Shadows of the Past

Chapters

Chapter one: A Luna Escape
Chapter two: Chaos
Chapter Three: The Forest
Chapter Four: Library (Unedited)
Chapter Five: The Defiler (Unedited)
Chapter Six: Sentinels (Unedited)
Chapter Seven: Downfall of the Conclave (Unedited)
Chapter Eight: Doctors and Demons (Unedited)
Chapter Nine: Roll the Dice (Unedited)
Chapter Ten: Mother Nature (Unedited)
Chapter Eleven: Changling Lair (Unedited)

Chapter one: A Luna Escape

Shadows Of The Past
Chapter one: A Luna Escape

His body was twisted and broken beyond all recognition; Atom lay on the blood splattered stretcher across the warped throne room. He stirred… his legs, bent at impossible angles started to push him up off the ground. His back twisted in and out of shape as it lifted off the stretcher. His head, at ninety degrees to his spine, swiveled around to look at Twilight. Slowly placing one disfigured hoof in front of another, Atom slowly shuffled his mangled body closer to Twilight. In a gurgled, slurred voice he spoke.
“Whhhaaat’s wrong Twiiilight? Don’t yooou reeecogniiise meeeeeee!?”

Twilight sprung from her cot screaming. Atom was by her side, her hoof in his already. He wrapped his forelegs around her.
“The nightmare again?” He asked softly. It had been a week since Twilight had been caught in the library, and every night since she had the same nightmare. Twilight nodded, unable to speak. Atom sighed “You know I may be able to help if you told me what it was about…” He said in a slightly exasperated tone… it wasn’t helping that all three of them, Atom, Twilight and Blade, were sharing a cell now. For some reason the princess had moved them in together… although Atom was glad to be so close to Twilight, even in this situation.

Twilight closed her eyes and leaned back on the bede.
“I… I just don’t want to share it… it’s not easy to talk about…” She didn’t want Atom to know how much his stunt had affected her. Twilight sighed. She knew she wouldn’t be able the sleep again that night. Well… she assumed it was night, it was hard to tell in the windowless prison of glass. It was not an easy situation to be in: the prison was huge, and most of the cells empty. No matter which direction she looked in she saw nothing but the white color that the glass faded into in the distance… it was a disorientating design.

A clatter rang through the prison, startling all three of them, and the sounds of marching boots echoed down the corridors. Line after line of guards dressed in dark blues, purples and blacks marched towards the cell. They lined up in front of the Cell, and then parted as Princess Luna marched through the group towards the cell. The door swung open as her horn glowed. She marched in and loomed over the three prisoners.

Luna extended a hoof towards Atom.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Doctor, I have heard much about you.”
Atom cautiously shook the Princess’s hoof.
“Likewise… why… why are you here Princess?” Atom asked, still untrusting of her motives. Luna allowed herself a sigh, then quickly regained her composure.
“I have come to break you out while I still can. My sister has been acting more and more paranoid. Something is wrong here. I know my sister, and this is certainly not her.”

Blade stood and bowed to the Princess.
“My Princess, please do not be upset by my asking this, but how can we be certain we can trust you?” He said as respectfully as possible. Luna smirked.
“My sister already has you captured, why would she use me try to trick you into this? Anyway, you don’t have many other options.”
Blade considered this for a moment and gave a simple nod.

Twilight motioned to her horn, and the enchanted band strapped around it.
“If we are breaking out we’ll need our magic. Can you remove these?”
Luna sighed.
“I wish I could, but I would need more time than we have available, as it is we are very quickly running out of time and should get moving.” Luna answered, beckoning for them to follow her out of the cell. The group quickly made its way down the corridor to the exit

“The plan is to sneak out the back, through the sculpture gardens. That way we can avoid the bulk of my sister’s guard. But we will have to move quickly once out of the prison as we are certain to be spotted. So once we leave, we will run. My guard will hold off any patrols we run into and my elite guard will protect us personally. Alright? Once we are out we will head for the Everfree forest. It’s the closest border to us from here. It is on the other side of the mountain range. There is a set of tunnels leading through it. Do you understand?” Luna explained on the way to the end of the prison. Twilight had spotted a few unconscious guards on their way through. The group nodded, and a Pegasus pony wearing armor similar to what Blade had been wearing (though in the Luna Guard’s more nocturnal attire) placed a hoof on the door, ready to open it.

“This is Captain Sabre,.He’ll be organizing the men, and making sure we make it through, no matter what. Now, are you ready?”
Twilight and Atom looked into each other's eyes, then nodded to Luna. Blade was already prepared and waiting. Luna nodded to Captain Sabre. He flung the door open and they all started running. At first the small prison corridors were only wide enough for the ponies to file through one by one, but once out of the dungeons the guard filled out and surrounded Luna, Atom, Twilight, Blade and Sabre. As a group they charged through the corridors, quickly knocking out several lone guards as they passed, and soon they came out into the gardens.

They soon ran into a relatively large Patrol and a group of guards broke off to engage them. The main group continued on without slowing. As they passed through the large gardens there seemed to be more patrols than usual, but there was no time for them to stop and ponder it. By the time they reached the sculpture gardens only the Princess, the prisoners and a few of the Princess’s elite guard remained. Captain Sabre had broken off with some of his troops to take down a larger than average patrol. They had lost more ponies than they should have.

The group rounded a corner and entered the Sculpture garden. They went into the main courtyard and were ready to head for the back gates when they swung open and a line of Celestia’s guard marched out, forming a semi-circle around the group. They slid to a stop and started to back track towards the maze, but the same thing happened; Another group of royal guards poured out of the maze, completing the circle and hemming them in by the Discord’s Statue. Twilight heard Atom curse under his breath.

The guard stayed still, and every member of the surrounded group was trying to calculate a way out of the situation. A group of the royal guards closest to the maze parted to make way for a Pegasus pony clad in the armor of Celestia’s captain; the armor Blade had once worn. Blade growled at the sight. “
So Celestia already replaced, did she!? BAH!” Blade shouted angrily, and the new Captain snorted but otherwise ignored him.

The Captain stepped forward.
“Princess Luna, did you really believe that Celestia would be so foolish as to let you go around unchecked? She has been keeping a very close eye on you as of late, and it was a simple matter to stop your little escape plan. Now, come along quietly and we can avoid anypony coming to harm.” He spoke in a smooth, commanding voice.

Luna lifted her head proudly.
“I will not Surrender. I cannot stand by while innocent Ponies are condemned for no reason other than the Princess’s increasing paranoia. Or have you not noticed that Celestia has become more and more unstable in the last few weeks?” She asked, though more an accusation than a question. The Captain snorted in derision.
“Of course I have. We all have! But we are loyal to Celestia no matter what! Not that I expect that to be a concept you would understand.” He declared proudly and contemptuously.

The Princess’s eyes flashed with anger.
“I am loyal, but I only owe my sister the loyalty of Family. As Princess of Equestria, my loyalties are firstly to my subjects. I shall not stand by while my sister treats our subjects unfairly and unjustly while we are supposed to be the ones to uphold that Equality and Justice.” Luna said with the pride and authority of a practiced leader.

The Captain was silent for a moment, before continuing.
“Princess, I am truly sorry about this… but if you will not surrender, I will be forced to capture you by force. Those are my orders… Troops, Adv-" He was cut off but the sound of clattering as Captain Sabre Charged through the line of Celestia’s guards with a large group of Luna’s guards behind him, though it was obvious they had still lost a large amount of their original force. The group of Guards Battered its way through the line of Celestia’s men in a wedge formation.

The unit of Guards drove into the middle of the circle and set up around Luna. Captain Sabre announced his orders to his remaining men.
“We will hold this point, the statue. Defend the Princess at ALL costs!” He shouted. Anger Flashed across the eyes of Celestia’s Captain.
“CHARGE!” He ordered. “Crush them before more of their troops arrive!” Celestia’s guards advanced forwards and Luna’s guards prepared to defend themselves. There was a few seconds where time seemed to stand still for Twilight, where Clestia’s guards advanced across the remaining distance, before the two forces clashed in an explosion of sound.

The battle soon descended into chaos, a blur of sounds and sights. The attackers swarmed along the line of defenders, breaking against it and falling. These were Luna’s best soldiers; they were very skilled and experienced, but even so they were not invincible and when one would fall Celestia’s troops would exploit the hole in the defense to its fullest. Troops were swarming into the middle, at which point Blade, the Princess, Atom or Twilight would push them back, although Twilight was hindered by her inability to cast spells. Though Atom surprised everyone, despite his lack of brute strength and his lack of magic, he was fast and accurate, quickly taking down opponents that threatened him. He defended Twilight like a Stallion possessed, sending anyone who would cause her harm flying.

The battle lasted for what seemed like an eternity, though it couldn’t have been more than half an hour. Even so time on a battlefield is counted in seconds, not minutes, acting on instinct and reflex, and so no one was quite sure how long the battle had been going on. Luna’s guard had suffered greatly; they simply didn’t have the numbers to hold out against Celestia’s troops. They had taken to pulling back before assaulting again; driving at the defenders in waves. While this gave brief periods of respite for the defenders, it also meant that more of Celestia’s men we able to break through with each wave.

Every one of Luna’s guard and the group in middle were covered in a fresh set of cut’s a bruises which slowed them and made them less effective overall. Over time, more and more of Luna’s troops fell. The line wouldn’t hold out much longer and Celestia’s troops knew it. They attacked with more and more determination, hammering against the defenders with unmatched ferocity.

After an especially vicious wave, Captain Sabre, with a line a line of blood running down his cheek, shouted an order.
“Fall back! Fall back to the Staue!” The line of defenders collapsed in, retreating in closer to the statue. It was not ground they wanted to loose, and it meant they now had no room left to retreat, but they needed to fall back or the line would have been obliterated. Twilight was now backed up against the Plinth of the statue.

Celestia’s Troops charged towards Discord’s Statue again, in what looked to be their most powerful attack yet. To everyone's surprise, they skidded to a stop, a look of horror on their faces. A dark chuckle echoed across the battlefield, cutting through the noise and silencing everypony. A chill ran down Twilight’s spine - she knew that laugh… she knew it all too well.
“My, my… What a delicious display of Chaos! Muahahaha!” Discord’s dark voice rang out across the courtyard. Nopony dared to move.

Chapter two: Chaos

Shadows Of The Past
Chapter Two: Chaos

Last Time: Celestia’s Troops charged towards Discord’s Statue again, in what looked to be their most powerful attack yet. To everyone's surprise, they skidded to a stop, a look of horror on their faces. A dark chuckle echoed across the battlefield, cutting through the noise and silencing everypony. A chill ran down Twilight’s spine - she knew that laugh… she knew it all too well.
“My, my… What a delicious display of Chaos! Muahahaha!” Discord’s dark voice rang out across the courtyard. Nopony dared to move.

Discord stepped down of the plinth and stretched, before wrapping his arm around Twilight and pulling her into an overly friendly hug.
“Aaah, if it isn’t my favourite little unicorn Twilight Sparkle… element of Magic… How have you been? Because I’ve been encased in stone. It’s not the most comfortable, so thanks for that. But hey, forgive and forget eh? Ha ha ha! Especially when you’re creating such beautiful chaos… a little hypocritical don’t you think?” Discord spoke in a friendly tone.

Before Twilight could respond Discord dropped her to the floor and walked towards The Princess, giving her an overly exaggerated bow.
“Your Highness it has been far too long since we last spoke. If I heard right, you were sent to the moon for a while… 1000 years if I’m right? Well… I’ll tell you what, it’s not half as bad as having an itch on your nose for two millennia! Uggghhh… I spent the first hour free just scratching it." Discord then swivelled around and straightened up.

He clicked his fingers, a cloud formed and it started to rain into his hand, which gathered in thin air into the shape of a martini glass, which then filled with liquid, followed by and olive on a skewer, which plopped into the glass. He then picked the olive out of the glass and flicked it away, it simply passed through the ground as if I wasn’t there, disappearing. He then drank the liquid, before tipping the empty glass to peer into it. He then drank the glass. This spectacle left everyone a little baffled, as it made no physical sense what so ever.

Discord then looked around at the two sets of troops and grinned.
“Looks like the little sister is rebelling… He he he… just like Celestia to send someone else to fight her battles… quite literally.” Discord said as he slithered through the air, up to Celestia’s captain. The Captain had turned a Deathly white in comparison to his usual grey colour, he looked like he was going to collapse. Discord laughed right in his face.
“You’re looking a little… gray… here, let me help.” He said with a dark laugh.

Discord extended a claw and tapped him on the nose, and then from the nose, spread a new colour, a bright orange, making the captain appear completely ridiculous. The captain jumped back and squealed, which made Discord fall back, rocking on his back in mid-air, clutching his stomach as he laughed. The Captains face turned to outrage and he glared at his troops
“WELL!? What are you waiting for!? GET HIM!” He bellowed. One of his Stallions turned to him and said
“What about the Princ-“
“NOW!” The captain cut him off, and the troops moved towards Discord and away from Luna’s guards.

All of group around the now empty plinth had the same thought and bolted for the back gate, now completely unguarded. Their adrenaline was still pumping, Ex-Captain Blade and Captain Sabre both drew ahead and rammed into the gate, breaking the locked latch and sending the gates flying outwards. They recovered as the group caught up. They then continued out into the mountains behind Canterlot.

After they had gotten far enough away from Canterlot they stopped and caught their breath. Captain Sabre looked back down the track silently, his expression sombre. Luna placed a hoof on his shoulder, startling him slightly.
“I know Sabre… we lost a lot of good soldiers today… but let us not waste the chance they gave us.” Luna said in an attempt to comfort him.

Atom had recovered and had started to heal the wounds of the troops. Twilight was not used to running so much, and so she was still resting. They had followed a game trail into the mountains, and so weren’t likely to be followed. After everyone had recovered and been healed they set up camp. Luna had been prepared enough to bring enough supplies for everyone. It wasn’t luxury, but after what they had been through, it was heaven just to be able to rest.

The camp was silent, everypony was processing the day in their own way, and one by one they headed off to their respective tents. In the end the only ones left around the fire were Luna, Sabre, Blade, and then Twilight cuddling up to Atom. Sabre had been staring into the fire, but blinked and looked up.
“…I’ll take first watch tonight.” He said quietly, but Atom shook his head
“No, you’ve been through a lot, and need your sleep, I’m used to little sleep, so I’ll take the first watch.” Atom interjected.

Sabre looked like he wanted to protest, but he stopped and shook his head.
“Yeah… okay… in that case… I’ll go sleep for second watch.” He got up and slowly make his way to his tent. A concerned look crosses the Princess’s face, and she got up and headed to his tent.
“I am going to make sure he is okay…” She said and then slipped inside. Blade was the next to go, followed soon by Twilight, and then Atom was left alone by the slowly dying fire, keeping watch in the cold, dark woods high in the mountains.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the morning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Atom sat alone in the camp. He had decided not to wake Sabre. He needed the sleep more than Atom. The sun was just dawning when a movement caught Atom’s eyes; It was at Sabre’s Tent. The flap rustled and Luna stepped out and met eyes with Atom. Her eyes went wide with shock, and at that exact moment, Atom realized that Luna hadn’t come out of the tent the night before. The Princess then glared at Atom with a look that said ‘not a word’. Atom simply nodded and Luna made her way to her own tent.

Atom smirked a little but then heard a soft whimpering from Twilight’s tent. He knew this as the usual sign that she was having one of her nightmares. He made his way over to her tent and went in. He sat by her cot and watched her rock back and forth on the bed. Atom gently took Twilight’s hoof between his own and she started to settle before slowly opening her eyes, tears still streaming down her face. She looked over at Atom, registering him for a second and then threw her forelegs around him, pulling him close.

“The nightmares still?” Atom asked worried. He held her close, but before Twilight could answer they heard Sabre's loud voice.
“Everypony wake up, you’re going to want to see this!” Atom and Twilight shared a nervous glance before rushing outside to quite the sight indeed. As they looked down the track towards Canterlot, their jaws dropped; the entire mountain mounted city had been turned upside down and re-fixed to the mountain… The startled ponies still in the city were still able to walk properly, though completely upside down. It was a very odd image indeed. And they could see the tiny figure of Discord rolling about laughing on the rounded base of the city, which was now the top.

No pony spoke for a moment then Sabre said the only thing that could really be said.
“… Buck…” At that everypony looked at each other and nodded simultaneously. They all knew it was time to move on. Atom quickly packed up with magic, and then walked over to Luna.
“Princess, where exactly are we heading?” Atom asked her. The Princess turned around and gave a little smile
“We are going to my old home, the abandoned palace in the Everfree forest." She said proudly.

Atom raised an eyebrow .
“Why there? If you don’t mind my asking.” He said curiously, to which the Princess smirked a little.
“Well, I know the place, and it is defendable. Anyway… there are a lot of old documents there and I get the feeling that we will find some answers locked away in its depths.” She said, making Atom very curious. But he suppressed his questions and helped the others pack up the camp.

They set off and started making good headway. By noon they had reached the other side of the mountain and were starting to make their way down the other side. There was no path down though, and the decent was steep, several times somepony almost slipped down. After this their progress slowed significantly. And it was already dark by the time they were at the bottom of the Mountain, and so they set up camp. This time Sabre insisted on keeping watch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Later That Night ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had camped at the foot of the mountain, slightly into the edge of large expanse of woodland known as the Everfree Forest. Sabre was playing extra close attention; it was a dangerous area for certain. But sometimes, you cannot see the wood for the trees, quite literally in this case. A pack of Timberwolves circled the encampment. And by the time Sabre had seen them, it was too late.

Muffled shouts and screams broke out as the Timberwolves pounced on the tents, some made it out… other’s didn’t, what was left of their tent little more than bloody tatters. The survivors quickly scattered, Sabre moving with the Princess, obviously willing to do anything to keep her safe. Captain Blade broke off with a group of Luna’s guard who separated into groups to scatter the Timberwolves.

Atom pulled Twilight out of bed, she didn’t quite know what was happening at first, but just ran. She saw the unmistakable silhouette of a timberwolf snatch one of Luna’s troops from the back of the group, his screams slowly fading into the distance. Twilight ran with Atom through the endless rows of trees. It was like something out of a nightmare; no matter how fast they galloped the growls behind them only ever seemed to get closer.

When it sounded like they were no more than inches away, Twilight dared not to look around to check, they suddenly stopped. The only sound was the two sets of hoofsteps. There was a flash of movement off to the right and a scream of pain, and then only the sound of hoofsteps… but now only one… only Twilight’s were left. It took her a moment to register it, but even when she did, she couldn’t stop, she couldn’t turn back, she couldn’t save the love of her life, her legs were moving of their own accord. And so she kept galloping, tears streaming from her eyes.

After what seemed like forever she slowed, her legs physically unable to keep going… she hadn’t heard any noise but her own hoofsteps since Atom was snatched. She crawled over to tree and slumped up against it, crying into her hooves. She was so tired, she was so scared, and she was so alone... She didn’t know what to do, and she didn’t know where she was… everything seemed so hopeless… she wanted to just giv-

She felt a warm, damp, breath ruffle the fur on her forehead, and a sickly sweet smell of tree sap filled her nose. She slowly looked up from her hooves, not wanting to see what she knew was there… she wanted to pretend everything was okay, but as her head slowly raised she knew it was exactly what she had known, and dreaded. Looking directly at her, just inches from her face, was a large Timberwolf, its fearsome maw of twisted and jagged branches and twigs that made up its teeth. It snorted in her face, the warm sickly breath turning to mist in the cool night’s air as is broke against Twilight’s face, followed closely by a low ominous growl.

Chapter Three: The Forest

Shadows Of The Past

Chapter Three: The Forest

Last time: She felt a warm, damp, breath ruffle the fur on her forehead, and a sickly sweet smell of tree sap filled her nose, she slowly looked up from her hooves, not wanting to see what she knew was there… she wanted to pretend everything was okay, but as her head slowly raised she knew it was exactly what she had known, and dreaded. Looking directly at her, just inches from her face, was a large timberwolf, its fearsome maw of twisted and jagged branches and twigs that made up its teeth. It snorted in her face, the warm sickly breath turning to mist in the cool night’s air as is broke against Twilight’s face, followed closely by a low ominous growl.

Twilight’s mood soon shifted from fear to anger; this was the last thing she wanted to deal with. A contemptuous smirk spread across her face as she readied the spell that would send the wolf sprawling in an inferno of ash and branches. But as the magic flowed through her body and into her horn, it backfired, causing her to double over in pain.… The magical restraint was still around her horn. They hadn’t taken it off at camp.

The terror soon set in as the timberwolf started to lean back, preparing to pounce. She saw her whole life flash before her eyes as the wolf flew at her. Out of reflex alone, she was able to roll aside in the last second and leave the timberwolf slamming into the tree she had been pressed up against. She scrambled to her hooves and galloped away, all too aware of the creaking noises of the timberwolf getting up and chasing after her.

This was a fight Twilight was going to lose, and she knew it. The timberwolf was faster, stronger, and Twilight couldn’t use magic, but if she was going to be a snack for some ferocious creature, then she was going to make him damn well pay for it. Twilight galloped on faster, trying to gain as much distance as she could before the timberwolf reached top speed.

The timberwolf closed the gap far too quickly and Twilight looked back in horror. As she wasn’t paying attention her hoof caught on a root protruding from the trail, and she flew through the air, spinning around onto her back just as the timberwolf lunged. Twilight’s hoof collided with the timberwolf’s jaw with great force, and there was a snap as the creature’s neck broke, and it sprawled to the ground. Twilight skidded to a stop.

Twilight groaned in pain and sat up, looking at the unmoving body of the timberwolf. She sighed in relief, struggled to her hooves, and started to hobble away. She knew the general direction of the temple, and could--her thought process stopped as a huge jolt of pain bounced up her leg. Twilight screamed out in agony and looked down at her back leg to see the timberwolf’s jaw, its head now at Ninety degrees to its body, latched around her back leg, it’s sharp, twisted ‘fangs’ sunk deep into her flesh.

Twilight froze as her mind flashed to her nightmares, to the fact Atom wasn’t there, to the immense pain she was in, and to her immense dread. She was petrified . As the deformed creature gnawed on her, she could do nothing but scream and stare at the unnatural site.

The creature reached up and sank a crooked paw, a claw missing from it, into Twilight’s leg, bringing forth another agonising scream as hot blood ran down her leg and into the monster’s mouth. Twilight struggled, but that only made her vision blur as the pain intensified. She knew it would end like this, and there was nothing she could do about it.

The creature dragged Twilight up into the air as it got to its paws. Twilight’s vision continued to blur as she was pulled upside down, she could feel the blood running down the inside of her leg. Then, she saw a flicker of movement in front of her, and out of the brush came Sabre, charging, head down, at full speed.

Sabre crashed into the creature, sending it sprawling and Twilight flying. Twilight landed with a good view of the battle, good thing because she was physically too weak to move. Even her senses were failing her; the ground started to feel soft, her vision darkened at the edges and blurred everywhere else, and her hearing became numb, making it sound as though she were under water.

Twilight saw the creature struggling back up, but as soon as it had risen Sabre charged again and knocked it back down. Sabre quickly jumped back as three balls of fire blasted past him and exploded on contact with the timberwolf. Luna ran into Twilight’s field of vision, her horn ablaze, her eyes filled with fury as she cast fire ball after fireball until the nightmarish being had stopped moving and was little more than ash.

Luna ran up to Twilight, concern evident on her face. She said something but Twilight simply couldn’t hear… everything was going quiet… going dark… going cold… Twilight tried to hold on, but she couldn’t, it was too hard, and she had no energy left, she slipped into the void of unconsciousness, letting its embrace replace the chaos around her, the comforting darkness blocking out the pain that throbbed throughout her whole body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight’s eyes slowly pried themselves open. Everything was blurred, but she could see and feel the slow bobbing movement she was being subjected to. Her mouth was dry, her throat hoarse; she tried to speak but the words came out as little more than a gasp, but it seemed to be enough to get the attention of whoever was carrying her.

She felt herself slide to the ground and tried to move, but her limbs cried out in agony as she tried to move the muscles. She vaguely felt something pressing against her lips, so she opened her mouth. A cool, refreshing liquid flowed down her throat, soaking the parched surface. She coughed a little, making her eyes flash and her head spin. She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she found she could now see Luna and Sabre huddled next to her with deeply concerned expressions.

“Twilight… are you okay?” the princess asked quietly, worry obvious in her voice.

Twilight croaked out in a hoarse voice, “Y-yeah… I think so…”

She knew it wasn’t true, but it was all she could think to say. Twilight struggled to her feet with the help of Luna and Sabre. She looked over herself and saw her back leg, as well as several other areas of her body, were covered in bandages. The memories of the terrible event sent a shiver though her whole body. She tried a couple of times to stand by herself before she was able to stay on her hooves.

“H-how long as I out for..?” she inquired tentatively. Luna and Sabre exchanged worried glances.

“About… two days…” Sabre said slowly. Twilight’s heart sank as she looked around. She didn’t want to ask this question… she already knew the answer.

“B-but.. where is Atom..?” she asked, putting out her last ounce of hope on the line… Luna sighed heavily and looked down.

“We… haven’t seen him since he set off from camp with you…” she responded despondently. Twilight’s face sank in sadness and desperation, her imaginings dark and unwelcome.

Twilight sighed heavily, knowing that there was little chance of him having escaped. She then rose up a little and started to limp forwards.

“Right… let’s get going then..” Twilight said hollowly. Sabre and Luna exchanged another worried glance before following her.

After a short time walking, Twilight was struggling to keep her speed up, especially in the afternoon heat, but soon the sun began to sink. making things a little easier. Still, she was not going to make it much further at the pace she was going, and both Sabre and the Princess knew this. They both kept a close eye on her; she had been through far too much to be pushing herself so hard.

There was a small sound, like the snapping of a twig, to Twilight’s right, but by the time she had looked over it was too late. The trio had been surrounded by a group of shaded figures, the low sun blotting out their features.

“Halt! Who goes there!?” said a haggard, frightened voice. Twilight recoiled slightly, landing on her bad leg and collapsing to floor with a slight scream of pain.

“Stand down you idiot!” Commanded a familiar voice, and Captain Blade stepped out of the sun’s glare and helped Twilight back up. “Good to see you again Ma’am I--” he started to say but was cut off by the guard who had shouted earlier.

“Captain! Get away from it! It could be another trick of this accursed forest!” he shouted almost hysterically, causing the Captain to swivel around and glare at him.

“I am no foal, soldier! I know a real pony when I see her, and I most certainly know the Princess and Captain, so do not question me! Now go back to camp and sleep before you take leave of the last of your senses.” The soldier cowered lightly at the Captains shouts, and nodded, turning away and walking down the road. The captain turned back to Twilight.
“Come now, we need to get you back to the camp before the night sets in…” he said with a sense of foreboding.

Captain Blade lead the group back down the road for a way, before pulling off into the brush and through the woods. He was beginning to show anxiety as night truly started to set in. But finally they saw the flickering glow of fir through the trees and were soon at the camp which was huddled around a central fire. Further out, in a circle around the camp, was an assortment of torches burning away.

Twilight studied the torches as they passed, and Blade started speaking without even looking back

“It seems to be the only thing that we can do to keep the creatures away, This forest is unnatural. There aren’t many of us left. We have been picked off by things resembling the stuff of nightmares. We’ve been killed by beings that don’t even have a body. They are just… shadows. We plan to make a push for the Old Palace tomorrow… we are glad to have found you before we reached it...” the captain explained sorrowfully, the exhaustion evident in his voice.

When they reached the centre of the camp. Twilight could see the fix they were in. There were approximately half the number of tents there had been , and those that remained were torn and bloodied. Many of the remaining guards had wounds all over their bodies. It was a sorry state… but it was a camp which was better than nothing, even if the forest had taken a serious toll.

Once their tents had been set up, Twilight drifted off quickly into an unsettled slumber wracked with nightmares and visions, neither of which were particularly pleasant. Her dreams were filled with agony, apprehension, and horrific creatures--the likes of which could never exist in reality.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Later That Night ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight was running and running… through the endless forest, the same trees rolling by over and over as the shadowy beast galloped after her… No matter how fast she ran, she could never get any further from the being. After what felt like an eternity, she fell, slowly falling through the air as if it were water before hitting the ground with more force than she ever would have expected and rolling. When she looked up, the shadowy figure loomed over her. it’s only discernible feature being a Cheshire Cat grin and two glowing eyes.

The creature leaned down, and the shadows slid off its face like a sleeve, revealing a twisted combination of Atom and a timberwolf, the face of atom but torn and shredded by roots and branches, and the right side of his face made up of nothing but bloodied roots holding an eye in place. The curtain of shadow slid down his body to reveal the rest of his truly horrific form, a mess of guts and bloodied roots, oozing blood and sap. Atom still had the same Cheshire Cat grin on his face

“Heeeellloooo… Twilight… ssssooo gooood to ssseeeee yooou agaaaain…Iii’ve misssssssed you ssssooo much…” the twisted Atom hissed through his mangled jaw of flesh and roots.

“Twwwilight… I want ussss to be togetthhhher forever… jooooiiinnnn meeeeeee… and we can bee togettthhherrr foooorrreeeevvvveerrr,” the creature rasped.

Twilight tried to back away, but the ground had become sticky. Whenever she tried to move the ground stretched and pulled her back; she was stuck. Atom laughed: a dark, hissing, echoing laugh that sent shiver after shiver down her spine. Then his claw of roots came down on her leg and sank into her flesh, making her scream out in agony

Twilight looked down is horror as the pain spread up her leg as it started to contort and twist into bloodied roots, slowly spreading up her body inducing the greatest pain she had ever felt as her body slowly tore itself into this new terrifying form…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Next Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had been trotting for several hours already when they finally came across the decrepit ruins of the Old Temple, and Twilight sighed in relief. It had been a long trip she was glad to be over with… though inside she was still being eaten away by Atom’s absence…

The small group made its way across the bridge, up the stairs of the old palace, and into main chamber... In the middle of the chamber, just in front of what had once held the Elements of Harmony, stood Dr. Atom Discharge, waiting patiently for them.

“ATOM!? How did you get here so fast?” Twilight cried in shock, running to the front of the group. But before Atom could reply, a smooth, charming voice sounded.

“Me… That’s how, young mare.” Said Discord as he slithered out from behind the stand of the Elements and rested his elbows on it, then resting his head on his hands as his body floated up behind him.

“Hello again, little foals.”

Chapter Four: Library (Unedited)

Shadows Of The Past
Chapter Four: Library

Last time: The small group made its way across the bridge, up the stairs of the old palace and into main chamber, but stood there… in the middle of the main chamber, just in front of what once held the Elements of Harmony was stood Dr Atom Discharge, waiting for them
“ATOM!? How did you get here so fast?” Twilight cried in shock, running to the front of the group. But before Atom could reply a smooth charming voice sounded.

“Me… That’s how young mare.” Said Discord as he slithered out from behind the stand of the Elements and rests his elbows on it, then resting his head on his hands as his body floats up behind him.
“Hello again kiddies”

Twilight skidded to a stop a few feet past the front of the group, her heart sank in fear. Twilight started running towards Atom again just as Discord started talking again.
“Now… I want to discuss with yo- Er… young mare… I wouldn’t do that if I were you…” Discord said in a patronising tone. Twilight ignored him and Collided into Atom hugging him close and tight.

Pop. Atom burst and bits of Balloon sprayed everywhere, Twilight screamed before realising what had happened, she jumped back and scooted away from Discord back towards the group. Discord looks wholly unimpressed by the display and said in an unamused tone
“Stupid filly, you didn’t think I’d just lay my one bargaining chip out in front of you… while ensure you he is safe… you won’t be see seeing him until you hear me out.” Discord said with a dark grin.

Discord slithered over the stone and into the air, moving closer to the group, several of the guards got into defensive positions, but Twilight, Blade, Sabre, and Luna all held their ground. Discord sat down in front of them.
“Now… let’s do business… I want to make you a very generous offer.” Discord said followed by a chuckle.

Twilight and Luna shared a glance before looking back at Discord
“What kind of offer are we talking about here?” Luna said cautiously as if just agreeing to hear it was dangerous. Discord somehow appeared between Twilight and Luna, resting two elbows on their shoulders and resting his head in his hand.

“Well… You see… I reeeeaallly want to get back at Celestia, since she is responsible for me being stuck in stone… Twice… even if you both helped… she’s responsible, hell, I was just trying to have a little fun… and being stuck in stone is sooooo boring!” Discord said, then slithered out from between them and hovered in mid-air. Twilight frowned
“Is this going anywhere?” Twilight said irritably

Discord Tutted in mock annoyance.
“My, my, children these days.” Discord said, Twilight shot him a glare
“Fiiine, I want you to promise not to turn me back to stone, and I’ll help you with everything I can remember about the Conclave… and for a Limited time offer! I’ll also return your little ‘Atom’ Completely unscathed… well… unscathed by me at least.” Discord said dramatically followed by a dark chuckle.

Twilight’s eyes flashed with anger but before she could say anything Luna stepped forwards
“Alright Discord… what’s the catch..?” She said suspiciously.
“No catch.” Discord said inspecting his talons.
“Really..?” Luna replied.
“Really… you know… if I didn’t know better…” Discord said wriggling through the air so he was close to her face, looking into her eyes. “I would have said you didn’t trust me.” He said, then fell back and laughed in mid-air.

Luna kept a blank expression.
“Alright… but we’ll be keeping a close eye on you…” Luna said seriously.
“Oh you’re such a worrier Luna… relax a little… you’ll live longer.” Discord said with a giggle. He snapped his ‘fingers’ and the pieces of balloon formed together back into the shape of Atom and then there was a quick flash and Atom was stood there covered in blood and scratched, his eyes dreamy, then they seemed to focus on Twilight.
“T…Twilight…?” He said before falling forwards unconscious.

Discord Tutted again “Yes… the Timberwolves really had a go at him… good job I found him when I did really.” He said deep in thought.
Twilight ran to him and leaned down, trying to help him with Magic, but crying out in frustration at the restraint still around her horn. She felt a gentle hoof on her shoulder and looked up to see the caring gaze of the Luna Princess, who hugged her gently, as two of her guards picked Atom up and the rest started to set up camp in the old Decrepit Castle, and Discord flew up and sat on the roof, relaxing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Few Days later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the next few days they set up a permanent, Discord was surprisingly helpful, it seemed he really did want to help, despite disappearing every now and then. The next night Luna removed the magical restraints from Twilight and Atom, who’s condition rapidly improved after that and he was soon back to almost full strength, still he found it hard to work for long before needing to rest, the injuries had taken a lot out of him. As had Twilight’s own injuries.

“Twilight, can we talk?” Luna said, beckoning Twilight over to her. Twilight wandered over, limping slightly; her leg hadn’t fully healed yet.
“What is it Princess, is everything okay?” Twilight asked with a slightly worried tone; worried that something may have gone wrong.
“Yes, everything is okay but I have noticed that, with your injured leg, you have been having trouble with some of the tasks you have been working on. And since it will be better to start sooner rather than later, I was wondering if you would prefer to start work on finding information on the Conclave? Since everyone is still busy setting things up and we haven’t has a chance to talk to Discord about it, we need someone working on The Conclave, simply so we can make headway.” The Princess explained to Twilight.

Twilight’s eyes glowed with anticipation, the physical labour that was involved in setting up a permanent camp was not really Twilight’s strength, especially when she was still in pain for quite a major injury, in fact she had been looking forward to studying the library since they had arrived. Twilight tried not to let her excitement show too much.
“Oh yes princess, I would love to, I had been hoping to see the Library.” She said happily

Luna smiled, she could tell exactly how excited this made Twilight.
“I thought you’d like the idea Twilight, shall I show you where it is now?” Luna said happily, leading Twilight down a set of stairs to the side
“Oh, I can’t wait… there must be hundreds of years of knowledge that no one will have read in centuries, protected by magic… in perfect condition.” Twilight said, squealing in excitement for a moment before stubbing her bad leg which quickly stopped the excited noise.

The mention of the magical Protection made Luna falter for a second and stop, turning around to face Twilight, who was still rubbing her leg, with a worried look.
“Twilight… that reminds me… you will have to be very careful, the spells of protection have laid un maintained for a thousand years… I have no idea how they will have degraded, these were our most important records, so please… be careful, old magics can be dangerous… most likely nothing bad will happen but… just… be careful, okay?” Luna said cautiously

Twilight was a little shocked by Luna’s sudden change of mood, and for a moment her excitement was dampened with fear, but not for long as her excitement returned in full force along with a sense of confidence, if there was one thing Twilight knew it was books. Twilight smiled a Luna.
“Don’t worry Princess I will be careful, after one thousand years anything dangerous should be almost completely gone, or so faded that it has no effect.” Twilight said, her confidence shining through.

The Princess nodded and smiled, but inside she was still tentative about the dangers. She lead Twilight down the stairs and through the old halls of the forgotten palace, old, broken down rows of dining tables lined one of the halls, sad and alone, forgotten. After they had descended a good few floors they came upon a solid stone door with intricate patterns engraved onto it. All of the flowing designs met at a single point in the middle of the door: A simple circular slot.

At first this confused Twilight as she saw no way to open the door as there was no handle, not to mention the door was much too heavy to move by hoof, and she was about to try magic when Luna stopped her.
“You don’t want to try that… it’ll hurt…” Luna said to Twilight putting a hoof in front of her before stepping forward and sliding her long Alicorn horn into the circular slot in the door, suddenly Twilight recognised the similar design as was in the door to the vault Celestia kept the Elements of Harmony in.

Once Luna had slid her horn all the way in the patterns in the door glowed and there was a rumbling, rasping sound as the door segmented and slid into the wall. What Twilight saw next made her jaw drop. The library was massive, the biggest collection of books she had ever seen, it must have several floors underground and must have been a hundred feet wide, and there was no way to tell how long it was, it stretched on until she could make out nothing more for the dust.

Twilight stepped forwards into the chamber and the heat and dryness of it hit her like a wall, making her cough a little. She lifted a bottle of water out of her saddle bag and drank from it. Luna looked at her worriedly, but Twilight looked back and smiled confidently.
“Time to get to work… probably best to start in the restricted section, right? Anything I’ll need to get in?” Twilight asked, starting to get a little excited.

“I don’t think so, it was a pretty complex locking spell, but it’ll have faded mostly by now, easy enough to break, keep going down the main row and you should find it easy enough.” Luna said, a hint of concern in her voice and in her eyes as Twilight set off into the dusty fog of the ancient library.

What Twilight noticed after a good ten minutes of walking was; firstly, that she needed to take a drink very often as the air seemed to leach it from her. Secondly, that, despite the dustiness of the air, none of the dust ever settled, it just floated, leaving every surface as if it had just been cleaned. Thirdly, despite the fact that there was not even a hint of a breeze, the dust seemed to flow in odd patterns, twisting and flowing as if it were alive. All three of these things soon dampened the excitement Twilight had felt upon entering the Library. But what was most unnerving was the simple repetitiveness of this place; it hadn’t been long before the view of the door had been swallowed up by quagmire of dust and since then the rows of bookshelves seemed to blur together so that Twilight felt like she was making no headway at all.

But it wasn’t just distance that seemed immeasurable in this place, but time too… with no sun or other external light the only source were the dimly glowing gemstones that seemed to give off more light than they should, making the view seem flat at the dust spread the light out. And so, when Twilight finally reached barred entrance to the restricted section of the Library, she had no idea of how long she had already spent in there.

Twilight studied to gate closely, it was a simple iron gate with a weakly enchanted lock. Twilight was easily able to break the spell on the lock and suddenly the gate swung outwards and a gust swept past her. Only there was no rushing of air… only of dust. It made no sense since the gate had been made from bars and so it should have been able to flow out anyway.

Twilight’s fear rose and she paused, not sure whether to proceed or not. But she built up her courage and stepped through the gateway and into the restricted section. This area was much more densely packed. The shelves seeming to press down on Twilight as she passed them making her arch her back and crouch subconsciously. It felt more like a prison than a Library.

Eventually after wandering for some unknowable period of time across a locked cabinet labelled ‘Records Of The Conclave’. Twilight looked at it and rubbed her eyes, slightly disbelieving that it would be labelled so blatantly. But when she opened her eyes again it was labelled differently: ‘Palace Financial Records’. Twilight looked around panicked, but she soon spotter the same cabinet, ‘Records Of The Conclave’, right next to the one she was now stood in front of, despite the fact she had not moved at all… somehow, either her or the Cabinet had moved without her knowing, and it scared her.

Twilight carefully moved towards it and undid the latch opening it slowly and studied the covers, though for some reason, she couldn’t make out the titles, whenever she tried to read them her vision blurred and her head throbbed. She soon gave up and simply picked one of the books of the shelf and opened it, then turned the page quickly, then again, and again, she picked another book down and did the same.

“B-but… this… this doesn’t make any sense… they’re all… blank…?” Twilight was right, every single page of every single book she pulled off the shelf was blank, as if nothing had ever been printed on them. Then Twilight froze as an ice cold breath broke against her neck.
“Awwww… poor Twilight doesn’t get it… he he he” Said a hoarse, rasping whisper in her ear, followed by the eerie giggle of a foal.

Chapter Five: The Defiler (Unedited)

Shadows Of The Past
Chapter Five: The Defiler

Last time:“B-but… this… this doesn’t make any sense… they’re all… blank…?” Twilight was right, every single page of every single book she pulled off the shelf was blank, as if nothing had ever been printed on them. Then Twilight froze as an ice cold breath broke against her neck.
“Awwww… poor Twilight doesn’t get it… he he he” Said a hoarse, rasping whisper in her ear, followed by the eerie giggle of a foal.

Twilight slowly turned around and was confronted by the sight of a tall, thin, skeletal Alicorn, at least as tall as Celestia herself. Somehow the thing stood tall and grinned, despite the fact it was made of naught but bone. Red light glowed in the sockets where it’s eyes should have been.

“Poor little filly… you are so very lost… and now… you’ll never leave… you’ll rot…and wither… but you’ll never leave… you’ll become like me… hollow and alone.” The being spoke in the rasping voice it Twilight had heard, before throwing its head back and letting out a laugh, but again, instead of giving out a harsh rasping sound she had expected, it was the same sickly sweet laughter of a small foul, then a gust of dust swept through it and the being crumbled into dust and blew away.

Twilight was terrified, she looked around trying to get her bearings, but then she realised, she wasn’t in the same place she had been a minute ago. In front of her stood a different bookshelf, bent in towards her at and odd angle, and yet still holding the books, all of the bookshelves were now twisted and contorted in a similar manner.

Twilight backed away frightened and started to move down the corridor, but as more twisted and strange shelves. The rows were no longer straight either, twisting and bending of their own accord. She moved faster and faster as the shelves became more and more contorted until faces started to form in the wood as she passed, pushing out of it in what looked like an agonising torture.

Twilight reached a junction and came face to face with the skeletal form once more. She skidded to a stop and started to back away from it. The tall form uncharacteristically tilted it’s head, and the sickly sweat foul voice spoke.
“Want to play a game? I choose hide and seek… ready or not… here… I come…” The voice said, coming from all around Twilight instead of from a fixed point.

Twilight turned about and ran, the terrifying clacking sounds of skeletal hooves on the wooden floor followed Twilight as she galloped through the maze of twisted shelves. Twilight galloped and galloped but no matter how fast she ran she couldn’t outrun those awful hoofsteps.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of running Twilight dared a look back at the horrific form, and as she did the sound of the steps faded and by the time her head turned back, the creature was gone as if it had never been there. She slowly slowed to a stop and looked around. The laughed echoed down the corridor sending a shiver down Twilight’s spine. She turned about and continued down the corridor slowly, now much more carefully.

After some time, though Twilight had no idea exactly how long it had been, she spotted it form out of the dusty haze, the iron gate she had entered through. She sighed in unimaginable relief and started to move towards it, but the joy in her heart soon turned southwards as the skeletal being walked out of the haze, through the gate, towards her.

“Twilight, there you are… we’ve been looking everywhere for you.” It said in the sickly voice of the foal. Twilight backed away but bumped into a bookshelf that had not been there a minute ago, she was hemmed in as.
“N-no… no no no… it can’t… I…” Twilight muttered to herself, sliding to the ground in despair and huddled close to herself.

The creature moved closer and leaned down, wrapping it’s forelegs around her. Twilight clamped her eyes shut, but instead of the cold horrifying embrace she had expected she felt a familiar warm, gentle hold, followed by the warm tingle of magic on her muzzle and a sensation she hadn’t expected to feel again; the feel of fresh air in her lungs.
“Twilight… it’s okay… I’m here.” Atom said gently in her ear.

Twilight slowly opened her eyes and instead of the twisted and horrific maze that had been there before, there was the entrance she had come through to get into the restricted section And instead of the skeletal form holding her, it was Atom. She had never been more glad to see anyone. Twilight moved closer to Atom and gently kissed him, and he kissed her back, before helping her to her feet.

Atom lead Twilight back through the Library.
“Luna should never have sent you in without telling anyone first, she had no idea how dangerous that these kind of degraded spell can be… the dust hear is laced with ancient magic… it causes… hallucinations… in a way.” Atom explained as they walked

Twilight nodded lightly.
“Y-yeah… it was… awful… how-“ Twilight said, but Atom, still facing forwards, cut her off
“You saw him didn’t you..? The Skeleton Alicorn?” Atom asked in a distant tone, Twilight nodded. “He’s referred to, usually, as The Defiler. No one knows why, but everyone subjected to the degradation of magic see him… some have even suggested he is behind it…” Atom said in a sorrowful tone, before looking down at Twilight. It was the first time she had seen real fear in his eyes.

“H-how long was I down there..?” Twilight said in an attempt to change the conversation. Atom sighed
“Twilight, you were down there for three days, we’ve been searching through this Haze for the last two and a half days… but people started to loose themselves… I’m the only one who’s had experience of this kind of thing…” Atom said, Twilight was she had thought it to be no more than a few days, but she tried not to dwell on it.

“How do you have experience with this…? You’re just a scientist right...?” Twilight asked, realising how little she actually knew about Atom. Atom looked at her.
“In a way yes… but after I was first banished… I… well… there are other planes of existence other than this… sometimes things try to cross over… I spent time stopping that… I’d rather not get into it.. but I ran into a lot of places like this in those days… It’s why I developed the air filtering spell.” He said reluctantly. Twilight wanted to press the matter further, but she simply didn’t have the energy.

Atom lead Twilight out of the Library, where she was almost immediately attacked with a worried hug from an equally worried Princess.
“Oh I’m so sorry I sent you in there Twilight, I should have thought about it first, I.. I should have..” The Princess said almost breaking down. After the initial shock subsided Twilight hugged back weakly.
“It’s okay Luna, it was an honest mistake… you didn’t know… don’t worry; I wasn’t hurt, just… shaken.” Twilight said with a distant tone, thinking of the horrific form she had seen while in there… she was simply glad to be out of the haze and into the fresh air…

Together the three of them made their way up into the camp in the main chamber, where the camp had expanded significantly, apparently more groups of guards had either escaped from the castle prison, or regrouped after the timber wolf. They had managed to set up basic defences like a wooden walls and a perimeter guard as well.

Twilight wandered across the camp with the Princess and Atom towards what seemed to be a larger Command Tent. Twilight was marvelled at how much they had managed to set up in such a short time, even taking into account the time she had spent in the library, it had only been a week at most since they had arrived.

It was a calm evening and the sun was setting over the camp, and torches started to spring up around what was more like a base of operations than a camp. Obviously Luna and her troops had been ready for this in advance, thought twilight still couldn’t get over how long she had been down in the chamber.

Luna, Atom and Twilight entered the command tent and were met by Sabre, Blade and Discord. Discord stood up and walked over to Twilight.
“Oh my dear, are you okay? I am so sorry, if I had only told Luna about the unreadable texts earlier we could have avoided all this.” Discord said to Twilight, though she couldn’t tell if his remorse was genuine.

“Er.. I-it’s okay… I wasn’t hurt…” Twilight said awkwardly, not sure how to respond. Luna stepped over.
“Yes, he’s been rather worried about you. Discord really seems to have turned over a new leaf, he has been such a big help setting up.” Luna said walking over to the desk in the centre of the tent. “Alright, let’s recap for Twilight: After being locked in stone for so long his memory is understandably hazy, but he does remember that there is a specific item that we need from the Headquarters of the Conclave base that we need to recover. But we can’t Take Discord with us. Since his renouncement is more likely to set off defences… “

Twilight was rather puzzled by this.
“W-wait… how does Discord know all about this…?” Twilight asked rather confused, causing everypony to share glances.
“Oh, that’s right… you don’t know yet… Discord used to be a part of the Shrouded conclave.”

Twilight gasped in shock. Not quite sure how to react, nor the implications of what she had heard. Twilight’s head went light though and she wobbled on her feet.
“Listen… can we do this another time, Twilight needs rest…” Atom said, supporting Twilight to stop her falling.
“Atom, you know we have to set out tomorrow… this needs to be said.” Sabre said demandingly. Atom replied with a glare
“..Right… make it quick then…” He said irritated.

Sabre stepped forwards.
“Alright, tomorrow morning Blade, Luna, Twilight and I are going to head to the old base of the Conclave which Discord has managed to mark on this map for us. We need to keep it a small group so we do not draw attention to ourselves. Discord and Atom will stay here to make sure things still run smoothly.“ Sabre explained to the group.

Most a small discussion about the chain of command while the group was the group split up for the night. Twilight was barely still on her feet by the time Atom and her had made it to their tent. And almost as soon as she was in bed she fell into a deep and mostly uneventful sleep.

Twilight’s eyes slowly opened, and she tried to breath in, but the dry hot air leached what little moisture was still in her throat causing her to gasp. She looked around and she was floating in the haze of dust… nothing around her, no ground, no roof, no walls, she was simply floating. Then the sound of bone hitting a wooden floor echoed through the space and the horrific form of ‘The Defiler’ stepped out of the haze

“You may have escaped the Library Twilight… but you can never escape me… I am a part of you forever…” The Defiler spoke in a deep, almost demonic voice. Twilight tried to move but her limbs were slow and sluggish. Then the Haze started to swirl and twist around her, tearing at her body, stripping away skin and flesh, until nothing but bone remained and she resembled the Defiler him/her-self. The Defiler then stepped closer and closer, Twilight couldn’t move, until he finally reached her and embraced her in the cold dark grip of his body.

Chapter Six: Sentinels (Unedited)

Shadows Of The Past
Chapter Six: Sentinals

Last Time: “You may have escaped the Library Twilight… but you can never escape me… I am a part of you forever…” The Defiler spoke in a deep, almost demonic voice. Twilight tried to move but her limbs were slow and sluggish. Then the Haze started to swirl and twist around her, tearing at her body, stripping away skin and flesh, until nothing but bone remained and she resembled the Defiler him/her-self. The Defiler then stepped closer and closer, Twilight couldn’t move, until he finally reached her and embraced her in the cold dark grip of his body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Next Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blade, Luna, Sabre and Twilight had been traveling for a good two hours already, they had set off early for the Conclave’s old sanctuary, despite the fact the base was meant to be relatively close they didn’t want to waste time, and so had decided to get moving quickly. The sun was just peaking over the distant mountains, colouring the sky a soft pink colour, and the ground they walked on was damp with dew. It was simply a nice day.

They had been chatting on for the whole time, it had been a pleasant change of pace to recent events.
“So, how can you two both be Captains of the guard? My Brother is captain” She said, a little puzzled, this brought a chuckle from Blade and Sabre, causing Twilight’s cheeks to flush
“They were the personal guard Captains to my sister and I, while your brother is Captain of the City guard. They are separate divisions.” Luna explained to Twilight, who blushed more at not having realised that herself.

Sabre marched ahead and swivelled around, walking backwards.
“Yes, the life of the princess’s guard is one filled with peril and honour! A dangerous job not for the light heaaaaaH!” Sabre exclaimed in surprise, after his over exaggerated, silly spiel, until his rear backed into what seemed to be an invisible barrier, his rump sliding up it as if it were greased. His flank came up over his head and he ended up on his back looking up at the sky utterly confused. The other three fell about laughing.

Sabre picked himself up and placed his hoof on the barrier
“What the hay..?” he said testing it, Twilight was the first to recover from the group incapacitation.
“I-it’s a shield stone” Twilight said still tittering, pointing at the large stone pillar in the centre of the clearing that seemed to outline the shield. “I remember reading about them… no one knows where they came from. Nor can they get close enough to-“ Twilight continued as she circled around it but stopped as she came across an irregularity, it was tiny barely large enough to notice.

Twilight went closer, it seemed like a tear in mid-air she. Peered through and gasped. Through the tear in, what was apparently, an illusion, she saw a large stone structure resembling an ancient temple. She couldn’t believe it; an illusion that massive would take a huge amount of sustained magic. Evidently this was the Sanctum… and Evidently something powerful was waiting inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An Hour Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took Twilight and Luna a while to work out a loophole in the spell to allow them to gain access, in the end they had to use the slight fracture Twilight had used to pear in, they had expanded it to the best of their ability, letting them quickly slip in, but it had been rather strenuous and they both needed a minute to catch their breath before joining the two former captains in gawping at the immense size of the structure, evidently the illusion had risen up several stories, making it seem even more impressive.

As for the structure itself, it seemed to be much too large for a simple small group of leaders; it seemed more like a fortress, perhaps a last fall back were the Conclave ever attacked, but they could only speculate. The architecture was like nothing any of them, not even Luna, had ever seen, it seemed ancient but in great condition. Two life sized statues guarded what seemed to be the main entrance to what was apparently the sanctum.

The four of them slowly advanced towards the large doors, Twilight stepping forward to place a hoof on it and pull it open. The one she pulled, the left one, moved out slowly and smoothly, and the other door followed the same motion on its own. Twilight looked back at the group and they advanced together, the interior was lit with flickering torches. By all accounts it looked like it was still in use.

The walls of the corridor were dotted with more statues. Stone statues of stoic warriors in such incredible details, they could have been real if they were not obviously stone, she shuddered, thinking back to her encounter with the Cockatrice. But what gave away that these had never actually been alive were the Rubies that were in place of their eyes. Even so, the torch light made it look like the gems gleamed with their own light.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Half An Hour Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite the foreboding atmosphere in the Sanctum, suspiciously little happened, that is other than them getting completely lost.
“I’m telling you we’ve been here before” Blade said to Sabre who had taken to leading them through the corridors
“No. This corridor is different to that one. In this one all of those Statues are smashed up… see, there are bits on the floor, and they weren’t in the one you’re thin- Wait… isn’t that the kitchen we passed?” Sabre said with surprise.

As the three others argued over whether it was, or could possibly be, the same kitchen they had already passed, Twilight leaned down and studied some of the stone strewn about the floor and gasped, running up to what was left of one of the statues, looking into what was left of its hooves and seeing an hollow outline.

“G-guys…” Twilight started, cutting through the argument. “We have been here before… these statues were broken… recently… a-and… there was something inside… “ Twilight said nervously. Everypony froze, at the frightening realisation. Then, the silence was broken by a slight mechanical ticking noise and the sounds of gears turning from above them. All four of them slowly looked up, terrified of what may have been waiting for them on the ceiling. Above them, the ceiling was covered in a mass of mechanical, pony like machines, all staring back at them with glowing Ruby eyes.

The four of them galloped down the hallways at full speed, skidding around the corners full speed, the cacophony of metallic claws scuttling over the ground followed close behind. The four looked at each other as a junction approached and split off into two groups, Blade and Twilight, Sabre and Luna. Twilight ran with Blade, trying desperately to keep up with Blade, but her injury from the Timberwolf flared and her knee buckled making her tumble to the ground.

In an instant Blade had skidded to a stop and turned back, planting himself between Twilight and the creatures.
“RUN!” Blade shouted back before being completely engulfed in the massive swarm of mechanical contraptions, Twilight scrabbled to her hooves, around the next corner and into the nearest door, closing it in an instant. A few moments later she heard the scrabbling, scratching and ticking pass by the door as the swarm raced down the hall, she sunk to the floor… she had lost Blade… But she couldn’t allow herself dark thoughts, by all rights he could be okay… right?

Twilight knew she couldn’t sit there and guess, she had to keep moving. She saw another door on the other side of the room, which seemed to be a barracks of some kind, bunk beds lined each wall, all freshly made as if everyone had just tidied up and left earlier that day. But Twilight shook herself off; there were more important things to worry about. She made her way to the door, seeing a set of stairs she slowly made her way down into the room bellow.

She wandered down into what seemed to be a spell firing range. It was a small room to begin with, another door in the other side, but there was a low wall beyond which the room expanded out, there were several standing targets, and some were on tracks embedded in the floor, obviously meant to be used as moving targets. Twilight turned around to a book case which held books with titles such as ‘Famous War Spells’, ‘The Basics Of Combat Magic’ and ‘Magic In Battle’. This was not the kind of magic Twilight was interested in. She had studied it a little, but it hadn’t interest her much… violence wasn’t usually her way… unless someone threatened her friends that was. But Twilight still skimmed over the titles.

There was a very faint shuffling sound behind Twilight, who swivelled around just in time to see Princess Luna’s surprised expression as she flew through the air, having jumped out from behind the low wall.
“TWIlIGHT!?” Was all the Princess of the moon was able to shout before she collided with Twilight and they rolled together into the bookshelf, making the books topple down on top of them.

Luna was on top of Twilight pinning her slightly.
“Oh my… I’m so sorry Twilight.” Luna said apologetically, moving off Twilight “I thought you were another of those terrible machines... t-they… they took Sabre, I couldn’t stop them… even my magic doesn’t affect them…” Luna said, obviously rather shaken.

Twilight got to her feet and tried to comfort Luna a little.
“Don’t worry princess, I’m sure they are fine… they wouldn’t try to kill us outright, they’ll be trying to capture us.” Twilight said as convincingly as she could. Though she didn’t really believe it herself after, not after the way they swarmed over Blade, but she tried to put it out of her mind. The Princess tried to shake it off.
“Yes… you’re right… and we need to keep moving before they catch us, I doubt we can hide for long.” Luna said moving towards the flight of stairs Twilight had come from.

“Wait, it was swarming with them up there before, we should go this way.” Twilight said pointing to the other door, but Luna nodded.
“No Twilight Sparkle, it was the same story for me… we should look for another way out.” Luna said, looking around the room but not seeing anything at first. Then Twilight spotted what seemed like a service door at the back of the firing range.
“Over here Luna!” Twilight called back.

They climbed the stairs that were behind the door, Twilight going first, finally they came out, through another door, into the main corridor they had split off from before, in fact from there they could see the junction, the hall was empty. They looked in the other direction seeing a large wooden door at the end, just in site. But then the two of them slowly turned back as they heard slow clacking of the metallic claws against the stone floor. Stood at the junction was now one of the Mechanical Monsters.

There was a quick ticking as its head slowly, awkwardly twisted to the side to look at them. It seemed much less active than they had before, more awkward and clumsy in its movements as its head clanked to a stop and its moth opened. Suddenly, the Sentinel’s eyes flashed and a loud alarm like noise rang from its maw. Suddenly a surge of noise came from the corridors and side rooms as the sound of scuttling drowned out every other sound.

At the same time Twilight and Luna turned about and ran for the big wooden doors at the end of the corridor. They galloped with great speed as the Mechanical creatures burst out of the side rooms as they passed, spilling out into the corridor behind them as they ran. They ran barged into the door hoping it would open, but it simply shook and rattled, it was locked on the other side.

They pounded and pounded on the door, the swarm of mechanical terrors growing closer with every second, until suddenly, with only seconds until Collision they froze perfectly still, then suddenly they all formed into orderly lines and turned around, marching down the corridor, some going to the closest Plinths, the bits of stone flying up to seal around the machines once they were in place. Both Twilight and Luna looked at them, completely perplexed, and then the doors swung inwards with a blue glowing aura.

“You two certainly know how to make a racket… now come on through… I need to talk to you two intruders.” The male voice said echoing down the hallway.
“I… I know that voice…” Luna muttered to herself, making Twilight look up at her.

Soon came out into the light of the small Library that seemed to have doubled up as a Study for the Mysterious figure at the desk, facing away from them. The room was tall, the walls covered with books except for an area to the right which indented into the wall, showing a stained glass window with a desk filled with scientific equipment slowly working away, with a few notes. Further into the room was a short set of three steps leading up to a small alcove in which the desk the figure was sat at was located. The Figure turned around and regarded his two guests.
“YOU!?” Both Luna and Twilight shouted in shock and awe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Authors note: can you guess who it's going to be?

Chapter Seven: Downfall of the Conclave (Unedited)

Shadows Of The Past
Chapter Seven: Downfall of the Conclave
Warning: This chapter contains large amounts of information about the plot, so pay attention

Last time: Soon they came out into the light of the small Library that seemed to have doubled up as a Study for the Mysterious figure at the desk, facing away from them. The room was tall, the walls covered with books except for an area to the right which indented into the wall, showing a stained glass window with a desk filled with scientific equipment slowly working away, with a few notes. Further into the room was a short set of three steps leading up to a small alcove in which the desk the figure was sat at was located. The Figure turned around and regarded his two guests.
“YOU!?” Both Luna and Twilight shouted in shock and awe.

Stood before them, exactly as Luna remembered and as Twilight had seen paintings of, was the tall sky blue Unicorn. He wore a darker blue cloak that was covered in stars and moons, the rim of which was covered in bells, it clasped around his neck with gold chains meeting in a sapphire amulet that held the two ends together. He was also adorned with a matching, pointed hat. His long white hair blended into his beard, which twisted down from his face, trailing on the floor. Starswirl The Bearded stood before them and gave a slight bow.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again your Highness” Starswirl said to Luna “And to meet you Pri- Miss Sparkle.” He said quickly catching himself and muttering before writing something down in what appeared to be a journal on the table behind him before turning his attention back to his two guests.
“Hmmm… so… which bit are we up to now..?” He said consulting a strange kind of chart that Twilight couldn’t even start to work out how to understanding it. “AH HA! Here we are… you’re here for information about the Conclave…” He said.

Both Twilight and Luna were rather baffled by not only by his mannerisms but also by the very fact he was still alive, and apparently as young as ever.
“Starswirl, I have not seen you in over two thousand years! Where have you been!?” Luna asked, being the first to recover from her shock.
“Why I’ve been here obviously.” Starswirl said blandly, not really paying attention. Twilight opened her mouth to ask a question but was cut off by Starswirl. “Save your questions. It will be much easier to answer everything at once, come with me.” He said already moving before he had finished, opening a door that had blended in until now as it doubled up as a book shelf.

Starswirl lead them through into a second, much bigger library area, small tables dotted around, mostly piled with books, but he walked them over to a clear one and sat down.
“Alright. So you want to know about who the Conclave are… where they went, how to read their texts… and about how I am still alive, am I right?” He said in a serious business like tone leaving both Twilight and Luna a little taken aback.

“Y-yes, that’s exactly wh-“ Twilight started to say but was cut off quickly by Luna.
“Wait! Where are Sabre and blade?” The princess asked, almost desperately. Starswirl’s eyes widened
“Oh of course! I’m sorry, I had forgotten about them. Don’t worry” He said, closing his eyes, his horn glowing and one of the bookshelves slid up revealing that the book shelf had actually been a back wall of a cell containing the two guard Captains. Both swivelled around and Sabre galloped forwards, wrapping his forelegs around Luna and kissing her deeply, a favour which she gladly returned, leaving both Twilight and Blade gawping, jaws slack.

Starswirl just chuckled. Sabre broke the kiss and nuzzled her gently.
“I-I thought I’d lost you… “ Luna said desperately. Sabre gently pecked her on the lips
“I’m here now my love… and I won’t be leaving your side anytime soon” He said gently before turning back to the others, his foreleg still around her shoulder gently. He then froze as he saw the other’s expressions.
“Oh… I suppose we have some explaining to do…” Luna said quietly, looking down as a slight blush spread across her cheeks.

Starswirl interrupted “I’m afraid that will have to wait, we have to cover a lot of history in a short time, it may be more prudent to do it one the way back.” Sabre was a little shocked, apparently he hadn’t noticed Starswirl, his eyes then widened.
“Is that St-!?” Sabre tried to say but was cut off by the stallion himself.
“Yes, yes, I’m Starswirl the bearded… woo hoo… now sit down so we can actually get down the business.” The ancient unicorn said, waving his hooves about dramatically. Twilight could practically taste the sarcasm.

Everypony sat back down at the table and Starswirl let out an exasperated sigh “Alright, everyone settled? Nopony needs to use the bathroom? Get a bite to eat? No? Good!” He said in the same sarcastic tone. “Alright… so you need to know about the conclave? Well then, the conclave was founded several thousand years ago. In basic terms, it was meant to balance Equestria. And the rest of the known world, there were many memebers, I’m not even sure if anyone knew how many there actually were except the creator… she was a mysterious character, a tall pony with long hair, she was called the creator as she was the founder of the group, and none knew her actual name. But some even believed she may have created the world…” He said ominously, but moved on before they could ask any questions about it.

“Anyway, I’m getting off topic, there are several members you know of: Discord, charged with balancing order and chaos. Queen Chrysalis of the changlings, charged with balancing love. Celestia, charged with balancing night and day. And yours truly,” Starswirl gestured to himself. “charged with balancing time… I was the most advanced researcher into the study of time as you both already know,” he said gesturing to the Princess and Luna.

“There was peace, and the conclave worked for a time after the creator left, but it is inevitable that those with power will seek more, it started with Chrysalis. By balancing the Element of love, she was able to gather enough for her family, but… she got greedy, Equestria was, as it is now, a beacon for love, and Chrysalis tried to take it, just as she did recently. It ended quite the same way as her recent attempt.” The wise unicorn said, levitating down a book, and flipping it to a page showing a painting of a bloodied battlefield, with two armies, one made up of ponies with fierce war faces on, clad in gleaming armour, all commanded by the figure of Celestia tall and regal in golden armour. They were facing off against a huge force of the insectoid changelings, Their Queen visible in the distance.

“The problem then was that there was a dispute between two of the members. This then caused a panic, the equilibrium was upset, and everyone started to try to grab power where they could, one by one they slowly turned away from the Conclave, taking what power they could, until there were naught left but me, Seth, and Celestia still holding true to the laws, which is why Equestria is still in near perfect harmony. Seth was one of the most influential and powerful members of the group, a Dragon, who was to control good and evil in the world, he tried to use his powers to reform the conclave about one thousand years ago, but it backfired, killing him, while it did create the light he had intended, and it wasn’t nearly as much as was needed. By the nature of our magic, the light balanced itself out, spreading a wave of darkness across the land.” He continued secretly glancing at Luna.

“In short, the Conclave has been defunct for quite some time, most of our members hiding away with their powers, or killed during the infighting. Leaving Celestia to bear most of the responsibility of the Conclave, there is only so much I can do, only being a unicorn. She has to carry all of that responsibility… eventually something was going to have to make her snap.” Starswirl got up and put the book away, looking at the four rather shocked ponies, still taking in everything they had just been fed. But Starswirl didn’t give them time to think it over.

“But of course that simply explains how the stage was set… and I believe you wish to know how to end the scene!” Starswirl exclaimed over dramatically snapping everypony back to attention. “Now, there’s no point dancing around the point, Celestia seems to have broken slightly. This seems to be the ‘Straw that broke the camel’s back’ as it were. She’s been holding the tatters of this conclave together for so long, it was inevitable this would happen eventually. She seemed to have things steady, but unstable at best, now you’ve toppled it.” Starswirl said in an uncertain tone, obviously worried about his old friend.

Twilight spoke up then, having taken in and processed what she had just heard, displaying her impressive analytical mind. “Alright, but how do we go about stopping her, or at least calming her down enough to be able to reason with her, last time when Blade and Atom tried to reason with her she barely even blinked.” Twilight said, trying to stay on topic, being very tempted by the row upon row of ancient texts and with her hero sitting across the table from her.

Starswirl nodded “Ah yes, that was it. I think your best bet is to reconstruct the conclave, otherwise this is simply going to keep getting on top of her; you need to show her she doesn’t have to do this by herself. Although, there may be a slight problem, you see, when a new member is inducted, their predecessor loses the power, and so, most of the members tried to take the book containing the ritual. They tore it apart and ran away with a piece to ensure their powers remained with them. While Celestia was able to recover most of them with Luna’s Help.” Starswirl said.

Luna rested a hoof against her chin, trying to remember. “Oh yes, she always was rather secretive about that, she always changed the subject, and I think we all know how good she is at that.” Luna said, thoughtful.
“Yes, exactly, well… there are still a few she couldn’t track down, or at least simply didn’t have the resources to. I have the rest of the book here, and there are only three pages that we need that the Princess couldn’t track down. I believe the princess recovered Discord’s already. Now I’m not sure who has them, but the Princess had been keeping tabs on all of the pages back before the Nightmare Moon incident, and so they should be in the library at the old palace that I believe you and your friends have set up camp in.” Starswirl said with a thoughtful expression Twilight had once seen him wearing in a painting in The Canterlot Gallery.

Starswirl suddenly rose to his feet startling everyone “Alright then! I believe that’s all you’re meant to know right now, it’s up to you to solve the rest, and I had best be back to my duties.” He said with a stretch, Blade then spoke up.
“What do you mean ‘Know right now’? Are there things you aren’t telling us old stallion!?” Blade said demandingly. Standing up and pressing a hoof quite forcefully against Starswirl’s chest. Twilight was completely mortified and Luna’s jaw hung agape, as did Sabre’s. But no one dared to move or speak.

Starswirl simply smirked “Silly little colt… I regulate time itself, of course I know more, but the time line demands you not know them yet.” Starswirl’s horn glowed and Blade shot into the air, Starswirls face curling into a smirk “and if you were trying to be threatening… I have studied magic for thousands of years… you would stand no chance, I could pluck you from the very fabric of time if I so desired.” Starswirl said with a dark glint in his eyes. “Now go, get out of here, I must attend to my duties.” He finished returning back to the desk he had been at when Twilight and Luna first walked in.

Blade scrabbled to his feet and hastily left the room, followed soon by Luna and Sabre trying to calm Blade down. Twilight walked slowly after them, completely embarrassed, and disappointed she hadn’t been able to talk more to her hero.
“Twilight?” Twilight stopped at Starswirl spoke, looking back. “Be careful… dig up the past and all you get is dirty.” He said ominously before turning back to his work. Twilight considered asking more but she didn’t want to fall behind the others. She quickly galloped after them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Couple Of Hours Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I could have taken him, but he startled me!” Blade said unconvincingly.
“Suuure you could old timer.” Sabre said in a joking tone. In reply to which Blade responded with
“Bloody magic…” To which he received glares from both Twilight and Princess Luna. “Oh.. er… sorry Ma’am… er Ma’ams…” He attempted (and failed) to recover the situation. Twilight was in the middle of forming a witty response (at least witty for Twilight) when her thoughts were cut off as they came out of the woods at one end 0f the repaired rope bridge. She froze on the spot and gazed across the bride in horror.

The ancient stone stairs, now smeared in blood leading up to where the newly erected gate had once stood, the splintered mess hanging off the hinges, smoke rose up from behind the falls, far too much for it to just be. The smell of brunt flesh, fabric and wood filled the air; striking terror into Twilight’s heart.

Chapter Eight: Doctors and Demons (Unedited)

Shadows Of The Past
Chapter Eight: Doctors and Demons

Last time: The ancient stone stairs, now smeared in blood leading up to where the newly erected gate had once stood, the splintered mess hanging off the hinges, smoke rose up from behind the falls, far too much for it to just be. The smell of brunt flesh, fabric and wood filled the air; striking terror into Twilight’s heart.

Luna gasped next to Twilight and the two captains suddenly became deadly serious but Twilight was the first up the steps, galloping at full speed up the ancient stonework and through the tattered remains of the gate into main courtyard, the shredded pieces of the tents smouldering on the ground. The blood smears seemed to follow to the stair case to the lower levels. Twilight kept going and was down the stairs just as the others came through the front gate.

Twilight galloped down the stairs with speed, and when she reached the bottom two guards galloped out to meet her, both were laced with sweat and one had a nasty cut on his cheek.
“It’s good that you’re back, we couldn’t stop them… they were like a couple of demons, one of the guards had caught them conspiring together… we went to investigate, and it all went to hell, fires started, and the guards started dying, it was all we could do to push them back into the library.” The guard with the cut cheek said catching his breath.

Twilight looked at him desperately “But who was it!?” Twilight said with worriedly.
“Ma’am, it was discord and-“ The guard stopped and they both saluted
“Your highness!” they both looked up at the princess who was now stood behind Twilight wearing a stern glare of seething anger.

“So Discord is behind this then!?” The Lunar Princess demanded causing the guards to flinch. Luna marched past Twilight and into the next room where the majority of the guards were posted around a barricaded door while the others seemed to be occupied tending to the wounded. Or counting the dead.

They all crowded around a table that had been set up for the commanders, Twilight kept looking around for Atom but could not spot him, not among those guarding the door, nor those tending the wounded… and thankfully not among the dead. Although, that left few options, and even fewer desirable ones.

Twilight’s attention snapped back to the Princess who had been issuing orders to do with wounded and dead when a young unicorn guard, about Twilight’s age, if not a year or two older, stepped up to the Princess. “Your highness, they have put up a magical barrier over the door, we can’t break through and we think they are trying to get into the Library!” The guard said panicked slightly.

Luna’s gaze hardened “Damn It Discord… We trusted you!” Luna said, marking through the ranks of soldiers towards the door, she stopped; her horn glowed as she lowered it towards the invisible barrier. For a moment nothing happened, but then there was a massive flash of light.

A few moments later everyone in the room came to, and sat up; The Princess was already sat in front of the barrier with a look of terror as the troops around her sat up rubbing their heads. Twilight watched the Princess mutter under her breath “No… no, no, no… this magic doesn’t exist in Equestria, not any more…” The princess swivelled around to one of the soldiers “This isn’t Discord’s doing! Who else is in there!? Who is he working with!?” She demanded, terrifying the young guard who managed to stammer out the response.
“D-d-doctor… Discharge your highness, Atom Discharge.”

All of the guards and the Princess looked at Twilight and watched in her eyes as her entire world collapsed, before solidifying into pure fury. Twilight was like a mare possessed, she marched towards the door her horn and eyes glowing purple. The guards parted before her as she marched towards the door she lowered her horn and let out a blast that didn’t blast apart the door… it obliterated it; all that was left was dust and a hole. The entire structure shook in response and Twilight stepped through the threshold. The next guard who tried to follow through hit the barrier again as it fixed itself.

Twilight marched through the dust and emerged in the empty room leading up to the Library door, at which stood Atom studying it, while Discord sunbathed on the ceiling. Twilight marched forth and Atom turned around to look at her, a wicked grin spread across his face. “My, my, you’re back rather early, I’d expected to be out of here before you’d ever gotten back, then again, this hasn’t exactly gone to plan now has it?” Atom said, letting out a dark chuckle.

Twilight continued marching towards Atom, fire burning in her eyes. “What are you doing?! You killed them! You burned down the Camp! And… and… you lied to me!” Twilight said angrily pressing right up into Atom’s face. Atom simply raised an eye brow and turned back towards the door, studying it again.
“Yes? Do you even know what I was doing? What my plan was?” Atom said very calmly.

Twilight looked away slightly embarrassed “N-no.” Twilight admitted, realising how brash she had been, but her anger rose again as Dr Discharge chuckled casually.
“Things really haven’t been going to plan… I should have known I couldn’t kill the Princess by myself that day… but things were just going far too well... but then Luna came and rescued us, and a much better started falling into place, and even better after Discord was released-“
“Ooooh yes!” Discord said sitting up in the lounging chair on the ceiling.
“Oh go back to your lazing” Discharge scoffed.

“Atom… sure she banished you for a few years… but why kill her!? Isn’t that taking this too far… Atom?” Twilight tried to reason, but Atom simply froze and looked around at her with an icy glare.
“A few years…? A FEW YEARS!? It’s been 13 years since I was banished! 13!!” Atom yelled “Twilight… I wasn’t there when my father died… should have, but at the time I was hiding in a Griffon Black Smith’s work shop hiding from the clan’s guards who had heard about my bounty!” Atom shouted with sorrow in his voice “If he deserved to die… so does she… no one is immortal… everyone has to die… even Celestia” Atom said quietly, turning back to the door.

Twilight looked down, trying to hold back her tears of sorrow, anger, and betrayal “Then why did you use us? Why play along this whole time? And why toy with me?” Twilight said still looking down, the tears now spilling over; slightly dampening the floor. Atom didn’t turn around to answer.
“Well, like I said, I came up with a new plan; you see I knew that I’d never be strong enough to defeat the Princess, in fact, the only real chance I stood to defeat the Princess is to set her against her sister or discord. And so I planned to set the Princesses in battle against each other; one would die, and the other weakened enough for Discord to easily finish her off. Now this is the best part Twilight, I know you’ll just love this bit.”

Atom turned around with a wicked grin spread across his face, moving towards Twilight “Princess Cadence would not be next in line, oooh no Twilight, you see; the throne, the crown, would go to Princess Celestia’s Apprentice, the one the Princess had been training since she was a young child. You Twilight would ascend to the throne. And I would have been there by your side, with you head over heels in love with me, I could bend the entirety of Equestria to my whim through your weak minded rule.” Atom let of a dark and sinister chuckle.

At that Moment Twilight’s fragile heart crumbled replaced with a solid lump of anger. She turned to Atom with a glare “You Bastard.” She said, barely a whisper. Atom raised an eyebrow
“What was that?” he said with an amused chuckle.
“You Bastard…” she said just louder. She looked up the blazing furies of hell burning in her eyes “YOU BASTARD!” She screamed, fear flashed in Atom’s eyes as he saw her eyes burning with magic, her horn glowed with magic, sparks flying from it.

Twilight let the Anger flow through her, putting everything into this one blast of Magic. It charged through her body and out of her horn, it powered through the air, tearing it asunder and rocketing through before colliding with a dark red barrier of magic. The blast of purple magic broke apart against the barrier like nothing more than tissue paper.

“My, my, you actually had me a little worried Twilight.” Atom scoffed. Twilight stared in terror. “Oh Twilight, did you ever think you could actually harm me? I have studied Magic that you aren’t even allowed in Equestria.” Atom said Darkly. “Hmm… like this one” A blast of Dark Red magic bolted towards her and fired her back onto the floor.

Twilight tried to stand back up but she couldn’t move her body, she was completely helpless. She looked up to see Atom leaning down with a wicked grin, Discord looked over his shoulder. “Awww, so helpless, so weak.” The lord of chaos commented with a smug grin.

Then, before Twilight’s eyes all but Atom froze, her body went cold, and the air became thick and dusty, making it hard for her to breath. Atom’s grin spread wider, so that his cheek bones stretched up past the edges of his face. “I told you I’d find you” Atom said in a sweet filly’s voice “I told you that you wouldn’t escape” Said the cold Rasping voice of the Defiler.

A gust of spectral wind tore away at the background like wall paper, just as it tore away at Atom’s skin to show the Defiler’s skeletal figure looming over the still paralyzed purple unicorn. “I told you, you would be mineeee!” The last word merging into a horrific scream as the horrific figure lunged forwards.

Twilight screamed and lunged forward Tackling Atom onto the floor of the medical tent. Twilight looked around very confused. Atom was almost confused, looking up at Twilight looking more than a little startled. Twilight looked around at the others still gathered around the bed; Luna, Blade and Sabre looking down at them seeming rather startled, the doctor still frozen with shock holding a thermometer apparently about to take her temperature, and Discord who was rolling around mid-air

After Twilight and Atom had extricated themselves from each other they stood up, Twilight looked around at them with confusion. “W-what’s going on? Where am I?” Twilight asked in an almost desperate voice.
“Twilight, when we got to camp…” Luna said before looking at Blade and Sabre then back at Twilight “…Well you ran forwards, screamed… then collapsed. You’ve been out cold for about an hour now.” Luna explained, leaving Twilight even more confused.

“Er… Miss Sparkle, you should really get into bed, you need to rest.” The doctor said, snapping out of his stupor. Twilight began to protest but suddenly felt limbs become heavy and her breaths deepen. Now that the Adrenalin of the ‘dream’ had passed she could feel how tired her body was after her trying day.

“Y-yes… I think maybe a bit of rest is a good idea.” Twilight said crawling back into the bed but staying sat up as everyone left her tent, Atom giving a worried glace back before leaving. Outside Atom stopped Blade for a moment just put of ear shot.
“Blade, I want to ask you an important favour; if ever I am not around please keep an eye out for Twilight, she’s really starting to worry me” Atom requested with concern in his eyes. Blade simply nodded in return.

Twilight was about to slip back down when suddenly the air grew thick in her lungs and she doubled over, coughing and spluttering. In her ear she heard the sweet filly like voice of the Defiler:
“Peek-a-boo… I found you.”

Chapter Nine: Roll the Dice (Unedited)

Shadows Of The Past
Chapter Nine: Roll the Dice

Last Time: Twilight was about to slip back down when suddenly the air grew thick in her lungs and she doubled over, coughing and spluttering. In her ear she heard the sweet filly like voice of the Defiler:
“Peek-a-boo… I found you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Next Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Atom gathered the group around the table. “Alright ponies, we now have an objective. Well, three to be precise, the last three pieces of the rituals needed to appoint a new conclave. The plan is to split into three groups to collect the three parts off the ritual then regroup. From there we’ll take the pages back to Starswirl, he’ll fix the tome and then we will find a way into Canterlot, preferable a back door to avoid a direct conflict between Luna’s guard and Celestia’s. Then we need to hope that the tome and Starswirl’s word will be enough to convince Celestia that she won’t have to deal with this all on her own so we can finally put an end to this terrible situation.” Atom explained, and the other five Nodded.

“Alright, so the three groups will be myself, Twilight and Blade, Luna and Sabre. Firstly, I will be heading for the conclave member who represents luck, although there wasn’t much information in the archives about him, I’m pretty sure I know where he is, since I have played dice with him.” Atom said with a slight irritation in his voice. “Secondly, Blade and Twilight, you will be going after the conclave member of nature and plantlife, at least that’s how it’s marked down here, though it doesn’t mention a name, it does have a location you could start from, but they still may not be there. Finally, Blade and Luna will be going after the conclave member of love.” Atom paused “Chrysalis, I’m sending you two because you’ll almost certainly need your powers Princess, even so, this is an extremely dangerous mission, use too much power and Celestia may find you. So please… take the greatest care.” Atom said sombrely.

“Now while we five are collecting the pages, I need you to stay here and organise the camp again, your powers will come in handy if Celestia’s search parties find us, which gets more and more likely each day.“ Atom Finished, looking at Discord who nodded
“Hmm… well only if I get to have some fun with the troops.” Discord said jokingly, to which he received a stern glare from the other five.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Next Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Atom was sat on the train, a long brimmed hat pulled low over his head, hiding his face, as it rocked past the bleak grasslands, it wasn’t the first time he’d ridden this particular train to this particular place. But hopefully this time he’d be more successful, returning with the page. And his wallet. He remembered very clearly how he had been beaten so completely at his own game; Equestrian dice.

Notes: Equestrian Dice is a game of my own making since I am not particularly knowledgeable in many forms of gambling, it’s a game involving two people and six dice, each starts off with three, and then has to roll them. The sum of the scores is then found and the one with the lowest takes a dice from the other player and rolls again. The aim is to get all six dice, but it gets progressively harder as you win dice. I’m not sure if it is a game already, but if it is then I apologize once again for my ignorance when it comes to games of chance.

Atom sighed as the train pulled up in Dodge junction. The place had changed a little since he was last here, but not by much, the odd store under new management, or a new building here. Thankfully the saloon he remembered all too well was there also. While gambling in Equestria was technically illegal, it still housed a number of small underground gambling communities dotted around the map, the largest being at Dodge Junction.

Atom pulled the hat down further over his head; it was dangerous to be back in Equestrian borders but it was the only way he could see to resolve the situation other than brute force. This he thought as he walked towards the old saloon, taking a deep breath before walking inside. He walked up to the bar and looked at the Bartender who looked back with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh ‘ello there son, can I get you a drink?” He said in a friendly manner, to which Atom responded by beckoning him closer.
“Mind if I join in the games?” Atom asked the bartender in a meaningful tone. The bartender pulled back for a moment, studying Atom.
“Mah’ mah’, I haven’t heard that one for years, oh ‘ey, aren’t yah the young’en that lost all his Bits to Wild a few years back?” the Barman said, his heavy accent evident in his speech. Atom nodded slowly “Ah well ‘den, go on through lad, maybe you’ll win some’a those bits back eh?” The Barman said with a chuckle. Atom went through a door just to the left of the bar.

When Atom went through the door he was hit by a wall of cigar smoke, making him cough slightly. It was the same room he remembered, the same layout of different games all being overseen by rather buff unicorns, their horns all glowing, obviously there to stop people cheating. They were all casting the same spell, he knew it, simple but effective, used to detect any other magic or any deviations from the rules of the set game.

And then, sat at the head of the table was the young looking brown Pegasus wearing a rahter famous hat: Wild Card, the stallion Atom was looking for, with exactly the same smug grin on his face. He hadn’t aged a day. A cry of frustration rang out at Wind Card rolled the winning dice and won the last di, pocketing his opponent’s bits. His opponent, a young white earth pony then stormed out, past Atom.

Wild Card looked up to see Atom stood in the door way, and a large grin spread across his face. Atom sighed and marched forward with solid determination, despite the rising fear of what would happen if his plan failed. “Now I always remember a face, especially yours little Atom, you were so young when I met you, looks like you’re all grown up now.” Wild Card said callously, in mocking bitter tone as Atom sat down at the table “So why are you back? Finally worked up the guts to come try winning your coin purse back?”

Atom gave a sweet smile back “Oh? I thought it was a wallet, in that case you keep it, it’ll suit you much better…” Atom said in a sickly sweet tone before becoming more serious “No, I’m here for something much more important… I need the page you took from the conclave.” Atom said with deathly seriousness.

The colour drained from Wild’s face “H-how do you know about that? No, it doesn’t matter, you’re not taking it!” He said protectively, starting to get up, pulling up a safe box from under the table and holding it defensibly but he froze half way out of his seat at Atom’s next.
“So you’re not willing to gamble for it?” Atom said with confidence. The whole room quietened and looked over; if there was one thing Wild Card was famous for; it was never turning down a challenge.

Wild Card slowly slid back into his seat. “Damn you boy. Right then, what are you bringing to the table then?” he said irritably. To which Atom looked down sombrely, his hoof lifting a small black box and opening it up to show a glistening gold ring with a large band or Diamond set into it, inscribed with ornate flowing patterns. “This was my mother’s, and it’s all I have left of her.” Atom said with a hard look in his eyes.

The large unicorn by the table, a large, grey coloured unicorn with a bright scarlet mane, picked up the small box and pulled out a jeweller’s magnifying glass to study the ring. After a few minutes the unicorn lowered the magnifying glass slightly awestruck; “This is worth a small fortune, are you sure you want to risk it for a piece of paper?” He asked, to which Atom smirked slightly.
“Well, why not make it interesting and throw in Wild Card’s hat too.” Atom said, a statement that brought a gasp from the crowd, in certain circles Wild Card’s hat was extremely famous, and even rumoured, incorrectly, to be the source of his uncanny luck.

Wild Card sighed and pulled out small wooden tube and handed it to the unicorn, who opened it and showed the paper to Atom who confirmed it was what he needed, and then Atom handed over the ring too, the unicorn went to take the hat but Wild gripped it “I’d prefer to keep it on if that’s okay.” He said protectively, the unicorn shrugged and placed the other two items in a metal box which was set on the table. A row of three dice were placed in front of both of them. And they both locked eyes before picking up their set of dice and rolling the first go.

Over the next hour the two played back and forth, Wild Card usually having the advantage, still keeping his smug confident grin, as the game went on it attracted more and more attention, it was one of the longest games they had seen Wild Card play, soon the whole room was gathered around and even starting to place bets with one another as the game progressed. It became a very interesting match, not only because of the interesting bets, but also because no one could quite get a foot hold.

Atom was down to one di, and it seemed as though this would be the killing blow, Wild Card tossed the dice with a smug grin as they all landed on ones. A grin that turned to a frown as Atom won that toss, and then the next, And then slowly turned to a snarl of frustration as Atom completely pushed him back to one di.

Everyone gathered around the last throw. As they tossed the world seemed to run in slow motion as Wild Card’s di rolled to a stop and just toppled over to six and his eyes widened watching Atom’s Dice rolling to a stop one after another, each landing on one, until the last one fell off the table and bounced a little rocking to stop on another one. Atom sat with a smug grin as Wild Card’s face dropped. “H-h-how is that possible?” Was all he could say.

Atom removed the contents of the box as the Whit Unicorn opened it. Wild Card just sat there dazed as Atom took the hat from his head and walked out, leaving a crowd of stunned observers, and a lot of angry betters. Only after the door had closed did Wild card jump up and rush out the door to see Atom step onto the train.

“Wait!” Wild Card shouted, making Atom turn around at the top of the train’s steps. “Y-you have to tell me… how did you win?” Wild Card asked desperately, to which Atom just smirked.
“Simple” Atom stated “I cheated.” He said with a wink. Wild Card stood there, completely shocked and destroyed; he could do nothing but stare forwards as the train pulled out of the station. After the strain had disappeared over the horizon he uttered a few quiet mumbled words.
“But I loved that hat…”

Chapter Ten: Mother Nature (Unedited)

Shadows Of The Past
Chapter Ten: Mother Nature

Last Time: “Wait!” Wild Card shouted, making Atom turn around at the top of the train’s steps. “Y-you have to tell me… how did you win?” Wild Card asked desperately, to which Atom just smirked.
“Simple” Atom stated “I cheated.” He said with a wink. Wild Card stood there, completely shocked and destroyed; he could do nothing but stare forwards as the train pulled out of the station. After the strain had disappeared over the horizon he uttered a few quiet mumbled words.
“But I loved that hat…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Meanwhile ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight and Blade strolled through the woods talking, both expected this to be an easy mission, they had the location of the Conclave Member, even if they had moved since they would probably have left a trail. “It looks like Celestia found the location of the member just before Luna became Nightmare Moon, it was at the end of the records and it hasn’t been collected yet.” Blade explained to Twilight as they trotted
“Well hopefully they won’t be too much of a problem, the Conclave member of Nature has to be understanding, right?” Twilight asked hopefully, to which Blade just shrugged indecisively. They pushed through the under bush when Twilight stopped, Blade almost kept going until Twilight’s outstretched hoof stopped him from walking straight into the patch of blue flowers.

“Poison Joke, don’t touch the flowers, I don’t know how but those flowers can do some really strange things to a pony.” Twilight said cautiously, giving a warning look towards Blade
“How do you know? Have you seen someone touch it before?” Blade questioned as they skirted around the patch, Twilight froze.
“Er, let’s just say I’ve had first-hand experience.” Twilight said, Blade opened his mouth to question further but Twilight cut him off “Don’t ask, trust me...” she said quickly.

As they continued further Twilight started to get an odd feeling of familiarity as though she had been here before. She then came out from the trees into a clearing and a very familiar hut came into view. “It should be right around here according to the map” Blade said to which Twilight said, in a perplexed tone;
“B-but, that’s Zecora’s hut” Twilight stammered.

“Maybe she knows about the Conclave Member” Blade said trying to reassure Twilight as he walked past to knock on Zecora’s door, Twilight hurried to his side as Zecora opened the door and smiled to Twilight, before noticing Blade’s armour and backing away slightly.
“While it is good to see you my friend, I fear your companion may be my end.” Zecora said in her usual musical rhymes.

“Celestia’s armour does not bode well for me…” Zecora said looking at the map held by Blade “The conclave’s script I clearly see.” She said backing towards the window of her home, before leaping out and into the forest beyond just as Twilight was about to try to explain the situation, both her and Blade raced around the building to see Zecora disappear into the underbrush and gave chase, galloping after her.

Twilight and Blade ran alongside each other, only just keeping sight of Zecora’s tail as they chased her, the branches seemed to move into their way, cutting at them as they ran through, evidently chasing someone who could control nature through a forest wasn’t a particularly clever idea, but they didn’t have much of a choice any more.

through deeper and deeper woods they chased Zecora, the dense leaves blocking out the sunlight as they went deeper, until suddenly, Twilight heard a rustling and Blade had disappeared from her side as she was still galloping, but she daren’t slow, she had lost sight of Zecora but could still see her hoof prints.

Twilight galloped around the corner and skidded to a stop as Zecora was stood in front of her about one hundred metres ahead, facing her. “I’m sorry, my friend, that this has to be…” Zecora said lyrically, as Twilight heard a rustling next to her “but by helping Celestia with this, you bring harm to me.” A vine shot out of the brush and wrapped around Twilight’s throat before she could respond, quickly cutting off her air as it constricted.

Twilight’s vision started to blur as her lungs began to burn, Zecora just watched, seeming regretful, but determined. There was a sudden blur of motion and Zecora was on the ground, pinned by Blade, who was cut all along his body, as if he’d just, and most likely had, been dragged through a rose bush, a long curved dagger was held in his hoof, held firmly against Zecora’s throat. “Let. Her. Down. Or Luna help me I’ll do to you what your floral little friends just did to me.” Lade said in a rough, pained voice as his wounds bled slightly.

Twilight felt air rush into her lungs the moment the vines loosened and she had fallen to the ground, the cool air burned against her lungs making her cough and splutter as she rubbed her neck gently, When Twilight’s eyes had stopped spinning she looked up to see Blade holding onto Zecora roughly, pressing the knife to her neck still.

Twilight stood up and stumbled over, still rather dizzy. “Zacora, maybe, before running from, and almost killing your friend, you should have listened to what she had to say?” Twilight said in a rasping, very irritated and condescending tone before waving Blade’s knife wielding hoof. “Let her go, we need to talk to her properly, now she’s stopped trying to choke us.”

Once Twilight had recovered well enough to talk after wetting her throat with what tasted like whisky, from Blade’s flask, they were ready to talk, Zecora was sat on a tree stump looking down, an ashamed look on her face as she pondered her brash response after the situation had been explained by Blade. Twilight approached Zecora, sitting on the grass opposite Zecora.

“Twilight, I do so hope you can forgive me.” Zecora said apologetically “The Royal guard’s armour was rather a shock to see.”
“Zecora, it’s okay, I can understand that” Twilight said, though she was thoroughly miffed she couldn’t afford to hold a grudge right now “We need your help calming Celestia and reinstating the Conclave. The more old members we can get on our side the more likely it is that she will listen to us.” Twilight explained, hoping she would agree.

Zecora sat there, thinking and considering Twilight’s proposition. After a while Zecora nodded. “My help I shall lend, and now my friend, your throat we must mend. “ Zecora said lyrically, her mood improved slightly, she sprung up and lead the two inured ponies back to her hut to mix up the potions needed to fix their aches and pains. Twilight and Blade were in significantly worse moods, Twilight rubbing her throat as she walked, and blade examining a particularly deep cut on his left foreleg.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An Hour later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight and blade were now feeling significantly better as their wounds were now healed and they were heading back to the camp, traveling with Zecora was definitely easier as the bushes and trees parted for them as they passed, evidently having control over nature itself was very handy, especially for a potions expert.

As Twilight walked pondering what she had seen at Zecora’s hut, the apparently ancient Zebra had simply spawned the ingredients from the ground making them grow at speeds not even she could have done with magic. It was incredible, Twilight couldn’t help but wonder what other types of magic were out there other than what she had been taught ‘Maybe I can ask Discord, he’d know about that kind of thing, wouldn’t he?’ she thought to herself.

Zecora knew all of the shortcuts through the forest, leading them to the camp very quickly, the guard on top spotted them and opened the gates quickly, shutting them as soon as the group was inside the camp, the group soon made their way to the command tent. The soldiers evidently nervous of their new guest, muttering amongst themselves.

As soon as they entered the tent Discord commented on the new arrival “Ah, Zecora, as beautiful as ever I see, how are you?” He said, offering his hawk like claw to shake, to which Zecora responded with a deadpan look.
“Ah, Discord, as always the horny swine.” she said in an irritated tone, continuing “Evidently your manner has not improved with time.” Swatting Discord’s claw aside, he grumbled and turned back to the map.

While this was happening Atom had already come over, hugging twilight and giving her a light kiss on the lips. “I see we have a new member of our little rebellion, did she give you much trouble?” he said in a slightly concerned tone, she could tell he’d seen the bruises on her neck, but was trying not to mention it.
“Ah, I’ll tell you later when we’re alone, what’s with the hat?” Twilight asked Atom, as he was still wearing Wild Card’s hat.
“I won it in a game of dice, along with that.” He said pointing out the old page laid on the table.”

“Ah, of course, the page of the book.” Zecora said pulling out her own page and laying it out next to the other. “And only one more needed, what luck.” She said with a smile, but Twilight frowned, concerned.
“Wait, Luna and Sabre haven’t returned yet? But they set off before us!” Twilight exclaimed, Atom nodded.

“Discord and I were discussing this just before you arrived, we actually expected it to be them, and Discord has an uneasy feeling about it.” Atom explained, pointing to Discord, who’d taken, or apparently returned to, pacing about the tent uneasily.
“Damn it, that’s it, I’m going to look for them!” Discord exclaimed a few moments later and flew out of the tent in a dash.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several Miles Away ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luna woke with a start, and tried to gasp, but no air would fill her lungs, only thick ooze, making her cough, or attempt to, but no matter how she tried the fluid would not budge. She tried to open her eyes but was met with green blur and a stinging sensation, which continued even after she had shut them again. After a few moments the pain subsided and she opened her eye, once they had focused her heart sank as she saw, through a green haze, Sabre, unconscious in a green pod hanging upside down, until she finally she realised she too was in a pod. Her eyes darted about in panic, until they came to rest on the sight bellow her; hundreds and thousands of changlings all scurrying along the floor. Luna let out a soundless scream into the green ooze surrounding her, holding her, trapping her.

Chapter Eleven: Changling Lair (Unedited)

Shadows Of The Past
Chapter Eleven: Changling Lair

Last time: Luna woke with a start, and tried to gasp, but no air would fill her lungs, only thick ooze, making her cough, or attempt to, but no matter how she tried the fluid would not budge. She tried to open her eyes but was met with green blur and a stinging sensation, which continued even after she had shut them again. After a few moments the pain subsided and she opened her eye, once they had focused her heart sank as she saw, through a green haze, Sabre, unconscious in a green pod hanging upside down, until she finally she realised she too was in a pod. Her eyes darted about in panic, until they came to rest on the sight bellow her; hundreds and thousands of changlings all scurrying along the floor. Luna let out a soundless scream into the green ooze surrounding her, holding her, trapping her

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Previous Night ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luna and Sabre came to a stop outside of a large cave mouth, out of sight of it only by the layer of trees they were taking cover behind. They had been travelling all day and evening to get to the other side of the Everfree forest to get here in time. At least they could get away with teleporting back, knowing that even if the Changling Queen, Chrysalis, could detect the magic; it would be too late to stop them using it if they were teleporting away, the same couldn’t be said for if they were to arrive that way.

Both of them were just glad they were able to teleport most of the way, otherwise they would have had to skirt around half of Equestria just to get to where they were now, which would have taken weeks. Still, a day’s travel was needed as they had to land far enough away to avoid detection.

The two started to gladly set up camp, though they could use no fire, they were glad to simply be able to sit. They had picked a rather tactical spot, they had found an outcrop of rock to camp under, ensuring no scouts could sneak up behind them, a feature that soon worked against them . As they settled down for food they started to discuss strategy.

“So, I say we use a cloaking spell to disguise ourselves as changlings, get in, get the page, get out.” Sabre suggested to which Luna nodded
“Hopefully I can hide the spell well enough to maybe convince chrysalis to show us the page.” She replied, very nervous about what they were about to do. She sighed “I guess really, all we can really do is see what happens in there” she said.

After a little while they decided to start on the shifts for watch when they heard a rustling from just outside of camp, and both rushed to the edge to explore, after a few moments of silence Luna looked back towards Sabre to see him being tackled form behind by a changling, she swiveled around just in time to see the outcrop swarming with them before a changling’s hoof entered her view and everything went black

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Present Time ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.
Luna closed her eyes and took a few minutes to review her memories and figure out that the changlings must have climbed over the outcrop into their camp, sneaking up behind her and Sabre. Luna let out a silent cry of shock as she opened her eyes to be met with the sight of a Changling right in her face. The creature tilted it’s head and studied her for a moment, meeting Luna’s eyes, before scuttling off across the ceiling of the cavern they seemed to be in.

Luna started to look around, realizing she hadn’t actually paid any attention to where they were. It was a massive cavern of black, jagged rock, except for the floor, which seemed to have been filed down and polished into a smooth floor that gleamed like marble. The length of the room seemed to lead up to a single point: The Jagged black throne, carved into a twisted and contorted shape, riddled with holes and a green fire burning in each. Seated upon the terrible throne was Chrysalis herself, queen of the changlings, Luna recognized her from imaged Celestia had showed her of the fabled wedding.

As Luna looked over Chrysalis their eyes met, and a wicked, terrifying grin spread across the Queen’s face, striking a deep fear into Luna, she tore her gaze away and saw Sabre, now awake, locked in a similar gaze. There was a sudden lurch and a rushing feeling, followed by a hard collision with the floor. The slime that had been surrounding her now cascaded from the torn pod onto her for a moment before slowly stopping. Luna could see that Sabre was in a similar slime covered heap on the hard, polished floor.

As Luna and Sabre slowly climbed into a kneeling position, unable to find the strength to rise any further, they looked up at the Queen, who was wearing a fiendish smirk. “The forbidden, star-crossed romance between the Princess and the Captain of the guard, at first in secret, but allowed the flourish in the fires of war! How rare! How beautiful! How…” Chrysalis’s long, snake like tongue slithered out and slowly ran across her own lips. “… Delicious.” She said before letting out a dark chuckle.

“Did you re-“ Chrysalis started but was cut off my Sabre quickly rising to his feet
“You shan’t keep us captive! Yo-“ Sabre announced proudly, but was drowned out by Chrysalis’s bellow.
“How dare you interrupt your Queen!?” She cried out, her horn glowing green, a glow replicated by Sabre’s entire body as it was forced into a mock worship position.

Chrysalis growled and continued “Did you really think you could just come in and just take my page?” She gloated with a cackle. “You had lost before you even started!” she said with a dark laugh, looking past them, Luna turned her head to see Discord stood at the entrace to the hall way, she watched him march up the cave towards them, and then past; up the steps to the twisted throne.

At this point Chrysalis was now on her feet as discord stood next to her, putting his arm around her. “Oh no my dear princess! Did you think he was working with you? You turned him to stone, why in the name of the creator would he ever help you? Oh no… Discord is firmly in my corner.” Chrysalis gloated as Luna watched in horror as Discord and Chrysalis moved in closer to kiss.

Before their lips could meet, Discord placed a single claw on Chrysalis’s lips, halting her kiss. “My dear queen…” he said, looking deeply into her eyes, before the rest of his hand moved up her face, grasped it, and then pushed her backwards sending her tumbling down the stairs. He snatched the page, still floating in midair, next to where Chrysalis had been moments before. “sorry, dear, I’m lord of chaos, I’m a little inconsistent.” He said with a chuckle.

Chrysalis stared at him with pure fury before screaming; “GET HIM!” At that point every pair of changling eyes were firmly on Discord. He jumped down from throne, picked up the two ponies, slinging them over his shoulder, and then bolting out of the exit. Just as they ran out a single changling screeched and the entire swarm sprang into action, rocketing around the room and out the door after them.

Discord tossed the two ponies onto their hooves and they all ran together, the horrifying horde of changlings only meters behind them. As they raced through the corridors of the twisted hive, the changlings were gaining by the minute. Knowing this, the moment they entered the next chamber Luna skidded to a holt, swiveling around and casting a simple but powerful bolt of magic at the ceiling above the door, making it collapse in, blocking the entrance, and crushing several changlings and leaving only about 5 still in the chamber.

Sabre leapt into action, two blades now protruding from his greaves, he pounced on the changlings, taking them all on at once, and receiving only small scratches. Discord and Luna then moved to block of the other entrances, Luna collapsing two, and Discord blocking the other by spawning a giant marshmallow in the tunnel, it’s soft, round edges bulging out over the exit.

All three managed to regroup in the middle of the room, and Luna was the first to speak. “Alright, I can teleport us out of here, but it will take time to prepare one large enough for all of us.” She said, getting to work already, without feedback, on the casting circle, carving magical lines into the floor with her horn. Discord and Sabre exchanged glances and stepped away to let her work, checking their defenses.

Sabre suddenly turned to Discord with a snarl, jabbing a hoof into his chest. “What the hay are you going here anyway!? And why were you about to kiss Chrysalis!?” He demanded from the being of chaos, who gave a little grin.
“Oh please, I saw this coming since you defrosted me back in the gardens, I knew things were changing in the Conclave, and I knew we’d need the pages.” He explained, Luna still casting the complicated spell.

“Then why didn’t you tell us about the pages!?” Sabre said in shock, to which discord rolled his eyes.
“You needed to see Starswirl; he knew what needed to be done better than I did. But I knew that we needed the pages, and that Chrysalis had one, I planned ahead!” he said. Sabre gave him a skeptical look.
“Planning doesn’t quite seem your thing Discord.” Sabre said condescendingly.
“Oh please, True chaos contains some order; otherwise it’s nothing but chaos, which isn’t very chaotic at all.” He said with a chuckle, leaving sabre to figure it out on his own.

Sabre rolled his eyes and continued checking the Marshmallow barrier when he heard and unusual sound coming from it, and jumped back as the head a changling chomped through it and poked its head out snapping at Sabre who jumped back again. “Whoa! Discord! Fix this, Luna, speed things up!” Sabre ordered urgently, as discord formed balls of marshmallow in his hand, throwing it at the changling, slowly plugging the hole up and sealing the changling in place, wriggling and writing, but completely stuck… for now.

“Right, we need to get going, and get going soon!” Discord said to Luna who nodded, now concentrating on the spell itself, charging it and weaving it together. The changling was still wriggling and writhing as more sounds came from the other entrances; scrabbling and scratching of many hooves and claws. Sabre and Discord both took to guarding the other entrances, making sure they were secure for now, checking over and over, just to be sure, everyone knew what terrifying swarm waited outside, and if even one could get through, so could they all.

“Done!” Luna exclaimed, making both Discord and Sabre sigh in relief. “alright, everyone get into, and stay in the circle for the whole spell, if you step outside for even a moment it will leave you behind, understand?” Luna Explained as the two stepped into the circle, both nodded and stepped inside the carved circle, sabre meeting eyes with the Marshmallow encased changling and frowned as it suddenly started to writhe violently and break free.

Just as the spell started and the magical circle began to glow the Changling broke free of the improvised Marshmallow barrier and jumped up into the air, rocketing across the distance between the opening and the spell, heading right for Luna, ready to attack, fangs ready. At the very last moment Sabre lunged forwards out of the barrier, tackling the changling out of the air. Luna saw this just as the spell swept them away, and they landed in the courtyard of the camp. “NOOOO! No no no no no no!” Luna sobbed, collapsing to the floor in tears, knowing that now Sabre was gone for good.