//------------------------------//
// Chapter VII - He's back. 
// Story: A Legend Returns 
// by 654_nosneb 
//------------------------------//

Since I returned home, I just wanted to relax for a bit. Luna had already raised the moon, and Twilight already went to her bedroom to sleep. I was about to do the same, but Sasha, who didn't go to her home yet, stopped me as I opened the door of my room.

"William, may I speak about something with you?"

"What's the matter?" I said as I turned around to face her. She seemed deeply worried about something. She's been like that since Twilight called her to help us.

"I've witnessed something today, something that concerns me. Do you remember my mother, Opaline?"

"Yeah, I do. What's up with her?"

"She..." Sasha looked at all places, as if she thought that she was being watched. When she got certain that she wasn't, she said. "She isn't dead."

"What do you mean?"

"She appeared to me today. She found out that I'm still alive. She... She wants... I don't know exactly what, but she isn't particularly happy with your presence."

"Do you mean..." I hesitated. "Do you mean that she wants to... kill me?"

"I don't know for sure, but it's very likely."

Great! Simply great. Just when I thought that one maniac wanting to kill me was bad, I discover that there's another.

"But... but are you sure about that?"

"If I'm sure?" she replied a bit angry. "IF I'M SURE!? I saw her just today with my own eyes; how can I not be sure?"

I sighed, "I just hoped it to be false; now I've two magical powerful beings out there that want to kill me."

"Wait, two? What do you mean?"

"Yesterday, I felt a powerful presence at the Everfree Forest. I first thought that it was just some kind of creature that lived there; the Everfree Forest had too many of them. But then I realized that I could recognize the presence from some part of my past. Now I'm sure; he's Director Osvaldo."

"Director Osvaldo!" exclaimed Sasha. She also couldn't believe it. She did tried to negate it as Celestia did by saying: "No, that's impossible. It's simply not logical. Why would he wait until now to show up?"

"I could say the same thing about Opaline," I answered. "Why would I believe that she's back?, just because an alicorn says so?"

"Oh, now you're calling me a lier!" Sasha shouted, now angry.

"Of course not, I'm just putting things into perspective," I quickly spoke. "Only if we're gonna trust each other, we can truly help ourselves."

"Help ourselves? In what?"

"Well we..." I had troubles with answering those questions. We both struggled with powerful demons of our pasts, perhaps that's why we connected so well. But unlike Sasha, I'm more willing to face that demon, to confront it, even if he'd easily kill me if I did so. "Have to... survive against them. We should tell the princesses about Opaline; they'll be of great help."

"Perhaps. Did you tell them already about Osvaldo?"

"Yeah, but that didn't go as I thought. Celestia didn't want to accept the truth, even if she can feel him as well. I guess it's their trauma; he made them live in hell during their early childhood... er, fillyhood."

"And what about Luna?"

"She did accepted it, but, as if they were still fillies, nothing can be done if they don't agree. 

"Maybe, since they are not as traumatized by Opaline as they are by Osvaldo, it will be more easy for them to understand it," Sasha said. 

"Maybe," I replied. "It will be better if you tell them though. Maybe they'll listen to an ancient alicorn better than his annoying older brother."

"Really? I'm not sure that they'll take me too seriously; after all, I'm practically just a stranger that they just happen to meet."

I paused for a second before replying. Not only I know how they were in their fillyhood, but now I also know that both Celestia and Luna are still more than willing to trust in Sasha, "Believe me, they really appreciate you. Your blood runs through their veins; you're technically part of their family."

She was stunned after hearing this, "I... I never thought of it in that way," now tears started to form in her eyes, and some of them even spilled on the crystal floor. "So I... Do you mean that I... have a family? Do you mean that... you're my family?"

I wasn't sure about how to proceed, but I did know that Sasha needed help. Any kind of help. I walked to her, and gave her a warm embrace around her green neck, "Of course you have, Sasha. I know how it feels to think you've lost everything you love, and I don't want you to go through it all alone."

The hug lasted for some more minutes, then she realized that we both were tired, and that we needed some sleep. 

"Well," Sasha said as she broke the embrace, "I'm gonna fly to Canterlot tomorrow. I'll tell the princesses about Opaline, oh, and maybe what we've discovered of that element of hope. But for now, I just wanna sleep; it's been a tough day."

"Yeah, me too." I said. "Goodnight, Sasha!"

After saying goodbye, I turned around and entered my room. For now, all I wanted was to lay on my bed and forget all of my recent problems. Before I crashed into the bed, I noticed that the balcony door was opened. There wasn't any rain programed by the cloud factory, but I wanted to have it closed. Then, when I was about to close the entrance to the balcony, I saw it.

Or him.

"Greetings, William," it was Osvaldo. He was wearing a dirty lab coat and old destroyed jeans. "Do you remember me?" he asked with a mischievous smile.

"If I remember you? IF I REMEMBER YOU!?" I shouted as I made my sword appear and, with both hands, point it to Osvaldo's face. "I don't know if you know it, but for me just a few months have passed since the last time I saw you!"

"Oh, so it's the same thing with you then," he said. "I thought that you lived in this... fairytale for 20000 years. Well, that makes things even easier for me."

"What exactly do you mean?" I asked still holding my blade between my hands with rage.

"I mean that you're practically the same threat to me as you were 20000 years ago: none at all."

Then, he took my blade and tried to throw it off the balcony. But since I was holding it too tightly, I ended up falling off alongside my sword. 

The castle didn't have too many floors, and I was about to hit the ground. As I panicked, I somehow managed to open a portal in the ground that will take me back to my room. However, even though it worked, the momentum I had was just too much to be stopped, and I ended up crashing into my desk. 

As I got back to my feet, I felt a kick in my stomach, then another, and then another one. It wasn't hard to guess what was happening: Osvaldo was kicking my ass, literally. 

"I think that's enough for tonight," he said after 15 kicks or so. "You were of great help, William. You know? I could kill you right here if I wanted to, but where would be all the fun then?" Osvaldo proceeded to grab me from my neck and then whispered to my ear: "The truth is: I want revenge. You took everything, not just from me, but also from the entire human race. You deserve even worse than this, but I'll let you be consumed by your own fear; it will be so much entertaining."

Before getting unconscious, the last thing I saw was him throwing me to a nearby wall.