Cura and Moondancer watched as War Heart argued with something they could not see or something that may have been imagination. He even took a swing through the air and jumped back the second after. They were afraid to intervene.

“Let’s say I do play by your rules…”, War Heart spoke to the air.

Cura thought he might have been confronting his hallucination, she decided she would let it play out. Much to her surprise, War Heart fainted in the middle of the street. She dashed over to him to make sure he was okay. Checking his vitals were becoming more routine than it should nowadays. She turned to Moondancer, “I need some help dragging him.”, she told her as she grabbed one of his arms and started pulling the massive winged one, slowly but surely.

Moondancer hesitantly obeyed, unsure of what was going on with War Heart. She was somewhat curious as to why Cura was with him. He seemed to be certifiably insane to her at this point. They both dragged him into a nearby furniture store that happened to only be half a block away. Placing War Heart on a couch near the entrance was taxing, with him being bigger than them and all.

Cura sighed, “I guess we’ll leave him here for now…”

“I must ask… Is he… alright? I mean up here.”, she pointed at her head.

Cura shook her head, “He has had to deal with a lot… Dying twice-”

“Excuse me?”

“I know, it’s crazy. But I am telling the truth when I say he was dead. The second time I may be exaggerating his severe mutilation…”

“Mutilation? He hasn’t a mark on him.”

“He’s… an oddity. I’ve known him for years and I can really say that there is nobody like him. He’s interesting to be around to say the least, things never get boring with us. I nowadays help him psychologically more than medically.”

“Is he so skilled that he does not get injured?”

Cura rolled her eyes and scoffed, “Ha. Like he can go into a fight without it seeming like he has a will to destroy both his opponent AND himself. He sometimes makes the most stupid moves out there. Like when he had a huge chunk of debris flying at him, he decided to, of all things he could’ve done, punch it…”

Moondancer sat there with squinted eyes, “What…?”

“I know… Not that bright. Although, he did manage to smash through it, not without breaking almost every bone in his entire arm.”

“I assume you healed that…”

“Of course, but the next time I had to treat him was by far the worst.”

“This sounds as if it is going to sound ridiculous…”

“Pretty much, so we were in Las Pegasus, we went to a show, I happened to drink a bottle of wine to myself, black out, I wake up the next morning to see him on the counter in the kitchen.”

“And then…?”

“This is where it gets nasty. He had his cheeks torn open and his lips surgically removed as well as his eyelids.”

Moondancer threw on a shocked and disgusted expression, “Oh my…”

“Then there was the hole in his kneecap that looked as if it was done with a hammer and nail; his right arm was sliced open and all the tendons were sliced apart; then his entire left hand was burnt off to the bone. As far as I can gather, he was conscious through all of it…”

Moondancer was cringing at the thought of such things, she shivered and looked at War Heart to see him at peace as if he were sleeping or dead. She shook her head, “How does he not have a single mark on him from that? You must be a great healer indeed to leave no traces of such things.”

“I only fixed his right arm, melding all those tendons and muscles back in place was tough, and all I could really do for him.”

“Then how did the rest of him heal?”, Moondancer was starting to take genuine interest in War Heart.

“He says he has this ‘Dead Magic’ or something. It gives him these magic powers apparently. He used his magic to heal himself. It was pretty interesting to watch. It also gives him hidden reserves of strength which explains him being able to smash through that flying debris.”

“I… I am afraid I don’t know much about magic. Being a winged one and all.”, Moondancer declared, smiling nervously.

“He doesn’t know much either, he is struggling to grasp the idea of using magic. I often wonder what will happen when he fully gains control of his power… They say power corrupts. I know him well enough that he is always looking out for others, but even he must have a limit, a breaking point in which he will feel like he has lost all reason to help. I’ve seen him in a raging fury when fighting, one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever seen.”

“Let us hope he remains strong in heart as well as strong in arm… For his sake and everyone else’s…”

Cura nodded, “Yeah… I wouldn’t want to lose a friend like him again…”

Hours went by as if they were days. Life was very slow and a bore for the young doctor and the artist. They waited in silence for the most part, only breaking the silence to let out a sigh.

War Heart suddenly shot up to a sitting position, startling both Cura and Moondancer. He panted in a panicked state, his eyes were constricted. Frantically War Heart shot his gaze around the room as if he was seeing things that were not there.

“War Heart…?”, Cura spoke to him, in an attempt to calm him down.

War Heart covered his ears and growled in pain, the sound of Cura’s voice causing his ears to ring and brain to burn. He fell to his knees as the ringing did not cease, continuing to echo within his skull. He looked towards the window to the street and dove into it, shattering the glass into many shards. He fell onto the pavement outside, jagged pieces of the window jutting out of him. He stood up and started running down the street.

Cura and Moondancer looked at each other before rushing out the door. They looked at War Heart, seeing him jogging down the street.

“What is he doing…?”, Moondancer asked, assuming Cura would be able to explain.

“I’m not sure, we’ll have to follow him until he stops freaking out.”, Cura replied as she started jogging after War Heart.

Moondancer took flight and rose above the rooftops, looking down on Cura and War Heart.

After a few minutes of running about, War Heart finally collapsed suddenly.

He laid on the ground for a minute before Cura arrived and examined him. He opened one of his eyes to see it was dilated back to their regular form. She sighed, “I swear, you do this stuff just to keep me guessing…”

War Heart’s eyes slowly opened, he squinted at the light of the sun coming from directly overhead. He shielded his eyes from the sun’s rays with his hand and then sat up. He shook his head, hoping to rid himself of the migraine that currently inhabited his skull. He felt a hand touch his shoulder. He turned to see it was his good friend, Cura. He smiled lightly, “Hey… Long time, no see…”

Cura looked at him with a confused expression, “War Heart… It’s only been a few hours since you passed out…”

“What…? I was there for…”, he tried to recall how many days he ended staying, he lost count around forty or so, “… a long time…”

“Come on… We should keep looking for survivors…”

“No… There aren’t any…”

Cura looked at him, “What?”

“I was in another world… I was there with the other people of this city. They are dead… all of them.”

Cura nodded slowly, feeling defeated that they didn’t end up saving anybody from here, “All right… Let’s just go…”, Cura started walking towards the edge of the city.

War Heart stood up and walked next to her, Moondancer joined them almost right after.

They all walked in the direction of Ponyville, War Heart decided it would be best if they just returned home. Most of the journey was in silence, except for Cura inquiring about where War Heart went when he passed out. He made it clear he did not want to discuss it.

War Heart mulled over the letters on the card that DeadBeast had been leaving him. ‘D’, ‘E’, ‘A’, ‘D’, ‘T’, ‘S’, ‘E’, ‘B’, ‘A’. He was rather impressed at himself that he had the letters all but burned into his brain. Something, however, was keeping him from figuring out what they meant. It was as if he either couldn’t do it, wouldn’t let himself, or didn’t want to remember whatever the word was and all that it was connected to. He kept trying to push it out of his mind, but it was like an obsession. At night he would see the cards laid out in a mess on the ground in front of him. He tried to touch one only to receive a horrible migraine and a sudden flash of an image that he couldn’t make out to be anything in particular. It was the night before returning to Ponyville that DeadBeast revealed himself again.

“Well, well, well… You’re holding all the cards now. You don’t do anything with them. You’re just gonna sit on your ass and stare at them all night? Or are you going to face the facts and figure out what you are?”

War Heart took a moment before looking at DeadBeast, remaining totally stone faced with his melancholic expression. He then turned his stare down to the imaginary cards in front of him. He closed his eyes and reached for one. Upon touching it he felt the searing pain of the migraines return.

He opened his eyes to find himself on wet pavement. It was raining heavily, he looked around at the rundown area of houses that made up his surroundings. He watched a hooded person’s silhouette approach him slowly, a voice that was muffled and distorted seemed to echo all around him. He blinked and returned to his waking state, his hand on the card that had the letter ‘B’ upon it. The card was now next to the letter ‘D’, spelling out ‘DeadB’, he knew he had a ways to go. He closed his eyes and reached down again, returning to the agonising headache and forced memory. He was now standing in a room. It had a couple couches and a man sitting on the couch, his face was blurred from War Heart’s vision as he saw a gun being tossed to him. War Heart caught the gun and looked down on it before returning to see another card was in order. War Heart nodded and went repeated his action, this time the memories were numbing, almost draining the energy out of him. He opened his eyes to see he was in an arena with a bunch of men on the ground, bleeding and broken. He was shocked at what he was seeing, he looked up to see someone he didn’t quite recognise as his vision blurred out their faces again. He blinked again and quickly moved on to the next card. He now saw him standing over a young man in a hoodie, frightened for his life.

“Yo, man, I’m done. It’s cool, I’m going home.”, the young man said as he threw off his hoodie and ran away from War Heart.

War Heart returned to reality again. He looked down to see the last card that was out of place. He put his hand on it and shifted it towards the rest of the cards, that now spelt out a name. He looked up at his imaginary nemesis, “DeadBeast?”, War Heart’s pupils constricted and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as the three years he spent in Unex flooded his brain. All the murders he committed were now apparent, he now saw what he was like before, a raging beast that had little to no consideration. He breathed heavily, trying to sort out everything in his head. He looked at his hallucination, who was no longer wearing make-up.

“You once considered me an ally, then considered me an enemy… I challenged you to bring out the beast within you… You were capable… All this time you have been pushed by me, DeadBeast. I was teaching you to not give up… I wanted you to defeat me… You couldn’t. Return to where you died… Where you were reborn… You can find answers there…”, the hallucination of Kacey Turner walked into the shadows and disappeared from War Heart’s mind. He waited for morning to arrive and wake his two companions. Cura was the first to wake, greeting War Heart with a yawn.

War Heart cleared his throat, “Cura… I have to do something before I go back… Alone…”

Cura looked at him with a puzzled expression, “What is it?”

“I want to see… Where I died. I’m going to Canterlot alone.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

War Heart nodded, “I need to see something for myself.”

Cura sighed, knowing she really couldn’t stop him, “Fine… I’ll see you later…”, she smiled.

War Heart nodded before taking to the sky soaring through the clouds towards Canterlot. It took hours to get there, he arrived in the middle of a rainstorm.

“Why you’ll never guess who just soared into town.”, Discord smiled casually as the stranger was sitting at a desk in the sewer.

“Why should I care if anybody flies in to this rotting shell of a city…?”, the stranger had a depressive tone to his speech. He covered his mouth as he had a coughing fit, hacking up some blood onto his sleeve.

“Well, I don’t know, I thought you might take an interest in that big guy with the red and green hair with black wings.”

The stranger froze, “So… He’s alive… and you didn’t tell me…”

“I thought I’d surprise you, It is kind of my fault he ended up back here.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well I felt like making a bit of drama. I made him go totally crazy in an attempt to remember all you told me of your world. It just took a few pokes and few powers aimed at his brain and now he’s back, looking for blood, it seems.”, Discord put on a sly grin as he chuckled and faded out of sight.

The stranger went up to the surface via the manhole. He noticed it was raining and put on his hood. He was wearing the make-up, but it was faded from being put on so long ago. He walked down the street. It was empty except for the inanimate corpses lining the streets.

War Heart landed several metres in front of the stranger. He glared at him with eyes of crimson, a stare that could kill.

The stranger lifted his hood to reveal his face covered with the make-up of DeadBeast, “It looks like you want a rematch… I want to know if you overcame your beast…”

War Heart looked up to the sky, “I have been harassed, tempted, murdered, mutilated, and subject to much pain over this life time… I resisted… I won’t let myself become a monster like I was in Unex… I have to protect what I love. So long as I defend that, I will not break…”

DeadBeast cracked his knuckles and then clapped in a slow applause, “Now… All you have to do is defeat the Beast… Let’s see if you are strong enough to kill me without becoming a monster.”, he grinned. He walked over to War Heart and threw a punch into his gut. War Heart stumbled back, but went back into a neutral standing pose. DeadBeast continued to hit him, in the face, in the gut, the limbs, trying to cause as much pain and damage as possible. Bone cracked, skin broke, cuts bled. DeadBeast was losing his patience, he flew at War Heart in rage, “Why won’t you fight me!?”, he screamed as he continued to beat on War Heart. He stopped and started coughing again, retching up blood onto the street.

“I know you are dying… I don’t want to attack a sick person.”, War Heart started to regenerate his wounds to DeadBeast’s amazement.

DeadBeast chuckled, “Looks like you learned a new trick…”, he coughed up more blood. He looked to the sky, “I guess you did conquer your beast after all… Now… all lessons aside… You did good… I’m done…”, he started walking away. He started laughing, coughing up more blood, “Looks like this lung is catching up with me finally…”, he whispered as he walked away. He went back to the sewer, the cold rain chilling him to the bone as he sat at his desk in the sewer. He smiled as he thought on it, “I’m sure you’ll do good, War Heart…”, he whispered as he dozed off into his final sleep.

War Heart stood there in the middle of the street, now realizing that his time with DeadBeast was a lesson in Humanity. DeadBeast saw that War Heart had great power, and knew that he could be driven to mindless rage, becoming nothing but a monster. He taught War Heart that he could be strong without becoming a monster, giving War Heart the will to carry on protecting others like a hero would. War Heart felt as if a weight lifted off his shoulders, he looked to the clouded sky and felt the rain washing away everything. He took flight and headed to Ponyville. He looked down on his cabin on the outskirts, not paying any attention to the town itself. He landed next to the door, taking a deep breath and exhaling before opening the door. He saw Arcana sitting at the table as if she had never moved since he left, she was reading another work of fiction. He also saw Dash sitting at the head of the table, also reading.

Dash looked up as soon as she saw the door open from the corner of her eye. Her face lit up as she saw War Heart walk inside the house. She immediately put down her book and walked over to him hurriedly, embracing him tightly as if to never let him go.

War Heart returned her hug, lifting her into the air slightly. He let go of her and looked into her eyes, “I’ve just decided something…”

Dash had a puzzled look on her face, “About?”

“I’m never leaving you again. I’ve had to take a few hits to the head to realize this… I want to spend my life by your side without distractions.”

Dash grinned, “I was kind of worried back there… But I knew you would come back.”

Arcana finally put down her book, “Hello, Father.”, she waved from the table.

War Heart waved back at his daughter, smiling.

Dash turned War Heart’s attention back to her, “I have to tell you something that happened while you were gone.”

War Heart’s smile turned to a look of concern, “What happened?”

“There’s a new mayor now… The town was taken over by these new guys. They built up new walls and they have these weird things. They all wear these masks and they seem pretty weird.”, Dash explained to him as best she could.

“What happened to the other mayor?”

“They chased him and his guys out of town.”

“I think I need to have a talk with this new mayor…”

“I’ll come with you, I haven’t spent any time with you for so long and I haven’t been out today.”

“Okay then, Arcana, You stay here, your mother and I should be back soon.”

Arcana nodded and remained seated at the table, pulling out a new book to read.

Dash and War Heart started walking, holding hands as they made their way to Ponyville.

War Heart looked up at the sky, which was now clearing up, “It seems the weather is returning to normal.”

Dash nodded, “Yeah, some of the glows in town have been helping with that.”

“Like Orion?”

“I suppose, he seems to be one of the most powerful from what Applejack tells me. How was your trip?”

“It was pretty dull, monsters, beating down monsters, find survivors, all that boring stuff.”

“Sounds like a real snore fest, alright.”, Dash giggled.

“I missed you a lot when I was out there… It’s on3e of the reasons I decided to stay here and not go out on adventures anymore.”

“I missed you too, especially at night since the kids go to bed so early, I had nobody to talk to. I can’t believe how quiet it is.”

They had arrived in Ponyville and were on their way to the town hall.

There were strange looking men wearing rubber gas masks that hid their eyes in blackened pits of nothing behind glass. They seemed completely motionless other than their head would turn towards anyone who was approaching. They held in their hands a contraption that looked like it was made of a metal tube and wood. They were a leather outfit with steel plates over it. There was not a single bit of skin showing on these new guards, they were unnerving as they stared at War Heart as he and Dash walked past.

Meanwhile, The three crusaders were walking towards town hall.

“I really hope that these Machina guys pay us for bringing in those survivors.”, Scootaloo was leading Sweetie and Apple Bloom down the street.

“Yeah, no kiddin’ I don’ want to have done all that fer nothing’!”, Apple Bloom had her arms crossed, feeling somewhat upset for this sudden change in management of the town.

Sweetie Belle looked around at the buildings, remaining silent as she walked with her friends. As she and her friends turned the corner, she noticed that War Heart and Dash were walking ahead of them. She fixed her eyes on War Heart and scanned him over in silence, her eyes glowing red. She walked at a faster pace, ahead of her friends who were preoccupied with conversation. She kept approaching War Heart, who had just entered the marketplace. He was looking at some books to buy for Arcana at one of the stands, “Target: War Heart, Winged One, Glow Power Capabilities. Conclusion: Alicorn. Immediate Termination Required. Enabling Assassination Protocols…”, Sweetie droned on in her digital voice. She proceeded to sprint towards War Heart, a blade sliding out of her wrist.

Dash heard some quick footsteps approaching, turning just in time to see Sweetie brandishing a knife. With only a split second to react, she pushed War Heart out of the way.

War Heart was taken by surprise as he hit the ground. He looked to see Dash motionless on the stall table and Sweetie brandishing a knife dripping with blood. He jumped to his feet and attacked Sweetie, only seeing red as he used the Dead Magic to give him incredible strength, enough to bring Sweetie to the ground and smash her face with his fists. He tore off her arm that had the knife coming out of it and proceeded to repeatedly stab at her chest. Black liquid spewed forth from his as she droned out her last words.

“Damage: Critical… Shutting… Down…..”, Sweetie’s voice faded.

War Heart quickly went to Dash to see if she was going to be okay. He held her in his arms, tears streamed down his face. He noticed to stab wound was near the middle of the chest.

Dash coughed weakly, “War Heart…”

“I have to find Cura…”, War Heart mumbled.

Dash shook her head slowly, “No… I can feel myself slipping… I don’t think I’m going to make it…”

“You will… You have to…”

“Make sure Arcana at least goes out and sees the sky once in a while… And tell Air Heart that I’m so proud of her…”

War Heart could barely believe this was happening, never before had anything hit him so hard. He struggled to hold back sobs, his face turning red.

“I love you…”, Dash smiled weakly at War Heart before closing her eyes.

War Heart trembled, he laid her down on the table as if she were sleeping, “I love you too… Beautiful…”, he fell to his knees and sobbed. Everything he had was gone, taken by one cruel act.

A digital voice called out, “Sir, You are under arrest for destruction of De Machina Property.”, one of the guards was standing a few metres behind War Heart, with almost a dozen other at their side. They pointed their weapons at War Heart. The guard took a step forward, “If you do not surrender, we will have to neutralise you with force.”

War Heart felt it again, the rage that he had not felt in years. The fire inside him that felt like he would set the world ablaze and watch it burn to ashes. He turned to the guards and screamed at them. His teeth formed fangs, his fingers turned into claws, his eyes glowed red. He flinched as he heard several small explosions, and then the sharp pains all over his front side coming from the bullets that pierced his skin. He screamed again, sprinting at them and tearing a few of them apart. In his rage he turned to see Sweet Heart, staring at him teary eyed from watching her brother. He noticed more guard coming and took to the sky, flying as fast as he could away from Ponyville.