Shadow of Twilight

by GreenS21

The Killer

Twilight’s time bubble deposited her in front of the art museum, the lavender mare landing just under the arch in front of the building. She looked around as she contemplated what to do next. Obviously, she wanted to find both Lucian and Hugo, but where was she supposed to start looking for them? Her Canterlot was far bigger than theirs’ was; she was sure that finding them in the city was going to be anything but easy.

It seemed as though somepony didn’t agree with her, though, as she suddenly noticed a green wisp of light floating down towards her. It came to a stop in front of her face and then circled her several times, Twilight’s eyes following it the whole time. She recognized it as being a long-distance communication spell, but nopony, not even Princess Celestia, had ever used one to talk to her before. Who was trying to reach her?

The green wisp soon came to a stop in front of Twilight’s face, seemingly satisfied after its ‘examination’. She then heard a voice speaking through it, “Hey, long time no see… Actually, didn’t we see each other earlier today?”

Twilight’s eyes widened at the sound of the voice. She asked, “Hugo? Is that you?”

The wisp replied, “Uh-huh. I really like all this new magic of the future. Being able to be in one place and communicate with somepony far away, that’s really something.”

Twilight shook her head and asked, “How did you know how to reach me?!”

Hugo replied, “Oh, that? I asked somepony called Eckart. You know, you mentioned him once.”

Twilight looked at the green wisp in disbelief. She stuttered, “H-how did you get here…? And why did you come here?” She then had a thought and asked, “You weren’t the one threatening Mr. Brum, were you?”

Hugo spoke, “Come on, ‘threaten’ sounds so serious. All I did was propose a deal. Can I help it if he jumped at the chance when I told him what he wanted to hear about his son? …Oh, and about how I got here, it’s pretty simple really. Remember that tool you showed me? I just made one of my own, you see.”

Twilight’s eyes widened again, “What?!”

Hugo said, “Well, actually, I didn’t make it, not exactly. The Hugo of the future completed it and gave it to me. ‘A Transport Mechanism to Timespace Marked by Phenomena of Relevance’… You like it? Just like yours. Actually, I think the other stuff may be different, but – who cares, right? In any case, I can track and follow your machine.”

Twilight asked, “What happened to Lucian?”

Hugo said, “Will you look at that, I’m forgetting the point of the whole thing. Listen, can you drop by? I’ll be waiting at the square. Bring Homunculus – we have a few things to discuss.” His voice took on a slight edge as he continued, “Oh, and by the way, do as I tell you, okay? Otherwise, somepony you care about is gonna die. I don’t have to tell you what I mean by that, right? See you soon, then.”

Suddenly, Twilight heard Lucian exclaimed, “Hugo!!”

Twilight flinched at that, saying, “Hey!” But she couldn’t get another word in; the green wisp disappeared in front of her. She stared at where it had been for a moment before dropping her gaze to the ground. The only thought she had at the moment was, “Hugo… why?” She looked up a moment later and shook her head. She then said, “Whatever the reason, I’d better get to the square.” She then dashed down the hill and ran into the city, heading for the square.

Meanwhile, in the Canterlot castle garden…

“Okay, this is getting ridiculous! Seriously, what the hay is taking Twilight so long?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed over the music, causing the record on the phonograph to scratch as the music came to a stop and everypony looked at her.

Fluttershy flew over to the irritated pegasus and said, “Rainbow Dash, please calm down. It’s okay…”

Rainbow replied, “No, it’s not okay, Fluttershy! Do you know how long it’s been since she left to return that book?! Too long! Even if she walked, she should’ve gotten here by now!”

Rarity took a sip from her punch and then said, “That may be true, Rainbow, but really, what are you worrying about? This is Twilight we’re talking about. She’s not exactly as responsive as the rest of us are to certain situations, but I like to think that she can defend herself when the need arises.”

The cyan pegasus said, “I’m not worried about her running into trouble, Rarity! The fact that we haven’t seen her since she went to the museum means she either got wrapped up in a long conversation with that Brum guy, or something else is going on that she never bothered to tell us about! And I’d bet my next Wonderbolts tickets that it’s not the first option, given how strange she’s been acting today!”

Princess Celestia looked down at Spike and asked, “What does she mean by that, Spike? How has Twilight been acting strange today?”

Spike shrugged, “Well, I wouldn’t say she’s been acting strange. She just did some stuff that seemed a little unusual. You know, like going to see somepony earlier this morning, ducking out of an auction Rarity suggested we go to, getting all nervous when Rainbow asked her a question, spending all that time in that restaurant bathroom, and having kind of an outburst before she headed to the museum… Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

Celestia and Luna looked at each other before all three of them looked back at the arguing group of ponies in front of them. “I can’t believe you would suggest that, Rainbow! Twilight would come to us if she needed our help!” Rarity was saying.

Dash replied, “I didn’t say she wouldn’t, Rarity! I said she’s been keeping something from us for some reason! Something she doesn’t want us to know!”

Pinkie Pie giggled and then said, “Of course, Dashie! You’re supposed to keep secrets, not blurt them out! Twilight’s gotten better at that, because she knows if she tells a secret again, she could lose us all… FOREVER!” Pinkie Pie reared up on her hind legs and acted all spooky as she said the last word.

Applejack said, “Well, Ah don’t know about the ‘forever’ part, Pinkie, but Ah will agree that it’s important ta keep secrets. Of course, ya do know that not all secrets can be kept, right? Some secrets are just too big ta stay hidden.”

Rainbow looked at the orange earth pony and said, “So you agree with me!”

Applejack turned to look at her friend and said, “Ah didn’t say that! Maybe Twilight’s keeping something to herself, maybe she ain’t! Ah’m more worried about whether or not she’s okay right now. She really shoulda gotten here by now, Ah’ll agree with ya on that.”

Luna started to walk towards the garden entrance as she said, “I agree with thou, fair Applejack. I am worried about Twilight Sparkle as well. So I shall go look for her.”

Princess Celestia followed after her, saying, “Luna, I do not think that will be necessary. Let’s give Twilight a little more time before we start looking for her.”

Luna stopped and turned back to her older sister and said, “Sister, art thou saying that thou dost not entrust the safety of thy student to me?”

Celestia stopped as well and said, “I did not say that, Luna. I have faith in you; I am asking that you put your faith in Twilight.”

Luna turned away and said, “I want to have fun at this party. Clearly, Twilight’s friends are getting too worried about her to want to have fun at the moment. I’m starting to worry now too. If I can find Twilight Sparkle and bring her here, then we can all have fun together.”

Celestia sighed, “Very well. Just don’t be gone so long that I start to worry about you too.”

Luna nodded, “As you wish, dear sister.” She then spread her wings and took to the air, flying out into Canterlot.

Soon…

Twilight arrived in the Canterlot square, noticing that it was completely deserted, like most of the streets she had run down had been. Many of the upper class ponies were either attending parties or shut in for the night. It was the perfect place for Hugo to set up a meeting. Walking past the arrangement of flowers in the center of the square, she noticed that she couldn’t see Hugo or Lucian anywhere. Taking another look around, she called, “Hugo! Where are you?!”

After a moment, Hugo stepped out of the shadows cast by one of the buildings around the square, his front left hoof on Lucian’s shoulder and something levitating next to him. As the two brothers came to stand opposite of Twilight, Hugo spoke, “Geez, could you be any noisier? I’m here, right here.” Standing a short distance across from Twilight, Hugo released the floating object from his magic and let it drop into his right front hoof. He then held it up to Lucian’s chest, at which point Twilight realized it was a knife. Lucian looked down at the knife and then up at Twilight, a fearful expression on his face.

Twilight was initially angered at the sight of this, but her anger began to dissipate as she looked over at Hugo. Unlike Lucian, his appearance had changed somewhat since the last time she had seen him. His coat was now a green-blue color instead of dark blue and his mane and tail were yellow instead of light brown. She looked at him carefully for a moment; hadn’t she seen a pony that looked just like him earlier that day? Then it dawned on her: he looked just like the pony who had been crying about his grandfather being trapped in the burning restaurant. He even had light blue eyes, just like…

All of a sudden, everything fell into place.

“…Hugo. You… You’re the one who’s been trying to kill me?” Twilight asked, shocked.

Hugo said, “Never mind that. Where is the Homunculus?”

Her anger reignited, Twilight took a step towards Hugo and growled, “You heard what I asked you! Why have you been trying to kill me?”

Hugo kept the knife in his right hoof between Lucian’s chest and neck, seemingly ready to stab him if Twilight tried anything. He spoke, “The Homunculus was completed because you showed up.” Pointing the knife at her, he went on, “You fooled Mother into creating the Homunculus. Isn’t that right? I read Mother’s research notes. It said that you brought her the last ingredient, the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’…”

Twilight looked at him in surprise. “Me – trick your Mother into creating Homunculus?” she asked. Placing her right hoof on her chest, she said, “All I’ve been doing is trying to stay alive…” She then looked down as she remembered delivering the stone to Dr. Wagner, letting her take it and not trying to stop the experiment that destroyed the house. Was that what she was supposed to do? Confused by her own thoughts, she stuttered, “But… I didn’t fool her into doing anything…”

She looked back up at Hugo as he said, “What I really wanted was to get here earlier and stop what you were doing, but all my machine could do was follow yours. So I targeted yesterday’s you, because I thought I could manage to get to you before you did the things you did today. I had so many chances, but I still didn’t manage to kill you off.”

Lucian looked over at him and murmured, fearfully, “Hugo…”

Hugo spoke, “It’s a shame, but… There’s no way for my machine to outrun yours, and I can’t stop the Homunculus from being completed.” Looking down, he said, “So I’m switching to another plan.” He looked back up at Twilight and gave her a determined look as he explained, “If I can’t prevent the Homunculus from being created in the first place, I’ll destroy it. That seems to be the only way to get a hold of the Philosopher’s Stone.”

Twilight tilted her head in confusion, “The Philosopher’s Stone…? What are you going to use that for?” She started to walk towards Hugo and his brother, starting to get fed up by her lack of information.

Before she could get too close, Hugo held his knife threateningly close to Lucian’s neck, the light brown unicorn squeaking, “H-Hugo…”

Hugo angrily said, “I’m out for revenge, get it? The Homunculus destroyed my family, and you’re the one who had it created!”

Lucian stammered, “No… Hugo… That can’t be right. Even if she did deliver this Philosopher’s Stone to Mother for the experiment, Twilight wouldn’t do something like fool Mother for her own gain. And there has to be a reason why she disappeared the way she did. Come on, Hugo; let’s give her a little more time. We’ll wait together…”

Looking at the light brown unicorn, Hugo angrily said, “Shut up! You can keep your wishful thinking to yourself.” Looking back over at Twilight, he added, “Now stop acting like you’re the older brother and you know better than I do, got it?”

Lucian murmured, “I-I’m sorry if I said things that hurt your feelings. But…”

Cutting him off, Hugo said, “I know that the Homunculus is made of the Philosopher’s Stone.” Looking down, he solemnly said, “If we got hold of it, we could save Grandma…!” Lucian looked over at him in surprise at that.

Twilight also looked surprised, asking, “‘Save’? What do you mean by that?”

Looking back up at her, Hugo explained, “I can save her life! That’s the reason I’m looking for that stone. I have to do this. We still need to be a family. This time, I will succeed, and she’ll be alive again… We’ll all go home together and start over. And that’s why I need that stone.” Pointing at Twilight, he asked, “You understand now? Come on! Go get the Homunculus!”

Lucian asked, “Alive again? Hugo, what are you talking about?”

Twilight had an idea of what he was suggesting and asked, “You want to raise the dead?”

Looking back at Twilight, Hugo explained, “The stone let Mother create the Homunculus. As long as I have the right materials, this should work too. It has to. I still have everything from last time; all I need is the stone. I can do this, I know…”

Lucian’s eyes went wide as he said, “Hugo, you don’t mean…!”

Hugo cut him off, “Never mind, just hurry up!”

Lucian asked, “You used that lock from Grandma’s mane? You tried this before?!”

Hugo urged, “Hurry up…” Lucian looked from Hugo to Twilight at that.

The lavender unicorn started, “Homunculus can’t be… He always… He just appears out of nowhere. It has nothing to do with what I want. Yes, he saved my life, but that’s all he’s done for me. I have no control over him; it just isn’t possible for me to call him up. You’ve got to understand.”

Hugo replied, “No excuses, Twilight. I told you to do what I tell you; if that’s too hard for you, I’m going to have to give you some extra persuasion.”

Lucian pleaded, “Hugo, please, you’ve done enough. We can get by on our own. Just stop this madness already.”

Looking back at Lucian, Hugo said, “Bro, if you won’t be quiet, I’ll have to hurt you. Don’t make me do that.”

Lucian gasped, “Hugo…!”

Getting closer to his face, he murmured, “You know I can’t stand blood.” Pulling back, he looked over at Twilight and said, “I’ll give you twenty minutes. If you don’t bring him to me in twenty minutes, I’m just going to disappear.” Looking back at Lucian, he addressed the light brown unicorn, “Sorry bro, but I’ll have to leave you behind in this age.”

Lucian asked, “Hugo… what do you think you’re doing?”

Hugo replied, “Don’t worry. Even if I do end up doing that, nothing is going to happen to you.” Shooting a glance back at Twilight, he said, “‘Leaving your ancestor in this time’. You know that’ll mean for you, right? And don’t even think you’ll be able to return him yourself or get help from your friends. I’ll know if you try anything. Now go on, hurry up.” Twilight reeled back at that. From the sound of things, it looked like Hugo had prepared for this possibility and had taken every precaution. What other choice did she have at this point?

In the shadows of a nearby building, a familiar figure had watched the whole exchange take place. She gasped to herself, “By my sister’s name… This is terrible! I… I have to…” She then turned and galloped away into the darkness before anypony could notice her.

Comments

[Please no go away I crie]

I am confused... This is written too well.... AUGH I HOPE THIS GETS SORTED OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER

[Ignis Infinitus]

its official, this is the second most confusing story ive read