//------------------------------// // Darkness Falls // Story: In The Shadow Of The Storm // by Summer Knight //------------------------------// "Yer kiddin' me," a flabbergasted Applejack said. "This Tempest Shadow varmint whupped Discord?" "She did not 'whup' me," Discord replied petulantly, "she cheated!" "Oh, yes," Rarity said sardonically, "because everypony knows that you're all about playing fair." "I am!" Discord protested. "My games have rules, and there's always a way to win." He hoisted himself upright and sat on the edge of the table, holding one of the ice packs to his jaw. "Think about it; if I just played to win, then I would never lose. How boring would that be?" "Except you lost to Tempest Shadow," Starlight pointed out. "Or were you playing games with her, too?" "I, er, may have been having a bit of fun with her," Discord admitted, "but you should have seen that pony! So grim, so serious." He swiped a hand over his face, and his usual mismatched visage was replaced with a dark purple, fiercely scowling version of itself, with a reddish scar across one eye. He swiped his hand again and was back to normal except for the scar. Discord poked at it confusedly and found that it was made of licorice. He peeled it off and ate it, much to the disgust of the others in the room. "Honestly, she should have thanked me for lightening the mood. This was completely uncalled for." He gestured at his bruised and swollen cheeks. The assembled ponies, most of whom had imagined bucking Discord in the face more than once, weren't so sure about that. "How did she beat you?" Fluttershy asked. "I know she's strong, but I can't imagine any pony being a match for you." "Well, you're certainly right about that," Discord preened. "No, she has a stone that stops all nearby magic, even mine. She claimed it was a piece of good old Queen Chrysalis's throne." He cast a meaningful look at Starlight Glimmer, who groaned as she remembered the frustrating, magicless adventure they'd had together. "Without my chaos magic I'm no more than a dashingly handsome, dazzlingly brilliant draconequus." "Did you at least see the princesses?" Rarity asked nervously. "Is Twilight... well, I suppose 'okay' wouldn't be the word for it, but is she still, erm, in one piece?" "Oh, no, I didn't get that far," Discord waved a hand dismissively. "After running afoul of Tempest Shadow's underhoofed tactics, I had to, ahem, make a tactical retreat." "Wait," Starlight said. Her suddenly frigid voice silenced all the others. "You went after Tempest first?" Discord raised one eyebrow curiously, not yet seeing the problem. "Yes?" "Are you kidding me?!" Starlight slammed her front hooves down on the table, causing even Discord to jump. "You could have saved Twilight! You could have saved all of the princesses in an instant, and instead you went looking for a fight? What were you thinking?" she screamed. "Well, I certainly wasn't thinking that some broken-horned unicorn was going to hand my tail to me!" Discord said defensively. "I was going to have my fun, then rescue your little friends and be back in time for Ogres and Oubliettes." He glanced around at five angry faces and, worst of all, one disappointed one. His heart sank as he realized the depth of his mistake. "I suppose O&O is cancelled this week?" he finished with a lame attempt at a joke. "Oh, Discord." Fluttershy shook her head sadly. There was a long, uncomfortable silence. "Well," the ever-practical Applejack snapped them back to reality, "we cain't risk sendin' him back. They'll be ready for 'im now, so ah guess we're back to Plan A." Starlight simply seethed, her hooves still up on the table and her eyes boring holes through Discord. She tried to find words to say to him, but nothing seemed to encompass what his reckless, arrogant stupidity had just cost them. She ground her teeth together and breathed heavily through her nose until a pink hoof fell softly on her shoulder. "Hey," Pinkie said, unusually quietly for her, "getting grouchy with each other won't change what happened. Twilight's gonna need all of us working together on this." She used her forehooves to force Starlight's mouth into an exaggerated smile. "There, that's the face we need!" Starlight spun away and stomped toward the door of the Map Room. "I've got a lot of work to do," she said coldly. "Come find me if you need me." She opened the doors with her magic, then slammed them hard enough that the other ponies all winced. An uncomfortable silence filled the room, and even Discord seemed subdued. "What has gotten into her?" Rarity asked a few seconds later. "I know we're all worried about Twilight, but she seems to be taking this especially hard." "Well," Fluttershy said, "I suppose her relationship with Twilight isn't quite like ours. Twilight's our friend, but she's Starlight's teacher. It must be scary to see somepony you look up to so much..." she broke off and shook her head slowly, unwilling to voice what had happened to Twilight. "Or maybe she's just not as good at hiding it," Pinkie said softly. "She always has been rather emotional, hasn't she?" Discord added. "Believe me, you really don't want to get involved in this right now," Rarity snapped at him. "Humph. Rude," Discord replied. "You do still need my help, don't you?" "I think you've helped quite enough," Rarity shot back. "No, he hasn't," Fluttershy cut in firmly. "If Discord doesn't take care of moving the sun and moon, Equestria could be doomed before we ever save Twilight and the princesses. I know we're all disappointed that things didn't go as well as we hoped, but that's all the more reason why we need everyone doing what they can." Rarity sighed and massaged her aching temples with a forehoof. She wanted nothing more than to walk away from all of this and pamper herself at the spa for a few hours. No, she internally corrected herself, she wanted nothing more than to have Twilight home safely and all of this horridness over with; but the spa was a close second. "You're right, of course," she said. She swallowed her pride and turned to look at Discord. "I apologize for my, erm, uncouth words. If you could find it in your heart to help us, we would be most grateful." "Well," Discord stroked his beard mock-thoughtfully. Every pass of his talons created a sound like a duck quacking. "Since you asked so nicely." He raised his paw and snapped. The castle was suddenly plunged into darkness as the sun plummeted out of the sky. Ponies screamed at the sudden change, and the makeshift living area was filled with a mix of panicked yelling and hopeful chatter. Some ponies exclaimed that, if the sun had set, then the princesses must be back! Others argued that there was no way Celestia had lowered the sun. First of all, she never lowered it that quickly. Secondly, it was the middle of the morning. And finally, if the princesses were free, why hadn't the moon risen? That last point was rendered moot as the moon shot into the sky, lighting the world with its softer glow. Still, something was very wrong. The princesses always raised and lowered their charges slowly, gently. This was more like someone forcing them into place. All the commotion was like claws on a chalkboard to Starlight Glimmer, who only just managed to stop herself from screaming at the nearest refugee. What in Tartarus had that draconequus done now? It was true that they needed some night, a chance for the world to cool off, but it was nowhere near dusk. Was it just going to be day and night whenever Discord felt like it now? That would be just as bad as endless daytime. Why were they all so incompetent? "Hey, Starlight?" Spike tapped her gently on the shoulder, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. "What?" she snapped. The young dragon didn't flinch from her temper. "You seem, uh... you seem like you could use a break," Spike said as tactfully as he could manage. "The royal guards and I can handle things here for a while. Why don't you go take a nap or something?" Starlight nearly laughed at the absurdity of it. The baby dragon is sending me to bed? But then, Starlight asked herself, was he wrong? Was she in any shape to help these ponies right now, or was she just going to vent her anger at whoever asked her for something next? Besides, a nap did sound really nice right then. It's night, after all, Starlight thought bitterly. You're supposed to sleep at night. She snorted angrily and turned away from the crowd of refugees to seek the peace and quiet of her own bedroom. She'd barely rounded the corner when galloping hoofbeats announced Trixie's arrival beside her. So much for peace and quiet. There tended to be very little of either when the showpony was around. "What do you want, Trixie?" Starlight asked tiredly. "Trixie merely wants to make sure that her friend is okay," the magician answered. "I'm just tired," Starlight reassured her. "I'm going to take a nap, and I don't need an escort." "A nap? You slept almost the whole way back from Riverbend," Trixie said. Starlight rolled her eyes. "Yeah, on a train. It wasn't the most restful sleep ever, and we've been working for hours to get all these ponies settled in." Trixie frowned and stared at her friend, as if looking for something in the sunken lines of her face. "What?" Starlight snapped. "Trixie is⁠—I'm worried about you. You're usually so energetic, so passionate! You sometimes forget to sleep at all when you really get into something. You just aren't acting like yourself." Starlight's temper finally erupted. She slammed her front hooves into the ground like a filly throwing a tantrum. "I wonder why that could be?!" she nearly shouted in Trixie's face. "I mean, sure, there's an invading army occupying Canterlot. The princesses and, oh yeah, my teacher were all turned to stone, and now the sun and moon are being handled by a draconequus whom I wouldn't trust to bring me the mail! I wonder why I might be a bit upset?!" Trixie's ears flattened and she instinctively took a half-step back, but her overbearing confidence won out. After all, she was quite used to being screamed at. "Well," Trixie scoffed, "I can see why you don't need an escort. You're clearly handling things sooooo well on your own." "Yes, I am!" Starlight insisted. "Yesterday was one of the worst days of my life, but I handled it just fine." Trixie sighed dramatically. "Are you, or are you not the student of the Princess of Friendship?" Trixie asked. "Uh. Yes?" "It was rhetorical. And," she held up a hoof dramatically, "is Trixie not your best friend?" She held that pose for several seconds. "Trixie actually did want an answer to that one." "Oh. Well, yeah, of course you are." Starlight wasn't sure where all of this was going. "Aha!" Trixie lowered her hoof to point straight at Starlight, nearly hitting her muzzle. "So why would a student of Friendship try to push away her best friend during her time of greatest need? Trixie thinks you need to review your lessons, Starlight Glimmer," she finished triumphantly. Review my lessons? Starlight thought about what Trixie was saying. Was she really pushing her friends away at a time when she should have been leaning going to them for support? Getting help when you needed it was a basic lesson of friendship; had she completely forgotten her lessons just because Twilight wasn't there to enforce them? Starlight ears wilted as she realized that was exactly what had happened. It was for the best that Twilight wasn't here right now, because she'd be ashamed of her pupil. Starlight's eyes stung and she sniffled wetly. "Huh? W⁠—wait, no, Trixie didn't mean⁠—" Trixie backpedaled as her friend broke down in front of her. "No, you're right," Starlight choked out. She rubbed a foreleg across her watery eyes. "I'm the worst Friendship student in Equestria." "Well, you're the only Friendship student in Equestria, so... no, that's not the point!" Trixie walked uncertainly over to Starlight and pressed against her, offering warmth and support. "Look. Trixie⁠—I mean, I can see that you're not okay. I know I'm not the best with this touchy-feely friendship stuff, but I'm not blind. I... I want to help. I just need you to tell me how." Trixie stepped back and nudged Starlight playfully. "Ms. Friendship Student." It wasn't the most graceful speech, but Trixie really did seem to be trying, and that had to count for something. Plus, for all that they tended to fight like an old married couple, Trixie understood her in a way that nopony else seemed to. Starlight sniffled again and took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing herself back under control. "All right," she finally said, her voice raspy with grief, "but I'm not having a meltdown out here. Come on." She continued down the hallway, making for her room. "A... meltdown?" Trixie muttered nervously, but followed anyway.