My New Life

by Ark125

Surprises in Store

"Man, he really messed you up, didn't he?" I heard the voice say again.

I looked at the iguana. "Bubbles did you hear something?" I turned back around and searched the room some more.

"No. But I said something."

I froze and turned around, staring right at Bubbles. "B-b-b-Bubbles?"

"Y-y-y-yes?" The iguana said.

"Ah! A talking lizard!" I yelled, backing up to the wall.

"Ah! A talking horse!" Bubbles said, standing on his hind legs and waving his front feet back and forth. "How does that feel? Not too good I bet."

I slumped down to the floor. "I must be dreaming. Yeah, that's it." I said closing my eyes and rubbing the side of my head. "This is all really a nightmare and I am going to wake up next to Pure Heart and everything will be fine. Right... now!"

I opened my eyes and Bubbles was still in front of me and I was still in the cell. "Nope, still here." He said.

I closed my eyes again. "Okay, try again." I opened my eyes and he was still there.

"Nope, try again. This time, try hitting your head against the wall. The shock might wake you up."

"Good idea." I closed my eyes and banged my head against the wall behind me. "Ouch!" I opened my eyes and he was gone. "It worked!"

Then Bubbles came running into my view again. "Sorry, I thought I saw a piece of lettuce in the corner. But it was just a leaf."

"Okay, one more time." I closed my eyes once more and banged my head against the wall again. "Ouch!" I rubbed the back of my head and opened my eyes, only to find Bubbles sitting on my left knee.

"Well, I would suggest doing it again because it was freaking hilarious watching you try to wake up, but you shouldn't. You might get a concussion."

I gently placed my head against the wall. "I guess I'm not asleep."

"Duh. Of course not. I thought you didn't dream anyways."

"I don't. At least, not horrid, terrible nightmares like this. I guess I really don't dream at all normally."

"Then I think that your imminent headache could have been avoided." Bubbles said, lifting his front right foot to gesture at the air.

"Give me a break. I've kind of had a stressful day."

"Okay, I will give you that."

"So, if I am not dreaming, then the only logical explanation is that the grief I have experienced today has driven me clinically insane."

"How do you figure?" He asked, placing his feet under his chin in an attentive pose.

"Well, for one thing, I am talking to a lizard."

"Iguana."

"Iguanas are lizards!"

"Point." He pointed a claw at me and put it back under his chin.

I sighed and began rubbing my temples. "I'm sorry, I guess I am really just upset about my whole marriage being a lie." I crossed my forelegs and placed them on my knees, lying my head down onto them. I began to quietly cry.

"Shh. Its okay." He said, climbing up to my shoulders and patting me on the head. "You have me."

"Great, I have the talking lizard created by a crazed delusion." I said sarcastically.

"Hey, you may be a bit scatter-brained right now, but I can assure you that I am one hundred percent real." He wrapped his tail around my shoulders and tickled my right ear.

"Quit it." I said, pushing his tail away.

"Nope." He started tickling my ear again.

"Your bugging me, stop." I swatted his tail away again.

"Not until you admit that I am real." He did it again.

"Fine, fine. You are real. Now can you please stop?"

"Okay, but first you have to show me your pretty smile." He said.

"No."

"Come on." He stuck his tail under my legs and tickled my nose while my face was still down.

"No. Leave me alone." I turned my head to the side so he couldn't reach my face.

"Please. I will give you a cookie."

I sighed. "Fine." I turned to him and quickly flashed a smile, then turned my head back.

"Uh uh. A real smile. Teeth and all."

"No. Now give me the cookie."

"Okay, I lied about the cookie. But it got you to do it the first time."

"I didn't want a cookie anyways." I said sadly.

"Hey, don't make me tickle you in your tickle spot." He threatened.

"I don't have a tickle spot."

"Oh yes you do. Pure Heart told me exactly where it was." He climbed down my back and went under my left wing.

"He didn't." I said.

"Yes he did." He began to lick me right under my wing joint.

I began to laugh. "Please, no. Stop. Ahh!" I fell over onto the floor from laughing so hard.

Then he suddenly stopped. I took deep breaths and then opened my eyes. He stood in front of me with a grin. "There we go. That's what I wanted to see."

I smiled. "Thanks."

"Hey, we're family. Cheering each other up is what we do." He said, wiping away stray tears from my face with his tail.

After I calmed down a bit, I laid down on the cold cell floor. "I'm still sad though."

"Yeah, finding out that your life is a lie tends to do that to you." He came over and laid down on my stomach. "That's okay though. We can get through this."

"I just don't understand. How could I not see any of this?"

"Love can blind us to what is really going on. That's what Pure Heart told me once."

"How can you trust in that? Pure Heart is a liar."

"Is he? I thought he was your husband."

"I thought so, too. But now, I'm just not sure. Black Heart said that he was just a puppet and I was coaxed into being one as well."

"Did you feel like a puppet?"

"No."

"What did you feel?"

I sniffled. "Love for him and my children."

"Exactly. You had children with him. Where are they now?"

"I don't know, but Black Heart assured me they were safe."

"Right, and did you believe that?"

"Yes. Something in his eyes told me he was telling the truth."

"So if Pure Heart didn't love you, Black Heart would have had no problem disposing of your children. But something held him back. Same with you. Why does he keep you alive if you have already served your purpose?"

"Because something is holding him back."

"Bingo."

"But what about all the other things he said? And did Pure Heart really love me?"

"I don't know. I wasn't around back when you two met. This is what I do know, however. I know that when we were all stuck in The Pit, he found you lying on the ground, badly hurt. Even though you were no longer the same species, he picked you up and took you in to our cave. I wasn't particularly thrilled at first, but he told me all about you. He told me that you two were married but that he had to keep his identity a secret. He patched you up and he waited by your side until you woke up. If that isn't love, I have no idea what is."

I was silent for a moment. "You really think he loved me?"

"Either that or he is a fantastic actor. And we both know that he sucks at acting."

I chuckled a little. "He is really bad, isn't he?"

"The worst." We both laughed lightly.

"Hey Bubbles."

"Hm?"

"How are you talking to me now?"

"You mean you never saw me talking to Pure Heart?"

"I saw you growl and make noises."

"Yeah, that was me talking to him. I can choose who to talk to."

"Why didn't you ever say anything to me before?"

"You never asked."

I sighed. "That makes some sense. But how did you find me?"

"Well, when Black Heart busted in, I knew that it was Pure Heart's body but that it wasn't Pure Heart anymore. I knew that he probably had you locked up somewhere, so I followed him here. And low and behold, I was right."

"But now that you have found me, what are you going to do? I can't use magic anymore and my wings are so stiff that I can't use them."

"Hmm. I have an idea." He got up and went to the barred window. "I'll be back. You just rest."

"Okay. And Bubbles, thanks."

Flash Fire's POV

"What up, party ponies?!" Black Heart said as he walked into the room.

"Sir, maybe you should focus on what you want to do next." I said.

"I will do whatever the hell I want!" He yelled. "And I want to go on with the next step of my plan."

"Very good. Let's hear it." Red Rum said.

"You ready for this. We do... Nothing."

"Nothing?! That sucks! I want to kill someone. I have haven't murdered in days." Bullet Blaster complained.

"I have to agree with the psycho on this one. We can't just sit around and do nothing. If we wait around, then they will mobilize their troops and attack us." Chrysalis said.

"Exactly." Black Heart said.

"Excuse me? You want them to attack us?" Kron said.

"Duh. It wouldn't be any fun if they were completely defenseless. Besides, what can they do, throw rocks at us? They are weak. We already crippled their main weapon. We have their Elements of Harmony. And what does that leave them with. Love? Friendship? You changelings may be susceptible to their barriers of love, but I feel nothing but sin."

"He's right. We have nothing to worry about." Kron said.

"But what about me? I want to feel the flow of blood trickle over my skin as I rip the head off an innocent." Bullet Blaster said.

"Whoa man, take it easy. That was kind of graphic. If you want, you can head over to Appleoosa and kill those hicks. They are anything but innocent." Black Heart said.

"Yay! Who wants to come with me? We might get to participate in an old fashion shoot out." Bullet Blaster asked.

"I might as well come. Anything is better than sitting around and waiting for who knows how long." Red Rum said.

"Alright, anyone else going?" Black Heart asked. No one spoke up. "Okay, have fun you two. Rip out a couple of hearts for me."

"Will do." Bullet Blaster saluted. He and Red Rum walked out of the room.

"Oh, I just remembered. There was something I wanted to do." Black Heart exited the room, and I followed.

"What did you have in mind, sir?"

"Oh, just a couple resurrections."

"Resurrections? Of who?"

"Oh, just two guys that probably would like to have a bit of fun."

Luna's POV

It had been hours since Bubbles had crawled out the window. It had given me time to think, though. I thought about my childhood. About all the times that Tia had been there to help me up when I fell. It then occurred to me that I had no idea what caused me to fall in the first place.

'Am I repressing bad memories? I couldn't be. I remember other times that things turned out for the worse, but none from my childhood.' I was thinking it over some more when Bubbles scurried back through window.

"Whoo! What a workout."

"Bubbles, your back!" I said, taking him in my forelegs.

"Hey, hey. You are going to squish me."

"Sorry."

"No problem. Now, you may want to stand away from the window."

"Why?"

"Well, let's just say that it won't be there much longer."

"What?" Just then, I heard a pounding on the wall. "What is that?"

"That would be the demolition team." Bubbles grinned. "Now stand back. It is gonna get messy real quick."

I walked over to the opposing wall as the pounding continued. A crack appeared in the wall, then it got bigger and bigger. Then the wall completely shattered. A large eye peered through the hole.

"Knock, knock. Someone call for a taxi."

"Princess Luna, I'd like you to meet my older brother, Brand." Bubbles said, scurrying towards the hole.

I was completely shocked. "Um, uh, hi." I waved.

"What's happenin'?" He said back.

"Come on. We don't have long until the guards show up." Bubbles ushered me out the hole and onto the snout of Brand.

"Let's get out of here." Brand said, charging through the forest, knocking over small trees as he went.

"Not very subtle, is he?" I said to Bubbles as we climbed onto his back.

"Nope, but he sure knows how to make an entrance." Bubbles grinned.

I looked at the beast that we stood on, and realized I had no idea what it was.

"Bubbles, just what is he?"

"I'm an iguanadon." Brand said, as he ducked under a branch.

"Your a dinosaur?" I gaped.

"A what?"

"Never mind. So wait, you two are blood relatives?"

"Impressive huh? You didn't think I would grow up to be a macho giant, huh?" Bubbles said.

"Wait, what did she call you, Throk?"

"Um, Bubbles." I said.

The beast began to reverberate deep in his chest. "Hah hah hah! Bubbles. That is hilarious." He continued to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah. Yuk it up. It is so funny." Bubbles rolled his eyes.

"Where has he been this whole time?" I asked.

"You know, walking around the Badlands. Trying not to get eaten by dragons and such." Brand answered. "Say, where are we going anyways?"

"Back to Canterlot. I need to get home to see my children." I said.

"You can't go there. That is the first place Black Heart will look for you. No, we are going to your old castle."

"But... My kids..."

"Aren't even there. Black Heart told Vapor Sky and Cloudlight to take them somewhere safe." He said.

I sighed. "Fine. I just hope they are all okay."

A few hours later, we arrived at my old palace. It was as bad as it looked months ago.

"I really should get this placed fix up some time." I said aloud.

"Yeah, its a dump." Bubbles said.

"Sure is." Brand agreed.

We walked up to the front doors and Brand pushed them open.

"Hey, do you guys smell that?" Brand asked.

I sniffed the air. "Smells like something is cooking."

"Cooking? This place is supposed to be deserted. How could anything be cooking?" Bubbles asked.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out." I jumped down from Brand's back and started towards the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Bubbles asked.

"To find out what is going on."

"Not without us, you're not. It could be dangerous." Bubbles ran ahead of me and Brand took up the rear.

As we approached the kitchen, I could hear someone talking.

I opened the door. "Hello?"

"Intruder!" A pony said. A knife was hurled at me, but it luckily lodged itself into the wall.

"Whoa! Hold on! We mean you no harm!" I yelled.

"Princess?" The pony said, coming out of hiding. It turned out to be Vapor Sky.

"Vapor Sky? W-what are you doing here?"

"Me? What about you? What in the hell is that?" She asked, pointing to Brand.

"That is Brand, Bubbles' older brother."

"What's up?" Brand said.

"He talks!" Vapor yelled.

"Calm down. He is harmless." I walked over to her. "Vapor, its so good to see a friendly face that isn't reptilian."

"Hey!" Bubbles said.

"Shh." Brand said.

"Princess. I can't believe it. You're alive. We were so worried about you." Vapor dropped the knife she was holding and pulled me into a hug.

"Vapor. This is great and all, but where are my children?"

"Oh, right." She let go of me. "Wait. Something is different about you. Did you get a haircut?"

"Uh, no."

She looked at me a bit closer. "Holy crap! Your horn! Its gone!"

"I know. Bullet Blaster cut it off."

"You poor dear. I am so sorry. I should have come with you two. Then, maybe none of this would have happened." Vapor began to cry.

"No. It is not your fault in the slightest. We asked you to take care of our children and you did. For that, I am grateful."

"Thanks." She sniffled. "Come on. Let me take you to your children. Then you need to take a bath, your absolutely filthy."

She walked out the door that I came in, Brand moving to the side so we could get through.

"How long have you been here?" I asked as we walked.

"Only a few hours. We left as soon as we told your sister where we were going."

"At least she knows that you are safe. What made you choose my old palace?"

"Well, it is really the only place that Cloudlight felt that we would be safe. And he says he remembers where everything is."

"That's good. Maybe he can help me remember a few things."

"We're here." We had stopped in front of the master bedroom. She knocked on the door.

"Vapor. Is that you?" We heard Cloudlight say from the other side.

"Yes, and I have a surprise."

"A surprise!" The door swung open to reveal Moonbeam. "What's the surprise?" She looked at me and smiled widely. "Mommy!" She jumped at me, tackling me to the floor.

"Mommy?" Starfire said, peaking around the door. "It is Mommy!" She also jumped on top of me.

"Girls! I missed you so much!" I kissed them so many times all over their faces. "I promise, I will never leave you again." I hugged them so incredibly tight, they started gasping for breath.

"Mommy, we can't breathe." Moonbeam said.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. We missed you a lot." Starfire said.

"I missed you, too." I nuzzled them.

"Ahem." I looked up and saw Cloudlight. "Do I get a hug?"

"You idiot, of course you do." I stood up and walked over to him, giving him a hug.

"We were worried about you." He said.

"I know. I'm thankful that I could get away, though."

"That's right. How did you escape?" He asked.

"That will have to wait. First, she needs a bath." Vapor Sky said.

"Wow, you sound like my sister." I said.

"Come on. You two as well." She said to the girls.

"Yay! A bath!" Moonbeam said.

"Is there even any running water here?" I asked.

"There is now, thanks to Mr. Fix It over here." Vapor said.

"Aw shucks. It wasn't a big deal."

"Well, thanks. Come on girls, I think I still know my way around." I said.

"I'm coming, too." Bubbles said.

"No you're not. You're a boy. You can shower with Cloudlight." I said.

"Did Bubbles just talk?" Vapor asked.

"You can understand him, too?"

"It's kind of hard not to when he speaks plain English."

"You guys didn't know he could talk?" Starfire asked.

"You did?" I asked.

"Yeah. We talked all the time." Moonbeam said.

"I am very confused." I said.

"So I talked to the kids, no big deal." He said.

"Enough chit chat. Bath, now." Vapor said.

"Okay, sheesh. You are worse than my sister." I said.

We then walked towards the bathroom for a long needed bath.

Black Heart's POV

"How are the pentagrams coming?" I asked.

"We are almossst done." The changeling said.

"Fantastic."

"Black Heart!" Flash Fire said, running into the room.

"What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?" I took a sip of the lemonade that I had in front of me.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Luna has escaped!"

"Good. All according to plan."

"You knew she would escape?" He asked.

"Well of course. What kind of evil ruler would I be if I didn't let her escape?"

"A smart one?"

"Wrong. I wanted her to escape. That way, when I find her, I can tell her it was all Celestia's fault."

"You know where she is?"

"Yeah man." I sat down and put my legs up on a desk I summoned in front of me. "Damn I'm evil!" He laughed hard.

"Should we go after her?"

"Why? She isn't going anywhere? Besides, I am keeping an eye on her."

"They are finished, sssir." The changeling said.

"Excellent." I got up and walked over to the two pentagrams. "Now, you pests get out. I have to concentrate."

The changelings walked out the door. Flash Fire began to as well, but I stopped him.

"Hoof it over." I said.

"What?"

"You know what. The other piece of Discord you have."

"You mean you are bringing back Discord?" He squealed like a child.

"Yes. Now give it."

Flash Fire gave me the other piece of Discord's horn he had. "Excellent. Now for the other one." I concentrated and my chest began to ripple. "Here it is." Sombra's horn sprouted out of my chest and I broke of the tip of it. The rest of the horn slowly sunk back to whence it came.

"Now what?"

"Now we place the pieces in there respective pentagrams." I walked over to the first placed Discord's piece in the center and then placed Sombra's in the second. "And now I make the mark of their sin." I made the symbol of sloth in the first one and the symbol of greed in the second.

"And finally, I sit down in between them and concentrate while you light the pentagrams."

"Alright."

I walked into the middle of the pentagrams and he placed a burning hoof on each one, causing a flame to appear in line with the pentagrams.

"Now, get out. I need to be able to focus."

"Okay. Have fun." He said as closed the door.

"You know it." I relaxed and opened my mind, letting the magic flow out of me.

Luna's POV

After we took our bath and ate a bit of the soup, we all retired to the old study. I settled down with my girls on an old cushion as Vapor Sky and Cloudlight sat together on an other cushion.

The door to the study was large enough so that Brand was able to come in. He sat laid down behind me and Bubbles sat on his brother's head.

"So you can't use magic anymore, Mommy?" Starfire asked, rubbing the stub where my horn used to be.

"No, I can't sweetie. But I can still fly." I fluttered my wings.

"But, how are we supposed to have magic lessons together?" Moonbeam queried.

"You'll have to learn from your Auntie Tia or Auntie Twilight."

"But I want to learn from you or Daddy." Moonbeam pouted.

I nuzzled her face. "I'm so sorry, dearest. But I'm afraid that won't be possible. Your Daddy is gone. But he told me that he loves you and that you need to be strong."

Moonbeam sniffled. "Okay."

"Now, it's time for you two to go to sleep." I turned to Brand. "Will you watch them as they sleep? You know protect them."

"Of course. I love children." He placed his tail in front of me and I set my girls on it. He then set them on his back. Bubbles jumped down from Brand's head and sat next to the fire that was going in the fireplace.

"I will go with him, so he knows where to go." Vapor said. She got up and walked them out of the room.

"I will be in later." I said after them. As soon as the door closed, I laid down on the the cushion.

"What's wrong?" Cloudlight asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on Luna. I know you. You gave that same pouty face when we were kids whenever something was making you sad. So what's up?" He stood up and moved his cushion next to mine, then sat back down.

I sighed. I then recounted everything that Black Heart had said to me about Pure Heart's love being a lie and such. Vapor Sky came back in about midway through my story.

"It's just, everything that Black Heart told me. Could it all be true? Could all mine and Pure Heart's love have been a lie? I mean, sure, we had children together. And don't get me wrong, I love them to death. I would do anything for them. But..."

"You want to know if he loved them as well as you?" He said.

"Yes."

"Luna, this may come as a surprise to you, but when we were younger, I had a crush on you."

"Really? I had no idea."

"It's true. Now that may have been before the whole Nightmare Moon fiasco, but I can tell you that I was not in the least bit terrified, even as you locked me away in that tomb."

"Really? But how?"

"Because I loved you. Now I still love you, but as a sister."

"I love you as well, sis." Vapor said, winking at me.

"See, right there, that's two ponies that aren't scared of you, but instead love you. There are also your children. They love you, too."

"But what about my sister, Celestia?"

"Oh come on, you really think that she would ever hate you? She loves you with all her heart."

"And what about Pure Heart?"

"That, I can help with." She sat up and pulled something out of her armor. "Pure Heart gave this to me before you two left to meet Kron." She hoofed me a letter with his cutie mark on it. "He told me to give this to you if something were to happen to him."

I opened the letter and read.

'My Dearest Luna,

If you are reading this letter, thank Vapor Sky for me. Reading this letter means that I am no longer around. I don't what happened, but I hope that I my death was not in vain.

I want you to know that you are the most precious person in my life. My love for you knows no bounds. Don't let anyone ever tell you different.

When we first meet, I felt an instant connection and I know you felt it too. It was love at first sight. There is no such thing as coincidence. Only fate. Our fate was to be together, forever. I am incredibly saddened that I screwed it up by dying.

You are so amazing, Luna. You are loved by everyone. And your night, don't even get me started.

You are the mother of our three beautiful children. I am so happy that they will be raised by you. I am sorry that I can't be there to help.

Luna, I need you to know that we are forever intertwined. My love for you will never end, even now that I am gone. However, I want you to move on, Luna. You should not have to be alone, not again.

I love you Luna. I cannot express that enough. There is no way that I could fake it, you know how much I suck at acting.

I am afraid I must close. Luna, I love you. Don't you ever doubt that. Though we may be apart, I will always be with you.

Luna, don't you cry for me, I am as happy as I have ever been. I have been pushed forward to the end, but you are the one who fixed my broken heart.

Loving you forever and always,

Pure Heart'

I set down the letter, my tears falling upon its surface.

"Luna, what's wrong?" Vapor asked.

"He did love me." I said.

"So what?" A voice echoed through the room.

"What?" We all looked around the room.

"So what if he loved you? Love is for the weak. It can't give you what really matters." It said.

"Oh yeah? What does matter?" Vapor asked.

Black Heart walked out of the fireplace. "Power, of course."

"Black Heart?! How did you find us?" Cloudlight asked, drawing his sword.

"Why, this little guy of course." He said, kicking Bubbles across the floor.

"You jerk! I oughta-" Bubbles threatened, but was cut off.

"What? Whip me with your tail? Or maybe you will run to your big brother." He laughed.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Funny thing about iguanas." He said, pulling down a chart out of thin air. On it was a diagram of an iguana's head. "Besides their two eyes they have for sight, they have a third eye on top of their head. It is mostly used for detecting light, but I used it to spy on you." He laughed.

"What?! You invaded my head?!"

"Oh shut up, you worthless animal!" He said, making a clamp appear on Bubbles' mouth.

"That's animal cruelty!" Cloudlight said.

"Oh come on, that is the least of your worries." He said.

"Vapor. Take Luna and get the girls. I will take care of him." Cloudlight stood ready to strike.

"Oh, you mean these girls?" He stomped his foot and Moonbeam and Starfire both appeared next to him, tied up and crying.

"Monster! Let them go!" I yelled.

"I think not. I told Vapor Sky and Cloudlight to take them far away. But instead, they just take them to this pitiful castle. I gave them a chance, and they blew it."

"No, you blew it." Another voice said.

"Oh, friends of yours?" Black Heart laughed.

A portal appeared behind us, and from it, stepped out Tempest Storm, Corrosive Dash, Dawn, Vinnie, Eclipse, ShadowBane, and somepony in a grey cloak.

"Ah, the lovers of the Mane Six. How charming. And who is this?" He pointed to the cloaked pony.

The pony stepped forward. "I am known by these ponies as Daylight." He took hold of the edge of his cloak and pulled it off, throwing it behind him. Underneath the cloak was a black alicorn, covered from horn to hoof in blue armor. "But you may know me as something else, Dad."

"Dad?"