One Human, Different Paths 'Dark Saga'

The echoing wind could be heard from anywhere in that moment. The once so powerful and almost invincible queen of darkness, Tenebrarum, is facing fear for the first time after many centuries of ruling the most feared force of nature. That's right, the queen of the enemy of light is afraid of one particuliar man, a man who didn't seem to promise to much. A man who fought against the everlasting misfortunes of life everyday. A man whose destiny is about unfold, a destiny that may save the world. And not his world, a foreign world.

Never did this man thought he would amount to something. Just like every person in his homeworld, he did what he needed to survive in a cruel, tough and small- opportunity-chance world. The problems were a normal thing and everyone were on their own. Well, most of them. There were other people in his home planet that possessed richer status and enjoyed a more relaxing life when others live everyday to break their backs and come home with a pityful income. As a saying would tell:

Sadly, in this world, there are people who are born and destinied to suffer while other have a glorious life behind a unjustified method or breaking the trust of others in the end. There is no way that someone became rich just by working normally. They had to take away chances from others, even if they didn't want to bring suffering to the rest.

The way of the habitants of his homeworld wasn't the way he wanted to live. Heck, neither does everyone want to. He was another face in the crowd, as sad as it may seem.

Rhoenir, a not so ordinary person whose life was another case back then, was fighting against the queen of darkness and by the looks of it, he seemed to have the upper hand. That is something you don't live everyday. Neither did he expect that. Now, with destiny backing him up, he was going to use all of his strength to make sure good would previal in the end, even if it takes his own life in the process.

"How is this possible? You... you gave up! My magic can't fail! It never has! You weren't supposed to recover! You were supposed to die!" said a terrified woman who was trying to free herself from his enemy's grasp. He didn't budge at all.

"It's true, your magic is very strong, almost impossible to resist," said the man, who was getting up the floor and holding firmly Nebra's 'Final' attack, "but I have something that you don't have, something that even I didn't thought I had..."

"AND WHAT IS THAT!?"

"Someone to protect"

With that, Rhoe pulled Nebra's hand to one side and with superhuman strength, tossed Nebra five meters away. She rolled to the floor and got up inmediately, grinding her teeth in her anger. Her stare was piercing and could easily intimidate anyone who look at it, but he didn't budge again. Instead, he smiled.

Good to know you are back. You know, you nearly gave me a heart attack back there, idiot.

"Hehe, sorry for worrying you. So, are you ready to finish this?" thought Rhoe as he smiled purposely to Nebra, mocking her.

You bet. I wanted to do this for a long time...

"Good to know. I'm going to need your help after all."

"How dare you to toss me like if I'm some kind of obstacle!" yelled Nebra with a burning hatred towards the hero, "You will pay for this!". Nebra ran towards Rhoe in a flash and prepared to hit him with a lance she created from darkness. Rhoe didn't panic and easily picked up Lucidus. He used the blade to deflect the lance and knock over Nebra. She tripped and slid in the dirt, as the lance dissapeared from sight. The only thing Rhoe did was to slightly turn his head and witness how Nebra was sliding on the floor. He didn't express any emotion, he simply looked at her.

Nebra took advantage of the floor and flipped into a standing position. She looked to Rhoe and growled. Out of nowhere, she howled at the air and several howlings followed. Rhoe looked at the air and closed his eyes. Nebra finished howling at looked at Rhoe with a hussy stare.

"This is the end for you. You are no match for an army of Nightshadows!" said Nebra as she laughed. Rustles were heard from everywhere and Rhoe, who still kept an emotionless expression, simply looked around, with his eyes still closed. Several Nightshadows were appearing from the bushes and growled. The human simply grabbed Lucidus firmly and took a battle stance.

Nebra ordered his minions to attack Rhoe right on the spot and they went inmediately.

Here they come!

They were closer and closer by each milisecond.

Ten feet, six feet, three feet.... and things get messy from here.

Rhoe opened his eyes and swung his blade 360 degrees, performing a spin attack and hitting several Nightshadows who vanished by the single touch of the blade. Nebra was shocked by this. Rhoe continued to attack the Nightshadows one by one like if they were some flys. Every time Rhoe swung his sword to every direction, he hit at least two Nightshadows in the process.

Before they knew it, no more Nightshadows were sighted. Rhoe was panting at this and looked at Nebra who stayed to watch how his minions failed miserably to annihilate her enemy. She was the mad break and a darker aura grew around her.

"Oops, looks like we made her mad" thought Rhoe.

Hm, looks like it. Got any plans?

"Just one".

And that is?

"Finish this" said Rhoe with confidence.

Pfft, typical.

Nebra soon jumped towards Rhoe and screamed in a desparate attempt to hurt him. Rhoe held Lucidus in front of him and blocked Nebra's attack. The blockage caused a wave of pure force to be created right there. Nebra jumped back and began to attack continously at the human. Rhoe, not wasting any moment, started to dodge her attack and block some as well.

This continued and in a sudden moment, Rhoe threw a kick and threw Nebra back. She took the whole hit and recoiled with the floor. She got up and went into another desparate rush. Trying to avoid another senseless brawl, he swung Lucidus. It hit Nebra and fell to the ground. Rhoe returned to his original position and looked at Nebra who remained motionless on the ground.

"Is that it?" he said wondering if he managed to finish this at last.

Wait, something is wrong.... NO.....  RHOE! GET BACK! NOW!

"Huh?"

It was too late. Before Rhoe could do anything, a dark explosion popped in front of Rhoe, barely giving him time to brace himself. The explosion was so strong that it launched Rhoe to the nearest Rhoe, breaking it after crashing into it. Rhoe recoiled and bounce time after time until he finally managed to stop bouncing back. Umbra was worried the whole event might have killed Rhoe in the process.

Rhoe! Are you okay!? Answer me!

But he didn't answer back. He remained against a pillar with a blood river flowing through his face and his body, while his sword next to him. The sword was fainting in its glow, giving Umbra a more concerned and worried state.

YOU PIECE OF SHIT! WAKE UP! WE ARE NOT DONE YET!

But he stayed in the same situation. Umbra would have shaken Rhoe if the spirit was physical, but the situation seemed to lose hope with each second. Umbra soon heard a ghastly echo at the other side of the room. The spirit looked back and feared the worst. Tenebrarum's ultimate form.

If there is ever a thing Umbra feared the most, it was to witness Tenebrarum's ultimate form. He heard legends that whoever sees the queen's ultimate form, he or she was destinied to perish in her hands. The last thing he wanted to see was that. Even if he knew that facing Tenebrarum could turn out like this, he was still afraid of it. Afraid to death.

WAKE UP! RHOE! YOU HAVE TO GET UP!

"...Ugh... who turned out the lights?" said Rhoe as he started to wake up. He opened his eyes found himself, where do you think? Yup, the black pitch room cliché. He groaned and tried to remember how did he arrived there.

"What happened? The last thing I remember is that a explosion hit me and everything went black..."

"Rhoe! Hey, you are not done yet!" said an unknown voice.

Rhoe inmediately fcaepalmed himself and groaned in annoyance, "Hey, you know? I'm getting sick of this unknown encounters," complained Rhoe and sighed, "Just get to the point."

"Fine, look in front of you", and Rhoe did as he was told. He managed to spot a black orb floating near him. Without waiting for any chances, he grabbed the orb and checked it.

"So.... what do you want me to do with this?"  he asked.

"Shallow it"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, shallow it. It will give you the strength to fight back" explained the voice.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Okay, then. Cheers to my unknown encounters!" joked Rhoe as he held the orb in the air.

"Cheers". Rhoe shallowed the orb and his vision started to get blurry. He felt a terrible pain in his chest and fell to his knees.

"Gah! W-whaa.. what is happening to me!?" he yelled while grabbing his chest.

"Wake up...."

Rhoe, wake up!

"Geez, stop screaming. Your voice is hurting my hearing..." said Rhoe as he grabbed his sword and used it to get up, "I'm up already, now please, stop screaming"

YOU FUCKING MORON! YOU SCARED ME TO DEATH! MORE THAN HER!

"Yeah, yeah. I always have that effect on people," thought Rhoe as he brushed off dirt on his clothes, "And what do you mean, 'more than her'?". Before Umbra could answer his question, Rhoe looked up and saw a ghastly and deadly figure approaching Rhoe with killing intent. He was scared to see this and in an instant composed himself.

"Oh, so that's what meant."

Nice to see you finally figuring out what I'm talking about. Now, if you could pleaseeeeeee run for your life, that would be great.

"OKAY"

Rhoe proceeded to grab his blade and get out of there. Even if he was giving the queen of darkness a hard time, he wouldn't simply head straight into fighting some being that seemed to be a deadly opponent against him. After he got away from the room, he knew that hiding wouldn't do good. After all, that thing was still Tenebrarum according to what Umbra told him when he was escaping. He needed a plan and fast.

Rhoe made his way back at the garden with all the destruction still in it.

It's quite a mess if you ask me

"I don't know if I should whether be proud or afraid of what I just did" said Rhoe.

Yeah.... I don't care about that. All I care about is how to beat Tenebrarum in that form.

Rhoe scratched the back of his head and sighed. He agreed with Umbra. If he didn't know to beat Tenebrarum, everything would be lost. Then he moved his left leg forward and inmediately bumped into an small object. He managed to spot a round thing near his leg and looked down to see a black orb rolling right next to him. Rhoe recognized the orb and remembered what the voice told him.

"Shallow it. It will give you the strength to fight back"

"Maybe.... if I shallow it...", Rhoe was about to shallow the orb when out of nowhere, he felt another presence in the garden. He turned around and managed to spot Tenebrarum, moving towards him at a faster pace. Rhoe panicked and ran away before she could catch up. That, however, could not be the case.

A dark barrier blocked Rhoe's path as he smashed into it. The recoil from the hit caused him to fall down to his BUTT. He rubbed his nose for the hit really hurt him and looked behind. Tenebrarum was just a few feet away from him and a devilish smile could be seen from her. A foreign voice with some unknown words was all that Rhoe heard from her. Rhoe got up really fast and stood still as Tenebarum slowly cornered him...

Well, who would have guessed this was going to be it....

"No, not yet!" yelled Rhoe as he placed the orb near his face.

Wait, you are not thinking seriously about shallowing that thing?

"You have any bright ideas?"

Yeah, how about you use your sword instead of shallowing that? Huh, how about that?

Rhoe used his quick thinking and gave an answer, "Nope", then he proceeded to shallow the orb, despite the consequences.

YOU MORON!

Rhoe fell to his knees from the pain that orb gave him and Tenebrarum simply stopped as she stared into Rhoe with confusion. What happened next was something neither both parties expected.

"What is this?" said Tenebrarum as she stared at what seemed to be the remains of Rhoe.

"I'Ll TeLl YoU wHaT tHiS iS!" said the dark figure, "DeAtH!"

Rhoe jumped towards Tenebrarum and swung his newly formed claws at her, injuring her abdomen and leaking out a dark substance. She cried out for this and Rhoe's dark figure didn't stop there. He kept attacking Tenebrarum without mercy, slowly killing her. Umbra was shocked by this and called out for Rhoe.

Rhoe, that's enough.

He didn't stop.

Rhoe, stop attacking her. It's obvious that she lost!

He still kept attacking her.

RHOE, STOP!

"MiNd YoUr BuSiNeSs!" yelled what it seemed to be a figure of Rhoe. Umbra didn't waste any second and searched deep inside Rhoe. What Umbra found was revealing and impacting. The spirit finally understand what was going on.

.................................................................................

Rhoe's dark side was taking control over him.

Whatever Rhoe was hiding or kept away as evil finally got free and tricked him into an insane status. He is now a pure evil being. A evil being that most humans lock away within time. Some are stronger, some are weak and some are special, since they are lcoked away but misfortunes and chaos power them. Since Rhoe had a really bad life, his dark side got stronger and stronger. Until the point of breaking and being unleashed, which is what happened here.

Umbra, aware of this, used an ancient spell taught by his ancestors to free him. The backfire? The dark side was set free. It was separated from it's host. Umbra knew the consequences, but there was no other way to fix him. It was either that, or killing him from the inside. What would you have done?

After Umbra casted the spell, the spirit made sure that Rhoe was separated from the being. Outside, the figure was struggling with a power control over the body. It howled several times, smashed the ground with might and yelled out loud a dozen times.

"GeT oUt Of My HeAd!" yelled the figure, "ThIs BoDy Is MiNe!"

Not on my watch, you son of a bitch!

Umbra succesfully managed to separate the dark side from Rhoe as the terrible beast let out a huge roar while dragged away from its host. Rheo fell onto his back and yelled as well. He got up from the floor and saw a dark beast in front of him, with his while glowing eyes looking at the floor.

"WHAT IS THAT!?" he yelled.

That's your dark side.

"EXCUSE ME!?"

That is your evil side. In other words, that is you as a pure bad guy. I gotta say, you look quite handsome.

"That is not a compliment! That is weird!" he stated while his other shadow shook off and stood.

Heh, deal with it.

"YoU sOn Of A bItCh! ThAt ReAlLy HuRrt!" cursed the dark side as he looked at Rhoe with despise. Rhoe was scared to see that he was holding back such an evil being inside of him. Then he remembered something. Something he encountered the time he met with Luna.

"You! You are the beast that chased me down that night!" pointed Rhoe as he searched for his blade.

"Oh, FiNaLlY FiGuReD iT oUt?" said his other him, "ToOk LoNg EnOuGh".

"Yeah, yeah, bite me. I know you are an enemy.... well, besides been my other me, but you get the point!" said Rhoe as he found his sword and pointed towards the dark Rhoe, "What did you do with Nebra?"

"LoOk BeHiNd YoU"

Rhoe could helpo it, but shiver when he said that with such easiness. He proceeded to look back and saw.... something. He wasn't sure if it was a body anymore, but it definitively wasn't a pretty sight. He felt his lunch going back to his mouth the moment he spotted what was left of Nebra.

"I...I can't believe you did that... I.... I didn't want this for her...." said a trembling Rhoe.

"Oh GrOw Up. YoU kNeW tHiS wAs GoNnA hApPeN," said Dark Rhoe as he licked his own lips, tasting the blood of the remains of her opponent, "SuCh A sWeEt FlAvOr...."

Rhoe was finally with anger despite his dark side being apart. This only got things for worse.

"ExCeLlEnT! GeT aNgRy! ThIs FeEdS mE!" explained dark Rhoe as he started to take a dark color and bigger as well. Rhoe was surprised by this and stopped feeling angry, which stopped dark Rhoe's growth. Dark Rhoe wasn't was amused by this.

"ThErE iS nO wAy YoU cAn BeAt Me!" stated dark Rhoe while laughing, "I aM yOu!"

"I know that! But why does that give an advantage?" asked Rhoe, utterly confused by this.

"YoU dOn'T gEt It, Do Ya?" said dark Rhoe, smiling confident of his victory, ""WhAtEvEr YoU dO tO hUrT mE, iT'lL bOuNcE BaCk To YoU!

"Oh, yeah? We'll see about that!" dared Rhoe as he went for swift kick to the head.

Rhoe, wait.... Stop!

It was too late for that, again. He forcefully kicked dark Rhoe's head, knocking him over to the ground. Rhoe suddenly felt a huge pain on the side of his head and fell back to ground in recoil. Rhoe was wondering why did that happen, since dark Rhoe didn't move a muscle. Then what his other him said a few moments ago came back to him. It was true what he was saying. Everything that hits him, bounces back to Rhoe.

"No... no way..." stuttered Rhoe as he held his hand on the side of his head. The dark Rhoe simply laughed after seeing his other him realize he had no chance to win.

"I tOlD yOu!" yelled dark Rhoe, "ThErE iS nO wAy FoR yOu To WiN! i'M iNvInCiBlE!"

There is no way to fight back, that is what I wanted to tell you before you kicked... yourself aparently.

"And how am I supposed to win?"

There is no way. The dark side of one usually controls his other side with that factor. There isn't any case where a good side wins against an evil one. Hm, maybe I should have thought this through.

Rhoe was starting to lose hope, but not faith. He knew his was going to save the world, but something was bothering him. The skies weren't cleared. He originally thought that it would take some time, but the skies remained the same.

"Umbra, why is the sky not clear?". Umbra didn't know either. As far as the spirit knew, the sky was supposed to get less darker within time. This wasn't the case. Umbra wasn't sure why did this happen, but a crazy thought crossed its mind. The deeper it processed the idea, it looked a whole lot less crazier.

No.... It can't be.... He didn't!

"What? What is going on?"

Rhoe, I think your evil side took over control of Nebra's darkness, making him the king of darkness....

".......how....but..."

"I GuEsS YoU dIsCoVeReD wHy Is ThE sKy NoT cLeAr, RiGhT?"

His other self's words struck him, hitting exactly what he was thinking, "How did you-"

"I'm YoU, rEmEmBeR?" pointed the dark figure, "I ToLd YoU, i WoN! yOu WiLl EvEnTuAlLy SuBmIt To DaRkNeSs, MaKiNg Me WhOlE! YoU lOsT!"

Rhoe was actually losing.... to himself. All this time, he held on to lock away those negative emotions, only to lose to them, failing to save the world. There was no hope left....

NO!

This wasn't the end to it! There is no way this is how things were going to turn out. He is going to save the world, even if it means his death!

"Umbra, can I ask you something?" requested Rhoe.

Sure...

"If.... my other me can return the damage I apply to him, does it work backwards as well?"

Technically, yes. It would be the same since you are the host. After all, both of you have a connection.....Why?

"..........................."

Rhoe? .........What are you going to do?

"Leave my body. Now" ordered Rhoe.

Huh? Why would I do that? ...... No, wait! Don't do it!

"Sorry, Umbra. It's the only way"

There has to be another way! You piece of shit! Use your head!

"Doing exactly what you want me to do. Goodbye, Umbra..."

NOOOOO! RHOEEEEEE!

Rhoe used his mind to expel Umbra out of his body and so prepare his last resort. He smiled at Umbra and moved towards his dark side, with Lucidus in his hand.

"Yo! Asshole!" yelled Rhoe as he approached his other him.

"Oh? Is ThE hErO fInAlLy GiViNg Up?" suggested dark Rhoe. He got a smile back from his host instead.

"Oh, it's something better!", the he proceeded to grab Lucidus backwards and point it to his own chest, "What would happen if I do this?"

"WaIt, dOn'T yOu DaRe!"

"So, it does apply backwards. Well, this does help with the plan...", thought Rhoe as he grabbed firmly Lucidus, making his dark side to show a fear expression, "Heh, who would have guessed it would end this way... This is end for me... but a new beggining for everyone... "

"NO! YoU fOoL! sToP!". His dark side inmediately rushed to where his host was standing, ready to end his life.

"Age, me meam". He finally inserted the blade in his chest. As he felt his life slowly fading away, he managed to see his other him screaming and vanishing on plain sight. This caused Rhoe to faintly smile as he started to fall to the floor.

"That.... will..... t...ea...ch....him..........."

Rhoe smashed his body to the ground. His eyes, filled with no regret, slowly closed.... passing away.

Rhoe has died. His blood was spilling everywhere as the skies were becoming clearer and clearer. The sun radiated through the garden and good once again prevailed. Just like a hero would always do. As many could see it, the hero was none other than Rhoe. He sacrificed himself to save the world, despite the consequences. Despite giving his life for it. He did what he thought was the right thing to do. He had no regrets in the end...

In a nearby hospital of Ponyville, a lavender pony was resting in a bed, with several bandages over her body. She, more known as Twilight, was slowly waking up from a long rest. The moment she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see she was in a hospital. The last thing she remembered was facing Rhoe in her last moments. This only caused confusion to her.

The door of her aparent room started to slowly open, causing Twilight to flinch at this. She noticed a ube connected to what it seemed to be a feeding bag was injected to her forearm. She inmediately lost focus on that and paid attention to the opening door. A white coated,  brown maned, purple eyed pony with a red cross cutie mark entered the room with a list on her hand.  She looked up and saw that the patient was finally awake. The nurse dropped the list and showed a joy expression as she held her hands on her lips. She left the room and yelled outside the room some uncomprehensible things. Twilight was really confused about this.

"TWILIGHT!!!!!"

The next thing Twilight knew was that a group of ponies and a dragon ran into room in a hasty entrance. Twilight got startled by this, but soon after she recognized that it was her friends that entered the room recently. The group of ponies went into a big hug for the patient and she smiled with glee to know that her friends were there for her. She could almost cry to see her friends in one piece.

"Twillght! It's so good to know you are okay!" said a rainbow mane pony as she hugged firmly her hospitalized friend.

"Oh Twilight! It's such a relief to know you are fine! I couldn't simply think of what would have to all of us without you!" stated Rarity.

"Sugarcube! Oh, t'ank goodness yer alright!" said Applejack with a tankful face.

"Oh Twilight! You are okay! I knew my healing dance would eventually work!" stated a pink pony while hopping, still engaged into a hug.

"Oh, Twilight! I'm so relieved so see safe and sound! We were all worried about you! I mean, if that's okay with you..." said Fluttershy as shcouldn't contain her relieved smile from seeing her friend healthy.

"TWILIGHT!" yelled a green scaled dragon, "Twilight! You are okay! I was so worried about you!". He seemed like he could burst into tears any moment.

"Rainbow, Spike, Applejack, everyone! Thank Celestia, you are all alright!" replied Twilight,  "Now.. if you please stop choking me, that would be great,"

The whole group stepped back expect for Spike, who was really worried about her 'sister', since that's the way the saw each other. Twilight wasn't surprised the Spike didn't let go and returned the warm hug. Everyone, who watched this affection, smiled as they recalled in their minds how that felt.

"Wow, I'm so happy to see you finally woke up! Took quite some time though," said Pinkie in a joking tone.

"Thanks, Pinkie... Wair, how long was I out?"

"Ummm.... you were out at least 2 weeks, Twilight," said Spike as Twilight simply looked surprised to hear that she missed out two whole weeks, "When I woke up, I found you you and Dash on the floor. Dash was heavily injured, but you were in a dying stage... So, I took care of your injuries and took to a nearby place for you two to rest. Then the rest is history..."

"Oh..... well, it's a relief to see everyone okay..." said Twilight as she looked around the group and felt that someone was missing, "Wait, hasn't anyone seen Rhoe?"

Everyone's faces suddenly turned into a concerned expression, almost like if they were trying o hide something. Twilight began to feel uneasy and wanted to know what happened.

"Girls, Rhoe is alright.... isn't he?"

None of them answered. It was too painful to say it.

"Girls, you are starting to get me worried... what happened?"

Applejack sighed and looked to everyone around her to let them know she was going to tell her, "T' tell th' trut' Twilight, we don't know w'ere is he...."

"They never found his body. All they found was a blade next to a...", Rainbow, who supported Applejack, didn't find the guts to say the next thing until she finally gave up, ".... a pool of blood and unknown figure shred to pieces. We all assumed Rhoe did it, but..... with a high price..."

Twilight didn't answer. She simply kept staring at her friend and blinked occasionally. Out of nowhere, the lavender pony started to laugh nervously.

"Hehe, this is a joke, right?" asked Twilight, "It can't be real. This has to be dream, right?"

"I'm sorry Twilight," said a dragon who looked at her face after letting go of the hug, "It's the truth... There is nothing we can do about it..."

Twilight seemed like she could cry any moment. To hear that one of her great friends was dead simply shocked her. She held her hands on her face and started to sob a little. The group of ponies didn't hesitate and hugged her to comfort the pain she was feeling. It helped a little, but she still cried. Tears were flowing through her face, non-stop. Some of the ponies who hugged her cried as well.

"It's still hard to believe! Why?" complained Twilight still crying.

"Ah know, ah know..." comforted Applejack.

After a while, Twilight finally cleaned her face and sighed, still finding hard to believe what happened to Rhoe. She inhaled deeply and sighed as well. The group were relieved to see that her wounded friend finally calmed down.

"Better?" asked a worried dragon for her sister.

"Yeah, I'm better.... still sad for the notice, but yeah, I'll make it," said Twilight.

"It's good to know that," said a familiar voice from outside the room. Everyone looked around and found Celestia entering the room, with a rather large gift on her hands. Twilight's eyes simply shined the moment she saw her teacher and beloved friend enter the room, "I was worried I had to look for another student to take care of"

Twilight rolled her eyes, for she knew her teacher was joking around. Celestia simply laughed and hugged Twilight, which she also returned the hug. Celestia placed the gift on top of a nearby drawer and kept the hug.

"It's good to know that my most prized student is just fine, well, at least better than before," as she pointed the bandages around her.

"Well, I still feel a little weak, but I'm okay," confirmed Twilight and passed her hand across her bandages, "Oh! Is Luna okay as well?"

"Ah, Luna. Yes, she is okay. She would have visited you, but she is still doing the search party job she wanted to do, as a way to help somehow the kingdom. It's admiring to see her worrying about her subjects," said Celestia as she let go of the hug and grinned at a nearby window. Twilight was happy to hear that and smiled as well.

"Well, we better be goin'," said Applejack as she accomodated her hat into a more comfortable position, "We will leave yah two alone. C'mon girls!"

"Awww, I wanted to stay longer!" complained Pinkie.

"C'mon Pinkie, she needs to rest and catch up with Celestia," said Rainbow, who was pushing Pinkie out of the room.

"Okay..." said Pinkie in a more sad tone, "Goodbye Twilight! See ya later!"

"See ya around Pinkie..."

"Bye Twilight!" shouted the group as they left the room. Twilight waved goodbye and smiled as they left the room.

"I'm happy to know that you have such good friends," said Celestia who looked at the group leaving.

"Yeah...."

Suddenly, Twilight's expression turned into a concerned one. She looked at Celestia, ready to ask for something.

"Um, Celestia?"

"What is it, my dear student?"

"Is it true... about Rhoe?" she asked.

Celestia's expression turned into a serious one. She grabbed a chair and sat on it, closing her eyes.

"I'm afraid that is the case..."

"Oh, I see..."

"But..." interrupted Celestia.

"But?"

"When we searched for him, we noticed this his body was no longer there," said Celestis with a confused face.

"Yeah, I heard that from my friends..." stated Twilight meanwhile she showed a sad face, thinking of the fact.

"The unusual thing is that, according to the evidence we found regarding his position, I can still feel his presence. Stronger than before...". This sentence caused Twilight to looked at her, with hope in her heart that she was getting to something better.

"Wait, you can feel him?" she asked.

"Well Twilight, I can control the sun and also feel the presence of other beings that are in my kingdom, especially residents with good balance in their hearts," this gave Twilight a new hope, "The odd thing is that his presence.... is in two places. One is unknown..."

"And the other?"

Celestia took the large gift and placed it on Twilight's hands. "In this,"

Twilight unwrapped the gift and found a shining light blade inside of it. She looked confused by this and looked closely at the sword.

"Lucidus..." read Twilight the inscription on the blade cover.

"It means Light in a foreign language. That's the blade Rhoe used and that is how he called it," she pointed.

"What? This is Rhoe's blade?" she asked, expecting a confirmation.

"Yes, that's the sword he used against Tenebrarum, my sister and me," said Celestia as she recalled the battle they had, "Rhoe made good use of his abilities and managed to defeat Luna and me. We didn't use our full potential since we were corrupted by darkness, but still gave a powerful fight. It's hard to believe he defeated us...."

"And who is Tenebrarum?" Twilight asked, rather interested than confused by this new individual.

"Tenebrarum is the queen of darkness. She is the one behind everything. The whole thing was her idea," explained Celestia, "My sister and I passed out when Rhoe defeated us, so I'm not sure what happened next..."

"I'm sure he did what he needed to do... but I wish it could have ended another way," confessed Twilight as she held the blade clsoe to her.

"I ran into her a few times and we also had a deal that each side, both light and dark shouldn't be crossed or invaded. It seems she didn't want that anymore... foolish being," said Celestia as she went into a deep thought about her previous encounters with dark beings.

Twilight looked away and thought of what her enemy did. Twilight thought it was similar to what Chrysalis wanted. She wanted to have a new territory, more for her greed. Twilight sighed and looked at the blade once again. Then something came up.

"Celestia? What did you mean that Rhoe's location is in both places? This blade to be precise?"

Celestia snapped out of her mind and looked at Lucidus on Twilight's hands. She simply moved towards the blade and placed a finger ina certain point. Suddenly, the place Celestia touched shined brighter than before, showing a small point on the blade's edge. Twilight was taken back by this and kept looking at it.

"It means a part of Rhoe is incrustated on the blade's power. In other words, a part of Rhoe is now with the sword," explained Celestia as she smiled just a bit. Twilight looked in awe as she figured out what she meant.

"Does that mean that Rhoe is one with the blade now?" she asked.

"Just a part of him. But, yes, he is a part of the sword now,"

She couldn't help it and smiled, knowing that his great friend wasn't entirely dead. Sure, he wasn't physical now, but it didn't matter to her. She was just happy to know that her friend was somehow alive. The odd thing was the other location.

"What about the other location?" asked Twilight, wonderring of what her teacher said earlier.

"....Like I said before, it's unknown," said Celestia as she passed her hand over the blade's surface, "But we now know that he is alive. In this..."

Twilight looked at Lucidus and grinned a little. "Well, thanks for telling me this, it really helped me..."

"I'm happy to hear that," replied Celestia with a smile on her face, "Well, I better be going. Canterlot is still having repairs and I'm not planning to sit back and watch, even if it's against the royal rules for the Princess to do other duties. Hm, I might change some things to that book..."

Twilight laughed at her teacher and smiled after she finished laughing. "Well, thank you for the gift. I will take good care of it,"

Celestia nodded and headed towards the door. Just before she left, she stopped and looked back.

"If we are lucky, we could the other location~" said Celestia, trying to rise Twilight's hopes. It did. As she left, Celestia could hear the voice of Twilight thinking of a possibility to bring back her friend. Celestia smiled and left the hospital.

You know, you could go back and tell them. Shouldn't it be easier?

"Nah, it's better this way." said a man in a black robe, walking down a road during a sunset. The cloud were moved beautifully and the coast was clear.

Are you sure?

"Yeah, I'm sure. Besides," he removed his robes, revealing identity, more known as Rhoe, "I need to know where is that girl..."

The same one you told me before?

"Yup, that same" said Rhoe as he pulled a red medallion out of his pocket, "She helped me, but she is the one in danger now. I have to repay the favor.... Umbra,"

Yeah, yeah. Playing the hero as always.

"Shouldn't you go back with your people? I mean, they chose you as the Darkness's King after all" pointed out Rhoe.

Yeeeeaaaaah..... no. Too much pressure and I don't wanna. I'm a free spirit.

"More like a lazy spirit," said Rhoe in a mocking tone.

Ha.Ha. Bite me. So, are we near?

"The next destination should be about 10 minutes from here. Think you can last another while?"

Sure, moron. It's better than fighting for your life.

"Hahaha, you never change, Umbra," he stated.

That's why I'm your partner.

"Okay, then, Partner, let's go..."