"The light was intense....."

"So intense....."

"Warmth surrounded every fiber of my being......"

"My sorrow for all of mankind.... Ponykind... felt endless.... I felt so sorry for them."

"They had to continue living on.... In that hell we call life....."

"No............. I can't let myself get angry.... Not again..... I can't risk being sent back to Tatarus..... I need to find a way back into the land of the living...."

"Even if it means......"

Before Midnight could finish his thoughts, the light around him faded. revealing the one place he had meant to go to a few days prior. The only problem now though was the group of various species of angels that were quickly descending on him and the three beings that sat next to him. Those very three ponies giving a worried glance toward the approaching angels, all decked out in armor and holding spears. Looking back up to Midnight they began to curl up in fear as the approaching angels began to lower their spears, that was, of course until Midnight stepped between the two groups, spreading his wings out to block any further advancement.

"Please step aside sire. Those three await judgement before the almighty one." One of the angels stated as he began to press Midnights wing back, only for it to push him back toward the group of angels behind him.

"I will accompany them, and they will receive no less treatment than a normal visitor to the afterlife as long as they are here with me." Midnight quickly stated causing the angel he had pressed backwards to give him an annoyed expression.

"Very well, but let it be know that if they cause any trouble, we are to take them into custody immediately." The angel stated quickly, causing Midnight to nod and look back to the three.

"No shenanigans you three. This may be your only chance, and mine. So don't make me regret forgiving you." Midnight stated quietly to the three, causing them to nod through a nervous swallow.

"This way please, The almighty one is expecting you." The angel quickly stated, sweeping his hand by him and causing the group of armored angels to separate.

As the four trotted along between two groups of angels flanking them on each side, The one angel to step forward to Midnight earlier, stepped up once more.

"You do realize what's going on right now don't you?" He stated.

"I have an idea.... But I'm taking a guess that I may not be included in it as I'm an Alicorn?" Midnight stated quietly, glancing over to the tall human-like angel.

"Aye.... Names Michael by the way." He stated, giving a soft smile to the semi-shock Alicorn.

"Midnight Flame, but I'm guessing you knew that already from my prior visits to Asgard." He chuckled seeing ht angel nod.

"I've seen you around, met your folks and grand father as well. Yer grandpa is something else, always keeping me on my toes." He laughed.

"Really? I figured the old fart would have you tearing out your hair instead from his annoying banter." Midnight began to chuckle, but stopped as a voice picked up on his other side.

"I heard that ya ungrateful whelp!" Starswirl pipped up as he pressed through the group of angels and gave his grandson a rough nudge. "Annoying banter huh, is that what my knowledgeable words are to ya, annoying banter?!" He spat causing Midnight to sigh.

"No.... well, not all of it." He smirked causing Starswirl to puff his cheeks out in annoyance. "Ya know ah love ya, ya ol'stallion. But you could do with being a little nicer, especially if your giving advice."

"Being nice doesn't have anything to do with giving my insightful knowledge to anyone. In fact it helps to drive it into the minds of everyone by being a little mean. The long term memory remembers the hurtful tone I use and the words spoken in said tone. In essence, I give people knowledge that will stay with them for a long time, if not indefinitely." He smirked back.

"Maybe, but considering you're in the afterlife now, you could use some pointers on being able to give knowledge without being a jerk." Midnight snickered. "But then again, It is one of your charms."

"I don't know whether to take offense to that comment, or take it as a compliment." The old bearded pony chuckled.

"Either way, I don't think it will help my situation any." Midnight sighed as they began to trot up to the hall of Gods. "You know, I tried to get here earlier to talk to my folks, but ended up in Tartarus."

"What?!" Starswirl spat in shock, halting in his steps, but then quickly coming back up to his grandson. "My boy.... you must be joking.... tell me you're joking."

"Does it look like I'm joking?" He sighed giving a deadpanned expression. "Besides that, I'm still not entirely sure what's going on. All I know is that I was angry when I cast the afterlife spell, and ended up.... in.... Tartarus...." Midnight paused in his trot causing everyone to look at him as he began to slowly turn pale.

"Sire? Are you ok?" Michael asked, knocking him from his stupor, and quickly making his expression turn determined as he spoke.

"We need to hurry this along, I'm not sure how much time has passed in the living world, but I don't want to waste anymore time than I have to if it means that I can return." Midnight stated as his horn lit up, grabbing the three ponies at his side and lifting them into the air as his trot quickly turned into a gallop toward the hall of the Gods. The angels hot on his heels as he sped along.

It had only taken a few minutes at full gallop for Midnight to reach the Hall. Taking a moment to compose himself and release his hold on the three ponies, Michael opened the door, quickly letting them enter.

As the group made their way into the building, many of the Gods paused in their conversations to look down upon them. Some silently conversing between one another as they continued toward the end of the hall to stand before...

"Bob, nice to see you again, although I would have preferred it to be under better circumstances." Midnight stated with a nod and smile, Bob doing the same.

"True, yet I see that your predicament has resulted in also having three souls come with you into our folds." Bob raised a brow slightly as he looked over the three ponies.

"Bob.... I.... I want you to know.... that I have forgiven these three. I'm not ashamed of what I did, and I didn't do it out of pity or hopes of returning to here..." The dark Alicorn trailed off as he looked to the ponies next to him.

"They may have done many bad things in life, and may have hurt many others, but I forgive them for what I can. I know that they have endured more punishment than they ever could have for those decisions, and I ask that they be given permission to stay here."

Silence.....

"You do realize that in order for them to remain here, that they must be forgiven by everyone they have wronged in the past life." Bob stated as his eyes narrowed on the three shaking ponies.

"I understand."

"And if even one being says no, they will be sent back to Tartarus." He finished causing the three to weep silently, and Midnight to tense up. Upon this however, the angels all lowered their spears down toward Midnight.

"You're letting your anger get the better of you my son." Bob stated a little coldly.

"No..... I'm not." Midnight growled as he took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he managed to calm himself.

"Although you seem to be in control at the moment, there will be a time when your anger will over flow. When that moment comes, you will have to make the most difficult decision of your life." Bob smirked slightly upon seeing Midnights confusion.

"But for now." Bob smiled as he clapped his hands together, causing Midnight to flash into a bright array of light before reappearing as Charles. "You need to return to your loved ones." He chuckled seeing Charles beam. "However..." He paused, raising a finger.

"Once you return. You may not return to your pony form.... Until your counterpart has become deceased, or you find another way to get rid of him." If you should return to your pony form at any given time, you will automatically return here, as a member of the deceased, and you will not have the luxury of returning to the living for a third time. Is that understood?" Bob asked, watching as Charles furiously nodded.

"Good, now begone!" He stated quickly as he waved a hand, making the human vanish from the Hall of Gods.

"Now then." Bob turned his sights back onto the trio of ponies. "Let us start the forgiving process, and see if you're lucky enough to remain here with us."

Canterlot was on high alert as the human quickly appeared in a flash of light within the castle. Pulling his hands up to rub his eyes the human groaned out.

"I am never going to get used to that light show blinding me." He stated quickly, pulling his hands down to continue blinking for a moment. That was, of course, until he was quickly pinned up against the wall by a unicorn guards magic.

"I've captured an intruder just outside the throne room. Please be advised that it is human... and resembles the king?" He stated in confusion as he looked the human over.

"Nice to see you too." Charles smirked. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, could you at least let me breathe a little better, you're crushing me."

"Not until we have you in shackles. The king gave the guard express..." He was quickly cut off upon hearing Charles groan out in annoyance.

"I know, I know, magical shackles, along with a barrage of tests to confirm my identity. Then a stupid walk through my mind while I'm being forced asleep so that Luna can confirm that I am who I say I am. I wrote the rules my boy, I know them by heart."

The guard stood there a little stupefied for a moment, that was until Charles felt the magical grasp on him loosen a little, letting him breath a bit better.

"What was my other rules that I specified when training you?" Charles spat quickly causing the unicorn to tighten his grasp again.

"To not let the enemy get the upper hoof in any situation, be it physical, or mental. I am to follow orders until the situation has been resolved."

"Good, I'm glad you understand the situation." Charles chuckled, pausing quickly as another group of unicorn guard came around the corner, all of which with their horn lit up with magic.

"Good work, now then..." Whip Lash began, only to pause as he looked the human over, then quickly sending out a beam of magic onto the human to verify his suspicions. After a few moments, he nodded to the guard holding the human against the wall. That guard quickly releasing his hold on the human, which then began to berate the Captain for not following orders.

"Sire, there is no time to argue." Whip stated in urgency. "You need to come with us, quickly."

"Before Charles had time to argue, he was quickly swept up in a field of magic as the guard bolted down the corridor. The thundering of hooves along the floor making the very walls of the castle shake before them.

"What's going on that is so urgent that you need to fly me along with you Captain?" Charles spoke out as the group of guard rounded another corner.

"It's your twin sire." He paused seeing the look of anger spread across the kings face. "He has been causing quite a bit of havoc ever since he left the castle the other morning."

"The other morning? How long has it been exactly?"

"Almost two days now, and we have had no luck in finding or capturing him. It seems that he spontaneously appears throughout Canterlot to cause havoc. It is only for a short time, but no pony has been seriously injured as of yet. I suggest we assemble the elements of harmony so that we may have a better chance in locating and capturing him.

"Noted, but something seems off about what you just said." Charles hummed in thought as he rubbed his chin.

"Sire?"

"You said that no pony has been seriously hurt, correct?" Charles asked, seeing the Captain nod. "You know that he is in my body right now, but what you don't know is that I had previously absorbed some of Discords Chaotic energy as well, before returning back into my Alicorn state. So if Flame hasn't hurt anypony to the point of killing them... Then he must be in the same boat as Discord!" He beamed, but stopped as a look of confusion came across Whip Lashs face.

"Discord can't hurt anypony outright, not without the express aid of another being, or using his chaotic energy to create something like a trap or something that would cause a being to end up in a serious predicament that would normally take their life. If Flame is subject to those same rules, then we'll have the upper hand in this situation. The only problem I foresee is in capturing him. If he has the same powers as Discord, then I only see one thing that could give us an edge." Charles sighed in annoyance.

"I'm afraid to ask." Whip Lash sighed as they finally made it to the gardens, releasing his hold on the human as he set him down.

As the human turned to finish telling the Captain what his plan was going to be, he was picked up by another magical field of energy and quickly pulled across the gardens faster than he could blink, right before being glomped by a crying white Alicorn and his son.

"What the?! Tia? Star? Why are you two crying?!" He asked in surprise, just before the Whip Lash and his small band of unicorn guard quickly arrived.

As Charles was about to speak, his eyes went wide as he looked into the face of a now angry looking Celestia as she spoke.

"I thought you had turned evil again!" She snapped. "Yet I see you here as your human form?! Tell me, what is going on?!"

The king let out another sigh of annoyance as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Tia... Remember the other night when I cast the afterlife spell?" He asked, seeing her nod. "I didn't go to Asgard to see everyone. When I awoke from the spell, I was in Tartarus."

Celestia, at this point, seemed to turn pale, which, for a white Alicorn, seemed to be impossible. As she turned to walk away, she spoke only two words in a tone that Charles had never heard before, one that told anyone else who was within ear shot, to avoid her at all costs.

"Follow me."

Never once had Charles been more afraid than that moment in his life. Had he a full bladder at that moment, he would have promptly released it without question. Taking very nervous steps, he followed the Alicorn as she began her walk away from the group, then before anypony could react, she, and the king, vanished in a flash of light.

Appearing with another blinding flash, the two were now within the Royal Archives. They had not taken the path like they had oh so long ago, but a very nice shortcut. The only problem however...

"What in the world?!" Strap shouted as he looked around the library for a moment, his vision finally falling upon the Celestial Alicorn and her human companion. "Celestia! How many times have I told... you..." He stopped, giving a gulp upon seeing her expression, that alone telling him to shut his mouth and disappear. Which he did, without hesitation.

Once the ghost pony had vanished, Celestia began her trot again, further into the depths of the Royal Archives. Charles took careful steps in following her as she went along. Ever so often she would pick up a book and scan it with the spell she had learned from Midnight, then place it back down to pick up another. Once the duo had made it to a large door at the end of a long corridor, they paused as she picked up.

"My dear, Behind this door is some of the most top secret information that my kingdom has ever recorded. Under nos circumstances are you to pick up any book without my express permission, nor read anything unless I give it to you. Keep your hands to yourself at all times, is that understood?" She stated rather coldly only for Charles to give her an annoyed glare.

"I'm the king and I can't look at anything in this room?" He started to protest but quickly went silent as Celestias vision intensified on him, causing him to whither. "Alright..." He squeaked, watching as she pressed her horn into a hole within the door. Several lines of blue magical energy quickly zigzagged all over the door from her horn until several clicks were heard. Pulling her horn from the door, she took a step back as it opened revealing a very small room, barely big enough for her and Charles together.

"Tight squeeze." Charles mumbled as he pressed in alongside his wife, watching as he horn lit up, pulling a couple books from the shelf and scanned them.

"Now then, please hold on." Celestia stated as her horn lit up once more causing the floor to give way and slowly begin to lower into the darkness.

"You're full of surprises today love." Charles smirked slightly, she turning back to him and giving him a loving nuzzle.

"You won't be saying that shortly." She stated sadly, causing Charles to give her a worried expression.

As the two waited patiently, the ride soon came to a stop, leaving them surrounded in darkness. Looking up, they both could barely see a pin point of light from which they came, leaving Charles with the knowledge of how deeply underground they actually were.

"What now?" He asked, watching her horn light up again and causing the wall in front of them to give way. After a few moments a soft orange glow could be seen slowly coming toward them.

"Tia, you had better have a good explanation for having to come down here. You know how much I dislike this part of the castle." Strap snorted out in worry.

"You may leave shortly my old friend. This should not take long if my assumptions are correct." Celestia stated as she looked back to the nervous human at her side.

"You know, I think this is the first time you've actually begun to creep me out Tia." Charles gulped slightly, watching as the ghost pony began to lead them down a dark corridor.

"I do not do this out of spite or hate my dear, but worry. If you have returned as a separate entity from your Alicorn body, then there is only one explanation. Bob has sent you back to us so that you may face a trial before facing yourself once again."

Charles paused, giving her a confused look as he spoke. "A trial before facing myself? Care to elaborate?" He asked.

"The trial you must face.... will not be pleasant. Should you survive, you will have to fight your other half. Not only for control of your body... but your very life." She stated in sadness, Charles only giving her a shocked expression.

After another minute of walking, they had finally arrived within a large chamber, Celestia directing the human to stand in the center of the room over a large rune carved into the floor of the room that glowed a soft red.

"I'll leave you two now... please do not call me back in here unless necessary. " Strap stated nervously as he made a hasty retreat from the room.

"Charles, I am going to project my thoughts from the books I have scanned earlier directly into your mind. You aren't going to like this information, and will become angered. During this process, this rune will activate. It is here for one reason only, to vanquish evil."

"Wait, you mean to say that I may become.... evil?" He began, but trailed off as he watched a beam of energy hit him directly in the face. Thousands of images and countless information began to flood into his mind, showing him things... Things that angered him... that enraged him... images that made him feel the pain of those suffering, and the sick pleasure that the others felt from administering that pain.

The rune along the floor began to glow brighter as the information continued to flood into the humans mind. Filling it with countless scenarios in which one would be administering and receiving punishment for doing various things. Some seemed reasonable, while others seemed so wrong to him.

As more scenarios played out through Charles' mind the rune would glow brighter, and eventually pulled the human down onto his knees and hands. the gravity from it alone making the human feel fifty times what he normally weighed. Then as quickly as it started, it would let up, making him feel as light as a feather when the glowing faded from the rune.

Now though, the rune was pulsing as various scenarios began to play through the humans head once again. The spell that he was now under causing him to eventually be pulled all the way to the floor, almost crushing him with an unseen weight. His expression of pain and rage began to grow further and further as time passed by, the purple mist now flowing freely from his eyes in what seemed like a purely rage consumed state.

"I... won't.... let.... him... WIN!" Charles growled out in a fury as he slowly began to press himself from the floor and onto his knees. Celestia watching as he continued to the point of standing in a slightly crouched position with his arms pulled up to his sides.

The rune along the floor began to burn a bright red for almost a minute before finally fizzling out, being replaced by a soft white glow. Charles continued to stand there, breathing heavily for a minute until he could compose himself enough to speak.

"Tia... I had no clue why you wanted to do this to me... but I honestly understand now." He stated as his eyes snapped open to reveal a brilliant green that was his natural color. The mist that was normally present only with the red eyes now present on his normal ones.

"So you know now what you must do?" Celestia asked.

"Yea... I have to somehow... make Flame use all of his power.... and turn into a human. Only then will I become whole once more."

"Very good, now how do you plan on doing that?" She asked, clearly curious.

Charles smirked toward her for a moment before turning to a deadpanned expression. "I have no fucking clue...."