Chapter II: The Dead - Part II
The Sun Whispers Your Name
by Mystic
Chapter Two – The Dead
Part Two
The river of moonlight flowed underneath Twilight ferociously, churning with a great noise that gurgled thickly. Her hooves rang out loudly on the cobbles, and she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of movement on the other side. If the dream pony was right, then Luna should be somewhere in here. It was a good thought, but the dream pony also had offered her a warning, and it rang within her mind with every step.
Once she was firmly back on the cool, damp earth, Twilight set out into the forest. The mountain seemed closer now, which gave the unicorn some encouragement. At least this wasn’t a dream world where no matter how far you walked, everything stayed far away.
Looking around, Twilight could see that on this side, the forest was slightly different. While the trees still looked like the same species, several of them were covered in low-lying branches that reached out like skeletal fingers. There was undergrowth here too; small colourless and scraggly bushes grew close to the tree trunks, their bodies obscured by the fog. Even the mist was different. There were more tendrils of black coiling through the white on this side.
There was something else too… Twilight tried to work out what it was… It was silent. She frowned; it shouldn’t be silent. The unicorn turned around and paused. The river and the bridge was nowhere to be seen… She hadn’t walked that far, had she?
A sudden flash of movement caused Twilight to jerk her head to the side. It had looked like a shadow, not unlike the one she had seen with the red eyes. But this one had been moving and fast.
She peered into the gloom, trying to see anything that she hadn’t seen already. The trees still stood silently, watching her closely, and the fog still sulked along the forest floor.
There was another flash of darkness, this time on the opposite side. Twilight swung round to face it, her heart beating loudly inside her chest.
“Who’s there?” Twilight called out.
A soft growl filled the air, answering her call. Twilight’s eyes went wide and her blood turned to ice as another pair of red eyes open to her left, staring straight at her. This time, they didn’t stay still for long, and the shadowy body they were attached to began to stalk closer.
A quick snapshot of movement caused Twilight to look to the right. Two more sets of red eyes greeted her, also coming closer, also growling menacingly.
She looked back and saw that two more had joined the first on the left. Five sets of eyes, five rapidly approaching shadows.
“Stay back!” Twilight yelled. “Stay… back…”
The first set of eyes growled more loudly and bared its teeth. Twilight gasped as a set of glistening ceramic-looking fangs revealed themselves, looking sharp as knives. The head they were attached to drew close enough for Twilight to make out its body. It was a wolf, a gigantic wolf constructed out of… shadow. Everything but its teeth and its eyes danced like smoke, tendrils leaching out only to fall back in line with the rest of the structure. The red eyes and glistening teeth glared at her, and the wolf pounced.
Reacting on pure instinct, Twilight threw up a purple force field, and the shadow wolf slammed into it, temporarily knocked to the ground. The other wolves suddenly howled a blood-curdling cry that threatened to paralyse Twilight with fear.
“Be strong. Be brave,” her friends whispered simultaneously.
Twilight ran. She threw every ounce of strength she possessed into her legs and she ran with everything she had.
The unicorn tore through the trees, ducking and weaving to avoid the low lying branches. She was vaguely aware of the shadow wolves spreading out behind her, hunting her through the forest.
A branch snapped across her face, and Twilight winced as she felt a line that felt like fire being drawn along her cheek. She was dimly aware of some sort of moisture seeping from the cut, but she tried to ignore it.
One of the wolves came at her from the side. She threw up another barrier, it and her horn bathing the trees in a sparkling purple light. She felt the wolf impact against her shield through her magic and heard it fall against a tree with a loud thump. Twilight pressed onwards, ignoring the growing burning sensation in her legs.
The wolves almost surrounded her now. Another one got close, snatching at her legs, and Twilight forced it away with another magical blast. She could hear the others howling just behind her or on her sides. They were howling and not running out of breath. They were coordinating, but they weren’t all attacking…
Suddenly, it dawned on her. She was being herded! Another wolf came too close, and so Twilight went through the motions, forcing the creature away.
But where? Where were they leading her?
A louder, urgent, howl suddenly cut through the air, and the others started to come closer. Maybe she wasn’t being led anywhere, after all. Twilight tried to focus on running and placing magical barriers rather than the bloodthirsty wolves made out of shadow behind her. Chasing her. Hunting her.
Her legs were burning, and her breathing was becoming shallower. Each gasp seemed to deliver less and less relief, and lethargy began to spread through her limbs.
Still the wolves grew closer.
A sudden flash up ahead almost caused Twilight to stumble in surprise. She watched as it was followed by another, and then another. Each one was a mix of blue and white, and they shone through the trees like a beacon.
The wolves howled, and Twilight could almost feel them running just behind her, their paws hitting the ground in a sickening rhythm with her own hooves. She sprinted towards the flashing lights, putting everything into the dash for survival.
There was another flash, this one bigger than the last, and it was followed by an explosion. Twilight felt the shockwave as its remnants washed over her, blowing her mane about her face. The lead wolf howled again, and suddenly the others howled back in response.
Twilight could barely believe it; the cries had stopped moving. She allowed herself a quick glance over her shoulder, and sure enough, the wolves had stopped. The five of them watched her with bared teeth and glowing eyes, snarling in frustration. The lead wolf threw its head back and howled to the moon. When it landed, it looked Twilight in the eyes…
…and it smiled, its eyes glinting maliciously.
Twilight turned to see a massive shape reveal itself through the trees. Suddenly, she burst out into a clearing, the middle of which was filled with the ruin of a small stone temple, green and eaten at by moss. On the other side of the collection of crumbling walls and decaying stone pillars, Twilight could see bright flashes erupting forth into the night sky.
A shape launched itself into the sky above the temple, her wings beating powerfully to keep her body airborne. Her horn crackled with terrible energy as she sent down another bolt of blue light down onto the ground. Twilight felt the earth shudder beneath her hooves as the subsequent explosion tore through the air.
“Luna!” Twilight screamed, relief flooding her body with a gentle warmth. “Princess! It’s me!”
The great alicorn turned, her eyes blazing white with power. “Twilight Sparkle!” she cried, rushing down to meet her.
Twilight almost collapsed, gasping weakly for breath against a stone pillar in the middle of the ruin as the Princess landed next to her.
“You are ok!” she shouted, unable to conceal her relief.
“Of course… I’m… alive…” Twilight said, panting. “What are… you… fighting…?”
Luna’s face grew dark. “Best acquire your breath swiftly, Twilight Sparkle. I sent them away, but they will be back in a few moments. I... I cannot seem to hold them.”
“What will be back?” Twilight asked, completely confused at the Princess’ rushed response, but then she froze, her eyes locked behind Luna.
The Princess turned. “Yes. Those.”
The skeleton lumbered towards the two mares slowly. It stared at them with empty eyes, the hollow sockets fixated upon the living. Twilight could see the shadow writhing inside its body, holding the entire bleached structure together.
The skeleton was quickly joined by another one, and then another one as they stepped out from behind crumbling walls, all of them heading heedlessly towards the two ponies.
Luna leaped into action. Her wings spread out, and she summoned her magic. Her horn erupted in an explosion of blue light, and a shockwave of energy ripped through the air towards the skeletons. It struck their bodies furiously, tearing the bones to pieces and sending them flying backwards.
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, but Luna did not lower her guard. She kept the magic flowing through her, almost encasing her entire body in a blue-white halo.
And then Twilight saw why. Tendrils of shadow began to crawl along the broken bones, dragging them together into a pile. Twilight watched in silent horror as the shadow literally rebuilt the skeletons, forcing them to stand once more.
“Please rest quickly, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna’s voice was low and urgent, struggling to hold itself in check. “We will force these ones back towards the forest. The centre of this ruin has an elevated altar on which we can stage our defence. Follow me!”
Twilight followed as Luna swept forward, blasting the skeletons apart with waves of energy. She used her magic to blow their remains out of the temple and back towards the forest. Soon they had cleared the temple, and the two ponies watched as the skeletons reassembled themselves in the trees.
“Why can’t we leave?” Twilight asked.
“I think this place may hold some clues, but I cannot find time to search. We need this area clear.”
Twilight looked around at the crumbling temple. They were standing on an elevated dais surrounded on all sides by a small set of steps. A series of low, broken walls formed a small compound behind them, a mossy green colour eaten away at by time. In front of them were nine pillars set in three lines of three. Perhaps they had held up a roof, but if they had, it was now completely gone, leaving the front of the temple open to the forest.
The skeletons were shambling their way back onto the temple grounds, staring with unblinking eyes, their hoof-steps echoing loudly into the night air.
“Twilight Sparkle… I am at pains to ask this of you, but I need you to fight. We have to crush them so they cannot return.”
“What?! Can’t we get them to stop some other way? Can’t we try talking to them?” Twilight asked, staring at the Princess pleadingly.
Luna’s eyes flashed desperately. “I have tried, Twilight. They have not the ears to hear nor the mind to comprehend. We must apply… other means.”
With that, Luna’s sent three bolts of energy striking towards the skeletons. They struck them with a crackling hiss, tearing the bones to pieces in the process.
The skeletons fell, and the shadow began to repair them.
“Uhh, Princess?” Twilight called out.
“Yes, Twilight?” Luna replied, sending another bolt of energy at a skeleton that had appeared from behind a pillar.
Twilight pointed toward the forest. There, their bodies wreathed in fog, were a host of over twenty skeletons, all of them moving, and far quicker than the ones they had now.
Luna’s jaw hung limp for a second, but she quickly snapped it shut with a frown. “You know how to make a force field, correct?” Twilight nodded. “War magic, then?”
Twilight looked away, somehow managing to feel a little embarrassed despite the circumstances. War magic was not something in the prescribed reading lists in schools, or any other institution the kingdom over. “Maybe the theory…” She remembered the bolts of red light she had used during the royal wedding. They had been dialed down at the time, but the idea behind anything larger, more complex or dangerous was essentially the same. She had read the books, the dusty tomes dedicated to a branch of magic everypony else seemed to have forgotten, from a time Twilight couldn’t locate in the history books.
“Use what you know,” was all the Princess said, her voice hard as steel. “You will need it.”
With that, Luna took to the sky, circling above the battlefield. Twilight watched as the first wave of skeletons came running up to the stone plaza, ducking behind pillars to limit Twilight’s visibility. A few fell to the ground in a smouldering heap as Luna strafed the area with a series of magical explosions, but a few made it through, sprinting straight towards the bookish unicorn.
“Your magic, Twilight!” Luna shouted, unable to draw a line of sight. “Use it!”
Twilight stared straight into the eyes of the skeleton nearest to her. The shadow underneath flexed to keep the structure rigid as the bones jolted while it ran. When it was about ten feet away, its legs coiled like springs, readying itself to launch across the stairs to reach her.
Twilight saw, and Twilight reacted. She reached deep inside her subconscious, feeling the wealth of power lingering just inside. She allowed it to fill her being, and her horn crackled with violent energy. In theory, the spells of war magic were easy. Magic was a force, and forces could be used to apply heat, electricity, or energy itself. Most magic controlled those energies into safe, practical applications. War magic was simply the opposite; it was uncontrolled power controlled to destroy. It was almost too easy. She funnelled the power inside of her, willing the magic into a single beam of destruction, making the magic she used during the changeling attack pale in comparison.
The skeleton jumped, throwing itself toward Twilight like a bullet out of a gun, its mouth reaching for her neck.
Twilight released the spell.
It exploded from her horn like a bolt of lightning, striking the skeleton in the chest. There was an explosion as a small ball of energy formed, sending a shockwave of air flying out across the ruins. The skeleton was torn asunder by the magic, the force sending its remains scattering out in multiple directions.
Twilight stood, panting, staring at her work with horror. The bones of the skeleton lay still, the shadow struggling to put such damage back together again. It would succeed, but it would take time.
She was barely aware of Luna flying above her, sending barrages of magical energy down upon the waves of encroaching skeletons. She could only see the rest that had gotten through Luna’s defences, and they were sprinting towards her.
Twilight reached into her magic, and readied herself again. They had to stop eventually. They couldn’t keep coming forever. Could they?
Over the next few minutes, Twilight and Luna fought off wave after wave of skeletons. While they learned that destroying them completely was impossible, they could do enough damage to individual ones to delay their regeneration significantly. Soon the temple and the clearing surrounding it were covered in bones, tendrils of shadow linking them together, slowly dragging them towards the main body.
While they destroyed many, more kept coming from the trees. They were an unstoppable wave, and even if they crushed one enough to delay its healing by several minutes, two more would take his place in that time.
To make matters worse, Twilight could only remember a limited number of spells, and all of them were too localised to do any real damage to more than one skeleton at a time. She couldn’t create the missiles of magic that Luna could, spraying the ground with blue-white fire. She couldn’t cast out balls of electricity that tore the monsters apart.
Luna just darted around the tree line, struggling to keep the bulk of the attackers at bay while Twilight mopped up the survivors. More than once the unicorn was forced to summon force fields and blasts of air to keep their attackers away from her position.
A sudden hiss filled Twilight’s hearing, and a red bolt streaked past her, striking the wall behind the unicorn with a small explosion, showering her with debris. Blasting another skeleton, Twilight peered into the forest, and her jaw dropped.
The trees were filled with a small host of unicorn skeletons, their horns encased in shadow, generating crackling red energy. Twilight watched as one sent another bolt lancing towards her, one that she just managed to stop with a shield.
“Luna!” Twilight shouted! “There are unicorns in the trees!”
“I see them, Twilight Sparkle!” Luna cried back, sweeping towards them in an impressive dive. Her horn glittered with power, ready to unleash it upon the skeleton unicorns.
Suddenly, shapes materialised out of the sky, racing toward the Princess hungrily. Twilight could only watch with icy fear as they neared Luna, rushing forward on wings of darkness.
“Princess! Watch out!”
Luna turned to see the first of the pegasus skeletons slam into her side with a tremendous force that sent the Goddess reeling. Others circled ahead, carried on wings constructed out of shadow, the darkness filling the joins between the bones on their wings.
The Princess struggled to recover from the force of the blow, but she sent out a wave of energy to knock her attacker away. She fell into a nosedive into the tree-line, forcing the skeletons to pull up and abandon their all-out attack. Luna pulled up and soared between the trees, often tucking her wings in with unnatural agility to avoid hitting the trunks. As to how she didn’t lose any lift, Twilight had no idea.
The Princess began to glow with an aura of power, the light forming a circle around her body. She swept down on the unicorns, sending shafts of magic to tear them apart. Each beam exploded on contact, tearing the trees near them to pieces in the process.
Luna pulled up, and the pegasi were waiting for her. Then again, Luna was ready for them too. The first two swung at her from either side, charging the Goddess with a blatant disregard for their own safety. Luna twisted in the air, rapidly changing direction while erecting glittering force fields as extra protection. As she did, crackling bolts of energy streaked along her horn, and she directed these to blast those pegasi nearest her. The skeletal remains fell limply from the sky, falling to smoking, smouldering pieces on the way down.
While the Princess engaged in a fierce battle with both the unicorn spell casters and the pegasi, Twilight suddenly found herself faced with almost the entirety of the earth pony skeletons.
They charged at her with fury, and the shadows writhed in their skulls, forcing it out of their eye sockets, noses and mouths.
The base of Twilight’s horn had begun to throb, and she was covered with a light sheen of sweat. She took a deep breath, and with a soft, unconscious snarl, dove back into the seemingly endless pool of magic within her. She let the power fill her, and she embraced it. As the bolts of energy left her horn, she forgot about her headache. As the air rippled with magical explosions that sent bones and stone flying across the room, she forgot about the sweat covering her body. And as the skeletons got too close, and she deflected them with magic and the adrenaline coursed through her body, she forgot about her fatigue.
What’s more, the magic was not hard to learn. She probed with what she knew was theoretically possible, and it reacted for her. It guided her power almost out of its own free will, showing her how to use it – showing her how to destroy. Flickers of shadow danced around her, and she ignored them as best she could.
Two skeletons tried to attack simultaneously, one from the right, one from the left. Twilight reacted, and with a cry, wrapped their bodies in vines of shimmering purple and tore them apart. The bones scattered around her, many of them of them splintering into pieces. Twilight began to smile...
Then she froze, completely horrified.
The battlefield was now covered in a thin haze of smoke. It hung in the air like a bad feeling – the magics sent flying through it illuminating it in terrifying flashes of colour. Twilight looked out over the destruction, staring the piles of bones lying all around her, the shadow crawling pitifully in an attempt to fix the damage. The unicorn felt her eyes start to itch, and her stomach twisted inside her.
“No!” she yelled. “Stop! Stop! Stop!”
The skeletons just kept on coming, not hearing, not comprehending.
Twilight’s looked out on her attackers, and a wave of helplessness washed over her. She wanted to scream in frustration.
“STOP! STOP! STOP!”
As Twilight screamed, the light overtook her. Her mind shuddered as waves of uncontrolled power swept through her body, completely unbidden. But this time, it was not destructive. A massive wall of purple energy exploded from the unicorn, forming a barrier between her and the skeletons. Several of those closest slammed into it, unable to penetrate.
“Stop!” Twilight screamed, her voice magnified by the power coursing through every nerve in her body. “Please! Stop! Please!”
The skeletons kept on coming.
They sprinted headlong into the barrier, heedless of the obstruction. Twilight responded by channelling even more power through it, causing bolts of energy to explode outwards on contact.
The wave of dead just kept on coming.
An earth-rendering explosion ripped the air to pieces, and the world was suddenly transformed into a ball of blue and red light. Twilight, her eyes still under the effects of magical induced possession, stared at the destruction, seeing every terrible detail. She watched individual streamers of magic rip the very molecules in the air apart, hissing and crackling as they did.
And then she saw it.
The alicorn skeleton flew through the air on currents of shadow. The darkness literally coiled around the monster’s outstretched wings, the bleached frames held open above its body. A viciously shimmering glow of red covered its horn, but Twilight realised that meant one thing: it was levitating something.
The creature turned, and Twilight saw the item in its demonic red flame. A brutal sword of bone hovered near its head, the blade serrated and curved like a scimitar. The weapon was massive, well over six feet long and it swung through the air, parting the lingering magic from the explosion. Twilight saw Luna beyond, her hastily constructed shield falling as she dove to avoid the skeleton.
“LUNA!” Twilight screamed. “Watch out!”
The alicorn gave chase, covering its body in a circle of red light as it did. Luna flew between the trees, but the skeleton followed, blowing apart those which it could not dodge with magic or its sword.
Realising she wasn’t going to out-fly it that way, the Princess swept upwards and pivoted in the air to face the monster. The skeletal alicorn collided against her with a rippling explosion of power. The two alicorn’s bubbles of light hissed and sizzled every time they made contact.
Luna ducked and weaved through the air, trying to avoid the vicious swipes made by the skeleton and its sword. Whenever she could, she launched beams of light that exploded against the monster’s red shield.
Finally, the skeleton got lucky and its sword shattered Luna’s shield with a savage strike, the Goddess only just avoiding the blade itself. The creature took advantage of Luna’s weakness and shot a beam of light that hit her square in the chest. Luna cried out as she was sent flying backwards.
The skeleton pounced, soaring toward Luna with its sword raised in triumph.
But Luna stopped. She recovered, and with alarming agility, she pirouetted in the air and forced the skeleton back with a blast of magic.
The Goddess hovered in the air, her horn blazing brighter than the sun. Her body radiated power as the light swirled around her in thick tendrils of magic.
“Thou art a false god!” Luna screamed. Her own voice was magnified by magic, and her eyes shimmered with pure white light. “Thou hast no place here in this world!”
The Goddess of the Night swept the power surrounding her into a ball, holding it above her head. The magic crackled as it discharged streaks of lightning that danced above the alicorn, illuminating her mane in the darkness. “We cast thee back to the shadow!”
With a blinding flash, Luna sent the ball of energy speeding towards the skeletal alicorn. It threw up a shimmering red barrier in defence, and it cut at the magic with its sword... but it was no use. The crackling magic struck the creature with a force that ripped the trees beneath it to pieces, flattening the forest in a wave of power that rippled through the air. The night sky exploded into a torrent of white and blue light so intense that it blinded the stars. The temple, however, stood resolute, the magic passing through it harmlessly.
Twilight felt the magic strike her barrier with the force of an ursa major. She screamed in pain as the sheer power of the explosion started to tear her shield to pieces, assaulting her connection to the magic in the process. The skeletons outside never stood a chance, their bodies vaporising under the magical ruin wreaked by the Goddess of the Night.
Twilight held the barrier for as long as she could, but the magic was too strong. With a scream of pain, her force field fell, and the lingering magic sent her flying backwards into the wall.
As the explosion died away, and the light fell from the sky, Twilight struggled to raise her head. She coughed, her body screaming in protest to her every move. Luna still hovered in the air, still encased with energy. The alicorn skeleton lay on the ground in a smoking pile.
Luna seemed to look towards Twilight, and suddenly, all her magic vanished. The Princess dove down to the unicorn, her eyes wide and panicked.
“Twilight Sparkle! Twilight!”
“I’m… I’m ok, Princess,” Twilight said weakly. She offered a small smile.
“I am so sorry! I did not think!”
“No. Really, it’s fine. That was some impressive magic there, Princess.” Twilight stumbled to her hooves, determined to stand. She hurt, but she’d live. Nothing seemed to be broken, after all.
Luna suddenly looked away. “Yes, it-” She stopped.
Twilight looked around, trying to work out why the Princess had paused; all along the ground, the shadow was gaining momentum. Streamers of it raced along the stone and the earth, rapidly repairing the bones. Beyond them, in the remains of the trees, reinforcements were already beginning to arrive.
“Oh no…” Twilight whispered.
She peered around a pillar and saw exactly what she had been dreading. There, the shadow, with a final flourish and a flash of red light, finished putting the alicorn back together. It flexed its neck, and its horn burst back into life, holding its sword near its side again.
“No…” Twilight whispered again, her eyes widening in horror. “No…!”
Luna stared at the skeletons, her expression crushed. Her lower lip began to tremble as the monsters began to stand again, now led by the alicorn, its horn glowing in preparation.
“It cannot be…” Luna said, her voice numb and disbelieving. “It… cannot… be…”
“Princess…” Twilight said weakly. “Princess… I…”
The skeleton army started to advance as one, all of them staring with empty, pitiless eyes.
“It cannot be… These things… these monsters…”
Twilight watched as Luna’s expression started to change. Her eyes tightened and her mouth twisted into a snarl.
“They… Why… Why won’t thou die!” Luna screamed at the advancing army. “Why won’t your lives end!”
Suddenly, the skeletons stopped. They turned to Luna, their pitiless faces staring at the Princess passively. As one, they cocked their heads to the left, almost as if they were curious.
A wind started to grow through the battlefield, clearing away the smoke that still lingered from the fighting. It grew stronger and stronger as Twilight and Luna stared at the frozen army in complete confusion, their manes whipping about their heads.
Then, as one, the skeletons lowered their heads, and they began to disappear. Their bones started to unravel in the wind, transformed into dust as the wind tore through their bodies, ripping the shadow from them.
The two mares stared with frozen horror as the army dissolved in the breeze, their forms becoming vague and blurry as the wind continued to blow. Then, with a final gust, and a sudden howling cry from a wolf in the distance, they vanished completely, leaving nothing but empty space and destruction behind them. Even the fog was nowhere to be found, leaving the true extent of the ruin caused by Luna’s magic to become painfully obvious. The forest was decimated, the trees torn apart and uprooted, some of them still smouldering in the darkness. Even the earth had been torn up, scorched and scarred by unimaginable power.
But yet, the ruined temple was still perfectly intact.
Twilight stared, completely dumbfounded, while Luna’s jaw dropped.
“I…” she whispered… her voice shattered. “What happened?”
“I don’t know, Princess…” Twilight murmured back, both of them unable to look away from the emptiness in front of them. “I just don’t know…”
The two mares stood among the smoking ruins of the battlefield. Overhead, the moon stared down on the land. Twilight looked up and saw its dull surface, pocked-marked by a canvass of craters. If it had a face, Twilight couldn’t help herself from thinking that its expression would be one of sorrow. Next to the moon, the stars twinkled their agreement.
With a heaving sob, Luna hung her head and began to cry. The tears fell from her face and splashed on the stone beneath her as she fell to her knees, her mane covering her face.
Twilight rushed over to the Princess, holding her close gently with a foreleg.
“It’s ok, Princess,” Twilight whispered. “It’s ok.”
But the truth was, Twilight wanted nothing more than to cry herself. The dream world had tested her, and it was winning. Why was Celestia’s mind like this?
As always, my eternal gratitude to my editor, Sessalisk, without whom this story would be a bigger mess than what it already is.
Don't forget to rate the story, and let me know how you're finding it! Every bit of feedback helps.
Thank you for reading!
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Right, so presumably that was Celestia's deep despair at all those who have died while she's remained eternally the same.
>coma Celestia
>Luna sends Twilight into dreamscape
>First chapter IS NAMED "ETERNAL"
This all seems very familiar to me for some reason
scranton.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw1178_kyyla.jpg
What is this?
This is terrible.
Pff, you are a disgrace to authors everywhere.
There are too many HIE's, shipping's, crossovers, and troll fics.
There is NEVER enough epics.
YOU, my good sir earned my favorite.
Well, quite intriguing thus far.
Clearly we're dealing with facets of Celestia's mind made semi-sentient due to her emotion, power and age. The first one might have been pride, this one despair...I wonder what's next?
Anyway, keep it coming! We demand more!
Cheers
GM
725734
725766 Hehe, you're welcome! I hope you like them!
725773 The events in this story are original. Any resemblance to existing stories, epics or piece of shit HiE's are purely coincidental.
Haha, but seriously, while I do love Eternal, Apotheosis is probably the largest source of inspiration for this fic. A lot of the earliest conceptualisation for this fic was done before I read Eternal, but this project was put on the backburner while I worked on other stuff.
725791 pl.memgenerator.pl/mem-image/you-re-dead-to-me-pl-ffffff-1
725795 Thank you! Epics are my favourite type of stories, and one day I wanna write a good one! Haha.
725812 Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!
Awesomeness as always.
725833 Thank you!
725847
You are very welcome, but seriously... I was captivated throughout the story! The description, the characterisation... God, it's amazing!
725814 I thought this reminded me of Apotheosis!
God, the images this story paints in my head
It's so descriptive and, no other word suffices, epic; I can't wait to see where it goes next.
Great story! Cant wait for more!
Right. So lemme get this straight, Celestia controlling the sun has taken it's toll on Her and now she's either trapped in this "dreamscape" AKA in a coma. Then Twi and Luna go into the dreamscape and go through two different worlds, kinda like a video game. I like!
725791 and you sir are an ignorant ass
Sincerely the Doctor
New Chapters!
denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw4410-happy_pinkie2.gif
725734 Close. There is only 1 other Alicorn, and only 1 that was touched by the shadows. I think that army was meant to be Nightmare Moon's that Celestia fought, with the Alicorn being Nightmare Moon. So her deep despair over that fight with Luna 1000 years ago.
Awesome story, tho from what we have seen of the history, and what has happened to Celestia knowing it would happen soon... I think the darkness has touch Celestia now, and corrupting her like it did Luna. Luna is closer to the night, and darkness, and 'younger' as well, so easier to influence. Celestia tho, would take longer, much more longer to corrupt. 1000 years longer even, maybe.
727723 My thinking was to why they were all skeletons. Celestia's portrayed as a caring monarch (now diarch - a fun word), and one of the kinds of "loss" that's been related to immortality as a concept since the Epic of Gilgamesh is the loss of the ones you care for, as they expire and you do not. Possibly there's the addition of the Nightmare Moon memories to that (since she lost her sister, the one pony she thought she'd never have to) but it's all very metaphorical since it's inside her mind.
How they keep coming back would be how loss never goes away, and each new generation adds a layer to the hurt.
If you're thinking in terms of what made Celestia go catatonic in the first place, then possibly it's the result of whatever did it stirring up all these memories from where they're kept (normally not thought about).
OoO *Dies*
To... Awesome... *Dies from pure epicness*
Here, have a thumb up, and a gold star. I have no need for them. What would I do with a gold star anyways?
Very good. Interesting with the Alicorn skeleton. Very creepy.
725878 But the real question is whether it is actually death, or is just a representation of death constructed by the dreamworld?
726242 Haha, thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it!
726349 Thanks!
726593 Yup! That's pretty much it! And then crazy adventures ensue.
727489
728265 Haha, thanks for catching that! It's a shame Twilight wasn't game to taste the moonlight. She may have found her life extended!
728463 Haha, no idea, but I know I could certainly use one!
Thanks for reading, and I'm glad you're enjoying it!
728616 Heh. Creepy was definitely what I was going for. I'm glad you're enjoying the story!
728789 Yeah, once the idea was in my head it seemed too awesome to not include it, haha. Cool fact for you -- liquid moonlight repels the dead. That's why there is the river with all the skeletons on the other side! Thanks for reading!
728933 I'm thrilled to hear you're liking it so far! My version of Equestria's history is rather large in scope and probably a little different from what people might have seen before, so I'm glad people seem to be enjoying it. Don't worry, there is certainly more coming!
Thanks for reading!
Amazing! I think i'm beginning to notice a bit of pattern. Luna being epic was awesome! the imagery you used (as usual) was awesome. first two chapters Pride, and now remorse/despair?
Brilliantly done can't wait for more :D
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned not to buck with Princess Luna.
Twilight Sparkle
Lifting Shadows Off A Dream - Dream Theater
729361 Hehe. You think that's badass? Just you wait!
729683 Yup! Haha. Absolutely everything.
Thanks for reading!
730350 Oops! Thanks for catching that! Rest assured, it's fixed. I'm glad you're liking the story!
Luna is best gunship. Twilight is best turret.
I had Dragon Age's undead battle themes take over my head once the skeletons appeared: this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo3wXtt81vI and this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CinfnwJJWhg . Rather epic indeed, and the themes made it even more so.
From the very first sighting of them I felt that the skeletons are not going to be fought off and are there to 'corrupt' Luna and Twilight into doing something desperate to deal with them (uncontrolled destruction, abandoning peaceful solutions and wishing to exterminate them), and were going to disappear once it's done. Those skeletons would've been grinning on purpose when they disappeared, had they not been doing that by default.
Looking forward to more chapters!
729014 So is that a yes on the chairs?
730366 Hehe, I am a sucker for those kinds of tracks. Two Steps From Hell is an old favourite that I listened to a lot while writing this story!
Also, it's always nice to see a reader 'get' something -- you're pretty much spot on with the skeletons and the role they're playing. Mean little bastards, aren't they? But it begs the question, if they have been created like that within the dreamworld... then why?
Thanks for reading, and thanks for the comment!
731538 Death has no place on those chairs.
They're for something else entirely!
733947
So, if my suspicions are correct, there's a malevolent presence controlling the happenings in the dreamworld, manifesting through the wolves, the skeletons etcetera, and using rubberband difficulty (upping the difficulty level when Luna and Twi deal with the previous one). Does that mean that 'Shadow' rules, Celestia drools?
Can't wait to find out (or find more clues) in the next chapters!
>> Mystic oh shit!
734865 Explosions are my favourite! Haha. But seriously, I'm glad you're liking it! And I just realised you're on chapter 2. Oh Lunar. Full of action, you say? Heheh. You'll see.
735563 I think you might be surprised at just how soon those answers are coming, haha. This fic isn't terribly long. It is a novella, after all. I hope you like it!
733947 Gahh! The failure, it burns!
739157 Twilight knows who she trusts, and she trusts them completely. What kind of a friend would she be if she didn't?
And in this dreamworld, she needs all the friends she's got.
Okay, I take back what I said a couple chapters back about it feeling tedius--I guess it wasn't the lack of dialog, so much as the lack of action and changes in scenery. Either way, the pace has picked up, and it's awesome ^.^
Just wondering, but why is Princess Luna missing her wings in the picture?
743293 Haha, I'm glad you're liking it!
744058 You will have to ask the artist on that one! Haha, I hadn't even noticed it till now.
Can you give me a way to contact the artist? I'm writing a fanfiction myself, and I really like his art style. I am very interested in him being my artist. If you could give me any way to contact him I would really appreciate it.
The newest two chapters by the way were awesome!
749861 There should be a hyperlink to his DA in the author's notes in chapter 1
Fair warning, though, he is pretty busy at the moment; I'm already waiting for him to start on artwork for my next story, haha. Poor guy.
I'm glad you're liking the story, and thanks so much for the comment!
Alright thanks!
:)
Listening to She-Wolf by Mega death during the fight. Bad ass chapter man keep the story up man ,
good job
760164 Listening to badass music while writing those scenes is just way too much fun, haha. I'm glad you're enjoying it, and thanks for reading!
760426 I'm glad to hear you're liking it!
And don't worry, even if there aren't too many blatant answers, it is rarely overly complicated. If it seems like something, chances are it probably is, haha. Not to mention, this is a narrative universe I am only just starting to explore within my stories. There is a lot more coming from where this has that will only further elaborate upon details present here!
725791 i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/113/729/look-at-all-the-fucks-i-dont-give-theyre-just-falling-from-the-sky.jpg
I really enjoyed this one, though I have to have in second tab google translator... I.. For the people who actually live somewhere where they are using english, its easy but for me although I am good at english, this is... Not hard but there are plenty of words that I never saw. In almost every third or fourth sentence there is some word that I need to translate, though I get everything from context, still is better for me to actualy translate it. Atleast, I will learn few (few? its like atleast 20 words per chapter. Sorry for long post but I have to express myself.. Somehow.
Really nice writing of this story. Just added to my fav ones :)
778578 I normally speak English and I'v been learning new words too.
It looks like Luna and Twilight have entered... The Bone Zone.
So many skellies in this one - this chapter was certainly aptly named.