Chapter VIII

Fluttershy opened the door, and entered. He barely took notice of that, only in a back of his mind sort of way. He was staring numbly at his arms, covered with second degree burns. He couldn't run or hide anymore. He understood that. He understood since the very beginning that things would end up like this. He just hadn't wanted to admit that to himself.

He heard her squeak, but to his surprise, she didn't pass out.

"W-what h-happened?"

"I don't know. I don't know… anything about this." he said. He couldn't do anything about this, he had tried to handle it and well, he just had to look at his arms for the fruits of his efforts. But even if he could, they could. Right? They had to. "I… I need help, please. Call them. You h-have to help me. I didn't do anything wrong. None of this is my fault, so you..."

"I-I go now. Please, hold on."

He breathed in, breathed out. He was babbling. Why he was babbling all of that? It hurt so much, like he was burning from the inside. And he was. Because something was inside, consuming him. He wasn't alone in his own body, his own mind. Not anymore. He laughed. He laughed quietly, to himself, tears streaming down his face. He didn't even know why he was laughing.

It didn't take long for them all came into the room, maybe fifteen minutes. The surprise and the horror was clear on their faces. Except for Pinkie. She just looked at him with an expressionless face, as if she was staring at something beyond him. Twilight stepped up, did her best to calm herself down and examined his burns.

"How did this happen?" she asked him.

"I don't know. I don't know, but… since I woke up, I was like this. This, something. Sleeping inside of me." during those fifteen minutes, he had been thinking over it and he had decided to confess, to just reveal it all and let whatever would happen, happen. It hadn't been long, but he was already tired of this situation. "It wants to kill, to consume. And it spilling out from inside me. I… that night, Rarity's cat. I went there, as if I dream. I was the one who did that to the cat, but I wasn't. It wasn't me. I… I just so angry, so resentful. I just knew she need to die, that some people, ponies, that they needed to die. I… I don't know. What's wrong with me?"

Silence. There was just that, silence. Twilight's horn light up, and the burns… he could felt them slowly being healed. It hurt, but it was only for an instant. What came next was a pleasant haze, as if he was in the middle of a dream. Magical healing, magical anaesthesia. Wonderful. He could get used to this. He laughed.

"Hey, hey, hey." Pinkie yelled. "Edward, don't you think it's time you accept already? You know it, you remember it but you don't want to accept it."

"W-what do you meant?" there was a slight tremble in his voice. Why was that? He tried to grasp for the answer flickering in his head, but there was only darkness.

"Edward." Twilight said. "I want to get to the bottom of this. I think… maybe she's right, so relax, okay? Open your mind, and let me in."

"No." he said.

"Edward, please." the glow of her horn increased. "You don't have to be afraid."

"I'm telling you, don't open that!" but it happened. The released magical energy entered him, cut off the links, grabbed hold of him and threw it away, into the darkness, the void, to drift.

Mirrors drifted in the void, all clustered. What was reflected in them was not his own image, but memories.

(this is your mind)

(get out of my head I told you bitch get out my head)

(calm down please this is for you own good I just need to)

(shut up shut up I told you I told you but you didn't listen you didn't)

A mirror, slammed into his consciousness. The reflection inside, unfolding. A memory, coming back to life. The shape of something familiar, a house. His own house, even though it was and wouldn't never be home to him. The happiness he had experienced there had been a lie. Yes, because… the memories went, one after another, and it got so bad that at some point he got unable to tell where a memory ended and another one begun. He was drowning in the flood of memories. And all along it, the voice of his father.

"Why I don't have a mother, daddy?" he had asked. Five years old, maybe.

"She's gone up, my little boy. To a better place that… this shitty world." he said, and took a long shot of the bottle of beer in his hand.

"How was mum?" he didn't remember when he asked that. Days or months. All he knew was that it happened after that last thing. One night, that question had slipped out of his mouth, while he was settling in on his bed.

"She… she was the most beautiful person I ever know. And I don't… I don't mean her external appearance. She was kind, caring. Picked up a drop out like me, made me see life was worth living." his hands clenched into fist. "This world lost her, and far too soon. She was the only thing worth a damn about this world, and now… all I have of her is you, Edward. All we have left is each other. Family. Don't ever forget that."

He didn't remember what his answer had been. More and more memories. His father gradually growing worse. Distancing himself for his friends, becoming nothing more that a drunkard. The warmness he had thought that he had felt had completely gone away from him. What left her mouth were harsh words, filled with contempt, bitterness and self hatred. But what was worse was the silence. Like father was not there. Like he himself was not there. Like his life was a lie.

And in the end…

Crouch. The crouch of flesh, the cracking of bone, the flowing blood, the…

"She's death because of you!"

The link broke. Twilight stared at him, her eyes wide, breathing uneven and he stared back.

"You're dead." she muttered, and her eyes showed that she regretted it as soon as she said it. Too late.

Creak. His brain creaked. A screamed ripped his way out of his throat. Bone dislocated, shattered, unable to handle the overflowing magical energy.

The sound of an explosion, and darkness.

Twilight Sparkle, acting purely on instinct, conjured a shield over the group a fraction of a second before the explosion. It was a weak shield, at least by her standards. It cracked, and it hurt, but it didn't break, and it protected them from black energy. Fluttershy's cottage was destroyed, leaving nothing but a few burning remains. She let down the shield.

"What was that?" she breathed out, shaking, only vaguely aware of the panicked voices of her companions.

A cluster of dark energy was in the middle of the remains. And under her eyes incredulous eyes, it started to move. To take a form. A giant of darkness rose up, looming over them. A cluster of hate and anger and more power that she had ever felt in all her life. It looked around, then looked at them. It didn't have eyes, but it looked at them. She was sure of it.

The giant while screaming as if in its death throes, ran to kill them.