//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 ~ Dusk Has Fallen (V2) // Story: Lunarium // by Tramper //------------------------------// Muffins would have been delicious. Like, really delicious. So, if one were to admit that no muffins were available at the time it would also mean that nothing delicious at all was to be had. As a matter of fact, there was no food whatsoever to be had. “Sorry,” Derpy told her after she had searched her non-existent pockets. So Twilight had to remain hungry. That sucked, but at least it also meant that she couldn’t vomit anything up, right? She felt a cold burning through her, but the filly gave her best to fight it. She had survived Magia, so she would survive the aftermath of it. Yet she remembered the earthquakes and looked at the ruin they hid in. Canterlot was gone now, wasn’t it? Nurse Redheart had said she’d get a roommate, Twilight wondered whether the mare was searching for her. What would her father do and how fared Shining? She didn’t know, but red orbs had looked at her and a sea of teeth had tried to rip her apart. It was only thanks to whatever light she’d brought forth that she had survived. She remembered it, if only dimly. It had been warm and white and had ruffled her mane. Strange, it was like somepony had called out to her, but she couldn’t remember much. Had she seen a golden throne? A painting of a purified sky and the sun above? “We should get moving,” Trixie announced after a few moments. “If that thing finds us, we’re dead.” She sounded almost deadpan, but there was a weight to that statement. Twilight tried to shake her cold off. “You’re right. Can somepony help me up?” she inquired. There was no exact way to describe what she felt as Derpy helped her from the ground. As she stood beside her friends, she felt the nausea and the cold. She felt so very weak and so tired. Physically it was the same as ever, but it also felt very different from all the other times her illness had struck. Her spirits were high and despite the fact that she had almost died, she didn’t feel like giving up. Yet she didn't know why. Losing all hope seemed more logical at this point, but then she remembered an alicorn, white as a pearl and with a smile warm as the sun. “You can lean on me, if you want to,” Derpy said, offering her friend a smile. Twilight nodded, glad to get some help. “Thank you,” she said with a weak voice. The only question remaining was to where they should go. They couldn’t face the beast, and looking for adults would be hard, as they were still close to the center of the entire mess. By now everypony else must've been gone. "We should try to go back," Trixie said, much to Twilight’s surprise. She’d been angry with her before, but she looked so sad now. Of course, she was beaten down both by the rain and Magia’s assault, but there was just something about her, even if Twilight couldn’t pinpoint what exactly it was. Trixie hadn’t been beautiful to begin with, what with her black eye, the bandages on her legs and a smile that showed half her teeth missing. Some had fallen out and regrown, others must’ve been lost to causes less natural. She still wore that giant hat and her coat was hidden beneath a cloak with stars on it. These things looked old and ragged, making the filly appear even poorer. Either that, or Trixie just really didn’t care about looks. However, Twilight had felt a certain charisma coming from Trixie, a pride she herself could hardly comprehend. It had given her courage to step out of her bed, hadn’t it? She had thought that it was the reason why she’d gone with Trixie. That had been before. Now she could hardly find anything admirable when she looked at Trixie. The filly seemed so much smaller, like she was using her cloak and hat as things to hide beneath, as if she was ashamed of something. Twilight had half a mind to cheer her up, to say something, but she was the reason they were here and she was the reason tears had stained Trixie’s face. What hope could she possible bring to her with all that in mind? Beside the caped unicorn stood Lyra. She was a bit taller than Trixie and a bit more lanky. Also aquamarine. Twilight took a moment, blinked, and the reassured herself that the other pony was indeed aquamarine with a cyan mane and tail. There were absolutely no words she could say to that. No, wait, did Lyra have a horn? She hadn’t had a horn before, so why had she a horn now? “What happened to you?” Twilight asked as the amount of questions within her kept rising. “Oh, this?” Lyra pointed at her horn, smiling proudly. “I guess I found something I lost again." She said it like she was talking about a misplaced book, which Twilight found weird. But the way Lyra smiled now made Twilight think that it didn’t matter. That smile was better than the one before and it didn't look like it hurt at all. Lyra was tall and beautiful now. Trixie looked at them from beneath her hat, "I know we need to catch up and all but considering everything: We need to get back to the castle. Or is this Lunarium a lie, too?” Twilight felt herself staring at Trixie. But that word, how it had sounded, how it was carried in the wind, it felt off. It held a power that hadn’t been there before, she clearly understood. “What?” Trixie asked, clearly freaked out by the sudden looks. "I- I don't know, but just now … Lu---narium." Lyra stretched the word and then looked at Twilight. "Do you hear it, too?" The brown unicorn asked. Lyra nodded. "Hear what?" both Trixie and Derpy asked. The way it sounded, like a distant force calling out to them. For a moment, she didn’t know how that could’ve happened, but then it came to her, how she did not know. "There’s a power in that word. Lunarium, there’s magic even in that word. And it’s reaching out." Or something was, but that didn’t matter. It was clearly a sign, one that Twilight just couldn’t misinterpret. "Yes, yes, we should go back to the palace.” Derpy nodded. “I only hope Drops and Tavi make it there, too.” “They will,” Lyra said with a smile. “We’ll make it through this together.” Trixie nodded and gestured the others to follow her. She never said a word and gave Lyra a cold look. It wasn’t as seething with hatred as before, but there was an emptiness to it that didn’t escape Twilight. Even Lyra’s smile waned a bit as she saw it, but they went on nonetheless. Twilight was just thankful that she had other ponies to help her. There were things in her mind, new thoughts she hadn’t held before. They were of Magia’s connection to herself, for the most part. The Wise Goat had called it the king of nightmares. Now that she thought about it; that, too, was an ancient tale. She had read about Nightmares, or Night Terrors, as they had been called in the old days. They had been creatures who, even in the days of the princesses, were nothing but a myth to scare little children. The story of Nightmare Moon, as originally written down by Princess Luna, was probably the most famous interpretation of these legends. The story spoke of her meeting the beast in the space between dreams, where she nurtured the fears and paranoia of the ponies for the sake of a king beyond the boundary of reality. Though unfinished, it was still one of the best stories Twilight had read, because it had taught her that all nightmares were just stories. They weren’t real and so she had never needed to be scared of them. Well, apparently she had been wrong about that, so she guessed it was okay now to tremble, to let her teeth chatter and her heart rumble. They went through a hole in a wall and then they faced the outside. They had taken refuge the ruins of a house, now one in a sea of ruins. Carefully they walked forward, but now that the rain had stopped falling, only the howl of the wind remained. The path to the castle was open, so they chose to go through the ruins. Whatever cover they could find, they took, so that they wouldn’t be caught by any cottoncandy clouds. Twilight noticed that the sun had reached the horizon, coating the world in tones of orange. As they came out from beneath a wall that had fallen atop another, Twilight gazed up and halted immediately. Her mouth went open, for at the highest point of the sky, the world turned a darker shade of blue and amidst it, tiny dots glittered in the dark. Stars, they were called, and this was the first time Twilight had ever seen them. “Dusk has fallen,” Derpy suddenly mentioned. “It’s already past bedtime isn’t it?” “Trixie has no idea why you're talking about bedtime now,” their very nervous leader hissed. Trixie always spoke in third person when she got nervous, Twilight had noticed. "Because mommy will be mad if we don’t get home in time," the pegasus whined. Trixie rolled her eyes and turned around. "We'll need to meet the others before we can rest and Trixie doesn't think she could sleep after-," there she paused. Trixie looked down on the ground before her, yet didn't stop to walk. Was she thinking? Crying? Twilight couldn't tell. "Trixie thinks we all need to be together. Just follow–" Trixie’s eyes went up and widened. “No,” she said and the others immediately turned around. There was little of the cottoncandy left, its arms were more akin to tentacles, spiked and vile, and its entire shape was plastered with mouths and eyes. The beast stood atop the fallen wall and raised its twisted arms. Bang! A hole appeared in the center of the beast’s torso and a split second later, black liquid dripped on the floor. There was a moment of silence before another shot fell, blowing the monster’s top away. Fear gripped all four of them and they hurried back beneath the wall, to the darkest corner they could find. They only heard the third shot, then the beast fell. “Aaand, apparently, they both bleed and die,” they heard a female voice ringing up above them. “Nice.” “Sarge, ya sure it’s dead?” A male voice appeared, sounding raspy.” A moment of silence, and then they heard the sound of a metal blade piercing into the ground. “It should be now,” a third voice appeared, belonging to a young stallion. “What was it doing here anyway?” “The same thing we’re here for, lads,” the female voice spoke up. “That fissure’s gone, but the higher ups were quick enough with their decision.” “You’re right, it only took them an hour or so to send a runner,” the young voice answered. “They’re soldiers,” Derpy whispered, hope in her voice. Maybe they could help, but Twilight felt a bit uneasy about their presence. And what were they talking about anyway? They were here for the same reason as Magia’s spawn? “An’ I still don’ feel why we should do this. I didn’t join tha army so I can shoot civilians,” the raspy voice answered. “No, you joined the army to defend your homeland, and this is the perfect situation. We have no idea what invaded our beloved capital, and so we should cleanse it in its entirety,” the mare told him, sounding awfully casual about it. “No shut up, you two and get looking for survivors. Kill anypony you see on sight.” “Yes, ma’am,” the younger stallion immediately answered and the three heard wings beat as he took off. The other soldier took a moment longer. “Yes, sarge,” he grumbled, but they didn’t hear him move. “Check every place, I’ll need to check up with the rest of the squad. And Black?” “Yes?” “Don’t you dare doubt our cause or try to cross me. I promise you, I will make you regret either.” Another sound of beating wings. The four crouched closer together, deeper into their hole. The stallion kept quiet, before he moved closer to the wall and his head piqued through the hole. He turned his head, scanning the entire area in a half-hearted manner. Derpy tried to get closer to Twilight, tried to hug her, but missed her lightly and hit a small rock that tumbled down. Twilight almost expected the entire wall to come down on them, but all they heard was the sound of one stone falling atop the other. The stallion’s ears perked up. “Well, looks like I found me a few survivors,” he said with a sigh. “Lucky for you, I hate the sarge’s guts, so stay quiet, stay low, and don’t go down the mountain. This whole mess is only gettin’ started.” With those words he turned and left, marching away from the hole. “Oh Celestia,” Trixie muttered. Twilight had to agree, but this was only an incentive. “We need to get going.” “They’re trying to kill us,” Derpy said. “We get to the Lunarium, everything’ll be okay. Remember?” Trixie asked. “Stay quiet, stay low, don’t go down the mountain. So we go up, to the castle, and we’ll bring magic back. That’ll fix everything.” Derpy stayed quiet for a few seconds. “Okay,” she answered. There was little time remaining and they needed to get a move on. So they went out of the hole and through the ruins, keeping a low profile. Twilight took a few moments to check up on the situation. Whatever remained of the populous city of Canterlot was ruined and burned. The destruction of all the buildings had left a layer of dust spread across the city. Like mist it surrounded them, slowly coming down from the sky. It made her so much happier when they could move forward without looking around. The moments where she could just concentrate on getting one hoof placed before the other made moving through the carnage more easier. She thought to see a pony or two, but when nothing moved, she decided that there probably were no others on this path but them. Nopony expected that some might’ve fled towards the castle. As they continued, a certain smell made itself apparent. The city had always smelled like a garbage pail with the factories by the edge only making it worse, just like the skies were always obscured and the rain was poisonous. Now there was this smell of sweets and cotton candy overshadowing the old. Something she, strangely enough, did not find to be good. Her tummy was as sensitive as the rest of her body and the smell only made it hurt. She turned her head to Derpy, whose eyes each looked into a different direction each, one up, one down. The pony seemed to have lots of strength left, now that she thought about it. What had happened to her on the run? She sported a cut on her cheek and it had bled, even though most of the red liquid had been washed off by the rain. Twilight didn't inquire, there would be time for that after they reached the Lunarium. The road was covered with rocks and in the corner of her eyes she thought to spot some more ponies lying around. Despite all her curiosity, she thought better of it and didn't look and the others tried their best to ignore them, either. She knew why those ponies weren't calling out, weren't moving. Her thoughts drifted, but she didn’t want them to go to them, she wanted to think about something else, something that didn’t make her feel weak and fretful. Hopefully Raindrops and Octavia had managed to help those ponies they met. If something good would come out of this whole mess, maybe it was worth the trouble in the end. Twilight was sure that, once they were together again, those two would have wonderful stories to share. Her heart was beating furiously, but it wasn't hurting as much as usual. Yet she was aware that it was just that the cold in her body overshadowing it and that it would only get much worse once they reached the stairs. Her condition was one that would never go away and she actually felt herself growing weaker. The feeling from atop the castle had left her completely, but at the same time, she didn’t feel as bad as the last time she’d woken up from using magic. With that thought her head turned to Lyra, who was walking on her other side, probably to aid when necessary. She let her words go through the mind again. Lyra had said that she had found something. “What did you find?” she asked, but her voice was weak and she already breathing heavily. There was a moment of silence before Lyra noticed that Twilight was talking to her. “What?” “Your horn grew back and your coat is different. Did you find anything that is related to magic?” Twilight wondered. That new smile of Lyra’s appeared on her face; the warm grin, that, given the right circumstances, could easily sway any mood to a good one. “You could say that. I just thought about what Octavia once told me, that there's magic in music.” Crouching through the ruins, Lyra giggled a little. “I never believed in magic, you know, not until I met you. I guess I realized that it exists and that with it we can do something, even fix the damage already done. No, maybe I just want everypony who’s still here to be able to smile. Even if this Magia is set free in the world, I now know we can defeat it. We've got each other and we can trust in that.” Lyra’s let out a hearty laugh, making Trixie shush her. Still, she added, “We can earn ourselves a happy ending.” Twilight smiled and allowed herself to believe in that, too. Everything that had happened over the past few hours was hard to grasp. The thing was, it didn’t need to matter, because, for some strange reason, with every step closer to the castle she felt a bit more confident. She wasn't getting stronger, in fact, she felt getting weaker. She felt the weight of her own body, the exhaustion from her long run and from her short battle with Magia. Yet she was glad, as if she had done something right. Twilight had ponies to trust in her and ponies she could put her trust in. And she didn't notice that the distance between them and Trixie widened. The filly pulled her hat down and moved forward on her own. Derpy looked awkwardly to the ground, not knowing what to say and keeping herself from tripping over her own hooves. With that, they continued on, the sun sinking slowly behind them. After walking on for quite a few minutes more, they reached the stairs. There, they were greeted by Octavia, who came out of the rubble with a grim expression about her. She looked dirty and had dishevelled. Her cold glance wandered from one pony to the next, quietly noticing the injuries and the expressions they bore on their faces. She looked at Trixie ... and then smiled, “You're all fine. Celestia be thanked.” Trixie harrumphed and then went past her. What could have been her giving the other filly the cold shoulder was ruined the instant Octavia grabbed the piebald unicorn and hugged her tightly. Octavia didn’t say anything either, but she put all her strength in the hug. No, Twilight noticed her move her lips. “You’re all fine, you’re all fine. …” The three stood in silence as Octavia quietly hugged her friend. It took a while, but Trixie finally decided to hug her back. “We should go up,” she then said. “Why?” asked Raindrops. The ponies turned around. Her face was swollen, but there was a determination in her eyes. Twilight gave her answer immediately, “I tried to end it, but the Lunarium is our only chance now. Magia’s a Nightmare, a real one.” "This whole mess is a real nightmare." Lyra had said that, and she smiled as if she had just delivered the pun of the century. Twilight and Trixie rolled their eyes simultaneously. Then, Twilight said, "I know but that's not what I mean. Magia is a real Night Terror." "A what?" Lyra asked. Despite the tone in her voice, her expression revealed that she had the vaguest of notion that something called a 'Terror' that just wrecked the capital of the Republic was something to be scared of. "I'll tell you on the way up." Twilight said. She was smart, she had read those things and so she shared what she had found in the books her father had given to her. “There’s several old legends about them, I read some of them. They’re only a small part of our folklore, but, if I remember correctly, they were spirits of the realm of dreams. All they wanted was to sow dissent and fear. I always believed they were nothing but a fantasy, but,” she looked back on the city. Where the fissure had risen before was now a darker tinted spot in the sky. The laughter and the screams had vanished, but there was the sound of gunfire in the distance. Two worlds would crash together and it would all end. She herself had never quite gotten into her head what exactly the end of the world meant. A planet wasn't a pony that could just lie down and sleep forever, it was huge with land and water and skies and clouds. How something like that could end was well beyond her, but she at least understood that it was bad. Nopony answered her, nopony asked anymore questions. They all moved forward and Twilight hoped she would be smart enough to solve whatever riddle lay in the garden. She wasn't quite sure what she should hope for but either way, as the last rays of light vanished beyond the horizon they stood between the statues once more. The moon itself revealed itself in its glory on a night filled with the stars’ light, and its white rays touched upon the stone and it glittered with the light of the stars themselves. The light became stone, the stones became water and as the ray touched them, they turned into the waves and what was once the center of the plaza became a hole, a dark place. Twilight and the others looked at it, blinking, and then, in a single moment, it came to her with the light of the moon. There was a voice coming from the depths, much unlike the Wise Goat’s. She had heard its like before, but could not pinpoint any time where she had listened to its soothing echo. It whispered to Twilight nothing and everything. There were no words it spoke, but as Twilight looked at the silver ray, she understood what she needed to do. The moon's light was bidding them farewell and the warm voice of a mentor she never had carried through the wind, telling her that she could do it. There wasn't any time to reflect, she understood that. If they looked back, then they would see the city again and the nightmares’ descent from their ghostly plain, too. If they looked back, they would have to face the death and the destruction. But if they moved forward? She could deal with it if they jumped, she could do something. Her father had left her for good and she had last seen Shining a thousand years ago. "Let's take the dive," Twilight Sparkle declared as she walked towards the hole in the ground, all on her own. She smiled and turned to the others. Whatever regret they carried with them, not a single one turned back. They all took a step forward, towards the darkness. Their choice was made. One last time she looked at the sky and at the peak of the sky she saw the laughing eyes of the beast called Magia staring back at her, while the screeching and the breaking of bones became not only sounds, but a vile symphony that rose into a crescendo. This night would be the first real Nightmare Night, Twilight thought, and even though the moon shone brightly, every pony who'd sleep would be haunted by night terrors. Twilight took a deep breath and then she was the first to jump into the darkness, the first to leave Canterlot behind. She remembered Nurse Redheart, she remembered Trixie reaching out to her, she remembered a loving family. But her reminiscence was broken as Lyra cried out; "Cadenza!" while jumping down. That was that. They were all together in it now and the road back was barred. The only thing they could do was move forward, because their journey to the Lunarium had only just begun.