Night Reigns

by tursi

Chapter 36 - Warming the Coals

"Find Sunset Shimmer, and find the artifact."

Celestia's eyes opened slowly, and she raised her head from the nest of blankets that she found herself in. She looked around the room slowly while she tried to shake off the sleep that still struggled to hold onto her. She noted that the small, nearly round room was much sparser and much less ornate than the one she had dreamt of – but that the nest of blankets was surprisingly similar.

She sighed deeply and pushed herself to a standing position, and then stretched out her legs as best she could. She winced at the stiffness of her muscles and tried to remember everything that had happened. She found it odd that everything was easy to remember right up until the crystal caverns under Canterlot. After that… everything seemed like a blurry dream. She could only half remember it and time seemed rushed in those memories.

She did remember Sunset casting a spell on her and the rush of power that followed. She remembered striking down Nightmare Moon – and this weighed heavily on her heart. Luna had forgiven her in the dream… but was that really Luna? She felt like it was, but at the same time, it was a dream. She could have simply wanted Luna's forgiveness so badly that her own mind brought it all up.

She half remembered flying to the Frozen North, and she half remembered finding the Crystal Empire buried in the shadow realm under all the snow. It had taken everything she had to cut the magical ties that locked it away and pull it back to reality. She remembered the burning pain of the magical overload and then…

Then she remembered nothing else until the dreams started.

She looked around the room again and her eyes focused on the pile of coarse blankets near the center of the room. "Well," she mused. "Somepony was here… I didn't create that nest on my own. All things considered I should be buried in the snow of the Frozen North by now."

She thought back further. "If that really was Luna in my dream… oh, how I hope it was! But if it was, then Sunset Shimmer is here and may need my help. If I can locate her, then that shall confirm everything else."

She paused near the doorway and studied her reflection in the gloss of the smooth crystal wall. Her mane was once again reverted to a long but simple pink, lacking the magically striped pastel flow she held when her magic was charged. But her injuries were largely healed and she felt much better. Experimentally she opened her wings and was relieved to find that she could extend and stretch them without the pain she'd felt since returning to Equestria. She smiled softly and closed her wings again.

"It could be worse," she thought to herself. "The magic seems to have healed me for the most part. I may be drained, but I'm healthy and I should recharge quickly enough."

A sudden thought crossed her mind. "Sombra may be out there."

She sighed softly, and then set her jaw firmly. "I just need to watch my step. He can't have that much power after being locked away himself for so long. Besides, Sunset was fairly strong last time I saw her. Between the two of us, if we are not stupid, we should be all right. Particularly if Luna joins us."

Her smile returned. "Oh, I hope that dream was for real. But if it was… then I have a task to do. I had best get to it."

She turned towards the doorway and carefully opened it using her horn. She slowly stuck her head out through the open doorway, looking and listening at the shaded street outside. The moonlight lit the Crystal Empire well, the crystals reflecting and refracting the light off the spires of every building. Looking carefully and straining her ears, she neither saw nor heard anything. She stepped out into the street and closed the door quietly.

Celestia looked around to orient herself and quickly located the Crystal Castle at the center of the city, rising far above the other buildings. She frowned as she noticed that the crystal of the city appeared to grow darker towards the castle – at the base of the castle itself and halfway up its walls the crystal was so dark and opaque that her eyes had difficulty making out shapes.

"I think I should assume that at least part of my dream was real, then," she mused. "I remember that black crystal from before… it was a signature of King Sombra." She looked around herself. "But, it does not cover the city… only part of the castle. That must mean something."

She considered for a moment whether to walk or to stretch her newly healed wings and fly, but after a moment she decided to walk. "I will be less conspicuous on the ground where I can hide in the shadows, than in the air where everypony in the city can see me."

She started walking slowly towards the castle, keeping close to the shaded sides of the various buildings. She found as she drew closer that she had to step more carefully over the increasingly uneven terrain – the dark crystals were rough and often broke through the smooth crystal of the road. But nothing interrupted her approach. At last she found herself standing directly across the ring road from the castle.

Celestia frowned as she studied the castle. The darker crystal here was nearly solid and rose up from the ground to engulf the lower part of the castle, rising in some places to nearly half its height. She could not see the square underneath and she approached the crystal, carefully raising a hoof and touching the crystal to test how solid it was.

She gasped as there was a spark between her hoof and the crystal. She had a sudden vision, seeing a scene as if from another's eyes. It seemed to flicker at first – a flash of dark magic, a scene of a throne room, an indistinct pony staring hypnotized at something – but then it settled into a consistent vision. It took a moment for Celestia to realize what she was seeing but at last she recognized a dark hallway. From her view, she could see Luna from behind while Luna appeared to be shouting angrily, although Celestia could hear no sound. With the vision came a flash of insight, and Celestia withdrew her hoof.

"So… this crystal is more than just something you threw down, Somba. It is literally a part of you, your protrusion into this world."

She looked up at the dark crystal rising along the wall of the castle. "But you are not yet powerful enough to manifest, I think… and so you bide your time with Luna." She chuckled to herself. "You may be underestimating her… I did. Still…"

Celestia frowned, setting her jaw. "Still… you have given me a clue about where to start on this side. The throne room is clearly real."

Celestia turned and followed the wall around to the front of the castle, checking all the while for any crack or path into the square underneath. Although the dark crystal wall continued to seal off the square, she was somewhat surprised to find the stairs to the main entrance intact. Some of the dark crystals had intruded upon the base of the stairs, but for the most part the path looked unimpeded. Celestia considered.

"Just go in the front door, then?" she wondered. "Doesn't seem like the most brilliant plan, does it?"

She raised her head and studied the ornate double doors, constructed of gleaming crystal that caught the moon's light and reflected it off in all directions. "Well," she mused, "I haven't any other ideas."

Celestia climbed the stairs and quietly pushed open one of the grand doors, taking a moment to look around herself. She did not know of the layout of the Crystal Castle, but the entrance foyer was as grand and inviting as any castle she had ever visited. Following the obvious signs of royalty was likely to lead her where she needed to go, and so she started to follow the royal red carpet. Up the grand staircase she followed it, and at the top the carpet bent away to the left while the right path was bare. She followed the carpet to the left, and then continued through several more turns.

At last she stood in a short, wide hallway that terminated in an ornate set of double doors with the carpet running right up to them. Celestia smiled. "There it is. Thank goodness for the ego that goes into castle design."

She approached the doors and listened to them carefully. "Could be a trap," she considered. "Perhaps the best way to defeat an ambush is to take the lead from the start…"

Hearing nothing behind the doors, she pushed one of the them open and stepped through confidently. "Sombra!" she announced, her ears listening carefully. "I am here!"

She held her position with all of her senses on high alert. Nothing seemed to happen, so after a minute she relaxed her guard. "He's not here,"she mused. "That does suggest that he can't materialize yet…"

She stepped the rest of the way into the room and looked around slowly. The throne room was a long, wide room not unlike the throne room in Canterlot. A single throne sat on a raised dais at the far end, with a royal red carpet leading from the doorway to the dais. On the walls of either side of the room were ornate tapestries depicting various scenes in Equestria's history, and in particular that of the Crystal Empire. Celestia noted that there was no depiction of Nightmare Moon in these histories – the Empire had been lost before all that happened. The tapestries closest to the throne depicted Sombra himself and Celestia frowned, seeing nothing of value there.

"He must have had a token of some sort… to form a base link from this world to his shadows. It must be here somewhere…"

At last she advanced on the throne itself, studying it carefully. It was fairly regal, decorated in royal red fabric draped over an onyx crystal frame. Her attention was drawn to a sphere attached to the top of the throne with a single dark crystal embedded within it.

She approached carefully from the side of the throne and reached out with a tendril of golden magic, testing and evaluating the crystal. "Yes," she mused. "That's the key."

She took a couple of deep breaths as she considered her next move. "Somba's focus was shadow magic. It's been a long time since I have needed to summon that. I hope that it won't take very much power…"

She took a step back and spread her wings, drawing the strength she had into her horn. She frowned and then her eyes went dark, followed by a darkening of the magical aura around her horn. She lowered her head and aimed at the crystal, firing a dark beam of magic directly into it.

Celestia took a deep breath as her magic faded and her eyes returned to normal. She watched the crystal intently. "I hope it works…"

She didn't have to wait long. Energy swirled inside the sphere, and then suddenly a shadow rose from the crystal inside it. The shadow rolled forward across the throne as Celestia stepped back, and then it followed the carpet down off the dais, sinking deeper into the floor. After about twenty feet of carpet was consumed it stopped and sank impossibly lower – opening a staircase into the floor.

Celestia looked at the staircase and then back to the throne, shaking her head. "That's the entrance…?"

She walked over and looked down – the stairs spiraled around a large, very deep room. Cautiously she extended a hoof into the hole, noting how her hoof took on a shadowed look beyond the hole. She nodded to herself.

"That's it, then. That must be his shadow realm." She paused, looking back at the doorway. "I wonder if I should search the castle first?"

She considered further. "I think Sombra's vision was important… hmm." She withdrew her hoof and examined it. "It seems okay… If I don't find anything I'll come back up." She frowned. "Well, if I can."

She started down the staircase, feeling an instantaneous transition to much cooler air as her body submerged into the shadow. She followed the corkscrew of a staircase down for a minute or so before peering over the edge.

"It's still so far… Well, since my wings do work again, I might as well just glide down."

She stretched out her wings and stepped off the side of the stairs, letting her wings catch the air and tilt her body into a gentle glide. She spiraled downwards gracefully, making far better time than she had been while walking down the stairs. She smiled to herself as she alighted on the ground below.

"Mmm, that felt wonderful. It's been too long since I've spread my wings. Well… as myself, anyway."

She looked around herself, and was surprised to see both Sunset Shimmer and Sterling Honor standing side by side, staring at a rather plain-looking wooden door. She frowned as she noticed the dark crystal mounted above the door.

"Of course," she muttered to herself. "Another trap."

She grit her teeth and focused the dark shadow magic to her horn once again. It took her a moment longer than last time to focus the darkness, but finally she was able to unleash a blast of shadow to the crystal over the door. Her eyes were just returning to normal as she heard Sunset's voice.

"Oooh," moaned Sunset. "My… my magic…"

Celestia smiled gently and walked towards her. "It's all right, my little pony. It wasn't real… it was an illusion – a trap."

Sunset's eyes widened and she broke into a beaming smile. "Princess Celestia!" she cried. "You're all right!" She ran towards Celestia and hugged her tightly.

Celestia's smile widened and she wrapped her wings forward around Sunset, nuzzling the back of Sunset's mane. "Yes. Thank you, Sunset Shimmer." Her head came up and she looked at Sterling Honor. He was now standing facing them, his body locked in a stiff at-attention stance. His eyes still looked distant.

Sunset turned her head back to look as well and seemed confused. "Oh no," she said. "Is he still in the trance?"

Celestia shook her head no and gently nudged Sunset to step aside, whispering to her. "Let me address this…"

Sunset nodded and released Celestia, quickly stepping aside as Celestia stepped closer to Sterling Honor. Quietly Sunset lit her horn, and smiled more widely when it responded to her.

Celestia spoke gently to Sterling, "Sterling Honor, I believe?"

Sterling's forelegs trembled slightly, although it was so well controlled that only Celestia noticed. All at once he dropped into a low bow. "Y-yes… Your Highness."

Celestia smiled gently. "At ease, Sterling Honor," she said. "This is not a time for formalities, you may rise."

Sterling made a strange sound, and then spoke quietly. "I… dare not, Your Highness."

"But why not?" asked Celestia.

"I… I betrayed you, Your Highness."

"Did you now?" Celestia responded. "And how did you do that?"

"I understand that what I saw was a vision," responded Sterling, still refusing to look up. "But it was true. I supported Nightmare Moon. I led the guard across all Equestria in support of her vision of Eternal Night."

"And you just tell me this, openly?" asked Celestia.

"I… I cannot do otherwise, Your Highness."

Celestia nodded, pretending to ponder this response. "Indeed," she mused. "And yet for all that… Equestria still stands, does it not?"

Sterling hesitated. "Y… yes," he replied slowly.

Celestia shook her head slowly. "Sterling Honor, this is ridiculous," she said. "I order you to raise your head and converse with me properly."

Sterling's head snapped up and he looked straight ahead again. "I… I cannot choose between you, Your Highness. I cannot choose!"

Celestia smiled softly and shook her head. "You do not have to, Sterling Honor."

Sterling gasped and looked, at last, directly to Celestia. "You do not mean… you… you defeated…?"

It was Celestia's turn to be surprised, but she recovered quickly and spoke more softly. "No… no, it did not work out that way. But I think… I hope… that Luna and I have made peace."

Sterling frowned and looked down at his hooves. "Things… cannot go back to the way they were for me."

Celestia frowned and watched him for a moment. "This is taking too long," she thought. "I don't have time to get through to him." All at once an idea came to mind.

Celestia straightened up to her full height. She put on a stern face and snapped out an order crisp and abrupt. "Sterling Honor! Atten-tion!"

Sterling snapped to attention without even thinking about it, his body naturally falling into the correct precise position, his eyes straight ahead.

Celestia stepped forward so that she was directly in his line of sight, and then lowered her head so that she could look into his eyes. "Sterling Honor, do you serve Equestria?" she demanded.

Sterling took a breath and replied with firm conviction. "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!"

Celestia nodded once and continued to speak directly. "Then pay attention. Equestria is not out of the woods yet. We are facing a threat from the shadow realm – the same threat that just entrapped you in whatever vision you were facing. But I need you to get over it – it was just an illusion. There is work to do. Can you get over it?"

Sterling responded again, without hesitation. "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!"

Celestia didn't nod this time, she just continued. "All right then. Listen up!" She turned her head to Sunset. "Sunset Shimmer, you too." She nodded towards the floor next to Sterling and Sunset came forward and stood there. After a moment Celestia frowned at her. Sunset started, then she understood and came to a reasonable representation of an at-attention stance. Celestia winked at her, and then continued.

"The threat that faces us is a unicorn named King Somba," Celestia lectured. "He exists primarily in the shadow realm, which is where we find ourselves now, and he makes extensive use of shadow magic. It's he who caused the Crystal Empire to disappear a thousand years ago, and now he's trying to return along with it."

Sunset glanced towards Sterling, who did not move although his ears were locked in a forward position. Sunset turned back to Celestia to continue listening.

"We believe that he does not yet have the power to return to the physical world, but before he gains that power we need to put in place a barrier to stop him. That barrier is an artifact called the Crystal Heart. We suspect that Sombra has hidden it away, and the intelligence I have suggests that this is where the search should begin."

"But there's nothing down here but that door," complained Sunset. "Where can we possibly start?"

Celestia smiled. "I'm glad you asked that," she replied. "I'm going to send the two of you through that door to search. It's the only path that makes any sense."

Sterling stamped a hoof for attention. "Ma'am!" he shouted. "Sunset Shimmer is a civilian. Shouldn't I go through by myself?"

Celestia shook her head. "If you truly betrayed me, Sterling Honor, then Sunset Shimmer's job will be to keep you in line." Sterling looked chagrined, and Celestia smiled gently. "Give her a chance. She will be very helpful to you, and it is too dangerous to send you alone."

Sunset stepped forward a step. "Aren't you coming with us?"

Celestia frowned and glanced back towards the crystal over the door. "I will need to stay here to disarm this trap. The fewer links Sombra has, I think the more difficult it will be for him to return. Then I will try to aid Luna on her quest. If you can locate the Crystal Heart, return it to its place under the castle. The rest… we will have to figure out."

Celestia winked at Sunset again as she used a wing to nudge her student back in line with Sterling, and her voice returned to firmness. "Do you understand your mission?" she demanded.

Sterling stomped a hoof. "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!" he shouted.

Celestia smiled and looked at Sunset pointedly.

"Um… yes Ma'am?" replied Sunset.

Celestia smirked. "Very well then," she said, turning around and spreading her wings. "Don't look at the door again until I've opened it, otherwise you'll be back in the trap again."

She didn't wait for a response, lighting her horn once again. After a moment, her golden aura went black again and after a moment longer a beam fired from her horn into the crystal. This time the beam was sustained, and she grit her teeth to hold it.

Sunset glanced at Sterling again, who was watching the spell with his jaw slightly open but otherwise still at attention.

The energy swirled around the crystal, leaking off it in small black sparks that faded as they emanated. All at once Celestia found the sequence she was looking for, and everything seemed to lock into place all at once. The energy soaked back into the crystal with a loud click and the door swung open.

"There!" grunted Celestia through her clenched jaw. "Go now!"

Sterling snapped into action immediately, snapping a look back to Sunset. "Let's go!" he ordered, and then charged forward.

Sunset blinked and hesitated a moment before she charged after him. "Hey, wait for me! Again!"

Sterling ran through the darkened opening without a moment's hesitation, but Sunset paused at the doorway to glance back at Celestia. "Hurry," requested Celestia.

Sunset frowned slightly. "How did you know that would work, Princess?"

Celestia smiled. "He's a soldier," she replied. "I think that I remember him. I'm pretty sure that he just likes to have something to do." She winked.

Sunset let a confident smirk cross her muzzle, and nodded to Celestia before turning and running through the doorway after Sterling.

Celestia sighed softly as Sunset disappeared from her sight and then she released the spell again. "Good luck ponies," she thought to herself. "If you can find the heart, I can find a way to help Luna."

She looked up at the crystal again. "But first," she mused, "I need to slow Sombra down just a little."

Comments

[tursi]

... I am not terribly thrilled with the new editor... but I guess I don't have many chapters left to go.

[FelSpite]

Can't honestly say that I'm as thrilled by the later chapters as i was in the beginning of the story, with a major turning point somewhere around the 'Nightmare moon vs Flare!Celestia' confrontation, but I'm still looking forward to the conclusion.

Could have added more to this, and perhaps will later, just not now.

*Sighs*

GLHF!

[tursi]

8247302
Fair enough, the comments are still worth noting. There's not much left to get through. ;)

[tursi]

8247302
To add a little more to that... that was sort of the story point that broke what was turning into a nice three act structure, with the addition of a fourth. It kind of shakes the flow a bit and it doesn't help that I wrote myself into a corner. I've got a path to the finish now and I intend to get there, but this is all just the first, rough draft. It's been an interesting experiment and is way beyond anything I've tried before - especially sharing it piece by piece like this. Once it's done, I know most of my readers will wander off, and I'm thankful so many have hung around - but the next step will be to print it out so I can read it as a whole (really for the first time)... which will allow me to make edits and maybe make a better story. We'll see.

I'll write a lot more about challenges and tweaks and what I personally liked and didn't when the last chapter goes up, cause I've found it a rather fascinating experience. ;)

[tursi]

8246874
Maybe Celestia was charging her rent? (fixed, thanks!)

[tursi]

8248230
Yes.. things were worse before Ulfrid arrived to 'interpret' Nightmare's orders for her. ;)

[princessmercury]

Excited now that almost eveis reunited. Look foward how they solve fighting Sombra woth there limited power.

[tursi]

8249898
Aw, don't be so put out Twilight, you can wear it next time! :)

[Midknight Defender]

8226864
Just as well. Daybreak Games killed Norrath. It's a bad omen!

[TheWindrunner]

Finally got around to reading, and I say I'm relatively disappointed at how fast the situation with Celestia was handled.

I also find it weird, this entire plot with Sombra. It was a little idea that was convoluted to make a key point of the plot.

But hey, it's your story, and we are nearing the climax. Waiting with eyes open 👀

[tursi]

8257307
Which issue with Celestia... between her and Luna? Another has told me that too. But they never meant to be at each other's throats, and a single conversation doesn't mean that everything is resolved. I've tried from the beginning to show that each wants to reconcile. I'm curious what you'd have liked to have seen?

Their reconciliation in the show amounted to two sentences. I've got at least six! ;)

I agree, the whole Crystal Empire arc is awkward, though I need to come up with a better way to get Celestia down from Solar Flare. But I'll get to the end before I go back to the beginning, since it's just a couple more chapters. In the meantime, there are still some good scenes to pull out. ;) It may be possible to keep it and rework the structure to make more sense, but I'm too close. I need to back up and then read it as a whole to see.

Suggestions are always welcome, too. ;)

[TheWindrunner]

8258290
Sorry to break it to you but Hasbro has made the name Daybreaker canon. Rip the fandom.

[tursi]

8258295
Hehe, not that it matters, but for sake of argument - we can actually argue that "Daybreaker" is /not/ canon. ;)

Remember that everything we saw in that sequence was simply Starlight's nightmare. It wasn't a projection or a spell or mind reading, just a straight-up stress dream. The only fact that can actually be extracted is that Starlight thinks an evil Celestia would be named Daybreaker. It never happened, so we don't know for sure. Only Celestia knows what she'd name herself. ;)

[Enza Ren]

Celestia smiled gently. "Give her a chance. She will be very helpful to you, and it is too dangerous to send you alone."

Me:Don'tmakethejokedon'tmakethejokedon'tmakethejokeDon'tmakethejokedon'tmakethejokedon'tmakethejokeDon'tmakethejokedon'tmakethejokedon'tmakethejokeDon'tmakethejokedon'tmakethejokedon'tmakethejoke

My Brain: "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this."