//------------------------------// // Dark Magic // Story: Duskfall // by Celestial Swordsman //------------------------------// Chapter 17 As preparations for the ritual were being made, Dusk could not shake the question she had been asked. “What happened to me?” she wondered. She reviewed the memory of the last sunrise again. In excruciating pain, Celestia had been ripped apart from the inside. She shrank away from the light, humiliated, and all of her strength and glory fell away from her and splattered around her. “Who did this to me?” The sun itself had seemed to betray her, and as the soupy flesh and pieces of her soul slipped off of her remaining form, the piercing rays ignited on her skin. She was quickly free of its grip as the terrible light fell back to where it came, and she raced to the bath to extinguish her burning body. The fire on the outside was put out, but now she considered her shedding of ash and the embers that tormented her inside. She was still slowly burning alive. “I’m dying!” she realized with a start. The sun was not solely responsible for her condition; she had been haunted for days. Whatever had struck her on the balcony had been building inside her for some time. All of her cherished pride, hatred, and lust had turned to self-loathing, regret, and despair. She knew herself a thousand years long enough to know that those were not her natural thoughts; from whom they had come and gained such fatal power she could not tell. She certainly did not think her sister was capable of such subtle and potent magic, nor had she felt Luna’s presence. Certainly if she had done it, she should have been better prepared for war. Moreover, she obviously wanted the sun in the sky, and spent her time counteracting her own darkness. The offerings were gathered and Spike drew up quietly beside the General, who was still staring at Dusk as if it was a form of meditation. The little dragon snuck a finger onto the golden armor and passed it over an indentation from a bullet. “Badass,” he muttered. Twilight ordered, “It’s time for all of you to leave.” “I want to be here when she comes back,” General Armor protested. “I need to introduce the shadow sprite to the subject,” Doctor Sparkle explained. “If you would like to be chosen, you could stay, but I suggest you leave me to my work,” she threatened. “You can join me before I start the main spell.” Spike and the analysts already understood, and gladly retreated. General Armor waited almost awkwardly until the others had left. “Take care of yourself, Twily.” She froze. She had wanted a sign of concern or care from him, but he had picked a fine time. “If you are worried about losing me to the shadows, you’re about a year late.” He seemed as though he would reply, as though it would be important; but he didn’t. Dusk knew he could say the same thing back to her, but only if he had come to terms with himself. On his way out, he stepped in between the magician and Dusk. Blocked from Twilight’s view, he tapped his bladed horn on that of the tiny alicorn and whispered insistently to Celestia, “I need you. But if you can hear anything, remember this: you need me.” Dusk couldn’t help flinching away slightly from the contact. As he moved on and the doors were sealed, she was greatly relieved that she was left alone with Twilight and not him. Her student beckoned to the middle of the offering pool. Dusk obliged as she began to grasp the opportunity the situation afforded. She waded uncomfortably through the cold water and took her seat facing the enchanter’s dais. She was now in an appointment with Twilight and only Twilight. If there was any sympathy to be had, it would be from her. The magician looked to each lamp on the wall and extinguished it until full blackness covered the room. She sat and communed with esoteric forces, murmuring foreign phrases. The vocalizations were not for the benefit of outside listeners but because the conversation inside was so fervent that it was not wholly contained. Twilight projected an eerie, half-visible glow. Dusk sat and bowed her head meekly. “Twilight Sparkle,” she whispered sweetly. Twilight fell silent and opened her eyes. That was exactly what she hoped to hear, said just that way, but she had thought to hear it after her work was completed. “It’s me Twilight,” Dusk whispered again. Twilight matched her low tone, but could not help a small exclamation. “Celestia! I’m here, I’ll take care of you.” “Of course you will,” the little one said, striving for her old mellifluous voice through her scratchy throat. “Do you trust me?” “Of course, Celestia, I always have,” Twilight assured. “Please do one thing for me,” Dusk asked of her faithful student. “Anything,” Twilight replied automatically, but experience cautioned her. Dusk looked up and met her friend’s gaze. “Please heal my body and restore my magic, just don’t change my mind,” she requested urgently. Doctor Sparkle objected, “But Princess, your consciousness is the gateway to the rest of you, that’s just how it works. What was wrong with you before?” Dusk ignored the charged question and pressed further. She drooped her ears and concluded wistfully, “Then don’t change me at all.” “Why not?” the magician inquired. “What was wrong with you before?” she demanded firmly. Dusk lowered her head again and confessed, “Everything. I was horrible.” Doctor Sparkle’s purple brow furrowed as her suspicions were realized. “Now, Celestia,” she rebuked, “you are obviously confused. I don’t know what they did to you, but they must have filled your head with lies. Nightmare Moon herself might have corrupted you with her deceiving influence.” Frustrated by her own myths, Dusk corrected in her own voice, “There is no Nightmare Moon. You defeated her! You should know better.” Twilight raised her eyebrows and accused, “There you are, impostor spirit. That is exactly why I will fix your mind. If you’re not our Celestia, you’re not our Princess.” “No! Please stop!” Dusk pleaded. “I’m not your Celestia. I’m Dusk, I’m different. Please, don’t—“ she fumbled for an expression for her threatened identity, “—kill me.” Twilight brushed off the appeal, “Nonsense, I’m going to make you better. Now be quiet and let me introduce you.” The magician plunged back into her summoning spell. The eerie glow collected around the dark practitioner’s horn. As she cast a pink light around it, her own energy merged with jagged bands of black light. Doctor Sparkle kept careful hold of the unnatural plasma as she rose to her hooves. She leaned forward and released a bolt of dark lighting. The sprite slithered through the air and circled Dusk. As it came back around in front of her, it plunged into her eyes. She gave a startled yelp as the icy presence coursed through her body. Her muscles seized up as the agonizing frost explored her flesh. It crept back up her spine and pooled in her brain, where it ripped open all of her memories. Flashing images called forth emotions as the thing studied the ill humors that she had only partially lost. She almost collapsed forward as it rushed out of her and returned to the magician who had called it. “That was quick,” Doctor Sparkle remarked. “Have you met before?” Dusk growled at her tormentor until the pieces of malice left behind from the thing’s inquest could be returned to their home in her subconscious. They did, however, give her an idea. “Fuck sympathy!” she thought. “It’s time to give her a preview.” Suddenly assertive, she leaned toward Twilight and spread her wings behind her. “So you want Celestia back, do you?” she demanded loudly. Twilight was confused but unintimidated. “Do you want to make me proud?” the alicorn sneered. “I was always proud of you. I was proud that I tricked you so completely. You thought you were the do-gooder servant of a kind and gracious ruler, while I stalked you like a wolf. I’ve never seen a unicorn so smart and so blind. Your life was my best joke.” Twilight held her ground and returned a despising look. “All those years you researched friendship were so useless,” Dusk or Celestia continued. “It was so hard to pretend to be sad when all your pathetic friends left you—I wanted you for myself. I never let you fall in love. Did you think it was just coincidence that every colt that got interested in you disappeared? You are so gullible!” “Don’t talk about my friends,” Twilight warned. “Colts didn’t get interested in me anyway,” she retorted lamely before doubt entered her mind. “Not very much.” “What was I supposed to do with all that shit about kindness, generosity and stuff?” Dusk continued Celestia’s rant, “I burned every report you sent me.” Doctor Sparkle’s jaw dropped at the thought of losing years of research. “That’s not true, the Princess assured me—“ “I assured you that the ghost of your mother would make you feel better.” The gray one continued her aggressive confession, “Why do you really think I assigned you to dark magic? I was hoping some evil spirits could cure you of all that unbearable harmony. Sure enough, give you a budget and some time alone in the dark and soon you are killing on command.” “Don’t you dare mention my mother.” Twilight deflected, “Those test subjects were guilty of horrible crimes. We did what we had to do for Equestria.” She wondered why she was still listening to this decepticon. Dusk pushed further, “Of course they were guilty, guilty of displeasing me! Rationalization is the key to genocide, my little demon. Do you want Celestia? Celestia doesn’t want you. Did you like those special little touches? They’ll run out soon. I already realized you’re too powerful to risk getting you in bed like I did with most of my other appointments. You’re too powerful to live. After the war is over, I’ll put you through the rites of Kal Mortis and feast on your energy—that’s the only part of you I’m interested—“ Dusk was suddenly cut short. “SHUT UP!” Twilight screamed. She strangled Dusk with her mind and levitated her into the air. Twilight’s eyes filled up with crackling black energy. “Maybe I am cured of mercy,” she fumed in a distorted voice. Dusk frantically clawed at her throat as her dark disciple used every last ounce of restraint not to crush it completely. Twilight waited till Dusk was almost unconscious before dropping her back to the hard stone. Both of them gasped for breath; Twilight Sparkle cleared her eyes as she fought to repossess her own mind. “You’re lucky—“ she panted, “I need you alive.” They both recovered for a moment. “That’s Celestia,” Dusk wheezed, “if you bring her back…” “I’ll have some questions for her, but you...” Twilight lowered her horn at the limp subject, “You don’t talk.” Dusk tried to repeat her warning, but found her vocal cords immobilized. Twilight turned and walked to the door, where she signaled for her assistant. Spike slipped inside and closed the door behind him. “What happened to you?” he asked, equally surprised and concerned. “I had another episode,” she confessed. “Get me a small dose of the halicosis antidote.” Seeing a question on his face, she clarified, “Yes, the little blue pill.” “Are you sure you’re okay to go on with this?” Spike checked. “I’m fine,” she responded impatiently, “Just get me that blue pill. Don’t get Armor quite yet.” Spike was still doubtful, but nodded and was about to leave on errand. Twilight put out a hoof to stop him. She looked back at Dusk, who lay pleading with her eyes and mute lips. The little dragon was kept in suspense for a long moment. “Yeah?” he asked. Twilight whispered something in his ear. “Really?” he said, scratching his head. She nodded, and he promptly retired. He soon returned with precious cargo. She took the pill immediately. The second item was a tiny red gem which she hid on her person.