The Dark Side Of The Sun

by ocalhoun

Chapter 6 ~ Purifying Flames

I watched as a beam disintegrated Crystal's left foreleg. My magic dissipated, but I couldn't stop the barrage from the diamonds.

It felt like a hard kick in the gut. I rushed toward her, pulling up a shield spell, but I couldn't get to her fast enough.

Another glowing beam burned through her back right leg, severing it almost completely.

Finally, I managed to put myself and my shield between the enchanted stones and my only friend... but it did nothing to quiet the filly's cries.

An eternity passed while I blocked my own attack and listened to the injured filly's screams degrade into harsh sobs. Finally, the last of the jewels expended its energy and stopped firing.

As soon as I felt safe dropping my shield spell, I whirled around to Crystal. “Are you okay?”

Stupid. One leg was gone, and another hung by a thread. Of course she wasn't okay.

Crystal just whimpered, pushing herself away from me with her good legs.

I had to stop her bleeding. I glanced around, finally spotting the royal robes I never wore. Levitating one over, I tore a few shreds off of it and moved to wrap them around the bleeding filly's wounds.

She screamed and backed further away.

“Crystal, I need to tend to your wounds, please don't–”

“Get away from me!” Her voice squeaked and broke, but it held an authority I would never have suspected from her.

My heart tied itself in knots as I watched her stumble to her two remaining feet. I held out a hoof. “Crystal, please! You'll hurt yourself! Just lie down and let me–”

“No!” She tried to take a step toward the door, but fell flat on her face, blood spurting everywhere.

I reached for her. “Crystal!”

She vanished in a blast of blue magic.

I froze, and my priceless makeshift bandages dropped to the floor. Looking up, I saw the pony responsible.

Starswirl stood in the doorway, looking directly at me.

“You,” I snarled. “What did you do to Crystal?”

“I sent her to get the help she needs.”

I stalked toward him, my horn glowing bright. “Where did you send her?”

“When, actually.” He kept his smug visage, seemingly unperturbed to have an alicorn in a dangerous mood closing in on him. “I used one of my time spells and sent her one year into the future... where she will receive the very best medical care available... That is if you can get control of yourself by then and arrange it.”

I stopped just in front of him, towering over him. “You will die for this, you know that, right?”

“The elements are too much for any one pony to bear, Celestia, even one as strong as you.” He didn't back down an inch. “They are corrupting you from the inside out, causing irreparable damage.”

I slapped him to the side with a blast of magic. “I know that. I know that better than you ever could.”

He picked himself off of my floor. “I can help you, Celestia. I've made a spell that will take the elements away.”

Of course! He wanted the elements for himself! Once he had them, he'd be able to overthrow me and take Equestria for himself. That was exactly what I wanted! The fires burned inside me, and my eye twitched. No! That was the opposite of what I wanted! This usurper had to be dealt with immediately – I couldn't risk him taking away my precious elements.

I released another blast of magic, only to see it dissipate around his shields. I grit my teeth and dug deep. I would end this pony. Today. I summoned the full fury of the sun. He had to be weakened from the barrage dealt out by my diamonds. He wouldn't survive this time. My beam of sunlight struck him head-on. He vanished behind a wall of white-hot flames. I grinned, letting my eyes grow wide as my attack ended, ready to gloat over his smoldering corpse.

Infuriatingly, he stood unharmed within a circle of blackened marble. “Celestia, let me help you. Let me free you from your burden.”

I screamed. If only he could... if only he could.

I twitched again. I knew I couldn't let him do that, not ever. So he thought he had good shields? It was time to stop holding back. I no longer cared about collateral damage. The only thing in the world that I still wanted was to see him burn.

My horn glowed. I called upon my connection with the cosmos.

Far up in the sky above, a solar flare the likes of which nopony had ever seen split off from the sun. Drawing off this much of its fire would leave it slightly, but permanently dimmed. I didn't care.

“Celestia, you don't have to...” Starswirl looked up as the entire castle began to tremble, the first hints of genuine fear breaking out on his face.

Good. This imposter may have been guiding the sun in my absence, but it always had and always would answer to me, first and foremost.

The searing rage of thermonuclear fire struck my castle. The marble roof overhead vaporized, and my entire vision filled with the blinding light of the sun. I basked in it, the only being in the world who could survive – thrive – in the inferno.

In mere moments, the flare was gone. I had merely used a small portion, after all. I didn't care to destroy the entire planet just yet.

All around me, the scant ruins of my castle crumbled and smoldered, a shriveled husk of its former glory.

One of the glowing-hot piles of rubble in front of me shifted.

I groaned. What would it take to kill this pony? Better not take any chances this time, I decided. This time, I would wipe out the whole continent.

Starswirl pushed the smoking chunks of rubble off of himself. His beard was singed, and his hat was missing. “So, this is how it ends?” he whispered, watching my glowing horn, “I wonder, are you going to slice me to pieces like Crystal, or are you going to banish me like Luna?”

I diverted the next flare, arcing it around the planet and back toward the sun. I stood there, just breathing for a moment. My bones still burned with rage, but my lips trembled. I couldn't stop my eyes from watering.

I collapsed onto the hot stone floor. “What have I become, Starswirl?”

He rose to his feet with a groan. “What you have always been – a good pony and a loving princess.”

“Liar,” I spat. “I've driven away every pony for miles around with my cruel tricks. I molested and maimed the only pony who stayed. I've destroyed my – our – castle, and I've sent my sister off to a thousand years of torment... and now I've just tried to murder you.”

“Celestia, you've been through a lot lately.” Starswirl walked up to me. “And the elements have been attacking your mind. You can't blame yourself for–”

“If I hadn't stopped my last attack, I would have killed every pony in Equestria.” I hid my face under my hooves and I felt another burning rush of compulsion flow through me. “I don't want to go on like this. Make it stop, Starswirl. Kill me.” I closed my eyes and waited for it.

I could hear the hum of Starswirl's magic above me. I knew the end was close now. I would finally be free.

His spell shot lightning through my veins, and my world went dark and cold. With my last breath I whispered, “I'm sorry, Sister.”

* * *

I rolled over onto my side and groaned. Six round stones sat in front of me, each with the shape of an element embedded in it. Why was I still alive? Had Starswirl lost his nerve?

“Did you sleep well?” He reclined on a nearby slab, watching me and twirling the tip of his beard around with his hoof.

“Wha– what happened?”

“I used my spell, of course. Quite ingenious, if I do say so myself. They don't call me 'the father of the amiomorphic spells' for nothing!” He chuckled. “It turns the elements' own power against them, and they do what they do best – they encase themselves in stone.” He hopped up to his feet. “And don't worry. They'll break free when they're needed... when six ponies with the right spark approach. No more of this multiple element per pony business. It's just too hard on the ponies holding them.”

I took a deep breath... The compulsion of the elements – it was gone! I gasped. “I'm free! I'm actually free!” The strangest feeling came over me though. “But... why do I still feel like... molesting you?”

Starswirl sighed. “I wish you would have let me help you sooner.” He stared at the burnt floor, shaking his head. “Our memories and experiences shape who we are. Unfortunately, you now have some very dark ones, and they'll never completely go away.”

“Never?” I sat up and folded my wings.

“They will always be a part of you now. It's something you will always struggle with.”

“Then my survival is a tragedy.” I slumped back down.

“... But you have an eternity to improve yourself – thousands of years to practice making yourself a better pony... and to make amends.”

Comments

[ApparitionsShadow]

its bittersweet, but it feels hopeful.

[Ron Jeremy Pony]

I'm liking this. Well more or less liking it. I do hope to see more of it, and I have hope that Celestia will win out over Molestia. Perhaps she will purge the darker half of herself much like John Constantine did when he created the Demon Constantine. A form that took all of the dark impulses, desires, and thoughts and became a living being of its own. It was him, but a version of him that didn't have the shred of morality that Constantine had. I could see Celestia and the various unicorns (after Starbeard) working on this. I could even see Starbeard helping to work on the spell, but unfortunately due to old age, being unable to see it finished.

[Tecuro]

That's a wonderful note to end one; hope that with time things will be better. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside
A massive bravo from me. You've made it to my list of awesome, congratulations

[ocalhoun]

4202890
Good. ^.^ That's kinda what I'm going for.

4203198
Nope... no quick magical cure for her. The portrait I'm trying to paint of her is that Celestia as we know her is so sweet, kind, and restrained because she's terrified of allowing herself to be anything else. She's become so very good at hiding that darkness that any rumors of it have faded to mostly-disbelieved legends, but she still struggles with it every day. Yet, due to her incredible strength of character, she can keep it up, century after century.

[ocalhoun]

4204324
Thanks!
My portrait of Celestia is becoming complete.

I'll warn you ahead of time; the next chapter is very short.

[Tecuro]

4204337
For me it's the quality that matters, not the quantity - not that I expect you to be lacking any quality, you're to awesome for that

[Ron Jeremy Pony]

4204327

That's actually quite good, and the cure John did wasn't really an easy one. Oh, I wish that I knew where some of the comics where online. It's one of the reasons I loved reading Hellblazer until they canceled it. That said, I'm still looking forward to reading the rest of this.

[ocalhoun]

4204726
Not too much left to go, but I think the ending's pretty good.

[ForlanceAbice]

If only I had such skill and talent to make words speak out true emotions.
Alas, I am but stale bread next to a caviar of deserts. Truly I wonder if I ever know what goes through your head, for mine is but empty babble. Time and again have I tried to capture the essence of suffering and guilt to no avail. A paragraph drags off into nothingness. The leads make little sense. Emotions are dulled, rendered moot through shoddy writing.

Details are the lifeblood of the bigger picture, yet that is one thing I posses no mastery of in terms of subtlety.

Crushing guilt, that is what I wish to convey, yet what do I know of such a subject? Mere all encompassing vagueness is all that is stormed through in spades. Impatient waiting is not for thy heart, yet still I try again and again. To you I look for inspiration among the field of prose, one out of many whom I look towards with a towering eye. An eye that of which seeks to improve itself through the studying of stories by far superior writers from distant lands.

Yet even still, the prose that I write is only but mediocre trite.

--------

Sorry for the comment. I was in need of venting my thoughts during the current moment.
Tis a tardy looking for inspiration you see. Point is that you blast my own so called prose into the under ocean, and I envy you at the ease of which you put down thoughts and images to beautiful words. Such longing, yet no results. A mentor is one of which that I seek, yet I wonder whom would be able to lend such a hand?

Again, my apologies for taking your time.