Memories of Love and Hope (Edited 3/7/16)
While Twilight was no stranger to bizarre things happening around her, having the front door explode open was certainly not one of them. Indeed, if Lucian had hit it any harder, it most likely would have done so. As it were, the sound was so intense that it shook the entire house, startling her and waking a sleeping Owlowiscious in the process.
“Hoo?!”
“Just me!” yelled Lucian as he walked in, his mane tangled and his breathing heavy. He then shut the door behind him with such force that it was sent flying off into the distance. With an irritated groan, he levitated the fallen door back to the entrance and put it back in its place, if only to give the library the illusion of privacy.
“Sorry about that,” he said as he turned towards Twilight. “I've just had a hard day today.”
“I thought you'd have gotten used to working on the farm,” said Twilight.
“Who said anything about the farm?” said Lucian. “I'm talking about your friends.”
“My friends?” said Twilight, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, not all of them,” said Lucian. “Mostly Rarity and Rainbow Dash. And their apparent attempts at seducing me.”
“Really?” said Twilight. “What happened?”
“Well, they both seem to think that I’m a rather attractive stallion, and so they both want me. Of course, in the end only one can have me, so they’ve been rather hostile towards each other. And that’s putting it mildly.”
Twilight shuddered at the thought of two of her best friends fighting over a stallion they both liked. While it wasn’t all that common for her friends to get into arguments, this case seemed to be worse than most.
“That doesn’t sound too nice,” she said.
“Of course it wasn’t,” said Lucian. “Fortunately, after the whole ordeal, Big Mac gave me the day off tomorrow.”
“Well, I guess it didn't turn out all bad,” said Twilight.
The two ponies nodded at each other in agreement, and then turned away. Lucian took off his hoodie and wiped some dust off of it, while Twilight’s thoughts turned towards Rarity and Rainbow Dash and what would happen if their friendship were to fall apart over a petty grudge.
Finally Lucian broke the silence. “By the way, is it true that Big Mac was keeping Smarty Pants?”
Twilight's face went red at his question.
“Oh that. He’s still alright with just being friends, right?” she asked nervously.
“Don’t worry about that,” Lucian said reassuringly. “He seemed quite content with the situation. Too bad Rarity and Rainbow Dash aren’t going for him. He’d probably know what to do.”
Twilight chuckled nervously at her roommate's joke. He then joined her, dispelling the tension that had built up over the past few minutes.
Suddenly the shelves began to rattle loudly. One by one, the stacks of books began to fall from their shelves.
“Oh no!” groaned Twilight. “Not again!”
“What just happened?”
Twilight sighed and turned to face Lucian.
“Gee, I don’t know, maybe the books developed minds of their own and wish to take over the world one bookshelf at a time,” she said in her most sarcastic voice, before she began to shout. “A bunch of books started falling, that’s what!”
“Okay, calm down,” said Lucian. “Then I’ll help you put the books back up.”
As he said this, he placed his hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. As she felt the gentle touch of his hoof, she took a deep breath, and then released it along with all her temper. Having managed to dispel her anger, she turned back to look at the fallen books.
“Here, help me organize them. Put them in alphabetical order, by author, and then title.”
As the two ponies began to pick up the various books and put them back in order, Lucian examined the bookshelf. While it was small, it seemed to be relatively stable. Indeed, the shelf was in perfect condition with nothing broken or missing aside from the fact that it was now empty.
As intriguing as it all was, it was currently unimportant to him. He went back to re-shelving the two dozen or so books that had been knocked down.
One of them, however, didn't seem to belong.
It was a large, musty book that appeared to be quite old. The cover was coated in gold, and it was adorned with the image of various crystals.
“Twilight, what's that?”
Twilight looked away from her stacks to see what Lucian was pointing out. She then took the book in her magic and lifted it up to take a closer look.
“I don't know. I don't remember even seeing this book before,” she said, turning the book around. As she did so, the title caught her attention.
“Well, this is interesting.”
“What is?” asked Lucian.
“The fact that this book seems to be non-fiction, but the title doesn't make much sense,” said Twilight. “It's titled 'The History of the Crystal Empire.’ If you ask me, it sounds more like something for a Daring Do book than a history book.”
“Did you just say ‘The Crystal Empire?’” Lucian asked in shock.
“That's what I said,” said Twilight. “But, as I said, that makes no sense, because, in all my years of studying, I've never seen anything like that mentioned in-”
Quickly Lucian took the book in his own magical aura and pulled it towards himself. He then opened it and began flipping through the pages. As he did so, amazement and joy grew on his face.
“Twilight! This is amazing!”
The unicorn mare raised her eyebrow in confusion.
“Amazing? What's so amazing about that?”
“I can't believe this has actually managed to survive for so long,” said Lucian, apparently unaware that Twilight had spoken. “When I returned, Celestia told me that all records of the Crystal Empire were lost forever! I didn't want to believe her at first, but after I spent months looking-”
Before he could continue, Twilight snatched the book from his magical grip.
“Let me get this straight. This 'Crystal Empire' thing is real?”
“Well, of course it is!” Lucian said enthusiastically. “I mean, yeah, all records of its existence have been lost for centuries, but it is definitely real!”
Still doubtful, Twilight took a peek into the book's contents.
“So, what exactly is so great about the Crystal Empire?”
At this question, Lucian opened his mouth to speak, but immediately closed it. Each time he tried to speak, he ended up doing the same thing. As he did so, a hesitant expression formed on his face, similar to the one Twilight had often seen on Spike’s face when he had to explain what had happened to the last piece of leftover cake.
“Well, it’s hard to explain,” he said finally. “I guess you'd have to have been there to really understand.”
“You were there, weren’t you?” asked Twilight, her curiosity piqued. “Do you think you could tell me what it was like?”
Lucian sighed as he opened the book.
“You know, it’s hard to believe that this is the first time any pony has read about the Crystal Empire in centuries.”
“So, you got to see it yourself?” asked Twilight.
“Of course I did. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before, or since. Hold on, let me show you.”
Lucian flipped through the pages, showing Twilight various details about the culture, architecture, and inhabitants of the Crystal Empire. As he did so, he explained as much as he could in full detail, fueling her curiosity and filling her with wonder.
“The buildings were absolutely marvelous,” Lucian recalled. “They were made of crystal and they all glimmered in the light of the sun. Ponies from all over Equestria would come just to observe the luminous effects of the buildings and crystal ponies themselves.”
“Crystal ponies?” Twilight interrupted. “You mean the ponies were crystal too?”
“Of course they were,” said Lucian. “They sparkled in the sun just like the buildings.”
“Huh. Maybe Stephaneigh Meyer only knew about vampires from the Crystal Empire.”
The two shared a brief laugh before Lucian could continue.
“Well, poorly-written fiction aside, these ponies did in fact sparkle. But their most notable part of their heritage was the crystal heart.”
“The crystal heart?” asked Twilight. “What was that?”
“It was a mystical artifact which amplified the love and hope of the crystal ponies, turning it into a sort of protective shield. It was sort of like the fires of friendship which fended off the windigos when the original pony tribes came together to found Equestria.”
If Twilight's jaw had not been attached to her head, it would likely have fallen off completely.
“The... fires of friendship?” she asked, barely able to contain her shock and excitement.
“Well, yeah, basically-”
“You're kidding me!” said Twilight. “There's so much we could learn if we could find it! I mean, the Crystal Empire couldn't have simply disappeared into thin air! Maybe it's still out there somewhere and we just have to-”
Lucian raised his hoof with a slightly exasperated look. In response, Twilight quickly calmed down.
“I-I'm sorry, Lucian. Please continue.”
“It's all right,” said Lucian. “You really are hungry for knowledge, aren't you?”
Twilight merely chuckled in embarrassment, while Lucian smiled at her.
“I get that, Twilight. I knew a pony from the Crystal Empire who was just like that.”
“Really?” said Twilight, raising an eyebrow. “Who was that?”
Lucian bit his lip. Before he had even realized it, the moment had finally arrived. He had hoped that he would never have to talk about this, but now he realized that it was inevitable. Yet the simple act of talking about this part of his past was torturous. No matter how much he tried to forget, it was always there to haunt him constantly.
Still speechless, he turned towards Twilight. This was the unicorn who not only had liberated him from the curse that had blinded him for a thousand years, but also had opened up her heart to him when nopony else would. On top of this, during the last few months she was always there for him, no matter what. If anypony deserved to know, it was her.
“A unicorn. A unicorn named Dusk Shine.”
For a moment, there was silence as Twilight processed what Lucian had just told her.
“Dusk Shine?” she said. “But wasn't that-?”
“Yeah, I may have overreacted a bit that one time.”
Twilight glared at him accusingly.
“Okay,” Lucian admitted. “I definitely overreacted.”
“Indeed you did,” said Twilight. “So tell me about Dusk Shine.”
“Well, first of all,” Lucian began, “he was a skilled and talented unicorn who was taught by Princess Celestia herself.”
“He was taught by Princess Celestia?” asked Twilight, immediately intrigued.
“Indeed he was. After he had learned about magic, she sent him to the Crystal Empire, which was being threatened by an evil dragon who wanted to enslave the crystal ponies and force them to provide him with an infinite source of gemstones to feed on.”
“Couldn’t Celestia have dealt with it herself?”
“She certainly could,” said Lucian. “However, she wanted to test Dusk Shine, to see just how capable he was of dealing with threats, in case she was ever unable to do so for whatever reason, or if, in the worst case, something tragic were to happen and a successor had to be chosen.”
“You mean like a successor to the throne? How is that even possible?”
“It’s complicated, and not particularly important,” said Lucian. “But Dusk Shine was as capable as she had expected, and more. Not only did he figure out how to defeat the dragon, but in doing so he was able to discover the secrets of the Crystal Heart, and how it was able to spread love and hope across not only the Crystal Empire, but all of Equestria. Thus, he had the crystal ponies hold a big Crystal Fair to create and amplify their positive emotions, which activated the powerful crystal field. When the dragon was caught in it, he was dissolved into ashes.”
“Wow,” said Twilight. “That must’ve been pretty intense.”
“Indeed it was,” said Lucian. “After that, the crystal ponies decreed that the Crystal Fair would be a permanent part of their culture, to be held every year to celebrate the defeat of the Dragon and reinforce the love and hope in their hearts. Meanwhile, Dusk Shine decided to remain in the empire to protect the crystal ponies from danger and maintain the peace there.”
“He really did all that?”
“Indeed. He was the Crystal Empire's one and only hero, and he was loved and admired by everypony.”
“I see,” said Twilight “So what did Dusk Shine mean... to you?”
At this question, Lucian went completely silent. All he could think about were the many experiences he had shared with Dusk Shine, and how he had almost always been there for him when he needed it most. Twilight patiently waited for him to answer, only to be met by silence.
Finally, Lucian began to speak.
“Well, he was the first friend I had in a long time. Unlike other ponies who slept during the night, he would stay out many hours after dark on patrol. And, sometimes, when he needed to take a break, he would go out just to gaze at the stars. It was on one of those nights that I first got to know him.”
“Another pony who loved the night as much as you did,” said Twilight. “I’ll bet you didn’t expect ever to meet anypony like that.”
“I sure didn’t,” said Lucian. “Anyway, I had just finished raising the moon, and was flying across Equestria, contemplating my loneliness, when I noticed a pony who was out watching the stars. At first, I was curious as to why anypony other than me would want to be out during the night. Then, when I approached him, I realized that he was my sister's former student.”
“So then what happened?” asked Twilight.
“Well,” sighed Lucian, “at first, we just talked. Things like why he was out in the darkness of the night, what Celestia had taught him, and what life protecting the Crystal Empire was like. And sometimes we’d talk about my life and my own duties. Just anything really. We just simply talked and watched the night.”
Lucian paused for a moment, remembering how he, as Luna, had enjoyed her time spent with Dusk Shine. As he did so, his blushing became slightly more noticeable.
“After that, I would often fly in the direction of the Crystal Empire, hoping to meet him again. It didn’t always happen though. Sometimes he was busy patrolling the streets, and other times he was held up by other circumstances. But, whenever he could, he went out to watch the stars. And when he did, I would always try to be there to watch them with him.”
He closed his eyes and smiled. Twilight chuckled, moving closer to him.
“So, tell me, Lucian: just how close were you to him?”
The dark blue alicorn's eyes opened wide as he felt his face glow red.
“Oh, yeah… it’s- well, I-”
“It's alright,” Twilight reassured him. “I won't tell anyone.”
Lucian looked into her eyes hesitantly. He was still reluctant to tell anypony too much. Yet he couldn't help but trust Twilight more than anypony he'd ever met.
At least, anypony other than Dusk Shine.
“Well, at first we were just friends. With each visit, however, we grew closer to each other. I knew everything about him, and he knew everything about me. And we began to trust each other almost like nopony else.”
“Then, one night, he expressed his desire to see the stars up close. Even when he studied under the tutelage of Celestia, the highest he could get was the tallest balconies of Canterlot, which is nowhere close to how high I could go. He wasn't even asking for anything from me, but I felt that it was my responsibility to make him happy. And so I took him on a flight across the sky.”
“You took him flying?” asked Twilight. “What was that like?”
“For me, it was just another flight, but for him, it was the most exciting night of his life. When we flew together, he came closer to the stars than he’d ever been before, and that night I had somepony to accompany me as I flew through the night sky. After that, Dusk Shine was more than just a friend to me.”
Lucian closed his eyes and smiled as he remembered events that had happened centuries ago. Twilight observed him, curious about one last detail.
“I’m glad you met someone who you could love enough to make their dreams come true.”
“As am I, Twilight.”
“But what happened to Dusk Shine in the end?
Lucian's eyes went wide open and his smile vanished. He clenched his teeth as his eyes closed tightly, displaying sadness, regret, and even anger.
“I... would rather not talk about that,” he shuddered.
Twilight turned her head in confusion.
“Why not?”
“I just don't, okay?” groaned Lucian.
He looked away, trying hard to block out the painful memories which, for the first time in centuries, were coming to the surface of his. Talking about Dusk Shine may have been inevitable, but the feelings that had come from doing so were no less painful.
To his great surprise, Twilight walked up and sat down next to him, placing her head beneath his and snuggling up to him.
“It's okay, Lucian. I understand if you don’t want to talk about it. Just remember that I'm here for you.”
For a moment Lucian wasn't sure how to respond. Only two ponies had ever cared for him enough to hold him so close before. The first had been his older sister, Celestia. The other had been Dusk Shine.
What do I mean to Twilight? And... what does she mean to me?
Lucian shook his head and pushed the question to the back of his mind. He then turned his head towards his unicorn roommate.
“Thank you, Twilight.”
She didn't answer, but merely snuggled up closer to him.
While the two ponies comforted each other, the shadow watched them from the darkness of the bookshelves, contemplating what had just transpired. The midnight blue alicorn had spoken of Dusk Shine, just as it had predicted. Dusk Shine, student of Celestia, the Crystal Empire's great protector, and Princess Luna's lover.
Lucian had also experienced deep emotional pain, just as the shadow had predicted.
But what the shadow had never predicted was the fact that Twilight would show such concern for Lucian. Indeed, the fact that she had walked up to him to comfort him was a shock.
This was certainly an interesting development.
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woo its starting!
Calling it now, Dusk Shine = Sombra,
2722100
Seconded.
2722111
Well the canon name was...Artemis
2722616 Vashta Nerada is an alien life form from Doctor Who that consumes flesh extremely fast and takes the form of a living shadow.
Good Show Jolly Good Show!!!!!
Need MORE TwiLucian!
...
looks up and sees cuddling ...
...
am happy nao
2722217 ... You need to learn the definition of 'canon'. It's not canon that R63 Luna is Artemis, because that would mean that Luna has BEEN R63 IN THE SHOW. Canon is what we KNOW to be fact, history, etc. R63 Luna being named Artemis is FANON. (Something that fans in general hold to be true.) You can go against fanon all you want, and it won't be A.U. If you tried to say that Luna's REAL name was, like... Moonsong or something, THEN you'd be going against canon, because we KNOW her name to be Luna, as said in the show. Since it's never been said in the show, there is no 'canon' name for R63 Luna.
2723062
but still though, Artemis is a popular name... for R63 for Luna
2723448 ... How does that have anything to do with what's canon? Nothing. Point is, you're wrong. Guess what? Authors can write whatever they want. Keaton went against fanon by naming him Lucien instead of Artemis. Just because something is popular doesn't mean that it's going to stay that way, nor that it SHOULD stay that way. Same thing happened with R63 Trixie. Know what her original name was? Magical Trevor. (Hence my user name.) It wasn't until On a Cross and Arrow came along that people started using Presto, and that's because the author PURPOSEFULLY made up a new name because they didn't feel it was as good a fit. That's what happened here. I never liked Artemis as R63 Luna, because, as others have pointed out, it's a MARE'S name. Was I upset that Cogsworth used a different name for R63 Trixie? Yeah, but once I got past my anger, I was able to agree that Presto is a more pony name than Magical Trevor is/was. Try looking past your prejudice.
(Of course, I DON'T like the name Lucien, though it's for personal reasons, but that's neither here nor there.)
2722784 Wait... Is that the episode where...
SPOILER ALERT
River Song died and reincarnated at the machine library thingy?
Those shadows are
verashajajaka nevadaVashta Nerada?2725332 Yes.
Not THAT series again...
Interesting indeed.
damn it that shadow found my hiding spot damn it.
yeah i realise im a horrible person and no i didnt plan on eating luna.
thats the 2nd time this week first that pink devil popped through it who knows how know this shadow is messing with its contents.....
please dont let it find my book on how to serve alicorns.
or my bopok 101 ways to cook an alicorn.......
2725332 *River Song accent thing* Spoylurs.
Either Dusk is immortal in some other way, or he's Sombra. Either way... I LOVE THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND PLOTLINE!!!
Wow the shadow is very intriguing none the less but I can stop but think he is someone or something that will either end up showing him self as the villain of the story or the scouter and or spy for the villain.
2778362 I am going with " he Is sombra" mostly because when we first heard about the crystal empire that was my reaction " wow lots of things happened a thousand years ago... wonder if these things were connected" If Dusk Shine becoming Sombra broke Luna.. that would have been a good trigger for what eventually became her madness... and then becoming nightmare moon.
What if its like this:
Dusk turned into Sombra, when he was defeated, he lost his memory and came to ponyville as a shadow
I feel that Luna and Twilight are out of character and use language that they wouldn't normally use.
2970787 That's genius, and I would say that it might fit well in the story.