When a teen is transported to Equestria, he will discover that he is altered when ever he feels extreme emotions. Can he and Luna figure out
Zach is your normal teenage Brony and one night, after being rejected by the girl he liked, he is sent to Equestria by unknown means. When he wakes up, Princess Luna is there to help him along the way in order to keep him from turning evil by an entity living in his mind. Will he be able to stop Ark from destroying the world as well as keep the romance between him and Princess Luna?
Grief; utter grief and despair is what I felt. I had just poured out my soul to Paige Strut and she turned me down without a second thought. Last time I ever took advice from a movie. I mean seriously, "All you need is 20 seconds of courage." I had used that idea and it only took her 3 seconds to turn me down.
Anyways, I had a sneaking suspicion of why she turned me away: I was a Brony. But you know what, if she couldn't love me for such a small reason, then she was probably too shallow for me anyways.
After finally recovering from the emotional beat-down I had just taken, I started to walk back to my car. Man, I loved my car. It was a '91 Pontiac Firebird Formula that was cobalt blue. Her name was Luna, so named after the beautiful moon goddess herself. Hearing the engine roar to life made me feel a little better. I shifted gears and zoomed out of there like nobodies business.
I wasn't ready to go home, since I had planned to be out 'til 11pm. I looked down at the clock. Only 8:17! I still had nearly 3 hours to kill that didn't involve me snuggling with the girl I loved, so I decided to take a long detour. I hopped on the freeway and turned on New Horizons by Ken Blast to max volume.
I was cruising down the freeway. I didn't notice the electronic signs saying storm warning, nor did I notice that I was going way past the speed limit. Plus, me being the forgetful person I am, I didn't have my lights on. I did, however, notice the a low rumbling.
I turned downed my mp3 and listened carefully, making sure it wasn't my car making the noise. All of a sudden, a thick fog bank rolled in, which struck me as really odd. For one thing, it was the middle of September; the other, I lived in Arizona where we rarely ever get mist, let alone fog.
Then, I started to see a faint glow piercing its way through the fog in the distance, almost like a lighthouse. This glow gradually got brighter and brighter the closer I got to it. The glow became an immense, bluish-white light that was so blinding I had to look away. Then I was suddenly engulfed in this spectacle of illumination, and I start to scream. But then silence.
I woke up in a dark thicket, a little confused on how I came came to rest in a forest. I tried to recount what had just happened, but then felt an extreme migraine coming on. I held my head to try rubbing the pain out of my temples, but instead of feeling flesh touch my head I felt a hard nail-like substance come into contact with it. I looked down at my hands to see what I could have done to them to make them feel like that, and was instantly shocked at what I saw stretched out in front of me.
They were hooves! I had hooves on the end of my arms, or legs, or whatever. I instantly looked at my feet and they were hooves as well. Oh my gosh, what kind of monster am I. Then I felt something on my rump I looked back and saw a tail. Holy crap, I must be dreaming, but what kind dream is this.
I really didn't have much time to think because it was then I realized that I was no longer in my car. I looked around and saw it, it was smashed up underneath a tree. Holy shizfit, my beautiful car was completely squashed by a freakin' tree. I ran over to it in a state of panic and frustration. I was suddenly super pissed at my self for not getting insurance for tree disasters. I found my mp3 though, it was hanging on a branch. It was completely unscathed, but it was then I realized that I wasn't.
I felt something dripping off my neck, I ran my hand(hoof) under my chin and looked at what this liquid could be. Blood. I hadn't realized I was bleeding until now because of the spike of adrenaline that I had from the crash. But now it was wearing off and I started to feel woozy. The last thing I saw was my car, billowing out black smoke from the engine compartment, then catch on fire, then I blacked out.
Twilight's POV
In a large hollowed out tree
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large sonic boom echoed throughout Ponyville, nearly scaring my cutie mark right off my flank.
That Rainbow Dash and her silly Sonic Rainboom. I ran outside and saw how dark it had suddenly gotten. That's strange, Rainbow said it was supposed to be sunny all week long.
It was then I saw large puffs of black smoke coming from Everfree Forest. What could that be, is all I thought before Spike came running out the door and straight into my backside.
"Whoa, Spike you scared me."
"Sorry Twi, but I just got an urgent message from Princess Celestia."
Worried of what it could possibly be, I quickly grasped the scroll out of Spike's claws with my magic and tore it open to read:
My faithful student,
I am sorry for the inconvenience but I need you and the other Elements to quickly gather at the entrance to Everfree Forest. Please hurry, me and my sister will meet you there in 10 minutes.
Signed,
Princess Celestia
I was instantly worried as to what the Princess could need all 6 of us for. Spike saw the look on my face and asked with panic in his voice, "What is it? Is it hydras? Manticores? Zombies?"
"I don't know, but we need to gather up the girls and head over to the entrance to Everfree right now. You go get Rarity and Pinkie Pie, I'll get Applejack and Rainbow Dash and we'll pick up Fluttershy on the way. Get going," I said with a very distraught tone.
"Yes ma'am!" He then scurried off to find the hyperactive party thrower and the prissy fashionista. I went my way, feeling very uneasy inside.
Once we had all gathered outside Everfree Forest, Applejack spoke up, "I don' mean to be impatient Twilight, but why we all out fron' of Everfree Forest, anyway?"
"Yes darling, why are we out here? This humidity is doing absolutely dreadful things to my mane."
"Well I'm not entirely sure, but I'm positive the Princess will tell us as soon as she arrives."
Just then a large flash of light appeared and the goddesses of the sun and moon stepped out from it.
"I will indeed do just that. But that will have to be on the way, we must hurry into the forest," Princess Celestia said.
They all rushed into the forest, and on the way Rainbow Dash said, "So Princess, why are we heading into the forest anyway?"
"Well, we need to find the source of whatever caused that sonicboom."
"You mean that wasn't Rainbow Dash who made that big explosive noise," Pinkie Pie said while waving her hooves in the air for emphasis.
"Oh please, if that had been me, all the windows in Ponyville would have shattered," Rainbow Dash said matter-of-factly.
"Sure they would've," Applejack said, rolling her eyes at the exaggerated comment the cyan pegasus made.
"Is that a challenge," Rainbow said with a smug grin on her face.
"GIRLS! We don't have time for this right now. Besides I think we are about there," I exclaimed.
"What makes you think that Twilight," whispered Fluttershy.
"Well for one thing there is a fire up ahead."
"WHAAAATT!" said everyone else at once. Sure enough they saw flames consuming what looked to be some kind metal carriage.
"THERE IS SOMEONE IN THERE," said the moon goddess in her traditional Canterlot voice, "I MUST GO IN TO HELP THEM!" She immediantly rushed into save the unconscious stallion from the blaze.
"Quick, everyone start kicking dirt on to the flames," I yelled. We all started to kick up lots of dust hoping to get the inferno under control.
After an hour of kicking up dirt, the fire had finally been put out. We then turned our attention to the the mysterious stallion that Princess Luna had bravely dragged out of the fire. "Does anyone know who he is," asked Rainbow.
"No, but...OH MY GOSH, HE'S BLEEDING," I said, pointing at the puddle of red liquid collecting near the base of the tree he was propped up against.
"Do not worry Twilight Sparkle, I can mend his wounds," Princess Luna said calmly. With that her horn started to glow and the wounded stallion was slowly surrounded by a blue aura. Then as quickly as it had started, the aura slowly dissipated and the gash in the back of the stallion's head was no where to be seen.
"Good job my dear sister, but now we must find a place for him to rest more comfortably," said Princess Celestia.
"I suggest we take him back to the palace for closer observation. Just until we are sure that he is completely fine," said her younger sister.
"Okie dokie lokie. In the meantime I will get started on throwing him the bestest party ever," said Pinkie, and with that she bounced off before anyone could say anything else.
"Yeah and I need to get started on these dark clouds," Rainbow Dash said and flew off.
Rarity then gave an excuse of having some orders that she needed to fill and Spike offered to help. Fluttershy said she had some injured animals that she had to attend to and excused herself. And finally Applejack said she had to get back to the farm to help buck more apples. That left Twilight, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna.
"Well, we had better be off as well. Twilight Sparkle would you like to accompany us to the castle," the sun goddess inquired.
"Yes, I would love to, I want to ask you some questions about what happened today." Then the sun goddess' horn glowed and they were all transported back to the castle.
"Princess Luna will you see to that our guest is accommodated for in a comfortable fashion while me and Twilight go to my study to talk."
"I will do just that my sister," Luna said.
"Carry on." Then we all went our separate ways.
Luna's POV[
After they went off to there study to talk, I took the stranger to the guest chambers to rest. After I had laid him down on the bed, I got my first good look at him. He was a young unicorn, probably in his early twenty's. He had a dark red coat that resembled the coloration of a withering rose and a short brown mane as well as a brown tail. He also had orange tipped hooves almost like fire and was the same height as me. He was built with just a bit less of the stature of the earth pony called Big Macintosh.
The one thing that caught my eye the most, though, was his cutie mark, a carbon gray heart with an azure crescent moon covering the side of it, and on top of that was a white 4-pointed star. It made her wonder what kind of skill this stallion had that gave him such an odd mark.
As I sat there watching him for a couple of hours without interruption, in case he woke up, I couldn't help but really care for this stallion. It was almost as if there was some strange attraction that he gave off.
It was then that I noticed he had been carrying something this whole time. I slipped it out of his grasp with my magic and studied it. What a strange looking object, and what could this string be for. I turned it all around, every which way until I had accidentally pushed something and it started to make sound. It sounded like music, but it wasn't any kind of music I had ever heard. For one thing the beat was really heavy and dark. The other was the fact that whoever was singing sounded like they were screaming. I then turned it over and noticed something written on the back:
Property of Zach.
Zach's POV
I woke up in a nice cozy bed that felt like I was laying on a cloud. I then realized that I was no longer in that forest, but in a large room with high ceilings. I tried to sit up but fell back over after feeling aches all over my body. I decided to just lay there and think about what was happening. Okay, so I am in some strange room, somehow I have turned into a horse, and the moon goddess is sitting right next to me...
I quickly whipped my head around and stared right at the immortal deity. I couldn't help but jump up and startle her. "Oh my gosh, your Princess Luna!"
She looked at me and said, "Yes I am and I would presume you are Zach."
"Holy crap! You know my name?" I couldn't believe it, the moon goddess was standing in front of me and knew my name. If this was a dream, I never wanted to wake up.
"Well, yes, but only because of this strange little music box." She then held up my mp3 player and I flipped out.
"Oh thank you so much. So I guess this is Equestria then, right?"
"Indeed it is." She then hoofed me my mp3 player and I inspected it to make sure that it wasn't damaged. It was then I saw what song was next on the playlist queue: Otherworld from the FFX soundtrack.
Wow, that is ironic.
Princess Luna suddenly broke the silence, "If I may, I have a few questions that I would like to ask you."
"Ask away."
"Well first off, what does your cutie mark represent?"
"My what?" I then turned around and was excited to see that I had a cutie mark of a heart, moon, and star. "Well, I really have know idea. I'll tell you when I find out."
Luna then thought, He does not know what his special talent is, this is very odd. "Okay, my next question is how did you come to reside in the Everfree Forest, stuck on a burning metal carriage no less?"
This caught me completely off guard, for all I could remember was that bright light engulfing me. Plus, what was I supposed to tell her, I mean I guess I could try the truth. "Well you see, I am not actually from around here."
"Well then, exactly where are you from?"
I took in a deep breath, "I come from a planet called Earth. See, all I remember was that I was driving down the road in my ca..." I then paused and realized that my car had been destroyed by the stupid tree. That didn't make me feel to great. To some it was just a car, but to me, it was much more than that. I had put so much work into it that I couldn't believe that it was gone.
"What is wrong, did I offend you?" Luna looked very concerned as she said this.
"No, no, nothing like that. I just realized that my car has been totaled and most likely won't ever live to see another day," I said solemnly, "Anyways, I was driving home when all of a sudden I heard a low rumbling, then I saw a bright light and was engulfed in it. Then all I remember is waking up in that forest."
It was at that moment that I came to the realization of the heart breaking event that had occurred last night. I began to sob. The goddess saw this and asked what was wrong, I sorely explained what had happened the night before while continuing to sob. Princess Luna wrapped me with one of her wings, trying to console me, "Shh, its okay, I know how you feel."
I realized that she was right, if anyone could understand how such an event would feel, it was her. After all, she did have her own heart wrenched out when she was banished to the moon. I hugged her and said, "You always have been my favorite princess."
In the study of the immortal goddess of the sun, Princess Celestia had a shiver run down her spine. She decided to just shrug it off.
Luna blushed and said, "Why, thank you. Now I still have one more question."
"What is that?"
"What is wrong with your right eye?"
I looked at her strange and said, "What do you mean?"
She then preceded to lift a handmirror off the dresser and said, "Look for yourself."
When it was right in front of my face, I looked at myself and gasped. My left eye was its normal blue color, but my right eye had started glowing a dark shade of purple.
My right eye was purple, but not as if I had been in a fight and gotten punched in the face. No, that would almost be normal. No, I'm saying the actual iris of my eye had changed color. That aside, it was glowing, too.
I stared at myself in unbelief for a good 10 minutes. It was then a thought came to me, although it was as if it was not my own. It has begun.
I blinked a few times, finally coming out of this stupor of thought. I turned to look to Princess Luna. She had an expression of worry on her face.
"What's wrong, never seen a pony with a glowing purple eye before?" I tried to laugh it off to ease the tension in the room.
It worked, for she just smirked and shook her head. "No, in fact I have not. But I have also never heard of anypony that did not know what their special talent was, but yet has their cutie mark." We both laughed for a couple seconds, but then she grew a serious expression on her face and said, "But seriously, this has never happened before?"
I shook my head, "Nope, nor have I ever heard of anything like it happening before either."
"Well then, we should probably take you to see my sister so we can ask her about your... condition. She might know more about this strange occurrence then I do. This way, we can also have you formally introduce yourself to her and her student." I agreed, and we walked out the door and set forth for the study of the solar deity.
As we were walking down the corridor, I noticed that we were passing several blurry figures that I could only guess to have been servants and guards. It was at this point that I facehoofed, I wasn't wearing my glasses.
I started to search frantically for them, but of course there wasn't much to search because I didn't have any pockets. Luna saw me freaking out and asked, "What is the matter, what are you looking for?"
"My glasses, I seemed to have misplaced them. Have you seen them?"
"There was a pair of crushed lenses back at the scene of the wreck, but the were beyond repair." I was suddenly very down trodden. "But..." I perked up, "I can just fix your eyesight, if you would like?"
"Oh, that would be fantastic."
"Okay, hold still then..." Her horn started to glow as she attempted to fix my eyesight. "There, is that better?"
"I don't know, did all the lights go out or is there a lunar eclipse occurring?"
"WHAT?"
"Just kidding!"
She hoofed me in the shoulder. "That was not funny!" I was laughing really hard, soon she couldn't deny it any longer and started chuckling as well. We both then started to walk again.
We were still giggling when we entered Princess Celestia's study.
"Well, I am glad to see our guest is up. How are you feeling," Princess Celestia inquired.
"Great, thanks to you guys, I am feeling much better."
"I am glad to hear that. Now, down to business. I assume my sister has filled you in on what has happened as well as asked you some questions." I nodded my head. "Good, I will have her fill me in on the details later. Oh, how rude of me. I have not even properly introduced myself. I am..."
She started speak but I cut her off, "Princess Celestia, Goddess of the Sun, co-ruler of Equestria. Teacher of the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle, who is the current librarian of Ponyville. Sister of..." I paused because it was then I noticed the stares I was getting from Princess Celsetia and her student.
"How do you know all that," asked a rather shocked purple unicorn.
"Oh! Well I... uh..." Crap! Now they probably think I'm a stalker. I thought quickly and decided that I should just tell them the truth. I started to give them background on how in my world, we watched them in a show and I also filled them in on my personal background as well as other events that had occurred before I had been transported here. I would frequently stop to answer questions that they had, mostly from the intrigued appentice. We sat there for quite a while, stopping only so the sisters could lower the sun and raise the moon, which was quite the spectacle to behold.
Hours later, when I had finished talking, they all just stared. Dumbfounded. I spoke up and said, "So, Princess Celestia, I..."
This time, she cut me off, "Please, just call me and my sister by our names. There really is no need for formalities." She looked over to her sister who simply nodded.
"Okay, Celestia; Luna says that you might know something about how my right eye came to be this way."
"Well, let me see..." She beckoned me over, I looked to Luna who confirmed I should do so by nodding. I walked over and as I was within her reach she grasped my head, which really quite startled me. She then made a magnifying glass appear and started to peer in each of my eyes with it. She then did a couple of other tests, ones that you might partake in at any normal optometrist, and finally came to a conclusion after a half hour of testing. "I am sorry, but I have never seen anything like this before in my whole life. But I will research it further for you if you would like."
"That would be awesome, thank you very much Prin... I mean Celestia. I really appreciate it."
"Oh, it is my pleasure. Now then, where will you be staying while you are here?"
I was about to say when I stopped. I didn't have anywhere to go. After all, I had only been there a couple of hours and most of that time was spent unconscious. I folded back my ears and started tracing lines in the floor with my hoof.
"I understand, we would love for you to stay with us in the guest room, if you would like."
I instantly looked up and fiercely nodded in agreement. "Excellent! Well, I am going to see Twilight Sparkle home. Oh, before we leave though, we should probably come up with a different name for you as well as back story as to why you were found unconscious in the Everfree Forest. Just so that no one gets suspicious about you or anything. So do you have any ideas?" She directed the question to all of us.
I spoke up first, "Well, for the name, I think 'Pure Heart' might be a good one."
"That sounds good, but may I ask as to why you picked that name," Luna asked.
"Well, you see, in my world we have three names, a first, middle, and last name. My first name can be translated to 'Pure' in another language, and my middle name can be translated to 'Heart'. So, altogether that would be 'Pure Heart'." I had a sheepish grin on my face after saying this.
"Well I like it, so Pure Heart, how about a background story..."
Two hours later, we were putting the finishing touches on my back story. I am Pure Heart, a traveler of sorts, that had crashed into a tree after getting spooked by something in the forest. My eye looked the it was because of a rare gene that I got from my parents. And if I spoke out again and said something about me knowing other people without them knowing me, it was because traveling around Equestria lets you hear many bits and pieces of gossip and such. And with that, my cover story was complete.
"Wow, would you look at the time? I should really get back to the library before Spike gets worried."
"Yes, and I do believe Pure Heart would like to get some rest as well. Luna will you please take him back to his quarters while I escort Twilight Sparkle home?"
"Of course, dear sister."
"Good, well Pure Heart I am glad you are here and I hope you enjoy your stay in Equestria." With that, Princess Celestia stood up, and beckoned her student to follow.
As they were about to walk out, Twilight turned around and said, "I am glad to have meet you and hope to see you around Ponyville sometime. Stop by the library when you are in town and I will give you a tour."
"I would love to, see you later." Then Twilight followed her teacher all the way out the door.
When the door clicked shut, Luna looked over to me and asked, "So, what would you like me to call you, then?"
I thought for a moment, then said, "Just to be safe probably my pony name, but you can call me Pure if you want. You know, know need for formalities and such," I said with a grin.
"Are you flirting with me," she asked with a gleam in her eye.
"Oh, am I? I'm so sorry," I said and turned away from her, trying to hide my burning red cheeks. What is wrong with me? I have never been so bold as to flirt with a girl, I am usually so shy.
I was so busy thinking how embarrassing that was, that I didn't notice Luna wrap her wing around me. "That is okay, I kind of liked it. I thought it was very... sweet." She then pulled me in and kissed me on the cheek. That startled me and made me blush even more. Luna giggled at the sight of this. I had never blushed this hard in my entire life.
"I think your name matches part of your cutie mark. And I might know what part of your talent is," Luna stated in a caring tone.
Trying to get over my embarrassment, I stuttered, "W-what? T-tell me."
"Truthfulness to yourself and to others." She smiled brightly.
"Oh Luna, that is why I..." I started to mumble.
"Huh, what did you say," she asked.
"Never mind," I said, not wanting her to feel awkward.
"Okay then... let us go, I am sure you are quite tired.
Pure Heart and Luna had finally reached the guest room. Pure turned to Luna and said, "Wow, today has been a strange day."
"I'm sure it has been, but now you should probably get some rest. You have had a long and tiring day and you deserve it," she said with a soothing voice.
I gave her look a fake of disappointment, "Can't I stay up for just a little bit longer?"
"No, you need your rest, now hurry up."
I grumbled as I walked over to my bed. Man, she sure can be bossy.
She had already walked to the door and turned off the light while saying, "Sweet dreams." She walked the rest of the way out and shut the door, leaving me in darkness.
What a day, I thought, slowly drifting off to sleep. Little did I know, it was not to be a restful night.
I was running through Everfree forest. Couldn't stop running.
*PEW!* I narrowly dodged a laser. I had never been so scared.
"You can't escape me!" The voice behind me laughed with a vile tone.
I ran to a clearing and saw Luna on a cliff edge. "I'm so sorry Zach, but I must escape this 'asylum'." With that she stepped backwards. She was about to fall!
I ran to her and caught her by the hooves before she fell. "What do you mean?" I had tears streaming from my eyes.
"I'm scared," she said, terror filled her voice.
"What are you scared of?"
"YOU!" She then let go and fell.
"Nooo!" I ran down to where she had fallen and held her in my hooves.
With last bit of her strength she beckoned me closer. She whispered so quietly, I thought I only caught a little of what she said, "Stay...way...rom...Ark..." Then she collapsed and began to slowly melt into a reflective pool of liquid.
I looked into the pool and saw myself, crying. I cried for long time, and my final tear fell to the surface of the pool, creating ripples in the water. I slowly looked into the pool again, butdid not recognize who I saw. I saw a dark purple pony with a green mane. The most distinctive thing about this pony, though, were his eyes. Purple eyes filled with sin and a lust for power.
"I told you. You can't escape me." The reflection gave a devious smile, then his purple eyes started to glow. "Join your love in death, whelp!" I was immediately consumed in lasers that had shot out of his hate-filled eyes.
"NO!" I screamed awake in my bed. It was just a dream, a horrible dream.
I sat up and looked around. Had it all been a dream; the ponies; Luna; the kiss; all of it?
I tried to get up, but noticed something on top of me. It was Luna, she was asleep, with her head resting on my chest. She is so cute when she is sleeping. A faint snore escaped her lips.
I smiled and gently shook her awake. She slowly woke up, looking up into my eyes and smiled warmly. "Good morning, sleepy head," I said softly.
She yawned and replied, "Good morning to you, too."
"So, out of curiosity, what are you doing in here, not that I'm complaining," I asked inquisitively.
"Oh, well... I heard you cry out in your sleep when I came to check on you. So I thought that it might be comforting to you if I stayed close," she said shyly.
"Thank you, I'm glad you were there for me."
"Your welcome. Now would you like to talk about your dream. That always helps me to calm down."
Remembering the dream was in part about her, I decided against it. "Well okay, but if you change your mind later, just tell me, alright?" I nodded and she started to move away.
I grabbed her by the leg and said, "Please, can we stay like this a little longer?"
She smiled and said, "Sure, as long as you need." She then pulled me into a hug and squeezed me tight.
I hugged her back, nuzzling her soft, warm fur. I never wanted this moment to end.
We laid like that for what seemed like hours, but in reality, it had only been a few minutes. We parted and proceeded to get out of bed.
"I have to get ready for the day, okay?" I nodded and decided I should probably take a shower, to wash out the smokey smell from my mane. I asked where I could take a shower and she directed me to a door on the other side of the room. I thanked her and she started to walk out. She then turned and said, "By the way, breakfast is in 30 minutes. When you are ready, just ask the guard outside of your room to direct you to the dining hall." I thanked her again and she smiled, walking the rest of the way out.
I walked to the bathroom and stared in awe. This is huge! The bathroom was quite large and beautifully decorated as well. I stepped over to the shower and turned it on to the hottest it could get.
As it warmed up, I decided to get a better look of myself in the mirror. I was well built, and I thought I looked pretty studly, for a stallion anyways. I noticed that my mane and tail were starting to turn green and my coat was starting to turn so black it looked purple. Man, I really need a shower. Before I jumped into the shower, I decided to look at my right eye again. Yep, still purple.
I stepped into the shower and was instantly warmed by the constant spray of hot water dousing my coat. I found some shampoo, conditioner, and body wash on a shelf and started lathering myself thoroughly with it. I then started scrubbing hard to try and get the discoloration out of my mane, tail, and coat.
I was in the shower for a good twenty minutes before I got out. Taking a shower always makes me feel super relaxed and refreshed. While toweling off, I looked back in the mirror and stopped mid-dry.
My mane and tail had turned even more green. And what red that I had been able to see before my shower had been replaced by an uber dark crimson that looked almost violet. What is in that shampoo and soap?
I didn't have much time to dwell on the subject because it was then I realized I had 5 minutes until breakfast started.
I quickly finished drying off and ran out of my room and asked the guard to escort me to the dining hall.
After being escorted to breakfast, I thanked the guard and sat down next to Luna. She looked at me and said, "Pure Heart, there is something different about you this morning, did you dye your mane?"
"No, but I can tell you one thing: a certain grooming company is going to be receiving a rather nasty letter later on." She didn't have time to pursue the matter further, because it was then that the servants brought out our meals.
I had not thought of it until now, but I was extremely hungry. I guess not eating for almost two days will do that to you. Once they had lifted the lids, I was amazed to see a great looking fruit salad. I immediately started to dig into the fruit. It tasted absolutely divine.
I looked over to Luna who was giggling. "You know, if you inhale your food like that, you are likely to turn into it. After all, you are what you eat."
After swallowing, I said, "Oh please, that is absolutely ridiculous, Luna. That would never happen to anyone."
Meanwhile, in Dreamland
A certain pink puffball with red shoes sneezed loudly, startling Bonkers. He quickly scratched his nose, then proceeded to suck up the coconut-throwing ape to get the hammer ability.
"So, Pure Heart..." I looked up at Celestia who continued, "Luna tells me you had a bad dream last night. I would love to hear about it."
I swallowed the piece of melon that I had been chewing and said, "Oh, you don't want to hear that, do you?"
"Please, I would really appreciate it. Hearing about others dreams helps me to learn about them."
"Well, if you insist..." I started to recount all of what had occurred in my dream.
When I had finished telling them about it, Celestia seemed to have turned super tense. "Hey, hello," I whistled and waved my hoof in front of her, "Equestria to Celestia, do you copy?"
She came out of her deep thought and gave me a nervous grin. "You okay, you don't look so good," I asked.
"Yes, I am fine. Luna?" She turned to her younger sister. "May I talk to you later in 'private'?" She had a sense of urgency in her tone.
"Of course, Tia."
"Good! Now if you will excuse me, I... I have important matters to attend to. Good day." She quickly stood up and left the room.
"I wonder what her problem is," I said, mystified as to the why she might of reacted so strangely.
"I have no idea, but your dream was most curious. Tell me again what I said to you as you held me in your arms," she asked.
"You had said, 'Stay way rom ark', though I thought I had just misheard what you said, thinking you meant 'Stay away from the dark.'"
"Perhaps..."
"Yeah, so anyways, I was thinking we could go down to Ponyville today."
"I would love to, but I can't. I have diplomatic duties to attend to."
"Oh, okay..." I said, somewhat down trodden.
"But, that doesn't mean you can't go. Just be careful, okay?"
"'Kay. So how do I get down there?"
"Well, I can arrange a chariot to take you down."
"Sounds good, see you later." I walked out humming happily to myself.
After getting a ride, I thanked the guards and started walking towards Twilight's house.
I arrived at my destination, and knocked on the door. "Coming," I heard someone say from inside. The door opened to reveal a certain purple and green dragon.
"Well hi there. Is Twilight around," I asked.
"Sure is, hold on let me get her." He turned and yelled, "Twilight, somepony is here for you!"
"Okay, I'll be out in a second!"
"Come on in," he said. I gladly obliged and walked inside. "What's your name stranger?"
"Pure Heart, what is yours," I asked trying to play it cool.
"I'm Spike, Twilight's number one assistant."
"Pure Heart, you ready for that tour of the town," Twilight said, finally making an appearance down the stairs.
"Yes, I most certainly am. I was also wondering if I could borrow some books on magic later so I can actually learn how to use this thing," I said pointing to the magical appendage on my forehead.
Twilight squealed with delight, "I would love to! I can also tutor you in some basic spells later on, if you like?"
I grinned, "That would be fantastic!"
"Alright, well first lets go have you meet my friends, okay?" I nodded and we walked out.
Luna's POV
I was trying to figure out why I had felt the need to kiss him on the cheek last night. Could I be in love with him? She shook her head, No, I have only known him for a couple hours, there is no way I could grow such an attraction to him in the short amount of time... is there?
I thought about this all day long as I went about fulfilling my duties as a princess.
Later, I walked into my sister's study to ask what she wanted to talk about that was so private, that we could not discuss it in front of Pure Heart.
"Hello Luna, how are you doing," she said with a nervous tone.
"I'm quite fine. Now, you mentioned earlier that you wanted to talk."
"Oh, yes, quite right. Well, as you know, I have been researching Pure Heart's eye condition."
"So you have."
"Well, while looking at one of our older texts, I noticed a footnote that pointed to the Book of Prophecies. The very last prophecy in the book states that a unicorn will one day appear with different colored eyes."
"Okay, that partially pertains to Pure Heart, but what..."
She was cut off, "Let me finish..." Celestia took a deep breath, as if to prepare for something. "His entire appearance will start changing, but only whenever he feels an extreme emotion. He will change from the color of his coat all the way down to what his cutie mark looks like. Once the transformation is complete, which is when his other eye finally changes to match the other, his mind will be overtaken by an... alter ego of sorts."
I gasped, "You mean the same thing that happened to me when I turned into Nightmare Moon, will happen to him." Celestia nodded sadly. "But this is not talking about Pure Heart, is it? I mean sure there are some similarities, but there is no way to prove it is him, right?" I was shaking with fear as I watched my sister's face grow more solemn.
"That is what I thought... until..."
"Until what Tia? Tell me!" I said, starting to become very tense.
She lifted up a large and dusty book and turned to a specific page with her magic, looking almost as if she was trying to find something in the text to say. "Until this morning, when he mentioned what you had said in his dream. 'Stay away from Ark.'"
"Well yeah, but he had said that he might of heard me wrong, saying 'dark' instead of 'Ark'."
"No, he heard correctly... it was definitely 'Ark'."
I was shocked, but tried to regain my composure, saying, "Okay, so what if he transforms into this 'alter ego'. He will still just be a normal pony, right Tia?"
"I am afraid not Luna, he will change completely, his very demeanour will change, to the point of almost be stoic. Now listen, I know that you have feelings for him."
I blushed, "Whatever do you mean?"
"Oh come on, I may be old, but I am most certainly not blind. I have seen the way you look at him. Plus, there is the fact that I can read minds, from which I know about how you have had 'thoughts' about him. But, I will not allow you to pursue this relationship any further. You are hereby forbidden to interact with him from now on."
"What! No! You cannot be serious. I love him, Tia! You cannot stop our love."
"I am sorry Luna, but I am afraid I can and will." She paused to look at her sister, who seemed to be seething with anger. "But before you make any rash decisions, perhaps you should read the last part of the prophecy." Celestia levitated the book from earlier over to me and I grasped it with my magic. I read the highlighted passage.
Tears started to brim from my eyes and I dropped the book. "No, I will not let you do it!" I screamed at her and ran off to find Zach.
"Luna, come back!" Tia yelled with sorrow in her voice.
But I couldn't hear her, the only thing I could think of was saving Zach from this prophecy. It kept on repeating in my mind, over and over again.
We finally made it to Surgarcube Corner. We walked in and all the lights were off. I was about to say something to Twilight when suddenly, all the lights flashed on.
"SURPRISE!"
"HOLY CRAP!" I nearly passed out from the near heart attack I had.
"Pure Heart, are you okay," Twilight asked with a look of concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just nearly had a heart attack is all." I gave a weak smile.
"Well, let me introduce you to everypony. First off, this is Pure Heart everyone."
"Howdy, ma name is Applejack. I run Sweet Apple Acres just on the outside of town. It's great to finally meet y'all." She had grasped me by the hoof and shook it vigorously until it felt like it would fall off. I gave her a smile.
"Hi, my name is Rainbow Dash..."
10 minutes later, after everypony introduced themselves (because the author is really lazy)
"Okay, everypony, now that we have introduced ourselves, lets get this party started," said Twilight, and the others nodded.
"Oh, let's do the Pony-Pokie, I'll start us off. You put your left hoof in and you take your left hoof out..."
A couple hours later, after the party (once again, because the author is lazy)
"Wow Pinkie, you sure know how to throw a spectacular party," I said with a tired grin.
"Oh, thanks Pure Heart! I just love meeting new ponies and parties, so I said what the hay! I'll throw parties for new ponies!" Pinkie Pie started to ramble on about how much she enjoyed parties when out of nowhere Princess Luna crashed into Sugarcube Corner.
"Oh my gosh! Princess are you okay?" A very worried Twilight Sparkle said.
She got up, not even answering Twilight's inquiry, and spun around to face me. "Za... I mean Pure Heart, we have to go now!" She was trembling and her face was tear stained.
"Hold on Princess, what are you so upset about," Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yes, darling. What is it that has got you so flustered?"
Luna started to explain the conversation she had had with her sister only an hour ago. She left out the crucial details of Pure Heart's fate once he turned into his alter ego. All of us just listened with our mouths agape.
"So, what your saying is I don't have a strange medical condition and that those grooming products didn't change my natural colors?" Luna nodded solemnly. I chuckled, "Well, I guess I owe that company an apology." I said grinning sheepishly, scratching the back of my head in embarrassment.
"You think this is funny? You have been accused of harboring an evil entity within the confines of your mind, and you are making jokes," she screamed.
I grew a serious face. "Calm down, this is how I cope with bad news."
"This isn't bad news! THIS! IS! THE! WORST! POSSIBLE! THING! EVER!" Rarity said, not exaggerating for once.
"Oh come on, the only thing that can be that bad would be, say, being banished to the sun, and we all know that is not going to happen."
Oh, the irony, Luna thought.
"So, w-what are w-we going to d-do?" Fluttershy asked very nervously.
"You aren't going to do anything, this is something only I can take care of... Luna?" She looked up at me sadly, "I want you have this." I pulled out my mp3 player and hoofed it to her.
"You want me to have your music box, but why? What are you going to do," she asked, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Now stop that, I can't stand seeing others cry. I want you to take my mp3 and listen to it whenever you get sad or lonely. Can you do that?" I hoofed her the music player and she nodded her head. "Good, I also want you to know that I...URK!" I fell to the ground, clutching my chest.
"Pure Heart! What's wrong?" They all started to move in closer.
"NO! Stand back!" I waved my hoof to back them up, as well as start backing up to the door. "I don't *cough* want anypony to get hurt at my expense. Luna..." I had a fit of coughing for a couple seconds. "I want you to know... that... that I love you."
They all gasped at my confession, but I continued, "I love you so much that it hurts. But I can't stay here, it will only endanger you. This is why I am running away..." Another bout of coughing.
"No, I will not let you go!" She took another step towards me, and reached in for to try to grab me.
I stepped back again, still in total agony. "I said stay back! I don't want...*shallow breath* to hurt you!"
I saw myself begin to glow.
"He is about to teleport, we have to stop him," Twilight said.
But it was too late, for I had started to fade from the current area, so only my visage was still there. "I am truly sorry for all the trouble I have caused, but please know I thank you for all your kindness and hospitality. Please do not look for me or try to follow." I was almost completely gone.
"NO! Zach please do not go," Luna screamed, but it was for nought for there was only a shimmer left. The last thing they heard from me was, "Goodbye... my love..." Those words slowly echoed throughout the room as I completely disappeared from sight.
I woke up with no idea where I was. Actually, I had no idea who I was! But I was really focusing on the fact that I had a brain splitting headache and my chest hurt like somepony had just stabbed me several times.
I was laid down and curled of into a fetal position, clutching my chest from this unbearable pain. I sat there for what seemed like hours. I tried to think of something else to ease my pain.
I tried thinking of how I had gotten here. 'Who am I, what am I doing here?'
I can answer that.
I spazzed, "Who said that?" There was no one around me.
Hey genius, I am in your head.
Wait, am I dead, and if so are you an angel or something.
Nope, just your everyday, run-of-the-mill, disembodied voice in your head.
Who are you?
I think the main question right now is: do you know who you are?
I really don't know. I could almost see a smile appear.
Okay, well I do.
Really, who am I?
You are Darkly Facade. A unicorn with extreme talents in the art of magic. Especially the dark kind.
Well, that is pretty cool I guess. I suddenly groaned in pain as I remembered my current state. This is the point at which I saw a pool of blood permeating from my head. Well, that must be the reason I can't remember anything. I must have hit my head on something and now I have no recollection of who I am.
Very good, now let me help you.
How can you help me, aren't you just a disembodied voice inside my head. I asked rather intrigued but also quite suspicious.
Yes, but I can take the pain away.
Okay, but what is the catch?
Well, the only way I can take away your pain is by becoming one with you. That way I can give you the necessary treatment to feel better. But, you have to invite me into your body.
So in exchange for relief, you gain control of my body.
Indeed.
Well, I have a quick question before I agree, will I still have all my normal functions in check?
Of course! You will have full use of your body. But whenever I deem fit, I will take possession of your body for my own needs as well as to help you along the way. So, what do you say, do we have a deal? I could almost hear him grinning.
I tried to think about it, but couldn't do to the head wound affecting my thinking patterns. Deal!
Okay, hold still, you will be fixed up within a moments notice. Then a purple aura started to surround my entire being. I felt instant relief as the pain just melted away.
Wow, I feel great.
You should. Now let's have a look at my handy work. Walk over to that pond over there. I looked up and saw the body of water. I walked over to it and looked at myself. I was had dark red coat with a brown mane and tail. I looked at my backside and saw what looked to be a tattoo of a crescent moon and stars. I looked at the water again and saw another image in the water. It was a purple unicorn with a spiked back green mane. I turned to look for him, but he was not there. You can only see my reflection, because, technically, I am you right now.
Well, I guess that makes sense. So what do we do now.
We now need to get ready to live out here for awhile.
That's great and all, but I don't know anything about surviving in the wild. I don't know anything about this forest or any of the creatures that might live here.
Don't worry, I have lots of tricks up my sleeves. I will teach you all that I know about how to survive out here as well as teach you strong magic to defend yourself from even the most threatening creatures. It won't be easy, but it will be undoubtedly worth it in the end.
Sounds good to me. When do we start this training?
Right now! Look out! Something took control of my body and I rolled away from a massive, scaly foot that nearly stomped me. I looked up and saw a huge reptilian creature with multiple heads come out from behind the trees.
What is that thing? I asked with obvious fear in my voice.
That would be a hydra. I was completely freaking out, I tried to run but I had no control. I saw myself be surrounded in the same purple aura as before and I somehow jumped really high. In a flash, I was back on the ground and covered in purple goo. I turned around to look at the hydra and saw it lying on the ground as well, only with a large hole in the middle of its body. It was dead.
Holy crap! Did we just do that.
Yep, now lets sit down before we pass out, that really took a lot of energy from me. I agreed and walked over to a tree and laid down in the shade.
That was pretty epic, you have to teach me how to do that later.
I will and much more. For now though, get some sleep. When you wake up, we begin skinning the beast and making a home from tanning the leather and making the bones into support structures.
Wow, that sounds completely disgusting. You are really a morbid, messed up guy, aren't you?
Yes, yes I am. Now go to sleep.
I yawned, Okay, but one last question, what do I call you, my morbid friend?
He thought for a moment, as if to decide to as what he should say, Just call me Ark. I nodded as I slowly drifted off to sleep.
I woke up hours later from a rather uneventful sleep. I looked around to see where I was, I then realized I was still in the forest.
Good morning.
I jumped in terror, only then realizing that it was just Ark.
A little jumpy today, are we?
"No, I just forgot that I had a disembodied voice in my head, that's all."
Sure. Anyways, today I am going to teach you how to manipulate the mind of lesser beings.
"I thought we were going to build a fort with parts from ol' scaly here."
We will, but unless you want to scrape out all the blood, guts, and tissue, I suggest we get help from some parasprites.
"Para-what?"
Parasprites. They are a little ball of cuteness that is similar to a fly. But they're extremely dangerous because of their ravenous appetite. Plus, they multiply like rodents. You leave one alone and turnaround for a second, there'll be two more when you face them again.
"Oh my gosh, they sound like the spawn of the demons."
They very well could be. But I digress. They are very easy to control with the right spell. Oh look, there's one now!
Sure enough, a little blue ball with wings, like a fly, came floating right by us. "OK, so how do we control it?"
Easy, I will show you. My body was taken control of again and a purple glow surrounded the parasprite. It's big aqua-green eyes started to glow purple. Then a voice, that wasn't my own, came out of my mouth.
"Split now!" Immediately the parasprite became two.
OK, now you try. Just remember, focus on the parasprite, then you just command it and it will do as you say.
"OK, I'll try it." I focused very hard on the first parasprite. It started to glow red, then its eyes started to glow red as well. "Split now!" The first parasprite split again.
Excellent! Now to control more than one, focus on the group as a whole.
I focused again, but this time on all three parasprites. "Split now!" All three split once again, so now there were six of them.
Good job. Now keep splitting them until you have 300 or so. I'm going to take a quick a rest.
"OK, then."
I kept practicing with the parasprites and splitting them until I had a few hundred of the big-eyed flies under my control. "Hey Ark, I'm finished, what is next?"
Well, now that we have all these parasprites, command them to start devouring the hydra. But remember to stop them from eating the bones and hide, we need them to build the shelter.
"Alrighty, then." I focused on the horde of insects and commanded them to eat the hydra but to leave the key items behind. They immediately turned into a massive frenzy, making buzzing and munching noises as I watched the hydra become a husk of its former self.
They finished the task within 15 minutes. All that was left of the hydra was its skin sagging on the bones that were inside.
Good. Now that the hydra's flesh and muscle is no longer there, command the parasprites to eat each other!
"What? But they just helped us, shouldn't we just let them go," I asked with utter disgust in my voice.
Of course not! They are pests and I do not want them causing me any trouble! Now command them to eat each other!
"I won't do it!"
Then I will...
My body was taken control of immediately and before I knew it, the parasprites had turned on each other.
I watched in horror as the parasprites proceeded to eat one another. But, in some way, I found it amusing.
I continued to watch until there was but one parasprite left. It turned to look at me. I could see the hunger in its eyes as it started to advance towards me.
"Holy crap! It is going to eat me!"
Kill it, before it kills you!
"How?" It was only a few yards away from me now.
Hold up your hoof and will the creature to combust!
I did as Ark said and, in an instant, the parasprite immediately flashed into flames and smoldered to ash. The ash then floated away in the breeze.
I stared at the spot where the parasprite had been only moments before. I then stared at my hoof for a little bit. I couldn't believe what had just done that. I felt sadness and guilt wash over me. But then that was quickly replaced with pride and a lust for more.
Well done, Darkly. You have taken a couple of steps closer towards ultimate power.
"How many steps are there exactly until I do achieve this 'ultimate power' of which you speak?"
He thought for a moment and then responded, Seven, I believe. You have already completed two steps, those being lust and pride. You still have 5 more steps to complete until you gain ultimate power, though.
"Okay then, so what is next?"
Next, you will cut away the skin and I will then tan it for use.
"Let's get started then." I immediately set off to start cutting away the tough hide from the hydra carcass.
Hours later, I had finally cut away all the skin and Ark was using magic to tan the hides. After the tanning was done, Ark taught me how levitate objects so I could start forming the structure of the fort. He instructed me where to place each individual bone.
After several more hours of intensive labor, the shelter was finally complete. Ark congratulated me on a job well done.
Now that we have a proper place in which to reside, we can begin planning the next steps.
"Yeah, I've been wondering about that," I said as we walked into the skeletal fortress.
Yes?
"Well, why exactly do I want ultimate power anyways? I mean, it sounds great and all, but what am I going to do with it?"
A good question, I'm glad you asked. Let's got to our private quarters and I will explain more fully once there.
I agreed and walked up the spiral stair case, made from the spine of the hydra by twisting each vertebrae on its axis until the disks lined up in a way that made them function like stairs.
Once we had arrived in the bed chambers, Ark took control and shaded all the windows with curtains made from the tanned hide. He then said a few words in a different tongue and suddenly a light sprang from the floor. He started calling up images that appeared in the light.
"This is Equestria, the realm of which we currently reside," Ark explained, referring to the image of a map. "The rulers of Equestria are sisters that control the sun and moon. The eldest, Princess Celestia, controls the sun, while the younger, Princess Luna, controls the moon." Images of the two appeared.
Um...
"Yes? What is it?"
Well, it's just... the blue one... she looks sort of familiar.
"Nonsense, this is the first time you have ever seen her."
Okay, if you insist. Continue.
"Alright, where was I... Oh right! So, Celestia had a fight with her sister a thousand years ago..."
The presentation went on for about two hours, consisting of the history of Equestria and such. Ark eventually convinced me that Celestia was a tyrant that only let Luna come back after feeling pity for her. He explained that we would overthrow the evil ruler and let Luna take her place as the rightful ruler of Equestria, with us as her adviser, of course.
Wow, I had no idea. Well, now I can't wait to take that which Celestia holds most precious in order to make her surrender. And all those riches that they probably have, I can just imagine playing in it all day long.
"Good, you have just completed another step, greed."
Cool, four more to go. What do we do next?
"Next, I give you control of your body back."
I shivered as I slowly felt my self in control again. "Okay, now what?"
Now we get some rest, tomorrow we will be starting hardcore magic training and will do so for a few weeks. Along the way, you will most likely take a couple more steps towards the goal.
"Okay, you go ahead. I want some time to gather my thoughts without someone commenting on them all."
He chuckled, Okay, just don't stay up too late, we have a long, tiring month ahead. Ark slowly went off to sleep.
I walked over to the window and pulled back the curtain. It was night, the full moon was out as well as millions of stars.
I stared at the moon, Luna. Why does that name sound so familiar? It feels like there was some connection between us, but I don't know why. I sighed loudly and shrugged my shoulders as I walked over to my skeletal bed with hide blankets and got in. My last thought before falling asleep was, Who is she?
I cried. I cried so much, I could fill an ocean with the salty brine of my tears. It had been 3 days since Pure Heart had disappeared from Sugarcube Corner.
During that time, I refused to eat. I refused to perform my duties as a princess. I even refused to talk to anyone at all.
The only thing that brought me any comfort was the music box he had left in my care. I listened to it whenever I was sad, which was all the time. I had listened through all his songs at least 3 times.
It was weird, he had mostly sad toned songs on it. In fact, the only song I can recall that was happy at all was sung by some high-pitched person, who by his name, was quite small. The song was about having a great time playing in the sunlight. It didn't bring me any joy though.
The one song I listened to the most though was one that sounded like it was actually speaking to me personally. I listened to it so often that I began to memorize the words and would sing softly along with it. My favorite line from the song was definitely when it asked me to cry for him because he was so lonely, then asking if there was anyway at all to fix a broken heart. It sounded like exactly I was doing for Pure Heart, for I did indeed cry for him whenever I listened to the song.
There was another song that just made cry even harder, though. The reason being that it related to how I was feeling right now. It really never felt like my world would return to the way it was. I did feel like a part of me was dying every night.
Pure Heart was so right, listening to his music did make me feel better. But it could not fill the empty void in my heart, no matter how much I tried to not miss him.
"Pure Heart, where are you?" I asked the empty space in my room, wishing it would answer.
I woke up to another bright day. It had been a month since the tragic event. I was actually starting to get over him being gone. Looking back, I wondered what it was that me obsess over Pure Heart so much. I mean, I had only known him for a day or two, and yet I was instantly smitten when I first saw him. It was as if I was placed under a spell that had been wearing off since he left.
Anyways, I still had nightmares about him. Sometimes about him being burned to ashes from the sun. Other times about him being forced to kill others against his will. It always ended the same though, me waking in a crying fit.
Why am I still tormented by these dreams, I wondered.
I was deep in thought about the subject when there was a knock at my door. "Who is it?"
"It is your sister."
"Come on in Tia."
Celestia walked in with a look on her face that told me she had news.
"How are you faring my sister?"
"Okay, I guess. I am still having nightmares though. But they are not as bad as they used to be."
"I am so glad hear that."
"So, how was the campaign trip?" I had kind of missed her for the past two weeks she had been gone. She had been traveling Equestria, making sure everpony was prepared for 'him'.
"It went as just as planned, everypony is ready in case there is an attack."
"That is good," I said.
"I also have a report you might want to have a look at." She levitated a file to me with a label which read: Everfree Forest Creature Census.
"Why would I be interested in this Tia?"
"Just look at it and see."
I opened the file and saw two charts, both show the populations of the creatures of Everfree. The one from a month ago had much higher numbers than the one that had been put together recently.
I was still confused as why these statistics should be at all significant to me until Tia pointed out what happened a month ago.
I gasped, "You m-mean... he is still alive!"
"Now I didn't say that, but it is possible, yes."
"I am going to go find him."
"But how? We don't even know if it is him or not."
I was about to retort when another knock came at my door. "Come in."
One of the patrol captains came in and bowed to them, saying, "Your majesties, while we were out making our rounds, we saw a strange thing in Everfree Forest. It seems to be a fort that has been laid out in a way so that several bones spell something out."
"What did it say, captain," Tia asked.
"It said: Is there anyway to fix a broken heart?"
"That is indeed very odd. Luna does this mean anything to y..." Celestia turned to find Luna wasn't there.
"I'm coming Zach! I'm coming," Luna said as she flew straight to Everfree Forest.
It is nearing the end of our one month training session. Darkly was doing great with all that I told him to do. He had also gained three more steps on the way: gluttony, envy, and slothfulness. One more and I would have his body for my own.
Yes, everything was going according to plan. He grew stronger every day with the dark magic I taught him. He was using it to slowly decrease the creature population of the forest. This will certainly get the attention of those foalish rulers, as well as to get Darkly to take the last step… over the edge.
I laughed evilly.
"What is so funny, Ark?"
Hmm? Oh, nothing.
"Okay... so what is next?" He had killed manticores, just to practice with his energy sword he had made a week ago. I had told him that he needed a good weapon to defend himself with so he could reserve his magic for when he really needed.
The sword itself was truly spectacular, being made from a mix of: obsidian, for holding some of his magic in reserve as well as magnifying his magic into an aura that could cut through most anything; cobalt, to make it extra sturdy and to give a nice blue tint; and hydra bone, for the skeleton of the sword. The obsidian-cobalt mix was applied to the sides of the rod of bone so as to be able to split off for other uses. The shape of the blade was overall a double-edged broadsword. It was very neatly crafted.
Any ways, I had him practicing with it to harden his heart so much to that he would be completely stoic when we confronted the princesses. Although, thinking about it now, the only reason he needed to be emotionless was so he would not interfere when I did away with the princesses.
Next, you will practice on a dragon. This will be, by far, the hardest task you will have had yet.
"Sounds like fun. Where I can find one?" He grinned with morbid amusement.
See that mountain over there, the one that is smoking?
"Oh, yeah."
That is where you can find a dragon, a large one at that.
"Alright, let's go!"
After a couple of hours of walking, we finally reached the mountain top. We neared the cave entrance, then Darkly yelled out, "Dragon, I am Darkly Facade, I have come here to kill you. I have nothing against you at all, but I feel the need for a challenge to fight. But if you come out now and surrender, I promise yours will be a swift, painless death. So what do you think, do we have a deal?"
We heard a loud, bellowing laugh come from within the cave's depths. "You think you can kill me! I will slow roast you for even having the nerve to come here and threaten me!" We heard loud booming footsteps as the dragon came out of his den.
"Okay, I asked nicely, but you leave me no choice. Prepare yourself for a slow, agonizing, pain-filled death. Expect no mercy," Darkly said with an evil smile and a tone full of blood-lust. I was so proud!
When the dragon emerged, he began to unleash a torrent of flame that quickly consumed Darkly. After he let up, he grinned, thinking that he had already killed this pony. But it quickly turned to a frown as he saw Darkly emerge with out a burn or anything.
Darkly pulled out his broadsword and said, "Wow, bad breath and super ugly, what a combo. I guess that is why you live alone, huh? Did your mother hate you or what?"
The dragon became extremely pissed off at this comment. "How dare you insult me and bring my mother into this. For that, I will eat you and make sure to chew slowly, savoring every one of your blood-curdling screams of pain."
Darkly grinned and charged at the dragon with his blade held high. The dragon tried to swipe at him with his razor-sharp talons, but Darkly nimbly dodged the paw and sliced it off with his energy-surging weapon.
The dragon howled in pain, as blood quickly flowed from the stump. The dragon, in response, whipped him his tail, but narrowly missed him. Darkly grinned, only to be hit by a gale being buffeted from the dragon's wings.
Darkly flew back into the cave, straight into a wall. He quickly fell to the ground, slumping against the wall. He coughed up some blood, but then slowly got up with a large grin on his face. He then spoke, saying, "So you want to play rough, I can do that." He brought forth his sword and yelled, "Split!" In a bright flash of light, the sword's obsidian-cobalt edges separated from the hydra-bone rod. Thus becoming three large spikes.
After they had separated, he began lunging the spikes at the dragon. He started first by tearing the dragon's wings. The dragon cried out in pain as the membranes in his wings were quickly shredded to pieces, making them bleed profusely. Darkly laughed at the suffering of the now wingless reptile. The dragon inhaled and began breathing fireballs at Darkly. He slashed each one that came directly at him in twain.
While Darkly was distracted, though, the dragon had whipped his tail behind Darkly and knocked him off his feet. Then the dragon took the opportunity to pin Darkly down on the ground with his one good paw.
"Get ready to die, you stupid unicorn." The dragon was about to grasp him in his jaws when Darkly flashed out of sight. "Where did he go?" The dragon roared in confusion.
"Back here ugly!" The dragon turned around in time to see Darkly about to plunge his spikes in the dragon's back. The dragon quickly retaliated and smacked him into the ground with his tail. He then came at him with his claws and sliced his body, leaving several gaping wounds all over his body.
Darkly yelped in pain then slumped to the floor, blood pooling in large amounts on the ground. "Hah, thought you could sneak up behind me, huh! Now I will rip out your throat, you demon!"
"Heh, thanks for noticing. Now watch, as I finish you." He slowly got up and brought his weapons forward. With the remnants of his strength, he yelled, "SPLIT!"
His spikes then shattered into several thousand toothpick-sized shards, which then fell to the ground, scattered everywhere. "Hah! You are now defenseless, you pitiful excuse for a pony!"
"Oh, am I?" Darkly grinned so wide, that it kinda freaked me out.
Then, all of the shards began to glow with a red eminence about them. They then started to levitate in the air, all pointing towards the dragon. Then, with a tone of great omnipotence, he screamed, "TEN THOUSAND NEEDLES!"
After he had shouted these words, the shards of obsidian and bone began to shoot at the dragon, impaling him all along the edges of his body, pinning him to the wall, which in turn, left a silhouette of red stained on the wall. Darkly then commanded the needles to come out and let the dragon slump to the floor.
Then the needles all combined back into the three spikes, which Darkly then immediately willed two of them into the dragon's stomach and tail, pinning him once again.
Darkly slowly approached the dragon, and chuckled at the fear in its eyes. The dragon began to whimper, "Please! Have mercy upon me!"
Darkly smiled with the most cruel demeanor possible. He then knelt down to whisper in the dragon's ear, "You pathetic excuse for a life form! Don't you remember what I had said at the beginning..." He slowly stood up and then screamed, "NO MERCY!" With that the third and final spike came raining straight down towards the dragon's head.
Right as the spike was about to drive through the dragon's skull, it froze. The dragon, who had closed his eyes, waiting for his death to come, opened them and looked at Darkly. He seemed to have frozen in place.
Being just as confused, I screamed, What are you doing? Finish him!
"I can't move. Why can't I move?"
"I can answer that!" Darkly looked back to see a figure in the shadows of the cavern.
I was flying towards Everfree Forest at full speed. I was almost to the location of the message, but I heard a commotion coming from a nearby mountain and decided to investigate. I quickly changed course to the mountain, hoping I could help in some way.
As I approached the mountain, I heard the sound of a battle going on. I came upon the top of the mountain and saw a cave, which I determined that it was the location of the conflict. I landed near the cave entrance and was about to poke my head around the corner when I heard a very familiar voice, although there was a hint of overwhelming hatred in it.
"TEN THOUSAND NEEDLES!"
The next thing I heard was huge roar of anguish, and then a large thud. I quickly ran in and saw Pure Heart! I heart skipped a beat at seeing him alive, although he did not look well. Actually, he did not even look like the Pure Heart I knew at all.
I watched this Pure Heart look-alike walk slowly towards a large form on the ground that I then discovered was a dragon. It did not look to be in such great condition either. They were both bleeding profusely.
Pure Heart finally reached the dragon who whimpered, "Please! Have mercy upon me!" Who was this imposter that seemed to have blood-lust in his very eyes.
He knelt down to get to the dragon's ear, then whispered something that I couldn't comprehend. Then he stood up and shrieked, "NO MERCY!" I instantly noticed a large spike about to run through the dragon's very skull.
I reacted immediately by grabbing hold of the spike with my magic right as it was about to impale the dragon's cranial cavity as well as froze Pure Heart in place.
The dragon and Pure both began shifting their eyes, as they both were unable to shift their heads, looking to find the one who stopped Pure Heart.
"I can't move. Why can't I move?"
I retorted, "I can answer that!"
He looked back as I let his head shift from my magic to see me as I walked into the light.
I then gasped, realizing that it wasn't just hatred in his eyes, but that his eyes were both purple! They grew big as he saw me walk into sight. "Hey, who is she?"
I looked at him, thinking he was talking to the dragon, but when I looked to the dragon, he seemed just as confused as I was.
"What are you doing, Pure Heat?" I screamed at him.
He looked around, as if searching for someone, then turned to look at the dragon and said, "Hey, buddy, I think she is talking to you."
Now I was really confused, "No, I am talking to you, Pure Heart."
"ME?" he asked.
"Yes, what are you doing Pure Heart?" I asked him again.
"Look lady. I don't know who you think you are, but I am most certainly not this 'Pure Heart' guy of which you speak."
"You mean... you do not recognize me?" I furrowed me brow in sadness.
"No, I... wait! That's her! Your kidding me right?" He started talking, seemingly to no one. "Look, I know you said that I was never to doubt you, but really, she is the Princess of Darkness you spoke of? She is so small, though."
"What is going on Pure Heart, who are you talking to?"
"Hey, I just told you I am not this 'Pure Heart' guy. I am Darkly Facade! The apprentice of Ark!"
I gasped once again, "ARK?"
Pure Heart then began to shudder as his demeanor seemed to change completely, growing more... sinister. "You rang, my dear?" Said a voice that definitely was not Pure Heart's. He then began to laugh in a maniacal tone.
"Ark, what did you do to Pure Heart," I cried.
"Your beloved Pure Heart is no more, there is only my servant, Darkly Facade, and I."
"NO! You demon! You brainwashed my love!"
"Hey, I take offense to that remark," he said with an incredulous grin. "He came to me of his own free will. Sure he lost his memory, but I was kind enough to fill in the blanks."
"With lies!"
"Call them what you will, but now if you will please excuse me. I was about to take possession of this body, permanently."
He once again shuddered, but only slightly, as I began to notice the voice coming out of the red unicorn's mouth seemed to be a mix of both voices I had heard before. "What do you mean 'Take control of this body permanently'? I thought we were a team, Ark! We were going to rule together!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, but it appears you have been lied to. Now, please finish the deed."
"NO! YOU FREAKIN' LIED TO ME! I AM DONE WITH YOU!"
"YOU ARE NOT DONE UNTIL I SAY YOU ARE DONE! But if you will not finish him, then I will."
I felt a force pulse from Ark as he relinquished the control I had over him and them forced the spike into the dragon's head. The dragon squirmed and screamed for a couple of minutes and then fell silent, blood pouring out into more of an ocean than a pool.
Ark screamed in delight, saying, "YES! I have finally completed the final step, wrath! Now, I will take complete control of this body and seize the world in darkness! And there is nothing anypony can do to stop me!"
"I beg to differ!" Darkly Facade then said. He began to control the three spikes that were in the dead dragon body and combined them. Then brought it flying straight at himself. As it was about to impale him, he screamed, "SPLIT!"
A rift began to open and then a bright light flashed. As it subsided, I turned to look at the spot where they had been, thinking that there would be a pony split in half on the floor. But as I looked I saw no bloody halves of my beloved, but two separate ponies!
One of them looked exactly like Pure Heart, which made me squeal in joy. The other, though, was a purple unicorn with a green mane.
The purple one stood up and said, "Wow, what a rush! I was not expecting that at all." He turned to look at Luna and said, "Hey, when he wakes up, tell him thanks for unleashing the most evil entity that ever existed. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to go ahead and drain all of his remaining energy, just so I can get out of here and replenish the rest of my own. Oh, and by the way, just so we are clear, your feelings for him were not normal at all. They were influenced by non other than me! I am the one who made you think you were in love with this pathetic whelp this whole time. I really don't care, so that it why I'm telling you that." A large surge of energy began to ebb out of the unconscious form on the ground and flow into Ark. "With that, I bid you adieu." He then jumped into the rift that had opened and once he was inside, it closed.
I stood there the whole time, being completely shocked at what had just happened. I realized, though, that my love was slowly losing blood by every passing second. I ran over to him and picked him up gently with my magic. Surveying his wounds, I could tell that I was not qualified to treat them. I decided that it was best to get him to the hospital as quickly as possible. Before I left, though, I decided I should probably bring his sword, just in case. I looked for it and found it embedded in the cave wall, glistening with blood.
I carefully laid Pure Heart on my back, and then proceeded to remove the blade from the wall, which came out quite easily. After attaching it to my side I quickly teleported out of the cavern, not ever wanting to see the gruesome scene again.
I rushed him into the hospital then gave the doctors information on what happened. They immediately rushed the unconscious unicorn into surgery. I watched as they wheeled him through the double doors with a sign labeled: E.R.
One hour later, my sister arrived along with the Elements of Harmony and Spike. Tia came over and asked, "What happened?"
"To tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure myself," I said with a sad tone.
"Just start from when you left and we'll go from there."
I nodded and began to recount the events that led up to this point.
"Wait; let me see if I got this right. You're saying that Pure Heart doesn't even know who he is anymore, that's just messed up!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"And that 'e did have an evil spirit inside his head," Applejack said.
"A-and he k-killed a dragon right before y-your eyes," Fluttershy whispered in disbelief.
I nodded sadly to all three queries.
"Wowie-zowie! He sounds like a big meanie, mean head," Pinkie Pie stated.
"No! I mean, sure he killed another being, but I believe he was confused and influenced by Ark," I reported and Pure Heart's defense.
Twilight spoke up, saying, "But he did end up releasing this dark entity upon Equestria, right?"
I looked down and rubbed my left foreleg across the other in consideration, "Yes but... only to get away from Ark. I mean if he did that, then there must be some good and in him still, don't you think?"
Tia, who had been silent the whole time, then expressed what she had been thinking, "Perhaps. But we still must be careful. Now, I believe you mentioned that he had used a weapon to split himself from Ark. I would like to have a look at it."
I had nearly forgotten about the blood covered sword at my side. I picked it up with my magic and placed it on the ground so we could all get a better look at it.
After being put out in the open, Rarity spoke up, "Wow, what a beautiful piece of workmanship. The way it shines with black elegance, the blue aura that seems to permeate from within. The off-white middle with the tints of red going up and down the shaft..."
"Uhh...Rarity, I believe that shaft is bone and the tints of red are blood," Twilight pointed out.
Rarity nearly passed out on the floor after realizing she was right.
"Whoa sugarcube, take it easy. I'm a goin' to take miss Rarity home. See y'all later." Applejack excused herself to escort the disgusted diva out.
Twilight Sparkle turned her attention back to the sword, then said "You said he yelled something before he was separated from Ark. Do you remember what it was?"
I thought for a moment, "I'm not sure... Wait! I believe he said 'Split!'" All of a sudden, the sword divided into three spikes, scaring all of us in the process.
"OMC! That was awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Why in the world did it do that," Twilight Sparkle asked inquisitively.
Spike finally said something, "Princess Luna, what kind of cutie mark does Pure Heart have again?"
After he asked this, I was taken aback, "Well, when I first saw him, it was a gray heart, an azure moon, and a single 4-pointed star. But I'm not quite sure anymore since it changed."
Twilight caught on to what she thought Spike was getting at, "I see Spike, you think that them both having a moon and star as their cutie mark might have something to do with it, am I right?"
"Um, yeah. Let's go with that. I wasn't just wondering what his cutie mark looked like, just to know," he said, feigning his intelligence for what it wasn't.
"That might make sense," Tia speculated, "But we will have to check what his cutie mark looks like when we see him next."
"Agreed." We all said in unison.
After a couple of hours of waiting, a doctor walked into the waiting room, looking for us. He spotted us and walked over and introduced himself. "Hello, my name is Dr. Sternum Pain, but you may call me Dr. Stern."
I rushed over to him, "Dr. Stern, how bad is it? Is he going to be okay? Tell me!"
"Princess Luna, please calm down. You brought him in just at the right time, any longer and he would of bleed out. He also had 3 broken legs, 7 cracked ribs, a dislocated jaw, a couple punctured organs, and..."
"Oo... I know this one, and a partridge in a pear tree." We all turned to stare at Pinkie Pie. "What?"
Dr. Stern just rolled his eyes and said, "Anyways, he was in really bad shape. But we stitched up all his gashes and set him in a full body cast. He was definitely lucky, though, had it been any worse, he would of..."
"Yes, I understand. Is he awake, can we see him," I pleaded.
The doctor looked down trodden all of a sudden.
Tia asked, "What is wrong, Dr. Stern?"
"Yeah, you look like you were just smacked in the face with a large sack of potatoes." We all turned to look at Pinkie Pie again, who just shrugged and said, "What? He does."
I rolled my eyes this time and turned my attention back to the doctor. He spoke, "Perhaps it would be best for us all to sit down." He ushered us to a corner of the room with large couches.
When we had all sat down, Dr. Stern paced back and forth for a couple of minutes. I got tired of this and said, "Doctor, we would all like to know what happened to our friend, so could you please tell us what is wrong."
He sighed and pulled of his glasses to massage the bridge of his snout as if he were thinking of the best way to break bad news. "Well, all of his external and internal injuries have been taken care of as I said before. He is in perfect health, and should be awake right now."
"Great, so let's go see him," Rainbow Dash declared.
"Hold on Ms. Dash, I said he should be awake by now, as in, he should have regained consciousness after the anesthesia wore off."
"How long ago was it supposed to wear off," Twilight asked with unease.
Dr. Stern looked down and said, "...3 hours ago..."
We all gasped, completely shocked at this news.
"So, what does that mean for him? I mean, this kind of thing happens all the time, right Dr. Stern," Spike asked.
He shook his head, "No, it doesn't."
I was sobbing at this point, "What are you trying to say? That he is dead?"
"No! No, no, no. He is very much alive. He just isn't conscious."
Rainbow Dash was getting impatient, "Listen doc, stop giving us the run around! Spit it out already, what is wrong with him?"
(S/N: Hey everypony! Just a quick side note. So I decided to have a little fun with the ending for this chapter. I am making two paths to the same ending. If you don't want to ruin the mood for the moment, then consider this the end of chapter 11. I'm just warning you now because I decided that I want to add some funny doctor terminology into the mix. Like I said, they both lead to the same ending of the chapter. So read on!)
"I am sorry, I just can't say it. Nurse Redheart, will you please come break the news to them."
Nurse Redheart walked into the room and said, "Of course. While I do that, why don't you go help the patient in Room 208, he needs help with his medicine."
"Thank you." He then walked out of the room in shame.
"I apologize for my co-worker, he can be very emotional."
"That is fine, now will you please tell us what is going on?"
"Yes. Your friend, Pure Heart, has turned...comatose..."
(S/N: This is where the funny ending is. So basically, I will start back from when Rainbow Dash annoyed, right before that first side note. Then just use the same ending from above. Now, without further ado, here is the funny. Enjoy!)
Dr. Stern took a long sigh and said, "I am sorry, but your friend is..."
They all leaned in closer, "Yes?"
"He is..."
"Yes?"
"He's..."
"OMC! Dr. Stern, stop torturing these mares!" Nurse Redheart walked into the room.
"I'm sorry, but I like to build up the suspense," he chuckled.
"I swear! You can act so gorky! I mean seriously, do you suffer from Acute Pneumoencephalopathy?"
"Yes...but I..."
"No buts! Now, go check on the patient in Room 208, it is time for his medicine."
"Okay..." He walked out of the room in shame.
Nurse Redheart then turned to us and said, "I apologize for my co-worker. He reads too many soap operas."
We were all completely shocked at what had just occurred. Twilight finally got up enough nerve to ask, "Nurse Redheart, those things you said about him, what exactly do they mean?"
"Oh, it's just medical slang. Gork means comatose or braindead, which I was referring to the latter sense. Acute Pneumoencephalopathy means airhead."
Pinkie Pie turned to Twilight and said, "Yeah Twilight, yeesh, even I knew that."
This time everypony rolled their eyes.
"Anyways, back to Pure Heart, can somepony please just tell me what is wrong him?"
"Most likely, yes. But when, that is a different story."
"What is a coma exactly?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Well, a coma occurs when you sustain severe trauma to the head or by going through a great ordeal. When you become comatose, your brain function goes on extreme low alert. Almost like you are sleeping, but you show no signs of awareness. For instance, if I were asleep, you would be able to poke my face and I would react. Or if you were to shake me or try some other way of waking me up, I would. When in a vegetative state, however..."
Pinkie Pie stopped him for a second, "He's not a vegetable, he's a pony, silly!"
"Pinkie, that is just another way of saying he's in a coma," Twilight Sparkle explained. She looked back to the doctor and said, "Continue."
"Yes, as I was saying. When in a vegetative state, however, if you were to poke my face or try to wake me up by force, I would not respond at all."
"So, when he does wake up, what will happen?" I asked.
"He will most likely have to learn basic functions again such as walking and talking."
"How long can that take for him to do these things again?"
"Well, with the right therapy, it could take anywhere between a couple weeks to... never." He said that last word with a somber tone. We all gasped when he said it as well.
"So, like, what can we do to help him?" Rainbow Dash inquired.
The doctor shook his head, "Not much. All you can really do is pretend like he is awake and still talk to him."
"But I thought you said he would not respond to anything," Tia stated.
"I did, but just because he won't respond, doesn't mean he can't hear you."
"Okay, now even I'm confused," Twilight said.
He chuckled, "No need to be confused, it's really quite simple. You see, past patients have sometimes
said that they recall hearing voices or seeing events happen while in a coma. They even said that it was for that reason that they were able to wake up."
"Ohhhh," we all said in unison.
Silence took over the room for a moment.
"Can we see him please?" I asked.
"Of course, please follow me."
We all began to follow the doctor down the hallway to the ICU. As we reached the end of the hall, the doctor lead us into a room on the right. It was about the size of a normal bedroom with beige colored walls and a couple cushions and green chairs around the perimeter of the room.
As we walked in, the first thing I noticed was the beeping of a heart monitor and the quiet breathing of a pony on the hospital bed. "Um, where is he?"
The doctor sighed, "I'm not surprised you don't recognize him, since he is in a full body cast."
I took a closer look at the pony on the bed, and sure enough, it was Pure Heart. He was completely cover in gauze and such which hid his red coloration from view. I gasped as I realized it was him and quickly approached his bedside.
"If you will excuse me, I must fill out some documentation and see some other patients. Either a nurse or I will check up on him periodically. If you need anything, just ask."
With that the doctor stepped out.
We all stayed quiet for a few minutes, the only sound being the heart rate monitor steadily beeping and our combined soft breathing.
Tia then spoke up, "Ladies, let us give some time for Luna to be alone with Pure Heart." They all nodded in agreement and all began to walk out.
As they exited the room, Pinkie Pie spoke up, saying, "When he wakes up, I am going to throw him the bestest party ever. I wonder how long I have to plan? Oh well, I'll make it huge anyway since it might be a while."
I thought to myself, I hope it does not take too long. Please, wake up Pure Heart.
I then remembered what the doctor had said about talking to him and how it could possibly help. "Pure Heart," I whispered into his ear, "Please come back to me. I love you."
A couple hours later, Nurse Redheart came in and saw me watching over him. "Princess Luna." I turned to face her. "I am afraid visiting hours are over, so I must ask you to leave."
I was heartbroken. I did not play this card often but I tried, "But... I am royalty. Can you please make an exception."
She shook her head, "I'm sorry, but the only ponies allowed to stay after visiting hours are immediate family. So unless you are blood related or married, I must insist."
I thought it over in my head, then had an idea. "What if I am engaged to him?"
She looked a little shocked, but responded, "Yes, that would be appropriate. But, are you?"
I looked down at the near mummified stallion and smiled. "Yes... yes I am."
I woke up the next morning finding myself lying next to Pure Heart. "Good morning, my love." I kissed him gingerly on the lips.
It had been a week since I told Nurse Redheart about my engagement to Pure Heart. At that time, I had sworn her to oath that she would not tell a soul about it, for I wanted it to be a surprise. She then did the one thing that would bind her to her word, a Pinkie Pie Promise.
I chuckled at the thought of it being a surprise, for it was not only a surprise for the others; it was a surprise for Pure Heart as well.
I was still giggling when Twilight Sparkle walked into the room. "Good morning Princess Luna, I see you are feeling better."
"I am feeling a little bit better, but…" I frowned, "This is no time for giggling. Any ways, was there something I can do for you?"
"Yes, well… Princess Celestia would like me and my friends to take watch over pure heart for a couple of weeks so that you may finish some royal matters. Would that be OK with you?"
I frowned even more but then gave a large sigh, "Fine, but please send me frequent reports on his condition and notify me immediately if anything happens. I will be back at night after raising the moon."
"Got it." With that, I turned to walk out of the room, saddened that I had to be apart from Pure Heart. But I had to fulfill my duties as a princess. Besides, I felt Pure Heart was incapable hooves with Twilight.
Third-Person Perspective
Twilight and her friends each took a day of the week to watch Pure Heart. Twilight would watch pure heart on Monday, Rainbow on Tuesday, Rarity on Wednesday, Applejack on Thursday, Fluttershy on Friday, and Pinkie Pie on Saturday.
Princess Luna would then come back every night to stay with him. They all would talk to Pure Heart as if he were awake. Although, at the end of each day, whoever was scheduled to take care of him for that day, they would feel a little discouraged as they gave their report to Princess Luna. Reason being that he was showing them no signs of improvement.
Though, Luna definitely was taking it the hardest. She just couldn't stand to see Pure Heart in that state. But none the less, her feelings for him never changed.
Luna's POV
I was looking over some documents from the castle and studying how to bring up the revenue generated in Equestria. Without warning, Pure Heart began to tremor uncontrollably.
I dropped the scroll and rushed to his side. "Nurse Redheart, please come quickly! There is something wrong!"
Though white pony ran into the room and restrained him. His heart rate spiked tremendously in a matter of seconds.
But as quickly as it started, he returned completely back to normal.
I looked to Nurse Redheart for an explanation. She said, "Don't worry, coma patients sometimes move unexpectedly. It is completely normal."
I sighed in relief, and then I began to wonder if he knew that he had done that. "Pure Heart, if you can hear me, please wake up. I love you so much. I want to talk to you so badly. Why won't you wake up?"
A unicorn walked through mists of darkness, stepping cautiously through the desolate wasteland.
How long have I been here? Where am I? Why do I feel so alone? These thoughts plagued his mind without relent.
He suddenly heard a voice, "Where…he?"
"I'm not surprised… full… cast."
"Ladies… let… Luna…alone…Pure Heart."
He could only hear bits and pieces of what they were saying, though he had no idea why. He kept walking, even though he was completely blind as to what was around him.
Soon that changed as he began to catch glimpses of ponies. They seemed to talk to him somewhat, and he could hear them kind of as well.
At one point, there was this pink pony that would just not seem to shut up. She kept rambling on and on about parties and ponies and something called 'Gummy'. She then started to poke him and wouldn't stop. He tried to slap away her hoof away but couldn't feel his arms at all. Eventually someone came in and told her to knock it off. Thank you!
Then there was this one alicorn. She just seemed to stay by his side for so long. Then she would snuggle up next to him and he would feel some kind of warmth emanating on his side.
She seemed to talk to him the most and would often tell him things like, "I love you," and, "Please wake up?"
It was all very confusing to him. Was he asleep? He couldn't, he could see things sometimes, plus he didn't feel like he was asleep. But that might make some sense of this horribly dark place. This place that was completely devoid of life and light.
If this was indeed the case, he had to try to wake up. This place kept him as its prisoner for too long. It was time to escape this asylum of sheer darkness.
He tried to take another step, but as soon as he set his hoof down on the black, curdled soil, it cracked. He heard rumbling all around him and he ran, afraid of what was happening. The ground around him began to collapse. A void, that seemed infinitely more dark and depressing as the place that he was bound to, opened up and swallowed him whole. He fell for a very long time and he couldn't stop or call for help. He was falling inside the black.
After a few minutes of breathing deeply, I settled down. I tried to sit up, but I found that I could not move. Crap! Am I still asleep? I then realized the reason for my immobilization was due to the fact that I was covered from snout to hoof with a cast.
How did I get here? Why am I in a cast? The memory of a certain fight to the death crossed my mind. Oh yeah, that might be the reason I am in a full body cast. I tried to squirm but to no avail.
"Don't try to move, you are very badly injured," a kind voice said to me.
I tried to look around the room to see where the voice came from. Of course I was unable to due to the fact that my neck was also in this cast. A white pony then came into my view, her cutie mark consisting of a red cross with hearts in each corner.
She saw the confused look in my eyes and smiled gently, "Hello, my name is Nurse Redheart. Like I said, you were injured quite badly when you are brought in. You have been patched up, but you'll still be in pain for some time. Do you understand?"
I tried to open my mouth and say something but nothing came out.
"Nurse Redheart."
She turned her attention to the door and bowed. I tried hard to look at the door but failed. Suddenly the face of a blue alicorn appeared in my vision. I squeaked in surprise.
Don't worry; I am here to help you.
I squeaked again, causing her to giggle.
Sorry, didn't mean to scare you.
How are you talking in my mind?
Magic.
Of course. So why are you talking in my mind?
Because you obviously can't talk, and I thought you would be used to it.
I paused for a moment. Then thought, Ark…
Right.
So why are you here? I looked at her side and noticed Divinus attached to her flank. Why do you have my sword?
I can answer that. A white alicorn walked into the room.
My eyes began to burn with hatred. YOU! I summoned my sword from the blue one's side and thought, YOU ARE THE TYRANT THAT ARK TOLD ME ABOUT! I sent my sword flying at her. She stood there, immobilized by fear.
"STOP!" The blue alicorn screamed. As soon as she said it, my sword froze mere inches from the face of the oppressor. We were all shocked at this development.
What did you do? Only I can control Divinus. How did you stop you stop it, I asked in utter disbelief.
I am not quite sure, but one theory presented to us, by a rather clever dragon, is that it might be because we have similar cutie marks.
I looked at her flank and gasped, What are you doing with my cutie mark?
Your cutie mark? It has been hers for over millennia, the white one said.
I wasn't talking to you, you evil wench!
"Well, I never! Luna, I will leave you with him, but I will take his sword so he cannot do any harm with it, as well as put a block on his magic."
"Okay Tia." With that, the regal alicorn walked out with my sword in tow.
Luna then turned to me, seething with anger. What is wrong with you, Pure Heart? Why did you attack my sister?
I blinked a couple of times, confused as to what she just called me. Excuse me, but haven't we had this conversation before?
About this?
No; about whom this Pure Heart character is. For I don't think there is anyone else in the room, and so you are either: A. talking to me, which means you are crazy since my name is Darkly Façade; or B. you are talking to an imaginary friend, which means you are clinically insane.
Says the guy who nearly got himself killed by playing 'Let's see how much I can piss off a dragon'.
Hey, that just so happens to be my favorite game.
FOCUS!
Right, sorry. So yeah, who are you talking to?
You.
Me?
Yes, you. I am talking to you Pure Heart.
Look, Princess Luna was it? How do I put this lightly? Oh I know. I have no freakin' idea what you are talking about! I also have no clue as to why you stopped me from slitting that tyrant's throat. And for the last time, I have no idea who this Pure Heart is and why you feel the need to harass me about him, but I am not him! My name is Darkly Façade!
She stared at me for a long time with cold, hard eyes and then began to sob. That 'tyrant' is my beloved sister and she is the most fair and loving ruler that ever existed!
What so you are saying, that everything Ark said was a lie?
YES! EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG! Do you not see, he played you! He lied about her; he lied about me; he lied about himself; but worst of all, he lied about you!
I looked at her with what would be utter disbelief on my face if it had not been covered in bandages. What are you saying?
Do I have to spell it out for you? You are not Darkly Façade. You are not evil. You are Pure Heart, the one pony that I fell in love with.
I would have fallen out of bed from the shock if I had not been strapped down. You…love me?
Yes!
I felt really stupid at this point. I felt even worse when she began to cry uncontrollably. I am sorry, I didn't know, but you have to realize, I just don't remember you. She sobbed even harder now. But… She looked up. I am willing to give it a shot.
She seemed to start to cheer up, but then went back to crying. No, it is too late; your memories of me are most likely long gone. All your feelings would just be fake. You are just not the stallion I fell in love with anymore, your heart has been consumed by hate.
Wow, what a downer. I didn't know what else to say. All I could do was keep silent.
After a while, I broke the silence. Princess Luna? She looked to me with near waterfalls flowing from her eyes. I don't know what to tell you, except this. You apparently loved me, enough to risk your life to try to stop my rampage against that dragon. And although I am very grateful for you bringing me here to be healed, I am afraid I have no room in my heart for any such relationship. Right now, I am set on killing that back stabbing Ark!
Now she was nearly flooding the room with her tears.
I was going to try to comfort her, but before I could think of something to say, she spoke. Can you please just try to feel anything but the burning hatred you have inside? Just try to remember the good times we had together. Sure, we had only known each other for a couple of days, but you had loved me even before we meet. Just please try to remember Zach!
That last part caught my attention. W-what did y-you just c-call me? I gulped hard.
Luna raised an eyebrow and sniffled, then said, Zach?
Zach… I mulled over the name a couple of times.
She continued to sob for a while. I was busy trying to figure out why that name sounded so familiar. I then came out of my deep thought as a sweet humming entered my senses. The melody was so very familiar. I tried to figure out the source of this wonderful sound, when my eyes rested upon Luna. She then began to sing with the most beautiful voice I had ever heard.
"For a thousand years I've waited here for you, waiting every night, for I thought you were the answer to my life. Days turned into years and into centuries, patience had to fade. Don't you see that there is vengeance in my eyes…" She had paused to take a breath. Right as she was about to start again, she hesitated when she heard me begin to sing.
"Luna won't you cry for me, I'm as lonely as I've ever been. I am forced back into the start, is there any way to fix a broken heart?"
I was surprised, Where did that come from? I looked to Luna, as if for an explanation, but my eyes narrowed. All I saw was a blue blur as Luna tackled me. She immediately began to plant kisses all over my face.
She paused and looked me in the eyes. She saw confusion mixed with horror in them. She slowly slid off and turned away, saying, I am so sorry; I do not know what came over me. I heard you sing that song, and thought… She broke down and began to openly weep.
I was still quite shocked at what had just occurred, when suddenly, somewhere deep within the confines of my mind, something… clicked.
Luna? She turned to look at me, tears still streaming down her face. I thought I already told you.
She sniffed, Told me what?
There was a barely audible chuckle that came from deep within my throat. I hate to see others cry.
She stopped crying completely and whispered, "Zach?"
I think you should call me by my pony name. But you can just call me Pure. I told her mentally as I mustered a cheesy grin.
She instantly tackled me again, but this time to the floor.
After she stopped sobbing, hugging, and kissing me for twenty minutes, she looked at me with a sheepish grin. "Pure Heart, how do you feel about marriage?"
If I had been drinking some water, at that point I would have had a spit take. Since I wasn't, I did the next best thing… pass out.
"Okay Pure Heart, you will not feel a thing." The doctor held up a small whirling saw. My eyes grew wide in fear, and I started to whimper.
Do not worry, I am right here. I shifted my eyes to Luna; she was holding my hoof and smiling reassuringly.
I felt a little better, although I really had nothing to worry about since the doc was just removing my cast.
About a half hour later, the cast was completely cut off. "Now I must ask you to rest for a couple more days. Then we will begin your walking and talking therapy."
I simply nodded and the doctor walked out of the room. I looked at Luna and thought, What does he mean by 'therapy'? I can walk just fine, see? I rolled off the bed and splatted on the floor.
Luna giggled, Yes, you are so amazing. But really, you must get some more rest.
I frowned, But I have been resting for an entire 2 months! I want to go now!
Luna leaned over and kissed me, Please? She gave me the little filly eyes of diabetic shock.
No fair! You know I can't resist those eyes! She batted them at me. Fine… I thought in defeat.
Good, but first you need a bath. Sitting in a smelly cast for 2 months really made you smell. Phew! She waved her hoof as if to shoo away the stench.
Okay, but how do you propose I do this without the use of my limbs?
She gave me an evil smile. Easy! I will give you… a tongue bath!
My eyes grew wide in horror. Your buckin' kidding, right?
She laughed, Of course!
I sighed in relief.
I will, however, give you a sponge bath. Her mischievous smile grew even bigger.
My eyes nearly popped out of my head. That is just as bad!
She laughed maniacally as she closed the door to the room and locked it with her magic.
Nurse Redheart's POV
I was making my normal rounds around the hospital; checking on patients, administering medication, the usual routine.
As I was making my way down the last hallway I heard an ear splitting scream. It seemed to come from Pure Heart's room.
I quickly ran down the hall and got to the door. I tried to open it but found it to be locked. I knocked on the door, "Is everything alright in there?"
I heard the door unlock from the other side and the door slightly cracked open. Princess Luna poked her head out and said, "Of course! I am just helping Pure Heart take a bath is all. Nothing to worry about."
"Well, okay… Tell me if you need anything."
Luna thanked me and then closed the door, relocking it. As I walked away I heard a scream, "OH SWEET MOTHER OF CELESTIA! THE SOAP, IT BURNS!"
I chuckled and thought, Ah, young love.
Luna's POV
He lay in the bed, curled up into a fetal position. He kept repeating, "The scrubbing… THE SCRUBBING!"
"You big foal. Besides, it got your voice back, did it not?"
"Yeah, but I think I would rather have waited for therapy."
"You were the one who said they were tired of being here. So I reasoned: the faster you get better, the faster we can get out of here."
"What are you, some kind all-knowing goddess?" He said sarcastically.
"Yes."
"Oh, yeah," He sighed, "Well next time, can you please just be gentler?"
I giggled, "Sure, next time I will be sure to handle you with more care."
"That's all I ask."
I went up to his side and got into the bed with him. I then nuzzled his neck and inhaled deeply, "Mmmm, you smell like strawberries and rose petals."
"Are you freakin' kidding? Great!"
I laughed, "You know I love strawberries."
"Oh, do you now?" He said with a seductive tone.
"Yes I do."
"Well, you know what I hate?"
"What?"
"Bananas."
I recoiled when he said that word. He laughed and said, "Oh snap, I just found the weakness of the Moon Goddess."
"Hey, that is no fair. Besides, you hate them, too."
"Yes I do, and that is one reason we are perfect together."
Marcus got up that morning in a somber mood. "Today is the day," he said to himself. He could still remember the tragic event like it was yesterday.
3 Months Earlier
It was a day like any other; I got up took a shower and got on Facebook to see if anyone was online. I played League of Legends for a little bit, then left the house to try and sell my salad bowl set. 'The Astro-Helmet' is what Zach called it. I chuckled at the thought of him putting it on his head and running around. He was so weird sometimes.
After a day of being unsuccessful at trying to sell the $4000 set of titanium salad bowls and fruit cutters, I came home and checked my Facebook page. I had one notification from Zach, "Hey everyone, I'm finally going ask the girl of my dreams out tonight. Wish me luck!"
I commented, saying, "Good luck man! Hope it goes well!"
Ten minutes later he commented back saying, "Thanks! Talk to you later!"
I got off the computer, not realizing later was going to be much later.
The next morning I woke up and repeated the same process. Got out of bed, took a shower, and got on Facebook. There was something strange about today, though. I had one message from Zach's mom. It simply read, "Call me ASAP!"
I pulled out my phone and dialed Zach's house number. His mom picked up, she was sobbing, "H-hello?"
"Hey, it's Marcus. I was just calling to see what it was you needed. It sounded kind of urgent."
"Oh! Marcus! Did Zach come over to your house last night or talk to you at all since then?" She was clearly distraught about something.
"No, he didn't come here, nor have I talked to him since he left for his date last night. Why, what happened?"
She sobbed some more before getting out, "H-he never came home l-last night."
2 Months Later
"I'm sorry ma'am, but we have been searching for your boy for two months now, but all of our leads have run cold. He has just seemed to have disappeared."
I was at Zach's house, waiting for some on him when the chief of police relayed this to us. Zach's mom was in a heap on the floor, crying her eyes out. His seven siblings were also sobbing. Zach's dad took his wife in his arms, trying to console her.
I went home and sobbed for the loss of my best friend as well.
Present
I sighed at the memory. Who can I talk to about ponies now? I thought.
I got ready for the day, as normal, but instead of getting ready for work, I got ready for Zach's funeral.
A week after the funeral, which was heartbreaking, but a good service none the less, I went to see my grief counselor.
It was recommended that I see one every week for a couple of months; you know to deal with the pain.
"Okay Marcus, today we are going to have you call Zach's cell phone to let you leave a message. Tell him how you are feeling and what is happening in your life. This will help dispel some of the weight in your heart."
I nodded and dialed his number. I was waiting for the phone to go to the answering machine, but it never did.
"Hello, this is Zach; may I ask who I am speaking with?"
After 3 days of rehabilitation, I could no longer sit still. After pleading with Luna, convincing her I would go stir crazy if I stayed here any longer, she finally agreed to sneak me out.
"Where should we go?" She asked as she wheeled me out of the front lobby.
"I don't care, anywhere but here. Hurry though; I think Nurse Redheart just found out that I am not in my room."
After I said this, a loud siren began to blare in the background. "Ah crap! Quick Luna, we gotta get out of here!"
Luna used Teleport.
"Stupid announcer in my head…"
"You say something, Pure Heart?"
"Uh, noooo… So where are we?"
I looked around and tried to distinguish where we were. "Hey wait a minute, I know this place." It was my crash site. "Holy cow! My car!"
"You're what?"
"That thing over there."
"Oh yes, the odd metal carriage. Why is it black and brown?"
"Well, I'm guessing because of the fire that it was consumed in and the fact that it was exposed to the elements for 2 months."
"Oh, and is it supposed to make that sound?"
"Huh?" I listened closely. Luckily I had gained use of my arms again so I could wheel myself over to the car.
"I know that tune." It was Otherworld, but it wasn't coming from my mp3. I opened the door and rummaged around inside. "Aha! My phone, I completely forgot about it. Wait, who is calling?"
I flipped it open and pushed speaker phone. "Hello, this is Zach. May I ask who I am speaking with?"
"Zach?"
"No, I'm Zach, who is this?" Luna chuckled at my remark and I flashed a grin.
"Zach, its Marcus!"
"Oh hey buddy, so how you doin'?"
"Cut the crap! You're alive?"
"Well, I think I am. Quick Luna, take my pulse!" She giggled again.
"Stop talking to your car and tell me where you are?"
"1. I'm not talking to my car, she isn't with us anymore. Tear. B. I'm pretty sure you won't believe me if I told you where I was. And 7. How am I getting bars? I don't think T-Mobile covers other dimensions."
"Wait, you named that thing Luna?"
"Well yeah, it was blue, just like you, and I have always admired you."
"Ahh, Pure Heart that is so sweet," she said, giving me a peck on the lips.
"Hey, who is there with you? And why do they sound so familiar? And what do you mean by 'other dimensions'?"
"Well, um… Luna you want to try explaining?"
She nodded and levitated the phone in front of her. "HELLO? MARCUS? CAN YOU HEAR ME?" She yelled in her Royal Canterlot Voice.
There was a scream on the other end of the line. I gave her a look that said, 'Normal voice'.
She giggled and said, "Sorry, wasn't sure how to talk with this device."
Marcus sighed, "That is okay, you were saying…"
"Right! Well, I am Princess Luna, Goddess of the Moon and co-ruler of Equestria."
There was a pause on the other end, Marcus then said, "Ha ha! Very funny! Now really where are you?"
"Wait, wait! I can prove it!" I looked at Luna and said, "How do we prove it?"
She shrugged.
"Well, tell you what, Zach. If you really have the Moon Goddess next to you, why don't you just poof me to where you are?" He snickered.
I looked at Luna, "Can you do that?"
She shrugged again, "I do not know, I can try."
Her horn glowed, and the cell phone was encircled in magic.
Within an instant there was a bright flash and there stood a tall human.
"Hi!"
Marcus was frozen in fear. "Holy crap! A talking horse!"
I sighed and turned to Luna, "Luna, this is going to take a minute."
She nodded and sat down.
I took a minute to remember the lines again then began.
"Creg! Creg! Wake up, look I have marbles."
Marcus' eyes grew big and he said, "Ahh more marbles!"
"Watch out there's a wooden stick figure right there!"
"Wait I got to go like Matrix slow motion. Woah woah woosh!"
"You dodged a bullet neo, now you will DIE BY CHAINSAW!"
Both of us at the same time, "Rr-re-rr-rr!" *sound a chain saw makes*
We both began to laugh. "Zach, it really is you!"
"Nooo…" I said in a super sarcastic tone.
He then proceeded to tackle me. "Holy crap! I thought I would never see you again!" He began to sob.
"NO! No tears!"
He got off me and wiped his eyes. "Sorry. So you're a pony, huh?"
"Yep!"
"And I presume this is Equestria…"
"Yep!"
"And this must be… OH MY GOSH! Princess Luna!" He immediately fell on his face, bowing to my fiancé.
She chuckled, "Rise Marcus!"
He did so, and then looked back at me. "Hey Zach…"
"Marcus, please call me Pure Heart."
"Huh?"
"That is my name here."
"Okay… Pure Heart, what do I do about my therapist? I believe he is most likely freaking out because I just vanished."
"Good question." I picked up the phone and said, "Mr. Therapist? Are you there?"
There was a pause, "Yes, but please call me Dr. Whooves."
"What?"
Just then, Dr. Whooves appeared and came up to us. "Hello gentlemen, your majesty." He bowed then stood upright.
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up, are you saying that you are his therapist?"
"Well, yes and no. I am the one who posed as a therapist, but I was really just helping along the progression of these events."
"Huh?" All three of us said in unison.
"Timey-wimey stuff. Hard to explain. Anyways, yes you needed to talk to me."
"Well, yes. We will need to someone to tell his family that he will be gone for a while. Can you tell them that you are going camping with him for a while or something?"
"Already taken care of."
"Great, well then. We will take him from here. You hold onto his cell phone so I can contact you later."
"Alrighty then. See you later." With that, Dr. Whooves disappeared in his blue box.
"Now what?"
"How about we take Marcus to the castle, I'm sure he is quite tired from these events."
"Great idea!"
Marcus spoke up, "Okay, but I still have a bunch of questions."
"Okay, we can walk talk, or in my case, roll and talk."
"Sure, that is actually my first question. Why are you in a wheel chair?"
3 Hours of Walking and Questions Later
"So, you are a unicorn, harbored an evil being in your mind, lost your memory, let the being free, got your memory back, then got engaged to Princess Luna?"
"Wow, he catches on fast," Luna said.
"Well I am just surprised he hasn't passed out from excitement yet."
"Don't worry; I'm saving that for later."
"Alright, so anything else you want to know?"
"Yeah, why aren't I a pony?"
"I think it's because you actually got here by Dr. Whooves, not by magic."
"Well, that makes sense I guess."
"Oh look, there is the castle."
"Great, I'm beat."
Luna, who was silent most of the way back, then spoke up, "Pure Heart?"
"Yes my love?"
"Can I talk to you about our engagement?"
"Yes, hold on." We got to the front door and I addressed a guard. "Can you see to it that my friend here is taken to my room?"
"Yes sir."
"Marcus, I have to talk to Luna, will you be fine by yourself for a little bit?"
"Sure."
"Great, see ya later."
He waved as he followed the guard to my quarters.
"Alright, what did you want to talk about?"
"Not here, follow me."
I shrugged and followed Luna. We went out to the court yard, then into the royal garden. She then led me to a tree near the back and we sat down underneath it.
"Okay, now that we are alone, what did you want to talk about?"
"When do you want to get married?"
"Um, I was hoping that I could formally propose to you first, and then we could decide when to get married."
"Alright, then when do you want to propose?"
"Let's see, when is the next Grand Galloping Gala?"
"In about a month."
"Perfect, I will do it then, that way we can have a lot of witnesses."
"Sounds good to me." She walked over to me and sat on my lap, whispering into my ear, "I love you."
I grinned, "I love you." Then I kissed her passionately on the lips.
"Ah! Finally after 3 months, I am at full power once again," I said out loud to no one. I was back in my hydra bone castle. Of course I had to move it or else those meddling ponies would interfere. I had transported it to some nether realm that was on the other side of my rifts. It was a perfect place for an evil lair.
"Now then, I should get some minions to do my bidding." I stepped down from my throne and opened a portal and stepped through.
Once on the other side, I found I was in Everfree Forest. Perfect, a great place to find creatures to be my servants.
I walked away from the portal and closed it, didn't want to let in a draft or anything else. I searched for a while before finally coming across a life form that was actually worth my while.
A lone timber wolf crossed my path. "Ah, you will do just fine." I grasped its mind and began to probe its memories. "Oo, you're the alpha of your pack, perfect. Go and gather your pack and I will spare your life."
The wolf ran as soon as I let go of its mind and howled for its pack. "Good, while it gathers them, let's take a look at some parasprites and ursa majors."
After hours of gathering creatures for my army, I placed them into suspended animation. "Hmm, well this is great and all, but they need something more. Oh, I know. I will splice their DNA and make mutants. But I don't know how to do that."
I paced the floor of my palace, trying to think of a solution. I came up with none.
"Well, maybe some fresh air will help me think." I proceeded to change my appearance for a stroll through Ponyville. I turned myself sky blue and gave myself a cutie mark of frozen wind. I changed my hair to dark blue but kept my eyes purple. I smiled at my handiwork when I looked in the mirror.
I made another rift and walked through to the edge of the town.
Twilight's POV
I wasn't quite looking where I was going. I had just gotten a new book, "Mutation Splice: A Comprehensive Guide to Changing Molecular and DNA Structures". It was really quite an interesting book, and I was so wrapped up in it that I did not see the stallion walking towards me.
"Oof!" I fell to the ground as well as the stallion. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there!"
The blue stallion smiled, "No no. It was my fault entirely." He stood up and brushed himself off, then offered me a hoof which gladly accepted.
What a gentlecolt, I thought.
"Let me introduce myself. I am Arktic Blast. Who might you be my fair mare?"
I giggled, "Twilight Sparkle, I work at the library here in Ponyville."
"Nice to meet you," he said, picking up my hoof and kissing it.
I blushed, and then realized I had gotten him all dirty. "Oh my, you're covered in dust and dirt. Let me take you back to my house so that you can get cleaned up."
"That would be spectacular, oh but first I believe you dropped this." He hoofed me the book I was reading.
"Oh thank you, I don't know what I would have done if I had lost such a rare book."
"You're quite welcome."
"Now if you would follow me."
"Lead the way."
Ark's POV
What a bumbling idiot. I thought. But that book she had looked quite promising. I think I had found my answer.
We got to the library, which I guess she also lived in. "I'll make us some tea. Feel free to use the washroom. It is upstairs, second door on the right."
I thanked her and went up to freshen up. After quickly cleaning myself, I went back downstairs and began to peruse her vast collection of books.
There was one that really caught my eye, "Necromancy: The Art of Deceased Reanimation". I can use this as well.
Twilight came back into the room and said, "The kettle is on the stove. It will be a minute before the tea is done." She saw me skimming through the book I had found. "If you want, you can check out that book."
I smiled, "That would be fantastic."
I caught her staring at me, "Is something wrong?"
She quickly turned her head to hide her blush, "Well, I was just wondering… I mean, I know we just meet and all. But I was thinking. Would you like to go to the Grand Galloping Gala with me?"
I was stunned, She wants me to go with her to some party. Wait that party is held at the castle. I believe I have a few allies who can help me with my plans there. This is perfect!
I gave her a wide grin, "I would love to accompany you to this event, Ms. Sparkle."
She squealed with delight and said, "Great, it is in about a week."
"Spectacular, I will pick you up here around 7 PM."
I stood up began to head to the door.
"Wait, don't you want some tea?"
I turned and said, "I'm sorry Ms. Sparkle, but I just realized I had somewhere to be right now. But I will be back on Friday to pick you up."
She then said, "Okay, see you on Friday." She then went back into the kitchen to take the kettle off the stove.
Before I left, I saw she had left the book from earlier on the stand next to the door. I'll take this.
I picked it up and walked out the door. Once I got to the edge of town, I opened another portal and thought out loud, "Now, to see a cave about a certain dragon." I laughed evilly and walked through.
It was beautiful! I walked into a large room that could only be the banquet hall, although it was hard to tell. It was as if a certain pink pony had unleashed a large blast of cannon fire.
As I walked into, I noticed Pinkie, Rarity, AJ, Rainbow, Fluttershy all huddled into a group; shooting the breeze with Luna as well as Marcus. "Hey everypony, what's up?"
Rainbow retorted, "The ceiling." I chuckled at her remark. She gave a smug grin.
"Oh Pure Heart! Wherever did you get such an amazing outfit?" Rarity swooned.
I grinned, "Oh, this thing? It's just something I through together at the last minute." It really wasn't. I was wearing a white vest with a blue over-coat, and a red sash going across my chest. I felt like a foreign dignitary or something.
Everypony was giving me the once over and they ended up with their eyes on the same spot. "Uh, sugarcube? Ain't that the weapon that the Princess found ya with?" Applejack asked indignantly.
Luna concurred, "Yes Pure, I thought you were going to get rid of that horrid thing." She glared at me.
"Well I was going to, but then decided not to destroy the very tool that saved my life many a time. Besides, I did dispel of the most offending part. See? I replaced the bone with diamond. Much better if you ask me."
"Okay, but why in the world did you bring it with you?"
I shrugged, "I don't know. Something just makes me feel like I should be ready for anything."
"What would that be, acute paranoia?" Luna rolled her eyes.
"Yes in fac... Hey wait a second!"
Everyone laughed at my blunder.
After everypony settled down, Luna turned back to the girls and asked, "So, where is Ms. Sparkle tonight?"
I had actually wondered the same thing.
"Oh! She said she would be a little late!"
Everypony gasped, except for Luna. "What is the problem?"
"Twilight is never late for anything," Fluttershy explained.
"Yeah. It is one of her big time turn offs," Rainbow said.
"So why is she going to be late?" Marcus inquired.
"Oh, she said something about bringing somepony with her," Pinkie Pie said.
"Wait, we're aloud to bring dates to these?" Rainbow huffed.
"Eeyup." Big Mac said as he walked towards us, holding two glasses of punch.
"Oh, thank you Big Mac," Fluttershy whispered.
"Eeyup."
Marcus leaned over to Applejack and asked, "Is that all he ever says?"
Big Mac leaned over towards them and said, "Nope."
We all burst out laughing.
"Still, Twilight has a date, this I have got to see. Who is it, her brother?" I chuckled.
"Twilight has a brother?" Everypony asked in surprise.
I quickly looked around, sweat dripping from my brow, "Uh, what? I didn't say anything. Said what? Who said what? Who are you?" I coughed and looked around, "Oh look, there she is!" I said to distract everypony while I regained my composure. But it really was Twilight walking through the door, a light blue unicorn escorting her.
She walked over to us as soon as she saw Pinkie Pie jumping up and down screaming, "TWILIGHT OVER HERE!" She also caught the attention of everypony else in the banquet hall.
"Hey everypony, I would like you to meet Arktic Blast."
He stepped forward and bowed, "Good to me you all." He then noticed me and walked over. "Ah, Pure Heart! Twilight has told me much about you!"
"I did?"
He quickly shot her a glare, which I guess I was the only one who noticed. "Oh, yeah, of course I did!"
He took me by the hoof and started shaking it, as he did so I noticed that his hoofs were unnaturally cold, like a doctor when they are about to give you a physical. Either way, it made me shiver. He grinned at my discomfort.
What is wrong, you are shivering? Luna said to me in my mind.
It's nothing. Don't worry about it. I turned to Pinkie and said, "So, should we get this rave started?"
She grinned so big, it almost seemed as if she would explode from the sheer joy you could see on her face. It kinda scared me. "Okie dokie loki!" She then bounced off to the stage.
"What are you doing Pure Heart?" Luna asked suspiciously.
"I'm just spicing up this dull party a little bit." I gave her a grin.
"She rolled her eyes and said, "Don't do anything inappropraite, okay?"
I put on a my best 'I can't believe you would think I would ever do such a thing' face and uttered, "Moi?"
Just then Vinyl Scratch came up to the mic on stage and said, "Kay everypony! Are you ready to dance?"
"YEAH!"
"Then let's get this party started! But first, let's give a warm welcome to our very special guest, Pure Heart!"
Luna was about to say something to me, but she turned to find I wasn't there.
Looking for me?
She looked up and saw me on stage. How did you get up there so fast?
I grinned, Pinkie Pie physics.
"Thank you DJ-PON3! Hey everypony, how you all doing?"
The crowd screamed in excitement.
"Good! Now here is what is going to happen tonight. I will be your host and will show a couple of dances from my homeland. Some of them are pretty self explanatory and others just do what I do. Or just free style, remember, it is all for fun. NOW, are you ready to party!"
"YEAH!"
"Good, hit it!"
Vinyl Scratch started mixing the playlist I had given her earlier. We started with the Electric Slide. Of course I altered it a little to suit the populace.
After 3 hours of dancing, I noticed that everypony was getting a little sluggish. I decided it was time for the finale. I took a quick glance at Luna and the rest of the group, smiling at them. I then noticed that Arktic Blast wasn't there, but I just thought he had gone to the restroom or something, so I shrugged it off.
"Alright everypony, it getting to be that time of night. The time when I slow things down a bit and sing you a little diddy. Afterwards, I will take a quick break followed by a very special announcement. " I walked over to the other side of the stage where Octavia and her group had been since we stole the show from them. I gave them each some sheet music and gave them instructions real quick.
After I informed them of what to do, I walked back over to the mic and said, "So without further ado, here is how I've felt everyday since I came here. This is for you Luna." I queued them to begin and they went into the intro.
"I don't get many things right the first time In fact, I am told that a lot Now I know all the wrong turns The stumbles and falls brought me here
"And where was I before the day That I first saw your lovely face? Now I see it everyday And I know that I am I am, I am the luckiest
"What if I'd been born fifty years before you In a house on the street where you live? Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike Would I know?
"And in a wide sea of eyes I see one pair that I recognize And I know that I am I am, I am the luckiest
"I love you more than I have Ever found a way to say to you
"Next door, there's an old man who lived to his 90's And one day, passed away in his sleep And his wife, she stayed for a couple of days And passed away
"I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way To tell you that I know we belong That I know that I am I am, I am the luckiest."
After the song ended, there was dead silence.
Suddenly the crowd exploded in to applause. I grinned and gave them a bow and then directed to Octavia's group who then bowed as well.
"Thank you, thank you. I'll be right back, don't go anywhere." I walked off stage followed by the thunderous roar of hooves stomping on the ground.
Once I got back stage, I got a phone call. "Hello, this is Pure Heart. What is your favorite color?"
"Well that is kind of strange question, but I would have to say blue. Anyways, would you like me to do it now?"
"Yep."
"Alright, be there in a second."
Right as I hung up, the Tardis appeared right in front of me.
"Okay folks, here we are." Dr. Whooves led out two very bewildered looking adult humans.
"It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside!"
"Yes, you have said that ten times already."
"Hello!"
"Holy crap! A talking horse!" The woman screamed.
I sighed, "Man, not again."
The man looked at me in shock. "That voice, it can't be."
"Hi Mom, hi Dad."
"Zach?"
"Where?" I turned around quickly in fake shock.
"Yep, that is definetly Zach."
"Oh Zach! I thought you were gone forever!" My mom began to cry as she grabbed me and hugged me tight.
"Losing... feeling... in my... toes." I looked down, "I don't have any toes!" I chuckled as she let me go.
"So Zach, why are you a horse?" My dad asked.
"Okay, first of all, I'm a pony, not a horse. Second, this is how I was when I woke up here months ago. And third, you guys are taking this very well. I'm kind of surprised."
"Oh, you can be sure that I will definitely be needing to see a therapist after this." My dad said.
"Oh, well I know somepony that is fully qualified for that." I looked at the doctor and he waved at me.
"Pure Heart?"
"Holy fug nuggit!" I jumped around and found Celestia standing behind me. "Frick! Warn me next time before you pop out of nowhere like that."
She laughed, "Sorry. Anyways, who are these people?"
"Princess Celestia, please meet my parents, Dan and Katie."
I motioned them to bow, which they did. "Hello, Princess, nice to meet you."
"Very nice to meet you." My mother said.
"Quite. Pure Heart, next time can you warn me before you bring someone from another dimension here?"
"Oh sure. Anyways, they are here to witness my announcement, so I was wondering if you could take them with you back to your private booth."
"Of course."
"Thanks." I turned back to my parents. "We will catch up later. Right now I have to get back on stage." I hugged them real quick. "Love you guys."
"Now if you would please follow me." Celestia walked out of the area with my parents in tow, still looking really confused. I chuckled and walked back out to the stage.
"Hey everypony! Hope you didn't miss me too much." The crowd chuckled. "I will now give my announcement, but first..." I turned back to the group, kind of shocked that Arktic Blast still wasn't back yet. I got over it and finished my sentence, "Princess Luna, will you please report to the stage? Once again, Princess Luna, will you please report to the stage?" I used my best grocery store speaker voice.
She walked up to the stage, the crowd dividing so she could get through. She trotted up the steps, her black dress flowing right behind, sparkling stars all glowing like her beautiful night. Once she got up to to the mic, I leaned over to her and whispered, "By the way, you look stunning tonight."
She blushed and I chuckled.
I then knelt down in front of her, which was kind of hard considering I was a pony, but I managed to do it without falling flat on my face. I levitated the mic down to my mouth, then recited what I had been going over in my head all day long. "Princess Luna, I have known you for a little over 4 months now. But I never want to be apart from you. You are my very reason for existence. So here is my question for you..."
I took a long dramatic pause for effect. The audience all leaned in expectantly. I then proceeded to pull out a little black box. "Will you, Princess Luna, Goddess of the Moon, Bringer of the Night, and love of my life..." I opened the box and revealed a bracelet made of white gold with onyx inlay and specks of sapphire to look like the night sky, finally adorned with a platinum crescent moon. "Marry me?"
The crowd gasped simultaneously.
She looked at me with her beautiful blue eyes. They welled up with tears of joy, even though she knew this was coming.
"Yes... Yes I will marry you Pure Heart."
The crowd cheered as I placed the engagement bracelet on her fetlock. I then turned to face them with my knew fiance. I placed the microphone back into the stand and said, "May I present the future Princess 'Luna Heart'!" The crowd went wild. They were cheering and whistling and clopping their hooves. I smiled and then turned to give my beloved a passionate kiss on the lips.
As we broke the kiss, I looked into her eyes and told her mentally, I love you.
I love you, too.
We turned back to the crowd, who were still ecstatic. I said, "So, Luna and I will retire for the evening, but just because we're leaving doesn't mean you have to stop the party. So rock on! Have fun!" I looked at Luna and said to her, "I know I will." She giggled and we turned to leave.
Right as we were about to walk off stage, the lights went out. There was a crash and a scream. "Luna? LUNA!"
"Hah! You foals! You really thought I wouldn't attend this little soiree?"
That voice!
When the lights came back on, I turned wildly looking for my beloved. My eyes fell upon a single unicorn that was standing at the front of the stage. My fiance levitating next to his side, unconscious, as well as a statue to his other.
Twilight ran up and said, "Arktic Blast! What are you doing with Princess Luna and Discord?"
He looked at her and scoffed, "Oh, I'm sorry my dear Twilight. But I am not Arktic Blast."
His coat, mane, and cutie mark all seemed to disolve, revealing his true colors.
"ARK! Put down my future wife!" I screamed as I ripped off my sash and jacket and drew Divinus.
"Let me think about it, umm, NO!" He let out an evil cackle. "You see, I need her to resurrect her alter ego."
"You will not touch a hair on her head! You are going to die, right here, right now!" I charged at him with my sword raised.
He smirked and opened a portal from which a pack of timber wolves emerged. They blocked my path and started to attack me.
"I must agree with my future brother-in-law. Put down my sister now and perish! Guards!" Celestia came down with her most elite guards and began trying to assault Ark.
He shook his head, "Pitiful, just pitiful." Once again a portal opened, but this time, something I had never imagined possible came out of it. A huge dragon! But not just an ordinary dragon; no, this dragon had three heads and was nothing but bones!
They blocked the path of the guards and began to swat them away as well as keep Celestia at bay.
"Now, as I was saying. I will be your new ruler along side my new allies." His eyes began to glow and he yelled, "SPLIT!"
Suddenly, cracks started to appear on Discord's statue, and then it shattered, revealing the God of Chaos and Disharmony. "Free once again! Thank you Ark."
At the same time, a dark mist of energy began to extract itself from Luna. It formed itself into the shape of an alicorn. "Nightmare Moon has come again!"
Ark grinned, "Ladies and gentlecolts, let me have the honor of introducing the new heralds of chaos, eternal night, and destruction. We are the Task-force Of Misery. Watch out, because here comes T.O.M." He laughed at his pun and threw Luna's limp body into the air.
"LUNA!" I jumped over the timber wolves, earning myself many slivers and scrapes, as I reached out and caught Luna. We fell into a roll across the floor and slid into a wall.
"Well, let us be off my associates." Ark opened another 3 rifts, into which he and his accomplices entered into one. After it closed, the timber wolves and skeletal version of King Gidorah also exited.
I sat there at the wall, holding the unmoving body of my beautiful princess. She opened her eyes and said, "Wow, I feel all tingly. What happened?"
I looked at her and smiled, "Don't worry about it, for now you just rest." I lifted her onto to my back and walked out the door, leaving behind the scene of chaos.
I woke up next to my beautiful bride-to-be. After the whole ordeal from last night, I had taken her straight to her room. After I had placed her in bed, I was kind of too tired to walk out and go to my own room, so I decided I would spend the night with her.
She was soundly sleeping, so I carefully got out of bed and tip-hoofed across the room towards the door. Once I got through the door and closed it, I immediately ran into the backside of a guard. "Oops, sorry. My bad."
The guard wasn't even phased. "I have been asked by Princess Celestia to escort you and Princess Luna to the conference room as soon as you woke up."
"Okay, about that. She is still sleeping..."
"What are you talking about Pure Heart, I'm right here."
I turned to see Luna standing right bedside me. "D'awww. Did I wake up bed head?"
"What?"
I gestured to her mane, and she immediately gave the cutest 'eep' and ran back into her room. "I'll will be there in just a second, I just have to fix my mane."
I chuckled, "Girls, right?"
The guard just stared blankly and shrugged.
"Okay... well, why don't you go ahead and lead the way...uh... Mr..."
"Commander Hurricane, at your service."
"Alright, Commander Hurricane, lead the way."
He then about faced and started walking briskly away from the door. I had to keep up my pace just to keep up.
When we had arrived, Commander Hurricane knocked on the door. "Please enter Commander." We walked through the threshold and what I saw didn't really surprise me.
A conference room with a large table sat in the middle. The Elements of Harmony sat around the table as well as Marcus and my parents. My mother was still kind of freaking out. "Holy crap! More talking horses!"
Face, meet hoof.
Celestia sat at the head of the table, like a baws. I mean seriously, all she needed was a cigar and she'd be the freakin' Godfather. She for some reason already had a cat. "Ms. Rarity, will you kindly remove your cat from my lap? She doesn't seem to want to retract her claws."
"Oh, I'm so sorry Princess. Let me take care of that."
After Rarity extracted Opal Essence, Celestia turned her attention to me. "Hello Pure Heart, how are you doing today?"
"Oh, you know. Same old, same old."
"Fanatastic. Where is my sister?"
"Right here." Luna came walking into the room, obviously no sign of her bed head was left.
"Look at who finally decided to join us," I teased.
She stuck her tongue out at me playfully and then sat down. I followed suit.
"Well, now that we are all here, let's get down to business." We all focused on Celestia and she cleared her throat. "First off, I would like to congratulate our newest couple, Pure Heart and Princess Luna." She paused, then said, "I hope you two have a wonderful life together. When will the wedding be?"
I looked at Luna and she looked at me. "I told you we should have planned that before hand," I teased.
She hoofed me in the shoulder. "You liar. I told you you we should have made the wedding date before."
"Oh, well excuse me Princess," I chuckled.
"Anyways, what month is it?"
"I think it is December."
"Okay, so how about on Hearts Warming Eve?"
"Sounds good to me."
My mother raised her hand. "Yes, Katie?" Celestia asked.
"When is that?"
I spoke up, "Christmas."
"Okay."
"Alright so that gives us 20 days to prepare, plenty of time."
Luna nodded, "Our wedding is in 20 days."
Cheers echoed through the room.
Celestia held up her hoof to silence everypony. "Splendid, preparations will begin immediately, as soon as we get permission from his parents." She turned to them and asked, "Mr. and Mrs. Heart, do you consent to letting your son marry my sister?"
They looked at each other and began whispering. When they finished they looked up and my dad said, "Zach, you are at an age when you can make your own decisions. I can't say that I agree with your logic, but if you are happy, then so are we."
"Thanks guys."
"Princess Luna?" She looked at my mom. "Please take care of my son."
She giggled, "I wouldn't have it any other way." I blushed.
Celestia cleared her throat, "Okay, well now onto our next topic: the current threat to Equestria. How are we to handle the Task-force Of Misery?"
Rainbow Dash replied, "Easy! We just shoot them with the Elements of Harmony."
"It's not that simple Dash," Twilight said.
"Correct. The Elements could handle one villain no problem. But three, that is something wait out of their league," Celestia explained.
"Well I for one intend to deal with Ark. He is my responsibility," I said.
"Very well, now who will take care of Discord?"
"We will," Twilight said.
"And I will take care of Nightmare Moon," Luna said.
"Agreed. Me and the guards will take care of his minions."
"And what can I do?" Marcus asked.
"You can be a cheer leader with the Doctor," I suggested with a smug.
"Seriously, are you serious."
"Of course."
"Good."
"You won't be here when any of this transpires. You and my parents will be back home safe and sound."
"Aw man. Come on, how else am I supposed to get in a relationship with Applejack?"
"Excuse meh?" AJ said with a raised eyebrow.
"Um, um. Nothing."
We all laughed.
"Alright now that we have all that straightened out, this meeting is now adjourned."
Everypony began to file out of the room and just as I was about to walk out, Celestia said, "Pure Heart, may I have a word with you in private?"
Luna looked backed at me and I said, "I'll be out in a few. Why don't you show my parents around?"
She nodded and gave me a quick peck on the cheek.
I walked back in and Celestia closed the door. "Pure Heart..."
"Yes Princess?"
"You do know what we must do to destroy Ark, right?"
"Yes..." I said solemnly.
"And you do know what will happen when he is gone, correct?"
My ears folded back, "Yes."
"And you still intend to marry my sister?"
I looked up at her with determination, "I do."
"Well, I hope you can explain to me what you plan to do. For there is only one way to fix a broken heart, as we both know, and my sister's will most definitely shatter when this event occurs."
I thought for a moment, then said, "Most everything can be broken, but the strongest force in the universe cannot even touch what me and Luna have."
"And what is that?" She inquired, even though she already knew the answer.
"True love. No matter the distance, no matter the situation, no matter the peril, love always finds a way. Love can break the very bonds of death, it can transcend time. With love, we can do anything."
"I am glad you know this. So you are prepared to do anything to keep her?"
"Okay Luna, just like I showed you." I was teaching her how to effectively use her twin blades in battle. I made them myself, so she could have her own swords that could split just like mine. One of them was sapphire and the other was onyx, of course both were strengthened by bits of diamond placed all throughout the structure of the blades.
Luna focused and then said, "SPLIT!" Her swords turned into multiple daggers, which see then proceeded to launch into a target. Each one hit dead center.
I clopped my hooves, "Brava! You're a natural!"
She blushed as she retrieved her daggers. "Ah, you're just saying that."
"Your right." I gave her a smug grin and she hoofed me in the shoulder. "Ow! You know if the daggers don't work on Nightmare Moon, you can always beat her to death." I gave her another smug grin which in turn earned me another hoof to the shoulder. "Ow! So abusive!"
She giggled, "You big foal."
"Oh, a foal am I! We'll just see who the foal is when I bring out the tickle hoof!" I held up my hoof in the air and held it there for a second as if the majesty of it was so awesome, it had to be shown off. I swear I heard a crack of thunder somewhere.
"No, not the almighty tickle hoof! Someone please save me!" She feigned in fear.
"Ahh!" I lunged at my fiancé and immediately began to tickle her.
"P-please! Have m-mercy upon m-me!" She said in a giggling fit.
"NEVER! Buwahaha!"
This went on for a couple minutes before I finally settled down. We got up and walked to the palace garden, over to our favorite spot: a patch of thick grass in the shade of a beautiful cherry blossom tree.
We laid down in our thicket of grass and rolled onto our backs so we could look up into the branches of the blossoming foliage. The freshly dewed grass moistened our coats as we settled in the shade of the tree. I cinched myself closer so I was right next to the love of my life.
"Luna?"
"Hmm?"
"Will you and I be together forever?"
"Of course."
"I mean in the sense of you being am immortal deity and I being a mortal unicorn. Will we still be together forever?"
"Yes Pure Heart, we will."
I turned on my side to face her and furrowed my brow. "But how?"
She kept looking up into the sky as she explained, "When you marry an alicorn, a reaction should occur that immortalizes the pony being wed to said alicorn."
I was kind of getting worried, "Should occur? Why would it not occur?"
"If the mortal's heart is not pure as a whole, then the immortalizing process will be reversed."
"Meaning what?"
She sighed, "Meaning that the mortal pony's life, instead of being extended, will be shortened…"
I gulped, "Really?"
"Really."
"By how much?"
Luna was really solemn now, "Well, let us just say that you would not see the birth of your first foal."
"… Are you pregnant?"
Luna turned to me quickly, "NO!"
"Thank goodness." I grinned.
"I am just saying that if I were to conceive sometime after our wedding, you would not live to see the birth of our first foal."
"Well, would there be any way of rectifying this?"
She turned back to face the sky. "Yes, if you were to make your heart whole and pure, then you would gain both of your wings."
"Wings? Wait, are you saying I get to be an alicorn?"
"Yes."
"Freakin' epic!" I turned to face the sky again and hoofpumped continually. After a minute of this, I said, "Wait, both of my wings?"
"Yes, when you get married to an alicorn, you will get one wing no matter what, the other one depends on you."
"This sounds oddly familiar. Oh well."
"Why the sudden interest in all of this?"
I tried to think of a way to explain it. "Well, in my culture, we believe that marriage can last for all eternity, even after we die. But only if we are sealed together in the correct setting."
"Oh! I see. So what you are saying is that you were worried that our love would not transcend time because we could not get married in this correct setting of yours. Am I correct?"
I nodded my head.
"Look at me Pure Heart."I turned on my side to stare into her eyes. "No matter what, we will always be connected. Love always find a way. We will be together forever."
"Promise?"
She smiled, "Promise."
I faced the sky again and yawned.
Luna giggled, "Looks like it past somepony's bedtime."
"No, I'm not tired really." I yawned again.
"Shh, it is okay. We can sleep here tonight," she said in a very soothing voice.
"Luna?" I whispered as I was falling asleep.
"Yes Pure?"
"I love you."
She smiled, "I love you, too." Her horn glowed to raise the moon and then she snuggled up close to me and fell asleep. We cuddled there all night long.
I am so nervous. I mean this is the happiest time of my life. But I can't shake the feeling something bad will happen.
"Okay darling, turn to the left."
"Okay."
Rarity insisted on making the wedding gown and was just putting the finishing touches on it. Of course, that meant I had to be in it, modeling for her.
"Ow!"
"Hold still dearie, I don't want to prick you again."
"Okay… Ms. Rarity?"
"Hmm?" She couldn't fully respond due to the needles occupying her lips.
"What do you do when you are nervous?"
"Smmpp," she said as she pulled out the pins in her mouth, "I go to the spa. I actually have an appointment this afternoon; would you care to join me?"
"That sounds… delightful." I said, wondering if she solved all her problems with a spa appointment.
Pure Heart's POV – Same Day
"What do you think about this one fellas," I asked the few males that I knew in Ponyville. I was trying on tuxedoes in Canterlot for the wedding. The current one was black with tassels going down the length of the sleeves.
"Nope," Big Mac stated flatly.
"He's right, unless you get a Stetson. Stetson's are cool," Doctor Hooves explained.
Then Spike said, "Yeah, it really screams 'Western', not 'Regal'."
Marcus, who was to be my best man, then stated, "Yeah, I agree with them. Try something else."
This went on for hours. We finally picked one that we all thought looked good. That and the fact that the shop owner was screaming at us to get out because it was closing time.
The tux was midnight black. The cummerbund and the bowtie were both azure blue and the vest was of course silver. I thought it accentuated Luna's beauty perfectly.
"Thanks guys, you don't know how much it means to me that you all came."
"No problem," Spike said.
"I might be mistaken, but aren't we supposed to host some kind of party in order to commemorate his last days of being a bachelor?" Doctor Whooves proposed.
"Eyup."
"Oh yeah. Well, what can we do?" I asked, not really knowing what a bachelor property consisted of.
"We could go see a movie," Spike suggested.
We all agreed and went to go see "The Mare in Black".
Two Hours Later
"I have never been so freaked out in my entire life," I said as we walked out of the theatre.
"I have been up against legions of extra terrestrials and didn't even bat an eyelash in fear, but that scared the ever loving strudels out of me," the Doctor stated.
"E-eyup." Even Big Mac was scared out of his wits from the movie.
"I don't get what you guys are so freaked out about," Spike said as he munched on some leftover popcorn. He was the only one who hadn't spilled his during the movie.
Marcus spoke up, "How did that movie not scare you?"
Spike explained, "Trust me, you haven't seen anything as bad as what I've seen."
"Like what?" I said in challenge.
Spike raised his eyebrow, "Twilight first thing in the morning. Especially after one of her all night study sessions."
We all shivered at the prospect. "Yep, you win."
"Well, I better get home. Twilight is probably wondering where I am."
"Ah will walk ya home. G'night evrapony," Big Macintosh said.
"What about you Doc, won't Derpy be worried?" I asked.
"Holy cow! Tonight was supposed to be the one I with her." He ran off in some random direction.
I looked at Marcus. "So, what now?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know about you, but I'm going to catch up with Big Mac so I can hang out with AJ. Bye!"
He quickly ran off before I could say anything.
"Okay, well I guess I will just go back to the palace," I said out loud to myself. I guess that gives me some time to think. I shrugged and started to walk back towards the castle.
As I walked back, I saw a quiet park with a dribbling fountain at its center. This looks as good a place as any to think for awhile. I sat down on a bench directly across from the fountain.
3 days. 3 days until I get married.
Are you nervous?
I nearly fell off the bench. Luna laughed as she landed right next to me.
"You know, I swear you and Tia must be part ninja or something!"
"What if I was? Would that be a bad thing?"
"No, it just makes me love you even more, and also makes me never want to piss you off for fear of finding a shuriken in my stomach one morning," I grinned.
"Is that even possible?" She said with a grin.
"I hope not, I don't want to die this young."
"No, the first thing."
"Oh, uh, remind me what I said. Short term memory loss is a curse in my family."
"The loving me even more, is that even possible?"
"Nope!"
She frowned.
I then laughed and nuzzled her up the neck, "It's hard to love someone more than life itself."
She instantly cheered up, "Well on a scale of 0 to 10, how much do you love me?"
I chuckled, "Well, let's just say it's over 9,000."
"What does that mean?"
"It means my love for you is greater than infinite times two."
"Well, okay then. I guess that will suffice." She grinned in an almost troll like manner.
I laughed, "Shall we go home?"
She kissed me on the cheek, "Home is wherever I'm with you."
"I love you too, but I was actually talking about the palace."
Pure Heart's POV – Hearts Warming Eve – Wedding Day
I ran towards the chapel at full speed. "Crap! Crap! CRAP! I'm gonna be late for my own wedding! Dumb parade! Of all the days, today they had to hold a celebration!"
I made it just in time. I wiped off the sweat from my head and walked briskly to the front.
The procession music started, and the crowd turned around. Sweetie Belle walked down the aisle in a poofy pink and white dress, scattering flower petals everywhere. She was so cute, I wish I had a camera.
Next, Celestia walked in and took her place in front as the Bride's Maid of Honor with Marcus escorting her as Best Man. Pipsqueak walked in, holding the bracelets on a pillow in his mouth. Finally, Luna walked in, her 10 foot long train being carried behind her by Applebloom and Scootaloo, both of whom had dresses like Sweetie Belle's only in their respective colors.
Rarity really outdid herself on Luna's dress. It was all white; beautiful sequins decorated the outside. The veil covered her face, but I didn't need to see it to tell she had the biggest grin plastered on under that piece of cloth.
She finally reached the front and the Cutie Mark Crusaders all went to find their seats among the crowd. Then everything seemed to get really quiet. The pastor turned around and said, "Mawage. Mawage is what…" *clears throat* "Ahem, excuse me. Marriage. An everlasting bond between two who love each other. That is why we are all gathered here today, to celebrate this momentous occasion.
"Marriage is the pivotal point in some cultures that determines if the two are really ready to make a commitment and cherish and nourish it. In a sense, this is just like a seed. When growing a seed, you can choose to take care of it, water it every day, make sure it gets enough sunlight, and protecting it from the harsh elements of nature. Or you can choose to neglect it, overwater it, not water it at all, and just let it fend for itself. Take these as you will, but remember to love each other, take care of each other, and communicate with each other.
"Now marriage is nothing to be afraid of, but also nothing to laugh at either. This is a serious step you two are taking in life. It comes with rewards, yes, but in order to reap those rewards you must endure trials. These trials will be difficult, but the benefits will be beyond your wildest expectations. Just remember to stay with each other through these trials, so that you both may partake from these amazing treasures.
"I expect that you two will live forever, for that very reason you must always remember each other's feelings in situations. This is because you will be put in spots in your life that you must make critical decisions that will affect your future. Remember you are as one now, don't fight or quarrel. When you do though, remember that you are together for the rest of eternity. So make up, forgive each other, and then forget why you were fighting. You will find this to be a great help in your life to come."
This went on for another half hour, him basically giving us advice about marriage how to live through it. Finally he got down to the actual wed process.
He turned to me, "Pure Heart, do you take Princess Luna, to have and to hold, through sickness and through health, to love her and to cherish her as your wife from now through the rest of all eternity?"
I looked at Luna and smiled, "I do."
The clergyman turned to Luna and continued, "Princess Luna, do you take Pure Heart, to have and to hold, through sickness and through health, to love him and to cherish him as your husband from now through the rest of all eternity?"
"I do."
The clergyman turned to the audience, "Is there anypony here that has a reason why these two should not be wed? If so, speak now or forever hold your peace."
The question was answered by silence.
"If there is no objection, then let us proceed. Where are the bracelets?"
"Here they are!" Pipsqueak ran over to the altar.
"Thank you. Now the exchanging of the bracelets will begin and then we will close this wedding." He stepped back.
I picked up Luna's left front hoof and said, "Luna, by wearing this band, you agree to love me and to cherish our love for eternity. Let this band remind you that my love is never ending." I then clasped the bracelet onto her ankle.
She picked up my left front hoof and said, "Pure Heart, by wearing this band, you agree to love me and to cherish our love for eternity. Let this band remind you that my love is never ending." With that, she clasped the band around my leg.
The clergyman began again, "These bands can never be removed. No force in existence can separate them from your bodies. Let this symbolize that your love each other can also never be destroyed. You two are now bound for time and all eternity. With that being said. By the power invested upon me, from Princess Celestia and the deity of creation itself, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
I turned to Luna and lifted her veil. I then leaned in and kissed her square on the lips. As soon as I did, we were engulfed by a bright light.
The crowd was very bewildered by this spectacle of light. They "ooed" and "awed" as the light danced around our bodies.
Twilight turned around because she heard crying, and she saw Rainbow dabbing her eyes. "Rainbow Dash, are you crying?"
"N-no! The light is r-really bright and in my eyes, that's all."
Twilight rolled her eyes and turned back around to face the light.
Other side of the room
"Applejack! I see the light! I think it's time for me to go home!"
"Na Granny Smith, it's just a life altering transformation."
"Ah poo."
As soon as the light subsided, the whole crowd gasped.
"So they go and get married, huh?" Nightmare Moon said incredulously.
"Oh, I just adore weddings! We should get them a gift, maybe a little bit of chaos..." Discord suggested, his claws beginning to glow.
"No, no. Save it for when we actually face them. Besides, I'm sure they are having a little chaos of their own right now," I retorted.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, in fact, I'm sure of it. They no doubt are very flustered at the moment."
"Well, fine. So why are we here again?"
"We are plotting our evil scheme to bring ruin to Equestria, are we not?" Nightmare inquired.
"That is correct," I said with a grin.
"Alright, but quick question. If your alternates have gotten married, does that mean you two are as well?" Discord asked with a smug grin.
I immediately bucked him in the stomach, "No you imbecile!"
"Seriously Discord, can you not go without chaos for a microsecond?" Nightmare spat.
He shrugged off the blow and said, "Meh, it's an obsession."
I waved my hoof, "Whatever, back to business, unless you want to make anymore witty remarks."
"No, but I think Nightmare might."
I sighed, "Yes?"
"Well it's more of an observation," she said.
"Go on."
"Why do you have a wing?"
"Ah, so you had noticed. Very good. Well as you know, me and Pure Heart once shared a body."
"Alright."
"As well, you know when a mortal pony is married to an alicorn, they also become an alicorn."
"Yes, so?"
"So, Pure Heart did not become an alicorn because when we split, I took half of his heart, the evil half. So he does not have a complete heart, therefore, only has one wing. Since I have the other half..."
"You got the other wing," Discord exclaimed.
"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock." I rolled my eyes.
"So what are you planning to do about the wing imbalance?" Nightmare asked.
"Oh you will see. Now onto the actual battle strategy."
"Okay, well I want my revenge on those prissy little Elements for encasing me in stone," Discord demanded.
"Granted, though what will your strategy be this time. We all know how your maze plan went last time."
"Pfft. Of course, what makes you think I was going with that again?" He shifted his eyes back and forth repeatedly.
"... That was your plan, wasn't it?"
He cast his eyes downward, "Maybe..."
Facehoof. "Okay let's discuss your plan will be. Afterward, we will discuss the plans to take out Celestia, Luna, the guards, and Pure Heart."
"Agreed." They both confirmed.
Hours later
"Alright, so my armies of mutants will take care of Celestia and the guards. Nightmare Moon will do away with Luna. Discord of course has the Elements. And I will have my way with Pure Heart. Are we all agreed?"
"Yes."
"Good, then our plans will take effect one month after their honeymoon. That will give us plenty of time to prepare. As of now this meeting is adjourned."
I woke up the next morning and felt the carriage moving. Oh, that's right. It takes about a day and a half to reach our destination by normal transportation. I looked over at Pure Heart, who was busy reading a pamphlet about our honeymoon location.
"Good morning love," he said without looking away from his reading material. "How did you sleep?"
"I had the craziest dream that you only had one wing."
He chuckled, "Sorry, that wasn't a dream." He extended his single wing.
"Oh..." I began to tear up.
Seeing this, he put down the pamphlet and wrapped me in his legs. "Hey, this is our honeymoon. It is supposed to be full of joy and love. So let's just forget about what the future holds and live in the moment, at least for a week. Okay?"
I sniffled, "'Kay..."
He held me closer and began to stroke his hoof through my mane. "Good, now other than that realization, how did you sleep?"
I wiped away the tears and said, "Well I slept pretty well, it was as if I wasn't wearing a hot polyester dress." I looked down at myself and found that I wasn't in fact wearing my dress, rather, I was in what seemed to be an extra large t-shirt that covered my entire body. Across the front it said: ADHD means Attention Deficit Hypera- Oh, SHINY! "I don't remember changing into this shirt last night. Nor do I remember even having a shirt like this."
He smiled, "It was a wedding present from Marcus to me. But I saw that you could use it a lot more when you began to sweat profusely and seemed to be very uncomfortable. So, I simply undressed and redressed you. Thank goodness your such a heavy sleeper."
I hoofed him in the shoulder, "I could of done it myself." A large blush appeared on my face.
He chuckled while rubbing his bruised appendage, "But you looked so peaceful that I couldn't bring myself to wake you up for something so trivial."
I blushed even more, then I kissed him on the lips. "Well, thank you."
"Your welcome."
It was silent for a couple of minutes. "So, what do you want to do? We still have half a day until we arrive." I asked.
He grinned seductively, "I can think of a few things." He leaned in closer as if to kiss me, which I prepared to do, since I thought I knew where he was going with this. As soon as he was an inch away from my face, he took a deep breath. "PLAY ROAD GAMES!"
I nearly fell over from shock, "Great, I married a colt."
"I heard that."
Three hours later, I was about ready to jump out of the carriage.
"Okay, I spy with my little eye something green."
I sighed, "Is it a tree?"
"Man, you are really good at this game. Your turn."
This is how it had gone for the last three hours, the first hour being used to decide we couldn't play the license plate game and then playing 4 rounds of 20 questions, which I won each time. But the last two hours were filled with us playing I Spy. Every time he picked one of 5 things: a tree, the sky, the road, a rock, and me. "You go again, I pass."
"Okey dokey. Let's see here... hmmm. Oh! I got it! I spy with my little eye something blue."
"Is it me?"
Somehow he made an audible snap. "Dang it, how did you guess?"
I sighed again and leaned out the window. "Excuse me, driver, when will we arrive at the location of our honeymoon?"
"Around 6 PM."
"And what time is it now?"
He checked his sundial watch. "About noon."
"Alright, thank you."
"Your quite welcome, m'lady."
I pulled my head back into the carriage. Six hours. Only six hours to go. You can do this Luna.
"Your turn again," Pure Heart announced.
"Fine. I spy with my little eye something red with brown hair."
"Oh man, a real toughie. Hmmm. Oh! That rock!"
A loud slap could be heard as I facehoofed hard. This is going to be the longest six hours of my life.
1 PM
"The wheels on the carriage go round and round, round and round, round and round. Oh, the wheels on the carriage go round and round, all day long. Mare in the carriage goes thwack thwack thwack, thwack thwack thwack, thwack thwack thwack. Oh, the mare in the carriage goes thwack thwack thwack, as she gets a concussion from hitting her head on the wall," Pure Heart sang.
2 PM
"3,783 bottles of apple cider on the wall, 3,783 bottles of apple cider. You take one down and pass it around. 3,782 bottles of apple cider on the wall."
4 PM
"Okay, here's one. What's black and blue and red all over?"
"Me, as soon as I find something hard enough to bash my head on."
5 PM
"... and when the stallion's toast had finally popped up, he walked over to the cupboard and opened it. It no sooner appeared to him that something was off. He let out a blood-curdling scream."
"What was wrong?" I asked, mildly interested.
"They were all out of zap apple jelly! Dun, dun, duhhhh! Ooooo, spooky!"
I immediately facehoofed, "I said 'Ghost Story', not 'Toast Story'."
"Oh! Well, that makes SO much more sense!"
Oh sweet Celestia, help me!
Nope! Trollestia strikes again!
6 PM
"Okay everypony! Last stop: Neighagra Falls!" The driver opened the door and I immediately jumped out just to land on my face.
With a mouth full of dirt I said, "Thank goodness!"
Pure Heart stepped out and said, "Sheesh, it wasn't that bad! And if it was, then why didn't we just teleport here?"
I looked at Pure Heart with my mouth agape, all the dirt falling out. I then proceeded to facehoof over and over again.
Trollestia – 2. Luna – 0.
"Hey are there pharmacies in Equestria?"
I looked up at Pure Heart with a confused look, "Yes?"
"Oh, that's good. I just remembered that I ran out of adderall this morning."
I raised an eyebrow, "Adde-what?"
"I'm ADHD, I thought it was obvious, especially with that t-shirt."
"What does that stand for?"
"Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. A chemical imbalance that makes it harder for me to concentrate. Adderall keeps that in check, which means it keeps me calm and focused. I'm pretty sure Pinkie Pie is ADHD as well, which means she definitely does NOT take medication. Sorry if I might have acted a little nuts on the ride here. Luna? Are you okay?"
You knew about this, didn't you Tia?
I could just see her huge grin. Maybe...
I'm going to freaking kill you!
Huzzah! The fun has been tripled!
"Luna?"
I blinked a few times, "Huh?"
Pure Heart had a worried facial expression, "You seemed to kinda space out for a second there."
I smiled, "Don't worry about. Let's just enjoy ourselves, okay?"
He smiled back, "Sounds like a plan, Stan. You go inside and I'll get our bags."
I nodded and walked into the cabin which had an exquisite view of the falls.
Pure Heart's POV
"Are you ready?"
"I guess. This is safe, right?"
"Of course, I've seen people doing it back on Earth hundreds of times."
"You've seen people doing it?"
"Of course, why else would I want to try it. It looks like so much fun!"
"Well, okay."
"You sure you are ready? Once I get in there, there is no turning back."
"Yes, I'm ready. Your wearing protection, right?"
I knocked on my bright red helmet. "Of course, give me some credit. I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid."
"Says the guy climbing in a barrel, preparing to fall down one of the biggest waterfalls in the world," she said.
"Let's do this thing!" I jumped into the barrel and pulled down the goggles over my face. "Come on!"
"Come on what?"
"Get in!"
"Uh, no."
"Come on."
"Nope."
"You are coming with me!" My horn lit up and she was teleported into the barrel with me.
"No!"
"Yes! Here we go!"
"Oh my sweet mother of Celestia!" She grasped onto my body with all her might and I laughed.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" We both screamed at the top of our lungs.
KER-SPLASH!
The barrel resurfaced and I popped my head out. "Woo-hoo! That was freakin' amazing! Don't you think Luna? Uh, Luna?" She was completely soaked and had a fish poking out of her mouth. Her wet mane stuck to her face.
"Blech! I hate fish!"
"Well I would imagine so, since were vegetarians."
She gave me an evil glare, or what I thought must have been one. I couldn't really see her eyes through the mess of her wet mane covering her face. "You know what I mean!"
"Ah come on, you know that was fun," I said as I began to paddle back to the shore.
She giggled, "Okay, maybe it was a little fun. But I know something even more fun."
"What might that be?" I asked as we reached the shoreline.
"It's back at the cabin," she said with a seductive smile.
"Oh, I get it. Well let's go." I said as I helped her out of the barrel.
"Let's," she purred.
"By the way, you look super sexy when your soaked," I said with a grin.
The next morning, we woke up together in a loving embrace. "Good morning love," I whispered into her ear, then gave it a little lick.
She giggled, "Good morning. What do you want to do today?"
"As long as I'm with you, I don't care."
She thought for a moment, "Maybe we could go to the beach, I have always wanted to try snorkeling."
"Sounds good to me. And it just so happens I know how to snorkel." I said puffing out my chest.
"Oh really? Well then, I guess you can teach me."
"I would love that."
I began to pack beach towels, an umbrella, sunscreen (though I'm not entirely sure why we even had it), and a picnic to eat while there. Luna went out to get instructions as to where the beach was.
When she returned, she had on a sunhat and sunglasses. "Are you ready to go?"
"Readiff!" I said through the handle of the picnic basket in my mouth.
"Then let's go!" Her horn lit up and we were instantly transported to the sandy destination.
"Yeah!" Luna said as she ran out into the water.
I chuckled at her antics as I began to set up.
10 minutes later, I had finished putting up the umbrella, laying out the towels and spreading out the picnic. Luna came out of the water and said, "So, are you going to teach me how to snorkel?"
I smiled, "Of course. But first, I have to teach you a couple of things about the equipment."
"What is there to teach, you just put on the mask, don't you?"
"See, that is where you are mistaken. First you gotta spit in the mask."
"Spit in it?" She asked with a disgusted look.
"Yep, then you spread it out. Like this." I demonstrated spitting in it, then wiping the spit around on the inside.
"That is disgusting. What, pray tell, is this supposed to accomplish?"
"Makes it so the mask doesn't fog up when your in the water."
"Oh, well I guess that makes sense." She spat in her mask and wiped it around.
"Now, we put on the flippers." I helped her put on the webbed shoes then put on my own. "And put the snorkel in our mouth." I put mine in my mouth. "And we r eady to go!" I said through the snorkel, making it hard to understand.
"Alright!" She ran to the water, then tripped over one of the fins.
I sighed and turned around to begin walking backwards to where she fell. Once I reached her, I helped her up, taking the snorkel out of my mouth. "Are you okay?"
"Yes."
"Yeah, I probably should of explained how to walk on land with these on." I lifted up my front right leg and shook it to gesture to the flipper. "You have to walk backwards on land, so you don't trip over them."
"Anything ELSE you would like to mention before we actually start?" She said with anger in her voice.
"Yeah, don't touch anything that doesn't look right." At that I walked backwards into the water and Luna followed suit.
After a couple hours of exploring the ocean life and actually meeting kelpies(sea ponies), I decided to come back to shore. Luna stayed out in the water, busy talking to the aquatic horses.
It was about then I grew a devious grin and started digging a hole.
After another hour of digging, the sun was beginning to set. The hole was finally deep enough, so I jumped into it and used magic to bury myself up to my neck in sand. I levitated my sunglasses over to my head and put them on, and waited for Luna to come back to shore. This is going to be great.
I sat there for awhile, watching sand crabs shuffle across the surface of the beach. Finally, Luna came back to the beach, walking backwards out of the water. This was it, I laid my head on the ground with one of my eyes partially closed, my tongue flopped out to the side.
"Pure Heart, you should have seen it, the kelpies have built a large civilization under water." She slowly turned around. "And there was a this manta ray that... Oh my gosh!" She screamed as she ran over to my the spot where my head was.
While she was fretting over why my head was lying on the beach with my body nowhere in sight, I slowly retracted my tongue. "BOO!"
"What the buck!" She screamed.
I began to laugh hysterically.
"Oh you thought that was funny, huh? Well you will think this is hilarious!" She grew a devilish grin as she raised the full moon. "I hope you are part kelpie, because tonight is high tide!" She laughed maniacally as she walked away.
"Luna, it was just a joke! Come on, don't leave me here! Luna?" Just then the sea level rose a little, causing the tide to come up farther, water licking my throat. "LUNA!"
The Last Night – Luna's POV
"Wow, this sure has been a fun week, hasn't it?" Pure Heart asked me.
"It sure has, though I am saddened that it has to end." I put on a pouty face.
"Now come on, we still have a one more night. Let's enjoy it. Besides, I have a surprise for you."
I instantly perked up, "What is it?"
"I just said it's a surprise, silly filly." He teased. "Now, put on this blindfold and I will take you there."
"Fine."
Ten minutes later, we had stopped. "Are you ready?"
I giggled, "Yes!"
"Okay, take off the blindfold."
I did so and was definitely surprised. He had led us to a secluded area in some forest with a blanket spread out on the ground. Candles lit up the area as well as my moon shining directly over head. On the blanket was an array of food such as daisy sandwiches and hay spaghetti. It was definitely romantic beyond belief.
He took me by the hoof and led me over to the blanket and beckoned me to sit down, which I did.
"I'll be right back." He ran out of sight and left me for a couple seconds.
When he came back he had a guitar. "I didn't know you could play the guitar."
He shrugged, "I can't, but I have been practicing to play a song for you. Ready for it?"
I squealed with delight. "Yes!"
He tuned up and cleared his throat.
"You're better then the best I'm lucky just to linger in your light Cooler than the flip side Of my pillow, that's right
Completely unaware Nothing can compare to where You send me, lets me know that it's okay Yeah, it's okay And the moments where my good times start to fade
You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed Sing like bird, dizzy in my head Spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe Shine like gold, buzz like a bee Just the thought of you can drive me wild Oh, you make me smile
Even when you're gone, Somehow you come along just like A flower pokin' through the sidewalk crack And just like that You steal away the rain, and just like that
You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed Sing like bird, dizzy in my head Spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe Shine like gold, buzz like a bee Just the thought of you can drive me wild Oh, you make me smile
Don't know how I lived without you 'Cause every time that I get around you I see the best of me inside your eyes You make me smile
You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe Shine like gold, buzz like a bee Just the thought of you can drive me wild
You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed Sing like bird, dizzy in my head Spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe Shine like gold, buzz like a bee Just the thought of you can drive me wild Oh, you make me smile Oh, you make me smile Oh, you make me smile Oh, you make me smile Oh, you make me smile."
At the end of the song, I couldn't help but smile so big that it hurt my cheeks.
"I love you Luna. And I want to be with you forever."
I wiped my nose, "I love you too, Pure Heart. I can't think of anyone else I would rather spend eternity with." I jumped up and ran into his outstretched forelegs.
I woke up to another bright and shiny day. I turned to look at my wife and she was staring at me. I ginned, "What?"
"Oh, nothing. Just watching you sleep is all."
I chuckled, "You, my dear, have just achieved creeper status."
"Oh, so watching your spouse while they sleep is a crime now?"
I thought for a moment. "I guess not, though now I feel like I have a stalker," I teased.
She hoofed me in the shoulder, although not as hard as usual. "What's wrong Luna?"
She looked at me with her sparkling eyes, "Whatever do you mean?"
I sighed, "You know what I mean. You are hiding something, what is it?"
She looked away, "I-it is nothing. Really."
"Luna?" I said with my contempt tone. "Don't lie to me, I know there is something bothering you. As your eternal companion, I am here to help you through all your problems, no matter how big or small they may be." I reached over with my one wing and nudged her closer. "I love you, and I want to help you."
I didn't realize until then that she had begun to cry when she turned from me. The only reason I knew now was because of the moisture that had begun to collect between my pinions.
She spoke in a whispered tone, "I'm just so scared."
"Luna, you have nothing to fear. There is nothing in this world that could possibly hurt you. I mean your a goddess, how could you be afraid of anything with the power of the night at your beck and call. And if that isn't enough, you have me, the one that loves you with all of his heart and soul, to protect you whenever you are in trouble."
She continued to cry, "But that's just it. You don't have much longer, Pure Heart. I don't think I could live without you here. The very thought of us not being together keeps me up at night, frightened of being alone. Do you know what it's like to be alone?"
"...Yes, I do know what it feels like to be alone, though I have not felt it for a thousand years of banishment to the Moon. But all my life, I always felt it. Now I may have had the love of my huge family, I always thought that I would never find the one that would love me forever. I don't know if you knew this, but before I met you, I suffered from depression. I often thought that I wasn't worth the space I occupied or the air I breathed."
She turned to me, still sobbing. "You did?"
I nodded, "Yes, I even had made a couple attempts on... well, that isn't important. My point is: yes, I know how you feel. If anything ever happened to you, I would never be able to recover. That is why I devote my life to protect you. And if anything ever happens to me, well, you won't be alone." I pulled her into a hug and began to stroke her mane. "You have your sister, you have Twilight Sparkle, and Fluttershy, and everypony else. They all love you. But I promise you, even if I were to pass on, I would climb out of the very pits of Tartarus and beat down the armies of evil creatures with my bare hoofs to get back to you."
"Really?" She stopped crying, but continues to sniffle.
"Really really."
She through her arms around my neck, "Pure Heart, I am so lucky to have you."
I smirked, "Yes. Yes you are."
She hoofed me in the shoulder again, the same amount of energy she usually did. "There's the fire I know and love," I chuckled as I rubbed my shoulder.
She hugged me tightly and I hugged her back, encircling her with my one wing. We sat there for a while before I spoke. "Do you know when I first began to love you?"
"No, tell me."
"Well, I had just finished a two month service in another land. In my culture, this was kind of a way to tell if we were ready to face the world, but usually those who go on these expeditions go for at least two years."
"Why didn't you?" Luna inquired.
I rubbed the back of my head, "I was sent home early due to 'medical problems'." I gestured with air quotes.
"What does that mean?"
I sighed, "It means that I don't exactly want to talk about it, so let's just say it was leg injury."
"Okay, continue."
"Alright. So I came home early, and was immediately thrust back into the real world. It wasn't an easy adjustment, and I wasn't sure if I could handle it. But one day, I went to my friend's house to hang out with him and Marcus. You remember him, right?"
"Ah yes, the one who seemed quite obsessed with Miss Applejack."
"Yep. Well, this was the first time I had seen them in two months, and I was so excited to see them again. We did all of our usual things, play card games and watch videos. But Marcus had told me that we should watch this show. Now when he told me about it, I instantly felt like he had gone insane because he was talking about a show that was meant to be for little girls."
"Ah, this My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic show is what you are talking about, correct?"
"Yes it is. Now, I was reluctant at first, but after watching one episode, I knew I was hooked. I watched all the episodes in one night. I loved it. But there was one episode that I loved the most. The one where it introduced you. As soon as I saw you, I knew you were the one for me."
"Ahhh, Pure Heart." She kissed me tenderly on the lips.
A few more minutes later, I spoke again, "Come on, we should probably get ready. We have that big political conference today."
Her face twisted in annoyance. "Ugh, didn't we just have one a couple days ago," she whined.
"No, your thinking of the Equestrian ambassador convention."
"You know what I mean. They are all so... so..."
"Boring." I mused
"Disgustingly so. I think I'd rather be turned to stone by a cockatrice than listen to a bunch of democrats talking about the latest legislation for health care."
I smiled, "Maybe we'll get lucky and two of them will get into a hoof fight over whether to raise or lower taxes."
"If only..." she sighed.
"Come on, I'll race you to the shower."
"Your on."
After taking a shower, together, we brushed each others manes and got dressed in our royal garbs.
We walked out of the room and into the corridor.
"Good morning your majesties." The guard in front of our door said.
"Good morning Captain Reed."
"May I escort you and the princess to breakfast?"
"Sure."
A couple minutes later, we were in the dining hall, eating our daisy and fruit salads.
Celestia came in, "Good morning you two."
"Good morning Tia," said Luna.
"Good morning Celestia. How did you sleep last night?"
"Great. Although, I have to say it's odd to see you up and around."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, usually Luna sleeps during the day and is awake all night. You know, her being the night goddess and all."
"Tia! Shh!" Luna exclaimed.
"Wait, you sleep during the day? I can't believe I was so ignorant. Is there anything else I should know, Luna?"
"Weeeelllll... I didn't wake up before you this morning, I was actually awake all night long."
"You didn't sleep at all! Wait, that means you were up all night staring at me! CREEPER OVERLOAD!"
"Hey, I was just trying to adjust to your sleeping schedule."
"Luna, you have some serious jet lag issues going on here."
"Huh?"
"What I mean is, I should be the one adjusting to your sleep schedule. I mean, your the goddess of the Moon, you are the embodiment of the night. How do you expect to sustain yourself if you don't sleep."
"I just wanted to make sure you stay healthy." She turned away.
"Look at me." She turned to look me in the face. "From now on, you will sleep during the day and stay awake at night. I will adjust my sleep schedule to yours."
"But..."
"No buts. Go back to our room, drink some tea to help you relax, and go to bed."
"Fine." She got up and stomped out of the dining room.
"Captain Reed."
The guard stepped out of the shadows. "Yes my liege?"
"Okay, first of all, that was awesome. Second of all, please escort Princess Luna to her room." I motioned him closer and whispered in his ear. "Take this powder and mix it into her tea. Make sure she drinks the entire cup."
"What is it?"
"Something to help her relax."
"Yes sir." He took the powder and followed my upset wife out of the room.
As soon as I was sure they were out of ear shot, I started banging my head onto the table.
"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"
"Uh, Pure Heart?" Celestia concerned.
I held up my hoof, while resting my head on the table, signaling her to give me a minute.
I brought up my head high and finally slammed it into the table as hard as I could. "STUPID!" The table cracked then split in half where I had pounded my head.
After resting for a moment, I sat up and said, "Yes, Tia?"
Her mouth was completely agape, her eyes wide open in shock "Are you okay?"
"Never better. Why do you ask?"
She gestured to her own head to point out something on mine. I reached up and felt something wet. I looked my hoof... blood. I held up a spoon to see my face. There was a trickle of blood coming from my forehead.
I chuckled, "Well that is going to need some stitches. Or super glue, although that didn't go over so well last time."
I had a flashback to a couple of months earlier, back on Earth when I was in the distant land trying to fix my glasses with tape, a paperclip, and a tube of krazy glue. And, well, let's just say that wiping sweat off your face after using super glue is a bad idea. That was fun trying to explain to what happened to the paramedics.
Celestia brought me out of it by coughing.
"Sorry, flashback. You were saying."
"Yes, doesn't that hurt?"
"Meh. Merely a flesh wound."
"You broke the table in half," she said with a sadistic look.
"Well I might have a concussion tomorrow, but really, I'm fine," I said with a grin, holding a napkin to my head to stop the bleeding.
"...Okay. Anyways, what are you going to do to adjust to my sister's sleep schedule?"
"I'll manage. I'm really focusing on your sister right now."
"I hope you know that she isn't sleeping because she is scared for you."
"I know."
"So how do you plan on rectifying this?"
I sighed, "I have no idea, do you?"
She thought for a moment, "Well it seems to me what has her upset is your current lifespan."
I looked back at my one wing and fluttered it, remembering that discussion between me and Luna. "Right, but what do I have to sacrifice to do that?"
She shook her head, "That I do not know. I guess we will just have to hope that an opportunity presents itself."
"...Alright. Thanks Tia."
"No problem. What are you going to do now?"
"Well somepony still has to go to that conference."
"Don't worry about that, you go be with my sister."
"You sure?"
"Well we certainly don't want Luna to turn into stone now, do we?"
"Yeah I guess your ri... Hey wait a second! Were you listening in on our conversation?"
She held up her hoof to her muzzle, raising her eyebrows, and said, "Maybe..."
"You were!"
"... I demand a lawyer!" She said playfully.
I rolled my eyes, "Whatever..."
As I began to get up and walk out, she stopped me.
"By the way, what did you give Captain Reed to put in my sister's tea?"
I laughed, "Just a heavy sedative to help her sleep."
"Well, as long as you never do that to me," she said as she picked up her own cup of tea.
"Oh, then you might not want to drink that tea."
Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she spurted out the liquid.
"Psych! Don't troll with me!" I laughed as I teleported out.
Celestia grabbed a napkin and dabbed her face, "What am I gonna do with those two?"
I slowly opened my eyes to see the final rays of the sunset, casting an orange-red hue into our bedroom.
Another beautiful night, I thought. I turn and look at my sleeping beauty and smile. The sun's light danced upon her ever flowing mane, giving it the almost mirror image of the setting sun outside.
Now that I was adjusted to her night schedule, which I was impressed with myself in doing so in only two weeks, I could spend the entire night with her. Okay, so maybe I cheated a little by using heavy sedatives, but I think it still counts.
I reached over to Luna and nudged her.
She waved me off, as if trying to swat a fly. After poking her a couple times, she responded by slamming her hoof into my head. "Stupid alarm clock..." she mumbled.
I held my head in pain. Man, and I just got my stitches out, too. Well, I guess we will have to do this the hard. I sighed.
I grabbed her snout, covering her nostrils, and waited.
After a couple of seconds, she shot up. "You... *deep breath*... jerk... *gasp*."
"Sorry, but it's time to raise the moon," I whispered.
"Oh, fine." Her horn glowed and the sun disappeared over the horizon, making way for the moon to occupy the heavens. "There. Happy?" She turned and plopped back onto the bed.
"Nope." I kissed her nape, "Time to get ready, too."
She sighed, "Five more minutes..."
"I'll give you five more seconds before I call for the Troll."
Celestia popped her head in, "Did somepony call the Banana Queen?"
Luna's eyes shot open, "I'm awake! I'm awake! SEE!" She jumped out of bed and ran for the bathroom.
I chuckled as I walked over to Tia, who was still at the door. "Works every time." She gave me a high hoof and then closed the door.
About 40 minutes later, Luna and I were out walking the streets of Canterlot, doing what we did every night. TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD! Not really, we were just patrolling the streets, watching over the night. Usually Luna would fly when going about these duties. (Tee-hee, duties.) But since I had a... wing situation, she thought it best to just stay close to me and walk.
"Dang useless wing, can't fly with it or even hover, and now I can barely walk without stumbling," I whined.
Luna giggled, "Well maybe if you kept it tucked in, you would not be so off balanced."
"I can't help it, it's got a mind of it's own. See!" It began to flutter as if trying to lift off.
"You will learn how to control that eventually. Until then, we will just tie it down." Luna produced a rope out of seemingly nowhere.
"Where did that come from?"
"Oh, I always have some on me. You know, just in case." She gave me a smile, of which I could not discern whether it was seductive or just plain evil.
"You scare me sometimes."
"I scare myself sometimes," she said as she finished tying down my erect wing.
"Okay, status update: scared to uber creeped out." I said with a smile.
She hoofed me in the shoulder. "Now I am offended. Quick, make it up to me before I send you to the sun." She said feigning to cry.
"Oh fine. How about I sing to you?" I asked.
Her eyes lit up, "Okay! But not here." Her horn glowed and then we teleported.
We landed in a glade in Everfree Forest. "Wow, I never knew Everfree could be so pretty." I was quite amazed by the scene that lay before me. The glade was in a clearing from the trees, so we could see the glimmering stars shining bright along with her yellow-white moon's radiance casting it's beams of light across a pond of lily pads, causing the red water lilies to bloom from there diurnal slumber. Fireflies cascaded across the surface of the pond, dancing and blinking and shimmering. It made me want to cry from the pure beauty.
I turned to look at my beautiful princess, who also was admiring the beauty of this magnificent setting. She stared at the flashing lights of the firebugs, and I nearly completely broke down in tears of joy, seeing how majestic and lovely she was.
"Ahem." She looked at me with those eyes of spectacular wonder. "You ready?" She nodded. "'Kay." I cleared my throat again, a little nervous because I wasn't the best at singing accapella.
"When I see your smile Tears run down my face I can't replace And now that I'm strong I have figured out How this world turns cold and it breaks through my soul And I know I'll find deep inside me I can be the one
I will never let you fall(let you fall) I'll stand up with you forever I'll be there for you through it all(though it all) Even if saving you sends me to heaven
It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. Seasons are changing And waves are crashing And stars are falling all for us Days grow longer and nights grow shorter I can show you I'll be the one
I will never let you fall (let you fall) I'll stand up with you forever I'll be there for you through it all (through it all) Even if saving you sends me to heaven
Cuz you're my, you're my, my, my true love, my whole heart Please don't throw that away Cuz I'm here for you Please don't walk away and Please tell me you'll stay, stay
Use me as you will Pull my strings just for a thrill And I know I'll be okay Though my skies are turning gray
I will never let you fall I'll stand up with you forever I'll be there for you through it all Even if saving you sends me to heaven."
When I finished, she was in tear. She quickly embraced me. "I take it I'm forgiven then?" I said smugly.
"Shut up and kiss me," she whispered.
I did so, and our lip entwined with each other passionately in pure love. We stood there for several minutes, embraced in perpetual bliss as fireflies swirled around us.
When we finally parted for air, she said, "Will you really always be there for me?"
"Of course. No matter what, I will always be there to protect you."
"Why?"
I smiled at her innocence. "Because you are my true love as well as my whole heart."
"Ahh, Pure Heart." She blushed a deep crimson.
I laughed a little, "I love you."
"I love you, too." She nuzzled my neck which I gladly returned.
We stood there for a while longer, unaware of the sudden decrease in temperature or that the fireflies all seemed to disperse and then disappear.
"Ahh, isn't that sweet? Don't you think so?"
"Oh yes. So much so, that it will be even more satisfying when we ruin this moment."
I stepped back and turned wildly, "Ark!"
Luna also turned, "And Nightmare Moon!"
"Ah, so glad you remember us." Ark said amused.
"Yes, and as I said before, it is time to end this love scene."
"Where are you? Show yourself!" I demanded.
They laughed haughtily. "All in good time. But first, let's take this to a more appropriate setting." Suddenly a portal appeared below us and we fell into one of Ark's rifts.
We came out on some kind of deserted plane. It was all flat and dusty, no signs of life at all. I wonder if I'm back home?
"Where are we?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Wait is that Princess Luna and Pure Heart?" Twilight shaded her eyes and looked in our direction.
"Yes, and I see Princess Celestia as well." Said Fluttershy looking in the opposite direction.
"Girls! It's great to see you and all, but I don't think this is the best time for a reunion." Tia said as she began to walk toward them. We also began walking in their direction. But before we got close to even greet them properly, walls shot out of the ground, followed by a ceiling covering the top, effectively separating us.
"Luna!"
"I'm fine. What about everypony else?"
"Good."
"Fine."
"Couldn't be better."
"Ah, filth!" I rolled my eyes at Rarity's reaction.
"Present."
"Presents! Where!"
"Eeep!"
"Great. So what happened?" I asked.
"Hmm. It appears to be something like Discord's maze." Luna said. "Though with stone walls instead of hedges."
"I believe you are right Princess Luna. Though this one feels a little different than last time." Twilight speculated.
"Ah, good observation my dear." Discord's voice seemed to permeate from the walls.
"Yes, though the difference you sense is quite simple to explain." Nightmare Moon's came from the ceiling.
Then Ark's voice sounded from the ground. "The difference you feel is the sense of your impending doom!"
The halls echoed with their combined evil laughter.
"Now then, let's explain what is happening. You are all in my nether realm for a game."
"Oooo! I just love, love, LOVE games! Oh, what is it? Pin the tail on the pony? Twister? Oh, I hope it's Duck, Duck, Michael Jackson!"
The other elements gave her a strange look.
"What?"
"No, you ridiculous pink puff! It's called 'You Lose'!" Ark said.
"Well, that doesn't sound nearly as much fun. I was ready to go all: uh, uh, uh, Tee-Hee!"
"Will somepony please shut her up?" Nightmare said.
"Mgphfudh trghrf!" Pinkie muffled through the zipper that was now in place of her mouth.
"Thank you Discord. Now, onto what happens in this game."
"I JUST LOST THE GAME!" Celestia screamed.
I facehoofed.
"Frickin' frickity frick! Tia, you troll! I had almost gone 6 months without losing it!" I screamed.
"Sorry!"
"...Anyways, so each group will end up facing a counterpart or other force. You will all proceed down your respective hallways. Once entering, all magic and flying will be negated, so don't even try. You will be forced to fight or wander aimlessly through a uncomprehendingly difficult maze, depending on who you are. When you face your challenges, your abilities will be given back for it. The rest is pretty much self explanatory. On that note, let the game begin."
"Man this feels a lot like Saw." I mused as I began.
Celestia's POV
I began walking down the corridor. The architecture kind of just screamed 'mineshaft'. There was moss on the walls, not fresh moss, but old, shriveled, gray-green moss.
"Note to self: NEVER hire Discord as interior designer." I mused out loud.
"Shut up! I wanted it to feel like an ancient temple!" Said the ceiling. "Just for that snide comment, you will be the first to feel pain!"
I heard him snap his fingers, then there was growling coming from behind me. "Unleash the hounds!" A trumpet sounded, and my eyes widened as I saw a rather large group of timber wolves coming up behind me.
As they came closer, I tried to use my magic, only to find that Ark was not bluffing about negating our powers. So I used my long, sexy legs to run.
When I looked back, I realized what was different between these and normal timber wolves. They were much faster! They were actually starting to catch up to me.
In fear, I ran faster down that hallway. That is when I saw a light!
"Great! A way out!" I ran full speed towards the light. "Hooray!" I began my victory dance, only to discover that it wasn't sunlight. I was just inside a large cavern. No, the light came from below this mysterious platform from which I stood on.
I looked over the edge to see what was giving off the orange, warm light. What I saw was a vast lake of molten lava illuminating the room from below. "Yep, that is definitely lava." I said as I watched the magma slowly bubble and pop.
I looked back at where I had come from and saw the timber wolves just coming through the entrance.
"Ladies and gentlecolts! Welcome to the Magma Bowl! The home team, the T.O.M. Mutants versus the challenger. Weighing in at... Holy crab cakes! The super pudgy. Princess Celestia!" All of this reverberated from a giant crystal that was embedded in the ceiling of the cav... Wait a minute!
"You jerk! How dare you mock my figure!"
"Hey, I'm just reading what Nightmare gave me... Fatty."
"I will freakin' kill you!"
"Oh. Vain pony is vain. Not if they dispatch you first!"
I sneered, "You just pissed off the wrong princess!" As the timber wolves closed in, I immediately began to whisk them off the platform. Each one howling as they fell, then whimpering as they hit the lava, finally hissing as the wood of which they were made of burned and sizzled in the magma.
"Burn, BURN! Heh, heh!"
Discord's POV
"Holy cow! She has gone mad with power! What do we do?"
Ark paused and said, "Let Skellet out. He needs the exercise."
"Oh, duh!" Discord facepalmed and pressed a button.
Celestia's POV
I was just finishing off the last of the timber wolves when I felt something staring at me.
I turned and looked over the edge of the pit. I saw a pair of red eyes staring at me. I blinked, and they blinked back. I blinked again and two more pairs of eyes joined the first pair and began to rise out of the lava.
"Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ohmigosh! We're trapped! We'll never see sunlight again! Oh the ponity(humanity)!" Rarity was freaking out.
"Rarity, we have been here for 5 minutes and there is an way out this way." I said, pointing to a convenient 'EXIT' sign.
"Oh, yes. Silly me." Rarity said, blushing.
"Well, what are we waiting for. Let's go kick some butt!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Um, if it's okay with you girls, I think I'll stay here." Fluttershy whispered.
"No. We can't split up, that is how Discord got us last time. Remember?"
"Twi's right. We all need to stick togetha."
"Yeah! Besides, if we are lucky, maybe we'll get cake at the end! Ooo, with chocolate frosting and lots of sprinkles!" Pinkie Pie started to bounce out of control. "Let's go before there isn't any cake left! I'm sure they've already cut it and everything!" She began to hop down the hall.
Rolling my eyes, I said, "Let's go girls."
After a couple of hours of walking and whining, (mostly from Rarity), Pinkie stopped. "Twitcha twitch!"
"What do ya mean? There is a ceiling 4 feet above us. What could possibly fall?" AJ inquired.
Just then a large rock fell and started coming after us. "RUN!"
We all started running as fast as we could down the halls and corridors, but it seemed to always stay right behind us.
Finally, after 20 minutes of running, I saw a light. "Girls, look! That must be the way out!" We ran full speed towards the light and made it passed the threshold just as the rock was about o crush us. It actually ended up stopping in the entrance just as we jumped through, effectively trapping us.
"That. Was. AWESOME! That was just like Daring Do and the Temple of the Carbon Heart." Rainbow said, loving the fact she did something like her storybook hero.
I shook my head at the silly notion, then looked at our surroundings.
We had run into what seemed to be a cavern which had a high ceiling. It was lit quite well, yet there was no discernible light source.
"Darn! I can't believe the boulder missed you! Well, since you survived round 1, we can begin round 2!" Discord's voice rang out from what seemed to be a booth made of his cotton candy clouds.
"Discord! Come down here and fight like a pony!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
"Um, I think he is actually a draconequus. But, you know, what ever you think is good." Fluttershy said.
"I thought he was a giraffe! I mean look at him, he has a long neck!" Pinkie Pie burst.
"Silence! Your next challenge will be a game of focus."
"Well, sounds like that un's for Twilight." Applejack suggested.
"Darn! I wanted to be the one to do it." Pinkie sighed.
"Pinkie Pie, we need somepony who can concentrate on things without getting distracted. Quite frankly, and pardon my language, but you have the attention span of a nat."
Everypony else agreed, strangely even Discord.
"What do you mean, I have a great... OH! Look at that bug!" Pinkie Pie began running around the room, trying to catch the bug.
I facehoofed and then looked up at the booth. "Okay Discord, I'm ready."
"Excellent!" He clapped his hands together and appeared in front of us with a table and 3 cups on it.
Pinkie Pie stopped chasing the insect and ran over to the table. "Oh, oh! Pick that one, pick that one!" She began pointing to the cup on the left.
"We haven't even started yet!" Discord bellowed.
"Well duh! I'm just telling Twilight to make sure and pick that one. Seriously sometimes I don't think you guys take me seriou... HOLY CRAP! A giant rock!" She ran over to the boulder that had recently almost crushed us.
I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to Discord, waiting for an explanation.
"Okay. Well as you can see, there are three identical cups on this table. I will place a ball under one and then shuffle them up. You are to keep track of the one with the ball. We will play 3 rounds. If you win all three, you and your friends walk out of here unharmed as well as getting the chance to fight me. However, if you lose even once, you all die."
I began to sweat, knowing that I held the fate of my friends in my hooves was a really big deal, but I nodded.
"Good. We'll start you on a slower speed. And no magic." He snapped his fingers and my horn disappeared. He then placed the ball under the center cup and began shuffling.
He did as promised and went slow for the first round. After shuffling the cups a couple of times, he took his hands away and waved the left one over them in a revealing manner. "Alright, where is the ball?"
"Come on Twilight, you got this."
"Yeah, use that egghead of yours."
Ignoring Rainbows comment, I pointed at the cup on the right.
"This one!" I said with a smile.
Discord picked it up and the ball slightly rolled out from the disturbance.
Everypony cheered at my triumph.
"Good job, Twilight Sparkle. Let's see how well you do on round 2." He smirked as he replaced the cup and began to shift the cups at a faster pace than before. This time it actually took some effort to keep my eyes on the right cup. I was flicking my eyes back and forth to keep up.
Finally he stopped and asked, "Where is it now?"
I decided carefully and point to the one on the right again. To my relief, the ball was there.
"Yeah, Twilight, that's how ya do it!"
"Yay..." Fluttershy whispered.
"Impressive Ms. Sparkle. Most impressive indeed. But do you can keep up on Ludicrous speed!" Discord slammed the cup down and began to shuffle the cups at speeds so fast I think I got whiplash.
While he was shuffling, he raised his tail and pointed at something. "Look at that! It's something really interesting!"
I quickly turned around, "What?"
"Hah, made you look! Now where is the ball?"
I facehoofed really hard." I can't believe I fell for that!"
"You cheated! You big meanie! Why I should... HOLY CRAP! Another giant rock!" Pinkie Pie ran back over to the same giant boulder from before.
"She is right, that was not fair at all." Rainbow Dash said.
"No, it is completely fair. I said it was a game of focus, obviously she just doesn't have any." He grinned irritably.
"Well, it still wasn't very nice." Fluttershy huffed.
"Too bad!" He stuck out his tongue. "Game over! You lose! Prepare to for everlasting despair."
"Now wait, I still haven't chosen a cup yet. I still have a chance."
"What is the point?" Discord said.
"My friends are the point." I said with determination. I looked at the cups, and used my logic to try and figure out which one it was. I then began to descend my hoof and made my decision.
"Tunnels… so many tunnels." I huffed while walking through the dimly lit passageway. It feels like I have been down here for days, though I know it has only been a couple of hours since we were split up.
The only signs of life seemed to be a couple beetles scurrying away as to not be crushed under my hooves. The walls were dark and dusty, as if I was underground. Every now and then I heard voices reverberating off the walls, but I dismissed it as just my mind playing tricks on me.
Still, it was quite an eerie place. It was as if the walls were watching me. This feeling stayed with me for a while, making me always look over my shoulder for fear of being attacked by surprise.
Soon, after many dead ends, back tracking, and over all confusion, I saw a glimmer of light.
My spirits soared as I ran towards the beckoning light.
When I got to the light, I saw it came from a room with florescent lamps hanging from the ceiling, each one giving off a glow not unlike that of my moon.
"Well, so glad to see you could finally join me."
I gritted my teeth, "Nightmare Moon. How unpleasant to see you again."
"Now, is that anyway to talk to yourself?"
"I am no longer anything like you."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. I am my own pony now. I have a life, maybe you should try getting one sometime."
Her eyes filled with hatred, "You think I don't have a life? I have more of a life than you! I have more power than you could ever imagine. What do you have? An idiot of a spouse that only has a little bit longer to live? Where will that leave you after he is gone? I will tell you where that will leave you. Alone!"
I stood there in shock, "You do not know anything, he will be able to pull through. He is strong and not afraid of anything. Plus, he promised."
"He promised." She said in a mock tone of voice. "Oh please, are you still such an ignorant foal that you can't see that he is lying to you. Promises mean nothing. They are meant to be broken. Take your sister for example. Was she not the one who promised that we would be loved? Did she not say that she would only leave us on the moon for a little while? Was she not the one who said that she would always put us first?"
"SHUT UP! She meant all of what she said, she just wasn't able to keep all of her promises. And I forgave her for it."
"Whatever you petty foal. You and I both know that everything she said was nothing but a vicious lie. Just give in, you know I am right."
"NO! You are wrong! And for speaking such lies, I promise yours will not be a swift death."
"You really think you would be able to defeat me, your better half?"
"I do not think, I know!"
She smiled, "Very well, let us see if you have what it takes to actually defeat yourself." She summoned a cloud of dark mist that materialized into a rather large scythe, whose blade resembled that of a crescent moon.
I pulled out my twin swords with my magic and held one above my head and one below my chest, ready to attack and defend.
"Oh, nice swords, very pretty. But are they durable." She ran forward, slicing downwards with her scythe. I blocked with one sword and lunged with the other.
She side stepped the thrust and came back with a diagonal slash, which I narrowly dodged.
I grunted, "Well, I never thought I would see the day where I fought myself."
"Yes, very strange isn't it? I always thought we would fight on the same side, together, against all of those who opposed us."
"I will give you a chance to come over to the good side and fight against Ark. Just think of all the good you could do for the world. Just renounce your evil ways and fight with us." I offered whole heartedly.
Nightmare Moon seemed to stop for a second and actually consider this. "So you are saying that I could actually be good."
I nodded my head, slowly putting away my sword and walking over to where she stood.
"It is a very interesting prospect, but I don't think our sister will be okay with it." She began to cry, letting go of the magic that held her scythe upright. It fell to the ground and clattered making the room still as it laid to rest.
"It's okay," I went to her and actually tried to comfort her, "I know our sister well, and she can be very forgiving. So what do you say?" I held out my hoof, extending my friendship to her.
She looked up and smiled through her tears. "I say…" Her scythe suddenly rose from the ground, "You shouldn't have left you guard down!"
I had been wandering through this labyrinth for what seemed like hours. It felt just like whenever you get lost in a cavern in Minecraft, only you couldn't dig yourself out. Now it was probably just my ADHD kicking in, but I was starting to go a little nuts.
I started thinking of what the others might have been facing right now. Okay, that is only half true. I was actually wondering, 'How do they get deer to cross deer crossing signs?' ...Yeah, I can be pretty random sometimes, especially when I'm trapped in an endless sea of cobblestone and death.
Stupid creepers.
Anyways, I kept walking, Divinus to my side, because come on who doesn't bring a giant sword on a date. After several more dead ends, traps, timberwolf hyrbrids, and other things you might find in a maze, (rocks), I saw a light at the end of the tunnel, not the dead kind, nor the kind that you see at the other side of the chasm in Minecraft and turns out being just an illusion.
"Hooray! Sparkles and sunshine for everypony!" I ran around the corner and out the doorway. ('Kay, there was no doorway per se, but you get the picture.)
"Ah, man! Just another cavern." It was, though there was an opening in the ceiling. Through which, I could see the depressing red sky, lit by an absent sun.
I looked across the room and found that the walls on each side seemed to be made of glass. Yet, when I felt the need to throw a rock at one, to my dismay, it did not shatter.
"That's solid crystal, if you couldn't guess."
"Ah, I thought I smelled something." As I turned to look at the same entrance I came from, he slowly walked in, showing off his debonair smile.
"How do you like my caverns? Quite spectacular, are they not?"
"Meh, I think you ripped it off a cheap video game."
"I did not! Minecraft is anything but cheap!"
"So my suspicions are confirmed. And who are you, the notch police?"
"No! It is just a very enjoyable game."
"Wow. Take it easy."
"You are so incompetent."
"Well, your face is incompetent."
"That doesn't even make any sense!"
"Neither does your butt!"
"...Your an idiot."
"Hey, you shouldn't talk about your mom like that." I grinned.
He ground his teeth in ire. "You won't be so funny when I shove my sword down your throat!"
"That's what she said!" I yelled.
"That's it! I'm done talking! Time to end this once and for all!"
"Ah, I guess I upset him. Well, I can fix that." I pulled out Divinus and readied myself.
He pulled out a really long katana.
"Ah, I see your sword is bigger than mine. Let's see how you handle it." I said in my best Dark Helmet impression.
"This is just one big game to you, isn't it?"
"Dude, if you had long white hair and a flowing black coat, this would totally be the ending of Final Fantasy 7." I chuckled, "So yeah, it kind of is."
He smiled, "Well I hope you will see the truth."
"Which is?"
"It's game over for you and you don't have any lives left."
"Hey, nice reference. But I guess it's time to get serious." I put on my best poker face and stayed my ground.
We stood there for a couple minutes, facing each other. For some reason,there was a tumbleweed that rolled across the floor as the wind whistled through the cavern.
Within a moment, Ark had crossed the room, closing the distance between us. He slashed with his sword, but I parried, just in time for him to swing around and slash at me. I managed to block, but he still nicked my coat.
I was able to bounce back on the offensive, and began hacking away at Ark, but blocked all of my attacks. Though I wasn't surprised. I mean what else was there for him to do besides train for the last 2 months. I doubt he and Nightmare Moon went out any dates, and it's not like he has a social life.
While this went through my mind, he managed to get give me a strong hit to the stomach, causing a large gash to open up as well as making me fly into one of the crystal walls. "Urk!" I grunted in pain as I slid down the blue-green quartz.
"You are pathetic. How in the world do you plan to beat me if you can't even recover fast enough from a miniscule attack." He said as he slowly advanced, swinging his sword around as if it was a baton.
I spat some up blood and tried to move, but I found that his 'miniscule attack' managed to break a couple ribs. He's right. I can't keep fighting him like this. I wish I had regenerative powers like Wolverine, or at least some kind of armor.
While I pondered my options, Ark was getting closer, though he was still only half way across the room.
Then I had an idea, If I can break apart my sword to make more weapons, maybe I can break apart some of this crystal wall to make armor! I didn't have much of a choice because Ark was steadily getting closer, though he was taking his dear sweet time.
"You should just give up. You have run out of energy and can't hold out much longer."
I smiled, "I still have a couple tricks up my sleeves." Heh, heh! I'm funny. I punched the wall behind me. "Split!" I could feel the wall begin to melt as the atoms slowly began to deconstruct and flow into my body, making my body began to tingle. I felt the crystal find its way into my bloodstream and then effectively clot the gashes and cuts. Shards of the crystal began to erupt from the surface of my body. The shards began to form into something kind of like scales, each one overlapping the other. Finally, crystals stopped moving and I began to see things in a red hue. I guess it was some red crystal hidden in the wall.
Ark's eyes widened, "Wow, that was unexpected, but irrelevant. I will still cut you to pieces."
"Go ahead and try.'
He charged at me, sword held high, ready to cut me down.
I merely stood there, somewhat from fear, but mostly because I was still kind of tired after exerting magic in a way I had never done before.
As he got into striking distance, I closed my eyes, hoping that the armor would hold.
*Thunk* "What the-" *Thunk, thunk, thunk* "Why won't it penetrate!"
I opened my eyes to see ark repeatedly hitting me with his sword. I smiled, my armor had worked!
"Man! Is that all you got? My wife hits harder than you! Heck, I'm sure Granny Smith hits harder than you!"
He was really getting pissy from these remarks. He stopped hitting me with his sword after a couple of minutes to take a breath.
After doing so, he said, "Fine, now you are protected from my attacks." I smiled triumphantly.
"I'll admit, you have gotten better, but I have learned some new tricks, too."
"Oh yeah?" I asked, my smile beginning to fade. "Like what?"
He smiled, then momentarily disappeared, only to reappear with his face only inches from mine. He stared into my eyes, and I stared into his. For some odd reason, his pupils seemed to transform and then swirl. This caused me to feel kind of drowsy and then I passed out.
"Holy crap!" I woke up feeling kind of dizzy. I shook it off and discovered that I was still in the same room. Though now I was strapped to a table of sorts. I saw Ark sitting across from me, shaking his head with a grin.
"I guess I was wrong. You still are a weakling, and you always will be. I doubt you would have been able to help them."
I blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
He smirked, "I'm surprised you didn't ask about those walls."
"Huh?"
He turned me around with his magic to look at the crystal walls.
"See, those walls are actually one-way mirrors, meaning each one has a room on the other side."
"Yeah, so?"
"Your friends and loved ones are on the other side of each one."
My eyes grew bigger, "Show them to me!"
He grinned, "Okay." He stomped and the other side of the walls were illuminated.
"No. No. NO!" I cried at the sight that was before me. "It can't be!"
"Yes it can, and it is." Ark laughed.
In those other rooms were my friends and loved ones. Though… they were all dead. Not just dead, but dreadfully mutilated.
The room on the left held the Elements of Harmony. They were each strung up by their hooves, lacerations and gashes covered their bodies. A few of them were actually missing body parts and some still had them but they hung by the sinews of their muscles. They slowly twisted and turned in a nonexistent breeze.
The room on the right showed the massive skeletal hydra-dragon chewing on the carcass of what I thought might have been Tia, though it was kind of hard to tell with the lack of… skin and limbs. It was enough to make me want to puke, though for some reason, I could not.
The center room is what upset me the most, for within it was my beloved wife. She no longer had a beautiful coat of blue, rather, it was now red from the blood draining out of the massive hole in her chest.
All these things combined… made me extremely sad. No longer did I want to live. The thought of being without my Luna was too much to bare. I simply wished to cease from existence.
"Ahh, does the foal need a tissue." Ark snidely remarked, followed by laughing in my face.
"You sick, twisted murderer!" I screamed, now feeling an intense rage come over me.
"That's right, I am. And you now what? I enjoyed every moment of watching them die." He laughed.
"I will freaking end you!" I strained against the bonds that held me, but to no avail.
"That's right, release all that rage."
I began to tell him off, with every single curse word I knew repeated over and over, threatening to kill him, to make sure he felt like he never even existed.
"Mmm, so much hate. I love it! Let it consume your heart!"
As I cursed, slowly, the blue-green crystals that covered my skin began to push out and shatter as it was replaced with red and black crystals. Though for each one that appeared, it hurt immensely, for they were not just appearing on the surface, but they were actually pushing there sharp points through my skin. I expected that I was bleeding somewhat, but I felt none of the sticky fluid pushed out with the rest of these shards.
I really wasn't focusing on the pain though, because I felt so much more pain from the emotional state I was in.
Ark waited, his eyes watching in amazement as my crystal body armor was replaced by the blood red shards. After a while of me spouting out a string of curses, I slowed to a stop, which as well stopped the progression of these crystals.
He arched his eyebrow, "Finished?"
"&#% YOU!" I finished with two more words, causing my red vision to turn blue and then seeing some sort of radiance out of them, and then I fell silent.
"Good! Now onto step two!"
Just then Discord and Nightmare Moon popped in, looking rather beat up.
"What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?" He gestured to me.
Discord said, "They are coming…"
Ark's eyes widened, "You mean…" They both nodded their heads. "Imbeciles!"
He walked back over to me. "Well, I guess I will just have to speed things up a bit." He lifted his left forehoof and his horn began to glow. Soon afterwards, his hoof also began to glow and pulse with dark magic.
"What is that for?" I asked.
"It is just a measure I am taking because of your armor. Since I could not pierce it with my sword, I decided a little magical assistance might be needed." He grinned as he came closer to me.
"Stop right there!"
That voice. It sounds so familiar. It couldn't be, could it? I turned my head to see Tia, the Elements of Harmony, and Luna at the entrance.
"Lun-AGH!" I screeched as I snapped by head back forward. I looked down and saw Ark's hoof plunged into my chest. I looked back at his face and saw the most evil grin that I think I had ever seen in my entire life, the pure amusement of his hoof in my chest making him act like a school filly.
I coughed, though the only thing that came out was a fine powder. "You jerk…"
I stared as I watched Ark rip out the beating heart of this pony that I saw sitting in the chair. The bile in my throat nearly came out all over the cavern floor.
"What did you just do to that pony?" Tia asked.
"What, do you not recognize him? That is sad you don't recognize your own brother-in-law." He said with a smirk, the beating heart still in his hoof. We all gasped, causing Ark to laugh. After his bout of laughter, he calmed down and looked at the thumping organ he held. "Mmm. So much hatred is being expelled from it. It is so delicious." Ark stepped away from what I now knew was my husband, the blood and ventricles coming out with it, though they seemed to be turning solid. "Oh no you don't." He pulled out a large sword and cut the ventricles that were progressing towards the solidification. After he did that, he set down his sword and said, "Bottoms up." He stuck the heart into his mouth and swallowed it without even chewing. "Ooo, I was right, it was exceptionally tasty." He said as he wiped his hoof on the body my spouse to clean off the blood. "Though it was not entirely filling, I am still hungry for more." He turned to Discord and Nightmare Moon and smiled even broader. "Perfect." He held out his hoof and said, "SPLIT!"
They both screamed in agony as their life essence was extracted and sent into the gullet of Ark. The two of them fell to the floor, nothing but empty husks now.
"Simply amazing!" Ark yelled. He looked at himself and smiled as he began to glow. "This is spectacular!"
He was enveloped in a dark aura and when it subsided, he stepped out. Though he looked really different.
"Oh my… he has 6 wings!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Holy crap! I did not see that coming at all!" Rainbow Dash said.
For once in her life, Pinkie Pie was speechless.
"This is impossible! Let alone the fact of getting one wing, but six! How can you even do that?" Tia said.
"Oh my dear sweet Celestia, it is quite simple. I merely used my knowledge of gene splicing to take the wings and power of those three idiots and converged it with my own."
"That aside, you cannot just become a full-fledged alicorn just by taking his heart. You do not have a pure heart."
"Ah, but you see, that is where you are wrong. The rule says that it only has to be a pure, whole heart. It does not say whether it be good or evil. Your beloved Pure Heart was brought over from his good side when he released all of his hate. He only had half a heart, so he could only be one side of the spectrum, and he came to the dark side. I guess you should of called him 'Half Heart', but I guess you can now call him 'No Heart'." He laughed maniacally.
"How marvelous! This power is spectacular!" He looked at us and smiled. "You have just witnessed a very significant event, the birth of a deity! Bow down and tremble to your new overlord. I am Ark, The Seraphim of Oblivion."
"You killed him." I whispered.
He disappeared and reappeared next to me, causing everypony else to jump back in surprise. "What was that my dear?"
I turned to face him, burning hatred in my eyes. "You killed him! You killed my Pure Heart!"
He laughed, "Oh, I didn't kill him. He was already dead." He poofed away and appeared leaning on Pure Heart's shoulder. "You see, he died earlier when he let his hatred take over. You see these red crystals?" He broke off a spike from his head. "They are actually his blood, turning to crystals in anguish of his loss." He licked the crystal he had broken off. "Mmm, my favorite flavor." He continued to lick it.
"I will make you pay!" I screamed.
"Oh, you will, huh?" He said as he finished the blood pop. "What are you going to do, kill me?" He took another piece off Pure Heart's head and began eating it.
"No, death is too good for you. No, I'm going to banish you to the sun!"
I shot a ray of light at him, hitting him dead center in the chest.
"Hah! That tickles!"
"Not for long!" Tia said as she also shot a ray of light at him.
"Oh, that actually stings a little."
"Well hold on, because it is about to get ever so more painful. Ready girls?" Twilight said, giving the other girls their respective necklaces. They put them on and nodded, each one beginning to glow. They shot their signature beam of rainbow energy at him.
Ark merely yawned and walked in front of Pure Heart, "Hah! That is still not enough to beat me. Your attempts are useless!" He laughed out loud.
We all let our beams of energy fail and dissipate. "Ah, tired already? I guess that means it is my turn!" He cracked his neck and took a step towards us.
Suddenly, he knocked off his feet. "What the-"
"Ten Thousand Needle Implant!" Said a voice of dominance. Pure Heart's eyes began to glow bright blue and his sword came out and stuck itself into Ark's chest, right through the heart.
"AGGHH!"
Pure Heart's crystals began to melt back into a liquid state and seeped into his skin. Soon his body was back to normal.
"You are supposed to be dead! I ripped out your heart! How are you alive?" Ark screamed.
Pure Heart stood up and stumbled over to where Ark was pinned to the floor. "I told you I would make you feel my pain." He grabbed hold of his sword by the hilt. "And I don't need a heart." He turned his head and looked directly at me, and he winked, "I already have the heart of another, and I can die happy knowing I had the chance to be with her." He turned his head back to Ark, "Now then, I have a couple last words to say to you…"
Ark coughed, but he coughed up some fine powder. "What is that?"
Pure Heart smiled, "Go to hell, you sadistic murderer." With that, Pure Heart twisted the hilt of his sword and red crystals began to expand out of Ark's skin.
"NOOOO!" Ark screamed as he was consumed in crystal. Then silence, Ark was nothing but a red statue. Pure Heart stood up on his hind legs and slammed is forehooves into his chest, shattering the statue into a million pieces.
"Take that!" He yelled in triumph, then falling to the ground in a heap.
"Pure Heart!" I yelled as I ran over to his fallen form.
I knelt down to him and scooped his broken body, cradling it in my arms.
He opened his eyes and said, "Ooo, look. A pretty blue angel. Are you here to take me home?" He must have been dazed from the massive blood loss.
"Pure Heart, it's me, Luna."
He squinted his eyes. "Oh yeah. Hey there beautiful. What's wrong?" I was beginning to cry.
"You're going to die, that is what is wrong." I hugged him closer.
"Hey now, don't be sad, I hate seeing others cry." He gave me a goofy grin.
I chuckled a little, but continued to sob. "I don't want you to leave me." I buried my head into his chest.
He reached up and stroked my mane. "Listen. Listen to me." He ran his hoof under my chin and lifted it until I meet his eyes with my own. "I would never leave you. I promised I would be your guardian angel, remember?"
I nodded, "Right, but you're-"
He held up his hoof to my lips. "No buts. I may be losing consciousness from the massive amount of blood I lost and will most likely die in a couple minutes, but I want you to know I will always be with you. Right here." He pointed to my chest.
"In my heart?"
"No, in your arteries." He said rolling his eyes.
I punched him lightly in the shoulder. "You jerk."
"I know. But back on topic, even if I die, you can bet your butt that I will be back, because nothing can stop me from coming back to you."
"But... will I ever see you again?"
"Did I just not explain that? Look at your foreleg, Luna." I did so. "What do you see?"
I sniffed, "I see our wedding bands."
"And what did we promise when we put those on?"
I sniffed again, "To love and cherish each other forever."
"Right. And has it been forever yet?"
"No, but you never even got both of your wings."
"Sure I did." He slowly flexed his pair of wings.
"When? How?"
"When you all shot Ark with your beams of light, I guess it was enough to purify the heart inside of him, which ultimately led to his downfall."
"So you should be okay."
He coughed up some blood, "Do I look okay?" He grinned.
"No, you like horrible."
"Then I don't think I will be okay."
"But we have doctors, and the best medical facilities, we can make sure you stay healthy and alive. We can make you better." I was beginning to become frantic.
"Shhh. It's okay. We will be together again soon. And then we will be together forever."
"But..."
"Shhh. Silly little Luna. Everything will be fine." He took a sharp breath. "How about I sing a song for you. That will make you feel better." He looked around, "The rest of you might as well sit down as well." It was then I noticed that everypony else had formed a circle around us, all of them weeping softly. I turned back to Pure Heart, and he coughed a little before he began.
"Another day Without your smile Another day just passes by But now I know How much it means For you to stay Right here with me
"The time we spent apart will make our love grow stronger But it hurt so bad I can't take it any longer
"I wanna grow old with you I wanna die lying in your arms I wanna grow old with you I wanna be looking in your eyes I wanna be there for you Sharing everything you do I wanna grow old with you
"A thousand miles between us now It causes me to wonder how Our love tonight remains so strong It makes our risk right all along
"The time we spent apart will make our love grow stronger But it hurt so bad I can't take it any longer
"I wanna grow old with you I wanna die lying in your arms I wanna grow old with you I wanna be looking in your eyes I wanna be there for you Sharing everything you do I wanna grow old with you
"Things can come and go I know but Baby I believe Something's burning strong between us Makes it clear to me
"I wanna grow old with you I wanna die lying in your arms I wanna grow old with you I wanna be looking in your eyes I wanna be there for you Sharing everything you do I wanna grow old with you."
When he finished, everypony else came in for a hug. "Come on guys, this isn't 'goodbye', it is simply 'see ya later'. I will be back, I Pinkie Pie Promise." I smiled and held him tighter. Everypony else was crying their eyes out. "Luna..."
"Yes my love?"
"I don't have much longer. But I want you to know..."
He coughed up a lot more blood.
"Know what? Know what?!" He was starting to fade fast. He was literally beginning to fade out of existence.
He lifted himself to my face to kiss me passionately on the lips. He released and smiled, "That I... love... you... ooo, pretty... light."
Pure Heart began to glow brighter than any light I had ever seen before. "No! Pure Heart! I don't want to be alone again!"
"I love you... my little moonbeam."
"I love you." I whispered as he disappeared completely. Tia walked over to me and enfolded her wings around me. "Where did he go Tia?" I cried as I buried my face into her chest.
"Home. He went home Luna."
The walls of the cavern began to fade and the sky slowly turned to its original blue color. "Will he ever come back?"
Tia frowned and held me closer, "I don't know." She rubbed my back with her hoof and looked up to the sky. "I just don't know."
"What the deuce? Someone turn off the alarm clock." I said as I began to sit up.
"He's awake!" A frantic woman screamed as ran in to hug me.
"Who are you?"
She stepped away and blinked, "I'm your mother."
I kind of had a hard time focusing, but once my eyes adjusted, I realized she did look familiar.
"Oh hey. What are you doing in Equestria?"
"Wow that crash must of done a number on you." Another familiar voice said.
"Marcus! How is Applejack?"
"Um, good I guess." He said with an arched eyebrow.
It was then I remembered what just happened and began to look around the room.
"Zach, what's wrong?" My mom asked.
"Where is Luna?" I said with anger in my voice.
"Your car was totaled in the crash." Marcus said.
"Not the car! I'm talking about my wife!" I snapped. I jumped out of the bed and began to run out the door.
"Zach! Sit down! You are going to rip out your stitches!" Mom said.
"Not until I find my wife!"
"You're not married!"
"Yes I am, see?"
I thrust out my left hand. Wait... hand?
"What the heck? Why I am human?"
"Zach, please calm down. You are scaring me." Mom said, shaking in fear.
"You're scared? YOU'RE SCARED? I'm the one who just woke up to find my wife is gone and I am no longer a pony!" I screamed.
"Doctor! We need you!"
"The Doctor! Of course, I bet he can explain!" I looked for my phone but couldn't find it.
Suddenly, I was tackled and strapped down to the bed.
"What are you doing?" I yelled.
"I'm sorry son, but this is for your own good." The doctor undid the back of my hospital gown and began to inject me with something.
"Why is that necessary?"
"We can't do an LP with you squirming. Plus we needed you conscious to do it."
"What do you mean- Ahh!" I screamed as they stabbed a large needle into my spinal chord.
My mother came around to see what they were doing, then she gasped. "Zach, when did you get that!"
I was sore from the needle still and so wasn't really listening. "What?"
"That tattoo."
"Tattoo?"
They put a mirror in front of me and one behind me. Sure enough, there was a tattoo of two angelic looking wings on my back, right on my shoulder blades.
I smiled. "I guess I got my wings after all."
"Zach, you are in big trouble." Mom said.
I chuckled, "Yeah, sure. Now can you please explain to me where I am?"
"You are in a hospital. You were in an accident that caused you to go into a coma."
"Wow, again? That is like the third time in the last 6 months."
Marcus got a really confused look. "Dude, you have been in a coma for the last 6 months."
"Noooo. I've been in Equestria. You were there, don't you remember? You and my family were there for my proposal and wedding."
"Man, that crash must have REALLY rattled your brains."
"Yes Zach, you must have been dreaming." My mother assured.
"I wasn't dreaming. It really happened! Look, I have proof." I held up my arm and looked at it.
"Zach, that is just a piece of metal that was infused into your skin from the crash. The doctor's said it couldn't be removed because it is too close to an artery. But it isn't a danger to your health, so they left it alone."
"What are you talking about? This is my wedding band!"
"Please calm down, you are going to screw up your stitches."
"Huh?" I ripped open my shirt and found there were stitches over my left chest. "What happened?"
"A piece of shrapnel punctured your heart in the crash. The doctors were able to save half of it."
"So I only have half a heart!"
"... Yes."
3 Months Later
My life was slowly turning back to normal. Well, I guess as normal as you can be walking around with only half a heart.
Everyone said it was just a dream, that it was just a figment of my imagination that I had gone to Equestria. But I couldn't give up on it, it was just to real.
The other strange thing is I felt someone was watching me. Not like a paranoid feeling like someone is about to jump out and stab you. More like a feeling that you are being watched over or protected. And I could swear that every so often, my name was carried in the wind.
I think it was Luna, but my therapist said otherwise. He said it was time to let go of the silly notion of me being with a fictional character. But I refused to let go of my love. She was the one I wanted to spend the rest of eternity with.
I quickly fell back into depression. I didn't want to live without her. I tried to get back to Equestria by any means at all. I researched metaphysics, alternate realities, wormholes, magic, and even other religions. But nothing seemed to work.
I was even considered darker thoughts but turned them away. So I decided I would just travel and see what I could find. I sold all of my worldly possessions and purchased a ticket to New York, the first place I decided to look.
After a day or so of flying, I got off the plane and walked the streets of the Big Apple. I looked everywhere for any answers. But I couldn't find any.
After another month of soul searching, I was beginning to lose all hope. I was walking down the street when I heard a commotion coming from a back alley. I checked it out and found a couple of punks harassing an older gentleman.
"Hey!"
They looked up.
"Why don't you leave that man alone."
They grinned and the tallest one, which I guess was the leader, said, "Oh, a hero, huh? We'll teach you to mind your own business. Get him boys."
The other two guys came at me with pipes and I felt a rush of energy and quickly dispatched them.
The leader kind of just stared in shock. "Well, let's see how you fare against this." He pulled out a gun and shot me.
I spewed out some blood from the impact and fell to the ground.
The gang leader laughed and turned back to the man, "Now where were we."
I laid there dazed, but I began to hear sirens.
"Crap! It's the police, run!" The leader dropped the old man and ran, the other two scrambling after him.
The old man kind of stared in shock and then ran over to my bruised, bleeding body. "You saved my life."
I winced in pain and said, "Just... doing... my duty... as a guardian..."
I began to fade and the man noticed this, but he could tell their was nothing he could do. The bullet had pierced my femoral artery and I was bleeding out fast.
"Please, just tell me your name so I know who to thank."
I hacked up some blood and smiled, "Pure Heart..."
I began to slip into nothingness, but a single word came through my mind, and I decided I might as well try it. I whispered the word, "Split..."
Marcus' POV
I woke up and got ready for the funeral. Zach was found dead in an alley way after being the victim of an assault by a gang in New York two weeks ago. Whoa, Deja Vu. I thought.
I arrived at the cemetery at around noon. The service was to start at 1 PM. I saw many faces that I recognized and many that I did not. There was one face that really stood out from the rest though.
It was a scraggly, bearded face with compassionate eyes and tired wrinkles.
I walked up to him and extended my hand, "Marcus."
He looked at me and smiled, grasping my hand and saying, "Ark."
"So how did you know him?"
"He saved my life, he was shot because he was trying to stop those gang bangers from hurting me." He said with a sigh.
"Well, it's good to know it wasn't for nothing."
"How did you know him?"
I sniffled, "I was his best friend."
He patted my back and said, "It's okay, let it all out." I began to sob into this man's shoulder.
The ceremony was beautiful, the bishop said that we would see him again one day. He talked about life and also death. Zach would of loved it.
Afterward, Ark pulled me to the side and asked, "Who is this 'Zach' they keep talking about?"
I was dumbfounded, "He is the one who saved your life. Didn't he tell you his name?"
"Well yeah, but he said his name was Pure Heart."
Before the casket was lowered, we had the final viewing. We all lined up and slowly looked upon him, each of us giving him our final thoughts.
When it was mine and Ark's turn to see him, we both stood their silently for a few moments. Finally, I broke the silence, "Zach, you are my best friend and always will be. I will miss you." Tears flowed freely from my eyes.
Ark spoke next, "Pure Heart, or I guess Zach, I never got to know you, but I do know that I would have died without your kindness. For that, I thank you. I hope to see you again someday."
We both turned to walk away, when we heard a voice, "Thank you..."
We turned around to catch a glimpse of something. I'm not entirely sure what I saw, but it seemed to be two miniature horses. One of them was blue with a mane that seemed to flow in a nonexistent wind and had what looked like wings and a horn. It had a picture of a white moon on its rear end.
The other one was crimson red with a brown mane and blue eyes. It also had a horn and two wings as well as a picture of a moon, only with a heart and a 4-pointed star as well.
The one thing that really caught my eye was that they both had bracelets on there forelegs that looked absolutely magnificent.
They looked directly at us and smiled. The red one looked at me and winked.
Then they both turned around and began to walk away. As they walked towards the setting sun, I could clearly hear a male voice say, "So Luna, what kind of adventure should we have next?"
A female voice spoke up, "Well, Pure Heart, I was thinking parenthood."
The male voice gasped, "Are you serious?"
She giggled, "Completely."
"Wow, I get to be a father."
"And you will be the best father ever."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
The two figure paused and kissed. As they did, they began to slowly fade out of sight.
When they were completely gone from view, Ark turned to me, "Did you see that, too?"
I nodded as more tears flowed. "Good luck... Pure Heart."
