Dear Diaryby StunningSwanChaptersChapter 2: The Lost DiaryChapter 3: The ProposalChapter 4: Dinner TalksChapter 5: Her PurposeChapter 6: The Worst Day of Her LifeChapter 1: Her IntuitionChapter 2: The Lost DiaryLuminous runs to the end of the hallway. Dark Knight quickly follows. “This is it!”, Luminous said with glee. “What now?” Luminous used her magic and opened the painting, revealing a room with stairs, swirling down. “Are we really going in there?”, Dark Knight said. “Duh. Don’t tell me you’re scared?” “Stop asking that question, can we just carry on?”, Dark Knight said. He then flew into the room. Luminous giggled and followed Dark Knight. Luminous took a torch and used a spell to light the torch. She gave the torch to Dark Knight and lit up her horn with a spell. They walked down the swirling stairs which led to the hidden room that was in Luminous’s dream. She walked forward and looked up. And there, was the painting of her mother. Dark Knight looked wooed. “Damn, your mom was hot”. Luminous looked at Dark Knight in a weird way for a second but she turned back to what was in front of her. The chest. She opened the chest, and there was the notebook. She levitated the notebook up and she noticed the pink star at center of the notebook. Below the star, it said, “Flurry Heart’s Diary”. “Oh. My. Luna.”, Dark Knight said in shock. There were dresses, jewelry, books, and a lot more in the room. “I think this all belonged to my mother”, Luminous said. Dark Knight flew around, observing all the items in the room. Luminous closed her eyes, frowned, and hugged her mother’s diary. Dark Knight flew to Luminous and looked at her. He hated to see her sad. “You okay Lumi?”, Dark Knight said. Luminous sighed and said, “I guess . . . seeing all of my mother’s belongings made me have flashbacks about her. Especially the one about . . . about her death”. She then shed a tear and lowered her head. Dark Knight wipes the tear with his wing and put his wings over Luminous. She felt his wing over her and opened her eyes. She lifted her head up and smiled at him. Her smile made him blush but quickly looked away from her so she won’t notice. “Let’s go Lumi. I think we had enough time here.”, Dark Knight said. Luminous nodded, and followed Dark Knight out of the secret room. When they got out, Dark Knight saw Luminous was holding the diary. Dark Knight pointed at the diary and asked, “So you’re going to take that with you?”. Luminous nodded, levitated the book in front of her, and said, “Maybe this can help me understand what actually happened to my mother”. She levitated the book to her hoof and hugged the book. Flashback Luminous never knew what happened. She was six when it did. Her father declared that the Queen would be executed at noon. Luminous didn’t even know what executed mean until that day. The morning of that day, when Luminous woke up, her mother was there. Luminous didn’t know that, that was the last morning she’ll have with her. All morning, Luminous and her mother played. Luminous and Flurry Heart was lying on the floor. Luminous was trying the levitate the dolls while Flurry was writing in her diary. Luminous gave up trying to lift up the dolls and looked towards her mother. “What are you doing mommy?”, Luminous asked. “I’m writing in my diary, my sunshine”, Flurry Heart replied. “Can I read it?” Flurry Heart chuckled and said, “One day you will.” Flurry then closed her diary Flurry Heart kissed her daughter in the forehead and hugged her. “Mommy?”, Luminous called. “Yes sweetie?” “Why is everyone acting so weird today?”, Luminous asked. Everyone was acting weird to her. She was so puzzled. Flurry Heart’s lowered her ears but tried to fake a smile. “Just know that mommy will be fine. And no matter what, follow your heart, my little Amorevole Cuore Luminoso”, Flurry said while pointing to Luminous’s heart. Luminous was still confused. Suddenly, the doors slammed opened. The guards walked in and pulled Flurry. Flurry tried to fight back to get back to Luminous but the guards won at the end. While all of this was going on, Luminous was screaming for her mommy. When they finally dragged Flurry Heart away, a maid came in and went to Luminous. Luminous was bawling and screaming, “Mommy”. “It’s okay Princess, your mother will be okay”, the maid said, trying to comfort Luminous. The maid helped her stop crying while ignoring the questions Luminous kept asking. Then, the maid walked her to the courtyard. Luminous still didn’t know was going on until she went to the courtyard. Many ponies were there, including her father. The maid took Luminous to the stand where her father was. “Daddy, What is going on?”, Luminous asked. King Sombra bent down to her daughter and said, “Your mother did something really bad sweetie, so she is getting punished”. Then, two ponies walked to the courtyard. One was her mother, who had a black hood on. The other pony, who also had a black hood on, was the executioner. The executioner took Flurry Heart to another stand. The executioner made Flurry lay down as he levitated a big sword. Luminous gasped and said, “Daddy, what is he going to do to her?”. Sombra ignored his daughter and turned to his subjects. “Ladies and gentlecolts, we are all gathered today to witness the death of the Queen. I’ve recently learned that the Queen was going to betray us and thus, she will be punished”. The crowd was gasping, and mumbling something to each other. “Executioner, if you may?”, Sombra said. The executioner took of the hood off her mother and levitated the big sword up slowly. “Daddy?”, Luminous said, turning to her father. “It will be all over soon sweetie”, Sombra said. Luminous turn back to her mother, seeing that she was looking at her. Flurry was mouthing, “I love you” to Luminous. Luminous understood and started getting teary. And at that second, the executioner swung the sword down. “Mommy!”, Luminous yelled. Then everything went black. Back to the Present It was night, there is no moon in the night at the shadow realm. Instead, red crystals shine throughout the night for the creatures in the shadow realm. Luminous was in her room, laying on her bed with the crystal lamp on. She is staring at her mother’s diary which laid in front of her. She is debating if she should read it or not. Her mind is saying one thing but her heart is saying another. She inhaled, then exhaled. She put her hoof on her heart and used her magic to open the diary. On the first page it had a note. It said, “Sacrifice is part of life. It’s not something to regret, it’s something you hope to inspire. - Twilight”. Luminous raised a brow. She looked confused. She shook her head and went to the next page. It was the starting page of her mother’s story. Luminous smiled and started getting excited. She begins to read . . . Flashback At this time, Flurry Heart is 16. Flurry Heart lives in the Crystal Empire in the Light Realm. Flurry is walking around the castle, with her mother, looking at all the decorations the Crystal ponies are putting up for her upcoming day. “I just can’t wait for your coronation Flurry. The Empire has been waiting for this since your sixteen birthday party.”, Flurry’s mother said. Her mother is Princess Consort Cadance, the coruler of the Crystal Empire. Flurry rolled her eyes and said, “I know mother. You’ve been saying it over a million times now”. “I’m sorry sweetie, I’m am just excited” “Well, I’m not”, Flurry said quietly. “What was that?”, her mother asked. “Nothing”, Flurry said and lowered her head and ears, trying to hide and frown from her mother. Cadance stopped Flurry and lifted her head up. “Listen dear, I know how you feel. You don’t have to hide it. When your Aunt Twilight gave me this kingdom, I was nervous at first as well”, Cadance said. “But you make it look so easy. I’m nothing like you.” Cadance smiles at her daughter and lead her to the doors of the throne room. “Well I know somepony who came all the way from Canterlot who’s in the throne room right now, waiting for you.”, Cadance. Flurry’s frown turned into a smile and her ears lifted. She opens the doors and she saw her Aunt Twilight. Flurry Heart’s aunt is Twilight Sparkle. She is the Queen of the Light Realm and the sister-in-law of Princess Cadance. “Aunt Twilight!”, Flurry said as she ran to her. But she stopped right before she was about to hug her. “Oh right”, Flurry said and bowed. “Your majesty”, Flurry greeted. Twilight laughed. Flurry got up and was confused. “You know you don’t have to do that Flurry. Come here and give me a hug”, Twilight said. The two hugged. “I’ll be back for her”, Cadance said and walked away. “So what are you doing here Aunt Twilight?”, Flurry asked. “I’m here for you of course”, Twilight said. “Right . . . the coronation”, Flurry said with a frown. “That also, but mostly you”, Twilight replies. Flurry’s frown turned into a little smile. “Listen Flurry, I can’t tell you I know how you feel because I’m not you.” “At least some pony is finally being honest with me”, Flurry mumbles. “I was going to wait till after the coronation to give you this but, I think you’re going to need it” Twilight pulled out a present and gave it to Flurry. Flurry opened the box. Flurry is in her room, laying on her bed, with a crystal lamp. She’s staring at the diary which laid in front of her. She inhaled, then exhaled. She put her hoof on her heart and used her magic to open the diary. On the first page it had a note. It said, “Sacrifice is part of life. It’s not something to regret, it’s something you hope to inspire. - Twilight”. Flurry Heart raised a brow. She looked confused. She rolled her eyes, chuckled and said, “Oh Aunt Twilight”. Then she shook her head and went to the next page. The starting page. She levitated a quill over to her and started writing. “Dear Diary, My name is Flurry Heart. Many know me as Duchess Flurry Heart but soon, it’ll be Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire. I am having my coronation tomorrow as my mother step down and as I step up. I am nervous. I fear I won’t be a good princess for my subjects. My Aunt Twilight gave me this diary as a gift. She told me if I write all my thoughts down, all my “flurries” will go away. And yes, my Aunt actually said that, it was a thing she made up because I always get worried. It annoyed me but it’s not like I can tell her to stop, she’s the Queen for Celestia’s sake!” Flurry stopped writing. She read over what she wrote and chuckled afterwards. Then she started to write again. “Honestly, this is working out. I guess my “flurries” are going away. Thank you, diary and thank you, Aunt Twilight.” Flurry yawned after finishing her last sentence. She closed her diary and put it under her pillow. She put the quill away and turned off the lamp. She looked at the window to look at the beautiful bright yellow moon and went to sleep. Back to the Present Luminous finished reading page one of her mother’s diary. She had so many questions. Like, who is Celestia? Who is Twilight? And where is this “Crystal Empire”? She yawned. She decided that she’ll figure it out in the morning. Luminous closed the diary and put it under her pillow. She turned off her lamp. She looked at the window to look at the glowing red crystals that are around her kingdom and went to sleep. Chapter 3: The ProposalIt was the next day, Luminous is at the castle library. A knock was at the library door. Luminous turned to the door to see Dark Knight. Dark Knight walked in and said, “What are you doing Luminous?”. “Research”, she said and turned back to a book that was in front of her. Dark Knight flew to her and took the book to look at the cover. “The Light Realm? Why are you reading about the Light Realm?”, Dark Knight said. Luminous took the book from Dark Knight and said, “I told you, it’s research”. “But why research about the Light Realm though? The Light Realm is evil.” The creatures in the Light Realm and the creatures in the Shadow Realm have a complicated relationship. They hate each other ever since the war. Families, friends, and more were all lost during the war and the creatures of both realms blamed each other. “I don’t get what’s so wrong about the Light Realm. A little feud shouldn’t separate the realms”, Luminous said. “A little feud? Why are you suddenly turning on your own kind?” “I am not! But . . .” “What Lumi?” “Maybe we should talk in my room”, Luminous said, walking out the library. Dark Knight was confused. Luminous turned around and said, “Are you coming or not?”. So Dark Knight followed. “Your mother was a what?!”, Dark Knight yelled. “Shhh! Quiet down a little bit.” Dark Knight sat at Luminous’s bed and said, “I just can’t believe it. The Queen was a Light Creature. And you . . .”. Luminous’s ears lowered and said, “I know you’re mad at me, and if you don’t want to hang out with me anymore, I-“ “What!”, Dark Knight interrupted. Dark Knight begins getting closer to Luminous as he says, “Why would I ever be mad at you? Even if you are a Light Creature, I’ll always be there for you because I lo-“. He stops, staring at her beautiful eyes. “Dark?”, Luminous says. He snaps out of his trance, and shakes his head. He backs up a bit. “S-sorry, I was going to say because . . . because you are my friend” Luminous smiles, and hugs him. Dark Knight blushes without Luminous noticing and embraces her hug. Luminous hops on her bed and sits next to Dark Knight. She uses her magic to levitate the diary out from under her pillow. “Do you want to read with me?”, Luminous ask. Dark Knight smiles and shakes his head. “I think your mom wanted you to read it, not me. Besides, I should go” Luminous nodded. Dark Knight got off the bed and walked to the door. “Wait, Dark”, Luminous calls. Dark Knight turned back. “Do you still think Light Creatures are bad?” Dark Knight chuckled, “Not the ones I know. I guess they’re growing on me”. Luminous laughed. “Night Lumi”, Dark Knight said. He winked at her, walked out, and closed the door. “Night”, Luminous said. Luminous then opens the diary to the third page. She begins to read . . . Flashback It was the morning coronation day. Flurry was in the wardrobe room, standing and waiting. Stylists were there, helping her get ready for her big day. Flurry kept sneezing because the makeup stylist was putting on powder and taking it off. The hair stylist was putting up Flurry’s hair to the correct ceremonial headdress of the Crystal Empire, which was kinda heavy. And the wardrobe stylist helped her put on the dress and shoes, which was also heavy too. After the stylist finished dressing Flurry up, they went out while Flurry stayed in her room. A knock was at the door. “Come in”, she said. Her father, Shining Armor walked in, amazed to see his daughter, shed a tear. He is also known as the High Prince Shining Armor. He is the little brother of Queen Twilight, the wife of Princess Consort Cadance, and ruler of the Crystal Empire. Flurry laughed and said, “Dad? Are you crying?”. Shining Armor wipes his tear away and said, “Can’t a father be proud of his daughter?”. They both laughed and hugged. “I don’t know how mother handles wearing all of this, it’s heavy”, Flurry says. “She’s your mother, she’s strong. And so are you”, Shining Armor said. Flurry smiled. “Come on now Flurry”, Shining Armor said. Flurry nodded and the two walked to the doors of the throne room. “Are you ready?”, her father asked. Flurry took a deep breath and let it out. Flurry nodded to her father. Then they hear trumpets playing and the doors open. The two walked down the aisle to Cadance. Shining Armor walked to the side while Flurry walked to her mother. Twilight was beside her mother. “Creatures of the Crystal Empire, we are gathered here today for the coronation of my daughter, Duchess Flurry Heart. She has reached the age to become the new Crystal Ruler of this Empire while I’ll be stepping down. I know she’ll do a fantastic job and I know you all will look out for her as she’ll look out for you.” Twilight levitated a crown to Flurry. “Now may I now present your new Crystal Princess, Princess-“, Cadance stopped. The room was getting dark and there were thunders were roaring. Suddenly, King Sombra bursted into the room. Everyone in the room gasped. “Well well well”, King Sombra said as he walked down the aisle. Shining Armor and Cadance got in front of Flurry to protect her. “What do you want Sombra? You know are not welcomed here.”, Cadance said. “Certainly not when my daughter’s coronation is happening”, Shining Armor added. “I came here for your daughter. There were rumors about Duchess Flurry Heart’s beauty that reached to my realm. And they were absolutely correct”, Sombra said. Twilight flew in front of Sombra and said, “I’ll warn you once, Sombra. Leave now”. Sombra chuckled and said, “Well, I don’t have to warn you at all”. He suddenly blasted a spell at Twilight and purple smoke was everywhere. When the purple smoke cleared up, everyone but Sombra gasped. Twilight was stoned. “Twilight!”, Cadance said as she flew to Twilight. Sombra used his magic and stoned Cadance. “No!”, Shining Armor yelled. “Listen or you’ll be next”, Sombra threatened. Shining Armor backed up a little. Sombra turned his head from Shining Armor to Flurry Heart. “You have until dusk until I come back to make your decision” “D-decision? Decision to what?”, Flurry said in fright. “Either you decide to become my Queen and come to the Shadow Realm or your mother and aunt stay stoned for eternity” Every creature in the room gasped. Sombra gave an evil laugh. “No!”, Shining Armor said and ran to Sombra but, Sombra teleported away. Flurry dropped to the ground and started to cry. It was one hour til dusk. One more hour till Flurry gives up her freedom. For the last five hours, her and her father have been arguing. Her father said to not agree with his deal but, Flurry wanted to in order to free her mother and her aunt. It was a sacrifice she was willing to take. In her last hour, she cried and wrote in her diary. “Dear Diary, Plans did not go that well for me. I was so ready to become Princess of the Crystal Empire but things have changed. King Sombra interrupted my coronation and turned my mother and aunt into stone. The only way to free them was that I would have to marry him. My father was mad that King Sombra was forcing me to marry him. But the thing is, he's not forcing me, it’s my choice. A choice I’m willing to take for my family.” She stopped writing, a tear dropped from her face to the diary. Then Sombra suddenly appeared from the smokes. “I see you’ve made your decision”, he asked. “I have”, Flurry Heart said firmly. “But you have to make up the end of your deal first”, Flurry said. “Of course”, Sombra said as he conjured up a spell that freed Twilight and Cadance. Shining Armor was in the throne room, looking at the two statues that were in front of him. Then, purple smoke surrounded the statues. Shining Armor backed up, he was confused. Suddenly, Twilight and Cadance broke free. He was so happy to see his sister and wife free. But then he realized something . . . “Flurry!”, he yelled. He, Cadance, and Twilight ran to Flurry’s room. But when they reached to her room, she was gone. Back to the Present Luminous finished reading the third page. She was tearing up. She knew her mother and father weren’t something out of a fairy tale but, she didn’t think their story was like that. She touched the part of the page where it was darker than the rest. It was the spot where Flurry’s tear landed. Luminous’s tear dropped to that exact same spot. “I’m sorry mother. I didn’t know”. Chapter 4: Dinner TalksLuminous was crying all night till she fell asleep. It’s morning now and she’s awake. She didn’t want to do anything today. She hears a knock. “Come in”, she said. A maid came in and said, “Morning Princess”. The maid opens the curtains and the red rays shines the room. Luminous moaned and put her pillow on top of her head. “Come on now Princess. You’re not eating breakfast here today”. Luminous moved the pillow above her head and turned to the maid. “What do you mean?”, she said. “The king wants to have breakfast with you today”. “Oh”, Luminous said. It just had to be today, out of all the days, it just had to be this day. After reading the third page of her mother’s diary, she didn’t want to talk to her father. Why would her father want to have breakfast with her anyways? It’s been awhile since she had breakfast with him. After she got ready, she went to the dining room. And there, her father was sitting at the end of the dining table. Luminous walked to her chair. A guard near the chair pulled out the chair for Luminous. She sat down and the guard pushed it back and went back to the door. “Good morning father”, Luminous said. “Good morning Luminous”, her father replied and they started to eat. It was quiet for a minute or two. Luminous got tired of it and started to speak. “Father, did you want something out of me?”, she said. King Sombra was shocked. “Can’t a father have breakfast with his daughter?” Luminous rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry father, it’s just, it’s been awhile since we had breakfast together.” “And I’m sorry for that sweetie, I’ve been very busy.” “Very busy? Very busy all day?” “Well . . . I am a king” Luminous groaned. Sombra raised a brow. “Anyways, one of my guards caught you going to the West Wing. What were you doing there?” “I knew it!”, Luminous said as she banged the table. “Princess Amorevole Cuore Luminoso”, Sombra said firmly. Luminous settled down and lowered her ears. She didn’t like it when her father say her name like that. It is actually her real full name. Her mother gave that to her. But since it was long, she likes being called Luminous. Luminous knows if her father calls her by her full name, he’s getting upset, and the last thing she wants is getting locked in a tower. It’s actually true. She did get locked into one once, but she doesn’t like talking about it. “You didn’t answer my question”, he said. Luminous sighed and said, “Me and Dark Night were just bored and we thought it would have been fun if we explored the West Wing”. “Dark Night was there too?” Luminous nodded. “Luminous, you’ve always been obedient, and why would you disobey me now?” “Maybe it’s because you’re always busy”, Luminous said quietly. “Excuse me?”, Sombra said. The twig snaps. “Maybe it’s because you’re always busy to the point that you don’t catch me doing mischief”. Luminous sighed. “Daddy, why can’t we just have some real actually family talk?” Luminous started crying. “Luminous please calm down”, Sombra said. “I’m sorry daddy but . . . I’m just confused. How can we be father and daughter if you’re never there for me?” Sombra didn’t know what to say. He just looked at her daughter’s eyes. Luminous then got off her chair and ran away from the dining room. “I’m sorry”, Sombra said but, it was too late. It was a tiring day for Luminous. Her morning was bad due to her father. And the rest of her day was awfully boring, due to the boring lessons with Ms. Shard. The red moon is setting down and Luminous is laying on her bed. Staring at the ceiling wall. She didn’t want to read the diary, she’s too scared to read what will happen next. But at the same time, she wanted to know. She wanted to know how her mother dealt through all of this. She inhales and exhales and takes the diary out from under her pillow. Flashback Flurry was in her room with King Sombra. The sun was setting down in the Crystal Empire. King Sombra broke his spell and freed Twilight and Cadance from their curse. “Before we go, I should tell you. You may be a light creature here but, once you are in the Shadow Realm, you are one of us” Flurry nodded and asked, “Can I bring my diary?”. “Of course”, Sombra replied. So Flurry took her diary and hold on it tight. “I’m ready”, she said. Sombra put out a hoof for Flurry. Flurry put her hoof on his. Sombra then used a spell that suddenly made purple smoke surround the room. The everything went black. Flurry opened her eyes, she felt like she went to sleep. She was in bed, looking around. She got off the bed and went to the window. In the sky there was a red moon. And below, there was the kingdom. All around the kingdom were red crystals. Weird. Then, a knock was at the door. Flurry turned to the door and said, “Come in”. A unicorn walked in. Her magic is levitating a silver tray with food on it. She bowed to Flurry and said, “Hello Lady Flurry Heart” “Oh, hello. Where is King Sombra?” The unicorn placed the silver tray on the nightstand and said, “The King is attending to his royal duties while setting up the preparations for the wedding” “The wedding?” The unicorn nodded. Flurry Heart got light headed. “Are you okay Lady Flurry Heart?”, the unicorn asked. “Um yeah, everything is just moving so fast”, Flurry said. “I agree, but you should be honored. The King chose you to be his Queen out of every pony in the Shadow Realm.”, the unicorn said as she hides her hidden frown. “Right . . . the Shadow Realm, because I’m a Shadow Creature”, Flurry quietly said while remembering what King Sombra told her. “You should eat Lady Flurry Heart”, the unicorn suggested. Flurry Heart nodded and started eating. The unicorn took out a scroll and said, “You have a tight schedule. You have a lot of things to do. But we’ll get through them, after all, your wedding is in two day.” Flurry almost choked. “Two days?!” “I thought you knew”, the unicorn said. “I knew I was going to get married but not in two days!” Flurry was breathing rapidly. “Lady Flurry Heart, please calm down”, the unicorn said as she was patting Flurry’s back. Flurry stopped and calmed down. She took a deep breath and let it out, like her mother taught her. And then she was telling herself, ’This is for The Crystal Empire’, in her head. “Thank you”, Flurry said to the unicorn. The unicorn nodded. “So who are you?”, Flurry asked the unicorn. “I’m your maid”, the unicorn replied. Flurry chuckled and said, “What I meant was, what’s your name?” “Oh”, the unicorn said in a surprising tone. “My name is Crystal Shard” “It is nice to meet you Crystal” “You as well Lady Flurry Heart” “Please, just call me Flurry” Crystal Shard nodded and said, “As you wish”. When Flurry finished her breakfast, Crystal Shard showed Flurry Heart around the castle for an hour. After the tour, Flurry had to go to a wedding dress fitting which lasted for three hours. Then, Flurry Heart had lessons with Crystal Shard, learning about the royal customs for an hour. And for the rest of the day, Flurry was in her room, reading. “Are you sure you don’t need anything else Flurry?”, Crystal Shard asked putting a book on the nightstand. “No thank you, that will be all.”, Flurry replies. “Then good night Flurry” “You too Crystal” Crystal Shard bowed to Flurry and went out of the room. Flurry was reading about everything about the Shadow Realm. She was amazed to learn that in the daytime of the Shadow Realm, there was no bright yellow sun like the one in the Light Realm but instead, a Red Moon. And in the night, there is no moon, instead, there are red crystals that surround the kingdom that glow in the night as light for the Shadow Creatures. Flurry loved reading, she guessed she got that from her Aunt Twilight. It made her feel safe, especially in this situation. After she finished reading the books, she took out her diary from under her pillow. She flipped to the next available page and got a quill. Then, she started to write. “Dear Diary, Today is my first day in the Shadow Realm. It was nicer than the stories I’ve heard. The glowing red crystals in the night are beautiful. Also, today is one of my last two days before my freedom is taken. Actually, I feel like it’s already been taken ever since I got here. Unlike where I was going from Lady Flurry Heart to Princess Flurry Heart in the Light Realm, now, I’m going from Lady Flurry Heart to Queen Flurry Heart in two days.” Flurry stopped writing and sighed. She was spaced out for a second. She shook her head to regain her focus and started to write again. “But hey, at least I made a new friend. Her name is Crystal Shard. Hopefully, she can make me feel like home in this foreign place.” Flurry stopped writing and yawned. She closed her diary and put it under her pillow. She turned off her lamp and looked at the window. She was amazed by the glowing red crystals that shine throughout the kingdom. It is beautiful. She went to sleep, knowing that the light will protect her. Back to the Present Luminous was surprised. She’s amazed on how her mother kept being positive. She’s also surprised that Ms. Shard knew her mother. Luminous decided that she was going to ask Ms. Shard about her mother tomorrow. She closed the diary and put it under her pillow. She turned off her lamp and looked at the window. Luminous is starting to appreciate the glowing red crystals that shine throughout the kingdom. It is beautiful. She went to sleep, knowing that the light will protect her. Chapter 5: Her PurposeIt’s the next day. Luminous is waiting for Ms. Shard to arrive. Finally, she hears a knock. Knowing that it’s Ms. Shard, Luminous said, “Come in Ms. Shard”. Ms. Shard came in, she looks surprised. “Hello Princess Luminous, I’m surprised you’re here”, Ms. Shard said. “What do you mean by that Ms. Shard?”, Luminous said in an innocent tone, even know she knows. “Well you are always out and about with that coltfriend of yours”, Ms. Shard said. Well . . . that backfired. “Dark Knight is not my coltfriend!”, Luminous blurted as her face got redder. Ms. Shard laughed and said, “I’m sorry your highness, I was just joking around”. Luminous thought about it for a second. Her and Dark Knight? Maybe . . . She shakes her head to regain her focus. “Never mind that. Let’s begin the lesson”, Ms. Shard. “Before we start, can I ask you a question Ms. Shard?”, Luminous ask. “It’s ‘May I ask you a question Ms. Shard’. The ‘Can I’ statement is talking about capability. The ‘May I’ statement is asking for permission. And I know you were going for a permission statement. Besides, the ‘May I’ statement is more polite than the ‘Can I’ statement.”, Ms. Shard corrected. Luminous rolled her eyes and said, “Right. May I ask you a question Ms. Shard?”. “You may”, Ms. Shard replied. “Did you know my mother?”, Luminous ask. “Of course I did, she was the Queen after all”, Ms. Shard said as she was levitating some books out of her saddle bag. “Um no, what I meant was, did you personally know my mother?” Ms. Shard dropped her books, in shock. Ms. Shard regained her focus. “Why would you ask that question?”, she said in a nervous tone. “So you did know her! I can tell it from you tone”, Luminous said. Ms. Shard looked down and lowered her ears. She was spaced out. “Ms. Shard?”, Luminous called out. Ms. Shard regained her focus and lifted up her head. “Sorry, I had flashbacks”, she said. “Please Ms. Shard, you have to tell me the truth”, Luminous pleaded. Ms. Shard sighed, admitting defeat. “Fine, I did know your mother” “Then please, tell me what you know.”, Luminous said. “I wish I could dear. But . . . I can’t.”, Luminous says as she was picking up the books. “What do you mean, you can’t? Is this my father’s doing.” Ms. Shard, getting tired of resisting to Luminous’s stubbornness, nodded. “I knew it”, Luminous said, falling on her bed. Ms. Shard goes to Luminous. “It’s always him. He ruins everything”, Luminous says in disappointment. “You may think that but, he is just doing what he thinks would be best”, Ms. Shard says. “And what would that be?” “Your protection” Luminous rolls her eyes and gets up. “It’s always that. These secret he’s been hiding, it’s always for my protection” “Princess! Stop this at once” “Then please, please tell me the truth”, Luminous pleaded. Ms. Shard could see Flurry Heart in Luminous. She misses her. Ms. Shard took a deep breath, and let it out. “I was your mother’s maid. And we quickly became friends” “I knew it.”, Luminous said. “But how did you know I knew her?”, Ms. Shard asked. “Um”, Luminous said as she’s trying to think of an excuse. “Well?” “It was a dream”, Luminous blurted. Luminous wasn’t technically lying. Without that dream, she wouldn’t known what she knows right now. “Hmm. I see.”, Ms. Shard said, as she was packing the books back in the saddle. “Wait, you’re going already? What about my mother?”, Luminous said. “I’m tired of your stubbornness Princess, that’s why I’m leaving.”, Ms. Shard said as she walks to the door. She turns back to Luminous, and says, “And if you really wanted to know, your mother was having an affair” “W-What?”, Luminous said in shock. “She disobeyed the King. It was her foolishness that led her to her death.”, Ms. Shard said and left. “It can’t be . . .”, Luminous says. Dark Knight is at the Rookies Knights Quarters with the other rookies. He and the other rookies are running laps. An adult pegasus stallion with a light goldish brown coat with a brown mane blows the whistle and yells, “Come on rookies! Faster!”. The pegasus is Commander Stonewall. The commander is training the rookies for a tournament they will be having later. The Commander blows the whistle again and says, “That’s enough rookies! Take five”. The rookies stopped running. Some fainted and some are panting. Dark Knight and some of his friends were doing push ups while making fun of the ones that fainted and are panting. Then Dark Knight saw her. His focus was all on her. She was walking to the Commander. The rookies around him were laughing at him, as they noticed who walked to the field. One of them punched Dark and he regained his focus. “Huh?” “Dude, this is like the hundredth time you’ve done that”, one of the rookies commented. He got up from his push up position, rubbed the back of his head, and blushed. “Shut up guys”, Dark Knight said in embarrassment. “No offense Dark but, don’t you think the Princess is way out of your league?”, one of the rookies asked. “Love will always overrank every league”, Dark Knight replied as he is back in his trance, staring at Luminous. “Geez, love has made you really cheesy”, another rookie said. “Who cares if I’m cheesy” “And what about her overprotective father? Spoiler alert, the King?”, the other rookie added. Dark Knight snapped out his trance. The group, even Dark Knight, knows that if the King found out that his daughter was dating someone, it’s off with their head. Then the group heard the whistle. Commander Stonewall called out for Dark Knight. The group turned to the Commander. Luminous waves at Dark Knight. “Oh, you’re going to be dead soon Dark”, one of the rookies teased. Dark Night rolled his eyes and flew to the Commander and Luminous. “Commander Stone Wall”, Dark Knight said as he saluted his commander/coach. “Uh apparently, the Princess has chosen you to help her with an important royal duty”, the oblivious commander says. “Yes, totally for a very important royal duty”, Luminous said. “Totally”, Dark Knight said. And the two left the field. It’s was silent for a minutes as they left. Dark Knight turns to Luminous and sees she’s sad. Tired of the silence and kinda concerned, he says, “So what’s up Lumi? You okay?”. Luminous sighs and says, “I just really need you right now Darky” Dark Knight blushes. He’s surprised on what he just heard. Luminous, now realizing what she just said, blushes. “I mean, I need to walk with somepony” Dark Knight raised a brow. “I mean! I need to stalk with somebody!”, Luminous tried to correct herself again. ’What are you saying Luminous?! It’s just Dark. Calm down’, Luminous thought. “Ugh, what I meant was-“ Dark Knight bursted out laughing. Luminous is still embarrassed. Dark Knight looked at Luminous. “You are cute when you look embarrassed” He stopped laughing and put his wing over Luminous. Luminous turns away from him, trying to hide her tomato face. “You need somepony to talk to?”, Dark Knight said after he calmed down. Luminous turn back to Dark Knight and nods. “Then let’s go to your room. Race ya there”, Dark Knight says as he flys down the hallway. Luminous smiles and follows Dark Knight. It’s the night time. The red moon is down and the red crystals are glowing. Dark Night and Luminous are laughing. They are sitting on Luminous’s bed. “Thanks for hanging out with me, I needed it”, Luminous said. “I’m always here for you Lumi, remember that”, Dark Knight said. Luminous yawns. “I’m gonna get back to my quarters” “Wait”, Luminous says, stopping Dark Knight from leaving. It was quiet for a minute. ‘Say something Luminous’, she thought. “Thank you”, Luminous said. Dark Knight winked and left. ‘Dang it Luminous!’, she thought. She sighed and shook her head. After talking to Dark Knight, she decided to give her mother another chance to explain herself. And so she took out the diary from under her pillow and opened it to the next page. As she was about to read, the lamp starts to flicker. Then she felt a breeze. She turned to the window and noticed it was open. She closed it with her magic. Wait . . . she doesn’t remember opening the window. Luminous shrugs. Luminous then heard a whisper that said, “Luminous”. Luminous jumps. “Luminous, you are just hearing stuff. Snap it out”, she told herself. She pauses for a moment to see if she here’s anything else. Nothing. Luminous sighed in relief. She turned back to the diary. Ms. Shard walks into the throne room. The king is sitting on his throne, reading some documents. “My King”, Ms. Shard says as she bows. King Sombra put his documents down and asked, “Did you do it?”. Ms. Shard nodded and says, “Yes my King, I’ve told your daughter what she needed to know”. “Good. One of my spies caught Luminous going to the secret room and bringing something out. Did you find out what it was?” “No your majesty, but I am eliminating some options.” “Whatever it is, you better figure it out.”. ”Sir, there is something else I have to tell you.”, Ms. Shard said. ”What is it?” ”Apparently, you daughter has been having visions.” ”Visions?”, Sombra says as he thought about it. Sombra continues, ”This would explain her recent actions and behavior towards me” ”So what are we going to do my king?”, Ms. Shard asked. ”I’ll think of something, but for now, keep a close eye on on my daughter” Ms. Shard nods. Little did the two know, somepony from outside the throne room was listening. It was Dark Knight. Flashback It’s the day before the big day. Every creature in the castle is in a rush, preparing for the big day. The creatures don’t remember the last time the Shadow Realm has a royal wedding before, they are excited. Well . . . not every creature is excited, not Flurry Heart. Of course Flurry Heart isn’t that excited for her big day. After all, she just met her future husband two days ago. She always dreamed of getting married. Getting married to someone who she actually loves, to be exact. She always believed in true love. Her parents were the power couple that represented it. But now, she guessed that will never happen to her. Flurry Heart is walking around her new home. She’s kinda lost. ‘It has to be nearby somewhere’, she thought. She looks around while she walks. And then, bump. Flurry fell down. “Oh shoot. Are you okay?”, a voice asked. Flurry opened her eyes to see a pegasus stallion guard who looks like the same age as her. Her heart skips a beat. A blush slowly glows up on Flurry’s face. “Uh, y-yeah”, Flurry said. The stallion rubbed the back of his head and smiled. “Sorry about that”, he said and he lended a hoof to help Flurry up. “N-no, it was my fault. I should have watched where I was looking” “Wait a minute . . . You’re Lady Flurry Heart!”, the stallion said after his realization. “I’m so sorry m’lady”. “No no, please don’t apologize. Like I said, it was my fault” The stallion nodded. It was silent for a minute. The two just stared at each other. Flurry was lost, her heart was beating fast, ‘Is this love?’, she thought. Flurry finally took his hoof and he helped her up. She shook her head to regain her focus and said, “I am sort of lost. Do you mind if you escort me to the library?”. “Of course”, the stallion said. “But you know it’s going to be a long walk, the library is way on the other side of the castle, you know that?” Flurry shrugs, “I could use the walk”. It was quiet for a moment, it was a bit awkward. So Flurry decided to talk. “Soo, are you new around here?“, she asked. The stallion scoffed and said, “I’m pretty sure I was here first” Flurry chuckled and said, “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to make conversation” The stallion smiled. Flurry turns to the stallion and she smiles. “Thank you”, Flurry Heart said. The stallion turns to Flurry Heart with a confused look. “We haven’t even reached the library yet”, he said. “Oh, I’m not thanking you for that. I mean I will because-“, Flurry says as she hears herself getting out of topic. She shakes her head and continues, “I’m thanking you for this moment”. “What do you mean?”, the stallion asked. “Every since I got here, I’ve mostly been very busy. And when I’m not very busy, I feel . . . very depressed, to be honest”, Flurry says, trying to keep her smile from turning to a frown. “It’s the wedding preparations isn’t it?” “Well . . .” “Don’t worry m’lady, once you are married to the King, you’ll live happily every after and be treated like a Queen because, you will be one” Flurry rolls her eyes. “That’s overrated”, Flurry said, which made the stallion chuckle. He stops chuckling when he sees Flurry’s face, she looks sad. “Did I say something wrong m’lady?” “I don’t know if I would understand” “Just lay it on me” Flurry breathed in and out. “To be honest, I’m not looking forward to getting married” The stallion looks shocked. Flurry continued on, “Between you and me, he’s technically forcing me to marry him” “Wow . . . that’s tough”, was all that came out of the stallion’s mouth. “I know, not the kind of way you would expect somepony to get married”, Flurry said with a chuckle. She continues, “But thank you for making me feel actually happy for the first time ever since I got here”. “I guess it’s my duty, m’lady” Flurry smiles at the stallion but then looks down, and she frowns. The stallion sees Flurry frowning. “Hey, you know what cheers me up when I feel down?” Flurry lifted her head and turns to the stallion. “And what would that be?” “Flying”, the stallion says as he spreads his wings. He starts to flap his wings. “Care to follow?”, the stallion says. Flurry giggles and starts to flap his wings. The stallion flies down the hallway. Flurry Heart smiles and follows the stallion. The two finally reached to the door of the library. They flew down while laughing. “That was fun!”, Flurry says. Flying always made Flurry feel better. She’s forgotten how much fun flying was due to all the stress. The stallion bowed and said, “I have to get back to my post”. “Wait”, Flurry says, stopping the stallion from leaving. It was quiet for a minute. ‘Say something Flurry’, she thought. “Thank you”, Flurry said. The stallion smiled and left. ‘Dang it Flurry! Why didn’t you ask for his name?!’, she thought. But then, she thought about it even more. She’s getting married tomorrow. She can’t fall in love now. She shook her head. She turns back to the door of the library and opened it. She walked in to see the King. He’s on a chair reading a book. He levitated the book down. “Hello there dear”, Sombra says. Flurry flinches. ‘Dear?’, Flurry thought. Hearing that kinda grossed her out. Flurry bows and says, “Greetings, my king”. “Please, come join me”, Sombra says as he pointed to the chair next to his. Flurry nodded, and did what he asked. It’s been two days since she has seen the king. And between those two days, she had one question that had been in her mind. “My king, may I ask you a question?”, Flurry asked. “Of course dear, anything for you” Flurry took a deep breath and let it out. “Why did you choose me?” “Well . . . do you want me to be truthfully honest?”, Sombra said. Flurry nodded. “Well before you came here, my kingdom has been . . . . in riots. My royal advisors suggested that I needed to find myself a queen and get myself an heir to calm down the creatures. You know how peasants are with royal stuff.”. “Oh . . . I see” Sombra continued, “I needed a Queen that has the beauty that would attract the shadow creatures back to me. I also needed a powerful one that would produce me a perfect heir. And lucky for me, I heard of a young beautiful alicorn mare.”. That broke Flurry’s heart. She frowns. Sombra, seeing the frown, says, “Now don’t frown, all your job as Queen is to look beautiful and produce me an heir. Afterwards, you’ll be treated with the finest luxuries”. Suddenly, Crystal Shard walks into the library. She looks surprised. “My king! I did not expect you to be here”, Crystal said. “Hello there Crystal, do you need anything?”, Sombra asked. “Uh, yes. It’s time for Lady Flurry Heart’s lessons”, Crystal says as she turns to Flurry. Flurry looks sad. “Of course, you two get to it. I must go anyways”, Sombra says as he leaves the library. Crystal Shard bowed until he left. When he did leave, she turned back to Flurry. “Flurry? What is the matter?”, Crystal asked. It was quiet for a moment. Tears start coming down from Flurry’s eyes. Flurry suddenly said, “All I’m here for is to look beautiful and produce an heir?”. Crystal Shard lowered her ears and said, “I was waiting for the right time to tell you”. “Tell me what?”, Flurry asked. Flurry is on her bed and she opens her diary to the next available page. She starts to write. “Dear Diary, This is my last day until tomorrow. I thought I was ready to marry King Sombra until what I’ve learned today. The king only wanted me for my beauty. He also only wanted me to produce him a perfect heir. Who knew my love life came to this. What was more disturbing was what Crystal Shard told me. She told me of a royal custom that I had to do afterwards the wedding. Not only that but, I have to keep doing this ‘custom’, until I’m ‘baked’ ” She stop writing. She took a deep breath. And let it out. ‘Calm down Flurry Heart’, she thought. She continues to write. “Enough of that, even though today’s been a bad day for me, I did experience something good. Maybe this can brighten my story. I met somepony today. He helped me feel happy for the first time since I’ve got here. Sadly, I never got his name but, I am grateful he was there. Thank you.” She stops writing and closes her diary. She thinks about the stallion. She blushes as she thinks about him. ‘No Flurry! You can’t be thinking about this stallion! You are getting married tomorrow!’. She then got lost in her thoughts again and starts crying. Not only will she lose her freedom to marriage tomorrow, she will lose something else too. Flurry can’t bare losing this at a young age. But . . . she promised, she has to go through with it. She inhaled and exhaled deeply. And she went to sleep. Chapter 6: The Worst Day of Her LifeSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 1: Her IntuitionLuminous is at the Castle’s Gardens, hiding inside a bush. She’s trying not to move that much or else, she’ll be caught. She suddenly feels a tap from behind, which makes her jump and squeal. “Got ya”, Luminous heard. Luminous turned around to see her friend, a dark blue stallion pegasus with light blue mane. “Dark Knight! Don’t sneak up like that”, Luminous said to the pegasus. Dark Knight laughed and said, “Now where's the fun without that? It’s not like you haven’t done that to me before”. Luminous smiles and rolls her eyes. Dark Knight lended her to hoof and helped her get out of the bushes. “Princess!”, the two ponies heard and turned to the voice. The voice came from a window and there was a unicorn mare. “For pony’s sake, are you playing Hide and Seek again? You are fifteen your highness, can you please act your age for once?!”, the unicorn mare said. “Where’s the fun in that, Ms. Shard?”, Luminous said. Dark Knight chuckled and the two gave each other a high hoof. Ms. Shard groaned and said, “Are you two finished? You are late for your lessons Princess”. “Oh, in that case-”, Luminous said and then gave Dark Knight, “the look”. “Run!”, the two said and ran. Ms. Shard sighed and said, “Kids these days”. She looked out of the window to try to find where the two went but they were gone. Luminous and Dark Knight made a stop and are now at a hallway in the castle. Luminous starts panting while Dark Knight flys down to her. “You okay Lumi?”, Dark Knight asked, putting his hoof on her shoulder. “Yeah, just tired. I don’t know how you pegasuses have so much energy”. Dark Knight rolled his eyes and said, “Well I don’t know why you unicorns are slow”. “It’s been fun Dark but I got to go” “Aw, come on Lumi, you can’t stop the party right now?” “Uh, yeah I can. Besides, if my father found out I’m skipping my lessons, he’ll lock me in a tower while you’ll be dead.”, Luminous said. “Whatever, I got some training to do with some of the other rookie knights anyways”, Dark Knight said. He waves goodbye and flys away. Luminous sighed as she watches Dark Knight fly off. She turned to the other side of the hallway to see, her father. “Father! Uh, what are you doing here?”, Luminous said in shock. “I should be the one asking the questions. Why aren’t you with Ms. Shard?”, King Sombra said as he raised a brow. “Oh right, I forgot. I’ll go find her now daddy” King Sombra smiled and kissed her daughter on the forehead, “Alright, you go now young lady”. Luminous nodded and went. Even though King Sombra is a cruel king, he did have a heart. The only pony he cares about is his daughter. For the rest of the day, Luminous had math, science, history, reading, and magic lessons with Ms. Shard. Luminous was at a castle hallway. Then suddenly a painting opened up and Luminous sees a small room with a staircase. She walked into this secret room. It was blurry and dark then suddenly flames lit up. Luminous walked down the swirling staircase. The flames guided her down but the flames stop once she got down. She used a magic spell to light up her horn and looked around. It was still dark though. She felt drawn to the chest in front of her so, she walked to it. She opens the chest to find . . . a diary. At the center of the diary, there was a pink star. She looked up from the chest to see a portrait on the wall. It was a pink alicorn, with purple and blue curls, wait . . . it was her mother. And then . . . Luminous woke up. The red rays from her window woke her up. Luminous’s eyes start to open, she looked at her window. “I guess the Red Moon is up”, Luminous said, rubbing her eyes. Then there was a knock at her door. “Come in”, Luminous said while getting up. A maid came in and levitated a silver tray with her breakfast. “I hope I didn’t wake you up your highness” “No, it wasn’t you. It was the window” The maid levitated the breakfast to Luminous and said, “I should have covered the curtains last night, I’m sorry about that”. “It is fine”, Luminous said while levitating her fork to pick up a waffle to eat. “So my father is too busy to eat with me I’m assuming?” “Yes Princess, I’m sorry” “No need to apologize” “Then I’ll take my leave, I’ll see you later your highness”, the maid said and bowed. She then left the room, leaving Luminous to eat. Luminous got used to eating alone, her father was always busy. Her mother used to eat breakfast, dinner, and lunch with her everyday but, since she’s gone, Luminous is alone. But her mind isn’t on that, she was too focused on the dream. The dream . . . was it even a dream? It felt so real to Luminous. She wants to find out for herself. Once she finished her morning routine, she walked around the castle. Luckily, she was free, no royal duties to attend to, no lessons to learn, so she can have the day doing whatever she wants. Luminous was walking around the castle, trying to find that painting. She was already almost halfway finished exploring the castle but, she found nothing. She felt a tap on the shoulder which spooked and her made her jump. She turned to see Dark Knight. “Ha, that never gets old”, Dark Knight says while laughing. Luminous groans and ignores Dark Knight, walking away from him. When Dark Knight stopped laughing he noticed Luminous was walking away and caught up with her. “Hey, Lumi. What’s got you in that kind of mood?” Luminous sighed and said, “I don’t feel like playing today Dark, I got to find something”. “Okay, your knight in dark armor is here to save the day then!”, Dark Knight said proudly. “You mean rookie knight?” “Rookie knight is still a knight Lumi” “I don’t think so, they are rookies after all”, Luminous said, giving him a grin. Dark Knight scoffed and said, “Whatever”. “So what are we looking for?”, Dark Knight said, following Luminous as she walks around the castle. Luminous thought about it for a second and said, “It’s a painting but, I can’t really explain it. It’s from a dream”. “A dream? I’m confused.” “It may be a dream but, it just felt so real. You just gotta trust me” “Well don’t be surprised if this painting doesn’t exist” Luminous made a concerned face and said quietly, “I hope it does exist”. It’s been an hour and Dark Knight has been showing Luminous paintings around the castle but, it wasn’t the right one. Dark Knight stops Luminous and says, “We’ve been all around the castle Lumi, there’s nothing, I think you should stop” “I can’t. This secret room . . . I think it has something to do with my mother” “Your mother?” Luminous nods with a sad look. “You should have said that before”, Dark Knight said. “W-what do you mean?’’ “If this room has something to connect with your mother, the King would hide it in a place no pony would think of” “Obviously” “Well, maybe it’s at some part of the castle where no pony has gone to” Luminous gasped and said, “You’re a genius!’’ “Obviously!’’, Dark Knight replied, looking proud. “So what are you thinking Lumi?” Luminous started to walk and Dark Night follows her. “Well, since of the death of my mother, my father said to never go to the West Wing of the castle” “Well isn’t that place abandoned?” “Yes but, maybe we can find the painting there” “You’re a genius Lumi, but I’m gonna have to take some credit for that idea”, Dark Knight said and the two went off to the West Wing. The two made it the West Wing, and Luminous felt something. She was drawn to something again so, she followed her intuition. As she passes by rooms, she sees the rooms abandoned. But she ignores all of that. On the other hoof, Dark Knight is kinda getting chills. Luminous looks back to see him. Luminous giggles and said, “Scared?” Dark Knight quickly replied back, “What! Of course not!”. “Let me guess, you are afraid of the umbrums” “Can we just find this painting already?!” Luminous laughed and nodded. Her intuition brought her to an empty hallway. And at the end, there was the painting in her dream.
Chapter 2: The Lost DiaryLuminous runs to the end of the hallway. Dark Knight quickly follows. “This is it!”, Luminous said with glee. “What now?” Luminous used her magic and opened the painting, revealing a room with stairs, swirling down. “Are we really going in there?”, Dark Knight said. “Duh. Don’t tell me you’re scared?” “Stop asking that question, can we just carry on?”, Dark Knight said. He then flew into the room. Luminous giggled and followed Dark Knight. Luminous took a torch and used a spell to light the torch. She gave the torch to Dark Knight and lit up her horn with a spell. They walked down the swirling stairs which led to the hidden room that was in Luminous’s dream. She walked forward and looked up. And there, was the painting of her mother. Dark Knight looked wooed. “Damn, your mom was hot”. Luminous looked at Dark Knight in a weird way for a second but she turned back to what was in front of her. The chest. She opened the chest, and there was the notebook. She levitated the notebook up and she noticed the pink star at center of the notebook. Below the star, it said, “Flurry Heart’s Diary”. “Oh. My. Luna.”, Dark Knight said in shock. There were dresses, jewelry, books, and a lot more in the room. “I think this all belonged to my mother”, Luminous said. Dark Knight flew around, observing all the items in the room. Luminous closed her eyes, frowned, and hugged her mother’s diary. Dark Knight flew to Luminous and looked at her. He hated to see her sad. “You okay Lumi?”, Dark Knight said. Luminous sighed and said, “I guess . . . seeing all of my mother’s belongings made me have flashbacks about her. Especially the one about . . . about her death”. She then shed a tear and lowered her head. Dark Knight wipes the tear with his wing and put his wings over Luminous. She felt his wing over her and opened her eyes. She lifted her head up and smiled at him. Her smile made him blush but quickly looked away from her so she won’t notice. “Let’s go Lumi. I think we had enough time here.”, Dark Knight said. Luminous nodded, and followed Dark Knight out of the secret room. When they got out, Dark Knight saw Luminous was holding the diary. Dark Knight pointed at the diary and asked, “So you’re going to take that with you?”. Luminous nodded, levitated the book in front of her, and said, “Maybe this can help me understand what actually happened to my mother”. She levitated the book to her hoof and hugged the book. Flashback Luminous never knew what happened. She was six when it did. Her father declared that the Queen would be executed at noon. Luminous didn’t even know what executed mean until that day. The morning of that day, when Luminous woke up, her mother was there. Luminous didn’t know that, that was the last morning she’ll have with her. All morning, Luminous and her mother played. Luminous and Flurry Heart was lying on the floor. Luminous was trying the levitate the dolls while Flurry was writing in her diary. Luminous gave up trying to lift up the dolls and looked towards her mother. “What are you doing mommy?”, Luminous asked. “I’m writing in my diary, my sunshine”, Flurry Heart replied. “Can I read it?” Flurry Heart chuckled and said, “One day you will.” Flurry then closed her diary Flurry Heart kissed her daughter in the forehead and hugged her. “Mommy?”, Luminous called. “Yes sweetie?” “Why is everyone acting so weird today?”, Luminous asked. Everyone was acting weird to her. She was so puzzled. Flurry Heart’s lowered her ears but tried to fake a smile. “Just know that mommy will be fine. And no matter what, follow your heart, my little Amorevole Cuore Luminoso”, Flurry said while pointing to Luminous’s heart. Luminous was still confused. Suddenly, the doors slammed opened. The guards walked in and pulled Flurry. Flurry tried to fight back to get back to Luminous but the guards won at the end. While all of this was going on, Luminous was screaming for her mommy. When they finally dragged Flurry Heart away, a maid came in and went to Luminous. Luminous was bawling and screaming, “Mommy”. “It’s okay Princess, your mother will be okay”, the maid said, trying to comfort Luminous. The maid helped her stop crying while ignoring the questions Luminous kept asking. Then, the maid walked her to the courtyard. Luminous still didn’t know was going on until she went to the courtyard. Many ponies were there, including her father. The maid took Luminous to the stand where her father was. “Daddy, What is going on?”, Luminous asked. King Sombra bent down to her daughter and said, “Your mother did something really bad sweetie, so she is getting punished”. Then, two ponies walked to the courtyard. One was her mother, who had a black hood on. The other pony, who also had a black hood on, was the executioner. The executioner took Flurry Heart to another stand. The executioner made Flurry lay down as he levitated a big sword. Luminous gasped and said, “Daddy, what is he going to do to her?”. Sombra ignored his daughter and turned to his subjects. “Ladies and gentlecolts, we are all gathered today to witness the death of the Queen. I’ve recently learned that the Queen was going to betray us and thus, she will be punished”. The crowd was gasping, and mumbling something to each other. “Executioner, if you may?”, Sombra said. The executioner took of the hood off her mother and levitated the big sword up slowly. “Daddy?”, Luminous said, turning to her father. “It will be all over soon sweetie”, Sombra said. Luminous turn back to her mother, seeing that she was looking at her. Flurry was mouthing, “I love you” to Luminous. Luminous understood and started getting teary. And at that second, the executioner swung the sword down. “Mommy!”, Luminous yelled. Then everything went black. Back to the Present It was night, there is no moon in the night at the shadow realm. Instead, red crystals shine throughout the night for the creatures in the shadow realm. Luminous was in her room, laying on her bed with the crystal lamp on. She is staring at her mother’s diary which laid in front of her. She is debating if she should read it or not. Her mind is saying one thing but her heart is saying another. She inhaled, then exhaled. She put her hoof on her heart and used her magic to open the diary. On the first page it had a note. It said, “Sacrifice is part of life. It’s not something to regret, it’s something you hope to inspire. - Twilight”. Luminous raised a brow. She looked confused. She shook her head and went to the next page. It was the starting page of her mother’s story. Luminous smiled and started getting excited. She begins to read . . . Flashback At this time, Flurry Heart is 16. Flurry Heart lives in the Crystal Empire in the Light Realm. Flurry is walking around the castle, with her mother, looking at all the decorations the Crystal ponies are putting up for her upcoming day. “I just can’t wait for your coronation Flurry. The Empire has been waiting for this since your sixteen birthday party.”, Flurry’s mother said. Her mother is Princess Consort Cadance, the coruler of the Crystal Empire. Flurry rolled her eyes and said, “I know mother. You’ve been saying it over a million times now”. “I’m sorry sweetie, I’m am just excited” “Well, I’m not”, Flurry said quietly. “What was that?”, her mother asked. “Nothing”, Flurry said and lowered her head and ears, trying to hide and frown from her mother. Cadance stopped Flurry and lifted her head up. “Listen dear, I know how you feel. You don’t have to hide it. When your Aunt Twilight gave me this kingdom, I was nervous at first as well”, Cadance said. “But you make it look so easy. I’m nothing like you.” Cadance smiles at her daughter and lead her to the doors of the throne room. “Well I know somepony who came all the way from Canterlot who’s in the throne room right now, waiting for you.”, Cadance. Flurry’s frown turned into a smile and her ears lifted. She opens the doors and she saw her Aunt Twilight. Flurry Heart’s aunt is Twilight Sparkle. She is the Queen of the Light Realm and the sister-in-law of Princess Cadance. “Aunt Twilight!”, Flurry said as she ran to her. But she stopped right before she was about to hug her. “Oh right”, Flurry said and bowed. “Your majesty”, Flurry greeted. Twilight laughed. Flurry got up and was confused. “You know you don’t have to do that Flurry. Come here and give me a hug”, Twilight said. The two hugged. “I’ll be back for her”, Cadance said and walked away. “So what are you doing here Aunt Twilight?”, Flurry asked. “I’m here for you of course”, Twilight said. “Right . . . the coronation”, Flurry said with a frown. “That also, but mostly you”, Twilight replies. Flurry’s frown turned into a little smile. “Listen Flurry, I can’t tell you I know how you feel because I’m not you.” “At least some pony is finally being honest with me”, Flurry mumbles. “I was going to wait till after the coronation to give you this but, I think you’re going to need it” Twilight pulled out a present and gave it to Flurry. Flurry opened the box. Flurry is in her room, laying on her bed, with a crystal lamp. She’s staring at the diary which laid in front of her. She inhaled, then exhaled. She put her hoof on her heart and used her magic to open the diary. On the first page it had a note. It said, “Sacrifice is part of life. It’s not something to regret, it’s something you hope to inspire. - Twilight”. Flurry Heart raised a brow. She looked confused. She rolled her eyes, chuckled and said, “Oh Aunt Twilight”. Then she shook her head and went to the next page. The starting page. She levitated a quill over to her and started writing. “Dear Diary, My name is Flurry Heart. Many know me as Duchess Flurry Heart but soon, it’ll be Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire. I am having my coronation tomorrow as my mother step down and as I step up. I am nervous. I fear I won’t be a good princess for my subjects. My Aunt Twilight gave me this diary as a gift. She told me if I write all my thoughts down, all my “flurries” will go away. And yes, my Aunt actually said that, it was a thing she made up because I always get worried. It annoyed me but it’s not like I can tell her to stop, she’s the Queen for Celestia’s sake!” Flurry stopped writing. She read over what she wrote and chuckled afterwards. Then she started to write again. “Honestly, this is working out. I guess my “flurries” are going away. Thank you, diary and thank you, Aunt Twilight.” Flurry yawned after finishing her last sentence. She closed her diary and put it under her pillow. She put the quill away and turned off the lamp. She looked at the window to look at the beautiful bright yellow moon and went to sleep. Back to the Present Luminous finished reading page one of her mother’s diary. She had so many questions. Like, who is Celestia? Who is Twilight? And where is this “Crystal Empire”? She yawned. She decided that she’ll figure it out in the morning. Luminous closed the diary and put it under her pillow. She turned off her lamp. She looked at the window to look at the glowing red crystals that are around her kingdom and went to sleep.
Chapter 3: The ProposalIt was the next day, Luminous is at the castle library. A knock was at the library door. Luminous turned to the door to see Dark Knight. Dark Knight walked in and said, “What are you doing Luminous?”. “Research”, she said and turned back to a book that was in front of her. Dark Knight flew to her and took the book to look at the cover. “The Light Realm? Why are you reading about the Light Realm?”, Dark Knight said. Luminous took the book from Dark Knight and said, “I told you, it’s research”. “But why research about the Light Realm though? The Light Realm is evil.” The creatures in the Light Realm and the creatures in the Shadow Realm have a complicated relationship. They hate each other ever since the war. Families, friends, and more were all lost during the war and the creatures of both realms blamed each other. “I don’t get what’s so wrong about the Light Realm. A little feud shouldn’t separate the realms”, Luminous said. “A little feud? Why are you suddenly turning on your own kind?” “I am not! But . . .” “What Lumi?” “Maybe we should talk in my room”, Luminous said, walking out the library. Dark Knight was confused. Luminous turned around and said, “Are you coming or not?”. So Dark Knight followed. “Your mother was a what?!”, Dark Knight yelled. “Shhh! Quiet down a little bit.” Dark Knight sat at Luminous’s bed and said, “I just can’t believe it. The Queen was a Light Creature. And you . . .”. Luminous’s ears lowered and said, “I know you’re mad at me, and if you don’t want to hang out with me anymore, I-“ “What!”, Dark Knight interrupted. Dark Knight begins getting closer to Luminous as he says, “Why would I ever be mad at you? Even if you are a Light Creature, I’ll always be there for you because I lo-“. He stops, staring at her beautiful eyes. “Dark?”, Luminous says. He snaps out of his trance, and shakes his head. He backs up a bit. “S-sorry, I was going to say because . . . because you are my friend” Luminous smiles, and hugs him. Dark Knight blushes without Luminous noticing and embraces her hug. Luminous hops on her bed and sits next to Dark Knight. She uses her magic to levitate the diary out from under her pillow. “Do you want to read with me?”, Luminous ask. Dark Knight smiles and shakes his head. “I think your mom wanted you to read it, not me. Besides, I should go” Luminous nodded. Dark Knight got off the bed and walked to the door. “Wait, Dark”, Luminous calls. Dark Knight turned back. “Do you still think Light Creatures are bad?” Dark Knight chuckled, “Not the ones I know. I guess they’re growing on me”. Luminous laughed. “Night Lumi”, Dark Knight said. He winked at her, walked out, and closed the door. “Night”, Luminous said. Luminous then opens the diary to the third page. She begins to read . . . Flashback It was the morning coronation day. Flurry was in the wardrobe room, standing and waiting. Stylists were there, helping her get ready for her big day. Flurry kept sneezing because the makeup stylist was putting on powder and taking it off. The hair stylist was putting up Flurry’s hair to the correct ceremonial headdress of the Crystal Empire, which was kinda heavy. And the wardrobe stylist helped her put on the dress and shoes, which was also heavy too. After the stylist finished dressing Flurry up, they went out while Flurry stayed in her room. A knock was at the door. “Come in”, she said. Her father, Shining Armor walked in, amazed to see his daughter, shed a tear. He is also known as the High Prince Shining Armor. He is the little brother of Queen Twilight, the wife of Princess Consort Cadance, and ruler of the Crystal Empire. Flurry laughed and said, “Dad? Are you crying?”. Shining Armor wipes his tear away and said, “Can’t a father be proud of his daughter?”. They both laughed and hugged. “I don’t know how mother handles wearing all of this, it’s heavy”, Flurry says. “She’s your mother, she’s strong. And so are you”, Shining Armor said. Flurry smiled. “Come on now Flurry”, Shining Armor said. Flurry nodded and the two walked to the doors of the throne room. “Are you ready?”, her father asked. Flurry took a deep breath and let it out. Flurry nodded to her father. Then they hear trumpets playing and the doors open. The two walked down the aisle to Cadance. Shining Armor walked to the side while Flurry walked to her mother. Twilight was beside her mother. “Creatures of the Crystal Empire, we are gathered here today for the coronation of my daughter, Duchess Flurry Heart. She has reached the age to become the new Crystal Ruler of this Empire while I’ll be stepping down. I know she’ll do a fantastic job and I know you all will look out for her as she’ll look out for you.” Twilight levitated a crown to Flurry. “Now may I now present your new Crystal Princess, Princess-“, Cadance stopped. The room was getting dark and there were thunders were roaring. Suddenly, King Sombra bursted into the room. Everyone in the room gasped. “Well well well”, King Sombra said as he walked down the aisle. Shining Armor and Cadance got in front of Flurry to protect her. “What do you want Sombra? You know are not welcomed here.”, Cadance said. “Certainly not when my daughter’s coronation is happening”, Shining Armor added. “I came here for your daughter. There were rumors about Duchess Flurry Heart’s beauty that reached to my realm. And they were absolutely correct”, Sombra said. Twilight flew in front of Sombra and said, “I’ll warn you once, Sombra. Leave now”. Sombra chuckled and said, “Well, I don’t have to warn you at all”. He suddenly blasted a spell at Twilight and purple smoke was everywhere. When the purple smoke cleared up, everyone but Sombra gasped. Twilight was stoned. “Twilight!”, Cadance said as she flew to Twilight. Sombra used his magic and stoned Cadance. “No!”, Shining Armor yelled. “Listen or you’ll be next”, Sombra threatened. Shining Armor backed up a little. Sombra turned his head from Shining Armor to Flurry Heart. “You have until dusk until I come back to make your decision” “D-decision? Decision to what?”, Flurry said in fright. “Either you decide to become my Queen and come to the Shadow Realm or your mother and aunt stay stoned for eternity” Every creature in the room gasped. Sombra gave an evil laugh. “No!”, Shining Armor said and ran to Sombra but, Sombra teleported away. Flurry dropped to the ground and started to cry. It was one hour til dusk. One more hour till Flurry gives up her freedom. For the last five hours, her and her father have been arguing. Her father said to not agree with his deal but, Flurry wanted to in order to free her mother and her aunt. It was a sacrifice she was willing to take. In her last hour, she cried and wrote in her diary. “Dear Diary, Plans did not go that well for me. I was so ready to become Princess of the Crystal Empire but things have changed. King Sombra interrupted my coronation and turned my mother and aunt into stone. The only way to free them was that I would have to marry him. My father was mad that King Sombra was forcing me to marry him. But the thing is, he's not forcing me, it’s my choice. A choice I’m willing to take for my family.” She stopped writing, a tear dropped from her face to the diary. Then Sombra suddenly appeared from the smokes. “I see you’ve made your decision”, he asked. “I have”, Flurry Heart said firmly. “But you have to make up the end of your deal first”, Flurry said. “Of course”, Sombra said as he conjured up a spell that freed Twilight and Cadance. Shining Armor was in the throne room, looking at the two statues that were in front of him. Then, purple smoke surrounded the statues. Shining Armor backed up, he was confused. Suddenly, Twilight and Cadance broke free. He was so happy to see his sister and wife free. But then he realized something . . . “Flurry!”, he yelled. He, Cadance, and Twilight ran to Flurry’s room. But when they reached to her room, she was gone. Back to the Present Luminous finished reading the third page. She was tearing up. She knew her mother and father weren’t something out of a fairy tale but, she didn’t think their story was like that. She touched the part of the page where it was darker than the rest. It was the spot where Flurry’s tear landed. Luminous’s tear dropped to that exact same spot. “I’m sorry mother. I didn’t know”.
Chapter 4: Dinner TalksLuminous was crying all night till she fell asleep. It’s morning now and she’s awake. She didn’t want to do anything today. She hears a knock. “Come in”, she said. A maid came in and said, “Morning Princess”. The maid opens the curtains and the red rays shines the room. Luminous moaned and put her pillow on top of her head. “Come on now Princess. You’re not eating breakfast here today”. Luminous moved the pillow above her head and turned to the maid. “What do you mean?”, she said. “The king wants to have breakfast with you today”. “Oh”, Luminous said. It just had to be today, out of all the days, it just had to be this day. After reading the third page of her mother’s diary, she didn’t want to talk to her father. Why would her father want to have breakfast with her anyways? It’s been awhile since she had breakfast with him. After she got ready, she went to the dining room. And there, her father was sitting at the end of the dining table. Luminous walked to her chair. A guard near the chair pulled out the chair for Luminous. She sat down and the guard pushed it back and went back to the door. “Good morning father”, Luminous said. “Good morning Luminous”, her father replied and they started to eat. It was quiet for a minute or two. Luminous got tired of it and started to speak. “Father, did you want something out of me?”, she said. King Sombra was shocked. “Can’t a father have breakfast with his daughter?” Luminous rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry father, it’s just, it’s been awhile since we had breakfast together.” “And I’m sorry for that sweetie, I’ve been very busy.” “Very busy? Very busy all day?” “Well . . . I am a king” Luminous groaned. Sombra raised a brow. “Anyways, one of my guards caught you going to the West Wing. What were you doing there?” “I knew it!”, Luminous said as she banged the table. “Princess Amorevole Cuore Luminoso”, Sombra said firmly. Luminous settled down and lowered her ears. She didn’t like it when her father say her name like that. It is actually her real full name. Her mother gave that to her. But since it was long, she likes being called Luminous. Luminous knows if her father calls her by her full name, he’s getting upset, and the last thing she wants is getting locked in a tower. It’s actually true. She did get locked into one once, but she doesn’t like talking about it. “You didn’t answer my question”, he said. Luminous sighed and said, “Me and Dark Night were just bored and we thought it would have been fun if we explored the West Wing”. “Dark Night was there too?” Luminous nodded. “Luminous, you’ve always been obedient, and why would you disobey me now?” “Maybe it’s because you’re always busy”, Luminous said quietly. “Excuse me?”, Sombra said. The twig snaps. “Maybe it’s because you’re always busy to the point that you don’t catch me doing mischief”. Luminous sighed. “Daddy, why can’t we just have some real actually family talk?” Luminous started crying. “Luminous please calm down”, Sombra said. “I’m sorry daddy but . . . I’m just confused. How can we be father and daughter if you’re never there for me?” Sombra didn’t know what to say. He just looked at her daughter’s eyes. Luminous then got off her chair and ran away from the dining room. “I’m sorry”, Sombra said but, it was too late. It was a tiring day for Luminous. Her morning was bad due to her father. And the rest of her day was awfully boring, due to the boring lessons with Ms. Shard. The red moon is setting down and Luminous is laying on her bed. Staring at the ceiling wall. She didn’t want to read the diary, she’s too scared to read what will happen next. But at the same time, she wanted to know. She wanted to know how her mother dealt through all of this. She inhales and exhales and takes the diary out from under her pillow. Flashback Flurry was in her room with King Sombra. The sun was setting down in the Crystal Empire. King Sombra broke his spell and freed Twilight and Cadance from their curse. “Before we go, I should tell you. You may be a light creature here but, once you are in the Shadow Realm, you are one of us” Flurry nodded and asked, “Can I bring my diary?”. “Of course”, Sombra replied. So Flurry took her diary and hold on it tight. “I’m ready”, she said. Sombra put out a hoof for Flurry. Flurry put her hoof on his. Sombra then used a spell that suddenly made purple smoke surround the room. The everything went black. Flurry opened her eyes, she felt like she went to sleep. She was in bed, looking around. She got off the bed and went to the window. In the sky there was a red moon. And below, there was the kingdom. All around the kingdom were red crystals. Weird. Then, a knock was at the door. Flurry turned to the door and said, “Come in”. A unicorn walked in. Her magic is levitating a silver tray with food on it. She bowed to Flurry and said, “Hello Lady Flurry Heart” “Oh, hello. Where is King Sombra?” The unicorn placed the silver tray on the nightstand and said, “The King is attending to his royal duties while setting up the preparations for the wedding” “The wedding?” The unicorn nodded. Flurry Heart got light headed. “Are you okay Lady Flurry Heart?”, the unicorn asked. “Um yeah, everything is just moving so fast”, Flurry said. “I agree, but you should be honored. The King chose you to be his Queen out of every pony in the Shadow Realm.”, the unicorn said as she hides her hidden frown. “Right . . . the Shadow Realm, because I’m a Shadow Creature”, Flurry quietly said while remembering what King Sombra told her. “You should eat Lady Flurry Heart”, the unicorn suggested. Flurry Heart nodded and started eating. The unicorn took out a scroll and said, “You have a tight schedule. You have a lot of things to do. But we’ll get through them, after all, your wedding is in two day.” Flurry almost choked. “Two days?!” “I thought you knew”, the unicorn said. “I knew I was going to get married but not in two days!” Flurry was breathing rapidly. “Lady Flurry Heart, please calm down”, the unicorn said as she was patting Flurry’s back. Flurry stopped and calmed down. She took a deep breath and let it out, like her mother taught her. And then she was telling herself, ’This is for The Crystal Empire’, in her head. “Thank you”, Flurry said to the unicorn. The unicorn nodded. “So who are you?”, Flurry asked the unicorn. “I’m your maid”, the unicorn replied. Flurry chuckled and said, “What I meant was, what’s your name?” “Oh”, the unicorn said in a surprising tone. “My name is Crystal Shard” “It is nice to meet you Crystal” “You as well Lady Flurry Heart” “Please, just call me Flurry” Crystal Shard nodded and said, “As you wish”. When Flurry finished her breakfast, Crystal Shard showed Flurry Heart around the castle for an hour. After the tour, Flurry had to go to a wedding dress fitting which lasted for three hours. Then, Flurry Heart had lessons with Crystal Shard, learning about the royal customs for an hour. And for the rest of the day, Flurry was in her room, reading. “Are you sure you don’t need anything else Flurry?”, Crystal Shard asked putting a book on the nightstand. “No thank you, that will be all.”, Flurry replies. “Then good night Flurry” “You too Crystal” Crystal Shard bowed to Flurry and went out of the room. Flurry was reading about everything about the Shadow Realm. She was amazed to learn that in the daytime of the Shadow Realm, there was no bright yellow sun like the one in the Light Realm but instead, a Red Moon. And in the night, there is no moon, instead, there are red crystals that surround the kingdom that glow in the night as light for the Shadow Creatures. Flurry loved reading, she guessed she got that from her Aunt Twilight. It made her feel safe, especially in this situation. After she finished reading the books, she took out her diary from under her pillow. She flipped to the next available page and got a quill. Then, she started to write. “Dear Diary, Today is my first day in the Shadow Realm. It was nicer than the stories I’ve heard. The glowing red crystals in the night are beautiful. Also, today is one of my last two days before my freedom is taken. Actually, I feel like it’s already been taken ever since I got here. Unlike where I was going from Lady Flurry Heart to Princess Flurry Heart in the Light Realm, now, I’m going from Lady Flurry Heart to Queen Flurry Heart in two days.” Flurry stopped writing and sighed. She was spaced out for a second. She shook her head to regain her focus and started to write again. “But hey, at least I made a new friend. Her name is Crystal Shard. Hopefully, she can make me feel like home in this foreign place.” Flurry stopped writing and yawned. She closed her diary and put it under her pillow. She turned off her lamp and looked at the window. She was amazed by the glowing red crystals that shine throughout the kingdom. It is beautiful. She went to sleep, knowing that the light will protect her. Back to the Present Luminous was surprised. She’s amazed on how her mother kept being positive. She’s also surprised that Ms. Shard knew her mother. Luminous decided that she was going to ask Ms. Shard about her mother tomorrow. She closed the diary and put it under her pillow. She turned off her lamp and looked at the window. Luminous is starting to appreciate the glowing red crystals that shine throughout the kingdom. It is beautiful. She went to sleep, knowing that the light will protect her.
Chapter 5: Her PurposeIt’s the next day. Luminous is waiting for Ms. Shard to arrive. Finally, she hears a knock. Knowing that it’s Ms. Shard, Luminous said, “Come in Ms. Shard”. Ms. Shard came in, she looks surprised. “Hello Princess Luminous, I’m surprised you’re here”, Ms. Shard said. “What do you mean by that Ms. Shard?”, Luminous said in an innocent tone, even know she knows. “Well you are always out and about with that coltfriend of yours”, Ms. Shard said. Well . . . that backfired. “Dark Knight is not my coltfriend!”, Luminous blurted as her face got redder. Ms. Shard laughed and said, “I’m sorry your highness, I was just joking around”. Luminous thought about it for a second. Her and Dark Knight? Maybe . . . She shakes her head to regain her focus. “Never mind that. Let’s begin the lesson”, Ms. Shard. “Before we start, can I ask you a question Ms. Shard?”, Luminous ask. “It’s ‘May I ask you a question Ms. Shard’. The ‘Can I’ statement is talking about capability. The ‘May I’ statement is asking for permission. And I know you were going for a permission statement. Besides, the ‘May I’ statement is more polite than the ‘Can I’ statement.”, Ms. Shard corrected. Luminous rolled her eyes and said, “Right. May I ask you a question Ms. Shard?”. “You may”, Ms. Shard replied. “Did you know my mother?”, Luminous ask. “Of course I did, she was the Queen after all”, Ms. Shard said as she was levitating some books out of her saddle bag. “Um no, what I meant was, did you personally know my mother?” Ms. Shard dropped her books, in shock. Ms. Shard regained her focus. “Why would you ask that question?”, she said in a nervous tone. “So you did know her! I can tell it from you tone”, Luminous said. Ms. Shard looked down and lowered her ears. She was spaced out. “Ms. Shard?”, Luminous called out. Ms. Shard regained her focus and lifted up her head. “Sorry, I had flashbacks”, she said. “Please Ms. Shard, you have to tell me the truth”, Luminous pleaded. Ms. Shard sighed, admitting defeat. “Fine, I did know your mother” “Then please, tell me what you know.”, Luminous said. “I wish I could dear. But . . . I can’t.”, Luminous says as she was picking up the books. “What do you mean, you can’t? Is this my father’s doing.” Ms. Shard, getting tired of resisting to Luminous’s stubbornness, nodded. “I knew it”, Luminous said, falling on her bed. Ms. Shard goes to Luminous. “It’s always him. He ruins everything”, Luminous says in disappointment. “You may think that but, he is just doing what he thinks would be best”, Ms. Shard says. “And what would that be?” “Your protection” Luminous rolls her eyes and gets up. “It’s always that. These secret he’s been hiding, it’s always for my protection” “Princess! Stop this at once” “Then please, please tell me the truth”, Luminous pleaded. Ms. Shard could see Flurry Heart in Luminous. She misses her. Ms. Shard took a deep breath, and let it out. “I was your mother’s maid. And we quickly became friends” “I knew it.”, Luminous said. “But how did you know I knew her?”, Ms. Shard asked. “Um”, Luminous said as she’s trying to think of an excuse. “Well?” “It was a dream”, Luminous blurted. Luminous wasn’t technically lying. Without that dream, she wouldn’t known what she knows right now. “Hmm. I see.”, Ms. Shard said, as she was packing the books back in the saddle. “Wait, you’re going already? What about my mother?”, Luminous said. “I’m tired of your stubbornness Princess, that’s why I’m leaving.”, Ms. Shard said as she walks to the door. She turns back to Luminous, and says, “And if you really wanted to know, your mother was having an affair” “W-What?”, Luminous said in shock. “She disobeyed the King. It was her foolishness that led her to her death.”, Ms. Shard said and left. “It can’t be . . .”, Luminous says. Dark Knight is at the Rookies Knights Quarters with the other rookies. He and the other rookies are running laps. An adult pegasus stallion with a light goldish brown coat with a brown mane blows the whistle and yells, “Come on rookies! Faster!”. The pegasus is Commander Stonewall. The commander is training the rookies for a tournament they will be having later. The Commander blows the whistle again and says, “That’s enough rookies! Take five”. The rookies stopped running. Some fainted and some are panting. Dark Knight and some of his friends were doing push ups while making fun of the ones that fainted and are panting. Then Dark Knight saw her. His focus was all on her. She was walking to the Commander. The rookies around him were laughing at him, as they noticed who walked to the field. One of them punched Dark and he regained his focus. “Huh?” “Dude, this is like the hundredth time you’ve done that”, one of the rookies commented. He got up from his push up position, rubbed the back of his head, and blushed. “Shut up guys”, Dark Knight said in embarrassment. “No offense Dark but, don’t you think the Princess is way out of your league?”, one of the rookies asked. “Love will always overrank every league”, Dark Knight replied as he is back in his trance, staring at Luminous. “Geez, love has made you really cheesy”, another rookie said. “Who cares if I’m cheesy” “And what about her overprotective father? Spoiler alert, the King?”, the other rookie added. Dark Knight snapped out his trance. The group, even Dark Knight, knows that if the King found out that his daughter was dating someone, it’s off with their head. Then the group heard the whistle. Commander Stonewall called out for Dark Knight. The group turned to the Commander. Luminous waves at Dark Knight. “Oh, you’re going to be dead soon Dark”, one of the rookies teased. Dark Night rolled his eyes and flew to the Commander and Luminous. “Commander Stone Wall”, Dark Knight said as he saluted his commander/coach. “Uh apparently, the Princess has chosen you to help her with an important royal duty”, the oblivious commander says. “Yes, totally for a very important royal duty”, Luminous said. “Totally”, Dark Knight said. And the two left the field. It’s was silent for a minutes as they left. Dark Knight turns to Luminous and sees she’s sad. Tired of the silence and kinda concerned, he says, “So what’s up Lumi? You okay?”. Luminous sighs and says, “I just really need you right now Darky” Dark Knight blushes. He’s surprised on what he just heard. Luminous, now realizing what she just said, blushes. “I mean, I need to walk with somepony” Dark Knight raised a brow. “I mean! I need to stalk with somebody!”, Luminous tried to correct herself again. ’What are you saying Luminous?! It’s just Dark. Calm down’, Luminous thought. “Ugh, what I meant was-“ Dark Knight bursted out laughing. Luminous is still embarrassed. Dark Knight looked at Luminous. “You are cute when you look embarrassed” He stopped laughing and put his wing over Luminous. Luminous turns away from him, trying to hide her tomato face. “You need somepony to talk to?”, Dark Knight said after he calmed down. Luminous turn back to Dark Knight and nods. “Then let’s go to your room. Race ya there”, Dark Knight says as he flys down the hallway. Luminous smiles and follows Dark Knight. It’s the night time. The red moon is down and the red crystals are glowing. Dark Night and Luminous are laughing. They are sitting on Luminous’s bed. “Thanks for hanging out with me, I needed it”, Luminous said. “I’m always here for you Lumi, remember that”, Dark Knight said. Luminous yawns. “I’m gonna get back to my quarters” “Wait”, Luminous says, stopping Dark Knight from leaving. It was quiet for a minute. ‘Say something Luminous’, she thought. “Thank you”, Luminous said. Dark Knight winked and left. ‘Dang it Luminous!’, she thought. She sighed and shook her head. After talking to Dark Knight, she decided to give her mother another chance to explain herself. And so she took out the diary from under her pillow and opened it to the next page. As she was about to read, the lamp starts to flicker. Then she felt a breeze. She turned to the window and noticed it was open. She closed it with her magic. Wait . . . she doesn’t remember opening the window. Luminous shrugs. Luminous then heard a whisper that said, “Luminous”. Luminous jumps. “Luminous, you are just hearing stuff. Snap it out”, she told herself. She pauses for a moment to see if she here’s anything else. Nothing. Luminous sighed in relief. She turned back to the diary. Ms. Shard walks into the throne room. The king is sitting on his throne, reading some documents. “My King”, Ms. Shard says as she bows. King Sombra put his documents down and asked, “Did you do it?”. Ms. Shard nodded and says, “Yes my King, I’ve told your daughter what she needed to know”. “Good. One of my spies caught Luminous going to the secret room and bringing something out. Did you find out what it was?” “No your majesty, but I am eliminating some options.” “Whatever it is, you better figure it out.”. ”Sir, there is something else I have to tell you.”, Ms. Shard said. ”What is it?” ”Apparently, you daughter has been having visions.” ”Visions?”, Sombra says as he thought about it. Sombra continues, ”This would explain her recent actions and behavior towards me” ”So what are we going to do my king?”, Ms. Shard asked. ”I’ll think of something, but for now, keep a close eye on on my daughter” Ms. Shard nods. Little did the two know, somepony from outside the throne room was listening. It was Dark Knight. Flashback It’s the day before the big day. Every creature in the castle is in a rush, preparing for the big day. The creatures don’t remember the last time the Shadow Realm has a royal wedding before, they are excited. Well . . . not every creature is excited, not Flurry Heart. Of course Flurry Heart isn’t that excited for her big day. After all, she just met her future husband two days ago. She always dreamed of getting married. Getting married to someone who she actually loves, to be exact. She always believed in true love. Her parents were the power couple that represented it. But now, she guessed that will never happen to her. Flurry Heart is walking around her new home. She’s kinda lost. ‘It has to be nearby somewhere’, she thought. She looks around while she walks. And then, bump. Flurry fell down. “Oh shoot. Are you okay?”, a voice asked. Flurry opened her eyes to see a pegasus stallion guard who looks like the same age as her. Her heart skips a beat. A blush slowly glows up on Flurry’s face. “Uh, y-yeah”, Flurry said. The stallion rubbed the back of his head and smiled. “Sorry about that”, he said and he lended a hoof to help Flurry up. “N-no, it was my fault. I should have watched where I was looking” “Wait a minute . . . You’re Lady Flurry Heart!”, the stallion said after his realization. “I’m so sorry m’lady”. “No no, please don’t apologize. Like I said, it was my fault” The stallion nodded. It was silent for a minute. The two just stared at each other. Flurry was lost, her heart was beating fast, ‘Is this love?’, she thought. Flurry finally took his hoof and he helped her up. She shook her head to regain her focus and said, “I am sort of lost. Do you mind if you escort me to the library?”. “Of course”, the stallion said. “But you know it’s going to be a long walk, the library is way on the other side of the castle, you know that?” Flurry shrugs, “I could use the walk”. It was quiet for a moment, it was a bit awkward. So Flurry decided to talk. “Soo, are you new around here?“, she asked. The stallion scoffed and said, “I’m pretty sure I was here first” Flurry chuckled and said, “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to make conversation” The stallion smiled. Flurry turns to the stallion and she smiles. “Thank you”, Flurry Heart said. The stallion turns to Flurry Heart with a confused look. “We haven’t even reached the library yet”, he said. “Oh, I’m not thanking you for that. I mean I will because-“, Flurry says as she hears herself getting out of topic. She shakes her head and continues, “I’m thanking you for this moment”. “What do you mean?”, the stallion asked. “Every since I got here, I’ve mostly been very busy. And when I’m not very busy, I feel . . . very depressed, to be honest”, Flurry says, trying to keep her smile from turning to a frown. “It’s the wedding preparations isn’t it?” “Well . . .” “Don’t worry m’lady, once you are married to the King, you’ll live happily every after and be treated like a Queen because, you will be one” Flurry rolls her eyes. “That’s overrated”, Flurry said, which made the stallion chuckle. He stops chuckling when he sees Flurry’s face, she looks sad. “Did I say something wrong m’lady?” “I don’t know if I would understand” “Just lay it on me” Flurry breathed in and out. “To be honest, I’m not looking forward to getting married” The stallion looks shocked. Flurry continued on, “Between you and me, he’s technically forcing me to marry him” “Wow . . . that’s tough”, was all that came out of the stallion’s mouth. “I know, not the kind of way you would expect somepony to get married”, Flurry said with a chuckle. She continues, “But thank you for making me feel actually happy for the first time ever since I got here”. “I guess it’s my duty, m’lady” Flurry smiles at the stallion but then looks down, and she frowns. The stallion sees Flurry frowning. “Hey, you know what cheers me up when I feel down?” Flurry lifted her head and turns to the stallion. “And what would that be?” “Flying”, the stallion says as he spreads his wings. He starts to flap his wings. “Care to follow?”, the stallion says. Flurry giggles and starts to flap his wings. The stallion flies down the hallway. Flurry Heart smiles and follows the stallion. The two finally reached to the door of the library. They flew down while laughing. “That was fun!”, Flurry says. Flying always made Flurry feel better. She’s forgotten how much fun flying was due to all the stress. The stallion bowed and said, “I have to get back to my post”. “Wait”, Flurry says, stopping the stallion from leaving. It was quiet for a minute. ‘Say something Flurry’, she thought. “Thank you”, Flurry said. The stallion smiled and left. ‘Dang it Flurry! Why didn’t you ask for his name?!’, she thought. But then, she thought about it even more. She’s getting married tomorrow. She can’t fall in love now. She shook her head. She turns back to the door of the library and opened it. She walked in to see the King. He’s on a chair reading a book. He levitated the book down. “Hello there dear”, Sombra says. Flurry flinches. ‘Dear?’, Flurry thought. Hearing that kinda grossed her out. Flurry bows and says, “Greetings, my king”. “Please, come join me”, Sombra says as he pointed to the chair next to his. Flurry nodded, and did what he asked. It’s been two days since she has seen the king. And between those two days, she had one question that had been in her mind. “My king, may I ask you a question?”, Flurry asked. “Of course dear, anything for you” Flurry took a deep breath and let it out. “Why did you choose me?” “Well . . . do you want me to be truthfully honest?”, Sombra said. Flurry nodded. “Well before you came here, my kingdom has been . . . . in riots. My royal advisors suggested that I needed to find myself a queen and get myself an heir to calm down the creatures. You know how peasants are with royal stuff.”. “Oh . . . I see” Sombra continued, “I needed a Queen that has the beauty that would attract the shadow creatures back to me. I also needed a powerful one that would produce me a perfect heir. And lucky for me, I heard of a young beautiful alicorn mare.”. That broke Flurry’s heart. She frowns. Sombra, seeing the frown, says, “Now don’t frown, all your job as Queen is to look beautiful and produce me an heir. Afterwards, you’ll be treated with the finest luxuries”. Suddenly, Crystal Shard walks into the library. She looks surprised. “My king! I did not expect you to be here”, Crystal said. “Hello there Crystal, do you need anything?”, Sombra asked. “Uh, yes. It’s time for Lady Flurry Heart’s lessons”, Crystal says as she turns to Flurry. Flurry looks sad. “Of course, you two get to it. I must go anyways”, Sombra says as he leaves the library. Crystal Shard bowed until he left. When he did leave, she turned back to Flurry. “Flurry? What is the matter?”, Crystal asked. It was quiet for a moment. Tears start coming down from Flurry’s eyes. Flurry suddenly said, “All I’m here for is to look beautiful and produce an heir?”. Crystal Shard lowered her ears and said, “I was waiting for the right time to tell you”. “Tell me what?”, Flurry asked. Flurry is on her bed and she opens her diary to the next available page. She starts to write. “Dear Diary, This is my last day until tomorrow. I thought I was ready to marry King Sombra until what I’ve learned today. The king only wanted me for my beauty. He also only wanted me to produce him a perfect heir. Who knew my love life came to this. What was more disturbing was what Crystal Shard told me. She told me of a royal custom that I had to do afterwards the wedding. Not only that but, I have to keep doing this ‘custom’, until I’m ‘baked’ ” She stop writing. She took a deep breath. And let it out. ‘Calm down Flurry Heart’, she thought. She continues to write. “Enough of that, even though today’s been a bad day for me, I did experience something good. Maybe this can brighten my story. I met somepony today. He helped me feel happy for the first time since I’ve got here. Sadly, I never got his name but, I am grateful he was there. Thank you.” She stops writing and closes her diary. She thinks about the stallion. She blushes as she thinks about him. ‘No Flurry! You can’t be thinking about this stallion! You are getting married tomorrow!’. She then got lost in her thoughts again and starts crying. Not only will she lose her freedom to marriage tomorrow, she will lose something else too. Flurry can’t bare losing this at a young age. But . . . she promised, she has to go through with it. She inhaled and exhaled deeply. And she went to sleep.
Chapter 6: The Worst Day of Her LifeSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 1: Her IntuitionLuminous is at the Castle’s Gardens, hiding inside a bush. She’s trying not to move that much or else, she’ll be caught. She suddenly feels a tap from behind, which makes her jump and squeal. “Got ya”, Luminous heard. Luminous turned around to see her friend, a dark blue stallion pegasus with light blue mane. “Dark Knight! Don’t sneak up like that”, Luminous said to the pegasus. Dark Knight laughed and said, “Now where's the fun without that? It’s not like you haven’t done that to me before”. Luminous smiles and rolls her eyes. Dark Knight lended her to hoof and helped her get out of the bushes. “Princess!”, the two ponies heard and turned to the voice. The voice came from a window and there was a unicorn mare. “For pony’s sake, are you playing Hide and Seek again? You are fifteen your highness, can you please act your age for once?!”, the unicorn mare said. “Where’s the fun in that, Ms. Shard?”, Luminous said. Dark Knight chuckled and the two gave each other a high hoof. Ms. Shard groaned and said, “Are you two finished? You are late for your lessons Princess”. “Oh, in that case-”, Luminous said and then gave Dark Knight, “the look”. “Run!”, the two said and ran. Ms. Shard sighed and said, “Kids these days”. She looked out of the window to try to find where the two went but they were gone. Luminous and Dark Knight made a stop and are now at a hallway in the castle. Luminous starts panting while Dark Knight flys down to her. “You okay Lumi?”, Dark Knight asked, putting his hoof on her shoulder. “Yeah, just tired. I don’t know how you pegasuses have so much energy”. Dark Knight rolled his eyes and said, “Well I don’t know why you unicorns are slow”. “It’s been fun Dark but I got to go” “Aw, come on Lumi, you can’t stop the party right now?” “Uh, yeah I can. Besides, if my father found out I’m skipping my lessons, he’ll lock me in a tower while you’ll be dead.”, Luminous said. “Whatever, I got some training to do with some of the other rookie knights anyways”, Dark Knight said. He waves goodbye and flys away. Luminous sighed as she watches Dark Knight fly off. She turned to the other side of the hallway to see, her father. “Father! Uh, what are you doing here?”, Luminous said in shock. “I should be the one asking the questions. Why aren’t you with Ms. Shard?”, King Sombra said as he raised a brow. “Oh right, I forgot. I’ll go find her now daddy” King Sombra smiled and kissed her daughter on the forehead, “Alright, you go now young lady”. Luminous nodded and went. Even though King Sombra is a cruel king, he did have a heart. The only pony he cares about is his daughter. For the rest of the day, Luminous had math, science, history, reading, and magic lessons with Ms. Shard. Luminous was at a castle hallway. Then suddenly a painting opened up and Luminous sees a small room with a staircase. She walked into this secret room. It was blurry and dark then suddenly flames lit up. Luminous walked down the swirling staircase. The flames guided her down but the flames stop once she got down. She used a magic spell to light up her horn and looked around. It was still dark though. She felt drawn to the chest in front of her so, she walked to it. She opens the chest to find . . . a diary. At the center of the diary, there was a pink star. She looked up from the chest to see a portrait on the wall. It was a pink alicorn, with purple and blue curls, wait . . . it was her mother. And then . . . Luminous woke up. The red rays from her window woke her up. Luminous’s eyes start to open, she looked at her window. “I guess the Red Moon is up”, Luminous said, rubbing her eyes. Then there was a knock at her door. “Come in”, Luminous said while getting up. A maid came in and levitated a silver tray with her breakfast. “I hope I didn’t wake you up your highness” “No, it wasn’t you. It was the window” The maid levitated the breakfast to Luminous and said, “I should have covered the curtains last night, I’m sorry about that”. “It is fine”, Luminous said while levitating her fork to pick up a waffle to eat. “So my father is too busy to eat with me I’m assuming?” “Yes Princess, I’m sorry” “No need to apologize” “Then I’ll take my leave, I’ll see you later your highness”, the maid said and bowed. She then left the room, leaving Luminous to eat. Luminous got used to eating alone, her father was always busy. Her mother used to eat breakfast, dinner, and lunch with her everyday but, since she’s gone, Luminous is alone. But her mind isn’t on that, she was too focused on the dream. The dream . . . was it even a dream? It felt so real to Luminous. She wants to find out for herself. Once she finished her morning routine, she walked around the castle. Luckily, she was free, no royal duties to attend to, no lessons to learn, so she can have the day doing whatever she wants. Luminous was walking around the castle, trying to find that painting. She was already almost halfway finished exploring the castle but, she found nothing. She felt a tap on the shoulder which spooked and her made her jump. She turned to see Dark Knight. “Ha, that never gets old”, Dark Knight says while laughing. Luminous groans and ignores Dark Knight, walking away from him. When Dark Knight stopped laughing he noticed Luminous was walking away and caught up with her. “Hey, Lumi. What’s got you in that kind of mood?” Luminous sighed and said, “I don’t feel like playing today Dark, I got to find something”. “Okay, your knight in dark armor is here to save the day then!”, Dark Knight said proudly. “You mean rookie knight?” “Rookie knight is still a knight Lumi” “I don’t think so, they are rookies after all”, Luminous said, giving him a grin. Dark Knight scoffed and said, “Whatever”. “So what are we looking for?”, Dark Knight said, following Luminous as she walks around the castle. Luminous thought about it for a second and said, “It’s a painting but, I can’t really explain it. It’s from a dream”. “A dream? I’m confused.” “It may be a dream but, it just felt so real. You just gotta trust me” “Well don’t be surprised if this painting doesn’t exist” Luminous made a concerned face and said quietly, “I hope it does exist”. It’s been an hour and Dark Knight has been showing Luminous paintings around the castle but, it wasn’t the right one. Dark Knight stops Luminous and says, “We’ve been all around the castle Lumi, there’s nothing, I think you should stop” “I can’t. This secret room . . . I think it has something to do with my mother” “Your mother?” Luminous nods with a sad look. “You should have said that before”, Dark Knight said. “W-what do you mean?’’ “If this room has something to connect with your mother, the King would hide it in a place no pony would think of” “Obviously” “Well, maybe it’s at some part of the castle where no pony has gone to” Luminous gasped and said, “You’re a genius!’’ “Obviously!’’, Dark Knight replied, looking proud. “So what are you thinking Lumi?” Luminous started to walk and Dark Night follows her. “Well, since of the death of my mother, my father said to never go to the West Wing of the castle” “Well isn’t that place abandoned?” “Yes but, maybe we can find the painting there” “You’re a genius Lumi, but I’m gonna have to take some credit for that idea”, Dark Knight said and the two went off to the West Wing. The two made it the West Wing, and Luminous felt something. She was drawn to something again so, she followed her intuition. As she passes by rooms, she sees the rooms abandoned. But she ignores all of that. On the other hoof, Dark Knight is kinda getting chills. Luminous looks back to see him. Luminous giggles and said, “Scared?” Dark Knight quickly replied back, “What! Of course not!”. “Let me guess, you are afraid of the umbrums” “Can we just find this painting already?!” Luminous laughed and nodded. Her intuition brought her to an empty hallway. And at the end, there was the painting in her dream.
