//------------------------------//
// Reflections 
// Story: Blast from the Past 
// by Uber_Shy 
//------------------------------//

	Turmoil and conflict plagued Canis’s mind. He was caught in an internal struggle between his loyalties to Luna and his anger towards Celestia. 
The volatile dark magic inside him did not help to alleviate his troubled mind. He could feel it feeding on his anger and amplifying his power. With a grunt, Canis suppressed this rising anger, thinking of as many soothing thoughts as he could muster. Granted, he did not begrudge the gift Nightmare Moon had bestowed on him all of those years ago. It gave him unrivaled stealth abilities, boosted his already formidable strength, and extended his longevity. It was entirely possible he could still be alive today without this magic, but he would not be nearly youthful enough to risk fighting four spear wielding pegasi as had just done.
Canis thought back to the events that had just transpired. In hindsight, Celestia might not have had malicious intent in her words, but there was no way to be sure. He still had the scars from the last time he had faith in the diarch’s capacity for mercy. He wondered the dimly lit halls of the castle until he found himself in the Cantrlot gardens. He waited for Luna, whom he knew would be here soon enough. He inspected some of the new bushels of exotic flowers. Some of them he recognized from his time in the Everfree Forest. 
His thoughts were interrupted by the feeling that he was being watched. He looked around but saw no one. Still, the feeling lingered. He decided to move to another part of the gardens. He made his way past the different plants, weaving his way between trees and bushes. He stopped by some rose bushes and faded into his cloud like ethereal shadow form. In this form he could float up to the top of the nearest tree and wait for his follower. It was not long before he saw a phoenix silently land on a tree branch and look around in every direction. Canis watched as the bird looked around for him. It flew to another tree closer to him and looked around again. 
He was contemplating what to do about this bird when it cawed and opened its wings. A blinding light came from the phoenix and shone in every direction. The light was intense enough to melt Canis’s shadow shroud and force him back into his physical form. As he did so, the branch he had been resting on snapped under his physical form’s weight. He plummeted to the larger branches below him. He felt pain shoot through his torso as he landed hard on his chest. He looked up to see the phoenix landing next to him. He stood upright on the branch and grunted with irritation.
“Ok bird you have my attention,” he grumbled.
“Araw,” the Phoenix simply called out.
“Ah I see. You must be Philomena, and you are trying to vouch for your master, is that it?” Canis asked raising an eyebrow.
“Araw,” was the only reply he got.
“Well save your breath. You have not seen what I have seen.”
“Arawaraa.”
“A fair point, so what now? Do I just forgive her for all of her past transgressions because she may or may not have changed?”
“Raaw.”
“Well it is not that simple.”
Their conversation was interrupted by hoofsteps in the garden. Canis’s ears twitched and pointed forward so he could locate the source of the noise. He quickly located it. Princess Luna was walking through the gardens. Presumably looking for him.
“I would love to stay and converse further, but I have matters to attend to,” Canis said to Philomena.
The phoenix remained silent as he leapt from the low tree branch. He looked back to see the Philomena fly off. Luna caught sight of him as he landed. He walked to her slowly, anticipating a harsh response to his behavior earlier. 

* * *

“Canis,” Luna said as Canis approached, “we need to talk.”
“Indeed we do princess,” he responded.
“Well then,” she began, “you can start by telling me what happened between you and Celestia after I was banished. Whatever it was she looks real distraught because of it. You saw what happened.”
“Indeed I did, and with all due respect princess, my prior experiences with Celestia are not something that I wish to discuss currently. The subject is… difficult to bear. I can say this however, Celestia and I had a disagreement over the terms of the Night Stalkers’ surrender.”
Luna was a little more that frustrated with the vague answer.
“Surrender? Did they not give themselves up upon my banishment?” she inquired.
“They did not,” Canis replied proudly, “we were prepared to fight until the end for your prompt return. Our plan was to force Celestia to release you from your imprisonment in exchange for a cease in hostilities.”
“Oh Canis, you should not have done that.”
“What would you have of us? As wolves, we were your eternally faithful servants. We sang the midnight howl every night to renew our sacred oaths to the pale light.”
“That was very noble of all of you, and I am grateful. Do you know where the rest of the Night Stalkers are?"
For whatever reason Canis’s eye twitched a bit when she said this. He responded in a low flat tone.
“I have not seen or heard from any of them in a long time. I fear the worst for them. As I have stated before, we were all loyal to the cause until the end.”
“Oh. I’m sorry Canis. Was it really that bad?”
“Yes Luna. Your conflict with your sister did much to upset the balance of light and darkness.”
Luna looked down at the ground for a few moments. A thousand years ago, in her blind jealous rage, she had never considered the widespread damage her fight with Celestia would cause. She would give anything to go back and correct her mistake. 
“I’m sorry that my shortsightedness caused you pain,” She said finally.
“It is of no consequence Luna. What is done is done,” Canis replied.
Luna scoffed at his double standard. 
“Then why do you still hold a grudge against my sister?” 
Before Canis could answer, a pony interrupted them.
“Princess Luna,” she said, “I’m sorry to bother you, but there are urgent matters that need attending.”
“Yes, I shall be right there,” Luna said to the small red unicorn. She turned back to Canis. “We will continue this later.”
“Yes Luna,” Canis replied in a low voice as she led him back into the castle.