Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin
Chapter 18
“Princess!” exclaimed Twilight as her eyes found the tall shadowy black mare towering over them. The princess’s midnight blue mane was filled with tiny glinting stars and danced in an invisible wind. “You’re alright!” Twilight rushed forward and hugged the royal mare, much to the other pony’s surprise.
“Yes, dear Twilight,” answered Princess Luna. After a moment of pause, she returned Twilight’s embrace. “I am unharmed.”
“Princess, what happened here?” asked Rarity seriously.
“I am afraid that I do not know,” replied Luna. “This, is how I found Canterlot,” she waved a hoof around at the ponies frozen in place. “At first I was surprised that I had awoken in the middle of the day. Yet, when I went to find my sister, I discovered the sight before you.” Luna’s eyes moved slowly towards the throne room but she turned her head away before she saw her sister. “It has… been difficult to accept.”
Luna let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. With strong determination, she forced herself to look at her sister before she moved purposefully forward. The group of ponies parted to make way for her.
She trotted at a snails pace, as if longing not to reach the destination ahead. The six friends and Trixie stayed a few steps behind her. None of them wanted to pass her.
They had all sensed it as they had entered the room. Something here was very, very wrong. Twilight felt even more uneasy as they neared Celestia. The closer they got, the worse the sensation became. The air tasted wrong here, foul somehow. The sounds of their hoof-falls were dulled in a room that should have rung with their echoes.
Twilight’s eyes moved around the room, examining the odd sight before her. Celestia stood in the center, immobile in solid white stone. Spread around the room, in a uniform pattern, were six of her guards. Two guards stood behind her, at the base of the throne. Another two were off to either side of her, although at a respectful distance. And the last two ponies were behind Twilight and her friends, back at the door.
Luna halted a few dozen hooves in front of Celestia and the group came to a stop behind her, none of them eager to get closer. While the Princess of the Sun had been turned to stone, just like all the other inhabitants of Canterlot, she was different from the other ponies. So far, everypony else seemed blissfully unaware of what had happened to them. Celestia however had an expression of terror frozen upon her face.
Twilight moved to Luna’s side but was hesitant to take another step forward. She couldn’t say what it was but there was something very wrong here. Not just the ponies frozen in stone but something else. Something terrible. She had to get closer, she just didn’t want to.
With a gulp, Twilight put forward a cautious hoof. She felt a shiver run up her spine but she didn’t pull her leg back. She placed her hoof on the cold stone floor. The ground was just a step away, yet it was as if the marble was made of ice, rather than stone.
Closing her eyes, Twilight willed herself forward. It was like plunging into ice water. Her whole body shook again. When she gasped her breath came out in a puff of frost. She wasn’t imagining it, it really was colder in this small section of the room.
“This was the center,” whispered Twilight as she advanced towards Celestia. “I can still feel the aftereffects.”
Feel was the wrong word for it. Twilight could practically taste the bitter metallic stench in the air. Her horn itched and tingled like it never had before. The nearer she got to Celestia, the worse the sensation and the cold became. Twilight turned her path, the cold becoming too much for her.
Twilight’s eyes swept over Celestia and examined her white stone form. She was hoping for it to impart some insight. Yet, apart from being stone, the statue had little to offer.
Making her way around the back of the statue, Twilight noticed something in the marble floor. Scratch marks? She pawed at it with a hoof. The statue had been moved forward slightly by a few hooves. Had Celestia been charging her attacker when she had been frozen? If so, why had none of the guards reacted?
Continuing around Celestia, Twilight finally came back to face her friends. She had gotten very few answers from the statue. Instead even more questions were tumbling around in her head. She let out a breath of white mist and gave another shiver. Why was it so cold right here when everything else was boiling hot?
“This whole room just don’t feel right,” said Applejack nervously. Twilight noticed that all of her friends looked extremely shaken. “Something about this place is really wrong.”
Whatever had happened here it was strong enough that even non-unicorns, who knew nothing of magic, could feel the unnatural sensation around them. Which meant… Twilight’s face filled with horror at her sudden realization.
“It can’t be…” whispered Twilight to herself. Quickly, she backed away from Celestia.
“What can’t be?” asked Spike. “Twilight, what’s wrong?”
“You feel it too then,” asked Luna. Twilight could only nod. She felt like if she tried to talk she might throw up. She galloped the last few hooves back to her friends. The cold instantly vanished and the odd acrid taste in her mouth lessened, although it did not go away.
“It feels like the magic here is… dead,” said Twilight a little breathlessly. She attempted to light her horn with a simple spell, but not even the faintest glow appeared. “The æther in this area is broken somehow.”
“The what now?” asked Applejack.
“The æther,” answered Trixie. “Magic, the purest, untapped form of magic. Like pegasus tap into the wind to fly and earth ponies use the ground to grow. Unicorns manipulate the æther to perform spells. But for it to be damaged… that’s impossible… like wounding the air. It just can’t be done.”
“Apparently it can,” replied Twilight. Her eyes moved back towards Celestia.
“Now you understand why it took so long for me to contact you,” said Luna. “I was unsure what I was dealing with at first, or how dangerous it could be. As it was, touching my horn to my sister’s to send you a message was extremely difficult.”
“Oh my, that sounds terrifying! Why did you have to do that?” asked Fluttershy softly.
“The link exists only between my sister and Spike,” explained Luna. “With the æther so badly damaged here, it took me several days to gather enough magic to cast the sending spell.”
“Wait, are you saying that magic won’t work here?” asked Spike.
“Not exactly,” answered Luna. “But casting anything is extremely difficult.”
“But without magic, how can we help Princess Celestia?” asked Rarity.
Rarity was right, just how were they supposed to help Celestia without magic? The others were looking at Twilight, expecting an answer. A plan. She didn’t have either.
“Well…” said Twilight, forcing her brain to think, to search for something, anything. “We need to figure out what happened,” announced Twilight at last. “It might help us figure out a way to fix it. Any ideas Princess?” Twilight looked hopefully towards Luna but the mare just shook her head.
“I have never seen anything like this before,” replied Luna. Pinkie suddenly rushed past Twilight and Luna, darting forward into the area of cold.
“This calls for an investigation,” proclaimed Pinkie. She held a magnifying glass in one hoof, through which she was examining the floor, and there was a watch cap on her head. However, she hadn’t gone more then four steps from the group before her whole body gave a violent shiver and she let out a loud ‘eep’ of shock. She rushed back, hiding behind Twilight in a way that Fluttershy might have done. “I’ve never got a Pinkie Sense like that before!” cried Pinkie Pie, her voice uncertain and fearful.
“What did you feel?” asked Rarity.
“Like everything went all wrong at once,” explained Pinkie. “It wasn’t like an eye-flutter, or a tummy-rumble, or nose-twitch… it was like… like everything was wrong! Like up became down! Inside became out! Cakes became pies! It was awful!”
“How do we figure this out if we can’t get near it?” asked Applejack.
“We look for other clues,” said Twilight
“Like the citizens out in the streets, halted in mid motion,” said Luna.
“Or the Sun, stopped in the sky above?” suggested Fluttershy.
“Or that all of Canterlot was frozen,” said Applejack. Then she turned her gaze to Luna. “Except for you… Uh, your highness,” she added quickly.
“I do not know why I was unaffected,” answered Luna. “But if you are suggesting that I am somehow responsible…”
“Maybe you haven’t been outside for a while, but there are nightmares flying around out there,” said Applejack seriously. “And didn’t you used to be one?”
“Applejack!” cried Rarity in horror at her friend’s accusations.
“I have already explained what happened when I awoke!” retorted Luna, an anger surging up in her eyes that Twilight had never seen before. “If you would accuse me of this crime than do not imply it. Speak it to my face!”
“Applejack! Enough!” cried Twilight, getting between her friend and the princess. “Lets everypony just calm down. Blame and accusation will not get us anywhere.”
“If only we could ask Celestia what happened,” said Spike. “I’m sure that would clear things up.”
“Perhaps the power of the elements will succeed where I have failed,” suggested Luna, regaining some of her calm. “You do have all the elements, don’t you?”
“Uh… no… we don’t…” answered Twilight, feeling slightly embarrassed. “We only managed to get and keep two of them.”
“You do not have them all?” asked Luna in surprise. Her dark pupils flicked from one pony to the next, lingering on Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle, the only two to bear the jewelry of the elements. “Then… how?”
“How?” repeated Twilight in confusion. She looked to her friends, but they shrugged, having no idea either. “How what?” asked Twilight uncertainly.
“How did you enter Canterlot?” asked Luna. “A protective barrier surrounds the top of the mountain, created and maintained by the elements. How did you get through it if you do not have them all?”
“We came through a cave,” explained Spike.
“So the barrier is still in place,” asked Luna.
“Maybe,” said Twilight. “Rainbow said she hit some kind of heat wall when she tried to fly to Canterlot, maybe that was it?”
“Still,” continued Luna. “Coming here without all the elements…”
“We tried our best,” pleaded Fluttershy.
“I thought the rest of them might be here, in Canterlot,” explained Twilight. “They seem to have been placed along our path. But we only ever came across three of them. So the rest must be…” Luna shook her head sadly and Twilight trailed off.
“Alas, the vault is empty,” said Luna. “Wherever the elements are, they are not here.” She paused for a moment before looking across the group once again. “You said you had three? What happened to the third?”
“Something happened to Rainbow Dash during our journey to Canterlot,” explained Rarity. “Something that… changed her.”
“Changed how?” asked Luna with narrowed eyes.
“She got all mean and fiery,” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “Well, more fiery than usual. Actually fiery. With flames and everything!”
“She became a nightmare,” whispered Twilight. “She wasn’t the first one, or the last. Down in the cavern beneath Canterlot there were thousands of them.”
“Go on,” whispered Luna softly, her expression revealing nothing.
“We used her element on her and that seemed to change her back… or at least keep it in check,” explained Twilight. “But it got knocked off and by the time we found it again… It didn’t seem to work anymore. Even with the element around her neck she…”
Twilight broke down into silence. Tears welled in her eyes at the horrible memory of watching her friend taken and turned against her. She still couldn’t believe Rainbow was gone. Rarity moved forward and put a hoof around Twilight to comfort her.
“Princess, do you think two elements will be enough to undo whatever spell was cast on Celestia?” asked Rarity.
“No,” said Luna flatly. “With so few of the elements, I do not expect it will. Even with all six I am unsure they would have the power to change what has happened here.”
“Well, we should still try,” said Twilight softly, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Ready Pinkie?”
“Yep!” cried Pinkie with an enthusiastic bounce.
Twilight let her eyes close, willing her element to work. The gem in the golden tiara began to glow with powerful swirling magic. Both she and Pinkie Pie were lifted off the ground as Twilight activated the elements of harmony. But Twilight could already tell that something was wrong.
The two gems blazed with light but as they did the unsettling feeling in the room surged forward. Twilight suddenly felt icy cold. She let out a gasp and her frozen breath misted up into the air once more. The energy of the elements continued to pulse around them, filling the air with light, but the glow was dull and weak.
A small, faint rainbow slowly extended out from Twilight’s element. However, it had not gone more than a few hooves before it faded away. The light around Twilight and Pinkie winked out of existence and they tumbled down to the ground.
Neither of them moved and Celestia remained exactly as she was, frozen in terror.
“Twilight! Pinkie!” cried Applejack, hurrying to her friends. She reached out a hoof and touched Twilight, but pulled it back with a yelp.
“What’s wrong?” cried Trixie.
“They’re cold!” exclaimed Applejack. “Freezin cold! Somepony give me a hoof we have to get them out of here!” All of the ponies, except Trixie and Luna, hurried forward. They pulled Twilight and Pinkie across the smooth marble floor, back towards the entrance.
Both ponies appeared to be unconscious but alive. Twilight and Pinkie were shivering uncontrollably on the floor.
“What’s wrong with them!” cried Spike in concern. “Twilight! What’s wrong!” begged the baby dragon.
“They seem to be drained of energy,” said Luna curiously. She moved forward and lowered her horn over Twilight. Now that they were further away from Celestia, magic appeared to be working once more. The princess’s horn glowed with warmth. “The elements were unable to pull magic from the æther so they drew it from the bearers instead.” Rarity looked troubled by this suggestion but said nothing.
“It didn’t work…” whispered Twilight softly. Everypony let out a sigh of relief as color began to return to Pinkie and Twilight. “How could the Elements of Harmony not work?”
“Well, we do only have two of them,” answered Fluttershy. “Maybe that just isn’t strong enough?” None of the ponies had an answer. The elements hadn’t just failed, they had completely backfired.
Twilight and Pinkie got back to their hooves.
“Come, we should not linger here,” said Luna at last. Her eyes flicked back to Celestia. “There are other more important matters we must attend to.” The friends looked surprised by this announcement.
“More important?” asked Twilight in confusion. “What could be more important than Celestia?”
“I will explain on the way,” said Luna. “Come.” She began to trot off. The other’s had little choice but to follow. They had not gone far when the question that was burning at the front of Twilight’s mind made its way forward. It had been something she’d wanted to ask ever since Luna had appeared but she hadn’t had the opportunity to ask it until now.
“Princess Luna,” asked Twilight. “There is still one thing I don’t understand.”
“One thing?” asked Spike.
“In your letter,” continued Twilight, ignoring Spike’s comment, “why didn’t you just tell me what happened to Princess Celestia? What happened to all of Canterlot?”
“Would telling you their fate have aided you in your journey?” replied Luna, not looking back at Twilight and not stopping as she led them on towards some unknown destination.
“No, I suppose...” began Twilight but Luna interrupted her.
“Would knowing what had happened to all of Canterlot have made your trials easier?” continued Luna. This time she spared a half glance back at Twilight.
“Not really…” replied Twilight, her ears turning down slightly and her steps slowing a little.
“I told you what you needed to hear,” explained Luna calmly. “Not what you wanted to know. I needed you and your friends to be focused, not fearful. I needed your mind to be sharp and full of wit, not snared in trauma. I needed you to be in the now, instead of dwelling in the past on something you cannot change.” Twilight looked down at the ground, feeling a little ashamed.
“Now, you must face the truth,” continued Luna, her attention straight ahead. “And I wonder if you can accept it as I have. Or if you will be strong enough to do what must be done.”
“What truth?” asked Applejack.
“My sister is beyond our help,” answered Luna flatly.
“No! I don’t accept that! We can change her back!” exclaimed Twilight defiantly. She lifted a hoof and tapped the tiara of Harmony atop her head. “Uh, as soon as we find the rest of them that is…
“And Rainbow Dash…” added Fluttershy. Twilight looked away, sadness in her eyes at the mention of her lost friend.
“Your dedication to my sister is… astounding,” said Luna. “Perhaps you are correct and the curse upon her and all of Canterlot can be broken. However, they are the least of our worries at the moment. You see, I did not summon you here for Celestia.”
All of the friends looked shocked and confused at this announcement.
“Uh, what do you mean?” asked Fluttershy timidly.
“I brought you here for me,” admitted Luna. She came to a halt beside a large metal door. The dark grey iron was etched with the symbols of both the Sun and the Moon upon it. Twilight had never been to this room before. In fact, she didn’t even recognize this section of the castle.
“For… you?” asked Rarity, confused. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“I cannot move the sun,” explained Luna. “I have tried, but no matter my effort, it stays right where it is. I have tried and tried. But it is fixed in the sky, possibly forever.
“I believe my sister’s condition has affected more than just her body,” continued Luna. “If we cannot wake her to move the Sun, then perhaps we can use the Elements to…”
“…set the Sun?” finished Twilight uncertainly. Luna shook her head.
“No,” answered Luna. “As I have said, I do not think any force, save for my sister could move it now. As you have perhaps seen, I have lifted the Moon into the sky. My intention was to create a solar eclipse and shield Equestria from the Sun. Yet the Moon will move no further. It would seem my magic is simply not strong enough.”
“So, how are the Elements going to help?” asked Applejack. Luna looked away.
“I believe there is a pony that can help us,” said Luna. “Another with power over the Moon and a strength greater than my own.” Twilight’s eyes widened with terrible realization.
“No way!” said Twilight louder than she had meant. “You can’t possibly be asking us to…”
“Yes,” replied Luna seriously. “You must help me bring back Nightmare Moon.”