to be alone again! "
Luna was desperate, her mind was losing grip on the reality of the situation, she keep trying to make Stormy react, to open his eyes, but he was too wounded and weak to listen to her, Luna was hurt, not by the fact that the only colt that was there for her in this moments was dying, but also, because she was so blind to his feelings, yes, she knew what Stormy and Noirstar meant, Stormy loved the Princess, that is why Noirstar was able to nearly kill him, being a changeling, he had easy access to Stormy Love for the princess, as the princess was reflecting about this, more tears where falling from her eyes, as she remembered one specific dream she visited from Stormy, when she was still exiled.
She remembered a particular nightmare, she was on her home, Canterlot Castle, but everything was dark and each step she made, a soft sound was heard, she look down only to see the corpses of her guards and even the servants, all of them, burned to death, her mane and tail was stained with blood, and the most terrifying thing for her, is that she was normal, she saw a puddle of the blood of the victims, and the reflection was what she feared the most, the reflection, was Nightmare Moon, she started to cry, when she felt a hug on her legs, when she turned around, it was a little white colt, with a Ocarina and swords cutie mark
"Don't cry princess, please don't "said the little colt
"But…I killed them all, they fear me, and attacked me, I killed them because of that, this is what I will do when I return…. Everypony fear me, so everypony will die by my hoof "Luna said, crying
"no princess, not everypony fear you, on the contrary, they remember you and love you, nopony has forgotten you " The little colt said to Luna, still hugging her
"But…" Luna was still confused
"Luna… I never fear you, I am waiting for your safe return "the little colt said "even if everypony turn against you, I will not leave you alone "he said
"Why is that little one?" Luna asked, feeling a little better
"Because… I really like you Princess, you don't deserve to be treated bad, or to be feared, you bring a beautiful night that everypony enjoys, even if they are asleep, specially me" The colt replied
"I…" Luna cried, but this tears where not sad ones
Luna hugged the little colt, as she saw her reflection in the puddle of blood once more, she noticed that the blood was no longer there, she was no longer in Canterlot, she was on a city, a big city, with too many lights in the middle of her beautiful moon, she was in Manehattan, the big metropolis of Equestria, the Little colt was wearing a cyan suit, but only his face was visible, he hold Luna's hoof, and took her to the roof, where they could see the moon and the stars perfectly well, during that dream, the little colt showed Luna how did the ponies live their lives not only during daytime, but also in nighttime, she didn't had knowledge of nocturne ponies during her time before Nightmare Moon. But when they get to the mayor office, the dream usually ends, it always ends there, like if a part of Stormy's mind, had terrible memories on that building.
Reality started to kick in, Taking Luna out of that memory, that building in his dreams could explain why she wasn't able to see Stormy's Nightmares for the past 4 months. she saw her hooves, she was hugging Stormy tightly, trying to prevent losing temperature, ashamed, she let go the hug and saw her hooves, they where bloodstained, he was not going to survive if the wounds where not healed, she looked at Stormy's ocarina, that's it!, Stormy knew the ancient songs, and so does the princess, if she could perform the healing song… she searched on Stormy's saddlebags, and she found out the Book of Ancient Songs of Harmony, she opened it up, to find out the pages that the stallion had collected so far, they where magically restored to the book, so is hard to tell that they where once torn apart from the book., she searched the current pages, hoping to find the right one, from the 7 pages collected so far, the Song of Refresh was the one she was looking for, her magic skill could perform the song effects perfectly, so she levitated the instrument, and started playing it, she felt how her magic was being drained, and redirected to Stormy's wounds, his flesh was slowly regenerating and his damaged organs was being repaired, the song itself was sweet and kind of sad at the same time, maybe reflecting the exchange of all magic to save others?, either way, seems the song was working well, since the wounds healed up perfectly, once the song ended, Luna started to breathe heavy, noticing the lack of her magic, seems that Stormy was still knocked out could, but his temperature was slowly recovering, she was thinking of carrying him to the Canterlot Hospital, but she couldn't without her magic.
"Stormy….. please…. Open your eyes"
Luna plead to Stormy once again, but seems it will take a while for him to regain consciousness, she searched on the stallion saddlebags, since her magic was drained, she will not be able to perform the illumination spell, so she took Stormy's lantern, she also took Celestia´s tiara, and place it on her saddlebags, after what happened, is better for her to keep it, she also kept Stormy's ocarina, just in case.
Meanwhile he wakes up, she searched the throne for the spare key, she hesitated for a moment, remembering the Throne aspect in the " other " world, but right now it looks perfectly normal, she found out the key under the seat. The Castle had a more normal aspect, she opened the door to the throne room and searched the castle for something for use before leaving with the stallion, she checked the kitchen, and the area was…. Normal, it didn't had any pony body parts being cooked, kind of strange, well for both Luna and Stormy, seeing this normal was a good thing at least, she checked the fridge, and she found out a Zap Apple Pie Slice, this was enough to recover either Stormy or Luna total magic, so she carefully packed up the Zap apple pie, and store it on her saddlebags, maybe she and stormy could share it?, after the kitchen, she tried to check the guards room, but the doorknob felt, the door was damaged, she also tried to see if she could find something on the Armory, but the door was also broken, seems that when the castle returned to normal, most of the doors got damaged, making it impossible to search those areas, but she could exit the gardens and enter the Royal Quarters, she didn't wanted to leave stormy for too long, so she rechecked the tower once more, she tried her room, but the door was locked again… from the inside, the last place she tried was Celestia Bedroom, this door opened normally, nothing unusual… just the fireplace, the bed where she rest and where she writes the letters to Twilight Sparkle, even the Stars curtain was on the wall, but she did found out something on her sister bedroom, it was a page, Luna read it, it says Unicorn's Path, the song description says that it reveals hidden things in the room, also it provides a temporal amount of magic, like a boost, even if the user didn't had any energy left, Luna took Stormy's ocarina and started playing the song she found, she felt like a little spark on her horn, that's when the magic of the song worked, and a curtain started to shine with little sparks of light, she checked where the sparks told her, and found out 2 scrolls, one is a magic scroll to increase the magic blast power and shield duration, but… the last one, contained information about a certain incident in Manehattan, why Celestia kept it hidden?
"Tragedy in Manehattan… a group of 3 ponies where found killed in a small house on New Orange, the victims where a adult stallion, a little mare and a filly… only 2 survivors found…. Names… "Luna froze as she saw the survivor's names, only the first letter was visible it was a B "oh….. Dear…." She continues her reading "the younger colt was hospitalized, currently…." Luna stopped "i…. I can't read anymore "
Luna left that report where it was… the more she read it, the more painful was, maybe Celestia kept it to find the culprit?, either way, she exited her sister room quickly and returned to the gardens, but then… she noticed something… the fog was more dense, also it had a like a violet tone, she noticed that a purple smoke was floating nearby… that instantly froze her… she took out the pipe and ran towards the door, all she could hear was hoofsteps, more and more closer to her, and the more she ran, the more the purple smoke was surrounding her… she could not find the door in the middle of that dense fog, she attack with her pipe, making the smoke to take a few steps back, she never had felt so much fear before, she flapped her wings, taking altitude, but something catch her and made her hit the ground, she saw her back hooves, and she say that the smoke had hold her… the smoke slowly was covering her legs, Luna Started to scream, scream in terror as the smoke took form… a form of a Black Female Alicorn, with deep white eyes, it seems to smile as it opened her mouth, ready to trust its fangs on Luna's neck.
"No….. get away!, get away from me!, GET AWAAAAAAAAY! " At the last, she used her royal Canterlot voice, hopping somepony will hear her
But her voice echoed through the emptiness, the creature moved its head towards her, Luna took out her wooden table as shield, by miracle it worked, the creature lost concentration and let go the grip on Luna's legs, she took this opportunity to use her remaining amount of magic, there was only one thing she could do, try the illumination spell on the creature, or use the Unicorn's Path song to find the way to the door, the gardens never felt so big, she took her chances and played the song, this time, the notes echoed hard, she felt no additional increase of magic, but noticed the little sparks in the middle of the dense fog, she follow the sparks, and she could still hear the smoke coming towards her, but this time, as she was running, slowly the fog was losing the violent color, and was returning to its white color, seems she was heading in the right direction, as she noticed the door, she ran more quickly and entered the Castle, once inside she locked the door.
"There is no way in Equestria, that i will be opening that door again!"
Luna quickly exited the hallway she was…it took her to the main hall, she started to worry about Stormy so she ran to the Throne room, as she entered the room, she noticed that Stormy was still on the floor, she, tired, walked to him, she sit next to his side, and closed her eyes.
"This is not the time…. To be sleeping… my friend "Luna said
"uuuuggh… my head hurts like a dozens of apples trees being kicked at once " Stormy finally replied, opening his eyes
Finally Stormy had woke up, she instantly hugged him, Stormy, kind of confused, could just only blush, Luna realizing that she was hugging him, ashamed again, broke the hug, she was relieved that the song worked, Stormy got up, both ponies noticed Noirstar corpse, this time, it was completely turned into a Changeling… Luna noticed the expression on Stormy face, Stormy ripped one of the curtains of the palace, and used it to covered the body of his former friend, Luna told him that she found out the key… and some unpleasant things, including that purple smoke, Stormy was listening to Luna carefully.
"After the song was used I was able to find a way to the door" Luna told
"Great, now we have a smoke following us… after we get my bro out of that Hospital, we need to find someplace safe"
"We could try Manehattan" Luna suggested
Stormy froze for a minute, why in the hay she wanted to go to Manehattan?, The most cosmopolitan city in all Equestria, either way, she was right in one thing, staying in Canterlot could be fatal if that purple smoke had the ability to make you lose your way, if each time to find the correct path, they have to use the Unicorn's Path song, Stormy and Luna will be losing magic constantly due to that smoke, The princess give Stormy his ocarina back and the song page she found, but she kept the lantern, also, both of them read the magic scroll to increase their magic, after reading, Stormy picked up Noirstar Sword, it was better to keep it, y may come in handy, both ponies returned to the main lobby and Luna used the key she found, the front doors of the castle opened, allowing them to go outside, they quickly set route to the Canterlot Hospital.
The fog was present everywhere, and it was kind of hard to see, however, they did manage to find the Hospital front doors without much of a problem, once inside of the Hospital, Luna took out her Zap apple pie, it was only one slice though, but Stormy and Luna manage to share it with themselves, each noticed how their magic recovered to its maximum, but they also felt a little extra magic, both ponies searched the reception, since all the doors where locked, kind of strange, Luna manage to find the Hospital map, Stormy took and look and there was a second entrance, Both of them searched for the secondary entrance, it was near the Laundry entrance, once inside, Stormy was starting to look pale
Stormy… are you ok?" Luna asked
"Yes.. I am fine, we better find my brother and get out of here" Stormy was concerned for his little bro
"But, where do you think he is?" Said Luna, as she reviewed the map
"I don't know, I won't be leaving this hospital without him" Stormy stated
Luna wished she could say the same thing about her sister, but it was late for that, the hospital was too big, as both reviewed the map, it seems the hospital had 5 floors and 1 basement floor, they started searching on the first floor director office, but when they got to the hallway, the radio started to emit static, no enemy's could be seen, so Stormy assumed they where ceiling fillies, he shot one magic blast to the ceiling, but there was nothing there, Stormy used the illumination spell, and they found out the same mare from the Canterlot gardens, This time, it was Luna who took the initiative and attacked the creature with her pipe, the creature lost balance a moment, enough time for Stormy to finish it off with Noirstar Sword, they continued to the director office, as they open the door, a little earth pony noticed both the princess and Stormy, and started to run, his cutie mark was a pair of gears with a lightbulb, the little colt ran towards the hallway, leading to the 2F, Stormy ran following the little pony, the princess ran also, Stormy was happy, since he recognized that cutie mark.
"Mistshine!, bro don't run!, it's me, Stormy!" he replied
"Stormy… I don't think he remember you, I mean, he ran away like if he was afraid of you " the Princess mentioned
"I don't care, I will take him out of here!" Stormy was more decided
When they got to the 2F of the Hospital, they saw Mistshine enter a bathroom, Stormy and Luna entered the room, they could hear a soft crying on one of the cabins, both ponies checked each cabin, until they got to one closed from the inside… the crying was a little more soft this time…
"go away" the little voice said
"shhh… is ok… im not going to hurt you" Stormy said, in a kind and concerned voice
"No…go away…he is coming for me" the little voice sounded sadder
"who?... the iron mask pony?" Luna Said to the little voice
"…. Please… miss, sir… go" the little voice beg one more
Stormy remembered the nightmare he had on the Elements of Harmony hallway, so he took out the Fluttershy doll he had, and pressed its belly, the doll released a soft "Yay" , a silence was present, until a sound of unlocking came from the cabin, the little pony extended his hoof to touch the doll, he opened the door fully and took the doll, hugging it, the princess noticed the resemblance, it was in fact, Mistshine Brave, the little bro of her guard… but the strange thing, was that the radio was emitting a very soft static, the little pony hugged Stormy, and he hug him back… the princess was a little happy to see both brothers reunited… but he could be really his brother or just another creature posing as Mistshine?, she could not take from her mind, the soft static the radio was making
"Thank you…. Stormy, I though I lost it" Mistshine replied
"No problem bro, now we need to get out, to Manehattan" Stormy said, relieved to find his bro
"M-m-manehattan?... why do you want to go there?" Mistshine questioned, a little fear could be heard on his voice
"is there something wrong child?, I was the one who suggested the idea" Luna said to the little colt
"it will be safe… I hope "Stormy replied
"NO!, is not safe!" Mistshine screamed, breaking stormy hug "You know what's in there! "
After this, Mistshine ran away, this time he was terrified, both the princess and his brother follow him, when they got to the entrance, they found out that the door was locked from the outside, why his little bro had locked him?, the radio emitted static again, but louder, Stormy and Luna turned around and some creatures where coming closer to them, they where a little different, they had wings, indicating they where Pegasus, but, they had either feathers, or one whole wing missing, they hooves where surrounded in bandages, they had no eyes or mouth, they had its nose and ears bleeding, also, on their flanks, seems like the cutie mark was torn apart, but the more grotesque was that on their backs, they seems to have a tumor shaped like a newborn foal, apparently, controlling them, the creature was clearly a mare, Luna shot a magical bullet, hitting one of the creatures, Stormy attacked using the sword from his friend, taking out one of the creatures, once the radio was silenced, and the creatures defeated, Stormy and Luna searched for a alternative exit.
"So… the secondary entrance is out of question, we can try the main entrance" Luna said
"Ok, then we will have to unlock the doors leading there" Stormy said
As the couple was searching the rooms, on the examination room, the one leading to the reception, was locked by a magic lock, it need a special key, they tried the door leading directly to the reception, but the doorknob felt, there was no way around it, they need the examination room key, both Luna and Stormy agreed to use the elevator to check the floors, since the door leading to the stairs was locked from the other side, they tried floor per floor, but none of them had the hallway door opened, suddenly, after they checked the 4ft floor, the button to the 5ft Floor flashed, Luna Pressed it, and both ponies got up to the last floor, in it, there was a large hallway with opened doors, when the princess and the stallion entered the hallway, the air was a little cold, the windows where broken… but instead of the usual white mist, there was purple… Luna freaked out as she told Stormy to perform the Unicorn's Path so they could find the exit quickly
"Play the Song, PLAY THE SONG!" Luna was worried
"This is the purple mist you talked before… I don't see…" Stormy was interrupted by the Static
"AAAAH! GET AWAY! " Luna screamed
Stormy saw the princess and he nearly jumped from the scare, the purple mist, was actually covering her, but why only her?, the purple mist was more darker than before, Stormy shot a magic blast, but it seems to be feeding it, Stormy started to pull Luna from the mist, as she begged to him to play the song again, Stormy did not hesitated again, and performed the song again, a white and shinning stars started to show the way to the exit, but the mist was not letting go the grip around Luna, Stormy again started to pull, trying to take Luna away from that purple mist, for him, it was kind of sticky, like goo, or something similar on his hooves, but for the princess, it was like air, just that more tighter, struggling to suffocate her, and preventing her from moving, half of Luna body was surrounded as the same figure from before showed up, the Black Alicorn, Stormy was not letting go Luna's hooves, the Black Alicorn this time…. Was only watching
"Stormy!, go!, you will not take me out in time!" Luna begged, losing hope, she had only her head and front hooves out
"…" the Black alicorn only seemed to smile at the princess attitude
"forget it!, I will not leave you!" Stormy started to concentrate on the Moondust magic
"…" The Black Alicorn did not open her mouth until it got closer to Luna ears… then she heard a very… but not so pleasant familiar voice "The Night….. Will last….. Forever!"
Luna instantly started to cry, as she heard those words, Stormy heard them too, so he prepared his Spiked shield on Luna, the shield reached and created spines to make the mist go away, it worked, because the black alicorn forgot about Stormy, making her lost the concentration on the mist, Luna fainted from the fear, Stormy carried her on his back and Started to run towards the exit, marked by the little stars of the ancient song, Stormy kept his magic going around the princess, as he ran, they passed a big double door, as soon as he passed it , he locked the door, he could hear the black alicorn trying to take the door down, Stormy took the stairs down to the 4F, in there, no monsters where present, the radio didn't emit static, taking advantage of the magic boost that he has left, he used the unicorn path song again, it seems that besides revealing hidden things, it also works well to find places with no monsters or with items, the little stars appeared on one specific door, it was room 410, Stormy entered, still with the unconscious princess on his back, there was a bed in good shape, a green apple on the table, and it seems that a page of something, Stormy placed the princess on the bed and read the page, it was a patient description, it reads
"Patient suffers from a heavy blow on his head, his Central neurologic system, actually shows a hemorrhage, indicating the severe blow he has, is unlikely to know when he could wake up, but for the records, his chances of recovery are very low, since his cerebral cortex is actually damaged, Patient - has been declared in Coma "
"…. This medical report…. The name is not legible… but…." Stormy said….
"Whaaa!, brother! " a voice cried
He turned around, only to see a semitranslucent colt, crying next to a doctor, the colt was him, when he had the same age as Pinkie Pie, on that time, he was wearing a cyan suit, on the bed where Luna was resting, there was another semitranslucent little colt, connected to several machines, it had bandages on his head and he was holding the Fluttershy doll, the little colt had the same size as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but maybe a little more older, almost as old as Featherweight
"I am sorry… we did the best we could… but he is a coma…" the doctor said to the ghostly stormy
"Will he wake up?" the ghostly stormy asked
"only if he has the strength, but… only a miracle could save him" the doctor replied
"Nooooo!, brother!, Mistshine, please!, open your eyes!, don't leave me alone little bro!"
"Mistshine…"
Stormy tried to place his hoof on Mistshine Ghost, if it could be called like that, but as soon as he did that, he, the doctor and even his younger self disappeared, he seems to remember something about his brother… could those ghost be memories from him? Either way… he felt like if his heart was stabbed by a dagger or something similar, he haven't saw his brother in too much time, maybe his brother not longer want him?, the princess started to wake up, making the stallion feel a little relief, Luna felt Stormy's hooves, like if he was out of himself or something
"Stormy…. Hello?, I am awake, say something" The princess asked
"Something" Stormy replied, not paying much attention
"… did something happened when I was unconscious? " the princess asked again to her companion
Stormy told Luna what he saw, and gave her the medical report, she was confused, if Mistshine is in a Coma, how in the wild name of Equestria was doing moving around the Hospital, without any problems?, not only that, but his appearance and personality was strange, Mistshine had the body of a normal Colt, but not as tall as Stormy (since Stormy was royal size, nearly as tall as Cadence or Celestia), but his personality was of a Little Foal, that's what Luna found strange about Mistshine, she got up, forgetting about the previous encounter with the mist.
"Stormy… if this is correct… the colt that we saw…" Luna tried to convince Stormy to do not follow his brother " I have a bad feeling about him, I think you should not follow him"
"Princess… how can you say that?" Stormy felt like betrayed by the princess words "he is my only family, I will not leave him here alone, even if he is not my brother, I will find the truth" Stormy sound determined.
"… I see…." Luna seems to sound sad " ok, I will help then, sorry if I held you up "
"by the way… what in the name of the moon was that alicorn?" Stormy asked, referring to the Black Alicorn from earlier
Luna froze cold, should she tell her about her?, but…after all they have gone already, she felt she can trust him, specially since he already trusted her his brother condition according to the report, as both ponies exited the room searching the whole floor for the Examination room key, she started to told him her recent nightmares, she told him that, there was times that she was afraid to look herself in the mirror, because, each time she look at it, she saw Nightmare Moon reflection on it, some other times, in her nightmares she saw herself being trapped by the purple mist, turning her again into the wicked mare or darkness, and hurting everypony she was in close range, including her sister, her recent dreams where not much different that the ones she had while in exile, just that this time, they were more frequent and more darker, recently, almost one week, before Stormy talked to Princess Celestia, she had one of the most horrific nightmares, Stormy listened to the princess.
In the recent nightmare, she was in a Hospital, very similar to Canterlot Hospital, but in that one, she was only following a long and almost interminable hallway, she was constantly hearing some whispering along the way, each voice said "turn back ", "please stop ", "don't do it", but when she was near a big double door with moon carvings in it, she heard a last voice… saying "only suffering and despair awaits you…. My little pony", as she opened the door, only a huge darkness awaited her, she walked further into the big dark room, until the door closed by itself, a little light was in the middle, and when she touched it… she felt her hooves burning, everything became clear and she could see perfectly, she was burning because she was ripping Celestia heart out of her, her sister had a shocked and sad look on her face, she screamed as she saw this, but her voice was not heard, instead of a scream, a psychotic laugh escaped from her mouth, she closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, she was not on Canterlot, she was on a big white place, her hooves still had Celestia heart, she let it go… making it hit the ground, as soon as it touched the floor, the whole placed changed from white to red, and she again, felt her hooves burning, the blood on the floor was climbing on her, melting her flesh, she started to Fly, but the same problem happened with her wings, they where the first ones to melt, she could see her internal organs falling from her body, she screamed as hard as she could, closing her eyes, waiting for death to give her a rest… but, when she opened, her eyes again, she was again, in a long hallway… this time, the floor was like grass, as she walked, a darkness behind her started to chase her, she ran and flew as hard as she could, but she could not got away, when the darkness catch her, she felt like if somepony had made a hole in her back and exited from her torso…she felt a hard thrush, and when she looked down, she saw a black hoof… holding her still beating heart, when she saw behind her, the Black Alicorn was smiling, needless to say, her coat color was a very dark violet, almost next to black, just that she had her eyes missing, and had multiple dark red areas on her body, indicating she recently got bloodstained, she had a broken green with blue armor, and helmet, her mane and tail where grey colored with white sparks, but her mouth had fangs, her cutie mark was a Red full moon with grey clouds surrounding it, as the creature took a bite from Luna's neck, she started to pull, hopping to rip the Princess head off. As she let one final scream, the Nightmare usually ends after that
Stormy felt chills going down on his spine, after hearing the princess nightmares, more concerning the Black Alicorn. He feared that, that mare would be something similar to the Iron Mask Pony that is following him, and if that is the case, neither he nor Luna could defeat it, he hugged the princess, much to her disapproval… but strangely enough, she let Stormy hug her, she let go a soft cry on him, like if she was needing somepony to cry n this moment, once Luna finished her story, both of them finished checking all the remaining rooms, but all they could find was a green apple, some bandages and what it seems to be wrench, it had Mistshine signature.
"This is my brother wrench" Stormy stored the wrench on his saddlebags
"a wrench?, do your brother works with machines?" Luna asked her companion
"as a matter of fact, yes…. He does" Stormy told the princess "he is inventor; he can create things using steel and sometimes wood, he is a genius in much things… but" Stormy stopped
"But?" Luna was a little concerned
"he has a medical condition, his body may be of a full grown stallion, but his mind is still of a little colt" Stormy let some tears escape
"so that's why he looks like a little colt when we found him" Luna was thinking as she saw Stormy… it must has been painful to him to remember his brother condition, but staying away won't fix anything either, she advised Stormy to find his brother quickly. Telling him that if his brother love him, he will forgive him, once they finished with the 4F, they searched the 3F, there where some monsters on that Floor, Luna shot a couple of magical bullets to them, Stormy used his brother wrench on the Ceiling Filly, taking out theirs screws on their heads, the creatures immediately died from bleeding, on the 3F, in one of the rooms, they found a page from the Book of Harmony, it read "Celestia´s Song" the song description reads that the song allows to raise the sun if Celestia is not capable of doing it or if she was too tired to bring it out, also, it says that the song could weaken black magic creatures, it seems that the song was made in case that the princess where injured, but as a little bonus, it can weaken some enemies, as Stormy started to play the song, a Armored Shadow came, Luna shot a light based magic, but it didn't work, the creature shield himself with the armor, Stormy finished performing the song, and the Armored Shadow froze, literally, it was just standing there, as if something was holding him, Luna took advantage of the situation and started to shoot magic blast towards him, the creature screamed as it disappeared and the armor pieces felt on the ground.
"Wow…"Stormy said, storing his ocarina
"is a good thing that you know the ancient songs" Luna replied
"Thanks" Stormy smiled
On the 3F, they also found the key to the examination room, finally, and they also found a special key, Stormy saw that had his cutie mark, so he gave it to Luna to keep it from now, he didn't remember that key, Luna also find it strange that he gave it to her, instead of him to keeping it, they descended to the second floor, to Stormy surprised, it looked exactly the same as the one of his first nightmare, including the damaged aspect and rust everywhere, and his mind instantly froze in shock as the door leading to the upper floors lock, and a metallic echo started to sound on the walls, he tried to open the door leading towards the patients rooms, but it was locked in place, he checked the map, finding a alternative route, at first Luna was not amused, but as another metallic echo sounded, making Stormy to nearly jump, make her see he was a frightened as she was with the Black Alicorn… Stormy found the route that leads towards the first floor, as Stormy opened the door, he saw the Iron Mask Pony silhouette on the patients hallway, he advised Luna to move, she turned around and she saw a giant blade destroying the door, Stormy pulled Luna towards him… and she saw what stormy feared the most, The Iron Mask Pony… the princess was also scared, but she was worried for Stormy right now, for him, is that If he was seeing the Death itself, they ran downstairs, once on the main floor, Stormy used a sealing spell on the door, Luna helped him using some benches nearby to block the door, Stormy was breathing heavily, Luna this time has to be the one pulling him together
"Stormy!, calm down for my Sister sake" Luna raised his voice to him
"You saw it!, he is coming for me, I still don't know why he is so obsessed with me" Stormy said, recovering a little
"Then fight it next time… you taught me that… you can't run of that thing forever" Luna said to her friend, remembering what he did when she was imprisoned on the purple mist
"….. Fight it...? "He said
Stormy stop to think for a moment, fight that thing?, Luna must be out of her mind… but… she did had a point, there is going to reach a point where there will no be any place to run or hide, and eventually he will have to face that thing, Stormy smiled, a little ashamed that, the Princess he swore to protect, was the one giving him the advise, as they walked on the broken hallways, with no static on sight, he let a few words
"Shouldn't I be the one giving you advice and saving you?" Stormy said, in a kind of sarcastic tone
"Maybe… but you have done that already, besides, this the Princess of the Night you are talking to, not some ordinary mare "Luna said, in her usual royal tone
"Yeah… you are right princess"
They opened the lock that leads towards the reception, but before entering there, they checked the other rooms for something useful, not much to see in the directors office, but there was something that cached Luna attention, it was a medical report, but had the royal seal, meaning it was a important notice, both ponies read it
"The patient presents a corruption that is slowly taking over her mind, massive changes has been produced in her body, her bone structure is becoming more bigger and stronger, also her coat seems to be changing colors due to the possession, not only that, her cellular structure seems to be constantly changing, and turning her mane and tail into purple dust, the patient keeps crying for help, and I don't know what else to do, we had tried everything and the patient remains unchanged, her wings and horn also are growing… Princess Celestia…. I'm afraid there is nothing else we could do for your sister, Yours Truly: Doctor Butterscotch" That's what the report said
"…" Luna was silent, and tears felt from her eyes into the report
"Luna…. This description….is yours isn't it?" Stormy said to the princess
She nodded her head in a positive matter, when she was turning into Nightmare Moon, it was not instantaneously as may ponies where told, it was a slow but painful transformation… each sector of her body that changed, hurt like a million knifes stabbed on her, and the more the corruption grew, the more anger and loneliness she felt, the doctors, the more advanced unicorns at the time, tried to stop the process via magic, but it was not enough, she was constantly calling for help, because she didn't want to be alone when she could no longer resist it, but she don't remember where did she get corrupted, or if the hate on her heart towards her sister created its own mind, but the fact remains, she has hospitalized in Canterlot Hospital, and all the doctors magic was able to keep her conscious, but the pain didn't stop, before she lose consciousness, she saw the Black Alicorn on a mirror and then… everything faded to black, all she could see, was what Nightmare Moon was watching, she was feeling it. a fear that she knew perfectly well, she took one sad look to Stormy, before bust into tears, deep inside of her she knew what that fear was, her mind was screaming for that awful memory to stop tormenting her
Stormy, seeing how the princess was literally frozen in place, Stormy tried to talk to her, but instead, she ran away, not before taking the examination room key, from Stormy saddlebags, much to Stormy surprise, when he tried to follow her, she used a magical shield, preventing him to entering the examination room
"im sorry!, im so sorry, but I can't continue with you… someday… she will return!" Luna panicked, as she opened the examination room and enter it, closing the door from the inside
"Luna!" Stormy yelled, hitting the magical shield, trying to take it down
This was something Stormy wasn't expecting, the princess just ran off and leave him?, there must be something odd, Luna could hear the constants hits on the door, by Stormy Steel pipe, trying to get in and begging her to open up, she felt terrible for leaving him, but she didn't want him near her… not after they read that report…the examination room was closed, there was no light on whatsoever… she used Stormy´s Lantern, and saw the examination room, all rusty and old, like if there was no use in ages, Luna knew that Mistshine was there, maybe talking with the little brother will help?, but when she took a step further into the room, instead of Mistshine, a little filly Alicorn appeared… it was translucent, she saw that the filly had a crown, her mane was a very light azure and her coat was light phthalo blue, she dropped the lantern in shock, she was looping at herself when she was a little mare.
"Hey… you!" She came near to her younger self
"Stay away!" Said little Luna as she ran towards a door and disappeared
Luna picked up the lantern, why did her younger self ran from her?, she walked and opened the door where her younger self left. Once inside there was nothing but darkness, the lantern proved to be useful, until some extent, she heard a soft click from the door, one step more further on the room made her feel that there was no longer floor under her hooves and she felt, she started to flap her wings to keep herself airborne, but since one of her wings had been damaged earlier, she had a couple of problems, once she could see the floor, she landed on a fence floor, she did heard a siren going off, when she look up to see in front of her however… she saw nothing else that a mirror, also she saw the little filly in front of it
"A mirror?... here?" Luna questioned herself
"No pony appreciates me… or love the moon and starts I so deeply created " the little filly cried " If no pony loves me… " the little filly said, as she placed one hoof on the mirror
"oh no… don't do It please!" Luna tried to reason with the little filly, as if she knew what was going to happen
"then I will MAKE everypony loves me!, even if I had to keep the moon out for a whole day by force! " Said the Little filly as the mirror reflection changed
The younger version of herself disappeared, and the mirror reflection only showed up Luna current form being slowly taken away by a corruption she knew very well, as that reflection draw near the mirror, and to much of the princess disgust, the reflection exited the mirror, it was flesh and bone, but it looked like…her…
"Long time no see eh?... Princess" Said the Black Alicorn from the mist, but this time, it took a more clear form to Luna
"N-n-n…" Luna due to fear, had problems telling the mare name " Nightmare Moon! " she finally could pronounce the name…
"well well, well, it seems that you still remember me… it been a long time Luna…Let us catch up with times shall we? " Said Nightmare Moon, opening her wings and taking a fighting stance
Luna keeping the lantern floating with her magic, took out the Steel pipe that Stormy gave to her, she had to deal with this part of her past, otherwise… he could get hurt if she lose this fight. Meanwhile, on the reception, there was one stallion alone, he had gave up in opening the door, as he tried to find a alternative route, the hospital started to look rusted and the crimson color of the steel was evident, the siren has gone off
"grr, the must be another way… wait the reception door, if I can blew it up " Stormy said to himself
He started to charge a magic blast, when a unlocking sound came from the door, it opened like if somepony was welcoming him, he didn't hesitate in the minimum to enter, in fact, he jumped inside the reception, when the door closed, a soft " yay " sounded on the floor, Stormy saw this and noticed the Fluttershy doll, could his brother had used the doll to open the door for him? He took the doll and place it on his saddlebags again, he entered the examination room, passing the reception office, and he found out a door with Luna cutie mark in it
"oh come on! " Said Stormy trying to open the door
"you can´t help her" said a little colt voice
"what?" Stormy turned around only to find his little bro, holding a Key with Luna cutie mark on it
"you can't help her mister… she entered there alone, so she have to get out alone" Said Mistshine "unless you are prepared for the truth" he finished
"the truth?... " Stormy replied
He had to talk with his brother, but he was not getting where was his brother going with this, downstairs, the princess and her nightmare moon contrapart battle, and Stormy could not help, since the door was locked and his brother had the key, " what do I do know? " his mind screamed, trying to find the correct answer