//------------------------------// // A Darkness Approaches // Story: Seven Princesses of Light // by TundraStanza //------------------------------// You know so little And you understand nothing. Ahead lies something you need, But to claim it you must lose something dear. Chapter 4: A Darkness Approaches The darkness is a resonance of refracted light waves. It tries to swallow the light. For darkness and light cannot coexist in exactly the same place for long. They realize this. Will you, Princess? --- Another morning, another sunrise. It was a brand new day. Maybe a sense of normalcy in life would help revive her mind from the valley of dreams. Princess Celestia reached out her routine magic and as usual the sun rose. Like every morning there was a cover of black clouds that prevented view of the blue sky from- The sun princess did a double-take outside to her balcony. There were black clouds being whisked around as if their very essence was attacking the whole of Canterlot. Some of which even ripped open holes in the ceilings of buildings. These were not normal storm clouds. Neigh, even the Everfree's strange weather could not compare to the vast, black typhoon circling the castle and everything around it. Guards and noble ponies were in panic and running around in every direction. That was the case except for the ponies captured by the winds and being thrown around in ovals of aerial motion. Celestia attempted a divine fail-safe spell with a golden light from her horn. Yet, something was blocking her magic off of her intended target. She slightly grinded her teeth in frustration. There had to be something she could do. There just had to be. She quickly ran through her bedroom door into the long hallways of the castle. Her galloping hoof steps echoed as she ran. --- These storm clouds are unlike anything I have ever seen, thought Princess Luna. She attempted to use one of her own storm spells to fight the foreign storm. However, all that succeeded in doing was creating a small dark cloud before it disappeared like a poof of dust. The winds were piercing various tents and structures within view of her window. No pony would be safe from this terrible twister for long. "I must get Tia," Luna stated firmly to herself. She hurriedly opened her bedroom door and galloped down the halls. Why were these halls so long? It made emergency communication terribly slow. Regardless, the night princess had to hurry. Surely, her sister would know what needed to be done. --- "Don't let go!" yelled the princess of dawn as she held her lover's hoof by a mere wrap-around. Neither of their magic was made for a bizarrely gigantic storm like this. Love and defense were made for warding off changelings, not for calming clouds of catastrophe. "Dear, remember!" shouted the Royal Guard Captain over the howling winds, "I'll always love you!" "I love you too!" replied Cadance with equal volume, "You can't leave me!" "I'm sorry!" his final shout sounded as his hoof finally lost the fight against the storm. His helpless form flies up toward an unknown atmospheric frontier. "Shining Armor! NOOOOOO!" cried the young alicorn. The tears that weren't caught in the gales dripped down her face as she hanged on for dear life on the building top that somehow didn't get ripped off yet. Her husband was gone. What was she to do now? Everything burned inside. She could only cry, but the winds wouldn't let any pony but herself hear. --- An uncomfortably familiar feeling pricked under Celestia's skin as her gallop began to slow. She turned to look and identify the source of eyes. The shadows from her dreams... Heartless they were called... had somehow clawed their way into reality and now they were after her. A few golden glows from her horn cast magic missiles at the dark creatures. But they didn't have any effect on these Shadows. There was only one thing that would work. She let the familiar energy flow through her entire being. Light flashed and became the solid form of her Keyblade. While the feeling of confidence was absent, the sun princess did feel determination. She was not going to let these Heartless take her home. Her slicing motions were a bit more exaggerated than they had been in her dreams. Fortunately, her attacks seemed to be working as the Shadows' numbers were dwindling. Each slain being of darkness evaporated upon its defeat. The hissing noises of the invaders eventually silenced. The immediate threat had been eliminated. Princess Celestia had a feeling that she still needed her Keyblade. She continued galloping down the hallway with her weapon still held in her mouth. --- Not again, thought the Princess of the Night, I let darkness take me once. I will not let it have Equestria as well. She felt the surge that she had experienced in her dreams. Her stellar sky Keyblade manifested itself and she managed to activate its more defensive magic. As several Shadows tried tackling her, she summoned a white reflective shield of magic. Upon impact, the Heartless bounced off the shield in recoil. When the shield disappeared, multiple blasts of light surrounded Luna, destroying all the Shadows in her immediate area. Although her enemies were currently gone, Luna did not feel that the danger was over. She held on to her weapon as she traversed the hall at a quick pace. Regrouping and team efforts would solve this unnatural crisis. That was her gut instinct at the time. --- Without explanation, the black winds began to subside. Cadance no longer had to struggle to stay on the building's rooftop. The relief was bittersweet. She didn't have to give any effort to fight the storm, but she also had no will to give such effort if it were needed. Her husband was gone. With him, a piece of her heart felt like it had been ripped away. What divine deities would allow such tragedy to pass? Apparently, fate had a wry sense of humor and gave her a vision of worse possibilities things to come. In the center of the city, a shadow creature much larger than the ones in her dreams rose from the ground and crawled its way out of the ground. Its form resembled a minotaur without a face, save for the sinister yellow eyes. It was like a Triton mentioned in old legend but much darker. The dawn princess looked at the monstrosity for what felt like eternity to her. Then, she made up her mind. "I may have lost him," said Cadance to herself, "but that doesn't mean every pony else has to suffer loss today." With new determination, she opened her wings and flew toward Canterlot center. She called upon her inner driving force and acquired her garden, harp Keyblade in a flash of light. This dark creature would not take her home without a fight. --- A giant hand of darkness crashed just in front of the section of hallway that she was running down. The co-ruler princess looked at the hand and traced it back to its source. While they were at opposite sides of the castle, the sun and moon alicorns somehow shared the same thought. Holy Tartarus in a tail feather. That is a huge Heartless. They then shared the crazy idea of running up the arm and galloping to where a weak spot might be. Implementing this crazy idea was instinctual and imminent. --- Cadance saw both of her aunts running up the arms of the black giant. She flapped her wings to maintain a pace that would match their approach. They needn't a word to understand their improvised plan of a headstrong attack. The giant Heartless attempted to raise its arms to prepare some action, but it was already too late. Sun, moon, and dawn Keyblades hit their marks and slashed the Darkside's head. A sickly purple smoke began to rise from various sections of the giant. It seemed to fall into the ground as its form faded from existence. The resulting aftershocks rumbled everything between earth and sky. An unrelenting updraft suddenly blew against all three Princesses of Light. They tried to fight against it, but it was too strong to fly through. Their helpless forms were thrown upward beyond the sky as Canterlot crumbled into the pits of darkness. They couldn't even hear themselves scream.