Past Actions, Future Consequences

by Rill

Welcome to Equestria - Part 2

With a groan, Shadow lowered himself, slowly letting himself down onto the cool stone beneath him. Sighing in relief as the coolness of the exposed rock bled through his bandages, the colt closed his eyes, taking the moment to enjoy the feeling as the dull ache in his back half slowly vanished while trying to remember the last time he had felt this sore from something that didn’t involve getting beaten up. Opening his eyes, the alicorn finally looked around at his surroundings. Above him, the sharp granite spires of the Unicorn Range towered above him. The string of mountains ran along a section of Equestria’s western shore, their imposing size providing an easy reference for ocean going vessels as well as a dramatic backdrop for the numerous towns and cities nestled along the coast. Coming into Manehattan, they were the first piece of Equestria Shadow had seen, their jagged tops growing out of the ocean long before Manehattan was visible.

As he had made his way out of the city that morning, the colt hadn’t been sure how he was going to cross them. That small issue resolved itself when he saw the wide gravel road leading out of the city and into the mountains. By midmorning, Shadow had found himself pleasantly surprised at how quickly he was moving. Around him, tall apartment buildings had given way to small homes and businesses, before thinning out into open fields of grass and corn.

Feeling his stomach voice its latest complaint, Shadow finally relieved himself of his saddlebags, setting them down next to him before opening the left side bag. Igniting his horn, the colt set everything in the bag before him. Without hesitating, he grabbed one of the apples in his magic before taking a large bite out of it. As he enjoyed the fruit, the colt unfolded the lone sheet of paper that was flapping in the breeze, held in place by the small coin bag on top of it.

Shadow,

I realize that there’s probably no point in me trying to convince you to stay on board, so I won’t. Instead, I want to thank you for everything. Because of you, we survived something that probably no pony ever has. Because of what you did, ponies will be able to see their families again, be able to hug their children and loved ones again. You’re probably still too young to realize the impact of your actions, but believe me when I say that they will echo for decades, if not centuries, to come. When I saw that fire falling towards me, I saw my life flash before my eyes. I knew I was about to die. Then you pushed me out of the way, nearly dying in my place. I find myself unable to find the words to properly express my gratitude for that idiotic move, so I won’t sully this letter with fancy words.

Thank you.

Thank you for saving my life. Thank you for giving me the chance to marry the stallion I love (he proposed while you were unconscious, and you’re the first to know). I know the crew would have wanted to thank you. I don’t know what you’re looking for, but I hope you find yourself someplace where you can feel at home, doing something that makes you happy.

I know that both my fiancé and I have told you that you’re always welcome to join us, and that is a standing offer. I know you have your reasons why you think you can’t stay, but you’re wrong. Despite what you’ve been taught, Celestia isn’t a murderous tyrant, and the crew would accept your… uniqueness. We both know what would happen if they gave you any shit about it.

Shadow smiled, recalling how Sea Breeze had verbally brought the wrath of the solar tyrant down on a crewmember who had kicked him in the chest for simply being in the way.

Take care, Shadow. I have no doubt that you will do great things in the future, so don’t forget about us.

Sea Breeze

P.S. Rereading this, I guess I lied at the beginning. Oops.

Smiling, Shadow wiped away the tears that threatened to escape. He had learned early on that crying was something only fillies and weaklings did, and despite being alone on the outcrop that overlooked Equestria, he still heeded the lesson. Gently folding the lone sheet of paper, the colt placed it inside the school copy of his ancestor’s diary.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath as he got his emotions under control, the young alicorn turned his attention to the final object from the empty saddlebag. As he enjoyed the gentle breeze rolling down from the mountains around him, Shadow unknotted the small coin purse’s drawstring, before carefully emptying it onto the ground in front of him. Gently lifting one of the coins with his magic, Shadow studied the coin's face; the Crystal Emperor's bust stoically looking off to Shadow's left. Picking up the other coins, he saw the rest of the royal family, the Empress and their daughter, the crown Princess. As he studied the slightly scarred coins, Shadow realized that in front of him was the most money he had ever had to call his own. Gently setting the coins back in their little bag, he repacked the open saddle bag. Growing up, he had known that his family wasn't exactly well off. There had been times when he had overheard his parents quietly talking about their lack of money, but he had ignored it for the most part. He had had a roof over his head, and even if a fully belly was a rare and treasured memory; he and his sister had never exactly gone hungry.

As if he needed a reminder why his family often had to do without, the colt could feel his battered, singed vest gently pressing against his wings and side. Cloth, especially the kind meant to be worn, wasn't common on his island home. Everypony had at least a towel or two at home, but nopony would willingly wear a towel in public. How his parents got their hooves on the fabric for his vest was a mystery that pulled at the young colt's mind from time to time. What had his parents done to get the material? What had they sacrificed so that he could go out in public? As the questions danced in his head, he felt a lump slowly grow in his stomach, remembering how he had initially rejected the vest, resenting his parents who made him wear the awful thing. What must they have thought, having gone through all that hard work, only for their son to reject the very thing that would help him live a normal life? It didn't help that anypony at school having a bad day almost always chose him to be their target. They'd corner him, demanding to know why he was so special; why his parents would waste their money on something as frivolous as a vest for him. It wasn't a particularly flashy piece of clothing; black trim around the red body with golden thread holding it all together, but it mattered little to most ponies. As far as they were concerned, the vest simply made him easier to spot and harder for him to get away.

Looking over the closest link to his mom that he had left, Shadow was surprised at how well the simple outfit had survived. There was some burning around the back where he had been hit, but as bad as it had been, Sea Breeze had somehow found similar enough material to patch it during the week they had been sailing for that deserted island. The mare had admitted that she much preferred canvas and wasn't particularly good with needle and thread, yet her repairs were nearly indistinguishable from his mom's original work.

Maybe I could do it, Shadow thought as he removed his vest, studying the repairs. It wouldn’t be easy, but I’ve passed myself off as a unicorn before. Maybe Celestia doesn’t even know I’m here. He thought about that last idea. The fact that he was here, and not tied to a torture device in some dank, hidden dungeon was a tempting piece of evidence. Yet, as the idea of returning to the Tranquility started to take hold, a lone mental image of the ship in flames, Celestia wreathed in flames as she hovered off the sinking ship’s bow flashed across his mind, killing the idea of turning around.

Feeling his heart sink, the colt put his vest back on as the temperature around him started to drop. Curling up beneath a large bush, the colt stared out across the land before him; the mountains’ shadows slowly enveloping the land as the sun slowly sank behind him. Now that he was out of Manehattan, where was he going to go? He couldn’t stay in Equestria; that much was certain. If he went north, he’d eventually find himself in the Gryphon Empire. Shadow shook his head. Going there would be the same as staying in Equestria, maybe even worse. Assuming that they didn’t kill him for being a pony before he got to their Empire, if they discovered where he was from, they’d likely torture him to death in revenge. Or worse, torture him, and then hand him over to Celestia.

With those two options out, that only left one possibility: go south, which meant Zebrica. As he thought about it, the idea of going to Zetani’s homeland started to appeal to the young alicorn. Until very recently, Shadow had never heard of Zebras, let alone their homeland, which meant that the chance of his home having any problems with the Zebras was almost non-existent. Not only that, but with it being outside Equestria, he would likely be much safer than anywhere else.

As the mountain range’s shadows swallowed him and everything before him, Shadow yawned, finally letting his exhaustion catch up with him. Closing his eyes, he felt a small knot in his chest. Knowing that he finally had someplace safe to go, he smiled. Come morning, he just had to get there.

---

Luna sneezed, unable to contain the sudden explosion despite knowing for several minutes that it was building. Waving a hoof in front of her face in an attempt to clear away the dust in the air, she frowned as the dust easily avoided her hoof, seeming to laugh at her efforts. Sighing, Luna turned her attention back to the musty, dust covered stack of papers on the table before her. How the Royal Archivist worked down here without constantly sneezing was beyond the princess’s comprehension. Igniting her horn, Luna levitated a number of scrolls and papers, reading them one at a time before sorting them into two piles. The first pile was all the reports of ships whose cause of loss was known or the likely cause was backed up with evidence and testimony. The second, smaller pile that lay next to the lunar diarch was for the rest.

From the moment she had raised her moon, the younger Royal Sister had sequestered herself in the Archives, diving into the dust covered records like her sister’s protégé would occasionally do with a problem that needed fixing. Starting from where she had left off the previous night, it hadn’t taken her long to start finding more unexplained missing ship reports. Scanning the next report, Luna paused as she read the name of the ship: Harmony. Gently setting the other reports down, the princess slowly read the incident report. While it was a rather cut-and-dry report of a lone pony being pulled out of the ocean in the middle of nowhere, it did answer a couple of questions that had been burning in the back of Luna’s mind. While the report’s author dismissed the rescued pony’s testimony as a product of trauma and being stranded at sea, they had still included what he had said. Recalling what she had seen the previous night, the princess found that the stallion’s account matched what she had seen. Leaning back in the tired, creaking chair, Luna found herself relieved that what she had seen wasn’t a figment of somepony’s imagination.

Setting that report to the side, Luna read through the rest of the decade worth of reports, sorting each report into one of the two piles. Looking up at the lone clock on the wall as it ticked past midnight, the princess set the larger of the two piles in a nearby basket for the staff to put away in the morning. Lifting the smaller pile and the Harmony report with her magic, Luna paused at the door. With a simple thought, a stiff breeze sprang up out of nowhere to blow among the shelves, blasting the accumulated dust into the air until the air turned into a grey haze. A slight change to the spell caused it to form a miniature tornado that slowly floated among the shelves, sucking up the dust before half filling a nearby trash can with several decades’ worth of dust and filth. Mentally reminding herself to talk to the archivist about this, Luna turned off the lights as she closed the door. Trotting down the hall, she heard her guards fall into step behind her.

Setting the pile of reports on the floor of her room as she entered, Luna groaned as she slowly stretched, a number of cracks breaking the room’s tranquility as she arched her back. Glancing at the clock next to her bed, the lunar princess sighed, realizing that she’d have less time than usual to help her subjects in their dreams. Getting comfortable on the room’s lone sofa, the alicorn closed her eyes, letting the peace and quiet of the room wash over her. Of all her new duties, this was her favorite, even if her citizens almost never remembered her intervention. If I had had this duty a thousand years earlier… Luna shook her head, banishing the stray thought. It didn’t help to dwell on the past, but there were still times when a sin or mistake from long ago came back to kick her in the flank as a not-so-gentle reminder of her past. Opening her eyes, she ignited her horn, her eyes blazing white a moment later as she entered the realm of dreams.

Like always, Luna found herself floating above Canterlot as the mountain side city slumbered. Across the city, she could see lights floating above the houses, small flames that represented each pony inside, some blazing brightly with the promise of youth while others glowed dully with the weight of years. Turning to her sister’s tower, Luna was glad to see Celestia’s blindingly bright light was calm and peaceful as her sister dreamed about lying on a deserted beach, simply enjoying the warmth and utter lack of squabbling nobles. With a flap of her wings, Luna slowly soared above the city, her eyes studying the lights below to see if anypony needed her help.

Satisfied for the moment; the lunar princess dove, letting gravity take her as Canterlot disappeared above her. Thinking for a moment, Luna’s horn flashed as her star studded mane transformed into hair which whipped around behind her as she dove. Flaring her wings as the ground rushed up to greet her, the royal sister smiled, taking a deep breath of the cool night air. The forest below was covered in millions of tiny lights that blazed just as brightly as those of her ponies. Far ahead, Luna could see the several thousand lights that represented Ponyville and its residents. Pushing herself, the Mistress of the Night soon found herself gliding as silently as an owl over the sleeping town. Sensing a slight disturbance, Luna banked, pulling a tight turn around the remains of the town’s library as she flew towards the crystal tree that now acted as the town’s new library. Near the top she could see a pair of flames. One green flame blazed bright and calm as its owner slept soundly. In comparison, the smaller flame’s larger purple companion raged like a blast furnace.

Passing through the castle’s wall like it didn’t exist, Luna landed beside Princess Twilight’s bed, the world’s newest alicorn tossing and turning as her face contorted. Placing a hoof on the distressed pony, Luna found herself standing on a blasted plain. Around her, grass burned and smoked as rocks the size of buildings sailed overhead. Looking up, Luna found herself standing before Tirek, her horn barely reaching past his fetlock. Stepping to the side, the princess found herself watching in fascination as that bastard and Twilight fought. While she had been locked up in Tartarus at the time, the reports she had later heard of the battle left little doubt that they had been right to trust their power to the young Princess. What doubt she still had disappeared when she flew over the battlefield later that night, seeing the damaged fields and mountains for herself. Watching the dream play out before her, Luna could see that it had been going on for quite a while, as almost nothing of the surrounding environment remained unscathed. In the distance, Luna could see Twilight leap into the air, her horn blazing like the sun as she closed the distance between her and Tirek. As the young alicorn fired, the darker alicorn’s horn blazed. Tirek staggered under Twilight’s assault and as the smoke and dust cleared, Luna had to suppress a laugh as Twilight gawked at the suddenly shrunken and extremely irate minotaur.

Smiling, Luna removed her hoof from the sleeping alicorn, satisfied that the rest of the night would pass in peace for her sister’s former student. Checking on Spike, Luna jumped through the open window, her wings spreading to catch the night air. Slowly spiraling higher and higher, it wasn’t long until she could see the lights of Manehattan blazing beyond the horizon. On a whim, the lunar princess turned toward the city, the peaks of the Unicorn Range slowly growing on the horizon. She didn’t know why, but she felt drawn toward the city for some reason. Perhaps it was intuition or some form of latent magic that nopony could explain, but whatever it was, Luna had learned long ago to simply go where it led.

Enjoying the cool breeze flowing from the towering peaks, Luna almost missed the lone light at the top of a cliff. Bleeding off some altitude, Luna sailed toward the light. Why would a pony spend the night there, instead of one of the rest areas that had been set up along the roads that passed through the mountains? Trotting to bleed off excess momentum as she landed, Luna quietly approached the lone pony. While it was rare, there were ponies who could sense her presence when they were asleep, and if this pony was one of them, she didn’t want them stumbling around the top of a cliff that promised a long drop if they put one hoof out of place. Smiling as the pony didn’t even twitch as she neared; Luna felt the smile slowly fade as she noticed the pony’s red vest. Could it be? The lunar diarch crept closer, holding her breath like the pony might hear her. Seeing the grey mane, Luna stopped as her mind raced. This was too good to be true, yet she knew it to be real. The one pony they were desperate to find was sleeping alone! It would only take a simple spell, and she would find herself back in her room. A quick order later, and her guards could catch this colt while he was still asleep, and have him in Canterlot before the sun could rise. Preparing the spell, Luna paused as she watched the colt’s legs twitch; above him, his golden yellow flame writhed. Letting the spell disperse, the older alicorn hesitatingly placed her hoof on the colt’s shoulder.

Luna found herself standing in a dark room, a fire gently crackling in the nearby stone fireplace. Looking down, she found that she was standing in the middle of a large chalk circle. Backing up, the younger sister felt her chest tighten as she thought she recognized the casting circle, despite the fuzziness of the runes. Hearing a noise, Luna turned her head to see a young colt studying an ancient looking book before scrutinizing the circle. As he carefully stepped into the circle, the light from the fireplace reflected off his wings, leaving Luna with no doubt about this colt’s identity. Satisfied, the colt stepped out of the circle, passing through Luna like she wasn’t even there. The lunar princess had to keep herself from stepping into the dream and stopping it. She watched silently as the young alicorn’s horn blazed, the room’s shadows fleeing for cover as the light intensified to levels that bordered on painful. With a crack, the colt was thrown backwards.

Before he could hit the couch behind him; the room shattered like glass, the shards dissolving into a new room. In it, the colt stood, looking around as if he was expecting something to jump out at him. Without warning, the door behind Luna exploded as flames belched from the opening. Without hesitating, the colt threw himself through the nearest wall, tumbling to a stop at the base of a large tree along the edge of a nearby forest. Luna felt her skin crawl as a scream of terror and agony tore through the colt’s dream, drowning out the colt’s reply as he screamed a name back at the flames. With tears streaming down his face, the colt charged the flames, his wings outstretched as he took to the air. He had barely gotten off the ground before the house exploded, blasting him out of the air and into the surrounding trees.

Around her, the trees transformed into pieces of stone with names etched into them. Before her, the colt lay before a trio of granite headstones. It took her a moment to recognize the language on the stones. As she read the three names, Luna heard a branch snap behind her. Turning her head, Luna saw three ponies standing behind her. The two adults were almost completely burned and blackened almost to the point of not being recognizable. If it hadn’t been for the odd patch of unburned fur and the marks on their flanks, Luna would have been hard pressed to even believe that they had once been ponies. Next to them, a young filly looked absolutely incensed as flames slowly consumed her body, her flesh audibly snapping and sizzling under the heat. She heard the colt whimper, and as she watched, the headstones behind him started to grow, shooting into the air and widening until they formed an impenetrable barrier that ended any chance the colt had to escape. As the ponies advanced on him, the colt slowly retreated until his back was against the wall, his words and tear soaked apologies falling on deaf ears as the trio continued their advance. As he pleaded with them, begging their forgiveness, a large hole opened in the ground next to him. Next to it, Luna could see the name Shadow inscribed in crystallic on the plain headstone.

Before he could react, the colt was thrown into the air like a ragdoll. Getting back on his hooves, he screamed in sheer terror when he saw who was standing before him. It took Luna to realize that it was her sister. Her sister towered over the colt; her eyes would have put the coldest arctic winds to shame as she glared at the colt. Her mane and tale burst into searing flames as a set of golden armor materialized over her body and face. Though she was watching from the shadows, even Luna felt a sense of barely suppressed terror grip her as she watched her sister smile, razor sharp teeth gleaming in the light from her mane. The colt tried to run, but before he could take two steps, Luna’s sister’s horn pulsed, the ground around the young alicorn erupting into walls of flames. With a laugh that sent chills down her spine, Luna watched as the ring of flames slowly closed around the young colt, the flames growing larger as the colt found himself with less and less room to move. At the last moment, Celestia yanked the colt off his hooves by his mane, holding him securely in her grip over the raging flames despite his struggling. Laughing, Celestia unceremoniously released her grip on the colt, letting him fall screaming into the flames.

As he fell, the world around Luna evaporated, only to be replaced by the mangled, flaming deck of a ship. Around the colt ponies ran; their screams unheard as the young alicorn’s attention was focused squarely on a large serpent as it rose from the water. As it came to a halt far above the stricken ship, Celestia landed on the creature’s head as lightly as a feather, a predatory smile etched on her face. Despite the distance, Luna could hear her sister’s terrifying laugh along with her taunts and insults to the colt. Before he could react, the screaming ponies leaped onto the colt, what defense he could muster useless as talons burst from his attackers’ hooves and beaks from their faces. Despite his pleas, the young alicorn was hauled bodily by a pair of gryphons, their clawed hands at his throat as they brought him before Celestia. With a final smirk on her armored face, Luna watched as her sister said something to the creature as she took to the air. Rearing its head back, the serpent took a deep breath, sucking a couple pegasi to their doom before breathing out jets of blinding white flames as the gryphons dropped their captive into the waiting maw.

Before she could react, Luna felt herself being hurled through the air, the Unicorn Range quickly retreating into the distance. Righting herself in the air, the lunar princess groaned as she saw Canterlot growing quickly in the distance. While she was able to stop herself if she concentrated, Luna held back. Seconds later, the princess passed through the wall of her room before crashing back into her body, which was still waiting for her on the sofa. Swearing in a language that had died out long before her banishment, Luna opened her eyes, rubbing the base of her horn as she felt a headache slowly form. She hated it when ponies woke up while she was in their dreams, though she couldn’t blame the colt after seeing what she had. Sighing, she slowly stood. On the wall, the clock showed that there were only a few hours to go until sunrise. There wasn’t enough time to send a couple night guards to pick up the colt. Even if there was, Luna wouldn’t have sent them. Now that he was awake, the chances that he’d fall asleep long enough for them to grab him or for her to view his dreams again were almost non-existent. On top of that, she didn’t want to spook the colt. She needed little convincing that he had the potential to be extremely powerful, and she didn’t want him to possibly tap into that power until they could figure things out.

Satisfied that they had a good idea where they could find him for the next few days, Luna’s thoughts turned to what she had seen in his dreams. Was this the pony the Sprites were after? Luna felt herself unsure as she recalled the circle the colt had been working on in the beginning of the dream. While the spell that allowed access to the Sprite’s realm required a casting circle for most ponies, so did a number of spells, and all she could tell from the dream was that the colt didn’t remember the runes for whatever spell he had been attempting. Where had he gotten that book? Why was it, along with the names on the headstones written in crystallic? Where was this colt from? If she hadn’t seen what she did, Luna would have said the Crystal Empire, but having been there several times since its reappearance, she knew that couldn’t be the case. Even if he and his family had left the Empire after Sombra’s second defeat, the colt’s accent was too different, never mind the fact that Sombra never would have let them live long enough to escape. Feeling her stomach rumbling, the lunar diarch left her room, ignoring the guards next to her. She’d tell her sister what she saw, but first she needed to think, and the best place to think with an empty stomach was the castle’s main kitchen.

---

Shadow’s eyes snapped open as his heart raced in terror. Igniting his horn, he bathed the area around him in light, though much to his comfort all he saw was bushes and a lone tree. Sighing in relief, the colt took several deep breathes, smiling as his heart rate slowly began to approach a level that vaguely resembled normal. Shivering as his cold sweat slowly evaporated, Shadow looked out across the land before him. Despite his professed love for the moon and the nighttime beauty before him, the colt had never in his life found himself wishing more fervently that the sun would soon rise.