//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Heart of Despair // Story: My Little Pony: Draconic Lovers // by RobtheMorpherPony //------------------------------// Things were not looking good right now, for any pony or creature. Earlier that day; the day that was supposed to be the double wedding of Rainbow Dash & Soarin and Rarity & Fancy Pants; Sunburst had annouced that not only was Starswirl the Bearded still alive, but that five other ponies from legend were real as well. They were just all trapped in Limbo. So, Twilight sought to get the Pillars out of Limbo using a reverse of the spell that trapped them there. Which did work in bringing back the pillars, but in her eagerness to meet her idle at long last, Twilight didn't realize she couldn't bring just the pillars back; she brought back the Pony of Shadows too. It was in part thanks to Starlight that the Pony of Shadows was revealed to be Stygin, and the truth of the matter in regards to him and how he became the Pony of Shadows was revealed. As well as everything else. All the same, it did allow for the Pillars and Stygin to come to a greater understanding. And thus, reconcile. However, the celebration was cut short when suddenly, Zanth appeared and dove into where the Well of Shadows was located. "Okay, what was that?" Starswirl asked. "That...would be the one nightmare we've been having trouble with. It goes by Zanth. And yes, I call it an 'it' as Zanth is just a being of magical energy made from negative emotions of someone from long ago." Twilight said. Suddenly, the ponies all heard the screams of the Pony of Shadow being sucked into something. That's when Zanth emerged, having a strange purple heart. "Who would've thought this place would become useful to me like this? I mean really; how likely is it this Well of Shadows would just so happen to have been built on where I was initially defeated eons ago?" Zanth asked. Starlight's eyes went wide. "This...this place was built on top of the place where Angela poored so much power in me, it defeated you." Starlight said. "Sometimes, I hate Time Travel stuff. It's more of a headache then you want it to be. Angela's brothers using their very life force to call you into the past like that, just so you could assist Angela in my initial defeat...the very thought still makes me angry." Zanth said. "What sort of heart object did you just obtain?!" Starswirl the Bearded exclaimed. "...Starswirl the Bearded. I recognized your handiwork on making the Heart of Despair inactive. But, fate isn't kind to you old man: By seperating Stygin from the darkness that made him become the Pony of Shadows, you have allowed me to undo your spell on the Heart of Despair." Zanth said. "But I think you'll find yourselves wanting to head back to Canterlot very, very soon... The void being then vanished into thin air. Before any pony could question what Zanth just said, the group was suddenly drawn attention to Canterlot, where loads of ships were suddenly attacking the City. "We-we have to go back!" Twilight said. It was the Storm King, and the CMC happened to be there; all six of them. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were also there with their parents. "I come to attend the first double wedding that Equestria's ever seen, and what happens? We get invaded." Spoiled Rich said. "Save your complaining; it's not going to help us find a way to hold these creatures back long enough for Twilight and her friends to get here." White Flame said. "He's got a point." Silver Spoon's mother said. "Uh oh...don't look now, but I think Zanth's coming." Silver Spoon said. Zanth did indeed come onto the scene. "Ah. Zanth. Where have you been?" The Storm King asked. "Just paid a visit to the Well of Shadows. Turns out, that place was filled with enough dark energy to reinvigorate the Heart of Despair. So, you are no longer needed." Zanth said. "What?! You'd dare betray me?" Storm King asked. "And yet you lied to Tempest Shadow; your own enforcer. News flash Tempest: Your horn can never be fixed. Not by traditional means. No, it'd take a lot more than anything this idiot could've planned to restore it." Zanth said. "Not that that's going to matter soon; now that I have the Heart of Despire, reality is mine to reshape and mold as I see fit! Suddenly the Pillars and Twilight's group appeared. "No! We got here too late!" Twilight said. "What?! How'd you get here so fast?!" Zanth exclaimed. "No matter; I shall first use the power of the Heart of Despair to--" Suddenly the Heart of Despair used a beam of darkness to outright kill the Storm King and then absorb him. "Uh...I don't think that's supposed to happen." Rainbow Dash said. And then, the Heart of Despair absorbed Zanth. "No...it can't be...The Heart of Despair isn't just fully functional; by being in this place, at this time, it's abosrbed so much negative emotions, that it's gained complete and udder sentience." White Flame said. "And...what does that mean?" Apple Bloom asked. "It means...the Heart of Despair has gained a mind of it's own, and now...it's going to destroy..." White Flame said. "Destroy? Destroy what?" Starswirl asked. "...Everything. Not just this world, but all of reality." White Flame said. "We can't let that happen." Rainbow Dash said. Guilty... Suddenly out of nowhere, a bunch of ghosts suddenly showed up. "Oh...oh this is NOT good..." White Flame said. Guilty...guilty...guilty... The ghosts chanted. All rise for the trail of... one formally dressed ghost said suddenly. Guilty...guilty...guilty... the other ghosts chanted. Then a judge-looking ghost showed up. I hearby find the defendent... The judge ghost said. Guilty...guilty...guilty... the normal ghosts chanted. The honorable judge Un M. Portant! The formally dressed ghost said before they were all absorbed by the Heart of Despair. Prince Blueblood had been there the entire time in the background, and his jaw dropped. Judge Un M. Portant? But that's the name of the judge portrait that was so faded, no picture was recoverable! The unicorn prince thought to himself. Heart of Despair Suddenly, the Heart of Despair suddenly cloaked itself in darkness that took the shape of Nightmare Moon of all things. Despair Moon Heart of Despair The Heart soon began using attacks that were disguised as some of the trails the main six encountered when they were going up against Nightmare Moon: An avalanche of rocks, enranged manticores, the trees with faces on them, shadow bolts, and even some giant tears. "What is this thing?" Rainbow Dash asked. "It's just a thing emodied with all the negative energy that this planet has given it. It's unleshing it all as it's attacks." White Flame said. "We can see that. How do we stop it? Can we use the elements on it?" Starswirl asked. "Not possible I'm afraid; that thing can't be affected by the friendship laser the elements provide." White Flame said. "How do you even know that?" Starswirl asked. "Let's just say, long ago, me and Zanth...we were one and the same being. But eventually, I was able to split off from Zanth, and that allowed me to eventually become someone new." White Flame said. "I didn't think after all this time, Zanth's efforts to find the Heart of Despair would lead to this of all things; I don't think the Heart of Despair was ever meant to become sentient." "I think we can see that." Twilight said. After enough damage, suddenly the Heart of Despair's darkness took on the form of Discord just in time for the draconequus in question to show up. "What the...why is there some dark copy of me?" Discord said. "It's the Heart of Despair; it's gained sentience somehow." Rainbow Dash said. "If we do nothing, then everything in reality is going to be destroyed." "Oh is that all?" Discord tried to use his chaos powers, but they only did minor damage. "...Okay, never mind. Guess we'll have to fight this thing the old fashioned way." Despair Chaos Heart of Despair This time, the Heart was sending off different attacks: Mean animals, boulders, and even...Rainbow Dash's Wings? "...So...full discloser: I was planning on trying to turn you into your opposites but...with both Smolder & Flash Sentry being there...it just...it was already chaotic enough for me to just see how everything would unfold that I just...didn't." Discord said. "So now he tells us." Twilight said as she dodged horrible looking cupcakes. "Hey, aren't those the baked bads Applejack and I accidently made the one time she almost worked herself to death?" Pinkie Pie asked. "I think that's the point..." Twilight said. After more damage, the Heart of Despair shifted forms again; this time into Sombra's evil form. Despair Tyrant Heart of Despair Though this form was only attacking with black crystals. "...Really? Not very imagative huh?" Rainbow Dash said. But after more damage, the heart changed form for the fourth time; this time into Lord Tirek. "How many forms does this thing have?!" White Flame exclaimed. "Your asking us?" Starswirl asked. Despair Centaur Heart of Despair This was basically just like fighting Lord Tirek's fully powered form, just without the ability to instant defeat it with a friendship laser like last time. After even more damage, the Heart took on the form of Starlight Glimmer. "...Okay, I'm starting to see somewhat of a pattern; because now it's obviously going to start using my original distaste over Cutie Marks because Sunburst and I lost touch." Starlight said. Despair Unicorn Heart of Despair All sorts of cutie marks were being thrown at the group as attacks this time; even the 'equalization' cutie marks were being thrown at them. "I'm starting to wonder if the form it takes ditacts how it attacks us, if it's able to tap into Starlight's old hatred of Cutie Marks like this." Twilight said. After yet more damage, the Heart of Despair once more changed forms; this time it took on the form of Chrysalis. "So wait, why is it taking the form of the usuper Changeling Queen?" Rainbow Dash asked. Despair Usuper Heart of Despair Fake Changelings were being used as attacks in this form of the Heart. After yet more damage, suddenly the Heart took on a more recent form. "It has the form of the Pony of Shadows now!" Starswirl said. Despair Darkness Heart of Despair The Heart was suddenly sending out attacks that used the Pillar's own symbols. "Whoa...how can this thing really replicate?" Rainbow Dash asked. After yet even more damage, suddenly the darkness that seemed to be protecting the Heart all faded away, and suddenly, it was like something...changed... Guity...guilty...guilty... The voice of the common ghosts said Not Guilty! The judge ghost's voice said. Guilty...Guilty...guilty... H̵̢̜̪̯͎͓̦̟̹̳͒̑́̅̓̈́̏̒̍͂͋̆e̵̛̜̰͔͑͗͝a̵̡̛̮̭̠̘̠̜̲̤͈̬͌̓͛̈́́̀̈́̃̓̄̐̔͛̄͒̀ͅͅr̵̨͓̮̣̦̖̦̺̟̔̾̏̀̐͒̂́̔̈̊͐̐̇̚͠͠t̸̢̻̘͖͗̅͘ ̶̗͕̰̞̬̜̹̠̯̱̥͍̣̑̉̃̐͜ͅo̵̻͛̈́̊̓̀̀̀̀̎̍͆̐̕̚͝f̵̨̢̥̺̗̪͍̰̩̮̲̠̪̈́̑̒͋̓͑̆̚͘͠ ̴̢̢̡͉̯͚̦̱̲͎͚͖̻̘͇̎͒̔̒̇̈́͜ͅD̷̛͚̮̥͎̫̓̿̈́̅͌̽́̕͝e̴̡̢̝̣̞̖̬͎̰̻̦̼̐̀̃̋̒̚s̴̥̼̾̌̊̈́͌̓̾͗͐̌̽̀̅̉̈́͝͝p̴͈̣͙͋͐̓̑̆̇͐̍̍̽̾͝͝ą̸̛̣̬̠̗̺̝̪̜͛͊̍̈̀̓̐̔̉i̸̼̦̪̫͒̒̈̀̀͛͆̔͒̓̅̃͝͠͠ŗ̵̛̖̗̝̙̱̜̖͇͎̀̃̓̈́́̐̊͌̑̀͝͝ Guilty...Guilty...Guilty... While this is unprecedented... Guilty...Guilty...Guilty... "...Your not going to get to me, you wretched heart. I'm stronger then this now. I'm not like I was when I was Zanth. I've got Apple Bloom, and I've got all sorts of friends behind me this time. You can't send me into despair with your cheap antics!" White Flame said. All of a sudden, the rainbow power was not only enveloped on the main six, but also the CMC. "...Well this is different..." Starswirl said. Suddenly the rainbow power affected the pillars too. "You six are just as much of a part of this to. It's time to end this nightmare: Let's end the Heart of Despair; and let's do it together!" White Flame said. The Heart of Despair was now using all the attacks it had used before, and then some what with using Zanth's elemental attacks and their combo forms. With more damage, the attacks started being cranked out faster, and with more unpredictablity. It wasn't long before it was obvious that THoD was becoming desperate: It started just throwing everything that the ponies had ever encountered before. It was like it was throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the heroes. Eventually though, the Heart of Despair suddenly stopped at a certain point, as suddenly, a part of it cracked. At that point, it suddenly started to flee in panic. "Oh no. I'm not about to let you get away from me. I'm ending you; no matter what!" White Flame said. "We're with you the whole way; let's end this nightmare once and for all." Apple Bloom said. "Apple Bloom..." White Flame shed a tear. "...Thank you." It was a high speed chase to the Heart of Despair. In a desperate attempt, THoD tried to slow down the heroes with magical walls, but their incredible speed shattered the barriers placed in their way, one after another. As the heroes closed in for the finishing blow, the heart of despair put up mutiple barriers in a vain effort to save itself. This effort failed drastically, and suddenly, all of the heroes shot through the heart like speeding bullets. And with this final blow, the heart suddenly began to started to move erratically before it finally exploded in a flash of light.