Past Secrets

by BloodHive1998

Lessons of the Past

"'Where the air is all that's known, where we first began to roam, within the commander's barracks, where the marks of defense burn, lies a room of secrets and weapons hidden by the warriors, to there you must turn.' what's that suppose to mean?" Twilight asked, having read over Midnight's shoulder.
Midnight had been taking off her armor when Twilight spoke and let out an eep from suddenly hearing her voice. "I don't know." she said quietly.
"Midnight, you don't have to be scared. Is there anything that can at least help you be calm around us?"
"M-maybe, but I don't know if all of you would agree." Midnight had her back facing Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash, and Aurora as to help her stay calm.
"Then what is it? I mean, I don't want to force you to do something you might not want to do, but psychological studies show that one can get use to others best after getting use to a select few."
"Hivemind." Midnight had whispered the single word, but years of being around the friend that Midnight most reminded her of, allowed Rainbow Dash to hear her almost as if she'd spoken normally.
"What do you mean 'Hivemind'?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"T-there's a s-spell that allows a Changeling without a H-Hive, so without a H-Hivemind, to connect p-ponies to a p-personal H-Hivemind, but the ponies have to be w-willing." Rainbow Dash took note of how Midnight seemed to especially stutter at the mention of a Hive or Hivemind.
"Of course! How could I forget the connection spell! A Changeling's Hivemind allows them to evenly distribute feeling through those connect and minimizes the effect it has on them, plus it'd be helpful in communication if we were talking about something of extreme importance and can't allow a chance of being overheard! We could even use it to share memories!" Twilight said all this in a single breath.
Rainbow looked at Twilight with confusion, she had seen Twilight excited about some things, but this seemed to be much stronger than other times. "You seem cool with the idea." Rainbow said.
"Yes I am! I don't know why, but I've wanted to experience a Changeling Hivemind since I first read about it!" Twilight nearly shouted.
"So, would that put you in control of us Midnight?" Scootaloo asked suspiciously, while Aurora was flying in energetic circles that left a faint red trail of magic behind.
"What! O-of course not, I-I'm n-not a q-queen and there would b-be several p-ponies, which m-makes it i-impossible to start a true Hive." Midnight's shock had made her speak quite loudly, now she shied away, hiding behind her mane and saying "sorry" in a small voice.

After nearly an hour of talking, during which Midnight finely got out of her armor and let her disguise drop, Twilight was on the verge of convincing Rainbow Dash to accept the idea of being connected to a Hivemind. "I'm telling you Rainbow, it'll be fine. Just because you'll feel a little shier doesn't mean you'll be any different. Besides, this can be helpful for all of us." Twilight said.
"How could it help us?" Rainbow asked.
"It'll help you avoid another break down like what happened at the Young Flyers Competition. It'll help all of us stay calm or just have somepony we can talk to at all times-" Twilight was cut off as Rainbow Dash put her hoofs in the air.
"All-right, all-right, I'll do it, just don't go lecturing me." Rainbow said in annoyance.
Twilight smiled and turned to Scootaloo. "What about you, are you willing?" Twilight asked.
"Only because Rainbow Dash is." Scootaloo said.
With that, Midnight moved over to Twilight and placed her horn on Twilight's head before casting the connection spell. The Changeling magic spun around the two for a few seconds before a green tether of magic between them briefly flashed into view then vanished. Twilight and Midnight swayed slightly afterwards and then Twilight seemed to become shier as Midnight evened out her shyness.
"Your turn." Midnight said quietly as she moved over and repeated the process for Rainbow Dash, Aurora Light, and Scootaloo.

"This feels really strange." Rainbow Dash said for the third time, she was talking about and speaking through the recently established Hivemind, called a Localized Hivemind since it was just for them and not a real hive.
"I know it does for you, but you'll get use to it." Midnight said.
"So, with this connection done, should we get back to the original question?" Twilight asked as she levitated the letter back out. "'Where the air is all that's known, where we first began to roam, within the commander's barracks, where the marks of defense burn, lies a room of secrets and weapons hidden by the warriors, to there you must turn.' Any idea what it's referring to?" Twilight had a little trouble speaking with her friends aloud instead of through the Localized Hivemind.
"Wait! That's what it said?" Rainbow asked.
"yea, why?"
"I think I know what it's talking about."
"What?" the other members of the group asked in sync.
"I think it's talking about the Cloud Tribe, the first place Pegasi existed and the ancient homelands of them, it's in ruins now."
"Then let's go." Twilight and the others took off after that, with Scootaloo riding her, recently modified, scooter while Rainbow pulled.

The ancient Pegasus Homeland was on an extremely large cloud that was storm grey, likely the result of no Pegasi being there in centuries, the cloud houses were generally small with a lot of them having missing parts. Towering above everything else, was the Barracks, which at the time was considered the castle, of Commander Hurricane. Everypony looked at the place in awe, the castle seemed to be made of stone with large spikes around it and coming off it, the doors were huge and had the Pegasus tribe symbol etched into the center of the doors. The group was suddenly hit with a strong wave of energy and curiosity, they all looked to where Aurora had been, only to find she was missing.
Twilight and Midnight felt a tingle through their horns suddenly and quickly pressed a hoof against the base. right as they finished doing that, a loud bang, followed by the hum of magic, rang through the area. Looking up, the group spotted a red magical aura spreading outward.
"That was fun!" Aurora yelled out from their right, shocking the group.
"What, but you weren't here a second ago. How'd you get here so fast?" Midnight asked, her voice ringing stronger as she was more use to being part of a Hivemind.
"I was just too energized and curious to walk, so I went and performed the Magic Field Razor, which means I broke through the Magic field that all races pull magic from." Aurora's mental voice carried the extreme energy level of a filly on a caffeine and sugar rush, which was barely altered by the Localized Hivemind's natural dispersion of emotions.
Twilight just ignored this and headed for the Barracks.

"Okay. '-where the marks of defense burn, lies a room of secrets and weapons hidden by the warriors, to there you must turn.' So Rainbow, since you're the most learned on Pegasus history, what'd you make of this?" Twilight asked as they walked, the group had eventually decided to try to just speak verbally when not around other ponies, though they knew that the instincts that came with being part of a Localized Hivemind would make it difficult.
"I can imagine that that'd be in the weapons room, since that's likely where the stronger Pegasi wards would be." Rainbow said.
"Wow, I've never seen you talking like this, and don't say it has to do with the Localized Hivemind."
"I wasn't going to. I really like the Pegasus history, they were warriors and powerful weapons crafters, that's why I talk the way I do about the history of Pegasi."
The halls of the Barracks proved to be made of cloud stone: a stone that's created by condensing clouds into a thick, near solid, state. The entire place seemed to be older than even Discord, but was still intact.
The weapons room was a large circular area with a pillar, one too small to really hold anything, at the center. Ancient armor and weapons lined the walls, with gold and silver Pegasi wards there as well. The weapons varied from ancient spears made of old metals found only in the clouds of the Everfree, old fashioned wing blades with the same metal, and countless unidentified weapons. Needless to say, Twilight was amazed, as was everypony else.
"Woah, I didn't know the Pegasi were so good with weapon crafting." Twilight said, not intending to use the Localized Hivemind, but still doing so.
"They're the best, they forged their weapons out of Everfree Metal, which is forbidden now because of it's strange effects on ponies." Rainbow said, unable to hide her excitement from the Localized Hivemind.
"So... where do you think the room is?" Midnight asked.
"Let's find out." Scootaloo and Aurora said in unison, something made easy by the Localized Hivemind, as they fazed into the Spiritual Plane, followed by the others.
To anypony looking at the time, it would simply seem that they blurred out of existence, but to them it was the exact opposite, it seemed as if the world blurred and changed around them. The Spiritual Plane version of the room was made of black storm clouds with lightning striking at random places, the weapons were all made of bones with iron mixed with blood as their tips, and there, standing in the center where the pillar once was, was none other than Commander Hurricane herself.
"You must be Spirit Fire, I was told you'd return without any memories and as a Changeling." Commander Hurricane said.
"Yea, that's me." while Midnight's tone of voice was calm, it also held a note of shyness.
"Well, come along then, we've got some training to do." Hurricane said, appearing unfazed by the fact that her and Rainbow Dash looked like near copies. She then trotted off towards a Pegasi Spell Ring, the ring was made of gold and had the symbol of Pegasi in the center. "Since you once were a Pegasus, and seem more like a Bat-pony now, then it's likely that you can still learn the ancient Pegasi spells. Aside from that, I can see that the Alicorn hasn't performed any of the maneuvers to gain access to the spells."
"I've only been an Alicorn for a short time, I'm still getting use to flight and still strengthening my wings." Twilight said defensively.
"Understandable. Hey, has anypony ever told you that you look exactly like Clover Leaf?" Hurricane said in a seductive tone.
Twilight blushed for the second time in the past twenty-four hours. "Several ponies have, but that doesn't matter right now. Besides, I don't think the dead can have a stable relationship with the living." Commander Hurricane blushed at that, turning her cheeks a gold-cyan color.
"Let's get on with training." Rainbow Dash, who was just a little confused, said.

The next Spiritual hour was spent practicing ancient Pegasi Magic and receiving lessons on combat with different weapons.
"Wow, being in are Ethereal Forms is really fun, I don't even feel tired!" Aurora said as she flew around, a filly-sized spear strapped to one wing. The others had to agree, especially Midnight, who had been training the longest. Even Scootaloo had gotten some form of training, hers was with weapons and some Lunar-based Pegasi Magic. Twilight had simply practiced Lunar Magic, even though it was technically forbidden.
"You've all done well. This was really all Spirit asked me to do when she returned, well that and deliver this." Hurricane said as she pulled out a scroll like the one from the castle and handed it to Midnight.
"Thanks, we'll be sure to visit again one day." Midnight said as she levitated the rolled up scroll to her side.
"Please do, I don't get many living visitors." Hurricane said.
"Thank you for all your help Command Hurricane." Twilight said as the group got ready to depart.
"You're welcome Twilight Sparkle." Hurricane leaned in closer and her voice dropped to a darker tone as she said "No matter what you think Twilight, You are not a true Alicorn, you'd be wise to remember that Luna and Celestia are the only real Alicorns, just as you'd be wise to stand and fight the Goddess of the Sun when the time comes. As I've learned, stick with your friends only, never trust those in power, ever." the comment froze Twilight for a few moments.
"G-got it." Twilight didn't waste time leaving after that.

It's you again. So, as I know we've just got done meeting Hurricane (fun fact, did you know that Commander Hurricane was a Fillyfooler, because I didn't). now, as to what lead us to this place the first time, in this case it was answers. Hurricane Storm knew Celestia personally when they were young, so it made sense that she'd be one of the best ponies to talk to about the theories we had at the time. She's also the only other pony on record who can use the ancient Pegasi Magic. I feel I should warn us now, The Crimson Hive is planning something, they're starting to become much more known and much more active, I feel they intend to march onto Canterlot and slaughter the princesses, which I admit I couldn't care less about, well Celestia at least, I have a bit of a soft spot though for Luna.
*Deep within the forest of fear, where shadows walk with Nightmares, within a ruined fortress of darkness, there you must find the true Shadow.

Not my best, but I don't care
Signed you
Spirit Fire

p.s. KEEP AURORA LIGHT NEAR YOU AT ALL TIMES, THEY DON'T TAKE LIGHTLY TO FILLIES OR COLTS BEING IN THEIR SACRED FORTRESS OF DARKNESS

"The Everfree Forest." Twilight stated plainly.

Author's Note:

so, I have some things to clarify
-when the words are within both quotation marks and italicized then what is being said is being said through the Hivemind.

I think that's about it. Wonder where exactly they're heading next (as in where in the Everfree.)
Also, just because she is connected to a Hivemind now doesn't exactly mean that Midnight will lose all her shyness.

As always, I hope you enjoy.