The Revival of a Heart

by TheMessenger

Royal Exposition

Royal Exposition

Everypony had gotten a blanket to lay on, save Rainbow Dash, who grabbed a cloud and perched herself on top of it, and Rarity, who brought a couch. Pinkie Pie had a giant pile of snacks next to her. In her hooves was an open box of popcorn.

Ash cleared his throat and begun his tale:

"I'll be honest: I have no idea how I got here but maybe if I can explain what I was doing, one of you could figure out something I couldn't. But you need to know some background first..."

A groan come from the low cloud. "Can't you just skip all that boring stuff?"

Ash ignored the comment as he continued:

"The world I'm from was relatively peaceful. My country was on decent terms with its neighbors and as long as we didn't intrude on the affairs of the other races, there was little trouble. But it wasn't always that way...

"A thousand years before the founding of my nation, the world was ruled by a single entity, a great and powerful Demon. We called the Demon Cerfuli, or the Dark One in the Ancient tongue. Equal to his strength was his evil and hatred to living things. His vision of the world was a giant wasteland and his ambition left quite a large mark on our map."

"Why didn't anypo-, anyhuman stand up?" Twilight interjected. "There must have been some sort of revolution."

"According to legends, Cerfuli was insanely powerful in both physical strength and in magic. With a single thought, he could turn a man inside out. Though I'm willing to say he could do that without magic. And even if someone was powerful enough to fight him, they'd have to get through his armies. Cerfuli had legions upon legions of lesser Demons and other creatures of darkness. Perhaps the greatest reason why no one stood up was because of the Dark One's sword..."

"What's special about a sword?" Rainbow Dash called from above. "I've seen those things used by fencers and they're nothing great. Just a sharp metal stick, really."

"Cerfuli's blade is more than just a sharp metal stick. It's nothing like a rapier. It's larger than you and nearly as thick."

"Hey, I'm not thick!"

"Hold on, even if it's as big as a pony, Ah still don' understand why this sword thing is so scary."

"It's more than just a simple blade," Ash said patiently. "The sword isn't made out of any known metal and it has its own sickly aura. It's magic."

At the word magic, Twilight sat straighter. "How was it magic? Do you mean enchanted?" she asked, eager to learn more about Human magic.

"I don't know. It's like, the aura I mentioned. Even if you can't feel the magic of others, you can still feel the sword's. And that sickly, disgusting energy it spews out, it saps away your courage, your will to fight. It's as if the aura the sword releases is every negative emotion. Some even say the very blade is fear manifest in physical form. Even if you managed to defeat the Dark One's armies and could stand a chance against him head to head, that blade would take away your very reason to live. It kills hope and without hope, what's the point of a resistance?"

"Well, that's an awful story."

"I'm not done, Pinkie Pie."

"Oh, then what are you waiting for? Finish it!"

"Fine. Cerfuli's reign ended. The end."

"...That's it?" Twilight asked, confused by the sudden finish.

"Yes, at least to that chapter."

"But how? There are still so many questions that need answering!"

The Human shrugged. "No one knows exactly how Cerfuli was defeated. All we know was that he was somehow sealed away a thousand years ago deep in a volcano in the wastelands. The only clues we have are two poems.

"The first is known as the Essences of Concord:

All will rise or all will fall

Six will arise to heed the call

Together they stand, divided they die

Six will come to answer the cry

One as six and six as One

Unlimited power, bound by none

"The second has no name but is referred to as The Agreement or The Treaty and also where we got the name of the first one:

One from the mountains with a fiery heart

Two from the woods, nature their art

Three of the plains, valleys, and seas

first of the last, strongest of the weak

Six in Concord, the Essences they seek

These are the only records we have dating to the estimated era of the Dark One's loss of power. Anything before that are lamentations and songs of death and despair. Anything after are joyfully carols and hymns celebrating freedom from oppression."

"Hold on, Ah ain't versed in poetry at all. Ah can't make heads o tails out of this."

"I can't say I can make any sense of these words either," Rarity said in agreement.

"It's fine. It took our scholars a thousand years to interpret and even now we're not exactly certain if we understand these clues. From what you can get out of it is--"

"There are six elements that when brought together, unlimited power is brought forth. Obviously, this Demon was sealed by six who discovered the elements."

Everyone stared at Princess Luna, who sat on a maroon rug littered with candy wrappers. She simply shrugged.

"It was not so difficult. Personally, I find the riddle dealing with a road-crossing chicken far more perplexing."

"Er, well yes. Essentially, that's the gist of it. Most people believe Cerfuli was defeated by these elements which are now referred to as the Essences of Concord."

"Essences of Concord," Celestia quietly repeated to herself. "I wonder..."

"Well, what's the point of all that?" Rainbow Dash demanded. She jumped off her cloud and landed in front of Ash. "That doesn't explain anything. Just some history junk."

"I don't know," Twilight said. "I find it all very interesting."

"Yeah, I'm sure you would but--"

Ash raised his hand. "Yes, you're right. That was a thousand years ago and doesn't seem like anything but an old wives' tale. But the rest of my tale won't make any sense if don't have some background information."

Rainbow grumbled a bit but complained no further.

"Now, where was I. Oh right. Anyway, a thousand years or so--"

"Ooh, ooh, I know! I know! The Cefufu guy woke up after a thousand years, right?"

"Uh, right," Ash responded, more than a bit startled by Pinkie Pie's outburst.

"And then you and a bunch of your friends got chosen to find those Essenceses!"

"Well, yeah, I guess..."

"And then you beat the evil meanie with your friends and had the greatest party ever! The end!"

"...Not exactly."

"Huh?" Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing. "What do you mean? Are you saying you--"

"We're getting ahead of ourselves. Yes, signs of Cefuli's awakening were seen throughout the world. Acidic rain. Hostile and grotesque creatures. The walking dead."

"Wait, you mean," Spike gulped, "zombies?"

"Yes, zombies." Ash shuddered. "No matter how many times you experience it, there's nothing scarier than a rotting corpse stumbling toward you. No, wait, I take it back. It's a lot scarier when they're running toward you. And when their skeleton sticks out of the flesh. Oh, and then there are their feeding habits..."

"Um, I don't suppose you could keep your descriptions less graphic?" Twilight could tell she was going to have difficulty getting Spike to sleep tonight. Fluttershy looked no better.

"Sorry. Anyways, the three major races of my world got together to come up with some sort of solution. The legend of the Dark One was actually well spread and the other races had actually solved the riddle much faster than the Humans."

"Forgive me for interrupting" Rarity quickly put in, "but why didn't the others' share their discovery."

"We haven't always had the best relationships. The Elves normally keep to themselves and the Dwarves guard their secrets jealously. But the current disasters help form the recent alliance.

"Now, according to the second poem, six were to be sent to collect the Essences. Each verse refers to a different race. For example:

One from the mountains with a fiery heart

refers to the Dwarves..."

"Dwarves? What's a Dwarv?"

"Dwarf, singular," Ash corrected Rainbow. "The best way to describe a Dwarf is to think of a shorter, stouter Human with a big temper, though calling a Dwarf a short Human is the easiest way to make him your enemy for life. Anyway, Dwarves tend to live in mountains where they can mine in peace and are known for being very passionate to, well, just about anything.

"The next verse,

Two from the woods, nature their art

is a reference to the Elves, which are like taller Humans with pointier ears, though again, they'd find such a description insulting. Elves are known to dwell in the forests."

"What does that mean, 'nature their art'?" Applejack questioned.

"Elves are very magical creatures. They live long lives and have a very close connection with the natural world. Elves can practically control nature to their will. Animals follow their command and plants grow by their songs. There's an old saying: give a Human a fish, he'll eat for a day; give an Elf an apple seed, he'll feed a nation for years.

"The third and fourth lines refer to Humanity, which basic spread everywhere else that wasn't already taken by the other races."

"Wait, whoa, what does the fourth line mean?" asked Rainbow Dash. "All that first and last and strongest stuff doesn't make any sense."

"It's a total contradiction," Twilight commented. "'First of the last, strongest of the weak', it doesn't make any sense."

"Humanity is rather complex. As a whole, Humans are weak. In physical battle, a Human will almost always fall before a Dwarf. And while only a few Humans can use magic, every Elf can manipulate the natural world to do their bidding, though at varying degrees. Even in the regards of art and literature, Humans fall short."

"Then why are they called 'strongest'?" Rainbow Dash looked as confused as ever.

"Because of the exceptions. The Archmage is the most powerful Human who can use magic but even among the Elves he is well respected. The few champions we have were the ones that led Humanity to victory in skirmishes against the Dwarves. Basically, Humanity is weak as a whole but those who stand out really stand out. Hence:

first of the last, strongest of the weak

"And so one Dwarf, two Elves, and three Humans would be chosen to find and recover the Essences of Concord."

Ash paused for a moment. "Does anyone have anything to drink? I'm parched."

Pinkie Pie tossed over a bottle of apple juice, which Ash gratefully took.

"Thanks. Anyways, there was some difficult choosing the ones to recover the Essences. In order to keep the trust of the other races, who ever they sent must be of some significance. Unfortunately, all the leaders were needed in the alliance to lead against the rising number of hostiles as the result of the Dark One's stirrings. So who ever was to be sent had to be important and yet somewhat expendable."

"Wait," Twilight interrupted, "you said you were the apprentice of the Archmage, one of the greatest magic user in your world, and you were considered expendable?"

"I was just one of three students and compared to the Archmage himself, I am expendable.

"Anyways, the Dwarves choose to send Dorian Steelare, son of the Dwarven-Human ambassador and an experienced and well respected weapons technician and strategist.

"The Elves sent High Priestess Darlene, daughter of an Elvish queen and a master druid with magical powers exceeding thos of most other Elves. With her was her bodyguard and maid, Huntress Arlrand, an expert ranger, tracker, and part of a very important noble family.

"Besides me, the Humans sent Sister Matilda Gainsbora, one of the youngest senior nuns in history and an expert cleric specializing in healing and defensive magic."

Ash became silent, finding interest in his feet.

Applejack quietly counted to herself. "Uh, Ah think that's only five. Yah must o' missed one."

With a sigh, Ash continued: "The final one sent was Prince Ramth Sethiop, son of the king of my country and quite possibly a descendant of those who had sealed Cefuli to begin with. Ramth was a great swordsman and was to become one of the countries leading generals."

Ash became quiet once more before adding: "He was also my best friend."

"Well?" Pinkie Pie was at the edge of her blanket, quivering in anticipation. "What happened? Did you get all the thingies that sound a lot like the Elements of Harmony?"

Once again, the story was stopped so that everyone could stare at the pony who had spoken.

"What? They do!"

"Er, well yes. We found Essences of Concord. Took us a couple of years and the actually discovery of each Essence is a tale on its own. We even managed to recover Cefuli's blade."

"Recover his blade?" It was Princess Celestia who had spoken this time. "I thought your mission was to find and collect the Essences of Concord."

"It was. We discovered the sword by accident, really."

"Well, why didn' yah just leave it where it was?" Applejack asked, puzzled. "If it's so darn dangerous, why'd yah take it with you?"

"The weapon's evil, yes, but we believed it could be an asset. Very little is known about Cefuli and even less on the weapon so rumors, myths, and legends are bound to sprout up. One legend was that the Dark One's power was actually because of the blade, that he drew his power from the sword. Our thinking was that we could use that power against him."

"Well, that's just flawed thinking," criticized Twilight. "I mean, you're going off a rumor that might not be true and if it isn't then you'd practically be giving the sword back."

"Hindsight never helped anyone," Ash respond a bit defensively. "At the time, it sounded like a great idea but when you have less than a few days before an invincible evil Demon awakens and threatens to destroy everything you know and love everything sounds good at the time. Hell, our entire quest revolved around two little nursery rhymes. The only thing we had to go off on in the first place /were/ legends."

"So what happened after you found the, what were they called? Elements?" Despite her obvious attempt, Rainbow Dash could not hide her excitement as the climax drew closer. /This is just like the ending of Daring Do and the One Ring!/ the Pegasus thought with a mental squeal. She had abandoned her cloud and stood right in front of Ash.

"Essences. Well, after we collected them all, we just headed to the wasteland where the Dark One was sealed."

"That's it?" Rainbow's ears flattened in disappointment.

"None of us wanted to actually fight Cefuli. We had hoped to catch him napping and simply fix the seal."

"But is that it? No exciting one-on-one duels? No giant battles? No deadly traps?"

"I already told you, no one wanted to take on the Dark One. I already mentioned how powerful he was. He could probably tear us apart in seconds. And who puts traps on a mountain anyways?"

"But you had the Essences of Concord," Rarity said. "Surely with those you could Defeat the Demon."

"We had no clues on how to actually use the Essences. Again, we were relying on guesswork. At best, we had hoped to fix the seal and leave it at that."

"And then you beat the evil meanie with your friends and had the greatest party ever! The end!"

Ash sat down, his hands folded, his eyes avert. He seemed to age before his audience.

"A happy ending...I wish this story had one."

"What happened?"

Rainbow Dash's excitement visibly irritated the Human. All he did was give her a sad look but it was enough to kill off much of Rainbow's enthusiasm.

The atmosphere grew dark as Ash tore pieces of grass. At last, he spoke:

"We were betrayed."

Ash continued to stare at the grass. Though he could not see their faces, couldn't find the will to look up, their silence said everything: confusion, distress, surprise.

With a heavy sigh, the story went on, though the storyteller's voice became low, almost to a whisper:

"I don't know why he did it. Maybe the stress of the journey got to him. Maybe he was corrupted by the sword of the Demon. He was the one holding it after all. Said something about becoming kind, about wanting power. Maybe what he said made sense but I just could understand." Ash paused and took a giant swig from the little bottle. He needed something stronger than juice. "Whatever the reason, Ramth betrayed us. He betrayed us all."

Ash didn't want to continue. He was reliving the memory now. Every cut, every drop of blood, every death he saw again and again.

Ash didn't want to continue but as he did, he watched his friends go, watched them disappear before his eyes. And he was powerless to stop it.

A bitter, mirthless laugh escaped the mage. His audience watched in horror. Pinkie Pie, for the first time in a long time, did not join the laughter.

"It's nothing funny, really. Just, just...I wouldn't call it ironic but I've got no other word . It's just, we spent almost two entire years searching for those things. Two years. Two years of searching, of fighting for survival, of watching each other's back, of fighting for one another. Two hellish year and what does he do? He throws it all away at the very end!"

Ash had gotten to his feet and was pacing angrily.

"Two years spent saving each other's asses! Over ten years of knowing each other! We've known each other ever since we were children and what does he do? He tries to fucking kill me!"

Ash struck a nearby tree with a fist. The tree trembled, its leaves shaking and falling. There was a sizable hole in the trunk. His knuckles bled but Ash didn't care. Anger threatened to consume him, to unhinge him once more. And an unstable Mage is a dangerous thing.

Ash turned around and saw all the ponies huddled together around the Princesses, who stared at him the way one stares at a feral and dangerous animal. His audience watched in horror and guilt struck the Human harder than he had hit the tree. The horror filled faces of the little ponies melted his anger. Fluttershy was nearly in tears. He didn't mean to make her cry.

He sat back down, leaning against the tree. With a hand, he covered his face. "I'm sorry about the outburst. There was no reason for me to act so raged toward you all, especially after all you've done. It's just..."

Ash leaned forward, covering his face with both hands. He was so tired.

He felt something against his arm. Something soft.

Ash looked to his side. Fluttershy leaned on his arm, gently rubbing her face against him. The yellow little Pegasus looked up with wide bright blue-green eyes. The Human began to relax, began to be comforted.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright," she comforted. "We all make mistakes. It's alright if you don't want to continue. We understand."

"I- no, might else well finish this and get over it."

Ash took a deep breath to steady himself.

"Ramth, he killed us. He killed us and stole the Essences."

"Killed? You mean..." Rainbow Dash made a slicing motion across her neck while her friends listened in horror.

"Yeah, killed. Murdered, ended, pick your euphemism."

"H-how?"

"He had a sword. Use your imagination. It probably can't be much worse than what he actually did."

Ash closed his eyes. The corpses of his comrades refused to leave his mind.

"He told me he wanted to use the Essences to defeat Cefuli and take control of his legions of Demons. He killed them, everyone, just to make sure we couldn't stop him."

"Did you? Did you?" Pinkie Pie asked, desperately wishing for a happy ending.

"I'm not sure. I think so. Maybe."

With a thumb and his index finger, the Human rubbed his eyes.

"You don't know?" Twilight questioned.

"The details are a bit blurry. I remember Ramth stabbing me through with Cerfuli's blade--"

A communal and collective gasp from his audience interrupted the story.

"Yes, he stabbed me--hey, what you trying to do?"

Fluttershy was tugging at the Human's robes. "You were injured and I didn't even know about it! I need to make sure you're alright. Where were you stabbed?"

"Sugar-cube? Ah think yer embarrassing him," Applejack said as she dragged the overbearing Pegasus off of the blushing Human. A small laugh resounded throughout the ponies, temporarily dispelling the solemn atmosphere, though the dark mood quickly returned as Ash continued:

"All I remember after that was being very angry and grabbing one of the Essences as Ramth took it from me. I remember a light, the glow of the Essences, a language I wasn't familiar with. Next thing I know, I'm stuck to a tree by a giant piece of Cefuli's sword and Essences and Ramth nowhere in sight. That's it."

"That's it?" Rainbow Dash repeated. "You somehow magically find yourself attached to a tree in Equestria?"

"I told you, I'm just as confused as to why I'm here. I just hope I can get back before it's too late."

"But that doesn't explain anything!" Twilight protested. "How can we make any conclusions on how you got here with only that much information?"

"Actually, I have a theory."

Everyone stared at Princess Celestia with a mixture of surprise and expectations.

"I have one question: these Essences, they had a physical form, yes?"

"Of course, I mean...well yes."

"Don't worry. I know you meant no disrespect. Was the physical form of the Essences of Concord six crystals?"

A small gasp escaped Princess Luna as she grasped and understood her sister's thoughts.

"Ye-yes, how did you--"

"And was each crystal a separate color?" Luna had joined the questioning.

"Ye-yeah. Red, magenta, yellow--"

"--blue, green, and purple," Celestia finished.

Ash simply stared at the sun princess in amazement. "How did you..."

"My sister and I discovered six crystals of these colors," Princess Luna answered."They came as mysteriously and as sudden as a wild wind."

"And with a mysterious power we did not fully comprehend," the Sun Princess added.

"It can't be, can it? The Essences..."

"Yes, we must have found your Essences, though they go by a different name now."

"The Essences must of teleported you to our world," added Luna.

"That, that." Ash got up and began pacing. "Yes, that's possible. The Essences of Concord have been said to provide limitless power. Inter-Universe travel could have been achieved...Wait..."

The Human turned to face the Princesses. His face was lit with excitement. "Does that mean you know where the Essences are?"

"Well, yes, but--"

"Then I can get back home!" Ash was almost jumping in his excitement and joy. "I can still get home! I can still stop Cerfuli! I can still fix everything! I can, I can, I can..."

Celestia glanced over to her sister and back to the celebrating Human, who had grabbed Fluttershy and squeezed her tightly, laughing. In her long and eventful life, the Princess had seen few expressions of joy that could match Ash's. Few things deserved Celestia hatred but bad news was one and being the bearer of such news was ranked even lower.

"That was over two thousand years ago."

The laughter died.