Dash was puzzled by her predicament. One moment she was in the library with her friends, the next, she is surrounded by darkness on all sides. Suffice to say, it was a jarring change of scenery and something she really could have done without; it had been a strange enough day already. Shadows danced along the floor of the seemingly endless void, never daring to approach her, only a few of them ever paused to glance at her. Sound was absent from this place, with only her breathing to break the silence.
“Hello? Can you hear me?” Not a single one responded to her question, instead, they stopped slithering around the floor and looked to her with emotionless eyes. To he surprise, life moved into the walls as they pulsated, giving the illusion of breathing. Taking another look at the odd place, she found that some kind of solid shadow lined the walls rather than the room just being endless in every direction. Realising this, she quickly decided that the best course of action would be to leave immediately, though how she would achieve that she did not know. There was no sign of an entrance, no conveniently open window, nothing, just more shadows.
“I can hear you quite clearly” Stunned by the deep, ominous response, she ducked her head, trying to shield herself from the booming voice. Soon after though, she raised her head again to locate the source of the voice. In the time she had looked away from them, the shadow creatures that once occupied most of the floor had vanished without trace.
“Show yourself!” She shouted into the darkness around her, hoping for somepony to appear. Sadly, the only response to her demand was a deafening laugh full of malice; the walls seemed to close in on her as the laughter died down.
“If that is what you wish” Suddenly she wished that she hadn’t said that. Across the room a rapidly growing bulge of shadows formed on the wall. It continued to grow until it could no longer support its own wait against the wall. Falling with a sickening crack, it collided with the ground. Dash grimaced as four limbs uncurled themselves from the shadowy mass, each one accompanied by the sound of bones breaking. Eventually the strange creature rose to its feet, its limbs moving in an unnatural fashion. The head of the creature was bent backwards, facing the wall it had just materialised out of. In a flash, its head jerked forward, allowing Dash to see the suspicious grin it held upon its features. Blood red eyes burned right into the back of her skull.
“It is good to finally meet the wretched spawn of the prime and the Sol Goddess” Another laugh resonated around the room. Had this creature also confused her with another? Either way, she didn’t appreciate the nickname it had chosen for her.
“Uh huh, so who exactly are you?” Maintaining its creepy grin, it began to walk towards her, it arms dangling carelessly by its sides.
“Who I am is not important, what is, is the fact that you, don’t know who I am” A passing shadow crossed the larger one’s path and was rewarded with a kick to the head, sending it flying across the room to rest in a dark corner. Dash stiffened, standing tall as the intimidating creature approached, she wouldn’t show it the fear that was building up inside her. Only a short distance separated them by the time the shadow creature stopped walking. After what felt like an eternity to Dash, the creature, who had been staring at her the whole time, reached out a hand and directed it at her.
“Ah, I see, how very intriguing” Seeing no exit, Dash readied herself to fight as the creature took another step towards her.
“Get back or you’re going to be sorry!” Instead of following her order, the creature gripped its sides, laughing in a deranged manner. Dash maintained her defensive stance although she snarled at the creature for mocking her. After a minute or so passed, the creature finally managed to break free of its fit of laughter and sighed.
“Do you think you would even have a chance against me?” Arms spread wide, the creature gestured to its self before taking another step towards her. Before long, the creature closed the small gap between them, standing directly in front of her. Wet, dark, goo dripped from the creature’s mouth as its jaw lowered into an unnatural position. Flight came to mind as Dash watched the creature’s body grow a number of sharp spikes along its arms but before she could take off, a group of shadow tendrils burst upwards from the ground wrapping themselves around her legs, ensnaring her in their grip. Events from the library replayed themselves in her head and she grinned confidently at the creature.
“You better let me go or you're getting a lightning bolt to face, bet that would shut you up” A complete bluff, she hadn’t the faintest idea of how to recreate the lightning storm from the library or how she had summoned it in the first place but she hoped it would be enough to deter the creature.
“Foolish child, you may have power but you are yet to understand it, let alone control it” Her grin faltered, it had seen right through her little façade. She struggled against the slimy tendrils that held her in place. A grunt of annoyance came from the creature.
“I’ve wasted too much time already” Fear gripped her heart; she was alone against the monster that stood before her. No applejack to give it a buck to the head, no Twilight to magic their way out of there, nopony, there was nothing she could do to escape. She pulled her head as far back as she could in an attempt to put some distance between her and the shadowy claws that were slowly coming closer to her.
“I’d say it would be over quick but that would be a lie” Eyes closed tightly, she waited for the claws to sink into her. An entire minute passed without incident. Cautiously, she opened her eyes to see the creature again, unmoving, staring off at something behind her with a snarl. Without warning, the entire room shook violently. Behind her, the wall cracked and split, eventually breaking apart, allowing for a bright white light to shine through the newly created hole, causing many of the shadows that covered the room to retreat away from the light, even the tendrils that held Dash could not withstand it. The creature recoiled as the intense light burned its putrid flesh.
“Remain in light, little one” That voice, she could only think of how it sounded wise, full of experience and knowledge. Unable to bare the suspense any longer she spun around to gaze at the light that poured through the open wall and it was a sight to behold. An alicorn, somehow even taller than Celestia herself, stood in the entrance he had created. He had dark blue fur, white eyes and a calming glow that emanated from within his body. A white mist poured from the corners of his eyes. Dash looked on in awe as he moved to her side to face the dark creature that was using its arms to shield itself from the light. The creature growled deeply, snapping Dash’s attention back to it.
“NO! YOU WILL NOT INTERVENE!” Its voice distorted becoming more demonic. With caution thrown to the wind the creature quickly moved its arms to its sides, summoning forth the dark energies that had so far stayed dormant within its body. Dash watched as the huge alicorn closed his eyes, focussing energy into his horn. The shadow fired a pillar of darkness at the alicorn, causing him to grits his teeth as it impacted, he needed to end it quickly. White, scolding hot flames danced around the bone like object until at one single moment, they were released in an inferno of fire that spread outwards from the alicorn. The creature began to melt as the flames reached it. One final look to Dash was all that it could manage with its body now basically a skeleton. It pointed a single finger to her.
“This is not over, I will have my freedom!” And then, the creature turned to ash and the walls crumbled around them. She had to close her eyes to shield her mind from the blinding light that flooded the room. Once the light had diminished somewhat, she opened them again to find that she no longer stood in a realm of shadows. Now, she faced the very same alicorn in a world of light instead. While it was stunning sight the lack of a visible floor did make her slightly nervous, especially since she wasn’t flying.
“You’re safe now, the shadows cannot enter your dreams again” Dash had had quite enough mysteriousness for one day.
“Thanks and all that for helping out with those shadow things but what the heck is going on?” Dash narrowed her eyes as the larger alicorn gave out a hearty laugh that lasted for a few seconds until dash sighed, exhausted by the mental strain of the day’s events.
“I’m sorry, it’s just, you always did prefer getting straight to the point” A nostalgic smile graced his lips. Dash however stood there with her brow furrowed in thought. Always? But she’d never seen him before, was he another of the ever growing list of creatures mistaking her for somepony else. She didn’t wish to disagree with the other alicorn, he had just turned that creature to ash and she would rather not anger somepony with that kind of power, it would be like arguing with Celestia herself.
“But my power here grows weaker by the second and I must deliver this warning first” He staggered a bit, weakened by the earlier attack but after a little effort he managed to stand up right.
“The shadows are coming back young one, intent on finishing what they started and if we’re not prepared, they may very well succeed this time” His smile disappeared. Dash focussed hard on what the alicorn was saying; having acquired a great interest in his words since mentioning that something intended to hurt the ponies of Equestria and subsequently her friends.
“Trust your friends, as they will be your greatest allies and above all, stay away from the Everfree forest” The last part was more of an order than advice. Feelings of anxiety started well up in the back of her mind, her life nice simple up until this point, why did it have to change.
“So what should I do then?” Now genuinely worried about the safety of everypony in Ponyville, she posed the question.
“For now, nothing, just get used to being an alicorn first I suppose” A playful grin appeared upon the alicorn’s features, replacing the seriousness that had been there previously. Dash on the other hoof, sat back onto her backside and stared at him with her mouth wide open, thrown off by the instruction.
“That’s it?” She had just been warned, not mention threatened, by some terrible shadow creatures that have some diabolical plot for Equestria and her best option is to do nothing about it, needless to say, she was not pleased by the advice.
“Yep” Dash deadpanned, this time grunting out her frustration. Shivers ran down her spine suddenly as a cold breeze rolled in through odd place. The other alicorn looked around for a moment, seemingly saddened by the appearance of the wind. Something warm pressed against her back, forcing a yelp form the alicorn. Then, for some reason unknown to Dash, the dark blue alicorn simply nodded to her and turned, walking away from her.
“Looks like our time here is at an end, heh, you’re going to have quite the surprise when you wake up” He stopped moving and turned back around to face her, now a decent distance away from her, he kept the same smile on his face. Everything started to blur for Dash, making it hard to see the other alicorn.
“Oh and one more thing, if you ever need me, just call my name” Dash only half heard him, a quickly growing headache making it hard for her to think. Her legs buckled as she swayed from side to sid before eventually passing out on the ghostly floor.
Odd, it was the only thing that crossed her mind, though falling asleep to wake up was a rather odd occurrence, something which Dash could say for herself as she opened her eyes to see Twilight, sleeping in a fancy chair across from her. She smiled at her friend’s peaceful slumber.
Her head buzzed a little as she tried in vain to remember the dream she had, she vaguely remembered something about an alicorn. Another realization broke her concentration on the dream, she now noticed that she was currently lying in a hospital bed and not her own. She froze as she became all too aware that something warm was currently pressed up against her back and after hesitating momentarily, she worked up the courage to look behind her. What she saw nearly made her jump out of her skin.
“P...Princess?” The form of the sun Goddess lay next to her on the bed; she silently complemented the craftsmanship that must have gone into creating the bed to allow it to support both of their weights. Celestia smiled at the smaller alicorn beside her, happy to see that she had not hurt herself.
“Yes, Rainbow Dash, it is I” Her mind went into overdrive, trying to find a logical reason why the princess of the sun was lying in bed with her, although they were all either ridiculous or unlikely ideas. Celestia did nothing, choosing to remain silent as the gears turned furiously inside of Dash’s head. In the end she conceded, deciding that it would be much easier to just ask the Goddess.
“Err...Princess, w...why” Actually asking her though, was a lot harder than it seemed. It wasn’t everyday that you woke up in a hospital bed with a princess snuggling up next to you. Dash was beyond uncomfortable after that last thought.
“I suppose you’d like an explanation” A simple nod was the best she could do in her current, incredibly confused state. Celestia opened her mouth to speak but paused as Twilight groaned in her sleep, drawing their attention towards her. She tossed and turned in the chair.
“Oh hey there Dash...no it’s not too late to check out a book, come on in, the next Daring Do book? Sure, must be somewhere around here” Dash rolled her eyes and cleared her throat in a loud grunt, waking Twilight from whatever she had just been dreaming about. She stretched out her wings in a yawn, opening her eyes a second later to find both Dash and Celestia staring at her.
“Rainbow Dash, Princess, what are you doing in my bedroom?” Twilight only then noticed where she was, the memories of the day’s events slowly coming back to her. Surprising both of the younger alicorns, Celestia chuckled at Twilight’s words. Twilight’s eyes widened as the memory of Celestia nuzzling Dash came back to her and, coupled with the new image of Celestia lying next to Dash in the bed, it almost made her mind melt all over again. Dash just turned back to Celestia, wishing to get a straight answer for once.
“Rainbow Dash, Its simple, I’m your mother” Okay, maybe that was a little too straight forward but, wait, what? Dash held a look of disbelief while Celestia smiled back at her. Twilight grunted, the feeling of light headiness quickly returning to her, she tried to steady herself with a hoof but nearly slipped off of the chair instead, barely catching herself in time. Twilight was the first to respond.
“What!” Celestia barely contained herself, with only the years of practice in the art of keeping one’s composure stopping her from bursting into a fit of laughter.
“Of course, why else would I comfort a pony who needs it, it couldn’t just be because of how much I care for all of you now could it” Desperately wishing to burst out laughing she held her breath, she didn’t get to do this often. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the smirking princess until it hit her, she faced hoofed, hard, making her head a little sore. Scolding herself for being so foolish she looked up to the princess with her hoof returning to its normal position.
“Sorry princess, I guess I shouldn’t have just assumed” She grinned sheepishly, embarrassed about her dramatic reaction. Her rational side started to reassert itself, now seeing how improbable the idea of Celestia being Dash’s mother was.
“There is no need to apologise Twilight, like I said, you don’t have to be so formal with me” A graceful smile formed on the wise alicorn’s lips. Dash, in her half awake state, remained confused by the whole situation, she groaned silently.
“If you don’t mind me saying princess, I didn’t know you could be such a prankster” She bit her tongue as prankster slipped past her lips without permission but upon hearing Celestia’s light chuckle, she relaxed. Twilight’s words caught Dash’s attention as she considered the idea of Celestia being a master prankster.
“I cannot say that I don’t enjoy indulging in the occasional prank or two” Dash watched as her smile wavered for a split second. It was an odd experience for Twilight, having Celestia being so open with her; she wondered what had brought on the sudden change. Normally, Celestia would only speak about lessons or minor things from her duties with her, so it was a first to be hearing something like this, even if it wasn’t anything major. Silence fell over the room and Dash preferred it for once.
“Shush, I can’t hear what their saying” Even though the fashion pony’s voice was muffled by the door, all four present could still hear them. Twilight suddenly became aware of the high guard as the sound of metal scraping against metal came from the room’s farthest corner. They looked to each other for second, puzzled expressions on all three of the alicorns faces. The high guard may even have had his own look of bemusement, although it would be hard for anypony to tell with his helmet on.
“Let me try!” The sound of hooves shuffling in the hallway could be heard soon after, followed by a grunt of effort and pain.
“Darn it pinkie, would you mind kindly getting off of mah back please” Having heard enough, and with a nod of agreement from Celestia.Twilight gripped the doorknob with her own magic and swiftly whipped it open. A pink and orange tangled mess of limbs rolled through the door, collapsing into a pile at the foot of the bed. Pinkie, now sat on top of Applejack, beamed cheerfully at Twilight, who in turn rolled her eyes.
“Oh hey there Twilight” For a second, Twilight thought she heard a chuckle from the high guard, though when she looked her held the same stance that he always did. Applejack shook the pink mare off, were she rolled on the floor, coming to a stop not too far away. An awkward silence made its way into all of them. They glanced around for a while until, surprisingly, the shyest mare oout of all them spoke up.
“How’s Dash doing?” All at once they remembered the reason why they were the in the first place, with a few of them feeling a little sheepish for forgetting. They awaited their blue friend’s response.
“I’m fine girls, just a little confused, what happened?” Being the well read mare that she was, Twilight was the first to respond.
“You had what is called a magic overload from using so much magic at once, which was a lot for being a beginner, though it shouldn’t do any permanent damage” A thought occurred to her at that moment; she didn’t recognise the spell Dash had been casting. She knew of spells that could conjure up storms and rain but this was more focussed on the lightning aspect, which was strange, ther wasn’t much of a use for lightning. Deciding it would be best to not ask until Dash felt better, she resigned herself to being silent on the matter.
“Well if you’re feelin better sugarcube, ya might wanna come outside, there’s something I reckon you ought to see” The two alicorns currently lying on the bed, looked to each other before moving off of it. They allowed Applejack to lead their larger than usual group down the hallway to the lobby.
When they arrived at the lobby, an odd sight was there to greet them. All of the ponies that had been there previously had left, leaving only the cowering assistant behind. However this isn’t what Dash was concerned about. Perhaps she had suffered some kind of memory loss from her accident, because if she recalled correctly, there had been only two other high guards, not twelve. Rarity saw the surprise in Dash and Twilight’s faces.
“That’s how we felt when they started showing up an hour ago” Upon noticing their supposed leader, they knelt in a similar fashion to how the trio had done at the library. Each wore the same armour as each other except for the one in front who had a different insignia on his shoulder pads, along with a few lines of gold running down his armour. Celestia blinked once before speaking, suddenly remembering her own reason for being there.
“It seems in all this excitement that I’ve forgotten something. Rainbow Dash” They looked to the Goddess, wondering what had been forgotten. It quickly became clear what she had meant as she bowed to Dash, with the others soon following her lead. Dash felt both gracious and disturbed by the gesture. Admiration by adoring fans was one thing, being bowed to by not one but two princesses, along with her friends, was another. The reality of it started to catch up with her. They rose to stand after a little while, though Dash remained taken back by it all.
“May I have a moment alone with Rainbow Dash” The five friends nodded and, giving Dash a quick smile, exited the hospital, with the high guards following suit. Dash now stood alone with the princess, not even the assistant had stuck around. Made slightly nervous by her situation she stared at her. She called her name and she stood quietly, with no intention of interrupting the Goddess at any point.
“Now Dash, after discussing the arrangements with my council, we’ve decided to delay your coronation for the time being, it would be unusual to have another so quickly after the last” Celestia hadn’t been happy about the idea, it didn’t seem fair to have to hide a pony’s ascension but when she had considered it, it seemed to be the correct decision, besides, there was much Dash would have to learn. These were the times she regretted not teaching Twilight more about the duties of princess as now, she had to teach the both of them. Truly thinking about, Dash needed to know a lot more than how to be a princess, magic was another thing that popped into mind.
“So, in the meantime, you’ll be staying with me in Canterlot” The idea of being a princess was something she didn’t particularly think about often, if at all. She imagined that most fillies would do anything to have that chance but her; she wanted to be a wonderbolt, a member of the fastest team in Equestria, not some fancy, over privileged princess, not that she actually thought that about the current princesses. Reminding herself that she was currently speaking to a princess, or rather, the little Twilight in the back of her head reminded her of it, she nodded.
“Good, there is a carriage waiting outside, we should leave as soon as possible, there is quite a lot for you to learn” By the meantime, she realised, Celestia had meant immediately, which bothered her. Starting to feel like the conversation was quite one-sided, Celestia paused to allow Dash to speak and she took opportunity gladly.
"Right now? But...but what about my job? Who’ll take care of Tank?” At the mention of her pet’s name Celestia raised an eyebrow, obviously unaware of the pet.
“He’s my pet tortoise” Complaints noted, Celestia smiled a knowing smile; there was need for Dash to worry.
“Everything has already been taken care of, I’ve arranged for storm chaser to take care of Ponyville’s weather in your place and as for your pet, he’ll be staying with Fluttershy” A round of errs and ums followed as Dash searched for any excuse to stay. She found none.
“It’ll be fine Dash, you shouldn’t worry. Now I believe your friends are waiting to see you off” Even though her council could handle the everyday matters, leaving them alone for too long had created panic before and if one of the occasional disasters were to hit, then she had no idea how they would respond. So, with graceful haste she left the hospital lounge, leaving Dash alone to think by herself. Not wishing to make her friends wait any longer, she opened went after the princess. Outside, as Celestia had said, awaited a carriage with eight royal guards attached. Her friends stood by it, smiling at her. The High guards had formed a semi-circle around them, standing watch for an unknown threat.
“Were going to miss you while you’re gone” Dash was confused again, were they not coming with her? An image of herself sitting alone at a long dining table disrupted Dash’s thoughts; it made her shiver to think of being alone like that, again. Having finished her conversation with the guards pulling the large chariot, she walked over to the group of friends two.
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere if my friends aren’t coming with me” Shocked by the demand and the slight glint of red in her eyes, they moved closer to their friend; of course the element of loyalty would resist leaving them. The princess was unfazed by the sudden demand, holding a kind smile as she looked to each of the alicorn’s friends.
“I see no reason why they can’t accompany us, you’re all welcome to stay at the palace anytime” While each one of them gave thanks to the princess for the offer, they had other commitments that require their attention, it wasn’t as if they wouldn’t have enjoyed being there for their friend, it was just that most if not all of them had some important business or work to attend to.
“Sorry Dash, ya know I would if I could, but with big mac gone I’m gonna be real busy taking care of the farm by myself” Disappointed by Applecjack’s reply, she looked to Fluttershy, waiting for a better answer.
“Well, erm, it is a very nice offer but erm, my animals need a lot of care and I can’t just leave them alone, sorry” Undeterred by the loss of two friends, she looked to Rarity and pinkie, who, to her disappointment, had the same looks Applejack and Fluttershy had had.
“Normally I would jump at the chance to live in such luxury, sadly, I’ve had a large order and I am simply swamped with work” Hope now disappearing fast she listened to the pink mare’s excuse, starting to see a pattern.
“No can do Dashy, got a bake a thousand rock cakes by Sunday” She didn’t even want to ask what a rock cake was. With four of her friends resigned to staying in Ponyville, she looked to Twilight, not holding out much hope for a better answer. As Twilight spoke, Dash didn’t listen, she could tell by the apologetic look she had that she wasn’t coming, she didn’t even listen when Twilight stopped talking and looked to Celestia. She stared straight through Twilight, disappointed by her friends answers.
“...and I want you to teach her” Twilight was slacked jaw, sitting back onto her haunches; it caused Rarity to cringe as she sat on the dirt road. Dash, now realising that while she wasn’t paying attention an entire conversation had passed her by, listened closely to what they were saying.
“You want me to teach her? No Disrespect princess but wouldn’t you be better suited to teach her?” Twilight was unsure of how to feel, conflicting emotions bouncing around in gut, of course it would be an honour to teach her friend everything she knew on magic, which could take some time, but she wasn’t much of teacher, not like the princess at least.
“Who better than a friend to teach our new alicorn magic” During the short time in which the group of ponies had taken their eyes off of the high guards that surrounded them they had repositioned themselves, now closer to the ongoing conversation, they listened carefully.
“What about the library and spike? Who will look after them why’ll I’m gone?” Celestia turned with an unseen roll of the eyes, she knew when her former student was worrying over nothing and it was a common occurrence. Spike could take care of himself and the library didn’t get much attention to begin with. Twilight’s stuttered a farewell to her friends and stepped inside the surprisingly spacious chariot, its metal interior reflecting the light around the cabin. She sat opposite Celestia. Finished with his own conversation with the other high guards, the smallest of them walked over to Dash, glancing at her friends briefly.
“Ma’am, shall I assign paladins to watch over your friends in your absence?” Putting a hoof to her chin she considered the idea, they could probably help them out in some way. So, having decided that it would be in no way a bad idea to have a tall, armoured and strong friend hanging around, she nodded to him, as did Celestia. The leader pointed to a few of the paladins, signalling for them to walk over to the now nervous friends, except for pinkie pie, her new protector didn’t seemed to bother her, in fact, she appeared to be excited by the possible friend.
“Rainbow Dash, we really must be going” Saddened by only having Twilight to come with her, she turned to her friends to bid them farewell, entering the chariot soon after she had. The high guard followed her in without invitation, making the carriage rather cosy. He leaned out the side, beckoning for the high guard with the special shoulder pads to come over.
“Send a team to the Everfree forest, have them investigate the activity there, report back by dawn” A Nod of acknowledgment followed and the high guard closed the door, crossing his arms as he sat back. The two friends looked out the back window of the carriage to see their friends waving as they took off, the high guards raised their swords as well. Once they were out of sight they turned back around, both with solemn looks upon their faces, they’d never been apart for more than a couple of days, now they it was a couple of weeks. Guilt worked its way into Twilight’s mind, everypony had been so happy and supporting when she ascended, so why should Dash’s ascension be any different? Even if it was only just her, Celestia and the High guard there to celebrate with her. Determined to lighten the mood she thought of a topic that they both could talk about.
“So, how’re you feeling about learning magic Dash?” After she had gotten past the initial panic from having her role thrust upon her, she was fairly excited to be the one teaching her friend magic, other than Sweetie Bell there weren’t many ponies who wanted to learn magic beyond the essentials like telekinesis but Dash wasn’t the kind of mare who stops at good enough.
“Huh, magic” Lost in her own day dreaming she slowly remembered the one thing that had caused everything so far, her horn. Tingles ran down her spine when she tapped a hoof to it. Focussing on it seemed to be the only way to feel anything from it, otherwise it was a barely noticeable headpiece, well, barely noticeable to her, not so much to others.
“What, did you think that horn was just for show?” A giggle escaped her lips at her friend’s clueless expression. Separation from her friends now pushed to the back of her mind, she allowed herself look back and smile over the day’s events, thankful that things had started to calm down.
“Heh, I haven’t really thought about that much” Then again, she hadn’t had much time for thinking recently. She had woken up around fifteen minutes ago and now she was on her way to canterlot to prepare for a coronation and learn magic. Prepare, hadn’t somepony else said something about preparing. Her mind finally caught up with the fact that she was going to learn magic and began to imagine what that would entail.
“Wait, are going to tell how to pick stuff up with magic? Or how to teleport, oh, oh, what about being able to became invisible” Dash was excited, quickly forgetting about all previous thoughts, her mind completely dedicated to imagining all the things she could do the magic Twilight was going to teach her. Perhaps after coming home from the coronation she could trade flying lessons for magic ones.
“I’ll have to ask the princess what she wants to you to learn first” Acting like a small excited filly, she eagerly looked at Celestia, practically bouncing in her seat. Nothing could beat flying in her books but magic came in a solid second place, especially now she had the potential to do it. She was on the verge of drooling with all possibilities bubbling away in her mind; she hadn’t been this excited since she got into the wonderbolts academy.
“She’s your student Twilight; I believe it is only right that you decide what she learns” Quickly engrossed in her own thoughts, Twilight fell into the same state as Dash, though she ended up like the day dreaming weather pony for an entirely different reason. It was likely to be the one of the fews times where she wished she didn’t know so much about magic as she found it hard ti know where to start with the amateur magic user. She shifted between a few ideas, not settling on one long enough to make a decision.
“I can’t wait; this is going to be so awesome! Just hope I don’t lose out on too much flying practice, gotta be the best if I’m going to be a full on wonderbolt, you know, not like I’m not already” Her confidence in her own abilities reassured in the others, she stared out the window, looking past the high guard next to her. Neither Celestia nor Twilight had the heart to tell her, so they remained quiet for the time being, they would cross that bridge when they had to and hopefully, at a time when less life changing developments were happening. A blue crystal on one of the high guard’s gauntlets flashed randomly, emitting a ping as it did so. Another seven of these pings went off a second after the last and the high guard touched an armoured finger to the crystal, causing it to ping again, although in a lower tone. It stayed silent after that.
“What’s with the crystal?” Childish delight sparkling in her eyes, Dash stared at the crystal, curious as to its purpose. He allowed her to prod it with a hoof, it didn’t respond to her like it did with the high guard, she was disappointed by the lack of a result.
“It’s how we communicate when separated, only over relatively small distances” Interest peaked, Twilight leaned over Dash to get a better look at the gem lodged inside the metal gauntlet. Strangely, there didn’t appear to be anything special about the gem on a magical level. Stumped she turned to its owner in search of answers to the ever growing list of questions she had for the high guard.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before, what does it mean when it goes off like that?” He tapped the item of interest again and it glowed in response and it stopped again after a second touch from him. He extended his arm over to Twilight, giving her a better view of the crystal.
“Each ping indicates a group of high guards responding to the empress’s awakening, and once they do this, they are to rally on Canterlot, as instructed” Ignoring most of what the high guard said she concentrated on one of the new pieces of information.
“There’s more like you on the way? How many more?” Turning where he sat, he faced Twilight with his piercing blue eyes. Dash and Celestia had a look of indifference on their faces, unfazed by the fact that more of the creatures where making their way towards them.
“A lot more”
Somewhere, deep within the forbidden lands of Equestria, a shadow groans atop his throne. To him, it was an extravagant throne room, decorated with the same shadow that made up most of the world outside it. The doors to the room opened slowly, revealing another shadow of equal size. The second moved over to kneel at the base of the throne. Both are dressed similarly, with heavy coats of black armour hiding their skin, a dark, red insignia on their chest plates. The sitting shadow peaked one of his eyes past his own hand, which was currently covering most of his face.
“Sire, I’ve completed the preparations as instructed” A sigh escaped the first one’s shadowy lips; his mind had not yet recovered from the melding before. The second, looked up to him, bringing himself to his feet a moment later, he was wary of the reasoning behind his master’s request. Noticing the tired state his master was in, he started to worry.
“Is there something wrong, sire?” The first shadow removed his hand from his face, revealing a number of battle scars, the second grimaced internally at the sight of his master’s torn flesh, he hated seeing them, it reminded him of what his master had sacrificed for them. One of the more noticeable features of his face where the two red lines that made their way from the corners of his mouth, down to his chin, the second had a similar set of his own.
“No, Dusk, I’m tired from my encounter with an old, friend. Do not worry, everything is going as planned” He stood up from his throne making his way down the steps up to it, down to where Dusk stood. Dusk’s eyes widened ever so slightly, giving away his surprise at the news.
“Do you mean...” He trailed off; unsure of how to take the information his master was telling him, it may have only been a few words to some but to him it meant a lot more.
“Indeed, I confirmed her appearance earlier, it’s her” The master placed a hand on Dusk’s shoulder, removing it a second later so that he could casually walk over to the large window that overlooked his empire. Dusk followed his master with dignified haste. The master looked out over the court yard and was pleased with what he saw beneath him.
“Sire, do you wish me to lead a team to capture her?” Ever ready to impress the master, he posed the question and in return, the master shook his head. He turned to Dusk, a stern expression on his face.
“She’s protected from us, as long as she remains within the Ponyville or Canterlot zones, we will be unable to reach her” Undeterred by the masters words he began to devise a way of entering the protective zone, though he stopped his feverous thinking when he realised that his master was still staring at him, a devilish grin replacing the stern look.
“A shadow may not be able to get close to her, but a pony can” Dusk wore his own grin as he came to understand what his master was suggesting, until another thought crossed his mind.
“What about her friends? there’s no doubt they’ll try to help her” The master pointed out of the window, towards the lands of Equestria, he laughed evilly, content with his brilliant plan, and it should’ve been, he had had a lot of time to work on it.
“Don’t worry, if she doesn’t take care of them herself, then the phantoms will and when they do” He chuckled darkly and turned back to the window, waving off Dusk, signalling that he wished to be alone.
“Soon, old friend, all of this will come to an end, and we’ll be free again” He turned away from the window again and moved back to his throne to rest. Outside, far below the throne room, shadows moved between the busy streets of the city. Hundreds could be seen moving from one spot to the next, each carrying weapons or armour or even some of the materials for creating both. They knew that war was coming and with it, all of its glory’s.