His Lingering Touch
In the city of Canterlot, it was time once again for Celestia to raise the sun and Luna to set the moon. Even though the sisters were miles away from the peaceful town of Ponyville, the ponies there would feel their influence. Once the sun princess finished with her daily royal duty, they would get out of bed and get ready for the new day. Fillies would go to school, colts and mares would go to work...
...and a certain dragon would be snoring in his bed.
Spike rested in his tiny bed, in the middle of another Rarity dream. His face was shoved into the pillow, and the blanket was laying off to the side. Granted, it wasn't dignified for his species, but given how long of a day he had, his body shut down the moment it felt the comfort of the bed.
He was still snoring, and he turned over on the side to get more comfortable. Sunlight passed through the window and filled Twilight's house with its glow. It went over Spike's eyes, and it disturbed his sleep. He slowly woke up, bags hanging over his eyes.
The moment he realized it was morning, he sprung up in his bed and panicked. He looked out the window and slapped himself in the face when he realized what time it was.
"I overslept!" he cried. "I can't fail Twilight now!"
The dragon got up on his feet and hastily draped the blanket over his bed. It missed and hit the floor, but he had no time to fix that. He had breakfast to make for his adoptive sister, and fast.
He scrambled for the kitchen, his body still half asleep, and stumbled for the pantry. There was a box of cereal he found in there, and he poured it all into a bowl. It spilled out of the bowl into the floor, but he didn't care. He HAD to make up for the lost time.
"Sorry, Twilight! I didn't mean to sleep that late. I know you said I didn't need to do everything for you, but I want to do this for you. Anything that can make you more...comfortable..."
Just as he was about to pour some Sweet Apple Acres milk into the bowl, he saw Twilight's bed for the first time today. And the bed was empty.
He dropped everything and raced over to her bed. He searched everywhere for anything, anything at all that would tell him where Twilight Sparkle had gone. There wasn't a note, there wasn't a letter from Celestia asking her to come somewhere, nothing.
Spike started to hyperventilate, and his mind raced with all the bad things that could be happening to the princess.
"No no no no no, this is not good! I promised to look after her, and now she's gone! Please Twilight, be here somewhere..."
But before he could hire a whole team of Guards to look after her like he was thinking, he stopped in his tracks when he heard something. It was hooves clopping on the ground downstairs, originating from the basement.
Spike sighed in relief. It was a good thing that Twilight was still in the house, so he knew he didn't fail her after all.
He went downstairs to the basement. By that point in time, the room was completely changed. It hardly resembled its old self, save for a few spare books shoved to the side.
The room had Twilight's cutie mark on the carpet, done like a room in Celestia's castle. The walls were painted with cute and cuddly animals, all done by Pinkie Pie herself. There was a diaper changing station off to the side, and a bunch of foal toys were put up neatly by the wall.
But the thing that got Spike's attention was the crib in the middle. It was big and made out of wood, but that wasn't the important thing. Instead, he noticed that a familiar purple alicorn was gazing down at the crib. She smiled as she saw it was ready for use, and she peered down at her belly. It was big and almost swollen, and she rubbed over it with a hoof. She was almost crying from the sight, and she didn't notice Spike standing in the room with her.
"This is your room," Twilight said to the foal inside. "All of this is for you. I hope you like it. We all worked hard on it for you, because we want the best for you."
She felt a kick inside her stomach. It hurt every time the foal did that, but the joy it brought was worth it. And then she noticed Spike standing there, waiting for her.
"Oh, hi Spike."
"What are you doing out here?" Spike worried. "I thought you were going to be in your bed, and I could serve you breakfast. You really need your rest before the baby arrives."
"Sorry. I just wanted to look over the room one last time, make sure everything is in place."
"That's my job for now. Here, let's go back upstairs and have some breakfast."
Twilight sighed and nodded. She scanned her eyes over the room one last time, just to remember it as well as she could, and she went up the stairs with Spike.
Spike helped her with every step, making sure she didn't tip over or fall. She swore she could do it just fine, but there was no way he was going to make her do this alone.
Later on, Twilight found herself tucked into bed by Spike himself. She laid flat on her side, making sure she was comfortable and the position wouldn't bother her belly.
Spike brought a tray to the bed, and he placed it around her waist. He put the bowl of cereal in front of her, and the bowl...well, it was overflowing in every single way. There was way too much cereal, and milk was pouring out of the sides.
"Thanks, Spike. But you really should get more sleep than that. When did you go to bed last night?"
"Two in the morning. But that's not what matters for now. You come first."
Twilight smiled. She appreciated all of the effort he was giving her, and the cereal he had served was delicious.
Meanwhile, Spike brought out a clawful of documents and spread them out on the study desk. He brought out his quill and looked to Twilight.
"Alright, here's the bills and royal duties for the day. Are you ready?"
"Ready. But really, get some sleep after this."
"Fine. The first one is from those construction workers designing your castle. They want to know if you would like a fountain by the castle entrance. What should I write?"
"Hmm...that would be nice. There might be a river by the castle, but that would be a great thing to see when you come in, wouldn't it? Check yes."
Spike crossed the box next to "yes", and went to the next scroll.
"This one is from the Mayor. She wants to expand Ponyville by 20% over the next four years. Its so that the town is closer to your castle."
Twilight nudged her front hooves together, more than a little uncomfortable with the idea. "I...I'm not sure. Its going to happen sooner or later, but I want more time to think about it."
Spike grabbed the scroll and shoved it into a drawer full of other scrolls, made just for these occasions.
"Here's one. It's asking for a new holiday. They call it Princess Twilight Sparkle Day."
She raised an eyebrow. "And just what would this holiday have?"
"It would have everyone in Ponyville throw a big party for you. There would be a parade in your honor, and you get to have a great big cake at the end of it. We would all say how awesome it is you live in Ponyville, especially now that you're...you're 'the best princess in the history of princesses'."
Twilight giggled under her breath. "Let me guess, did Pinkie Pie write this?"
Spike examined the scroll closely. "Yep. That's her signature right there, with a doodle of you on top of that big cake next to it."
Twilight couldn't help but laugh. "That's just like her. Go tell her that she doesn't need a big holiday to make me feel special. That's what my birthday is for."
"Um...that's when the holiday would be. On your birthday."
"Oh. Well, I don't think its necessary. Tell her she doesn't need..."
Before she could finish, Spike was passed out on the study desk. He still had the quill in his hand, the tip of it right next to the NO box.
She laughed again, having seen Spike's lack of sleep catch up with him. But she grew nauseous out of the blue. Laughng like that sent her over the edge. Her stomach felt like a volcano ready to burst, and she felt her face heating up. She clenched her belly with her hooves, and she wanted to go to the restroom so badly. But moving one of her hooves at all only served to make her stomach more upset.
So she looked for anything to use. There was a dust bucket right next to Spike, and she used the levitation spell to bring it to her bed. She pushed her snout into it, and what happened next is best left unsaid.
Once she was finished, she put the bucket down and laid down her head flat on her bed. She went from cheerful and ready for the day to spent and sleepy in no time. She looked down at her stomach and gave a weak smile.
"I'm not going to miss this part. But it will be worth it when I meet you for the first time..."
Before she knew what was happening, she closed her eyes and went to sleep within minutes.
----
Wind whistled around Twilight's ears, and the air was suddenly freezing around her. She thought it was just another symptom of her pregnancy at first, and she tried to go back to bed. Spike was right about one thing, she needed her rest and not try to overextend herself.
But once she turned over to the other side, she heard her hooves press down on snow.
That was when she knew something was wrong. She opened her eyes to see what was going on, and her jaw dropped when she realized where she was.
The comfort of her bedroom had given way to a tundra, stretching out for miles and surrounded by mountains. The wind blew at her back, and snow came down in pellets around her. There was nothing resembling life out there, other than Twilight herself.
The alicorn freaked out from the sight, and her mind raced over all the reasons why she could be out here. Maybe Celestia brought her out here. Or a dragon kidnapped her and dropped her off here to die from the cold. But none of those reasons fit into the puzzle.
The very first thing that came to mind was her foal, and how her being out here would harm it. She clutched at her belly again, but what she felt there was the stuff of horror.
There was no baby in her stomach. It was gone, seemingly never existed. On top of that, she felt armor across her body. She looked over herself and saw that she was decked in body armor. Her hooves had silver plates, her neck was covered in another plate, and a purple cape was flapping against the wind on her back.
It was the same armor she wore when she was...his queen.
She found new reasons to panic, and she didn't know why this was happening again. The obvious answer that this was all a dream felt silly to her, because it was so vivid that she thought it was real. But she didn't know why this was happening at all.
On top of that, she shed a tear when she realized that she wasn't with her child out there. Regardless how it was made, she wanted the baby to be hers as long as she knew she would have one. All the things she could teach him, the joy of seeing him grow up...all gone, just like that.
She cried where she was for a few minutes, the weight of it all hitting her like a brick to the face. Her tears froze up on her face, creating icy streaks on her cheeks.
And then she saw something else.
Up a few dozen feet, she spotted a few ponies lying flat on the ground. She couldn't make them out through the snow that well, but she could see that they were ponies.
She ran to their aid without a second thought. Maybe they could tell her what was going on. But the closer she came to them, the more her heart sank. She recognized them as Royal Guards, much like the ones from her darkest memories.
They were eight in number, wearing the usual Guard armor. They were all collapsed on their sides, and some of them had blood coming out of their lips. None of them showed any signs of life, not one.
Twilight gasped at the sight, as it reminded her of memories she wanted to forget. But she had to make sure they were still alive. She came to the side of one of them and touched his neck to check for a pulse. Nothing.
Neither did any of the other Guards, as she checked them one by one, hoping to Celestia that one of them was still alive.
Once she realized that, she sat down on the frozen snow and cried again. Something in her heart made her feel like she was responsible, and she hated herself for letting it happen.
She sat there, crying her heart for a little while, allowing the snow drifts to take over her.
Then she felt a warm hoof on her shoulder.
She didn't mind it one bit at first, and a part of her almost welcomed it. She didn't know who it was, but given how bad this day was for her, any love and attention was needed. Once she felt the pony's hooves wrapped around her stomach, she leaned back and allowed the pony to embrace her.
"I...I don't know what happened," Twilight whimpered. "I found them like this, but I feel like I killed them. I'm so sorry..."
"You don't have to be."
Her eyes widened in fear. She would know that voice anywhere.
She pulled away from the pony's hooves and faced the pony directly. Her face was frozen in shock when she saw who it was.
Standing right there in front of her was King Sombra himself. He was clad in the armor he was most proud to wear, and his red cape flapped in the wind as well. His face was full of worry and affection for Twilight, and he reached a hoof out for her to take.
"You don't have to do this alone, Twilight Sparkle. I am here now."
Twilight shook her head, her brain not believing what she was seeing, but her heart was desperately wanting this to be real. There was no way this could be happening; it broke every logical rule of the universe. And yet she wanted to run into his hooves so badly.
But her brain was winning, and she took a few steps away from the King of Shadows. He matched every step she took, keeping the distance between the two close.
"No...it can't be...I saw you die! I watched you die with my own eyes, and your body was buried in this very place! There's no way this can be happening!"
"I came back from the grave once before, remember? But that is not important. I am here for you again. You don't have to raise the foal alone anymore."
Twilight still shook her head, her heart torn into pieces by the sight of Sombra. But she remembered all the things he had done to her, and she knew what she had to do.
She turned tail and ran as fast as she could away from him. She leaped over all the bodies and scrambled to the mountains, wanting to use her wings to get as high up as she could. The same thing wasn't going to happen to her again.
As soon as she ran away, an aura of dark magic surrounded Sombra's body. His pony form disappeared into a cloud of dark mist, and he vanished into the cloud completely. Once he took his shadow form, he came after Twilight, his green tinted eyes still visible within his new form.
Twilight gazed over her shoulder, and she almost screamed when she saw what was coming for her. Her hooves galloped over the snow as fast as she could, but she was never fast enough. She could feel his presence getting closer.
"TWILIGHT! DON'T GO! WE COULD BE TOGETHER FOREVER, AS YOU WANTED!" the black cloud shouted.
That sentence struck a chord within her, and her heart took over her instincts. She couldn't help but think of how deep their love really was, and deep down, a part of her wanted to feel his embrace.
So she stopped in her tracks and turned around. She extended her forelegs to the cloud, all while tears poured down her face.
"I do want you. And I hate myself for it!"
The dark cloud descended around her, filling the air with his magic. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to get swept in it, giving herself up for him. She felt his embrace through the mist, going beyond any logic that she knew. She welcomed it very much, but she still hated herself for giving in.
But what she did not know was that they weren't alone.
She couldn't see the pony herself, but it was many feet away from where she was. The pony was dark blue, carrying sandals on all of her hooves. She wore a crown on her head, and the moon was surrounded by an ink spot on her flank.
She arrived to see Twilight consumed by the dark cloud of Sombra, and she was deeply saddened by the visual. She also noticed the eight bodies of Guards surrounding her, and even a pony as dignified as her was tempted to cry.
"You are a deeply troubled soul even now, Twilight Sparkle," Princess Luna said. "And I will not allow you to carry this burden alone any more."
The tundra began to collapse around her. The ground cracked into a million pieces and flew up to the sky, and so did the bodies of the Guards. Luna realized the dream was ending soon, and she flapped her wings to reach the sky.
Before she left the dream altogether, she spotted Twilight down below, looking up to the sky. Maybe she saw Luna, but the princess of the night herself wasn't sure...
----
Luna's vision stopped glowing white and went back to normal as she left the dream. Her blue irises returned to her eyes, and she got her bearings back in reality. She found herself on her castle's watchtower, just as she was right before she traveled to the dreamscape.
Usually, when she returned from the land of dreams, she would feel as refreshed as anypony after a good night's sleep. She might even be happy with herself, as she helped solved another pony's problems.
But this time, she felt a sense of urgency she rarely felt before. There was no way she could sit on a problem like this.
Luna exited the watchtower and galloped through the hallways of the castle soon after. She heard where Celestia would be that day, and she wanted an audience with her immediately. Yes, Tia might be upset that she would interrupt her morning, but she would understand once she got the news.
Eventually, she arrived at the entrance to the central dining hall. There were two guards watching over it, and they bowed to her at first sight.
"Welcome, Your Majesty. Shouldn't you be resting at this hour?" one Guard said. "Its eight in the morning."
"No, I must speak with my sister at once. I demand entry inside."
"But she's in a breakfast meeting over the upcoming Equestria Games. Can it wait?"
"No. Its concerning Princess Twilight."
That got their attention fast. They opened the door quickly for Luna, and she dashed inside as soon as she could.
The dining hall had a long table at its center, and Celestia was indeed having a meeting with a few officials. Most of them were ponies; a few griffons from a far away kingdom were there as well. Most of them had plates of breakfast food, making the meeting that much more tolerable.
"Now, these Equestria Games will have the most secure facilities you can imagine, I assure you," Celestia said. "The prince is even a former captain of our Guard, so he knows security better than..."
She stopped her sentence as every head in the room turned to Luna. The moon princess looked like she was worried and agitated, something that made everyone concerned for her.
"I apologize for this interruption, but I need a private audience with my sister," Luna explained. "This is a very urgent matter at hoof for us."
Celestia sighed, a little upset over her sister's actions. "Are you sure it cannot wait? This meeting is also very urgent."
"More urgent than Princess Twilight?"
Celestia's eyes widened. "Oh, that matter. I'm sorry, but she's right. I need some time with her alone. We'll resume the meeting as soon as we're finished."
The officials grumbled under their breath as they got up from their chairs. They departed the dining hall out the entrance, and the Guards closed the door behind them. Luna proceeded to lock the door with her key, wanting this meeting as private as possible. She took a seat opposite Celestia, and her eyes, full of weary thoughts, said it all.
Celestia leaned forward as she began. "Have her dreams gotten any worse?"
"Much worse. The dreams are growing more frequent as time goes on, and each one is more terrifying than the last one."
"And Sombra was in this one, wasn't he?"
"Yes. He was her comforter, her protector when she found the bodies of those eight Royal Guards. No doubt memories of her assistance in their murders plaguing her dreams."
"It's just as I feared. She needs more help when it comes to this. Especially before the foal is due. Its his foal as well, and I don't want her memories of him getting in the way of raising her child."
"When is the foal due, sister? I confess that I have forgotten."
"Her doctor says the colt is due in two weeks. But that's not important right now. I think I know what we need to do for her sake."
"And what would that be?"
"I'm going to offer her the opportunity to stay at our castle for the remainder of her pregnancy, up to the first month after the foal is born."
"And you plan for us to help her finally solve the Sombra problem, are you not?"
"Of course. Do you mind doing something for me during that time? I want you to go into her dreams when she is here, and help her there like you normally would."
Luna gleamed in delight. "That is one of my favorite royal duties, so I will do that with pleasure. But be sure to invite her friends to Canterlot when she is close. You know how she is with her friends."
"Of course. And I'll make the preparations now for the delivery. But first things first..."
She pulled out a scroll to write on, and brought a quill next to the paper. Scrolls and quills were in nearly every room in the castle, in case of writing emergences.
She began writing her letter, and finished with the following.
My faithful fellow princess, Twilight Sparkle,
I hear that the foal is due soon. I'm sure you're excited about him as much as your friends, family, and we are. This is a big moment for anypony, and we couldn't be happier for you.
That is why Luna and I are offering something for you for this occasion. If you want to, you can stay with us at the castle for the remainder of your pregnancy. We would be able to have a room ready for you to deliver the foal when the time comes, and your friends can stay in the guest bedrooms when they can. And your parents are in the area, so this would be very convenient for them.
Of course, you can go to the hospital in Ponyville if you wish. But we want you to know that our doors are open, if you're interested.
Wish you luck,
Princess Celestia
She sealed the letter with her stamp of approval and used her magic to make it into a wisp in the air. It left the room and traveled all the way to Ponyville.
"What do you think she will say?" Luna asked.
"Knowing her, she's already reading--"
A letter appeared in front of her immediately, and it dropped down to the table. Celestia opened it at once and read its contents. A smile formed on her lips as she read it.
"Remind me to prepare the castle for a third princess once the meeting is over," she grinned. "Princess Twilight Sparkle is coming over."
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faved before reading ^^
I was waiting for it since your announcement
Holy shit, dude! You're actually following through with the sequel?! Congratulations! I think it's fantastic that you're continuing to push past difficult times and are actively choosing to write what you feel, instead of what others pressure you into doing.
Granted, be careful not to outright reject all alternative opinions and reader input. But I'm sure you already knew better than to do that.
I still feel awful about the pain I might have caused you with my opinionated comment on KotD, indirect or otherwise. I almost feel responsible for the entire debacle. And I really do hope that there are no hard feelings between us. But I do feel quite a bit better now that it's clear that the whole experience has worked out and made better people out of both of us, I think.
Again, though, congratulations on reaching the next milestone in this fan story, and in your own personal life story as well. I have no doubt that your abilities will only continue to grow, and this will be made clear in your writings as time goes on.
I'll still be here, of course. And you can bet that I'll continue to toss my two cents into the comments section from time to time, though I intend to be far less manipulative in my suggestions and observations than I was last time. Regardless of whatever I will come to think about it, I'm ultimately certain that you will not disappoint with this project.
Good luck, godspeed, and have fun with it.
~Somebody
3930529
I was waiting for it before he even planned it.
Tell it to them straight, Soothing.
Umm, if you want to, that is...Yay it's finally here and worth the wait!
reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/thumbs_up_matt_leblanc.gif
You can't see it right now, but I clap for this greatly fashioned group of words.
Yesssssss!!!! I loved the first story, it makes me so happy to know what's happening after its conclusion.
Awesome to have the opportunity to read this at long last, and a good start to it.
It's here
My reaction to this...
Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!
I'm so excited!!
Looking forward to this. I enjoyed Kiss quite a lot and I expect to enjoy this one just as much.
A sequel to Kiss of the Dark? Insta-fav! Loved KotD and I have a wonderful feeling that I'm going to enjoy this!
A seemingly happy occasion with a sudden dark undertone.....oooooh the possibilities are going to drive me nuts. t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQm1LI9PoVZG2GFUEc87oAIhL4sKxjro2DcBopO5t6aHx_99SMPQHERmOE
Oh hello... I just finished KOTD on the bus home...
This will be good.
I would be excited to read this, but I liked the evil ending better so I wont be reading this.
I have been waiting for this even before I joined... Tis' about time...
Now make more *Points at your screen*
3939710
Is that username a reference to Randy Savage, by any chance?
3939787
That's awesome. He really did look awesome in his NWO Madness gear.
3941273
I dunno, I always liked the black and white colors of the NWO, and Savage fit well in them.
Great story, I can't wait for more.
That vision.
I'm sorry, must not make star wars reference.
*gives in too temptation*
img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081205054355/starwars/images/thumb/d/d5/Legacy11cadevader.jpg/200px-Legacy11cadevader.jpg
Finally, I get some time to read this sequel. Merely chapter one, but I'm enjoying it already.
That... Is what I call fast. I mean, really, really fast. Spike probably didn't even have time to fully regurgitate the magical letter before Twilight began reading it at that kind of speed.
SO FIRIGGAN PUMMPED FOR THIS!!
3941461 I wasn't expecting this, but i'm glad you decided to.
You can never escape me...
ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=JN.cuPznnicFOuSENYFYkvvJg&w=246&h=154&c=7&rs=1&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.1
You Star Wars fans should get the reference here.
6097702
The image isn't available. What exactly is it?