Lunar Eclipse: The Rock Opera

by CrowMagnon

Part 10 - The Shadow Falls

Lunar Eclipse: The Rock-Opera
by CrowMagnon

Up in their balcony, the royal sisters leaned against one another, gently nuzzling each other's cheeks to comfort one another as each had tears welling up in their eyes. As the curtains closed on the stage below, Luna asked Celestia, "Is that truly as it was for you, sister...? I am so sorry... It was never my intention to put you through such sorrow."

Smiling wistfully, which made the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes more pronounced, Celestia assured her sister, "Shush, you did nothing wrong, Luna. We are together now, and no monster will take us from each other again."

Luna nodded and sniffled, lowering her head to press her muzzle against her sister's shoulder. Celestia responded by wrapping one of her downy white wings around her. After a moment of being embraced like a filly being held by a mother pegasus, Luna asked, "Captain Sungleam... did she really stand up to you? I would have expected her to swallow her blade, first."

Celestia let out a soft, sad laugh. "Yes, I was as surprised as you were, though it took much more than a song to bring me back to a state where I was ready and able to truly listen to them." Looking down at the stage, she admitted, "In the moment, I treated her as though she were a traitor. I... reached a much lower point than they depicted on the stage, but Sungleam and Nyx withstood it long enough for me to hit bottom, then saw to it that I could raise myself up again. It is thanks to their efforts so long ago that we are together again today."

Luna shyly ducked her muzzle under her sister's wing. "This Nyx. I... I do not remember her. She saved those fillies and stood up to Eclipse in my name. She did so thinking that I guided her, but..."

Off to the side, Shining Armor continued to stare off into the distance as he softly muttered, "You will remember when time is right. The eye has seen it, and I have seen the eye. All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well. Probably."

With a concerned tone, Princess Cadenza--who had been silent to allow the royal sisters to comfort one another--asked, "Shining, are you sure that you're alright? Maybe you should lay down for a bit."

"I can't," he replied. "The shadows are laughing."

Turning her eyes toward Shining Armor, Luna asked, "But our own laughter shall drown it out, shall it not?"

"Yes, when we all come home from the circus."

Celestia rolled her eyes as she recognized Shining Armor's symptoms. "I really shouldn't have to tell Pinkamena not to break my Captain of the Guard's sanity," she muttered under her breath, but then felt Luna's cheeks grow warmer against her feathers while her muzzle turned up into a hidden smile. Leaning in to nuzzle Luna's starry mane, she thought, Then again, I suppose that as long as it wears off soon, it wouldn't hurt to have somepony who can talk to Luna on her own terms for a while...

Especially with the scene to come.

-----

Backstage, Dewdrop Decimal once again took a mental inventory of the spells she would need to use. It was her job to make it look convincingly like Fluttershy had alicorn magic, and though she had pulled it off numerous times in rehearsals, the incident with Rainbow Dash's griffon disguise had shaken her confidence. Her friend Spot Light was by her side, though, providing support.

The earth pony fashionista nudged her and said, "Don't worry about a thing. You just had a brain fart earlier, but you've done this before. Your special effects are going to be amazing, because I'm right here... and I will personally wring your neck if anything goes wrong with this production after all the work I put into those costumes."

If the desired effect was to keep Dewdrop from getting lost inside her own head, it worked as the librarian was jolted out of her ruminating by the harsh tone and glare of her friend. The funny thing was that, even though she wasn't entirely sure that Spot Light was kidding, that just made Dewdrop snort with laughter, easing her tension. "You never change, do you?"

Spot Light gave a haughty sniff and smirked at her friend. "Why should I? I'm awesome! And now your awesome friend is going to go get us some drinks. Just remember that I will throttle you if given just cause."

Dewdrop grinned and waved Spot Light off. "I know, I know," she replied, musing (not for the first time) about the earth pony's seemingly tenuous grasp on the concept of what it meant to be a good friend. "But it's okay. I'll do fine," she said aloud to nopony in particular.

"Of course you will, my little pony," nopony replied as a crimson hand reached down to pat her on the head. "You will give them a show they will never forget."

-----

"Time fer the big finish," Fiddlesticks mused to her fellow musicians. "Y'all ready for it?"

"Buck yeah! That last song went great. Now we just need to carry it through the finale," Vinyl exclaimed enthusiastically. Despite the earlier problems with the production, things had been going well enough that the DJ was feeling confident again. "How about you, Tavs? Ready to rock?"

Octavia stared flatly at Vinyl. The refined earth pony, whose every conscious movement exuded class and poise, stood up on her hind legs as she raised up her forelegs, each of which had a drumstick strapped to them. "Da. Ve vill make many ponies veep this night."

Vinyl snickered. "That's the Stalliongrad cheer we know and love. Let's do this thing!"

-----

Pinkamena stood in front of the closed curtains. Despite the blinding spotlight, she looked around at the shapes of ponies in their seats and spoke to them.

"With Princess Celestia's acceptance of their plan, Nyx and Sungleam set to work preparing for the battle to come. Not against the armies that marched upon Equestria's borders, but against the enemy of all creatures. They knew that if Eclipse were to gain full control over both sun and moon, it would not stop with the subjugation of the ponies. With nothing left to fear from the royal sisters, it would no longer have to resort to manipulation and trickery to seize power over the entire realm.

"They would journey with the princess, taking only a small retinue of guards with them. The majority of Equestria's armies would hold the line in defense of the kingdom while Princess Celestia went out to face the minotaurs' commander. None but Celestia, Sungleam and Nyx knew the true purpose of this action, and those left behind thought that their princess had finally gone mad with grief. Rumors were whispered in the halls of Canterlot that the shadow of despair had grown so great in Celestia's heart that she now sought her own death at the hands and hooves of Equestria's enemies.

"Princess Celestia, Sungleam, and Nyx were the only ponies who knew the truth. That these whispers would make their way to Eclipse, and lure the fiend to them. Once it drew near, it would not be able to resist.

"There was no chance that it would resist the temptation, for these three knew what other ponies only speculated. They knew that a shadow grew in Princess Celestia's heart."

With those ominous words said, Pinkamena stepped off of the stage. The curtains drew open behind her to reveal Fluttershy, Twilight and Nocturne in their guises as they stood against a backdrop of rolling hills illuminated by the eclipsed sun.

Fluttershy, standing tall and proud as Celestia, lifted her wings high. "How fares thy blade, Dame Sungleam?"

Using her magic, Twilight drew her sword from its scabbard and made several twirling swings of the blade, which seemed to glow under the spotlights. "Well enough, your highness. Sundrinker sips slowly upon this shadowed light, but it shall shine brightly when it is needed."

Celestia nodded. "Very good. Just remember... if Eclipse were to actually claim my body and magic as it did my sister's, all would be lost."

Sungleam stomped her hoof at that. "It is my duty to ensure that such a thing never comes to pass, your highness. I swear upon my very soul that your sister shall sit upon Equestria's throne long after Eclipse and the events of this day are nothing more than a nightmare evaporated by the morning's waking light."

To that, Celestia gave Sungleam a tired smile. "I thank you, Sungleam..." Turning her head toward the thestral on her other side, she added, "And you as well, Nyx. Whether it be providence or fancy which set you on this path, I am still unsure. That you have brought hope to Equestria and the realms beyond, however, is no longer in question."

Instead of responding, Nyx simply stood with her large ears trained on the far distance. After several seconds, Sungleam sternly told her, "Nyx! A compliment received from a princess of Equestria is best returned with gratitude!"

As if woken from a daydream, Nyx shook her head. "Oh? My apologies. I heard the minotaurs' commander approaching from beyond the hill." Pointing a hoof out, she added, "See? He comes now bearing the white flag."

Sungleam narrowed her eyes. "He seeks to parley? Be wary, your highness. He may serve as a host to that parasite, and be hiding behind the white flag as a ploy to bring Eclipse near you."

"Perhaps, but whatever occurs, we must not be the ones to make the first strike. 'Twas my attack upon Eclipse when it wore the body of the griffon ambassador which turned our allies against us. To do so again toward a commander who flies the flag of parley would only make their cause more righteous in their eyes."

"Understood, your highness," Sungleam replied, though her horn and the hilt of her sword both glowed with the aura of her magic, demonstrating that she was keeping it at the ready.

Moments later, Iron Will stepped onto the stage once more, though his armor had bright red epaulets added onto the shoulders, as well as a red cape. He held a large battle axe, but did so with the blade held down and a white flag tied to the butt end. Soon, he and 'Celestia' were facing one another. When he spoke, his voice was as booming as ever, but it was obvious that he was trying to affect a tone that was less gruff and more cultured.

"Princess Celestia! I didn't expect to see you until we marched on Canterlot. Certainly not without more ponies than this at your side. Have you come to surrender the sun and moon for the sake of your subjects?"

Celestia looked up at the minotaur and proclaimed, "As a matter of fact, We have. But not to thee." When the minotaur tensed, she elaborated, "Please understand that We would not even know how to grant stewardship of the sun and moon to thee. What We have done is taken steps to return the spells for raising the sun and moon back to the unicorn tribe. Once We have been removed, these spells shall be spread throughout the populace."

The minotaur asked, "'Removed?' You're stepping down from the throne, then?"

To that, Celestia shook her head. "Neigh. Our magic... Our very life force is inextricably bound to the sun. To give Our little ponies the spells would be meaningless so long as We live. Dame Sungleam."

Sungleam winced and turned her gaze down to the ground at her hooves, but she drew her crystal blade, Sundrinker. The minotaur commander reflexively tensed and began to raise his axe, but hesitated when the sword levitated in the air with its edge aimed not at him, but at Celestia herself.

"Once We are gone," Celestia calmly told the minotaur, "there will no longer be any creature in all the realm that will be able to claim sole dominion over the celestial bodies. That duty will fall upon the unicorns once more, and together they will be able to overpower any would-be usurper."

The commander stared for a few moments, then lowered his axe once more. "They told me you were crazy. Seems they were right... but at least this is a kind of crazy I can respect."

Celestia asked, "And will this satisfy thee? We are the one who has offended thee and thy people. When We are gone, will thou extend thy hand toward my little ponies with the open palm of friendship, rather than the fist of war?"

The minotaur replied, "I'll be honest with you, Princess. A few of the brass back home will complain, but mostly we just want the day and night back on schedule. What you're offering here is honorable, so as long as we work things out with the unicorns, anytaur that tries to push an invasion will see the blade of my axe up close. By Minos, Taura and Aurox, I give you my word of honor on that."

Celestia gave a relieved smile at that. "We thank thee, commander." She then raised her head high and closed her eyes. "Captain Sungleam. Please do thy duty."

-----

Spot Light returned with three cups of tea balanced on a tray on her back. She wasn't sure why she had brought three, though. Aside from herself and Dewdrop, there was nopony.

Ignoring her, nopony leaned down to whisper into Dewdrop's ear, "It's time." He then placed his hand upon her head once more, and this time it felt as though something had pushed through skull and began clawing at her brain.

Spot Light let out a startled yelp, rearing back and spilling the hot tea on the floor as her friend's body shuddered and twisted as though under the effects of some sort of seizure. It was no mere seizure that caused her horn to flare up, though. Her eyes shone with a painfully bright golden light as she began to rise up into the air, a powerful magical surge wracking her form.

-----

Celestia took a deep breath and sighed as she watched the play down below. The aged alicorn had told her sister about how Eclipse had been defeated and exiled the first time, so Luna knew what was going to happen. To hear it spoken and to see it play out before her eyes were two very different things, however.

Not that it was particularly difficult for Celestia to bear, and she had been present for those events. Despite Lt. Sparkle's fears, there had been many, many dramatizations of Eclipse's defeat over the past thousand years. Pinkamena's approach to the subject was novel, but certainly no more traumatizing than some of the interpretations that she had seen over the centuries.

While she thought on the topic, however, Princess Celestia's enjoyment of the play was interrupted by a bright flash which forced her to close her eyes.

When she opened them again, she was no longer in the theater. She could no longer feel Luna pressed up against her side. Instead, she gazed out upon grassy hills in the dim light of a darkened sky. Looking up, Celestia gasped at the sight of the sun... her sun blocked from view by her sister's moon.

"No!" From just beneath her gaze, a raspy voice slithered into her ears. "No, no, no! Celestia belongs to me!" Tilting her head down, the Sun Princess's pupils shrank, and she let out a terrified, gasping wheeze as she saw Sundrinker, her former Captain's crystal blade, pointed at her throat. That was not what scared her, however.

That dubious honor belonged to the tendrils of blackest shadow which curled around the sword's hilt, and the loathesome beast from which they emanated.

Eclipse snarled up at her as it wrested Sungleam's blade from the unicorn's magical grip, and with a single twist of its tendrils, Celestia's ears were filled with the sound of Sundrinker sinking deep into pony flesh.

-----

Rainbow Dash grinned, hearing the gasps of the crowd after her trick of rising up from under a hidden floor panel so that she could grab the prop sword in her mouth and turn it on 'Sungleam'. The trick blade did its job, with the tip collapsing inward when jammed against Twilight's armor. She was pretty sure that she could hear Spike crying out particularly loudly, though, so she just hoped that the little guy wouldn't have nightmares about it.

If he did, Rarity would kill her.

"Aurox's horns...!" Behind her, Iron Will hefted up his axe again. "It's real!"

"Sungleam! No," Nocturne shouted, throwing herself at Rainbow Dash, who jumped out of the way and used her good wing to give her some extra distance.

Twilight brought a hoof up to her chest, holding it over where she had been 'stabbed'. Some rudimentary sleight-of-hoof and a small packet of thick red dye provided the illusion of bleeding as Twilight coughed and pretended to struggle to stay upright.

At the same time, Fluttershy shrieked, "Eclipse, you monster! I stand right here before thee! Thou had no need to harm her!"

"But I did," Rainbow Dash retorted around the hilt in her mouth with a tone of false concern. "That interfering nag was going to kill you before I could show you my love! That power of yours belongs to me, not a herd of horned rabble!" A bellow from Iron Will prompted her to juke to the right as his prop axe swung down right where she had been standing. With a hiss, she crouched low. "You would turn your blade on me, commander? Fine! I was going to offer you a reward for the services you minotaurs have done for me, but now, once Princess Celestia and I are one, your people will be shown no mercy!"

"LIKE I CARE," Iron Will bellowed. "You play my people for fools, I teach you the rules! And rule one is: Lead a minotaur by the nose, expect to get the horns!"

"Fine then," Rainbow Dash replied. "I'll just kill you first, then take Celestia for myself once you're out of the way!"

Before she could make good on that threat, though, a golden beam of magic shot at the stage near her hooves. "NEIGH, THOU SHAN'T!" Fluttershy proclaimed. "Thou art exposed, villain! Thou hast veiled thyself behind shrouds of lies and doubt, but the time when thou couldst hide in the shadows is passed! The era of Eclipse ends now!"

-----

While the audience below were enraptured by the performance, leaning forward in their seats to see the grand finale, the spells granting privacy to Equestria's princesses prevented anypony from noticing that Celestia had begun to sob uncontrollably. The eldest princess let out a loud, guttural whine as she thrashed about in her seat, her great wings knocking aside the startled guards who attempted to keep her from harming herself.

Luna, Cadenza and Shining Armor had modestly better luck once the stallion was pulled out of his Pinkamena-induced stupor to respond to the situation. By forming a magical shield around her, Shining Armor was able to at least keep Celestia from falling out of the balcony. Nothing seemed to stop the tears from flowing down her face, however, as she let out a grief-stricken wail while her eyes seemed focused on something far away.

In the midst of their panic, nopony stood calmly at the balcony's entrance. A cruel smirk spread across his face as even Luna and Cadenza failed to notice him, and he leaned in to tell Celestia, "You know what you have to do..."

-----

... Snuff it out.

Princess Celestia felt as though her heart were about to split open. She could see Nyx struggling to keep Captain Sungleam from bleeding out onto the grass while the minotaurs and griffons that had been invited to meet with her on that fateful day did battle with the foul shadow alongside her small contingent of bodyguards.

She tried to remind herself that it could not be happening again. These were events that had played out a thousand years prior, but it was all so vivid to her senses that to the greater part of her mind, she had been sent back in the flesh to relive that painful memory. All that she could feel was grief over her failure to sense Eclipse hiding in the shadow of her dearest retainer, and the terror of having seen it rise up from Sungleam's shadow to pierce the faithful knight's lung with her own blade.

The same blade that Celestia gifted Sungleam with for her loyal service had been wielded by Eclipse against her, just as that monster had taken advantage of Celestia's failure to properly respond to her sister's growing desire for responsibility and acknowledgement. Eclipse may have been the enemy of them all, but Celestia had given it the weapons it needed to succeed.

But no more.

Letting out a cry of rage and grief, Celestia reached outward and upward toward the sun. At the same time, she reached inward to the core of her being where the spark at the core of that celestial body had been made one with her by the Elements of Harmony all those centuries ago. She held the sun with her magic. It surrounded her completely.

When Nyx and Sungleam had come to her with the idea, had they realized how integral she and the sun were to one another? How much like a death it was for her to reach into her very soul, where the giver of light and life burned inside her, and to squeeze that ember until it sputtered and faded into oblivion?

Even if they had, Celestia had been driven to the point where she did not fear death, so long as it ensured Eclipse's destruction. She began to squeeze, and the sun's light flickered in the sky above.

-----

Luna shuddered and gasped, feeling a powerful magical imbalance coming from her sister, even through Shining Armor's shield. Though her own domain was the opposite of Celestia's, the two sisters were close enough in heart and spirit to sense when something was truly wrong. "The sun! She is trying to extinguish it," she blurted out.

Nearby, nopony continued to whisper to Celestia. "You want to see Luna again, don't you? You want to make Eclipse suffer and perish? Yes, you know what to do. Grasp the sun... hold it in your magic and--"

Without warning, a pair of steel hoofguards slammed into nopony's face with enough force to knock him away from Celestia. "Shut! Up!" Shining Armor snapped, looking straight at him. "We are trying to watch the play!"

Rubbing his jaw with a crimson hand, nopony looked up at Shining Armor in utter bafflement. "Wha... what?! How can you see me?"

"I have seen the eye," Shining Armor replied. "I saw you in its reflection... I know... I... I think I know..." Shining shook his head as his brain felt like a leg that he had slept on improperly, and he was now getting the pins-and-needles sensation of blood flow returning to it. In the process, the world slowly grew more focused around him, even as the presence of the creature before him grew more indistinct.

"Shining, who are you talking to?" Princess Cadenza asked frantically. "There's nopony there, and we need your help with aunt Celestia!"

Luna also looked in the same direction as Shining Armor, though, and tilted her head quizzically. "Nopony, or... no pony...?" She narrowed her eyes at where nopony was sprawled upon the floor.

For a moment, there was nopony to meet her gaze. But only for a moment. After that, nopony sank into the shadows and the darkness, and then there was nothing there at all.

-----

Celestia closed her eyes, and felt as though she were trapped in a vice. Merely putting a small amount of pressure on the sun was agonizing.

Sister, calm yourself.

Celestia's eyes opened, and she looked around. All about her was battle and death. Ponies, minotaurs and griffons alike lay wounded or worse upon the grassy hills, as Eclipse was proving to be unbeatable beneath the moon's shadow. Even so, for a moment, she could have sworn that she heard--

'Tis but a show, sister. We can leave if you need to.

Luna's voice. But not quite the shy, timid tone that she most associated with her younger sister. Besides, Luna was gone. Stolen from her by the monster that now terrorized the battlefield, and if nothing was done, it would--

Very well, then. Tia, you leave me little recourse!

Despite the dire scene playing out before her, Celestia heard the sound of her sister inhaling deeply, then blowing into something. Just as Eclipse tossed a griffon spearman aside and turned its baleful gaze upon her, the alicorn's senses were overwhelmed by a loud explosion.

-----

At the same time, while Spot Light fretfully looked around and practically danced in place trying to find somepony to help, the light went out in Dewdrop's eyes. The blond-maned unicorn collapsed back to the floor, looking thoroughly exhausted and slightly singed.

"Dewdrop? Dewdrop, talk to me," Spot Light said, quickly propping up her friend's head. "Say something, or Luna help me, I will strangle you!"

Dewdrop coughed, which transitioned into a weak chuckle. "You've... really got to come up with some more imaginative threats," she told the fashionista before rubbing her forehead. "What happened? Felt like..."

"... A crazy magic surge out of nowhere?" When a panicked look crossed Dewdrop's face, Spot Light hastily replied, "Nopony saw... not sure how we got that lucky, but you just zoned out when I came back with the tea and went nuts! I don't even know how you kept the special effects on stage going, or what you were doing with all that magic, aside from pumping out a lot of it. I don't even care if it ruins the big finale, we need--"

Dewdrop blinked, her eyes widening. "The finale? We haven't done that yet? Ack! I need to--"

"You need to get to a doctor," Spot Light asserted.

Dewdrop shook her head. "No! No doctors, you know that! I... I'll be fine. I'm just a little frazzled. Just let me get some caffeine in my system and..." She trailed off as she looked at the tea her friend had brought, now spilled on the floor. She tilted her head when she spotted something puzzling, and asked, "Spot? Why did you bring three cups?"

-----

Meanwhile, the ponies on stage were utterly oblivious to the drama occurring out of sight. When 'Celestia' snuffed out the sun, plunging the stage into darkness, ultraviolet bulbs replaced the stage lights to illuminate the actors by making them seem to glow in the otherwise blackened stage. Even the illusion surrounding Rainbow Dash caused 'Eclipse' to appear to be glowing a deep violet color that made her visible to the audience.

Eclipse writhed upon the ground, Eclipse let out an ear-piercing shriek. Despite weakening in the total darkness, it managed to find its bearings and begin shambling toward Celestia. "No! You can't... escape me, Celestia! Join me! Join... your sister! Together we'll... re-ignite the sun... and rule this world forever!"

Celestia, looking similarly exhausted from the spell she had just cast, defiantly replied, "Never... Thou shall never have me, monster!"

Eclipse drew closer to the princess and raised Sundrinker up. "You can't stop me...! That shadow in your heart... all that guilt... all that self-loathing... it's inviting me in. You can deny it... but part of you wants me to claim you and take away all that pain! All I need... is to open a doorway!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Shadow Falls
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Based on "The Fall" by The Protomen)

Before Eclipse could strike with the crystal blade, Nyx cried out, "Sungleam! Do it!" A beam of purple magic momentarily lit up the stage, striking Sundrinker and knocking it away from Eclipse. This action was accompanied by the peal of an electric guitar, accompanied by synthesizers and pounding drums.

"Still have... a bit of fight to share with thee," Sungleam retorted with a chuckle that turned into a wracking cough. "'Tis your turn, Nyx!"

"I know," the thestral replied, flapping her wings and flying toward Eclipse. Weakened as it was, the shadowy fiend was unable to do more than hiss in protest as Nyx grabbed onto it and began to rise up into the air. As Eclipse was dragged higher, thrashing and cursing against Nyx's grip, the actors below raised their heads and voices.

Fly

Fly

"This is... pointless!" Eclipse shrieked. "I'll just... take you for my new body... then fly down and claim Celestia!

"If you could, you would have already," Nyx replied. "You'll find no shadow in my heart!"

Into the night, where shadows

Eclipse continued to struggle. "How? How?! Do you honestly believe that your precious Luna sent you on this quest? She did not! Her soul has been digesting within me this entire time! I am all that is left of Luna!"

"Maybe... but maybe not. I won't know for sure until we've gotten rid of you for good," Nyx replied, lifted higher and higher by the song that the others sang.

Can never be cast. Rise up high...

Eclipse snarled at the thestral. "And that... is something you will never accomplish!"

Pushing against Nyx with all its strength, Eclipse was able to twist out of the thestral's grip and began tumbling back to the ground below. After shaking it off, Nyx quickly turned around and began flying down after it.

Fly

Fly

Into the night, where shadows

Can never be cast. Rise up high...

Down below, Sungleam limped on three legs toward Celestia while keeping one hoof pressed against her wound. The minotaur commander joined them, and knelt down to keep the unicorn propped up. Between tired coughs, Sungleam told her sovereign, "Your highness... you have to... finish... now, while... while Nyx has Eclipse..."

Celestia frowned and made a face of intense concentration, gritting her teeth as she struggled. "I... I can't," she exclaimed, dropping the royal 'we'. "When I extinguished the sun, its spark inside me died as well. Just as it was with the Elements of Harmony when I failed to save my sister with them... Without that spark, I have no means of re-igniting it!"

"You mean you snuffed out the sun without a backup plan?!" the minotaur bellowed in disbelief. Reaching for his belt, he pulled out a dagger. "Even a greenhorn knows you don't go to war with only one weapon!"

As the music swelled louder, Sungleam let out a tortured laugh. "A... backup weapon...? A spark...? Heh... I brought... both!" Tilting her head toward Sundrinker, she used her magic to pick up the crystal blade. "Sundrinker... has enough sunlight stored in it... for a spark," she said, punctuating it with a wracking cough that caused the blade to waver in the air.

Celestia looked to her knight and smiled. "If it shines as brightly as its wielder, it will be more than enough," she told Sungleam. "But as I am now, you will need to channel its power into the very core of my being. Do you understand what that entails, Dame Sungleam...?"

The unicorn gave her princess a single nod, which seemed to be all that she could offer. "You will... see your sister again. I... swear it... your highness," she managed to wheeze out before plunging Sundrinker into Celestia's chest. Celestia threw her head back when it struck her heart, and the three of them sang up to the sky.

Fly

Fly

High above, Eclipse tumbled through a sky blacker than night, using what strength it had to guide its descent toward Celestia. Right behind it, Nyx clenched her jaw and put everything that she had into catching up to the shadow. As she gained velocity, the friction of her speeding body against the atmosphere caused colorful sparks to start forming in front of her.

Into the night, where shadows

Can never be cast. Rise up high...

Down below, Sungleam channeled her magic into Sundrinker, which began to glow with a bright golden shine. Quickly growing bright enough that it was uncomfortable to look at directly in the darkened theater, it poured its light into Celestia, whose horn began to glow with the same intensity.

And when the sun shines

On the land, look up and you'll see the shadow's fall.

Celestia then tilted her horn straight up toward Eclipse just as Nyx, surrounded by an aura of rainbow-colored sparks, caught up to it. A beam of sunlight shot up from Celestia's horn at the same time the prismatic energy coalesced around Nyx.

Eclipse was caught in the middle when Nyx seemed to explode in a colorful burst of magic, and the thestral ended up passing by Eclipse completely as she tilted up to fly over the audience, trailing rainbow sparks behind her like a comet.

At the same time, Eclipse let out an agonizing scream as it was struck by Celestia's beam, which lit up the theater and sent the shadow hurtling upward toward the backdrop's moon. When the bright beam of light finally faded, there was no sign of Eclipse, but the moon was marked with an amorphous shadow.

After doing a few laps around the theater, Nyx flew back to the stage and looked up at the sky, which began to brighten again. "You did it, your highness! You re-ignited the sun and destroyed Eclipse!"

"Neigh... not destroyed," Celestia replied. "The effort of restoring the sun left me too weak to destroy it utterly, but look! It is now banished to the moon's shadow."

Celestia's horn glowed, and before everypony's eyes, the sun and moon began to drift away from one another. It seemed to take some considerable effort on her part, but as she separated the two celestial bodies and moved them to opposite ends of the sky, the dark blot on the moon's face faded away.

"Now, Eclipse will nevermore trouble Equestria, or any nation in the realm," the princess said with a weary, but relieved sigh. "So long as the sun and moon do not meet and cast their shadow upon the land, that fiend will never be able to escape its prison. My sister and I shall see to it that the cycle of day and night resumes so that such a thing can never occur." Turning toward the minotaur commander, she asked, "I... hope that this is the end of Equestria's troubles...?"

The commander looked at the dagger in his hand, then returned it to its sheathe. "My soldiers and I'll spread the word about what happened here today, princess. And how Eclipse tried to make saps out of us in the first place. Way I figure it, we owe you ponies for putting day and night back on track. It helps you've got some darn good soldiers on your side." He patted Sungleam, who was still leaning against him.

As he did so, this jostled the unicorn enough that her hooves slid out from under her. Sungleam slumped lifelessly to the ground with a heavy thud.

The curtains closed, and from behind them, the audience could hear Celestia cry out in a choking voice, "Sungleam? Sungleam, open your eyes!"

Author's Note:

Whew, this one almost got away from me a couple of times. Even though the song itself doesn't have many lyrics to it, I needed to try to capture the proper emotion and feel of a final battle between our heroes and Eclipse, which required a lot of setup, as well as a couple of re-writes to get it going in the right direction.

It also felt like the right time for the efforts of our mysterious meddler to come to a head, and show what he was after something much bigger than simply messing with a stage production. I'm sure there are still plenty of questions, but I'll try to wrap that up as much as is fitting by the end of the story.

Because even though we've had the big climax, there's still the aftermath.

Comments

[RanmaChaos]

Great

[djthomp]

Off to the side, Shining Armor continued to stare off into the distance as he softly muttered, "You will remember when time is right. The eye has seen it, and I have seen the eye. All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well. Probably."

Poor Shining, but ehh, I'm sure he'll be fine. And that seems like a potentially important bit of prophecy.

So great to see the minotaurs and gryphons immediately about-face when Eclipse shows itself.

And holy crap, so that's what our mysterious interloper was up to. Not so playfully mischievous any more, and the fact that it left by sinking into the shadows seems bad. Eclipse? The Nightmare?

[CrowMagnon]

The meddler's identity has been hinted at pretty strongly, I think, but don't worry about it. I update so sluggishly sometimes, keeping track of the relevant details can be rather tricky.

I'm glad you seem to have enjoyed the chapter, too.

[CrowMagnon]

4591492 Ah that's okay. I'll survive the shame of the occasional typo.

I'm more interested in your thoughts and opinions, anyway.

[Super_Big_Mac]

4592078 It's truly amazing, really. I've never heard of The Protomen before this, and it is truly awesome, and I said that already. The only annoyance I really have is more to do with the fact that I tend to read pretty damn fast, and it means the music and lyrics you've written are never in sync.

Still, the fic's great!

[CrowMagnon]

4597438 Thank you!

[EvilDustMan]

Definitely felt the intensity down near the end.

[ZealousChristian24]

"I can't," he replied. "The shadows are laughing."

Aaannnd he's lost it. Oh well, they can fix him later.

"Of course you will, my little pony," nopony replied as a crimson hand reached down to pat her on the head. "You will give them a show they will never forget."

... Don't you have a psychotic 10 year old to be waking up?

Eclipse snarled up at her as it wrested Sungleam's blade from the unicorn's magical grip, and with a single twist of its tendrils, Celestia's ears were filled with the sound of Sundrinker sinking deep into pony flesh.

...Suddenly this all makes a horrifying sense!

"I have seen the eye," Shining Armor replied. "I saw you in its reflection... I know... I... I think I know..."

Remember what I just said about fixing Shining? Maybe it would be best to leave him like this.

No doctors, you know that!

Wonder why? Does she have something to hide?... You know, I dismissed my thoughts in Chap 1 because Trixie's already accounted for here, but do we know what happened to her after Twilight's failed entrance exam?

plunging Sundrinker into Celestia's chest.

And suddenly, one of my biggest questions may have been answered, at least in part...