A week had passed since Dust woke up, and now, he could finaly walk on his own. He felt like a kid that was standing on its feet for the first time in its life,
and paced around the room as much as he could, bragging about his skills to Luna. She grinned at him, laughing at his childish behavior.

"Why don't you try this, sweetie?" Dust said as he finally sat himself down in a chair close to the bed.

"Walking upright on my hindlegs?" Luna said with a smile. "Sorry, ponies aren't built that way."

Dust chuckled at her answer, stroking his beard at the same time. He really needed to shave.

"Oh, come on." He said back to her as his smile grew. "I'll help you, you can keep your forelegs on my shoulders, and if you fall, I'll catch you."

Luna shook her head and smiled back at him.

"Please." Dust said. "I'll give you a kiss if you do it."

A shy laugh escaped Lunas lips as she got up from her place in the bed. "Fine, I'll give it a try. But only because you said please."

"Yeah, sure." Dust chuckled as he got up to meet her.

He glanced quickly at the guards at the door, but they didn't seem to bother as he gave her a quick kiss, as promised. When the kiss broke, Luna looked
at him with wondering eyes and a small smile on her lips.

"So.. How do we begin?" She asked.

"Get up on your hindlegs." Dust answered, reaching his hands towards her, in case she needed something to grab on to.

Luna hesitantly reared up, and Dust was taken back a split second at how much taller she became. When standing on all four hooves, she was about the
same height as he, compared to the other ponies that barely reached up to his chest. Now, she towered over him by probably two lengths of his own head.
For a moment, Dust felt small, like a bug cowering beneath a descending shoe. Then Luna raised her forelegs, and laid them in his hands. He clenched
his fingers around her hooves, and they shared another smile.

Luna looked down on herself, not being used to having her body in such a position. "Not very lady-like.." She said quietly. ".. or elegant." She added.

"You're always elegant, dear." Dust said, doing his best to reassure her. "At least in my eyes-whoa, easy!"

Dust lost his balance as Luna tried taking a few steps forward without warning him, and since he tumbled backwards, Luna fell with him. They staggered back,
still holding each other. They could probably have been taken for a couple lost in a drunken dance, the way they swayed around. But eventually, they managed
to stop.

"You're that eager to walk?" Dust said with a chuckle as they regained balance.

Luna gave him a smile, turning her head sideways to give him an almost seductive look. "Maybe I wanted to dance."

"Well, you've had your dance, sweetie." Dust replied. "And it only proved one thing: We suck at it."

They both cracked into laughter at his words. For the next half-hour, they walked back and forth across the room, until Luna thought it was enough for one
day. They let go of each other, and Luna once again returned to her normal, all four hooves on the floor, stance.

"Dust, would you mind if I asked you.. a question?" Luna said carefully.

After the walk, Dust had sat down in the chair again, and Luna did something she'd never done before: she sat down on the floor right next to him, leaning
her head against his right arm. He lifted it up and wrapped it around her neck, and she instead placed her head against the side of his chest. His heartbeat
could be hear faintly through his body.

"I think you just did." Dust replied jokingly. "No, go on, ask whatever you want to, love."

"What.. what was your life like earlier? Before you came here?"

"You mean before I met you?" Dust asked her back.

"No, in your own world.."

Dust sighed. Again, he had to be reminded of it. First Rarity, now Luna. He didn't answer. Didn't want to think about it again, he was tired of the pain
it brought with it.

"Dust?" Luna whispered after a while. "I'm sorry, maybe you don't want to talk about it..?"

He shook his head slowly. "Not really, no. It's.. painful."

"I'm sorry I reminded you.." Luna whispered back. She reached her head upwards and planted a tender kiss on his cheek, seemingly to comfort him.

Dust turned his head, and his lips met hers for a few seconds. "It's okay." He mumbled between their lips.

Strangely enough, the guards didn't react to their kissing either. They used to yell at them simply if they came to close to each other, but now they had
not uttered a single word as they practiced their "walking" and kissing. Strange, but Dust wasn't going to complain. A kiss was a kiss, a connection
with his mare, and he had no desire to break that connection without being forced. Yet of course, they had to break the kiss eventually, as both of them
needed to breathe. They look at each other, smiling, but when Luna leaned in for another kiss, Dust stopped her by pressing a finger over her lips.
A thought had just come to his mind.

"Could I ask you something instead?" He said, without removing his finger from her lips. She nodded in response.

"How did you get back..?" Dust said in a low, wondering voice. "From the moon, I mean. What happened?"

He removed his finger to allow her to speak. Her neck slouched a bit and she looked away, as memories came flooding into her mind.

"Tell me, and I promise I'll tell you everything about my life back on Earth." Dust whispered.

Lunas eyes turned back to his, and sadness coated them as she opened her mouth to speak. And a bit of shame.

"You.. you know what happened to me, right?" She said, quietly. Dust nodded.

"I've read about it. Nightmare Moon, was that what they called you..?"

"Yes." Luna answered. "But nevermind about that, if you already know.. I came back to Equestria after a thousand years, as the curse that bound me
somehow broke after all that time. I'm not sure myself how it all worked. Of course, my return was not pleasant, so my sister sent out six mares to
acquire the 'Elements of Harmony'. Leading that group was Twilight Sparkle."

Dust felt his heart stop as Luna mentioned that name. "Twilight..?"

"You know her?" Luna asked him.

"Well, not really.. but we've.. talked.. once.. I think.." Dust said slowly, lying straight into her face.

"Anyway, if it weren't for her, I wouldn't even be here, I would probably still have been Nightmare Moon, or still up in the skies, or worse.. Tartarus."

"Tartarus?" Dust quickly asked in an attempt to lead the conversation away from Twilight.

"A prison. Or more like an endless abyss, deep underground. The most vile creatures of this world are imprisoned there."

"And they would put you in there?" Dust asked. "If they did.. I'd get you out, no matter what. Nopony will take away your freedom from you."

No longer able to contain herself, Luna kissed him again, whispering "Thank you, love." as she did. "But luckily, they did not, and now I'm here with you."

"Yeah, and I hope you never leave.." Dust answered her as they broke another kiss. "So, I guess it's my turn now, right? Go on, ask me anything."

Luna blinked her eyes slowly, and for a moment they looked so much bigger. Dust could almost feel himself getting sucked in by them.

"I feel like I could lose myself in your eyes.." He whispered.

Luna smiled at his words, and a small blush appeared on her cheeks. "What.. what did you do? How was your life, your family?"

"Well.." Dust said with a sigh. "At least you didn't ask me about politics." He chuckled at his own words, but Luna didn't react to it.

"I wouldn't mind learning a bit about that as well." She said, with a somewhat serious tone.

"No, you don't." Dust replied. "You really don't. Politics back in my world was a mess when I.. left."

Luna looked a bit disappointed as she answered him. "Very well, tell me about your everyday life then."

"Alright. I used to live with my parents and my younger brother." Lunas eyebrows arched. "Yeah, hard to see me living with my parents? We didn't have
much money, so neither me nor my brother could afford a place of our own, so we just.. got stuck at home. A small apartment in an even smaller town.
We both studied, but with different goals in mind. My brother wanted to work in the medical field. You know, surgeries, decease, anything. But he never
did, because of some.. unexpected complications. That I'd rather not go into detail about."

Lunas face had taken on a look of worry. "Do you miss him?"

"Of course I do." Dust said with a sad smile. "Anyway, I didn't get to where I wanted to be either. After a few years of studies, I dropped of.. I realised that
it wasn't what I wanted to do with my life. Instead, I got myself a petty job, wich wasn't really a good one, but it gave me money quickly. Believe it or not,
I worked as a mailman."

Lunas mouth slowly grew into a smile. "You, a mailman? No, I don't believe it-!" Her voice failed her as she burst out in laughter.

"It's not funny!" Dust objected, but couldn't help himself from laughing as well. Luna nodded her head in response as they kept on laughing.

Luna tried to answer him, but was unable due to her laugh. It was a bit too hard a laugh over something so small, but since she hadn't had a good laugh
in a long time, she let it overwhelm herself. Dust joined in, chuckling. After a few seconds, Luna rested her head over his thighs, still laughing, but less so now.
As they both calmed down, Dust put his hand on her neck, carefully moving it down her mane, then going back up to her head, stroking all the way down
again.

"Still, I don't need that life anymore. That's what Rarity tried to tell me, before.." He said the third time he moved his hand across her mane,
digging his fingers into it as he moved his hand, like a brush. " She was right. My life is here now. With you."

Without realising it, Dust's eyes teared up. As he tried blinking them away, a few tears fell on Lunas mane. He did his best to hold it back, but couldn't. A
short sniffle escaped his nose as he reached his fingers to his eyes in order to wipe his tears.

"She was right.." He clenched his thumb and forefinger on either side of the bridge of his nose, pressing into the sides of his eyesockets.

Luna looked up at him when she heard his sobs, and her face showed nothing but worry. She didn't know what to do, and simply observed her lover as he
broke down into heavier tears.

"Said I needed to forget about my life, forget about my brother, if I would ever live a happy life here.. And I didn't listen." Dust let his body fall forward,
and Luna had to get her head up from his thighs fast, so as not to get stuck between them and his chest.

He landed on the floor in front of the chair on his knees, leaning forward and pressing his forehead against the floor as well.

"I should have listened to her."

Not knowing what to say or do, all Luna did was to slowly sit down next to him. She placed her hoof on his back, gently stroking him the same way he'd
stroked her mane. Her eyes started to tear up as well. "Honey.." She tried whispering. "I know what you did was wrong, but try to think of it as positive
instead. If it hadn't happened, we would have never met each other.."

She lowered her head towards his ears. "You showed me I could love."

At these words, Dust's sobbing came to a sudden stop. He turned his head slightly to the right to see her eyes looking at him. Cyan eyes, dripping with
tears. At that moment, he pushed his own sorrows aside. Even though he would probably never forgive himself for what he did, Luna mattered more to
him, and he realised that in doing this; crying like a baby in front of her, he just caused her more pain instead. Selfish.

He got up from the floor, and still on his knees, he embraced the crying mare. Squeezing her close. "I'm so sorry, Luna.. I only think about myself.. I'm
sorry.."

"Don't worry about it.." He heard Lunas whispering voice answer. "I'll always be here, and I'll do my best to help you get over it."

Dust let go of her, and looked back into her eyes. He reached his hand up to her face. "I'm so lucky to have you in my life." He said as he wiped away her
tears.

The chamberdoors flung open. The couple on the floor jumped at the sudden sound, turning to look what was going on. In the door, a red pony slowly
walked inside. As it came closer, they saw it was a stallion, a pegasus. When the guards closed the doors behind him, the stallion, who looked rather small
compared to other ponies, trembled and looked back at the doors with fear in his eyes.

"What do you want?" Luna said quickly, raising her voice a little as she addressed the pegasus.

The pegasus turned his gaze back to the couple as Luna spoke to him, and started stuttering instantly. "I-I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, princess, it's just.."
His eyes turned to Dust. "I've h-heard so much about this human, and I just wanted to.. to meet him."

"Well, now you've met me." Dust answered the frightened little pegasus. "I'm Dust. And you are..?"

"N-No-Hope." The pegasus replied.

"Nice to meet you, No-Hope."

"Y-yeah, sure." No-Hope said, his voice starting to sound a little less frightened. "S-so is it true, princess?"

"About what?" Luna raised her eyebrows at his question.

"That-that you.. like.. this.. man?" The pegasus eyes travelled back and forth between the couple.

"Yes, I like him." Luna said back to him, putting emphasis on the word like. "And he has a name, and it's not 'man'. I love my Dust, and I don't care what
you, my sister or anypony else has to say about it."

"Of c-course, my princess." No-Hope stuttered in response. "I didn't mean to.. offend.. I just.. Sorry, I better head back to Twi now.."

"Twilight Sparkle is here?" Luna asked him.

The pegasus hesitated for a second, his eyes meeting Dust's. "Yeah, s-she's here in the castle.. resting.."

"Resting, why? Has something happened to her?"

"Um.." No-Hopes voice died down. If looks could kill, the look that Dust gave him right now would probably have ripped him in pieces. "It's.. She's just
stressed. Yeah, stress."

Lunas face once again took on a worried expression. "Poor thing. Be sure to let me know when she gets better."

No-Hope nodded. He then began stuttering again, claiming he should leave before he got missed or forgotten or if Twi wasn't feeling okay she might need
him or he might help her with something or just be there for her.. His ramblings finally went silent as the doors closed behind him. Dust got up on his feet
when he realised he was still standing on his knees.

"He seemed terrified, for some reason.." Luna said, still looking towards the doors.

"Can't imagine why." Dust answered with a cold tone in his voice.

It had all been so easy. Too easy. All he had to do was to wait for Luna to fall asleep, sneak up and use Jormundgand on the two guards. He didn't kill
them or harm them, he simply put them both in deep, heavy sleep. As the stallions snored loudly and Luna snooses in bed, Dust had walked across the
room and exited unto the balcony. Looking up across the castle walls, he could see the balcony and windows that belonged to Celestias chambers.
Maybe she wasn't even there, but seeing as she was the princess apprentice, it would make sense for her to be resting in there.

The last time Dust had travelled between these balconys, he simply used his wings. He'd jumped of from Celestia balcony, spreading his wings out in
mid-air to absorb the impact. That had been easy. This time around though, he was going up instead of down, and it seemed he would have to climb.
Without hesitation, he stepped up on the balcony railing. He grabbed the top part of the window, heaved himself up and at the same time he placed his
left foot on the balcony door. It had been a long climb, thanks to his wounds. Even though they now were healed, the pain still loomed inside.

But he had been right. She was there.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, right next to her. She didn't wake up, just kept on sleeping and snoosing. A thin strand of drool hung from her lips,
and for a second, Dust found himself thinking that the violet mare before him was actually.. pretty. Adorable, even. She looked just like a baby, the way
she slept. The kind of baby he would never be able to have with Luna. Carefully, he reached out his hand and touched her mane gently. It wasn't as
silky as Lunas, but still soft to the touch.

"Wake up, little one.." He whispered, barely making a sound. "The hour of twilight has come."

And almost instantly, Twilight opened her eyes.

For a few seconds, her brain didn't register what or who it was she was seeing. But as she did, her mouth opened, ready to scream loudly for help, cry out
after Celestia and have this horrible man brought to the gallows.. Dust pressed his hand over her mouth, and her scream was silenced before it even left her
mouth. He put a finger over his lips, hushing as he did so. Twilight instanly tried to use her magic against him in pure instinct, but of course, nothing
came out of the stump that used to be her horn.

"Don't worry, it will all be over soon, I promise." Dust whispered to her.

Twilight was paralized from fear, and couldn't do anything as the man climed up into bed, placing himself over her frail body. One leg on each side of her,
the way a human rides a horse. And it prevented her from moving as well. As he did this, never did he let go of her mouth, and with his free hand, he reached
over and grabbed the pillow next to her. Twilights heart beat so fast, she thought it would fly out of her chest. Maybe if it did, it would throw the man off of
her.

"Now, dear, just lay still and it will all be over before you now it." Something in the mans eyes changed, but all Twilight could see was some sort of red
spark, since his hood covered most of his face. "I'm sorry."

He then removed his hand from her mouth. And quickly pressed the pillow down on her face.

Immediately, Twilight panicked, and started thrashing her body around, but she couldn't move under the weight of the man. She tried to move her head, to
get away from the smuthering pillow, trying to find some pocket of air. But her head was pinned in place, and she couldn't move more than maybe a
centimeter, and she felt her lungs starting to scream for air.

She started kicking wildly with all of her legs, hoping she would hit the man somewhere, anywhere that might get him to recoil enough for her to get up.
But the more she kicked and thrashed, the more she felt herself sink. Finaly, she felt one of her hooves connecting with the man, sharply smashing up
between his legs. She knew for a fact that such a direct hit would make any male creature cringe in pain, but the man didn't even react, didn't loosen
his grip on the pillow. He didn't make a sound at all.

Twilights chest burned as her lungs got denied of the oxygen they needed so badly. Her head felt like it was about to explode, and she tried to scream again,
but all that came out of her mouth was a weak wheezing. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and her legs started kicking again, this time involuntarily.
Her entire body shook, shivered spastically as the muscles inside of her tried to force air into her lungs.

Then, she saw Spike in front of her. He was standing a few feet away, smiling at her. His big, green eyes shined like giant emeralds as she ran towards him,
embracing him. They both fell to the ground, laughing and giggling childishly at the fall. Tears of joy welled up in her eyes as she finally got reunited with
her beloved little baby dragon.

The best assistant in the whole world.

Slowly, Dust lifted the pillow away from the tiny mare beneath him. Her head tilted sideways, her jaw dropped and her toung fell limply out of her mouth.
He'd done it again.

"I'm so sorry, Twilight.." He whispered as he carefully closed her mouth and did his best to make it look like she was sleeping.

He was selfish. Only cared about himself. Luna was wrong, he would never change, would always be a monster. His actions this night where proof of it.
Afraid of losing Luna, he'd removed the one thing that could break their relationship apart. The one thing that could reveal to her just what he had done.
He'd taken away the single thing that had made Luna into what she was today. Simply because he couldn't stand the thought of Luna leaving him.

A selfish pig. Luna said he was beautiful, both on the outside and the inside. That he was wonderful. She was wrong. She loved nothing more than a broken
man.

He placed the pillow back next to Twilight. He turned it around, since the one side was covered in saliva. Then he carefully got out of bed, minding
where he put down his feet and hands, so as not to hurt the violet mare more than he already had. He pulled the cover up over her, since they had been
riped off her as she flailed about. She looked so peaceful. Sleeping. Just like Rarity...

Another sin to add to his long list. Another tear in his soul.

Dust turned away from the bed, away from sleeping beauty, and headed towards the balcony once again. As he pushed the door open, there was a sound
behind his back. One that he realy did not want to hear right now. A gasp.

He turned around.

The chamberdoors closed without a sound behind a red pegasus. A red pegasus with white mane. No-Hope looked at Dust, then the bed, then back at
Dust again. His lips moved as if he was saying something, but not a sound came out of his mouth. Without even looking to see if Twilight was okay,
his mind gathered what had just transpired in the dark, quiet room.

And the moment the red pegasus understood, he cried out in agony, cried out in pain and suffering. The sound of a shattered heart. He unfolded his wings,
and dove through the room straight at Dust. He'd made a promise to himself, a promise that he would make this man pay for hurting Twi, and to make her
understand how much he cared for her. And now it was too late. Twilight had been ripped from this world, by the very same man. No-Hope had been too
late. He failed to protect her. Again. But he would not break his promise, he would look this man into his eyes as he died.

He slammed hard into Dust's right shoulder, and they both yelled out as they spiraled to the ground. The mans head hit the floor, and the pegasus hit the
wall, but both of them got up instantly. No-Hope launched towards him again, this time stretching out his forelegs, aiming for Dust's face. But Dust was
quicker, and tossed himself to the left just in time to evade his hooves. He then quickly threw his arms into the air and managed to grab hold of one of
No-Hopes hindlegs, causing him to stop dead in his tracks. He tried to struggle and punched wildly into the air as Dust stood up, lifting him up in one hand.

With a jerk of his leg, Dust's foot connected sharply with the pegasus head, and he whimpered in pain. No-Hope expected him to throw him across the room
or kick him again, but was surprised as the human simply let him go, and he landed with a thud on the floor. As he looked up, the man had turned around
and made his way back towards the balcony. Pushing himself, the pegasus crawled the few feet towards Dust, and without knowing what to do,
opened his mouth and bit down hard around his heel.

The man groaned in pain, and spun around to face No-Hope. He janked his foot out of the stallions mouth, and before No-Hope had time to move, the man
brought his foot down on his left wing. Tears welled up and he cried out in pain as he felt the bones in it break. He didn't even have time to stop screaming
until the foot crushed his right wing as well.

No-Hope cried loudly, tears streaming like a river out of his eyes. "You.. I HATE YOU!" He shreiked between his sobbings. "You took Twi away from me!"
He chocked up and started coughing, but stopped as another kick hit him, this one aimed into his face. Blood sprayed from his mouth, and a few teeth
landed on the floor next to him.

Dust didn't answer his cries, he just walked away slowly, out unto the balcony. Without even looking back, he dissapeared over the edge, and left No-Hope
to die alone. He kept on crying, shouting after the man, but no answer came. He tried to crawl over to the bed, but the pain in his body was to great, and
he collapsed just by the side of it. He'd failed yet again.

"Twi.. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." He wheezed in his dying breath, as a pool of blood formed around him. "I.. I never got to tell you.. how much..
you meant to me.."

His vision faded.

"Twilight Sparkle.. I.. I love.."

No-Hope closed his eyes, never to open them again.

Regelius watched the sunrise from his window as he always did, but this morning, his mind was elsewhere. He'd been up all night, thinking about what
Celestia told him. Dying, she'd said. Withering away, like Cadence did. And no known cure. Soon, the princess would pass from this life, and leave him
alone, without the love he'd been wanting for so long. Even though he'd admitted his feelings to her, he never actually got around to say.. those words.

The three words that could change his life.

He needed to tell her, and he abandoned the window, trotted over to the door. If she would leave this world, she needed to know. Not only that, but he felt
something wasn't quite right this morning, and he just had to find out what it was. First, he would go check on Twilight, then perhaps wish a good morning
to Luna and Dust, to show his support, then he would visit Celestia. But still, as he trotted down the corridors towards his destination, that feeling kept on
nagging in the back of his head, like he forgot something.

As Regelius rounded a corner, he almost walked straight into a young maid who was busy cleaning and.. hanging.. up decorations..

"Um.. Forgive me, I did not see you there.." He began, but the maid interupted him.

"Oh, it's fine, sir. No harm done." She said with a shy smile.

Regelius smiled back at her, nodded and started walking around her. As he passed, she quickly added. "Oh, and happy Heartswarming Day, sir!"

Heartswarming Day. Buck it, that's what he'd forgotten. it was today, and he forgot all about it.. Well, no matter. He wished the maid the same with another
smile, then kept on trotting down the corridor. Perhaps this day wouldn't be so bad after all. Perhaps he could muster up enough courage to talk to Celestia
as well. Yes, that would make an excellent present for himself, to finally get it off his chest.

His smile only grew as he approached the chamber where Twilight rested, and with an almost cheerfull voice he knocked on the door.

"Twilight? Time to get up, It's Heartswarming Day!"

When she didn't answer, he opened the door and looked inside. The room was dark, but he could still see her sleeping on the bed. He smiled, thinking
something about young ponies these days, and back at his time things where different.. But then he stopped in his tracks. Red stains on the floor had
caught his eyes. Clear, crimson stains on the white marble floor. Blood. His heart stopped as he looked back at Twilight. And his monocle fell to the floor.

"Oh, no.." He whispered as he slowly approached the bed. Now, he clearly saw that she wasn't moving. In fact, she wasn't even breathing.

Regelius hurried around the side of the bed to see her face, but once again stopped dead in his tracks, and what he saw on the floor made his legs shake,
and he almost fell to the floor. Stains of blood covered the floor, long stains leading up to a large puddle, just by the side of the bed. And in the puddle,
almost matching the clolor of the blood, apart from the white mane, was No-Hope. His wings had been spread out around him in an odd angle, clearly
broken.

His legs trembled as he took a few steps closer, whispering his friends name in hopes of a response, a movement. But the pegasus remained silent.
As he stepped in the blood, his hooves got stuck in the drying liguid. His best friends blood. Under his hooves. it became to much for him. He broke down
crying, and fell to the floor next to No-Hope. The blood soked his fur as he half-crawled towards his friend, his face distorted by sorrow, and his bright
purple eyes having lost their usual warmness.

The stallion cried like a baby as he lifted up his friends head in his forelegs, and he yelled out his name. Cradled his head. His screams had probably awoken
the entire castle by now, but he didn't care about anything else than the cold head in his hooves. He mumbled between his sobbing, telling the dead body
that he was always his best friend, and he had loved him. But now he was gone, and with him, a piece of Regelius died.

Somepony must've heard his howling, beacuse he could hear hurried hoofsteps in the distance, growing louder and stronger. Then, a few ponies appeared
in the doorway, all blabbering over each over, trying to ask what was wrong. A cracking sound could be heard as one of them stepped on the monocle.

It was Heartswarming Day. And three hearts had been ripped from this world.