//------------------------------// // The past rears its ugly head // Story: Blooming Days // by Hoofprintz //------------------------------// "I don't think she's going to the restroom," Starlight remarked as she stared at the door. "Obviously," I let go of the lilac mare. "I'm going after her," she was already in motion, in hot pursuit of the golden unicorn who'd just left the lab in a huff. "I'm coming too!" I galloped out the door right behind her. Once the two of us reached the main hall we were forced to pause. There were far too many paths we could take. If we want to find her any time soon, we should probably go separate ways. Or we could try asking one of the guards posted in the area, but Celestia's soldiers really didn't like me, and I'm pretty sure they felt the same way about Starlight. "We should probably split up, we can cover more ground that way," Starlight suggested as she flicked her head in different directions as if she was trying to decide the best route to take. "Think she went back to her room?" "Only one way to find out," I shrugged. "You head over there and I'll go this way." I pointed in the opposite direction. "Alright! Good luck!" she nodded, already galloping away from me. I ran down the opposite hall with no particular destination in mind. Her room? The gardens? Princess Celestia's room? I couldn't think of a single specific place she might've gone to. I wasn't even really sure what the problem was. All I knew was she looked sad... and for some reason, that really bothered me. I could try asking Her Highness for help, but I really didn't like bothering her for trivial things. She already had so many responsibilities and concerns, I hated adding to them in any way. My worry over a distraught Sunset Shimmer shouldn't even appear on her radar. No, Starlight and I can handle this. As far as I could tell, it was my fault, after all. It was something I'd done. The way Sunset had looked at me convinced me of that. I just have to find her and- What I should've been doing is watching where I was going, paying attention to my surroundings. Maybe if I had been, I could've avoided smashing into whatever had been standing in the middle of the hall. The impact was strong enough to send both of us careening to the ground. "Uggggh, s-sorry. I wasn't looking where I was-" as I shakily stood to my hooves, my head buzzing with ache, I went to check on the other creature. W-what!? There was nothing, I stood alone in the long hall... an abnormally long hall that appeared to stretch on endlessly. This is... wrong... There was nothing like this hall inside the castle, not to my knowledge, at least. There were no windows, darkness coming from every inch of the wide open space. The ceiling was incredibly high and any decor that might've once existed was replaced by decaying tapestries or dying fauna. Please! Not again... "Twiiiilighhhht..." The all too familiar hissing, snakelike voice instantly made me nauseous. For some reason it wasn't contained to just my mind, the sound echoing all around me just like in the lab. I tensed up, pushing mana into my horn as I desperately looked around in an attempt to find the owner of the voice. "Yoooou're so much more easier toooo prey on when yoooou're all by your lonesoooome..." "Show yourself, you monster!" I bellowed into the darkness, the light of my horn giving me a modicum of confidence. "Or are you satisfied skulking in the shadows like the coward that you are?" "Ooooh, somepony's getting a biiiig heeeead..." A dense smoke rose from the ground right in front of me. Dark and undulating, it grew and grew until it filled the hall and encompassed me completely. A tendril of it lifted my head by the chin. "You stiiiill don't seeeem to understaaaand the severity of yoooour predicament, little fooooal..." Two piercing red eyes formed in the smoke, inches away from my face. I wanted to maintain what little confidence I had, wanted to spit in its face and fight it off, but... "I-i'm not a-afraid of you." My words came out as a stuttered whisper as I took a trembling step back. "Oh, Twiiiily... I've already told yoooou... You can't liiiie to meeee..." As it spoke, I backed into more of the smog behind me. It was solid, or at least a lot more solid than it should have been. I whirled around to find more of the glowing red eyes staring at me hungrily. "Even your beloved Princess Lunaaaa fears meeee... You're no differeeeent." I was trapped, completely surrounded by the demon... and what's worse, it was right. My fear was rising up inside of me, threatening to take over and drive me into a madness I couldn't escape from. Turning in place only managed to exacerbate the terror, hundreds, then thousands of eyes, sprouting up in the billowing smoke. My horn flickered and died, the small amount of light I was producing snuffed out in seconds. "N-NO!" My terrified scream caused the darkness to grow and the eyes to glow brighter. Unable to do anything, my legs began to give out, forcing me into a crouch as the smog pushed down on me. "P-please..." I closed my eyes, my mind no longer able to accept what was happening... or what was about to happen. "Wiiiith Luna, I desired nothiiiing more than commiseration," the demon whispered to me. "She rejected meeee. Even though we could haaaave shared our despair... We could have beeeen invincible... She chose heeeer sister OVER MEEEE!" it's roar made thunder seem quiet in comparison, sending fear throughout me and shaking me to my core. "With soooomepony like yoooou, Twily... with you, I can taaaake what I waaaant, when I waaaant." I felt it yet again, the demon's tongue licking around my ears. I knew it was purely a tactic to unsettle me. It worked more than anything else the monster could have done. I shuddered in disgust as the weight of the demon pressed down upon me. Your Highness... The only thing that came to my mind was the beautiful visage of my mistress. "She cannot saaaave yo-" "Excuse me?" An unfamiliar voice, one so melodious the feeling it gave me was almost the same as Her Majesty's, cut off the demon. Is it speaking to me? I couldn't be certain. Regardless, I was too shaken to open my eyes or even respond. If I was met with the same chaos as before, I wasn't sure what I would do. "Rescued agaaaain? How fortunaaaate..." the demons voice faded away. "E-excuse me?" The second time the voice spoke, I felt more inclined to respond. A very strange compulsion filled me to answer whomever the voice belonged to, as if they possessed some sort of authority akin to the princesses. "Y-yes?" I managed to squeak out, though I kept my eyes tightly shut. "A-are you... are you alright?" it asked. When I didn't reply, it continued. "You've been standing there for almost five minutes." Standing here? I haven't been...? Absolutely baffled, I mustered up enough courage to lift my eyelids and look around. I was still in the castle, no more than a few paces away from the main hall. I hadn't gotten very far before what must have been a hallucination from the monster had overtaken my mind. Whoever the creature was that was speaking to me must have driven the demon away... somehow. I suppose it could've simply been the mere presence of another being, the monster obviously preferring my seclusion when it attacked. I turned around to face the creature that had saved me. What, or rather, whom, I found, made my heart skip a beat. She was an absolutely breathtaking pegasus with a lithe and toned body. She was taller than me, nearly as big as Her Highness, and while some might describe her as lanky, I saw her more as having the features of an alicorn than a normal pony. Her long mane and tail were both striped light yellow, bright pink, and purple, both curled at their ends. Her coat was a light pink and her cutie mark displayed a blue heart made out of crystal surrounded by gold accents. She was staring at me, her vibrant light violet eyes full of concern. She had a hoof lifted my way as she waited for me to respond. I wanted to throw myself at her, to hug her for saving me... but that probably wasn't the smartest idea. Calm down, Twilight. You don't even know who she is. I stowed my emotions and offered her a polite smile. "I-I'm fine. T-thank you." I was so much more grateful than a simple thanks could express, but it was all I had. "CADENZA!" A mare's voice rang out from the main hall. "Coming, mom!" the mare in front of me, Cadenza, replied to who was apparently, her mother. "If you're okay, I have to get going," she turned on her heel to go on her way. "Thank you for... for caring," for some reason I couldn't explain, I bowed low as she left. "Cadenza." "Any time... Twilight." Her response filled me with warmth... until... Wha- How!? I lifted my head, but she was already gone. I galloped back to the main hall in search of her, but only found the same guards standing lifelessly at their posts. How did she...? It's not like it was an impossibility. Even Starlight had known who I was prior to our first encounter, but- My dearest... Yes, Your Highness? My mistress interrupted my thoughts. She always held priority, no matter what was happening to me. Could you please join me in the lab as soon as is convenient for you? There are... matters of import I wish to discuss with you. I'm on my way, Your Highness! Without hesitation, I drew on my pool of mana and immediately teleported back to the laboratory. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "Your Highness!" I closed the door to the laboratory behind myself before quickly trotting over to my mistress. She greeted me with a gentle smile as she sat at one of the tables that littered the room. "Good afternoon, my dearest," she pushed the chair next to herself out with a wing. "I trust my sister's day is treating you well?" "Well... enough," I sat down without meeting her gaze. I didn't want to bring up what had happened with the monster, didn't want to alarm her, but not mentioning it at all was out of the question. "My dearest?" she moved closer. I could already sense her worry growing and it made me feel awful. "Something happened... between Sunset and I," I chose to start with the less concerning of the two events. While whatever I'd done wrong was nothing to sneeze at, it was almost certainly not as important as that accursed demon assaulting me again. "That is... odd, to say the least," her voice carried a lot of confusion. "I was under the impression that your relationship with Celestia's protégé was improving." "It is... it... was?" I sighed, the frustration making me want to kick something. "I don't know," my head fell into my hooves. "I have no idea what even happened, she just... left." "Hmmm, that is quite the conundrum," my mistress wrapped her wing around me, immediately making me feel a bit better. "However, I believe I have a very simple solution." "What should I do, Your Highness?" It was a rare occurrence that she didn't have an answer to one of my problems. "Speak with her about it, my dearest," she rubbed a hoof against my side. "If she was so distraught that she decided to leave, it may mean she's not comfortable enough around you to bring up her troubles yet." "That's the plan," I let her know. "Starlight and I were looking for her before you called me here." "I see..." she sounded as if the wind had been abruptly sucked from her sails. "Forgive me, Twilight. I had no intention of inconveniencing you." "Your Highness..." I wrapped my forelegs around her. Being this close, held by her so intimately... there was nowhere else I'd rather be. "You could never inconvenience me. Thank you, for guiding me when I need it most." I didn't want to have to expound on what I actually meant, but I had to. "I shall always be there for you, my dearest," she squeezed me. "Whenever and whenever that may be." She drew away from me. "Now then, we have much to discuss." "Er, actually Your Highness..." I just wasn't sure. Her look of concern made me want to tell her everything, but I couldn't stop making excuses. It can wait. She doesn't really need to know. Just handle it yourself. STOP BEING SUCH A COWARD, TWILIGHT! As if yoooou could... As soon as that monster's voice started in my head I'd already made my decision. "There is... one more thing." "I'm all ears, my dearest," she leaned in closer. "That... thing..." As soon as her eyes widened my head fell. "It's... it's getting stronger." "It... what happened, my dearest?" I could see it, the slight trembling of her hoof as she reached out to me. "It..." How best to describe what had happened? "It's... attacking my mind, I think." She dropped her hoof, the shaking gone. "I believe that to be its greatest strength," she sighed, drawing my gaze. "Physically, it was never able to reach me," she cringed. "But the mental onslaught never stopped for more than a few minutes." It physically... couldn't? Then how had...? "You managed to... stave it off?" she asked. "No," I shook my head. "Not me." "Then... how?" "I was saved," I smiled a little at the thought of the pegasus who'd pulled me from the nightmare. My mistress' mood appeared to improve drastically due to my own raised spirits. "If it wasn't for her, I might have lost it." "Did something happen just now?" she raised a curious brow. "Yes, Your Highness," I bobbed my head. "Just now, in the castle." So there are things not even she is aware of. "I knew I shouldn't have taken my eyes off of you," she was disappointed, but not in me. She slumped considerably, all her mirth sapped away by my carelessness. "Especially not now of all times." "Your Highness... please don't." I reached out to her, but froze just as I was about to make contact. More than anything else, I wanted to comfort her, but I'd quickly come to realize that I became terrified when her weaknesses began showing. She noticed my discomfort, her eyes softening and an attempted smile coming to her face. "It truly does seem as if all I can manage to do these days is apologize to you," she scratched the back of her head, a maroon tint on her cheeks. "I'm very sorry, my dearest," she chuckled. Just as I was about to interject, she cut me off with a raised hoof. "I promise," she laid her hoof on my head, patting me gently. "I will be more vigilant from now on." "Thank you, Your Highness," I couldn't help but giggle. I loved when she treated me like her filly. For some reason it felt... nostalgic. "Now, about the one that helped you." She withdrew her hoof and I can't say I wasn't a little disappointed, but the pegasus was something I wanted to discuss with her. "She was... beautiful..." Her face was imprinted in my mind, like a flawless work of art that I'd never forget. "I think her name was Cadenza." "Mi Amore Cadenza, in full," my mistress nodded, clearly aware of whom I was speaking of. "She is the princess of the north," she elaborated. Well, that makes a lot of sense. I'd never been interested in the royalty of other parts of Equestria, considering that information wouldn't make me any more skilled at magic or make me a better disciple for Her Highness. "Of the Crystal Empire, to be precise. And..." "And?" The uncomfortable shifting of her eyes had piqued my curiosity. "And it has recently been brought to my attention that... she is now your brother's fiancée."