Once, there was a girl. She wasn’t the… happiest child on Earth. Perhaps not the most downtrodden ever to exist, but she had little to compare it to. Surrounded by those who did little to show care to devotion a parent should to their child, she wasted away in their shadow until she was not more. A life cut short, having in reality lived no life at all.
But then it happened. A stranger from another realm, through an unplanned act of kindness, gifted life upon the girl. A life anew, from the very beginnings in the hooves of those who would love her the likes she never comprehended was possible. And so she lived, and she too came to love. Life wasn’t always straightforward for the girl, but it was hers and it was good. She had other ponies to share it with, which was the brightest point of all.
And then it ended, but the stranger returned once more. The girl was mourning, desperate, heartbroken. She asked for another chance, to save those she loved the feeling of a loss most profound. And it was given, but the girl found the stranger had a darker side…
As it is with one who herself has never known friendship.
“Give me that girl. She owes me her life, and it is forfeit.”
Penumbra stood tall and proud before the princesses of Equestria, not even blinking as they stared dagger into their very being. Her eyes were hard and cold, a profound rage burning within them. Clearly, she had no intention of backing down.
But then, neither did the princesses.
Princess Celestia returned Penumbra’s glare, glancing at her fellow princesses a moment before slowly quieting her horn and standing up regally. “Penumbra, is it? I’m afraid we have yet to be introduced, and it isn’t everyday you meet a fellow alicorn.”
“Only if one knows where to look,” Penumbra retorted. “But I am not here to play with children, stand aside. Now.”
“Children!?” Luna said in outrage, stamping a hoof in a way that actually did little to disprove Penumbra’s words. “The arrogance! We have not been fillies for a millennia!”
“Add four,” Penumbra replied with a wry smirk, causing Luna to blink. “Ah, the Princess of the Night, thinking herself big and powerful. The grand Nightmare of the Moon. Hm, how little you understand.”
“We understand you wish harm upon out subject, which is enough for us!”
Twilight took this moment to step in between Penumbra and her fellow princesses, and the three pegasi in the back could only watch in bewilderment.
“Now, hang on a minute,” Twilight said diplomatically. “We don’t need to fight, let’s just talk a while longer!”
“And so speaks the Princess of Friendship,” Penumbra said predatorily. “Your title hasn’t prevented you from confronting me just now.”
Twilight shot Penumbra a glare. “You’re threatening Little Wing. I don’t want to fight, and I hope it won’t come to that. But you won’t hurt her either.”
“You tell her, Twilight!” Rainbow shouted from the back, though was largely ignored.
“Enough of this!” Penumbra growled, horn sparking. “You have interfered enough, Twilight Sparkle! Give her here. NOW!”
“Penumbra, please!” a far quieter voice final addressed, and from the back of the group a blue pegasus hopped into the air and glided over the heads of the princesses. She came to a swift landing beside Twilight Sparkle, looking directly at Penumbra.
“Ah, so she delivers herself,” Penumbra stated. “Come now, child. I believe you have avoided your fate long enough.”
“Wait, please,” Little Wing said with a shake of her head, glancing to the side as Misty Gust and Rainbow Dash also flew out to stand by her side. “Penumbra, why has it come to this?”
“I would also like to know,” Twilight concurred.
Penumbra’s eye twitched. “Why? WHY!? You know very well why, you insolent foal!”
“Enlighten the rest of us, then,” Celestia asked of her. “In your own words.”
“Enlighten? Are you so naïve?” the dark alicorn questioned. “She’s is an anomaly. She shouldn’t be alive at all! That was my error, one I intend to rectify!”
“You told me once that you took me from death out of kindness, because you felt sorry for me,” Little Wing stated. “So what changed? Why are you doing this?”
“Your memory has been restored, I would advise you use it while you can,” Penumbra growled in response. “I warned you. I told you how my spell could very well be causing unseen damage to reality itself. And yet you wanted to live, so I gifted it to you a second time!”
“With the ‘penance’,” Twilight noted.
“With what I was doing for her, shouldn’t there have been a price to pay? I still feel the strain, and I will for years to come!”
“In other words, you’re currently in a weakened state, and yet you wish to challenge us?” Luna pointed out. “Foolish.”
“I do not need to defeat you, Princess. I just need her,” Penumbra spat, glaring at Little Wing.
Rainbow Dash stepped in front of Little Wing protectively, eliciting a snort from Penumbra. Little Wing, however, used a wing to move Rainbow aside while not faltering under Penumbra’s judgement.
“But why?”
“Why what, Emma?”
“Well, we’ve been talking and… what was the point? Of my punishment, I mean.”
Penumbra frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She’s asking what it got you,” Twilight concluded. “I understand the strain, and the moral grey area surrounding her resurrection. But what did the penance get you in the end? What did it cause but needless suffering for an innocent family?”
Penumbra faltered, if just for a moment, seemingly grasping for a retort. “I… I brought her back once! And yet she had the gall to ask for what I never should have given for a second time! There… had to be consequences.”
“I would think ‘no’ would have sufficed,” Luna mused. “If it is as dangerous as you claim, why not simply deny her?”
“Indeed,” Celestia concurred. “While I am glad for her good health, I can’t say I would have done the same. I love all my ponies dearly; however, meddling with death is not something to be undertaken on a whim.”
“You think I don’t know that!?” Penumbra bellowed in a rage. “Necromancers use such practices to create abominations, I took careful steps to prevent that. The lack of dark magic was a help, I assure you. But I know my own folly, I just couldn’t help myself!”
“Why?”
“I saw a girl, a mere child, neglected and alone! What would’ve you had me do, when I, in that moment, realised I could gift that poor soul something invaluable!”
“So, it was on a whim.”
“…Yes. It was,” Penumbra admitted. “I shouldn’t have, I have long realised that. It broke too many rules, but…”
“You regret it?”
“…I don’t know. Maybe not, seeing the life she has led.”
Little Wing’s eyes widened. “But… you said it was a folly…?”
“Maybe…” Penumbra replied. “But sometimes a folly, no matter how serious, can lead to good things.”
“And yet you wish to kill her now,” Celestia noted with a frown.
Penumbra gritted her teeth. “She broke our agreement.”
“Technically, Twilight was responsible for that,” Luna pointed out, before raising a hoof to halt the lavender alicorn’s incoming retort. “But alas, back to my point. Why couldn’t you have just said no?”
Penumbra was silent.
“You meddled with what should have been left alone, doing a questionable act to thankfully pleasant results, even if it had a cost,” Luna surmised. “Then she died for a second time, and you were against her resurrection. But instead of simply denying her, you sent her back with a set punishment.”
Penumbra’s silence continued, though she took a step back as if struck. Where there was once nothing but cold, certain rage in her eyes… Now, there was conflict.
“What was with that!?” Rainbow Dash demanded to know, anger in her voice. “I… I don’t get you! You helped my little sister twice, but now you wanna hurt her? Seriously, what the hay!?”
“…I… I have to!” Penumbra suddenly shouted, her horn sparking up and her wings flaring aggressively once again. “You broke our agreement! I cannot give in to my weakness again! I must do this!”
“Kindness is not a weakness, Penumbra,” Twilight Sparkle said, shaking her head. “It’s not a weakness. You are a complicated pony, but not necessarily a bad one. And really, I don’t believe you could kill a mare who is with child.”
And just like that, the bit dropped.
The entire room seemed to freeze, and all eyes barring Twilight’s turned to gape at Little Wing. The pegasus, on her part, seemed to blush fiercely under all the scrutiny.
“…Little Wing…?” Misty Gust asked questioningly. “Is it true? It… worked?”
“Uh, yes. Misty, it did,” Little Wing confirmed, turning to face her wife with a sheepish smile. “I asked Princess Twilight to confirm it and… Yeah, I’m pregnant.”
The silence lasted for a few more precious moments, before being promptly destroyed by Misty Gust’s squeal of delight. The mare wasted no time in glomping her wife so hard that both of them ended up sprawled out on the floor, both giggling as they seemingly forgot where they were. But it couldn’t be said their happiness wasn’t infectious, and all the others couldn’t help but smile at the couple’s moment of joy…
Except for one.
Penumbra sat down hard onto the red velvet carpet, her breath seemingly caught in her throat but a step away from hyperventilation. Her eyes were wide, conflict and rage both replaced with one very distinguishable emotion.
Guilt.
“What… am I doing…?”
The giggling died down, and all eyes turned back towards the ancient alicorn. Little Wing used this moment to pick herself up from the floor, and approach Penumbra gingerly.
“Penumbra, why did you bring me back that second time? Why… any of it?”
Penumbra sighed, taking a moment to collect her though. “Every instinct demanded I say no. I had already meddled enough with death, I knew this. The damage I could cause… I knew I should just let you move on to the everafter. But…”
Penumbra paused, and they all just waited for her to collect herself.
“But, I couldn’t do it. Every time I thought of the notion, I just saw that child dying while her parents did nothing to help. And in truth, I couldn’t bear the thought of you being alone in death. I know all too well what it feels like to have nopony.”
“Penumbra…”
“Immortality is a lonely place, Little Wing,” Penumbra said quietly. “Four thousand years is a very long time.”
“Only if you don’t have friends to share those times with,” Princess Twilight softly retorted.
“Yes, I suppose you are right,” Penumbra admitted. “Hm, Little Wing may be the closest thing I’ve ever had to a friend.”
“Then why…?” Misty Gust asked. “Why did you…?”
“Take her memories?” Penumbra finished for her. “I don’t know, in truth. Pride, perhaps? A part of me hated that I couldn’t bear the thought of saying no, I saw it as a weakness. I guess I may have also taken it out on Little Wing.”
“You hurt her,” Rainbow Dash growled.
“I know. And I am a fool,” Penumbra muttered. “Worse still, when I found out what Princess Twilight did… I was angry. I let my anger control me, to almost make me do the unforgivable…”
And then Little Wing saw it, a single tear running down Penumbra’s cheek.
"For all my years, it seems I still have much to learn about the responsibility that comes with power."
Little Wing sniffed. “I’m sorry.”
Penumbra gave her a look of confusion. “Sorry? Why are you sorry?”
“I shouldn’t have pressured you into bringing me back a second time,” Little Wing stated. “I knew what it would cost, but I did it anyway. I was selfish.”
“You were distraught and in mourning,” Penumbra said with a shake of her head. “No, I should have been strong enough to say no. But I didn’t. And then I took it out on you, which was not fair or just.”
Despite it all, Little Wing let out a chuckle. “So, I suppose I can’t count on revival number three, huh?”
“No, I think not,” Penumbra answered with a chuckle of her own. “Despite what we have done, and the unseen damage we may have caused, I am glad your life turned out for the better. I suppose that makes it worth it. But I shouldn’t do it again, no matter how much it hurts not to. That’s the problem with having such a power, the consequences.”
“Well, even if it’s really complicated…” Little Wing began. “Thanks. For bringing me back, for giving me… everything.”
Penumbra sighed. “Thank you for saying so. Still, I’m not sure how you can be so quick to forgive me for, you know, all of this…”
Little Wing shrugged. “I guess that’s what friends are for.”
“So… no epic fight to decide who lives and who dies?” Rainbow Dash suddenly enquired, giving a dramatic groan. “Aw, that’s so lame!”
A round of chuckles made its way over the entire group, Twilight flicking Rainbow’s ear with a wing.
“Not everything is solved with magic bullets and sonic rainbooms, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight chided.
“Yeah, I hear ya,” Rainbow responded. “Welp, I’m just glad the squirt is okay. And hey, and least Sky Dancer is gonna get somepony to play with!”
“I’m so excited!” Misty Gust chirped.
“Then I will leave you to your celebration,” Penumbra announced. “I think I’ve overstayed my welcome. And embarrassed myself enough.”
“Wait!” Little Wing halted Penumbra. “You can stay a while longer, you know.”
Penumbra shook her head. “No, Little Wing. This is your life, and I expect you to continue living it to the fullest.”
“But what about you?”
“I’ll… be around,” Penumbra stated. “And when your final close comes, we shall meet again. I wouldn’t miss it.”
Little Wing sighed, but then nodded. “Well, okay. Just… don’t be alone, please?”
Penumbra nodded. “I will endeavour not to be. Farewell, ponies of Equestria.”
And then in a flash of magic, Penumbra was gone.
In Penumbra’s absence, a silence returned. The ponies in the throne room all looked between each other, registering what had just transpired. The reconciliation of Penumbra and Little Wing, the latter’s pregnancy… It was certainly a lot to take in.
“That was an… interesting experience,” Luna finally noted. “And now we know there are others like us out there, with mother knows what abilities.”
“An issue for another time,” Princess Celestia concluded. “But for now, I think we should let this family celebrate. Congratulations, Little Wing, Misty Gust.”
“Thank you, your highness!” Little Wing and Misty Gust said together, glancing at one another in amusement before sharing a happy hug.
“Come on guys, let’s get outta here,” Rainbow Dash said, leading the two lovebirds away. “See you later, Twi!”
The three alicorns watched the pegasi go, amusement gracing their features.
“Your friends always seem to be involved in the most peculiar of situations, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna mused. “Why is it always you?”
Twilight shrugged while Princess Celestia could only laugh at her little sister’s comment.
Despite how close things had come to violence, crisis had been averted. Through the Magic of Friendship, all was right with the world once again…