//------------------------------// // Year 5: Part 4 // Story: Lightning Dust: The Story Of Shadow // by Whooves235 //------------------------------// The Hay and Stay Hotel: Canterlot As Lightning entered her room, she could see that is was nothing special. It had all the necessities a bedroom needed: a bed to sleep on, a dresser to keep clothes in, and a bathroom for, well, bathroom stuff. She walked to the bed and put her luggage on the bed, then walked to the window and opened the shades. She had a full view of the castle, as well as the town below. "Now how am I supposed to do this?" Lighting asked herself. She knew she had to find a way to get into the castle. That, however, wasn’t as easy as it sounded. "Perhaps I’m thinking about this too hard." Lighting walked to the door, closing it as she entered the hallway. She approached the secretary of the hotel. "Excuse me, do you know if there are any tours of the Canterlot Castle. A friend of mine said there were and I just wanted to double-check." "Oh, you must be talking about Royal Tours," the secretary said. "Yes, it is a yearly, one-of-a-kind tour of the castle. However, you may want to hurry because today is the last day of tours." "Thank you. And where might I find the beginning of the tour?" Lightning asked. "Just go to the castle entrance, there should be a booth set up," the secretary said. "Thank you," Lightning said, then exited the door and went off into the large city. Canterlot City Lightning walked down the busy streets of Canterlot. Due to the fact she was in a cave for over three years, Canterlot was certainly something worth checking out. However, she had a mission to complete, and she would not let anything or anypony stand in her way. As she continued talking she noticed that the Royal Guard was almost on every street corner, and from what she had learned, they only did this when there was a chance of attack. As she continued down the street the castle entrance could be seen a couple of miles away, and she took notice of the booth next to the gate just as the secretary had said. Lightning, seeing the opportunity to get into the castle, approached the booth. "Excuse me, how much for a tour?" Lightning asked the booth attendant. "Ahh yes, tours will begin in a moment. You're just in time as well, this is today's last tour," the booth pony said. "If you could just join the group over near the gate, then the tour will begin momentarily." "Ok, thank you," Lightning said. She walked to the group of ponies that were gathered near the gate. As she approached the group of tour ponies, she got a better look at the entrance of the castle. Its wooden gate could easily be broken by a stallion with a lot of strength, something Sky Striker could easily do. She also got a better view of the guard towers, each occupied by three or four royal guards, which on its own would take a while. Luckily the Shadowbots could get through them easily. "Mares and Gentlecolts, thank you for waiting," a voice said, and a pony with a white coat and a nicely done black mane and tail walked up to the group. "My name is Raven Inkwell, but you all may refer to me as Raven. I will be your tour guide for this evening." Canterlot Castle Lightning, for all her time spent in the Shadowbolt Camp, always imagined walking up to Canterlot, but under different circumstances. As Raven led the tour group around the castle she looked around the marvels of structure, taking in every single detail of it: the thickness of the walls, the many entrances, and most importantly how many guards were at each area of the Castle. While Lightning blocked out much of what Raven was saying, she did take notice of things that were said that might come in handy. "Now what most ponies don't know is that this was not Princess Luna and Princess Celestia’s original castle. In fact, this castle was built after the Shadow Wars. The fabled Castle of the Two Sisters is in fact the original home of the two princesses." Lightning had learned about the Shadow War from both her days in school, and from Cinch herself. She never really found the war interesting, but when she learned from Cinch that the Shadowbolts had teamed up with Nightmare Moon, she became much more interested in it. "Now usually the tour would go on into the royal throne room. However, currently the princess has told me to keep away from it. Hopefully by the time we circle back around we can get a quick look." "No, I need to see the throne room! If something is going on in there, it probably has got something to do with the Crystal Empire having their shield up!" Lightning thought to herself. She quickly thought of a plan, but then realized she could use the oldest trick in the escape book. "Excuse me, do you know where the restrooms are?" Lightning said. "The restrooms are to the left of the previous hallway," Raven said. "However, due to castle rules I will have to have a Royal Guard escort you there." "Uhh, yes, I understand, thank you," Lightning said through clenched teeth. "Right this way, ma’am" The pegasus guard said. Lightning turned to him and did as she was told. Castle Hallway "I’m sorry sir, but how long until we reach the restrooms?" Lightning said "It’s just a couple more minutes," the guard said. "When Celestia built the castle she wanted to make sure the only restrooms were hers, so everypony else’s, are quite far back from the throne room." "I take it Celestia was worrisome?" Lightning asked. "You have no idea," the guard said. "Well here we are, the public restrooms." The Guard said "Uhh thank you, sir. I'm guessing you’re going to wait out here for me?" Lightning asked. "It’s part of the Protocol, so yeah. If you need anything just holler," the guard said. "Understood sir." "Uh, sure" Lightning said. She walked into the restroom and began her plan of attack. "Ok now, let's see what I have to work with," Lightning said to herself. She turned the sinks on and stepped into the stall, then began to work on the vent cover. Luckily Lightning was good at busting things open, so with a loud bang the vent cover was kicked off of the wall. "Is everything ok in there?" The Guard asked. "Uhh, yeah I just saw a rat, sorry," Lightning said, trying her best to sound frightened. "All right," The Guard said. Lightning, having gotten away with the lie then climbed into the Vent System, and with her training, and her studying the wall layout of the Castle, began to make her way to the Throne Room Canterlot Castle/Throne Room As Lightning continued to crawl through the vents she started to hear voices, then noticed a vent shaft up ahead. She quickly crawled to it and what she found left her in awe. She had a full view of the throne room, and the best part was no one could see her. She looked through the vent to see the ponies in the room. Celesta and Luna were there, which was no surprise. She then continued to look around and froze. Right in the group of six ponies was none other than Rainbow Dash, and she could only guess that the rest of the ponies in the group were the Elements of Harmony. "I simply cannot believe how tall you've gotten!" a voice said, taking her out of her trance. The voice appeared to be coming from an old gray stallion, with a blue and yellow robe along with a pointy wizard hat. "Well, it has been over a thousand years. Will you stay here and teach magic once again? My sister and I have such fond memories of your lessons," Celestia said. "As long as you don't ask for those essays we owed you before you disappeared," Luna said, followed by a chuckle from Celestia. "Lessons? What are they talking about?" Lightning thought. "I'm not certain Canterlot is where I belong. The realm has grown, and I believe I'll have a look around before I settle in any one place," the gray unicorn said. "And I long to see what has become of my home," a blue earth pony said. "I believe we all do," an elderly old female gray unicorn said, gesturing to another group of ponies, who by their looks alone, seemed like they are dressed in an oddly outdated manner. "Then I hope you will return to Canterlot on occasion and share the wisdom of your great experience with the next generation of ponies," Celestia said, with glee and happiness in her voice. Whoever these ponies are, they certainly had Celestia and Luna’s full attention. "We would be honored. But if it is wisdom you seek, look no further than your own pupil. She showed me that the power of friendship is a magical force indeed, and that in turning away from others, you hurt yourself as well," the gray unicorn said, gesturing to Princess Twilight, who was standing with the rest of the Elements. "It's funny. I thought meeting my idol would give me all the answers I ever wanted," Twilight said, then walked over to a light purple unicorn with a blue and cyan mane and tail. "But instead, I forgot what I already knew. Good thing I had a student of my own to remind me." I don't understand. Who are all of these ponies, and why did Princess Twilight mention meeting her idol? Lightning thought to herself. "And so you are sure that The Pony of Shadows is truly gone?" Luna said. "Princess Twilight and Mrs. Starlight showed me the light, Your Highness. Were it not for them I would be trapped in the darkness still," a small gray unicorn said. "The pony of shadows is truly gone, and will hopefully never return." "Then it seems I can inform Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor to lower the shield over the Crystal Empire," Luna said. "So the Pony of Shadows was real?! I guess Cinch wasn’t kidding when she said myths are just history that is lost to time," Lightning thought ."Well I got what I came for, now I can get out of this place." Ponyville Express Station: Canterlot As Lightning waited for Sky to show up, she continued to think about the conversation in the throne room. There was something about that group of ponies that Celesta and Luna were talking to that seemed off. She had learned all about Celesta and Luna's personal Helpers and Friends from CInch, yet she couldn’t seem to recall Cinch mentioning a wizard, a gladiator, a viking, an Old Japony mare, a witch doctor, or a Neighipt princess in her lessons. As she tried to think about it, the Ponyville Express pulled in. She saw Sky walk out of the train and walked to him. "How did your tour go, Thunder Charge?" Lightning asked. "It went well, Comet Thunder," Sky said. "How about we get on the train so we can talk in our rooms." "Excellent idea," Lightning said. Ponyville Express As Lightning rolled over to the side of her bed, she felt exhausted. She turned to Sky and looked at him. "You know, I’m getting the hang of this Shadowbolt mission thing," Lightning said. "So you’re not just saying that because of the awesome sex we just had?" Sky said, smirking at the now blushing Lightning Dust. "Oh shut up, you," Lightning said, punching Sky’s shoulder. "Besides, after we win the war and Cinch takes her rightful place in Equestria, me and you can finally rest and have a normal life." "Yeah, a normal life," Sky said. He looked up at the ceiling and pondered. "We used to have normal lives, yet it's because of the Shadowbolts that they were taken from us." "What do you mean?" Lightning said. "I mean think about it. Your dad was arrested because the Shadowbolts told him to do the crime he did, my parents became insane and died because of the job the Shadowbolts gave them, and Nightshade became a Shadowbolt because it was in her blood," Sky said. "If none of the Shadowbolts interfered with our lives, then we could be living in the normal world, with normal jobs, and we would still be with our families." "Sky, the Shadowbolts are all that I have left...you are all that I have left," Lightning said. "I don't care what happens to the Shadowbolts as long as you are still there by my side. Nothing can stop me from being with you." Sky looked at Lightning for a second. "I’m glad to hear that, Lightning," Sky said. Shadowbolt Cave "I see you both made it back," Cinch said as Lightning and Sky walked through the entrance to the cave. "Ma’am!" Lightning said, saluting. "We have much to report to you about our findings." "And I wish to hear about everything, but first, Lightning, did you find out about the shield? It went down just a couple of hours ago," Cinch said. "Yes ma’am, it appears that the Pony Of Shadows had returned to Equestria and that the Elements of Harmony, along with some odd ponies, helped to defeat him," Lightning said. "Odd?" Cinch said. "How so?" "I don't really know, ma’am, they were all wearing old-fashioned clothes." Lighting said. "Out of time you say?" Cinch said, interested. "What do you mean by that?" "One of the ponies was dressed as a gladiator, and another was dressed as a Neighipt Princess," Lightning said. Cinch froze for a moment before clearing her throat. "Did one of these ponies have a blue robe with stars on it?" "Uhh yes ma’am? Why is that important?" Lightning said confused "Star Swirl the Bearded, he has returned," Cinch said. "Star Swirl?!" Lightning said. "As in Star Swirl, the unicorn who taught Celestia and Luna when they were still foals?!" "Yes, that Star Swirl," Cinch said. "With this information, we must move our plans back." "What?!" both Sky and Lightning said. "Tell me, where is Star Swirl now?" Cinch asked Lightning. "He said he is going to travel Equestria, so he may know what has changed while he was gone." "Then we must use this information to our advantage," Cinch said. "We will begin our plans to rule Equestria within the next two months." "Yes ma’am!" both Sky and Lightning said. "Until then, continue training, heighten your skills, and be prepared to mobilize at any time. Soon we shall show Celestia and Equestria that the Shadowbolts have returned, and they will not stop until they achieve total victory!" Cinch shouted. "Yes ma’am!" Sky and Lightning shouted. "For the future of Equestria!!"