Revisions of Past Mistakes

by SC_Orion

Of Change

Nightfall pushed open the dining room doors with a hoof and strode inside, immediately, the room fell silent as everypony present turned to look at the arrival. Nightfall momentarily staggered at the sight of all her friends- 'No. They are not my friends. They are dead.' She eyed each pony sharply in turn, but refused to look at Eclipse, Twilight, or Rainbow. She silently strolled over to the table, and walked passed everypony, then sat down at the far end of the table, a few seats away from the others.

The others gaze lingered on her, even as a servant walked over to her, but kept his distance, and levitated a plate, along with a bowl of some concoction the kitchen had created, over to the table, and set it down. The servant swallowed, and nervously glanced around as he fumbled with the spoon he held with his magic. He eventually righted it, and gently set it down on the table. Nightfall turned her head to look at him dispassionately, he smiled nervously. Nightfall slowly turned her head back straight forwards, facing the others who were watching her. Her eyes lingered on the servant for a few more seconds, then she glanced at Eclipse.

Eclipse cleared her throat, "Yes... Well... Thank you, please leave us." she nodded towards the servant and guards also. The servants and guards happily, and quickly, obliged her command, leaving the eight ponies and dragon in silence. Nightfall's gaze lingered upon Eclipse, who glanced around at everypony. They all seemed... Nervous, which was to be expected, but their gaze... It was focused on Nightfall's dragon-like eyes, the serpentine slits. Eclipse swallowed, "Everypony... Nightfall, Nightfall... You remember everypony..."

Rainbow fidgeted in her seat, an action which immediately drew Nightfall's attention. She froze. Nightfall stared at Rainbow for several seconds, her face seemed to grow less menacing with each pacing second, until she finally averted her gaze. Nightfall looked to Eclipse, "You did a poor job of comforting them about my presence."

Twilight's heart skipped a beat when she heard the voice. She had heard it before, but still... That voice... Knowing that it was hers, yet not hers... Knowing that it, according to Eclipse, COULD happen to her... She shuddered internally.

"You did... Arrive suddenly..." Eclipse stated, eyes focused on Rainbow, who fidgeted in her seat and ruffled her wings at the mention of Nightfall's arrival.

Nightfall sighed, her voice softening, "I suppose I did." She looked to each pony present, and Spike, then back to Eclipse. "I do believe the term 'awkward' would apply quite well to this situation."

Rarity cleared her throat, "Ah... Yes... Well..."

Nightfall rolled her eyes, and looked at Rarity, "I thought she mentioned that I have promised not to harm any of you." When it became apparent that the others were about to smile, she quickly added, "For now."

"Eclipse did..." Twilight stated softly, wincing as Nightfall looked at her.

Silence droned on for several seconds, eventually, Nightfall grew tired of it, and shook her head. She lit her horn, an action Eclipse mimicked out of fear, and picked up her spoon. Eclipse's gaze lingered on Nightfall for a few seconds, then she looked to her own spoon, and picked it up. Nightfall levitated a spoonful of the soup to her mouth, and swallowed. The soup was good, but she couldn't quite place the flavor. Of course, it had been a while since she had anything to eat at the Canterlot Castle. She took another spoonful and mulled the taste over in her mouth, 'Pitiful and inefficient.' she thought.

"Despite my promise, you all still do not trust that I will not attack you?" Nightfall asked, eyes constantly switching between each pony and boring into them.

"According to Eclipse here, ya killed Princess Luna in your own timeline, then ya killed the changelings here, and are responsible for who knows how much else." Applejack stated flatly.

"And um... You do look a bit..." Fluttershy hit behind her mane as Nightfall's gaze settled upon her, "Eeep!"

Nightfall snorted, "The magic of friendship at its finest." she said sarcastically.

"Nightfall." Eclipse glared at her.

"How..." Twilight shook her head exasperatedly, "Did you forget about the magic of friendship? All the good times we shared together with them!?"

"No." Nightfall stated. She turned to Eclipse, "We never forgot about the magic of friendship." she said condescendingly. "Isn't that right, Eclipse?" she singsonged.

All eyes turned to Eclipse, who grimaced, but nodded weakly.

Nightfall looked to her soup, "And you expect seeing them, and talking to them... To convince me to change..." she mumbled.

"What was that?" Eclipse asked.

Nightfall's eyes shot towards her, "Nothing of your concern." she shot back at Eclipse.

Everypony present, including Spike, grimaced and glanced around uneasily at each other.

Pinkie Pie hopped out of her chair, and ran over to Nightfall, and hugged her, catching the alicorn by surprise. Nightfall's wings popped out of their own accord, she stared at Pinkie Pie in confusion, but did not push her back. Several seconds later, Pinkie let go and stepped back, smiling softly. "What?" Nightfall asked, confused as to why she would be the recipient of a Pinkie Pie hug.

"I could just tell that you needed a hug..." Pinkie replied softly.

"I do not need a hug." Nightfall replied through clenched teeth.

Pinkie closed her eyes and bounced back towards her seat, "You're welcome!" she beamed, ignoring Nightfall's tone.

"This changes nothing, I still-"

Pinkie cut Nightfall off, "Of course it does, silly! You got a hug from a friend!"

"You are not my friends. They are all dead, and nothing will change that." Everypony, including Pinkie Pie, cringed. Pinkie in particular seemed to deflate upon hearing that.

Eclipse nodded, "Maybe not... But they-we, can be."

Nightfall ignored Eclipse, and returned her attention to the bowl of soup before her, and began to eat in earnest.

---

"Princess Eclipse!" a guard shouted. Eclipse stopped mid stride and winced.

Eclipse slowly lowered her hoof to the floor, "Yes?"

The guard bowed to her after he stopped in front of her. "The nobles wish to know what you intend to do about court, and they wish to know where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are. Somehow they found out they are not here. They also found out about you, Princess."

"I thought Cel- Princess Celestia suspended court?"

"Only for that day, your highness."

Eclipse grimaced, "Court is suspended until further notice. They won't like it, but we have bigger issues to deal with. Ce- Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are unavailable." 'Not a lie.'

"Yes, Princess." he saluted, turned, and ran off to take care of the matter.

Eclipse shook her head, and mumbled under her breath, "Nobles..." Eclipse started walking again.

---

Eclipse knocked on the door with a hoof. She couldn't hear anything beyond the door, but that didn't mean anything. She sighed. This wasn't going to be easy, but it was something she should have done sooner. Of course, her mind came up with many excuses as to why she didn't do it sooner, but they were just that: excuses. Oh, she had legitimate reasons as to why it took her so long, but it was no excuse for why she hadn't done it sooner. Putting it off would serve no purpose, other than to increase the duration of her distress.

She knew in her heart that Fluttershy couldn't hate her... It wasn't in her nature. But... A small part of her mind simply refused to believe that. And it wouldn't until she had talked to her about... Things... It... Would be hard on both of them... But... Especially Fluttershy. She was so... So kind, and timid. Always being so nice... But Fluttershy cared so much for others, and her animals... Life in general. Eclipse knew it was hard on Fluttershy, learning that Nightfall had killed the changelings...

She grimaced, remembering how Fluttershy broke out into sobs... And then possibly making matters worse, she couldn't bring herself to tell them the full truth... And she had denied both Fluttershy and Pinkie... Knowing Nightfall's plans. At least temporarily... They eventually found out, of course.

The more she thought about it, the more she dreaded talking to Fluttershy alone. She turned her head to the right, and glanced down the hallway, then repeated the action to her left. She slowly took a step back, and turned to leave. She shook her head, but paused when she heard the door opening. "Eclipse?" Fluttershy asked with a soft smile.

"Hey... Fluttershy..." Eclipse mentally berated herself for her weak attempt at delaying their conversation. "I... Can we talk? I... I know I haven't spent much time with you... And I'm sorry... I..."

Fluttershy nodded, and stepped back, granting Eclipse entrance into the room. Eclipse hesitated for a brief moment before entering.

"We... Need to talk. I know you're not comfortable around Nightfall, because of what she did..." Eclipse closed her eyes and sighed.

Fluttershy lost her smile, and swallowed.

"And not just... About that, but..." Eclipse shook her head, "This is harder than I expected..."

Fluttershy stepped closer to Eclipse, concerned for her friend, "What's wrong?"

"My coming here... You all had to leave what you were doing behind for safety reasons, you-"

Fluttershy shook her head, "That was because of Nightfall, not you."

"She's... Still another version of me, though... I know how much you love tending to your animal friends, and... I took that away from you." she finished softly.

Fluttershy smiled, "But they're not as important to me as you girls are. Besides, I'm sure Derpy is taking good care of them."

Eclipse chuckled lightly, "Yeah..." She paused for several seconds, then spoke again, "I feel... No, you deserve to know... Before, when Nightfall... Killed the changelings," Fluttershy winced, and fought against her emotions to remain calm, "I didn't tell you how I knew what she had done..." Eclipse paused, and turned towards Fluttershy, "I... I know because I... I did it before..." Eclipse swallowed. 'It was the only way... But I regret it...' "I didn't tell you before because... I was afraid, and... I wasn't ready to tell you all..." 'And I wanted to spare you the discomfort...'

"Eclipse..." Fluttershy spoke softly. It pained her to hear what Eclipse had said, yet... She knew Eclipse needed her, that she was in pain... But...

"I... I know you probably hate me now, but..."

"Eclipse... I... We could never hate you, you're-"

Eclipse chuckled lightly, "Yet you all... Hate... Ah, never mind... It's not important." Eclipse shook her head, "I don't want to lose you all again... Whatever may be the cause..." She walked over to Fluttershy and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her body into her own. Fluttershy laid her head against Eclipse chest. "I haven't been a good friend to you girls since I returned... Nowhere near as good as you have been to me... I don't deserve any of you."

"Eclipse," Fluttershy pulled back, she looked up at Eclipse with a hurt expression, "Don't say that! You're still hurting, we can all see it!"

"It's no excuse..." Eclipse lamented, 'Besides, it's true that I don't deserve any of you... I lost you once before... And... Myself...' "I just wish I could do more for you all... I did have a plan to make it up to you all but..." she shook her head.

"You're trying... And that's what really matters." Fluttershy smiled.

"You sound like Rainbow... Or maybe she's starting to sound like you..." Eclipse shook her head. "I... I do feel better, having talked to you about this... I still have a lot to..." she tailed off and grimaced. "Just... Please give Nightfall a chance... I think we can help her, and if there's even the smallest chance... I feel obliged to try..." 'Of course if we can't... I won't let her hurt any of you...'

Fluttershy nodded, "I'll... I'll try."

---

Twilight lay in her bed, lounging, relaxing. Something she desperately needed. Especially if she was to recover her magic as quickly as possible. She had looked forwards to breakfast with her friends... But now with Nightfall being here... It hadn't been relaxing, the atmosphere had been too tense... And with Nightfall's reminder that they weren't friends, which killed everypony's desire to talk... "How am I supposed to deal with this?" Twilight asked, feeling at a loss. Both Eclipse and Nightfall were her, just older. With what Eclipse had told her, and how Nightfall was... It frightened her, knowing what her future had held for them. And they were her, thus it would have happened to her, had they not intervened... She could have ended up-

"I honestly don't know how you're dealing with it so well."

Rainbow's response drew Twilight's attention, she looked towards Rainbow, who was lying on the other bed, on her back, wings spread out, and resting her head on her hooves. "I don't either... I mean... I should be all freaked out about this... not just Nightfall, but... Princess Celestia and Luna... And then the fact that..." 'Nightfall... I... Attacked Princess Celestia and Luna... And won... Starlight Glimmer has-'

Rainbow looked towards Twilight, "Maybe it's a good thing?"

Twilight smiled, "Yeah, prob-" she lost her smile, "But... What if it's not? What if... What if something's wrong with me? I mean... Look at what happened to Nightfall, she-"

"Twilight. You are not, I repeat, not. Nightfall. I really don't think that could ever happen to you. I mean, come on! You do have your... Episodes... But still! You'd never do anything like what Nightfall has done!"

Twilight held her jaw shut while Rainbow spoke, after she finished, and she smiled weakly, then returned to panic mode, "But... I... I had a dark magic infection! Sure, Princess Celestia cleansed it, but still! That shouldn't have been able to happen to me! And who knows what lasting effects that could have! I... I could..."

Rainbow rolled over onto her stomach, and repositioned herself so that she was facing Twilight, "Look, Twilight, even if that has a lasting effect on you, it'd be hundreds of years before you turned into Nightfall!"

"I'm not Nightfall..." she shook her head. "I... I could never think of you as anything less than a friend..." she added quietly.

"Of course you're not Nightfall!" Rainbow smiled smugly, "You think we'd let that happen?"

"No, of course not. But... That doesn't change the fact she still exists."

"Maybe not..." Rainbow drawled. "But... You don't have to let that happen. It's not like it's set in stone or anything, just look at Eclipse!"

Twilight opened her mouth to lecture Rainbow on her experience with time travel, but paused when she thought about what Eclipse had said. She smiled, 'At the very least, there are multiple futures, surely not all of them can be that bad...' "I guess you're right."

---

Nightfall gazed into the Element of Magic, watching as it's angles were illuminated and then darkened as the other Elements she held with her magic rotated around it. She watched on with curiosity, every few seconds the Element of Magic faintly glow with an inner light, a soft shade of pink, momentarily banishing the reflected light from it's surfaces. It was a curious reaction, one which she had not seen before. "So now you react to my magic, or my presence? Useless." She exhaled sharply, and threw her head towards the balcony.

"Despite what they may say, we know it's too late, don't we?" Nightfall narrowed her eyes.

The only sound was the sound of Nightfall using her magic.

"Yet she still tries... And then you... You seem to think that this will... Stop me?" She levitated the Element of magic closer to her, and turned her head back towards it,"Your last attempt to prevent me from destroying everything you hold dear? Ending the misery you've caused?"

She averted her gaze from the six pointed crystal, "You're as much to blame for this as Celestia, and you know that. Was this your grand scheme all along? Well it fell apart, didn't it?"

"When you..." She felt a pain stab at her heart, "Friendship. The most powerful magic of them all." she said mockingly. "It still ends, just as everything else does, doesn't it? Or perhaps things simply didn't turn out like they were supposed to... Regardless..."

She smiled a blissful smile, and looked back to the Element of Magic, "I'm so close... Once Starlight falls..." her smile left her.

Her eyes glanced over each of the five gems rotating around the center one, each one brought back memories of the time she spent with her friends, each one caused more pain than the last. "Your bearers here are not my friends. They are not them. They died, long ago. You won't stop me this way... They may look the same, have the same personalities, and bear the same Elements... But they are not them. They're younger, and that alone proves they are not them. And that's just one reason... I could list several... But we both know that is unnecessary. You know as well as I do that they are not them..."

She inhaled, feeling a sense of calm wash over her. She looked down, and extended a wing forwards. She lowered the Element of magic into her wing, and held it. "I do find myself wondering, now... Maybe after this is over I'll see them again... Or maybe not..." She grimaced, "Though I suspect the latter..."

She frowned, "They wouldn't want this, would they?" She shook her head, not needing to even ask the question. "Of course it doesn't matter now, does it?" She chuckled emptily, and brought a hoof to her eye. She wiped away a tear that had started to fall, and shook her head. "It's not right, the way things turned out. You betrayed me, they betrayed me, Celestia betrayed me... Everypony betrayed me."

"I still find myself asking that same question all these years later..." She paused, "No, they wouldn't want this. Nor do you... If I see them again, would they even recognize me? Would they still even consider me a friend? After what I've done? And when I succeed, could they ever forgive me?"

After several seconds of silence, she added, "It doesn't matter." she stated firmly.

Author's Note:

I don't think I actually have anything to say here. Odd.

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