finding usefulness

he stared at her with wide eyes.
" yes, i did." he squeaked " you got poisoned stroking that vine."

Heartspan stood up a look of concern on his face.
" You are ok right?" he asked.

Belle nodded, but stopped as it increased the pain in her head.

"Yeh, I'm fine." she said, "thanks for rescuing me."

She stood up and walked around a bit, testing the strength of her limbs. She wobbled around a bit, nearly falling, but regained her strength after a moment.

"Wow, I feel great!" she shouted, hopping up and down and running about the room. "Oh gosh, sugar rush I suppose. Anyways, what now?" she said giddily.

Heartspan breathed a sigh of relief while she ran around the room.

"Oh gosh, sugar rush I suppose. Anyways, what now?"

heartspan looked at her as she spoke.

" Well, if you are up to it we can check out the throne room it should be somewhere along that main hallway. then again maybe you should get some rest?" he replied cautiously

"Nah! I feel fantastic!! Let's go to the throne room!" she exclaimed, cantering out of the room and up the stairs. She entered the room cautiously, looking around before actually stepping inside.

It was beautiful inside.

"Wow! Look at that throne! C'est magnifique!" she shouted, rushing up to the brilliant throne and examining it wondrously.

She certainly seemed in good health as she rushed up the stairs. he followed along at a leisurely pace.

"Wow! Look at that throne! C'est magnifique!"

Belle exclaimed as he was only just entering. His eyes lit up in surprise. It was every bit worth an exclamation. The crowning piece of the room was the beautiful throne of carved wood set with gem work like he had never seen in his life. The walls were carved in beautiful relief set with gold filigree. he wandered up to the throne with mouth agape. he ran a hoof over it. then he turned to belle in excitement.

" let's sit on it." he said enthusiastically.

Belle nodded eagerly, sitting down on the throne immediately. It was comfy, comfier than an old throne-chair should be.

"Wow, this is really comfortable!" she shouted, "come sit with me!" she said, patting the space next to her. The throne was large, so there was plenty of room.

"I wonder how much those jewels are worth." she pondered aloud.

"Wow, this is really comfortable!" she shouted, "come sit with me!" she said, patting the space next to her.

Heartspan climbed up on the throne where belle had patted.

" wow this is simply amazing, a thousand years and it feels like this thing was made just yesterday."

he looked out into the dark room. He thought to himself, so this is how royalty feels. He decided he liked it. He felt powerful and awesome.

"I wonder how much those jewels are worth." she pondered aloud.

her words brought him out of his fantasy and back into reality. he looked at some of the gems and doing some quick calculations.

" well, just the facet work on these is worth a few thousand bits depending on the gem. not to mention age and size and gem type. This throne is worth a small fortune." he remarked offhandedly.

"Wow. I wish I had a chair like this in my apartment." she wished, "it's so....soft!"

She hoped nothing else would happen, the chair was velvety and she knew she could just fall asleep. If only she had a bed made out of this stuff,

"I can't believe this chair survived all these years, and is still kitten fur soft."

heartspan nodded in agreement.

" it makes me wonder if this is how all of the princesses things are, even now. So much effort was put in this chair. I wish all my things were this well crafted." he commented. " ah but you know, your company would never want to leave if you had a chair like this."

he suddenly started laughing.

" when you get home, all of your regular furniture will be a disappointment compared to this, that is something i do not look forwards to." he laughed.

"True, true." Belle nodded, laughing. "Makes me wish I was a princess, this must have been hand crafted by a master! If only the master craftsmen were still around." she giggled again, "well, I suppose we should go get some sleep......it's gotten pretty late."

She glanced outside, the moon was high in the sky and the stars twinkled like diamonds.

"The night is beautiful. I must talk to Star about this place, she would love it." she said more to herself then Heartspan.

heartspan stood. She liked the chair so much that he could not help but make a suggestion concerning it.

" you know, if you want to sleep on that throne i can go get our things. we probably shouldn't keep a fire in this room, but i have a spare blanket you could use. " he offered politely. " I will even keep watch for little so you can rest without worry. "

"Really? You sure you don't mind moving? As long as it's cool with you. I'll get my stuff." she said with a grin, starting downstairs to get her bag. She returned quickly with her things and settled onto the chair.
"I already put the fire out!" she called down the stairwell to Heart. She pulled out an apple from her pack and munched on it, taking a small bite and relishing the flavor.

heartspan grabbed his things and brought them into the room. he lay his bags off to the side while he checked to make sure the room was secure. Then he dug out his spare blanket and gave it belle.

" Ok, get some sleep Princess Belle." he teased " i am going to go out and check around the castle to make sure everything is good to go. sleep well."

He put out her torch as he headed out of the room.

" If anything happens just yell and i will come ..uh, save you i guess or get beat up, something like that." he joked.

Belle rolled her eyes and took the blanket.

"Okay, be careful though!" she called to him, "I'll make sure to yell."

She laughed, "make sure you come back." she whispered to herself. She pulled the blanket over herself and snuggled up in the chair, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Heartspan closed the door softly behind him. He descended the stairs and walked out into the courtyard. He snuffed out his torch leaning it against the cold stone wall as he let his eyes adjust to the dark. Moonlight bathed the courtyard in pale blue, and the sounds of the forest drifted up to him . He sat on the ground for a moment looking up at the stars.

The night is beautiful......belle's words popped into his mind as he looked at the constellations.

He felt a world away from the unicorn he had been before coming to this place. He felt content and at home in these creepy ruins, but he knew it had not much to do with where he was at. It had been the entire experience. Risking his life, exploring some place no pony had been to in several generations. He had had his life saved and had saved a life in return.

He looked out into the darkness and his mind turned back to the dark thoughts that had brought him out to this place. He had felt uncertain, angry, and lost. He still felt Celestia was evil, and their world filled with imbalance, but he knew one thing for certain. He himself was not evil and when he thought about somepony like belle and how her life had been filled with such pain he knew that to fix the imbalance in this world it would take kindness and patience. He stood up suddenly, and he thought to himself that he would change the world one pony at a time until he could find a way to do more, and he would search the worlds ruins for a way to change many hearts at once.

With that thought in mind he quickly checked the perimeter to ensure everything was as safe as could be managed. Then he very quietly walked back up to the throne room unlit torch in hoof. Navigating in the dark was a little more difficult than he had expected but he managed without incident. Once inside he looked briefly at bell as she slept, in the moon light she looked peaceful and he was glad she seemed to be safe for the moment. Then he very quietly crawled into his own blanket on the floor and fell fast to sleep.


It had taken a long time to catch up to these ponies and now they lay sleeping at her feet.

You locked all the doors, and you checked all of the windows, but shadow needs only an absence of light to exist...... she thought as she watched them sleep.

She had lost one of her beautiful children to these two. It was inconceivable to her mind that such a thing could have happened and yet it had. Then she smiled, with these two she would be able to make many children and the loss of one would be easily recovered. She ran a clawed hoof adoringly over belle delighting in how the shadow that could rend flesh from bone passed so harmlessly over the sleeping unicorn. It struck her as funny how similar she was to the sleeping mare she never imagined such a thing. She had never before seen a pony, only the remains that were brought back to feed her. She drifted over to Heartspan, her thought returning to the task at hand, her form blotting out the moons gentle caress. She would have to be quick lest the sun rise before she was done.

Belle dreamed of the forest. The creeping vines, the low-hanging trees, the shadow-y creature turned to stone. She twitched in her sleep as something cold ran down her cheek and she shivered. Her hoof gripped the knife in her lap as she slept. She grunted and turned over, seemingly running into something, but she didn't wake.

She tossed and turned, the dream having turned to a nightmare. She let out a squeal of terror as she fell out of the chair and plopped onto the cold hard ground. Her eyes snapped open and she twirled the knife, looking for the source of fright, before realizing it was just a dream.

A sudden squeal woke Heartspan. His eyes shot open and he saw a tall form near him silhouetted in the moonlight.

" What are you doing belle?" he asked the towering form as he sat up rubbing his eyes. he hadn't been asleep long and his brain felt a little fuzzy.


Belle's suddenly fell and the shadow mare turned her head toward her. It seemed the shadow mare had not yet been noticed. Then suddenly heartspan began to speak to her. She nearly wanted to laugh as the stallion sat up. she glided back just a bit farther into the darkness and very softly she spoke in belle's voice.

" I'm going to kill you, you worthless foal." she murmured very sweetly and this she followed with belle's soft giggle.

Belle tilted her head as she heard a voice, much like her own. The voice said that she, Belle, was going to kill Heartspan.

"No I'm not! Heartspan don't listen to....it!" she rushed to say, searching the room for the source of the sound. She saw the silhouette of a being hiding in the shadows. She began to stalk towards it, knives ready and mind clear.

" I'm going to kill you, you worthless foal."

Those words brought instant wakefulness as he scooted away from the voice running his back into the wall.

"No I'm not! Heartspan don't listen to....it!" came second voice more frantic than the first.

Heartspan was at a loss , his brain hadn't even begun to process things fully. A sudden searing pain erupted in his cheek and instinctively he fell away from it laying on his side. he could feel warm blood pouring down the side of his face as a deep darkness overshadowed him. he instantly flung his saddle bags propelled with magic at the retreating shadowy form.

The unicorn mare belle had shouted creating just enough chaos for a decisive attack. the shadow mare lunged raking her claws across the stallion's cheek. She had aimed to split his throat but he had moved a little more quickly than she had expected. She silently cursed as a sudden weight struck her in the side of the face as she darted backward into the shadows. It struck with more forced than she expected and she staggered momentarily becoming fully solid as her dazed mind sought purchase in the physical world she was invading. her mind reeled as pain filled her thoughts. She had never been struck before and it filled her with surprise and rage.

Belle snarled with rage, squinting at the spot the shadow had disappeared. Taking her knife in one hoof, she threw it swiftly. It whistled through the air into the shadows.

She ran to Heartspan, "oh my Faust, are you alright?" She kept her eyes peeled, looking for the beast.

"oh my Faust, are you alright?"

He Looked at belle, nodded, and from belle he looked into the shadow where a small glint of silver bobbed precariously in mid-air. There was a span of little more than three heartbeats before a bright red light began streaming from where the knife protruded illuminating the form of a statuesque Unicorn mare black as pitch in coloring. The Black mare lost form becoming a shadow the writhed and moved like a serpent as red cracks of light spread through it. An unearthly wail issued from the shadow sounding as if hundred and hundred of ponies were wailing in terror. the light grew until Heartspan was forced to shield his eyes from it's intensity. Then in a whoosh they were plunged back into the silvery moonlight of early dawn.

Belle shielded her eyes as the red light became blinding, filling the room.

"Oh my goodness. What in Faust's name is that thing?" she asked quietly, her voice still a bit lost, "I sure hope it doesn't come back."

she walked up to her knife and retrieved it, replacing it in her bag. "This is insane."

" Well, whatever it was it's gone now." heartspan said as he touch the raw jagged edges of his wounds. " You aren't hurt are you?"

He stood up as the throbbing in his cheek increased. he fetched his bags and dug out another bottle of water dumping a liberal dose over his wounds. he just hoped they would not scar.

" Well once it is fully light i will poke around and see if there is anything worth bringing home and then we can leave." he said " should take more than an hour at most maybe less if i get started strait away." he commented as he applied the antiseptic, copying the way belle had done when she cleaned his earlier wounds.

"Yeh, I'm fine. Are you? That...thing scratched ya pretty bad." she said with concern, looking at his cheek. She walked up and touched the wound lightly, "It might get infected, though the antiseptic should halt, or at least lessen the chances, of infection." she said examining the scratch.

"Anyways, it'll be light soon, thank goodness, and we can leave. Have you found what you were looking for?" she asked with a sly smile.

heartspan smiled even though it hurt a fair bit to do so.
" Well, it is my second time nearly being killed and i think i am getting used to it." he said with a small optimistic laugh " anyway, i am glad you're ok."

he thought for a small moment....Had he found what he was looking for.....he looked at belle and grinned.

" Yeah i found what i came out here to find. " he said with a warm smile that gradually turned naughty " minus stealing something from nightmare moon."