A Golden Afternoon

by Gallifrey

Lost in the Dark

Twilight heard a loud clang of metal, then silence. Not ordinary silence, but the type of deafening silence that comes with ominous situations.

All was dark.

Twilight, robbed of her sight, only had her other senses to rely on, and they weren't happy with what they were sensing. She was cold– that was the overarching feeling, a creeping cold that infected her flesh, relentless and uncaring, and she was uncomfortable; the floor felt as though it were made of stone, and there was no furniture in the room except for a small excuse for a toilet in the corner. The cell smelled of damp, the air was musty, breathed a hundred times before. Needless to say Twilight hated it.
Time didn't seem to exist... wherever she was. She lost track of it lost track of her. An eye for an eye.
Some days, or it may have been half an hour later, Twilight coughed, and a voice whispered in the perpetual night.

"H-hello?"

Twilight couldn't believe her ears. It was amongst the last voices she expected to hear.

"Princess?" she whispered, breath catching in her throat.

"My faithful student, where are you?"

"Over here," said Twilight stupidly.

"Come towards my voice," Celestia requested.

Twilight tried to light her horn up, wondering why she hadn't done this before; she found out when she immediately ran into a barrier in her mind, a dam that blocked the flow of her magic. Her brain throbbed painfully and she yelped.

"I'm afraid there's no using magic in here Twilight, there's an inhibitory field all around," said Celestia, correctly guessing Twilight's pain. "It's old magic to stop prisoners escape via the arcane."

Grumbling internally, Twilight crawled towards Celestia's beckoning like a blind beggar to a rich man jangling his pockets enticingly. Twilight's hoof met something warm and firm.

"Ah, found you!" said Twilight happily.

"Well, you found my rump at least," said Celestia, amusement in her voice.

Twilight pulled her hoof back and for once was glad of the dark, for it covered her furious blush.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked.

"Twilight, you've known me more than long enough to know that shouldn't bother me."

"I-I know, but still..."

Twilight heard Celestia shift her weight, then felt a pair of hooves and wings wrap around her. Warmth, blessed warmth enveloped her, and Twilight was a little filly again, scampering to her mentor's sweet embrace after having a bad dream. Again, Twilight wasn't sure how long they remained like that, but the unicorn felt heat return to her blood, and her body and mind relax completely, as if she were literally putty in Celestia's hooves.

"Where are we?" Twilight half thought, half spoke.

The Vault of the castle, replied Celestia, through pure telepathy, "I don't recall ever showing you..."

"You didn't. Anyway, how are we doing this?

It's a skill, thought Celestia vaguely. Luna and I often converse in this fashion, it comes of being close to an alicorn I believe, I always used to wonder why it never worked with you, after all the years you've been under my proverbial wing.

"And literal," Twilight murmured, poking at the soft, downy appendages that hugged her.

And literal, she agreed, and Twilight felt her chuckle. Do you remember how I used to put you to bed?

Twilight shifted in embarrassment.

Really? Are we doing this?

I used to tuck you in...

Please no.

Give you a mug of cocoa and a cookie...

Nooo, Twilight squirmed.

And I sang you a lullaby: and so Celestia did.
"Twilight, the time has come, for you to wake up to your dreams,
Go forth, explore the world, where nothing's as it seems.
The Sun has gone to bed, and settled down into the west,
Sleep soft until once more it rises 'bove the crest.
Stars, moons and shooting stars will wheel over your head tonight,
Sleep well in her embrace and rest, my dear Twilight..."

As gut wrenchingly embarrassing as it was, Twilight felt a welcome wave of nostalgia wash over her, almost forgetting that she was trapped in a prison.

"You know," she said eventually, "it's nice to hear something so familiar again, when the whole world around me is falling apart. It's like it's something to hold onto, build a foundation upon."

Celestia smiled, and even though Twilight couldn't see, she knew she was.

Where's Luna? asked Twilight, wondering for the first time where the Princess of the Night was hiding.

She's sleeping, Celestia answered. She does that a lot these days, to escape the misery that is this existence. I'm too paranoid myself to spend much time sleeping... I fear what Discord may do to us.

"He doesn't hurt you does he?" questioned the unicorn fearfully.

"If he does, we don't remember it, but still... I'm sorry my dear..." Celestia took a hold of one of Twilight's hooves and guided it to her own belly. Twilight could feel, under her snow white coat, a moderately sized cut in her skin. The lavender mare was shocked.

"D-did he do that?" she trembled.

I can't even remember: this may be from the struggle when he captured us, or at least, that's what I hope transpired... I dread to think he's descended that far into madness... Discord and I have a long history you see.

Inside her head, Twilight could hear the barely contained distress in her teacher's voice. A question fluttered on the tip of her tongue, a question she wondered if she dare ask.

What kind of history? she asked, so very tentatively.

There was a pregnant pause, and Celestia froze quite still. Twilight fretted that she may have crossed a line with her mentor. The Princess of the Sun cleared her throat, opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. Finally, she began:

I suppose it's always best to start at the beginning said Celestia with her mind. She sounded hesitant, even scared. 

Princess, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, replied Twilight, exasperated, trying to save the Princess from her uncomfortable situation. The unicorn felt another chuckle escape from Celestia. 

"Really, Twilight, you don't have to do that for me. It's more of an issue to simply recall it, you understand, it must have been... oh, two thousand years ago now." Another pause. "It may surprise you to know, but Discord wasn't always the mischievous anarchist he is today; he actually used to be quite the sweetheart..." she trailed off. "I won't go into it too much, but suffice to say, we were very close to one another– perhaps too close..."

"H-How do you mean?" Twilight quivered.

"Are you familiar with the common phrase that I shine as bright as the Sun itself?" Feeling Twilight's nod, she continued. "Well, in some respects, it can be true, and I fear that in getting close to me, he got burned. It wasn't his fault, but my duties constantly occupied so much of my time; he grew agitated, as is only natural. We drifted further and further apart, snatching but glimpses of one another, and he began despising the order of the country, and that my maintaining it had kept us apart. It led to his eventual rage... and you know what happened after that."

Twilight recalled the stone statue, it must have been a constant, tortuous reminder for Celestia. Twilight wondered why she kept it in the Royal Gardens and not locked away deep in some forsaken chamber.

"How can you bear it?" asked Twilight.

"You've never met Time have you Twilight?"

"Oh not you too!" exclaimed the unicorn.

"It's quite impossible to live as long as I do and not know Time well, isn't that right Lunes?" Celestia stood up and prodded the sleeping alicorn across the room.

"Huh," came a sleepy groan. "Five more minutes 'Tia!"

"We have a guest," said Celestia smoothly.

Luna stretched, grumbling, and rose to her hooves.

"Hello, Princess," said Twilight.

"Twilight Sparkle, is that you?"

Twilight threw herself where she imagined Luna would be and hugged her tightly.

"It's so nice to see you again, my friend," said Luna. "Though I must offer my condolences for the circumstance of our meeting."

"Speaking of that," said Twilight, "is there any way out of here?"

"If there is, it's not for lack of trying," said Luna, "just the other day, 'Tia tried to seduce her old boyfriend in an effort to get the keys to our cell off him."

"Lunes!" exclaimed a shocked Celestia.

"It didn't work," said Luna with barely contained laughter, "not even when she flashed him her royal–"

"Enough," said Celestia firmly, enough to halt Luna in her tracks.

It was night... possibly, and Twilight was settling down as best she could to sleep in the uncomfortable cell. Celestia draped a wing over her, which gave her both a duvet and a feeling of security. Staring into the utter blackness as her mind wound down, Twilight saw the first thing she had in a day or so. It was a smile, and she had a good idea of just whose it was.

"Well well, somebody's got themselves into a right heap of trouble," came the low voice of the Cheshire Cat through the gloom.

"Cheshire!" whispered Twilight excitedly, "We need help getting out of here!"

"That, you do."

Twilight waited.

"Help?" said the unicorn lamely.

"Well, I suppose I could, but it's more a question of whether I should." said the Cat. Twilight was perplexed. "I mean, the King has deemed you all dangerous enough to be locked up here, and I don't much fancy breaking laws willy-nilly to help you escape."

"What do you mean? He's a controlling tyrant! He–"

"So are the Guardians of the Sun and Moon if you want to think of it like that," said the Cat slyly, "they make their own laws and enforce them do they not? It's all a matter of perspective."

"I don't understand, why are you–"

"I am impartial. Good and Evil do not concern me."

Twilight snorted angrily. "Well if you aren't going to be of any help, why did you even come down here?"

"I have something important to say: he is coming." And with that, the Cat vanished.

Twilight shuffled closer to her Princess, having a good idea of just who he might be. She closed her eyes and drifted into a broken sleep.