“Twilight, you may not know this, there is a reason even Princess Celestia never mentioned these events to you..." Harbinger's voice boomed.
“Why...How could you do this....Harbinger....those innocent souls...." A drop tears escapes from her eyelid.
“Over the years, my sanity slipped away as the power grew ever stronger in me. Discord bestowed this particular power to me not because he cannot use it, but it works best when it corrupts the soul of its user, in this case me. This Dark Flame and Steel hybrid power, acts like a parasite, growing stronger and more unstable with every use. "
"Until it reaches a point where the user is completely under its influences....a point of no return."
Twilight interrupted, her stomach still sick. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "But how did you manage to regain back your sanity? Your powers have already reached a point where your own will power cannot break its grip on you."
A moment of silence takes over. Moments later, the surrounding around Twilight begins to blur, then a blinding flash. Twilight opens her eyes again, the burning town of New Hope is now gone, but instead, a barren ground, with craters and burning trees everywhere. The smell of ashes hung thick in the air.
"What happened here?" She asked as she walked further into the barren ground.
"Look up..." As Twilight slowly looked up towards the skies, her mind went blank. It the skies, was Harbinger, cloaked in a dark fiery aura, slashing and jabbing using his tails and mane. Calmly dogging his attacks, was an Alicorn she knew far too well. Princess Celestia.
"You fought Princess Celestia?!"
"When matters really got out of control, she decided to take matters into her own hooves. A few days after the destruction of New Hope, she and a group of her Royal Guards hunted me down. Her guards were no challenge at all but her… She is an entirely different level. No matter how many times I tried I couldn't even lay one hoof on her."
Twilight watched on, as Harbinger slowly tired himself out. When he had no more strength to spare, Princess Celestia slowly trotted toward Harbinger.
"As much as I would want to smite you right now, I will not. Killing you makes me not different that just being another murderer like you."
"Then why are you here? Don't tell me you're gonna lecture me to death?" Harbinger pants hard, trying to recover his strength.
"As much as it would humor me to do so I will not. I came to deliver a letter to you." In the midst of thin air, a parchment appeared. Floating gently down, Harbinger caught it with his mane, a Darkmane family Seal kept it intact. "That letter is from somepony you once knew and loved a lot. Read it and decide. I'll be waiting for you at Canterlot for your answers."
Princess Celestia together with her Royal Guard left Harbinger alone, still confused about what happened. Slowly regaining his composure, he stood up and opened the parchment that was given to him. After a few moments, the parchment slowly escaped his hooves. As it touched the ground, so did the tears from his eyes. In a split second he dash towards the skies and flies into the distance.
"They say sanity is but the measure of the mind, but somehow I find its nature simply too complicated to understand," Harbinger's voices booms aloud.
"Where are you heading now?" Twilight tries to read the letter but apparently the tears had blurred out some of the words.
"The place where it all began; the crossroads of my decision and my destiny." In an instant, the entire environment changes. Now from a barren wasteland, everything changed into a suburb like town. The night is bright and clear, the moon shining all its glorious light. A small cottage lies on top of its hill, the light inside glows dimly. Moments later, a fiery figure descended from the sky and land a few feet from the cottage. Harbinger.
"Where are we now?"
"This is my home. Where I was born and raised from a little filly. My family maybe pegasi, but we prefer to be earthbound. It's more 'safe'."
"Safe? What do you mean?"
"It's a long story. It's something my father did back then. Anyway...it's time."
Twilight had a sudden urge to enter that cottage. Slowly she finds her way to the door. Being just a shadow, she just walks through the door. Inside she sees Harbinger. Beside him, a solid black coffin and a plain white note on top of it. She could see Harbinger shaking; his hooves trembling at the very sight of the coffin. Slowly, he reaches out to read the note. Twilight stood behind him so that she too could read it.
Dear Crest Darkmane,
My son...by the time you read this I'm already gone. I'm sorry that I cannot hold on to life any longer. I to the years in my life I have done something I truly regret. Yes, I know that you are the one they call Harbinger, The Herald of Destruction. But I know you did not choose this dark path. I've raised you since you were a little foal, and you truly are the only thing that matters most to me in this world. But even then I wish I could have done something to stop you from walking down this path. What you have done to save me isn't an easy feat nor was it the wisest of choices. But what's done is done and should not be dwelt upon.
A week after you disappeared, I received news from other townsfolk about a Pegasus named Harbinger. I knew it couldn’t be anypony else but you. I was devastated, saddened and broken. I could not except the facts that my only son would do such a thing, sacrifice his soul, and trade it for an empty promise of Discord's. So in the end, I traveled to Canterlot for an audience with Princess Celestia herself.
Days after my return, my illness took a turn for the worse. I was soon confined to my bed. Weak and tired, I lay on the bed every day, clinging on the hope I might see you one more time, maybe...just maybe I could undo what Discord had done to you. But some part of me knew it would never happen. Instead, I'll see you after my death, in a black coffin like now. It pains me much to know my fate in the end.
My son, it is still not too late for you to walk back from this damned path. Though justice demands that you pay an equal price for your sins, it's better than to continue straying in Discord's ways of eternal servitude. Do this for me my son, not only to save yourself, also for the fate of Equestria. Redeem yourself my son!!! It's not yet over!!!
My only regret.... is that I never got to say goodbye, and touch your face one more time, how you reminded me of your father when he was still around… At least now I can finally join your father, and watch you from the clouds...
Sincerly from your beloved mother, Diana Darkmane~
Tears flowed from Harbinger's eyes, unable to hold it back any longer. Years worth of tears he poured out without hesitation, his cries cut deeper than any knife could. His tears wet the dusty wooden floor beneath his legs. In extreme anguish, he let out a cry, equally loud and sad. Twilight tries to hold back her own tears, but even her magic could not hide her emotions. Harbinger stormed out of the cottage and into the night, his eyes still flowing with tears of regret.
"Harbinger...I...am truly sorry for your loss..." Twilight commented.
"The years of hate weighed nothing compared to the sorrow I felt, Twilight. My mother was like no other. My father died in an accident when I was a little foal. So my mother took the role as my parents and raised me, taught me everything. It was her promise she kept from the time of his last breath."
"So, what happens now?" Twilight stares at the black coffin sitting in the middle of the room. Diana Darkmane, the name engraved in solid gold on top of the coffin.
"I took some time, to calm myself. I came back three days later to do what had to be done."
"But there's no cemetery here...."
"I didn't bury her...I had to cremate her...using my own power I razed everything to the ground, including her. She has always wanted to be free, so I did what I must, for burying her would’ve only saddened her so."
Twilight was truly moved. After all that have happen to him, she couldn't look at Harbinger the same way as before. Much had he lost and a lot he didn’t know of until it was too late. Indeed he has a lot to redeem for his crimes. Such is the way of those who had blindly taken Discord's words. It must have been hard, to leave the ones you loved, only to know a few years later that they were gone and you weren't there in their final hour. No pony should go through this. Not even Harbinger.