The Twilight Struggle

by Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch


Chapter 8 - Ask not the Sun

Manehatten, The Solar Temple, 1 hour until Sunrise

The Solar Temple of Manehatten was unique amongst the many temples great and small that were dedicated to Princess Celestia. Unique in that it was both the newest temple amongst them all, and that its designer had been a unicorn as opposed to the more traditional earth pony builders. The unicorn named Isosceles The Wise had built the temple to harmonize with the powerful lay lines of magical energies that ran beneath the massive city, powered by both the powerful tidal pull of the sea and the emotional energy of more than half a million ponies that lived here.

The place pulled the energies in and drew upon them to power the many wonders within its halls, especially the massive Orrery that brought a twinge of remembrance to Celestia's chest every time she looked upon it. Yet its crowning feature was one most ponies would never sense nor know about. It was one of the most heavily guarded places in all of Equestria, though few ponies knew why.

The building was designed as one giant ritual circle. Here, powered by the emotions of half a million ponies and the raw force of the ocean itself, a unicorn - or far more likely, an Alicorn - could accomplish nearly anything. It was her final weapon, the one thing she hoped never to have to wield, for she knew the cost of doing so would be beyond imagining.

She stood alone in the temple, surrounded by flowing white and gold silk banners representing the seminal events throughout Equestrian history. Recreations, she noted, of her hall of stained glass back in the Canterlot palace, though there were far more banners than were windows in that hallowed hall, depicting many more events featuring not just the victories of the Alicorns or the Elements of Harmony. She knew the events, each by the name of the ponies involved. Each by the costs that such banners so often omitted, and yet she could not forget.

A thousand years was more than sufficient time to reflect upon one's actions. It was often difficult for her to face the consequences of some of those choices made long ago, choices she could still feel the effects of even now. Yet that was her duty, she would not dishonor those that had paid the ultimate price so that Equestria could rise.

There was no sign of the usual keepers of this place, for which Celestia was thoroughly grateful. She gently picked her way down the smooth wooden floor and knelt before the Altar depicting her image shadowed against the sun, wings and hooves outstretched in the symbol of her reign. The altar itself was strewn, as it always was on Summer Sun day, with devotional messages and prayers. Some of them, she would read and work to see those prayers fulfilled. Others, usually those praying for greater wealth and prosperity, she would turn over to her advisers to try and discover where the kinks in the Kingdom's management were cropping up.

But there were always some prayers that broke her very heart, that she could do nothing about. A child with a dying parent, a poor pony with no recourse to help himself, an orphan praying for somepony to come and adopt them, and sometimes even worse. These were times she could only weep for her ponies, behind the closed doors of her room or temples, even as she knew there was little she could do. Poverty would exist, ponies would die without any way to save them, horrors would be visited upon the innocent. Short of bankrupting her treasury, of becoming the iron tyrant so many accused her of already being, she could not save them all.

It was still far, far better than the alternatives to the chaos that had existed before her rule. The Parliament she had abolished for its senseless, eternal politicking. The rampant tribalism and the abuses of power by the aristocracy. There had been casualties in bringing hope and harmony to the land.Things were not perfect, but perfection was something to chase, to hope for - never something one could ever achieve. The pursuit of such had driven other ponies mad with power or despair, but two thousand years of life had taught her the importance of patience with such things. She could not create perfection, but she could make sure that light would shine down every street, and her citizens be fed and kept as happy as she could hope for.

Her mind came back to the present day, to her student. Just the thought of the ever vibrant unicorn who absorbed knowledge like a sponge, caused Celestia to smile broadly. She paused and remembered Luna's concerns about the dark dreams Twilight was apparently suffering from. Undoubtedly, Twilight would still be awake somewhere, waiting for the sun-rise ritual with all of her friends.. A touch of the sun's energy flowed into her and she closed her eyes, tapping into it. As she always did, the warmth that flowed through her body with the energy was something indescribable to a non-Alicorn. Her horn glowed a bright gold as she wove the ancient and complex spell that was coming into her mind unbidden.

Why not have a peek in? She had time before her speech to the notables of Manehatten, who would cram themselves into the temple in order to see and be seen by the high-and-mighty of the city. They would jockey for position and for her favor, and it would do her good to see her little Twilight happy and safe. It took only the barest hint of her magic in this place to cast her sight across the lands of Equestria, and everywhere she looked she saw ponies heading to the various temples and shrines that dotted the landscape. Farmers, business ponies, and nobles alike all came out on this night to see the sun rise above the horizon and give thanks to the Princess they all relied so heavily upon.

Her mind stretched across the land towards the town of Ponyville, and to the Golden Oaks library. Yet the library was empty - dark and cold. That was surprising, the six Elements had made it a tradition to meet the sunset and sunrise of the Summer Sun day together. Perhaps they were enjoying their party elsewhere? Her mind cast from place to place in the town, seeing any number of familiar faces enjoying the night's festivities, Mayor Mare giving a speech on the importance of the day in the town's recent history to the cheering crowds.

No sign of Twilight. No sign of the Elements of Harmony either. Her mind searched and searched, only managing to find Spike standing with....Spitfire? But why was she there? She had taken the guard shift this evening. Spike looked worried, and so did Spitfire. They were accompanied by a number of Guard Ponies, many of whom were questioning the locals. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Anger surged through her for a moment only to be quashed - She needed to act quickly, time was short.

Her mind wrenched back to her physical form and she stood in a single motion, her wings flaring out behind her with a burst of magical power, she turned to the doorway and was there with but a thought and a touch of power, flinging open the massive temple doors she galloped over to her principal advisors, one and all gaping at her. Her voice rang like a clarion call across the quiet temple grounds, causing nearly every pony in a thirty foot radius to wince back in pain.

"Quiet! There is no time for questions. Awaken Princess Luna at once, and bring me any scrolls which may have appeared in her presence. GO!"

The ponies scattered in a dozen different directions, and her eyes closed - what had happened to her most faithful student?

Ponyville, 50 Minutes until Sunrise

Spitfire stood next to the quiet young dragon, who only looked miserable despite the joviality and cheer around them. No one had been accompanying Twilight when she left the town. She looked a bit unsteady but most had attributed it to her trying to walk off the booze or the salt. Spike had been found sleeping literally under the chimney of the Cake's shop, obscured from aerial view by a massive old birds nest, used probably by one of the many families of southern birds that nested in Ponyville.

Spike had not taken the news of Twilight's abduction well. He had spent the first hour or so panicking, until finally Spitfire had gotten back the copy of Shining Armor's letter and had him send it to Princess Celestia's suite in Manehatten along with a report of what they had learned since then. Their only response had been silence, leading both of them to the conclusion that either Celestia was very, very drunk - or that the letter was being blocked by some malign force.

Every attempt by the guard to penetrate the forest had been flung back, valiant earth ponies terrified by the sight of amorphous shadows grasping at their companions. Some of those guards had not yet returned. No one there wished to consider what might be going on within the forest right now. Spitfire had sent word to the Pegasus Demolition Corps, but it would be at least a day before the heavy artillery of the Equestrian army could be brought to bear.

With the rest of the Wonderbolts conked out on spiked cider (According to the reports she'd been receiving via Spike now that they were in magical contact with Canterlot) and word that every single battle unicorn was shacked up with some beautiful filly, and disbelieving any story from her, Spitifre had begun to put the pieces together.

It was a terrible, brilliant sort of plan. The biggest party of the year, everyone knew it. The one night no one ever seemed to want to screw with Equestria, lest Celestia at her very strongest rose up and turned you into ash. Someone had effectively decapitated the emergency response forces of Equestria very effectively for one, single evening. It would be impossible to do it for another day, now that someone had been aroused to the danger, but for this one night there was no cavalry coming over the hill. Which left one of the most important ponies in all of Equestria exposed, stripped of the usual protections that surrounded her and the small town.

Spike did not speak. He simply sat there and occasionally burped up scrolls, messages from arcane scholars trying other ways to contact Celestia. The emergency signal had been sent to the HMS Hurricane cloud fortress near Manehatten warning of the possibility of attack on the Princesses, and that news needed to be sent to Celestia immediately - but Spitfire had no idea how seriously they were taking the signal. She growled in her throat and vowed to ensure that the pants of her beloved Air Corps were not caught around their ankles in this way ever again - the next morning was going to be a proverbial Tartarus for her Wonderbolts and every other royal guard and pegasus guard she could possibly get under her hoof.

Guard Captain Shield Guard (A silly name if ever she had heard one) Saluted her with an appropriate snap fit more for the parade ground. "Begging your pardon, Commander, but we ain't equipped to be fightin' this kinda battle." he spoke in the depressed, dreary tones of one who believed he was about to have his flank kicked for lack of courage. Spitfire wanted, so desperately, to tear into him - to demand he burn the forest to the ground. It would do no good though, so she sighed and nodded, sinking into a sit on the grassy lawn in front of Town Hall, looking towards the lightening skies. "It's alright, Captain. Have your men stand down. Our hopes must be in the hooves of Shining Armor now."

Manehatten, 45 minutes until Sunrise

It had taken less than ten minutes to discover that Luna was under the effects of some kind of drug that locked her into a deep, abiding slumber. It had taken less than five minutes for the purifying power of Celestia’s magic to burn the drug from her sister’s veins, the anger flowing through Celestia so great she feared to use her royal voice for the damage it might cause to the temple around them, and she would need that temple in tact if this night was to be salvaged.

To one side of the two sisters, now alone save for Smiling Service, her personal butler, a table sat with three scrolls laid out, weighted down by stone after being read, the seals verified to come from Guard Captain Shining Armor and Commander Spitfire of the Wonderbolts. The letters themselves told a story that iced some of the anger in Celestia’s Veins.

“To: Princess Celestia, Sun's Glory, Ruler of Equestria
From: Prince Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard, Shieldkeeper of the Throne.

This morning, I was struck with a sense of profound danger that seemed to loom from every possible direction, all around me. I quickly dispatched the Crystal Guard and prepared to raise my shield above the Empire to guard against whatever the looming threat might be. I consulted immediately with chief librarian Ruby Dazzle and utilized a short spell she had produced from our archives to isolate the threat and where it might be emanating from.

To my immediate terror, I found the feeling of threat was not centered upon myself but upon my sister, Twilight. I quickly engaged the Friendship express to take me to Ponyville and as of the writing of this letter, I am several hours away. I have sent this ahead with Commander Spitfire, who will serve as our military liaison on the ground until such time as I can personally take over whatever operation may be necessary to meet the threat against her.

I believe now this threat to be focused somewhere around the Everfree Forest. Should it be impossible to make further contact with me, you may presume I have entered the forest to face the threat horn on. I urge you to dispatch Princess Luna or even your own self to Ponyville as quickly as possible, I fear what power might serve as such a terrible threat to the Elements of Harmony.

Yours in Service,
Shining Armor "

The second letter was even worse, and had appeared before her eyes just moments after she had discovered the first. The letter was lightly scorched around the edges from where Celestia's power had nearly set the blasted thing on fire.

To: Princess Celestia, Sun's Glory
From: Commander Spitfire, Wonderbolts Primary Wing Captain
Re: Current Events in Ponyville

As the letter previously sent to you by Shining Armor said, Twilight Sparkle went missing approximately four hours after sunset. She was last seen by Rainbow Dash directly, and by several residents of Ponyville as she exited the town square. She was not accompanied by anypony. Consultation with the Canterlot Library has led me to the conclusion that she was under the effects of an extremely powerful enchantment. From the time she left Ponyville to the time she entered the Everfree forest, it became clear to what few witnesses we can find that she was slowly becoming more animated.

Further consultation with the Library leads me to believe that she is somehow partially still in control of her actions, but they are being guided by a force of intelligence. After briefly discussing matters over the Crystal Network, Commander Soarin has informed me that neither Discord nor any other known Black-List threats could be directly responsible for the situation. Further discussion with the Equestrian Intelligence Agency has led us to believe that Queen Chrysalis is similarly uninvolved and she remains unmoved from her central hive cluster, somewhere to the west.

This accomplished, I put into motion the many safeguards we had put into place over the years to protect the Elements in just such an emergency, however….“

Celestia took another deep, calming breath. The letter had gone on to describe how her carefully arranged defenses, protections and safeguards had one and all been subjugated or distracted from their duties by this strange and malignant force. It took all of her self-control to not let emotion overtake her, when more than ever serenity and calm would be needed. Her mind went back to the report’s end…

” In short your majesty; we have been utterly outmaneuvered by our unknown foe. Lacking the resources to affect further assistance on my own, I must therefore leave all of my faith in your hooves, the Elements and Shining Armor. I take full and total responsibility on the failures of myself and my command to affect a swift resolution to this incident.

I will await further orders in Ponyville, where I intend to establish a crisis post in the Town Hall to handle all further communications between myself and local military forces. All other stations have been set to Crisis Condition 2 as per protocol Alpha-22-Delta, and we have scrambled all sober and available air wings to counter any further attacks or threats from beyond our borders.

-Commander Spitfire, Ponyville Command Post

Celestia stood quietly next to her sister for a moment, then exhaled slowly. “Sister…There is nothing I can do.” Her words were wrenched from her throat, or perhaps her heart by the sound of them – A tearing sort of admission of powerlessness over the situation. Luna simply lifted one hoof and laid it upon Celestia’s shoulder as she spoke. “I must raise the sun at the temple first. If I leave, I risk sending this entire city into a panic.”

Luna’s voice cut through the rising sound of panic in Celestia’s own voice “Sister, Hath you no faith in your student?” Celestia looked…shocked. As though Luna had just slapped her with a fish, or some similarly absurd object. “Be at peace Sister. No matter what may happen to her, no matter what dark force may hold her mind in its grasp, it has only won itself a little time with its games.” Luna’s tone grew darker, rolling with barely restrained passion and anger of her own. “We will see to it that no other threat arises this night, and when the sun has rose and you have rested, we shall go together and show this darkness that it has no place in OUR EQUESTRIA!

The Old Palace, Throne Room – 30 Minutes until Sun Rise

Shining Armor slowly marched towards the dais where the dark pony stood seemingly protectively over his sister, surrounding her in a cocoon of shadow energy that pulsated with some hidden violet power. He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of Cadence, of his love, the very thought filling him to the brim with power sent from afar. His eyes snapped open and his look turned aggressive, angry…powerful. “Girls, get back. At the first chance you get, take Twily and get out of here.”

The Dark pony turned with eyes that flamed with a deep anger, his own stance turning equally aggressive as shadows seemed to flit away from every light source and gather around his hooves. The Five elements quickly retreated behind a large set of Columns as the two ponies faced off against each other. A moment of tension passed between them as the shadow pony’s words oozed out of his teeth. ~”You wish to cast your defiance against me? So be it. You will learn, just as everyone will learn what the true power of Equestria is.”~

Another moment passed, and with a cry a lance of pure white magical energy shot out from Shining Armor’s horn just as a mass of shadow tendrils shot towards him from the ground about Tantalus, and a blast of power emanated between them as the battle was joined.