Road to Twilight

by ShadowBrony


Fading Light

The Doctor set down his bag just as the Shadow began to move. The Doctor let his sonic screwdriver give off a high pitched noise. Something that caused the Shadow to step back stunned as it recovered its bearing. The Doctor quickly set the sonic screwdriver down and reached inside the bag, pulling out a strange looking necklace with a weird gear shaped pendant on it. He threw it around his neck and stood stock still. The Shadow had begun to move forward but ceased its movement as it began to look around, almost unsure of what it had been looking at in the first place.

The Doctor smiled to himself. Twilight staggered out of the TARDIS, “Doctor?”

The Doctor quickly glanced behind him, “Good, you’re alright. Just sit tight, I’ll take care of the Heartless in no time.”

Twilight glanced down at Twi who was currently lying dazed out on the grass. “Don’t worry Twilight, she’s fine. Just needs a breather is all.”

Twilight looked back at the Doctor and shook her head, “Doctor, what’s going on? I know you are there yet at the same time, it seems that you are not.”

The Doctor glanced back at the Shadow, “Peripheral Disrupter, makes it harder for one to see another person. It’s almost like being invisible but if you know the person is there, then it no longer works quite as well.” The Doctor quickly reached back into his bag and withdrew a small glowing spear. Twilight pointed at the object with her hoof but the Doctor answered before she could ask, “It’s an object whose metal comes from that of a shining star and meteor thrown together with some other materials that would be very hard to explain at the moment. But let’s just say that though surprisingly fragile, it is a powerful weapon against the darkness. One or two good stabs with this should do take care of this Heartless for good.”

The Doctor turned back to the stumbling Shadow, “Now listen here Heartless, normally I have a thing against outright destroying creatures but you are nothing but darkness incarnate. When you are destroyed, you return to the darkness of which you came. You have no mind and rely completely on tactics or for the most part, instinct. You're nothing but a parasite. Destroying you would actually be helping this world; therefore, I must send you packing.”

The Shadow quickly glanced around, trying to pinpoint the voice. What had been said was never actually even heard nor understood by the creature, the Doctor knew this well. But it did help his mentality in a way. The Doctor casually walked over to the bumbling Shadow. His raised his head back, the spear now clenched in his mouth. “Just a few more inches…”

A twig snapped under his hoof.

“Bullocks.”

The Shadow turned and extended its fingers outwards, the ends becoming sharp like thorns, ready to impale whoever got in their way. The Doctor fell over trying to dodge the oncoming spikes. The spikes passed right over him, the force of the near miss rushing over him. The Doctor took a deep breath and rolled over. Looking around, he realized he had dropped his spear. The Doctor mentally kicked himself for being so careless while his eyes scanned for his spear. The creature returned its fingers to its hand and took a few steps forward, its foot landing on something hard.

The Doctor face-hooved as the Shadow picked up his glowing spear. The Shadow twisted the spear around, inspecting the strange object. Noticing that the sharp end was now facing towards the creatures face, the Doctor decided now might be the best time to act. Quickly getting up close to the creature and standing beside it, the Doctor glanced over at the creature to make sure it still hadn’t noticed his presence. With the creature continuing to examine the spear, the Doctor quickly extended his hoof out and smacked the blunt end of the spear upwards causing the pointy end to drive right into the Shadow’s eye.

The Shadow staggered back immediately. It had no mouth but if it did, the Doctor was sure that a lot of screaming would be heard. The creature furiously dug out the spear and crushed it below its feet. A bit of the glowing section burning into its foot but still caving in on itself due to the pressure. The Shadow clutched its damaged eye, unable to see with it. The Doctor smiled to himself, had this been any other creature, he would have felt bad for putting it in any sort of pain but this was not a creature to pity. This things whole purpose in life is to steal the hearts of others. They were nothing but parasites of darkness.

The Doctor quickly ran back to his bag; he had one trick left to work with. The Doctor quickly stuck his head into the bad and produced a bottle filled with clear liquid. Twilight leaned forward a bit, “Um Doctor, is that a bottle of water?”

The Doctor turned around, set the bottle on the ground and grinned back at Twilight, “Yes, but this isn’t just any bottle of water.” The Doctor nudged the label. “This is the best and only kind of water for battling creatures of the night; holy water.” Twilight raised an eyebrow as the Doctor quickly turned back to the creature. The creature had stopped holding its eye and was now thrashing around in a near blind furry. The creature was slashing at the air, constantly twisting and turning. If any creature tried to get closed to it, they would be swiss-cheese in seconds. “Well, this makes things a bit more difficult.”

Twi lifted her head, her vision starting to return to normal. Slowly turning it towards Twilight, she could see that she was both alright and seemed to be staring at nothing. Twi could also see the Shadow nearby. It had apparently been injured and was now trying to fight against the air itself. Twi grunted, trying to get Twilight’s attention. Twilight glanced over and Twi made motion with her hoof at the scene going on in front of her. Twilight gave her a half smile, “I’m sure this looks a little strange but the Doctor is taking care of it.”

“Where is he?”

“Just a few feet in front of me.”

Twi glanced at the air and then back at Twilight, “Um…”

Twilight shook her head, “He’s invisible. Or sorta invisible according to him.”

Twi tilted her head slightly, eyebrow raised.

“Sit tight Twi,” came a voice from out of nowhere, “I’ll take care of this.”

Twi rubbed her forehead with her hoof, “This is all making my head hurt, so I’ll trust you with this one Doctor.”

The Doctor nodded his head even though Twi could not see him do it and carefully picked up the bottle with his mouth before inching towards the trashing Shadow. Dark ooze leaked from its injured eye; its other eye looking every which way possible. The Doctor quickly crept towards the Shadow, making sure to not step on anything this time. Just as he was within a close enough distance to throw some of the water on the Shadow, the Shadow randomly turning around slashed at the Doctor’s direction. The Doctor jumped back, just barely missing getting sliced to ribbons; however, his necklace was still caught in one of the creature’s figures and pulled clean off.

Now completely visible, the creature eyed the Doctor with his good eye, before quickly grabbing him and lifting the poor Doctor high into the air. Both Twilight’s looked on in shock as the Doctor found himself slowly being squeezed to death by the Shadow. Twi quickly shook the rest of the stars from her eyes and ran towards the Doctor. The Shadow glanced over with his good eye and saw Twi barreling towards it. The Shadow simply batted her away with its other hand.

Twi growled as she was flung onto the ground. Looking back she realized her wings were gone. Therefore, so was her Keyblade. Twi rubbed her head with her hoof, “Argh, not now. Why did it have to end so soon?!” Realizing that she would have to act without her Keyblade again, Twi looked around her, trying to come up with a different strategy. Glancing over at the Shadow, she could see that Twilight was now charging towards it, her horn glowing. But just like before, the Shadow lifted up its hand and smacked Twilight away from her target.

Twi flinched as Twilight hit the ground hard. Looking around again, Twi noticed a bottle on the ground with what appeared to be water inside. Remember hearing that the Doctor had mentioned that the bottle of water might work against the Shadow, Twi decided it was worth a shot. But she was going to need to get a good angle on him. Twi watched as Twilight lit up her horn and ran right at the Shadow again, blasting beams of magic at it. But the Shadow shrugged them off and tried to smack her out of the way when she got to close again. But it missed. Twilight then quickly ran to the other side and barraged it again. This time, the Shadow could actually see her. It lifted up its hand and sent her packing again. Twilight went flying and landed hard on the ground once again. It was then that Twi came up with an idea. “He can only see with one eye now… I wonder.”

Twi got up and ran as fast as she could towards the bottle of holy water. The Shadow saw her running at him and raised its hand to swat her way but Twi rolled at the last second and grabbed the bottle of the ground with her telekinesis. She then quickly ran back to Twilight who was just now picking herself off the ground, “Twilight, I have a plan but a need a distraction. Can you keep his good eye preoccupied?” Twilight shook the weariness out of her eyes, nodded her head and lit up her horn once again.

Twilight and Twi then both took off towards the Shadow. Doing its best to track the Twilight’s with its good eye, it watched at the Twilight’s came barreling towards it. Raising its arm, it smacked one of them away while the other ran to the other side of it and started to barrage it with spells. If it had any feelings, it would have groaned in annoyance. Instead, it lifted up its hand to bat her away when a blast of clear liquid flashed across its vision, running towards the arm that was holding the brown pony. The Shadow’s eye widened a bit as the water cut right through its arm. The Shadow watched as its arm fell limp on the ground and began to dissipate. The Shadow clutched the stub that was once its arm, its eye slowly starting to turn red.

Both Twilight’s quickly ran towards the Doctor, who was wheezing heavily. Twilight quickly wrapped her hooves around, smiling as she embraced him. “Doctor, are you alright?” The Doctor winced as Twilight squeezed almost as hard as the Heartless had but accepted the hug all the same. “I’m fine my little Marshmallow… Just going to be a little sore for a while.”

The Doctor quickly glanced over at Twi and nodded his head in thanks. Twi gave him a nod back. Almost forgetting about the Shadow until its hand shot out, trying to grab Twilight in one last attempt. Seeing the grab coming at the last second, the Doctor quickly pushed Twilight out of the way. And found himself once again trapped in the Heartless’ grasp, but this time, the Heartless knew it would not get another chance to grab a heart. It would have to take his or be destroyed. With the last of its strength, its hand glowed and dark energy poured from its hand. The Doctor’s eyes went grey as a portal opened up in front of him.

Twi watched in shock and horror as the Shadow quickly ran forward and jumped inside. “DOCTOR!” Both Twilight’s cried out at the same time. Realizing she still had a bit of holy water still left in her telekinetic grasp, Twi quickly locked eyes with Twilight before giving her a half smile of determination and jumping into portal. There was a small hissing noise as the portal quickly closed behind her.

*

Twi opened her eyes to find herself in a dark place once again. Below her sat a glass window picture of the Doctor with a large crack going down the middle. One side, the Doctor was brown and on the other, he was grey. Twi glanced up and saw the Shadow. Once again he was huge and reaching for a ball of light. The Shadow was starting to dissipate but that was not stopping him from reaching a hand towards the Doctor’s heart. Twi screamed, “Hey, don’t you dare touch his heart!”

The Shadow quickly glanced down at the intruder and saw Twi running towards it. Deciding it would be easier to grab the heart without any interference, the Shadow lowered its hand, then shot its fingers outwards at Twi. Twi quickly dodged right but then quickly an idea popped into her mind. Reaching out with her head towards the now extended fingers, she bit into one them. The Shadow seemed surprised by this action and withdrew it's finger. Twi held on for dear life as well as the bottle with her telekinesis as she was dragged towards the Shadow. The Shadow glanced down at Twi. The Shadow then began shaking it hand, trying to get Twi off of him.

He began flinging his hand outward and even up to try and dislodge her. As soon as his hand went up though, Twi finally let go as she was flung high into the air. Deciding that the unicorn would no longer be a problem, it went back to trying to reach for the heart; its hand was so close. But what the Shadow failed to notice was that Twi was now falling towards him. With a loud cry, Twi raised the bottle above her head and brought it down on the Shadows head. The bottle broke and the holy water spilled all over the creatures head.

The Shadow’s body shook as it began to disappear. Twi landed hard onto the floor, her legs shaking as pain shot up through them due to the hard fall. But Twi shook it off and watched as the Shadow finally disappeared into oblivion, leaving nothing behind but a small piece of wood. Twilight smiled to herself and picked it up. It was then that something large appeared behind her.

Quickly turning around, Twilight saw another dark creature was in here with her. It was completely black but with yellow eyes. It had the head of a zebra, a horn of a goat and an antler, a single fang, and body full of all sorts of animals thrown together. Twi blinked and remembered reading about such a creature in her books. It was a draconequus . But not just any though, for some reason, it looked like the one that had been sitting in Celestia’s garden for as long as any pony could remember.

The creature seemed to study her for moment before opening its mouth, “You should not be here.” Twi shook her head. The words had not come from the creature’s mouth but from her own head. It seemed to be communicating to her telepathically. The creature continued, “You being here could ruin all the fun.” The creature then quickly picked up Twi and held her close to its face, “I think it’s time you left. Goodbye, Keybearer.” And with that, the creature drew back it arm and threw Twi like a baseball into the darkness. Twi cried out in surprise as she found herself going through another portal and landing back into the cool air outside.

Twi quickly got to her hooves and glanced back at the Doctor who was clutching his chest looking sick. Twilight had her hoof on his shoulder.

“Doctor? Are you alright?”

The Doctor groaned and gave Twilight a brave face, “Fine,” he said though sounding like the word had to be forced out.

“Doctor, you need to know that when I was inside your heart, I saw something other than the Shadow. It looked like draconequus.”

The Doctor seemed to go silent for a moment, before answering, “Really… That’s interesting.”

Twi watched as grey patches began to appear on the Doctor. “Twilight, what’s wrong with him?”

Twilight shook her head, “Never mind this. Believe, he’s going to be fine.”

“Doesn’t look that way to me.”

The Doctor shook his head, his eyes starting to turn a cold blue. The Doctor quickly blinked and they returned to a soft blue, “Listen… Twi… I am sorry to cut this short but I am afraid I must say goodbye for now.”

“But Doctor, I need answers. You promised me answers.”

“Promises can be broken!” The doctor spat. Twi took a step back in surprise. The Doctor went wide eyed, “Er, sorry… Just please… go.”

Twi took a step forward, “Doctor, you’re sick. Let me help you.”

“No… There is nothing you can do!”

Twi quickly glanced at Twilight in desperation but she only shook her head, “Don’t worry Twi, I’ll take care of him. But maybe it is best if you go now. I’m sorry.”

Twi took a step back again, “I don’t understand.”

The Doctor grunted his mind trying to think of a way to get to her to leave quickly, “Alright, how about if I answer one question, will you promise to leave?”

Twi opened her mouth to protest but looking into the Doctor’s pleading eyes, she decided against it. Looking away defeated, Twilight murmured, “Fine.”

The Doctor and Twilight sighed in relief. Twi glanced at the Doctor and took a deep breath, “Ok Doctor, you said I was both. Both what?”

The Doctor stared right at Twilight, determination fading from his eyes he whispered, “Light and Darkness.”

“What?”

The Doctor cringed, “I gave my answer, now go.”

Twi wanted to protest again but looking at both the Doctor and Twilight and seeing their pleading looks, Twi turned around rejected.
Taking the new wooden piece and the old one out of her handkerchief, Twilight combined the two and the portal home opened. Before stepping in, Twi hesitated and glanced back at the two ponies behind her. “Goodbye, and thanks,” she whispered before stepping through.

The portal quickly closed behind her just as the Doctor turned completely gray once again. His sour mood returning in full force. “Good riddance,” the Doctor mumbled. He put a hoof to his face, feeling an itch and was surprised to find a tear had run down his cheek. “What? Where did this come from?”

Twilight sighed, “Come on Doctor, let's just go home.” The Doctor half smiled at hearing Twilight’s voice. “Alright, lead the way.” Twilight quickly got up and led the Doctor back to her house, all the while, the Doctor kept rubbing at his face.

**
Canterlot, Main Hallway outside of Celestia’s room.

Celestia paced back and forth, her thoughts of her ex-student now plaguing her mind. “Twilight, what have I done?”

You have done nothing wrong,” came a voice from nowhere in particular.

“How can you say such a thing? My student despises me. My sister worries for me, and the world continues to fall apart around me. Clearly, I am doing something wrong.”

No… They are the ones who are wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

You are Celestia, ruler of the Light. You are the guardian of this kingdom. Surely, you all of all ponies can see that your actions up till now have been to protect this kingdom and nothing more.”

“Of course, it is my duty.”

And yet, they refuse to acknowledge that.”

“…”

They refuse, to see your light. And now, they slowly slip back into the shadows while your light burns stronger than ever.”

Celestia stopped pacing and glanced at the ceiling, “My light may be burning strong, but my heart hurts more than ever before. Are you sure that what I am doing is right?”

Yes… For you to even doubt yourself Celestia? For shame. You must stay strong. It is your duty. You know what must be done. It will only hurt worst if you keep asking whether it is right or wrong when you already have the answer.”

Celestia nodded her head, not noticing that her aura had changed a bit. “Yes, I am the princess of the Sun and of the light. I must do what I can for my Kingdom… Even if my subjects don’t see it that way.”

The voice seemed to give a small laugh, “Now that is the leader I know and adore.”

Celestia smiled to herself, “Thank-you spirit. Without your guidance, who knows where I could have been.”

I am but a servant of the light princess. Though my body may be gone, my spirit will always guide you.”

Celestia nodded but then put a hoof to her chin, “Spirit, you have been so kind to listen to me and help these past few weeks. You have helped keep my mind on track and even been what I would call a good friend. Yet I have not once asked you your name. Please, tell me so that I can thank you properly.”

The room around her went silent as though if the spirit seemed to pause. Then it spoke one word that seemed to echo within the halls…

“…Void…”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, “What a strange name but fine, thank you Void. For being there when I needed someone most.”

The hallway seemed to give out a small laugh, “My pleasure, Celestia, I shall be with you always.”

Celestia nodded her head and began walking down the hallway, a path now laid out in her mind. The hallway seeming to grow darker as she went.