Chapter 10
Twilight picked up her EMF reader. She adjusted a few of the knobs to calibrate the frequency of what was setting it off. Magic tended to bounce between high megahertz and low gigahertz depending on the concentration of the radiation. According to the gauge, the interference was all over the place.
“Something is definitely happening,” Twilight confirmed, taking a cautious step closer to the portal.
“Are you sure you want to get closer to that? What if it gives you cancer?” While her accusation was baseless and had no proof, Rainbow Dash did have a point about erring to the side of caution.
“Maybe we should step back, at least to the steps.”
“I reckon we should keep an eye out for Mister Diggs, the security guard. I don’t think he would say nothin’ bein’ that we were students, but best not to tempt him in to callin’ the police for trespassin’,” said Applejack, her eyes searching about the campus.
Fluttershy was about to comment on how Mr. Diggs was a kind man who took extra time before his shift and sometimes on his break to fill a few of the bird feeders that she and a few of the garden and nature club members had set up around the school. Instead, Fluttershy gasped and hid behind Rainbow Dash as the portal sparked and crackled with energy. A few bolts of various colored lightning shot out like a Tesla coil and the increased heat was noticeable even from the front entrance stairs.
“It’s… I’ve never seen it do this before… have any of you?” Twilight looked to each of her friends, but they all shook their heads. Sunny, what is going on over there? Are you safe? Twilight snapped her fingers and set her device down and reached into Sunset’s tote bag, pulling out the communication journal. While part of her hated to be the obsessive, over protective, clingy kind of girlfriend, another part of her thought her concerns were justified given the spiking EMF energy and interference that was permeating from the portal. Then there was Pinkie’s reaction from earlier, had she felt the spiking energy or seen the lightning arc before anyone else? Regardless, Pinkie was still slumped against the steps looking ill with Rarity nearby. Something was absolutely not right.
As Twilight was searching for a pen in the tote bag, another bolt of lightning arced from the plinth. She looked up, but her view was suddenly obscured by a shield of glowing diamonds. The honor student was about to demand her friend Rarity lower the shield when a terrible crash exploded around them like a cannon going off. The air smelled heavy with burnt ozone and copper similar to when a transformer explodes. The echo faded and the whistling of electrified atmosphere vanished, but Rarity was still cautious as the shields faded one facet at a time. What they saw made all six girls gasp.
Twilight dropped the journal and ran to the base of the statue where the once mirror smooth polished marble had become scorched, blackened, and covered in hundreds of hairline cracks that still emitted faint wisps of smoke and light. Carefully, Twilight touched the surface. It was warm, but not hot like it had been. She quickly withdrew her hand with a gasp when several small chunks of the façade fell and crumbled to ash.
“No…” Twilight whispered, “nononononono.”
“Is…” Rainbow Dash began, but did not have the courage to touch the stone herself. “Did the portal just break?” Fluttershy gasped and covered her mouth, burying her face into Rarity’s shoulder.
“But how’s Sunset supposed to get back if the portal’s broke?” Twilight ignored Applejack’s comment and ran back to the fallen journal. She opened to the last page and found no new entry. Twilight found the ink pen she had searched for earlier and began to write.
----------
Princess Twilight blinked her eyes and groaned. Her vision came into focus on a small purple dragon who had been calling her name and giving her gentle shakes. With a nod of her head to ensure Spike she was well Twilight took in the sad state of her library. It looked like a bomb had gone off, several bombs in fact. Furniture and shelves were broken, windows shattered, books scattered about, many damaged beyond repair, and in the middle a smoking pile of broken mirror along with what remained of the equipment that had been used to open it. Twilight limped around trying to wrap her mind around what happened, having dropped in and out of consciousness after colliding with the defense shield. Twilight stopped at a smoking book with charred pages, prodding it with her hoof and flipping it closed to find that it had been the old journal with Celestia’s cutie mark upon the cover. Her foggy attention was suddenly diverted when the largest pony in the room suddenly burst into flames.
“YOU KILLED MY DAUGHTER!” Celestia screamed. Her mane and tail had turned to angry flame and her eyes had morphed to glowing orange orbs with slit serpent like pupils. The books near her hooves spontaneously burst into flames, the crystal beneath her hooves cracking and crumbling from the heat, leaving scorch marks where she stepped. Celestia seized Star Swirl in her magic and pulled him close, the mage writhing as the heat singed his fur and blistered his skin.
“Princess!” Twilight cried out in desperate protest.
“The thread was loose, I could see it, which means I KNOW you could see it. All you had to do was pull it free, not destroy the mirror! And now she is GONE! My daughter is trapped between worlds, suffering, dying a slow death with no way for us to reach her. Tell me why I should not kill you and spread your charred remains to the farthest reaches of this planet?!”
“I…” Star Swirl forced up a shield from the heat so that he could look his princess in the eye, “I did my duty to Equestria, as I always have. The creature had collapsed all our safety defenses. If I had not destroyed the portal immediately I would not have been able to contain the collapse of our entire reality. I apology for the necessity of my actions, but I do not regret them. You have my sympathy for your loss, Your Highness. If my life is the final price to pay for keeping Equestria safe then I gladly pay it.” Celestia growled, her teeth beginning to elongate into fangs.
“Princess Celestia stop! You have to stop! PLEASE!” Celestia turned her eyes to Twilight, the shear horror in her former student’s expression pulling her back from the edge of something atrocious. Celestia blinked, her eyes returning to the more familiar equine shape and shade of magenta. She dropped Star Swirl from her magical grasp and stepped away, collapsing into a heap on the crystal floor. He mane and tail returned to its more familiar tri-color, but they lay flat, the majestic ethereal breeze lost to them in her grieving sorrow.
When Sunset had fled through the mirror the first time after her dismissal, Celestia had locked herself in her private chambers and wept for hours, scolding herself for the loss of another loved one. When self depreciation had failed to bring any comfort, Celestia had then teleported herself to badlands far to the south and unleashed her sorrow and anguish upon the landscape. The result of her venting had leveled a small mountain and widened a chasm to a canyon. The entire experience had given her much needed release, but also served to remind her how she was not like other ponies when it came to self control. Once back in command of her emotions, Celestia had prayed to her long departed mother and to the heart of the universe that her daughter was well and safe and would someday return.
However, another world, even a strange one without magic was nowhere near as hostile or unforgiving as the places between the universe itself. Praying would not be enough… and without a conduit such as the mirror?
“HUZZAH! STILL ALIVE!” Starlight Glimmer crowed after regaining some of her awareness. She found it difficult to stand upright and had a splitting headache that made Starlight wonder where the axe had struck her, but alive nonetheless. “Ow, shouldn’t have shouted that.”
Princess Twilight glared at her student and carefully approached Celestia, placing her hoof on her shoulder. “Princess?”
“I am not fine, Twilight, but I am… better. Thank you for stopping me from doing something I would likely regret.”
Twilight hugged her beloved teacher. “How long can she survive in between dimensions? There has to be a way to reach her. We just need to think things through rationally.”
“As I said before,” Star Swirl said, lacking his usual pompous undertone, “a unicorn, even one as powerful as she could not survive for long in the space between. It is better to hope she died quickly and not as a plaything for whatever tried to come through.”
“I’m sorry for what I’m about to say, but if you are not going to add anything positive or helpful to this situation then will you kindly SHUT THE BUCK UP!” Twilight shouted, glaring daggers at her once beloved hero. Star Swirl at least had the decency to appear admonished. A silence hung over the library for more than a minute until a buzzing sound caught everyone’s attention.
“I know that sound.” Spike hurried to the corner that was covered in broken tables and benches and dug out Twilight’s saddlebags. They had been buried and survived the ordeal with little more than some scuffs. He withdrew a leather-bound journal and brought it to Princess Twilight without hesitation.
“Another two way journal? I thought the one powering the mirror was destroyed?”
“I crafted a new one after the pair Celestia had made for her and Sunset had become full. It still had a powered connection so I continued to use it to open the mirror and my new one for communication.”
“Is it from Sunset!?” shouted Starlight, limping over to Spike and Twilight with a bit of a wobble in her step. “Did she make it through to the other side? Please say yes!” Even Celestia raised her eyes with the faintest of hopes. Twilight’s crestfallen expression crushed that sliver of hope.
“No, it’s from the other me. She said that the base of the statue at Canterlot High was damaged and wants to know what happened… and if Sunset is okay.” Twilight’s eyes went wide as she began to panic. Spike looked around but any paper bags for hyperventilating had been burned up. “What, what should I say? I mean, we don’t know for certain she’s dead. We don’t know anything! No, I can’t tell her that! My counterpart and Sunset… they were in love! She… they… I… I can’t do that to her! I just… ”
Celestia grimaced, but swallowed her pain, taking the journal from Twilight in her magic. “I asked Sunset to come back. We could have recruited another unicorn to help seal the mirror, but I admit I was being selfish. I wanted to see Sunset again and to have her help as we closed the portal together.” Celestia gently glided her hoof across the emblem on the cover of the book, a cutie mark combining both Twilight’s and Sunset’s marks. It was fitting in more than one way. “I am her mother. If the other Twilight was my daughter’s special somepony, she deserves to hear to truth from me.”
----------
Twilight drummed the pen against the journal as she sat on the steps and waited for a reply. To be honest, with the portal broken she was not sure the journal still worked. There were too many unknown variables. Twilight hated unknown variables. “You said Sunset once sent a message to the princess after the portal had sealed itself, correct?”
“It was right after the Sirens showed up at school,” said Rainbow Dash, recalling the Battle of the Bands. She smiled at the memory, but quickly shook her head to remain focused. “We were all still pretty skeptical of the whole magic thing even after the rainbow laser and music related pony ups, but it somehow worked. She got a message out even though the portal was closed and just a plain statue base again. I think I remember her saying something about linked journals and a conduit?”
“LOOK!” Pinkie shouted a bit of color returning to her features. “Magic texting!” The six pairs of eyes crowded close as exquisite cursive script began to appear on the page. Twilight knew it was not Sunset’s handwriting… especially since she had no hands as a pony. How did a pony write, Twilight thought? She would have to ask that question again later, but filed it away as she read the message out loud.
“Dear Twilight,
I am assuming that you are the Twilight of the other world my daughter had spoken of so fondly. As you may have surmised, I am not Sunset Shimmer, but instead, I am Princess Celestia of Equestria and it is with a sorrowful and broken heart that I am obligate to inform you that our attempts to close the mirror and protect both worlds has partially failed. While in the final stages of our spells a creature of darkness and shadows reached through the mirror and breached our defenses.
It was a monster of unexpected strength and speed and attacked everypony present, myself included. Sunset, without hesitation or regard to her own safety, attacked the creature as it attempted to kill me or take me prisoner. She valiantly severed the creature’s hold upon me, but in doing so made herself its target. Sunset, my beloved daughter, was dragged through the portal as it collapsed.”
Twilight dropped the journal and fell to her knees. She screamed into her hands as she sobbed and shook. Pinkie and Fluttershy wrapped themselves around Twilight trying to console and comfort their devastated friend. Rarity picked up the journal and continued to read, quietly reading the words to Applejack and Rainbow Dash a few steps away from Twilight.
“It is unclear at the moment if Sunset survived the encounter with the creature. However, more pressing is the fact that she and/or her body and soul are currently trapped in the realm between all dimensions. I will not lie to you, you deserve the truth as my daughter’s friend and lover. The in between is a place no normal pony could survive for long. A place of overwhelming magical energy and primal cosmic forces. I have been informed by our lead portal expert that such forces and the absence of normal time and space would be fatal to any creature.
It pains me beyond mere words to say that my daughter may be lost to both of us, however I am not giving up. We will begin immediately combing every source of information we have to find a way to confirm the whereabouts of Sunset even if we have to craft another mirror from scratch. If you believe in such things, please, pray for her strength and protection and that we are not too late. It is perhaps wrong of me to hope, but I know in my heart that I cannot give up on her and I hope you will do the same.
With great sympathy, Princess Celestia.”
“So? What do we do?” asked Applejack.
“What can we do?” Rainbow Dash replied kicking at the stone steps. “Unless someone wants to charter a boat to try heading for that portal on the island, which may or may not be still guarded by a pissed off plant monster.”
“And even then, that would not get us to this, ‘in between’ that she spoke of,” Rarity added, wiping the tears as they fell, not caring that she was smearing her mascara.
“No,” Twilight whispered, still hiccupping with the occasional body shaking sob. “I’m not giving up. I REFUSE to give up on her. She would never give up on me. If they can’t find a way into another dimension then I will.”
“Darling, we’re with you, you know that, but…”
“NO! NO BUTS! No conjunctions of any kind! I. LOVE. HER!” Twilight stood, wiping her face one more time before placing her glasses back on her face and collecting her things. “I have ripped this world apart once before for the wrong reasons and I will damn well do it again, without hesitation, for the right ones.”
----------
Celestia closed the journal when no reply was returned after several minutes of waiting. She had buried many friends throughout the centuries and stood by comforting others who had grieved for loved ones lost. She did not have to imagine what the other Twilight was going through. After all, she too was grieving, desperately clinging to that light of hope that was holding her together. There was an empty void in her heart that had so recently been refilled with love and pride for her once lost 'little sun'.
In a small way, Celestia felt a nostalgic guilt that had flooded her when she had asked Twilight to go through the mirror in her place. While it had been true, she had a duty to Equestria it had also been fear and cowardness that had prevented Celestia from chasing after Sunset.
When Twilight had returned with her Element of Harmony, but no Sunset in tow her thoughts immediately went to her daughter. She had survived for years in a magicless world and more so, had thrived. Sunset had proven to be resourceful and resilient and then later repentant. She had redeemed her past actions and embraced the magic of friendship. Much to her surprise as well as pleasure, Celestia began receiving occasional reports from Twilight about how well Sunset was doing. She was safe, healthy, and above all happy with her friends. Sunset had, on her own, and with help from friends, finally become the mare Celestia had always hoped she would be. She swelled with pride and love and a deep sense of longing for the daughter she missed terribly.
Then, unforeseen circumstances came about that forced Sunset to come crawling back to Equestria and Canterlot to beg for help. Celestia, for the first time in many years was able to look down upon the pony that she had secretly bore and saw for herself the changes. Sunset’s eyes were as alive and full of life as ever, but her pride was in check and her desperate request was for saving her beloved friendships and not for a selfish power grab or hidden agenda. Sunset had come into her own, and for a fleeting blink in Celestia’s many centuries of life, she had been truly content with the universe. She would give much to have that small happiness and contentment back.
Celestia’s attention was soon returned to the other ponies who were pacing about the library trying to brainstorm anything that could possibly help the situation. She wanted to help, she NEEDED to help, but had already postponed her own duties and passed on what she could to aides and her sister, Luna. Even for her beloved daughter her personal time was finite. The truth of it made her disgusted and she was tempted to throw off her crown and burn it to ash, but she could not, not yet at least.
“That won’t work,” said Star Swirl, rubbing his temples.
“Why not?” Starlight objected. “We go back in time to just before we start unraveling the mirror and say, ‘no don’t do it or Sunset will die!’ That should be enough to get us to stop.”
“Did you learn nothing from when you tried to change the future before?” Twilight said, her own headache beginning to throb. “Even if we stop ourselves there is no guarantee whatever divergence time line we would create is any better or worse than where we are now. We need a solution to fix the present not a band aid for what’s happened.”
“Even if we tried to pour a sizeable amount of power into a spell to rip the veil open there is no guarantee we don’t end up making things worse or letting in a creature again, especially without the mirror housing to help contain the spread of the radical chaos particles that would begin to rip our reality asunder.” Star Swirl said out loud to no pony in particular.
Twilight cocked her head a bit. “Chaos particles?”
“Of course, the universe and or multiverse are interconnected like all things in a constant state of flux. Push and pull, light and dark, chaos and order. Just as matter exist so must antimatter. If we use our magic to undo the order of our reality as we know it then chaos will begin to break down the fabric of our reality as we know it in turn.”
Twilight rubber her chin. “So… would you say that then if we had a way to control the flow of said chaos we could theoretically navigate a tiny tear in reality. Just enough to find Sunset and get her out before it’s too late?”
“Theoretically. But it’s not that simple! While it has only been less than an hour for us, years could have gone by for her, decades or perhaps even the opposite. It’s why I hate dealing with chaos magic, it makes even my kooky mind spin like a top.”
Twilight turned to look at Celestia who nodded in understanding. “If it means getting my daughter back alive, I absolutely approve of asking for his help. I already lost my Sombra to darkness and another dimension, I cannot lose my Sunset as well.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.076 seconds
Total duration
941 users online
254,695 hits today, 2,314,256 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Mega oof. I get where Star Swirl is coming from, but there are times when tact is needed.
And I've got a feeling that Twiggles' desire to get her Sunny back is going to potentially become a big issue for all of reality.
Chaos particles eh? Too bad there' isn't a litteral incarnation of chaos just hanging around, drinking tea with one of Princess Twilight's besties.
10312939
Chaos be coming. ^_^
Celestia almost going Daybreaker over Sunset? I can buy that. If the Justice league can become the Justice lords over the death of the Flash, I can see this being one of Celestia's breaking points.
Also, why do I get the oddest suspicion that that incomplete alicorn weapon spell is gonna play a part in saving Sunset?
10433724
^_^