Shadows of the past

by WritersShadow

Chapter 2: Royal duties

Shadows of the past

Chapter 2: Royal duties

---

“Twilight! Were have you been, sis?”
As Twilight and her friends arrived back at the banquet a white stallion with blue mane and blue eyes ran towards them. He was wearing a dress uniform of the royal army. It was Twilights brother Shining Armor.
“Those ponies are already shaky because you were gone for more than half a hour and...” he suddenly aborted the sentence he was speaking and instead asked: “Is everything okay Twilight? Your eyes look tear-stained? Did something bad happen?”

“Everything is fine, Shining. Everything is fine.” Twilight answered with reassuring voice.
“Great! Because I think those ponies over there would rip me to pieces if they had to wait for you any longer.”
He chuckled nervously, his voice leaving no doubt to the seriousness of his statement.
“I'll talk to them right now. But firstly: Who are they? I don't know anypony I see over there.”
“Politicians. Mayors of the big cities of Equestria, high civil servants and so on. I think they want to talk to you because of something concerning the crystal empire. Don't ask me what it is.” Shining Armor said.
Twilight sighed.

“Good afternoon. I heared you wanted to talk to me?” Twilight greeted the politicians Shining Armor had told her about.
“We sure want to talk to you, your highness.” a earth pony mare with yellow coat and blue mane answered. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Jacqueline Bluemane, the mayor of Manehatten. We wanted to ask you about your opinion concerning the upcoming Equestrian Games.”

Was this all it was about. They were shaky and called for Twilight just to ask her something that had already been decided? That's not what Twilight expected. She expected something... well more important.

“They are going to be a great event. I know the crystal empire myself and have to admit that it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.” Twilight answered.
“Well that's exactly what we wanted to ask you, your highness. Do you really think it is a good decision to make the crystal empire the host of the Equestrian Games?” a green pegasus stallion with green mane asked. “I mean, a giant city that happens to be an empire of the past that had vanished for a thousand years and returned only 4 months ago just to be attacked by a former king that happens to be a tyrant Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had banished into the ices of the north? Are you sure it is safe to host a event of this scale in this place, your highness? Not to mention the crystal ponies...”

“What is wrong about the crystal ponies?” Twilight asked. Her voice had some subtle kind of disgrace in it.
“Well, our concerns are not about the crystal ponies themselves. It's just...” the mayor of Manehatten started again.
“It's just that they are thousands of ponies that had been vanished with their city for thousand years and that wield a strange kind of magic that is capable of creating a forcefield around the empire and even further is capable of killing their former king and expelling everything that ever had to do with him.” the pegasus completed her sentence.

“They sure are not used to the behavior of the modern ponies that live in the cities and usually attend the Equestrian Games. We do not know how they will react when a thousand foreign ponies visit their empire. The things might escalate. You understand, we can't send our citizens to an event in a place whose inhabitants may be...” Twilight interrupted him.

“How dare you suggest such a thing? I know the crystal ponies myself and if something escalates I am sure it will not be because of their behavior. But I am sure that you are right, that things will escalate if the ponies of your city are even nearly as condemning as you are. You are judging someone you never met and, even worse, you are jumping to conclusions that have no hold. If rumors your own prejudices made are everything your concerns are about I can guarantee you, there is nothing you should worry about. I think we are done.” Twilight said. The disgrace in her voice had become obvious.

As she turned to walk away, everypony stared at her. But Twilight didn't care.
“Those ponies! How can they judge someone they never met? Why do they judge someone they never met? If every important pony in Equestria thinks the way they do, my royal duties will drive me to insanity!” Twilight thought.

---

“Celestia, you really should've told her earlier that you are not going to rip her from her friends!” Luna said.
“Twilight was really worried she might be unable to stay with them! You aren't used to playing open cards, are you? Why do you always keep some of the most important things for yourself?”
“I'm sorry Luna, but for a thousand I was ruler of this land alone. Nobody to question my orders and nobody to share my thoughts with. I suggest I'm just not used to having someone to talk to as equals.” Celestia answered.

After Luna had talked to Twilight she went back to the castle together with them. She, however, did not return to the banquet. She went to see Celestia again. There were some questions that had crossed Lunas mind while talking to Twilight and Celestia was the only pony to answer them.

“Don't tell me you want compassion. Not from me. You at least had someone to talk to. I was caught with myself on the moon for the same time. And believe me, Nightmare Moon is not exactly what you would call kind.” Luna said. She smiled.

“I didn't know you were still conscious all the time. Why'd you never tell me? It must have been terrible to see what this monster did, unable to do anything against it.” Celestia answered with shocked face. She was concerned. If she had known Luna was still there all the time... she just thought Luna became Nightmare Moon, not that Nightmare Moon possessed Luna all the time. It wasn't really surprising to her when she thought how Nightmare Moon came to life, but still...

“Celestia, this was my burden. Mine alone. The past is gone. What counts is what happens right now. Talking of right now..” Luna started, “why was Twilight even so overwhelmed by the fact she became princess.” she asked.
“I mean, she had time to prepare herself. You sure told her about what going to...”
Luna aborted the sentence. Celestia had just started to avoid her glance. Luna was confused at first.
“No... Celestia, don't tell me you didn't tell her what you had planned! Don't tell me you didn't tell her she would become an alicorn!”
She finally made up her mind to ask her sister.

Celestia still remained silent. She just didn't know what to say right now.
“How dare you Celestia! How dare you playing with the destiny of someone so dear to you? Have you become insane while I was gone?”
“You just mentioned it, I'm not used to playing open cards.” Celestia answered, trying to sound as if the topic wasn't important.
“But this is a totally different thing! It was her life you changed forever! And you didn't even ask her?”

Luna was shocked. She knew Celestia used to play with ponies as if they were chess figures. But this was far beyond everything she ever could imagine. She always thought that her apprentices were dear enough to her to at least tell them what she was doing. Seemingly, she was wrong.

“Celestia, explain yourself! I know this didn't just slip your mind! And I know that you have planned this for a very long time. You told me you were going to guide Twilight to her destiny. You never told me you would let her ascend. When I found out her destiny actually was to ascend, I thought she knew as well. Because I thought she meant something to you!”
Luna needed the answer right away.

“And that's exactly the reason I didn't tell her anything about what was going to happen.” Celestia finally said. “Because she is dear to me. Because she is one of the most important ponies in my life. Because I love her as if she was my daughter...”

Luna was even more shocked by this answer than by any other answer she had imagined. She expected Celestia to claim it slipped her mind. She expected her to say she needed Twilight for something important in near future. She even expected her to fall back to her old manipulative self. But she didn't expect this answer.

“I...I don't understand. If she's so dear to you, why don't you let her decide about her destiny herself?” Luna asked. Her voice had softened.

“Because she would have died one day if she had decided not to do it. She would've died, Luna! For a thousand years I was lonely. For a thousand years I was unable to build any relationships to any other pony, no matter how hard I tried. But then, this one day, an out-of-control-spell blew up the roof of the academy tower by increasing the size of a baby dragon to the size of a full grown one. And as I arrived in there to help undo the spell and to admonish the one who did it to be more careful with his magic, I did not find a powerful unicorn sorcerer but a little filly.”

“And this little filly happened to be Twilight Sparkle. It was the first time I looked at a pony for nearly a thousand years and I felt something else than the duty to protect. This little filly melted my heart. And over the time, she became the most dear pony to exist for me. Before I knew, I cared more for her life than for my own. I even cared more for her life than for those of everypony else in Equestria. The thought of loosing her forever was more painful to me than the though Equestria might die because of Discord.”

“But I knew, one day, she would die. Just like everypony else dies. It's the way of life. But, you and I, we are cursed with immortality. We have to see everyone dear to us die. We have to bear the pain forever. But I know, the pain of loosing Twilight would be too much for me. I would be unable to go on. I...I would be unable to live on. But I can't die either. So what else could have been done, Luna? I can't loose her. I just can't. It would rip my soul out of my chest.”

Celestia lowered her head.

“Did you ever think about that this is exactly the destiny you just passed on to her?”

---

“Wow, Twilight! This was amazing!” Rainbow Dash said. “I really liked the part were you interrupted him.”
“I certainly think you were a little too harsh, darling” Rarity stated.
“I think Rarity's right. Look, sugarcube, you're a princess now and everpony expects you to act as one.” Applejack said.
“I don't care what everypony wants me to do! I didn't care before I became a princess and I won't care now. But I care for my friends and I care for those who need the care. But those ponies are nothing but a bunch of parasprites! They devour other ponies reputation and think it would help themselves. But this is a thing I cannot witness.” Twilight said. She was very angry.

“But still, are you sure that this was the right way to react, darling?” Rarity asked.
“Did you notice that only the mayors of those cities, who were chosen to the final vote for the equestrian games, complained? Those ponies wanted to drag the crystal empire trough the mud in order to host the games themselves. And they thought they could use me to accomplish this goal. How do you think would you react if you just found out that, for some of the most powerful ponies in all of Equestria, you are just a tool to use?”

“Well I...” Rarity stopped mid-sentence. She just didn't know what to answer.
“...I think I would react in the same way you did Twilight.” she finally said.
“But what are you going to do? You know that those ponies are exactly the kind of pony you will deal with as a princess!” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I don't know but something has to be done. Why are they in power anyway?”
“Because Equestria sure is a democracy. So what are ya going to do, Twilight? Do ya want to abolish democracy and become queen of Equestria?” Applejack said.

“Maybe I will...” Twilight said. Her friends seemed to be shocked.

Twilight was unable to hold it back any longer. She broke into laughter.
“You should see the look your faces right now! You really thought I would abolish democracy in Equestria? That's the most hilarious though of the day!” She flattered her wings, trying not to fall.

“Twilight! This was not fun at all!” Pinkie Pie said.
“Are you sure you are okay, Twilight? This was not like you...” Fluttershy whispered.
However, Rainbow Dash seemingly disagreed. She was lying on the ground, laughing as if somepony was tickling her hooves. “Good one Twi! Didn't get it at the beginning but, seriously, what were we thinking? You, the librarian of the Ponyville-library, taking over Equestria!” She struggled for breath.

Twilight had stopped laughing. She was looking at her front hooves. “...you are right, Fluttershy. This was not like me. This maybe was like Rainbow Dash but it sure was not like me. But maybe it's just because I'm really tired. I can't think straight. Maybe we should end this all, get some sleep and then return to Ponyville tomorrow.”
“This sure is the best idea ya had today, Twilight!” Applejack stated.

Twilight looked out of one of the windows. It was still day. How could it possibly still be daytime? Her coronation was ten hours ago and it was noon when the banquet started. It should be dark for about 2 hours. But the sun still stood high.
“Has anypony noticed that it should be dark for hours already?”
Suddenly, one of Celestias royal guards galloped towards them.
“Princess Sparkle? I am very sorry I have to bother you but Princess Celestia has asked for your presence. And she made clear she wants to see you alone.”

“Is it about the sun? Has she told you why she wants to see me alone?” Twilight was curious.
“No, just that she wanted to see you in her rooms. According to her, this is not in hurry, your highness. She wants you to join her as soon as you find time to do so.”
“I have time right now. Please, go ahead. I will follow.”
The royal guard bowed, turned and walked slowly towards the door she just came out of.
“I hope this won't take too long. Please wait here for me. I will return in a few minutes.” Twilight said to her friends. They nodded.

---

Everything was silent. Celestias eyes still stared at the floor.
“Celestia?” Luna asked. “She is right... I've never thought about Twilights position in all of this... I've never thought about her opinion. And now she's going to see everyone she loves die. She's going to hate me for it. And she's going to be alone the same way I was. What have I done?” Celestia thought.

“Celestia?!?”
“But she still will have Cadence. She still will have Luna. And she still will have me. Maybe she will be able to bear the pain. I know her. She will be able to do it. She is strong enough. She is stronger than every other pony I ever met. And she is more powerful than every other pony I ever met. One day, she will be my successor as guardian of Equestria. She will become everything I was unable to be in the past. She will be the ruler Equestria truly...”

“CELESTIA!!!” Luna yelled at her, ripping her out of her thoughts.
Celestia raised her head. “What is it, Luna?”
“Just look outside!”
Celestia looked out of one of the windows. It was a bright and sunny day... wait, day? It was supposed to be night! Or at least evening. But the sun still stood high above Canterlot. Her pupils constricted.
“Do you see what I want to tell you? Our magic is failing! Sun and moon resist our control! How is this even possible?” Luna asked.

Celestia had no clue. This had never happened since Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon a thousand years ago. And back then it was the enormous magical power of her freezing the position of sun and moon. But this was different. They were forced to stay the way the were when Nightmare Moon did it. But right now, nopony used magic to freeze them. Their magic was just failing for no reason. This should be impossible!

“I...I don't know... what is happening here? There is nothing that could make our magic fail. And there's nothing blocking the movement of sun or moon either.” Celestia said.
“It's not important what causes this. The most important thing is to get this right! And this as fast as we can! If the sun stays that way, the crops on the fields will burn in 4 days! And in 7 days most trees will be heavily damaged, too! Celestia, what do we do?”

Celestia could only think of one thing. But she was unsure. This was more than just a little bit risky. But they had no choice.
“Call for Twilight Sparkle. We need her right now.” Celestia said.
“Are you sure, sister? She just became an alicorn, is still overwhelmed by the emotions and impressions and now you are going to tell her that we lost control of both, sun and moon, and that we need her to fix it? What does even make you think she may be able to move them? And what makes you think that she'll not panic when we tell her that our magic has failed?”
Luna was very concerned.

“We are not going to tell her. I will tell her that this is her introduction to alicorn magic and that I will take over if she fails at it. She was always great at learning magic in short time. She even has the gift to copy every magic she sees. However, she needs also the power to perform this spell. But I think that this isn't really a problem as she is an alicorn now. And she already watched me performing the spell. So she may be able to do it.”

“But it will exhaust her in a way we both can't imagine! We both have the destiny to move sun and moon. Her destiny is magic itself. Even if she is able to use this spell and even if she manages to get this right, what do you think will happen then?” Luna asked.

“She will have to rest for a quite a while. But we can bear the night longer than the day. The night we had when Nightmare Moon emerged was 10 days long and after it, plants and wildlife were both able to recover completely. 10 days of noon won't be so forgiving. We need to do it, Luna. And maybe she will surprise us.”

“But why don't we wait? Maybe it will return to normal after a little time...”
“Do you really think that this could possibly be solved by time? Besides, right now we could claim that we made the day a little longer to highlight how special this day is. But if the noon lasts for all the night or even longer, we won't be able to explain it. It would cause a crisis.” Celestia stated.

“I sure hope you know what you're doing, sister...”

---

Twilight went into the room the guard pointed out. She knew this room. It was one of Celestias personal bedrooms. She was very often here when she learned about the magic as Celestias private pupil. As she went in she saw Celestia on the balcony and Luna sitting on the bed, looking at Celestia. “You wanted to see me, princess?” Twilight asked.

Celestia turned and smiled at Twilight.
“Oh, Twilight! I didn't think that you would be here so fast.”
“What is it? And why do you want to speak to me here? You only invited me to this place when you wanted to practice magic with me.”
“Yes. That's exact the reason you are here. I know, you can cast every kind of unicorn magic. But now, that you are an alicorn, it's time for you to learn about the special magic that comes with this gift.”

“Special magic? What kind of special magic? Do you mean magic like...”
Twilight gasped. Was Celestia really going to teach her how to raise and lower sun and moon? Celestia laughed a little.
“Yes, exactly this kind of magic. But first, you need to learn how alicorn-magic works at all. As you already know, every pony wields unique magic.” Celestia said. Twilight was really excited.

“Yes, pegasi wield magic that gives them the ability to fly and to interact with objects, others can not interact with. Earth ponies wield magic that strengthens their bodies and gives them more energy than other ponies have. And unicorns wield a magic that allows them to control the energy in their innermost. But this is very different from pony to pony because everypony has its own energy.” Twilight said. She wanted to show she listened when Celestia told her about the magics of Equestria.

“Not exactly. Pegasi wield a magic that allows them to change the air around them. They manipulate gases to gain an advantage in speed and also to let clouds burst. Earth ponies have a special bond to the earth beneath them. They are stronger and live longer because the earth gives them strength. In return, they strengthen the earth by growing plants and trees. But concerning unicorns, you are right.”

Twilights cheeks became a little red. Seemingly she did not listen as well as she thought.

“Alicorns wield all those kinds of magic.”
Twilight turned her head. Luna stood right at her side, looking at her. There was something strange with her glance. But Twilight was not sure what it was. “That's the reason we can raise and lower moon alone and that's the reason we have wings and horns. It shows our special bond to those magics. We are more than just unicorns with wings.” she said. “The bond to the earth however is pretty hidden. That's the reason some think we are just pegasus-unicorns.”

“Now, alicorn magic is far beyond unicorn magic. It tames the energy of Equestria itself. In fact, the magical abilities you can use with your horn are still the same, even if they are stronger now. To use alicorn-magic, you need to use more than just one magic. You'll have to mix them. And that's the reason you are here. We are going to teach you how to use the magic of pegasi and earth ponies together with your unicorn-magic to create another kind of magic.” Celestia said.

Twilight squeed. This was better than everything that happened yet. Celestia and Luna both smiled at her.
“Maybe have you noticed that the sun is not supposed to stand this way right now. This has 2 reasons: We wanted to highlight this day... literally. And it is to show you the first alicorn-spell you'll learn. It allows to to manipulate sun, moon and the stars.” Luna said. Twilight was out of control. She jumped up to fall, very slowly because of her spread wings, back to the ground and to jump again. It looked very cute. If this wasn't such a serious situation, Celestia would've hugged her right away.

“First, you need to know what kind of magic you'll need to use. This spell needs pegasus- and unicorn-magic. Because you have not used pegasus-magic yet, we'll have to train it first. Luna?” Celestia said. Lunas horn started glowing. A little cloud appeared in the middle of the room. “Now, make it burst.”
Twilight didn't know why Celestia wanted her to buck the cloud. How would this help her find out how to use pegasus magic? But it sure had some sense. Twilight turned and lifted one of her back hooves. Suddenly, Celestia laughed.

“I mean not this way, Twilight! Do it with your pegasus-magic. Bucking it won't help you learn anything.”
“But what am I supposed to do then? I never saw a pegasus burst clouds with pure willpower.” Twilight was very confused. “No you haven't. But you once saw me doing it.” Luna said. “Remember the nightmare night when I visited Ponyville? Back then the weather acted very strange. It was because of me using pegasus-magic to change it.”

“You mean that those lightnings and those black clouds appeared because you wanted them to do so?” Twilight was confused. Luna seemingly wanted to make a creepy appearance. “It's not like unicorn-magic. Pegasus-magic is about emotions. You control it by focusing them. If you don't focus them, the weather itself changes. Can you imagine how hard it is to focus your emotions if you are visiting the first feast in a thousand years which happens to be a feast about the darker side of you scaring everypony?” She said this in a cold and a little angry tone. Twilight was a little bit scared. The cloud shrunk. Luna laughed out loud.

“See? It works! This works only for alicorns because our bond is not to anything special. We are bonded to everything around us, making every magic way stronger than usually. Now, if you want to make the cloud burst, you'll need to focus either joy or anger on it. Try it.”

Twilight looked at the cloud. Joy or anger? How was she supposed to do that? She just glared at the cloud, waiting for something to happen. But nothing happened. Not for a few minutes. It felt like hours to Twilight. She hated to be stuck somewhere in her studies! She just hated it! It was so unnerving to be caught in the middle of something. She closed her eyes and stomped with her hoof. “This bucking cloud!” she thought. As she opened her eyes, the cloud was gone.

“This worked better than expected. I actually thought you would try it with joy. But this works better, doesn't it?” Luna told Twilight. Celestia grinned at her. “Now it's time to try it with something... bigger.” Luna went to Celestia, waiting for Twilight to follow her. First, Twilight was confused. But then she got that Luna meant the sun. Twilight went a few steps away from the balcony. “Are... are you sure I'm ready for the sun already? You know, I could crash it into Canterlot or something like that...”

Celestia and Luna both started laughing. “Twilight, this is not a simple telekinesis. This is another kind of magic. You'll firstly have to focus on the sun itself, like you would do with unicorn-magic. Then, you'll have to use some bad emotion like you did with the cloud in order to make the sun disappear. If you focus on the sun and use positive emotions, it will raise. After all, it reacts to the emotions you have at the moment you are focusing on it.”Celestia told Twilight.

“Think of sunburn. This always works!” Luna said, smiling and looking at Celestia from the eye angles. Twilight took a deep breath and walked onto the balcony. “I can do this!” she told herself. She closed her eyes and focused on the sun. Her horn started glowing, but nothing happened. “Go away, sun!” Twilight thought, but still, she failed to move the sun. She was stuck once again.

---

“You can do it Twilight!” Celestia cheered Twilight up. She just had to do it. There was no other way. Twilight first seemed to be patient with the spell. But after about ten minutes, she started to stomp with her front hooves and to mumble swears. It was strange to see her student like this. She seemingly was going crazy. But then, slowly, the sun moved. As it reached the horizon, Twilight stopped stomping. She noticed the change in lighting and opened her eyes.

She jumped once again.
“I... I did it! I DI...” she froze. Celestias eyes widened. This had happened before. At the banquet.
“Magnificent, isn't it? This power... incredible.” a dark voice said. “What are you doing here!? Aren't you done, threatening me? Just leave me alone!”
“Whoa, Celestia! What happened? When I left you were at your end, you were even unable to say something. And now, you are as self-assured as you always are. Calm down. I'm not here because of you. I'm here because of her!”

Celestia suddenly started shivering, as if it was very cold. She turned her head to see how one of the shadows in the room raised. It changed its form until it merely reassembled an alicorn. It was unlike the spell they had cast on Sombra a thousand years ago. Sombra himself had become a shadow, but he was more like a cloud that darkened everything. This shadow just looked like an ordinary shadow with the exception it moved on its own. Her pupils constricted.

“You know Celestia, it is not fun to talk to you when I'm a few hundred miles away. This time, I visit you personally.”
“Who... What are you?” Celestia was in panic. This was not magic. This was not science. What was this? “Impossible...” she whispered to herself.

“You wouldn't understand, what I am, Celestia. And you wouldn't understand why I'm here. So I'll give you a little hint: Look at Twilights eyes. And don't worry about me while you do. There's no reason for me to harm anypony.”
Celestia was worried. “What have you done to her? DON'T YOU DARE TO...”
“Calm down! I've done nothing. Now look at her eyes already! It sure is worth the time.”

Celestia turned and walked in front of Twilight. She was still in the air so Celestia had to fly up a little bit. There were red lines in Twilights eyes. They glew in a dark tone. First, Celestia didn't realize what she just saw. Then, she panicked. She fell down again and staggered a few steps away from Twilight. There were red glowing pentagrams in both of Twilights eyes. They were surrounded by a black circle. “A magic seal... what kind of illusion is this? How are you trying to trick me now!?”

“This is not trick. Those seals are real. I will tell you why you were unable to move sun and moon.”
Celestia turned her head and looked at the shadow once again.
“I used my magic to change time for them. Your magic worked, but they moved slower because of time-dilatation. I slowed them down to one thousandth of their normal speed. And this little alicorn over there still was able to move them. Can you possibly imagine what kind of power it takes to do this?”

Celestia was shocked. She knew that is was not normal for the sun and the moon to behave like this. But this... this was worse than her darkest thoughts. She would never be able to undo such a powerful time-spell.

“Wha... what did you just say? One thousandth!?!”
“Yes, this is what I said. Twilight used more magic in a few minutes than you do in one year. And she's still able to stand. Hell, she isn't affected at all. And this is just a small glimpse of her real power.”

What was he saying? This was impossible! Twilight just became an alicorn! There was no way she was this powerful already. It had to be a lie. Maybe he had casted this time-spell and undid it when Twilight tried to move the sun?

“You think I'm lying, don't you? Well, then let me undo the time-spell to proof that I'm not.”
A deep red aura formed around the shadow. Celestia felt her eyes burn as she looked at it, but there was no way she would take only one eye off him.

After a few seconds, the light started to flicker. Celestia turned. The sun was running over the firmament at an incredible speed. It needed only seconds to pass it completely.
“You know, the sun keeps her movement. And even tough she only used negative emotions, it still is fast enough to fly around this planet in only 3 seconds. And this will go on for the next half hour. I think this is a very good glimpse how powerful she is. And this is only a fraction of the power she will possess soon.”

Celestia fought for breath. This was impossible! This had to be some sort of illusion, some sort of disguise.
“...Wha... What do you mean? Fraction? Fraction of what?” Celestia gasped.
“You saw her eyes. Those are unlike the magical seals you know. Her magic limits itself. But even the limited magic of hers is more powerful than everything I've ever seen. Nightmare Moon is a joke compared to this. Discord is a joke compared to this. Even the crystal heart is a joke compared to this.”

“What... what is 'this'? Answer me!” Celestia needed the answer. She feared for Twilight.
“This is the magic of Equestria itself. It's far beyond everything you and Luna wield. And it gets stronger the more Equestria looses balance. If the balance is destroyed completely, she will become a goddess! She will be able to restore Equestria with a snap of her tail or destroy it with a thought crossing her mind. She will be the most powerful being to ever exist. She is the very last defense Equestria itself creates in order to protect itself. You know what that means.”

“You want to destroy Equestria to punish me? You want her to become a goddess so she can kill me? This is madness! Do you even realize what you are saying? After all you and your friends sacrificed...”
“Don't you dare to ever only mention them! You are not worth their names! And you are not worth to remember them! You are the reason they are dead! They are all dead, just because of you! And I'm caught here because of you! All this pain you caused keeps me here!” The voice was trembling in anger and in despair.

“This is not how it has to be! None of you is still caught. Shadow Mirror...” Celestia was interrupted by the voice.
“HOW DARE YOU USE HER NAME!?!” “She found peace. She passed away, she isn't here any longer. You can find peace as well. There is no need for you to stay. Why can't you just leave?”

“Lies! Like always! You lied to me in the past! You never did anything else than lying! What makes you expect I trust you now? You are just trying to avoid the judgement of her! You know she will kill you! You know she will punish you in a way you deserve it!”
“She won't. She won't because she is better than I ever was. She is the one I can call my successor. She is the one who will undo my sins. And you are right. When the time comes, she will be my judge.”

“You still don't get it, Celestia! She is more than just your judge. She is your executioner. She is the only one who can be your executioner. You created the sword that is going to behead you, Celestia. You will die! And you will be punished for everything you did in the afterlife!”
“If you think my judgement is so certain, why are you here? Why do you tell me all this if you want me to die? Why?”

The voice stayed still. The shadow didn't move at all. It stayed this way for a few seconds.
“The time spell will end when the sun has normalized it's movement. You won't meet me again.” the voice finally said as the shadow went back into his original form.

---

He closed his eyes.

“White Flare! Heeeey, White Flare! Come on, join us!”
White Flare turned his head. It was a pegasus-mare with yellow coat, blue eyes and orange mane. Her name was Yellow Shine. “Can you wait a few seconds? Let me just finish this book. Celestia gave it to me. There are only 4 more pages left.” he answered.

“Oh come on! Reading isn't the most important thing in the world! And I bet the letters won't run away!” annother pony replied. This time it was a pegasus-stallion. He had a white coat, bright red eyes and a silver mane. His name was Silver Dash. “We would really miss you if you wouldn't join us!” a deep blue unicorn mare with black mane and red eyes said. Her name was Shadow Mirror.

“How could I deny a your invitation, Shadow?” White Flare said as he magically levitated the book into one of his saddlebags. “What are you going to do anyway?”
“We are going to go for a picnic! We've got crystal berry punch and pie! It's going to be a great thing to relax!” a earth-pony-mare with light pink coat, dark pink mane and pink eyes said. Her name was Bright Life.

“Okay this is really a great idea. After all this trouble we've been trough to get here... we finally slipped Discords reign. I think this is worth a little celebration.” White Flare stated. “But Celestia will sure be disappointed of me if I don't finish this book.”
“And Luna will tell her that some ponies need more than just books and air to live. I know, Celestia only has the best in her mind but still I'm happy Luna is my mentor and not Celestia. She is not so strictly.” Shadow Mirror said.

Now that he thought about it, Celestia really was strictly. He could understand her though. The crystal empire was protected by the powerful magic of the Crystal Heart, but out there were still hundreds of thousands of ponies suffering Discords reign. And Celestia had risked everything to get those 6 ponies here, hoping they may be able to do what she was unable to do one day.

A few minutes later they had arrived the royal gardens of the crystal empire. There were many ponies around, eating, laughing and enjoying their lifes. However, none of them was equestrian. They were all crystal ponies. White Flare felt like a stranger.

“Why are you so quiet, Flare? Is something wrong? Anything I could help you with?” the last pony in their group asked. She had a light green coat, blue eyes and a green mane with red highlights. Her name was High Pose.
“...This is not our home.” White Flare answered after a few seconds.

“What are you talking about? Those ponies were so kind to offer us, a few refugees from Equestria, a place to stay, a place to slip Discords rule.” Shadow Mirror said.
“I didn't say I'm not grateful for that. But, Equestria was and will always be our home. No matter how friendly the crystal ponies are and no matter how long we stay here, this chaotic and destroyed land we used to love like nothing else will always be our home.” White Flare stated.

The others lowered their heads. Their faces became sad.
“I'm sorry... I know you all miss our home just as much as I do.” White Flare apologized.
“Yes and that's exactly why we are so happy to be here. The land we once called our home is now nothing but a mere shadow of what it used to be. It's literally turned upside down.” Silver Dash said.
“I know that, Silver! I know what Discord did to our home. But I also know, one day, we will be able to free Equestria. And we will return to our home. And we will once again run over the flowered fields we used to love when we were just little fillies and little colts.”

“How can you know that, Flare? How do you know that everything you are trying to safe isn't already lost forever?” Shadow Mirror asked.
“Of all the ponies you ask that, Shadow? You know our saviors. Celestia and Luna have come to free Equestria. And I believe they can do it! I believe in them! And I believe one day we will have peace in this shattered world.”
“The world was already shattered before Discord arrived, Flare. The great civil war of Equestria, remember? You lost your parents back then. Everypony lost somepony dear. It wasn't Discord who shattered Equestria. We did.” High Pose said.

“You are right. But now, we are down. We are lying on the ground. But if you reached the button, there is only one way: Up. And I know Celestia and Luna won't betray us. They will bring peace to the land we shattered. You'll see...”

He opened his eyes.
“Those bright and hopeful days... gone forever. The dead do not dream.”

Author's Note:

This is not the end of the story. Hell, we aren't even close to its middle. Everything will make sense in the end, I promise. And if it doesn't, I allow you all to punch me.

Comments

[WritersShadow]

I am desperate for a critic or maybe a prereader or someone who helps me to get foward faster! There are about 20 hidden clues about twists in the story in the existing 3 parts already and I don't know if anyone noticed them! I am also unsure about my writing-style... Please, just a little assistance would incredibly increase the development of this fanfic.