//------------------------------// // Never Come Back // Story: Aeternitas Book I: Lunar Shadow // by Shadowlight Wanderer //------------------------------// Chapter 4 In which Twilight discovers a strange absence of her friends and has the strangest conversation in her life Twilight woke up in a darkness. She lightened up her horn and looked around. She was still in the throne room but now it was darker and kind of... deserted. All of her friends disappeared. Twilight started to walk around the throne room, calling the rest of the girls. Silence was the only answer...Twilight started to analyze the situation. She checked that all the doors and windows were still open. She thought that looking for the clues outside of the throne room is the only logical option so she went to the corridor. When she was consumed by the shadows, she sadly thought that now she feels more scared and clueless than ever before. Surely, she battled many foes before but she was always with her friends. Now she felt almost like a few years ago when all she did was studying harder, harder and harder. Twilight shook her head. She wasn't feeling too great. Suddenly she heard a loud scream of pain coming from somewhere near her. Twilight froze in place. "Rainbow Dash! Is that you? Where are you?" she shouted. There was another scream. Twilight moved forward, quickly galloping in the direction of the noise. ************************************* Twilight sighed as she crossed another dark corridor. She stopped under a large wallrock that presented the five alicorn princesses of Equestria. Twilight looked at the wallrock. Even if she became a princess some time ago, some details connected with it were never fully explained to her. She was still carrying the heavy burden of fear of outliving her friends. Life wouldn't be worth living without those five amazing ponies who filled her heart with hope, love and light. Still, none of the Princesses was sure if Twilight possessed immortality like Celestia or Luna. Purple alicorn was trotting slowly through the corridor when she heard terrifying sound: high-pitched, maniacal laughter and later, sound of shattering glass. Twilight started galloping again and she rushed into a large empty ballroom. For the first time in hours she wasn't alone. She immediately recognized tall, white silhouette in the corner of the room. "Princess Celestia!!!" Twilight moved closer to the sun goddess " I'm so happy that I-" "You didn't listen. You all should stay." Celestia turned to her student. Twilight was petrified by an mixed expression of pain and hatred on alicorn's muzzle " you just couldn't listen for once. Twilight, I know everything that is going on under the light of my sun and for my own reasons I'm particularly interested in you. I know that you had challenging fillyhood. Never perfect for your parents. They are great ponies but I know that I was only a hiding place for you. Since they discovered your potential for magic, they kept pushing you.And you ran, Twilight. You don't want to be punished anymore for being second best. You are running your whole life. Within your own world when you was safe. Even if you become a princess you can't stop fearing judgments of the world. How long Twilight? How long will you be driven by search for acceptance for who you really are? "Princess ?" whispered Twilight " why are you telling me this ?" Celestia's gaze was cold as ice "Because I can't stand the cost of your behaviour. Do you have any idea how many hopes and dreams you shattered because of your isolation ? You know the price that your friends are gonna pay because of your starving for answers. We both know that great wisdom might be the great burden. And no knowledge is more dangerous than seeing true nature of ourselves..." "No!!!" Twilight backed away from the sun princess " There was a time when I excepted the cost of knowledge. But friendship offered me something I couldn't achieved in any other way. I sometimes suffer because within my friends I see reflections of the ways that I rejected so long ago. I'm still afraid. But friendship gave me not knowledge but true understanding of errors of my ways. With my friends, I no longer have to fear the unknown cause I learned not knowing all the answers. I don't have to hide now. Friendship is my port, from where I sail. My friends won't judge me cause with friendship comes true acceptance. With friends I can discover even more than when I was alone. They offered me peace and sanity. And for that, I'm eternally grateful" Celestia was still smiling during Twilight's speech. She circled Twilight and spoke, tickling the mane on Twilight's neck " Such erudition. As always hiding from the truth behind the words. But it won't save you this time. Look at the truth. Look what have you done when you failed as a leader and as the Element of Magic!!!!" Twilight screamed in pain when her eyes were opened by force and even if she struggled very hard, she couldn't close them again. Tears flowed from Twilight's eyes when she looked at the Princess once again. “Who are you? You are not Celestia. She would never be such a cruel beast like you!!!" Twilight noticed that Celestia disappeared and voice was now echoing around, disembodiment. "You would be surprised. But yes, I'm not your precious sun goddity. Not... specifically" it whispered. Twilight's still opened eyes saw another scene and she gasped in disbelief " Pinkie!!!What are you doing? No, please!!! My Celestia, Applejack, just run!!! No no no no! Dash, don't do this... noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" howled Twilight " You monster, what have you done to my friends ?" "Me ? " echo brought the sound of a quiet giggle " No Twilight, your friends are to blame. They just needed a little push in the right direction. But the pony who gave them that push was none other than you. The magic of friendship died because of you and nopony else" " No, this is not true. I would never do that. Even if it is real, I will stop you or myself, if needed" said Twilight, sweating heavily. Her horn started to glow in a shade of dark purple " That spell will forever banish from this world anypony, who will be responsible for this... massacre...in proximity of a hundred hoofsteps. If the level of probability is higher in any of us, the spell will be directed" she lowered her head " Beware Starswirl's Sword of Destiny. I'm willing the sacrifice myself to save my friends from the fate you showed me". " Oh, that is so sweet and...predictable. I knew it was going to turn out like this. So, my dear Twilight, take this !” Suddenly, the beam of golden light appeared out of nowhere . Twilight hadn't got time to doge from the incoming stream and she felt a warmth in her chest as the energy devolved into her. Twilight gasped when her body glimmered with golden aura which faded a moment later. " What have you done? What was that?" howled Twilight " A gift from our common friend. You will see one day. And now about that spell...See ya someday, Twilight" Twilight felt somepony's horn touching her own and a moment later she realized that her hooves are not touching the ground anymore. Suddenly she heard four voices shouting in unison "Twilight, fight with it. Resist!!!!" Twilight recognized the voices of Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. But the fourth one... no, it was impossible!!!Princess of friendship almost smiled. But she was still struggling with her foe's spell. Then she felt a pain in her head and once again during that day, she passed out. The four ponies couldn't do a thing and watched in horror as Twilight was lifted into the air and disappeared within a flash of a white light.