Death in the Family
Shadow stretched out on the sofa, casting her eyes around the familiar room. Her father had kept everything the same ever since she moved out of his house, insisting that she was old enough to live on her own now. She still felt nostalgic as she looked around the room, her eyes lingering on the many pictures of Eclipse and her. She smiled as her eyes settled on a certain painting. It was the first painting her father had gotten of them together. She was still just a little filly in the painting, and Eclipse wore his armor he had on when he rescued her.
The front door opened, and Shadow perked up from where she lay. Pushing herself to sit upright she smiled as she saw the pony enter the room, and her smile faltered for a moment.
"Good Evening Shadow, how are you?" Heart of Gold asked with a warm smile as he took a seat on the armchair her father usually sat in.
Shadow did not meet him very often, her father had told her that he was the pony whose body he had taken over. His first and until recently only friend. Still, the amount of times she had actually seen him emerge was in the single digits.
"Where is dad?" Shadow asked in a confused tone, they were almost never far apart when he was out.
"Not sure, he should have been done by now..." Heart of Gold said as he hummed in thought.
"Done with what?" Shadow asked, perking up slightly.
"He found another immortal, basically his brother. He was going to fight him and lay down some ground rules to start living here." Heart of Gold said as he began eyeing the kitchen.
Shadow had not heard of this before, it was an interesting thought that she could have an uncle. She mused what he would be like as Heart of Gold rose and headed for the kitchen. A smile came to Shadow's face as she wondered what it would be like to have a pony exactly like her father around. Eclipse attracted a lot of fear and hatred from the ponies around him as it was, would there be even more with two of them? It would be funny to see the shocked look on a lot of the neighbors faces when they heard how Eclipse was not a unique being.
Heart of Gold came back and sat down with a steaming cup of tea. As he took a sip he closed his eyes and smiled.
"Wait... I thought you couldn't eat or drink... What with the whole, being a shadow thing..." Shadow pointed out with a frown.
"Actually, I have a body of my own again. And it has been too long since I have tasted something..." Heart of Gold said with a content smile as he sat across from Shadow.
"Huh..." Shadow said not sure if she fully understood what he meant, "Any idea when dad will be home?"
"I do not know, but I will wait with you for him." Heart of Gold said taking another sip, "I don't think it will be too long."
Dusk sighed dreamily as she drew a talon across the tough shell of one of her eggs, caressing it tenderly as she stared into the pattern of light purple and black spots on the eggs. Five in total had been laid, and they now sat in the incubator she had made for them. She had waited many years for this, for a chance to find a suitable mate. And now, that mate was sitting across from her, on the other side of the incubator, a look of wonderment on his face. Dusk need not peer into his mind to know what was on it.
"They are beautiful, aren't they?" Dusk purred.
Spike glanced up at her, the edge of his mouth twitching slightly before he gazed back down at them and spoke, "They are the most beautiful things I have ever seen."
Dusk's grin seemed to nearly split her face in half at this, she knew she had made the right choice in Spike. He was the kind of dragon who would love his children no matter what, and in time he may even grow to love her despite what she had forced him into. She just needed to be patient, and she had already waited this long to start her family. What was waiting just a little longer?
"Spike, did you know dragons used to be the dominant race in this land?" Dusk asked suddenly.
Spike seemed to be broken from a spell as he looked away from his future children, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing actually, just that once before the ponies rose to power dragons actually had order. There were laws, we had cities, and we had a government..." Dusk said as she seemed to be somewhat lost in thought.
"What happened to all of that?" Spike asked, interested in the thought of a country being run by dragons.
"Well, back then in the time of my grandmother, Ponies lived scattered about on the western edge of the continent. They were not well organized, and they were ruled by the Unicorns. The Dire Wolves kept to themselves in the north, fearing the retribution of the dragons if they attacked. The Zebras had not yet crossed the sea to the south and we left them to their own devices. Things were peaceful, everyone respected the each other's space. But as time went on, when my mother was young, the ponies had a revolution. It was lead by a mysterious pony who seemingly sprouted out of nowhere, and rallied the two subjugated races of ponies against the Unicorns. This was Gaea, the first Alicorn." Dusk began her story, Spike enraptured by the history lesson.
"The revolution almost failed though, the Unicorns were powerful, and the Earth Ponies and Pegasi were poorly armed. But the tides of war changed when one of the royal families of Unicorns defected and joined sides with Gaea. They were the most powerful family, and with their aid Gaea led a crushing victory against the next largest Unicorn kingdom." Dusk continued.
"The Heart Family..." Spike mumbled.
"Yes, we don't know why, but they joined sides with Gaea because they thought of her as a goddess. After they overthrew their brethren, and gave away almost all of their riches to the ones they had previously suppressed, they became the religious leaders of the ponies. At the time we dragons thought little of it other than it was nice to see a change in the way the ponies regarded each other. We did not see however just how far those damned zealots were willing to go for their 'goddess'." Dusk said the last word with a disgusted look on her face.
A look of recognition dawned on Spike's face, "I think I heard something about what happened next... They attacked the dragon's capital... Didn't they?"
"They had somehow gained control of a strange magic, something that could harm us dragons like nothing else could. It only took a few dozen of them to march through our land and destroy everything we had built for ourselves. After they destroyed the capital we had only lived in for a century, the other races saw their chance to take what was once ours while we were weak. We were forced into strange and desolate lands... And over time we degraded to what we are now. Practically animals who live in caves, and horde what little wealth we can." Dusk said sweeping her arms about gesturing to her cavern.
"But... they attacked long after Gaea was dead, didn't they?" Spike asked, a look of confusion on his face.
"They did, almost a thousand years after their revolution. There had been almost a dozen Alicorns to take her place since then. I still have no clue what could have caused them to seize our land. They weren't even interested in any other city, they merely took our capital and said it was their's... I guess I'm just lucky my mother got out of there alive." Dusk said with a sigh.
"Wait, how old is your mother?" Spike asked, knowing that dragons lived a long time, but shouldn't be that long.
"She was just a little over two millennia when she laid me. And she passed shortly after." Dusk said with a frown.
"How did she manage to make it that long?" Spike asked with a frown.
Dusk was silent for a moment, before her playful grin came back to her face, "You should know by now, I am a special dragon. My mother was no different than I."
Spike huffed at this but shrugged, "Not sure what kind of answer I expected."
Dusk chuckled to herself as she crawled around the incubator, and nuzzled against Spike, "You are so cute when you are frustrated..."
Spike blushed slightly but still frowned, "Yeah, yeah. Keep the compliments coming, see if they get you anywhere."
"Perhaps they won't... But how about you go out and find us some tasty treats..." Dusk whispered into his ear with a smile.
Spike perked up at this, "You are going to let me go?"
"You will come back, eventually at least." Dusk said with a shrug.
"What about the other females?" Spike asked after a moment of hesitation.
"You have my scent on you, they will leave you alone." Dusk said stroking a finger across Spike's jawline lovingly, "Now go, say hi to your friends, but don't take too long. You wouldn't want your lovely new mate to get hungry..."
Spike glanced over to the small pile of gems at the edge of the mountain of gold, "You have enough there to last you at least a few days..."
Dusk smiled and winked at him as she blew a stream of purple flames around the eggs' incubator.
"Sounds like we are going to be able to have a bit of a bachelor's party." Discord's voice rang around the chamber as he stepped from thin air behind Spike.
"You!" Dusk exclaimed as her eyes narrowed in on Discord.
"Don't you worry about precious Spikey here, I will personally make sure he comes back on time and stays out of too much trouble." Discord said with a smile as he placed one hand over his heart and hid the other behind his back.
Dusk shot forward and grabbed the draconequis's hidden eagle talon, and pulled it into view. Discord gave a nervous smirk at his crossed fingers being revealed. Dusk looked like she was about to attack the Spirit of Chaos before Spike pushed himself between the two.
"Hey! Hey, it's alright. Discord is a friend of mine, remember? Besides, I promise I will be back." Spike said grabbing and holding Dusk's hands with his own.
Dusk frowned and looked torn as to what to do, but finally conceded after looking into Spike's sincere eyes, "Fine, but I still don't like you." Dusk said jabbing a talon at Discord's chest.
"Well that is alright, few do anyways. It takes a special kind of caring being to find any sympathy in their heart for a Spirit of Chaos like me." Discord said giving Spike a noogie.
Discord then stuck his tongue out at Dusk who immediately began seething in anger at him, "Spike, dearest... Get him out. Now."
Spike smiled apologetically at his mate, and dragged Discord out of the cavern, through the tunnel.
"Ooh, feisty one." Discord whispered with a chuckle as they progressed through the exit tunnel.
"She means well, and always thinks of the children I guess." Spike said with a shrug, "At least there's that."
Discord gave the dragon a scrutinizing look "You have no idea what she is... Do you?"
This made Spike halt in his tracks, "What do you mean?"
Discord smiled like a maniac, "Ah ah ah, spoilers..."
Spike groaned at Discord's antics as he lead him out into the light of the setting sun.
"What do you mean he is free?" Luna said sharply, causing Cadence to wince at the tone of her voice.
"Like I just told you, Sombra was taken from beneath the Crystal Heart by Eclipse." Cadence said casting a pleading glance at Celestia to get Luna to calm down.
The Alicorn of the sun was not making any movements to quell Luna's anger however. She was simply frozen in place, wide eyes staring directly at Cadence. Celestia's eyes had both fear and, was that regret? Cadence bit her lower lip as she shifted her gaze to the fuming Luna who let out a frustrated groan as she turned away and began to pace in a circle as she thought.
"If Sombra joins with Eclipse things just got a lot worse for us." Luna said with a frustrated sigh.
"Eclipse said he promised not to allow Sombra to come back here though. Perhaps it is fine that we just leave them be?" Cadence said with a hopeful look.
This snapped Celestia out of her shock, "No! We can't just leave Twilight alone over there like this. The fact that Eclipse was bold enough to intrude on Equestria shows that Twilight has no control over him. I dare say we can assume he has some sort of control over her. Tartarus! Things are worse now since Sombra is alive again, who is to say he wont kill her even if Eclipse forbids it from him."
Cadence gasped and cast her gaze down at this, even more ashamed that she had allowed Sombra to escape from what was to be his eternal prison. Cadence feared for the mare who she had once foal sat, and wouldn't know what she would do if her sister in law was killed because of her folly. Luna in the meantime perked up as a thought struck her, and a grave look adorned her face as she addressed the two other Alicorns.
"We will need to look for allies in places that we perhaps had not previously considered. With Sombra alive again, I fear what his wrath could bring if he manages to regain his full strength." Luna said, her gaze shifting between Cadence and Celestia.
"You have somepony in mind?" Celestia asked quirking a brow.
"Yes, though it pains me to ask I fear we may need their help. The price they will ask will be high, but I believe we may be able to negotiate something acceptable." Luna said with a nod.
"Go then, I will continue preparations here." Celestia said nodding back to Luna who departed from the conference room. Celestia then turned her attention back to Cadence, "I feel partially to blame for taking so many of your guards to fill our own gaps. Understand though that Luna had a special connection to somepony killed by Sombra. She is not taking the news of him being back very well..."
Cadence's ears laid back against her head as she grimaced, "Oh... I didn't know."
"It's okay... But she is right to be afraid of what will come of his resurrection. Sombra was driven to insanity by the thousand years of imprisonment in the ice we put him through. I can only imagine how he is now after a century of being imprisoned under what destroyed him." Celestia said with a shiver.
The guilty look came back to Cadence's face, "I still feel bad about torturing him like that, even if he deserved it..."
Celestia looked as if she were about to say something in response, but stopped and merely let out a sigh as she shook her head and moved to gaze out the window. Cadence in the meantime took this as her sign to let herself out and get preparations done on her end. Celestia would send a messenger for her if she was needed back here in Canterlot, but for now she needed to get back to quelling the unrest Eclipse had caused in the Crystal Empire.
As Cadence left, Celestia cast a tired eye towards the doorway the Alicorn of Love had just departed through, "It is good to see you are still so innocent Cadence..."
Three sharp knocks sounded from the entryway of the house that was previously owned by Eclipse. Shadow perked up and bolted to the front door, throwing it open with a big smile. The smile held, but the look in her eyes showed her disappointment at not seeing her adoptive father standing there. Instead it was the large Dire Wolf who had not long ago returned back north to his home. Seeing the disappointment on the young mare's face Ulf's ears laid back against his head.
"What? Did I come at a bad time?" The elderly warrior asked with an apologetic smile.
"No, sorry... I was just expecting dad to be coming home." Shadow sighed in response.
"Isn't that him right... No, that is an unfamiliar smell... Who are you?" Ulf asked with a surprised look at the stallion standing behind Shadow.
"Heart of Gold, pleased to make your acquaintance." The stallion said with a smile.
Ulf's eyebrows shot up at this, "Isn't that the name of the pony Eclipse..."
"The one and only, newly in the flesh." Heart of Gold said with a chuckle.
"Come on in, we were just waiting for dad. I suspect you have something important to tell him?" Shadow asked as she gestured for Ulf to come in.
"Yeah... Something has come up concerning Olaf that I need to make sure your father is informed of." The Dire Wolf said as he stooped down to make it into the doorway.
"Oh?" Heart of Gold asked leading the old warrior into the family room.
"Well, I won't go into too much detail before Eclipse gets here. But some evidence has come up that there is another that is pulling the strings. Olaf and his tribe have been paid to attack your northern province." Ulf said in a grave tone.
"What kind of proof do you have of this?" Heart of Gold asked raising an eyebrow.
"This..." Ulf said fetching a gold coin out of the leather pouch at his waist.
"That is... The currency that is only minted here in the capital..." Heart of Gold muttered.
"What does that mean?" Shadow asked with a small frown.
"It means young one, that this coin could not have been pillaged from the northern towns who use a different mint. If what my shaman informed me is true, then the different regions use different mints to easier tell where a pony is from." Ulf said, casting his gaze towards Heart of Gold looking for confirmation.
"You are correct..." Heart of Gold said with a nod.
"Why would we care where a pony is from?" Shadow asked, having only now heard of this.
"You have lived your entire life here in the capital so you wouldn't know Shadow, but there is always a little competition between the provinces. The province who gets to mint more coins proves that it is doing better economically than the other provinces. And if you have currency that is from a better province, you can brag to other ponies when traveling." Heart of Gold said with a shrug.
"That... seams like a terrible waste of effort, and is extremely arrogant..." Shadow said with a look of disgust.
"It is, but to each their own. The idea was brought before the council a hundred years back, and it was approved after a little bit of debating."
"While I don't understand why you ponies would bother, it has come in handy here, because this coin could not have made it so far north. Perhaps at the border between provinces, but this was at the very northern edge of your territory on one of Olaf's scouts." Ulf said with a grimace.
The conversation was interrupted by a set of knocks on the door. The house fell silent for a moment before the young mare adorned a smile on her face and approached the door with the intent of letting her father in. When the door swung open however, she was instead greeted by a lavender Alicorn, with something bundled in a white cloth on her back. Shadow frowned as she saw the tear stains on Twilight's face, and the disheveled state of her mane. She backed out of the way and let the princess stride into the house, closing the door behind her and following close as Twilight silently entered the home.
"Twilight, what's wrong? You look like you have been crying." Heart of Gold said with concern evident on his voice.
In answer, Twilight gently laid the bundled white cloth on the ground with her magic. Ulf scrutinized the size of what was inside the bundle with a sullen frown, and Heart of Gold's eyes narrowed as if he already knew what was inside. Only Shadow seemed uncertain as to what was inside the cloth, her mind could not even comprehend what she was seeing as the lavender Alicorn opened up the cloth to reveal what was inside. Shadow did the only thing that she could think of at the sight of Eclipse lying there with a serene look on his face, his smile frozen and stiff like the rest of his body.
She screamed.
It had taken nearly an hour for the young mare to stop sobbing after the initial shock of seeing her adopted father dead. The entire time Twilight tried her best not to make eye contact with the mare as Heart of Gold rubbed her back comfortingly. Ulf had almost immediately left upon seeing Eclipse's corpse, not even saying a single word to the mourning mare. There was something in his dark expression that set Twilight on edge, but for now she decided to pay her respects once Shadow could be rationally spoken to.
As the mare quieted herself down to soft sniffles Twilight couldn't help but notice that she had taken the death as hard as Twilight had that of her brother and friends. Looking back Twilight realized how childish it was for her to expect her friends to live alongside her forever, but Shadow had fully expected to be outlived by Eclipse. Twilight shook her head at the thought of Shadow outliving her immortal father.
'Funny how little that word means anymore...' Twilight thought to herself as she sighed and approached Shadow.
Twilight cleared her throat before speaking, "Shadow, I-"
"No! I don't want to hear it. Not from you... You are the reason this all happened. He would have never known about Sombra if you had never come here. If you had just left us alone father would still... He would still..." The furious look on the mare's face threatened to crack into one of despair as she choked back a sob.
"Shadow, Eclipse cared for Twilight very much as a friend." Heart of Gold interjected.
"And look where it got him!" The mare screamed.
"Shadow, please!" Twilight nearly whispered, her ears flat against her skull.
"What? What more do you want from me? Father was so wrapped up in learning friendship from you that he had little time to spend with me of late. But was that not enough for you?" Shadow asked accusingly.
"Shadow! Your father simply wanted you to spread your wings and make some friends of your own. He felt that keeping you so close to him was causing you to lead a lonely life." Heart of Gold said, putting a hoof on the young mare's shoulder and meeting her furious gaze with his calm one.
"I didn't need anypony else! We were fine on our own..." Shadow muttered the last words.
"Listen shadow, I will make sure things are set right here. I am going to find Sombra, and I will make him pay for what he has done." Twilight said reassuringly.
Twilight offered the young mare a kind smile as she looked into the tear stained eyes of Eclipse's heir. Twilight tried her best to offer support and comfort to the grieving Shadow, trying her best to remember how Cadence and Celestia had treated her when she was upset in her younger years. Nothing seemed to work however, those defiant anger filled eyes stared back with their very own firm belief that Twilight had somehow caused Eclipse's death. Twilight opened her mouth to say something else, but her words died off as she saw Heart of Gold give her a look.
"I would like to ask something about Sombra." The stallion said, a frown on his face.
"What do you need to know?" Twilight offered, glancing down at Shadow who seemed mildly interested in where this was going.
"What kind of magic does he use? I am a little perplexed at how Eclipse lost." Heart of Gold inquired.
"Well, he uses crystals to siphon the energy around him and from others to power his own magic. At least, from what I saw when I faced him over a century ago." Twilight answered.
"Hmm..." Heart of Gold looked lost in thought.
"He also harnesses hatred and fear to fuel his magics" Twilight continued.
"How was he stopped before? I remember that crystal under which he was contained. Was that it?" Heart of Gold pressed on.
"Yes, the Crystal Heart. It channels the happiness and hope of the ponies around it to protect them from evil." Twilight said, glancing down at the mare who looked to be contemplating something.
Heart of Gold let out a sigh, "Old friend, I wonder if you would have prevailed had I not been using so much of your magic to manifest myself so far away..."
Twilight's eye twitched as she felt powerful magic being channeled so close to her. She glanced down at Shadow, who was wrapping herself in darkness and melding into the shadows at her hooves. Twilight moved to stop her but found that by the time she tried, Shadow was already intangible and speeding along the floor and out of sight. Twilight stared wide eyed at the spot where the crying mare previously sat. Heart of Gold shook his head and stretched before walking in the direction of the front door.
"No point trying to follow her now, she just needs some time to blow off some steam." Heart of Gold said with a shrug.
"You sure?" Twilight asked, eyeing the last place she had seen the shadow escape to.
"Yes, she just went through a lot, give her some alone time." Heart of Gold said reassuringly.
Twilight let out a sigh as she let her head hang under the weight of the recent happenings. She mused with herself over the old saying about the weight of the crown, and a sad smile crept to her face. But quickly it was replaced with a resolute look as shook her head and locking eyes with Heart of Gold
"Should I have stopped Eclipse from rescuing Sombra?" Twilight asked, wanting to hear what the calm stallion felt about all of this.
"You should have done exactly what you thought was right at the time. You are the princess of an entire nation Twilight, do not falter in your actions because of something as trivial as doubt." The stallion said shaking his head.
"Shouldn't a leader be willing to consider everything, and even admit their own fault if they were wrong?" Twilight asked in return.
"No, that was where Celestia went wrong when she took power so long ago. She showed weakness to her enemies, and because of that was threatened. I don't mean for you to be cold hearted and callous either. Just be true to your heart and make sure not to falter off your own path. If you can live with both love and courage in your actions, you will be a wonderful ruler. Just know that it is important to have both if you want to be a benevolent monarch." Heart of Gold explained, turning to face Twilight.
"Is that how Eclipse ruled?" Twilight asked.
"No, Eclipse ruled with a different method. One that would insure that not only all of his ponies remained safe from danger, but that danger would be hesitant to arise." Heart of Gold said shaking his head.
"How did he manage that?" Twilight inquired, tilting her head slightly.
"By taking on the mantel of the tyrant. Evil will ever arise to face the forces of good. You should expect to find more plotters and villains now that you are on the throne. But Eclipse... He was the villain back in those days. He made the populace respect and fear him. And because of that, few would dare stand against him. Those who did were made an example of. Even the Zebras who hated him and feared what their prophecy said he would do, rarely ever made aggressive actions towards us."
"Oh..." Twilight mumbled as she cast her eyes down in thought.
Heart of Gold gazed around the house, a small frown on his face as his eyes lingered over the many paintings of Eclipse. Shaking his head he moved towards the stairs that lead to the second story of the house and left Twilight's view. The Princess of Magic was left standing alone for several minutes as she waited for Heart of Gold to return. While waiting she contemplated what her next move would have to be. With Sombra on the loose, the Zebras intending to invade in the south, and Olaf's clan raiding in the north she would need to find a solution to not have to fight on two fronts. Twilight also could only pray that the dragons did not get too out of hand this mating season.
The sound of hoofsteps approaching told Twilight that Heart of Gold was done with whatever he was doing upstairs. Turning to address him she couldn't help but widen her eyes at the large pile of gold bits and jewelry that Heart of Gold was levitating near him. He seemed to be scanning among them until he found one to his liking and slipped an ornate golden ring over his horn. A smile adorned his face as he then retrieved a burlap bag from a nearby drawer and stuck the rest of the golden pile inside.
"Did... You just rob Eclipse's house?" Twilight stammered.
"What? Heavens no, this is all mine. It was all kept upstairs in a safe for an emergency use. See the date on this bit?" Heart of Gold asked raising an ancient coin from the bag.
"And the jewelry?" Twilight said with an eyebrow raised.
"Precious family jewels." Heart of Gold stated simply.
"And what do you intend to do with them?" Twilight asked as she followed Heart of Gold who was making his way out of the house, locking it as he left.
"Well, I am going to need a place to stay. This house now belongs to Shadow, along with everything else that was Eclipse's. There may not be a will but by law it then goes to his next of kin, and I was merely a friend." Heart of Gold explained
"You could always stay at the castle." Twilight offered.
"I may take you up on that for now, but one cannot live their entire lives as a loaner." The stallion stated with pride.
Twilight nodded at this, and the two of them made their way towards the castle. As they trotted onto the main road and out of the back alleys however, stares were drawn to them. Ponies murmured to one another as to who the stallion was. At first Heart of Gold received hushed jeers, but soon the ponies noticed that he was not Eclipse. Confusion was the next response as the citizens tried to figure out who he was to be walking with the princess.
"We could always teleport to the castle if they are bothering you..." Twilight offered with apologetic eyes to how the ponies were reacting.
"No, it is quite alright. Let them gossip, its good for them. Life in the city can sometimes be boring, let this be their amusement for the day. Besides I would not want to have to ask you to cast the spell for both of us." The stallion replied as he smiled and waved to a few staring foals.
"What do you mean for the both of us?" Twilight asked raising an eyebrow.
"I mean that I cannot teleport myself." Heart of Gold replied simply.
"But I heard you were a prodigy in magic." Twilight said slightly too loud, drawing the attention of the few who were not already staring.
Heart of Gold gave apologetic looks to the merchants and passerby's that had looked over to see what the shout was about, "I am a prodigy in death. Nothing more."
"Wait... You don't mean..." Twilight asked with a concerned look on her face.
"My father specialized in defensive magic, and he used it to protect those he cared for. Meanwhile I was born with a cursed horn, aside from the most basic spells like levitation I can only cause harm." Heart of Gold said bitterly as he gazed at his own horn.
"About that... I had heard that you killed your father. I wanted to ask you why." Twilight asked in a hushed tone as they continued to trot down the road towards the castle.
"Hmm, that was quite a long time ago. The conflict seems to trivial now..." Heart of Gold said with a distant look.
"Patricide is a trivial thing?" Twilight asked, a look of concern on her face.
"No, murder is never trivial. The reasons are, and my reason was to stop a war. My father and the Zebra High-chief, Zulu, were bitter enemies. They would stop at nothing unless the other were to die. Thousands died because of their feud, and it had to be put to a stop." Heart of Gold explained with a sad expression.
"So why kill your father, and not Zulu?" Twilight asked with a frown.
"Because had I murdered Zulu the zebras would all see me as no different than my father and peace would have been impossible. So I killed my father, it was a duel on the place where a battle was soon to be held. And with the mighty Lion Heart's blood on my hooves, I demanded an armistice else I would kill Zulu as well." The stallion continued his story without missing a step as he made his way through the city.
"Did peace at least last?" Twilight wondered aloud.
"It did actually. It lasted until over a decade later when Eclipse came into power, but that was because the Zebras all felt their prophecy may come true." Heart of Gold explained.
"Well, here we are. Feel free to stay as long as you want, I will personally be taking my chances to learn anything more that I can from you while you remain." Twilight commented with a smile as they came upon the outer gate of the castle.
Twilight greeted the guards at the gate of the castle and informed one of them to take Heart of Gold to one of the guest rooms. The Princess of Magic sighed as she parted ways with Heart of Gold. A lot of things had come up recently, and her old problems had yet to be solved. With any luck nothing else would pop up until she could get a few things sorted out first.
"Hey Twilight." Spike commented, sticking his head out of the large doorway that lead to the ballroom.
"Hey Spike... Wait, Spike! Where have you been?" Twilight nearly yelled as she stared at her draconic friend wide eyed.
"Lover boy here has gotten himself hitched. He even already has little eggs being incubated back at home." Discord said mockingly as he pinched the dragons cheek and shook it like a grandmother would.
"Discord?!" Twilight exclaimed, never expecting to see him here.
"The one and only Twilight, and might I say it is wonderful to be in such an interesting place. Canterlot was getting to be so dull, and Celestia kept summoning me back there to keep me in her sights. But jokes on her, she can't reach me here." Discord said in a sing song voice.
Twilight's eye twitched, and a thousand and one questions popped into her head. She wanted to smack herself in the face for jinxing herself earlier. The problem of where Spike was had gotten solved, and though she was happy for him finding a mate, she was amazed that he was already a father. That was one problem down she guessed though. And with it, that multitude of problems Discord would bring was added into the mix.
"Don't give me that face, I can be of real use to you here." Discord said proudly, snapping his fingers and manifesting a suit of armor upon himself as he gave a mock salute.
"You... Want to help me? Usually we need to nag at you to get you to do something." Twilight commented warily.
"That is because Equestria can get so tiring on one such as myself, what with all the order and rules. Here though... Why, I feel a millennium younger with all the chaos that is about. And it is only going to get better!" Discord said with a giddy expression akin to a child about to receive a treat.
"What do you mean it's only going to get better? Discord, tell me what you know right now! I am not in the mood for games!" Twilight said in realization that Discord knew something she did not.
"Twilight you know better than that, just play along with his games. It will be easier that way." Spike offered with a weary expression.
"Hah! Well spoken Spike! Well, as wonderful as it was to visit, we should really be heading back to your old lady now, shouldn't we?" Discord said with a chuckle as he cast his eyes toward the large purple dragon.
"Yeah, I suppose..." Spike said as he exited the ballroom, arms laden with gems.
"Where are you going so soon?" Twilight asked with a small frown.
"Back to Dusk, I was supposed to go find food for us. I gotta get back soon or she will get mad." Spike said with a sigh.
"And everything is... fine?" Twilight inquired.
"Well... Yeah, everything is alright. It is kind of happening a little fast, but I guess its just the way dragons do things..." Spike said scratching the top of his head with his tail.
"Well, see you again then?" Twilight asked with an uncertain smile.
"Of course, I will have a little more free time once they hatch. But I really need to get back to Dusk now." Spike said in an apologetic tone as he took off into the sky, Discord in tow.
Twilight watched Spike fade into the distance for a minute, before turning back to the castle and wondering out loud to herself how she had missed the dragon's arrival. She would need to double check the ward spells she had put up around the castle to make sure she was doing them right.
"Wait... Dusk?" Twilight said with a frown as she turned her head to look at the purple speck in the distance that was Spike, "Isn't that the same as twilight?"
The Princess of Magic made a mental note to joke about that to Spike, and headed inside of the castle to consult her council about recent happenings.