1
Celestia sat behind the observation window with Shining Armour, still watching the lifeless body on the bed of ice. Celestia had closed her eyes, trying to sense whether or not Luna had succeeded, to no avail. She opened her eyes and sighed sadly. She stood up and began to pace back and forth, nervousness in her posture. Shining Armour had taken notice and got up as well.
"Princess?" Shining Armour asked. "Are you alright?"
"No, Shining." she sighed, shaking her head. "I am very worried about Luna." she said, still pacing.
"Princess, I'm sure we will be fine. She is a goddess after all." he said, trying to comfort the Princess of the Sun.
"She is indeed a goddess like me, Shining Armour, but even our power has limits. Especially when we fight." she explained.
"What are you talking about?"
"Our immortality is limited to age. If we take too much damage in battle, we can die. That's why when we fight, Luna and I stay at a distance from the battle and influence its outcome with spells and incantations. I fear Luna has had to fight close to her adversary." Shining Armour stood in silence. "That's why I am so worried, and the Crystal Heart has done nothing except get Luna into Volos' mind completely. It deemed her mission noble, but I fear that that is where it stopped."
Shining Armour returned to his spot on by the window. His eyes widened at the sight lying before him. "Princess?" he called.
"What is it Shining Armour?" she asked, her head hanging lower than normal.
"You might have spoken to soon."
"What?" Celestia came over faster and looked through the glass. He eyes became wide and she became short of breath. "His body! What's happening!?"
2
The orb of green light levitated in front of Luna and did not move. Anubis stood a small distance away from the orb, snarling in anger. Luna managed to get to her feet, still behind the orb. The green orb changed into an exact copy of Volos' body. The newly formed Volos let out a growl and got into a fighting stance.
"How did you escape?! I threw you into the darkest reaches of your mind." Anubis asked, angrily. Volos did not answer. "Fine don't say anything, your fate is still the same as hers!" Anubis charged at Volos and unleashed a fury of attacks with his claws, swiping anywhere he could find an opening. "I will make you perfect! I will! I will! I will!" he hollered, desperately throwing attack after attack.
Volos swerved around and managed to catch his tail, while it flailed this way and that. Volos swung Anubis around, making Luna duck for cover. Anubis was thrown into the ground, stunning him. Volos still clung to his A.I's tail. Anubis got back up on his feet and was pulled back by his tail. Volos whipped his tail around his head in a circular motion, pulling Anubis with it. Anubis was swung around again and thrown. Anubis landed on the ground and slid backwards, struggling to overcome the momentum of the throw. Anubis staggered to his feet after he stopped sliding and glared at the incarnation of Volos, hatred flashing from his eyes.
"How dare you go against what the masters designed you for! You were built to kill and destroy, and what do you do instead?!" he roared. "You protect things and keep them safe! No wonder the Masters labeled you a failure when you refused to take a civilian's life on orders! You disgust me!" Anubis yelled, charging at Volos again.
Volos let one of the blades slide out of his fore-arm and ran at Anubis, readying his own attack. Anubis roared, as did Volos. Anubis leaped, aiming for Volos' neck. Volos brought his blade down to meet Anubis' body, his blade sliced through one of Anubis' legs, while Anubis latched onto Volos' body with his three remaining legs and tail. Anubis' leg fell to the ground and disappeared. Anubis ignored the pain and bit at Volos' neck.
Volos groaned and grabbed Anubis' head with his free hand. Anubis squirmed and thrashed his body to free himself. The claws in Volos' hand deployed and dug deeply into Anubis' neck, eliciting a sharp yelp from the A.I. Volos squeezed on the piece of Anubis' neck that he had grabbed and yanked it as hard as he could. A large chunk on the back of Anubis' neck tore from his body. Anubis roared in pain and let go of Volos' body. Anubis swiped at Volos' legs with his tail. It scraped across Volos' form without leaving a scratch.
"What is this?" he asked, suspiciously and filled with unadulterated rage. "That should have taken your leg off!" he roared. Anubis swung at Volos again with his tail, only to have it caught by Volos once again. "Let go you failed experiment!" Anubis roared. Volos stopped, dropping his captive’s tail.
Luna stood a distance away from the dueling pair. She watched as the two of them fought ferociously. She was overjoyed as Volos appeared to have the upper hoof in the battle. She noticed that Volos had stopped when Anubis had called him a "failed experiment." "What did he mean?" she thought. "A failed experiment?" She looked on as Anubis tackled Volos' to the dark ground. Anubis was slashing at Volos' incarnation, watching as pieces of him vanished with each swipe.
"Yes, yes, die you filthy creature. Iam a god of war...and you are NOTHING!" Anubis yelled, tearing Volos to pieces. Volos was giving way under the onslaught of attacks, his green form vanishing little by little as Anubis destroyed his consciousness. Luna took a deep breath. She charged her horn and fired off a small round of her midnight flame. Anubis was struck by the attack, taken by surprise because he had forgotten about Luna. He was knocked off of Volos but quickly recovered from the weak attack. Anubis focused in on Luna. He charged at her instead, consumed by rage. "DIE! DIE! DIE!" he roared.
Luna lumped out of the way, only to be struck by Anubis' bladed tail. She stumbled around, trying to cope with the pain she felt in her side. Anubis turned quickly. He snarled and jumped onto Luna, forcing her to the ground once more. He held her down with his tail and three remaining claws. Luna struggled to get free from her attacker. Volos remained where he was, unmoving. Anubis bit down on the base of Luna's shoulder where it meets the neck. She screamed and continued to struggle.
"V...Volos!" she called before Anubis clamped down on her neck again. "Help, please!" she called between each bite. Volos turned his head and looked at the sight of the struggling Princess. He watched Anubis attack her. He saw her pleading eyes and still he did not move. "HELP ME!" Luna yelled, Anubis clamping down on the base of her neck to silence her.
At that moment Volos saw Luna change for an instant. He could see it, something he lost a great time ago. For an instant he remembered her. His failure, his torturous memory of that day. The day he lost them.
3
"Princess, what's happening!?" Shining Armour yelled, covering his face from the light.
"It must be the Crystal Heart!" she replied. "I've never seen it do anything like this before! Especially at this magnitude!" Celestia uncovered her eyes from the light emanating from Volos' body. The chains Celestia had forged shattered and dissipated into the air because of the magical overcharge coming from the Crystal Heart. Volos' body began to do what looked like a sit up, his mouth becoming agape. Volos shot back to his original position, emitting a roar louder than any previous, causing Celestia and Shining Armour to cover their ears. The room shook from the roar, causing small chips of ice to fall from the walls and ceiling. Celestia thought she could make out two words coming from Volos' slightly repaired vocal components. Never again.
4
Anubis stopped attacking Luna at hearing the mighty roar Volos had just emitted. Volos charged Anubis, who still clung to Luna's body. Anubis unwrapped himself from Luna but before he could ready himself, Volos was already on him. Volos' fist slammed into Anubis' chin and sent him soaring straight up. Volos quickly grabbed his tail and pulled him down, slamming him into the ground. Volos let go of the segmented tail and jumped into the air a small distance, lifting his knee to his chest. As he came down he thrust his leg down, aiming for Anubis' head. Anubis rolled just before Volos' foot came down on his head. Anubis quickly got to his feet.
Anubis ran at Volos the best he could, using his remaining three legs. As Anubis neared, Volos leaned back slightly and quickly lifted his knee to his chest again. He thrust his foot out as Anubis got closer. Anubis' nose made contact with Volos' foot as he thrust it out. Anubis' face stopped but his body kept moving and carried him under Volos' outstretched leg. Anubis tumbled and rolled along the ground, yelping as he went. Anubis stood up and wobbled on his unsteady legs, forcing himself to face Volos. Luna looked at Anubis and could see him trembling, not from rage or his unsteady balance, but from fear.
Luna studied him a short time longer to be sure of what she was seeing. "He's scared of you! He's always known you could defeat him! You are who you want to be! You're not a failed experiment! You're a protector of life! Standing up for those who can't! You're a protector, not a killer!" Luna yelled at Volos, trying to keep him going in the fight.
Volos' body began to reconstruct itself, the pieces that Anubis had torn away grew back quickly. Anubis wore a look of anger mixed with terror. Volos let loose a roar, as if he were renewed by Luna's words, and charged at the A.I. Anubis charged at him as well, in a last ditch effort to win this fight. Anubis leaped at Volos. Volos side stepped a short distance and held his arm to his side, parallel with the ground. Anubis slammed into Volos' outstretched arm, Volos kept running adding to the force of the blow. Anubis slammed to the ground and rolled over himself a few times before stopping and lay still for a few seconds. Volos turned around quickly and ran at Anubis' downed body.
Anubis regained his vision and rolled himself onto his stomach. Before he could do anything else, Volos had grabbed him by the throat. Volos ran, clutching Anubis in his hand. Volos jumped, keeping his forward momentum. Anubis struggled and kept slashing his tail at Volos, who did not flinch. Volos came down on the ground putting Anubis' head in front of himself. Anubis' head made contact with the ground and slid as Volos kept his momentum. Volos brought his legs over his head and used the momentum to flip himself over, using Anubis' neck as a base. His feet made contact with the ground and he lifted his arm from its position by swinging his body in the direction his momentum was carrying him and brought Anubis over his head and threw Anubis head first, into the ground.
Volos stood over the mangled body of his combat A.I. Anubis laid completely still. Volos picked up Anubis by the neck and studied the A.I's body. He dropped Anubis' mangled body on the ground.
"Do what you were designed to do, kill. Kill me and then the horse. You can't resist your programming." Anubis whispered, through his broken mouth. Volos raised his foot above Anubis' head and held it there. "That's right. DO IT!" Anubis coaxed. Volos shot his foot down. Anubis' head was smashed from the force and weight of Volos' foot. His body disappeared and Volos turned and looked over to the Lunar Princess.
Luna slowly walked over to Volos, trying to ignore the pain she felt, and looked at him. "Thank you." she stated happily, smiling at him. Volos knelt down and placed a hand on the back of Luna's neck, much to Luna's surprise. She calmed down and smiled. "I knew you were a protector, not a mindless killer. I'll see you when you wake up." she said, smiling.
Luna's horn glowed and she disappeared from Volos' gaze.
5
The light around Volos' body faded quickly and soon he lay there like before. Celestia and Shining Armour ran down to the door leading to Volos cell. They ran inside and waited for something to happen. A few minutes after arriving, a blue aura was leaving Volos' head and Luna lay on the ground. Celestia went over quickly and picked up Luna in her arms. She noticed her wounds and began to heal her injuries. Luna's eyes opened slowly and she groaned.
"Luna? Luna, are you alright?" Celestia asked, worried.
Luna focused her vision on Celestia and smiled. "Yes, I am fine."
"Good." Celestia sighed, relieved. "When I saw your wounds after you came back, I had feared the worst." Celestia said, worried.
"Relax Celestia, I'm fine."
Celestia smiled before becoming serious again. "Did you win?" Celestia asked, seriously.
"Yes, we did."
"We?"
Luna nodded. "Yes, I didn't beat Anubis, Volos did. In fact he saved my life." Luna looked at Celestia's face and noticed that she had focused on Volos. "Did something happen while I was in there?"
"Yes. The crystal Heart generated a significant amount of power that made Volos' body glow. He roared so loudly, some of the ice in the walls broke and fell off."
"Really?" Luna asked, with disbelief.
"Yes. Whatever it saw in Volos, the Crystal Heart aided it." She focused on Luna again. "As for you, you need to rest." Celestia said, getting up and helping Luna stand. "Come, there is a room waiting for you." Celestia informed, helping Luna through the door and up to the observation area. They came to a small room containing a window and a bed. "Lie down and rest for a little while. After everything you went through, I can only imagine how you must feel right now."
Luna walked over and slumped into the bed quickly. The comfort of the mattress and pillow quickly overtaking her. "Tell me when Volos wakes, please?" Luna asked, before slowly shutting her eyes to sleep.
"Of course." Celestia said, before walking out and closing the door behind her.