Seeking Answers

by Skye Mist

Flashes Of The Past

'Well, I'm glad Majesty and Arctic are settling in just fine despite last week's...events.'

Skye walked through the corridors, her left ear bandaged and walking slightly with a limp. She kept cursing herself under her breath for not being able to help Guinevere in any way.

She walked to her mother's study before closing it with a hoof. 'Now, let's examine this place more carefully. Starting with that timeline.'

Limping over to the timeline bulletin, she went past the Discord reign and stopped at the next piece of parchment.

'Dark Times' was written at the top of it.

Intrigued, Skye read on. The title was indeed correct; it was most definitely a dark time for Equestria.

Shortly after Discord's reign ended, a centaur by the name of Tirek planned to forcefully take the magic of all ponies. Fortunately, his younger brother, Scorpan, saw the error of his brother's ways when he befriended Star Swirl the Bearded and another. He tried reasoning with his brother, but Tirek was persistent in his goal. Giving up, Scorpan revealed Tirek's intentions to the Royal Sisters. Tirek was imprisoned in Tartarus and Scorpan returned to his home, the Kingdom of Gigantes, never to be seen again.

Skye winced. 'Ouch. That's a bad way to lose your sibling. No wonder he was never to be seen again. I know how it feels to lose your sibling, Scorpan. It's harsh.'

But that wasn't all. When Tirek had first appeared in Equestria and his intentions were made known, many ponies panicked. When Tirek was sealed away, the turmoil had not stopped. The fear of the ponies had drawn in an even greater threat: a trio of sirens. The three sirens, Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, and Aria Blaze, had been drawn in by the negative feelings and they absorbed all of the negative feelings through the ruby gems in their chests. But it wasn't enough for them. They were starving and since they fed on those negative emotions, they created more strife with their songs. As the land became more violent, the sirens' voices grew stronger, allowing them to spread more animosity between the ponies. They became blinded by their hunger and need for power. But their feasting was cut short by that same Star Swirl the Bearded. Because of the tinkling of the bells he wore, he was immune to their music. Star Swirl banished them to another dimension, one with no magic and therefore, no power for the sirens to feast upon.

Skye cocked an eyebrow. 'You could've magically contained them, but you chose to banish them to a place where they might die of famine? Was that really a good idea, Star Swirl?'

Skye had a feeling that these events were going to be written a little bit differently in the scrolls. But that in itself raised a question that had been nagging at her: Did her mother know these creatures? How else would she know the names of these creatures, and what state of mind they were in at the time?

It certainly seemed likely.

There was one last piece of parchment on the timeline; the rest of it was blank. As she examined this parchment, she noticed something peculiar about it. It was crumbled and torn at some points; it seemed as if somepony had wanted to destroy it, but salvaged it at the last second. What reason did her mother have for wanting to destroy this?

Confused, but still curious, she read.

Peace lasted for a hundred years after the Tirek and Siren incident. A few years after the passing of Star Swirl the Bearded, who was rumored to have given up his immortality, the Crystal Empire was turned into a shadow of its former gleam. Prince Sombra had meddled in the arts of dark magic, and it had corrupted him. His co-ruler, the Changeling Queen Chrysalis, and her subjects, the Changelings, were attacked by Sombra, armed with his creation, the Alicorn Amulet. The attack left Chrysalis both emotionally and physically scarred. Her butterfly-like wings were torn; her horn and hooves now had holes. Her subjects were the same. Inside, she held a deep resentment and hatred for ponies. She swore that she'd never ally with a pony again and flew off with her hive. The Crystal Ponies, however, were made into slaves. They lost their crystal-like gleam, for they had given up on the thought of freedom or salvation once Sombra hid the Crystal Heart away in his castle. He was a tyrant, leading with an iron-hoof. Trade, transportation, and even communication were cut off. It wasn't until half a year later that the Royal Sisters knew of the situation when a pony escaped from the Crystal Empire and sent an anonymous note to the princesses. Combining their powers and with a little help, the Royal Sisters defeated Sombra, turning him to shadow and banishing him to the ice of the Arctic North. But not before he put a curse on the Empire, making it vanish into thin air.

Skye blinked. 'Wow, that was much darker and detailed than the other two...'

Turning to the rest of the timeline, she thought to herself an idea. 'Well, since Mother isn't...here anymore, maybe it's time for me to take up the reins of this timeline. It'll give me time to learn more about this room and I'll have something to do.'

Skye plucked a feather from her wing and levitated some blank parchment and the ink bottle from the desk. 'Let's start with the banishment of Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna.'

************

Skye added the parchment to the timeline with her magic. There were now six major events of Equestrian history on it. 'There.'

She covered up a yawn with her hoof. 'Well, it's time to call it a night.'

She trotted off, making sure the door was firmly shut before doing so.

Nearing her room, she heard two hushed voices. Upon entering, she saw a candle lit on her nightstand and the two phoenix chicks on her bed. She cocked an eyebrow and asked the two phoenixes, "Aren't you supposed to be asleep?"

Majesty answered self-consciously, "Well, we couldn't really sleep because of...y'know."

Skye's face softened. "I can relate. Do you need a lullaby to go to sleep?"

Arctic blinked. "You can sing, Skye?"

"Yes, I can sing. It's even how I got my cutie mark." Skye said matter-of-factly with a roll of her eyes.

"What does your cutie mark have to do with singing, Miss Mist? I don't mean to be rude, but it's not even a music note." Majesty asked, confused.

"Well, technically, my cutie mark represents balance, harmony, and peace. I earned it when I broke up a fight between my mother and sister...Would you like to hear the story?"

"Alright!" Arctic exclaimed.

Majesty gave her younger sibling a brief glare. "Quite so, Miss Mist."

Skye tapped her chin. "Hmm...well, it was any ordinary day..."

************

"Mother, do you happen to know where my drawings are?" Night asked, knocking on her mother's study door.

"Night, I happen to be very busy at the moment. Ask your sister."

"She slept in again. I can't just go barging into her room!"

The door opened and a cross Nightmare Moon closed the door behind her as she said, "Night, I know you love your drawings, but don't you think you're overreacting over this? You can always draw others."

"Don't you understand, Mother?! Those were my best drawings! I was going to go into town and show them to Amber!"

Nightmare Moon fought to keep calm. "Don't use that tone with me, young mare. I don't have time to search for your little drawings. And as I said before, you can always draw others."

"You just don't understand what it's like to lose something that you treasure! Those drawings took days to perfect and they mean a lot to me!"

That got under her skin. "You think I don't know what it's like to lose something I treasure?! I've lived for a millennium! I've seen and lost more than a few petty little drawings!"

"They aren't petty! And if you actually cared, then you would help me instead of berating me about it!"

"I'm berating you for acting so disrespectful and childish! Not because of some stupid artwork!"

"They're not stupid, you the one the one who's bein-"

Everypony is born to care, it's something we were meant to share. Not to for us force each other apart~
If we make room for something new, doesn't mean there's less room for you. Only means that our circle has grown~
Love knows~, love grows~
Bigger than before!
In your heart, there's always more~
Always more~

Night and Nightmare stood mouths agape at the youngest in the family as she walked down the hall towards them.

"Well, are you two going to make up or just stare at me all day?" Skye asked, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't sing that for nothing, y'know?"

Turning to each other, still fazed at what just happened, they apologized for their ruder comments.

Satisfied, Skye smiled at them. Unbeknownst to her, a flash appeared on her flank. However, the other two saw it clear as day.

Night exclaimed with a smile, "You got your cutie mark, Skye!"

Skye twisted around and raised a wing. Indeed she had. A yin yang of the sun and moon was right there. Skye's grin widened by a mile.

"Yay! Finally! I got my cutie mark!" She said as she pranced around the room.

"Are you going to tell us where you learned to sing so beautifully, Skye? I have to say, I didn't take you as the singing type." Nightmare asked questioningly.

"Well, I kinda heard some birds singing before...when I snuck out." Skye smiled sheepishly. "I tried harmonizing at first, and then I just sort of...liked it, I guess. I came up with that piece you heard just a few weeks ago."

"Well, it seems you're quite the singer, Skye." Night said.

************

"Woah, that's so cool!" Arctic exclaimed then yawned.

"I-" Majesty yawned as well. "-quite agree with Arctic, Miss Mist. That was a rather interesting tale."

"Thank you, girls. And it seems that you're about ready to fall asleep. I say it's time to call it a night."

Arctic tried to object. "No, I'm not! I'm perf-"

Sun goes down and we are here, together.
Fireflies glow like a thousand charms~
Stay with me, and you can dream forever
Right here in my hooves~
Tonight~

Skye finished to hear the gentle breathing of two sleeping phoenix chicks. She smirked slightly. 'Yep, still got it.'

She used her magic to levitate them into their baskets in the corner of her room.

"Goodnight." She whispered softly before blowing out her nightstand candle.

Author's Note:

Oh my gosh!A third chapter?! This soon?! Well, be happy, b/c it might be a while before I can update again. School and all that.
Those songs are actual songs, but I changed some of the lyrics of them. Can you guess what songs they are?

Comments

[Angel Star]

Those songs are actual songs, but I changed some of the lyrics of them. Can you guess what songs they are?

Challenge accepted! Uh…the first song is a Barbie song called Always More, but I can't seem to figure out what the second song is.

[Skye Mist]

6794571 It's in the same movie.

[Angel Star]

6795161 OOOOHHHH!!!! Alright now I know! It's Right Here In My Arms. Thank you for the hint!

[Skye Mist]

6795906 Ding Ding Ding!