//------------------------------// // Shadows of the Past // Story: Violet Lace // by DemonAngel13 //------------------------------// Shimmering looked at her father. He was sleeping in his office, his head resting awkwardly on his desk. A small pool of drool trailed out of his mouth to shape a shapeless blob that threatened to touch his cheek. Shimmering grimaced. It was a side-effect of the drug, one that she had never gotten used to seeing her father succumb to. Sleeping? Obviously. Headaches? Not a problem. Minor to major amounts of memory loss? If anything, that made her life easier. But drooling? Now, that was just disgusting. She sighed and walked over to his chair. He couldn't wake up with a sore neck, which was exactly what he would get if he continued to sleep on a large slab of polished apple wood. She kicked the legs, and watched as her father crumbled to the floor, lifeless and limp. Satisfied that he wouldn't complain of achy joints, she puffed out her chest proudly. She was such a caring individual, wasn't she? "Are you ready to go?" Whispered a pony from the doorway. "We must make haste, my lady." "I'm coming!" She screamed, no longer dealing with the cruel pressure of having to hold her voice in. Her tone echoed off the walls. The pony in the doorway didn't flinch. She was used to her bratty ways. "Your prince awaits, my lady." The pony bowed. A few strands of a bright blue mane tumbled out of her hood. Shimmering smiled. "Now that's more like it!" She honored the pony with a pleased tone. "I'm so glad you're here, Lapis. Aren't you glad you're here?" She looked at Lapis as though she were a foal, and she was trying to get her to speak her first word. "Aren't you glad you joined me?" "Yes, my lady." Lapis's eyes glowed an unnatural red. Her face held no emotion. "It is an honor to serve you in ways that others can not." "That's right." Shimmering nodded at Lapis's obvious statement. She sounded as though she was about to stick a gold star sticker on the mare's gray cloak. "And why is that?" "Because you are the heir." Lapis stared into nothing for a brief moment, only to have her red glowing eyes pulled towards Shimmering. "Because all that do not follow you will fall." "Exactly!" Shimmering smiled. "Very good, Lapis. You did a good job." "Come now, my lady." Lapis motioned towards the doorway. "We must hurry." Shimmering huffed. "Don't start getting cocky, Lapis Vine. Just because you answered an obvious question, doesn't mean you can start making orders." The two of them quickly through the estate, past sleeping butlers and maids that were supposed to do the nightly cleaning. The entire house was dark. Shimmering didn't bother lighting the hallways. It was too much work. Instead, she had her servant Lapis bump into things, and make the pathway for her. Lapis was more than eager to comply. They hurried out the door and into the dark crevices of the city. They reached an ally-way. Lapis, using magic that Shimmering graced her with permission to use, opened a secret door. "As always, you first, my lady." Lapis said in monotone. "Yeah, I better be..." Shimmering mumbled, upset with the grime on her new horseshoes. The two of them walked into an atmosphere that was hard to deny was highly inappropriate for ponies Shimmering's age. Mares draped over stallions, and glowing-eyed servants were everywhere, doing everything from serving drinks and meals to... other things. A dark mist covered the floor, and sickening lights caused the entire room to have an atmosphere right out of a colt's nightmare. The entire room smelled of smoke and the lingering fear of evil and suffering. There was no sound of chatter or conversation, though lips were moving like words were spoken. "My precious little Ruby." A stallion crooned as soon as he saw her. Shimmering quickly shooed away Lapis, ordering her to stand in the corner and not move. It was the only thing she was good for, anyway. "Jinx!" Shimmering said, a bright smile lighting her face. She ran up to him, her stubby little legs causing the shiny white marble floor to sing. "How are you, my precious little girl?" Jinx asked. His tone almost seemed fatherly. His white smile stood out in a charming manner against his black coat. His white mane and tail flipped handsomely over his eyes, and his tail was neatly groomed. "I'm good." Shimmering lowered her hood. Jinx grimaced. "Ruby, honey bun, you must have been in such a hurry. You mane is still... that." He gently rubbed his hoof over her pompadour, letting the large mass of strands and locks fall. They reached mid way down the floor when they were all loose. "There." He smiled. "Much better." Shimmering smiled in return, glad of the praise. "Tonight is a very important night." She said, showing a toothy grin. "Ah!" He smiled wider. Suddenly, Shimmering was glad for the enchanted silence that protected each conversation. She was the only one who was worthy of his words. "Indeed! Come now, to the study. We shall continue from there." She was led down pathways that were carved into the cliff face. Wide and cold corridors that were only lit by red fire and the occasion glow of a servant's eyes. They passed classrooms and bedrooms and libraries. They kept going deeper into the rock, to the point were precious jewels revealed themselves in the walls. It wasn't until they reached a large door, made entirely out of obsidian, did they stop walking. Jinx's office was the biggest of all of the personal rooms. It made sense, considering he was the leader of the Black Diamonds. His office held a large mahogany desk, always kept clean and neat. Bookshelves holding banned spell books and illegal potion ingredients completely engulfed one wall, while a large collection of jewels and skulls decorated the other. The most impressive thing, however, was the tiny stream of lava that provided the orange and red lighting. It trailed along the edge of the room, narrowly missing the ancient transcripts and texts that would have been banned centuries ago. A magical encasing was used to prevent injury. A plush, scarlet red, skin carpet tied the whole place together. Jinx settled himself in his large chair. Shimmering jumped and sat on one of his knees. It looked as though she was about to be read a story. In fact, that was exactly what was happening. "Are you ready?" Jinx asked. Shimmering nodded eagerly. She had been waiting for this for moons. Jinx cleared his throat. His voice practically caused the solid stone walls to tremble. "Long ago, there was a kingdom. And in this kingdom, lived a simple stallion with simple dreams. He was a young unicorn, with a large abundance of magic at his disposal. He was very smart, and very brave. He wanted to be scholar." Shimmering giggled, causing Jinx to stop his story. "Now, now, Ruby..." Jinx smiled playfully. He waved his hoof at her, signaling her to stop. "I know it's humorous now, but you need to stay quiet until the end." Shimmering nodded, a look of determination on her face. Jinx continued. "He studied his heart out. He was a master at spells, incantations, and potions. He was known throughout the land for his talent and power. His name was Black Diamond. In the kingdom where he lived, his parents were miners, and mined the land for jewels and stones. One day, Black Diamond traveled to a city to get scrolls for his studies. He left his kingdom, and went to another one. In this kingdom, he found a beautiful mare. She was so beautiful, that she made the flowers look towards her as she walked by. Bees and birds hummed the sweetest of melodies around her because, if she was without them, it would seem insulting. The waves of the ocean reached and crawled to kiss her hooves. The sun kissed her personally, causing her mane to shine like pure stands of rubies and glass. Black Diamond quickly tried to obtain her heart. Nights were spent showering her with gifts and stories, writing her songs and giving her sweets beyond the wildest imagination. He devoted his entire life to her within a matter of moments. His one and only goal was to get her hoof in marriage." Shimmering giggled. She loved this part. Jinx smiled warmly. "On the night he was going to propose, he brought her to the courtyard where they met. They were going to have a lovely picnic, and he was going to give her the finest present he could give her. He had been slaving over his spells for weeks. He finally felt as though he could complete the perfect one. But he had to be careful, he could only preform it once. On the night of the full moon, under the silver rays, he preformed the spell. It was beautiful. Waves and waves of peaceful serenity and bliss washed over them. They were filled with strength. Both of them flew into the clouds, where magical beasts and gods acknowledged their power and strength. Dragons shrunk back in fear, phoenixes admired their life-spans and ponies worshiped them. They were perfect. It was all the mare ever wanted, was to be perfect. He had found the spell deep underground, in a cave. A single black diamond sitting on the old paper. It was fate." His eyes twinkled with wonder. All of the ponies did whenever they thought about the story. "They were sent to the world where only perfect ponies could live. A world beyond the clouds. They lived there, living without the ties of space in time, never aging and never missing a single second. Black Diamond, a being now so beautiful and perfect, was now the king of this land. All of his followers in the normal world were promised the ability to go to the perfect world by the next full moon." Jinx's eyes turned cold and hard. Shimmering hated this part. "But. On the night of ascension, the queen of the perfect world did a horrible thing. She kissed the earth with her presence, a thing that was so special and so profound that it almost seemed absurd. She went to earth without telling her husband, and committed the greatest of felonies by contacting the great rulers of the land. She betrayed her kingdom, and had the sisters fire a beam of pure magic and power at the King. He fell, wounded. The black diamond that buried itself in his chest after he preformed the spell had cracked under the power. He fell to the earth, mortal and heartbroken." "But he didn't die!" Shimmering said desperately. Jinx shook his head. "He didn't die. Instead, he trapped his soul in pure diamond, where it lays today. It isn't until his true love is reborn, seeking redemption, he will return to us and bring us to our promised land." Shimmering smiled the brightest then. That was the best part of the story, by far. She looked at her own cutie mark, and at her bright red mane that sparkled and shined like rubies and glass. "And that's you." Jinx lightly touched Shimmering's nose with the tip of his hoof. She laughed. "He will be reborn, with a new mind and body. Better than ever." "Just five more years!" Shimmering cheered. "Yes! Yes, five more years!" Jinx cheered back. "Then we, his faithful followers, shall ascend to the heavens. And you, his faithful queen, shall rule over everypony." "And what about those dreadful imperfect ponies on the ground?" Shimmering asked devilishly, already knowing the answer. "Their imperfections will end." Jinx smile grew cold and black with evil intention. The very air around them grew cold. "Now," He said after a moment. "Go to your room and relax. Your studies start in an hour." "Okay." Shimmering quickly trotted out of the room, not before waving goodbye to Jinx. As she walked, she passed the Great Room, which held Black Diamond's soul in the purest and clearest of diamond she had ever seen. She never got tired of looking at it. A large black mass, that swirled and clouded and shined, glowed in what seemed to be a twinkling star. If it wasn't for this very room, all of the story she just heard and heard throughout her lifetime would have been brushed off as an old ponytale. But now, as she stared her future husband her future King for the billionth time, it couldn't be even more true. She felt the anticipation make her impatient. How could she stand waiting five years? She wanted the power now! But she had to wait. Nothing could crack that diamond until it was time. Waiting was good. Waiting meant getting what she wanted exactly the way she wanted it. She smiled then. It was amazing. Even now, as a simple filly, she could get what she wanted out of one of the most powerful beings in all of the world. She let her eyes trail to behind the large stone to rest on two thrones. They were made of rock, both polished so keenly that the backs of them were practically mirrors. On top of one of them, was a black diamond. A bright blue star was behind it. It seemed to glow, virtually pulsating with strength and power. The second one had a ruby. It was the exact same as the mare's cutie mark from centuries ago, and the same as Shimmering's now. Jinx had found her as a foal. He pretended to be a wealthy client of her father in order to get close to her, and teach her her true destiny. He said that the large ruby glowed on top of the throne when she was born, signaling that the throne had a new master. Ever since then, Shimmering had been trained to be queen. She was the heir. She would be standing side by side with Black Diamond's reincarnation whenever he showed. She would birth his children, be his wife, and use all that she deserved being so. She wouldn't mess up. Clearly, that other mare had gone mad with power. She wanted to dethrone Black Diamond, and take all of his power for herself. Shimmering wouldn't do that, she wasn't stupid. She knew that it was her destiny, and to botch it simply to sit on a near identical throne seemed ridiculous and dumb. After all, the king is the one who is constantly putting himself in danger. If anything, it was best to be the queen. She could sit comfortably in a fancy bed room, being doted on by loyal servants while her husband goes off and does the dirty work. Her smile grew. The ruby around her neck glowed. ... Cloudy sighed as her entire body sunk into the warm sand on the beach. "Isn't this nice, Violet?" She asked. She started scooping warm sand and piling it on her legs. "We've only been here a couple of days, and I already can see myself living here." "Hm?" Violet looked up, lost in thought. "Oh, yeah. It's nice." "Yeah... yeah it is." Cloudy's gentle snoring started to resonate from the sand pile. Violet quickly moved, effectively blocking her sister from the harsh rays of the sun. Violet sighed, wishing she could feel Cloudy's apparent bliss. Ever since the trip started, Violet had felt twitchy and on edge. As soon as she left the air ship, the weightless feeling had subsided. But a new feeling of uncomfortable energy had taken its place. She felt as though she had to keep moving. She walked down trails, swam in the waves, paced around her room in Fancy Pants' beach house. Nothing seemed to settle her. It was odd. It didn't feel bad, but it was most definitely unnerving. "Um... Cloudy?" Violet asked, trying to hope that she was still awake. "I'm going to walk down that path again..." "She's asleep." Satin's voice startled Violet. She stood up quickly. "Satin! I... uh..." Violet stuttered. Satin had a bored expression on her face. About a day in, that expression had grown rather permanent. All of her books were read and all of her homework was finished. She had nothing to do. She quickly drove a white umbrella into the beach sand. "Go ahead." She said, waving her hoof. "Sleeping here, and getting sand in my fur, is better than standing in my room trying to find pictures in the marble wall paper." Violet quickly nodded, not needing another explanation. She sprinted towards the trail, having every rock, leaf, and vine memorized. She needed to burn this energy. Her nights were filled with restless dreams that she couldn't remember, and a sad pain in her chest that she couldn't describe. With the lack of sleep, she figured that she would be just as eager to sleep in the warm sand like her friends, but instead, the thought seemed about as appealing as eating the sand itself. She kept running, letting herself get out of breath and letting her chest burn. She felt an uncomfortable warm fill her muscles. She stopped where she always stopped. A large palm tree, nearly falling over due to the mass of coconuts that hung at the top. She turned around slowly, letting herself catch her breath. Even now, her legs felt twitchy and she found herself fidgeting with the tips of the leaves as she passed by them. They swung back and forth, as though waving her goodbye. ... Moon Veil's eyes squinted as she looked at the harsh sun through the cloth of her tent. Dark purple and mulberry color patterns created a beautiful design on the stone ground that provided her with very little comfort these days. Not that a plush bed would have made much of a difference. She had had a rather horrible night, after all. "Moon Veil!" A voice shouted from outside. "Moon Veil, wake up!" "Lulu?" Moon Veil groaned. "What are you doing up? You need to sleep..." She started to snore lightly, letting her mind fog and her senses dull. "Don't go back to sleep." A hoof prodded her side, causing a dull pain to sprout in her ribs. "It's amazing! You need to see it!" "See what?" Moon Veil whined. "I see a lot of things. I complain about it a lot. You're my best friend, you should know." "No, no!" Lulu's friendly voice continued. "The castle! The castle is almost finished. Come on! I really want you to see!" She sat up. "I see... nothing. I don't walk out of my tent. There you go. That's my fortune for the day." With that, she laid herself back onto the floor. She felt her body be held by magical levitation. She groaned again. "Come on!" Lulu quickly dressed her in her silver hood. Life seemed so much simpler with magic. "As soon as you see it, you can go back to sleep. Promise!" Moon Veil whined again. Her complaints grew even stronger as the harsh sunlight hit her sensitive eyes, and the heat of the day made her fur start to prickle. "There it is!" Lulu's face beamed with happiness. "Sister and I just finished the outside. We'll be working on the inside starting sunrise tomorrow!" "Bleck... sunrise..." Moon Veil said in a dramatic fashion. Even with her apparent bitterness, she couldn't help but smile as she looked up at the large structure. Made of pearlescent marble, the castle sat snuggly in its forest surroundings. Two towers held the symbols of the sun and moon; the moon on the left and the sun on the right. The castle was nearly symmetrical, except for a few stray buildings that built up the structure and foundation. "Isn't it lovely?" Lulu asked. "Everything in perfect harmony." She fluffed up her wings with happiness. Her horn sparked with glee. "Yes... yes. I suppose it is quite nice" Moon Veil said, rolling her eyes. She tried in vain to hold back her smile, but her best friend's contagious attitude was starting to rub off on her. "And guess what!" Lulu flew up a few paces from the ground. "You'll have your own room! It's official. Your the 'Royal Clairvoyant'!" "Did you make that up?" Moon Veil asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Maybe." Lulu laughed. Her navy blue mane rippled as her shoulders shook. "But my sister humored me for a moment." "P-Princess Luna!" A stallion in armor stuttered, getting Lulu's attention. "M-my comrades and I would like to ask for permission to enter the castle grounds!" Lulu lowered herself to the ground and regained her composure. "We shall allow it." She said loudly. Moon Veil had to hold back snickers at her friends 'royal' way of speaking. The stallion quickly scrambled to gather his team before heading inside the gate. Lulu cleared her throat. "Shall we go inside? I know the interior isn't entirely decorated, but it can't possibly be that much different than your tent at the moment." "I... guess." Moon Veil said. To be honest, the thought of having to move all of her stuff, in the middle of the day, seemed far to exhausting. "Great!" Lulu cheered. "Best friends should sleep under the same roof, especially if that roof is a castle!" She flew up in the air again. Moon Veil caught the sight of her cutie mark underneath the fluttering fabric of her black cloak. A crescent moon centered in a charming black splotch. Though most nights, the sight of her mark would bring her happiness. The crescent moon was one of the many things they shared, being best friends and all. Moon Veil's cutie mark consisted of a similar moon, but with a crystal ball overshadowing it slightly. That night was like many before it. Restless, and plagued with nightmares. Her friend, trying to master her dream walking abilities, constantly sensed the dreadful visions and sights. Though she would normally wake up with her friend shaking her awake, worried sick, this night ended particularly strangely. It was near dawn. Lulu would asleep by now, trying to wander around her own dreams and spy on others. Her sister would be wide awake, but that was never really a problem. Though Moon Veil had seen Celestia in passing, and socialized with her on a few occasions, they had never particularly become great friends. Moon Veil took the advantage of the silent castle and courtyard to wander across the bridge that separated it from the forest. She knew exactly where to go. She saw the exact path that she was meant to take. She wandered through the forest for most of the morning. By late afternoon, she reached her destination. An open clearing. It was a perfect circle, with heavenly green grass and small flowers blooming at random. The bright sun hurt her eyes now more than ever, but even she would admit that what she was looking at was beautiful. Fluffy white clouds looked like pillows, and the occasional sparrow or blue jay would fly between them and cause whispers of white to trail after them. She wandered into the center of the clearing. Once she got there, she was shocked to admit that she didn't see the bright white and red flower that bloomed there. Its petals looked like silk, and the scent that wafted from its center reminded Moon Veil of every sweet she had ever eaten and loved. "You saw your fate, didn't you...?" A voice whispered from the center. Moon Veil peered into the flower's center to see a bright red ruby. "I did." Moon Veil said. "Are you the one who sent me those visions?" She asked. "How do you know it was I...?" The voice asked. "You can see into the future, can you not...?" "Only a couple a days at most." Moon Veils said. Her time was almost up. "Not a hundred years." "Ah..." The voice chuckled. "Well... I suppose I've been caught. You know what to do, correct?" Moon Veil sighed. "Yes... yes I do..." She took up the brutal task of lifting the flower from the earth. Its roots desperately clung to the earth as though it was searching for another ruby for its center. "You could've made this easier, you know." "Terribly sorry about that... Once I connected to the earth, I couldn't help myself..." At last the plant sprung free. Moon Veil quickly ate the flower, wincing as she swallowed the ruby whole. She tasted dirt on her tongue when the grueling task was over. "Done..." She signed. Her belly ached, and she felt like complaining again when she realized that she had to walk back to the castle before nightfall. "Let's go." She didn't know who she was talking to anymore. The voice hadn't talked to her since she took the first bite. She saw what happened next. Her best friend's betrayal, all of the lives that were going to be born, and all of the lives that were going to be lost. Her sister ruling alone for so many years, her eyes softened by grief and guilt. The horrible storm of chaos that would soon plague the land soon after her death. An empire falling to the ground and freezing under the snow... everything felt like a scary dream. "We have some long lives ahead of us." She whispered to the forest. A few birds chirped in response.