• Published 11th Jun 2012
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Internal Darkness - Silver Sorcerer



All the Magic, mystery, and murder a pony can ask for in the gleaming spires of Canterlot. Enjoy!

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Chapter 11

Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all associated characters, settings and stories are the rightful subjects of Hasbro, the HUB, Studio B, and Lauren Faust.

Chapter 11

Shining Armor emerged from the tent slowly, his face grave and solemn. The five girls stood before him, all wearing expressions of worry. He looked at each of them slowly before speaking.

"It has come to my attention that sometime last night Princess Luna committed suicide in her bedroom in Canterlot."

Nopony moved a muscle as the words hit them like a brick wall. It was one thing to hear it from Fluttershy and Pinkie; quite another to hear from Shining Armor.

"I must tell you all that given the now sad and potentially dangerous circumstances this puts Equestria in, I must return to Canterlot immediately."

The girls lowered their heads, none of them willing to make eye contact with him.

"Must you go?" asked Rarity.

"I'm afraid so."

"What happens to us now? We can't just give up on Twilight," said Rainbow Dash.

"I know and that's why you five are staying here and continuing the search for Twilight."

Somewhere between shock and understanding laid the girl's emotions.

"I know it's not easy for any of you but it's even harder for me. You are not bound by duty so you don't have to worry about the State of Equestria. I do so when something like this happens, I have to resume my role as Captain of the Royal Guard."

"Do ya' think ya'll be able ta join us later?" asked Applejack.

Shining Armor shook his head. "I don't think so. I'm not sure what I'll find in Canterlot but I'm certain that it will command my full attention. I'm sorry girls."

"Oh it's not your fault, Shining," lamented Fluttershy. "We understand but we can't just believe Princess Luna would give up so easily."

"I can't believe it either and that's why I want to head back to Canterlot as quickly as possible. I want to investigate."

Everypony nodded and Pinkie asked, "Do you know what will happen with the sun and moon?"

Shining Armor shook his head. "I have no idea but I do hope there is a solution and a fast one at that."

"So, who's ruling Equestria now?" asked Rarity.

"According to a document signed both by Celestia and Luna, should either or both of them be incapable of ruling their highest advisor, Magicon, is to take up the reigns."

Everypony felt comforted in the fact that Magicon was now in charge of Equestria. He was a kind and smart unicorn. He would know what to do and how to rule Equestria.

"He's already been busy," continued Shining Armor. "He was the pony who contacted me and is already investigating her apparent suicide."

"Does any other ponies know?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"No and I insist that you keep this amongst yourselves. Do not tell Twilight when you find her. She'll need comfort, not more bad news and if she runs off again I won't be able to send guards after her."

"We understand, Shining," said Applejack.

"Will you all be alright on your own?"

"Oh absolutely, Shining," said Rarity.

"Don't forget that we initially planned on finding Twilight without you anyway, so it won't be a problem now," added Rainbow Dash.

"Do be careful. In this dark, there are many creatures that lurk around these mountains. And stay warm. With no sun Equestria is going to be a lot colder."

They nodded as Shining Armor telekinetically grabbed his things and brought them over to a carriage that had magically appeared earlier.

He sighed, "Well, I guess this is good-bye."

Fluttershy walked up to him and put a friendly hoof to his face, her gentile smile showing great comfort and compassion. "Don't worry about us, Shining. We'll find your sister and bring her back safe and sound."

"Please do. If anything happened to my sister I would never forgive myself."

"You won't have to. Like Fluttershy said, we'll find her and bring her back," added Rainbow Dash.

"Do you have all your effects?" asked Rarity.

He nodded. "You better get going yourselves, if the sun was up it would nearly be mid-day."

The girls slowly nodded as they all circled him.

"Take care of yourselves and Twilight, please."

"We will, Shining. Ah promise," said Applejack who hugged him.

The rest of the girls joined in and hugged Shining Armor who returned the hugs. The remained hugging for a few long moments before they broke off and Shining Armor climbed into the chariot now being pulled by the two Royal Guards.

With a heavy heart Shining Armor gave the order and they began beating their wings and prepared to take off. As the chariot slowly rose from the ground Shining Armor looked back at the girls, small tears in his eyes.

'I'm abandoning you, Twilly,' he thought. 'I promised I would find you and now I am breaking it. Is my duty really that important to me? Does it really mean putting my family aside and Equestria first? Oh, I love my family and love Equestria. Why can't I straddle both? Am I just a bad Captain? I don't know. I just don't know.'

He looked back one final time at the girls which were now growing smaller as his chariot picked up speed and altitude. He waved as them and saw them wave back before the clouds obscured his view of them and he turned forward and waited to find a changed Canterlot and a changed Equestria.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Magicon sat in his chamber, papers and books scattered about him. All were on one simple subject: the sun and moon. While Equestria was in the dark about Luna, literally and figuratively, Magicon had no time to dwell on it. His sole thoughts and words were focused on finding a way to raise the sun and raise the moon afterwards. Equestria was counting on him and he must not let fail them, otherwise crops would die, ponies would starve, revolt, and overthrow him, something Magicon was sure to avoid at all costs.

"I just don't get it. I've sent astronomers, physicists, librarians, and scholarly ponies on missions to find and research any and all information about the sun and moon. And they've found nothing on what I'm looking for. I know it's possible that unicorns can raise them but I have no knowledge on how to do it and we can't find anything. I'm skeptical that there would be any information on the ancient methods, to begin with, and this failure isn't helping. Unicorns have not raised the celestial bodies since the arrival of the alicorns, and that skill was lost in time.

"I won't give up though. I have hope. I have to find a way to save Equestria. I must do it. It is my first duty to put everypony before me and how can anypony do better than finding a way to raise the celestial bodies? Should I succeed, everypony will idealize me as their true ruler. Raising the sun and moon will not only save everypony in Equestria but will immortalize me as a legendary pony."

He smiled to himself at the spoken thought.

"While I am not able to do it myself, sadly, the ancient story of the three tribes stated that groups of unicorns could do it so it can be done. It must be done. Yet my researchers and I have found nothing on how they did it. Somepony must've recorded it. It must be somewhere unless…"

A small fire ignited inside him as he thought of the only pony that would destroy the records of ordinary ponies raising the sun and moon: Celestia.

"Celestia," he spit the word out. "Damn her. Damn her to Tartarus. She would do something like this. She would destroy any information pertaining to how unicorns raised the sun and moon. She was and would be the only pony who knew how to raise the sun. It was her way of cementing her tyrannical rule. If a group of unicorns had the knowledge on how to do it, they could control the very thing that made her god-like and Equestria's unquestioned princess. She would not tolerate that. She destroyed everything she could get her hoofs that explained the way she did it. Just another of the dark marks of her rule."

Standing up, fire in his eyes, he angrily threw the papers and books aside.

"I should've kept Celestia alive. Captured, tortured, and hurt her, but alive. Make her answer for her crimes against Equestria and everypony. Make her reveal her secrets. Make her suffer and then kill her. I was foolish to think a quick and easy path would solve our problems. Even with her dead I could've asked Luna on her secrets and she could've revealed them. But instead, I worked too fast and rushed. Sure, they are both dead but their secrets lie with them. As a result, Equestria is now in darkness and I'm trying to desperately find a solution. I…I-"

There was a knock at the door and Magicon ceased his rant and answered it. The Royal Astronomer, Starry Skies, stood before him with papers and books about him. Magicon escorted him in and sat him down.

"Anything?" he asked.

"Why yes, Magicon. There is something." He searched through his papers to find an old and tattered scroll. Unrolling it Magicon could see that the parchment had faded considerably but the ink was still readable, even with its extensive cursive.

Scanning through the document the astronomer found the line and pointed to it. "Read it."

"Had it not been for that mysterious brown pony we would have surely starved that winter. We do not now where he came from and we do not know where he went. He disappeared after the celebration but we know that he will not be forgotten to our kind. We-"

"That's enough, Magicon," stated Starry Skies as Magicon stopped and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"I don't understand, what does this have to do with the sun and moon?"

"It doesn't."

"Then why are you wasting my time?"

"Time, that's exactly it, Magicon. Who is the only pony who knows more about time and space than-"

"The Doctor!" Magicon exclaimed. "Oh, you are a genius! Thank you so much! We must find him; he will know how to solve our problem. Guards, Guards! Send for The Doctor immediately."

"Magicon, I should warn you that The Doctor is a strange pony. Sometimes he's willing to work with us and sometimes he's not. He especially doesn't like me."

"Why?"

"He has great knowledge of time, whereas I have great knowledge of the stars. We often collide with our interpretations of events and their effects."

"That's of little importance right now. Right now we must find with The Doctor. He's the only one who will be able to solve our problem."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The girls remained silent and motionless as they watched Shining Armor disappear into the clouds. The lights on his chariots faded as the distance between him and the girls increased. When the last of him disappeared the girls just looked at each other in the darkness.

"Ah just can't believe it," Applejack mumbled.

"Can anypony?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I don't think so," answered Rarity.

"One gone was bad enough but now two? This is unbearable." Pinkie Pie stated.

"And in such a short time too," added Rainbow Dash.

"This is just so wrong," lamented Rarity.

"So…um…what do we do now?" asked Fluttershy.

"We go," said Rainbow Dash coldly.

"Go?"

"Yes, go. We have a friend to find and save. Even with Luna gone I'm not letting our friend to die up here in these cold mountains."

"Rainbow's right," agreed Rarity. "Our friend is here and we have to find her and save her now more than ever. Without any sun or moon, it's going to be even more difficult to find her."

"Shining Armor also said it was noon-time right now, so Ah suspect we can gets a goin'," added Applejack.

"But…but…it's so dark and cold. How will we even see where we are going?" asked Fluttershy.

"I can generate some light with my horn and I packed lanterns and other things that will help us find our way," said Rarity.

"You really did pack everything, didn't you?" teased Rainbow Dash.

"Why, yes. I did."

"And what 'bout the animals and other wild creatures up here?" asked Applejack.

"We have Fluttershy who can tame the most vicious of beasts," said Pinkie while Fluttershy was thankful it was dark enough to hide her red cheeks. Surprisingly, Pinkie was speaking more much to the relief of the girls, though she still wore her straight mane.

"Shining Armor and the Royal Guards won't be watching us or Twilight anymore," said Rainbow Dash. "We'll be on our own."

"We've been in trickier spots before, Dashie, Ah think we can handle this," said Applejack.

"I hope so," finished Fluttershy.

They slowly walked back to their camp and began dissembling it. The process was slow and time consuming and the cold, dark atmosphere didn't help. Half the time they heard an unexpected noise, whether it was from the girls themselves or the woods, Fluttershy jumped and took cover under whatever was closest to her, much to annoyance of everypony.

When they finally packed up an hour later, they set off. Rarity had brought a magical bag which stored everything they could ever need.

"Ya know, Rarity," said Applejack as they walked through the forest, "As much of a clean-freak and somewhat crazy pony ya' are, ya' surely know how ta survive."

"Thank you, Applejack. I'm glad somepony appreciates the hard work I put into this."

"Do you really think we have a real chance of finding Twilight with these lights?" asked Pinkie.

"Pinkie Pie, these lights only let us see five feet in front of us," complained Rainbow Dash. "I can't see anything beyond the first trees on this trail. Twilight could be just off the trail and we would be walking right past her."

"Rainbow, darling," said Rarity. "I don't think our Twilight would be out here in this cold and snow. She's probably in some dark…damp…and…disgusting cave. Oh, that's probably the worst possible thing!"

"Stop gettin' all worked over nothin', Rarity," said Applejack. "Now listen here, we don't know where Twilight is exactly, but we do know that she is in danger if we don't find her soon. She's somewhere in these here mountains so we need to keep our eyes peeled for her."

"Easy for you to say AJ," exclaimed Rainbow Dash. "How can we find her if we can't see ten feet in front of us?"

"Ah don't know, Dashie, but we'll find a way. There's always a way."

They trudged on, silent and disheartened. The little fires inside them were dimming. They still had hope but there wasn't much left. The chances of finding their friend had dropped significantly and now they were somewhere in the mountains in Equestria looking for a lost pony. It was dark, cold, and untamed. Even Rainbow Dash felt humbled by the roughness of their surrounding environment.

Numerous times they thought they saw Twilight or something of here, only for it to turn out to be a trick of their eyes and lights. Their minds played games with them, games they didn't want to play. They were together and had each other but there was another problem that dawned on them.

"How are we ever going to get back to Equestria when we find Twilight" asked Rarity.

"I don't know," said Pinkie.

"If we had the sun I could fly up and find the best route out of here but that isn't the case," said Rainbow Dash.

"Umm…what about Twilight?" asked Fluttershy. "Maybe when we find her she'll know a way out."

"Fluttershy I'm sorry, but Twilight has been running practically blind for a few weeks now. I doubt she even knows where she is," said Rarity.

"Speakin' of which, where are we?" asked Applejack.

They paused and looked around. With only a little light the scenery looked the same with darkness trees, and snow surrounding them. Above them they could see the twinkling stars but that did little to aid them. Rarity fumbled in her bag for a map. When she finally pulled it out, she laid it out on the side of a nearest tree.

"Hmm…well without sunlight it's really a guessing game to find our position. I don't know if we passed any landmarks or things that we could easily identify to track our progress. But judging from our last camp and the time we've been walking at a slower pace I would guess we're somewhere around here." She indicated a small area on the map only a few miles away from their last campsite.

"At this rate we won't reach Twilight's last vicinity for a few more days," Rarity stated.

"Then we need to pick up the pace," said Applejack.

"We do have one thing on our side and that is no sun or moon," added Rarity. "We don't have to walk only in the day because there is no day. We can keep walking until we are tired, though Celestia knows what this will do to my complexion."

"Then let's keep walking," said Rainbow Dash. "Besides this area doesn't look like a nice place to spend the night anyway."

So they pressed onward with more speed as the permanent night sky hung above them. The wind rose and feel like musical lines and the cold air made them shiver, despite their winter garments. They were silent the rest of the journey, mostly from the cold as well as from their growing weariness. When they found an acceptable spot for a campsite, Rarity began setting up the tents while Applejack and Rainbow Dash started a fire. Fluttershy helped Rarity while Pinkie kept a look-out for animals.

When the camp was finished, they each went inside their tents, Rainbow Dash and Applejack in one tent, Rarity and Fluttershy in another, and Pinkie in the final one. None of them talked other than the cordial 'good-nights' before slipping into their tents and falling asleep. They didn't know how far they came and they didn't know how far they would have to go but as long as they remained united in their quest for Twilight they would be alright.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Sir, The Doctor has arrived."

"Send him in."

The Doctor entered the room as Magicon and Starry Skies rose to greet him.

"Doctor, I can't tell you how thankful I am to see you," relieved Magicon as he shook hooves with him.

"Why thank you, Magicon. And it's good to see you too, Starry Skies," replied The Doctor with his elegant accent.

"Nice to see you too," responded Starry Skies with some reservation in his voice.

"Please take a seat and have a cup of tea," suggested Magicon.

The Doctor did so and when he was comfortable he asked, "So what can I help you two with?"

"Well," Magicon began, "As you know the sun has not risen."

"I am well aware of that and what has caused it."

Magicon was not surprised but Starry Skies glared in suspicion at The Doctor.

"Oh come now, Starry," said The Doctor noticing Starry Skies expression, "Don't tell me that your observations of the sky did not show you that something was amiss. Even a somewhat competent pony like you can notice things of this proportion."

Slightly insulted Starry Skies quickly rebutted, "I did but unlike your involvement with time my observations of space are never certain. While time is certain, space is not. I saw something in the stars but it can be interpreted many ways because space is loose unlike time which is fixed."

The Doctor was about to respond before Magicon interjected, "Gentlecolts please. I am not interested in a debate over time and space. Now Doctor, the reason I called you here is because I need your assistance."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Well Starry Skies and I both know that unicorns are capable of raising the sun and moon but we have not found any method on how to do it. We need you to divulge into the past to when unicorns were able to raise the sun and moon and record on how they did it."

"It shan't be a problem, Magicon."

"You must do this immediately. The fate of Equestria rests in your hooves."

"It will be done."

"Thank you, Doctor, and may you achieve full success and speed on your quest."

"Is there anything else you wish to have me do?"

"Oh yes, when you have finished recording everything you can on the process bring the information to me so that we can save Equestria."

"I will do so, Magicon."

"Thank you, Doctor. Now go and do your duty to Equestria."

The Doctor swiftly rose and exited with a formal 'good-bye' to Magicon and Starry Skies before closing the door behind him. When they were alone again Starry Skies turned to Magicon.

"I hope you know what you're doing. You can't trust him."

"The Doctor has been around for as long as I can remember, Starry Skies. He has the greatest knowledge of time of anypony I know. He will succeed with such risks befalling Equestria."

"I hope you're right, Magicon, for Equestria's sake. If not we might be doomed."

Magicon gulped at the thought of The Doctor failing. He mustn't fail or else Magicon's ambitions for glory and honor would fall as well. He was banking everything on The Doctor to successfully find the information on how to raise the sun and moon. The heavy and worrisome burden of success or failure for every single pony rested squarely on Magicon's shoulders and he felt the strain.

Turning to Starry Skies Magicon asked, "Starry, can you leave me for a few minutes?"

"Umm…sure, Magicon."

He quickly exited as Magicon watched him depart. When the door had been closed Magicon sighed and began talking.

"I just don't know if I can do this, Celestia."

"You can, Magicon. I have full faith can confidence in you," responded Princess Celestia.

"Are you sure I'm ready?"

"You are the most able, knowledgeable, and skilled unicorn I know. You possess the experience and the attitude a good ruler needs."

"But you found me as a disgusting street rat."

"You judge yourself too harshly, Magicon. You were far from a street rat. You had fallen on hard times and somepony took their time and energy to take you under their wing. That old gentlecolt who found and educated you should be thanked."

"I have thanked him countless times. There is no way I can ever repay him."

"Sometimes repayment is not required when a pony is generous."

"I guess. Still, I'm very nervous."

"I would be concerned if you weren't. Just relax and put yourself in my hooves. You have diligently observed and learned from me and you will have my advisors to help you with anything you can't handle yourself."

"But what if I make a mistake? What if I'm not good enough?

"We all make mistakes, including me. It's a mistake not to learn from them. I have full confidence in your ability to lead and rule Magicon. You will do great things for Equestria one day."

Magicon sighed and whispered, "Yeah, great things."