Twilight Daylight: Dawn of Equus

by thedarktome

Chapter 12 - Boom

Dawn couldn't sleep. Not with the weight of the situation pulling at her heart, leaving First Light to their shared body. The dark was her thing, her only time of day where she had full control, so to speak. It was important to her, and Dawn couldn't deny her the right to live.

Their observation was taken to an abandoned area of the castle, Dad's old garden. The one she used to run through as a kid. Reaching the point of neglect, Dawn could make out among this tragedy specks of life, an attempt to continue one of her father's many legacies.

"Grandma." First Light took over the body and sat amongst what was once beautiful. A shadow of darkness lying among dead flowers.

"What's the plan Dawn? How are we heisting that book?"

"Easy. We seep into the darkness of the night tomorrow. We can't go in alone. We'll be needing backup." Sounded reasonable. "You're worried. I can feel your anxiety."

"Are you not?" First Light rose back to her hooves and traversed the garden. "You and I know what this will imply. It's all going to come to light. That and..." First Light raised her wings and rotated her body. "Look around you, Dawn. Everything that we have ever read, everything that has brought us to where we are amounts to this moment. Ever since mom first arrived on Psera, she investigated Narmeelah's involvement. Everything that we have ever known to keep us happy and safe will be a threat in mere minutes. How are you not worried?"

"I am." First Light plucked a red rose hanging on to life up to her face. "But I can only take one step at a time. We cannot save all of Psera. We called for help and it never came. It's all on us now."

A shame, truly. The life of a great country now rested in the hooves of a single pony possessed by two spirits because their leaders refused to listen. After being changed to yellow, the PDSSC was cycled back to green, as if all were okay. She could see the glow from here.

First Light teleported out of the garden and up to the castle's rooftop, away from observant guards to see the might of Psera and all her cities. From the lowest points to the heights of...

"Oh no. First Light, we have a problem."

First Light glanced to the guards. "And what would that be?"

"Psera Skies." First Light directed her sight up to the one out of the twelve floating cities of Psera, occupied by hundreds if not over a thousand Pserateps each.

"What about them?"

"The buildings are floating on clouds because of mom's magic. Without that magic, they're going to fall right through those clouds."

Oh no. "Right on top of their underlying cities."

They couldn't wait. First Light cycled back into Fresh Dawn who then teleported back to Grandma's suite. The halls, kitchen, and rooms were lit by small atmospheric lights, just enough to give off a glow.

"Grandma!" Dawn ran through the hall and to Molten Ice's bedroom. She burst through the door, startling Molten enough to flap her wings under the covers and sit up irately.

"Stars above, Dawn, what has gotten into you?!" She shouted.

Ignoring that, she stopped at Molten's bedside and rose on her hooves. "We have to evacuate Psera Skies! The only thing that's keeping them afloat is mom's magic! Once that leaves, they're going to fall!"

"Dawn, it is too late into the night for this." She grabbed the comforter and threw it back over her head before the humming of the power cut, bathing her room in darkness.

Molten peeked out. Weird. The only thing aglow were Dawn's eyes scanning the room, thanks to that bucket of magic in her. She slinked out of bed and to her hooves. Dawn created a small bead of light above her horn..

"Power's out," Molten said.

"No," Dawn denied. "The magic's out. As in out of here."

The event was early. Dawn trotted out of the room with Molten on her hooves before the door to the suite opened. Per protocol, the Guard were ready, standing by saluting with flashlights dancing around the suite.

Dawn and Molten walked past and out into the great hall. From the stained glass windows, Dawn could make out...nothing. Shadows bathed across the entire castle. The only source of power was the green ambient glow of the PDSSC.

Dawn turned back around. "Take us to the foyer. Are any Comm Blocks working?"

While one guard took the lead for the emergency stairs, the First Private checked for a reading on the Comm Block.

"First Guard to Castle, does anyone copy?" They awaited a response. "First Guard to Castle... Comms are dead."

Of course. They were powered by Mom's magic solely.

They ran down the emergency stairs and out into a connecting hallway, rushing into the castle's Foyer and soon, out the doors of the castle. Cop was silent. From beyond the gates, Dawn could make out multiple figures flying out of windows to the rooftops. Pods and Radwoods lined the streets, all shut down with their operators staring in confusion. The only source of light left was the PDSSC. Accentuated by a deafening silence, the calm before the storm.

"What has happened?" Molten whispered. Dawn was tired of answering the same question over and over again.

"Your Majesty!" Gardeen, Hot Stop, and a handful of other Pserateps, no doubt Psera's Observatory Unit jogged down the stairs in a panic. In her hooves were notes fluttering with the growing wind. "Word came in seconds before the outage reached Cop. The Power Plant in Merōl experienced massive drops in Wattage."

"Is there a status for repair?"

"They can't repair what isn't there. A witness monitoring their units said that the energy contained in their batteries... It burst through and into the air. There's nothing left."

Thunder rumbled in the distance, directing their sights to the dark skies this half of Equus. Massive, violet glowing clouds were forming. The wind grew stronger, billowing manes, tails, and clothes.

"That's our energy," one of the observers stated.

"No," Dawn denied. "That's mom's magic, and she's taking it back. This is just the beginning."

True to her words, the PDSSC finally cut out, bathing Psera in a true darkness. Shouts and screams echoed through the mountain range. They had every right to be scared.

Dawn turned around and faced the growing ring of officials gathering at the bottom of the steps.

"This isn't just happening here. It's happening all over the world." Dawn faced Molten Ice...no. She faced the Castle Guard. "Get with defense and begin evacuating citizens towards Lavender. That region out there isn't overshadowed by Psera Skies."

"Including Psera Skies, ma'am?"

"Everyone everywhere has to go to Lavender. We don't have time for—"

She was interrupted by a stentorian boom. So loud, they hunkered down before turning their sights to the bright glow of magic lighting up the darkness of Cop. Violet energy expelled from the walls of the PDSSC. A thick violet mist, almost a liquid streamed into the air, snaking to those clouds.

Another building burst, lighting up their skies followed by another.

"Evacuate Psera Skies now!!!" Dawn shouted. The time for a happy Princess was no longer. The Queen wasn't taking charge. Molten had no idea what to do. Sleep was still on her mind. It was Dawn's turn to rule.

She pointed to the skies and ten Pserateps took to the air amongst this growing battlefield of magic. That solved, she turned to the rest waiting. "Get these ponies to Lavender!!! Have defense power on all Aquatas and ready a move for the sea!"

Molten cleared her throat and shouted over the explosions of magic. "Dawn, we should have everyone take cover, not run!"

"We can't hide when there's no place to hide! We have to move for Lavender! Unless you think SERL is our next best option!"

They were interrupted by another explosion in the distance. Founder's Circle, the largest blast yet. The entire structure, as well as its floors blew outwards and into the sky, floating up through the air. Dawn could make out the steel skeleton breaking down, the orange flames flowing through the air, a river of destruction forged by mistakes of the past. So big were the pieces that they overshadowed the castle during its flight, shaking the ground.

Next were the pods. Radwoods being lifted and rocketing into the air. Homes amid skyscrapers, highways, entire streets lurching their way from the dirt, flying with a destination for that massive cloud. Dawn knew that her magic would return, not that it would be this destructive.

She turned back to Molten. "There is no place safe! Lavender is our best option!"

She was right. Dawn could see it in Molten's eyes. She closed them and nodded her head towards the Castle Captain.

"Have all Ground Forces escort citizens to Lavender," she ordered. "Power on all Aquatas through auxiliaries, no magic. We are in a Nationwide Evacuation."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The ground lurched, throwing all Pserateps that weren't in the air to the ground. Gardeen grabbed Dawn by the hoof and hefted her back up. The castle. The castle was moving, yanking its way from the dirt. Dawn was flown from the ground and up into the sky. She could see the disaster from the air. Buildings that haven't entirely fallen were collapsing. Dust was rising into the air, making visibility nearly impossible.

The Castle. Stars above, the castle. It was tilting its way forward. Which meant that it wasn't lifting. Something else underneath was. But the only thing under the castle made of magic was...

"The Bunker," Dawn whispered. Grandma. She was still down there! What was she doing?!

Dawn wiggled her way out of Gardeen's hold and shouted over the chaos. "Grandma!!"

Psera was rising. She could see everything for miles either going into the sky or falling to the dirt. The air was thick with the different colors of Pseratep coats, all speeding their way out of the mountain range for the atmosphere of Lavender. Like a hive of bees, they burst out of windows and buildings. Through the high winds and dust they fled.

But Molten Ice, she stood and watched. Her home, once again, falling apart. Thanks to magic. She remained at the steps of the castle, creaking and groaning with age.

In the distance, she could make out the Psera Press, still in it's prime, the memorial of the pass press center, ropes of highways and freeways floating through the air, all crashing into each other alongside tremendous echoes of destruction that bounced their way through this valley of wealth and, otherwise, peace.

Pserateps fell from the sky, either crushed from the materials of their own creations or too fatigued to fly through the thick layer of dust. The castle was falling apart behind her, groaning loudly. Violet webs of magic speared through the ground to latch onto whatever lied beneath, yanking it up and through this historical structure. The ground broke and shattered with its rise, a large metal box slowly inching its way up through the depths of tartarus.

Dawn teleported down to her and grabbed Molten's hoof, breaking her shock-induced trance. "Grandma, we have to leave! Now!"

"No." She directed her attention back to her stubborn granddaughter. "You go. Psera needs you, Dawn. I, however, am staying here."

"What?! Aseelo mahnurka, you're coming!"

"No, Dawn!" She reached down and bit at Dawn's ear to cease her attempts. She relinquished Molten's hoof and stepped away. Tears dripped down her face and she struggled to grab hold of the tilting Earth. "It is my time. I will do what I can down here to guide the citizens to the sky, and helping those who can't. Now go." Dawn stayed rooted to her spot. "Go, Dawn! I relinquish my power to you and Merry! These ponies need you! Now go! GO!!"

The ground lurched again, shaking Dawn back to the present. With great regret, she turned around and teleported back to the air. Molten was finally alone. She looked to the stars, overlaid with dust and fire. Bodies fell from above and into the chaos left behind. Death from the skies. A Pseratep's best friend, now their enemy. Oh, if only they listened. The Pserateps were flying right into the floating debris. They couldn't see where they were going when they would take off. There was no way they would all be able to escape.

Molten could help. She ran across the yard of the castle and over the iron fence. The block under the castle was finally pulled up in an explosion of dirt, fire, and bricks. Steel beams, bricks, pieces of historical artifacts blew across the eastern region of Cop. Dawn made it out just in time. Those still on the ground, Dawn lost sight of them immediately, buried underneath weighty material and collapsing buildings.

She lost sight of Molten after regrouping with the rest of the Guard in the sky. The dust was impenetrable. No way would they be flying back through there with a hope of getting out. Not at the time. If there was anybody else there, they would surely perish with the toppling of buildings or the lack of breathable air.

It would be a graveyard in a matter of hours. Even now, a guard held Dawn in a vice grip and strapped a gas mask to her face, one of the tools use by the Castle's Guards ever since the rioting and protests began, all to kick her off Psera. Now? According to law, she was the ruling Queen. Molten Ice just swore her in under a State of Emergency.

Upon breaching the cloud layer and taking to the sky, they were met with the true power and magnitude of this struggle. The plains, all of Merōl, as far as the eye could see, the godlike hands of magic was stripping away at Psera, taking all that lied into the sky, leaving behind nothing in its wake. Buildings, grass, forests, nature, technology, life. No matter what was there, streams of violet pulled it into the evergrowing cloud of Arcadia Nova's magic.

She could see Pserateps in those streams, desperately abandoning their homes with foals in their grips en route to Lavender. Fires illuminated the sky. Plumes of smoke filled the air. An entire crystal Obelisk belonging to Psera's early detection system flew between them and lavender on its way back to its creator, spearing its way fatally through groups of Pserateps flying to the safety. Dawn could make them out, falling back through the dust in heaps, succumbing to the destructive flames claiming Psera's soil.

Dawn laid her sights back on their goal. The port in Lavender, slowly running out of Aquatas to accommodate anymore survivors. As Dawn suspected, a third of what they had was magically infused. They, too, returned to the late mistress of magic. Others that weren't fully created but held elements of magic-infused materials lied in heaps, either lying over the ocean on their sides or sinking to the ocean floor.

Now it's being pulled from the dirt, leaving behind a lifeless dusty brown. Thanks to their rushing speed, the dust lifted into the air, slowly mixing together a haze of invisibility.

"We have to lower down for safety!" Lieutenant Smalls shouted. Yes, staying in the air was a death sentence.

They slowed their speed and lowered down to the ground. Just enough to avoid all of the streams of magic shooting into the sky. They reached the port, ducking the storm of Pserateps flying desperately to get to the next available Aquata, out of the few they had left.

Upon their landing and running through the chaos, Dawn ordered, "Ensure all get on an Aquata! No living pony is to be left behind!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Gardeen leaned down to Dawn. "What about the Diary?!"

"The safety and well being of the citizens is first and foremost! Another day for the diary; she has no idea where it is!"

Through the flames they rushed, flapping their way onto the packed Aquata Zero. Would it hold during the travels to the ocean? They reached the upper deck and burst their way into the bridge right before a massive explosion shook the waves and rocked their ship.

Dawn held onto the side as their Aqauata tilted.

"Hold on!!" Gardeen grabbed Dawn with one hoof and a rail with the other one, holding on tight before their aquata stopped dipping, slipping back into its original position.

Dawn rose back to her hooves and pushed her way through the military onto the bridge, bustling with activity.

As assumed, Secretary Manny, Generals, and a handful of Executive Defense Officers were already there, healing themselves and the wounded, checking out their tools and instruments, and reviewing plans. They rushed through the cabin shouting at each other, something Dawn was able to easily slip through thanks to her small stature.

She urgently moved for the map. "Are we able to move?!"

"We're working on it!" Secretary Manny reported. "Auxiliary Power is a lot different from magical power. It takes an average three minutes to start moving the engines."

"The sooner the better." Dawn ran back out to the deck and watched Psera fall. Did mom even realize how deep this went? How massive her magic was? How destructive it would be upon extraction?

The beauty of Psera was no more. What remained in its place was a victim of anger, circumstance, and, most of all, death. Whereas Psera used to look so peaceful in the night, now it looked like the depths of Equestria's Tartarus had been pulled up to the surface. Massive fires licked at the skies. Victims of the flames walked around in a daze, hopelessly seeking their way out until they were latched up by a Pseratep who could find it. Falling structures claimed the lives of those digging through the wreckage for sentimental belongings.

First Light took over one of Dawn's eyes to see the underworld up close and personal. "Stars above," she thought.

So many lives perishing. Losing to a war they didn't even realize they were in. This final act would free all of them, but how many lives have been lost so far because of it?

Dawn didn't even know she was crying until a napkin was held in front of her by Gardeen. She, too, had tears leaking down her face.

"Thank you." Dawn wiped her face and sniffed her tears away. She needed to be strong.

The engines of the Aquata revved to life. Alarms blared, lights illuminated the seas and the bodies floating, drowning within them.

"All engines primed!" Secretary Manny shouted.

"All Aquatas, full speed, away from shore!"

Aquata Zero lurched upon its movement. Dawn grabbed hold of the railing and held tight. The wind of the seas blew forth her mane, flooding her sight with red. It wasn't enough to hide the horrors or memories engraving within her mind.

Behind other Aquatas they left Psera. It fell apart quickly. Those who didn't make it out were consumed by the flames and destruction. Last night, they slept peacefully. This night, all of Psera wondered where they would sleep, implying that they would, or even could.

Dawn couldn't tear her eyes away. Not when Executive and Co-Executive leaders stepped out, nor her family, even when the wind proved too strong to stand in. She couldn't stop watching as their home was torn apart, and they were left adrift at sea. The waves tossed around their Aquatas, mere twigs floating in a rushing stream. Here's hoping all Aquatas remained forward bow. A mere swing off-course, port or starboard, and it would tilt into the ocean. The Aquatas behind them would slam into the wreckage. Few would survive.

The further from Psera they sped, the more attention swiveled towards survivors and priorities.

"We're low on food and drinkable water," one said.

"Multiple casualties on lower decks!"

"We're out of beds! No more room!"

"We need a count of inventory immediately!"

Dawn pulled her eyes away from the stern towards the gathering. They were freaked, ignorant of next steps.

"We're missing ponies!"

"Yeah, no kidding!

"We lost Her Majesty!"

"Enough!!" Dawn shouted. Their bickering, arguing, and vocal worries ceased in favor of the wind and cries of the victims. Their eyes were now on her. Not the strands of magic carrying what was once Psera, Equestria, and others into that massive cloud. Not the smoking land of Psera behind her. Not each other's individual struggles. She has their attention.

"We have all suffered greatly tonight," she said. "We've lost beloved family members, partners, friends, our homes, and our way of life. Right now, all creatures are equal."

She pointed to the cloud. One stream was coming from the west, Psera's. But there were many others coming from the East.

"Equestria, Prance, The Neightons, Mount Aris, Seaquestria, we are all affected by the same thing. As of this moment we all have nothing. Our destination is clear. As acting Queen—"

"Whoa, whoa, acting Queen?" Secretary Manny interrupted.

Gardeen shook her head. "Her Majesty didn't make it out."

Surprisingly enough, Merry came to her defense. "According to the articles, as well as history, if the present King or Queen is not present, and the previous ruler or rulers is or are unable to succeed until their children is of required age, either the firstborn of the King or Queen will rule in their stead at the minimum age of fifteen."

Merry laid her hoof upon Dawn's back. "That makes Princess Fresh Veola Dawn Acting Queen of Psera for at least sixty days until she is officially sworn in."

She was Queen. Stars above, this was a lot to take in one night. Then again, considering the consequences, someone had to do something. Her father already played his part, as did her mother. Now, it was Dawn's turn. She faced the scene behind her. The magic stripping away at what once was into something far worse. Far from over, Twilight ate away at Psera, tearing apart the earth, feeding it to the cloud, and leaving behind a husk.

Dawn could feel the flames of this tragedy grinding away at her soul, searing into her the memory of a world lost. Mom's magic was officially gone, never to be used again except by her, stranding them in the middle of a war against the God of Creation.

"What do we do, Your Highness?"

Dawn looked back to all of her staff. To the Generals awaiting her command, to the staff piloting the very ship she stood upon.

"We can't go back to Psera. It's become a warzone." Dawn walked through the wide birth they gave her to the front of the bridge. "But, as stated before, we're not alone. All countries will be meeting up on Equestria, I'm sure. As the apex of magic, we can learn more there and plan accordingly. So, we'll head East. Full speed ahead; there's no time to waste."

Author's Note:

Wow. That was nuts, wasn't it? If anyone is seeking anymore information, please comments your questions below and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Comments

[Okamiluver]

The gravity of the situation that they put themselves in is starting to be seen

[XzareAce]

this was awsome...

[OP Omni God-Emperor Doom]

......... Damn!!!!! They should have LISTEN!!!! And just because they didn't, they paid the price! Now, Psera is super f******! Along with Equestria, and everything else.

And Dawn has to clean up their own dumb mess, and save the dang world from the true villainess in this story.