After a few minutes of walking through Ponyville on his way back to that oh so quaint little cottage, Markus felt as though he was being watched. He looked around but didn't see a soul in sight until someone stepped out from the shadows. It was Mourning Dew, the grey unicorn, who had bullied him relentlessly stood there staring daggers at Markus. Both stood in silence for a moment before Mourning Dew broke the silence.
"Do you have any idea what you've taken from me? My family was slaughtered in front of my eyes! My mother, father, and my two siblings were torn apart by their own nightmares, brought to life by what YOU unleashed! I don't care if it was an accident, and I don't care that the princesses decreed that we were to treat you better under the threat of banishment. I lost everything BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Markus was shocked at the last part as he thought to himself, "Did the princesses really command people to be nice to me? No wonder everyone suddenly changed so quickly." His thoughts were interrupted by a magic bolt being shot at him, barely missing him and grazing his right ear, which was intended to be a kill shot, and Markus knew it, so he immediately went into fight or flight mode, deciding on the former. He picked up a rock and struck Mourning Dew hard enough in the head to crack her horn and draw blood.
A loud scream echoed through town, drawing nearby townsponies who looked at the two fighting. They all instantly knew it was Mourning Dew who initiated it, thanks to Rainbow Dash letting ponies know what she had done upon Marcus's return. "Hey, leave him alone; you've done enough!" one of them shouted. "We all lost someone on that day; you're not special!" said another of the townsponies. It was getting out of hand, so Marcus looked up and silenced the crowd.
"ENOUGH! She is right to be angry. I and the princesses didn't know what would be unleashed when luna looked into my mind, but that doesn't change the fact that people were hurt. Sure, I didn't intend for it to happen, but it did, and ponies got hurt, and I won't deny her revenge if that's what will allow her to heal! Nor will I deny any of you the right to feel however you do about me. If you hate me, so be it. If you forgive me, good for you. Move on with your life and let me live mine. But this one here hates me enough to try and kill me, and frankly, I can't blame her."
"When I was brought here, I lost everything and everyone I ever knew. My life, my sister, my friends... hell, I can't even visit my mother's grave anymore. So, in a way, I know how you feel... " Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through Markus, more painful than he had ever felt in his life. When he looked down, he stared in horror as he had been impaled by Mourning Dew, who had her horn charged, sending electricity shooting into his now bleeding stab wound. She stared back at him with anger so intense that she looked rabid.
Markus, thinking quickly, broke her horn off at the base not only to stop the spell but to prevent her from pulling out her horn, as it was the only thing keeping him from bleeding out. She fell down and screamed in pain again, only to get back up and say, "Don't you DARE compare yourself to me. You don't understand me at all. You can't go back home. Well, let me tell you something. I can, but I don't want to because the blood is still all over the walls! I watched as my family was slaughtered. You at least have the comfort of remembering yours alive and well, but every time I close my eyes, I see my little brother being torn limb from agonizing limb, my father being burned alive, and my sister who died trying to save my mother from what I can only describe as a blender on four legs..."
The townsponies looked horrified at what she was saying, what she had seen would have turned any of them into vegetables foaming at the mouth in some hospital, but her hatred was the one thing keeping her going. Suddenly, a loud boom could be heard again, only this time Markus stood in front of Mourning Dew, Rainbow stopped herself just before making contact, angry and confused. "Markus get out of the way. She's going down!" He stood firm, looking Rainbow dead in the eyes, "No, Rainbow... she's right. If it wasn't for my arrival here, none of that would have happened. Imagine if it was you. How you would feel? I can't raise a fist to someone who's already beaten. Look at her. "
Markus then pointed to the now sobbing mess on the ground, clutching her now broken horn, the pain finally being too much to continue. Markus grabbed the embedded horn in his side, channeling fire magic into it to sear his wound closed temporarily, he then pulled it out slowly nearly passing out in the process. He then walked over to Mourning Dew and cast a mending spell, putting the horn back good as new, not even a crack.
Mourning Dew looked up, confused and sputtered out, "but why? I tried to kill you, and you showed me mercy and kindness!?"
Markus looked down, saddened at the state of this poor mare. "Just because you think I'm a monster doesn't mean I'm about to prove you right. You don't know me either, so allow me to educate you. I'm a human from the planet Earth. I was brought here by some Kthulu-looking motherfuckers talking about an ancient Prophecy while they basically tortured me and dug this gem into my chest."
Markus took off his shirt and revealed not only the marks left on his body by her previous attacks but also the sigil carved into his back at which the townsponies all winced. He continued, "I was forced to kill my father at the age of eight with a gun he kept under his nightstand because he was going to kill me and my baby sister in a drunken rage. From the moment I got here, I got nothing but looks of fear and contempt from all of the townsponies because I was strange and they didn't know what to make of me. Mothers shielded their children from me, and children ran in fear when they saw me coming. But after what happened, I started getting beaten, burned, attacked, robbed, and persecuted all because of something that will haunt me for as long as it haunts you! I still hear the screams echoing throughout the town, the presence of night terror shook me to my very core, and the worst part is I have a photographic memory, meaning I will never forget anything I saw or heard or smelled. You are not alone. Look around you. The ponies of this town suffered greatly because of Night Terror."
Morning Dew looked down in defeat as she stood up and walked away, but in that moment, the rogue thundercloud that the weather team had lost suddenly found its way to the center of town where they all stood, and it was about to go off and take out Morning Dew. Markus ran as fast as he could, putting his body in the path of the lightning bolt, redirecting it as it passed through his body and disintegrated a nearby tree before the cloud spent all of its remaining energy.
Mourning Dew stood there, speechless. She couldn't have been more wrong about Markus and now she couldn't deny it any longer, but it was too late. Markus fell to the ground lifeless; the bolt had stopped his heart instantly.
Rainbowdash, who had remained quiet until this point, looked on in horror as she saw the life leave Markus's eyes. Suddenly, she screamed and flew towards him at top speed. "No, no, no, you can't be dead! It's not fair... " she looked at the scorch marks on his chest and finger tips. He was gone; his breathing had stopped and he was becoming cold to the touch. The element in his chest lit up, possibly in a last-ditch effort to save him, only to go dark a second later. Suddenly, the others ran up to Rainbow after hearing her scream and what they saw absolutely shook them to their core, especially Fluttershy, whose scream could be heard in Canterlot, drawing the attention of the princesses and Discord, who appeared to check on Fluttershy out of worry. When he looked down, his blood ran cold.
Discord looked around and said, "What happened here? Who did this? " Rainbow looked at Discord with tears in her eyes. "It was that rogue thunderbolt. He jumped in front of it to save her, of all ponies. I hope you're happy now, Mourning Dew. He's dead, and it's all because he wanted to save your worthless hide! Get out of here before I do something I'll regret."
Heeding her warning, Mourning Dew ran off just as the princesses arrived, having the same reaction as the others, silence and tears. Fluttershy looked absolutely furious now. "Well, what are you standing there for? Help him! Please, he's my special somepony. We just became a couple yesterday! Please, I'll do anything, even give my life if need be! " Applejack tried to comfort her friend, putting a hoof on her shoulder and saying, "Easy, sugarcube. I know it's hard, but he's gone... "
Fluttershy shook her head. "NO! HE'S NOT GONE, I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT!" Fluttershy had never shouted so loud in her life. Applejack took a few steps backwards and just looked down, knowing that she couldn't do anything for her friend in that moment. Princess Celestia walked up and levitated Markus into the air, using all of her power to try to bring him back. Luna gave all she had as well, even Discord chipped in, and Twilight even offered up her magic power and did what she could. The elements themselves circled around Markus, his element flashed to life, his wounds closed, his body healed completely, even his scar, which Celestia would apologize for later.
Sadly, however, when his body was lowered, his life didn't return to him; he just lay there dead, unmoving and cold. The harsh reality hit them all at once. Fluttershy screamed one more time in mourning, "NOOOOO!" She held Markus tightly in her hooves, not letting him go. Suddenly, she was teleported away along with everyone else behind a magic barrier. All except for Discord the others watched on, wondering what he was doing. The princesses were the only ones who seemed to know and celestia had a horrified look on her face.
Celestia yelled through the barrier, "You can't use that magic; it's forbidden! Not even I am permitted its use! It will kill you!! " Discord only looked back and smiled, "What I do now, I do for my dearest friend, Fluttershy. Be happy, my dear friend, and know that even though you have a special someone now, that if it wasn't him, I would have gladly been yours. I love you, Fluttershy, and always will. Goodbye. "
Before any more could be said, it appeared as though Discord reached inside of his chest and pulled out a glowing hourglass that was completely filled to the brim with sand. He then removed a broken hourglass from Markus, which shattered in his hand. He took one last look at the ones around him before placing his hourglass into Markus's chest. The barrier dropped, and everyone ran, unable to stop crying as they knew what happened next. Discord turned to dust as all around watched, and in what could only be described as a miracle, Markus started breathing again.
The six watched in amazement as the color returned to his cheeks and he felt warm again; his element glowed brighter than ever before. A voice from within began to speak. "Thank you, Discord, for your noble and selfless sacrifice," the voice said. "May you be remembered as a hero for all time."
Rainbow looked on in shock, saying, "I can't believe Discord would sacrifice himself, or that he had a thing for Fluttershy."
fluttershy meanwhile was hugging Markus tightly, crying from the happiness that he was alive and from the joy of him returning to life, and the sadness of losing someone who apparently loved her dearly. She never left his side as he was taken away to the nearest treatment center. The others stayed behind as a royal guard came by with Mourning Dew in custody. The guard looked at princess Celestia and excused the interruption before saying, "Ma'am, I caught the one responsible for this whole fiasco. She surrendered without a fight and almost seems like she's in a vegetative state. When I caught her, she just kept saying "I'm sorry, Markus" over and over. What should I do with her, ma'am? She broke the new law and even stabbed Markus with her horn. Because of her, Markus nearly died trying to save her from a rogue lightning cloud that was reported to have escaped from the weather factory incident."
Celestia looked at Mourning Dew with sadness and decided to take pity on her. "Take her to the Canterlot Asylum; she's clearly checked out, and I'm not in the business of sending people who don't have all of their mental faculties intact to their deaths by banishing them."
After all was said and done, Celestia looked at Twilight with a serious face. "Twilight, I want you and the others to report any changes in Marcus's personality, mood, or behavior. Death changes people, and being brought back forcibly will have taken a toll on him and his psyche. Unfortunately, the damage has been done, and now he will never age. The only way he can die is with great force, such as the end of the world, or with magic beyond our comprehension, or by giving his immortality to someone else."
Twilight looked at her teacher, confused. "But, princess, what was that spell discord just used? I've never even heard of something like that." Celestia gave Twilight an anxious look. "Let's just say that magic was forbidden by us countless eons ago. It's used to give someone who is mortal immortality but it comes at the cost of the caster's life. The simply turn to dust and blow away. That's the first reason we gave for banning its use. The second is the personality changes that would sometimes become...violent."
"Okay, Princess, I understand. If I notice anything, I'll call you right away." Twilight assured her former mentor.
Celestia gave a nod and the two sisters were off, this was the start of something that would change the course of history for the whole world. And the others would be witnesses to many things, even those they thought were impossible. But you'll find out about that in the next chapters. For now, have a good day, and I'll see you next time.
...TO BE CONTINUED...
