//------------------------------// // Beginning of the Nightmare // Story: My New Life // by Ark125 //------------------------------// My New Life Chapter 62 – Beginning of the Nightmare Carbide's POV – 720 Years Later "Carbide!" "Huh?!" I shot up and knocked heads with Luna, making her fall backwards. "Dag, girl! You trying to break my skull?!" I yelled. "Sorry. I just saw you tossing and turning in your sleep and I couldn't take it." "I'm fine. Just another bad dream." "Do you remember this one?" "Thank Celestia, no." I said smiling. It was a lie though. I remembered every horrible detail of the ape on two legs, desperately searching for something. It's always moving from place to place, trying to find…her. "You know I really worry about you. Why don't I have a peak at these-" "NO!" I yelled. "No, Luna. You know how I feel about dream intrusion." "That it's an abomination and a waste of time since dreams aren't real and blah, blah, blah." She said mockingly with a red sock puppet she made of me. "Ha, ha, ha. You are so funny. Give me that." I took the puppet and turned it to dust. "Now try to make fun of me." "Okay." She held up her other hoof which also had a Carbide puppet on it. "Look at me, I turn things to dust just by thinking. Poof." The puppet spat glitter in my face. "What is with you and sock puppets?" I asked, shaking my head to get the glitter off. "You know I like socks. So puppets seemed to be the next logical step." I thought about it for a moment and smiled. "You have a point." She arched her brow. "Really?" I got my face close to hers, to which she kind of moved back. "Nope!" I grabbed her puppet and jumped off the bed, running. "Hey! Come back here! That's one of my good socks!" She laughed, chasing me. "You will have to catch me if you want if back!" We ran around the room for a few minutes until the door flew open. "Luna!" Celestia said. We both skidded to a halt. "Great, the party pooper is here." I said. "Tell me about it." Luna replied. "Luna, it's time for your rounds." Celestia said, walking towards us. "Already? But Carbide and I were just in the middle of a chase." Luna whined with her pathetic look, making me laugh which resulted in a hoof to the shoulder. Celestia sighed. "Come now Luna. You're over 700 years old, practically an adult. Don't you think it's strange to still have an imaginary friend?" "There's that word again. Why does she still think I'm not real?" I asked. "Because she is old and thinks that friends aren't a necessity." Luna said. "Hey. I think friendship is one of the most important things in life." She defended. At this point, I had shifted the sock puppet of me into a likeness of Celestia and stood next to her, mimicking what she said. Luna saw this and began to crack up. "Luna!" Our attention snapped back to Celestia. "I think it's time you let go of Carbide and made real friends." "Hey. I'm right here you know." I said, jumping up and down in front of Celestia. "Forget it, Carbide. It's obvious she doesn't understand us. Let's just go." Luna said with a dark tone. She turned and walked to the balcony. I looked at Luna and then back at Celestia and stuck my tongue out at her, then followed Luna who had already taken off. After a while of flying in silence, I spoke up. "Wanna talk about what just happened?" "What do you mean?" "Luna, you and I both know that she kind of has a point. Besides me, how many friends do you really have?" "What are you talking about? I have Cloudlight-" "I mean ones that you hang out with on a regular basis. Cloudlight… I don't what his deal is, but he certainly isn't friendship material." "Eh, I guess you're right about him. He is kind of a recluse." "Yeah he is. Oh! What about the bell guy?" "Star Swirl? He is kind of too strange for me." "Too strange for the mare who plays with sock puppets." I said with a smirk, earning me another hoof in the shoulder. "Come on, you know what I mean. Besides, he is more of Tia's friend." "What about Discord?" "He's a statue, remember?" "Oh yeah. I hope his nose didn't itch before that happened. That is a fate worse than death." She laughed. "I can only imagine." We touched down on a cloud. "There has to be somepony in Equestria that is awake at night." I said, holding my hoof over my eyes and looking around. "Don't bother. Everypony is asleep at night. There is no one that appreciates my night." She said glumly. I looked at her sadly but then smiled. I wrapped my foreleg around her neck. "That's not true at all. I mean I do. Without your night, I wouldn't be talking to you right now. I will always be here for you Luna." "Except during the day." "Well, there's that, yes. But that's something that can't be helped." "If only it was always night. Then we could always be together." "Whoa there. Don't even think it. I enjoy being awake, I really do. But eternal night? That's just asking for trouble. Ponies need the sun, Luna." "Who cares about all those day walkers? They don't love me. They just sleep all night long." "Stop it Luna." "Why should I? You're the only one I need. We could be happy Carbide." "LUNA!" I yelled. She stopped and looked at my crying face. "Please. Please stop. I don't like this side of you." She hugged me and began to cry as well. "But… I don't want to see you in pain anymore. Those nightmares-" "Are my burden. Besides, they aren't real, they can't hurt me. Now I don't want to hear about this again. Promise?" She looked at me with tears in her eyes. "I promise." I smiled. "Hey now. There is no need for those tears. You know I hate to see you cry." I wiped away her tears and she smiled. "Come on. It's getting late." We spread our wings and took off for a few more rounds before we headed back to the castle. He was running. Running towards something. A lake. It was a lake. He looked in the reflection but saw nothing but the blood that started to fall into the water from his face. He heard a scream and looked to his left to see nothing but a blue blur. He ran after it only to find it lead to a cliff. "I know it's you!" He yelled. "Why won't you help me?! I keep waiting, and waiting…" Luna's POV I watched as Carbide tossed and turned in his sleep, whimpering in pain. I know he told me to never look into his nightmares, but he needed help and I am the only one that could. I concentrated and delved into his dream. It was snowing heavily. I saw a bipedal figure run past me and began to follow it. It knelt down in front of a lake and I saw blood trickle off its face. I screamed and it looked in my direction. I ran but it pursued. I hid and saw it run to a cliff. "I know it's you! Why won't you help me?! I keep waiting, and waiting…" I awoke and Carbide was staring at me with a look of anger. "What did you do?!" He yelled. "What do you mean?" "Oh don't play innocent. I know that you tapped into my nightmare." "What makes you say that?" "Because he saw you!" "Who saw me?" "The two-legged ape! He saw you and, even worse, recognized you! How many times have you delved into my dreams, Luna?!" "I swear, this is the first time." "Then why does he know who you are?" At this point, I felt something wet on my face. I touched it and saw it was blood. "Am I bleeding?" "No, I am." "What? Where?" I sprung up and looked at his face and saw blood oozing out of his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. "Oh my gosh! We have to get you to a doctor!" "Don't change the subject. You know full well it's your fault." Carbide said, wiping the blood off my face with a cloth. "My fault?" "Yes, your fault. It was you who made me bleed when you entered my nightmare. You made it real, Luna." "But I was only trying to help." I started to tear up. "I don't want your help! It's your help that made him see you. Now he won't ever stop." "Stop what?" "Trying to take you away from me! Every night, he screams your name, Luna! He goes from town to town, looking for ways to travel here or contact you! And now that he has seen you, he'll try even harder!" He began to sob, his tears mixing with the blood and falling to the mattress. "Shh. It's okay." I said, pulling him into a hug. "I won't let him take me away. I'll always be right here for you." He hugged me back. "How? How can you promise such a thing?" "Like you said, he's just a dream. So we just need a way to stop you from dreaming." He pushed me away. "No. You will not make an eternal night." "I wasn't going to suggest that. I'm just saying there has to be a way to do it." "Like what?" "I don't know. Maybe Star Swirl has an idea." "Oh yeah. He always did seem akin to me." "How do you mean?" "Well he always seems to understand when you talk about me." "Alright, let's go talk to him." "Star Swirl!" I yelled as we walked into his library. "Star Swirl!" "I'm right here, no need to yell." He said, waving us over to his desk where he was writing on parchment. "Star Swirl, do you have something to stop somepony from dreaming?" I asked. "Why in the world would you want to do that?" He replied without looking away from his work. "Well you see, Carbide keeps having nightmares and I want to help him." "Carbide? Ah yes, your invisible friend." "Why didn't you say imaginary? Everyone else does." "I whole-heartedly believe that he could be real and that you just have some special connection that allows you to see him." "I told you he understands." Carbide boasted. "Now to answer you first query, no I have nothing that can stop somepony from dreaming." "Darn." Carbide said, kicking the floor. "But maybe I can help him through it." "What do you mean?" I asked. "Well nightmares are usually caused by a past trauma. Tell me what happens in these nightmares." He pulled out a new parchment. "Well from what I saw when I entered his nightmare-" "Without my permission!" Carbide interrupted. "Shh." I gestured to Carbide, who crossed his legs. "Anyways, in the dream, there was a bipedal ape creature." "Hold on. Does this creature have no hair except on its head?" Star Swirl asked, stroking his beard. "Yeah, how did you know?" "Amazing! How does he know about the humans?" "Humans?" Carbide and I both asked. "Yes, humans. They are beings from another world that walk upright on two legs." "Another world? Are you saying that Carbide dreams of another world?" "That is what it sounds like." "How do we stop it though?" Carbide asked, which I then relayed to Star Swirl. "Once again, why would you want to? This is an amazing learning experience." "Because they are nightmares. They are scaring him to the point of pain." "Pain from a dream?" "Well, only mentally I suppose. That is, until I entered his dream and it affected him physically. Which probably happened when the bleeding human saw me." "It saw you? Fascinating." Star Swirl scribbled down some notes. "Then what happened?" "It chased me until I hid. Then yelled that it knew I was there and asked why I didn't help it." "Mm-hmm." He jotted some more notes. "And then?" "Then I exited the dream and Carbide was bleeding." "So you entering the dream projected the human's afflictions onto Carbide." "I suppose so, yes." "Extraordinary. I do so wish I could study Carbide for a bit. In any case, you definitely should not return to his nightmares." "I figured as much. But again, is there anything I can do to help him?" "Hmm... Nope." "What if I were to help the human?" "Absolutely not. Humans can be dangerous, Princess. Even if it is only a dream, there is no telling what it can do." "So I am stuck, fantastic." Carbide muttered. "There has got to be something we can do." I said. "Aside from keeping him awake, there isn't much I can offer without examining him. I am quite sorry my dear." "It's fine. We'll just have to figure something out on our own." "It was good seeing you, Princess. I'd say the same for Carbide but, well, you know." "Great seeing you as well, Star Swirl." Carbide said as we left. After we left Star Swirl's library, we went about my duties as a princess, or patrolling the night as usual. After hours of flying and talking about what we could do to keep Carbide awake, we came up with nothing. Finally, the end of the night drew near once again and we returned to our room. After showering, I found Carbide staring at the moon from the balcony. I walked over and joined him. "I hate this." He sighed. "The moon?" He shoved me in a playful manner. "No. All these nightmares." "Yes, they have put quite a damper on your mood." "I don't hate them because they affect me. I hate them because they affect you." "What?" He turned to look at me. "I see the pain and sorrow you feel in your eyes, Luna. Normally it only comes from feeling that no pony appreciates your night. But whenever we talk about my nightmares, those feelings intensify." "That's only because I care about you, Carbide." "I care about you too, Luna. And that balance of care has kept us together for over 700 years." "What are you getting at?" "I've been dealing with these accursed nightmares since before we even met. I believe they are the exchange for my understanding of transmutation. Thus, I've accepted them. What I can't accept is the fact that they are terrorizing you more than me. They are my burden, not yours. That is why I asked you to never delve into my dreams." "And I never will again." "I appreciate that, but that's not the point." "What is then?" "My point is that your pain is caused by me and I can't have that. I love you too much to be the cause of your pain." "Y-you love me?" I stuttered, stepping back. "I've always loved you. Ever since that first night when we became best friends. No, somehow I loved you even before then. Like we met in another life or something. Whatever time it was, it remains that I love you Luna." I was stunned. I stepped back again. "Say something, please." Carbide begged. I looked away. "I… Need some time to process." I stepped off the balcony and flew off. From behind I heard Carbide yell, "Luna! Come back!" But I kept flying. I had to clear my thoughts. Loved me before we even met? Is that possible? I know we've been best friends for a long time, but is love the next step? After flying for an hour with questions of love floating around my head, I rested on a mountain peak. What do I do? Do I tell him that I love him back? Do I love him back? Well I do care deeply for him. I like talking to him and playing with him. I enjoy his company more than that of others. But do all these constitute love? Night was soon coming to its end and I had yet to decide on anything. He loves me. He loves ME. The only one in Equestria loves ME. I'd be a fool not to reciprocate his feelings. But the question remains: do I love him? I looked at the setting moon and smiled. "I do." I stood up, spreading my wings and sped off back to the castle. Upon arriving, I saw the lights were dimmed in my room. "Carbide! Carbide!" I turned up the lights and looked around the room but he was nowhere to be seen. "Carbide! Where are you?!" Upon further inspection of the room, I noticed a folded paper on my bed. I walked over and picked it up in my magic. It was addressed to me, so I opened it. Luna, I can take a hint. Staying friends is all that you can handle right now. Well, that's okay. You take as much time as you need. I was going to leave soon anyway because of the whole 'I don't want you to be in pain because of me' thing. So I guess it works out. I do still love you though and I always will. I'll wait a thousand years if I have to. Maybe by that time, I will have gotten these nightmares under control and then we can be together. Though I guess there is still the problem of you being the only one who can see me, but maybe I'll have figured that out as well by then. In the chance that you had decided that you do love me, well then I have messed up big time. You won't be able to find me as I don't know where I'm going. Maybe you can send a signal, but what… Oh! You can leave the moon up for a bit a longer than usual. Not too long, just enough to get my attention. It may take a while for me to get back as I don't know how far away I'll be before I have to stop for the day, but hey, patience comes to those who wait. I don't know what that means, but it sounds right. I really do love you Luna. I do with all my heart, mind, body, and soul. And that will never change. I eagerly await the day that you leave the moon up for me. Love, Carbide P.S. I left you a sock drawer full of me puppets. By the end of the letter, tears were streaming down my face and I was sobbing uncontrollably. "Luna! Why haven't you lowered the moon yet? Luna?" Tia asked as she came into my room. "What's wrong?" I gave her the letter and she read it over. "Why would you write yourself such a depressing letter?" I looked at her. "Don't you see? Carbide wrote it and now he is gone." She sighed and sat down on the bed. "Luna, I think this whole Carbide thing has gone on long enough. It was cute for the first 300 years or so, but now it seems kind of desperate." At this point, my crying had slowed down to a trickle. "What are you trying to say?" "For goodness sake, Luna! He's not real! He's a figment of your imagination to compensate for your lack of friends!" "But he is real! Just because you can't see him doesn't mean that he doesn't exist!" "Then show me proof." She demanded. "The letter you hold is proof enough, Tia! He wrote that!" "Oh come now. You expect me to believe that your imaginary friend loves you?" "He does! He said it to me! And I love him back!" "That's kind of a hollow love, considering he doesn't exist." She scoffed. "Stop saying that!" I screamed. I jumped off the bed and flung it against the wall with her still on it. "Our love is real! I'll show you! When he gets here, I'll prove he exists! I just have to keep up the moon and he'll come." I walked over the balcony and raised the moon back to the middle of the sky. "Luna! Stand down! Your delusions are going to affect every pony in Equestria if you keep the moon up!" She said, walking up behind me. "Maybe they deserve it. None of them appreciated my night like Carbide did. So maybe I'll just keep the moon up until they learn to love the night as much as he does!" I stomped on the ground and a dark mist started to spread across my body. "Luna? What's happening to you?" She stepped back. "It's time for the ponies of Equestria to suffer as much as Carbide does. And the only way to do that is to let the nightmares seep in." Carbide's POV "Well that is strange." I raised my hoof to my eyes and looked at the moon. "It's no longer setting. I wonder if that means… She does love me!" I opened my wings and flew as fast as I could back to the castle. After an hour or so, I had reached the balcony and walked into our room. "Luna! Where are-" I stopped as soon as I saw the ruins of the room. "What happened?" I walked past the upturned furniture and broken glass to the door. "Luna! Did my letter upset you this much?!" I yelled, but there was no answer. I ran out into the hall and found it was torn apart as well. Then I heard a crash in the distance. "Luna?" I ran down the hall, avoiding debris and came to the doors of the throne room. More crashes came from within along with voices. "I am the night! No light can pierce my darkness!" One voice said that seemed familiar. "It's not too late!" Another voice pleaded that sounded like Celestia. "Please just lower the moon and we can forget that any of this happened!" I had to get in there. I tried the door, but there must have been debris blocking the way. I concentrated and the door crumbled to dust. Running through, I saw Celestia badly hurt on the ground and across from her stood a tall, black alicorn. But there was no sign of Luna anywhere. No matter. I turned my attention towards Celestia and helping her. Running forward, I put myself between Celestia and the dark alicorn. "Don't worry, Princess! I'll protect you!" I knew she couldn't hear me, but I spoke to her anyways. Drawing a line with my hoof, I raised a barrier of stone in front of Celestia. "What is this?" She asked. On the wall, I began to write and she read as I wrote. "It's me, Carbide. No time for chit chat, where is Luna?" She shook her. "No, it can't be. You aren't real." Yes I am. It doesn't matter right now. Where is Luna? I wrote. After reading, she hung her head. "That is her. The black mare." "What?" I said aloud. "It's true, my dear Carbide." The stone wall fractured and fell to pieces. Through the dust, a purple mist snaked through, wrapping around my legs and hoisted me up into the air. "Well, it used to be true, for I no longer go by the name Luna." The figure of the black alicorn came through the dust. "If you aren't Luna, then who are you?" She flapped her wings and the dust dispersed. She got her face right in front of mine and showed off her sharp teeth in a smile. "I go by Nightmare Moon now." "…So what do you want me to do with that?" Her smile turned into a frown. "Excuse me?" "I mean how do you want me to react? It's just a name." "I want you to scream in terror. I want you to cower in fear. I want you to-" I stopped her mid-sentence by placing my hoof on her mouth. "Luna, why are you throwing this tantrum? If it's about the note, I'm truly sorry. I really did think it best for us to go our separate ways. At least until I got my nightmares under control." She blinked a few times. "But that's what I'm doing all of this for." "Doing what? Destroying the castle? Hurting your sister? The Luna I know would never do any of those things." She laughed. "That's just it. I am not the Luna that you used to know. I am Nightmare Moon!" "Oh come on. My best friend is still in there." "No she isn't. She is gone. Luna is gone and Nightmare Moon is here to stay." "Then I have no choice." Celestia said. We looked at her and the Elements of Harmony were floating around her. "Wait! There has got to be another way!" I yelled. "I'm sorry my sister." Her eyes began to glow as did the elements as a beam of rainbow energy shot out, directed at me and Luna. "No!" We yelled as the beam made contact with us. Everything went black. "Hello? Sir?" I awoke to someone talking. "You're okay." Some blur said. "Of course I am." I said, rubbing my eyes. I looked up to see Princess Celestia standing over me. "That's good to hear. Now may I ask who you are?" She said, backing up. Then I realized something. "Wait. You can see me?" "Yes." "And you can hear me?" "Again, yes. Why do you ask?" "Amazing! You are the first one to see me since-" My eyes grew big and quickly stood up, to which I almost immediately fell over. "Hold on friend. You need to take it easy." She said, steadying me with her forelegs. "Where is she?" I asked, whipping my head back and forth. "Where is Luna?" Celestia lowered her head. "She is gone." "Gone? What do you mean gone?" "I mean I banished her." "Then unbanish her. I can get this all straightened out. You see, I left a note telling her that I would return if she left the moon up for a bit longer and-" She held up her hoof. "You wrote that note?" "Of course. Who else would?" "That means you are-" "Philos Carbide. Yeah, I'm real. The Elements of Harmony must have turned me visible." "That means she was telling the truth all these years." "Yeah. All a big misunderstanding. Now if you could just unbanish her, we could all get on with our lives." Celestia began to cry. "Whoa. What did I say?" "It's nothing you said. It's just…I can't undo her banishment." "Why not?" "She… She has been banished to the moon for a thousand years." I was stunned. "What?" "She wouldn't lower the moon, and I have Equestria to look after. So I did what I thought necessary." "You thought sending your sister to the moon was necessary?!" "It was a judgement call I had to make and I did." By now she was sobbing. I sighed and walked over to her, taking her into a hug. "Shh. It's okay. No need to cry." I patted her on the back and held her until her sobs turned into sniffles. "There. All better?" She nodded. "I don't get it. Aren't you mad at me?" "No. I'm mad at myself for leaving with just a note to explain things. So much for romantics." "How can you be so calm? The love of your life has just been sent to the moon." "Getting all flustered won't solve anything." She backed out of the embrace. "You are wise beyond your years." She wiped her eyes with her foreleg and stood up. "Well then. I will take these words to heart." She looked at the moon and breathed deeply. She closed her eyes, lowering the moon and then raised the sun. As the sun ascended, I closed my eyes and prepared to fall asleep, but nothing happened. "I'm free." "Free of what?" Celestia asked as she came to stand by me. "I used to involuntarily fall asleep whenever the sun rose, but this time I didn't." "Ah yes. I remember. You were the one to convince Luna to sleep during the day as well." I laughed. "Yes. Thus began a wonderful friendship." "And the start of a pure love." I frowned. "Yeah." "You know, she loved you back." "I was pretty certain she did. But I wish she would have said it." "She did. After she read your letter, she told me so." I perked up. "Really?" Celestia nodded. "Then there is still hope for us!" A silence fell for a few minutes. "Well, what will you do now?" She asked. "Wait for her of course. I told her I would wait for a thousand years and I stand by that." "Would you come wait with me? I already have an idea for a new castle." I shook my head. "No. I'm gonna stay here. I think it best to keep my part in all this a secret from history." She smiled. "As you wish. If you ever need anything-" "I'm sure I'll be fine. But if I do, you'll be easy to find." "Then I will take my leave." She opened her wings, and flew away. I looked at the sun and smiled as its rays warmed my fur. "Well Luna, at least I still get to see you every night. I'll be right here the whole time, waiting for your return. Then we can pick up where we left off. Until then, I will never stop loving you." Luna's POV – Present "What happened next?" I asked. "He waited. Never leaving the castle for a thousand years." "And when I returned?" "You had no memory of him. He was no longer a dream." "In other words, the dream was over." "Yes. Heart broken, he left Equestria, but often returned to the castle, upholding his title as the Pony of Shadows. That is, until he was assimiliated." "What do you mean?" "The spell that your children cast counteracted that 'age' spell that you casted. So the souls of Carbide and Pure Heart were brought together to make me." "Then there should be a part of you that still loves me, right?" "Wrong." "But Carbide loved me and he is part of you now." "Did you not hear the part when I said his 'heart was broken'? He spent a thousand years waiting for you, and then when you finally returned, you had no clue who he was. He was devastated. That sadness, turned to rage. More fuel for my hatred." "But it wasn't my fault." I started to get choked up. "Oh I know. That is why I am showing you a bit of compassion. There is still part of me, deep within, that wants to love you." "Really?" "Of course. Though your deception is most unattractive." "What are you talking-" "Don't feign ignorance. I know Ark reapplied his shield spell. So I just knocked off a few hours of its duration." "How could you have known?" "…Really? Luna, I've already explained this. I have grown adept at sensing things with the 3 millennia of experience I have acquired." "3?" "1700 years from Pure Heart and 1700 years from Carbide. Come on Luna, catch up. I'm still only 1727, but I have the experiences of two lives in my head." "Can we get my husband back now? I'm really getting tired of listening to you ramble on about hard your life was." He smiled. "Now we are getting somewhere. Yes, let's get my life back." Upon returning to Canterlot, we found all the necessary preparations had been made for the final assault against Black Heart. "Reliving the memories of our past." Pure Heart said. "Like I would believe anything you say." She turned to me. "Where were you really?" "It doesn't matter. What does matter is that we get my husband back, as soon as possible." "Well then, let's get started." Vapor Sky interrupted. "Every pony is ready to get our prince back." "Splendid. One last thing before we leave. Will all those going with us please come forward?" Ark asked, walking up behind us. They came forward and Ark held up several necklaces that contained stones, bones and pieces of silver, all with symbols carved into them. "Each of you must wear one of these at all times during this fight." He started to put them around their necks. Corrosive Dash held his up. "What are they for?" "They are charms that will keep the wendigos away from you. Very few things deter them, but with the right symbols they can be repelled. At least for a time." "Why aren't they affecting him?" Vinnie asked, pointing at Pure Heart. "They are, though it is more of an annoyance then a hindrance to me. I have had to deal with such charms for a long time and have grown resistant to their effect." Pure Heart explained. "That said, the wendigo soldiers that Black Heart possesses have never been introduced to these charms and therefore should prove quite effective at keeping them at bay. Any questions?" "Yes, how come I did not receive one?" I asked. "Simple. You aren't coming." Pure Heart said. "Why not? I am-" "Not essential to my plan. You will merely be in my way." "In your way? I am plenty capable of defending myself." "Uh-huh. Tell me, when was the last time you used your magic?" I was going to respond but realized I hadn't in months. Not since my horn was cut off. I stayed quiet. "Exactly." He turned to Ark and whispered in his ear. Ark nodded and stomped the ground, making a large, clear crystal grow. "What is this?" I asked. "It's a viewing crystal. Since you are so worried, Megedagik thought it would be nice to let you watch us. Basically, it harbors a window into the human world." "Now everyone can see our victory." Pure Heart said. "Now, if we are finally ready, let's get this show on the road." Ark opened a portal and gestured for everyone to enter. One-by-one, the husbands of the Elemments Chrysalis, and Kron entered the portal followed by Pure Heart screaming, "Let's raise some hell!" Ark rolled his eyes and was about to enter when I stopped him. "Watch him closely." I said. "Do not worry, Princess. I have been for a long time and I'm not about to stop." He then stepped through the portal. Of course I would worry, but all I could do is turn my attention towards the crystal screen and watch the battle for my husband.