The Spark Between the Tempest and the Sun

by AnimationLover36

Shadows Before Dawn

Tempest couldn't be more confused. An earth pony and a pegasus had recognized her and, to her surprise, had invited her to sit with them for a meal and a drink. Although she was worried about Twilight, she knew that at the moment she couldn't do anything until she got back; and since she was going to wait for her, she better do it relaxed. Also, Shadow hadn't eaten anything since his escape from the hospital; and here the food was free (courtesy of the house), so she gladly accepted.

She knew the ponies weren't as spiteful as before, but she hadn't expected such a warm reception. Not only did they not blame him for his actions as a general of the stormtroopers, but some called him a heroine for being the one who destroyed the Storm King.

"I know that princesses are in favor of reforming or locking up bad guys, but there are beings that are too dangerous to be left alive," said the gray pony.

“Believe it or not, that was not my intention. I wanted to protect the princess and her friends from being turned to stone,” Tempest said.

“Well, irony. It was that faun who turned to stone and ended up in pieces”, said the pegasus.

Tempest laughed at that comment. "It is true. My old boss's obsession with getting new weapons made him use one that even he couldn't control.

“It's serious, who would think of inventing those things? To create something that can only be used to destroy, you would have to be a very twisted guy to create that” said the pony.

Tempest swallowed hard before answering.

"You have no idea," she drank a bit, "Guys, excuse me for changing the subject, but do you know if there's any way I can get a message to Canterlot tonight?"

"I'm sorry, but the post office is closed until tomorrow." The pegasus answered.

Although she Tempest expected that answer, she really wanted to hear something different. It was then that he noticed that the bottle of cider on her table was empty, so he offered to get another. When he reached the stall, he sighed as he saw that there was a line of ponies waiting for his turn.

However, he did not get to the end of the queue, as a dark blue unicorn with black mane, a golden watch tied around her neck and a rose as a cutie mark approached him and offered him the bottle of cider she had. .

"Take. My friends have had too much to drink, and waiting in line is boring,” she told him with a smile.

Tempest looked at her in surprise. Although it seemed strange to her, she took the bottle.

"Thank you".

"You're welcome," replied the pony as she held out the hoof. "I am Rose Petal."

"TempestShadow"

“I know, I recognized you when I saw you a while ago. Your broken horn and that scar are unmistakable.”

Tempest looked at her with annoyance and sadness. Those two things were memories of the worst day of her life and the bad decisions that followed. The earth pony must have realized that he had offended her, because she stopped smiling.

"Oh, sorry," Rose apologized.

“Don't worry, I'm used to it,” Tempest said.

“Even so, it's not right for me to say such things. Can I make it up to you?"

“You already have,” she said, shaking the bottle of cider.

"But that's for helping Princess Twilight," Rose clarified. “Wait, I know. Look, I don't want you to think I'm a gossip, but I've been watching you and I heard you say you need help with a message. I can help you with that."

Tempest jumped on alert at those words.

“Have you been spying on me?” she asked somewhat annoyed.

“I am a fan of yours. I know you had a big role in defeating the Storm King, and I've admired you ever since." Rose Petal confessed. “I recognized you when you entered the square, but I didn't know how to introduce myself, and I didn't want to disturb the ponies you were eating with. The bottle seemed like a good way to start a conversation.”

“And how can you help me?” asked the former commander.

“I came with a friend. He is a unicorn who works at the EEA, and he has a medallion with which he can open portals”, said Rose.

Tempest widened her eyes hopefully. She had heard about those medallions when she worked for the Storm King; and Twilight had told him about them in one of her letters. While she wouldn't trust somepony she had just met that much, the situation was urgent, and that pony didn't seem like she was lying to him.

“Can you take me to him?” Shadow asked.

"Of course. Follow me,” Petal instructed.

<>

Twilight was making her way slowly and as quietly as possible to the edge of the hedge. As she got closer to the place where I saw, she began to hear murmurs. From what she heard, there were at least two ponies there. She really hoped it was some royal guards.

Suddenly one of them gave a cry; but it was the words, and not the tone, that caught Twilight's attention:

“What if the princess of friendship had seen you?!, The plan would have been discovered!”

Twilight froze. What plan were they talking about? And what does she have to do with it? Although she was somewhat scared, something in her mind told her that she had to find out more about it. She cautiously approached the edge of the hedge and peeked out. What she saw made her shudder.

In the clearing surrounded by the hedge, two figures were talking, but they weren't ponies. One was a toad, and the other was a lioness. But they were not normal animals: The lioness was very muscular, like a tiger. The toad, to her surprise, was huge, almost the same size as the lioness. What caught his attention the most was that they were both completely black, and their eyes were deep red.

“Don't worry, I was careful; and keep your voice down, we don't want it to be known that we're here”, said the toad

"Everyone's at the party, and the guards won't be here for half an hour. We have time and privacy”, replied the lioness. “Tell me what you found out”.

Twilight shrugged. Something told her that she wasn't going to like what she was going to hear, but it was something she had to hear.

“I have confirmed that Rarity's little sisters, Rainbow Dash and Applejack are in the same class; and Pinkie's sister Maud lives in a gem cave near Ponyville”, answered the toad.

“Great, she was the last one we needed to locate. We already have all the relatives of the 6 elements of harmony, and they are all easy targets”, said the lioness.

“Except for Shining Armor, Cadence and Flurry Heart, for The Crystal Heart. Night Light and Twilight Velvet have been going to the empire for a while, so we're also having a hard time getting close to them”, clarified the toad.

“Don't worry about it, we can always go after them when they come back. Besides, we still have that dragon”, said the lioness.

“Yes. The other day that jinx hit his head on the ceiling when she was bringing Twilight's snack”, laughed the toad.

If she was scared before, now Twilight had her heart in her throat. Who were those two? And how did they know that their parents had gone to the Crystal Empire? Worse, how did they know about the Spike incident? That was something she hadn't told anyone. How long had they been spying on her? If what they said is true, whoever those two were, had not only spied on her, but also on her friends. But why?

“So clumsy. Actually, all those ponies are clumsy. Are they really that dangerous?” asked the lioness.

“Only if they get involved in our affairs. We must not underestimate them”, explained the toad.

“That's why we're watching them. If they discover us and try to stop us, we can perfectly well take one of their relatives as hostage to ask them not to bother us”, said the lioness superiorly.

Twilight started to leave. She had heard enough…or so she thought. The next thing she heard makes her stop.

“About that, did you manage to convince that nobleman to talk?”, asked the toad

“She crowed like the rooster at dawn. He had one of the copies of Clover's book”, the lioness answered.

“One of them? Is there more than one copy of that book?” said the toad, surprised.

“There are two in total. She had both, but she sold one 6 months ago to the Crystal Empire library, so it's off limits to us”, explained the lioness

“Well, we already have one, so no need to worry”, said the toad

“The problem is that it is written in ancient language, so we must find a way to translate it. That Clover could have made our job easier”, complained the lioness.

“Don't worry, if we continue to act in the shadows and nobody discovers us, everything will be fine”, the toad reassured him.

“Then this interference will have to be corrected.”

Twilight froze. That last thing had not been said by the lioness or the toad. Worse, that voice came from behind her. Before she could react, she felt something hit her with remarkable force and launch her through the hedge, landing near the two dark animals, who looked at her in surprise.

“What the hell…!?”, cried the lioness

“Twilight Sparkle!?”, shouted the toad. “What is she doing here?!”

Twilight staggered to her feet, and she could see her attacker. It was a peacock, but it was very big and tall, much taller than her. Like the other two, it was completely black and with intense red eyes; but the look of this individual was particularly bloodthirsty and sinister; he had claws like a bird of prey, and his beak looked like a spearhead. All of this made him very intimidating…or her, because her voice was female. However, the appearance of him was that of a male peacock.

"The lady here was gossiping," the turkey said to the two animals before turning to Twilight. "I'm afraid that makes you a weed."

The toad and the lioness looked at each other, then at the alicorn. Their faces went from surprise to seriousness.

"Well, weeds must be eliminated before they grow," said the toad.

Hearing that, Twilight quickly turned on her horn to teleport, but as soon as it lit up a bit, the turkey spread its wings, and the horn went dark, much to her horror. Twilight tried again, but this time her horn didn't even glow.

"What's wrong, do you look weird?" Said the peacock in a mocking and sadistic tone, with a smile all over his beak. “Ah, yes, you can't use magic. How ironic coming from the element of magic. It's a very annoying skill of mine, right? Annoying to beings like you.”

Thinking quickly, Twilight unfurled her wings, but the toad realized what she was trying to do and shot a spit at her wings. The princess noticed that her wings were heavy. Her fear increased when she saw that they had turned to gold. She didn't hurt, but she couldn't feel or move them either.

But the toad didn't stop there, it ran its tongue over Twilight's paws, turning them gold, preventing her from moving. The young alicorn could only stare in horror at the three beings who were staring at her with blood-red eyes.

"It seems that I am the only one who has not shown her power. Would you like to know what it is?" The lioness asked with a sinister smile as she took out her claws and approached the princess like a predator to her prey.

<>

All of the ponies of Canterlot were in front of the stage, excitedly awaiting the arrival of the princesses. In the crowd, three ponies stood near the stage; but unlike the others, they weren't enjoying themselves as much as the others. They were Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity. They hadn't seen Twilight since she came back to talk to the princesses, and they were beginning to feel uneasy.

Rainbow Dash and Spike flew in and sat down next to them. The expression on their faces, and the fact that they returned alone, gave an indication of how their search had gone.

"No luck?" Applejack asked anyway.

"No luck," Dash replied.

"I don't get it," Spike said, "It's not like Twilight to be late in these situations."

"Is it possible that she was confused and thought that we were going to see the sunrise from another part of the square?" Fluttershy asked.

"Impossible!" Pinkie exclaimed, appearing between Applejack and Fluttershy, to the surprise of everypony. "I've looked everywhere, and haven't seen her."

“Girls, Spike, calm down. By the time Twilight has returned to talk to the princesses, the three of them will probably have lost track of time. I'm sure Twilight will wait for the princesses to show up to meet us," Rarity spoke in a comforting tone.

"Oh oh. Maybe they've decided to have Twilight come onstage with them by the time they break the news,” Pinkie said.

"And we're not going with her?" Dash asked, a little jealous.

“Oh my. With everypony watching, I don't think she can take it,” Fluttershy said somewhat startled.

“Don't worry, sugar cube,” Applejack said as she gave him a comforting hug, “I've got you covered.

Trumpets were heard and the spotlights were turned on, capturing the attention of all those present. The two princesses flew in and landed on the stage. To the surprise and confusion of everypony, the two sisters did not have their characteristic smile, but they were very serious. That was rare, since this holiday was one of the favorites of the princesses. Spike and The Mane 5 worried, in addition to what was already mentioned, about not seeing Twilight with the real sisters.

"Girls?" She managed to say the dragon.

“Spike, I'm just as clueless as you are,” Dash explained.

“I have a bad feeling about all of this,” Fluttershy said.

“Me too,” Pinkie added. I know that this is not like me, since I am the element of laughter, and as such I must be positive, but I can not help but think that something is not right.

When Applejack looked closely, he thought he saw Celestia look at Luna with sadness and remorse; and the princess of the night looked back, only this one was angry. Farm Pony even thought she saw Luna make a disappointed face at her older sister.

"Applejack".

Applejack turned to Rarity.

"Darling, are you okay? Have you seen anything weird?" asked the fashionista.

"Hey? Oh well, I thought I saw something,” explained the farm pony. "But it sure is my imagination."

The summer solstice proceeded as usual. Luna lowered the moon and Celestia raised the sun. Everyone present cheered for the new dawn. The Mane 5 and Spike also applauded despite the bad feeling that was eating them up inside. Suddenly, Pinkie stopped clapping and clutched her leg, feeling a stabbing pain. Her expression changed to one of terror as she saw exactly where the pain was coming from.

“GUYS!” she yelled, catching the attention of her friends.

"What's wrong Pinkie?" Dash asked.

"My knee. It hurts!” Pinkie said.

Rainbow sighed in frustration. Fluttershy, on the other hand, showed concern for his friend.

“Oh, poor thing. Did you hit yourself?" asked the yellow pegasus.

“No, this is not normal pain. It's my sense Pinkie!” explained the pink pony.

That was reason for everyone to look at her curiously. Everyone in Ponyville knew Pinkie's sense. Although it was somewhat difficult to explain, she knew that she was never wrong, and that it was something to be reckoned with.

"And what does it mean when your knee hurts?" Spike asked.

Pinkie swallowed hard before answering.

"It means something scary is about to happen."

As if something had heard her, the ground began to shake and the wind began to blow strongly. Everypony, even the princesses, had to strain not to be dragged away. Suddenly, a roar of rage rang out throughout the place, and a violent explosion appeared near the castle. That formed a column of earth that rose several meters into the sky, far exceeding the height of the castle.

Many ponies panicked and began to run, backing the pillar of earth away from the source of the blast. Celestia and Luna looked at the explosion and couldn't help but flinch a little. They perceived a sinister aura in that explosion; although for Celestia it was more intense. Although she was weak, the sun princess had a feeling that she had felt that before.

<>

"Again, what was your friend's name?" Tempest asked.

“Spell Crystal. You'll be fine. He's grateful to you for helping to free Canterlot," Rose replied.

"Wouldn't it be better to go find him?" Shadow suggested.

“Trust me, he replied” said Rose Petal as she looked at her watch. “We agreed to meet here after sunrise. It won't be long in coming."

Though she didn't want to seem rude, Tempest was beginning to suspect that there was something about her companion that was making her uneasy. If that pony was a friend of hers and they had come to the party together, why wasn't he with her at dawn, since that was the key moment of the festival?

Furthermore, they were now near the outskirts of the town. Although she could still see other ponies, the two of them were in a slightly hidden posture towards the rest of the others. All this smelled funny to her. Maybe it was due to the training she received, but her instinct told her to be vigilant, because something bad was going to happen.

So it was. A crash caught her attention. Everyone present turned their eyes towards Canterlot, and saw that something was happening in Canterlot; although at that distance, it was impossible to know what happened. However, it was enough for everyone to fear the worst, especially a certain dark orchid unicorn.

"Twilight", she thought.

“Tempest!” Rose Petal yelled.

Tempest looked at her companion, who pointed to some bushes whose leaves were stained with a red liquid. Tempest was horrified when she discovered from her scent what it was. pony blood The two ponies brushed aside the leaves and made out a path of red puddles leading into the Everfree Forest.

The unicorns looked at each other, and with that words were left over. Although they were scared, the thought of someone being injured and alone in the woods was enough for them to follow the trail of blood and head deeper into the woods. The two walked for a long time until they came across a terrifying scene:

The princess of friendship, on the ground, panting and gasping for air and claw wounds on her back.

Tempest Shadow had a face filled with fear and despair. She had been late.

Rose Petal's was expressionless, but if she were to look closely at her, she could make out a slight smile… and a flash is her deep red eyes.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait. Studies have kept me very busy. I hope the wait was worth it .