Hello fiction readers and writers alike, and welcome to the first chapter of my new story, A Journey of Hearts, not including the prologue of course. Any readers who follow my stories will notice that this is not my normal writing style. I'm just throwing around some different styles for a bit to see what fits, this one was inspired by the writing style of Fallout: Equestria. I hope I did it justice.

Disclaimer:

My Little pony is property of Hasbro

I own only the story and some characters, figure out which ones.

And now, to the story… (And to my watchers; sorry, no four-wall breakers this time)

Preview: What is the real price of freedom?

Chapter 1: The Broken Seal

The first, and the last thing I remember, is light, and then… darkness. That was all I could think of, for as long as I had been in that prison. How long was I there? A week? A month? Maybe it was even a year, but I could never have guessed the reality. How did it come to this? How could this happen to me?

That day started like any other one of mine; the same dream going through my head. I'm just walking in an empty field, no real location in mind, I'm just walking. When before me appears someone very precious to me, my friend, my mentor, the princess Celestia. She is just standing there, in that beautiful white coat. Her multi-colored mane flowing in the non-existent wind that blows through it, I never did understand how that worked. As always, she stood just out of my reach, and no matter how much I walked, I could not reach her, but I keep trying. I just keep going until, as always, I feel something creeping behind me. Looking back, I can see only darkness, a cloud of darkness, nothing visible within but a single, glowing, red eye guiding it.

I couldn't do anything but run. I ran as fast as possible, trying to reach Celestia, screaming for her to save me, but it was a waist, it was always just a waist. She just looked at me for a moment, until she decides to up and fly away. Why would she want to stay? To help a pony that betrayed her trust? To be consumed by the darkness too? Of course not, that would be stupid.

And of course, not more than ten feet after I start running, I hit a wall. I never even saw it, I never see the wall, but it's there and it has trapped me with the darkness. I won't bang on it, no point, it never breaks, and I won't call for help, it never comes. All I could do was wait. So I turn my head, I at least wanted to look at the creature, I wont give it the pleasure of saying I couldn't even do that, and I waited for it. The eye, it was getting so close, I knew what came next, the darkness, the… drowning, the pain… oh, the pain… But I'll accept it, I deserved it, and no less, but this time it was different.

I had been ready to fall again, as I always did, but this time, the pain never came. The eye… had stopped, and the darkness, it was fading. What's going on? Was I… was I being saved? That hopeful thought filled my head, and as it grew, I didn't even notice that the wall, the invisible wall I had been leaning against now, had faded, forcing me to tumble to the ground. Once I picked myself up, I could see that the eye was still stationary. Although the darkness had already faded, it just floated their, doing nothing. Curiosity got the better of me, and I just had to get a closer look. Who wouldn't want to get close to the thing that virtually kills them on a daily bases, right? But I had never gotten a chance to see it this close before, so close now that I saw it was no normal eye. Its pupil, instead of being circular, it looked like an edged spiral, and on top of that was, what looked like… a horn. As odd as that sounds, that's what it looked like.

What was this thing; the thing that had chased me, and killed me, so many times? The closer I got, the more I felt like I might know. It felt… familiar, but before I could complete my thought, something else happened. From above, a harsh light started pouring over me, and I got scared. At that moment all I could think was oh no, not again, is this going to be more of the pain; Just a new darkness? But it wasn't. The light actually felt… good. It's hard to explain in words, but it's like the light was healing me. Like all the pain, and terror that had been building up inside me for so long, was gone, in an instant, and it felt… good, for the lack of a better word, and it didn't stop there. The light just kept getting stronger, and brighter, until all I could see was the white of its glow. Everything faded from sight, all but the strange eye that had started moving closer again. I wanted to scream, but before I could, it reached me, and all I could see then, was black.

My head was pounding, and I felt so weak, I didn't even want to so much as open my eyes again. As I lay down, at least I think I was lying, in my state, it's sometimes hard to tell, I could feel something on my forehead. Some-ponies hoof was rubbing something on me. It was cold, but it also felt, again, good. Wait, it feels the same, the same as that light did. That's what I thought. Now I was really curious. I didn't care that I was tired; I had to know what was going on, so I forced myself to open my eyes. Although it was tough at first, and my vision was kind of blurry, I managed to open them, but I still couldn't see. Eventually my vision did come back, but adjusting to the new light was pretty harsh at first.

"I think he's waking up," I could hear some-pony in-front of me say. "Princess, are you sure this is a good idea." Princess? The princess is here?

"Be calm Twilight Sparkle." I heard the… princess say? "We trust thou with this task. Thou hast proven quiet resilient in the past. We trust our faith is not misplaced."

Wait, what was going on? Was the pony in front of me supposed to be the princess? I know I haven't heard her voice in a while, but I'm sure she doesn't sound like that. And who's Twilight Sparkle? Again, what is going on?

My answers came quickly enough once my vision came back. I could finally see again, and my first sight was a long, dark-blue hoof rubbing my forehead with some kind of white… stuff. It had moved away by the time my vision came back completely and I was able to see the pony it belonged to. She did look like a princess alright, but not the one that I knew. This princess was an Alicorn like mine, having both Pegasus wings and a Unicorn's horn, but she had a dark blue coat, and a blue mane with small white sparkles dotted within it, making it look almost like the night sky (of course it could have just been dandruff, but I felt it was best not to ask). This princess was wearing a set of dark accessories, countering the gold ones my princess was known to wear, including two sets of glass horseshoes, one being off so as to rub that stuff on me, a black necklace with the image of a crescent moon on it, and a small pointed crown behind her Unicorn horn. Her Cutie-mark was what really got my attention. It was the image of a crescent moon, similar to the one on her necklace, but it was surrounded by a splotch of black along her flank. I think I've seen that mark before, but where?

"Hearts?" the dark princess started to speak, "Are you okay?"

Hearts? Oh yeah, that was my name wasn't it? Hearts Major. I guess I had forgotten. I haven't actually had to use my name for such a long time. But how long was that again?

"Wha…" I stuttered to say, I was still feeling pretty weak. "What's going on?"

"Can you stand?"

"Um, yeah, I think I…" I thought wrong. The very moment I tried to stand on my own four hooves, I ended up right back in the dirt.

"Oh my," the princess said as she moved to my side, placing a hoof down on my flank. "Take it slow. You may find that controlling your body might be difficult for a time."

She wasn't wrong about that. For the longest time, it didn't even feel like I had a body. I know that makes no sense, but while I was in that dream, if this is what a body feels like, to be so heavy and stationary, then that's not how I felt. In the dream, I never felt anything other than the darkness's influence. Other than that, I didn't feel, I just was.

I tried moving again, this time slower. I stopped a few times so I could get a good look at the body I was moving. It had been a while since I was out of the dream, and I wanted to see if the body I was always in really was mine. It seemed to be the case; same broad grey coated body; same long-flowing black mane, including that ridicules curved green patch coming off the center of my hair-line, never understood that; Same black and green vest over my upper-body, …why did that make me so upset? Well that proves it, I was still me, and always was.

It took a few tries, but I did manage to get to my hooves, as shaky as I was. The princess was holding me up, but I believe I was holding the majority of the weight.

"Who… are you?" I finally worked up the nerve to ask.

"My name is Princess Luna," she responded. "I am the ruler of the night here in Equestria."

"The ruler of the night? But… what about… Celestia?"

"Oh, so you do still hold some memory, I was afraid your mind may have been damaged from the spell."

That's just what I thought. I really couldn't remember much outside of the dream, not even my name at first, but I did remember Celestia for some reason.

"I do remember, Celestia's the ruler of both the night and day, so what do you mean…" I couldn't say much more, my head had started hurting again.

"Well, you are correct. In your time, Myn sister very well did hold presidents over both the sun and moon, making her the sol ruler of this land, but you must understand that much has changed since then."

"Changed, sister, wait… I don't understand. Exactly how long ago was my time?"

She hesitated to answer. That definitely got me worried, and when she finally did answer, I completely regretted ever asking. "Hearts, we do not wish to worry you. Since you have been sealed, approximately three-hundred years have passed."

I froze. My brain was not working anymore. This couldn't be real. In the dream everyday felt the same, I had no sense of time, but I had assumed that at most one year had gone by, but three centuries! How could that be? With that thought in mind, I finally decided to look around, and things now were definitely different. Although I still did not know much about my homeland, one thing stood out. The ponies in the town, whichever town that was, they were mixed, for lack of a better word. Pegasi, Unicorns, even Earth-ponies, they all lived here. I didn't have to remember my home to know that was, strange, but not even, compared to this. Two Alicorn ponies, one claiming to be the co-ruler and sister of Celestia, and another…well, who was just there; it just didn't make sense. This was the first time I had gotten a good look at her; she definitely was an Alicorn, wings, horn, and all. The pony was a purple mare with a violet mane that had a hot pink streak in it; her cutie mark looked like a purple star with six sparkles surrounding it. She didn't where any royal jewels like Celestia or Luna, but… what else would you even call an Alicorn but princess?

"How… how is that possible?" I finally said. "Three hundred years? How? How did this happen!?" I almost fell over again, but I didn't care, I had to know what was going on.

Princess Luna, I figured I might as well call her, walked away from me to stand next that Twilight Alicorn. "…I do not know the whole story," she began, dropping her royal domineer in the process "All I know, is that it has something to do with that mark on your head."

"Mark?" I had guessed what she meant as soon as she said it, which I refused to admit, but I didn't even get that option. Before I could finish my question, Luna's horn glowed a beautiful blue aura, forming a large mirroring lens in-front of me with the same aura surrounding its edges. It was the first time in awhile I had gotten to get a clear view of myself. Everything had been as I said before; nothing out of the ordinary; I had green eyes, those were nice; and apparently I also had that cursed mark from my dreams etched into my fore-head! The mark that had tortured me for what I know knew was three hundred years, was plastered just over my eyes. The mark was white here, contrasting its red color in the dream, but that wasn't fooling me. I even noticed that the white mark was apparently also my cutie-mark, how wonderful; apparently my destiny involved a mark I knew for a fact tortured and killed its own bearer. What every young colt should strive for.

I was broken? I couldn't think? Those words don't come close to explaining this. I don't even know how long I was standing there, long after Luna faded the mirror away. It could have been hours for all I knew, after all, apparently I was pretty pour at telling times. Eventually I did start moving, of course that was just to hyperventilate, and I swear I couldn't breathe at all. So much so that I was afraid I might pass out before ever getting another word out. It was Luna's hoof that finally snapped me back to reality.

"Hearts, be calm," she said; yeah, easier said than done.

"Easier said… than done…" I guess I did say that out loud. "What… what's this doing on my head." I fell to my knees, a hoof covering the mark on my head. "How did…? Who…?" It was beyond me to even finish a whole sentence; I was in shock.

"Hearts, I assure, no pony forced that mark on you." Luna kneeled down to my level, or at least as close as that giant of a pony could. "This mark was placed by your own hooves."

"What!" I screamed. "Why in Tartarus would I ever do that!?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that is also something I do not know," Luna walked back to were she first stood and placed her discarded horseshoe back on, "but I do know this," she lifted a jar filled with the white liquid that coated her hoof, "as long as this potion remains in affect, it should keep you from losing control again."

"Again? But… I don't even know what this thing does, how is a potion suppose to keep it in control?"

"If you don't know what it does, then why do you seem so scared of it?" the Twilight Alicorn finally spoke.

"I don't need to know what it is to know its dangers! You're not the one who was sealed with it for three hundred years! What would you know!?" Twilight stepped back from me, scared now. Smooth move idiot, you just meet the ponies that saved you from the dream, and your first impression involves stumbling, falling, and yelling at them, brilliant. "No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." I tried stepping closer to Twilight to apologize.

"It's alright Hearts," Luna jumped in. "We understand you must have gone through much in your seclusion."

"…more than I want to remember." I dropped my head, scared of the memories.

"I can imagine?" I got a bit angry at that. How could she possibly know what I was going through, but I kept it to myself this time. "I will make you this promise Hearts Major, as a ruler of Equestria; you will not relive that horror again."

I was grateful for those words, but they did dredge up a question I had forgotten to ask. "Thank you princess, really, but I have to ask, why was I let out now?"

"Hmm…" She gave me a smirk that I couldn't read. "Because, we believe that their may be a far greater solution to your dilemma than solitary seclusion." Her royal disposition returned.

"Okay, and, what is it?"

"Revisitation."

"What?" I got confused. Mostly because I wasn't sure what that word meant. "What's that mean?"

"She's saying…," Twilight finally spoke up, that took a load off my chest, I thought I had scared her silent, "…she wants you to try and reconnect with the ponies of this time; to connect with them without the fear of harm coming to you, or to them."

I was starting to get it, but I wasn't so sure it was a good idea. "So, you want me to try living here?"

"Or anywhere else," Twilight said under her breath, thinking I couldn't hear her.

"Yes," Luna really answered, shooting a look to Twilight and then turning back to me. "This town is the best place for you to make a new start. As you can see," she drew my attention back to the surrounding area, "this is an area where all ponies are welcome, of all races. You will be welcomed here. And as for connecting with the new times, Twilight will be happy to help with that."

"She will?" I said, looking toward Twilight.

"I will?" She responded, looking toward Luna.

"She will," Luna throw another look to Twilight, but it was less annoyed looking than the last. "Twilight here is very good at making friends, as well as being an excellent helper of ponies of all kinds. I know from personal experience." Luna's gaze turned to the distance as if looking at something only she could see before turning back. "If any pony can assist with this, it is her."

I looked back to the purple pony, honestly a bit more hopeful. "Is that true? Can you really help me?"

Her gaze started turning this way and that, obviously thinking about how much of a good idea this really was, and I couldn't blame her, that's why her answer surprised me so much. "I… I guess I can."

She actually agreed. I was… more than a little surprised. I only know what this mark did to me alone, and I probably wouldn't have agreed, princess or not, and I suspect this pony knows far more about it than I did. It would explain why she started out so cautious. This girl was either really obedient to the princess, really… really very kind, or just very reckless. For everyone's sake, I hoped it wasn't the ladder.

"Very well, then I will leave you two to become better aquatinted." The princess spread out her wings and took to the skies. "I leave the rest in your capable hooves Twilight Sparkle, and Hearts Major," she looked to me, worry visibly in her eyes, "I must leave you with this warning." Warning? That didn't sound good. "I do, very much, wish for you to become a valued member of Equestria again, but the ponies of Equestria and their safety will always come first in priority; Always."

She put as much emphasis on that last word as she could without yelling it. I was pretty sure I got what she was saying, or at least I thought. If I wasn't nervous before, I sure was now.

To be continued

Next Chapter: The memories may return, they my not. The question is, are all memories worth having?

And there it is; the first chapter is complete. Hearts has been set free, and he has no idea why he was even sealed in the first place. I won't give a time span for the next chapter, but I will, hopefully, get at least two more out before the months end, so look forward to that.

In closing, I hope that you all have enjoyed reading this chapter. If you did, favorite and follow to keep updated on chapter releases. If you have any comments leave them below, and I hope to see you in the next chapter.

Until then…