Revisions of Past Mistakes

by SC_Orion

Light

Nightfall indifferently gazed into the mirror, at her reflection, scrutinizing every detail of the face that stared back at her, as she had for the passed half hour. She was lost in her memories. Days and nights gone by, the ones worth remembering, when she wasn't alone like the reflection in the mirror. Alone... Celestia said her friends would never truly leave her, that they would live on in her heart. She snorted, the notion was a foolish one. Celestia had been wrong, so very wrong. She was alone, what was the Princess of Friendship without friends? What was her identity if she couldn't be what she was meant to be?

She sighed, and looked towards the top of her head, to her horn. She could almost picture the crown she once wore, the one with the Element of magic set in it, not the tiara that had been made to replace it after having to give the Element of Magic back... But that was centuries ago... After she had slain Luna, she looked for the Elements, but alas, they were lost to the centuries. The knowledge of where they were hidden died with Luna, and the secret of their power died far before then.

She looked off to the side of her reflection, she could almost picture her friends standing beside her, reassuring her that it would be alright, telling her that it would be okay. She missed them. She was glad they were gone, and not here, so they could not see what happened. She loved them, and she hated them for leaving her. Each and every one of them had a hoof in making her who she was... And had become. It was wrong, so very, very wrong, and she knew it. Eclipse knew it was wrong too, the way things turned out. But of course it didn't matter, they couldn't change what happened. What had happened prevented everything from being right, it could never be right. They could both search a thousand years, moving from reality to reality, not a one of them would be right. Their existence had corrupted reality itself, nothing would change that. Perhaps there was a chance that one reality would go as it was meant to, but she did not know.

She should have acted sooner, she could have saved them... She had wondered if it was a test. If it was, she failed, completely. She lit her horn, and teleported the Elements of Harmony to her. She gazed into each gem, each one representative of an aspect of friendship, and of harmony. Each one a reminder of her friends. Even if her friends had never held their corresponding Element of this reality, they still had a link to them, like it or not. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Each gem glowed faintly with an inner light that resisted her magic, but allowed her to hold them, as if remembering that she was at one time their friend, despite how things had changed.

There was a knock on the door, followed immediately by the sound of said door opening. Her eyes glanced towards the intruder, "Eclipse." she venomously acknowledged, giving her pause. She glared at her for a second, before returning her gaze to the Elements, which seemed to glow brighter at her arrival.

"They're glowing..." Eclipse pursed her lips and walked further into the room, coming to a stop beside Nightfall's bed.

Nightfall snorted, "Yes they are."

Eclipse looked between Nightfall and the glowing Elements of Harmony. The Elements, which would give her the power to fix everything, if they let her, were so close... Yet so far out of reach, being held in Nightfall's magic. She looked back to Nightfall, who for the most part was ignoring her, not paying any attention to her. She... She could fight her. Right now, Nightfall was vulnerable, lying on the bed, her head facing the Elements... She wouldn't see any attack coming from her, and not just because she wasn't looking at her.

'It would be easy... I could end this right now...' She looked back to the Elements, and felt like they were watching her, as if they had heard her thoughts. She shifted her weight on her hooves, and returned her gaze to Nightfall. She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw, 'No, that's not who I am.' She wouldn't attack Nightfall, at least not now. She wouldn't throw away a chance to save her without at least trying. She spoke softly, "You should give the Elements to me, Nightfall."

Nightfall snorted, "Hah! As if I would ever do something as stupid as that. I do that, you get them all, and then you kill me, then use them against Starlight Glimmer. Maybe not in that order, but we know it would come to that."

"Not if you change, Nightfall." Eclipse stated firmly.

Nightfall teleported the Elements back into her pocket dimension, and stood up on her bed, Eclipse backed up to give her room to get down, then she stepped off the bed. "Why should I change? Our friends are all dead and gone, our mentor? Dead at our own hooves. Our family? They died long ago. Our niece? We haven't seen her, nor heard anything from her in over twelve hundred years, Eclipse. The aren't here, you may be able to fool yourself, but you, and they, will not fool me."

Eclipse waited patiently for Nightfall to finish, not once interrupting until she finished. "If you don't change, you will die. Your own plan involves your death, and once that happens, who will remember them?" She took a step forwards, "Who will remember all the good times we shared with our friends? With our mentor? All the sleepless nights we spent with them? Who will be left to remember the heroines of Equestria, how they defeated Nightmare Moon and countless others? If we die, who will keep their memories alive?" She paused to take a breath, "Yes, they are gone. We can't change that. But we can remember, and we can change what will happen here."

"And do tell, what point would that serve? Delaying their inevitable ends? It's still inevitable. We will both die one day, Eclipse, and then those memories will die with us, so that doesn't matter."

"We can save them, Nightfall. Together. And we can tell them about us, about our friends." Eclipse paused to look over Nightfall's expression. It was unreadable, so she continued, "Maybe it will only delay it... But the thousands of years they would have... They would outlive us, yes, but we wouldn't have to watch them die again. We wouldn't have to be responsible for their deaths."

Nightfall didn't immediately reject the idea. She maintained her gaze on Eclipse while she thought it over for several seconds. The idea was tempting. Very tempting, if she was honest. Or it would have been if they were her friends. "No. They are not my friends."

"What if they were?" Eclipse asked.

"Irrelevant." Nightfall stated sharply. "Now unless there is something you wanted, leave."

Eclipse turned around and made her way to the door. "Rainbow and I are going for a flight. The rest of them decided to have a picnic and wanted you to join them." she said as she walked out the door, leaving Nightfall alone once more.

As Eclipse walked through the hallways, her muzzle slowly twisted into a frown.

---

By the time Eclipse met up with Rainbow Dash just outside of the castle, she was practically scowling, paying no mind to the curious glances she was receiving from her friends, though it let up when she caught sight of her friend. Rainbow turned towards Eclipse as she approached, smiling, but then she saw Eclipse frowning, and the smile faded. "Change of plans." Eclipse stated as she came to a stop before her.

"So.. We're not going flying then?" Rainbow asked, disappointment prevailing in her response.

Eclipse pursed her lips, then glanced behind her to make sure nopony was watching her. She hesitated briefly, watching Nightfall stride out of the castle and joining the others, before turning around and taking a step closer to Rainbow Dash. She lowered her head and lit her horn. There was a bright flash of light signaling their departure as she cast her teleportation spell.

A second later, the pair appeared at their destination, the edge of Ponyville, along the path heading to the Everfree forest. Rainbow's wings shot out in surprise at the unexpectedness of it, something that normally would have made Eclipse smile, at least slightly. This time she didn't. She looked around once more, making sure they were alone on the path, away from any prying eyes and ears. After she was confident they had privacy, she spoke, "We're going to pay a visit to the Tree of Harmony."

Rainbow ruffled her wings. "Is that really a good idea?"

Eclipse shook her head, "Not in the slightest, but I need to see the Tree of Harmony. Something is happening with the Elements... I believe they are reacting to Nightfall's presence, or her magic, but to what ends, I do not know."

Rainbow nodded her head, but shifted her weight on her hooves. "Alright... But with the Castle of the Two Sisters being so near, Starlight could find us..."

"You're worried." Eclipse smiled, "If you don't want to come with me, I completely-"

Rainbow shook her head vigorously, "No-no, it's fine. Just... Wouldn't it be safer if we brought the others with us?"

"Ah, yes and no. While there is something to be said for safety in numbers, a larger group is more easily detectable. Besides, there's nopony else I trust as much as you to watch my back, and I promised I'd fly with you today." She hesitated slightly before continuing, "I would rather keep this between just us, anyway. I don't want to put the others in danger."

Rainbow raised a hoof to her chest in mock shock, "And you want to put me in danger!?" she said exaggeratedly.

Eclipse raised an eyebrow, "I thought you trusted me to keep you safe?" She sighed exaggeratedly, "But I suppose I was wrong." She raised a hoof to her head, in mimicry of Rarity, "Oh whatever shall I do now, a lost princess, left alone in a cold, cold world, unable to complete her quest, because her knight had no courage! Woe, woe to me."

"Hey!" Rainbow shouted dejectedly. She beat her wings and hovered in the air, folding her front hooves, puffing out her chest, and looking away from Eclipse.

Eclipse giggled, "Sorry." She sighed happily, letting herself relax. "I kind of needed that." Rainbow returned her gaze to her and smiled softly, then landed. After a few seconds, she looked away from Rainbow, and gazed at the Everfree Forest. "Let's go... I'll lead the way." She spoke and started walking towards the dark, unforgiving forest.

Rainbow rushed in front of her, turned around to face her, and raised a hoof, motioning for her to stop, "Wait... Maybe I should go first. You know, because it's dangerous."

"Rainbow... One day, you will be able to beat me in a sparring match, if I didn't use magic." She smiled sadly, remembering those fond times when they did things like that. Now that she thought about that, it surprised her how much things changed for each of them over the course of their lifetimes. It brought a tear to her eye. She smiled again, and wiped away the tear with a hoof. "But... That's a few years down the road."

Rainbow smiled boldly, "So... You're telling me... That I was able to best an alicorn?"

Eclipse realized her mistake as soon as she saw Rainbow's smile. She laughed, "Yes, Rainbow Dash, you beat me on several occasions. Even as I grew, I was still me, and you were still you. I could have easily beaten you with my magic..." she smiled, "But that would have ruined the point of it. But you're not there yet."

"Fine," Rainbow relented, "lead the way." Eclipse smiled at her and walked passed her. "But you owe me a match later!" Rainbow quickly added as she walked towards the forest.

"Deal." Eclipse chirped. After a slight hesitation, Rainbow flew to her side, and the pair made their way into the Everfree Forest.

---

Nightfall levitated her sandwich to her mouth, then took another bite of it, and chewed it. As much as she hated to admit it, Cadance could make really good sandwiches. She pulled the sandwich back, and replaced it with her glass of tea. She took a short drink, then swallowed, and pulled the glass away. She glanced around the table, briefly looking over everypony present. To her immediate left sat Applejack and Rarity, to her right, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Across the table sat Cadance, Shining Armor, Twilight, and Spike. Everypony was content with eating, and enjoying the peace and quiet.

Cadance swallowed and levitated a napkin to her mouth, then wiped her lips off. She turned to Nightfall, smiling in a way which made her uncomfortable. "So... Nightfall... Since you're a few centuries older than Twilight here," she flashed Twilight a smile, Twilight looked back at her cautiously, but continued to take a drink, "perhaps you could tell us about anypony you met, hmm? You couldn't have stayed single that entire time, who was the lucky pony?"

Twilight pulled her drink away and fell into a fit of coughs, which Cadance ignored. Twilight raised a hoof to her chest as she continued to cough, and Spike gently rubbed her side. Nightfall took a short drink, then sat the glass down before answering coldly, "Maybe there was, and maybe there wasn't. We are not telling that, but we will say that if somepony existed, that pony is now dead."

Cadance's smile faded. "Who was it?" she asked.

Nightfall snorted. "You assume that there was somepony, but let us tell you, nopony we met after we became more active as a princess could really see passed my crown. They saw us as a symbol, rather than a pony." She paused to take another drink. "We believe you are somewhat familiar with that yourself, Cadance."

Twilight, having recovered from her fit of coughing, spoke up, "We could have tried harder then." She didn't like the idea of being looked at in the same light as Princess Celestia or Princess Luna. "We could have tried to be their friends-"

Nightfall turned to Twilight, "We did. We were friendly, but alas, they took advantage of it. We had to learn politics, we did, and we played the game. We were still Twilight, at the time, but after a while... Things happened, things changed. We never did like politics."

"That doesn't sound like you were very honest then, Nightfall." Applejack cut in.

"And it doesn't sound very fun." Pinkie added.

"It wasn't." Nightfall stated. "Fortunately, for the most part Celestia guided and protected us from a lot of things... But, our relationship became very..." She paused, looking for the right word. "Distant."

Cadance shook her head sadly, "I just can't picture you and Celestia ever being distant..."

"It became more than distant..." Nightfall mumbled, and smiled slightly. Despite the happiness the memory gave her, it also hurt, not that she would ever admit that, even to save her life. "She denied... Certain requests of ours. Important ones." She paused. "Really, she brought it upon herself." she mused.

"What did she deny you?" Cadance asked, "She had to have a good reason for it too."

"Her denial... Her reason we do not know, or even if she had a good reason." She exhaled sharply. "Her denial was one which she also denied to you." Cadance stared at Nightfall blankly, not understanding. "Her denials were her mistakes. The 'oh so perfect princess,' hah!" Her face quickly twisted into a scowl, "Her mistake set events in motion which brought us here today. You figure it out for yourselves, for we will not explain it to you." she finished coldly.

---

Eclipse and Rainbow paused at the edge of the treeline, and looked across the clearing, towards the castle. Rainbow's wings bristled in anticipation, and Eclipse lit her horn, preparing a spell. "I'll teleport us directly to the cave... Just give me a second."

Rainbow frowned and looked to Eclipse, "Why didn't you just teleport us the entire way there?"

"Long distance Teleports are very draining." Eclipse replied. She ruffled her wings, then cast her teleportation spell. Immediately, her horn went dark as the pulse of magic was released, causing a flare of light, and teleporting them to the mouth of the cave. As soon as the flash of light died down, they could see a strong glow emanating from the Tree of Harmony, it was glowing brighter than normal. Eclipse frowned and started walking inside.

Rainbow hesitated briefly, she always felt awed by the Tree, but this time... It was stronger than the other times, the feeling of awe was almost overwhelming. Almost, but yet nowhere near strong enough to stop Rainbow Dash. She closed her mouth and flew to Eclipse's side, and they continued towards the tree.

Eclipse could feel the magic in the air, it was more palpable than she had ever felt magic before. The Tree of Harmony was glowing so bright she had to squint her eyes just to be able to see. As they came to a stop in front of the tree, Eclipse felt fear. Fear of the unknown, she had never seen the Tree of Harmony glowing like that before. 'What is going on...'

"Why is it glowing so bright?" Rainbow asked.

Eclipse's eyes trailed over the tree, searching for any clues to the source, only to find nothing. "I don't know... I've never seen it like this before."

Rainbow averted her gaze from the tree, and looked to Eclipse, "Any guesses?"

The only idea that came to Eclipse's mind was something involving Nightfall, but to what purpose, she had no clue. "It might have something to do with Nightfall... It doesn't seem to be dangerous..."

"That's good..." Rainbow nodded her head. "Right?" she asked tentatively.

"I..." Eclipse trailed off. 'The tree will be fine... It's not malicious, it would never do anything bad...' "We'll just have to wait and see I guess." She turned to Rainbow, "Let's-" she paused, a sense of unease washing over her. She pursed her lips, and shifted her weight on her hooves. She felt like she was being watched, like something was looking into her soul.

Rainbow shifted, she felt it too. "Twilight?"

"Let's... Go..." Eclipse said slowly. She motioned Rainbow to start leaving, and turned back to the tree, eyeing it cautiously. 'We're linked to you... You wouldn't hurt us right?' She glanced back to Rainbow, then back to the tree, and started walking after her friend. 'They're linked to you... But I'm...' She shifted her wings uncomfortably. 'I still am linked to you though, aren't I? You let me take the Elements from you... But they didn't work for me and Twilight...' she pursed her lips at the thought, unsure of what it meant.

"Twilight, you coming?" Rainbow called from the mouth of the cave.

Eclipse's gaze remained on the tree for a few seconds, then she turned back towards Rainbow and quickened her pace. She turned around to look at the Tree one last time before they started their journey. She frowned, having a lot to think about.

Rainbow nudged Eclipse with a wing, breaking her thoughts. Eclipse looked at Rainbow expectantly. Rainbow fluttered her wings. "You still owe me a flight, so let's fly back."

Eclipse paused and bobbled her head, "I... Suppose that would be safe enough, with us leaving anyway."

Rainbow spread her wings, and lowered herself to the ground, readying to jump into the air. She turned to Eclipse and smiled with determination. "Race?"

Eclipse sighed, knowing there was no way for her to get out of it. She could tell Rainbow was going to make it a race whether she wanted it or not, so she didn't really have a choice. She lowered her body closer to the ground, and spread her wings.

Comments

[Jake Shadow Wings]

Interesting story. I'm curious how things will go. I can't wait to see how you continue and what you have planned. You're an excellent storyteller and I give you your due.

[SC_Orion]

7255604
I am glad you enjoy it, and thank you, that means a lot to me.