The Sun, but Not

by PerpetualMotion

Dream Forever More

Beams, orbs and blades flashed across the sky as Celestia, Seabreeze, and Willow Wisp went on the attack. The Radiance wasn't holding back now, more determined than ever to pin the trio down through the sheer volume of her firepower. Luckily, Willow had some new tricks up her metaphorical sleeves. Even if she wasn't sure how she knew what she was doing. It was almost like...

Please tell me I don't have a third set of memories rattling around in here... She didn't have the luxury of introspection at the moment, though, and the Void's presence continued to be unnaturally calming. Another field of blades rocketed towards them, arranged just so such that there was no opportunity to maneuver around or through it. She had an idea, though. Somehow. At her direction, the liquid Void spread out, coating Willow and her friends in a form-fitting cloak of shadows. Seabreeze squeaked something out in muffled protest, but quickly realized the idea's merit when the flying blades passed harmlessly through them as if they weren't there at all. The Void fell away soon afterward, cluing Willow in that this technique could only protect them for a brief moment before needing time to recover. Timing would be key.

It was rough going, but now the fight seemed actually winnable. Seabreeze was fast as ever, laying into the Radiance at every opportunity, while Willow did her best to tie down and suppress the floating monster, tendrils of shadow lashing out from the Void clinging to her body. Even Celestia was able to contribute in her weakened state, finding the resolve and inner strength to blast their opponent with whatever she had left.

However, as things dragged on, thoughts began to drift into Willow's mind. They weren't quite memories, but rather stories, presented to her by the Void itself. The Void didn't think like Breezies or ponies or even the Radiance, but it thought all the same. It was amorphous, its form and consciousness easily splitting into independent beings as needed, a trait that had been painfully abused in the past. This potential for individuality born out of unity stood opposed to the Radiance, who devoured individuality, just as much as the Void's elemental darkness opposed the Radiance's light.

Why are you showing me this? Willow asked, hoping that her guest would understand the question. A series of images flashed across her mind. Alien creatures in masks, dark twisting tunnels, all consumed by the same infection that had taken Willow's people. The Void had risen up, not by its own will, but rather the will of an individual, born of both Light and Void. It consumed the Radiance within its own dream, casting it to the depths of unreality. However, even the Void was not infinite, but rather unaware of its own depts. Eventually, the Radiance "fell out" the other side, for lack of a better term. The Void watched, but had neither the will nor means to intervene as she regained her power and found new creatures in a new world to claim as her own. It was a neutral, reactive entity, perfectly content to exist in peace, but not unsympathetic to the emotions and wills of those in contact with it. So that's why you're helping me? You can't act without a driving force...

One last story unfolded in her mind, this one less clear than the others, as if it was only experienced second hoof. A lone creature, moth-like in visage, wanted nothing more than to atone for her people's sins. She was the last of her kind, and so the full weight of this guilt fell squarely upon her shoulders. In the end, though, the best she could manage was to gift someone else, the being of Light and Void, the tool they needed to put the vengeful goddess and creator she had betrayed long ago to rest. The moths had abandoned one light for another, chosen individuality over unity, and condemned the old light to fade away, forgotten completely. Willow realized that it was this desperation, this fear of being alone and forgotten, that fueled the Radiance's rage and ambitions. This was the betrayal that had nearly doomed one world and now threatened hers.

Thank you for telling me, Willow said. The Void fell silent, having said everything it needed to say. As it did, Willow snapped back to reality, the entirety of the Void's stories having taken mere seconds to play out in her mind. It was just in time, too, as she barely had time to cloak herself in shadows to avoid a directed beam of light. She attacked with renewed confidence, now knowing that the Radiance could indeed fall as it had in the past. And sure enough, she began to falter, taking to retreating farther and farther away as the battle continued. Retreating was useless against the impossible speed of Seabreeze, though, and after one last massive jump, the Breezie connected with a solid buck square to the head. The Radiance crumpled, collapsing onto a decent-sized chunk of floor floating below. Willow was quick to bind her with tendrils of Void, which spread across her form like creeping vines. The trio landed in front of her, met only with the harsh glare of the enemy's eyes as resistance. This time, it was focused entirely on Willow rather than Celestia.

"It is over," the alicorn said. "Release the minds of the Breezies. Now."

"No," the Radiance answered bluntly. "I cannot be destroyed. I will linger in the thoughts and dreams of my children no matter what you do to this form. I shall never be forgotten, and perhaps when I have returned and unified this world again... I shall bring yours the harmony you so desperately seek."

"You will not touch them!" Celestia shouted.

"I misjudged you, pony." The Radiance sounded like she'd be smiling if she had a face. "A true higher being would care not for the companionship of those lesser than them. Children, worshipers, and devotees should never be disregarded, but you are riddled with connections and insecurity. Subjects, students, family. Perhaps when you are all of one mind, such weakness can be of use." Celestia shut her eyes as the Radiance spoke, breathing deeply.

"She's just picking at your head," Seabreeze cautioned. "Mind games are all she has left now."

"I know," Celestia said, trembling slightly. "But this... ends NOW!" The alicorn's eyes snapped open as she roared, glowing a bright, ominous green as dark magic encircled her horn. The memories floating around Willow's mind recognized this as umbral magic, born of hatred and fear. Not necessarily evil, but dangerous and driven by negative emotions that threaten to consume the user. The Void squirmed at Willow's hooves, sensing that the power was similar to its own in nature, though derived from a very foreign source. "You shall be cast out, back into the darkness from whence you came! I will not permit your light to sully their dreams any longer!" Shadows spread across the ground beneath the Radiance, connecting to the Void binding her and threatening to absorb her once again.

"You sure you're okay to do this?" Seabreeze asked. "It's not like we're pressed for time at the moment, if you want to rest..."

"I'm determined," Celestia answered through gritted teeth, showing obvious signs of strain. "That's enough for now." Seabreeze nodded in approval, and Willow almost did, too, only...

"Wait!" she spoke up, reaching a sudden epiphany. Seabreeze gave her an odd look, but Celestia didn't even turn. "You can't just keep doing this!"

"I'm doing what I have to do."

"But when has this ever worked? Discord, Sombra, Tirek, Cozy Glow... Luna. All banishing or imprisoning them ever accomplished was to kick the can down the road for some later generation to deal with, at best!"

"Willow, what the hell are you talking about?" Seabreeze asked, never having heard the majority of those names before. Willow didn't have time to explain, though.

"The Void can't contain the Radiance forever. Even if she never returns here, she'll just end up in some other world! How is that fair to them?"

"What do you expect me to do, then?" Celestia asked, raising her voice again. "This is all I can do! This is..." The dark magic faded from her eyes and horn, and she collapsed to her knees, finally spent. "This is why I had to retire..." Celestia finally met Willow's gaze, a few rare tears rolling down her face. "I was never what Equestria needed. I did my best, but you're right. In the end, all I could ever do was delay threats until they fell upon the shoulders of ponies Equestria truly needed."

"Celestia, I didn't mean-"

"It's okay, I know what you meant..."

"Okay, okay, back up," Seabreeze said. "I get the moral quandary here, even without the, uh, context, but we still don't have a solution to the situation at hoof. Obviously just slapping a delay on it isn't ideal, but buying time is all I can think of right now."

"We need to remove her from her seat of power, which is this entire dream," Celestia said weakly. "And right now, the only place she can go is back out the way she came."

"Well, we can leave the dream if we wake up, right?" Seabreeze asked. "What if we woke her up?"

"You have to have a body to wake up to," Willow explained. "My si-" She cut herself off, sighing as she realized her identity was off again. "Princess Luna once created a dream entity with her magic that had the potential to manifest in the waking world if it were to gain enough power, but that's incredibly specialized magic we don't have access to." Seabreeze opened his mouth to speak, before thinking better of it and shaking his head. He had fruitlessly asked what was wrong with Willow enough times already to know he wouldn't get any answers right now. He wasn't the only one there with input, though.

The Void at Willow's hooves shot forward a short distance before a small glob of it rose into the air. The Void orb uncurled and took shape, taking the form of a small, cloaked figure. Two curved horns arced inward from the top of their head, just as black as the rest of the Void that made up their body. In fact, the only points of color on their body were two, blank white eyes that stared back at Willow. The creature was familiar, somehow, though she couldn't quite place it.

"You!" The Radiance squirmed in her bindings, but couldn't muster the strength to break free and attack her enemy, no matter how much she wanted to.

"Uh, hey there little guy," Seabreeze said, giving the creature a short, curt wave. The shade remained silent, but surprisingly enough acknowledged the Breezie, bowing in return. "Do you have an idea?" They nodded, raising an arm into the air. A bright light formed in their hand, as if they were gathering the very essence of the dream itself. After a moment, the light sprouted into an unstable beam-like blade. It was all too much for the shade, though, and it exploded back into bits of formless Void, which sank to the ground and rejoined the rest of the pool. The blade remained, hovering in the air where it had been summoned. "Are... are they okay?"

"I... think so," Willow said, one final piece of the story popping into her head. "That creature once wielded the Dream Nail against the Radiance, but sacrificed their physical shell and rejoined the Void in the process. A shade cannot wield the blade directly, its light disrupts their bodies on contact."

"So... this 'Dream Nail' is... what, exactly?" Seabreeze was way past questioning how she knew any of this by this point.

"It's certainly a very powerful artifact," Celestia said, struggling to her hooves. "I can sense its energy from here."

"It can cut through the veil between the waking world and dreams," Willow said reciting the explanation the Void provided. "Celestia! You can use it to break open the dream! Then we can drag the Radiance out and save everyone!"

"Something tells me that you are the one meant to wield it, my friend." Celestia smiled and placed a hoof on Willow's shoulder. "I know you can do it, you're more than strong enough."

"I..."

"Go on, then. What're ya waiting for!" Seabreeze shouted, joining Celestia at Willow's side.

"Okay... Okay. Here goes..." Willow took a deep breath and stepped up to the nail, bending down and taking its hilt in her mouth. It was clearly not designed to be held this way, but it would have to do for now. Just think of it like... a pen stroke. Willow told herself. Draw the line, and open the gate... She tensed up for a moment before taking off at a full gallop towards the Radiance. She turned her head, closed her eyes, then swung the blade across the Radiance's body in a single, great slash, focusing her mind on her objective. As she did so, the dream around her exploded into light, and-

---

Willow Wisp watched as the Sun crested the horizon, bathing the village in its warm light. The implications of adopting the activity were not lost on her, but she'd woken up at this time for the past two days despite her best efforts, and it felt nostalgic all the same. In any case, she couldn't help but wonder who raised the Sun and Moon in this world, if indeed any creature did at all. This morning, though, she wasn't alone, as Celestia silently approached and took a seat on the hill beside her. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes before Willow finally initiated a bit of small talk.

"It's nice to see you up and about," she said, flashing her a quick smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"Like a rock." The alicorn chuckled. "Sorry I missed everybreezie snapping out of it. Turns out completely draining your physical and metaphysical energy in quick succession isn't good for your health. I think I woke up for all of five seconds before passing right back out. Did they all recover nicely?"

"For the most part. The mental effects were largely lifted right away, and nobreezie remembered anything but the vaguest recollections of the collective dream. The physical effects of the infection didn't exactly fade overnight, but it seems more like getting over a bad flu than anything super serious. Those worst hit were the ones who had been converted the longest. We're still not sure what color they're bleeding now, and none of them are very keen to check."

"That's fair. Seems like they'll recover just fine, in any case. What about you, though?"

"What about me?"

"You've been through a lot in a short time. Just because you're a hero doesn't mean you're invincible, believe me."

"I'm... fine," Willow answered, her hesitation prompting Celestia to raise an eyebrow. "No, seriously, I'm fine. I just have a lot to think about, is all. Most of all what to do with all this." She raised a hoof in front of her face, and much to Celestia's surprise, a small glob of Void pooled on it before taking the shape of an intricate black flower.

"You kept that?"

"More like it kept me," Willow explained. "Void's choice, not mine. The company is nice, at least, even if it's not much of a conversationist." What she omitted, though, was that she had been leaning on the Void's innate tranquility more than she cared to admit. It wasn't forced upon her or anything, but tapping into it when her anxieties over her predicament started rising was an easy, if short-sighted, solution. "So, if you're feeling better, I take it you'll be heading out today?"

"If re-opening the portal isn't too much trouble," Celestia answered. "Luna is probably worried sick, it's been days since she last heard from me. She's probably roped Twilight into trying to track me down by now." Willow giggled at the pretty accurate assessment.

"There should be enough of us up for it, yeah. You miss your sister more than enough already, it'd be cruel to keep you two apart any longer than we have to." The alicorn tilted her head, giving Willow a rather odd look. Willow blushed, quickly realizing what she had just let slip.

"You miss her too, don't you," Celestia said with a heavy sigh.

"W-what? I... I mean..."

"The only way you'd know how I felt with absolute certainty, given that I've barely even mentioned Luna before now, is if you were feeling those emotions yourself."

"It's... it's just so stupid!" Willow snapped. "I've never even met Luna, or Twilight Sparkle, or Cadance! But I care about them so much! I want to see Flurry Heart's smile, and check up on my old magic students, and attend that painting class I skipped out on to have an impromptu adventure! But that wasn't me! I don't have a niece, or pupils, or any of that..."

"It's okay," Celestia said softly, embracing the now sobbing Breezie with a wing, pulling her close. "It's going to be okay."

"Is it?" Willow sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes before pushing away from the alicorn, again turning to the Void to calm herself. "You said I'd still be me, but you were wrong. Willow Wisp the Breezie died days ago, and the only reason I'm not pleading with you to bring her back is that I have the same knowledge that you do telling me that it's impossible."

"The new you is still you, though. You're not me, and maybe you're not even Willow Wisp, but you're still your own person. A person who saved her people. A person who saved me."

"Maybe... But still..." Willow stood up and looked back at the sunrise. She'd made a decision. "I'm coming with you," she stated bluntly.

"Are you sure?" Celestia asked, sounding as if she'd expected this.

"Yes. I'll always cherish this village, but Equestria weighs just as heavily on my mind now. And frankly? This place just doesn't have the resources or experience to help me figure out who I am."

"Of course. You'll always have my support, one hundred percent."

"Thanks. I'll go tell the others that we're leaving today so they can prepare the ritual. Catch you later, okay?"

"I shall see you then." As Willow turned and flew away, Celestia was left to watch the sunrise finish. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "for all of your pain..."

---

Celestia stood at the edge of the village with Willow Wisp by her side, surrounded by a large crowd of Breezies come to see them off. Three in particular, Seabreeze's family, approached them.

"You're really going through with this, huh?" Seabreeze asked, giving Willow a bright, encouraging smile regardless of his actual feelings on her leaving. "And here we were about to invite you over for dinner tonight!"

"It's what I have to do. Besides, I'll probably visit around harvest time every year. You're not getting rid of me that easily."

"I just can't thank you enough for everything you've done, both of you," Gloria said, looking at Celestia. "Our little Darling Dayflower owes you more than we could ever repay." She ruffled the mane of her child with a hoof. He was still too young to respond verbally, but managed to show his appreciation nonetheless by doing a cute little flip in the air before flying over and giving Willow a hug. Celestia couldn't help but laugh at the adorable display.

"Hey now," Willow said, prying the foal from her leg. "Seabreeze is just as much a hero as either of us. Don't ignore him just because you live with him."

"Oh, I'd never forget!" Gloria leaned over and gave her husband a quick peck on the cheek, causing him to blush.

"A-anyway," Seabreeze stammered, "Elder Glitzy is almost done preparing the ritual. After that, and a bit of celebration, of course, you're free to leave any time."

"Sounds grea-" Willow began, pausing suddenly. Celestia followed her gaze and caught a bit of movement on a rooftop overlooking the area. "Excuse me for a moment." She took off towards the activity, and Celestia followed at a distance. The Breezie landed on the rooftop, the half of which they could see appearing to be empty. "You can come out, I already know you're here." A resigned, high-pitch hum sounded from the opposite side of the roof, and an ordinary looking white moth crawled over its peak. Of course, at this scale, an "ordinary" moth was actually just as large as Celestia or Willow, but its fuzziness and blank expressionless face rendered it completely non-threatening, at least as far as Celestia was concerned. "Did you come to see us off, too? Or were you planning to escape once the portal was open?" The Radiance, or at least what was left of her, said nothing, being physically incapable of speaking in her new physical form. "Seriously, though. This won't do at all. Hold still." Willow took a deep breath before holding a hoof out in front of her. Much to Celestia's surprise, a familiar beam of light sprouted from its tip, thrusting into the Radiance's head. The Dream Nail didn't seem capable of harming a physical being, though, and the Radiance didn't even flinch as the blade harmlessly passed through her before fading.

You really are full of surprises, my friend, Celestia thought with a smile. Willow's own smile, however quickly faded as the artifact relayed the Radiance's thoughts to her.

"I'm cruel? You're the former extra-dimensional tyrant here! You're lucky nobreezie remembered enough of what happened to hate you so much that you wouldn't be able to hang around here. Maybe if you stopped thinking of everybreezie as wayward children to control and more as potential friends to make, you wouldn't be miserable!" The argument continued for several minutes, completely one sided from Celestia's perspective, and Willow's originally gentle strikes with her nail (It appeared that she had to make contact every time she wanted to hear more thoughts) steadily became more obviously frustrated as it went on.

Perhaps it is for the best I can't hear her, Celestia thought. This kind of ironic mercy was not beyond her, but she was rather bad at it. It seemed that Willow had learned something of the Radiance's past as well, which would explain the additional patience and sympathy with the bizarre being. The more Celestia thought about her, the more she was unsettled by her apparent motives. She wanted to be the light for her people and guide them with the visage of the Sun itself. I can relate to that much, at least... But to be hurt by a betrayal so much that you'd conclude that free will itself was the problem? That your guiding light was mandatory in the life of every creature? Memories of Nightmare Moon crept in to her mind, and Celestia realized the key difference. I blamed myself for Luna's fall, even if it wasn't entirely my fault. I could have seen the signs and helped her. But this moth? Something tells me she doesn't see herself at fault in the slightest. Existing so far removed from those she ruled over left her with this idea of "higher" and "lesser" beings. After all, how could she be in the wrong if she was objectively above everyone else? If she never needed anyone else? Celestia had had enough nightmares over the centuries trying to tell her the same thing to know where that path would lead.

"Well, that's just too bad!" Willow shouted, and the Radiance buzzed loudly before taking to the air and flying away, having had enough of her. "Maybe try just being friendly for once!" she called after the moth. "At least that will get you somewhere!" Willow sighed as she turned to fly away herself, only to nearly jump out of her skin when she saw that Celestia had been there the entire time. "You, uh, heard all that, huh?"

"Only the half spoken out loud, I'm afraid," Celestia said. "It's commendable that you're willing to put up with that, especially after everything she did."

"Well, she's harmless now, at the very least. Maybe she can have her own dreams instead of just stealing the ones belonging to others. Interacting with the Breezies on even ground would be a good learning experience, too, if she ever comes around to the concept."

"Hey!" Seabreeze called out from the crowd below. "Are we going to have a farewell party, or what? I'm more than happy to stuff my face without you two if I have to!"

"I can't turn down one last home-cooked meal before hitting the road, now can I?" Willow said, beginning to fly back down. Celestia nodded and returned with her, happy to take in the peaceful beauty of the village one last time before departing. It was a delightful time, so many Breezies chattering in their squeaky voices in creating a... rather unique soundscape, to say the least. The genuine gratitude they displayed was also rather refreshing. Lately it had seemed that only Twilight ever showed appreciation for her efforts, which was fair. Until all this, she'd done little to actually save the day for years now. And even now, it had been those by her side who had done the bulk of the work. She'd just... given them the push they needed, even if unintentionally. She tended to operate best that way, anyway.

As the festivities continued, a quintet of Breezies were hard at work mustering the magic to open the portal once again. It was a very beautiful ritual, the participants chanting in unison as the glows of their antennae spread out into an impressive array of multicolored sparks. Eventually they coalesced into a singular shifting mass which drifted into the cliff face, the chanting picking up in tempo as it moved. Upon contact with the stone, the magic exploded into a brilliant aurora, eliciting cheers from the gathered crowd. Much to Celestia's amusement, a few younger Breezies even gathered and pointed at her mane and tail, noting their similarities to the ongoing spectacle. At that point, the portal progressed as normal, starting as a pinhole before slowly growing large enough to allow a whole swarm of Breezies through.

"I guess this is it, then," Seabreeze said, walking up beside Celestia. "Don't be a stranger, okay? I'd swing the harvest group by Canterlot this year for a visit, but I don't think we can do that kind of altitude."

"Well, you're in luck, then. I'm residing in Silver Shoals for the foreseeable future. Considering that I got here on hoof more or less accidentally and how free my schedule is nowadays, it would hardly be inconvenient for me to stop by and assist the migration, or maybe even shrink back down and participate directly. Twilight told me that it was quite the marvelous experience when she and her friends did it."

"Aye, that'd be... nice. I have to admit, it'll be hard to go back to the peaceful goings on around here after all that action. I've always hated how... weak we are. Being unable to so much as float outside that cave without ponies watching over us isn't the best for morale, ya know? Being able to actually throw a punch and have it matter for once felt really good, even if it was just a dream."

"You're stronger than you think, my friend." Celestia smiled at the Breezie. "That strength and determination you displayed in the dream was genuine, and you're a fantastic leader to your people. I'm sure Twilight would love to work with you on a diplomatic level some day."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Seabreeze said, fidgeting nervously. "I just lead harvests, politics aren't really my game. I tend to get a bit... heated."

"You aggressively defended the freedom of your people when everything was on the line and never gave up, admirable traits for anyone in that kind of position. You'd do quite well in a debate, I think. Not every speaker has to be eloquent." Celestia paused for a moment before an idea struck her. "You know, you could always come with us," she suggested "I could take you to establish better relations with Twilight. As a new ruler, I'm sure she'd love to have a more formal partnership with your people beyond assisting the harvests. Establishing alliances is practically her calling."

"Nah, as great as one more adventure for the road sounds, I really need to be here right now. Gloria and Darling still have nightmares about this ordeal, and I want to support them as best I can. I'm sure Willow can handle all the diplomacy just fine herself."

"Of course. Family comes first."

"Hey, Celestia!" Willow called, landing next to the pair. "The Elder want to give you a formal goodbye and thanks before we go, and this particular opening of the portal isn't set to last for very long, so it's now or never."

"I will be right there. Thank you, Seabreeze, for everything." As the two began to make her way through the crowd, Willow stopped after a moment before rushing back to give her friend one last hug.

"I'm sorry I never told you exactly what was going on," she said.

"It's fine, really," Seabreeze responded, patting Willow on the back. "I'm not sure I get it even with a proper explanation, anyway. I'm just glad you're okay, or at least going to be. Be good, alright?"

"I'll do my best. See you around!" And with that, things finally drew to a close. Elder Glitzy said his piece, and Celestia and Willow exited the portal, returning once again to that dark cave. One spell reversal later, and Celestia was back to her original, towering stature.

"It's a shame you can't make me that tall yourself, or at least normal pony sized," Willow said. "I vaguely remember something about energy densities and the like making growth spells pretty dangerous to living things beyond small adjustments."

"Indeed, but I think our journey will be uneventful enough that it won't be necessary," Celestia said. "You know, I already have a good idea of what you can do once we're back home."

"Oh? What's that?"

"I know somepony who could really use a student with some ability in the realm of dreams..."

"I wouldn't mind giving that a shot, then." Willow grinned with newfound optimism. "Thank you for this."

"Any time, little one. It is my pleasure." Celestia's horn flared with its signature light, and the two vanished into the new day.

Comments

[omegasnowfall]

hell yes!

[omegasnowfall]

this really needs a sequel!

[YoursTruly]

wat

[Spellflame]

Sequel?
I loved this!

[Evonix]

I like this, it actually held some emotional weight for me. Still I have a few criticisms, mostly about it being too short. There's more words to them but that's just because it's easier to give fine details on issues one has than with compliments.
The defeat of the Radience seemed a bit slapped on, if it was that simple she'd never have been a problem. Similarly I think she was a more complex character than that though that could just be a matter of interpretation.
Willow connecting to the void was too abrupt, I like what you did there but there wasn't enough detail.
Seabreeze got dream powers too simply, the dream realm never simply bent to will, delusion occasionally but even that was limited. Mostly just "muting" Radiance seemed weird, after all Radiance is as much if not more of a dream god as a sun god, if anything the dream realm is a product of the Radience, saying she was stealing dreams seems unfair. Something I think is probably wrong but is still worth mentioning is that I don't think the higher being definition is the same in game as in fanon, it seems like in game it meant any sapient being, not necessarily those possessing particular power.