//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Teenage Princess // Story: Shadow And The Heart // by DR-Fluffy //------------------------------// It’s been six years since the day Shadow was ripped from Flurry Heart’s life. She hasn't seen his face since that day, and her life has been one of a gilded bird. Rising from her bed Flurry began her morning routine. She sat out the dress She would wear that day across her bed before taking a seat at her desk. As she reached for the brush to comb out her mane she spotted an Ice Lily sitting across the desk. Picking it up she lifted it to her nose, and memories of her youth, playing along the Empire’s border, played through her mind. Flurry may not be able to see Shadow anymore but he’s still out there, watching over her. When her preparations were done she left the room, donning a dress of swirling blue and silver. She trotted down the hallway with the elegant and pose expected of royalty as she headed for the throne room. It would have been faster to run or fly but Flurry Heart had an “image” to maintain, as her mother would often say. It was just another way for her mother to control her every action. She approach the throne room door and two crystal guards pushed it open for her to enter. Her mother was sitting on the throne in full regalia. Standing before her was Flurry’s aunt, Princess Twilight Sparkle, wearing her own purple regalia, and her cousin, Witherleaf: a jade pegasus mare with a blue mane and a single purple stripe. Flurry Heart put on a face of a filly delighted to see her cousin again, but inwardly she was groaning. Witherleaf held the same look as she approached. Flurry didn’t hate Witherleaf, they got along well enough, but their parents wanted them to continue one of their old traditions, one they both despised. they had to dance. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake.” In front of their mothers and a hoof full of guards, they performed the most humiliating dance that has ever been invented, and they danced it like pros. “Flurry Heart, you missed breakfast,” Cadence spoke. Flurry rose and stepped forward to answer her, “My apologies, mother, but I got caught up reading and overslept.” her mask showed innocent regret and Cadence’s displayed parental concern. They had each worn their mask for so long that it was difficult to tell if the emotions were genuine, and either due to stubbornness or pride, neither one wanted to be the first to find out for sure. “Be more mindful of the time, Flurry Heart, your rest is important.” “Yes, mother.” “Now if you will excuse us, Twilight and I have some business to discuss, so why don’t you and Witherleaf go spend some time together.” Flurry smiled. “Of course, mother.” Putting a wing over Witherleaf she guided her out the door. They were nearly to Flurry’s room when Witherleaf tried to push away, “There’s no one around so back off already.” Flurry pulled her in tighter and whispered, “My mother has eyes everywhere, so wait until we get into the room.” “Damn, you’re paranoid.” “You bet your flank.” When they entered the room they broke apart. Witherleaf went to lie on the bed while Flurry set back at her desk. The book she had been reading the night before was still lying there open. It was the collected history of Sombra, what little there was to know about him. Flurry had often wondered what would happen if Shadow was Sombra and what that would mean for them. More than once she had woken from nightmares about Sombra revealing some master plan of how he used her, yet most of those dreams involved her mother yelling, “I was right!” “I love this bed!” Witherleaf groaned into the pillow. “It’s so much softer than mine. What gives? I’m a princess too, how did you get the better bed?” Flurry turned the page in her book and skimmed over it. The current chapter was talking about what Sombra did with the slaves. Most were given the mundane task of manual labor or made soldiers, while other slaves were given far worse tasks, ones that gave the slaves a short life expectancy. When a pillow hit the back of her head she remembered the question she was asked. “I’m the future ruler of the Crystal Empire, so my title actually means something. I swear, when I’m queen I’m repealing that law about outlawing the title of queen and king. That, or become independent and then their laws won’t matter anymore.” Witherleaf rolled over on her back. “I thought the Empire was considering going independent, that’s the rumor anyway.” “They’ve been considering it since I was one, but at this point I think they’re too use to Equestria solving their problems for them.” Flurry turned in her chair and looked at Witherleaf. “What is the news from Equestria? “Let’s see, Uncle Spike brought his hatchling over… what was his name… Magma, I think. Anyway, he’s learned to breathe fire, and the other day he snuck into my greenhouse. Need I draw you a picture.” Flurry Heart couldn’t stop from letting out a quick laugh. “Was it a total loss?” “No, me and mom managed to save most of it, but all of my special plants were lost. Months of feeding, watering, and keeping my mom from figuring out what they are, down the drain. Unfortunately, mom wouldn’t let me force feed the little bastard my remaining supply of nightshade to test out just how good dragon poison resistance is.” By the brown leaf cutie mark, most ponies would assume that Witherleaf’s talent is just in growing plants, but few knew that her true passion lay with growing plants with an intoxicating effect. Flurry only knew because she was there when her cousin got it. “Oh and speaking of my special plants.” Witherleaf jumped up from the bed and trotted to the door where she had left her saddlebags. She fished out a plastic bag packed with small roots. “This is my latest creation. I call it Root Weed; it has very few side effects and the buzz last quite a while. Want some?” She poured some out on a hoof and popped them into her mouth. She gave a small shiver as she chewed them. “So good.” “Why not.” Flurry took the offered bag and ate a hoof full. They were bitter but not entirely unpleasant. It took a few minutes but her head started to go light and she felt a bit more relaxed, not by much just enough to be noticeable. They passed the plastic bag back and forth and with each hoof full of the stuff Flurry ate she felt better and better. “Has anything else happened in the world?” Witherleaf gave a shrug. “It’s as boring as ever, I’m guessing you already heard about Discord?” Flurry raised an eyebrow. “No, I haven’t heard anything about Discord. What did he do now?” “He took over the country again—how did you not hear about it? Your mom was there.” “My mother and I don’t speak much.” “I see, no matter. I guess it has to do with my mom and her friends losing their connection to the Elements of Harmony,” Witherleaf explained as she upended the last of the Root Weed. Flurry nodded. The former elements bearers didn’t suddenly stop being friends with each other, but as Shining Armor had explained to her, it was closer to their time with the elements running out. Witherleaf tossed the bag to the side. “So there I was…” *** Witherleaf brushed her teeth as she prepared for bed. She was in one of Canterlot Castle’s guest rooms her family were staying in. Her mother had been going back and forth all week since the elements turned to stone. Just as she finished rinsing out her mouth the light from the window caught her attention. When she saw the moon chasing the sun through the sky while barking like a dog, she knew things were bad. Witherleaf left the bathroom and trotted into the sitting room to find her father. Her mother had disappeared almost as soon as they arrived in the city, leaving Witherleaf and her father to their own devices. Her father, Flash Sentry, was standing near the two pane window, while he slowly put his golden guard armor on. “Hey dad, I don’t know if you noticed—“ “I noticed,” Flash answered as he slipped the helmet over his head. “Of all the times for that Draconequus to go on a rampage. Witherleaf, I’m heading out. You are to stay here until your mother arrives.” “But,” Witherleaf barely got that out before Flash hit her with a look that only fathers seem to possess. The type that said it wasn’t up for debate. “Yes sir.” Flash lifted up her pouting face with one hoof and gave her a soft smile. “I’ll be back before you know it.” Flash didn’t want to leave, but Witherleaf was old enough to take care of herself, and as an officer in the Guard he had duties he needed to attend to. Without another look back, he left and locked the room behind him. To Witherleaf’s credit she managed to wait a whole two minutes before opening the window and flying out. It was like her father had forgotten that she had the attention span of a pegasus. She couldn’t fly very far with all of the cotton candy clouds raining chocolate milk, the thought of trying to wash that out of her coat did not sound fun, so she angled her body for the small garden below her rooms window. Not really sure where to go first Witherleaf headed to the throne room. She could always use the excuse that she got lost. She had to make a detour a few times, one hallway was blocked by a waterfall that was solid as stone, and another was overgrown by a plastic plant. When she entered the throne room she expected to see one of the princesses giving out orders, like in those war plays of the olden times, but what she found was all four princesses turned to stone. Twilight wasn’t completely stone yet, but it had already taken over her lower body and was rising fast. “Witherleaf,” Twilight called when Witherleaf entered the throne room. Of course she was facing right at the door. Witherleaf trotted over to her and tried to keep from laughing. “So how’s your day been?” She ignored the question and, by the look in her eyes, Witherleaf could tell she was in full lecture mode. “Witherleaf, listen to me, I don’t have much time. I know you must be scared, but I need you to be brave for me,” Yeah, she wasn’t scared, like not even a little. What was so scary about Discord? “You have to stop Discord! Go to the vault and gather the Elements of Harmony, after that find Jazmin here in Canterlot and head for Ponyville. The other children should be there, you know who they are. You must become the next Bearers of the Elements and save Equestria!” The stone was slowly rising up her neck now and Witherleaf knew she didn’t have much time, so she had to make this good, “No, I don’t want to join your friendship cult.” “Witherleaf! This is serious!” “No.” “You go get those elements and save Equestria right now, or you are grounded, young lady!” Witherleaf snorted out in amusement. “You can’t ground me. You’re a statue now.” Just as she was about to give an angry reply the stone closed around her head. Judging by the look on her face, Witherleaf knew she was going to be grounded for this. With little else to do, and a desire to not spend the next year locked in her room, she decided to go see Discord and try to get some time off her punishment. When she got out into the courtyard, it wasn’t too difficult to figure out where Discord was. Flairs from Discord’s magic were lighting up the top of the Tower of the Sun and Moon, where Celestia and Luna raise the celestial bodies each day. All around the tower cotton candy clouds were spawning from nowhere and flying off into the distance. As Witherleaf made her way over, she passed a formation of Royal Guards fighting off hordes of vegetables, complete with little arms, legs, and faces, wielding knives and forks. Flash Sentry was at the front of the group and yelling over the battle, “Give them nothing, but take from them everything!” Seeing as her father had everything in hoof, she continued until she reached the base of the tower a few minutes later. Looking up that the vast height of the tower, Witherleaf had never been so glad to be born a pegasus. With a quick flap of her wings she flew into the air and reached the top in a few seconds. Discord stood on the balcony waving his arms, like a maestro conducting a symphony. He smiled down on her as she trotted to his side, his arms never stopped moving. “Hello, Witherleaf, what are you doing out? I thought your mother would have placed you in some chaos proof box by now.” “She probably would have, but you kind of turned her into stone,” she explained. “Then consider yourself lucky. Shell I also turn your father to stone?” Witherleaf quickly shook her head. That maybe going a bit too far. “But can you do something to Silver Song? That stupid mare is always making fun of me because I live in Ponyville.” Discords answer was the snap of his talon. In the far distance she could faintly see a house rise into the air. “Cool, anyway, do you think you can turn my mom and the other princesses back to normal, please?” “No,” Discord replied without giving it a second thought. Witherleaf stuck out her lip and put on a sad face. It worked on her father, so she may as well try it here, she reasoned. “Come on, Discord, they don’t have the elements anymore. They literally can’t stop you without them, so why not make a game out of it? You like games.” He gave a heavy sigh and looked at the pouting pegasus, all while his arms threw out chaos magic. “It’s not that I’m worried they’ll stop me, but you’ve seen your mother when she’s in full lecture mode. It’s so annoying,” Witherleaf couldn’t argue with that. Twilight had once lectured her for an hour on the proper order in which to do your homework for maximum efficiency. That being said, she couldn’t just back down now. It was her only chance to avoid being grounded… probably. She put as much wine into her voice as she could manage, “Discord!” “Ok fine!” Discord grabbed a passing cotton candy cloud, swirled it around a stick, and handed it to Witherleaf. “Here’s a late night snack for you. The princesses are released; now off to bed with you. Honestly, you ponies are lucky you’re so cute.” “Thanks, Discord.” With cotton candy in hoof she flew down from the tower. She was making her way back to her room when she turned a wrong corner and ran into all four princesses. Twilight took one look at the cotton candy and glared at her. “Hey, you can’t ground me. I got Discord to let you go.” The other princesses shared a quick look among themselves, before continuing on, while Twilight spoke between clenched teeth, “Go to your room and stay there until your father arrives. We will deal with Discord.” *** “That does sound like Discord, so how did they stop him?” Flurry Heart asked. They had moved to the far wall from the bed and were just sitting next to each other, feeling… great. “They cornered him in Fillydelphia and bombarded him with petrification spells until they stuck. Just to be safe, they place stones infused with harmony into the discord statue,” “How long do you think that will last?” “A month, maybe a year at most. No matter what they do it’s never going to be as effective as using the elements. I think that’s why we came here today,” Witherleaf explained. “Mom didn’t tell me what this trip was about, but I got the impression that it was about the elements in some way.” ‘So Twilight’s visit has something to do with the next element bearers. Could she think I’m one? Unlikely. No, she probably wanted to use Shadow as target practice.’ Flurry thought to herself. She wasn’t sure if it was merely her curiosity or all of the Root Weed she had been eating, but she suddenly had an amazing idea. “Want to go spy on them?” Witherleaf looked at her and blinked a few times, “You mean spy on our moms in their secret meeting that we’re not supposed to hear… of course I do!” They rose from the floor and stretched out their legs. Flurry cast two quick spells over them; the first was an invisibility spell while the second was a noise dampener spell. She didn’t know if her mother had ponies that watched her or if it was some kind of magic surveillance, but these two spells should take care of both problems. Across the hall from the room was a servant corridor that had been sealed off and hidden from view. The corridors ran the length of the castle and were meant for servants to traverse the grounds while remaining unseen, but after Cadence took over it had been sealed off. Flurry beckoned Witherleaf closer and wrapped her in a wing. Teleporting with others had never been her strong point, yet perhaps that wouldn’t be the case if she didn’t spend so much time locked away, but as it was she would need Witherleaf to be as close as possible. She closed her eyes and pictured the target. With a flash they were gone. They reappeared just past the wall and into the corridor. “This is not quite what I had in mind when you said you wanted to spy on them,” said Witherleaf, as she gazed around. The corridor was barely large enough for both of them to stand side by side. Witherleaf trotted over to what looked like a vent with ornament designs on it and looked through into the outside hallway. Witherleaf giggled even as she tried to speak, “Hey, have you ever caught someone getting it on before?” “Oh for Celestia’s sake, Witherleaf.” Witherleaf stepped back over and poked Flurry in the ribs. “Have you… have you?” Flurry Heart walked past her even as she said, “It’s not like I stay to watch.” The laughing sound Witherleaf emitted made Flurry wonder if the noise dampener spell would hold out. Witherleaf followed through the tight and winding corridors. Flurry didn’t know exactly where their mothers were, but she had a good idea where they could be. Getting there from her room would have only taken a few minutes, but the corridors looped away from her mother’s study, forcing them to take a long detour around. It took them another thirty minutes to reach the study, and by that point Witherleaf constant fits of giggles were beginning to great on Flurry’s Root Weed soaked mind. Through a vent she could see Cadence and Twilight sitting across a table from one another, a steaming pot of tea set between them. “I don’t like this,” Cadence began. “He’s still out there. I can feel it in my bones, he’s just waiting for us to lower our guard.” And there it was, the single thing that had all but destroyed Flurry’s relationship with her mother. So many times she had tried to get Cadence to understand that Shadow is not Sombra, but it would always turn into a shouting match between the two of them. These days it was considered a taboo topic. Twilight took Cadence by the hoof to comfort her. “And we will stop him, I swear that to you, but you can’t keep Flurry Heart trapped here.” “Why not!?” Cadence pulled her hoof away as she cried. “She is safe here, and you want to take her to Ponyville!” Flurry’s ears peaked up at this new revelation, it was starting to get interesting. “Cadence, when was the last time you saw Flurry Heart smile?” Cadence looked taken aback by the question and could barely get a 'what' out. “She is surviving here, not living. She needs to be around fillies her own age. The other girls and I are getting our kids together to see if any of them could be the next element bearers. Even if Flurry Heart isn’t one of them, she should still go to make friends.” Cadence was quiet for a long moment. She took several long sips of her tea before speaking again, “What if Sombra shows up?” “Ponyville isn’t that little out of the way town anymore, we’re large enough to be considered a city now. That doesn’t include the guard regiment stationed there, all of whom will be on high alert for any suspicious ponies. And don’t forget, I am the former Element of Magic.” Cadence gave a small smile and took Twilight’s hoof again. Hearing enough Flurry turned and walked away. ‘It appears I’m going to Ponyville, so I guess I’ll get started on packing,’ she thought. Witherleaf followed shortly after and they headed back to the room. When they entered the room Flurry dispelled the magic on them. “Oh this is just priceless; mom wants you to be friends with those losers.” Flurry went to her closet and picked out outfits suitable for the country environment. “I don’t even remember them. I met them once at some reunion my mother forced me to go to.” “As I said, losers, every last one. So, when our moms talked about ‘Sombra’ where they talking about your stalker?” “It’s Shadow not Sombra, they are just confused. How did you hear about that?” “Oh my mom told me, by the way that’s a secret so don’t tell anyone.” Witherleaf put a hoof to her lips in mock secrecy. “I’ve tried to get my parents to understand that Shadow isn’t Sombra, but they don’t want to hear it and I’m tired of saying it,” “Does he really stalk you though?” Flurry stopped picking up dresses and stepped out of the closet to answer her, “He watches over me.” “Aww, that would almost be sweet… if it wasn’t so creepy,” Witherleaf received a glare in answer. A few minutes later a knock on the door came with a guard informing them that their mothers had summoned them to the throne room. The two of them wasted little time in arriving. Cadence stood next to Twilight and together they addressed Flurry Heart. “Flurry Heart, I talked it over with your mother and we want you to come stay at my castle in Ponyville for the week. We have a very special event planned that we want you to partake in.” Twilight said, smiling widely and awaiting a response. Witherleaf put a hoof under her chin and began to think aloud, “A special event you can’t tell us about. In Ponyville, the heart of friendship. Why this almost sounds like—“ “If you say the word ‘cult’ you are grounded.” Witherleaf dropped her hoof and remained quiet. “What is your answer? Do you wish to go?” Cadence asked. Flurry gave it an appropriate few seconds of pretend thought before giving an answer, “No.” “What!?” They both said in unison “I said no. The last time I got to leave the Empire you sent a dozen guards to follow me around. I couldn’t even go into a clothing store without them checking the place for traps. It was humiliating. If I have to deal with that again then I’d rather not go.” Twilight facepalmed. “There is no need to worry. There will be no guards accompanying you around,” Flurry Heart was skeptical of that claim to say the least, “Really?” She asked, a hint of hope in her voice. “Yes, however, there are conditions,” Cadence was quick to inform. “You may not leave the region of Ponyville unless Twilight is there to escort you—this is non-negotiable. Secondly, I expect you to obey Twilight’s word as if it was mine. If you can agree to that then I will have no objections, and your father has wanted you to get out of the castle for some time, so I know he will have no objections.” This time Flurry did not pretend when she thought it over. It was a far better deal than she had been expecting. An entire week without having to deal with her parents or the army of servants. “I agree,” she said. It was simply too enticing not to go. Twilight’s smiled only grew, “Pack a bag, Flurry Heart, we’re leaving first thing in the morning,”