Fears of Bygone Eras

by Lusaminia

Chapter 11

The resort town of Silver Shoals, at the time of the Canterlot Invasion.

The whistling of tea on the stove, a kettle letting smoke out into the evening air. This was the sound of peace that filled one tiny home in Silver Shoals. A home owned by a white pegasus with pink mane and tail, happily chopping vegetables and humming a tune. Hearing the kettle whistling, she turned around and turned off the stove, removing it from the heat as she did so. Now, all she had to do was wait for her sister to get back from the diner and they would be able to do the same thing they had done for the past thirty or so years of their life: afternoon tea.

“She should be back any minute now,” The pegasus replied. She took a seat on a nearby stool listening for the door. “Any minute now,” A minute passed, the door hadn’t opened. The pegasus frowned. “For goodness sake, where are you Morning Brew? The sun is about to set.”

At that moment, the door finally decided to open, a smile re-materializing on the pegasi’s face in response. She looked back real quickly to make sure she had indeed turn the stove all the way off, before rushing out of the kitchen. Turning into her small living room, one large enough for guests though small enough where it felt big with just two ponies in it, her eyes met that of her sister. Morning Brew, a unicorn, with a dark blue coat and pitch black mane, was too occupied with the notepad in her hoof to react to her sister’s leaping hug.

“Urk! Sis please!” Brew pleaded as she was tackled to the ground, her sister giggling the entire time. “Sunny, please give me some warning before you aha… haha,” Her words were cut off she started to get tickled horrible. “S-s-s-sis please this is, heh, n-no t-ti-time for, ha ha ah ha. Sunnyside stop, please!”

“No, I don’t think so,” Sunnyside replied, continuing her assault on her sister. Brew did everything she could to get her older sister off her, batting her hooves at the pegasus. “This is for leaving me alone for two hours too many! Behold my ultimate attack,” Sunnyside tickled her sister even harder, using a wing to close the door so nopony heard her sisters loud laughter.

“Okay, okay, I-I’m sorry-y-he-he,” Brew said, finally manage to kick her sister off of her. “Why… must you do this to me… when you know it’s my weakness?”

“For the exact reason you just said,” Sunny replied, leaning in once again to ruffle Brew’s mane. Satisfied with her torture, the pegasus headed off to the kitchen to grab the kettle and tea cups. “Tea water is ready. You want to do it on the patio today, or is there someplace special you-”

“It was a busy lunch today,” Brew interrupted, her words seeming unrelated, but Sunny knew what it meant. She went to the bathroom mirror to fix her mane, noting how badly her sister had ruffled it up. “Patio, in other words. Kinda surprised that it was so busy though, seeing how the festival of the two sisters was today.”

Sunnyside smiled, her sister unable to see it but she could certainly feel it. It had been many years since the two had gone to the festival, not because they couldn’t, but rather because they had no need to. They had a restaurant they wanted to run, and that rarely gave anypony days off, even on the weekends. They were happy with that, and they were happy with how the past years had worked out. All that matters to them was getting to see the princ- no, the queen one time. They got that chance to, and here they were, satisfied with their little home in a cozy little town.

As Sunny grabbed a bag of green tea, her sister came out and levitated the kettle and a tea cup over to her. She poured herself a cup, before levitating it back over to Sunny pouring a cup for her as well. The two smiled at each other, Brew levitating a tea bag of her own over to her cup. Sunny took the kettle as Brew’s telekinetic hold on it dissipated, letting her set it gently back onto the counter. Satisfied, she followed her sister out to the patio, the two sitting at the lawn chairs placed at the far end of it.

The day had been a peaceful one, not that it was ever not peaceful in this town. Sunnyside and Morning Brew had not come here to open up a breakfast place, but one thing led to another and they soon found themselves handling one of the best restaurants in Silver Shoals. It was just the two of them, and it was a wonderful life.

“So, did you hear?” Morning Brew asked. “Flurry Heart is apparently in Canterlot for the festival!”

“Really, now that’s a surprise,” Sunny replied. “You think that the two of them are finally on each other’s good side again?”

The two looked at each other silently, before laughing at just how impossible that even seemed. Empress Flurry Heart and Queen Twilight hadn’t been on good terms since the empress was still a foal. The two had been up each other’s throats for years, or more exactly Flurry Heart had. Queen Twilight had tried to do everything to make the Empress understand, but it didn’t work. Nonetheless, all the bickering that had occurred between the two leaders was something the sister’s had quite enjoyed.

“What a day that would be,” Brew replied, smiling. That smile suddenly faded as she heard something, looking off into the distance. She looked to her sister, seeing a similar look on her face. “Sis… don’t tell me-”

“It could just be nothing,” Sunnyside replied. “It… could mean absolutely nothing… right, sis?”

--------

Hours later, the woods outside of the city of Canterlot

Night had fallen over Equestria, the sound of crickets and peeper frogs filled the countryside. A griffon and a pony, both of which having just fled from an invaded capital, slept under the trees of a small forest. Gabriel had taken to the trees, finding the branches far more comfortable than the ground below. Luminous, however, with her lack of knowledge on flying had no choice but to use the ground as her bed. It had made for a long night, and horrible one to try and sleep in.

She had no idea what she had just been roped into, or why she of all ponies was a part of it. Canterlot, apparently taken over by somepony with an army of dragons behind them, and all of it happened without nopony telling her. She knew that Gabriel had said Twilight was fine, but it was impossible for her to stop worrying. Canterlot now belonged to somepony else, and who knows what they could be doing to the queen, or former queen she guessed it was now. That fact concerned her, more than she felt that she should, considering her very brief history with the ruler.

The air suddenly felt thicker around her, it’s cold grip causing her to huddle up closer to the tree. There was barely any difference in the lighting, but she knew she was having another vision again. It only now occurred to her that this, possibly, was the Equestria her mom had always talked to her about, the one she grew up in, but that didn’t seem possible. The sun had appeared in her mother's stories, the ones that her father had told her. Besides, it was possible that this was at all real, right? It was fake, but yet it felt so real.

Luminous heard something behind her, a sound akin to that of her mom’s paws on grass. She dared to look behind the tree, and instantly froze in fear at the sight in front of her. Before her, was a wolf, it’s coat as pitch black as the night surrounding it. The only reason she even knew the wolf was the glowing yellow eyes that almost blinded her. Luminous, however, did not find that as terrifying as what was in the wolf’s jaws. The sight of it briefly turned her breath ragged, and the wolf stopped and turned to her, giving a full view as to what it was carrying.

A foal, eyes unmoving and stomach still, hung limply from the jaws of the beast in front of her. Blood soaked the wolf’s teeth in the same way that it did the foal’s back, turning what should be a pure orange coat a crimson red. Luminous darted back behind the tree, hoping that somehow the wolf would just forget about her. She heard something fall to the ground, and that same sound of paws getting closer. She could hear the wolf coming closer, a low rumble emanating from its throat. As it poked its head around the tree, Luminous’ reflexes kicked in.

She punched the predator right in the head, sending it crumbling to the ground in pain. She could see it saying words, but they were muddy, like Luminous was underwater. Luminous could see the anger in the wolf’s eyes, whatever words it was trying to say being directed at her. It got up and walked towards the pegasus, Luminous backing away as she realized she had made a mistake. She looked away, not willing to look at the wolf in the face.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” She replied, covering her head. “I swear I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Luminous, you okay down there?” Gabriel asked from the branches above her. Luminous looked up to him, blinked and then looked back where the wolf had been. They were gone, the vision ended yet again. “Luminous.”

“Sorry Gabriel, give me a second,” Luminous called to him, sitting down and looking around her. The wolf was gone, the foal, of course the other Equestria they had spawned in. She started to worry that her earlier thoughts, about the identity of the other Equestria, were right. “I’m… I’m not exactly sure what to make of what just happened.”

“You mean you yelling at… nothing?” Gabriel replied. “You sure know how to wake a griffon up.”

“No, it wasn’t just nothing,” Luminous shook her head. Gabriel glided to the ground and landed next to her, his face showing a great concern for the mare. “I… I saw a vision again, of a different Equestria.”

“A different Equestria? Like the one your mom says she’s from?” The griffon emperor asked.

“Maybe, maybe not, I’m not sure,” Luminous answered, turning away from Gabriel. She was concerned about how he might react, but she already mentioned it, so there was no getting out of this conversation. “It’s not comfortable going there though. Last time I saw a mare fall from a tower to her death with a newborn in her hooves,” Gabriel took a few steps back at hearing that. “As far as I know, though, it’s all just a figment of my mind.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Gabriel replied. His choice of words and the sigh that followed them got Luminous’ attention. “I’ve been told not to tell you anything, but I think we’re at a point where you at least need to hear some of it,” Luminous turned around, curious. Gabriel swung the bag to be in front of him, exhaling. “Luminous, though I can’t tell you what your mother has shown me, I can tell you that she is definitely not from this Equestria. Therefore, I wouldn’t be surprised if these visions are somehow related to her Equestria, or Broken Equestria as she so wonderfully calls it.”

“You aren’t the first pony who has tried to tell me that it’s real, but I’m still sceptical,” Luminous replied. “I mean, I’m not exactly your typical pegasi, seeing how I have joal. It’s entirely possible, with how unknown the disability is, that it somehow messes with my mind.”

“I don’t think the mind has the ability to make you go through somepony else's body,” Gabriel said, putting a claw on the pegasi’s shoulder. Luminous opened her mouth, but the griffon beat her to it. “Queen Twilight told me about what happened between the two of you. Again, I can’t say what, but this isn’t the first time I’ve seen a pony, griffon, or other creatures have the same thing happen to them.”

Their talk was interrupted by the call of what sounded like an eagle above them. Looking up, Luminous was surprised to see what seemed at first like a ball of green fire above the tree. As it broke through the lower branches, the pegasus and griffon saw that said fireball was actually a bird made of fire. Luminous could feel something off about the heat the fire was giving off, but didn’t think much about it, too consumed by awe at what was in front of her.

“A phoenix?” Gabriel said. “But, it can’t be. Phoenix should be red, why is this one- hey!”

“Wait I… I think I recognize it for some reason,” Luminous replied, feeling a slight headache. She shook her head, though quickly realized that only made it feel worse. “It’s like that feeling I had the day I met Twilight. I could be wrong but…” She looked to the Phoenix. “Philo… Philomena?”

The phoenix took off as quickly as it had arrived, and that feeling inside Luminous told her to chase it. Without giving Gabriel a warning, Luminous rushed off, doing her best to keep up as the green phoenix. It would take her where she needed to go, show her what she had to do, something within her said that. Somepony was out there that some deep buried part of her memory didn’t remember, and everything was telling her the phoenix knew where they would be.

Gabriel just shook his head at everything he had gotten himself into.

--------

Once again, Silvia’s medallion was glowing bright blue, brightening the camp that her group had made for the night. It was nowhere near as bright as the unborn she had dealt with two weeks ago, though she had expected as such. The closer the paradox, the brighter it was, and that never really helped when it’s scan radiance could detect them from miles away. Normally wolves didn’t need something like this anyway, as paradoxes had a unique sense of smell. A smell that Silvia’s nose was unable to pick up due to her nose never working when it wanted to.

“You gonna go after it?” Arcane asked. His lap was currently being occupied by a sleeping empress, snoozing away peacefully.

“No, could take me days,” She said, noticing the glow getting slightly duller and duller as the seconds passed by. “We only have a few hours to rest before we have to move again. The sooner we get to Silver Shoals the better,” Silvia closed her eyes. “And the sooner I know my daughter is safe.”

“Speaking of Luminous,” Thunder replied. He was wide awake, or at least he said he was, too afraid to shut his eyes. “Silvia, do you think that it’s time to-”

“I kept the truth from her for long enough,” Silvia said, nodding her head. She couldn’t help but smile, despite the situation she was currently in. “I got to give her a normal life, one which I knew would be shattered the moment she knew the truth,” She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “I guess I should have known her meeting Twilight was a risky move, but a splintered and their true self are hard to keep separated forever.”

Silvia looked back down at the medallion, noticing how the glow was too dim for the light to be useful. She stood up, placing it down next to Thunder and giving him a look that read “don’t touch it”. He didn’t need to be told that, but it made her feel a little more comfortable as she walked off. It was too dangerous to light a fire since they were being tracked, but it was also important to know how far away their pursuers might actually be. They were already in danger, but they had Flurry Heart with them, and Silvia felt it was dangerous to let Aurora know another one existed.

That night was quiet, just how Silvia liked it. It was nice to be able to hear her paws against the ground, and the wind against her fur. She was reminded of that night, nineteen years ago, the day she first arrived in this Equestria, or True Equestria as she had heard a certain pony call it. That day she found a young filly Luminous snuggling next to her, out in the middle of nowhere. That day when she became a mother, and her fate was sealed.

She looked ahead, seeing yellow eyes through the bushes. The wolf watches as a timberwolf came out of the brush, staring at her with teeth bare. Silvia stood their, unmoved by the beasts nature to intimidate her, as it had no need to. Inside those predatory eyes she saw something: a glimmer of intelligence, lost to time. Silvia had to hold back the tears that wanted to make their way down her face, knowing full well what she was looking at. Her eyes stayed on the timberwolf, who didn’t move from its place despite looking like it was ready to maul her.

“A thousand years cursed,” She told it. “Become but beasts, primal, instinctive. Such a cruel fate, and yet it’s part of you, True Equestria,” The timberwolf finally decided to lung at her, only for its body to phase through her like she was a cloud. “So, fate brought three of them together, and now it brings you to me… or rather myself to I,” Her resolved lowered just enough for a single tear to swell up in the corner of her eye. “Arcane, I know you followed me. Just do it already.”

Before the timberwolf knew what was happening, a blast of magic landed at its feet. It fled in fear, though whether it was from that slight intelligence or simply instinct Silvia didn’t know. Turning around, she was surprised to find that she had guessed the wrong pony, being greeted by a formerly sleeping Flurry Heart. The two stared at each other in silence, a look of discontent on both faces.

“What’s your goal, following me out here?” Silvia asked. She watched Flurry open her mouth, but anticipated the young alicorn’s response. “And don’t you dare say it’s for the queen.”

“Well, you aren’t wrong, but you also aren’t right,” Flurry said, deciding to amuse the wolf. “Let’s just say that I’m not going to let this invader kill my aunt,” She could see Silvia was doubting her words, but this was close to the truth as the wolf would get. “Though… what was that thing that she pulled out of her chest? The crystal she gave to the griffon?”

Silvia wasn’t sure how to answer that question, partly because there was both good and bad consequences of her doing so. She had no idea what Flurry’s true intentions were, and if telling the empress would endanger Equestria in anyway. At the same time, if Flurry didn’t know what an alicorn canon is, than it would be dangerous to herself. The wolf bit her lip, knowing that if they somehow failed to protect Twilight’s, Flurry might be the only hope of keeping the timeline from completely unraveling. She had to know, no matter how much danger it put herself in, Silvia had to explain.

“It’s called an alicorn’s canon, it’s your heart in a sense,” Silvia explained. “Destroy it, and an alicorn loses their immortality. I hope you understand the danger of letting ponies know you can be killed, right?”

“Even if I didn’t I would take the necessary steps to make sure it stayed hush,” Flurry Heart said. She did a slight bow before wandering off, a smile creeping onto her face. Checking to make sure she wasn’t being followed, she decided to entertain herself. “So Arcane was telling the truth, this thing is the source of my immortality. Oh this is perfect. That means I won’t even need that poison. All I have to do is wait for the perfect opportunity once we find the griffon emperor to smash it without any sort of suspicion falling on me. From their, all I have to do is kill Twilight and…

“… wait, that wouldn’t work. If I destroyed it now, this alicorn hating pony that just took over Canterlot would kill her, wouldn’t she? So, I need to protect it for long enough so that Twilight is once again in a position of power. Sadly that means that using Chrysalis is once again my only option, as the backlash from killing her directly would be a horrible idea,” Her smile twisted the further she walked, a low chuckle emanating from her throat. “Oh yeah, it’s all coming together.”