//------------------------------// // Chapter Twelve: Crossroads // Story: But Not Forgotten // by SilverDawn97 //------------------------------// Chapter Twelve: Crossroads It all started with two words that echoed through the fabric of space and time. “Rise Up.” the voice said, and with that, their eyes opened, and their eyes were flooded with light. As the two young Alicorns sat upright, they saw them there hanging in the sky together: The Sun and the Moon. Looking down and seeing one another for the first time, their hearts filled with joy. Even though this strange new world they had just awoken in was a land of chaos and disarray, they were happy, because they had each other. And as far as they knew, they would never have to part ways. So began the journey of the Alicorn sisters Celestia and Luna. When they first saw the land they would one day rule, they were shocked. The ponies of this land called Equestria told them that their three races, the Unicorns, the Pegasi, and the Earth Ponies had once existed in distrust and disharmony. Once they set aside their differences and began to work together however, they drew the ire of the God of Chaos, Discord. In truth, Discord was no god at all, merely the last member of a strange race known as the Draconequui, who held very powerful magical powers, powers that the lonely survivor Discord had used to turn the fragile peace of the ponies on its head. After seeing the turbulent lives the ponies of Equestria were forced to endure, they decided that they had to put a stop to it. Travelling across the land for something that would give them the strength they needed to face the mighty Discord, the two sisters eventually made their way into the depths of the Everfree Forest, where they found the Tree of Harmony, the birthplace of the powerful magical forces known as the Elements of Harmony, the tools that they needed to overthrow the tyrannical rule of Discord. But that is not all they found at the Tree of Harmony. When the Elements chose the two young Alicorns to become their bearers, another force of magical power chose them as well. Deep beneath the roots of the Tree of Harmony dwelt another magical force, known as the Elements of Life. The Elements of life contained the natural energies of the entire world of Equus, and as they flowed through the earth and into the hearts of the soon-to-be princesses, they gave them a gift that even the Elements of Harmony could not: Everlasting life, not only for them, but for any who they believed worthy enough to become fellow Alicorns. The Elements of Life made them stronger, faster, and strengthened the connections between them and their cutie marks, allowing them to control the movements of the Sun and Moon themselves after the defeat of Discord. The sisters never knew of the Elements of Life, believing instead that these traits were inherent to all Alicorns. The first other Alicorn they christened was a young Pegasus from the north named Aria who, even as Princesses Celestia and Luna fought off Discord using the Elements of Harmony, found the long-lost Crystal Heart, and unlocking its powers using her love of the ponies she met during her journey, cast out a dark shadow that haunted the northlands, giving rise to the Crystal Empire. When the two Princesses caught wind of her deeds, they travelled north to meet this young Pegasus themselves. Deciding that she was just as worthy as they of bearing the mantle of Alicornhood, they used their powerful magic to unlock Aria’s own inner potential, transforming into an Alicorn just like them. Just before the fall of the Crystal Empire, Queen Aria and her husband King Diamond Blade were blessed with a beautiful daughter, a young Alicorn they named Cadence, the first and only natural-born Alicorn. After the death of the King at the hooves of the usurper Sombra, Queen Aria fled the city, while her beloved daughter was spirited away in secret to the distant and quiet town of Canterlot. But when the Crystal Empire was frozen in time, the young Princess vanished without a trace, only to reappear a millennium later in the city of Canterlot, without a single memory of her past. Believing herself to be just another pony, she took up a job as a foalsitter as she learned to control her powerful love magic. Princess Celestia was very surprised indeed the day she first heard her favorite young student Twilight Sparkle mention the name Cadence. Meeting with the young Alicorn at once, she informed her of her family’s past, as well as her role as the Alicorn of Love, a title passed down to her from her long-lost mother. Princess Celestia took young Cadence in as her adopted niece, which led to her one day meeting and falling in love with the Captain of the Royal Canterlot Guard, Shining Armor. As for their future together… ------------- It was late in the night when they heard a knock at the door. Opening her eyes, Princess Cadence looked over at her beloved husband, still sleeping soundly. Shining Armor always was a heavy sleeper. Not that she could blame him, given how difficult his new role in life was. As King of the Crystal Empire, he had a duty to ensure that the defenses of his kingdom were as top-notch as possible. In a way, not much about his daily routine had changed since he was the Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard. The difference was that now instead of just his soldiers looking up to him to lead, he had an entire nation looking to him and Cadence for guidance. He never complained about it, but Cadence knew it had begun to take a toll on his energy. With another knock at the door, the still-tired Queen climbed out of her bed, trying her best not to awaken her dearly beloved. Opening the door, she wasn’t very surprised by who waited on the other side: a member of their Royal Guard. “Sorry to awaken you, Your Majesty. There is a visitor at the castle gate requesting a private audience with you. He claims to have an urgent matter to discuss with you regarding Princess Luna.” “Did he mention why he needs this audience to be held so late at night?” the still-sleepy Alicorn asked. “No, Your Majesty.” The guard replied “Normally I would have just told him to wait until morning, but…” “But what?” Cadence asked, curious why the guard hesitated. “There was another Alicorn with him, Your Majesty, one unlike any I had ever seen. She had a white coat like Princess Celestia, but an auburn mane.” Cadence’s ears perked up, and a strange look of confusion crossed her face. “She didn’t say anything, but I assumed that you should at least be aware of this visitor’s presence.” “You assumed correct. Thank you for telling me this.” Cadence replied, the gears of her mind moving as quickly as possible in her groggy state. “Tell them I will meet them personally in the Throne Room. I will head down there to meet them right now.” With that, the guard nodded and left to deliver her message, leaving Cadence to ponder the events unfolding before her as she made her way to the Throne Room. ------------- When the visitor, a young, white coated Pegasus entered the room, Cadence was surprised to see him alone. “I was informed you had arrived with a companion in tow.” She said as he approached her throne, one of two located in the magnificent Throne Room. “She’s around here somewhere.” The young Pegasus replied “Usually she’s only around when she’s not concerned about other ponies thinking I’ve gone mad from speaking to thin air.” “So, she told you about her true nature then?” Cadence asked, full of curiosity. The actions of Faust had always been a source of great intrigue for her. But a shake of the head from the Pegasus dispelled any hopes of gleaning new information about the mysterious omnipotent Alicorn her aunts had told her about. “Not really,” the Pegasus answered honestly with a shrug “But I definitely know that there’s more to her than meets the eye. Either way, she’s not the one I’m here to talk about.” “Yes, I was told you had something to speak to me about regarding my aunt, Princess Luna?” The Pegasus seemed to cringe at this, as well as take on a slight blush. “I was unaware she was your aunt, Your Majesty.” He replied. “It was Princess Celestia who adopted me as her niece several years ago. It’s a long story.” “Ah.” The Pegasus replied. “Either way… Yes, I came to seek your advice regarding an issue with the Princess. An issue that I caused. I hope you don’t mind me intruding at such a late hour, but Faust told me that you’re the expert on love, and that I should speak to you about the matter as soon as possible.” A million possibilities flew through Cadence’s head at the speed of light. An issue regarding love that involved Princess Luna? And the way the Pegasus blushed earlier… It couldn’t be. Could it? “I suppose I should start at the beginning.” The Pegasus said “First, I should introduce myself. My name is Silver Dawn, but feel free to just call me Silver. About a week ago, me and two other ponies came to Equestria after falling from the night sky…” ------------- As their train pulled into the station, Tartanis and Melody couldn’t help but find themselves stunned by the beauty of the Crystal Empire. Even far off in the distance, the Crystal Spire that served as the center of the kingdom danced with the gleaming light of the afternoon sun. Princess Twilight and her friends had told them several times about the beauty of the Empire in the days leading up to their departure from Ponyville, but no description could properly describe the radiant beauty of the gleaming spires of crystal that sprouted throughout the capital city of Crysta. Princess Twilight had told them that in ancient times, the Empire was comprised of almost a dozen similar cities, but that the dark powers of King Sombra had destroyed all but the capital after the return of the Empire. It was hard for the two ponies to imagine more cities of similar beauty, to say nothing of the type of power that could completely destroy them. Leading them through the city, Princess Twilight and her friends made excellent tour guides, having been to the city several times already, to say nothing of the fact that without them, it would have been destroyed by the power of the feral King Sombra. The city was abuzz with energy, still working hard at preparations for the upcoming Equestria Games, which were to be held at the newly-revived Crystal Empire, or to be more specific, the capital city of Crysta. The air seemed alive with the joy of ponies hard at work, eager to make certain that everything was absolutely flawless for when the time came for the Games to begin. Little did they know that their work was in vain. They would be lucky to even have a city to call home when the scheduled time of the Games came to pass. Approaching the castle gates, Tartanis couldn’t help but take a quick mental evaluation of the guards standing at the front entrance to the Crystal Spire. Their armor wasn’t too different from the armor he wore himself, although it appeared to be made of some form of crystal. Likely heavier than his own steel plate, but also likely much tougher. Some of the other members of the Royal Guard at Canterlot even told rumors that the armor worn by the guards of the Crystal Empire was enchanted to reflect many weaker spells. The two guards each held a large, crystalline halberd, once again likely heavy, but also clearly very deadly. Tartanis couldn’t help but admire all the physical conditioning they must have to do in order to be able to carry that much weight through a standard patrol without collapsing. Of course, the cold air of the Northlands had to help somewhat in making sure they didn’t overheat. Even as Tartanis took a quick mental analysis of the guards ahead, Melody found herself entranced by the stunning architecture of the Spire itself. She made a brief mental note to return at some point during their stay and draw a painting of the gleaming parapets and shining towers. Both young ponies were broken from their thoughts as Princess Twilight approached the front gate of the Spire, and both on-duty guards immediately saluted her, before stepping aside to allow her and her companions to pass. Walking through the main gate, the group of friends was led directly into the Throne Room, a massive room made entirely of shimmering crystal, with a pair of elegant thrones sitting at the opposite end of the hall. Having been informed via letter by Princess Celestia of their imminent arrival, both monarchs were already awaiting their audience with the Princess of Magic and her compatriots. “Twily!” boomed a loud voice from one of the thrones. A tall Unicorn stallion with a white coat and dark blue mane rushed forward and embraced the young Princess in a hug. This was quite apparently the older brother that Twilight had told the two about, King Shining Armor. Following behind him at a more leisurely pace was a beautiful pink Alicorn, Queen Cadence. She took a quick glance over at Melody before welcoming them all to the castle. “It’s good to see you all again.” She said with a smile “And a pleasure to meet your new friends. I take it that you two are Tartanis and Melody, the two new friends my sister-in-law told me about in her letters?” “Yes, Your Majesty.” Tartanis said with a quick bow “It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” Cadence let out a short giggle at the show of respect. “You don’t need to bow, Tartanis. We’re all friends here. And you don’t need to call me ‘Your Majesty’ either. Just call me Cadence.” “It’s nice to meet you, Cadence.” Melody said, stepping forward with a smile “Your castle is beautiful. I would love to draw some paintings of its architecture sometime, with your permission of course.” “It would be an honor, Melody. You are welcome to come visit and draw as many paintings as you like.” Shining Armor said, walking over. Cadence, however seemed caught up in a thought. “I can see why he felt so conflicted about you.” She said after a few seconds. “What?” Melody asked, confused. “I assume that’s why you’re here.” Cadence said “A few weeks ago, a young stallion named Silver Dawn came by in the dead of night seeking my advice. He told me that he had been in Twilight’s care, but that he had run away after an… Incident. I assume that’s why you’re all here?” “Yes and no.” Twilight said, her friends having gone off to see the rest of the city while Twilight conducted the royal business she was sent for. “We were sent by Princess Celestia to tell you about Silver and the others, but I’m guessing that Silver already told you that whole story?” Cadence nodded. “He also told me about why he left, but that’s not exactly something that he would want me to discuss with everyone.” Cadence said. “What do you mean?” Twilight asked, a look of confusion crossing her face. “He asked me not to tell anyone, but I get the feeling that there’s one of you I should at least talk to about the matter. If you would permit me, I would like to speak to Melody in private about the matter.” Twilight looked like she was about to object, but then something surprising happened. A somewhat grim look on her face, Melody stepped forward. “It will be fine.” She said “King Shining Armor can spend some time catching up with Twilight, and show Tartanis some of his fighting techniques.” Everypony present seemed a bit taken aback by this straightforward assertion by an otherwise reserved pony, but not a one raised any objections either. “All right then.” Cadence said, breaking the silence. “If you could follow me…” ------------ As the two walked down the halls, Melody still felt a part of her mind admiring the architecture of the Crystal Spire. However, she also found herself entranced by the tale that Princess Cadence told. “What you need to understand Melody, is that Silver finds himself in a very difficult position. He came to me for advice because he’s not sure which way his heart is telling him to go, and I’m the most knowledgeable pony that there is on the subject of love.” “What do you mean?” Melody asked. “I wish he could tell you this himself, but I doubt he has the courage to do so right now.” Cadence said quietly “Melody, put simply, Silver’s in love with you.” This caused Melody to stop dead in her tracks, a look of sadness in her eyes. “He told me that he thinks he’s felt that way for a long time, even before you all came here. He knows that you two knew each other before you lost your memories, and he thinks that even then he might have still been in love with you. But he’s worried that something might have happened back then between the two of you, that-“ “That I might not have loved him back.” Melody cut in, her eyes still stationed squarely at the ground. “When we first met after waking up, I knew that something happened between us in the past, something really bad. When I read his letter after he left, I knew that it was my fault. I thought that he had remembered something along those lines, and that was why he needed time to think.” “There’s more to it than that, Melody.” Cadence said, walking back to join her companion. “He felt conflicted because you weren’t the only one he had fallen in love with.” This caused Melody’s head to rise up, a look of confusion cast upon her face. “He told me that he had an encounter with Princess Luna, and that he had fallen in love with her as well. The reason he felt conflicted is that his romantic feelings for you were from his past, and that he didn’t want to make a mistake and lose you as a friend in the present. But Luna… He told me about how the you, him and Tartanis had lost consciousness, and how you hugged him when you woke up. He understood that you did it because you were concerned for your friend, but Luna… He knows that she likely saw it differently. He still isn’t entirely sure about his romantic feelings for either of you, or that either of you feel the same way in return. Luna… The way he talked about her, I know that he wants to help her, regardless of how she feels about him now. I don’t know how she feels about him, but I get the feeling that she doesn’t even think it’s possible that someone would fall in love with her. She has a lot of guilt about what she’s done in the past. As for you… You need to understand that this isn’t just some small thing to him, Melody. His heart is tearing itself to pieces trying to figure out how he feels, and how he should proceed. He doesn’t want to hurt either of you, or lose either of you as friends. He just wants you both to be happy. So I have to ask you, Melody… How do you feel about him?” Melody was silent for several seconds, still trying to digest all this information. She had never meant to put Silver in a situation like this, even indirectly. She valued his friendship, but did she want him to be something more in her life? “…I don’t know.” She said at long last. “He’s been a good friend, and I want to help him get through this. But I just don’t know. I need time to figure out my own feelings too.” She said honestly. “I just… I love him. I just don’t know if I love him as a friend, or something more.” “You love your friends?” Cadence asked inquisitively. “Yes.” Melody replied. “I love all of my friends. I can’t think of living my life without them. Maybe that’s why it’s so hard for me to figure out how I feel about Silver. I do love him. I just don’t know if it’s the same type of love as what he feels for me.” Cadence walked over to the young, conflicted Unicorn and wrapped a comforting wing around her shoulder. “That’s a good way to look at life, Melody. I don’t know what you feel, only you can discover that. Just know that whatever you decide, I know it will be the right decision.” “Thank you…” Melody said quietly, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I just don’t want to hurt him…” ------------- As Tartanis walked through the castle beside Princess Twilight and her older brother, he felt the weight of his duty more keenly than ever before. Beside him stood one of the finest knights Equestria had ever known, a Knight who had become a King. And Tartanis was sworn to defend that King’s sister, a Princess in her own right, with his life. He knew that the road ahead, regardless of what it held, would be far from easy. But he had ponies that relied on him, who were counting on him to keep them safe. Princess Twilight, Rarity… Melody. He had become a knight to keep all the Elements of Harmony safe, Rarity in particular. But Melody was his friend too. Her life was an important one, a life that deserved to be preserved. They all deserved to be safe, to find happiness through a long life of friends and love. It all fit into place now, how important his duty truly was. “Hey, Tartanis.” Shining Armor said to him, catching his attention. “Yes, Your Majesty?” Tartanis replied. “Keep my sister safe, okay? The world needs more ponies like her. Just like it needs ponies like you.” “I understand, Your Majesty.” Tartanis responded. “And thank you. I’ll keep her safe. Of that you can be sure. ------------- Standing on a hilltop just outside Crysta, Melody couldn’t help but marvel at the beautiful city even as she painted it. They would have to return to Ponyvile in a few days, but the paintings she had drawn during their stay would keep her memories of the city alive forever. Queen Cadence herself had even purchased a painting of one of the city markets from Melody to hang inside the castle. But this painting, a beautiful depiction of the city as a whole in the shining sunset, would be one that Melody would hold onto. It would serve as a reminder of all the time she shared here with her friends, even if one among them was painfully absent. Sitting in the grass beside her sat a letter, a letter to a dear friend. She wasn’t sure what to write at first, but it came to her with time. Her painting helped to clear her thoughts, and solidify her feelings. She didn’t know if Princess Twilight’s assistant Spike would even be able to send the letter to Silver, but she had to hope. She knew she would see him again someday. She just hoped that after everything, they would still be friends. ------------- Sitting on the bluff overlooking the town of Appleloosa, I couldn’t help but be thankful for the time I had to myself. Faust was a helpful companion, and a good friend, but at this moment in time, I needed to be alone to think. Beside me sat the first letter that my friends had sent me, a story of Tartanis’s escapades after my departure. But the letter in front of me… I couldn’t help but shed a few tears after reading it. I felt happy, yet sad at the same time. It felt like I had been waiting far longer than just a month to receive this letter. This was a long time coming. This was something I had needed to see a long time ago. ------------- Dear Silver, I’m sorry. I recently spoke with Princess Cadence about what you told her. Please, I ask that you don’t be upset that she told me. I know that you’re going through some conflicting feelings right now, and I just want you to know something. No matter what happens, no matter how you may or may not feel about me or Luna, I just want you to know that I will always consider you a friend. My heart tells me that a long time ago, you did confess your love for me. And at the time, I didn’t feel the same way. But I also know that the person you were back then is long gone. You are not the person you once were, and that makes me happy. I’m happy that you were able to become a better person despite what I did to you. And I want you to now that I’m sorry. I don’t know what I did in our past, and I don’t know why I did it, but I know that it hurt you. And for that I’m sorry. I hope you can forgive me. I want you to know that when you decide how you feel, that I’ll be here for you, even if it’s just as a friend. If you love me as more than a friend… I’ll give it a try. I don’t know yet if I feel the same way, but I feel like if I give it a chance, then one way or another, my true feelings will show themselves. So, if you really do feel like you love me… Then I’ll give you a chance. I feel like you deserve at least that much. Either way, everyone here is still worried about you. I understand now that you have good reason to be gone, but… We all miss you. I miss you. So please, when you think you’re ready, come back to join us. Your friend, Melody