Moonlight Strike, the name he used during his times as a night watcher, a hero in some terms, a mask he used to hide his real pain on his heart, a pain of not being able to protect his father or sister, to have failed his brother, an oath to himself, to do not let others suffer as he did, that mask, was actually now trying to kill him, very unusual for some people, but sadly very real in this precise moment, when Stormy dodged the initial attack, he noticed that his attacker was the same size as he currently is which made him doubt for a moment, according to the “memory“ he just witnessed, that happened when he was at the size of Pinkie Pie at the most while Redhoof was slightly taller than him, he prepared to unleash a magic attack, but his foe didn’t moved, in fact, when the attack was launched, it just simple bounced from his target.

“Simple spell, here is real magic “ Moonlight said preparing his horn, dropping an invisible bubble shield

When his foe unleashed a magic to his hooves the bubble protecting him became visible and disappeared, the magic that was thrown seems a magic rope said rope was directed towards Stormy´s hooves, he was unable to dodge, as Moonlight trapped him, he kept launch him towards the bookshelves, Stormy knocked all the books there, Moonlight was acting like he had no compassion towards anypony life, Stormy was not like that at all when he used that costume.

Memories keep flooding his mind, each time he came closer to Moonlight, he could hear screams coming from him, suffering and despair for the most part, he quickly attacked with a magic burst, but the target was the floor, making Stormy to fly upwards with the blast, he used the gravity towards his advantage and hit Moonlight with his steel pipe, breaking not only the invisible bubble shield, but also his foe mask, revealing in his face, something Stormy feared.

“No…is this the idea of a cruel joke?” he said, scared of what he saw.

“What’s the matter?“ his foe smiled with a sick expression of madness, his own. “Scared of your own reflection?”

A quick glance of a moment of his past, flashed on his head, everything in black, and he, as a little pony was facing an adult version of himself, but this time it was an exact replica, he seems to have faced this before, no wonder why this memory was suppressed, buried deep down his psyche Stormy attacked again, but the “other“ Stormy block it a quick glance on his face showed a complete desire of blood, as if he was a killing machine.

“I cannot die, but you already knew that right, kid?“ Moonlight said to the unstable Stormy.

“But you are not me! It can’t be, I’m here! “ Stormy mind was already shattered he was becoming sloppy.

The longer the battle continued, the more his mind was out of his body, his foe was deflecting all his attacks without much problems, Stormy started to lose grip and his foe took advantage of this at every turn, for a unicorn, is important to be calm and collected, even in the most dangerous situations, Moonlight seems to knew this and used a Fire spell to burn Stormy on his chest, when he jumped to avoid further damage from the attack, until he felt his copycat horn on him Stormy felt as if a spear had pierced his chest, he could feel the horn of his opponent rising the temperature to torture him from the inside, the pain was getting bigger, his blood was escaping his body from the horn wound, everything was fading he was about to lose. Until he remembered a soft voice a voice that rang on the deepest of his self, the sole reason he is still on that living nightmare…

“Bro………….ther…………….. he……….l…p,“ it was the voice of a young colt

“M… Mistshine?! “ Stormy eyes grew wide, as he saw the horn of his foe stuck on his chest

“P……le………………ase……………….. Bro……………..t……………her,“ the voice beg again, with one final scream “BROTHER!!! HELP MEE!!!“

That voice was of his little bro, Mistshine was still alive, Stormy quickly looked at his foe and could hear his brother voice more clearly coming from this apparition, he already lost Redhoof in the past, he will not lose his brother too, Stormy ignored the pain from his injuries, including the most serious one near his heart and pushed his foe away with a magic shield, sadly for him, finding out that Redhoof was killed, most likely by him, is making him forget most of his spells and not focus on the task at hand, until another voice came to his aid again on his head the voice was very familiar… but smooth and full of a caring nature.

“Even your own eyes can deceive you, You must look closely, with the ones from your heart” the voice ran on stormy mind

“Big Sis? “ Stormy replied feeling a warm sensation in his heart.

“Once you are gone, nopony will suffer anymore!“ Moonlight prepared another spell, an inferno spell. “Everything will be perfect!, and the corruption will die with you!“

Gathering strength from Celestia knows where he called upon the same fire spell that his foe used, his foe, surprised tried to counter it with a water based spell, but Stormy put all his mind and heart on that magic and direct it towards the floor, the flames burned his foe hooves, Stormy took a little advantage and while his foe was lifting his hooves to prevent further damage, he manage to find something to use on the desk Goldenscroll used, a bottle of wine, along with Redhoof old hoofgun, it only had one bullet.

“Ironic isn’t it?, at the end, that bastard ended up being useful“ Stormy said as he throw the wine to his foe, its contents quickly covered him.

“Aahhh!, son of a bitch!” Moonlight looked at Stormy just to find him aiming with the gun said gun was glowing.

“This one is from my lover you disgusting market copy” Stormy said as he pulled the gun trigger, his horn was glowing the entire time.

The bullet not only was scorching hot due to Stormy rage but also from a delayed fire spell, as if the flames seems alive, once the creature received the impact, the flames started to crawl on the “other Stormy“ body, burning his suit and coat what Stormy saw made him feel both relieved and disgusted.

His supposed alter ego was nothing more than a walking corpse flesh was falling off from the bones, several “faces” if it could be called like that were screaming from the creature sides mimicking the voices of those Stormy held dear and the only normal part of the pony was the left side of his face, that had Stormy face in, the other was pure fleshing features am eye missing and his teeth exposed his horn was only the bone, but with enough strength to summon spells, without the suit to protect him, the fire did good damage towards “ Moonlight “ body.

“ Aaahhh!!, wha did you do to me?! “ The creature spoke clearly, but with a lower pitch voice

“I know the truth, you are not me, a faker like you cannot defeat the original” Stormy said, recovering his mental strength

The creature levitated Stormy, throwing him towards the window, this is when Stormy finally reacted, he extended his hoof towards his enemy and concentrated his magic the best he could he felt as time was going slow, remembering the incantation he used each time he put his costume on Manehattan, an incantation he found on the books on his father home… it goes like this;

“O nobilis luna, electa nox in filios, et periculosa bella tibi sine me virtus Da mihi virtutem et nox mihi dux! “

( Oh Gentle Moon, shining towards the children of the night, allow me you beautiful and dangerous power!, grant me strength and let the Night be my guide! ).

That incantation allowed Stormy something that usually happens only during the stress time, his moondust magic, it formed a magic rope towards his foe from his horn, like a web, trapping his foe, he used the strength of his enemy towards his advantage, pushing himself towards Moonlight, he took out the pipe with his spare hoof, ready for a good blow, his foe made a magic shield seeing what his target was pretending to do but Stormy used a few of his own magic on the pipe his enemy shield didn’t last and it broke receiving the attack in full, a impact with the skinless flesh made a few dips of blood fall on Stormy face and coat, as if he already didn’t had enough on him.

“I just took a shower on the university!, can’t I get a normal fight once in a while!?” Stormy yelled annoyed already.

The creature screamed, all of his faces at the same time once Stormy landed another hit, he did his best to shield his ears from the screams as they seems to cause a headache, that is when the creature saw its chance and attacked, using a magic bullet spell, Stormy used his moondust magic to launch a “web“ towards Goldenscroll Desk, covering himself, and taking care that the corpse corresponding to Redhoof didn’t suffer more damage, that the one that already provoked her death, although the corpse has already shattered, he still wanted to give it a decent burial at least.

“Why do you protect that corpse?, you killed her remember? “ the monster keep trying to depress Stormy with his comments in low pitch voice

“Because she is my friend!, and I didn’t do it! That’s not going to work on me anymore! “ Stormy yelled at the creature

Despise how well Stormy manage to recover he seems still to hold on the hope that Redhoof was not dead, despise the obvious evidence, unti, a fire spell came, just that the target was Redhoof corpse instead.

Her remains were burning into ashes and Stormy could not do anything otherwise he will also burn, this was enough to drive him into a blinded rage, thing that the creature seems to enjoy but that moment of pleasure didn’t last, Stormy changed his weapon towards his little brother wrench, it’s hit was more than enough to knock the creature… just that Stormy took the open edge of the wrench and wrapped it around his foe horn.

“You will never use magic ever again!“ Stormy said, furious of the monsters actions.

“Once a sinner, always a sinner,“ The creature was not afraid, instead smiled

A crack was heard, Stormy has ripped apart the creature horn with his brother wrench, a twisted scream came from it, without the horn, the creature had lost it’s only defense or that is what Stormy thought, the creature used a very powerful buck kick, Stormy was losing patience but also felt something going on with his moondust magic, it was fading and changing and instead of being pure white as snow it was now crimson red as blood.

He was letting the rage getting the best of him, he tried to calm himself down but the red dust was still there and he could feel as his lungs were starting to give up on him, he was getting poisoned by his own magic while the creature tried to pick his horn back with its hooves but since it was useless, he pointed towards Stormy ready to stab him, Stormy needed to calm himself down quickly, he dodge the attack, and relaxed a little bit, thinking of all the moments he spend with Redhoof at his side, his dust started to change to white again, once he saw his change he modified his moondust in a different way he used the dust to attach himself on the ceiling, then he used several “webs“ lines to trap the creature finally stopping that moving train, he used his pipe in one final blow, the pipe broke the creature ribs, and the ribs pierced its organs, once the dust disappeared, the body felt to the floor, just for Stormy to finish it hitting it on the skull with his pipe, the creature was no longer moving, the radio that was making noise ever since the start of the fight grew silent once more.

“Perhaps I made mistakes in my past, but you can’t live on it forever,“ Stormy said to himself as he took breath.

Looking to where Redhoof corpse used to be Stormy approached with a more than obvious sad look on his face, he magically lifted her remains all the ashes that used to be his closest friend and he put them on a expensive urn her father kept in the desk, but then a flashback of some short came, everything lost color again.

“Manehatten police!, freeze! “ a colt said

He saw that a young version of him was next to him covering the ghostly corpse of Redhoof, the police unicorns didn’t hesitate in shooting, that made the young Stormy, with a more than torn Moonlight costume to jump from the window on the door, he noticed another unicorn similar to him in appearance, without the suit smiling evil as he walked downstairs, once the ghost disappeared on Redhoof last place there was a note along with a bottle with a pink liquid, the note itself was written in a hurry

“If Anypony read this letter, I am no longer in this world, I can only leave you a hint of who was the cause of all the criminal outbreak in our city, It was---“ the name of the culprit was covered with a black marker, the note continued.

"It was really hard for me to accept it, but I had to face reality I couldn’t let more ponies suffer, when dad gave me my bracelet, it was comfy, but at the same time, I felt that my eyes opened, yes, I admit I was searching for colts most of the time but one colt in particular opened my eyes to the real world, he is so kind and brave but suffers a lot and don’t want anypony to know, thanks to him I was able to see the real value of friendship and more importantly, love.

I’m sorry if I couldn’t tell him how I felt, how happy he made me, each time he looked at me with those kind eyes I felt like a pegasus flying though the skies, even the gentle touch of his hooves were perfect for me, and he accepted me, with all my flaws and teasing, overtime, that lust I felt for him became true love, and I submitted myself to him more times that I can count (although he also submit to me during our roleplays hehehe)

But seems I don’t have much time left the “cause“ I mentioned earlier will come for me too, because I decided to seek help, because I let the princess know what happened!, he will come to silence me, and with me gone, the truth will go with me please don’t judge him. Believe in him.”

Stormy smiled as the words of Redhoof made him feel appreciated, she never doubted him even for one second, the loyalty she is showing was clear proof she not only managed to withstand the Deep Ambition bracelet, but also managed to find what true love is thanks to him, Stormy looked at the pink bottle, he took the lid and smell it, it smells like cotton candy but had a really strong scent, not only that but when he tasted it a little he could briefly see an apparition of her marefriend smiling, he quickly put the lid back and stored the bottle in his saddlebags.

“This is one of Redhoof Mind Potions, she used to specialize in potions and medicines that could create a hallucination to anypony in contact with them, I know this because I taught her how to combine certain ingredients based on the books I had at home about supernatural remedies, she used these as self-defense against the bullies.” Stormy said to himself, more happy now than before.

Before going out of the mayor office he noticed that in hhe last part of the letter, was a bloodstain he did not noticed, it seems to spell letters like a last will, however it was Mistshine hoofwritting said letters just specified where he needed to go now.

“Come to Ponyville“

Ponyville?, the town where he meet Pinkie Pie and her friends?, why there?, he took the letter and stored it in his saddlebags and quickly looked at the outside from the broken window, it has been a while that the siren hasn’t gone off, strange for the already weird place he was in, he quickly noticed a garden on the first floor, Stormy noticed the window had a balcony, he could jump towards the first floor from there, he tried the door, but seems the stairs had been broken and the floor now has a bottomless pit, he jumped from the window, using his moondust magic to make a perfect landing on the soft earth of the garden, since he still had the ashes from Redhoof floating with his magic he quickly dug a grave and drop them there giving her a burial, maybe was not the best course of action but it was the correct one.

After saying goodbye to what was somepony important to him, he exited the garden and entered the Town Hall again this time on the first floor, he could smell a faint perfume on the air similar to the one Luna use did the princess witness all the fight? Or better yet, did she already passed through here?, he searched to all the rooms, most of them were broken with the exception of one, the Ballroom. There was a large hole on the floor there but also, there were broken tables and chairs, also the windows where the instruments used to be were broken, only the piano worked, but there was something attached to the music sheet, it was a page of the Book of Harmony

“Hold on, why is this here? “ Stormy questioned the convenient place the song was.

He could smell a trap from miles away but he needed that book complete, he felt for the trap on purpose, as soon as he stepped closer to the piano, the door made a clicking sound, indicating it was locked from the outside and a huge animal roar could be heard, Stormy played the unicorn path song but even that didn’t allow him to see anything the chairs and tables got crushed, as if something giant was in the room, coming closer to him, his last hope was the page in front of him, the song says it was the Buffalos Lullaby, as the name implies, any creature large enough as a buffalo or worse, falls asleep upon hearing it, it could really come in handy against certain enemies if he had the chance to perform it, Stormy played the song to memorize it, clearing his mind from the problem behind him, indeed it sounded like a lullaby, it didn’t consumed much energy but as he finish the song a loud thud was heard from the ballroom, just like if a buffalo stampede that had tried to crush him just felt asleep, in fact he could hear it snore, trying to sneak up towards the door was out of the question so he jumped to the hole, taking the page with him.

Once he felt ground on his hoofs, he illuminates the room with this LED Lantern, he manage to see a storage room, there was a little white box, containing a Zap Apple Pie Slice, come to think of it, besides the Mint Cupcake that he still has in his saddlebags, the Zap Apple Pie was looking way too delicious to resist and a little healing was not something he could possibly pass by, so he ate it.

The sweetness from the cake, the apple slices, the frosting, everything was the perfect mix, just the tenderizing sweetness was enough to make him do a faint moan, feeling the pie going down his throat towards his stomach, he gratefully accepted the dessert, he haven’t eaten a thing besides apples, as he opened the door, he felt a increase in his magic capability, glad for this change, he pressed forward, only to find a long hallway, with several newspaper clips on the walls, most of them were Manehatten history but the last 3, told of his alter ego, Moonlight Strike looking at his former “hero” suit, or “thief” suit, as the media called him, this make him remember that he didn’t dispose of the suit, in fact, he still has it, but he didn’t remember where did he put it, he continued walking until he reached a big glass door, it was locked with a slot for a key.

“Wait, a key slot?, that’s it!, That’s what the key I got from the university is from!” Stormy exclaimed, relieved he has the key in his bag.

He remembered the police report he found on the university, it had a key attached to it, he took it from the police report, looking at Officer Keeneye name once more made him recall how good that pony was, not only during his duty, but outside of it.

“Ahh, Keeneye, always you were a kind pony on the force, I wonder if you still out there? “ Stormy questioned with a little nostalgia.

Stormy used the key on the glass doors, they opened without any problems as soon as he entered the platform, there was a button lit up he pressed it with his hoof, and a silver train came, a very expensive one at that.

“This train, I remember it, is a private train for The Mayors and the Princess of Equestria, they tend to use underground trains as a both secure and private way to travel to other places of Equestria when they have meetings, I can use it to reach Ponyville“ Stormy said as he waited for the train to open its doors.

And so he did, once the door of the trains opened he made his way towards the cockpit, when he was halfway through the train, he felt the machine moving by itself, making him almost lose balance, he calmly sat on one of the chairs, as he was trying to catch some shuteye, the electronic voice of the Mayor’s train let him know his destination.

“Welcome to Goldenscroll’s train, destination, Ponyville, remember, keep your belongings at all times! You don’t want those pesky street foals take the bits without effort right?“ The electronic voice said, it was very similar to the mayor voice.

“Puaj even as a robotic voice, he is still a greedy bastard.“ Stormy said to himself. “I withdraw what I said from him earlier, I’m happy he is dead now.“

Didn’t take much to the train to reach another underground station, just that this one, looked more honest and noble, the train stopped, and the electronic voice let now another information “Welcome to Ponyville!“ Stormy stepped out of the train, just to see how it resume it trail, without any passengers towards Canterlot

He walked the short hallway, finding the old newspaper clips about the Ponyville foundation and history, the Zap Apple Jam Discovery by Granny Smith, the First Know Business, Stinking Rich – Authorized Provider and Seller of Zap Apple Jam in Ponyville, The Foundation of Ponyville, kind of hard to believe really, that the Apple Family and the Rich Family were the ones that founded Ponyville, and Still Applebloom and Diamond Tiara don’t get along, wait why are those 2 fillies are coming along now?, is if he is remembering only good times from the place he currently is now?

The hallway only had one elevator he used it to go up as the elevator moved towards the ground level, tons of questions ran is his mind, Why Ponyville of all places would serve as a truth hiding place?, why the monsters were so familiar with him?, he took a moment and took out the Book of Harmony, as if the book was like a beacon of hope, he smiled, but as he saw the Winds of Friendship song he recalled something

“Oh cripes!, Luna!“ Stormy face became pale.

He forgot to contact the princess once he got his magic back!, just when he was taking out the ocarina, the elevator stopped, a loud crack was heard and the elevator when down again with all it’s strength, Stormy quickly used a moondust rope that attached himself to the ceiling, preventing him to fall to a painful death, as he climbed he was using his horn to keep the rope tangible, he concentrated his magic on his hooves and played the Winds of Friendship song, there was answer.

“What happened Stormy?“ Luna voice, even telepathically, let know a obvious angry tone

“P-princess?, I’m sorry!, I’m sorry if I didn’t contact you earlier,“ Stormy tried to apologize for his lateness first

“What you should have been apologize for is that you never told me about Redhoof!, why didn’t you tell me about her?! Was it so hard to say you had a marefriend before?!“ More than angry, her voice was seeking an answer.

“I didn’t remember her!, unless until now but.“ He tried to find words to explain himself, but failed terribly. “Oh who I am kidding?, I’m sorry Luna, guess I was having problems ever since I entered Manehatten, well, now you know why I didn’t want to stay there.“ Stormy was a little sad, that the Princess found out about her more quickly than him.

“It’s ok Brave, I know more than you think, I am also sorry I shouldn’t be yelling at you over this, it’s just that I was not expecting that.“ Luna confessed, hiding the jealousy she felt before politely asking. “How did she died?“

“Can you help me out avoid death first? Where are you?” Stormy said, noticing his moondust magic was not stable enough, probably due to using 2 spells at once.

“I’m in Ponyville Town Hall, why?” Luna replied confused.

“Look under the balcony!“ Stormy said, noticing his magic grip was fading.

“The balcony?“ Luna look at the place where she was told just as the winds of friendship connection ended. She noticed a very thin moondust rope. “Sweet Moon! How did you get in there?!“

Explanation was the easy part, the hard one was for Luna trying to hold Stormy´s weight with her levitation magic, but once she got him out the door closed hiding the secret passage, The Princess looked at Stormy, she could tell that he just came from a very painful moment perhaps, if Redhoof was still alive, she could have gone more far with him?

Stormy quickly gave Luna the simplified version of what he has gone trough when they got separated, including the fight against Moonlight, and as well, his close friendship with Redhoof, sparing the things she often teased him about. Luna simply gave Stormy a kind but surprising kiss on the cheek, much to Stormy surprise, he was looking at the princess smiling kindly to him

“ I already know, I found it on the Town Hall I knew you were innocent,“ Luna said with kindness in her words.

Those words made Stormy smile and blush, once he got up, they decided to continue forward, if Mistshine was in Ponyville, they will find him there, but first they searched for something of utility the use of the moondust magic, prevented Stormy to feel pain but as the minutes passed, his bleeding and wounds started to open up, he needed to rest, Luna used the stairs to check the Town Hall second floor, on the main balcony, a not so pleasant flashback came to her, Since Stormy was sitting on a bench on the first floor, he could see her perfectly, he saw several ghost on the town hall, and where Luna was standing, Nightmare Moon was instead.

“The Night will last FOREVER!“ the Nightmare Moon Ghost laughed as thunders came from her mane.

“Only she knows there the princess is!“ The Mayor demanded the royal guards to attack Nightmare.

“Stand back you fools!“ Nightmare moon laugh again, as she attacked the guards with lighting and disappeared through the door

“I remember this, it was my return to Equestria after a 1000 years of banishment, Then I went to “ Luna remembered along with that moment of her past the location to where she went

“The Everfree Forest, and your old home, The Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, “ Stormy finished, remembering the place.

“Then I guess we must go there last, let’s search Ponyville first to find your brother,“ Luna said, trying to forget that memory.

Once all the ghost had disappeared, a Nightmare Moon Statue was on the Balcony, on it, a page was attached, it was a Harmony Page, Stormy tried to get himself up to read it, but he was still putting his bandages on, and changing the old ones, Luna took the page and gave it to Stormy, the song was Nocture of Nightmare, a song that allow the user to control the shadows, and hide on them, but just like the Elegy of Chaos, it was a dangerous song according to the page, since it let your fears grew on your mind causing nightmares on the same night.

Stormy did not performed the song mostly because he feared that if he played the Elegy of Chaos or Nocture of Nightmare in his current state, his mind would shatter completely without any chance of repair, he just restored the page to the Book of Harmony. Stormy was more tired that he thought, since he felt from the bench, losing the control of his limbs, despite being able to cast magic. Luna checked his temperature he was getting cold as a corpse

“You have lost too much blood!, we will have to walk slowly“ Luna said with authority in her tone.

“Are you sure?,” Stormy said, a little blush appeared on his face, he was now the vulnerable one

“yes, we--- I mean, I am “ Luna said, correcting herself due to the use of the royal we.

Stormy got up, and walked slowly with the princess at his side, it will take a while for him to recover fully, since he need to be constantly eating and resting once they opened the Town hall doors, they saw Ponyville state and it was not better than Canterlot or Manehattan combined, they walked in the town not before the siren rang loudly, some of the buildings started to lose color, some remained the same the floor was still earth, but with a more light brown color, some of the street lights still worked, but the metal was now rusted, both ponies looked at this more annoyed than scared, already used to the change of scenario, but already knowing that during night time things get more dangerous, both let a frustrated “Here we go again” before walking further into the town.

With Luna’s wings injured, and Stormy condition, Flying and fighting was not going to be a good idea they needed a place to rest and quickly, since Stormy radio started to emit a low static, indicating monsters presence near them Stormy let a suggestion that made him smile.

“Luna, Why don’t we go to Sugar Cube Corner?, I have the key,“ Stormy said, taking the key out from his saddlebags.

“Where did you get it? You could have not planned this,“ Luna asked, looking at the key, surprised by the change of luck

“Would you believe me that I found it on my apartment in Canterlot, inside a cake mix bowl? “ he replied with a smirk on his face

“Of all of the…” Luna said, almost letting out a short laugh but she limits herself to an adorable snort.

The princess and Stormy walked towards Sugar Cube Corner, since Luna was the one with the map, she could find the place more easy, she may have not traveled the whole town by trotting, but she already knew key locations such as Twilight Library, Fluttershy Cottage and Carousel Boutique, in no small part due to her visit on Nightmare Night, once they got to the bakery Stormy used the key on the door, the key disappeared in front of their eyes and both ponies entered the bakery, from the inside it looked exactly the same as Stormy remembered it, just that much of the sweets were missing, the basement door was locked and the kitchen was dirty and stained with some sticky red substance, could be strawberry jelly or something worse.

Stormy directed Luna to go straight to Pinkie Room, the princess did as his companion advised, the door was opened, Pinkie bed was very comfy at the touch, and Stormy rested there for a moment, not before Luna locked well the door and used a nearby closet to barricade it, in case of some strange visitant came, she was next to Stormy, making sure the bandages were properly healing him, Stormy would need though a little healing magic since all the stress and attacks he have endured not only have impacted his psyche, but his body as well, if anypony can get him better, is the princess.

“Again you are the one healing me, don’t go too low, we usually leave that for later in the night,“ Stormy said a little blushed but played along the role of naughty colt.

“Pervert, where you like this with her?” Luna asked Stormy with a more than red blush.

“I would say she was far naughtier than I would ever be,” Stormy blushed at the thought while letting his head touch Pinkie’s pillow.

“Well I shouldn’t be judging you, we have been through a lot of things in the past few days like to start fighting between each other right?” Luna responded to him, healing him with her magic

“You are right, I have a few apples if you want,“ Stormy kindly offered his apples if Luna ran out of magic.

“Thanks, but I’m ok” Luna said, but a question came to her mind “Pray tell, why did you want me to heal you on the Elemen--- I mean Pinkie Pie house?, did you know her?“

“Well, my memory is a little fussy about a lot of things but I remember that she always was by my side, made me laugh when I felt depressed, and also--- “ Stormy remembered something important, smiling at this fact “--- she was with me visiting my brother.”

Stormy smiled, reflecting happiness this time, he remembered that he came to Sugar Cube Corner several times ever since his bro hospitalization, since Pinkie was always available, she traveled with him to Canterlot Hospital, to visit Mistshine, Stormy took out his favorite treat, the mint cupcake, and decided to share it with Luna.

“This is my favorite flavor of cupcake, let’s share it, we both haven’t eaten something normal except apples and energy drinks,“ Stormy smiled as he offered the cupcake.

“Pinkie Pie backed it?“ Luna asked, as she saw the fresh baked cupcake

“ Yes, I guess I don’t remember much about Ponyville only Sugar Cube Corner, and that I could always ask Pinkie for a Mint cupcake,“ Stormy said with a happy expression

“He seems to know much about Pinkie’s House, but not from all Ponyville?, maybe this living nightmare is something far more worse than a bad dream?“. That is what the princess had been thinking, watching Stormy reactions and he was also aware of it, maybe all of this was caused due to a hidden trauma he had?, or the feeling of losing somepony else is what that kept him from remembering in full detail?, Luna took a bite from the cupcake that Stormy gave her along with Stormy both ponies seems relieved a little, as they started talking, about their favorite games, music, candies, as if they were friends all the time, kind of strange, taking in consideration they current location, the smiles decorated both of their faces as they felt they finally earned a little break.

But true to the nature of the place they are, happiness is never meant to last long, their smiles were cut short when a loud bang was heard from the door, as if something was trying to take it apart, both ponies got reacted quickly to the alert but Stormy was not fully healed, still it was enough to walk on his own and attack, the bang grew louder and louder, knocking out some of the things on the drawers, one of the things however was Pinkie Party Cannon.

“How in Equestria did she get it to fit it on a drawer?, on the other side, is Pinkie we are talking about here,“ Stormy said picking up the cannon and taking aim at the door.

The Princess noticed that as soon as he picked up the cannon, the banging stopped, against their well judgment, they open up the door, only to find a trail of blood, leading towards the kitchen, Stormy, armed with party pony cannon power, moved to investigate, with the princess very near him, they came downstairs, the kitchen was busted out, almost as if something had blew up, the red sticky substance form before, was indeed strawberry jelly, but there was a smell of something nasty coming from one of the bowls, Stormy got close enough to see it was a key but when he levitated it, a tentacle thing came and grab it, it was not strawberry however, it was made of flesh and what It seems, had some horseshoes on it, it grabbed Stormy´s back hooves, Luna instantly hold him with her magic

“For Celestia Beard!, what is that thing!? “ Stormy said, as he pulled out the cannon, aiming to the bowl.

“Like if I know! Shoot it guard!“ Luna demanded trying to keep the stallion on ground.

Exhaustion quickly came to the princess, from the healing spell came she used before, but it was not that the reason she lost focus, is the strawberry jam on the floor that made her slip, the creature was lifting Stormy to take him inside the bowl, Stormy shoot a cake to the bowl to cover it up, it did work, with the creature blinded by cake frosting, the grip on Stormy body got loosen, enough for both of them to exit the kitchen quickly and close the door.

“What in the name of Tartarus?!, Ok that’s it, Is there is a single thing in this place that is not trying to murder us!?“ Stormy said, already tired of the weird things happening to them

“Maybe that?“ Luna said, pointing with her hoof at the basement

On the door to the basement, there was a shadow there, on the darkness, Stormy lit up his LED lantern and found out that it was his little bro, next to him, was a Posey doll, pointing out towards the basement door, before his brother could get near him, Mistshine took the doll and ran towards the dark basement, but Stormy found the doll before on his home, or it was on the University?, he lost track, either way he took the doll out from his saddlebags and noticed that the doll left hoof moved and was pointing towards the basement, like a compass, both ponies looked at each other with a puzzled face, as they went down, both lanterns shinned on the darkness, trying to help them see beyond their hooves.

“What are we searching now?“ Luna asked, not noticing anything worth on the basement besides a lot of party items

“Anything useful, I don’t know what is happening but somehow, I feel that I must continue, I must find the truth my brother wants me to see,“ Stormy said with determination on his voice.

The truth, Stormy reflected upon those words that just came out of his mouth, the truth about what exactly?, about what happened to Redhoof and his brother?, About why he do not remember anything from Ponyville?, he remembered that Twilight, before all this madness started, mentioned that all could be related to him, to his brother, by finding Mistshine, Stormy will be able to learn the truth about what happened to him, to Canterlot, and even to his loved one, he stopped and the princess as well, as she saw how Stormy seems to have remembered something his expression quickly changed.

“What is wrong? “ the princess asked kindly

“I get it now.” Stormy said with a sadden expression. “Why is that i have not been able to get answers, why I don’t remember anything of the places just some key aspects. We are not the only ones alive here.“

“You mean, this is all in our minds?“ Luna cached quickly the meaning of Stormy words.

“Not really, this place is a living nightmare, but we would wake up the second we either get injured or scared, the wounds on our body shows that this is not the case, and all of this is pretty much real,” . Stormy said as the Posey doll pointed towards the shelf.

“Then what are you getting at?” Luna questioned, now worried about the place they are stepping on.

“This world we are in, is like the famous Purgatory in ancient pony history, a place were lost souls wander to either heaven or hell, by some reason I cannot understand, we ended up here,” Stormy said, while looking at the shelf the Posey doll pointed.

“That would explain the Glass Mare reaction or Redhoof for that matter, wait, are you saying that your brother…” Luna said; now pale as her companion coat.

“Yes, he is guiding us somewhere, but his time is running out, the more he run from us, the more he is losing himself if this place, that’s why I have to find him, if we don’t he will never wake up!” Stormy now said, raising his voice, broken about the reasoning behind the place.

The doll was pointing towards a drawing, this drawing was a map of Ponyville with 5 different buildings, easy recognizable, the map itself was draw in crayons so it won’t be good if it gets wet, the first building that was detailed was crossed out, it was Sugar Cube Corner, the place they are in already, the other ones were in the following order; Branches & Books Library, or commonly know as Twilight Library, Lyra´s & Bon Bon House, Vinyl and Octavia House, right next to Twilight Library, and finally, Fluttershy Cottage, near the edge of the Everfree Forest, but there was a additional building on the drawing, deep inside of the Everfree Forest, it was an old Castle, to be more precise, The Ancient Castle of The Royal Pony Sisters.