//------------------------------// // 6 - The Empire Part 2 // Story: The First Twilight // by darkforce95 //------------------------------// Twilight ran about the castle trying to find some kind of clue to where King Sombra hid the Crystal Heart. She searched high and low for it and in every nook and cranny. Where the heck could he have hidden it? I mean this castle is huge! You would think he would keep it close by.... wait... She quickly moved towards the throne room, running through the crystalline halls. Once she arrived at the room she noticed a gaping hole in the floor with stairs leading downward. This wasn't here before. I was going to check for magical ways to find it but... Oh well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. She quickly ran down the stairs, catching herself against the wall whenever she stumbled. The stairs seemed to go on forever, tiring out her legs. But she did eventually get to the bottom and saw a figure staring at a closed door. He had his eyes closed but she could tell that he was concentrating energy, dark energy seeping from the corner of her eyes. Before she could say anything, the man opened his dark eyes, extended his hand, and the same dark magic that Celestia had used in her throne room was tossed at the gem above the door causing a flash and the door swung open. "Star Dusk..." she said softly. He either didn't hear her or ignored her and walked toward the door and froze. Twilight moved around him and noticed he was staring at a blank wall behind that door. Ooookaaayyy, what the heck is he looking- she stopped thinking when she saw tears streaming down his face. "No..... No... Please...." he started saying. His voice, where it had shook with anger when confronting Twilight in the library, now shook with fear and sadness. He did not sound at all like he should. "No, don't do this to me.... Not again, please.... Not like Aether and Elysian... Please NO!!" "Star Dusk, Star Dusk!!!" Twilight shouted as she shook the self destructive knight. "Please Celestia, Luna, Tw-" She shook him harder. He shut his eyes and shook his head sharply his own train of thought. He fell to one knee rubbing his temples. "What was that?" she asked him. "I had a vision, I..." he began. He seemed to realize who was next to him without looking before continuing. "I don't want to talk about it." Twilight felt a sharp pang of pain in her heart. He still hasn't forgiven me I guess... "Alright," she said walking over to the wall, "But what caused it?" All of a sudden there was a bright flash of light and she was in the middle of Celestia's throne room. Her teacher was in the middle of writing a note before looking up. "What are you doing here?" she asked Twilight with contempt in her eyes. "I... I don't know. I was with Star Dusk trying to find the Crystal Heart and he was staring at a wall and I was trying to see what he saw and now-" "And now you must go." her instructor finished, turning her back to her student. "Go? Go where?" "Anywhere but here! I don't care. You failed the test, Twilight Sparkle." "Wait, I was in the middle of the test when-" "Not only will you not go on to the next level of your studies, you will not be studying under me at all." "But I.... You didn't say that I wouldn't teach me anymore if I failed!" replied Twilight, tears welling up in her eyes. "Didn't I?" Twilight fell to the floor, tears now streaming down her face. "But.... w-what am I s-supposed t' do now?" she choked out. All of a sudden the flash was back, but this time what she saw was the door closed. "Now I see what it does..." said Star Dusk methodically. Twilight wiped the tears from her eyes, trying to stifle the last sniffles she was having. "W-What do you mean?" she asked. "King Sombra must have enchanted this door with his dark magic. It's a door to your worst fears..." he answered without turning. "I was back in Canterlot, Princess Celestia told me that I failed my test...." Twilight recounted softly. "That remains to be seen." replied Star Dusk unflinchingly as he continued to inspect the door. That cinches it. He defiantly hasn't forgiven me. But... "You don't have to put it that way!" she answered out loud angrily. "It's purely fact, Twilight Sparkle," he replied in the same tone, "You haven't passed, you haven't failed, you have yet even to be graded. Therefore, it remains to be seen." "'It remains to be seen'" she imitated mockingly. "Anyway, what are you even doing here? I thought I had to save the empire on my own." "Unlike someone who I won't name, I will not relegate an entire empire to suffer only to prove my point." "Will you at least look at me when you're insulting me?" "Only if you can get this door to open properly." Calm down, Twilight. Technically you were at fault first. I swear I don't know what it is with my reactions to him anymore. And I think better calmly too. She looked at the gem he had hit with the dark magic. "This wasn't King Sombra's castle..." she mused. "Not always, no." Star Dusk replied. Twilight took a breath and hit the gem with the same kind of magic that caused the amazing light show in the Canterlot throne room. The door opened up slowly and led to the outside. They both walked through the door. "Great... More Stairs." complained Twilight. She turned to Star Dusk hoping for insight, or at least for him to look at her. He was staring straight up. Checking the height, she assumed. "This is gonna take too long." she continued trying to coax him to speech. "Agreed." he said lowering his gaze. A smirk crawled across his face. "If I remember correctly, you studied some gravity spells on the way to Canterlot." "Yeah... and?" "So.." he swept her off her feet and held her laying in his arms. She could feel a slight updraft and Star Dusk initially try to steady himself on what she could only assume were air pockets. She got the drift and channeled her magic in a finger pointed towards the sky. The whole world seemed to flip over and they slid 'downwards' towards the top of the tower. "Looks like I was prepared for this!!" commented Twilight looking at him. He was looking at something beyond her head quite worriedly. She crooned her head to see what was going on but saw easily enough that Cadence's barrier was fading. It must have shone on her face that she was worried. "Don't worry so much, we're almost there. Unless you feel like falling toward the sky, could you please?" Twilight shook her worry away and once again pointed upward towards the floor concentrating her magic. Star Dusk jumped and flipped over along with the rest of the world and landed up at the top, Crystal Heart within reach. "There it is!" she said excitedly hopping out of his arms and running towards the artifact. As soon as she hit the decorative circle around the Heart, an alarm went off and dark crystals sprang from the edges trapping Twilight and the heart inside. "Twilight Sparkle, are you okay!?" called Star Dusk. Twilight could hear him thumping on the walls of her prison. "I'm fine! I have the heart, let me just teleport out and we'll be good!" she responded. The thumping ceased as she concentrated her magic and transported herself out of the prison. In the next second, dark magic swirled all around her and she found herself back inside the rounded enclosure. There was a notable difference though. "Twilight Sparkle!?" "I'm back inside... wait where's the Crystal Heart?" "It's out here!! You must have dropped it before the fail safe kicked in! You have to find a way out! Or else you'll fail your test!!" Idea after idea shot through Twilight's brain, trying to figure out a way to escape to no avail. "There's no choice, you have to do it!!" "But your test-" "You said it yourself! Protecting the empire is more important that any silly test! Now go do-" Suddenly there was a sharp thump on the wall. "Don't worry about...." she couldn't finish her sentence as blood started seeping through the small crevices between the crystal walls. The walls came down and Twilight saw a heavily bleeding Star Dusk being held aloft by magic. The bleeding wound was due to a dark crystal impaling him in the abdomen. The magi responsible? King Sombra. "Thank you for holding on to MY Crystal Heart for me." he said slowly. He threw the barely conscious knight off the tower. She ran to the edge to try and catch him magically but was cut off by the dark magi. "Now, if you would be so kind as to return it to me, I would make sure that you can service the castle instead of the crystal mines." he said menacingly. "I don't have it. The fail safe on that enclosure knocked it from my grasp." she said seriously, all the while searching the floor for the missing relic. There was a loud gasp and screams coming from below. Twilight bypassed the evil ruler and looked over the edge toward the base of the tower. There was a circle of people surrounding... "No... This can't be happening..." she said softly. "Don't worry about him. He probably didn't even feel the impact. Now, GIVE ME WHAT IS MINE!!" he said grabbing her and threatening her over the edge. Tears welled up in Twilight's eyes followed by a flash of anger allowing the same dark magic he was using to course through her and she pushed him back. The air rushed around her as she fell. I guess I have a lot of time to think before I hit the floor... I don't really have many regrets do I? Or else I would be think about them now. Wishing... I guess my only real regret is that I didn't apologize... All of a sudden, she was washed in a bright glow followed by a strong up draft of air. The updraft slowed her down enough for her to land on a tall earth spire. She looked around in confusion as she saw all the darkness get pushed back and heard the loud and pained throws of King Sombra from the top of the castle. But how did I? A realization hit her as she looked at the base of the castle. As the spire slowly lowered itself down, she saw the Crystal Heart in place, everyone literally glittering like crystals, and Shining Armor supporting a weakening Star Dusk as he lowered the spire back to the floor. Once she returned to solid ground, she rushed over to her brother bypassing all the congratulations from friends and denizens alike. "Shining Armor! Star Dusk!" she saw Star Dusk passed out on the floor as Shining Armor slowly laying him on the ground. "Oh no, is he-" "He's resting." Reassured a newly recovered Cadence. "He must have pocketed the Crystal Heart before he was attacked." "And he sent a strong updraft of air slowing his fall. He didn't hit the ground nearly as hard as your thinking, Twily." "Not only that, but he noticed you falling and asked for Shining Armor's help to catch you!" finished a excited Rainbow Dash. "It was totally like out of the stories!!!" "You read th' stories Rainbow?" asked a surprised Applejack. "Yeah well, I had to get to know him one way or another right?" Twilight slowly knelt down by Star Dusk, brushing his hair from his forehead. She saw his chest slowly rise and fall. "Everything worked out fine, Twily." said her BBBFF sitting down next to her. "Except for the fact I failed my test." she said softly. "You don't look so broken up about that." Twilight knew her brother was right. She was softly smiling and a warmth was welling back inside her that had left the moment Star Dusk was thrown from the tower. "There are more important things than tests... even if they do come from the Princess." she replied looking at Shining Armor. She got taken aback by the giant grin that he had plastered on his face. "W-What? Is there something on my face?" "No," he said getting up slowly. "Just wondering how long it'll be before I'll get to be your honor attendant." "My what now?" Cadence joined her husband in the joke. "What?" she said sarcastically. "I thought I was going to be her maid of honor." she finished, mock disappointingly. "Wait!" said Twilight standing up, finally getting what they were poking at. "I-It's not like that!" "Sure it isn't." said Rainbow from the side. Twilight saw all her friends smiling knowingly at her. "IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!!!" she yelled blushing all the way to her ears. Everyone was waiting outside the operating room in Canterlot hospital. Only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were allowed in the viewing room for the procedure. And they had looked mightily disappointed at her before entering. "Don't worry Twi, everything'll be fine..." Said Applejack trying to reassure her friend. No one quite believed her. The light above the door turned off and one of the doctors exited. "Twilight Sparkle?" "Y-Yes!" she said standing up nervously. "The Princesses would like to see you inside." "You wanted to see me?" Celestia and Luna stood next to the operating table with Star Dusk resting atop it. Luna whirled around, her eyes glowing the same white that was there when she had first cancelled Nightmare Night. "TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" she began in her booming royal Canterlot voice, causing Twilight to cower backwards.. However, she was interrupted by her sister putting a hand on her shoulder. "Twilight," Celestia began. Her words carried the same gravitas with less volume. "How could you have let this happen." "I... I don't understand... The Crystal Empire is safe r-" "And we thank thee for your work in regards to that task." interrupted Luna slipping into her old speech. "However, we did not intend our personal guard to brush so closely with death!" "But I thought he was just exhausted. And the doctors said it was a routine surgery to fix the other issues." said Twilight now thoroughly confused at the accusations. "Twilight, when you arrived there, what state was Princess Cadence in?" proposed Celestia. "Tired, exhausted, hungry... What does-" "And you've studied the effects of severe magic depletion, am I right?" "Yes but-" "Our guard suffered such depletion that there maybe a possibility that he will never again be able to use magic. Granted this is a step up from the worst case scenario of magic depletion, however, the fact he came so close, we cannot overlook." "I- I didn't know... I thought most of the damage was physical..." "How could you have let it get to that point?" said Celestia uncharacteristically. "He was sent to assist you, not to take the brunt of all the difficulty." "Princess, may I speak?" came a weak voice from the operating table. "Star Dusk! You are well?" said Luna turning to the table excitedly. "Just enough for consciousness your highness. But, if I may?" Celestia nodded softly a smile finally spreading across her lips. "The fault lies squarely on me." "What?" Luna looked so unbelieving and surprisingly, so did Celestia. "I had abandoned Twilight Sparkle in the middle of the test. When she needed me most. Had I been there from beginning to end I would not have over exerted myself as I did. And-" "No!" cried Twilight running to the other side of the table from the Princesses. "Star Dusk, it wasn't your fault. Don't say that! I'm sorry, I should have been thinking more about the others that were relying on us." Tears streamed down Twilight's face as she continued, "You were right, you were right. And I'm so, so sorry that I pushed you so hard. I didn't realize-" her apologies were cut off by Star Dusk's hand softly resting on her lips. He continued where he had left off. "And in the end, it was my selfishness that pushed me beyond my limit." Everyone present was thoroughly confused. "Star Dusk, we heard Twilight's report on the subject. But if I recall there was three times that you both were separated, however briefly." said Celestia "Would you like to inform us of what you were doing during those periods of time?" asked Luna. "Well, during our first separation I let Twilight know what I did during our... disagreement. If I can add anything, it would be that I used a certain spell to let me see the contents of all the books in a shelf-" "That spell is dangerous!!" interrupted Twilight. "That's way too much information to process than ones mind can take!" "My first selfish mistake, I wanted to be of some use to you. Other than just standing guard. The second separation was less eventful. I had just stood out of the way allowing Twilight Sparkle and her friends to attempt the Crystal Faire. If they succeeded, it would be solely due to the strength of their will." He took a breath before continuing, "I over heard the fact the Crystal Heart was, in fact, a relic that was necessary to protect the kingdom. That's when I had begun my search." "You were the one who opened up the first staircase." Twilight verbally put together. "Using the dark magic Celestia had shown us earlier, yes." "Same as the door then..." The celestial sisters stared at each other in surprise. "You were able to manifest that energy?" asked Celestia. "Yes. And the third gap was when you were in the trap..." The Crystal Heart lay on the floor before him. "Twilight Sparkle!?" "I'm back inside... wait where's the Crystal Heart?" "It's out here!!" he said quickly picking up the relic. "You must have dropped it before the fail safe kicked in! You have to find a way out! Or else you'll fail your test!!" After finishing his sentence the barrier came down. I can't worry her right now... He looked into the distance as Twilight thought what to do and he saw King Sombra approaching the castle, heading directly towards them. He smoothly slid the artifact into one of his pockets and awaited the opponent. "Well, it seems my fail safe was a complete success." the evil lord mused to himself as he walked toward the crystal enclosure. Star Dusk immediately stood between the prison and the regent. "You shall not pass." he said quietly so that Twilight would not worry. "How amusing." Dark crystals sprang up from all directions and Star Dusk narrowly avoided them all. King Sombra telekinetically ripped out one of the crystals and threw it at Star Dusk. Star Dusk was not defenseless however and used his own telekinesis to keep in from moving forward. They were at a stalemate thanks to Star Dusk being depleted from earlier spells and King Sombra still not fully formed and returned until, "There's no choice, you have to do it!!" called Twilight from inside the trap. "But your test-" That was the distraction that tipped the balance. The crystal shot forward and impaled him, flinging him against the crystal prison. "You said it yourself! Protecting the empire is more important that any silly test! Now go do-" He felt the cold crystal strike him in the back. The dome must have come down soon after. The next thing he was fully conscious of was falling from the tower. He tried his best to slow down and was able to survive the impact, but not the damage. He handed the Heart to Princess Cadence and as he did so, he noticed Twilight falling from the castle as well. He tried to force himself up with little success. "Shining Armor, help me up." "Sure, the least I could-" Shining Armor was interrupted by a big gust of wind that was thrown straight up at Twilight. Not enough.... He painfully picked up his leg and slammed it down to bring up a spire underneath her. Once she landed, he slowly descended the spire until it was consumed back into the earth and blacked out. All three women in the room stood dumbfounded. "Star Dusk, that is the most selfless act I have heard in my life!" said Twilight incredulously. "Agreed, how can you claim to be selfish with such an act of bravery and heroism." added Luna. "Intent is what separates a selfish act from a selfless one. Everything I did that day was to help Twilight Sparkle in her goal." "Which means you were thinking of her, not yourself." "Normally true. However, I did so in the hopes becoming a closer friend, and then as apology for fear of losing said friend. While Twilight Sparkle was the cause of me over stretching myself, I made the choice willingly and with only her praise in mind." Again the women could not answer the weak soldier. Twilight started to laugh through her tears. "Y-You... You're so ridiculous you know that? How could I let go one of my best friends?" she said smiling at him. "I'm sorry," he replied eyelids looking heavy, "We might have to wait a bit-" Now Twilight put her hand to his lips. "Rest, you need it. You deserve it." she reassured. Star Dusk slowly closed his eyes and his breathing slowed and became more regular. The sisters looked at each other before nodding and turning to Twilight. "We- I believe in my guard's words." "Agreed. Twilight, you showed exceptional selflessness when the matter really counted. You weren't willing to risk the future of the citizens of the Crystal Empire in an effort to guarantee your own. Far better that I have a student who understands the meaning of self-sacrifice than one who only looks out for her own best interests. And I apologize for being cross with you..." "It's alright Princess, he's like your family after all." "I also must congratulate you." Said Luna. "Not only did he commit a selfish act, but Star Dusk even admitted as such. This is surely the first steps to having him integrate with the regular citizens and have him leave his post as my guard. And I will also apologize for being short with you. After all, it was I who asked you to teach him how to be that way." They all looked at each other and giggled. "Do I seriously have to be in this wheelchair the whole way home?" complained Star Dusk as Twilight pushed said chair through the middle of Ponyville town square. "Yes, Doctor's orders." said Rarity. "Besides, after becoming a hero again you need some kickback time!" added Rainbow Dash. "But my legs are itching to move! I haven't left the bed in over a month and now I'm confined to a chair?" "You hurt your spine when you hit the cage and the ground so sharply." explained Twilight. "If you don't take it easy, you run the risk of not being able to walk." "Not to mention that you only just recovered most of your magic." added Fluttershy, "It was a miracle in itself that you can still use magic after that stress." Star Dusk slumped in the chair and sighed. "This is going to... what's that word you use Rainbow Dash? Suck?" "Heh heh, yeah that's it." "You know, I think Imma call you Hero from now on." said Applejack changing the subject. "What for? I have a name you know." "It's called a nickname silly! Like Twilight, Pinkie, AJ, and Dashie!" explained Pinkie Pie. "Yeah, I notice that you always call us by our full names." pointed out Twilight. "Okay, I get that. But my 'nickname' has nothing to do with my real name." "Well, it doesn't help that neither name seems to fit your demeanor so well Star Dusk. And well, you are a hero." postulated Rarity. "I don't like it." "Come on Hero, you'll get used to it." said Rainbow Dash. "You do it again and I'm going to start calling you Dashie then." "Go ahead, see if I care." "Alright Dashie, have it your way" "Gah, fine. It's sounds creepy coming from you... Just stick with Dash." Star Dusk smiled and sighed. "I'm still getting called Hero aren't I?" Everyone laughed. "Definatly gonna stick with me." said Applejack. "At least I know who to blame for this." he replied jokingly. "Alright, I'll call you Jacks then. Just because it's convienent." "Fine by me!" They arrived at the library in no time. "Now let's practice!" said Pinkie Pie excitedly. Star Dusk sighed and began: "See you all later." he said slyly. Everyone stared at him until he relented and he rolled over to each of them in turn. "Later Dash. See you Pinkie. Work Hard Jacks. I'll stop by when I can walk Rarity. And Fluttershy, bring by some of your animals some time." Everyone left with smiles on their faces and in their hearts. "Twilight?" "Yes?" she smiled wider than any of her friends and was grateful that her face was hidden since she was pushing his wheelchair. "I don't ever want to lose your friendship. Ever." Twilight bent down and hugged the chair bound warrior from behind. "You don't have to worry about that, both of us will remain friends for a very long time. I do have a question though, were you still mad at me when we were just starting to work together again at the door?" "Only thanks to your angry reactions to my plain statements." he said "Yeah, I think I have to work on that..." "Well I think I need some more rest..." "Let's get you back in bed. I'll do the levitating down the stairs, you just relax." "Thank you, Twilight. If you can send Spike, I wanna write a letter before I sleep." "Sure." Dear Princess Celestia, I think I've been going about my friendship with Star Dusk all wrong. I thought that I could just treat him like any one of my other friends and it would be fine. But I found that my friendship with him is very different than the ones I have with my other friends. Even different that the relationship I have with Spike. And it seems like my friends know this better than I did. I may need some guidance as I move to study this new relationship. I'll write to you whatever findings I come across. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle P.S. I think I like where these studies will lead me.