The Dreadful Hours
Twilight Sparkle was in thunderous mood, despite the warm and comfortable surroundings of the isolated little corner of her library she had chosen to hide in with Luna. Her head ached so ferociously she couldn't maintain a veil over her scars and fangs, her legs were only just strong enough to support her weight, and little pockets of stabbing pain throughout her body helpfully told her that thirteen of her organs were either damaged or fighting off failure. All of these feelings were familiar to her after months of Luna's vicious, do-or-die style of education, but she'd never been forced to cope with them simultaneously before.
“Shocking how pain always seems greater than the sum of its parts, I know,” Luna said with a gentle smile, almost as if she'd read Twilight's thoughts.
“How does healing hurt more than getting hurt?” Twilight asked, her voice determined but weak and strained. “It makes no sense.”
“Indeed not,” Luna said, “but it is part of what you are. Whenever you are threatened, most pain will fade, and you will be able to fight, even injured as you are now, if it came to that.”
Twilight grunted. “Wouldn't that just make it all worse?”
“Of course, but you would be alive to suffer later,” Luna answered.
“Doesn't do me much good now though, does it?” Twilight muttered, gently rubbing her temple with a hoof.
“You are dissastisfied with how quickly you heal?” Luna asked, quirking an eyebrow.
Twilight glared at Luna, but there was no force behind it, and she sighed bitterly. “I don't mean to be ungrateful, I really don't.”
Luna laughed, a bright sound. “That is not what I meant,” she said, a sly tone in her voice. “There is a way to accelerate the process, you could be healed before dawn.”
Twilight's ears perked, then drooped as she frowned. “Let me guess, feeding?”
Luna nodded. “It is an effective solution. In the old times, my soldiers would travel with a group of ponies whose only purpose was to be fed upon if they were injured in battle.” Twilight blinked, and Luna raised a hoof to forestall the inevitable question. “They were not slaves or prisoners. They were willing and well paid.”
Twilight nodded. “So, I feed, I'm fine again. Makes sense, I think, but... well, last time I killed a pony.”
“You would not need to drink so deeply this time,” Luna told her. “You will rarely need to seriously harm a pony to sustain yourself, only if you delay feeding too long or are injured near death.”
Twilight frowned. “There's got to be a downside, you told me yourself that nothing vampirism can offer is free.”
“Indeed,” Luna said with a level tone. “It would hurt. Terribly, if only for a short time. A few minutes at most.”
Twilight groaned. “Of course it'll hurt. So, I'd have to hunt somepony down, bite them, hope they didn't recognise me, and then get away from them while in horrible pain. This doesn't seem like a very good idea.”
Luna smiled. “The option is there. You could, of course, choose to feed upon one of your friends, they may be willing.”
“No,” Twilight said, her tone utterly exhausted. “They're already terrified of me, and I've got no idea how much of my fight they saw or what they think about it. I can't just show up and say 'hey! I'm really sore, mind if I drink your blood?'” she finished, gesturing tiredly and injecting a caricature of normality into her voice.
Luna chuckled softly and nodded. “That is fair, I suppose, but you are not speaking of all your friends.” Twilight tilted her head, and Luna resisted the urge to laugh at the puppy-like confusion on the young unicorns face. “You and I are friends, are we not?” the Princess asked in a gently mocking tone. “Am I quaking in fear, sitting here with you? Stars above, maybe my throat will be the next to feel your fangs!”
Twilight laughed, then hissed quietly and cradled her head. “You know, that's not a bad idea,” she said quietly, closing her eyes.
Luna's jaw clapped shut and she blinked furiously for a few moments. “That was... that was meant to be humorous, Twilight.”
“And it's not a bad idea,” Twilight retorted, cracking open one eye. “You said I should consider feeding on a friend. You told me you're my friend. Where's the problem?”
Luna glared at the unicorn, who weathered it with a cheeky grin. “Celestia warned me once that you had tremendous capacity to twist words,” Luna said, the cheerful tone in her voice utterly spoiling her ice cold expression, “and now I know she was right. I must admit, I did not think you would so readily agree to feed again so soon.”
Twilight frowned and closed her eye again. “I hurt. A lot. It's incentive. And apparently it'll make me stronger, so next time I might not get hurt so badly.”
Luna snorted. “My blood would certainly make you stronger,” Luna said. “My power is the closest to eternal you could ever consume. It would have certain... effects.” Twilight gestured for her to continue, but Luna made a soft negative sound. “I cannot explain further with any confidence. You would be the first vampony to taste my blood.”
Twilight's eyes snapped open, filled with an electric excitement that banished all the weariness and pain from them. “You mean we'd be breaking new ground? It would be an entirely unique case?” she asked, a quaver of barely contained glee in her voice.
“Yes,” Luna answered thoughtfully. “It was never considered an option in the old times, there were too many vamponies and I am only one...” she trailed off, her own eyes starting to shine with a curious light.
The two stared at each for a silent moment, then Luna sighed. “Neither of us will be satisfied until we know.”
Twilight nodded, awkwardly drawing herself to her hooves and limping towards Luna. “I'll make it quick.”
“Please.”
Twilight's teeth pierced Luna's throat, and then she lost the world in the euphoria of feeding, shuddering waves of pleasure racking her body, but all too soon she felt something hard crash against her head.
She managed to spit out a shocked little grunt as she fell backwards, then the pain began. It wasn't the sharp pain of a freshly broken bone, the grinding agony of a damaged joint, or the throbbing ache of damaged muslces. It was fire, coursing through her, burning out every injury she had, so intense she didn't even have the breath to scream. She thrashed on the library floor underneath Luna's cold gaze for what felt like an eternity, but in reality was under two minutes.
When she stopped thrashing, she started muttering blasphemies under her breath and stood, relieved to find that her strength had returned, and while some of the inferno that had raged through her lingered, it wasn't even enough for her to realise it was pain.
“I did warn you it would be unpleasant,” Luna said, her voice entirely too reasonable for Twilight's liking.
“Did you punch me in the head?” Twilight asked, a little offended.
“No,” Luna said. “I used this,” she explained, hefting a damaged book that described every monster in Equestria. It was rather excessively thick.
“If you didn't taste so good, I'd be upset right now,” Twilight muttered, then her eyes widened slightly. “I just said that out loud, didn't I?”
“You did,” Luna confirmed with a chuckle and a smile. “We have other things to discuss however. Please, sit.”
Twilight groaned and returned to her cushions. “This is going to be a long night.”
The Unconquered Sun sat alone in her chambers, thinking of the past and the sins it held. Somehow, even after centuries of careful guidance and corrections, history simply refused to bend itself to her will. Gods had once obeyed her commands, and now storytellers denied her. It left her feeling equal parts infuriated and amused.
”And I thought I had problems,” a familiar, gently mocking voice whispered in her ear, making her smile.
“My, I haven't spoken to you in centuries. I thought you didn't approve of what I was doing?” she replied.
”I don't,” the voice bluntly informed her. ”You're less than half as clever as you think you are, and you've already outsmarted yourself.”
“Oh? And how have I done that?”
”If you interfere with my bearer's mind again, I will seal your soul in a pebble,” the voice answered, the mocking tone replaced by a calm certainty. ”Is that answer sufficient?”
“Oh? You're checking in on her? Have you spoken yet?” Celestia asked, ignoring the threat.
”You expect me to answer that?” the voice answered, sounding vaguely surprised.
“I could ask her, you know.”
”Soul, pebble.”
“Still obsessed with that idea, I see.”
”I could bury the pebble. Perhaps throw it in the ocean. The possibilities are almost literally endless.”
Celestia smiled widely. “It's been far too long, my old friend.”
”It has,” the voice agreed with a measure of satisfaction. ”Now, shall we cease bickering and act like reasonable beings?”
“I suppose if I refuse my soul will end up in a pebble?”
”Perhaps.”
Hours had passed, it was near dawn, and still Luna was unsatisfied with Twilight's answers.
“I just don't see how it can be done,” Twilight finally groaned, frustrated. “I'm one mare. Even with you and Celestia both that won't be enough to fight a war against those things.”
“Indeed not,” Luna replied, serious. “What do you propose? Do we ask for volunteers? Turn others against their will? Resort to necromancy ourselves and raise an army of the dead? Our options are both poor and limited, and you have contributed little to them.”
“The Elements?” Twilight asked hopefully.
“Will do nothing,” Luna answered with bitter frown. “Their magic is powerful, yes, but our wars with the necromancers in the past have not appeared to be within their power to prevent.”
“What?” Twilight asked, her voice flat. “They can encase a trickster god in stone, they can send you to the moon for a thousand years, but they can't stop necromancers?”
“They can,” Luna clarified, “but they will not. They never have.”
“That makes no sense!” Twilight practically screamed.
“Perhaps not to you and I, but can either of us claim to speak for a power as old as time?” Luna asked, calm and serene.
“Logically speaking, yes,” Twilight muttered with a weak glare.
Luna laughed, drawing a sharper glare from Twilight. “Perhaps, should I live to see time end, I will agree. I have lived a millennium for every moment of your own life, and even I am but a child compared to the Elements. What can I foresee that they cannot? If they choose to play no part, I trust that there is a reason.”
“I'm a Bearer,” Twilight pointed out. “I'm supposed to choose when to use them.”
“Yes, I bore three Elements myself. My sister once commanded all six. We also devoted quite a number of years to studying the Elements, all that we discovered is that we knew nothing, not even our own purposes as Bearers.”
Twilight groaned and stared dejectedly at the floor. “I can't do it,” she eventually said, quiet and strained. “I can't, the Elements can't, you can't, Celestia can't, the Royal Guard certainly can't...”
Luna frowned, leaned forwards, and firmly smacked Twilight on the horn. “Did my sister and I teach you to accept defeat so readily?” she said, cutting off Twilight's angry stream of expletives with another sharp rap. “Is it a natural failure of yours?” Another rap. “How do you propose we break you of this habit?”
“You could stop hitting me,” Twilight said, deadpan. “Or is beating up smaller ponies a natural failure of yours?”
Another rap followed by a questioning eyebrow.
“Okay!” Twilight conceded. “I get it. Solution time. Let's brainstorm.”
Luna nodded and leaned back, satisfied. “Our first option is to do nothing,” Luna said as she settled herself more comfortably her cushions. “I assume you can see the many problems inherent in that plan.”
Twilight nodded. “Second option is to try and stand as we are now,” the unicorn said, “which is almost as flawed. So, we need to change the circumstances, then we can worry about the specifics of what we need to do.”
Luna gestured for Twilight to continue, and the unicorn thought for a moment. “I still say we need more ponies like me,” she said eventually. “If there were a dozen, maybe we could make it work if you and Celestia fought with us, but it wouldn't be easy. I'd rather have at least double that.”
“Impossible,” Luna muttered. “My sister would never allow it.”
“So we don't ask her,” Twilight said.
Luna couldn't keep a measure of surprise from showing on her face. “What you suggest could be considered rebellion against the Crowns,” the alicorn pointed out, her tone cautious and carefuly neutral. “My sister frowns upon fighting forces not directly loyal to her. It was a month of arguing before she even allowed me to reform a ceremonial Night Guard.”
“At least there'll be Crowns to rebel against,” Twilight argued, a note of passion entering her voice. “Save the country now, justify it later, if we're still here.”
Luna purred deep in her chest, a pleased sound. “I doubt I have ever had a pupil who took to my lessons as well as you, Twilight,” she said, making the unicorn blush faintly. “There is merit in your plan, but I think a dozen vamponies is unrealistic. Half that number, perhaps, with the proper motivation and training. We would not be able to meet the necromancers in open battle, but we could destroy them nonetheless, if we disregarded traditional tactics.”
Twilight frowned. “That's a pretty big gamble,” she said in a thoughtful voice, “but we wouldn't need to destroy them.”
“Oh?” Luna asked.
“Proof of concept,” Twilight elaborated. “A small group to start, completely off the books. If it works, we walk in to Canterlot, barge into Celestia's court, prove it, and then what can she do? Even if she disagrees, you have equal authority, so it would go to a noble vote. They wouldn't dare try to stop us, it would be political suicide.”
“If they disagree anyway?” Luna asked. “Politicians are not always known to be rational.”
Twilight shrugged. “What can they do? Arrest us? If we lose the vote, we do it anyway.”
“Then we are left with no allies and many enemies,” Luna noted. “I posit that, if we followed your plan, Celestia would defy us, the nobles would support Celestia, and that would be the end of our little scheme. We need my sister's support.”
“So how do we get it?” Twilight asked.
“We show her before we show the Court?” Luna asked. “She will never bow to a public challenge, but she can be reasonable in private.”
“That's still a challenge,” Twilight said. “She might not like that.”
“She would be completely enraged,” Luna agreed, “but she may still be reasonable.”
“Wait,” Twilight said, jerking upright. “Necromancers are inherently violent, right?” Luna nodded. “So there will be more attacks.” Luna nodded again, curious. “There's how we get her support. Every time there's an attack we need to be there.”
“We will most assuredly be there,” Luna said. “There are three threats to the necromancers in Equestria at this moment. Two of them are in this room, actively plotting against them. They will seek us out.”
“So we wait,” Twilight said, “and every time a husk or a necromancer tries something, we stop them, and every time we remind Celestia that we're the only ones who can. Make sense?”
Luna nodded. “Sparse, incomplete, but functional. I believe this could work. Shall we sort of the details?”
The two began to do just that.
”War is not the time for ideology,” the voice said for what sounded to Celestia like the thousandth time. ”I will not say your reasoning is unsound, but it will be the ruin of your nation and perhaps your death as well.”
“Action might well be my death, inaction might well be my death,” Celestia said. “As I see it, at least inaction doesn't bring back a second group of ponies who actively want my head on a pike!”
”Oh yes, that,” the voice said, the sarcasm palpable. ”A new army wouldn't be a threat for centuries, if not longer. Necromancers are a threat now.”
“Trading one danger for another is a short term solution,” Celestia argued, “and in this case, it would risk Luna's sanity again. I will not stand for the return of vampirism.”
”Then why is Twilight Sparkle still alive?”
Celestia flinched. “She's an exceptional circumstance, a personal pupil.”
”Yes, Luna's first student since her banishment.”
Celestia fought to control the anger she felt rising in her chest. “She is my student, Luna is simply helping her adjust to her change.”
”If you believe that, you're delusional,” the voice retorted. ”Twilight was always more suited to Luna than she was to you. She's emotional, unstable, neurotic, and blessed with a fantastic amount of power for both causing and solving problems. You spent years making her what you thought she should be, yes, but Luna has taught her to be herself.”
“Has?” Celestia said, her voice sinking as her anger faded. “Past tense? How do you know?”
”I am an Element of Harmony, it is my business to know the mind and will of my Bearer.”
Celestia let out a bitter sigh. “A decade of work, erased. I should have predicted that. I suppose you won't allow me to take her back?”
”She is not yours to take. She is a living mortal being, Celestia, and she has made her decision. You cannot unmake it for her.”
“I can,” Celestia argued, “it wouldn't even be difficult.”
”It would be when I responded in kind,” the voice said in a dreadfully calm tone.
“Threats?” Celestia asked, glaring at the empty air. “I thought we were being reasonable.”
”We were, for a brief, refreshing while. Then you claimed the ability to rule the minds of mortals. Only one being can make a reasonable claim to that power.”
“He is dead,” Celestia shot back. “Billions of years dead, in fact. Why is it so wrong for me to fill the void he left behind?”
”Because he was a God,” the voice explained patiently. ”Jupiter was divine. You are not, and never will be.”
“Oh? You measure divinity now?”
”I always have,” the voice clarified. ”I always will. I would have told you, if you'd thought to ask. But that wouldn't be enough, would it? You always desire to earn more. How strange. I'd have thought you would be content with ruling a nation and having the power to move a star.”
Celestia snorted. “Yes, how great a mare am I, that the nation I rule will be overrun by undead, and all my strength cannot stop it,” she said in a bitter tone, strutting about the room and gesturing grandly. “My student, an undead abomination of a like that tried to kill me, made by the hooves of my very sister,” she continued, her voice raising as she started to slam her hooves against the stone floor of her chambers. “The sister in question, likely to lose all of the progress she's made when she sees another of her precious vamponies killed!” she shrieked, and all the windows in the room shattered simultaneously before she stopped and looked around, a shocked expression on her face. “What a wondrous thing I'm not satisfied...” she trailed off, her voice quiet and sad.
There was silence for a moment, then an electric feeling of satisfaction in the air. ”What if I told you there was a way to solve those problems?” the voice asked, the tone suddenly intense and almost predatory.
“I'd be very curious,” Celestia said quietly, frowning and trying to calm her racing mind. “Explain.”
”Vampirism is deeply flawed, it grants a potentially eternal existence to a creature that is designed to survive a century at the most. If nothing else, time will eventually drive reason from their minds, as happened before. This will not happen to Twilight, she is my Bearer and I will not allow it. The other Elements could do the same for their Bearers, if they were turned. Six vamponies would be a great comfort to Luna, and they would never threaten you. With both our aid and yours, they would even be able to fight the necromancers. It would be a bloody war, and a hard one, but it could be won.”
“You expect me to agree to this?” Celestia asked, dumbfounded. “You think I will willingly release what little control I have over you?”
The voice laughed, simultaneously condescending and celebratory. ”You have no control over me,” it said. ”Besides, the idea isn't mine. I know you better than that. Think, though, it would save thousands of your little ponies lives.”
Celestia winced. “It would, but at what risk?” she asked.
”The greatest risk is that the war is lost and Equestria is destroyed.”
Celestia thought furiously for a moment, then sighed, an altogether too common occurrence of late in her mind. “I'll need certain assurances,” she said, her tone defeated and frustrated.
”You shall have them,” the voice replied, deeply satisfied. ”Now, if you'll excuse me, other matters require my attention.”
“Wait!” Celestia called, but the voice was gone. Cursing softly under her breath, she set about cleaning the broken glass from her floor, wondering if she'd ever manage to match the Element of Magic in one of their little games.
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a damaged book that described every monster in Equestria. It was rather excessively thick. I like this
.
Sunbutt, you are just a BITCH! You know that, right?
6037816 What, no dodge this time?
6037828 Look, Luna will make a
manmare out of Twilight-But I'm already a mare-
DODGE!
AHH!
*Clears throat*
Sorry, but she'll make a mare out of Twilight, and why would I tell Sunbitch to dodge? I WANT her cake-stuffed ass kicked into next episode.
6037844
heheh, you're gonna like it when she starts to get beat down a little, I see.
6037854 yay updaits need more so much good
Wow. Celestia is a cunt.
6037735 She got hit in the head with the monster compendium? that poor skull
6044045 I think it was a dictionary originally.
Edit:
It was a dictionary
6044077 nope. Im gonna keep imagining Twilight with a bunch of RPG books laying around and Luna smacking Twipire with one
6046193
I hope you realise that will be a thing now, somehow. I'll find a way.
6064687 and Im okay with this.
Luna's sanity was fine- until her sister broke her word and slaughtered her comrades - national heroes - like wolves.
And what does that tell you about her?
The letter g in "god" should be lower case. Abraham's descendants refer to the being they worship as "God" because that's what he is, not his name. But they substitute it for his name because speaking it is not a good idea.
I would like to hear more about Jupiter. Is he truly dead? Or is he just no longer interested in the World That Is? After all, if he's the only being with such power, he must be above the Giver, and thus posses his own, infinite(or at least self-regenerating) life force.
Hmm.... No.
6086219 Heh. Not a bad question.
God I hate Celestia, or at least this Celestia, which is for me the closest thing to the Show's Celestia, blind and over-controlling.
It intrigues me that she is worried for Luna's Sanity now that there is a potential return to vampnies when it was Celestia who killed the original vamponies in the first place for a perceived and immaterial (mostly non-existent) plot to overthrow her which caused Luna to go mad in the first place HOW DOES CELESTIA NEVER SEE THIS
Celestia is the problem in all cases, cited here not liking armies not directly loyal to her, even those that could help, (and yet keeps ceremonial and mostly useless guards herself)
God I hate Celestia
Great chapter, I'll review properly at the end
Honora Imperator
7110131
Honestly she probably keeps her guards useless for that same reason, if her paranoia is as palpable as it appears to be.