My New Life

by Ark125

Who are you?

My New Life

Chapter 64 – Who Are You?

Luna’s POV – That Night

Obviously, I was worn out and Celestia sent me to bed. I agreed as I was in no condition to do anything. Vapor Sky said she would take care of my children. I thanked her as I went to bed and quickly fell asleep.

Luna’s Dream

This forest. I’ve been here before. I knew just where to go and ran through it. As I did, I noticed it was devoid of sound this time. No music, no bird sounds, no crickets chirping, nothing, everything was still. I finally reached the lake just as before, but it was dank and murky, unlike its former clear and pristine self.

“Pure Heart!” I yelled out. Nothing happened. I ran along the banks to find the tree that I found him under before had withered. “Pure Heart!” I cried out. Still nothing.

I sat down and looked over this once beautiful lake and began to cry.

“Why are you crying?” A small voice said.

Startled, I jumped up and looked around. “Who’s there?”

“Down here.”

I looked down and saw a small red colt with brown hair looking up at me with big blue eyes. He tilted his head to the side. “So why are you crying?”

I wiped my eyes. “Because I lost my best friend.”

“Well that’s easy to fix. We just have to find them.” He grinned and took me by the hoof, pulling me along. “Come on. I’m sure my friends would be more than glad to help you.”

I smiled back at him. “You are so kind. What is your name?”

He turned to me and bowed. “Phylos Carbide, at your service. But you can just call me Carbide.”

“Carbide, huh? I think I knew someone by that name once.”

“Really? That’s so cool!” He led me to the forest edge and motioned me to follow him, which I did. “So what’s your name?” He asked as we walked through the forest.

“It’s Luna.”

“That is such a pretty name. I bet my friends will think so too. Speaking of which, we are here.”

We came to a small cottage with a human, wearing a hat, tending to a garden out front with his back turned.

Carbide ran up to the man and began to talk to him. The man nodded and stood up, dusting off his hands. He turned around and walked towards me.

“Hello. Carbide here says that you lost your friend.”

I nodded, stunned at how tall this man. He was maybe two meters tall with tan skin.

He took off his hat, revealing brown hair and blue eyes behind a pair of glasses. “How rude of me. Please come in.” He opened the door to the cottage to which Carbide ran in and the man gestured for me to follow.

I did and when I walked in, I saw it was a simple living space with a kitchen, dining room and living room.

The man walked in, putting his hat on a rack, and yelled out, “Darkly, we have a visitor.”

An adult unicorn with red fur and a green mane walked in from another room. “Yeah, what do ya want?” He looked at me with his purple and blue eyes, which narrowed at my sight. “What is she doing here?” He asked angrily.

“She is here looking for the other, I believe.” The man said.

“Pfft. Why should I care? I’m glad that pansy is gone.”

“If I may interject, who are you talking about?” I asked.

“Why, Pure Heart of course.” The man said. “Oh, but where are my manners. You’ve already met Carbide, and this is Darkly Façade.”

Darkly waved his hoof in an uncaring fashion.

“And my name is Zach. I believe you already know who we all are.” Zach said, pulling out a chair at the table. “Please, have a seat.”

I did and thought about what he just said. “I actually do think you all look familiar, but I can’t quite put my hoof on it.”

“I’m not surprised, you only knew me for a little while.” Darkly huffed.

“Indeed, and you technically never met me. Though you have met people older than me.” Zach said.

“But how could you forget about me? I mean, we grew up together.” Carbide said.

I thought about it for a time and realized how I knew them. “You are all Pure Heart!” I gasped.

“Well, yes and no. We are all personas of him. You grew up with Carbide of course. Then Darkly was who Pure Heart identified as when he was directed by Ark all those years ago. And as for me, well, I was him before he first came to Equestria.”

“And do any of you know where my Pure is?”

Zach sat down in a chair, taking off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Can’t say I do. He left a while ago and never returned. All he said before he left was that he was going to end ‘this nightmare’ or something like that.”

“Nightmare? What nightmare?”

“Yours, idiot.” Darkly said.

“Hey be nice. It’s not like she meant for us to get stuck here.” Zach said, putting his glasses back on.

“What do you mean stuck ‘here’?” I asked.

“In your head.” Said a voice from behind.

I turned around and saw Pure Heart standing at the door, clutching his chest with his foreleg.

“Pure Heart!” I jumped up and caught him just as he was falling.

“Step back, I got him.” Darkly said, dragging Pure Heart to a couch.

“What happened? Are you okay? Why are you bleeding?” Carbide asked, jumping onto Pure Heart and bouncing on him.

“Carbide! Get off him!” Darkly yelled, going to a cupboard and pulling out a first-aid kit.

“He’s fine. It’s just a scratch.” Pure Heart said, trying to lift himself up, but Zach pushed him back down.

“Don’t be stupid. You’ve been injured and need to take it easy.” He said.

“Yeah, so beat it squirt.” Darkly said, pushing Carbide off.

“Squirt?! Say that again. I’ll teach you to respect your elders.” Carbide stood up on his hind legs and motioned like he was ready to fight.

“Cut it out you two. I’m not so injured that I can’t show you who is boss.” Pure Heart said.

“Sorry Pure Heart.” Carbide said.

“Whatever.” Darkly lifted Pure Heart and started to bandage his chest.

“What in Equestria is going on here?” In asked. “I demand some answers.”

“Well hello to you too, sweetheart.” Pure Heart snickered.

“You think this is funny?!” I started to choke up. “You just died for what feels like the 50^th time! Then I meet all your friends and you just happen to show up but again near death!”

“Hey! I am not his friend.” Darkly piped in, bandaging Pure Heart’s leg now.

Everyone just rolled their eyes.

“I died again? Dang it. I owe Darkly 30 bits.” Pure Heart grumbled.

I growled.

“Okay, I can see you are upset. But really, I’m fine. See?” Pure Heart got off the couch and hobbled around for a moment before returning to the couch.

I took a deep breath. “Okay.” I then hoofed him in the shoulder.

“Ow! See I told you she was abusive.” Pure Heart said, rubbing his shoulder.

“It is you!” I jumped on top of him and hugged him, to which he returned the hug.

“Ech! You ponies and your love. It makes me sick.” Darkly walked away and put up the first-aid kit.

“I want some love!” Carbide squealed, squeezing himself in between us. Pure Heart and I looked at each other and laughed.

I let go of him after a few minutes and looked at him. “So what happened? They said you went to end my nightmare.”

“I did, but I failed.” He said solemnly.

“Loser.” We heard Darkly say from a back room.

“Anyways, what did you mean by stuck in my head?”

“If I may.” Zach interjected. “He meant that we are just figments of Pure Heart’s make. All of us except Carbide.”

“Of his make?” I pointed to Pure Heart.

“No, of the real Pure Heart. The one who saved you.” Zach said.

“But Ark saved my life.”

“No, he healed you. Pure Heart stabilized you by cauterizing your wounds. He then made us your mental guardians.”

“Why would I need guardians?”

“To protect you from Black Heart’s ichor. His sword was covered in poison that destroys your mind. We are here to stop it, but as you saw with the lake, it moves fast.” Pure Heart explained.

“And mean. Just look at what it did to you.” Carbide said, pointing out Pure Heart’s injuries. “Why if I was my older self, I would give that thing a beating.”

“Older form?” I asked.

“Yeah, big Carbide. He was here a while ago, but he had to leave.”

“Are you saying there was an older version of you here?” Zach asked.

“You mean you haven’t met him?” I asked.

“No, Carbide was here before us.” Pure Heart said.

“How long have you been here?” I asked.

He smiled. “Since you two got married. One of the wedding gifts you got was a tube of skin cream. When you used it, I came to reside in your head.”

“You’ve been spying on me for nearly 6 years?”

“Oh no, I have respected your privacy. I just hung out really.” Carbide shrugged.

“Well, that aside, how do you think we can defeat this nightmare?” I asked.

“Well now that you are here, I think it may be possible.” Zach said.

“How do you mean?”

“By banishing it from your mind.”

“By what?”

“Hear me out. In order to defeat it, you must banish it from this world and into the real world. It has so much control over you mentally, but physically it is powerless.”

“So what you are asking me to do is manifest a dream into reality.”

“Exactly.”

“Impossible.”

“Why? You had no problem doing it with me.” Carbide said.

“But I didn’t do anything for you. You were made real by the Elements of Harmony.”

“So just use them.”

“She isn’t the bearer of the Elements anymore, dummy.” Darkly said, walking back into the room. “And besides the Elements were hidden by Black Heart and even if they are found, how is she going to get the message to Twilight and her friends.”

“I’ll just wake up and ask for their for help in the dream world like they did once before with the Tantibus.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.” Pure Heart said.

“Why not?”

“Because the poison has already spread to the stream of consciousness. You will not be able to wake up until it has been purged.”

“So then I will contact them through their dreams.”

“Again, that won’t work. It infected the pond of scrying.”

“Pond of scrying? Are you just making up bodies of water now?” I asked.

“I may have just made up the name, yes. But it is preventing you from dream scrying.”

“So then, again, what do you suggest we do?”

“What about me?” Carbide asked.

“What do you mean what about you? You are the second most useless one here next to Zach.” Darkly said.

“I would resent that, if it wasn’t true.” Zach shrugged.

“I am talking about me talking to older Carbide. He could get the Elements together and save the day.”

Pure Heart, Luna, Darkly, and Zach all exchanged glances.

“What?” Carbide asked.

Luna picked up Carbide and sat him down on her lap. “Sweetie, older Carbide was absorbed by Pure Heart hours ago. He’s gone.”

“W-what?” Carbide said, tears filling up his eyes. “That’s not true. That’s impossible!” He began to cry, and I held him close.

“Shh, shh.” I said, rubbing his back.

“But I just talked to him yesterday.” He sobbed, burying his face into my shoulder. “How can he be gone?”

“It’s okay, kid.” Darkly said, patting him on the back.

He continued to cry, but suddenly stopped. His ears perked up and lifted his head, wiping his eyes and looked around.

“What is it?” Zach asked.

“I felt something.” He pried himself out of my arms and ran for the door.

“Carbide! Get back here!” Darkly yelled.

“He can’t be out there by himself, it’s too dangerous.” Pure Heart said, getting off the couch.

Zach tried to stop him. “You can’t go anywhere, you’re-“

“I know I am injured. But he is just a kid. We need to go after him.”

We all nodded and ran out the door after him.

---

Third Person POV - Castle Hallway

Celestia was walking towards Luna’s room when she saw the triplets running down the corridor. “What are you children doing?”

“We saw a pretty bird flying around outside. We wanted to go outside and see it.” Starfire said.

Vapor Sky came around the corner. “There you kids are. Come on, we need to let your aunt get back to work.”

Celestia held up her hoof. “It’s okay Vapor, I always have time for my nieces and nephew.” She smiled and looked them. “Now then, what kind of bird did you see?”

“It looked like Philomena, but blue.” Nightshade said excitedly.

Celestia’s smile quickly went away. “What did you say?”

“He said it looked like a blue phoenix.” Moonbeam said.

“Right, a phoenix. I forgot it was called that.” Nightshade laughed.

“Where did it go?” Celestia asked with a hint of ire in her voice.

“Follow us, we are going to see it right now.” Starfire said.

They ran around Celestia and she turned to Vapor Sky. “Gather the Element bearers and their husbands and meet me out at the garden. I will contact Death and tell him to come out.”

“What’s going on, Princess?”

“I hope nothing bad. Now go.” Vapor ran off and Celestia ran after the triplets.

---

Garden

Celestia caught up to the children in time to see the blue phoenix fly overhead.

“There it is Auntie Tia!” Nightshade exclaimed.

It flew down to the peach blossom tree in the garden where a hooded figure stood with its back turned. It landed on its back.

Celestia and the children stopped a distance away from the figure. A portal opened up and Ark stepped out along with everypony else.

“What’s going on Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked.

The phoenix noticed them and flew over, landing in front of Celestia. It tilted its head.

“A-Artemis?” Celestia said to the bird. In response, the phoenix squawked and nuzzled her leg.

The figure whistled, and the bird flapped its wings and flew back to the figure.

Celestia walked forward. “Is it really you?” She called out.

The figure chuckled and lowered its hood, revealing a red pony with a brown mane. He turned and faced everyone making them all gasp.

“Daddy!” The triplets screamed as they ran to the red pony.

He smiled and opened his forelegs wide and embraced them. “Hello children.” He hugged them for a moment then looked at Celestia who was advancing. He set them down and turned to Vapor Sky, pointing at her. “Miss, uh…”

“Vapor Sky.” She answered.

“Right. Miss Sky. Will you please take the children back inside? I need to talk my sister.”

“Of course.” Vapor walked forward and herded the children away from him.

“Bye Daddy! We love you!” The children said as they walked away.

Moonbeam quickly ran back and hugged his leg. “Don’t leave again, okay?”

He smiled and patted her head. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She smiled and began to walk away again before turning around. “By the way, I like your pretty earrings.”

He waved as they started walking back towards the castle. He looked at the blue phoenix. “Watch after them.” The bird squawked and flew after them, landing on Vapor’s back, startling her. She looked back and he winked. She shrugged and continued on.

By this time, Celestia was a meter away. She was about to say something, but he held up his hoof.

“Wait until they are in the castle.” A minute later, they had gone in and he lowered his hoof. “Now then, what were-“ He was cut short when Celestia struck him across the face, making everyone gasp again. “Ow! What was that for?” He looked at her and saw her crying.

“Where have you been?! I have sent hundreds of messages to you and not once have you responded!”

“Oh that. Well I can explain. See I have been around this whole time.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” She yelled. She blinked and he was gone. “Where did he go?”

“Yeah, where did he go? So strange.” Said a voice from behind her.

She turned around to see an iguana on the ground.

“Bubbles?” She questioned.

“Correct! Or so you think.” The iguana began to grow and turned into the large red pony from before. “Ta da!”

She hit him again. “You have been that stupid lizard this whole time!”

“Ouch! Yes! I’m sorry! Please don’t hit me anymore!” He shielded himself with his legs. He felt her legs wrap around him in an embrace.

“Why didn’t you do anything?” She cried.

He hugged her back. “You know my rule. I don’t interfere unless it is something super small or something monumentally huge.”

“I know, I know. But would it would have been nice if you had.” She said.

“Well I am here now.” He patted her on the back.

“Thank you.”

“What in the hell is going on? Why was Pure Heart a lizard?” Death asked.

The two broke their embrace. She wiped away her tears. “Honey, this isn’t Pure Heart.”

“Then who is he? Aside from the earrings, he looks just like him.” Eclipse said.

The red pony laughed. “My apologies.” He stood up tall. “I am known by many names. Right now, I am the Guardian of the Elements of Harmony, Phylos Carbide. But my friends just call me Carbide.”

“Carbide!” Pinkie Pie yelled, hopping in front him.

“You know him, sugar?” Vinnie asked.

“Of course, silly. I have been visiting him for years.” Everypony rolled their eyes and sighed in a way suggesting that of course she had.

“It’s nice to see you again Pinkie.” He turned to the group. “And these must be your friends.”

“Yes indeedy. I’ll introduce you to them.” She went down the line saying everpony’s names and he greeted each of them.

Finally, they got to Ark. “And this is-“

“Ark, yes we have met.” Carbide stretched out his hoof. “Kind of.”

“How did you survive? That spell that they used…”

“Was terrible. I told you he was an idiot.”

“What are you talking about?” Celestia asked.

“The spell from the book. It was supposed to absorb his soul into Megedagik.” Ark explained.

“But of course, Megedagik was the one who made the spell and it couldn’t get past my defenses. All he got were three memories: when Luna and I first met, when she was banished, and when she returned. Other than that, it failed.” Carbide explained.

“What do you mean when you first met?” Applejack asked.

“That is an excellent question. One that would require a long story. So instead, I shall sum up. I met Luna 1700 years ago as a child and grew up with her. After she was banished to the moon, I spent 1000 years studying magic, medicine, basically everything. Sometimes I even traveled. 6 years ago, give or take, she returned and did not recognize me. So I traveled to the human world and met Ark and Megedagik. He hatched a plan to take my soul and Ark dumbly went along with it. It failed and here I am.”

“I am so sorry Carbide.” Ark said, bowing his head.

Carbide hugged him. “There is no need. You were trying to help your friend. In any case, I forgive.” He broke the embrace. “Now then, any questions?”

Everypony raised their hoof.

He laughed. “I realize this all very confusing. And I am more than willing to answer all your questions. But for now, let’s just pick Death.”

“Why are you so buddy-buddy with my wife?” He asked.

“Easy.” Carbide disappeared and reappeared next to Celestia. “It’s because we were lovers for a time.” He kissed Celestia on the lips.

“You what?!” He yelled.

They both laughed. “Oh my gosh! You should have seen your face!” Carbide chuckled.

“No one will want to see your face when I am through with you.” Death stepped forward and turned into his behemoth form.

“Wow, Tia. You got a special one here.” Carbide said, appearing on Death’s shoulder. “Look at this guy. How crazy.” Death reached for him, but Carbide appeared next to his leg. “And these legs. Dang girl!” Death reached again for him and again he disappeared seamlessly.

“Would you hold still so I can pummel you?!” Death said.

“Now, now dear. It was just a joke.” Celestia said.

“Yes dear. We are just friends.” A second Celestia said.

“Why are there two Celestias?” Fluttershy asked.

“Look, that one is wearing studs in her ears.” Rainbow Dash said.

They looked at each other and laughed. The one on the right morphed into Carbide. “Good times. Remember when I used to be you for a day?” Carbide asked.

“You what?” Death asked.

“Calm down, Death. We haven’t done that in over 20 years. Though I wouldn’t mind it right now.” Celestia said.

“Wait, he can turn himself into other ponies like a changeling?” Eclipse asked.

“Kind of. Changelings merely put on the illusion of being somepony else. I change my entire physiology to actually transform into other ponies or even other creatures. As a master of transmutation magic, it comes easily to me.” Carbide shrugged.

“So if you were Bubbles this whole time, how come you didn’t help us? We were all injured by Black Heart and you just stood there.” Rarity said.

“Well, you see, I have a rule. I do not interfere with history unless it is a small thing like saving a village from a virus or a monumental thing like the world is on the brink of destruction.”

“But the world was on the brink of destruction. Two worlds in fact.” Corrosive Dash said. “We could have used you in the fight against Black Heart.”

“That’s the other thing. I’m a pacifist, I don’t fight unless I absolutely need to. I would much rather settle things with words.”

“A pacifist, huh? Meaning you are a coward.” Death spat.

Carbide laughed. “No, no. Nothing of the sort. I like to think of it as keeping my nose out of others’ business.”

“If you are really about not helping, then why are you here now?”

“Because those children need a father figure, and with Pure Heart gone, that responsibility falls on me.”

“Do really think that Luna would let you be their father after what have done, or rather what you didn’t do?”

Carbide’s smile changed into a frown. “You know, friend, you are really negative. You should get medicated or something.” His cloak turned into a white lab coat and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pad of paper. “I prescribe to you mood stabilizer.” He wrote something down and ripped off the paper, giving it to Death.

“You calling me mentally unstable?”

“Whoa buddy. I am no psychiatrist.” A pair of glasses appeared on his nose. “Now I am, and yes, that is my official diagnosis.” He grinned.

Death roared and brought down both fists on top of Carbide.

“No Death!” Celestia yelled.

A cloud of dust engulfed them. The dust was blasted away by everypony with wings and they saw Carbide holding up both of Death’s fist with single hoof.

“You would be a good sparring partner, my friend.” He set the fists down on the ground to the amazement of everypony there except Celestia. “You know, after a hundred years of training.”

“Will you two stop it? Death get out of that form and Carbide stop antagonizing him.” Celestia said.

“Yes dear.” They both said, Death glaring at a smiling Carbide.

“How did you do that?” Vinnie asked.

Carbide dusted off his hooves and turned his white coat back into a black cloak. “Like I said, I am the guardian of the Elements of Harmony. I protected those relics for a thousand years. That comes with the expectation of keeping them safe from evil. Speaking of which, where are they?”

Twilight looked nervously at the others and spoke up. “Black Heart took them.”

“Yes, yes. I was there for that. I assumed you all retrieved them.”

“We sent a team to Black Heart’s fortress to get them back but have been unsuccessful in finding them.” Celestia said.

“I have an explanation for that. They were destroyed.” Carbide said.

“What? How? When?” Celestia asked.

“I assume that Black Heart had them on his person when he was hit with the blast that Megedagik set off. Such a powerful blast could surely destroy them.” Everyone looked downtrodden. “Though I have good news.” He flashed the jeweled studs in his ears. “I am sure you have noticed these six earrings I am wearing. They just happen to be the original Elements of Harmony that were passed to me by Princess Celestia after Luna was banished. The ones you had were just conduits for their power.”

“That’s fantastic! Now you can give them back to us.” Rainbow Dash said.

“That’s the bad news. As the Guardian of the Elements, I cannot freely give the original ones. They are much to powerful for kids such as yourselves to hold on to. I would have to build new conduits.”

“Well then you should do that.” Death said.

“Oh you. I wish it was that simple. But it took me twenty years to do it last time. Yes, I could do it much faster this time around, but it would still take a year or two. And even if I was able to make them that fast, I could not in good conscience give it to a pregnant mare. It could hurt the baby.”

“Then what do you plan to do with them?” Eclipse asked.

“Not sure. I may hold on to them for another thousand years. Or maybe return them to the Tree of Harmony.”

“The what?” Death asked.

“It’s where they are originally from.” Celestia explained.

Carbide nodded. “But for now, I will just hold them. You six will remain as the Element Bearers but will not have access to them. I am sorry.” He looked at Twilight who began to tear up. He walked over to her and lifted her chin. “You are not in any kind of trouble, my dear. The Elements just need to rest for a while. There is no need to cry.” He wiped the tears from her eyes. “My, my. You sure have grown up. I remember when I first met you.” He stepped back and looked at Celestia. “Do you?”

She smiled. “Of course. I was so excited to show off my new student I sent for you immediately, making it seem like an emergency.” They laughed.

“We’ve met before?” Twilight asked through a few sniffles.

“Why of course, though you were quite young. I believe it was only few days after Celestia picked you as her protégé. But I knew you were the right filly for the job as the bearer of magic. You know how I knew?”

She shook her head.

He smiled and lowered his head, showing the purple stud in his ear. “Cause this began to glow.” As he said this, the purple stud glowed bright. “Just as I thought you are still worthy.” He looked at her directly. “You probably don’t remember, but you said my earrings were pretty at the time.” He stood up and laughed as he ruffled her hair. “I’ll tell you what. After you give birth, I will train you six to use the original Elements. It will be a long road, but I think you all can handle it.” He looked around. “Is that acceptable?” Everypony nodded. “Wonderful.” He clapped his hooves together. “Now then, where is Luna? I have been in my lab for the last hour.”

“She is sleeping right now. She has been through a lot in the last couple hours. Between getting stabbed in the stomach and learning that her husband died again, she was really worn out.” Celestia said.

“She was what?! Damn!” He hit the ground hard, making a large crack in the ground. He breathed heavily for a second but then looked around seeing everypony’s worried faces. He stood up straight and smoothed out his mane. “Sorry. I get really worried about her.” He turned to Celestia. “Who is the primary physician?”

“Dr. Sternum.”

“My old student? Wonderful!” His pocket began to beep. He pulled out a stack of cards and started flipping through them.

“What are those?” Celestia asked.

“They are business cards attuned with magic, so they act like communication devices with clients. Now let’s see, professional aeronaut, no. Professional scarecrow, no.” Applejack and Rarity gave each a look. “Ah, here we are. Phylos Carbidium, M.D.” He held up a flashing card and tapped it. A hologram of Dr. Stern popped up. “Dr. Sternum. How is my favorite student?”

“Well, I am in a bit of pickle. I was looking at Princess Luna’s chart, and there is something that just doesn’t add up. I was hoping you could come and help me out.”

“Interesting. I’m actually in the neighborhood, I can be there in a few minutes.”

“Awesome. See you then.” The hologram cut out and Carbide stuck the card back in his pocket.

“I have to go talk to Dr. Stern. Ark, I could use your help.”

“Roger that.”

Carbide turned to Celestia. “You should go rest. It’s been a long day.”

Celestia stepped forward and kissed Carbide on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being here.” She smiled and he smiled back.

“Come now, Ark. We must not keep my student waiting.” Ark opened a portal, but Carbide shook his head. “No my friend, let me take care of the transportation.” Ark closed the portal and Carbide touched him on the shoulder. Before anyone could blink, they were gone.

“What do we do now?” Twilight asked.

Celestia looked at her own student. “You all should rest. I will be checking in on my sister.”

---

Castle Hallway

Celestia and Death walked through the castle, she explaining to him her exact relationship with Carbide.

“We are just close friends, dear.”

“There was absolutely no intimacy between you two?”

“Only comforting shoulder hugs and occasional cheek kisses. Nothing more.”

“Well, okay. I will let it go then.”

“That’s all I ask.” She kissed him on the lips. “Now then, here we are.” They approached the doors to Luna’s room and knocked on the door. “Luna? Are you awake?” They felt a cool breeze come out from under the door. “She must have left the window open.” Celestia tried to open the door, but found resistance. “We should get these door hinges oiled.”

Death pushed open the door with some effort and they found the room covered with a thin layer of frost. “What’s going on?”

Celestia looked around and saw the window was closed. Then she looked at the bed and saw Luna covered in ice. “Luna!” She tried to run over but she began to slip. Death held her fast and they helped each other over to the bed. “Luna! Wake up!” She reached over to touch her and was met with icicles appearing on her hoof.

“Don’t touch her. There is a dark magic at work here.” Death said.

“We have to help her though!” Celestia yelled.

“We need to get out of here. This cold is not safe for the baby. Come on.”

“Not without Luna!”

“He’s right.” Said a voice from behind them. They turned around to see Carbide and Ark. “You two need to get out of here. It is much too dangerous.” Ark said. He walked towards them with some difficulty.

“What do you mean? What’s happening?” Celestia asked.

“Leave now!” Carbide yelled. His horn sparked and the three of them were transported to the study.

“What’s going on?” Celestia asked. “Why did we have to leave?”

“Wait a moment.” Ark looked her over, from snout to flank. “Did any ice get on you?”

“Yes, on my hoof.”

He took her hoof and looked it over. “Good, it looks like it didn’t spread.” He touched his horn to her hoof and she felt a burning sensation.

“OW! What was that for?”

“I had to make sure to kill the infection.”

“What do you mean infection? What’s happening?” Death asked.

“When Luna was stabbed by Black Heart’s sword, it left behind a poison that takes over the body in the form of ice. That ice has a metamorphic effect on the body, slowly changing the recipient into a wendigo.”

“Luna is turning into a wendigo?!” Celestia shrieked. She ran towards the door, but was blocked by Ark. “Get out of my way! I need to save my sister!”

He shook his head. “There is nothing you or anyone can do.”

Celestia stepped back. “Do you mean to say that there is no way to stop my sister from turning into a wendigo?”

His ears folded back and he bowed his head. “I am sorry.”

She began to weep heavily. “Let me through, I need to see her!”

“That is impossible. By now, Carbide has already sealed off the room. There is no way in or out until he the deed is done.”

“The deed? What do you mean?”

“As we speak, Carbide is making sure that her transformation does not progress anymore. The only way to do so is to… end her life.”

Celestia’s eyes grew wide and her horn sparked, blasting Ark. “NOOOO! I need to stop him!” She ran out the door and into the hall, arriving at the door to Luna’s room within a minute. She beat on the door. “Carbide! Don’t do it! There has to be another way!” She began blasting the door with her magic, but to no avail.

“I am sorry Princess.” She heard him say from behind. She turned around and saw a card on the floor with a hologram coming out. “I am so sorry. You have been such a great sister. To both us. But I cannot allow you to see this, it will hurt too much. I am about to enter her mind to say goodbye. I will tell her you said goodbye as well.”

“Carbide, don’t do it! Please, I am begging you! There has to be another way!”

He shook his head. “Ever the optimist.” He sighed. “After this is over, I will be leaving. This is goodbye for us as well. I love you Celestia. You are truly a great friend.”

The hologram cut out and Celestia screamed. “CARBIDE! LUNA!”

Luna’s Dream - Carbide’s POV

When I appeared in her dream world, I looked around and saw a withering forest. “It’s getting bad in here. I better find her quickly.” I said to myself.

I began running. “Luna! Luna!” I yelled out. “Where are you?”

I heard rustling behind me and I whipped around, charging up a blast from my horn. “Show yourself!” From the bushes walked out my younger self.

“Carbide!” He squealed, running towards me.

I let the charge go and smiled. “How’s it going squirt?”

He hugged my leg. “I knew it wasn’t true! I knew that you weren’t gone!”

“Carbide!” Yelled a familiar voice. Luna emerged from the bushes as well as a human and two ponies that looked like me. “There you ar-” She stopped in her tracks when she saw me. “Who are you?”

“It’s me! Or the real me, anyway.” My younger self said.

I walked towards her, and raised a hoof. “Hello. It’s been a long time, Luna.”

She hesitated, but shook my hoof. “So you are Phylos Carbide. I never thought I would get to meet you, or see you again. I’m not sure which really. This is all so confusing. And I-”

I stepped closer and hugged her. “It’s okay. I know just how you feel.”

She hugged me back. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

We broke the embrace and I looked at the others. “And who are these folks?”

“They are you. Or you are them. Again, confusing.” She pointed to the human. “This is Zach, the form of Pure Heart before he came to Equestria.”

He stepped forward and shook my hoof. “It is nice to meet me.” He laughed.

“And this is Darkly Facade. He’s-”

“I’m the guy Pure Heart became under the control of Ark.” He interrupted. He stayed back, making no effort to be nice.

“Finally, we have Pure Heart.”

“Yes, the pony who started all of this.” I said. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“You too. I haven’t heard much about you, but I have heard that you grew up with my wife.”

“Yes, we are, or were, best friends.” I shook his hoof and stepped back. “Nice little family we got here.” I began to tear up.

“What’s wrong? Is seeing my husband making you sad?” Luna asked.

“No, no.” I sighed. “You see, I didn’t come here to catch up. I came to say goodbye.”

“Goodbye? Why would you say that when you just got here?” The young me asked.

“Because the infection has spread too far. You will soon turn into a wendigo, Luna.”

“What’s going to happen to me then?” Luna asked.

I looked away and the tears spilled on to the ground. “I have to… kill you.”

The other three stepped forward. “Over our dead bodies.” Zach said.

“This is the only way to make sure she doesn’t suffer more than she has to. This is mercy.”

“That’s murder. You are going to murder the pony you love?” Pure Heart asked.

“Even I can’t let that happen.” Darkly Facade said.

“What do you want me to do? Let her mind wither away into nothingness as she becomes a beast of absolute horror. Is that what you want?”

Young me stepped away. “No. But you can’t do this, big me. There has to be another way.”

“What about the Elements of Harmony? They can stop this, can’t they?” She asked.

“The Elements could do that in theory, yes. But the Element bearers are in no shape to use them. Especially without the conduits.”

“What happened to the conduits?” Pure Heart asked.

“They were destroyed in the explosion that Megedagik made. Only the raw elements remain.”

“Then use those.” Zach said.

I wiped my tears. “That… could work. But I can’t do it on my own. I need help.”

“We can help. We will lend our power to you.”

“There is one caveat. This will kill you three. Are you willing to give up your lives?”

They looked at each other and all nodded. “We were put here to protect Luna. And that is what we will do.” Pure Heart said.

“You can’t. I don’t want to lose you again.” Luna said to Pure Heart.

He took her into his forelegs and kissed her. “Don’t worry, I will be back.”

“Ech. Can we get this over with so I don’t have to see this mushy stuff anymore?” Darkly asked. We all looked at him and laughed.

She stepped up to him and gave him a hug. “I will miss you too.”

He struggled, but ended up hugging her back.

They let go and she turned to Zach. “It was pleasure knowing you, Zach.”

“The pleasure is all mine. I am just stoked that I got be part of something this big. You know, I was thinking about my life and how dull it truly was. I’m glad I got to actually make something of myself.”

They hugged and then she turned to the young me. “And you? What will happen to you?”

“I’ll go back to Carbide. I’m just an extension of him after all.” He said happily.

She smiled and hugged him. “You are so much more.” She kissed his cheek and he giggled.

“Are you ready to go?” I asked. They all looked at me and nodded.

Pure Heart walked up to me and whispered in my ear. I nodded and looked at her. “Luna. I am so happy we got meet, and look forward to being your friend again.”

She smiled. “And I you.”

I smiled back and looked at my new companions. “Well friends, lets get her better.” I sparked my horn and all the versions of me disappeared. “See you on the other side.” I said to her. She waved and everything began to fade.

---

I woke up in Luna’s room, covered in ice. I flashed my horn and the ice shattered. I shook off the cold and looked at her laying there.

“Well, here goes nothing.” I closed my eyes and concentrated on the power emanating from the stones attached to my ears. I felt the presence of the other personas in my mind and when I opened my eyes, a rainbow energy was circling me. I sent it towards Luna who began to float and then everything went white.

I quickly got my vision back and Luna was lying on the bed again as a beast stood above her.

“Get away from her!” I yelled. Out of my pocket, I pulled a white sword.

The beast looked at me and roared, lunging at me. I sliced down at it and it screamed.

“Begone! And never come back!” I yelled as I delivered another cut it to. The beast howled in pain and turned to dust. I picked up the dust in my magic and incinerated it into nothing.

I looked at Luna and ran to the bed. “Luna! LUNA!” I melted all the ice off of her and listened to her heart. It was slow, but there. I picked her up and transported us to the hospital.

---

Hosptial Room - Luna’s POV

I slowly opened my eyes and winced at the bright light coming from the room.

“She’s awake!” I heard someone say.

I tried to sit up, but was pushed back down. “Take it easy, sister.” I looked and saw Celestia smiling at me.

“Tia!” I shot up and hugged her.

She smoothed out my hair and patted my back. “It’s good to see you too, Luna.”

I let go and looked around. “Am I in the hospital?”

She nodded. “Carbide brought you here after expelling the beast within you.”

“That’s right. He used the Elements to dispose of the wendigo growing inside of me. How is he doing?”

“You can ask him yourself.” She moved and he was leaning against the wall, a large sword slung to his back.

“Carbide!”

“Hello, Luna.” He walked over to the bed.

“I will give you two some privacy.” Celestia said, walking out the door and closing it behind her.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, placing the sword against the wall and sitting on the bed.

“A little groggy and kind of sore. But otherwise, just fine. Except…” I looked away.

“You miss him, don’t you?” He asked.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, there is something he told me before we left.” He picked up the sword. “Do you recognize this sword?”

I looked at it closely. “This is Pure Heart’s sword, Divinus.”

“That’s right. Your elder son, Nightshade, rebuilt it a while ago. And your husband did something that I actually applaud him for.” He flipped the sword and showed her the handle and pointed at the pommel. “You see this stone? It’s a soul fragment. He placed part of his soul in the this sword knowing that something like this might happen someday.”

“So that means, we can bring him back?”

“Yes, but there is only one way to do so.” He got off the bed and walked to the door, opening it. “Come in.” Ark walked into the room.

“Hello Princess. You look well.” He said.

“Hello Ark.” She looked at Carbide. “I don’t get it. What does he have to do with it?”

“Ark is the only one with fusion magic left. He will be fusing my soul and Pure Heart’s soul.”

“Carbide, no. I can’t ask you to do this.”

He held up his hoof. “I am quite fine with it. I want to even. That way, we can both be with you.” He broke off the soul fragment and gave it to Ark. “Ready?”

“It’s been an honor.” Ark’s horn lit up and he pushed the soul fragment into Carbide’s head.

Carbide screamed and all the lights in the room went out.

When they came back on, Carbide stood there looking around. “Thank you Ark.” He said. Ark bowed and walked out of the room.

I got out of bed, and shakily walked over to him. “Carbide? Pure Heart? Are you okay?”

“I don’t know. Was Pure Heart blind?”

“WHAT?!”

He looked at me and smiled. “Kidding.”

I laughed and cried, while hoofing him in the shoulder.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“You big, dumb jerk.” I cried, hugging him. I kissed him and he kissed me back. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, Luna.”

I broke the hug and looked at him. “What should I call you now?”

“I don’t know. Big, dumb jerk has a nice ring to it.” He grinned. I hoofed him again. “OW! So abusive!”

“You are definitely Pure Heart.”

“Indeed.” I continued to cry and he wiped my tears away. “Hey now. There is no need for that. You know I hate to see others cry.” He smiled as he kissed me again. He picked me up and put me back in bed, him lying beside me.

“What do we do now?” I asked, nuzzling his neck.

He held me in his forelegs. “Well, I have to say that I am kind of sick of the cold. How about you?”

“Oh my, yes. I could go without it for a long time.”

“So I was thinking. I know a place where it is almost never cold. How does that sound?”

“That sounds amazing. A vacation is just what I need.”

“I was thinking of a bit longer than a vacation.”

“Well however long it is, as long as I am with you, I don’t care where we are.”

He kissed me again. “Me neither. But for now, you need some rest.”

He began to get up, but I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. “You aren’t going anywhere.”

He laughed and laid back down. “As you wish.”

We laid there for a while until I slowly drifted off to sleep.

Author's Note:

Hey everypony! What do you think? I might have rushed it a little, but I felt it was pretty good. Well, I have one more chapter to upload. It's already written, so I shouldn't take too long to put it up. Until then, please comment.

Bro/Sishoof -

Ark125