Eternal Twilight

by Squirrelloid

The Sun Also Rises

Dayspring bounded through the streets of Canterlot in the darkness before dawn. Few ponies were about so early, especially since Canterlot itself had little industry. Politics was its business; business that properly belonged to the evening and not the morning. This was a shame to Dayspring's thinking, because it meant so many of Canterlot's ponies missed the beautiful dawn.

This morning was different than usual. It wasn't just that she'd been invited to watch Twilight call the sun, which was exciting enough on its own. It certainly wasn't that being up before the dawn was unusual for her. That happened every day. She felt compelled to awake before daybreak. While other ponies might call it magic, the world just was that way for her. She had to greet the sun, just as simply as grass was green and the sky was blue.

And yet, magic was the difference today. Her horn had started glowing as she woke up. Was still glowing. Warm yellow light forced back the darkness in front of her as she careened towards the walled field where the palace had once stood. Still stood elsewhere. Using magic was not usual for her. Sure, she'd gained a cutie mark with a display of magical sympathy with the sun, but she couldn't actually do much with her horn, certainly not on demand, and that had been a special occasion worthy of a cutie mark no less. Not that the bright light illuminating her way was under her control, it just was. But then, today was a magical day. She was going to see Twilight call the sun.

She slowed to a trot as she approached the gate in the wall surrounding the palace grounds. History said Prince Shining Armor had constructed the wall as a show of respect for his sister and Celestia, so that ponies would forever set aside the land on which the palace had stood and remember. A large plaque was affixed to the wall beside the gate in memoriam. A guard still stood at the gate. Ponies remembered. Couldn't help but remember. Did not the sun rise every day and the moon rise every night?

The light emitted from her horn increased in intensity several candles as she got close to the gate, causing her to slow and finally stop in wonder before the earth pony guard. Her reverie did not last, however; the sight of the guard bowing low enough to scrape his barrel against the ground caused her to look around with some anxiety. When she saw nopony else, her anxiety and confusion intensified.

“Uh... Proud Hoof... it's only me.” The glow lessened some.

“What... oh... um... sorry young Dayspring. I must have been seeing things.” He shook his head and raised himself back up to his full height.

Dayspring scrunched her muzzle up and thought for a moment, sitting back on her haunches before the guard. She couldn't imagine what the guard thought he'd been seeing. Turning her face up to Proud Hoof in a look of profound skepticism, she asked, “Seeing what?”

“Really, it was nothing,” he said. Dayspring didn't believe that for a second. She sat there looking up at him. Finally, sheepishly, he spoke. “Promise you won't tell the other guards?”

“Promise!”

“I thought I saw a tall alicorn, glowing with light like the sun, striding regally up to the gate. Celestia herself come again.” He looked wistfully into space and stood straighter, some cultural memory of the glory of Celestia's reign and the pride of service as guards for the princess taking hold. He blinked himself free of his thoughts. “You haven't been messing with me with your unicorn magic, have you?”

“Don't be ridiculous, I'm only in regular school. I don't have any real talent with magic.”

“Your horn is still shining awful bright, young'un.”

Dayspring shrugged her shoulders. “It has a mind of its own sometimes.”

“And where are you off to today?”

“I'm going to watch the Princess raise the sun! Oh, I don't want to be late! See you!” She darted through the gate.

Proud Hoof wasn't about to question the little pony's statement. He'd seen her do this before. And if she claimed the princess was really still there, who was he to argue? Still, he couldn't help watching as the filly passed under the stone archway. Her body just... vanished... as she crossed the line of the wall. Maybe it wasn't Dayspring's doing, but magic was definitely at work here. He peered over his shoulder into the palace grounds. Yep, still an empty field, however expertly groomed by the groundsponies. He shuddered. Somepony else could figure this out. It was well above his pay grade.

---

Twilight stood under the night sky, eyes gazing out over the eternally slumbering forest. It was peaceful up here. Cathartic. The world below was without season and unchanging. And yet change had come. Was coming. She had felt Dayspring slip between the worlds this time.

Eventually a dim light disturbed the darkness of the night as the young filly clambered up the last steps of the tower. One of Dayspring's hooves caught the last stair and she spilled onto the floor in a pile of awkward limbs.

“Oops.”

“Didn't I warn you those stairs were slippery?”

“I didn't want to miss it.”

Twilight rolled her eyes while the filly righted herself.

“The sun comes up once a day, Dayspring. There will be plenty of opportunities.”

Dayspring walked over and seated herself near Twilight. She smiled foalishly at the mare.

“You're glowing.” Twilight motioned at the filly's horn.

“That? It just... does that... sometimes.”

Twilight wanted to ask more, but it was time. Summoning all her carefully cultivated serenity from before, she faced East. She unfolded her wings, stretching them out, testing the cool air. Twilight reached out with her magic, felt the sun below the horizon, and caressed it with her power. The connection warmed her. Her eyes closed as she pushed herself upwards. Her wings beat. Her body reared and she threw her head back. Anchored to her horn, the rise of her body pulled the sun up over the edge of the world. That other world where dawn yet came.

Finished, she released the sun. But something was strange. Different. Warmth blanketed her. Bright light beat against her eyelids instead of comfortable shadow. What magic was this?

Twilight went down to her hooves more quickly than intended. Her eyes fluttered open. She squinted against the harsh light, but the horizon was still the rosy red of the predawn. No, the light came from beside her. She turned to look at Dayspring, and couldn't. A millennium of darkness forced her eyes closed against the brilliance. She covered her eyes with her hooves.

“Dayspring! Stop!”

“What? Oh.” A long pause. “Is that... me?”

The heat finally went away and the light diminished. Twilight blinked spots from her eyes, thankful she could still see.

“Did I do something wrong, Twilight?”

“Not wrong. But my pupils are dilated most of the time from the low ambient lighting.”

“Um... okay.”

Twilight smirked. “That means I have a hard time adjusting to bright lights.”

“Oh. Well, I'm sorry. I really don't have much control over it.”

“You... wait... aren't you getting trained in the use of magic at school?”

“Uh-uh. I failed the entrance exam for magic kindergarten. I'm in normal school.”

The mare's jaw dropped. That had been one of the most powerful displays of magic she'd ever witnessed. Not just the light but the warmth of the sun on a summer day projected through the little unicorn's horn.

“Twilight?”

Twilight's mouth still hung open. She had no words.

“I did do something wrong, didn't I?”

“Absolutely not.” The filly's words brought Twilight back to her senses.

Dayspring looked at her strangely, but Twilight was thinking about her own entrance exam, an exam she would have failed if not for the intervention of a sonic rainboom at just the right moment. It wasn't just the shock of the sound wave breaking over her that had thrown open those doors within her. The sonic rainboom was powerful magic in its own right. Magic had unlocked magic in her. She returned her attention to the little unicorn again.

“Well, this is a situation we will have to rectify post haste.”

“Which situation?”

“Your schooling.” Twilight started towards the stairs. “I was going to offer anyway, of course, but I hadn't realized just how critical the situation was.”

“Offer what, Twilight?”

“To train you. Now, I know I had a letter for your parents here somewh...” Twilight's voice faded as she disappeared down the stairs, leaving the bewildered filly frozen at the top, eyes wide, as comprehension sank in.

“Train... me?” A wide smile broke out across Dayspring's face. “Yaaaaaaaay!”

She bounced all the way down the tower steps, heedless of the danger.

---

A small cabin resolved on the shimmering surface, smoke climbing lazily from a chimney. Lucky Star approached cautiously, emerging from the dense woodland ringing the clearing in which it stood. In the time it took for him to cross the small open space, the moon had set and the sun rose. With temerity he gently rapped on the door with his hoof.

The perspective shifted closer, coming about to rest over his shoulder as the door before him swung open. A narrow cervine head peered out, smooth fur going white with age, and the curvature of the crown of its head broken by naught but large rounded ears. Milky eyes reflected the now noon-height sun.

“Oh, deer?”

The creature made a low rasping noise which might have been laughter. “Fear not, though there is no hart behind my words. Yea, though you come for answers, I am not staggerd. But enough with clever wordplay, though I, doe, enjoy it.” More rasping sounds as she stepped back, holding the door for the stallion. “Help you I may, though you might think otherwise before the end. But let us not stand in doorways, there is tea steeped in my kettle, and it is a fine thing to drink tea with company.”

“I apologize for my surprise and rudeness before. I hadn't expected...”

“Followed some crazy rumors about a mad seer in these parts, did you? Not so mad, no, not so mad as they might think. But I have little enough use for ponies, it is true. And yet here you are. And here I am. And there is tea.” The ancient doe busied herself before the fireplace where a kettle was set.

“Ah, yes, I... I was hoping you might...”

“Time enough for that later, yes? I know why you are here, after all. What good would I be as a seer if I didn't. Drat and bother, where did I put my cups...”

“Ah–”

“Be a deer, heh heh, that always cracks me up, and check and see if I left my cups over by the window?”

Lucky Star levitated two battered tea cups with a touch of magic, floating them over to where the doe sat. The old deer used a small but sturdy forked branch, held in her mouth, to grasp the kettle's iron handle and lift it from where it hung above the fire, carefully poured with a practiced motion, then returned it to its perch. She seated herself before the fire before grasping one of the cups out of the air with her hooves.

“Keeps the bones warm, it does.” She sipped her tea. “You have a touch of magic to you. Not like your nieces, but a touch.”

“What do you know of my nieces?” He sounded almost frantic.

“You ponies worry too much. But if that's what you want to know, I can tell you.”

Indecision was etched in Lucky Star's features. His mouth caught half-open in a grimace. His eyes twitched. His teacup shook in his hooves. He put the cup down and steadied himself.

“No. That's not what I need to ask, no matter how much I want to.”

“It is all the same in the end, dearie.”

“The times of night and day are undone and strange doings spread throughout the land. You think it's all the same?” Darkness filled the cabin as the sun set at that moment, in punctuation to his question. Milky eyes shone across from him in the weak light from the cooking fire. Light peeked around one side of the doe, glowing in a thin filmy haze of illuminated fur. Otherwise the seer was lost in the deepening shadows.

“You worry about great doings, but your importance may be little, in the end. Knowledge might aid you or might be for nothing. And who is to say that which you seek will not be found regardless of what you do. More wills than yours are set upon their course in time.”

“But if this moment matters, then I cannot fail.”

“So much hope, to believe you and you alone can shape fate in your hands. So be it. Know that you get but one question. Ask, and be answered.”

Lucky Star swallowed nervously. Minutes crept by in the ensuing silence, the quiet broken only by the occasional sounds of the old doe drinking tea.

“How can harmony return to Equestria?” he finally asked.

“It is well asked,” the seer said. A shadow passed over the corona of the fire outlining the doe's body, moving up and then down. There followed the crashing sound of a tea cup impacting the floor of the hut between them. The fire guttered behind the doe before dying to embers, completing the descent into complete darkness. Only the seer's eyes could be seen, shining with pale internal light.

Those eyes turned downward, and presently a faint blue-green glow could be seen on the floor. Uneven shapes formed patterns which hurt the eye and bewildered, pregnant with incomprehensible meaning. The doe's eyes rose from the patterns and stared unseeing across the room, blazing with cold light, yet illuminating nothing. Unseen forces compelled words from the seer, delivered in a low chant.

“The Pact is broken,
Sealed by magic, written in blood.
The blood is spoiled.
The magic, withered.
The houses, once joined, now divide anew,
And discord shall reign.

But behold,
The Pact may be reforged!
The one shall become two,
The blood reconsecrated,
The magic renewed.

Tarry not upon the field;
Only harmony can carry the day.
The two shall forge the six,
But the six will break before the end.
Then shall the eldest make the hardest choice.
And though you triumph for a day,
A shadow will be cast upon the light.
The two will become one,
And one will dwell in darkness.

Amaranth unwavering,
Wisteria for a smile,
Chrysanthemum revealing,
Heartsease for others
And daphne to please them;
All bound by dew on aster's crown.
Thus shall harmony be returned.

Guard well the sun and the moon,
For if they falter, all is lost.”

Lucky Star sat there in shock, trying to absorb everything he had heard. To remember. Before him, the seer's eyes diminished into the darkness and became invisible. The shapes on the floor flickered and were gone. Nothing but darkness remained.

Slowly, faint light appeared on the horizon, illuminating the cottage as the sun crested the horizon and scattered rays penetrated the foliage. But this was no accelerated solar cycle. This was a proper dawn.

“Look,” the seer gasped, “a new star awakens.”

Lucky Star tore his attention from the miracle of light. “What do you mean?”

“Heh heh. All the same in the end. Heh heh heh.” Sightless eyes met Lucky Star's gaze.

“Explain yourself!”

Still laughing, the seer faded to translucency before disappearing into nothingness. Her cottage vanished along with her, leaving Lucky Star sitting on the grass of a forest clearing.

---

The image faded to mist and was replaced by a view of a forest in darkness. A white unicorn filly clambered onto a large fallen tree with little grace. Behind her the light crunch of leaves from a second set of hooves sounded, and perhaps a unicorn shaped silhouette could be perceived in the contrast of black on near-black.

“Luna, is this the fallen tree we crossed before?” the white filly whispered.

“I don't know, there's a lot of fallen trees. They all look sort of the same...” The unicorn-shaped darkness jumped up beside the visible unicorn.

“Or they all are the same and we've been walking in circles longer than I thought.”

“Tia, are you lost? Are we lost?”

Celestia lay down on top of the log and crossed the pasterns of her forelegs over her poll joint. “I don't think the sun is rising from the east anymore,” she whined.

“Hey, snap out of it.” Luna nipped at Tia's flank.

“Luna!”

“Don't like it? Don't whine at me.”

“We should contact mom. She sent us that message, all worried about us. We should respond and tell her where we are.”

“No!” Stars sparkled in the depths of Luna's eyes. “Don't chicken out now, sis. We can take care of ourselves well enough.”

A black shadow passed overhead, blotting out the night sky visible through the hole the fallen tree had torn in the canopy, then gone again just as suddenly.

“Luna, what was that?”

“Too fast, I didn't get a chance to see. It was big, whatever it was.”

The stars disappeared again, and both unicorns looked up. Something large descended swiftly towards them, the rush of wind rattling branches and scattering fallen leaves about the underbrush below. The creature fell below the level of the canopy before leathery bat-like wings snapped out, almost blowing the ponies off the tree. Four large feline paws gripped the trunk as it landed, standing over Celestia. Too frightened to move, the sisters cowered before it. It took another step forward and roared with a lion's head, the carnivore's foul breath causing Celestia to gag.

Luna regained her senses first, bumping Celestia off the tree with her hip. She used the reversal of momentum to swivel around, facing away from the creature.

“Tia, run!” she screamed as she kicked out with her hind legs, catching the lion's snout with both hooves.

The white filly scrambled to her feet and took off through the woods like an arrow, a white streak racing into the darkness. Luna's hind legs made contact with the tree again, but as she turned to jump from the high surface she was forced to instead throw herself sideways away from the creature. What looked like a long snake whipped through the air where she had been before snapping back again. She managed to roll back to her hooves without stopping and immediately lunged off the tree.

Luna dodged between trees and around bushes at a breakneck pace in the darkened forest, her sister nowhere in sight. Hearing no sounds of pursuit, she eventually slowed. Her eyes roamed the underbrush before her.

The forest came to an end not far from her, and that's where she found Celestia. The white unicorn was sprawled just outside of the forest.

“Tia?” she whispered as she came close.

The sounds of rapid breathing and soft whimpering became audible as she got closer. Luna trotted up to her sister and nuzzled her with her nose.

“Luna, I tripped. I think I hurt myself really bad.” Celestia buried her muzzle in Luna's flank and cried.

“Shh. Shh. I don't think it's chasing us Tia. And we did finally make it out of the forest. It will be alright.”

She heard the flap of wings before she saw it. It had taken to the air again, crafty with malice, and followed their projected flight to where the forest ended. Slightly more cautious this time, it landed a dozen steps away from the fillies. Luna stared at it, eyes wide. Celestia still had her nose buried in her sister's mane, unaware and in pain.

“Tia. We need to move. Now.”

“What?” Celestia turned her head and saw the creature. It took a menacing step towards them. In fear, Celestia pushed herself away with her forelimbs, but one of her rear legs flopped helplessly and couldn't be brought to bear her weight. She fell over on her side with a whimper. Two heads showed their teeth to Luna, as if grinning in anticipation.

“Sis, I need you to get to the woods.”

Moonlight revealed the creature fully now. A muscled lion's body with one head to match, but paired with that head was a goat's, cobbled beside it off-center as if in afterthought. Large wings hugged its body. Behind it a sinuous tail whipped from side to side, carrying a third, serpentine head on its end that glared at the ponies with slitted eyes.

“Luna, I can't make it. Leave me!”

“No. Never.”

The dark filly pawed the ground with her right hoof and put her head down. The muscles of her hind legs tensed. The creature took another step forward and she sprang towards it, horn leveled. Pale energy flickered about her horn.

Moments before she drove her horn into it, the goat head lowered and, with a careless motion, caught her on its horns and threw her aside. She landed heavily on the grass, away from the forest and her sister. The wind flew out of her and she lay there gasping for breath. She rolled to face the creature, but it was ignoring her, intent on the the white unicorn who had somehow managed to get up on three legs. Luna rasped a warning that couldn't have been heard. Her sister wasn't moving. She was just standing there, facing the creature as it stalked towards her.

But the white filly's eyes weren't on the death that came for her. They were looking beyond it, beyond the horizon and past the edge of the world itself. Her irises disappeared and her sclerae lit up with brilliant white light. Her horn came ablaze. Somehow Celestia pushed herself back onto her one good rear leg, her eyes sightless but throbbing with power. Golden light sprang from her flank, fiery wings of pure magic which caught her and held her upright. Raised her aloft with a single stroke. Blazed with the glory of the sun and then became breathtakingly real. Celestia raised her forelegs above her head in exultation.

The creature cringed, backing itself away from the small unicorn in fear. With a hiss like a frightened cat, it turned and launched itself skyward. It fled into the distance, and was gone.

Celestia came gently back down to her three working legs, then settled on her side. She nosed her new wings in shock. But though the magic had faded from Celestia's eyes and horn, the light had not gone away. Dawn had come.

Luna finally managed to steady her breathing enough to pick herself up. She walked cautiously over to her sister.

“Tia, you have wings!”

“I have wings...”, her sister repeated, lost in her own amazement. Celestia turned to look at Luna, both fillies wide-eyed.

Luna broke the awkward silence “You know I still love you, even if you are a freak,” she teased, smiling.

“You're just jealous.” Celestia nudged Luna with her nose, causing the dark filly to sit down in front of her.

“Of course I'm jealous,” Luna said, pointing to the east with her hoof. “You raised the sun!”

Celestia turned to look at the dawn sun, as if noticing it for the first time. This wasn't the bizarre speeding orb of recent memory, but a normal, natural sunrise. Awe sparkled in her eyes.

“Luna, I can feel the sun. I can feel it with my mind.”

Comments

[Squirrelloid]

First, I have a request. I could really use some people to do some grammar nitpicking. Not just this chapter but all of them. I've done some fixing already, but its always hard to see the flaws with your own writing. Feel free to PM me if you're not comfortable leaving such things in the comments.

Second, I suppose I should provide some help with terminology, since some of it is probably obscure for the average reader.

-The Puns, they are deer to me: A staggerd is a buck in its 4th year of life, not considered fully grown by medieval game standards. Possibly specific to the red deer. Hopefully the rest of them were accessible.
-Pasterns and poll joints, oh my: For all that this is based on an animated cartoon, they're still horses. I hear wikipedia has an excellent page on equine anatomy.
-Wisteria? Daphne? Heartsease? Isn't Amaranth a Nightwish song? Or a vampire ritual?: They're all flowers! Why flowers? Mwahahaha.

Edit: Fixed a flower name. I blame a website with a typo, but i really should have double checked...

[sopchoppy]

intrigued by this, looking forward to the next installment.

[Tacowizard420]

Leona

[Squirrelloid]

1821459
Cryptic. Uh.. ... would you care to elaborate?

[RainLight]

1821508

Leona is a warrior of the sun in league of legends