> Remembrance > by AshleyH713 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Lost > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The rays of light shown through the tall empty glass windows and onto the eyes of Twilight Sparkle. Twilight opened her eyes reluctantly and squinted at the bright light all while looking around the dark room. She slowly crawled out of her safe haven and walked over to the window, almost tripping on numerous piles of books in the process. She grunted to herself as she used her magic to place them in the right spot and looked at the other rows of books that spiraled across the floor. Practically every book from the library was there in her own little fortress, keeping her busy and distracting herself from the pain. She continued to make the journey to the window and slowly closed the curtains.Turning away, she sighed to herself and walked over the large chest she visited every morning and hesitated before slowly opening the doors. She looked down at disgust and looked at the items that had brought her disappear . Shinning back in her face as a sign of mockery was two gold items. One was a golden necklace with her emblem or cutie mark in the center and the other was a gold crown with the same symbol plastered on the front. Twilight silently raised the items and placed them in the right positions across her body and onto of her head. She turned away and found herself face to face with a mirror. She paused and unfolded her wings, revealing her true self. She really was an alicorn. She remembered how she used to look long ago and realized that now that image was just a figment of her imagination. Gazing at herself now she could see the extended hight of her body and horn, the true marking of an alicorn princess. She paused when a knock was heard through the empty room. Twilight quickly composed herself and opened the door to reveal Princess Celestia. Celestia noticed the disarray of her room and frowned. Twilight saw her friend’s distress and smiled. “Good morning Celestia, I wonder what’s for breakfast this morning? I hope its pancakes.” Then before Celestia could say anything, Twilight disappeared down the hall. It was obvious that she didn't want to talk about it and Celestia understood that but hiding from the world was not the way to do it. This was something Celestia knew very well. She paused to think when she heard Luna walk down the hall. She turned to her dear sister and smiled. “Good morning Luna.” Luna smiled at her sisters action and returned the gesture. “Good morning sister.” But then Luna noticed something in her sisters eyes, worry. “What’s wrong my sister?” Celestia sighed and looked toward where Twilight disappeared from. “It’s nothing Luna, it’s just....I’m worried about her.” Luna looked confused for a moment but then realized what or rather who her sister was concerned about, Twilight. “I am to sister, but this a normal process of grieving.” Celestia gazed at the ceiling and sighed. “Yes, but its been 30 years. It’s time for her to move on.” Luna understood her sisters reasoning but also understood another point of view. “Remember when I was trapped on the moon for 1,000 winter's? Did you forget about me and move on then?” Celestia shook her head rapidly and answered quickly “Of course not! How could I forget you, my dear sister?” Luna shook her head in understanding, knowing that this was a sore subject for Tia. She pulled out her hoof and grabbed her sister in a loving embrace. “Of course I know, its ok. But my point is that Twilight is experiencing that pain inside her at this very moment. Soon it will disappear like her memories of them. It just takes time.” Celestia nodded her head agents Luna and silently hoped Twilight would be alright. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight opened a large door and found herself in front of the great stained glass halfway. She sucked in a breath of courage and gazed at the first window. She smiled as she remembered how Spike had saved the crystal empire from King Somba. If it wasn't for him the crystal empire would've ceased to exist. She moved to the next window and found Nightmare Moon being vanquished by her and her friends......her friends. Twilight tried to shake off the hollowness growing in her chest and quickly turned about to find another picture, this time depicting her and her friends defeating Discord. The hollowness was growing as she stared and the glass figures on the bottom. They seemed so real. So real that for a second she thought she saw the figures move, but when she turned back to them they remained still. She was going crazy. They weren’t here, they were......” Twilight refused to finish the sentence as she turned to the final stained glass picture of the hallway. This one showed herself when she was crowned an alicorn princess in front of Equestria. She unfolded her wings once more and sighed. She didn't hate being an alicorn. She enjoyed traveling to different parts of Equestria and helping ponies discover friendship. No, she didn't hate that. What she did hate was a back stabbing, crippling loneliness that came with it. She didn't find out until much later that being an alicorn meant being immortal, and being immortal meant having everypony you care for die before you. It wasn't so bad at first, every pony said that they would always be here with her and she believed them. She believed them until they took there last breath on this planet, then she was alone. After every pony was gone Celestia and Luna offered her to stay in Canterlot Castle which Twilight gratefully agreed since her castle brought back unwanted memories. She stared at the picture and put her hoof against the cool feeling of the glass, thinking of the ponies that left her behind. What hurt her the most was her friends. They had all agreed that they would never leave her and she held onto that promise everyday until each of them, one by one gave into the eternal darkness. First was Fluttershy then Rarity, then Rainbow Dash, Applejack and finally Pinkie Pie. They lived great fulfilling lives but time always came for them in the end. She rested her head on the glass and slight tears leaked out of her eyes onto the floor. She was so alone. All she wanted was to be able to hear Fluttershy’s sweet singing, or Rarity’s words of encouragement, or Rainbow’s cool demeanor, or Applejacks honest words, or Pinkie Pie’s random antics, just anything. Anything that would let this broken pony experience joy once more. > Lost Part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lost Part 2 Twilight Sparkle tore through the sky all while the ever fresh tears were still on her face. She flew high above the clouds, away from all of the pain and suffering. She needed to go here, to see them again. She laded with a light tap as she strolled into the dark and familiar cave. Using her horn to light the way she silently made her way into the darkness. She approached a clearing and had shield her eyes from the new found blighting light. Blinking a few times she gazed in awe at the beautiful structures in front of her. Standing tall in the darkness were five evenly placed trees. They smiled down at her in joy and Twilight felt a sudden sense of calm. The first one was a large apple tree with the element of honesty buried in the center. The next was a sagging weeping willow tree with the element of generosity placed in the center. The others including a bright cherry blossom tree with kindness, a tall zap apple tree with loyalty and lastly a joyous tree filled with numerous colors, lighting the dull drab cave. Twilight walked around to each tree and rested her head on the soft wood. A small warmth filled her and she let out a soft sigh. Then the tears started again. Twilight cried for her lost friends and buried her head in the last tree, the tree of laughter. It felt like they were so close. That she could reach out her hoof and touch the warming hoofs of her friends. But sadly she knew that this could never be. That she wouldn't never see them again, the only place they inhabited were her memories. She closed her eyes and wept more as a dark smoke started to fill the cave. It glanced at the broken pony and then slowly seeped into the roots of the farthest tree, causing the trunk to turn and sickly black color. Slowly the black mist traveled into the roots and turned each of the tree's dull and black. Twilight suddenly felt the warmth disappear from the trunk and looks up in horror at the state of the tree. She then heard a low, deep chuckle, followed by a sharp piercing laugh. She wiped her head around to find five tall black ponies with hauntingly white eyes and razor sharp teeth, but that its what bothered Twilight. No, what bothered her was that these creatures looked just like her friends. They had the same familiar mane styles and cutie marks and if it wasn't for the eyes the teeth, they would've looked like an exact copy of her friends. Twilight slowly backed away as thousands of thoughts spun in her head. What are these things? Why do they look my friends? She started forward and opened her mouth, hoping to scare these creatures off, but all that came out was a small shaky whisper. "Who...who are you?" The dark ponies laughed at Twilight and begin to circle their prey. The pony that looked like Fluttershy spoke first "You don't remember us Twilight?" Next the Rarity copy spoke and the Applejack one finished her sentence "Has it been that long?...." "That you don't remember?....." "Your nearest...." ....and dearest friends." Twilight backed away in fear and confusion, not knowing what was happening. Their was no way that these could be her friends, in the back recesses of her mind she knew that... "Your friends are what? Dead? Well of course they are. Your the last one aren't you Twilight? The lonely alicorn..." She gasped again at the notion that these creatures could read the inner workings of her mind. They took another step closer and a dark winding smoking appeared and wrapped around her hoof. Struggling they moved in and hissed. "Now, give us those precious elements so we can take our place in this world. " They leapt forward and Twilight knew that she had to do something. Using her magic, she severed the bond with the mist and raced forward with only one thing in mind, the elements. She quickly and carefully took them out of there home in the trees and turned to see that the creatures were close then before. She looked all around for an escape but found everything blocked off. Just then the creatures lept forward with their sharp teeth bared when she closed her eyes and transported away from the scene. ------------------------------------ Twilight Sparkle bursted opened the doors of the palace and ignored the stares of the various guards that past her. She turned the corner and saw Princess Celestia and Luna and raced forward. "Celestia, Luna! Equestria is under attack!" The Princesses looked at her in concern and took in the way she looked and how she was cradling the elements of harmony in her hoofs like a bunch of newborn foals. Her apperance looked frantic and dirt covered her coat from head to hoof, almost like she had been running. Celestia glanced at the noisy guards in the corner, listening to their every word and she sighed. "Follow me." --------------------------------------------- After sitting down in the planning room, Twilight began to pace back and forth in worry and anxiety, letting every detail of what had occurred roll off her tongue. "I was visiting the tree's of harmony and then this black mist showed up. It seeped into the trees and turned them black. Then these shadows appeared and....they looked like my friends,but different. They had white eyes and sharp teeth. I grabbed the elements and escaped but now, I don't know what to do." The two remaining ponies in the room look at each other and both wore a pale and sickly expression. Their eye contact remained in an unspoken conversation until Celestia sighed and turned to Twilight. "I think what we know what you've encountered." Twilight ran forward and desperately pleaded for the answer. She had been alive for such a long time that finding something she didn't know scared her to no yet. "What is it?!" Celestia sighed once more and led Twilight to her own seat around the circler table. Once they were all seated Luna began to speak. "It's the virus that once infected me long ago." Twilight visibly gasped and leaned forward, listening to her every word. "It is called the Nightmare. It feeds on darkness and disappears and it is the very creature that caused me to blind my judgement and become my word fear." Celestia looked away in shame as Twilight tried to put all of the pieces she had been given together. "You mean, the Nightmare is what turned you into Nightmare Moon?!" Luna tilted her head in a sad nod. "The very same. And if you encountered it, that means its searching out a new host to feed of off." Twilight's head was going in fifty different directions. What did all of this mean? "Does that mean that my friends are....? Tia cut her out of her own terrible thoughts. "No. Of course not. The nightmare just took the place of your friends to confuse and anger you, which I can see it did a pretty good job." Twilight shook her head and was slightly relieved that what she had thought wasn't the case. "Well, how do we stop it?" The princesses exchanged another look before locking eyes. "You have to use the elements once more." Twilight fell back in her chair and shook her head. If that was the only way to save Equestria then every pony was doomed. Their was noway she could do something like that. "But I can't wiled the elements. Not after they..." She refused to say the word that would make it true Died. They nodded their heads in understanding, for they knew about the devastation Twilight had experienced. Luna was first to speak. "She is right my sister their has to be another way." Twilight let her head fall onto the cold table in defeat. She really could do nothing. Maybe awhile ago she was able to solve any problem imaginable but now......she was useless. Tia looked at her in sadness and tried to lend a reassuring smile. "Luna is right. There has to be another way to stop the Nightmare." -----------------------------------