A/N: It's been a month since Part 1 was uploaded, but at last here is Part 2. :)
There have been a few reasons why I have delayed on Part 2 for some time: First off I do have a bit of college work here and there that affects the writing schedule for me along with co-op as part of it. Second was that I have been going through some rough times, but in the end I've managed to talk to someone and friends are telling me to talk with a professional which I plan to do based on what goes on in my private life.
I ended up hearing about the Brussels attack in Belgium which could be another reason why I delayed a bit because I have a friend who lives there and I was worried that she might have been there. So apologies for those three reasons, though the first is understanding. It is Exam week for me and then graduation in June so I can have a bit of time to write more.
Other than that, saw Pink Floyd's David Gilmour in concert, Avantasia, Iron Maiden for the second time and Dream Theater for the second time as well. Got to shake hands and meet band members after show (mostly for Avantasia).
Alas, Review Response Time:
guest: Thanks.
jvs12: You'll see.
raven 2012: The proposal will be in a future chapter that is TBA, but it will be promising.
4theworldman: Hey thanks, but now I've got an annoying cough to deal with again. I hate having colds... :(
rd24: Read on and find out.
Juul265: Don't worry as Pinkie could easily forgive anypony like the rest of her friends unless it was a villain. ;)
Billykilly: Read on my friend! It's going to be pretty good at the end, and I won't spoil.
Vampire slayer: Still in thought right now, but I cannot confirm it.
Steve03: Billy Corgan performed that song when I saw Smashing Pumpkins in the summer of 2015. It is a fantastic song and one of my favorites.
Guest: Yes, Flash knows Brayden is dating Twilight from Equestria. And no, Nightmare Moon is not in any way Brayden's aunt. The details are hard to explain.
Minty breath: The events of the EQG movies are not really canon to the Learning To Live story.
Ponyloco: Haha you're welcome. xD That was on my mind for the last second to place into as dialogue.
Ghostbusters fan: I'm still questioning if I should see it or not; because when I saw the trailer my reaction was just like how Angry Joe reacted when he saw the trailer all the way through, being that I grew up with the 80s movies.
P.S. A special announcement from me at the end of the chapter of a special event I will be lucky enough to go to. What might it be? You'll see... ;)
P.S.S. In response to the P.S. above, don't skip to the bottom or you'll ruin the surprise. ;) Alright, here is Part 2.
Nightmare Moon's POV
None of us could believe our eyes at what myself or Starlight Glimmer were seeing right now! Brayden was being held right over the wooden bridge above the small river itself close between the yard of the school within the vicinity. My hooves are unable to move from the spot at all to help out, as I can only watch in horror on what these bullies were about to do to Brayden when he was a kid.
"Please let me go! Please!" My heart beat faster from hearing the young boy's voice pleading. The visible tears crawling down from his pained eyes while the bullies just laugh and scorn him as he cries.
The boy holds the boy forward right by the edge of the stream, filled with what could be dangerous leeches as even those things exist in Equestria in ponds that haven't been cleared out through all the Everfree Forest. Since the Everfree Forest is usually forbidden for anypony to enter, I am pretty sure that none would risk even trying to find a pond full of those nasty things.
"What's the matter cowardly boy? Gonna cry until the teacher comes to stop us?!" The leader of the boys said with a laugh, gripping onto the back of Brayden's shirt.
"You leave him alone!" I can hear Starlight Glimmer shouting right at the bullies, but to no avail as even I knew this was nothing but a memory of Brayden's, so there would be no turning or even let alone hearing the sound of her voice to stop these boys from fulfilling that hateful desire they would always do to their victims.
A few of the schoolchildren are beginning to gather as well to watch everything that was going on with the situation that the child version of my dear friend was going through. Though it is in my heart that I worry too much about what will happen next. Some of these children can only stand by and watch, not even trying to help him. The other few are either laughing at the weeping boy, or cheering on the boys to push him right into the stream.
The chanting went onward with eventually those who were laughing with the high demands of pushing him in, as even the bullies themselves stand there looking proud among themselves. "Push him in! Push him in!" Those whom weren't chanting are only unsure as how to react to such bullying before their eyes. My eyes were only able to catch a few running off, probably to get a teacher to stop this madness.
The bully who grips onto the shirt of the young Brayden smiles with a glare upon his face when he looks out to see all of those students at the school there chanting for him to commit such a nasty thing to humiliate Brayden in front of everyone. That ruthless look on his face... I catch him letting go of the back of Brayden's shirt for a few moments like he was about to let him go and make him run for his life. I was only sure that is what my friend had on his mind at the time.
All turns out for the worst when the bully turned only for a moment, then back with an open hand to push the young version of my friend. "No!" I can hear Starlight Glimmer exclaim with what I thought was the sound of worry in the tone of her voice when she witnessed this event. From the direction her voice was sounding from, I turn to look and watch what Starlight is about to do.
She had galloped forward with a look upon her face that she has had enough of watching this nonsense from everything going on, pouncing forward towards the young Brayden in hopes of catching him and breaking the fall that the leader of the bullies have caused. Even if these were memories, I can only know myself that of the expected to come.
He was within Starlight's reach to catch him, but even after jumping forward to do so; the only thing that caught her by complete surprise is when she just simply passed through him like he was a ghost. The expression on her face has changed by the time she has gone completely past him like he was only made of the fog that ourselves and everywhere in the school were covered in from, with no other sight seen.
She falls onto the grass on the other side of the small stream, with that look of horror on her face when she turned to the sound of the splash. Even I found myself gasping for the sake of him from such a state he was in right now.
He looks drenched and soaked from all of the flowing water running throughout the stream. The bullies along with everybody else who had been teasing Brayden and laughing as he fell continue to do so like this was nightmare that he was dreaming... but no. It was all reality that he was facing there on Earth itself. The leader of the bullies can only look down upon the scared young boy, a smirk upon his face like he was the king of the playground.
"Look everyone... scaredy-cat is all wet!" He proclaims himself, while the laughter grew worse for Brayden from everyone who wasn't going to get a teacher to tell on the bullies and help him out of there.
It just broke my heart from inside to see my dear friend in this memory crying, as it was something that I know I don't usually find out about. He's trying to get up and run away from the scene with his face red and the tears washed off by the stream's dirty water. The mud from under his feet in the water caused him to slip forward though, going face first into the water and getting his short hair damp.
"You're a worthless freak!" One of the school bullies has such nerve to shout an insult towards him among all of the scorn and jeering from those who would dare support them in bringing harm. "School would be so much better if you never showed up here in the first place!"
"Please! Please stop laughing at me!" I can hear him pleading with the cries he sounds out when none are listening.
This almost feels like I was going through the nightmares and fears of fillies or colts when he had redeemed me, and most had a similar problem with bullying and the nightmares they would catch from it. Certainly myself, I did not suspect it myself for my own eyes to see him going through more aggression; as mostly here it can be based on those who do not have a cutie mark just yet and being teased as blank flanks.
A few kids came running back towards the scene with a taller figure from what I could see, supposedly the teacher from the inside of the school. Judging by the color of the light vest she wore though, I only know from this world that it was the monitor for recess that would keep the children under control and to make sure no one was fighting at all. She holds a rather concerned, yet strict look on her face as this usually called out that there were bullies on the loose around the elementary school.
"What is going on here?" She says out loud before the group of kids and the bullies standing upon the bridge. Those who had been laughing at our friend Brayden were completely surprised by the tone of the voice they recognized on the school yard or playground each and every day. Both myself and Starlight are surprised to see that suspicion on her face when she brought her eyes towards the bullies on the bridge who were laughing at first until she turned to them. Uneasy looks on their faces took over once this was the case.
They knew very well that they would be in big trouble for doing such a thing to the young Brayden deep within this past of his. Once the school monitor turns to look at the small stream to see the young boy in there crying, her face grew concerned once again.
"Are you alright Brayden?!" She says, moving down the small curve of grass. Trying not to step into the flowing water, she is reaching her hand towards the scared young boy who is shivering based on the temperature that the flowing water could be at. I can hear Starlight's hooves as she began trotting onto the wooden bridge that the boys above were standing, trying not to even get close to them for what even I consider mean.
Brayden takes the monitor's hand and crawls up onto his feet once again. Even I was surprised myself to see a few leeches from the stream clinging onto his legs, by the time he was able to get up. "Oh my goodness... don't worry about this, I'll help get them off of you."
"Why don't you let him keep them on him?" The leader of the bullies suggested out loud. "All they want to do is just hang around if you get what I mean."
The monitor takes her eyes off from the weeping boy, turning to look at him and the other boys that have been involved with these drastic events. "Zachary Levot! What is the meaning of you and your friends going off to pick on and humiliate this boy?" She demanded out of him with the disappointed and stern tone in her voice.
Zachary, the boy behind all of the bullying steps forward, blocking Starlight as she was trotting upon the bridge to get back to my side. He looks like he is trying to hide the smirk on his face, attempting to look tough in front of the monitor. "He deserves it every time, and I would enjoy pushing him into the stream again."
Every one of the kids who had been laughing begun to laugh once more on par with what Zachary had to say to the monitor who looks rather surprised herself by this rather low choice of words. He's lucky that is only a memory; as if it was the real Zachary in front of me I would have the honor myself to fire one of my beams towards him to teach him a lesson for messing with my dear friend.
"Zachary, you and your two other friends are to head straight to the office immediately right now!" The monitor sounded rather cross while Brayden is still in a bit of a panick with the leeches latching onto his skin; draining him of his blood at the slowest possible rate. "Principal Martin will decide your punishment for picking on this small boy and no doubt, pushing him off to get him drenched!"
The bully himself can do nothing but start walking in the opposite direction towards the school building with his two other friends. His face was really furious that he somehow couldn't win over the monitor in a way of convincing her that he and his friends didn't push him. No escape for him that time though, as my face changed and looked rather proud to see them on their way to be either suspended or possibly... expelled! That would make my day!
"I can't feel them on my legs..." Brayden whimpers, too afraid to touch the slimy pond worms themselves. Here in Equestria, they work in exactly the same way but would only swim around in more murkier waters or the swamps of Froggy Bottom Bogg so they do know their environment well by that standard.
"Don't worry Brayden, let's go inside and get them off of you in the nurse's office. I'll go get some salt from the staff room." The monitor responds to him, as they turn in a direction and begin making their way towards another part of the school building rather than the same way the bullies were going.
Starlight Glimmer had trotted behind the bullies on the bridge as she was listening to the conversation and the events that had gone off here. She has joined up beside me while a sad look is upon her face from what we could pick up. As both the older adult and the young Brayden head in through a different entrance, I turn my head to look at the young unicorn herself.
"Now I can see this would be one of the reasons why he was mad..." She spoke out, exhaling a small sigh herself. "He's kept it in so badly, he would only hurt himself to look back and remember what happened in his childhood."
"Indeed," I responded to her statement. "By the looks of how this anger finally broke out, it would only bring back memories of his own worst times to torment him when things weren't looking so good or whenever he was spacing out. That could have been the cause itself."
"But what about what just went on right now?"
"I can only suggest that it was an early time in his childhood and around the elementary years of him growing up before middle school. It's some research I have done on Earth with Princess Luna and Celestia herself when our curiosity had grown," I explained. "This world itself as you can see from the memory palace almost resembles all of Equus, but the wars they have and issues they go through is only a con as even I hope one day to reach out for them and help them in their dire need."
"But wouldn't Brayden think about going to Earth again?"
I find myself nodding when I remember the words that he told me. "That is true, yes. He was thinking about it for quite some time since his 21st birthday in human years by which he is. Feeling homesick after having grown up there in that world has only grown a bit, but we'll let him decide if he wants to go. Princess Celestia herself even made the suggestion that my dear friend bring back some friends from Earth to Equestria."
"Judging by what I've seen there, I'm not so sure..." Starlight ponders to herself. "The bullies that were picking on our dear friend wouldn't be good options if that was the case."
"Fear not, as he wouldn't be picking those who were mean or cruel by heart. Those he will pick are those he can trust to come back with him to Equestria," I tell her, while the background began to change and the grass underneath my hooves began to retract into the ground. "Even he said almost the same thing you said. He was only fearful of those who could be 'sleeper cells' in a way that would probably attack anypony."
"I see..." She responds to me, turning her head down towards her front hooves holding a guilty look on her face.
By the look of guilt crossed upon her face, I knew from there that it was from the experience she was going through when Brayden was shouting at her. "You shouldn't feel guilty yourself Starlight Glimmer. It wasn't expected that the fury would break him down, as the time travelling as described to me by Princess Twilight herself could have also affected him in the majority." I told her, keeping a calm tone in my voice as I spoke wisely of this.
"It is my fault though..." She looks back up at me, her expression never changing. "I showed him his worst nightmares... like how you were never redeemed and still a part of Luna. I caused damage to him; he could never forgive me for that like Twilight has."
"He must though. He's always been the kindest to us and everypony around him."
"After we got back and that yelling, he told me that if I was near him, Twilight or any of his friends he would kill me." She responds back, still unsure about the words I speak.
I wanted to tell her more and ensure her that he'll understand that he cannot hate her forever, but I have stopped when I realized that there is no grass underneath but felt more like a hard surface and flat underneath my black hooves. My eyes shift off from the unicorn and onto the surface below my feet while its color changes from a slight lime green and into a normal tone of blue.
Another memory is being set to show us even more of what Brayden's past was like, and the walls were beginning to rise up over us with shadows appearing in random places before converting into furniture like the ones we know in Equestria today. A lamp that appeared out from the shadows, had the light inside of it flicker for a moment, and then lit up to illuminate some light here in this room.
The fog seems to have disappeared as by the shifting that the memory palace had gone through and the outside of the window in the room that was only a shadow before unveils the time of day through the window as the moon was rising above the evening sky. Besides the night before my own eyes on what seems to be Earth itself, through the slight-opened window I can hear the sounds of crickets chirping and the shadowed trees with its branches blocking only a bit of the moon and its light provided.
From out of this room, I can hear the sounds of footsteps moving about from upstairs above my head for a moment. Someone on this floor, besides the steps sounding above is heard as well in the way that it sounds like they are doing the dishes that the Canterlot Castle servants would normally do outside of the spell we were under.
I am quite curious about what could be going on upstairs though, and my thoughts are brought to mind that this could be another memory of Brayden's... I'm not sure when this was as I see no calendar around yet. But other than that, I began to trot forward with Starlight holding a curious look upon her face as she follows right behind.
At the end of the room from underneath the painted white arch, my head turns to the left and I can see the way to the second floor through the stairs even they have a bit of a curve to it. Wait, my ears have picked up a similar sound as my hooves were when they trotted on the wooden floor over to the position I was at. It sounds like hooves itself, but I can't suspect Starlight Glimmer as she is with me.
Maybe... Princess Luna managed to get here?
Without hesitation, the first move was made by Starlight when she has trotted right past me holding that curious, yet cautious look upon her face. Even if it is Princess Luna, it could be a trap set up as well so its better to be safe than sorry after all. My black hooves can feel the carpet beneath while I make my way up the steps to get where we needed to go.
More dry-painted walls are seen up here as we continue along the way and the sound of the hooves upstairs comes closer on approach by each step that we took. At the top of the stairs, all we have to really do is turn a corner to the left to see who it is up there.
I can pretty much tell from there by the midnight blue coat that this mare had and the mane that moved by itself with the twinkling of stars in them that it was the Princess of the Night herself, trying to peek in through a door to see what was going on at this time. I can only see the right side of her face, as she looked concerned right there through the slightly-open into the next room.
"Luna?" I called out in the silence and among the quiet sound of the air conditioner from upstairs while the mare had still stood there; trying to get an image from inside of the dark room.
She turned her head with surprise on her face when she saw us again after the chase that we had gone through back there before entering the memory palace. Her hooves take a few steps away from the door, turning and trotting over towards us with approach. Starlight Glimmer is right beside me while I take the last few steps with my hooves to join up with the Princess of the Night.
"Thank Celestia that we were able to find you," I said with a tone of relief in my voice. "You never showed up during the first memory we were witnessing."
"I apologize for the holdback Nightmare. After you and Starlight ran into the memory palace, I had to hold off the shadow wolves for a bit to allow you both some time to hide. Eventually I was overwhelmed by the few wolves and followed you through; ending up here in this memory that had been formed."
"We've already caught a glimpse of what happened in his past, and it's horrifying to know what he went through in... elementary?" Starlight questions as this 'Earth' stuff is still new to her and she wouldn't know just yet. I turn my head to look at her and nod in confirmation as I saw what happened with my own eyes as well. "Thank you Nightmare, and already I regret having made him go through his worst nightmares that I had put him through."
"You need not relive what you've been through yourself as well," Princess Luna responds to her. "But it is a concern after this... I sense that something is wrong with this memory for what my nephew would have gone through. The sense of the environment here under the night in this particular one seems a bit lonely."
"Why do you say that? I have never been to Earth myself so I don't really know."
"This is Brayden's memories. What would happen in this particular one reflects on the mood of the atmosphere like the sadness that comes from inside his room." Luna replied to my question.
"So, that was what you were trying to peek into?"
Luna could nod her head to agree with my next question and turn around to trot back to the door. I find myself without a choice and want to see this Brayden from this memory regardless if he is the same age as me and Starlight have seen in the last memory. My hooves trot forward to join the Princess, with the unicorn joined behind us.
Even from the door itself, my eyes could catch a bit of the moonlight's illumination reflecting onto the wooden boards where our hooves are bound to step on when we make entrance into what could be his bedroom as Luna had confirmed. My head moves closer, trying to get a little more detail on what the rest of this room looks like from the inside.
His bedroom was the usual traditional size you would normally expect from a household on Earth where the bed is at the end of the wall between two shelves standing there with these strange figures that were unrecognizable to me along with a couple of books that is sure to make Twilight proud. A few of the pictures on his wall seem to look like they were the traditional oil on pastel, but they weren't made by him but possibly friends or the family he grew up with in this world.
My eyes turn to the shape sitting in front of the window on a chair. His arms are placed upon the windowsill and his head resting on the both of them. My hooves and body slip into the room and carefully approach towards the young boy with that recognizable brown hair that I knew of. It's Brayden himself at an older age, but still looks like he is in the elementary school years.
Trotting to the other side of him is when I was able to see his youthful face. He looks lonesome and without someone there to talk to. What about his parents in this world though? I'm not sure, but I have a bad feeling that he was the one who never got the most attention during his time on Earth by the both of them whom I haven't seen and probably might not see in these memories.
His brown eyes are not perched towards the open forest, casting its darkness upon all of the memory, but rather into the round white astronomical body out of their atmosphere there can similar to Equestria's moon itself, as even this moon is the same name but couldn't be possible for any human from that world to notice.
He sighs for a moment, closing his eyes only for a few seconds before opening them up to look back towards the moon again. "Another night alone once more..." He says quietly to himself, but sounds audible to all three of us by whom Starlight and Princess Luna have gone into his bedroom to witness this memory. "I'm not sure, but my parents aren't spending as much time with me when they used to."
I knew how that could feel myself after having become an evil being made of darkness and having a reputation for wanting the eternal night by the judgements of anypony who deemed themselves higher or still under the fear that I was the same wicked mare trying to bring eternal night to the enchanted lands.
I didn't expect from even myself nor Luna that he would be talking to the moon here. "It must be lonely up there with all those distant stars and not a single one for you that reaches out to take you with them," He communicates to the inanimate object orbiting around this Earth, looking with a gaze of gloom. "I know how you feel yourself... folks here hardly want to spend some time with me anymore. Parents are always too busy with their work or always going out, leaving eleven year old me here by myself with my sibling. None of them are available to talk with me, because she's always doing chores or working on homework from her high school. Why is everyone too busy then?"
All went silent in the room once again, none of us saying a word but only listening while Brayden's past self was heard breathing almost silently to himself while he watched, never noticing us as he couldn't anyway by the memory palace itself.
He was there for quite a bit of time, but finally he gets up on his two feet to stand. "The only difference is that I get to watch the other kids in my neighbourhood have a good time at the party they're hosting close-by. I can't believe I'm missing out right now." He spoke once again, moving towards the open window, grabbing on the sides of the windowsill and climbing right out and onto the tree branch at the side of the house.
My ears pick up the sound of hooves trotting as the both of them accompanied with me on approach towards the window to watch as Brayden takes each careful step on the large grown tree's branch and holding on tight to the smaller ones to get a glimpse at the party from his neighbors that border between here and the forest. On the end of the branch, he takes a seat there and just stares into the distance at the house that were past two other homes.
This home was alit still in the night, accompanied with the occasional sounds of laughter coming from outside with other humans that seem to be his age or a year older than he was. Even music could be heard from the outdoor balcony that the pre-teens were partying too and even I understood now as this time was similar to mine by when he was sent here all thanks to me when I was taking control of Luna herself. Loneliness was a trait both himself and I have gone and suffered through, making it out in the end.
My hooves trot up onto the windowsill his arms have rest upon, trying to reach out for my dear friend whose feelings were that of when I had been banished for a thousand years. "That's why I was brought into this memory with the eventual finding you two here to see everything that has not been seen before by any or all." Princess Luna spoke to us with a calm tone while watching Brayden from the tree.
"He isn't the only one who has ever felt lonely," Starlight responded to her after having spoken her statement. "I was once alone after my friend Sunburst left to Canterlot. I never saw him again, and I couldn't make a friend because of the fear of cutie marks at the time."
"But you have one, Starlight Glimmer. You were never alone on that issue," Luna turns from the sight of the past Brayden to look at the unicorn. "There were others in Equestria who went through that, but never took it seriously or that badly."
My hoof slowly rises to grab Starlight's attention which by chance also caught the attention of Princess Luna. "This memory though reflects upon loneliness which is a trait I have always been in during my time on the moon."
"Both of us were banished. You only had control of my body and soul, so I was trapped. It wasn't your fault though, as it was my jealousy from my sister that formed you in the first place." The Princess of the Night responded to me, moving her left front hoof upward and placing it onto her chest, covered by the black piece with the crescent moon of white jewels encarved into it.
"I know. I am aware of that now." I respond back to her.
"We do not know what else the past may have held for Brayden, but from what the both of you seen, these were pretty bad as by the many I've seen in the memory tunnel to gain access into this one."
"What other memories?" Starlight asked.
"What you and Nightmare Moon witnessed was during his childhood times as he's only let the bad times shadow over the good and innocent times he had then on Earth. Memories of his current time in Equestria from when he arrived also exist, most good memories being brought into there from what he experienced here."
"I don't believe it..." I said to myself at an audible volume. "He wouldn't let the bad memories cloud him."
"You haven't seen the later memories of his time on Earth though. I will show the both of you one of them," Luna responded to me while she ignites her horn to slowly change the memory's environment and setting to a different one. "But we haven't much time to see it, soon the shadow wolves will be here and we will have to depart the memory palace to deal with that black cloud of anger."
Starlight nods in agreement. "I'll be ready to fight them if necessary." She tells the both of us.
Luna closes her eyes and her mouth not showing a smile nor a frown so mild. Her horn ignites a few sparks while the environment around us began to shift once again. The past version of Brayden began to stay still and then disappear as soon as the shifting was being processed with the walls covering up into the room. Each object that was in the room becomes a shadow once again before there was nothing at all in that spot where they stood before.
I don't know what memory we were about to see, but it probably isn't as good either...
Brayden's POV
Uh... those voices of reason. They've woken me up again...
My eyes slowly open up, but I find the rest of my body unable to move from the position that I am in. Almost like a boa constrictor has tightened my entire body in order to have me for its lunch or dinner for that matter.
Can't turn my head either, but I am able to catch that dark shadowed cloud that surrounds me in what looks to be the clear prison for me to see everything from within my mind while my body is collapsed and our of conscious. My anger itself... loose from the emotions and taken control of my body when the last of the real me was still there. Only then I found it hosting my body from the memory I gathered from; using my body as a weapon to nearly turn the Sugarcube Corner's room in a mess.
All those memories in the past really caused the influence for it to break out of the seal and put the rest of myself in harm's way as well as bring verbal and emotional harm to all those around me in Equestria that I love... how could I have put myself through all of that I have been through before I even came here to the enchanted lands?
Without a choice, I can only stay in this position frozen in the crystal and unable to break out from it to keep it under control. All I can do is remain there, without a way out of this and to watch as this emotion takes over and hosts my body. Once my body awakens at sunlight, I know all hell is going to break loose.
Hold on... those voices... I recognize them myself when my ears pick up the sound of them from even outside of the crystal I'm within. They sound like Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon, but the third one sounds like yesterday when...
Starlight Glimmer? Is that... you with the both of them?
Starlight Glimmer's POV
The walls made way and shifted around to simulate a moderate length hallway with the painted walls of teal there, but more rather bricked walls of white. The night from the outside was no longer there when the shadows on the walls illuminate the resemblance of sunlight from there.
Princess Luna had finished conducting her spell to change all of everything in the memory palace. What she wanted to show us could have been important as to another reason Brayden has refused to tell them of his past. As to what I've seen right now, it wasn't looking too good by how he had shadowed the good parts of his past and only submitted himself into thinking of only the times he had been in for the worst.
The shadows that would soon be appear all over, with each item slowly appearing at a time with the description of what look at first to be iron lockers with locks on them that were usual to be seen at academies here throughout all of Equestria. By my eyes, I know that isn't the case as this doesn't even feel like an academy, but likely another school he went to.
"This memory is one that I had stumbled upon when I managed to escape from the wolves of fury, as this displays a manner of the same emotion that this black cloud reacted to which fed in its escape." Princess Luna explains to us, standing right where she is with myself on her right and Nightmare on her left.
From behind were the sounds of footsteps which we turn our heads around to look who could be coming from behind. What we can see are older humans probably almost looking like adults themselves though they are shorter from what they look like as they are the teachers by the uniforms and dresses they are wearing, while these young adults look and dress in all kinds of different fashion.
One of them comes by on the right, wearing what looks like a cap on his head but with the point behind him. On his shirt, the icon seems to display some sort of a leaf on it with the word... Swag underneath it and wears baggy pants. As with the shirt itself, I don't even think such a leaf ever existed in Equestria and I was confused myself as to what the word 'swag' meant.
"Everything here on Earth is much different than you think Starlight," I can hear Nightmare opening her mouth to speak. "Here, the fashion is much different and they hold onto something traditional since the evolution to their present time which is known as popular culture to them. It explains a lot when me, Luna and Celestia were studying Earth at the time that we were confused when hearing different words like hipster or bronies as to whom are the people on Earth who watch us from their technology known as televisions."
"Tele...what?" I asked.
"Never mind, we will explain the term television to you later. Perhaps Twilight could shed some light on it as well, as she and her friends know a little more about Brayden."
"It's this world though," I said to myself while about two or three girls walk by us wearing regular clothing while the third is wearing shorts and sandals unlike her friends she is with. "It seems so innocent here, as everyone else seems to be a little more calmer and more diverse. Why would Brayden ever have trouble here in this school?"
Luna is able to speak again after I have asked my question, even if meant for Nightmare herself to answer, but even the Princess of the Night must have a say herself. "This is his high school that he has gone to and had been going to before I found him and saved him from death's grasp, and this was one of the bad memories he remembers always from the time itself."
All three of us began to trot forward down the hallway most of these students by now were heading through, with most others like them and a few teachers walking down these hallways to get to where they needed to go for their next class or if it was a break and it would usually be this busy at the time.
"Doesn't it seem strange though?" Nightmare spoke to the both of us. "Normally we would be seeing Brayden right immediately, but this is uncommon."
"It is," Luna responds while I remain silent and listen to them while my hooves trot on the hard surface beneath. "But this memory only displays the three hallways merged with one another therefore making it part of it."
"But where is the source of what makes it a bad time for his anger to come into effect?" I asked her. "It could help us out to understand why he had to keep the anger hidden."
Nightmare was only looking straight ahead while I was asking that question to Princess Luna herself, and then her black hoof rising upward to point out the coming incident before our eyes while I am distracted myself. Neither me nor Luna's eyes have turned, with the exception of my own when that black hoof of hers rose off of the ground.
"I think the source of how this bad memory formed is about to happen right now." The black mare could only say to grab her attention now that she's got my own attention, so all I have to do is turn around to see these events that would transpire through my own eyes.
It was the Brayden that they knew, but his hair looked much shorter to this particular day than I had expected cause his hair had grown much longer by the looks of it in the present Equestrian time zone. He wears the usual clothing you would normally see, here as it feels much cooler than what it looks like on the outside, it's something that Twilight told me he would put on whenever it was the late spring and summer equinox in Equestria.
He looks pretty upset and judging by the girl he is communicating with, this probably could be the case like if it was an argument between him and a friend at this time. The girl that he is facing is to who I can describe by only appearance has red hair without any accessories to apply to it, and had hazel green eyes. Like the color of her hair, the short-sleeved shirt she wears is but a tint of what fire rubies would normally look like especially when rare to find.
"Come on Rebecca, at least give me a chance to explain what it's about!" I could hear him shouting. A few of the memory's students behind us could only slow down and watch the entire thing yet to come.
"No, forget it! Your obsession with those ponies has driven me marbles, and I'll never appreciate it for what it is! I'd rather die than even look at that show!" His friend responds back to her, sounding rather harsh about the issue at hoof... or hand as this is Earth.
"But even one of our friends has given it a chance!" He could only say, sounding a bit upset by the tone of his voice. "Why can't you give it one yourself? You never do it for anything I have suggested in the past!"
"My Little Pony is for little girls! I won't ever watch anything as shitty as that!"
Both Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon gasped when they heard this figure from his memory curse, while I cannot react to that and can only watch as he begins to approach her, but not get too close if this was the case. "Come on Rebecca, the ponies are friendly and could be a great asset to help out with your small problems." He sounded like he was trying to convince her the other way about thinking of my own kind.
"No!" That shout of hers gave him a bit of a scare and he could only find himself backing up a bit when she continued. "It's my damn opinion. I will never love those stupid rainbow ponies and never will!"
I can see a bit of the boy's tears in his eyes. Such words that she had used to bring insult upon us or the race that we all were, and we're not rainbows anyway so what a hypocritical word for her to use that. "If... if only you could give it a chance as I told you! Lauren Faust, the creator of the Powerpuff Girls made this show!"
"Well, then I've lost complete respect for her. I hope a dragon comes and burns up 'everypony' in that pathetic world you call Equestria!"
"There are friendly dragons though, like Spike." He tells her.
She lets out a bit of a laugh that sounds like it is meant to mock him. "He is way too friendly a dragon by the sound of it! I bet he doesn't even breathe fire!"
He takes a step forward and points at her. "Yes he does!" He could only argue back.
This girl whom myself, Luna and Nightmare now know as Rebecca finally lost her cool with the boy and the volume of her angry voice grew slightly louder. "If I was in that world, I would gather enough dragons to smite down every single pony living there, and their beloved princesses as I've heard out of you! I would make a much better leader than a pony princess!"
Brayden looks like he has had enough of this. He throws himself forward with a look of what seemed terrifying to me as he was furious on what he would call Princess Celestia herself as a 'pony princess'. I can tell that even Princess Luna looks rather offended by this comment she made as well as this was her sister that Rebecca was talking about. She would have no right to hear a human speak hatred of her sister like that.
He pins her right up against a locker with that look of fury on his face, developing more input to the fire he had accidentally started, which by turn led us here. "Don't you ever say that about Princess Celestia! You are a complete monster!" He could only find himself shouting.
He kept her pinned for a few moments until he releases her from his grip and still looks angry when he turns the other direction with his back behind us as he storms off away from the scene. His friend Rebecca who made all the comments on us and having been pinned to one of the lockers by him, could only watch as he left with a look of shock brought upon her face.
The memory stops moving from there and I could hear Luna sigh after all three of us have seen it. "This one was something he could never let go of whenever he was angry. I could only pick this one as there were many other times that he was in this kind of mood, which in fact triggered the emotion of anger to escape and eventually seize control." She says to the both of us.
"Aren't these kinds of memories easy to forget though, as you only remember the good memories?" I asked.
"That question is true," She responds to me. "Unfortunately it is as I have said, for he chose to burden himself with the darkest of memories that range from his childhood. I couldn't find the earliest memory he had as it was all based on him as a newborn or a young infant at that rate."
Nightmare trots forward a few steps. "But the banishment I placed upon him a thousand years ago, he doesn't remember that?"
Luna nods in response to her when her head turns with her cyan eyes looking back at hers. "While you were still hidden from inside of me, taking complete control of me I would have no idea that in your possession I would be casting such a spell to send him off to Earth, which by turn this one you cast had erased his memories from the thousand years ago, on what could have been but went differently than had been expected. It's not your fault, as Brayden is your dear friend."
"But what do we do now?" She questions, beginning to pace back and forth within this hallway we stand in. "By each minute we waste, the cloud of fury will only be fed to take complete control of this body he has. Who knows what could happen when Celestia's sun rises over the eastern horizon to bring morning."
"It could be worse than we think which is why we must come up with a plan quickly enough to stop it before the spread becomes much further."
I kind of let out a bit of a nervous laugh before I responded to the statement made by the Princess of the Night. "I think we could use our own magic to battle it and put it under control?"
"Of course Starlight. We'll be using our magic to combat the emotion and drive it back into the chamber where it was so that it can be locked up and used as a normal emotion whenever possible, but without the burden to set it free again to take him over. All we must do is give it every possible thing that we've got to weaken it first, before we can send it to the chamber of other feelings within Brayden."
"I only question how we can be able to leave the memory palace to go and face against the cloud."
"As we are in the use of the spell to travel within his mind, I who cast it can send us out of here and back into the main central of his thoughts to face it and purge it from the crystal that it surrounds. The spell has limits though, like the sun rising that can end the spell rather abruptly so it is quite a time limit to burden when the spell comes to use. I thought I saw my nephew trapped within the crystal, but being that as the case we need to find a way to release him."
"There are shadow wolves on the hunt for us as they are part of the emotion," Nightmare Moon claims herself, her hooves having stopped pacing to look at me with those cyan cat-eyes. "They will attack us, but we have enough magic to tackle both the cloud behind both them and taking control of my dear friend."
The sound of distant howling that sounds really close by caught the attention by the movement of our ears perking upward to hear them. A chill is brought to my bones upon hearing them as Princess Luna had said that it wouldn't be long until they managed to find us. "Well it's probably just our luck that they're here!" I said to the both of them.
"Alright, I'm going to open up the memory palace's exit," Princess Luna states herself while her horn channels up magic and getting ready to conjure the portal out of here. "Keep guard and hold them off for as long as the both of you can!"
There comes the pack scurrying on down the hallway opposite side in pursuit of their lust for our own blood. My horn ignites with magic as well as Nightmare's as we ready for the oncoming attack from the shadows themselves. The snarling teeth with only a shine briefly for them and the illusion of thinking there is drool coming down from their blackened mouths.
I power my horn and take the first shot towards one of them, narrowingly missing that one I have targetted, with the beam's collision imminent right after onto the school's floors. The wolves continue to sprint violently towards us with the sounds of growling and barking coming out from their mouths. My eyes aren't set towards Nightmare as of right now, but I can tell she hasn't fired a shot of magic just yet. Most likely she is preparing in the defense stance as she probably isn't one now to charge into battle when she was not redeemed by Brayden himself yet.
The wolves were now in quite a closer range as I fire towards one of them, the beam making direct impact upon its face. The wolf that had been hit, went backwards in response to the pain that I gave to it before giving an aggressive look upon its face. Now I knew from there that meant deep trouble...
The magic of Nightmare was being ignited as she was unleashing spells of lightning from her horn towards two or three of the wolves and trying not to get herself overwhelmed by them. With me there, I will make sure that such a thing won't happen for her nor the Princess of the Night while she is opening the memory palace door. The wolf I have knocked down looks rather edgy for a moment and begins to sprint towards me.
The shadow leapt forward and knocked me down onto the school floors, my head nearly hitting the white walls right behind me. It leapt again, pinning me right there onto the floor and roaring into my face. My horn ignites again, firing another beam of magic onto its face and probably by chance because its mouth just opened so it can taste a little bit of it.
The wolf was blinded by the beam at first once my horn has settled down from casting an attack spell towards it. It's not enough though... as I thought it could do more damage.
It lunged right at me with its mouth, trying to get a bite out of my face when I move my head to the side. Missing right there, I could hear its sharp teeth snapping onto nothing when I have twisted my head to dodge the death that I didn't want to have.
A beam is heard firing, hitting the shadow wolf and with a force had pushed him off of me when he had pinned me down. I turn to look in the direction the beam had come from to see that it was Nightmare Moon who had fired that beam, while her attention is brought back towards the shadows that seem as though they are beginning to overwhelm her.
The shadow she knocked to the floor is able to get up, snarling viciously at me. My horn channels up again, firing another bolt of my own magic towards that darkness with an impact towards it by its chest.
It seems to disintegrate into a black cloud particle before flying off itself somewhere by the dark portal it has created itself to return to the main root of the problem here within. Even if that was the case to chase after the particle, I couldn't go after it that simply. I could end up getting affected by the outcome of the dark powers it possessed and might absorb into the anger, so it is more wise that I stay with Princess Luna and keep the other shadows at bay while she is opening the portal.
A small spectrum of light could be seen with a slow-paced expansion as Luna is casting her spell to open the gateway to the core of Brayden's mind once again out from here. "This spell is taking a bit of time, but I think I can complete it soon!" She shouts to her, still focused on casting her magic to expand the portal further.
My head turns back towards Nightmare Moon, channeling more magic to my horn to aim directly for the shadows surrounding her with a lust for her own defeat by their own sharp teeth. I fire a bolt of magic towards one of the wolves, directing its attention off from the black mare to the direction behind to see me in an offensive stance. Another bolt of magic fires off from my horn, blasting that wolf into another cloud particle itself.
I keep an eye on that particle, as it moves to another place and respawning itself as another shadow wolf closer to my position, sprinting forward and pouncing with its teeth bared and ready to gnaw at my own fur coat. I turn backwards, motioning my back hooves and bucking the leaping wolf right in its face when it was ready to strike at me like its other pack member. It was knocked onto the ground, my attention still diverted between that member and the others distracted by Nightmare Moon.
She fires another set of lightning bolts at them, slowly backing up at the same time to get good shots of them. A few lucky shot shots were made, but the wolves still kept creeping slowly towards her. I gallop towards the wolves with the both of my front hooves ready to buck at the first that I have my eyes upon.
I pounce forward and slam the both of them on the head of the shadow, while it releases a painful yelp from it's mouth at the same time that my own made impact. Its dead eyes turn towards me, as my two back hooves keep me balanced to land a push on the wolf who got up then to try and bite me.
"Thanks for the assistance there!" I can hear Nightmare saying to me, still blasting at a few shadows with her horn. The magic she is using is now between a mixture of both a single burst and that of her lightning spells that have possibly regenerated for all the good reasons of being a new ally to Equestria. The wolves look much lesser defensive, but by each strike and flash of lightning towards them result in them becoming cloud particles and then regenerating again.
My horn channels magic once again, firing a multitude of beams towards the small pack to fight back and hopefully scare them off so there won't be too much of a challenge from there. How long Luna is taking to open up the portal isn't on my mind right now as the eyes of the darkness are driven by a lust to prevent us from taking care of the anger that infects who will be my new friend... that is if he accepts my change in the end.
Each hoof I use to buck at the wolves, and by each magic I used myself to defend myself, I feel like everything is start to accelerate much faster in Luna's process to leave the memories of Brayden himself. Nightmare lifts her head upward, her horn stabbing one of the shadows into particles of darkness, watching as it slips past Luna and through the open portal to head back to its formation.
The minutes that have passed with us, Princess Luna's progress was almost complete. "Almost there... keep pushing them back!" She struggles while trying to get the last of the portal remnants still for her spell to complete.
The small fight rages on, with three shadows charging right forward towards me. Clever me knows what to do especially with the strong magic I possess, don't I? A second before they have pounced forward to maul at me by their sharp paws, the horn activates my magic and I find myself teleporting right behind where they have leapt to their own confusion as they look side-to-side, but not backwards.
I raise my right front hoof towards my mouth, placing it there and then signalling out a whistle to grab their attention. Their ears perk up as I ready my magic yet again for the surprise attack. My horn is bursting full of my magic that I find myself unleashing towards the three of them. One still unaware of myself standing there on all four hooves was blasted into a particle that slips back to the core mind, the second running right at me while the third is taking the best cover it can.
When the second shadow jumps at me, my hoof that I've used to whistle loudly for their attention is used to assault them with a hoof to the side of its face, slamming it towards the lockers on the left with a bang before it hits the ground. My hooves set forward towards the shadow, and rise into the air and set down upon it with a slam to the side of its face once again, dissolving it like the other shadows.
My eyes turn to the right when I hear the growling of the third one by each step of its paws that it takes to move much closer. My horn ignites more magic to attack, firing a beam towards it.
To this one it wouldn't be bested by me, as this shadow wolf skids to the side when the beam approached as it was the target. The red eyes though like all of the other shadows that had been the same appearance look really glum themselves like it was bad luck crossed onto them to task them for spreading it upon others who don't want it. The rest of its form look like something out of imaginative nightmares.
The sound of thunder booms out as there is a flash where it stood and then there is nothing but particles of black clouds when I first expected that it would do. I didn't expect Nightmare Moon herself to come and help me out as she would be busy with the other members of the shadows. The dust lifts from the lightning spell she cast upon the wolf to send it back off to the cloud of anger within the core.
"Don't worry, you helped me out there. In return, I help you out!" Nightmare Moon says, smiling at me with a look of trust.
"...Done!" Princess Luna shouts at the both of us while her horn releases the aura of magic that had been used to open the portal, but still getting ready to battle the anger when we come through the portal. "Now we must hurry, for I fear the sun could rise if we don't!"
My hooves start off slow at first for a second, but then turn into galloping while following behind the black mare who goes in through the portal after the Princess of the Night has. My hooves went pouncing forward and readying for the levitation spell I used in the time loop is when I feel what it is like beyond the event horizon of the doorway.
It is the feeling inside of me that shows true forgiveness within myself, knowing that if Brayden can see the light inside of me during this battle... he'll forgive me in return as Twilight has told me all along...
From the white flash of light, I was levitating above the path of where all of us came into the memory palace before. The giant black smoke still covers the platform from before, smothering the crystal that contains who will be my friend if given a chance. It makes no sound, but a rather eerie silence with the sound of blowing wind in the distance.
"You leave my dear friend alone!" I can hear Nightmare Moon shouting towards the dreaded emotion, firing a beam of her magic straight towards it while it floats there.
The beam had made direct contact with the cloud, creating a hole through it like there would be a weak point and its dark mists having gone backwards a bit like it was scared from the attack. But how can we really tell though? It doesn't have a face, and all the representation is anger and fury so it will probably react different.
Without an alarm for it, the hole in the black cloud begins to seal up with more coverings of the blackened smoke like this harmful pain that Nightmare brought upon it was nothing that it couldn't stand. Being surprised by this myself, I can't even fathom how such a strong essence being a part of him could do such a thing! She brought in another chance to fire more rounds of magic from her horn, creating more holes... only then get more covered replacements of clouds to reform.
The sound of deepened laughter sounded out from the smoke, to our own surprise as there is no way emotions can also have a voice as well, but more something in our own minds that allow us to affect how we look on our faces emotionally whether sad or joyful.
"How you fail to try and bring him back to the misery of his own self... Such fools..."
The voice in the darkness sounded once again, catching us off-guard. By this point I am finally able to get a description on what it sounded like. It sounds a lot like Brayden himself talking to us, but with a more deeper and dark tone in its voice as the direction the voice came from is the smoke itself.
"What makes you think you can keep him from us, the ones who care about him forever?!" Princess Luna responds to the voice in the dark as it's sides swirl about slowly for what look a bit like whips.
The dark cloud remains right where it was, but unveil a deep low roar of laughter itself, where the sound itself was coming from. All of us remain silent, but while Luna and Nightmare flap their wings and move closer towards the dark cloud, I too follow along with the influence of the levitation spell I have cast at the same time, but I cannot fire a single bolt of magic just yet as we must prepare what this cloud is saying.
"It's all because I can, and will as I always should have done as his emotion. Trapped in that orb prison, only acting as a puppet whenever my emotion was triggered in such events... but no more, I have him in my grasp now." The anger responded to the question for the night princess, showing no remorse in its voice whatsoever.
"A puppet?! You brought it on yourself to make him lose control!" She shouts right back at her, and even that isn't the Royal Canterlot Voice from the information that Twilight told me when she was telling me about Princess Luna herself.
"Of course. The memories of his depressions and angered moments only fed to give me the strength I needed to break out of the shell and to finally begin one by one with him getting angry at certain points in Equestria. What he brought from Earth will affect him here as well... and you three are only clueless of this purpose."
"Purpose?" Luna says, my eyes not turning off from the smoke itself and its swirl. "If you dare plan to do something to my nephew, you will regret such a thing!"
The dark cloud chuckles once again. "It does. As I was only able to control his human body during that time his mentality snapped, when he passed out as he is right now it put his body into a lockdown that could soon be penetrated by me... and when that sun shines into the room, I will finally awaken and use his body for the worst acts possible."
Luna charges a bolt of magic from her horn and fires straight at it, creating a hole right through the smoke itself which I know it will slowly regenerate to cover up with replacement smoke particles from even itself. "You will do no such thing! Why do you want to do such a thing and why are you all but smoke?!"
"It is to use his mind to slaughter all those who have deceived him, humiliated him, and let alone everyone and everypony will fall to the hands of his fury as I control him forever only using the memories of his bad times as strength." The voice paused after what he said, probably thinking of her other question. "Oh... I only host myself as smoke, as I as an emotion can change forms into different appearances. But that is what you can say, I will change into a different version of what I could have been to all three of you."
All of us descend downward to the platform the dark cloud that grows, my hooves touching onto the stones themselves and my magic that cast the levitation spell going calm and turned off to watch this cloud change its appearance. Even I was surprised by myself, as I haven't even talked to it yet or even acknowledged it.
The cloud itself whipped one of the particles back like it was separating from even itself. The particles, stretching out to form what almost looks human itself, but much different. On its back, it was creating what seem to look like wings themselves but not fo that by any pegasi or eagle nor even a dragon. They were the resemblance of demon wings themselves, one that has never appeared in Equestria ever before. The rest of the clouds gather together, creating the legs, feet, body and arms. The fingers of its hand looking black as the night when they stretch outward from the creation.
Its hair was that of smoke itself, similar to the manes of both Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon on each side of me, the ones that swirl just like Princess Celestia's. The emotion had finished its changing and reveals itself to us as its own unique form as of that by a demon itself that ran Brayden as long it was broken loose from its cage.
"I wasn't surprised myself either when I figured I could do something like this. I guess the benefits of him born with the blood of an alicorn does make his body special." The anger had stated to all three of us.
"He does not need this anymore!" I shouted at the demon as its crimson red eyes turn to look at me with a clever smile upon its face.
"And what exactly are you three going to do about this? He is under my full control and I will dominate his body for the acts of murder and all he can really do is watch as I take it out on everypony he loves."
I began to channel offensive magic into my horn to ready for my attack on the emotion. "Well, I won't let that happen to him! Even if you make him do this, you'll never complete your achievement in the end!" I shouted, finally firing the first bolt of magic at the demon.
Its smoke raises its left claw and uses it as the target of my magic burning right through it before I watch it regenerate once again. "Good luck with trying to stop me. What do all three of you got against me? Nothing, because I could be stronger than any of you three can ever imagine before."
"We'll see about that, you monster!" Nightmare shouts, finally charging her horn and igniting a strike of lightning towards the demon all the while as both myself and Princess Luna get ready to attack.
The demon could only stand there, getting ready to make an offensive move as well while keeping that smile upon its face. Its claw moves forward in a push, sending out a beam towards Nightmare Moon herself. She barely managed to dodge that with her life though, jumping out of the way of the beam's destructive nature. Her horn channels magic again though as we begin to attack more.
It could only stand there, waiting for the right moment to strike at any of us while each of our magic goes as far to attack it, trying to find its weak point that could be of use for maintaining it. I fire another bolt right towards its face and it looks more angered that we thought it would be.
"You would dare try to stop me yourself when you're one of the causes to my own escape, wouldn't you?!"
"If that's what it takes to bring him back to be my new friend, so be it!" I shout right back at the black smoke, before firing another bolt of magic right at it.
The demon looks rather enraged by now, firing another bolt of magic towards me, managing to hit the floor below my hooves and send me flying to the side by the magical explosion that came upon impact. I find myself skidding on the tiles for a moment, close to the edge of falling off. Still, I took an opportunity to fire another bolt of magic towards the emotion before I find myself hanging right onto the ledge and doing what I can to get up and back into the fight.
The crystal before me in the center of the platform, finally shone clearly before my eyes to unveil the mysteries of what could be inside as predicted and what I had thought. It's in the shape of the human Twilight loved dearly. Brayden himself... the real one trapped in there and forced to watch as we battle the anger he contained before but was eventually unable to anymore.
My hooves were able to push upward and I get back up onto the platform, firing another bolt of magic in accordance with the other two in this battle.
Princess Luna kept her wings flapping by each shot she takes from her horn in the hopes of weakening the emotion into the state of defeat. Even if that is so, the anger shows no sign of giving up just yet and it continues to power more magic that it would extract by the mind of Brayden itself, influenced by even the human's blood itself to send out more magical attacks at any of us.
I stamp my right hoof onto the platform's floor, making a charge right towards the emotion itself and on approach, jamming the tip of my horn right into the right leg. It flinches upon the pain that it bears from my move, but a charge to my horn sends another bolt of magic right into its face.
"I've had enough of this." The emotion claimed itself, as dark magic channels up in its claw and fires a black cloud of smoke towards me and blinding me for a moment.
Trying to breath from the smoke, I find myself coughing while the smoke is starting to lift and it would already be too late when such a thing was possible. The demon itself threw its claw down like it would be scooping up a bowling ball, and knocks me into the air and with a hard impact on the ground.
The impact was painful for me, and I can find the bruises on my mind-ethereal self on the side that I have landed as well as my right cheek when I gently rub my hoof on it to make sure it didn't hurt too much. The demon's look on its face pretty much describes to me that it's not done just yet with any of us...
Princess Luna who had been flying mid-air and firing bolts right at it, was gripped when the demon had unleashed more of the dark magic it had to take ahold of her. The demon with a vicious smile upon its face, exhales a breath of the same black smoke to blind and leave her coughing before slamming her to the ground and then tossing her to the side to watch what could come next if Nightmare Moon was in the same kind of hurt that both myself and Luna were in now.
She gallops around, avoiding the crystal that contained her friend, firing another bolt of magic towards the demon itself. "Brayden himself would never really think that you were important when that small part of me was telling him to kill you." It tells her.
"He made the right choice to spare my life, so I live my life for all the good reasons that he needs to live!" Nightmare Moon shouted before firing another bolt at it's face.
The demon chuckles, spreading its demonic wings and flying into the empty air. "Think that all you want, but I can always bring that end to you right here... but first I would have you watch the damage I will do before even executing you!" Another thrust from his hand sends a wave that knocks her back, but she is unwilling to give up like the demon.
"All that matters is that we all love him, and it's always been himself that has made himself become a dear friend to me, and a friend to everypony else in all of Equestria!" She gallops in another direction to avoid the oncoming blasts of energy the demon will send.
The demon thrusts more energies of magic towards the black alicorn herself, practically missing at first, but rather surprised itself when she transcends into a cloud form and zips off. Even I didn't know what to say about this while treating to the injuries it brought upon me. But I can see the cloud form right behind the demon and then unveiling itself as Nightmare Moon again.
It still wasn't able to find her on the platform, and was completely unaware that she was right behind. "A friend that you had haunted in his dreams, and tried to kill." It made that statement with a bit of a laugh. "My other forms for that of the wolves should have torn you apart in the memory palace. I am quite surprised you were able to defend yourself for that long..."
"That is because I understand the magic of friendship, and have both Luna and Starlight by my side to help me!" She shouts at it, charging her magic and sending a powerful blast of magic towards the top of its head. It managed to turn around to see her attack coming, but was unable to react in any way to defend itself from such a spell that she cast.
The demon had set itself onto the ground, knocked to the platform. He slowly begins to get up though, chuckling a bit. "Impressive skills for an alicorn separated with even a cursed name upon herself."
"My name is no longer a curse!" She shouts at it, anger filling in the tone of her voice. "Some may hate me for who I can be, but I will always be good and pure as Brayden wants me to be!" She casts another blast of magic to knock it back onto the ground. I start to slowly get up and channel magic to my horn to ready another attack.
It was knocked back onto the ground, its shadowed body scurrying by the blast of magic motioning on the floor with a rattling shake that even both myself and possibly Luna could feel ourselves upon its impact.
Nightmare looks a bit tired out from casting those two blasts, judging by the bags under her eyes. Even when casting magic, there can be limits even for alicorns alone. The demon itself has a look upon its face, it will not be bested by the alicorn who once wanted to bring eternal night to all of Equestria.
It's wings spread fast and upward with its right claw ready and it lashes out at Nightmare Moon to give her a scratch across her chest. With the pain she recieves, she screams a bit from the harm itself. She was hurt, and I can tell that Brayden in that crystal prison was most likely starting to feel both worried and hurt inside that she would be feeling pain. Both her and him are good friends after her redemption and something bad happening to her would affect him deeply from what I know. It was probably a giveaway when I first prevented the Rainboom in the past from the scroll I altered before even my own redemption by Twilight.
With its right claw forming right into a fist, it punches her out of the air and slams her into the ground a couple of feet away from me. I have charged enough magic in my horn to start firing it right at the emotion itself.
Sadly though, it probably has heard the sound of it firing and raises its left claw to block it and create another hole through it. With the aftermath of the bolt passing through, it of course regenerates and it only looks at me with disapproval in its eyes as well as it turns around to raise up only one sharp finger from the same claw to wave at me in a taunt.
"Yet you still fail to stop me... such utter weaklings..."
I had no choice but to growl after those choice of words that he said to me. I tried charging more magic to my horn to ready another attack, but all the magic used to attack can only bring out a few sparks of magic to crackle and sizzle. The emotion watching me attempt to attack once more, can only bring it upon itself to laugh at this.
The emotion finally opens up its right claw and a ball of dark energy begins to form and grow in size when it's expression on its face had changed. "I've been left too much in that prison with all those other emotions. No more for me... Now I will take over what was left of his mentality and without the actual Brayden, he'll be nothing but a tool by the time the sun rises!" It says with a deep voice, before it has tossed its ball of energy towards the crystal.
The energy looks overwhelming for the crystal and small cracks accompanied by the sounds of them start to overtake the gem, before the crystal shatters into a million pieces and each part of them falling onto the platform. I can hear Luna gasping in fear, and even I was frightened as Brayden was in there and by the time it shatters it was like he has disappeared from us forever.
Luna gets up onto all of her four hooves, galloping over towards the crystal pieces to pick up a few. No hope left for us... just only the small ashes of who could have been a great friend to me and the loss of Twilight's special somepony. A few tears have gathered in the night princess' eyes while she was picking up the pieces.
"Now I will have full control and will bring it upon myself to bring ruin and destruction as revenge for all of those people in his bad memories that gave it to him."
Princess Luna who heard the demon talking once again, has a hard time clearing the tears from her eyes but looks rather enraged by all of this. I knew that there will be deep trouble when she turned to look at the emotion, smiling at her like she was pathetic and then sounding out the Royal Canterlot Voice. "YOU MONSTER! HOW COULD YOU BRING IT UPON YOURSELF TO KILL THE TRUE NEPHEW I KNOW INSIDE?!" She screamed right at it, tears crawling down her cheeks.
"Because I can... and must... and now with this victory, you will never be able to get the depressed him back to you where he was always sad when reflecting upon those bad memories!"
The night princess channels magic to her horn, firing it right at the demon who in turn fires a beam of dark energy at the same time, entwining both of the beams together and locked in a duel of good and fury. She looks angry about this and all the fury can do is smile at her attempt to bolt itself out and defeat her again.
The beam of dark energy was pushing harder against Luna's magic and I didn't want her to lose this battle. Nightmare is only weeping silently to herself like she had failed her friend and couldn't save him in time. I can only lay there and watch as the beam duel went onward with Princess Luna pushing all that she could to stop this attack. The emotion though is much stronger than any of us thought though, as it was all of the bad memories that fed it to escape and become powerful.
A smile upon its hateful face... the beam closing in on Princess Luna herself. I'm just hoping to Celestia herself that a miracle will happen and that Luna will have the upper-hoof again to push her beam towards the darkness. It's almost like this will be the end for any of us or all of Equestria for that matter here.
The only thing I would notice at the last second was the light blue beam of light firing from out of my sight and towards the entwined beams locked together. The dark energy seems to shut down by contact, and Princess Luna's magic bolts onto the chest of the demon. By surprise, the demon itself wonders like myself where that source of energy came from, but it turns in the direction it fires and it looks surprised.
Even both Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon hold the same expression as well when they turn their heads, so I had to turn to see what it was they were looking at by the time the flash of white light came through into my eyes, but not that bright to the point of blinding me. But I gasped in surprise when I saw who it was in the light himself...
In the light, the figure was human as I had expected it to be. His feet are afloat like the rest of his body, but he is facing the emotion himself with a cross expression on his face. His right hand holds onto the silver claymore that I remembered him carrying, a powerful essence of magic spread all throughout his body by the looks of it with a bit of a sparkling touch to it. With the power of the blade he holds known as the Song of Order, his ethereal armor is there but he holds no wings. Where his wings would be instead shows a bright white light glowing all round his back.
I know by the look on his face and the description that I was happy to see he was still there and alive for all of us, even myself. By the long brown hair blowing about even though there was no wind, I knew that this was Brayden himself, and the one that all of Equestria knew.
Brayden's POV
I find myself free from the crystal prison when the dark energy had shattered it, and I was feeling the magic of the Song of Order in my hand underneath the platform I was being kept in while watch all three of them fight the anger that kept burdening me for the past couple of days.
Quite aware that the Song of Order can transfer itself to me as I was here in Equestria by spirit form, I knew it could last a long time for I as the bearer and paladin of Equestria honored to me by Celestia herself knew that it could. For the mirror world, mostly it would last a few minutes before it ceased its magical activities for it rests there at Fluttershy's cottage where I live. But now, I can use this here in my mind to purge what took me by surprise.
My eyes were staring right back at the emotion and the dark energies that it was in possession from in the memories of myself. For when I was free, it would only go as far as to seal the palace from sharing the bad memories for only I need to think of the good things in my life and of my time on Earth that make me proud to be alive, and not be stuck in the past. The anger looks surprised, as if trying to figure something out.
In the corner of my eye, I can see Starlight Glimmer lying there on the dry tiles of stone who was joined with my aunt Luna and friend Nightmare with the happiest expression on her face. I no longer hold any more anger towards the unicorn herself for making me see the troubles of what could have been Equestria if it were the case. It is inside of my own heart and soul that I fogive her for all she has done to me, from the moment she said she was sorry.
When the anger had blinded me, I could not find it in myself to do such a thing. Without the anger here towards her, I will be honored to call her my friend when I have awakened from securing the emotion back with all of the others, and sealing it for good to only use it when I have to for all good reasons.
"You!" The emotion in the form of a demon points to me with surprise in its tone of voice mixed with anger in it as well. "How can you be alive?! I destroyed you!"
"It is because I can never be destroyed completely, for you are only a part of me that keeps me alive!" I responded back to it, sounding brave and cross. "While I am here, you are not allowed to bring harm to any of my friends in the waking world or even these three who have travelled into my mind to get me back!"
"You'll never be able to lock me back into that tight prison that you've kept me in since your birth, as I only have had enough of you being the friendly type who hurt any of these innocent beings you call 'ponies'!"
"And I never will hurt them! These ponies are the friends who helped save my life when I was in that dark time in my life back on Earth, and by the time I saw it I was complete denial as you were, but I knew what was right the entire time!" My statement was quite clear when I float over and land beside Starlight Glimmer. I lower down on one knee, placing my left unarmed hand gently onto her back.
My voice shrank into a calm tone after having given Starlight a few friendly pats and then taking her hoof to help her up off from the stone floor. "This one here, I was too blinded by your wrath towards her and the overtaking you placed within me for me to forgive her truely." I said, looking at her with a smile upon my own face.
The demon emotion looks rather disgusted. "I should have made you not watch that show when I had the chance!" He retorted.
"But there's no way you could prevent that, as there always is a door that leds to a future even worse than you think," I responded to him, taking a few steps forward away from Starlight to confront my inner demon. "Even if you manage to take control of me, you'll never feel like you truely accomplished what you desired, and you'll always feel alone with the magic of friendship by your side as it is with me. You as my own emotion would accept it truely as the other emotions have never treated themselves like they are in a prison."
"The sun is going to rise really soon though, and you'll never able to gain control of your body soon enough!"
"That I do know," I said, the Song of Order itself singing to warn me of the danger in front of me. Both Nightmare Moon and Luna in my sight can only watch to see what could be coming next and do not wish to interfere any further on. "If we both make up the difference you have and make peace with my own self, only then we can see a true change in both yourself and my true self in the waking world."
The emotion in its demonic form, being slightly taller than me in both height and size ends up conjuring what seems to be a large blade by the dark smoke and placing it within its claws like it was getting ready to fight me. "I will never think of surrendering what I have now by this 'friendship' magic that you think you have. These ponies need to feel the wrath of what humanity really is like on Earth. I'm bound to use your body to show it to them, one way... or another..."
The both of my hands grip onto the Song of Order, powering up the magic in the blade and the light behind me glowing brightly. The silver on the blade transforms from that color into the bright colors of those that form a rainbow. "Then I will show you what it is like from me to you for the understanding of how good the magic of friendship really is." I finished, getting ready for the fight and putting a brave smile upon my face.
"Let's see what you've truely got to face me..."
(Play Suckerpunch by Delain)
The demon made it's charge forward with the blade itself made of ebony itself with the handle looking very obsidian itself, as they are known to be almost unbreakable. I stood there and ready the blade for a defensive move as its blackened wings gave it an extra push for the first strike.
The blade had swung, and my right hand is quick to react with the Song of Order there to clash. I pushed the demon back after his first move and I move my left hand outward to fire a bolt of light blue magic right at it.
The bolt of magic powered by the Song of Order struck it around the chest, flinching the emotion for a bit before it tore right through that beam in another attempt to strike me. My body dodges to the side from his own blade, lucky myself that such a weapon it created did not hit me there as it was very close to my heart and the last thing I would want is myself bleeding out here from a stab wound.
"You little bug can never be hit, can you?!" The demon screeches at me before I made my timed opportunity with its blade lifted into the air and lunge out towards the emotion with the Song of Order, hoping that the wound I give to the darkness will cleanse the anger for what it has become from there.
"Maybe it's because you've got to try a little harder!" I chuckled to myself as my blade clashed again with its own.
The clashing went onward as it maintains its ground position, backing up by each chance it got to defend itself from my own attacks that the Song of Order taught me. Thanks to the singing that blade emitted, I become quite aware when to make a blocking move or just to simply attack immediately.
I am really focused on this battle that I do not want to turn around and see how the reactions are on Luna, Nightmare or Starlight Glimmer. It would really break my focus and leave me open for attack from the defiant emotion, as it swings from over in the hopes of trying to cut me in half by my head first.
The Song of Order I held, clashed against the silver once more again, and even through words during the fight this would still be as good a time to confront it. "Listen! My soul was once lost and you might be feeling that way to from the jealousy that I even went through sometimes whenever I didn't get what I needed. It can change if you give it a chance!" I said, keeping the both of our blades clashed together and still with a hopeful look on my face and even the eyes gave off the same way as well.
It pushed forward with a skid of our two blades sounding quickly. "Oh please! I've given it too many chances, and look where it lands you! The same thing over and over again, and now it's my turn to lead you down the right path. The sun will be up in a few minutes as time is much faster here than in reality, so good luck trying to stop our fight!"
"But I will, and I know how to stop you now!" I shouted right back at it, my left hand casting a powerful blast of magic, sending it stumbling backwards and causing it to fall on its back.
"What?!" The emotion sounded rather surprised to hear of such a thing for me to say to it. "It would be impossible to stop me though, your angered and miserable memories has made me stronger than you!" I tries to charge at me, but with the blade in my hand, I turn to the side and slash a cut across the right leg of it's demonic form.
It screeched once again from the pain that I brought upon its darkest power, and falls to the tiles once again after having got up before charging at me that time. Even with the brightest light on my back, I was able to start floating upward with the blade powering up to prepare the rainbow beam used for destroying all the darkness that resided within the emotion and for that I can use the same to place it back where it belongs with the other emotions.
"You may have used my memories to make yourself a strong being from the inside, but on the outside it is only myself who is the stronger being from what you will never achieve," I claimed to the emotion who looks rather afraid by the power spreading throughout all of my body and the Song of Order. I cannot see what's going on behind me, but I think everything is starting to get much brighter. "But what will always be more powerful than fury and rage is the most wonderful magic of all... friendship!"
The emotion itself growls again, opening its demonic wings and giving me the ugliest glare that even I wasn't so afraid of. It tries to spread its wings and launch toward me as I float in mid-air, gripping onto the pommel of the Song of Order itself to prepare the fantastic and spectacular blow to the corrupt emotion itself while charging up the blade's power to a maximum.
A bolt of magic came slamming right onto it's side, and I could notice that it was Starlight Glimmer herself who was keeping the demon down, and then channeling magic to her horn to keep the emotion's right claw still and unable to move during all of this sequence. I can hear the sound of wings behind me as both Luna and Nightmare Moon join alongside me to aid me, their magic keeping its left claw and right leg from moving.
The blade has finally reached its maximum for the point of creating a magical rainbow shield around me as the sequence began. From the inside I can start to feel the rest of my body outside of my mind reactivating itself, and the three sparks of Honesty, Kindness and Laughter starting to power up and enter my mind to take power and access more power to my own blade and even the power within me as long as I had the blade in my hand.
"You fool! You have no idea what will happen to you when you purify this!" I can hear the emotion scream at me as its eyes can see each of the three spark's colors flying about the mind core and making their connections with me.
I can only smile and look down upon the emotion sounding calm once again. "Miracles... only those will happen to me." I stated as I can feel the warmth of the sparks and the power of friendship growing inside of me and the lightning from the shield striking my body with a tingly good feeling once again as my friendship power is rising.
The rainbow beam finally channels out when my entire body went into a flash of white light, flying downward towards the pinned down emotion and beginning to swirl around the now-frightened demonic form as it looks around all confusingly and afraid of what was going to happen soon enough just like Nightmare Moon when she was still corrupt by the evil within her, making her doubt her good self.
I can hear the emotion screech from inside of the swirling rainbow beam, and eventually cover up everything while the sparks connect with the platform below me and to the top of my mind's ceiling to commit the purification in the mean-time. Starlight Glimmer appears to be closing her eyes to prevent herself from going blind by the bright lights that were going on right now and increasing as I have closed my eyes as well. I cannot turn to see if Luna or Nightmare have their eyes closed, but I figure... they must know when such a thing like this is done.
After those few moments of my eyes being closed have passed, the rainbow beam has finally lifted and all that was left there was the small crimson red orb floating there as the regular emotion that it was, as the magic within the shield is still active but am able to find myself taking a hold of the emotion and moving it over towards the chamber of all other emotions lying there in their orbs.
The emotion of anger had fallen right back into the orb that it had broken out of before, and remained there for a moment. The strongest glass around the orb builds up once again with a magical touch and then with another coat of what seems to be a strong and almost impossible barrier to break forming and finalizing; no way could the anger ever break free again nor taunt me with my past.
Another sharp and loud of magic starts to gather through as the Song of Order and the three Sparks power up once again and make my body shine while I am unable to find myself move. Something inside me knew that this would be a huge transformation to me on what goes on for the inside of my mind and body and even on the outside, I can feel something about to happen.
A white light shone brightly throughout all of my body and I can feel its illumination starting to reach out from outside and shine out in wherever I may awaken and find myself, but when the light has faded only then I will know what has happened to me and how everypony around me will react to seeing me again.
The light fades into a pitch black and then I know I was beginning to awaken from there...
My eyes begin to slowly open up and the vision in my eyes is quite blurry at first. From the edge of this soft bed that I am laying in, I can see three blurry figures at the end of the bed where my feet would be, as I knew by the coat colors that it was the three that I have managed to see within my mind. The vision becomes eventually clear after both a moment and a soft groan, to see that it is indeed Luna, Starlight and my friend Nightmare.
All three of them look pretty exhausted and tired from the aftermath of what spell they have cast to get into my mind to assist me in my battle with myself from the inside. But in the end, all I can really think is that they have saved my life from could have been if they did not come on time before Celestia's sun rose over the horizon, by which the sunlight is beaming into the room that I am in.
It is my special somepony's bedroom itself, and even I noticed that she wasn't beside me the entire time as she was never there. I figured by the spell it would have been dangerous for her, so she left the room to leave the three of them to handle it.
Nightmare trots over to my right, taking my right hand with one hoof and holding onto it with a happy and blessed look upon her face. I can read from the look on her face that she was really joyed to see that I was going to be okay. "My dear friend... we are grateful to have you with us..." She tells her with her cyan cat-eyes looking right at me.
I can only go as far as to wrap my fingers around her hoof that held onto my hand, softly pulling her closer towards me. As she moved much closer to me, my left arm slowly moves around her neck and my forehead gently places itself onto hers while looking into my friend's eyes. "As I am grateful to have you, my aunt and new friend with me." I told her.
"I'm your new friend?" Starlight Glimmer asked me, sounding a bit confused.
I take my forehead off from Nightmare when she has asked me that question, and I turn to look at the unicorn whom has trotted over to the left side of the bed I was resting in. I signal her an invite with my left hand for her to come on onto Twilight's bed so I could speak a few words with as even I had something to say about this.
She placed her front hooves onto the covers and uses her back hooves to get up onto the bed, sitting down as I moved slightly upward in bed. I took in a bit of a silent breath before I began speaking to her. "Starlight Glimmer, you risked your life to be with my aunt and friend to go into my mind to stop whatever was going to corrupt me if you didn't come in on time. But while at it, I was thinking to myself for some time and I am really starting to regret those words that I said to you about wanting to kill you if you went near Twilight again... and I have to apologize to you for that matter."
Starlight herself could only smile at my apology, taking her right front hoof and placing it onto the top of my left hand. "I know you didn't mean to say that, but I as much as I forgive you for that... I made such a mistake to commit all those terrible things to show you the worst, I'm truely sorry for that. If you don't want to forgive me for that, I understand."
After listening to her response, I only find myself like with Nightmare, taking her hoof and surprising her with that unexpected friendly hug between the both of us. She looks like she didn't expect that at first, with the both of my arms gently wrapped around her neck but after a few moments, she didn't feel as surprised and wraps the both of her hooves around the top of my back while we share a friendly hug together.
The hug lasts for a few more moments while both Luna and Nightmare watch everything that went on with me and Starlight Glimmer my new friend before we released each other. Starlight takes her time afterwards to get up off of the bed as Twilight would be coming at any moment to see if I was awake after all of that time.
"Are you well, my nephew?" My aunt spoke out for the first time after both of the two others said what was needed to be said.
I nod my head in response to her question. "I am, Luna. I feel much better than how I woke up yesterday morning. I felt like I had a hard time sleeping but never thought it was all coming from my own mind itself."
"I too am glad that you're okay. When Twilight sent me a letter of what happened, me and Nightmare Moon came right away to her castle to see you and all of us were worried about what had happened to you especially from the Sugarcube Corner incident."
I look down in disappointment when Mr. and Mrs. Cake came to mind. "I know that..." I said to her. "Even after this was done, I know it is going to be quite a while before the Cakes allow me into the Sugarcube Corner again to visit Pinkie Pie or Sonata."
"You need not fear though, because they are very forgiving and I know very well by their judgements that they will always give you a chance no matter what you did to mess up big time. When you have some time, come to the Sugarcube Corner. I'm sure they'll be understand and joyed to see you again in that good mood you're usually in."
The sound of galloping was heard coming down from the hallway outside and even that caught my attention as I knew it was probably Twilight herself right on her way seeing that it was another new day over the skies of Equestria. I can only turn towards the closed door that the magical aura of Princess Luna opens up with her magic to allow the Princess of Friendship access into her bedroom to see me.
There she was, galloping into the room with Spike on her back joining along to make sure that I was doing okay and ensuring that nothing went wrong with me. After having put Spike back down off from her back, she turns and gasped when she saw me with both of my eyes open to stare right into her heavenly eyes.
"You're okay!" She cried out, looking both relieved and overjoyed. I can only catch a bit of mist starting to form in her eyes when she trots up over to the left side of the bed. She gets up onto her own bed and spreads open her wings to move them around the top of my back and putting herself close to me with only a few tears coming out from her eyes.
"Hey..." I said, the tone of my voice sounding both gentle and a little concerned about Twilight since she was crying. My right hand moves to her soft, silky mane and begin giving it gentle and slow strokes. "Don't cry... I'm right here for you..."
She sniffs for a moment before turning her head to look at my brown eyes with her beautiful and heavenly violet eyes. "I thought you were going to die!" She manages to get out first, before she spoke while a few tears were still crawling down on her cheeks. "Pinkie told me everything about what happened at the Sugarcube Corner and me and Spike became so worried about what was going on with you. I wanted to go in with you, but I couldn't due to the spell restrictions. Through the night while the spell was being performed, I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen to you..."
"Shhhh..." I said to her, turning the volume of my voice down to what seems like almost a whisper. "It's okay Twilight, you know that I'm never going to leave you no matter what. It's a promise I made to you and my friends. But in the light of my survival, I have made a new friend thanks to the magic of friendship. In that way you were right that Starlight Glimmer needed a second chance from me, but I was letting my anger towards her blind me from this. From now on, for those looking for immediate redemption, there is no doubt that I will give them another chance as long as it is truely believable."
Twilight could only find herself to smile with those leftover tears crawling down from my cheeks before my left arm moved off from around her neck, placing my index and middle fingers of that hand to pull her gently to place my lips upon hers. My eyes have closed during the kiss, but I can feel Twilight's lips embracing my own as we share it together.
A few moments pass, and we release ourselves from the kiss, eyes opening up once again. She nuzzles the side of my cheek and I can tell she was feeling a lot better after having heard the words that I told her. I nuzzled her back, keeping the both of us comfortable while I held her close to me.
"I'll never leave or let anything bad happen to me again... I promise." I whispered into her ear, sharing the honesty just as the spark inside had given to me.
Twilight giggles from the whisper, nuzzling my cheek again. "You're one of the reasons why you have a part in our lives and in my own." She tells me, rubbing her left cheek gently against my own.
There was more galloping coming up along the way that our ears picked up by the distant frequency, and Twilight knew more was coming judging by the sound of them. We separate from holding each other closer, and she gets off of the bed to turn and look towards the door to see the familiar faces that all of us knew, especially Starlight since she has seen them before.
It was our friends Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Applejack themselves coming in by the bedroom with both surprised and questioned looks upon their faces. All of them must have wondered what was going on here, and why both Luna and Nightmare Moon are here along with somepony they dealt with before. Rainbow Dash is not on the floor, but more flapping her wings mid-air to watch everything.
"What in Equestria was that?!" Rarity was the first to comment.
Fluttershy trotted forward after Rarity has spoken. "Is everypony okay? A flash of distant coming from the castle came this morning, and we all wondered what was going on." She says in the soft tone of her voice.
Pinkie Pie could only squeal and jump up and down in excitement to all of that. "Can you do it again?"
"I almost forgot!" Spike comments with a smile upon his face. "One group of amazing friends - check!"
"Yeah Spike, it looks like we really are home! And everything seems back to normal after that mind journey for Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon." Twilight says, smiling at all of her friends when they came into the room.
"Uh..." Applejack manages to speak out when her green eyes have turned to look at Starlight Glimmer in the room standing in front of Princess Luna. "What's she doin' here?"
Starlight Glimmer looks a little embarrassed by that all of a sudden, a guilty look coming upon her own face when one of my close friends pointed her hoof right at her. The pink on her cheeks really gave away that was guilty for committing all of that nonsense back at the village where she took their cutie marks.
"Actually, it's kind of a long story." Twilight comments to herself, trotting beside Starlight with a look of trust upon her face.
"Why don't we tell them all about it in the map room Twilight?" I asked while I was moving the sheets off that covered me the entire time I was resting in her bed. "I'm pretty sure we'll save some of the opinions there and tell what happened on our journey."
I shift myself and begin moving by sitting on the left side of the bed at first and then getting up onto my feet. My friends seem to look rather calm when I had been talking, but as soon as I got up out of bed... their expressions had changed. Rarity's face looked like she had seen a ghost from the dead, even though Celestia knows that ghosts are not real and all just myth. Rainbow Dash herself looks surprised at first, but is trying to keep herself from smiling. Everypony else looks rather shocked as well.
"What is it?" I asked, raising the both of my arms, hands open.
"Uhh, sugarcube... ya might wanna turn 'round and look behind ya." Applejack says to me, not sounding like she is too freaked out about it.
"Is it Nightmare Moon trying to prank me?" I asked, with a bit of a smirk on my face.
I turn my head slightly when I heard hooves to see Nightmare Moon approaching by Pinkie. "I'm surprised by this as well, why would I prank a dear friend to me?" She told me, still rather keeping that expression.
"Darling, it's beautiful!" Rarity exclaimed.
Well, whatever Rarity is saying, I better look for myself to see what my friends are making a deal about. I can only turn my head around, but can see nothing yet... luckily there is a mirror in the room so I turn my focus towards that and what sounds almost like shock is more along the lines of surprised happiness and joy filling me from the inside!
On my back were large feathers made in the coat of diamond blue whereas the wings are the size of what angel wings would normally be depicted as. But this is me is something new and exciting for me... I have them... I have wings!
"Yes! YES!" I screamed out loud with an excited tone in my voice, as I could not contain the excitement that was filling me from the inside. All of my friends, my aunt and special somepony share the same happiness for me while I was jumping up and down in a cheerful way. "Oh my god I finally got wings! I GOT 'EM!" I managed to scream out like this was the best news on Earth, even letting a bit of an unneccesary RCV in the process.
I can feel my wings behind me as they start to flap and lift me upward into the air. "I can finally go to visit Cloudsdale, which I thought would be unreachable! I know that-" While I was telling my friends that, I must have been interrupted by myself when my wings spiral a bit out of control and I began swirling back towards the ground with a hard landing on the crystalline floor.
Pinkie was there to help me up off of the floor, which I took her hoof she offered me to get back up onto my feet. "Now hold on there sugarcube," Applejack managed to comment. "Ah know yer excited 'bout yer wings there, but Ah think Rainbow Dash should help ya out with that kinda trainin'."
"Don't worry about it Brayden," Rainbow Dash commented with a smile upon her face. "With you learning how to fly by my teachings, there's no doubt that you and I are definitely going to be flying buddies for sure!"
I chuckled to myself and respond back to her. "With you to teach me, things will get 20% cooler after all."
"You got that right Brayden!" Rainbow could only smile when I said that.
"But first!" Twilight says to the both of us, turning to Starlight Glimmer right next to her. "We've got to talk about what'll happen next with Starlight here..."
The unicorn herself could only gulp with nervousness, hoping she won't be discarded and sent off away in exile. But I think the story will be told there in the map room as I said before.
Starlight Glimmer was waiting outside of the map room while me and the rest of the girls were in discussion about what had happened recently with the time travelling and the anger that had gone loose within my mind. I had told them everything that went on through my point of view as well as Twilight through hers as well.
There had been a few mized reactions when I was telling my side of the story when I had just lost my temper in front of Starlight after the problem had been resolved and how it was all of the anger that overtook me without any of my friends knowing about this, except for Princess Luna and Nightmare who had seen it coming. After going to the map room, they ended up leaving to go back to Canterlot's castle for a good rest which is what they needed after assisting myself from within.
After the story had been told, each of us were going to give our opinions on the story and on Starlight Glimmer herself, to be left to judgement by the rest of our friends. For me, I can now give her a new chance to be a real friend to me and the crimes she committed are forgiven for I could not see that I never would be that cruel.
"I mean, I know my rainboom was awesome, but I never thought all of Equestria depended on it!" Rainbow Dash stated.
"Or on us!" Pinkie commented.
"I think it's more than that," Twilight ended up saying to all of us with a soft smile upon her face. "Friendship connects all of Equestria, and undoing one group of friends made its magic less powerful."
"Ah can't believe y'all were able to travel through time like that." Applejack spoke out, sounding surprised herself after hearing that story.
"That Starlight must be pretty magical!" Pinkie comments once again with the same tone of wonder.
"She obviously has more talent for magic than almost anypony I've seen," Twilight starts talking once again. "My magic couldn't stop her. I had to convince her to stop on her own. Once I realized that, everything fell into place."
"But if she's as powerful as all that, we can't just send her on her way, can we?" Applejack asked.
Twilight could only smile and turn to look at Spike who stands by the door waiting for the right moment to allow Starlight into the map room and giving him a nod to initiate that action. "Actually, I kind of have something else in mind." She stated as the sound of the door was heard opening.
There she was, coming in and trotting over between me and Twilight's throne with the Princess of Friendship sitting there on it herself. She gulps nervously for a moment and then exhales a sigh. Probably afraid of being wrongly punished by me or the rest of our friends, but even they would never do that as there is always another way.
"I know there's no excuse for what I did," Starlight began with a guilty tone in her voice. "But I want you all to know that I'm ready for whatever punishment you think is fair." She lowers her head in sadness and disappointment while her ears are still perked up.
Twilight can only smirk and get up off of her throne and signal for me to join with Starlight herself with a smile coming upon my own face as well to make her feel welcome along with all our other friends, willing to give her a chance if she gives them a chance too. "I've been thinking a lot about how badly Equestria fared without just one group of friends. Because even when one friendship dies, the results can be disastrous."
"I know first-hoof how true that can be..." Starlight Glimmer comments to herself, but for both me and her to hear while it sounds almost like a whisper to the others.
"And that's why I've asked you here," Twilight finally stated and I knew something achieving was coming up for my special somepony herself. "If you're willing to learn, I'm willing to teach you what I know. You'll have the power to make Equestria an even better place."
"Twilight, you're going to be her teacher?" I asked her with a bright and happy tone in my voice. "Another reason that you always make me proud to have you here along with our friends."
"It's no problem at all, and I'm sure that I don't mind teaching a student for the first time. I know that your mother Celestia herself is going to be proud to hear the good news of my decision to have her as an apprentice... or student for that matter." She says with a bit of a giggle.
"Um..." I can hear Starlight Glimmer catch our attention as we turn to look at her again. She speaks a question to us in a hushed tone. "How do I start?"
"Starting is easy!" Twilight says to her, offering a smile of hope to her and raising her hoof to point out our friends. "All you have to do is make a friend! And you've got eight of them right here!"
"Starlight?"
When she heard my voice, she turns around to look at me as I take her hoof in a friendly way and have her look into my friendly eyes. Her eyes themselves curious as to what I was going to say to her.
I can only keep smiling and say "We are all very good friends, and with you here as my new friend, you'll never be alone again. We'll always be there when you need our help and if you need me, I'll be there. It's a promise I'll never break as long as I live."
Starlight could smile at me before turning around with the sound of music playing in the background and I knew from this point that this was the beginning of a song that she was going to sing herself, as she finally opens her mouth and looking at all of her new friends sitting right there before her. From that point, she begins to sing.
I never thought that I would find a place
To step right in and start again
I never thought that I could just begin
Right where I left off and make a friend
Twilight was listening to her as she sang, and was trotting beside her as she listens to her singing along with me on her left side while Twi's on the right. From there Twilight finally begins to open her mouth to sing.
Don't ever think that it might be too late
You don't have to wait, there's no mistakes with the friends you make
A friendship's only what you bring
And if you do it right, you can do anything
At this point, we began to make our way out of the map room and down towards the library while I took in a deep breath to sing with our other friends and with Starlight together in harmony.
Just use your eyes
This time, no lies
Just don't disguise
Who you are inside
Because your friends are always there for you
You don't have to be the same for friendship to be true
Because your friends are always there for you
Around the world, it's still the same
Together you have more to gain
There's nothing that a friend won't do
Everywhere you go
Friendship there will grow
When you find it, it's the key
Friends can change the world, you see
Everywhere you go
Friendship there will grow
When you find it, it's the key
Friends can change the world
Friends can change the world
Friends can change the world, you see
We all had finished singing when we have stopped in the library, and all of us were quite happy again now that the storm has passed even for me. All the troubles of my past no longer bother me now that I can think on the bright side and the good memories I had on Earth now.
Well... except I can hear the sound of what usual would be a cell phone vibrating whenever there is a phone call or text being sent to me. But I remember that I left my cell phone at Fluttershy's cottage and that there is no way that would be unless...
"Wait," Twilight says, channeling magic to her horn to get a book off from the shelf with the symbol of Celestia's sun on it. "I just got a letter from the mirror world sent to me. It wouldn't be sent unless it was Sunset Shimmer who did."
Twilight brings the closed book towards her and opens it up where she begins to read it for herself as she flips to the most recent page in the book from the last letter Sunset sent in her visit to that world. Twilight seems to be reading through it rather quickly before she let out a bit of a soft gasp.
She turns to look at me. "Come on Brayden, our friends in the mirror world might be in trouble! Don't worry Spike, we'll be back in a moment!"
"No problem. I'll just be talking to Starlight, our new friend." Spike says, with a happy smile upon his face.
With the mirror portal being in the same room, I run behind Twilight who is galloping towards and past the event horizon into the portal. I follow right behind, knowing what to expect and that the travel through should be a little more easier said than done.
With the flash of light from going past the event horizon as well, it didn't take that long as when the light lifted I was there in the mirror world again with Canterlot High in front of me and the horse statue right behind me standing tall and proud.
I was right beside Twilight herself, and it was quite a relief that I didn't go flying like the last time I went through the portal. In front of me were all of my friends there, really joyful to see that I have returned as well as Sunset who has new clothing than from the last time I saw her, so it was good to see her in human form again as I'm used to seeing her in both pony form and human form.
Everyone else was the same, but I ended up seeing Aria and Adagio with them and even I'm surprised to see that they have new hair styles. This world's Rarity definitely did a good job there, but all both me and Twilight wanted to know was what went on.
"I'm so sorry we didn't get here sooner!" Twilight apologizes for the inconvience of what went on, which we are unsure of yet judging by how fast she skimmed through the messages. "I didn't get your messages until now because I was caught in this time travel loop with Brayden and, honestly, it was the strangest thing that's ever happened to us!"
"Not to mention there was a bit of a battle that went on inside of here!" I said to them, raising my right hand and using my index finger to point at my head. "But hey, on the other half, I now have wings and I'm pretty sure the sparks I've unlocked so far could be the reason why I have them now!"
All of us paused when we saw the figure in front of us who looks a lot like Twilight, and even has the same hair color as her. The only difference was the different hair style and the glasses that this world's version of Twilight was wearing. Hmmm... well no wonder Pinkie mentioned her in the first movie when I saw it back on Earth. She and the Twilight I know can only stare back at one another in complete confusion.
Twilight can only give out a bit of an awkward smile at first before she finally made a comment on what was going on before us. "...Make that the second strangest."
A/N: Thank you for reading Part 2, the next chapter will be starting up which involves both Brayden and Nightmare Moon as an important chapter.
And now... the special announcement:
GUNS N ROSES IS BACK BITCHES, AND I'M SEEING BOTH SLASH AND AXL PERFORMING TOGETHER AGAIN.
That is all. Wait, did you read that? Goodness me, Deadpool and Pinkie are much better at breaking the fourth wall than I am... hahaha...
"Come on, end the chapter already!"
Fine Deadpool, just don't force this story into a crossover for crying out loud...
Alright, gotta run now! See you in the next chapter. (Can't believe I swore in my Author's Notes... wow.)