Light of Day

by PonyUpYourBits

Chapter 3

"What happened to Luna and Celestia?" Pinkie Pie asked, brimming with curiosity.

"Dividing the magic of Queen Nebula incurred a dangerous side effect that was not anticipated," Star Swirl said ominously. "It seems that controlling that great amount of magic was always meant to be maintained in balance. With the ability to control both day and night, Queen Nebula never succumbed to any ill effects but with Celestia and Luna each bearing half of that responsibility, the once-unseen nature of such power began to emerge."

Star Swirl demonstrated his point by projecting a simple image of Celestia's head into the dark cloud he had already projected over the table then transforming it into the visage of a ravenous beast. The other ponies winced in terror of Star Swirl's vision.

"What...does it mean?" Fluttershy asked meekly.

"The magic that controls the sun or moon is unstable on its own," Star Swirl explained. "Using it causes mental strain on the user, which over time evolves into a destructive subconscious entity. Celestia was the first to demonstrate these symptoms through outbursts of uncharacteristic aggression. She would snap at other ponies, become irritable or impatient, and even lash out when annoyed, at times with destructive consequences. It was as though some unknown, cruel consciousness was trying to take over her body."

"What did you do to stop it?" Applejack questioned.

"I researched for days and targeted the source of the problem. It took some time but I managed to create a spell that would magically suppress the dark psyche," Star Swirl said. "It was not a perfect solution but it was the best that could be managed until we were able to decrypt the nature of the alicorn magic that controls the sun and moon. Sadly we were still fighting the lack of proper understanding of functional magic from the era before Queen Nebula, as there was no real documentation of the process that Nebula Borealis underwent to become the first alicorn. Over the years, this treatment had to be applied to both Celestia and Luna periodically, as there was no clear path to a solution that presented itself through my attempts to unravel their complex magic."

"But then..." Luna stepped back into the discussion. "You...you and the other Pillars of Equestria...you sealed yourselves in Limbo while battling the Pony of Shadows."

Star Swirl nodded in response, which prompted Luna to cover her mouth with her hoof, shocked at what she had just learned. "After you vanished...I became increasingly jealous of my sister. I couldn't explain why, I didn't feel like myself...over time it ate away at me and eventually erupted as a dark entity known as...'Nightmare Moon'..." The other ponies gasped, finally coming to know the true reason Luna had become the monster of legend.

"Without my knowledge of how to control the dark nature of your alicorn magic...it was inevitable," Star Swirl remorsefully told her. "If I hadn't had to seal the Pony of Shadows in Limbo, I would never have let that happen to you...and now your sister is starting to succumb to the same affliction..."

"In order to protect the kingdom, my sister was forced to seal me in the moon with the Elements of Harmony," Luna explained. "During that time she had to maintain both the sun and moon, which must have kept her from falling victim to her dark side as our mother did. After a thousand years, I was able to escape and return to Equestria to seek revenge as Nightmare Moon. The only way I was able to truly separate myself from Nightmare Moon's evil was when Twilight and her friends uncovered the Elements of Harmony and cleansed me of the darkness. From then on Celestia and I resumed each controlling the day and night individually, as we had done before I was overcome."

"Is that so...?" Star Swirl said, intrigued by Luna's words.

"Do you have something in mind, sir?" Stygian asked.

"Yes, perhaps I do..." Star Swirl answered. "Stygian, prepare me two magical containment vessels, I'd like to do an experiment."

Stygian produced two empty jars from his saddle bags and laid them on the map table.

"Luna," Star Swirl instructed, "I want you to energize this jar with some of your magic." He pointed to the left jar with his hoof. Luna nodded then energized her horn and shot a beam of magical energy into the jar. The energy took the form of a dark, milky blue cloud that was swirling within the jar and Star Swirl capped the jar with a cork. Once the magical sample had been trapped inside, Star Swirl energized the jar with a spell of his own.

"What is this doing?" Twilight Sparkle asked, always eager to learn something new at every opportunity.

"I am essentially reversing my suppression spell," Star Swirl explained. "I am accelerating the negative effects of alicorn magic."

As he spoke, the cloud inside the jar had turned to a sinister black color with small bolts of lighting erupting from within as well as turning the corona surrounding the cloud a sickly green color. The other ponies looked on in awe at what they were witnessing.

"That's amazing..." Rarity said, mesmerized by the advanced magic she was seeing before her eyes.

"Yes, but this is the dangerous side of alicorn magic I spoke of," Star Swirl cautioned. "What you are seeing here is the negativity that is embedded within the immense amount of magic that Luna possesses and that I was charged with suppressing. Now, Twilight, I need you to put some magic into this other jar here." Star Swirl indicated to the still-empty jar that remained. Twilight nodded as Luna had then shot a beam of magical energy into the jar reserved for her. Her own magic took the form of a soft purple cloud and Star Swirl corked it the same as he had done for Luna's sample.

"What happens next?" she asked, once he had samples of both magic collected.

"I am going to attempt to merge these magical samples," Star Swirl told her. "The fact you were able to save Luna from this 'Nightmare Moon' entity by using the Elements of Harmony, it may be possible to..." he trailed off as he was about to conduct his experiment. Star Swirl surrounded both jars with a magical stasis field so that it would not be able to penetrate the outside world then uncorked both jars so the magic could flow freely. Within the stasis field, the two clouds of magic mixed and began to swirl around one another. As they did, the blackness that surrounded Luna's magical sample started to evaporate thanks to the presence of Twilight's magic. Everypony's eyes widened at what they were witnessing and Stygian was furiously writing down his observations.

"What's going on?" Rainbow Dash asked, still uncertain of what the meaning was.

"Just a little longer..." Star Swirl said. After a brief pause, there was a small flash. The other ponies shielded their eyes and when they looked back at Star Swirl's experiment, they could see that Luna's magical sample had returned to its dark blue color as it was before Star Swirl cast his own spell on it.

"That's it!" he said enthusiastically. "It's just as I thought!"

"What, what is it?!" both Luna and Twilight asked, eager to know his findings.

"Twilight's magic, the magic of friendship, has the power to completely eliminate the darkness from alicorn magic," Star Swirl explained. "It renders the negativity completely powerless and restores the purity of the host's magic!"

Star Swirl looked towards Twilight. "Gather up the Elements of Harmony, I believe we may have found the solution we're looking for."

---

Canterlot Castle Throne Room, Canterlot

The six bearers of the Elements of Harmony, along with Princess Luna and Starlight Glimmer, returned to Canterlot Castle. Around the necks of Twilight's friends were the Elements of Harmony, enchanted talismans that channeled the pure essence of the magic of friendship, and upon Twilight's head a large crown containing her element, the Element of Magic. The ponies were led into the throne room, where Celestia was seen seated upon her throne.

"Princess Celestia," Twilight said upon entering, "with Star Swirl the Bearded's help we think we figured out what has been troubling you."

"That's...very good, Twilight," Celestia said with a faint smile. She seemed to be struggling and the ponies noticed her condition.

"Come on, girls," Twilight rallied, "we need to make this right." All her friends nodded in agreement.

The six Element bearers stood together and closed their eyes. As they did, the Elements began to glow with a radiant light and they slowly levitated above the floor.

"I-ngrk!" Celestia began to say before grunting. She clenched her teeth but could no longer resist the malevolent force that was washing over her. The six ponies opened their eyes upon hearing Celestia's grunt and they gradually descended. The magical light faded from the Elements and their hooves touched back to the ground softly.

"Princess Celestia...?" Applejack asked, concerned for the princess.

A ring of flame erupted around Celestia's feet. It grew more intense the more Celestia tried to fight off the overpowering entity that was taking control of her body. "What...is...this...?" she strained. The neck piece she wore began to transform into a plate of orange chest armor that extended to the edges of her wings and the insignia of a sun flashed onto the center. The gold crown that normally adorned her head faded into light and morphed into a helm that covered the sides and front as well.

"What's going on?!" Pinkie Pie said in a panicked tone. The six Element bearers began to slowly back away from the throne.

Celestia's flowing, serene mane transformed into the image of a raging flame and two sharp fangs descended from the upper line of her clenched teeth. Suddenly the ring of flame around her feet shot up and completely bathed the princess in a column of fire. The ponies in the throne room shielded themselves from the inferno. A distinctly sinister laughter echoed through the throne room.

"Celestia!" Twilight called out, hoping that she could still reach her mentor.

"Celestia's...not here right now..." a voice from behind the curtain of flame spoke. The voice speaking sounded like that of Celestia but malformed with a corrupt and evil sneer. "But I'd be happy to take a message for her."

The flames surrounding Celestia instantly dispelled, blown away by the gust created by the alicorn throwing out her large wings. With the column of fire gone, Twilight and her party could see that the alicorn standing before them was not the benign princess of Equestria but a vicious tyrant. Her mouth was curled into a smug grin and Celestia's gentle lavender eyes had given way to this entity's orange pupils, the center of which bore the image of a candle's flame.

"Though, it might be a while before I see Celestia," she continued sarcastically. "So I suppose I'll stand in for her. I should introduce myself. You can call me-..."

"DAYBREAKER!!" Starlight Glimmer and Princess Luna shouted in unison.

Comments

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

Well, the shit just hit the fan.

[ADFX-NightRaven414]

Sweet!