Prologue-The Dream That Wasn't A Dream
Harmony’s End
Book One of Three
Written by: Midnight Rose
Edited by: BathroomStahl
Prologue
The Dream That Wasn’t a Dream
The crowd cheered as Harmony finished her performance, she took a long bow and then waved happily at the audience. The unicorn filly smiled as she used her pale pink-rose eyes to find her parents…she couldn’t find them, where were they?
The dream began to shift as she began to cry. She didn’t know why, but she felt like someone was watching out for her, she knew that was impossible though….Princess Luna had been gone for a year now. It couldn’t have been her….could it?
The dream shifted into a calmer one. It seemed to be calm, because there were no failing parents, nopony was laughing meanly at her…come to think of it…there wasn’t anypony. Harmony began to panic again until she saw it. There was a light, a bright, calming dark purple light, coming from a tall lavender alicorn. She was Princess Twilight. The same Princess who had took Celestia’s place…what was she doing in Harmony’s simple dream?
She smiled and tried to trot over to her, and excitedly tell her how she was just like her. How she loved reading, and thought friends were a nuisance…that’s what Princess Twilight thought now right? She never came out of the castle after all.
Harmony tried to tell her all of this, but she couldn’t. She found herself glued to the foor. She sighed in annoyance and shook her head.
She saw Twilight standing by a huge tree. It was made out of something very shiny…was it made out of crystals? But wait…something was wrong! The crystal shine was dimming quickly, and Twilight was trying hard to fix it. Her horn kept flashing and magical energy beams kept hitting the tree, although some went around the tree and didn’t do anything.
Twilight groaned with annoyance and exasperation, she tried another spell, and nothing happend. The tree became an ugly dark brown…like Harmony’s mane…how she wished it was gold…or purple…purple was a pretty color.
Oh! Something was happening now, a weird creature had appeared right next to Twilight. He was shaking his head and saying something. Harmony wished she could hear him.
“Oh, come on…speak up. Mommy says it's impolite to mumble,” Harmony grumbled.
She smiled to herself, as Twilight talked louder than the weird creature, ‘that’s more like it’, she thought.
“No! They have to stay with the tree Discord! I don’t have any friends left! Cadence can’t use them, so don’t ask her…yes, I’ve already asked. I’m not going to go through this again!”
Harmony shivered a little, she hated it when grown-ups argued, and Princess Twilight looked kinda scary now…she didn’t want to talk to her anymore.
“Alright, Twilight…if you insist.” The creature sounded really, really sad.
Harmony wanted to go up and hug him…but she couldn’t, she still couldn’t move and it was getting annoying.
“Okay…now just let me.” Twilight took a deep breath and she began to use her magic.
The purple light shone around her, the tree and then the whole dream. Harmony screamed in fright and in pain as she felt something really sharp hit her in the stomach.
She bolted upright out of her bed and winced in pain. She sighed as she remembered that it was just a dream, they couldn’t really hurt you…right? Right, she assured herself.
Harmony felt a little cold as she planted her hooves on her wooden floor. Her house was quiet.
Huh, mommy must still be asleep…I wonder what time it is? She thought as she walked over to her alarm clock.
The big red numbers said 4:30am.
Wait…this can’t be right! I’ve never gotten up this early before! She looked back towards her bed, but for some reason…she didn’t want to go back to sleep, she knew she should, and she knew mommy would be angry if she woke her up…but she didn’t want to go back to that weird, kinda scary dream.
Harmony yawned and made her way over to her in-room bathroom. Her eyes seemed to be trying to glue themselves together, and she tried to pry them open. When she finally did so, she was standing in front of the bathroom mirror.
She grumbled at her reflection. She had a bright brown mane that looked only half-dyed, that’s because it was only half-dyed. Mommy had stopped her right before she could finish dying it all.
“You're beautiful, honey. You shouldn’t worry about the way you look so much, it’ll make you grow mean inside.” She told her.
She was always telling her what she ‘shouldn’t’ or ‘couldn’t’ do. She never told her what she shoulddo.
Harmony sighed and tried to use her magic on the faucet. Something that wouldn’t normally work, worked.
She turned the sink and a whole bunch of magical energy went into the faucet, that was strange usually only little sparks came out of her horn.
What she didn’t know was that she had gotten her cutie mark. The magic made the entire sink overflow with streams of water and the filly made the loudest scream she had ever made in her life.
One part of it was joy, for she had looked in the mirror just as the water washed her out of the basement and down into the hallway, and the other part was terror.
Princess Cadence sighed as Twilight walked back and forth in worry. Her sister-in-law had been doing this for about an hour and a half now and she glanced at her husband, Shining Armor with a look of exasperated annoyance.
Cadence sighed as Shining shrugged at her. The two had been wondering how to stop Twilight’s anxious demeanor all morning, but they hadn’t gotten too far. Cadence wished Spike was around, he was usually Twilight’s rock, but he’d gone for the dragon migration a while ago….so the two royals had to deal with Twilight’s anxiety on their own.
That made Cadence anxious, which made her annoyed. The emotions in the room made the grand hall seem much more tense than it usually was.
“Twilight, calm down. I’m sure the Elements will be fine.” She said, trying to sound soothing.
She hoped she didn’t sound too annoyed with her. Twilight spun around at her and she looked annoyed and angry.
That made two of them.
“Fine!? FINE!? I saw them burst into nothingness! I….I DESTROYED THEM, CADENCE!” Twilight shouted.
Bright light appeared from her mane and sparks appeared from the light. Cadence shrunk back a little and Shining stood up, protecting her with his wing.
“Twilight, that’s enough.” He said with finality.
Twilight seemed to calm down at this, Cadence noticed. She glared at Shining, he could’ve calmed her down this whole time! Why didn’t she think of that?
Must’ve been the parental instincts kicking in. She wanted to make sure Twilight was alright.
“You probably didn’t destroy them. You probably just….teleported them or something.” Shining explained lamely.
Twilight game him a look, one that said, ‘yeah, right….sure.’ and then turned around.
“Well….whatever. I’m going to go research what I could’ve done to them. I’ll….I’ll see you guys around, I guess.” Twilight replied.
She walked out of the hall and Cadence sighed sadly.
“Do….do you think we should have told her?” Shining asked.
Cadence looked at him with a kind look. “No, it would’ve just stressed her out even more. Let’s just wait a while until we tell her, okay?” She replied.
Shining nodded sadly. He knew that his wife was right…..he just wished he could tell his little sister the good news so he could see her smile again. It had been so long since he'd seen that smile.
Twilight, now up in her library, wanted to drown herself in her books. She had found something out that made her want to cry.
The Elements had gone….into ponies. Unsuspecting ponies. Her subjects! She had probably just changed the lives of some of her subjects….forever, no, not probably, surely….and it was all her fault.
She didn’t seem to notice, or care about, the dark cloud that fell all around her, she just thought it was her own mood.
Oh was she wrong.
Chapter 1-The Announcement Derails Her
Harmony’s End
Written by: Midnight Rose and ChaoticLightning
Edited by:ChaoticLightning
Chapter One: The Announcement Derails Her.
Twilight’s mix of emotions were on a collision course, she did not know what to feel or how to convey that emotion without hesitation. The train finally arrived at the Crystal Empire, in which Twilight left the train station, wiping the sweat from her brow.
Upon making her arrival to the Crystal Empire, she was stopped by two Crystal Guards stretching their wings to block her entry. “State your business,” one of the guards demanded.
Twilight was a taken aback a little, she had never been treated with such….hostility before. But she tried to smile at them kindly, she hoped the smile didn’t turn into a grimace, but it probably did.
“I’m here to see Princess Cadence, she said she had something to tell me.” She informed them.
The guards sighed and nodded. They had all been on high alert ever since Shining had told them all the good news during one of their breaks, and with a salute to the grumpy Princess, they let her through.
Twilight walked past the guards and headed into the castle’s courtyard, where the sun reflected off the shiny surfaces of the castle. She smiled a little, the prettiness of this place always brought back good memories.
Ah, Spike. She thought wistfully. All grown up from the savior of the Empire to the ‘terror’ of Equestria. She chuckled a little at this, Spike was anything but a terror. He had only grown about sixteen feet or so, that was nothing compared to a fully grown alpha dragon.He was still much bigger than when he was a baby, however.
Twilight shook her head and tried not to think of him. Thinking of him brought back those happy, painful memories of her friends and she didn’t want to go into that depressed phase again, because apparently, Cadence had good news for her.
Twilight wondered what in Equestria it could be….but she had some idea.
The castle doors were open now and she realized that there weren’t any guards here, which was strange, but those guards seemed very diligent most ponies would probably get too scared to get this far. Or they were just off somewhere else.
Twilight shook her head, after all these years; she still couldn’t get Equestria’s security standards raised.
She didn’t really blame the guards, however. Ever since Twilight took the throne, nopony had dared threaten Equestria.
Twilight took that as a good sign, she must either be loved or feared. Either one worked for her.
Her grin widened as she happily skipped into the grand hall. It was as beautiful as ever, and the centerpiece was the dual thrones.
Shining Armor had a brilliant sapphire blue throne while Cadence had a very bright pink throne. The pink one was so light, it looked white with the mid-day sun shining on it.
Cadence was talking to Shining when Twilight walked in, and at first didn’t notice her. Shining did though, and he nudged her with his elbow.
“Twiley!” He cried happily. He got up off his throne and walked down to his sister.
She didn’t mind him hugging her, she even hugged him back. This made Cadence grin.
“Well, I see somepony’s feeling better.” She said with a giggle as Twilight blushed.
“I sure am, now, what was it you guys wanted to tell me?” Twilight replied, getting straight to the point.
Cadence smiled widely. She didn’t really know how to keep this light, friendly and calm; mostly because she was so excited! Twilight waited almost expectantly for Cadence to finally say what was on her mind.
“Twilight….we’re expecting.” She replied, grinning widely.
Twilight didn’t know what to say.
The little mare that Harmony once was had grown up,if even just a little. She had gained her cutie mark….by not doing anything. This had surprised everypony, doctors, her parents, and especially the other mares and colts at her school.
They would ask her what her cutie-mark symbolized and she would reply, “uh….I don’t know.” Usually followed by a hearty shrug.
This statement would be followed by questioning, sometimes teasing, but all-in-all a sense of awe. Most ponies had no idea how or why Harmony got her cutie-mark. She did.
She didn’t want ponies to know that she just woke up one morning with a mark. That would paint her as ‘too perfect’ or even ‘weird.’ She didn’t want that.
After a while though, the teasing got worse. Her parents noticed this after she came home crying one day. At first she didn’t want to tell them why she was crying, but after a while….she did.
That’s when she was shipped off to magic school.
Harmony hated it here! Everypony was acting like she was some kind of prodigy, and the students….oh, the students were the worst! They thought they were better than everypony else, they were stuck up and rude, and called her so too when she called them on it!
That’s why Harmony was hiding in the school’s bathroom. She didn’t want to go to class, where she would stand up in front of everypony and perform her ‘amazing’ abilities in magic, and then be asked how she could do such things! It was humiliating not knowing any answers. To questions, that is. Harmony could do the work fine, the bladdering questions however, were a different story.
Harmony hid in one of the bathroom stalls and whispered to herself, “everypony is pretty curious about my abilities in the magical arts, but I don’t think I can handle the barrage of questions that they ask me.” She thought about the negatives and positives of her abilities for a moment before returning to the classroom.
She sat at her desk and started to fidget a little.
The teacher levitated a piece of chalk in her aura, writing today’s lesson on the chalkboard. “Okay class, for today’s lesson we’re going to focus on the importance of controlling your magic.” She wrote down a picture of a magical aura, before explaining to the class the further details of magic control.
“Controlling magic is of the utmost importance when you’re a beginner in learning magic, the best way to control your magic is to practice and read books about magic. To separate the good from the bad, the weak from the strong points of magical use, and honing in on your skills. At first, using your horn for the first time with a magical spell will start out in sporadic patterns until you get the hang of it.’’
Finally, the teacher finished her lesson when she said, ‘’Practice makes perfect.’’
The bell rang as everypony exited the room, leaving the teacher alone in the classroom.
The teacher wiped the board clean with the board eraser and sighed a little. She didn’t have anywhere to go after class, and neither did the mare standing right behind her.
Harmony wanted to ask something, but she couldn’t quite get the words right.
She took a breath and started to ask a question, “sorry to intrude, but can I ask you something?’’
The teacher turned her attention away from the board and looked at the curious mare. “Harmony, you know that you can always ask me anything, no matter what it is.’’
Harmony smiled and looked at her teacher with a fond smile, “uhm, I was wondering….why does my cutie mark make my magic….uh, better?” She asked, not quite knowing the words to make it sound better.
The teacher laughed and shook her head. “I have no idea, sometimes destiny just sends you in the right direction.” She said with a stout nod. “I can give you an aptitude test if you’d like.”
Harmony smiled and nodded, she’d been wondering what kind of magic she’d be good at for a while now and the teacher smiled back and with her magic, made a rolled up piece of parchment appeared out of thin air.
“Thanks.” Harmony said, taking the paper.
The teacher smiled, sighed and shook her head slightly as Harmony left, paper levitating beside her. There went her night of relaxing.
Twilight didn’t know how to respond. Well that was a lie, she did know….she just didn’t know how to phrase her questions without offending anypony with her bad language.
She had so many questions in her mind, only half of them decent ones. When did this happen? Was the filly and or colt going to be an alicorn? Why did they want to give somepony so young that horrible sentence of loneliness?
Twilight shuddered as she tried to look away from Cadence, who looked at her with a hurt, confused glance.
“Twilight….aren’t you happy for me?” She asked.
Cadence was a bit surprised by this. She thought Twilight would be instantly happy for them, as she would’ve been in the past.
She wasn’t though, she wasn’t even looking at her anymore.
“T-Twilight?” Cadence asked. She had anxious tears forming in the corners of her eyes and Twilight sighed.
“Oh, Cadence… why would you do something like this?” She asked in a whisper.
Cadence gave her a shocked, hurt look and Shining frowned. Why was Twilley being so mean?
He sighed, it was their wedding rehearsal all over again. Shining shook himself, Twilight had been right in that situation...but still.
“Twilight, you’re behaviour is unacceptable!” Shining said, grimacing at his sister’s look of hurt.
“It is, is it?” She asked, “And giving somepony eternal life without them even knowing is acceptable!? I can’t believe this, I thought you two would be smarter than that!” Twilight argued, her anger fully blossoming as she put her thoughts to words.
Cadence blinked back the tears and choked out, “o-oh…I…didn’t realize you felt that way, Twilight.” She replied softly. Tears came out of her eyes as she finished her sentence.
Twilight sighed and shook her head. Tears were now flowing down her own face. She had never fought this hard with them before, usually they would tell her to calm down, be rational and she would. But for some reason, those rational, sane thoughts eluded her today.
“Twilley, how about you go and….think about this for a while. It’ll probably help.” Shining said.
Twilight was surprised at this. It was usually Cadence who was the calm, voice of reason. But the alicorn was crying and she couldn’t really blame her. Twilight had felt an angry passionate demon inside her all day, and she didn’t really understand why, until now.
“T-thanks. I will. I’m….I’m sorry, Cadence. I….I’ll leave now.” She replied.
Cadence only nodded and watched with bleary eyes as her once favourite sister-in-law walked out of the throne room and she winced as she slammed the door behind her.