//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: My Little Pony: Lights and Shadows - Part III // by OmegaTale //------------------------------//                 Starfall Blitz lie face up, eyes closed and body still.  His chest rises and falls slowly, the life-support machine at his side beeping as it showed his heartrate.  Colorful flowers were potted at his bedside, replaced constantly.  The hospital room had become a second home for his visitors, which were many during his stay, but one pony stayed longer than all the others.                 Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, sat in a chair at his side, watching him with tired eyes and lingering pain.  She came by for hours on end, sitting as close as she could, waiting for him to awaken.  She listened to the pegasus’ breathing, occasionally glancing over the many bandages that covered his body.                 Silently, she waited, hoping each and every day… each and every week that he would wake to see her looking down at him.  She wanted so badly to be there when it happened, that she could watch him open those purple eyes and look up at her, giving her that smile she desired to see once again.  The importance of most everything else had fallen away, for this was something she had feared ever since Princess Celestia told her she needed a royal guard.  Strangely enough, however… Twilight knew that the princess making that decision for her was one of the greatest things to have ever happened to her.                 All of the moments they shared while he guarded her, her friends, and everypony else… they were treasures now.  She wished she could go back to that night at the gala and stop it.  She would give up so much to be able to save him… just like how he saved her.                 The night it happened… Twilight had never been more afraid in all her life.  When Celestia said that Starfall wasn’t breathing… it made her heart sink.  She remembered crying out for him to come back, only to be answered with silence.  She remembered the dark of the night consuming her and her friends in grief… only to witness a miracle.                 Discord, with all the magic he could muster, cast a spell to restart Starfall’s heart by shocking him in the chest.  Twilight could remember her own heart rising from the shadows as she saw his chest rise, having taken a breath.  His wounds were too great, however, and he was left in a coma. For two months now, he lied motionless in this hospital bed.  Rarity came and replaced the beautiful flowers every week.  Fluttershy tended to the flowers, and occasionally came by with Discord, the two of them having tea as they watched over him.  Applejack brought the CMCs with most every visit, who too were devastated when they discovered how badly he had been hurt.  Pinkie Pie kept the room lively and colorful, with “get well” balloons and banners, always bringing baked goods for him if he woke up that day.  Rainbow Dash would read the newest Daring Do book to him, more often than not stopping to watch and see if he would get up.  Starlight and Trixie often came together, neither saying much, and Trixie comforting Starlight, who often got upset when she saw Starfall in the condition he was in. All of his friends came by; Octavia, Vinyl, Derpy, Lyra, Bon Bon… they all wanted so much for him to awaken, but none more than Twilight.  She was there during most all of their visits, accompanied by Spike on the way over, but often staying there alone as Spike returned to the castle to help the world-wide search that Celestia had issued. Twilight’s ear flicked up as the door to the room opened.  Applejack peered inside, seeing her at Starfall’s bedside and looking to the rest of the girls behind her, nodding.  She walked in, followed by Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Rarity.  “Hey there sugar cube,” She said softly, walking to the princesses’ side.  “Been here a while?” Glancing up at her, Twilight replied, “Only a little…” She then looked back down to her royal guard, falling silent. Applejack looked to the others, wordlessly asking for support.  Rainbow flew over top of the bed and onto the other side.  “You hungry?  We’re headed to the Hayburger for an afternoon lunch.” Twilight shook her head.  “I’m fine.” As Fluttershy tended to the potted flowers, Rarity walked to Twilight’s side opposite of Applejack.  “Come now darling, you must keep up your strength.  Afterwards we can come righ-” “I’m not hungry.” The lavender alicorn interrupted her without looking. Everypony else in the room traded glances, concerned for both Starfall and Twilight.  A few moments of silence followed as the five tried deciding how best to address the issue without upsetting their friend. “Twilight, we all miss him,” Rarity said softly, everypony nodding in reply.  “If he does wake up-” “He will wake up.” Twilight said quickly. “But we don’t know how long it’ll be.” Applejack continued, shaking her head. Pinkie walked up to Applejack’s side.  “Trust me, I’ve planned the bestest party for him for when he wakes up… but he’s already been asleep for two months.” Twilight hesitated, watching the resting pegasus with frightened eyes.  Ears still flat, she lowered her head on top of her hooves on the bed, not replying to them. The five ponies paused, but then Applejack gestured with her head for them all to leave.  “Well… If’n ya change your mind, we’ll be at the castle afterwards, alright?” “Okay…” Twilight answered. Rainbow led them out, ears falling flat on all their heads.  As the door closed, Twilight felt a shuddered breath escape her.  This was destroying her, and she knew it.  She knew the princesses needed her help to track down Stormclaw and Chrysalis.  They needed her help in finding Luna, Sombra, and more importantly, Shadow. Closing her eyes, she lied there in silence, the weight of her title and friends crashing down upon her desire to wait for him. Spike went running through the castle halls.  He huffed and puffed as he went, a scroll clenched in his claws.  He rounded the bend of the upper foyer and came barreling down the stairs, running to the throne room. Starlight Glimmer sat in Twilight’s throne, reading a scroll from a pile of many.  The unicorn sighed, managing a glance away from what she was reading.  Trixie, her humble, most faithful friend, was asleep in Rainbow Dash’s throne, surrounded by scrolls herself.  Starlight grumbled to herself, eyes straining as she refocused on the scroll. The throne room door swung open and Spike ran through, slowing to a halt as he took deep breaths.  “Star… Starlight…!  Letter from… from Ember…!” The unicorn rolled up her current scroll and tossed it aside as she used her magic to grab the one in Spike’s claws.  Unraveling it with relative haste, it read: Twilight, Thorax and I just combed every inch of land west of Equestria all the way to the ocean, and still we have found nothing.  Garble sent word from the south and King Gale from the east, they haven’t had any luck either.  We know your brother and Princess Cadence haven’t found them in the north, so we’ve officially searched everywhere we can.  With Princess Celestia busy searching for her sister, and Discord helping her, I don’t know what else we can do.  I know you want to stay with Starfall until he wakes up, but I need you Twilight.  We all need you.                                 Ember                 Lowering the letter down onto the Map Table, Starlight sighed.  “Nothing to the west, east, or south… nothing at all.”                 Spike walked up to and leapt up onto the table, looking around it as his claw rose to his chin.  “Where could they be?  If they were hiding, we would’ve found ‘em by now, right?”                 “I don’t know, Spike…” She replied, looking around at the map before stopping to glance in the direction of the door.  “But Ember is right… we need Twilight.”                 The topic made Spike sad, having been escorting Twilight to the hospital every day since Starfall had been there.  “No matter what we do or say, she never wants to leave Ponyville.  Most days she sits by Starfall’s side for hours… short of him waking up, I don’t know what else will get her back to normal.”                 The mere mentioning of Starfall’s name aloud made Starlight close her eyes somewhat tight, having to take a deep breath.  After giving herself a moment, she opened them.  “I’m gonna go talk to her-”                 “We just tried,” Rainbow Dash answered her as she, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack came walking in.  “She won’t budge.”                 Starlight looked over to them, her determination suddenly taking a dive upon hearing that.  “All of you tried?”                 All five ponies nodded.  Rarity sighed as she was first to sit in her throne.  “The poor dear sounds dreadful… she looks like she hasn’t slept in weeks.”                 “We need her help finding those goons!” Rainbow said fiercely, only to be diminished again.  “But… I can’t say I blame her.”                 Starlight shook her head.  “We just got word from Ember and Thorax, they searched the entire west and came up with nothing.”                 Applejack lightly gasped.  “All the west?!  What about Garble and Gale?”                 The unicorn shook her head again.  “Nothing.  As of now, we searched every inch of land in Equestria for the two of them… and still no one has seen or heard a thing about them.”                 The others sat in their thrones as well, each of them looking somewhat defeated.  Among them, however, Fluttershy looked the most distraught.  She stifled a sniff as she rubbed at her eyes.  Pinkie looked over at her, gesturing to the others as their ears went flat to their heads.                 They all knew exactly what it meant.  No Stormclaw or Chrysalis meant no Shadow either.  Thousands of searchers covering all Equestria and several lands beyond for 2 whole months, and not a single word of Shadow.  He had run away the moment the fight had ended in Canterlot, having experienced some kind of traumatic event when his eyes went red.  Everypony knew that Fluttershy was taking this far worse than they were, for they had been told about her admitted feelings for him.                 “Fluttershy…” Starlight said to her, earning a lifted gaze from the shy pegasus.  “We are doing everything we can… we’ll find him.”                 Pinkie went to say something, but Fluttershy rose from her throne and trotted out of the room with her head lowered, hiding her teary face from them.  Pinkie let out a sad sigh, looking to the others.  “I wish everything would just go back to the way it was when everypony was happy…”                 Rarity looked to her.  “I know Pinkie,” She then looked to everyone else.  “We all do too.”                 Fluttershy emerged from the castle door, keeping her head lowered as she took in several sharp breaths.  Taking flight, she soared over to her cottage, stopping just past her small bridge as her legs trembled slightly.                 “Shadow…” She said quietly, her voice little more than a whisper.  After taking a few moments, she managed to walk up and to her door, little critters here and there watching her with curiosity.  She trotted inside and stepped up onto her couch, lying down as she rested her head on the cushion.  Animals of all sizes came to her in an attempt at comfort.  Angel Bunny hopped up by her side, lying down against her with eyes saddened by this state she’d been in for so long.                 She turned her head a bit, looking at all the squirrels, mice, birds, bunnies, and other critters there to comfort her.  She smiled at them, so happy that they were there to make her feel better.  “Thank you all so much… and I am so sorry for how gloomy I’ve been since…” She trailed off, unable to say it.  Eyes shutting tight, she buried her head underneath her hooves as she cried.                 The animals reacted in a surprised way when Fluttershy felt a paw stroking her mane.  “There, there, Fluttershy.  I’m sure he’s just fine wherever he is.”                 Fluttershy uncovered her head and looked up to see Discord beside her, a thoughtful look on his face.  She inched forward and rested her head up against him.  “I hope so…”                 “Are you kidding?” Discord said to her, trying at a more upbeat way of looking at it.  “The way he nearly fought off that…” He scowled a bit, eyes glowing slightly.  “…dragon…” He then returned to normal.  “I’d say he is more than capable of taking care of himself, wouldn’t you agree?”                 She sniffed, sitting upright as she rubbed at her eyes again.  “Thank you Discord… but shouldn’t you be helping Princess Celestia search for Princess Luna?”                 Discord offered a hearty laugh, waving it off with his talon.  “Fluttershy, my dear, you have noooo idea.” He replied, leaning his head in closer to her.  “Just between you and me, Luna came back weeks ago.”                 Fluttershy’s eyes widened, and she sat there in shock.  “S-she what…?”                 “Indeed.  She had gone to her old castle in the Everfree Forest that night.” He explained.  “She was quite distressed when she returned to find out what had happened, but Celestia asked everypony, including her, to keep her return a secret while she went out searching for somepony else.”                 Tilting her head, Fluttershy had no idea what to expect.  “For who…?”                 Discord shrugged his shoulders.  “Haven’t the foggiest idea… but here’s the part you’ll like; she asked me to search for Shadow.”                 Fluttershy froze, her heart feeling like it stopped in her chest.  “Y-you are?  I mean… she asked you to-”                 “Sure did.” Discord confirmed.  “I promise you I’ll find him and bring him home safe and sound.”                 “B-but… I thought you…” Fluttershy said quietly.  “I thought you didn’t like him.”                 Discord sighed.  “It’s true, I don’t, but if there’s anything you taught me about friendship… it’s about giving everyone a second chance.” He told her, smiling warmly.                 Fluttershy, having just felt her heart stop, now felt it melt.  She surged forward and hugged the draconequus, who hugged her back in return.  “Thank you Discord…”                 Discord smiled.  “Anything for you, my dear Fluttershy.”                 Waking with a jump, Twilight lifted her head and looked around frantically, letting out quick, shortened breaths.  She had fallen asleep and saw it all happen again, the explosion that tore her royal guard from the sky.  She looked to him now, seeing him there on the bed, the only sound being the beeping from the machine at his side.                 Resting her head back down onto her folded hooves, she took a deep breath to calm her breathing, so many questions in her head.  How long would this last?  How many more countless hours would she spend waiting at his side for him to wake?  Will he even remember her?  Remember anything that happened?  Will anything ever be the same again?                 They all flooded her mind; the questions that always piled up, no matter what the situation.  Only now there was no research method to follow, no notes to take, no expectations to be had.  There was absolutely nothing she could do… but wait.                 “Princess?” Asked a voice from the door.  Twilight glanced back towards it to see Moon Frost standing just outside it, her one hoof lifted slightly off from the floor.  “May I come in and see him?”                 Twilight managed a small smile at her.  “Of course Moon, you don’t have to ask permission.”                 The black furred pegasus walked in slowly, closing the door behind her.  She approached the bed, reaching the princess’ side as she looked down at Starfall.  “I will never get used to seeing him like this…”                 “Nopony could.” Twilight replied quietly.                 Moon watched him for a few moments, but then glanced over to Twilight.  “Have you been able to sleep at all?”  The princess shook her head slowly in reply.  Moon lifted a hoof up onto her shoulder.  “Yeah, neither have I.”                 Twilight turned her head just a bit on her hooves, still looking at Starfall.  “How long do you think it’ll be?”                 Moon shook her head.  “I don’t know… I had thought he would wake up in a few days… but here we are, two months later.”  Moving one of her hooves, Twilight slowly brushed at his fur.  Moon watched her in silence for a few moments, the two of them listening to the beeping of the machine across from them.  “He said we’d see each other again soon, the last time we talked… maybe if I had just gone with you all-”                 “No, Moon Frost,” Twilight interrupted her, looking up at the cerulean maned pegasus.  “I was there, I saw what happened… there is nothing that could’ve been done…” She returned her eyes to Starfall, her ears falling flat to her head.  “I’ve gone over it a thousand and one times in my head… nothing could’ve changed what happened.”                 Moon felt her own ears fall flat to her head, eyes returning to him.  She thought about what all they could do now, but that thought didn’t last long.  This powerlessness was sickening, it was infuriating, but more than anything else, it was crippling.  Watching her friend lie there, always asleep, for what could be years before he’d ever awaken.                 Then something came to mind.  It made her smile slightly, her ears slowly perking back up.  “Have I ever told you about the time Starfall visited me in Manehattan and how he actually convinced me to go to the amusement park just out of the city?”                 Twilight glanced up at her.  “He told me all about it when he came back, about how-”                 Moon Frost nodded, continuing. “It was my first time going on a roller coaster and he-”                 “Had to pick you up in line because you kept trying to get out of riding it?” Twilight said, smiling faintly.  Moon laughed lightly, remembering that day and how much fun they had.  She let out a sigh, tilting her head slightly.  Twilight then perked up a little bit.  “He ever tell you about the night I accidentally cast one of Haycartes’ Method spells on Spike and didn’t know which book it brought him into?”                 Moon laughed out loud again.  “I don’t think so, what happened?”                 Twilight giggled as she remembered. “We spent two hours looking through every book in the library to find him, and when we did,” She couldn’t stop a small fit of laughter from coming out.  “It took me a few minutes to get him out so he and Spike were just chatting like everything was normal, it was so funny!”                 The two shared in the laugh, temporarily able to block out the pain of seeing their friend lying in front of them in a coma as they remembered what good times they had with him.  It was a feeling Twilight needed to remember, and it warmed her.                 The princess then took in a calming breath, the two of them managing to suppress their laughing fits.  “We danced together at the gala… just before everything happened.”                 Moon nodded.  “I know, your friends told me how happy you looked.”                 Twilight smiled down at Starfall.  “He was there for me… he braved that danger for me… I need to be here for him.”                 The pegasus looked to the princess.  “Are you sure that’s what he would want?” She asked, head tilted.  “To pull all your attention away from Equestria when it needs you?”                 The room went silent and Twilight’s smile faded away.  As she looked at him, she remembered how loyal he was, how brave, and how dedicated he was to his duty.                 “I’m not going to tell you what to do,” Moon continued.  “What you’re feeling right now?  What both of you have felt?  It’s a force that no pony other than you can overtake.  Not I, not the princesses, not even your friends.” She turned about, facing the door.  “Just remember that he did what he did so that you could be safe, that you could go on, and so that you can continue to fulfill your purpose in Equestria… just like he did.”  After giving her words a moment to sink in, she nodded to Twilight.  “I wish you all the strength in the world, princess, truly I do.”                 With that, Moon Frost walked out from the room, closing the door behind her, and leaving the princess to the silence once again, alone with her fallen royal guard.                 The pegasus’ words sank deep into Twilight’s mind, causing her to consider everything she meant.  Starfall had sacrificed himself for her to live on, so what if Moon was right?  Would he be disappointed if he could see Twilight now?  Would he be sad to see her so willing to spend her time by his side when it was needed elsewhere?  These new questions mixed in with the old ones, making the princess’ mind a turbulent storm of thoughts.                 However, a storm in her mind was only figurative, and she knew that.  A real storm was approaching in the distance, and she knew it.  Whatever the black dragon, Stormclaw, had in plan for them was yet to come.  Equestria may need its Princess of Friendship now more than ever.