The Sun, but Not

by PerpetualMotion

Perchance

"Wait, so we are going to talk to her?" Willow Wisp asked as Seabreeze unlocked the basement door once more.

"Consider it a scouting mission," Celestia answered. "Like I said, I doubt we'll see much success to the end of diplomacy, but learning as much as we can about what we're dealing with before things go south permanently is a good idea."

"Hmm."

"Well, I hope you two are ready for what's down there," Seabreeze said as the door's latch clicked open. "It's... pretty bleak. About as bleak as ya can imagine, frankly."

"I don't know, Celestia's seen some pretty bleak things..." Willow shuddered.

"And how would ya know?" Seabreeze asked, obvious skeptical. Willow said nothing in response, opting to stare at the floor instead.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, my dear," Celestia whispered, placing a reassuring hoof on Willow's shoulder. The Breezie gave her a weak smile before returning her gaze to the floor. Celestia had only the utmost sympathy for Willow's situation, and a great deal of admiration for her strength. She had no way of knowing exactly what of her own memories Willow had taken into herself, but Celestia had seen a lot in her time, and she'd had centuries to compartmentalize and cope with the worst of it. Willow, on the other hoof, had just woken up with it all in her head a few hours ago. It was an unenviable situation for any emotional being, to put it lightly. Celestia wasn't about to chastise Seabreeze and explain what was going on, though. This was a private problem, and Willow had the right to choose who she confided in and when. "I wouldn't mind a preview of exactly what bleak situation we're about to walk into, in any case," Celestia said, turning back to Seabreeze.

"Well, they're not dead, if that's what you're worried about," Seabreeze said. "They're more... puppets, or empty shells, only working on base instincts if the Radiance isn't pulling the strings directly."

"And they haven't tried to escape?"

"Oddly enough, no. Some of them turned rather... violent when their mind's caved under the infection's influence, but they all became rather docile once that passed."

"Mind if we just... get this over with?" Willow asked. "I already know what I'm going to see. I don't need it beaten into my head any more."

"Right, right. Fair enough. Getting it over with sounds like a plan." With that, Seabreeze started down the hall to the basement, Celestia and Willow following close behind. The hall was a lot shorter that Celestia anticipated. Usually these kinds of things almost seemed like they were designed to build suspense. Though this building wasn't originally a dungeon, so false expectations were a bit of an eventuality. What they found at the end, though was unsettlingly striking regardless of how much verbal preparation they had received. A mass of glowing eyes fixated on them from the dark, unblinking and unmoving. Seabreeze only sighed, obviously having been through this numerous times already. "Hey, sunshine!" he shouted at the crowd. "We're here to talk!" There was no reaction from the Breezies, their eyes remaining trained on the trio, or rather, Celestia specifically.

"Please, we only want to have a civil discussion," Celestia said. Her speaking up seemed to get a response, with the crowd rearranging and shuffling about as a single Breezie emerged and drifted their way, her hooves lightly dragging across the floor as she hovered just a smidge too low. Nothing marked this particular Breezie as any different than the others, save a bandage wrapped tightly around a foreleg, stained the same bright orange color as her eyes and antennae.

"You are... unusual," she said, her tone of voice completely flat. "The Wyrm sought... devotion. You seek... harmony?"

"You are very perceptive. Harmony has always been what I strive for. Who is this 'Wyrm'?"

"There is harmony in unity," the Breezie said, ignoring the question.

"That's... true, but surely you realize that a harmony without the will to choose it is a false one?" The rest of the crowd of Breezies began to move, floating around the edges of the room. Willow and Seabreeze noticed as well, tensing up.

"I will not relinquish my children." The crowd finished encircling the intruders, cutting off their escape. "Not... a single one."

"We're not your damn children, you b-" Seabreeze's outburst was cut short by the mob of posessed Breezies lunging at the trio in unison, stopped short by a timely barrier raised Celestia. They bashed against it with a surprising amount of force, and continued to slam their forelegs against the shield in a bizarrely consistent rhythm.

"N-nice save," Willow said, doing her best to keep from trembling. "What now? We can't fight them without hurting them..."

"I'd say a timely retreat is in order," Seabreeze suggested. "Can you get us back out the door?"

"Certainly, just give me a moment and..." Celestia trailed off as something very odd began to happen. She sensed a subtle, but powerful magic surge through the room, and the wings of all of the Breezies in the room, Willow and Seabreeze included, began to shimmer.

"That's..." Seabreeze began, caught completely off guard.

"Our protective magic?" Willow said, finishing the remark. "But that's only supposed to activate in a steady, gentle breeze..." Peering through her barrier, Celestia noticed that the manes and tails of the attacking Breezies were flowing, as if in just such a breeze. Looking even closer, there appeared to be small orange particles flying through the air, propelled by the miniature artificial whirlwind.

"That would not appear to be an issue for her," Celestia said.

"What does it matter?" Seabreeze shouted. "We weren't going to fight them anyways! Just get us out of here!" Celestia nodded, preparing the teleportation spell. Something was wrong, though. Almost as if...

"Oh no," Willow said, realizing what was going before Celestia even finished putting things together. "Our 'protection' doesn't discriminate! It'll block any magic Celestia tries to use on us, regardless of intention!" Celestia quickly confirmed the theory. She couldn't even get a solid lock on her companions, much less safely teleport them away. She might be able to force something through with enough raw energy, but teleportation was way too complex to attempt anything that unstable...

"Clever girl," Seabreeze said, sighing with resignation. "Well, what're ya waiting for, princess? You're not protected, so get yourself out!"

"I am not going to leave you!" Celestia shouted before wincing as the strain on her shield spell mounted. Whatever the Radiance had done to the Breezies, she'd somehow enhanced their physical strength, and it seemed that the volume of the alicorn's own magical strength had decreased in proportion with her size.

"Don't be an idiot! You're the only one who can fight this thing! We're just dead weight!" Willow cringed as Seabreeze said the last sentence, but quickly looked up and met Celestia's gaze, a quiet determination in her eyes.

"Just go. You can save us later, okay? Just... don't let this eat you up in the meantime. I know making sacrifices always does, but your head needs to be in the game. For all of us..."

"Oookay," Seabreeze said. "Weird speech, but pretty on point. What's the holdup? Go!"

"I. Will. NOT!" Celestia's voice boomed, rattling everything around her with magically reinforced fury. Willow and Seabreeze nearly jumped out of their skins, and even the mindless horde outside paused their attack. "If she can't take your minds, then there's no guarantee she'll even let you live. I'm not taking that risk!"

"You don't have another option!"

"Actually, I think I do. Just hold still for a moment." The glow of Celestia's horn began to intensify rapidly. This would take everything she had, but if she could just pour enough juice into something simple and direct...

"Wait, what are you-" Willow never got to finish the sentence, as Celestia's final spell fired off, and everything went black.

---

Princess Celestia groaned as she regained consciousness.

Wait, no... I'm Willow Wisp, right? she asked herself. Things were still a bit fuzzy, not helped by the information that popped into her mind uninvited to tell her exactly what had happened. Sleep spell. I hate sleep spells. She shook her head as she struggled to her hooves. You've never had one cast on you before, idiot! Why would Celestia put us to sleep any... Willow's thoughts trailed off as she wiped the sleep from her eyes and finally saw where exactly she had ended up. The floor was made of a strange dark stone, carved with swirling patterns that extended off into the distance in all directions, with great curved spires scattered about arcing into the sky. Oh, and the sky! It was a spectacular golden-orange color, like it was frozen in a perpetual dawn, and filled with a smattering of light, fluffy clouds and shimmering... runes (?) that faded in and out through the air at random. Some of the clouds drifted across the ground, creating a fine mist obscuring Willow's hooves. It all seemed to frame the sky's centerpiece, a blazing bright Sun, at least three times larger than it should be. Willow waited for some memory of Celestia's to fill her in on where they were, but it never came. Instead, a different memory, apparently her own, resurfaced within her. I've... been here before? This is the Radiance's dream. Does that mean I'm sharing this dream with the others? "Hello? Celestia? Seabreeze?" Willow called out into the mists, hoping desperately for a response. None came, though. "They have to be out there somewhere. If only we were-" Suddenly, the ground beneath her hooves stretched and shifted, creating the illusion of movement. "-closer."

"Willow?" Seabreeze said, causing Willow to jump in surprise. "When did you get here?" Seabreeze was just standing there, obviously just as confused as Willow was.

"I'm pretty sure we're dreaming together," Willow said. "Celestia put us to sleep."

"I figured as much. I think I... remember being here? Can you only fully remember dreams when you're dreaming?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think even Celestia knows all that much about the mechanics of dreams. That's Luna's thing."

"What is it with you and her? You've known her for all of half a day and you're practically joined at the flank." The concern on Seabreeze's face was obvious.

"It's nothing. She's just nice, is all. She saved me." Willow knew she had been acting strange, but she couldn't explain what had happened to her friend. Not until she could figure out what it even meant to herself. If she ever could. "Did she come in with us?" Willow asked, changing the subject.

"She'd better have!" Seabreeze shouted at the empty air. "Otherwise this is the dumbest plan I have ever seen."

"Well, you showed up when I thought about you, so maybe if-" Once again, the ground warped, and the pair found themselves standing next to Celestia, who was just as shocked by her sudden appearance as they were. "That was easy."

"Thank heavens you two are okay!" Celestia said. "I'm sorry I bet everything on a hunch, but it was the only way to protect you."

"And how does this 'hunch' protect us, exactly? I'm fairly sure that now we're just laying crumpled on the ground waiting to be torn apart by the horde."

"My barrier should still hold for a few minutes, at least," Celestia explained. "And time does not pass normally in dreams, so from our points of view we should have plenty of time left."

"But how did we end up here together?" Willow asked. "You certainly don't have the power to do this."

"No, that's where the hunch came in. I figured the Radiance wouldn't be able to resist pulling us into the dream to try and convert us directly. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it's automatic."

"But... now what?" Seabreeze asked. "My memory's a little fuzzy on the specifics, but I think that thing just... talks to you here."

"That was because you two are 'children' she wanted to claim. But how will she respond to somepony she has no interest in talking to?" As if to answer the question, a strange, electric feeling filled the air, causing the trio's fur to prickle uncomfortably. Willow caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned her gaze skyward. At first, nothing seemed different, except...

"Did the Sun just... move?" she asked, shielding her eyes as she tried to get a better look. Her suspicion was confirmed as the Sun began to move again, but not in a way that any of them had anticipated.

"That's not the Sun!" Seabreeze called out as the orb of fire unfurled its wings and soared towards the ground to meet them. It's blinding corona faded as it approached, letting the trio see exactly what they were dealing with. "It's... a bug?" It certainly seemed like an insect, at the very least, or some twisted facsimile of one. It was vaguely moth-shaped, but colored pure white, with wings composed of sinewy tendrils rather than feathers or scales and two elegant, blade-like legs hanging below it. Three spikes adorned its head like a crown, and two orange eyes shining out from a dark void of a face, blazing with the same intensity as the Sun-like guise it had previously assumed. Willow had never seen or heard of anything even remotely like this before, and seemingly neither had Celestia. It just wasn't natural, at least not in any sense she was familiar with. And then it spoke.

HIGHER BEING.

Seabreeze cried out in pain as the words blasted across their minds, falling to his knees. Even Celestia flinched, though her stare remained unbroken. Willow, on the other hoof was... fine? The voice was loud and felt like it echoed through her very bones, but she had felt this before, somehow.

I was already under the Radiance's sway before, even if only briefly, she realized. And have I... inherited something from Celestia? What would one even call it? Resilience of the ages? It didn't matter what it was called. She'd lucked into a twofold defense against the Radiance's brand of mental bombast, but Seabreeze... "Seabreeze!" Willow called out as she rushed to her friend's side, but was unable to do anything more before the Radiance continued.

YOU ARE NOT WYRM NOR ROOT NOR VOID, BUT STILL YOU TAKE MY CHILDREN AND TURN THEM AGAINST ME.

"We're... not..." Seabreeze struggled to speak, even as his mind was overwhelmed by the conversation at hoof.

"Just hang on..." Willow said, desperately trying to come up with something, anything that could help. Resilient or no, she still felt useless.

"I am not, any of those things," Celestia said. "Nor am I a 'higher being.' I am Celestia, pony of Equestria, and friend to the Breezies you claim false dominion over." She stamped a hoof into the stone floor, the impact powerful enough to dispel the mists creeping across it. "Free will is the right of every creature! I will not tolerate tyrants in any form, and I ask you but one time. Leave in peace, or face the consequences." Celestia lowered her head, her horn alight with power. The Radiance narrowed her eyes.

SO BE IT, PONY.

The floor beneath them began to glow, hundreds of pinpoints of light erupting across its surface. It only took a moment for Celestia to recognize what was coming and leap into action.

"Willow, Seabreeze! Scatter!" she shouted, taking to the air and using her magic to toss the Breezies skyward as well. As soon as they left the ground, a metallic spearhead burst from each point of light, skewering the air where the trio had just been. Willow struggled to keep ahold of Seabreeze's limp form as Celestia charged the Radiance, her magic unable to support and attack at the same time. Luckily, the field of spikes wasn't infinite, and Willow managed to find a clear spot to set down a short distance from the mounting battle. She couldn't help but stare at the alicorn's deft movements, weaving among a multitude of orbs of light that tried to track her down, all while peppering the Radiance with energy blasts of her own. Even Seabreeze was entranced by the dance as he began to recover. Unfortunately, the pair's respite was short lived.

"Seabreeze?" a new, familiar voice called out, and two shadowy shapes approached from the mists. They materialized into two Breezies as they approached, one adult and one child. Seabreeze's wife and daughter. Seabreeze leapt to his hooves at the sight of them, nearly collapsing once again immediately, only to be caught by the hooves of his family.

"Gloria... Darling..." Seabreeze seemed almost resigned once he overcome his initial reaction to the sight of them.

"Don't trust them, Seabreeze!" Willow shouted as her friend was set shakily back upright. Willow had memories of enough illusions floating around in her head to be immediately suspicious.

"I... I know," Seabreeze said, trying to meet his wife's gaze, only for her to, oddly, look away. "This is how that monster tries to convince me. They'll cry to me that they're real and they miss me and that I can just be with them and all our friends forever." He stabilized, managing to stop his trembling, never breaking his gaze. "Go on, say the lines! Just go and tear my heart apart again!"

"No," the illusory Breezie said quietly, her very image shimmering as she did so, as if the simple declaration threatened dispel her. "You're right, Seabreeze. We're... not real. The Light latches onto anything and everything to use against you. Will, fears, hopes, desires... loves. You'd have to be completely hollow for her to have no true purchase in your mind."

"Why... Why are you telling me this?"

"She is... distracted," the image said, glancing at the battle behind them. "And you are not as powerless as you think. We are the Radiance's illusion, yes, but without her direction you have just as much influence in this dream as she does. Of course, this means that I'm not telling you anything you anything you don't already know, but something tells me you didn't quite believe it yourself."

"So, you're not Seabreeze's family," Willow said, picking up the gist of things, "but rather the version of them he holds in his heart?"

"Something like that," Gloria said, finally cracking a faint smile. The heartwarming moment was cut short, however, by a pained scream ringing through the air. Seabreeze and Willow spun around just in time to see Celestia skid across the ground, an obvious scorch mark marring her coat where one of the Radiance's orbs had made contact. A circle of white blades materialized and fanned out in the air above Celestia, poised to finish the fight then and there.

"Celestia!" Willow shouted, not garnering any response from the alicorn or her opponent. A memory flashed through her mind. Betrayal, a battle in a castle, and most relevant to the situation at hand, blinding pain as a direct hit landed. Willow knew that Celestia could get up from this, she always did, she just needed time. Time that she didn't have. "We need to do something! But what-" A sudden gust of wind knocked Willow off balance, and she turned to see that Seabreeze had vanished, only the ripples of the wind on the mist left behind. "W-wha-"

BOOM

Before Willow could process what was happening, a deafening impact rocked the dream. Spinning around yet again, Willow saw the Radiance slide backwards through the air, a triumphant Seabreeze hovering over Celesta as the floating blades dissolved.

"Attaboy," Gloria whispered, shimmering for a moment before both her and the child illusion vanished.

"Ya know?" Seabreeze began, extending a hoof to the recovering Celestia and helping her back onto her own hooves. "I'd been wondering how your magic was working in a dream. Turns out you just need to imagine what you want to do and it comes naturally. Magic fits your style. But for me?" Once again he vanished, slamming into the Radiance at imperceptible speeds with a spinning kick. "Getting my hooves dirty is a lot more fun!"

"Do not defy me, child." The Radiance's voice echoed in their minds once again, but no longer was it booming and nearly incomprehensible. It even managed to show emotion, much to the surprise of the moth-beast herself, her eyes widening after she spoke.

"Yeah, the whole 'brain melting voice' thing got a bit tiring, so I... turned down the volume," Seabreeze said, sporting a smirk. "I'd have shut you up completely, but we're all sharing the dream, so it would seem that your will still matters somewhat."

"Enough!" The Radiance exploded into shards of light, dispersing around the arena and sending Seabreeze tumbling across the sky. The ground began to crack and tremble, forcing Celestia and Willow back into the air just in time for it to break apart completely, the majority of it falling away into the clouds below. Only random floating chunks were left behind, leaving precious little space to land, especially if any of them got knocked around again.

"Did we do it?" Willow asked, floating up to join the others.

"I... don't think so," Celestia said, her breathing obviously somewhat pained. "But in the meantime... thank you. Both of you."

"I didn't do anything, though. It was all Seabreeze..."

"I'd be full of more holes than a block of cheese if it weren't for you," Seabreeze said. "Besides, I'm sure you can-" A loud, otherworldly roar rippled through the air, interrupting the conversation. Numerous pillars of light burst into being in a circle around them, extending vertically as far as the eye could see. Far above the trio in the center of it all, the Radiance appeared. She said nothing, only watching as the pillars began to constrict, closing in on her enemies.

"Hold on!" Celestia shouted, her magic flaring up briefly before flickering out, unable to muster enough energy complete the teleportation spell. Celestia tried again, this time conjuring a barrier, only for it to immediately shatter on contact with the advancing light. Celestia slumped, visibly drained of what little power she had managed to recover since the first part of the bout.

"Oh no you don't!" Seabreeze rocketed off towards the Radiance, hoping to disrupt its attack as he had before, only to nearly collide with an impenetrable wall of blades which materialized above them and began to fall, forcing Seabreeze back to the rest of the group.

No... Willow trembled uncontrollably as she realized that they only had a few seconds left. I couldn't do anything. I... I'm sorry... She shut her eyes tight, waiting for the end, centuries of regrets flooding her mind in her final moments. She managed to settle on something that was actually hers, though. All of the art pinned up in her home. Nobreezie would ever get to see it. Eventually it would just fade away to nothing, forgotten and abandoned.

But then... something peculiar happened. A strange tranquility washed over her. It was a hollow, empty feeling, as if she were "in the zone" while sketching her pictures, and suddenly the humming sound of the advancing light just... stopped. Willow opened her eyes, only for her surroundings to remain just as dark as when she'd had them closed. She wasn't scared. This all made sense, somehow. After a moment, the blackness began to drip away, quite literally, revealing a bewildered Celestia and Seabreeze beside her, right where they had been before. The advancing walls of death were nowhere to be seen. The dark liquid pooled around Willows hooves, steadily flowing and adhering to her legs like some sort of amorphous familiar.

"Is that... ink?" Seabreeze asked. Staring at the floating puddle.

"Yes... and no," Willow answered calmly. Like Seabreeze, she had conjured something familiar in her desperation, but she had tapped into something more in the process. Something that lined the fringes of the dream, just similar enough to what she had imagined to respond to her plea.

"I told you a creative mind was a healthy thing," Celestia said, grinning briefly before turning back to their opponent. "As for you, I think it's time that you left."

"Void!" the Radiance hissed as she locked eyes with Willow, a bubbling rage obvious in her voice. "Ancient enemy, even here you hound me! I will not be consumed again!"

"Nor shall you consume my friends," Willow said, unflinchingly returning the fiery glare. The shadow at her hooves began to writhe, prepared to strike. "Now, we end this."