Mission Impossible [Badge]

The air around her felt still, odd. It wasn’t natural at all, and it made her shudder. But yet again, it was all too obvious as to why. Everypony around her bowed as she passed, and a soft sigh emitted from the mare after she had passed the main crowd. Her mane was pulled back per usual, but she also had the age-old crown resting upon her head. It had been all too long since she last wore it, but the occasion called to such. Nothing else decorated her tan coat though, all that rested as a signal of her rank was the single crown. Much less, the wings and horn also signaled it. The alicorn species, one that existed so few to be known.

The mare’s hooves clicked across the path as she continued towards her choice of destination. Where was she headed? A simple place, not anywhere in fancy. A house of an old friend, a really old friend. Flicking her tail in slight annoyance, she hoped that all would go well. If it had been anything like Celestia told her, it would be a mess. So, with such, she was bracing herself for the utmost worse that could happen. Which could range from a whole spectrum of things. Worse come to worse, she'd pause time to give herself some strength.

Shaking all ill thoughts from her mind, a slight rush of excitement came to the mare. It had been over fifteen-hundred years since she had seen him, and it was a rather interesting thought to behold. Would he remember her? Would he have forgotten her? These questions rushed through her mind as she approached the doorstep of the rather large house. Taking a deep breath, she took a regal posture and knocked on the door.

"Princeps Avan, v-volo loqui tecum. Is est mihi, Neveah."

Avan was in the kitchen, making himself an salad when the knock on a door rang out. He frowned as he set down the bag of lettuces leafs, wondering who was at the door. Hearing some words, which he sadly didn't make all of it out of, he only head his name and 'I-I want to talk with you...' The voice however...He felt like he should know it, yet he was left unsure. As he trotted out of the kitchen and into the living room, his horn glowed as he placed on his cloak, glancing off to the side for a second as he frowned softly.

Soon, he reached the door and pulled it open. Little was he expecting to see Neveah. His mouth opened slightly, easily remember the mare herself from the thousand years ago when he had last seen her. His wings ruffled under his cloak (with his right wing finally healed) as he shifted nervously on his hoof, one of his ears flicking as he glanced nervously behind him. Finally, he let out a soft sigh as returned his attention to her. "Ah...So...Neveah...Its been long, haven't it? Would you like to come in...I don't wish to be rude, but you are drawing attention..."

When Avan opened the door, it was hard for the mare to resist flinging her arms around him. Even so, she luckily was able to resist the temptations. The thousand plus years away from an old friend had certainly made her miss him, and the memories of when she found out of his disappearance came flooding back. When she had arrived to his home, and seeing his family within a frantic, it had only made her wonder where he had gone off to. Well, now she knew. Observing the stallion, she came to notice is cloak. It reminded her instantly of Tao, Avan's mother. Listening to how he spoke though, she narrowed her eyes in curiosity. She was somewhat startled by the fact that Avan was speaking in her native tongue, one no one in Avan's family knew.

"Avan, mea vernacula scis?"

She asked, pure curiosity and slight concern filling her voice. Concern, because he may have left to see her at some point while she was traveling to his home. Curiosity, because she wanted to know how he knew any of her tongue. Shaking it off, she stepped inside. Adjusting her eyes to the warm colors of his house, she felt a warm and joyful feeling radiating from inside. But, there was also something off. Narrowing her eyes once more, she tried to piece it together, before shrugging it off. She was glad to see an old friend again. "Quam fuisti? Hoc iam dudum meus videt te." By nature she was speaking in Avan's tongue, rather then her own or Equestrian.

Oh....Right. Avan blinked when she had asked him about him knowing her tongue, giving her a sheepish smile as he stepped backwards to give her room to enter. "Yes...It has been a long time, but I am doing alright given what is current going on with me..." he paused, wondering how much she knew, before he frowned. He quickly shook it off, shaking his head as he closed the door behind Neveah with his magic, before leading her toward the living room. "But no, I don't know your native tongue. It's a spell I have on myself, it lets me understand every language by hearing it as my own, with the same going for all to hear my words. What you hear as your own tongue, my parents would hear in mine, while the ponies of Equestia would hear Equestrian. Made it easy with the whole, not needing to learn how to speak Equestrian."

He left the living room for a second to go into the kitchen, putting away the lettuce he had brought out before Nevaeh had showed up. He would make his salad later...A few seconds later, he returned to the living room as he glanced at Nevaeh with an interested look. "So...I take it my parents sent you?" He paused, letting out a soft sigh a few seconds later as he rolled his eyes before staring at Nevaeh, waiting for an answer.

Neveah tilted her head up slightly, simutaniously saying 'Ah.' It made more sense, and it made it so much easier to speak then. "Well then, mind teaching that spell to me? Trying to learn Equestrian is rather hard." She commented, a light-hearted one at that. Once the door had been shut, Neveah's posture slipped into that of a more relaxed one. She hated having to keep herself so straight and posed, it hurt her back at times. Observing more of his house, she noticed many of the plants scattered about. Hm.

"Well... Yes, but quite some time ago, near thousand years. Being stuck in stone is not fun... But I see that this side of you has returned? It seems much less then what Tao and Mortis had initially sent me for..." She started rambling, and cursed herself internaly for doing so. Pausing for a moment to peer at time's balance while he was in the kitchen for a moment, when he returned she cut the spell off. Ruffling her wings once more, she oberved his appearance.

"Avan, have you not slept for awhile?" It came as obvious to her, as much as it may not be noticed by other ponies she could see exactly every detail of his tired state. She was more worried about him then telling him about family matters, for the most part.

"Perhaps, I will teach it to you," Avan said with a soft smile, before frowning as he glanced at Neveah as she went on about how his parents had sent her. Then, came the question about this 'side' of him. "Ah...Yes..." he muttered softly, glancing off to the side with an annoyed look. "Things got out of control and my mother was forced to put a chain on my...Corrupted side. I must admit, that lately it seems to be lurking around..." He let out a tired sigh as he shook his head, before looking at Nevaeh. "Which has lead to my sleepless state. I've been...Getting to know my corrupted side a bit more in a odd sense while it has been keeping me from sleeping most of the time. It seems it just likes to get on my nerves..." Those final words caused a small smile to appear on Avan's face.

I... I failed then... The alicorn mare looked down with a solemn look, thinking to herself about what Queen Tao was forced to do. "I... I see." A deep sigh manefested upon the mare, and she shook her head. "How has your life been otherwise in this... Equestria?" She rose an eyebrow in curiosity, having to recall the name of the lands she had stepped on. Taking a place in one of the chairs furnishing the living room, she had to admit that so much had changed. Strange poles with light emitting from them, boxes that would flash and reveal a copy of the visible world... Objects that pulled a needle and thread through fabric automatically. To say the least, she was almost afraid of it. "Have you met anypony... special?"

Avan was staring at Neveah as she asked her two questions. Her first question didn't really bother him, but her second question caused him to freeze as he shifted nervously on his hooves. However, he soon seemed to find the words to speak as he started to answer her questions. "Life has been good. I've taken up growing my own garden, which then I sell what I grow for bits. It a work I adore, of course I have my housemates' help..." he drifted off slightly on that, flinching slightly but soon recovered and after a few moments of silence went back to talking. “My housemate, Tuli...She is a dear friend of mine...But I wouldn’t say she is my special somepony, but she may be the closest I have. I...like her, but if she feels the same way about me, mostly with Tamesis lurking around...Er, that is the name we have for my corrupted side. But even with this dark side of me under the surface, she has shown to care for me and is helping me find a cure...I just hope we find one before the chains break completely.”

Neveah's eyes turned to a slight bit of concern when Avan flinched. She was studying him closely, trying to watch for any side of this 'Tamesis.' Because, her mission still was to reform this corrupt spirit. Even if she couldn't, she would still try. Fluttering her wings slightly, she listened to his answer to her second question. A soft chuckle escaped the mare, but it wasn't long. "Tuli? Hm, I see it is in your heart to protect her, Avan. But time may reverse that role." She said calmly, reviewing what Avan had told her. "I must say though, it is good to see you are alright." A soft sigh escaped the mare afterwards, her mind thinking on the duties that she had to catch up to at home. It would surely be awhile before she returned, would it not? Drifting off into her own land, Nevaeh completely snapped out of it as she thought on how Avan could return home.

ooc; Tuli will show up in this next post

A frown appeared on Avan's face as he stared at Neveah. "I will always protect Tuli, no matter if Tamesis believes that she will betray me..." he drifted off a few seconds, a flicker of worry filling his gaze for a few seconds but he quickly shook it off. "I am...Not completely sure what Tamesis' goal is, however," he said a bit quickly, perhaps hiding something but he quickly attempted to move on from those words. "But I am alright as things are going. The lack of sleep is bothersome, but I will carry on. Sooner or later Tamesis will let me sleep," he said, growling the last bit as he glanced to the side before letting out an annoyed sigh.

The mare tried to hide her concern, watching Avan with a careful eye. The feeling of pity waving off of the mare was rather strong, even though she wished not to do such a thing. Her concern for Avan was more of what she could describe as a sisterly worry, but even as such she couldn't truly say so. It made her glad though that Avan had somepony he cared about, her having several. She kept her gaze focused upon him though, and a smile graced her muzzle at Avan's confidence... But she could still tell that something was off with those words.

On the other hand though, the mare that had been mentioned was returning home. With her own cloak wrapped tightly around her, she easily opened up the door and then closed it, before curiously looking over towards the mare who had been talking with Avan. She was rather curious when she noticed the tan mare was an alicorn, and almost wondered if she was someone Avan knew. By the looks of it, yes... But how? "Hello, miss." She said kindly, but a slight tone of confusion could be heard.

When she heard the door open, Neveah was quick to turn her head. Smiling softly, she chuckled. "So, Avan, this is Tuli?" "Y-Yes... That's me... C-Can I ask who you are?" "An old friend of Avans, I had stopped by to say hello." A simple nod came from the alicorn mare as she rose from her seat, a kind smile on her face as she walked over to the unicorn, rather surprised at how tall she was.

And, Tuli was rather surprised at how the alicorn towered over her. By the way her voice sounded she was foreign... Could she be from Avan's long past? It made her wonder. "Oh... I hope I didn't interrupt anything..." Tuli said, biting on the inside of her lip. "Oh no... In fact, I best be on my way. It was nice meeting you Tuli, and Avan, it was nice seeing you again."

With a kind dip of her head, Neveah went past Tuli and exited the house. Once that happened, Tuli's gaze went straight to Avan. He probably knew what she was going to ask. "Avan, who was that?"

Avan blinked when Tuli entered the house, flicking his ears slightly watching how the two interacted with a careful gaze. As the two talked, he glanced to his side with a sterin look, flicking his tail with an annoyed snort. However, when Neveah left, Avan turned his attention to Tuli as she spoke. A small smile appeared on his face. "An old family friend. Her name is Neveah, my father Death sent her a thousand years ago in hopes of her stopping Tamesis, but it seems she finally found me." He ended that with a chuckle, unaware that he had called his father 'Death.' To him, he had stated it as it normally was, Mortis, but that name translated to Death in Equestrian...However, he frowned softly shortly after finishing and spared a confused glance to the side.

Tuli walked closer to Avan after he had finished speaking, and she looked at Avan in concern, looking in the same direction he had. Replaying Avan's words in her head once more as she had somewhat ignored them, she rose an eyebrow. "You're fathers name is death? Avan, that doesn't make any sense. Why would somepony be named Death? Or, is that tradition for your family..?" She asked, trying her best not to be rude but to say the least, she was rather confused. Trying to figure out what he was looking at, she studied the side that he kept glancing at, unable to see anything. "Avan, is everything alright..? Be honest..." She looked at him with a truly concerned gaze, trying to see what was bothering him so much.

"Hm?" A confused look appeared on Avan's face as he stared at Tuli, wondering why she thought his father's name was so weird. "Well...Yes, my father is named Death. I suppose us Alicorns name ourselves differently then yours, as we do names linked to our domains." Then her next question caused the colors to drain from Avan's face, blinking. "Ah..." he swallowed, shifting nervously on his hoofs. However, he suddenly flinched, pain flaring thought his head as he raised a hoof and rubbed the side of his face. It soon faded as he gritted his teeth, before he looked at Tuli with a sheepish grin. "My head has been bothering me with some headaches, but I am fine, Tuli. Trust me..." he drifted off slightly, but he still kept his smile on his face, thought for a few seconds, anger flashed behind his warm green eyes.

The mare wasn't buying it. Something was up, and even though she saw what looked like a horrible headache that didn't seem to be what was up. "Oh, alright..." She said in response to his fathers' name. But she was still focused on Avan's condition, there was something there highly bothering her. Walking even closer to him, she held his head up with her hoof and looked into his eyes, concern clearly in hers. "Avan... Something else is wrong. I know what it's like to have a headache, and I know how you are when you have one." Only having one or two in her life, she still did know what Avan looked like when he had his. Her speculation that it was this Neveah had showed up in the back of her mind, but at the same time she highly doubted that Avan's father of all ponies would send somepony to harm him... There was something else going on. She wanted to know. She kept her hoof holfing his head up so he couldn't look away, but she still wanted to know.

When Tuli lifted his head with a hoof, he swallowed as fear seemed to flash in his eyes for just a second. He seemed speechless, and a dull throb filled his head and slowly grew stronger and stronger. He flinched slightly at the increasing pain, still attempting to find words to speak. "I-I...Tuli, I..." he didn't seem able to make out what he wanted to say as the pain in his head started to ache , before it soon became too much for the stallion. His hoof shot up and grabbed Tuli's, pulling it away from his chin as he stumbled backwards, raising his hoof to his head again as he shook his head. "I-I can't! I can't tell you!" he growled, only for the pain to suddenly sharpen, causing him having to plant his raised hoof into the ground to keep himself from falling over. "J-Just please leave this alone!" He grew silent for a few seconds, shaking from the almost unbearable pain in his head before he whispered a single word. "Please..."

She watched him with concerned eyes, but as he flinched she was on the brink of calling somepony to take him to the hospital. Her concern for Avan was growing more and more, and when he pulled her hoof away it made her eyes widen in panic. When he somewhat shouted at her too, it only made things worse. She was deeply concerned for his health, and she could feel tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. She just wanted to make things better for him, do what was good for him. But it seemed she wasn't doing anything good for him at the moment... Almost making things wrose. Looking down, she seemingly hung her head as the words asking her to leave stung at her like bee stings. "Avan, you know I worry for you... Even more so now... But... If you want me to go... Just... Please don't hurt yourself..." It was hard for her to talk as she looked at him with a partially mortified look, as if he had just fallen off of a cliff and was telling her he was fine. Turning though, she did start to sulk upstairs. She knew that his protection spell had since worn off of her, and so she had taken it upon herself to continue it, even if it had taken her awhile to get it going. It made her remember that he was an alicorn and she was only a unicorn, her level of magic and energy lesser then his. But she kept his wish, and did go upstairs to her room. Having grabbed the little Avan-doll she had been making for Matthew, his manticore friend, she ended up hugging it, as if she were a filly.

Avan said no words as Tuli disappeared upstairs, but the pain started to less as the mare disappeared. Shortly after, he stared to pace back and forth, snarling softly to himself before he spun to face the entrance of the living room with a sudden hiss. A few moments after this, Avan straightened up and blinked. "Wait, What?" he said to the open air. "Can I at least have a pil-" he suddenly cut off, and before he could attempt to speak another word, a dizzy spell hit him, and a few seconds later, he collapsed and started to snore. For the first time in what seemed like forever, he was sleeping.

After a few moments of curling up with the plush-forme of Avan, she set it aside and grabbed the book sitting on the desk sitting in the corner of her room. Flipping through it, she found the pages she was looking for. It read of many lores of dark magic, and the effects it can have on the user. Having been trying to use this to her advantage and trying herself to do something for Avan, the success in it could only be measured so much. She could either be doing horribly wrong, or right. Which, did bother her quite a lot. Brushing her hair back, she tied it with the red ribbon that Avan had given her so long ago. Looking down and shaking her head, after a long while she slammed the book shut. It wasn't doing anything for her! Grabbing about three of the decorative pillows she usually had on her bed, she chucked them at the window, each one not doing much. Even so, it felt so much better to throw them. That, or obliterate them... Which she wanted to do so badly. Her concern for Avan's health was getting to her, and why she had cut her normal time of being out of the house short. Shaking her head, she grabbed a scroll of paper and a quill, scribbling something down.

Looming over Avan was the Crystal Castle. What had once been the most breathtaking place was now a picture of horror. Around him were the once proud citizens, now reduced to mere slaves that had lost the once glimmering shine of their cloak that looked dull and bland even compared to a normal pony. A cold wind echoed in the silent city, tugging on the plain brown cloak that the alicorn was wearing.

“What...What has happened to my kingdom, Avan?” Next to Avan came the sorrow-filled voice of Princess Luna, who stared at the remains of her once proud kingdom. Her cyan eyes were dark, filled to the brim with despair and hopelessness. Her mane that reflected the night sky was tied up in a ponytail, and she was wearing a pure black cloak to mirror Avan’s. Resting on her horn was a silver ring, with a beautiful crystal resting in the middle, but that seemed as dulled as ever with no sunlight to make it sparkle with life as it once did. “What has my husband done?”

“Come,” Avan pleaded softly, gently bumping the princess with his shoulder. “I am sure we can talk with Sombra and make sense of what has happened, that is why we are here, isn't it?” But deep inside, while he would never admit it, he knew that this was a lost cause. The only thing that ran in his mind was the same thing that Luna had said; what had Prince Sombra done?

Luna swallowed as she nodded, unfolding her wings as she took a few steps down the road they were one. While the now enslaved crystal ponies worked on either side of them, none looked up to see their ruler past, they didn’t even act like they noticed that either Luna or Avan was there.

Avan followed in hoof, taking in what had befallen such a promising kingdom. He had not been expecting to be walking this road, but when Luna had claimed that something had happened to her husband and she needed Celestia to speak to him...Celestia had refused, but Avan had decided to attempt to speak with Sombra instead. Perhaps he could make sense of what has happened to this empire....

The next thing Avan knew, he was standing in the throne room of the Crystal Castle. He paused, attempting to remember how he had gotten here, and a soft voice told him that this was simply a dream, but that thought soon disappeared from his mind. Luna was still at his side, although she was brushing against Avan as they faced what had once been Prince Sombra.

All in all, Prince Sombra looked the same that he had been. Same gray coat, although it had turned darker, same pure black mane. However, his once green eyes had turned into something that sent shivers down Avan’s spine. His eyes were a bright green with pure red pupils, and purple smoke floating from them. He had now had a pair of fangs, and his horn was curved slightly with most of it being pure red.

“Traitor!” Sombra shouted as he stepped from the throne, glancing at the guards that surrounded Avan and Luna. Their eyes mirrored Sombra’s, but had a glazed look over them, showing that they were not in control of their actions. “You dare bring him here! He is not allowed, he is a threat to my kingdom!”


Princess Luna took a step forward, paying no heed to the spears that the guards raised against her - their princess. “Sombra! Please, snap out of this! This isn’t like you! It is our kingdom that we rule together!”

“Ours? Not any more,” Sombra snapped, narrowing his eyes as he drew closer, his red cloak shifting with every step. “You have shown that you are not worthy to be at my side by bringing a threat to our doorstep! I will protect my kingdom at all cost! I will no longer be Prince Sombra, but King Sombra! The Crystal Empire is mine, and mine alone!”

Now it was Avan’s turn to talk. He stepped forward with a frown, ruffling his wings under his cloak. “I am not a threat, Sombra! We are trying to save you! What has come over you? Never have you acted like this!”

“Please, my love!” Luna pleaded with a sob, shaking her head. “You have turned our kingdom into a shadow of its former glory! What would your mother think of this now? Amora would not want this for you or her subjects!”

“Don’t bring her up!” Sombra hissed with a stomp of his hoof, causing black crystals to form from the ground under his hoof. “I now see that my mother was not protecting the kingdom as it should be, so I will do what she never could!”

“Stop this, please! You aren’t protecting our kingdom like this!”

Those words seemed to strike a blow to Sombra, and pushed him to far. His eyes suddenly narrowed as he let out an angry cry as his horn started to glow with pure black magic with a purple and green glow mixed in, unnatural in all cases. "I will not let anybody question my way, you included!" He shouted as he reared back before throwing a blast of pure black magic straight for Princess Luna.

Avan’s eyes widen and in a split second, he made up his mind. Without that much of a thought, he shoved Luna to the side, taking her place as the dark bolt collided. A suddenly gasp of pain escaped Avan as his whole body shook, attempting to fight against the dark magic, before everything went black and he hit the cold crystal floor with Luna’s voice the last thing he heard before he felt nothing.

“Avan! No, no, no no! Stay with me, Avan! AVAN!”

Tuli had stayed up in her room for a few hours, trying to find her own answer to helping the stallion downstairs. Even if she didn't know what he had been doing whilst she was trying spells, she had to trust herself that he was alright. After all, she had kept her door cracked just enough to where she could hear if anything was going on. Getting off of her bed and stretching, Tuli finally decided that it wouldn't do her any good just to stay up in her room all day, and if Avan still wanted her gone then she'd leave the house. It wasn't like him to do such things, but then again not really anything was like him anymore. All because of that thing. Shaking them from her mind though, she exited from her room and started to walk downstairs, only to catch Avan on the couch. With such she sort of just.... Froze. She didn't budge, she just stopped, and stared.

There was a faint creaking of the stairs which caused Avan to open up his eyes with a flick of his ears, spotting Tuli as she froze on the stairs. The pain was still there, but he attempted to ignored it as he forced himself to raise his head, winching slightly at the pain. "Hi..." he said softly, shuffling his wings at his side. "I'm sorry for early, I just..." he drifted off for a few seconds, lowering his gaze to his hooves before he took in a deep breath. "I just haven't been getting a lot of sleep, and with the whole Tamesis thing on top of it...I'm just sorry for lashing out like that." His eyes harden as he stared at his hooves, before he shook his head, then glanced up at Tuli as he waited for a reply.

Tuli blinked, as if she hadn't registered a word he had said. But she did, and she was thinking what to make of it. Yes, she understood most of it, but part of it made her wonder. Tamesis on top of it? Are the chains weakening further? Finally, she gave an answer that didn't seem so lifeless. "It's fine, Avan. But I worry for you." Walking further down the stairs, she wanted to make sure that Avan was alright before coming close to him again... She didn't want to get yelled at any further. "But what do you mean... With Tamesis? Is he causing more trouble?" That's the thing about worrying like a frantic mother. One notices things that others wouldn't... This was no exception.

A soft frown appeared on Avan's face as Tuli brought up Tamesis, and titled his head as he stared at the white mare. "What? No, not any more trouble other then I think he is behind my lack of sleep... It’s just that the whole thing has been worrying me...I just don't know what he is planning and why he is just biding out his time." He flinched slightly from the pain, shaking his head as he lowered it back onto his hooves. "I just wish I knew what he what he was up too..."

Tuli was about to rush over besides Avan when he winced, but she held herself back. "I think we all do, Tamesis isn't exactly something good... But Avan, I worry gravely for your health." She frowned, watching him. Sighing, she went into the kitchen and peered into the fridge. "We need some more food..." She commented to herself, shaking her head alongside. "Avan, I'm going to go run to the market." Her voice had risen so Avan could hear, and grabbing a few bits to take along with her she walked towards the back door. "Do you need anything?"


OoC; After your post, topic end?