Deep within the void twelve beings stirred, Harmony had fallen and their champion was lost. One growled as it looked at its brothers and sisters. The figure though merely appearing as a silhouette seemed made of magma and as it moved it's form twisted and warped in odd ways. "I will not sit idly by as this occurs." They said angrily.

"Nor shall we Cruelty, Chrysalis has altered the balance in which we worked so hard to restore. Our Champions destiny... Twilight Sparkle was not ready and her destiny remains unfulfilled." Replied another kinder female voice, this entity's form appearing as that of a silhouette wreathed in light with fiery flames licking off her shoulders.

"Peace Kindness, it must be placed to a vote." The largest of the beings said, its form even silhouetted was like that of the night itself. "My brethren, I propose we bring her here. No being will disturb her here and we may train her personally."

"I agree." A voice that sounded like darkness itself spoke, causing all eyes to turn to a being of pure shadow, their silhouette not visible under the power that he was wreathed in. "All in favor?" He asked as all the beings raised their hands quickly in agreement obviously not wishing to earn the ire of the being.

"Then it's decided, Twilight Sparkle will be trained here by us personally." The Night like being said. "Remember to appear before her in a form she can comprehend, if she were to look upon us now she would be driven mad." He said as the other beings bowed and faded away leaving the Night like figure and the Shadow figure to leave last.

Twilight lay on the floor of her palace, the torture he had endured lasting for what felt like hours as Chrysalis mocked her and did things that she would never forget. Her body was numb, her throat raw from screaming and her voice wasn't coming out, the vocal cords probably broken by now from her screams. But she couldn't let her mind break, no matter what the Changeling Queen would do to her she would keep glaring at her, keep staring upon the Changeling Queen with disgust and out of spite. Though her body might be broken and her voice lost she would not surrender.

"Ah if only I could keep you for longer Twilight, by the time I'd be done with you I'd have you so broken you'd be screaming and moaning in pleasure with each cut as I used my power to change your pain to pleasure." As Chrysalis spoke her eyes glowed green with power, power to control, to rewrite one's mind and will but Twilight glared at her in spite. She wouldn't break.

"But sadly I have things to do and a swarm to unleash upon hapless Ponies. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did Twilight Sparkle." Chrysalis said as she raised the blade above her head and plunged it deep into the alicorn's head. Twilight's eyes-well eye, widened in shock as she felt the blade dig into her head and in a second as she was vaguely aware of Chrysalis slowly curving the blade she felt her memories and mind being obliterated as the knife ripped through her gray matter and suddenly her head felt lighter as she saw her horn pulled from her skull.

Tears fell from Twilight's eyes, the Queen won, she was broken and with that she let the dark take her. She didn't want to live anymore, not without her horn, not without her magic. Darkness swam in her vision and she embraced, the last thing she saw clearly being the grinning face of Queen Chrysalis.

As Twilight's awareness faded to black she felt as if she was sinking, the cold and darkness was all she felt as she drifted in a sea of nothing. As she floated however she slowly became aware of the feeling of something under her, as if she were laying on the ground. Slowly Twilight moved and sat up, not feeling the pain of her body anymore as she looked down at herself before looking at her arms and then feeling her now intact eye, she knew she was dead but here she was, sitting on invisible ground and surrounded by a void of nothing.

"Is t-this the afterlife." She asked herself, partly because she wanted to see if her voice worked and also because she just wanted to hear something normal after what she had just endured. She didn't bother standing or looking around instead she just looked at her intact body however her attention was caught by the sound of chuckling causing her to look up and come face to face with a strange being.

The Being was a strange entity that seemed to be made of brown swirling energy that seemed to assemble itself into the appearance of a stallion slightly shorter than Big McIntosh with what may have been an attempt at a hat on his head. "Howdy young Twilight, I am Honesty." The Being said as he reached out a hand for Twilight to take. "And to answer yer question, no this ain't the afterlife, we brought yer soul to the void." He said as from the darkness around them nine more beings slowly appeared.

Twilight hesitated before slowly taking the hand offered, finding it surprisingly solid and stood looking at the beings surrounding her. "Who and what are you?" She asked in a slightly shakily voice.

"We are the physical manifestation of what you call the Elements of Harmony." Another of the beings explained as his form solidified slightly forming into the appearance of a stallion, though he still appeared as nothing but swirling purple energy, he now wore an ancient wizard hat and robes. "I am the manifestation of the Element of Magic." The figure said with a bow.

"I am his twin brother and the opposite of his element, Necromancy." The figure next to him said as he stepped forward, his appearance similar to Magics but his was darker darker with hints of green swirling through his form. He wore what was most commonly identified as necromancer robes, though such garments were more so just modified wizard robes.

Another of the Beings stepped forward and bowed. "Greetings Twilight Sparkle, I am Deception the Opposite of Honesty." The being said as he rose from his bow. Unlike his counterpart, Deception looked as if he were made of a light brown energy and wore a finely tailored suit.

After introducing himself Deception stepped back and two more figures stepped forward though they were both female. The first looked to be a being made of Light and fire, an aura of kindness like that of Fluttershy seems to encircle her as she walked making Twilight smile faintly. The one beside her was much different from the one beside her, her form burned with untamed fire and her body radiated as if she were made of Lava, an aura of anger and hate countered by the first mare's aura. "Greetings Twilight Sparkle, I am the Element of Kindness." The one made of light said as her form solidified and revealed she wore a set of flowing royal robes. After introducing herself Kindness stepped back leaving the other fiery being to stand before her.

Even though the Lava like entity had no face to look at her with Twilight could feel the contempt and judgment the being cast upon her causing Twilight to shift uncomfortably but not look away from them as they condensed their form revealing they wore light and skimpy female warrior armor that was slime and had she had physical form would hardly be called covering, in fact one could say it was extremely erotic. "I'm Cruelty." The Being said before she turned and walked away, joining her Opposite.

"Well you must have potential if Cruelty will acknowledge you." A voice said as a female entity made up of a liquid silver like substance said as she approached Twilight. The Entity wore heavy knight armor over royal robes and a crown of gold wreathed her head. As she approached her arm was interlocked with another being, this being having the stature of a Male and was made of obsidian crystals. Like the woman at his side, the male being wore heavy armor and robes however the trappings bore a unique design that Twilight recognized from pictures she had seen of King Sombra. "Greetings young Twilight, I am the Element of Generosity and this is my husband Greed." The Being said as she bowed her head and let go of her husband's arm who seemed like he wanted to run but instead faced Twilight and bowed.

"Greetings Twilight Sparkle, it is an honor to properly introduce myself to you given the last time we met I was... not myself. Greed said as he bowed to her only for his form the shift for a second, glitching as if the world was overlaying his appearance over another and for a second the visage of crystal fell away revealing his true appearance, a tall and muscular stallion with dark hair and a curved horn that faded from black to red at the tip.

"Sombra!" Twilight gasped and as she took a step back in fear.

"Indeed, Lady Sparkle." Sombra said, not raising from his bow. "And on that note I truly wish to apologize to you for how we last met, Lady Sparkle. After all when we last spoke I was most certainly not in my right mind, or rather I was not wholly myself."

W-what d-do you mean?" Twilight managed to stutter out, her fear and shock combining to leave her near speechless.

Sombra sighed as he rose and looked at her with apologetic eyes, his form still part of what he looked when alive but the crystal was obviously more present in that if coated his body and parts of his face like the scales of a dragon but it didn’t detract from his appearance, rather it seemed to enhance it to a degree making him appear noble, perhaps even regal. "When last we met you only interacted with a broken fragment of myself left behind on the physical plain." Sombra explained calmly. "When I and my companions were trapped in this realm fragments of us remained in the physical world. These fragments are incomplete things, like echoes of what who and we were than anything else. As a result only fragments of our personality remained in them, the others fragments did not persist long as like an echo they eventually faded away but mine latched onto the Crystal Heart to power itself and as a result persisted while slowly deteriorating to madness and preventing me from fully entering this realm. My body and soul were brought here to the Void but my mind was trapped in these fragmented echoes. When you and your friends used the Crystal Heart on me it overwhelmed my Echo's fragile body and at last shattered it allowing my mind to fully return to me here in the Void and make me whole once more." As Sombra finished his explanation he bowed once more. "I was at last able to be reunited with my wife and comrades as well as be free of the madness I fell into thanks to your efforts Landy Sparkle, for your help, even if unintentionally, I am in your debt."

Twilight smiled shyly and nodded. "Your welcome, Sombra. Huh...never thought I'd ever say something like that." She muttered, earning a laugh from the Element of Greed.

"Well with that out of the way." A pink figure said as they appeared wearing only basic clothes as they clapped their hands. "Yo, I'm laughing." She said with a wave as another figure made of a darker pink almost red energy appeared beside them and condensed into a figure dressed in dark armor. "And this here is my opposition, sorrow; say hi sorrow!" The pink swirl said excitedly.

The Darker figure sighed as Laugher floated around him excitedly before they grabbed the speeding figure by what was technically their neck and smacked them upside the head. "Have some respect Laughter." The figure said grumpily before turning to Twilight and bowing, "Greetings I am the Manifestation of the Element known as Sorrow."

"Well with your introductions out of the way it's time you met the boss's." Laughter said excitedly as they appeared behind Twilight excitedly even though they had been held by Sorrow a moment ago prompting the other Elements to quiet down and nod as they looked at each other before Kindness approached her. "We will meet again child but for now farewell." With that the other beings except for Laughter and Sorrow turned walking deeper into the void before blinking out of existence.

"This way." Laughter said with a flourish as Twilight slowly stepped forward following the two Elements deeper into the Void. The walk was slow and to Twilight it felt as if the went for at least an hour before she saw two beings in the distance and the group began to approach them. When they were a few feet away from the two beings Laugher turned to Twilight. "Well, this is where we leave ya for now, see ya kid." Laughter said before jumping up and disappearing.

Sorrow sighed. "Farewell miss Sparkle." He said and bowed before stepping into the shadows of the void, his presence disappearing as if he were never there. Now standing alone in the void, Twilight took a deep breath before turning to the two beings before her and slowly stepped forward approaching them.

As Twilight approached, a feeling of weight seemed to surround her making it harder for her to move forward, with each step it was as if she were slowly being crushed and slowly she lost focus on the two figures she was trying to get to and instead focused on just taking a step forward. After what felt like hours of walking she was at last before the two beings who seemed to have not noticed her and instead were sitting across from one another meditating.

The One on the left was a swirl of dark blue Energy with white specks making him look as if he were wrapped within a fragment of the night and his form was covered in the ornate armor of a knight but atop his head was an ornate crown. Opposite the Knight like King and sitting to Twilights right sat a much more intimidating figure. The Being was formed from a pure black energy and surrounding him were wisps of dark red making him look like the sky during an eclipse, he too wore armor but it was twisted and broken, looking as if it was warped around and twisted onto him.

As Twilight looked upon the two beings, the one on the left at last looked up at her, his eyes looking to be glowing stars. "Greetings Twilight Sparkle and welcome to the Void. I am Loyalty." The knight King said calmly.

"I am Betrayal." The Darker figure on the right said as he examined her. "You hold great potential but you are far from being prepared for my lessons." He said as he rose and walked away. "Return once you can handle the Aura of Power that surrounds us.

Loyalty sighed and stood looking upon the young Alicorn, his very presence making Twilight desire to bow in respect. "Please excuse my Opposite." He said calmly as he seemed to scrutinize every fiber of Twilight's being. "Betrayal is a man of action not words, I may be his opposite but even can never guess his intentions. But such discussions are not for the moment, now I assume you have a lot of questions, this is the time to ask." He said as the oppressive aura Twilight had felt at last released her. "Have a seat, ask and I will tell." He said as he sat back down.

Twilight hesitated before taking a seat and sighing as she felt the pressure lift and a moment for her to breath as she sat down in front of the being. "I guess the first question is who or what are you and the others." Twilight said slowly.

The being nodded. "A good question, and one not easily answered but I shall do my best. Long ago we were the living beings that were responsible for forged what you would come to know as the Elements of Harmony. The crafting of these Items was no easy feat and your understanding of what they are is miniscule compared to the truth, you will come to understand what the Elements are and their true functions in time but for now know that when we forged them it was required that we seal a fragment of our souls into the Elements we represented. As a result when we were at last killed we were still bound to the world of the living even though our bodies have long since died we can not move on lest the magic within the Elements come undone. As a result we exist here, in the distant Void removed from life but denied our Death. As for who we were..." The being gazed off into the distance. "We don't really remember who we were originally, do not mistake me, we all have some fragmented memories of who we were but the amount we remember varies from individual. Magic remembers some of who he was as does his brother, Laughter claims to know but she is half mad so we don't believe her and Betrayal retains a significant portion of his memories but truth be told the only one who truly remembers their past life is Greed. He was known as King Sombra, when we were trapped in this realm a part of him remained in the physical world and became a twisted monster, from what he's said, you and your friends destroyed that shadow which allowed him the finally join us here."

Twilight sat in silence as she digested this information before looking at Loyalty and asking her next question. "Why are there two versions of the Elements of Harmony?"

"Harmony does not just represent good." Loyalty explained calmly. "Harmony represents two opposites coexisting, in truth the Elements are able to be used for both order and chaos. The true name of the Elements have actually been lost, the reason of which you will come to know as you learn the truth of the Elements."

"What were they originally called?" Twilight asked, her confusion blatant but also her desire to learn.

Loyalty chucked at her excitement before responding. "Honesty and Deception represent the Element of Choice, Generosity and Greed represent the Element of Desire, Laughter and Sorrow represent the Element of Emotion, Kindness and Cruelty represent the Element of Empathy, Magic and Necromancy represent the Element of Knowledge and Loyalty and Betrayal represent the Element of Allegiance."

Twilight nodded in thought. "Okay one more, where are we and why am I here?" She asked.

The figure nodded. "This is the Void, a realm between the world of the living and the realms of death, everything here is in a state of both life and death at the same time. It was created when I and the other Elements used the Element of Harmony's power for the last time. As to the reason as to why you are here, I and the other Elements brought you here after you died to train you to be the Alicorn of Harmony."

As Loyalty answered Twilight sat in confusion before looking at the being. "I don't understand, what do you mean by the Alicorn of Harmony?"

"When you Ascended to Alicornhood you united the power of the Elements of Harmony, since then the power the Elements once held no longer reside within the physical Elements but inside you and the wielders themselves, the physical manifestation of the Elements now simply serves as a focus for this power. While the others embody the traits that make them worthy to bear the power of the original Elements and their dual nature, you embody the aspects of all twelve virtues the Elements represent. In life I and Betrayal were like you, I represented the six virtues of Order while Betrayal represented the Chaos Virtues. As such we were the leaders of the Elements. You are the same as us, but you represent all twelve Virtues, both order and Chaos."

As Loyalty finished explaining Twilight sat in shock as Loyalty stood and looked down upon Twilight. "While you represent all twelve virtues you are not ready to wield nor capable of controlling such power yet and you would not have been ready for centuries, however with your death at the hands of Chrysalis all of Fate has been thrown into chaos. Without someone to take the reins the world has begun to spiral and if not stopped then the world will plunge into darkness the likes that have not been seen since before Equestria." Loyalty said calmly as Twilight sat listening to the ancient being. "Something had to be done and so we brought your soul here to the Void to both save you from death and because time flows faster within the Void. If we resurrected you in the world of the living now you would not have the time to learn what you need in time but here in the Void there is time for you to slowly learn and master your power. We need you trained and prepared for the future and as such we will train you personally in what you need to know to wield the power of the Elements to their fullest extent as well as the power you hold control over as the Alicorn of Harmony."

Twilight sat in silence as Loyalty stood over here waiting for her response. Slowly Twilight looked at Loyalty. "Alright, where do we start?" She asked, her voice serious as she looked at Loyalty with determination.

"Each of the Elements have their own domains within the Void, you will train with each Element and learn what they can teach you. Once you have mastered the Power of the elements you will move to the next till you at last make your way to us where we shall give you your final test. Once you have passed we shall use our power to open a gate and return you to the physical world where you will face and defeat Queen Chrysalis and her swarm."

"How long will the training take?" Twilight asked.

"I do not know Twilight. Within the physical world it will be only a few years however to you it will be centuries. THis is why we brought you to the Void, the power of the Elements and the power you control as the Alicorn of Harmony is beyond anything a mortal could comprehend in a single life time, thankfully you are an Alicorn and as such Immortal." Loyalty replied as he looked at Twilight who had been saddened at his answer and sighed. "If I had to put a guess at the time you will be here... one hundred and sixty-seven years. It will take you at least that long to learn and master one Element."

Twilight took a deep breath as she digested Loyalties answer. "Okay, so when do I begin". She asked as she stood and looked at Loyalty.

Author's Note

So this is the the ending part of the original prologue and the first part of chapter 1. I think you can understand why I always complain in the comments of the original version of Returning Home that the story is crap and not just because the spelling is hot garbage. With just two chapter I've added back in so much context that was cut from the story it's insane. I'm hoping that if you've read the original you will look back at it once I'm done with this rewrite and realize how truly massive I wanted to make the project but I just didn't have the ability at the time, honestly I still might not but that's not going to stop me.

But I do have one request to everyone, if you start seeing inconsistencies, don't understand what's going on, or just want more context to something please leave a notice in the comments explaining what you don't get or asking for that clarification. While I'm mostly doing this for myself I'm also doing it for you, the reader, and you telling me what you what will make me look into putting it in. Also please do know that the original story has a lot of things cut from the final version and a lot of it will be added back in so if you have questions regarding stuff from the original story that is in future chapters send me a PM and I'll try and get back to you.

As always thank you for reading my stories, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope to see you all in the next one!