//------------------------------// // Sisters // Story: Faith and Doubt // by defender2222 //------------------------------// It is always darkest just before the dawn -Old proverb ~MC~MC~MC~ It was a sight their enemies would have loved to see: Three alicorns rendered mute. Of course they weren't really mute. They could each speak at any time. They just didn't know what to say. Or they did, but they couldn't bring themselves to vocalize the words. To say them was to make the situation real. They knew they had to talk at some point but each waited for the other to say the first word. It would be better to hear the words than to be the one to whisper them. And as it was in all aspects of life...the youngest proved to have the least patience. "It's not your fault," Cadence said softly. Of the many that had been brought to the hospital that day she was the healthiest. Shining Armor had been bespelled and bruised. Twilight was fighting for her life against the corruptive aspects of black magic. Many of Celestia’s guards had suffered broken bones attempting to stop the lavender unicorn’s assault. But Cadence was ok. She was the lucky one. Perhaps it was because Chrysalis feared making Cadence angry and thus injecting a poisonous emotion into the caverns or wanted to toy with the love goddess...but Cadence had been fed during her capture and thus had much of her regular strength. All she really suffered from physically was a dirty mane and coat. Mental issues were an entirely different problem but there was little the doctors could do about that. They had warned her that she could appear fine for days, only to be left trembling and shaking weeks later when the full memory of her capture was allowed to come to the forefront. Dr. Stitch had arranged for Cadence to begin meeting with a psychologist, to help minimize the damage. “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” one of the doctors had told them. Cadence could very well suffer from that for the rest of her life…and as a goddess, what a long life that would be. ‘All because of my stupidity.’ "Yes it was," Celestia murmured, standing next to Cadence's bed. She barely had the strength to lift her head up. "Aunt Celestia, please-" Luna shook her head. "Cadence, don't." The younger alicorn stared at her other aunt. "You honestly aren't going to blame her for all of this, are you?" She tried to rise up but found herself being gently pressed back against the mattress. "Not entirely," Luna stated. Now that she had calmed down after her outburst in the lobby, Luna had been able to focus and not slip into the archaic dialect that so befuddled her subjects. "But her actions did play a role in today's events...as did our own." The moon goddess let out a sigh, cursing the fact that her natural shyness had kept her from the wedding preparations. Perhaps if she had been there she could have- 'No... it is no use to think about that," Luna grumbled to herself. 'What is done is done.' "Sister...you are kind," Celestia said. There was no insult or jest in her words; Celestia meant it. "But your kindness is misplaced." "We think not," Luna said. "To take on the full blame for these events is to walk a dark path...the same path Twilight Sparkle now fights to leave. Would you join her in the shadows?" Celestia cringed at the comment, not wanting to think about her faithful student struggling for her life. "I should have listened to her..." Cadence smiled softly, reaching out and placing her hoof upon her aunt's foreleg. "No one blames you for that. Twilight...Twilight overreacts. She has had meltdowns before over the smallest things. With a history like her's-" "No," Celestia said firmly, a glimmer of her old self shining through. "No. Not like this. Twilight has taken situations and blown them out of proportion...but not like this. Since I sent her to Ponyville Twilight has always kept her heart open. You haven't read her letters, Cadence...when ponies looked at others with only hatred she always erred on the side of trust." Celestia thought of all those that had given Twilight every reason to hate them...such as Zecora, the zebra. Or Gilda, Rainbow Dash's griffon friend...yes, it hadn't worked out well there but Twilight had reserved judgment till the very end. Even Luna herself, who had given Twilight no reason to trust her, had been shown only kindness by the unicorn when she came for Nightmare Night. "To believe that she would attack...you..." Celestia grimaced at the awkwardness of that statement, "...merely because of jealousy is so out of character for her...that should have been my second clue." "Second?" Cadence questioned. "What was your first?" "You...or the changeling. She did a poor job of acting like you...and I allowed myself to believe that it was merely pre-wedding jitters." Cadence smiled slightly. "Her performance is my fault. When I realized what she was doing I threw a royal fit and acted as I imagined my dear cousin Blueblood would...I had hoped to throw her off and clue others-" Celestia bowed her head and wept. "Please!" Cadence exclaimed, pulling the older alicorn into a hug. "It is not your fault!" "It is!" Celestia shouted, startling the other princesses. "Three times now I failed to see the warning signs! I did not notice you, dear sister, falling into bitterness and it cost us a thousand years. And you, Cadence...if I had only noticed sooner the queen's poor performance none of this would have happened. And now Twilight..." "You can't blame yourself for that," Cadence repeated. Luna, however, could not hold her tongue. "Yes, she can." Cadence glared at the older alicorn but the moon goddess' tongue would not be stilled. "You said it yourself that Twilight had a habit of overreacting. I ask you this: what does a teacher do when they see a bad habit in a student? They correct it." "But-" Luna's glare silenced her. "I do not say these things because they bring me joy. I say them because I feel now that we are need of the truth. It appears that for too long we have allowed ourselves and our kingdom to get by on white lies and honey-coated fibs. We all, myself included, chose to focus on the good and sweep the bad away or craft convenient lies to spare the feelings of others. Many of the problems that face us could have been averted if we had only allowed the cold hard truth to shine upon the shadows that are deceit and ignorance." "The truth can hurt," Cadence said. "More than this?" Luna inquired, winning the battle with that statement. "Again...we do not say these things out of joy but need. If we are to aid Twilight Sparkle we must be honest now and not fall back onto old patterns that, ages ago, gave rise to Nightmare Moon and Discord." Celestia nodded her head in agreement. "My sister is correct. Her methods are a bit...harsh...but her words are true." The solar princess turned her gaze on Cadence. "After Twilight is through her operation, I want you to perform your spells upon her. The most powerful that you have." Cadence gulped. Her strongest spells were designed for those caught in the most bitter grip of hate and rage. To suggest that Twilight, the little filly who had always looked upon the world with such wide, innocent eyes, needed that...the idea almost did what the changelings could not: Break her. "A wise decision," Luna said in agreement. "We face a great battle...perhaps the hardest any of us have faced. But defeat is not something we can afford..." she turned, looking out the window. She would have to raise the moon soon but for once the thought of night descending filled her with the same dread all other ponies felt when thrown into darkness. "Things have grown black...Twilight Sparkle has always been a candle against the night. But now that flame has been twisted and we must purge it if we are to hold back what is coming." "You have had a vision?" Celestia whispered. Luna, being the goddess of dreams as well as the moon and the night, was prone to visions of what might be. "Yes...and what I have seen..." Twilight stood upon a great hill, watching as fires burned across the land. She was larger, rivaling Celestia in stature and seemed to grow even every moment, drawing power from the turmoil around her. Her coat had grown darker and her cutie mark harsher...it was as if one could be cut just by looking at the jagged edges of the star upon her flank. Her mane was now stripped with black and her eyes glowed as she looked upon Equestria. The sounds of revolt rose up, deafening the world...and then there came a shadow...no, a stallion with wings of broken glass...matching this dark queen in size and power. Twilight favored him with a brief look of tender care before rearing up, the two charging across the fields as they made towards Canterlot, rebellion upon their heels... "Whatever your visions are...we will not let them come to pass," Celestia said firmly. Cadence marveled at her aunt's transformation, as the noble alicorn rose up from the pits of despair recharged. Luna had been right; truth was needed now. "We cannot change the past...it is over and done. What we can do is learn from it and not allow the mistakes of the past to be repeated." Celestia looked upon her little sister and smiled. "Your fall will serve a greater purpose, Luna...for I will use it to strengthen my resolve to prevent such a fate from coming upon us again. I will not let my feelings cloud my judgment as they did with the changeling that took you, Cadence. I will do all I can to save Twilight...even if she hates me for it...and we will build upon the rubble that is this day a stronger foundation of love and friendship." Luna smiled. "That...is what we prayed to hear." "We are with you, Aunt Celestia," Cadence said boldly. Celestia eyes shone with hope. 'Do not worry, Twilight...we will fix you...we will save you.' ~MC~MC~MC~ "Hello boys," Twilight purred as tendrils of black energy burst from her horn. Each twisted and turned like the head of a hydra, striking lab equipment and monitors. Nurses and doctors ran, only to be caught by the shadow tentacles and thrown across the room, knocked out cold. Several of the shadow snakes found the jars of white magic and Twilight let out a hiss of pain. Her horn flashed and she forced the tendrils to wrap around the jars, working through the agony as she tainted the magic. The unicorn slowly rose to her feet, moaning in delight as one tentacle brought a jar to her. She stared at the now blackened magic before she smashed it against the floor, savoring the power as it drifted into her body. "Yes...yes..." she murmured, feeling the fires burn bright once more. She savored the delicious energy like a dying man did his last meal. After several long moments Twilight lowered her head and looked about at the carnage she had wrought. The nurses and doctors would live...they had only been following orders and she could not find it in herself to hate them. They had wanted to save her and had been misguided in their attempts. Why would she want white magic when shadows and darkness were so...yummy? It was like comparing a plain vanilla ice cream cone to a banana split. "Hmmm...bored now," Twilight said with a giggle. Her horn flashed and all the broken equipment was repaired. The doctors and nurses were gently placed together to rest and Twilight favored them with a slight smile before turning to the doors, throwing them open with a spark of magic.... ...revealing the stunned features of Spike. "T-Twilight?" The mare, for the briefest of moments, considered blasting him right then and there. But it was the tears in his eyes that stopped her short. "I'm...I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you Twilight!" He ran to her, stopping just a foot away from her. He nervously played with his tail and a slight smile graced the unicorn's lips; Spike had always done that, even when he was a newborn. "Twilight?" 'He's lost too,' the little voice in her head whispered. 'He's been bullied and put down as well. He's never used me...I used him. I've treated him just like my 'friends' and 'family' treated me.' Twilight closed her eyes, physically pained by that thought. 'But I'm not like them...not any more.' "Spike," Twilight whispered, using her magic to lift him up close. The baby dragon cringed, expecting to receive the same abuse the changeling queen had, but instead found himself wrapped in Twilight's forelegs. "Spike...I get it...you were just going along with what the others said...you were afraid to stand up for me." "Twilight...I'm so sorry," Spike murmured. "It's ok, Spike," Twilight whispered. "I forgive you." She set the baby dragon on the ground, blocking his view before he could see what had happened to the doctors and nurses. "Come on...I want to have some fun." "Should we wait, let the princesses-" Twilight sneered. "Yeah...not interested in dealing with them at the moment. I can get chewed out at any time." She brightened up so much that Spike questioned if he had seen the mask of hate that had flashed upon her features just a moment ago. "I want to go have some fun and not worry about anything else. I think I've earned that!" "We...aren't going to the library, are we?" Spike asked nervously. Twilight laughed, using her magic to place him on her back. "Nah...you know how you were always begging me to check out one of Canterlot's nightclubs? After the day I had, I think I need to cut loose. Let my mane down, get my freak on…" Spike wanted to protest, but he remembered the promise he had made to Shining and quickly nodded his head. Besides…this is what he had wanted for so long: Twilight to stop being tense and just have fun. "Sure Twilight...sounds great!" "Good!" Twilight said, enveloping them in a bubble of dark magic. With a flash they were gone.