Chapter 4
The Vision
Rainbow fluttered back to the door and opened it a tiny crack, curious what was going on. She gaped at the site before her, and as Pinkie Pie bounced over to peek over her head, she too went slack jawed at the site outside. Rainbow turned back, looking at Twilight with a cocked eyebrow, "Well...we won't have to go to Canterlot. You've GOTTA see this, Twilight....”
Twilight felt an odd clenching in the pit of her stomach, and the look on the blue pegasi's face did nothing to unnerve her. With a sigh, she pushed the door open and Pinkie fell forward, her jaw sliding shut as she hit the floor.
Rarity looked over her younger sibling's head out the open door into the town square, where a carriage pulled by four pegasi in the Royal Guard had landed. And...seated in the flying chariot were Celestia and Luna...but....there was something....different about them....
As if to finish the thought running through her mind,Sweetie Belle gasped and stated in a hushed squeak of a voice, in such proximity that only Rarity heard her. "They're....they're not alicorns anymore!"
Sure enough, in the carriage sat Luna with a soft periwinkle mane next to her sister, who had only a soft pink hue. Neither had the ethereal flowing or sparkle they normally did. They had neither their wings nor their horns, and they looked oh, so tired.
In the castle entryway, the purple alicorn had still yet to fully look at the situation, but as more and more of her friends saw, and she heard the whispers of townspoke and the looks in the eyes of her friends, it made her want to turn around completely and run to hide under her covers. Despite this, Twilight found her hooves glued to the floor and Fluttershy and Applejack moved to the door instead. When they saw the sight before them, they both gasped in unison and slowly turned to look to Twilight before looking back out the door.
So it was really that bad, huh? Well, she'd have to face it eventually...
Twilight Sparkle made her way over to the door and she had her eyes closed in a prolonged blink as she stepped forward, still trying to brace herself for whatever it was that was coming. When she got to the door she felt the outside air brush over her mane and she opened her eyes to see something that almost made her faint right there. She could feel her breath catch in her lungs, and she thought she might lose focus from the shockwave of emotion that immediately hit her.
Then Twilight sprang forward and galloped towards Celestia and Luna at fullspeed. The princesses...were barren. No wings or horns! Twilight's pupils were tightly dilated as her emotions mixed in a stew of panic and shock.
"Cele--celestia..." She muttered softly. She felt as if all heat was fading from her body, like she was outside of herself. She turned, too to the lunar princess, the shock on her face a mix of pity and confusion. The periwinkle maned mare had barely just returned to herself...and now this, "Luna.."
The young alicorn wanted to just have herself wake up from this bad dream she felt she was in. But there was no way this was a dream now..
"What...what happened?"
The sister duo looked incredibly weary and seeing them in this state made Twilight beyond sad. She felt like crying, screaming, running, hyperventilating or just simply passing out to get away from it.
"Twilight..." Celestia managed gingerly, sighing softly. She felt old. Every part of her body was aching for rest. She slumped down to the floor of the chariot with a sigh, and managed a weak smile as her student rushed to her, and with a glance at Luna, she continued, "We....believe...our time may soon be over..."
Gasps came not only from the group of Twilight and her friends, but from everypony gathered around the square staring with wide, horrified eyes at the site before them.
Luna gently put a hoof on her elder sister's shoulder and looked at Twilight Sparkle with grave concern painting her face, "We believe that there will be new alicorns born to this world soon. Just as we were born to protect this realm...so shall others. Whatever purpose we had shall be passed to he or she...."
Luna sighed, leaning lightly on her sister, it felt as though every second that went by, another year from her millenniums of life was catching up to her.
"No...that can't be!" Rarity was positively shaken by their words, and stepped out of the castle, her new wings bobbling awkwardly, her younger sister at her side.
Celestia and Luna looked up and whatever strength they had spread in the form of surprise as they gazed upon Rarity. Celestia was baffled. She had thought Twilight and Cadance would be their replacements one day, it was true....but....why Rarity? She was certainly kind and generous....but....the white sun goddess did not understand.
"Rarity.....come here...," Celestia called out, reaching a hoof towards Rarity. Rarity looked around at the muttering towns ponies nervously as she descended the steps and slowly walked past her friends, every hoofstep heavy, to the princess of the sun.
Rarity met Celestia's outstretched hoof with her own, her cheeks tinted a soft pink as she flushed with nervousness, and she could feel tears welling in her eyes, so insecure was she with all that was going on around her. She could not speak, but to whimper ever so softly, "Princess...."
"Shh....come here," Celestia said firmly, pulling Rarity closer. She pulled Rarity's head to her own, connecting their skulls together. Rarity's eyes went blank, glowing a soft white as she stared blankly ahead. Celestia grunted with effort, sweat forming on her brow.
"Sister.....Sister....SISTER!" Luna started off gently pulling her sibling away, but ended up yanking her free as her body began to lose energy. Twilight looked on in horror, not sure how she could help, or what had just transpired.
Celestia lay on the ground, breathing softly in her sister's arms, and in a barely-audible voice, she whispered, "So...that is your plan....mother..."
With these final words, the princess of the sun, deity to Ponykind and protector of the land for generations, shut her eyes. Never to open them again.
Twilight listened intently to Celestia as the tears streamed down her face. She continued to silently mouth the word 'No' as she listened to her speak to Rarity. In no way was this Rarity's fault....so why did she feel the tight clench of anger?
There was no way that this was really happening.
Alicorns were immortal....right?
No way they could just lose their power and up and die..right? Right?!
Twilight tried to look up to Rarity and Celestia but she was only filled with more sadness so she lowered her head. She felt a hoof come on her shoulder. When she titled her head up she saw Applejack was the one who put her hoof on to comfort her. Her hat had fallen off by the castle doors, and her eyes, too, glistened with tears.
Rarity was struck speechless. She could not will her body to move. What was that strange vision she had just seen when Celestia had touched her mind....? A red maned mare....she had seen the galaxies above as never before....pictures or books could not describe the magnitude...her mind was practically numb.
So...was she truly a princess...? She could not even fathom it.
Luna's eyes welled with tears as she looked down at her sister's unmoving form, her once shimmering white coat seeming to fade as she ceased to be. Luna held her sister tightly, crying softly over her lifeless form. Without any sort of warning, Celestia's body shimmered away, becoming a twinkle of small golden stars that started floating upwards towards the sun. Luna grasped at them desperately, but they eluded her and dissipated into the sky.
She followed them with her eyes as long as she could, watching the biggest part of her life vanish into the sky above. Had she still had wings, she would have followed them...
"Farewell....sister...." She muttered softly as a tear leaked from her eye. Several ponies gathered around had now began openly crying, sobbing or wailing. Even Pinkie Pie's mane deflated, and tears filled her eyes. Rainbow Dash felt the sadness weigh her down and landed softly, sniffling and wiping her eyes.
Luna turned to face the ponies that her sister always had so much faith in, a sudden look of determination and understanding in her eyes, "I am younger than she....but...with whatever time I have remaining, I will teach you....all of you....all that I can. Where is your dragon? Have him send word to Cadance to come at once."
With the whole sequence of events going on around her, Twilight still just felt numb. As Celestia's body vanished into the sky, a single tear slid down her lavender cheek as she gazed up at the vanishing lights. She sat down then with her head down and cradled her face with her hooves as she sobbed softly, feeling the slow rub of a hoof on her back above her wings, but it felt alien, as if she was outside her body. She was drawn out of her sobbing when Luna requested for the dragon to send word to Canterlot at once Applejack slowly put her hat back on and made her way back to the inside of the Castle to search for Spike.
After that ,Twilight slowly got up and wiped the tears away from her face. She sniffed a bit before finally being able to sit on her haunches properly. She locked eyes with Luna and then shifted them to Rarity.
She opened her mouth to say something but she stopped herself and closed her mouth and looked away. Inside of her wanted to just stay quiet and never say anything about this. Just repress it or something. It was too much.
But she knew she needed to address this issue. It was a big one after all. So Twilight looked back to Luna and Rarity and sniffed again.
"So.." She started in a soft tone. "What now? Just..wait for Cadance..?"
"I...do not have time to be waiting....she will catch up upon her arrival..." Luna muttered, clambering clumsily out of the carriage. Rainbow Dash darted over, catching the princess as she stumbled, giving her a shoulder to lean on, "I...must teach you...what I can...the sun and moon must keep balanced, Twilight Sparkle."
Rarity was still frozen, mulling over the strange vision Celestia had shown to her when their minds had met. She was so incredibly confused....
She looked up as Luna and Rainbow headed into the castle, leaving the townsfolk and guards with lost, confused expressions. She felt terrible. Here she was, gifted with an incredible amount of responsibility out of the blue, and honored with the role of a princess, and she was forgetting to whom a princess' duty was to first and foremost. Her ponies.
She was shook up, too, but she knew, too, that Twilight would be far more impacted by Celestia's death--if you could call it that--than she was at present. The filly was practically raised by the sun goddess. She turned to the shaken townsfolk and smiled softly, "It will be alright, everypony... Go about your business."
They looked at her warily, not sure whether they could trust her. Many of them looked over to where Luna was managing to weakly climb the stairs. The night princess turned and managed to nod weakly in agreement. With whispers and sniffles still abound, the townsfolk began to slowly disperse from the castle. Rarity smiled softly as they left, though her eyes still shimmered with tears.
She jumped a bit as she felt something against her leg, and when she looked down she saw Sweetie Belle rubbing against her leg, great, plump tears dotting the filly's face,"Sweetie...I need you to go home to mom and dad's, alright?"
Sweetie Belle sniffled and mewled something incomprehensible, and after a lingering hug, she galloped off towards their parent's home. Rarity turned and looked at Twilight a long moment, unsure what her friend would be feeling for her. Hatred...distrust....blame...she was ready for it. She deserved it, she supposed. She would give it all up, if she had to. Their friendship, their closeness with one another, anything...as long as Twilight would be happy. For that is the kind of friend she was...generous to the point of her own unhappiness. Especially when it came to Twilight Sparkle.
She lingered a moment before quietly heading into the castle behind Pinkie Pie, who did not hop, but trotted slowly, her mane deflated and tail dragging as she clambered up the steps after Princess Luna.
When Luna almost fell over Fluttershy went to go and try to grab her but Rainbow beat her to the princess, again. Twilight didn't care though, she was just happy someone was there to catch the previously alicorn mare. She had clearly had enough, and was still stuck motionless before the carriage.
As they started to enter the castle, Applejack was just starting come down from the floor above where Spike's bedroom was, but seeing as how the ponies were entering she figured it best to be quiet and follow along. Rarity gave a long, forlorn and longing gaze at Twilight, her heart sore with the love she felt for the mourning purple alicorn.
Twilight stayed in her spot on the ground for a bit longer. This whole thing was just..almost too much. It was so sudden and unexpected she didn't want to move...she just wanted to fade away, to somewhere safe where everything was back to normal...back to a simpler time....sending letters to the princess...she wished she had never become an alicorn. She sighed as her red, puffy eyes followed after the form of Luna vanishing into 'her castle'...teaching her about the sun and moon or something about how the duo must live on or something..oh..she just couldn't think straight at the moment.
Twilight, moving with sluggish, dragging movements, turned away from the carriage and made her way inside her own Castle.
When she entered she could just feel the weight of the air coming down around her. Not because she felt like this was her fault or she was supposed to do something about this but just because the situation just left everyone on edge, and she was beginning to feel it.
Rarity was the last to enter, and followed her friends in quietly magicking the door shut softly behind them, turning then to look at the Princess of the Night with both concern and curiosity. She was so weak...Rarity could hardly imagine what she even had left in her to teach.
They got Luna into the chamber where the thrones for the elements sat in a room, and she stood in the center of the room, pushing Rainbow Dash away as she stood proudly, firmly, remnants of the princess she had been still strong in her, "Sit, all of you."
Pinkie Pie trotted over to the throne with balloons on it, Rainbow sat in the lightning bolt marked chair, and Rarity sat in the chair with her diamond on it, parallel from Twilight. Spike arrived and informed them that he had sent a message to Cadance. He clambered clumsily into the small chair that he held next to Twilight's throne, watching with wide eyes, sniffling a little at just hearing the news.
Luna waited for all of them to take their seats, "Twilight....do you recall how my sister, Cadance and I gave you our magic...? Do you think...you would be able to do that...in part....for me? I just...need a small amount of magic."
As Applejack and Fluttershy both took their seats at their designated thrones, Twilight crawled into hers and remained silent. She watched Luna stand up and then listened to her as she started to speak.
Twilight remained quiet and she looked away from her and down to the ground. She would want that. It was like..she didn't even care that Celestia was gone. To her she was her sister..but to Twilight..no. Stop being selfish.
Twilight raised her head slightly and still said nothing. She cast a glance to Luna and nodded. Applejack had her mouth open to say something but she closed it as Twilight started to emit a glow from her horn.
She looked to Luna and tried to get the same feeling she felt when all the princesses poured their magic into her and when she felt it she saw tiny little waves of magic seep over to Luna. Doing as she wished. Twilight closed her eyes, in defeat and remained still as she let the magic flow to the other pony.
Luna turned, her teal eyes flashing a glimpse of something...darkly familiar as Twilight's magic came her way. Instead of absorbing it into her body, as Twilight had done, she turned to Twilight, opening her jaw, inhaled and the magic entered her mouth, pulling out of its source with an incredible surge of sudden power. Fangs curved from her upper lip, her eyes tightened into slits, and her mane and body began to grow larger, darker. It happened so fast that none of the present mares even had a moment to react.
"Yeesssss....." The dark mare hissed. Rarity stared on in horror, too struck by the sudden change to move, her jaw slack. Rainbow stared wide eyed, also agape at first, but jumped into action, flying up and diving to intercede. Luna--or...Nightmare Luna....turned to Rainbow Dash, her cat-slit eyes focusing on her as she continued to suck Twilight Sparkle dry, and with only a flash of her eyes, Dash was suddenly sent spiraling back, slamming into the crystal wall and sliding slowly to the ground, out cold. It was evident that the direct approach was not the answer. Applejack, who was about to start her own attack, hesitated, now.
The dark mare smirked through her sharp fangs,
"Finally....I knew this day would come....I do not intend to vanish into the air like some wisp of dust! With my powers restored..."
She beamed, her fangs gleaming as the final drop of magic disconnected from Twilight's horn and the magic swirled around her.
"The night--" Dark wings burst forth from her pelt.
"Will last--" Her mane billowed like a dark sky of stars,
"FOREVER!!!"
Finally, a long, spiral horn burst forth from her brow, and she rose to her hind legs, kicking her forelegs at the air. She cackled wickedly as her mane swirled all around them, darkening the room, and outside the sky shifted, the moon climbing out of its place on the horizon and made its way up the blue sky. A blinding flash swept across the land as the moon--for the first time in over a thousand years--eclipsed the sun.