It came time for Hearts and Hooves Day, the one holiday that a lot of the Guardians on the main team or on the reserves liked to celebrate. Sapphire and the Elders allowed the Guardians to celebrate the holiday in the village that the Appointment Ceremony was held in.
So for Hearts and Hooves Day a big party was held at the bakery shop that was in the village. All of the Guardians and their families were invited and this time Applejack was able to see Melody and actually keep an eye on her in person.
Melody didn't even have to whistle a few notes to figure out where her mom was because she could sense Applejack's magic signature from anywhere. It was the same thing with Aether now. But with other ponies that she wasn't close to not so much.
Applejack smiled once she entered the room where the party was and saw Melody on the far side of the room talking to Aether. Applejack thought of just leaving them alone but she hadn't seen Melody in over a month because of being ordered to not visit any of the other Gates except the one that she had been assigned to.
"Melody!" Applejack said as she galloped to her daughter. "Melody, how are you? It's been a while since I've seen you!"
"I'm fine mom." Melody replied after Applejack hugged her.
"Yes ah know that." Applejack said. "It's just I haven't seen you in over a month now. Apple Bloom's told me you've been doin' okay. But you've also been concerned about something and I-"
"I'm fine really I am, we're having a party to celebrate love mom. There's no need to spoil it by being so worried about things all the time." Melody said.
Applejack smiled and nodded. "Sure okay then." She turned to Aether. "So did you ask her yet?"
Aether raised an eyebrow. "Ask her what?"
"You know what I'm talking about Aether." Applejack said with a teasing smile.
Even though Aether was a bit confused as to what Applejack was talking about, Melody picked up on what her mother was implying. "Mom! Seriously? Yes this is a celebration about love but that doesn't mean I have to use it to pick up a special somepony like most other ponies do on this day."
Aether blushed and gave a bashful smile. "Oh, you mean that question? That'd be a no." Aether chuckled, still blushing, "given Melody's response I'm guessing you um.. Pretty much guessed that one.. though."
Melody did a facehoof and groaned. "Oh for crying out loud, come on Aether let's go talk to other ponies, mom don't follow us please."
Applejack couldn't stop herself from laughing as Melody and Aether walked away, and Melody had a look of annoyance on her face.
Once Melody and Aether got out of earshot from Applejack, Aether smiled. "You know, I know mother means well but your love life is your business, ya know? Like, I don't wanna be rude but, she can seem a bit.. Clingy.. At times"
"No kidding." Melody said.
Aether whispered into her ear, "Overprotective parents though, amirite!"
Melody snorted. "Yup!"
Little did they know that while everyone was enjoying the party Fancy Dark was sitting by himself plotting and planning how he would betray his fellow Guardians and join Phantasia’s side.
Hmmm, Fancy Dark thought, the first order of business would be to ask that wonderful mare Melody out. I don’t know if she’ll take my offer but if she sees that she’s on the wrong side of the equation… He shook his head. Nope a smart mare like Melody would never betray her friends just like that! I have to be smart about this. Then after I have Melody on my side I’ll go figure out how to contact Phantasia!
Fancy Dark smiled when he saw Melody and Aether off to the side of the room talking to each other. He walked right up to Melody and cleared his throat. “Uh, Melody, can I speak to you for a moment in private?”
Melody hesitated at first but said, “Sure.”
Once Fancy Dark and Melody were out of earshot of Aether, Fancy Dark said, “So I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while but… Would you go out on a date with me?”
Melody paused and looked to Fancy Dark that she was shocked about what he just said. “Oh uh well… I’ll have to think about it, okay? Give me until the next time we train to give you an answer please.”
Fancy Dark nodded. “Sure.”
Once Melody left to go rejoin Aether Fancy Dark thought Well that went swimmingly! Of course I should’ve guessed she wouldn’t give me an answer right off the bat! I’ve seen the way she looks at Aether and how he looks at her! They’re probably dating by now! I guess I’m too late!
But what Fancy Dark didn’t know was that Melody was cooking up a plan so that she could keep an eye on him because she knew he was going to betray his friends and fellow Guardians sooner or later.
***
When Melody rejoined Aether to continue their conversation the first thing she said was, “Silme wants a carrot.”
Aether paused and raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Melody gave him a serious look and repeated herself, “Silme wants a carrot.”
“So Fancy Mark actually did what I think you’re telling me?” Aether asked.
Melody shook her head. “Nope something else.”
“Okay?” Aether said. “What? Because that catchphrase was only meant if there was trouble.”
“Ah well there is trouble or at least in my opinion there is,” said Melody. “But I think I can use this to my advantage to keep a closer eye on Fancy. And don’t laugh at that, I know I can’t see so yeah.”
Aether paused. “Okay so what happened?”
“Fancy just asked me out on a date!” Melody said.
“What?! Why that little-“ Aether gasped. He was starting to see red when Melody put a hoof on his shoulder and shook her head. “Huh?”
“Remember how I just said that I could probably use this to my advantage to keep an eye on Fancy?” Melody said.
Aether nodded. “Mhm so what’s your plan?”
“So I say I go out on a date with him and when he goes to betray us I can use his feelings towards me as an advantage to reason with him.” Melody said.
Aether smiled at how smart Melody can be sometimes. "That's.. Wow.. It makes sense though, alright then, I don't particularly like this plan but if that's what you want to do then give it a shot I guess."
Melody nodded. "Alright I'll talk to you later."
***
As Fancy Dark was leaving the party getting ready to head back to the West Gate when Melody caught up to him. "Fancy! Fancy wait!"
Fancy paused and turned around. "What?"
"I have an answer for you." Melody said
Fancy raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"My answer is yes," replied Melody.
Fancy gave her a skeptical look. "Wait, aren't you already with Aether?"
Melody tried her best to make her lie real because Applejack heavily frowned upon lying when she was growing up. As of now she couldn't tell a lie to save her life but this time was the exception to the rule. "No I'm not with him," this part of the lie was true so she wasn't lying just yet. "I asked him out earlier and he turned me down."
That part she just said was the lie.
"Alright, after the next time we train we'll go to the village to have a date. I'm sure if Head Guardian Sapphire knew we were dating then it shouldn't be a problem." Fancy said.
Melody nodded. "Okay then once we get clearance from Head Guardian Sapphire we'll set up a date."
"Works for me my dear!" Fancy said. He went up to her and gave her a peck on the cheek.
After Fancy left Melody couldn't believe what she was doing. As soon as she saw Fancy was gone she wiped his kiss off her cheek. She had to keep telling herself that it was for the best and even though it went against her core values she had to find a way to keep Fancy from betraying her and the other Guardians. If Fancy did betray them then that would brand him as a traitor and possibly disconnect his magic from the Gate he was guarding.
"So did you do it?" She heard Aether ask.
She sighed, "Yes I did and he gave me a peck on the cheek too."
Aether gagged and Melody gagged along with him. "Yeah and I hope he doesn't want to actually kiss me one of these days."
Aether snorted. "Well he just might depending on how long you want to keep this up."
"Honestly, if it gets to that point I'll have to tell him the truth." Melody said. "I'm not telling Applejack the real reason why I'm dating him because she wouldn't be too happy about this. Good thing I don't live at home anymore."
"Sure. I'll see you the next time we train and whenever you're not on a date with Fancy." Aether said.
"See you later." Melody replied.
Melody and Aether parted ways and Melody wasn't sure how long she could keep the lie about her wanting to date Fancy up.
***
Fancy Dark was practically skipping down the hallway as he felt super excited that he got a date with Melody. It had been two days since he asked her out on a date and she said yes. Then as soon as he got to his room she appeared. Once again the Blood Goddess decided to pay him a visit.
Blood Goddess laughed a sinister laugh, "Well, well, well I sense some sort of happiness inside of you." She paused. "But wait, you're not Fancy Mark now are you?"
Fancy Dark smirked. "Well I would say I'm happy to see you but at the moment I have other matters to attend to. But since you're here it's only fair I should introduce myself. As you've noticed I'm not Fancy Mark, I'm Fancy Dark."
"Ah I see so you're that Fancy Dark fellow that Fancy Mark spoke of," Blood Goddess said.
Fancy Dark nodded. "Hmm yes that's me! And since you're here I would like to propose a deal."
Blood Goddess raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what deal might that be?"
"My deal would be I would like for you to convince as many of my fellow Guardians join a stallion who is sure to be the next ruler of Equestria, Phantasia." Fancy Dark said.
The Blood Goddess crossed her arms. "And what do I get in return? Do you know why I'm called the Blood Goddess?"
"Why?" Fancy Dark asked.
"Because I destroy my enemies! I don't convince them to join my side. The only ponies that join my side are the ones that can summon me successfully and make a pact with me." Blood Goddess replied. "The only reason you're able to see me right now is because the one who originally summoned me and made a pact with me, the one who's body you reside in. Fancy Mark's body and soul is still in existence. You can try and break all the mirrors you want but that's not going to destroy Fancy Mark. It's only going to silence him so you can be in the driver's seat so to speak."
Fancy Dark nodded. "What if I destroy Fancy Mark somehow and-"
Blood Goddess shook her head. "Nope! It doesn't work that way! Not only do you have to keep Fancy Mark's body alive, you have to keep his soul alive as well. Just because you're another version of Fancy Mark inside his body doesn't mean you can make a blood pact with me. It has to be the original owner of the body that can make the blood pact with me and the original owner only. The only way I can make any deal with you is Fancy Mark's consent and from the looks of it…" She cocked her head to the side and cupped her right ear. "Judging by the sound of Fancy Mark's screams, yeah there's no way he would make any type of deal involving the betrayal of his comrades. So I'm sorry but any deal like that isn't going to happen any time soon."
After the Blood Goddess said that she disappeared. Once the Blood Goddess disappeared Fancy Dark went to the bathroom to look at the mirror. He didn't destroy the bathroom mirrors because he still wanted at least one mirror that he could use to torment Fancy Mark with.
As soon as Fancy Dark looked into the mirror he saw Fancy Mark with a smug look on his face.
"What are you so happy about?" Fancy Dark growled.
"Me? Happy? Oh no I'm not happy I just know you'll never be able to make a deal with the Blood Goddess. You won't be able to do it without my consent!" Fancy Mark chuckled. "Oh and I can't wait for all of your plans to betray my friends and go over Phantasia fall through. True you'll ruin my life and who knows they'll probably execute us for treason!" He shrugged. "Oh you started this and it will end with your demise!"
Fancy Dark gave Fancy Mark the stink eye as he said, "Is that so? Well I got news for you buddy! Phase one of my plan is complete!"
"Oh really? You mean asking Melody out and her saying yes?" Fancy Mark smirked. "Oh please, I know when somepony has an ulterior motive when it comes down to saying yes to a date with a pony like you!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Fancy Dark said.
"What do you think I mean?" Fancy Mark said, "If you even think about casting dark magic on Melody it's not going to work!"
"Oh really thank you for the idea and I might just try that to make sure-" Fancy Dark said.
Fancy Mark cut him off, "Oh no that's not working because dark magic is the reason why you came about! You happened after I made the pact with the Blood Goddess! And from what I can sense Melody has dark magic too! I don't know how she got it but she has it so yeah. Good luck trying to make your fantasy land into a reality!"
"Why you little-" Fancy Dark snarled.
"Me little what?" Fancy Mark stomped his hoof in anger. His ears flattened and pointed a hoof at Fancy Dark, "You're the one trying to ruin my life! You're the one trying to betray my friends! Not to mention you're also the one trying to make somepony like you that doesn't!"
"Yeah-" Fancy Dark said.
"Yeah, yeah whatever!" Fancy Mark snapped. "What about all the stuff you said about if I let you take over then you would make my life better huh? Let me, that was a ploy right? It was a ploy for you to take away everything I worked for to rebuild my life after the Blood Goddess took everything away! Don't you understand, YOU WERE THE ONE THAT HELPED THE BLOOD GODDESS KILL MY FAMILY! It wasn't me standing there with the bloody knife in my hoof watching my parents die slowly! It was YOU!" He laughed wickedly, "And you have the audacity to accuse me of doing something that you did! You were the one in the driver's seat back then so this is all your fault!" He sat on his haunches and crossed his forelegs and turned his back to Fancy Dark. "You know what? The next time you look in the mirror you won't see me in it. I'm done with you!"
With that Fancy Mark's image disappeared. Once Fancy Mark's image disappeared in the mirror Fancy Dark yelled, "Well who needs you anyway! I don't need you and I don't need your friends either! Melody will love me and I can assure you of that!"
He sat down and laughed a sinister laugh to himself. With Fancy Mark clearly not being on his side, Fancy Dark knew he had to come up with another plan.
"Don't worry Fancy Dark," Fancy Dark said to himself, "this is just a little bump in the road to your success. Everypony will see that I made the right choice when Phantasia becomes Equestria's new ruler! Fancy Mark is wrong, Melody does love me, she said yes so why would that mean otherwise?"
After his little conversation with himself Fancy Dark left the bathroom and laid down on the bed. Eventually he drifted off to sleep but his dreams weren't pleasant ones because what if Fancy Mark was right? Fancy Dark didn't care how many nightmares he has in the future, he was going to prove Fancy Mark wrong.