“That gem was nothing but trouble, anyway. Getting rid of it only saved me…”

Those words echoed hollow in Feilbach’s mind. He said them, but he couldn’t even begin to mean them. Five-thousand years trapped in that idol. Five millennia with souls that wanted nothing more than revenge. The only comfort he had in all that time was the few moments every day where he would get to see Amber and live her memories. The orb he had tried so hard to keep, the orb that turned him in to this monster, was the only thing that gave him comfort.

Living the thoughts and memories of every soul he consumed, his emotions died. The only time an emotion existed that wasn’t anger or hatred was when Amber showed him a dream. When he removed the orb from him, Amber was no longer inside his soul. He showed her the gem she gave him on the tenth anniversary of their friendship. She told him it was ‘one of a kind, cut especially for him’.

She had loved him. She died knowing him as poor stallion who had lost everything, even his life. Even living within him, she had no idea of the monster he had become. She could never see him, though he saw her every day. He knew she didn’t see the opal gem. He still wanted to believe she did. He hung his head low as he sat on the throne inside Canterlot Castle. Tears were on the verge of forming in his crimson eyes.

Twice. Twice now he was defeated by the memory of a loved one. Five-thousand years ago it was his mother’s voice. Today it had been Amber’s gemstone. He was both disgusted with his emotions and angry at his memories. He didn’t need comforting anymore. He was no longer a lonely stallion in a tree. He was an evil monster. If he could do so, he would smash the silver orb to pieces. Alas, he knew that both the souls inside him and the soul of his beloved required the orb to carry on. Without it, they would all fade away.

A voice called to him in the silence of his despair. Can we be friends? He scoffed at the voice. Best friends? He laughed as he remembered the filly’s face. It must be hard on you… He chuckled as he heard her voice. Rest in peace… His eyes jolted open, hearing the single phrase he had never actually heard her say. He couldn’t remember her telling him that. But it was obviously her voice.

You were a good friend, Feilbach. I even gave my life for you. I loved you. You tried so hard to get me back…and you were punished by the orb… Now look at yourself. Stare at your reflection in the orb. You are nothing like the stallion I loved. You are not Feilbach! You are a monster that took his name and ruined him!

Feilbach cradled his head in his hooves, trying to ignore the voice. It sounded like Amber’s, but there was no way she would ever talk to him like that. He knew her better than that. She would never say those things. It couldn’t be her. He looked into the orb’s reflective surface. He stared into his own crimson eyes, trying to regain his focus.

“That damned pony and her opal gem! I’m going crazy! There was no way it was Amber’s gem. She had her gem on when the orb absorbed her… She was wearing it around her neck, just like I asked her to the day she gave it to me… Dammit!” Feilbach hopped to his hooves and stomped out of the room, leaving the orb where it was. He needed to clear his head.

“I swear by all the souls within my heart, I shall not lose to you ponies…”

Next Chapter: Chapter 16: Aquamarine and a Welcome Guest Estimated time remaining: 46 Minutes