The First Alicorn

Chapters

Chapter 5 - Tea time. And not only
Chapter 1 - The Return
Chapter 2 - An unusual day
Chapter 3 - The unusual day continues
Chapter 4 - The Open Curtain
A Life Filled with Pain
Chapter 6 - The Return of the Fallen
Chapter 7 - Shadow of the Past and Future

Chapter 5 - Tea time. And not only

Thirty minutes later, everyone was in the royal banquet hall.

The banquet hall's room wasn't too big, but it wasn't too small either. A small room with a long, exquisitely decorated oak table in the center. Large pots with various plants stood on the walls between stained-glass windows of various colors, and above them were majestic tapestries. There weren't many chairs at the table, but each one looked pretty nice, a white chair with different golden swirls and a long back. There was a red feather pillow on each chair to soften the slightly hard surface of the seat.

The door to the banquet hall opened, and three Alicorns and one small dragon entered. After entering the banquet hall, the group began to take their seats. Erzit sat down on a chair on the right corner of the table from the exit. Princess Luna sat parallel to Erzit on the left corner of the table. Twilight sat on the second chair next to Luna. Spike sat on the third chair next to Twilight. The chair in the center between Erzit and Luna was meant for Celestia.

Celestia lingered a bit, explaining to the guards what had happened to their colleagues in the throne room. Well, more precisely, I was trying to come up with something like a sunstroke knocked them out or a sudden light made them fall asleep. After asking the guards who arrived to take the wounded to the barracks to rest, Celestia left the throne room, heading to the banquet hall.

After finishing her business in the throne room, Celestia also went to the banquet hall, sitting between Erzit and Luna. Settling herself comfortably, Celestia waved her hoof, beckoning the waiter to ask him to bring them tea. When the waiter, a brown-skinned earth pony with a blue mane and tail, came out of the banquet hall, Celestia breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is everything okay, Sister?" Luna whispered softly. Leaning towards Celestia.

"Yes. Yes, everything is fine. It just doesn't happen often what happened today." Shaking her head, Celestia whispered back, twitching her tail nervously.

"Mr. Erzit, what can you tell us?" Interrupting the whispers of the two sisters, Twilight nervously asked with a tight smile. Putting both hooves together on the table.

"For example?" Raising his right eyebrow, Erzit asked.

"For example, about that book you took from me. With the words that it is evil." Twilight replied less nervously.

"That's right, by the way. I don't recall any secret room in a single book in our old castle." - Luna said quite confidently. However, she was still staring suspiciously at Erzit, even though she was trying to hide it. Celestia just nodded, also wanting to know what kind of room it was with a book she didn't know about.

"Well, that's good." Shrugging his shoulders, Erzit replied, leaning back in his chair, ready to tell the story.

"Where did the room you're talking about come from? I don't know. However, I assume that it was made by those who wanted to hide this book in the hope that it would not be found." Erzit calmly replied with his eyes closed.

"Hide it from whom or what?" Twilight asked, puzzled.

"The Necronomicon. These are books that contain information about dangerous creatures. It's usually just a book with a bunch of obscure information about some mythical creature. However, there are also those in which these very creatures are imprisoned." Erzit spoke casually, still with his eyes closed.

"So you're saying that there was a creature trapped in that book? From the legends?" Twilight asked, tilting her head to the right.

"Yes and no." Erzit replied quickly and simply.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked in disbelief, raising her left eyebrow.

"This book contained more than just a creature from the legends. It was a ghost that was doomed to eternal torment. Anyone who finds the book will sooner or later succumb to its influence and either go crazy or do something bad to their loved ones following the call of the book." Erzit replied with a wave of his hoof.

Twilight's eyes widened in understanding. And she exclaimed questioningly. - "Y-so this book could make me harm my loved ones!?"

"But why would anyone make such a dangerous item?" Luna asked, pricking up her ears, waiting for an answer.

"Few people understand the sectarians who do this. They usually do this as a sign of sacrifice. Or a sign of respect to one of their own." Erzit replied with a shrug.

"Aww." Luna snorted knowingly, lowering her gaze to the floor.

At that moment, several unicorns entered the banquet hall with tea utensils. They quickly and accurately placed all the tea cups at the right places where the guests were sitting. The unicorn placed the teapot next to Celestia's cup, as she liked to pour tea herself, and not when someone poured it for her. After bowing, all the unicorns quickly left, closing the doors behind them.

Taking the teapot in her magical grip, Celestia began to fill the cups with the wonderful herbal tea one by one. When she had finished filling everyone's cups, she put the kettle back next to her. Nodding that they could continue talking, she smiled and took a sip from her cup.

"And where is this book now?" Twilight took a sip from her cup and asked.

"It's in my library. Under reliable protective spells." Erzit replied casually, taking a sip of tea.

"Do you have your own library?" Twilight exclaimed questioningly.

"Yes, I have my own library with books from all eras of Equestria." Erzit said, chuckling softly.

Twilight's eyes widened with interest. And his tail wagged like an excited puppy's.

"Tvi. Calm down." Spike whispered softly to her.

"Eh? Oh. Yes, I'm sorry." Blushing a little, Twilight apologized, lowering her ears down.

After a minute of silence, Princess Luna jerked, raising her right hoof to say something. “I think it would be interesting if you could talk a little bit about your ponies. I mean, the guards you came with. Who are they?” After taking a few sips of tea, Luna asked.

"I'm glad you're interested in my ponies." Erzit said with a smile, turning to face Luna.

"As I said earlier, they are shadow ponies, or, as you call them in your legends, Umbrums. They were once ordinary Equestria ponies, but later something happened to each of them that brought their problem to my attention. I helped everyone and took them on as my students. Everyone was a good but unhappy pony."

"And why did you decide to help any of them?" Celestia asked calmly.

"That's a good question that I won't be able to answer." Erzit replied calmly, shrugging his shoulders.

"What? Why?" Raising her left eyebrow, Celestia asked in surprise.

"Because I do not know. I just wanted to help those who needed help. In those days, good deeds were rare in those places."

Frowning, Celestia nodded, realizing what he was talking about.

"So that's when I started helping ponies and accepting them as my students. I taught them different things. Pegasus - mastery of weather control and flight. Earth ponies - controlling the magic of the earth and their body. And unicorns - control of their magic and new spells. I taught them everything I'd learned during the years I'd been hiding and traveling around Equestria." Erzit said after taking a sip of tea.

"And how did they become shadow ponies then?" Luna asked.

"Have some patience, Princess Luna. While I was teaching the first students, I also studied various aspects of magic that had been little studied. For example, the dark arts. Of course, I understood that the magic of darkness is very dangerous, but it has several aspects that may be safer or more dangerous. For example, necromancy is more dangerous due to its unpredictability. Or mind magic, which allows you to control the emotions and minds of other ponies. I didn't really delve into the aspects of dark magic, but I was interested in an offshoot of dark magic called Shadow magic. This magic had hardly been studied, and few people knew about it. Abandoning the study of other aspects of dark magic, I set about studying and perfecting shadow magic." Erzit stopped to take a sip of tea.

"Although dark magic is dangerous, I didn't realize that it had different aspects that could be more dangerous. No one had ever heard of shadow magic in particular, and there was no mention of it anywhere except..." Twilight was thinking when she was interrupted by Princess Luna.

"Except for King Sombra. It was the first time we saw shadow magic from him." Luna's ears twitched with understanding as she finished her sentence. Instead of Twilight.

After mentioning his fallen disciple, Erzit involuntarily shuddered, and his eyes began to dart around because of the memories that came flooding back.

"Something happened?" Celestia asked, leaning towards Erzit, seeing how nervous he started to get at the mention of Sombra.

"No. everything is fine." Pulling himself together, Erzit replied.

"Then why did you get so excited at the mention of King Sombra?" Celestia countered his excuse.

"Just mentioning Sombra makes me uncomfortable." Erzit replied with a grimace of uncertainty.

"Hmm. Why?" Luna asked.

"I don't want to talk about it too much. But I'll say something anyway. Sombra was my student. However, he became obsessed with obsessions and immersed himself in the study of dark magic. I had my suspicions that someone had persuaded him to take this path, but I still haven't found any evidence. As a result, he captured the Crystal Empire and plunged it into tyranny." Erzit finished with a sigh.

After a moment of silence, Celestia decided to ask. “If you don't want to talk anymore, we'll...”

At this time, Twilight nervously sipped her tea, thinking about this frank story about the unsuccessful student of Erzit.

"No. It's all good. It was just the first time that my student renounced my teachings. It was a long time ago, so don't bother yourself with memories of it." Erzit replied with a sigh.

"Well, now let's continue what I was telling you." Erzit said with enthusiasm and a smile. It was as if nothing had happened, and he wasn't immersed in unpleasant memories.

"Where was I? Oh, yeah. While studying and developing shadow magic, I discovered that it consumes quite a lot of magical skills. Exactly three times more than any other kind of magic. Each spell can wear down an unprepared unicorn. However, I found a way to use this magic with few restrictions, and I was even able to get this magic to be used by Pegasi and Earth ponies, who can use their natural magic to cast spells. However, even these spell successes could exhaust the user. But later I created a spell or a rite, which, so to speak, added new properties to the control of shadow magic to an ordinary pony."

"Isn't it too dangerous? It seemed to me that such rituals could pervert anyone or drive them crazy." Luna raised her right hoof and said.

"It can drive an unprepared person crazy and plunge them into madness. And maybe it seems like some kind of occult ritual. That's not so. The rite of passage into the Shadow, as I called it, was conducted only on those who had completed my full shadow magic training. And even after that, it would take a long time for the pony to master shadow magic well enough. Only then did I perform a rite that turned the pony into a shadow pony. A shadow pony can use shadow magic with minimal expenditure of its innate natural magical reserves. The only side effects are starvation after intense use of shadow magic and deactivation of the insignia. Yes, this is a rather unpleasant side effect when a pony loses its badge, however, this pony can still use the skills of its badge without having it. It's also a side effect that causes a strange aura that everyone feels. But I created a spell that hides this aura and enchanted all the armor and clothes of my ponies for this spell. One of the useful effects is good control over shadow magic and the disappearing effect of aging. For alicorns like me, there's a side effect of not being able to grow up to look like an adult alicorn." Erzit finished, finishing his cup of tea.

"Well. It's quite interesting." Celestia replied with a smile, pouring a new portion of tea for Erzit.

"Could you show me and teach me a few spells?!" Twilight shouted softly, with a big smile and a twinkle in her eyes.

"I could show you a couple of tricks. But a little later." Erzit replied with a smile.

"Good!" Twilight replied. Wagging his tail in happiness.

Celestia just giggled softly, hiding behind her hoof, seeing Twilight's enthusiasm to learn something new.

"How do you feel about art?" Luna asked with a smirk.

The next few hours passed like clockwork. Luna and Twilight asked a lot of questions to Erzit, and he answered. Luna asked about art and music, and Twilight asked about magic and books. Celestia was silent most of the time, only occasionally answering some general questions or nodding in confirmation of Twilight or Luna's words. When evening finally came and tea was over, Celestia and Luna exchanged glances, as if talking in their minds.

"Erzit, do you have a place to stay for the night?" Celestia asked.

"I'm not in Canterlot, but I can quickly move to my castle. Although I wouldn't mind a place like this in Canterlot." Erzit replied a little surprised, smiling.

"Good then. I'm asking that your room be prepared tomorrow." Celestia said with a smile.

"A. S-thank you, Princess. B-but why? Is this the first time you've seen me?" Erzit asked in surprise.

"Yes, but from the conversations we've had, I've realized that you're a pretty good pony. And even more so, I would not like to see that performance from your shadow guards again." Celestia replied with a soft smile.

"And you also said that you don't like a lot of attention. Therefore, if you have your own room in Canterlot Castle, it will simplify meetings and conversations. Without too much attention." Celestia finished with a little chuckle.

"Well, thank you, Princess." Bowing, Erzit said.

"You don't need that. If we want to become friends, we don't need such a formal gesture." Waving her right hoof, Celestia said.

"Sure." Erzit replied.

"Well, now I have to say goodbye. I'll see you tomorrow." Erzit replied with a smile, disappearing into the shadows.

"Well." Celestia said, turning to the remaining people present with a wide smile.

"How do you like today?"

"It was quite interesting." Luna replied with a smile, wagging his tail.

"It was a little awkward and exciting that there was another Alicorn who had been hiding all this time and suddenly decided to reveal himself. But in general, I agree with Luna." Twilight replied with a slightly strained smile, lowering her ears a little uncertainly.

"I found it a little strange, but overall I was also interested." Spike replied with his arms crossed over his chest.

***

When Erzit appeared in his library, he breathed a sigh of relief. “I didn't think it would be so exciting.” He muttered to himself.

"At least it was better than I expected." Erzit continued with a smile.

"Everything went well." Thane said with a deadpan smile, emerging from the shadows with his guards.

"This is true. You can take the day off until the end of the day." Erzit told Thane's guards.

"Yes, master!" The shadow guards shouted in unison. Disappearing into the shadows.

"Master, you're spoiling them too much." Thane said with a grin.

"Maybe. But you all need some rest." Erzit said with a smile.

"Good. Then I'll go check out what's been going on in our absence." Thane said with a snort, disappearing into the shadows.

"Of course Thane." Erzit said with a sigh.

Sighing again, Erzit stretched his neck and shook his wings, relaxing them.

"Shands, I'm back." Erzit said loudly, looking around.

Half a minute later, the shadows next to the nearest bookshelf began to seethe, and Shands appeared from them with a rather wide smile. “Welcome back, Master.”

Raising his right eyebrow, Erzit noticed a hint of amusement in Shands' tone. “Did something happen? Why are you so happy?” Erzit asked with a predatory smile.

"Nothing like that, Master. However, I would like to ask you a favor." Still smiling, Shands said, twitching his tail nervously.

"Aww. So what?"

"Tomorrow will be a hundred years since Emily became your student and became one of us. I want to have a big party with all the residents of the castle. That's why I want to ask you to set aside tomorrow for this." Shands said happily. His ears pricked up, and his tail waved left and right several times, waiting for an answer.

The momentary silence made Shands even more nervous, waiting for an answer. Shands' tail began to turn from side to side. And Erzit's impassive face gave no idea what he would say to Shands' request. After another minute, Erzit exhaled and a smile appeared on his face. “How can I refuse such a wonderful offer. Have fun all day long.” Erzit replied with a slight chuckle.

"Thank you master." Shands replied.

"Have fun there." Erzit said with a smile. Passing by Shands.

"Don't you want to join us?" Turning to Erzit, Shands asked, raising his right eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, Shands, but no. I have things that have been waiting for a long time." Shaking his head, Erzit replied.

"Very sorry. Others would be happy if their master would join in the fun." Shands said a bit frustrated. Flattening his ears to his head.

"Wait, what's the deal? I don't remember anything like that in the schedule?" Shands exclaimed in surprise.

"You know what I'm talking about, Shands." Erzit said with a grimace.

It took several seconds before Shands began to understand what he was talking about. His eyes widened in understanding. “Is it really today?” Shands exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes, Shands. That's why I won't be able to attend your party." Erzit replied with a slight frown.

"Then maybe we should cancel the party. If the time has come for his release, then we will need.…" Shands was talking excitedly, until Erzit interrupted him by raising his right hoof as a sign for him to calm down and be silent.

"It's okay, Shands. I can handle a naughty student. Let you and the others have fun." Erzit said with a smile.

Shands's gaze darted around the library, searching for a way to object. But having no idea how to object to his Master, he just sighed, lowering his ears. “Good master.”

Coming close to Shands, Erzit put his right hoof on his shoulder. “Don't worry, Shands.”

Shands just nodded. Removing the hoof from his shoulder, Erzit turned around and walked out of the library, nodding to Shands not to worry. “Good luck with those traitors.” Finally, Shands said, disappearing into the shadows.

"Of course, Shands." Erzit said casually as he walked out of the library's open doors.

After leaving the library, Erzit walked casually, looking back at the castle walls, wondering what he should do after Sombra's return. How to properly punish him. How can he force him to admit his mistakes and correct them? And most importantly, how Sombra will react to all this. And what actions Sombra will use when he returns again. “There are so many unanswered questions...” Erzit muttered with a sigh, shaking his head from side to side.

Passing through the next flight, Erzit's hooves shuffled on the purple carpet lying in each corridor. As he passed the next bend again, Erzith noticed the absence of the shadow guards that Thane liked to place everywhere. “It looks like they're already getting ready for the party.” Erzit thought to himself as he walked past the small banquet hall, which was also empty.

Finally, Erzit reached a turn into a long corridor, at the end of which was a single obsidian door. “We need to try.” Erzit said resolutely to himself. Walking briskly towards the door.

When he reached the end of the corridor, Erzit stopped right next to a door with a black handle in the shape of a crescent moon. Sighing, a white magical grip appeared on the handle and began to turn it to the left. A moment later, the door opened, letting the light from the crystal lamps from the hallway into the dark room behind the obsidian door.

A few steps and Erzit was already in the room he called the laboratory for experiments. It was a black obsidian room with torches instead of the usual crystal lamps on the walls of the room. There was an empty space in the center of the room, however, a large protective runic circle was drawn on the floor.
To the right of the door was an Obsidian table with several Obsidian shelves on the wall. There were various notebooks on the table with empty pieces of parchment and an inkwell with a pen next to it. On the shelves, there were several books and piles of scrolls with various emblems and ribbons that prevented them from opening. There was an ordinary wooden table next to the table.
To the left of the door was a small square wooden table with several closed scrolls on it. Several empty flasks stood on the corner of the table. In the center there was a glass dome, under which was painted a runic circle, on which lay a red and gray horn. There were various crystal fragments lying around the dome. However, there was still a small pink crystal next to the flask, which seemed to be trembling in anticipation of its split.

Turning his head left and right, Erzit lit his horn, and the extinguished torches burst into orange flames, illuminating the black room. Turning to the left, Erzit approached the wooden table, placing his left hoof on its surface.

"Well, are you ready?"

"It's a pity that you won't answer me. But I will take silence as a positive response." Smiling, Erzit said, removing a hoof from the table.

The white glow of Erzit's horn enveloped the dome under which Sombra's horn lay. Lifting and removing the dome to the side, Erzit took the horn in his magical grip, from which he began to resist a little.

"Even now you have the strength to fight." Erzit chuckled.

Moving the horn to the center of the room, where a protective magic circle was drawn, Erzit stood at the borders of the circle. Extinguishing his magic, Erzith let Sombra's horn sink to the floor. Becoming more serious, Erzit took a stance, opening his wings to both sides and lowering his head a little lower to point his horn at Sombra's horn. A moment later, a red jet of magic shot out of Erzit's horn, hitting the horn lying on the floor.

It took less than a minute before Erzith silenced the magic of his horn when he saw that Sombra's horn had started to seethe with red and black magic. After removing the magic, Erzith watched as the seething magic grew bigger and bigger. The silhouette of a large gray stallion began to emerge from this seething.
Sombra's body began to form, bringing him searing pain. First, organs and the nervous system were formed, then bones and skin with wool. Gradually, his body began to form from his feet to his head. When the vocal cords finally formed, a loud, furious scream could be heard in the room. The formation of a new body was a rather painful process when the user's body was being formed, gradually rebuilding it piece by piece.

Finally, the formation of the body, along with the screams, ended, and with a deafening thud, a dark gray stallion with a black mane and tail fell to the floor. He was unconscious, but alive and breathing. The stallion's eyes widened in mute disbelief. “Am I alive?” That's all that came into Sombra's foggy head.

If you didn't look closely at his new body, he was almost as Sombre as when he attacked the Crystal Empire. Except he wasn't wearing his trademark armor, crown, and cape. Also, his red curved horn became a regular straight one. And the mane stopped wriggling like smoke in an invisible wind. In addition, his red-scarlet pupils turned ruby-green.

After looking around with his own eyes, he had questions about his location. Sombra did not recognize the place where he was. It was definitely not the Crystal Empire. And certainly not the dungeons of Canterlot. However, something about this place was both familiar and not.

"G-where am I?" Sombra muttered softly.

"You're home. So to speak." A rather familiar voice said. However, Sombra couldn't remember whose voice it was. Turning his head towards the voice, his eyes widened as he realized who it was.

"N-it can't be." Sombra said with surprise in his voice.

"Maybe. Maybe, my dear student. Welcome back." Erzit said with a satisfied smile, looking at the lying stallion…

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Events are starting to gain momentum and there will be more interesting things to come. :)

Don't forget to leave your feedback so that I understand that you like this story and I need to continue it. Thank you in advance.

Chapter 1 - The Return

Chapter 1 - The Return

The first Alicorn. What is known about who was the first Alicorn? Or what did he do when he gained such power and authority? Few people know about the past before the unification of the three pony nations and the subsequent creation of Equestria. There are many references to Alicorns in Equestria history books, but not one contains even a drop of information about who the very first Alicorn was. All that is known is that the Alicorns were called special. They were worshipped because of their strength and regal appearance. But there were also those who feared them, some even despised them. Most of them were ponies who did not understand and envied those who became Alicorns. However, there were plenty of people who called Alicorns demons or those who used unholy magic to become Alicorns.

Everyone is destined to fear and despise what they don't understand. Over time, ponies stopped being afraid of Alicorns. The Alicorns were recognized as the chosen messengers of the gods. They were partly right. After all, only ponies with a pure soul and a kind heart could become an Alicorn. These were the ones who had done good deeds with noble goals. However, a few Alicorns who were intoxicated by their power and power became villains. There are references to dark Alicorns in the history of Equestria. There were only two of them, but history is silent about their names and origins.

The first Alicorn appeared shortly before the founding of Equestria. He was an ordinary purple earth pony with a snow-white mane and tail. His name was Erzit, he was born, lived and worked in a small settlement. He had no family or friends, but everyone in the settlement knew him and was always happy to see him. He wasn't an outcast, even though he was lonely. He did not belong to any noble family, and certainly did not possess any outstanding skills. However, although he was a bit silly, he was kind and cheerful, always ready to help everyone in his village. He would never leave anyone in the lurch, not even a stranger. Some felt sorry for him because he was so good, but lonely. Erzit didn't communicate much with anyone, he didn't like to talk much at all. Perhaps his good qualities and deeds served to become the First Alicorn.

The day he became the first of the Alicorns was very ordinary. It was an ordinary sunny day when Erzit woke up to a flash of bright white light coming from his body. When the flash stopped, Erzit collapsed on the floor by his bed and discovered that he had grown wings on his back and a horn on his forehead. He didn't understand what had happened to him or why. He had wings like a pegasus and a horn like a unicorn.

For several weeks, Erzit hid his new appearance behind hats and raincoats so that no one would see his new limbs. Over time, Erzit began to get used to all this and secretly try to use the new features. Eventually, Erzit was discovered, and the gossip about his new appearance spread far beyond his village, where he lived. Someone was horrified and despised by the new appearance of Erzit, and someone began to idolize him.

A few days later, Erzit escaped from his village, going into self-imposed exile in the hope of finding answers to who he had become. But the rumor about the new type of pony has already spread everywhere, in all villages and towns of that time. Different ponies from different parts of the world started looking for Erzit. However, their search was in vain. Having become somewhat familiar with his new powers, Erzit easily hid from prying eyes.

The fate of the first Alicorn is shrouded in a fog of rumors and speculation. Sometimes Erzit was found in different parts of the newly founded Equestria, but no one was able to touch or talk to him. So many centuries have passed, and now Erzit will have to reveal his existence.…

***

Somewhere in the frozen wastelands of the Winter North, far from the Crystal Empire. A lone pony in a gray raincoat walked through the crisp snow. The cloak fluttered in the fierce gusts of cold wind. But even this cold did not stop the lonely traveler walking towards his goal. Neither the intense cold nor the strong winds could stop him. All the stranger wanted was to find this, or rather, the one he was looking for.

After walking a few more miles, the stranger finally found what he was looking for. A red-gray horn lay in front of him, pulsing with weak power. It was the horn of that tyrant of the Crystal Empire. The horn of the bloodthirsty, dishonorable and cruel King Sombra. “Welcome back, old friend.” Said the strange stranger, extending a purple hoof to the horn. At the sound of the voice, the horn began to pulse, releasing green-purple energy around it. Thereby allowing the snow around you to melt.

"It looks like you're still full of energy. Sombra." The stranger said sarcastically.

"For all that you have done, you should be executed and sent to the depths of Tartarus. However, I'll give you one last chance." After these words, the stranger's outstretched hoof began to glow red, and a magic circle with different symbols appeared under the horn. “Your last chance to correct your mistakes.” When the hoof stopped glowing red, the stranger put it on the ground and waited for the completion of the ritual. “But first we will deliver you from the power of the vices of darkness.”

As the magic circle dissipated, various symbols began to rotate on the surface of the horn. After a couple of seconds, these symbols disappeared. “It will take time. But when the time comes, your last chance will begin.”

A white aura of telekinesis magic appeared around Sombra's horn. The stranger took the horn in his magical grip and took the horn with him. In a flash of shadows. “I think you're used to waiting a long time. For when the time comes, you will return.”

The stranger disappeared into the shadows along with Sombra's horn.

Author's Note

Don't forget to leave your feedback so that I understand that you like this story and I need to continue it. Thank you in advance.

Chapter 2 - An unusual day

It was a wonderful sunny day. It's a good day for a walk or a picnic. However, one young purple Alicorn did not think so, so she decided to go through the old books in the castle of the Two Sisters. Deep in the castle, which was located in the Evergreen Forest. Twilight Sparkle was pacing, pulling and stacking various books from the shelves of an old ruined castle. Around her were piles of old books that were distributed by age and genre.

The castle was a large grey building made of stone and marble. Once it was a big, beautiful castle, but now it's just an abandoned and forgotten place.

The library was a large room with lots of bookshelves. There were old faded carpets everywhere, small wooden tables and old extinguished candles.

"This is here, and this is here." Twilight muttered to herself as she laid out the books she had attracted with her magic.

“Twilight...” An unknown quiet voice whispered.

"What?" Puzzled, Twilight stopped her magic, returning the books to their places. Turning her head first to one side, then the other, Twilight walked away from where she was sitting a moment ago.

“Is there anyone here?” Twilight said loudly, looking around.

“Hey aw?” Twilight shouted again.

“Twilight Sparkle...” The quiet voice whispered again.

"Rainbow Dash. If this is one of your pranks again, then it's not funny." Twilight spoke in a low voice.

“Twilight...”

Turning around abruptly, Twilight charged her horn with magic and spread her wings. “Who's here. Show yourself!” Twilight shouted, looking around for something.

“Come to me...” A strange voice whispered.

As if obeying that voice, Twilight lowered her wings and approached one of the bare walls of the library. Twilight, not understanding what she was doing, walked up to the wall and stopped a few centimeters away. “Who's there?” Twilight shouted again, scanning the wall and the nearby bookshelves.

“The Wall… Touch her...” The voice hissed urgently.

As if in a trance. Twilight lifted one of her front hooves and touched the wall. Nothing happened for a full minute. But at one point, the wall began to crack and collapse.

"What the hell!?" Twilight shouted in surprise and jumped back from the collapsed wall.

When the dust cleared, Twilight saw a strange passage, at the back of which was a staircase. “What's this?” She muttered to herself.

“Twilight Sparkle… I'm waiting for you...” The strange voice whispered again, but more insistently.

Twilight Sparkle had a mixture of fear and curiosity in her head. When she saw the secret passage leading down. She no longer heard the strange voice calling her. Her curiosity took over. Turning on her horn like a flashlight, Twilight stepped over the ruined passage.
There was a winding descent in front of the young Princess. Lighting her way with her horn, she slowly but surely stepped first with one hoof, then with the other. At this rate, she slowly descended the stone stairs. There was only darkness around. As Twilight descended, she examined the walls around her. It was strange to see that there were no torch stands or lamps on any wall. Usually, such gloomy descents had at least some places from where the light was supposed to radiate.

A few minutes later, Twilight went downstairs, finding a small room five by five meters, in the center of which stood a small wooden table. There was a book on this table.

Moving closer to the table, Twilight illuminated the book. The book was small, like a regular magic reference book. The book's cover was maroon red, decorated with gold inserts on the corners. The cover was simple, with an S-shaped symbol on it. The inscription indicating the title of the book was erased. Taking the book in her magical grip, Twilight shone the light on the book, turning it in different directions until she saw a small fastener that did not allow the book to open. Pulling on the clasp with her magic, Twilight felt resistance, as if the book was resisting, not allowing her to open herself. “It's strange, it seems to be resisting. Okay, I'll deal with her later.” Twilight said, climbing back up the stairs, holding the book with her magic.

After climbing the stairs and entering the library, Twilight turned the book with her magic again, examining it. “I think I should ask Princess Celestia about this.” After these words, Twilight put this book in her bag, lying nearby, and continued to sort the books on the bookshelves. At this rate, Twilight had forgotten about the ziploc book in her bag.

***

It's evening, which means it's time for Twilight to go home. When she reached her house, the Friendship Castle, she opened the massive doors. When the doors closed behind her, a small purple dragon cub ran up to her. “Hello, Twilight. How was your day?” Spike said, hugging Twilight tightly.

"Everything went well. I took some interesting books here to read later." Releasing the dragon, Twilight said. She levitated a bag from her back, showing the baby dragon its contents, filled with books.

"Should I take them to the library?" Spike asked.

"No. I'll take them myself. You go get ready for bed. I'll come to you now and check it out." Twilight was smiling as she walked past the dragon.

"Eh. Good…" Displeased, little dragon said, crossing his arms over his chest.

I took the book bag to the library. Twilight went up to Spike's room. After putting baby dragon to bed, Twilight took a shower and went to bed.

“He's already here...” Said a soft whispering voice coming from a strange book.

***

A stranger was walking through the night streets of Ponyville. A purple pony with a milky white mane, a bumpy unicorn horn and pegasus wings. It was an Alicorn. Unknown purple Alicorn dressed in a purple doublet (Military jacket of the 18th century.). The clothes were a typical dark purple outfit of a nobleman, lined with yellow inserts and gold buttons and a yellow collar. There is also a long coat lined with gold ribbons, covering the tail and a badge of distinction. He wore a white shirt and a gray vest under his doublet. The sleeves of the shirt with gold buttons came out of the sleeves of the doublet at the tassels.

The stranger walked slowly through the empty streets of Ponyville, heading straight for Friendship Castle. Once at the castle gate, the stranger began to inspect the gate. His dark crimson eyes sparkled in the moonlight as he examined each of the gates in front of him. Finally, having finished and found a small gap in the gate, the stranger disappeared into his own shadow.

A small trickle of shadow seeped through the castle gate and turned into a purple Alicorn stallion. After looking around, the Alicorn took a few steps forward, examining the crystal walls of the castle, on which hung various paintings depicting various mares, including Twilight Sparkle.

“Cute mares...” The stranger whispered.

Disappearing back into the shadows, the stallion appeared in a central room with crystal thrones that stood around a holographic Equestria map. The thrones were decorated with designs similar to the insignia of the mares from the photographs.

“And this is interesting...” The stallion muttered.

“Why are you here...?” A small voice whispered.

"You're here after all." Saying softly, the stallion smiled.

"I feel like you're here somewhere. But I can't figure out exactly where. Something is preventing me from pinpointing where you are." Still smiling, the stallion spoke, looking all around.

"It looks like we'll have to take a chance and accidentally wake up the castle's inhabitants." With a big smile. The Alicorn's horn glowed a light gray color. “I know what you want to do to this innocent princess. But you won't have time to influence her.” A flash of white light from the Alicorn's horn swept across all the surfaces of the castle. It was a powerful detection magic.

“There you are...” The stallion muttered as he headed towards the library.

The stallion walked slowly towards the library, smiling slightly.

***

A sudden burst of magic awakened Twilight. Abruptly jumping out of bed, she tried to figure out what had happened. After getting off the bed, she left her room. Looking around in the hallway, she saw Spike, who, rubbing his eyes, came out of his room, also puzzled by what had woken him up.

"What's wrong, Twilight?" The young dragon muttered in a sleepy voice as he walked towards Twilight. After looking around, Twilight spoke. “It was like a burst of magic. And very close.”

"But what or who could have done it?" Spike asked, still a little sleepy.

Resting her hoof on her chin, Twilight began to ponder. However, her thoughts were dispelled when she heard a crash from below.

"What was that!?" Spike exclaimed, jumping up on the spot, fully awakened by this sharp rumble.

"I do not know what is going on, but it seems that the sound came from the library." Twilight said, a little puzzled. She knew how those big doors could rattle in the lock. She especially knew how loudly the doors to the library could open and close.

"Come on, Spike. We need to figure out what's going on." After looking around at the Baby Dragon that had jumped onto her back, she ran towards the stairs leading down.

After going downstairs, Twilight ran to the library, simultaneously charging her horn with magic. When she reached the library, she saw open doors and white flying glowing balls that illuminated the entire library. Being ready for a fight, Twilight slowly entered the doorway of the library. Spike had already jumped off Twilight's back and was standing next to his girlfriend.

"Who are you? And what do you need!?" Twilight shouted, waving her horn.

"Calm down, princess." The stranger said, standing with his back to the doorway, holding a book in front of him. In his magical battle.

Twilight was startled when she heard the soft and melodious voice of a stranger.

"W-what are you…" Twilight didn't have time to finish her sentence when the stranger turned his whole body towards her. Twilight was completely shocked to see the stranger's wings and horn. “Is he an Alicorn!?” She told herself in her mind.

"T-Twilight. He has a horn and wings. Was he an Alicorn?" Spike whispered.

"Yes, baby Dragon. I'm an Alicorn. You could say I'm the first Alicorn." The stranger smiled amiably at Spike.

Spike flinched at the gesture and took a couple of steps back, hiding behind Twilight's tail. Twilight quickly looked at Spike and back at the stranger.

"Who are you? What do you need? And what kind of nonsense are you talking about!?" Twilight shouted as she charged her horn.

"Calm down, Princess. I won't hurt you. However, this is very possible." He was levitating, that strange book Twilight had brought with her from the castle of the two sisters.

"The book I found in the castle of the two sisters? What's wrong with her!?" Twilight asked, puzzled.

"This is not an easy book. It contains an evil spirit that perverts everyone who hears his voice. You heard him, right?" The stranger asked, putting the book behind his back.

"What is he talking about?" Spike whispered.

"Yes. I heard him." Uncertainly turning off her horn, Twilight said.

"I only came for this book. To get rid of her." The stranger said, casually taking a step forward.

"How do I not know that you are not using this book to your advantage? Or maybe you're under the control of this book!?" Twilight shouted, lighting her horn again.

"You can't know for sure. However, I am definitely not under the control of this book. I'm much stronger than that evil spirit in the book." The stranger spoke calmly.

"Well. I have to go now. I've been staying here with you for a long time. See you later, Princess." The stranger said with a soft smile. disappearing into his shadow.

"But wait a minute!" Twilight shouted, releasing a beam of magic into the shadows. However, the attack failed, leaving a blackened mark on the crystal floor.

Running to the place where she had released her beam of magic, Twilight began to look around. Spike slowly ran up to her to ask her something. “Who was that? And why did he look like an Alicorn?”

"I don't know, Spike. But I have to find out. Text Princess Celestia that we need to talk urgently." Twilight quickly muttered these words to Spike and hurried out of the library.

"Good Tvi" Spike said, following Twilight.

***

Erzit materialized from the nearest shadow. In a large black and white library.
The library was a black-and-white room, with walls and a ceiling made of black stone. White marble floor with different golden patterns in the form of a thorny vine. There were numerous shelves around with many old books, which were well preserved thanks to the spell that Erzit had cast to prevent books from aging and spoiling. There were four heavy wooden tables made of dark oak in the center of the library. Black and gold chandeliers with crystals hung on the ceiling in various places, instead of candles. The lighting in the room was created by multiple crystals hanging in the corners of the room and those very chandeliers. A large double crystal door was closed in one of the walls of the library. And the same one, but smaller, was on the opposite wall, but it was open and a long corridor was visible behind it.

"Shands. I'm back!" Erzit shouted to the entire library. An orange unicorn in a purple butler costume materialized from the shadows. His red mane and tail were combed and groomed. Dark blue eyes stared at Erzit.

"Welcome back, Master Erzit. How was your visit to Princess Twilight Sparkle?" Shands asked calmly and melodiously.

"Everything went better than I thought. Speaking of princesses. Has General Thane already prepared everything for his visit to Canterlot?" Erzit asked as he paced around the large library.

"Thane has prepared everything, as you requested. However, I want to ask you something.." Shands said a little urgently.

"Sure, ask away, Shands." Erzit said, still pacing around the library. He was looking for a suitable place for the book he had brought.

"You're sure you want to open up right now. Do you really want this, or does your depression want this? About Princess Amore?" Shands stopped when Erzit turned to face him.

"Yes, Shands. That's what I want. My depression went away a hundred years ago." Erzit spoke with a frown. Turning forward, Erzit began to wander again, looking for a place for the book.

"Then why did you bring HIS HORN?" Shands asked urgently, stomping his hoof lightly to get Erzit's attention.

Sighing, Erzit stopped and turned his whole body towards Chance. “You know why. And enough of these stupid questions, Shands.” Erzit replied angrily.

"Good." Shands replied.

"Oh, this is where it fits perfectly." Erzit exclaimed happily, placing the book on the top shelf of one of the far shelves against the wall.

"Don't forget the protective illusion spell." Shands reminded me, looking at the bookshelf.

"Exactly. Thanks, Shands." Erzith said, waving his horn.

A protective illusion spell makes it so that an ordinary pony or other creature does not notice that place, or in this case, this book. The spell will have every possible effect on an ordinary person, so that he does not notice this book and is distracted by something else. Also, this spell will not allow the ill-fated book to use its charms or other properties.

"Well, then. Everything is ready." Said Erzit. admiring the effect of his spell.

"Now it's time to go to bed. Tomorrow is a big day." Erzit said, smiling. Shands just nodded in confirmation.

Having finished his business, Erzit headed to his chambers.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! In the future, I plan to reveal the backstories of all the minor characters you will see. :)

Don't forget to leave your feedback so that I understand that you like this story and I need to continue it. Thank you in advance.

Chapter 3 - The unusual day continues

It was early in the morning when Twilight and Spike ran to the Ponyville train station to catch an early train to Canterlot.
After the incident at night, Twilight immediately sent several letters to Princess Celestia about what happened during the night and that she and Pike would immediately arrive in Canterlot to discuss the incident with an unknown Alicorn.

Because it was early in the morning, when all the residents were still asleep. Twilight wasn't surprised when she arrived at the station to find no one but the still-sleepy ticket seller. The deafening honk of an approaching train attracted the attention of Twilight and Spike, who were waiting for the train to stop in rows.

When the train finally stopped, the doors of the carriages opened and several ponies got off the train. As soon as the doors swung open, Twilight scooped Spike up with her wing, and they boarded the train together. The carriage was completely empty, so Twilight and Spike found a comfortable place near the window and exit of the train. When Twilight and Spike sat down in their chosen seats, the train horn sounded, symbolizing departure.

Twilight could have easily flown to Canterlot if she hadn't been so tired and sleepy after the night's incident. She spent the rest of the night poring over old history books and various scrolls. As a result, she found nothing but fatigue. All Twilight did now was think about what had happened and think about it. Stranger's Glory: “I am an Alicorn. You could say I'm the first Alicorn.”

"Twilight." Spike said, nudging Twilight with his shoulder.

She didn't answer him right away. Her mind was still full of what had happened. “Did you say something Spike?”

"Tvi, maybe you should get some rest. You look very tired." Spike said with sadness in his voice.

"I'm not tired, Spike. I was just thinking a little bit." Twilight said a little testily.

"That's what worries me. You've been rummaging through old books all night, trying to find something, but you haven't found anything." Spike chided her, crossing his arms over his chest.

Twilight just silently tilted her head down, looking at the floor. “You're right. But I have to find the answers!” Twilight raised her voice and swung her hooves up.

"You don't owe anyone anything. If this guy is really an Alicorn, then the princesses might know something about him. That's why we're going to Canterlot, right?" Spike spoke, placing his hand on Twilight's shoulder.

"Right." Twilight said softly.

"Well. That's why you should rest now. The trip will take several hours. And when you meet other princesses, you will definitely come up with something." Spike was encouraging.

"Yes, you're right, Spike." Twilight turned to face Spike and smiled.

"Now get some rest. I'll wake you up when we arrive in Canterlot." Spike said, removing his hand from Twilight's shoulder.

Twilight settled comfortably into the seat and drifted off to sleep.

***

White marble floor, black stone walls with decorative red crystals. The ceiling, which consisted of red crystal and marble, had the same chandelier as in the library, only turned on. There were white crystals on some of the walls, which served as lamps when charged with magic. A large bed stood in the left corner of the door, next to which was a chest of drawers made of black crystal. In the opposite corner, there was a large and long table made of red crystal, on which lay various scrolls and alchemical supplies like flasks with different liquids and different materials. There was also a book on Equestria history on the table during the time of the two sisters a thousand years ago. In the center was a small table on which lay various types of crystals and parchments with notes. The other two corners of the room had different shelves, some with books, others with different objects. There was a large red carpet on the floor by the bed. The door to the room was ordinary, black with golden designs that looked like thorny vines. There were different purple rune-like markings on some parts of the door.

Erzit was sleeping peacefully in his bed under a large purple blanket. His sleeping face was peaceful, but a sudden knock on the door caused a grimace of annoyance on his sleeping face. The door opened and Shands entered the room. He slowly walked over to the bed and abruptly threw the blanket off the sleeping Erzit. Now the blanket was levitating a meter away from the bed. In the magical grip of Shands.

"It's morning, Master Erzit. You asked to be woken up early." Calm down, Shands said, looking at the still sleeping Erzit.

"Five more minutes, Shands." Erzit said sleepily, groping for the blanket with his hooves. Shands just rolled his eyes. “Sir, if you haven't forgotten, you have a meeting in Canterlot today.”

"Who is the meeting with?" Erzit asked, still sleepy.

"With the princesses." A little irritated, Shands said.

"With the princesses?" Erzit spoke softly.

“With the princesses!” Erzit shouted loudly, jumping up from the bed. Shands just rolled his eyes at his master's usual demeanor. Shands has been serving Erzit for more than several thousand years, and therefore he is already used to such antics. The shadow magic that Erzit created allows you to slow down aging very much, thus allowing you to live for a very long time.

Shadow magic changes the very nature of a pony, changing it from the inside out. Subsequently, allowing you to use all the abilities of shadow magic. An ordinary unicorn can use shadow spells, but those who enter the service of Erzit undergo a special ceremony that turns them into those very ponies with shadow powers. The ponies that became shadow ponies became known as Umbrums. That's how ordinary ponies started calling them, who met them on the streets or in other places. The shadow ponies exuded a strange aura that even Earth ponies and pegasi could sense. However, in order to remain unnoticed, the Umbrums turned into shadows and moved exclusively in the form of shadows. Thus, even the unicorns couldn't detect their strange aura. Shadow ponies also lost their insignia. It was a side effect, as was the strange aura emanating from them.

"Yes, sir. You were planning to meet the princesses." Shands said calmly, taking a step back so that Erzit could get down. beds.

Turning into a shadow. Erzit quickly crossed the room and materialized at the exit of the room. “Get my clothes ready, Shands.” Erzit said quickly as he left the room. Shands just nodded after him.

The corridors were spacious, consisting of marble floors and walls, with a ceiling of black stone, sometimes covered with different crystal formations of different colors. Sometimes there were paintings and statues from different eras of Equestria. There were also various flags with the coats of arms of Equestrian tribes. There were even large vases with different flowers, tended by the mares of the maid.

Passing through another flight of endless corridors, Erzit came across two Pegasus shadow guards who were talking to each other. The first was a yellow pegasus with a red mane and tail, the second was a blue pegasus with a black mane and tail. When they saw Erzit, they stopped their dialogue and bowed to their master.

"Don't bow your head. I'm not a king to be bowed down to. I thought you'd already figured that out after a thousand years." Erzit spoke calmly, looking at the guards.

The guards were dressed in black and gray plate armor. In some places, purple crystal plates were attached to the armor, such as on the sides and shoulders. On his chest was a small plate with the coat of arms of Erzit: In the center was a purple eye with a cat's pupil. It has light purple wings on its sides and a light purple horn on top.
The helmet was similar to the helmets of the Canterlot Guardsmen, except for the color and crest. The helmet was the same color as the rest of the Shadow Guards' armor. Instead of the usual crest on the helmet, there was a red crystal plate.

"We remember the master." Said the first guardsman.

"But General Thane says it's the right thing to do." Said the second guardsman.

Erzit rolled his eyes. ”Thane is like always.” The guards just looked at each other and looked at Erzit with bewilderment. Taking a deep breath, Erzit continued on his way to the bathroom to tidy himself up. “Okay, good luck to you." The guards just nodded. When Erzit disappeared around a nearby bend, the guards began their discussion again.

A few minutes later, Erzit finally made it to the bathroom. After quickly taking a shower with various gels and shampoos, he combed his mane and left the bathroom, where the maid mare was already waiting for him.

"Good morning, Master Erzit" She said, bowing.

"Good morning, Emily. I suppose Shands is waiting for me?"

Emily was one of the younger residents of the castle and Erzit's newest student. For a thousand years, Erzit has not accepted new students, until one day Shands returned to the castle with a bloody young mare, Without telling why he brought her and what happened to her. Shands began to beg his master to help save her. In the end, Erzit couldn't refuse his old assistant and friend. After a long period of treatment, Emily wanted to stay at the castle. Therefore, Erzit had to accept her as a student. About a hundred years have passed since then.

Emily is a Mare, assistant to Shands and a young student of Erzit: A yellow earth pony with a blue mane, in which there were several red strands. A blue ponytail with a few red strands. And pink-crimson pupils.

"Yes. He's waiting for you in your room." Emily said with a hint of uncertainty.

"Good. Thanks Emily." Erzit said calmly, taking a few steps forward to get next to Emily.

"How is the combat skills training progressing? Isn't Thane being too strict?" Erzit asked, staring intently into her eyes to see if she was going to lie or not.

After Emily completed her initial shadow magic training, she expressed a desire for someone to teach her how to fight. And who better than the general of the Shadow Guards of the castle can teach her how to fight. Moreover, Thane is also an Earth pony. He will teach her how to combine shadow skills with combat skills.

"N-no. Everything is fine." Emily said uncertainly, still looking down at the floor. Even after a hundred years in the castle, Emily still feels insecure. When with any of the castle residents.

"Well, that's good. But if you're afraid to tell me, at least tell Shands. He vouched for you, and if something happens to you, he won't forgive himself." Erzit said, gradually moving away from Emily. Looking back, he saw that Emily had blushed a little when Erzit mentioned Shands. “It looks like Shands has a fan.” Erzit chuckled to himself as he continued walking.

Slowing down his gait, Erit walked and mentally reflected on the events that had brought him to today.

The return of Sombra and the Crystal Empire brought back the events of a thousand years ago. When the Empire returned, Erzit immediately arrived there to find out what was going on. Upon arriving at the Empire, he only saw a magical surge and a black cloud that was being destroyed by this magic. And also, Erzith saw Sombra, and what was left of him flew far beyond the borders of the Crystal Empire.

After Erzit took Sombra's horn, he placed a Seal of Purification and a Seal of Deterrence to safely purify Sombra from the effects of dark magic. Three months have passed since that moment.

A few weeks after the victory of a group of mares over Sombra, it became very interesting when one of those mares became an Alicorn. The series of events and the victory over Lord Tirek attracted even more of Erzith's attention.

And so, after a long time, when Erzit refused to leave his castle, he finally leaves it because of his interest in the princesses. Instead of continuing to hide, Erzit gets the crazy idea to reveal himself to the princesses. And also to reveal a little bit about Equestria's history, which even Princess Celestia did not know. Besides all this, there was a little theory about Twilight Sparkle, and it needed to be tested.

In addition to the above-mentioned points, there were other factors that prompted the action. For example: The return of Chrysalis, the newly found Alicorn amulet, and other minor minor moments.

After many minutes, Erzit finally gets to his room. So he interrupts the flow of his thoughts.

Upon entering his chambers, Erzit saw Shands holding a tray of food, and on the bed were already the usual clothes that Erzit had worn almost all his life. Few people knew, but enchanted crystals were sewn into the depths of the fabric, which preserve clothes in their original form.

After taking a couple of steps to enter the room and sit down at the central table, Erzit asked Shands what was for breakfast today.

"Today, there's a fruit salad, some sweet blueberry buns, and the juice of a freshly squeezed orange." Shands spoke monotonously, pushing aside everything on the table and placing a tray of food on it.

"A light breakfast means." Erzit muttered as Shands placed the tray in front of him.

"Exactly. According to the plan, your meeting with the princesses will be short, and therefore you will have time to have a snack either there or back here." Shands said, picking up clothes from the bed. Into his magical grip.

"Do you think they'll want me to have lunch with them!?" Erzit asked perplexedly, staring at Shands.

"Knowing you, Erzit, it can happen. Your extravagant antics can lead to unexpected results." Raising an eyebrow, Shands chided.

"Extravagant antics!? I haven't left the castle in a thousand years!" Erzit tried to reproach.

"That's why I'm saying that the result can be anything. Even I do not know what you can do. It's been so long since you've left the castle." With a grin, Shands said.

"Well. Maybe you're right." Erzit whispered, taking the fork in his magical grip.

After finishing lunch, Erzit put on his usual clothes and left the room with Shands.

"General Thane is waiting in the training room." Said Shands. Before he disappeared into the shadows.

Nodding, Erzit continued on his way through the corridors of his castle. After dozens of turns and stairs, he finally reached the training room. Large double doors stood open, inviting Erzit in.

The training room was a large stadium inside the castle. There is a large field in the center and several lines around it for regular running or steeplechasing. There were various rings and other items on the ceiling for Pegasus training, including weather crystals that could release enemy lightning. These crystals were set by a mare from the Crystal Empire many years ago. The field in the center consisted of designated areas for various training sessions. From fighting with dummies to deflecting attacks from the same crystals. There were also various simulators.

There were only seven ponies in the training room. Two shadow guards of earth ponies, Two shadow guards of pegasus, two shadow guards of unicorn, and General Thane himself. When Thane saw Erzith approaching, he shouted loudly for all the guards to form a line.

"There's no need for such formalities Thane" Smiling, Erzit said when he came close to the group.

"Of course, Master Erzit." Thane said, nodding to the guards, signaling them to relax.

Thane was a large light gray stallion with a black mane and tail, which had several yellow and blue strands. Her eyes were emerald green. He was wearing the same armor as the other shadow guards, except for the crystal crest, which was purple in color. He was the commander of a noble's guard until he was robbed, and he decided to throw all the blame on Thane, as if he was to blame for this or connected with the robbery. After that, it was difficult for Thane, because this nobleman did everything so that Thane would not even be hired as a florist. Eventually, Erzit found him sad and broken in an alley when Thane was kicked out of his rented apartment. Erzith invited Thane to become his apprentice and later the general of the Shadow Guard.

"Are you ready, Thane?" Erzit asked, looking around at those he would take with him.

"Sure. I have chosen the best guards." Thane said proudly, looking around at his fighters.

"Good. But I want to remind you that no one should be maimed. You just have to neutralize the palace guards and ensure the safety of everyone, including those whom you have neutralized." Seriously, Erzit was saying, looking at everyone one by one.

"Yes!" In unison, the shadow Guards said.

"Great. Now go ahead. We act according to the plan and begin the performance on the signal." Erzit said loudly. So far, I've activated shadow displacement magic to move everyone to Canterlot Castle.

***

A few hours later, the train finally stopped at Canterlot Station with a deafening hum. However, the howl of the train could not wake the snoring Twilight.

"Hey, Twilight, get up." Spike tried to wake her up.

"Tvi, we're already in Canterlot!" Spike said louder, shaking her by the shoulders until she woke up.

"I get up. Spike, I'm getting up." Twilight said sleepily, rubbing her eyes. hooves.

Finally waking up, Twilight got off the train with Spike. Jumping onto her friend's back, Twilight quickly took off and flew straight to the gates of Canterlot Castle.

A few minutes later, Twilight and Spike were already at the castle gates. When the standing guards saw Twilight, they immediately opened the doors, allowing her to enter. When Twilight walked past the guards, they only nodded at her and Spike.

Entering the halls of the castle, Twilight picked Spike up with her wing, throwing him on her back, and quickly ran to the doors of the throne room, where Princess Luna and Celestia were already waiting for her.

Upon reaching the doors of the throne room, two unicorn guards opened the majestic double doors, allowing Twilight to enter the throne room. Two more Pegasus guards stood on either side of the open doors. She took a couple of steps towards the dais with the throne, where Princess Luna and Celestia were standing, waiting for Twilight. At that moment, Spike jumped off Twilight's back and just waved at the princesses with his hand.

"Greetings, Twilight." Celestia greeted him with a smile. Princess Luna just smiled and waved at the newcomers.

Twilight quickly ran up to the princesses and hugged them.

"How was the road?" Princess Luna asked.

"It's all good. But more on that later." Twilight said a little nervously.

"She didn't sleep all night." Spike said skeptically as the princesses looked at him.

"I was relaxing on the train. But that's not the most important thing right now." Twilight said, pulling away from the princesses a little.

“Have you received my letters?” Twilight asked. Looking first at one princess and then at the other.

"Received." Celestia replied softly.

"But they didn't understand a bit. What did you mean by that." Said Princess Luna.

Twilight sighed, shaking her head, and began to tell everyone what had happened the night before. Twilight also told about the book she found in the castle of the two sisters.

"I don't recall any such book, and I certainly don't remember such a secret room." Celestia said, looking at Lunu.

"What? This is not one of my Secret Rooms. I didn't make a secret room for some weird book." Luna replied. When they are. Two sisters also lived in the old castle. Luna often liked to joke around and therefore created numerous secret rooms and passageways for her pranks.

"Well, we'll deal with that later. Now let's think about this strange stranger." Celestia replied with a sigh.

"What did you say he looked like?" Luna asked.

"It was a Purple Stallion. Dressed in a strange costume with wings and a slightly bumpy horn." - Twilight replied.

"I don't recall ever having an Alicorn like this in Equestria's history." Celestia replied, placing one of her front hooves on her lower lip, pretending to look thoughtful.

"Were there any special signs?" Celestia asked, looking first at Twilight and then at Spike.

"He didn't have a badge on his sides." Twilight replied.

"He didn't teleport like normal unicorns. Instead, he disappeared into a cloud of black mass. He also said that he was the first Alicorn." Spike shouted.

"What did this black mass look like?" Celestia asked in a slightly agitated voice.

"It was similar to the darkness used by King Sombra in the Crystal Empire." Twilight explained.

"What else did this one say…" Princess Luna didn't have time to finish her sentence when she heard a commotion outside the throne room door.

The two Pegasus guards exchanged glances, taking a couple of steps away from the door, pointing the spears they held in their hooves at them.

Two small streams of shadows crept out from under the lower slits of the doors. In the second that the pegasus guards had time to react, a shadow earth pony in armor and a shadow pegasus in armor appeared from their own shadow. The two shadow ponies knocked the Pegasus guards to the ground with a single movement of their hooves.

"What's going on!?" Spike exclaimed, hiding behind Twilight.

As soon as the doors of the throne room swung open, Princess Celestia lit her horn with golden light and erected a protective dome around herself and others. At this time, Princess Luna lit her horn, preparing for battle.

Two shadow unicorns stood in the open doors, holding the other two royal guards in their magical grip. There was also a shadowy earth pony and a Pegasus. The remaining shadow Guards entered the throne room. The shadow unicorns loosened their magical grip and threw the other two royal guards into the corners of the throne room.

"Who are you? And what do you need here!?-" Princess Celestia shouted angrily in her Canterlot voice.

After the princess's shout, the shadow guards formed two lines on both sides of the throne room. They stood there with a straight face, waiting for something, or rather, for someone.

"What are they doing?" Spike whispered.

A swirl of shadows erupted in the center of the room.

"Sombra?" Celestia whispered.

"It doesn't look like him." Luna answered, closing her eyes.

A light gray earth pony came out of the shadow vortex, wearing the same armor as the other shadow ponies.

"Greetings, dear princesses." Thane said, bowing to all three princesses. The other shadow guards followed suit and bowed.

The princesses exchanged glances. “I'll repeat my question. Who are you? And what do you need?” Celestia repeated.

"I'm General Thane. The commander of the Shadow Guards. Our master would like to talk to you." Proudly straightening his chest, Thane said.

"What kind of master?" Twilight called out questioningly.

"I think you already know him." With a soft smile, Thane said.

"What do you mean?" Twilight replied questioningly.

"Who is your Master?" Luna intervened, still in the attacking stance.

Thane ignored Luna's question. “He'll tell you himself.” Thane said, standing sideways to the princesses.

The soft clatter of hooves could be heard from the open gate as a purple Alicorn stallion appeared in the opening.

"Greetings, princesses." Erzit said with a smile, leisurely walking up to the dais where the princesses were standing.

"It's him!" Twilight whispered to the other princesses.

"Hello to you again, Princess Twilight Sparkle." Erzit said with a warm smile, looking at her.

Princess Celestia looked at Twilight and shifted her gaze to the unknown Alicorn. “Who are you?” Celestia asked with concern.

"I am Erzit. And I am the first Alicorn." Erzit declared loudly and as if kindly.

"Who are you?!" Luna shouted in confusion...

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I'm sorry for the slightly tedious narration. The next chapter will be released a little later, but it will be about one of the characters in this story.

Sooner or later, all the backstories of the characters you will see will be revealed. Some stories will be sad, some funny. In general, I have a lot of plans for this story. So I hope you enjoy it all. :)

Don't forget to leave your feedback so that I understand that you like this story and I need to continue it. Thank you in advance.

Chapter 4 - The Open Curtain

"Who are you?!" Luna shouted in confusion.

All the princesses began to look at each other. At this time, Erzit turned his head back and nodded to the two shadow unicorns, who used their magic and closed the open gates of the throne room. After that, they stood on both sides of the doors.
At the sound of the doors closing, all the princesses and Spike turned and stared at the closing door.

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked, staring intently at Erzit.

"This is in case someone decides to interfere. And also this…" After saying the last words, Erzit waved his horn, which glowed a light gray color and created a small flash that momentarily blinded everyone.

"What did you do?" Luna exclaimed.

"Don't worry. It's just a small sound barrier so that no one hears anything unnecessary." Erzit said, grinning.

With a sigh, Erzit took away his smirk and stared at the magic dome that Celestia had set up earlier. "Princess Celestia, could you remove your defenses so that we can have a normal conversation?" Erzit said calmly and questioningly.

"Why would I do that?!" With a threatening tone, Celestia said.

Sighing again, Erzit looked closely at all the princesses and Spike present. "Princess Celestia, I assure you that none of you are in any danger. Because if I wanted to hurt you in any way, I would have already done it." And in confirmation of his words, Erzit took a few steps forward, stopping at the borders of Celestia's barrier. Raising his right hoof and touching the barrier, a small magic circle of runes appeared, which destroyed the barrier in the blink of an eye. At this turn of events, Celestia trembled, almost falling on her ass. Also, after this action, Luna took a couple of steps back, finding herself next to Twilight and Spike.

"What are you…" Celestia didn't have time to finish when Erzit interrupted her. "Calm down, please. I told you, I'm not here to hurt you." Erzit said, shaking his head.

"Then what did you do to our guards?" Luna was indignant.

"My shadow guards just put them to sleep for a while. They'll wake up in a couple of hours and they'll be fine." Erzit replied calmly.

"Good. Then what do you want from us." Celestia was still speaking in a threatening tone.

"As I said earlier. I just want to talk." Erzit said it simply and quickly.

Princess Luna turned off her horn, and looked back at Celestia. After the princesses exchanged glances, they stared at Erzit, indicating with this gesture that they were ready to listen to him.
At this time, four shadow guards stood and carefully turned their heads in different directions, looking around the room of the throne room with admiration. When Thane noticed that his shadow guards had relaxed and were examining the room, completely forgetting that they should look unperturbed, and not like admiring foals, he turned his head in their direction and looked threateningly first at the two guards on the left, and then at the two guards on the right, telling them to get together and not relax. Taking the hint, one of the shadow guards, namely Pegasus, who was standing on the left, casually swallowed.

"As I said earlier, my name is Erzit. And I'm the first Alicorn. I stayed in the shadows for many centuries and secretly helped some Alicorns and ordinary ponies. You may have heard the legend of a strange pony that appeared in various places and disappeared in an unusual way. Also, I think you've noticed my companions. These are the shadow guards. They were my students once, until General Thane decided that I needed guards or someone who could protect our common home in my absence." After saying the last words, Erzith nodded towards Thane before continuing.

"So, my guards, referred to as Shadow Guards or Shadow Ponies. In your legends, they are known as Umbrums. For centuries, I secretly helped Equestria and some of the ponies who later became my students. But for the last thousand years, I have not left my house for personal reasons, so my subordinates have done it for me. A couple of months ago, I became interested in the rumors that the shadow Guards were spreading about recent events. That's when I sent some of my subordinates to tell me what's going on in Equestria right now. And then they came across another ordinary unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. In the end, the events taking place recently brought me out of my depression, so to speak, and I decided to finally reveal my existence. At least to reveal it to you." After the last words, Erzit looked back at all the princesses, assessing their reactions.

All the princesses were shocked by this turn of events, especially Celestia, who was looking at Erzit with her eyes wide open. Princess Luna just sat down, thinking about what she had heard, until she noticed Twilight's flushed cheeks. The realization that Twilight could have been secretly watched all this time made her cheeks flush pink. Noticing this, Twilight lowered her head, staring at the floor so as not to show her embarrassment.

Taking her thoughts and putting them in order, Celestia assumed a straight face and took a couple of steps forward. “And what do you want from us, Mr. Erzit?” Celestia asked calmly.

"Just to make friends." Erzit said, still smiling.

Sighing, Celestia nodded, accepting his offer. The other processes and Spike were too shocked to object or ask a question in any way.

"Great!" Erzit exclaimed.

Sighing and rolling her eyes, Celestia took a couple of steps towards Twilight to put her hoof on her shoulder. Turning to face Celestia, she saw that famous motherly smile that could calm anyone down in a matter of seconds, including Twilight herself. After coming to her senses, Luna took a couple of steps to the side to continue thinking about all of the above. At this time, Spike was standing next to Twilight, waiting for her to say something. However, Twilight just remained silent.
Leaving Twilight and Spike. Celestia approached her sister, placing her hoof on her shoulder, thus finally calming her younger sister.

While Celestia went around and comforted the other princesses. Erzit turned to Thane and made a gesture with his eyes that meant turning into a shadow and hiding. Obeying his master, Thane turned to the four guards and nodded to them, pointing to his shadow, which meant an order to turn into a shadow and hide. When the four shadow guards disappeared into the shadows, Thane turned to the unicorn guards at the gate and nodded, they also disappeared into the shadows. Turning to Erzit, General Thane, like the others, disappeared into the shadows.

Erzit just stood there, waiting to see what Celestia or the other princesses present would do. However, they were in no hurry to do or say anything. Turning to Celestia and her younger sister. Erzit's eyes flashed with a yellow glow for a second. “Oh. And that could be interesting.” Erzit spoke in his mind, looking at Celestia and her sister.

Turning to Twilight and Spike, he flashed the yellow glow in his eyes again. Erzit involuntarily widened his eyes in surprise. “That's even more interesting.” Erzit spoke again, in his thoughts.

Celestia pulled away from her sister and stood between her and Twilight and Spike. “If it comes to that...” Celestia began.

“...Let's sit down at the tea table and discuss all this.” Looking from her sister to Twilight and then to Erzith, Celestia asked.

Luna nodded in agreement. Twilight and Spike also nodded. Turning to Erzit, Celestia waited for his reply, which was not long in coming. After all, Erzit, following the example of the others, also nodded. Nodding in agreement, Erzit mentally chuckled, remembering the words of Shands, who turned out to be right that such a thing could happen.

***

Emily walked through the corridors of Erzita Castle in search of Shands. She was heading to Erzit's private office now, because Shands might be there. Tidying up the books after the master, as he had done before.

When Emily reached Erzit's office, she saw Shands coming out of the room.

"Mr. Shands." Emily called out to him.

"Have you finished cleaning the bathroom and Erzit's rooms yet?" Shands asked immediately, closing the door behind him.

Emily just nodded.

"Good. Then let's go, we still have a lot to do." Shands declared, starting to walk down the corridor.

Emily nodded again and followed Shands.

"Listen to Emily." Suddenly, Shands said, breaking the silence. The one they were walking down the hall with.

"What is it?" Emily asked.

"As far as I remember, tomorrow is your birthday after rebirth. You'll be a hundred years old from the moment you're here." Shands spoke casually and calmly.

Emily kept walking, wondering what Shands was leading up to by reminding her of this. “Wh-what do you mean?” Emily asked hesitantly.

"I want to ask Erzit to set aside a day tomorrow to celebrate this event. You are the youngest among the castle's inhabitants, and the first in a thousand years to be accepted as an apprentice by Erzit. Even though he did it at my request, it doesn't matter." Shands was talking to Emily, looking behind him.

"M-Mr. Shands, you don't have to do this. I-I don't think it's worth it. I mean, w-yes, this is an important event for me and all of you. B-but I don't want to draw so much attention to myself by disturbing everyone, including m-Master Erzit." Blushing and stammering, Emily spoke, lowering her gaze to the floor.

"Nonsense! It's been a long time since the castle residents had fun together because of Erzit's depression. So I think it will be fun." Smiling, Shands continued walking.

Emily looked up at Shands and nodded hesitantly.

"Great. Then let's go finish everything before Erzit returns." Shands said enthusiastically.

First of all, Shands and Emily visited the castle's servants' and maids' room to inform them about tomorrow's party and hurry them to do everything today. After that, they went to the chefs to warn them about the party. Of course, the chefs were happy about this and began to think about what to cook for the holiday. After the cooks, Shands and Emily went to the barracks, where they alerted all the shadow guards and asked them to help. Mostly, of course, Shands talked to everyone, since Emily was too shy even after a hundred years of being here. After the barracks, Shands sent Emily to gardeners and farmers. And Shands himself went to the blacksmiths, alchemists and other inhabitants of the castle. Erzit's castle was quite large and spacious, capable of accommodating an army of ponies. Of course, if you gather all the inhabitants of the castle, then you really get a small army. However, Erzit was against armies, even though he gave permission for the creation of the shadow guard.

“There's no point in an army if every shadow pony has been trained so that they can stand up for themselves in any battle.” Always, said Erzit. Of course, he was right. He also trained his students well enough so that they could single-handedly defeat a pack of tree wolves or a larger enemy.

Shands was one of the first students. That is why he became his personal assistant and organized the duties for most of the first inhabitants of the castle, depending on their skills and preferences. After that, the first servants and maids appeared in the castle. However, you should not look at them as ordinary servants, because appearances can be deceptive. And if you take a good look at them, it becomes clear that they are a much more terrible enemy than a manticore or a small dragon. A single servant or maid assigned by Shands is capable of defeating a small swarm of changelings or a manticore. It could be said that the servants and maids were highly respected among the ordinary residents of the castle or the shadow guards.

All the inhabitants of the castle were students of Erzit, and after the shadow initiation, they stayed in the castle, doing the things they preferred the most. Thanks to this, there were ponies of most professions in Erzit's castle: from blacksmiths, cooks, jewelers to alchemists, warriors, and thieves (after shadow initiation, thieves became Erzit's scouts who provided him with any information).

Definitely. After hearing about the party, all the residents of the castle were happy and began to do their work intensively and help prepare everything for tomorrow. Shands informed everyone about the holiday, except the owner of the castle himself. However, Shands expected that Erzit would not refuse his request, but on the contrary, would participate.

After going through the entire castle to warn everyone about tomorrow's party, Shands and Emily met in the main hall, where the fun would take place.

The main hall was a large room with many tables, chairs, and piles of decorative objects, such as ceiling-high columns, large flower pots, chandeliers, crystal statues, and more. This room could hold many hundreds of ponies. That's why Shands is throwing a party here.

"I've warned everyone, Mr. Shands." Emily declared, approaching Shands.

"Great. Then I'll wait for Erzit, and you can go rest for the rest of the day." Declared Shands.

"That is?" Emily exclaimed questioningly.

"What's not clear here? I'm giving you the rest of the day off." Shands said with a smile.

"B-but there's something else I could do." Emily tried to fend it off.

"No. This is an order. Go rest for the rest of the day." And with that, Shands abruptly disappeared into the shadows.

Sighing, Emily whispered to herself. ”H-okay, Mr. Shands...”

Emily didn't like rest days. She didn't like to stay in one place doing nothing. She had no hobbies, no other activities, she didn't even really like reading a book, although she was quite well-read, thanks to the teachings of Erzit, who often forced her to read and memorize various textbooks.

Maybe it was the fear of being alone or something like that. But Shands and Erzit made it clear to Emily that she was now a resident of this castle, and now she was one of them, so no one would leave her alone. All of Erzit's students were important to him, and he would not leave or expel any of them, even if there were conflicts between the castle residents. However, Erzit always found a solution to such conflicts between his shadow ponies.

Emily often reminisced about her past, sometimes crying in her crib at night. And when one of the castle residents or Shands himself tried to find out why this was happening, she just kept quiet. Later, everyone began to realize that it was most likely because of Emily's death. After all, everyone knew the circumstances under which she became one of them. Someday Emily will tell you everything. But that day has not come yet.

Sighing again, Emily, as before, and Shands disappeared into the shadows, appearing in her private room…

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)

Don't forget to leave your feedback so that I understand that you like this story and I need to continue it. Thank you in advance.

A Life Filled with Pain

Note: This chapter is the backstory of Emily's minor character. Maybe someone won't like that the background of a minor character came out faster than the background of the main character. But I wanted to release a chapter about someone who will participate a lot in different events in the future.

A hundred years ago. Emily's Life…

—

Dear diary.

Today passed as usual. I walked the streets of Manehattan and tried to survive. Again…

My father kicked me out of the house again. However, in the evening, he took pity and sobered up and let me in.…

On the streets, I met my old friends again, so to speak, who beat me up again.…

I was able to steal some bread from a stall and ran away from the seller, bumping into them in the alley. And they beat me up again and took away what I had stolen.…
However, I met a stranger who didn't seem to feel disgust or anger towards me. He helped me a little, gave me food, and used a spell to heal my bruises. He introduced himself to me as Mr. Shands. He's quite kind to me, but I'm in no hurry to trust kind ponies, especially strangers I see for the first time.

Well. That's all for today. I hope the next day won't be so worthless.…

—

The beginning of the day…

Emily's life wasn't like this once. Once upon a time, she, her father and mother lived happily together, until her father started playing in underground casinos. When he returned from his games, mom always started scolding him for these trips, saying that at one moment he could lose everything we have. In the end, she was right, and one day, after another day, he returned home saying that he had lost everything. Emily's mother cried for several days. We had to sell our big house in order to somehow return to a normal life.

Emily's father was the head of an airship construction company. But in recent days, he has started to stay late at work. At first, Emily's mom thought that he had started cheating on her, but later one of their mutual friends reported that Emily's father had started gambling. Of course, Emily's mother was furious at this enlightenment. and that day she had a difficult conversation with her father, after which he stayed sleeping on the couch in the living room.

Emily's mother was an ordinary housewife. She was always at home, watching over her daughter and keeping the house in order. But after her father's first few visits from her games, she became a little distracted and often worried, which caused her to forget to do something and just sit looking out the window while waiting for her husband.

After the ill-fated loss and the sale of the house, they all settled in a small one-story house. Emily's father stopped gambling for a while. However, Emily's mother could not forgive him for that loss. She understood that sooner or later he would start playing these games again and start losing again. Over time, the fears were confirmed. Emily's father started gambling again. And once again, when Emily's mother came home, she made a scene. They yelled at each other and argued for several hours, until the sound of a broken vase drowned out the scandal.

At times of such screams, Emily always hid in her room under the covers. She loved her parents, but these scandals scared her and gave rise to thoughts that sooner or later something might happen after such a scandal. Of course, that's what happened. When the broken vase stopped another quarrel, Emily shuddered and listened to what was happening outside, but she heard nothing.

Emily hoped that nothing bad had happened and that everything would be calm in the morning. But it wasn't quiet in the morning.

When Emily woke up in the morning, she found neither her mother nor her father. Of course, this alerted her, and later, when her father returned, she assumed that something bad had happened. After all, my father returned with a bottle.

Emily woke up in her bed to a strange noise outside the door. Strange rumbling and clinking of bottles. “It looks like Father has returned...” Emily thought.

Every morning, Emily's father returned from another binge. He was fired a long time ago, and apart from begging and drinking, he did nothing. Every night he got involved in another adventure to find money and spend it on another bottle or a trip to the casino.

Emily kicked off the old blanket and rubbed her eyes with her hooves. Getting out of bed, she went to the door of her small but well-kept room. Stopping at the door to listen and find out what was going on there, she heard the rapid footsteps approaching her door. Quickly jumping away from the door, Emily saw how it opened and her father slowly entered the room, his eyes red from constant drinking.

"Are you awake?" Emily's father asked calmly.

Emily just nodded in response. She was too afraid to say anything, lest her father hurt her, as he did when he was in a very bad mood.

"Good. Then let's go have lunch." Emily's father replied, turning around and leaving the room.

Despite all the bad things, Emily's father sometimes showed his former kindness, occasionally cooking breakfast or buying an insignificant toy. He never wanted to tell Emilia what happened to her mother or why he let their lives get to this point. And if Emily tried to question him, he would get angry and could easily hit Emily.

Going into the kitchen, Emily sat down on the opposite side of where her father was sitting. Today he made a small omelet and a piece of stale bread. Nodding to Emily that she could start eating, she began to eat slowly. A minute later, her father began his usual tirade. And it was bad. When Emily's father started telling her that it wasn't his fault and that this was life. This usually led to another fight or scandal. Realizing that things were bad, Emily stopped eating, preparing to run to her room.

"Why did you stop eating?" Emily's Father asked a little nervously.

"I-I'm not hungry." Emily whispered.

When Emily caught a hint of tension in the air, she realized that things were bad and she had to run. Jumping up and taking a couple of steps towards the corridor, to her room, she fell sharply. Her father took her by the tail and pulled, which caused her to fall.

"You damn thing!" Emily's father's voice boomed.

Emily cringed at those loud words, trying to curl up, but the slap on the back of her head wouldn't let her even move.

"O-let go of m-me." Emily said, sobbing.

Ignoring her words, Emily's Father pulled her muzzle to his and stared into her eyes. “You're just like your mother! She's just as ungrateful.” He said in disgust, grabbing Emily's mane and tossing her aside.

Standing up with difficulty, Emily felt the gaze of disgust and anger. “Get out!” Emily's father declared loudly. He quickly ran up to Emily and grabbed her by the mane, which made Emily squeak, feeling pain. He dragged Emily to the front door and threw it open, throwing his daughter out onto the street.

"Don't you dare come back until you think about your behavior." Emily's father spoke angrily as he slammed the door.

With tears in my eyes. Emily pushed herself up to sit up. “Well, why? Why is he doing this to me? What is all this for...” Emily thought to herself, sobbing. The rumbling in her stomach brought Emily out of her thoughts. Standing on all four hooves, she wiped away the last tears with her hoof and slowly lowered her head and walked down the street.

Once again, once she was on the street, Emily walked through the streets thinking where to find food. “Maybe there's a trash can in the nearest one? No, there's not much to eat there. Should I contact someone? No, they'll just turn me away, like they always do. Steal it again? It seems that this is the only thing left for me.” Emily was thinking about a plan for where to find food.

When she reached a small market with stalls, Emily began to look around for food that could be stolen unnoticed. When she found a small counter with various pastries, she saw a small piece of bread on the corner, which made her stomach rumble again.

Sighing, Emily flattened herself to the ground and slowly crawled over to the counter. Poking her head out a little, she saw a brown earth pony, a stallion with a red mane and tail. His insignia was in the form of a blue cupcake. This stallion was hurriedly walking back and forth behind the counter, cooking something, holding a bowl in his hooves. Crawling to the corner of the counter where she saw that piece of bread, Emily stuck her head out and quickly grabbed a piece. At that moment, a spoon flew into her forehead, which made Emily involuntarily squeak in fear.

Emily saw the salesman coming around the counter to approach. Before she could see the salesman approaching her, Emily quickly jumped on all fours and ran away. Without looking back, Emily ran down the street, looking for a place to hide. When she saw the alley, she ran into it and pressed herself against the wall of the building, breathing heavily.

Sticking her head out of the alley, Emily looked around to see if the salesman was nearby. Sighing with relief, Emily closed her eyes to relax a little.

"Look, this is our friend Emily." Said a mocking voice somewhere from the depths of the alley.

"And it looks like her father kicked her out again." Another voice chuckled.

Hearing those voices, Emily flinched. Abruptly opening her eyes and turning her eyes into the depths of the alley, she saw two stallions. They were the ones who often bullied her.

The first was a Unicorn stallion. His fur was dark blue, and his tail and mane were dark gray. There was disgust and amusement in his brown eyes. His insignia was a red shield with a lightning bolt.
The second stallion was a pegasus. He had a dull green coat. The mane and tail were yellow with red streaks. His lavender eyes held the same amusement and disgust as the first stallion's. And he had a hammer as a badge of honor.

The first stallion's name was Silas. The second one is a Hook. Emily didn't know who they really were or who their parents were, but she knew they were always happy to make fun of someone. They especially liked to mock her.

When she saw the two stallions approaching her, Emily quickly got up and tried to run away. However, Silas' magic grip prevented her from doing so. His magic grabbed the poor mare by the scruff of the neck, preventing her from moving.

"Did Daddy kick you out again?" The unicorn grinned, feigning sadness.

At that moment, the Pegasus grabbed a piece of bread that Emily was holding in her hooves. “It looks like it's not yours.” Hook chuckled. And throwing a piece of bread under his hooves, he began to stomp on it, finally spitting out the remains of this piece of bread.

"You don't even deserve that." He pointed a hook under his hooves.

Emily tried to break free from Silas' magical grip and escape, but she couldn't. Tears involuntarily poured down her face.

"Aww. She seems very upset." Hook chuckled, coming closer.

"O-let me go. P-please." Emily begged, crying.

Grinning, the two stallions exchanged glances with each other. Silas leaned over Emily's ear to whisper. “You know, if you weren't so nasty, I might have stopped.”

A sudden blow to her cheek knocked Emily aside, and she hit the wall of the building.

"Well, Hook. Let's have some fun?" Silas said, smiling maniacally.

"That would be nice." The pegasus smiled.

Both of them began to approach Emily, which made her cry even harder.…

***

A standard day in the life of Shands: To wake up Master Erzit. Serve him breakfast. Make sure that everything is in order, and escort Erzit to his personal office.

For thousands of years, this cycle has been repeated day after day. Sometimes it changed, but in the end, every day was similar to the previous one. Erzit's depression worried everyone in the castle, especially Shands himself. Many of the castle's inhabitants even considered leaving here, but their devotion to their master always stopped them. And Shands always encouraged them that everything would be fine and their master's depression would pass sooner or later.

After finishing his typical morning chores, Shands was going to visit Manehattan in search of something interesting. To dispel the typical boring days, Shands decided to start collecting various curiosities. Boredom can push anyone to different activities. This is the purchase of various interesting and unusual items from Shands.

"It's been a while since I've been here." Shands said softly to himself.

Shands walked through the pony-filled streets. There were many different stalls with food and items around. As he passed the next street, he heard quiet sobbing. Stopping and pricking up his ears, he caught the sound of crying in one of the alleys.

The sound of crying grew louder as Shands got closer and closer to the alley. Entering the alley, Shands saw a mare lying against the far wall of the alley, crying into her hooves. Her entire body was covered in bruises, and blood was dripping from one of her nostrils.

"Hey? What's wrong with you?" Shands asked calmly, coming closer.

When the mare heard an unfamiliar voice, she shuddered and covered her face with her hooves. “N-no. P-please don't touch me...” The mare sobbed, trembling with fear.

"Don't worry. I won't do anything wrong." Shands answered her with kindness in his voice.

As Shands began to get closer and closer, the mare began to tremble with fear more and more. Sighing with pity for the mare, Shands waved his horn, summoning a spell of calm. A small purple flash of light instantly calmed the mare. However, she did not stop crying, still covering her face with her hooves.

"Hey. What happened to you?" Shands asked calmly and quietly, coming close to the mare lying on the asphalt.

"Oh, that's it. They're s-again. They decided to have fun again." Emily muttered, sobbing.

"Who are they?" Shands asked.

"Silas and Hook." The mare muttered.

"Okay. Calm down. They are no longer here." Shands said calmly and softly, squatting down to look into the eyes of the mare, who lowered her hooves.

"W-who are you?" The mare asked, looking into Shands' dark blue eyes.

"My name is Shands." With these words, Shands extended his hooves to the mare, helping her up. However, when the mare stood on all four hooves, they swayed and the mare almost collapsed to the ground. If it wasn't for Shands, who lifted her up with his magic.

"Be careful, miss..." Shands said he realized he didn't know the mare's name.

"M-my name is Emily." The mare whispered.

"Yes, Miss Emily. Let me help you." Shands said, and waving his horn, the mare's body began to glow with a violet-white light. After a moment, the light disappeared, and there were no bruises, cuts, or nosebleeds on the mare. However, the mare was still weak to walk. So Shands waved his horn again and teleported himself and Emily to a nearby park bench.

"Wh-what was that!" Emily exclaimed, looking around.

"I took us to the nearest park." Shands said simply and calmly.

Emily's stunned look made Shands chuckle softly. “How did you do that? Not many unicorns can do that." Emily said in surprise.

"I know a lot of spells. If you live as long as I do, you'll learn a lot too." Shands spoke with a smile.

"And-and how old are you? Do you look like a young stallion?" Emily spoke calmly, having already stopped whimpering.

"For someone who has just been in a panic. You're not afraid to talk to a stranger." Shands said with a grin.

"Maybe. But you helped me." Emily said, lowering her head.

"That doesn't change the fact that you're a pretty young filly. Talking to an adult stranger in an empty park. And that already looks suspicious, don't you think?" After these words, Emily looked around. Indeed, there was no one else in the park but them. The thought made Emily uneasy.

"Don't be afraid. I won't do anything to you. However, I would like to know what happened in the alley. Why were you in such a state. And who are Silas and Hook." Shands asked insistently but calmly.

"H-they often bully me. When I get kicked out of the house, I often meet them. Maybe they're just waiting for me to leave the house to make fun of me." Emily was saying sadly.

"Why are you being kicked out of the house?" Shands kept asking.

Sighing, moisture appeared in Emily's eyes. “Father does this a lot. He was a good pony once. But he started gambling. And when my mother disappeared, he started drinking a lot...” No sooner had she finished than she began to sob

"Well, well. Calm down." Shands said, hugging her.

It took a few minutes until Emily's sobs subsided and she found herself hugging a stranger. Pulling away, she wiped her tears with a hoof.

"Why did you help me?" Emily asked.

"I couldn't leave someone in the lurch. My master always taught me to help those in need." Shands spoke calmly, looking at the sad mare.

"Y-your master?" Emily asked questioningly, looking up at Shands.

"Yes. My master. When I didn't have a very good life either. However, he helped me by taking me on as a student. I studied with him for many years. And when I finished my training, he invited me to become his first assistant. However, he needs help now. He has a lingering depression that has been going on for many years." Sighing, Shands spoke.

"Why is he depressed?" Emily asked.

"A long time ago, one of his students betrayed him. And he killed the one my master loved the most. And, of course, revenge didn't help. It only worsened the situation." Shands sounded a little sad.

When Emily wanted to say something, her stomach rumbled.

"It looks like you need to eat." Shands chuckled.

"Q-maybe a little…" Emily wanted to say no, but the hunger that had been haunting her since morning prevented her from lying.

With a wave of his horn, a camping basket with food appeared in the hooves of Shands. He took out several sandwiches and handed them to Emily, who was looking at Shands in confusion.

"Wh-what!? B-but how?" Emily exclaimed questioningly.

"Don't worry your head about it. Just eat." Shands said with a smile, removing the basket with another wave of his horn.

The remaining half hour passed in silence. Emily sat and ate while Shands thought about everything she had said. When she finished eating, Emily smiled at Shands. “Th-thank you, Mr. Shands.” Emily stammered.

"Too late. Isn't it time for you to go home?" Shands said questioningly.

"Y-yes. You're right, Mr. Shands. I have to go home now." Emily said as she jumped off the bench.

"Goodbye, Mr. Shands." Emily said as she left.

"An interesting mare." Shands muttered to himself.

"Do you think so?" A voice asked from the shadows.

"Yes. Can you follow her?" Shands asked the one who was in the shadows.

"If that's what you want." The voice said uncertainly.

"Keep an eye on her, Wrench. And if anything bad happens, let me know immediately." Shands said urgently.

"As you wish, Mr. Shands." With these words, a small stream of shadow slowly darted in the direction where Emily had gone.

***

Emily was standing at the door of her house. The light in the window was still on, which means that the father is at home. Sighing, she knocked on the door. A little while later, the door opened and my father stood outside.

"And this is you. I hope you've learned your lesson." He said indifferently, letting Emily go home.

After entering the house, Emily quickly ran to her room. Leaning back against the door, she breathed a sigh of relief. With another sigh, Emily crossed the room and got into her bed. Meanwhile, at Emily's house, a small trickle of shadow turned into a large armored stallion standing in the shade of a nearby tree.

"If Shands was interested in her, then there must be a good reason for it." Wrench said wearily.

***

The night was very quiet, except for Emily's father and his friends talking loudly in the kitchen. It was already deep into the night outside, and Emily wanted to sleep, but her father and his friends wouldn't let her sleep properly. Emily was afraid to reproach her father or say anything to him. Especially when he's with his ugly friends.

The sound of hooves outside the door brought Emily out of her reverie. The sound of hooves stopped right next to Emily's door.
The door slowly opened. Emily's father's intake along with his alcohol. “Are you awake?” An indifferent voice asked. Emily didn't answer. She was too afraid to say anything when her father was around.

"That means no. Good." - After these words, Emily's father quickly went to the bed and threw off the blanket. Emily tried to curl up to protect herself from this action, but before she could do anything, her father grabbed her by the mane and threw her towards the door.

"Let's go!" The father barked.

Standing up and wiping away a few tears, Emily followed her father. When she entered the kitchen with her father, she saw his friends giggling. One was using magic to twist a knife. And the other one licked his lips, saw Emily. “What freaks.” Emily mentally commented.

***

Wrench leaned against a tree, looking at Emily's house. It was already the middle of the night, and his eyes were starting to droop with fatigue. Wrench might have fallen asleep soon if it hadn't been for the deafening scream from Emily's house. Quickly shaking off his fatigue, he turned into a shadow and darted to the front door.

Becoming a pony again, Wrench broke down the door with one blow and went inside, after sending a message to Shands with his mind. As soon as Wrench entered the house, he heard an even louder scream. I quickly realized where it was coming from. He ran and entered the presumably kitchen. After a quick glance around, Wrench saw three stallions holding a mare with cuts and bruises. Two stallions were holding the mare, and the third was hovering over the mare.

"What the hell are you…" One of the stallions holding Emily did not have time to finish when a shadow flash in the center of the room threw them in different directions.

In the center of the room stood Shands with two unicorn shadow guards. Shands looked around and nodded to the unicorns, who had grabbed all three of the ponies that had harmed Emily.

"Wrench!" Shands said loudly.

Wrench quickly ran up to Shands to tell him what had happened. “I don't know exactly what happened. When I heard the scream, I quickly ran in, broke down the door and sent you a message. When I entered this room, these creatures were already holding her.” Wrench finished his story.

"What are your instructions?" Wrench asked.

"Kill them... execute all those responsible!" Shands shouted menacingly.

"As you command!" After saluting, Wrench nodded to the other shadow guards. Carrying the three culprits out of the room.

After seeing an unconscious Emily. The blood in Shands' veins began to boil with anger. “How could they do this to her.” Shands mused.

Coming closer, Shands took poor Emily in his front hooves. She was covered in blood and bruises. “Even though Wrench was late, he made it. Before these beasts could do anything worse.” Shands said softly, holding Emily in his front hooves.

Using shadow magic, Shands teleported himself and Emily to the castle. Using the same healing spell as last time, he healed her and put Emily to bed. Shands used a calming and sleeping spell on Emily to ensure her rest.

Shands breathed a sigh of relief as he left the room where he had laid Emily. At that moment, Erzit was walking towards him from another part of the corridor. When Shands looked in the direction of Erzit, his body involuntarily shuddered.

"Shands." Erzit said casually, coming close to Shands.

"Who is she?" Erzit continued abruptly.

"What do you mean…" Shands tried to talk himself out of it.

"Who is this mare?" Erzit asked calmly.

Sighing, Shands told the story of how he met Emily and how he assigned one of the shadow Guards to follow her. He also told how he ordered the shadow guards to deal with Emily's abusers.

"What do you plan to do with it?" Erzit asked.

"I don't know yet, but…" At that moment, an idea came to Shands' head.

"Master, could you take her as your disciple?" Shands asked sharply.

"What? As an apprentice? I haven't taken students for a long time. Moreover, we don't know much about it. Maybe she has relatives who can take care of her." Erzit tried to talk himself out of it.

"Master, please. I know she has nowhere to go. According to her stories, she went through a lot of terrible things. If we take her in and make her a new shadow pony, it will only be better for her." Shands was pleading.

"Good. But you take responsibility for everything she does." Shaking his head, Erzit spoke.

"Of course the master! And thank you." Bowing, he thanked Shands.

"No need for these bows, Shands. I understand why you decided to help her. But you could talk to me first." Erzit said, putting a hoof on Shands' shoulder.

"Of course, the master."

"When she wakes up, take her to my office. Her training sessions will start next week." Turning around, Erizt said.

Shands just nodded.

***

When Emily woke up the next morning, she was at a loss. “Where am I? What is this place? Who brought me here?” - A lot of questions were running through Emily's mind. However, these thoughts disappeared when she heard the sound of hooves outside the door.

When the door opened, Emily blinked at the bright light from behind the door. Blinking several times, Emily saw Shands.

"M-Mr. Shands? Where am I?" She asked.

"You, my dear. In my master's castle. But soon he will become your master too." Shands said with a smile.

"Wh-what?!" Emily exclaimed questioningly.

"Yes. When I brought you, all wounded, to the castle, my master saw you. Although he resisted at first, but in the end, I persuaded him to accept you as a student." Shands spoke proudly.

"B-but why did you do that?" Emily asked.

"You don't have to live in that horror anymore. You're one of us now. You will become my assistant and Master Erzit's new student." Shands spoke with an even wider smile.

Emily couldn't say anything. Tears of relief did it for her.…

Author's Note

Perhaps no one expected that the backstory of some minor character would come out faster than the main one. But I just wanted to release a short chapter about a character who will have a bit of an impact on the main characters in the future.

Hopefully, the initial mini-story about Emily's father is not too tedious or incomprehensible. I tried to tell you quickly what led Emily's father to who he became, so that I could start telling you the day Emily met Shands.

Next, Emily's story will manifest itself in the form of flashbacks in different chapters.

Oh, and by the way, the next chapter will be very exciting and interesting, because there will be the return of the fallen stallion...

I also hope this backstory didn't seem too banal...

Chapter 6 - The Return of the Fallen

Sombra was lying down. I just lay there, gathering strength to at least sit up instead of lying down. He hadn't been in his physical form in a very long time. It was only during the siege of the Crystal Empire that the magic of the Crystal Heart returned his body for a moment and then destroyed him again.
His memories of a millennium under the frozen north were still on the surface. The way he waited for the moment when he would return, fueled by his own anger, so as not to go crazy, gave him the strength to wait as long as necessary.

After his release, his thoughts were focused only on the return of the Crystal Empire to his rule. All he wanted at that moment was to rule the Empire again. But after the failed siege, when that little dragon brought the Crystal Heart, that princess took it away and used it to erase it from this world. But he didn't die. Or rather, he wasn't completely dead. His body and mind were trapped in his remaining horn. He couldn't do anything about it. Sombra could only feel a faint chill. Until at one point even he disappeared. However, there was a strangely familiar feeling of familiar magic that he couldn't remember.

But now he understood and remembered who radiated such magic. So warm and cold at the same time. I'm both callous and soft. The kind of two-way magic that could anger and calm anyone. Sombra remembered everything before his exile. He remembered those he had betrayed. The ones he killed. And those who helped and hindered him.

Sombra slowly shook his heavy head and stared at his... A savior? The exterminator? Or both. Sombra's emerald eyes stared straight into Erzit's crimson eyes, waiting for his next action. “How are you feeling?” Erzit asked, tilting his head to the right. His snow-white mane tilted in the same direction, slightly covering his right eye.

Sombra was silent for a moment, considering his answer. His eyes slowly darted around. He wasn't trying to find something definite. He wanted to understand why his former master had decided to bring him back to this world. And what was that strange feeling in his chest? Sombra felt rather strange. He felt weak, but at the same time relieved and empty inside himself. As if something was missing. Sombra's eyes quickly darted to Erzit, radiating neither disgust nor anger. They radiated bewilderment and question. “What have you done to me?” Sombra whispered softly.

Straightening his head, Erzit pushed a white strand of hair behind his right ear. Sighing, Erzit blinked at Sombra a few times before saying something. “I want to help you.” Erzit replied calmly, lighting his horn. Snow-white magic enveloped Sombra's body, lifting him up to help him sit up.

Sombra sat down casually and planted his front hooves on the floor to keep his balance. His new body was still weak and uncontrollable. It takes time to fully regain control of the body. Trying to straighten up, Sombra almost lost his balance, but Erzith's magic prevented him from falling. Sombra hunched his shoulders a little and raised his head and stared at Erzit again. “I'll repeat the question.” Sombra said, wincing at the weakness in his joints. Lowering his head down a bit, he hissed angrily. “What did you do to me?!” Sombra bared his teeth and looked up at Erzit. There was anger and fear in his eyes at what his former teacher could do to him.

Slowly exhaling, Erzit shook his head. “I brought you back to this world.” Erzit simply replied. Sombra's ears twitched as he glared at the former teacher again. “Why. Why did you do that.” Sombra said, trying to stand up but failing. He just winced, feeling the pain in his joints again.

"Without straining."

"Why would I listen to you?" Baring his fangs again, Sombra replied sarcastically, assuming that hunched position again.

Rolling his eyes, Erzit stamped his right hoof. “Stop acting like that. It looks ridiculous.” Erzit said with a grimace.

"How else should I behave? I am, so to speak, your prisoner." Sombra replied with a frown.

"What makes you think you're my prisoner?" Erzit asked, extending his right hoof to Sombra.

"Isn't that right?" Sombra replied, looking incredulously at Erzit's outstretched hoof. “It wouldn't make sense for you to bring me back without any purpose.” Sombra snapped, pressing his ears to his head. He tried to stand up again, but again without success.

Erzit was silent for a full minute, lowering his head thoughtfully. “You're right. I brought you back for a reason.” Looking up at Sombra, he took a step closer to him. Sombra, a little scared, tried to crawl back, but his new body was still unruly. Or was it some kind of magic that made it impossible to move? However, Sombra wouldn't have been able to do anything in his current state anyway. “What do you want from me?” Sombra grumbled, looking at Erzit.

"You have to improve." Saying that, Erzit placed his right hoof on Sombra's shoulder. Sombra involuntarily trembled from such an action. “Wh-what do you mean?” Sombra asked, not understanding.

"You heard me right." Erzit said with a grin, removing his hoof from Sombra's shoulder and taking a step back.

Sombra sat in surprise, still not understanding what Erzit wanted from him. Will he improve? What a stupid thing to do. King Sombra, the embodiment of evil. The Lord of the Cold North. Should the tyrant of the Crystal Empire improve? How does he imagine it?

When Sombra first started his evil path, he still had a chance to turn back and fix the little he had done. But now. It's not possible now. Or is it possible? How much time has passed from the moment of his fall to the moment of his return? Does Sombra have a chance to correct his mistakes?

Sombra's thoughts were interrupted by Erzit's cough, which he let out to get Sombra's attention. “Sombra. You have a chance to correct your mistakes. Don't miss this chance.” Erzit said, extending his hoof again.

Sombra ignored Erzit's gesture, grinning. “Do you think my so-called mistakes can be fixed? Or do you think I regret what I did?”

Erzit lowered his hoof, shaking his head. “Maybe you haven't realized it yet. But over time, you will remember and understand the mistakes you have made.” Erzit insisted.

Sombra wanted to object angrily, but stopped himself, realizing that it was better to hold it for another time. “And what do you suggest?” Sombra asked, raising his right eyebrow.

“You need to rest and gain strength first.” Erzit extended his hoof to Sombra for the last time. In response, Sombra sighed and accepted it. Erzit helped Sombra up. Staggering a little, Sombra was able to regain his balance and stand more than calmly.

"Good. Now let's go. I've prepared a room for you." Erzith said, using his magic to support Sombra so that he wouldn't fall.

In response, Sombra just glared at Erzit. Reflecting on his situation. “What's this damn pony up to? Does he want to fix me? Does he think I'm just admitting that everything I've done is a mistake? Let him choke on it all. I am Sombra. I did what I thought was right. And I won't let him try to fix what's not broken. Because when I get strong enough to get out of here, he'll regret bringing me back.” Sombra pondered as he walked swaying through the corridors.

***

"This place hasn't changed a bit." Sombra grumbled, looking around.

Erzit turned around. “This is true. The castle has looked like this since its foundation. And I don't want to change it.”

"But why is it so empty? There aren't even any guards." Sombra said suspiciously. Trying to find out at least some information.

"The castle residents are preparing for the holiday."

"What holiday?" Sombra was surprised. Back when he was a student of Erzit, the castle residents had never celebrated anything. And Sombra did not remember that at that time any of the inhabitants of the castle or Erzit himself talked about any kind of holiday. Sometimes there were small parties, but they didn't have big celebrations. At least Sombra didn't understand any of that.

"Tomorrow marks one hundred years since I got a new student. And the student herself turns one hundred years old. So they decided to celebrate this day." Erzit said with an undisguised smile.

"Since when do you celebrate the centenary of any student? Wasn't it something common before?"

"All right. But after the fall of the Crystal Empire, I… I sank into a little depression. I haven't had any students for a thousand years." After these words, Erzit frowned and lowered his head a little.

Sombra grinned and shook his head. “I didn't think you were such a weakling.” After these words, Sombra giggled a few more times and staggered a little. “Are you really that shaken by what happened to...” Sombra didn't have time to finish his sentence when a slightly dim white magic grabbed and squeezed his throat. They both stopped. Sombra couldn't see Erzit's face, but he suspected he was angry.

Turning his head towards Sombra. There was a frown on Erzit's face. There was no anger in her. But what he was doing suggested otherwise. “Don't mention it in front of me.” A little rude, Erzit grumbled, turning his head forward and continuing to walk. The magic around Sombra dissipated. Even the magic that had been helping him walk had dissipated. Staggering and trembling from the strain, Sombra winced, but managed to keep his balance so as not to fall.

"You need to understand when your words can hurt and when they can help. This will be your new lesson." Somewhere in the distance of the corridor, Erzit stopped and shouted, waiting for Sombra to hobble up to him.

"Understood. I got it!" Sombra grumbled loudly, trying to reach Erzith. The carpet beneath the Sombra bent and stretched as the weakened stallion tried to walk on it. Or rather, crawl.

Walking slowly towards Erzit, the fallen king cursed his old teacher for making him humiliate himself like that. Finally, when he reached Erzit, he stopped and sat down, breathing heavily from such a hard walk. Erzith's magic covered Sombra again, helping him get up and walk on. “Be patient for a bit. We're almost there.” Calm down, said Erzit, continuing to walk down the corridor.

Once upon a time, Erzit could easily control his emotions. Anger, sadness, and joy can all be controlled by understanding how. “Obviously, after what I've done. He had lost control of himself.” Sombra chuckled to himself

Continuing his grueling trek, Sombra tried to strain his horn to summon a magical lightning bolt and hit Erzith with it. But it didn't work out. There wasn't even a small spark. “Damn it.” Sombra accidentally swore out loud.

Catching Sombra's attempts to use magic and his obscene remark, Erzit turned slightly to look at the scowling stallion. “You won't be able to use magic in this state. And besides, I've placed a seal so that you can't use any magic.”

"What for? Aren't the humiliations you've already done enough for you?" Sombra growled, wagging his tail and snorting.

"Not at all. I know that even without magic, you are very dangerous. And with a few seals, you don't pose much of a threat. At least for the castle residents." Erzita said calmly until he turned back to face Sombra. “However, if you behave yourself, I will remove some restrictions.” In response, Sombra just snorted again, continuing to walk.

"Don't worry, my old friend. After being cleansed of dark magic, you need time to realize everything."

"Sure." Sombra grumbled, lowering his ears.

After a few more minutes, they finally reached the room where Sombra would live. The door to the room was ordinary, wooden, without frills. However, Sombra wasn't interested in that. A small stream of dark blue shadow darted from the corner at the front of the hallway to another corner, where there was a large blue pot of flowers. Sombra immediately noticed this shadow and braced himself for what might happen. Suddenly, the small shadow by the pot disappeared. “BOOOO.” Sombra almost jumped to the ceiling from the suddenness.

A shadow guard without a helmet appeared behind Sombra. "What the hell was that!?" Sombra shouted, turning to the one who was trying to scare him.

A grinning shadow guard without a Helmet stood in front of Sombra. It was a dark blue earth pony. A stallion with a bright blue mane and tail. Which also had a few purple strands. His pupils were a yellow banana color.

"Wrench, what are you doing here?" Erzit asked calmly, turning to face him.

The stallion giggled and pointed a hoof at Sombra. “When Shands told me that Sombra was back at the castle, I thought it would be interesting to meet an old friend.”

Raising his right eyebrow, Erzit stared at Wrench. “And if it's true?”

"Okay. I got bored helping to prepare for the holiday. And I was looking for Shands. When he found it, he was telling Emily that Sombra was in the castle." Wrench was silent for a moment, looking away from Erzit.

"And then what?" asked Erzit urgently.

"I went to look for him. And when I found it, I couldn't help but act it out. Just like in the good old days." Wrench finished with a chuckle.

"You call me a villain. But they're no better." Sombra said with a grimace.

"Come on. It's fun. Just like before."

"You know perfectly well that I hated these pranks."

"I think you liked them."

"No."

"And I say yes." Wrench poked Sombra in the chest.

"And I say no." Sombra growled, kicking Wrench's hooves away from him.

Rolling his eyes, Erzit wrapped Sombra in magic and pulled him away from Wrench so that he wouldn't start a fight. “Calm down, both of you.”

"Good." Sombra grumbled.

Exhaling, Erzit walked over to Wrench. “Since you've decided to step in, you'll be his guard from now on. Until the end of tomorrow.”

"As the master commands." Wrench replied seriously, without laughing.

"But no kidding. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Wrench replied quickly.

Wrench, though, was a funny man and a lover of jokes. But he was always serious when it came to giving orders and completing a specific task. If it was necessary for him to keep a close eye on Sombra, then Wrench would carry out this order, even if he had to choke on his new joke.

"Good. And now…" Erzit turned around and opened the door, using his magic to allow Sombra to enter his new room.

He muttered something softly. Sombra entered his new room, where he will live. The room was in the same style as most of the living rooms, including Erzit's private quarters. It was the same mix of white marble and black stone with red crystal lamps. There was a round red carpet in the center of the room. There was a large bed against the front wall, with a storage chest at the foot of it. There was a chest of drawers to the right of the bed and a closet a little further along the wall. To the left of the bed was a large panoramic window, from which the enchanted castle grounds were hidden from prying eyes. To the left of the door was a wooden crystal table, on which stood a candle stand and several new candles. On the opposite side was a large bookshelf with many modern books. There was a shelf next to it with several old books, mostly about Equestria history. A purple crystal chandelier with red crystal lights hung in the center of the ceiling.

Sombra was a little surprised that he was given such a nice room.

"You're going to live here now." Erzit said with a smile.

"Yeah." Sombra replied in amazement.

"Don't be such a grouch."

Sombra immediately regained his composure and made a grumpy face again. “Thank you for such a nice room.” Sombra replied.

Ignoring the grumpy reply from Sombra, Erzith walked into the room. “You didn't want a room in this castle before.”

"I still don't want to. But I have no choice."

"There is always a choice. However, you're still trying to be someone you shouldn't be, and that's why you don't understand it." Erzit said, rolling his eyes.

"I am who I have always been." Sombra snorted, wagging his tail angrily.

"Yeah. Whatever you say." Erzit replied sarcastically. After walking around the room a bit, Erzit nodded towards the bed. “You need to rest. And I'm sure that after you return, you'll be able to sleep for at least a week to regain your strength.”

"Sure." Sombra replied with a roll of his eyes.

Shaking his head, Erzit left the room, closing the door behind him. “Keep an eye on him. Even without magic, he's quite dangerous. His intelligence and knowledge make him very dangerous.”

"I know that, Master." Wrench replied calmly.

"Well. Good luck then." Erzit said, walking straight down the corridor.

In response, Wrench only nodded, pricking up his ears, listening to what was happening behind the door in Sombra's room.

***

When the door to Sombra's new room closed, he sat down in the center of the room on a round carpet. starting by thinking about escape options.

Can I break a window? No. In my condition, I won't be able to get out of it, and the use of magic is limited. Moreover, I am sure that the windows in the castle of Erzit will be enchanted to be stronger than stone. Try to trick one of his servants? No. They are too devoted to him and they know perfectly well who I am and what I have done. Maybe runes? Yes. It might have worked if the floor hadn't been enchanted as well as the windows. I need a lot of power or magic to make a small cut, and in my condition that's impossible. Maybe smash a wooden chest of drawers and carve runes there? No. The sound will attract Wrench. And besides, I believe Erzit has set up defenses against such sudden escape actions. Damn. There doesn't seem to be a choice. I'll have to go to bed to gain strength and then come up with a plan. A millennium of being trapped under ice has taught me to wait.

Cursing at his weakness, Sombra walked slowly to his bed. Reaching out a hoof and grabbing onto the purple blanket, he threw it away. Sombra climbed onto the bed with purple sheets and white pillows and reached for the covers again. After taking cover, his eyelids instantly became heavier by several kilograms. Closing his eyes, Sleep was not long in coming, and Sombra plunged into the world of dreams.

After recovering my body and walking around the castle like this, it takes a lot of time to regain my strength.…

***

It was already late in the evening. After the meeting with Erzit ended, Celestia asked Twilight and Spike to stay at the castle for a day. So that in the morning they could all discuss together again what happened today. However, Princess Celestia was in no hurry to go to bed. She was sitting at her desk in her room, thinking.
Who is Erzit? Is it true that he is the first Alicorn? What are shadow ponies really like?

Celestia had indeed heard the old legends about the unknown Alicorn who occasionally appeared in public. She also listened to legends and old horror stories about Umbrums or shadow ponies. Previously, all this seemed to her to be just myths. Although there were those who claimed to have personally met with shadow ponies. However, no one believed them, considering them to be madmen. But now?
Now it was clear to her that these were not fairy tales. The legends in the books were true. Or at least, many of them. Although Celestia pretended to accept the so-called friendship with Erzit, she didn't really trust him. Who knows what this pony is hiding and what he's up to. However, Luna and Twilight did not share her views and fully trusted the one they were seeing for the first time. Luna has always been very trusting, which is why she became a Nightmare Moon. Twilight is the princess of friendship, and it's obvious that she quickly trusted him when he offered friendship.

While her sister and a loyal former student are trying to make friends with Erzit. She will try to find the truth about him and what he really wants. Since Erzit had mentioned that Sombra was his student, she would try to find information about Sombra's past from the old archives of the returned Crystal Empire. She would send a letter to Cadence in the morning, asking her to send her all the information she had about Sombra from the archives.

She will also need old legends about shadow ponies.”I will find the truth.” Celestia whispered to herself.

Blowing out the candle, she finally went to bed.…

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. :)

Don't forget to leave your feedback so that I understand that you like this story and I need to continue it. Thank you in advance.

Chapter 7 - Shadow of the Past and Future

The next morning...

Even though today was a free day for everyone in the castle, Shands still performed his duties. Today's duties mainly consisted of waking up Erzit and checking on Sombra.

Walking through the spacious and empty corridors, Shands headed for the room of the castle's newest resident. Sombra's room was in the right wing of the castle, right next to the Colosseum and Shands' own room, so he had no trouble getting there. Soon, upon reaching the right corridor, Shands saw the familiar perpetually sleepy pony that was supposed to be guarding Sombra's room.

"Did you decide to make a joke after all?" Shands asked with a grin.

"I couldn't help myself." Wrench replied with a shrug.

"I can see that." Raising his right eyebrow, Shands said, waiting for Wrench to say something.

With a sigh, Wrench turned to face Shands. His mane was combed, but a few hairs were still sticking out. “My sentence is to watch over Sombra until the end of today.” Wrench replied, rolling his eyes.

Shands grinned and shook his head, showing he was disappointed. “I told you your jokes wouldn't get you anywhere.”

In response, Wrench just snorted, looking away.

"Okay. Joking aside." Shands said, taking a couple of steps towards the door of the room.

"How is he?""

"Calmly. I think he just went to bed and that's it." Wrench replied, rolling his eyes again.

"Well, that's good." Said Shands. Pulling the handle with his hoof.

The door opened easily, and Shands stepped through it. Looking around, he didn't see anything strange. “Looks like he didn't go on a rampage.”

Shands said to himself. Taking a couple steps toward the bed, Shands saw Sombra snoring. “Looks like he really is asleep.”

Looking around once more, Shands left the room, closing the door behind him. “If he goes on a sudden rampage. Let me know.” Shands ordered insistently.

Wrench was a bit taken aback by such an order. “Why would he start a rampage?”

"Even though he can't use any powers, he can show cunning and subterfuge. But you know that." Shands finished with a wave of his hoof.

"I know how dangerous he is. Even without his powers. I don't need to be reminded of that so often." Wrench said with a sigh.

"It certainly won't be superfluous." Shands grinned.

"Yeah. Yeah." Wrench replied, rolling his eyes.

"Well. Good luck to you, Wrench. And I still have a lot of things to do." Shands said, turning his back on Wrench.

Wrench only nodded as Shands began to remove himself back down the hallway.

***

As the door closed behind Shends, Sombra's sleeping body shuddered involuntarily.
Dreams are an interesting state of a sleeping being. In this state we see small universes with different events that may have happened or may happen. But dreams can also show us our future and our past. Or what we want and hate the most. Dreams can help us or hurt us. All living things have dreams. Even those who can't dream can dream at least once. Sombra hasn't dreamed in a long time. His time in the glaciers kept him from sleeping or even doing anything. At the time, he was just a shadow of who he was. Now that he was back, he could finally remember and feel what dreams were like. Even if they're bad.

"Why did you do this to us?" An unfamiliar voice asked in the void.

"Why did you do it?" Another voice asked.

"You betrayed everyone who trusted you." A female melodious voice said.

"You killed her. You've killed a lot of good ponies." A hard male voice said.

"Was it worth it?" Said the mare's crying voice.

"It's not too late to stop." Said a gruff voice.

"You were like a son to me!" The mare's cryingvoice echoed in the dark void.

Everything began to clear up. There were only piles of white snow around Sombra. The wind blew his red cloak. He had his silver crown on his head. And he was wearing his infamous armor, covered in dried blood.

Sombra opened his eyes and looked around. There were piles of bloody pony bodies around him.

"Sombra…" A quiet voice sounded from behind.

Looking back, Sombra saw a bloodied pony reaching for his hind hoof.

The scene in front of Sombra's eyes changed. He was now in the throne room of the Crystal Empire. Sitting on the throne, he looked around to understand what was going on. Now he realized that it was a dream. And a strange dream.

Looking into the center of the room, Sombra saw a sad, tall unicorn mare. Six black guards stood around her, pointing spears.

"Why Sombra? Why are you doing this?" Sad, with tears in her eyes, the mare said.

Sombra didn't understand why he was seeing all this. Had his conscience finally woken up? Or it's the actions of someone else. Involuntarily, Sombra's body rose from the throne to say something. “I'm doing what I think is right.”

"No! It's not you! Is this what Erzit taught you? Is this what I taught you?!" The mare was crying and screaming.

"I don't care about that right now."

Lowering her head, the mare began to cry softly. And the black guards were slowly leading this mare towards Sombra. As they approached, a spell began to form on Sombra's curved horn.

In an instant, the scene was replaced by a Crystal City. There were now crowds of crystal ponies around Sombra. And he himself was standing on a platform. Next to him were two crystal ponies, clad in black armor, with green glowing eyes.

Looking around, Sombra realized that he was in the main square of the Crystal City, next to the castle. There were three large roads ahead, flanked by crystal houses. There were hundreds of crystal ponies standing around, staring at him intently.

"What will be the orders, my king." In an empty monotone voice. The black guard who was on Sombra's right asked.

Sombra looked at the guard, but said nothing. Looking around the crowd again, Sombra noticed the familiar figure of his former master in the crowd.
After taking a couple of steps forward, Sombra raised his right hoof. However, before he could say anything, the voice of his former master could be heard in his head.

"You're a fool if you believe that this is all right." A soft voice sounded in Sombra's ears.

The scene shifted to the moment when Sombra was defeated for the first time. In front of him were the Royal Sisters who were defeating him.

"Well, Sombra. Was it worth it? Was it worth those ruined hearts and lives?!" Shouted Celestia angrily, filling her horn with magic along with her sister.

Before the bright light hit Sombra, he could only say one last word. “Luna…”

However, the bright light from the two sisters was dispelled by a dark flash from Sombra's horn. “This is… This is not the end!” He roared. And a dark flash of magic threw the two princesses far beyond the borders of the Crystal Empire.

The flash disappeared, and the last scene appeared before Sombra's eyes, when the Crystal Heart destroyed him. Then there was only darkness…

***

Before entering the room, Shands knocked on it. After a couple of seconds of waiting, hearing no sounds, Shands opened the door to Erzit's room. Poking his head through the crack and looking around, Shands found no sign of his master. Even the bed was empty and made up. “It looks like he woke up on his own.” Shands thought as he closed the door.

The moment Shands closed the door, Erzit appeared behind him. “Hello, Shands.” Shands ears twitched in surprise.

"Greetings, Master." Shands said, turning to face Erzit.

Grinning, Erzit waved his head towards the hallway leading to the place where the party would be held. Shands nodded. The two walked down the corridor towards the main hall where the celebration was to take place.

"How was the preparation?" Erzit asked casually.

"Calmly."

"Emily's not worried?"

"She's worried. She's worried pretty badly." Shands replied with a slight wince.

"I wish I could be there when the festivities begin. But I'll still be there." Erzit replied with a sigh.

Shands turned his head towards Erzite with a questioning look. “You're still coming after all? But don't you have your hands full?”

"There is indeed much to do. However, I cannot afford to miss the centennial celebration of my last student." Erzit replied with a smile.

"Really. She would be very happy."

"But this is a surprise. I'll come around the middle or the end with a gift. So don't tell." Erzit replied, still smiling.

Grinning, Shands nodded in confirmation.

"Good. Now tell me, how's Sombra doing?" Erzit asked more firmly.

"Sleeping. He might even be dreaming." Shands replied casually.

"It's clear. If he wakes up, let me know immediately."

"Sure. I'll let you know if she wakes up."

Skirting the bend, Shands looked around, looking for anyone who might have overheard them. Realizing that no one was there and everyone in the main hall was finishing their preparations, he decided to ask a question he had been wondering for a long time. “Erzit. You still haven't told me how your meeting with the princesses went completely. Thane said you used a scan spell for a moment. What are you so interested in?”

After these words, Erzit stopped. A moment later, he looked around for anyone who might be eavesdropping, and finally turned his head to Shands. “Are you really interested?”

"Yes. I was really interested in this." Shands replied decisively.

"Well, then listen. And don't tell anyone. I'm not sure about my assumptions yet, and I wouldn't want our new guest to know anything about it." Erzit was speaking seriously.

"You know. I won't tell anyone about my master's plans. Especially our new guest." Shands said proudly.

"Good. Then listen. When I scanned all the princesses, I caught one interesting detail. They were all connected. Something definite. It's not just the power of the Alicorns or an emotional connection. It's something else." Erzit paused for a moment, searching for words that Shands could understand. Finally, having figured out how to continue his explanation, he spoke again. "This is something that I can't figure out yet. However, I noticed the effects of memory magic on one of the princesses. And that interested me too. It became very interesting to me what all this means. And that's why I'm going to Canterlot today. Not only because of my new room that Princess Celestia is giving me, but I also want to ask some questions to this same princess."

"Hm. It's really interesting." Shands replied immediately, bringing a hoof to his chin.

"This is true. It seems to me that Princess Celestia is hiding something. Something very interesting." Erzit said thoughtfully.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Shands asked.

"Not yet. However, later, you may have to do something illegal." Erzit was still answering thoughtfully.

"Well, good. I'll be waiting for instructions."

"Yeah. Now I have to go to Canterlot. And I wish you to have a good time with Emily." Smiling, Erzit said, disappearing into the shadows.

"Wait, what?! What do you mean?!" Shands shouted in response to the words of the disappearing Erzit.

When Erzit disappeared into the shadows, Shands cursed, realizing that his master was mocking him by saying such things. “Damn it...” Shands said to himself.

"Well. Okay. I'll find out what he meant later." Shrugging his shoulders in displeasure, Shands continued on his way to the main hall where the party was to take place.

***

It was still dark when Princess Celestia woke up and went out onto her balcony to raise the sun.

Walking back into her room, Celestia stretched, stretching out her stiff muscles. After a short warm up, she walked over to her table where she had left a letter for Cadence. In that letter was a request to send everything known before King Sombra's reign and the Dark King's reign itself. Despite the fact that more than one Crystal Pony doesn't remember anything. And there is no mention in the entire Empire of what went before Sombra's reign. However, old abandoned archives under the Crystal Castle have made it clear that Sombra didn't destroy everything. Quite the opposite, in fact. Sombra collected most of the books and records and hid them under the Crystal Empire.

A month ago, Cadence informed Celestia about finding a dungeon with a bunch of books and scrolls. This place was in the same place where Twilight and Spike had discovered a door that could summon the worst fears of whoever was trying to open it. There was a wall parallel to this door. Somehow, the crystal ponies who were supposed to explore this place saw something strange in the wall. And after breaking down the wall, they found catacombs with dozens of bookshelves. That's why this place is called the Archives. Since all the information regarding the Crystal Empire was collected there.
Despite the discovery, Cadence was in no hurry to publicize it to everyone. All the books relating to Sombra had been hidden from everyone in the same archive on Cadence's orders. The rest of the books were still being moved around by various crystal ponies. Some books were sent to the Crystal Empire's library. Others were destroyed because they were too dangerous. They were books on dark magic, so they were not to be pitied.

Taking a bundle covered with a red ribbon with her magic, Celestia used a spell, and the bundle turned into a cloud of yellow smoke. The message for Cadence has been sent. With a smile, Celestia began to pack up. Namely, she needed to go to the bathroom and comb her multicolored mane.

After taking a shower, Celestia quickly dried herself with her magic and sat down at her snow-white table with a mirror. Taking the comb in her golden magic, she began to carefully comb through strand after strand. Fifteen minutes later, Celestia's mane was perfectly combed and she admired her work in the mirror.

After finishing preening, Celestia put on her regalia, simultaneously looking in the mirror at how they fit on her. At the moment when she was ready to leave, there was a knock on her door.

"Princess Celestia. A pony who calls himself Erzit is waiting for you." The loud male voice of the guard spoke.

Celestia was surprised that he had come so early. She thought he would come in the afternoon or evening, but early in the morning. It was unexpected. “Take him to the waiting room. I'll be there soon.”

Sighing, Celestia stood in her room for a while longer, thinking about the things that awaited her today. Exhaling, she was ready and left her room, heading for the waiting room.

A couple of minutes later, she was already next to the waiting room. There were two royal guards standing next to the door. They respectfully bowed to their princess and kindly opened the door for her to enter. Nodding back at them, she went into the room. Looking around, she saw Erzit sitting on the couch that was in the center of the room.

"Greetings, Princess." Erzit immediately sensed Celestia's approach with his shadow sense. It's quite easy to feel someone who radiates great power without hiding it.

"Greetings to Erzit. I wasn't expecting you so early." Celestia replied with a smile.

Nodding, Erzit moved over so that Celestia could sit next to him. “Princess, you didn't tell me when to come. That's why I came as early as possible.” Erzit replied with a smile.

"Yes, you're right, it's my mistake." Celestia replied as she sat down on the nearby sofa.

Noticing this, Erzit shifted his gaze directly to Celestia. “Don't you trust me?”

"Maybe." Washing off her smile, Celestia replied calmly.

"I understand." Erzit replied calmly.

"It's hard to believe someone you've only recently known. Even in spite of the conversation we had recently. However, I still want to assure you that my thoughts are pure. I don't want to conflict with you in any way, I just want to make friends." Erzit spoke with a hoof to his heart.

"I understand, Erzit. My sister and Twilight believe you. However, I need time to really trust you." Celestia replied with her head down.

"I understand. I will try to make you believe that I don't want anything bad." A moment's silence followed these words. "Listen. You can ask me any question you want. Absolutely any question that proves that I don't want anything bad." Straightening up and getting up from the sofa, Erzit declared.

Raising her head and staring at Erzit, Celestia nodded, accepting such an offer. Good. Then answer my question. Who was Sombra to you?”

The question made Erzit wince. Once again, memories from a thousand years ago flooded into him. "Good." Erzit replied calmly, lighting his horn. Magic flowed throughout the room. Landscapes of the past began to take shape all around. Crystal mountains. Snow storms. The Crystal Empire. And finally, the Sombra.

"Sombra was just another apprentice to me. He was quite clever and resourceful. Kind and brave. When I met him, he was going through the Crystal Guardian Academy. He was going to be a Crystal Guardian." After these words, the magical silhouettes around showed a young Sombra in crystal armor, who was sparring with some other cadet.

"When I first saw him, it seemed to me that he was just an ordinary pretentious stupid stallion. However, after getting to know his backstory better, I began to observe him. Much more." The image changed to a moment where Sombra causes a big flash of magic and demolishes everything around.

"It's kind of like your meeting with Twilight. I saw him lose control of his magic. Using my magic, I nullified his spell. If it wasn't for me, a lot of ponies would have been hurt." The scene changed to another one where Sombra was standing in the throne room of the Crystal Empire, with Princess Amore and Erzit next to him.

"After talking to the Ruler of the Crystal Empire and Sombra himself, I took him on as an apprentice. He mastered everything I showed him well and quickly. He quickly mastered the spells and shadow magic itself. However, before he could complete the initiation ceremony, he disappeared for a week." The image was replaced by a throne room with a bunch of black crystals sticking out from everywhere. And Sombra's bloody smile. In this shot, he was already wearing his armor and cape.

"While I was searching for Sombra all over the Empire and the snowy wastelands. He came back on his own. And he took over the Empire. I could have stopped him, but I didn't have time. If I may say so." The projection was replaced by the last frame, which showed the scene of Sombra's defeat by the two sisters.

"When I wanted to stop him, you and your sister appeared and defeated him. However, he had the last trump card. The empire went into oblivion with him for a thousand years. Then you already know what happened." Erzit finished sadly, extinguishing his horn. The projection disappeared, and there were only Celestia and Erzit in the room again.

"This. It was a sad story." Celestia said with sadness in her voice and her ears drooped.

"Yes. This is true. However, that was a long time ago. And it's been a long time since then." Erzit replied casually.

An awkward silence followed. However, after a minute, Celestia spoke up. “Let me show you where your room is.” Celestia asked, trying to sound casual.

"Come on. But first, I want to ask you something. I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all. Ask me what you want. I'll try to answer." Celestia said with a smile.

"You know the magic that can manipulate memories. For example, to erase or change them?" Erzit asked, trying to speak as expressively as possible.

For a moment, excitement appeared on Celestia's face, but she quickly hid it. However, Erzit caught it, and this reaction was enough for him. Now he could be sure of what he had originally thought. However, it was still too early to draw conclusions. We need to gather more information and evidence to confirm his theory.

"No." Celestia replied calmly.

"Good then. So what? Shall we go? Where will I live?" Erzit said with a smile as he approached the door.

"Sure." Celestia replied with a smile.

Erzit's question made Celestia nervous. “How did he know? Or no, he didn't find out. He just asked and didn't point out anything. It was a simple question. But still, why would he ask it to me? Well. It looks like I'll deal with that later.” There were a lot of thoughts in Celestia's head. Why and why would Erzit ask such a question. But she had to stop thinking about it, because thinking wouldn't help much about why and why he asked such a question. Later, she would ask him why he was interested in it.

Then Celestia took Erzit to his new room, and she left on royal business. But first she had to have lunch. Besides the fact that she hadn't had lunch yet, talking to Erzit made her even more eager to go out and get something to eat...

Author's Note

This chapter was quite interesting. Especially Sombra's dreams. :)
Oh and yes. The next chapter will be about Sombra. And the way he's having fun…

By the way, don't forget to comment on my story. This will help a lot when new chapters come out.