//------------------------------// // A Cruel Reminder // Story: Hour of Twilight // by -Brutus //------------------------------// //----------------------------- // Story: Hour of Twilight // Chapter: Chapter 1: A Cruel Reminder // Author: Darth Femto //----------------------------- Hour Of Twilight Written by Drystan "Sorrow makes us all children again - destroys all differences of intellect. The wisest know nothing." ######################################################################### Chapter One A Cruel Reminder ######################################################################### It was dusk. The glowing orb of the Sun slowly descended upon its resting spot, behind the mountains of Canterlot, the light growing dimmer, until it gave away, revealing the canvas upon which Princess Luna would paint with brilliant stars and constellations. The shape of the Moon gradually rose into the skies, accompanied by streams of stars and comets that trailed gracefully upon the black canvas. The light glow of the Moon reflected upon the gargantuan towers of Canterlot Palace, and the midnight-blue figure standing at the top of the northernmost tower of the city. A coat of darkest blue covered the body of the Alicorn of the Night, with a flowing mane of tiny stars, resembling her artwork on the skies of Equestria. An elegant and long soft glowing horn protruded from her forehead, pointed towards the heavens. Her eyes were closed in concentration, as she guided her celestial orb onto the skies, before releasing it into its own course across Equestria, drifting slowly amongst the stars. Normally, such activity was pleasant for the Princess of the Moon, but, for the past twenty years, she could not bring herself to enjoy this task anymore. For the past twenty years, her celestial orb was prison to a once great friend and ally of the kingdom. Some ponies have forgotten her, some have not. Sighing sadly, she rose her head and gazed upon the Moon, mumbling something under her breath before averting her gaze and trotting back inside the tower, to prepare for the Night Court. The shape of a crying unicorn was carved into the surface of the Moon, a reminder to Equestria that even the greatest of ponies can be broken. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Princess of the Sun was trotting slowly through the hollow corridors of the Canterlot Palace, accompanied by her faithful guards. The past years have been merciless for her Majesty, as her usually glowing mane has lost its shining, her colors fading out, and the signs of aging were more obvious. Despite all this, she maintained composure and took care of the kingdom, alongside her younger sister, Princess Luna. Passing beside large windows which bore depictions of the Elements of Harmony as they defeated numerous foes, such as Nightmare Moon and Discord, the latter having being dealt with a second time, for the effects of the incident weakened his prison a second time, releasing him upon Equestria once more. This time, the two Alicorns united their forces with the remaining Elements and forever silenced the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Yet, there was one picture she disliked, but allowed its existance in the palace. She stopped for a second, glancing uneasily at it and shuddering, memories of the incident still too fresh. Through sheer will power, she stopped tears from flowing once more and continued her trek to the dining halls. A small gust of wind flung open several windows, revealing the night sky and the Moon slowly crossing it. Princess Celestia could not hold her tears anymore. She closed her eyes shut and her horn glowed softly as she closed the windows. 'I can't bear looking at it anymore,' she muttered under her ragged breath as she exhaled shakily. Taking a few moments to regain her composure, she motioned to the guards to leave her alone for now. They bowed respectfully and left the Sun Princess to gather her thoughts. "Twenty years, my dear Twilight... Twenty years away from you. I wish I could have done something to prevent this," she whispered to the wind. Drawing a small breath, she looked upon the sky once again. "A strong character, with such a soft heart... Why didn't you tell me you felt so lonely, Twilight... I could have been there for you." "Sister?" Celestia wiped her tears and turned around to face her sister, a sad look present upon her face aswell. Without any more words, she approached her sibling and hugged her, tears still streaming from her eyes. The Princess of the Night returned the embrace and hushed her sister's soft crying, soothing her. "There, there, 'Tia... Everything will be fine. She will return to us one day." Finally calming down, Celestia lifted her head and looked her sister in the eyes. "I know, dear sister. I have faith that she is strong enough to come back to us. But," she started tearing up again. "I don't know how long can I wait. A thousand years waiting for you were very exhausting, both physically and emotionally." "I know, 'Tia," Luna gave her a weak smile. "I will be here for you. We will wait together and prepare the populace of Equestria to welcome her, in a few hundred years to come." Celestia's eyes narrowed with determination. "No." "W-what? What are you saying, sister?" Luna was very confused. "Next month, on the eve of the Spring Moon Festival, I shall gather the Elements of Harmony once more, and reveal everything to the populace. She does not deserve to be called a traitor, a villain, a murderer. She was the bravest pony I have ever known, and I honor her as much as I honored our Father, Alpha-Genesis!" Luna smiled at her sister's determination, and rushed for a hug, nuzzling her cheek. "'Tia, did I ever tell you how proud and how much I love you?" "Always, Lulu... always," said Celestia, returning the hug. "Say, my little sister, would you like to accompany me to the dining hall? I'd like to have diner with my little Lulu," she whispered in Luna's ears, giggling playfully, a hint of true happiness creeping into her soul. "I'd love to." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several miles away from Canterlot lay Ponyville, home to the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and scene to the most gruesome battle ever, which almost completely removed the village from the Equestrian maps. It had been rebuilt ever since and is now thriving with life, the populace of the settlement attending probably the largest party ever held in Ponyville, dedicated to their former resident, now officially in the league of the Wonderbolts. "Careful with that sarsaparilla Pinkie! Too much and you might end up taking mud for chocolate," snorted Rainbow Dash, proud member of the Wonderbolts, now at the peak of her career. Four years after the incident, she aced the entrance exams and rocketed through the ranks of the Wonderbolts, and was now second-in-command after Spitfire. "Now, now darling, we cannot have limits when it comes to celebrating one of our best friend, can we?" Rarity beamed at the cyan pegasus. "Oh oh, it's time to 'Pin the Tail' game! I'm first!" Pinkie Pie interrupted their conversation and bolted to the games square, enjoying herself as she usually did, Pinkie style! While shooting through the square, she almost knocked over an orange mare with a blonde mane, a proud Stetson hat adorning her head. "Well, shoot Pinkie, ya almost knocked me over!" Applejack snorted as she helped the dazed pink pony to her hooves. "Oh hiya Applejack! I'm soooo glad you could come! Have you brought Appleblitz and Applestar with you, huh huh?!" "Whoa nelly, ya don't have to be so insistent. They are here, alright," she said with a proud smile on her face as she turned her back to gaze upon two fillies resting in specially designed saddlebags. One was a fierce sky blue with a bright blonde mane, while the other had a slightly more white-ish coat with a lavender mare. Appleblitz was a unicorn, while her sister was an earth pony. Applejack couldn't have been more proud of them. "They are sooo cute, I could just goggle them up, nomnomnom," Pinkie said, as she mimicked her eating something delicious. Applejack could only laugh heartily at her pink friend's attics. "Hey guys!" Both mares turned and greeted their spiked friend, now a little taller and more muscular. Tiny wings protruded from his back, covered in purple scales. He certainly grew a bit in twenty years. "Hey Spike, welcome to Rainbow's 'WELCOME BACK RAINBOW DASH' party! How have you been huh?! Come, let's have a round of sarsaparilla! Or some cupcakes!" "Sure do Pinkie! Let's go--" the little purple dragon was interrupted rudely by a belch, followed by a green flame, a scroll bearing the royal seal falling on the ground. A blue magical aura enveloped the scroll and lifted it gently. "Hello Spikey wikey! How have you been? I haven't seen you in weeks, where have you been?" Before the small dragon could reply, he was gently nudged by a cyan pegasus. "Hey Spike! Long time no see, old pal!" "Hey Rainbow, it's so nice to see you again! Oh, hi Fluttershy," he waved at the pale yellow pegasus landing beside Applejack. "Oh, hello Spike. It's so nice to have you back, how was your training in Draconis?" Everypony gasped and glanced furiously between Fluttershy and the purple dragon, who gave a sheepish grin. "Well, it was nice, the dragons are really cool once you get to know them. Hey Rarity, can you read that for us?" he asked the white unicorn. Rarity nodded and unfurled the scroll. My dearest and most precious subjects, I am sorry for not contacting you for such a long time, but my heart still aches from the incident all those years ago. I only hope you can forgive me in time. I would like to invite you all to the Palace this week end, to join me and my sister, Princess Luna, at diner, to reminiscent old times. I'd love to have you all present, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Spike. You are all very dear to us, and we would like to meet again. As for why I would like to talk to you about, it is about your old friend, Twi-- "Stop it. Don't read any further," Rainbow snapped at Rarity, silencing her. "I don't want to hear anymore about that traitor!" "Rainbow Dash, as much as I agree with you, it is the Princesses's will that we discuss about her," Rarity grimaced, disgusted by her old friend. "Just keep readin', sugar cube." "Very well..." she cleared her throat and continued. As for why I would like to talk to you about, it is about your old friend, Twilight Sparkle. This year marks the twentieth year since her banishment to the moon, and I would like to reveal you the truth behind everything that transpired at Mount Summersun, so long ago. I wish you all to lay aside all the hatred you bear for her, for I will assure you, the truth once revealed, you will surely change your opinions of her actions. Yours faithfully Princess Celestia The cyan pegasus stared intently at the ground, as if it bore gold. The others merely stared at one another. Silence ensued for a few minutes before the baby dragon broke it. "Guys, I say we all attend to the Princess' event. Maybe we could finally learn what happened!" Rainbow suddenly raised her head and head butted the small dragon, glaring daggers at him as tears welled up in her eyes. "I don't give a buck what the Princess has to say about her. That... that monster killed my number one fan," she sobbed openly now, pawing furiously at the ground. "She was harmless to her! Why did she have to kill a defenseless filly! WHY!?" Looking upwards, towards the Moon and the unicorn shape on it. Rage welled in her. Taking a deep breath, she screamed into the night. "Curse you, Twilight Sparkle! Curse you, and your family!!" Several ponies backed away from her, as she cooled down and composed herself. 'Murderer.' The rest of the group had tears in their own eyes, and the silence was broken by the soft cries of Applejack's daughters. The orange earth pony hushed their cries, before turning to the group. "Ah'm sorry girls, but I need to lay them to bed. They are tired. Ah'll see ya all tomorrow at Sugarcube Corner." "Alright, 'night AJ," muttered Rainbow, watching her friend leaving the town square, heading towards Sweet Apple Acres. Despite looking unaffected by the event, Spike cried on the inside. Even now, he loved Twilight for who she was, not what she had become. Feeling his mask of composure was about to crumble, he got up to his feet and headed for Fluttershy's cottage, his adoptive mother ever since the incident. He was quickly stopped by a yellow hoof resting on his shoulder. Turning around, he met his mother's eyes, smiling weakly at him. "Don't worry, Spike. I am on your side. Let's have some fun... that is, if you don't mind," she said, in a very soft and soothing voice, returning the young dragon's confidence. "Sure thing, Fluttershy. What about you, Rarity?" "I will join you shortly, I'm going to check on Sweetie Belle first. Be right baaack!" she sang. "Let's go Spike, Pinkie Pie prepared some tough games for tonight! Right Pinkie? Pinkie?" Rainbow looked upon the sad frown on Pinkie's face, as she gazed upon the Moon. She was soon followed by all of Ponyville, gazing with mixed feeling towards the soft glowing Moon; the prison of their former friend, now just a shadow of the past.