Hold Your Color

by Quillery

Pitch Black

Dash stood in front of her friends as she kept a close eye on the dark apparition that had appeared before them. It was silent, for a long, painful while as it watched them with calm amusement. Dash chanced a look back to Celestia, who returned the shadow pony’s gaze with stoic rigidity.

“Who are you?” she asked firmly.

The shadow placed a hoof to its chest, and shrugged her head in dramatic sadness. “Oh, that hurts, Celestia. It truly does.” The shadow’s voice almost swirled in the cold wind that flowed into the room from the mountains above. It was a composed, feminine voice, laced with quiet anger. “How could you possibly have forgotten me? We used to be so close.”

The shadow took a step forward. Her hoof grazed the edge of the light’s influence. A small hiss erupted from her leg as it touched the light, but she held firm. “Has it really been so long that you’ve discarded all memory of me? I recall you being better than that.”

Celestia frowned. “If you were somepony worth remembering, you would either be honored in my halls, or banished in the depths of Tartarus. I promise that I would remember either. You clearly are not worth remembering.”

The shadow’s eyes flickered, as if the stars and suns locked in their depths detonated in a celestial explosion. “Oh, that really hurts, Celestia. After all I did…” She laughed. “Oh well, I suppose that there are some things even you hide in the dark.”

“Where is the Prism?” Celestia demanded. “What have you done with it?”

“Yeah!” Dash said. “You better give it back, or it’ll be my hoof in your face!”

The shadow waggled her hoof. “Ah, ah.” She lowered her head to Dash. “You mustn't rush into things you do not comprehend, little host. You will see how little your pride will serve you in time.” She returned her attention to Celestia. “The game has only just begun Celestia. What fun would there be in me revealing my intentions? It all seems rather predictable really. You ask me where it is, I say no, then we start fighting. Why not just skip the theatrics and go right to the fun part?” She completed her statement with a wide, thirsting smile.

Celestia blinked and lifted her head, nodding with a regal flair. “Because, it would not be proper for a princess to not offer mercy to her enemies, would it not? After all, somepony must adhere to fairness. But if you are so interested in violence—”

Celestia’s eyes flickered a moment, and narrowed ever so slightly. She took in a sharp breath and plunged her horn into the fountain of light above her. It began to glow like a hundred suns, and Dash turned away, shielding her eyes.

A thundering boom arced across the room, over Dash’s head towards the shadow. A wave of heat washed over Dash, flooding out the pervasive cold the shadow had brought. When the light faded, Dash chanced opening her eyes. The shadowy form was no longer in front of her.

“Well, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Dash said.

Celestia show her a stern glance. “Do not celebrate yet, Rainbow Dash. The shadows are still dangerously close.”

Dash looked at the ground, and felt her heart drop when she confirmed that Celestia was right. As quickly as the heat had calmed her, the deep chill crept back and filled the void of warmth. The same, quiet cackling returned, from all directions as the shadows swirled around them.

“Well!” the shadow’s voice exclaimed. “Celestia, the monarch of the sun, trying to catch me off guard. I must say times have changed. You were always so honorable before, Celestia. You offered a fair and reasonable chance to everypony, and now, you’re willing to destroy me as quickly as possible.”

Dash spotted a section of the shadows whorling not far from her. Again, the dark, towering shape rose from the darkness, cackling all the while. Her eyes bobbed in amusement as it finished a long winded laugh. “Ah… how time was weathered away at the might of the sun. It is only a matter of time, then, Celestia, wouldn’t you agree?”

Celestia’s frown held, veiled by a fragment of her regal grace. “Your play of the shadows is impressive, but it will not hold. Darkness always yields to the presence of the sun.”

The shadow chuckled. “Clearly, you do not understand how powerful the shadows can be.” A spiral of dark, whirling energy glowed around her body. The magic coiled into long, grasping limbs that emerged from the field of darkness surrounding Celestia and her group. Dash stepped closer to the center with her friends, as the tendrils ebbed in the air, weaving, bobbing, waiting.

Celestia lowered her head, and widened her stance as she stared the shadow down. Dash did the same, taking position along with the Princess, Twilight, and Ditzy. Celestia and Twilight’s horns were glowing. Ditzy took a stance of her own, spreading her wings and holding them out wide.

The shadows struck first. The tendrils lashed out in unison, lunging towards them in the center. A burst of golden light flashed from Celestia, forming a sphere of energy around herself and her company. Many of the tendrils burst and evaporated instantly on contact with the barrier. Those that made it through hissed with heat and pain, but powered through as they struggled to reach.

Bolts of magic flew from Twilight and struck any that drifted to near to her. They detonated in a flash of purple and burned away under the sway of Celestia’s light. Those that strayed near Ditzy lasted nearly as long. With effortless dives and spins, the shadows skirted past her harmlessly. Those that didn’t, she cleaved with fluid strokes of her wings, severing them from their source.

Dash took on her own attackers with her usual style of blunt aggression. Any tendril that approached her was met head on. She swung her legs at any of the shadow’s attackers that got too close, bashing them with years of trained physical strength. Under the stress of being in Celestia’s light, they all but popped under the assault Dash and her allies made against them.

Their numbers kept growing, and the attacks only quickened in frequency. Dash found a rhythm in their strikes, and her victories grew faster in number, along with Twilight and Ditzy’s.

Dash kept an eye on Celestia as best she could. In the midst of the battle, the shadow kept her own attention directly on the princess with her own dark magic. She and Celestia were connected by a long arc of magic. Light and dark collided in the air, pushing against each other. Blazing heat and frigid cold swirled in the chamber, whipping dust and rocks in every direction. Dash felt a few choice rocks strike her sides. They stung, but it was hardly enough to slow her down.

The bristling magic in the air hummed, and the winds only strengthened the longer the connection held. For every bit Celestia pushed forward, the shadowy mare pushed back just as much. The resonant sound of the warring magic rose higher and higher, until finally, it broke. The coalesced magic detonated in a wave of dark and light. One last gust of air rushed over the room. The dark tendrils burned away as the force of Celestia’s light enveloped the center, while the shadows eclipsed the rest. The room went still, as everypony in the room repositioned, waiting for another attack.

The shadow stood tall, laughing. “This balance of power is invigorating, Celestia! You know no idea how much I missed this, this futile war between light and darkness.”

Dash and the others were heaving, except for Celestia. Dash was amazed that after all that had happened, Celestia wasn’t the least bit tired. She held herself high, keeping a level gaze on the shadow as the flowing light washed over her from above.

Dash blinked. That was it. The mirror that brought in the sunlight must have been empowering Celestia. She grinned at the fact that they had such a powerful boon. Nothing can stop Celestia, not here!

“What do you seek to gain from this?” Celestia asked. “Why approach so early, when you have the advantage? You have the Prism, and we have no idea where you’ve taken it. Why not remain in anonymity?”

The shadow smiled behind a silhouette of pearlescent teeth that stood out from her darkened form. “Because hope is a disgusting emotion.” She glanced at all the ponies that stood before her. “I see it in your eyes. All of you. You have hope that you will succeed, that you will find the Prism and stop me. You cling to that hope like a raft of one lost at sea. Even though you know that I have the advantage, you still think you will win.”

Her smile faded into a scowl. The starscape or her eyes slanted into a seething, hateful glare. “I hate hope. And what better way to crush it than now, with the Princess of the Light at my mercy?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I fail to see myself at your mercy.”

The shadow cackled. “Ah, yes, you fail to see it now. But, just as the darkness yields to the presence of the sun, so does the darkness thrive in its absence!”

The cave shook as the shadow let out a primal roar. The darkness surrounding her pushed against the field of light that Celestia held. It slowly crept towards the center of the room, darkening the stone in shadow, despite the light above them.

Celestia stood her ground. She held her head high, channeling the source of power at her disposal, pushing back against the rising shadows around her. Her hooves scraped against the ground as she slowly slid back against the shadow. Despite the fount of power at Celestia’s command, she was losing.

The shadow smiled as she advanced. Celestia grit her teeth as she strained back against her. Dash felt helpless in their presence. She had no magic to help, and physical force wouldn’t amount to much in the presence of such dangerous magic. I can’t do anything! she thought, biting back tears. Im just a pegasus, I can’t fight against this. I can’t help Celestia.

She blinked as somepony stepped beside her. Twilight, panting, struggling to stand, stepped past her towards Celestia. Her horn glowed in the midst of the encroaching shadow, and added her magic to Celestia’s.

The princess turned her head slightly. Her eyes were wide, just a moment, before it faded into a grateful smile. She redoubled her efforts, and with Twilight’s help, the shadow’s advance slowed to a stop. Princess and student, standing together against their foe, and Dash couldn’t help but be in awe.

The ring of shadow was only a few meters from the center, giving them minimal space to stand. It boiled and raged as it pressed against Celestia and Twilight’s resistance, as the shadow herself seethed.

“Hope springs eternal…” the shadow breathed. Her tone shifted from anger suddenly, into a loud, insane shriek of laughter. “But darkness reigns forever!”

She shrugged her magic aside, for an instant. Twilight and Celestia stumbled forward as the great pressure they pushed against vanished, and let loose a torrent of magic in the empty space. When the light faded, the shadow had moved again, and they searched for her.

“Up there!” Ditzy yelled.

Dash looked up. The shadow was on the ceiling, beside the Resheph Mirror. She was cackling as her magic coils of darkness merged together into one large appendage. It skimmed the edge of the light’s influence, and swiftly reared back and swung.

Celestia let out a strangled cry as the mirror shattered. There was a sudden, chilling silence, before the mirror erupted in a flash of light. Shards of glass fell from the mirror’s housing, but they evaporated before they came close to the ground.

The room filled with a persistent glare of light. Dash shielded her eyes as the magic roared above her. The mountain shook, sending motes of dust and rock to scatter across the room. When the final light of the mirror began to fade, the room slowly became immersed in darkness.

Before the shadows could surround them, though, a single light cut the darkness back. Celestia’s horn emulated the light of the sun as she looked around the room with quick jerks of her head. Her expression was focused, as she peered into the shadows around them, searching.

The shadow’s laughter returned. A pair of sparkling eyes gazed from the darkness. Despite Celestia’s magic, they drew closer, carrying the darkness with them. Celestia strained all of her effort into her magic, but the shadow was not deterred as the light slowly drained away.

Even as Twilight stepped in and offered her aid, nothing pushed the shadow back. Closer the shadow drew, cackling all the way. Dash stepped back, her mind reeling. I can't just give up! There has to be something I can do!

“Twilight…” Celestia said, her voice strained. “I cannot stop her.”

“Don’t say that, Princess!” Twilight said. “Just keep trying!”

Dash raised an eyebrow when Celestia somehow managed a smile. “No, Twilight. One must know when a battle is lost, so they can fight again to win the war…”

Twilight blinked. “What are you saying?”

Celestia closed her eyes. Her horn brightened, as a warming sensation surround Dash, Twilight and Ditzy. Dash felt weightless, lighter than air, lighter than… light. She felt awash in pure solar energy as she and her friends rose from the ground.

“Celestia!” Twilight shouted. “What are you doing?!”

Celestia managed one final smile, her effort spent as she turned her head to the door, and the lit stairway beyond. “Winning the war…”

Dash felt herself flying as Celestia threw them, shielded in light, towards the door. Twilight screamed as Celestia grew further away.

They landed roughly in the hallway. Dash managed to get up, just in time to see the light surrounding Celestia fade away, and the shadows close on her as the door slammed shut in front of them.

Twilight was on her hooves in seconds. She leaned against the door, pounding on it with tears streaming from her eyes. “No! Celestia! Don’t do this!” She grunted as she shoved against the stone. “Let me in! I have to help her!”
Dash placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Twi, we gotta—”

Twilight shrugged Dash away. “No! We need to get back in there! I can’t let her do this alone! I won’t!” Twilight descended into hysterics as she slammed her hooves and her magic against the door. Her wails echoed in the halls, as Dash wilted at the sight of her.

Ditzy grunted. “We can’t stay here. Once that thing is done with Celestia, we’re next.”

Dash nodded and went to Twilight’s side. “Twi, Ditzy’s right. We can’t stay. Celestia gave us a chance to fight back, but not now.”

Twilight showed no sign of hearing her. She slammed her hooves again on the door, seething. “I’m. Not. Leaving her!”

On the final strike, the door gave way. It creaked open slowly, the stone groaning against its frame. The light of the hall cast a patch of light into the lightless room. Dash leaned forward, senses on edge. She awaited a fresh assault, but none came. The chilling cold was gone, and the room was stale with dust. The light caught a fleck of gold at the edge of its influence and sparkled brightly.

Twilight took off running into the room. “Celestia!”

“Twilight!” Dash yelled. “It might be a trap!”

She beat her wings to chase after Twilight, but Ditzy swooped past her. She landed in front of Twilight, and what she was running for. Ditzy held up a hoof, and glared at Twilight, which was enough to stop her in her tracks. “Did Celestia teach you nothing about sense?”

“Get out of my way Ditzy,” Twilight said.

Ditzy’s ears twitched, and her frown deepened. She sighed, and stepped aside, turning into the darkness. She shot a glance at Dash. “Keep an eye out.”

Dash nodded and caught up with Twilight in the center of the room. Her horn was glowing, casting a faint light around Celestia’s lying form. Dash felt panic tearing at her chest as she stared at the princess in this state; broken, beaten.

“She’s still breathing,” Twilight said, her voice breaking in relief. Dash’s chest lightened at that news, and moved over to help Twilight lift Celestia up from the ground. She craned her leg under Celestia’s head and lifted it up.

She gasped and nearly fell back. Celestia’s eyes were still open, staring in a vacant gaze. They glowed like the night sky, an endless expanse of stars, galaxies and the void of the night sky. A chill gripped Dash as she looked deep into Celestia’s eyes, and felt herself losing herself in them. She shook herself from falling to the void, as Twilight wrapped her legs around Celestia, tears streaming down her face.

“No… please no… Celestia… please wake up…”