A Sparkling Romance

As Celestia's Sun had risen once more to greet the slumbering couple, Aqua slowly opened his eyes as he rose from the bed after kissing Twilight on the cheek. Trotting over to the bathroom, Aqua glanced at himself in the mirror, seeing the blue coat complimenting his eyes. With a smile, he glanced over to Twilight, watching the purple mare's chest rise and fall in sleep. Looking back at the mirror, he jumped back in surprise as he saw a different figure. The figure was of red skin, black marks tatooed around his face, and a head full of eight small horns atop them. The unmoving stallion stared Aqua down with his menacing red-rimmed yellow eyes. Rubbing his eyes rapidly, Aqua's reflection soon replaced the figure.

"How does he still manage to haunt me?" Aqua asked in irritation. Shrugging off the figure, he trotted upstairs to the balcony and sat on a pillow, beginning to meditate. Clearing his mind, Aqua began levitating as he silently hummed in concentration. Twilight yawned softly as her eyes fluttered open from her wonderful sleep. Looking to her left, her eyes widened as she saw the empty space where Aqua was last night. She quickly looked downstairs, only to see a staged saber battle between Owlowiscious, Peewee, and Goliath. Rolling her eyes, she glanced over to Spike, who was now organizing books in the 'A' section, as was a normal chore.

"Spike, have you seen Aqua anywhere?" Twilight asked.

"I dunno, probably up on the balcony or something." Spike said with a shrug. Twilight trotted to the balcony to see Aqua meditating peacefully. As she was about to speak, Aqua broke the silence.

"Good morning, Twilight." Aqua said.

"I see you're meditating. Is everything alright?" Twilight asked. Aqua didn't respond.

"Aqua? Are you ok?" Twilight asked.

I hope you are more challenging than your master. I'm somewhat disappointed in him.

Twilight saw tears beginning to form in Aqua's eyes. Frowning sympathetically, Twilight wrapped a forearm around him and kissed him.

"I know you miss him." Twilight said sadly.

"I saw him. The one who killed him, in the mirror...like a mirage." Aqua said. Twilight nuzzled Aqua as he meditated to calm himself. The wind began to blow as Twilight comforted the blue stallion. A voice than rang in Aqua's mind.

You are troubled by thoughts of my assassin, my old apprentice.

I cannot shake the memory, no matter how much I try. Every time I am alone, he finds a way...

Then you will heed my final training session. It shall rid the troubles from you.

Yes, my master.

Aqua's concentration was then swayed by Twilight's hoof waving in front of his face in concern.

"Aqua, are you ok? Please, tell me!" Twilight begged.

"The killer stalks my mind, Twilight. No matter how hard the attempt, he still haunts the darkest corner of my mind. He needs me to complete his final training." Aqua said.

"I could erase him from your memory." Twilight offered hastily.

"You cannot easily erase a Jedi's memory, only the most powerful can, like Celestia. This is a task I must take to better my conscious." Aqua said. Twilight rubbed her chin in thought.

"The book," Twilight said in realization, "I need to read the book. I'll understand better when I do. Do what you need to do, sweetie."

"Thank you. I will be back soon, don't worry," Aqua said, kissing Twilight's lips passionately, "I love you."

"I love you too." Twilight said sweetly, returning the kiss. Aqua claimed his lightsaber from the shelf and donned his saddlebag. With a nod of his head, he trotted from the library. Twilight levitated her book from the nightstand as she wrapped herself up in a blanket, comfortably opening the book to the first page.

Aqua listened hard to his fallen master's directions as he slowly walked from the library to the bridge. Stopping mid-trot on the bridge, Aqua looked back as he donned his Jedi robe from his saddlebag.

You must go to the Everfree Forest, my Padawan. The answer will lie there.

Aqua did as he was told and walked towards the massive greenery, hearing the deranged caw of the birds flying among the trees. As he walked, Aqua began hearing vicious snarling sounds from the sides of the forest path, ranging from roars to mating calls. Disregarding them, he pressed on, feeling something in his chest, a familar feeling.

"Why do I get the feeling that I sense somepony...very wise here?" Aqua asked himself as he looked to the sky and saw Celestia's Sun rising above a low tree. As he continued walking, he kept hearing a roar from the sidelines, growing more and more threatening with each hoofstep. He knew something was following him, but he decided to leave it until it became a danger to him. With each familar tree, each patch of land, and rock formation, he almost believed he was walking in circles. With one final step, Aqua laid his front hoof on the fork in the dirt road, and that's when it happened.

"A Jedi is the guardian of peace for all of Equestria. Worship, respect, cooperation, and trust are all aspects a Jedi must hold dear to the Force. Originally formed as a philosophical group situated in the Griffon Kingdom, the Jedi became revered as guardians of peace and justice in Equestria. As wielders of the Force and their signature lightsabers, the calm, considered demeanor of the Jedi made them ideal peace-keepers in times of conflict or dispute. Yet, for all their power and diversity, the Jedi were scarce. Many challenged their order and the establishment they served, most notably the Sith, dark warriors, the antithesis of the Jedi, and their sworn enemies." Twilight read from one of the many paragraphs from the Jedi section. Mindblown, Twilight read on.

A snarling Manticore leapt from the bushes to face the blue stallion, its gaping, fanged maw and evil-intent eyes stared down on Aqua. Standing his ground, Aqua sat on his haunches and studied the beast intentively, attempting to reason with it telepathically.

Let us not fight, but reason with each other peacefully.

The Manticore angrily swept at Aqua with his paw, with him dodging the blow with nimble speed. He attempted to calm the monster once more, to try to persuade it to peace. The beast was too stubborn and thick-skulled to see reason, preferring brute strength over it, the wild animal charged aggressively at Aqua. The stallion leapt into the air, barely avoiding its teeth.

"A Jedi must not take revenge, nor kill an unarmed enemy, and mustn't cling to the past. A Jedi must have self-discipline, one of the key concepts of Jedi behavior. Arrogance and overconfidence were looked down upon, as Jedi were not to believe they were capable of accomplishing anything. Accept defeat when the cost of winning is greater than the cost of losing. Jedi strike without aggression, recklessness, anger, or hatred. Jedi were to practice honesty, and to honor promises, their Master or Padawan, life and law, and the Jedi Order. They are to defend the weak and provide support to those in need."

Aqua, now seeing that the beast was beyond reason, began defense. As the monster lunged towards him, Aqua threw his hoof to the Manticore, Force-pushing the behemoth into the bramble. Enraged, as it attempted to slash at Aqua's head, he constricted the monster's paw with the Force, making his paw unable to move without causing it to pinch in tightness.

"I suggest you leave now, before you do something rash." Aqua warned the beast, before being slapped across the face and thrown hard into a nearby tree. Dazed and confused, Aqua stumbled to the ground in pain as the Manticore sneered at him, bringing up his scorpion tail to stab him. Seeing the pointed weapon, Aqua rolled to the side to avoid the stinger, before being nearly thrown by the rebound of the tail. As the battle continued, the beast grew irritated and caught him off guard, slashing his forearm with a claw, causing his shoulder to bleed slightly. Aqua then grabbed his lightsaber from his saddlebag, and faced the monster.

"So I must draw my weapon on you." Aqua said solemnly, at that point, igniting his blue lightsaber. The Manticore jumped back in surprise, but then charged confidently at Aqua, only to be defeated in one fell swoop. With a swipe of his lightsaber, a blue light flashed in the battlefield, and the end result was the poison stinger on the beast's tail severed. The monster recoiled in pain and skidded to a stop as it fell to the ground in pain. Aqua ended the battle and walked to the beast, and took it's paw. He examined it carefully, before slowly pulling a hoof-sized thorn embedded in the paw with his mouth, now soothing the beast of his anger. The Manticore stared at the blue stallion with guilt as it looked at it's paw, and let out an apologetic groan.

"You see? There was no need for violence, my friend." Aqua said, stroking the beast's wild mane. The beast looked over to the nearby plant, and ripped it from it's root. It then wrapped the pain-killing herb around Aqua's shoulder, soothing the pain from his claw-wound.

"You are forgiven, Manticore. Now, let's get you back to your herd, eh?" Aqua said. The Manticore then roared, summoning a dozen of much smaller Manticores to the battlefield. Growling threateningly, the Manticores advanced on Aqua, only for the larger Manticore to stand between them, and a conversation of roars and grunts ensued. Minutes later, the Manticore herd gracefully bowed to Aqua.

"Do you know where I can find Froggy Bottom Swamp?" Aqua asked the head beast, to which it nodded and lowered its head, allowing Aqua to climb on. Now guiding the Manticore herd, he was now riding the leader to the swamp.

Twilight put a bookmark in the 175th page of the book, closing the book and levitating it to the nightstand, lying on the bed with so much new information in her brain, she felt like her brain would implode. She walked downstairs into the kitchen and prepared herself a daisy and daffodil sandwich as Spike joined her with some hay fries.

"Spike, I'm worried about Aqua. He's been gone for like almost an hour or so." Twilight said nervously.

"He said he had to go to the Everfree Forest. He's one of those Jedi-whatevers, so it must be important." Spike said.

"Yeah, but I just hope nothing bad happened to him." Twilight said, twiddling her hooves. She then levitated her saddlebag to her back as she gulped down the rest of her sandwich. She trotted to the door determinedly, filling her bag with a first-aid kit. She nodded to Spike, who now beginning to clean the table.

"I'm going to find him. I couldn't live with myself if he got hurt. He could lose an arm or something, and what if I wasn't there to help? I have to help him!" Twilight said before running quickly out the door, letting a gust of wind overtake the ground floor completely. Spike face-palmed as a stray paper landed in his face.

"Yeah...I'll just...clean that up, too," Spike said with a hint of sarcasm. The pets surrounded him as they held their wooden sabers, advancing slowly on him threateningly, "Stay back, you guys! Peewee, you're my pet!"

The Manticore group bellowed in triumph as they finally reached the marshlands. As Aqua got off his pack leader's head, he bowed gratefully to the behemoths, before they disappeared into the treescape. Aqua walked around the swamp, feeling the sticky surface from mud and wetland. As the pain in his forehead grew and grew, he finally stopped and rubbed his temple in irritation. As he sliced vines and low-hanging tree branches and moss to bits with his lightsaber, he was so focused on the dense fauna that he had accidently fell into the deep marsh. Silently muttering to himself, Aqua levitated himself from the sticky liquid and leaped to stable ground.

"Where is this somepony Utopia told me to find?" Aqua said to himself as he continued trotting through the foggy swamp. As he walked impatiently through the blinding moss and leaves, he accidently bumped into a golden earring, to which he heard the rattle of neck jewelry. Aqua stared at the figure with curiosity, it's yellow glowing eyes shrouded by a brown cloak. Cautiously lifting his robe, the figure saw the lightsaber hanging from a notch in his robe.

"Put your weapon away, stranger. Surely, you are in no danger." the figure said casually. Aqua slowly lowered his robe, concealing his saber. He eyed the creature suspiciously, then looked to the moss covered cave standing before him and the upside down pony-like figure hanging from a vine in concentration.

"Do you guard this place?" Aqua asked. The creature chuckled to herself as she removed her brown hood, revealing her light gray and dark gray striped Zebra skin, along with her striped mane, and turquoise eyes, with a hypno-stylized cutie mark.

"No, I am simply a watcher, a mere resident. To enter this cave, you seem hesitant." she said.

"Might I ask who you are? I sense great power in you. Much more than...I have in record time." Aqua said.

"My name is Zecora, a zebra from far away lands. And I can sense that you were born in the country of sand." Zecora said.

"Do you know why I'm here?" Aqua asked. Zecora squinted her eyes, before letting a gasp of realization.

"Your mentor has brought you here. The solution to your deep-seated anguish, lies in there." Zecora said.

"So you know what I'm looking for." Aqua said. Zecora paused for a moment, now standing upright and sitting on a log.

"Something lost, a part of yourself, perhaps?" Zecora asked. Aqua looked down in depression as a few memories returned to him.

"In a way, yes. Actually more ways than one." Aqua replied grimly.

"What you seek, inside, you will find." Zecora wisely said, to which Aqua silently began to trot into the cave, only to be halted by the zebra's words of advice.

"Take your weapons, you should not. The only threats you will find in there shall simply rot." Zecora said. Aqua disregarded her wisdom and trotted in with his lightsaber by his robe's side. Outside the cave, Zecora bowed her head in annoyance.

"Did I stutter, hmm?" Zecora began with a sigh, "Wise, strong, and calm, he is, but impatient." Aqua ventured in the dark cave as the light from the outside barely illuminated the cavern. Hearing the distant screech of the bats, he fearlessly pressed on, cutting down remaining bits of fauna obscuring his path. As he trekked, he heard the hiss of a nearby lightsaber, and the certain hiss was reminiscent to a Sith lightsaber, and he grabbed his saber in preparation.

(Musical enhancement)

The Dark Lord approached Aqua with his double-bladed Sith lightsaber, and in the process of spinning several times, the mysterious stallion advanced quickly on him, forcing Aqua to block the red saber's blade with his own. Beginning the battle, Aqua drove off the attack and leapt towards the Sith, now locked in a furious saber-lock. Gritting his teeth, Aqua broke the lock and swung several times at his enemy, only to be swiftly blocked by the unrelentless opponent. Smiling slightly at his anger, the stallion Force-pushed several stalactites in Aqua's way, only for him to slice them in two. Smirking, with one swipe, the stallion once more engaged Aqua in a saber-lock. The two stood locked in combat as their sabers illuminated the cave. Peering down on his enemy, the red-skinned Sith spoke coldly.

"Your old master, Utopia Prism...I gutted him while you stood helpless and watched. How did that make you feel, Jedi?" Darth Wrath taunted. Aqua then drove Wrath back in a sudden flurry of saber swipes, some taking him completely by surprise. With one hit, Aqua severed Wrath's saber in two, causing one half to short out. Dropping the useless half of the saber, Wrath let out a roar of anger and fought back Aqua's attack, the two now evenly matched. In seering determination, Aqua soon gained the upper hoof on Wrath, nearly driving him to the ground with his more advanced fighting style. Groaning in effort, Wrath tried desperately to perry Aqua's attack, when he suddenly had his lightsaber hoof being grabbed by Aqua's free hoof. Trying to release from his grip, Wrath soon felt his hoof being squeezed harshly as Aqua then thrust his lightsaber through his midsection, bisecting him. As Wrath's upper half separated from his back hooves and hips, he stared at Aqua with complete rage as he began fading into oblivion. Frowning in victory, Aqua realized that all he had done was defeat an apparition of his mortal enemy. Finding satifaction, Aqua soon trotted out of the cave, only to be met by Zecora.

"What did you find?" Zecora asked.

"I found my past, something that needed to be settled." Aqua said, trotting past the zebra. As he began his exit from the swamp, he found Twilight waddling through the swamp, silently cursing the sticky feeling on her hooves. Seeing Aqua approach her, Twilight instantly ran up to him and hugged him tightly, caressing his dark blue mane.

"Aqua! Thank Celestia you're ok! I thought you got hurt!" Twilight shouted in relief, crying a few tears of joy.

"I'm alright, honey. Don't worry." Aqua said. Twilight glanced at Aqua's shoulder wrapped in a plant cast, and the slight dirt marks on his robe and his coat.

"What happened to you?" Twilight asked, levitating the makeshift bandage from Aqua's shoulder, revealing a scratch that greatly resembled the same scratch that she had received from a paper cut from her time-travel escapade.

"I was fighting a Manticore, or rather trying to calm it down. I eventually had to cut off it's stinger, and I took out a thorn in it's paw, and I became the pack leader of the Manticorians. The marks are from the fight I had with Darth Wrath, in the cave over there." Aqua said, pointing to the cave. Twilight felt a chill go down her spine as she trotted closer to the cave.

"Brrr, why didn't I bring my scarf with me? It's suddenly really chilly." Twilight shivered. Aqua fished out a scarf from his saddlebag and wrapped it around Twilight's neck.

"That place is strong with the Dark side. What I saw in there was a mirage of my worst enemy." Aqua said.

"The guy who killed Utopia, right?" Twilight asked, before receiving a nod from him, "Oh, well, did you...find what you were looking for?"

"What I found is a lesson. Not to cling to my past, because the past can sometimes haunt you." Aqua answered. Twilight trotted over to Zecora, sitting close to the entrance of the cave. Twilight let out shivers as she advanced towards her.

"Ahh, young Twilight Sparkle, I see you and your mate have been in quite a pickle. Nonetheless, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" Zecora greeted the unicorn.

"Why are you here? This place is super cold, not that it's my business, but you know what I mean." Twilight said.

"Simply on a stroll through the forest, watching over this cave. Your friend there seems to had been troubled by rage." Zecora said.

"He saw somepony kill someone he loved alot, let's just put it that. He needed closure." Twilight said.

"Wise move, I must say. I wish for the best of you two on your way." Zecora said, beginning to trot on the way to her hut. Twilight walked back to Aqua as the wind began to blow once more. Snuggling Twilight in his Jedi robe, he walked her back home to Ponyville. As they walked, Twilight turned her head to face the source of the sudden breeze. She went mouth agape as she saw the shimmering blue spectrum of Utopia Prism, and she instantly tugged on Aqua's forearm. Joining Twilight, Aqua's eyes widened as he saw his old Master face him and her. The dense forest was silent for many seconds before Aqua spoke up.

"Utopia, my old Master. It has been so long since I've seen you." Aqua said to the bearded stallion.

"It is an honor to see you once more, and your marefriend, I take it? Hmm, this girl seems like a smart one." Utopia said, causing Twilight to shuffle her hooves in embarrassment.

"Umm yeah, I'm Twilight Sparkle. It's, uh, nice to meet you, Utopia. Or rather, your...spirit?" Twilight greeted, before the blue spirit stuck a hoof out to shake. At first glance, Twilight questioned the logic of shaking a ghost's hoof, but as she did, she became surprised as she physically felt it in her own hoof.

"A pleasure it is, miss. I see you have ventured into the Cave of Evil, my old Padawan?" Utopia said.

"Yes, Master, I encountered Darth Wrath, and in the process, I cut him down, just like before, armed." Aqua said. Utopia bowed his head as he put a hoof to Aqua's shoulder.

"Then you have faced your trial, apprentice. You should have no more mirages of the Sith anymore. I am proud of you." Utopia said.

"Thank you, Master. I wish you the best of luck in immortality." Aqua said. Utopia smiled faintly as he returned the gesture with a wave of his hoof before fading away. Twilight stood in shock until Aqua nuzzled her, snapped her back to focus.

"I can see how important he is to you." Twilight said before she began shivering again. Aqua covered her in his robe as he walked with her.

"We should get you home as soon as possible, so you don't get sick." Aqua said. As the two trotted home for what seemed like almost an hour, the two finally reached the edge of the Everfree Forest, where they were met by the rest of the Mane 6. Pinkie Pie was the first to wrap her hooves around Twilight, crying waterfalls of joy.

"Twilight! You're ok! Omigosh, we were all so worried! After me and Rainbow Dash were let out of the hopital this morning, we went to your house to check on you and Aqua, and we didn't see you! So we saw Spike and he told us you went into Froggy Bottom Bog to look for Aqua, so we got everypony, and we were just about to go after you!" Pinkie sobbed without stopping for air.

"Now what in tarnation would y'all go into Froggy Bottom Bog for? Don't y'all know there's was a hydra lurkin' 'round them parts? You two coulda gotten hurt real bad!" Applejack lectured. Aqua held a hoof to speak.

"I came here first. Twilight was just worred about me, so she went to look for me." Aqua said, kissing Twilight's cheek.

"Dude, you're a Jedi! You got those flashy light-sword thingies! You'd be fine!" Rainbow said.

"Sometimes we go by what our heart tells us." Aqua said.

"What matters is we're fine, so you girls don't need to be stressed out over this." Twilight reassured.

"Well we were just worried, sugarcube." Applejack said.

"No need...wait. Rainbow, what were you and Pinkie doing in the hospital?" Twilight asked in concern.

"Hoof-bumping accident." Rainbow said in deadpan. She instantly flew off as Pinkie bounced away merrily. As the others dispersed, Twilight walked with Aqua back to Golden Oaks Library, laying their saddlebags on the nearby couch. The mare levitated a washcloth from the kitchen sink, and vigorously rubbed a bar of soap against the warm watery cloth. Sitting Aqua down by the sink, she faced the cut on his shoulder with determination and dug a front hoof against the floor before carefully dabbing the wound with the cloth. Aqua made no attempt to recoil in pain as Twilight began applying pressure on the wound.

"Where does it hurt?" Twilight asked. Aqua simply pointed the center of the cut, where the most intensity of the Manticore claw slashed his shoulder. Smiling faintly, Twilight started putting pressure on the center, relieving the pain from Aqua's shoulder as she washed it vigorously once more. After a minute or so of cleaning, Twilight levitated the first aid kit from her saddlebag and fished out a bandage. Carefully placing the bandage on Aqua's cut, she kissed his shoulder lovingly.

"Feel better?" Twilight asked, to which Aqua nodded before kissing her on the cheek in return. Twilight happily trotted to the fireplace and laid down on the pillow, gesturing to Aqua with a squeek of joy to join her. Laying down on the pillow next to her, the two nuzzled in their favorite spot as Twilight began to snuggle next to him. Aqua put a forearm around Twilight as the two began to nap near the fire. Elsewhere, on the ceiling of the library, inside a cage, sat Spike, surrounded by Peewee, Goliath, and Owlowiscious, whining to be let out. Twilight drifted off to dreamland as she snuggled in Aqua's arms.

The blue stallion led the unicorn inside the carriage as he climbed inside with her. The chatter of 5 bridesmaids were heard as the unicorn happily threw the bouquet into the air before closing the door. Cuddling her Smarty Pants doll, with her cyan dress and golden ring with a purple gem on her horn, she kissed the stallion on the lips passionately.

"Ready to go, honey?" the stallion asked.

"Yes." the unicorn answered, and the carriage drove off, with a bundle of horseshoes clanging against the ground of the castle. As the pegasi drove the carriage from Canterlot, with the two still kissing, they looked back on the castle grounds, then to Ponyville, and smiled at each other happily to begin their time together

Laying next to Aqua, wrapped up in his arms, a pleasant smile formed on Twilight's face.