//------------------------------// // Info Dump // Story: A Dark Shade of the Past // by InfinityBreach //------------------------------// A Dark Shade of the Past by InfinityBreach Chapter 20: Info Dump I slowly opened my eyes, hearing the sound of voices echoing around me. "Is he going to be okay, Princess?" "He should be fine in due time, and please, call me Luna." "Miss Sparkle, it is best that you go and get yourself checked out too. You took some damage from the fight, just like your friend." "Yeah… except I was the one that made him go there, and got him hurt in the first place." A door slammed. I blinked a few times, looking at my surroundings. White ceiling, grey walls... what the heck? I tried shifting my limbs, but wasn't able to move them an inch. Looking down at them, I saw that I was restrained to the bed I was on. "What the heck is this?" I said, trying to force the braces off of my body. "So Eclipsal, you are finally awake." said the pony that had taken on Victory. "Yeah. I guess I am awake. Luna right?" I asked her. She nodded her head, so I continued. "Where is Twilight, and why am I being restrained like this?" "Oh! Twilight is getting checked out by the other doctors. The restraints… that was just a precaution. Tarnished, could you remove the restrainers, please?" Luna asked, turning to a pony I hadn't noticed sitting near the door. "Yes, Princess." The pony walked up to me, a fabric-like chest plate somehow shining from the sun out the open window. She undid every one of the restraints, and looked up at me with a curious expression on her face. "You aren't a pony, are you?" she asked. "Nope, I'm a horse. Don't see how I am though, since they are supposed to be extinct." I said. "Also, thanks for undoing these, I felt the need to stretch a little." "Well it should be fine for you to move a little. I healed you up with my magic. All the pain you received from that… horrid creature, should be almost completely healed. I still suggest that you be careful with your movements though." Luna advised me. I nodded my head, and adjusted myself into the bed I was on, getting comfortable. "So, who are you two anyway? I only know your names." "I am Luna, Princess and Co-Ruler of Equestria. This is…" "Tarnished. Nice to meet you, sir." Tarnished said without breaking eye contact. Luna seemed to giggle at this, but then continued speaking. "She is the captain of the Night Guard, my own royal army, you could say." "Huh." I said, not really knowing what to say. 'Why were they here in the first place? What would they need from me?' '…. Oh right. Twilight said Princess Luna would be coming to visit me.' "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions, Princess?" I said. "Not at all, Eclipsal. And please, call me Luna." She replied. "So… why did you come here?" I asked. "Well… I felt a weird disturbance coming from Ponyville, I'm sure my sister saw it as well, but she didn't say anything. So I came here myself after speaking with Twilight and learning you were new to the town. I thought there might have been a connection between you and this… but it turns out, it wasn't you, it was just… that monster." Luna spat out the last part. "Yeah. Who is Victory anyway? She seemed to know a bit about you." I felt a strange pain on my neck, and started rubbing my hoof on it. "Victory… she is a part of me, and not a part of me.." Luna began. "Princess, are you sure you want to tell him?" Tarnished asked, looking at me strangely. "Yes, it is important for him to know, especially since Victory just went after him." Luna continued. "Victory is the power that made me turn into Nightmare Moon before. My increasing jealousy of my sister a thousand years ago led me to wanting to control the throne, by myself. I wanted to finally be the one that was respected, to be the one that was cared for by many… I wanted to finally win. I wanted to win the hearts of our ponies, I wanted to win the fame that my sister had always had. That was how Victory manifested herself, from the darkness in my heart. She took me wanting to be adored by my ponies, to me wanting to take over the world with an iron hoof." "Wow… that sounds horrible." I muttered to myself. "How were the two of you stopped though?" "My sister… she used the Elements of Harmony on me, locking me into the moon for a thousand years." She said solemnly. "Could… could that have happened to me?" I gulped. Luna looked at me with a gentle smile. "No, I would not have let that happened to you." She sighed. "Victory takes infuses itself with others by burying herself deep into the darkest pits of their hearts, and then tapping into their magic. At least that's what I currently think. Darkness and magic are very similar indeed…" She stopped for a moment, as if she remembered something. "It's hard to believe after all these years, she wasn't destroyed by the Elements, but simply separated from me." "Is.. is she still a part of me?" I asked Luna, looking at my hooves. "No, she escaped after Tarnished slammed a jar of Poison Joke cure into her face." Luna replied. "No wonder that was the last thing I remember! That was my face too you know…" I started rubbing where the impact was. "Anyway, what is that Poison Joke crap anyway?" Tarnished looked up and explained. "It is a plant with blue flower petals that has certain magical qualities to it. It makes it so that you are basically the opposite of what you believe is yourself. Those talented in magic lose their horns, those that like to talk lose their tongue… the possibilities are endless. With you however, it seemed to have opened up the magic inside of you, unleashing it while at the same time making your body weak." Luna looked at her with a confused face, to which Tarnished shrugged and replied, "You learn things in training." "So, every time I get into Poison Joke, my magic will get stronger?" I said to myself, lifting up my hooves. "But my body… hmm…" I then thought about everything that happened. Victory was acting like she had known me before, but from where? What were those visions I had? One of them was from Nightmare Moon's defeat… but what was the other…? It's probably best I talk to Twilight soon. Luna may be a princess, but I trust Twilight more. If it comes to the matter, I'll tell Luna about it too. The door flew open, and I looked up in time to see a certain purple pony walking in. "Eclipsal! You're okay!" Twilight practically yelled, running up to me and smothering me in a hug. "I am so so so SO sorry, Eclipsal. I should have waited to see if the others would come with us." She said, crying a little. I felt a little flabbergasted to say the least. She was crying over me getting a little hurt? "Twilight, its fine. There is no way you could have known that she would be waiting for us when we entered. We made it out perfectly fine, so don't cry. Okay?" I said, looking her in the eyes, wiping her tears away gently with my hoof. "Okay. I'm just happy you're safe." She sniffled a few times, and then calmed down a little. "When I ran back to Ponyville and told Luna what happened, she said I should go get the others. They are down at the library right now, and I'm sure they would like to see us."