//------------------------------// // Chapter 34 - Shadowed Dawn // Story: Night Reigns // by tursi //------------------------------// Sunset paused before leaving the room, looking back to Princess Celestia sleeping in the middle of the room. "Everything is going to be okay, Princess," she whispered. "I'm going to make sure of that." Celestia shuffled in her sleep and seemed to snuggle deeper into the nest of blankets. Sunset nodded to herself and stepped through the doorway. "Crystal…" murmured Celestia. Sunset nodded. "Yes," she replied, smiling softly. "You did it." Sunset closed the door and checked left and right, then hurried around the corner to catch up with Princess Luna. "Stay close, Sunset Shimmer," warned Luna. Sunset nodded. "Sorry, Princess. I just wanted to make sure Celestia was okay." Luna frowned. "And are you satisfied?" Sunset nodded, slowly. "She's dreaming, I think. But she looks peaceful." "Dreaming…?" echoed Luna. She looked up towards the sky for a moment, then shook her head. "Very well." She looked back to Sunset. "We shall investigate this segment of the city, working our way towards the center. If possible, we must avoid detection. But if we are detected, then we shall attempt to make contact." She looked around herself. "There should be crystal ponies everywhere… it is odd that the city is so quiet." "Wait… crystal ponies?" asked Sunset. "What is this place?" Luna sighed softly, but she smiled a little. "Celestia and I never knew very much about the Crystal Empire… we learned about it early in our reign. But it is a magical core of some sort. When it was active, the Empire reflected love and happiness across all of Equestria. Then King Sombra took over and his darkness began to take its place. That was when Celestia and I noticed, and we took action." "That was…" Sunset hesitated. "That was the failed mission that Celestia mentioned?" Luna started suddenly, without responding. She raised her head and her eyes grew distant, darting side to side as if she were searching for something. "Princess?" asked Sunset. "What's wrong?" "It is…" Luna started, but then her voice trailed off. After a moment she frowned, her eyes returning to normal. "It is nothing," she concluded. "But you…" began Sunset, but Luna cut her off. "I said that it was nothing, Sunset Shimmer!" snapped Luna. Sunset stepped back and was silent for a moment. She wasn't prepared to push Luna on this point, but she felt that it had to have been something. She debated in her mind what to say for almost a minute while Luna watched her with some kind of defiance. Finally, she sighed and asked again. "You were talking about taking some kind of action?" Luna nodded, slowly. "We underestimated King Sombra," she continued. "We overpowered him but we did not anticipate his treachery. He cursed the Empire and we lost them all. Celestia was never quite the same afterwards…" "What do you mean?" asked Sunset. Luna frowned as she looked around. "I suppose that I never considered it before… but perhaps Celestia carried more guilt over that day than I thought. I thought that she was just being rather cold, but to go so far to try and recover it… I wonder…" Sunset frowned as well, and also looked around slowly. "I think Princess Celestia carries much more weight than she lets anypony know, Princess. When I was her student, I sometimes caught hints of her concerns, even if she wouldn't admit them." Luna looked down and was silent for a moment. Sunset waited until Luna raised her head again. "We have work to do, Sunset Shimmer," she said abruptly. ----- Celestia's eyes opened slowly. She found herself in a dark, ornate room, with more blankets piled atop and around her than she could remember ever using in the past. It was warm and oddly cozy, and she was extremely comfortable. She snuggled deeper into the nest and considered just going back to sleep. But after a moment, she began to wonder how she had gotten there. "Wasn't… wasn't I in the Frozen North? It's so warm here… maybe I dreamt the whole thing?" She lifted her head just enough to look around. The room was dark but a sliver of silver moonlight crept in from a slit high on the wall near the ceiling. She looked around and admired the ornate furniture in the room, and briefly wondered why she was sleeping on the floor instead of in the large princess bed. She yawned in a very un-regal manner and stretched out her forelegs, and then pushed herself to a standing position. She stretched like a cat and lifted each hoof in turn to get her blood circulating again. "I can't remember the last time I slept so well," she marveled. "I feel completely reset." Her head swiveled slowly again. "But where am I? It almost seems familiar, but I can't place anything." She walked to the large set of double doors and gently lit her horn to nudge them open. They opened without a sound and granted her a view into the hallway beyond. When she saw that it was quiet, she pushed one door further and stepped out. The hallway was likewise ornate but lit more regularly by slits in the ceiling. Ornate crystal lined the walls and cast fractal-like reflections on the floor. The moonlight twinkled in the facets of the crystal as Celestia walked slowly down the hallway. She listened carefully but heard no sign of any other pony moving about. Finally, she stopped and studied the wall more carefully, lifting a hoof to touch it gently. "Crystal…" she mused to herself. "Did it work? Am I in the Crystal Castle?" "Lovely, isn't it?" called a deep, gravelly voice. It came from the far end of the corridor, and Celestia snapped her attention towards it with a gasp. A large, royal unicorn came around the far corner and started down the hallway towards her. His fur was a dark charcoal grey which barely reflected the moonlight. He wore a rich robe of royal red fur and gleaming silver armor over his chest and on each hoof. A smoky black mane waved over his head and a thin silver crown was placed in it behind a menacingly curved red horn. His smile showed his gleaming white teeth, making it hard to look away. "No greeting?" he continued. "After I took the time to invite you to my castle?" Celestia turned to face him, and took a single step back. "Invited?" she queried. The unicorn chuckled and continued to advance steadily. "Well, for all intents and purposes," he purred. Celestia took another step back, but a wall blocked her passage. Part of her mind protested. "That was a corridor a moment ago!" Celestia raised her head, but she was feeling uneasy. She sought her magic and found that she could not summon any to her horn. "Who… who are you? What do you want?" "You don't remember me?" asked the stallion, never slowing his advance. "Let me give you a hint. I am the shadows. I am the darkness in your heart and the fear that clouds your mind." Celestia stepped back again, only to press against the wall. She tried to stand upright again, as strongly as she dared. "Those are only riddles!" she protested. The stallion's smile widened. "Well," he offered, "I like riddles, Go ahead, guess." Celestia shook her head. "You look like… Sombra. But you can't be." The unicorn chuckled, continuing. "Well, well. Right in one, Celestia." Celestia started. "No! We destroyed you! You cannot be here!" Sombra chuckled again. His advance brought him ever nearer and yet he always seemed to still be distant. "Destroyed? No. You put me away, stored me like a filly's toy. But now I want to play." Celestia shook her head, trying to shake the illusion. Some of the pieces fell into place in her mind, and she stood with stronger resolve. "This is just a dream!" Sombra smiled, showing fangs. "If only you had used the Elements of Harmony on me when you had a chance… I might not have been able to take the Empire away." Celestia's eyes widened. "You… you knew about the Elements?" Sombra nodded, still advancing, still distant. His figure was impossibly clear and his voice echoed all around Celestia's head. "Oh yes. But they don't work anymore, do they? You destroyed them, didn't you?" Celestia bit her lip and frowned. "I did what I had to do!" she protested. "I had no choice!" "No choice but to throw away your sister… that certainly turned out well." Celestia was not sure what to say, but Sombra continued. "And did you have a choice this time?" asked Sombra. "Shall I tell you what you've done now?" Celestia tensed. "What could you possibly have to say to me?" Sombra laughed, then spoke with a wide smile. "You've cut off the Crystal Heart. Severed it completely! Now there is no way to restore everypony. They're lost forever. You failed again." Celestia gasped. "What!? No! You're lying!" Sombra's smile widened impossibly as his jaw opened, showing the fangs that lined his muzzle. He was closer now, slowly advancing. "Your fear is palpable. Fear, doubt, guilt - all so delicious - and you have so much, don't you Princess?" "Just a dream…" repeated Celestia. She squeezed her eyes closed and turned her head away. "If I ignore you, you won't have any power over me." "Princess," whispered Sombra, right into her ear. There was the sound of rushing air, and then Sombra spoke again. "I know what scares you." Celestia cracked her eyes open just enough to peek. She snapped her eyes open with a gasp as she recognized the shape in front of her. Nightmare Moon stood before her, tall and dark, with her power on full display. Celestia had only a moment to let it sink in before Nightmare Moon lunged forward, her fangs pressing into Celestia's throat. Celestia screamed. ----- Luna pressed on, with Sunset following close behind her. Although her senses were tuned to the world around her, her mind was racing. It hadn't been nothing at all, no matter what she had told Sunset Shimmer. It had been a feeling that had been all too common since her return as Nightmare Moon. Somepony was having a nightmare -- and it was a really bad one. She thought that she'd gotten used to the sensations, but the strength of this one had caught her off guard and left her rather uncertain. She couldn't know who it was without entering the dreamscape, but she'd stopped doing that ten years ago as punishment to the ponies who had rejected her. "Besides," she thought to herself. "Being so powerful, it may be a part of the curse. Perhaps the crystal ponies are trapped in a shared nightmare, and are just starting to make their way back. Were I to enter that dream, I could likewise become trapped. No, it is best to stay here until we know more." They continued their slow advance for nearly an hour, but the city was quiet as they continued to search from street to street. Occasionally they would stop to listen to doorways as they passed by, or peer cautiously in windows. Eventually Luna felt brave enough to light her horn and use a sensing spell to help in the search, but there was still nothing. "Princess, we're almost up to the castle," observed Sunset. "Should we circle around and check the next quadrant of the city?" Luna held for a moment as she listened to her senses, and then shook her head. "No, Sunset Shimmer. I do not believe it will make any difference." She looked up towards the castle, so much larger up close. "I do not sense anything, even here. We can advance." They moved out into the circular street that ran around the castle. In six different directions, streets branched off in straight lines out into the city – dividing it into the so-called quadrants that Sunset had mentioned. Across this street the castle was supported above the ground by a number of pillars and underneath the castle was a large open area. They headed there and as they stepped under the castle Luna frowned. She could feel some sort of residual magic here. From Sunset's hesitation, she could tell that Sunset felt something too. "Princess, it feels strange here, like something's missing." Luna looked carefully, noticing a set of points in the center of the area. Like the pillars of a cave, one came down from above and one rose from below, leaving a gap in-between. She considered what she knew of the Crystal Empire. "Celestia knows more than I do," replied Luna, approaching the points. "But I would guess that this mount was intended for some form of artifact. That would explain why we still sense some power here." Sunset frowned and looked around carefully. "It could be anything… what do you think it was?" Luna shook her head. "I do not know. But I suspect that we should want to find it. If we are fortunate, it will still be in the city." She looked up at the massive structure above them. "We should search the castle." They headed towards the front of the castle, coming from behind the stairs to avoid being too exposed. As they drew near, Luna raised a hoof to stop them. "Stay here, Sunset Shimmer," she commanded. "It would be safer for me to fly around the castle first, and then enter via an upper balcony. We will be less visible than a direct entry on the front stairs." "I thought we agreed that there was nopony here?" asked Sunset. "We still cannot say that for certain," replied Luna. "Stay here." Luna stepped out from underneath the castle and leapt into the air, spreading her wings. Her wings were silent as she flapped upwards and circled the towers until she spied an open window large enough to admit her. The window was about halfway up the tower and she banked towards it, carefully aiming her flight. As she drew near she pulled up and then tucked her wings in at the last moment so that she would fit through the opening. She braced her legs and landed as quietly as she could manage on the polished crystal floor inside. Suddenly the floor began to shake beneath her hooves, and a loud rumbling sound came from all around her. "What the…?" Before she could even turn around there was a loud crash and the sound of smashing crystal behind her. What moonlight was filtering into the room was abruptly cut off as the opening was sealed shut behind her, leaving her in pitch darkness. ----- Sunset watched Luna for as long as she dared, then ducked back into the shadows behind the stairway. She sighed softly and looked back at the points in the center of the area. "What are they for?" she wondered. "And why is whatever it is missing?" Abruptly the ground began to shake beneath her hooves, and a loud rumble accompanied by the sound of smashing crystal reached her ears. Sunset gasped and whirled around to look out into the city. A mass of black spiked crystals was racing towards her at a remarkable rate, erupting from the ground and smashing some of the existing crystal structures as it collided with them. She turned and ran back towards the points in the center and pressed her back against them, but the dark growth quickly surrounded her. Before she could even complete a shield spell she had been engulfed and found herself falling into blackness. ----- Nightmare Moon stood over Celestia as she lay motionless on the floor, Celestia's pink mane in disarray across the crystal surface. Nightmare laughed, softly at first, then louder and grander. Her voice grew deeper and her form shifted into the charcoal colored form of King Sombra. His laughter continued as the essence of Celestia's magic drifted up and enveloped him, and then soaked into his form. "Oh, Celestia," he mocked. "You played so well, you did everything exactly how I predicted that you would. And that, you see, is why I win." "And now, dear Princess," he chuckled. "Now we will play this little story again. And again, and again. Each time, I get a little more of you, until you can take no more and ALL your magic is mine! And you will never wake up." He laughed again, louder and harder than before, his voice echoing as Celestia suddenly found herself standing alone in a dark hallway again. In her nest of military quilts, Celestia whimpered as she heard Nightmare Moon's laughter over and over again. But nopony was there to hear her.