Making choices

When Hase woke up, he noticed a spot, that was less dark than most of his surroundings. After a few minutes he deduced, that he was still somewhere in the mountains, probably in a cave . He also concluded, that it was probably somewhere around 8 in the evening. He tried to move, but found out he was tied to a chair. Apparently, he could do nothing but furtherly study his surroundings.

The cave he was in wasn't big. The lack of echo suggested it. Suddenly, somepony started lighting candles. The inventor noticed something like a white bedsheat, but couldn't see the whole figure until a minute afterwards, when the candles illuminated the whole cavity.

The cave was only a hole in the rock, with no formations, about 20 feet deep. His ponynapper had wings, so the cave was probably somewhere high, eliminating the possibility, that Hase would run away by jumping with the chair. Now the black pegasus could see his captor, even though she was in the very botom of the cave. The tall pony still donned the white cloak. However, the inventor noticed, that the eyes seen through the veil were now light green, and not violet purple as before.

" You're Queen Chrysalis, right? " he made the obvious conclusion.

" What makes you think that? " the voice that replied, although confirming Hase's suspicions, that his captor was a mare, certainly wasn't Celestia's. Also the figure now lacked the horn bump, that was caused by the wooden horn his captor had used to knock him out. The voice, however, sounded too kind to belong to any captor, increasing the scientsit's suspicion, that his ponynapper was the changeling queen.

" You disguised yourself as Celestia, and now you've ponynapped me to get it back at her. I need to warn you, that you aren't being very original. My father usead the same tactic about 4, " Hase recalled.

" , days ago. Unless you've come to feed upon my love for Rarity. That would be more original, but I'll have to dissappoint you. She doesn't love me anymore. " the stallion fret.

" If I were Queen Chrysalis, do you think I would need that ludicrous cloak? " the mare sounded rather cheerful, as she took off the cloak, finally revealing her true appearance, which wasn't anything like what Hase had expected. Beneath the white cloak he expected to see Chrysalis' mangled form, suspecting, that this disguise was because of her unwillingness to change her entire look, only changing the area around her eyes, her wings and her voice. However, what he saw instead was a really odd mare. She was about the size of Celestia. Her muzzle was a bit shorter than the one of the princess of the sun, her eyes were light green, and her cutie mark wasn't something special at all - a brooch, which looked like a star. Hase could tell it was a brooch because the cutie mark also depicted the needle. The only same things about this mare and Celestia were the coat colour, the body size and the wing size.

The odd thing about this mare, besides the height, were her mane and tail. The scientist could see they were material mane and tail, blonde mane and tail. Nonetheless, normal manes and tails weren't supposed to wave behind the mare like the Princesses' waved forward. It seemed as if her mane and tail had decided to play " I'm Princess Celestia " this day, but had forgotten to turn the " etheral " switch. Her mane and tail, which were pretty long, the mane waving back almost to her wings, had edges, which were somehow illuminated, and there was a tiny white oreol on the edges, even where the tail or the mane split in streaks. The inventor hadn't seen it before because of the cloak. Otherwise the mare seemed to have a pretty normal manecut - the part, that fell (more like swung, since it was obvious the white glow wouldn't let it simply fall down) forward the mare had put aside, making it join the main flow of her mane with a simple hairpin.

The mare smiled.

" Do you recognise me now, Hase? " she then asked.

Hase's muzzle did its best to express the mix between awkwardness and confusion.

" Uuuuh, no, this is the first time we've met, and by the way how do you know my name? "

The white pegasus looked shocked.

" Have you forgotten me? " she asked, seemingly dissappointed.

" Nope, I'm pretty sure I would have remembered that manestyle. Are you absolutely sure this isn't the first time we meet? " Hase tried to convince her in his theory, hoping to assure the odd mare, that she had made some kind of mistake. His friends were probably very upset and he needed to go back and find them. He didn't have time to waste with some mare, that had mistaken him for somepony else, even if she somehow knew his name.

The mare stepped forward, a bit unsure for a moment. It seemed, that she was thinking something over and over again. She either couldn't make up her mind for something, or was trying to convince herself something isn't the way it is. Or at least that's what Hase thought. The scientist heard her whisper several times, and once he even got the words: " It can't be. ", bringing him to believe her problem was the second. After the mare's musing had continues for 5 outright minutes, Hase decided it would at least be polite of him if he offered his help in the thinking process.

" Can I help you with something? " he asked.

The mare fixed her gaze on him, apparently looking for something. After a minute, she sighed. Apparently she hadn't found what she was looking for.

" I consider myself a good thinker, if I may say so. It is of mutual interest, that your problem is solved as quickly as possible, so that you do what you do and I get back to my friends, who are probably very worried at that point. So, what's the deal? " the inventor asked. Those words made the pegasus look even more dissappointed, but apparently she saw there was no other way around, so Hase's captor finally spoke again:

" I have a theory, that can't be true. I've spent the last minutes thinking of proof to prove it wrong, yet I find none. "

The black pegasus immediately gave his answer:

" From what I've experienced as a scientist, it usually means your theory is right. "

" Yes, it really does seem so. " the mare frowned.

" I guess I have no choice but to check. "

As she said that, the white pegasus moved towards her hostage. The inventor tried to back off, but his runaway attempt only resulted in him almost falling over with the chair he was tied to. He hadn't increased the distance between him and the mare with more than 2 feet. That wasn't unnoticed though. The mare stopped, smiled warmly and spoke:

" Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. You'll make sure of it pretty soon. "

Then she moved forward with a single step, decreasing the distance between her and Hase to 1 foot only. She spread her long forehoof, but instead of slapping him with it, as the black pegasus suspected she would, she simply placed it on his forehead, as if she was checking if he had fever.

" You were right. I was right. " the mare furtherly befuddled the stallion. Did she had doubts about him being sick or something? With his peripheral vision Hase caught a white, a bit yellowish, light surrounding the mare's hoof. Before he could express his confusion and ask the mare some more questions, an alien force closed his eyes and prevented him from breathing.

Hase found himself looking through the eyes of a very young foal, who was crawling on the floor. He wasn't controlling the foal in any way, he simply observed. He was shocked, as he recognised one of his own memories. The foal the body of he was in was he himself. Then he noticed something else: his momfeeding another foal with a spoon. The foal had a white coat and was a pegasus, about the age Hase was in this memory. The stallion remembered this part of his memory, but a second ago he didn't. This made him wonder, but before he could try to comprehend it, the memory switched. Now he was older, and what he recognised as his past self looked around was his first day of school. A white pegasus filly with a blonde mane stood right next to him, but before Hase could say his memory was different, the same filly appeared in his memories as well, discombobulating the stallion furtherly.

Memories passed right in front of him before they could really see what they were. Less than a second after he saw them they also popped up in his head. It felt like remembering long forgotten details, and that was what it actually was. In fact, it was only a single detail. The mare with the white coat. As memories passed by, not following any order, they quickly reminded him who she was and he no longer found it strange, that she popped up in so many of his memories. What he found strange was how he forgot her in the first place.

Until one memory, one last memory caught the attention of his mind. There was something strange about this memory. All the others were simply memories Hase had, that had somehow excluded the white pegasus up to this moment. This one Hase never remembered having. It wasn't one of his foalhood's, otherwise it would have been normal for the black pegasus not to remember it. No, in this memory he was about the age of his last year as Celestia's scientist. Taking the streets his younger earth pony self was crossing into consideration, the pegasus deduced, that this was one of the last days before he went in cryogenic containment.

" Excuse me! " a voice was heard.

The observing stallion immeadiately recognised this voice and would knit his brows, if he was in a body he could control. His past self, however, only turned around to see the source of the voice. It turned out to be a black unicorn with dark purple mane and tail. A disguise Hase knew, of a pony he also knew. His older self, however, came closer to this pony, opposed to standing where he was and thinking the situation over, as the observing scientist would do.

" Yes? " the younger Hase asked. Before he could do anything, the unicorn shot a black magical blast at him, leaving him temporarilly paralyzed.

" You don't have to worry at least about her, Hase. " Vortex, disguised as a normal unicorn, comforted him.

" I know you're having a hard time, but I can't help you. I'll only make things worse. She, on the other side, had nothing against interferring... why am I even saying that, you won't even remember the past hour... " the unicorn said, before a dark portal with sharp curly edges opened, which he jumped in.

Then Hase suddenly turned out to be back in his current body. Realizing, that he hadn't breathed for a few seconds (the memories probably took much less time than he felt they had), he opened his eyes and took a deep breath, like a deep sea diver without any oxygen left in the tank. Startled, the unknown mare he now knew well, made a few steps back and looked at the stallion wth great concern. Even though he was still breathing heavily, the inventor decided to take it back at her for the trick she had pulled off at the entrance of the passage.

" Don't..... ever.... do.... that.... again.... " he spoke between pants. Not giving any signs, that he had recognised her, he stood there panting for another 10 seconds. The mare's concerned frown turned to a dissappointed one, since she believed her spell hadn't worked. After another pant, the black pegasus let her know it wasn't like that:

" .... never.... again... Elly. "

Elysia jolted as she heard Hase call her by her name. As she saw his naughty smile, she smiled as well and punched him in the shoulder, all of this while laughing from joy, that her spell had worked. The scientist didn't groan, he only laughed.

" I got you, didn't I? " he asked.

" You are a horrible person, Hase! For a moment I actually believed you! " she replied, while the white oreol of her magic untied the knots of the rope, that held the black pegasus to the chair he was sitting on.

" How can I ever forget my sister? " Hase spoke, before he realised, that only until a few seconds ago, he had no idea who she is. Elly wasn't too late to tell him that right after he thought of it. The siblings laughed, before they joined for a hug. As Hase's head pressed again the chest of the tall pegasus, he was reminded there were still a few questions left unanswered. A few very importrant questions.

Leaving the chair for his sister, Hase tried to pull a stone to sit on with his chaotic magic, but apparently it was too heavy for him, so instead he just moved next to it and sat on it right where it was, even though water drops fell on his head.

" I see you have grown up. The last time I remember I was actually about half an inch taller than you. " Hase brought up the question about her illogical height. There were three more questions he had to ask, but Elysia guessed them before he even asked.

" Now comes the part where you ask me about the mane and the magic. I supposed it would be rather strange for you. You probably also wonder how am I still alive after all those years? "

Hase nodded. He remembered this thing about him and his sister. Growing up together since an infant age, and often forced to work together in solving problems with their friends Gale, Thunderflight and Rush while they were on the street, the duo had got to know the other's way of thinking and could sometimes predict what they were thinking in the moment.

" Make no mistake, I am extremely happy you're back. I'm just... " Hase said her.

" ...utterly confused? " Elly completed his sentence once again, making the black pegasus focus on those past memories. Especially on the last one.

" Correct me if I'm wrong, but... wasn't the last memory about dad erasing you from my memories? " a sign of anger sneaked into his words.

" Yes. " the mare sighed.

" I don't know why he did it. We used to get along so well... " a smile appeared on the mare's face, as she moved the hairpin, that held one of the streaks of her hair, to another position, so that it held it better. She did all that with this magic she wasn't supposed to have. Nevertheless, now Hase's attention was turned on something much more importrant.

" Elly... did you know dad?  " he asked. The whole situation sounded really unfair to him. If his sister got to see their father before, why did he have to wait a whole millenium before meeting his other foal?

" Oh, right. There is no way you could know. He didn't want to tell you. " Elysia said.

" I'm starting to get really confused about all of this. " the stallion responded.

" Why did he have no trouble meeting you, but had to never reveal himself to me? "

Elly understood perfectly what her brother ment. From his own memories, all that he could conclude, was that his father somehow preferred her over him, and while she got to know him, Hase thought he'd never meet him. The white pegasus wished it was that way. Unfortunately, everything was a lot more tangled than that.

" You don't understand. " she tried to cheer him up, as she saw him frown.

" This isn't what it looks like. "

As her brother looked back at her, she saw, that her words had done nothing to ease his pain and dispel his huge dissappointment. Sadly, the truth was probably going to make him feel even worse. But it had to be said. Elysia couldn't hide it from her brother anymore.

She sighed. Her magic opened a pair of saddlebags, lying next to the wall, and brought out a book from it. The tall mare levitated it over to Hase, dropping it in the air. Luckily, he caught it with his chaotic telekinesis and opened it.

" There is a lot to explain. " the white pegasus told him.

" The truth is even more frustrating than you believe. Read the book. It will help me explain what needs to be explained. "

The inventor nodded and looked at the first page of the book. The illustrations seemed oddly familliar. Hase wondered if he had seen this book before, but he couldn't remember anything like it. Then it hit him. The illustrations were the same style as the ones from the book about Nightmare Moon and the Elements of Harmony Hase had read back in Twilight's library in Ponyville. The lavender alicorn had kept it to remind her of the day she first met her friends. This memory brought a warm sensation to Hase's heart, but he got over it. His curiosity was far too big to let himself get sentimental. So he once again focused on the book.

Eons ago, before ponykind existed and when different sentient creatures had only one world each, the first pony ever appeared in the unhabited world of Unia.

The picture depicted a large mountain with orhcards of different kind on its foot. One alicorn, the central figure of pony mythology, stood there, under a pear tree, gazing at the far away mountain. Her red mane, that fell down normally, even though she was probably the most powerful alicorn of them all, gave out, that this was the Godess Creator of ponykind - Lauren Faust. The scientist flipped to the next page.

For decades she wondered alone, exploring the world. However, one day she decided she had spent enough time in sollitude. With her divine power, the first notebook and the first pencil ever were created. There Lauren Faust sketched the four pony races - earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns and those most akin to herself- the first two alicorns. She also sketched hundreds of others miraculous species, that still roam the worlds of ponies up to this day. Upon her divine will, her drawings left the notebook and came to be.

This page depicted the creator of ponykind flying in the air, while one of the first earth ponies was leaving the pages of her notebook - the half of it on them, as a coloured sketch.

She took it upon herself to rule ponykind, and she did so with great wisdom and benevolence.

The third page depicted Lauren Faust sitting in a throne room. The inventor was starting to wonder wheter his sister wasn't playing some prank on him with this book, since it contained no useful information whatsoever. Sighing from boredom, he flipped the page again.

However, two great problems troubled the godess' mind. The endless possibilities, the different varieties and the infinity of choices were threatening to tear apart the creator's homeworld, to tear it into an infinite number of parallel worlds, where some small details were different. To keep her world from falling apart, Lauren Faust planted a flower on the top of the highest mountain in the center of her world. Its magic held Unia together.

This picture depicted the flower leaving the pages of the godess' sketchbook, heading for a small square of soil among the deep snow on top of the mountain. The creator was flying over the flower, observing it carefully. The black pegasus moved his gaze to the other page.

The much bigger problem was what ponies were doing with magic. As the world's first inhabitant, Lauren Faust knew well, that magic isn't simply magic. Magic is a mixture of two entities - Light and Darkness, named for their resemblance to those two natural entities, but actually worlds different. They were magical entities beyond anypony's understanding. When those two first mixed, the explosion caused the world of Unia to appear. From then on, those two entities ballanced eachother out as halfs of the most miraculous occurence of the world - magic. However, ponies had also found that out. They were starting to break this balance. Some unicorns preferred to have more Light in their magic, and some preferred to have more Darkness. Both didn't have any consequences. However, when the ponies tried to surpass their own tollerance, they turned into ponies, driven by their darkest desires. Their power increased and they wreaked havoc across Unia.

The picture depicted two unicorns, apparently possessed by those two entites. The left one had a red curved horn, green eyes with red irises and purple trails waving behind their eyes. It reminded Hase of a certain tyran of the Crystal Empire.

The scientist supposed the unicorn, possessed by the Light, wouldn't be as scary as the other, but turned out to be wrong. The horn of the right pony was thinner than it was supposed to be, and its top was sharp as a spear head. The pony had a treacherous smile on. The irises and pupils were too bleak, almost blending with the white of the eyes, giving this unicorn just as sinister, if not even more, appearance as their counterpart. Yellow trails waved behind this unicorn's eyes. The black pegasus flipped over to the other page.

In order to stop them, Lauren Faust chose two ponies she deemed worthy and made them the Envoy of Light and the Envoy of Darkness. They had full and ultimate control over those two entities, more than the possessed ponies could ever have. The two were assigned with the task to keep the balance between Light and Darkness in the world and stop anypony, who played with more of those two than they could handle. Those two ponies were immortal, but even in case they died, Lauren Faust had made sure the post of an Envoy would be granted only to somepony worthy.

The illustration depicted the godess standing between two other ponies about her height. Their manes were material, but waved like the ones of the Princesses, only backwards. The manes and tails were surrounded by a thin oreol with the colour of their respective entity. The next page was the last page. Its illustration depicted alternate worlds. They looked just the way Hase had seen them from the Void. He got to reading the last few sentences of the book.

However, soon Unia was destroyed. Somepony had ripped off the magical flower, that held the world together. The endless varieties and choces ripped the world apart, creating an infinity of worlds, populated by ponies.

The inventor closed the book and dropped it on the floor. He then looked at his sister, recalling the image of the two Envoys. He smiled and asked:

" You are the Envoy of Light, Elly, am I right? "

" Yes. " the white mare replied.

Hase nodded. Now it was all pretty obvious. Her size, the waving mane... hay, even her coat and mane pattern matched the post of an Envoy of Light. Nonetheless, something wasn't quite right. There was an infinity of worlds, populated by ponies. The endless varieties sure included one world, where the presence of an Envoy was needed. It certainly wasn't this world. So why was Elysia here? Why had she come only to unlock his memories? She surely had something more importrant to do.

" Then... don't you have something more importrant to do then unlocking my memories? " the black pegasus turned those thoughts into words.

" Don't get me wrong, sis, I can't be more grateful... but doesn't the Multiverse need you or something? "

Elly smiled as he said that.

" Lauren Faust is smarter than you think. " she replied.

" As Unia was torn apart, she was quick to realise her Envoys couldn't deal with all of those worlds. Also, if she created two Envoys for each world, in one of the infinite alternate worlds, the Envoys would meet their counterparts from another dimension and begin a war, which was going to be the reason for the death of many ponies. So she added a passive ability to them, one only she could block or remove. From then on, as long as the two Envoys were in the same world, a power lock spell, that covered all the worlds of ponykind, was projected, twisting fate in such a way, that whenever a really strong  possessed pony appears, there is always a chance for them to be defeated by the ponies in this world. "

" Does it work? " the inventor raised an eyebrow.

" Your friends defeated King Sombra, didn't they? " his sister replied with a question.

" I'm not saying, that the Crystal Heart wasn't going to be powerful enough otherwise. What I'm saying is, that thanks to this lock, fate was twisted in such a way, King Sombra penetrated the barrier Princess Cadence had put up a few minutes later than he would have otherwise, granting your friends the time to find the heart and stop him. "

" Sooo... you mean, that the Envoy of Darkness is in Equestria? " Hase asked.

" Not anymore. " Elysia replied.

" She is here? " the inventor exclaimed. That ment the Envoy of Darkness was part of their group. Who could it be? Hase excluded the Mane 6, since he was sure, that they would have shared such an importrant information with eachother. He also left out the Sentinels of the Elements. The Princesses were an option, but the scientist doubted they would hide such power. Which ment he had mistaken the gender of this Envoy. He quickly got to the identity of the Envoy.

" It's our father, isn't it. " his sentence sounded more like a statement than like a question.

Elly frowned. Her reply shocked her brother more than anything else, that he had learned before.

" Your father, really. And no, Hase, it's you. "

The shock made the black pegasus mute for about two minutes. His sister made no sence whatsoever. He was pretty normal, and he was pretty sure his mane didn't wave when he was sleeping, so that he wouldn't see it. It was clear he'd have to clear this situation out, so he decided to start with the lesser evil. The first part of her statement.

" First, what do you mean by your father? " he emphasised on the possessive adjective.

" Vortex isn't my biological father. True, he's the only father I've ever known, and he is my father the same way he is yours, but I am not his real daughter. " she replied, still frowning. The tall mare hadn't really managed to inform her brother as subtle as she'd wanted to.

" Do you imply that you're adopted? " Hase asked.

" Sort of. " Elly said. Seeing, that his sister was still frowning, Hase got next to her and hugged her, thinking her frown of dissappointment for a frown of sadness. Elysia finally smiled. Her brother seemed to be taking the news rather well.

" Do you want me to tell you the whole story? " she turned to him.

" I'm listening. " the stallion said, as he broke the hug and sat on the ground. His face was begging for explanations, so Elly began as soon as she saw it.

" I am alive because of you. In some way. I don't know how, but dad knew you were the Envoy of Darkness since the moment you were born. That's highly unlikely, since the signs usually appear somewhere around the 300th year. You'll get them in about a week. "

" Why?! " Hase exclaimed. Just as he thought he'd have enough time to adapt, Elly suddenly dropped it on him, that he'll get taller than a basketball player in a matter of days.

" Last time I checked you were about 1000 years old. " the pegasus with the blonde mane rolled her eyes.

" I was in cryogenic sleep. " the inventor wondered wheter stating this fact would actually stop the transformation.

" That doesn't matter. " the tall mare proved him wrong.

" You can't cheat magic. However, let's get back to the story. Somehow, dad knew you were an Envoy of Darkness. He used your natural magical attraction for the other Envoy. This attraction usually twists fate in such a way, that the two Envoys meet as soon as possible. However, it doesn't work when the other Envoy is in another world. So, he used a tracking spell and your attraction to find the world where I was born.

My homeworld was much more different than the worlds you've seen. In ancient times, due to the two Envoys being in different worlds, it was nearly destroyed by a possessed pony with dark potential about 40%... "

" What is that dark potential? " her brother interrupted her.

" It's a measurment unit for how much more darkness than usual one has in their magic. " Elly answered.

" It's the same with light potential. Potential measures how much more from either Light or Darkness one has in their magic. Zero Potential means the pony's magic is a perfect balance between Light and Darkness. Most ponies have zero potential. Unicorns can withstand up to about 5 percent of either potential without getting possessed. If they train, they could reach 7. If they exceed their maximum, they get possessed. When one gets possessed by either Light or Darkness, no matter which, they become driven by their deepest desires. Meanwhile the world gets slightly out of balance. It gets serious if the possessed pony's potential is somewhere around 35. "

" Didn't you say one gets corrupted at about 7 percent? Then how is it possible for a possessed pony to be so powerful? " Hase wondered.

" The more the possessed pony uses their magic, and the possessed ones can't use magic with 0 or the opposite potential, the bigger their potential becomes. There are only three ways they could be stopped: if somepony takes on their potential, which isn't really a sollution, unless there is a really big group of unicorns, who could share it; if somepony kills them, or if a pony with a higher potential of the same variety absorbs their power. "

" How... " Hase began, but saw, that his sister wasn't very fond of him constantly interrupting. Realising, that she'd explain everything, that she needed to explain, the stallion shut his mouth.

" It doesn't affect their own potential, but the corrupted pony is reverted back to normal.

However, let's get back to the story. My world was nearly destroyed by a unicorn with 40% dark potential. It only survived because this unicorn was bitten by a snake. A new kingdom was founded in the ashes of the old one. One mare became an oracle. Her predictions were always right, so the King took her forhis advisor. The mare's last prophecy, however, was left unfinished. It spoke of an Envoy of Darkness. Nopony knew what it was back then, and the oracle died before she could explain it. All the ponies knew was that the Envoy of Darkness was a pony with 100% dark potential. Merely surviving the 40% and knowing, that one day one pony would have 100%, scared ponies, which is understandable. This book you read was found by our father in a very old section of the Canterlot Library. I doubt even the Princesses remember it. However, what is importrant, is that the ponies in my world had no knowledge of the Envoys, and of Light and Darkness in general. They assumed, that Light is good, while Darkness is evil. They couldn't know, that the entities themselves aren't evil, that they simply bring out the worst in possessed ponies. So, a pact was made. A pact, that all nobles and royals would keep. The plan for a creation of the Envoy of Light, who would stop the threat.

Over decades, centuries and millenia the noble lines increased their light potential. A pony with 7 percentwas only allowed to marry another with 7 percent, and their foals began with 7 percent, instead of 0. Those foals grew up to become individuals with 8 percent, and their foals were also 8 percent, who after their training increased their potential to 9 percent and so on and so forth. Over the course of almost 5 millenia the light potential of the nobles increased, until finally it resulted in my biological parents - King Splendor and Queen Lumina, both with 99 percent light potential. The whole country awaited my birth - the birth of the Envoy of Light. Before you ask me about it, an Envoy of Light is always worthy. The fact, that I was going to be an Envoy erased any other opportunitites before I was even born. I guess it was the same with you.

However, my homeworld was soon going to come to an end. Even though those, possessed by light, were eliminated, the increase in light magic usage had destabilized the world. It was mere days away from collapsing. In the day of my birth, that was about a week after yours, dad showed up and explained the situation to my biological parents. He told them everything I told you about the Envoys, and said he needed me to ballance you out back in Equestria. Also, history proved, that Envoys, who had grown up together, were most effective. Vortex could sense the disbalance of my homeworld, while the ponies, living in it, were used to it and could not. My parents agreed and dad took me to Equestria. Before I left, however my mother touched me with an artifact. She didn't know Vortex could protect me in a cocoon.

Years passed. We were still foals. A few months after I got my cutie mark, dad revealed himself to me. He offered to teach me how to use my Light magic. He also promised to teach me how to use my chaotic powers, since they had shown up at about the same time. We trained. We became really close. I felt sorry for you not being able to see your own father, while I met him every day, but Vortex said, that it was for your own good. He had blocked your true appearance, your chaotic powers and your powers of an Envoy, although he couldn't block the powers himself. I did that. He said I was free to develop my powers, since even if the Princesses found out about my existense, they would do nothing, while if all the truth about you was revealed, they would consider you their greatest enemy. He said, that we were blocking your powers in order to protect you.

At the same time you developed the eternal life formula, I was beginning to learn on my own. Vortex had taught me all he knew about magic and chaotic magic. I could wield the light magic, including Light itself, and was as skilled as any chaotic graduate back in his days, or at least so he claimed. The next two years were the worst of my life. I saw your fall, and yet I couldn't do anything. Vortex said, that if we interferred, we'd only make things worse. So even though I could save you, I didn't. I hated myself for it. In the end, about 2 weeks before you escaped, I had a fierce argument with your father. I left to search for you. Apparently he erased your memories back than. I couldn't find you.

1000 years passed. I perfected my Envoy magic and my chaotic skills. My life wasn't something special, I simply laid low. Untill I heard you were back. I headed to Ponyville as quickly as possible. I got there just in time. Your dark powers were just about to be revealed. I was tempted to remove your father's spells, to tell you everything, but as I saw what happy life you had, I couldn't. I simply hid while supressing your powers. That was until Vortex showed up and you vanished. I used the same method he used to find me back as a foal to track you. This was the time to tell you everything. Vortex had already revealed a part of it, and you didn't react that bad, so I decided this was the best time I had to get rid of my burden. Now it's finally gone. " Elysia finished.

Hase gazed through the entrance of the cave, observing the night outside. His friends were probably worried about him. He could fly away and follow them, and yet he couldn't just leave his sister behind. She wasn't responsible for what he had just heard. She was only trying to protect him. The real manipulator was still in his group. Now that Hase knew everything, he didn't know how to feel about it.

" Are you OK? " Elly asked. She jumped back, startled by the sudden thud. When she looked around, she noticed a mace and some kind of rope levitating next to her brother. He also had a cloak on his back. A long black cloak.

" No. How can I be alright? " Hase turned around. He was wearing some kind of armour the tall mare hadn't noticed before because of the cloak. The inventor couldn't know it, but this was the Armour of Doom. It was crafted out of black metal and was decorated with ornaments, most of which dragons. Two dragon heads stood on the shoulderplates, with their mouths half opened. Even though as the black pegasus walked around, it became clear, that it had separate elements, the main chest piece and the rest of the elements looked like one. The hoof pieces were decorated with black dragon tails, falling down. A blow of the wind blew the mantle aside, allowing Elly to see the back part of the Armour of Doom. Black metal spikes followed the line of the spine, just like on a real dragon. Even the wings were protected. Before Hase put the mantle back in place without using any magic or touching it in any way, which made the tall mare very upset, one last thing she could conclude was, that the sinister looking armour, apparently inspired by dragons, covered Hase's whole body. It only let out his tail, his head, along with a part of his neck, and the feathers of his wings.

Along with the Mace of Rage, the Mantle of Deceit and the Whip of Despair, this armour gave Hase a very sinister appearance.  Elysia unwillingly made a few steps back as he approached her. That surprised the stallion, who looked around, befuddled. He hadn't even felt the armour appear. Hase frowned. Another of those mysterious things, that constantly popped up around him. All of the rest had also appeared. At the very thought of it, the four weapons dissappeared, leaving Hase as he was before. Now he was at least able to summon them whenever he needed them, and not carry them all the time.

His feelings had not cooled down yet though. He looked at his sister and repeated his words.

" How can I be alright? I've just learnt, that my whole life up to the moment I met my new friends was a fabrication. A lie! Don't I have any say in the decision about my life? All this time I was controlled. I don't blame you, Elly, " Hase said, as he saw, that his sister was about to cry.

" , don't cry. I simply don't know what to think. He has been watching me all this time... didn't he have the heart to come to me, when he could put on any disguise? I spent all my foalhood years dreaming of my real father returning, and all that time you knew that? Couldn't you just say it to me? No, because he didn't allow you to. He wanted to have total control over my life.

A minute ago I would have blamed you. I thought I had no control over my own life. That I am doomed to always follow his plans. However, now, in this very moment, I do have a choice. I have a choice wheter to return to him and continue to listen to lies, or to stay with you until I'm sure he's telling me the truth. No more secrets. No more lies. "

Hase knew what he was going to do. He was going to stay with his sister and catch up with her for all of those years he lost in the cryo chamber. All those years that he lost because of his father being too afraid to reveal himself. He wasn't going to let anypony down because of his emotions. He was the Envoy of Darkness? Well, he'd have to learn to cope with it. His life had been controlled? In the past yes, but was he being controlled now? No. He took decisions of his own and he was fully responsible for them. Last evening he had no purpose, no clear target. Now he had one. To unveil the truth, no matter how many layers of lies he'd have to take off it.

Hase glared down the valley. His friends were probably worried. Well, he'd have to lead them to believe he's gone. At least for a few days. An idea had appeared in his mind. An idea, that would help him get more of the truth his father tenaciously kept from him.