Mistakes of the Past

Mistakes of the Past
By Cosmic Waltz

Warning: Grimdark Content. Read at your own discretion.

Warning: Grimdark Content. Read at your own discretion.

Warning: Grimdark Content. Read at your own discretion.

This is a Grimdark fanfiction story based on the show "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" by Hasbro. It will contain scenes of violence, gore, death, and heavy emotional content. You have been warned.

Warning: Grimdark Content. Read at your own discretion.

Warning: Grimdark Content. Read at your own discretion.

Warning: Grimdark Content. Read at your own discretion.

Chapter 2

The Royal Court of Canterlot was abuzz with the worried voices of the many ponies within its rounds. There was much panicked debate over the sudden change in weather that had taken over the sky.

"What do we pay the weather team for if they can't do their job!" somepony had cried in accusation.

Princess Celestia sat at one end of the conference, Princess Luna by her side. The two royal ponies oversaw the proceedings, sitting as judges on the dais. Celestia often spent these meetings trying to appear interested, secretly bored by the legal ramblings that were brought forward endlessly. She did her best to stand as a figure for her loyal ponies, but most of this work fell on the hooves of her advisors and hardly required her attention. Still, she would endure the hardships of boredom if it let her subjects feel comforted in their homes and businesses.

This meeting was different, however, and invoked her full attention. An emergency conference had been called for all major offices of Canterlot. The weather, controlled expertly by the magic of the Canterlot Weather Team, had changed suddenly. The sky was cast in a darkening grey, blocking the sun almost completely. Outside, the land looked almost as night.

Spritz, the head of the weather team, stood forward from his seated position. "Do not blame us for this! This tempest is not of our making, and even as my team fights their hardest, with me stuck in this conference to appease the lot of you, they can barely make a dent in the clouds before their work is overtaken by the sky! We are just as worried as the rest of you over this peculiar phenomenon."

Spritz had a professional way of arguing that always entertained the Princess. He could insult a pony to their face, but with such a deserved tone that they would practically thank him for it. Now, however, the unicorn was just as fear-gripped as the rest of the counsel. His team had been trained most of their lives to manage the weather, and not even their combined efforts were penetrating the overhanging gloom.

"Sir Spritz," the Sun Princess spoke to the white unicorn. As her voice was heard, a silence settled in the bustling room. "If your team is not responsible for this weather, have you been able to determine its source?"

This question worried her. The Everfree forest was capable of making its own weather, but never this strong. The best cloudweavers in Cloudsdale would never have been able to create something as formidable as the grey canopy. And though magic was used to create the meteorological events of Canterlot, even their work was nothing of the calibre above.

Spritz looked down in respect, letting his golden forelock drape his face. "We do not know, Princess Celestia," he began in a low voice. "There is definitely magic within the sky, but none that we have encountered before. We have received reports that it is not only Canterlot veiled by this atmosphere. It seems to have spread over much of Equestria. Reports from Cloudsdale have even stated that the storm rages over their own city."

This was startling news. Cloudsdale was one of the highest places in Equestria. Clouds were rarely placed above their city, and yet these billowed over their home without effort.

The Princess lean to her sister, speaking in secret away from the crowd's perked ears. Luna listened intently, before return an answer to the unheard question with a nod to her sister.

"Luna and I have decided, that as long as this weather grips the land, the sun will stay in the sky, held by our magic. During such an uncertain time, we cannot take what little light we receive below the storm for granted." The counsel seemed pleased by this decision.

Celestia whispered to her sister again. "I'm sorry we have to do this. I promise I'll make it up to you, sister. How about I let you raise the sun at the next morning?"

The younger Princess' eyes grew in excitement at the offer. "Thank you, Sis!" she whispered under her joy.

The room began to stir again into plans of action, and business leaders began to argue strategies. Many spoke of promotional sales during the "crisis." Anything to get customers, it seems. Perhaps this was a typical meeting after all.

There was a chaotic shuffling of hooves heard through the doors of the office. In the moments following, Sunbeam, Celestia's own royal advisor and consultant, burst through into the meeting room. Celestia had left her to organize the guard patrols in case of panic taking to the streets. The pink coated unicorn stood breathless, her azure hair dripping with sweat. "P... Pr-Princess Celestia!"

Something wasn't right. Celestia knew that there was bad news on the horizon. "Sunbeam? What's wrong?"

The royal advisor tried to catch air, coughing and sputtering as she did. She looked to the Princess with frightful emotion glistening in her eyes. "Come, quickly. Something's happened to Twilight!"

A knot twisted in Celestia gut as the words sank in. She was immediately on her hooves. "Luna, I'm leaving you to lead the counsel. Sunbeam, take me to her now!"

Without another word to the ponies in the room, the Princess of the Sun was gone.

Sunbeam led the Princess into the throne room. The long corridor seemed grim as the sickly grey light spilled occluded into the room. Before her throne, a group of guards and medical unicorns were gathered around a purple shape on the floor.

It was Twilight.

Celestia darted to her pupil. What happened? Why was she here?

As she approached, she could see the condition her beloved pupil was in. It was like a knife piercing her heart. The body of Twilight was laid on the floor, with two medical mages at either side. The student was badly injured. Her fur was darkened from massive bruising under the coat. Her legs were twisted into impossible positions, lying helplessly in their shattered condition. Blood still trickled fresh from her busted lips, cracked teeth, and twisted muzzle. Her eyes were open slightly, both black with the blood that had pooled under the lenses. Her horn had been removed, seemingly snapped from her skull. Thick blood oozed from the hole that was left on her forehead.

Celestia was in horror. Before her was her student, left in a morbid state. She had never expected to see her like this, nor imagined it possible. Tears streamed down the Princess' face.

Sunbeam moved closer, attempting to comfort her royal master. "We found her in here like this. We don't know what happened. I'm so sorry."

Celestia forced out her words, fighting back the breakdown she felt she bordered. "Is... is she..."

One of the doctors tending to the unicorn looked to face the Princess. "No. She's alive. Just barely. We've stabilized her, so we'll move her to the infirmary for advanced care now."

"What? You don't appreciate my craft?"

An unearthly voice rang through the corridor. It screeched of metal and glass beneath a proper tongue. The entirety of the room turned to the source of the hellish voice.

Sitting upon the throne was a pale, cloaked figure, with blackened wings reaching high above. He had not been there before, everypony was certain.

He spoke again, his voice split underneath with shrill, scathing whispers. "I was very meticulous with that one. I wanted her to live. Death is simple; I prefer when the damages leave a scar on the very soul." He looked to the Princess, his eyes piercing a blood-stained red. "She cried for you the whole time."

A violent fury rose in Celestia at his vicious words. She burned with a rage she hadn't felt in all her years. Before the guards themselves could react, the Princess lunged at the pony on the throne. "YOU SON OF A BI-"

Her assault was cut short by a freezing grip of magic. The pony's blackened, spiraled horn radiated of dark energy, holding her in place by the throat.

"Celestia" he spoke. "You must jest."

The guards finally snapped to their senses, charging in force at the pony. Without taking his eyes from the royal mare, the mysterious being threw the guards to the walls and pressed the doctors to the floors with magic, holding them tightly to the stone.

Celestia tried to use her magic to free herself. Her horn began to shine a weak purple light as she fought her bonds. Quickly, she found her powers halted, sealed within her by arcane energy. The glowing blackness around her throat tightened further.

"You always were a fighter," he called to her.

Celestia caught from the corner of her eye a pink blur. Sunbeam was immediately upon the pony on the throne. Her horn formed a blast of light, sending the magic projectile flying to the intruder. An aura of black energy encircled the figure as the nova hit, deflecting the attack harmlessly. His attention turned full to the advisor, lifting her with more of his magic still.

"Insolent worm. I will make an example of you."

A pulse flickered through the pony's horn, releasing a stale coldness into the air. Before Celestia's eyes, she saw her beloved advisor shredded, ripped apart by the damned magic. A crimson spray of blood and mangled organs drenched the floor as the pink pony was eviscerated.

"NO!" Celestia cried through her strangled throat. The deed had been done. The final pieces of the once living pony fell to the floor.

With startling speed, the terrible figure was in the Princess' face, suspended by his enormous wings.

"Tell me, Celestia; do you remember me?"

The features before her answered. She knew she had seen the pony before, but long ago. A secret she had long since forgotten. "I do..." she replied through heavy sobs.

The grip of magic tightened around her, twisting her body just enough to cause pain.

"Call my name, 'Princess.' Just as you used to. Who am I?"

She forced her eyes to meet his. She snarled out the cursed name.

"Sevic."

The malicious being smiled wide, his teeth showing in full. "So, you do remember your old lovers? I'm honored."

Celestia felt her skin crawl at the words. Through the constrictions of his magic, she spit in the face of the being. He was unfazed by the act.

"Oh, Celestia," Sevic spoke, the hellish choir behind his voice twisting her name further. "How about a kiss for old time's sake?"

Before she could scorn his offer, she found his mouth to hers. His breath tasted of ash and rot, its scent twisting in a terrible miasma within her lungs. His tongue bore deep down her throat, longer than it should have ever been, almost tickling at her stomach lining. The muscle felt like it was lined in splinters, slashing about within her throat. He pulled away from her, leaving her to cough the blood he loosed from the delicate tissues.

"Why have you returned Sevic!" she shouted in his face.

The beastly pony stared into her eyes.

"I told you I would always haunt you. Even when you sealed away my dormant power, I swore to you that my hate would act as a vessel, strengthening me with each passing day. You abandoned your vigilance of my bonds on the night you fled the castle in tears. Or did you just forget of me, passing me off as a bad memory? It was only a matter of waiting my time, refining my powers to bring misery to you. And that day is now. Your foalish student released me from the mirror you had placed to contain me. And when I found my corporeal form sustainable, I began my assault of you."

He turned the mare's gaze to Twilight. Her broken body wrapped the Princess' heart in pain.

"She was just the first strike. An easy one, as well. Her magic was nothing compared to mine. And with each striking blow, and with each twisted, splintered bone, I could feel your soul breaking. I violated all that was good within her, gifting you with the ruined mess I made of her body and mind. And I am not done yet."

She was made to look upon the monster before her again. His breath felt of coals on her face.

"Death is nothing to the immortal, is it? You killed me once before, did you not? No, death is no revenge. So I must do more. I must destroy you. I will strike your heart with venomous daggers as I tear apart all that you love. And you will watch helplessly."

He tossed the Princess hard against the ground, the blood of her slain assistant splashing onto her coat.

"This is only the beginning, you worthless foal. I will tear down everything you hold dear."

Sevic looked into the weak Princess' tearful eyes. "Cut out your heart, or I'll rip it from your very chest." He released a horrifying cackle as he disappeared into a fiery flash of magic.

As he left, the guards and doctors were released of the binding holds upon them. Guard Captain Strongheart ran to the royal mare, helping her up.

"I'm fine," Celestia answered, finding her own strength returning. She turned to the unicorn doctors, freed of the floor. "Get Twilight to the infirmary now, and... send for somepony to get Sunbeam..." They complied without needing the order.

She looked back to the Captain. "And you. Organize your guard. I want the palace on lockdown. Nopony is to be in the streets of Canterlot. Summon the Magisters from the Arcane Academy, have them posted within the castle. And I want you personally to bring my sister to me. Now go."

"Stallions! You heard the Princess. Get to work." Strongheart looked to his leader as his troops left to the orders. "I'm not leaving your side. I will have an officer bring Princess Luna to you."

Celestia was not in the mood to argue diplomacy. For the first time, she would use her rank. "I ORDER YOU! You will escort her to me, NOW! And under no circumstance are you to leave Luna's side!" Her voice rang of love and fear. "Do not worry about me," she added through a serious tone. "Sevic won't come after me. That's far too easy."

Strongheart wished to protest, but knew this was non-negotiable. "It is as you wish, Your Majesty!" He took to his hooves, quickly moving to the meeting hall.

A painful silence fell over the throne room.

Sevic was back, more powerful than he had ever been before. The biggest mistake of her past had returned. And he was looking for revenge.

No pony was safe.