//------------------------------// // Inner Turmoil // Story: A Dark Shade of the Past // by InfinityBreach //------------------------------// A Dark Shade of the Past by InfinityBreach Chapter 23: Inner Turmoil Twilight zoomed around the library, shuffling books and organizing shelves. "Twilight, why is this 'school' so important, and what does it have to do with your library?" I asked, dodging yet another stray book. She spoke without turning to look at me, saying, "School Is a place ponies go to while they are young so they can learn the necessities of the world." She picked up half of the books that were spread across the counter, nearly hitting me with them as they traveled to their destination. "All of them come to the library during the school year to work on projects, and to borrow books for learning." She shot up all of a sudden, taking a piece of paper and a quill and writing down something. "After I organize the library, I need to restock the shelves, claim back the books, get more ink, make food for the Running of the Leaves next week…" Twilight began listing off thing after thing writing it all down on the paper. "Oh my! There's so much to do, so little time! Have to stay busy, busy, busy." Twilight then flew up the stairs, just to disappear into her room. "… okay." I muttered to myself, a bit shocked from what Twilight was doing. 'Couldn't this all wait until morning, or something? Why is she doing it all now?' *Twilight's POV* 'WHAT THE HAY IS GOING ON?!' I yelled inside my head. 'There's no way the princesses would keep a secret this big from me, there's no way! I'm Celestia's personal student! I'm Luna's best friend!' the confidence in my mind told me. So then why did they never tell you of the true history of the Elements? "Heheh… there's no way… maybe… maybe the book is wrong! Yeah, that has to be it!" I muttered to myself, curling onto the floor. "Yeah… the princesses have complete trust in me! They told me themselves! They also told me they wielded the Elements before, to take down Nightmare Moon, and Discord!" Why did they never tell you there were other bearers? Why did they not tell you that they were bearers themselves? "They… they said they wielded them. They never told me what Elements they were. Maybe that was because I never asked…" I tried to reassure myself. Or maybe you're not as smart as you used to be, Twilight. Maybe you never picked up on the subtle hints. Or maybe the Princesses never told you because you aren't really their friend. "No…" I muttered into myself, grasping my head. You're nothing but a tool. You are the Element of Magic. Nothing else. Tears were slowly creeping down my eyes. What can you do, Twilight? You're the student of Celestia, yet you cannot help someone who has lost their memories? "No… I tried my best… I-I did… I've stuck by Eclipsal. I've helped him." Just like when you abandoned him to die, at the hooves of Victory? And to think... you were the one who led him there. "No… I'm…" You're what? Who are you? I'll tell you who you are. "You are useless, Twilight." It shocked me more that I was the one who said that, instead of it being in my head. "I'm… I'm not useless! I'll show you! I'll show everypony!" I said, jumping to my hooves, and rushing to my bedroom door. 'I'll show them all! I'll help out everypony and do everything I can!' *Eclipsal's POV* I sat in the middle of the room, not really having any idea what to do. 'I guess I could go to bed. I have an early day tomorrow.' I thought to myself. 'Better tell Twilight first though.' I walked up the stairs to her room, and heard her talking to herself from inside. I was about to knock, when Twilight opened the door herself, and zoomed past me, and down the stairs, flying out the front door without even closing it. "Okay. Sure. Why not?" I said to nopony in general. "Tonight's been weird enough already." *The Next Morning* I slowly walked down the stairs, yawning all the while. I guess I did stay up with Twilight pretty late last night. When I got to the bottom of the flight of stairs, I saw Spike making breakfast. "Hey, Spike." I said, sitting down at the table. Spike jumped, nearly dropping the pan he was making eggs on. "Woah! I didn't know you were here, Eclipsal!" I blinked. "Yeah, I was stayed the night to study about the Elements and stuff with Twilight. She started acting all weird though, and left. I still don't even know what happened." Spike turned and looked at me. "You're saying she was acting weird?" "Yeah, like she all of a sudden had to get everything done. Then, she just left. Have you seen her this morning?" I asked. Spike seemed to be in heavy thought, and looked back at me. "… I'm guessing she never came back last night." He finished with a sigh. "Twilight tends to have these moments where she freaks out over the smallest thing, and starts focusing on everything else to get her mind off of it. Or even making things worse, just to solve the problem. What did you two find out last night?" "Hmm…" I thought back to last night. "Well, Celestia was apparently the Element of Magic, and Luna was the Element of Loyalty, and there was something about this pony named Shaded Darkness that Twilight never really explained to me." Spike let out another sigh, holding his face in his claws. "Yep… that'll do it. The princesses said they wielded the Elements before, but Twilight always thought that they did it alone. At least, that's what it says in all of the history books." "What about Shaded Darkness?" I asked Spike. He thought for a moment, before replying. "I think I remember him. We met him at the eclipse a few months back. However, he ended up getting badly hurt after he got hit with the Elements." Spike thought for another few moments, before adding, "The weird thing is though, the Elements shouldn't be able to hurt anypony." "So then what do we do about Twilight?" I asked Spike. "Well, you can go tell the others, and I'll message the Princess, I guess. Just in case things go crazy, like last time." Spike replied, throwing two plates on the table. "We'll do it after breakfast though. Can't work on an empty stomach, am I right?"