Revisions of Past Mistakes

by SC_Orion

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Three alicorns, ranging in size from just slightly taller than a normal pony, to easily twice the size of a normal pony, sat around the dining room table. The early morning sun flooded through the window, illuminating the majestic dining room with it's rays of light. The light setting betrayed the general mood of the room, an air of defeat flowed off of Princess Luna, and general sadness radiated from Twilight. Despite only a couple days having passed, her mood had soured further, leaving the youngest alicorn very little will to do anything. She had been sequestering herself inside her room, save for meals, or tea with the princesses, for the duration of the previous two days. Spike tried to talk to her a couple of times, but generally it was met with silence.

Princess Celestia furrowed her brow as she thought about the state Twilight was in. Seeing her so distraught over Eclipse's disappearance pained her greatly. She felt the need to do something about it, to cheer her up, but she was unsure of exactly what to do. Under normal circumstances she would have her spend time with her friends, but Twilight wanted none of that currently. She seemed deep in thought whenever they were together, and she mostly ignored them.

It was disheartening to see her returning to how she had been before she met them. Princess Celestia wasn't one to just sit back and let Twilight sulk, but she knew Twilight needed time to herself. "Luna, w-"

Princess Luna shook her head, "No. They have still not found any sign of Eclipse." She lowered her head, "She eludes even me, and my attempts to find her in the dream realm." she growled lightly in frustration.

Princess Celestia sighed, "Luna, I wasn't going to ask about that... I know you would have told me if you had found something."

Luna turned towards her sister, briefly searching her for any signs of deceit. Eventually, she decided there was no deception, and slowly turned back, and starred at her mug.

Silence reigned. Princess Celestia took a sip of her tea. Somehow the liquid seemed less invigorating than usual. The liquid was still warm, and still caressed her tongue, yet it seemed... Bland. It was like the general atmosphere had somehow corrupted the liquid, infusing it with despair. Princess Celestia momentarily pondered if they were despairing, but decided they weren't.

Twilight lowered her head onto her hooves, her eyes were dull, having lost their normal happiness and joy. "This is all my fault." She stated simply, as if it was the most simple fact in the universe. A fact than even a newborn foal would know, a fact that everypony would know.

Princess Celestia's eyes narrowed, she clenched her jaw, and starred at Twilight. "Twilight. This is not your fault." her voice commanded authority, but was filled with compassion. Twilight slowly, reluctantly looked up towards Princess Celestia. Her eyes told the princess that Twilight did not believe what she had said. "Twilight. Listen to me. This is not your fault, you couldn't have known that Eclipse would disappear. You couldn't have done anything to stop that."

Twilight sighed and lifted her head from her hooves, "I know, Princess..." Twilight averted her gaze from Princess Celestia, unable to look her in the eye, "That's... Not what is bothering me... This... All of this is my fault. Eclipse is a future version of myself. And so is the evil one."

Princess Celestia frowned, "Twilight..."

"You saw what she did! She murdered an entire race! How can you still care about me?" Twilight swallowed. She hadn't meant to snap at Celestia like that.

"Twilight, I care about you because you're important to me. You will always be important to me, no matter what happens. I promised you everything would be okay, and it will be."

"You don't know that though!" Twilight shouted, though she was crying at this point. "She's been gone for days, and th-there's no sign of her!" Twilight whispered the next part, "She could be... Dead..."

Princess Celestia stood from her chair, and walked around to Twilight, who shrank back at her approach. "Twilight, the world always has a way of working things out. It. Will. Be. Okay." She smiled. After a few seconds, Twilight averted her eyes from her once more. She leaned down and nuzzled Twilight's neck, catching her by surprise. After the initial shock wore off, Twilight returned the nuzzle.

"I... I'm sorry, Princess. I didn't mean to snap at you like that..." Twilight looked away, and wiped her eyes with a hoof.

Princess Celestia gently turned Twilight's head towards her with a hoof, and summoned a cloth to dry her eyes with, "I know, Twilight."

Princess Luna smiled at her sister's display of affection towards Twilight. 'She really does love her as a mother loves her own foal...' She took a sip of her coffee. Coffee. Perhaps the greatest invention in the past thousand years that she had been made aware of. No, scratch that. THE best invention of the past thousand years. She downed the rest of the coffee and poured herself some more. The steamy liquid hit her stomach with a vengeance and soon enough the caffeine would work it's way into her system and give her a slight buzz.

---

Nightfall eyed the sleeping form of her counterpart. The fact she was still asleep could be attributed to being in a room not exposed to sunlight, the only illumination came from the glow of torches, of the magic aura of her horn. Nightfall channeled more magic into her horn, and prepared a spell. It was unfriendly for a guest to keep their host waiting, after all.

She threw her head downwards, pointing her horn at Eclipse, and immediately a beam of magic shot forth. The beam of magic landed on Eclipse's horn, and she bolted awake, nearly impaling herself in the ceiling in the process. Eclipse had to bite her tongue to keep herself from shouting.

After the initial shock wore off, she looked around and realized she was still flying in the air, her gaze settled on Nightfall, and she slowly descended.

Nightfall sneered, "Good. You're awake."

Eclipse weakly glared at Nightfall, who easily matched her glare. Eventually Eclipse averted her gaze when Nightfall extended her wings. "You don't have to do that."

"It is an efficient way of waking you up." Nightfall stated. She turned her back to Eclipse, "How have your attempts to contact Luna or Discord gone?"

Eclipse swallowed and took a step back. Her eyes darted between Nightfall and the walls of the room, hoping to find an escape route she had missed before. Unfortunately, she still only found one exit, the same one Nightfall was blocking.

Nightfall turned around and smiled, "Did you really think I wouldn't have shielded this room specifically to prevent that? I would have thought you would have been smart enough to realize that I would have included that in with the dampening field."

Eclipse stepped forwards, "They will find me sooner or later. You will lose, Nightfall."

"Yes. They will find you. When I want them to." Nightfall stepped forwards, and extended a wing towards Eclipse, then ran a feather along her neck, "As for me losing? Keep telling yourself that." she spoke sweetly. She quickly withdrew her wing and turned, "Who knows, maybe you'll actually start to believe that." She started walking to out of the room.

"We still have the Elements of Harmony." Eclipse smugly stated. Nightfall paused.

"Yes, yes I suppose you do." Nightfall turned her head towards Eclipse, "You make it oh so tempting to just end them right now, you know that?"

Eclipse's smile remained, "But you won't do that, will you?"

Nightfall gritted her teeth.

"You want to make them, who you have said before aren't your friends, pay for something they had no control over. Well you're right about one thing. They aren't your friends. But that is your own choice, Nightfall." Eclipse shook her head sadly, "Your arrogance and hate will be your undoing."

"You're just trying to get to me. Just like with Starlight. Well it won't work. There is literally nothing you can do to stop me, I could kill you right here, right now." Nightfall glared at Eclipse.

"Do you really want that?" Eclipse smiled sadly, "You are so alone, but you don't have to be that way."

Nightfall felt a momentary pang of guilt in her heart. She immediately crushed it with an iron hoof. 'I will not be stopped.' She turned and left without another word.

---

Rainbow Dash casually flew through the massive doorway into the throne room, at the sound of doors opening, Princess Celestia looked up from the document she had been reading. The guards at either side of the door glanced at her wearily, then returned their gaze straightforwards, they were all familiar with the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, it only took a momentary glance to identify the rainbow maned pegasus as the bearer of the Element of Loyalty.

Rainbow payed this no mind, of course, and continued flying towards Princess Celestia. Upon realizing that Rainbow Dash wanted to talk to her, Princess Celestia teleported the paper and quill away to retrieve later, and watched her approach. Once Rainbow neared the princess, she slowed down, then landed, and bowed respectfully.

"Yes, Rainbow Dash?" Princess Celestia was happy for a reprieve, no matter how brief, from dealing with tax code. Unless it meant something bad had happened. Princess Celestia frowned for a second before she brushed that thought off. If something had happened, the guards would be freaking out over it undoubtedly. As if that wasn't enough to disprove the idea that something bad had happened, Rainbow had been calm when flying inside, rather than panicking.

"Princess, I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help with the search for Eclipse?" Rainbow's trademark determination was evident in her voice, and her eyes shone with a spark of eagerness that reminded her of a younger Twilight Sparkle who had come under her wing. "She saved my life before, and I want to return the favor."

Princess Celestia frowned sadly, "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash. It's too dangerous for you to help search for Eclipse."

"But-" Rainbow started to argue, however a raised hoof from Princess Celestia silenced her argument.

"However... Perhaps you could tell me more about what you talked to Eclipse about? It could provide some clue you may not be aware of." Princess Celestia stood from her throne, and calmly walked closer to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow thought it over for a moment, "Yeah... Sure."

"Walk with me." Celestia softly commanded, then started walking towards the throne room doors.

"Sure..." Rainbow replied, and started after her. The pair left the throne room and entered into the hallway. It wasn't long before Rainbow stopped walking and started flying. Princess Celestia suppressed a giggle at that, how the pegasus would fly almost everywhere, even when asked to walk.

'She sure loves her wings... Not surprising after all.' Princess Celestia thought, remembering her victory at the Best Young Fliers Competition.

They continued walking for several minutes, the silence was starting to get to Rainbow, it did not help that it seemed like Princess Celestia had no destination in mind as they wondered the hallways. "So uh, where are we going anyway?"

'That took her longer than I expected.' Princess Celestia noted. "How have you been?" she redirected.

"Uh, okay I guess." said a confused Rainbow Dash.

"Enjoying Canterlot?"

"Yeah it's okay. I mean, I'd rather be out practicing... But... Well... Yeah..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her head with a hoof.

Princess Celestia stopped walking, and turned towards Rainbow. "You and Eclipse are fairly close, right?"

"Sort of I guess. She saved my life and all that, so..." Rainbow landed and shifted on her hooves.

"Eclipse seems to have trusted you deeply, she went to you instead of my sister, Twilight, or myself, to talk to that night. Are you sure you don't know why she chose you specifically?"

"Well, not really. Oh! Uh, she said that she wanted me to never abandon her or Twilight. She acted somewhat strange about it too, she was worried you'd all hate her or something. I told her she didn't need to worry about that..."

Princess Celestia furrowed her brow in thought, perhaps Rainbow could help Eclipse by helping Twilight? Rainbow had taught Twilight how to fly after all, and who knows what else had happened after that. "Maybe she intended for you to cheer Twilight up if something like this happened?"

"I don't know..." Rainbow thought for a second, "Maybe, but I don't think she knew this was going to happen."

Celestia bobbled her head, "Probably not."

Rainbow looked at Celestia expectantly, "So... You want me to go hang out with Twilight? To take her mind off of things?"

Princess Celestia nodded, "Yes, I believe that would help Twilight. Perhaps you two could go flying or something?"

"Yeah, maybe. She does get worked up over things..."

"Then I will leave you to it." Princess Celestia smiled, and nodded her head towards the door, and began walking back towards the throne room.

Rainbow was confused over why she nodded towards the door. After thinking about it for a moment, it clicked. She recognized the hallway now, and that was Twilight and Eclipse's room. Princess Celestia had somehow kept her from realizing that until just now. She walked over to the door and knocked.

No answer.

Rainbow raised her hoof to knock again, but the door opened before she could. "Hey..."

"Hey yourself." Twilight stepped aside, allowing Rainbow inside. She closed the door after Rainbow, then walked to the balcony. The door had been left open, and a warm breeze flowed into the room.

"Princess Celestia wanted me to talk to you." Rainbow walked out onto the balcony, joining Twilight. The city of Canterlot in all of it's majestic glory was spread out before them. The gold topped marble towers, and manors belonging to the countless nobles that lived in the unicorn dominated capital distinguished the city from every other city in Equestria. None could hope to match the sheer beauty of such a city, expect perhaps Cloudsdale, with it's distinct pegasi architecture, or the Crystal Empire. Rainbow looked around, then noticed Twilight was looking off towards Ponyville.

"I... I'm not okay. This..." Twilight shook her head.

"Look, Twilight, it's going to be okay. We always beat the bad guys. We're just that awesome." Rainbow smiled, eliciting a small smile from Twilight. "Besides, Eclipse can take care of herself."

Twilight turned and took a step towards Rainbow, "Can she though?" She frowned, "She had to convert some of her life into magic in order to save you, Rainbow. She shouldn't have had to do that..."

"Twilight, Eclipse has a plan. How do I know this? Because you are Eclipse. She's just an older version of you."

Twilight looked away, "And what does that say about..."

Rainbow sighed, "Look, I was supposed to cheer you up. That's obviously not working, and since you're so interested in talking about Eclipse..." Rainbow sat down on her haunches. "She definitely has a plan, Twilight."

"I somehow don't think getting captured was a part of that plan." Twilight replied evenly.

Rainbow rubbed her head, "Haha... Ha... Yeah..." Twilight looked at the floor. "We still don't know for sure she was captured. Maybe she's just taking a break or something?"

"She's not... I just know that something is wrong. I felt it ever since that morning when she was missing." Twilight looked at Rainbow, "I just know something is wrong."

"And you blame yourself?" Rainbow asked. Twilight looked away, and her ears fell. Rainbow's mouth drew into a line. "Twilight." Rainbow paused, waiting for Twilight to look at her. After a few seconds of silence, Twilight looked back to Rainbow, not quite meeting her gaze, "It's not your fault."

"But it-"

"No. Twilight, I'm not having any of that." Rainbow stood up, "It is not your fault, and you know it."

"You just don't get it, do you?" Twilight asked softly.

"Look, you couldn't have stopped her from disappearing or getting captured or whatever."

Twilight shook her head, "They are both me, Rainbow. I... I do things in the future that..." She lowered her head and tightly closed her eyes.

Rainbow sighed, "Okay so... Maybe you do, or maybe you don't. Like Eclipse said, her presence might have already changed how things turn out, so you could be worrying over nothing."

"But... Knowing that I'm capable of doing that..."

"Twilight, you're capable of doing a LOT. I don't know anypony who knows as many spells as you do," she threw her arms out for emphasis, "I don't even think Princess Celestia or Princess Luna know half as many spells as you do!"

"But they're both so... Perfect..."

"Twilight, Princess Luna let her grief get the best of her. And Princess Celestia didn't notice it, or try to stop it. Neither of them are perfect, nopony is. Not me, nor you."

"I... I guess you're right." Twilight relented. "It's just so hard..."

"Eclipse told me not to abandon either of you, no matter what happens. I pinkie promised I wouldn't. But don't forget all of us are here for you, we all care about you. It's gonna be alright." She smiled.

Twilight turned towards her, "But what if it's not? What then?"

Rainbow weighed her options, blunt truth, or reassurance? She had been trying reassurance, and it didn't seem to be working. "If it's not okay? Then you destroy the world, apparently. At least according to Eclipse." Twilight looked horrified. "Now, are you going to sit around moping, or are you going to do something about it?"

"I... You're right. Sitting around worrying about it isn't going to make it better..." Twilight sighed, "But I don't know what to do, though. We don't know where she is, and Princess Celestia wants us to stay here..."

"They'll find her. Just give it time."

Twilight chuckled lightly, "You telling me to be patient..." She smiled and shook her head. "Thanks."

Author's Note:

I enjoyed re-reading this chapter.

Thoughts? Opinions? Care to take a guess at what's going to happen over the next few chapters?

Comments

[Maze Tail]

Oh LOVE THE CHAPTER love love love it and I am guessing some conflict between Twilight. I gathered a hypothesis on if the older versions of princess Twilight die they will have no effect because they live in different relity now. If the young version of Twilight dies relities would never exist in the relity making them not real and never happening but still exist by there different outcomes.

[SC_Orion]

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I hope you're looking forwards to a happy ending. There should be a somewhat surprising plot twist soon...
Well, unless you saw it coming.