//------------------------------// // CH.2. Informing The Princesses // Story: The Kingdom Of Darkness // by Dragon-In-Black //------------------------------// After Applejack had rounded up her friends and informed them of her dream, even going as far as to show her memories for them to see, she wasn’t surprised when she saw the doubtful looks on their faces. The doubt came from Rainbow Dash specifically while Rarity was neutral on the matter. Twilight seemed intrigued by the story the remaining Pillars had given. It made her understand that he was hurting when they found Starswirl. It wasn’t a normal hurt that was easily treated. It was emotional hurt. Pinkie Pie had been fascinated but hadn’t shown much interest. Fluttershy had been scared at first but had managed to calm down. They were sitting around the map on their thrones with coffee and tea that Spike had been so kind to provide along with a few cucumber sandwiches for them to snack on as an early breakfast. “Applejack, I hate to break it to ya, but I highly doubt that it was a real vision. It was just a dream,” Rainbow Dash explained while flapping her wings, hovering in the air with her hooves crossed with a doubtful expression. Rainbow Dash was a blue-coated pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail and a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt cutie mark on her flanks. Applejack wasn’t surprised by that. She would have been more surprised if she had readily agreed to it. It didn’t mean that she wouldn’t feel a little panicked. She knew that it was true so how do you convince your friends that a dream was real? “ah didn’t expect ya to Rainbow, I just wanted to inform ya and what we do next is up to, Twilight,” she replied while looking over at the Alicorn who was studying the memories with intensity. Sweat drops were running down her face. Twilight Sparkle was the newest Alicorn of Equestria. That made her a princess, and she was the Princess of Friendship. She was a lilac-coated mare with a dark purple bluish mane and tail with dark purple and pink streaks. Her cutie mark was a purple star with a couple of small white stars. Rainbow looked over at their friend who was watching Twilight do her thing. “This is so interesting!” She exclaimed as if Hearts Warming had come early. “I had no idea there was a pony named Stygian who brought the Pillars together but he has such a sad backstory. I wonder where he is now?” They knew she was asking a rhetorical question, but it was a good question. Where was the stallion? He had banished his friends and cursed Starswirl but there were no records of a pony named Stygian committing crimes or stealing anything. There was nothing that suggested he lived in Equestria, but that could mean he wasn’t within Equestrian defences. “Well, if he did that over a thousand years ago, isn’t there a possibility that he’s dead, darling?” Rarity asked. She was a marshmallow-coated pony with a purple stylish mane and tail with three blue gems as her cutie mark. Twilight raised a hoof to her cheek and softly pressed. “I don’t think so, they spoke of him as if he was alive,” “Twilight, if we play with the thought that Applejack’s dream was real, then it makes sense why they would say so,” Rainbow spoke which surprised everyone in the room. “They have been in limbo, they aren’t sure how long they’ve been there. Sure, they could say they’ve been there for that long but for all they know it could have been five minutes.” The girls looked at Rainbow Dash, impressed by her words and line of thinking. “Hm, you know what? I can buy that theory,” Twilight said, while using her magic to bring a few books and quickly skim through them trying to find whatever it was she was trying to find. “HUH!! What if the Pony Of Shadows is Stygian!?” Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped in shock and looked at her friends who gaped at her. “Uh, Pinkie, I don’t believe that is the case, the unnatural voice that Somnambula spoke of was simply rage. He must have been so sad and cried his eyes out which turned to anger and screaming which made his voice sound unnatural,” Twilight explained. “But what about his magic and sending them into Limbo and cursing Starswirl?!” Pinkie asked with a rushed voice and stood so close to Twilight that they were touching nose to nose. “Uh, well, due to the emotional trauma he must have been in, his anger took over and he learned darker spells that helped him do such deeds. Besides, laws and rules were different back then, than it is today.” Twilight theorised which seemed to satisfy the hyper-active mare and pulled out a piece of cupcake from who-knows-where and devoured it. “Although, I am curious about what Somnambula said about Pony Of Shadows not being evil. Hm, questions and more questions.” “Well, what shall we do darling?” Rarity questioned while taking a sip of tea, looking over her friends who were watching Twilight studying. “Should we inform the Princesses of this considering the potential threat the Pony Of Shadows has over Equestria?” The sounds of pages hitting pages stopped in their tracks and the books continued to hover in their air from Twilight’s magic. “Um, I’m not sure… I do believe you Applejack, but it was a dream and for all we know it could have been just that; a dream. But then again, if we don’t inform the princesses it could end up disastrous.” Twilight contemplated whether to tell the rulers or not but eventually decided that it would be best if they knew about it. “SPIKE!” Twilight shouted to the second floor of the castle. There were sounds of running that came from the second floor and the sounds didn’t stop until it entered the room, revealing a purple-scaled dragon with green spikes on his head and a green belly. “Yes, … Twilight?” He asked while sounding out of breath. “I need you to send a letter to Princess Celestia, it’s urgent,” Twilight explained while picking up a book with her magic again. Spike ran to get parchment, ink and quill and came back, ready to write the message. Twilight put down the book to concentrate. “Ahem! Dear Princess Celestia, I have urgent news for you to read. My friend Applejack had a dream about the remaining Pillars who are stuck in Limbo. They came and told Applejack about the trauma they had faced and an enemy that may or may not want to invade Equestria. The creature's name is the Pony Of Shadows. Some of us believe that Applejack’s dream is real but some are sceptical due to it being a dream, nonetheless, we wanted to inform you just in case so do what you believe is best. Your faithful student, Princess Twilight Sparkle. “Uh, Twilight, are you still her student?” Spike asked confused. He had written it, but he was unsure if it was appropriate due to her title as Princess. “I will always see myself as her student!” Twilight spoke with pride and had stars in her eyes as she thought about her mentor, or former mentor depending on how you looked at it. Spike understood and sent the letter away with his fire breath. He turned to Applejack and decided to ask a question of his own. “Applejack, I apologise for eavesdropping but I happened to hear your story and dream. I believe you I assure you, you have never lied, but one thing puzzles me.” Spike said while walking towards the Element of Honesty who looked at him quizzically. “The Pillars spoke of Stygian and the Pony Of Shadows, but I have never heard stories of them battling the foe they mentioned.” The ponies around the room looked at each other and realised that the dragon was right. They had all seen the dream and they heard what the Pillars all said but they didn’t speak much about Pony Of Shadows other than that he was a potential threat to Equestria and to defeat him while Somnambula was screaming that he wasn’t evil. It was all very confusing and why would Somnambula—one of the Pillars—say that the Pony wasn’t evil? “Uh, maybe they fought him while no other pony was around and never mentioned it?” Rainbow suggested while she hovered and shrugged. “Hm, that makes sense but Starswirl never mentioned Pony Of Shadows nor Stygian. Perhaps both subjects were too emotional to discuss?” Twilight rhetorically asked while glancing up at the ceiling as if she would find the answers there. “Twilight, that’s what I meant by never mentioning it to anypony,” Rainbow deadpanned at the alicorn. Twilight blushed slightly and nodded her head in agreement. “Sorry, got lost in my thoughts there,” “It’s fine, Twi. Well, they never said how they knew of Pony Of Shadows, ah only know what they told me.” Applejack admitted. “And Spike? It’s fine, you weren’t eavesdropping.” The young dragon nodded with a smile. “Should we ask Starswirl?” Fluttershy quietly asked, looking over at Twilight who had opened a book and began to read old myths and legends books. Fluttershy was a yellow-coated pegasus with a pink mane and tail and three butterflies for her cutie mark. Twilight looked over the book to meet Fluttershy’s gaze and shook her head. “Not yet, I’d rather ask him later because I don’t know how he’ll react to us knowing his backstory.” They looked at one another and had to admit that there was good logic in that. If he didn’t say anything to them before, why would he suddenly tell them everything? Sure, he could react with sadness and tell them the story or he could get angry and refuse to tell them anything about his history. Besides, he had never once mentioned Stygian. Looking back to the memories they had though, they could see that he was thinking about somepony and they wondered if that pony was Stygian. Was Starswirl too afraid to mention the pony because of what happened? Or was it that he was angry at the pony who had cursed him which ultimately was Stygian? Did he believe that it was none of their business? To be fair, it was his private life to a large degree. “Ugh!” Came a frustrated groan. Startled, they looked to Twilight who had sported an irritated look on her face. “I cannot find any references to the Pony Of Shadows, it's as if the Pony doesn’t exist!” “Well, maybe it's because it was all a dream?” Rainbow suggested while looking at the apple farmer with a pointed look. “Are ya calling me a liar?” Applejack frowned. She wasn’t angry, she had expected this but it didn’t make it any easier. “Of course not, AJ, I just believe you had an extremely realistic dream nothing more nothing less,” Rainbow explained and the others had to give it to the mare that there was a good point. “Besides, I highly doubt this Stygian is real. Sure, we may not have known what happened to the rest of the Pillars, but they maybe had a falling out and went their separate ways.” “I’m going to have to disagree with you on that, Rainbow,” Twilight spoke while looking through a book which grabbed the other's attention. “Why’s that?” The rainbow-maned pegasus asked with a frown. “Well, I have found a record of a unicorn named Stygian,” she smiled and showed them the book she was reading with a picture of a unicorn with a dark bluish-greenish mane and tail with a brown coat. They all surrounded the book with the picture. Rainbow looked shocked when she saw the unicorn she had said a few seconds ago didn’t exist. She looked towards the others who looked interested in the picture. “Ugh! What is that thing he’s wearing?” Rarity asked while looking a little disgusted by the coat. The others deadpanned at her. “His coat, never mind that now, we have evidence that Stygian indeed did exist at one point in time!” Twilight said with triumph. She had found his picture inside a book about the Pillars and their friends written by Starswirl himself. There wasn’t a whole lot of information. The text was essentially about Stygian being friends with all of the Pillars and that was it, there was nothing about the background or what happened to him later in life. “Um, does that mean that Pony Of Shadows exists?” Fluttershy asked timidly while looking at Twilight who frowned. “No… it only proves that Stygian was a real pony that existed over a thousand years ago. To be honest, I don’t believe that the Pony Of Shadows is real, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t take the threat seriously. It could be a title a pony earned,” Twilight explained while hugging Fluttershy who had looked a little scared at the prospect of fighting a pony who relied on shadows. Spike started to take a sip of his tea while thinking over the possibilities there were. They didn’t have a lot to go on but they had managed to at least figure out that Stygian was a real unicorn pony who had been friends with the Pillars before they had been banished and cursed. It didn’t mean that the threat was non-existent about there being a Pony Of Shadows, but it didn’t mean that there was a threat either. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t a little creeped out, though. Something was telling him that Applejack’s dream was real. Very real. Twilight continued to check through her books while the others waited for breakfast after Spike had drank his tea and asked if they were hungry. While he was in the kitchen preparing a proper breakfast, the other ponies not reading were making small talk while drinking tea. When Spike came out with the breakfast, there was a sudden knock on the door. Spike put the breakfast on the table to go open the door while Applejack decided to give everypony a plate. When the young dragon saw who was at their doorstep he immediately bowed in respect. But he was a little surprised that Princess Celestia, Luna and Cadance were there. Had it something to do with the letter he sent earlier? “Welcome, princesses!” He spoke with the utmost respect he could. “Thank you, Spike, is Twilight here? We need to talk to her,” Celestia spoke with a kind and gentle, but stern tone. She was only stern when she was serious and it showed. And considering two other Princesses were standing outside the Friendship Castle, it probably was serious. “Of course, our friends are here also. Come in, I’ve made breakfast,” Spike stepped to the side and allowed the rulers into the castle. They went back to the room where the friendship map was located where they saw the other mares enjoying Spike’s pancakes and waffles he made for everypony. When the others saw the princesses, they all bowed except Twilight who hadn’t noticed there were other rulers in the room with her. “Uh, Twilight?” Spike called out. “Not now, Spike, I need to find more information about the Pony Of Shadows!” Twilight spoke in an irritated tone but it wasn’t Spike she was irritated at which he knew. “Twilight, I would appreciate it if you put the book down for now,” Celestia spoke in her stern and serious voice while looking at her fellow alicorn with a little amusement in her eyes. Twilight dropped her book in shock and saw the other princesses there and blushed. Three fellow princesses were there and she had unintentionally ignored them. Oh, how embarrassing! “Sorry, Princess Celestia, I wasn’t aware you were here. Did you get my letter?” The lilac-coated mare asked with a tilt of her head. “Yes, and that is why I’m here,” Celestia replied and used her magic to conjure up three chairs for herself, her sister and niece. The princess of the sun sat beside Twilight, Luna sat beside Fluttershy and Applejack and Cadance sat beside Spike and Rainbow Dash. “The scroll you sent has terrified not only me but my sister as well.” Celestia began and a few gasped. They had never heard that Princess Celestia was ever scared of anything. “The dream with the Pillars—I can assure you—was real. All of it,” Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped to the floor in shock. She hadn’t expected that. Luna nodded. “Is true. I entered Miss Applejack’s dream and saw everything unfold. I tried to take it away at first because it seemed as though she was in distress but I couldn’t take it away. The only way for a pony to prevent me from taking away nightmares is if magic is being used,” The element bearers gasped again in shock. Pinkie Pie fainted and was back on her throne as fast as a lightning bolt. “Wait, so you're saying that there were other forces at play? Was the dream—” “No, Twilight,” Luna interrupted. “The dream was real, they were the real Pillars of Equestria, the same Pillars who defeated countless enemies in the past. Magic was being used by them—I couldn’t find out who—to communicate with Miss Applejack.” They all became silent at that. Applejack wasn’t sure if she was relieved or terrified because it was real. On one hoof it was a relief because she proved the ones having doubts that she wasn’t making stuff up but on the other hoof she was terrified. After all, there were ponies out there who can give nightmares while Princess Luna can do nothing about it. “So wait, the Pillars came to warn us for real?” Rainbow asked in amazement. “Yes,” Luna confirmed with a nod. “Wow,” was her reply. “Um, Princess Celestia?” The princess of the sun turned to Fluttershy and allowed her face to turn gentle for the easily frightened mare to ease the pegasus. “I was just wondering if you knew anything about the Pony Of Shadows,” The others had forgotten the elephant in the room and made Twilight groan slightly for almost forgetting it. “Sadly Miss Fluttershy, so will I have to say no, I do not,” Celestia admitted with a sigh. She hated when she couldn’t provide vital information to the ponies that needed it. “I too, have to say I do not know anything. When I studied the dark arts I never came across such a name. But it is possible that this Pony used a different name…” Luna got lost and started to mull over the books she had read that could help them. “I haven’t heard anything either but I’m not that old either, no offence,” Cadance said with a small blush at what she had said at the end. “None taken,” Celestia replied while pouring herself a cup of tea. “We only have one thing to go on,” Spike spoke making everypony turn to him to hear what he was going to say. “That the Pony Of Shadows could potentially threaten Equestria but there’s no guarantee. Applejack was simply asked to end the Pony. But one thing I’m very curious about.” “And what is that young one?” Luna kindly asked while taking a bite out of her waffle. Spike hesitated but when he saw their eyes and Pinkie's encouraging nod he explained; “When Applejack said she would slay him, Somnambula looked panicked and afraid and screamed that the Pony Of Shadows wasn’t evil and said to not slay him but she didn’t say anything when Rockhoof said that the Pony couldn’t walk among us anymore,” The three princesses looked confused and troubled by what the dragon had told them. Cadance seemed intrigued by the development. “Is she in love with Pony Of Shadows?” She asked and looked around and saw them shaking their heads. “Nah, Somnambula loves a stallion named Stygian who…” Applejack sighed at this. “...He banished them to Limbo,” the princesses looked alarmed at what the farmer had said. “Twilight, is it alright if we see the memories of this dream, Luna only came in during half of the dream,” Celestia asked while putting down her tea cup. “Of course!” Twilight replied and used a spell to dampen the sunlight outside so it was dark enough for them to watch the dream. After casting another spell they started watching the dream. Throughout the dream, no pony or dragon said anything. They watched everything from top to bottom, making sure to not miss any important details. Twilight started taking notes of the facial expression on the Pillars' faces for documentation purposes. Princess Celestia and Luna felt honoured to meet their mentor's friends who he had spoken so fondly of. While Luna had been inside the dream and seen it, she couldn’t intervene because of magic that frightened her slightly. Very few ponies matched her magic skills. Cadance was fascinated to learn more about Somnambula and her love interest in Stygian. If she ever got to meet the pegasus, she would give her love advice and see if she can help Stygian and her together. …If Stygian wants anything to do with them… “This is… troubling,” Luna spoke for her older sister who hadn’t said anything and seemed to be in deep thought. “Is there a possibility that Stygian is the Pony Of Shadows?” Celestia asked after taking a bite of her pancakes. The others murmured, acknowledging the comment. “Yes we did, but we don’t think he’s it. After sending the five Pillars to Limbo and cursing Starswirl, he disappeared without a trace. I have sort of made the assumption he’s dead. He is a unicorn but from what I’ve read he wasn’t a very strong one and could only cast very basic spells so his life span would be a few years shorter than normal unicorns.” Twilight explained while drinking some tea and took a bite from an apple from a fruit bowl Spike had come in with. “I see,” Celestia replied and took a banana from the fruit bowl and peeled it with her magic. While she cut them into pieces to spread on her pancakes. “Have you asked Starswirl?” “No, we haven’t we didn’t want to do it yet. I’m not sure how he would react if I told him I knew his backstory,” Twilight frowned and took a small bite from her apple. “Twilight, you do realise that Starswirl is the only one alive right now not stuck in Limbo that can tell us about this new potential threat? If you are afraid of a scolding then you should get used to them,” Luna suggested while taking a sip from her tea and observing Twilight’s reaction. “No it’s not that… well it’s partially that but when he spoke of the Pillars, he had this distant look and it seemed as though he was thinking about somepony but never said anything,” Twilight told the princess of the night. “I didn’t want to intrude because I felt that it was none of my concern. We all deserve some privacy,” The princesses hummed in silent agreement. While Princess Cadance was eating her pancakes, she couldn’t shake the dream she had just witnessed a few minutes ago. Somnambula had said that she loved Stygian and considering how she glared when she heard Rockhoof say that Pony Of Shadows couldn’t continue to exist, it made her wonder if Stygian was indeed the Pony they were all discussing. Her biggest clue was the glare Somnambula had given Rockhoof and her second big clue was when the pegasus had heard what Applejack had said she would slay Pony Of Shadows, she had screamed that the Pony was not evil. Cadance took a sip of her tea. It suggested to her that the Pony Of Shadows couldn’t be anypony else other than Stygian, it pointed her towards it. She didn’t have any evidence so she would keep it to herself for now since it was a possibility that she was completely wrong. If she gave them false hope and they started chasing a pony that could be dead then their effort would be all for nothing. “Princess Cadance, what are your thoughts?” The princess of love was brought out of her musings and saw everypony and dragon looking at her making her feel awkward. “Uh, other than the romantic interest between Somnambula and Stygian, I don’t know what to think. It makes sense that Stygian wouldn’t be the Pony Of Shadows due to being bitter at the Pillars but it leaves the question open about who it could be. Is it truly a threat?” She asked her aunts that nodded. “Yes of course it is, you see, even if the Pony is not a threat to Equestria, the Pillars who were the first element bearers asked Miss Applejack and her friends to defeat the Pony. If they feel it necessary to not be interrupted by even I, then it must be very important. Spike looked towards the table with his claws around his teacup. There was something wrong with Cadance's explanation. The ponies of Equestria saw the Pillars as heroes and never acknowledged Stygian so him only being bitter at the Pillars didn’t make sense. He looked over to Applejack who looked at the Princess of love with suspicion in her eyes. He wasn’t the only one who found the flaw. Twilight had finished her food and thought about the dream and the information she’d learned or lack thereof. Maybe she should send a letter to Starswirl? That way she could give the stallion some time to write everything he knows if he ever decides to reply. Without warning, she used her magic to teleport ink quill and parchment to the table and began to write with the help of her magic. The others noticed. “What are ya doing, Twi?” Applejack asked with a raised brow. “Writing a letter to Starswirl. I know he won’t reply immediately, but I still want to let him know that we know. He can decide whether he tells us what the Pony Of Shadows is or leaves us completely in the dark.” Twilight explained. The others were surprised by this but not unhappy. It was a good start anyways and it might lead to something. “When you're finished, I shall send it to him.” Celestia declared after she finished her tea. When Twilight had finished her parchment letter, Celestia had sent it to the legendary wizard and told everypony and dragon that she and her sister had duties in Canterlot followed by Cadance being needed in the Crystal Empire. That left the main six and Spike together in the room. “So what now, darling?” Rarity asked while polishing her hooves. “All we can do now is wait,” was the response which earned a groan from Pinkie Pie. “But waiting is so boring! Can’t we just bring back the Pillars and go to the kingdom where the Pony Of Shadows resides so Somnambula can bring him back so they can get married happily ever after!?” Pinkie asked as if it was the most normal thing in the world. They all stared at her. “What?”