//------------------------------// // Prologue: Shadows Raising // Story: Shadows of the past // by WritersShadow //------------------------------// Shadows of the past Prologue: Shadows Raising --- "Everything is just fine.“ Ever since she said it, Twilight heard this bouncing in her head. "Everything is going to be just fine“, she heard, over and again. She really meant it when she said it but now... it just sounded wrong. It felt wrong. It was the same feeling she had when Crysalis ponynapped Cadence. "Don't you agree, Twilight?“ a familiar voice asked her. "Hmmm? What...“ she was about to forget she was a princess now and had to behave like one. "...did you just say? I'm terribly sorry i didn't get it but i think i was just lost in my thoughts.“ she caught herself. She was in a big hall somewhere in Canterlot Castle. It was the celebration after her coronation and, of course, she was the guest of honor. She was surrounded by ponies, eating drinking and having fun... Well, at least what the Canterlot elite called so. In her opinion, this whole banquet was boring beyond measure. Of course, everypony watched every step she made, every word she said was heard by hundreds of ponies. And surely thousands of ponies would get to know how she behaved her very first day as a princess. She was very nervous. "Never mind.“ the familiar voice said. It was Rainbow Dashes. "I bet i would be lost in my thoughts too if something similar happened to me. I mean, it's soo awesome you became a princess! Almost as awesome as the wonderbolts...“ She couldn't resist to giggle a bit. It was characteristic to Rainbow Dash that she took the wonderbolts to measure almost everything that happened. Of course, there would never be a thing, able to reach them, but still sometimes it got annoying. Not that she didn't like the wonderbolts herself, but Rainbow Dash spoke of them like they were the peak of being itself. “But why”, Twilight was asking herself “is this all happening so quickly?” No week ago, she still was a normal unicorn, only caring about studying and her friends of course. She just became an alicorn 4 day ago. She wasn't even able to try her new magic. She wasn't even able to control it yet. It was a shame, but yet she felt like that day back in the past when she was trying to get into Celestias school for gifted unicorns and was about to blow the test. She lost control back then. It was almost the same feeling she had right now. Almost. "Twilight!“ Rainbow Dash said in a more piercing tone. "Even if you are a princess now, I swear I'm going to throw you off a cloud someday if you go on just ignoring me over and again!“ "I'm so sorry. I just can't keep my thoughts were they should be. But i promise, I'm going to listen now. So what were you trying to tell me?“ Twilight said in a soothing tone. "Well my dear, we were just discussing whether this wonderful banquet is too 'fancy'“ another familiar voice said, but this time, it was Raritys. "Applejack just told the chef, they should stop making those 'fancy little odeuvres' and instead should make some...“ Rarity was struggling with the words. "... 'good ol' apple fritters.'“ She frowned about what she just said. Twilight couldn't resist. A big smile showed up on her face. She already was aware something like this would happen, but Raritys reaction made it not only funny, but hilarious. She kinda shared Applejacks opinion. "Well that's Applejack. You know, she doesn't really like food that's decor at the same time. In her mind, it is wasted time.“ Twilight answered. "If i think about it, she might be right. Why do they put so much effort in something that's going to end in someponys mouth anyways?“ "TWILIGHT! I just cannot believe what you just said! Your a princess now! You, above everyone else i know, should understand why they put so much effort in what they do!“ Rarity screamed. It looked like Twilights last statement really hit her innermost. "So... If you think I should understand, could you please enlighten me?“ Twilight said in a little sarcastic tune. Usually, she would've cared more about what Rarity was thinking. But right now, she was bored because of this banquet, worried because of the feeling something was wrong, overwhelmed by all the emotions that came with her coronation and tired because she was too nervous to sleep since the evening she became an alicorn. Three full nights of sleep missing... Rarity opened her mouth to answer, but froze at the very same moment. "What's up Rarity?“ Rainbow Dash asked. "No need to be startled, Rarity.“ a voice from behind Twilight said. She knew this voice. Twilight turned around. "Princess!“ Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle said as if they were just one pony. "I'm sorry I have to be so rude to interrupt you, but I really think you should come with me Twilight.“ Princess Celestia said in a very serious tone. Twilight was worried. "Why? Did something bad happened? Oh i knew...“ "Knew what?“ Celestia interrupted her. "I was just going to ask you whether you could please tell Pinkie Pie that the cake is there for everypony, not just for her. I already tried to argue with her, but i think she might be suffering from a sugar overdose. She doesn't listen to anypony right now. Maybe you can get this right.“ Celestia said. She mumbled something about getting cake herself finally right after. Since the Gabby Gums column about her everypony knew she liked cake... a lot. She even became infamous for it. There were more than two dozen jokes about Celestia eating cake, stealing cake, devouring cake... Well, almost everything that could be done with cake. Of course it wasn't nearly as bad as the jokes stated. But having the most delicious cake of all Equestria in front of oneself just to look when Pinkie Pie's devouring it... Well that would even be a torture for somepony less into cake. Twilight sighed. "I will try to do my best. We don't want to deny this wonderful and tasty cake to a certain pony, do we?“ Twilight said with a strong ironic tone in her voice. Celestia started to grin. “Hey, just because you are a princess now doesn't mean you don't have to respect me anymore!” she stated with a fake-insulted tone. Everypony, except Rarity, was laughing. Of course they all knew it was all in good fun. And Twilight was happy that this... banquet started to lighten up. So was Celestia. She even feared it might become as awful as the Grand Galloping Gala. --- Pinkie Pie was even worse than usual. Not that it was actually a bad thing, but here her behavior just was unfitting. "Pinkie Pie?“ Twilight asked with a little worry in her voice. Pinkie Pie looked very messy, even if compared to her normal state. "Pinkie?“ she repeated, still with a soft voice and still with a little worry in it. "Pinkie! Would you please answer?“ Twilight said, now with much more definiteness in her voice. Pinkie Pie turned towards Twilight... well at least her body did. Her head stayed just like it was, munching on the icing of one of the smaller cakes presented on the table. Then Pinkie Pie suddenly realized that Twilight was it who spoke to her. She instantly turned her head, almost spitting cake frosting all over Twilights and Celestias new outfits. "Oh hey Twilight! Isn't this great? You just became a princess! And look, there's Celestia, another princess! And look, look! Over there! It's Cadence! Hi Cadence!” Twilight turned her head. Indeed, Cadence was standing there. But seemingly, she didn't know what to answer right now. Her face told Twilight that Pinkie Pie just hit her off-guard. However, Pinkie Pie hadn't stopped talking yet. “Have i told you about the cake? It's the best I ever tasted. Well except for 'MMM', but what could beat that? But still, I ate soooooooooooooooooo much of it already and now i feel a little strange but I just can't stop eating it! It's tooooooooo delicious!“ All those words left Pinkie Pie in a surprisingly short amount of time, even considering it was Pinkie Pie in front of them. "Well Pinkie, this cake was made for everypony and so every...“ She froze in the middle of her sentence. There was it again, this feeling, something bad was about to happen. The feeling something was wrong. But she couldn't imagine what it was. Twilight was worried. Seriously worried this time. She turned to ask Celestia whether it was normal for a new alicorn to have those... strange feelings. No, feelings was the wrong word. It felt like some kind of presentiment. She wanted to ask her what it could be. "Princess? I'd like to...“ She stopped mid-sentence as she saw Celestia. She just stood there. She didn't move a muscle. In fact, she looked like she just saw a ghost. She was like petrified. --- "Pinkie!“ she heard Twilight saying. Indeed, it was kind of funny to watch this. Pinkie Pie, who was just sugar-shocked and Twilight, who was absolutely serious about what she was saying. But only Twilight could make Pinkie stop devour the cakes today. Today, neither she nor her sister were important. Today was Twilights day. As Pinkie Pie finally turned around, she spitted frosting all over the place. “Oh, please just make it! Ruin my dress so I can take it off!” she thought. Her outfit looked just terrible. The colors did neither match her mane nor her coat. But it was tradition to wear this color. Caught in her thoughts, she nearly didn't notice when everypony around her froze, like someone was making the time go slower. Then, suddenly, everyone stood there like petrified. "What is going on? What is happening here?“ Celestia asked herself. Tough she didn't expect anypony to answer her question right now, she still got the answer. "Going on? Oh, nothing. I just thought a major part of your past should pay you a visit, now that your little student has ascended.“ a voice, echoing through the hall, answered. "No... how can this be possible?“ Celestia asked. She knew the voice. It was a voice that used to be friendly. It was a voice that used to belong to a dear friend. It used to... "How this is possible? Well, it's a simple combination of one of Starswirls time-spells and the spell Luna uses to visit ponies in their dreams. What did you think? That I would just march in here like Nightmare Moon did?” “That's not what I meant and you know it! I know this spell. It catches the pony it is cast on in a loop so he or she is isolated from everypony else. I used it to get sleep when I was controlling both, sun and moon! But that's not the point! I want to know how you are even able to talk to me right now! There are spells that allow you to go back in time, but none that let you go forward!” “Of course there aren't any spells that let you go to the future. You told me about a thousand years ago. Remember these good old days? When life was simple and Equestria was nothing but a mud hole? When it was just taken away from Discord? When you choosed to abandon me for your very own desire?“ The voice became cold as the breath of a windigo at the last sentence. "You died back then! How is this possible? How can you be here? Tell me right away!“ Celestia said, trying with everything she got to hide her fear. "I died? No I didn't. I wish I would've died! It would've been simple. A few seconds of pain and then seeing everything fade to black. But no, I didn't die. My very own soul was torn out of my body, being imprisoned! What died back there was your student. The student that thought, she meant something to you! The student that gave up everything to help you and Luna banish Discord! The student that saw you through a child’s eyes and saw a mother she never had!“ The building was trembling from the anger of the sentences the voice spoke. Then, it was quiet again. "The student you sacrificed in order to hide your very own sins.“ This last sentence was different. It trembled like those before. but it wasn't anger this time. It was pain. And it hit Celestia right into her heart. Tears started pouring out of her eyes. She no longer felt fear. Instead, she felt unspeakable pain. A pain, worse than any injury could afflict her. A pain, worse than anything she ever felt. It was the pain of guilt. Celestia tried to say something. Anything. But she was unable to even open her mouth. It was like her whole body was being burned to ashes. It was impossible for her to move. It was impossible for her to think. The only thing she was able to do right now, was shedding tears. Finally, she caught herself. Seeking the courage she usually had, she tried to speak. "What happened back then...“ It was hard to Celestia to even say one word. Speaking a whole sentence felt like trying to make water freeze and evaporate at the same time. "I... I... I want to tell you...“ Celestia took all the courage she had found yet and just said what she thought. "I'm sorry...“ "Oh I'm sure you are! You always are! You were sorry when you saw what others had to sacrifice in order to beat Discord, you were sorry when you saw what was sacrificed in order to stop King Sombra and I'm sure you were sorry when you had to banish Luna to the moon. You are always sorry for anything. But you never were truly sorry. But i guarantee, you soon will be!“ the voice declared. The pain in the tone was gone. Everything that remained was this terrible suppressed hatred in it. "What do you try to tell me?“ Celestia asked. Yet, the pain didn't go but there was something else returning to her. It was anger. She stopped weeping, turning her head, trying to find the source of the voice. Of course she knew she wouldn't find it. But something forced her to search for it. "Don't you dare even touch those I care for! I promise, it's not me who will be sorry if you try!“ "I'm not as cruel as you are, Celestia.“ the voice answered. Celestias eyes widened. "And I'm not your judge. But they are! You know that their judgment will be true. And you know they love you. But do they know? Do they know what you did? Nopony remembers, right? You even changed Lunas memory in order to protect yourself.“ "No...“ Celestia whispered. "You were always craving for love. But this love is a lie. They don't love you. They love what they think you are. They love the image you created of yourself. They love what I used to see in you. They love the disguise they look at every day. The disguise even you are unable to see through. You even fooled yourself. You really believe it is you you see when you look in the mirror, don't you?“ "No...“ Celestia whispered once again. She said it more to herself than to the voice. It was like she was trying to convince herself this wasn't true. But she knew it was. She knew what she did. She knew... "But this disguise will soon fall. I'll make it. And then you'll see, who stays at your side when they know what you did to thousands of ponies in the past. You'll see when they know what you did to me. You'll see when they see what you just did to your dear student. You'll see when they know what you did to yourself...“ "NOOOOOOOO!“ Celestia screamed. But the spell already began to break. The ponies around her started moving again. She felt unable to move a muscle. Unable to weep any more. Unable to feel anything right now. She only saw Twilight turning around. Her mouth opened. "Princess? I'd like to...“