//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: The Darkness Shard // by OliverSparkle //------------------------------// Twilight didn’t go too far as she teleported into her guest bedroom, which was still in a mess a bit after fighting the dark wolves. Her face still had the sad expression with tears now forming in her eyes. After telling Cadence what had happened at her wedding moons ago, she still couldn’t help but feel guilty for not telling her and getting her friends, brother and teacher in big trouble. The princess of Friendship walked over to her bed, went on it and flopped her head onto the pillow before letting her tears run free and wet the pillow. Things was going as quiet, except for poor Twilight sniffling on her face, but then, the guest bedroom door slowly opened which made Twilight move her head from the pillow and looked to see who it was. It was Princess Cadence who had entered the room as she looked at her favourite pony with a worried look. “Twilight? Are you okay?” Asked Cadence before making her way to the bed. Twilight shook her head in response before answering, “No, Cadence. I’m not okay. I feel so guilty.” Cadence was surprised, but also confused, by this. “Guilty? About what?” “For not telling you about what happened before your real wedding and for getting Shining, the girls and Celestia in trouble right now after so long.” Cadence gently rubbed Twilight’s back with her hoof as she said, “Oh Twilight, it’s okay. I was gonna find out about it at some point. And they shouldn’t have done that to you anyway.” Twilight let out a sigh. “I suppose you’re right,” she said, “It’s just, I didn’t want you to break up with Shining if I did tell you what happened before you defeated Chrysalis. And if I did tell you, I wouldn’t have my favourite foalsitter finally be a part of my family, and I wouldn’t become the aunt I am today.” Twilight closed her eyes while moving her head away. “And I’m not gonna lie. I was upset and angry at Shining, the girls and Celestia for what they did. I just, didn’t want to end up turning the argument into a fight, and who knows what might happen next after that? Another Discord return. The elements and the tree dying. The Windigos appearing. There are endless thoughts on what could happen.” Cadence understood what Twilight was saying, even though those events were unlikely to have happened. “Well, you are right about that, Twilight,” said Cadence, “If you did told me what had happened, I would have broken up with him and wouldn’t be fully part of your family. And I wouldn’t have the most beautiful daughter in my life.” “And not only that,” said Twilight as she looked at her sister-in-law once more, “I told Applejack it wasn’t their fault after she apologise to me.” Twilight spoke in annoyed tone, “And the only one that apologised.” She then looked away sadly again. “But deep down, I was mad at them. I couldn’t let it out while Chrysalis was still attacking, nor did I know what they were gonna say. And even though Celestia said it was also my special moment since I saved the day, I didn’t feel like I deserved it after being the only pony that got hurt and betrayed, and was the only one who took the threat more seriously after figuring what was going on. I feel like it’s too late to let it out on them now.” Cadence gently pulled Twilight in for a warm hug as she rested Twilight’s head on her soft chest and gently rubbed her back with her hoof. “Too late or not. Mad or not. It’s never too late to tell your friends how hurt you were and how angry you are at them,” Cadence explained, “Like you said, you didn’t want any bad actions happening if you did show them how mad you are. But if you keep it in you for much longer, the more anger and more painful it’s gonna get. It’s best you do tell them how mad you are and let it all out, just to get it over with.” Twilight looked up at Cadence, while resting her head on Cadence’s chest, and listened to every word Cadence had just said to her. And in fact, Twilight knew that her sister-in-law was right. She could just go tell Shining, Celestia and the girls how mad she was at them and just get it over with. However, she was unsure if it was a good idea. Cadence quickly noticed this and gently patted her sister-in-law’s back before breaking the hug. “Have a think about it, Twilight,” said Cadence softly, “I’ll leave you be so you can decide. Besides, I still need to have a word with Shining, Aunt Celestia and the girls.” She began to make her way to the doorway of the guest bedroom. “Don’t go too hard on them.” Cadence stopped walked and looked at Twilight while saying, “I won’t, Twilight. I just wanted to tell them how disappointed I am.” Twilight was about to say something else, but was stopped by Cadence as she said, “And no, Twilight, I’m not gonna divorce Shining Armor. I wish not to end our relationship during the situation we’re in now. I don’t want to upset you or Flurry Heart either.” Cadence started making her way out of the guest bedroom again while saying, “See you in a bit.” “See you, Cadence,” replied Twilight before Cadence closed the door behind her. Twilight laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling as she started to think if she wants to show Shining, Celestia and the girls how mad she was during the rehearsal or if it’s not worth it anymore. As soon as Cadence closed the guest bedroom door and turned to make her way down the hallway to find Shining, the girls and Celestia, she was stopped by the girls as she saw them coming towards her. She figured they would be the first ones to see Twilight first. Cadence gave them an angry stare as they stopped near her while she said, “If you lot are planning to check on Twilight, it’s best you don’t. She needs some time alone at the moment.” The girls flinched after seeing the stare and hearing the tone Cadence used letting them know she was still not happy with them. “So you are mad at us for our actions?” Pinkie asked nervously. “Yes! I am mad at you for your selfish actions!” Said Cadence angrily which made the girls step back a bit in fear. “You five chose Shining and the imposter over Twilight when you lot barely even know Shining and me! And I’m not just mad, I am also very, VERY disappointed!” “Look, princess! We-we-we didn’t do all that to Twilight! We thought she was just jealous of her brother marrying you!” Said Pinkie nervously. “Why would you even think that?! Twilight never once said she wanted to get married one day! If she did, she would have wanted to wait until she has found the perfect stallion for her and that stallion loves her as well! Plus she loves me as part of her family and life when I used to foalsit her, why would she not want me to marry her brother?!” “We were just doing what Shining Armor would have told us to do!” Rainbow said, “Plus Twilight just bursted into the rehearsal acting like a filly causing you of being evil without any proof!” Cadence was so angry, after hearing Rainbow calling her favourite pony a filly, as she slapped the Wonderbot across the face. And it was painful too, because Cadence was wearing her hoof shoe which caused Rainbow to have a red mark on her cheek. “Don’t you dare call Twilight a filly!” Cadence shouted angrily at the rainbow maned pony, “With or without proof, you still should have listened to her! She was your friend, for crying out loud! The only reason why she bursted into the room is because nopony listened to her! And you should have had her back, Rainbow Dash! You’re the element of Loyalty! You said you’ll always have everypony’s back, especially your friends! Was Twilight not one of them?!” Rainbow Dash knew Cadence was right. She was the Element of Loyalty, and that meant she would always have everypony’s back including her friends, and Twilight was one of them. But instead of being by her side after Shining Armor had a go at her and kicked her out of the wedding, she took his side instead. All Rainbow can do right now is look down in shame and guilt as she rubbed his hoof in great shame. “And you, Pinkie Pie! You’re the Element of Laughter, and you love to make everypony smile and laugh with no sadness, right?” Pinkie slowly nodded her head in response. “Well you didn’t make Twilight happy after Shining kicked her out of the wedding! Instead, you made her upset! You didn’t think that she was the one you should stay with and try to cheer her up! You chose the imposter over your friend, even after insulting how you make parties for everypony no matter what age they’re at!” Pinkie Pie couldn’t do or say nothing, except for looking down in shame. She knew that she was suppose to make ponies smile and make them feel better if they’re let down, but at the rehearsal, she made Twilight sad and abandon instead of making her smile again and comfort her. She chose the wedding instead of her friend, even after Chrysalis insulting her party making in her disguise of Cadence. “Rarity, you’re the Element of Generosity! But you chose the wedding over staying by Twilight’s side, even after Chrysalis rudely told you to make the dress more better! And since you own a boutique, that’s how a bad customer treats the staff! And I saw you catching the dresses when you went to get the elements! Why did you do that?! You always said you can always fix them and even try to make them better than before! I can’t believe you find making the dress and the wedding more important than the threat and your poor friend!” Rarity felt more guilty than Rainbow and Pinkie were. She knew Cadence was right. She was catching the bride mare dresses for no reason, even after saying she can fix them. But not just that, she even decided that the wedding and the dress was more important than Twilight, when Shining made her upset after kicking her out. The white unicorn looked down in shame as tears started to form in her eyes. “Applejack, you’re the Element of Honesty! You can also sense a liar, right?” Applejack slowly nodded her head in response. “So did you sense any lying actions in Twilight’s words when she was telling you what the fake me was doing during the preparation of my wedding?” Applejack slowly shook her head while saying, “No.” “So why did you think she was lying about me being evil when she was the one who was lying and Twilight was trying to save you all?!” “You were-I mean, the fake you was crying after Twilight caused you of being evil!” Applejack answered crossly, “That makes it more truthful than her bursting into the room and acting like a filly!” “Do you want me to do the same thing to you like I did with Rainbow Dash?!” Cadence asked angrily making Applejack shake in fear. Applejack quickly shook her head in response. “Then don’t call Twilight a filly again!” Cadence glared at the other three girls, which made him flinch from her stare, as she said, “And that goes for you three too! Understood?!” Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy nodded their heads in understood while shaking in fear. “Good,” said Cadence before glaring at the farm pony again, “And just so you know, Applejack, the way Chrysalis was crying and running out of the hall was a complete mockery of me. I don’t run off crying when somepony upsets me! I hold my tears in till I’m in my room and before Aunt Celestia could even tell I’m upset! And Twilight was being more truthful than Chrysalis was after she lied about liking your treats and throwing your treat bag away and you just thinking she didn’t want spoil her eating when the party starts! She was your friend, but you decided that she was just making up stories just to ruin for your hard work for the wedding, told Spike and the girls to check on the fake me and left Twilight alone like she being hurt by her brother didn’t mean anything to you and when you barely even know me and Shining Armor! Your false sense of a liar during the making of my wedding has now finally bitten you on the rear end!” Applejack knew Cadence was right. She can sense a liar, even before she can trick her. But during the wedding, she thought Twilight was lying and making up stories about Cadence being evil and chose her side instead of listening to her friend and told the others to check on the imposter with her like Twilight meant nothing to them. All Applejack could do is look down in guilt and shame as she took off her hat and held it to her chest. Cadence turned to Fluttershy who was the last pony of the five to speak to. “And as for you, Fluttershy,” began Cadence, “I’m sorry for having a go at you, but the actions you and the girls did left me with no other choice. And you were the Element of Kindness, you were supposed to be the most kindness pony to all animals, including your friends! But after the fake me said your singing birds were singing off-key and made you one of the new bridemares, you just decided that not having the birds sing at the wedding was okay and just so she can have a night to remember! And when you walked out on Twilight, that wasn’t kindness! That was being the mean you that you refused to become! You abandoned your friend and chose the wedding and the imposter over her, thought the wedding was more important then the threat and was looking forward to be the bridemare! What kind of a friend that only shows kindness does that?!” Fluttershy looked down in guilt and shame as she closed her eyes and rubbed her hoof. She knew that Cadence was right. She was the Element of Kindness and was the most kindness pony to every animal and all of her friends, but she didn’t showed kindness to Twilight after Shining kicked her out of the wedding, she showed her mean side to her, the side that Iron Will made and she refuses to become that mean side again. Cadence glared back to all five of the girls before saying, “You all should be ashamed of yourselves for what you have done! You nearly let Chrysalis get away with it, you let your friend down, left her all alone, and let Chrysalis had her right in her hooves where she can stop her from ruining her plans! And I bet you five were gonna tell Twilight off for upsetting the fake me and nearly ruining the wedding after Aunt Celestia pronounced to me and Shining, and before Chrysalis attacks Canterlot! Am I right?!” “Well, we were planning to have a word with her right before the party and say how disappo…” Pinkie was cut off by Applejack’s hoof on her mouth before she could even finish answering, and boy, was Cadence not happy by the sound of their plan for after the wedding. “That’s just what I thought! You were gonna tell her off for nearly ruining the wedding even before Chrysalis showed her true self! You five had the chance to take Twilight’s side when Shining kicked her out, and you all BLEW IT!” The girls flinched again before shaking in fear of Cadence’s outburst as she then said, “I am very, VERY disappointed!” “Please, Princess Cadence! Please forgive us for taking sides with the wrong you!” Rarity begged as she kneeled on the ground to her. “Just give a second chance to five of your favourite girls! We’ve learned our lesson and we wish not to make things worse before your wedding anniversary!” Cadence stared crossly at the white unicorn. Rarity slowly looked at the princess of love with a scared look on her face. “Since you’ve mentioned that, Rarity,” said Cadence crossly, “Let me make this clear to you. You five are no longer part of my favourite girls list, and you will NOT be attending my wedding anniversary this year. And until I’ve made my final choice, none of you will be invited to my anniversary in the near future!” The five girls not only have guilt and shame looks on their faces, but now also sad expressions. They were now off Cadence’s favourite girls list and they’ve just been kicked out of Cadence’s wedding anniversary this year, and possibly future anniversary years when Cadence made up her mind about that. They now know how Twilight felt, but understood why they were kicked out. “Now, if you five don’t mind, I’ve got a stallion to speak to now before I deal with my aunt,” said Cadence before walking past the girls and straight down the hallway. The five watched the princess of love disappear into the hallway with no sad and guilt looks on their faces. Things weren’t looking as good as they thought it would be. Not only if they get told off by Cadence, but she also banned them from her wedding anniversary this year, and possibly every year when her choice is made up, and she kicked them off her favourite girls list. All the girls could do right now is look down in shame and guilt as Applejack took off her hat and held it to her chest again. However, none of them saw Fluttershy was still worrying about something before Cadence told them off. Sunburst was walking down the hallway of the guest bedrooms looking for the one Sunset Shimmer was in. He wanted to check on her after she left the library in a very upset mode, especially after explaining how she knew how Twilight feels. At least, Sunburst found the guest room his sister was in as he heard sniffling coming from inside the bedroom he stopped at. “There you are,” said Sunburst quietly before using his magic to slowly open the door. Sunburst peeked through the opened doorway and saw Sunset Shimmer laying on her bed with her face in the pillow while sniffling sadly. Sunburst walked towards the bed and gently but slowly placed his hoof on his sister’s shoulder. “Hey, Sunset, you doing okay?” Sunset felt Sunburst’s hoof on her shoulder as she slowly moved her head from the pillow to look at her brother and to show him her sad look with tears in her eyes showing that she wasn’t doing okay. “No, Sunburst, I am not doing okay.” “What’s wrong, sis?” “You won’t understand if I told you,” said Sunset sadly while looking away from her brother. “Sunset, please. I wanna help you,” said Sunburst. Sunset knew she can’t keep hiding what happened long ago away from Sunburst forever, he really wants to help his sister and to know what was wrong with her. So she decided to just tell him what was up with her. Sunset let out a sigh before saying, “It all started during Winter time at Canterlot High months after the Battle of the Bands incident.” “The universe that’s on the other side?” Sunburst asked. Sunset nodded in response instead of answering his question with a simple yes. “So what happened? Did something bad happened?” “Yes,” answered Sunset while still looking away, “During Winter time on the other side, they have the same Hearth’s Warming Eve celebration like we do here, but they call it Christmas. And since I never celebrated Christmas or Hearth’s Warming Eve with friends or family before, my human friends wanted to help me have the first best Christmas time. They also invited me to Applejack’s Christmas get together party at her farm and they said I was family.” “Okay, but what was so bad about that? Isn’t helping you celebrating Christmas, inviting you to a get together party and calling you family a good thing?” Sunburst asked. “Well…you see…” Sunset was struggling to whether to tell Sunburst about it or not, especially since the incident was like years ago now. “Did something go horrible wrong during the get together party?” Sunburst asked thinking he figured out what was wrong, “Because I’m sure it wasn’t your own fault it hap…” “No, it’s not that,” said Sunset before Sunburst could even finish, “I didn’t accidentally do something bad at the get together party. Something bad almost ruined my first ever Christmas time, and it was done by someone else. Or rather, done by three girls.” “What exactly happened?” Sunset let out a calm and long sigh before explaining everything that has happened during her first ever Christmas time with family and friends. “In the other world, we have this thing called internet. And when someone posts someone’s secrets online and stuff that upsets them, we call it cyberbullying. I used to do something like that before Twilight showed me the magic of friendship. But during Christmas time, and before my first ever Christmas time with my friends could get started, someone posted the human Applejack’s secret online with their name being, Anon-A-Miss. When the girls asked me if I lost my phone when Anon-A-Miss did another post and I said no…they all thought I was Anon-A-Miss.” “What?!” Sunburst was shocked and surprised by what Sunset just said. Her sister got framed for a crime she didn’t do when she’d changed and became a good girl. “They all thought I was going back to my old ways and that I think their friendship with me was a joke, so they left me to cry and didn’t listen to me when I told them I didn’t do it,” Sunset continued, “Anon-A-Miss kept on posting everyone’s secrets around Canterlot High and they all thought I was Anon-A-Miss too. They called me Anon-A-Miss, said that I was the bad girl again and wouldn’t believe me when I told them I didn’t post their secrets.” Tears started to form in Sunset’s eyes as she remembers the horrible words the students and her five friends said to her. “What happened next?” “Well,” began Sunset, “After telling the girls that I wasn’t lying and that I wasn’t posting everyone’s secrets again, the human versions of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came and confessed that they were Anon-A-Miss and the ones behind it all.” “They were the ones who framed you?! Why did they do that?!” “Because they were jealous of me hanging out with their sisters, and they thought I was taking them away from them since Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash didn’t invite them to the sleepovers.” “So they thought that this cyberbullying would help them get their sisters back, get back at you and hope that it’ll break the girls’ friendship with you?” Sunset slowly nodded her head in response. “Did they get any punishments after telling the truth?” Sunburst asked. “Yes,” answered Sunset, “They had a month of detention, they were not allowed on the school library computers unless it’s for schoolwork, they got banned for bringing their phones into school and also got banned for using the school phone unless they need to do an emergency call.” “And did you get your friends back?” “Yes, they said they were sorry for not believing me and they invited me back into the family and friendship circle as well as their get together party.” Sunset let out another sigh. “But, that incident still haunts me no matter what I remember. It hurts me, like those words and names they all said to me. I just wish it would go away.” Sunset looked down in sadness as her eyes closed with one tear rolling down her face and landed on the floor. Sunburst sadly looked at her before looking down as well. After everything his sister just said, he couldn’t imagine how upset and lonely Sunset was during the Anon-A-Miss incident with no one to support her or even helped her find the real person behind Anon-A-Miss. Suddenly, Sunburst’s sad look turned into an angry expression. He couldn’t stand it and refused to let it hurt Sunset Shimmer. So he turned towards the opened doorway and headed straight to it. Sunset quickly saw what her brother was doing. “Sunburst, where are you going?” She asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes with her hoof. “Going to find Twilight and ask her where that magic mirror is,” Sunburst answered in a cross tone, “I’m going to this other world and speak to those five girls for what they did to you.” Sunset was shocked, but also scared and worried, by that response. She knows Sunburst hasn’t been to the other world before, and there was no telling what will happen he sees that the other world doesn’t do what ponies and other creatures do in Equestria. “No!” She said worriedly as she got off the bed, “You can’t! You know nothing about the other world! You didn’t even know it existed!” “I don’t care,” said Sunburst as he stopped walking while looking at his sister, “They hurt you, betrayed you, and treated you like you were a bad girl again. The incident may have been moons ago, but that doesn’t give them the right to think you didn’t change during your first ever celebration time. You may have just told me you were my sister during the new Keyblade War, but I still want to care for you and love you since I didn’t know you were my family after so long. And I refuse to let my sister continue to feel more pain.” Sunburst began to continue making his way out of the guest bedroom, but he was stopped by Sunset grabbed his tail with her hoof as he stared crossly at her while she had a sad and scared expression on her face. “Sunburst, please! Just listen to me!” Sunset said as new tears formed in her eyes, “You can not do this! I know you’re angry about everything that I just told you, and I did say it still hurts me! But you can’t go to the other world! You know nothing about it and you don’t know how things work there! And I can’t lose you if something happens to you when you go there!” Sunburst’s cross expression slowly turned into a sad and understood expression. “I may have told you I was your sister and it’s been moons since we didn’t see each other, but I still love you! You’re the family I left behind and I shouldn’t! And not just that, I don’t want you to become who I became before Twilight helped me see the light! I can’t risk breaking Starlight’s heart or losing my family!” Sunset let go of Sunburst’s tail as he turned to look at his sister and saw a tear running down Sunset’s cheek. “I want to be family again,” said Sunset sadly, “Your family.” Sunburst looked sadly at his sister. After everything she had just said to him, Sunset wanted to move on from the bad times and to be family with Sunburst after so long. But she also wanted him not to go to the other world for not just in case something happens to him and he clearly doesn’t understand that world, but so he doesn’t become what Sunset became before Twilight helped her become the girl she is now. Sunburst walked up to Sunset and hugged her as she started to tear and let her tears run down her face. “I’m sorry too, Sunset,” said Sunburst quietly, “For what I was about to do. You’re right. I know nothing about the other world, and I was putting my own life in danger. But I won’t go to the other world, I promise. For now on, you’re my family. And I want to give you the family you want back again.” Sunset continued to let her tears run free from her eyes as she slowly smiled and rest her head on Sunburst’s shoulder. “Thank you,” she said quietly for her brother to hear. Sunburst continued to hug Sunset and Sunset continued to rest her head on Sunburst’s shoulder while letting her tears go free. Sunburst didn’t know how long the hug was gonna last for, but he didn’t care. All that matters is him being there for his sister.