Trixie's Shadow

by Paul_Daniel

Chapter 10

10.

“And now,” said the stallion, “you will have the honor of witnessing the first act of Equestria’s new god.”

He strode forward and stared into the afternoon sun. An aura of magic gathered around him, making his mane and tail flutter, exactly as Celestia’s had. Twilight backed slowly away, moving closer to Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and several other ponies, with hopes that she could teleport as many to safety as possible.

But the stallion no longer seemed interested in fighting. Rather, he gazed skyward, focusing upon the sun. His eyes flashed and the light suffusing Ponyville grew dimmer.

“N-no,” said Applejack. “That ain’t possible!”

The stallion ignored her. Once more the icy fire in his eyes burned, and once more the sun darkened. Glancing higher, Twilight saw an endless shadow rising from the southern horizon.

“It’s beautiful…” whispered the stallion. “I have waited so long.”

He reared up, utterly transfixed by the oncoming void.

“Twilight!” yelled Rainbow. “Do something!”

“I… I can’t.”

Even as Twilight lowered her head, the last rays of sunlight went out. Ponyville was plunged into darkness, or would have been, if not for thousands of candles, torches, and the illumination from streetlamps and houses. These appeared to snap the stallion out of his reverie, so that he shook his head and dropped back to all fours.

“A minor nuisance,” he said, “and one I can easily sweep away.”

Twilight felt another storm of gathering magic. Her own was the merest raindrop in comparison, but she called it to life for one last effort. Beside her, Applejack and Rainbow Dash braced themselves to charge, as did every other pony.

Suddenly, a light shone from the heavens. Twilight jerked her head upwards. She found herself staring into the white radiance of Polaris, the North Star, shining dry and crisp against the inky sky. More stars appeared: the twinkling Southern Watcher, the ruddy red Hearthfire, and blue-sheened Arwen, who is most beloved by ponies. As each of these sprang into being, they were surrounded by thousands of their lesser kin, until the heavens blazed. And the moon… It had barely been a distant crescent yesterday—now it was so full and so close that it almost seemed possible to touch.

“So,” declared the stallion, “she is working against me. The dark and terrible Luna.”

He dug his right forehoof into the ground and threw back his head. The cry he unleashed was nothing that could have been made by a real pony; it was chilling, alien, and distinctly predatory. But everyone present knew it for the sounding of a challenge.

Twilight glanced around the plaza. Except for the incredible sky, there was no sign of Princess Luna. Again, the stallion roared his challenge. Polaris glimmered, Hearthfire flashed, and Arwen burned the slightest bit brighter. Aside from this, he received no response.

“Are you frightened?!” he cried. “Even your worthless sister had the courage to face me.”

Twilight felt sick to her stomach. A few paces away, Rainbow Dash was trembling with fury.

“Don’t… you dare… insult THE PRINCESS!”

Before Twilight could stop her, Rainbow spread both wings and leapt forward. Every muscle in her body contracted, accelerating it from zero to unthinkable in the blink of an eye. Twilight’s mane and tail whipped wildly in the backlash, Applejack’s hat was blown away, and the cobblestone from which Rainbow had launched herself burst into fragments.

The stallion didn’t even look at her. Just as she was about to strike him, a shadowy pair of giant wolfen jaws sprang out of the ground. Rainbow had no time to dodge—the jaws closed around her and she vanished with an earsplitting BOOM! When the jaws melted to nothing, they left only a solitary feather behind.

“Gods do not concern themselves with ants,” said the stallion. “If you see your silent princess before I do, you may tell her I’m waiting. Perhaps, if she faces me quickly, that will make me inclined to be merciful when I return.”

He smiled and sank into the ground. Most of the shadows in the plaza went with him, draining away like water until only the normal kind were left, fluttering below candle flame, star shine, and moonlight.

Twilight drew several shaky breaths around the lump in her throat. Applejack sat down beside her, staring blankly into space. The other ponies looked equally shell-shocked; the pegasi swept down for tired landings, the earth ponies hung their heads, and the unicorns let their candles fall, the flames sputtering on cold cobblestone and going out with a low hiss.

“Twilight,” said a nearby voice, “why didn’t you help the princess?”

Twilight glanced left to find Drizzle staring at her. She was just starting to answer when more ponies chimed in.

“That’s right, couldn’t magic have saved her?”

“What happened to your spells?”

“I can’t believe you didn’t do anything!”

The accusations crushed the final vestiges of Twilight’s spirit. Her breath heaving and her vision blurry, she whipped around and ran.

No one tried to stop her. When she reached the library, Twilight threw down the Elements of Harmony, locked the front door, and rushed upstairs. She lay on her bed, drew a pillow across her face, and gave herself over to sobbing.

It was a long while before she began to calm down. But even though her body subsided into weary stillness, her mind continued to race. For the first time in her life, Twilight had no plans, no ideas, and no inspiration for turning the tide. She wanted to stay in bed and never leave. And perhaps she might have done so, were it not for a nagging question, one that was directly related to Princess Celestia’s last words. As time passed, the question grew more insistent. When she could stand it no longer, Twilight sat up and gave voice to what she was thinking.

“What do I love?”

The answer was easy. Twilight wiped her eyes, got out of bed, and went down to the library’s main book room. She moved slowly, as though she could keep herself together by prolonging the inevitable disappointment. Sure enough, when she reached the end of the staircase, it all looked perfectly normal. The books sat on their shelves, quills and inkpots were spread across the writing desk, and the hippocampus bust stared regally forward. There was nothing that might help against the stallion.

Then she saw the tome.

It was white, hard-covered, and partially wrapped in sparkling gold ribbon. It had been left on the central table, right where anyone who came into the room would be sure to find it. On its front, magically affixed to the ribbon, was an enamel sun seal that marked the book as part of Princess Celestia’s private library.

Twilight felt a spark of hope. Rushing forward, she undid the ribbon and discovered that the tome had a silvery tassel attached to its spine. The tassel served as a placeholder and had been put a little more than halfway through the text. Holding her breath, Twilight opened to the appointed place and saw that it was the start of a chapter with a singular title.

“The Five Brothers.”

Twilight sat down to read. The chapter wasn’t long, but whatever ancient scribe had penned it had a gift for conveying information at a rapid pace. In less than half an hour, Twilight had gained an understanding of exactly what she was facing, of his powers and abilities, and—though it was slight—perhaps even a way to defeat him.

She was still considering when a knock sounded at the front door. Thinking that Spike had come home, Twilight closed her book and hurried into the hallway. But when she opened the door, she found, not Spike, but Rarity and Applejack. Both of them looked immensely relieved to see their friend, though neither offered a greeting. Several seconds passed, at the end of which Applejack took off her hat and held it awkwardly over her heart.

“Twilight, we… we came to say that we know you ain’t to blame for losing Princess Celestia. I should have spoken up for you, but I felt plum shocked to see her gone, and I couldn’t find my voice. A-anyway, I reckon the rest of Ponyville doesn’t blame you either. Not really. They’re just so used to you pullin’ miracles that they couldn’t tell you did your best. But they will, when they get to thinkin’ about it.”

“If there is any time to think about it,” said Rarity. “Who knows what’s going to happen next? That’s why Applejack and I came straight here after finding each other. We wanted to make sure you knew we hadn’t deserted you.”

Twilight felt a barren place within her heart come back to life.

“Thanks, you guys. Thanks so much. Friends?”

Her answer was a warm group hug. And just like that, the cure was complete.

“All right!” said Twilight. “Come in and close the door. I need to tell you my plan.”

“Plan?” said Rarity. “Is there really something we can do?”

“I hope so. It might be a long shot, but at this point—”

“At this point,” said Applejack, “I reckon that’s the only kind of shootin’ we got. Count me in!”

“And me,” said Rarity. “I’ll follow wherever you lead, Twilight. Win or lose!”

They shut the door and moved into the book room. Twilight lost no time.

“We have a chance because of Princess Celestia. She must have come here and left one of her tomes before she went to the plaza. And it told me everything I needed to know.”

“About the stallion?” asked Rarity.

“Yes. Except that, just like we already figured, he’s not a stallion. His name is Darkness and he’s one of the Five Brothers.”

“The who and the what now?” said Applejack.

Twilight adopted her lecturing voice.

“Discord, Darkness, Death, Destruction, and Doom are the Five Brothers. Legend says they were all created on the same night.”

“Are you serious? What knuckle-headed varmint would want to create somethin’ like them?”

“One without any taste in names, apparently,” said Rarity.

Twilight shook her head.

“I don’t think even the legends know that. The important thing is that all five of the brothers were sealed away. Discord was beaten by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and the rest by a combined effort from Star Swirl the Bearded and Silver Mane the Enchantress, who hunted them one at a time. Somehow, Darkness has been released.”

“But what does he want with us?”

“It’s not necessarily that he wants us; what he’s really after is fulfilling his purpose. That’s what all the Brothers want. Take Discord, for example. He set out to spread chaos. If you can believe it, he’s actually the least frightening Brother, because even though he would have made everything topsy-turvy, he wouldn’t actually have killed anyone.”

“That’s bad enough!” said Applejack. “What about the rest of ’em?”

“Death, Destruction, and Doom have goals related to their names, all too awful to mention.”

“And this Darkness fella?”

Twilight glanced through a window, where the inky blackness still lurked behind Luna’s glorious sky.

“You’re seeing it there,” she said. “It’s the end of the world.”

The room filled with silence.

“Well,” said Applejack finally, “how do we stop it?”

“That’s an excellent question. From what I’ve read, Darkness gets stronger by absorbing living creatures. He puts them in something called a night pool and uses that to fuel his power. Fluttershy actually found the pool yesterday, and brought me to see it this morning. I had suspicions but I threw away my chance to learn more, because I didn’t realize what we were dealing with. And now it’s too late; Darkness already had magic stronger than mine, and since he took in Princess Celestia…”

“He told us he was a god,” said Rarity softly. “Can that really be true?”

“Was Discord a god? He certainly had the power to warp reality. And Darkness is on the same level, except that, instead of warping reality, he wants to destroy it.”

“But he was stopped before. You said so yourself.”

“Yes. The problem is that Star Swirl and Silver Mane were the greatest sorcerers who ever lived. And it took both of them, working together, to seal away Darkness and the rest. Not only that, but they lived during the Golden Age of Magic, when ponies created all sorts of incredible artifacts, most of them with enchantments we’ve long since forgotten. Without that kind of power, I doubt we can fight Darkness directly.”

“What about the Elements of Harmony?” asked Applejack. “If we could find three others to help us, maybe we could use ’em.”

“No,” said Twilight, “we tried that before, remember? The Elements are tied to our group—if we don’t have Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, they won’t work. We’re on our own.”

“Then what’s your plan?”

“I need to speak with Trixie. If I’m right, everything hinges on her.”

“That’s all well and good,” said Rarity, “except Trixie is gone. We saw her vanish in the mirror, remember?”

“It may have looked like a disappearance, but I no longer believe it was. In fact, I don’t think Darkness could make Trixie disappear. Not unless she explicitly asked him to.”

“Why not?”

“Because whatever else Trixie may be, she’s no fool. If she released Darkness, I’ll bet she also made him promise to obey her. And according to Celestia’s book, that’s the only way to control him. It’s the only way to control any of the Brothers.”

“With a promise?” Applejack clearly found this hard to believe. “You’re tellin’ me that a pair of lowdown disrespectables like Discord and Darkness—”

“—have to honor their word,” finished Twilight. “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. If one of the Brothers makes a promise, they have to keep it. It’s part of their nature.”

“They why on earth would they ever promise anything to begin with?”

“Because sometimes they don’t have a choice. Think about Darkness; he’d been sealed away for over a thousand years. Let’s assume Trixie learned enough to work out his weakness, his location, and the means of freeing him. That would have put every piece of leverage into her hooves. And knowing Trixie, she used it all when striking a deal. If I had to guess, I’d say she came right out and told Darkness that he could either promise to obey her, or she would leave him to rot in his prison.”

“That does sound like something she would do,” conceded Rarity. “Still, if Trixie had so much sway over Darkness, how do you explain what we saw in the mirror?”

“Good question. I was thrown off by that, too. But if you remember, what actually happened was that Darkness offered to ‘send you somewhere safe’ and Trixie agreed. Disappearing isn’t safe; it’s nonexistence.”

“Then where did she go?”

“Into the safest place that Darkness has, a place where Trixie would also be conveniently out of his way, and unable to give him any more orders.”

“Is there such a place?”

“Yes: the night pool.”

“So what you’re saying is…”

“I need to enter the source of Darkness’ power and find Trixie.”

Twilight stood quietly while her friends exchanged a hesitant glance. In the stillness, she could hear every breath of wind rustling the leaves outside. The faint scent of blueberry muffins still lingered near the kitchen door, and when Twilight looked over the book room, she was flooded with memories of happier days spent reading, in summer or in springtime, with all the windows open and the library filling with the heady fragrance of wildflowers. Other recollections brought her to the colorful crispness of long-gone autumns, when the last of the harvest was being gathered and Ponyville had lost itself in the delight of fresh cider and the joyful work of hay-making. Last of all, she remembered sitting before countless fires with Spike, curled up in blankets as they sipped mugs of steaming coco, she with a book and he gazing outside at the soft winter snow. And in her heart, Twilight wondered how much time they had until all these moments were lost to darkness forever.

“All right,” said Applejack, “let’s agree that what you’re saying it true. It sounds like an awful big risk. Maybe I should go into the pool and you should stay behind. In case this doesn’t work and we need another idea.”

“There aren’t any more ideas,” said Twilight. “And whoever enters the pool should have their own magic. It might be the only way for them to get out.”

“Then I can go,” decided Rarity. “You’re too important to risk.”

“I’m no more important than any other pony. And I have the most experience dealing with supernatural beings.”

“What about Princess Luna? Ain’t she still out there? Let’s not go forgettin’ her!”

“I’m not,” said Twilight. “I’m sure she and Darkness will find each other eventually. They’ll fight and… well, maybe Luna could have beaten him before tonight, if she used all her power over shadows. But now Darkness has Princess Celestia’s magic along with his own. I don’t think Luna can stand against that. I don’t think anyone can.”

“Then what good’ll Trixie do?”

“That’s what I have to find out. But if I’m right, Trixie can undo Darkness with a single word.”

Again, Twilight waited while her friends considered.

“Well, shoot,” said Applejack, “it doesn’t seem like we have much of a choice. Leastwise, I can’t think of anythin’ else to argue about. Guess that means I’m with you, Twilight. And if I’m goin’ down, I aim to go down fightin’! Just like Big Mac did. It’s the Apple Family way.”

“I can’t say I care much for fighting,” replied Rarity, “but, Twilight, I told you before that I would stand with you no matter what. And I’m not backing down now. What’s our next move?”

“We have to send a message to Princess Luna,” said Twilight. “I’ll need her to cause a distraction.”

“Message the princess? We don’t even know where she is!”

“She’s somewhere in the countryside around Ponyville. And we already have the perfect means to reach her.”

“Trixie’s fireworks!” cried Rarity.

“Exactly. We can use them to write a message in the sky.”

“You know how to do that?” asked Applejack.

“Only one way to find out. Come on!”

Twilight charged down the hallway, threw open the library door, and galloped off, with Applejack and Rarity close at her heels. Above them, the heavens alternately blazed and blackened, the newest battleground in an ancient war between starlight and shadow.