Hello all you fiction readers and writers alike, and welcome to another chapter of 'A Journey of Hearts.' A fair warning to all you, I got pretty creative with this chapter, which is another way to say, it's long as hell. While writing it I was thinking, "this is a little long, maybe I should shorten it for some readers," but then another thought hit that said, "screw it, lets just leave it as it is." So I did… the end, let's continue.
Recap:
Last chapter, Twilight agreed, and-or was forced, to assist Heart Major in reconnecting with the current time period. Attempting to do just that, she decides to bring him to one of the local cafés to sample some of the local foods, or so she said. While there, Hearts doesn't wait more than a few minutes before he wanders off in search of a musical source he could hear playing through town. When he finds it, he makes a quick friend in the Lyre player, Lyra Heartstrings, who was its source, only to blow it in less time than it took him to find her. Down on himself, Hearts decided to head back to Twilight and the café, not realizing he had gotten himself lost, but instead runs into another pony, Fluttershy, who was looking for her lost pet. Hearts couldn't just look the other way so he decided to help her find him. Fluttershy was so grateful after finding her pet that she offered to make him something to eat back at her place. Hearts was hesitant, but he new he couldn't pass up the offer, so he followed her back to her home.
Disclaimer:
My Little Pony is property of Hasbro
The story and select characters belong to me
And now… to the story. (I'm serious about the length. Lesser readers might want to consider taking a break every now and then.)
Preview: No memory is truly forgotten, no matter how much you may wish it to be.
Chapter 3- Memory
"You're not a Unicorn; you'll never have magic; so why do you even try?"
Those were the first words I heard in that place, were ever it was.
"You're an Earth-pony, that's all you'll ever be, so just accept it."
Those words, and more, kept continuing around me, but I couldn't tell from were. Once I started looking for them, all I could see was… grey? It was all grey. I had been standing in the middle of a field whose grass was not green, under a night with no stars. The shock of familiarity hit me like a speeding cart as I realized what this place was. The place I had been trapped for three centuries.
"Hearts…" some-pony said in the distance, giving off a different tone than that of the negative voices.
I turned toward the sound, expecting Celestia to be there. She was always in my dreams after all; a single comfort, in a bleak existence, however, the pony I turned toward was no Alicorn princess, not even close. This pony was a short Earth-pony mare, looking well older than me, or any of the mares I had gotten to know so far, excluding the princesses of course. She had a short white mane, crimson coat, and a cutie-mark of what looked like a gold bit flipping on her flank. But what was more interesting, was the vest she wore. It looked just like mine; a zip up with green upper fading into a lower black. Who was this pony?
"Hearts, what are you doing to yourself?"
Her voice was so calming. The voices, those that still insulted me, which scorned me, they were quiet now; her voice had quieted them. Who was she? I had to know. I tried getting closer; I didn't care about anything else; I just wanted to know who she was. Before I could take a second step closer though, some-pony else had placed a hoof on my shoulder, stopping me in place.
"Hearts…" the other pony said, "…what are you doing?"
I looked over my shoulder, and what I saw, I never expected. Celestia had shown up, and she was standing only inches away. In all my dreams, I had never gotten in hoofs reach, and now, here she was, standing at my side, comforting me. I might have cried but I couldn't tell; I felt numb.
"I have done this," she said, hanging her head over me, her eyes shut. "This must end." She lowered her head to mine. "You must stop hiding, my…"
My what? What did you say!? I wanted to scream that at her. What were those last words? I hadn't heard them; it was as if her voice had cut off. When I looked up, I found out why. Celestia was gone, and not just her, the red mare was gone now too.
This was not happening. After years of waiting, I finally reached Celestia… no, I didn't reach her, she reached me, and now she was gone, again. I could feel again, and what I felt was not sadness, but red hot fury.
"Stop hiding? I'm not the one hiding!" I shouted to the black skies, pretending some-pony was listening. "Why do you keep running!? Why is this all happening to me!?" No one answered; I don't know why I expected them to. "Celestia!"
My anger just grew stronger, my thoughts went fuzzy, and my head started to hurt. I didn't know what else to think, what else to ask, what else to scream, but before I had a chance to find out, the world faded. I was waking up.
Like before, my vision had returned to me gradually as I opened my eyes. This was only the second time I had awoken from the dream, but returning, even once, was exhausting; makes me never want to sleep again.
It took me some time to collect my thoughts, the anger from the dream still fresh in my mind. Looking around, I noticed that I was inside of a small cabin, or maybe a shack, and I wasn't the only resident. The place was filled with all sorts of animals, from bears to birds. The décor was pretty basic. A bunch of bird feeders, cages, and stands decorated the upper areas of the place, while the lower seemed to be home to a wide assortment of small beds and baskets, all occupied by smaller resting creatures. The rabbit from before included.
At first I was wondering what was going on and why I was in this place instead of at Twilight's library, but eventually I remembered the night before. The yellow Pegasus girl, what was her name…? Fluttershy, that was it. She had invited me over to have a bite to eat in exchange for helping her find her rabbit, although I didn't have much, since the little runt kept eating my food. I remembered having a conversation, making up stories in order to keep the talk going, and just hanging out. I'm not sure when, but I guess at some point I had agreed to spend the night. Twilight was going to kill me, but she must have used those eyes on me again because I felt no remorse for staying.
Whatever the reason, I had woken up on a couch within the Pegasus's house. She was no where to be seen among the creatures below, so she must have been sleeping in the upper level, thank goodness. Returning to Twilight was already going to be difficult enough without explaining how I had booted some random pony out of their bed, or worse.
So I guess Fluttershy wasn't kidding when she told me about all her other animal friends. I could barely find space to start walking down their… way down there. Wait… why were they so low down? How big was this couch? When I looked closer, I noticed the floor was… very far away, and when I looked under the couch, I noticed its legs were not touching it. I might have freaked out a little. Wouldn't you? The couch was floating, why was the couch floating? Closer inspection revealed that it was coated in a strong red aura, similar to the auras of Unicorn horns when they used magic. So that means that a Unicorn was doing this? It had to be, but it couldn't be. There was no Unicorn in sight. The only one's in the room were me and a bunch of animals, and unless they learned how to use Unicorn magic since I'd been gone, there was no one who could do this. You're not a Unicorn, you'll never have magic. Those words repeated in my head, and it was then that I got an explanation, an impossible explanation. I slowly moved one of my hooves up to my head, hesitating to reach for the mark that sat their, but I guess doing that must have made me lose my focus or something, because the moment my hoof got close, the aura around the couch faded and it fell back to the ground, me along with it. The force from the fall seemed to be enough to send me bounding off of the cushions and tumbling down to the wooden floor, not fun.
I didn't have any explanation for this. As I peeled myself off of the shack's floor, I moved my hoof back up to my forehead by instinct, more to stop the aching than to inspect the mark again. Was this thing really lifting that small couch in the air? I suppose such a thing wouldn't be too hard for a normal Unicorn, but I wasn't a Unicorn!
Before I could take any more time to ponder the situation, or freak-out, which ever came first, I could hear the hoof steps of a pony coming from the upper floor. I looked to the second floors balcony to see Fluttershy standing at the railing and looking down at me.
"Hearts," she called out, "What happened? I heard a loud… Is everything alright?"
I looked back at the couch, then to Fluttershy again, and spoke. "Uh… yeah, it's fine, nothing major." Ha, major…sorry. "I just fell off the couch, bad dream. I don't think I fell on anyone though, so it's alright." At least I hoped I didn't fall on anyone. When I looked around all of the creatures I had noticed before had awoken now and were looking to me. Although that was a bit unsettling, it looked like everything was alright, no one was hurt, and no one was under the couch, thankfully. Everything was fine. Yeah right.
Fluttershy had started trotting down the stairs. Not sure why she didn't just fly but I wasn't really thinking that at the time. She bypassed all of her bewildered friends on the lower level, and headed straight for me, having a look of both concern and general confusion on her face. As she stood before me, she got really, really in my face, forcing me back.
"Uh, Fluttershy, what are you doing?" She got closer. "Fluttershy?" I had started to blush, not knowing what she was trying.
"Hearts, what is that?" she pointed her hoof up to my forehead.
How did I not realize until now? Last night, before going to sleep, I had taken my clothes off, including my headband. My hooves shot to my forehead as I realized the mistake, a little too fast might I add, ouch.
"Hearts, why are you trying to hide it? I can still see it; it's on your flank too."
That's right; the mark was also my cutie-mark, which made it harder to hide. I had moved my tail over one part of my flank, trying to hide as best as I could, and started to look around for my clothes to cover up. There they were, back on top of the couch were I had put them. How they stayed on after I had fallen off was anyone's guess. I scrambled to put them back on, of course, that only made things tougher, but I didn't really have time to worry about that.
"Hearts, calm down." I stopped halfway through putting on my vest and my head band tied over my eye instead of my forehead. "Why are you acting so scared? Did I say something I shouldn't have?" She started cringing, probably afraid that I was upset. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to pry. Just forget I said anything."
"Huh? Uh, no, no." I tried calming her down. "You didn't do anything wrong it's just, uh…" I didn't know what to say. I wasn't even sure why she worried so much about what I thought, we just met.
"But you seem so scared, and you're trying to hide your mark from me. Is there something wrong; is it… a bad sign?"
"Uh… no, I just… I don't like ponies seeing them. That's all."
"But, why?"
I started to sweat; ponies were really curious in this town. Guess I fit in more than I thought. "It's… a birth mark. Yeah, and it's just a little embarrassing. That's why I cover it up."
"But, then why is it your cutie-mark?"
"Uh…" I was tong tied. I really hope that lying wasn't part of who I was, because I was really bad at it.
"Oh my, I'm prying again aren't I? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean too. We just met and I don't have any right to be asking you these things." This was starting to feel very familiar. "You don't have to tell me the truth if you don't want to, I never should have asked." That settled it, this was familiar; it's like fate had forced me to relive the mistake I made with Lyra all over again. There was no way; I was not making the same mistake twice. "Um…, I know, it's morning now. I'll go make us some breakfast, a special apology breakfast. I really hope you'll stay to eat, unless you want to leave now. If you do I'll understand. I must have really hurt you with my questions. Sometimes I can be such a…"
"Fluttershy," I had to stop her, "…enough." I straitened up my vest and took my head band off. It was high time I did something right. "Fluttershy, I should be the one to apologize."
Fluttershy's expression changed from upset to confused. "…but, I'm the one who…"
"You did nothing wrong. You've showed me nothing but kindness since we met, and now I'm trying to hide things from you. I'm the one who should be sorry." I took a seat on the floor. "No more secrets, no more lying. Do you really want to know about my mark?"
"Well… it's none of my business, and it's yours to say if you…"
"Do you!?" I might have said that last part a little too harshly. Fluttershy responded with a scared jump and a gradual nod yes. "Alright then, let me tell you all that I can."
Having been allowed to place my clothing back on, all but that headband, no more hiding, Fluttershy and I had decided to move our talk outside. I told her it was probably going to be a long story and she believed we should go somewhere a bit more comfortable, apparently to her, more comfortable meant sitting outside in the dirt, instead of inside on her couch, not sure why. So we had chosen a nice soft spot in the grass just outside of her cabin; a spot we could see the sun as it peaked over the distant mountains.
We had sat there eating a few daisy sandwiches she had made earlier, she wasn't kidding when she said it was about breakfast time, as I explained as much as I could about the predicament I was in.
"Wow," she said as she swallowed another bit of her sandwich, "so… you're over three-hundred years old?"
"Mm-humph…" I said between bites. I swallowed and continued. "I know it's hard to believe, but I really am telling the truth this time."
"No, I believe you."
"Really?" I felt pretty relived; this was easier than I thought. "Even after I lied to you before?"
"You had your reasons, I trust you."
"Wow, thank you."
She gave me a smile that could brighten a room as she continued. "So Luna and Twilight were the one's that set you free, right?"
"They were. Princess Luna said that princess Twilight would be able to help me reconnect with this time and its ponies."
"That was good judgment. Twilight is the best friend any-pony could have. I'm sure she'd be able to help you."
"Oh, you know her then."
"She's one of my best friends actually."
"Is she?" Now that is one strange coincidence. Abandon one pony, only to run into one of her friends, freaky.
"I know that she can help you, but…"
Fluttershy had turned away from me now. I didn't know what she was thinking, but she seemed to be nervous… or more nervous than usual at least.
"Fluttershy, is there something wrong."
"Hearts, I wanted to avoid asking this…"
"Don't, I told you I would tell you everything I could, and I meant it."
She took a deep breath and began to speak again. "Alright, I was wondering…"
"You want to know why I was sealed away."
I could actually see her jump at me finishing her question. "Um… if you don't mind me asking."
"Not at all. Unfortunately I can't give you a straight answer."
"Oh, I guess that's one of the memories you lost then?"
"It is." I got depressed. I just turned toward the beds of flowers lying before us.
"What's wrong?" Fluttershy moved closer to me, noticing my discourse.
"It's just, so frustrating," I started to tense up, "being sealed away, losing everything that I had once known, only to forget about them when waking up. All I can tell you is that it definitely has something to do with this." I pointed to the mark on my forehead.
"Do you know what it is?"
"No, but Princess Luna told me that I'm the one that placed it on my own head. As to why, after all that it's done to me, I really can't say."
"I thought you said you couldn't remember?"
"I can't, call it a feeling, and a nightmare. I don't know what this mark is, but I think it was supposed to give me magic."
"Magic? You mean… like a Unicorn."
"Yeah, like a Unicorn."
"Wow…"
"I guess that's how I felt too. I must really have been stupid back then."
"What do you mean?"
I looked Fluttershy in the eyes. She had retreated a bit, so I guess I had a pretty scary face on as a started to explain. "Can you imagine what life must have been for an Earth-pony obsessed with being a Unicorn, like there was something wrong with being an Earth-pony; the ridicule, the hatred they must have felt for me." Fluttershy had stopped retreating and was now listening intently. She looked as if she really could relate, but I didn't care to notice, I was too busy feeling sorry for myself. "I don't know why I was sealed away, but I bet that they believed that I deserved it. Maybe no one even cared. Why should they?"
Fluttershy didn't respond right away. For awhile we just sat there in silence. Eventually I could get out of my rut long enough to see Fluttershy had put herself in one. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but she had beaten me to it.
"I can't tell you why you were sealed, but I think I can tell what you went through." At first I was annoyed to hear that again, but that only lasted until Fluttershy looked up at me. Her eyes had actually started to water. "I guess in that way we're kind of the same." I was listening. "I don't know if you haven't noticed, but I'm not exactly the best flier in Ponyville." I had noticed, thankfully I never said anything, that still didn't mean she could relate. "Well the thing is. I've never been a good flier. Ever since I was a filly, I could never keep up with the rest of the Pegasi, in anything. I couldn't fly fast; I was horrible at telling weather patterns; my eyes aren't even that strong. Do you think that any-pony didn't mock me for that? It got so bad that more than a few times I just wished I could crawl away and disappear, and I never thought any-pony would care if I did."
Oh sweet Celestia, she was going through what I was, and here I was saying how someone in my situation deserved what he got, and not knowing I was talking about her too.
"Fluttershy, I… I didn't know. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
"It's alright. That happened a long time ago, and even though those words hurt, when I found my new friends, things started to get better."
"Friends? You mean like Twilight?"
"She and the rest of the girls always make me feel better when I'm down, but their not who I mean."
Fluttershy held out her hoof, and looked up to the trees, calling to something. In response, a small bird flew down to her, and it wasn't alone. One after another, a bunch of smaller animals started surrounding us… surrounding her.
"The day that I came down here and found all of my friends was one of the best days of my life. It's the day that I found out that my destiny wasn't in the skies like the rest, it was right here, with them."
"Your destiny?" I started looking toward her cutie-mark. Three butterflies, so that's what it meant.
"Yes, a destiny that I chose to have, just like you." She pulled down part of my pants with her hoof. I looked down to see that she was showing off my cutie-mark, the same Unicorn mark that lay on my head. "You know, when I first told ponies about my destiny, my chosen role, a lot of them thought that I was trying to be an Earth-pony, but I didn't care about that. Whether I was or wasn't, I was doing what I loved, despite what they thought."
She's so brave, far braver than I gave her credit for. I thought it was kind of odd for a Pegasus to have a job that seemed like something an Earth-pony should be doing, and apparently I wasn't the only one. To keep doing what she loved, despite what others say. Was I that brave, I doubt it, but could I be?
As I started thinking, my mark had started to react again. When I noticed, I tried moving my hooves to it, but Fluttershy had stopped me. She just gave me a look that said something I guess I really needed to here, stop hiding. I did as she said, sort of, and put my hooves down, letting my mark finish whatever it was doing. As magic kept flooding out, the white coloring around it started to fade, as it did on my cutie-mark as well. They had gone back to normal.
"Oh my," Fluttershy said as she looked at the red mark as it kept glowing, "Hearts, how does it feel?"
How would I answer that? "It feels…"
"Gahh!"
Before I could finish, Fluttershy and I had heard a pony scream in the distance. When we looked over, I was surprised to see a particularly scared looking purple Alicorn standing before us.
"Twilight?" Fluttershy said in surprise.
"Uh, Twilight…" I had been dreading this confrontation, but things did not turnout like I had imagined. "Nice to…"
"Heart! What's going on!?" She yelled. "What happened to your mark!?"
"Huh?" I looked up to my forehead, "Well…"
"Twilight, not that I mind, but what are you doing here?" Fluttershy tried making sense of the situation.
"Forget that." Twilight's horn started to glow. As the magic burst from it, Fluttershy had vanished from my side over to behind Twilight.
"What the?" I was both shocked and amazed at the same time. "How… how did you…?"
"Hearts, I need you to power down your mark."
"Huh, oh, umm…" I wasn't even sure if I could do that, but honestly, a lot of me didn't even want to. Fluttershy's influence I guess.
"Twilight." Fluttershy got Twilight's attention with a hoof on her shoulder, "what is going on? Why do you want Hearts to power down his mark?"
"Fluttershy," she turned toward the Pegasus, "you don't understand. I can't explain now, but this pony is dangerous when that mark is active."
I'm, dangerous?
"But he's not, I know he isn't"
"Fluttershy, I'll explain it to you later, but now, I need you to step back." Twilight tried moving Fluttershy back, but kept her sight on me.
"You don't have to, Hearts already explained it."
Twilight's sight shot to Fluttershy. "He did? What did he tell you?"
I don't know what they said next, my senses were beginning to fail. My mind, my mark, they had both begun to react. 'He's dangerous,' she called me dangerous, but she wasn't the first. My head ached again, and I threw my hooves on it as the pain increased more, and more, and more. I threatened to pass out from all of it, but my mind wouldn't let me. It wanted me fully aware; I was gaining back my memory, all of it.
There it all was; my past; my old home; my old family; even my old job; everything was in my grasp again. The memory, the one that I wished to seal away, perhaps the very one that had caused me to lose the rest, was playing out right in front of me.
I had been inside of the dinning room of a large house, surrounded by four other ponies. One was a buff, light-brown Earth-pony, with a darker brown main and the Cutie-mark of two planks of wood arranged as an X, the one standing next to him was the reverse of his coat, main, and tail, the lighter brown being his mane color and vise-versa, his Cutie-mark was that of a metal nut. I knew now, these two were my brothers, 2X4 and Lugnut, in that order. Standing just before me were two more Earth-ponies, an old mare, the same red mare from my former dream, my mother Luxious Major, and next to her stood a far larger stallion, looking about her age. He had a deep blue coat, a long black mane, almost like mine, and the Cutie-mark of a bright blue-print. This was Blueprint, my father.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" I was in the middle of a heated argument with my father. "I don't regret what I did."
"You don't regret abandoning your own family, and leaving to fulfill some childish fantasy of using magic?" The old stallion was shouting at me, just as usual.
"I didn't abandon any-pony. I was never a construction pony, you knew that, and look where trying to 'fulfill my childish fantasy,' got me. I'm the student of the greatest sorceries in Equestria, I'm living in the lands capitol, I would think that you would be proud of that."
That's right, I grew up in a family of construction ponies, even though I was never very good at building things. That was my life, up until the day I placed the mark on my head and started practicing magic. Obviously, my father never approved, big shocker.
"Proud of you; you want me to be proud? Tell me something sorcerer..."
"I'll take that as a complement."
"…tell me, did you know exactly what that mark was before you put it on your head?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course I…"
"Did you know everything!? Where it came from? Who made it? Its origins? How about why it was in the forbidden section of the castles library?"
"Um…"
"Did you know all of that? All of it!?"
I hesitated to answer, but only for a moment. "…'sigh,' no."
"So you used a forbidden mark, without knowing everything about it first? I thought we taught you better than that."
My gaze started wondering around the room. No one else was speaking up; my brothers were too scared to say anything, they knew how our old man got; my mom wasn't usually scared by him, but something was different this time, she wasn't stepping in at all. As much as I kind of wanted her too, I knew I was on my own with this one.
"Fine, I didn't get all the information, I'll give you that, but it all worked out in the end."
"Oh yeah, you end up abandoning us to follow your dreams, what fulfillment."
"Stop saying I abandoned you! I'm here now, aren't I!?"
"Yeah, you are. After seven years of no communication, you just show up out of the blue. Is that what you consider keeping in touch? I didn't know we raised someone so selfish."
"I… wanted to come earlier, but I couldn't… I couldn't…"
"Couldn't what? Let me guess, you couldn't control your magic yet, and you were afraid you would hurt us. Is that what you were going to say?"
"Uh…" It was, damn it.
"It was, wasn't it? So what now, you think you can control it so now is the best time to return?" I couldn't say anything; no way could I admit that he was right. "I see, you know Hearts, Maybe it would have been better if you didn't show at all." That got every-ponies attention. My brothers could finally look directly at our father.
"Blue!" Mom finally spoke up, but didn't get to say much.
"Lux, don't try protecting him this time. He does something stupid, endangers everyone, and then leaves without a trace instead of owning up to his mistake. This boy is Dangerous and if he couldn't face us then, I don't see why he should bother now."
That was the last straw, I couldn't take it anymore; I had to get out of there. "You know what, you're right, I shouldn't have bothered." I started toward the front door. "Thanks for having me over, it's always nice come back the Family."
My slow trot to the door quickly turned into a full gallop as I rushed to get out of that house. I started to hear some-pony coming after me. I didn't know why and I didn't care, I didn't want to deal with them right now. Once I got out of the door, I used a spell to seal it shut. The spell would fade soon, but I would be far gone by then. I didn't know how literal that statement was, but I would find out soon enough.
The memory is fuzzy after that. I remember running for a long time. It wasn't long after that that everything turned dark. I think that was the time I started to enter the dream. Someone, something took over after that. It had a name, one I had forgotten long ago and was proud to have, but I remembered now. The name of the being that had forced me to be sealed away, Minucorn.
What happened next is… hazy, even now, but I'll try to explain as best as I can. When I first got out of my memories, I could hear some-pony calling me, I think it was Twilight.
"Hearts? Hearts, what's going on?" I believe that's what she said, she was calling out to me but I couldn't respond, or at least I couldn't. "Hearts listen; we have to get you back to my house. I can seal your mark again. It's too dangerous to keep…"
"Seal," My voice started to say, but I wasn't the one controlling it. "No, I will not be sealed, not again."
"Hearts, we're not going to seal you, I will keep my promise, but we have to seal your mark's power."
"I…will…not…be…sealed…AGAIN!" Something was happening to me. My mark was increasing in power, and I could feel something covering my body, it almost felt like a cloak, or a blanket, or something. Whatever it was, I knew that no-pony was near me, so where did it come from? Was I making it? I still don't know.
I think that Twilight was still trying to call to me. She might have even tried attacking me. I did feel some kind of force pushing against my body, but it was slight. I was horrified; I didn't want to go back to the dream. For so long I had been suffering in that place, and now that I've felt how great it is outside, would I have to go back? I didn't want to, I wanted to stay; I wanted to see if I could really live here, to make friends, to do the things I should have before, and now I was going to lose everything, again. I couldn't go through that.
Moments before I broke down, I could hear another voice calling me. This one was quieter, calmer, it was Fluttershy, I'm sure of that. What did she say again? …not sure, but that didn't matter; I could feel her getting closer. Closer to a dangerous creature that could kill a pony with a thought and eat there sorrow, did I mention he could do that. I was freaked out for her, and I guess that's what I needed, because it was after that that my senses cleared up and I gained… nothing but that, certainly not control.
"…arts, come on you have to hear me. Please, say something." Fluttershy had desperately been crying out things like that for I don't know how long. Her eyes were swollen with tears that might have actually helped me, that don't mean I liked it.
"Fluttershy get away from me." Fluttershy brightened at my words, but not by much. I looked at my own body and noticed why. That cloak I spoke of wasn't really a cloak. I don't know what I was, it was some kind of black light that covered my body, and the stuff was moving like fire burning around it, and it almost felt as hot. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.
"Hearts, finally." She seemed relived; I guess she had been calling for awhile.
"Fluttershy, please get away from me! I don't want to hurt you!"
"You won't." She sounded so sure, but I wasn't.
"I don't know what I'll do now."
The cloak had gotten bigger, it covered most of my body now; everything but my head. The energy from the mark had started the pulse out of control; I'm guessing that's why Fluttershy and Twilight couldn't get close. Everything, including them, was being pushed away by what felt like a strong wind, and I was the source. I couldn't control anything, not even my own body. I feared the worst. I did want to live in this time, but what did that incorporate? Being a danger to every-pony in a way that even the windigos of the past were not? No, I wouldn't let that happen.
I looked over at Twilight, looking like she was having trouble keeping herself standing, and decided to make the hardest choice I would ever make. "Twilight," I got her attention, "Do you know the spell that sealed me away in the first place?" She was hesitant at first, but she eventually nodded. "Alright, I want you to…"
"No, Twilight don't you dare do that." Fluttershy screamed at the Alicorn, louder than I thought was even possible for her.
"Fluttershy…"
"Hearts, you are not going back to that seal, I can't let you."
"Fluttershy, Look at me!? You and Twilight can…" It was tough to talk, the energy had started affecting my voice now, "…you can… barley stand. We have to get rid… of this power."
"Then you do it." I focused my gaze on her, as tough as it was. "This is your power, your destiny, your cutie-mark proves that. You have to control it."
"This is not my power..." I hung my head. "It's the power of this damn mark..., one that I was stupid enough... to take without knowing anything about. I can't control it."
"It's because you're trying too hard." Twilight had spoken up. When I looked over to her, I noticed that she had started walking over to me. "You can't fight that kind of power, and can't control it, but you can't let it control you." She had managed to get closer to me than Fluttershy and was still walking.
"Twilight, stop, please. I don't want to hurt you. Just seal me away." She wasn't listening.
"To gain real control… you have to let it take you." She stumbled a bit but kept walking closer. "Accept the power as it is… and guide it…, but don't… fight."
"Don't fight it? Have you gone mad?"
"I'm walking toward a source of out of control energy, what do you think? But… you have… to trust me." She managed to get to me and placed a hoof onto my shoulder.
I still thought she was mad, but she wasn't going to seal me away, so I was kind of out of options. 'Let it take me?' Alright then take me.
I did as Twilight instructed and stopped fighting the energy flow. At first, the energy went crazy as I had feared. Twilight didn't manage to keep close after that, the increased output forced her back. She and Fluttershy were sent tumbling back while the energy still increased, but I kept calm this time. The dark vale around me had begun going wild as the energy did, but without me fighting back, it was short lived. With no resistance, I guess the mark didn't feel like there was anymore reason to fight, so it didn't. I just kept keeping my cool as best as I could, and surely enough, the energy started to give up. The cloak faded back into me, the energies light faded too, and all of the force they had created just lessened until it stopped altogether. It actually worked, for the most part, I had gained control, or at least stopped it, for now.
I was exhausted. The moment the energy had calmed down, I just wanted to collapse and take a long nap, but Twilight managed to catch me before that could happen. Her and Fluttershy had managed to fly back to my sides to give some much needed support. Managing to look up at the two mares, I noticed the smiles of relief on there faces. I had the same one on mine.
"Thank you," I said to the two as they started easing me down onto the ground to rest. I looked over to Twilight. "Twilight, how did you know that would work?"
"A friend told me, awhile back."
"A friend?" Does that mean she was in this kind of situation before? What does this girl do?
"Yeah, and I new you'd be able to control it."
"How could you know that? Even I had given up."
"Well, the princess trusts you, my friend was willing to trust you, and… I never gave you enough trust myself, so I guess I owed you some now."
"What? What do you mean? You…"
"I agreed to help you, and let you stay with me, because the princess told me to, but I never thought it was a good idea. I thought I was going to have sealed you back away from the start, and when you asked me to, I almost did."
"Why didn't you?"
Twilight looked over towards Fluttershy before she turned back to me. "I already told you. I trust my friends, and Fluttershy trusted you to the very end. Now I see that I should have done the same. I'm sorry."
Twilight forced her head away, but I could see how she was feeling. She had really thought she made a mistake, when that was far from the truth.
"No." I stood back up and moved into her gave, "I should be thanking you. Whatever you thought before, you trusted me now, even when I couldn't." Twilight's mood had started to change. "I'm grateful to you, both of, Thank You."
I managed to get a smile out of Twilight, which in turn got one out of Fluttershy. I owed my life to these girls, and I will repay, but at the moment, there was still something I needed to do, and it hadn't taken me long to realize it.
"Twilight," I spoke again, "I appreciate all that you have done for me, you too Fluttershy, but I have to ask one more thing from you."
Twilight was pretty surprised to here me say that. "Oh, of… of course, anything, just name it."
Hours after my little… episode, Fluttershy, Twilight, and I had found ourselves back in the very same spot were this had all begun. Earlier, I had asked Twilight to send a message over to the princess, asking her to meet us back at Ponyville in the same spot she'd released me. I had been fully prepared to wait another day at least before she could get here, despite wishing to see her as soon as possible. Imagine my surprise when Twilight told me she could get her over here in only a matter of hours. Admittedly, I can't say I completely believed her at the time, but when she showed a letter from the princess, responding to one she had sent to her only moments ago, I was simultaneously relived, amazed, and a bit skeptical about the Equestrian mail systems. A lot of things sure have changed.
As promised, after only waiting about four hours, give-or-take, in the distance, we could see the sight of a golden Pegasus drawn carriage flying towards us in the distance. I stood at attention, eager to speak with Luna again, but to my surprise, she was not the princess I spoke with, at least, not the only one. As the carriage landed, we were greeted with the welcoming sight of the night princess, but it was being hindered by a far more shocking sight. Sitting in the carriages center seat was Luna's older sister, and the princess of the day, princess Celestia.
She had been just as I remembered her, white coat, animated aurora mane, gold jewelry; it was all more or less the same. She stared walking directly towards me the moment she exited the coach, but I was still in shock so I don't think I reacted.
"So…" The day princess began to speak, "…It's true then." I finally snapped out of my shock long enough to notice what was going on around me, e.g. every-pony, including Twilight, Fluttershy, and any other pony within' visual distance, had begun to bow toward the two; I figured I should probably do the same. "You have really returned." Celestia placed a hoof under my chin before I had a chance to bow, forcing me to look up at her.
The sensation I felt after she touched me was… it's hard for me to explain; it was like letting out a long held breath only to start wheezing the moment you tried. It was quite overwhelming, but I forced my cool, the mark taught me how to do that.
Taking a breath, I spoke up. "'Sigh'… yes, I am." She removed her hoof from my chin, allowing me to move back. "Hello princess." I got my chance to bow.
"I must say, this is a… unexpected surprise."
"Well, I suppose I could say the same thing." I looked back to Celestia.
"Oh?"
"When I requested an audience with a princess, I had expected only Luna to reply." I looked over to Twilight who looked a bit embarrassed at the out come.
"Well unfortunately, my former student, these messages only travel one way." She showed me the letter Twilight had supposedly sent to Luna. "These messages can only be sent directly to me. She hasn't opened a channel with Luna. Though, perhaps that is a good thing." The look Celestia gave Luna at that moment put Fluttershy's creepy stare to shame, I think I actually heard a scared Squeak from Luna, seriously.
"But princess," Twilight intervened, "I did label that letter 'to Luna.'"
"Yes, I did see that." Celestia didn't hesitate. "My apologies, I suppose it was a princess's curiosity that led me to check it."
I must have missed something. The Sun princess opened a letter that was not for her, despite it being sent to her, but some how it felt like we were in the wrong. I would find out why a moment later, but man did she look pissed.
"Imagine my surprise…" Celestia continued, "…when I realized it spoke of your release. After seeing that, I just had to accompany my sister to see for myself."
"Celestia," Twilight intervened again, " I noticed that you keep saying you're surprised. Didn't Luna arrive under your orders?"
All eyes shot over to Luna, and she was definitely feeling their burn.
"Um… we… I may have told just a little fib when I spoke to you of mine sister's order Twilight Sparkle."
"How little?" Twilight had asked, but I knew she knew the answer, as did I
"I never gave any orders to free Hearts." Twilight shrunk back at Celestia's words. "In fact, I was prepared to redo the seal on him myself when the time came."
Twilight started to look like Fluttershy, how she had started shaking so abruptly, and I really couldn't blame her. She had just taken part in an act that could be classified as treason, whether it was just or not. The actual Fluttershy had managed to stay relatively level headed. Whether that was because she didn't understand the seriousness of this situation, or for other reasons, I'm not sure. Luna was definitely the worst off; after all she had to live with the women she just annoyed. What would happen next was anyone's guess, except me. I thought I knew what to do.
"Princess," taking a chance, I got the princess's attention, "I do apologize. I did not know that these two had freed me against your will."
"I don't see how you could," Celestia pointed out.
"…However, disobedient or not, I am grateful to these girls, all of them." I was pushing my luck, but I had to get this out in the open. I just hoped I still had the reapers luck. "If it wasn't for Luna and Twilight, I never would have escaped that Equestria forsaken dream, and if it wasn't for Twilight and Fluttershy," I had activated my mark to put emphasis on this next line, "I never would have gained control of my power." I conjured up a red platform, in the shape of my mark to lift me into the air; I wanted to be at eye level with Celestia. "I will accept any punishment you have for me, even if that means being sealed again, but please do not make these girls suffer for doing something so selfless and kind." I think I heard Fluttershy try to fly to my side with that last sentence, but luckily someone must have stopped her.
"You will accept any punishment I give you no matter how horrible?"
"Yes."
"…even if I was to reseal you, or just send you to Tatarus?"
"…Yes"
"…Hearts…, you have not changed one bit. You are still so very dramatic." Celestia had started to crack up at my performance.
"Well, you still encourage it. Who really hasn't changed?" I followed along, floating back to the ground and cracking up too. My gamble paid off.
I could feel that the others were confused, to say the least. I explained to them that this kind of situation was actually common in my past. Growing up, I would always try to take on more than I could handle, always trying to act so tough, or darn near invincible. Celestia had tried to talk some sense into me so many times, it eventually became a running joke, I would do something reckless, and she would talk me out of it in ways similar to how she just did. It's been a while so I couldn't be sure that's what was going on, but it was worth the risk. It felt so good to be able to do this again, but I don't think the others were happy to be part of the side cast.
After me and Celestia had calmed down a bit, she got back into a serious demeanor, this time for real. "It is wonderful to see you again Hearts, really it is, but at the same time, I can not just look past your past crimes."
"Yeah, I know," I wasn't too worried this time, "Like I said, I'll gladly accept my punishment. Of course I do hope it doesn't entail suffering eternal damnation."
She gave an assuring shake no. "No, I have a better idea." I waited to see what she had in store. "Hearts Major, for your crimes in the past and aided escape from your sentence," I could feel the others tense at that line, "I herby sentence you… to exile."
The rest of the ponies silently gasped at the sentences mention, but I kept my cool. Mostly because I knew what came next.
"I'm sure by now, you are aware that this time period is far different to the one you left, that is why I am sentencing you to live out the rest of your days in this Equestria. And just to show that I am fair, I will let you decide what area you wish to begin your sentence."
Yeah, hiding a character building exercise as a punishment, who's the one who hasn't changed again Celestia?
The others were so happy to hear that I had gotten off Scott free. They started rushing me, hugging me, messing my mane.
"I'm so happy for you Hearts," Fluttershy said.
"Thank goodness," said Twilight.
"We are relived that everything has turned out well for you Hearts Major," Luna had added.
I hadn't realized I had made such a lasting impression on them already. Yeah, I could definitely call this place a home.
"Well Hearts," Celestia got our attention, "you still have a decision to make."
She was right; I still had to choose the sight of my new home. By how the girls were looking at me, I guessed that they had expected me to say something like, "I think I would like to stay here in Ponyville. After what I have been through, I can't imagine living anywhere else." At first, I really was thinking that, but getting my memories had given me a new outlook. Although I liked my new friends, I already had my answer.
"Well, what is your choice?" Celestia repeated.
"…Celestia, if it's really my choice, I think I would like to start my exile in my hometown." The girls backed away from me. I hope I didn't upset them.
"Hmm, is that so?" Celestia didn't sound surprised at all. She really did know me.
"I see," Luna added, "You wish to follow us back to Canterlot then?" She got a big smile across her face. "Well I assure you, you will be welcome."
"Huh?" She thought I meant going back to Canterlot. How much did this princess really know about me? "Umm… no, I mean going back to were I was born."
"Huh? But… we thought…."
"Luna," Celestia got her sisters attention, "Hearts moved to Canterlot to start his training, but it is not were he is from originally."
This was news to the moon princess. I guess she assumed I was born in Canterlot because I spent a lot of my life their. You'd think it would be obvious I wasn't. Hello, Earth-pony.
This peaked Luna's curiosity. "Well, then where are you going?" she asked.
"My hometown, Trottingham."
That explains why I new the towns name. Huh, I guess my memories were trying harder than I thought to get out. Celestia's smile had brightened at that moment, but I wasn't sure why. Just happy I could remember I guess.
"It's settled then." Celestia called one of the Pegasus ponies from the chariot to her side, and gestured for him to hand her something. The pony placed a small, tan-pouch in her out-stretched hoof, which she hoofed over to me. "Take this."
When I looked inside, I saw that it was filled with a large amount of bits. "What is this for?" I had asked.
"You have a long journey ahead of you Hearts; just call this, one final aid, teacher to student." I was so happy when she called me that that I ended up moving in and hugging her, and she pulled me closer. "I know I don't have to say this, but just be careful."
Being this close to Celestia, just like i had once been, it was a nice moment when it lasted, but that wasn't very long.
"Wait," Fluttershy interrupted, getting mine and Celestia's attention, "I'm… sorry to interrupt, really I am," she retreated, "but you don't have to go right now, do you."
"She's right," Twilight stepped in, "We have the whole day left after all, and I never did get to show you all of Ponyville."
"Well, I guess that depends, when does my sentence start?" I asked Celestia.
She giggled and said, "I suppose it can be held off until tomorrow."
Those words were all they needed to hear. Both Twilight and Fluttershy had again forgotten that my legs were not broken, and began dragging me around the town, again; I was getting use to it. For the rest of that day, the girls, including princess Celestia and Luna, had shown me around all of Ponyville, and all that it had to offer. Not only was it fun, but it was a good comforting activity before tomorrow. Although I did wish to see my old home, I wasn't going to have any of these girl to help me out for awhile, but I guess I'll have to live with that. It's not like I'll never see them again, and besides, I wasn't alone for very long, but that's a detail best left for later.
To be Continued
Next chapter: New Home; New start; New 'friends'
Woo, that was a doozy, Congratulation to anyone that made it to the end. I hope this chapter settles any eager watchers, because this is going to be my last chapter for a while. It's not the last chapter period, but I've got a few more stories I'm going to be working on for a bit, feel free to check them out if you get a chance. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, follow and favorite this story if you did. If you have a comment, just leave them below and I'll check them out. I hope to see you all in the next chapter, whenever that is.
Until then…