The Beginning

by Newman2007

Chapter 4 - Encounters

"That day was one of the best days of my life. Not a cloud in the sky, thanks to my friend Rainbow Dash..." That name stung like a knife to the heart. For the first time in a long time, she remembered her friends. Tears flowed from her eyes. It was too long ago and too painful to remember.

"Mother...." Twilight realized that her daughter was sitting on the bed beside her now. She doesn't even know... Twilight thought. She wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I-I'm s-sorry....I-I...I.." Her daughter wrapped her mother in her hooves and comforted her. All of the pain that she had felt for the last four hundred years came out all at once. The room was quiet for a long time, with the exception of the queen. Skyfall looked down upon the queen and the young princess. He knew what had happened to Twilight and what she had done to the true princesses of Equestria. He walked over the doctor and kindly asked him to leave. The doctor did as he was told and removed himself from the room. This time, however, Skyfall did not leave. Instead he gathered the tea tray from the bedside table. It was the same silver set that Celestia used. Aure looked over at her mother's advisor. How little she knew of him. Her mother held her in a close embrace and clutched her tiny body tighter and tighter. Skyfall's sudden cough broken the silence in the room. Twilight looked up in a panic. Her eyes were bloodshot from tears that stained her lavender cheeks. She was choking back more tears and sorrow. Skyfall cleared his throat.

"Sorry to interrupt, Your Highness. There are duties-"

"Which will have to wait, Skyfall," interrupted the young princess. "My mother has been gone sometime and is wounded. Do you have any pity?" Skyfall was unmoved. He did not care for the queen nor did he care of her condition. Yet, she was the queen and Celestia was banished in the sun for eternity.

"I apologize princess, but something must be done for the kingdom." Twilight, who had been in the middle of this argument silenced both of them by lifting her right hoof. She lifted her sore body from the bed and touched the floor. Aure and Skyfall watched the queen in silence.

"It is true. I have been gone for far too long. I have seen many of my loved ones leave this Earth." Twilight stood on all four hooves and wrap her shawl around her. The sun was setting in the distance and it was nearing twilight. Skyfall rested the tray on the bed side table and picked up the kettle using his magic. It was made of brass and had a mind of its own, but Skyfall had much practice handling it.

"I was the Element of Magic, a title I have too soon forgotten and paid little attention to for several ages. My...friends," Twilight began, stifling back another round of tears, "were the other Elements of Harmony. The five of them were the best thing that had ever happened to me, and I will never forget them." Twilight turned her head to the purple sky that signaled the night.

"Its funny, for centuries I have tried to move on with my life, tried to find that same happiness that I felt in their presence." Twilight paused and pulled her blanket closely around her, "I just wish that they were still here..." Memories of her friends flooded her tormented mind.

"What happened to your friends mother?" Twilight snapped back to reality. That question caught her off guard. Skyfall stopped pouring the tea. He wanted to hear the queen confess to her daughter. This ought to be good, Skyfall thought. Looking down at the tray, a thin smile appeared on his face and quickly disappeared. His magic still held the delicate pot floating above the fine china cups. Twilight looked away from her daughter and a tear raced down her cheek. The moon was full and low in the horizon. The face of a mare appeared in the moon. Has it really been four hundred years? The rest of the sun's light vanished from view. Darkness covered the land and the stream that ran through the castle glistened in the new light from the moon.

"Four hundred years ago, I was coronated a princess of Equestria. It was an exciting day full of joy and happiness. There was a fantastic party that was held in my honor by Pinkie Pie, the element of laughter. Rainbow Dash made the sky clearer than it had ever been and Rarity designed my beautiful dress. Applejack helped the kitchen staff prepare a celebratory meal and Fluttershy made the birds sing during the ceremony. Meanwhile, I was whisked away from one part of the castle to the next; it was all very exciting.

"After the exhausting day, I retired to my chambers, where I proceeded to sleep in one of the most comfortable beds of all time. Life in the castle was perfect and I only had a few royal duties to accomplish each day." Twilight sighed and her face turned depressed.

"About a month into my new life, Celestia came to my bedroom to check up on me. When the princess walked through my front wooden doors, I was overwhelmed with excitement to see her, but at the same time I was furious with her. We rarely saw each other during the day for she had thousands of tasks. At night, she would spend time with her sister and then retire to her chambers. They would laugh at inside jokes that I was not a part of and unintentionally excluded me from royal events. I tried to tell myself that Celestia was just so busy and didn't have much time for anything. Although the anger inside was almost to a boil, I conducted myself in a proper manner. Celestia was so graceful as she entered my chambers. She held herself with the strongest confidence. I always looked up to her; she was my idol. I respected her and she the same to me, and I always felt that I could tell her anything. Anything except how I was feeling that night. She stood before me, towering as a god-like figure. This was the princess that I looked up to and that I loved so dearly." As she spoke, the memory of that night played back over and over again in her head. She continued to stare out into the beautiful night. Skyfall placed the tea pot on the tray after filling both cups with tea. The thin smile reappeared.

"Spot of tea madam?" Skyfall asked suddenly. Twilight slowly turned to him, clearing the tears from her eyes. Aure sat in silence.

"I must apologize Skyfall. I had forgotten you were standing there. Do you mind if my daughter and I were to be alone for a while?" Her voice was shaky and unsteady.

"Of course, Lady Sparkle." He could not refuse the princess, not yet. He followed her orders and left the room. The doors were then sealed and the silence returned.

Twilight moved from her spot by the window to the tea cups. Hibiscus, mmmm my favorite. She used her magic and levitated a cup off of the tray and to her lips. Twilight drank a few sips before commanding the cup to levitate slightly below her chest.

"He was her royal advisor," Twilight said, breaking the silence between the two.

"Really?" Her eyes bugged out of her head.

"Yes really." Twilight chuckled. "And he had the biggest crush on me."

"WHAT?!" Aure was no on all four hooves. "Tell me more mom!" She was jumping with excitement. Twilight laughed.

"He was still new to the castle, barely knew his way around. I don't think that he was much older than you. Well, I was learning about magic as Celestia's most talented student and I...um..guess that I kinda liked him too..." Her mind drifted from the conversation and she remembered their first encounter.

"Oh gosh! I am going to be late!" Twilight yelled running down the empty hallways of the castle. Celestia had told the staff to enjoy the rest of their afternoon off that day because it was the hottest Equestria had been in a thousand years. Although it was the sun princess who controlled the heat daily, every once and a while, the sun would disobey and conduct the day as it pleased. Instead of completing royal duties for the rest of the afternoon, Celestia asked Twilight to visit her in the library. She said that she had something important to tell her and Twilight knew that she could not be late, so, she scurried down the corridors as quickly as she could. Fortunately, Twilight knew her way around the castle which was helpful in situations where she was running a bit behind schedule. Besides, she was almost always in the library, however, today she had been on the opposite side of the castle. If I cut through the court yard, I'll be there even quicker! Twilight thought to herself making her grin and she dashed down to the courtyard below.

It is one of the most beautiful places inside the castle. Much like the Canterlot Gardens, it is lined with birch trees with shimmering leaves that never fall. The grass is the purest of greens and little yellow marigolds imitate a sea of gold. In the center of the courtyard is a little pond in the shape of a crescent. Lily pads float on the surface of the clear pool and tiny toads jump from lily pad to lily pad. Various marsh plans line the outside of the pond. Nested near the pond is a gazebo with intricate detail of the creation of Equestria. Made completely out of wood, It stands about eight feet tall (made to the specifications of the sun princess). On a normal day, Twilight would grab five or six books from the library and take them to the gazebo to read on the cushioned bench that rested inside. This place was twilight's favorite hiding spot. She could spend hours absorbing its beauty while accomplishing her favorite hobby. Once finished with her reading, she would lay on the bench and nap until dinner. Nopony was ever in the courtyard, making it the ideal place to get some peace and quiet.

As she galloped to the opening of her oasis, she felt some strange aura in the atmosphere. Something foreign in the courtyard made her cringe. Still, she stepped through the gates and wandered it. She never ran through the yard, in fear of arising the foreign organism within. She knew that she should just leave and go straight to the library to be with the princess, but her curiosity took over. She heard something in the gazebo and slowly stepped closer. When she was close enough, she saw the figure of a young stallion. He was seated on the bench reading a book. She couldn't make out the title, but he seemed completely absorbed in whatever it was. It was until Twilight had put her hoof on the first step that he realized he was no longer alone. He froze and looked up from his reading, scared out of his mind.

"Oh! Your Majesty! I do apologize, but I thought I was alone in here," the young stallion said. He had a dark grey coat and a black scruffy mane and tail, both being short. He was about the same age as Twilight but stood almost a foot taller. He was also a unicorn, a very handsome unicorn.

"Wow, you're more beautiful in person....I..um......sorry..uh..." Twilight giggled.

"Not to worry this place is one of my favorites. I can spend hours in here, you've picked a good spot." She paused. "How rude of me to not ask for your name.."

"It's Skyfall," he interrupted. "Your Highness." He bowed before her.

"Mine's Twilight, but I guess you already knew that," Twilight said. Everypony knew who she was now.

"So what are you doing in the courtyard?"

Skyfall was taken by surprise.

"I..um...was just on my way to the library actually to see the Princess, but I stumbled across this place and I guess I have just lost track of time."

"I'm on my way there too, Celestia requested for me to see her this afternoon.." Twilight suddenly remembered the rush that she was in. "Come quickly! I think that we are running late!" She grabbed his hoof and the two dashed across the golden sea of marigold and through the opposite gate leading to the library.

Twilight shook her head. No, it wasn't like that anymore. Now he could barely look at her. She saw the hatred in his eyes that nopony else seemed to see. She knew the source of his hatred.

"Anyways, I should return to my original story..." Twilight said. "I decided to tell my idol that I felt that she did not appreciate me, that she didn't like me anymore."

A tear jolted down her face. She felt like she was going to relive that moment all over again. She wiped it away before continuing.

"She seemed to feel the same, but insisted that she was much too busy to worry about that sort of thing at the moment. She wanted to wait to be my friend. The anger boiled inside of me causing my frustration to breach." As she spoke, the anger rose in her voice, Then turned to slow running tears staining her face. Every emotion she felt that night was being recreated.

"She didn't say anything else, so she just left. She said nothing to me." Twilight hung her head down and closed her eyes. More tears came and her shoulders began to shake.

"I was so hurt. She abandoned me like I was nothing to her. I..I-I thought she was better than that, like she could never hurt...anypony. But that day I realized that she was not this perfect princess that I had always thought she was."

Twilight slowly lifted her head and looked at her daughter. Aure was shocked by her mother's emotions. She could feel the hurt in her mother's eyes and she felt like she was reliving that scene all over again. It was saddest she had ever seen her Twilight.

"Mom..."

"Y-yes..Aure?"

"What happened after that night?" Twilight sniffled a small sigh.

"That night the most powerful form of evil was born, Dark Shadow."

Comments

[Newman2007]

2764497 thanks for the feedback!

[Newman2007]

2764497 actually I was wondering if you would want to be my first editor?

[observer of dimensions]

Don't know if this story is died but I faved it anyway.