Chapter #36: Message of The Past
Chapter Thirty Six.
Message of the Past.
"So, you went with fire alicorn?" Cadenza snickered as she held back her laughter, "Really?" She snorted on her drinking, nearly choking on it in the process.
"You try coming up with a backstory on the spot." Opaline flustered as her cheeks turned a deep red, "Y-your Highness..." She stuttered before looking down.
"Opaline dear, how long have we known each other? You don't have to keep referring to me as your Highness." Cadenza placed her hoof under Opaline's chin, making the purple alicorn look at her, "It may have been centuries for you, but to me, you're still the same little filly who was the first ever unicorn to be born in my Empire." She placed her forehead on Opalines.
Opaline melted at the touch, quietly sobbing as Cadenza embraced her in a tight hug, the larger alicorn gently nuzzling into the hug provided to her, "You have no idea how homesick I have become..." She spoke softly, her voice muffled by Cadenza's wings.
Cadenza's ears perked up as the sound of hooves galloping on the hard floor drew closer to the room, she turned around and saw Flurry and Sunny gallop into the room.
"Mom!" Both shouted out in unison as their hooves skidded on the crystalline floor.
"Woah. Hold your horses girls." Cadenza held out her hoof, moving it in a 'calm down' moment, Opaline internally cringed at Cadenza's words as Sunny and Flurry panted heavily.
"Sunny's journal has detailed sketches and descriptions of the crystals!" Flurry shouted between gasps for air.
"What..." Opaline mouthed under her breath as Sunny pulled out her journal.
"It's my Dad's journal to be exact." Sunny spoke as she flicked through the pages, "Flurry says it's a traditional journal from this Empire. I honestly have no real idea how my father came into possession of it." Sunny held the journal to Cadenza.
Cadenza looked down at the page containing the detailed sketches of the Unity Crystals, she studied the pages before looking at the cover of the journal, "How did your father come to encounter one, let alone all three of them?" She asked Sunny, anger apparent in her voice.
"I wish I knew, he only ever had the earth crystal in his possession, using it as a focus lens for my foalhood nightlight." Sunny looked up at Cadenza.
All eyes soon turned to Opaline, the purple alicorn gulped, "What?" She shifted her eyes from left to right as a bead of sweat trickled from her eyebrow.
"Do you know something about this?" Cadenza raised an inquisitive eyebrow, staring directly at Opaline.
"What. No." Opaline chuckled nervously, "What would give you that impression?" She began to sweat heavily.
"Then explain this." Cadenza smugly pushed the journal into Opaline's face, tapping her hoof near one of the notes.
Opaline's eyes sparkled as she read the note, "The Earth Pony Crystal, carefully cared for by my darling wife, Opaline." The note ended with a little heart next to it, she placed her hoof to her mouth. Tears welled up in her eyes as her ears fell flat.
"Mom?" Sunny tilted her head, "Are you ok?" She added as Opaline quickly wiped the tears away.
"I-I-I'm fine." Opaline's lip quivered, "Oh to hell with it, no, I'm not fine!" She quickly hugged Sunny tightly, sobbing onto her shoulder.
"Your wedding to Dad must be a fun tale." Sunny chuckled slightly in an attempt to change the mood of the room.
Opaline chuckled between tears, "We were never officially married, pretty sure no pastor would have wedded us." She gestured to her horn and wings.
Sunny pulled her head away, "So, Dad knew of all three crystals and saw them?" She asked, gently placing her hoof on Opaline's cheek.
"As did I..." Opaline gently placed her hoof onto her daughter's, She looked up into Cadenza and Flurry's gaze, "I-I was there when the crystals were used, I was the pony who activated them." She looked down at the floor, waiting for any possible punishment awaiting her.
"Lillian told me about your discussion with her last night. You did what you had to do." Cadenza spoke with a reassuring tone, placing a hoof onto Opaline's shoulder, "But I am concerned that the crystals being so close to each other causing unforeseen consequences." She bit her lip.
"You're... Sadly not wrong about that..." Opaline sighed, her face turning sour. Biting the inside of her cheek, she thought her words out clearly, "When Argyle and the guardians of the crystals attempted to restore magic themselves within Canterlot, Dark Star awoke..." Dark Star's laugh echoed through the alicorn’s mind as she recounted the events from nearly 30 years ago, "Since that day, she's persisted, slowly growing her strength. Until..."
"Until now..." Sunny looked down, "When me and my friends successfully brought back magic, I gained Dark Star's alicorn powers, and she wants them back." Sunny looked at her sides, expecting her horn and wings to appear at any moment, "She wants the crystals so she can rule Equestria as its queen." She looked back towards Opaline and Cadenza, "It's kind of funny really." Sunny glanced at her mother, "The message Twilight hid within the crystals warned us about a pony wanting to steal all the magic, we all assumed the pony was my mom, but now I think she was warning us about Dark Star." Sunny rubbed her chin.
"Twilight's message?" Cadenza tilted her head, confusion clear on her face as she turned to Flurry Heart.
"Yes, a message from THE Twilight Sparkle." Sunny smiled, giddy like a filly, "How exciting is that!" She practically screamed.
Opaline, Cadenza and Flurry Heart all stared at each other, then back at Sunny, with curiosity and concern in their eyes.
"Do you have access to this message?" Cadenza asked, her voice becoming serious.
"I don't, but my friend Zipp has it recorded on her phone." Sunny spoke while digging through her blue saddle bag for her phone.
Cadenza and Flurry Heart exchanged looks of confusion as the orange pony pulled out her phone and tapped away at the screen, the phone making popping sounds as she typed a message.
Sunny watched as her message was sent into the group chat, a flurry of replies in return from her four friends.
"I've never seen a phone so thin." Cadenza tilted her head, before pulling out her phone, "Our phones tended to be a lot thicker and bigger." She added, holding her phone out alongside Sunny's. The alicorn's phone being nearly double the size of the earth pony's own.
"That thing must be super heavy to carry around all day?" Sunny said as she looked at how small her own phone was.
"Eh, not exactly." Opaline interjected, "These were made in an age of magic, so enchantments allowed them to be as light as a feather while being bigger." She tapped her horn, "Unless you have a horn like me, then you can do a simple levitation spell." Her horn shimmered in the light.
Zipp glided towards the ground, her silver hooves gently landing on the soft green grass, "OK guys I'm... Back..." She looked around confused, "Where the heck is everypony?".
"All gone back inside, too cold for them." Shooting Star spoke, not paying much attention to the white pegasus as she staked six empty soda cans into a triangle.
"Then why are you still outside?" Zipp looked at the pink pegasus, noting her clearly shivering from the cold.
"Eh, you get used to the cold." Shooting Star shrugged her shoulders softly as a snowflake landed on her snout.
"So, uh, whatcha doing?" Zipp tilted her head, her focus locking onto the stacked cans.
"Target practice." Shooting Star replied bluntly as she gently adjusted the can at the top of the stack.
It was then that Zipp finally noticed an object slung around the tall Pegasi's shoulder, "Uh, what is that?" Zipp pointed at the object in question, "And why does it look so... Old?" She added.
"Oh, this?" Shooting Star gestured to her back with a wing, "That's my rifle." She grinned proudly, "See, after I reunited with both of my parents, Mom decided to take us all to a county fair in Appleloosa." The pink pegasus pulled out a wallet from under her wing and opened it.
Zipp's eyes followed some photos as they accordioned out, "Turns out my dad is a hell of a shot with a rifle. He won me this in a shooting gallery." Shooting Star shoved a photo of herself, Cadenza, Flurry Heart and David dressed as cowboys toward Zipp's muzzle, "Dad was super grumpy about being made to wear actual cowboy clothes." She giggled.
"Yeah, yeah, funny." Zipp spoke with gritted teeth as she pushed the photos away, quickly looking for a change of topic when she felt her phone buzzing under her wing, "Oh no." She said, sarcasm in her voice, "Sunny wants me to see her urgently." She added before galloping off towards the palace.
"Oh, ok..." Shooting Star pouted as she looked down at the grass.
"It just seems so sad, one's entire life, relegated to a couple of dusty boxes." Pipp spoke, trying her best not to sneeze as dust filled her nose.
"Gee, thanks..." David grumbled to himself as he wiped a thick layer of dust from the top of a box.
"That's not what I meant." Pipp flailed her hoof around before headbutting a box in frustration, "Stupid, stupid, stupid..." She sighed softly as David moved a box from a pile, "This is gonna take all day to find all your belongings." The mare grumbled.
"I did tell you this wasn't going to be the height of entertainment." David playfully booped her nose after placing the box down.
"Ow!" Pipp winced, "It's still sore you know." She covered her muzzle with her delicate wings, her face a slight red as the pain subsided before a devious thought crossed her mind.
As David sat down on the floor, Pipp quickly tackled him, laying down on top of him, she looked at him with a sultry glance, "You know~" She purred, "Now that we're alone, why don't we have some fun~" Pipp gently shifted her weight as she leant down, whispering devious ideas in David's ear.
"You naughty little minx~" He replied as the pair started to kiss each other passionately.
A loud buzzing filled their ears as Pipp let out a frustrated grumble, "I swear, if that's another spam email, I'm gonna kill somepony." She fumed as she pulled her phone out from under her wing as it buzzed again.
As her eyes scanned the screen, her facial expression shifted from one of annoyance to one of surprise, "Sunny needs me, I have to go!" She dashed away before quickly turning around, "Don't go anywhere, stud~" She purred.
Pipp galloped down the hallway, looking to her side as Zipp ran up alongside.
"Sunny asked for you too then, I take it?" Pipp asked her older sister bluntly.
"Yep." Zipp replied, the air feeling heavy as an awkward silence fell between the siblings as they made their way to one of the many sitting rooms in the maze of halls within the palace.
Soon enough, the siblings found the right room, thanks in part to Pipp's expert hearing, a perfect skill for a musician such as herself, much to Zipp's annoyance.
"Told you it was this room, never doubt the ears of a musician." Pipp smugly spoke as Zipp rolled her eyes, gritting her teeth at her sister's antics.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Zipp grumbled as they joined Sunny and the others, "Yo, Sunny. We're here." The white pegasi spoke, boredom in her voice as all eyes fell on her.
"Good, everyone is here." Sunny clapped her hooves. Flurry Heart and Cadenza sat to her left, and Opaline sat to her right.
"What's this all about, Sunny?" Pipp asked, Izzy, Hitch and Zipp turning towards her.
"The Empress has requested to see the message from Twilight, and we're the only five ponies to have seen it." Sunny trotted over to Pipp and Zipp, "You still have the message don't you?" She placed her hoof on Zipp's shoulder.
"Yes, of course!" Zipp quickly pulled her phone out from under her wing and flipped it open, Pipp winched as she watched Zipp's phone flick open.
"You're gonna break the hinge one of these days, and I am not repairing it." Pipp grumbled under her breath as Zipp swiped her hoove across her double-width screen.
Zipp smiled slightly as she found the file, "Aha." She spoke, turning her phone screen towards Cadenza and Flurry Heart, "Prepare to have your mind blown." The white pegasus made a mind-blown motion with her hooves as Cadenza, Flurry and Opaline moved closer to the phone screen as Zipp tapped the play button.
On the screen, appeared a large holographic image of Twilight Sparkle, "If you're seeing this, magic is now more powerful than it's ever been, and Earth pony magic has been activated for the first time in the history of Equestria." The hologram spoke, the voice echoing around the room.
"Twilight..." Cadenza whispered under her breath as the recording continued, she glanced over at Opaline, sensing anger boiling within the purple alicorn as she focused on the recording.
"Once, a pony tried to steal all the magic in Equestria for herself... and almost succeeded. I did all that I could to protect it from—" The holographic Twilight said before glitching, "—by summoning all of my magical strength to achieve placing the magic in the crystals and the—" It continued as more glitches appeared, "You must watch out for Op—" Opaline snarled at the recording, "—before she op—" Flurry looked at her mother in confusion, "—I'm with you." The hologram spoke before disappearing as the recording stopped.
"Is that all of it?" Cadenza asked Zipp softly as Opaline turned away from the group, her blood at boiling point.
"That's all of the message, we've not been able to get it to appear again." Zipp replied as she looked down at her phone screen, the recording playing on a loop.
"You ok, Opaline?" Flurry gently placed a hoof on Opaline's shoulder. The pale white alicorn could feel the anger and rage radiating from the purple alicorn, the feeling made Flurry retract her hoof.
"No, Flurry, I am not ok." Opaline spoke through gritted teeth, "You and I both know that the hologram is lying." She added in a hushed tone, anger still present in her voice.
"I know, I know." Flurry placed her hoof on Opaline's chest, feeling the alicorn's heart, the fast beating felt like it was going to take off like a rocket. She slowly removed her hoof from the alicorn’s chest, "Now, remember the breathing exercises mom taught Lillian." She brought her hoof close to her chest, "Breath in." She inhaled, "And out." Flurry exhaled as she outstretched her hoof.
Opaline copied Flurry, feeling her rage subsiding as she looked over at her daughter asking questions to Cadenza. She could see the Empress tensing up at each question asked of her.
"Why would Twilight try to frame my mom as the problem when it's all clearly Dark Star stealing magic." Sunny asked Cadenza while looking down at Zipp's phone scene, "Maybe Dark Star manipulated Twilight's message..." Sunny pondered.
"Eh, not possible." Cadenza replied, her chest feeling tense as she looked at Sunny, "Manipulation of messages within crystals is simply not possible." She bluntly added.
"You've seen what Dark Star did to my mother, if she can do that to a living being, she can mess with messages." Sunny stamped her hoof in frustration.
"Because it's not possible, not even Celestia or Luna were capable of it." Cadenza felt her frustration beginning to boil.
"Also, why didn't anypony stand up to Dark Star? Where were the Guardians of Harmony when all this was happening?" Sunny pleaded with Cadenza, "Why didn't Twilight stop her?"
"Because Twilight wasn't around." Cadenza replied bluntly, pinching the bridge of her nose as her frustration began to boil over.
"Why not?!" Sunny raised her voice, "Why did she abandon Equestria when it needed her the most!"
"Because she just did all right?!" Cadenza screamed in Sunny's face.
"But why did she allow Dark Star to take away all magic?! It was Twilight's duty to protect Equestria! So why did she fail?!" Sunny screamed back.
Cadenza finally snapped, she grabbed Sunny by the shoulders and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"BECAUSE TWILIGHT SPARKLE IS DARK STAR!"
End of Chapter Thirty Six.
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OMG
Sooo cool
11843326
derpicdn.net/img/view/2024/3/7/3317547.png
I knew they got married secretly. It seems my thought was right.