From Hell to Heaven

Something deep within me, that I can only describe as my essence, halted me as I began to speak the name of whom I wished to part with. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to steady my soul, and looked at each one of the Goddesses, and God, in turn as I spoke to them. "Thank you..." My voice was barely a whisper, and I fought back tears as I took another inhale and steadied myself. "I thank whatever there is that gave us the link and gave you the power to save my soul like this. All of you have paths that pull at different parts of my heart, brain, and essence. I would love to cause pure chaos or malice, or both, to a pure new world to me and pit entire races of beings against each other in a disarray that I lived in while blocking out the world and living in my own mind. That vengeance upon my memories seems so sweet that I can almost taste it. It lights a fire deep within me that brings my blood to a boil and a smile want to erupt on my face as I envision that kind of power."

As I spoke, both Discord and Chrysalis had looks of pure joy. Discord was almost dancing in place, his body quivering with excitement. Chrysalis contained herself, but her eyes lit up and her horned began to glow. Her fangs bared in her vicious grin and I knew that she so dearly wished to sink her magic deep within me to corrupt my being to her will. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna kept straight, stoic faces but fear gripped at the edges of their muzzles and eyes as they listened to me. It probably looked to Luna as though she were seeing herself when she became engulfed with Nightmare Moon, and her wings twitched as she looked at me, but no other signs of distress was seen from her or Celestia.

I closed my eyes once more and looked straight up into the beam of light that cascaded down upon me, and I uttered my response. "Luna. I would dearly love to join you, to be by your side and to work together, but my old life was lived in the shadows of my own mind and those around me. I need to be in the light, and to have someone not look down on me. I need to be in the light, and to feel it's warmth." I bring my chin down and look directly in the powerful, pink eyes of Princess Celestia. "I wish to go with you. But I have a request."

"And what is that?" Celestia could contain her emotions well, but the crinkle under her eyes betrayed her stoic expression and showed her happiness. Discord and Chrysalis had both already left, both of them leaving with a simple bow of their heads. The beams of light still held their spot where they had been.

Luna nodded her head to her sister and turned to leave. "I wish to also stand by Luna's side." Luna halted, her flank still in the light but the upper half of her body still in the shadows. She was the next to speak, her voice controlled.

"You cannot live in both worlds."

"Why can't I?"

Princess Celestia's voice was soft, and slightly sad. "Because we allowed a soul to do that once, long ago. The strain will shorten your life on our world by a great amount. You will pass on from our world too quickly than should be, and you will not make the mark that you are destined for. We won't put another soul through that."

"What if I was an alicorn, like you 2?"

Luna's eyes flared with the white blaze of power from the Nightmare Moon side of her as she powerfully spoke to me. "Weren't you listening? It isn't allowed, for a good reason and you would do well to heed it!"

"All I did was listen to others, now I have complete control of my own beginning. I want to be in the eye of the public, but also by your side Princess Luna. I want..."

"NO!" Princess Luna's voice blasted our and resonated through my entirety. When she next spoke, her voice was softer, but still spoke as though the matter was finished. "No, I will not allow it. You have made your choice. We will see each other again, but for now, you are Celestia's." She then trotted into the darkness, and was gone.

"I'm going to do it. If I can't start off that way, then I'll work towards it." I looked at Princess Celestia with a determined look on my face. "Is that possible?"

"Anything is, but you will need to work very hard, if you are born as an Alicorn. That is up to chance. Only if you are, which is extremely rare for male's in itself, and if you survive long enough, then I don't see why it wouldn't be possible. Luna may not like knowing you are doing that though."

"Then she won't know." I clenched my fist and stood up. "I'm going to make this life worth it this time." I smiled at the gleaming white princess and said with full confidence for the first time in a long time,"Let's go, I want to get started."

The princess nodded, took a step forward, and just as she was to touch my forehead with her horn, she spoke one last time in that abyssal darkness and singular beam of light. "This may not be comfortable. If you believe in prayer, or in something, you may want to do it and focus on becoming an Alicorn as much as possible. I don't know if that will help, as this is all based on chance, but it might do something. Good luck."

"Wha..." Before I could pull away, her horn touched my skin and the word 'uncomfortable' was putting it lightly. I clenched my teeth as I felt her magic course through my body. It slowly swept through my system, a burning, stabbing sensation that crept to the tips of my fingers and toes. All of my muscles were flexed, straining at their limit and caused me to fall forward. I caught myself with my forearms, kneeling on all 4's as I let out a piercing scream as my bones cracked and muscles pulled apart. The transformation seemed to take ages as my form changed into that of a pony. My fingers curled in to my fist and grew larger as my fingers melted into my palm, the hair on my arms growing thicker and much more prominent as my fist turned into a hoof. My shoulders popped out of their sockets and lowered as my chest grew and my arms extended into front legs. My feet rounded out and shortened themselves as well, crunching into hooves. My hair grew long in a pitch black mane, sticking up in the usual mohawk fashion of equines. My spine seared with another intense bolt of pain and a tail erupted from just above my butt, jet black like my man but with streaks of blue. I could feel every inch of my neck growing, extending my esophagus and skin to curve up into a horse head. My ears slid up my head, which is a very uncomfortable and weird experience I must say. Finally I came to be lying at Princess Celestia's hooves, body transformed into just a simple earth pony. I looked at my body with disdain. "Damnit... I won't accept this."

"Time, it's not done yet." Celestia smiled as my eyes rolled back into my head and an ice cold rushed through my veins, combating the burning and giving way to a new feeling of comfort. Just as I felt as though I could live in that bliss for eternity, a tickle on each side of my head behind each ear brought me slowly back into reality. It then became a rough sensation as though a cat was licking the same spot over and over again. It lasted for a few seconds, and then ceased. I stayed on the ground and lifted my hooves to my head, and could feel 2 curved horns protruding from my scalp. I furrowed my brow, and went to ask the princess what was going on, but then a sensation of my skin being pulled on my sides made me feel as though I would cough up blood. This was short, and in an instant a pair of wings erupted from my sides, both wings like a Pegasus, but one was the purest white, while the other was the darkest black. The Goddess let out a quick gasp at what I looked like.

My mane and tail matched, both pitch black with deep ocean blue hues. My body color was a soft gray, just a little off white like snow that had fallen and been on the ground for a few days. My hooves themselves had come to look like I had dipped them in liquid marshmallow. My eyes were still the soft brown as they were when I was human, and though I could not see my horns at the time, they had become a deep blue as well, similar to the color in my mane and tail. I set my hooves down, and went to stand up. It was a little difficult, as any biped would probably have the same issues switching to a quadruped. I shook as I stood, but shook my head as the princess moved forward to help. "I'll get it. I just need to get used to it." I smiled at her as I stood fully erect, my knees no longer wobbling and my head held high. "Well, I may not be an Alicorn, but I've got 2 horns. Maybe that'll mean more than just being weird." I chuckled softly at my own joke, and sighed. "So what now?"

"Now, it's time for you to join our world. Good luck, and I will see you soon."

"Do I have a new name in your world?"

"You will find it once you find your cutie mark."

"Oh... Ok." I looked back to my flank, and noticed that like the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I too didn't have a mark. I also realized that I was quite a bit older than they were, and I voiced my worries. "Princess... If I am to be my same age without a cutie mark... Won't it be odd?"

"You will figure that out when you arrive. It is time to begin. Good luck, and I will see you soon."

"But..." I could say no more as Celestia was already gone. I was once again alone. "Oh... I wonder how long this'll take." The instant the last word left my mouth, it felt like a sledge hammer was smashed into my forehead.