//------------------------------// // Not Today // Story: Faith and Doubt // by defender2222 //------------------------------// "No matter how hard you try, you can't run forever. Everybody knows that everybody dies." -River Song Twilight stared down at Doubt's fitful form. His breathing had become labored after about an hour and his body twitched and shook every few seconds. The dark alicorn had been forced to use a renewing cleansing spell on the floor, lest some pony step on one of the many shard feathers that drifted down from the stallion's molting wings. It would be clear to even the most hard of hearts: Doubt would not last the day. "You stupid, stubborn jerk," Twilight muttered. "Had to go making decisions for me..." She wanted to strike him. She wanted to shake him awake and then bash him back into unconsciousness. Then she’d do it all over! She wanted to grab him and scream and cry and tell him he wasn't allowed to die. That she wouldn’t let him go so easily without having a taste of her wrath. "You made me... you aren't allowed to leave now!" she whispered. The abstract gave no sign he had heard her. They had been working since midnight to try and find out something, anything to save him. Several of the girls (Twilight refused to call them her friends at this stage, the mental wounds they had inflicted still raw) had asked why they were working to find out about Doubt if he were dying. Shining had stated that he felt that the key was Doubt's name… the way the stallion kept bringing it up made Shining Armor wonder if Doubt was trying to tell them something. Luna had confirmed it hours later. "An abstract lives and dies based on how others perceive them. They can take many forms but the most potent is their original form; their original purpose. Doubt's name and role had been lost and as such he began to fade. Had he not become doubt-incarnate he would have most likely passed on within a hundred years." The lunar goddess had sighed before continuing. "But even that did not save him. Doubt is still dying... he has been for a thousand years. Now that he has a physical form he can no longer fight against the decay... death is claiming not just his mind but his body and he is not strong enough to preserve both. "That is why we must discover his name... if we can find it then there is hope he can draw upon his true self and survive this." "You... you promised to never leave me," Twilight whispered. "You're one of the last friends I have... you aren't allowed to leave, you hear me? You are my element! Mine!" She had sat by his side for over an hour. She had been unable to look at another page in another book, knowing that if the answer to question were in some tome it would have been found long ago. Doubt’s past was ancient history, hidden by the sands of time. So she sat by his side, her brain a fury of motion even as her body stood still, trying to puzzle out just what his name might have been. That was the key… his name… And she couldn’t find the answer. She threw back her head. She didn't know if the Creator was listening but she needed to speak. "You hear me? You can't have him! I have an eternity of kicking his flank for pulling this crap on me! So you just stop thinking about taking him because I WON’T LET YOU!" "I'd do what she says, Creator." Twilight turned to find her father standing in the doorway. "She's a biter." "Father," Twilight said. Night Light grimaced as if physically struck. "No," Night Light said firmly. "You don't get to call me that. I am not your father." Twilight's eyes began to bleed black even as the tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. And her father didn't even react. "Do you know what a father is?" He made his way over to his daughter, standing next to her and ignoring the dark magic that began to whip about her horn. "A father is nothing. He planted a seed. That's it. Any stallion can be a father. A father isn't important or special. A father is meaningless. "But a dad... oh a dad is something else entirely." Night smiled fondly and Twilight found herself calming down. "Dad isn't a title you can just claim. You can't demand it or buy it. You have to earn it. When your foal cries in the middle of the night it is a father who goes to sleep. A dad trudges out of bed, no matter how tired he is, and gets a bottle and sings as his little filly fills her belly. When she is learning her first word or taking her first step a dad is there to encourage her and cheer her on. When her heart is broken a dad cries with her. When she succeeds a dad is right there, cheering her on. And once you earn that title it is yours... because a dad never lets go of his kids and he never abandons them. "So no... I am not your father. I'm your dad and nothing you or Doubt or the Princesses or the king of the capricorns or anypony else says will make me stop being your dad. I'm going to screw up... I'm a stallion after all and by the Creator do we screw up. It might take me time to realize how badly I messed up but I will always come back and always make it right. Because I am your dad. Got it?" Twilight managed a watery smile. "Got it." "Now how about I get a hug from my baby girl." Twilight giggled and reached over, squeezing her father tight. "Oof! You've gotten bigger since we last did this." "Sorry dad," Twilight said sheepishly. Night Light waved her off. The two of them stood side by side after that, Doubt's labored breathing the only sound in Twilight's bedroom. "Twilight... about your mom and brother and the Princess-" "Dad, please." "I am not going to demand that you forgive them. Shining screwed up and me and him are going to have a long talk about how a stallion should act. I’m not happy with how he handled things in the slightest. Your mother is nearly as hotheaded as you are-" Twilight huffed at that, "-and Princess Celestia betrayed not only you but Doubt. I get all that. Just... don't live your life in hate just so you can watch them suffer. You want to be mad, then be mad. But leave it at that. Don't twist the knife... that's all I ask." "I'll... I'll try, dad," Twilight said softly. The dark alicorn and her father looked down at Doubt as he began to shiver, sweat pouring down his brow. "You care about him, don't you?" "Yeah," Twilight said. "Do you love him?" "... not in the way you think," Twilight said. "He was there for me... he's always been there for me. Good and bad. It isn't something naughty, so you don't have to give him a talk about leaving me barehoofed and pregnant-" Night Light gave a mocking sigh of disappointment. "I think... Doubt is a friend... maybe my oldest. I... I honestly don't know, Dad. I just..." Twilight sighed. "How do you describe something so complicated." "My mother once told me that the deepest love among friends is to simply want what is best for the other pony... to be willing to sacrifice your own happiness just to see them smile." Night looked down at Doubt reduced form. "He wanted that, when it came to you. He said he’d sacrifice his happiness for yours. I see that now... his methods were strange and I think maybe in the beginning his motives weren't pure... but in the end he just wants you to be happy. Even making you the new doubt... he is doing it in part because he knows you can handle it." "You... you are a good stallion... Night Light." "Doubt!" Twilight cried out, moving towards the mirror alicorn. However, the dying stallion waved her off. "No... I... I don't have long. Get the others in here, please." He weakly smiled. “One last speech… I promise.” Night Light turned and hurried down the stairs, leaving Twilight standing next to her friend's prone form. Doubt's eyes had lost all color and now were twin mirrors, reflecting Twilight's tear-soaked face back at her. She clutched his hoof in her own and whispered pleas for him to hold on. Be it his desire to pass on his final words or merely a blessing from a kindhearted Reaper, but Doubt, for the moment, found enough strength to speak and breath. She turned when she heard the others climbing the stairs but the looks on their faces told the story: they had found nothing. What hope she had felt that a solution could be found died in that moment and despair gripped her heart. "It is time," Doubt said softly, his words a mere whisper. "No... no, you can't!" Twilight pleaded. "Doubt, let us help," Luna said, taking a step forward. "If we combine our magic and channel it into you-" "You'll only prolong the pain. I... I have been hurting for too long... I am ready for it to stop." "What if you sacrificed your body?" Rarity asked. Just a day ago she had felt horror and outrage that Doubt existed... now she knew only pity. This creature had been there for Twilight when all others had failed... for that Rarity owed him so much. "Go back to being an abstract. Wouldn't that help?" The mirror alicorn shook his head, though the action seemed to make him dizzy. "Yes... but I will do no such thing. For one day I was truly alive... I walked the lands and felt the air on my skin and drank cold clean water… I can't go back to nothingness." He weakly smiled. "Stop crying... I'm the villain. You don't shed tears for the devil." "Don't... don't say that," Celestia said, surprising even herself. "You are no such thing." "Yes I am," Doubt said, his head lulling to the side. Twilight stared into his lifeless eyes, praying to every force in the universe to give her more time. She needed to save him... as he had saved her. "I have been the villain for many lifetimes. I... have wrapped up what I have done in pretty little bows but in the end I used my powers more often for ill than for good. My Luna... my Celestia... I am so sorry." "There is nothing for you to be sorry about," Luna whispered, tears falling from her dark eyes. "Doubt..." Celestia murmured. The mirror alicorn's horn began to glow. "I can die happy know that I did do one good thing...one pure thing, untainted: I helped you, Twilight." "Please..." the lavender alicorn whispered. Doubt weakly reached out, placing his hoof on her face. "I don't know what awaits me... will I dream? I hope so... and I hope my dreams are of all of you. I can face my judgment knowing... at least I did right by one pony." Doubt coughed, his lungs shriveling in his chest and the blood beginning to stop in his veins. "Twilight Sparkle... do you take the mantle of doubt?" "I... I don't... I can't..." "Twilight," Shining said softly. She turned towards him, but where she expected condemnation or negative emotions she only found a warm, trusting smile, even if it was seated under eyes filled with tears. "Do whatever you think is right. I believe in you." Applejack nodded. "Me too, sugarcube." "We're with you!" Rainbow Dash said, fighting back turns. The others began to nod and echo their agreement. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, her parents, the princesses, Spike... they all joined in. "We believe in you." "Do what you want... you'll pick the right thing!" "Go ahead Twilight!" "We trust you!" "I believe in you!" Twilight smiled as she felt the fire in her heart roar to life once more... but where once it burned with rage it now was fueled with something new. Something pure and wonderful. The anger was still there but it was no longer the kindling for her power... she had found something better, something stronger. And it was from that fire that the truth was revealed to her. "Yes... I will take the mantle," Twilight said softly. Doubt smiled, his horn beginning to glow, but Twilight's own magic stopped him from passing on the last of his strength and making her the new doubt. "I take the mantle... but not the name. Because you are not Doubt." "Twilight?" Luna whispered. They all wondered... and they all hoped…. The dark alicorn gave no sign that she heard her. "I figured it out, Doubt... you are very good!" Black and white magic began to swirl about her and the others took a step back in shock. But where once her magic had been destructive now it felt like two playful puppies bouncing around their master's hooves. "Even you, an abstract, feel doubt. You didn't fully believe in this path so you came up with a backup plan... a way to save yourself, even if you didn't know you were doing it!" Twilight began to hover in the air and the abstract gasped as white and dark magic latched onto him, lifting his dying body up. Upon Twilight's head the 6th Element appeared, the golden tiara shining brightly in the glow of her magic. Her eyes became a pure white and there was a power in her voice that stopped all movement and made the world listen. "You've always known your name but you couldn't remember it. So you hide the answer in me... the wielder of your power, your element. Only I could find it and only when my own heart was pure... to ensure that you were untainted. Only when I felt your true power… and it was given to me by my friends. Yes... you are very clever... Faith." Twilight's friends and family gasped. Celestia felt as if the scales had fallen from her eyes. Doubt... Doubt trembled... but not from pain. "What... what did you call me?" "Your name... your real name." Magic began to pour from Twilight into the dying alicorn. The skin along his legs began to crack and the mirror shards rained down like diamond dust. "When you came to Celestia it wasn't as Doubt but as Faith... faith told her she was strong enough to beat Discord! You told her to have faith in herself and Luna… that the two of them could drive back chaos and bring back harmony to the world! Faith told Luna she wasn't worthless and that she had the strength to prove that!" "How... how could I have forgotten?" Celestia whispered. It was as if a key had been turned and memories from a long lost age replayed fresh and new in her mind. The solar goddess stared at her lost friend and smiled. "Faith..." "You made me believe in myself when I tried out for Celestia's school! You told me to have faith in my friends, even when I didn’t want to and that is why Luna is now free! When Discord tried to break us he took away our elements... laughter, kindness, generosity, loyalty, honesty... and faith. When Discord got to me I lost faith in my friends and I was saved by believing them once more! It was faith that he tried to steal from me and it was faith in the elements and my friends that ended his rule of Equestria! "When every other pony thought I was insane and that I was trying to destroy Shining's wedding you whispered that I was right... that I needed to have faith in my beliefs! That is my element and that is who you are! You are Faith! Honesty, Kindness, Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, and Faith: The Elements of Harmony, the Magic that makes Friendship. That is who you are! You hear me? Wake up and do your duty! The world needs you again! There is darkness and another light is always welcomed! YOU ARE FAITH AND YOU ARE NEEDED! WILL YOU IGNORE THE CALL?" The mirror alicorn began to twitch, tears streaming from his eyes. "That... that is what they called me... Faith... my... my name was Faith... my name is Faith..." “Stay with me!” Twilight cried out in delight as they began to spin about in the air. “This is it! You and me, one last hurdle!” Doubt threw his head back and screamed as white and black energy burst from his mouth and eyes. His wings and horn shattered and his skin cracked apart as he was torn to pieces. But where there should have been blood… there was only smoke and light… glorious and beautiful. It swirled around Twilight as they watched it took many forms, each different to them, like a cloud in the noonday sky… and each one was noble. “By the Creator…” Luna whispered, tears in her eyes as she looked upon Doubt’s soul… "Twilight!" Spike called out as the cloud surrounded her. “TWILIGHT!” Her friends screamed as the dark alicorn floated above their heads, black and white magic erupting from her. "This is not death, Faith..." Twilight whispered as the mirror alicorn's turned into a malestrom of power. He swirled about her and Twilight threw back her head, a smile gracing her lips. "This… is rebirth." And with that… the final Element of Harmony, faith itself… exploded in glorious white light. "Everybody knows that everybody dies... but not every day... not today." -River Song