A Shadow of the Past Revealed

by Ironskull

Chapter 1: Unfocused Teleportation

"Argh!"

Twilight Sparkle groaned at her own clumsiness. It was not often that she accidently let go of something she was levitating, but it did happen occasionally, especially when she let her mind wander. She stared down at the shattered remains of her drinking glass.

She shook her head and decided to take care of the mess in the same way that she usually did: by targeting the shards with an unfocused teleport spell.

The sharp glass vanished. Despite being angry with herself for being clumsy, Twilight felt a small amount of smugness at her simple solution. As she often did after employing the spell, she began to wonder where the objects that she teleported away actually went.

This caused her to remember Celestia's own words on the matter from back when Twilight was studying under her as her star pupil.

---

"Think very carefully about your request, Twilight. Teleportation can be very dangerous, and extremely few ponies have ever managed to master it."

"How could teleportation be dangerous?" asked a younger Twilight in an awe filled voice.

"The biggest danger is splicing. When you teleport, you must focus on every part of your body and not forget a single part. If you fail to encompass every part of your body in the spell, the parts that you forget about will be left behind. It can very easily be fatal. You must practice teleporting objects until you have achieved perfect mastery before I will even consider letting you preform the spell on yourself.

"Oh," said Twilight, now in a very worried voice. "I see. Are there are other dangers?"

"There is one other danger, but it is one very easily avoided. If you do not have a destination in mind when you preform the spell, the object that you are teleporting will vanish forever, never to be seen again. You must never do this to yourself. Fortunately, it is a mistake that you could only make on purpose, as you would never try to teleport yourself for no reason."

"It will make things vanish forever?" asked Twilight curiously.

"I believe so. It is also possible that the teleported objects are deposited somewhere in the world, perhaps at random. I do not believe that this is the case however, as nothing disposed of in this manner have ever been seen again."

"How do you know? Has anypony ever tried to do that to themselves?"

Celestia's face turned grim. "Indeed, somepony has, many years ago. Whatever happened, he became trapped and was unable to return. He was never heard from again."

---

And so the mystery had remained unsolved, a curiosity that Twilight would consider every time she used the spell, but too dangerous to investigate. But this time, a thought entered Twilight's head that she had never thought of before.

What if I was really careful? What if I ensured that I would have a way of getting back?

Within moments, a plan had formulated in her mind. All I need to do is create a two way portal and then teleport one end away!

For Twilight's plan to work, she needed a loose object that she would be able to teleport away, and it also needed to be flat enough to place the portal on, as well as tall enough to fit herself into should she determine that it was safe to do so. The first thing that had popped into her head was a door. She thought that this was appropriate, as she was in fact creating a 'door' to somewhere far away, assuming that the door didn't just vanish out of existence, and even though the portal would in fact just be an open hole on the front of the door, and not through it.

Doors were not something that a pony would simply go out and buy on a casual shopping trip, so she would have to order one.

The door arrived just after noon the next day. When Twilight stepped out to greet the mail pony, she couldn't help but squirm in excitement.

"Thank you so much for the swift delivery!" Twilight said to the mail pony as she closely inspected every angle of the door. "I needed this for a new experiment and I was worried that I would have to wait for-"

"Could you help me out here?" the mail pony interrupted. "This thing is pretty heavy."

Rainbow Dash happened to be flying near the library observing this spectacle.

"Now why the hay would Twilight be that excited about a door?"

Inside the library, Twilight had propped the door up against a wall in her room. For the moment, she ignored it and turned to face the bare wall on the opposite side of the room. Her horn lit up and a section of the wall was engulfed in magic.

Nothing happened to the wall, but Twilight was not expecting anything yet. The portal would open when she marked the other end. She turned back to the door and engulfed it in magic too.

An oval shaped hole appeared in the door and Twilight was suddenly looking at her own self from behind through the portal. She tried to look back at the wall, only to find that the Twilight inside that portal was looking away from her once again.

It's not so different from a mirror, Twilight thought. Only in reverse. And, I can walk through it.

To prove this statement to herself, she walked through the portal in the door and seamlessly walked into the identical room beyond. As she did so, she watched herself through the portal, studying her movement patterns from the third person. It was slightly eerie to think that she was watching herself.

Well, the portal works, Twilight thought. Now for the moment of truth!

Her magic once again engulfed the door as she prepared to teleport it away. Since Twilight had not selected a destination, distance was not a factor, so the spell was very easy to cast. The door vanished.

Slowly, Twilight turned around to face the portal that was still on the wall of her bedroom, half expecting to see only void. Instead, she gasped at what she saw.

There was a room on the other side of the portal. It looked like it was carved out of stone without any effort made to cover up the rocky floor and walls, except for several paintings that hung from the walls, all depicting ponies. The shattered drinking glass was directly in front of the portal on the ground, but, strangely, there did not seem to be any other debris. There was furniture lining the room, which was the last thing Twilight had expected. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a couple of bookshelves stocked with books.

Hesitantly, she stuck a hoof through the portal, then immediately pulled it back, as though afraid that she would not be able to. Eventually, she built up the nerve to step into the room, being careful to avoid the sharp glass on the floor.

The first thing that she noticed was that the air was very, very stale. She almost gagged, but it was breathable. Presumably, the air would mingle with the air from the library. She would have to remember to open some windows.

She looked around. There was a door carved into the stone wall. A long table that would probably seat about sixteen ponies stretched across the middle of the room, but it's entire surface was covered with a random assortment of items, including vases, books, papers and quills, bottles containing unknown liquids, pony figurines, a half woven rug, and piles of unidentifiable metal scraps.

Possibly, thought Twilight, these are all things that ponies have teleported away. But how did they get like this?

Twilight saw that one of the books on large table was laying open, but was terribly damaged. Despite this, it looked as though somepony had been reading it.

This is the Daring Do book that Rainbow Dash accidently mangled when she tried reading and flying at the same time! she thought. It was damaged beyond repair. I had to 'get rid of it' and purchase a new copy!

Somepony else has been here, Twilight reasoned. I could hardly expect to be the first to make it here. She tried not to think why a pony would spend their time in the strange place reading a book that they could easily obtain throughout Equestria.

Other furniture included end tables (Again, not an inch of surface space to be had,) benches, a writing station with a matching chair, a coat rack with a single black robe, and a large piano (Who would throw something so expensive away?).

Twilight suddenly saw something laying on the ground on the other side of the room. She walked closer to it and discovered that it was the skeletal remains of a pony. On its back lay a dark grey metal kite shield. The pony appeared to have no other possessions on it. He appeared to have died while curled up on the ground. Twilight tried not to think about it.

"Oh my..." whispered Twilight. She had an idea about who this could be. She crouched down to investigate the remains in detail.

Judging by the skeletal structure, it had been a stallion. There was no way of telling how old the remains were, other than that it had been a very long time since he had died. The pony's horn looked to be unchanged from the process of decay, but his wings were reduced to a relatively unsubstantial extension of bones.

Twilight froze in place as she realized that she was standing over the remains of an ancient alicorn. She was struggling to get a response from her brain.

Finally, a thought managed to make its way into her head. Why didn't the princess tell me?

Twilight continued her examination extra thoroughly, but she was unable to find any indications of who the pony had been. She finally gave up and decided to investigate the book shelves instead.

There were a great many ancient books on the shelves, which excited her immensely, but there were also more recent publications.

As Twilight moved on to the last shelf, the titles of the books suddenly became very sinister.

"How to summon a demon," said Twilight in shock. She continued to read titles aloud. "Advanced Necromancy Theory. 101 Ways to Serve Brussel Sprouts."

It's no wonder that these particular books have been banished! These books are evil!

She turned away from the bookshelf, feeling repulsed. She looked at the stone door, then shrugged and walked toward it.

The door was heavier than usual, but not overwhelmingly so. When she had pushed it open, she gasped at what lay on the other side.

The room beyond was huge. There was also one feature about it that was overwhelmingly dominant. The entire room was packed with shelves carved out of stone, and on the shelves was the hugest and most various collection of junk that Twilight had ever seen. Unlike almost everything in the first room, most of the items here were either broken or useless and unappealing.

Twilight did not bother stepping into the room. She slowly closed the door again. She decided that she had seen enough to satisfy her curiosity for the moment. Now she was going to seek some answers.

She walked back through her portal and found herself in her bedroom once again. She wasted no time in grabbing some paper and a quill.

Dear Princess Celestia,

You may recall that you once told me that nopony knows what happens to objects sent away by an unfocused teleport spell. I decided to investigate the matter myself and took precautions to ensure my safe return. I have succeeded and discovered a strange place closed off from the outside world. It appears to be full of items of all descriptions, including a few forbidden tomes. It is good that these volumes have been hidden from the eyes of those who would use their knowledge for ill.

However, you may also recall that you told me that a pony once used an unfocused teleportation spell on himself and was never seen again. I believe I have found his remains.

You never told me that he was an alicorn.

I would like to know more about this pony. Who was he?

Twilight Sparkle

Satisfied, Twilight went to find Spike and told him to send the letter to Celestia. She then returned to her bedroom, eager to explore the strange place beyond the portal once more.

When she stepped through the portal, she turned toward where the skeleton had been, but stopped. It wasn't where she remembered.

I must have misremembered, thought Twilight. She walked around the entire room, but did not find the skeleton.

Where is he? she thought, growing concerned. She looked around the room again and her eyes fell upon the bookshelf. She reread one particular title.

"Advanced Necromancy Theory..."

Uh oh.

Twilight rushed back to the portal and ran through. She dashed out of her room and then skid to a stop when she saw something lying on the ground near the top of the stairs.

That didn't just walk over here by itself, thought Twilight fearfully.

---

The skeleton pony had woken up upon hearing a commotion. Confused, he looked up and, to his utter confoundment, saw a real, live pony standing in the room, an alicorn no less. It was a good thing that he was too surprised to speak because this bought him time to think. While having another pony to talk to had been his heart's desire for centuries, it was not his number one priority. Escape was the priority.

And the mare had at last provided a way of escape back into the world of the living.

She would also probably not approve of his current state. She would probably attack him, or even try to run away and close the portal, which would be worse. It would then leave him stranded for the rest of eternity.

That wasn't a risk he was willing to take.

So he bid his time. He tensed up when Twilight had decided to investigate him, but he was extremely good at remaining absolutely still.

Eventually, Twilight opened the door to the 'junk room'. He had hoped for a chance to run then, but the mare never actually went inside. A sensation of despair filled him when she closed the door. Then he realized that she was leaving through the portal again. She would quite possibly be closing it once on the other side. There was no time to waste. He had to move, regardless of the risks. He grabbed the black robe from the coat rack, which he put on as he ran. He would need it to keep ponies from seeing what he was.

Fortunately, the mare did not see or hear him as he followed her out. She seemed to be preoccupied, for which he was immensely thankful. As soon as he was through the portal, he saw that the mare was busy looking in her desk for something. That was his opportunity to make a break for it.

He carefully pulled the door open with his magic and then closed it silently. He found himself in a library. It might be interesting to research what had changed in the world in the last one thousand years.

He stopped running just as he was about to go down the stairs. This was a public library. Anypony might look and see him at any moment. There was nowhere to hide here. Suddenly, he heard movement downstairs. Desperately, he picked a random direction and cast a teleportation spell to take him away.

---

He found himself outside in a clearing near some trees. He stared up at the sun and beheld its beauty for the first time in a thousand years.

But there was something very wrong. He couldn't move his hind right leg. He looked back to see the reason for this. There was a small pile bones under where his leg should have been.

Not good.

His admiration of nature would have to wait. A quick observation informed him that the femur bone was missing.

I spliced myself. Again. I haven't practiced this spell in years. Last time I spliced myself, it had been my tail, and that had been unpleasant enough. This time it was a whole section of my leg, and if I hadn't already been dead a thousand years, I would be a mess.

Despite the fact that he didn't need to breathe, the pony let out an audible sigh. His leg would be useless unless he could get his femur back. And he was not about to go back to the library and ask for it.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

The skeletal stallion froze, then turned to the voice. There was an orange filly standing at the window of a small tree house. After a moment, two more heads appeared. He had been caught, and he was crippled badly enough that running away would a struggle by itself. He was also magically exhausted from the long range teleport, and it would be a while before he could attempt it again. But he had been caught by fillies. Perhaps they would give him a chance. He quickly lowered his head so that his skull would remain hidden under the hood of the robe.

"Where am I?" he shouted to the fillies, using magic to project his voice, as he did not have the necessary equipment for actual speech.

"This is the Crusader Clubhouse!" shouted the yellow filly with a bow in her mane. "I'm Apple Bloom, that there is Sweetie Belle, and this is Scootaloo! But usually we're the only ones 'round here."

"Is that a shield on your back?" asked Scootaloo. "That's so awesome!"

"It is," replied the stallion. "But I'm lost. And I'm also injured. There's something wrong with my leg."

"Hmm," said Sweetie Belle. "That sounds rather suspicious. Did Diamond Tiara put you up to this?"

"I don't know who Diamond Tiara is," replied the stallion. "It sounds like you don't like her."

"She an' her friend Silver Spoon are big bullies that pushes us around when the adults aren't looking just 'cause she knows we can't fight back!" blurted the yellow filly.

"Oh," replied the stallion in surprise. "So you must know that everypony should be treated equally, no matter what?"

"Yeah, I guess..." replied Apple Bloom.

"Are there ponies that push you around too?" asked Scootaloo in surprise.

"Not exactly. They all scream and run away from me."

"Now why would they do a thing like that?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Because I am old and ugly," the stallion replied with a sigh.

"Oh, come on," said Sweetie Belle. "You can't be that ugly."

"I am. I'm so old, I've wasted away to nothing except a pile of old bones."

"You don't sound that old..." replied the filly uncertainly.

"What's wrong with your leg?" asked Scootaloo.

"I've- crippled it."

"Will you show us?"

The stallion hesitated. If he was going to include these fillies in his plan, he needed to take risks.

"You have to promise me that you won't run away."

"Okay, we promise," replied Scootaloo, and her promise was echoed by her friends.

The stallion took a deep breath, then threw his robe off.

"AAAHHHHHH!" shouted the Crusaders together. They did not run.

As quickly as they had started, the screaming stopped. Nopony moved.

Finally, Apple Bloom spoke. "Ah thought you were exaggeratin'!"

"I meant it when I said I was nothing but bones. So, would you three like to help an old stallion?"

"How do we even know we can trust you?" asked Scootaloo. "What if you're a monster or something?"

"You don't have to be scared of me, look at my leg!" said the skeletal stallion as he turned his head to the right and behind him.

The fillies looked, and then gasped. "Your leg is gone!" shouted Scootaloo. "What happened to it?"

"I, uh, lost it. In the library. And now I can't get it back."

"You mean Miss Twilight has your leg?"

"Is Miss Twilight the purple alicorn?"

"Yep!"

It occurred to the stallion that, most likely, the fillies could not make out the pathetic remains of his wings from their distance.

"So why won't she let you have your leg back?" Scootaloo continued.

"I don't think she has actually found it yet."

"Why don't you just ask her to let you have it back?" asked Sweetie Belle.

The stallion sighed. He was growing weary of having to talk like this to foals. "Because she will run away screaming if she sees me."

"Oh, I see," said Sweetie Belle. She looked at her friends, then back at the skeletal pony. "Would you like us to go ask her for you?"

"No!" said the stallion quickly. "I have to get it back before she finds it! You would have to infiltrate the library."

"Hmm," said Sweetie Belle. She turned to her friends.

"Cutie Mark Crusader Infiltrators?" she asked enthusiastically.

"Yay!" shouted the other two.

The stallion stood dumbfounded for a moment before saying "So you will do it?"

"Count us in!" shouted Apple Bloom.

"Thank you! Now, I've got a plan-"

"Hang on" said Apple Bloom. "Before you tell us about the plan. You never did tell us what your name is!"

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I am astounded by your discovery, but also slightly shaken. The alicorn whom you have discovered lived two thousand years ago and had only recently reached adulthood. After we had defeated Discord, he forsake any claim to royalty and chose a lifestyle of adventure. Seeking out lost magic and artifacts was his goal, and in those days, there was much of both to be had. He also forsake the use of his given name and took up a new name more befitting of one who lives amongst our subjects: Shadow Shroud.

One day, he became interested in the unfocused teleportation phenomenon. I advised him to take caution, but, as you are aware, he was unable to leave using the same method he had gotten in, presumably because he was disconnected from Equestria. It is sad to imagine him slowly suffocating or starving to death, but at least I now have closure on his fate.

I have a personal interest in seeing this with my own eyes. I will take care of business at the castle today, but tomorrow, I will be making a casual visit to Ponyville. Once I arrive, I would like to see this 'strange place' for myself.

Princess Celestia

Comments

[Una]

Interesting. I look forward towards the next update.

[corona320]

I was hoping for some more gruesome darkness, but I still like what I am reading. I look forward to a next chapter.

[Ironskull]

4877629 Your hopes are Twilight's fears (and everypony elses if they find out). But yes, not going to be gruesome. There will be mischief and minor adventures though.
Maybe if I get people wanting me to, I'll make it darker in the future.

[Cheesey]

Hmm.
Shadow Shroud.
...
No offense, but that name makes me think of one of those dreaded red-and-black OC alicorns.
It's cool that he changed his name, but how about something more... appealing to his new, bony nature?

Like... Um... Marro! That sounds much better.
Well, to me anyways

But hey, whatever, it's your story (and a mighty good one a that) so you do whatever you want.
It's just an opinion.

[Ironskull]

4879123 There is a reason for the name. Like many pony names, it is indicative of who he is, which I will build upon. And for the record, I don't even know exactly what colors he would have had for a coat and mane, but I have a strange circumstance in which I don't have to decide.

[Emperor]

Interesting. Shadow Shroud may have bitten off more than he can chew, he'll need a leg up to get one past the Crusaders once they start clamoring for 'CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS NECROMANCERS YAY!' If he's an alicorn, he's presumably ageless, but then Celestia says he might have starved or suffocated. That's a little bit more troubling than just dying of old age to me.

Of course Twilight Sparkle would decided to investigate a phenomenon that might trap her forever in another realm without telling anypony or Spike beforehand.

Twilight: "...and 101 Ways to Serve Brussel Sprouts."

It's no wonder that these particular books have been banished! These books are evil!

I see Twilight learned more than just magic from Celestia, but also how good cakes are and how bad everything else is