Why did I do that? I don’t know. I needed to figure out some way to help that side of her feel nurtured and cared for in a drastic manner considering just how far off the deep end Daybreaker was by now. My options were very limited, but a kiss--that was a display of affection that I’m not sure she had experienced in...forever. Though, keep in mind, it was entirely for the sake of everypony else. A platonic gesture.
With that established, the surroundings had changed. Time had stopped all around us, and I felt the heat of her magic stop. After a moment or two, she opened her eyes, and realized who her lips had been in contact with for the last...I’d say about five minutes or so.
“...Wh…!” She pushed me away from her, and shuddered with panic. “Wh-wh-what did you do that for you...you ingrate?!”
I looked around at the scene, and understood just what happened. The sudden shock from being embraced in such a way caused Daybreaker to cease all of her magical acts to focus on me and only me. Good. That meant that I had her attention now.
“Cele--Daybreaker. I know you feel as if you’re alone in the world, but that’s simply not the case anymore.” I took a step towards her, and sighed, “Yes, maybe back then, you could only know your subjects as devout followers. But nowadays...ponies don’t care for your status. They only want to be your friend like anyone else. As cheesy as it sounds, your nobility means nothing to them.”
There was hesitation in those demonic eyes. Daybreaker’s magic had been overtaken, and thus, she was probably too startled, and unable to react with violence as she normally would. After a moment of silence, she used her magic to float up into the sky, and took me with her. She looked down at the massive crowd of Ponyvillagers that had watched the events play out, but now all frozen in time.
“But how can you be so sure?” she asked with regret in her pained voice, “How can you be so sure of anything?”
I sighed. Her lack of self-esteem was obvious, and palpable. But there were ways to deal with it. “Well, you won’t know until you try, can you?” I looked up at her, “Especially since Twilight is now presiding, you’re free of this burden. Everypony will love you for who you are. Flaws and all. Even I have to admit, I have taken a liking to your more...heated personality. The problem is that you’re too far buried in your own mind to understand. You’re blind to what’s right in front of you.”
Now my words started to have an effect of some sort. The alicorn sat down on a floor made of fire as it floated in the air via magic. “...So that’s it, huh?”
I tilted my head. “What?”
She rolled her eyes. “You catch my attention with a kiss, give me some explanation about how I’m missing the point of life, and now, I’ll automatically give up because you’re the hero who’s supposed to win.”
When she put it like that, it sort of cut into me. I had no intention of fulfilling some grandiose philosophy. I said it before, and I would take it to my grave: I am not some children’s fairytale hero.
I raised an eyebrow, and scoffed. “...You really think I’m doing this for myself? You think I spent all this time and effort just to make myself look good and make you look bad?” I didn’t realize it, but I felt genuinely hurt by what she said. The implications that I only desired to fuel my own ego, rather than do the right thing was completely asinine. “Everyday I work my flank off. Everyday I scour the streets in search of criminal activity. Everyday I hunt tirelessly for secrets,” I started to circle her as I spoke, “Secrets that the public deserves to know so that they may all work towards a better tomorrow together. Not separately as a jumbled, chaotic mess. The fact that earth ponies need more training to hone their abilities--exposed. The fact that Neighsay was never fit to be working in his position--exposed.” I pointed a hoof at her face, “And that you, are a foolish ruler that would rather shy away and run from her problems instead of face them like a grown mare--” I glared daggers down her soul, “ex-posed.”
Her eyes darted around. Once again, Daybreaker didn’t quite know how to respond at first. But once she gathered her thoughts, she gave me a cold reply. “Then what about you?” she asked, “What about your secrets that could be exposed? Are you willing to follow what you yourself preach to the public, or are you just as corrupted and taciturn as those whom you claim to be against?”
Good one. No really, it was. How could someone who talks highly of being open to the public simultaneously not be willing to be open about themselves? It was a very valid point indeed.
One that I was prepared for.
My expression softened, and I removed the monocle piece of my costume to show her my real face. “I am more than willing to let everypony know what is necessary to understand my own point of view. If they don’t at least know my intent and motives, then crass assumptions will be made that cast those around me in a negative light.” I looked down at the frozen population below us, still stuck in their cursed costumes. “Admittedly, on the whole they seem very gullible, malleable, and almost sheep-like. But really, they just require guidance. Ponies who set an example to show them what they should want to strive for in life. And for me, it’s three things.” I put a hoof to my chest, “Sincerity, capability, and most of all, discipline.”
She let out a sigh. “That little number again, hm? The whole ‘being able to act when necessary, but not out of emotion’ bit.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Sounds to me like you already understand just what I mean. All that I can do for you at this point, is pray that you’ll listen to reason, and understand that you no longer have to walk this world alone. No, none of us are perfect. Not me, and not you.” A thought came to me that made me chuckle. I was going to prove to her that I did indeed practice what I preached. “Hm. And if it makes you feel any better, I already intended to let the public know about Svengallop’s private execution. In fact, if you stick around, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find out just who ordered it in the first place.”
“Will I now?” she asked with her hooves folded, “Then I suppose you’ve proven something to me, mortal.”
“And what might that be, immortal?” I sassed at her for the fun of it.
She chose not to respond to that bit, thankfully. “You’ve proven that ponykind is...actually plenty strong as it is. Maybe...but even still, the problem lies within myself. I am a tyrant that desires nothing but destruction and hatred. I don’t deserve compassion,” she hung her head, “I’m...evil. I want absolute order. Who am I to even ask somepony the time of day? Do you hear me?”
It was at this moment that her voice became more demonic as she spiraled back into her old habits.
“I cannot afford to falter! I must...I must take back what is mine! For the sake of Celestia, I will never--”
SMACK!
My hoof met the side of her face. I really hated the fact that I had to slap her to get her to come to her senses. But sometimes, a bit of tough love was required. With her speech interrupted, she looked down at me with pained eyes that were filled with sorrow. “...You…”
“Stop this,” I retorted bluntly, “That’s the exact sort of attitude that has fed this disgusting side of you. Just like Nightmare Moon. Luna bottled up her envy, sadness, and hate until her magic went wild enough to create an entirely new ponysona within her. One that you yourself had to banish.”
Her response was barely audible. “Well...I…”
“And you, Daybreaker. You were born from Celestia’s bottled rage, fear, and lack of self-esteem. The key difference is that Luna spent one thousand years on the moon in order to learn from her actions. Was it the best solution? Maybe, maybe not. But hindsight is, in fact, 2020.” I sat down next to her in order to comfort her. “But you...you were never able to have any time to yourself. You never allowed yourself time to truly think about your own hidden feelings and how they may affect others around you. As a result, it festered like a plague of mites until it took you over.” I pointed down at the frozen populace, “And that is why you have taken to harming others around you to get what you want. You don’t truly wish to rule for the sake of bettering everypony else. You wish to rule for the sake of your own feelings, and self-satisfaction. When in reality, you have to accept the fact that it simply isn’t possible for you to both take control and be satisfied.”
She shut her eyes, and let out a long, drawn out sigh. “But how do I...how do I find that satisfaction? How can I learn to enjoy life when I am...nothing but pure hate?”
While I could relate, no two situations were alike. I wouldn’t dare to try and pretend as if I had all the answers. If I did, then my job wouldn’t be necessary. “I can’t answer that for you. You have to do the same thing that your younger sister did: Accept that you have flaws, and work to balance them with what makes you a good individual. Lest you be taken over by it.”
“I...I see…” Daybreaker responded solemnly, “...Wow. You almost remind me of Sombra when he was in his youth. He was always so stubborn and straightforward, just like you. But...like me, he succumbed to his hatred, and we had to…get rid of him.” Steam exited from the side of her eyes which apparently substituted for tears? Even her soft sob was an attempt to shy away from expressing her true feelings.
It broke me up inside to watch. Somepony who finally came face to face with their own complications and troubles that caused them so much pain and strife. That’s when I understood just how Miranda Rights felt when she held me close on that day.
So I did the same.
I put a hoof around the alicorn’s neck. I prayed, and hoped that Celestia would finally be able to come through and realize what she had become.
And the next moment I looked up, it happened.
Celestia had returned, though the Daybreaker costume had been long incinerated by now. The white alicorn with her technicolor mane opened her eyes and looked at me with a rather broken ghost of a smile. Her skin was in tatters and scratches from the damage that my crew, Luna, and I had dealt to her during our fight. I never thought I would see the day in which an alicorn would possibly need medical attention, but here we were.
“...thank you,” I heard her say.
Flattering, but I refused her words with a shake of my head. “Nope. None of it was me. You yourself started to come through, and comprehend your own problems.” I let her go, and folded my hooves, “All I did was stop you from burning down a bunch of innocents. Nothing more.”
“Even still...thank you,” she replied weakly. Everything she had been through must have taken a lot out of her, so I couldn’t blame her for being tired. Yet despite this, she saw fit to activate one last spell. “...Allow me to...repent for the damage, I’ve done.”
Her horn lit up, and in a flash, the Costume Curse was broken. Celestia levitated me back to the ground, and the Ponyvillagers had all returned to themselves. My crewmates’ costumes would all be reverted, and they became normal again as well. And so did I.
At the end of it, the public would only visualize it as a massive Nightmare Night performance. Celestia’s spell also undid the freezing of time, and we stood there, stark in front of the crowd.
A slow round of applause would kick up, mostly from the foals. My crewmates all stood up, and I ran over to check on each one of them. Likewise, Luna would immediately latch onto her older sibling to make sure that she was alright.
“Sister!” she cried out as her hooves wrapped around her sister’s neck, “Thank heavens you’re alright! You are...you right now, are you not?”
She nodded, and replied in the same, strained tone as before. “Yes...thanks to...Pale and his…friends...agh…” Surprisingly, she chuckled through the pain. “...It’s been a while since I’ve fought like that...hehe…I’ll be alright.”
Once I checked on each of my crew members to make sure they were okay, I told them all to meet with me back at our little antique shop/base tomorrow morning to debrief over everything we had just dealt with. I heard Celestia’s words, and denied them outright once more. “Nope. It was all her. I simply did my job.”
Luna smiled at me, and mouthed the words ‘thank you’ as she took hold of her elder sibling to keep her from collapsing.
Just then, Starlight and Sunburst ran up to us all. “
“We weren’t able to find the exact source,” Sunburst called out as he came to a stop in front of me, “but we found some pretty damning evidence. Didn’t we, Starlight.”
The purple unicorn nodded. “That’s right, Sunburst.” In her magic, she showed me a badge made of a familiar gold fabric. “We think this will be very useful. Check the symbol engraved on it.”
I tilted my head, and looked a bit closer.
That’s when I saw it.
This badge had the same symbol from the storms in the sky from several weeks ago! The ones that caused Blossomforth to transform and become a stormbeast. So was it possible that the Storm King had allied with…
What a riot.
I took hold of that fabric, and placed it in an evidence bag which I tucked into my vest. “Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m tired as all hell, and my crew and I need sleep.” I turned around, and tipped my hat. “I recommend you all get some sleep yourselves. This year’s Nightmare Night went on far longer than expected.” And with that, I trotted on towards my house.
From behind, I could hear the two unicorns clear away the crowd and tell everyone that the festivities were over. Luna and Celestia had disappeared, likely to have a long chat with each other about what had transpired. My teammates had all gone home for the evening to their respective cities. I just hoped that the train wouldn’t take forever to take them back.
And me? I went back to my house and showered before I dropped into my bed after I locked everything up tight. As I said, I would have a fun time explaining what had happened to the public come the next day.
I just hoped that Cheerilee wouldn't kill me for the kiss I planted on Daybreaker.