It was National History Day in Equestria once again. Having finally gotten used to her role as Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle agreed to visit with Celestia for the day via statue garden tour as long as she could have her friends accompany her. Spike, unfortunately, had claimed to have contracted a sudden case of the chicken pox (even though Twilight knew he just wanted to read his comics), and couldn't attend.
The herd had traversed through garden all day, with Luna as their history guide. She recounted a surprising amount of historical events that were long forgotten to ponykind, such as the Falling of Eternity's Bridge, which connected Stableside, Equestria to Seaddle, Cervidas across Eternity's Crossing (which is the sea between the two continents). They couldn't help but admire how lush and green the grass was kept, breathing in the scent of somepony trimming it over a nearby hedge and hearing the clipping of shears soon after.
The statues were magnificent pieces of art created by all the greats: Starswirl the Bearded, Iron Craft, Diamond Cutter and many,many more. They numbered over 1,000, and the eight friends soon discovered how big the garden truly was. Nearly all of them were a sharp, rough-edged gray while a scarce few were covered in bright, proud coats of paint. The herd even passed a carving of a fully painted rainbow that arched high above their heads and through some of the lower clouds.
Nopony had spoken for quite awhile as their visit neared the end; Twilight soon broke the silence, eager to get going without directly saying so. "Princess Celestia, we've gone through the history of every statue in this garden. It's simply beautiful, considering how old it is", she remarked. "I learned so many things today, many of which were involving friendship...should I write to you about them?" As Celestia was about to answer, she was cut off by Twilight. "Never mind; I'll make a mental note. The history of Equestrian villains was my favorite part of the tour. I never knew that King Sombra was actually half demon, and his sister was Queen of Tartarus for centuries. Maybe I should write to you about that as well...."
Thinking quickly, Rainbow Dash spoke up, preventing Twilight from rambling on about lessons and history any longer. "Yeah, and the statues of us in the center were pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. Which I do", she added, shooting Twilight her infamous "I'm-bored" glare.
"Yes, it's been a nice day after all", Celestia replied.
"...What do you mean 'after all'?" Twilight inquired, her cheerful exterior quickly dissipating. Celestia looked away, staring at a statue. Pinkie Pie, always having been the curious one, followed her gaze.
"Hey, what's that statue over there?", she asked, oblivious to Celestia's apparent discomfort. "I don't remember reviewing that one's history". Luna shared a knowing look with Celestia before nodding her head and flying back to the castle.
"Yes, she's simply beautiful, your Majesty", Rarity began. "I do love the mane, it's absolutely gorgeous, even though it's rather...unruly", she finished, squinting disdainfully at the curly tips of her mane. Celestia was still looking away, shutting her eyes.
"Your Majesty?" Fluttershy squeaked, worried that she was in pain. "If you want, we could, um, leave now, if it's ,um, alright with you", she suggested meekly. Celestia finally looked back at them, her face dark and hardened with grief.
"That statue....is my daughter".
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Everypony just stared at her, mouths agape. Applejack, regaining her composure quickly, was the first to speak. "Yer Highness, whatever 'appened to 'er?", she questioned.
Celestia sighed, muttering: "I always knew that this day would come". Applejack narrowed her eyes, knowing something was going on. Celestia sank down onto the cool grass surrounding her so-called daughter's statue. "Come, let me tell you her story", she called to the others. With Applejack's consent, the six famous mares gathered around their ruler as she began to set the sun for the day.
"It all started about 2,000 years ago, during the reign of Discord", she began, her horn working its magic around the sun. "As a last, desperate measure, I had resorted to a new spell from Starswirl's seventeenth Volume of Magic, which would create a creature so powerful that it would match Discord's magic, and maybe even overpower it. As I was adding the final ingredient to the concoction, a blast of light, the test tube exploded; knocking me into the window. I stared with wide eyes as a ball with all the colors of the rainbow spewed out of it, rotating above the tube. It quickly burst apart, sending each of the colors into individual stained glass portraits; light patterns dancing around the room. I stared at it, mesmerized, and then it all disappeared in the blink of and eye, and the searing pain kicked in. The scars that the shards of glass made are still on back to this day". She paused, turning around and showing the surprised ponies her back, which was covered in several long, light pink gouges.
"It was one of the most dangerous,foolish spells attempted in Equestria, but I was positive that it'd work. It had to.
"I thudded down into the pool of melting glass, my eyes shut as the searing pain kicked in. Eager to see which mythical creature I had created, I reopened my eyes after a few minutes, hoping to spot another Draconequus. But what I saw instead was another alicorn....or so I thought. She was a couple thousand years old, maybe even older than me, but appeared only 1,500 years old or so, and was a striking shade of orange. She wore long black-and-white war boots, had a breastplate that had black-and-white paw prints on it, and an ancient crown with a yin-yang that spiraled outward on it. Her cutie mark was a paw print with a yin-yang inside that had spirals all around it.
"She was very tall for her age (which was, apparently, around 19 in alicorn years), and had gorgeous, yet rather unruly long blond hair that faded to light blue, then dark blue, and finally ended with black tips that were slightly curly. Upon closer inspection, I found her eyes to be ocean blue and as big as the seas themselves, yet just as unpredictable with their narrow slits for pupils. Her ears had thick, dark green, striped hoop earrings and her wings were unlike anything I had ever seen before; they each had a large white spike in the middle, and were huge and feathery, yet powerful.
"I got up, even though I felt miserable and welcomed her into existence. She turned and looked at me, and told me that her name was Ebony Dusk. I'll never forget the sound of her voice, like a little stream running over pebbles. She walked towards me and helped me up, then cast a spell to speed up my wounds' healing processes. Once I was well again, I began training her to defeat Discord and began considering her my daughter. I noticed that she'd disappear from time to time, but didn't take much notice. Discord was in for a big surprise.
"But I was wrong. The day we went to confront Discord, she told me that she didn't want to. When I asked why, she told revealed a nagging fear of mine to be true: the times she had slipped away were to visit him. To my disgust, she revealed that they had fallen in love "again"; as if they had known each other before. We argued back and forth the whole way to Ponyville until we reached his throne. I was furious that she had sided with him, and forgot how powerful she was. In my rage, I struck out and slashed her left eye with my horn and cast a curse on her. But instead of bursting into flames for the rest of time, she stood her ground and stared at me as her eye gushed out blood, the iris turning green forever and her left ear bursting into flames. 'Oh, Celestia. You're such a fool', she said calmly.
"Suddenly, she began laughing, quietly at first, but then her it grew louder, and louder until it was maniacal. She cast a magnet spell that attracted metal to me, which bruised me severely. Then she began mercilessly beating her wings against me, and her spikes left some of those scars on my back. She was about to finish me off as Discord suddenly appeared, having no idea that we were there. Ebony momentarily sopped telling him that she would defend him to the death. I'll never forget how quickly that quiet stream turned into a roaring waterfall...
"Back to the story: that gave me just enough time to cast her to stone, but Discord was still there. He would've killed me if Luna hadn't shown up just then, teleporting to the castle infirmary. Then I blacked out. Luna cared lovingly for me, but I ignored her entirely. A few days later, I had recovered almost entirely and was ready to end Discord's reign of chaos once and for all. Summing up all my strength, Luna and I went and stoned Discord that very day, vowing to never speak of either of them again".
The sun was finally down, and Twilight looked up towards a castle spire to see Luna raising the moon and stars. Celestia took a deep breath, a single tear trickling down her cheek, and began to sing: "This day was going to be perfect, the kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small. But instead of having fun, reminiscing with everyone , Ebony Dusk is finally going to return".
Celestia raced out into the garden, absolutely petrified. She flew through the many twists and turns with surprising speed and accuracy, until she reached the place where she had revealed the story of Ebony Dusk mere hours ago.
She let out a sigh of relief when she saw the legendary mare's statue still in place. "Phew, I could've sworn I heard it shatter," the Alicorn whispered to her self, then laughed quietly. "Oh Celestia, you old fool, you worry too much!" She suddenly heard a single hoofstep, and turned abruptly around to face the statue that loomed before her in the shadows. The statue's eyes popped open and burned into Celestia's; they narrowed into slits for the first time in thousands of years.
Celestia's eyes appeared to widen into moons, unable to hide her terror as the statue turned towards her. She looked down with a start as she realized that, in her hurry, she had forgotten to put on her crown, breastplate and boots. The off- white mare hurriedly looked up to face Ebony Dusk and gathered her courage, no matter how mundane she looked.
Ebony was first to speak. "Why hello, Celestia," she breathed.
"You're supposed to be dead, dear", Celestia countered stoically, refusing to let her fear show through.
Ebony narrowed her eyes and breezily: "Oh, I have such plans for you. Death will be the kindest mercy I can bestow upon you. Know this, I am not in a merciful mood". A sudden explosion of black nimbus knocked Celestia to her side. The last thing that she saw before Ebony Dusk dissipated entirely was her malicious smile full of fangs, gleaming white in the pale moonlight.
After quickly righting herself, Celestia silently flew back to her room, entering through the window she had leaped through. She hesitantly crawled into her round bed and pulled her favorite pink floral comforter up to her chin and fluffed all nine of her pillows. Finally, once she had gotten comfortable, she levitated a faded photograph to her face. All she could do, upon seeing the young mare's face, was sigh with regret. "What have I done", she muttered hopelessly.
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Wonderbolts Academy
Training Field 8
Rosebud didn't know what was wrong with her that day. Since her training at the Wonderbolt Academy had begun that morning, she couldn't even fly straight. Now, six hours later, she was plummeting at 102 miles per hour towards the ground; unable to stop herself from driving her muscular body into the muddy earth that was ever growing closer. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact. Instead of hearing an ear-splitting crack, however, she landed with a soft thud.
It didn't hurt as much as she had feared, for she was numb all over. When she opened her eyes, she saw why: Rainbow Dash had caught her just in time--- again. The cyan mare's maroon eyes burned into her hazel ones with deep concern.
"Rosebud, little wingpony, what's going on? You're the only mare I've met besides Lightning Dust who can match my speed. Maybe we should take you---" Rainbow Dash started but was interrupted by a Royal Guard from Canterlot.
"Is there a Miss Rosebud here? Her presence is requested at the Canterlot Castle immediately," the guard announced.
Rainbow Dash gave the Pegasus stallion who had interrupted her the evil eye, clearly perturbed. The light blue royal guard looked everywhere but at the pony in Rainbow's arms until she sheepishly waved her foreleg in the air, calling out to him.
The guard glanced at her, smiled, then quickly called over two other guards who were hitched to a magnificent chariot. Upon closer inspection, several Pegasi who had been training with Rosebud mere minutes before admired its brilliant sun patterns etched into the shimmering gold coat of paint. It was dotted with bursts of gems here and there, all the same colors as the Elements of Harmony.
All Rosebud could see, though, was the stallion who had said her name. He was light blue in color, with a darker blue mane. He was a spitting image of Soarin, except for his hazel eyes. His cutie mark was a pair of goggles that resembled the type Wonderbolts used. His armor was glowing gold; and had intricate lines engraved into it. A sparkling blue star seemed to be the center piece of his glimmering breastplate.
She heard him explaining to Spitfire why one of her prized pupils was leaving the semester, but that she would return soon. Spitfire warily nodded her approval, then pulled Rainbow Dash aside to whisper something into her ear before flying off towards her office. The rainbow-maned Pegasus's maroon eyes were wide when she returned, easing Rosebud into the chariot, but that was the only part of her being that showed her concern.
"Be careful, wingpony. I have a feeling you're going on an awfully awesome adventure without me", she smiled lovingly. "And remember--- whatever you do, don't get beheaded or anything. What's a hero without her sidekick?" Rainbow finished. The chariot began to pull out of the Academy, with the blue stallion in the lead. Rosebud turned around and waved goodbye to the few ponies she had befriended when Rainbow called out to her: "Play it cool, like me", she shouted as she slipped on a pair of black shades. Rosebud giggled a response.
She supposed that she had done something horribly wrong, or perhaps she was being sent there because she had contracted a rare disease that ought to be studied. She wanted to mull it over some more, but was hit with a sudden spell of sleepiness.
The blurry-eyed mare narrowly managed to stay awake for three more minutes, which gave her enough time to see her best friend in the whole world perform a sonic rainboom right above the chariot, creating an ear-splitting crack that temporarily swerved the guards off course.
Rosebud smiled to herself, knowing that Rainbow would always be there to help her through thick and thin. She drifted off to sleep with this comforting thought inside of her mind, dreaming of the blue stallion with hazel eyes...
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Rosebud awoke as the chariot pulling her eased to a much slower speed, causing the dusky mare to wonder how long she had been asleep; it took three hours to fly to Canterlot from Cloudsdale on a regular day.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the blue stallion who had retrieved her call to his companions, speeding up again. They nodded at him and swerved to the right, gently landing on a bright green patch of grass. The chariot gently slowed until it had stopped altogether, leaving little tunnels in the cool, dense grass where the wheels had dragged.
The Pegasus mare tried to stand up, but tumbled over the side of the chariot instead, realizing that her legs were still asleep. One of the guards burst out laughing while the other simply groaned and turned away. Rosebud blushed fiercely with shame as she spread out her wings and wobbled over to the main guard.
"Well, we better get going. Celestia lowers the sun in about two hours, and we still have lots to do", he said matter-of-factly. They quickly began the short flight to the Sun Throne Room over the statue garden as surprisingly pink clouds swirled high above them. The blue guard started to converse excitedly with her, but she wasn't listening. She heard him say his name was Bluewing, and he was excited that they'd be spending more time together, but she became distracted by the beauty of the statues below the party of four.
She was startled to see one of the statues crack, then nearly topple over before becoming still again. Rosebud considered alerting the Royal Guards, but came to the conclusion that her imagination had gotten the better of her.
Several minutes later, they flew directly into their destination through a special hatch only the Pegasus guards could access. They glided slowly to the sleek, red rug in front of the throne. Bluewing sheepishly waved goodbye before zooming out the hatch with his associates.
Rosebud looked up to see a pair of magenta eyes seemingly peering into her soul. She bowed deeply before her Princess, only to fall flat on her face. Blushing fiercely once more, the red-and-gold maned Pegasus mare uttered a quick apology before giving her full attention to her Princess. In her embarrassment, she happened to avert her eyes onto an Alicorn she had never seen before sitting next to her Ruler.
Regaining Rosebud's full attention, Celestia spoke: "I apologize for the inconvenience of causing you to temporarily drop out of Wonderbolts Academy, but you are needed here as a Royal Guard and Protector of the Ruler of the Sun. Since your flying skills are superior to most other Pegasi, I knew the only way to make you come was to order my dear sister Princess Luna to cast a drowsiness spell on you. You'd obviously never give up your dream".
"But you're the Ruler of Equestria, I'd be forced to come and---" Rosebud began, but Celestia glared at her, then regained her composure and continued speaking.
"I believe she mentioned your reasons for coming here in your dreams. You will be assigned to the same rank as Bluewing, so you'll be working with somepony you know.
"I have a room in the guard towers prepared for you, since you might be here for awhile. Now you are probably wondering why you are needed here at all. My...... daughter, Ebony Dusk, has broken loose after 2,000 years of confinement to collective unconsciousness. She is extremely powerful and rather...chaotic. You are needed to help recapture her", Celestia concluded, exhaling heavily before trotting out of the room. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to rest".
Rosebud just stared after her, eyes wide and mouth agape, having trouble taking in all that information. The other Alicorn stepped toward her, smiling. "I know that that was a lot to take in, but that's why I'm here. I am Princess Muse of Cervidas, and I'm here to help with the search as well".
Upon closer inspection, she found the pony who had just spoken to her to be a dazzling, perfect shade of white. Her Cutie Mark resembled three black music notes, each one slightly different from the others. Her eyes were nearly the same shape and color as Celestia's, only more slanted and darker.
Her mane and tail were a light pink in color, with thick lime green outlining the bright center. They were styled to look frizzy on the tips, but were otherwise sleek and straight. The dark mare noted that her tail was rather short. She wore nothing--- no crown, shoes or breastplate. She smiled gracefully and took a step closer to Rosebud, then corrected herself and bowed. Rosebud did the same, only to tip over again. This time, however, she was caught by Muse's aqua-marine magic.
"So, I hear you'll be working as a guard. Are you excited?" Muse inquired earnestly.
"Yeah. What's an Ebony Dusk anyhow?" Rosebud countered. At this, Muse giggled at Rosebud's stupidity.
"She's not a what, but a who. Didn't you pay any attention to Luna when she talked to you?". The dazzling white mare already knew that she didn't even remember her dreams.
"Wait, she talked to me? I didn't even have any dreams! ...Did I?" Rosebud questioned, her face scrunched up in thought.
"You always have dreams, even if you don't remember them", the stately white alicorn declared. "I believe I must escort you to your room now. You'll be situated across from Bluewing and his mates, Ash Shield and Pearl Sword. They were the two other Pegasi who accompanied you here", Muse giggled again before taking off towards one of the castle spires in the distance; Rosebud simply nodded and trailed behind her doggedly.
They were awkwardly silent for the whole seven minute flight to Rosebud's corridor. The sun proceeded to sink lower in the sky, occasionally slipping behind the increasing amount of cotton-candy like clouds. They glided into a hallway through another hatch in the wall, skidding to a stop on the cool, padded floor in front of a room with the number 1047 hanging above the ornate brass door. Using her aqua-marine magic, Muse turned the heavy doorknob and found the spacious room completely dark.
Rosebud went in before the visiting Princess, spreading her wings aggressively and squaring her shoulders. "Training Protocol #158 states that a Wonderbolt never enters a dark room without assuming an Attack stance", Rosebud nonchalantly answered Muse's unspoken question about her posture. After feeling around for an embarrassing three minutes, she found what she thought was the light-switch. She flipped it on, and was surprised when nothing happened. Or so she thought.
As the door to the room silently slipped shut, a pair of glowing midnight purple eyes stared at the Pegasus through the darkness. The Alicorn who had seemed so kind before now whispered an ominous message as a single tear slipped down her cheek, eventually plinking quietly onto the floor: "I'm sorry".
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Ebony Dusk had been free for hours--- 22, to be exact--- and still hadn't caused any trouble at all. Contrary to Celestia's fears, she didn't go and find Discord as soon as she was free. In fact, she had nonchalantly thrown on a plain brown-and-white hoodie to hide her wings and an eye-patch to hide her scars and irregular eye-coloring. She still had the same appearance, cutie mark and all, but nopony suspected a thing.
She had been catching up on the day-to-day life she had missed. Having just left the inn she was staying at in the Crystal Empire (absolutely nopony would recognize her as a Crystal pony), the escapee had walked up to a vendor and was indulging in a peanut-butter milkshake with extra whipped-cream and a jar of pickles. Naturally, most of the passerby who gave her a glance quickly looked away, disgusted by her meal choice.
Ebony could care less, for this was normal for her. She had been expecting strange looks, insults, being reported and everything in between, but the posse who walked past her next was the one thing she didn't prepare for: a certain creature of chaos surrounded by the ponies who called themselves the Mane 6!
It took all of her strength to resist running up to the love of her life and hugging him to pieces. After silently consoling herself for several minutes, she decided it would be fun if she followed them in the shadows. And that's why if, on that day, you looked closely at the shadows cast by the shimmering crystal shops, houses and vendors, you might glimpse orange hooves quietly trotting after a group of tourists. If you stared even more intensely, so intensely that your eyes teared up, you would see a peanut-butter milkshake surrounded by glowing green-and-turquoise magic, followed by a half-empty jar of pickles.
