//------------------------------// // Harbinger // Story: Revisions of Past Mistakes // by SC_Orion //------------------------------// Something was obviously wrong. Of course, Eclipse could have told anypony who asked that anyway. The sun and moon went insane earlier, and night had came a few hours early. A mistake Nightfall would not have made, which raised the question, 'What is happening...' Eclipse could only divert some of her attention to that question however, the rest of her attention was on the group of guards bowing to her. The captain had called her "Princess Eclipse." Celestia was going to get a piece of her mind when... If... She ever saw her again. "Uh... Right..." Eclipse turned towards Twilight, who stood beside her. Eclipse felt a tinge of jealousy, her younger self fared better than she had when falling, somehow. She glanced towards the guards, who had risen at her acknowledgement, then back to Twilight. "Shouldn't you be taking care of this!?" she whispered. "You heard what he said, Princess Celestia left you in charge!" Twilight retorted. "I shouldn't be the one leading them... You don't know what I did!" She nervously glanced back to the guards and smiled. "Celestia trusts you with this, I trust you with this. Besides, you have more experience than I do." Twilight replied. Eclipse muttered something inaudible under her breath, then turned back to the guards. "Duly noted. Dismissed." The guards bowed again, and started marching off. Once the guards had left the Throne Room, and shut the doors, Eclipse turned to Twilight. Twilight smiled sheepishly. Eclipse absently shook her head. "Well, you're the acting princess now. What're we going to do?" Eclipse laughed awkwardly, "Aside from panic until Nightfall kills us all?" Twilight glared at her. "Right... Sorry. I don't understand why we're not dead yet." "Maybe you should be a little more optimistic?" Twilight encouraged. "You don't get it... No, never mind. It's -the middle of the night-, Nightfall should have acted already. Something's wrong." "If you want, we could try contacting Cadance and our brother." Eclipse shook her head, "No, it's too dangerous for them, they're go-" Eclipse shut her mouth. After a few seconds, it became apparent she wasn't going to continue, "Okay... Then..." Twilight replied at length. Eclipse looked towards the pair of thrones, "I'm not sitting on her throne." Eclipse stated flatly. "I didn't expect you to." Twilight stated softly. "I'm exhausted... That battle took a lot out of me, and then... This... I'm going to go crazy," she paused, then deadpanned, "again." "Hey, at least you can joke about it, right?" Twilight asked with a bright smile. Eclipse smiled lightly, "Yeah, I guess..." Eclipse turned back towards Twilight, "How are you holding up? I know the girls already asked you a thousand times, but..." Eclipse grimaced. "I'm... I'm okay. It could be a while for my magic to recover-" Twilight lit her horn, producing a light purple aura, "but at least I can levitate things." Eclipse nodded, "Do you want me to give you some of my magic?" Twilight's smile faded, "Eclipse... You can't keep using that spell, it will kill you." Eclipse looked passed Twilight, 'Fitting.' she mused. "I suppose you're right... If we had the Elements you could draw power from them." "You need to stop blaming yourself about that." Twilight replied with firmness. "Think Rainbow's still mad at me?" Eclipse asked, changing the subject. "I... Don't think she ever was mad at you, just... Annoyed..." Twilight replied slowly. "Hmm... Maybe..." She shook her head, "Well, at least we're all still alive, I can still fix everything." Twilight swallowed, "You really... You really outlived all of them?" Eclipse clenched her jaw, "Treasure them while we're still here, lest I-we, should fail." she stated softly. Twilight nodded solemnly as she thought about it. "How... Do you know things will turn out the same way here?" Twilight asked. Eclipse sighed softly, "In all honesty, I don't know for a fact it would have... Ended badly in this reality... But I'm not going to let what happen, happen again." Twilight frowned. "I'm going to go talk to Rainbow... In case Nightfall was just waiting for a certain moment, you may want to go talk to anypony you want to for one last time..." Eclipse started walking towards the door. Twilight bit her lip, "Is... Is it alright if I come with you? Or do you want to be... Alone?" Eclipse paused, and turned her head towards Twilight, "You may come along if you wish." Twilight smiled and rushed over beside Eclipse. Nightfall laid against the crystal wall of the Castle of Friendship, silently cursing Starlight Glimmer, as she had for the past several hours. Her strength was finally starting to return, but the long distance teleport she had in mind would leave her magic very drained, despite having rested for most previous hour. She slowly pulled herself up from the floor, wincing as she did so. The pain emanating from her body, located just below her rib cage, was a result of Starlight's violent use of the spell. Starlight had not intended to deliver a killing blow immediately. 'Incompetent foal.' she thought with a snarl, 'You will die for this.' She stepped forwards, wincing lightly as she moved her back right leg. 'Slowly.' she added. She slowly, and painfully, made her way over to the Cutie Map. She sighed, then grimaced. Trusting Starlight was a mistake, she should have known that and looked for another way. 'Now she is a threat to us all.' Starlight was a unicorn with a talent for magic, well versed in battle, and now had two alicorn's cutie marks aiding her. Nightfall did not have the strength to kill her on her own. She hated that, it made her feel sick to her stomach. She turned her head to look at her injury, she had exerted herself trying to repair the damage Starlight had done, to limited success. The blood was still there, having not taken time to clean it, but it was dry. She needed assistance, help. She needed friends. She grit her teeth as she thought it. She huffed with disdain, and looked back at the Cutie Map, and turned to Canterlot. She lit her horn, preparing to cast her teleportation spell, but paused. Instead, she withdrew the Elements of Harmony, and glared at them, the Element of Magic in particular. "You had something to do with this, didn't you?" Silence greeted her question. "You think you can stop me this way? You're wrong." she stated firmly. She glared at the gem for several seconds before putting them back in her pocket dimension, welcoming their absence. She redirected her magic into a long distance teleportation, and cast the spell, focusing on Canterlot. The Canterlot Castle, to be specific. She disappeared in a flash of magic, the light reflected off the crystal walls and briefly illuminated the entire room, then dissipated. She reappeared with a flash of light, somewhere in the general vicinity of where she believed Eclipse's room to be. As the light died down, and she became aware of her surroundings, she felt air rushing passed her. On instinct, she flared out her wings, ignoring the pain from her side, and caught herself. She hovered in place, looking around as she gathered her bearings. She frowned at the wall she faced, noting it was an exterior wall. A quick glance downwards revealed a balcony a few feet below her. She frowned more deeply, 'My aim is off.' she noted. She slowly lowered herself, then touched down lightly, doing her best to avoid further agitation of her injury. "No guards are yelling at me to stop, and no guards guarding the door. This security is pitiful." she mumbled to herself. She began walking towards the door, wincing with each step, and doing her best to both hide and ignore it. She narrowed her eyes as she approached the door, noting a crack along it's edge. She lifted a hoof and gently pushed on the door, which swung open at her touch. '...She can't be that incompetent.' Nightfall clenched her jaw. She quickly peeked her head inside, despite not having her horn lit, she was prepared to charge it at a moment's notice, to defend herself. She was greeted with darkness, Eclipse was obviously asleep. Her head swept across the room, then settled on the bed. She frowned, whoever was in bed looked too small to be her double. 'Twilight.' she thought. The thought brought a momentary pang of guilt, and of sadness. She forced the pain away, and stepped closer to the bed. The light from the moon didn't quite reach the pony laying on the bed, but it did provide enough illumination so that as she approached, she could tell it wasn't her younger self. She frowned, and stepped closer, cautiously. Her eyes widened, 'That... Mane...' she felt her heart skip a beat, "Rainbow..." she spoke so softly she could barely hear herself. She swallowed, the pain from her side was forgot as memories surged through her mind. "No." she spoke softly, but powerfully. 'You are not her...' The pegasus moved in her sleep, causing Nightfall a combination of discomfort, and fear. 'Fear...? No... I am Nightfall. I'm not... Twilight. Not anymore, she is dead.' 'But that hasn't happened yet.' part of herself reminded her. She clenched her jaw, unsure of what to do, and how to react. She lifted a leg, and stepped closer to her, her heart pounded faster and harder with each step. She paused as she reached the bed, and just looked over her sleeping form. Her mind was filled with conflicting ideas and memories, each vying for control. She swallowed again. Part of her wanted to wrap her wings around Rainbow, and just hold onto her, restoring any shreds of sanity she had left. The other part wanted to kill her, painfully. Neither part managed to win, their battle was disrupted by the sound of the door creaking open. She had been distracted and not heard knocking, or perhaps they hadn't knocked... Her eyes shot towards the door, Eclipse walked in followed by Twilight. Eclipse was turned away from Nightfall, and didn't notice her at first. That changed when Twilight saw her. Twilight's smile left her face, and she immediately lit her horn, faint and weak though it was. Eclipse took a moment to process Twilight's change, then her head shot towards Nightfall, horn aglow. For several seconds, nopony moved, blinked, or breathed. Dead silence filled the room, the only sound coming from Twilight and Eclipse's horns, you could have heard a quill drop. Nightfall glanced back towards Rainbow, her expression softening as she did. She looked back to Eclipse, "Balcony." she commanded. Eclipse cautiously stepped forwards, never once taking her eyes off of Nightfall. Nightfall eyed Eclipse as she approached for a few seconds, then turned her back to her, and shook her head, then walked out onto the balcony. As she exited the door, she heard the sound of rapid hoofsteps falling on the carpeted floor, too light to be Eclipse's. She came to a stop at the railing, and rested her front left hoof on the cold metal. A few seconds later, Eclipse was standing beside her, glaring daggers at her, and pointing her horn downwards, but not quite angled at her. "Nightfall." she acknowledged. "Eclipse." Nightfall acknowledged. For several seconds, they stood silently, the only sound coming from Eclipse's magic aura. "What... Do you want?" Eclipse finally asked, hiding her distaste. Nightfall inhaled, then exhaled. "As I'm sure you have undoubtedly realized by now... Things did not go according to my plan." "I figured as much." Eclipse said evenly. Nightfall looked away from the stars, and towards Eclipse, "Starlight Glimmer has betrayed me." "That explains the night..." Eclipse mused. "But why are you here? You didn't come all this way just to tell me this." "Of course not." Nightfall replied. "I require your assistance to deal with her." Eclipse stared at Nightfall, then blinked. "Why? Why should I even let you live, let alone help you? You're a threat to everypony alive, everything alive..." "She has both Luna and Celestia's cutie marks." Nightfall explained, "You cannot beat her alone." Eclipse smiled, "So what you're saying is, you need friends?" Nightfall glared at Eclipse, "You could phrase it that way, if you so choose. Though I will take this moment to remind you that we did not forget about the magic of friendship." Eclipse nodded her head, "You still plan on destroying everything, then." Nightfall snorted, "Of course. But that is irrelevant. Starlight Glimmer is a threat to us all. If she enslaves the world with her equality, everypony will be miserable. That is something I cannot abide by." Eclipse filed away Nightfall's reasoning to ponder later, she had a feeling she could use it against her later. "I expect you to abide by my rules, if I agree to this." Nightfall rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes. I will be good, just do not expect me to be nice." "We'll see..." Eclipse nodded. "What about the Elements? And Celestia and Luna?" "I am not giving you the Elements, Eclipse. It would be foolish of me. In regards to them... Starlight has them... I was... Forced to flee from her attack." "Are you okay?" Eclipse asked with concern. "Save your pity." Nightfall commanded. "We have... Work to do." She bobbled her head with uncertainty, "I... However, am not... Doing okay." she reluctantly admitted. "I do not have a lot of magic right now, and I am injured." "I'm surprised... You would tell me that, considering..." Eclipse shook her head, and channeled her magic away from her horn. "If you were going to attack me, you would have done it already. No, you're too incompetent to do so, and as I have revealed my helpless state, you would be unable to bring yourself to do the deed. Not to mention your foalish belief that you can make me choose to stop." "You know... If that's the way you treated Starlight, I'm surprised she didn't betray you sooner." Nightfall clenched her jaw. "Perhaps." "I'll... Make arrangements for you to stay in the Castle... If you attack anypony, however..." Eclipse trailed off as she turned. "I will not harm them, nor anypony." Nightfall replied. Eclipse stepped into the room, and immediately looked at Twilight, who still had her horn lit. She was standing beside Rainbow's bed, and watched Eclipse walk in. Eclipse pursed her lips, "Nightfall... Starlight has betrayed her... She has both Celestia and Luna's cutie marks... Nightfall has agreed to help us stop her..." "So she-" Eclipse shook her head, cutting her off, "She still wants to kill everything, but has agreed to... Postpone it until we've dealt with Starlight... I'm going to make arrangements for her to stay here." "You can't be serious! You know what she has done!" Twilight stepped towards Eclipse. Eclipse sighed, "Yes, I do... I still hope to... Heal her. Surely you want that too, don't you? She is you, after all." Twilight paused to consider her words. "I... Why? Why did this all happen to me?" Eclipse looked away and grimaced, "I will tell you what heppened when you are older... As for why it happened to us..." A snore from Rainbow reminded them they weren't alone, "She's still sleeping?" "I'm guessing the effects of that spell didn't entirely wear off... What about the princesses? And the Elements?" "Starlight has Celestia and Luna... And Nightfall won't give me the Elements. I asked." Eclipse yawned. "I need to arrange accommodations for Nightfall... We can discuss this further tomorrow, when everypony is present." Twilight sighed as she nodded her head, "Right..." Nightfall stepped into the lush palace room, her eyes immediately fell upon the alicorn sized bed. As soon as she saw it, tiredness hit her like a train. She walked towards it, "I hope this is acceptable, Nightfall." Eclipse stated. Nightfall waited until she reached the bed, she rested a hoof on the red, velvety sheets, "It is." "Well... Goodnight, I guess. Is there anything else I can do for you?" "Leave." Nightfall commanded. Eclipse sighed, "If you would like to join us for breakfast... I'm sure you remember where, and when... Well, if Starlight hasn't thrown everypony off..." Eclipse shook her head, and stepped back out into the hallway, then closed the door. Nightfall glanced around the room, eyes heavy laden, she cared very little for the decor, and once again turned her attention to the bed. She lit her horn and pulled back the covers, then slowly moved to lay down, wincing as she once again agitated her injury. Once she was lying down, she pulled the covers over her chest. The bed was so comfy, it was bliss compared to what she had been sleeping on for so long... She quickly fell into a state of deep sleep, but it was not dreamless. Rather, it was both plagued, and blessed with dreams. Had anypony been watching her sleep, they would have noticed the fur on her face becoming damp.