Having sensed a magical disturbance nearby, Twilight had gone to investigate while her friends were busy doing their own things. She cautiously walked up to the snowy forest taht she had figured out housed the source of the disturbance. As she walked father and further in she felt the magical discharges becoming stronger and stronger. She then came across the same dry patches as Symph had, following them until she found the source of the disturbance.

She gasped as she saw Symbol sitting with his back against a tree holding his left eye which was burning violently with his fire, his entire body, including his clothes, were grey and void of colour, his fire outlining his body and his other eye was completely black with only a red dot as a pupil. Symbol noticed Twilights presence and tried to crawl away, but his body was too weak, so he remained still.

Twilight cautiously approached him, her pupils now only small dots in her eyes as she examined him. "T-Twilight...please...get away from me." He said desperately, not wanting to be seen in such a condition...not by her.

"Symbol, what's happening to you?"

"My...body...its unstable...its not complete...its breaking down." He closed his eyes as a wave of pain washed over his decaying body. "Please Twilight...just go...I don't want anyone to see this...especially you or Ashley..."

"Why me? I can't just leave you like this!"

Symbol was silent for a moment, a drop of sweat sliding down the side of his face. "Because in another universe...you and I loved each other..."

Twilight just stared at him in shock, not knowing how to respond to that.

"I know that it wasn't you but...every time I look at you I see the Twilight I left behind...and I feel guilty...so, so guilty...for not telling her that I was alive. She was one of my closest friends...and if things had turned out differently...we might have become lovers. But, as time has gone on, the attraction and love for that Twilght has faded, and hers for me has too...its for the best really. But I can't stop thinking about what happened and how guilty I feel. I would never want her to see me like this...I never wanted any version of her to see me like this. So please...just go."

Twilight shook herself and placed a hoof on her forehead, confused and conflicted as to what was going on. "Symbol, it doesn't matter what happened in that universe, i can't just leave you here like this, you'll die!"

"It's already...Symph is...taking care of it now. Just make sure...Ashley doesn't see me like this."

"It's too late for that..." Symbol froze at the sound of Ashleys voice, who walked out of the trees with Rainbow Dash at her side. "Symbol, why would you hide something like this from me?"

"Why do people show up when I say that o don't want them to find me?" He asked himself before grunting as his body became a darker shade of grey.

Ashley walked up to him slowly, taking off her hat and getting on her knees beside her displacer with a worried expression. "Why do you do this Symbol? Why do you hide things from me?"

"Ashley-"

"And don't you say that you're trying to protect me, because we both know you aren't protecting me this way." She ordered sternly while glaring at him, the look in her eye catching him off guard. "Please Symbol, tell me why."

Symbol remained silent, looking to the ground while trying to decide whether or not to answer her question. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to just say why he was hiding everything from the person he had sought to protect. "Because I don't want to be this anymore..."

"What?"

Symbol raised his head and looked Ashley dead in the eye. "I don't want to be this anymore! I don't want to be the monster that I am! I just want to be able to reach the light without having to be trapped in the darkness! I hate every single moment of my existence because I know that eventually I'll just fade out of existence! You, Abi, Symph...everyone else gets to go to the afterlife when they die! I don't! I don't have a life after this! I'll just be erased, I didn't want to be revived!" He took in a deep breath and sighed. "When I took up my other displaced, they were people I knew could handle themselves, I looked for an actual purpose by helping them, saving them from horrible lives and giving them the second chance that I had wasted, they eventually learned to hand themselves, only ever needing ,y assistance when absolutely necessary. They knew of the demon that I was...I was hoping to have at least one of them that didn't...you. But, look how that turned out."

"Symbol..."

"When I displaced you I knew you would need to be looked after, you would need guidance, that's why I stayed when I could have left. I wanted to help you adapt to a new life, to be able to get to know the kind me, the friendly me...I didn't want you to know of the real me...I hide things to make things easier on you, so that you can focus on what you need to do...it would be so much simpler if you weren't so Goddamn nosy." He coughed and leaned back against the tree. "I wanted to be someone for you to look to and see greatness, to see kindness and a good sense of what is right and wrong. But..." Symbol stared at her for a moment and read her expression while looking into her eyes. He saw a silhouette standing in fire in her eyes, confirming his suspicions. "...it seems you already know about what I really am..."

He slumped back and sighed.

"Think of me what you will or ask any other questions you may have, I'm backed into a corner here and I'm not moving until Symph comes back, this is your only opportun-" He was cut off as Ashley pulled him into a hug. While he had expected his fire to harm her, he saw that it was mixing with hers instead.

"You're an idiot you know that?" Ashley said quietly while hugging him tightly. "You see yourself as a monster, but I see someone who is trying everything he can to be a better person and make up for his mistakes. You may not be able to go to the afterlife, but that just means you'll have to live your life to the fullest and do what you want to do. Roden bringing you back wasn't a bad thing for you Symbol, you can atone for your past decisions and look towards your future." He spoke softly into his ear with her eyes closed. "You know what I see when I look at you? I see someone who is strong, brave and capable of so much. You're stronger than anyone I've ever met, he'll you're probably the strongest person in the nearby universes...but you're still a person, and you recognise that but you continuously brand yourself as a demon or monster. You were a monster...but now I see you as an angel."

Symbols eye began to fill with tears at her words as he hugged her back, ignoring the pain for a few moments to share the embrace with his displaced.

Symph jumped out of a portal nearby and rushed back to the area, only to stop,as he saw the scene before him. He just smiled as he watched his father hug it out with Ashley. Looking to the black four pointed star gem in his hand he decided to let them finish before presenting it and extending his fathers life...for now.

Author's Notes:

There are still more to Symbols motives, there are still more to come out of this.

Please, PLEASE leave a comment if you enjoyed this chapter. I'll see you next time.