//------------------------------// // Time Shall Tell // Story: Daughter of the Phoenix // by Solstice Shimmer //------------------------------// By the time we got home it was pretty late. We were all very tired so Fluttershy insisted that we ride with her and Applejack would take back Rainbow’s and Sunset’s bikes back in her truck. Being as tired as we were no one really disagreed. There wasn't much room in Fluttershy’s car so Twilight decided to ride with Applejack. I was so tired, the day had just taken it out of me. Rainbow sat in the front while Sunset and I sat in the back. By the time Fluttershy started to drive down the road I leaned my head against Sunset’s shoulder and fell asleep. When we got home, I woke up a little, I noticed that I was in Sunset's arms, who was carrying me inside. I tried to wake up more, but the heaviness of sleep overtook me. It was getting so much harder to stay awake. I was barely able to keep my eyes open as Sunset gently laid me down on a bed. “Go back to sleep, sweetheart." She whispered. Her soft voice was strangely soothing to me as I stretched and cuddled up on the bed. She pulled the covers over me and brushed my hair away from my face. “Sleep tight, Solstice.” She patted my head then left me to sleep. Darkness. That's all I saw. It felt weird. I stood in the darkness not knowing what to do. I stretched my hands out in front of me trying to see where I was. Soon I felt a stone cold wall. I walked to the side carefully to see how far the wall went. It seemed to go around in a square because every few steps I would encounter a corner. I decided to see how big the room was so I took off my jacket and set it in one corner then I walked around, counting my steps as I was trying to estimate how big the room. Once I came across my jacket again I had estimated the room to be about 10x10. The darkness was making me uncomfortable. I wondered if the room I was in was really empty. I wanted to venture further into the room, but fear kept me from doing so. Suddenly there was a bright light in the room. I blinked as my eyes adjusted. That's when I realized that the room was completely empty. All there was were stone walls and floors. I was so confused. Why was I here? “Solstice.” A voice whispered. My ears perked up. Who said that? “Solstice.” It whispered again. “Who's there? Who said that?” I asked. “Your almost ready Solstice.” “Ready?” What in Equestria was this thing talking about? “Your time is coming.” “What do you mean?” I asked. Before I could ask anything else I felt a stabbing pain in my chest. The lights around me got brighter as the pain grew stronger. It felt like fire was pulsing through my veins and something was trying to break through my skin on my back. I felt the familiar pulse of magic flow through me, but this magic felt different. It felt really powerful. Even more than my strongest magic. I tried to fight off this magic that was consuming me, but it was no use. It was too strong for me. Suddenly my body turned from human back to a pony and wings sprouted from my back. Then my horn grew in size turning a dark black as my mane also grew and seemed to burst into flames. I was absolutely terrified, but soon the terror turned to something else. Anger. It overtook me, pushing me to ignore the excruciating pain. Soon I felt nothing but power. It felt so good. Knowing I had so much power in me. I could do anything I wanted, be everything I desired. Nothing and no one could stand in my way! “No! Solstice no!!” I looked down and saw a familiar pony. I blinked a couple of times trying to see who it was, but my power was blinding me. When I finally saw who it was my heart dropped. “Please.” Sunset’s eyes were filled with sorrow as she begged for me to stop. No. I have to stop this. “She abandoned you. Now it's time to make her pay for what she did." The voice purred. “No!!” I woke up in a cold sweat, screaming. Footsteps quickly came running to the room and Sunset came in. When I saw her the fear of the dream came back and I scrambled away from her. “No! I won't hurt you! I won't.” I shook my head trying to forget that horrible voice. “Whoa whoa. Solstice, what are you talking about?” I buried my face in my hands and started hyperventilating as this sickening feeling built in my stomach. “What's going on?” Twilight asked as I heard her step into the room. Questions would have to wait though. The same feeling I had earlier that night at Rarity’s was coming back, but this time something else was added to the mix. Thankfully Twilight quickly got a trash can for me when she realized I was about to vomit. She pulled my hair back as I started crying and vomiting even more. I stopped and breathed heavily as I tried to calm down and get that awful nightmare out of my head. Twilight put the trash can down then hugged me. I leaned against her, crying. “Calm down. It's okay.” Twilight softly tried to comfort me. I was really mad at myself for acting so weak, but this was different for me. Why was I acting so weird? And why did I have a nightmare like that? Sunset looked like she wanted to come over to me, but she seemed a bit wary since I had not really reacted well the first time. I wanted to say something to her, to apologize for the way I had acted, but I was at a loss for words. Twilight looked at me then at Sunset. “I'll take care of her. You can go back to bed, tell everyone that it's ok.” She said. Sunset looked a bit reluctant, but she listened to Twilight and left. Now that we were alone Twilight let me go and wiped away whatever tears were left on my face. “Now. What's going on?” She asked. I shrugged. “That's not an answer.” I didn't want to tell her at first, but she must know more about this kind of thing than anypony I know. So I told her everything, about the anxiety attack I had, the dream and what had happened. Twilight quietly listened to me, nodding every few minutes. Once I was done she let everything sink in. “Um, Solstice may I ask you a few questions?” I nodded. “How many anxiety attacks have you had?” “Only one.” “Do you know what caused it?” She asked. “No. It came out of the blue. I assume it from being around people or something like that.” “Back in Equestria did you start to feel different? Like has your magic seemed to be a bit stronger than usual have you seemed a bit more temperamental?” She wondered. “Um. Well, my magic has improved a lot lately. I haven't really experimented with it too much, but I'm learning much more complicated spells quicker than I normally would.” Twilight’s eyes showed little to no emotion as she continued. “Have you been having magical outbursts?” She asked. “What do you mean?” “Well, I mean. How do I explain this?” She rubbed her head as she thought. “Oh! Ok. Remember when you first tried to teleport?” “Of course I do.” That was a day I'll always remember. Partially because a certain somepony wouldn't let it go. “When you suddenly appeared in Celestia’s private wing, which scared us all, you started to make magic explode through your horn without thinking. Remember?” “That's because I was trying to get the hell out of there.” I muttered “That's what I mean by magical outbursts. Magic suddenly bursting out of you without you meaning to do it.” “No. No magical outbursts.” I said. “Hmm.” Twilight went off to her own world as she thought. “What are you getting at Twilight?” I was getting a bit impatient with her. “This doesn't make sense.” She said. “Your mother didn't start dabbling in dark magic till after you were born. So why would you be showing these signs? I mean if we were in Equestria it would make more sense, but this is just weird.” “Twi.” “I'm sorry. This is just so confusing.” “Twilight. Explain please.” “You're showing signs of developing dark magic, or being tortured by it. It's as if it's waiting for you to be ready to accept it or something like that. But why?” She then gave me a hard look. “Absolutely not! I would never.” I said rather defensively. “Solstice. If you have-” “Twilight. You know me better than anypony do you really think I would be into dark magic?” I asked. Twilight stared at me with a stern look for a while, then she sighed. “I needed to ask. I'm sorry.” I crossed my arms and leaned against the bed's headboard. “So if you haven't been messing with magic and Sunset obviously hasn't been using any around you, then what would cause this?” I shrugged. “For now just don't tell anyone, alright? It may be no big deal. But if this gets any worse we are going back to Equestria to seek Princess Celestia’s opinion.” It seemed I had no choice in this so I just nodded. “Alright.” Twilight leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “Don't worry. I'll figure out what's going on.” “I'm sure you will.” I knew she would. I mean Twilight is the Element of Magic. I have faith in her. Twilight then left the room to let me sleep. I had no idea what to think about anything we had just talked about. Dark magic? Why would that be the source of my problem? I know Sunset wasn't all that great, but she never did any of that until after I was born and far out of her reach. Or is it possible that I was cursed? Who knows! There's so many possible theories and I don't have a lick of evidence to help me figure this out! It's simply too much! I slide down the headboard and laid my head on my pillow. That voice though. I felt like I heard it before. Was it someone I had heard a long time ago perhaps? Ugh. I don't know! Maybe I'm just going crazy. Twilight probably is trying to make a big deal out of something simple. All it was was a nightmare and an panic attack. Nothing more. Still…..that voice. It seemed so real. I rolled over on my stomach and pulled the covers over myself. That's enough thinking of that! What if the more important matter! Whether I was going to stay here or go back to Equestria? No. Not enough time yet. I'm way too exhausted to argue with myself like an idiot. “I'll be waiting.” A soft voice whispered. I glanced around my room, in confusion. Did I just hear? Huh. Whatever.