Eclipse glanced around her accommodations. The stone room had not changed much during the duration of her stay, whether that was good or bad remained unknown to her. It could have been worse, of course. Nightfall felt the need to keep her alive, fed her, and gave her clean water to drink. That made Eclipse smile, only to frown moments later when thinking about the fact that Nightfall seemed to have no problem killing everypony alive, thinking it was 'doing the world a mercy.' Nightfall's words, not hers. Although, sense they were technically the same pony...
Of course, other thoughts weighed upon her mind as well, her friends... Celestia and Luna... She needed to contact them, somehow. She couldn't escape, she had tried. She found herself knocked out for several hours after one attempt, and awoke to Nightfall's stern glare boring into her soul. She shuddered at the memory.
Flying out wasn't an option, the room was underground, and the only way out was the doorway. Not that even if she could get out she wanted to risk flying through the Everfree Forest to reach Canterlot.
The room seemed to be dampening her magic, teleportation was out of the question, even if it was just teleporting through the door. She found it strange that Nightfall had not tried to take her magic, but filed the thought away to deal with later.
'I need to contact Luna... The fact she hasn't found me yet means this room is probably shielded from that as well... I don't have enough magic to fight through that... I...' She closed her eyes. 'If I could induce a strong enough emotional distress Luna should be able to find me...' She grit her teeth, knowing full well how to cause that in herself. 'I have to contact Luna... But... Is there another way?' She looked around the room again, hoping something would spark an idea. No luck.
'Waiting any longer isn't an option...' Eclipse bit her lip. She had buried, or tried to bury, the memories she needed. They could never truly be forgot, they were too painful to simply forget, even after all this time. She always fought to not think about the memories from before, near the time of her biggest mistake.
The event was impossible to forget... Despite her best efforts to forget it, she remembered. She closed her eyes, her vision became flooded with the painful memories she had experienced. She opened her eyes, and swallowed a growing lump in her throat, then steeled her resolve. 'I... If I have to face that again to save them... I will.'
She laid down on her stomach, and rested her head on her hooves, then channeled her limited magic into her horn, lighting it with a weak, pale lavender aura. She cast two spells, first, one to amplify her memories, the second, to put her into a deep state of rest. 'I'm sorry.' was the last thing she thought before the spell took hold, pulling her mind into a state of unconsciousness.
Twilight gazed out across the darkened land that was Equestria. The nation had lost it's glory when she had been killed... Luna did her best to hold the nation together, and maintain the day night cycle... But... it just wasn't enough. The lifeless plains stretched out across the horizon. The plains weren't entirely lifeless, but in comparison to what they had been... She remembered what Equestria had been, before Celestia had been killed, almost like it was yesterday.
This was not that Equestria.
The dull grays and browns that compromised Equestria now was nothing more than a husk of it's former glory. It was simply amazing. Simply. Amazing. A single choice... Could have lead to... this. Even the crystal of her castle... It was blackened and had grayed, it just looked lifeless, like it had died from lack of harmony. Of course she knew this to be untrue, the crystal was still alive and well. She briefly considered the possibility that it reflected her current state, rather than the state that Equestria was in.
She refused to believe that.
She glanced towards the sun... The sun Luna struggled to control... Every year it grew less bright. That wasn't true, every year it flew farther away from Equestria. Yes. In time, that star would be no different from the millions of other stars in the night sky. There would be no day, only night. Eternal night.
Ironic, considering Luna turned into Nightmare Moon over two thousand years ago wanting to bring the eternal night that she now struggled to prevent. Her struggle was futile, she just did not have the connection with the sun to prevent it from flying off, and every year that passed by, she lost more of her hold on the celestial body responsible for keeping Equestria alive...
'Celestia...' She clenched her eyes. 'You fool... Why? Why did you let this happen... You could have stopped this!' "This is your fault..." She stood up. "You..."
Her words died in her mouth. Was it really her fault? 'Of course it was!' she told herself, attempting to convince her conscious. Her conscious didn't buy it. Sure, she could hate Celestia... Some... Just not with anything near her whole heart... Hating Celestia, her former mentor was hard. 'She's dead, and I'm still alive...' It wasn't fair, Celestia easily could have prevented it years before it happened...
"This isn't what was meant to be..." The words left her mouth before she realized she had said anything. The words were entirely right. There was noway that... This... Could have been meant to be. How could some higher power truly wish this? It was wrong. Ponies were beings of harmony, and friendship. And she was supposed to be the Princess of Friendship! Just not anymore it seemed...
She felt a sharp pain in her heart, not much different from what she imagined a dagger would feel like. 'They didn't... Celestia, why?' She looked down, away from the sun.
"Weren't they worthy?" She asked aloud. There was no response to her question, yet in her heart, the answer was obvious, she knew they were.
Celestia didn't think so. "Of course you said they weren't..." she stated bitterly.
A tingling sensation in her wings warned her of a brewing storm. Already her eyes could make out the oncoming front. The storm would batter Equestria, and ponies would suffer through it.
She would be safe.
Inside her crystal tree castle.
A castle given to her by the Tree of Harmony.
For learning about the magic of friendship.
And becoming the Princess of Friendship.
Yet she was alone there.
Completely alone.
Not even Spike... 'Oh Spike... I... I wish you were here... I'm sorry...' She shivered as a tear rolled down her muzzle.
Her apologies never changed anything.
The events replayed themselves in her mind. She wanted- no, needed to blame somepony else. Anypony else. It wasn't her fault. It couldn't be her fault! How could that have been her fault!? How was she supposed to know that by refusing to help, they would have been forced to kill her!? It wasn't her fault!
The small part of herself that was being honest knew it was her fault. That part of her, however, was firmly silenced to nothing more than the whisper of a passing breeze. No louder than the gentle summer wind, and passing quicker than sand falling through an hourglass.
Celestia refused to help her, so why should she help her? It was simple, really. But of course, even the simplest causes can lead to unexpected, or unintended consequences...
"Twilight, your brother, Shining Armor has passed on." she paraphrased. A sharp pain cut at her heart to think about it, she and her brother had been close... Although they weren't as close as they had been years ago, it still hurt.
"Cadance... Is not taking it well..." she continued, remembering the brief letter Celestia had sent to her. She could still remember the discolored spots where Celestia's tears had fallen.
"You have to bring the Elements of Harmony, she said." she stated mechanically.
She replied with a firm no.
And now Princess Cadance, her sister in law, was dead.
Murdered at the hooves of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.
The part of her telling her they had no choice, simply because she said no, was silenced by a dark flame burning within her. 'How much longer will they even be alive? The age spells aren't powerful enough to... To...' She closed her eyes.
'Friendship... What is there really to it? They will all die... I... I will be alone.' It was a fact she could not deny, a fact she had been forced to face by Celestia so many years ago... 'She won't help me...' she frowned bitterly, 'So I won't help her.'
"Twilight?" Fluttershy meekly called for her from the doorway, Twilight opened her eyes and turned towards the aging pegasus, the sight made her frown sadly for the briefest period of time, then she forced herself to smile.
'They're still alive... There's still time...'
Gone. All of them, even Spike. He had grown up and started a family of his own years ago... She had failed. She couldn't even keep her closest friends alive, the ones who made her what she was, the ones who made her an alicorn. The ones who left her to face the rest of her life all alone. The ones who abandoned her.
What was there to her now? Anypony who knew her back when she was a unicorn would be dead before the turn of the century. How could she be the Princess of Friendship, if she had no friends? She hated it. Having to be a symbol. The crown upon her head... That was all they could see. They cared nothing for the pony she was, nor her feelings, nor the loss of her friends.
The ones who did care, or had taken a romantic interest in her... She shook her head in disgust, they wanted to use her to further their own goals, or were just... So shallow.
She looked around her room, despite the extravagance of it, it brought her no joy, nor satisfaction.
She thought she saw a shadow move out of the corner of her eye, when she looked again, there was nothing there, but she felt like she was being watched, not that she cared. Slowly she looked forwards again, and her eyes fell upon the picture opposite to her bed. The picture she woke up to, every morning.
A very special picture of her friends and herself.
She shut her eyes, screamed, lit her horn, and incinerated it.
She immediately regretted it. Opening her eyes, all that was left of the picture were the ashes. The flame had been so intense that the crystal wall had cracked. 'A fitting representation of my heart,' she thought. It was several seconds before what she did sank in, her composure broke, and her anger evaporated.
She buried herself in the covers and cried.
"Princess! The changelings are attacking!"
The guards shout's broke lighthearted chuckles coming from the trio of alicorns. Princess Celestia's magical hold on her teacup faltered. The cup fell to the table, and shattered, sending the warm liquid all over the table.
'So they finally showed themselves again...'
"They-they ha-have killed hostages!" he continued.
Twilight's heart, in mimicry of the other alicorns' hearts, skipped a beat.
Princess Celestia turned to Luna, her eyes laden with grief, but burning with determination, "Luna..."
Princess Luna rose from her sitting position, she was not happy. "We must act immediately if we are to succeed." she stated firmly...
Princess Luna watched with interest as the fragmented dream memories flowed through Eclipse's mind. Once she had found Eclipse's location, her initial thought was to move to rescue her at once, but what the dreams showed caught her interest. Delaying could prove to be a mistake, but the information she could gain by watching the memories...
They seemed to be going backwards in time, from what she could tell. Of course, she made careful note of the fact the memories were heavily distorted, fragmented, and in general, incomplete.
She could sense the pain Eclipse was in... It took all of her willpower not to intervene, thinking she could help Eclipse further if she knew more about the cause of her pain.
Rainbow Dash lay in a hospital bed. The crash she had been in... It was bad. All of them had gathered to offer support to the recovering pegasus. Twilight looked around the room, but felt like she wasn't there at all. She could see her friends' lips moving, she knew they were talking, but she couldn't hear them.
Or maybe she wasn't listening? Twilight was preoccupied. 'She could have died...' The thought swam through her mind, forcing her to come to terms with the truth...
She broke both her wings, and punctured a lung in the crash, the full extent of her injuries... It was only because Twilight was present that Rainbow was still alive.
'Barely alive.' she corrected. She had been unconscious for a week...
She lay there, only halfway conscious, pumped full of painkillers, and thoroughly wrapped in casts. Twilight glanced around the room, a private one, something she had insisted on, and managed to get for Rainbow due to being a princess. The bright white walls of the Canterlot General Hospital reminded her of Princess Celestia's coat.
Princess Celestia had been by to see Rainbow when she heard what had happened.
The conversation she had with Twilight afterwards she would never forget...
"Princess..."
"Twilight... Rainbow is very lucky to be alive, the doctor said. If you hadn't been there-"
"He told me too." Twilight cut her off.
"You won't always be able to be with them, you know..." Celestia looked... Pained.
"What do you..." Twilight met Celestia's eyes, which bore witness to the truth. Realization struck her, "But..."
"I'm... So sorry, Twilight." Princess Celestia swallowed back the growing guilt. Both of them would move on, she was sure.
"No! I... I will find a way. I won't let that happen, Princess! I promise!"
Celestia slowly shook her head, "Twilight, it's-"
"Twilight?" Rainbow's voice cut through the memory, returning her to the present. She looked up from the floor and took a second to compose herself.
She swallowed, "Yes, Rainbow?" she asked.
"You uh... You were spacing out..." Rainbow's concern for her made her feel a slight pang of guilt, considering the situation she was in.
"I-I was?" she absently asked, then continued a second later, "Oh." A second passed, and she spoke again, "Sorry..."
"Thanks for uh... You know, saving my life..."
Twilight smiled, even if it was weak, and slightly forced, "Of course, what're friends for?"
"You can't skip out on your duties as a princess, Twilight." Celestia had said.
Twilight smirked. 'Apparently I can.' she thought, thinking back to what she did to be able to be here. Rainbow, Scootaloo, Fluttershy, and herself, camping. But not just camping anywhere, camping in the Everfree Forest. A place where everypony generally avoided.
Rainbow hammered a tent stake into the ground with a hoof. Although the 'tent' was more of a miniature castle, courtesy of one fine Rarity. Twilight levitated another tent stake, rope attached, over to Rainbow. She mentally calculated the right spot, placed it there, and nodded at Rainbow.
The process was repeated several times, and the tent castle was ready.
A night camping in the Everfree Forest, what could go wrong?
That's why Twilight was here, Rainbow and the other two would have went regardless. Twilight came along mainly because they offered, but also to keep them safe. There was only so much three fully grown pegasi could do against a hydra, even if two of them were Wonderbolts.
An alicorn on the other hoof? Twilight smiled.
"Alright guys, it's ready!" Rainbow called out. Scootaloo zoomed over to her, Rainbow stretched out a hoof, and Scootaloo met it with her own hoof.
"Aw yeah!" Scootaloo shouted. The display of sisterhood made Twilight smile even more.
Scootaloo had long looked up to Rainbow, it was only natural that she joined the Wonderbolts, following in Rainbow's hoofsteps. They were a team too. It had taken Scootaloo years to become a Wonderbolt, even with Rainbow's help training. Despite the hardships and difficulties, she never backed down from the challenge, not once.
"You coming Twilight?" Rainbow called out, holding the tent door open with a hoof.
Twilight shook her head, "Yeah, sorry. Was just thinking."
Twilight walked towards the tent, a certain uneasiness came over her, like she was being watched. It felt somehow wrong. She pushed the feeling aside, and closed the tent door behind her.
The tent was literally bigger on the inside than the outside, one advantage of magic. She looked around the house-sized room, then caught sight of the fire the others were sitting around. She walked over to them with a smile, and sat down opposite of Scootaloo.
"So what's on the agenda tonight, sis?" Scootaloo asked. Her eyes gleamed in the light of the fire, Twilight thought she saw Scootaloo smirk momentarily, but it was fleeting.
Rainbow smiled, "How about a game of truth or dare?" she gave her most daredevilish smile, Fluttershy looked away slightly.
"I um... I don't know if that's such a good idea..." Fluttershy said without meeting Rainbow's eyes.
"Oh come on Fluttershy, it'll be fun!" When that didn't convince her, she added, "Okay, how about this: whatever happens here stays here, alright? Nopony outside of this tent will know whatever you say."
Twilight furrowed her brow, she had a sneaking suspicion this had been planned beforehoof.
"Oh... Um... Okay then..."
"What do you say, Twilight?"
Twilight starred at Princess Celestia, jaw hung open. Princess Celestia starred back calmly, prepared for any argument she could face.
Twilight closed her eyes, inhaled, exhaled, and recomposed herself. "What do you mean, 'no'?" Despite her best efforts, her anger seeped into her question.
"I mean no, Twilight. I am not giving you access to the Forbidden Archives to look for that particular spell." She sighed, and poured herself more tea.
"Why not?" Twilight snapped.
"They are not ready, Twilight. Please understand-"
Twilight stood from her chair, "Celestia, I have spent decades looking for an answer. No is not the answer I was looking for."
Luna's eyes shot towards Twilight, then to her sister, whose expression remained calm and collected.
"I'm sorry, Twilight. Not even Princess Cadance is allowed to-"
Twilight turned and walked out of the room, not even waiting for Celestia to finish.
"That was interesting." Luna noted. As Twilight walked out of the room, the dreamscape slowly changed yet again, this new memory brought a shiver to her , something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong... The air held a certain malevolent chill, and was filled with dark magic. The sky was darkened by clouds, and the crumbling castle surrounding them was... Familiar.
'Our old castle...' Luna realized.
But the castle was different from the last time she had seen it, it was in a more advanced state of falling down, and walls were covered in moss. She looked down at the stone floor, noting the cracks, and individual stones which made up the structure.
It was a particularly vivid memory.
She looked around, at first glance, the castle appeared deserted, but upon closer inspection, she saw Twilight standing in front of where the two thrones were- used to be. She seemed to melt into the darkness around her... Her back was turned away from the crumbling rock, and she starred across the room, at the doorway. The look in her eyes... It made Luna shiver.
She reached out with her magic to analyze the state of Eclipse's mind when reliving this memory, confirming her fears. If Eclipse hadn't been in a deep state of sleep... Luna did not want to think of what state she would have been in. Her mind was fighting the memory, it was fighting very hard not to relive it.
It wasn't working.
She heard the sound of hoofsteps falling upon stone, it came from the direction of the doorway. Luna turned her head towards the source of the sound just in time to see Princess Celestia walk in. She looked distraught. Luna looked back to Twilight, who looked infuriated by Celestia's arrival.
Luna had a sinking feeling.
"Twilight, please..." Celestia begged, her eyes pleading.
"No!" Twilight shouted in response. "You did this! This is your fault! You killed them!"
"ENOUGH!" Luna shouted, lit her horn with magic, and dispelled the memory. She would not bear witness to where this was going. Immediately the dreamscape shifted, replacing the gloomy memory of the castle set in the Everfree with a rolling field, and the afternoon sun shining down upon them replacing the cloudy evening sky. Luna looked around, searching for Eclipse, the sound of crying drew her attention towards Eclipse.
Luna looked at her with sadness, the memories had taken their toll upon her. She stepped forwards, intending to comfort her, but paused mid stride when she thought about the last memory...
Luna pushed on, no matter the content of the memory, Eclipse was in pain, Twilight was in pain. And she regretted her actions. Luna's mind wandered back to the time she had spent with Eclipse as she walked over to the crying alicorn. Her shadow fell upon Eclipse, who slowly looked up, her eyes full of fear, and her body shaking. She looked like she would try to run away, but she did not.
"P-please..."
Luna smiled weakly, "Do not worry, Twilight..." Eclipse shrank back at hearing her name, "It's alright..." She sat down beside her and draped a wing around her, comforting her. Though there were many questions to be asked, they could wait for now...