Shadow of Twilight

by GreenS21

Trust

Twilight looked on in shock as the black pony stepped out from behind the pillar, surprised by both his sudden appearance and the fact that he sounded very familiar. “Wait, I know you. You… aren’t you the one who…” she started before trailing off.

The black pony turned to face her and smiled, “Aw, you remembered me, Twilight. I’m touched. Yes, I’m the one who saved you. I certainly hope that you appreciate what I’m doing for you.”

Twilight looked down and then back up at the pony, trying to sort out her thoughts and saying, “What… How did… Why… W-who are you?”

The black pony simply said, “You’re stuttering, Twilight. Isn’t that sort of thing supposed to be beneath you? I am Homunculus – not that there’s much in a name. I’ve been waiting a long time to see you again. I’ve looked for you everywhere…” He then stepped towards Twilight, the lavender unicorn taking several careful steps back when he started getting closer than she was comfortable with. “By the way, are you using the Z-pad?” Homunculus asked.

Twilight looked at the earth pony carefully, the name Homunculus somehow sounding familiar to her. “Have you come here to kill me?” she asked slowly.

The expression on Homunculus’ face did not change, but he sounded bemused as he said, “Hm? I don’t think you quite understand, Twilight. I’m only trying to help you, certainly not murder you. It’s just that I don’t know how to give you any direct help, and I know I’m no Element of Honesty, but that’s the truth.”

Twilight looked at him while shivering slightly and then slumped down to the floor, placing her hooves on top of her head and saying, “I think I’m going out of my mind for real this time…”

Homunculus looked down at her through half-lidded eyes and said, “I can’t seem to convince you, can I? This is really very difficult.”

Twilight remained where she was on the floor, closing her eyes as she struggled to wrap her mind around what was happening. Half of her was screaming at her to walk away from this awkward situation and regard the pony as crazy while the other half was telling her to listen and give the pony a chance and keep an open mind like she promised to do after accepting that Pinkie Pie’s Pinkie Sense didn’t need to be explained to be real. After a minute, the rational part of her mind won out, as she didn’t want to risk getting killed again, and she looked up at him and asked, “Well, can you give me any proof? Anything at all?”

Homunculus answered, “If in some small measure.” Twilight looked up at him, confused, as he raised his right front leg, his hoof beginning to glow yellow. All of a sudden, she was lifted off the ground by an invisible force and a green time bubble surrounded her. A second later, she disappeared without a trace.

________________________________________

Twilight landed awkwardly on her hooves as she was released from her time bubble, managing to stay upright despite the sudden contact with the ground. She then looked around and found that she was outside, in front of the art museum, although something was different. She then realized that it was early morning; Celestia’s sun was only just beginning to peek out over the horizon. How far back in time had she traveled now?

Unnoticed by Twilight, the dark yellow earth pony the group had encountered earlier was standing partway up the hill to the art museum, although he looked much younger. He looked at her intently, as if trying to make sure she was actually standing there. “What the…? Did that mare just…?” he asked himself aloud.

Suddenly, the front doors of the museum burst open and a dark brown unicorn stallion with a black-gray mane and tail trotted out, exclaiming, “Hooray!” He then walked down the front steps and did a short little dance as Twilight watched him. He soon noticed her and said, “Oh, gosh, didn’t realize anypony was out here. Sorry about yelling and everything.”

Twilight shook her head, “It’s okay, don’t worry about it. But why were you…?”

The stallion replied, “Oh yes! You see, my wife finally had our baby, so you can imagine…! And it’s a boy too! I just got word from the hospital!”

Twilight smiled warmly, “Wow, really? That’s great! Congratulations!” She then looked up at the museum and then back at the stallion and asked, “Do you work at this museum?” Although she knew she was in the past and should be careful about making acquaintances, Twilight’s curiosity had a luster that couldn’t easily be taken away.

The stallion replied, “Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Eckart. I’ve just taken over from my father as the director of this museum.”

It was just taken away. The smile on Twilight’s face slid off like water on plastic as she processed this new information. “What?! You’re Eckart Brum?” she asked.

The dark brown unicorn gave her an odd look as he replied, “Yes… Is there anything I can do for you?”

Twilight nervously replied, “N-no, nothing. Uh, I didn’t mean to…” She trailed off, looking back at the other unicorn nervously.

Eckart soon said, “Wait, what am I doing. I have to think about what we’re going to call him.” He then turned and hurried back inside the museum, calling back, “Great to meet you, bye!”

The doors soon closed behind him, but Twilight continued to look at them, lost in thought. “Mr. Brum has a son? I had no idea! He never mentioned ever having one to me and my parents certainly never mentioned anything, especially not when they were sending me the names of every available stallion in Canterlot they knew.” She blushed lightly at that, remembering they were trying to talk her into dating without actually coming out and saying it. She shook her head to get the blush out and continued thinking, “Is there a reason why he never said anything? Or is his son just much older than I am? Mr. Brum certainly looks a lot younger in this time. I guess I’ll have to go back and ask him myself.”

As if responding to her thoughts, the Z-pad gave off a brief glow, but then it stopped. Glancing back at her saddlebag, she pulled the device out and examined it, finding that she had traveled to about ten years ago, before pressing it against her horn, trying to initiate the time travel sequence. To her surprise, it didn’t respond! She tried touching her proper time with her hoof, but that didn’t have any effect either. Realization slowly set in, “The Z-pad… It’s not working!”

She suddenly heard Homunculus’ voice and looked around as he spoke, “Well, how about that? Just a small example of what I can do. How WILL you get home now? You’d better solve that on your own. You should be able to handle a little thing like that, Twilight.”

Twilight looked up and asked, “What… what am I supposed to do?” She looked down at the Z-pad and murmured, “He said there was some kind of energy in this thing. That energy would react to my magic and allow me to travel through time. If I could restore the energy…?” She slid the Z-pad back inside her bag and looked down the hill, saying, “I guess the only thing I can do is look around and see what I can find.” She then ran down the hill, heading into the main part of Canterlot.

Twilight soon slowed her pace to a walk as she made her way through the streets of Canterlot, not wanting to overexert herself unless she had to. It helped that nopony was up at this hour, so she was able to keep a relatively fast walking pace without needing to worry about bumping into anypony or drawing any looks. Eventually, she spotted a small green ball of energy next to the door of a shop and trotted over to it, examining it for a moment before touching it with her horn. It gave off a small whooshing sound as she touched it and then it vanished.

Seconds later, the Z-pad started to respond again and she pulled it out and examined it. She was relieved to see that the little ball of light had restored the energy in the Z-pad and it was telling her she could time travel again. “Now I can get back…” she sighed. Before doing so, she walked around the city a little more, looking around and managing to find another ball of energy. After finding it, she decided she didn’t want to push her luck anymore and brought out the Z-pad, pressing her horn up against it and telling it to take her back to her proper time.

________________________________________

Twilight reappeared in the art museum, managing to land on her hooves in the same spot she had been standing not too long ago. She pressed a hoof to her head as she looked up, lowering it and taking a step back as she saw that Homunculus had seemingly been waiting for her. “Well, what do you think? Are you a little more convinced?” he asked. Twilight looked at him with wide eyes for a moment and then she turned and bolted up the stairs to the second floor of the museum. “Oh dear…” Homunculus sighed while shaking his head.

Twilight headed straight for Eckart’s office, her steps light and her breathing rapid. As she reached the door to his office and raised her hoof to knock, she instead placed it on her chest and forced herself to take a deep breath, exhaling slowly. She then raised it up and knocked on the door. She soon heard the brown unicorn’s voice, “Come in. The door’s open.” She pulled it open and stepped inside, turning around when she was inside and pulling it closed. She then turned to look at Eckart, noticing that he was looking over at her while standing next to a table by the window, a black vase sitting atop it. “Ah, Twilight, what can I do for you?” he asked.

Twilight thought about her words for a moment before asking, “Can I ask you kind of an odd question?”

Eckart nodded, “Sure, what?”

Twilight carefully asked, “Mr. Brum, do you… have a son?”

Eckart gave a surprised gasp as he turned his body towards her completely, his horn catching on the side of the vase and knocking it off the table! It made a loud crash as soon as it hit the ground, breaking into pieces and scaring all the kittens in the room. Twilight was just as shocked as they were and ran over to the table, bending down and starting to gather the smaller pieces in one of the larger pieces. “I-it’s all right. I’ll take care of it later…” Eckart said.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said lamely as she reached for one of the pieces.

Eckart looked up for a moment and then back down at Twilight and said, “I don’t think I ever mentioned my son to you.”

Twilight paused and then started, “Well, no…” She noticed that the cats seemed to be interested in hearing what Eckart had to say, but she had a feeling she had just brought up a touchy subject for the older unicorn, so she said, “I shouldn’t have asked, should I?”

Eckart quickly replied, “No no, its okay, Twilight. I’m not mad at you for asking, it’s just…” He stopped and then started again, slowly, “I do have a son. Or rather, I did. He was taken by some… madman shortly after he was born…” He turned to look out the window and finished, “My wife was killed in the same attack. Does that answer your question?”

Twilight stood up and set all the pieces she had gathered on top of the table. She then said, “I’m sorry. I-I had no idea.”

Eckart looked back at her and said, “It’s all right. Don’t worry about it.”

Twilight’s ears drooped and she hung her head as she quietly and sadly said, “I’m so sorry…” She turned and slowly walked towards the door and pushed it open, leaving the room while still hanging her head.

As soon as she exited the room and shut the door behind her with a back hoof, Eckart looked down at the floor and murmured, “For the love of… why?” The unicorn continued to look down at the floor, his right hoof scraping across the floor.

Twilight didn’t pay attention to where she was going; it wasn’t until she was standing at the top of the stairs that she noticed she had been walking in a straight line. Clearly, she was that… conflicted about bringing up such a sensitive subject with one of her parents’ friends. What if he secretly hated her now? What if he never wanted to see her face again? With these thoughts weighing heavily on her mind, she slowly walked down the stairs to the first floor.

As she reached the first floor, her ears perked up somewhat as she saw Homunculus sitting with his back against the pillar he had appeared behind earlier. He turned his head to look at her and then stood up, turning around to face her completely and asked, “Any luck? Well?”

Twilight sighed and carefully said, “Okay, I give up. I’m convinced, I think. And… I’m grateful that you’re giving me another chance at life.”

Homunculus regarded her for a moment and then said, somewhat excitedly, “Now we’re talking, Twilight. I’m counting on you, you see. If you die, I’ll be in trouble too, you know.”

Twilight looked at him quizzically and then said, “I don’t really get it, but are you sure about this? I mean, all I’ve done so far is take care of myself.”

Homunculus replied, “But that’s all right. Sometimes that’s just the way things are supposed to be.” He then turned away and said, “As you can see, my body is very fragile and won’t let me do much.” He looked back at her over his shoulder and explained, “I picked up a baby the other day and it was really quite terrible. Absolutely exhausted me… I won’t ever do that again. So, because of all that, I can only provide you with some backup aid.” Twilight nodded, uncertainly, and then Homunculus said, “Oh, one more thing. I almost forgot. Do you remember that red stone you saw earlier?”

Twilight racked her brain for a moment before she realized what he was talking about and asked, “You mean that stone that was found at the café?”

Homunculus nodded, “That’s the one. I have a feeling you will see it again sometime. When you do, could you acquire it somehow? I would like you to give it to a pony named Dr. Wagner.” They were both silent for a moment and then Homunculus said, “That’s all for now. I’ll be seeing you.” He then stepped back behind the pillar and Twilight noticed a red light begin to creep up his legs. She quickly ran over to the pillar, but by the time she reached it, he had already disappeared. She looked around frantically, but there was no trace of him anywhere.

She was pulled back to reality when she heard Princess Celestia ask, “Twilight?” The lavender unicorn turned to see the sun princess standing at the top of the stairs. As she came down the rest of the way, Twilight dropped into a bow, but the princess said, “Rise, my faithful student. You bowed to me once already.” Twilight quickly climbed to her hooves as her mentor stood over her and asked, “Is everything all right? I heard a loud crash from Eckart’s office and then Spike told me he saw you come down here.”

Twilight carefully replied, “Well, um… That crash was from a falling vase. Mr. Brum accidentally knocked it over when I, uh…”

Celestia tilted her head to the side and asked, “When you what?”

Twilight said nothing for a moment before deciding that there was no point in trying to sugarcoat it and she looked down, quietly saying, “I asked him about his son.”

Princess Celestia was silent for a moment and then she slowly said, “I see.”

Twilight slumped to the floor and spoke in a sullen tone, “I don’t know what I was thinking. I should’ve known there was a reason for him not talking about his family much. I’m sure he hates me now…”

Princess Celestia placed a hoof on her student’s head and rubbed her softly, saying, “I’m sure he doesn’t hate you, Twilight. I’ve known Eckart for a long time and he has always been clear about how he feels about somepony whether he is talking to them or about them. If he didn’t say anything about how he felt, then nothing has changed between the two of you.”

Twilight looked up at her mentor and asked, “Really?”

Princess Celestia nodded, “Really. If I might be honest for a moment, Twilight, I’ve secretly been doing everything I can to help Eckart find his son since the day he went missing. Eckart believes he’s still alive and so do I. Unfortunately, I’ve had no luck in finding out who killed his wife or who took his son, even after all these years. But I haven’t given up yet; his son is out there somewhere, and I’m going to help him find him.”

Twilight stood up, Celestia taking her hoof back as she did, and said, “I understand, Princess. And thank you for talking to me.”

Celestia gave a small, warm smile as she said, “Of course, my faithful student.” She then extended a wing and turned, placing it on Twilight’s back as she said, “Come. Let’s go talk to Eckart, just to show you that he doesn’t hate you.”

Twilight nodded and walked next to her, both going back up to the second floor. Halfway up the stairs, though, she looked back at the spot where Homunculus had been standing and thought to herself, “What in Celestia’s name is going on around here?”

Comments

[GreenS21]

If I might make a simple request, it's that everybody keep any comments that involve "Lesson Zero" to themselves. I did not dislike that episode; I thought it was a good episode. But I dislike how it's been blown out of proportion since its first airing. So unless it's something positive, please keep any comments on Twilight's breakdown to yourselves.

[Electric Mane Six]

Eckart's son went missing as a foal and a few minutes later, a pony who can travel through time admits that he had trouble lifting a baby up the other day. Hmmm...

[Ghrathryn]

164979 Could be said time traveller was trying to save the son... or steal him....

[Striker Fang]

The missing son is Dante. At least it looks that way to me.