//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 - Revelations 
// Story: Salvation of the Heart 
// by The master of the game 
//------------------------------//

	With the battle against the three Horizon Flyers behind them, but with a member MIA, Harmony's members were torn between joy and sadness. Well, most of them.
Nova lay on her back on her bed, hugging a pillow and slowly levitating a small, purple Alicorn plushie in a lazy orbit above and around her as she silently sobbed. Where is JP? ...I hope... truly hope... he is fine... JP... she thought.
A soft knock on the door snapped Nova out of her thoughts. "C-come in," she said, still sobbing.
The door hissed open on Suna. The young teenager leapt to Nova's neck as soon as the door had opened enough to let her in.
"I am soooooo sorry for you, Nova," Suna said as she hugged the unicorn tightly.
Nova smiled softly at the young girl and returned the hug. "Thanks."
Suna suddenly broke the hug. She stood straight, hands on her hips, a serious, frowning face plastered on. Nova flinched a bit at seeing the usually-cheerful girl so serious.
"Nova," Suna began, "you know I think of you as a big sister. And like any good little sister, I can't bear to see my big sister in such a mood. Cheer up!" Suna then reached in her jumpsuit's pocket, taking out something. She offered her closed hand to Nova expectantly.
Unsure about what to do, Nova stared at the young mechanic. Said mechanic sighed as she grabbed Nova's hand with her free hand. Nova felt something touch her palm as Suna opened her hand. "There," she said, satisfied.
In Nova's hand was a small, grey orb. It felt cold and smooth to the touch, like metal, but was light as a feather. On the top of it, if an orb could have a top and bottom, there was a small indentation that ran around the orb a few millimetres away from the top, almost like a button. Nova felt her finger run across the indentation, tracing its path around the orb. Slowly, her finger climbed to the top and applied force, gently pressing down.
The orb gave an unexpectedly loud 'click' as the top lowered, making the indentation disappear. "So it was a button after all..." Nova muttered under her breath.
Slowly, gently, lights appeared all over the surface of the orb.  They shone in different colours, red, blue, yellow, purple, pink, orange, cyan, white. A small holographic picture floated aboved the orb. In it was Shinichi with Gale on his left, Suna crouched down in front of him, JP to his right, and Nova to JP's right. Shinichi had an arm around Gale's and JP's neck while JP and Nova were holding hands. All of them were smiling, Shinichi's grin the biggest and most stupid one in the picture. They all seemed so happy with their lives.
Nova put her free hand over her mouth, covering a smile.
"You're welcome," Suna said without being prompted.
Suna turned around and left, leaving a smiling Nova behind, all sad thoughts forgotten.
"Thanks..." Nova muttered as the door to her room closed on Suna's retreating back.

. . . . .


Inside an interrogation room of the SCMC, the girl they had captured sat in a chair in the middle of the white-walled room. On the see-through side of the see-through miror,  Captain Wind Rift, Commander Silver Sword, Shinichi and the four ruling princesses all looked at the deathly pale girl.
"Y'know," Wind Rift said, "she doesn't look all that good."
"Indeed," Luna agreed.
Everyone went back to looking through the miror as an interrogator walked in the room. They watched as the unicorn looked at the girl.
{Please state your full name and age for the records,} the interrogator said.
The girl remained silent, looking almost blankly at the miror. No,  everyone thought, through the miror. Then, suddenly, the girl spoke, but not to the interrogator.
"I'm Jessica, seventeen." Her cold, empty eyes stared intently at Twilight through the miror.
"What is wrong with her?" Silver Sword voiced everyone's thoughts.
Twilight felt a shiver run down her spin. That feeling... It can't be, can it? she thought. Celestia looked at Twilight and saw her distressed expression.
"What's wrong, Twilight?" Celestia asked.
Twilight gulped, staring at Jessica, who was still answering the questions she was asked. "The... How to say? I guess feeling describes it best, I get from her is something I felt once, a long time ago."
Celestia tilted her head slightly, the others now listening to Twilight.
"When, pray tell, was it that you felt this... feeling?" Luna asked.
Twilight's gaze hardened as she remembered the moment very clearly. "When me and my friends fought against King Sombra."
The other princesses gasped at the revelation, leaving the three males confused. "Who's King Sombra?" Wind Rift asked.
"He was a tyrant that lived long ago," Celestia explained. "Luna and I fought against him nearly two thousand years ago. He was defeated, but he managed to survive by turning into shadow smoke and running away while the curse he had put upon the Crystal Empire caused it to vanish."
Twilight picked up the explanation. "A thousand years later, give or take a few years, The Empire came back, along with Sombra. He was then defeated by the Crystal ponies through them powering up the Crystal Heart."
"He was shattered to dust and scattered by the wind. We all thought he was gone for good," Cadance added.
"Sombra was an accomplished user of the dark arts. He could make curses stronger than anything ever seen before. He was also a user of Necromancy, to keep his slaves, the Crystal ponies, longer," Luna finished the explanation.
"So you think this Sombra guy put a curse on the poor girl?" Silver Sword asked.
Shinichi cleared his throat. "What is it, Shinichi?" Cadance asked.
"I highly doubt Jessica was cursed," Shinichi said. "When I found JP, and after he explained his whole family had been slaughtered, I investigated it. No one in his family, save for him, survived. Not even his sister Jessica."
"If so, why is she willingly talking and answering the questions?" Wind Rift said. "If I recall what I've been told properly, she's either a puppet corpse with no soul, or she's a zombie slave with no freedom."
"There exist a third form of revival."
Everyone turned to Luna. "How do you know, Luna?" Celestia asked.
Luna looked down. "I... ah... may or may not have tried casting the spell for the third kind of revival."
A round of shocked gasps answered Luna. "How could you do that?!" Twilight practically yelled.
"It was long ago, shortly before I became Nightmare Moon!" Luna defended herself. "I was hardly in my right mind back then!"
Silence fell in the small observation room, broken only by the speakers that allowed those in the room to hear what was said on the other side of the one-way window.
"Sooooooooo... What is the third kind of revival?" Twilight asked sheepishly, her curiosity getting the better of her.
Luna chuckled halfheartedly at that. "Twilight Sparkle, always eager to learn more about magic. You haven't changed at all." Luna sighed. "According to the book I had read upon the subject, the third kind of revival is more akin to ressucitation. The deceased person gets their soul back, as well as their freedom, and their body, while not exactly in good shape, will regain all of its functions that it had while alive, including healing."
"So, somepony who was beheaded could still live?" Wind Rift asked.
"Yes, given the head is sowed back on and the death occured recently, within a maximum of three months, but preferably during the first week after the death," Luna clarified.
"What happens after three months?" Twilight asked, morbid curiousity driving her.
"Once the spell is cast, if the death occured more than three months prior, the body begins to rot at an extremely fast rate, leaving only bones after a week or so, I believe."
Everyone shivered in disgust.
"Then she's that?" Silver Sword asked.
Luna nodded. Everyone looked out the mirror, silence falling heavily.

. . . . .


Suna was sitting at her desk, a picture of a family in her hands. The father had greying, shoulder-length black hair tied in a ponytail and golden eyes. His skin was tanned. He was wearing what looked like a military uniform with several medals pinned over the left side of the  uniform. To the man's right was a woman with long, flowing pale blue hair and red eyes. Her skin was pale. She was wearing a flowing white dress with gold chains tying what looked like wings made from the dress to gold bracelets on each of the woman's wrists. In front of them were two kids. One of them looked like a younger Suna, and the other was a boy a few years older than his sister. He had black, spiky hair and golden eyes, and was wearing casual clothing.
On younger Suna's right shoulder, a strange animal was perched. It looked like a mix between a small dragon and a bird. It had feather-like blue scales on its body, except for its wings, which had scaly-looking feathers instead. Those feathers were mostly the same blue as the scales on its body, and the colour gradually changed to purple closer to the tip. It also had a long tail of the same scaly feathers. The creature had beady, green eyes and a black beak filled with small, sharp teeth. Where the creature's wings ended, there were three clawed digits forming some sort of hand. Its talons consisted of three forwards-facing, clawed digits and one smaller, backwards-facing, clawed digit.
Suna let out a sigh of longing. "Mom, Dad, I miss you. I miss you as well, Juka. But not you, Eru, you dumb brother."
She set the picture back on her desk, where various tools and pieces lay. Again, she sighed. "Maybe a little trip outside would help."
She got up and left her room to go in the secondary hangar, where something she hadn't used in ages waited.

. . . . .


Eclipse sat down by his bike in the Barrack's garage, where the Royal Guard's vehicules were stored when not in use. He had foregone his royal clothing, judging them to be a royal pain, and wore the clothes he had arrived with. Around him, tools were strewn about everywhere, and his hands and face were covered in grease from his bike's engine.
He wiped his brow, spreading more grease on his forehead, not that he noticed. He put the tool he held down and stood, admiring his bike.
"Good," he said out loud to himself. "Everything is in order. Now, to test those upgrades..."
Eclipse looked to the side and grabbed his helmet. He put it on and sat on his bike, starting it up. The engine roared to life and then settled to a low purr. Eclipse grabbed the handles and positioned himself properly before give the throttle a gentle twist. The bike slowly crept forward.
As it reached the dark runway leading to the outside world, lights came to life on the ground, on the ceiling and at the top and bottom of both walls. Eclipse stopped, putting a foot down on the ground. He smirked.
Twisting the throttle to the max, Eclipse's bike's rear wheels skidded for a few seconds as the engine roared loudly before the tires propelled the bike forward with a burst of speed.
It took seconds for Eclipse to reach the end of the tunnel, exiting into daylight just outside of Sun City. The bike kicked up a cloud of dust as it sped away from the city in a straight line. 
Eclipse drove for five kilometers when he reached a large canyon filled with stone formations standing straight towards the sky like the teeth of a great predator. Grinning, Eclipse pressed a button, causing small stabilizer wings to open. He began to tightly swerve around the stone formations at an incredibly high speed. The bike shook dangerously from the treatment, never meant to swerve at such a high speed or that tightly.
Stabwings seem to be working properly... Eclipse thought. Time for upgrade number two. Eclipse pressed the stabwings' button again, and the wings retracted. He slowed down and made his way to the cliff. He pressed a second button. This time, it caused small claws to come out of the wheels. Eclipse sped up, heading straight for the cliff face.
The front wheels collided with the cliff, and began going up it. When the back wheels it the cliff, however, the bike jumped off the surface and flipped back, sending Eclipse careening into the ground. With a grunt, Eclipse got up.
"Damn."

. . . . .


It took Eclipse half an hour to get out of the canyon. He had tested all the other upgrades, but none worked. He sped back towards the plains around Sun City for some training when a strange vehicule rushed by.
The vehicule looked a lot like Eclipse's bike, except it had two wheels instead of four and was sleeker. Its design was simplistic and old-looking. It was white with glowing, light blue lines that seemed to pulse and flow like a liquid. The driver was protected by four, wing-like protrusions, two on each side, and the engine gave off a strange sound, like a mix between a high pitch whine, a low hum and a dragon's screech.
Eclipse shook his head as he recovered from his surprise. He put the throttle to the max and sped after the strange bike. Pulling up beside it, Eclipse opened a channel. "Nice bike," he said truthfully.
The other driver turned their head towards Eclipse. They wore a complicated armour that seemed to be made out of scales. The helmet was shaped like a dragon head, and the visor was in the dragon's mouth.
{Thanks,} a young, female voice answered.
It sounded familiar to Eclipse, but, no matter how hard he tried to remember who the voice belonged to, he couldn't remeber who it was.
{Wanna race?}
The proposition took Eclipse off guard. Back when he was still training to become a Raider, he would often race against other kids on his bike around the camp. He remembered he won most of the time, and he also remembered the scoldings his instructor would give him when he found out.
With a grin, Eclipse nodded once. "Sure. First to the south Desolation Plains wins."
{Desolation Plains?} the girl asked. {Aren't they close to Sun City?}
"Yeah?" Eclipse answered, unsure why the girl had asked.
{Okay then,} the girl said, looking forward again. {But try not to get caught by ponies.} With that, the link closed and the girl sped off, leaving Eclipse literally in the dust.
Eclipse frowned as he pushed his bike to its limits, the vehicule shaking violently. He activated the stabwings and the shaking subsided; the bike lurched forward in a burst of speed from the added stability.
Eclipse brought up a mini-map of the region on his helmet's HUD. He found the green dot indicating his position, as well as a yellow dot a kilometer ahead of him. Crap... Less than three kilometers to the Desolation Plains... Eclipse thought. I won't catch up in time!
Desperate, Eclipse pressed a red button. A warning message popped up on his HUD, but he dismissed it. Suddenly, the bike sped up, the speed gauge going way past the red zone. The sudden acceleration caused Eclipse to yelp as he gripped the handles harder. The scenery blurred past, and Eclipse had to fight hard to keep from screaming.
Eclipse caught up with the girl just as she reached the Desolation Plains south of Sun City.
{First to the city!!} the girl said in her comm, overly happy.
Eclipse just nodded, his voice unable to leave his throat. The girl sped up to keep up with Eclipse, causing the glowing lines to shine brighter for a second or two.
{WOOHOO! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!}
. . . . .
Later...
. . . . .
Eclipse and the girl were still head to head. The city gate was coming closer, and a small part of Eclipse's brain, the part not affected by the euphoria of going fast, was wondering how they would stop before the hurt people.
The two racers crossed the city gate, the girl slightly before Eclipse. {YES! I WON!}
Eclipse was about to contest when he saw something that made his blood freeze. "WE'RE GONNA CRASH!"
The girl's head jerked forward as she saw the wall they were headed for. The two applied the breaks, trying to slow down enough to at least turn the corner, but their speed was to high, and the breaks were glowing white with the friction.
Seconds seemed to stretch into minutes, then hours. The wall slowly got bigger, and Eclipse closed his eyes, bracing for the impact, when something collided with him and threw him off his bike. He opened his eyes and saw his former opponent laying on top of him. He felt himself heat up, thankful for his helmet.
Eclipse heard the sounds of a crash, and he felt himself let go of a breath he was holding.
"You okay?" the girl asked.
Eclipse was about to answer when he heard a voice that made his blood freeze again.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Eclipse gulped as he slowly got up and turned to face Sky. Behind the Knight were Celestia, whom had an amused expression, Shinichi, Luna, Twilight, and two dozen Guards.
"I can explain, Princess Celestia," Eclipse said, lowering his head and forgetting she was his aunt. "You see, I went out to try some upgrades I made to my bike when she--" Eclipse gestured at the girl "--sped past me. I caught up to her, and we... raced... Sorry."
Luna slowly stepped to the front. Her expression was neutral, but she emitted an aura of fury that made even the Guards tense up. "Now, Eclipse," Luna said, slowly, "what made thou thinkest racing somepony thee dost not know in the city at extreme speeds was a good idea?"
"I didn't?" Eclipse said, his answer more a question than a statement.
"YOU FOAL! YOU  COULD HAVE KILLED YOURSELF! HAVE YOU NO SENSE OF SELF-PRESERVATION?!" Luna bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, something she did only when pushed too far.
"I... I... I'M SORRY! I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE FUN!" Eclipse wailed, afraid that if he irritated his mother any more, he would be banished somewhere far and never be heard of again.
Luna sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. "While what you did was beyond stupidity, at least you are well." Eclipse let out a breath of relief, only to gulp again when he felt the glare of his mother. "Do not think you will not be punished, Eclipse." She turned to the other driver. "And who might you be?"
The girl gulped as she slowly took off her draconic helmet. "I'm Suna, your Highness," she said with a bow.
It was Shinichi's turn to step forward. "Suna, what, in the name of Harmony, possessed to do this?"
"I was bored, and the mopey atmosphere inside Hikari no fukushuu was getting at me," Suna answered.
Shinichi sighed as he struck Suna's head. "Baka. You'll have to clean the ship all by yourself on top of your other duties," he said.
Suna sighed as she hung her head low. "Yes, sir," she said out loud. Then, to Eclipse, she muttered, "Totally worth it, though."
Eclipse nodded as he and Suna followed the group that had come to investigate the disturbance as they returned to the castle.

. . . . .


Suna sat down at a table in one of the many dining rooms of the castle. The one she was currently in was one of the smallest, and was still big enough to house a long table that could seat about twenty beings.
Along with herself, the room had six other occupants. Eclipse sat down diagonally from her, and beside him, and right in front of her, sat Princess Luna. On Princess Luna's other side sat Shinichi.
On Suna's side of the table to her left was young Princess Soleira. Beside her was Princess Twilight, then Princess Celestia. Everyone ate in silence, until Soleira looked at Suna.
"How old are you?" Soleira asked.
Suna looked dumbfoudedly at Soleira. "How old... am I?" She paused, genuinely thinking about it. "I'm fourteen, your highness," she said with a wink to the young princess, whom giggled at being called 'your highness'.
Everyone stared at Suna, save for Shinichi whom simply tried his hardest not to laught lest he awakened Luna's ire.
Twilight was the first one to say what everyone had on their mind. "You're FOURTEEN?! But you act so--"
"'Mature'?" Suna interrupted Twilight. "Yeah, but that's because of how I was raised."
Twilight opened her mouth to ask something else when Soleira interrupted her. "What's that? It's so pretty."
Twilight glared at the young princess, whom mouthed an apology to Twilight. She crossed her arms over her chest with a huff.
Twilight's antics made Suna giggle. "You're real funny, Princess Twilight. I like you." Suna then looked at Soleira as she grabbed the pendant around her neck. "This is something my mom gave me."
The pendant was simple. A length of string was tied around an end of a crystal. That crystal was a pale pink, and it seemed to hold a light inside.
Everyone around the table just took notice of the crystal and 'ooh'ed' collectively.
"What kind of crystal is that? I can feel a strange energy from it," Celestia asked, now realising where the strange energy she'd felt for a while was coming from.
Suna looked at the crystal, a smile of longing on her face. "It's Love Crystal."
"'Love Crystal'?" Luna asked. "I've never heard of such a thing."
"Me neither," Twilight agreed. "Celestia?"
Celestia had a look of deep thought on her face. She snapped back to reality when Twilight called to her.
"I thought they were only a legend..." Celestia trailed off, lost in her thoughts as she looked at the pink crystal.
Luna looked at her sister. "You know of something about it, don't you, Sister?"
Celestia looked at Luna. "Yes." She turned her head back to Suna, but spoke to everyone. "The Love Crystal is one of the Dragon Gems of old."
"Dragon Gems?" Eclipse asked. " What're those?"
Suna closed her eyes and spoke. "The Dragon Gems are special crystals. They hold a form of energy, often seen like either a light or a flame." Suna opened her eyes. "There are eight types; they are Fire, Metal, Wood or Life, Earth, Water, Light, Shadow, and Love."
Celestia took over. "Only dragons, or those who have the soul of a dragon, can harvest those crystals. What I'm wondering is, how did your mother come across such a rare thing?"
Suna giggled. "Simple. She bought it."
Celestia looked at Suna like she had sprouted wings. "What?"
Celestia cleared her throat. "The Dragon Gems can only be found in the Badlands."
It was Suna's turn to look at Celestia like she'd grown an additional pair of wings. "That's were I'm from."

. . . . .


Sombra looked over a map of Equestria from just after his defeat to the hands of Princess Cadance and the Crystal Heart. On it, a single yellow dot slowly blinked in the middle of nowhere, indicating the position of the girl he'd brought back to life.
"That map is useless nowadays, my friend."
Sombra turned around, pushing the map off the desk on which it had been. "For the umpteenth time, I am not your friend. I am merely an ally of yours that happens to have a similar goal. Once I have the Crystal Heart in my possession, I will stop working with you and rule my Empire once again." Sombra tried to bang his fists on the desk, but his semi-corporeal form didn't take violent actions very well and he fell down to the ground, phasing through the desk.
"I am well awar of that," the figure told Sombra.
Sombra got up, growling. "And why are you sticking to the shadows?"
The figure chuckled. "That is a good question, one with a simple answer." The figure leaned towards Sombra without leaving the all-concealing shadows. "I do not want to spoil the fun of my great reveal!" the figure whispered loudly, the smirk he had on his face dripping into his voice.
Sombra shook his head. "You are completely insane. I understand why she dismissed you," he said venomously.  "And I am sure the power you stole isn't helping."
The figure waved a dismissive hand at Sombra. "Yes, yes, call the main villain insane... That is not a stereotype at all." The figure cleared their throat. "Anyway, I came here to inquire about your puppet."
Sombra turned away from the figure. "She is not a puppet. She is my slave." He looked at the wall. "She has been captured by our enemies, and she has yet to reveal anything."
The figure clapped their hands together. "Good!" The figure made to leave, but stopped. They looked back at Sombra. "Ah, yes... Before I leave... For our next move in this game... We'll attack the Gardens." The figure left, leaving Sombra behind.
"The Gardens?" Sombra scowled. "What are you after?"