Memories past

Five Years later

Twisting Wind sat in his room, concentrating hard. He exerted all his mental strength into this one daunting task, calling upon all the might he could muster for this one crucial moment. Finishing his math homework. He sighed dejectedly at the paper with simple kindergarten-level math on it. No matter what, Twisting wind always had trouble with numbers.

He glanced around the blue walls of the room, noticing a few toys laying about. A smirk crawled onto the five-year-old's face as an idea came to him. Twisting Wind concentrated, raising his hoof towards a plastic dragon toy he owned and a toy sword he had gotten for his birthday. The sword lifted into the air, as did the dragon. Twisting Wind pulled his hoof back, and the sword came to him. He grabbed the sword with his mouth and turned towards the dragon.

"You wont threaten this world anymore, you vile demon!" Twisting Wind said, his voice muffled by the toy sword in his mouth. "What do you hope to do to me!?" Twisting wind lowered his voice, attempting to sound deep. "I'll show you! Hya!"

Twisting Wind jumped at the toy dragon, attempting to hit it with his sword. The toy dragon levitated out of the way in the nick of time, then charged at Twisting Wind. Twisting Wind barely jumped out of the way, the toy dragon nicking his leg.

"Ha ah!" The dragon mocked. "You silly boy!"

Twisting Wind leaped into the air again, using his powers to keep himself afloat. He hovered just a short distance from the dragon and began to slash wildly with his sword, not missing a single strike. Twisting Wind reared his head back, then slammed downwards, using a push from his powers to rocket him onto the ground, and also using it to cushion him from the fall. The ground shook when he landed, knocking a few toys of a shelf nearby.

"Aaah! I've been defeated!" Twisting Wind said in his 'deep' voice again. "Why did I think to oppose a stallion like you?!"

"That's what you get for trying to rule Equestria!"

The fun was interrupted when the door was opened rather forcefully by Spectrum.

"Wh-wha? Twister...I thought I...I...What was I talkin' about?" Spectrum's words were slurred, his breath smelled of alcohol. "Twis...What in the name of Tartarus is goin' on here?" Spectrum stumbled into the room, fumbling over his own hooves as he came in.

"I'm sorry, dad." Twisting Wind visibly flinched as his dad came in. "I was taking a break for a minute...The math it too hard!"

Spectrum didn't answer, he swayed around dazed.

"Daddy?"

Spectrum shook his head and turned towards his son.

"Sorry. You said your math is...Diffi-difficult?" Spectrum sat down next to the chair that Twisting Wind was using earlier. "Lets see what we can do 'bout that." Spectrum looked at the paper in front of him. At least half of the work was done, but stopped at the multiplication problems.

"Lessee here. Two times...two. Whats...four!" Spectrum walked over to Twisting Wind and moved him over to the paper. "I may be drunk, but I still know...stuff."

Twisting Wind sat down and began to work with Spectrum helping him. Surprisingly, they got the math done quickly and after some correcting, they had answered the questions correctly.

This triggered something in Twisting Wind. He began to remember things. He remembered a floating fortress, high above the clouds. He remembered being there, looking for someone, as well as a drunk old man that somehow helped him later. Anything else was still a blur in Twisting Wind's mind. He began to wonder what he had just seen. A child of his age couldn't make any sense of what he had experienced.

"Hey, dad?" Twisting Wind asked. "Have you ever felt like...you were somepony else?"

Spectrum put a hoof to his chin and thought.

"Whenever I'm sober." He said with a raspy laugh. "I'm sorry, you were being serious... No, I can't say I ever have." There was a pause, neither of them spoke for an uncomfortable amount of time.

"Well, you go back to what you were doing. I need a nap." Spectrum then left the room, leaving Twisting Wind to himself. Twisting Wind walked back over to the toy sword and dragon, looking down at them as an idea dawned on him.

Twisting wind slowly stood up on his back legs, using his powers to keep himself balanced. He raised his hoof forward and pulled the sword to him again, this time wrapping his hoof around it. Twisting Wind smirked and gave the sword a few good swings. For some reason, this felt much more natural to him.

Twisting Wind picked up the dragon again and began to play once more, this time using his bipedal stance.

Each stroke of the plastic blade flowed much more naturally than swinging it with his mouth. Twisting Wind smiled as he played. He wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that maybe this was his special talent.

Two Years later

Thus sun shone high outside, Twisting Wind carried a lunch tray in his mouth as he walked to a table to eat at. He looked around, trying to see where his friends were. A table just a few meters away was occupied by some ponies he wouldn't consider friends exactly, but they were acquaintances at best. He trotted over and sat down next to a white unicorn filly with a moon overlapping a sun for her cutie mark.

"Uh...Hi." Twisting Wind said. "What's up?" The other foals glanced uncomfortably back and forth, save for one. A grey Pegasus with messy black hair put his hooves on the table, looking at Twisting Wind with a look of pure spite.

"Get lost, blank flank," He said. "We don't talk to ponies like you." Most of the other foals at the table laughed, save for the white unicorn.

"Leave him alone, Strato!" She yelled. "At least he doesn't have a cutie mark for getting hit by hail!" Strato glared daggers at the unicorn.

"Y'know, Eclipse, the only reason we let you hang out with us is because you're my cousin. If it weren't for that, you'd be over with the blank flanks-" Strato pointed a hoof at Twisting Wind "-like him."

"If that's the only reason, then I'm going to go sit over there!" Eclipse stated vehemently as she stood up and levitated her tray with her magic. "You morons do what you want." She glanced at Twisting Wind. "Wanna sit down with me?"

Twisting Wind thought a moment, then nodded.

"Sure, I'd be glad to."

"You're seriously ditching us for this guy!?" Strato yelled. "Fine! But don't blame me if ponies stop hanging out with you!"

"Buzz of!" Twisting Wind snarled. "You became such a meanie after you got you're cutie mark, its as if your special talent is being a jerk!"

"Why you little-"

"Come on," Eclipse interrupted. "Lets go sit down now."

"Fine." Twisting Wind said, casting another glare at Strato. Wind and Eclipse walked away from the table and over to a small hill not too far away. They sat down and began to eat their food. Twisting Wind felt something familiar about this girl.

"What did you say your name was?" Wind asked.

"Eclipse." She responded, taking a bit from her sandwich. "Morning Eclipse."

Eclipse. Somehow this name reminded Twisted Wind of something, but he couldn't remember what. He grunted slightly as he tried to think. Twisting Wind saw himself in a place of metal with several small lights on the walls. He sat in a chair next to a woman wearing a black uniform. She smiled at him, somehow Twisting Wind felt flustered.

His train of thought was interrupted as something hard struck him in the back of the head. Twisting Wind fell to the ground, clutching the back of his head in pain as he heard the familiar laugh of Strato in the background.

"Hey!" Eclipse yelled. Twisting Wind opened his eyes, he saw a rock lying just a short spot away from him. He felt something wars run down the back of his neck. Twisting Wind took his hooves off his head and saw fresh blood on them. Rage began to well within Twisted Wind as he stood up.

"Do not stand for this," A deep guttural voice echoed in the back of Wind's mind. "Time to teach the impudent brat a lesson."

Tears streaming down his face, he turned towards where the rock had came from to see Strato and Eclipse a short distance away. Eclipse was yelling at Strato, who rolled his eyes. Strato raised a hoof and struck Eclipse on the side of the head, knocking her to the ground crying.

That did it. Twisting Wind stood up on his hind legs again, raging fire burning in his eyes. Strato looked over at him and started walking over with ill intent in mind. Wind shifted his body to the side, placing his hooves above each other. The air began to ripple between his hooves. The air twisted itself into a ball, everything began to go monochrome through Twisting Wind's eyes. Then he shoved his hooves forward, sending a powerful blast in Strato's direction.

The unwitting Pegasus was caught off guard by this odd event, and was sent flying away when the blast hit him.

Wind the used his powers to propel himself towards the airborne Pegasus, stopping short a few inches of the dazed bully. Wind charged another blast and sent Strato plummeting to the ground. The Pegasus landed hard, a small cracking sound was heard as he hit ground. Twisting Wind slowly landed near Strato, glaring with enough force that, if possible, Strato would burst into flames.

The voice let out a laugh as if to congratulate Wind for maiming Strato. "You have done well, child. Heed my words and you shall become a strong force in this world."

Wind walked away from the unconscious Pegasus, not passing so much as a glance in his direction. What Wind failed to notice, was that everypony, even the teacher, was staring at him with a mixture of awe and fear. Even Eclipse was uneasy by this sudden turn of events.

Twisting Wind stopped dead as he saw how Eclipse backed away when he drew near. It suddenly hit him, what he had just done. To him, what he had done was perfectly justified, but he never took into account the fact that nopony besides his father knew about his powers. Now they all perceived him as a freak.

"Wind..." Eclipse said, her voice shaky. "You...You didn't...Kill him, did you?"

Wind's eyes went wide. Through his act of rage, he never considered what would happen if used on another pony. A small grunt from behind them indicated that Strato had regained consciousness. Wind and Eclipse stared at him as Strato attempted to stand.

His muzzle was bleeding from hitting down, at least one of his wings was broken, and from the looks of things his hind leg was also broken. Strato stared directly at Twisting Wind both fearfully and also with anger.

"I'll...I'll get you for this..." Strato said weakly as he limped away.

"Do not let him flee, finish this!" The voice demanded. A small part of Wind wanted to go through with that order, but right now he was too distracted with his actions to do anything.

"Twisting Wind!" A voice called angrily. Wind and Eclipse both turned around to see their teacher, Miss Cheerilee in an uncharacteristically angry mood. "I'm not sure what that was I just saw, but I will not tolerate violence like this on my school!"

"But miss Cheerilee-"

"No buts!" She interrupted. "I'm going to let your father know about this, as well as notify the princess about your...abilities." Cheerilee walked away. There was a palpable sense of sadness in the air. After all that had occurred, one thing stuck out in Wind's mind. Cheerilee mentioned telling the princess. Twisting Wind began to wonder if this was a good thing, or a bad thing. Only time would tell.

Two weeks later

Twisting Wind and Spectrum waited at the train station, a somber feeling in the air. Princess Celestia arrived only days prior and asked for Twisting Wind to be brought to her school for gifted unicorns. Wind immediately knew he would have trouble fitting in, mostly because he wasn't a unicorn. Spectrum fared no better. Wind would be gone for a long time, guilt began to overtake him as he realized had spent so much of his time with wind drunk after Shining Star had passed.

"Dad," Wind broke the silence. "I'm gonna miss you..." His voice began to waver.

Spectrum pulled Wind into a tight hug as the train pulled in.

"I'm gonna miss you too son." Spectrum said softly. The conductor stepped of the train and signaled for them to begin boarding. Spectrum let go of his son and helped him onto the train. Inside, once Wind's baggage was put away, Spectrum smiled solemnly at Wind.

"You got your ticket?" Spectrum asked. Wind nodded and held it up with his powers. "Good. Now, while you're gone, don't forget. Be polite to everyone, don't let yourself ever get too angry. And most importantly, be sure to write every now and again."

"Okay, dad." Wind said with a nod.

"Good. I love you, son. I'll be sure to send you a letter before the month ends."

"Thank you." The two sat in silence for a moment. Then Spectrum turned around.

"I should be going now. Remember what I said, don't let your anger get the better of you." Then he left, leaving Wind all to himself. The train soon departed the station. Twisting Wing stared solemnly out the window, watching the image of Ponyville fade away as the train went further away. Soon enough, Wind dozed off, another memory triggered as he slept.

A large jungle, many dangerous creatures lurked about. High in the trees were villages, he saw himself inside one of these huts. The smell of smoke soon penetrated his nostrils. A dark figure enters the house with a blazing sword in hand. The memory faded away as the train slowed to a halt. Wind awoke to find that he had reached his destination.

With a sigh, wind grabbed his bags and got off the train. Already waiting there at the station was a group of royal guards standing at attention. They saw Wind, then moved to the side. There now, heading Wind's way was the princess herself. She beamed with radiance as she walked, a truly magnificent sight in the already magnificent town of Canterlot. Her white coat reminded Wind of Eclipse, as did her cutie mark. Though they never spoke a word to each other yet, Twisting Wind felt comfortable around her already.

"Greetings, Twisting Wind." Celestia spoke. Wind looked  with awe at her. Behind the mask of apathy that comes with aristocracy, there was a great kindness not only in her eyes, but also in the air around her. "I have heard of your abilities. I must say how unusual this is, for an Earth Pony to have kinetic powers."

"You mean you've never seen something like this before?" Wind asked, somehow confused by this news.

"I have not. In all my years of being here, you are the first case of this that I have discovered." Celestia offered Wind her hoof. "Nonetheless, I am willing to teach you what I can about this."

Wind hesitated a moment, then took her hoof.

"Thank you. I don't want to hurt anypony again." He said with a hint of sadness.

"Do not worry, young one. I shall help you. Your abilities will be refined, and I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends while at the school. Come now, let me show you where you'll be staying." Celestia lead Twisting Wind to a golden chariot with two Pegasus royal guards ready to take them wherever they needed.

Wind and Celestia sat down in the chariot and the guards flew off. Wind looked over the edge of the chariot, getting a perfect view of Equestria's crown jewel, Canterlot. It was every bit as wonderful as he had imagined. The white marble streets shined brightly in the glorious sun with several other bright colors from the buildings: mostly purple, magenta, and Pink.

"It truly is glorious, isn't it?" Celestia asked, apparently noticing Wind's wonderment. "Yes, much time was spent making this city the way it is today. I hope you enjoy your time here."

"I think I will." Wind said with a smirk. "It's not Ponyville, but I think this won't be too bad."

"I'm glad you think that." The rest of the ride was spent in silence. Wind began to reminisce again as another memory triggered.

High above a bustling city, walls of metal around him; a hiss and the floor is gone. He plummets down onto a round platform with enough impact to knock it crooked from the bridge it was attached to. Several soldiers in white armor panic as he begins to use his powers to sling them from the high perch. Several more in silver appear from nowhere; they meet a similar fate. Now a large soldier clad in a dark blue suit appears. Wind smiles then charges, preparing a blast to hit the soldier.

"We're here!" Celestia said cheerfully, breaking him from his train of thought. "This is where you'll be staying!"

Wind looked up from his seat and basked in awe at the grand sight of the princess's palace. The golden rooftops glowed brightly amongst the white marble, making this particular building stand out much more vibrantly than the others.

"The castle?!" Wind yelled with barely contained excitement. "I get to stay in the castle?!"

"Yes, in fact, you'll be bunking with another student of mine."

"Really? Who's that?"

"You'll meet her soon." The chariot finally touched down and Wind and Celestia climbed out. Celestia's horn lit up with a golden aura and the doors to the castle swung open. Celestia and Twisting Wind walked through the ornate halls of the great palace. Several tapestries depicting great moments through Equestria's history lined the walls and red carpet lined the middle of each pathway.

"This place is amazing." Twisting Wind said, glancing about the halls. "I reminds me of...Somewhere."

"Really?" Celestia asked as they came to a stairway. "Where is that?"

Wind didn't answer at first. He debated internally if it was a good idea to tell her about his visions. Wind couldn't find a reason not to, so he decided to tell her.

"I don't know. Ever since I  little, I mean really little, I've been remembering someone else's memories." He said with a sense of longing in his voice. "They all come in at little bits, and they're all fuzzy. I don't know what they mean, but I know that I'm always in them."

Celestia didn't answer right away. She seemed to be deep in thought.

"Princess?" Wind asked.

"Oh, sorry!" Celestia said sheepishly as she snapped back to reality. "I was just thinking."

"About what?"

Celestia stopped a moment and faced Wind. A smile went across her face as she began to speak.

"Do you know what reincarnation is?" She asked Wind.

"No, I don't. What is that?"

"Reincarnation is when a pony dies and is reborn in a new body. Sometimes the reborn pony has memories of their past life. You're most likely remembering a past life of yours. Tell me, what does the pony you see look like?"

Wind stopped. He never truly payed attention, it always felt as if it was him the whole time and never bothered to notice anything besides what he was doing. Wind told this to the Princess, who then asked him to describe what he does.

"The life I remember, I'm really powerful. A bunch of guys in armor are always trying to hurt me with...I think magic blasts...Anyways, I always use the powers I have to stop them. Sometimes it doesn't work and I get hit somewhere, but it always stops hurting fast."

Celestia put a hoof to her chin and thought who or what he could be remembering. There were no factions in Equestrian history that wore white armor, even then, he was still unique in the fact that he was the only Earth Pony that could apparently use magic, so there were known ancestors she could reference.

"There's more." Wind interrupted. "I sometimes hear voices, telling me to do bad things with my powers. I never listen to them unless I get mad. That's why the teacher told you about me. A Pegasus was being mean to me and my new friend, then I hurt him really bad with my powers. The voice told me I did a good job when I hurt him."

"This is...troubling." Celestia spoke. "I was told that you can get angry easily, and I had hoped that we could help you with that once you arrived here. I see now that maybe emotions aren't all that's playing into this."

"What does that mean?"

"I cannot say for sure yet. Time will tell what it means."

The two were silent for the remainder of their walk. They came up to a small set of golden doors. Celestia opened them, revealing a somewhat large bedroom with violet walls and and a small bunk-bed. On the lower of the mattresses was a violet unicorn filly with purple hair and a star for her cutie mark. She was surrounded by a comically large pile of books, as if she had made a fort out of them. Wind also noticed a small purple lizard resting atop one of the books.

"Hello, Twilight." Celestia called. "I have someone I want you to meet." Twilight looked away from her book and at Twisting Wind. They both stared uncomfortably at each other for several seconds, neither pony knowing what quite to say.

"Um...Hi?" Twilight started.

"Hi." Wind replied. "Uh...H-how are you?"

"Fine...want a book to read?"

"...Sure...?"

Twilight levitated a random book from the pile over to Wind, who grabbed it with his powers as it came to him.

He read the cover of the rust colored tome; 'Equestrian History: Conflict and Resolution' it read. Wind decided that he would have to read it sometime as the title intrigued him. He glanced back to Twilight and was about to thank her, but stopped once he saw her staring with bewilderment.

"How did you do that?" Twilight asked amazed.

"Twilight, this is Twisting Wind. He came to my attention after he got into a fight with a young Pegasus and used his kinetic abilities to win." Celestia spoke. "He'll be taught alongside you under my tutelage. This means that you two will be working with each other for a while. I'll leave you two together so you can get to know each other better. Have fun!" And with that, Celestia left Twisting Wind and Twilight alone in their room.

An awkward silence hung in the room, neither Twilight nor Wind knew what to say exactly to another. Twilight had an approximate idea of what she was going to say, but she didn't know exactly how she would word it. Wind could tell right away what it was she was curious about and decided to initiate the conversation.

"I guess you want to know about-" Wind used his powers and spun the book about in front of him. "-this, right?" Twilight was enthralled by the display before her. Wind had her figured for a smart pony, but she was surely to be surprised if not even Celestia had heard of his abilities.

"Does that work like magic?" Was the first thing Twilight managed to say, breaking her trance.

"I'm not a Unicorn, so I don't know how magic works." Upon saying that, Twilight hopped down from her mattress and immediately began to lecture Wind about how magic worked. He didn't pay attention for the most part as he couldn't understand Twilight's superior dialect. But from what he did understand is that magic did work similarly to his powers. Both his abilities and magic worked by drawing energy around you into yourself and then manipulating it.

"If you need more info on this," Twilight finally seemed to be ending her lecture, much to Twisting Wind's relief. "I have a book on this sort of thing-" Twilight levitated a large blue tome over to Wind, "-right here! Go ahead and read it!"

"Alright." Wind replied. He walked over to the bunk bed and climbed up to the top bunk. There, he looked at the old book that Twilight had given him. The book read Magic 101: Five hundred spells for new magic users.

Wind opened the book and began to read. For the most part, the beginning chapter explained most of what Twilight said, but thankfully in a simpler manner. The rest of the day passed quietly as Wind looked through the different spells. One he saw caught his eye, mostly because the page was hastily scribbled over; obscuring most of what it had to say and leaving only the spells name: Electroshock. An image that hadn't been scrawled over depicted a Unicorn in a dark robe blasting lightning from its horn.

Twisting Wind was about to ask Twilight about the spell, but he had noticed that it was deep into the night outside. He decided to go to bed now as he wanted to be wide awake when it came time for his training to begin. Wind levitated the book he was reading back to Twilight.

"I'm gonna go to bed. Here's your book back."

"Thanks." Twilight said as she took the book with her magic.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Within minutes, Wind was asleep. As he slept, another memory played in his mind.

Darkness heavy in the air. A powerful adversary was before him, his friends behind him. A dark object flies down behind their opponent. His friends go for the flying contraption, but their enemy tried to stop them. Wind jumps in the way, using his powers to keep his opponent at bay. There's a bright flash, then darkness.

Twisting Wind awoke with a start as the dream ended. Day time had rolled around and it would be time for Wind's training to begin soon. Wind climbed down from the bed and noticed that Twilight was gone already. Perhaps her teachings began earlier than his. Either way, Twisting Wind felt conflicted on the inside.

He wished to know what these visions he kept receiving meant, but at the same time he wasn't sure he wanted to remember his past life, assuming that's what he is experiencing. No matter the case, Wind knew that he would eventually know, whether he wanted to or not. Wind decided not to dawdle any further and he got ready for his teachings. As soon as he was finished, he left the room and closed the golden door behind him, ready to tackle his training.

Three years later

Twisting Wind sat in silence in his quarters. Twilight was out messing with transfiguration, a magic that Wind was unable to utilize. In the past three years, he had learned that he cannot wield magic like Unicorns can. He only had control over kinetic abilities. Basic abilities he had learned using his power was: Levitation, Telekinesis, Speed bursts, and the ability to create blasts of kinetic energy.

At the moment, he was trying to make sense of what his visions meant. He searched his mind, another memory triggering as he searched.

A dank decrepit forest, mud covered his legs. Before him was a woman with the same abilities he had. The two fought with them, eventually the woman was blasted into the maw of a tentacled beast. Another bright flash, then the memory faded.

Wind's brow furrowed, he concentrated harder, trying to find a clearer memory.

Heavy breathing, not his own. An imposing figure stood before him, glaring through its mask. Wind felt a sense of dread and respect as he bowed before the figure. He was congratulated, praised for defeating the woman. Wind stood up, ready for another mission. Then the figure pulled out a sword and impaled him. Then darkness.

Wind's eyes shot open in shock as the memory ended. He did not remember who the figure was, but something triggered anger within him. A ripple formed in the air around him, Wind glared as a deep voice entered his mind.

"Feed into your anger. Celestia does not know what you are capable of." The voice spoke forcefully. "She only wishes to weaken you...But I can strengthen you...You have resisted for a long time, child, but you will join me soon."

The door opened to the room, Celestia stood with Twilight at her side.

"Hello, Twisting Wind." Celestia greeted. "Twilight was about to head into town to get some supplies for her next class. Is there anything you need?"

"Now is your chance to prove yourself...Kill them." The voice returned. "Strike them down, and you will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!"

"No..." Wind muttered.

"What was that?" Twilight asked. "Can you speak up?"

Wind clutched his head as the voice repeated itself.

"No, no, stop!" Wind pleaded. The ripple in the air became more intense, a Cobalt blue glow began to form in a bubble around Wind.

"Wind, what's wrong?" Twilight ran over to Wind's side.

"Stay back!" He hissed. Twilight instantly did so, running back to Celestia's side with fear and confusion in her eyes.

"Kill them now!" The voice yelled. "They are powerless against you!"

"Shut up! Get out of my head, you Celestia forsaken freak!" A small tremor shocked through the room, it was only a matter if time before this prepubescent time bomb went off and the entire top level of the castle was obliterated.

"Princess, what's going on? What's happening to him?"

Celestia did not answer, instead her horn lit up with a golden glow, then it transferred to her eyes. Her vision became monochrome, the only color she could see came from Twilight and Wind, who were both seen as a vibrant blue glow. Above Wind a dark mist enshrouded him, wrapping itself around his head. A sense of dread shot through Celestia, the rare emotion of anger slipping through the cracks of her usually stoic persona.

"You..." Celestia venomously spat. Her horn lit up again, the glow much more intense than before. She fired a blast of pure light at the dark mist, hitting it right in the center. The mist became visible to the others as it let out an otherworldly scream. "Return to the ice caps, you monster!" Celestia commanded. The light of her horn flashed brighter as the mist began to dissipate. Another pulse of energy, then the mist dissipated completely. With the beast gone, Celestia came to Wind's side.

The ten-year-old panted heavily, sweat dripped profusely from his face. His eyes snapped open, they were bloodshot and dry. Tears began to well and slowly drip down his face.

"Relax now, my student." Celestia's voice took on a motherly tone. "He is gone now, and he will not return for a long time." She gently rubbed the back of his head as she took him into a protective hug.

"Princess, what was that?" Twilight asked confusedly.

"Now is not the time." Celestia responded. "Go and get the supplies you needed, I'll be here keeping an eye on Wind." Twilight nodded and left without another word, closing the door gently behind her. Celestia shut her eyes as she continually stroked the back of Wind's neck. After a span of several minutes, Wind finally calmed down enough to speak.

"W-who was that?" Wind sniffled. "He s-sounded like t-the voices...T-the ones that want me to hurt ponies..."

Celestia, for one of the few times Wind had seen, wore a stern look about her face. A sense of longing was in her eyes, clearly whatever it was that haunted Wind was triggering painful memories in Celestia's mind.

"The voice you heard was from King Sombra." Celestia spoke, her tone still soft despite her disposition. "He was a unicorn who became enthralled by dark magic. Eventually, the darkness corrupted him and he attempted a hostile takeover of Equestria." Celestia walked over to a nearby window and gazed solemnly at the mountains. "He is the one responsible for turning my sister into Nightmare Moon, as well the one who took over the Crystal Empire."

"C-crystal Empire?" Wind asked, finally calming down. Celestia's head shot up a little. In her reminiscing, she had forgotten that nopony knew what it was she was talking about. She let out a sigh then continued.

"The Crystal Empire was a vital part of ancient Equestria. The crystals grown there were unique in that they could be used to store magic away. They were used in many sorts of incantations and rituals during then. I have always assumed that this is why Sombra took over the kingdom, so that he could use the crystals for his own malicious purposes.

After Sombra's apparent defeat, the Empire vanished. I see now that he may have broken his seal." Celestia looked wind right in the eyes with a serious air about herself. "Twisting Wind, if King Sombra's words ever find their way into your mind again, do not hesitate to tell me."

"Yes, Ma'am." Wind replied swiftly. "What should I do now?"

"Go find Twilight out in the marketplace. There are some supplies you will need for our next class. Be cautious, Sombra feeds off anger and hatred. Do not let your emotions get to you as you're gone." Wind nodded, then left to go find Twilight, leaving Celestia to herself.

She walked over to a nearby window and peered out towards the northern horizon. Celestia could feel Sombra slowly regaining his strength near where the ruins of the Empire was. A sense of dread went through Celestia. If Sombra could influence Wind in any way, it could mean a disaster for Equestria when he returns in full.

At the same time, Celestia felt that Wind would be strong enough to resist. A surge of confidence coursed through her as she put more thought into it. Even if Wind became corrupted, Twilight showed much potential. Celestia had a feeling that one of her apprentices would eventually play a major role in Equestrian history.

Celestia let out a small chuckle, then walked down the the throne room, casting a sorrowful glance at a nearby depiction of the moon.

"Only ten more years, sister." Celestia said aloud. "Then we will meet again."