Is she a princess? Is she a queen? She is both. Is she a changeling? Is she a vampire? That is a mystery.
Did you know that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had a sister? Did you know that that particular sister is Luna's twin? This is her story. Or should I say, MY story. But, can you take the suspense and thrill of my adventures? Let's. Find. Out.
Hello, my name is Princess Angel Lightning. The story I am about to tell you is the story of my life. I go through many changes in magical abilities and physical appearance, even my DNA is changed. I also discover weaknesses I never had problems with before as well, but I eventually find a solution to them one way or another. I hope you enjoy it.............
Long ago, before the existence of Equestria, there lived a powerful race of ponies that controlled many things, from the sun, moon, and stars, to pollinating the plants of the land. They are called Alicorns.
In the west, an alicorn named Chrysalis, who ruled over the insect pegasus ponies. These ponies were like regular pegasus ponies except their wings were that of insects. They were also called "the pollinator ponies" because they were in charge of ensuring the plants stay healthy and strong.
To the north was a crystal alicorn named Rubinus, who oversaw the Crystal Empire. The crystal ponies that lived there were once regular earth ponies that were given crystal coats and the ability to grow crystals like fruit. These were gifts to them by King Rubinus himself, for their devotion and loyalty to him and his kingdom.
And in the east lived two alicorns who controlled the sun and the moon. King Astral Light was in charge of the moon each night. His wife, Queen Lucena, rose and set the sun every day.
One day, they had a white, pink haired filly. They named her Celestia. Five years later, they had a pair of twins, one dark blue with light blue hair, whom they named Luna. And the other jet black with jet black and blood red hair, which they named Angel. That is me.
I was different from my twin though. I had a second set of perfectly functional eyes on the sides of my head behind my first set. I also had a second pair of front legs as well. My back legs, wings, and horn were normal.
As we grew, and learned to talk, we both came up with a nickname for our older sister. I would call her "Les", and Luna would call her "Tia". We quickly learned to say our nicknames for her back-to-back so fast it sounds like one pony saying "Lestia". We even tried reversing who says what, but Les could tell the differences in our voices very easily, even without looking at us. It would make our parents laugh just watching me and Luny, that's my nickname for Luna by the way, try to fool our older sis. I even figured out how to call both of my sisters at once, I just have to say, "Les n Luna". Kind of sounds like "Less in Luna", right?
Our parents gave us lesson in magic and flight. We all learned quickly, but I excelled at it. Even though I was the youngest, I sometimes had to help Les with her lessons. She was kind of stubborn at first until I gave her the idea that she could be better than me if she let me help her. It was funny watching her struggle and sometimes couldn't keep myself from laughing at her failures. I know it was mean to laugh at her, but who could keep it in?
One day, we were having more lessons when a sudden unnatural lightning storm rolled in. Our parents knew just by looking at it that it was dangerous to stay out there and told us to follow them to safety. But I didn't hear them. Something about the storm was calling out to me and I couldn't figure out what. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot out of the clouds towards me and my parents screamed. I instinctively tried to protect myself with my wings just as it stuck me.
But something strange happened. Instead of the pain I was expecting, I felt a tingling sensation. Curious, I looked at myself and found that the lightning was swirling around my wings. As I flapped them, the lightning grew brighter and brighter. Then, I decided to fly into the clouds themselves. So, what did I do? I flew straight for the center of the storm. As I got closer to the center, the lightning hit me more and more frequently, until I could see nothing but bright light all around me.Still, I kept flying.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the lightning stopped and I burst into a lit clearing in the center of the clouds. And right in the very center of the clearing floated the most beautiful thing i had ever seen. A deep, dark black diamond. It seemed to be the source of the lightning.
"Are you worthy of being my host?" a rich, feminine voice echoed suddenly.
"W-w-who said that?" I stammered, looking around, frightened. "Where are you?"
"I am right in front of you." the voice responded.
I look at the floating gem, confused.
"I am Tesla." The gem pulsed as the voice spoke, and I realized that the gem itself was talking to me. "I have been searching for thousands of years for a worthy host who can control my power. Now, I ask you again, are you worthy of being my host?"
"I-I-I....I don't know." I stuttered. "Why have you chosen me?"
"I didn't choose you specifically. But, you are the only one to make it this far into the storm I have created to protect myself from those who would misuse me. Are you worthy?"
I hesitate before saying, "I don't know if i'm ready for such divine power. I'm only a little filly."
I hear a laughing sound come from the gem, Tesla. "You are definitely worthy of being my host. Anypony who is as innocent as you and who can call my power "divine" is worthy to be called a Lightning Elemental."
"A Lightning Elemental? What is that?"
"A Lightning Elemental is a powerful pony that can control lightning itself. He, or she, can also sense all electric currents in other ponies, water, and anything that has electricity. These are the powers you will gain by accepting me as a part of you. Will you accept me? If so, then tell me your name."
I hesitate for a moment. Then, "Angel. My name is Angel. And I am an Alicorn Princess."
"Then take me into your horn and become, Princess Angel, the Lightning Elemental."
I nod, fly closer to Tesla, and touch my horn to the beautiful black diamond. I am blinded by a bright flash of light and find myself frozen, suspended in midair, unable to even flap my wings. I'm scared out of my mind, afraid I'll never move again.
Then, as suddenly as it started, the light faded and i found i could move again. I looked around and saw my parents flying towards me, my sisters following close behind. Les n Luna tackles me midair and I have to keep flapping my wings to keep us all airborne. Then our parents trap us all in a sandwich hug. Mom was the first to break away. I look at her and, seeing the look on her face, I knew I was in trouble. When she opens her mouth to scold me, she looks at my wings and gasps instead.
"What happened to your wings, Angel?" mom asks, surprised.
Confused, I look at my wings and gasp. On my wings is a lightning design I had never seen on my wings before. "I don't know, I've nev......," I start to say.
"Don't get mad at her, Lucy," A voice interrupts me, making me jump in midair, and almost making me forget to flap my wings to stay in the air. "It's not her fault."
Startled, mom looks at my flickering horn. "Tesla? Is that you?" I had forgotten that Tesla was now in my horn.
"Its been awhile, hasn't it?" Tesla says, laughing.
"Over ten thousand years, Tes," mom responds, also laughing.
"How do you know each other, mom?" I ask, clearly confused.
"Wait,'Mom'?" says Tesla, sounding aghast. "This is your daughter?"
"Yes, Tes. Angel is my daughter," mom clarifies for Tesla. "And your niece."
Niece? I think to myself. What is she talking about? What is a "Niece"?
Seeing my confusion, mom laughs and says, "I see you're confused, Ang. Let me explain. You see, Tesla is my twin sister, and your aunt."
My mind was reeling. Sister? Twin? Aunt? Niece? What is she saying? I don't understand!
Focus, Angel. You're falling. Tesla's voice interrupts my thoughts.
I blink and look down at the ground rushing up to meet me, and I realize I had stopped flapping my wings. I start flapping frantically to stay aloft. I finally regain control right as I'm about to hit the ground, making an upward U-turn, and hover in midair for a moment before touching down and collapsing from fright.
As I'm struggling to control my breath, my mom touches down next to me and scoops me into a strong hug. I feel something wet hit the top of my head. I look up to see tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Are you okay, Angel? Are you hurt? Did you pull a muscle? Did y........?" I put my hoof on my moms nose to stop the stream of questions spilling out of her.
"I'm fine, mom. I'm not hurt at all. See?" I flap my lightning, streaked wings and hover in front of her to show her I was in perfect condition to fly. "Thank you for getting my attention Tesla. You saved me."
"You're welcome, Angel."
Then, it hit me. "You spoke to me in my head just now, didn't you?"
"Hmmmm. I guess I did."
"But, why?"
"You weren't responding to me when I was trying to get you attention out loud. I also thought I heard you talking out loud but your lips weren't moving. That's when I realized we are mentally connected."
So, in other words, we can talk privately if we need to? I think to her.
"That's right." She pauses, then says, "You thought that, didn't you?"
"Took you long enough," I laugh. Then she starts laughing as well.
"Now that you're thinking clearly, literally, I'm pretty sure you want to know why I am your Aunt. You see...."
"No," I interrupt, " I just want to know why mom never told me and my sisters about you." I look at my sisters as I say this. "I understand what an Aunt is."
We all look at mom as her ears flatten against her head.
"She probably didn't know how to tell you about me." Tesla says. "My power was kind of unstable when I was still an Alicorn, and not just a gem. I..........." She paused."I almost..........killed her because I couldn't learn to......uh......control it."
"Don't blame yourself." mom plead. "I was the one STUPID enough to ask you to hit me with your lightning. Even knowing you couldn't control it, I still asked you to."
"But, I was the one who did it. I only did it because you wouldn't stop BUGGING me about it."
"I only asked you to give me a slight SHOCK, not an ELECTROCUTION!" Mom yelled the two words, making me and my sisters wince.
"Tesla," my dad, Astral, tried to say, "Lucena, dear, you two are making the children uncomfortable. Plea....."
"Well EXCUSE ME! I'm sorry if I COULDN'T control my POWER!" Tesla yelled back, causing me and my sisters to flatten our ears.
"Please, stop arguing you two," dad tried again, but to no avail. And Les covered her ears.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE LEARNED TO CONTROL IT WHEN MOM TOLD YOU TO." Mom was really yelling now.
"ENOUGH!!!!"
We all look at Les, who had an angry expression on her face, her eyes closed, and tears streaming from them.
"Tia?" Luny says, as she puts a hoof on her older sisters shoulder.
Les opens her eyes and,seeing the shocked expressions on everyponys faces, puts her hooves over her mouth, and gives a muffled "Sorry" through them. Mom and dad look at each other and dad nods at her. Mom nods back and starts walking towards my oldest sister. I could never get over the fact that mom and dad seem to know what the other is thinking without saying a word to each other. Les' ears seem to get flatter, if that's even possible, as mom gets closer. When she is standing in front of Les, she raises her hoof, and fearing of getting smacked, Les tries to shield herself with her wings and front legs.
Instead of smacking her, mom gently strokes my sisters head, and surprises me and Luny, as well as Les by saying, "I'm the one who should be sorry. We didn't mean to frighten you fillies, or make you uncomfortable. But you're right. We shouldn't have started arguing in the first place. Right, Tes?"
"Yes. I'm sorry you three, especially you Angel. It probably felt like Lucy was yelling at you instead of me. Right?"
"Kind of," I laugh. "But how did you get turned into a black diamond, Aunt Tes?" I pause. "Is it alright if I call you that?" I ask.
"Nothing would make me happier. And I would be proud to call you my niece, all three of you." She replied. "And to answer you first question, I was afraid our parents would take my magic away, but I took Lucy home and explained what happened as best as I could to our parents angry faces. After they healed Lucy to the point that her life wasn't in danger anymore, I asked them if they knew a spell that help me control my power. They told me they didn't, but knew one that could change me so I could search for somepony to merge with who could control my power. It was that spell that turned me into a black diamond. So, in other words, since i have merged with you, Angel, You must start learning how to control my power soon, or you wont ever gain control of it." She paused then. "I guess this is no longer my power, but is now yours, Angel."
I feel a big smile overtake my face as I say, "When do I begin?"
"Eager to learn about what you can do with your new power, are you?" asks Aunt Tesla, chuckling.
"Oh, yes!" I say, looking at my horn, where Aunt Tesla is speaking from. "I can't wait."
"Well, Angel," mom interrupts, "I'm afraid you'll have to wait till morning. It's getting close to bedtime, for all three of you."
"Aaaawwww," me and my sisters say in unison.
"Can you let me practice for at least an hour?" I ask mom, doing my best impression of a baby bunny.
Seeing my face, moms ears lower slightly in defeat. "Alright, but only an hour, no more." She turns to my sisters, "And you two can stay up, too, and watch if you want."
"Yaaaayyyyy!" we squeal, hugging each other.
I break away from my sisters, look at my horn, and say, "What do we start with first, Aunt Tes?"
"Well," she hesitates, "I never really learned to control it myself, so I don't know what to start with." She pauses. "Why don't we try charging your wings with lighting, to start."
I nod in agreement, and extend my wings. Then I close my eyes and think, Lightning cover my wings.....Lightning cover my wings....,over and over again in my head. After a few minutes, I feel the familiar tingling sensation I felt when I took Aunt Tesla into my horn in my wings, and I hear my sisters gasp in excitement. Excited, I open my eyes and look at my wings just in time to see the lightning surrounding them, fade. I flatten my ears in disappointment.
"You almost had it," Aunt Tesla says."Try again, but this time don't loose your focus."
"Okay," I say. I close my eyes again, and concentrate. This time seems a little easier. The tingling returns, and I know my wings are charging again. I look at them again as the lightning starts to fade. I concentrate harder and, at first I feel I'm doing something wrong, but then my wings start glowing brighter with the beautiful white light as it moves and shifts over my wings, like a beautiful symphony that makes you want to dance forever.
"That's it! Keep it up!" Aunt Tesla urges.
Ecstatic, I make the lightning brighter, and I decide to make it cover more than just my wings. I concentrate on the lightning itself and watch in amazement as it starts moving to my back, around my sides, and down my legs. I look at my family and see they're all smiling at me. Les 'n Lunys faces are filled with wonder and awe. Moms and dads face are beaming, and I know they are proud of me.
Then an idea hits me. I take to the sky, making sure my lightning still flows, and I add the magic I was born with to my lightning, making it form a large sphere around me. I make a bolt of lightning arc from one of my wings to the newly, made sphere, and I hear a sound I was after. I do it again but towards a different point of the sphere, and I hear a different sound. Satisfied, I make more and more sounds until it sounds like a song. I look at mom and see that she recognizes the song I was playing. She closes her eyes and starts to hum along with my music. Then, she starts to sing:
"Come little children, I'll take thee away, Into a land of enchantment. Come little children, The time's come to play, Here in my garden of shadows."
My sisters look at her in surprise as they realize that the song I am playing, is the lullaby that mom sings to us every night.
"Follow sweet children, I'll show thee the way, Through all the pain and the sorrows. Weep not poor children, For life is this way, Murdering beauty and passions."
My sisters, listening to her sing and me play, look like they're about to fall asleep.
"Hush now dear children, It must be this way, To weary of life and deceptions. Rest now my children, For soon we'll away, Into the calm and the quiet."
After this verse, she starts humming along to the music again as I continue to play. During the song, and my lightning music no one notices the flash of light that shines from my flank. No one except Aunt Tesla. But she didn't want to interrupt our song so she kept quiet.
"Come little children, I'll take thee away, Into a land of enchantment. Come little children, The time's come to play, Here in my garden of shadows."
As we finish, I land on the ground, exhausted, and collapse. I look at my sisters and see they are fast asleep. I chuckle to myself and say, softly, "Good night, my sisters." I find myself falling asleep as well. Then I feel myself being lifted by magic. I look up as mom sets me on her back. She smiles at me.
"That was beautiful, my little Angel," she nudges me lovingly.
"Thank you, mom," I reply, yawning.
"Let's get you to bed, sweetie," were the last words I hear before drifting off to sleep...........
The next morning, I am awoken by somepony jumping on top of me. I awake with a start as my twin shouts, "Good morning, Angie! Good morning, Aunt Tessie!"
"Good morning, Luny," I respond."Good morning, Aunt Tes," I say, looking at my horn.
"Good morning, Angel. Good morning, Luna," she replies."I'm glad you two remembered I was here. Did you girls sleep well last night?" she inquired.
"Yes ma'am," we say at the same time.
"Did you sleep well last night, Aunt Tessie?" Luny asks her.
"Yes, I did. Thank you for asking, Luna," she answers, happily."Although, I don't really need sleep seeing as I don't have my own body anymore."
This makes Lunys face turn red. "Oh, right," she says in embarrassment.
"Oh, and Angel?" she says.
"Yes, Aunt Tes?" I respond.
"I think you should get out of bed and look at your flank."
"Okay," I say as I get out of bed, worried and confused. I look at my flank........and freeze. Right there, is the most beautiful cutie mark I had ever seen. It was a black eighth note with a red lightning bolt in the center, in front of a silver background. But what was the most unique about it, was the electric design surrounding it. It was actually MOVING.
Before I could say anything, I hear a shriek behind me as my twin notices what our aunt was talking about. "EEEEEKK!! YOU'VE GOT YOUR CUTIE MARK!!!"
I look at my bouncing twin. She stops bouncing when she sees me looking at her. Then, I feel a smile break across my face and I start jumping, shouting, "I GOT MY CUTIE MARK!!!!" And she starts jumping again as well. Then we hug each other. Then I break away. "Wait." I say. "When did I get my cutie mark?" I ask my aunt.
"Last night, while you were playing that lullaby." she replies."Your parents noticed it as they were carrying the three of you to the castle. They were amazed by it."
"Oooh, oooh, oh-oh-oh." Luny says excitedly. "We gotta show Tia!"
"Yes," I agreed. "Let's go!"
Then we run out of our room, down the hall, and into her room saying our trademark, "Lestia!" as we barrel right into our eldest sister, as she was leaving her room.
"Oooff," she said as we hit the floor. "What's the rush, you two," she says as she picks herself off the ground.
I jump up, turn around, and point to my flank, saying, "Look, Les. I got my cutie mark!"
She stares at it in wonder. "Wow." She shakes her head. "What? How? When?"
"During the lullaby last night." Aunt Tesla says." Nopony noticed it when it appeared because of all the musical lightning Angel was making."
"That is soooo coool!" Les exclaimed.
"What's all this commotion about?" says a familiar male voice. We look towards the door to see dad standing in it, with mom right behind him, both of them with a frown on their faces.
I jump up and down excitedly, saying, "I got my cutie mark!!" Smiles light up their faces when I say this.
"Are you excited?" mom asks, pushing past dad, scooping me in her hooves, and kissing me on the cheek.
I nod vigorously. "Yes I am. And it seems I'm not just a Lightning Elemental, but I'm a Lightning Musician, too!"
Dad chuckles and says, "That you are, Angel. That you are."
As I learn to control my new power, I notice that I can sense other ponies, even from far away, when I can't see them. I asked Aunt Tes about this telepathically, because I am surrounded by ponies from all over the kingdom who heard about my new powers, and wanted to see what I can do.
What you are sensing in the electricity that flows through everypony, She explains simply.
Electricity? I ask, confused.
It's another word for lightning. Everypony has their own special lightning that flows through them naturally, She explains. As you master your power, you will eventually learn to tell ponies apart from one another by their lightning. I learned that myself about a year after I learned I could sense others. She pauses. Be careful. We're surrounded.
I realized that I was surrounded by the entire Royal Guard Elite. I start to panic, thinking I might be in trouble. They charge at me all at once. I charge my wings, and just before I'm crushed, send a pulse of lightning in every direction, sending the pegasus and Earth pony guards flying. The unicorn guards protect themselves with an anti-lighting spell. I suddenly feel calm as an idea forms in my head, and I find myself fixing my gaze on a certain point in the distance. I charge my wings again and let the lightning envelop my entire body. I start to feel that familiar tingle all over, and I see flashes of lightning around my vision as I feel my body move forward, towards the place I was looking at. I hear a crash of metal behind me, just as I come to a complete stop. I look back to see the unicorn guards have collided with each other and now lie sprawled on the ground, dazed. Iron Hoof, the Captain of the Royal Guard Elite, who was watching from afar, walks up to me, puts a hoof on my shoulder, and smiles at me.
"Well done, Princess," he says, kindly. "I was getting ready to pull you out of there when you suddenly pulled off that impressive little dash of yours. Wh-what do you call that?"
I think about it for a minute. "I think I'll call it.......The Bolt Dash," I respond. "And thanks, Ron. I was impressed with myself. I didn't know if it would work."
"Well," he said, chuckling, "I'm glad it did work, and you got out of there unscathed."
I suddenly sense two energies I recognized instantly from the speed at which they're moving towards me. I turn just in time to get tackled by Les n Luna.
"How did you do that, Angie?" Luny asks with curiosity.
"Please, tell us," Les inquires, "I'm curious, too."
"Weeeeelllllll," I say, "I'm not sure. All I did was focus on a point in the distance and think about moving to that spot. It was mostly a last second idea that I wasn't sure would work."
"Wooooooooowwwwww," they said in unison.
That night, mom and dad were talking to us about some creatures call the Chaos Bringers. I didn't pay much attention to them though because I was distracted by an electric energy of somepony that suddenly appeared behind me and my sisters. And from what I could tell from the energy, this pony was an alicorn. But when I looked back, I didn't see anypony, even though I was sure they were in the room.
Don't worry, Angel, you're not imagining it, Aunt Tes said in my head, I sense them, too. And I am just as confused as you are.
Do you know who they are? I ask.
No, I do not, unfortunately. She replied.
"Do you girls understand what we're asking of you?"
The sound of moms question snaps my attention back to her.
"Yes, mom," we respond as one.
"Good. Now go to bed you three. Your father and I need to discuss something in private."
"Good night, mom," we say in unison."Good night, dad."
"Good night, dearies," says mom.
"Night, girls," dad says.
As I turn to leave, I look at the spot I sensed the unknown energy, and walk towards it, as it was between me and the door. As I get closer, I start to see a faint out line of somepony, right where the energy is. I notice that the pony looks like a mare. She has a horn, and a pair of wings, and I realized I was right about this energy belonging to an alicorn. She is also slightly smaller than the guards, meaning she must have her cutie mark as well. But I can't tell what color her mane, tail or coat is. Nor can I see her cutie mark, which I know she has. As it seems I'm about to bump into her, she steps to the side to avoid a collision, and I hear her hoofsteps as she moves.
I look at my sisters to see if they noticed anything out of the ordinary. They don't seem to notice a thing.
I hear hoofsteps behind me as we pass her. I look back and see that she is following us. We leave the room and she is about to step into the hall when the doors are magically closed. I stop, and my sisters look back at me with questioning looks.
"Go on ahead," I tell them, "I'll catch up in a bit. I have something important I want to ask mom and dad in private."
"Okay," Les responds. "I'll see you in the morning then. Night."
"Yeah, don't take too long, Angie," Luny says. "You know I can't sleep without you."
"I know, this won't take long, I promise."
They both nod and start running down the hall. I turn to the door and put my ear on it so I can listen in on them.
"Who are you and how did you get into our castle?" I hear my dad demand.
"Wait, are you telling me that you can see me?" asks an unfamiliar voice.
"We can see you as plain as day, little one," I heard mom say.
"I see," says the voice, I assume belongs to the unknown alicorn. "I didn't realize that anypony in the past would be able to see me."
"Are you saying you're from the future?" mom inquires.
"Eh...sort of. I'm only here mentally though. I don't think my magic will work here." says the voice.
"Explain!" dad commands.
"Calm down, dear," mom scolds dad. "Will you be so kind as to tell us what you mean by 'only here mentally', sweety?"
"Of course," came the reply. "You see, I'm from , judging from the beautiful decorations, your clothes, and how small Princesses Luna and Celestia are, about 30,000 years into the future.I was able to come here mentally after drinking a potion that allows me to see the past. Although, I have no idea why it brought me here, or how you can see me."
"Maybe you were brought here for a reason."
"Maybe. I don't know."
"You still didn't tell us your name, young mare," dad said.
"I apologize," said the invisible mare. "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle."
"I apologize," said the invisible mare, "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
Hearing this, I wanted to see if I could get a better look at the invisible princess, even though I knew I would only see the same outline of her I saw a few minutes ago. So I imagined myself becoming lightning, traveling up the door, through the crack between the doors at the top, zipping to the rafters just under the ceiling, and reforming as myself right on top of one of the beams. And that is just what I did, finding myself right where I wanted to be.
I look down at the princess and then my parents and I notice that they can see her clearly.
“I noticed you mentioned Luna and Celestia,” mom said, “but you didn’t say Angel. Is she not there with her older sisters in the future?”
Princess Twilight put her right hoof to her chin and I can see her thoughtful expression.
“I don’t remember them ever mentioning that they ever had a younger sister,” replied the Princess after a pause.
“Oh dear,” said mom, with a worried expression. She thought for a minute. Then she looked at the princess, “I think I know why you were brought to this time.”
“You do?” Princess Twilight asked.
“Yes,” mom replied, “I do. When you said you were here mentally, I got to thinking. What if you are also here spiritually as well? You might even be able to use your magic here as well.”
“My magic didn’t work in any of the other times I saw the past,” the invisible Princess argued.
“Just try it,” mom encouraged.
“Okay,” she sighed. She looked to the left and set her gaze on something across the room. She closed her eyes and lowered her horn. She charged her horn with purple magic and, out of the corner of my eye I saw something moving. I looked up at it and saw that it was one of our vases, floating up off of its stand, surrounded by the same purple magic that was coming from her horn.
I was so excited for her that I started jumping up and down on the rafter I was standing on, and I slipped and fell off, giving a little yelp in the process. I heard the sound of glass breaking as the vase hit the floor just as I managed to stop my fall with my wings. I look at the princess and see that she is looking directly at me.
“You’re supposed to be in bed, young mare.” I look at my dad, who is looking up at me with his “You’re-in-big-trouble-young-filly” look. I fly down and land right in front of him, with my ears flat against my head. He’s about to say something to me when he is interrupted by a laugh coming from behind me. I look back and see that it was the princess laughing.
“Don’t get mad at her because of her curiosity,” she says to my dad. “She only sneaked back in because she wanted to know about me.” She looks at me. “Right, little miss lightning?”
I nod my head vigorously. “Yes, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Then I realize what she called me. “’Little miss lightning’?” I inquire.
“Please, call me Twilight,” she says, “and I called you that because I happened to be looking at the door when you bolted through the crack between the doors at the top. That’s an impressive ability you’ve got. Reminds me of my little sister.” She pauses, “Huh, come to think of it, you and her have the exact same name.” She looks at my flank. “And the exact same cutie mark.” Another pause. “Can you make music with the lightning you make with your wings?”
“How did you know?” I asked, surprised.
She smiles. “Because my sister can do the same thing.” She looks at my mom. “Your highness, you haven’t told me why you think I was brought to this time, as more than just a spectator.”
“That’s right,” mom replies. “I think you were brought here to help look after our little fillies.”
“You mean, as a foalsitter?” Twilight asks.
“Yes, as a foalsitter.” mom agrees. “Will you help us look after them? Me and Astral can’t always watch them. Especially since we’ll be going to meetings with the other Alicorns to discuss how we are going to fight the chaos bringers.”
“Sure,” Twilight responds, “I will do everything in my power to keep them safe.” She thinks for a minute. “There’s one thing that puzzles me though. The three of you seem to be able to see me, but Luna and Celestia didn’t notice me at all as they passed me leaving the room.”
“Actually,” I say, “I can’t see what you look like. I can only see an outline of you. I can also sense your bio-electricity. That’s how I sensed you in the first place.”
“Oh,” said Twilight, “I see.”
“Anyway,” I say, yawning, “I think I better go to bed, now.”
“I’ll come with you,” Twilight says. “Good night, your highness, your majesty.”
“Good night, Twilight,” dad said.
“Good night,” mom replies. “I assume you’re sleeping with the girls then?”
“I think I should,” Twilight responds. “I think that’s the best way to watch over them.”
“I agree,” said mom.
“Lead the way, Angel.” says Twilight.
“Okay,” I respond.
As we are walking toward my room, I can’t help but think about the worried expression on my moms face when Twilight told her that Luny and Les never mentioned me to her in the future. I look at Twilight and see her looking at me, concerned.
“Something on your mind, Angel?” she asks me.
I hesitate. “I die in the future before you’re born, don’t I?” My question throws her for a loop, because her face goes completely blank, and I’m sure if I could see the color of her face it would be snow white.
“W-w-what makes you think that?” She stutters.
“You saying that Les n Luny never mentioning having a younger sister, and moms worried face right after.” I reply, bluntly.
She sighs, “Yes you do,” she says quietly. “I even know how, because the potion I drank that brought me here showed me what happens to you and where. But that’s not something you need to know. I don’t want to break the flow of time by giving you that information.”
“I understand,” I reply. “I won’t ask for details, I promise.”
“Glad to hear that. Wow your room is beautiful.” she exclaims as we enter my room, that I share with Luny.
I look at said sister and see she is fast asleep. I yawn again.
“We should do the same,” I say, climbing in my own bed, and moving over to let Twilight join me.
“Thanks,” she says, climbing in next to me. “Good night.”
“Good night, Twi,” I say back.
I had no idea that the one who would need protecting wasn’t me, but the one from the future.
Chapter 5-The Newest Member of The Crystal Royal Family
"Yo-ou ca-an't ca-atch me," I taunt Luny, as I zip around the grassy field, covered in rainbow roses.
"No fair, Angie," she whines, trying to catch me, " You're not allowed to use your Bolt Dash."
I sigh. "Fine," I give in to her complaints. "I'll let you tag me," I say as I stop bolting around. "I'll even give you a head start before I start chasing you. All of you." I look at the other young colts and fillies scattered around the field.
"I hope you're not lying, Ang."
I look at Les. Shes got an annoyed look on her face. "Don't worry, Les. I promise." I say as Luny tags me. "Thirty seconds," I say as she runs away. "1....2....3.....4....5....6....7....."
Everypony scrambles to get as far away as they could. "....11...12...13...14...15..."
The earth ponies and unicorns grow wings and take off to the sky, followed close by the pegasii and my sisters.
"....25.....26....27....28.....29...." I spread my own wings in preparation for flight. I set my sights on a pony that managed to get the farthest from me.
".....30!" I yell, and I take off quickly catching up to my target. I'm glad I know what she looks like now. ------------------------------------------------------------2 HOURS BEFORE-----------------------------------------------------------------
I open my eyes and find myself in a familiar field with young unicorns, pegasii, and earth ponies milling about. One of them looks up at me, and smiles. "Angel's here." she squeals.
"Who is that next to her though," says another.
"I don't know." replies someone else.
I look around, confused. Then I see who they are talking about. Standing to my right is a purple pony. I'm confused at first, because she looks familiar. Then it hits me, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle. I look at her flank and see that her cutie mark is a six-point-star.
"So that's what you look like, Twi," I say to her.
"Where are we?" she asks me. "How did I get here?"
"I brought you here," Luny says as she walks up to us, "You're in our dreamscape," she tells a baffled Twilight.
"Your dreamscape?" Twilight asks, looking around. "So we're all asleep?"
"That's right, Twi," I say to her. I look at my sisters. "This is Princess Twilight Sparkle." I introduce her to everypony.
"How do you know her name, Ang?" Les asks me.
"She's the reason I stayed at the throne room, Les," I tell my oldest sister.
"I see," she responds. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't use my bolt dash, like I promised Les n Luna, as I fly towards our foalsitter.
"Time to wake up little fillies." The voice of our mom echoes over the field, just as i'm about to tag Twilight. "Celestia, Luna, Angel, rise and shine. Same for you Twilight."
I look at Twilight. "I forgot you're sleeping with me." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I feel my moms hoof on my shoulder, shaking me to wake me up. "Come on, sweetheart," she said to me.
I open my eyes and look out the window, "But, the sun isn't up yet," I complain, seeing the sky was still dark.
"We need to get ready to leave for the Crystal Empire," she tells me. "We recieved word that a new member of the Crystal Royal family is about to be born."
Hearing this, I jump out of bed, nearly knocking mom over in the process. "Easy there, killer," mom luaghs.
"Did you hear that, Luny!" I exclaimed, running over to my twins bed.
"Yes, I heard you," she replies, still asleep. "Let me send the other fillies back to their own dreamscapes first."
"Okay."
I hear a groan come from my bed, and I look over to see Twilight sitting up, her mane sticking up every which way. "Did you say, 'Crystal Empire'?" she asks, rubbing her eyes. I realize that I can see her clearly, even though I'm awake.
"That's right, Twilight," mom responds.
"Nice mane, Twi," I tease her, luaghing.
She looks at me. "You're one to talk," she retorts, smirking.
I look in the mirror attachied to the inside of the wardrobe door, and simply collapse to the ground, laughing. ------------------------------------------------------------A FEW HOURS LATER-------------------------------------------------------
6 of the Royal Guard's Pegasii pull the Royal Family Carriage through the air in a direct line to the Crystal Empire.
Twilight looks up at my mom and asks," Is it really okay for me to come along like this?"
Mom looks back at her and smiles. "Of course, it's okay. Why are you so worried about it?" she inquires.
"Well..... This isn't the first time I've looked into the past personally. However, this is the first time that I am able to interact with the past somewhat. I'm afraid of inadvertently changing something by mistake." Twilight replies with a worried expression.
I hook one of my front left legs around her shoulders and say, "Nopony is able to see or hear you, except for me, my sisters, mom, dad, and anypony else that has high magical abilities. So I don't think you can change much."
She looks at me then looks at my mom, who nods in response and says, "My daughter is correct on that front. So don't worry. Besides, I think you are able to speak with us for a reason. So whatever you end up doing here may be necessary for your history."
We all look up and see before us, sparkling clearer than the surrounding snow below, is the Crystal Empire. And, in the center, looming above the homes and shops of the Crystal Ponies, stands the brilliant Crystal Castle.
We touch down on the ground and come to a shuddering stop in front of the main doors of the castle and we are greeted by the captain of the Crystal Guard. Captain Diamond Shield in forms us that King Rubinus and his laboring wife are waiting for us in the Royal Chambers, and escorts us to the doors of the room where we are asked to wait. The steward, whose name I do not remember, announces our arrival, and we enter the room. The first thing I see is the little bundle the queen is holding while still in bed looking exhausted.
Me, Les'n'Luna, look up at our mom who nods and we rush forward to get a glimpse of the newborn. As we approach the window side of the bed, she unwraps the child holds it for us to see. The little filly opens her big sparkling blue eyes, looks at us, and giggles. All three of us let out a resounding "Awwwww" as we see her. The little filly is a pink Pegasus, just like her mother, with pink, blue, and yellow mane and tail. Her wings were tipped with a purple shade that faded into the pink.
I look up at Queen Amethyst Shine. "Have you given her a name yet?" I asked expectantly.
The queen smiles in response. "Mi Amore Cadenza" the queen replied, "or, Cadence, for short."
I was so happy at hearing such a beautiful name that my wings extended themselves.
"AAARRGGGG" I screamed as a searing pain shot through my right wing.
I look at my wing, and through teary eyes, I can make out what appears to be a small knife stuck in the outer joint in my wing.
The first thought that runs through my mind when I saw that blade sticking out of my wing, and the crimson blood running through my feathers, was, What just happened? And that's when my electrical senses go into overdrive, and I start searching for the pony who threw the small knife.
Then I sense killing intent from behind me and I instantly erect an electrical barrier around the bed, and everypony that was in the room, just in time to deflect a second knife as it flew through the air. All of this happening in a split second.
Startled, my sisters jump at the sound of my scream then again at the sound of the second knife hitting the floor. Mom runs over to me after seeing my wing and says, "Where did this knife come from?" I look over my shoulder to see a black-clad unicorn standing on the balcony rail outside the open, windowed, double-doors.
"It's an assassin," I say as I pull the knife out of my wing with my magic, and point towards the open doors.
"GUARDS!!!" bellows King Rubinus, upon seeing the mysterious figure standing on his balcony railing.
Captain Diamond Shield bursts through the door, followed by six Crystal Guards.
"SIESE THAT PONY!!!" the king commands, pointing towards the unicorn still standing on the rail.
In response, the captain and his guards reared up on their hind legs and slammed their front hooves back down. As they did this, I noticed something change in their bio-electric auras, so I tried to look around my mom, who was busy tending to my injured wing, and I saw, as they slammed their hooves to the ground, their electricity moved from their front legs into the ground in front of them, and made different colored crystals grow out of the ground, taking the shape of different weapons. A rose quarts ax, an onyx sword, a sapphire mace, an emerald hammer, two pearl spears, and a diamond halberd for the captain.
I look at King Rubinus. "Can you teach me how to make a weapon like that?" I ask him, pointing at the guards.
He looks at me kindly, "We'll see," he says with a smile.
We look back at the guards who are about to attack the unicorn on the railing, when I sense something is off. The pony isn't making any move to defend or attack, he's just....standing there, like a statue. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see a shadowy cloud taking the shape of a pony right behind the guards.
"Look out!!" I scream, "He's right behind you!!"
The guards aren't fast enough. Before they could turn around, shadowy tendrils sprang up from their own shadows, entangling them until they couldn't move. I look at their shadows more closely and see that they are connected to the assassins shadow, and his horn was glowing an shadowy purple. And I saw in his eyes, he wasn't just restraining them, he was going to kill them. I saw blood dripping from the guards, and I knew I was right.
"Ooohhh, no you don't," I yell as I dash out of my barrier, and in between him and the guards. I use my lightning blade to sever his connections to the guards shadows, use my magic to set them gently on the ground, and face the assassin.
"Be careful, Angel," my aunt Tesla says from my horn, "This unicorn is a shadow elemental. If you're not cautious, even your lightning can be swallowed by the darkness."
"I promise I'll be careful Aunt Tes," I respond, my voice trembling.
"So, you're the lightning elemental, are you, young filly?"The sound of his echoing, whisper of a voice chilled me to the bone. "I was wondering when I would meet you."
"Y-y-you know about m-m-me?" I stutter.
"Yeeeessss. I saw you that day when you flew into that lightning storm and came out of it alive," he replied."I knew you would be a strong opponent, once you learned to control the power you attained. I was hoping to see which one of us was stronger after you mastered this power. But, I wasn't expecting to face you so soon. Now, show me how strong you are right this moment."
"Before I do that, answer me this: Why did you come here?" I ask, my nervous shaking subsiding. "Who are you after?"
His laughter grated my ears. "Straight, and to the point. I like it," he replied. "Very well, then, I will tell you that much. I am here to eliminate the newborn Pegasus filly. She poses a threat to me and others like me." I look at young Princess Cadence, who is looking right at me with those big baby eyes of hers. "You can sense it, cant you." I look back at the assassin. "She has an enormous power lying deep within her. A power that only an extremely powerful unicorn or an alicorn has. Help me destroy her and you and I could rule the world together."
I look back at the young filly, looking at her aura, and I see that he was right. Deep inside her is an immeasurable power that lies dormant inside her.
Seeing this, my mind is made up, I turn towards the bed, spread my wings, my right wing still hurting from my injury, charge them up, and flap them towards the bed, sending a bolt of lightning towards my family.
The resulting burst of light blinded everypony, including the assassin. I was the only one not blinded, and it allowed me to strengthen the barrier around my family, and King Rubinus and his family, as well as place a barrier around the Crystal Royal Guard. Then, I encased myself in armor comprised of nothing but condensed lightning. Finally, I made a scythe out of lightning. I was ready to fight.
"Sorry, Mister Shadow," I say, as he slowly regains his ability to see, "but I live for the light. I wont let you extinguish the bright one inside little Cadence. And it seems I'm the only one with the slightest chance of getting rid of you. Permanently."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying, Angel?" mom asks me with total shock.
"Yes, mother," I reply coldly, "I'm going to kill him." I look at my sisters. "I knew that someday, somepony will want to kill me because of my power. And I knew they would keep coming after me until one of us is dead. Please don't hold it against me, my dear sisters." I see tears streaming down my sisters faces as I say this last part, and I feel tears running down my own face, as well.
"I thought alicorns matured, mentally, a lot slower than the rest of us ponies," the assassin hisses. "But you are definitely mentally mature for a filly your age."
I look at him and say, "I may be more mature, mentally, than my older sisters, but I'm still, just a filly." And I ready myself to attack.
"Yeeeessss," he says, laughing,"yes, you are, just a filly." And he charges, making a shadow sword at the same time.
Galloping towards me, he swings his sword at my neck. I block it with the hilt of my scythe, and counterattack, swinging my blade at his front legs. He jumps, my blade barely skinning his hooves, and he thrusts the tip of his blade at the base of my neck, but back neck-plate deflects it with a resounding clang. He lands behind me, but I'm already swinging my scythe at him again. Just before the tip of my blade impales him, he turns to shadow, and my blade passes harmlessly through him. He floats a few meters away and reforms. I turn to lightning and dash to him, my blade close behind. He jumps, but I manage to cut off his left hind leg. He doesn't flinch when he lands and charges at me again, blood pouring from his wound.
As the battle rages on, I start to forget to keep my armor solidified, and it starts to fall apart. He notices this and attaches his shadow to my own. Before I know it, I'm find myself trapped by my own shadow, the tendrils not only limiting my movements, but also my magic.
By the time I realize I've been caught, the pain from my limbs being twisted had already taken over. I felt every bone in my body start to crack and give under the pressure.
I manage to look over at my sisters, and I saw that they were crying and holding each other, my mom throwing herself at the inside of my barrier, with tears streaming down her face, desperately trying to get out to help me, my dad, too was trying to get out.
Seeing my family's anguish gave me my resolve to win. I concentrated on my magic, letting it engulf me. As I did I could also feel the slight electrical impulses in the shadow tendrils that I didn't notice before. I focused on them, struggling to control them. Then, I felt my lightning take hold of the shadow, race down the tendrils and towards the assassin, where I felt his energy. Then a thought occurred to me, and I started to draw on his energy, feeling myself grow stronger as he got weaker. Eventually, I felt my bones start to mend and my injuries heal. I soon realized that I was taking his life energy to heal myself. I kept draining him until he lay, lifeless, on the floor.
When my breathing had slowed, and I could think more clearly, walked over to the bed and took down the barrier. As I did, I found myself being tackled to the ground by my two, tear-faced sisters.
"I'm okay," I tell them. I look at my parents, "I'm sorry I worried you." I tell them.
I wiggle myself out from under my sisters and walk over to my parents, only to be sandwiched between them.
"Don't you........EV.....VER do that.......again, young........filly," mom choked out between sobs. "We thou....ought we wer.....re going to........ loose you."
"You scared your mother half to death, there, little missy." dad scolded me. "Your sisters too."
"Sorry," I say apologetically, "I promise it wont happen again. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a mini cake in my eye." I make my signature gesture that brought a smile to their faces.
My parents pulled away from me, and their smiles looked really sad. I turned and looked the body of the would-be assassin, and realized with a jolt, I actually took somepony's life. I squinted my ears back and looked away. I heard a moan to my left and remembered the Crystal Guards. I rushed over to them and saw they looked badly injured.
I looked to King Rubinus as he walked up next to me. "Can they be healed?" I asked him, tears starting to form in my eyes.
Mom and dad walked up as well. "They'll survive, my little angel," she said, after looking carefully over their wounds. "Their injuries aren't life threatening thanks to your quick actions." She looked to King Rubinus, "I can heal them, but I need you to adjust my healing spell to compensate for their crystal coats, Rubinus."
The king nodded, "Of course," he said.
They both walked closer to the injured guards, touched the tips of their horns together and summoned their magic. Moms' sunlight colored magic, and King Rubinus' ruby magic ran up their respective horns and turned a rosy, pink color when they united at the touching tips. The same rosy, pink magic enveloped the injured stallions, and I watched in awe as the blood seem to flow in reverse into their wounds and the skin and crystal coats stitch itself back together. When they were done, they both stepped back, and we all watched, waiting for them to move. A few minutes passed when the captain was the first to stir. One-by-one they got to their hooves, and realizing they were no longer injured, stood at attention, awaiting orders.
King Rubinus cleared his throat, "Once again, I'm glad you all responded so quickly to my call, and I'm sorry you all got so badly hurt due to my inattention to the assassins position."
Captain Diamond Shield stepped forward, shook his head, and kneeling on his front legs, said, "It is not your fault, your majesty. We were injured due to our own negligence. You know we would lay down our lives for everypony in this room. Please, do not blame yourself."
Smiling, King Rubinus said, "You honor me, my family, and my friends with your words of loyalty."
The captain rose to his full height, walked over till he was standing a few feet in front of me, kneeled down again, and said, "Princess Angel Lightning, I humbly thank you from the bottom of my heart for not only coming to the rescue of me and my soldiers, but also for saving the life of our Empires' beloved princess. We are in your debt." Behind him, the other guards follow suit and kneel before me as well, muttering their thanks.
I feel a hoof fall over my shoulder. I look back and see Queen Amethyst smiling down at me, little Cadence cradled in the nook of her left front leg. "I also thank you for protecting my daughter," she said. "Not many fillies as young as you would be able to take on an assassin as fearlessly as you, and win."
"Actually," I say, looking down at the floor, "I was terrified. I thought I was going to die. I don't even know what came over me when I charged at him." I look back up at her, just as she leaned down to kiss me on the forehead.
She pulled back, with an even bigger smile, and said, "And that fear is what makes you strong. Remember; the greater the fear you feel, the stronger you become when you overcome that fear." She looked at my sisters. "That goes for the two of you as well."
We all stand there in silence for a few minutes. Then, King Rubinus breaks the silence, "Captain?" he said, as he turned toward Captain Diamond Shield, who immediately saluted. "Could you and your men clean up the assassins' body, please?"
"Yessir," the captain replied. But before anypony could move, the assassins body started to glow in an eerie light, even his severed leg was glowing. There was a bright flash of light that blinded us all. I was the first to recover. I looked at the spot where the body was and gasped. His body, and leg, were gone, leaving a gem that was almost identical to the gem Aunt Tesla was in the form of before she fused with my horn.
"What happened?" I asked, stunned.
"It would appear that the unicorn was possessed by that shadow elemental gem," Aunt Tes said.
Twilight walked over to it with a look of longing in her eyes. I looked at her aura, and noticed something dark stirring deep within her, getting stronger as she got closer. I realized she must have either been in direct contact with a strong dark magic, or she used it herself. I immediately erect a small, electric field around the gem, just in time to keep her from touching it. She touches the barrier and is sent flying backwards. She hits the far wall, next to the bed, and crumples to the ground. I rush over to her, everypony else close behind me, just as she is standing back up and shaking her head.
She looks at us, and with a confused expression on her face, asks, "What just happened?"
"You were walking towards the shadow gem," I told her. I then explained what I saw.
She looks at the gem again and her eyes start to glaze over again. I step into her line of sight, blocking her view of the gem. She starts blinking rapidly and shakes her head again. "I don't know why, but I'm just drawn to it for some reason," she exclaims, panic creeping into her voice.
I look directly into her eyes, and ask her, "Have you ever come in contact with a dark magic item, or used dark magic of any form at any point in your life?"
She puts her left hoof up under her chin as she thinks back, concentrating hard. Then her eyes grew wide as realization dawned on her. She looks at me and says, "I think I have used a bit of dark magic once before, twice in a single day, in fact, during a mission to help out with protecting the Crystal Empire in its time of need about a few months before I became an alicorn. But I didn't think much of it at the time so I never reported it."
I look at King Rubinus with my rear right eye, and ask, "Is there any way to seal that gem, with it being a crystal type power item?"
"Even better," he replied. "I can cleanse the gem of the evil presence emanating from it. That way, we can find somepony who could use it responsibly."
"You know as well as I that the power of an elemental can't be used by just anypony, Rubinus," Aunt Tes warns.
The king nods in agreement. "I am well aware of that, Tesla," he says. He turns to me, and says, "Could you use your lightning to lift the gem off of the ground, so that I might encase it in an insulating ruby seal? Just your lightning. Do not cannel your magic into the lightning or the gem might take hold of your mind."
I nod, suddenly nervous. I had never used just my lightning before. I had always partially used magic with lightning, so I knew I wasn't going to lose control of it. So, I spread my wings, and charged them, feeling the familiar tingling sensation I always do, and I start to feel my energy start to wane. I slowly but quickly move my wings forward, so they are parallel to each other on either side of my head, and will the lightning to spread toward the gem, using the tendrils of shadow I saw the assassin use as a reference. I feel the connection and lift the gem about a foot off the ground, and, with a straining voice, I say, "Hurry!"
King Rubinus quickly encases it, and says, "You can let go of it now."
My lightning fizzles out as I collapse to the ground, huffing hard. The ruby encased shadow gem remains in the air for a few seconds longer before it falls to the ground with a heavy thud, chipping the crystal floor of the room. My sisters rush over to me, and they help me up, holding me between them.
Mom walks so she's standing in front of me, and with a concerned look in her eyes, asks, "Are you alright?"
Before I could answer, however, I feel a spell run over and through me. Mom looks behind me, at Twilight as I hear her say, "She'll be fine. She's just exhausted. I don't think she's used to manipulating just the lighting like that." She walks in front of us, looks at me and says, "Thanks for helping me out." Then she smiles, and I feel the tension I didn't realize I was still holding drain from my body.
"It was the least I could do, Twi," I say in response, and her smile gets bigger. And then something she said earlier hits me, "What did you mean earlier when you said before you 'became an alicorn'?" I ask, then quickly add, "I know that, you being a time traveler and all, you can't reveal too much about the future, but that got me confused. Weren't you born an alicorn?"
She closes her eyes and shakes her head. "No, Ang. I was born a simple unicorn. I'm still not entirely used to these wings yet," she adds, chuckling.
All of a sudden, we hear a loud growling noise. I squint my ears back, embarrassed. King Rubinus laughs. "Well, why don't we all head to the dining hall to eat before Angels' stomach eats her," he says, adding to my embarrassment. "You're going to need your strength if you're going to learn how to grow your own crystals," he adds, looking at me.
He then orders Captain Diamond Shield to take the shadow gem to his study so he could get to work cleansing it later. Then we all head to the dining hall for lunch.