//------------------------------//
// Chapter 25 - Fading Light 
// Story: Twilight Daylight: The Cold War 
// by thedarktome 
//------------------------------//

There must be someway to get out. Someway to free herself and the rest of the creatures trapped here. Time was running out, Dawn could feel it in the night air. She didn't have to stare at the stars above for an answer, for their words would never reach her ears. The populace of the town was growing impatient. They were close, all could feel it. The nerves of their bodies were rapidly shifting. The air was colder than usual on this winter. The doorway was cracked. They just had to keep knocking it open with all of their strength.

But would it be too late? Has Psera already made the mistake she so feared they would? Or has mother and father put an end to this brewing battle like she hoped? Dawn could only dream and allow her thoughts to flutter through the blowing breeze. In the middle of the town she stood alone that night, admiring the twinkling of stars with Juniper at her hooves and Sky Blue cleaning herself atop her head. Oh how she wished she could be that fearless. To be out in the open air without the fear of having a target on her back. The cost of being a princess and daughter to a family of power-wielding individuals. Even her uncle was a soldier of some higher order. Leading the charge against any war that may land upon Equestria's shores.

May the stars keep the peace between Psera and IHT.

A scuffle of hooves behind her broke her focus. She knew that sound. She's grown accustomed to it for the past few days. Dawn lowered her head and faced the mountains. "I'm surprised you're not asleep," she said to her quiet visitor. "Don't dragons sleep a lot?"

Lucky quickly upped her walk to stop at Dawn's side. "Some do, some don't," she answered. "I'm not like other dragons. I'm more active."

That tree she climbed over and over again earlier was a verified testament to her claim. If there was anyone here who could climb faster than Lucky, Dawn had yet to see it.

"What are you doing out here?" Lucky asked.

"...waiting," Dawn answered.

"For..."

"An idea."

Lucky smirked. "Clueless, huh? Ya' lost?"

"No, I'm not lost." Dawn turned around and faced her. "I'm just trying to figure out how to break this . . . this shield. I mean, the only one here who even has a clue on how to break it would be Shaoloh."

Lucky furrowed her brow. "Shaoloh?"

"Our prisoner; Heated Wings. That's her real name. One of the Daughters of Narmeelah. I suspect there are more."

Well that seemed plausible. From what she could understand, Shaoloh was the daughter of an entity that created Equus entirely and now seeked to imprison them for some unknown reason. But what could she possibly gain by keeping them in here?

"I'm not a genius or anything, but this seems like a magic issue, right?"

Dawn turned back to the stars. "Right. So far as I know only myself, First Light, and Shaoloh are the only ones in here who can utilize it. The problem is that I don't have enough magic to break the shield."

Lucky rose to her claws and put in her two sense. A theory has been lingering at the back of her mind since Dawn's arrival. "Alright, so I'm just spitballing here, but . . . magic is inherited by family, right?"

"Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth Ponies, and Alicorns all have magic inherited by their parents, yes."

"Your mom happens to be the strongest Alicorn alive, right?"

Dawn glanced down. Where was she going with this? "She's the strongest Alicorn-Pseratep to exist, yes."

"Well what about Narmeelah? Aren't they on like the same scale, theoretically?"

Dawn's ears perked up. She turned back around to face Lucky. "We're not sure, but I think that's why she wants my mother out of the picture. That's why we have to get out of here as soon as possible so we can warn mom and dad about this."

"Alright, alright. So, if you inherited magic from your mom, wouldn't Shaoloh have inherited some as well?"

"Well . . . yeah?"

"I don't know if it's possible, but can't you two combine your magic and break through the shield together?"

Combine their magic? Is that even possible? How would that even work if it were? To just merge magical energies together was just . . . incomprehensible!

Then again, she was just learning the basics of magic this year alone. This sounded like an entirely different concept, something more advanced. There were only a few ponies out there who could possibly even understand how it worked, or if it was even possible. Dawn was not one of them.

Dawn trotted past with a destination on her mind, oblivious to the eyes of Lucky tracking her every step. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"To sleep," Dawn answered. She stopped at the door of her home and peered back, leaving only her hoof on the handle. "I need to talk to a certain princess."



Here it was, the darkness of her home. The feeling of loss resonated from deep within these castle walls, past the offices that made up the path to her, Madun, and Veola's home. Now here it was, darker than usual, quieter than she was used to.

Twilight stopped when she was upon the doors leading into the space that was Dawn's little park when she was a filly. So young and so innocent. Twilight could stare at it all day, but nothing she could do would bring Dawn back. So, instead, she walked past it for the single door here on the first level. The mezzanine above would forever be abandoned. No one would use those rooms.

The presence of the guards were left at the entrance of the Suite in exchange for the silence beyond. The Stripes never got back here, the monsters. No, she would slaughter them all before they even took a step down this very hall.

Twilight twisted the handle and gently pushed the door inward. The silence of this home was deafening. There it all was. The couch on the left in front of the fireplace, Dawn's trophies that used to be her library of books, the pictures they all took together as a family poised on the walls, gathering the leftovers of time.

The kitchen where a few dirty dishes sat, waiting to be washed, months prior. A table seeking to be joined with by a family of three. Well, four.

The dark of loneliness was lifted by the violet neon glow of Twilight's ethereal mane, covering the scars of her past, her neutral expression. She stepped deeper in, hooves lighter than a feather as if she weren't stepping on the floors at all. Without turning around, she ordered, "I will be awhile, chasing memories."

The Elite guards at the door bowed briefly before leaving the suite. Now, she was truly alone. There was no family in this place. There was nothing here that she truly cherished with all her heart.

Here she stood, back at the very beginning of her existence. Alone. She may as well be dead.

Twilight levitated over one of those photos by the hoof, telling of a brighter future instead of the one they faced. The one where Madun was smiling and planting a small kiss upon her forehead. The one where she shone brighter than the sun, cradling the magic of the stars in her hooves reaching for her sky. How many years has it truly been since that day? Since Dawn was born? How many years was she a part of her daughter's life? Of Madun's?

All of the fighting . . . the greed for power, magic, it was controlling her life. No, it did control her life, and she allowed it to happen. To feed her own curiosity, she had attracted attention and gave birth to an evil that has created a disharmony in all of Equus. Magic, the most powerful element there ever was to exist.

Thanks to that element, it claimed the lives of her family. She should have seen this coming. She should've known that this was going to blow up in her face one way or another, she should have known! Was the CPC disaster not enough of an eye opener?! What was supposed to make life a lot easier for the Pserateps ended up making her life that much harder! How could she make others, her own family, her own country happy if she couldn't do so for herself?!

All of this . . . it was never true. It was all a lie, a fantasy, a little filly's dream she managed to materialize!! None of it was real, none of it!!

Twilight swiped her hoof through the air, careening the photograph down the hall for an unfortunate end with the floor. But before this lie could reach its inevitable future, a flaming hoof reached out and swooped it up. Odega, coming out of thin air brightened the gloomy atmosphere with her flames of hope.

"Maybe we should keep this intact," She suggested.

"I did not summon you," Twilight said to her. She turned to and jumped onto the couches. "You are dismissed."

Jeez, this was really bad. Odega didn't want to press her luck, especially so soon. But someone needed to do something.

"You're letting this control you, Twilight," Odega said. She gently set the photo back on the wall and approached the back of the couch, to the queen of magic steaming in her misery. "Isn't that one of the rules of magic?"

"I could've sworn I dismissed you," Twilight spat.

"You need me," Odega told her. She stopped at the back of the couch. "You're losing it, Arcadia. Maybe you should go talk to someone about this."

Twilight jumped back to her hooves and turned around to snarl at Odega. "I don't need to talk to anyone. The problem is already plainly clear."

"So you think," Odega muttered.

"It's magic." She turned around and faced the fireplace. "It's been magic all along, and I was too foolish to recognize it. Too late to put a stop to it. My magic was the magnet that attracted the evil of so many things."

"That's not true, Twilight," Odega told her. She stepped around the couch and placed her hoof on the back of Twilight's neck, hoping to supply a least a little heat in this dead atmosphere. "You have done amazing things with magic. You have brought hope and life to thousands upon thousands of creatures."

"And magic has taken thousands more." Twilight flicked Odega's hoof away from her neck and walked away from her warmth. "Magic is a disease, Odega. On the surface, it is this beautiful thing. But at the stomp of a hoof, it could be the most destructive weapon known to ponykind."

She faced Odega again, this time with a grave expression that chilled Odega's soul. "I've made up my mind of what must be done. Magic must be wiped away."

Uhhh... "You're going to wipe out magic," Odega repeated.

"Yes," Arcadia confirmed. "It brings nothing but trouble. It causes, at its very core, pain, misery, and frustration."

She couldn't be serious. She must be joking. Why would she . . . oh. It all makes sense. "Twilight, you can't destroy magic. For one, magic is everything, it makes up all creatures, even the Pserateps. Two, we won't let you just destroy it. And three, it's impossible."

"Oh, but it is very possible." Twilight walked over to Dawn's trophies and felt her hoof gently along their surfaces. Observing her differing reflections in each of them. Like her emotions, they were twisted and confusing. "Magic can be wiped out as much as anything else in this world. It is merely an essence of energy, and I know how to do so."

"You can't be serious." Twilight turned and glared at her. "Oh no, you are serious. Twilight this is an international security issue. Maybe you should relax for a bit."

"I've never been able to relax."

"Now would be an amazing time to start."

"You do not understand, Odega!" Twilight shouted. Her voice thundered through the castle, shivering the coats of its occupants. She swiped her wing through the bookcase holding all of Dawn's trophies. Like a waterfall, they clattered to the floor and lingered like a distant memory. Yet, Twilight paid that memory no mind.

"I cannot let this go on any longer. I too am a part of this, as are others. Shall magic continue to exist, so shall pain and suffering. Attacks such as this will not just be prominent, it'll be more frequent. Magic is my responsibility. Therefore I shall remove it from Equus."

Twilight started her trek for the door before Odega shot into her path. "Whoa, whoa, let's think about this for a second."

"I have thought about it. Countless times now. I've thought about it when Maheera took over. I thought about it when Blueblood shot me on my wedding day. I thought about it when I fought in Equestria for the freedom of my friends and family. I thought about it whenever Equestria was taken over by malevolent forces. And I thought about it when Maheera attacked us. All of it, fueled by magic or its power. Magic has to go. Once, and for all."

Her mind was made up. Odega could see it. Twilight raised her hoof and nudged Odega aside so she could pass for the door. She opened it and walked out with her Guards.

"Escort me back to Safe Haven, please," she requested. "I have a lot of work to do. I do not need the escort vehicles."

She walked through the silence of the castle until she was at the entrance, where she cast a glance back into the one place she called home. She met the eyes of Her Majesty, watching her next to Odega and Gardeen. Gazes filled with worry and trepidation. It was clear she was losing the trust of the crown. But she knew what she was doing, and she knew what had to be done.

Queen Twilight "Arcadia Nova" Sparkle would fulfill this final task. With, or without their consent.



Traveling the realm of the night was about as stressful as walking through a desert. It was a plain of stars traveling endless distances, holding dreams of the millions of creatures who call Equus home. Thankfully for Luna, she only has to focus on a small percentage of all of these stars. And on this night, the cluster of Equestria was silent. The stars were blue, the dreams of the resting peaceful.

If only she could have someone tend to her dreams like she to them.

There was no need for her to walk through here if their dreams were peaceful. She stopped her patrol and took a seat in this endless sea of beauty. The floating doorways and stars drifted past her endlessly, a silence so thick she may as well be dead.

"Luna!!"

"Gah!!" Luna screamed and shot to her hooves! She looked around frantically for that voice. Someone called to her in the dream realm! Someone else was here?!

"Impossible," Luna muttered. But what she was seeing couldn't be mistaken. The figure in the distance running up to her, the small filly heading in her direction. The one with violet fur and red hair on her head.

"...Dawn?!"

Fresh Dawn slid to a stop in front of her, breathing erratically to catch her breath. "I'm so happy to see you," she said.

"You're ALIVE?!"

"Yeah. W-We're on some terrible island trapped in time and space. We're trying to escape but I could use some guidance."

"You're ALIVE?!"

Dawn reached up and slapped Luna's muzzle to the side. "Hey! Focus! I need your help!"

Did this little filly just hit her? Luna rubbed at her cheek while Dawn spoke. "Is it possible for two creatures to combine their magic and overpower a shield of some sort?"

Luna sat down and thought hard. "Well their combined magic would have to be enough for the shield, but yes."

"Good. Is there a way for me to drag the magic out of another creature unwillingly?"

Luna was about to answer, but stopped. What was the context to this question. She smoldered at Dawn suspiciously. "What are you up to?"

Dawn closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Look. Narmeelah's returned, okay? She's trapped me and others in some kind of . . . some time bubble, I don't know. In the past of Psera, there was a theory that Narmeelah left Psera by utilizing a pocket of time, and sealed it up with her magic. The only way to get out was to find the bridge, something that is both here on this side of time and on your side. We found ours."

Luna quickly shot to her hooves. "What does it look like?" She asked.

Dawn closed her eyes and poured magic out of her horn in the form of a black liquid. It molded and shaped itself into what they dug up earlier. "This. It's a statue of an Alicorn. It's the bridge that's keeping this spell active. If we can pour our magic into it together, then we can open up this time bubble and we can escape."

"Sounds like a plan, young princess." Luna nodded to her. "I will do what I can to help. Now before you go, are you alright? Did you suffer any injury from the attack on Psera?"

Dawn smiled and replied, "I'm fine. There's food and water here. But it would be really good to see mom and dad again. How are they? What's happening on that side?"

Luna solemnly closed her eyes and looked away. "Not well, I'm afraid," she answered.

Dawn lost her chipper attitude and replaced it with dread. "What happened?"

"I'd rather you come through prepared, young princess. So . . ." Luna faced Dawn and stood tall. "Your parents, well, your father . . . King Madun didn't make it. I'm sorry."

King Madun didn't make it. That was all Dawn heard through her head. If Luna was talking after that, her words fell on deaf ears. "...dad? Wh... what?"

"Your father is no longer with us, Fresh Dawn." Luna took a seat and stared into Dawn's tearful eyes. "Your mother managed to survive the attack. Only until recently did we find out. Shortly after the attack we lost all contact with Psera once more. All forms of communications were cut. Your mother took full control of the crown and retaliated with her own strike that has rendered Zebrica a wasteland. She launched Psera's Marrials overseas and attacked Zebrica as retribution."

"No," Dawn breathlessly denied. "No, no no, mom wouldn't do that. She's not like that."

"I wish I could erase what we saw that day, Dawn, but . . . she's not done. Right now, IHT is doing what they can to assist, but Queen Arcadia is demanding the apprehension of any survivors. We, of course, have denied her request. Now she has made a treaty. In exchange for Psera's treasures and trading opportunities, Queen Arcadia is asking for all the Zebras."

Dawn shouted, "Why?! Why does mom want the Zebras?!"

"We don't know. So we denied her treaty. But before Psera and IHT would go to war Queen Arcadia drew it back. As of this moment, we have no idea what Psera is planning. Merry Fire is here on Equestria serving as Psera's Ambassador. Psera has already put their Aquatas in formation and strengthened their military overseas. We are mobilizing our own arms and awaiting an attack."

"Luna, you have to stop this!" Dawn walked forward and placed her ghostly hoof on Luna's coat. Her eyes, filled with a dense panic pierced up to hers. "This is what Narmeelah wants, us fighting with each other. If mom is taken out of the picture, there will be no one strong enough to defeat her. She's trying to get you all to fight with each other."

"We have tried, young Dawn. But your mother will not listen. She is willing to fight her own family for these Zebras and have even attacked Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. Her silence is truly a bad sign. We are tense and waiting for the sign that your mother is preparing another strike."

"We don't have time to wait! You have to let mom know I'm alive and okay! I can't get to her, her dreams and magic is protected somehow; I can't reach her! But mom is the key to saving everyone! We just need to calm everyone down somehow and explain that the true threat is still real and manipulating us."

Luna sighed and tracked a dream floating through her sights. "The only pony that needs to calm themself is your mother, Dawn. We are merely defending ourselves against her excessive threats and attacks."

Before Dawn could respond, a voice rang out around them along with the banging on a door. "Princess Luna! Princess Luna, wake up, it's Psera!"

Uh oh. Dawn and Luna shared a look of worry that made the situation very much real.

"I am needed," Luna said. "This conversation will have to wait until later. I will pass the message forward to the rest of IHT and we will double our efforts to sustain and extinguish this cold war. Until then, Dawn."

Luna closed her eyes and pulled herself from the dream realm. Her eyes popped open to train on the dark of her quarters, facing the open door leading out to her balcony in the direction of Ponyville. It was the middle of the night. The stars were twinkling through the sky and the city of Canterlot was quiet, filled only with the chirping of crickets.

Someone banged on her door, spooking her out of her reverie. "Princess Luna!"

A guard. She turned around and walked across the room to where she swung her bedroom doors open. She came face to face with one of the hippogriff Guards.

"What is it?" She asked.

The guard placed a claw on their chest. "IHT has requested your presence immediately. They have deemed it an emergency."

Ugh. Princess Luna grabbed her crown and slapped it over her horn before rushing out the room. She traversed the halls, down the stairs before coming to the Canterlot Castle Trade room. She burst through the door and was embraced by only a light blue incandescent glow originating from the center of the room.

All members were present, even Flurry Heart, bless her heart, and Princess Merry Fire. Wide and awake, their eyes snapped to her briefly before focusing on the figure that was the cause of the light blue incandescent glow basking on her coat.

"What has happened?" She asked. Luna pushed her way to Celestia's side and focused on what took her breath away. Directly before them was Her Majesty Molten Ice. Well, a live feed of her. It was similar to Twilight's spell, but it was plainly obvious that it was Psera's attempt at materializing it.

"Your Majesty," Celestia greeted. "To whom do we owe this pleasure?"

"To bad news," Her Majesty answered. "The Senate Board believes that IHT and Equestria specifically is in grave danger."

"From Psera?"

Her Majesty slowly shook her crowned head. "No. From Queen Arcadia. She has gone mad with anger, sadness, frustration, and fear. As of this evening, after suspending her power, Queen Arcadia has disappeared from Psera. She has gone rogue. We believe she may be en-route to your location as we speak, but not for the Zebras."

Shining Armor asked, "Is she coming here to attack us?"

"We are not sure. But we do know this: This evening, Queen Arcadia has finally snapped, and blames everything that has happened so far on magic. We believe that she is on her way to Equestria to destroy magic."