//------------------------------// // Arrival // Story: Sweetie Belle and the School of Shadows // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// The sun was shining as morning stretched across Equestria. Rolling to a stop in Canterlot was a train that contained many passengers. Fillies, colts, and mares of all ages filed out of the compartments, though two young fillies caught the eye of all the ponies present. The filly that walked off the train first was none other than a young Changeling Princess, who seemed a little scared with everypony staring at her. But when the second filly emerged from the train all the attention shifted to her. Sweetie Belle walked off the train and scolded herself for not applying her new magic to hide her strange colors. Now it was far too late for her to hide her black hair and slightly grey colored coat. Not to mention that her eyes were slightly red and she still wore the silver shackles that kept her dark power within herself. The only difference from the other day was the fact that she had found Thrack’s cape and put it on. As the train from Ponyville rolled away another train stopped in the station, this time coming from a strange dark blue colored gateway. The train itself was larger than most trains and seemed to be the color of the Spectrum, shifting colors every few minutes. All the doors opened at once, but who was standing on the other side nearly made several ponies faint. Nightmare Moon herself stood next to Princess Luna as they debarked from the train. “Fear not my little ponies,” came a voice as Princess Celestia appeared by magic, “Princess Nightmare is an ally of ours. She’s just making sure that her subjects arrive at the School of Shadows without any incident. There is no reason for any of you to fear getting on the train.” Ponies began to board the train, passing by the two Lunar Princesses or passing through empty doors. Sweetie Belle and her friends approached the two Princesses and passed by; though Sweetie was sure she got a look from Nightmare Moon. Mea, on the other hoof, walked through an empty set of doors and quickly found herself an empty cabin. A moment later a silver mist appeared and her guard materialized out of nothing, kneeling to her before she could stop him. “Stop it Silver,” Mea said, allowing the Changeling to get up, “You know how much I hate ponies bowing and kneeling to me. Especially ponies that are of my own kind.” “I am only here to protect you,” the Changeling said, sitting on the opposite bench, “as per the commands of Queen Chrysalis. You know that I cannot disobey the commands of the Queen.” Mea sighed and shook her head as she pulled out the book that held the information on Thrack. “I know,” she said, “though I am still surprised that she didn’t send Sucker Punch or Surprise as back up. She knows that those two could use some time away from the Hive.” “Yes, about them,” Silver said, two more Changelings appearing beside him, “the Queen saw fit to assign you two more guards, who just happen to be Sucker Punch and Surprise.” “Princess,” the two said, quickly kneeling before getting back up. “I hope Princess Celestia knows you two are here,” Mea said, “Otherwise my mother will likely be receiving an angry letter from her soon.” The door to her cabin slowly opened and three fillies fell into the room, surprising the four Changelings. Mea regained her composure and immediately recognized Sweetie Belle, due to the shackles and the color of her coat. That meant that the other two were her friends Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. Mea figured that they had been trying to get into an unoccupied cabin for a while and they finally found hers. “Awww,” Apple Bloom said, looking up to see four Changelings staring at her, “another occupied cabin.” “Seriously?” Scootaloo asked, getting out from under Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, “How are they almost all occupied already?” “I told you the majority were occupied,” Sweetie Belle said, getting up and staring around the cabin, “I also said that I didn’t know how they were occupied. Must be more of Thrack’s magic I guess.” “Do you guys need a cabin?” Mea asked, watching the Crusaders with interest, “Because we have enough room in here for three more to join us.” “Might as well,” Apple Bloom said, “seeing how Sweetie Belle can tell which room does and doesn’t have room for us and forgot to tell us.” “I told you a thousand times and you failed to listen,” Sweetie said, giving a quick bow to the Changeling filly, “and if I am not mistaken you are none other than the Changeling Princess Mea?” “That I am,” Mea replied, surprised that the filly knew who she was but figured Thrack’s magic was at work, “and you must be Sweetie Belle, the ex-Shadow of the monster Thrack.” Sweetie Belle looked away from Mea, clearly hating that she was all that remained of the monster that nearly killed the Royal Sisters. “I AM Sweetie Belle,” she said, staring at the carpet, “I am not the monster that everypony remembers. I don’t want this power around anymore than everypony else does.” Sweetie found herself held against the wall of the train by the light green colored magic of Mea. Her eyes had changed to a red color and she seemed to be staring into Sweetie’s very soul. “Seriously now,” Mea said, “most ponies want to see the power of Thrack either eradicated or brought under control. I am not like most ponies. I would rather make friends with Sweetie Belle, not the monster Thrack, and help her regain control.” Sweetie’s head snapped to her left before returning to normal, though her eyes were the same draconic eyes that Thrack had. “You will perish like everypony else my dear Mea,” Sweetie Belle said, though it came out eviler than her normal voice, “Everypony will burn when this is over.” “Be gone Thrack,” Mea said, her magic quickly working on the shackles, “and may you never return.” Sweetie’s body shook against Mea’s magic, but the Changeling held her ground as the filly reverted to her normal personality. Her eyes reverted to their normal shape and she hit the wood with a thud. Mea sighed and ended her magic, leaning against the window of the cabin. She noticed that the train had started moving and that meant they were well on their way to the School of Shadows. “Um…I might not understand magic,” Scootaloo said, “but what did you do to Sweetie Belle?” “I sealed Thrack deep within Sweetie Belle,” Mea explained, the two pulling the fallen filly onto a bench before doing so themselves, “Right now the mind of Thrack, or what remains of her after her second defeat, is racing through the prison of the shackles. Her vast power is open to Sweetie Belle, ready to be used if she were to ever call on them. Thrack herself cannot escape the prison without harming herself against the magic of the Princesses and my extra layer.” “So she can’t escape then?” Apple Bloom asked. “She still can,” Mea said, “but the chance of that happening is very small, so don’t worry about her taking over any time soon.” Over the next hour the ponies on the train conversed with each other, traveling between the cabins and compartments to do so. Sweetie Belle, having woken up not twenty minutes after hitting the ground, stayed with her friends and tried to stay away from the Shadows of her friends. She suspected that the two would not be happy to see Sweetie Belle, considering that Sweetie was supposed to be the Shadow of Thrack and had been living in the Shadow Realm for her whole life. The two Lunar Princesses and Celestia patrolled the upper section of the train while Reginald oversaw Atar’s patrol of the lower section. They knew about Thrack’s small outburst and the fact that Mea, the Changeling Princess, had suppressed the spirit. Celestia was glad that she had been forced to allow the filly to come to the school and Luna was happy to be proven right at last. The three Princesses needed to be ready in case anything tried to stop them from reaching the school. When the train rolled to a stop and opened the doors of their compartments Mea was surprised to see what the school looked like. Resting before the collective ponies stood a five story building that had five different towers and walls protecting the inside. The inner building of the school was a full six stories tall and seemed like it contained a meeting hall. And the very bricks of the school seemed to radiate dark, shadowy energy that protected the foundation. “Welcome to the School of Shadows,” Luna and Nightmare Moon proclaimed, “where you all will learn to live in harmony with your counterparts.”