//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: The Sun Won't Come Home // by bahatumay //------------------------------// Fifteen years ago... Luna looked at the ground and felt fear clench her chest again. Sombra’s taint spread even faster than before, spreading and consuming everything in its path. Dark clouds gathered, and heavy rain fell over the darkened areas. She lit her own horn to cast a protective shield behind the fleeing crystal ponies, but the shields she cast soon fizzled, falling victim to the growing taint. They needed to attack the source, and fast. “How long until the elements arrive?” she asked. “Within the hour,” Celestia responded, eyes flicking wildly over the landscape. “That is not enough time!” Luna cried. “If the empire becomes completely corrupted, even we together will not be able to save it!” Celestia took a deep breath, then exhaled. “Then I will go. Stay here. I will face him myself.” “Celestia, art thou mad?” Luna gasped. “The odds are strongly stacked against thee!” Celestia chuckled lightly even as she avoided another stroke of lightning. “I sent my student to Ponyville in the hopes that she would find five other ponies worthy of bearing the Elements of Harmony to cleanse you on the night of your return! You think I fear overwhelming odds?” Luna opened her mouth to protest, and then shut it again. She had a point. Celestia laughed, a mirthful sound which seemed very out of place amidst the thunder above and screams below. “Fare thee well, Luna!” “Wait! Celestia!” Luna cried. “You weren't serious?!” But she apparently had been, because Celestia spread her wings and flew towards Sombra's castle. Luna chased after her, and soon the two princesses were inside the castle, flying high to avoid the dark taint of the shadowy growing crystals. Sombra stood on an elevated platform, laughing maniacally as his eyes glowed with dark power. The taint looked like dark clouds swirling overhead and at his hooves. He turned and locked eyes with Celestia, and he growled menacingly and bared his teeth in challenge. Celestia looked over at her sister. “Luna?” she called. “What?” “Stand back.” Luna's eyes narrowed, then widened. “You're not...” But she was. Celestia lit her horn and her whole body glowed with golden light. Sombra licked his lips and lit his own horn, crouching as dark magic swirled around his own body. Celestia dove towards the ground as Sombra rode a crystal upwards. Luna could only stare in shock as the two spells collided. A massive shockwave was emitted from the clash of the two titans, sending buffeting winds coursing so strongly that Luna was thrown to the ground. She quickly stood up and shook her head to clear it. And when she did, her jaw dropped in shock. The taint had gone, revealing once again the sparkling surface of the Crystal Empire. But that was all that was right with the picture. In the center of where the battle had been was a huge, dark scar on the surface of the earth. A deep pit, the earth inside blackened by the sheer force of the energy, extended at least as wide as the area of the west garden at Canterlot. Black and gold flames burned along the trails extending outward from the epicenter. And neither her sister nor Sombra were anywhere to be seen. * * * * * * Present day... Spike ducked his head under the lintel and saw, once again, the form of Twilight Sparkle, writing furiously by candlelight. He sighed. “Twilight?” he called. She continued writing, almost like she hadn't heard him; but she soon found a stopping place, and looked up. “Yes, Spike?” “You missed dinner. Again.” He held up a plate loaded with food. “Brought you some, just in case.” “Thanks, Spike,” Twilight said. “What would I do without you?” Spike snorted as he set the plate down next to her. “You would have starved to death. Three times.” “I’m sure it’s never been that bad,” Twilight insisted. “Only on the first, fifth, and tenth anniversary of the Crystal Empire Incident,” Spike said. Twilight looked back down and continued writing, continuing to work out her calculations. Spike let her go for a while, but knew he had to speak again soon. She’d been obsessing with this for too long. “It’s been fifteen years, Twilight,” Spike said gently. “Maybe it’s time to let go.” “No, Spike!” Twilight hissed. “It’s not time. Celestia is out there, I just know it! Her energy signature was too strong to just be completely obliterated like that! She had to have dimension traveled. The spells ripped a hole in the fabric of time and they were pulled through. That's the only explanation.” “You’ve worked on this on and off for years. What makes now any different?” “I’m so close this time! I just know it!” “If I had a ruby for every time you said that, I’d be the size of Canterlot Castle,” Spike retorted. “You’re killing yourself here, Twilight.” Twilight flapped her wings demonstratively. “A little hard to do that, Spike.” “You’re doing it anyway,” Spike said. He rested a claw on her shoulder near the base of her neck. “Please, Twilight.” “No, Spike. I have to do this.” “Then you leave me no choice.” Spike clenched his fist and twisted his claw. Twilight’s eyes rolled towards the back of her head and then she collapsed on her desk. Spike chuckled as he scooped her up and carried her back to her room. “I’ll have to thank Shining for that one,” he muttered. * * * Spike awoke to the sound of a massive explosion. Instinctively, he looked around, an instinctive inner need to protect his hoard surfacing in his mind. Right now, his hoard consisted of Twilight Sparkle. Who was currently not in her bed. Spike sprinted down to the only other place she could be. He mentally prepared himself to break down the door of her laboratory, but to his surprise, it was already open, and hanging by only one hinge. He ducked under the doorway and pulled up short in shock. Thick smoke billowed out as gold and black flames flickered on the ground. Shards of chalkboards and furniture littered the room. One of the remnants on the wall showed a complicated equation with three lines underneath the final answer—Twilight’s personal indication of success. Spike looked over it and tried to follow along. It made no sense to him, but it seemed that she was trying to fire two spells at once. One seemed to follow the normal light strings of magic, but the other seemed to be using pathways he didn't understand. Even the words on the board themselves looked sickly and greenish, as if they knew the dark power they contained. He took a step back and hung his head. To his surprise, he saw an envelope addressed to him, sitting on the ground, charred around the edges. He slit it open with a single claw and pulled the letter out. “Dear Spike: That nerve pinch hasn’t worked on me in years. Sorry about tricking you like that. Shining had to learn that from somewhere, you know. But Spike, I figured it out. After I calculated which spells they were likely casting, I just needed to find a way to get the two of them to impact at the right angle and make sure I was in the right position. And I think I succeeded. If you’re reading this message and my spinal column isn’t currently hanging from the chandelier-” Spike quickly looked up, but to his relief, the golden chandelier was swinging gently and was spinal column-less (and incidentally, glass-less as well). He looked back down, “-then I’ve succeeded. I’ve entered another dimension to get Princess Celestia back, and I won’t be back until I find her and bring her home.” He looked up and felt his eyes react as the smoke got into them. The sensation grew even stronger as he looked down and finished the letter. “I love you, Spike. I’ll be home soon with Celestia. Love, Twilight Sparkle.” He could only stare blankly, tears trickling down his muzzle, even as fireponies and emergency crews arrived with their cooling spells and water hoses.