//------------------------------// // Progress // Story: Shadow of Twilight // by GreenS21 //------------------------------// Twilight stood in the Canterlot square of the past, the afternoon sun shining down upon her. She took a moment to look around, remembering this was the same area she had landed in the last time she came to this time period, remembering everything that followed that unexpected arrival. “It’s been four years since that night. It doesn’t look like much has changed, at least not here in the square,” she thought to herself. She shook her head, getting her thoughts in order. She thought about the only ponies she knew in this time: Red Shield, Hugo, Lucian… She looked up as those last two names entered her mind, saying, “Come to think of it, they said their mother made medicine and did research. She might be this Dr. Wagner. They may have some sort of a link to me after all…” Turning, she made her way out of the square and followed the path Lucian and Red had shown her, heading for the former’s house. As she turned the corner, she caught sight of the house and gasped. The house looked like it had collapsed. Parts of the roof and some of its beams looked like they had been blown off completely, as did parts of the outside walls. She could also see smoke rising out from inside. And that was just the outside of the house; she could only imagine what the inside must look like. After looking at it for a moment more, Twilight began making steps towards the front door of the house, which she noticed was still standing. Before she could reach it, a familiar mare called to her, “No, no it’s too dangerous. Don’t get too near that house.” Twilight stopped and looked back over at the mare, noticing her daughter was with her. The mare went on, “There was an explosion just now. What with her dabbling in all that science, it’s no wonder.” She looked at her daughter and they both nodded. The mare looked back at Twilight and said, “This is what she gets for turning down an offer from the Princess. She probably used enough of her magic to send her to the moon!” Both she and her daughter laughed at that. Twilight looked back at them blankly, then glanced over her shoulder at the house and then back at the two of them and asked, “Um, is this Dr. Wagner’s house?” The mother mare shrugged, “Oh, so you knew her, did you? Well, anyway, you’d best not stick your muzzle in, or you’ll be cursed too. See if you aren’t.” She then nudged her daughter and they both walked away, heading down the alley. Twilight watched them go with a slightly angry look on her face. Her features softened after they left and she looked away from the alley they went down, murmuring, “So, this was Dr. Wagner’s house…” She looked back at the front door and walked over to it, giving it an experimental push. Thankfully, it moved a bit, so she gave a harder push and forced it all the way open. She then stepped inside, using a hoof to close the door behind her. Looking around the interior of the house, she could see more smoke rising out of the floor and noticed that bits of the ceiling blocked off the stairs leading to the second floor of the house. She stopped looking when she gave a cough, the smoke not being very friendly to her lungs. As she coughed, she heard somepony sigh, “Aah…” Twilight looked in the direction she had heard the sigh from and spotted a familiar black pony sitting near the stairs, rising to his hooves as she looked at him. “Homunculus? What are you doing here?” she asked, loud enough for him to hear. The black pony’s eyes shot open at the sound of her voice and he looked back at her. Almost as soon as he saw her, he disappeared in a flash of red, uttering, “Who are… you?” Twilight stared at the spot where he had been standing in confusion. What just happened? How did he not recognize her? Deciding not to think about it too much right now, Twilight began to check all the doors in the house. The two doors on her right wouldn’t open, and she suspected it was because they were being blocked by rubble. The door across from the front door also wouldn’t open, however it felt like it was locked rather than blocked. Stepping back from it, she eyed the keyhole and murmured to herself, “Could I use my magic to pick this lock?” She shook her head a moment later, saying, “Probably not. Maybe I can find the key. If not, I’ll probably have to blow the door off of its hinges.” She looked around the entrance of the house for a minute before her eyes came to rest on something sticking out from underneath a fallen set of shelves. Moving closer to investigate, she identified the object as a key, possibly the one she was looking for. Using her magic to lift the shelves up an inch, she used a hoof to pull it towards her before releasing the shelves. She then picked it up with her mouth and carried it over to the locked door, sliding it into the keyhole. She gave a mental cheer as she found she was able to turn it in the lock and dropped it in her saddlebag after unlocking the door. She then pushed the door open and went down the stairs to the basement. The basement hadn’t fared any better than the rest of the house. Everything in the room had been thrown around and, aside from a weak fire coming from under a piece of rubble on the kiln, it didn’t look like anypony had been in there. As she surveyed the scene before her, Twilight couldn’t help but wonder what had happened here. “How did this happen…?” she wondered to herself. She looked down at her saddlebags and realized the Z-pad was glowing. Bringing it out, she found that it was telling her she could travel back two years. “There’s nothing I can do here now. I’ve got to find an antidote, and Lucian’s mother might know about it,” she said. She pressed her horn up against the Z-pad and initiated the time travel. ________________________________________ As Twilight appeared in her destination, she realized that she was standing along the side of Lucian’s house. Her time bubble dissipated and she landed on the ground, which she realized was wet from the light drizzle falling around her. She walked up to the front of the house and knocked on the door. When no one came to answer the door, she knocked again and called, “Hello? Anypony home?” She stood there for a minute longer before raising a hoof and pressing it up against the door. She was surprised when it opened for her, yet there didn’t appear to be anypony inside. Deciding she couldn’t wait, she walked inside and closed the door behind her, heading straight for the basement door. Giving it a push, she found it wasn’t locked either and stepped through it, closing it behind her as she stood on the top step. As she walked down the stairs, she looked around the basement. It definitely looked like an alchemist’s laboratory. She could see a table with scrolls open on top of it (most likely containing research data), cabinets that held various ingredients for experiments, and various tools and containers. And standing over the kiln was an older unicorn mare wearing a kind of robe that covered up her cutie mark. She looked to be about as old as Twilight’s parents, maybe older. There wasn’t much light in the basement, but she could swear the mare’s coat was a white-gray color and her mane and tail were both black. Her horn was lit up a bright red color, a similar aura surrounding a stirrer in a pot on the kiln. As Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs, the mare wearily asked, “Is that you, Hugo?” Twilight turned to look at her and said, “No, I’m…” At the sound of the lavender unicorn’s voice, the mare released the stirrer from her magic and looked over her shoulder at Twilight. She then turned to face her, Twilight seeing she had dark purple eyes, and sternly said, “Whoever you are, I want you out. How did you get in here?!” Unsure of how to answer the white-gray mare, Twilight spoke, “Listen, I’m sorry to bother you, but are you Dr. Wagner?” The mare looked back at her for a moment before answering, “…Yes, that is correct.” Twilight noticed a capsule near the table filled with bubbling water and asked, “Wow, say, is that for your research into the Homunculus?” Dr. Wagner looked at her angrily and then looked away for a moment before looking back at her, saying, “Somepony has been telling you things you ought not to know. Was it Hugo? No, of course not; I know I haven’t told him anything…” Twilight hastily said, “N-no, it wasn’t. Call it… call it a hunch.” Dr. Wagner replied, “A hunch… well, if you say so. Excuse me, but I must ask you to leave now. And if you can, forget about what you saw in this room. Please.” She then turned back to the kiln, her horn lighting up red again as she focused on the stirrer again. Twilight asked, “Uh, are you by any chance looking for the Philosopher’s Stone?” Dr. Wagner froze in shock and then turned around to look at Twilight, asking, “What did you say?! You mean that you have it?!” Twilight answered, “Well… no. I don’t know if it’s the one, but I have seen a stone… a red stone.” Dr. Wagner gasped, “Ah! Well, should you gain possession of it, allow me a small amount, I beg of you. Please…” Twilight replied, “If I do, you’ll be the first pony to know. I… Have you been searching for it for a long time?” Dr. Wagner sighed and looked down, saying, “Yes. I wanted to use it to make a medicine powerful enough to save my mother after she fell ill, but I never found it. I failed her… Now all I have left are my children and my research.” She looked back up at Twilight and said, “If you feel any pity for this old mare, please, find the stone…” She then turned back to the kiln, going back to her stirring. Twilight figured it would be best to leave her alone and went up the stairs. As she stepped out of the basement, she noticed Lucian standing by a set of shelves, levitating something off of them, his horn and the objects surrounded by an orange aura. He turned towards the basement door as Twilight closed it, asking, “Huh? Who’s there?” Twilight took a few steps towards him, saying, “Hi… Lucian. Sorry if I startled you.” The light brown unicorn looked at the mare for a moment, saying, “Aren’t you the pony from… Your name’s Twilight, right?” At Twilight’s nod, he said, “That’s right; you were looking for another stallion, right? That was quite a while ago; did you find him?” Twilight shook her head, “No, not yet.” Lucian said, “You’re still looking? That’s kind of surprising. Hasn’t it been at least two years? I tried to help Red Shield look for him too, afterwards, but we didn’t have any luck. Sorry.” He set what he was holding up down on a nearby stool, saying, “But a lot happened to us after you came. Grandma passed away, you know…” Twilight murmured, “Oh…” She realized that must’ve been what Dr. Wagner had been talking about. She looked down at the floor for a moment, then back up at Lucian and asked, “Hey, how’s your brother doing?” Lucian asked, “Oh, Hugo?” He gestured towards the window and said, “He’s at school right now. He started this year and has gotten serious about learning. I think he might be considering following in mother’s hoofsteps. Oh, but you’re not here to listen to me talk. Sorry about that.” He gave a small chuckle as he looked down at the floor, his cheeks turning a bit red. He then looked back up at Twilight and asked, “So… What brings you here today?” Twilight replied, “Uh, I’m looking for something. Have you ever heard of something called a sea hare antidote?” Lucian raised an eye at that, asking, “What? What’s wrong? Why are you looking for something like that?” Twilight stuttered, “Uh, well…” Her eyes shifted down to look at the floor. Lucian looked at her for a moment and then over at the shelves. He spoke, “There’s some here on the shelf. You can take it.” His horn lit up orange and a bottle surrounded by the same colored aura floated off of one of the shelves, floating over towards Twilight. When it was right in front of her, she looked at it for a moment before asking, “Are you sure?” Lucian nodded, “Yeah. Mother said she found the recipe for it in an old book and wanted to try making it. She said it was just a test and didn’t expect anypony to actually need it. It should be okay if you take it. If it’s not, she doesn’t need to know.” Feeling a bit more reassured, Twilight took it with her own magic and then put it inside her saddlebags before looking back over at Lucian and saying, “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” Lucian nodded, “You’re welcome.” The two of them looked at each other for a minute longer, although Twilight was looking because she had something on her mind. “Is he… my ancestor?” she wondered. Lucian began to get nervous at her gaze and asked, “W-what? What is it?” He looked down, the red returning to his face much stronger now. Twilight snapped out of her thoughts at that and blushed, realizing she had been staring at him. She stuttered, “Oh, uh, sorry… I was just… I mean, I didn’t mean… I guess I’ll get out of your hair now.” Lucian looked back up at her, asking, “Huh? You’re leaving already?” Twilight murmured, “Uh, yeah, I guess.” She then started to slowly walk towards the door. Lucian stammered, “Well, you don’t have to. You can stay a while if you want. You can tell me about the future and stuff. Come on…” Twilight stopped dead in her tacks when Lucian mentioned talking about the future. She looked back at him over her shoulder and asked, “So everypony thinks I’m from the future? Is that what you’re saying?” Lucian replied, “Well… Hugo’s the only one who says so, and nopony else believes him. Except me and Red, that is. It’s probably better that way, don’t you think? Anyway, what’s Canterlot like in your time?” Twilight looked down for a moment, thinking, then looked back up at Lucian and said, “Okay, we can talk.” Lucian nodded, “Good. Oh, I have some deliveries to make. Do you mind talking while walking?” Twilight shook her head, so Lucian levitated up the things he had set down earlier and set them down on his back. Twilight opened the door for him and followed him out, the light drizzle still coming down. A little later… Twilight and Lucian continued on their walk through Canterlot, Twilight entertaining the stallion with stories about her Canterlot, stopping whenever he had to make a delivery. They talked, joked, and even laughed at the stories as they went on. The light rain was still falling and they were both rather wet, but neither of them minded too much. “There’s somepony, a friend of my parents, called Eckart Brum. In my time, he’s the director of an art museum…” Twilight was saying. Lucian tilted his head, “Yeah, and?” Twilight continued, “Well recently, I met his great-grandfather, about 100 years in the past. And you won’t believe how alike they look! The face and the hair! They’re both pretty young, but the hair…” Lucian snickered, “Starting to go thin, eh? Sounds kind of like the squire’s!” Twilight nodded, “And I mean in the same way. You know, on the top.” She held a hoof up over her own hair to emphasize her point. Lucian laughed and said, “Must run in the family.” Twilight replied, “Yeah, maybe. Come to think of it, they both… oh…” She stopped herself in mid-sentence, remembering what Eckart had told her. Lucian looked over at her, asking, “What’s the matter?” Twilight explained, “Well, Mr. Brum had a son, but… he said that… he’s gone…” Lucian asked, “You mean something happened to him?” Twilight replied, “Yeah, a crime of some sort. But like ten years ago. It’s interesting; it seems like he’s still waiting for him to come back…” Lucian said, “I see… I guess that happens. That’s like Hugo not being able to forget Grandma. Family ties are strong, aren’t they?” Twilight nodded silently in response. She then looked up and noticed that the sky seemed to be getting darker. Giving Lucian a sheepish smile, she said, “It’s getting late. Sorry for holding you up.” Lucian shook his head, “No, don’t worry about it. I enjoyed the company and the conversation.” He then looked down the road at a house and said, “Ah, that’s the last stop.” He turned back to Twilight and asked, “Can you wait here a second while I take care of this?” Twilight nodded and he turned, trotting off towards the house, a slight spring in his step. Twilight watched him walk for a moment before turning her eyes away, her cheeks slightly red. As she turned her head, she noticed another pony walking further down the street to her left. She wouldn’t have thought that unusual, but she noticed that the pony was a stallion and he had a red coat and a yellow mane and tail. She gasped, “Dante?!” She galloped after him, the red stallion beginning to round a corner. She reached it soon after he disappeared from her sight, but when she looked down and around the street, he was gone. Shaking her head, Twilight turned around and ran back to Lucian, who was looking around anxiously for her. When she came to a stop in front of him, he asked, “What happened?” Twilight gasped, “It’s just… I thought it was him.” Lucian slowly asked, “That stallion you’ve been looking for?” Twilight turned to look back down the street, saying, “Yeah, but I lost sight of him. I’m not even sure it was him.” Lucian said, “Well, I need to go home now. Is that all right?” Twilight looked back at him and said, “Of course. Sorry about that.” Lucian replied, “It’s okay. But…” He then started to walk, Twilight walking alongside him as he continued, “You really are from a different Equestria altogether, aren’t you?” Twilight mumbled, “Uh, well, I…” Lucian looked back at her and said, “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anypony about the things you’ve told me. Not that anypony would believe me, even if they weren’t shunning me.” Twilight replied, “Oh, uh, thank you. I think it would be better if you didn’t.” She stopped and said, “I don’t think I should be leaving anything behind in this age. Not just actual things, but talking about stuff too, like I just did.” Lucian had stopped when she did and was looking back at her. Confused, he asked, “Huh? What do you mean?” Twilight sighed, “I don’t know. Like…” She and Lucian started to walk again as she went on, “What if I interfere with somepony in this age’s life? What if something I did ended up changing their fate? That could change a lot of things in my time. That’s probably a bit general, but does that make any sense?” Lucian nodded slowly, “Yes. I think so.” As they approached his house, Twilight said, “So the more I interfere with the past, the more the future will change. It could be minor, it could be serious, but anything I do here could affect the future.” Lucian used his magic to push open the front door and stepped inside, Twilight following him in. Both of their manes dripped a bit, getting the floor wet. The light brown stallion spoke, “I don’t think I understand completely, but I’ll sleep on it. Your time sounds very interesting to me. I wish I could see it…” Twilight pushed the door closed with her hoof and then walked closer to Lucian and said, “Well, I guess it is kind of exciting. If you like putting out fires every now and then, I mean. Other than that, it’s not too different.” Lucian turned to her, saying, “But I still want to see what it’s like. I don’t know why, but I feel such a strong pull towards it.” He stepped towards her and said, “Please, won’t you take me to your time!” Twilight stepped back and hesitantly said, “N-no, I… can’t do that. That would… The future will change if I did that. After all, you’re my…” Lucian tilted his head and asked, “Huh? Your what…?”