There are things in life that changes your life forever. Ponies experience it all the time; sometimes more than once.
Bright Night, a nerdy looking earth pony stallion with full moon yellow coat, metallic silver mane and tail and an open book, illuminated by a crescent moon and two stars, cutie mark. His hipster glasses constantly slipping down his muzzle, made slippery with nervous sweat as he finds his life about to change once more.
He was pacing back and forth in front of the delivery room. Waiting worriedly as his wife gave birth to their foal.
In normal circumstances, the father was usually allowed inside, but his wife, Black Rose, ever the dramatic, refused to quote unquote, 'have her eternal beloved see her in such an ugly state.'
Rose was a gothic earth pony mare that he met when they were at seventh grade. She has a light gray coat with the darkest black mane and tail he has ever seen that she inherited from her bat pony ancestry. She has a fountain pen cutie mark with a black, thorny stem of a black rose wrapped around it.
Night had never been this nervous since he asked Rose out on a date! He chuckled, reducing his anxiety a little bit as he fondly remembered the scene.
To this day, he still couldn't believe that he managed to snag the dark beauty! They were such polar opposites! He worked part-time as a motivational speaker, while she reads morbid poetry at recitals. He liked listening to Just-in Fever and she listens to Par-amour. He likes ice cream, she eats fish. He thought for sure that Rose would hate him! He was such a creep back then, always watching her as she reads at the gloomy corner of the library, of course, Rose, a bit of a weirdo herself, found it romantic.
He got really lucky there. Turns out, everypony that asked her out before always gets discouraged when they couldn't understand her always talking in quotes and metaphors. And of course, being a book nerd himself, Bright Night was the first pony to ever get her.
His reminiscing was interrupted as the doors of the delivery room finally opened.
"Congratulations, Mr. Night! It's a Colt! The delivery is successful and both the mother and foal are healthy. You can now go see them, if you wish."
At this, his wife shrieked. "W-Wait, don't! I beg of you, my love. I'm not prepared for you to see me just yet!"
Night rolled his eyes and went in anyway. Relieved to see his wife okay with his own eyes.
"Niiiight! I asked of you not to enter, did I not?" Rose whined, desperately brushing away the damp hair that clung to her face. "Oh, dear grief, I'm such a mess!"
"A beautiful mess, that's what you are!" To convince her, the stallion joined his wife on the bed and gave her a kiss.
Cheeks flushed, Rose looked away, embarrassed. "Night! The nurses are watching!" The stallion rolled his eyes.
"Ignore them, they're probably used to this."
The mare swatted at him. "That's not the point!"
Bright Night chuckled. Indeed there were two young nurses, waiting patiently nearby. Smirks of amusement on their faces as they watched the couple's antics.
They're probably here to take the baby for examination. The stallion thought to himself. But before that...
"Rose? Our colt, can I see him?" Smiling, the mare nodded and held the foal forward for Night to gently hold.
Bright Night carefully took the colt in his hooves and gently brushed the cloth a little bit so he can take a better look at the peacefully sleeping foal. The colt had a gray coat, a darker shade than his mother's, and dark silvery mane.
He's perfect.
"Behold, my love. The perfect little miracle we have created together." Rose gazed fondly at her foal. "Nocturnal Solstice, our majestic prince of the night."
A quote from 'The Mare in the Moon'. Night realized, though, decided not to call her out on it.
Suddenly like magic, a strange idea popped in Bright Night's head. "Noctis..."
"Hm?" Rose looked at him curiously.
"Nocturnal Solstice. Noctis for short. It would make a cute little nickname for him, don't you think?" The mare considered it for a moment and smiled.
"Noctis... I like it." Rose took the foal back in her hooves and kissed it on the forehead. "Happy birthday, my sweet Prince Noctis." Rose had no idea why she called him that. But, it just feels right, for some reason.
The family moment got cut short when one of the nurses cleared her throat, catching their attention. "We really hate to do this, but we have to take the baby now for his examination and let the mother have her rest."
Rose instinctively held her baby tight protectively. Noticing this, Bright Night comforted his wife. "Hey, honey. It's okay. They're professionals. They'll take good care of him." The nurses nodded in confirmation. At this, the mare hesitantly relinquished the foal the nurses' care.
With a polite nod of farewell, the nurses took their leave. One mare held the colt on one hoof and walked with the other three and the other followed vigilantly nearby. Alert, just In case her colleague tripped or slipped.
"See? Nothing to worry about." The stallion reassured his wife. "So anyway, I should probably go now and let you have your re-." Bright Night was about to get up when his wife caught his hoof like a steel trap.
"Please, don't go..." He immediately knew he wouldn't leave the moment he looked at her watery, pleading, eyes. "I feel lonely right now."
The stallion smiled. Wondering, once more, what he did to deserve such a cute wife. "Of course!" Scooting back to bed, Bright Night gave his wife a loving kiss on the forehead. "I'm so proud of you..."
At her husband's sweet words, Black Rose shed tears of joy. Hugging him tightly, feeling very happy and appreciated for her hard work.
They stayed like that for a few moments, before the nurses came back and wheeled Rose's bed to another room, for her to recover.
Crystal Empire. Approximately a thousand years ago...
There are things in life that could change your life forever...
... Sometimes, just not in a good way.
Princess Amore was just the happiest she had ever been this morning.
She was a tall unicorn princess. With a pinkish white coat and long red mane that transitioned to violet going down. She had just finished giving birth to her beautiful baby filly. A pegasus, just like her father. When suddenly, the crystal barrier started flickering and eventually died, letting the storm to close in on all directions.
And then, the screams began...
It should have been a wondrous day, full of joy and love and celebration. Instead, there was panic and explosions. Why?
Why is this happening now? Why today of all days? Her foal doesn't deserve this. Her filly deserves to come to this world happy...
"Shush love, it's okay. Mommy's here..." Princess Amore was running. It's not safe inside the castle anymore. They had to escape!
The Princess flinched as another explosion rocked the castle. Clutching her foal protectively, shielding her from falling dust and debris.
Almost there... The princess continued trotting. She winced, still haven't quite recovered from her labor.
She went down the stairs, and proceeded towards the front entrance, finally seeing what's going on outside.
In the distance, she saw her closest friends, Celestia and Luna, flying around, shooting magic at what seems to look like a black fog monster.
A loud chorus of battle cries tore her attention to the northeast where she found some of her crystal knights, engaged in a battle with a giant flaming three headed beast. The middle head was busy clawing and biting at the knights, while the other two was spitting fireballs all over.
The Princess whimpered.
As if hearing her. The three heads locked their sights at her and quickly charged.
Seeing this, Amore ran as fast as she could, but it's no use. The beast was quickly gaining on her!
Some of the knights tried to stop it, or slow it down at the least, only for them to be trampled over.
This isn't fair. Her daughter was just born and her time is about to end. Amore doesn't care if she dies right then and there. But her daughter was barely a day old! If anyone deserves more time to live, it's her!
Adrenaline and desperation, combined with her desire to protect her foal, must have triggered something inside of her as her horn started glowing on its own.
Clueless to what's about to happen, the savage beast pounced, ready to devour the mother and daughter, but was caught off guard when suddenly, with a burst of light and magic, a giant colorful vortex of distorted space and time, tore open!
Unable to change its trajectory, the beast was immediately got sucked inside.
The princess skidded to a halt. Panting, she looked back in shock as she gazed in amazement at the slowly shrinking portal.
Did... Did I do that?
Princess Amore barely managed to catch her breath, when she heard Celestia's scream. "Amore! Look out!"
Thinking fast, she quickly cast a crystal dome shield around her, just in time to deflect a beam of dark purple magic.
"Hello, Princess. Or should I say..."
Amore's eyes widen. That voice! It can't be...
"... Mother." A stallion from behind continued, full of malice.
The princess turned around, confirming her fear. Amore gasped. "Sombra..."
"What? Surprised to see me?" Sombra laughed mockingly. "You didn't expect me to come back did you? Well, here I am!" He smirked sadistically. "And I'm here to take back what's rightfully mine!"
Princess Amore looked in sadness at what his former son had become. She remembered the day when her husband introduced her to his son from his previous, deceased, wife. It was killing her inside to see what that shy colt had turned into.
His soft mane had turned into inky dark miasma. His once adorable nub of a horn curved sharp and lethal. His sweet smile turned into a fanged cruel smirk. And his beautiful, innocent, eyes turned green and red with hatred.
"Oh, my dear Sombra. What happened to you...?" The princess sadly asked. Tears fell from her eyes, unable to suppress the guilt of her failure as a mother.
"Curious, aren't you?" The shadow pony started to slowly circle the princess, never leaving his eyes off her. "After you and father kicked me out of the empire, I roamed all over the world. Researching magic, hoarding both knowledge and relics alike. Searching for the magic strong enough to make me a one pony army!" Sombra stopped at where he was originally standing and started casually inspecting his hoof. "It wasn't easy, too. I was homeless and starving. I had to lie, cheat and steal in order to survive."
His horn started glowing. Eyes widened, Amore held her guard up, but proven unnecessary as Sombra summoned a tendril of black smoke and violently smacked Luna, who had been trying to sneak behind his back, rendering her unconscious.
"Sister!" Celestia yelled, foolishly announcing her position behind a banana cart.
Capitalizing on this, Sombra focused his magic on the sun alicorn. The cart exploded, effectively knocking Celestia out.
Sombra huffed. "As I was saying. It wasn't easy. I searched and searched, but to no avail. I almost gave up, when a meteorite fell from the heavens! Of course, I came to investigate and guess what I found...!" His horn, ignited. Dark smoke started circling him, in an impressive display of control. "... Pure. Dark. Energy."
Amore gasped. "No, you didn't..."
"Yes..." Sombra, retorted. "It have a will of its own. So at first, I thought that I'll have problems controlling it, but we made a deal!" Deciding he had showed off enough, Sombra seized his magic and continued. "I bind it to myself and supply it with magic, and in return, it creates monsters for me. Granted, it's still too weak to make a lot. But, as you can see, two is more than enough."
Amore's eyes widen in realization. "Wait, two?" As if summoned, another fiery beast, the same as the first, came bursting out the castle and, just like the first one, came charging towards her. She was about to move, but Sombra held up his hoof. The beast slowed down and stood right next to him.
"Sit." Sombra commanded and the beast obediently followed. The dark stallion approached and started to stroke the middle head's snout. "Impressive, isn't it?"
The princess furiously shook her head, unable to understand. "Why are you doing this? I treated you like my own son. I gave you everything and this is how you repay me? Sombra, I loved you!-"
"LIES!" Sombra disrupted, full rage. "You're never my mother! I refuse to accept you as my mother! You banished me to die a frozen death!"
"We had no choice! Your obsession with power has gotten out of control! You have hurt a lot of ponies, Sombra!"
"Silence! I don't want to hear it!" Sombra turned to his beast. "Kill them."
The princess cast another crystal barrier, but a single swipe of the beast's claws easily broke through, sending them flying...
Shwoomv.
... Right towards the portal.
"No! You idio- GAH!" Sombra, furiously shouted at the monster, when something struck him on the side.
The shadow pony withdraw his attention from his quickly regenerating wound to his attacker.
Celestia, covered in banana goop, angrily glared back. Deciding, enough was enough. three gems levitated out of her saddle bag.
Sombra turned his head to the beast. "Go after them..." He gestured towards the, now a quarter of its size, portal and returned his gaze back at the alicorn. "... I'll handle things from here."
The elements glowed and rapidly spun, bathing Celestia with power. No more second guessing! No more hesitation! The alicorn charged her horn and fired. "HA!!!"
"DIE!!!" Sombra returned in kind...
Unknown woods, nearby an unnamed earth pony village. Noon. A few hundred years into the future.
There are moments in life that could change your life forever...
... Just, sometimes, these moments happens when you least expect them. Startling you out of the blue.
What the heck is happening!? Was the thoughts of a certain earth pony couple.
It has been a few days since their foal was born and finally, they're free to go home!
It was such a nice day, too. The sky was clear, there was a cool breeze, gently blowing on their fur, and they were walking peacefully in the woods.
Exited to finally bring their colt home, Bright Night and Black Rose decided to take a shortcut, away from the heat, when suddenly, there was a flash of light and a beast came forth.
The couple thought that it looked cool! Like a monster from a card game or a creature from a novel. And then, the beast let out a terrifying roar! Suddenly, the beast wasn't so cool anymore, the couple decided.
They ran, and judging from the loud thuds from behind, the beast took chase.
The trees helped in concealing them and slowing the beast down, but it was not enough. Being earth ponies, stamina isn't a problem for them, but holding a foal, they could only run so fast. Sooner or later, the beast will catch up.
They need a plan...
"Rose, listen to me!" The mare turned her attention to her husband, without slowing down. "We need to split up! I'll try to distract it, while you escape with our son!"
The mare's eyes widen, unable to believe what her husband was suggesting. "What!? No! I refuse!"
"We have no other choice!" Night insisted. "There's no time to argue! The monster could catch up any-"
With a giant leap, the beast crashed in front of the couple, blocking their path.
"-second... Now." The stallion, gulped.
The beast roared in triumph and slowly approached it's preys, sadistically savoring each step.
The couple just stood in place, locked in fear. They could run, but what's the use? The beast was too close, there's no way they could quickly get out of its pouncing range.
Bright Night felt a hoof on his own. He turned to his wife, looking at him with tears on her cheeks and a sad smile.
This is it... There's nowhere to run...
The stallion gave his own sad smile in return.
The beast is now upon them, ready to claim it's price. The couple closed their eyes, hugging their foal protectively between their bodies. Waiting for their inevitable demise.
They waited... And waited... But none came.
They opened their eyes, in awe at what they saw.
Crystals! Crystals floating everywhere! Twinkling prettily like little stars!
They switched their attention back at the beast and was shocked. Half of the monster's body was trapped in ice! One of the heads was tugging furiously, trying to free it's other two heads.
"Are you alright?"
Rose jumped startled, while her husband let out a totally masculine shriek.
Turning towards the source of the voice. They saw a tall, haggard looking mare approaching them on three hooves while holding a bundle of cloth with her right front one. Judging by the long glowing horn, she's a unicorn.
When Princess Amore got shot out the portal, she didn't even had the time to question where she was when she got immediately welcomed by the sound of falling trees and angry roars. The princess would have quickly ran for safety, but the sight of two ponies being chased made her hesitate.
Squinting, the princess looked closely, observing that the stallion too was holding a foal.
Determined, relating to their situation, the princess ran after them. It only took a couple of seconds for her to catch up to see couple, about to be killed.
Panicked, the princess activated her crystal magic and amplified the strongest ice spell she could muster. She usually avoid using crystal magic. Though powerful, it consumes too much energy. That spell alone took close to a half of her power.
Approaching the couple, the princess spoke. "Quickly, we need to flee before the ice melts and-" she stopped, when another loud roar boomed from a distance.
Tracing the roar back to where she had originally was, Amore saw the portal gone and another beast took its place.
The trapped beast roared back, calling to its brother. As they looked back, the ponies finally noticed the hissing sounds of melting ice.
With the new beast fast approaching, the princess had to do something quickly. She looked around, assessing their surroundings. Desperately trying to come up with something.
Running was no good. They're out matched in speed and in no condition to run. Fighting was out too. She can't take them both head on and the couple looked like they were just normal civilians.
A third option, then.
Distraction would only buy time... But sacrifice... While the others run away...
Princess Amore turned her attention towards the scared couple and their crying foal and looked down at her own crying filly, then back to the couple.
With a shaking breath, the princess made her decision.
Levitating her daughter to her nose, Amore took a deep breath, trying to cement the foal's scent in her memory.
She stinks, but a mother never cares.
Giving one final kiss to her filly's forehead, Princess Amore turned towards the others, a bit surprised when the couple was already watching her. Probably curious about her action.
The princess locked eyes with the other mare and Rose gazed deeply back. A second felt like eternity as a silent dialogue commenced. A deep unspoken exchange between mothers.
Black Rose only met this mare, laterally, a minute ago, but somehow, in that moment, she knew what was about to happen... What the mare was about to ask of them.
Amore gave Rose a melancholic smile and floated the infant princess forward for the dark mare to take. "Her name is Mi Amore Cadenza."
"What a pretty name." Rose replied, taking a peek at the filly.
The princess smiled in appreciation. "Will you take care of her for me?... Until I get back?" Both mares know that's not true, but Rose nodded anyway. "She's with safe hooves."
"I'm glad..." With a trembling sigh, the princess turned around, hiding her tears form the strangers. "You should go as far away as you can from here. If you can still see crystals, you are not far enough..."
"Are you certain about this?" Rose knew that there's no changing the unicorn's mind, but felt it polite to ask anyways.
"I have no evidence, but I have a feeling that these monsters would just keep hunting us if they're not dealt with now." The princess spread her legs and readied her horn. "Go, I'll deal with them..."
Rose nodded and ran. Her husband, a bit confused, followed.
With the others out of the way, the unicorn princess started charging her magic and the crystals closest to her started glowing brighter and brighter. The glow served the purpose of making sure the beasts' attention was on her and away from the fleeing family. And seeing that the second fire beast was still running towards her, it worked.
That's it, come closer...
The death zone of the spell was supposed to be everything inside the crystal field, that includes the caster. With the first one still stuck in ice, there was only the second beast to worry about. Two beasts with one spell.
The princess started to fuel the spell of all her bitter sadness. She thought of all the things she'll leave behind. The empire, her subjects, her friends and husband. And she thought of all the things that could be. Spending time with her daughter, playing, bonding. She imagined her daughter excitedly hopping in circles, cheering about how she got her cutie mark. She thought of how her daughter would blush as she asks for advice on how to impress a colt and how happy she would be when her crush asks her on a date. And she thought of all the amazing things her little princess will become that she wouldn't be around to see.
Amore sensed the beast crossing the field, but waited a little longer to make sure it couldn't just jump back and escape.
Closer and closer, the beast became...
Happy birthday, my little Cadence. I just wish, I could tell you...
When the beast was right above her, she pulled the metaphorical trigger.
... I love you...
Bright Night and Black Rose just got out the woods and into the familiar streets near their home, when suddenly, the world darkened for a second. Behind them, a bright column of light flashed; blinding a few ponies for a brief moment. Like a flash from a camera, it was gone quickly.
Good bye, now...
Nopony knew what really happened that fateful afternoon. Aside from the new perfectly circular open clearing in the woods, the investigators couldn't figure out what the strange light was. There was absolutely nothing in there that could have gave them a clue. No chemicals, fur, bomb fragments, no everything, not even soot.
As for the couple, they decided to return to the hospital and have the baby filly checked out.
When asked, they would answer that they 'just found her.' and never gave anymore details than that.
And, after a bit of consideration, the couple decided to keep the filly for themselves.
Frozen North. Past.
... It's gone... Everything... Just gone.
Celestia and Luna couldn't believe it.
Everything was going so well...
After Princess Amore got thrown inside a portal. Celestia and Sombra fought in a stalemate. Some tried to help with the fight, but only died, including Shining Knight, Amore's husband and Sombra's own father. Only after Luna joined in with her own elements did the battle took a turn to their favor.
They were about to win! With Sombra defeated on his knees and them unleashing the full might of the elements.
That's when everything went wrong.
The sisters barely managed to get away in time. It turns out, the bastard slowly merged his dark essence with the entire city without them noticing. So when the elements struck, the empire got purged with him.
The alicorns could have disappeared too, if they hadn't shot as fast as they could up to the sky.
And now, they walked home, heads bowed in defeat.
"Art thou sure, thou not wish to clean thyself first?" The night princess, asked. "There are still some remnants of bananas, clinging to thy coat." When Celestia remained silent. Luna continued. "Don't lose hope just yet, sister." That got the sun alicorn's attention. "Like all the other creatures that the elements sealed, we are sure the Crystal Empire shall return, one day."
"Why didn't I think of that?" Celestia berated herself. With a new sense of determination, the older princess held her head high. "Next time, for sure! We'll free the empire! Thank you, Luna." The taller alicorn hugged her sister. "You always know what to say. Please, don't ever leave." Celestia said, without a trace of irony.
"We would never leave thee, sister. Even for the love and adoration of all our subjects." Luna replied, also without any trace of irony.
The two was about to continue on their way back home when Luna shivered. Her fur rose with goosebumps, feeling a sudden chill inside her.
"What is the matter, sister?" Celestia asked with concern.
"'Tis nothing, sister. We think the cold is just getting to us. Let us continue on our home."
Content with the explanation, Celestia hummed. "If you say so, sister..."
And with that, the sisters continued their journey home. Unknown to them, a piece of the darkness broke off from Sombra, right before the ray of harmony struck and flew around aimlessly, searching for a new host...
... Right until it bumped into a certain princess of the night.