Chapter 6: Lantern
Heart's Vision and Scootaloo were having fun in the griffon kingdom. A few days into the trip Heart received a letter from Twilight about Tirek. He was worried and wanted to go home but he wouldn't deny Scootaloo this. She was having way too much fun.
After the vacation was over Heart made it a priority to go see Twilight. He brought Scootaloo along to see the castle. It was a sight. Heart had not seen any castles. Scootaloo had been to Canterlot when she was younger but seeing such a magnificent building was a new experience to Heart. He had seen pictures of Canterlot and thought this castle looked completely different. Heart and Scootaloo walked in admiring it. Twilight was sitting on her throne reading a book. She was alone.
Heart walked up to the distracted mare and taped his hoof on the floor to get her attention. She looked up and saw him. "Hello Heart. Did you trip go well?"
Heart smiled. "Yeah it went well but really Twilight? You now have a huge castle and a nice throne and what do you choose to do. Read a book."
"There is nothing wrong with reading a book. This one is quite interesting. It is about two ponies fighting for their lives in a ruined Equestria."
"I am sure it is. You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"
"Yeah I did." She looked at Scootaloo. "It is nice to see you Scootaloo but can I talk to Heart alone? Spike is somewhere around here." obliged and went off to look for Spike. Twilight waited tell Scootaloo was far enough away. "How do I say this? I want you to stay here."
Heart was confused. "What? What do you mean stay here?"
"Like live in the castle."
"I am not saying no but why do you want that?"
Twilight was a little scared about the situation. "I honestly don't know what I am doing. I would love to have you around to help me."
"Why me?"
"You are one of the most gifted unicorns I know. Your help would be invaluable to me. You can stay here and help me when I need you. I can pay you as well. Celestia says that now all taxes for Ponyville go to me. Ponyville is now my responsibility. I need your help Heart. I need my friends here with me."
"I will stay and help as long as Scootaloo can stay here with me."
"Of course. So we have a deal?"
Heart thought about it. It didn't take long to make up his mind. This would make him one step closer to his goal. "Yes. I will move here and assist you." Heart and Twilight continued to talk about the events that took place while he was away. How Tirek had stolen ponies power. How Celestia had influenced Discord. Everything.
Scootaloo returned. "Hey HV I got to go. I promised Rainbow that I would race her when I got back."
Heart looked up at the orange pegasus. "Go ahead. I need to talk to you but that can wait 'til later."
It took a week for Heart to move in to the castle. Scootaloo had no problem moving. Applejack understood that Heart could no longer work at Sweet Apple Acres. It had been a few days since everything had been unpacked. Twilight had told Heart that she was having special company over and wanted him to attend dinner. Heart wondered who was coming. Twilight and Heart were seated and waiting for Twilight's company to arrive. Spike took care of everything. Heart waited and was surprised when Spike walked in escorting Chaotic Love and Luna.
Twilight stood up and greeted them. Heart bowed to his rulers. "Hello, I am Heart's Vision."
Luna and Chaotic walked in and smiled. Luna spoke first. "Hello Hearts Vision. it is nice to meet you."
then Chaotic spoke up in a happy tone. "Nice to finally meet you. i have heard a bit about you from Twilight and Nick. and no need to bow to us. we are all friends here so no need to be so formal." Luna agreed with what Chaotic said and they went to sit down after Chaotic said hello to Spike and asked how he and Rarity were doing. Luna turned to Heart and asked a simple question. "So how is helping Twilight out in the castle going?"
Heart was surprised that they knew about it. "I haven't done anything yet but I am hoping I can soon. I want to prove my worth."
Twilight had known Heart long enough to know he would. "You will. I haven't had anything for him to do yet but Heart is a very talented unicorn. I haven't see a unicorn with his level of magic. He learned faster than I did when I was his age. He is determined as well."
Heart was blushing. "Thank you Twilight but you give me too much credit."
Twilight wasn't going to lie about his skill. "I don't want to hear that from you. You learned to teleport within a year. Every other filly and colt in your class could barely perform levitation magic."
Luna was impressed by this news and Chaotic was happy to hear it. "Wow that is impressive in deed. you must be well gifted if you were able to do this." Dan agreed. "Ya that's one heck of an accomplishment. good work, and can't wait to see what you can do. so what do you want to do with all that power? i mean do you have a goal you are working for?"
Heart loved to help ponies in any way he could, he did not hide his plans. "I want to be a royal adviser. I want to help all ponies across Equestria. It is all our duty to help each other as much as we can. I think that I can be the most helpful as an adviser."
Dan smiled liking to hear sompony that likes to help other as much as he did and had a plan to do just that. "Its good to hear somepony that wants to help other and has a plan to do so. so do you know how to do that? I mean besides just help Twilight with errands." he gave a small laugh at his own little joke hoping that this pony had a sense of humor.
Heart had been thinking recently and had gotten an idea. "Maybe I will help the homeless and disabled ponies in Equestria." Heart turned to Twilight. "May I start a program for them? We can talk about the specifics later but do you think that would be ok?"
Twilight wasn't expecting such a question. "I guess. I don't see the harm in it."
Heart was glad his request was granted. He turned to Chaotic. "There is your answer my king. I will begin with preparations after you leave."
Dan smiled as Luna looked shocked. "Its good to know that you have plans and are putting them into motion. so what kind of work do you plan to have them do?"
Heart was unsure. "I do not know yet but I will find something. Let us speak of now though. How is your foal doing? I hope recent events weren't too stressful for her."
Dan smiled at the thought of his and Luna's foal. "she is a resilient little one and i took her and Illusion on a camping trip to make sure they didn't really know what was going on and stayed safe. then we told them what happened after we got back and things were under control. so she took the news well and it hasn't hurt her thoughts on Discord either, which is a good thing. so do you and Scootaloo plan of having foals of your own?"
Heart chuckled. "Oh I don't think we are ready for that quiet yet. We are a little bit too young for that. I'm not saying that Scoot wouldn't be a good mom I just think that she deserves some time to explore the world and try new things before having that responsibility. Don't put the thought in her head either. Once she has her mind set on something she tends to not let it go."
Dan, Luna and Twilight chuckled at that knowing how true it was. Twilight spoke on it first. "she gets that from hanging out with Rainbow Dash most of her life." the others agreed and Dan had a question to ask. "so what does that mean she has her mind set on now? going to try for the wonderbolts like her hero? or does she have some other idea in mind?"
Heart had many conversations about this subject with Scootaloo. "We have talked about it but it is not clear what she wants to do. She says she doesn't want to be a wonder bolt. She won't say but I think she is just content with being with me. Every time I talk about her having a goal and being happy she always comes back with why can't she be happy with me. I don't care what she does as long as she is happy." Heart had a thought and accidentally said it out loud. "I would die for her happiness." He immediately looked around in fear to see if the others heard him.
Twilight looked at him confused but didn't say anything.
but unluckily for Heart Dan heard it and wasn't about to let it slide by like it was nothing. "Its good to hear that your love is that strong. Both because that is rare and because I think all my friends deserve that kind of love. My only words of advice for you though is, just because your willing to don't go out and get yourself killed because, you for some reason made it a goal. This is a powerful love and makes powerful decisions, so just make sure that power doesn't lead to the wrong decisions." then Dan relaxed and went back to smiling. "Do that and you two will be happy your whole life long." Luna just looked at Dan with a raised eye brow knowing this wasn't the normal Dan and that something was up that she didn't know about. but she let them continue to talk and would ask him about it later.
Heart didn't have much to say on the subject. "Thank you for the words of advice. I will try my best to follow them."
Twilight wasn't comfortable with this subject and wished to change it. "Chaotic I wanted to know if you are ok with Heart having access to Canterlot's libraries. I don't think I will have time to teach him as much. He can learn spells on his own extremely well. He is responsible. He asked me about this but I think he may be too shy to ask himself."
Heart looked at Twilight. 'Really? Did you really just do that?'
Dan laughed it off and looked to Luna who nodded before saying anything. "yes that is fine with us, we will get him a pass the next time he comes to Canterlot. Just let us know your around and we will get you that and make sure you know where everything is. and if you ever need anything just let me know. I have read just about everything in there so if you can't find it I am sure I will know where it is. so just let me know any time you want help with anything." Luna agreed and offered to help as well but it seemed Heart might be more willing to ask Dan than Luna for some reason. "So what kind of spells do you like to use the most?"
Heart had much experience with varieties of spells. "Well I guess it would matter on the situation. There is so many spells that are useful. It is uncommon to find a spell that has no use. If you asked me what spells I think are the most useful it would probably be the levitation spell of course because it is simple and has so many practical uses. I think my favorite spell would be the mind reading spell though. I have even altered it so that non unicorns can enter the mind of a unicorn. I also like shield spells but I don't use them often because there is no need. It is usually so calm here in Ponyville. There is no point in using a combat spell in a peaceful town. I would like to try out my combat magic but Twilight is not partial to sparing and most unicorns in town can't keep up with me."
Dan smiled at hearing these things. "I am glad to hear that I'm not the only one that likes the mind magic. and that kind of magic can be useful. and maybe when i have time i might be able to test your abilities. i never mind having a fun little spar. what do you think?" Dan smiled hoping that he would take the offer so he could fully understand this stallions powers and how strong he could be. Dan still believed that your true thoughts come through in the heat of battle with someone. and if that came through like it had in the past Dan would know more about him and have a full thought on how he would treat him and act around him.
Heart felt a little uneasy about fighting his king but wanted to test his own ability. He might have said something about Nick but he didn't want Twilight to know about it. "I would like a chance to test myself. Maybe when I go to Canterlot to see the Library. I don't think I will fair that well against the raw magic ability of an alicorn though."
The night continued with friendly conversation until the rulers left. Heart woke up the next day looking for Twilight. He found her in a smaller room that she had already managed to put filled bookshelves in. She was sitting in a chair near a window for the extra light. She was reading but it seemed more intense than normal. Heart concluded that she must be reading something informational.
"Twilight." She didn't look away from her book. "Twilight." Nothing. "Twilight!"
She Finally looked at Heart. "Hello Heart. Do you need something?"
"Yeah I do but I want to know what has gotten you so interested that I have to yell to get your attention."
"It is a book about psychological tendencies of ponies. Stuff like why ponies do what they do. I am on a section about how trauma during childhood greatly effects how ponies act when they are older. It is saddening. There was a little filly who killed herself because of how lonely she felt. Her parents weren't dead or anything it is just that they weren't there for her. How her peers bullied her. It had me thinking about when you were younger. I still remember when I entered your mind and felt those emotions. How strong and horrible they were. What happened Heart? What was so terrible?"
Heart had not seen his day going into this direction. "It was nothing Twilight."
Twilight put the book away. "Stop lying to my Heart. You say that every time we get around the subject. Talk to me. I am your friend."
Heart looked at her for a few seconds. "Fine. It was a bad situation. I got bullied at school. That is SO horrible. I was just a colt overreacting to what was going on. Now can I talk to you about what I came here for?"
Twilight decided not to push the stallion. "Yes we can."
"I wanted to talk to you about that program I wanted to start up."
"Oh yes I already made preparations. There is a building on the outskirts of town. It is a little ways off from the border of Sweet Apple Acres. To the west. I have a map here somewhere." Twilight looked around and after some digging she found a map of Ponyville. She gave it to Heart. "I circled the area where the building is. You can use it for your program. I can give you a small amount of funding but you need to start up a charity drive so that you can continue. You also need to find some ponies for it. There is an orphanage. I marked it as well. Is there anything else you need?"
Heart couldn't think of anything else. "No Twilight. Thank you for the help." Heart left for the programs building. While on the way there he tried to think of some names for the program. 'Hmm. What to name it. Well what exactly do I want to do? I guess I should teach them some skills. Not the crap that gets taught in school but real skills like first aid. Stuff that is useful. Learning is magic? No that sounds like a slogan. Something that sounds good in conversation. Something simple. Oh I know. The lantern program. I like that.'
Heart found the building. It looked pretty bad. The damage wasn't major but there was some. It had plants climbing the outer walls. The grass surrounding it was knee high. The roof looked damaged and the paint was peeling. The building use to be red but now it looked more brown. Heart went inside and he could swear that he smelled mold. "This place sucks."
Heart left the building to go see the orphanage. It didn't take long to find it. It seemed nice enough. There was swings and slides outside. The grass was cut and the building seemed in good condition. It was pretty much the exact opposite of the building Heart was given. ''I guess beggars can't be choosers.'
He went inside. It was small. The first thing Heart saw was a desk with a mare behind it. She looked nice. She was young. She had a aqua coat with a velvet main. She had a smile on her face and waited for Heart to approach. "Hello sir. How can I help you?"
Heart wasn't expecting such a nice place. He expected to find it more depressing. "Yes you can. I am here to start a program. It will help colts and fillies learn useful skills. My name is Heart's Vision. Did princess Twilight send you anything to inform you of this?"
The mare kept her happy attitude. "Yes she did. I am glad that this is happening. I am glad to say that there isn't many orphans here but the ones that are seem quiet down. Follow me." She lead Heart to a big room with beds lined up. "Children gather round. We have a visitor."
Kids stopped what they were doing and came up to the mare. Heart counted six. Three colts. Three fillies. Two unicorns. Two pegasi. Two earth ponies. Most seemed around the same age but two stood out. One who was a earlier teenager, he was a pegasus with a bright red coat and a dark purple mane and tail. The other was a very young unicorn filly with a white coat and navy blue mane and tail. The rest were on the verge of being teenagers.
Heart looked them over. He couldn't see anything wrong with most except one earth pony. The filly had a missing leg. Her front left leg was gone. There was a very small stub on her chest where it should have been. She seemed to be standing just fine with only three legs. "Hello I am Heart's Vision. I am starting a program to help ponies learn skills and I would like to know if you all would like to be a part of it."
The ponies looked at him blankly. Heart tried again. "Ok I want to help you learn skills so that you can be better than you already are. I want to make you great ponies. How does that sound?"
The red pegasus responded. "We heard you the first time. We just don't care."
Heart looked to the pegasus. The pegasus' body was fully grown and stood eye to eye with Heart. "But you should. All of you should care."
"Why is that?"
"Because this is your future. I am presenting you with an opportunity to better yourselves."
The pegasus looked smug. "Oh I haven't heard that before. What makes you so special that we should jump at the offer?"
Heart didn't like this pony's attitude. "I do not like to toot my own horn but I am skilled in magic. I devoted my time to bettering myself and now I have the knowledge to carve my way through this world."
"Prove it."
Heart decided that this brat needed to be put in his place. "What would you like to see? I know many spells. Give me a challenge and I will conquer it."
The pegasus looked around and saw the challenge. He wanted to see this pony fail and picked something impossible. "Heal Petal's leg if you are so great."
Heart looked to the earth pony with the missing leg. "You are Petal I presume?" The filly nodded. She had a tan coat and a split mane. Half of the mane was orange and half was blue. Her tail was the same. Heart looked at the leg. Then back to the cocky colt. "Very well."
Heart told the filly to be still. He concentrated. It was difficult to heal ponies much less grow a limb back. Heart had to fabricate all of the nerve and muscle then connect them to the existing ones. It took a lot of energy and he could hear gasping but after a few minutes Heart believed he had done it. The filly looked at the new leg. She moved it around. "Oh my Celestia! My leg! My leg is back!" The filly was smiling ear to ear. She looked at Heart. "You healed me. Thank you. Thank you so much!" The filly didn't hesitate to run up to him and hug him.
Heart couldn't see but he felt liquid on his coat. The filly was crying. "You are welcome. I am glad I could help." All the ponies in the room were awe struck. Heart looked to the colt who had challenged him. "Are you satisfied?"
The colt had is jaw opened wide in shock. "What? How did you do that? I thought that kind of magic didn't exist."
Heart smiled as he looked down at the filly who was still clinging to him. "It is very difficult to perform and learn but it does exist. Most unicorns can't perform healing magic without being drained so regenerating a limb is out of the question most of the time. I devoted my life to helping other ponies. I tried my hardest to learn magic so that I could make a difference. All it took was me trying. Now this filly has her leg back because I gave it my all." Heart looked to the colt and issued his own challenge. "Will you?"
The filly backed off. "I will. I want to join your program."
