//------------------------------// // 9 - The Dark Is Complemented By The Day // Story: No Tears, Just Dreams // by sunnypack //------------------------------// Chapter 9: The Dark Is Complemented By The Day On the morrow, Twilight, her selected friends, and the Princesses gathered together. With an affirming presence around them, they deliberated on the myriad of theory and information they had gathered on the unknown creature that stalked them. When all were accounted for in the meeting room, Celestia opened dialogue. “I’m glad to see you all here…” She paused. “With the exception of my sister. Luna will be joining us later when she feels better.” “Ah take it we’re here ta discuss the strange creature?” Applejack guessed. Celestia nodded solemnly. “We have to gather as much information we know of this creature,” she began, eyeing each mare around the table. “Let’s start with the basics. Chronologically, I was visited first. It is likely that I am somehow connected to this.” Twilight nodded. “Then–” she gulped “–it came for me.” She stopped herself before she would add anything she would regret. Lately, she’d been feeling this odd sensation. It started from the first time the creature had visited her and it only had grown since. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, only that the feeling seemed very important indeed. Applejack spoke up in the silence following Twilight’s exposition. “How many times did it visit yer, Twilight?” she asked gently. Twilight snapped out of the daze she’d sunk into. “In total it visited me alone twice,” she responded distantly. She refocused on the table. “Did anypony else get that many? Maybe it’s following a pattern?” “Same here. Twice,” muttered Rainbow. “Eeyuuup,” Applejack added. “But it technically visited me thrice,” Twilight added. “If you count the time it visited us in the room together.” Celestia raised an eyebrow slowly. Twilight saw that her mentor was still tired. Though she had gotten a good night’s sleep, the long-time exposure and sleep-debt hadn’t been fully paid off. She bit her lip. “If only we could communicate with it, somehow! Why are we so afraid? It’s petrifying, but I can’t think of a reason why it’s so scary! Physically, I’d be more afraid of a manticore coming after me or even a cockatrice. Something about it just makes me shiver in fear…” Around the table, Twilight saw her words had struck home. Her analysis of the experience was startlingly accurate. Rainbow shook slightly, though Twilight could see her stifling it by pressing her hooves together tightly. Applejack looked remarkably calm, save for the movement of her eyes, a small twitch as she scanned the room habitually. Celestia just looked exhausted. Twilight felt an ache in her heart. Celestia had a whole country to run and a lot of ponies depended on her. The way she slumped at the table, abandoning decorum was all the hint Twilight needed to know that Celestia was near her breaking point. Celestia blinked blearily as Twilight laid a gentle hoof on her mane. Usually, such an action would be beyond a breach in etiquette, but they were alone in the chamber, with her friends, and this was far more important than the stuffy restrictions of protocol. “Princess,” she whispered gently. “You should go to bed. Leave it to us and we’ll solve this enigma of a creature together.” Celestia hesitated her mouth opening to reply. Twilight gently headed her mentor off. “Don’t worry about us, Princess. Worry about yourself, for once. A country stands on its people and supports their ruler and the ruler must support their country.” Twilight saw Celestia’s smile spread warmly across her face. A lesson taught to her student and given back to the teacher. Celestia headed towards the door, dragging her hooves. “I will still do everything in my power to stop this creature,” she stated in a mild tone. Then she left the room. As the door clicked shut, Twilight shivered. Applejack spoke up. “What’s wrong, Twi’?” She looked at Twilight curiously. Twilight smiled thinly. “Princess Celestia was never this angry.” “Angry? How can you tell?” Rainbow queried. “She looked exactly the same.” Twilight shivered, recalling Celestia’s eyes. Those eyes. “When Celestia is angry it comes out as hot and fiery, like the harsh light of the sun. I think you’ve seen that, during the changeling attack?” There were nods all around. “Well, when she’s beyond that, she goes cold, freezing. Like the way a flame goes blue with its intensity. She’s vengeful right now and I almost pity the creature.” Applejack nodded slowly. “Gee Twilight that was poetic.” There was silence after that. “So,” Rainbow said uneasily. “What do we do?” Twilight tapped a hoof absently on the table. The rap echoed through the room lending an oppressive presence to the vastness of the meeting room. Unbidden, everypony shrunk a little in their seats. “We clean up the mess,” Twilight said her voice never more clear in her ears than ever before. Then she turned to her friends. “Or we find that creature before our Princess does.” –––––– When Luna awoke, she felt disconnected from the world around her. As if there was an odd disquiet in the otherwise silent room. What a paradox, she thought to herself, a growing feeling of unease shuddering through her frame. She glanced around, caution trying to overpower fear as she carefully swept the room. The creature is in here, she thought jumbling about in her mind. When she finally spotted it, there was a strange tension in the air. Luna had once seen a modern play with the Canterlot Royal Orchestra playing. In one of the scenes a pony crept on the stage while the shrill violins played in the air. She could imagine no other apt way to describe how charged the room felt. Though she felt tension, fear was not a part of it and she wondered briefly of the change. At last, she spoke. “What manner of creature are you?” The creature stood and remained silent. Luna knew she should be angry, furious even. Right now though, all she could feel was the deep throb of exhaustion born from its repetitive visits. Curiously, there wasn’t fear anymore. Well there was, it just wasn’t debilitating anymore. She felt so drained that the trickle of fear she felt was negligible under her weariness. “Can you not speak?” she finally ventured. Still the creature did not deign to communicate. It shuffled forward, slowly. Luna noted among her rapidly scrambled thoughts that the creature looked less sure of itself, less confident even. It moved with jerks and disjointed motions that reminded her of a mechanical doll. Good, she thought. It’s weakened. Luna’s horn sparked. Her lips pulled into a snarl. I’ll end you. The creature looked up at the brief point of light drifting from her horn. It held up its forelimbs. Suddenly Luna could feel the fear mount up in her slowly. Her heart began to increase its beat, the staccato rhythm slowly gathering speed. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. The sound filled her ears with a steadily increasing roar. Adrenaline surged through her system. Through it all, she gathered her concentration and let loose the spell. The creature shrieked and howled. It clawed at its eyes. A flash lit up the room and Luna instinctively squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, blinking away the stars of confusion, she found the customary note left over from the creature. I’m not your enemy. Please believe me. I can’t… Help. The ashes left behind seemed to leave a bitter taste in Luna’s mouth.