Twilight walked along the marble halls of the palace, heading towards the office of Cura. She reached the large wooden doors and opened them, peeking inside to see Cura at her desk. Twilight had questions to ask her.
Cura looked up from her polished wooden desk, “Yes, Twilight, what do you need?”, she asked half-attentive as she was looking over some more reports from hospitals and clinics all over Equestria.
Twilight approached the desk and placed her hands on it, leaning on the surface, “I wanted to ask you about letting War Heart outside… He sits in there all day and it is obvious that he is growing restless in there.”, she replied to Cura, concerned that she may not be able to keep War Heart inside much longer.
Cura looked up from her reports and made eye contact with Twilight, staring quizzically, “How many do you think would recognize him? Seeing as how nobody has seen him in this form, he may be able to pass off as another person.”, she suggested.
Twilight stroked her chin in thought, remembering that she only recognized War Heart in this form because she had seen him in that form before, “Well… I only recognized him because I had seen him in the same way a few years ago…”, Twilight replied to Cura.
Cura’s expression switched from curiosity to concern, “What are you talking about…?”, she asked, not sure if Twilight was telling the truth or was mentally ill.
Twilight hesitated from the look Cura was giving her, “He was stuck in another world after the Dragon Land incident… Being in that world changed him into the form he is now. I was only there for a short time before leaving with War Heart.”, she retold in short what happened when War Heart returned to Equestria.
Cura turned around in her spinning chair and thought for a moment, “So this isn’t from the sick imaginings of Discord… Somebody must have told him of these creatures… But who?”, she said to herself in thought, making sure Twilight did not hear. She turned back to Twilight, “I believe War Heart should be able to go outside without much trouble, so long as he doesn’t go to Ponyville. Until we are sure what has happened, we can’t risk him doing anything… well… you know what he is like when there is a fight going on. So long as he is in Canterlot, he’ll be safe.”, Cura explained to Twilight.
Twilight sighed in relief that she didn’t have to worry about keeping him indoors anymore. A thought crept into her mind, “Oh, I wanted to mention that he has been having nightmares almost every night. He also has had a change recently: his skin is warm now.”, Twilight reported.
Cura leaned back in her chair, resting her head on her arm, “This is news… He seems to have gone from an animated being with little signs of life: No heartbeat, no warmth in his body. Now he developed a pulse and temperature over the last two days? I’ve never seen anything like this before. The nightmares may be memories, or unconscious reflections on his memories. There isn’t much to do, if he has nothing to occupy his mind, he will revert back to his repressed memories. If he does retrieve those memories in his fragile mental state, he may have… side effects.”, Cura explained to Twilight.
Twilight had a look of concern on her face, “What kind of side effects?”, she asked, curious but fearful of what may happen.
Cura looked to the ceiling in thought, “Well… He may just lose it and go into an obsession over something; he may go on a homicidal killing spree; he just might regress into an earlier state of life where he would be trapped in a past tense of himself; but in all honesty I can’t tell what will happen… Be sure that he does not EVER know that he has died… We have no idea if he can handle that kind of idea at this point…”
Twilight inhaled deeply, exhaling in a sigh. She could already feel the pressure of being War Heart’s mental caretaker setting in. She was happy to have him back, but wished it was under better circumstances. She turned to leave, heading towards the door.
Cura called out to Twilight, “Remember, keep him in Canterlot.”, she said as she returned to her reports.
Twilight nodded and closed the door, walking back to her room to tell War Heart that he can be outside. She reached the door and opened it to reveal War Heart sitting on the bed, looking at the ceiling in thought, obviously having himself wake up from yet another nightmare.
War Heart looked over to Twilight, managing to smile when he saw her. He cleared his throat before speaking, “Good morning…”, he said in a weak and tired tone. He had not been able to sleep soundly with all his nightmares forcing him to wake up.
Twilight stepped inside and closed the door, “Good morning, I just went to see Cura. She said that you can be outside now, but to stay in Canterlot. She wants to make sure that if anything goes wrong because of your head injury that she needs to get to you as soon as possible.”, she explained to him using a made up excuse.
War Heart smiled, “It’ll be nice to go for a walk once in a while… Maybe meet some people… I need to get away for a bit…”, he continued in his tired tone and pattern. He moved towards the edge of the bed, allowing his legs to hang over the side. He looked to the floor and held his head in his hands.
Twilight walked over and sat down next to him, “The nightmares bothering you still…?”, she asked him while putting a comforting hand on his back.
War Heart remained motionless while he spoke, “Yes… I’m starting to see the people in my dreams… They are there one second and gone the next… I tried talking to them, but then they just stare at me…”, he explained to Twilight, whose expression was growing more concerned.
Twilight stroked his back in an attempt to comfort him, feeling the warmth of his skin on her hand.
War Heart looked up in front of him to see Deadbeast standing in front of him. War Heart froze as he locked eyes with him. Deadbeast stared at War Heart with a soulless gaze that seemed to unnerve him with its vast emptiness of emotion. War Heart’s heart began to pick up its pace, now feeling himself grow fearful and angry all at once.
Twilight looked at War Heart, seeing something was obviously bothering him. She turned to see what he was looking at, only able to see a wall on the other side of the room. She looked back towards War Heart whose face turned to a look of hatred. She grew nervous, frightened at what may happen if he were to lash out in anger. She put a hand on his cheek and turned his head towards her, “Look at me… You need to ignore them… They aren’t real, they can’t do anything to you…”, she told him while staring into his eyes, which seemed to calm him down somewhat.
War Heart sighed in relief, closing his eyes for a moment to calm down. When he opened his eyes he smiled at Twilight, “Thank you… for being here for me…”, he pulled her in and hugged her, “I’m glad I have you looking out for me…”
Twilight was pressed against War Heart, her ear against his chest able to hear his beating heart. She closed her eyes and stayed still, not wanting this moment to end, “I’ll always be here for you…”, she whispered.
The civil war in Equestria had kept going in the last few days. It seemed that the nation was covered in snow, blood, and ashes. The dead were beginning to outnumber the living, and food was growing shorter in supply by the day. Lord Dawn sat in the war room, awaiting the news from the man with coal-coloured hair.
A flash of green light appeared suddenly, then disappeared as quickly as it came. The man with coal-coloured hair stood there before Lord Dawn, immediately kneeling.
Lord Dawn sat in silence for a moment shrouded in darkness, “What news of finding our champion…?”, he asked.
The man slowly stood up and faced Lord Dawn, “Milord, I’m afraid I could not find him anywhere in Ponyville…”, he reported in a slight tone of fear.
Dawn sighed in irritation, “Very well… We’ll have to move on with the plan now… We will have to do this without a champion… We shall bring back Blackheart and have him use the ritual that has been prepared. The Ancient Ones will assist him in the ritual.”
The man bowed, “I am ready to make my sacrifice, milord…”, he said with a sense of duty.
Lord Dawn nodded towards him, “Then head to the chamber where they stay. Tell them it is time for Blackheart’s return…”, Lord Dawn instructed.
The man looked to Lord Dawn, “My life for the Black…”, he whispered as he disappeared in a green flash again. He reappeared in the chamber of the Ancient Ones, bowing to them immediately, “Lord Dawn wishes to begin the ritual now… I am to be the vessel for Blackheart’s return…”, he spoke while looking at the floor as they looked over him.
The Ancient man with white eyes and black hair looked down on him, “Very well…”, he motioned for the four others to gather in a circle around the man with coal-coloured hair.
The Ancient Ones joined hands in a circle looking upwards with eyes closed. Their magic pulsed in their veins, preparing a powerful spell. They all faced the man in the center, eyes still closed. Their eyes and mouths shot open all at once, letting out a cacophony of screams of suffering and terror, like a thousand shrieking in agony and pain. The man with coal-coloured hair writhed in pain as the sound caused his ears to bleed. Green magical auras flowed forth from the eyes and mouths of the Ancient Ones in torrents and into the body of the man in the center of them. The ritual was only mere seconds but felt like an eternity of burning to the man with coal-coloured hair. The Ancient Ones stopped once the ritual was complete, backing away from the man in the center all at once.
The man with coal-coloured hair opened his eyes, which glowed a bright green from an overflow of magic. He slowly stood to face the Ancient Ones, smirking at them, “I have returned…”, he spoke in a deep echoing voice. He looked at his hands with a confused look on his face, “Curious… It seems we have new forms…”, he whispered to himself.
The Ancient Ones bowed to him, “We are prepared to take the land, Lord Blackheart…”, the man with white eyes said in his usual raspy tone.
Blackheart grinned, “This city… shall fall… and from the ashes a new kingdom shall rise. Our power will bring all the others to their knees. We have planned this for centuries, and now the time has come to execute it…”, he began to walk out with the Ancient Ones following behind him, their trail becoming emblazoned by green fire. He walked outside the royal chambers and into the halls.
Guards had been on duty, patrolling the halls of the palace. One guard saw the six Glows all walking the halls, setting the place ablaze with their footsteps, he froze in fear as Blackheart glared at him.
Blackheart pointed his hand towards the shocked guard, letting out a beam of magic that caused the guard to wither.
The guard screamed as he felt the life flow out of his body, which soon turned to a weak moan as he had no energy to scream as it looked like he aged a hundred years in seconds. He collapsed onto the floor, completely drained of life.
One of the Ancient Ones summoned up some magic into their hand, dropping it onto the guard’s corpse as they passed, the green lights flowing into his eye sockets and beginning to glow. The guard’s corpse shivered before standing up and walking with the six Glows.
Another guard had seen this from around the corner, he rushed ahead and ran to evacuate the members of the council, starting with Cura. He burst into her office, “Milady, I’m afraid I am going to force you to evacuate.”, he said in an official tone.
Cura jumped as the guard opened the door, “What do you mean? What are you talking about?”, she asked.
The guard ran to her, “The palace is under attack, we have to get you to safety.”, he informed her. He jogged over to her and assisted her in gathering her things. They both heard a bashing against the door, “I’m afraid we’ll have to abandon by another route.”, he said as he took her hand and pulled her towards the window, spreading his wings, “You’ll have to climb on my back and allow me to carry you out of here.”, he told her.
Cura quickly hopped onto his back, preparing herself mentally for what he was about to do. She soon found herself gliding through the air to the streets of Canterlot below in front of the palace. The guard dropped her off and told her to evacuate the city and flew off back into the palace. Cura ran towards Twilight’s room and burst through the door to find her and War Heart on the bed, hugging. She sighed in annoyance, “Okay, Lovebirds, we have to get out of here!”, she announced as she walked over to them.
Twilight looked at Cura as if she were crazy, “What are you talking about?”, she asked.
Cura grabbed their hands and started pulling them towards the door, “The city is under attack we have to evacuate.”, she replied as she pulled them along. When they got outside they could see the desiccated but animated corpses of guards marching out of the palace and causing panic with their presence in the streets.
War Heart looked towards the palace, seeing some people getting butchered by the dead guards, he felt anger build up inside him. Cura and Twilight tried to pull him along but couldn’t hope to match his strength.
Twilight shouted to him, “Come on, we have to go help the city evacuate!”
War Heart looked at her for a moment, “I’ll distract them… you go get everyone out of here…”, he told her while staring at the slaughter going on at the palace steps.
Twilight froze for a moment as she felt she was losing War Heart all over again, soon being snapped out of her stupor by Cura pulling her along. She joined Cura in informing everyone to evacuate the city.
War Heart jumped off the ground and took flight for a moment before landing in front of the desiccated guards all feeding on the flesh of the recently killed civilians. He glared at them as they all slowly turned to him, staring at him with a lifeless void of emotion. There were six of them that started to circle him like a shark would circle its prey. One of the guards shrieked at him as if to intimidate him.
War Heart looked at the one who shrieked at him, promptly charging at it, screaming as he sprinted towards it.
The dried out husk of the guard leaped at him like a beast on all fours would. As it flew through the air at War Heart, a flash of light went off that caused War Heart to see the Scathewind dragon pouncing and glide towards him. He swung his fist forward toward it, another flash of light being seen as he made contact with his opponent, revealing the dead guard taking the hit and shattering on impact. The corpse fell into a crumpled mess on the floor, the green glow of its eyes flowing out of their sockets and towards War Heart.
War Heart was cautious of the glowing aura, but felt himself drawn to it as it floated towards him, making its way into his eye. He felt odd at first but shrugged it off as after. Two more of the guards leaped at him, shrieking as they came down on his back, pinning him to the floor. The began to tear at his back, ripping through his shirt and rending the flesh on his back. He forced himself up and ran towards a wall, meaning to tackle it. He quickly spun around to slam his back into the wall, crushing the corpses between him and the stone. The green auras flowed from the corpses and into his eyes once more. He felt the wounds on his back close up as he took in the magic that came from the dried out, inanimate guards. He looked to the three that were left, he ran towards them and they charged too. He tackled one and threw it aside as he grabbed one by the head and bashed it into the floor, shattering the empty skull. He then grabbed the other one and rose it above his head, bending it in half with a crunching that would cause anybody to feel a shiver in their spine. He threw the broken guard to the floor. The last one leaped at him from the side, only to find itself to be caught by the neck. War Heart squeezed its neck to the point of not only breaking it, but severing it. He dropped the now inanimate guard to the ground feeling the magic that animated him flowing into his being.
Twilight ran towards War Heart, glad to see that he was okay. She sprinted up to him and hugged him, “I left something in the archives, we are going to need it. You need to take me in there!”, Twilight told him.
War Heart nodded, “Okay, Let’s go!”, he shouted while running up the steps of the palace.
They entered one of the halls to find it empty of people, they looked around and sprinted down the hall. They stopped and peeked around the corner to see nobody. They continued down the hall to reach the archives. Twilight ran in and started frantically looking around, searching for the metallic device that she left there. She looked to a wall and saw the device leaning against it. She quickly grabbed it and ran outside, signalling War Heart that they were leaving now. They sprinted towards the entrance of the palace uninterrupted. Soon they were out on the streets and heading towards the entrance of the city. There were crowds of people flocking towards the gates of the city, many confused and others panicking. The crowd stopped as they found the gates were closed. They began pounding on the giant wooden gates, in the futile hope it would open.
War Heart looked up along the walls to see more of the dead guards looking down on the crowd. He then looked behind them to see more guards gathering in the streets. He looked to Twilight, “It’s a trap…”, he said to her while motioning upwards towards the walls.
Twilight looked up to see the dead guards standing above them, “We need to find Cura and get out of here!”, she shouted.
War Heart looked over the crowd and saw Cura near the front, he looked back to Twilight, “I’m going to carry you over the wall and then come back and get Cura.”, he told Twilight before wrapping his arms around her and spreading his wings, forcing people in the crowd away from him as he took flight over the wall. He descended quickly and dropped Twilight off on the other side. He soon flew to the crowd to see it dispersing as the dead guards all started to attack the crowds. He scanned the crowds for Cura, spotting her bright pink hair in a sea of many colours. He glided down to her, and grabbed her before taking off over the wall. He got back to Twilight and the started running down the road as the screams of the crowd roared from the other side of the gates, War Heart looked back, feeling guilty that he couldn’t save them from the dozens of creatures that attacked. The three soon stopped running as the two women present ran out of breath, one being a doctor and the other being a scholar. They started walking as they were far enough from the city not to be overtaken so quickly.
Twilight panted, “What happened in there?”, she asked, out of breath.
Cura was panting also, “I don’t know, I’ve never seen this kind of thing before…”, she replied.
War Heart didn’t speak and kept walking, he wasn’t sure of what to say. He led them on down the road.
They walked for hours eventually stopping due to it being too dark to continue. They gathered some firewood and made a small campfire, using Twilight’s magic to light it. They all sat around the fire in silence, unsure of what to talk about.
War Heart broke the silence, “So… Where are we going…?”, he asked, not wanting to sit in silence all night.
Cura sighed, “I don’t know, the closest town is… Ponyville… I don’t know if we’d be welcome there though… What with the rebels making that their base…”, she rambled.
War Heart looked at her wondering what she was talking about, “Why are they rebelling?”, he asked.
Cura looked to Twilight, “I thought you would have been informed, but I guess not.”, she turned back to War Heart, “Well, with Celestia’s death-”, she was interrupted by War Heart.
“The Princess is dead?”
Cura nodded, “We’re pretty sure Discord did it too… Luna was so frightened that she outright refused to take the throne, leaving it to the Head of Culture to take power. The Earthbound, the people who used to be Earth ponies, did not want a Glow, the people who used to be unicorns, to rule over them. Now this rebellion started, and I think it will hopefully end now with this incident. Perhaps if they have a hero to rally behind, somebody they look up to, they can unite against this new enemy… I don’t know if anybody fit’s the bill except you…”
War Heart looked into the fire for a moment processing all this new information. He turned to Twilight, and then to Cura, “What makes me like that?”, he asked, unaware of his past.
Twilight put a hand on his, “War Heart… You used to be a hero to the people of Ponyville… You defended the town from a dragon and stopped an invasion almost single-handedly… People looked up to you because you protected everyone you could, and asked for nothing in return.”
War Heart looked into the fire again, trying to remember more. He looked up to see Deadbeast staring at him again. They locked eyes, War Heart glaring at Deadbeast and Deadbeast staring down at him judgingly. Deadbeast mouthed the word, ‘Monster’, towards War Heart.
Cura looked at War Heart and then towards where War Heart was looking, “What are you looking at?”, she asked.
War Heart shook his head and looked to Cura, then turned back to where Deadbeast was, but he was gone, “Nothing… just my eyes playing tricks on me…”, he said as he took a deep breath and sighed.
Twilight snuggled up to him, “You look tired… you should get some rest…”
War Heart shook his head, “I need to be up and keep watch overnight… I don’t need a lot of sleep…”, he replied while staring at the fire.
Twilight stared at the fire before turning to him, “Okay… but if you get tired, you better sleep.”, she told him before laying down.
War Heart nodded and continued to stare at the fire.
Cura laid down near the other two, since they had no blankets they would have to rely on shared body heat when the fire goes out. She already knew the feeling of sleeping under War Heart’s wing, it was long ago but she remembered the safe feeling that came with it. She knew nothing would happen with him watching over them. She closed her eyes, drifting off into sleep almost immediately.
About an hour passed before Twilight opened one of her eyes to see War Heart was still up and staring at the fire. She sat up and ran her hand along his back, “I guess you really can’t sleep…”, she whispered so she did not wake Cura.
War Heart nodded as he continued to stare into the fire. He then turned to Twilight, “I guess you can’t sleep either…?”, he whispered back.
Twilight gently grabbed War Heart’s shirt and pulled him towards her. She placed her hand on the back of his neck and kissed him.
Dawn came within hours, War Heart and Twilight were locked in embrace. Cura was the first to awaken, she rubbed her eyes and saw the fire was out. She yawned and stretched out on the grass. She looked over to see War Heart and Twilight, both embracing each other in their sleep. Cura looked at them quizzically, then turned to the empty fire pit to see a pair of purple underwear on the ground next to the fire pit. Her eyes widened as she realized what must have happened. She mouthed some obscenities as she was totally appalled at what happened right next to her while she slept. She looked over to the steel object Twilight had brought along, “Curious… I wonder what it does…”, she whispered to herself, though not wanting to risk messing with any crazy arcane inventions. She awaited a few minutes in silence as she noticed Twilight slowly waking up.
Twilight slowly opened her eyes to find herself in War Heart’s embrace. She looked over to notice Cura sitting there with a look on her face that informed Twilight that Cura knew what happened. Cura pointed over near the fire pit, “I think you dropped something…”, she whispered while pointing at Twilight’s underwear. Twilight blushed in embarrassment.
Cura shook her head as she looked away from Twilight, allowing her some privacy to equip her undergarments. After a moment she turned back to Twilight with a look of anger, “What the hay were you thinking?!”, she exclaimed in a hushed tone.
Twilight looked down in shame, “I… I love him… I have been waiting for so long, and done so much that I just wanted to share this with him…”, she confessed, feeling guilty for taking advantage of his loss of memory for her own means.
Cura inhaled deeply, obviously feeling stressed about the situation. She then let out a sigh, realising that they should only press on and forget about what happened. She stood up and brought the steel device to Twilight, handing it to her, “Wake him up, we should get moving…”, she told Twilight as she turned around and started walking down the path.
Twilight woke War Heart and followed Cura with War Heart at her side. She carried the steel device that she used to summon Fizz, still unsure if she should call on him to help. This was a matter of magic, not science.
It took them almost all day, trekking through snow towards the town of Ponyville. When they got within a certain distance of Ponyville, they all began to see things in the forest. They weren’t sure what they were seeing but they all felt like they were being watched.