Hold Your Color

by Quillery

Hour of Twilight

“What did you do to her!?” Dash screamed. Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she stared into the blank, lifeless eyes of Twilight, now ensconced in Nocturne’s cruel embrace.

Nocturne giggled evilly. “Oh, what’s the matter, dear?” She said, pouting her lip. “Do you not like what I have done to my new pets? After all, you freed my previous minions. I had to replace them somehow.”

Ditzy and Twilight growled obediently beside her, flashing their fangs. Nocturne spawned two new tendrils and reached out to stroke her two indoctrinated minions affectionately.

“Let them go!” Dash said. “Or I swear to Celestia I’ll—”

Nocturne’s playful attitude swiftly vanished. “Or you’ll what? Fight back? And harm your precious little friends?” Her smile returned as a wicked grin as she let out a low, dangerous chuckle. “I find them far more useful like this. Considering how hard it was to break them, they have grown on me.”

Dash’s heart skipped, and Nocturne raised an eyebrow in interest. “But, you would love to hear about it, wouldn’t you?” Nocturne turned her head to Ditzy. “This one was by far more resilient. So devoted to you and her mission. The pain I inflicted on her body was nowhere as useful as I had hoped. It is so much of a bother to break their mind, but, I mustn’t argue results.”

Dash’s clenched her teeth as her body trembled. She couldn’t bring herself to move, barely to think as Nocturne coddled over her friends as if they were toys, playthings, and the horrible atrocities she had done to them.

“Dreams are such vast libraries of knowledge. Our dear Princess Luna taught me that once. As soon as I discovered this one’s love for her daughter...” Nocturne let out a squeal of joy. ”Oh! It was so much more fun to reeducate her! Can you imagine the torment on a mother’s mind, to see her daughter taken from her, over and over, until she is nothing but a shell fit for the shaping?”

Dash’s mouth opened in shock as she stared at Ditzy. Of all the things she knew about Ditzy before all this happened, the tales of her devotion to Dinky were the stuff of legends. Taking her to school every day, regardless of the weather, if she was sick, or if she had only seconds to get to work on time afterwards, she did it. She helped Dinky with homework, cared for her every second of every day. When a child from class gave Dinky a hard time, whispers of Ditzy visiting the bully’s parents and what happened therein turned into urban myths that sent chills down even Dash’s spine.

To have Dinky taken away, according to Nocturne’s twisted machinations, Dash couldn’t even comprehend how Ditzy would cope. To have it happen in a malevolent dreamscape, over and over… Dash bit her lip to keep from crying out in agony and anger herself, in fear that there might not be anything of Ditzy left to save. Just how her corrupted form almost seemed to purr in contact with its new master, Dash’s trembling rage only worsened.

When Nocturne turned to Twilight, however, Dash’s mind descended further into despair. Twilight was strong, Dash knew this. Perhaps not as strong as Ditzy physically, but mentally, she was a beacon of endurance. Especially when it came to her friends, she knew Twilight would withstand anything for them. Which would only push Nocturne harder into breaking her. Dash felt her breaths weakening as her body wanted to simply shut down at just the thought of what Nocturne did to her.

Nocturne smiled as she watched Dash intently. “Oh, but you are far more interested in this one, aren’t you?” She said, stroking her tendril over Twilight’s chin. “She was far more… interesting to influence. She had so many different barriers upon her mind to resist. Her family, her brother, her pet dragon, her friends, the princesses. So many presences she looks up to and admires for strength and will.”

Nocturne’s eyes narrowed on Dash. “But you. You were the most prevalent on her mind. Even with the might of a princess behind her station, she would lower herself to have an affair with such a… common pony.” Disgust drifted into Nocturne’s words. “What an age I’ve reawoken to.”

Dash curled her lips, trying desperately to curb her anger. She had to keep calm, she had to hold back. It was her fault they were in this mess, without a plan. Being stupid now would end badly, for her, or for Twilight.

Nocturne’s eyes flickered with amusement. “Nothing? Well, I haven’t even begun to entail what I did to precious little Twilight. Love is such a fleeting thing, but it has so many opportunities to break one’s spirit, don’t you think? Such a relationship could end amicably, yes, but that so boring. What if you were to leave her, hmm?”

“That would never happen!” Dash snarled.

“Oh, never say never dear. But, you have a point. Even in her dreams, she seems so adamant that you would never leave her. After all, loyalty is your realm, is it not, Rainbow Dash?”

Dash tensed as Nocturne addressed her by her full name, which she was quick to notice.

“So, I had to explore other alternatives. What if she left you? Not nearly as possible, but as you have seen in her mind, her grasp on love is frail.”

Dash blinked. Nocturne laughed.

“Oh, yes. I am fully aware of your journey through her mind. It was all so clear to me as I broke her. She is so clever, so smart. She analyses everything to such an impressive level. She reminds me of myself when I was young, just a little filly under the princesses.”

Nocturne’s expression turned grim. “So, imagine what little Twilight Sparkle must be thinking when all she see’s is this precious little affair of yours ending in increasingly different ways? You leave her, she leaves you. You both leave each other.” She laughed. “Perhaps even most poetically of all, one of you dies, leaving the other completely alone.”

Nocturne’s laughter intensified. “Or! One of you leaves the other for another! Perhaps one of your other friends! Your past and existing relationships begin to collide and conflict, bringing about not only the end of your love, but to the unbreakable bond you have forged with your best friends! It might simply sound awful to you, but can you imagine how somepony such as Twilight would process all of that pain?”

Nocturne leaned down, meeting Dash’s eyes with a final, victorious smile. “Truly delicious, isn’t it?”

Dash’s mind screamed. Every inch of her body shouted out in anger, yearning for revenge. There was never a point in her life where she was filled with such an excruciating desire to harm another, let alone kill. She stared at this monster that was once somepony she loved with everything she had, now reduced to a mindless slave of shadows.

Her body moved first, finally choosing to ignore her better nature. With a snap of her wings and a launch of her hooves, she flew at Nocturne like an arrow, screaming. She held out her hoof, seeking to slam into Nocturne as hard as she possibly could.

Ditzy and Twilight let out high pitched snarls and sprang to their mistress's aid. Ditzy was far faster than Twilight, and blocked Dash’s path. Dash tried to swing out of their path, but Nocturne used Ditzy’s speed and prowess to her own advantage.

Dash hovered, almost frozen as her brainwashed friends stood in her way. Despite all her speed, her only real option was to go through them; a reality she just couldn’t bear. Dash clenched her hooves as doubt and pain seeped back into her mind. “I… can’t. I just can’t…”

Nocturne laughed coldly. “Not so easy, is it? Only further proof that friendship makes you weak. And love…love makes you easy to break.”

“Speak not of love, you wretched harpy!” Khroma shouted. Dash blinked as her senses slowly trickled back. In all the pain that plagued her mind, she had nearly forgotten that she was not alone. She was still surrounded by loved ones. Even more: Family. Ponies she knew she could count on.

Khroma and Aurora soared into the sky after Dash. Ditzy and Twilight were so focused on Dash, that they did not see her allies approach them from the sides and tackled them from the air. Khroma clamped his hooves around Ditzy and carried her to the ground, while Aurora forced Twilight at a distance, turning back to Dash. “Prizma! Your father and I can handle Ditzanya, but you must face Twilight yourself! Speak to her. Force her to remember! Your love can free her!”

“B-but auntie, I—”

“No buts! There are no buts or what if’s in love! I have told you this before and I will tell you again!” Aurora twisted her wings and dove down towards Khroma, who was already grappling with a furious Ditzy. “Now go!”

Dash stared at Twilight, hovering only a few meters away. Their eyes were locked on each other, but their expressions couldn’t be any more different. Dash was awash in doubt, while Twilight seethed in primal rage.

Nocturne chuckled. Her shadowy form ebbed in the darkness of the cave as she slowly faded into the shadows. Her voice was all that remained as it echoed in the massive chamber. “Oh, yes, dear! Auntie knows best! Oh! This will be fun to watch!” Her laughter lingered in the air as her presence disappeared, leaving Dash alone with Twilight.

Dash tried to look away, tried to force the fact that it was Twilight she might have to face. They were so far from home in this endless wasteland. Her friends were so far away, the ones who would give her strength on the other side of the world. All she had was herself and her family at her side to carry her, and doubt judged her if it was enough.

It did not feel like it, not to her. Despite the shadowy shape that had enveloped Twilight, it was so obviously her. The spring of her bangs, the curves of her face, the span of her wings. These things were all present even now, things that Dash had spent the last year memorizing.

“Twi?” Dash said softly. “It’s me…It’s Dash. Can you hear me?”

Twilight growled.

Dash pumped her wings and drifted closer to Twilight, holding out her hoof. “I know we kinda left on a bad spot. Goddess I wish I was there to protect you. But I wasn’t.”

Twilight blinked at Dash’s approach. Her glowing eyes watched her carefully, waiting.

Dash gulped as the distance shrank to mere meters. “You were right, you know. It was dangerous for us to be together. Chances are, Nocturne woulda got us both.” She shook her head. “But she shoulda got me instead. It shoulda been you in that archive and me… left with her.”

Twilight’s face descended into mild confusion as the words reached her ears. Her stance was still defensive and her wings buzzed with anticipation as Dash was nearly close enough to touch her.

“But I'm here to make it right, Twi. I love you, you know that. And I always will. Just… come back to me… please?”

Dash felt only cold as she placed a hoof on Twilight’s cheek. The shadowy form of her marefriend hovered in stunned silence at the contact. Her eyes quivered in confusion as a long, weighted pause stretched out in the cave.

The chuckling presence of Nocturne cooed softly into Dash's ears. “Oh, come now, you didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?”

Dash spun her head, but she only saw Nocturne’s visage fading away into darkness. Twilight’s growls returned, and Dash turned back in time to see her plunge her fangs into an unarmored part of her leg.

Dash coughed in pain as she jerked her leg away. Twilight edged closer, blood dripping from her teeth as she swooped forward for another taste. Dash stiffened her wings and dropped into a dive. She panted heavily as she distanced herself from Twilight.

She winced as she peeled the armor aside to see her wound. It was a deep puncture, but it wasn’t gushing. What little Dash knew of first aid warned her that Twilight hadn’t hit anything important… this time.

“Heh,” she breathed. “Okay… if we’re gonna play rough…” she gulped. “I can play rough. You’re still a pony under there, Twi. You'll wear out sooner or later. Just like the Wonderbolts.”

Dash chanced a look back. “And we both know I’m better at wearing you—”

Dash blinked. Twilight’s horn was glowing an umbral light that absorbed the nearby shadows into her own form. She hissed as a lance of black magic speared towards Dash.

“Right. Alicorn. Damn…”

Dash’s instincts kicked in and she pulled up out of her dive. Twilight’s magic hummed in her ears and grazed a tuft of her fur. Luna’s armor shrugged against the blast and threw off her balance. The tip of her wing clipped on one of the many giant crystals that dotted the island. She grunted in pain but adjusted her rhythm to keep afloat. She’d suffered more at the academy; she’d power through more for Twilight.

“C’mon, Twi! I trained you better than this. I didn’t wake you up at six in the morning for flight practice for nothing you know!”

Twilight’s guttural screaming intensified as she called up more dark magic to throw at Dash. Nocturne’s influence made good use of Twilight's natural talent for magic, but Dash still allowed herself to smile. Twilight was a far better shot than this. Twilight was fighting back against Nocturne.

Dash pumped her wings for another burst of speed, all the while pulling tight corkscrews to stay out of Twilight’s range. She passed over the Prism’s resting place. Flashes of gold and silver caught her attention. Khroma and Aurora faced off against Ditzy. Even by herself, Ditzy held her ground against her lifelong friends. Blows were traded with primal ferocity and refined precision, and neither side gave an inch to the other.

Alarm rang in Dash’s mind as she shrugged suddenly aside to avoid another towering crystal. She blinked, however, when as she passed by, she noticed that in her reflection she was no longer being followed. She went to look back, when a dark flash blazed from the other side of the crystal.

Dash twisted her wings upwards and hooked into another dive just as Twilight appeared in front of her around the corner. Another blast of her magic cut a razors edge of distance from Dash’s sides. A freezing cold seared at her body and she gasped as air felt forced out of her chest.

She spun tightly and wheezed as hard as she could to recover her breath. “Teleporting… that’s not even fair.” Dash turned to the outer edges of the dark chamber. “C’mon you ugly hag! Twilight’s way better than this! At least give me challenge if you’re going to just watch!”

Nocturne’s response was immediate. The cave began to rumble as heavy rock and stone ground heavily in Dash’s ears. The titanic crystal formations began to tremble and shake as they rose from the earth. The smaller ones rose higher and faster… straight towards Dash.

“Whoa!” Dash said, sweeping to the side as a narrow spike of crystal lanced past her. Deep in the faces of the crystal, Dash could see the eyes of Nocturne, reflected a thousand times in the broken facets, followed by her resonant laughter.

“Is that better?” she mocked. “I wouldn’t want you to feel under appreciated in your skill!” The reflection admired its crystal home. “Do you like them? Umbral crystals are so fascinating. They absorb and exude such a powerful aura of darkness that light actually forms at the absence surrounding them. It is a far more pleasing light than the sun, however, one that will decorate the world when I am done here.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Dash warned.

The many faces of Nocturne faded from the crystals as they continued to rise and grow towards Dash. “Oh, I assure you, I haven’t even begun.”

Twilight was at her back again, and launched her attacks once more. Dash panted a breath and soared off again, Nocturne’s laughter ringing in her ears.

Dash mapped the chamber as best she could, but Nocturne’s intrusion made the chamber fluid and unpredictable. The crystals almost seemed alive now, growing like a plague along the walls and over the ceiling. Their haunting glow brought new, fresh light to the darkness, but it was a hollow, chilling incandescence.

Ugh, Dash thought. I can’t keep flying in circles like this, I’m just gonna get skewered. The ragged beating of Twilight’s shadowy wings grated in Dash’s ear. She turned, her mind scrambling for a plan. How do I do this without hurting her? Is it even possible?

Twilight’s power was nearly limitless. Certainly Dash could evade her on a physical level, but Twilight was so much more than just a simple unicorn. With her wings, she was keeping a worrying proximity, and with her magic getting closer, Dash was running out of options.

Dash solidified her mind, pushing the worry and dread back as much as she could. It was possible to beat Nocturne’s minions without killing them. If she could just separate Twilight from the black magic controlling her, they might stand a chance at fighting back. She knew what she had to do, but she wasn’t sure if she would be able to forgive herself afterwards.

Tears started falling from her eyes once again. Dash grit her teeth and searched for a space, small and narrow between the looming crystal garden. She sped towards a small crevice that might serve her purpose. She twisted sideways and flew like a knife through the slit in the gemstone.

Her senses were on edge as she squeezed through. Small rough patches scraped against her wings, but she anticipated it. She bit her lips and fought through the pain.

From behind her, she could hear scraping and howling as Twilight kept up her pursuit. Her skill at flying, even with Nocturne’s influence heightening her abilities, was not nearly enough to match Dash’s agility. Where Dash’s wings merely grazed, Twilight’s clumsy flying bashed her wings across the sharp crystal.

Dash pulled up just as she left the confines of the narrow passage. She spun upwards and stalled her wings into a hasty descent. She planned her timing down to the second, and one missed mark would spell disaster.

The fumbling form of Twilight emerged from the crystals, her eyes immediately searching. Dash plummeted from above, her wings still to keep herself silent as she tackled into Twilight and pulled her down.

They tumbled together towards the ground. Dash had control as Twilight writhed in her grasp. Whatever retaliation Twilight could muster at close range was nothing more than useless bug bites against Luna’s armor. Dash aimed for the center island where the Prism and the others remained.

As they approached the ground, Dash held Twilight down by her sides. She winced in anticipation, her eyes watering that her plan was about to work.

Impacting the earth always carried a sickening thud with it, a sound that Dash never felt accustomed to in her many rough landings. The ear shattering howl that joined this one was nearly enough to send Dash to her knees.

As planned, Twilight had landed on her side. Her wing was bent crookedly outwards, splayed out at an angle that made Dash sick to her stomach. Bile rose to her lips as she stood, staring at her marefriend whom she just purposely injured to save her. “Oh, Celestia… Twilight! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Twilight tried to rise from her daze, lashing at Dash. Dash knocked her strikes aside and quickly spun Twilight to her back and pinned her down. One hoof held her one lashing leg down, while the other kept her head flat against the ground so she could not aim her magic. Even with the powers that controlled her, Twilight’s efforts to press back against Dash’s strength was no match.

“Just stop, Twilight. I got you beat. Just please… stop…” Dash’s trembling hooves made it difficult to keep Twilight down, and her watering eyes made it hard to keep her mind clear. “Stop fighting… please. I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”

A grunt of exertion a short distance away ripped Dash’s attention from Twilight. Khroma and Aurora were still busy dealing with Ditzy. Black bile was dripping from her head as she wavered between her two opponents.

“Are you guys okay?” Dash asked.

Khroma stepped back from another one of Ditzy’s swings. “We are fine. Ditzanya is good, but not enough for the both of us.” He and Aurora sported a few choice cuts on their faces, but they had a clear advantage. Khroma glanced at Dash. “Are you well?”

Dash nodded. “I’m f—”

Cold assaulted Dash from all sides. A great, heavy lethargy pulled her body down like it were lead. She could barely keep her head up as she felt every ounce of her strength leaving her. Her eyes went blurry as she tried to focus on Twilight below. Her hooves trembled violently, and her mind began to falter.

Twilight continued to fight back, and was gaining ground in light of Dash’s sudden weakness. “Dad!” Dash croaked. “Help! Something’s….wrong…”

The small, fleeting presence that nicked at Dash’s mind was fading away like a great echo in an abyss. A gentle crystal humming that she had not noticed until now was now groaning in effort. She lifted her head to its source.

The light of the Prism was beginning to disappear. The expanse of colors she saw within were winking out as the great behemoth was exhaling is last breath. It’s its face, she saw her reflection, and her face fell upon seeing it.

The last trickle of color in her mane was gone. Down to the last drop. Her mane and tail were completely grey, and the Prism was finally going silent after being cut off from its precious sun for so long.

Dash wobbled on her legs as if they were rubber. Twilight continued to strain against her, and finally took her chance. It was quick, painful motion that sent Dash to her back with Twilight now above her, holding her down.

“Prizma!” Aurora shouted. Dash’s head fell to the side, only to watch her aunt break away from her engagement with Ditzy to her aid. Ditzy took her chance and lunged into Aurora’s unguarded side. Khroma was too slow to react as Ditzy crashed into Aurora and sent her head first into a nearby crystal.

Aurora landed and fell still. Khroma yelled out in alarm when Nocturne’s tendrils erupted from the earth and lashed him down. Nocturne herself rose from the earth like a malevolent mist. Her eyes sparkled in the Prism’s dying breath. She smiled, victoriously. "I love it when I win."