//------------------------------// // 11 Aftermath // Story: Nyx Returns // by Bronyxy //------------------------------// All four alicorns of the ruling quadrature lay motionless on the floor, a fifth younger alicorn lay in bed. It all looked deceptively serene. The large white one stirred and groaned before letting her muzzle fall back to the ground. She rested for ten minutes before trying that level of exertion once more and gingerly tried to raise her head again, this time succeeding in keeping it aloft. It was clear she was the first to wake, but what was the time? How long had she been unconscious? One hoof in front of the other, she rose slowly and carefully, surveying the scene. She recalled how she and Cadence had reached the ends of their limits and had very nearly had to give up before Twilight decoupled from the dream realm. Yes, it had been close, but had it been successful? Cadence groaned. Celestia felt her pain; she had only just progressed a little beyond that point herself. “Cadence, are you alright?” she enquired. “Everything I see and feel is pain” she slurred. “Amen to that” thought Celestia seeking some sort of physical or mental support - she wasn’t too fussy which. A check of the time showed that they had been out for almost two hours. She hunted around but there was no cake anywhere to be found nor any tea neither. Now, that had been an oversight. She made a mental note to have both on hand if they ever had to do this again. She watched over everypony present as Cadence finally became sufficiently conscious to communicate coherently. Her every move was an effort, but eventually her coordination returned even if the pain refused to leave her quite as quickly. Conversation between the two became less stilted as the night wore on, and when it was time to lower the moon, Celestia took a quick check of her sister to see if she was up to the task. The midnight blue alicorn was out cold, but as she was going to turn away and lower the moon, she suddenly noticed the Wand of Fulfilment clasped close to her chest and gasped in shock. Surely she hadn’t … The moon was unimpressed to feel Celestia’s touch, misbehaving petulantly as she commanded it to set. Firstly, it refused to move and then it kept bobbing back up when she commanded it down. She had to draw on a lot of her shattered reserves to get it to comply with her will, but comply it eventually did, letting her know right up to the end that it did not appreciate being commanded by her what to do. The sun was in a good mood and did as it was told for once, Celestia sensing its humour at having seen the moon’s comedic routine. By now, they were famished and Celestia dismissed her niece to have her breakfast while she alone remained to stand guard over the others. Cadence returned rejuvenated with tea and cake for her aunt, and the two of them progressed from discussing the night’s activities to general ruling business and then idle gossip. As time moved along, Celestia became increasingly more concerned about what she had said and how she had acted towards Nyx, Twilight and even her own sister. With the unaccustomed luxury of time on her hooves, she became haunted by the ability to analyse in minute detail everything she had done and how it could have been misinterpreted from what she had meant. She started to see how they may have come to see her not so much as a loving friend and sister but possibly more of an interfering tyrant. She bore this realisation stoically on the outside, but inside felt consumed by a guilt fueled turmoil and promised to make it up to them all as soon as they awoke. With no sign of their imminent recovery, she requested blankets for Luna and Twilight. Cadence obliged, running the errand and bringing back a pair of finely embroidered blankets with which she proceeded to cover up the two unconscious alicorns, tucking them both up snug. It was around lunchtime when Twilight finally started making noises that reflected her inner pain. Immediately, Cadence and Celestia rushed to her side, providing comfort and reassurance as she gradually awoke. She was in no better shape than either of them had been and they had to wait patiently as she came round; both eager to hear news from the dream realm. Twilight’s recovery seemed to be interminably slow, and the impatient alicorns did their best to avoid sniping at each other as they waited, but it wasn’t easy. Both held strong links to Twilight and both wanted to be the one she turned to when she awoke, but Celestia pulled herself up for a moment and considered how distant and even antagonistic they had become in recent times and realised with a heavy heart that now was not the time for her to take the lead. Although it hurt her, she realised her relationship with her former student would probably mend better and faster if she wasn’t seen to be dominating proceedings, especially given Twilight's feelings toward Nyx and her recent declaration toward her sister, which even now she was still coming to terms with. Twilight's eyes fluttered open and watched as Cadence’s gentle countenance floated in and out of focus. “Did it work?” she stumbled woozily “Is everypony safe?” “Hush now, take your time” coaxed Cadence “We’re not all awake yet.” “Yes, but Nyx … Luna …” she tailed off. Cadence’s mind suddenly rewound to the discovery of the Wand of Fulfilment clutched close to Luna’s chest and a fleeting flash of doubt crossed her face, a look which even in her exhausted state, Twilight recognised as not being a good sign. She tried to spring to her feet, but two of her legs didn’t respond and she toppled over, falling hard onto the unforgiving floor. “What’s happened?” she demanded, refusing to acknowledge her own pain that shot through every part of her body. “We’re not sure if anything has happened” comforted Celestia “They just haven’t woken yet.” Twilight was still obviously agitated and not in a mood to be placated. “I’ve got to get back to them” she said defiantly, resuming the kneeling position she adopted when she entered her meditative state. “No Twilight!” called Celestia, “You’re not ready, you have to recover more first!” The sounds of concerned calls for her to stop faded into the background and disappeared as Twilight entered the dream realm once more. She gasped as she noticed the sparsity of dream bubbles around her; every other time it had been packed with clusters of the individual spherical realities within which each pony lived out their dreams. She was immediately worried with what could have happened in the dream realm until she realised that it was daytime, so it made sense that very few ponies would be dreaming at this time. Of those that she could see, one dream bubble was closer than the rest, so with her heart in her mouth, she made her way over to have a closer look. Inside she could see two dark forms and knew instinctively that this was the one. This time there was no coloured coating to the shell, but she was still cautious as she walked over and checked thoroughly before entering it. Inside was eerie. Usually the inside of a dream reflected the fantasies of the dream caster, and that meant everything was colourful and immediate to provide the immersive experience that made the dream ‘real’. This one was different; it was sombre, lifeless and flat. Dead. Twilight moved closer to the two forms, the larger one clearly shielding the smaller one. She felt a knot form in her stomach; Luna had promised to defend Nyx to the death. Surely this didn’t mean … She walked over and knelt down beside Nyx, so that her daughter was shielded on both sides. Twilight felt numb; she was beyond grief. There were no more tears. She nuzzled her daughter and spread her lilac wing out over her. She stared forward into the barren emptiness of her daughter’s dream, feeling that if this was what death looked like, her life should now end too as it no longer had any purpose.