//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 - Sunrise // Story: The Twilight Struggle // by Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch //------------------------------// The Old Palace, Throne Room – 15 minutes until Sunrise The blast sent a shock wave that shook dust from the rafters of the throne room leaving a cloud of grey and purple smoke dissipating into the air. Before any of the girls could so much as say a word, Shining armor charged through the smoke in a blast of wind, surrounded by a whirling shield of magic. Tantalus stood his ground, a dozen beams of shadow energy lancing from the air around him and slamming into Shining’s defenses, little blasts of sound and light filled the air as the beams ricocheted into the walls and vanished into nothing. Shining Armor grinned for a moment. “What’s the matter, buddy? Can’t get it up?” Tantalus snarled at the words, and slammed his hoof into the ground in front of him, sending a cascade of dark magic flooding into the floor. Shining simply threw more of his own magic into his shield as the flood of shadows raced across the distance between them…and right under his hooves and shield, causing him to blink a little in worry. ~“Get it up? What a good idea!”~ Tantalus yelled out at him, as the shadows wrapped Shining Armor’s shield up within itself and hurled the pony, shield and all, out the nearby window – smashing through the delicate crystalline glass and sending the little purple sphere flying through the air – the crystal of the window lifting from the floor and repairing itself a brief moment later. Tantalus dusted his hooves off. ~”Now, to deal with you girls…”~ his voice purred out just before a crashing sound brought him whirling back towards the window. Shining crashed into his black form as shadows flew up to try and fend off the blow seconds too late to do any good. Violet magic clashed at point blank range with shadows and blasted Tantalus from his hooves, sending him spinning through the air to crash a dozen feet away, a trickle of shadow-like blood dripping from his lips. He pushed himself to his hooves and gave a deep exhaling breath. ~”Finally…”~ He coughed, dark shadowy blood spattering the ground. ~”After so very long, a warrior worthy of the name.”~ His eyes shone with a fiery excitement. ~”Yes. You’ll do.”~ His voice purred again as he slowly stalked towards Shining Armor. Shining Backed up a step and flung bolt after bolt of pure energy at his foe, waves of shadow rising up to catch each blow in an explosion of white light and magical smoke. ~”And Now…”~ His voice growled out again…and had no time to finish its sentiment. From nowhere, a blur of a cyan form, trailed by a rainbow pattern of light slammed into the side of his head hooves first. The shocked look on his face lasted only a moment as he was flung bodily across the room by the impact. His body bounced and skidded back to a standing position to stare at Rainbow Dash, her lightning bolt shining with unleashed power. “Forget about us, Darkie?” she huffed out of her nostrils – In truth, he had not – but he had not expected that blow to come so quickly. He mouth formed in a snarl to reply when a second blow caught him with impossible force…The Elements, it had to be…They were shielding them from his senses, so he could not stop their blows. The hooves connected with his left side, breaking four ribs without even noticing them. The force of the blow slammed him into a nearby stone column and nearly shattered it from the impact, sending him slumping to the ground and gasping for breath. His eyes caught a blur of orange coat and he desperately rolled out of the way, propelled by his shadows as the hooves connected with the column where his head had been – shattering the stone and sending the ruins crashing to the ground around the mare. “Normally, Ah only buck apple trees. But fer you, Ah’ll make an exception.” Her voice had the smooth tones of the Apple Family of earth ponies, that twang that they had carried in their family for hundreds of years. Applejack lifted her eyes up to meet his, her muscles hard and strong from a lifetime of carrying on the family business. He winced and felt the broken bones being tied together from the shadows that ran in his very veins, allowing him to stand with only a modicum of pain. ~“Pain is not going to stop me…”~ He saw the purple maned one rushing towards the shadow-capsule where Twilight lay and flung a massive bolt of his energy towards her. ~“It will not be that easy!”~ his voice roared out, the energy streaking towards the suddenly panicking white unicorn when a bang like a massive weight hitting the floor rang out. His shadow energy impacted...a massive wall of streamers, balloons and a cloud of confetti. He could only stare, dumbstruck as the smoke and lights faded, revealing a sly smiling pink pony leaning on some kind of artillery piece. She smirked and brushed her bushy bright mane back with a hoof and re-aimed her gun. “Aint’ no kinda Party without Pinkie Pie. “ She giggled as her friends formed in phalanx around her, Twilight’s form still trapped beneath the shadow shield. Yet now all of them were between him and her, even the little yellow one who seemed to be building up to delivering a beat down in her own way. Tantalus licked his bloodied lips, his hooves gently scraping against the ground as he watched them with those fiery eyes…and then he laughed. He laughed as genuinely as he had ever done so in his life, his chest afire with pain even as the six ponies looked upon him with confusion. ~”By the gods…Celestia sure knows how to pick them.”~ His eyes travailed all of them, obviously prepared to beat him into a mushy pulp. ~”I was wrong, it seems. She will have no need of me to stand by her side…”~ He coughed up another dollop of black blood that oozed into the shadow beneath his hooves. Shining Armor spoke first, his tone a barely constrained growl. “Give up. Let her go, and you might be able to survive this.” His tone was angry, certainly – but there was concern there also. Whoever this pony might be, there was clearly more going on here than met the eye. He would not wish a death to fall onto the hooves of the girls. Dash and Applejack looked mutinous but did not argue, though he knew they would be giving him an earful later. The dark pony seemingly made of shadow and flesh simply laughed again, this time weaker than before. He fell to one knee before them as his powers began to unravel. His eyes raised to the window as the moon fell into its perfect alignment. ~”Perhaps, I should not have expected to survive…”~ He whispered, as he could feel the shifting of power in the world. ~”It is time.”~ His voice gently croaked as a sudden surge of magical energy began to well up in the world beneath him, just as it had every Summer Sun day. ManeHatten, Sun Temple, 2 minutes until Sunrise. Celestia slowly paced up to the central pedestal as the elite of Manehatten gathered around, watching with both pride and awe as their sovereign stood upon the dais. Every eye was trained to her as she inhaled the smells of summer – of sun ripened wheat and citrus, of sleepy summer nights and the sweat of ponies frolicking and working hard in the warmth. Her eyes half closed as she opened herself up to the power of the sun that slept just below the horizon. The pure fire and warmth filled her soul with light, and her body with a seemingly unending stream of power. Her wings fanned out and she gave them a mighty sweep, pushing herself skywards towards the center of the altar’s statue-circle. Her hooves came up into the air and her horn glowed white with barely restrained power as the moon sank gently towards the west and the sun began to soar above the eastern horizon behind her. Power surged through her limbs as the first shining rays of summer splayed out across the land, the ponies of all her cities and towns cheering and tossing confetti into the air. Loves would be confessed between star-struck couples and kisses shared by those who had traveled through life together for another year. The cheers slowly subsided as she sank back to the earth, and opened her eyes to the sunrise to greet it silently – her mind reaching out to that which she had dedicated her life in order to preserve the world, and feeling its warmth and affection in turn. It was almost possible in this moment to forget the peril in which her student might be in. Almost. She turned to the assemblage of ponies and began to speak, her speech to the people of Equestria would be recorded by the many scribes and magicians here and replayed across the land in the days to come, detailing some of the new policies and proposals her government would be perusing. Yet her heart was not in the ringing declarations of peace and prosperity this year. Her only focus was on a small purple unicorn, far to the west. Hang on, Twilight…I will be coming soon. The Old Palace, 1 Minute until Sunrise. Tantalus lifted his hooves up to the moon as it sank into place just above the horizon – the shadow upon the moon vanishing in a pulse of power. My Love…my Moon Princess. If only you could see me now, would you remember me? Would you remember our time together? Would it matter, here at the end? His thoughts were fast fading as his magic was being pulled without remorse from his body – The racing sun’s power fed into the conduits he had carved into the living earth with his own power, filling them up to drive the ritual even as his own power followed the forms he had cast. The shadow shield vanished from around Twilight Sparkle and her limp, still unconscious form lifted into the air. All now relied on the choice of one Twilight Sparkle. It is time, Twilight Sparkle. What will you do? his thoughts raced as her hooves rose up in an unconscious imitation of Celestia’s pose hundreds of miles away – Her eyes opened a moment later as Shining armor turned to see her floating in midair. Her eyes were nothing but crackling white orbs as the magic of the ritual swirled around them – vast curtains of sparkling violet and white light, mixed with shadow formed a tornado that slowly closed in around all the ponies within the room… The Elements of harmony burst into multi-hued radiance as a sparkling gold shield settled over the five bearers and Shining Armor. They stared in awe at the lances of radiance and power that emanated from the very air around Twilight Sparkle as glowing eyes full of magic met the sad, golden eyes of the shadow pony. Shining armor rammed into the seemingly impenetrable shield and screamed as the power reached a crescendo – “TWILY!!” A flash of light and a torrent of power cascaded up into the sky, blinding the six witnesses to the event. The power whirled purple, white and black, stretching up into the heavens in the shape of a spire that seemed to reach all the way into the blackness of space before dying out. When the dust began to settle, seven unconscious forms lay upon the white stone of the throne room. Each breathing, yet each remained still as silence lay heavily upon the chambers. Shining Armor was the first to stir, pushing himself up to his hooves and shaking the spots of light out of his eyes from the blinding blast that had nearly obliterated them. He forced himself up to stand on shaky legs and glanced around – There was no sign of the pony made of shadows anywhere that he could see…Twilight…was slumped upon the dais, apparently in-tact and alive. He exhaled, in weak relief. “Oh, thank…Celestia….” Shining Armor slumped to the ground as unconsciousness overtook him again, sweeping him into a dream he did not expect. Ponyville, Town Square, Sunrise. Spitfire sat alone in the command center she had established in the town hall, her Wonderbolts uniform crumpled in a heap to one side as she blearily watched the sun rise above the temple to the cheers of Ponyville’s residents.. She would need to sleep soon and she knew it, but she could not help but wish Shining Armor would have returned already. The Guards had reported that the shadows which had impeded their search had vanished an hour ago, and were even now closing in on what the reports had said was a seemingly rebuilt castle and town made of bare stone and little else. The Wonderbolts commander rubbed her hoof into her eye for a moment, and nearly missed the sight of a column of black, purple and white energy twisting into the skies above the forest. Her jaw slowly dropped at the very sight, scrambling to her hooves she rushed outside to ensure she was not looking at some kind of illusion. Had he won? Had Shining Armor vanquished whatever dark force had led him here? The Column vanished a moment later, having made no sound. It hadn’t even disturbed the air. Yet her instincts told her something momentous had happened that went beyond the sheer amount of energy it would have taken to create that blast. The two guard ponies outside were similarly staring, their own jaws hanging about like recruits on the first day of Hoof Camp. She had to act fast. “Get those tongues back in your mouths, Guards!” She snapped in her very best training ground manner, sending the both of them to jumping nearly out of their armor. “This is above your pay grade. Back to your posts now! Double time!” The two of them hoofed it back in front of the door, muttering about whom the heck let the insane woman in charge of the Wonderbolts. Blowing it off, she rubbed her hoof into her eyes again. She wanted to charge in there like a hero out of a tale, but that would probably get her nowhere. She sighed and walked past the guards back into the town hall, collapsing onto the cot and closing wearied eyes against the light of the new day. A good soldier gets rest when they can. she thought, feeling consciousness slip away from her. Tomorrow would be another day, and she would face the future when it got to her.