As he started to regain consciousness he could still his own voice in his sleep tell him to let it take over. But why would he let it take over, he had been fighting this thing for awhile now for Luna. He would not let himself lose to the creature just because a dream told him to.
But what caught his attention was a conversation in font of him, the two who were talking oblivious to him being awake now. From what he could hear they were talking about their plan to take over Canterlot then Equestria. Then all of a sudden the one who had been called commander told his queen that their guest was awake, and he was thrown back into sleep.
"Hey, hey you! Wake up." A voice called, and he managed to stir a little. "Man you ponies are weak. If it were up to me we would have already killed you, but nope the queen says your the host to our mothers power. So I can't lay a single hoof on you."
All that got in response was another stir and moan, and upon hearing this the changeling standing there just grunted. After saying that there was food laying by the door for him the changeling left mumbling about how weak and inferior ponies are. Taking a moment he slowly opened his eyes to finally take a look at his surroundings.
"Oh so you are awake. Good job tricking that bastard." Another voice said coming from across what he knew was a cell door.
"W-who are you?" He asked in a weak voice.
"You can call me Blam, and you don't have to introduce yourself as I already know your name is Song." Blam replied. "Unfortunately I was the one who was under that mind control spell and was forced to carry you here, sorry about that."
"Y-you were under a mind control spell?" He asked sitting up, and then remembering how the one who was with her at the prison had a green glow to his eyes. "Right, the glow. But how do you know my name?"
"Ah, for starters nothing goes on in the prison that I don't know about. Also the changelings seem to know your name as well, and how you're at least a host of part of their so called mother." Blam spat out angrily.
"So if you were a prisoner as well, what did you do to be put in their most secured prison? It certainty couldn't be because they knew you were a host of this mother, or how I like to say, the creature. Shot most ponies don't even know about that I don't think. And how did you even become a host, and how is that possible?" He asked feeling his head start to spin a little.
"That's something I can answer." Both stallions looked to where the voice called and then heard a chuckle. "Oh I hope you two are comfortable where you are, but as I said I can answer most of your questions. Like for example Mr. Blam here was sent to that prison after he tried to rob the Royal Treasury, and killed a innocent mare in the process. He was trying to take a hostage, but it backfired when she fought back."
"How did you know that? And who are you?" Blam shouted.
"Oh you mean you don't recognize me by my voice? Well let me introduce myself once again, I am Queen Chrysalis of the changeling race. As for how I know about you is because of my many spies within Equestria. For you see my little ponies, I have to have spies every where in order to find love so we may feast upon it, granted we could eat an emotion but love is such a powerful one that it makes it almost irresistible to us. That and the stronger the love the more power a changeling can have." Chrysalis explained. "So that's how I know about you Blam, and that's also how I found out that the mother, or how you put it the creature was here in Canterlot this entire time."
"Why do you keep referring to the creature as the mother? And what does us supposedly being both host have to do with anything?" He asked.
"Why do you think we call the creature the mother?" Chrysalis asked in a fake hurt tone. "Because she is the mother of all changelings, the one who created our magic. The very first changeling, and she was imprisoned inside a Night Gem long ago for her crimes. The ancient unicorns that had roamed this land had hoped that she would die inside, but she was already immortal by the time they had caught her. As for what you two have to do with it, well take a guess."
"Y-you meant the creature is the first ever changeling that had ever existed? But even so how could it have ended up in both of us, I mean I may not remember but according to what I found out I was the only who had contact with it in between five hundred to seven hundred years back." He asked.
"Ah well how did you find that out? Let me guess you found a journal of the last one that the mother tried to take over, and guess what? You are looking at her descendant right over here." She said pointing over to the other stallion. "You see she planted a seed in her blood line, and I guess he was a compatible host for her to start taking over. That's why he's been going crazy over the years. But you see since by that time she also had you, she decided to split herself. One would be the host of her mind, and the other the host for her power, her magic, her immortality."
"Are you telling me that one of us has her mind in us? While the other has her abilities? Then which one of us has which?" Blam asked greed crossed his mind.
"Well, I we have no idea how to tell. All I know is that you two have her in you, and by the time she fully develops inside one of you will most likely die as she leaves your body. Which one will she choose? I have no idea, and I don't care as long as we get her back." Chrysalis said with an evil grin.
"Let it take over!" His own voice screamed for no reason making him grimace in pain.
'But why let it take over? You heard what she said, once she fully develops she will move to the one of her liking and leave the one to his death.' He screamed back.
"You're just gonna have to trust yourself, it's the only way for us to be fully restored. And it will most likely put a hole in their plan since her other side has fully kicked in yet, so let it take over and trust me already." His own voice said back, but it sounded different. It sounded older, like it knew what it was talking about.
"So I bid you a goodbye for now, and hopefully next time I see you two one of you will be alive." She said chuckling to herself as she walked away.
"I hope it's me that get's to be the full host, even if I do die in my own body." Blam muttered giving him an evil stare.
A few hours later and after confirming that he had gone insane for the fact that he was talking to himself he decided what to do. He decided to trust the voice that kept telling him to do it, though it would not tell him why. But it did tell him what to do even though he still had the magic cancellation ring on, this should still work. Upon sitting up again he started to do a meditation that had appeared in his minds eye.
"Hey what are you doing?" Blam asked, but he got no response. "Fine ignore me."
"Yes that's it, let it run through you freely. Soon our minds shall be one again, and we can be with Luna just like we promised." The voice said and he couldn't help but picture Luna now smiling as they spend many years together, but how he had no idea.
Maybe he shouldn't take this risk, so what if he was regular mortal and won't live as long with her? He would be able to at least give her another few decades with him. So was this worth the risk of letting the creature, whatever part of it, take him over?
"Of course it is." He muttered to himself refocusing on the meditation, at least this might be a quick death. "Aahh!"
"What in the tartarus is going on?" A changeling guard asked as he ran towards the cell, and he saw him hunched over in pain as the creature started to take hold.
"Why are you just standing there? Didn't your queen tell you to make sure your prisoners are okay? Help him out." Blam said, and the guard though taken aback by this nodded and fumbled around with the keys and unlocking the cell door.
---
"I blacked out after that only to wake up with the changeling knocked out, the cell door open and me with my full memory back. I managed to escape by stealing some exploding potions since I didn't have use of my magic." He finished.
"Hold on here, what was that about letting it take you over?" Rainbow asked.
"Yeah, let what take you over?" Pinkie asked though for some reason she had a knowing smile, like she knew what he would say.
"Well the creature..." There was a collective gasp when he said that, and he heard the guards that Luna had ordered to stay outside the doors try to make their way in.
"It is alright, go back to your positions." Celestia ordered. "Now Song, from what you just told us you let the creature take over you?" He gave a nod. "But because there were two host one carried the mind, and one carried the magic are you saying that you carried the magic then? And you've yet to explain why and how you got your memory back or why you lost it in the first place."
"Ah, well let me start with this. As far as I know me, the one that has lived for two hundred years had been sleeping inside of my own head. As for your question on if i'm the host of the creatures magic and immortality I was not sure myself, but it would seem so. Or else I would not be here, at least not as a long time friend." He answered looking Celestia straight in the eyes, and she nodded.
"But then how did you lose your memory and how did letting the creatures power take over you restore it?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, well as I said I've technically been asleep in my own head. But as for how that happened well let me explain something. The Night Gems have far more magic purpose than what anypony ever thought. I had just finished my research on it before I met Luna." He said giving her a loving glance.
"Wait, I thought you gave up your studies on them long ago?" Celestia asked.
"That is what I wanted you to believe Celestia. You see as proven by the creature, the Night Gems were used as containment or prisons to contain evil and powerful creatures. This was considered a death penalty unless one happened to be immortal that is. But the spell to trap souls in it had long been purposely forgotten, but I will say that the spell to get somepony out of the Night Gem was still around." He said smiling like he was looking at very distant memories.
"So what was the spell?" Twilight asked she had a twinkle in her eye.
"First, never ask that since it involves black magic. But the spell to free somepony was a lullaby." He said looking at Luna her eyes widened in surprise.
"B-but if that's supposed to be the spell to release somepony then how.." She was cut off by him raising a hoof.
"Upon my research on the matter, I found out that it can also be used as a spell to temporarily hold a soul. Meaning that the releasing spell under the right circumstances can be used to capture as well." He answered.
"So by right circumstances you mean if somepony is about to die?" Celestia said.
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. So when Luna sung to me she transferred my soul into one of the Night Gems on her necklace or my family ring. And as I said, the spell can only hold somepony temporarily though i'm not sure for how long. I'm not even sure if the spell decides how long." He answered.
"Then what decides how long somepony goes into the gem?" Luna asked her eyes wide at what he was telling them.
"From what I've hear I was gone for nearly three months being declared dead. So my theory is the spell undoes itself when it senses a very powerful magic, and this may sound cheesy and cliched, but that magic I think is love. Though it is used to already release ponies from the gem, I don't think they've ever discovered how to reverse it when the spell was used to conceal a soul. But I knew I had figured it out when I finally met the pony who had saved my life, not once now like how I said, but twice." He said looking at Luna again a deep blush across her face.
"So let me get this straight, a spell used to free ponies from their imprisonment was also designed to temporarily capture souls if they were dying? Then the only way it seems to free said soul is if somepony is truly in love with it?" Twilight asked that twinkle growing more and more.
"Yes, that's pretty much how it's designed. Though like the real spell, it was forgotten as well as exactly how to set them free from it." He answered.
"So what if the pony that was in true love with the soul dies?" Rarity asked.
"I have no idea about it then." He replied sadly.
"But you were gone for three months, why didn't you get released sooner?" Feather asked.
"Most likely because my original body was to badly damaged and buried. Also I believe that the pony in question that truly loves the soul inside of it's imprisonment has to show their love by accepting the fact that they may never see them again." He said a sad look crossed his eyes.
"So back to the question, what does any of this have to do with your memory?" Pinkie interrupted.
"Yes, well I believe that when I got a new body, meaning the statue that looked exactly like me, I think it rejected myself at first. Though part of that was because when my soul passed along into a Night Gem I was fighting the creature, and since it seems that the creature was in me all of this time my body automatically started to fight it. Thus my own body also fought against it's own memories, only one managed to escape. A certain ponies smile." He again looked at Luna.
"So because you were in a new body it rejected the creatures power and that also made it fight your memories? That sucks then, but that would explain a few things. But how did the memory spell not work on you, and what was it about the real you sleeping in your own head?" Celestia asked.
"That would be because of the power of the creature negating the affects of the spell, and as for me sleeping in my own head. Well when my body rejected my memories,and other wise me, the real me had to be put to sleep until I found a way to help myself remember. That's when I managed to convince myself to go into the cave and into the chamber. It was there where I first tried to get myself to remember." He answered.
"You mean it was not the creature that whispered to you?" Luna asked.
"No, it was actually myself trying to get myself to accept the magic of the creature. As that was the only way for me to return with all of my memories. Though I knew that there was a risk there, but it was a risk I was willing to take." He replied looking into her eyes with a serious look.
"But how did you know that you were the host of the creature? And what about all you went through at the prison, all of the pain?" She asked stepping forward.
"When you are trapped in your own head like I was, you start to feel things that you might not otherwise not know about. As for the pain and everything, well my subconscious was listening to me. So what happens to a unicorn when all of a sudden they get more power than what their bodies are used to?" He asked.
"Well they either lose control and go on a magical rampage, or they get sick in some shape or form." Twilight answered, their eyes telling him they knew what he was getting at.
"Yes, I was already trying to get myself to accept it. To just let the creature, no matter what side of the coin I got take me over. That is why I was in pain, and before you ask the reason why I managed to get my voice heard to the other me was because the creatures magic had already spread enough to where I could communicate with myself. That's why I was starting to do better. So I believe that's everything, how I came back, how I regained my memories, and about my situation with the creature. So Celestia I hate to do this right now but you need to make a decision." He said with a blank expression.
"What are you talking about Song?" Luna asked with a little bit of concern taking another step forward.
"He means that I have to decide whether or not to send him back to prison." Celestia answered making Luna look at her with eyes wide.
"But he's not the host of the creature." She said.
"Yes, but at the same time I am Luna." He said his eyes taking on a far greater sadness that anyone of them could ever understand.
"What are you saying?" She asked.
"He's saying that because he still is a host to the creature in a way. And according to the law..." Celestia looked at her sister with a sad gaze but then smiled. "According to the law there is nothing about a unicorn suddenly having more magic and a longer life than what they are supposed to."
"But what about the creature?" He asked looking at Celestia with shocked eyes.
"Yes well be as it may that you gained your extra power and life from it, you are not the host of it's mind. So there forth you are not a danger as long as you learn how to control the magic that now resides in you. As for the other stallion that has the other half of the creatures essence i'm sure the changelings had carried him away after you made your escape, so he should be far enough away to where the creatures mind won't have any affect on you. So as far as I can see, you just got more magic and a longer life now." Celestia answered smiling at both Luna and Song as they stood there with shocked expressions. "Well what are you two waiting for?"
They just looked at her again and looked at each other Luna tackling him in a bone crushing hug. He knew since he felt a rib crack, but he couldn't keep his happiness inside as well. Because of a technicality he was set free of his previous sentences as he wrapped his hooves around her and brought her in for a kiss.
"Ahem, and i'm sorry for interrupting and I know i'm the one who said to do this but there is one other thing." Celestia said and they broke both the kiss and hug with deep blushes on their face. "Yes, well there is the matter of you escaping prison. Granted I know that you were kidnapped under a very secured prison, regardless I will have to issue a punishment for said crime. That punishment will be house arrest, and I expect you to be in your room by tonight."
"Wait room?" Both Luna and Song asked in unison.
"And house arrest is all i'm getting?" He asked.
"Yes, since you no longer have reason to stay by that cave since the creature was set free, and you have your memories back you can now move back into the palace full time. I will send some guards to fetch your things, as your house arrest starts today. And yes house arrest because i'm feeling very generous today." Celestia said nuzzling Feather and putting a hoof on her stomach.
"I-I understand, whatever you have to do. So um, what room will I be staying in then?" He asked.
"Well I assumed that you wanted to move in with Luna, if that's alright with the both of you?" Celestia asked. "I mean unless you want your own room since it's been awhile?"
"W-what do you think my princess?" He asked turning to look at Luna who was deep in thought.
"Well I don't know, maybe we should take things slow..." She said making him frown in disappointment, but then she had a big smile on her face. "And I can't think of any better way to start things off by sharing a room with my knight in a pink robe."
"Knight in a pink robe huh?" Onyx asked with a smirk on his face.
"Oh shut up and let them have their moment my stargazer before I tell them why I call you that." Twilight said making him blush and nod.
"So uh, do you want to go to our room to show me around again. It's been awhile since I got to sleep in there, and after everything I think we both need a good nights sleep. And I know that I always slept better with you in the same room." He said giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah, come on i'll give you the tour again." She said with a wink making him raise an eyebrow and they walked out of the room.
"Since when did you become so flirtatious?" He asked with a playful smile.
"I have no idea what you are talking about, I was merely offering a tour to my coltfriend of his new home is all." She said with a straight face.
"Hmm, well good thing we're taking things slow then huh? Because I would love to take you out sometime after my house arrest is over, to bad i'll be bored though without to much to do." He said.
"Oh and what makes you think you won't have anything to do? You are a chief correct?" He nodded. "Then you can still prepare us dinner for a nice dinner on a balcony. And maybe, just maybe after some dates i'll let you sleep in my bed. But for now you'll be sleeping on your favorite couch." Sh said with a teasing smile.
"You know if I wake up before you i'll probably sit next to your bed to look at your adorable expression when your sleeping. That and if memory calls, I don't need a dream walking spell to know what you're dreaming about." He said with his own teasing smile.
"And what does that mean?" She asked giving him a curious look.
"Yeah, I remember when I first woke up before you I couldn't help but look at and listen to you. You talk in your sleep, and I know what you mostly dream about." He said raising an eyebrow.
"I have no idea what you mean." She said looking away.
"Really? So you don't remember your dreams?" He asked.
"I do not." She answered.
"Of course ya do, you once told me that you remember every dream in great detail. That's why you created your own dream walking spell. Here let me give you a demonstration of one of your dreams that you say you don't remember. 'Oh Song this dinner is so very lovely, no not yet. Please stop kissing me there...'" He was stopped by her putting a hoof on his mouth, and when he looked she was blushing up a storm.
"Okay, okay so I do remember all of my dreams. Just please don't tell anypony or do that again or else I will personally send you back to prison." She said still blushing.
"How about for tonight you let me sleep in your bed with you for some cuddle time?" He asked after he removed her hoof.
"Do you promise not to tease me about my dreams?" She asked her eyes pleading.
"Don't worry I promise I won't tease or tell another living soul." He said giving her a kiss. "So let's get this tour started."