darkSpyro

Arlon entered the cart, a slight crinkle along his muzzle.

"How ancient is this thing?" he asked, tail twitching. It was a genuine question; there was no sarcasm behind his inquiry.

'These things were around when the Nightmare was in control.' Ideas muttered. 'Then again, Niomedes IS Progress... it would make sense that we're further ahead in the scientific field.'

You don't say, Arlon responded drily. Never would've guessed that she is Science and Progress itself. Wholy impossible. Preposterous.

'Yes, I get your point. Thanks.'

"No, no, I'm aware of that," Arlon shook his head. "I mean the architecture. I haven't seen this style since- well, the when doesn't matter. I suppose this is modern?"

He glanced about the carriage, frowning. "What of electricity? Is that even a thing here?"

The shield around me remains as unable to sleep, I open a large, extremely heavy and thick leather bound book. Opening it up, I start reading on of the many spells that I have created. I do not even look toward the others as I hear them speak. After reading for a little bit, I return the book to my saddlebags. I remain silent as I sit alone.

Arlon's frown deepened, before replying coolly, "Yes."

'You honestly do look like you're about to have a mental break. Calm down. A lack of- well, everything, isn't going to kill you.'

I don't need this.

'Okay- okay. Just remember that Nightmare Protocol would be horribly lacklustre if you fell now. Isn't that the opposite of what you wanted?'

True.

Bridle Readied the train then turned the brakes off. "Here we go!" She said as the train began to pick up speed , headding to their next destination. "Pick up the pace Yodoichi" "yes ma'am!". The familiar accelerated the process.

Arthur stumbled a bit when the train took motion and then regained his footing and sighed. "How long till we get to conterlot? Do you think the mist might try and attack us while we are on the train?" He asked bridle. He did sound a bit worried.

She looked over her shoulder. "About 6 hours, but I'm trying to magically accelerate the engine" she said as she tampered with some of the components. "As far as the mist...I don't doubt it will try again".

Levitating an apple from my saddlebags, I munch on it, looking out the window. It is very unlikely that I am going to talk Arlon anytime soon. The shield around me continues to shimmer, revealing that it is still up and strong. Pulling out a large amount of paperwork, I start working. With a little more magic, I have a desk for me to work at, so I can do my royal duties, while we travel. I take out a quill, a bottle of ink and some parchment, along with one of the many important documents before me and start scribbling away at the parchment.

Arlon moved to a corner of the carriage, a little away from everyone else, humming a sad tune as he unrolled Niomedes' letter and read over it once again.

"I told you to run," he whispered, his hoof brushing over the paper as he reminisced of a time lost to the aeons, asking the same questions for the thousandth time, "so we'd both be free... What would the world have been like if you came with me, dear sister? Would I still have become this monster? Or would I have dragged you down with me?"

Dragging another sheet of paper from the pitifully small remnants of what was left of his domain, Arlon began to write a response.

--

Niomedes -

We're heading to Canterlot - their Canterlot - to see what we can find there. Hopefully I find who and what I'm looking for, and then this little journey of mine will be over as soon as it began.

Of course, considering Sybill, or rather, this world's Fate - Faust, if I'm correct? - it isn't going to be that simple. If worst comes to worst, I will crawl to Tartarus and by the gods, I will beg Hades himself to bring me home.

Do what you can for the shade. Keeping it contained might be a problem, though, if it has previously shown signs of bending the rules. Be careful of letting it possess anyone; I wouldn't put it past myself to steal a mortal's life and soul to ascend once more.

- Arlon

--

Rolling it up and about to send the letter off, Arlon paused, before adding a postscript.

--

PS: I think this little runt of an alicorn is mad at me. Have you met him before? I'm not concerned, of course, but it might've been because I drained the magic from the castle of this world's Twilight Sparkle. Before you get all high and mighty about it, Nio, it was inevitably going to fail eventually, anyway. Better that I have a bit of magic than none at all, right?

Please advise. I'd rather not wake up in the morning with a knife in my throat, or some other cowardly equivalent.

Bridle rolled her eyes. "If you can keep up, i'm trying to enhance it so we can get there sooner...but none the less it's a long way to go".

The Announcer jerked awake, having fallen asleep shortly after sending his letter, as the train hit the piece of concrete that lay on the tracks. Suppressing a loud swear, Arlon rubbed his head, noticing three letters on the ground in front of his chair.

He picked them up in his silver magic, noting that they each had a different seal - black and white for Niomedes, the royal crest in violet for Juliet, and a blue star surrounded by six white stars for Twilight.

"Ah..." he said quietly, cracking Niomedes' letter first. "You've been busy, I see."

Bridle looked out from the head of the train to look at the concrete debris. "Sorry guys, looks like we're walking from here...". Yodoichi hopped on her back, the female dragon was around the size of a colt and feral in posture as she laid down between each side of the saddlebags. "I don't suppose any of you know the route do you?".

Hearing the confusion, I wake up, yawn and stretch, not looking at anyone. There are still tears running down my cheeks but I try to hide my pain through my neutral face. I hope that I find my big sisters and the others I consider family.

"Follow me, this is my home, or was... I know where to go. Just stay close, I don't know what dangers await us in our journey. There is safety in numbers and I wield pure magic, the enemy of the mist."

Arlon stepped down, his mane flicking as he laid eyes on Canterlot.

There was something profoundly wrong with the city, and it wasn't even the shattered buildings that were cause for his alarm. Some streets were in entirely different places, buildings he knew existed were replaced by entirely different ones. Glancing at the ground, he noted the cobblestones that made up the roads, rather than Niomedes' panels.

Curious, he thought, but said nothing of it.

Batting Astrello on the back of his head with Twilight's letter as he stepped past the younger alicorn, Arlon snorted. Pure magic. Juliet would tear out her mane at the mention of the incorrect term.

"Have I mentioned that you remind me of one of my brothers, mon ami? Both of you prattle, true, yet you seem to hold to a so-called 'Champion of the Mortals, Defender of the Weak' kind of angle. I mean it as a compliment."

Turning around, his pointed teeth exposed in a dangerous smile, he gave an exaggerated bow. "Lead on, good prince!"

"Oh, umm thank you, Arlon, I guess, I say shyly. I suppose a better term is Light Magic. Umm,sorry about before, I'm just on edge, I guess, I say apologetically as I nudge him with my head. Anyway just stay close. Yes we are heading toward the palace, it is also probably the safest place to set up for our journey, until we move on from Canterlot."

Taking the lead I guide the group toward what was once my home. My home looks very different and wrong. What happened here?

"Closer, but no." Arlon muttered to himself, shaking his head. Speaking up, and slipping back to his usual emotionless demeanour, he replied somewhat coldly, "Don't apologise. I've always made a habit of... taking, both magic and lives, souls, usually for my own gain. It's in my nature. Puppetmaster. Manipulator. Announcer. You get the gist. It's been a long time since I've done so, though."

Tossing back his mane, he called out imperiously. "Be wary of the palace, though. There's nothing in the streets, but there's nothing to suggest that the hive itself will be empty."

"The metaphorical hive, genius. This is the capital of Equestria. If the palace is anything like my sister's, then there would be millennia worth of records and magical knowledge within those walls," Arlon replied stiffly, turning his eyes to Niomedes' latest letter.

He was about to begin reading, before a crash somewhere behind them startled him. Whipping about, silver magic already coating his horn, he hissed, "We aren't alone here."

"Come on out, whoever you are. It's alright, it's me, Prince Astrello. No one will hurt you," I say gently trotting over and taking the stranger's hoof in my own little hoof.

Smiling, I hold tightly onto her hoof, trying my best to make her feel better.

Arlon straightened, an eye raised skeptically as he settled down, his mouth slightly ajar.

"A deer?" he said, shaking his head. "I haven't seen your kind since I- But, deer are extinct... Hm. Evidently, an equivalent event hasn't happened here."

Thinking more on his own past actions, he took to ignoring the group, reclining against a wall idly, unraveling his letter once again.

Arlon -

Astrello? He isn't a threat, if you keep your hoof on the line. Knowing you, you've likely already overstepped it a dozen times already, and will continue to disregard anything I tell you not to do.

Anyway, we found Protocol. It got away, it didn't want a confrontation, but we think that it's looking for you. Be careful, if you by any chance you ever do encounter it; I don't believe even for a moment that its intentions are benevolent.

It shouldn't be able to pass through Tartarus, if it's an alicorn bereft of its body. But if Nightmares need a host, or a mind, or whatever, what's a better host than the essence of Protocol itself? Especially with what it might know...

I'm doing what I can.

- Niomedes

--

Arlon sighed, staring up at the sky as he scrunched up the letter. It wasn't implausable that his domain would find its way to him, even as he searched for Celestia in order to get home and find it.

Facing the strongest aspect of himself... Suddenly, it seemed like a good idea to go through Tartarus after all.

It wasn't a good thought, he had to admit, as he moved on to Juliet's letter, a grave expression upon his usually impassive face.

--

Arlon.

Nothing I'm going to say will be any different than what Niomedes has already said, so I'll make this brief.

If you find the Nightmare, do not attempt to fight it. You are not strong enough. Run. It is cold, but whoever you're with, leave them behind. It isn't worth it.

I would not advice the use of dark magic, in your current state. Stick close to whatever you have left of Protocol.

Stay alive, and keep yourself out of trouble.

- Juliet

--

Smiling back I gently let go of her hoof but remain close to Southern Star. I have traveled to many lands as the ambassador of Equestria. Her home is but one of the many that I have visited and become acquainted to.

Arlon glanced up from the letter, his expression tautening as he forced it back into some semblance of impassiveness.

'I don't like this,' Ideas muttered, almost seeming to pace back and forth, 'something's wrong. Something's really wrong.'

"I'm aware," Arlon hissed verbally in response, his mane snapping as he broke the seal to his Twilight's letter. The voices in his head, his 'conscience', whatever it was, had clearly picked up on his anxiety as well. "Well, anyway. Let us be off, or... whatever."

--

Uncle -

I don't mean to intrude, or anything - I don't know if you'll even get this letter, Aunt Niomedes insists that you will - but something's really wrong with dad.

I don't know. He's really on edge, he's freaking out. It might be nothing, but... I know he got pretty attached to the other me, it might just be that he's worried about her, but I'm not sure. It could be about Protocol being out there, he's scared that he'll be targetted.

Look, I have no idea, but he's starting to relapse and no one's really sure why. He won't tell us.

Would you know what to do? Don't reply if you're busy, or whatever, but I'm really scared that we'll lose him. I don't mean to be blunt, honestly, I don't, but you kind of are the reason why he's like this.

- Twilight

I lead the group forward but not before summoning a new shield around myself and Southern Star. Something about this place is not right. I move cautiously toward Canterlot. I have encountered many different situations and am ready.

Arlon followed, still staring at the letter, though he wasn't reading the words.

'She still blames you for what happened to him.' Ideas whispered apprehensively.

And why shouldn't she? Arlon replied, glancing up at the foreboding castle that was quite unlike the one he called home, remembering a time long past. I bent her father to my will, and turned him into a monster for my own selfish, stupid reasons. It's my fault that she didn't have her real father until she was an adult. It's my fault that they first met each other over such dire, cruel circumstances.

'Give her time. They'll come around eventually.'

Will they, though? It was hard enough for them to connect to each other. Why would they even consider the one who ruined their relationship, and his life? He's terrified of falling again, because of me. From what she said, he's about to!

'Are you trying to make ammends, though?'

Arlon didn't reply immediately, his mouth flattening.

"Yes," he whispered to himself and the voice. "I am. Do I need to save her counterpart, to ensure...? No, no, Ideas, I know what can be done for him, at the moment."

Ripping a piece of paper from thin air, Arlon wrote back a quick reply.

--

Twilight -

Keep him warm and safe, do what you can to calm him down. Stay with him, and make sure he gets some rest; from experience, his neuroses tend to get worse when he's sleep-deprived.

Protocol may be the more likely bet, but I do not know of the full extent of what exactly the shade is. For him, for you, I'll work on finding and saving this world's Twilight Sparkle, too. I owe it to the three of you to at least try.

Good luck.

- Arlon

I too see the dots but do not shake them off. Turning to Southern Star and then the others as we reach the entrance, I speak. My eyes glisten as I do.

"Something is not right about my home. I suggest that you all look around the town in groups and I will investigate the palace. If there are in fact enemies in either area, sent a flare with magic into the air. We will see it and get there as soon as possible to assist. I don't care what awaits me in the palace, it is my home and I will not allow it to fall into darkness. I must do this alone," I say, firmly as I gaze at my home.

Arlon swore loudly, his magic flaring, tearing apart the letter that Twilight had sent just as he had cast off the reply into the aether.

"Are you serious? No, really, are you?" he snarled, his main crackling and taking on a slight fiery hue. "How conceited are you? Or is it just idiocy, is that it? Do you honestly," Arlon accented the last word with a stomp, spiderweb cracks shooting through the stone around his hoof, "think that you can deal with a Nightmare? Alone?"

He calmed down slightly, straightening to his full height.

"Two and a half thousand years," Arlon said quietly to himself, turning away. "Of all the alicorns I have met... Ideas, what did I have to do to be cursed with this bleeding heart?"

The attack makes me go on the defensive. I conjure a fireball and hurl it at Arlon. My eyes burn with fury. Suddenly I scream in agony as I begin to transform. My eyes remain the same but my skin begins to change color. I turn to the others as I transform. Fear and worry is on my face. I grow larger and larger till I tower over the others. Standing before them in my place, is an alicorn stallion full grown and muscular. His eyes are the same color as mine, with pure snow-white mane and tail. I glare at Arlon, with contempt and hatred.

"HOW DARE YOU! My eyes flash with anger. Lightning flashes across the sky before striking my raised horn making it glow. Tossing my mane and rearing onto my hind legs, I slam my hooves onto the ground, sending a powerful shock wave toward all but Southern Star, who is safe within my shield. HOW DARE YOU!" HOW DARE YOU STRIKE MY LITTLE PRINCE! YOU SHALL SUFFER FOR THIS!"

"No he is right, I wasn't think..." I say, as the other side of me tries to reason with this side. I am gently shushed by the larger stallion.

"Shh, sleep little prince. Sleep..."

With that the others see gentle sparkle of my eyes vanish as the other side of me, falls asleep and Fallen Star is now in complete control. His eyes are filled with anger. His muscles ripple across his great and powerful form as he glares as Arlon.

Arlon looked back at Astrello, one brow raised. The fireball brushed over his side, singing the tips of the mane along his back, but otherwise didn't do him any harm.

"Using fire against one of draconic descent." Arlon stated cooly, "truly a stroke of genius thinking. Though, thinking along the lines of a clear split personality, I suppose I can't fault you on that. Or maybe I can. I didn't even touch you."

His expression barely twitched as he added, "Am I in the wrong, though? I'm physically crippled and, well, not doing very good in the mental department either."

'This must be a new record for how quickly you've chosen to disregard Nio's advice.'

"Tosh," his ear flicked, "This is Juliet I'm ignoring."

"I heard that whoever you are. The shadows and darkness are my friends and allies. You cannot hide from me. I am Fallen Star, the only child of the forgotten, I say firmly and a lightning forks from my horn blasting apart the window, shattering the glass. Silence, you. I shall deal with you later. Right now, I must protect the others, especially my little prince and Southern Star." Darkness swirls around me as I continue. The shadows all around begin to take shape. Soon swarms of various creatures and beasts of shadow gather around me. Their eyes are icy blue and cold.

"My lord, you called," the shadows say.

"An evil has stolen that which is precious to us and that of our little prince, Astrello. His big sisters, Celestia and Luna are gone, along with all the others he considers family. Our, little prince is hurting."

"What would you have us do, Fallen Star," the shadows ask.

"Seek out the evil that poisons his home. Bring them here and I shall pass judgement upon them. Only once this evil is purged from this land can we rest again, my friends."

"As you will. So be it, let all who have caused "Him" harm know fear," the shadows say as they scatter throughout Canterlot, hunting for the enemy.

I turn to the others and nod. Then stroking Southern Star gently with a hoof, I lean down and kiss her on the forehead. Smiling as I see her smile back, I lead the group forward. I will deal with Arlon later, for now all that matters is purging Canterlot of this evil, so that "He", the gentle prince, me can return and I may rest for a time.

Arlon had barely reacted to the display. Perhaps he should've been a little alarmed at the appearance of an obvious Nightmare, but really, he didn't care.

He'll burn himself out eventually, he thought, starting to walk away. Until then, let him.

'The deer looks uncomfortable.' Ideas said quietly. The voice had calmed down, if only slightly, but Arlon could still feel the representation of his damaged little brother pacing back and forth in his mind.

And? Arlon replied. I assume you want me to do something about it. I will tell you now that the answer is no. I am not a hero. Heroes die.

'You can't just walk away and leave her - them - with that thing!'

Arlon cocked his head.

Watch me.

"No," Arlon replied, though he didn't stop or slow down, "not yet. Rules of self-preservation, and all that. I am not contending with an alicorn's Nightmare."

'You are a coward.'

"Not in my current state, with so little magic. He has already displayed hostility and, dare I mention it, insanity. It isn't worth it."

'Announcer, stop, now, or I will.'