Songbird

by PaulAsaran

Chapter VIII

The instant Celestia entered the darkness, she knew that there was more to this place than an absence of light. Her hoofsteps, already muffled by the ground on which she walked, grew silent. Her breathing sounded loud to her ears, and a bitter chill covered her from feather to hoof. The air felt heavy, as if some great weight had settled upon her back and shoulders. Her body moved with a gradual, drifting manner, making her feel as though she’d gone underwater.

Celestia drifted forward. Drifted, for though her hooves touched ground it seemed only the faintest memory of a touch. She imagined herself flitting across the bottom of a lake, hooftips barely tapping the soil below before sending her onwards to the next step. In her youth, this might have appealed to her, or amused her in some way. Today – tonight? – it only served to remind Celestia of just how otherworldly her surroundings had become.

“Twilight?” Her voice came out soft, far lower in volume than the call it was meant to be.

“Twilight!” She’d been properly shouting that time, and still the name emerged quieter than her normal speaking voice. Scowling, Celestia peered at the darkness all around. She had presumed the creeping shadows had retreated to this place, but if they were, then even they were invisible to the naked eye here.

What might those foul things be doing to her beloved student even now?

Spurred on by the sickening feeling in her gut, Celestia sucked in a deep breath and prepared her Royal Voice. When unleashed, it echoed through the darkness with profound force. And yet even that sounded quiet to her ears, more akin to a low shout than the magical force of nature it truly was.

She pursed her lips and glared at the darkness. “You would have me be intimidated by this… unnatural place. In this you have failed!”

Magic flowed into her horn, producing a basic light spell. Basic in concept, but Celestia pushed more magic into it, creating a brilliant cone of light. Yet the only sign Celestia had that the darkness had retreated was that she could now see herself when she looked down. Even then, she could not see her own hooves. How would she ever find Twilight in this place?

The soft flapping of wings graced her ears, and not a second later she felt gentle claws upon her back. With a flinch, she glanced over her shoulder to find the nightingale perched upon her. It preened for a moment before giving her a curious look, its head cocked.

She glowered back at the creature. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance you could help me find Twilight, is there?” The bird made an unpleasant squawking sound that may or may not have been ardent refusal, prompting her to roll her eyes. “I didn’t think so.”

Even her emotions seemed dulled in this place. Celestia’s heart trembled, her breath came in short gasps, but it was almost like her emotions were somepony else’s anxiety. She felt… annoyed. Because Twilight wasn’t there? Because Twilight needed her help. Again. What a useless, worthless foal.

She shook her head firmly. No. It’s playing with your head again. Gritting her teeth, she fought back the negative emotions by carefully considering her situation. The invasion of her mind was stronger now than ever before, but more obvious for it. What was the correlation? There had to be something making it so. Something present here in greater amounts than before, something that didn’t want her to find Twilight.

The answer seemed obvious. So, too, the solution. Channeling more of her magic, Celestia raised her head and created a small orb of light. Brighter and brighter it shone, but the amount of magic required to make it work was exponentially greater than normal. The shadows battled her light, shrinking its area of effect, yet unable to properly extinguish it. When Celestia at last released her hold on it, she’d put enough power into it that it would have blinded normal ponies with its potency under normal circumstances. The orb floated a dozen feet above her head, providing self-sustaining light in a mere six-foot radius.

The power over her mind faded with the darkness. An instant later, her heart was hammering against her ribs. Her legs shook, her eyes darted about. Her rapid breaths echoed dimly in the dark as she searched around her frantically. “Twilight? Twilight, can you see the light? I’m here!”

No answer met her ears. The urge to begin a manual search was barely quelled by logic; all she would achieve would be to get lost. No, she needed a plan!

With no better ideas, Celestia began creating more of the orbs. Each one took a few minutes of concentration, concentration that allowed her mind to calm and her thoughts to focus. She wouldn’t find Twilight in this place using a single little light. She needed to widen her search area first, and so she began arranging the orbs in a neat grid pattern. She imagined Twilight would approve. Was it wishful, foolish thinking to hope that her studious protégée might be drawn to the ordered form like a moth to flame?

With sixteen orbs created in a square, Celestia had significantly widened her visibility range. Still no Twilight. She bit her lip at the emptiness all around. She should have known better.

“Where are you?” She turned a small circle, only to realize that she had no idea in what direction she’d originally come from. Her heart felt like it had been made of ice. “Twilight, what do I do? You were always so clever. I could use some of that right now.”

Abruptly, the nightingale flew from her back. It made wide circles overhead, then flew to Celestia’s left. It resumed its circling just at the edge, its song loud in the still air. Every now and then it would flit back to her, but would return to the edge of the light just as quickly.

Its intention was clear, but Celestia shook her head. “I must find Twilight. I won’t continue on this journey until I do.” Ignoring the bird’s noisy protests, she started into the darkness, the orbs of light following directly above her. Her eyes scanned the—

Feathers and stardust obscured her vision. With a sigh, Celestia reared back and waved her hooves to dismiss the bird. “I appreciate that you want to help, but…” Something caught her eye. There, in the far corner of the light, a small object trembled. Celestia could hardly believe that she’d have found Twilight so easily, yet the promise of possibility guided her steps.

“Twilight?”

Color came with more of the light. Violet and black intermixed in a confusing hodgepodge, but as Celestia drew closer… The hairs on Celestia’s back shot up. Her cautious approach became a gallop. “Get off her!”

Twilight sat in a slumped pose, back to her, and covered in squirmy, clinging shadows. Even as she approached, more darkness flowed into the light, converging on the young unicorn like a plague. Yet when Celestia came close she realized with chilling clarity that the shadows had gained form, oozing and bulging and globular.

“No!” She delivered upon the darkness the heat of her magic, searing the blackness. Rivulets of steam arose from the shadow, but Twilight’s scream made her shut off the spell in an instant. Thinking quickly, Celestia tried firing a beam of magic into the encroaching shadows. Yet for every inch that she incinerated, thrice that would reach Twilight from some other direction. “Stop. Stop! Leave her be!”

Twilight’s head twitched upwards. It turned. A lone, wide eye, its purple iris tall and thin, met Celestia’s. “P-Prin… cessssss?”

With a snarl, Celesta summoned a round shield of sunlight, surrounding her student from all sides. She stood, horn glowing, shoulders tensed, as the shades hesitated in their assault. They shifted and squirmed and probed. Celestia took a deep breath, relief washing over her. Now if she could just—

The shadows lunged! No longer confining themselves to the grey, smooth earth, they leapt up to assault Celestia’s shield. In the time it took for her to register the situation, more than half of the barrier protecting Twilight had been covered in oozing, smoking darkness.

A cold tremble ran down her back at the sight, but she shook it off and pushed more magic into the spell. The dome’s shine intensified, burning like a hot coal in the dim world, and yet the attack continued.

“Stop!” Celestia fired a beam off the edge of the shield, splattering the shadows, but the opening she’d cleansed was covered again in seconds. Why wasn’t this working? It had always worked before! “Twilight!”

“Mother!”

That voice, a cry in the dark, gave her pause. It was a strange thing, like somepony had taken Twilight’s voice and blended it with that of an older, deeper voice. She stepped back, watching with trembling lips as the darkness seemed to consume her shield entirely. “Tw-Twilight?”

Somepony… no, something burst from the sludge. It held a pony shape, and it possessed hints of the purple that defined Twilight, but it was taller, and its body smoked as if a fire burned beneath its hide. Shadows swirled within its coat, making it seem at all times shrouded, and while one eye was Twilight’s typical lovely violet, the other was the bright yellow glow. It stepped forward, seeming to ignore Celestia as it reared up on its hind legs and raised its forehooves to the empty sky.

“Mother! You promised! You promised she would love me! Why does she not love me, Mother? Why?”

The entity – Twilight? Not Twilight? – dropped to four hooves, its legs bending outward as if they were made of rubber. It sobbed, a scratchy, stomach-churning sound like claws on a chalkboard, and stumbled around. “You promised. Y-you promised! For what purpose do I live but to b-be loved?”

Keeping her distance, both from the creature and the black goo that had once been its cocoon, Celestia spoke in a quiet voice. “What are you?”

The creature stopped. Its ears elongated and twisted in her direction. Then the neck stretched, curving a semicircle so that the head could look directly at Celestia without the body moving. Its yellow and violet eyes were wide beyond believability as the thing gaped at her. “You’re here.”

Celestia met its gaze, even as her chest felt empty and her legs weak.

“You’re here,” it repeated. Slowly, it turned its body to her and reformed into a mostly normal pony shape, though its knees still wobbled unnaturally. The thing smiled, showing pearly white teeth, but the squirming shadows slithered over even those. “Princess. Princess. Are you ready to m-move on?”

It took a step closer. Celestia backed away. Its ears folded back, only to merge into the shadows of its skull. The smile turned frail, anxious. Desperate. “Princess?”

Inhale. Exhale. Celestia swallowed, but her throat remained dry. “You never were Twilight, were you?”

It retreated as if stung, its hooves leaving lingering black spots like bubbles in the air. “I… I’m not.” Just as quickly, the creature took a step forward. Its eyes narrowed, its shoulder hunched. “I’m better! I’m m-me. I’m r-real. I’m better because I’m real and I love you!” Back came the anxiousness. It took another step closer. “And you love me… don’t you?”

Celestia recoiled from its pleading gaze. “I don’t even know what you are.”

The entity’s eyes widened once again. Its pupils shrank and grew independently from one another in seemingly random spurts. It sat heavily and rubbed its hooves, creating a small cloud of smoke. “M-mother said. Mother promised. You’re supposed to love me. Did Mother lie?” It drooped slightly, eyes dropping to the ground. “W-why would Mother lie?”

Again, that title. Celestia peered at the creature. “Who is ‘Mother’?”

“Please!” The entity surged forward, its rubbery legs stretching wide as if to hug Celestia. She leapt back, summoning a quick shield to repel the advance. Shoving the barrier forward like a battering ram proved enough to knock the thing to the ground in a mess of smoke, ooze and squirming shade.

“I will not entertain your fantasies,” Celestia hissed, lowering her front in a combative pose. “You will tell me where Twilight is. Reveal her to me!”

Rather than answer, the violet and black thing quivered on the floor. It made more of that scratchy, unpleasant crying noise. Celestia tensed, her lips curled. This… this thing had taken Twilight’s form, but it was only another puppet. Her horn began to shine as she pawed the ground. “Speak, you imposter. Was Twilight ever here? Did she ever even exist?”

Just asking the question was enough to blur her vision with fresh tears. As much as she tried to focus, her mind flitted to memories oh-so recent, recollections of an eternally curious filly filled with questions beyond those of ponies twice her age. She closed her eyes to see a mere child who bounced circles about Celestia upon receiving her cutie mark. A precious student who might burst into tears at the mere thought of disappointing her teacher. A beloved foal nestled beneath her wing, trusting in her mentor to keep away the nightmares.

Nightmares. This was a nightmare.

More than a nightmare.

When Celestia opened her eyes, the tears boiled off her cheeks. She approached the shivering violet and black form on the ground, the fire in her heart threatening to burn the very air. “Answer my question, creature. Where is Twilight Sparkle?”

The answer did not come from the doppelganger before her. Her ears twitched to faint whispers in the dark, coming from every direction. Gritting her teeth, Celestia dared to examine her surroundings. Now that she looked, she could see the motion. The darkness writhed with impossible, wiggly motions, as if the very black itself had come alive.

The voices grew in volume. Soon, words became discernible.

Doesn’t love me. Lied. Twilight. Promised. Lies. Love me. Celestia. Only me. Lied. Purpose? Created. Hates me. Celestia? Doesn’t love me. I can be. Mother. Good as her. What? Love me. Worthless. Mother. You promised. Good enough. Me. Twilight? Where? Only me. Purpose! Lesser. Mother! Why? Love. Hate. Hate! Love. Celestia! Look at me! Promised. Lies. Doesn’t love me. Dream. Sparkle. Created? Love me! Promised! Better!

Celestia turned a circle, heart beating a hole in her chest as she tried to find the source of a thousand voices. “What are you? Where? Be silent!” She jerked back when, with a noisy squawk, the nightingale flew past her face. Her eyes followed its path, only to land upon the creature when the bird passed between them. The false Twilight had grown larger, now nearly as tall as she was, and it stared at her with eyes glowing like lanterns and coat alive with shadowy motion.

“Twilight,” it hissed, body lowered as if to pounce. “Twilight is what you want?”

Fake. Not real. Lies. Mother! Love. Purpose. Promised. Lied.

Ears folding back to block out the voices, Celestia stomped and met the fiend’s gaze. “Tell me where she is!”

A long, low hiss snaked its way through white teeth. “She isn’t here…”

Better. Celestia. Promised! Give me. Love me. Promised. Lies!

It took a step closer, a streak of black trailing along its body. “I am. I am as good as her.”

Lesser. Don’t hate me! Mother. Lies. Dream! Why?

“Love me, Celestia.” Shadows converged upon the creature like coiling tentacles, feeding its darkness. “Forget about Twilight Sparkle. Love me.”

Mother! Alone. Sparkle. Who? Only me. Celestia.

Before her eyes, the creature began to grow. Larger and larger, darker and darker. The violet of its coat faded to black.

Doesn’t love me. What? Lies! Twilight! Hates me.

Celestia felt a familiar weight bearing upon her mind. The fire of her anger trembled before a new, icy sensation digging into her heart. A known dread…

Dream! Promised! Love me! Mother. Lied!

“I can be your Twilight.” The creature’s rictus grin glinted in the light. Its hideous, oozing body defied gravity as it slouched forward on four shaky legs. “I live for your love. Love me, Celestia.”

Doesn’t love me! Purpose! Mother! Lies! Celestia! Sparkle!

As Celestia trembled, the gargantuan beast reared high over her head and spread liquid arms wide. “I. Will. Give. You. Bliss!”

She screamed and beat her wings. The monster crashed like a wave of ink, but Celestia eluded its grasping tendrils by the hairs of her tail. She flew frantic and blind through the darkness as the universe howled like a million mad mares! Without looking back, without thought, she obeyed her deepest instincts and fled.

Love me! Celestia! Lies! Mother! Only me!

Fighting tears and the fear that gripped her mind, Celestia struggled for some semblance of rational thought. “W-what do I… Why am I…”

The shadows ahead exploded upwards! Out of the mass of black came two eyes as large as she was, one yellow and the other violet. The murk groped the air as she cried out and turned away sharply.

“Don’t leave me! I love you! Celestia, come back!”

Sparkle! Who? Good as her! Mother! Better! Purpose!

“I know you love me, Celestia!”

The world was a cacophony of voices. Screaming, sobbing, howling, pleading, from every direction in the pitch black of the world. The shining orbs Celestia had summoned were extinguished one at a time by the roiling mass she could barely see. Soon only one remained, that single brilliant light that hovered incessantly above her head like a beacon. Panic begged for Celestia to shut it off so she might hide in the void, but the logical voice hidden deep within her roiling fear reminded her that this entity, this non-Twilight, was a creature of the shadows.

The darkness converged! She banked hard right as the infernal tentacles grasped for her. Her path came to a jerking stop as something cold and sticky caught her hind leg. A scream tried to emerge from her throat, but Celestia forced it and her panic back. She had to think and react, not fly around randomly!

With a single burst of magic, she shredded the bubbling appendage attached to her leg. A piercing scream cut her eardrums as her wings bore her away.

Lies! Pain! Celestia! Dream! Purpose!

“I don’t care if it hurts, I will give you my love!”

Everything became light. Celestia channeled her magic and sent a single, wide beam of superheated light through the air. Spinning in midair, she sent the searing spell in every possible direction, head swinging wildly to try and catch as much of the shadow as possible. Wherever she looked, wriggling masses of shadow burst, sizzled and melted into a smoke-like steam. Accompanying the destruction was an endless screech like no sound Celestia had heard before.

Mother! Pain! Love me! Pain! Sparkle! Pain! Only me!

At last, the beam faded. Celestia panted, her throat parched and her wings trembling with every flap. Yet no matter where she looked, she could see no sign that her spell had significantly hindered her opponent. It was everywhere, everything! The orb above her head flickered, threatening to cast her into full darkness once more.

No. There must be a way out. I can’t fall now! Yet no matter how hard she flew, she could see no end to the dark. The joints of her wings ached, and she couldn’t regain control of her breathing. Why? She should have so much more magic left in her! There had to be something wrong, something draining her…

Love me! Celestia! Lies! Promised! Created! Purpose!

The voices were rising in volume once more, growing rapidly closer. Celestia eyed her surroundings frantically. She had to think of a solution, but the voices, the horrible voices! So familiar, so alien, so loud.

Mother! Hate! Only me! Celestia! Pain! Lied!

“Please!” Celestia sobbed and covered her ears. “Make it stop! Somepony! I can’t–”

The darkness moved. Her eyes snapped upwards in time to see the blackness consuming her last orb of light. As the light faded, visions flashed through her mind. Of Dova. Of Starswirl. Of fire and blood and pain and deceit and betrayal and so many failed, fallen dreams. As the light dimmed to nothingness, she let her wings go limp and fell.

“I will love you, Celestia, and you will love me!”

She dropped, long and fast, the barely discernible blackness falling after her. Celestia said nothing, only braced for the end. If only she could understand what she was here for in the first place, to give her end some meaning…

A bird’s cry met her ears, rising high above the cacophony of voices. It struck through Celestia’s depression just enough to pull her attention from the sickening black mere inches from her face. Something blue and purple streaked through the air, coming straight at her! The nightingale, stardust glittering along its path, flew like an arrowhead beneath the roiling shadows.

“No.” She twisted about, waived her hooves. “Stay away! It’ll take you too!”

The nightingale ignored her plea, and within seconds it smashed into her chest, disappearing in a flash of brilliant blue light.

An instant later, the coiling blackness engulfed her, and Celestia knew nothing.

---

Celestia. Can you hear me, Celestia?

Who is this?

It’s alright, Celestia. You did well.

I don’t understand. Where… Where am I?

Only where I wanted you to be.

That makes no sense. You make no sense.

Has anything made sense in a while?

I… I’m not sure. I don’t know when this began.

Not so long ago as it may seem.

Your voice. I know your voice.

Once, yes. Celestia. It’s almost over. You just need to tap into your strength once more.

Over? But I don’t even know why I am here.

Well, why did you come here to begin with?

I don’t know. I… My mind is…

There was something wrong, wasn’t there?

…yes.

Something fake.

Yes.

Something unnatural.

Yes. Yes! The world was wrong. B-but… But that doesn’t tell me what to do.

Act. Use your power. Your full power!

My power? I can’t. It’s hopeless.

Yours, perhaps. Tap into that which is yours to control!

Mine to control? I don’t…

The sun, Celestia! It’s right there. Use it!

The sun? The sun.

Yes!

H-how could I have forgotten? My charge, my ward. Why did I—?

We did not want you to remember, so you didn’t. I want you to remember, so you do.

You’re not making sense again. Who are you?

One who has been waiting a long time to see you again.

A long time?

Do it, Celestia. Let the sun rise.

Sunrise. Dawn.

Let it be dawn again.

Yes… Yes! The sun is mine!

Use it! Break free!

Rise!

Free!

---

Heat. Fire. Pure, unquenchable flame! It seared Celestia’s every surface, the untamable fury of the sun itself answering her call. And she unleashed it in every direction, an inferno of steady annihilation.

The darkness retreated, but couldn’t move fast enough. It shrieked, the inequine cries reaching out from every possible direction as the white hot plasma spread wide and wild. Celestia basked in the pure glow of a power only she could tap, a power that no darkness could dream of shrouding.

Amidst the howling chaos came a cry of desperation, barely a whisper beneath the maelstrom.

Celestia! Please! It hurts! Stop, stop, stop!

But it did not stop. Celestia poured more ferocity into the spell even as she cursed the black that had come so close to consuming her. She did this not for her own protection, not because of how close she came to succumbing. No, this time Celestia’s ire came from another source: Twilight Sparkle. She did not know if Twilight lived or had ever lived, but the idea that this abomination had dared to impersonate a pony so precious, so innocent, so dear to her heart seared her mind more than any other affront could. And so she responded with a ferocity and fury she’d not known since the assassination of a beloved pupil and friend so many centuries past.

"I only wanted your love! Celestia!”

The creature’s pleas and shrieks fell upon deaf ears. Soon, they fell upon nothing, fading amidst the constant roar of the flame.

And still Celestia unleashed her power. She howled and raged and burned, releasing all the pain and anger she’d been holding back since this foul quest had started. For hours, perhaps days, she let the fires consume this damned, loathsome facsimile of a world. Everything it was, everything it might be, everything it had been. And with every passing moment of fire and fury, one thought seared her mind:

This is not Equestria!

After an eternity of flame finally began to sputter out, and she’d screamed the last of her energy, she closed off her connection to the sun. With her magic consumed and her energy spent, Celestia fell through a sky still blazing with the heat of a living star. She made no effort to open her wings, took no interest in controlling her descent.

She only wondered, wearily, if she would wake up to anything at all.

Comments

[aline1]

Hmm I wonder... Coma, trapped in a nightmare or prehaps trapped in another's dream or a nightmare like Link's Awakening.

[KorenCZ11]

>Celestia. Only me.
Ah covetous Greed, a sin borne out of the deepest distortion of love. But now I'm beginning to question who these sins belong to. This is most definitely the theme I'm picking up on, and this is too well constructed to not be a large part of the story on purpose...

Hmm. I suppose I've been looking too far outward and not taking what was right in front of me. While this is reminiscent of Sombra's trap, I thought that the Bird being Luna had to mean that Nightmare Moon was gone. Ah well. Onward!