The spark of Redemption part 2: Journey into the soul world

"I can't believe i'm saying this but, Celestia it is good to see you again." Celestia and Lilly followed the huge scarred bat pony through the colorful forest.

"I guess 500 years in the soul world has just softened you heart, General Strongarm." Celestia remembered exactly who he was, General Strongarm was the second in command of the bat pony resistance force in the bat pony civil war, which ended in negotiations centuries ago.

"Not General, not anymore. Here we are just outcasts, looking for any possible escape from this hell." His voice was dark and threatening, but he had no intention of harming Lilly, nor Celestia.

"You said 'we'? As in there are others?" Lilly barely had the courage to speak out towards such a evil looking pony. Of course Brave Heart was a bat pony, and Lilly loved him very much, but Strongarm was an ENTIRE different pony.

"1,876 to be exact. All of us are Bat ponies, all stallion. We are here." The three of them stopped dead in their tracks in the forest. In front of them was a field, on the field was a town, about the size of Ponyille but a bit bigger. In that town was where they all lived, for almost 500 years. These bat ponies lived amongst each other, seeking for hope. "Come, let us go in." They all walked in, watched by curious eyes, which made Celestia and Lilly a little nervous.

"So, you built all this?" Lilly asked, looking around as they entered the village.

"When your here for 500 years, its not so bad. We are cursed in this world, never to die, only to suffer." They stopped in the town center, which was just a circle surrounded by small wood houses. Bat ponies, mostly stallions got up to take a glimpse at the new comers. Some of them gritted their teeth in anger at Celestia. Some of them looked at Lilly in a seductive way, for some of them had not seen a mare in centuries. Other looked at them with hope, for they thought Celestia and the mysterious red haired mare would be their ticket out of this place.

"Let us sit down by the fire Celestia, we have much to discuss." Strongarm pointed to a bond fire at the dead center of the town, some bat ponies were sitting by it, others were digging in the dirt with their hooves, some even were eating the dirt! Which made Celestia and Lilly gag. "Get used to it, they are new comers. They are not used to the feeling of starvation." Strongarm sat on one of the stumps, Celestia and Lilly sat together next to him.

"You said newcomers, how new?" Celestia knew these 'newcomers' could be from the Crystal Empire.

"Um, about a couple months ago. A large number of ponies were found. Some of them left in their own group, while others stayed. The ones that stayed were mostly bat ponies. The ones that left, left in a group that was lead by some tall grey unicorn."

"Oh! You're talking about King Sombra! Aren't you!" Lilly recognized the description, it fit Sombra perfectly.

"Which way did they go?" Celestia asked Strongarm.

"East, I think." Strongarm replied.

"Um, when you said feeling of starvation, what did you mean?" Lilly's question made them all frown, even Celestia. they both didn't know what he meant.

"You don't know, do you? Not even you Celestia?" Strongarm looked at both of them, they both shook their heads. "Very well, it will hit you hard. This world is a curse, not a death sentence. It is impossible to die in this world. Most feeling is gone." Strongarm got up, he walked towards Lilly, which made her nervous. "Food turns to ash in our mouths, as does water. We feel nothing, not the wind on our faces, nor the splash of water." Strongarm got closer to Lilly, which made her even more nervous. "Nor the warmth of a beautiful mares flesh." He got closer and stuck his left front arm off, reaching for Lilly's chest. He touched her chest in one spot, he closed his eyes to imagine what it felt like. The warmth of her chest was so desirable, but he felt nothing, just cold. "You are a beautiful mare, are you sure you don't want to stay? Having a mare around could help us. Us, ponies who only can feel pain, but we can fell something else, would you like to know?" He got closer to her, his hoof still touching Lilly's chest, she gulped.

"U-um, n-no thanks." These were the only words she could come up with. Lilly then looked around and saw that a dozen of bat ponies now had all their attention on her. They were all looking at her in a way which made Lilly feel, uncomfortable.

"Are you sure? We are really friendly, especially on the inside." He got even closer to her, Lilly backed away a little. Strongarm still had his hoof on her chest. Strongarm tilted his head down and nibbled on Lilly's ear a little, which made Celestia frown, Lilly then pushed him away a little.

"U-um, a very flattering offer, but i-i'm married." Lilly then pushed his hoof off of her and she walked towards Celestia and sat right next to her, which was where she felt the safest. Still, she caught wandering eyes everywhere, every direction she looked. She would look one way and see five or six bat ponies looking directly at her, and another six another direction. At home Lilly would always catch a couple wandering eyes, usually whenever she was in public. She was the popular mare in school, mostly because she was the mare most stallions had a crush on, but she never cared for them. Not until she had meet Brave Heart.

Strongarm backed away and sat down back where he was earlier. "You have some courage Lilly, you're more than just a pretty mare."

"Once again, very flattering, but i'm marr..........." She was cut off by Strongarm.

"Yes, you are married. To the Captain of the Night guard, captain Brave Heart." Strongarm said, meanwhile Celestia was in some deep thought this entire time, not paying much attention to what was going on.

"You've seen him? He's here?! Please you must tell me!" Lilly jumped out of her seat.

"Calm down young mare, calm down. He was in the group that left." Strongarm said.

Celestia finally spoke."General, if we are going to find and save everypony here, we will need your help." Strongarm got back up, this time walking towards the fire. He thought for a second, silence filled the air before he spoke, looking at the fire with hate, and anger.

"I don't like you. You were greedy, and blind. Blind to see the pure beauty in other creatures. You took our souls in a hell we could not escape from. I had a family in the real world that is now dead, mortal unlike our stolen souls." Celestia and Lilly got nervous, they could both see his anger, and his broken heart. A few more second of silence came before Strongarm spoke again.

"But I hate this place more, what do you need."

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"How are you feeling?"

"A-a little better. I think I can walk now." Twilight was rubbing her head, it still hurt pretty bad, just not as mush now.

"Hey guys, whats up with our food?" Nightcore was holding a protein nut bar, he had take a bite out of it already.

"Whats wrong with it?" Flash turned his attention to Nightcore, who was standing right behind him.

"It, taste like ash. Literally, here look." Nightcore lifted the nut bar up and took another bite. He gagged in response and spit out nothing but ash. Food literally turned to ash in his mouth.

Flash then got up and opened the supply bag and pulled out an apple from Sweet Apple Acres. Again, he gagged and spat out nothing but ash. "Try the water Night." Nightcore then pulled out a water bottle and took a sip. Again, gagging and spat out ash.

"Oh my sweet Celestia." Flash turned towards Twilight who was sitting on a rock. "We can't eat or drink in this world." Both of the stallions looked at the mare princess. They both knew that Twilight was no fool, she knew her stuff. Flash knew that especially.

"Wont we starve? Celestia said we can't die in this world."

"We can only suffer." All three of them suddenly jumped as a fourth voice joined in the conversation. They all tuned around to see the captain of the Night Guard Brave Heart himself, who just came from literally nowhere and stunned them all!

"Holy shit!! You came out of nowhere!" Nightcore knew Brave personally, so meeting him again was kinda personal.

"I'm glad to see the three of you came to rescue us." Brave walked closer, Twilight then got on her hooves, still holding her head.

"How did you know we have come too save you?" Twilight asked.

"Its easy your highness. Those who were forced to come here didn't have a chance to pack useless food that simple turns into ash when we eat it."

"Yeah? What is up with that?" Flash pulled out some food. He took a bite, once again turning to ash in his mouth.

"Its a curse. We can only suffer in this world, we cannot die. We can starve to death, but cannot die. We can collapse of exhaustion, but cannot stay collapsed. Some ponies here have been in this hell for centuries, they are used to it. But we, including the other newcomers, are still unaccuainted with the terrible feeling. Its not so bad for me right now, but at first it was a huge shock, and very painful."

"That is why we plan to leave with all the others before that happens." Twilight said.

"Man Brave, it is so good to see you. OH! Lilly will be jumping out of her skin when she finds you!" Flash said.

"Lilly is here!? How far is she? Where is she?" Brave Heart's head lifted a little, after his wife was mentioned.

"Calm down Captain." Twilight walked towards him, he settled down a little. "She and Celestia are not with us, but in this world. You must help us save these stollen souls."

"Of course your highness. Come, the others will be happy to see you. Oh! And I probably should mention, seeing the leader of our group, might be a shock."

"Why?" Flash didn't understand, as didn't Twilight nor Nightcore.

"Because our leader is King Sombra himself, come this way. Just follow me." Their ears perked up, but they followed, leaving most of their supplies.

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"What? Thats it?" Shining asked wanting more.

"What do you mean thats it. I told you the hole story, and you are still not impressed?!" Luna said while she was trying her best to entertain Moonlight with her baby toys. They were only three toys Moonlight would play with. A grey unicorn stuffed animal, a green bear stuffed animal, and a tooth brush. Yeah, you're not high, you read that correctly.

Once when Luna was in the bathroom brushing her mane she left the door cracked. Luna thought Moonlight was still asleep but actually she was crawling on the floor, attracted to the voice of her mother. Moonlight then opened one of the cabinet doors in the bathroom and pulled out a toothbrush that had not been used before, she played with that thing for hours. Which was the only reason Luna allowed her to keep it.

"I don't know about you Shining, but i'm satisfied." Princess Cadance got up and kissed Shining on his forehead.

"Uh, I guess I am being a little nosey, this is personal stuff."

"Yes Shining, I would say you are being pretty nosey."

"Excuse me your highness'. Please pardon me of this interruption, but we must speak with one of you, we have a dire emergency." A royal guard knocked and opened the door slightly, peeking his head inside. They all got concerned.

"Yes I will be out shortly." Cadance said.

"No, we need you now. With all do respect, we cannot delay. This is a dire emergency." The royal guard pleaded for one of them to come with him now.

"Are we being threatened?" Luna asked laying Moonlight on her bed, Moonlight still couldn't walk nor use her wings very well at all.

"No, we are being attacked. I must speak with princess Celestia." All three of them got serious looks on their muzzles. They also remembered that most guards still didn't know about Celestia and her journey into the soul world. Only one or two high ranking officers who were instructed not to tell anypony, on their honor.

"Cadance, please. I know what you're going to say, but I most do this. This seems pretty bad, a matter worthy of the attention of an immortal alicorn." Cadance frowned a little, she didn't like the idea of Luna working, after all Luna had to raise a baby filly. She thought about it for a second, and realized how important this matter really was, she didn't appose Luna, and nodded her head, yes.

"Very well then. I will watch Moonlight. Just be careful."

"I'm going with Luna, this seems........." Shining was interrupted by Luna.

"So sorry Shining Armor, but you will also stay and watch Moonlight. Help out your overwhelmed wife." This made Shining smirk a little, he then turned to Cadance, who as also looking at him.

"Oh Luna, what a great idea!" Cadance said being sarcastic, she winked a few times at Shining Armor.

"Uh, why did I have to marry a princess." Shining dropped his head to the ground.

"Because you love me and you know it." Cadance said.

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"So, what is so darn important that you most bug us like this. You do realize I am trying to raise a child, and not to......." Luna was cut off by the guard.

"High Tower has returned." This was all the guard said as they both walked down the royal Canterlot castle hallways together, passing rooms and stained glass windows on their right and left.

"High Tower. The bat pony prejudice gang? I thought it was destroyed. Of course this was before I returned to Equestria as Nightmare Moon." They both stopped and faced each other in the middle of the hallway.

"Yes, it seems it has returned, and we now have confirmation on the name of the gang leader, Lenon Sky." The guard handed Luna classified files in an envelope, they were trying to keep their voices down. "According to the database, Lenon Sky lived in a village just north of modern day Ponyville. The town was under heavy military operations due to High Tower gang attacks in the area. At that time, the gang was flourishing, and almost was large enough to............." He was then cut off by Luna.

"To declare war. It would have been a civil war. One that could have been deadly beyond deadly."

"Correct your highness. The records also say that it was Captain Royal Shield's division who set the armed campaign of the town. In the fight, Lenon's entire family was killed, his wife, daughter and son. He blamed the deaths on Celestia."

"Royal Shield has gone missing." Luna said.

"Captain Royal Shield is dead, along with his entire squad that was patrolling the area not that long ago. We found their bodies dismantled and nailed to the ground." The guard handed Luna another envelope, this one had photos of the crime scene in the forest. "Some expletive language was written on their corpses', the messages were written in their own blood." Luna looked at the photos for a moment before speaking.

"Princess Celestia will no be available to help us. I do not know when she shall return. Princess Twilight and Prince Sentry will also not be able to help. It will be up to me, anything else to declare?" Luna looked at the solider directly in the eyes.

"Yes, a symbol was painted in what appeared to be red paint on a sign at the crime scene." This got Luna's attention.

"What symbol?"

"Red bat wings."