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Prologue578 words
Episode 1: Crystal Clear Wisdom Part 14,388 words
Episode 2: Crystal Clear Wisdom Part 25,302 words
Episode 3: One of a Kind1,115 words
Episode 4: Recurring Dream, Returning Nightmare4,815 words
Episode 5: Origin1,859 words
Episode 6: Moving In2,754 words
Episode 7: Family Time1,388 words
Episode 8: Upstaging2,230 words
Episode 9: Rejection and Acceptance3,273 words
Episode 10: Reunion1,809 words
Episode 11: A Somber Revival1,029 words
Episode 12: Overprotective1,808 words
Episode 13: Hero Worship447 words
Episode 14: Duels and Dates1,643 words
Episode 15: Eternal Tolerance2,074 words
Episode 16: Royally Jealous1,334 words
Episode 17: Heartbroken1,727 words
Episode 18: Dragon Knight's Sorrow1,272 words
Episode 19: Shared Pain1,275 words
Episode 20: Balanced Power2,080 words
Episode 21: Ascended Magic1,124 words
Episode 22: Evil's Worst Nightmare5,114 words
Episode 23: Closer864 words
Episode 24: Confession1,534 words
Episode 25: Reflections Part 13,619 words
Episode 26: Reflections Part 22,004 words
Episode 27: Moon's Light1,480 words

Episode 20: Balanced Power

Burst Stream was starting to feel better. He fully accepted the help of his friends, and he had moved onto the last stage of grief. Acceptance. However, while he accepted that Celestia breaking up with him happened, he refused to just let Shining Dawn take her.

It's like Inferno said. Celestia means the world and more to me. And just letting her go? That doesn't sound like me at all! Burst thought with a smirk. Celestia called me her dragon knight because of how fiercely I fought for her. And I think it's time Shining Dawn experience that first hand.

Satisfied with his training for the day, Burst wiped his face free of sweat and headed home. "Later guys!" He called out to his fellow Elements of Heroism. "I'm headed back home for lunch." And as he opened the door to his house, Burst smiled. "I didn't expect to actually have a meal waiting for me when I got home Moon."

"Just thought you might like me saving you some extra work." Nightmare Moon said with a smile. She and Burst had grown closer during her reformation and moving into Burst's home. One would almost mistake them for lovers. A prospect that had been in Nightmare Moon's thoughts and dreams lately. As easy as it would be to simply assert herself as Burst's new love during his period of weakness, she refused to do so. If she did that, then it meant she didn't respect herself or Burst enough to try winning his heart and his and her best respectively. "It's no surprise you've recovered quickly. No wonder you're the Element of Power. You possess great inner and outer strength."

Burst Stream smiled at Nightmare Moon. The former Woman in the Moon had toned down her flirting with him significantly. However, her genuine compliments brought about a warm feeling in Burst's heart. And in turn, this brought up a cold voice in Burst's head whenever he would start thinking fondly of Nightmare Moon.

"How DARE you. The voice said. How can you just betray Celestia like this?! Why are you accepting her?! If she hadn't come back into your life, none of this would have happened! All the bad that's happened so far is because SHE'S here! All of this is her fault!

Burst flinched at the cruel words coming from this voice. But upon listening carefully, he found that it was his own voice saying these things. A voice that belonged to a side of him that he hadn't heard in a very long time and had only heard once before. The day he had met Celestia and hadn't even realized he was looking at her.

"Burst?" Nightmare Moon asked as she got closer to Burst Stream. A look of concern in her eyes as she reached out her hand to try and soothe him. Putting a comforting grip on his shoulder. "Have you been pushing yourself too hard? You did spend half a day sulking around the house. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to throw yourself into training."

Burst shook his head. "No. That's not it. The problem isn't with my body. It's with my heart." Burst put a hand over where his heart was. "Celestia breaking up with me was a pretty upsetting event. Hearing that Shining Dawn was marrying her only amplified the shock. It really shook me at my core. I promised Celestia that I'd make her happy no matter what. Hearing her say that she'd be marrying someone else and her lying that she was happy with him is what really broke my heart."

"And now? My heart's imbalanced." Burst Stream said with a sigh. "I may have moved past my depression, but I'm not at peace. Some part of me is screaming, demanding that someone be responsible." He then looked sadly into Nightmare Moon's eyes. "That part wants to blame you so badly. But ultimately, how did you play any part in what happened? Your return and moving into my house? All that did was provoke the first fight between Celestia and me in our relationship. But her anger came from concern, and we ultimately came out stronger because of it."

A small chuckle escaped Burst's mouth. "Heh. If anything, I should be thanking you for unintentionally strengthening my relationship with Celestia. So it's safe to say that I don't think Celestia would end things between us so quickly after we'd just been through something that ultimately made our relationship stronger? Now I KNOW there's something wrong here."

"Maybe that part of you that blames me will be silent after a good night's sleep." Nightmare Moon said with a comforting smile. "I'll make sure to hold you tight again." She then touched her forehead to Burst Stream's.

Burst closed his eyes, and let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Moon." The moment soon came to a screeching halt because of Burst's growling stomach. "I guess my stomach's feeling a bit neglected too." And with that, Burst devoured his lunch.

Night fell soon enough, and Burst Stream was in his bed. Nightmare Moon holding him close to her chest. In specific, her heart. However, Burst's slumber was far from peaceful. In his dreams, Burst was running towards Celestia. But the second he got close to her, the ground gave way and he fell into a pit! Burst Stream reached out towards her, and tried to jump out! But it seemed like the darkness grabbed him as he tried to escape! And the voice he heard in his head earlier spoke.

"She left you. You deserve to be alone for neglecting her! For not trying to help her!" The voice spat as Burst Stream was dragged down further! "Because you don't want to blame her!" An image of Nightmare Moon appeared before Burst Stream. "Hate her. HATE HER. HATE HER!"

"NOOOO!" Burst Stream screamed as he woke up in a sweat! Panting as his mind returned to consciousness! Once he had calmed down, he sighed. ". . . So much for sleeping on my problems. They won't let me sleep." Burst then felt a hand on his shoulder, and saw Nightmare Moon with a concerned expression on her face. "Sorry to wake you Moon."

Nightmare Moon sighed. "It's happened hasn't it?" She asked. Puzzling Burst Stream. "I've noticed it ever since yesterday. Especially during out little sparring session in the fields. You might have moved past your anger, but it's still lurking inside you. Deep down, you want someone to be responsible. First, you placed it on yourself. And judging by your dreams, it's trying to place the blame on me."

"You. . . saw into my dreams?" Burst Stream asked. "That explains so much behind that weird dream I had were you kept telling me to find you when I woke up."

Nightmare Moon nodded. "Yes. But I can do much more than just peer into your dreams. Like Luna, I can craft dreams and vanquish or give nightmares. I would have stepped in, but I could sense you would wake soon." Nightmare Moon then held onto one of Burst Stream's hands. "Burst. I know what it's like to be filled with negative emotions. They played a part in forming me. And I know the danger they pose if you don't face them." Nightmare Moon tightened her hold on Burst's hand. "I know it all too well."

"Then. . . how do I face them?" Burst Stream asked. "The part of me that wants to blame you is in me, and it's in my head because of the nightmare I had just a few minutes ago. How can I meet it? I can't get rid of it. It's a part of me."

Nightmare Moon let go of Burst's hand. "I can cast a spell that will make you dive into your heart. I researched it after your friend Ty helped reform Sombra. Your body will be unconscious, but your inner self will be very much awake. Whatever you find in there is only what you have." Nightmare Moon's magic flared to life as her hands were covered in its glowing aura! "Are you ready."

". . . Yes." Burst Stream said with a nod. Nightmare Moon put her hands on Burst's head, and his body fell back onto the bed! When Burst opened his eyes, he was in the space of his heart. In front of him was a door. "Here goes nothing." Burst Stream opened the door, and stepped through.

On the other side of the door, it was complete darkness. As Burst Stream ventured forward, a familiar form began to materialize in front of him. "Figures." Burst said as he looked over the figure in front of him. It was himself. "The toughest battles are within and against yourself."

"You know, we really don't have to fight." Burst's dark half answered. "You and I? We're a lot alike. There's so many things we love. One person above others in particular." Burst's dark half smirked. "Think about it. Celestia made us happy more than we ever thought possible. We would do anything for her. And for a while, it looked like we would be together forever."

Burst's dark half narrowed his eyes. "But then SHE showed up. Because of her, we had our first fight with Celestia! Then Shining Dawn showed up! Ever since Nightmare Moon came into our life, nothing's gone right!"

"You're wrong." Burst Stream said as he stared down his dark side. "You want to blame her so much for something she isn't responsible. Celestia broke up with me. But it had nothing to do with Moon. And Moon had nothing to do with Shining Dawn showing up in our lives either. If anyone's to blame, it's him! He's the one that convinced Celestia to leave me! All Moon has done since then is try to help me heal and move on!"

Burst's dark side scowled. "Fine. Don't hate her. Celestia's the one that hurt us anyway! You made her so happy, and she broke your heart! Why shouldn't you be mad at her?! Doesn't she deserve some blame?!"

"No. She doesn't." Burst said as he shook his head. "Because you and I both know that we could never hate her. We love her more than anyone could hope to know. And we both know she would never hurt us intentionally. We could feel it from her, and you know it."

Burst took a few steps closer to his dark side. "And how could you possibly place any blame on Moon? She's the whole reason we got together with Celestia in the first place. Because of what she did, we made our promise to Celestia. The promise to give that sad story a happy ending. Something so simple that holds a great deal of who we are at our core. All because of Moon."

"You know who I think you're really mad at?" Burst asked his dark side. "Us. You want to blame so many others because you don't want to think we failed ourselves." Burst noticed his dark side hanging his head in shame. "You think that we didn't do enough. That you didn't push me to fight Shining Dawn when he had his arm around Celestia, and that I gave up too easily. And you're not wrong to think that. But whatever Shining Dawn said or did to Celestia, it wasn't in our control."

Burst noticed his dark side beginning to cry, and he pulled it into a hug. "It's not our fault. So don't go hating me or yourself when we can't control what happens." Burst noticed his dark side starting to merge into him fully. "We're better together. So come home." Burst's dark side fully merged with him, and the darkness around him faded away. Leaving only his complete heart.

"That's much better." Burst said with a sigh of relief. A few seconds later, Burst Stream opened his eyes to the real world. He smiled when he saw Nightmare Moon. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting Moon."

Nightmare Moon smiled in kind. "Something tells me you won't have any trouble sleeping the rest of the night." With that, Nightmare Moon once again held Burst Stream close to her and the two drifted off to sleep. However, new thoughts stirred in Burst Stream's head. Thoughts about his promise, and the fallen princess who made it all possible. And how he was starting to feel around her.

I haven't felt like this since. . . Celestia.

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