Shining armor opened his eyes and found himself in the dark prison that they were before. He was covered in a fleshy substance and he was unable to move, he strugled a little though, only to give up after a few seconds. He then looked around and saw his companions in the same state as he was.

"Flash! Flash wake up!"

"B-boss?"

Flash said as he was waking up from his slumber.

"What is going on?"

"I don't know. But i am glad you are safe. We have to wake up the others before...."

"Before what?"

Nocturne interrupted him while he appeared.

"You!" Shining armor said.

"Yes, it's me and i see that you and your companions have awoken."

It was true, Silver Bandage, Ensis and Sleepy Doo had awakend as well.

"Now that you all awoken it is time to.....pay the price of defeat!"

"Defeat? We all completed your stupid challenges! Now let us go!" Said Ensis.

"Yeah! We managed to do what you asked and now you are changing the deal? I should have known that you wouldn't keep your promise."

Nocturne then simply laughed and said.

"About that, not all of you won my games. Your captain for example! He was decapitated by me to be honest."

"WHAT!" The others shouted.

"Captain tell me that's not true! Don't tell me that because of you we will all die now!" Flash asked him.

"I...it-it is true, i wanted to get us all out of here! I wanted for this to be over quickly so that we may return home and bring Nocturne to justice!"

"Oh come on now, don't feel bad about yourself! It wasn't only your fault." Nocturne said.

"What do you mean!" Asked Sleepy Doo.

Nocturne then got close to Silver Bandage, turned his hoof into a claw, grabbed his head and forced Silver to face the others.

"Tell them Silver, tell them how you failed to save them! Tell them just how careless and selfish you were!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Silver Bandage shouted.

"YES! I FAILED BECAUSE I WAS WEAK! I ALWAYS WAS WEAK! AND YOU KNOW WHAT? WHEN I WAS GIVEN MY OBJECTIVE I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT YOU ALL!"

All the others were shocked to hear such words from Silver Bandage. Then Shining armor asked him.

"But....Silver i don't get it, what happened, what were you told to do?"

"I...i was told to....save my....sister." He said as he looked away.

"Your....sister?"

"It doesn't matter she is dead now! If only i was stronger, if only i didn't give into the hate! A hate for my father and that fucking slime behind me!"

Nocturne then smacked him at the back of his head with so much force that it exploded. Bits and pieces of flesh and bones fell down to the ground as blood started coming down from Silver's corpse like a fountain.

The others gasped and then Ensis shouted.

"YOU MONSTER! I'LL KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"

Nocturne then picked up one of Silvers' eyeballs that were rolling on the ground, got close to Ensis and he took a bite from it.

"Want some?" Nocturne taunted Ensis.

"You.....YOU ARE SICK, YOU ARE FUCKING SICK!" Shining armor shouted, as he could not believe what he just saw.

"Life feeds on life Shining armor. In order to keep on living you have to consume all those that get in your way."

"This isn't happening! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" Sleepy Doo shouted.

"Oh it does and.....hey speaking of consuming, i have the perfect punishment for you guys!"

"I WOULD RATHER DIE THAN PLAY YOUR GAMES ANY LONGER!" Flash shouted.

"Death....will not come quickly, not yet at least. First i am going to have some fun with you mortals. It has been a while since i have....played the with the flesh of my victims."

"No...STAY AWAY!" Sleepy Doo shouted in fear.

And for the next hours that felt like years, Nocturne would force feed our heroes Silver Bandage's rottening flesh. He would slap them, scratch them, bite off their limbs and then use his dark powers to make them whole again. And their screams would echo across this world and beyond. To the point were the Gods themselves would hear and shiver in the unimaginable pain of their subjects.

After it was done, the fleshy substance that had covered them all was destroyed and they all fell to the ground unable to move and they just stood their with their eyes open wide and their low pitched breaths that would break the silence.

Nocturne then appeared behind Shining armor and said as he stretched.

"I enjoyed that a little more than i should have, but still. That felt good!"

The others didn't say a word, they just couldn't. Some of their bones were broken -along with Shining armor's horn which was bleeding- and they were covered in wounds and scars that Nocturne never bothered to heal.

He then apprached Shining armor and said.

"Here, if you are still hungry."

When Shining armor looked up he saw Nocturne carrying one of his hooves that he had cut a while ago and then used his magic to replace it. Nocturne then took a bite and asked in a mocking tone.

"Come on now, don't tell me that you haven't gotten used to the taste of flesh Shining armor."

"Just....please.....no more.....we have.....seen so.....much....."

"Yes i suppose your fragile minds can not handle the things that i have seen and done. But come on just take one bite."

He asked again as a grin formed up around his face. Shining armor could see Nocturne's teeth, they were pointy sharp like fangs that were covered in blood and he saw one tiny drop falling down from his teeth right in front of him. Shining armor couldn't take it any longer. He just sat there and he started crying.

"Ok then, if you don't want it i can have it." He then took a bite from Shining's armor hoof.

"But.....now i have to return you back to the Crystal Empire. I wonder.....how will the others react when they see you in such shape? The prince of the Crystal Empire, defeated, crying and dying right before his people, his wife and....his child. HA! It's almost poetic!"

Once again Nocturne proved just how fragile flesh and bones truly are. He had managed to break these stallions, soldiers they said they were, but when their senses are shaken and madness takes over, nopony and no one can stand against the darkness alone and it is then that the survival instinct kicks in and you think only about yourself and how you can survive the horros that you have endured.

In the Crystal Empire Princess Cadence was in her room watching over Flurry Heart. She was watching her sleeping, it was the only thing that would calm her down after Shining armor left for Canterlot. Then there was a knock on the door and Cadence said.

"You may enter."

When the door opened a guard came into the room and said in a fearful tone.

"Your....your majesty! We....we have....news about your husband...."

"What news! Tell me what has happened to him!"

"He...he has returned....but.....he is not alone. He is with......"

Before he could finish his sentece Cadence left the room in a hurry. As she kept running down the stairs to the exit of the palace tears started running down her cheeks, her mind was bombarded with visions of pain and suffering that her husband have endured and when she finaly got out of the building she saw it all.

"Greetings!"

Nocturne was standing on top of a huge fleshy substance. And right in front of him on their knees were Shining armor and his crew. All of them beaten and broken, unable to fight back or to even stand.

Soon after that Celestia, Luna , Twilight and the others joined and gazed at the horrors.

"SHINING ARMOR!" Cadence shouted and was about to take flight when Celestia and Luna holded her down.

"PLEASE DON'T DO THIS TO ME LET ME SAVE HIM!"

"We can't let you! He will kill you!" Luna said.

"I DON'T CARE! I DON'T WANT TO LOSE HIM!"

Nocturne then put his blade right under Shining's neck and said.

"Stand down! Or this one will go and meat his creator!"

"PLEASE NO! I BEG OF YOU DON'T HURT HIM!"

Rainbow Dash was about to take flight too but she was stopped by Twilight.

"Don't do anything reckless Rainbow Dash you are putting the life of my brother in danger!"

"I....want to save him Twilight!"

"Well you can't!"

The others did not expect such answer from Twilight. She was stressed and wanted to attack Nocturne so badly and save Shining armor, but she wasn't going to risk Nocturne killing him if she were to fail.

Luna was holding Cadence who was crying while Celestia stepped up, looked at Nocturne and said.

"What is it that you want this time Nocturne? Let these stallions free!"

"And why would i do that? It was their fault they thought that they could challenge me! I mean out of all these mortal fools only you and Luna trully know that i can't be brought down that easily!"

Shining armor then shouted.

"JUST SHOOT HIM ALREADY! PIERCE AN ARROW THROUGH HIS SKULL AND END IT ALL! SOMEPONY!"

Nocturne then pulled back and shot a dark bolt on the back of Ensis's head. Ensis fell down from the fleshy substance with his head blown to bits. The others gasped at the sight.

"NOW LISTEN HERE! I HAVE ONE AND ONLY REQUEST! IF YOU AGREE TO MY TERMS THEN I WILL LET THESE PITIFUL DOGS WALK AWAY! BUT IF NOT! NOT ONLY WILL I KILL THEM RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW! BUT I WILL KILL EVERY LAST PONY ON THIS EMPIRE YOU HEAR ME!"

Celestia and the others backed away a little, Nocturne sighted and said.

"Sorry about that....but....i get a little crazy when things aren't going my way.Now, care to listen to what i have to say?"

"...Yes...." Said Celestia.

"Now as you can see i hold in my hooves your prince and his companions, well two of them aren't here, but you don't have to worry about them, they are dead."

"Yet you are still mocking us! Just get to the point and begone already!" Luna said.

"Alright, you see.....i need the Crystal Heart and i will let them go."

"The Crystal Heart? But why?" Asked Twilight.

"Because it contains large amounts of energies! The emotions that the Crystal Ponies have stored in there and as a being of Nightmares myself, i feed on such energies! So give them to me and i will walk away."

"No! You are lying, even if we were to give you the heart you will later slaughter us right after!" Said Celestia.

Nocturne then pointed his hoof above Sleepy's head and blasted it, causing his body to fall of the fleshy substance dead. The crowd gasped once more and soon guards started advancing to the substance. Nocturne then put his hoof above Shining's head and said.

"Order them to stand down Cadence! Unless you want your child to grow up without a father!"

"DO AS HE SAYS! DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND STAND DOWN!" She shouted as tears kept running down her cheeks.

"Now that's better, so what do you say? The crystal heart for their lives, fair exchange. It's not that you have a choice to be honest."

"Nocturne! I beg of you, it is not too late to redeem yourself brother! Come back to us, all this senseless bloodlust of yours will bring nothing good!"

But Nocturne only laughed and said.

"Senseless? No! You are wrong! You stood in my way, the path of revenge that i chose to take and now all these ponies are paying the price for your betrayal! YOU HEAR ME PONIES OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE?! THE SOURCE OF ALL YOUR AGONIES ARE ARE STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!

Nocturne then put his hoof above Flash Sentry and blasted him too and his souless body fell to the ground right next to the others. Nocturne then stood on boof hooves and put his blades around Shining armor's neck and shouted.

"LAST CHANCE CELESTIA! SURRENDER THE CRYSTAL HEART OR HE DIES!"

"PLEASE JUST DO AS HE SAYS!" Celestia heard Cadence shouting from behind her.

And just out of nowhere Flurry Heart came out flying from a window and attacked Nocturne. She was about to charge her horn and finish him off, but Nocturne was quicker, grabbed her by her horn with his claw, kicked Shining armor off the substance and said.

"Or perhaps you would desire to see your lovely Flurry Heart's intestance instead!"

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Then out of the shadows a tall stallion in a cloack appeared. Before Nocturne could say anything a beam of light came from the cloacked stallion and it hit Nocturne, forcing him to drop Flurry Heart where she then started flying back to her mother's hooves.

"Stand down Nocturne! I won't let you hurt them anymore!"

Nocturne took a closer look and said.

"Crossbleser? Can it be?"

The stallion then through down his cloack and revealed himself. He was a white Alicorn with golden white robes, white skin , blue eyes and a long white beard.

Celestia and Luna were shocked to see Crossbleser. Their eyes were stuck on him and Nocturne then said.

"Back from dead are we? Tell me how do you feel now that you have seen what's on the other side?"

"I am not here to chat with you Nocturne, leave the Crystal Empire and return from once you came!"

"I would but....i have a heart to collect! STARLIGHT GLIMMER YOUR MASTER CALLS!"

In Sunbursts house Starlight was resting but when she heard Nocturne calling for her dark energies surrounded her, she got up on two hooves and she started screaming out in pain. From her hooves claws started to emerge and her skin was become darker and her eyes turned red.

She rushed outside of the house and when she reached the main street she jumped over the giant fleshy substance and attacked Crossbleser.

Twilight couldn't believe the changes in her friend, she wanted to help her but now it was way too late.

Crossbleser focused his magic and a light beam hit her knocking her back, then golden chains surrounded her.

"Hmm, not bad old stallion, you still have some powers within you after all."

"And i will use them to fix the wrongs of the past unlike you Nocturne, you think you know all about the Old Ones and their plans but you still don't know anything about the Beast that hides within you."

Nocturne stood there for a second and later said.

"You are wrong i have defeated Phobetor a long time ago! I am in control now! Not him!"

Crossbleser sighted and said with a sad look on his face.

"My child, if only there was a way to show you the truth....."

"Because the only truth that there is is this! I AM IN CONTROL! NOT HIM! NOT ANYPONY!"

He then stomped his hooves on the ground and he disappeared.

Crossbleser sighted.

"Crossbleser...." Said Celestia.

She then run to him and hugged him.

"I...don't believe it! You....are alive? But how?"

"I will tell you about that later, but now i have some others things that i need to tell , your sister and the Elements of Harmony."