//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: The Darkness Shard // by OliverSparkle //------------------------------// The train stopped at the Canterlot station as everypony got out of the coaches as well as the mane eight, the royal sisters, Spike, Capper, Sunburst and the young seven. Lightning was riding on Fluttershy’s back while gently hugging his mother’s neck and sobbing a bit with the blanket on him. “When we get to the castle, I’ll write a letter to Cadence about the nightmares,” said Celestia, “You lot go put Lightning to bed and make sure he tries to have a better nap.” The mane eight, the three boys, the young six and Luna nodded their heads at Celestia in understood. “Hang in there, cutie,” said Silverstream softly while gently stroking the colt’s mane, “You’ll be sleeping in a warm bed and we’ll be there for you if more nightmares come.” Lightning sniffled a bit. The ponies and creatures began to make their way to the castle of Canterlot as the poor colt continued to ride on his mother’s back while gently hugging her neck. They made to the castle as the two royal guards opened the doors for them and they walked into the room while the two guards closed the doors and went back to guarding them. “I’ll start writing to Cadence about the nightmares,” said Celestia, “You lot take Lightning to one of the guest bedrooms and make sure he’s sleeping okay.” The friendship group nodded their heads in understood before Celestia and Luna made their way to Celestia’s room to write Cadence a letter about the situation Lightning’s in right now. “Let’s get you in a warm bed, honey,” said Starlight softly to her poor nephew. Fluttershy gently took Lightning off her back and held him in her left hoof while making sure the blanket was still around him. The ponies and creatures started to make their way up the stairs and onto the right to the hallway where the guest bedrooms are. They walked through the hallways until they found a guest bedroom to put Lightning in. “This one shall do nicely,” said Fluttershy. They all entered the room as Fluttershy walked to the bed, pulled the covers, gently placed Lightning on the bed while removing the blanket off him and slowly placed the covers over him to keep him warm. Fluttershy gently kissed her son on the forehead before whispering, “Sweet dreams, sweetheart. We love you. We’ll take care of getting rid of the nightmares.” Fluttershy gave her son one more kiss on the forehead before returning to the group as she and the others, including Spike, looked at the young six. “We’re gonna go join with Celestia and Luna so we can think about how we can stop the nightmares from hurting Lightning and find out who’s behind all of this,” said Twilight, “We need you lot to stay here and make sure Lightning’s sleeping okay until further notice.” “You got it, Headmare Twilight,” said Gallus quietly but loud enough for Twilight to hear, “We’ll take great care of our friend.” Twilight looked at Smolder and Silverstream. “Smolder, I trust you and Silverstream know what to do if he does have a nightmare but wants more sleep.” “Don’t worry, Twilight,” said Silverstream, “Our girlfriend and big sister love for the little cutie will stay with us for as long as it takes to end the nightmares.” “Good,” said Twilight happily before turning to her friends, son and nephew, “Let’s go, everyone. We better start helping Celestia and Luna out with stopping the nightmares.” They gave the Friendship Princess a nod in response. Twilight walked out of the guest room with everyone else following her. Oliver, being the last one out, quietly closed the door behind him leaving only the young seven in the room. Silverstream was the first to walk up to the bed and looked at Lightning just to make sure he was sleeping and doing okay. Lightning started to whimper again in his sleep, but Silverstream began to slowly and gently stroked his mane to calm him down while whispering softly in his ear, “Shh…shhhh…” That worked, because Lightning was starting to calm down a bit while feeling Silverstream stroking his mane in comfort. Silverstream continued to gently stroke the colt’s mane as Smolder carefully flew onto the bed and laid beside her boyfriend before gently holding his hoof with her claw to comfort him as well. “Don’t worry, Braveheart,” whispered Smolder softly to Lightning, “We’re here for you.” Sandbar, Gallus, Yona and Ocellus walked towards the bed and stood by it while looking sadly and worriedly at their poor friend. But they’re going to do whatever it takes help him and stay by his side no matter what. At the Crystal Empire, everything was looking okay as normal. Princess Amore was looking after Flurry Heart while Shining Armor and Cadence were doing their captain and princess duties. The two were in Flurry’s bedroom playing chess with Flurry Heart using the Crystal blue chess pieces and Amore using the Crystal pink chess pieces. Flurry Heart isn’t so little anymore as she was now all grown up. Well, not all grown up, she’s still a filly and the same age as the cutie mark crusaders were. She also has her cutie mark, which was a the Crystal Heart with three pink hearts around it. Things was looking just fine, until Shining Armor and Cadence ran into their daughter’s room with a letter in Cadence’s magical grasp. Amore looked at them in shock and worried while Flurry Heart looked at them in confusion. “Sorry to disturb you two,” said Cadence while she and Shining was catching their breath, “But we’ve just received a letter from Aunt Celestia. She says Lightning Twister is suffering from very horrible nightmares that based on what happened with The Storm King and his darkness.” Amore was now in deep shock and more worried after hearing that as she placed a hoof on her mouth while Flurry Heart started to feel worried as she was now worried about Lightning Twister. “Oh dear,” said Amore sadly and worriedly, “The poor dear.” “Celestia wants us to come to Canterlot so we can help stop the nightmares and to support Lightning,” said Shining while Cadence went over to Flurry Heart to comfort her, “They need all the help they can get to help Lightning.” “Then we must head to Canterlot straight away,” said Amore, “Who knows when new nightmares will strike next.” “I’ll stay here and take care of Flurry Heart,” said Cadence while hugging her little daughter in her hoof, “You two go pack our things. I can tell we might be at Canterlot for more than just a week or so.” Shining and Amore gave Cadence a nod in understood before walking out of Flurry’s bedroom to go pack everything they need. Flurry Heart was still feeling worried about Lightning as she buried her face into her mother’s chest and hugged Cadence’s chest with her hooves. “Momma, is Lightning gonna be okay?” She asked worriedly. “Shhh…it’s gonna be alright, baby,” cooed Cadence softly, “We’re gonna sort those nightmares out, I’m sure Lightning’s doing okay so far.” While comforting her filly, Cadence looking at the bedroom window with a worried look on her face while trying not to let Flurry Heart see it. She couldn’t help but worry on how much poor Lightning Twister is suffering from the Storm Darkness nightmares. Cadence can only hope they can put an end to it and help Lightning before it gets worse. Back in Canterlot, Celestia and Luna came out of Celestia’s bedroom and decided to go check on the others. They were halfway there when they saw the wielders of Harmony, Sunburst, Oliver and Capper coming up towards them. “How’s he doing?” Luna asked. “He’s sleeping okay now,” answered Sunset, “We told the students to stay with him, in case he does have nightmares, while we figure out how to stop the nightmares from continuing.” “Good,” said Celestia, “We’ve sent a letter to Cadence about the situation. Hopefully they’ll be able to come and help.” “I hope so too,” said Twilight, “But we need to focus on helping Lightning and stop the nightmares. Cadence and the others will come when they can.” “You’re right, Twilight,” said Celestia while giving the Friendship princess a nod, “The poor colt needs help from us more than ever, and waiting for more support won’t make things go faster.” “Oh,” Fluttershy began to feel worried again, “I do hope we can stop these nightmares before they get even more worse. I hate seeing my baby go through something like this, especially if the past events are part of a new problem.” Capper hugged Fluttershy in comfort. Just then, a familiar voice was heard. “Oh Fluttershy, please don’t be sad.” Suddenly, a flash light appeared in the middle of the two groups as it disappeared to reveal the Lord of Chaos, Discord. “It hurts my heart seeing you sad.” Everyone, included Fluttershy, stared crossly at Discord as Capper and Spike’s arms were now crossed. They still weren’t happy with him after forming the Legion of Doom together and being mean to Lightning Twister over nothing. “What are you doing here, Discord?” Asked Celestia in a calm yet angry tone, “Didn’t I make it clear that you are not to return to Equestria unless I say you can?” “Oh come now, Celestia,” said Discord with an innocent smile, “Surely you still can’t be mad at me for what happened years ago.” “Oh we’re STILL mad at you alright,” said Rainbow Dash angrily, “You grouped Chrysalis, Lord Tirek and Cozy Glow together just to make Twilight and Oliver see they are ready for the next step, as well as adding Cold Wind, Xehanort and Aqualight together, when there was no need for a threat to help prove they’re ready and it wasn’t an exam either!” “And you foalnapped poor Lightning Twister, when you know Cold Wind abuses him, and let Cozy Glow try to make him love her so they can rule Equestria as emperor and empress of friendship!” Added Sunset angrily. “And you didn’t just do all of that just to help Twilight and Oliver see they are ready for the princess and captain role when a threat wasn’t needed to prove they are ready!” Pinkie said angrily, “You did it, because you were jealous of Twilight becoming a princess and becoming the next ruler of Equestria!” “Jealous?!” The ponies, creatures and princesses said in shock while looking at the pink pony. “Oh right.” Pinkie suddenly realise that they didn’t know Discord was jealous of Twilight becoming a princess from the very start, except for her. So she said, “You see, after Twilight got her wings after fixing one of Star Swirl’s spell and became a new princess, Discord became jealous of her since he’s the Lord of the Chaos and wants to be ruler whether he was good or not quite. So he set up those fake tasks just so Twilight might fail them and for Celestia to change her mind about who should become a new ruler on her side with Luna and Cadence. And when Celestia said that Twilight was to become the next ruler of Equestria, he let all that jealousy grow even more and set up the Grogar task with also including helping her and Oliver see they are ready to become the new ruler and captain.” “Even when he made the fake friendship mission and I was put in charge to run the School of Friendship?” Starlight asked. “Yep,” answered Pinkie Pie, “He wanted to run the school while we were away on that fake mission but Twilight chose you instead since she trusts you. So he decided to just run it with teachers that gave our teachings a bad name, ruined Trixie’s magic show and made the students continue with the sports lesson when they were told they can have a rest. Then during the Spell-venger Hunt, he scared the students away from the artifacts as a ghost while collecting them so he can win. He did those things I said all because he felt left out and wanted to help out but refuses to ask if he can help since he thinks asking if he can help out is the dumbest thing to do.” “Oh, is that right?” Twilight said while glaring at Discord again before the others did. “So that’s more than just one thing we should be mad at you about,” said Celestia crossly. “But at least you’ve all learned something from my actions, right?” Discord asked, “Plus, you all managed to complete them and save the day. Remember all that? The friendship success?” “That’s still no excuse to why we should appreciate your way of trying to help Twilight and Oliver!” Sunburst said crossly. “Your fake tasks nearly doomed Equestria and all of us!” Spike said crossly. “And instead of supporting Twilight to help her see she is worthy of being a princess and becoming the next ruler, you got jealous and let all that jealously sink into you before taking actions into your own paw and claw!” Luna said angrily. “And I could have died in the realm of darkness!” Oliver said angrily. “But I didn’t mean to let that all happen!” Discord said, “I only wanted to help Twilight and Oliver see they are ready for the next step! Plus I’m the Lord of Chaos, I should be aloud to rule again on a throne and make tasks of my own for future captains, princesses and rulers.” “Not while we’re still standing you’re not!” The princess of the sun said angrily as she stomped her hoof the ground making Discord scared than before, “Just because you’re the Lord of Chaos, doesn’t mean you can jump in and act like we’ll choose you for the next ruler on the throne since you’ll just spread chaos across Equestria and used chaos to solve all problems when it DOESN’T! And you don’t get make your own tasks for the next rulers and captains since those tasks can lead to villains dooming Equestria and putting others in great danger! And you should know by now that villains can easily trick us, especially after what happened with you stopping Lord Tirek for us!” “You fell for Lord Tirek’s lie like your lying detector has been switched off since you can tell if someone’s lying or not!” Said the angry dragon, “And we all know Applejack can tell a lair when she sees one without turning it off, and she’s the Element of Honesty.” Applejack smiled at Spike for that comment. Discord sat on his knees as he placed his paw and claw together before pleading to them. “Oh please let me enter Equestria for once! It was boring at home all alone and I really wanna come back!” Discord looked at Fluttershy who was still mad at him, “Please, Fluttershy! Please tell them that they should let me come back! I mean…we’re friends after all.” “Friends?” Fluttershy didn’t like that, “Friends?! That didn’t stop you from lying to us, setting fake tasks for us, betraying us, continuing what you do before you stopped being evil, act like a new friend of mine is replacing you, treated me like I’m not old enough to make my own decisions and choices, putting our friends and family in grave danger, letting my son get captured by an evil filly and an abusive father! That’s NOT what friends do! They respect their choices, support them, let them have other friends and let them decide for themselves! And I have every right to make Lightning Twister as my son, have more than just one friend and I can make my own choices without anyone making choices for me!” “Especially since she’s a year older than me!” Pinkie said crossly before Fluttershy gave her an annoyed look. Discord gave Fluttershy a sad and guilty look before looking back at Celestia, who was still glaring angrily at him, as he gave her the pleading look again. “Oh please, Celestia!” Discord begged the princess once more, “Let me visit here just this once! I really missed here! Let me stay! Please!” Celestia looked at Discord with anger and now annoyed look on her face. She knew Discord was up to something bad since he thinks he can do whatever he wants and nearly doomed Equestria twice which the second one got him into deep trouble. But at least, she rolled her eyes in annoyance and let out an annoyed sigh before saying, “Alright, fine. You can stay.” Discord smiled happily after that response. But it later turned into a scared look as Celestia glared closely at him and said, “BUT, if we hear any trouble from you or you’re upsetting Lightning Twister like you did before, then you’re going straight home and NEVER come back unless we DO say so! That poor colt is going through a hard time right now, and you’re not going to make it worse. Do I make myself clear?” “Oh yes,” said Discord happily while standing back on his feet, “And I promise I won’t do a thing that will hurt the boy or do anything wrong.” Twilight and Applejack looked at each other with confusion, they know Discord is up to something after saying that. And they know Discord is never good at keeping promises, being good or telling the truth. “Well,” Discord placed his paw and claw together while continuing, “Better head back and get my things. Could be a long week sorting this situation out. See you in a bit!” Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of light. Luna was worried about Celestia letting Discord enter Equestria again during the Storm nightmare situation. She knew Discord can’t always be trusted, and he was definitely on to something since he tried to get them to say he can come back now. Luna walked up to her sister and said, “Sister, are you sure this is okay? I mean, Discord isn’t that trust worthy most of the time and there’s no telling what he’s gonna do. And what would Shining and Cadence say when they see him?” Celestia looked at her sister while calmly saying, “I know, Luna. But fear not. We’ll be keeping a close eye on him at all times. I don’t trust him one bit either. I’m more worried about Lightning getting hurt by Discord after saying he can stay.” Luna nodded her head. “Then we best make sure he stays away from the colt while making he’s doing okay and stopping the nightmares from continuing,” she said which made Tia smile at her. Twilight let out a sigh before looking at her friends, son and nephew. “Might as well go tell the students and Lightning about Discord. I can already tell they’re not gonna be happy with him around, especially Smolder.” The girls, Spike, Capper, Sunburst and Oliver gave the friendship princess a nod in response. “It’s okay, Twilight,” said Celestia softly, “I’ll go tell them.” “You sure?” Fluttershy asked worriedly, “It’s not a problem. We can do it.” Celestia gently placed a hoof underneath Fluttershy’s chin while saying, “It’s alright, my little pony. I’m okay with checking on him for you. I actually wanna make sure he’s okay as well before we move on to finding the cure to end the nightmares.” Fluttershy softly smiled at the princess as she moved her hoof away so the yellow pegasus can give her a nod in understood. Celestia smiled back at Fluttershy before making her way to the guest room the young seven were in. “I’ll be back soon,” she said while still walking her way to the room. Fluttershy was starting to feel worried again but about not finding a cure to help her son. Luckily, Capper was there to hug his wife again in comfort. “Do you think we’ll be able to help him, Capper?” Fluttershy asked, “I don’t want him going through something bad again.” “Don’t worry, honey,” replied Capper, “We’ll find a way. I promise.”