I stared out of the window of the train, watching the scenery town of Ponyville disappear behind some hills before turning into a fully undisturbed countryside, feeling the vibrations of the locomotive around me causing my metallic wings to vibrate, causing the metal feathers to lightly hit each other, creating a wind chime effect. I looked away from the window and towards Fe next to me and saw that she must have fallen asleep at some point on the trip as I saw her laying there, lightly snoring on the seat. I smiled at the sight of it and turned my attention back to the window and rested my forehead against the window as a question like from earlier formed in my head, what would Fe do if she finds out about my secret?
I started to feel a bit drowsy as I stared at the green scenery passing by and was now in a battle to keep my eyes forced open. However, at the thought of nothing else to do for the next several hours and quickly losing the battle against the weight of my eyes, I surrendered the fight and finally drifted off to sleep. Before I lost myself to my dreams though, another question came to mind... Would she still love me?
...
I'm staring out of window and towards a dark sky that seems familiar for some reason. As I stared out of the window and into the dark abyss, I had a feeling that I'm being watched and observed, I turned around and found myself that I'm once again in the half-shadowed, half-lighted throne room. This place again? I thought as moved away from the window and made my way to the middle of the throne room, but I noticed that the room is a little different than the last time I was here as I stood in the hallway like room with the shadowed portion of the hall on my left and the lighted one on my other.
"Welcome back Jace," a voice greeted from my left. I looked to where it came from and there I saw the spirit look-a-like of the Will Element standing there with a greeting smile, and like before, wearing the manifestation armor of the Reality Element it stood for. "Or would you prefer to be called Aceiro as it is what you're going by nowadays?"
"Uh... Aceiro would be preferred," I answered the spirit and saw him nod his head at my answer when I realized what he said. "How did you know my name... my real name?"
"Really, did he just really asked that?" a voice called out from behind me that sounded like mine, but darker and colder though. I turned around and saw that the Spirit of Will and I weren't alone this time as there's a shadowy figure leaning against a pillar, being hidden by the shadows.
"He's been wearing our Elements for how long now and he still doesn't have a clue to what they really do?" The shadowy figure then pushed itself from the pillar and the shadows revealing... another me standing there. Why is there another me, what's going on here? I thought as the newest copy of me made his way towards us, but as he got closer I felt that there's a darker aura to this new 'me' while the spirit of the Will Element felt warmer when we met before. The darker me sat himself in front of me and next to to his lighter counterpart, creating a weird three-way mirror between the three of us. There I noticed that I'm sitting right in the middle of the dark and the light while the doppelgangers of me are sitting on either side of the contrast line of light and darkness.
As I stared at the two Acerios in front of me, something click what the shadow me had said before and realized what this newer me is. I go up and walked towards the darker me. "You're Entropy, the spirit of the Element of Darkness."
"He finally figures it out, give the pony a prize." The dark image of me sarcastically said as he clapped his hooves, but before the spirit could do anything else, there was a smacking sound followed soon after something hitting the ground.
There I stood above the down dark spirit on the ground who was now rubbing his jaw from the left hook I gave him. "That's for possessing Shadow and hurting him and Fluttershy," I angrily snarled down at the spirit, feeling my anger burn in me.
"Aceiro, calm yourself," the Will spirit warned, causing me to realize that I'm now on the dark spirit's side. I quickly felt my anger dissipated when I realized what I just done and backed away till I'm once again in the middle of the light and dark, getting the feeling that I shouldn't probably linger on either side and that I'm 'safe' in the middle.
"Well well well, it seems that my bearer does have some darkness inside of him after all," the spirit of Entropy said, sounding as if amused from the sudden event, as he got up with his back facing me. He turned around and what I saw unnerved me; he was smiling right at me. "You actually hurt me using my own element, very clever Aceiro. There might be some hope for you in being my proper bearer just yet."
"Enough Entropy!" Will demanded as the spirit of light walked up to his polar opposite, but stopping just short of the edge of his domain. "To test his emotions isn't the reason why you called him here."
"Wait, you called me here, why?" I was surprised, but confused as well, to learn who brought me here. "And where is here anyway? Because I thought I was dreaming, but this feels to real to be a dream; and you never did answer me the last time I was here Will."
"Oh oblivion, this one asks questions, and lots of them; I hate questions," the spirit of Entropy groaned as he puts a hoof over his eyes as if to prevent a headache from forming. He removed his hoof and faced me with a blank look. 'Yes, I'm the one that called you here so that we-and I mean mostly me-so that I can teach you about some of the abilities of the Entropy Element that you now bear and linked to, which by the way you now have full access too, so you don't end up accidentally killing yourself and those around you; and maybe half of a city along for the ride."
"As much as it galls me to say this; Entropy is right," Will admitted, looking as if he swallowed something painful. "I would not risk the cost of hundred of lives for the price of pride and ignorance."
Entropy looked like he's enjoying the pain of admittance coming from the element of light, before turning his attention back to me. "Especially since that you have two forces of magic in you that can contradict each other, so I'm going to be teaching you how to control the power of the Entropy Element so you do not blow yourself up, which I admit should've destroyed you when I first bonded with you, but you didn't though, so my theory about you was correct."
I felt my blood run cold at what the two elements told me and then a thought came to mind. "Wait, Nightmare had the Element before me, and if what you're saying is true, then why couldn't Nightmare use it like you said, and for the last time, where is here? Because I still think that all of this is some kind of crazy dream."
"Enough with the stupid questions," Entropy ordered me sounding more and more annoyed with every question I ask. "Freak you're annoying, all my past bearers never asked questions first when they are about to become the bearer of unimaginable power, why did I get a very cautious and scared bearer."
I'm starting to feel annoyed from what the shadow me thinks of me and spoke to him in a blunt tone of voice, "you know what, I still don't like or trust you."
Entropy perked at that remark. "Excellent, now we're getting somewhere, just hold on to those emotions of hate and suspicions and you'll be a master of my element in no time."
"Just answer his questions Entropy."
"Geez you're just as annoying as Aceiro Will," Entropy commented to Will before turning his focus back at me. "The reason why Nightmare couldn't use the full power of the Entropy Element is because even though it was a compatible bearer, it never had really accepted me and me vice versa, so thus never had my full power. As for where you are; no, this isn't a dream. In fact, you're not really sleeping at all-" he quickly raised a hoof to stop my question from leaving my tongue, "-let me finish. It may look like you're sleeping, but in reality, we pulled your mind out of your physical body and into the Elements."
I was left sitting there, letting what the dark spirit told me sink in before looking around at the black and white room. "So... my mind is in the elements then huh?"
"That's correct Aceiro," the spirit of light answered with a nod.
"And what about my body?"
"Probably drooling all over itself like some stupid moron," Entropy sneered in response to my question, earning him a frown from me, which he smiled at the site of it. "You're doing great on holding on that hate emotion, keep it up."
"Stop instigating our bearer and get to the main reason why he's here, because he can't stay here for too long."
"Alright alright geez, the way you're sounding as if your armor is a little tight around your nu-" Entropy immediately went silent with whatever he was going to say at the glare that Will is giving him. Entropy cleared his throat and muttered something under his breath as he returned his gaze back at me again. "Alright, here's basic knowledge about my Element; it is linked to your negative emotions. The element brings out the deepest, darkest feelings that are hidden deep in everyone's' heart, and with those emotions you'll be able to control your surroundings, even your friend Shadow had some deep resentment and anger that the Element was able to work with and use."
"Wait, couldn't I already do that with the Will Element though?"
Entropy groaned towards the spectral construct ceiling when I made that statement before looking back down at me. "Yes and no. While it is true that the Will Element has the power to-blah-create things, but that's just it, it's the power to create. My power is to destroy, deconstruct, ruin; the complete opposite of Will's power. I'm the balance to his power, the darkness to the light. Without Entropy, there's no balance to Will. Without Entropy, there's no point to life if it couldn't end to bring new life into the world.
"So you see here Aceiro," Entropy continue as he and Will walked to they were standing in front of me again. "There would always be a balance to everything no matter what. Even your two friends Star and Arcana are a balance of each other; Space and Time. Why do you think they get along well?"
"So you're telling me that I have dark and good magic in me then."
"When the freak did I say that my magic is dark magic?" Entropy yelled at me, earning another glare from Will.
"But you said that you're a balance to Will, and he represents Will and creation, so I thought-"
"Well you thought wrong," Entropy interrupted me. "My power isn't dark magic, it is just... freak, how do I put this... Dark magic corrupts the user if they let it consume them, happened to this one past bearer of mine, didn't end well for him or his kingdom. In fact, I think you're going to probably hear of him soon if I'm not mistaken if his banishment is nearing its end."
"Huh?"
"Forget about it, getting back on subject here. You remember Nightmare Moon right?"
"Of course I do, Luna went crazy with dark magic that created Nightmare Moon."
"Wrong again Aceiro, while it is true that Luna went kind of cuckoo with magic, it wasn't dark magic she was messing with, it was mine..."
"What? Then you're the reason why Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon and it possessing Trixie..."
"Will you freaking shut up already you moron and let me finish," Entropy angrily yelled at me, causing me to be silent.
"Thank you. Yes, while it's true that it was my magic that caused her to become Nightmare Moon, that was entirely her fault, not mine. Remember what I said that the Entropy Element is linked to ones' darkest and deepest emotions? Well it's a two way connection, so after the two, no wait... three princesses banished this past bearer of mine into ice or something of the sort and I was... liberated from him, Princess Luna was a little curious about my power and well... let's say she dived to deep to where no mind will come back sane, why do you think I was sealed in the most 'impenetrable' vault by Princess Celestia or how Nightmare knew of me in the first place?
"But anyway, back to the dark magic bit, if you look at the history texts at the time, Nightmare Moon had never use an once of dark magic. It wasn't until -blah- the Elements of Harmony purged the Entropy influence that's Nightmare from Luna, that's when it started to use dark magic. So even though Nightmare Moon was crazy, she was still Luna and Luna knew what dark magic can do to her mind, even if it was twisted at the moment." A look of contemplation then formed on his face, "you know, now that I think about it, all my bearers went crazy one way or another except for one that is; my first bearer. Now he was something else, he knew all my power and how to use it without corrupting him. -sigh- To bad he already had evil in his heart, could've been something great."
"All of this is irrelevant to what you need tell him how to control your Element," Will scowled Entropy. "We don't have a lot of time and you're wasting it by getting off subject about your past bearers."
"Alright, I'll get to the point yeesh. All you care about the result and not the process how to get that result," he said to Will, sounding annoyed, before facing me. "Time to finish up here before sending you off your way. My power is like the night and Will's like day, two different lights belonging to a whole, each with their advantages over the other, as well as weaknesses, that could help each other, but at the same time working independently of each other. To bad most of all our past bearers thought is was the good verses evil bit, but that they were suppose to work together, right Will?"
"You're forgetting about that one time when they actually got along for once," Will said with a smile.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about those two," Entropy replied back with a smile of his own. "Make that two bearers of mine. Now there sure was something magical happening between those two, well that's what I get for being locked up in a vault for over a thousand years, you tend to forget some facts. Although, I don't suppose you fair any better as you were stuck in a box, how long was it?"
"I thought you said that I don't have much time here," I interrupted the two elements before they could start fighting. "Will you tell me already before Fe starts to panic when I'm not waking up."
"Okay okay, here's what you need to keep in control, keep your emotions in check and don't let them go out of control, because as I said earlier, the link between the Entropy Element and its bearer is a two way communication and there are some very dark stuff in here that would put the darkest nightmares to shame, but as long as you stay calm and try not to let those feelings get to you and out of control, you're going to be alright."
"So basically, stay... calm?" I said unsure of the answer. "That's it, that simple?"
"Yup, basically that's it," Entropy confirmed. "Now I think it is about time we send you off back to your body before you drown in your in your own drool."
"Thanks, I really appreciate that," I said sarcastically.
"No problem Des Aceiro. See you next time to continue our little sessions in helping you with the Entropy Element and remember, keep your Counter nearby and close."
"Wait-"
...
"-What?" I jerked up in my seat and looked around and saw that I'm back on the train, my eyes hurting a bit from the colors around me after being in a monotone environment. I looked outside and saw that we are nearing Canterlot with the sun setting behind it. I looked towards Fe and saw that she's still asleep and that I haven't disturbed her with my outburst. I let out a yawn at the sight of her sleeping form, feeling more tried than rested before my little dive into the Elements, then I noticed that my front and part of my neck is colder than the rest of my body. I looked down at my front and saw that my coat is slightly wet and matted.
"What the?" I started to examine the wet fur and on further investigation, I realized that there's a trail of matted down fur leading from it to straight back to my mouth making me realize what the wetness was. The words that Entropy said about what my body was doing without my mind in control echoed in my memories and I couldn't help but be annoyed that the spirit was right. I wasn't sure if it was my imagination or not, but I thought the spirit laughing at my predicament. "Dang it Entropy."
I reached for my bags under the seat in search for a towel to quickly clean myself up before we arrive at the train station in Canterlot. As I rubbed my towel through my drool matted fur, I recalled the departing words that the dark spirit said before I got booted out of the Elements. I suddenly stopped in mid stroke with my towel when I realized something that the spirit said. I looked down at the silent dark marking of the Entropy Element on my left foreleg. "He-he called me Des Aceiro."
...
The two spirits of Entropy and Will sat there, looking at the spot where their bearer had just sat moments ago. After a few moments of silence, the spirit of Entropy let out an tired sigh before standing up and starting making his way back into the depths of his Element and leaving the spirit of Will still sitting there, as the sound of Entropy's hooves of his current form being the only thing breaking the silence...
"Why didn't you tell him?" the spirit of Will asked the dark spirit, causing the mentioned spirit to stop mid-step, all the while continue to stare at the spot where Aceiro sat. When silence answered him instead the other spirit, he finally looked away and towards the spirit standing afar off down the dark hall and asked again to the back of his head, "why didn't you tell him Entropy? You know that he has the right to know, right?"
A chuckle escaped from Entropy as he shook his head before glancing back to Will. "Results; that's all you care about Will, so either you don't understand or just plain don't care at all about the process to get the results, but there's a process to everything."
"So when are you going to tell him then and why are you even doing all of this by the way? This isn't like you at all Entropy."
The shadow spirit ignored the last remark and faced away from his opposite before speaking, "I don't care at all for him if that is what you're thinking. I'm just in it for my selfish reasons to see something great to come out of him, but before that could happen though, something is going to need to break first."
The spirit of Will then watched the other spirit disappear in a mist of shadows, leaving him alone in the great hall. As Will watched the spot where the spirit element disappeared, a small smile made its way on his face. You're a terrible liar Entropy. All I can do is hope that you know what you're doing, he thought as the small smile faded away before the spirit of light followed it and faded away into light, leaving silence to dominate the great hall.