The screeching of tables echoes against the walls, as every last item in the room is pushed back by an invisible force. The stone floor rumbles causing every loose pebble and stone to hop up and down in place. I clench my fists angrily. Every last thought of what he’s put me through echoes in my mind. Every dead soldier, every burnt house. Holding Luna’s body in my arms as we traveled back to the palace. The guard who wanted nothing more than to know the fate of his sister. The Wonderbolts who gave their lives in our bombing run. The fear I once had, melts away, leaving nothing but my scortching wrath in its place.

The frequency of these strange red sparks increases. A mysterious crimson flame slowly rises from my body. It’s transparent, with no heat, but the aura stretches to the sealing, and several feet out to my sides. Mine are higher than Zaran’s by far. His eyes twitch a bit, and I can almost taste his fear. An odd wind pushes out from my body in every direction. I clench my teeth, seething with rage.

“Tell me Zaran, did you even actually consume my other selves? I don’t think you did. You’re lying to me. It’s what I would do if I was the weaker vessel. You put yourself in my shoes? Well, I’m dancing in yours. You’re nothing but a coward!”

I hold up my right hand, and clench my fist. As soon as my hand closes, a massive red bolt strikes out from my palm, hitting the ceiling and floor. The wooden tables are suddenly pushed so hard, they flip over, pressing their tops against the wall. They vibrate there for a few seconds, before the legs themselves snap. The wooden debris tumbles against itself, filling the room with the sounds of loud clacking.

“Raiden, stop!” comes an older voice from behind. I glance over my shoulder. An older pony stands there, giving me a stern but fearful glare. He wears a blue cape and pointed hat, with golden stars on them. His long white beard flaps over his shoulder, but he stands strong against the tornado of fury pouring out.

“Stay out of this! If Raiden wants to fight for that blue whore, let him.” yells Zaran over the noise. My arm instinctively reaches out towards him. My hand is surrounded in that same red flame, but it’s completely solid. The crimson power laps around my skin vigorously, dying to escape. Zaran’s body becomes wavy, as the sudden heat pouring out in front of me, slowly interferes with my vision.

“How dare you!” I seethe. I know full well he’s goading me into a fight, and I don’t care. He was going to get one and I was going to win.

“Raiden don’t! This is his game! He wants you to fight him! He feeds off your negative energy more than anything else!” All I see is different shades of red. My eyes are most likely glowing like his. It all makes sense. I wasn’t some chosen hero, or savior. I was lead into this situation so Zaran could feed off my suffering. Did I even win against the Og Nag, or did he let me win? I drool a little, as my mouth hangs open with rage.

“I am no one’s puppet! Do you hear me?!” I roar with a voice so deep, it catches me off-guard for a second, as if the power I wielded was warping every aspect of my being.

Zaran shrugs with that smirk of his.

“Well if you think about it, you kinda are. You stumble in here, and get to defend the kingdom for Celestia, who was more than capable of handling it herself. But why not let her lonely lapdog do it for her? Speaking of dogs, one could say that Luna didn’t save you...she merely adopted you from the pound. And don’t get me started on Taraska-”

“Shut! Up!” I scream. Subconsciously I do everything not to attack. My body aches for combat. The once majestic red flames from my body, erupt into a massive bonfire. I hear the wind pick up, as Zaran’s hair is swept straight back. While he still stands there, it’s clearly not easy for him. Those eyes though, they still keep watching me, almost eager.

“I...am going..to kill you…” I mutter, with an inhumanly deep voice. A blue flash appears between us. Luna stands there. She surrounds herself with a blue shield, but still hunches to the floor.

“Raiden, please!” she cries. “You must control yourself!”

“Get out of the way Luna!” I shriek angrily. She slowly slides back, ducking her head.

“You have to listen to Starswirl! This is what Zaran wants!” she yells desperately over the storm. I can barely hear her myself.

“Move, or you can join him!” I scream.

She looks up at me just enough so I can see the pain in her eyes from my words. I stutter, trying to think of more angry things to say, but I can’t. Those poor eyes of hers. After everything she’s done for me, I threaten her. The fire around my hand flickers a few times and starts to die down. Starswirl sees his chance and flies around the right side of the room, unleashing several blasts at Zaran from his horn, who quickly dodges. Zaran jumps back, hurls himself through a window with a well-timed back flip, spreads his wings and takes off.

Before I can chase after him, Starswirl lands in front of me and holds up a hoof.
“My boy, you must calm yourself! You will only grant him more power! Please hold still and listen! I promise you can chase him all you want after! Just hear me out!”

My body screams at me for blood, but I know better. The impulse to destroy is almost overwhelming. I was starving for destruction. Starswirl’s hat is carried off and plastered against the wall. Luna does her best to take steps towards me, struggling against the typhoon of anger I can barely contain. I place my hands on the side of my head while shake back and forth, almost driven mad with power. Parts of me began to slip away. Compassion, empathy, morality; they were slowly being buried.
How dare he talk about her like that! The war, Taraska, how much of my suffering was his fault?! I’ve had everything stolen from me! And now this stranger has the audacity to tell me no? To hell with that, Zaran has to pay! I’m stronger than my other selves. I alone can do this!
My thoughts trainwreck as a tender hoof touches my chest. Her teal eyes gaze into mine. I see my own face reflected back. I can’t even recognize myself. My face is covered in creases and my skin is stretched extra tight. My temples throb violently against my skin. It reminds me of some old demon in a child's book.

“Raiden…” her light voice coddles something in me. I see the pain in her eyes. I can't think. There are no words to describe the unrestrained hate filling my mind...but those eyes. Those teal rings that greeted me in my darkest hour. The one thing I'd lay down my life for. How much kindness she's shown me. How often had she gone out of her way to brighten my day. It's too late for me. Every thought goes blank.

“I hate seeing you suffer like this Raiden…” she calls out to me. Finally, somepony to admit what I’ve dealt with. Somepony who gets it. I fall to my knees. She tries to bend over, but still struggles as she’s being forced back. Her hair whips so hard, I see several strands get pulled out. Her eyes are squinted, but I can still see those teal rings. My tears manifest themselves as bolts of red lightning from my body that pound the ceiling, threatening to cave it in.

“Why is it always me?! Every time I turn around, someone is tormenting me! Do I have to destroy this place to find peace?!”

Luna struggles with all her might to get to me. I watch every painful step, each arduous hoof into the stone. Her face shows both strain and agony, as she fights against the storm. The skin on her face is being stretched. I hear her groan loudly as she refuses to give in. One step after another, and she finally hits her goal. She reaches out with both forelegs and wraps them around my neck. For a moment, I'm worried she'll be flung back, but she hangs on. Her silky fur brushing against my cheek is all I need. I can hear again. I don't have to destroy. I could just destroy for her. These ponies needed me. My people needed me. I was the only hope this planet had, and everything would have to be planned out.

The tables and pieces fall to the ground, as I wrap my arms around that wonderful neck of her’s. She nuzzles me furiously. All I can manage is to lean against her, as my body loses every last shred of energy. She stops having to strain herself. Whatever this power was, it leaves me. Despite having to put her all into walking up to me, she still holds my body upright as everything fades to black and I drift away.

I haven’t even opened my eyes yet, and already I’m miserable. Every muscle in my body feels destroyed. I instinctively try to sit up and make sure I’m not in danger. A hoof presses me back down, followed by an annoying old voice.
“Easy Raiden, your body is not used to such power. You need to rest. You've been through more than I'd dare put any being through several times over.”
“You must be Starswirl.” I say with a heavy sigh. He chuckles a bit, and I can hear him nod his head from the obnoxious bells on his hat. He takes it off and sets it to his side.
“I didn’t plan for us to meet like this, but Zaran intentionally forced my hand.”
My eyes burst open. I immediately close them from the burning daylight that fills the room.
“Where...where is Zaran?!”

Star sighs a bit.
“Raiden...don’t worry about him. You and I need to have a long talk about what lies ahead. Fair warning, it’s...not pleasant. We did what we had to do. As a man of war, I hope you understand.”
“Lay it on me.” I groan in annoyance.

Starswirl clears his throat.
“Long ago, near the beginning of time, four realms were created. We do not know how or by whom, but they also created a tree to guard each realm. These trees were called the Spirit Trees, for they embodied the characteristics of their world. You may wonder why half the realms are ponies, as we wonder why the other half are humans. From what we surmise, the being who created all was a hybrid of both. This is simply a theory though. However, this also explains why there is both a good and evil realm for both our species. Perhaps this being rid themselves of both its DNA and its morality...”

Star’s eyes gently glow white, and I’m shown some strange centaur creature. It’s head is similar to Celestia, but it has the upper body of a human, quickly changing back to being horse in nature. It’s gray fur melts with the rest of it’s body into some kind of liquid pool, then creating four spherical realms. Each realm has it’s own distinct sphere and color.
"You can see Equus as white, Nova as black, Earth as blue, and Prime as red." he says.

An army of ponies trots across a vast landscape of trees, happy as can be. The sky quickly fills with red, and the ponies take on armor with sharp points on it. They clash with others, clearly at war.

“Back at the very beginning, where resources weren’t as abundant, you had to fight for everything. As such, eliminating a threat took priority.”

I see two ponies, they try to shove eachother out of a crappy fort made of sticks and grass that has very little room. One pony gets pushed to the ground, as the victor angrily trots inside. He looks up from the ground, eyes wide with fear. He picks up a stone, runs into the fort, and beats his previous victor to death. He spends the night huddled under the fort, eyes darting to every sound.

“Emotional aptitude is genetic. Rabbits and horses are genetically more skittish because they are used to being hunted. As such, they naturally want to run. Same as wolves. Wolves are taught from a young age to be strong, or stand down. They naturally want to fight. It is the same even with higher, more sapient species.”

At a castle, a mare with a red cloak, watches eagerly as another pony is whipped repeatedly by her guards. She laughs cruelly, but you see her slightly nervous eyes scan the faces of everypony in the room. After the beating, her guards leave and begin shoving eachother, pretending it’s a game of who’s the toughest.

“As you can see Raiden, it spreads so easily. Safety is always a priority, as nothing else can happen without a life.”

I nod a few times.
“Equus and Nova are the two realms I’m familiar with. Equestria and my home world Nova. What are the other two?”
“Earth would be the other human world. Prime is where Zaran is from. Now this next part is...weird but important. I have had long talks with the Tree of Harmony, the spirit tree watching over Equus. She saved me from death, as age would have taken its toll. She needed somepony of advanced magic who can travel between realms. Despite being almost absolutely powerful, she found out that when it comes to outside of her realm, she can be almost powerless. Discord proved this with his evil seeds from Nova. We wanted a way to cure the universe of evil, so we studied friendship carefully and found out that it literally is magic. Being in a group is optimal for survival, and it allows you to tap into the life force within you. It was with this power, that Twilight and her friends saved The Tree of Harmony. The elements themselves do not actually possess much magic, but simply allow you to tape into your own. You see, when goodness is allowed to prosper, it spreads. Unfortunately, the same goes for evil. We mortals have instincts that are set on survival. Threats must always be a priority. Kindness means prosperity, cruelty means danger. As such, when faced with either, it is natural to respond in kind. You welcome kindness, and shun evil. Unfortunately, when evil is shunned, it spreads like a poison.”

“Star...I have to know...am I good or evil? Which version of myself am I?”

Starswirl sighs and places a comforting hoof on my chest.
“Son, I’ll get to that soon. The answer won’t make any sense otherwise.” I grit my teeth, but give him a small nod to continue.
“When I say evil, I mean the negative parts of life. When you think of evil, you probably assume endless cruelty for the sake of amusement or greed. This is not the case. Evil is simply the part of us that only cares about survival. It is within every creature to want to live. That is why you want to fight anything that tries to hurt you. And when you can’t fight, you run. It is survival. When evil is left unchecked, it manifests itself in many ways. One might choose cruelty, to be reminded of the fact that they’re strong and safe. Or perhaps they do it to show others they are not weak. Would you not be more afraid of someone who enjoys destruction, rather than someone who simply can be destructive? That is how evil empires are born. Everyone is too afraid to do the right thing, out of fear of destruction. Then other species who are born into it, do not have an example of anything different, and go on to spread it even further. The urge to survive can be overwhelming, and warps the mind. So Harmony and myself came up with an experiment. We introduced an evil entity and a good entity into their polar opposite environments.”

I see a human made of white light, and another human cast purely in shadow. They get lifted from their respective pools, and placed in the others pond. Their color slowly spreads across the water around them.

I cock an eyebrow as Star looks at the floor uncomfortably. He picks up his hat and fiddles with it.
“Raiden...I’m so sorry about this next part. I hope one day you will forgive us. Our experiment...meant taking an evil entity from one world and placing them in a good world, and vice versa. We wanted to see if it was possible to change them. Our theory held true. To make sure it wasn’t a species trait, we did it again. Raiden...we stole you from the good human world as a baby and planted you in the evil human world known as Nova. Your evil human counterpart was sent to Earth, where you originated from. The minute you were born...you had the cards stacked against you. You were genetically good, passed down from centuries of kindness. But you grew up in an evil world. One that saw kindness as weakness. That is why you have spent your entire life experiencing the worst Nova has to offer. As our theory went however, your kindness spread to others. It was subtle, but eventually those closest to you had changed. Lucretia, Emeris, everyone under your command, it spread."

I see back into the beginning of training, Emeris gets knocked down. I reach to him with my hand and yank him to his feet. I tell him about his footwork. Throughout our time in training, he glances at me suspiciously, wondering when I’m going to ask him to return the favor, but I never do. I face off against an opponent twice my size who’s been tormenting me all of training. He ambushes me at lunch and starts to win in our little duel of fists. Emeris runs up and drop kicks him from behind. He sails into my fist. We quickly realize that if we stick together, we can do anything.

Lucretia sits on a bench, unable to read a scroll from command. Emeris reads it to her. She plays it off like she’s tired but we know better. A while later, she gets command. She chooses Emeris and I as her sergeants. We quickly become close. Instead of bullying our lower members for training, we teach them what to do differently, and to unite. Our soldiers quickly stick together, and outperform the rest of the backstabbing lot. Without the ability to relax due to paranoia, our enemies get left in the dust.

“The unfortunate truth is, evil spreads faster than good. We mortals want to get rid of a threat as soon as possible, so we prioritize our safety, but good is stronger. It is more optimal to be in a team, therefor strong bonds allow greater safety, almost helping shield you from evil. Your kindness and compassion for others hit a brick wall with King Hurrand and his Minister however. Due to your nation’s lack of talent, they became scared and were desperate to find anything they could for survival. We did not predict this. There were many variables we didn't see coming. So your kindness couldn’t spread to the upper tiers of your kingdom. They were so scared of seeming weak, that they grabbed a hold of anything they could. That fear made them almost immune to your people’s kindness.”

He watches me, waiting to see my reaction.
“I’m not mad if that’s what you’re wondering. To hell with Nova, Equus is my home now. I understand why you did what you did, and as such, you now get the wonderful burden of guilt as punishment for interfering with lives you had no right to mess with. Your face is covered in it. Now, where is Zaran? And how do I harness this magic again?”

Star sinks back a bit in his chair. His face reflects pain as if he had just lost a child. There’s more, a lot more. I stare at him patiently. He swallows.

“Raiden...look…” he can barely even get the words out.
“I don’t care about any other experiments you’ve done, all I want is Zaran’s head on my pike in front of the palace!”

“Raiden...you can’t kill Zaran.”

He locks eyes with me before succumbing to the urge to examine and play with his hat again.

“Wh...what do you mean? He’s immortal?!” Starswirl shakes his head slowly.

“Raiden...Zaran feeds off your negative energy. The power you received...from our best guess, magic was never meant to cross realms. You mirror all the energy Zaran has. You two will always be equals. The exception is that the angrier you get, the more powerful he gets. You...you will never be able to have your own element like Emeris, Lucretia, or the mane six do.”

I see myself before Zaran. His red power flows into me. As it enters my body, it increases and flows back to him, creating a loop of power. I see us fighting endlessly, exchanging blasts over and over. The more I watch my world burn, the harder I fight, and the higher our power becomes until entire towns are shredded. I watch multiple variations, but they all end the same. I fight Zaran, something gets destroyed, I fight harder, and the destruction gets worse.

My jaw trembles a bit.
“Wh..what do you mean I can’t? Haven’t I shown at least something worthy of getting this power?!”

Star pats his hat gently with his hooves.

“Raiden...you came from Earth, but it’s elements are already given to others. On occasion, they may lend themselves out, but I’m afraid the darkness from Nova has corrupted you too much for you to ever receive one. And you’re too good for Nova’s elements to pursue you. As for Equus...you’re not it’s species, so it doesn’t recognize you as a viable candidate. Fr...from our experiments...we’ve taken whatever chance you had at gaining an element from you...forever.”

I gaze at the wall straight ahead, trying to comprehend all this.

I see the worlds again, each with their respective six champions. They’re all solid colors. I see all four of my selves in the middle, multicolored. A mixture of red, black, white and blue. I see myself step towards Earth, only to see some type of dark knight emerge from my chest, radiating black energy. He’s pushed away. I see myself then turn towards Nova. I reach out with a hand, shining with pure light. The shadowy demons of that world chuckle at me, pick me up, and throw me back to the middle.

“Wh..what about these alicorns? Surely every world has some form of-”
“It’s the same deal Raiden. You’re in the middle zone where you’re too good, or too evil for any side. If I had to pick anyone to become an alicorn, it would be you, but it’s not up to me. Harmony already said no. She sees the darkness in you. It’s not evil, but you crave power to protect those you care about. That desire is too dangerous. As I said before, the instinct to protect yourself takes priority. It blinds you, and makes you react out of safety. This is how wars start. I’m afraid you will have to be content with your physical form. If you try to fight Zaran, he will use your fight to spread darkness across the planet. You two could even destroy Equus entirely.”

I feel cheated, robbed. It’s as if I’m a mother who can never have children. I want to protect them all. I want to save everyone. And now I can’t. I’m just a man, in a world full of magic and power. I’m nothing but an insect in their war. I ball my fists and let out a blood curdling scream. Starswirl gets up and quietly walks away with his head bowed.

All I wanted was to not be helpless, and now I’m even more so than before.