The Life of Penumbra Heartbreak

by Unwhole Hole

Chapter 77: Love

And then as quickly as it had come, the signal was lost. Daybreaker turned her head, scanning the horizon with her godly senses.

“Sister?”

“Where did it go? I can’t smell her anymore...”

“It may be distortion. The shield may interfere with our magic.”

“It may interfere with YOURS. Because it is small and insignificant. Mine, however, is large. And very hard.”

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes under her helmet. “Clearly. And clearly I was the one who was beat by a mere unicorn.”

Daybreaker turned sharply. “I will beat YOU in a minute! If you don’t shut your pretty mouth I’m going to shove my horn down your throat. I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again!”

“Recall, sister, that I am not Luna. Do not expect me to take it lying down.”

“Oh really?” growled Daybreaker. “There’s actually a job you won’t do lying down? Meaning I’m calling you a dirty horse. Because, you know- -”

“Yes. I have the ability to understand inference.”

Daybreaker glared at her sister, and Nightmare Moon stared back, still wondering where her soft and beloved sister was hidden within the solar beast before her- -and how to get her back out.

Still distracted, Daybreaker turned back to the shield. It now loomed over them, pouring downward from the top of the citadel with a slight hissing, humming sound. To Nightmare Moon, it sounded almost musical- -but badly distorted.

“It’s sick,” she said.

“Then let me put it out of its misery,” said Daybreaker, raising her horn to it.

“Sister, wait.”

Daybreaker growled, clearly not enjoying being interrupted, but she saw it too.

Before them, walking through the center of the otherwise pristine street, was a pony. Not one of any particular consequence, perhaps one that did not even have a name. She was a crystal mare, wearing the robes of a priestess.

Confused, Daybreaker stared at the pony who dared to defy her. Even her sister could not read the expression on her face, whether it was incredibly mild amusement or absolute hatred. Of course, for Daybreaker, the two were not all that substantively different.

“My Princess,” said the priestess, shaking as she bowed before Daybreaker. “I...I had never thought I would see you...your divine glory...that you would answer our prayers!” She sat up suddenly, making a ridiculous gesture. “Praise the Sun!”

“Why are you in my way?”

The priestess looked up, confused. “My Princess, I have served your divine will my whole life. I have come to assist you in your divine mission, to bring peace and harmony to our ancient land!” She looked over her shoulder. “The ponies within the shield, they are afeared- -but they can be made to understand, if you let me speak to them. That you do not mean to harm them. That you are our savior, our liberator- -”

“But I do intend to harm them. To the point where they cease to exist. And I think I will enjoy it very much.”

The priestess looked confused. “My Princess, I don’t understand. We can end this conflict without any more violence- -”

“And why would I want that?”

Once again, the priestess simply could not understand. “You came to defeat Sombra and his evil army, to bring harmony and peace- -”

“Yes. And I intend to. I am both of those things. But you are not. THEY are not.” Daybreaker leaned in close to the priestess. The priestess shielded her eyes against the heat, even though Daybreaker’s corona had been significantly weakened by Thirteen’s intervention. “YOU are not. Harmony and peace requires ME, and ME ALONE. Anything else is a threat to that divine perfection. You’re a priestess. Isn’t this obvious?”

“But- -but we worship you, you can’t- -”

Daybreaker laughed in her face. “I am a god. The ONLY god. What use do I have for the worship of mortals? You serve no purpose. Compared to me...well, you’re just all so insignificant, aren’t you?”

Her heat grew. The priestess’s crystalline body protected her, but her clothing began to singe. “But- -but we prayed to you! In our darkest hour, when we were on the verge of destruction- -”

“If you wanted to please me, you should have allowed yourselves to be destroyed. It would have saved me the time of purging your filthy heretical race from existence.”

Tears welled in the priestess’s eyes. “But...Celestia….”

Daybreaker’s eyes narrowed, and her magic closed around the priestess’s throat. The priestess cried out, although her voice was strangled to a small gasp.

“There is no Celestia. Not anymore. I am her purest form, her true self. The reality that she sought to hide.” Her toothy smile grew wide. “The realization that a true god has no use for mortals who are of no use.”

She tightened her grasp, but as she did, a silver chain against the priestess’s ankle suddenly became taught. The priestess cried out as for a moment she was pulled in two directions, her crystal body barely managing to keep her in once piece. Then she was yanked away.

Daybreaker traced her trail and found the far end of the chain to be connected to what could only be described as a THING. It looked like a pony, but most certainly was not. For the warrior beside it, though, the situation was not so clear-cut. He was a young, teal colt, his mane short and fuzzy and his lower half forged from machines in the form of a griffon. Yet although he held a gleaming crystal sword in his orange magic, his eyes stared into the distance as though he were not quite sure where he was meant to be.

“A golem. How pointless.”

She fired a dismissive beam in the golem’s direction. It extended a hoof, summoning an energy shield and blocking most of the force. Daybreaker found this most assuredly annoying.

“You are not worth my time,” she said. “You are not even a mortal. Just an object. Why are you even bothering to challenge me?”

“I am not.” She put her synthetic hoof around her priestess, whose face was now marred with tears. “I had simply wished for my pet to see what ought to be obvious.”

“Which is what, object?”

“That any god capable of ruling is not worth worshiping.”

Daybreaker smiled. “And I intend to rule. You may be the first to understand. And you are not even a living thing.”

“Not yet, no. But, in a sense, neither are you.”

This amused Daybreaker even more. She started walking.

“Sister?” asked Nightmare Moon, confused.

Daybreaker said nothing. She was content to move on, leaving behind a machine more clever than any deluded mortal and a priestess with her faith forever shattered. It was far more amusing than simply destroying both. Besides, she had a far more important task to attend to.

Beneath the dome, Penumbra could feel her strength fading. She had no idea what spell she was using to support it, or if it was even magic in any traditional sense- -but instinctively, she had an understanding of what it was doing to her. Its magic was in resonance with her own, at least partially. Though it was crystal, it still beat with an internal pulse, and that pulse was the same as her own- -but there was something wrong. She had no way to describe how it felt, but something about the way it beat was off, different- -as if her own heart had to beat so much faster just to keep up.

She also understood that there was a finite limit to what she would be able to do. That, in time, she would deplete her own energy. When that happened, the shield would fall- -and the ponies beneath it defenseless.

Facet had taken a position beside her. The other ponies had gathered toward the edge, watching but never approaching. They were still afraid. Through the Heart, Penumbra knew their fear. They knew what the Heart was, and what it was for; to them, she was an extension of it. An object of evil.

“Penumbra,” said Facet. “You can’t hold this forever.”

“Stop being a pessimist! I will do whatever I have to!” She groaned under the weight of the dome. “But just in case, find any weapons you can...arm them...”

“They are crystal ponies. We have been bred specifically for docility.”

“And yet thralls are a thing. Or were...ugh, I’m too busy to argue semantics!”

“GAH!” cried a voice from the edge of the shield. Burnt came running, being closely followed by many, many sets of stallion eyes. “We have a problem!”

“Great,” sighed Penumbra. “What now?”

Her question was answered with screams. Penumbra’s mane bristled and she turned her head as far as she could to see the edge of the shield- -and that it was being breached.

The Equestrian army had arrived, and the vanguard force of earth-ponies had begun to tunnel beneath the shield. They were coming in one after the other through the holes they had dug. Some of them had ropes. They were lassoing the crystal ponies that could not flee fast enough.

“STOP!” cried Penumbra. She turned her horn toward them and fired a powerful bolt of magic, sending one of them hurtling back out of the shield. As she did, she cried out, the whole shield flickering as she was forced to pour her magic back into the Heart o Darkness.

They suddenly turned to her, running forward, spears and rope at the ready. Facet raised one of her crystals and fired a spell, encasing one of them in crystal before she was taken down by several lines of rope. Penumbra tried to fire another spell to defend her friend, but she did not have the strength to use offensive or even defensive magic and hold the shield at the same time.

They began to close in. One of them struck her hard in the rear legs, forcing her to her knees.

“Separate her!” cried on. “We have to bring down the shield!”

Penumbra refused to let go. She watched as they advanced, attacking the crystal ponies she had wanted so desperately to protect- -and as they cornered poor Burnt against a collapsed piece of machinery.

“Penumbra!” cried Burnt.

“I’m trying, Burnt!” screamed Penumbra, misunderstanding her meaning. “I- -I’m trying!”

The earth ponies lassoed Burnt- -but she herself was far more concerned with the sight of earth-ponies raising their swords and maces against her friend. With one swift motion, Burnt freed one of her limbs- -she had, after all, spent a great deal of time tied up during training- -and reached for the ring on her horn.

She slid it off, and immediately lost control of her magic. Her mane was incinerated, along with the rope that held her. Then she turned it toward the nearest earth-pony and did what little magic she could do. He was instantly charred black, falling over more out of surprise than real injury.

“You’re toasty!” cried Burnt, turning to the next one. “And you! And YOU! AND YOU! You’re all toasty! YOU’RE ALL TOASTY!”

She began to fire more or less willy-nilly into the earth-ponies, striking them with fortuitous regularity. With each hit, they were blackened to the point of collapse. One of the uncontrolled plumes of fire-magic struck the pony holding Facet. Facet kicked away the rope and produced another crystal, freezing several ponies who were nearby.

“Help me!” she called to the crystal-ponies as she grabbed onto one of the temporarily calcified earth-ponies. “We can use them to plug their own holes!”

The crystal ponies just stared at her, shaking and crying. They were too afraid to move.

“Fine,” she growled, pushing her head against the crystal. “I’ll do it myself!”

She began to push, getting as far as one of the holes- -but then she froze. A strange sensation crept through her, pulling at her deepest instincts in terrible ways. It was not unlike the horror that would overtake one when standing too close to the Heart of Darkness, but Facet knew it differently. She knew it from staring into the eyes of a cursed wizard.

She looked up, and felt a scream well in her chest. As terrible as Luciferian had been, the pony standing on the far side of the shield was worse. Tall, white, winged, with piercing black eyes and a look of absolute hatred even as a smile revealed her several rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Daybreaker had finally arrived.

The shield was holding as Daybreaker approached it. At the sight of her, the ponies nearest to the border cried out and fled. One of them held out for a moment, a young peasant girl. Daybreaker saw the horror on her face and could not help but smile. She was a crystal mare, which meant she was not long for this world. To see that look of fear- -that expression of WEAKNESS- -assured Daybreaker that her mission was justified, that her cause was divine. She would serve the will of the only true god of all ponies- -which was, of course, herself.

Some of her own ponies, it seemed, had already breached the shield by digging under it. Their forces had been few, and they had been soundly defeated. Which was not unexpected. They were earth-ponies, the worst type of ponies. They were not built for fighting. They were meant for growing potatoes and other disgusting root crops to feed mortals- -meaning that, of course, they had no place in the coming Eternal Day.

Nightmare Moon appeared beside her, as if she could read her sister’s thoughts- -which Daybreaker was mostly sure she could. Her only obstacle, she supposed. Equestria’s last hope. The one she could not hope to destroy, despite being ever so much stronger.

“I can dispatch my mages,” said Nightmare Moon, examining the dome.

“Why bother? I don’t have time for that.”

Daybreaker lifted her head back and plunged her horn into the dome. Inside, she heard her target cry out, and the idea of inflicting pain on the foulest of heretics brought unfathomed joy to Daybreaker’s heart.

Then, suddenly, the force of the shield rebounded, driving a feedback wave into Daybreaker’s horn and sending her reeling backward. She landed in a smoking heap.

“The tower is Exmoori,” said Nightmare Moon, staring up at it. “It was probably designed specifically to defend against us.” She turned to her slightly charred sister, who was standing, enraged. “And you seem weak.”

“That fat horse stole too much of my power. But it doesn’t matter.” Daybreaker pulled herself close to the shield dome again and took a deep breath- -and then rammed her horn into it once more.

The feedback wave struck her, but this time she dug her hooves into the ground. Although it tried to reject her, she forced herself to direct her full magic into it- -and could immediately feel it begin to buckle under the strain.

Penumbra cried out, brought to her knees as the Heart of Darkness pulled a massive amount of energy from her body.

“Penumbra!” cried Facet, running to her side.

“I can hold it,” growled Penumbra, pouring more of her life force into the Heart and the broken machine that still desperately struggled to support it. “I can do it. I won’t let it break. I WON’T!”

Burnt cried out. “Look at that pony!” she cried, pointing at Daybreaker. “She’s HUGE!”

Daybreaker pushed her horn farther into the shield. It began to buckle.

“PENUMBRA HEARTBREAK!” she screamed, viciously attempting to drive herself through the dome, ignoring the feedback tearing through her body. “I can SEE YOU!”

“You stay away from her!” cried Burnt.

Daybreaker laughed softly, looking at Burnt and then at the cowering crystal ponies. “You are NOT stronger than me, Penumbra. I wield the power of the SUN. And you have what, exactly?”

Penumbra did not answer, because she did not know- -or, in a way, did. She had the Heart, but that was not quite it. There was something else.

“Penumbra,” said Facet, tears starting to well in her eyes. “Your body...”

Penumbra did not need to look. She was withering. Daybreaker’s magic was too powerful; she was straining the shield too badly- -and the Heart needed fuel to keep it running.

“Why, Penumbra?” laughed Daybreaker. “Why protect them? They’re WEAK. Just look at them. Tiny, insignificant little things compared to US.”

“I have to protect them. I HAVE TO.”

“Why? For their adoration? For their LOVE?” Daybreaker laughed horribly. “They will NEVER love you, Penumbra! NO ONE EVER WILL! You are a MONSTER! Just like we are! LOOK AT THEM!”

Penumbra opened her eyes, staring into the crowd- -and the crowd stared back at her. Their eyes were locked upon her, and she saw that they were afraid. Afraid of her. And she understood. Daybreaker was correct. Penumbra was an extension of the Heart, a device of fear and hatred. So they would always fear and hate her, and rightfully so.

“I don’t care,” she said, softly. Then she stood, pouring the last of her life-force into the Heart. “I DON’T CARE! So they don’t love me? Then let my love be enough!”

She pushed what she had into the Heart, and Daybreaker released an animalistic scream as she was forced backward, unable to gain purchase on the crystalline ground.

Somewhere, Facet was screaming, but she sounded so very far away. Penumbra was no longer conscious, at least not entirely. Her mind was extending forward, caught up in the linkage between her and that which had created her.

She sensed it, and understood it. What Sombra called the Heart of Darkness- -but that which had born many names across the ages. The Crystal Heart, the Kryd’Coren, the Heart of Order- -and unspeakable names whispered softly in the eons before ponies. Many names, but always the same thing- -a reflection of its bearer.

And within it, Penumbra perceived its very core. She saw through it the ages before her father had come to power. She comprehended the crystalings of countless fillies and colts, and the joy and unity it had brought to the Empire. Times of happiness, of piece, and of love. Those were the things- -that very core- -that resonated equally with her own heart, the mirror it had created in its own image.

But it was impossible to glimpse that world clearly. Those visions of joy were a tiny kernel of light soaked in wretched blackness, in the corruption and fear that the Heart had accumulated across the centuries, held in place by the very machines that Penumbra sought to power. Forever pulling upon it, burning away its inherent goodness, harvesting the power within without even the slightest understanding of its true capacity.

And though she saw it, Penumbra knew that nothing could be done. She was not strong enough. The Heart could not be saved; it had been dying for far too long. Penumbra had been its last hope, and she had failed it. Perhaps, in its own way, it was sad that things had to end this way.

“Why?” said Penumbra, tears rolling down her face. “Why won’t you take it all? Take everything...please! Please keep them safe!”

The Heart stared into her own, and it refused.

Comments

[alamais]

The shield may interfere with our magic.”

“It may interfere with YOURS. Because it is small and insignificant. Mine, however, is large. And very hard.

Burnt Toast clearly the ancestor and/or previous incarnation of Toaster—you can tell glorious heroism runs in the blood. The power of toast compels you! THE POWER OF TOAST COMPELS YOU!

[ponepony]

Daybreaker said nothing. She was content to move on, leaving behind a machine more clever than any deluded mortal and a priestess with her faith forever shattered. It was far more amusing than simply destroying both. Besides, she had a far more important task to attend to.

The fact she let the priest live means said priest would probably just worship Daybreaker instead of Celestia now.

Also from the previous chapter, rip Twilight x Demonpone.