//------------------------------// // The Return // Story: My New Life // by Ark125 //------------------------------// My New Life Chapter 60 – The Return Celestia's POV "Oh where could those girls have gone?" I asked, pacing the throne room. "Calm down, dear. All of this stress is not good for the baby. Please sit down." Death pleaded. I was about to form a rebuttal, but was interrupted by a low humming from the middle of the room, after which a portal opened up. "I don't feel so good." Said Starfire as she walked out of the portal. "Me neither." Moonbeam said following her. "Ditto." Nightshade said. "It's just the effects of returning to your pony form. It will wear off." Said a purple pony who walked out after them. "Starfire! Moonbeam! Nightshade?!" I squealed as I ran up to them and gave them all a hug. "Auntie, please let go. We don't feel *hrp* so well." Moonbeam said weakly. "Yeah. Besides, this fella needs some medical attention, stat. I've always wanted to say that." The other pony said, pointing an unconscious pony he had on his back. "I've got him." Death said, running up to the pony. "Oh god, its older Nightshade." "What?!" I yelped, setting the kids down. "Don't worry, he is going to be fine for the most part. He still needs a doctor though." "On it!" Death picked up Nightshade and ran to the medical wing. "Ark!" I yelled. "Shh. They are asleep." He whispered, pointing at the children, who were indeed asleep at my hooves. "I'll just take them to their rooms." He started to move forward. "Touch them and you will perish where you stand." He stepped back and bowed. "Vapor Sky!" "Yes, Princes- Oh god! They are alive!" She squealed. "And tired. Please take them to their room and don't take your eyes off them." "Yes Princess Celestia." Vapor Sky took the sleeping children and walked out of the room. "So I guess I have some explaining to do." Ark said. "Yes. But let's start with why I shouldn't kill you right now." "That's a fantastic place to start. Well, you could say that you shouldn't kill me because I am good now. Or because you need to know what the heck just happened. Maybe because if you kill me, you kill Pure Heart." "How do you think I could possibly trust anything you say after the ruin that you brought to so many lives?" "You can't. And I do so wish that old grumpy gus was here to explain…That's it!" A portal opened underneath him into which he fell. "I'll be right back!" He yelled, then it closed. A few seconds later, another portal appeared, spitting out a pony encased in crystal and Ark. "Oh no! Pure Heart!" I yelled, running towards the pony in the clear crystal. "Stop Princess!" Ark yelled. I stopped. "What did you do to him?" I asked angrily. "I suspended him in crystal so he'd cool off, which probably he has by now. Just in case, please back up." I looked at him with a wary eye, but then did so. "Alright, play nice buddy." The crystal began to melt as if it was ice, and soon Pure Heart fell to the floor and immediately got up. "What? Where am I?" Pure Heart looked around and saw Ark waving at him. "You imbecile! How dare you interfere in my fight!" He rushed Ark and impaled him with his horn. He kept running and pinned him to the wall. "I had to." Ark said, blood dribbling from his mouth and onto Pure Heart's face. "I needed your help explaining our situation to Princess Celestia." "Celestia?" He let Ark slump to the floor, looked around and saw me. "Oh joy! One of the very goddesses who imprisoned me! How long I have waited for this moment! That is, the moment of feeling your ice cold blood running over my hooves!" "He stood up on his hind legs and magic began to swirl around his body. "NO!" Ark yelled, encasing Pure Heart in crystal once again. He slowly stood up and dusted himself off. "What in Tartarus just happened?!" I asked. "Well, he evidently is going to need more than a couple seconds to calm down." "Who is this pony? As it certainly isn't Pure Heart." "He is Pure Heart, or at least he was." "What is that supposed to mean?" "It means that after a thousand passed, he snapped." "A thousand years? But he has only been gone a few months." Death said as he walked back into the room. "How is our future nephew?" I asked. "Stable. He would have been a lot worse if this guy hadn't done something." He said, pointing at Ark. "Yes, I am very adept at healing, as you can tell from the lack of a hole where sour puss stabbed me." "Stop calling me names, damn it!" Pure Heart yelled from inside the crystal. "Oh, I didn't freeze him all the way." Ark said, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "You better not! In fact, let me out right now!" "Do you promise not to hurt anyone?" Pure Heart sighed. "I promise." "Okay, I'm gonna seal your magic though." "Fine, fine. Just let me out." Ark concentrated and all of the clear crystal melted except for a bit that remained on Pure Heart's horn. "Is it such a good idea to let him out?" I asked. "He'll be fine, as long as nothing sets him off." "What can set him off?" Death asked. "Just don't piss me off and we will be fine." Pure Heart sneered. "Well okay. Now I would like some more answers. What is going on? Where were Nightshade and the girls? Where were you two this whole time?" I asked. "I can answer part of that." Future Nightshade said, walking into the room. "You stupid, incompetent foal! Get back to the medical wing this instant!" Pure Heart yelled. "Dude, take a pill. I feel better than I had when I left for the human world." "Since you're little episode was enough of an explanation, why don't you go lie down?" Ark said to Pure Heart. "Don't tell me what to do!" Pure Heart yawned. "But fine. It will be nice to sleep in my own bed after so long. But first, can you please take this uncomfortable rock off? As long as no one disturbs me, I won't use my magic." Ark nodded and took off the crystal from Pure Heart's horn then opened a portal and Pure Heart walked through. "Good night Dad." Nightshade said. "Not your father." He said back as the portal closed. "What is that about?" Nightshade asked. "I'll tell you later. First, why don't you tell your aunt what has happened since you entered the portal into the human world?" "Good idea. So there I was…" After an hour or so of explanation or so of Nightshade relaying his story, he finished his account of everything that had transpired in the human world. "If Luna is truly becoming Nightmare Moon again, then we need to act quickly." I said. "But the only way is through the Elements of Harmony which we don't have and it's a bearers are out of commission anyway." Nightshade said. "There is actually another way." Ark said. "Lay it on us." Death said. "Well as you have seen, I possess powers of a more positive nature such as healing, protection and transport. What you haven't seen are Pure Heart's powers of a negative flavor as in just destruction. Basically, we are the two sides of the spectrum, he rips apart and I rebuild. He alone holds the power to split the Nightmare from Luna." "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get him over there." Death said. "There is a problem, though. If he sees Luna, he will most likely kill her." Ark muttered solemnly. "Why would he kill her? She is his wife!" I said. "Much like you, Princess Celestia, he blames Luna." "For what?" "For trapping him in a land of nothingness. Don't ask me anything else, though, for I have no idea of any of the details. He never talks about it. And the only thing he will say if asked is that it is your and Luna's fault." "Well there has to be a way to get the old Pure Heart back." I said. "There is. If he splits Black Heart first. I can then fuse his old consciousness with him. He will at that point, I believe, come to his senses." "What's to stop you from taking back your evil self?" Nightshade asked. "Well the fact that I don't want to be evil is again is a pretty good incentive." "Then what do you plan to do with the evil you?" I asked. "Put it in a containment device and bury it of course." "Well that all seems simple enough, let's get rolling." Death said. As Death and Nightshade left the room, I stopped Ark. "Earlier when you froze Pure Heart, you looked earnestly frightened. What was he about to do?" "There are things that no one should ever see, Princess. What he was about to do is one of those things. If you ever do see it, I hope you die from the terror, for the alternative…" "What's the alternative?" I asked with fear in my voice. "…Let's just hope this works so we will never have to worry about it." Vapor Sky's POV "Pure Heart?" I knocked on his door. "Are you awake?" I had been told not to disturb, but I couldn't resist seeing him. "I am." I opened the door and saw him sitting in front of the fireplace, watching the flames. "Oh Pure Heart, I'm so glad that you are alive." I said as I walked towards him. "Please do not call me that. That person and I hold nothing in common." "How can you say that? You obviously still care for your children. Why else would you have saved them? "I did not save them. I told Ark to get them out of there as they were would only have gotten in my way." "But they are your children." "No! They are Pure Heart's children! I am not him!" He shouted, looking at me with hurt in his eyes. He then went back to staring at the fire. "That fool died a long time ago." "What are you talking about? You're sitting right here." He sighed and shook his head. "You are much too young to understand." "Too young? I am only a few years younger than you." "You are a few years younger than Pure Heart. You don't even begin to hold a flame to me." "Oh, because of some age spell that changed you to look older, you think you are so much wiser than me." I said sarcastically. He again looked at me, but this time with an angry frown. He stood up and slowly began to approach me. "Of course I am, as you are just a stupid little girl that knows nothing! I have had to endure so much more than you ever will be able to!" The flames in the fire place began get larger and started trailing behind him. "You think your beloved princesses suffered? I have felt more pain than both of them combined!" The flames shot out and caught the paintings on the wall on fire. "You think your boyfriend felt betrayed? I discovered the concept!" The flames began to spread to the furniture. "You think Black Heart's goons are crazy? I am the sire of insanity!" The room was quickly being engulfed by flames. "You think Black Heart is cruel? You don't even know the meaning of the word!" At this point I was thoroughly frightened and had backed up against the door. He stood up on his hind legs and his horn began to glow. "I have seen so much pain, so much sorrow, and so much destruction! And I have been the cause of it all! I feel their pain! I hear their screams! I hate it! And it's all their fault!" I was so scared, I barely let out a whisper. "W-whose fault?" "Those damn princesses! They must pay for it all! Pay for turning me into the devourer of souls!" The smoke in the room finally got to me and quickly began to fill my lungs, though it didn't burn from heat as it was strangely cold. My eyes lids became extremely heavy, but before I passed out I heard a whisper. "Don't hate me." "Vapor! Vapor wake up!" I heard someone say. I opened my eyes to see Cloudlight's face. "Thank Celestia you're alright." He said as he hugged me tight. "What happened? Where is Pure Heart?" "We have to get out, before the fire-" I looked around and saw that the room was unscathed. "Fire? What are you talking about?" I blinked furiously and then tears began to pour from my eyes as I buried my head into his shoulder. "He's gone. He's really gone. The old Pure Heart is lost forever!" Cloudlight comforted me as my tears of sadness and terror cascaded to the floor. Celestia's POV "Are you ready, Death?" I asked. "Sure, am. Let's kick some butt." "Are you sure it's such a good idea for you two to go, Celestia?" Nightshade asked. "I mean, shouldn't I at least come?" "No, Nightshade. You have already done your part and I have sat far too long on the sidelines. Besides, I need to be there in case something goes wrong with my sister." "And why is Death going?" "I refuse to let my pregnant wife go somewhere dangerous alone with a psychopath." Death replied. "I'm right here, geez." Ark said. "I'm talking about Pure Heart." "Oh." "But who will watch over the kingdom in your absence?" Nightshade asked. "We won't be gone long too long." Ark said. "All we have to do is get Pure Heart to split Black Heart and Luna. After that, it is just a matter of getting rid of the wendigos." "What about Black Heart's lackeys?" "They will yield as soon as their leader is gone, I'm sure." "And if they don't?" "Then we will put them down." Death said. "If you are done with your Q&A, let us be off." Ark said. "Right, someone summon Pure Heart." I said. "That will be a problem." Cloudlight responded, walking into the throne room. "Why? What's wrong?" Ark asked. "He's gone, and I take full responsibility." Vapor Sky admitted as she walked in behind Cloudlight. "I went to see him and he got mad when I said that he wasn't much older than me. He started saying that he is a monster and that he blames the princesses for making him that way. He told me that he was going to make them pay for turning him into the devourer of souls and at that point I blacked out from choking on smoke." "Smoke?! There was a fire?!" I asked in horror. "No there wasn't. She just thinks there was because he used her fears against her." Ark said. "You are lucky that you're alive. I have not seen many instances of his rage where he didn't kill someone. But this is bad. We need to leave right now." Ark tapped the floor and a portal appeared. "What do you mean Pure Heart used her fears against her?" Cloudlight asked. "There is no time to explain, he already has a head start." "A head start in what?" Death asked. "In his slaughter." Ark gestured to the portal. I began to walk towards it but was stopped by Vapor Sky. "Be careful Princess. That creature is not our Pure Heart." I nodded and walked through the portal. As soon as we appeared on the other side, the smell of death decay hit me like a train. "He's been her." Ark said, pointing to the bodies of wendigos on the floor. Or at least, what was left of them, for they had been torn to shreds. "Let's follow the trail of bodies. It will lead us right to him." Death suggested. "What about my sister?" I asked. "That is probably where he is headed. When we find him, we'll find her." Ark said. "Alright, let's hurry." "Hold on, I forgot something." Ark held out his hands towards me and a purple light poured out, flowing over me. "That should do it." "What did you do?" Death asked. "I put a shield spell over her. Nothing will be able to harm her for a couple hours." "Why didn't you use it on all of us?" I asked. "Because it can only be used on one person at a time. If I were to use it again on Death or myself, your shield would end." "Well that is quite handy. Now, let's get going." Death said. We started running down the hall, avoiding bodies as we went. After a few minutes, we arrived at two large doors. "This leads into the throne room." Ark said. "Take your hands off me, whelp!" Barked a voice from the other side of the doors. We opened the doors and found Pure Heart in a black suit on the ground, pinning a man to the floor. "Where is she, Red Rum?" "I'll never tell you." Red Rum spat. Pure Heart raised his hand in the air and red, crystalline claws enveloped his fingers. "Try again." "I'd rather die than tell you anything." "I'm fine with that." "Wait, it's just an expre-" Red Rum was cut off as Pure Heart shoved his claws under Red Rum's chin and exiting through the back of his head. "Pure Heart!" I yelled as I ran into the room, once again avoiding the remains of wendigos. "That's not my name." He said as he extracted his claws from Red Rum's skull and shook off the blood and brain matter. He then stuck one claw into Red Rum's chest and muttered something, making some kind of dark gas flow out and which he breathed in. "Why did you do that?" "You heard him. He wanted to die, so I obliged." "You can't do that." "Why not? Was he not a criminal? Did he not kill multiple people? I think he deserved to die." He stood up, his claws retracting back into his fingers, and dusted himself off. "But it's not your place to pass judgement and execute someone." "And I suppose it's your place, huh? Miss 'I condemned my brother to death'." "I did no su-" "Silence, cow! I don't want to hear it! All I want to hear is the sound of someone gasping for breath, drowning in the blood that fills their lungs." "Then it will be your own." Black Heart said, flinging corpses aside as he walked into the room. "Perfect. I've been waiting for a challenge." Pure Heart said, cracking his knuckles. "Me? Oh no. I meant you will fight her." He held out his hand and Luna grabbed it, walking up beside him. "Luna!" I shouted, as I ran forward. Or tried, as I was quickly held fast by one of Death's tendrils. "That's not Luna." He said. "He's right, dear sister. I am the terror of the night, Nightmare Moon." "Well now you're dead." Pure Heart said, then he disappeared. "Where did he go?" I asked. "GAH!" Nightmare Moon screamed as Pure Heart's red claws dug into her skull. "No you don't!" Black Heart yelled. He drew what looked like Pure Heart's old sword and slashed at Pure Heart's arm that held Nightmare Moon. The sword sparked on impact and turned to dust. "What the-" Pure Heart knocked him away. "Fool! You really think a sword that I made could hurt me!" "Fine, take back your wife." Black Heart said, wiping blood from his mouth. "I plan to." He turned back to Nightmare Moon. "SPLIT!" Red energy surged out of his claws and into Nightmare Moon's skull. She screamed as he ripped out his claws and black goo dripped to the floor, Luna along with it. "Luna!" I yelled again, this time running to her. I held her up and shook her. "What? What's going on?" "What's going on is that your husband has severely pissed me off." Black Heart snarled, snapping his fingers. The room quickly filled with wendigos, surrounding us. "Good luck with that." Black Heart said as he stepped into a portal. "No one will take my kill!" Pure Heart bellowed, ripping off his jacket and shirt. Red lines began to appear across his body as his magic started to swirl around him. "No Pure Heart! Don't do it!" Ark yelled. "That's not my name!" He screamed, which turned into a high-pitch cry as the glow from his magic was absorbed into the lines which took on the look of seams. Suddenly, his back split open as two large skeletal hands gripped the sides of the torn flesh and helped out a large rip cage that held an elongated skull with sharp antlers sprouting from the top. Its limbs were composed of many bones that looked as if they were just thrown together and would fall apart if not for the few strands of sinew that held them together. From behind, a tail, comprised of vertebrae and what looked to be rib cages, whipped back and forth. The most horrifying feature, however, was the skulls that were embedded in its torso seemed to be moaning. The main skull opened its mouth, revealing dagger-like teeth, and screamed, "I am Megedagik! Father of the wendigo!" Ark appeared behind us with a portal. "We have to go!" He picked up Luna, who had fallen unconscious, and ran in with me close behind. The portal opened up next to Death. "Come on! We have to leave now!" He said to Death. "What about Pure Heart?" Death asked. "There is nothing we can do." "You can't freeze him like last time?" I asked. "No. He can't be stopped like this." "I can stop him." Death said. "There is no time for this Prince. He'll be upon us any second." At that moment, Pure Heart disappeared. A roar came from behind and before we could turn, a clawed hand swiped Ark aside. "You won't get away from me!" Death transformed into his titan form. "If you want to get to them, you'll have to go through me." It roared and flashed onto Death's back, taking a bite out of his shoulder. Death grabbed it by the head and pulled it off, flipping it on to its back. He jumped and landed an elbow straight into its ribs, making it scream. Its tail whipped up behind and stabbed Death in the back. He jumped up and pulled the tail out with a tendril. "That was a mistake." It hissed. Death screamed out in pain as ice began to cover his body from the point where he was stabbed. "You have a few minutes to save him. Ark knows how." It said. It walked over to where Luna lay and picked her up. "Now you get yours." He then disappeared. "Luna!" I screamed. "She'll be fine, I placed my shield spell on her when we went through the portal to heal her. It heals wounds as it protects. Right now, we need to worry about your husband and get the spines out of his back before he dies." Luna's POV I woke up with a massive headache in what looked like a cave next to a fire. I felt wet and kind of sticky and looked to see I was covered in bloody seal pelts. "You better keep those on, or you'll freeze." I looked up and saw Pure Heart sitting on the other side of the fire, staring at me coldly. "Pure Heart?" "My name is Megedagik." "Another name? Did you lose your memory again?" "Oh no. I remember everything quite vividly. Especially the last seventeen-hundred years of imprisonment." "Imprisonment? By who?" "By you and your sister!" He yelled, jumping up and taking a swipe at my face with red claws that had grown from his hands. I closed my eyes and waited for the pain. But none came. "Damn that Ark and his shield spell!" I opened my eyes and saw him at the opposite wall, slumping to the ground. "What happened?" "My claws glanced off the shield spell that Ark placed on you. Don't worry though, the shield will wear off after a few hours." "What happens then?" I asked with fear in my voice. "I slice you to ribbons." "I don't understand." "Understand what?" "Why you think I imprisoned you. I would never do such a thing. Especially to my own husband." "Not on purpose. No, it was just the biggest mistake ever." "How do you mean?" "The age spell, or at least, what you and your sister assumed to be an age spell." "How was that a mistake? It worked." "It did work. But someone had to live all those years. That's where I come in." "How do you mean?" "Exactly how it sounds. I was dropped in this miserable plane of existence in the year 292. For the next 700 years, I wandered the world searching for a way to get back to you and hoping you would realize your mistake and find me. Then one night, in the dead of winter, I was visited by a spirit. It told me that I was all alone, that no one was going to help me. Then it promised me vengeance on the ones that hurt me. I agreed and woke up the next morning as a beast." "A wendigo." "Yes, the first one. After that, I spent centuries terrorizing the world, devouring people and, sometimes, their souls as well. Then one day, a man had the gall to stand up to me. We fought and ended up at an impasse. We soon became friends, which is a definite improvement from the mortal enemies we once were." "Once were? You mean the man was Ark?" "Yes, but he was the good guy this time." "Ark is a good guy? How is that possible?" "I don't know how, and frankly, I don't really care." "Does that mean your evil then?" "If you consider my actions over the past several hundred years, then yes, you could call me evil. Though that is completely subjective. I didn't like, though." "Like what?" "The killing. I hate killing. I can't help myself though. It's like a constant hunger for death. I'm able to control it most of the time, but when I get mad…" I stood up and walked over to him, touching his arm, which was cold enough to burn. "I am so sorry that you have had to endure so much pain. Had I known about the cost of the spell I would have never even mentioned it." He swatted away my hand. "Spare me your pity. You have no idea what I've been through." I sat next to him. "I don't? I was imprisoned in the moon for a thousand years." "No, Nightmare Moon was." "It was still me though." "Still, you were sentenced for a good reason. I just wanted to be more relatable to my spouse." I started to get a bit upset. "At least you had a friend. I was alone for a thousand years." "So was I! And your sentence is over while I still live out mine!" He stood up in anger. I stood as well. "You are free to roam the earth while I was stuck on a rock!" "You were cured!" He yelled, punching the wall. I stepped back. "What?" "You were cured Luna. The Nightmare was purged from your body by the Elements of Harmony within a day of your return. Your sins were forgiven. You've never killed someone. Whereas I have killed many." "I'm sure you haven't killed too many." "The name Megedagik was given to me because it literally translates to 'kills many'. And wendigo means 'evil spirit that devours mankind'. Do you need any more proof?" "Those are merely names." "Names that I didn't choose." "So what? It obviously wasn't you that was doing all these things." "But it was, Luna. I am a beast that can't be forgiven." "So you think killing me will fix things?" "No, it won't. It won't even make me feel better." "Then why do it?" "Because everything points to you. You are the center of all my problems. Thus you must die." "Don't you think you are being irrational?" "I haven't been rational for a long time." "But like you said, I was cured by the Elements of Harmony. So why can't you?" "They can't do anything for me. The only way I can be cured is by being split." "So why don't you do that?" "I would need something to fuse into me with moments of being split, or I'll die." "What about my Pure Heart? The one making up half of Black Heart." "That would work." "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" "There is another problem." "What?" "What do you think is going to happen to the beast inside of me? It won't just disappear." "Why not?" "Because before I became the beast, I was just a projection." "Like a ghost?" "In a way, yes. I was invisible to everyone. But when I became Megedagik, I gained a physical form as him. Turning back to my normal form left me incorporeal again. I just recently gained this physical body." "How did you do that?" "Through a ritual using the power of your children and Pure Heart's human body he left in your world." "His frozen body?" "Yeah, it was the perfect receptacle for me. Anyways, if I am split, that beast will be unleashed. Without me, it would go on a rampage and kill everyone." "That's simple enough, we just destroy it." "It's not that simple." "Why not? We can do anything when we are together." He seemed to mull it over for a bit. "Well I guess there isn't much I can do right now about killing you. And it makes sense that helping you do this would actually benefit me." He tapped his finger on his chin for a few more minutes. "Okay, I'll help you." I smiled big and went to hug him, but he held out his hand to stop me. "On one condition." He said. "If Ark's shield spell runs out before we get the other me back, I will kill you on the spot." "Why? You could your life back, and you would throw it away for vengeance?" "What can I say? I am mentally unstable." "How will you even know when it runs out?" "A perk of living a long life is learning to sense things, so I'll know." He held out his hand. "Do we have an understanding?" I sighed. "Fine, but it won't come to that, I assure you." I shook his hand. "Fantastic." He held out his other hand and opened a portal. "After you." "Where are we going?" "I need a few ponies to help." "I thought you were all 'big and powerful'." I said sarcastically. He laughed. "That is one thing I missed, your sarcastic bite." He immediately became serious again. "No, I am not. Even I have need for pawns. Now come on." I simply nodded and walked through the portal. We appeared in our bedroom in Canterlot. I was a bit taken aback. "Why are we here of all places?" I asked. "Because unlike Ark, I can only return to the place where I started from. I have my limits." I began to walk but stopped when I felt something was off. I looked down and saw I had hooves again. I ran to the mirror and squealed in delight. "I'm a pony again!" I hopped up and down several times in glee. Even better, I noticed my horn had grown back. Then I saw Pure Heart behind me I the mirror and stopped. "It's been awhile, huh?" He said walking next to me. "Since you've seen me like this, I mean. Though there are some noticeable changes." "What do you mean?" He turned to show his flank revealing his cutiemark. The normal heart, moon, and star were there, but they were overlapped by four black, ragged slashes that looked like claw marks. "If you remember, it used to stand for my love for you. Now it's a symbol of hate." I started to tear up and when he saw this he walked away. "Come on. We have ponies to talk to." I wiped my eyes and went to the door where he stood. He opened the door and walked out. I turned and looked at the bedroom me and my husband shared for years. Memories flashed through my head and got me choked up a bit. A tear fell to the floor as I knew I might never see this room again. Slowly I closed the door and caught up to Pure Heart. "Princess Luna?" I heard from behind. I turned around to see Vapor Sky walk up to us. "Hello Vapor." "Oh Princess!" She yelled, hugging me. "I thought I'd never see you again. They said Pure Heart had taken you." "I did." Pure Heart said from behind her. She whipped around and held out her wings in front of me. "Get out of here Princess. I'll hold him off as long as I can." I pushed down her left wing with my foreleg. "That won't be necessary." "What are you talking about?" She asked without taking her eyes off of him. "I mean that he isn't here to do any harm." "Not yet, anyway." He sneered. "What does he mean?" "That's not important. What is important is finding… wait, who are we looking for?" "Ark and the husbands of the Elements." He responded. "They are all at the hospital." Vapor said. "Alright, then we are off to the hospital." I said. "Hello subjects!" Pure Heart said as we entered the room with the Elements and their spouses. To my surprise, Tia and Death were there as well. "You!" Death said, rushing Pure Heart. I stepped in front of him, making him slide to a stop. "There is no need for that Death." "Luna!" Tia yelled and ran to me, pulling me into a crushing embrace. "What happened? Are you hurt?" "I'm fine, dear sister. He wasn't able to lay a hand on me thanks to Ark's spell." "You're welcome." Ark said, walking up to Pure Heart. "What do you have to say for yourself?" He asked him. "You are a sneaky one, I'll give you that." Pure Heart said, grabbing him by the neck with his foreleg, putting him in a headlock. "Let go of him this instant!" Tia yelled. "What? I'm just showing him some love." Pure Heart said, giving him a noogie. "Ow, ow, ow! Stop it!" Ark said. "Or what?" Ark's horn lit up and shot a bolt at Pure Heart's hooves, making him let go. "Ack! You little-" Pure Heart began to say before I cut him off. "What is going on?" I asked. The two looked at each other and began to crack up. Everyone looked at them in confusion, including myself. "Oh sweet Luna. We are just have some fun. It's what brothers do." Ark explained. "Brothers?" Tia asked. "You two are sworn enemies." "The old Ark and Pure Heart may have been, but after 300 years or so, you learn to get along with each other." Pure Heart said. "So it's true then. You really are older." Eclipse said as he walked up to Pure Heart. "Indeed. It's been awhile, Andy." Pure Heart responded. "At least, since I've seen you like this." "What do you mean?" Eclipse asked. "I mean I watched you for a time, in the human world. I even witnessed your birth." Pure Heart said. "You what?!" "Oh yes. Now I didn't stalk you or anything. I just visited a couple of times. Though I have to say that watching that theater get torn to shreds was my favorite part." He said with a grin. "You did that?" Eclipse asked, stumbling back. "Oh no. I may be a monster, but I was just a bystander." "So, you just stood there and watched me die?!" Eclipse's face twisted in anger. "Indeed. And every moment was breath taking to say the least. Your breath, that is." Pure Heart laughed. "You evil fiend!" Twilight said, hobbling up next to Eclipse. "Now take it easy. He is just trying to get in your head, mess with your mind. He has a tendency to do that." Ark said. "And it works every time." Pure Heart chuckled. "Especially with this one." He pointed to Vapor Sky. "Her idolization of Pure Heart made it really easy to terrify her." "You mean the fire, don't you?" Vapor Sky asked. "Yep. Being choked by the flames from your hero really freaked you out. That was priceless." "What are you talking about?" I asked. "Well as everyone here probably knows by now, I am a wendigo now. With that comes many powers, including being able to become what someone fears the most. In Vapor Sky's case, the fear of her hero betraying her." "That is awful!" Applejack said. "Guilty! Now if we are all done talking about trivial matters, let's get down to business. "And what business might that be?" Tia asked. "That would be- Wait." He counted everyone in the room. "Three are missing." He whispered to Ark, who nodded and opened a portal which Pure Heart walked into. "Wait, where are you going?" I asked. "I'll be right back. We have to pick up your buddies." The portal closed after Ark walked through. Several minutes passed by before another portal opened. Through it stepped the older Nightshade, Chrysalis, Krom, Ark and Pure Heart. "What's going on? Why are those two here? And Nightshade, I told you to get some rest." Tia said. "Nightshade is here because he needs to know what is happening." Ark said. "And Krom and Chrysalis are here because they have been in the company of Black Heart for a while now and so know his routines." Pure Heart explained. "His routines? I thought the plan was just to split him." Death said. "I can't very well do that if he is up and going. I have to know where he is and what he is doing. He is no idiot. He has raised mental barriers that prevent even me from splitting him. He has to be weakened first." "Even if they know his routines, why would they help us?" Twilight asked. "Because they are the ones who helped me." I said. Everyone looked at me. "That's right. They did help her. Krom was the one who delivered messages to you and Chrysalis took care of her and was her friend. Therefore, they are allies." "Is this true?" Tia asked. I nodded as did Krom and Chrysalis. "Good. Now that everything is cleared up, onto my plan." He walked over to the wall and picked up a pen that was on a table. He then lifted the pen to the wall and began to write. "Uh, we have a white board and markers." Eclipse offered. "No thanks. I am quite content with defacing this wall." After a couple minutes, he put down the pen and pointed at his work. "What we know is that there are only four generals left: Discord, Flash Fire, Sombra, and Bullet Blaster." "Four? What happened to Red Rum?" Vapor Sky asked. "Pure Heart brutally murdered him." Tia said. "He wouldn't do that. It's against his ethics." Eclipse said. Pure Heart facehoofed. "Okay, I am only going to explain this one more time. So listen up." He raised his hoof to the wall and bit off a piece, making it bleed profusely. Then he put it to the wall and wrote out as he said, "I am not Pure Heart!" He turned to everyone who were showing signs of abhorrence. "Do you understand?! Pure Heart died a long time ago! My name is Megedagik. It is a name I have rightfully earned as it means 'kills many'. So the next pony to call me 'Pure Heart' will have his soul eaten." "You're bluffing. You don't have that power." Rainbow Dash said. Pure Heart sighed and held his hoof, which was no longer bleeding, to his chest. "Split." A blue-gray smoke began to flow out of his chest and onto the ground and then reshaped into a man. "Help! Help! Please help me! I don't know where I am! It's so dark!" The man cried while pounding his fists on what seemed to be a wall. "What in the world?!" Applejack yelled. "This is Captain Alexander Jenson. He served in the second World War." Pure Heart explained. "I killed him and ate his soul after seeing him kill a German family for no reason." "My word! That is terrible!" Rarity gasped. "That's why I killed him." "No, I mean it's terrible that you would do such a thing as kill someone and then eat their soul. That is just barbaric!" "Ha! Barbaric! Let me tell you sister, when you have lived as long as I have and seen what I have seen, stealing a soul is nothing. If you want something truly terrifying, try living between worlds for a millennium." "Between worlds?" Ark asked. "That's right my friend. Ever since that day when my consciousness was split in two by that horrible spell, I've had one hoof in this dimension and one foot in the human dimension. Yet, I wasn't in either. I was stuck between both worlds." "The Void." Tia said. "Bingo. So I have been watching history unfold in two worlds. You can imagine how much I have seen. Now if we are done playing 20 Questions, let's get back to my plan." He said, sucking up the smoky spirit. After around 30 minutes of talking, the plan was completed and we began to disperse for preparations. As I began to walk out of the room with Pure Heart, Tia pulled me aside. "Where do you think you're going?" She asked. "With my husband to our room." "Luna, you can't be around him. He wants to kill you." "That's all talk. He would never actually hurt me. Besides, I had Ark recast his shield spell on me while no one was looking. I'm totally safe." "Well…okay. But I still don't like it." "Hurry up! I don't have all day!" Pure Heart yelled from down the hall. I quickly hugged Tia. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." I whispered to her and then ran down the hall to join my husband. "What did she want?" He asked with an annoyed tone. "She just wanted to be sure that I was okay." "Oh yes, the kind façade of a matriarch. Haven't seen that before." He said rolling his eyes. "Lighten up. Soon you'll have your old life back and all of this will just be a bad memory." "That's just it. It will be a memory, as in I will always remember the last 2 millennia of pain and sorrow." "But it will be the past. You should know better than anyone that the past can't be changed. All you can do is learn from it." We walked out the front entrance into the cool night air. A breeze swirled and blew through my mane, causing it to blow into my face. He gently brushed my mane away and held up my chin to look in my eyes. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly to form a small smile. He sighed. "I suppose it's hard to argue with that logic." He let go of my chin and turned away. "Come on, there is something I want to show you." He spread his wings and flew off and I followed suit. A while later, we arrived at my old castle in the Everfree Forrest. We landed at the front door and went in. After a little bit longer of walking in silence, I spoke up. "What are we doing here?" He remained quiet until we approached a door with a moon on it. "Do you remember this?" He asked as he opened the door. I walked in and gasped. "This is my old room. From before I was Nightmare Moon." "Right. Ever since you were a filly. We had some pretty great adventures." I froze and turned around to look at him. "We?" "It figures you wouldn't remember." He walked over to a wall and picked up a frame that had fallen to the ground, looking it over. "That was a day I will never forget." I walked over to where he stood and looked at the frame held in his magical grasp. Within it was a crudely drawn picture of a blue filly and a red colt. They sat next to each other with smiles on their faces. At the top, the words 'Best Friends Forever!' were written. "I drew this." I said, taking the frame and running my hoof over the drawing. "Yes." "It's me and you." "Uh-huh." "But how? I didn't know you as a filly." "You may not have known me as Pure Heart, but you did as another name." I thought for a moment as I looked at him, then at my drawing and back at him. My eyes grew wide as I came to the realization. "Carbide!"