When I awake, I find myself back in Miles's conscious., but something has gone very wrong. The planes have turned black and is freezing cold to the touch. All the pictures of Miles's memories are flying around in a frenzy, shooting from one side of the room to the other and then back. I stand up and look around for Miles, but he doesn't seem to be anywhere. No Miles.... no Soul Fire, I'm-

"HAHAHA... welcome, Hyacintho Unum." I turn around to find Miles emerging from the ground... but, that can't be Miles. He has his magic flaring at its peak, sending black flames high into the air. His usually smooth black lines are jagged and make sharp turns. when he gets completely out if the ground he starts walking towards me.

"Wh-what are you doing-"

"Taking what's mine." He says as he continues to approach me. I start backing away from him... I don't know what he wants, but I have a couple guesses.

"Wh-where's Miles... what have you done to him-"

"Miles is... away right now-"

"Then who are you? What happened to Soul Fire?"

"I am Corpus Glacies and Anima Ignis is gone... for the moment. It just you, and me." I feel something hit my back hoof, making me drop to my haunches, letting Corpus Glacies get right next to me.

"Please.... don't...." I beg as he begins to reach out at me. His hand creeps closer and closer until it's only inches away. It suddenly stops and begins to shake and tremble as the fire in his hand dies out and becomes green.

YOU WILL NOT HARM HER

Miles...or Corpus Glacies, start to twist and contort as the flames start to die out and be replaced by the green ones. Once they all turn green he drops to the ground and seems to fall unconscious as Soul Fire starts to pull himself out of Miles's back. Once he's out, he floats over to me and lands before me, making the ground around us turn back to white.

FORGIVE ME, I HAVE LOST CONTROL

"What do you mean? What happened to this place?"

WHEN CORPUS GLACIES CAME INTO BEING, HE DEFIED ME AND CHALLENGED ME FOR CONTROL. I WAS ABLE TO HOLD HIM OFF FOR A WHILE, BUT EVENTUALLY LOST.

"Well, what does Corpus want?"

HE TIRES OF MILES BEING WEAK. ALSO...HE GROWS TIRED OF WAITING. HE WISHES FOR US TO CONSUMMATE-

"WHAT!" I yell as I jump back to my hooves. "He wants to what!?"

I UNDERSTAND YOUR CONCERN, I WISH TO WAIT FOR THE PROPER TIME AND CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT CORPUS GLACIES REFUSES TO WAIT-

"Then let me fight him! I can-"

NO! IF YOU WERE EVEN TO TOUCH HIM YOU WOULD VANISH INTO NOTHINGNESS. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH HIM

"Then do something! Fight back or get me out of here or-"

"Yes Anima, do something." We both look back to see Miles getting back up, the black flames growing back. Soul Fire steps in front of me and creates a thin blade in his hand. Corpus Glacies closes his hands and crates two thin black blades.

"Soul Fire..."

The two of them launch at each, colliding into one another and creating a vortex of black and green energy. They both fly back and land several yards away, only to charge back at each other and create another vortex. I look around to see all the windows of his memories hold still and start to spin in place. The ground is becoming a mixture of black and white area's swirling around. I flap my wings and try to take the air, but I can't seem to fly here so I try to use my magic next, but I can't use that either. I sit down feeling completely useless as Soul Fire and Corpus Glacies continue to fight. They've dropped their swords and started firing green and black beams a one another, each of them dodging or blocking the attacks. They seem evenly matched, both unable to gain the upper hoof on one another. Hmm... I wonder...

"Oh no! I... I can't take it anymore! The pain... THE PAIN!" I yell as I strike a dramatic pose and fall to the side, holding my eyes shut. After a minute of nothing happening I open my eyes to see them still fighting each other... well, shoot. I stand back up and watch them continue to try to blast each other away for what feels like an eternity. Soul Fire seems to be fond of using large beams of energy while Corpus tends to send short burst at close range. I finally get tired of waiting for one of them to win and decide to voice my opinion. "ENOUGH!" I yell, getting both of their attention. "First off, I'm not consummating with you, next, stop acting like little foals and-"

KA-BOOM

Before I could finish, Soul Fire took a shot at Corpus, causing a massive explosion that brings up a massive plume of smoke, blurring my vision. I try to wave the smoke away from myself until it starts to be sucked back to the point it came from. Once the smoke is gone all that is left is Miles, laying on the ground as the smoke is being sucked into his mouth. I walk up to him as the smoke finishes going into him and lay beside him. He looks as if he's asleep... and having a nightmare. I watch as his face contorts from emotion to emotion before I lean forward and kiss him, holding my lips against his. I keep my lips there until I feel him kiss back.

"Miles?" I whisper as I pick my head up and look into his eyes.

"Hey.... is this going to be our thing... cause I can get used to this." He says as he places his hand in his usual spot.

"Heh... maybe... Miles, what’s wrong. How did Corpus Glacies take control? And why do they keep calling you weak?" He looks away from me and starts to think about what I said. I can tell something is wrong... I just hope he'll tell me. Before he answers all the windows into his memories fall back to the ground, creating the hallway of moving pictures depicting his past. "Miles..."

"I don't know how to explain it... but... when I came to Ponyville I felt... at peace. There's something about Ponyville that... just... I've been holding back."

"What do you mean you've been holding back?" I ask as he sits up.

"Well... those Diamonds dogs... they should not have stood a chance. The dragons... I missed half those shots on purpose. I can't explain why, but... being there... I don't want to harm others... so I held back."

"So... how exactly have you been holding back?"

"Well... my weapons are duel enchanted; I've only been using one. I've been limiting my magic, doing everything with half the power I usually use. And in hand to hand I've... well, I just didn't do half the things I've could have done."

"So... when we fought Chrysalis together-"

"I could have lopped her head off four times. But instead I waited and only stabbed her... I then let you take the shot. It went against everything I was taught as a Spartan, but I can't help it. There's something... off about Ponyville that makes me not want to harm others-"

"Miles, there's nothing wrong with you not wanting to harm others-"

"Obviously not. Ever since I started holding back my powers have been out of control. With the black stuff, my soul taking its own form.... I don't know what to do..." before he finishes I lean forward and nuzzle his cheek, getting him to stop and look back to me.

"Hey... don't worry about it. Whatever is the problem, we'll figure it out, together." He looks away for a moment before he looks back to me and smiles. We lean in and kiss, Miles putting a hand at the base of my neck and on the back of my head. I just melt as he takes control of the kisses, pushing his tongue into my mouth. I start to push back into his mouth when we suddenly both roll to the side, as if the floor has suddenly tilted over. "AH! What's going on!" I yell as the ground levels out, with us both sliding to a stop a few inches from a window.

"I don't know!" Miles yells before the ground tilts the other direction, sending us rolling over, only this time we crash into a window, turning the world around us dark. I look around for a bit but can't see anything.

"Are you there Miles?"

"Right here." He says from beside me as he reaches out and grabs my back hoof, then feels his way up to the top of my body.

"Miles... what are you doing?"

"Trying to find your face." He says as the world brightens up. We're in a room that has two beds in the corner; one blue and one red, a shelf above it, two footlockers, and three doors, one being down a little hallway. Half of the room is pretty messy while the other half is clean. In the clean half is a human child with a shaved head starting to wake up in the bed. He looks like the child from the picture before... only clean and without hair. "This is my old dorm and that must be me.... I must be eight." Miles says as he stands up and looks around. I get up and look down at the waking child. He definitely looks like Miles, younger but similar.

"Aw, you didn't tell me you were cute when you were little." I say as the child Miles gets out of bed and walks over to the right most door and opens it to reveal an assortment of similar clothes. "Why do all of your clothes match?" I ask as he gets dressed.

"They're uniforms. Part of being in the military-"

"You're in the military! But, you look too young to be a part of the military-"

"Hey Dolum, wake up. Let’s get some breakfast." The child says as he walks over to the other bed and lifts the sheets, only to find the bed empty. "Huh... I guess him and Auxy went early or something." He says as he begins to walk out of the room and starts walking down a hall.

"I think I know what memory this is... but I'm not sure of it yet." Miles says as we follow after the child Miles.

"There isn't going to be another rape... is there?"

"No... but I think there's going to be a fight." Miles says as we walk into a room filled with cushioned seats. We walk up to a wall that has a row of metal Mico platforms on it. He walks onto the center one and we all flash to what looks like a cafeteria. He walks around the room to where they're serving the food and starts to fill his plate up. I look around the room to see that it's filled with people of varying ages. Some look to be Miles's age while others look to be adults. I can see many of the people glancing at Miles, whispering things to the people around them. I look back and watch Miles grab a ladle and pour some orange goo onto his plate.

"Ew... what is all of that?" The food... doesn't even look like food. It's just goop and pellets. No wonder he likes our food so much, this looks absolutely disgusting.

"It's what we ate. It's better than it looks... kind of." I give him a puzzled look before I follow after the two of them. Why would they eat it if it's gross...? I don't get it. The child Miles takes a seat with a small group of children, one I recognize as Fidus, but the other two I don't know.

"Good morning Miles, how was your first week?" The one next to Miles says timidly.

"It was... boring. But at least I'm getting the hang of reading now...kind of." Miles replies before he starts to eat.

"I still find it strange that they didn't teach you to read at the orphanage, what did they do with you there if they weren't teaching you basic skills like that?" Says the little boy across from Miles in a regal voice. I didn't know Miles was from an orphanage...

"I already told you, they didn't do anything. The dean just stayed in his office and only talked to us if we were caught stealing..."

"Yeah... you don't steal anymore...do you?" Asks the hefty boy across from Miles.

"No... " Miles starts to say but stops when a little girl runs up to the group.

"Have you guys seen Dolum? I haven't seen him since yesterday." The group looks around before getting up and running towards the platforms in the back. We flash away and appear in a long white hallway filled with grey doors that have slim windows and are numbered off. He starts to run off, checking each room before he runs to the next one. I glance inside one of the rooms to see an empty room with rows of small seats facing a white board. The seats closest to me are higher the one's in the front.

"Where are we?"

"This is the English and Latin department of the school. I think we'll find him in the next room. Miles says with a serious look on his face. I look back to the child Miles and see him run up to a door and freeze. He takes a few deep breaths before he swings the door open and runs in.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!" He yells before I hear some shuffling around. I walk into the room to find Miles sitting on top of another child punching at his face. In the corner of the room are two other kids the same age as the one Miles is fighting and one the same as Miles. The one Miles's age is being held up by the other two and looks like he's been beaten really badly. He also looks different than the others... in that his skin is much darker than everypony else's. The two of them drop him and run over to grab a hold of Miles, who kicks and tries to break free. The other boy gets up and wipes his face before facing Miles... on my. It's the same boy that raped Fidus. He gets up and walks over to Miles and punches him across the jaw.

"Nigger lover." He says before he punches again. Miles takes the hit and spits blood at his face, making him recoil back before punching him in the gut. He gets to work punching and kicking Miles all over, making bruises and cuts all along his body. The scarred boy grabs his shoulder and knees Miles in the gut, getting the others to drop him to the ground.

"I think you broke it." Says one of the other boys as he kicks Miles in the back.

"What a pussy." Says the other as he kicks him in between the shoulders.

"Of course the freak would try to help the nig-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Miles yells as he shoots an arm at the scarred boy, flaring his magic and sending him flying back against a wall, knocking him out. He stands up and glares at the other two, flaring his remaining hand. "Leave." The two of them turn and run out the door, glancing back at Miles as they go. Once their gone he shakes his arms and runs over to Dolum. "Dolum? Dolum wake up!" He says as he shakes him.

"Uuhh.... M-Miles...did... did they stop?" He asks weakly. Miles helps him to his feet and starts to escort him out of the room, holding Dolum up as they go.

"Yeah, it stopped.... why were they doing that to you?" He asks.

"Miles... I'm black."

"And?"

"People hate me because of that."

"I don't get it. Why would that matter?" He asks only to get Dolum to shake his head. "Also... what's a-"

"DON'T SAY THAT WORD!" Dolum yells, silencing Miles. "Sorry... it's a bad word... used to berate people like me."

"Oh... sorry. Let’s just get you to the infirmary, I'm sure Auxy is worried sick right now." Miles says, getting Dolum to smile. He sets Dolum onto the platform and waits for him to flash away, then steps onto it himself. When he flashes away, we reappear in the hallway full of Miles's memories.

"Miles... was Dolum frequently persecuted for his race?"

"It was almost a daily thing until we became Spartans. Then people were to scared of him to do anything... Auxilium was also a target because she was betrothed to him... but she never got it that bad."

"It seemed like you didn't know what racism was, how-"

"In the orphanage we were all looked down upon. Most people never even bothered to look at us, so why would we bother to look at others? I didn't even know that him being black was a big deal until that incident."

"I... I didn't know you were in an orphanage... what happened to your parent?"

"My mother died giving birth during the exodus of Diamond Halls and my father was never found, so I went to one of the military's on site orphanages."

"What happened to Diamond Halls?"

"The same thing that happened to Topaz Falls." I walk up to him and rest my head against his chest, getting him to wrap his arms around me lightly. I know what it’s like to live without knowing your parents.... but I’ve always had Celestia. I can't imagine doing it alone. I lean against him a little more but end up stepping forward. I look back to see that he's faded away. I look around some more before I begin to fade away as well.

Shot out to Cheesus for picking the age of the memory. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and like always, Brony on!