~*~ Chapter 7 ~*~
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~*~ Light ~*~
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“Are you sure about this, Twilight? Because this feels really not okay!” Fluttershy huffed between words as she galloped alongside Twilight through the streets.
More and more pairs of glowing eyes lit up in each of Ponyville's darkened alleyways and side streets the duo raced through. Twilight gave a quick glance over her shoulder, swallowing some saliva at the sheer number of entities chasing after them she could spot even as the strung up lanterns and fairy lights were torn down from their placements. As safe as the permanent street lights felt, the way their radius dimmed each time the mob approached only made Twilight's heart leap further into her throat.
“I hope so! This is a lot more than I imagined there would be!” huffed Twilight, forcing herself to ignore the pain in her flank as her new stitches threatened to break again from her exertion. “Though, broadcasting that you know all their secrets would grab plenty of attention!”
Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to keep her thoughts straight from the cacophony of voices, both familiar and not, raging in her head. Many of them were beckoning her to stop and allow herself to be taken over by the wave of shadows, while others simply spat out threats.
Her eyes drew upwards. Staring down at them as they flew above were more of those glowing eyes. She shook her head and put her focus back on the task as she and Fluttershy rounded a corner onto the largest main street through the town.
“Twilight! I'm so tired!” cried Fluttershy, pushing herself just to keep pace.
Twilight's eyes fell onto town hall as it came into view through the tunnel of light leading down the sidewalk. “We're almost there! It's just a little longer! You're doing great!”
Twilight had to twist in her path, using her magic to guide Fluttershy through a narrow path of light given by a string of fairy lights to the other side of the street as the shadowed forms of pegasi dropped from the sky. The opposite end of the street fell to blackness as the bombardments continued.
“Twilight?!” Fluttershy squeaked as a lantern came crashing down right behind them.
Twilight huffed heavy breaths just to keep pace. “Our plan will work! It has to!”
* * *
“Head to town hall? What for? We were told to stay in our homes.” asked a confused Roseluck, hoof held the to side of her head. “Besides, it's terrifying out there!”
Twilight looked over the two florists standing in the doorway, one much more nervous than the other. “I know this sounds like a strange thing to ask, but please trust me. It's going to be much safer there than it will be here soon, and I don't want anything preventable to happen to anypony it doesn't have to.”
Lily peeked out from behind Rose, pink hooves shaking while holding on to the other mare. “But Daisy went out there days ago and still hasn't come back! How do we know it's safe to go with you?”
“Well, I've been out here rounding up all the other ponies and I'm perfectly fine. I think I even saw Daisy with one of the other groups. She probably felt the need to hide away and had no way to tell you.” Twilight always hated lying, but she had to push through those feelings if it meant being able to get the last two ponies to safety. She would make it up to them later, somehow.
The pair of florists exchanged glances before cautiously stepping out from their home. Roseluck turned to make sure the door was safely locked before taking a step forward. “If you say so. You and your friends have helped us out before, Twilight, so I suppose if there's anypony we can trust, it's you.”
Twilight gained a relieved smile. “Thanks, I promise all of this will be worth it.”
The trot back to town hall was luckily an uneventful one. The marketplace was close and the center of town had more lights strung up, even if some of them had been taken down over the course of the past few days.
Fluttershy hurried up to Twilight once she returned with the two remaining florists in tow who swiftly disappeared into the crowd to find where their third could possibly be. With roughly half the population of the small town inside, there was hardly enough room to breathe, let alone stand inside the building, even with all of the pegasi ushered up into the air to make room.
“Oh, thank goodness you're safe. I was so worried with you out there all by yourself,” said Fluttershy while giving Twilight a hug.
Twilight returned the gesture before pushing through the edge of the crowd. “Just like the past couple days, it was pretty quiet. Luckily, I think that means these things don't have any clue what we're planning.”
“Or maybe they're just trying to lure us into a false sense of security so they can attack us all at once?” worried Fluttershy, earning herself a little pat on the cheek from Twilight that put a little bit of color onto her face.
“We've been planning this thoroughly, and combined with my studies and our observations, it should be able to give us the opportunity we need.” Twilight climbed the small set of stairs up onto the stage where Mayor Mare was waiting. “Just as long as that pegasus from the train station was able to safely deliver our letter to the castle safely.”
“Oh, I hope she did. I wouldn't want anypony getting hurt because of us.” Fluttershy's eyes turned towards the floor.
Twilight gave Fluttershy a comforting pat on the back, though she didn't speak in response. She felt the same way and could only worry if the entities in the darkness would ignore her long enough to allow her safe passage.
“Twilight, thank Celestia you returned safely.” Mayor Mare calmly trotted up to them, giving one of her usual professional smiles. Though, once she turned away from the crowd, she let it fade. “I know you said you're confident about this big idea of yours, but are you absolutely sure it's going to work? It honestly sounds rather dangerous and if you don't show complete confidence up on that podium, it might lead to a panic. Or at least a scare.”
Twilight sighed, but held herself with the strongest posture she was able to take. “I'm still nervous about it, and I am aware of how crazy it sounds, but after reading what's in this book, I can say I am confident that it will succeed.” She gestured to the book whose top just stuck out of her saddlebag.
Mayor Mare peeked at Twilight over her glasses in a display of concern. “Well, if you're positive. I'll support you up here on stage, but I'm not sure what else I can do to be of help.”
“Just letting Fluttershy and me stay here while we formulated this plan is more than enough. Consider this our thank you if it works,” Twilight offered with a nod.
With a reluctant gesture from Mayor Mare, Twilight cantered over to the podium and looked out at the crowd of ponies. She recognized most of the faces as ponies she would see in passing while out on her daily business, even if she only knew the names of a select few. What truly concerned her, however, was the noticeable fear on the faces of nearly all of them. It had been nearly two weeks without any sign of the sun or moon and it became obvious just how much it started to weigh on all of their minds.
The best she could hope for was word of her idea would give them all the hope they needed, but scared ponies were unpredictable. They had a tendency to take things in the wrong direction and she needed to choose her wording carefully. The town had fallen into a panic over much less before then.
Twilight took a deep breath to steady her heart and tapped a hoof on the podium's microphone. “Ponies of Ponyville! May I have your attention please?!”
The soft murmur of the crowd quieted and all eyes turned toward Twilight, the image of so many ponies having all their attention on her making her tense up for a moment. She didn't exactly have the most practice in public speaking, and here she was trying to announce a plan to possibly help save Equestria.
Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself down before continuing. “We have been through a lot of stress, fear and worry ever since everything went dark, but thanks to my observations, I am confident that I have found a way we can help bring everything back to normal!”
As she expected, the murmurs started up again. She had to tap on the microphone again in order to regain the attention of those in front of her.
“Yes, I know it sounds unbelievable, but I am completely confident that I have discovered what is causing all this and I may have observed a way to get rid of it!” Twilight leaned over the podium slightly. “Now, before I start asking for volunteers, let me explain what I need from those who are able and willing to help.”
* * *
Twilight's eyes reflected the light that came from the doorway of town hall. More and more strung up lights fell around them, making sure she felt that heaviness all over her as she fled. She had to whip her tail out of the way of a hoof she felt brush up against it before it could be grabbed and yanked.
With a quick glance towards Fluttershy to make sure she was safe, Twilight dashed into the building right alongside her. Turning around, Twilight could only stare out at the crowd of glowing eyes while the townsponies inside the building tried to push back and away from the door like a wave of bodies.
Right in the front of that crowd, just barely visible at the edge of the light cast out from the doorway, stood four familiar silhouettes. Everything fell silent, neither group moving or speaking. Twilight wanted to give the signal to start the next phase in her plan, but something about seeing those forms in front of her made her hesitate.
“Oh darling, please stop your running. We merely wish for you to join us here in this wonderful darkness. It is so much better than being in that ghastly light.” Rarity's voice echoed through Twilight's head, making her take a step back.
“Yeah! It's just so much better here! No more pain or sad feelings!” added the voice of Rainbow Dash. “I almost got to show Fluttershy, but there's always a second chance!”
A few giggles from Pinkie Pie joined the echoes. “Well, there isn't really anything to feel anymore, but it's worth it to not have to feel sad or anything anymore! We can just have as much fun as we want without needing to worry about anything at all!”
Twilight dropped to her flank, forehooves coming up to her ears in a vain attempt to block out the voices of her friends. Tears rolled from her cheeks, each new voice added in feeling like a hammer straight to her heart.
“Just come with us, sugarcube. It's stuff like that we're talking about. There's no reason to cry once you join us out here,” stated Applejack in a calm tone.
“Yeah! Once you and Fluttershy come along, we can have a nice big shadow party! It'll be great!”
“Please, darling, all you have to do is take a few steps and we can be together forever.”
Twilight felt a pair of forelegs wrapped around her. Luckily, it appeared Fluttershy was currently being spared from everything she was hearing. That was only a small comfort compared to what rushed into her when she heard the crowd of ponies behind her starting to break in ways similar to herself. Ponies falling to the floor, ponies wailing, some even having to be held back by others from whatever they were hearing from those in the crowd outside.
She could feel tears collecting and dripping from her chin the more she fought against the unending deluge of words coming from the shadows shaped like her friends. Her body shook heavily as she fought to stand up again, letting Fluttershy's grasp slip off of her.
“Yeah, that's right! Come on over! We can chillax until the end of time!” urged Rainbow Dash.
Twilight hung her head low. She took a few steps forward before hesitantly staring up at those glowing eyes that all slowly gained varying levels of smiles. “I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry.”
“There's no need to apologize, darling. It's all water under the bridge. We're still your friends,” Rarity assured, voice almost turning to a caring tone for that moment.
“I know you are,” Twilight replied in a saddened tone, forcing herself to look up at the dark shapes of her friends. “and that's why I need to do this. You all deserve better than what you are now.”
Fluttershy looked down to the ground, her mane hiding her face in full. She did speak, though Twilight could only assume it was because she wouldn't have been able to, even if she wanted to.
Twilight tried to blink the tears from her eyes so she could see her friends as clearly as possible. With a flare of pinkish magic around her horn, she spoke in an enhanced voice that cracked as she called out her one single word. “Lights!”
Ponies hidden in the upper floors of the town hall and nearby homes that never had their lights turned off lit up bright stage lights from town hall's storage room for big events. Unicorns stationed with those holding the lights used a spell taught to them by Twilight to enhance the brightness given off by the lights.
In an instant, the town square was lit up from all sides with a blinding flare. Pitch dark forms of nearly a hundred ponies of all shapes and sizes tried to cover their eyes or flee from the light, but one by one, they were reduced to elongated shadows stretching along the ground before fading away entirely.
As if it could sense the sudden loss of so many, the darkness outside of the square contracted around the area like a pony holding onto a wound. Twilight looked up to watch that ceiling of darkness lurch closer, and through the tears still rolling down her face, she forced a weak and tired smile.
“A cloak of magical darkness that is a part of its being, yet not,” Twilight quoted from her book as she kept her eyes on the sky. “If it's indeed connected to the darkness it summons, we might be able to find a way to distract it just long enough to pull its attention away from the place it really should be watching.”
As Twilight mumbled the words from her speech under her breath, a ray of light ripped through the dark sky like a knife. More rays followed at an increasing pace before the black curtain finally gave way to the blinding light of day. Despite the return of daylight and the sounds of rushed hoofsteps flooding out into the town around her, she fell down to the ground and buried her face in her hooves.