//------------------------------// // Into the Sun // Story: Faith and Doubt // by defender2222 //------------------------------// "You will give the people an ideal to strive for. They will race behind you... they will stumble, they will fall. But in time... they will join you in the sun. In time... you will help them accomplish wonders." -Jor-El, The Man of Steel “Look at you lying there… what would your subjects think if they found their princess drooling on a dirt floor with hay stuck in her mane?” Celestia shook the sleep from her system, rising up from the barn floor to glare at the abstract alicorn who was watching her from the doorway. Behind him the night sky still blanketed the world and glow of the full moon shone upon the stallion’s metal wings. She opened her mouth to speak, only to find her words stolen when she saw just how tired the mirror alicorn appeared. His eyes were red rimmed and his mane limp against his neck. His body looked like he’d just gotten done with a marathon and he was struggling to stay standing. Luna’s words came back to her and Celestia wondered if the creature that had stolen her student had not already begun to fade away. "Come now, Celestia," Doubt said, motioning for her to follow him. "Wake Twilight's parents and join me for a little star gazing. The sun will rise soon, so you claim you are preparing to do your duty." The abstract alicorn turned his head, coughing several times. "I believe it is customary to accept a dying stallion's request." "Even if that stallion is killing himself?" Velvet asked, having been awoken by the two immortals conversing. Doubt gave her a sour look. "Yes... how horrible that I am making such a choice." He looked over at Night Light before turning and making his way outside. The others waited only a moment before following after him, wanting to hear his words. "Which will it be tonight? That life is a precious gift or that I deserve to die?" "Both," Night Light stated. "And neither. I... I honestly don't know how to feel about you." "At least you're honest," Doubt stated dryly. The great stallion settled himself on the grass, watching the twinkling stars. It seemed that the night sky was attempting to give them quite a show, knowing that within an hour the sun would rise and the curtain would fall. The others remained just out of reach and did not bother to hide the fact that their magic reserves were primed and ready to assault the mirror alicorn if he even breathed the wrong way. Of course, from the way he was weazing, it was clear he was already not breathing properly. "Taking this form... seems to have speed up my plans. A... rare misstep. Still... I do not regret it. Twilight needed my... protection and... and I am happy to serve." He flashed Celestia a weak smile, which she did not return. "Let us take this from the first point, as that is the least important: Life is a gift. I admit this and you know this. But I have lived a hundred lifetimes and all I have to show for it is a body that fails me, a string of betrayals and an eternity of regret. I don't even have my true name to call my own." "Why do you care so much?" Velvet asked. She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice but she couldn't help but let a little shine through; in her eyes this monster had seduced her daughter and sent her son to the hospital. "It's a name... it has no weight, not solid mass." "It is what it represents!" Doubt snapped before closing his eyes. "I... I am sorry. Luna believes my being alive has caused me to feel emotions... I did not mean to shout." It was so startling to see the 'villain' be polite and apologetic that the others could do little more than stare at him. "My name is my past. I only know what I remember after, nothing more. No creature can even tell me of the days before Discord. How long have I truly been alive? Was I an abstract since my birth? Or do I have a family? Parents? A wife? Children? What brought me to you, Celestia? My name represents all of this." He gave them each a hard, cold look. "Would you not go mad if found in the same situation?" "You think your insane?" Celestia asked in surprise. "Think nothing; I know I am." Doubt tapped his forehead. "But, then again, we are all crazy... some of us are just ahead of the curve. Ah, but we could wax on poetically for ages... Velvet and Night here would be dust long before the two of us finished conversing about the magic of the universe... assuming I was in proper health. Let us move on to more pressing matters: your cold-blooded acceptance of a creature's suffering." "Would you prefer that we put you out of your misery?" Velvet said, her horn glowing. Doubt scoffed. "And what good would that do?" "You'd be dead and Twilight would be free!" Velvet shouted. The abstract alicorn glanced at Celestia and smirked. "You are quiet, my Celestia... have you accepted the truth?" The solar princess refused to answer so Doubt pressed on, taking her silence as his answer. "Princess Luna has already stated that I did not corrupt her. I merely gave her the power to challenge Celestia and she chose to use it poorly. So no, my death will not save your daughter... whether she actually needs saving is up to debate..." "You still whispered in her ear, encouraging her to become Nightmare Moon," Night challenged. "And have done the same to Twilight." "I told Luna to stand up for herself." Doubt turned his attention to Celestia. "Do you honestly believe your dear princess was always so kind? She has lived thousands years... such spans weather mountains and harden diamonds. Celestia here weathered." "You're lying," Velvet said, refusing to believe the princess could have ever been anything other than kind. "He... tells the truth," Celestia admitted. She looked to the stars and sighed, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Luna and I were raised to rule. Our guardian taught us the ways of the warrior... and we were good students." The solar princess sighed. "I've killed ponies... worse I got clever; I found a way to get them to kill themselves and be happy about it." "Such a life does not make for easy friends," Doubt stated. "That is why I forgave you for hiding my name from others. I understood your fear... my anger has always been for you forgetting me." "I am so sorry," Celestia whispered. "Too little too late," Doubt said, a bit gruffer than he meant to. He directed his attention once more on Twilight's parents. "Such a life, my little ponies, also makes love a hard thing to achieve. Celestia had to appear strong but failed to realize that there was a time and place for that. She remained steadfast at all hours and soon her sister, her own family, was seen as just another she had to wear the mask for." Celestia could not stop the tears and, to the couple's surprise, neither could Doubt. "I... I only wanted to remind you that you had allies... that you weren't alone... so that you might remember me..." "Doubt..." "But I failed," Doubt said, shaking himself free of the depression that had gripped him. "And now you find yourself on the cusp of learning a hard lession at the cost of something precious." "And that is?" Celestia asked. "That what you deem right is not always so," Doubt said. He reached over and grabbing a stick, placing it between his hooves and slowly pressing upon both ends till it began to bow in the middle. "Let us remove myself from the equation. Forget that I ever existed. Let us say Twilight never gained my strength or heard my words. What do you think would have happened?" "She would have defeated the changelings and continued on as things were," Celestia said without pause. "Do you truly believe that or is that what you wish?" Doubt pressed. He let go of the stick, letting it straighten, before pressing down again. "You broke her heart. You shunned her and, for lack of a better word, made her doubt her place in your life. Do you believe she would have come running back to you when you admitted you were wrong? Assuming you did, of course; I have long watched you, my Celestia, and know how much you hate those words and will refuse to say them. Would you have swallowed your godly pride? Or merely let Twilight believe you said sorry when you never uttered the word?" He looked at her parents. "And you two... would she have forgiven you for not being there and the perceived favoritism towards Shining Armor?" "Of course," Celestia said. "Twilight knows we love her." "Does she?" Doubt asked with mild surprise. "It seems an odd way to show love, by continually pushing her to the brink." Velvet shook her head. "Everypony does that. It's part of being alive. The only reason Twilight is reacting the way she is now is because of the power that you gave her." "And it is only the power I gave?" Doubt questioned, releasing the pressure on the stick. "So Twilight would have returned to normal after the stress you placed upon her?" "Of course," Velvet said confidently. "No," Night Light stated, staring at the stick. He used his magic to free the wood from Doubt's grasp and brought it over for his wife to see. The twig, which had been straight and strong when Doubt grabbed it, now showed stress marks along its surface and the ends slightly curled towards each other. "Life leaves scars." Doubt nodded, his own horn glowing. The twig began to bend and, with a snap, cracked into pieces. "That is your daughter, Miss Velvet. And your student, my Celestia. She is a stick that has been pressed and bend and bowed and she has continued to try and reshape herself." Doubt's magical grip, a swirl of black with tints of white, sent the shards flying out across the grassy field. "I think it is a bit more complex than that," Celestia tried to argue. "But it isn't!" Doubt said in utter frustration. "By the Creator you are the three guiding lights in her life and you don't get it. I have known ponies cursed with stupid role models and those cursed with stubborn ones but I never thought Twilight would have stubborn stupid ones!" The abstract stood and, with a dark glare, spread his wings wide. In the many prisms Celestia, Velvet and Night saw moments of Twilight's life flash before them. It wasn't all bad, surprisingly. There were good moments that Doubt showed, of smiles and laughter. But there were still the dark moments, the petty words and the rash statements. What was amazing was they could sense how Twilight had felt during all these moments. Times the three had thought to be bad proved to hardly leave a dent... and yet there were also moments they each could not recall that left deep scars in her psyche. "When the stick is young and green it can bend with ease. Much like a child they can handle pressure and not let it affect them. The miracle of youth." Doubt shook his head in disgust. "But as the wood ages and begins to dry out it becomes more brittle. Pressure that at one time would have done no damage suddenly leaves cracks. The stick shoves wear and tear until... it snaps." Within all the prisms they saw Twilight screaming at the Changeling Queen in the guise of Shining Armor, telling all of the hate in her heart. "You three are truly petty fools. You believed because you were older that you were wiser. Nothing can be further from the truth. Age brings wisdom but it also brings rigidness. You are sticks that refuse to bend under pressure and so you force others to bend instead... others that can't handle the strain." Doubt brought up another stick and slammed his hooves together, shattering it. "It's all our fault," Velvet whispered softly, tears gathering in her eyes. She gently used her magic to gather up the wood shards, trying to put them back together. "No," Doubt said, his legs shaking. He felt to the ground in a heap, the strength born of his fury leaving him. "No. Blame does not rest solely on you. I am to blame, Twilight is to blame, we are all to blame, just as my Luna said." He sighed, trying to raise his head to look upon Luna's moon but found he lacked the conviction to do so. "This isn't what I wanted to tell you." "Then what did you want to say?" Celestia asked softly. "That you must look not just to the future. You have spent so much time looking ahead that you have missed what lies under your nose." He pointed a hoof at the solar princess. "You worked to create a better Equestria and failed to see that your visions left you blind to your sister's bitterness. You were concerned about the wedding and making sure it was a grand affair... and missed the facts that should have shown you that the Changeling Queen acted nothing like your niece." He looked to all three of them, silently pleading for them to listen to his words. "You look ahead and focus on what Twilight has become instead of wondering how you got to this point... now every step you take towards what could be makes that dark future a reality! You should be with Twilight now, begging forgiveness and finding ways to mend your broken bonds as mentor and student and parents and daughter. Instead..." Doubt leaned forward, his body trembling as he coughed. Celestia gasped as he raised his head up, revealing the blood that coated his lips. His wings drooped and several mirror shard feathers fell to the ground and shattered into dust. Even his coat looked to be growing pale. "...instead you are lying in a field, pitying yourselves and watching some pathetic old creature that should have died a long time ago take his last breaths." The abstract laid down, his eyes drifting shut. "I... I thought I had more time... years to teach her... to make her strong... I was wrong." He let out a long sigh and for a moment they thought he’d fallen asleep. “I… I wanted to make her into the new doubt… but I… I don’t want her…” “Doubt?” Celestia whispered. “…I… don’t want her… to become… like me…” He forced his eyes open. "Now then... dry your tears and raise the sun... I'd like to see it one last time." Celestia sniffed, not even bothering to look as she brought about the day. She just stared at the abstract who shed a tear, smiling as the sun slowly rose as if only for him. He laid his head down and passed into a dreamless sleep. The two unicorns and the alicorn stood up, looking down at the unconscious Doubt. Celestia’s horn flared and with a blast of heavenly light she transported herself, Twilight’s parents and Doubt’s form to Twilight’s library. The solar goddess sent the silent call to her sister to come before turning towards Twilight. “You know?” she asked, seeing all the books. Twilight just glared at her. “Don’t say a word. Just get him in my bed, now.” Celestia lowered her head and silently made her way upstairs. Perhaps Doubt was right… the twig was broken… …and she was wrong.