Eyes to the heart

'Pillow, so soft.' Arden thought as he made his head rest sideways. '...pillow...pillow?' His eyes suddenly shot open once he remembered that he slept the last two days with his head on the ground. And since he didn't see anything that resembled a pillow, it all pointed out to him be resting on Zecora's lap. The light took over his eyes as he felt his head hurt like something trying to break through his skull.

"Awake you are!" He heard from above him, Zecora's voice was soft as ever, still, it made his ears ring as he reached for his own forehead.

"Hey! Argh!" Arden said crushing his head with both his hands. "My head feels like it is about to explode."

"What has transpired in your trance?" Zecora asked trying to conceal a yawn.

"I..." Arden said sitting up, his body still stiff and sore from the training in the previous day. "...I was kicked out by my pony body. I think I found the core...but I don't know what it means. I do know that it hurt when it kicked me out. Hell, it still hurts," Arden said placing his hand over his chest. "I guess that means, I'm gonna need to retry the last bit."

"This one is glad that the blue one wasn't hurt," Zecora said smiling, Arden saw her tired eyes. 'She stayed up all night just to monitor my condition? I'm glad I met Zecora. She is the kind of doctor I want to be, no, she is the kind of person I wanna be. Actually, the pony I want to be.' He thought while he ignored the pain getting up.

"Okay," Arden said walking towards her. "You should get some rest. I'll read some books, so sleep for a bit alright?" He said placing his hand on her shoulder and gesturing her to lay on the bed. Since Zecora seemed to be slowly drifting into a slumber she didn't offer much resistance. Then he whispered: "Sweet dreams, Zecora."

With that done, Arden went to the small table room. Reaching out for the bookshelf, he pulled out the book about crafting potions. "Super-naturals. Talk about a misleading title." He muttered, Arden had seen the book at the library. The title was off compared to the little symbol of a plant on the cover. So Arden checked the first page and found out it was about potion crafting and other natural remedies. Sitting down he started to read. Since Arden still didn't know how to cook correctly, it was best not to mess around with fire. 'Zecora needs her sleep. But I better start to get my shit together. I can't keep relying on her or others for everything. I need to figure out more things I can do besides this eye thing.'

"Waiting is sooo boring!" Rainbow Dash said to Fluttershy. She and many other pegasuses had been called to return to Cloudsdale by Princess Celestia to deliver a message. The problem right now was that it was taking too long for the message to come by, which bothered her. "Why is this taking so long?"

"Um...Rainbow..." She heard her old fly camp friend speak. Rainbow helped Fluttershy out many times in the past with bullies and other problems. Another thing Rainbow tried to do was help Fluttershy to be more assertive. "...maybe Princess Celestia is trying to find the right way to convey her message. It is supposed to be something that will go to friendly nations as well."

"I know but...it's been two days already and no sign of this message," Rainbow said, laying around in a cloud while Fluttershy sat on another. There were other pegasuses sitting nearby chatting but most of them had their own groups. So Rainbow stayed with her friend. "It would be awesome if the Princess herself came by to tell us what we are supposed to do. But, I bet that it will be just another one of those stone-faced royal guards."

Just as she said that trumpets started to sound., Rainbow initially dismissed the instruments before remembering that only one pony ever was announced by those. And as far as she knew, that pony was the Sun Princess. "No way..." She said getting up as fast as she could. "...this is so awesome!" She squealed. The princess was the strongest fighter ever, and she also had the Wonder Bolts at her disposal to perform missions or make special performances. Meaning she was their boss, and since Rainbow was a die-hard fan of the Wonder Bolts, she admired the princess.

"Hello, my dear subjects!" The sun princess said landing on a cloud, with the sun behind her. That way, she looked more like a goddess than when suddenly appeared on Ponyville. Especially with a dress that looked like it was made of gold, silver, and a white delicate cloth. "I am grateful for your assistance in this matter. I came here to explain what you'll be delivering." The princess stopped her speech to take a deep breath. Rainbow noticed that the princess was acting off. Rainbow had seen her a few other times as a child, and during some competitions for the flyer of the year. In all of those occasions seemed to be so confident and calm. Yet the last few times Rainbow saw her, the princess was acting weird, not to mention it all seemed related to Arden.

"A few days ago a unicorn appeared in Canterlot out of nowhere and breached all of our defenses. He made his way to the throne room and knocked me unconscious in the process." All the pegasuses, including Rainbow herself, had their jaws hanging. "However, this was clarified have been an accident. This unicorn was sent to our kingdom by forces unknown to him. He was sent from another world against his will." Rainbow's brain was on meltdown and based on what she heard so far, the Princess was not done.

"This unicorn later revealed to possess a talent on par with only one other pony. The princess of love herself." Rainbow's brain went blank for two seconds. After the shock, she heard: "His talent causes his eyes to change. The change is very similar to a possessed pony." Rainbow only knew one stallion that could fit that description, Arden. "As you know, two years ago we sent a message to all of our cities warning about the danger of the possessed ones. The message you'll be delivering explains the unicorn's appearance and talent in detail."

"This stallion's talent allows him to see into the hearts of other beings when active. Meaning, he can see what other beings truly think and feel." This bit caused a stir since Rainbow started to hear a lot of whispering. "But please bear in mind that he means no harm to any of us. He actually agreed to abdicate a chance to return to his world to help me with a personal favor." Rainbow turned to look at Fluttershy only to see her covering her mouth and with her pupils shrunk.

"Not only that but when he arrived at our world, he had a humongous amount of data. So far this data seems to be the key to advancing our technology. As well as our knowledge in the medical field." Rainbow was having a hard time processing everything the Princess just tossed at them. "To finish this meeting, I'll be giving the stallion's name and the names of the ones responsible for organizing this mission. The unicorn's name is Arden Sila. Because he is from another world, his strength is greater than your average unicorn. The last measurement was at 1200 points." Rainbow finally started to connect the dots.

"The ones responsible for organizing all of you are the greatest flyers in Equestria," Rainbow was fangirling really hard. when she heard that. "The Wonder Bolts! Second in command Spitfire will take over from here," The sun Princess said giving the Wonder Bolt prodigy space to come forth. Her orange and yellow mane as well her yellow coat were exactly like the posters. Her flight gear was top of the line, and in Rainbow's eyes, that uniform was the symbol of her dreams becoming true. The blue colors represented the sky, and the lighting strikes represented their speed. The carefully crafted details of the suit represented their skill, and expertise in flight.

Rainbow was shaking Fluttershy sideways like crazy as the candidate for next leader of the Wonder Bolts was going to supervise the entire mission! There were no words to describe how excited she was. "Listen up! Every single one of you will receive a bag containing a set number of letters. The amount of letters is specified for the number of citizens in the town you'll be in charge of. Greater cities, like Mane Hathan, will have teams assigned to them. The delivery begins tomorrow at dawn. All of you need to have your bags before nightfall. If you are unfamiliarized with your area you may trade your bag with another area you are more familiar with. The better you know the area the faster you can make your deliveries, so be mindful of that. The bags have no names assigned to them, so just exchange it with somepony who can handle it. That is all."

After the explanation, Spitfire left leaving behind her a trail that matched her name. Her speed created the illusion of a trail of fire when she flew in high speed. Rainbow went with Fluttershy to collect heir bags. Rainbow ended up with Ponyville while Fluttershy ended up with Canterlot. Seeing as how Fluttershy had some issues with locations unknown to her Rainbow volunteered to exchange bags. Later that day, the two of them were back at the barracks they got assigned to pass the night.

"So...um..." Her yellow friend started. "What did you think about what Princess Celestia said?"

"I guess it makes sense, no normal unicorn could react that fast or be that resistant. So I guess we can at least cut the guy some slack. Especially if he actually brought stuff that can help everypony in Equestria." She said laying down on the bed. "Besides, I guess screwed up real bad. I mean, the stallion gave up on going back home to help our ruler. I guess he can't be that bad." She said rolling to the side and facing Fluttershy. "Gotta wonder where he went to."

"S-some of my friends told me before we left that they saw him heading to the Everfree," Fluttershy said fidgeting. Rainbow always found her talent to be nothing less than amazing. "B-based on what they said, he was heading towards the Bad Lands. But they couldn't follow him too far into the forest. Too many beasts from the Everfree."

"The Bad Lands? Isn't that the region Changelings inhabit?" Rainbow asked. The answer was a nod from the pegasus. "That guy has to be crazy to head there. Especially through the Everfree. Isn't there supposed to be some castle ruins there? That also rumored to be the house of one of those old legends? The pony of shadows one?"

"Y-yeah. T-t-that story always s-scared me," The yellow one said before shivering at the story's name. "B-but given his situation...I-I guess that he didn't have much of a choice. He needed a healer."

"But that raises another question: who is this healer that he met?" Rainbow said turning to face the ceiling. "If he came from another world, who could he possibly know that had the training he mentioned to heal him?"

"I-I don't know."

"In any case, we should rest up for tomorrow," Rainbow said before closing her eyes. As she drifted away she remembered another thing that bothered her: 'What is up between Celestia and that stallion? Whenever he comes up she seems different. Could she? Nah I don't think so.'

"Hello again," Arden said to the black mare that this time was tied up with chains, and even tighter than the previous day. Even her eyes were covered. "Just give me a second." He said reaching for the mare and breaking the chains, removing the gag, and blindfold. "There you go Mrs. Night. Now I gotta ask: What in heaven's name are you doing here? Do you enjoy being tied up? " Arden got closer to analyze her face. "Are you wearing eyeshadow? And lipstick?" He asked, seeing her eyes with a fading blue over the eyelids, and her bright blue lips.

"I do NOT enjoy being tied up! Nor did I intend to get here again!" She huffed. "As for the make-up, I don't have to explain anything to a shapeless creature." She had a really faint blush on her cheeks. "Why the decor change?"

"What?" Arden said looking around and noticing six spots on the ground. These spots connected making a hexagon that formed an arena of sorts. "These certainly weren't here last time I checked. Now," Arden said looking around searching for his reason for being there. "Where is that little shit? There he is." The foggy one said looking at his pony self that stayed out of the hexagon. The unicorn looked back at him before turning away. As it did, the entire area was closed off by walls and a ceiling. "What the fuck? Why did it do that?"

"Who did this?" Nightmare asked seeing the walls.

"Wait, you didn't see him?"

"Who?"

"I guess the potion just makes it visible to me?" Arden said walking towards one of the walls. It was solid. He then inspected every area he could. There were no hidden doors nor switches in them.'This is my mind maybe I can just imagine the door?' He tried to imagine a door again and again but to no avail. "GOD DAMN IT! THIS IS STUPID! HOW IN BLOODY HELL DID I GET STUCK IN MY OWN HEAD?!" He screamed, then he heard a giggling. "Get the fuck out. I am not in the mood for bullshit. So if you don't have anything good to add here, don't let the door hit your big sorry ass!"

"Who do you think you are?!" She said holding her hand to her chest. "I am the ruler of the night! I have better things to do than being insulted by a creature made out of fog!"

"Then be my guest! The door is right over there!" He said pointing to the white door. "Now if you excuse me, I'm on a time limit. So, bye-bye!"

He saw the mare go wide-eyed when he spoke in that tone. "V-very well, I will leave...But before that...What do you mean by time limit?" Arden tilted his head on that question. 'What is up with her?'

"I rejected my talent and because of that, I'm slowly decaying until I die. So unless I figure this shit out, I'll die. Heck, if I take my inhibitor off I start to hallucinate, so if you don't mind." Arden said, leaving her behind and sitting on the center of the room.

"You don't say." She said. Arden heard her say something else but couldn't make out what it was. He turned around to ask her what she said, but she was nowhere to be seen. 'What did that mare say? And what was up with the attitude? Anyhow,'

"Okay, this is a room my mind built and there are only two beings here right now," He muttered as he tried to come up with a plan. "That points out to either me or that version of me pulling this stunt. It wouldn't make sense, however, for him to do this since he represents my rejection. It would make more sense if he wanted to torment me with whatever my problem is. Unless I already know the answer and he's scared. But since I have zero clues as to what that is I can discard that for now. So this place is a safe haven for me. I just need a door, and I'll have a direct path to him." Arden opened his eyes and he saw that the ground beneath him changed color.

Looking around Arden saw a line heading towards one of the walls. The spot where the line connected with it, had a door. Arden didn't hear anything so he assumed that the door manifested silently. "Alright," He gulped heading towards the gate. Once he was at the edge, he walked to the sides as to see if the unicorn was in sight. His best shot right now seemed to be a sneak attack. If that failed he would need to change the approach yet again. Since he didn't know his opponent's weakness he would need to exhaust every option.

As soon as he set foot outside the unicorn suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Arden tried to hit it, but his body stopped responding and he felt his chest aching again.

"I can hurt," the figure said, his voice distorted. Arden managed to look down and, once again, saw his chest was starting to disperse.

"I can heal." Arden was dispersed once the figure finished the second phrase. But unlike the first time, his body rebuilt itself before the figure spoke again.

"I can comfort," it said. Arden was struck with even greater pain.

"I can dispirit." Arden was completely dispersed with that sentence.

This time Arden wasn't having trouble with fever or convulsions. He was proceeding without any sort of symptoms. "A rare talent indeed, both wonder and ruin he can bring," Zecora muttered, passing her fingers through his mane. The moon had reached its zenith when Zecora woke up. Arden didn't eat, he didn't make so much as a sound aside from pages flipping as he read one of her favorite books. And when he noticed she was awake he didn't even ask for food or anything of the sort. He just came by and asked if she was feeling better. Then he sat by her side and stood there keeping her company until she finally got up.

Out of nowhere, the stallion started to move. His hands clawed his chest as if he was trying to rip something off. She took them and held both his hands tightly. That seemed to calm him down, however, his eyes suddenly shot open and he sat up straight panting. "Okay, you are?"

The stallion looked around frantically. "Damn it!" He said clenching his fist. "What the fuck does it want from me?" The blue one asked looking straight at her. "What does it want?" He didn't sound tired. Neither did he look in pain. But something was off, his voice was cracking, and he didn't look like he could focus on her.

"What did it say?" She asked.

"It keeps saying 'I can' before it blasts me into oblivion," Arden said. "What should I do?"

He was acting even weirder. Now he had a creepy smile on his face that disturbed Zecora more than his eyes.

"You tried attacking?" The stallion nodded positively. "Then perhaps you should try reacting," she said trying to come up with advice.

"I...guess I need to go through all the options right?" He said falling to his side and onto the bed. "How did I get myself into this mess?" His eyes were different now, he looked lost. It didn't look like he knew she was still there. His voice changed. "I get to meet a goddess. I get to meet a beautiful healer that is the incarnation of the kind of doctor I wanted to be. I get sick even before I get a chance to do anything to help others. And now I'm seeing snakes and ghosts moving around. Would you look at that! It's the reaper! Hello Mrs. Death! Care to get the fuck out? Neither I or my little rabbit friends need your cleaning services, so please leave." Then the stallion started to laugh. Zecora was in shock from what she was hearing.

"But dude shouldn't you just ignore these mares? They are mares?" The voice sounded deep. "Look at us jackass! We are a horse!" This one was high-pitched. "No problems, now we are just butterflies!" This one was feminine. "Why do I always get the crazy ones?" This one sounded like a child. Zecora snapped out of her shock and forced him to look straight into her eyes.

"Arden! Look at me and tell me what you see!" She said holding the dead-eyed stallion's face as he continued his rambling. "Please! You need to get a hold of yourself lest you lose yourself!" she pleaded. Tears were forming in her eyes before he started blinking suddenly.

Looking closer into his eyes Zecora saw a faint green glow fading while as he seemed to return to normal. Looking around she saw a pair of shining green eyes in the dark forest outside. She placed him down and rushed outside but the eyes were gone.

"Changeling," she muttered.'Could Arden's health can be brought back if the changelings were to be tracked,'She wondered before she got back inside and found Arden sitting down with his hand on his forehead. "How do you feel?"

"Sleepy..." Arden said as he passed out.

He had once again left her alone after scaring her. After what she saw, it was clear to her that whatever it was forcing him out of his trance was also damaging his frail mind. Her only option was to track down the changeling and get them to help her one way or the other.

"Rest easy my acolyte. Your teacher shall see your treatment through." Zecora said, positioning him on the bed and covering him once again.

"Now, preparations for my hunt. And rest assured this time nothing will get in this one's way." She reassured herself as she walked around her house gathering her gear and placing it by Arden's side. She would spend another night awake to monitor him. But this time she would also prepare potions, bait, and sharpen her weapons just in case the changelings were unwilling to cooperate.

Zecora stared at her reflection on the brass of her blade.'This mare will not let her friend loose himself! This mare shall bring this stallion back to health!"

"I only did that because I need him alive." The changeling queen said to her reflection. "I need him to be even closer to the princess and I won't be able to use him unless he is alive. That's it. I. Just. Need. My. Pawn." She reassured herself staring straight into her eyes. "Just. A. Pawn." She muttered looking at herself. "Love is a lie, just an emotion for us to feed upon."

"But...she seemed so sad..." Chrysalis said looking at her reflection. "It doesn't matter. NOT to me. I am the future queen while he is a walking snack and she is a hermit. What I need is to be careful and stop pulling stunts like that. There was no need to keep staring through the window. My spell was flawless. I am flawless. I do NOT care what happens to him." She said to her reflection huffing. "Now I need to be more careful with that zebra. She did see me now. I'll have to be extra careful."