//------------------------------// // Dim to Dark // Story: If There Was No Magic // by Just Reading //------------------------------// “Oh my,” Rarity gasps as they enter, twirling to see each wall of the palace. “It’s so sad to see such beauty ruined.” The walls are lined with vines, patches of colorful moss filling the gaps with red, gold, and green. The growth covers much of the walls design, but the architecture is still visible, albeit somewhat broken. “It was once a great place,” Celestia recounts, leading the fillies from the entrance into a room over thrice the size. “This room was filled with ponies millennia ago. Guards, servants, ponies wishing our audience, it was a wonderful time.” Sighing, Celestia allows her mind to wander, filling the empty hall with ghosts of her past. “I forget how much I loved it here.” Twilight shares her teacher’s awe, imagining the broken stone floor sounding with hoofsteps, ponies moving from room to room through the collapsed corridors, voices rumbling throughout the hall, mixing with the sound of the forest’s birdsong as it escapes via a hole in the roof. “It feels a little like Canterlot Castle,” Twilight notes, the more she observes her surroundings, there more similarities she notices. “Very true Twilight,” Smiling, Celestia pushes her memories away, focusing on the task ahead. “Luna and I directly copied many of the structures from this palace into our new home at Canterlot. Some things are hard to let go of.” She steals a final glance at her ancient home. “We should press on.” Celestia continues to lead the band of fillies down another broken hall, the walls looking a pack of cards in the wind, unable to stand against the gentlest of gusts. Being a few paces ahead of the group, Celestia disappears, a black entrance swallowing her whole. The sudden absence of her teacher rises fear in Twilight’s gut. Springing ahead she dives through the doorway of shadows she had seen Celestia enter, finding herself blind. “Wait up Twilight,” Dash calls somewhere behind, the other fillies hoofsteps following her words closely. “Celestia?” Twilight questions the darkness, fear obvious in her tone. “Where did you go?” A touch, fur against her neck, the warmth of breath. Recognising her teacher’s smell, Twilight returns the gesture of affection, relieved to have her teacher within reach once more. “Why did you run off like that Twilight,” Dash asks, the other fillies having caught up. “Scratch that, where are we?” Realising the stupidity of her panicking fear of the dark, Twilight lights her horn, bathing the room in a bright purple glow. “It’s a stairwell,” Celestia answers, standing away from Twilight’s touch. “We take this down to the next floor. Then we follow a few more halls until we reach Magi’s old study. Once we’re there it’s new territory for me as well, so we will have to be careful.” Taking careful steps, Celestia leads the fillies down the circular stairwell, their path lit by Twilight’s spell. The cracks in the stairs fade as the descend, each step looking newer than the last. Vine still trails the walls here and there, a shadow of the overgrowth above. The distance between each rope of green larger and bare stone brick now visible in between each length where moss cloaked before. At their base the stairs open into a hallway similar to the one above, less cavernous than the great entrance halls but holding identical design. “Her study should be the fourth door on the left if I recall correctly,” Celestia strolls down the hall, the metallic sound of her hoof-guards ringing along the passage. Maintaining her light spell, Twilight follows her teacher, the other fillies a few steps behind. “Here it is,” Celestia stops, waiting for the fillies to catch up before continuing. “This is my sister’s study.” A white hoof presses against a carved star, the symbol engraved on the stone door to signify it’s owner. The door scrapes across the floor as it opens, stone on stone screeching, attacking the group’s ears. Twilight steps into the darkness beyond first, lighting the way with her horn’s purple glow. “It looks like Luna cleaned this room out when she last was here,” Twilight notes, the room devoid of decoration. Only a stone desk shaped into the far wall breaking the emptiness. A gasp sounds behind Twilight, turning she notices Celestia’s eyes wide, a hoof covering her mouth. “I don’t think this was Luna’s doing,” The princess’s tone somber, she steps past Twilight into the centre of the room. “Twilight can you brighten the light, I need to examine this closely.” Obedient, Twilight allows a little more of her spark to flow, the room alight with purple. Celestia stalks around the room, her muzzle close to the floor, eyes noting subtle scratches on the once smooth stonework, splinters of wood and specks of dirt scattered across the floor. Nearing a corner, she lifts her gaze, scanning the walls for similar damage, finding chips and scars in the stonework near the door. “It seems other ponies have been here since Luna last was,” Celestia declares, eliciting a gasp from the group of fillies. “Don’t worry though, nothing of importance was left behind. Only some old wooden furniture and maybe a half filled chest of jewels we abandoned. It appears that is all they took from this room, the desk is free of tampering.” “A-a ch-chest of jewels?” Rarity stutters, unable to believe Celestia’s carelessness about such sacred objects. “I-I, wha,” Her words failing her, Rarity faux-faints, collapsing backwards into Applejack’s arms, the earth pony reluctantly catching her. Twilight shakes her head at the display, a snort of laughter escaping her lips. Turning to Celestia, “So the focus should be untouched?” The princess’s nod relieves tension she didn’t realise was building, pushing a thankful breath from her lungs. “Are we ready to proceed?” Celestia questions once Rarity has recovered. Her count of heads turns up one short. “Where’s Pinkie Pie?” “I’m in here,” Pinkie’s voice comes from behind the desk, muffled. Celestia can’t help but chuckle at the pink filly confusing her friends. “I don’t know how Pinkie does it.” Taking a step towards the desk, she places one of her hooves on top, the sun-shaped guard fitting into one of the three sockets engraved on top. She waits, ten seconds, nothing. “Twilight, could you try feeding some magical energy into this desk. According to Luna’s book this is how she assumed it opened, but maybe it’s magically based and has run out of energy.” Closing her eyes, Twilight focused her inner spark. Leaving it in it’s raw state, she releases it at the stone desk. The desk repels her energy, deflecting the ball of purple onto the floor, a black circle marking it’s landing. “Maybe try another slot?” Twilight suggests. Celestia shakes her head. “This is the only one my hoof fits, the others are designed to respond to my sisters.” Gnawing at her lip, Celestia’s eyes search the room for answers. “It seems we may have to find another way.” “Why don’t we try the necklaces in that box I fetched?” Rainbow Dash suggests, turning to her saddle-bags to dig for the ancient chest. “They look like they’d fit, a sun and a moon.” Her hoof touches stone. Pulling the box from her bags between blue wings, Dash holds it out for Celestia. “You could be right Dash,” Taking the box from Rainbow Dash’s wings into her own, Celestia flips the latch, placing the chest on the table. “They appear to resemble the holes closely,” She observes, holding her sun necklace over it corresponding hole for comparison. Rotating the carved sun to fit, she slots it into the mould, clicking it in place. Undeterred by lack of a result, Celestia grasp the other pendant with her wingtips, repeating the process to put the second puzzle piece in place. “Was something supposed to happen?” Dash asks, leaning over the table, looking for any sign of life. “Because I can’t see anything.” “Dash,” Rarity scolds. “Pointing out other’s failures isn’t going to help. I’m sure the Princess will be able to figure it out.” “I’m not sure if I can Rarity,” Pulling the sun pendant from it’s place, Celestia rotates it, reslotting it in an attempt to activate the desk. “It seems as if we need three symbols and we only have two. Give me a moment to reread Luna’s book, I’m sure there will be an answer there.” Celestia maneuvers her wings, shrugging her saddle-bags onto the desk. Resisting the urge to join her teacher in reading, Twilight steps closer to the desk, craning her neck over the slots to take a closer look. “Maybe if I turn it,” Twilight mumbles to herself, grasping the lunar pendant in a purple glow. Rotating it, she tries to replace it with no success, the moon only fitting at one orientation. Changing the solar pendant’s rotation brings similar success, the desk still dormant. “It seems we may be stuck,” Celestia declares, looking up from Luna’s writing. “Luna found the desk already to the side, the stairwell behind revealed.” “Do you have anything of Magi’s Princess?” Still studying the third slot, Twilight notes the star shape. “It appears the third slot requires her pendant.” “You’re such a silly pony Twilight,” Pinkie exclaims. “You just need to push the button.” Twilight jumps at the pink filly’s sudden appearance, relieved that she recognizes the ambusher. “Which button?” She questions, skirting the edge of the desk, searching it’s surface for a protruding button. “Also I thought you were stuck behind the desk?” “Don’t worry about me silly,” Pinkie’s eyes scrunch as her smile fills her face. “Just push the star.” Shaking her head in an attempt to clear the confusion, Twilight faces the three slots once again. “I’m sure I already pushed it,” She thinks aloud, her hoof hovering over the star-shaped hole. Pressing down, she feels the stone move with her hoof, a click as the button reaches it’s limit. “I guess not.” Celestia, previously watching the interaction, lift her bags and book off the now shifting desk, peace returning to her face. “I don’t know how Pinkie Pie, but I must thank you for your help.” “I didn’t do anything,” Beaming, Pinkie dismisses Celestia’s praise with a flick of her hoof. “It was Twilight who pressed the button.” “Shall we continue?” Celestia suggests. Taking the first step through the newly opened doorway, she leads the way, the fillies trickling in behind her. The passage appears to be unmolested by the cracks and vegetation that overgrow the rest of the palace. The dark stairwell leaving little head room for Celestia to stretch her neck. She bumps her head on the unseen roof more than once. At the base of the stairs another door waits for them, this one opening with an easy push of a hoof. The hallway behind evokes a groan from Rainbow Dash. “How much longer are we going to be walking?” She complains, the dark passage before her not showing any signs of stopping. “I’m sure you can walk a little further Dash,” Rarity calls, letting her voice float down the hallway to reach Dash. “It’s just this place is so boring.” Unfurling her wings, Dash finds the width of the hallway barely twice her wingspan. “There’s nothing to look at and worst of all no room to fly.” “I’m sure you’ll manage Dashie,” Pinkie appears behind the pegasus, pulling her into a hug. “Once we reach the end of this tunnel we can have a picnic. I bought something special for everyone.” Unable to peel herself from Pinkie’s grasp, Dash accepts the hug. “Are you two going to start moving anytime soon?” The pair look up to see Applejack waiting for them, the rest of the group fading into the darkness behind her. Scrambling to free herself from the now distracted Pinkie, Dash bounds out of the pink pony’s reach, passing Applejack to rejoin the others. “You coming Pinkie?” Applejack asks, still watching the stock still filly. “Yeah I’m good Applejack,” Pinkie nods, her lips scrunching inwards. “I just needed a moment.” “Hey girls we found it,” Twilight’s voice rings down the hall to meet the trailing pair, bringing new energy to their steps. The darkness of the hallway opens up into a dim cavern, the glow of Twilight’s horn only managing to reach halfway across the room. What they can see pulls a collective gasp from the ponies, even Celestia finding herself short of breath. “This thing is gigantic.” The structure a pair of pyramidal frames crisscrossing, stone beams climbing high into the darkness that cloaks the ceiling. The main star made up of multiple smaller pyramids stacked upon each other, each vector an obsidian orb. The polished, black spheres linking the lengths of lighter stone together. A ragged dome of rock resting in the centre makes an ugly misfit amongst the beauty of the structure. Twilight’s purple light bathes half the star in purple, revealing small platforms at each point. Walking round the structure’s edge, Twilight fuels her spell with more of her spark, pushing the boundary of her light, revealing two more platforms. “So how exactly does this thing work?” Dash calls after her, her wings glad to be free. “It just looks like a heap of rocks to me.” Twilight turns back to catch Celestia’s eye, expecting her to answer. “I assume each of us stands on one platform, then we focus our magic somehow,” Twilight guesses, the princess failing to come to her aid. “There isn’t very much to read about multiple pony magical constructs, so I have limited knowledge of the subject.” “How are we supposed to do magic?” Applejack yells, confusion obvious in her voice. “Pinkie and I are earth ponies and Dash and Fluttershy pegasi. I thought only unicorns can do magic.” “Unicorns do have a form of magic completely unique to their kind,” Celestia answers, pacing round the room as she speaks. “But all ponies share another kind of magic I’m sure you’ve heard me mention more than once, the magic of friendship. It’s a spark you all share through your bonds as friends.” “How are supposed to use this magic?” Floating in lazy circles above the fillies, Dash stops for a moment to speak her mind before returning to her repetitive flight. “It’s said that the spark will activate when the bonds are tested or one of the friends is in dire need,” Twilight completes her teacher’s explanation, still making her way around the room, intent on checking every inch of the focus. “I don’t know how we will invoke that kind of reaction however.” Finished with her circuit, Twilight rejoins her friends, still puzzling over their problem. “So you’re saying we need to be scared?” Dash brings her wings close, letting gravity drag her down until moments before impact, spreading her wings to pull up her descent. “Couldn’t we just set up some spooky surprise or something?” Contemplating Dash’s suggestion, Twilight shakes her head after a moments thought. “That wouldn’t work because we’d all know it wasn’t real. It’d have to be a real form of danger.” “Boo!” Celestia yells, behind the huddle of fillies, causing them to spring away defensively. Her cheeky grin quickly turns innocent as she notices Twilight’s expression. “I was just seeing if I could get something to happen,” Celestia shrugs. “Can’t you just be quiet?” A deep rumble of a voice erupts from the focus, sending a jump through the group of ponies. Twilight’s eyes flit around the room, searching for the speaker. She notices movement at the focus’s centre, the craggy rock twisting and shifting, feet appearing underneath as it stretches its wings. “A d-dr-dr-dragon!” Fluttershy stutters, scampering to hide behind Dash, clutching the blue pegasus as a shield. “What are you ponies doing disturbing my slumber?” The beast demands. It stands several houses high, forced to dodge in between lengths of stone to reach full height. Scales crack as black wings flex, a cloud of dust scattering from the unused appendages. One brushes against the summoning focus, the engraved stone length sparking, causing the dragon to flinch. The surface under his feet reflects Twilight’s light, a bed of golden coins and a rainbow of gems serving as the creature’s resting place. “I’d like to ask you a few questions instead,” Twilight calls, defiant. “Why are you here? And how could you possibly get down here, you barely fit in this room.” The dragon laughs, the rumble pulsing through the room, sending shivers through the ponies. “You don’t need to know any of that,” A yawn forces him to stop, still brushing the consequences of a long sleep from his body. “All you need to know is that I haven’t eaten in some time, hundreds of years I’d guess. So if you could be a good little snack and stay still, I’d appreciate it.” With that he sinks to four legs, careful to avoid brushing his limbs against the criss-cross of beams surrounding him. “Don’t you come any closer,” Twilight warns, her horn ringing with purple. The slithering black dragon takes no notice, only a brief chuckle stopping his approach on the huddle of ponies. Closing her eyes, Twilight pulls on her knowledge. Searching her inner library of spell for one lethal enough to stop the dragon. Her repertoire lacking lethality, she forms her spark into a dome of mirrors, hoping her spell doesn’t turn out as she practiced. The purple glow blinds the dragon temporarily, forcing him to stop, blinking and rubbing to clear his eyes. “Ha,” The spell faded, he checks his body, noticing no damage. “Your petty attack didn’t even leave a scratch.” Turning back to his prey he finds himself blind, the purple glow previously lighting the room gone. “Where did you little ponies go?” He roars, agitated. “You won’t get away from me so just come out and I’ll eat you quickly.” Inside the shimmering wall of air Rainbow Dash stifles a chuckle. “Can he really not see us in here? I thought this glowing bubble would be easy to see in the dark?” She poke a hoof at the disturbance of particles, feeling it resist her touch. “Don’t do that Dash,” Twilight pleads, her voice strained. “It’s an extremely draining spell. I can barely keep the dome up, so bending it’s shape like that, just don’t.” Rarity, feeling safe enough to speak, whispers, “What does this thing do exactly?” “It seems to be a refractive and reflective barrier,” Celestia answers for her student, Twilight confirming her suspicions with a nod. “Any light and sound will bend over the dome, making it appear as if we aren’t here. The dome also captures all the light and sound inside it, absorbing it. Twilight’s horn is the room’s only light source, so he will be as blind as we are.” “So are you saying I can yell as hard as I want and he won’t hear me?” Dash asks, her voice increasing in volume with each word. Plugging Dash’s mouth before she speaks another word, Rarity shakes her head. “Twilight appears to be having a hard enough time as it is, you shouting isn’t going to help.” Dash replies with a weak smile, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “Yeah, I’ll be quiet.” “So what are we going to do now?” Applejack whispers, her eyes suspicious of the wall of black surrounding them. “We can’t just stay here forever, either Twilight will run out of magic or that dragon will bump into our little bubble.” Turning her head back to the other ponies, she finds them looking just as clueless as she feels. A yellow hoof rising gathers their attention. Fluttershy flinches from the onslaught of eyes, taking a few moments before her courage returns. “Why don’t we, um, try talking to him? I’m sure he would let us go if we ask nicely.” “I, don’t think that, would be a good, idea,” Twilight breathes, pausing every few words to groan and shift her pose. “I’m with Twilight on this one,” Dash agrees, bringing a hoof to her chin in one of her rare moments of thought. “Why don’t we just try sneaking back out the tunnel? If we make sure to avoid that guy we can come back later when we’ve got a plan.” Applejack, surprised to find herself agreeing with Dash’s suggestion, nods her head slowly, still mulling the plan over. “That sounds like an alright idea to me, what do the rest of you all think?” Slowly, the bobbing of heads spreads across the circle, a wave of moving color. “Just, one problem, with that,” Struggling to stand, Twilight clenches her eyes, putting all her energy into holding the dome. “I, don’t think I’ll, be able to, move, like this.” Taking the initiative, Rainbow Dash moves to support Twilight, propping her up with a shoulder. Applejack, catching onto the idea, skirts round the shaking purple pony to hold her left side up. The others follow, each grasping part of Twilight. “Girls,” Celestia interjects, noticing a problem with their silently composed plan. “If you could just help her onto my back that would be enough, you seem to be stretching her a little.” The star of supporting fillies reexamine their design, noticing for the first time Twilight’s spread position. Still moving as a team, they bunch closer, edging behind Celestia, lifting Twilight onto her waiting back. “You can all help by keeping an ear out for the dragon,” Celestia commands, noting the fillies want to aid in their escape. Wings adjusting to support the burden of her student. Applejack and Dash nod, eager to be of assistance they move to the bubble’s flanks, ears twitching as they attempt to pinpoint the sound of claws scuttling along stone. “It sounds like he’s off in that direction,” Dash points her hoof to where the centre of the focus would be if it were not covered in darkness. “I think I just heard him bump into one of the poles.” “Good,” Celestia thanks the pegasus with a nod. “Now we just need to find out where the door is.” Her eyes fall back to the fillies, hoping for a miracle. “Just leave it to me princess,” Pinkie exclaims, Twilight’s wince a warning to her. “Oh, sorry. Just leave it to me princess,” She repeats, whispering. “The door is, that way,” Pinkie sticks at the wall of darkness. “But it seems like there’s lots of those stick thingies that way so we should go this way instead.” Her hoof rotates a few degrees, directing the Celestia into what looks like more of the same. “If you say so Pinkie,” Celestia shakes her head, still struggling to believe the pink filly’s supernatural intuition. “Stay close girls, I wouldn’t want any of you bumping into Twilight’s barrier.” With that she sets off, taking careful steps in the direction of Pinkie’s hoof, adjusting her direction on the pink filly’s instruction. “Stop,” Dash holds a leg in front of Celestia, halting her progress. “I think I can hear him getting closer.” Her ear flicks, testing the darkness for the scrape of claws. “Don’t be silly Dash,” Pinkie smiles. “He’s all the way over the other side of the room.” Crack! The stone wall shatters a few steps before the bubble. The raging dragon writhing to free his head, raining chunks of grey stone from the hole it leaves. “Huh, I guess you were right Dash.” Celestia freezes, waiting until the dragon stumbles back into the darkness before taking another step. Noticing Fluttershy stuck in her fright, Rarity wraps the shivering filly in a hug, whispering comfort into her ear. Continuing their journey against the wall, Celestia makes sure to also watch out for Dash and Applejack’s warnings. “And we’re here,” Pinkie announces, stone doorway appearing out of the mist of darkness as she speaks. Walking far enough into the tunnel to be out of sight, Celestia stops, easing Twilight from her back into her forelegs. “You can stop maintaining your spell now Twilight, we’re safe.” The wall of shimmering air flickers around them, sparking out into nothing. “We made it?” Twilight’s weak voice asks, her horn’s glow ebbing and flowing. Celestia brushes back Twilight’s fringe, watching her eyes flutter open. “We’re safe for now Twilight. We’re all going to head back to camp so you can rest, okay?” A smile creeps across Twilight’s lips. She pushes against Celestia’s cradling limbs, rolling onto her hooves. “That’s where you ponies are,” The dragon’s voice is joined with a crash. Vibrations along the walls and floor, knocking Twilight off her unsteady legs. “Come back here so I can eat,” He cries. Another thump, softer this time, not enough to knock Twilight out of Celestia’s support. “You can’t get us up here,” Dash calls back, triumphant. “Yeah you stupid lizard, go back to your cave,” Applejack joins her voice. “Well at least you two agree on something.” Rolling her eyes, Rarity helps to ease Fluttershy’s shakes, the dragon’s recent assault on the tunnel bringing another wave. “But I think a better idea you be to get out of here.” “Can you walk Twilight?” Celestia asks reluctantly, still propping her student upright. “I can carry you the rest of the way if you haven’t recovered enough.” “I think I’d like that Princess,” Twilight whispers in reply, allowing herself collapse into Celestia’s waiting arms. “Wake me when we’re back at the campsite.”