//------------------------------// // Flashes // Story: Object XP-84c // by Scourge the yellow cat //------------------------------// Library Room, Castle of Friendship, Ponyville, Kingdom of Equestria Twilight Sparkle began to yawn, halting her research on the skeleton she had found in the room that Object was holding those two mares hostage in that ruin. Glancing from the skeletal remains that occupied the great wooden table that occupied the center of the room and the stacks of papers surrounding it, she looked at the windows that allowed light from the outside into the library. Wow, did she really spend the entire day studying the bones of this specimen? Seeing that the sun and moon were giving the all-too-known lighting that signals the switch from day to night, Twilight got up and headed to the doors that led to the castle lobby. After opening the doors, Twilight entered the lobby, only to see a sleeping baby dragon peacefully clutching a comic book. Twilight smiled to herself and, using her magic, gently levitated Spike onto her back and kept the comic book floating in the air, using a bookmark to mark the page he left on before closing it. As she headed towards the hallway that allows entrance to her and Spike's room, she thought back to the time when all she used to be a unicorn student who had just moved into Ponyville. Looking back at all the friends she made, memories that were created, and events that happened, who could have guessed that she was destined to not only be the bearer of the Element of Magic, not only to have saved Equestria from countless evils but to have also become a princess! It still surprises her that so much could have happened in only a short time of nine years. It used to take Twilight and Spike several hours to try to find their rooms when the Castle first appeared, but now the two can get to their rooms in less than five minutes. Twilight had entered Spike's room and used her magic again, lifting Spike off her back and into his bed while his comic went to rest on his nightstand. Manipulating the sheets to tuck Spike in with her magic, Twilight looked over at Spike with proud and caring, if not tired, eyes. "Good night Spike," Twilight whispered to him, "See you tomorrow." Turning from him to leave his room and go to bed herself, Twilight then thought of the things she had learned from the skeleton today. When she had unpacked the skeleton onto the castle library's table from the saddlebag she used to move it from the ruins, there was a tiny white zigzagging beam of energy that zapped her when she had touched the skull with her hoof. It did not hurt her in the slightest, but it did surprise her. She had found that strange, but besides that, nothing else unusual occurred. She could ramble on how the skeleton's features made her excited and curious to know more, but her sleepy brain shot that idea down and just told her to get some rest. She had arrived at her room now and used her magic one last time to peel back the sheets on her bed. Laying her back on the mattress and pulling the sheets over her body with her hooves, she turned her head to her nightstand. On the nightstand was a picture of the girls, all in a big group hug together smiling and laughing. Twilight smiled once again as she closed her eyes, ready to enter dreamland and eager to see her friends tomorrow. ******* Twilight opened her eyes, wondering where she was in this dream of hers. Looking around, she soon realized that she was in front of the Castle of Friendship. The sky was blue and shining, birds were singing, and ponies were happily minding their business. It was like it was an ordinary day in Ponyville, the best kind of dream Twilight could have been a part of! Then, her ears perked up as she heard some voices she knew quite well. "Twilight, we've been over this," the voice of a certain cyan pegasus was heard, "You're going to be the best leader Equestria has ever seen!" As if announcing, Twilight saw the owner Rainbow Dash swoop into view, along with Rarity and Applejack. They were looking at their right as if they were waiting for somepony to answer? Wait a minute, Twilight thought, did they just say my name? But I'm not over there with them, so why would they be saying my name? Twilight soon found out as she saw the others come into view. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and what appeared to be very much herself began to come into view. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were on the other Twilight's right and were looking at her. The other Twilight's face was that of shock, while the others were at levels of certainty and concern. Twilight wanted to ask out, to tell her friends that whatever happened was okay, but she stopped herself. If she was dreaming, then whatever is happening is not real, right? Curious, Twilight listened on. "I'm sure that you are right, Rainbow Dash," Dream Twilight said, "But I'm still in shock that the Princesses are going to retire and I'm going to take their place! What if I mess up or do something bad?" Twilight was herself in disbelief. Celestia? Luna? Retiring? That was the very last thing that Twilight thought the Royal Sisters would ever do! Sure, she could theoretically be able to lead a nation, but all that stuff that affects the nation, as well as managing the time cycles of day and night, that would be so hard! "Twilight, darling," Dream Rarity said to Dream Twilight, "We know you are going to do great, and don't forget, we are there for you." Dream Pinkie Pie then somehow managed to get right beside Dream Applejack and Dream Twilight and sprang into the air with her hooves outstretched. "Absolutely positively rootie tootsie! All of Equestria will be celebrating for you! And they will love you for it!" Exclaimed Dream Pinkie Pie as everypony everypony in the vicinity began to laugh. Fluttershy looked like she was about to say something when distant booms were heard, bringing a halt to the joyous attitude. "What was that?" A yellow mare Earth Pony that had a blue mane asked. "What is happening at Canterlot Castle?" Asked the mint colored unicorn Twilight knew was Lyra, who was pointing at the direction the said place was. Everypony, including both Twilights, looked at the massive mountain in the distance known as Mount Friendship, where the massive castle is built on. There were what looked to be magical beams of dark orange and blackish-blue. Even from such a distance, Twilight knew that the blackish-blue beam HAD to be from Nightmare Moon, impossible as it might seem. No other pony could even replicate the colored magic as the nightmare, but Twilight was certain that Luna had conquered that force from happening again, so what was happening? As for the other beam, Twilight was completely dumbfounded. The beams soon stopped, but the fear it caused in Ponyville continued. Twilight saw as the Ponyvillagers began to show terror, Dream Twilight began to talk with the populace. "Ponies of Ponyville, please do not panic. Panicking may cause damage and bad things to happen, so please try to remain calm!" Dream Twilight urged to the terrified Ponies. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, do you know what is happening?" Cried out another pony Twilight was able to identify: Button Mash. "I do not know, unfortunately," Dream Twilight admitted, "But panicking will make things worse! Please-" A scream interrupted her, bringing the attention to where it came from. Lyra was screaming with her eyes wide in terror as she once again pointed, but not at Canterlot Castle, but at the sun. Twilight looked up and saw that the sun was swaying from side to side in an unnatural pattern, not only that, but the sun was also changing colors, from being the very light golden color the sun normally is, to being a solar orange color. But that was not the thing that concerned her the most. What concerned her the most was the sky itself. Twilight could tell that something was going on in the sky, but she herself did not know what exactly. The ponies in the dream seemed to know what though, as they too began to scream as well. Twilight watched as Dream Twilight's horn lit up in urgency as she looked at the sun with fear, gritting her teeth as well. This dream went from being pleasant to be that of a nightmare, Twilight thought to herself. Ponyville screaming, the sun being fought over by powerful beings, and especially the looks of her friends in pure terror...This may very well be a dream, but Twilight will not be getting these images out of her head any time soon. "THE MOON!" An unnamed pony shouted out as Twilight once again looked at the sky. Besides the sun that was swaying directions and colors, the light-greyish sphere of the night was now in the sky. It did not seem that Luna was in control of it...it seemed that nopony was. Then, something that normally brings awe, but was this time fearing. The sun swung into the moon, creating a solar eclipse. A massive boom was heard as the ground began to vibrate. What first was a tiny tremor quickly became a rumbling quake. The area around Twilight began to dissolve, causing her to fall into the blackness below. She tried to use her wings and magic but to no avail. Twilight screamed and closed her eyes to await the inevitable stop that was to end her fall, but instead of a hard stop, she felt as if she had landed on something soft. She opened her eyes, to see that she was in what looked to be some kind of Marecedonian city. She seemed to be in some kind of horseless topless carriage of metal, seating, and gadgets that she did not know of, with a wheel that was poking out in front of her. Twilight was confused, why did she go from Ponyville screaming to here, though? It was just then that a voice behind her yelled. "Leopard, why have we turned here?" Twilight jumped from the sitting position she was in and turned her head to who was talking. Behind her was a Griffon couple on edge with fright and a dash of confusion. They both had moderate gamboge body feathers and white head feathers. One was a female griffon that was wearing a white dress and a hat that had red roses on. As for the male, he seemed to be wearing a uniform of some sort Twilight had never seen before. It was made out of blue tunic, a high collar with three stars, and a hat adorned with pale-green feathers. He wore black trousers with red stripes down the sides and around his waist a Bauchband, a gold-braided ribbon with tassels. He also had a bushy handlebar mustache. "I-I'm sorry, Archduchess Duell Sziv," Twilight soon found herself saying, "I thought that going on Franzeph Street was the right way to drive on...guess I should have done something different." The Griffon in the dress gave a light chuckle. "No need to worry Leopard, it's all right. You only made a turn to the right one street short to where we want to go." The griffon that had to be Archduchess Duel Sziv replied. Twilight found herself relaxing a bit. "Sure thing, Archduchess Duell Sziv! I won't make the same mistake again!" Twilight replied with a grin on her face before the horseless topless carriage began to make a few stuttering noises as steam came from the black extrusion from her front below. "Uh, just a moment, Archduchess Duell Sziv, this new contraption has stalled. Give me a few minutes to restart it so we can back up and head to your destination." Twilight told them as she began to tap the wall of dials and gauges. "Take your time, Leopard." Twilight heard Archduchess Duell Sziv say. As Twilight continued tapping, confused as to what this all might be, she felt that she had to do it, that it was the right thing. "Really Duell Sziv?" A male voice said in irritation, "We had just had a bomb thrown at us, there is no time to waste!" "Silverclaw, we are doing this for those who had been hurt during that bombing." Archduchess Duell Sziv responded back. There was a brief silence, besides the tapping and the sizzling noises from the machine. "...You're right," A saddened male voice said, "I should have thought about them as well." "Don't worry, sweetie, It will all be fine." Cooed Archduchess Duell Sziv. It was a caring moment, despite all this confusion and fear Twilight currently was experiencing. Twilight's ears perked up to hear the sound of hooves approaching, stopping her apparently futile attempts to fix the stalled machine and to look at who was approaching. Besides, they might be able to help! What Twilight saw made it certain that the newcomer was not in the mood for helping. It was a peach-coated earth pony stallion, with blue eyes and a brown mane, that wore a blue coat. His face was twisted into that of an angry sneer as he looked at the griffon couple. He moved his left forehoof into his coat, and when he brought his forehoof out, he had what looked like to be a small crossbow. Twilight's eyes widened as she quickly looked back at Archduchess Duell Sziv and Silverclaw, who were too occupied talking to one another that they did not see the earth pony. "LOOK OUT!" Twilight yelled as she tried to get the griffon couple safe, which was impossible as the seat she was in prevented her to get to the couple in time. The couple looked up at her in immediate concern, as the stallion fired. Everything vanished into white, except for the silhouettes of the griffon couple, whose black silhouettes jerked as if they were being hit with several small objects hitting them. As Twilight watched, she saw rainbowy drops fall from the now disappearing silhouettes and form several splatters below her. As Twilight watched further, she saw that the splatters were changing, becoming zigzagging lines that stretched on for as far as Twilight could see, where the white soon became the color of disturbed soil. Twilight was still confused about what was going on. First Ponyville, then falling, then on to what she assumed was a random assassination, and now this? Was Luna behind on this trick, perhaps? She had to be, otherwise, this would not be what Twilight would be dreaming. At all. Everything then became white once again, causing her to be irritated. Now, this time as the white vanished, she saw herself in what looked as to be an endless gray hallway that had flags Twilight was able to be identified as former nations that had long since gone extinct. Where was she this time? A hallway from the Everfree Castle before it was left for ruin? That would not make sense, not like any of this did, as the hallway had columns that seemed to be remarkably similar to that of Marecedonian design. As she was studying the columns, she heard the sound of what sounded like voices muttering behind her, to low to be able to point out any words. She turned around to look back to see who it was. What greeted her was absolutely nothing. Of course, Twilight thought, why not add to the confusion some more? Let's see, Ponyville was crying, she fell through absolute darkness, she was in a weird carriage that had two pretty much unknown griffons in that were ultimately killed by a completely unknown pony, some white mumbo jumbo, and now an empty hallway with 'spooky' atmosphere. It was then that the mutterings began to speak more clearly for her to understand what they were saying and spoke: "Four become two, one fleeing, one troubled, one victorious, and one failed The old kingdom will shatter, for it has become too frail Metal and magic will be at war To compete the world with the one before The murder of an heir will reawaken the old Ss the kettle of powder has once told The Phoenix and the hand, that had once fought Will reshape the world with what they were taught The forgotten city of white will remember the crime As the bodies of the sky will be as it was at one time" As the voices grew silent, everything vanished once again in a sea of blinding light. ******* Twilight's eyes opened as she sat up from her bed. Looking around, she saw what appeared as her room, before squinting her eyes to more closely examine her 'room' to see if there were any minor hints that she was still sleeping. After she saw none, she decided to raise her left wing up to her mouth, hesitated, and then secured a single feather with her teeth and pulled her head back. The reason why she did this was to check if she was really in the real world, or if she was still in that very weird dream. In dreams, although you can get hurt, you are unable to get hurt by physical means.Meaning that a magic spell can harm you in dreams, hitting yourself will not give you a black eye like it normally would. Twilight, having pulled a feather from her wing, cringed as she felt the pain receptors in her brain go off. As she was relieved that she was finally in the real world from that unusual dream, she decided to check the time. If she would go back to bed or stay up depends entirely on how much more time it would take for the light of day to appear over on the horizon. Turns out, not that much. Seeing as any chances for sleeping is pretty much ruined, she decided to get up and start the day earlier than she anticipated. Heading to the kitchen to get herself an early breakfast, she recalled the time of when she was serving those pancakes to the unusual ponies, and her curiosity towards what they were. Perhaps today she could study and learn about these ponies today? Yeah, that sounds like a good thought, Twilight decided. Let's break this suspense and calm each other down. Twilight thought to herself.