For Whom the Twilight Falls

by iAmSiNnEr

Chapter 15 - Lighting the Darkness

“Come to me, child. Find me, use us to defeat the darkness. You have awoken us, if for a moment. Listen to my voice and find us. We’ll guide you from there.”

All Celestia could see around her was darkness.

It felt so much easier to just follow the voice, away from the pain. The voice was already fading, but she could sense the path the voice used to talk to her. A part of her told her that it was a bad idea to follow right now, that the voice did not intend for her to come after her in whatever world they were in right now.

But it seemed so much better. And so much more painless.

And so, she followed the voice, leaving the pain behind.

Ponyville had become the unofficial resistance headquarters, the different species and their leaders filling the small town. The residents of the town had resigned to the fact, knowing that they too would be destroyed if Midnight descended upon them. All they could do now was help those that sought to retake Equestria for her rightful ruler.

Changelings made up the patrols, pairs of three littering the edges of Ponyville as they watched for potential enemies. The singular centaur of Tirek sat outside of the Ponyville Library, fiddling with a branch that had fallen off the tree, while his kind talked to the griffons. Yaks had set up just outside of the town, tents erected on the hill nearby. The hippogriffs had made the pond their temporary home, using the pearl they brought along to shift in and out of their forms.

This all was ignored by those inside the Ponyville Library, who had all gathered around a bed hastily set up in the middle of the hollow tree. A scorched white pegasus, her previously bright pink mane burnt off or charred to a black, lay twitching on the bed even as a draconequus bent over her, his claws glowing.

“There’s only so much I can do for her,” Discord said as he snapped the burnt edges of Celestia’s mane away. He snapped once more, and the burn marks faded away slowly, replaced by bubbles, which he swept away. “Chaos magic isn’t cooperative at the best of times, and this certainly isn’t a good day. Are you sure none of you can try?”

“I don’t remember my healing spells,” Sunset’s tone was frustrated as she kicked at a chair. “I can bring magic to my horn, but I fear I’ll do more damage than help with my ineptitude with magic without my knowledge. We may have broken the inhibitor rings, but…”

“Empress Flurry’s shell shocked,” Chrysalis mumbled. “She saw the whole thing, lightning striking someone who wanted to protect her. She’s not in the right state of mind to cast any magic anytime soon, Princess Snowfall’s trying to comfort her.”

“No, that’s not it,” Sunset whispered. “I wager Flurry still thinks her aunt can be saved. But the fact that Midnight just tried to kill us all, and may have even killed my student, she can’t come to terms with that fact. Who can? Those with memories of Twilight knew her as a benevolent ruler, one who loved all. Twilight would never…never try to kill any creature.”

“Well, tell her to snap out of it,” Philomena growled, the phoenix’s flames blazing bright. “She was already ready to point hooves at Chrysalis, as if she tried to help the coup. Now she can’t come to terms that her aunt is a cold-blooded murderer? Oh, for feather’s sake—”

“Not the time, Mena,” Sunset chided, smacking Philomena over the head with a wing. “Sir Discord, what seems to be Celestia’s condition?”

Luna was by Celestia’s side, her horn lit up using every pain relieving spell she knew. “Tell us,” she begged. “Is my sister going to be okay?”

The draconequus rubbed at his head. “I’m no medic, but I can say a few things.” He glanced up. “Preferably with lesser creatures. Closest friends and family only, please. The more of you in here, the more Chaos Magic acts up.”

“C’mon,” Sunset beckoned. “Queen Chrysalis, let’s get some air. We can go find Flurry and Snowfall and see if we can’t have a word or two.”

“Just call me Chrysalis,” the changeling’s ears were flattened. “That title was my mother’s. I don’t…I don’t feel comfortable taking it yet.”

“Then, Chrysalis, you will be important for us to ascertain Empress Flurry’s mental state,” Sunset nodded. “You can sense her emotions and help us figure out what is the best path to take—”

“Yeah, yeah, DISCUSS IT OUTSIDE!” Discord shouted. “What part of I need concentration do you not get?” He snapped his claws, and everyone but Luna and Philomena vanished from the room. “Finally. Some peace and quiet.”

“So, what’s the news?” Philomena hopped onto the bed next to Celestia, whose breathing was erratic, her chest rising up and down without a rhythm any of them could tell. “Is she going to be fine?”

“Physically.” Discord tapped a claw to Celestia’s head, and a burst of pink mane appeared, replacing the burnt bits. “Luna, take care of the burn marks on her body, please.”

“On it.” Luna nodded, her voice strained. “Wait, what did you mean physically?”

“You’re holding up better than I thought,” Discord didn’t answer for a moment. “I’d have expected you to be full on panicking by now, since she’s your sister. I’m impressed.”

“Answer the question, Discord,” Philomena snapped. “Celestia means a lot to everyone here. We don’t need you giving us riddles.”

“Fine.” The draconequus tucked Celestia’s mane behind her ears and sighed. “I managed to fix her. Mostly. Some of her mane might change colors every hour. Chaos Magic is hard to tame, after all. And I couldn’t fix her primaries, she’s not going to be able to fly for like a week, those feathers are charred. But she should be mostly fine. However, that’s just her body. Her mind is another question.”

Luna turned her head to look at Discord sharply. “I swear, if you’ve done anything to my sister—!”

“We’ll beat you up in honor of Celly,” Philomena nodded. “We trusted you!”

“No, this wasn’t me,” Discord’s brow knitted. “I’m afraid our dear Celestia isn’t entirely there. Something called her while her mind and body parted ways for a moment when the lightning bolt hit her, and I fear she was lured away. Even if I try to wake her up now, she physically cannot if she isn’t in here.” He tapped a claw on Celestia’s forehead. “I don’t think whatever called her had any ulterior motives, but the fact still remains that she needs to come back.”

“What do we do?” Luna slammed a hoof on the ground. “What can we do? And what do you mean called away?”

“She awakened some very powerful forces when she threw herself to save all of you in the tree,” Discord sighed. “I can’t figure out any more than that. To find out more, we’d have to enter Celestia’s mind ourselves. But we might go insane if we aren’t careful.”

“Then let’s do it.” Luna said resolutely.

“Yeah, that’s the right choice, we can wait for her to try and come back herself—” Discord stared at Luna. “Did you not hear me? We might go insane.”

“She’s my sister.” Luna growled.

“And my bond,” Philomena added. “We need her back.”

Discord glared at them, before sighing. “Fine. But Luna’s casting the spell. I ain’t trusting Chaos Magic to deliver us safely into Tia’s mind to drag her back.”

“I don’t know any mind spells—” Luna started.

“I’ll guide you,” Discord shushed. “You just cast it.”

Luna gritted her teeth. “Alright. What should I do?”

“Well, first you…” Discord glanced at Celestia. “Wait! She’s back!”

The pegasus was groaning on the bed, her hoof on her head. “Wha…? My body and wings ache so much…”

“Don’t move, you were quite literally fried pegasus just a few hours ago,” Luna said in a worried voice. “Where did you go? Discord said your mind was gone for a while!”

Celestia’s eyes widened. “My mind? What do you…” She shook her head. “Later. Right now, we’ve got a more pressing matter. The Elements! Midnight has them! They weren’t missing from the cave, Midnight took them!”

Luna paled. “Well, horseapples.”

“FUCK!” Philomena squawked.

Celestia had followed the voice into…more darkness.

But she could feel a presence near her, along with the pain she had felt just a while ago gone. Two presences. Three. Four. Five.

They had yet to notice her, and she could feel their power waning. Three of the presences seemed to be awake, while the other two slumbering. Not only that, it felt as if there was something missing. As if five was not the full number of what these beings were.

“Those idiots!” Celestia heard a voice scream. “I did so much for them when ponies didn’t know anything about changelings! I gave them peace! And what did they do but betray me, their true Queen?”

You were never their queen, A voice taunted back. And neither was I, we simply were friends to them. You simply took my spot after whispering sweet nothings to me. I was a fool for falling for your lies, but your honey won’t work on the changelings. They knew your true self once you took their queen out of the equation.

“That voice…” Celestia murmured. “It sounds…familiar?”

And the three presences turned their attention to her.

How…?

It was the voice that Celestia had heard earlier, the one that she had followed to wherever this was.

How are you here, child? Go, quickly, before the darkness notices you!

“You called me!” Celestia protested. “You told me to find you!”

In the real world, child! You should not be here with me, it is too dangerous! You have proven yourself worthy of my power, but you cannot claim it without your body and mind together! We can shield your presence from her, but she will notice that there is someone spying on her that is not meant to be here eventually!

“Who are you?” Celestia demanded. “And what do you mean by I am worthy of your power? And what do you mean by we?”

I am Loyalty, child. She who never leaves her companions behind. And as for what I meant by we…

I am Kindness. Another voice spoke. She who helps all, regardless of who they are.

I am Laughter! A third voice chirped. He who brings a smile to all, lifting everyone’s spirits, even in the most saddest times!

Our companions, Generosity and Honesty, are still slumbering, for their fated bearers have yet to wake them. Loyalty spoke. You may not understand what I mean for now, but you will. We are the Elements of Harmony, Celestia. 

“The Elements…” Celestia whispered. “We tried to find you! But you weren’t in the cave you were supposed to be in!”

That’s because the darkness beat you to us first. Loyalty answered softly. Besides, the Elements aren’t just us rusty old rocks. They’re you, too. They’re in every creature that embodies the six Elements. Only that the greatest embodiments of the Elements wield their force for good in a more physical form.

You must go now, Kindness urged as Celestia heard hoofsteps near the darkness that was around her. If the darkness finds you before you leave, she may very well trap your mind with her forever, leaving your body an empty husk. Then your friends and family would have a new matter to worry about. I do not know how you were able to follow Loyalty’s path back here from you, but now is not the time to be wandering in this realm while the darkness rules it.

“Wait, before I go, where are we?” Celestia asked.

The dream realm, silly. Have you not guessed yet? Laughter giggled. The world of dreams!

And there was light, a door of some kind opening above them. Midnight’s face, filled with rage, encompassed Celestia’s vision.

“COME HERE!” Midnight roared. “YOU DARE SPY ON THE QUEEN OF EQUESTRIA? I WILL FIND YOUR DREAMS—”

Go! Loyalty shouted as Celestia felt a push from her, and she tumbled back into darkness.