//------------------------------// // Boast Busters // Story: Guardian of the Princesses // by Darth Annihilator //------------------------------// After the Gala Tickets incident, there had been an eventful few days: Applejack had nearly killed herself (and half of Ponyville) with her stubbornness and cultural differences had nearly ended a long standing friendship between Rainbow Dash and Gilda the Griffon, fortunately Twilight and Winter were able to explain Gilda's attitude by educating Ponyville on the Griffon's way of life and attitudes, thus saving Rainbow's friendship, however Gilda left not long after due to family issues. We pick up the day after she left where Twilight is testing some new spells on her (willing) test subjects Spike and Winter. "C'mon Twilight" encouraged Spike "You can do it." "Okay, here goes" she said as her horn lit up in a lavender light and a circle of light surrounded the mouths of Spike and Winter, fading to give Spike a black moustache and Winter a full Gandalf-style beard and moustache. "Hang on" said Winter, disappearing off somewhere before returning wearing a grey robe with a pointy hat and carrying a wooden staff and a sword. "Winter…" Twilight began, looking at him strangely "what are you doing?" "Wait a second and you'll see" he replied, raising the staff and sword above his head and shouting "YOU!" He held them there for a couple of seconds while shouting "SHALL NOT!" and then he slammed it down into the ground, bellowing "PASS!" upon impact with the ground. Twilight and Spike were practically on the floor with laughter at this point. "Alright Greymane, there are no Balrogs here" said Twilight, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye as she vanished the beard and moustache and turned to Spike. "And that's number 25, the growing spell, perfectly executed" Spike muttered as he ticked it off on a flip chart before he caught a glance of his reflection and started preening in a manner that would make a peacock proud. "Sorry Romeo, but that's gotta go" Twilight rhymed before vanishing the moustache. "Aw, c'mon Twilight, that could've been my big chance to impress Rarity with my dashing good looks" Spike moaned, which amused Winter. "Spike, if Rarity was impressed by a moustache then you'd stand no chance against some of the nobles in Canterlot" Winter said, chuckling "I mean, have you seen some of their moustaches? I'm amazed that they could grow them like that." "Winter has a good point there Spike" added Twilight, laughing. "Yeah, whatever" huffed Spike "I'm bored of staying in the library now, how about we go out and get something to eat?" "I'm game if you are Winter" said Twilight, looking at him. "Sure, why not?" responded Winter "It'll be on me." After a bit of arguing about who would pay the bill, the three were walking on the main road into town with Spike praising Twilight's magical talent. "Gee Twilight, you must be the most powerful unicorn in the whole of Ponyville" praised Spike. "I don't know about that Spike, there are unicorns whose special talents lie in specific branches of magic" replied Twilight. "Yeah, but your special talent IS magic Twilight." "That means nothing Spike, I'd bet that there are unicorns around Ponyville that can match or exceed my talent in magic." "Huh?" "Put it this way Spike" interjected Winter "Who would be better at a standard fireball spell, the pony who could do a thousand fire spells or the pony who had done the fire ball spell a thousand times?" "Well, the pony who'd done it a thousand times obviously" said Spike, frowning in confusion "but I still don't see how that relates to Twilight's ability in magic." "That's what it's like for me Spike" Twilight answered him "my special talent only means that I have an easier time learning magic but compared to ponies that have been doing certain fields of magic for years, my talent means nothing, they're better than me and will likely always be better than me in that field." "Oh" said Spike, understanding what they were saying. "That said, ponies can often excel in fields that aren't their special talent" said Winter. "Eh? How does that work?" Spike asked, looking confused. "Well, your special talent doesn't govern your abilities, it merely increases them in certain areas, such as magic. What really decides your abilities is your interests; take Princess Celestia for example: her special talent is obviously solar magic – with a notable example being her ability to move the sun – but she is probably the most magically powerful being on the planet, add that to her vast knowledge of magic and her abilities in magic exceed those of most experts in the field – with notable exceptions being Starswirl the Bearded and Gandalf Greymane – do you see what I'm saying here Spike?" Winter lectured. "I think so…" "He's saying that often a pony's interests and their special talent are similar or the same but some ponies can have interests that are the exact opposite of their special talent, thus they can go through life without getting their Cutie Mark." added Twilight to Winter's lecture. "I think I see what you're saying…" began Spike before two young colts by the names of Snips and Snails crashed into him "ARE YOU TWO BLIND?! Hello? Purple and green dragon walking here!" he snapped at them in annoyance. "Uh, whoops" said the orange one with a cyan mane: Snails "Sorry Spike." "Never mind that now" said Snips, the blue one with an orange mane, excitedly "there's a new unicorn in town" "And?" Spike asked, raising an eyebrow "Ponies come in and out of Ponyville all the time." "Yeah, but they're sayin' that this unicorn has more magical powers than any other unicorn EVER!" replied Snips. "No way! If that right belongs to anyone, it belongs to Twilight here." "Why don't we find out if there's any truth to this?" Winter interjected. "Yeah, where is this unicorn?" Twilight asked the two. "She's in the town square, C'mon!" answered Snails as he and Snips ran towards the town square with Twilight, Winter and Spike following at a leisurely pace where they saw Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie gathered there with the first two supporting sceptical looks on their faces. "Have we missed anything?" Winter asked as they approached the other five Element Bearers. "Nope, It's just about to start and I'm betting it'll be lame" Rainbow answered. "Dash, you think everything's lame unless it involves Wonderbolts or yourself" Winter replied, smirking mischievously. "You left out watching you blow your hut up, that's always a laugh" shot back Rainbow, wearing an identical smirk. As the two bantered, the stage that had been set up suddenly unfolded with a mysterious voice proclaiming something about being "Great and Powerful" and a cyan unicorn dressed in a purple pointy hat and cape with golden stars on them. "Watch as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats ever witnessed by pony eyes" said the now named Trixie to the citizens of Ponyville as fireworks were let off and a fanfare played. "Well, someone likes tooting her own horn" muttered Winter to Rainbow who chuckled. "Yeah and those fireworks are lame compared to yours" she replied. "My, my. What boasting." said Rarity "Aw c'mon; this cheap knockoff's nothing compared to Twi…" Spike began before stuttering as Twilight fixed him with a glare and conjured a moustache onto his face "Err… Hey Rarity… moustache?" "There's nothing wrong with being talented, is there?" Twilight asked after she had distracted Spike. "Nope" Fluttershy answered. "Nada wrong with it" added Pinkie "Nothin' at all" said Applejack, gazing at Trixie disapprovingly "'cept when someone goes showin' it off like a school filly with fancy new ribbons." "Just because one has the ability to perform lots of magic, it does NOT make one better than the rest of us" Rarity added. "Bah, let it alone you two." Winter interjected as Rainbow rambled on about her being better than everyone else "she's a showmare and they're ALWAYS amusing with tales of their so-called exploits, though I'll admit that this one's attitude is rather annoying." "Well, well, well, it seems we have some neigh-sayers in the audience. Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know that they're in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?" inquired Trixie, drawing out the "neigh" part of her somewhat arrogant statement. "Someone likes the sound of her own voice" muttered Winter as Rarity started scorning Trixie's attitude and Spike started attempting to sing Twilight's praises again before being silenced by Twilight. "You see the way they reacted to Trixie?" Twilight asked him when he inquired what was wrong "I don't want anyone thinking I'm a show-off." "So Ms. "Great and Powerful Trixie" what makes you think you're so awesome anyway?" asked Rainbow mockingly to which Trixie scoffed. "Tch. Why, only the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic powerful enough to vanquish the dreaded…" here she paused for emphasis "URSA MAJOR!" as a fanfare went off and fireworks formed the shape of a cartoony bear. "Now that certainly IS a tall tale; it'd actually be impressive if I hadn't heard it before from the last seven show ponies I saw" Winter said to Twilight as the audience let out varying exclamations of admiration. "When all hope was lost, the ponies of Hoofington had no one to turn to, but the Great and Powerful Trixie stepped in, and with her awesome magic, vanquished the Ursa Major and sent it back to its cave deep within the Everfree Forest!" Trixie boasted as the scene played out in the fireworks, which resulted in Snips and Snails proclaiming Trixie as the greatest unicorn in Equestria. "Really?" Rainbow said sceptically, drawing out the word "prove it." "Very well, I shall" Trixie replied as a fanfare went off AGAIN "I hereby challenge you, Ponyvillians. Anything you can do, I can do better. Any takers? Anyone? Hmm? Or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine who has ever lived!?" "Could you please shut that annoying thing off before I find it and freeze it? That'll shut it up!" Winter grumbled, annoyed with the constant fanfares. "How about… YOU?" Trixie asked, pointing at Twilight "Is there anything YOU can do that the Great and Powerful Trixie cannot?" "How about not give me a headache when she speaks? She's very good at that whereas you can't control the volume of your voice." Put in Winter as Twilight stuttered. "THAT'S IT! Ah've had just about enough of this!" Applejack grumbled and marched onto the stage (with Spike cheering her on in the background) and performed a series of impressive rodeo rope tricks, ending it by lassoing an apple and eating it, much to the audience's appreciation. "Oh ye of little talent… Observe" said Trixie, unimpressed as the rope imitated a snake and hogtied Applejack while sticking an apple in her mouth, which the audience found hilarious. Winter, on the other hand, did not. "That's it, telling tall tales is one thing but embarrassing ponies to the point of humiliation is quite another…" he said "Dash, buy me some time." "And how would I do that?" she asked. "I don't know, fly casual…" he replied as he walked off. Rainbow then used her speed to shoot through clouds and gather moisture in order to create a mini-rainbow, but Trixie used her magic to whirl the rainbow into a funnel and trapped Rainbow Dash in it, which resulted in it spinning her around until she got dizzy and was flung off stage. Spike, Applejack and Rainbow then started talking about how they needed a unicorn to sort this out, which resulted in Rarity saying she was "above such nonsense". Trixie was about to provoke her when suddenly the area went dark and different coloured lights started flashing as an upbeat and catchy theme started playing (A/N: Play Ghostbusters theme here) "If there's someone strange, in the neighbourhood; who ya gonna call? BOAST BUSTERS!" sang Winter as he entered the stage wearing a white suit that had two Bs on it. "If there's someone weird, and they don't sound good; who ya gonna call?" "BOAST BUSTERS!" shouted back the audience as they got into the song, much to Trixie's annoyance. "If you're hearing things, runnin' through your head; who can ya call?" "BOAST BUSTERS!" "An invisible pony, shoutin' in your bed; who can ya call?" "BOAST BUSTERS!" "Ego's outta control? Don't let it roll! Call…" (A/N: That was terrible, I know...) "BOAST BUSTERS!" "WHAT IN THE NAME OF NIGHTMARE MOON IS THIS?!" shouted Trixie, interrupting the song. "Well, I thought I'd renew and old job of mine" replied Winter "I travel around, looking for high concentrations of ego which need to be reduced immediately, I'm the Boast Buster, see? Says it on my suit: B B, Boast Buster." "Oh really?" mocked Trixie "I'm the real thing so my ego is well deserved…" "Hate to interrupt, but the real thing would not use such lousy fireworks" interrupted Winter, examining one of her rockets "where did you get these as these are some of the lowest quality fireworks you can get?" "HOW DARE YOU!" bellowed Trixie "I was assured that these were the finest quality by Star Scream." "Well that explains it, he's known as a liar and a cheat among the firework-making community." "What?! Just who are you anyway?" "Oh that's right, I haven't introduced myself, have I? How rude of me" relied Winter before bowing "my name is Winter Shield, at your service." "Wait, Winter Shield?" said Trixie, backpedalling "as in THE Winter Shield, the one whose fireworks are used by the highest of Equestrian nobility and are held in high esteem by both the Griffon King and Dragon Lords?" "Well I don't know about that, all I do is make sure my fireworks please their audiences; whoever that audience happens to be is their business." replied Winter " Now then, I don't appreciate you humiliating ponies like that so I challenge you to a duel of illusion magic, best illusion work wins; so, what say you?" "HA! You may be good with fireworks, but Trixie's mastery if the Illusion branch of magic is unparalleled" said Trixie arrogantly "Be prepared to lose Winter" "We'll see" said Winter as Trixie turned his coat pink, which gained a few chuckles from the audience. "Hm, classic; but try this" Winter observed, his horn glowing as his natural coat colour bled through Trixie's illusion. Suddenly Trixie heard hissing and looked in a mirror to find that her mane had turned into snakes. "That's it? Trixie can do much better than that" taunted Trixie as she fixed her mane and conjured a set of dancing trees which then proceeded to literally kick Winter's flank as they did the Can-Can. "How about this?" Winter replied as he turned Trixie's stage, caravan, clothing and whole body a dark blue. Trixie raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth, possibly to taunt Winter again, but all that came out was a song that went: "I'm Blue; da, ba, dee, da, ba, die, da, ba, dee…" The illusions went on like this, each one bigger, better and usually funnier than the last until Winter created a massive flaming phoenix in the sky and had it fly around the town with a rainbow following its path; as the audience stood enraptured, Trixie stood sweating in nervousness. "Trixie cannot replicate or surpass that." she finally admitted "My studies into Illusion are not complete so I must admit defeat, BUT… I will surpass this easily as I have everything else!" Turning, she left in a puff of smoke and a fanfare, which led to cheers from the crowd and they dispersed shortly afterwards. Winter accompanied Twilight back to the library. "Wow, I didn't know you could do all of that Winter" Twilight said to him in admiration. "Ah, anyone could do it. Illusion is unique in that respect because its potential it's mostly governed by the imagination of the user, the more creative the pony, the more they can do with illusion magic; of course, you need more power to create the more complex illusions but still…" Winter replied "Anyway, how come you didn't stand up to that showmare? Next to Nightmare Moon, I highly doubt she's that scary." "I guess so" said Twilight, laughing "But I was worried that I'd lose my friends for showing off if I did that." "Hm" Winter grunted, thoughtfully "most of the time one needs to know when NOT to use a spell…" "Exactly" interjected Twilight "If I sorted that mare out, they might hate me for showing off." "A spell used in the defence of those you care about, no matter how big or small it is, is never showing off" said Winter, looking up at the glimmering night sky "using spells to make yourself look superior however, IS showing off, which would have you been doing today had you intervened?" "I'd have been using them to defend my friends of course!" Twilight exclaimed, feeling insulted that Winter had to ask. "Then what's the problem?" Winter responded "Anyway, I suppose it's irrelevant now; just remember what I said." "Thanks, I will" replied Twilight, as they reached the Golden Oak Library "Hang on, where's Spike?" "Probably raiding my gem bins again, I should just send them over to you when they're full." answered Winter. "You'll do no such thing! Do you think I want Spike on a constant sapphire high?" barked Twilight. "Probably not if he's anything like Ms. Pie on meringues." Winter deadpanned. "See you tomorrow Winter. Send Spike home if you see him, it's nearing his bed time." Twilight said as she turned and entered the library. Winter headed for home and after chasing Spike out of his emerald supplies ("I told you to eat the impure ones in the large bins outside, not the ones in my stockroom!") and headed into his basement which doubled as an enchanting lab and a runecrafting area where he worked on perfecting his handwriting when crafting runes by writing each individual rune out multiple times (as Winter was extremely well versed in the art of runecrafting, he made few mistakes and practiced to keep it that way) until he was rudely interrupted by a loud roar coming from outside. Putting away his things, he headed upstairs and out of the house where he saw Trixie trying to subdue an enormous blue bear while Snips and Snails lurked behind her. "I don't get paid enough for this" he moaned before using his magic to propel himself along a slide made of ice towards the ponies and bear. Upon passing them, the bear's paws were encased in cocoons of ice and the ponies (and Trixie's caravan, which had miraculously avoided being stepped on) were engulfed in an ice blue aura and carried through the air after him towards the outskirts of the town. "Th-thank you" said Trixie as she was put down next to her caravan, though she was shaking to the point of collapsing. "No time for that now, we have to deal with that Ursa" replied Winter sharply "Trixie, warn the townsponies and tell them to evacuate, they'll know where to go. Snips and Snails, get to safety and send Twilight my way if you see her." "Right" replied Trixie as she galloped off towards the town who were being woken up by the Ursa's roars. "Aw, but we wanted to see some cool magic" whined Snails. "Yeah, that's why we brought that Ursa Major here" added Snips. "You brought it here?!" snapped Winter "actually, never mind that now; Go find Twilight, she's the only one who might have the knowledge of how to stop this thing." "And what'll you be doing?" asked Snails. "Buying some time…" answered Winter as he shot off back towards town square where the bear was wreaking havoc. His horn glowed and an orb of white magic about the size of a football (A/N: soccer ball in case anyone's confused) formed with an ice blue aura around it, Winter shot the orb at the Ursa while whistling to get its attention; the Ursa turned only to be met with an orb of white light to the face which exploded upon contact, knocking the Ursa back and away from the houses but also turning its ire onto Winter. "That was not my smartest move" he muttered as he circled the Ursa, beams of ice blue light forming behind him and shooting at the Ursa, covering its fur in patches of ice. The Ursa roared and swiped at him which he avoided by taking his ice slide up into the air but that left him at the mercy of the Ursa's other paw which came out of nowhere and collided with him, sending him flying and shattering his ice slide. "Drat" he said before forming a pillar made of ice and landing on it, using his magic increase the friction on the ice, preventing him from sliding off. He glared at the Ursa and formed a ball of ice blue light which grew to be three times his size and was about to launch it before he remembered where he was. 'Buck, I can't fire this attack without turning half of Ponyville into an enormous iceball; I'll have to find another way to use the energy.' Quickly, he re-absorbed the energy, his coat taking on an icy blue hue as he bowed his head, gritted his teeth and fired ice shards at the Ursa. The ice shards were being generated and fired so rapidly that it looked like Winter had fired a cylinder of white light at the Ursa and the cylinder appeared to be slowly driving it back until Winter cut the flow of magic, his coat returning to its normal colour as he breathed heavily, staring at his foe who was recovering and did NOT look happy. "Resilient little so-and-so, aren't you?" he asked it before he heard a female voice calling his name, he turned and saw Twilight running in with the rest of the Mane Six behind her. The Ursa noticed and was about to swing for them before the earth itself rose up and encased the Ursa, leaving only its head visible. "YOU WILL NOT LAY A CLAW ON THEM!" Winter shouted as his horn glowed with a blood red aura as a river of blood red light shot out of it, spiralled downwards around his ice pillar and shot towards the Ursa, sending it sprawling out of the town upon impact. After doing this Winter dropped to one knee. "Now why… didn't I… do that… from the… get-go?" he panted, cursing his stupidity as the fur around his left eye turned black and blood red streaks appeared in his mane. "You've done your job Winter, now leave it to me. Let's just hope this works" Twilight said, muttering that last part to herself before her horn glowed and a soothing melody played, making the Ursa sleepy. 'I recognise this' Winter thought 'It's Celestia's Lullaby; no wonder it can sooth the Ursa if it can calm HER.' While the lullaby was playing, Twilight emptied a water tower and levitated it through a cow's barn, resulting in it being filled to the brim with milk before she fed it to the Ursa and levitated the Ursa back to its cave in the Everfree Forest to the cheers of her friends. "I'm sorry, please don't hate me" Twilight frantically apologised much to her friend's confusion as Winter descended from his ice pillar and it vanished. "Hate you?" they asked in unison. "Well I saw how much you hated Trixie's showing off with her magic and so I thought…" Twilight began before being cut off by Rainbow. "Magic's got nothing to do with it, Trixie's just an annoying loudmouth" she said. "Most unpleasant" Rarity agreed. "All hat 'n no cattle" Applejack added. "So you don't mind my magic tricks?" Twilight asked nervously. "Your magic's a part of who ya are sugercube, and we're proud to have such a powerful unicorn as our friend" reassured Applejack to nods from Rainbow and Rarity. "Good to see… you've cleared the air… Twilight. That was a most impressive display… mind telling me what you…did?" Winter asked, regaining control of his breathing as he approached. "Don't sell yourself short Winter" Rainbow interrupted "You were like, awesome with your crazy ice attacks and that thing with the earth." "It WAS truly a sight to see" added Applejack "That may be, but I'm… still interested in what Twilight did" he replied, looking at Twilight. "Well, that Ursa Minor came just as I'd finished studying up on Ursa's and Constellation Beasts in general…" Twilight began before the other mares interrupted her "Wait… URSA MINOR?!" they shouted. "Yes, that was just a baby Ursa Major, it was probably just cranky because SOMPONY woke it up; anyway, I remembered what Winter said about Illusion magic only being restricted by the creativity and power of the user so I used Illusion it to recreate a song that Princess Celestia used to sing to me when I was particularly stressed, to sooth it, then I just used the old remedy of milk to lull it to sleep; after that I returned it to its mother" Twilight continued, glaring at Snips and Snails when she said "somepony", the colts had the decency to look ashamed. "That song… I've heard it before" Rarity said looking thoughtful "What was it Twilight?" "Its name is Celestia's Lullaby" Twilight answered "the Princess told me that her dearest friend used to make up tunes based on his mood and he made that one specifically for her when she had trouble sleeping, she said it has always calmed her regardless of the situation." 'She remembered? I thought she would try to erase all memory of me after THAT night' Winter thought in surprise. "And who was this friend?" Rarity asked, startling Winter out of his thoughts. "I think she told me his name once but I've forgotten it" answered Twilight, frowning "It's odd though, she always seemed so sad when talking of this pony. I wonder what happened to him…" "It must me so nice to know such a kind hearted stallion" squealed Rarity, swooning, much to Applejack's and Rainbow's annoyance when a certain cyan mare entered the scene. "Huh. You may have defeated an Ursa Minor but you will never have the show stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie" Trixie taunted, rolling the "r" on Trixie, before she threw a smoke bomb down and attempted to flee but was caught by Winter. "Now, now. Running away will only confirm your guilt in this matter in the eyes of the citizens, plus I think you should learn some people skills" he said. "Trixie needs no people skills, all she needs is to get out of this town!" retorted Trixie, struggling in Winter's telekinetic hold "Stop that struggling, you'll only tire yourself out; besides, I think some ponies want to thank you for what you did today" he replied as a small filly walked up. "Are you the mare that told mummy and me to get out of town because of the scary Ursa?" the filly asked hesitantly. "Erm… yes, yes I was…" Trixie answered before being cut off by the filly hugging her. "You were super brave to go around telling everyone about that mean, scary Ursa when it was attacking us" the filly said admiringly. "Well… I couldn't let anypony get hurt because of somepony's reckless actions which my story caused" Trixie replied, somewhat embarrassed as the filly and several other ponies gave her their thanks for warning them of the Ursa attack. "Winter…" Rainbow began "she was…" "Responsible for the idiotic actions of those two colts, yes" Winter cut her off "but what matters is she helped clean up her mess, so give her a chance; you might like her once you get past her showmare façade, Dash" "Hmph, well she's gonna have to prove herself to me" Rainbow grumbled. "That's your decision Dash, but don't hold grudges, nothing good ever comes of it" replied Winter as Twilight made Snips and Snails clean up the mess they caused as well as giving them and Spike moustaches. Scene Change: Golden Oak Library Dear Princess Celestia I have learned a very important lesson about friendship. I was so afraid of being thought of as a show-off that I was hiding a part of who I am. My friends helped me realise that it's okay to be proud of your talents and there are times when it's appropriate to show them off… especially in the defence of friends. "So finally admit you're the most talented unicorn in Ponyville?" Spike asked as Twilight finished her letter. "I suppose so but I'd bet that Winter could give me a run for my money, anyway it's nothing to brag about" Twilight replied "So… how'd it go with Rarity?" "Eh, she didn't go for the moustache" Spike said in a disappointed voice. "Well, maybe that's because that moustache has nothing to do with who you truly are, why don't you try just being yourself?" Twilight suggested before Spike started going on about a beard to go with the 'stache. "Argh, not this again. Where's Winter when I need him to distract Spike with his ridiculous antics?" moaned Twilight "I HEARD THAT!" echoed Winter's voice across Ponyville. "WELL IT IS TRUE!" Twilight shouted back. Scene Change: Canterlot "So, Twilight defeated an Ursa Minor" mused Princess Celestia as she looked up from her crystal ball. "An Ursa? Those beasts are still around?" asked Princess Luna, raising an eyebrow "We are surprised thou lets Nightmare's pets roam free sister; I'd have thought that Dark and thyself would've hunted them down and removed their threat to ponykind" "Only the two Ursas and Draco remain; I, myself destroyed Orion when it tried to hunt sentient organisms and Dark took care of the rest when we battled Nightmare; You need not worry sister, they are of no threat to any living being anymore" replied Celestia. "Right… You know that some may say that thy spying on thy student with that crystal is highly immoral?" Luna said. "Tch, it was probably immoral to hit you with the moon during out last battle yet no-pony complained about that, I highly doubt they'll complain about this" Celestia scoffed, Luna sighed. "If thou says so Celestia" she muttered before pausing for though "That Winter Shield is an interesting pony, his last attack seems… familiar, like I've seen it before." "It IS reminiscent of Dark's Rending Repulsion Beam, maybe that is why; He used it against Sagittarius in the battle against Nightmare; her memories bleeding into yours is not unexpected, after all" Celestia said thoughtfully. "Where would he have learned such an attack?" Luna asked, frowning "We'd imagine Dark did not make knowledge of such a devastating spell known…" "The mechanics of it have been "lost" but ponies know of it as I apparently used it to destroy the Constellation Beasts." Celestia explained "It's possible that it's his own variant of it…" "Why do ponies think that this is thy spell and not Dark's?" Luna demanded, her mane beginning to blow in a sharper wind, showing her agitation. Celestia sighed. "History gets corrupted over time Luna, Dark isn't even mentioned in the story of your fall now." Celestia explained, getting the feeling that this was going to be an annoying conversation. "But why?" Luna pressed. "Because I omitted him from it." Celestia said simply. "WHAT?! WHY WOULDST THOU DO THAT?!" Luna bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, the volume and power behind it shaking the entirety of the castle "Because ponies blamed Dark for your fall and I was too distraught to correct them, I suppose I partially blamed him myself…" answered Celestia, a couple of tears falling from her eyes but they never wavered from Luna's enraged gaze "By the time I came to my senses, the damage was done and Dark was regarded as a monster worse than Discord or a foul abomination from the depths of Tartarus, so I removed him from the story and from the history books; it was all I could do." "Celestia…" Luna trailed off. "Enough." Celestia said firmly "I made the decision and I live with its consequences." "But where IS Dark?" Luna asked again "He never let rumours get to him, so why is he not here? Why does he hide from us? From ourself? Does he… hate us?" Celestia embraced her sister as Luna's resolve finally cracked and she descended into tears at the thought of Dark hating her. "Never EVER think that Luna. Dark would never hate you even if hatred was the only thing he had left; he loved you beyond anything in this world or the next and would've sacrificed everything so that you could be happy and healthy. You were his sister Luna" Celestia said to her, every word being the absolute truth. "Then where is he? Why does he not contact us? WHY DID HE LEAVE?" Luna shouted into her sisters chest. "I think he thinks he's protecting you from himself and his bad reputation, you know how he gets about these things" Celestia reassured Luna which earned her a watery chuckle. "Indeed" Luna agreed, smiling, though tears still flowed "the idiot probably got it into his head that he was a danger to us and we were better off without him." Celestia held Luna with a serene look on her face but was frowning in the inside. 'When I find you Dark, I'll make sure you STAY with us' she thought, looking at Luna, who was recovering from her break-down 'Even if I have to bind you to me, I swear you'll never leave us alone like this again' she looked at Luna who had just gone off to sleep and sighed 'I never wanted this…' 'Luna doesn't deserve this…'