A Dark Shade of the Past

by InfinityBreach

Inner Workings

"What the hay?" I muttered, looking around the area.

Everything was on fire.

Sugarcube Corner was burning. The Library behind me was burning.

Yet, nopony was outside or running around in panic.

The only sound I could even hear was the crackling of fire around me. Nothing else.

I walked back inside the library to see if Spike was still there. I walked up the stairs of the library, and saw that Spike's bed was empty.

"What is going on?" I asked myself.

Then there was a flash of light from downstairs.

I ran down to see a.. what the heck IS that?

It was some sort of dragon with what looked to be all sorts of different variations of limbs on it. I don't even know how to explain half of the things on this thing.

"What… what are you?" I asked it, staring up at it.

It turned to me with a smirk, and began speaking. "Currently, chaos incarnate. Not that it matters though; the real me is still in stone."

"What does that mean?" I asked it.

"It means you'll find out soon enough." It turned it's head to the lines of books on the shelf, and pulled one out.

It flipped through the pages of the book, and then began laughing. "What the heck is this crap? Some sort of cheap knock off?"

I looked at the title of the book it was reading, and nearly jumped in shock.

"Hey! Put down the book of the Elements! It's important!" I yelled at it.

It gave me a brief glance. "Eh, whatever. You want a faux book, not my fault." He then tossed it to me, and I grabbed it with my magic, setting it down on a nearby table.

I looked back up at it. "So are you going to tell me who you are?"

"You seriously don't know?" It said, letting out a laugh. "Well, maybe I'd be more noticeable like this."

The being burst into fire, making me step back.

The fire died down, to show a… horse… standing where the being once stood.

The horse stood at about the same height as me, if a bit bigger. He had bright orange eyes, a red coat, and a blazing red mane, looking as if it was on fire itself.

He looked at me smugly. "Remember who I am, yet?"

I just stared at him blankly in response.

"You really don't huh? Wow, Victory was right about you. You really don't remember anything! Wow, out of everything that could happened!" He let out a laugh, which unnerved me.

"You know Victory? Who are you?" I said, now getting into a fighting stance. If he knew Victory, he couldn't be good.

"Ah, really? You're getting all ready to fight, aintcha? Hah, well, you wouldn't win anyway. The names Warring Love. Never cared much for the last bit of my name, but it's how I was born, so I gotta take some pride in it. Just call me War, though." He said, giving another smirk.

"And why are you here then?" I asked him.

"To give you a message." He said, before running up to me, and pinning me against the wall. I tried to struggle to get out, but it was no use.

"Here's the message. Tell that stupid Element of Magic that death is coming to her. Nothing can prepare her for the type of chaos she is about to be shown." He stated. "And one last thing, and this is a personal message to you. You aren't going to remember this until I want you to. Victory sent me into your dream so that I could tell you that. Also; tell Discord I said hi. And that maybe he needs some love in his life. OH WAIT! I WAS THE ONE THAT NEARLY KILLED HER! HAHAHA!"

He punched me in the gut, and backed up a few feet. I was on the floor, coughing, trying to regain some air into my lungs.

"So.. I'm dreaming..?" I said aloud.

"Heh. Maybe, maybe not. Let's test it out, shall we?" He said, before he hit the ground with his foot, causing flames to erupt under me. I could feel myself catching fire as I began to scream from pain.

"Hey! What's the problem? After all, it's just a dream, right?"

"Just a dream…"

"Just a dream…"

"Eclipsal, wake up! It's just a dream, please wake up!"

My eyes opened quickly, to see a worried yellow pony standing above me.

"Are you okay, Eclipsal?" Fluttershy asked me, hovering over me.

"Yeah… yeah I'm fine. What happened?" I looked at her, hoping for answers.

"You were having a nightmare, I think. I was starting to get worried, especially when you started screaming like at the end of it…" she stated, giving a shudder.

"Ugh… I don't even remember any of it, though." I muttered, holding my head, which now had a dull pain in it.

"Think you'll be okay?" She asked me.

"Yeah.. I've been worse." I replied. "What time is it anyway?"

"It's the middle of the night. You seemed kind of out of it when you got home from Twilight's, and then you started screaming after we went to bed and I came down to check on you." Fluttershy stated.

"Oh... well, I should be fine now. Thanks for checking on me, Fluttershy. I appreciate it. You can go back to bed now." I told her, motioning for her to go back up to her room.

"Are you sure, Eclipsal? You don't need anything?" she asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just go to bed, Fluttershy." I said.

She started walking up the stairs, but stopped and turned around.

"Are you sure you don't need some water, or maybe a snack?" she asked.

"Fluttershy, I'm fine. Go to bed."

She started back up the stairs again, and stopped at the top of them.

"You sure you don't.."

"Fluttershy, go to bed."

I heard the clip-clopping of her hooves on the floor above me, as they stopped again.

"Fluttershy. Bed. Now."

I heard her voice come from above me. "Goodnight, Eclipsal."

I let out a sigh, nuzzling back into the couch.

"Are you sure-"

"GOODNIGHT, FLUTTERSHY."

*Canterlot Castle, Celestia's room*

This is bad. This is really bad.

The Grand Galloping Gala is tomorrow night, and that destructive horse is coming.

"I couldn't just refuse to give Twilight an extra ticket for him; that would make her suspicious. I need her on my side. I need all of the Elements on my side if I have to protect everypony again."

Celestia paced around her room, worrying over the moment that she had been dreading; coming face to face with Eclipsal.

"It's a good thing he isn't at full power yet. I fear what would befall the kingdom if he were to go rogue again."

She looked out her balcony window, towards the Everfree Forest.

"We can't have a repeat of what happened last time. It's a good thing Luna doesn't have her memories, or I would have a huge mess to explain. It's also good that Mirror hasn't been around. I haven't seen her in decades; and knowing her, she's given up on getting revenge. But, if she ever found out that HE was back.."

Celestia shuddered at what that would mean for her.

"Those other four, though… I'm concerned about them. If they come together, and get a hold of him, everything is over."

Celestia sighed, flopping on her bed as she stared at the ceiling.

"I need to stop him. Darkness would never let me take him out of existence again; but if I have to… I will."

*Ponyville, Eclipsal's POV*

I walked down the street to the Carousel Boutique, golden Galloping Gala ticket being held by my magic as I walked.

I decided I would arrive a bit earlier to get dressed for the Gala, and make sure I looked proper enough. After all, it would be something that I could actually enjoy for once. I think I've had enough time to think, anyway.

I went to knock on the door to Rarity's home, when she opened it before I even touched the door.

"Oh, hello there, Eclipsal. Came to get dressed early, correct?" Rarity asked me.

I nodded my head, and Rarity motioned me to come inside.

"Your suit is on the table over there." She stated, pointing towards a table with a dress next to it.

"I'm guessing that's your dress next to my suit?" I asked, to which she nodded.

"Okay, well time to change." I said, magically grabbing my suit.

I walked out of the dressing room, still feeling as weird as I did the first time I wore it.

"Why don't I have a tie? And why does this top button have to be unbuttoned?" I asked Rarity, as I stared at the reflection of myself in the mirror.

"Don't you see? This makes you come off as fancy, but dangerous. Stunning, yet dark. And it gives a flare of mystery to you, as well." Rarity explained.

"I guess that kind of makes sense." I said, still staring at my reflection. "Something still seems off, though."

Rarity gasped. "Oh why didn't I think of it before? We must simply fix your mane!"

"My mane?" I said, looking at it. Sure, it was messy and spiky as usual, but that's just how it was.

"Come and sit over here, Eclipsal." Rarity said, motioning me to a chair in the middle of the room.

I sat down, and she began to comb through my mane, occasionally spraying it with something.

"Um.. what are you doing, anyway?" I asked her.

"Just fixing up your mane a bit. The way it is, it looks messy and possibly dirty, and we can't have any of that, dear." She stated. "And… there! Done."

Rarity brought back the mirror and placed it in front of me, letting me look at her work.

"Looks amazing." I said with a smirk, looking at my now controlled mess, the spikes now having a sort of shine to them, and not being as wild as before.

"Very stunning, indeed." Rarity added.

"Are you going to be getting dressed as well?" I asked her.

"No, not quite yet. The girls and I like to get ready together, so I'll be waiting for them." Rarity explained.

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in, the door is unlocked!" Rarity said to whoever was outside.

In walked Twilight and Spike, Spike being the only one dressed up, wearing a black tuxedo with a white dress shirt and a red bow tie.

"Oh, Spikey Wikey, you wore the suit I made you all the way over here?" Rarity asked.

"Don't worry Rarity! I made sure it didn't get dirty or anything!" Spike said, twirling around to prove his point.

"I can see that." Rarity said with a laugh. "Anyway, why don't you two boys spend some time in the living room, while Twilight and I talk for a bit."

Spike and I walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch.

"Hey, sorry for falling asleep on you last night." Spike sheepishly said.

"It's fine; you were tired. Besides I bet you've fallen asleep on Twilight quite a few times too." I replied.

"Yeah, I have. They should call me the pony.." He looked at me. "Er.. the equine napper!"

"Hah. Sounds like some sort of criminal, though." I stated.

"Meh. So anyway, where have you been? Even Twilight is curious as to that; she's been worried about you for awhile now." He told me.

"I've just been a secluded area, thinking about everything." I said, looking out the living room window. I could see the other 5 ponies we were waiting for outside, heading in this direction.

Spike began talking. "You know… you're not a monster."

"I could be, though. Did you see that power coming off of me?" I asked, shuddering remembering the experience.

"Yeah, I did. But that's thing. You could be a monster, but you won't be." Spike stated. "On my birthday about a year ago, I went through a greed growth."

"What's a greed growth?" I asked him.

"It's when a dragon begins to grow abnormally fast from gathering what they believe to be treasures." Spike told me. "Everything that everypony got me, I treasured. They are my friends, after all. But then I got greedy. I couldn't stop. I wanted more, and more. That's the thing about greed growth; it makes you want everything… to the point that you would hurt anypony just to get what you want… it turns you into a monster." Spike muttered.

"But Spike, you aren't a monster. You're the most helpful, understanding, and smartest beings I know." I told him.

"Yeah, that's what I'm trying to tell you." Spike said. "Because I have all of these friends I cared about, I was ultimately able to reverse what happened. And because you have friends, you left so you wouldn't hurt anypony. It's not the power that makes you a monster; it's what you do with it. You are not a monster."

"I… I honestly never thought about it like that before." I told him.

"Most ponies don't. In terms of the damage done, I think Twilight has had it worse though." He said, blankly staring at a wall.

"When she was a filly, she went through a flare. That flare was what brought me into existence. But it also turned Twilight's parents into plants, something she still has nightmares about to this day." He stated. "The only pony who was able to fix what she had done was Princess Celestia herself. And I think that's something Twilight realized over the years. She has all of this power, and she had to learn to control it. That's why she was so antisocial before we came to Ponyville. She just didn't want anypony to get hurt."

"That's… that's a lot for one pony to go through." I muttered.

"Yeah. That's why no matter what, I'll always be by her side. I'm her number one assistant, and the pony who cares the most about her. I'm going to make sure she can live a happy life." Spike said with a smile.

"Just don't forget that you have a life of your own, Mister Spikey Wikey." I said with a smirk, nudging him in the side.

"Oh, ha ha." Spike fake laughed, with a smile on his own face.

We idly chatted for awhile, when the living room door opened. In the doorway were the girls, ready to go to the Gala.

Twilight was wearing a blue dress, adorned with stars. Applejack was wearing her hat, her mane braided under it, and she was wearing what looked to be a brown saddle attached to her green dress, but it still looked nice. Rarity was wearing a royal red dress, with stripes of gold reflecting across the fabric. Rainbow was wearing a rainbow dress, with gold accessories on her. Pinkie was wearing a pink dress with layers, the first being blue and white stripes at the front of it, the second layer being a white band with candy like items placed on it, and the last layer being a dark pink that extended to the ground. Lastly, Fluttershy was wearing a green dress with a blue stripe on it, and a blue butterfly clip in her mane.

"Well, aren't we a classy crew tonight." I stated, looking at everypony.

"Before we go though, I need to talk to everypony." Twilight said, walking in front of the group, and then turning to them.

"Here's the plan. After I mass teleport us all to the Gala, I'll find Princess Celestia. I'll talk to her, while Rarity and Pinkie walk around the party, making it seem as though we are all here just enjoying ourselves. Fluttershy, you'll talk to the animals; see if you can find out anything from them. Rainbow, you'll be in the air checking security around the Archives. Applejack, you'll be on the ground, looking for my brother. Distract him, because if things go bad with the princess, I'll need to sneak away from everypony. Eclipsal and Spike, you'll be doing whatever until I find you, if we need to get in the archives. Everypony understand?" Twilight asked.

We all nodded our heads in understanding.

"Then here we go!"

A bright flash of light enveloped the room.