Shadow of Twilight

by GreenS21

A Sign of Her Passage

Sibylla stepped out of the kitchen while carrying a tray with a teapot and a cup on it in her mouth and walked over to an adjacent door, turning around and backing up to get it open. She turned around when it was open far enough and walked into the family room, walking over to the coffee table that both Alfred and Twilight were sitting at, Alfred sitting on a couch next to the table and Twilight sitting across from where Sibylla set the tray down. “Here you go,” she said as soon as she took her mouth off the tray, her front hooves up on the table so she could reach it.

Alfred nodded, “Ah, thank you for the tea, dear. Oh yes, I should tell my sweet Sibylla. I’ve decided to turn this house into a museum. What do you think?”

Sibylla looked over the table at Twilight, who looked back at her quietly, and then back at her father and said, “Whatever you decide is always good enough for me.”

Alfred replied, “Thank you. I was a little afraid that you would object.”

Sibylla shook her head, “Oh, it’s much, much better than selling this house.”

Alfred chuckled, “I see. I’m sorry I made you worry that much.” He then sat up straight as he said, “I know! Let’s have a photograph taken.” At Sibylla’s confused look, he explained, “If we’re going to start a museum, we’ll need to renovate. We’ll all get a picture taken with the house before then.”

Twilight glanced down at her saddlebags as Alfred stood up, which were sitting on the floor next to her. “A photo of them with the house before it was renovated? That must be the picture that Eckart left in that book,” she realized.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Alfred addressed her, “Please join us, Twilight. There’s no time like the present.”

Twilight refrained from making any kind of reaction towards that last bit and replied, “Uh, okay.”

Alfred nodded and looked over at Sibylla, saying, “I’ll fetch the photographer this instant.”

Sibylla asked, “You’re going to get Mr. Shoot? Isn’t it too early for him to be open?”

Twilight tilted her head to the side, “Mr. Shoot?”

Alfred looked back at her and said, “Photo Shoot, the local photographer. He’s descended from the painter Horn Kraft. Maybe that’s why he became a photographer. He’s a good friend of mine. I can count on him to come if I need him. Just wait a little while; he’ll be here in no time.” He then walked over to Sibylla and said, “Sibylla, you hold the fort. And watch the baby, please?”

Sibylla gave him a quick peck on the cheek and replied, “Of course.” Alfred nuzzled her back and then stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. After a few seconds, Sibylla turned and jumped on the couch and looked at Twilight, asking, “Did you persuade father? Not to sell the house?”

Twilight answered, “No, I didn’t do anything like that. This is something your father decided himself.”

Sibylla replied, “Oh, I see. I’m just awfully glad that the house won’t be sold.” Her horn then lit up a light blue as she used a weak telekinesis to move the tray over to Twilight. The lavender unicorn nodded in thanks and used her own magic to lift the cup to her lips, taking a slow sip. While she was doing that, Sibylla looked down at Twilight’s saddlebags and noticed a seam loose on one of them. “Oh? It’s coming undone here,” she said, gesturing to her right saddlebag.

Twilight looked at the filly, then down at her saddlebags and levitated them up, examining them. “Oh, you’re right, Sibylla,” she said.

Sibylla walked to the edge of the couch and said, “Here, let me! I’ll mend that for you.”

Twilight replied, a little shakily, “Uh, thanks, but that’s okay. It doesn’t look too bad.”

Sibylla hopped off the couch and walked up to Twilight, pressing her front hooves against the lavender unicorn’s side and saying, “Don’t worry! I may look little, but I can do anything.” When Twilight looked down at her with a raised eyebrow, she admitted, “Well, anything except cooking, that is.”

Twilight asked, “Have you sewed before?”

Sibylla nodded, “Uh-huh!” She then got down on all fours and gestured to the other side of the room, saying, “See that? That’s for father to wear in the festival coming up.” Twilight looked where she was indicating. Draped over the back of a chair was a white sheet; it didn’t exactly look like Rarity herself had done the work, but from where she was sitting, Twilight could tell that it was put together rather well. Sibylla noticed Twilight’s examining look and said, “I sewed that, so don’t be shy.”

Twilight thought for a moment before saying, “Well… okay. Just let me empty everything out first.” Setting her cup of tea back down, she walked over to the other side of the room with her saddlebags and emptied everything in them out onto the couch, making sure to cover the Z-pad and the book. She then levitated them back over to Sibylla, who took them with her own magic.

After she let go, Twilight’s nose twitched and she sneezed, managing to cover her mouth with a hoof before she did. Sibylla asked, “Are you cold? If you are, you can put that costume over you. I’ll be done soon.” Twilight nodded and, after making sure none of her bag’s contents were going anywhere, walked over to the sheet and levitated it up.

A couple minutes later, Sibylla bit down on the thread she was using, snapping it and finishing her sewing. “There, finished,” she said. She hopped down off the couch and walked over to the other side of the room with Twilight’s saddlebags floating next to her. When she saw Twilight with the white sheet over her and the mask that went with it on, she giggled, “You sure look funny with that on.”

Twilight, her voice a bit muffled by the mask, replied, “I had a feeling you’d say that.”

Sibylla said, “I think it suits you. You should wear it for the picture!”

Twilight brought up a hoof and pulled the mask off and said, “You know, that’s not a bad idea. All right, I will wear it.” She then remembered what she was supposed to be doing and looked at her saddlebags, asking, “You said you were done?”

The young filly nodded, “Mm-hmm! What do you think?” She levitated the bags over to Twilight, who took them with her own magic.

The lavender unicorn looked over the spot where the seam had come undone carefully for a minute before looking back at Sibylla and smiling, “Wow, you did a great job here, Sibylla!”

Sibylla smiled back, “Thank you!”

Twilight then asked, “Say, do you think your father will be back soon?”

Sibylla replied, “I don’t know. Why?”

Twilight said, “Well, I just remembered that I have something I need to do in Canterlot. It shouldn’t take long, but I don’t want to keep your father waiting.”

Sibylla replied, “Oh, I’m sure he won’t mind.”

Twilight asked, “Really?” Sibylla nodded, so Twilight said, “Okay, if you’re sure.” She then levitated the sheet off of her and put her saddlebags back on. She then levitated everything she had off the couch and took several minutes to organize and put everything back where it used to be. She then headed towards the door, calling, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.” She then walked outside, heading back into the city.

After walking around and retracing her steps for a few minutes, Twilight eventually found herself back in front of the photo shop she had passed earlier. She looked up at the sign that was dangling from the pole. From where she was standing, she could probably leap up and grab it with her mouth. As she looked up at it, she overheard Alfred talking with Photo Shoot, “That sign of yours looks like it could fall off at any time, Shoot. You really should get it fixed.”

She heard Photo Shoot reply, “I know, Alfred. Don’t worry; I’m already planning to replace it with something a little less heavy. That’s part of the reason I’ve been having so much trouble with it. It’s a good sign, but it’s just not cutting it anymore. If it falls and somepony wants it, they can have it.”

Twilight looked back up at the sign and thought, “Well, if that’s the case, it should be okay for me to take it.” After a moment, she bent her knees and leapt up, grabbing the sign with her teeth. She almost slipped when she landed, but she managed to stay up. She then levitated the sign out of her mouth and examined it. “This certainly looks like an iron plate. It could work,” she thought. She then placed it in her right saddlebag and trotted away from the photo shop, going back to Alfred’s house.

A few minutes later, she crested the hill in front of the house and walked up to the front doors, using her magic to pull them open. She then pulled them closed after she walked inside and headed straight for the family room. Sibylla looked up as she walked in and asked, “Oh, finished with your errand already?”

Twilight nodded, “Yeah, I took care of it. Sorry about that.”

Sibylla spoke, “Ooh! Will you put that costume back on for the picture? Please, please!”

Twilight glanced over at the sheet, then back at Sibylla and nodded, “Okay.” She levitated her saddlebags off, placing them behind the chair, and levitated the sheet back on, letting the hood hang back for the moment.

Not long afterwards, they both heard Photo Shoot call, “It’s all set! Everypony, come out to the front! We’re ready!”

Sibylla slid off the couch, saying, “Come on!” Twilight grabbed the mask for the costume with her magic and headed for the door, where Sibylla was waiting for her. The young filly said, “You go on ahead. I have to go get my baby brother.” Twilight nodded and headed for the front doors while Sibylla went across the hall.

Several minutes later…

“All right – hold still please!” Photo Shoot said as he held up the flash-lamp. At his words, Alfred made sure his suit was straight, Sibylla secured her hoof around her brother, and Twilight moved closer to Sibylla. Seconds later, the camera sent an electrical current to the flash-lamp, producing the flash as the camera took the picture.

Alfred stepped towards Photo Shoot a second later, saying, “Thank you very much. Sorry I dragged you out of bed.”

Sibylla looked up at Twilight and said, “Thank you to you too. You can change back now.” She then walked inside the house, taking her baby brother inside.

Twilight watched her for a moment, then took the mask off and said, “That’s right. I should go get my bags.” She was distracted by Alfred calling her over for a minute, but she soon headed back inside to go take the costume off.

Sibylla was sitting in the family room when she walked in, the little filly looking up at the sound of her hoofsteps. When she saw it was Twilight, she asked, “Oh? I thought you took the costume off already?”

Twilight blinked, “What? Oh, no, not yet; your father wanted to talk for a minute.” She then levitated the costume off and put the mask back where she found it. She then picked up her saddlebags; as she was levitating them over, the sign she had picked up earlier fell out.

Sibylla looked down at it and then back up at Twilight and asked, “That sign… do you always carry it around?”

Twilight picked it up with her magic and said, “Oh, that. It’s a long story…” Instead of putting it away, she levitated it next to her as she headed for the door. Before she walked out, she stopped and looked back at Sibylla, saying, “I’m sorry, but I have something I need to do. So – see you soon.”

As she turned to go, Sibylla said, “Come again soon. Oh, and uh, you can use that key as much as you want.”

Twilight stopped in mid-step and looked back at her, asking, “Huh?”

Sibylla replied, “I saw you.”

Twilight looked even more confused at that. “What are you talking about?” she asked.

Sibylla asked, “What’s the matter? You have to go somewhere, right? You shouldn’t be late.”

Twilight blinked and then said, “Oh, that’s right. It wouldn’t be good if… anyway, see you.” She then turned her head back around and walked out of the family room. She then headed for the front doors, but stopped before she opened them. “No, I should go back to the present from here where other ponies can’t see me,” she murmured. After making sure Sibylla wasn’t looking, she placed the sign underneath the strap on her back. She then summoned the Z-pad and set it to take her back to the present.

________________________________________

Twilight landed on solid ground and she immediately looked around. She was back in the auction house, back in the same spot she had time traveled from. Thankfully, there was no one else in the room at the moment, so she didn’t have to explain how she appeared out of nowhere. She then heard the auctioneer call out the last item of the auction and, after making sure that the sign was still on her back and wouldn’t fall off easily, she walked back inside and joined her family and friends. All of them seemed to perk up when she returned, except for Rarity who was still focused on the auction.

As the bidding started, Applejack leaned over to Twilight and whispered, “Where were you, Sugarcube? Ya just about missed the whole auction.”

Twilight whispered back, “Sorry Applejack. I thought it was kind of stuffy in here, so I went outside for a bit.”

Applejack replied, “Well, Ah can’t argue with that, what with all the fancy perfumes drifting ‘round the room. Shoulda taken me with ya, though; Ah’ve been tryin’ not to fall asleep here!”

Twilight shrugged, “Sorry…”

Applejack whispered, “Aw, don’t worry about it none, Twilight. Ah ain’t mad at you.” The two of them then turned back to the auction, realizing that the auctioneer was finalizing the bid for the picture being displayed. Not long afterwards, it was sold to the lucky pony that was willing to pay such a handsome price for it.

Not long afterwards, the owner of the house ushered everypony out of her house, telling Rarity to visit again sometime as she and the others left. Once again (for Twilight at least), it started to rain as they walked away from the house and they all broke out into a run, heading for Twilight’s parents’ house. Twilight stayed near the back of the group, partly due to her not running very fast to make sure she didn’t accidentally drop the sign.

Suddenly, she heard a *THUNK* behind her and, on reflex, lowered her head. Good thing she did, too; seconds later, a knife went flying over her head, just narrowly missing hitting her elsewhere and disappearing into the shadows. She looked back over her shoulder, but there was nopony there; a quick glance forward revealed that her friends seemingly didn’t hear the sound. “I guess they wouldn’t. I mean, the only reason I heard it was because it was right behind me,” she thought as she kept running.

Soon enough, everypony reached Twilight’s parents’ house and hurried inside. The rain had gotten worse while they were running and they were all soaked. “Oh, my hair is ruined!” Rarity moaned as she looked at her mane, dripping wet and hanging down along the sides of her head.

Dash groaned, “Oh great, here she goes again.”

Twilight’s mother spoke, “Rarity, why don’t you go upstairs and fix your hair in our bathroom? It’s just up the stairs and down the hall to the left.”

Rarity squeaked, “Oh, thank you so much, Mrs. Sparkle! I simply must correct this disaster as soon as possible!” With that, she raced up to the second floor of the house and, seconds later, they all heard the sound of a door slamming.

Applejack sighed, “Well, that’s fine fer her and all, but the rest o’ us are still wet.”

Twilight suggested, “I could go get some towels from the linen closet upstairs.”

Her father said, “That would be nice, dear. Be sure to drop your saddlebags off in your room so they can dry off.” Twilight nodded and then went up the same stairs Rarity used to get to the second floor.

Before heading for the linen closet, Twilight walked into her room and dropped her saddlebags off by her desk. As she took them off, the sign fell off of her back and she looked down at it as it hit the floor. She then looked back at her saddlebags and noticed a small tear where the knife had hit. She looked back down at the sign and picked it up with her magic and looked at it, saying, “This sign… it saved me.”

As she put it back in her saddlebag, her eyes fell on the book Eckart had given her and she pulled it out, opening it and examining the picture inside. As she suspected, the picture had changed; now there was a pony dressed in a familiar looking costume standing next to Sibylla. “That’s me, right? I look just like that pony that was in the square earlier,” she murmured.

She suddenly heard a familiar voice behind her, “That pony IS you.” She whirled around to see Homunculus standing in her room. He continued, “Well, not you exactly. That Twilight Sparkle was from a different time.”

Any sort of anger the lavender unicorn felt at the black pony’s sudden appearance in her room was replaced by confusion. “What do you mean? How was that me?” she asked.

Homunculus explained, “I mean that you were stabbed to death because you didn’t have that sign, and decided to find something that you could use to protect yourself before the appointed time of death. Then you decided to travel back in time to an earlier point in time to tell yourself about the danger you would eventually be in.”

Twilight blinked slowly as she considered the pony’s words, thinking about what he was telling her. She then asked, “So you’re saying that…” she held a hoof up to her chest, “I was trying to warn… me?”

Homunculus nodded, “Something like that, Twilight. But it didn’t work out as planned. You didn’t get the message, but you escaped your death by finding that sign. If you hadn’t had it, you would have tried to alert your past self, or perhaps you would have found something else like that sign to use. That’s all there is to it. So…” Before Twilight could say anything, he disappeared in a flash of red light.

Not that Twilight had much to say at the moment. The black pony had told her a lot and she wasn’t sure that she could ever possibly understand it. She lowered her hoof and looked down, murmuring, “Wow…”

She was broken out of her stupor when she heard Spike yell, “Hey Twilight! Where are those towels?!”

Twilight squeaked and quickly stuck the picture back between the pages of the book before sliding it back inside her saddlebag. She then left her room, calling down, “Sorry! I’ll be right down!” She then headed for the linen closet, passing the bathroom on her way. She could hear Rarity humming some sort of tune as she passed by. She pulled the closet door open and, after several seconds of looking, pulled out several towels. She then glanced down the hall and called, “Rarity! Do you need a towel too?”

The white unicorn called back, “If you can spare one, then that would be lovely, darling!” Twilight nodded and looked back inside the closet, pulling out a nice looking towel for Rarity. As she walked past the bathroom, she knocked on the door and held the towel out in front of it. A second later, the door opened a crack and a white hoof reached out and snatched the towel out of the air, Rarity saying, “Thank you” as she pulled the door closed.

Twilight shook her head as she started heading back downstairs. “I need to be a little more careful. I don’t want my friends and parents to find out and get attacked too. I think it would be best if I could figure this out by myself,” she thought as she started down the stairs with her stack of towels.

Comments

[Tsuki no Mai]

Ugh... No matter how I try, I can't recall name of the game this story is based on. So I have to ask. Please, tell me. It's driving me crazy!

[GreenS21]

176118

It's called either "Shadow of Destiny" (North America) or "Shadow of Memories" (everywhere else).

[Tsuki no Mai]

176216

Thanks!

Oh! And by the way. Love this fic