Daybreaker? Who or what is Daybreaker? I turn to Twilight to ask her only for Luna to explain. Basically, from what I gather, Daybreaker was a figmant of Starlight Glimmer's dream that was kind of a what-if where Celestia and Luna kept fighting I believe. Daybreaker is basically Celestia's nightmare moon in a sense. Actually, now that I think about it, the evil alter egos of the two princesess remind me of Jeckyl and hyde in a sense.
Wait, nows not the time to be thinking this! Luna is as pale as a sheet and as far as I'm concerned, this can only mean bad things. This 'Daybreaker' character must be evil if Luna is this shaken. Luna takes a moment to collect herself before adressing us
"We need to get back to canterlot as soon as possible. Daybreaker will wreak havoc otherwise. Hold on, my friends!" no sooner does she say that, everyone bunches together like sardines (and all pull me in) and a navy blue poof is all I see before we are back in-
"OOOOO WOAAAAHHHHHH GER WOAAHHHH" I babble out as I open my eyes, drop to my knees and I supress the urge to barf. I take a few deep breaths before asking what happened with a raspy voice.
"We teleported, darling." Rarity says. HOW ARE THEY NOT FEELING THIS? Oh wait, they're either used to it or it doesnt affect them. Figures, seeing as they are all interacting with magic all the time. But still, TELEPORTATION? HOW, THE HOW? My questions cease as my eyes readjust to see we are back in canterlot. Albiet, a bit deserted. I guess someone must have warned the citizens to evacuate.
We move through the city until we approach canterlot castle. Nothing new really. Have to say, for a supposed villian, you would have thought they would have destroyed the castle or something. Hell, even redesigned it. I go to pan my camera at the castle only to remember Spike has it. He gives a thumbs up as he scans the castle with it. We slowly enter the castle to not alert anyone where we are only for two guards to be there. They stand there motionless as we walk past them. Ok, I gotta say, everyone just being normal in here is odd. Where are the evil minions? Where is the lava dripping down the walls? What about us being captured?
My internal questions are ceased as we approach the throne room door. A certain uneasiness creeps into me as we push open the doors only to find,
Nothing.
A bare throne room with nopon-... nobody around. Not even the mighty princess to bestow mighty wisdom upon us. What hasn't gone away much is the dread in me as we carry on in. Seeing as going on in first to a throne room got me here last time, I hang back and observe everyone do their thing.
"I don't like how quiet it is. It properly stinks of a trap." I say. " Almost as if she- GWAARG!" my sentence is cut off as I am picked up with magic and thrown across the room. *WHACK* is all I hear as I collide with the throne and land spralled out in it.
"Excuse me, I do believe that belongs to me." A voice says to me, with malice woven in. I can physically feel the warmth of her breath hit my face. I can barely function as the air in my body struggles to stay in. I take a few deep breathes in and out to try and help myself. Thats it, Eric. Deep breathe in, and out. Deep breathe in, and out. At this point, Twilight and everyone else has turned and seen what has just happened. They make their way over as fast as they can only to be stopped by a wall of fire.
"You six, I'll deal with later. This HAIRLESS APE is what I want first." The figure says. I finally have my breathe back as I crane my neck to look up. Only to this time start breathing faster. All I see first are the eyes. The eyes of a snake. They pierce my soul like knives. Her mane being purely fire gently dances as a stark contrast to the evil toothy grin plastered on her face. If Celestia's cutiemark wasn't on the armour on her, I would have misstook her for someone else entirely. Wait, this... AM I STARING DOWN DAYBREAKER? Everything surrounding her goes blurry as my vision only focuses on the being in front of me. As scared as I am, I eventually get a question out.
"Y-you wouldn't happen to be D-Daybreaker?" I ask. All my bravado gone as all I feel is fear. She eases the grin, cocks her neck back slightly and replies
"Yes. What gave it away?" she replies as her horn starts glowing.
FEAR. Fear is all I can feel now. I desperatly look to the others for help only to see them holding hooves and babbling on about something or rather. Main point is, the elements around their necks start to glow. Spike stands off to the side and watches from a safe distance. Daybreaker turns to face the elements and while she's distracted, I scarper from the throne. I gently climb down and stand against the wall while I hear weird noises. Suddenly my leg is grabbed by making and I'm hoisted in the air
"If you do not want this ape to be hurt, I would reccomend you cease tis attempt to defeat me!" Daybreaker exclaims. Twilight and the others exchange looks before ceasing the rainbow beam thing.
"Good." Daybreaker says with glee "Now we won't be interupted." As soon as that leaves her lips, All I hear is a pop and my vision goes black.
I awake to the sound of rope. My legs have been tied down and my jacket, shirt and undershirt have been removed and thrown to the other side of the room. I observe my surroundings. It's a dark room. Probably a large cupboard or something. I cant tell as its pitch black. Thats when I hear it. Or, her should I say.
"Finally, now, how did you get to equestria?" Thats all she had to ask. I spill everything. Frantically. In as much detail as I can. All the while her evil smug smile turns into a big toothy grin. As I'm explaining, I realise my arms are not tied down. I wait for her to get closer. To the point of her physical body warmth being like I'm standing next to a bonfire on bonfire night. Thats when I attempt a swing. I try to throw a right hook only to have it caught in magic.
"Your first mistake was thinking of trying to strike me. THE SECOND WAS ACTUALLY TRYING IT." She cackles. I use my left hand to grab the bayonett and try to slice my bindings. Alas, it just passes through them. However, she releases my arm and legs. I pant as I try to sprint to a door only to hear that *POP* sound. Daybreaker then uses her magic to get my right arm in a vice like grip.
"To think, you actually thought you could strike me. Well, let me tell you something. YOU WILL NOT BE LEAVING HERE CLEAN!!!" she bellows. I struggle to pull my arm away. I grab it with my left and pull it, I try pulling with my body weight and trying just running. She slowly walks up to me. Dragging out this encounter to make it as excruciatingly long as possible. When she stops, she knocks me to my knees.
"I read your mind while you were passed out. It seems you hold a bit of admiration for Celestia. She, unlike me, is a weakling. Its a shame really, if I were on your mind I would have allowed you to walk out with a bruise. But instead, it's that WEAKLING. SO YOU CAN WEAR THAT WEAKLINGS MARK. PERMANENTLY."
I didnt have time to actually process what was about to happen. Maybe it's my rising panic attack, or the fact that I am alone having to endure this.
Because, thats when it happens. My arm starts to burn. I scream at the top of my lungs. The fiery blast scorches my arm in an orange coat. It feels like my flesh is bubbling to a boil as all I hear are my screams. All the while, Daybreaker is laughing away. Jesus bloody christ. That was just the circle of the sun. She doesnt give me time to rest as I feel a zap at my chest
"DONT PASS OUT JUST YET, WE'RE ONLY JUST GETTING STARTED!!!"
I'm jolted awake by the bolt. My throat feels as dry as a desert as she continues. Each spike part of the sun. Gently burned into my arm. All the while that maniacal laughter is burned into my ears. She finishes up and drops my arm. I grab it and roll on the foor in pain. I actually think a tear or two fell from my face
"Now then, onto the elements." Daybreaker calmly says as she teleports away. All I can do is try tolook at my arm in the dim light but I can't even bring myself to try. I'm too scared to see the aftermath of what felt like a branding. My thoughts are completly scattered but I make an attempt to stand. I have to get out. My legs feel like jelly though. I make an attempt to stand but my legs fail me. I struggle a few steps and fall to my knees. As of now, my body has been super shaky but thats when my stomach catches up and I throw up whatever I ate before coming here. With all just I went through, I can't even pass out. Instead, I simply find a wall and slump against it.
...
I don't know how much time has passed. Maybe an hour or even five minutes. Time is irellevent right now. My thoughts are inturrupted by the sound of galloping. I start to squirm when I dont hear Daybreaker's voice but
"Mister Scott! Are you in here?"
"Princess Luna?" I ask. The lights come on and Luna hurries over to me. My eyes adjust shortly and thats when I get a look at my arm. Its exactly as Daybreaker said. Celestia's cutiemark has been etched into my arm. Colour and everything. I try to rub it off only to be met with nothing. The burning hasn't gone away but it's not as bad as it felt when Daybreaker was etching it in.
I notice Luna has been holding her breathe this whole time. Probably smelled my mess and didn't like it. I quickly grab my clothes, backpack and head camera while taking extra care to cover my right arm. I'm not ready for another look just yet. As we make our way out of that room, Luna asks what happened to which I explain. I leave out all the details about my new (kinda) branding on my arm but I do tell her it happened. Just the cliff notes version. Luna is in shock but regains her composure. Pretty sure for my sake but regardless, I appreciate someone trying to keep their head straight.
"I have a question if you don't mind. How was daybreaker defeated in the first place? I remember she was in a dream but how did she go orginally?"
"Once, Celestia and I had our cutiemarks switched accidently. When our marks switched, so did our magic. I got hers, and she got mine. But thats a story for another day. The pony behind the accidental switch was Starlight Glimmer and the guilt built up into a nightmare. That was where Daybreaker was born."
"If I had heard all that before today, I would have gone with it to get a quick bit of cash from article clicks. Now however, having experienced magic, I one thousend percent believe you. Anyway, you were saying?"
"Yes, When Celestia tried to use my magic to help Starlight, she found herself unable to convince herself to do it. It took a pep talk from me to give her the determination to expell Daybreaker."
"And now this magic has nabbed her and turned her into Daybreaker? Just my bloody luck."
As we are talking, the stone in my pocket starts humming again. Guess it just now decided to wake up. I pull it out of my pocket and it starts tugging again. Wait, this happened when we went to get the elements of harmony from that crystal tree! We can get back! My enthusiasm is halted as I remember what I would be returning to.
NO! NO MORE RUNNING. MAN UP, ERIC. YOU HAVE BEEN IN TOUGH SCRAPES AND GOTTEN OUT OF THE STILL KICKING! I psyche myself up and hold the stone up to about level with my chest. It pulls me down a corridoor and a window that Luna opens. We peek out. Nothing new. The stone pulls to a direction that would be impossible for me to go to as I cannot fly.
"I can use my magic to levitate you while I fly just as long as you keep an eye on where that is pointing." I give a meek "yeah, sure" before I am lifted from my feet and levitating.
I have never been afraid of heights. But this did worry me. I have always had a knack for reading people and as far as I can tell, Luna means no harm. After I stop flailing around, I calm myself and hold the stone out. It points to a balcony I think. I point up to it and Luna flies up with me in tow.
We land on the balcony and duck behind a to a wall next to a window. Good god, it led us RIGHT BACK. Right back to the throne room. Luna gently whispers
"Listen, Eric. I'm afraid we must part ways. I wish I could help more but I can't"
"Lemme guess" I say, "If you get closer, Daybreaker may be able to sense you?" Luna nods. Well, at least she was able to get me here so thats a plus. She bids me farewell and I scan the room. Twilight and the others are trapped in a fire cage of sorts and Daybreaker seems to be sat waiting on the throne. The cage is slightly closer to the window so I figure I can sneak in and use something to unlock it? hm...
"How nice of you to join us." I hear as I'm thrown. I smash through the window and land just in front of the cage. Twilight and everyone snap turn around to see my wrecked self. I scramble to my feet and try to be stopped my a tug on my hoodie.
"Did you really think!" *POW* I'm punched in my left cheek.
"That you could!" *POW* I'm punched in my right cheek
"SNEAK PAST ME?" *POW* I'm kicked with both her back legs in the chest. I'm sent flying away from the cage and over to the other side of the room. That all too familiar *POP* happens in front of me once again with Daybreaker looming over me.
I just realised I may be in over my head With this 'rescue'.