When I was just a young filly, my life was turned upside-down. I went through something a filly should never go through at that age. I was only 7 years old; and my flank was bare of a special talent.
I had my entire life ahead of me. I would go to school, find my cutie mark, fall in love, get married, have fillies and colts of my own, and die after a long, fulfilling life. But alas, ‘twas not but a dream for me.
I was not a regular kid; I received my education at my home, I could barely leave home unless it was an emergency, plus, I had no friends. And to top it off, my mother disappeared before I could remember, my father was never there for me, and I was an only child.
My name is Tenebras, or should I say, Princess Tenebras; for I technically am a princess. Or at least was before Cadence took that job from me. Now I’m just a washed up has-been. But I have a story to tell; the story of my life to this day. A story I will never forget
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I was born in the Crystal Castle during a time of peace and happiness. Everypony was joyful, everything was right. It was a utopia of a kingdom to be in. The entire land of Equestria had been united under the reign of Princess Celestia and her sister Luna very recently. They divided the lands into different regions, or cities. Our kingdom classified as a city in size, but it was still a kingdom, ruled by a king. The ruler of each region (whether it be a Mayor, Governor, Princess, Prince, or King) would report to the Princess, who would rule all the land.
2 days after my birth, my mother left the family. The Castle’s caretaker, Flora Honeydew, was my only friend, my only companion, and my only source of information. For I barely ever saw my father, Sombra; he was too busy ruling the Crystalline Kingdom with an iron hoof.
Flora spent most of her life as a florist, her namesake. She was born into a family of gardeners and grew up caring for plants her entire life. Later on she was hired by my mother to be the official Castle florist. She later on moved her way up the ranks and became the Castle’s main caretaker. She wasn't the best mother figure I could’ve had in my life, for plants were her specialty, not ponies. But she loved me, and I loved her. She was there when I was born, she was there when my mother left, and she was there for me throughout my father’s reign of tyranny.
As I said, she was my only source of information, and she was the only way I knew what happened to my mother, and why my father was so terrible. I remember when I asked what happened, her story went like this:
“Your father wasn’t always so terrible. He was a kind-hearted stallion, and his wife, your mother, was just as beautiful at heart, if not more. They always put others before themselves, and they never asked for anything in return.”
She explained to me that I was too young to understand most of the story and tried to stop there, but I insisted to know more, she continued by asking me if I knew what the Elements of Harmony were, I said yes, and she gave me a little Equestrian history lesson,
“You see, Tena,” that was her nickname for me, because my name actually means Darkness in some other language. My father’s name meant Shadow in a different language as well. We didn’t pick those names because we were evil; it was just because our family’s color of fur was always dark. She continued,
“You see, Tena, there are 6 Elements of Harmony, but the final one has not yet been discovered. The known Elements are Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Honesty, and Loyalty; when these Elements are united, they can do anything. Because the 6th Element is missing, Princess Celestia or Princess Luna must be present to use their magic to serve in place of the missing Element. The Elements can be activated in 1 of 2 ways. The first way is the Sisters using the Element’s physical form in their gems, which are kept in the Everfree Castle. The other way to activate the Elements is by using the spiritual form of the Elements, which are found in the Bearers of the Elements. But Celestia or Luna still must be present to fill in for the missing Element.”
After hearing this, I became briefly enamored with the adventure I could’ve had. Escaping my Crystal Castle prison and discovering the missing Element. Whether it would be the Element of Adventure, Courage, Love, Audacity, or even the Element of Culinary Skill, I wanted to find it and bear it. To impress the Princess of the land, to become her student to become her friend, and maybe even become an Alicorn Princess one day; that was my life’s goal. For about a minute or so, I thought about how amazing my life would be, but then I remembered that Flora was telling me why my mother left. I spoke, “Ms. Flora, what does that have to do with my mommy?” She sighed and responded,
“First of all, honey, you don’t have to call me Ms. Flora, I’ve told you that before. Just call me Flora, sweetie.” I then asked again,
"Flora, what does that have to do with my father and mother?” She sighed again and finally answered my question,
“Tena, your parents were once Bearers of the Elements.
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I was shocked. How could they be part of the Elements of Harmony, but be so cruel to me? Flora continued,
“Tena, that’s not it. Sombra’s Element was Kindness and your mother’s Element was Loyalty.”
I started to cry. That was the complete opposite of them. My mother betrayed my family 2 days after she gave birth to me, and my father has turned into a cruel monster. Why? How? What happened? How could the Elements of Harmony do this? This story alone was too much for a seven year old filly to go through, but later on I would have to go through much worse, but until then, this story would be the worst moment of my life.
“Flora, will you please continue the story?” I asked.
“I don’t think I should”, she responded,
“Please?” I asked, and she decided to continue.
“Your mother told me this story when she was pregnant with you. This was shortly after your father voided his Element by his actions. She was scared that this would happen to her too. She claimed that Sombra told her a draconequus approached him the day he got his cutie mark. The same thing happened to her on the day she got hers. The words the draconequus spoke to both of them were the same. Your mother was probably paraphrasing, but this is what she said the draconequus’s words were:
‘Greetings! You probably know who I am, just the King of all Equestria, and I’m here to celebrate the special occasion. Oh what a happy day it is for you, YOU, My Little Pony, have JUST received your cutie mark, what are you going to do next? Oh, let me answer that one, you’ll have your Cuteceñaera! It’s going to be SO happy for you, is it not? Well, sorry to rain on your parade, but I have some bad news for both you and me. You see, I’ve seen my fate; I’m going to be temporarily turned into stone in the future. And since I am, you know, the living manifestation of chaos itself, I simply MUST cause chaos all around, whether I’m a block of stone or a living, breathing being. So, I’m about to place a spell on you that won’t take effect until I’m turned into stone, so my chaos will live on! Oh, you wonder what this little spell of mine will do? Let me tell you; when I am stone, you will permanently forsake something very, very important, and you can do NOTHING about it. I’m sorry My Little Pony, but this is the way things must be. Tata! Happy Cuteceñaera!’
and he would leave. Tena, have you ever heard of Discord?”
“Yes”, I responded. She continued again,
Tena, baby, the draconequus that visited your parents was Discord, the ruler of all Equestria before Celestia and Luna took over. He really lived up to his name, Tena, he made the roads soap, the skies go from day to night in a second, the clouds cotton candy, and the rain chocolate. I know the last 2 sound nice, but trust me, it was terrible, almost all of Equestria’s plants were destroyed. He was turned into stone when Celestia, Luna, and the Elements of Harmony, including your parents, defeated him. The regal Sisters united Equestria and divided us into the regions you know today. But a few years afterwards, things in the Crystal Empire went bad. You see, soon after you were conceived, your father, Sombra, began to act cruel. The first month he thought it was just stress, but soon he began to treat his castle employees terribly, lowering their pay, giving them harsh punishments and strict rules, and eventually firing almost all of them. He only kept me because your mother liked me. Soon, he got even worse, for the last few months of your mother’s pregnancy, he began to abuse her. I won’t describe how, you’re too young to know that, but it was terrible. So terrible, that you’re lucky to even be alive. Finally the day came for your birth, and while the kingdom celebrated, your father didn’t even show up in the castle. That day, his Elemental Gem lost its color and meaning and became nothing more than a worthless rock. Your mother cared for you until you slept, then dropped you off at a babysitter. She talked to me for one last time, telling me that she would care for you in your first days of life, but then leave to escape Sombra’s abuse. I was heartbroken, but she said she had to do it. 2 days later, I went in her room, for she had begun to sleep separately from Sombra, and looked around. There was one less suitcase in her closet, no basic necessity items in her bathroom, and a note on her dresser. It read
‘Dear Sombra and Flora, I couldn’t take anymore of Sombra’s abuse, so I left for good. Don’t bother looking for me, I may not even be alive by the time you see this. Flora, please tell Tenebras about me and my story when you think she’s old enough. I’m sorry. Flora, I love you, thank you for being there for me through everything. Please tell Tenebras I love her. But Sombra, I don’t know if I feel the same anymore about you. Please change. For the sake of the Crystal Kingdom. For the sake of Equestria. For the sake of Tenebras. Please.
-With regret ―’
her name was covered up by what she weighed the paper down with, her Elemental Gem, void of life, color, and meaning. I removed the gem and read the last words,
‘With regret, Chrysalis II’
I immediately rushed to Sombra’s room to give him this letter, but when I approached the door, the guards stopped me and pushed me away. I saw from the corner of my eye that he was shouting from on top of his balcony. Tena, you and I are the only free ponies in the Crystal Kingdom. Sombra enslaved all the other ponies, you are very lucky.”
I began to cry, and cry, and cry, and cry some more. Flora wrapped me in her arms and we embraced for what seemed like years, but it was only a few minutes. That night I went to sleep with worries and doubts, What if Discord comes and turns me or Flora into a monster like my parents? What if daddy never changes? Why can’t my life be happy? In my worries, I fell to sleep and was visited by Luna, the Princess of the night. She calmed my fears in a way I’ll never forget.
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That night I’d felt like I’d become treasured; different. The Princess of the Night visited me in my dreams that night. In my dream that night, I was on the moon, gazing down upon Equestria, seeing the beauty Luna sees every night. At that moment, Luna approached me.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she said. Not only was the view beautiful, but she was too. All the dreams I had of discovering the 6th Element and becoming loved, reminded to me by her royal beauty. She spoke again,
“I know what you’ve been going through, Tenebras, and I am here to help. I know your fate, and I know the future; you are going to change the lives of Crystal ponies everywhere.”
I was shocked, but then I noticed that I could be changing lives negatively, I responded to her,
“What do you mean? Will I change lives in a bad way? Will I become a monster like my father or a traitor like my mother?”
“No, my child, you will not.”
“But what will happen to me?”
“I cannot tell you that, Tenebras, but you will make a positive impact on the lives of Crystal ponies.”
I sat there, wondering when this would happen, what she meant, how I would redeem myself from the sins of my father. Then I wondered what was going to become of them, I asked her,
“What happened to my mother? What will become of my father, Sombra, and what happened to my mother, Chrysalis?” She responded,
“My child, your parents will sadly never again live up to their former elements. Your father will be banished away for a period of time that I cannot say. His redemption may never happen; Discord had great and powerful spells that permanently corrupted the lives of ponies such as your father.” I wept for a minute, comforted by the beautiful Princess of the Night herself.
“Hush, my child, it will be alright.” The fact the Luna called me her child comforted me. I brought up a question that she had not yet answered,
“What about my mother, Chrysalis?” She continued,
“Tena, your mother will not come back. She wanted to be where she was loved, and that was wherever Sombra wasn’t. When she left, she escaped the Crystal Empire and traveled south through the Arctic when she finally met a dark unicorn wizard. Nopony knew the name of that wizard, and nopony knows it to this day. Not even Celestia or I know her name. But we do know that she uses the Alicorn Amulet for her corrupt magic. She would give ponies what they wanted, but they would have to give her something in return. Your mother made a deal with this wizard. Your mother became a changeling, a very being that feeds off of love, and the dark wizard received the promise that Chrysalis would never return to you, Sombra, and Flora. I am sorry.”
I cried and cried and cried in Luna’s arms. She comforted me through it all. Through my tears I asked her,
“What’s going to happen to her?” She spoke to me with a soothing tone,
“Tenebras, your mother won’t amount to much in her life, but she will give birth to a line of changelings that will attempt to destroy Canterlot in a little over a thousand years. Your soon to be step-sister, Chrysalis III, will become the Queen of the Changelings and attempt to take all the love of Canterlot. But she will fail. Good will win. But your mother will sadly never become good again.”
I continued to weep, then raised to her a question,
“Luna, how will Chrysalis III live so long?” She responded,
“Changelings live as long as they are loved, my child.”
“Luna, I want to be loved. Flora Honeydew is my only friend. I don’t want to become a changeling though!”
“My child, you may not know this, but I love you, Celestia loves you, and in the future, Crystal Ponies everywhere will love you. You are treasured no matter what you do, no matter what your parents do; you are loved for who you are on the inside. You were created for a purpose. It is going to be alright, Tenebras, you are a treasure in Flora’s eyes, Celestia’s eyes, my eyes, and in the eyes of your Creator as well. Never forget these words I have spoken to you tonight, Tenebras. Never forget this.”
At that word I woke up. It was another morning in the Crystal Empire. But this morning was different. I knew that I was treasured and loved no matter what. And as Luna commanded me, I will NEVER forget what she spoke to me that night.
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The next day was one of the most eventful of my life, for that day was when the Crystal Empire completely disappeared from the face of Equestria. It started off as a normal day. The night before when I went to sleep, I hoped that Luna would visit me again in my dreams, and she did. But this time it was a very brief, frantic, tense visit.
In my dream I was in a room of what I think was the Crystal Castle. I could only tell because of its similar architecture. I looked in front of me and there was a door, I looked to the left and there was a stairway. I decided to open the door and I saw my father destroying the Crystal Heart, a relic used for a yearly celebration that was cancelled the year of my birth. I had only read about the Crystal Heart and heard stories of it from Flora Honeydew, but I had never seen its power. After I saw my father destroyed the Crystal Heart, he walked over to a pony he had tied up. I didn’t recognize her, but when I looked closely I saw that she wore a necklace that read Chrysalis II. He took a piece of the shattered Crystal Heart and yelled
“Goodbye, my wife!”
He then proceeded to stab her in the chest with the shard of the Heart. I screamed, but I wasn’t heard. In my misery I saw my father walk up to another incarcerated pony. This one I knew, Flora. He proceeded to do the same thing he did to my mother, killing her with a shard of the Crystal Heart. I cried and screamed, when suddenly I was back in the room with the stairwell and door. Luna had shut the door with her magic. She stood on the staircase and spoke to me,
“Don’t ever open that door in your dreams or in real life,” she said, “inside it is your worst fear. That did not actually happen, it only happened in your head. Now I must tell you something, my child; the Empire will soon be banished. You will see me in the netherworld, but we will not communicate. I must go now!”
And with that she left. I stood in that room, wondering what to do next. Suddenly I was awoken by Flora. She was franticly yelling at me,
“Tena, wake up! It’s an emergency! We must escape the Crystal Empire quickly! Pack your basic necessities and hurry!”
“What’s going on, Flora?”
“I’ll tell you while you pack, now hurry!”
I began to pack a bag with only the basic things needed for survival. While I was packing I heard a few familiar voices yelling at each other outside. I also heard a non-familiar voice in on the fight as well. And in the background I heard the screams of the Crystal ponies frightened by what was happening. The 2 familiar voices and the non-familiar voice yelled at each other for a few minutes while I packed by things quickly.
“The Crystal Empire is MINE!”
My father yelled as Flora and I ran frantically out of the castle, galloping towards the vast Empire’s borders in one last attempt of safety. While we were yelling I noticed that the non-familiar voice was Princess Celestia, the ruler of all the land. I listened in as Flora and I tried escaping.
“The Crystalline Kingdom shall no longer suffer under your wrath, Sombra!” Celestia yelled,
“You cannot stop me from making the Crystal Ponies suffer! I had to suffer a great loss in my life, and now they must suffer the loss of all their lives!”
“You shall not kill the Crystal Ponies! They did nothing to harm you! That was Discord! And he is suffering for all the chaos he has caused as we speak!”
“My wife was a Crystal pony! She left me! I’m only making sure that NO other Crystal Ponies forsake me!”
“Sombra that was Discord’s fault! She left you because Discord made you forsake your Element of Kindness! She left because Discord made her forsake her Element of Loyalty! She loved you! She loved your daughter! She didn’t want to leave but Discord’s curse made her! Please Sombra; let these innocent Crystal ponies live!”
“Never! I shall kill them now!”
When he said that, all the Crystal Ponies trying to escape were frozen in their place. Our hopes of escape were ruined. I thought we would die, but then I remembered what Luna told me. As I stood there frozen, Celestia replied to Sombra,
“Let them go or I shall banish you into the Netherworld!”
“I shall not be banished without the Crystal Empire with me!”
Luna chimed in,
“Let it be so.”
Celestia was shocked, but they proceeded to use the Elements of Harmony to banish Sombra, and while they did that, he took the Crystal Empire along with him.
We were banished for about a thousand years. Nopony knows exactly how long it was, but I thought it was a little over 1000. It was later on decided that it was officially "Circa 1000 years", so they could keep records of it, but for the ponies of the Crystal Empire, it felt like a million.
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Being frozen in time for over a thousand years was a unique experience to say the least. The Netherworld was rather different from the real world.
The only thing we did there was just float up and down in blank nothingness in the exact poses that we were in when my father froze us all. I saw Flora next to me, and tried to speak to her, but I could not. None of us could communicate with any other pony, but at least we could think.
We didn’t eat, drink, sleep, or even age. We just dwelled on our own imaginations and listened to the screams of all the souls banished there.
After what I thought was a few years, something strange happened in the netherworld. Anything happening in the Netherworld was strange enough, but this was stranger than that. While I was dwelling in my own thoughts one day, the Moon appeared in the darkness. Nopony knew why, but soon I found out. I looked into the random Moon that appeared from nothing and saw a familiar face etched in the Moon’s surface; Luna. I discovered what she meant by me seeing her but not communicating with me. I wondered if she saw me too, but I couldn’t find out for centuries. But in my exile, unable to move my body in any way, I spent my years gazing at Luna or dwelling in my imagination, trying to ignore the screams of all the banished souls; the only sound that could be heard.
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It was probably about 2 or 3 years before the curse ended when the Moon disappeared. I could only assume that Luna was set free from whatever she had done. But for the last few years of the banishment, I didn’t even have a friend to gaze at to give me hope.
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Finally it was time. The thousand or so years were finally over. Any moment, our empire would return. I saw a light coming from above. The light grew larger until it engulfed all of us. We were then swept away through some sort of vortex and before I knew it, we had returned to where we were when the banishment first happened.
We were able to move and breathe and speak. I immediately hugged Flora and witnessed ponies all around me doing the same (not to Flora, that would just be weird). The sorrow was over, the pain was gone, but then it struck us all at once. Sombra was here too. He could try to take over again.
The ponies began to look up at where he was and noticed that he was not there. Every Crystal pony was petrified and began to return to where they came from. Except for Flora and me. We didn’t want to return to where my father was last seen.
We found a unicorn pony that let us stay with her so we could avoid my wretched father. We hid in the shadows of her house. We couldn’t risk my father finding us.
The pony that took care of us gave us everything we needed for the time we stayed there. She hadn’t told us her name yet, but it did not matter, for she was a great host in a time of distress, we only knew what we needed to know and no more.
One day we were there, a pony knocked on the door. The host answered and I saw that she was speaking with a purple unicorn. I couldn’t tell what she was speaking about, but I did notice that our host looked distressed. I also saw that a magic force field had been erected around the limits of the city. It looked strong enough to hold off my father, but he could’ve still been within the Empire. Our host closed the door and approached us. She spoke,
“Tenebras, Flora, it is time I reveal my true identity, but you must not tell anypony until the Crystal Empire has gotten rid of Sombra for good.”
She used her horn and cast a spell on herself. She was removing her disguise. The color of her body changed from brown to dark blue. The beautiful color engulfed her as wings emerged and we saw who she truly was. She spoke to us again.
“I am Luna, the Princess of the Night.”
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There she was, the Princess of the Night, the pony that visited me in my dreams over a thousand years ago, the pony that I gazed upon for years during my exile, the pony that gave me a reason to live, she was the mysterious mare that sheltered us during our time of need. I could not believe it. She spoke to us,
“The Crystal Fair has returned, you must attend it, for all the Crystal Ponies’ spirits have to be lifted for the Crystal Empire to be saved. As you know, hope and love must be present to fuel the Heart. The hosts thought they thought that they had the Crystal Heart, but it was a fake. The unicorn that surveyed me at the door is going to find the real thing. Do not tell a single pony that they do not have it yet, for it will ruin every chance of hope for the Crystal Empire. Now go attend the fair, and watch as the true magic of friendship redeems the Crystal Empire forever.”
Before we left, I asked Luna why she was banished as we were. She replied,
“Discord has put the same spell on me that he out on your parents and even on the Bearers of the Elements very recently. Sometimes the effects are delayed like with your parents. He put a delayed version of the spell on me before Celestia and I conquered him. He made me abandon my love for my sister. I left the Moon up much longer than it was supposed to be out of pure hatred for my sister. She reluctantly banished me for a thousand years, but when I returned, the spell within me was defeated by the Elements of Harmony’s true power, friendship. In your future, you will be faced with adversity, but it shall be conquered by the power of friendship. But it is not time for that yet, now go, Tenebras, and let your spirit be lifted. Fuel the Crystal Heart. Help save Equestria. Go!”
Flora and I left to the festival.
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The fake Crystal Heart was accidentally uncovered. An orange pony told everypony there to “Not worry our pretty little crystal heads” but fear and worry struck my heart. The magic force field broke, and my father arose in a mist yelling “My Crystal slaves!” Suddenly I saw a young dragon in possession of the real Heart. Hope was restored to us all momentarily, but he dropped it and began to fall. My father used his magic to grow a dark crystal that he rode on towards the Heart. Suddenly, a pink and purple beam flashed by the Heart and took it. The beam landed on the ground. It was Princess Cadence. She had the Heart. She landed on the ground and spoke to everypony “The Crystal Heart has returned. Use the light and love within you to make sure that King Sombra does not!” The Heart flew to its holster of power, everypony bowed before its awesome majesty, shedding their love onto it. The Heart spun around and sent a majestic boom throughout the Empire. Everypony glowed with a crystal shine as the Empire returned to what it once was. My father was frozen in ice and a beam was sent into the sky from the heights of the castle which sent a boom throughout all of Equestria, spreading beautiful lights in the sky with it.
The Empire was saved. The Crystal Ponies rejoiced. We were free! But my father was gone for good. He was never to be seen again. The father who once loved me had no chance of redemption. He was gone. But the Empire was free.
Flora took care of me for the rest of my childhood in the house Luna hosted us in. Through the rest of my childhood I witnessed the Equestria Games in my hometown, a new princess coronated, and some other epic happenings throughout all of Equestria that would take a completely different story to fully explain. But through all these things I looked forward to what Luna said.
When would my time come to fulfill the calling Luna described to me? When would I conquer adversity with the power of friendship? I could only wait.
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END OF PART 1
Author's Note
NOTE: There is some violence, but probably not enough to rate it Teen and definitely not enough to rate it Mature. This isn't like Cupcakes or Sweet Apple Massacre violence though, so you'll be fine :D. The "Bearers of the Elements" thing came from Dawnstar by Winged Anomaly (well at least that's where I got it from). Go read it when you're done with this. It's a good story. The quote "That night I felt like i'd become something treasured; different" is from the song "Treasure" by Flyleaf. It's a good song from a good band. Go listen to it once you've finished reading this and Dawnstar. That's pretty much it. Here's to my first fanfic! :D P.S. This is my first fanfic, so any advice or constructive criticism would be appreciated. P.P.S And yes, the dark wizard Chrysalis II visited is an allusion to Rumpelstiltskin. P.P.P.S I am aware that there are a lot of things that characters in the story will "Never forget" P.P.P.P.S The whole "epic happenings" thing is an allusion to what the writers of the show are currently describing season 4 to be like. I didn't explain it because I, as everypony else, do not have a clue of what's happening in that season.
