Fears of Bygone Eras

by Lusaminia

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two ruling sisters. Each sister governed a celestial body, with the eldest raising the sun, and the younger the moon. When an event caused the two sisters a thousand years of separation, the eldest sought out a pupil to save her sister from the nightmarish influence that had taken her. That pupil not only succeeded, but later joined the two as one of the four alicorns of Equestria, governing peace and promoting friendship to lands far and wide.

In time, the sisters realized that the pupil had far surpassed them. With each year they slowly but steadily grew weaker, while the young alicorn seemed to only become stronger. In time, the princess realized that they were no longer the protectors or rulers that Equestria needed. So they gave the throne to the young alicorn, and disappeared into the lands. Not one day since the passing of the crown to Queen Twilight has any true knowledge of the old rulers whereabouts been recovered. All that is known is a prophecy given to the new queen in the last dream the youngest sister visited her in.

“A time will come when that which should be impossible occurs. In those days, look back to us, and you’re heart will show the way.”

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“Wait, four?” A pegasus asked, her flank leaving the ground as the carriage went over another root. Her pitch black coat would have hidden her in it’s shadow if it wasn’t for her red eyes and wild mustard yellow mane. “Celestia, Luna, Twilight… hm, I can’t think of another.”

“I’m not surprised you wouldn’t know, considering the crystal empires current... attitude,” The earth pony across from her explained. He bent down to help her back onto her hooves. “Empress Flurry Heart is one as well, as was her mother but she, like the ruling sisters disappeared.”

The pegasus looked back to the book in her hooves, unsure of what to make of this revelation. It was strange how the author had decided to write it, shaping each new part of Equestria’s history as if it were a folktale. She didn’t have this kind of reading back home, though that was mainly due to being in one of the most remote edges of the continent. All the reading she was used to was from other lands, places like the Dragonlands or Yakyakistan where her mother worked. Charms, culture, art, her mother’s line of work allowed her to value that stuff on a daily basis, while she was at home frolicking in acres of grassy fields and played with butterflies.

Yet here she was, on her journey east to meet a friend she hadn’t met in… how long has it been? Time had always been a bit funny to her, and she didn’t really know if it was right to say fifteen years or seventeen. She would have to ask, though losing track of the years as young as herself really shouldn’t happen. A nineteen year old mare should be the last one to have a memory that bad, but time and place was never her strong suit. She was more like the wingmare helping her friend work up the nerve to go and ask the stallion of her dreams out.

She had to giggle to herself at that thought.

“So, first time to Canterlot, right?” The stallion asked, a wide smile on his face.

“Yeah, guess it is,” The mare responded. She held the book tight to her chest. “I stayed put for so many years out of fear of screwing something up, but it’s time! I’m ready to leave home and journey out into the unknown!”

“Allow me to be your first friend on this expedition of yours then,” He bowed courteously, causing the mare to roll her eyes. She could tell he was simply trying to impress her, work his way up to asking her out only to learn that the pony in front of him was not one for romance. “The name’s Wood Roast. I run a pizza establishment in Ponyville Commons. I get off before you, but would you mind telling me your name Ms…”

“Luminous Oracle,” She dipped her head to the stallion, giving a smile that sent the poor guy into a furious blush. “I… live kinda out in the middle of nowhere, I guess you can say. Mother does odd jobs as a guard for hire or something around the world so she is one of the few… ponies that I have any contact with. Everyone else I knew has kinda, sorta, left.”

“I-I’m sorry to hear that,” Wood Roast responded, looking away with shame. “I apologize if I’m being more… forward than your used to. If you want, I'll stop talking. Sounds hard being so alone.”

Luminous had to give the stallion credit, he at least genuinely seemed to care about her. So many times she had gotten letters from her old friends in Canterlot and Ponyville saying how much ponies could be “sleazebags”. Ponies who only act nice because they thought you looked cute and didn’t really care. Those were not the kind of individuals she wanted them to associate with. Yet something about him told Luminous that he was not one of these ponies.

“No, you’re good. Truth be told it feels good to get that off my chest,” Luminous explained. “My mother wasn’t really a very protective pony. Don’t get me wrong, if a manticore came at me she would rip it’s neck out or throw it miles away,” Hearing that description made Wood Roast shiver. He didn’t want to know what would happen if somepony ever tried to date her. “Though she would always inch me towards leaving home, doing my own thing, but I was just so happy that I didn’t want to go. I already miss it all, especially the butterflies that would swarm me in the dead of night.”

“I take it you are a big fan of nature,” Wood Roast said. Luminous looked out the wagon at the forest and trees passing by.

“Guess you can say that,” She answered. “I see pictures of cities and towns and none of them hold the same beauty nature does. What wow factor can you get for grey marble and stone? What beauty can you extract from an environment so… so…”

Wood Roast quickly realized what she was trying to say. “Congested?”

“I’ve never heard of the word before but, yeah, congested sounds about right,” Luminous nodded happily. Seeing the mare smile made Wood Roast’s heart flutter. “Too many ponies around to enjoy what beauty there is. If it wasn’t for my friend, I don’t think I would have even wanted to leave.”

“But here you are, off to Canterlot of all places, meaning that you must care about her a lot,” Wood replied.

Luminous nodded, thinking back on the fun times she had had with those who she considered her best friends. Of all of them, the two that she always thought back to were Thunder Shield, her old coltfriend, and Psyche. Nopony knew the mare’s last name; she had just appeared in the woods one day. A blind pony, who refused to take off that blindfold from around her eyes despite not needing it in the first place. She also seemed to have a hard time with emotions, unable to understand happiness or grief even after explaining it so many times.

“I do care for her, though I’ll admit on more than one occasion I’ve worried about her,” Luminous finally responded, closing her eyes as she remembered the form of her dear friend: a brilliant gold coat, green eyes, and a teal mane and tail which dragged across the floor. “I’ve always wondered how she gets around, not being able to see anything.”

“Ah, blind is she?” Wood asked, earning a nod from Luminous once again. “She sounds like a strong pony, though I would worry too when if I were to find out such a thing,” A whistle sounded from the front of the carriage. “Already?”

Luminous tilted her head in confusion. “What’s going on?”

“The whistle means the next stop is here, which means that we are already closing in on Ponyville Commons,” Wood Roast explained. Luminous leaned out the back of the carriage, spotting a large structure in the distance. She had no idea what it was, but from the shape to the almost crystalline look of it, this was no normal building. “Hard to believe that some years ago this place was just a little town next to the Everfree. You taking the train or the carriage to Canterlot?”

“The carriage, that’s what I planned around,” Luminous responded, taking out a small bag of bits. “Besides I’m...never mind. I’ll try and stop in for a slice on my way home. How does that sound?”

“Always happy for more customers,” Wood Roast replied. With those words, the ride fell quiet.

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As much fun as Luminous had with her time talking to Wood Roast about this and that, it was nice to have the carriage all to herself. Western Equestria, despite being settled, wasn’t really a place many ponies were focusing on at the moment. The quiet days Luminous would spend at home doing whatever she wanted was some of the best days of her life. Baking with her mom, writing to friends in far off places, flying as high as the sky would let her. She couldn’t imagine doing the same things in a place like Manehattan or Canterlot. There was probably some rules against it and she’d end up in jail for having too much fun.

Luminous thought back to what she had read in the book earlier that day, about the sudden disappearance of the royal sisters. No text she read had any mention of their great deeds before Queen Twilight is first mentioned, no tell of the great things they did for Equestria their supposed thousand-year rule. It seemed like Queen Twilight and her companions were the greater heroes according to the exploits listed. Luminous couldn’t help but wonder if, when she got to Canterlot, telling the queen this would be a good idea or not.

Heck, she didn’t know anything about the equestrian royalty, and she was a citizen for goodness sake! News that took a day or less to arrive in Ponyville or Vanhoover would take three times as long to reach the frontier, perhaps longer. When Queen Twilight was crowned they had found out a full week late for reasons nopony knew. It was probably the one downside Luminous could think about home, asides for the loneliness, but more times than not she didn’t really care for it anyways. There always seemed to be so much bad happening in the rest of the world she was glad not to be a part of it.

Some of it is to be expected though. Her mother had told her about the trouble going on with other countries, some of which across the Pegacific Sea (a name that might be changed if things papers are to be believed). The Crystal Empire blamed Equestria for the disappearance of Empress Mi Amore Cadenza and Emperor Shining Armor, though considering a similar incident happening here with the former rulers, it wasn’t likely that wasn’t the case. Rising tensions between the reviving griffon empire and Dragonlands was another thing happening, though Luminous suspected it was just two headstrong factions after each others necks.

No, the real juicy information was the stuff that was right at home. The upcoming festival of the two sisters was an event that pony, dragon, griffon, and changeling alike was looking forward to. To many, it seemed like the one time of the year where no hostility was present between nations, but nothing could be further from the truth. For the first time since Acting Empress Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire took her mother and father’s seat, the mare would be coming to Equestria. Many believed that letting someone who was considered a danger to Equestrian society into such an event was blasphemous. A country founded on the idea of companionship and love allowing a leader so hellbent on crushing it. To say that Queen Twilight was receiving criticism for the act was accurate.

Luminous sighed. “Why are ponies so obsessed with ruling each other?”

Where Wood was some time ago a newspaper now sat, probably left behind by the stallion in his hurry back to his restaurant. Luminous had been staring at it for who knows how long, and as she did the sudden change in sunlight more than took notice. With yet another sigh, she looked outside to she that what she believed was correct. What was once a sunny day suddenly turned into black night. She couldn’t tell if she was in a grassy field or a thick forest, but either way it didn’t matter. She knew in a matter of seconds the night would fade back to day, as it always did.

“At least you were boring this time,” Luminous said to no one.

Just as suspected, the sudden night faded back into day. If she had been seven, maybe eight, it would have scared, but not anymore. She knew for a fact that she was the only pony seeing what was happening in those few moments. It was more than just the world turning to night, but she was too far from society for that to be noticeable. Those first few nights, when her mind suddenly caught this strange phenomenon, were the worst days of her childhood, but now she was more interested in what differences she could perceive in those cases. Perhaps it was different flowers blooming, or creatures long extinct showing up.

“Well, no use crying over spilled milk,” She told herself, smiling. “Just means no waking up in the middle of the night thinking “is that what it means” or something like that. Better getting that out of the way now than when I’m shopping with Psyche. Last time that happened I almost got kicked out.”

Luminous shivered as she remembered the scary mare who ran the local general store back home. Never again would she make the mistakes she made back then. Never again.

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“Last stop, Canterlot! Everypony off!” The Carriage driver called from the front seat, many hours later. “Last stop, Canterlot! Thank you for riding with the Equestria Carriage Service! Have a nice day!”

Grabbing her suitcase, Luminous shouted a thank you from where she sat and jumped out of the carriage. Ever since her little reality bending experience earlier, nothing really noticeable had happened. The sun was starting to set over the horizon now, the sky radiating pink. She could hear a train pull into the nearby station, through a wall broke her line of vision from it. As she tried to lift her suitcase into the air, she noticed that it suddenly felt a lot heavier than it had earlier. With a sigh Luminous set it on the ground nearby and opened it up, noting just how much she had stuffed it.

“How did these get in here?” Luminous said, noticing that lots of gemstones had been unknowingly mixed in with her belongings. “Very funny Glyph. Very, very funny.”

“You need help there Ms?” Someone asked from behind the pegasus, tapping her on the shoulder.

Luminous froze at the touch, knowing straight away that wasn’t a hoof that had just hit her skin. Slowly looking behind her, a wave of fear hit her as she saw what could only be described as the most terrifying thing in her life. Right there, standing with its arms crossed, was a dragon easily twice her size. It’s purple scales seemed to shine against the fading sun’s rays, long white claws at the end of it’s fingers. Luminous felt her heart beating so quickly that it might explode, having no idea what to say in front of something so much bigger than herself.

“Um, Ms?”

“Dragon!” Luminous suddenly shouted, a surge of strength allowing her to pick up her suitcase with her hooves.

Strength that she then used to deck the dragon over the head with said suitcase, sending him sideways a good few feet. All of Luminous’ stuff, along with the gemstones, flew out at the impact covering the ground, the pegasus getting hit with a bottle of shampoo. A nearby couple, who had witnessed the entire thing unfold, quickly left the scene. It took Luminous a few minutes to piece together what she had done, and more so realize the mistake she had made.

She had just smacked a dragon, an actual fire breathing dragon, in the face!

“Oh god I’m so so sorry,” Luminous apologized, covering her head in fear. “I swear I didn’t mean to do it. It was just reflex and you scared me. Please don’t call the guards or-”

“Relax, you’re fine,” The dragon said. Luminous looked up to see that the dragon currently had on of the gemstones from her suitcase in his claw. Without a second thought, or even considering that it was the pegasi's, he bit it in half and started chewing. “Silvia was right about your strength though. I just never thought you would actually be strong enough to move me.”

“What can I say. When your mom is of a nearly extinct race of warriors and tribes, you tend to be a little stronger than you look,” Luminous responded. The dragon’s words finished settling in her head, and she quickly realized something. “Wait, you know my mom?”

“Helped a friend of mine from the Dragonlands. Had the pleasure of meeting her a few weeks back,” The dragon explained, a goofy smile on his face as he swallowed the rest of the gem. Luminous, even though she knew about dragon’s appetite for crystals, was surprised that his stomach could handle such a thing. “She told me you would be here, so I decided to say hello. Didn’t realize that the “cute little muffin” she mentioned was a pony.”

“Yep, that sounds like her,” Luminous muttered, rolling her eyes. “How did you even know it was me, considering you didn’t-” She stopped, a realization suddenly hit her. “It was the gems, wasn’t it?”

“If I remember correctly,” Spike coughed as he prepared to imitate Silvia. “Her words were something along the lines of “She has no idea who you are so expect to be either suplexed or punched five feet into the air if you meet her”,” Luminous blushed. That definitely sounded like her mom. “The gems were just an added bonus. Anyways, name’s Spike. Friendship adviser and… yeah, friendship adviser.”

Luminous giggled to herself, shaking her head at the dragon’s actions.

“Luminous Oracle,” The pegasus replied, reaching her hoof out. As Spike grabbed it, she flinched a little out of fear once again, though kept her cool long enough for a firm handshake. “Sorry to ask, but would you mind… you know?”

“I guess I am part of the reason your stuff is everywhere, isn’t it?” Spike asked, looking around at the collection of books, clothes, gemstones, and hygiene products scattered around the ground. “Well can’t really say no then, right?”

“Don’t think the Queen would be too happy if you did,” Luminous jokes. Spike looked away and nodded. Unknown to the mare, what she had just said was all too true.

Without a word, the two got to work, picking up everything that Luminous had brought with her and sorting it back to how she had it before. Having no need for the gemstones, and having a feeling her mom put it in there specifically for the dragon, she gave Spike the go ahead to take them for himself. The look on his face when she said that was like a foal on Hearth’s Warming Eve opening presents. What she didn’t notice, however, was the dragon looking at her with avid curiosity, or more specifically to her flank.

At that moment, he realized that the pony he was talking to, a nineteen year old mare, still had no clue as to her special talent.

Comments

[Toriandthehorse]

This was real interesting, the entire time. Nicely written, and I love the little romance factor.
I noticed a few places where there were tiny slip ups, like somewhere it said, '..wasn't a very protective person' when it probably should have been pony.. but very, very minor things.
I truly enjoyed reading this, good work!

[Lusaminia]

9883869
oh doy, I'll fix that right away. Glad to here you enjoyed it though.
This has basically been my baby for the past three weeks, and I'm so happy it's receiving good reception at the current moment.