//------------------------------// // Nightfall // Story: Revisions of Past Mistakes // by SC_Orion //------------------------------// Eclipse opened her eyes. Her eyes darted around, taking in her surroundings. Dull grey stone walls that were crumbling... The chill of the air... The sensation of tainted magic in the air... The general sense of dread... 'I'm in the Castle of the Two Sisters.' she concluded. 'She has me...' Eclipse gulped, realizing the gravity of the situation. 'Okay... Stay calm... Easier said than done.' She looked around again, then looked at her body. It was unscathed, and untouched, save for where her hooves were chained to the walls. Now that she realized that, she felt her hooves aching. A quick glance at the ceiling ruled out the possibility of flying out of the room she was in. 'Not that I could do that anyway...' 'How long was I...' A faint echo off in the distance, her heart beat a little faster and harder. She gently wiggled her hooves, attempting to loosen the cuffs, to no avail. She turned her head, looking at the wall she was on. It looked to be in the same condition as the rest of the walls, given enough time, the hostile environment would work it's magic, and it would collapse. She couldn't afford to wait, to say nothing of being buried under a castle's worth of stone. She channeled magic into her horn, managing only to produce a dim glow around her horn. She smiled, and sighed in relief, 'I still have some magic...' She turned back towards where she had been facing previously, and the smile left her face. Standing in the stone archway, the wooden door had rotted away long ago, was almost a mirror image of herself. The other alicorn had a darker coat than Eclipse had, her mane was almost as dark as night, her eyes... Eclipse shivered. The serpentine slits... They were all to familiar... The alicorn standing in the archway regarded Eclipse, her facial expression was one of disdain, and distaste. Eclipse cut the flow of magic to her horn once she remembered that she was channeling magic into her horn. The other alicorn stepped into the room, and aside from the entrance, revealing another pony. An all too familiar unicorn mare. 'Starlight Glimmer...' Eclipse's eyes narrowed, then widened slightly the more she thought about it. The alicorn slowly and deliberately approached Eclipse from the side, her approach drew Eclipse's eyes away from Starlight Glimmer. She stopped in front of Eclipse, blocking her view of the unicorn, then lit her horn. Eclipse's eyes were immediately drawn to the sickly purple aura surrounding her horn. She felt a tingling sensation and the other alicorn stepped back. And she fell forwards, out of the restraints. She caught herself on her hooves, and eyed her evil twin cautiously. Slowly she rose back to her full height, matching her. "Hello, Twilight." The unexpectedness of her greeting caught Eclipse off guard, and her voice... It was her own, but laced with more malice... "It's Eclipse." she replied hesitantly. "And what should I call you?" "Nightfall." "Nightfall..." Eclipse repeated. The name had a certain ring to it, and made sense. At least from her perspective. "Yes." Nightfall stated. Eclipse had a question, but she was a bit reluctant to ask it, almost as if reading her mind, Nightfall answered it for her, "I have my reasons for you still being alive." She quickly added, "For now." Eclipse swallowed. "Not that I'm ungrateful... But why? Shouldn't you hate me and everything I stand for?" Nightfall started laughing. It was a deep, vengeance filled laugh, all too similar to Nightmare Moon, who both of them had faced some thousand years prior. The laugh brought back memories to Eclipse she would rather forget. Starlight Glimmer stepped into the room, "Oh, Twilight Sparkle... Thanks to Nightfall here, I'm going to exact revenge a thousand times sweeter upon you and your dear friends than I could have imagined..." She smiled. "Starlight... Don't. She's using you." Eclipse warned. The warning fell upon death ears, and Starlight turned to leave, slowly walking out of the room. "Likely story." Seconds passed in silence, until finally Starlight was far enough away that her hoofsteps now longer echoed on the stone floor. Nightfall stepped closer to Eclipse, who held her breath as the predator approached her. She leaned in to Eclipse, purring in her ear, "She is but a means to an end... The end..." Nightfall pulled bath and smiled, flaring her sharp teeth. "You don't have to do that..." Eclipse spoke softly. Nightfall raised an eyebrow at her, "Oh, now you're going to try to convince me to stop? How foalish. I will not stop. Not for you, not for anypony." "You're still mourning them." Eclipse stated. Nightfall glared at her. "Since you brought them up. I believe you took certain items from a certain cave nearby. I would like them back." "You're not getting them back. They're in a safe place, where you will be unable to corrupt them." Eclipse replied with determination. Nightfall stepped back in mock shock, "Corrupt them?" She roared out in laughter, "Why would I want to corrupt them?" "They can kill you." Eclipse stated firmly. "You too, you know." Nightfall retorted. "I did study that spell quite a bit, you know. I know how it worked." Nightfall was met with silence. She snorted in frustration. "Regardless. I do not want to corrupt the Elements of Harmony. All I have to do is kill one of them to prevent the only weapon you have capable of stopping me from working." Nightfall turned away from Eclipse, smiling arrogantly. "Then why haven't you?" Eclipse softly asked. Nightfall's smile left her, and she cocked her head towards Eclipse slightly, looking at her from the corner of her eye. She spun around quickly, and crouched down, jumped forwards, causing Eclipse to back up against the fall, and thrust her head upwards, placing her horn underneath Eclipse's muzzle. "They left me. I will make them see the result of their actions." Nightfall backed off, Eclipse raised a hoof to rub her chin, she felt moisture from where Nightfall's horn had made contact with her. She pulled her hoof away and looked at it. 'Blood...' Her horn was sharp. "Do you really want that?" Nightfall spoke coldly, and with surety, "Everything comes to an end. Some things just end sooner than others. It brings so much pain and suffering. I am doing the world a mercy." "Why is Starlight here?" Eclipse asked, hoping to change the subject and gain some insight as to her plans. "She betrayed us before..." "Her abilities merit further research." Nightfall stated plainly. It was clearly a lie, but perhaps it held a grain of truth? "This room is magically shielded. You will stay in here until I either need you, or no longer have use for you." "They will search for me and find me. You can't win. Or have you forgot the magic of Friendship, Nightfall?" Eclipse stated smugly. "It would seem somepony's a little arrogant." Nightfall eyed her carefully. "Where are your friends right now? Where were they for the past thousand years? Hmm? And where were you for the past thousand years? Paying off a certain debt, I believe?" Eclipse averted her gaze from Nightfall, and looked at the floor. She rustled her wings slightly. "You're one to talk. Ha! We are the same, Eclipse. We both went through the same events up until the point our timelines diverged." Eclipse's mouth fell open. "I told you I studied that spell. Perhaps you should have taken time to do so also?" "I knew our timelines were similar... I had my suspicions..." Eclipse held back a sob, "Where did it go so wrong between us..." "You became weaker for what we did, while I grew from it." Nightfall tilted her head upwards slightly. Eclipse's voice crackled, "And what of Luna?" Eclipse dreaded the answer she would get. Nightfall smiled, but said nothing. Eclipse shook her head sadly. "I am... So sorry..." Nightfall raised an eyebrow. "I... The amount of pain you must be in..." "I don't need your pity. It doesn't matter anyway." Nightfall radiated hatred now, her nostrils were flared, her wings were bristling, and she was gritting her teeth. Nightfall's horn flared to life, and she disappeared in a flash of dark purple magic, leaving Eclipse alone. Eclipse fell to her haunches, and cried. Nightfall reappeared in the castle's throne room. She looked around until her eyes fell upon Starlight glimmer, who was currently sitting in the shattered throne in which Celestia once sat. Nightfall slowly approached, Starlight watched her approach. Manipulating her was far too easy in Nightfall's mind. The pathetic unicorn was far less intelligent than she remembered, having believed her lies without any objections. 'Or maybe she wants revenge that badly?' she wondered. "Are you sure taking over forcefully is-" "By taking the princess's cutie marks, there will be nopony to stop us from spreading equality across Equestria. And beyond." The unicorn smiled. Nightfall was disgusted at how easy it was to manipulate her. Just tell her a few lies here, and suggest a plan to bring equality to Equestria there, masking the true intentions... 'Pathetic.' "I couldn't help but notice you do resemble Twilight Sparkle... The older one anyway. Starlight leaned back on the armrest of the throne, and kicked her hooves over the opposite side, relaxing. Nightfall did not think that could be comfortable. "That is unimportant." Nightfall answered. "All that matters is by capturing her, it will make our-" Nightfall carefully remembered to replace my with our, "-plans easier to implement." "You know, I'm surprised you're keeping her alive. When we first talked, I didn't think you'd be that-" "I have my reasons, Starlight." Nightfall stretched out her wings, "Remember your place, unicorn. You still have to fulfill your part of the deal." Starlight grit her teeth and leaned forwards, choosing to ignore the blatant insult. "Ah yes... I have been thinking about that. It should be easy to reverse the process and apply it to another pony." Nightfall smiled slightly, showing her teeth, "Good. Once I have their power, nothing will stop us." 'Stupid unicorn... So easily manipulated.' 'Like I'd trust you with that much power.' Starlight smirked. "So now we just wait?" "For now. Yes." Nightfall curtly answered.