Light's Rising, Shadow's Fall

by jwizard

Chapter Six: Following the Trail...

Equestria, Hoofington, 03-11-05, 11:33 P.M. A.N.M. (After Nightmare Moon)

Within minutes of the explosion, a detachment of Captain Merit’s guards-ponies had the site surrounded. The forensic ponies were sifting through the rubble, doing their best to push down their anger and sadness at the loss of two of Equestria’s greatest heroes.

Royal Merit himself was apoplectic at the news that his remaining aide-de-camp had given him; the other stallion had abruptly disappeared several minutes before the explosion. “What do you mean we’ve lost contact with Canterlot?!” he shouted angrily.

“That’s precisely what I mean, sir,” the stallion said apologetically. “All telegraph and the new crystal telephone lines between Canterlot and Hoofington have been severed. Not only that, all attempts to use dragonfire-infused crystals have met with failure as well.”

“Well, contact the Solar and Lunar Guard detachments and have them send word to Canterlot! The last thing we need is to be cut off!” The captain stomped his forehooves in anger.

The corporal shook his head. “We’re cut off from them as well sir. Barriers have been put in place, ones that we’re so far unable to penetrate.” Another stallion approached the two officers with a scroll. The corporal read the contents of the scroll in shock. “Sir, we’ve just received word that a force shield has surrounded Hoofington Central. Plus, a second series of moment fields have blocked off every egress point in and out of the city.”

“What in the HAY is going on in my city?!” Merit shouted. “Corporal, get the word out to the rest of our boys. We NEED to find Princess Twilight Sparkle, Dame Rainbow Dash, and Corporal Clever Marigold NOW!”

“With all due respect Captain, I don’t think anything could have survived an immolation explosion such as that,” a new voice said in a condescending tone. Merit looked to see Commander Ironside of the local Equestrian Guard approach the area he and his stallions were occupying. “Even such a lauded mare wouldn’t be able to escape in time.”

Merit didn’t bother to hide his distrust or disgust of the younger unicorn. “Commander,” he sneered, causing the younger pony to bend his ears back in anger, “in case you hadn’t noticed, Princess Twilight Sparkle is an alicorn. Even if she hadn’t seen it coming, she still would have been able to safely secure herself and her entourage quite handily.”

“Then where are they Captain? Hiding?” the commander asked snidely.

A few minutes prior…

Once the three made their way into the shared stateroom they were going to stay in for the remainder of their time in Hoofington, Twilight closed the door before sealing the room.

Within moments, the seal popped. Scowling, Twilight tried again. This time the seal caused runes embedded in the floor, walls, and ceiling to flash, burning them out. Twilight smirked.

“Twilight, what the HAY is going on?!” Rainbow Dash yelped. “I felt those whatever-they-were burn out!” The pegasus shivered.

“So did I, which means they were specifically targeted to unicorn mana,” Marigold said. Her expression was as intense as Twilight’s.

“We don’t have time for explanations right now,” the alicorn said. Working quickly, she cast a series of dispelling runes over her and Rainbow’s luggage. Several flashes dissolved the immolation and anti-shrinking runes that had been placed on the bags. Another flash from Twilight’s horn heralded a shrinking spell. “Marigold, could you please place those in your bag? The less we have to carry right now the better.” The unicorn nodded before levitating the now shrunken bags to her first pouch.

Twilight walked over to where a dresser was standing against the far wall. She first cast a series of dispelling spells on it, watching as the spells caused runes embedded in the wood itself to flare before being burned away. Each one caused Rainbow to flinch as her mana responded to them.

Twilight then lifted the dresser out of the way before approaching the wall behind it. Leveling her horn at what appeared to be a blank wall, Twilight shoved the appendage into a hidden slot. Runes appeared on the wall; shortly thereafter, the wall revealed itself to be a door similar to the vault that once held the Elements of Harmony.

Twilight caused light globes along the tunnel to illuminate, before gesturing to her companions to precede before her. Before she too descended down the tunnel, Twilight used her alicorn mana to conjure three perfect replicas to appear in the beds. She then set spells on the hidden door, the dresser, and a timer spell on her sealing bubble.

When she and the others were gone, the timer spell reversed the sealing spell. Simultaneously, the door sealed itself, conjured bags appeared, and the dresser floated over to its prior location. A last series of spells that Twilight had laid inside the sealing spell were finally triggered; these spells restored all of the runes that had been burned away, then sucked all of Twilight’s spent mana into a bubble which was then pulled into a pocket of null-space.

It was not a moment too soon as the door opened up to reveal the ‘butler’. He took a look at the apparently sleeping ponies, then cast a series of spells to ensure they remained asleep. Using a sweeping spell, he confirmed that the sealing runes were still in place, though he did notice that the hidden door had been triggered. Likely when the mistress checked to make sure the seals would also seal the door, the treacherous stallion thought to himself. He then teleported away, to make sure that they didn’t attempt to use the hidden tunnels out.

This would prove to be a mistake.

---

Several minutes later, the mares were making their way towards the end of a series of tunnels.

Suddenly,Twilight stopped, and abruptly shoved Marigold out of the way as a mana bolt flashed down the corridor.

The pop of a teleport sounded behind Rainbow Dash as the ‘butler’ appeared, holding a knife with a wicked-looking black blade aloft in his telekinesis. He swiped at Rainbow’s left wing, only to have it blocked by a strong application of moonlight.

Rainbow lunged to the stallion’s side, slapping his head with her wing. An application of moonlight delivered by her use of Arcane Wing disrupted his hold on the knife, which fell to the cobblestone-covered floor. Rainbow pivoted on her front hooves before delivering a powerful back kick to the stallion’s hindquarters. His back legs gave out as Rainbow’s shifting mana temporarily shifted to strong earth pony mana; unintentionally, she had broken the unicorn’s spine in three places.

The now angry stallion’s next move was the worst mistake he could ever make. Conjuring a ball of viscous black mana on his horn, the stallion made to end the altercation in the fastest way he knew how.

A thin beam of dark purple energy punched through his head, right at the base of his left ear. The stallion dropped dead on the spot. Twilight galloped over to the corpse, and smashed her front hooves down on its blackening horn.

Ripples went up and down the tunnel as the mana that had been poured into sealing runes was dissipated. Twilight rapped her right hind hoof in a complicated sequence. Two stallions wearing the armor of her Dusk Guard appeared. She nodded at the corpse. The two nodded without speaking. Using their levitation in sequence, the stallions lifted the corpse up before using a teleportation bubble to return to the Lunar Guard Barracks.

“Let’s go girls; I really want some answers, and I know just the pony to ask,” Twilight said in anger.

Rainbow Dash and Clever Marigold nodded, both wanting answers from the alicorn, yet not wanting to risk her temper at that time. The three mares made their way down the tunnel, following the trail of breadcrumbs that they had found.

---

Several hours had passed as the detachment of Equestrian and Solar Guards-ponies waited for news concerning the princess and her entourage. Study of the remains of the Governor’s Manor confirmed that none of the mares had actually been present; the residue that was thought to be left over from Dame Rainbow Dash proved to be the leftovers of a perfect simulacrum.

“In fact, I would hazard to say that Clover the Wise would be hard pressed to create simulacra as good,” a talented Solar mage said in admiration. “Princess Twilight is truly skilled in the magic disciplines.”

“Save the praise; as far as I’m concerned, she’s just another jumped-up pegacorn trying to play at being a princess,” Ironside said in a condescending tone.

“Well, she obviously has more than a few skills, something that comes as no great surprise to me,” the Governor stated. The mare gave the guard commander a stern glare. “And even if she was just a ‘pegacorn’, she’s still far more skilled in magic than anypony else save the princesses.”

“Oh please, how can you be sure that she even created those spells?” Ironside scoffed. “Sure, when she was still a unicorn, she was one of the more skilled. At least,” he mused in a sardonic tone, “that’s what the pegasus and earth pony lover would have us believe anyway.”

“IRONSIDE!” the Governor bellowed. “Your suprematist beliefs have no bearing on this conversation! Nor do I appreciate the insinuation that one of our brightest is a cheater! One more comment like this, and this will be the last day you serve as this city’s Guard Commander!”

“I’d like to see you try, Your Excellency,” the unicorn stallion said in a cold tone. “I was appointed to this position by a vote of the Hoofington Assembly, and neither you nor any other member of City Hall has any overt authority over me. Even you, Captain, cannot do anything to me.” The stallion slammed his forehoof onto the table. “As long as what I express is simply an opinion, you have no grounds to dismiss me.”

The unicorn mare made to comment on this statement, only to have the meeting rudely interrupted. “Captain, we have word from the Lunar and Dusk Guard!” The aide-de-camp produced a scroll bearing both Luna’s and Twilight’s Cutie Mark.

Merit broke the seals on the scroll and began to read its contents. His expression became one of angered satisfaction as he nodded at each of the points. “Well, I can’t say as this came as a surprise, considering several of those recently named here are your bosses, Ironside.” The unicorn smiled a happy, vengeful grin. “I have the happy task of placing you under arrest Ironside.”

The stallion smirked. “Oh, you would, if these were your ponies Merit.” The stallion walked over to the only door which wasn’t manned by his stallions. “It looks like the fraud managed to get away yet again. Ah well; you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.”

The governor was beside herself with anger. “This is treason Ironside,” she spat. “I hope you like being statuary, as you’ll be spending eternity as a statue.”

“Oh, I don’t think so,” the unicorn waved a forehoof in an off-hoofed manner. “See, the Hoofington Assembly has grown tired of the laws that Canterlot and other cities have handed down.” He scowled. “Laws that favor mud ponies and pigeons over the noble unicorns.” His muzzle took on the expression of a zealot.

“This would be treason if we had tried to kill any citizen of Equestria.” His tone mocking, Ironside continued. “However, since all the evidence you have is in that scroll, it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to prove anything.”

Ironside’s posturing was halted when a scintillating bolt of mana flared in the center of the room. Everypony save himself, the captain, the mayor, and the pegasus corporal found themselves unable to cast a spell.

“Ironside, did you honestly think I was that much of a foal to send the only copy here?” a feminine voice asked, its tone one of incredulity. The far wall shimmered as three forms came out of the cloaking veil they were under.

Smirking, Twilight walked forward. “You really are a foal Ironside. I didn’t tell the others that there was a name at the top of the list, pulling all the strings.” The alicorn snorted. “I gave you a chance seeing as you weren’t directly involved. However,” and here Twilight’s expression became one of unfettered anger, “when you tried not once, but three times to kill my friends and I, your beliefs went from the disharmonic ramblings of a syncophantic nut-job to those of a treacherous, evil pony.”

Before Twilight could say more, the commander teleported himself next to the governor. Leveling a cored sword that he conjured, the stallion snarled at the alicorn. “Take one more step, you sawed-off lesbian freak, and I’ll chop this dyke’s head off.”

Twilight’s eyes flared a bright white. Before the stallion was even able to react, twin bolts of mana came from nowhere; one struck the sword, disabling his levitation aura, while the other struck him in the chest, propelling him against the far wall.

The stallion bounced back to his hooves with a growl. A crack of teleportation sounded as he vanished. The purple alicorn snorted, swiping her horn in a broad sweep.

With a series of staccato cracks, the stallion suddenly appeared next to Rainbow Dash. Leveling his sword, Ironside did his best to take off the mare’s head, avarice and hatred written in every line of his form.

Twilight’s anger went super-nova. Her crystal stave appeared in a flash of bright sunlight. The weapon twirled as it struck the blade of the cored weapon.

The blade shattered on impact, the blast also obliterating the hilt. The stallion shrieked in rage before leveling a scintillating wave of mana at the only target in his range; Clever Merigold.

Twilight blocked the strike with a shield made up of pure alicorn magic. Simultaneously, she brought her now brightly glowing stave down hard on the stallion’s horn.

An incandescent flash heralded a channeled spell that spiraled down the unicorn’s horn. The stallion gave a wholly un-equine shriek of pain as his body was turned to stone.

Runes appeared on the stallion’s body; they wrapped around his barrel and cannons. They were pulsating in a cacophony of chaotic colors.

Twilight’s eyes flared even brighter; her horn began to spark. Channeling the power of both Selene and Solaris, the lavender alicorn spoke one word in an intense voice:

“Starfall.”

An elegant sword flashed into being, one that caused the ponies in the room to gasp in awe. The blade was bright crystal; long and slender, it spoke of the elegance of the alicorn that summoned it.

The hilt was far from simple however. Unlike the blade of the other alicorns, this one reflected those that Twilight held close in her heart.

Upon the cross beams were a series of gems. Red, orange, purple, yellow, pink, white, azure, blue; every color representative of the ponies in her inner circle.

Upon the base of the hilt was a tricolored gem. Red, yellow, and orange dominated the shield upon it, with red being the central theme.

The pommel was a sculpted version of her starburst Cutie Mark; only lacking the white stars.

Twilight brought both her sword and stave together in a crosswise fashion facing North. Immediately, two separate powers began to channel through both weapons.

Starfall channeled the raw force of Solaris’ might, while the crystal stave channeled the cool resolve of Selene. Twilight levitated both of them to an equidistant point on either side of the unicorn that was now a statue. It was a measure of her connection to both weapons that they were moving without her characteristic lavender aura.

Twilight, her eyes still glowing, teleported another object into the room. A starburst formed in front of her; the selfsame jem she used as a hearthstone charm.

This object channeled her own power, that of both Friendship and Harmony. The princess stomped her hooves in front of the statue, causing a spider-webbing of runes to form around the former pony.

Twilight walked closer; a ring of purple formed around the horn of the statue. A flash broke the counter effect the chaos runes were causing. She then looked deeply into the statue’s eyes and seized the knowledge of magic the stallion once possessed.

The knowledge contained in the vise-like mind of the one alicorn nopony should want as an enemy, Twilight twisted the chaotic runes into their pure form. Said runes began to shift; a spider-webbing of them surrounded the still-colorful Cutie Marks on Ironside’s flanks.

The statue’s eyes glowed; its mouth opened in yet another un-equine scream as the new runic pattern devoured its knowledge of magic. Twilight continued twisting both the internal and external runes, not stopping until the very talent of the pony was bound.

While this was going on, Rainbow Dash noticed that Twilight’s coat started to take on a darker purple. Only realizing what she was doing subconsciously, Rainbow grasped the Harmonic connection between herself and Twilight, sending a sense of calmness down the link.

Twilight’s mind settled back into the state of an alicorn meeting out justice. Even so, she continued until the ritual was completed. Once it was finished, she surrounded the now-completely petrified stallion in a teleportation sphere, sending him to the Judge’s Chamber in Canterlot.

She then turned and teleported away with a bright flash.

The others were just shocked at the display; even the Captain had never seen such mastery of magic.

The ponies all left to fulfill the orders Twilight had given. Nopony but one knew that the Princess of Friendship had teleported away so she could lose her tears in peace.

That one followed her in the same fashion once she had left the others, proving once again how loyal she was.

---

The pop of a teleport went unnoticed by Twilight. Rainbow Dash shook off the ringing in her ears as she approached the bed her sobbing friend was lying upon.

“Twi, are you alright?” she asked the alicorn in concern.

Twilight looked up at Rainbow Dash before shaking her head. The pegasus climbed onto the bed and pulled her friend into her hooves.

Twilight continued to sob almost uncontrollably. Rainbow somehow knew that this was a release of all the stress she’d been under for quite awhile. “Twi, I’m here for you; let it all out,” she said, her voice soothing.

Rainbow Dash’s uncharacteristically soft voice continued to soothe her friend. Eventually, the purple furred princess stopped sobbing as hard, hiccuping occasionally. Finally, Twilight looked at the friend who was cradling her like a foal. “I’m sorry Rainbow Dash; I couldn’t help it.”

The alicorn grabbed some more tissues to blow her nose. “I came so close to losing myself in there; I could have killed him!”

“Twilight, listen to me,” the pegasus said sternly. “The fact that you were able to pull yourself away from the brink shows that you weren’t willing to stoop to his level.” Rainbow stroked Twilight’s mane in comfort. “You’ve showed incredible heart in all of this.” She pushed her away a little to stare into her eyes. “But why would you let the words of some two-bit traitor get to you, huh? That’s not the Twilight Sparkle I know.”

Twilight moved away from her friend. “I really shouldn’t have; I just can’t hide the fact that I feel like a total freak at times! It’s bad enough that I get called a useless pegacorn, but when they toss accusations of me being gay in, it really gets under my skin. As if that had anything to do with my being suitable for my crown or not.”

Twilight sighed. “I mean, I know it really doesn’t matter, but why do spurned stallions have to jump to THAT conclusion with me every time?! And why do they have to say it as if it’s something dirty, or unclean?!”

“I never asked for all of this!” the alicorn shouted. “I never wanted this crown, these wings; I was happy with my life!” Tears started to run down her muzzle again. “All I ever wanted was to learn magic; to be able to do something like Celestia did that could bring awe to ponies’ eyes.”

Rainbow Dash looked at her friend. A number of pieces suddenly fell into place for her, some of which she wasn’t aware of at that moment. “Twi, is there something you’re not telling me?” the pegasus asked quietly. “Did you have history with Ironside or something?”

Twilight nodded. “His father got it into his head to offer him as a potential suitor to me. My parents and I told the both of them to go buck themselves.” She sighed again. “I refused him primarily because ambitious stallions like him only ever went after me because of who my teacher was.”

Twilight walked over and got a cup of the water that was standing on the nearby nightstand. She drank deeply to soothe her throat from all of the crying before she continued. “The other reason was that I was interested in another pony at the time, and didn’t want the attention.”

“Who Twi? Anypony I know?” Rainbow asked curiously.

Twilight nodded, blushing a bright red.

“Well?” the pegasus prompted.

“Lyra Heartstrings,” The purple alicorn mumbled, her blush deepening by several degrees.

“Lyra? Wow Twi, you really know how to pick them,” Rainbow said, a sneaky, teasing grin appearing on her muzzle.

Twilight just blushed even harder before doing her best to get control of her raging emotions. She walked over to sit next to her friend. “I was kind of sad that she got with Bon-Bon after she left Canterlot; I should have just taken the chance.”

Rainbow looked at the cute pony sitting next to her. “So, how long have you known you were gay Twi?” she asked.

“Since I first hit puberty,” the alicorn said at length. “That’s part of why I was never interested in having many friends.” She sighed in frustration. “It only added fuel to the fire that every stallion I turned down almost immediately thought that; as if it were some kind of plague.”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, I know how that is; I’ve had many of the same accusations leveled at me over the years. I prefer to think of them as small minded; it’s none of their bucking business who or what I’m into.” Rainbow looked at her friend. “How many of our friends know?”

Twilight looked thoughtful at this. “Aside from you and Spike, the only one that knows anything is likely Fluttershy. She hasn’t come right out and said anything, but I know she at least expects something.”

Rainbow smiled a little at that. “Yeah, she’s the greatest when it comes to things like that.” The pegasus got up. “Well, I hate to say this Twi, but we’ve still got something of a crisis on our hooves.” She looked around the room they were in. “Um, how exactly did I get here though?”

Twilight looked startled, then facehooved. “You don’t know?” Rainbow shook her head. “Rainbow Dash, your instincts are breaking out all over the place. At least tell me you were alone before you followed me here.”

Rainbow nodded before freezing, as she suddenly realized the how. “You mean I teleported?!” she yelped in fear.

Twilight nodded. “It’s not as hard as ponies think, though it does take a considerable amount of control over one’s mana.” Twilight hugged her friend, helping to calm the now-panicking mare down. “It’s ok Rainbow Dash; I’m here. I’ll help you cope.”

Twilight smiled. “And the best way I know to do that is for us to put our snouts to the grindstone.” Her smile turned to a grin. “Wanna see if you can do it consciously?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. Concentrating briefly, the pegasus focused on wanting to be where she was before. With a flash, she teleported them both as smoothly as if Twilight herself would have, going back to the trail of breadcrumbs they left behind.

---

Author's Note:

Told you it wouldn't be very long.

I think this is the first time I've ever loaded chapters this close together. I didn't like the idea of making my readers wait too long.

I know it's short; the next few chapters are going to be.

Sorry in advance; I'm trying to break the habit of excessively long exposition pieces.

Comments

[Ephedianroyalty]

THIS deserves more attention.