Chapter 21 C: Link to the past
"I'm flattered, really I am. But almost killing yourself to see me isn't exactly healthy for you." Light Shade said, staring at Night Shadow.
"I didn't ask to come here you know." Night Shadow replied.
"Then why do you keep getting shot, smashed, and slashed? Not to mention randomly blowing up."
"You think I want that to happen?"
"It's hard to say considering you have been shot over nine hundred and sixty seven times, exploded two hundred forty times, and stabbed at least one hundred and fifty two times. And don't get me started on those gut punches."
"Get to the point, Light Shade."
"Stop getting killed!"
"I'm not dead though."
"You should be, do you not know how lucky you are."
"I wouldn't say lucky….more like cursed."
"They need you, Night Shadow."
"Who? There isn't a soul on this planet that needs my help and the only thing my existence has proven is that no matter how hard you try you always fail in the end."
"You know that's not true."
"It seems like it, so why isn't it? Blue, Sapphirine, Nocturne, all of them are gone because of me. Twilight will be next….and just as always I will have to watch her life faid before my eyes."
"This time it will be different. Death Fire had control of you during those times, forced you to kill them. This is your chance to finally make things right."
"So you say…" Night Shadow said, looking around the void of his mind. "This can't be the only reason I'm here."
Light Shade turned around and swiped his hoof horizontally, summoning memories from Night Shadow's mind.
"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Twilight, more specifically the one about her recognizing you, and I have found some…interesting things."
"So this is what you do in here? Look at all my memories?" Night Shadow asked.
"If I am going to be a part of you, I have to know everything there is about you, even if it is invasion of privacy."
"Whatever, just tell me what you found."
"Before Death Fire tried to take over, changing you to Dark Fire, you spend two weeks wandering the forest for food and water. However, during the third, there is a huge portion of memory missing. Most of which is blurred out and too clouded to read, but what makes this strange is that it suddenly happened once you entered into a little town called Ponyville."
"I remember Ponyville, it's where I meet the elements of harmony." Night Shadow recalled.
"So tell me this, how many elements are there?"
"Six…Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Honesty, Laughter and Magic."
"And how do you remember the names of their bearers?"
"Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie, and….."
Night Shadow thought hard, but couldn't recall the name.
"My point exactly." Light Shade concluded. "The bearer of magic has been erased from your mind."
"That can't be right, what if I never meet him….her….whoever it was."
"Because it wouldn't make sense."
"Well, nothing makes sense anymore."
"That's not the point. The point is, how is it that you can remember the elements and their bearers so clearly but you have no clue who the sixth bearor is?"
"He must not have been important."
"SHE is the one that leads them. Forgetting the leader of a group that important would be like recalling the names of a kings followers but completely forgetting who their king is."
"What's your proof that I have even meet this pony if my memories have been erased of her."
"You lived in her home, a giant tree to be precise. You healed her dragon assistant once and you even knew his name. So how is it that you can't remember the name of the one that sheltered you for over a week. Because your memories….our memories….have been tampered with!"
"How can you be so sure."
"Do you not remember what Death Fire said before he threw you into the future? Memories of your love will be ripped away? How is this not clear to you yet, Twilight has to be the mare Death Fire tried to erase."
"What would be the point in erasing my memories of her, she doesn't seem to have anything to do with me."
"Oh, so is that why you saved her a few hours ago?"
"I was protecting my friend."
"You were doing more than that. No….you were protecting someone you loved."
"Explain! I want answers!"
"Ever since you were born, you always desired that feeling of love and affection. You dreamed of a mare you could hold in your arms and never let go, someone you truly could say you loved with all your heart. Each time, throughout all the pain and hated, throughout all the war and suffering you endured, you sought out something stronger, something that would end it all forever and finally fill your heart with joy. Through Sapphirine and Nocturne, you found love….and now love has found you through Twilight."
Night Shadow was frozen in place, to shocked by what he was hearing.
"Death Fire erased Twilight from your heart because you loved her, and it makes him afraid. It shows him that no matter how many times he beats you down, no matter how many times he tried to control you, love is always there inside of you, preventing him from taking over. That is why he tried to erase it, tried to destroy it….because it is the only thing that will defeat him." Light Shade finished.
"That sounds impossible and impractical. How can an emotion defeat something that was created from both miasma and the darkness from my heart."
"Love is the opposite of hatred, without hatred Death Fire would cease to exist, which is why he has made this world to sustain him. Once you return the world to the way it once was, only then will you be able to destroy him."
"I find it hard to believe that I fell in love with this mare in only a week. It took three years for me to fall for Sapphirine."
"Just you wait…it will come soon enough." Light Shade said with a smirk. "Oh, and I hope you're not claustrophobic."
"What is that suppose to-
Night Shadow abruptly vanished, leaving Light Shade alone in his mind once again.
"And as always…good luck…I believe in you…"
The moment Night Shadow opened his eyes he was greeted with the sight of Twilight only mere inches away from his face. They both screamed in fright and dashed to the opposite sides of the cave they had taken shelter in. Both of their hearts raced as they tried to calm down.
"Why did you have to scare me like that?!" Twilight yelled, breathing heavily.
"Why were you only two inches away from my face?!" Night Shadow shouted.
"You stopped breathing!"
"Than why were you laying ontop of me?!
"I….I was about to perform Cpr…" Twilight said, blushing.
"While laying on me?"
"Not at first…."
"Not at first? What were you doing before?"
"Trying to make sure you didn't die."
"Oh…thanks then."
They stared at each other in silence for at least a minute before Twilight spoke up.
"Well, this is awkward."
Another minute passed.
"Where are we exactly." Night Shadow asked, looking around.
"Just outside of Ponyville. We're still in the Everfree Forest if that's what you're wondering."
"I feel like I've been here before…it looks to familiar."
"All caves look the same, they're all dark and cold."
"No….like…I've actually been here before."
"And why would you come all the way out here for? There's nothing out here."
Night Shadow looked around more before looking back to Twilight.
"This is where I found the Cutie Mark Crusaders during the blizzard."
Twilight looked shocked.
"But we found them all alone out here and…wait…how do you know about that?"
"I was then taken to a hospital where I was healed within a day as always." Night Shadow said, ignoring Twilight. "When I woke up, Rainbow and the other four were there to greet me…I can still feel the strength of their hug that day…"
"And then we all said goodbye to a friend of ours..." Twilight said, recalling her memories.
"I asked her if she was doing anything that day and she told me she was busy…."
"The Winter Moon Celebration….he kept distracting me from it…."
"But no matter how frustrating she was to me…"
"But no matter how annoying he was to me…"
"I loved-
"I loved-
Both Night Shadow and Twilight's eyes glowed bright red for a split second before reverting back to normal.
"Hey, what are we doing?" Night Shadow asked, having his hooves around Twilight's neck.
"I would ask the same thing to you." She said, having her hooves wrapped around Night Shadow's waist.
They both blushed and backed away from each other.
"So what's the plan then?" Night Shadow asked.
"I want to go into Ponyville, see what we can find."
"Twilight, that can't be a good idea. Death Fire and his army must be searching everywhere for us by now. Going into Ponyville would be like walking into a trap."
"I know it is…but I need to see it for myself."
"See what?"
"See what my home has become."
Thirty minutes pass.
"I still don't like this idea." Night Shadow said.
"I'm not asking you to like it, am asking you to stay with me."
"You could have at least told me where the guns were."
"You don't need them."
"I beg to differ."
The two ponies walked past what used to be Fluttershy's cottage. Twilight was heartbroken to see that it was completely abandoned and the windows had been shattered, reminding her that the present was all too real.
"Where is your house?" Night Shadow asked, looking at the cottage himself.
"You will know when you see it." Twilight whispered in sadness as she looked at the ground.
That was when she noticed the ground was covered in grass instead of snow. Then it hit her, the weather was warm instead of freezing cold and life was actually growing around her. There were fully grown trees and plants and the sky looked like Luna had formed it herself. Twilight wanted to believe it, wanted to believe that Celestia and her friends would come out and surprise her, telling her it was all a horrible prank. Sadly, Twilight knew it was just another illusion Death Fire created.
"Greving won't fix your problems. Celestia knows I tried." Night Shadow said, looking down at Twilight. "Sometimes you have to let the past go and just keep on walking."
"If only it was that easy."
The two eventually made it to the center of town, noticing the once dirt roads had been paved over and smoothed out. The road was lit with streetlights similar to those in Manehatten, but little to no ponies where walking about. All in all, the town was completely different and changed.
"I don't recognize a single thing." Twilight said, looking around.
She looked at one of the buildings, noticing a poster with large words on it.
"Freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength, war is peace? What is this?" Twilight asked.
"Propaganda at it's finest, and there's more of them." Night Shadow said, looking around.
"Let's just keep moving then." Twilight said nervously.
As they walked, they read more and more posters and signs. Some talked about joining the army, others about the war, and many more about Equestria as a whole.
"Night Shadow…I'm getting scared." Twilight whispered.
"They're just posters, they can't harm you."
"Well, what about that one?" Twilight said, pointing.
Night Shadow looked over to where she pointed, seeing a picture of Death Fire's head staring right at them.
"Always watching…" Night Shadow read before he turned around and looked dead at a surveillance camera. "They've been watching us the entire time."
Twilight remained frozen.
"What do we do?" She asked in fright.
"Go get what you came for, I will be in this building." Night Shadow said, pointing to a building but signalling Twilight to another building with his eyes. "You have twenty minutes, once that's up, I will go around the back and meet you there. If anyone tried to harm you, use a very powerful spell. I will teleport to you and get you out. Got it."
Twilight nodded.
"Twenty minutes, remember that." Night Shadow said, walking to the building he pointed his hoof at.
Twilight watched as Night Shadow vanished into the abandoned building before she continued down the street. After taking a right turn, her eyes were greeted with the sight of what used to be her home, completely destroyed and left to rot several years ago.
"I shouldn't be surprised anymore…" Twilight said in sadness.
She approached the rotted door of her home, noticing a nailed sign.
"Once the home of the traitor, Twilight Sparkle….now deceased." She read aloud.
The door was bolted shut and wouldn't budge as Twilight tried to open the door. She would have teleported, but instead Twilight gently floated to the balcony and climbed through the destroyed window to avoid possible detection.
"Home sweet home…." Twilight said with a sigh.
Her home, and everything in it, was either destroyed or stolen by scavengers. There was nothing in her home that could be used, yet it didn't even faze her. No, what bothered her the most was that she wasn't there to stop it from happening. The unicorn looked down the stairs and noticed they were completely missing or too broken to stand on. With a sigh, she floated down and landed in the middle of what used to be her library and sat down, removing the black book from her bag.
She opened the book and looked at the first page with curiosity as the text literally moved along the page. The text was also written in another language until Twilight accidentally placed her hoof on the page, causing the text to change into english and form into sentences.
"Whatsoever is written in this book will become true no matter how corrupt or pure. From the most heroic of wishes to the darkest of desires, no command is too small or great for my power. Until passed on, you are now my protector." Twilight read aloud.
Twilight reread the texts again, making sure she read it right.
"Why did the writer refer to himself in first person instead of third person?" Twilight asked.
The texts changed again, this time frightening Twilight when it read, 'Because I am not an ordinary book, Twilight Sparkle.'
"Then what are you?" The unicorn asked.
The texts changed again.
'A key to infinite knowledge.'
Twilight took out a pen and began to write.
"Show me who did this to my home." She wrote.
Within second, the text faded and Twilight was suddenly in her room seven years ago. However, only several feet away from her was Desolent, meditating in the middle of a necromantic rune circle as fire burned all throughout her home. She got up quickly and took off running, but the moment she fell, she noticed her hooves were transparent like a spirit. What Twilight was seeing was just an image from the past and nothing more.
The curious unicorn stood back up to her hooves and slowly walked to Desolent. She had never been this close to the dark unicorn and hoped she would never be again, but she also noticed that his eyes were closed. Twilight sat in front of Desolent, taking note of his scars and battle wounds he neglected to heal, feeling afraid but also saddened.
"Even after all the things you have done to me and my friends…I can't blame you for it. You told me I was the cause of your pain, yet all I want to do is help you. I wish you could see that…."
Desolent slowly opened his eyes and looked into Twilight's eyes.
"You shouldn't be here…" He whispered dementedly.
The vision soon ended, leaving Twilight more than a bit disturbed.
"I've seen enough…and it's time to move on." Twilight said as she grabbed the book and walked away.
She would have floated back up to the second level if it wasn't for Night Shadow quickly bursting through the door and tackling her to the ground.
"No time to explain! We have to go now!" Night Shadow yelled as he charged up his magic.
"Night Shadow, what are you-
"I'M GOING TO WEAR YOUR CORPSE AS A COAT!" Maneful screamed out as she launched at them.
Night Shadow teleported away with Twilight, bringing her back to the small hideout.
"Was that Maneful?!" Twilight asked in fright.
"Who's Maneful?"
(Yes this is a short chapter. Why….I got lazy and procrastinated)