Dreams, Shadows, Memories

This story is inspired by and continues Omny87's comic "A Somber Meeting": omny87.deviantart.com/art/A-So…

Go check it out first!

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If this had been a mediocre horror story, Twilight Sparkle would have woken up with a scream and a start, her still-new wings flared and ready to propel her away from whatever danger her body and sleepy mind had conjured. She probably would have also been drenched in cold sweat, and unsure about where she was and if she had really woken up.

In reality, she did nothing of the sort. Twilight stretched languidly in her familiar bed, located in her own bedroom in the upper story of the Ponyville library. She wasn't sweaty or disoriented, and there weren't even any phantom aches on her neck and limbs from her nightmare.

And yet, from the moment she was fully awake, Twilight was absolutely certain something was wrong. Badly wrong. She felt a sorcerous chill in the core of her horn that seemed to radiate throughout her new alicorn body, and there was a dull, almost-ache feeling of pressure behind her eyes. She had felt this way once before, back in the Crystal Palace, where she had tapped into the dark magic to get through the wards and traps King Sombra had set on the path to the Crystal Heart.

It was not the dream that she was worried about. It had almost certainly been nothing but a dream; remarkably coherent and unpleasant, but still just a dream. The problem was that she had used the dark magic again, and this time in her sleep. If it had been normal unicorn magic, it would have been merely embarrassing. Now, it was deeply worrying.

Part of Twilight wanted to panic immediately. Another part wanted to pretend that she had imagined the whole thing. Yet another part wished to throw herself into a huge study binge, obsessively reading everything she could find about dark magic, Sombra and dreamcasting.

Twilight Sparkle might have done any of those three things, or possibly some combination of them. But Princess Twilight Sparkle, the newest alicorn and the part-time part-ruler and guardian of Equestria, couldn't do so, no matter how much she yearned to bury herself in a good book about the intricacies of oneiromancy.

Sighing, she got out of her bed and headed downstairs, where Spike would already be making breakfast for the two of them. "Good morning, Spike," she told her draconic little brother as she entered the kitchen.

"Morning, Twilight," he said, not taking his eyes off from the mushroom-and-spring-onion omelet he was preparing. "Did you sleep well?"

Twilight sat down at the table and and poured herself a mug of tea. "Not really," she admitted, then fell silent and watched Spike to flip the omelet. "In fact, I had... a nightmare, of sorts. I hope I didn't wake you up or anything?" she continued.

"Nope," he replied, dividing the omelet into two parts and sliding it neatly on the waiting plates. "Did you dream about appearing naked in front of the thesis review board again?" he asked, sounding amused. "‘Cause you don't usually wear clothes anyway, you know."

"Spike! No, it was nothing of the sort," Twilight said, feeling a little peeved that Spike was making fun of the situation. Immediately, the pressure of dark magic behind her eyes returned, making her clench her teeth and close her eyes. "After we've finished breakfast, I need you to take a letter for Princess Celestia. I... I have something I must discuss with her."

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Twilight was unsure whether she should have been reassured or unnerved by Celestia's speedy reply and the older Princess's suggestion that she should come to visit her in Canterlot "at the earliest convenient opportunity."

On one hoof, it meant Celestia was taking her worries seriously; on the other hoof, it meant there wAS something to actually worry about. In the end, she had decided to follow the suggestion literally, which meant taking the afternoon train to Canterlot.

Thus, she was now sitting on a plush purple pillow in Celestia's personal study, the warm light of the late afternoon pouring in as she told about her dream to the intently listening Princess of the Sun. It was easier than Twilight had expected; unlike most dreams which were hazy and barely coherent, and soon faded away upon waking, this one remained as clear in her mind as a memory of a real event.

"And... then he started laughing, like he was pleased," she said. "He said again that we were not so different. Then he just... melted away in the darkness, but I could still hear him laughing. It was such a hateful sound. And then I woke up."

While Twilight had recounted her dream encounter with Sombra, Celestia had been sitting stock still, only the occasional blink and the gentle swaying of her mane in the solar wind showing that she was a living pony instead of an alabaster statue. Now she stirred, half-opening her great wings and then closing them again.

"That must have been a truly unpleasant experience, Twilight," she said. "I had intended to offer you tea while we discussed the matter further, but I think this calls for something stronger first."

Celestia's horn lit up with the golden glow of her magic, and one of the chests standing on the inside wall between the bookcases opened. A finely wrought crystal bottle floated out and over to the seated alicorns, followed by two goblets; the larger one was gold set with rubies and topazes, while the smaller one was silver, set with amethysts and chased with star patterns.

"This is vintage crystal brandy," Celestia said as she poured the pale golden liquid into the two goblets, offering the silver one to Twilight. "A rare drink, but appropriate in this situation, don't you think?"

Twilight tasted her drink carefully. Crystal berries were a part of the complex tapestry of tastes that filled her mouth, but only a part. It felt like she was drinking the essence of a summer day, and a pleasant warmth spread throughout her body as she swallowed.

"It's very good, Prin-, ah, Celestia," she said, still unused to calling her mentor simply by her name. "So, what is this situation? Did I just have a bad dream and overreact, or is this something worse? I'm not haunted by the shadow of an ancient vindictive wizard-king, am I?"

Instead of laughing like Twilight had hoped, Celestia took a sip from her goblet. “You certainly did not overreact, Twilight. Most likely, it was only a bad dream with nothing more sinister behind it. However, if it really was some echo of Sombra, he will not reach you again. Luna and I will make sure of that."

Again, Twilight did not know whether to be reassured or unnerved. "I thought Sombra was..." She paused, trying to come up with the right word. "...well, gone! I didn’t see it myself, but Shining and Cadence told me he was blown away into nothingness when the Crystal Heart activated."

Celestia looked thoughtful. "Is a shadow nothing? It has no substance, no form or existence on its own; it is a mere absence of light, cast by a material object. Yet it is a real thing that waxes and wanes, and the same light that drives it away also brings it into existence. There are no shadows in the dark, after all..."

Noticing Twilight's confused expression, she smiled again. "I'm sorry, Twilight. I did not intentionally try to sound cryptic. The truth is that I don't know. Neither dreams nor dark magic are my specialty, and my understanding of both is very limited. My sister would know more, but she refuses to discuss this form of magic, even with me. And Sombra knows, or knew, even more than Luna, having delved further into its secrets than anypony before or after him..."

"Was he once Luna's student?" Twilight asked when Celestia fell quiet. It was a question that had nagged her mind for months now, ever since her triumphant return from the Crystal Empire, and this felt like her best chance to find out.

"Yes," Celestia admitted. "She taught him for years, and grew close to him. But eventually he left her, striking out on his own. He felt that Luna was holding him back, not trusting him with her secret lore. She took it... badly." A distant look came into her eyes, as if she was reliving ancient events. "I've wondered if that was the final drop of bitterness that made her cup run over. When I and Luna defeated Sombra, it was the last time we worked together as sisters and princesses..." Celestia sighed and fell silent again.

Twilight waited for a while before she spoke again. "I... I'm sorry, uh, Celestia. I did not mean to-"

"No, of course you didn't," Celestia interrupted, giving her a wan but friendly smile. "It's alright, Twilight. You will find that the longer you live, the more painful memories you will have. They won't outweigh the good ones, but they are there. Like a shadow cast by the light." She shook herself, took another sip from her goblet and smiled, warmer this time. "How did you guess, by the way?"

Twilight shrugged with her wings; it was a pegasus gesture she'd seen Rainbow use countless times, and had almost instantly incorporated it into her changed body language. "It was a combination of many little things in what you told me and what I saw in the Crystal Empire. But the biggest clue was how Luna acted about the whole thing. She and I are friends, but she was very cold to me when you sent me to the Empire, and afterwards she never asked to hear about my adventure. The easiest explanation was that there was some personal connection."

"Astute as always," Celestia said with obvious pride. "To get back to Sombra and your dream about him, I would not be surprised if some echo or shadow of him remained, lurking in the dark places of the world, waxing and waning and trying to grow again. If so, he might become a threat again in the future, and we will have to keep that possibility in mind, but in the present you don't have to worry about him."

That, at least, was a genuine relief. "What about my, uh... dreamcasting?" Twilight asked, feeling like she was just a little filly again. When she had been younger, she'd had trouble keeping her magical power in check, leading to a couple of embarrassing and confusing accidents when her dreams had erupted into the reality of her bedroom. "I don't know enough about dark magic to know if this is something I should be worried about or not."

Celestia's reply took Twilight by surprise. "Tell me, Twilight: what is the first maxim of magical ethics?"

"Magic is neither good nor evil, it simply is," Twilight answered promptly. "The morality of magic use is based on what you do with magic and why. Are you saying that it's the same with dark magic?"

"Yes, and no," Celestia said. "When the Sombra in your dream said that you were not so different, he was not entirely wrong." She raised her hoof to silence Twilight, who had been about to vehemently disagree. "He was a prodigy, a highly intelligent and magically powerful unicorn with endless curiosity and an insatiable love for learning... very much like you, in many ways. And he, too, became first a student, then a master, of emotion-based magic. But where you study the magic of friendship, he delved into the magic of the darker emotions."

Twilight frowned. "Do you mean something like what Discord did to us? Honesty into lies, kindness into cruelty, that sort of a thing?"

"Not exactly," Celestia said. "Tell me, what did you feel when you used dark magic in the Crystal Empire?"

"Uh... I was frustrated with the door, as it kept dodging my spells. I wanted the stupid thing to just stay in one place and let me through," Twilight said. "And before that, when I saw the crystal on the throne and figured out it opened the secret passage, I was proud of myself... Is that it? It's the magic of pride and frustration and anger and fear, is it?"

Celestia's smile broadened. "Well done, Twilight! Yes, that's exactly it. Dark magic taps into the selfish, aggressive part of our emotions and draws power from there. Now, those are a natural part of everypony's personality, and they are valuable in moderation. Fear helps to keep us safe; frustration and pride spur us onwards into new achievements. Even anger has its place: anger over injustice has driven many a great, heroic pony. And so it is with dark magic. In moderation, it is not any worse or more corrupting than normal magic.”

"But Sombra didn't use dark magic in moderation, did he?" Twilight said. "That's why he came to the Crystal Empire in the first place, to study emotion magic. And that's why he took over the city and enslaved everyone and made them live in terror and misery, because he could use the city's magical architecture to tap into the Crystal ponies' feelings! And then, if he used the Crystal Palace as a magical antenna to spread hatred and fear across all Equestria, like you said..." Her eyes widened as the full implications dawned to her.

Celestia nodded gravely. "He would have ascended, after a fashion," she said. "I doubt he would have become an alicorn, though. Sombra would have been something new and awful, casting a shadow of fear across the whole world. When we realized what was happening, we had to act fast. We did not have the time to break his connection with the Crystal Empire, and thus, when he fell he pulled the city with him, tearing it away from the world. Soon, it was almost as if Sombra and the Empire had never existed."

Twilight nodded. "Like when Starswirl's spell changed the destinies of my friends! Everypony in Ponyville thought that Rarity had always been the unicorn in charge of the weather, for example." She excitedly clapped her hooves together. "That implies that the destiny-entanglement is a fundamental aspect of emotion magic! Ooh, that opens up so many possible avenues of research..." Suddenly, she frowned. "Wait. All this is very interesting, but it doesn't explain why I dreamcast dark magic now, months after I used it in the Crystal Empire!"

"That is because you were not yet an alicorn," Celestia said. "We are creatures of powerful emotions and great passions, Twilight, and our hearts do not go for half-measures. You've seen Cadence's love for your brother, and how strongly he responds to her; and you know how mercurial and extreme Luna's moods can be. You are no exception to this. There is a wellspring of emotion in you greater than you know yet, and the dream caught you unaware and unprepared, giving you an excuse to tap into that power until you manifested the dark magic in reality outside the dream. But now you know about it, and can be prepared.  I very much doubt this will ever happen again... but if it does, do not panic."

She got up from her pillow, walking over to Twilight to give her a hug the younger alicorn happily returned.  "You have me and Luna, your brother and sister-in-law, your parents and Spike, and perhaps most importantly your good friends, who will help and support you. Do not spook at the shadows, Twilight. You have nothing to fear."

"Thank you, Princess," Twilight replied.  "I won't let this get to me, I promise."

"That's good to hear," Celestia said, straightening and looking out through the open balcony door, where the sun was getting close to the horizon. "Would you want to accompany me when I lower the sun, Twilight?"

Twilight's eyes lit up with excitement. "Oh yes! I've never seen you do it up close. Do you mind if I take notes?"

"Not at all, my faithful friend," Celestia said, her warm smile turning into a rare grin. "But I will have to insist that you tell me beforehand if you want to try it on your own."

Laughing, the two alicorns, young and old, walked out to the balcony and into the full light of the setting sun. But the long, dark shadows they cast followed right on their heels.