As I lay on the floor, heart racing, Celestia walks in with Luna right behind her, followed by two pegasus guards in golden armor. It can't be her, it can't be. She was born three thousand years ago, there is no possible way she could be alive. She can't...

"Well, quite a lovely home you've made for yourself, Miles. I must say, I love what you've done with the stairs." Oh fuck, she sounds so similar to her mother! It has to be her, but it can't! I stand up and look over to her.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"You already said my name, I am Celestia-"

"That's impossible!" I yell, getting shocked looks from everyone. "You were born over three thousand years ago, how could you possibly be alive!?" She looks at me for a moment as if I'm crazy, before she straightens up to answer.

"Well, Miles, alicorns are immortal, we don't age past adulthood. Now, I'm going to have to ask you to lower your voice..."

"You don't remember me, do you? I'm actually not that surprised you don't, you were so little." The room falls silent as Celestia and I stare each other down. I look up and notice that she still has the tiara I gave her. I step forward and reach out to grab it, only to have the guards get in the way.

"Touching the princess would be a bad idea," says one of the guards. I flare my magic and levitate it over to me, getting the guards to tackle me to the ground, but not before I get the tiara. "Arrest him!" yells one of the guards as they try to wrestle me down. I fight with them for a bit until I lift my hand and show the hologram to Celestia.

"Guards, release him," she says sternly. They stop and back off from me slowly. I get to my feet and present the tiara to her.

"I gave this to you when you turned four. It was during a negotiation I was having with your parents to have my people come to the surface. You used to..." before I could finish, something sends me flying out the door. When I stop rolling I look up to see Celestia walking towards me, tears flowing from her eyes.

"YOU’RE THE ONE THAT KILLED THEM! I WILL END YOU FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" She yells in a voice that nearly blows me away. She lowers her head and points her horn at me, sending a beam of golden energy straight for me. I flare my magic and raise both my hands, creating a force field at the last possible second, sending the beam to my sides and exploding in the distance. When the energy stops I look up and see that she's gone. I twist around as I hear her appear behind me, and raise a shield as she tries to behead me with a claymore she made from her energy. She gives several parries as she advances towards me, I step back with every step she takes and dodge her attacks by either ducking or raising a shield. When she gets close enough, she rears up and tries to slam her hooves onto me, so I flare my heels and jump back, doing a backflip and landing well away from her as she strikes the ground, making cracks appear at her hooves.

"Celestia, please! Let me explain! It wasn't me, it was some assassin..." I yell out, but get ignored as she creates three golden orbs above her head that shoot towards me. I jump high into the air and escape the massive explosion down below. A flash appears behind me as I feel two hooves slam into my back, sending me straight to the ground. I twist and land on my hands and feet. Crouching low, I begin to run my way towards Celestia as she lands. She tries to knock me back by sending waves of energy at me, but I use my own energy to knock her attack aside. As I get closer she tries to back away, but I'm closing the distance too quickly. In the last meter she tries to swing her blade into me, but I twist and drop out of the way. When I twist back up, I'm directly next to Celestia. Before she can act, I throw my arms around her and hold her close to me.

"Let go of me, you-"

"Enough!" I yell, silencing her. "No more... no more fighting... please." She tries to break free of my hold, but I won't allow her to get away until I say what needs to be said. "You’re right."

"What?!" yells everyone from the front porch. Celestia stops fighting me at this point and begins to listen.

"You’re right. I'm the reason he died. If I hadn't pushed my people to come back to the surface, he would’ve never been put in harm’s way, but I cannot allow you to pass judgement on me until I let you know one thing... your parents and I were friends. Tempus was excited to have me come to the surface, he worked with all of the surface leaders to help create a sanctuary for my people, your mother wanted to help us establish our first town out here. This was something that we all wanted... and I'm sorry that he was the one to pay for it." I can feel her tears start to roll onto my back as she lowers her head in sorrow, crying softly on my shoulder.

"I was only five when he died. Luna was born five months later. Two years later, mother passed away. I was only seven, taking care of the only piece of true family I had left..."

"I know... I'm sorry-"

"How could you say he wanted this...?"

"We didn't know this would happen... we didn't plan for it..." I let go of her and start to step away from her. "That's why I'm letting you pass judgement on me." I kneel before her and hold my arms behind me as I close my eyes. I hear her take a few steps towards me and stop.

"..."

"..."

NO... SHE WILL NOT

I open my eyes and look around for the new voice when all of the sudden, I feel as if my heart is trying to rip itself out. I fall forward and hold onto my chest as the pain increases, until a bright white light sends me into unconsciousness.

---

I look around to try and find the trick Miles is trying to pull, when he suddenly falls to the ground. The dark lines that appeared when he started using magic are quickly appearing all over his body, as a massive white fire spews out from his back. I take a step back and ready my sword for whatever he's planning. Suddenly an emerald arm shoots out of Miles’s back as it starts to pull itself out of the portal.

"Soul Fire?" Luna says as she walks up to the form. When it pulls itself completely out it stands and begins to walk towards me. I don't know what it is. It has the basic form of Miles, but lacks anything else. It's just a being of pure energy. It... or he, keeps walking closer and closer so I point my sword at him, making him stop. He looks at the tip and raises a hand to it, making it disappear instantly.

THAT WOULD BE A COSTLY MISTAKE

"Who are you!?" I demand.

"Soul Fire, what are you doing here?" Luna asks as she walks up to his side. He looks down to her for a second before snapping his wrist, creating a long narrow blade of the same energy that he's made of. He begins to walk towards me again, making me backpedal. "Soul Fire, stop," Luna begs, but is ignored. I create another sword and take a ready stance.

"Stop where you are, or..." Before I can finish he raises his sword and lunges for me, only stopping because Luna jumps in the way. She stands her ground for a second before her mane and tail flare up. I can sense the energy within her grow past what I thought she could do, until she falls to the ground. "LUNA!"

I start to run to her, but stop when the blue from her mane and tail subside, leaving a blue form hovering over Luna's unconscious body. It looks similar to the green one, in that it lacks any features such as a face, but it's... different. It looks to be a head shorter than the green one, skinnier, and has two round perky lumps on its chest. It floats down to the ground in front of the green one and stands before it, crossing its arms.

I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS

AND I WILL NOT ALLOW ANY OTHER TO PASS JUDGEMENT ON THOSE THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO

They stare at each other for a second longer before they take a step towards one another.

THEN TAKE THIS TO PAY FOR HER BLUNDER

The blue one puts a hand where the green one’s cheek would be and pulls it in for a kiss. Their bodies turn turquoise where their lips would be as the green one pulls the blue one in. As they kiss, I can't help but let my jaw drop. Is... is a part of Luna... kissing a part of Miles? Before I can completely register what is happening before my eyes, the two forms end the kiss and step back from each other, leaving turquoise swirls in their faces that slowly fade back to their appropriate colors.

VERY WELL

They both walk back to where they came from and phase back into Luna and Miles, waking both of them up.

"Why do I taste hay?" Miles asks weakly as he stands back to his feet.

"Why do I taste apples?" Luna asks as she stands back up.

"Wh... what just happened?" I ask in a daze. Miles and Luna look to one another before they both look back to me.

"Umm... I was putting my life in your hands... then I thought you did the deed..."

"No, she was about to, but you passed out as Soul Fire appeared," Luna says, "then he was about to attack Celestia... then... then what?" she asks as she looks to me.

"Well... you... umm... you see..." I stammer before Twilight runs up and saves me.

"Well, a lot happened, but let’s save that for after we get you two inside and cleaned up."

"Yes, lets adjourn inside and... digest, what just happened," I say as I slowly turn towards the house.

"If you say so," Miles says, as he joins Twilight and me walking towards the home.

I look towards the home and see the results of my outrage. Every window on the front side has been completely shattered, leaving shards of glass everywhere. The front door has been shattered from my throwing Miles through it. And a large crater lies before the entire structure. Oddly enough, the walls seem to be perfectly fine. Not a single scratch, crack, or even a dent on the entire building.

"Umm... sorry about the damages..." I apologize.

"Don't worry about it. It'll be like, five minutes of work." We walk inside the house and take seats in the living room, where Miles and Luna are brought towels to clean themselves off.

"Shouldn't we have them use the restrooms, or a sink?" I ask.

"They haven't had the water lines built yet," Twilight informs me.

"How could they build a house without putting a water line in?" Luna asks as she rubs some of the dust off herself.

"Maybe because I built the entire place earlier today," Miles says. "So can anyone fill me in on what happened while I was out?" Everypony falls quiet and tries to look away from Luna and Miles... I'm going to have to be the one to tell them.

"Well... a green entity came from Miles and was about to attack me, but Luna jumped in the way. She then passed out, and a blue entity came out of her... and convinced the green one to spare me..."

"How did I... or my entity, convince Soul Fire not to attack?" Luna asks innocently. Aw, come on... I don't want to have to be the one to tell my little sister about her first kiss... at least not in front of everypony.

"Twilight, can I have a word with you... in private?"

"Of course, Princess." We make our way upstairs and enter one of the vacant bedrooms, where I take a seat on the edge of a bed and let my stress escape me through a deep sigh.

"Twilight... I need your opinion on what just happened."

"Well... you attacked Miles... those entities appeared... and kissed... then we came here..."

"I meant as in what I should feel right now. Part of me wants to tear Miles apart for his involvement in my parents’ deaths, the other part wants to cast him into the badlands for touching my sister like that."

"Princess, as much as I know you don't want to hear this, you can't blame Miles for what happened."

"How could you possibly say that!?"

"Princess, he didn't want any of this. Everything was out of his control. The assassin, the... entity coming out of him, he couldn't have done anything to stop them." I take Twilight's words and mull them over for a bit. The entity part may be true... but I still don't know how to explain what happened all those years ago.

"Twilight, can you send Miles up here, please?"

"Of course Princess," she says with a small smile. Twilight, I can always rely on you for a level head in these kind of situations. As Twilight leaves to retrieve Miles, I prepare myself mentally for what I'm about to hear. I won't say a word until after I hear his side of the story, I'll give him that much.

"You wanted to see me?" Miles says, as he walks into the bedroom and closes the door behind him.

"Yes. I would like you to tell me your side of the story, after which I will pass my judgment on you."

"Alright... well it all started..." During the entire explanation of his tale, I keep a straight face. No matter what emotion I feel on the inside, on the outside I keep a strong, even look about my face. I can't help but let a small laugh escape me when he mentions my father’s pet name to me. But when he gets to my father’s death, I have to look away to hide the tears in my eyes. "... And we never were able to get a complete report due to the invasion," he says in summation. I look back to him and stare deep into his eyes. All I can see is sorrow and regret - I can't find the eyes of a murderer. With a sigh I stand and face him.

"Miles... I will not hold you accountable for what happened to my parents..."

"What happened to Spatium? I know you said she died… but, how?" She tenses up from this, glancing away for a moment before looking back to me.

"Well, after giving birth to Luna, she succumbed to her loneliness and died of a broken heart. I was only seven at the time, but that's what I'm told happened. The next year, Discord rose to power and turned the land into a world of chaos."

"I'm sorry to hear that... she was an amazing person, and I see so much of her in you, Celestia." I close my eyes when he says this and try to hold back more tears, but fail when he holds me in his embrace.

"I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to blame you... I-I just miss them so much..." I sob.

"I know. I do too." I return the hug and let my sorrow fall for an unknown amount of time, until Miles breaks the hug.

"No more tears," he says as he lifts my chin to look him in the eyes, "the time to mourn has passed. Now is the time to let their memories make us stronger individuals."

"*sniffle* Right, time to grow up."

"Oh please, you'll always be the silly Celly from back in the day," he says, getting me to laugh at my father’s pet name. "So... do you really forgive me?"

"Maybe... I don't know yet. But I know I'm on the road to forgiveness. Thank you for telling me your tale," I say as I begin to walk out of the room, but stop when he puts a hand on my shoulder.

"No, thank you for giving me a second chance."

Next Chapter: Chapter 42 Just Another Party Estimated time remaining: 79 Hours, 22 Minutes