• Published 9th Jan 2015
  • 6,549 Views, 344 Comments

Hold Your Color - Quillery



The fate of colors in Equestria are in Dash's hooves as an ancient artifact tied to her family is stolen. Old enemies are rising from the darkness, vying for her life, and time is running out.

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By the Light of the Moon

Hold Your Color
by Quillery


Suggestions, Editing and Pre-Reading by :
Siyray, Willsons, Izraill Z, BabySkittleMonster, Legion222, Dreamshadow, edensbane, amacita


Chapter Eight
By the Light of the Moon

Dash heaved for a breath as she landed hard on the ground. She writhed in pain as she tried to understand her senses that screamed out from every direction. Her vision focused on a gray form next to her. Ditzy also seemed to be struggling to get her head to stop spinning.

Screaming tore at Dash’s hearing. She lifted her head, and saw Twilight, still curled around Celestia’s body, howling into the darkness. “Somepony! Anypony! Help us! The princess is hurt!”

Dash winced as she rolled onto her front. Her vision was steadily clearing, but the dim light made it difficult to determine what had happened. She felt the ground under her. It was no longer the rough stone of the cave, but a smooth, polished surface.

Her head felt like it was weighing her entire body down. Every movement in standing was a challenge to not topple over.

Her ears twitched again at the sound of approaching hooves. Many approaching hooves. It felt like a percussion section going off in her head as they drew closer, and a section of darkness split open in front of her, revealing a wall of light.

Several shapes stood in the light, as Dash squinted her eyes to see what they were.

“Princess Twilight!” a new voice said. “What are you doing in Celestia’s bedchambers?”

“Nevermind that!” Twilight shouted. “Celestia’s been hurt! Get help!”

Dash blinked. Finally, she could clearly see the pair of royal guards standing in a tall doorway. They stared at Twilight with deep concern in their eyes as their gaze fell on Celestia. They started shouting and ran off into the hallway.

Dash grunted as she limped over to Twilight.

“Sure, don’t help the cross-eyed pony off the ground,” Ditzy grunted. Dash turned to her, still on the ground as she struggled to get on her hooves. Dash rolled her eyes and went to help.

Despite her own body’s protests, she managed to hoist Ditzy upright. She muttered a quiet “thanks,” and Dash went over to Twilight and Celestia.

“Twi, are you okay?”

Twilight twisted her head towards her. “Do I look okay?! I could have helped her, Dash. I could have kept this from happening!”

Dash winced and rubbed her neck. “I meant from bringing us here. I know teleporting more than one pony can be tough.”

“That’s not important right now. What’s important is that we get help for Celestia!”

Dash frowned. She knelt down beside Twilight and grabbed her hoof. “Hey, your wellbeing is just as important. To me, its everything. I dont need you pushing yourself too hard and getting hurt too. There is nothing more important in this world to me than you, Twi. Don’t forget that.”

Twilight blinked as tears started welling in her eyes. The tears fell down her face as she started crying again. Dash took a steadying breath and sat down, draping a wing over Twilight. “It’ll be okay, Twi. We’ll figure this out.”

“We’d better soon,” Ditzy said. She was looking at Dash’s head. “You’re down another color…”

Dash’s heart jumped as she looked up at her mane. First the red, now the orange streak in her mane had turned completely gray, and the yellow was well on its way. “Ugh,” she said. “This sucks. After all that, and we aren’t any closer to figuring out what the hay is going on. Now with Celestia like this… how are we going to fight that… thing, again?”

“I’m sure Khroma and Aurora found something. They would have tried to find us by now.” Ditzy went over to the window and parted the curtains. Light poured into the room, breaking the shadows. “Hmm.”

“What?”

“The sun is still up. I figured something would have happened to it if…” She glanced at Celestia. “Well, you know what I mean.”

Dash frowned at Ditzy, when she sensed a new presence in the room.

“Perhaps I had something to do with that…”

Dash turned to the door. Princess Luna stood in the entrance. She walked in and promptly closed the door behind her. Her face was calm, composed as she walked towards Twilight and Celestia.

“Princess Luna!” Twilight said. “I tried to help her, but she—”

Luna held up a hoof. “Please, before we discuss how this happened, let us get her to the bed. She deserves at least to be comfortable.”

Twilight opened her mouth to continue, but she relented, nodding. Her horn, along with Luna’s began to glow and lift Celestia gently from the ground towards her bed. They laid her down, and Luna took a seat next to her.

“Oh, sweet sister, what have you gotten into now?”

She closed her eyes as her magic hummed to life. Silvery strands flowed from her horn and connected with Celestia’s. Her eyes danced behind her eyelids, as she followed an ethereal presence. Her face looked strained the longer she held, and eventually her eyes snapped open. She was panting loudly as she rubbed her head.

Luna looked at Twilight. “I felt something was wrong the second the noon sun failed to move from its apex. I felt Celestia’s connection to it had been interrupted, so I knew to keep it in alignment. Ponies tend to panic more often these days when the sun isn’t moving accordingly.”

She allowed herself a faint laugh, but her tone quickly turned serious. “Now, explain what happened.”

Twilight scratched her head. “I… have no idea where to start.”

Dash frowned. “I do.” She glanced at Luna. “Princess, have you heard of the Celestial Prism?”

Luna’s expression didn’t shift. “Of course.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “And I am to understand you are its current host, Miss Rainbow Dash. Your name is no longer befitting your appearance.”

Dash shrugged. “Yeah, unfortunately, my dad neglected to tell me that bit until now, after it’s been stolen.”

“I assumed as much. He often had nightmares concerning you and its discovery. I rarely see residents of Stalliongrad be so worrisome.”

“Is that how you know of it?”

Luna nodded. “Among other reasons. The world’s history is embedded into the dreams of all, and through it I see the passages of time that I have missed. It is far easier to understand than to read a book. The Prism’s history is quite interesting indeed.”

Luna turned her head to Celestia. “And it seems that whomever took it sought to keep my sister from interfering. I can understand that much. It is her way.”

Dash exchanged a glance with Twilight, before they both looked at Luna again in shock. “Wait, you know who did this?”

Luna nodded. “More of a what, than a who, but yes, I believe I know what force is capable of doing this to my sister.” She glanced at Celestia. “And you have met it before.”

Dash frowned. “We have? When?”

Luna’s eyes flickered. “When we first met ourselves.”

Twilight gasped. “You mean…”

Luna nodded gravely. “The Nightmare has returned. I once served as its host in a moment of jealousy and attempted to defeat my sister, and spent a thousand years with it locked away. Whatever force of darkness that once made me Nightmare Moon has found a new home, and has grown powerful indeed.”

“That… can’t be possible. We used the Elements of Harmony to get rid of it!”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Tell me, Twilight Sparkle, when the Elements have ‘gotten rid’ of something.”

Twilight jerked her head. “What do you mean? We sealed Discord away, we—”

“Exactly my point. The Elements of Harmony are not a weapon, Twilight Sparkle. They are a means to empower the ideals we ponies hold dear. They are meant to create and purify, not corrupt and destroy. The Nightmare was not destroyed, merely removed from me.” Luna looked away. “It shames me that it took me so long to fully understand that limitation of the Elements’ powers, for I would have predicted this sooner.”

“So wait,” Dash interrupted, “that means this Nightmare thing has been just hanging around all this time? That was over three years ago!”

“It most likely has been searching for a suitable host that it can easily control, and biding its time. The longer it possesses a host, the more its own latent power emerges, and its will becomes harder to resist.” Luna sighed, and looked at Celestia. “It pains me to admit this, but my banishment allowed me a grace from the Nightmare fully controlling me. My mind rested in stasis, far from its reach. Had Celestia not put me there, it would have overtaken me, and my return three years ago would have been… far less merciful.”

Luna shuddered and looked away, while Dash and Twilight looked on in shock.

Ditzy cleared her throat. “Okay, so the question is, who is the Nightmare’s current host? Who would have enough latent power to out-do Celestia?”

Luna glanced at her and shook her head. “I do not know. It wouldn’t take much of the host’s power, coupled with the Nightmare’s own to overtake Celestia. Especially if they had something advantageous.”

“Like being in a pitch black room with no sunlight?” Dash said.

Luna nodded. “The Nightmare sources its power from darkness and shadows, but also negative emotions. It feeds off them, such as jealousy…” Luna paused a moment before continuing. “Arrogance, pride, anger. Any being that exhibits any of these to an extreme would be irresistible to the Nightmare. And ponies are far from perfect. There are countless in the world that it would use.”

Twilight looked away. Dash raised an eyebrow, when Ditzy spoke up again. “So, what will happen to Celestia?”

Luna blinked, and placed a hoof on the bedside. “The Nightmare has trapped her in a perpetual dreamscape of her worst fears. I only saw a glimpse of it, but it was very strong. I do not know if I can rouse her from this sleep on my own, even with my power over dreams.”

“Then how do we help her?” Twilight said.

“I can enter her dream for moments at a time, to keep her from slipping too far, with some help of course.”

At that moment, the door opened. A ruby maned unicorn walked in, a dark blue robe skirting on the floor behind her. She wasted no time in approaching the bedside with Luna, offering the princess a low bow. “I came as soon as I heard, your majesty.”

Luna nodded. “Thank you for your haste, Crystal Dream. We have much work ahead of us. I will prepare everything first, and we can work to keep this from affecting Celestia for too long.”

Crystal Dream nodded, and began pulling supplies out of her saddlebags.

Luna looked back to Twilight and Dash. “As for you, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. Your way of helping Celestia is simple, and is not.” Luna’s expression turned grim. “So long as the Nightmare is in power, I do not know if I can pull Celestia from her slumber. You must destroy it. Permanently. Only then will its influence leave my sister’s mind. I can keep her from falling too far, but only for a time.”

“Great, so just one more thing to add to the list, then,” Dash grunted. “At least it falls in line with the same thing.” She looked to the window again. “Has there been any word from Celestia’s seekers?”

“I sent for a report from the captain when I heard what happened. He should be here shortly.”

Dash turned her head when somepony knocked at the door. A gold clad pegasus poked his head inside and bowed. “Princess Luna, you requested me?”

Luna, now focusing her attention on Celestia, waved her hoof at the stallion. “Yes, you are to catch these three up to speed on your pursuit of the gryphon and aid them in any way possible. Let them aid you if they wish to do so.”

The stallion blinked, but nodded. “Of course your majesty.” He turned to Dash and Twilight. “I can inform you on the way, we found Miss Talonmark, and the two Stalliongrad operatives are in pursuit.”

“About time!” Dash said. “C’mon, Twi. Let’s go get some answers.”

Twilight hesitated. “I… You go ahead and help your dad, Dash. I want to stay here with Celestia, and see if I can help in any way.”

Dash paused. “Are you sure? I really don’t want to leave you alone with all that’s going on.”

“There is no safer place from the Nightmare at this time than with me, Miss Dash,” Luna said. “She may have been arrogant enough to think she had a chance against Celestia, but she would not be so foolish to challenge me without a true advantage. Her power is the same as mine.”

Twilight smiled. “See?” She leaned forward and placed a kiss on Dash’s cheek. “Now go find Edweena, and hopefully some real answers.” She frowned. “I just hope she isn’t actually behind any of this. She’s always been such a nice gryphon to know.”

Dash nodded. “Maybe, Twi. We’ll know more when we talk with her.” She looked at Ditzy. “Lets go.”


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