//------------------------------// // Dreams of the Past // Story: Years of An Immortal // by Night Love //------------------------------// "Celestia?" I ask. I am walking down a corridor of the old Canterlot Castle, now renovated and renewed into the Government House of Equestria. "Luna?" I try. The familiar echo of my hooves on marble comfort me. I may appreciate what Cadence and I did, but the castle is something that I miss dearly. It is nighttime, and the moon is full, and the stars are sparkling brightly. I suddenly stop and see something up ahead that I don't remember being there. A mirror. I get closer and see a pony looking back at me. Yes, she did look like me, but her mane wasn't flowing, and her wings were missing, and her height depleted. I check myself and I match the mare in the mirror. "Celestia? Luna?" I ask, more urgently. I start running to the end of the corridor. There is a door, and I teleport through it. I get in the room, and it seems like a party. "Twilight, there you are," Celestia greets. "I was about to send the guards to look for you," Celestia adds, with a smile. She pulls me into a hug and the warm sensation is far too much for me. I wrap my hooves around my old teacher and a tear falls gently from my eye. "Come now, Twilight, no need for tears. After all, it's Rarity's wedding! Leave the tears to her," Celestia explains. "Wait. Her wedding? But, I was only a unicorn before I entered. How can it be her-" I spin around in a confused manner and sure enough, I see wings. My tail isn't flowy yet though. I look past Celestia and I see Rarity dancing with Fancy Pants, Pinkie dancing with her boyfriend, Cheese Sandwich, and Apple Jack dancing with her fiance Ever Green. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are at the dessert table. It is exactly how I remember it. "How can this be?" I question. "Well, maybe it's because this is a dream," I hear from behind. I turn to see who spoke and the scene blows away like dust in the wind. I am left in empty blackness. "Hello? Who's there?" I can tell that I am back to the height I am, and I see my mane back to normal. "I said, 'who's there'!" I demand. I see two eyes, only eyes. They are purple swirls, and my stomach goes un easy. A smile is added underneath the eyes, and I know what I'm in for. "Hello, Twilight!" the mouth says, and then they all vanish. "Screwball." I say, angrily. A full grown mare pops up. She is pink with a mane that matches the eyes I saw earlier and a propeller hat ontop. "Miss me, Twilight?" she sneers. "No. I thought when we sent you to the Chaotic Dimension you'd stay there forever!" I spit at her. Screwball, the daughter of Discord, had turned out exactly like him. Even tried to take over Equestria. But after the elements sent her away, I thought we wouldn't see her again. I was wrong, of course, oh so very wrong. "Oh, Twilight, the Chaotic Dimension was fun, no doubt, but you really didn't think that powerful lock spell would keep me in there forever, did you?" she asks, stepping closer to me. I resist the urge to step back. "We did what we thought was best, Screwball. Even your own father said that you had grown to wild for you to stay here! You're lucky the elements didn't turn you to stone!" I say, raising my voice. "Discord was a traitor. He never believed in me. He could never control me for long, it was inevitable. But now that I'm free, I can take out my revenge on him and Equestria," Screwball explains, laughing. "I'm afraid that Discord died around the time we sent you to the Chaotic Dimension. Though he was one of the ones that sent you there, his heart broke and died the morning after that night," I explain. That is when I wake up. In cold sweats, I must add. "Is that real? Did I just see Screwball?" I question out loud. I go straight for my phone that is plugged into the wall and I send a text to Cadence. Had a dream about Screwball. Call Flurry. Make sure HE is safe. Come here ASAP! Sent. I get up out of bed and walk outside to the clearing I raise the sun in. The sun used to take an hour and forty five minutes to raise, because it was so heavy, but after it reached about the two thousandth mark, it got much easier. "Good morning, Twilight! It's a beautiful morning, and I must say, good job on last night as well," Missy May, an elderly Earth Pony mare, complements. "Thank you, Missy May, as always," I say, raising the sun the last little bit. Missy May is grey with a dusty pink mane and tale and her eyes are light blue. She is always up before dawn to complement the morning and evening, it's been that way since she moved here when she was twenty, and she has never missed a day, not even if she was sick. I was even invited to her wedding and baby showers. She has three foals which now have foals of their own. So, I'm basically like a grandma to them. "How was your sleep?" she asks. "I was fine, and you?" I ask in reply. "It was good too. I dreamed I was a young pegasus and flew with my cloud friends," she explains, and I giggle. "I'm glad you had fun, but if you'll excuse me, I promised I'd get to work early today," I explain. Oh, of course! Don't let an old mare like me slow you down," she explains. waving her hoof for me to leave. "Missy, I'm older that you, by thousands of years," I point out blatantly. "Oh, but you look and sound much younger than me, so I don't think it counts," she chuckles. I playfully push her shoulder and giggle at the absurdity. I then say goodbye to Missy May and walk in the house to get my saddle bags and phone. I check to see if I got a reply from Cadence, I did. HE is safe. Flurry and I are waiting in the Government House. Perfect. Teleporting there now. I reply, putting my phone in my saddle bag and do just that. I am in a large room with beige walls and a round, wooden table with computers and tablets with a few pens and pencils scattered on it too. This is the meeting room, once Celestia's room. I now shudder at the memory of tearing the room apart and rebuilding it to fit the needs of the government. I look around me, and I see the very confused faces of Tax Return, secretary of treasury, Mayor Standing of Coltifornia, and Green Bay the assistant City Manager of Coltifornia. At the far end of the room I see Flurry and Cadence looking at me concerned. "Leave us," I say. "What? Why?" Mayor Standing asks. "Because something has happened that we as alicorns must attend to," I explain, harshly. "You don't have that kind of power, Ms. Sparkle!" Tax Return points out. "This is a manor of the state, Mr. Return, I have all the power right now," I explain, getting a bit angry. "Then what are they doing here?" Tax Return asks, pointing at Flurry. "They are the only other two ponies that understand the severity of the situation!" I explain, getting frustrated. "How severe?" Green Bay asks. "Do you know the story of Screwball Draconequus?" I ask, seriously. "You mean the scary story parents tell their foals to behave and listen to authority?" Mayor Standing asks. "She's not a story. And I have reason to believe that she has returned to Equestria. But under Ancient Law, I ban you from speaking a word about this to any pony. At least not until we have confirmed it," I explain. "A-Ancient Law?" Green Bay studders. "Y-you wouldn't!" he bags. The Ancient Law is a spell I created for just such emergencies. If there was any kind of threat to Equestria that I knew the government couldn't handle, this word binding spell that works as a contract that once cast, ponies are sworn to do as I say under punishment of my choosing. I never thought I'd use it, but everypony knows of the Ancient Law spell, so the stallions in the room know how serious this is. "It is casted, now all you three have to do is agree," I explain, my old authority coming back to me. "I agree," Mayor Standing says. "I agree, Twilight," Green Bay says. Before saying anything, Tax Return bows his head, "I agree,". "Good. Now wait outside the door and keep anypony who wishes to enter out until we exit. Under oath of the Ancient Law," I demand, and the stallions leave. "Twilight, you promised to never use that spell again!" Cadence says, worriedly. She is hovering her hoof over her mouth and her eyes show shock. Flurry Heart just looks at me saddened and disappointed. "I know what I said, but... they wouldn't have left any other way," I say. "But Twilight, my dad," Flurry points out, and a pain enters my heart. "I remember. And I regret it, but I had no choice back then either," I explain, holding my chest in sadness and pain. "But we're not talking about that right now, we're talking about the threat that lies in Equestria even as we speak," I segue, trying to change the subject. "Yes. My mom and I went to his layar ourselves to confirm HIS safety. And we even cast the spell on him to confirm who he was, and that was in fact HIM that we saw," Flurry explains. I nod. "We'll send Dawn Gaze, Red Delicious, Lily Scotch and Gemstone down there to stand guard just in case," I explain, they nod in agreement. The four ponies I just mentioned is the Secret Guard. They go and do whatever we order and obey only me, Cadence, and Flurry. Think of them like government spies. But only we three know them as the descendants of Fluttershy, Apple Jack, and Rarity. They are highly trained, and highly dangerous. I only use my Secret Guard for situations like this. Starting with the very first time I started this program. Only they were Fluttershy, Rarity and Apple Jack's grandfoals. How ironic that the next time I use them is for the very purpose I trained them. Gemstone is disguised as a fashion designer in Haywood, Dawn Gaze is disguised as a janitor in Canterlot Elementary School, Lily Scotch is disguised as a bartender in Apploosa, and Red Delicious as a bum in Dodge Junction. I told them where to go, they decided their disguises. "I'll send some pony for them," Cadence says, who has her own ways of getting around. "What about Screwball?" Flurry asks. "I'm afraid it's just going to have to be a waiting game until she shows herself," I explain. "Just like last time?" she asks, fear rising in her throat. "Just like last time," Cadence confirms, grimly. They hug each other for solace. After all, the last time Screwball was rampaging, she killed Cadence's husband, Flurry's father, and my brother. But we can't dwell on this if we want to beat her once and for all. This is the start of a war. And it's one that we are winning again. No matter the cost, we must keep fighting. "For Honesty, for Loyalty," I start. "For Laughter, for Kindness," Flurry adds. "For Generosity, for Magic," Cadence joins in. "For Equestria and the Nations we defend. We will honor these, just as we do our lives. We are Ponies, and we stand strong!" We finish together. This is our code of conduct written by me when my brother died. It was actually his idea. And it was the last thing he said before he was killed. That concluded the meeting, and we left. I just hope this doesn't end up destroying us like it did in the past.