Twilight Daylight: Dawn of Equus

by thedarktome

Chapter 29 - Site 4

A cool wind washed over Twilight's coat, rousing her from her slumber. Her eyes slowly cracked open, bringing into sight what seemed to be a land made of clouds.

She was no longer in the darkness of the Wells. Not the first time she woke up in a place she didn't fall asleep in.

She rose to her hooves and looked around. Clouds. Clouds as far as the eye could see. There wasn't even a star in the sky.

Twilight narrowed her eyes in suspicion. What was this?

"The average pony mind uses only ten percent of their brain's capacity."

Twilight slowly looked over her shoulder to face Narmeelah. Light green coat, cold ice blue eyes, and a long mane the color of fire, so bright it could be glowing. In between her and Twilight floating was a mockup of a brain. Slowly rotating.

Twilight refrained from responding. Instead, chose to narrow her eyes and scowl.

"Pserateps, my personal favorites, use up an average of twenty four percent. Average. It goes up and down, I'm sure even you know this, Arcadia. However, you?"

Narmeelah waved her hoof, turning the brain to floating dust. Her gaze diverted to Twilight's direction. "You have used up sixty percent of your cranial capacity. Sixty."

"I spent most of my time learning during my younger years."

"Yet, you couldn't learn humility." Narmeelah took her first few steps forward, slowly pacing around Twilight. "Instead, you choose to experience it first hoof. So, I ask... Why? I gave you, and your family a way out. Why seek the humility of fighting in a battle you've already lost?"

"We will not lose." Twilight turned around and faced Narmeelah's nonchalant expression with defiance. "We will rid your escapade of destruction. We will defeat you and save our home."

"Psera was never your home."

"But Equus is. The world that you created? It's here to stay, whether you like it or not."

Narmeelah smirked. As if she were waiting for those very words. The clouds beneath Twilight's hooves gradually turned dark. The once bright atmosphere took on a gray tone until they were standing on top of a storm.

"You really think you'll win," Narmeelah said. "I can see it. I can hear it."

"We will. Equus' Reset will never come to fruition. Not so long as I live."

"Then by all means." Narmeelah turned around and walked away, leaving Twilight to glare and growl. She stopped once a safe distance. "Bring your armies. Your navies, your soldiers, young and old."

Narmeelah slowly turned her head to peer back at Twilight. Her ice blue eyes were gone. In their places were galaxies in a sea of darkness. With a sudden flap of her wings, Narmeelah morphed into her true form. A pony made of light, gasses, and stars. Towering over Twilight.

"BRING THEM ALL!"

The clouds beneath Twilight's hooves suddenly broke, dropping her beneath and into a storm. Rain water slammed into her. High winds. She was falling over the ocean.

Tumultuous waves slammed and crashed into each other. Tall walls of water slammed into the sea. It was truly a sight to behold. Twilight's never seen the ocean like this.

"Bring them so they can share in your shame, in your humility!" Narmeelah taunted. "Bring them so you can watch them all perish for nothing!"

The water Twilight was headed for suddenly subsided creating a hole in Equus where darkness stretched endlessly. She gasped before submerging into where the light died. The waves above her head snapped shut, trapping her in one of her many fears.

"Oh, my dear granddaughter. You haven't even the faintest iota of understanding what I can do."

Something grabbed Twilight's wing. She whipped in that direction before suddenly being thrust out of the shadows and back into reality. Or rather, the past.

She slid across the floor of terror, the day the Castle of the Gods was attacked by zebras. It was all in slow motion. As if watching it happen in real time wasn't enough. She stood on her hooves and watched in horror as bullets speared through a younger mare, likely one of the castle staff.

They crossed her line of sight, covered in her blood before hitting another pony. Another addition to the bloodbath happening around her.

"Imagine seeing this all over again, my dear. Except now it's your oldest of friends."

One of the ponies, already lying motionless in a pool of their own blood, slowly morphed into the shape of Celestia. She was no longer elegant. No longer that pony of wisdom and strength. Now she was a victim. Because of her.

She wasn't the only one. Others were replaced with Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Luna, Cadance, Scootaloo. Even Gardeen, whilst heavily pregnant. Twilight turned in a circle, watching as ponies she knew and loved died.

"This isn't real," Twilight reminded herself. A small tear rolled down her cheek and dripped off her chin to the floor of blood beneath her. "None of it."

"Oh, but it could be. You brought them with you. I warn you now, Sparkle. Everyone you know and love, has the possibility of being wiped from existence. Of being an aid to your suffering. I know I won't convince you to stay away, no, it's too late for that."

The building quickly tilted. Twilight fell on her side and slid through the blood and bodies of her friends and family, crashing through a stained glass window back onto the clouds she first found herself.

Her horn was grabbed and tilted back, forcing her to face Narmeelah in her true form. Scowling. "So face me alone. Or they will share your pain. I'll be waiting."

Then with a jerk and snap of her horn, Twilight was thrust back into the waking world. She gasped loud and sat up straight, freeing herself from the nightmare. Or was it a vision? Ah, who cares? It was real.

Her sudden arrival of consciousness was met with stares from Cadance and Luna. The rest seemed to have slept through it.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked.

Twilight reached up to her head and felt her horn. Narmeelah in her head. Taunting her. It was still there.

"Narmeelah knows we're on the way," she disclosed. "She doesn't know where we are, but she knows we're coming."

Twilight peeked over the edge of the Radwood and focused further ahead through the darkness.

"We're close!" She announced.

The creatures on their Pod jolted awake, blinking spots out of their eyes and stretching their limbs. Flurry and Dawn, lying against each other awoke and looked around.

Celestia popped a joint. "Ouch. How far?"

"A few miles, so a few minutes. " Twilight looked down to her daughter. "As for your earlier question."

Dawn and Flurry glanced to each other. "Huh?"

"The entity separation between you and Light. I've ran the calculations over before I told my story."

She grabbed her little notepad and passed it over. It was a diagram of Dawn, including strange molecular notes and the Circle of Magic.

"Okay. What did you find?"

Twilight sighed and shook her head with closed eyes. "I'm sorry, sweethearts. But I can't do it—"

"What?!" Dawn shot to her hooves. "But you said—"

She flipped into First Light, just as upset. "You created us! You can—"

Twilight pressed her hoof against Light's muzzle. "You didn't let me finish. I can't do it without harming the process. There are too many external factors that will harm the development, and there are endless possibilities that when separated that I could inflict damage on you permanently. Necromancy is a skill I have yet to master, nor would I want to."

First Light's ears fell.

"But!" She perked back up. "There are many other ways, including a natural way. I do know a pony who can do it without there being any messy and unforgivable consequences."

Light turned into Dawn. "Who? We can have them tracked down after the war."

She reached down and poked at Dawn's nose. "You can."

Suddenly, the ceiling of the Well illuminated with runes, casting aside the darkness in favor of the light. The runes went on forever. They could finally see the path made of rock and stone they've taken.

Dawn peeked over the edge and faced the back of their caravan. All the soldiers were up and ready. Helmets on heads, weapons primed and armed.

"Oh, it feels so good to see my hooves again," Luna said. She flexed and stretched her appendages.

One of the drivers of their pod asked, "Where do we stop, ma'am?"

"Anytime now. The entrance is up ahead."

Finally, after what seemed like days, the lead pod slowly rolled to a stop. It was a smooth ride, but being able to stand on hooves that weren't vibrating was a treasure Dawn would never take advantage of again.

She jumped out the pod and stretched her wings. "Phew! That's better."

"I'll say," Flurry acknowledged. She landed next to her. "The tight spaces were murder on my wings. It must be torture on the Pserateps."

"You have no idea."

Twilight jumped out of the pod and over to Dawn. Helmet in hoof. "Here. Put this on. We are now in enemy territory."

Dawn sat down and dropped it on her head. It covered her horn perfectly. Then put on the rest of her armor as promised.

"The lights react to my presence," Twilight announced. "So for those in the back, keep a hoof on a pony in front of you. Now, let's move, and take back our home."

Oh boy, here they go. They were doing this. They were walking into the fire, the flames of a burning Equus to put it out. This would be the first time they saw Psera since it was uprooted. Hopefully, damage wasn't too high.

Twilight trotted to a wall and knocked a few rocks to the side. She pushed aside a large boulder and kicked a few stones, revealing a tunnel.

"This will lead us to Site 4," Twilight explained. "Flashlight?"

A soldier tossed her one that she caught in her hoof. She turned it on and cast the light ahead. "Stay close."

The journey began with Twilight taking the lead into the tunnel. The darkness returned, but this time it brought silence and tight enclosures with it. Movement was careful, weapons were on safety, but paranoia was high.

After what seemed like a walking distance, they heard it. A warm rumbling and hum echoing through this tight chamber.

"What is that?" Luna asked.

"Machines. We're here." Twilight pointed ahead to a steel wall. Carefully, she pushed it open as if it were a door. The sound grew louder. The darkness was washed away by a bright red light that had them covering their eyes

Twilight first stepped out into a single room with a large generator smack in the middle of it, circled by climbing steel stairs filtering out that hue of red. She looked up to the upper floors, eyes on the lights.

"There's still power," Twilight said. She stepped out and began ascending the stairs around the generator. "That gives us an advantage. It means Serl hasn't been affected."

She lead their army up to another pair of doors and held her hoof up for them to stop and wait. Carefully, silently, Twilight cracked open one of the doors and peeked out. A small beam of light hit her eyes.

The halls were clear, at least where she was looking. Laminate flooring free of more hooves. She opened it wider and peeked to the other side. Nothing. Good.

"Let's move." She opened the doors and rushed out with the Princesses and the rest of their army, slowly filling out the halls of white and gold.

"Welcome to Serl," Twilight told them. "This is Site Four."

Luna looked into a room they passed. A lab empty of any pony's presence. "Doesn't seem very lively."

"I'm hoping our technicians managed to find shelter," Dawn said. "Perhaps in the underground city."

"Perhaps," Twilight agreed. She stopped at a pair of locked glass doors that were blurred, blocking their path and obscuring their sight. It had a pad on the side, blinking red that she pointed at. "But they are in a Code Shut Down. These doors are master locked."

"What does that mean for us?"

"It means we make some noise." Twilight swiped a weapon from one of Dawn's guards, stood on two hooves and aimed it at the door. Carefully, she pivoted her line of sight upwards above the frame, to a specific point.

"Boom." She pulled the trigger and shot into the wall. Pressurized air escaped from between the door and the hole above it.

Passing the weapon back, Twilight pried open the door and stepped out into one of the many breathless views of the future. A smile grew on her face. "Ah, it feels good to be back here."

Dawn joined her with the rest of the princesses who lost control of their jaws, which had gone slack in wonder and awe.

In front of them lied the biggest and fanciest world of science that could have only been described in fiction novels and movies. Electronic signs and boards, floating vehicles traveling from one side of the building to the other. Moving monuments and shifting artistic structures that reached out over a multitude of open-floor laboratories. Some were encased in glass, others consisted of only tables. Projects currently in development were left out and alone. Would they ever be continued?

The view went on for yards. Just like Psera, to have life be so unnecessarily large.

The site had everything for the future. Everything except ponies. The only ponies they could see breathing, walking, and moving were themselves. Even down on the floor where laboratories were abundant, not a single room seemed active. The site was abandoned.

"It's so empty," Shining said. "No guards?"

The lights above suddenly flashed, bathing them in red briefly before going back to normal.

"Marshee!" An electronic voice spoke in Old Pseratopian. "Alee marta Marshee! O' shonay harsa!"

"Emergency," Dawn translated. "They had to follow protocol. There's no one here. The site's a ghost town."

"Unfortunate," Cadance assumed.

"Not exactly. We're not here for a tour, we just need to cross through to get to the shipyard. We're still not above ground."

"We're not?" Celestia asked incredulously.

"Nope." Twilight looked down to Dawn. "You still know your way around, correct?"

"Like I knew our home."

"I want you to guide this army through the other side to reach the shipyard levels' upper floors. I have to stop off at my old office for my keys." She turned to Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. "I need you three to come with me."

"Okay," Cadance said.

She turned to the army behind her. "No. Magic. Queen Dawn will guide you through to the shipyard. I'll meet you there."

Then without so much as a response, Twilight jumped over the railing keeping them away from the floor and glided to the bottom with Luna, Celestia, and Cadance on her tail. Whatever she needed she was in a rush to grab, for each step was long.

Dawn turned right and followed the path. "Follow. We'll take the bridge."

Soldiers quietly poured out of the hall and followed the young Queen with Flurry next to her. Her eyes tracked a floating Pod that passed them by adjacent to their walkway.

"Wow," Flurry whispered. "Psera has all the toys."

"Get a good look now," Dawn said. "It won't be like this in the future."

"What do you mean?"

Dawn turned left onto a glass bridge, decorated with foliage planted in a median. They could see the ground so far below them.

"Because foreign countries have seen it. So, I'll end up having to shut it down. A shame. It's been here for centuries. I wish there was another way we could have taken, but this was the only way; and now I have to deal with the fallout."

"Oh wow," Queen Novo said. "I am sorry, Queen Dawn."

Dawn slowly transformed in First Light, as if practiced, they continued walking. "Do not be sorry. We knew it would happen eventually. There's a plan in place. Although, we didn't account for what we would do if the entire country was razed."

Their long line of soldiers reached the other side and entered another hall. Light turned back into Dawn. "I used to run around here all the time as a filly."

"Twilight just let you run around a lab?" Shining asked.

"Well I never really entered any labs. The staff knew to keep their doors closed. I was a very free filly. Even then, I spent most of my time on that bridge back there. I could see everything from above. I would sit there for hours, watching the world pass me by, even underground."

"Sounds peaceful."

"Yeah. It still is." Dawn's ears flopped down. "Was. We're almost there." With that said, Dawn accelerated to a jog. They had to reclaim Psera today. If they reclaim Psera, they reclaim Equus; and everything would go back to normal.

---

The walk for Twilight, Cadance, Celestia, and Luna was a lot quieter. They most certainly had entered an executive hall. The rooms were a lot bigger and the doors were made of wood. The red flashing was insistent, biting away at their nerves. They walked quickly, passing abandoned rooms in favor of the double doors at the end.

"Does it ever stop?" Luna queried.

"No. We're here." Twilight pressed on a numeric keypad a number of times. The pad beeped, the doors unlocked, and Twilight slowly pushed them aside to reveal it bare of anything but its walls.

"Yep, saw that coming," she said. Sighing, she trotted into the room. "I hope they return some of my things to my babies when this is all over. Dawn and Light have a right to the material. Especially Light."

Luna stepped in and gazed around. There was clear evidence of dragging. That must've been when they moved a desk. Or even a bookshelf. A few bookshelves.

"Why Light?" Luna asked.

Twilight put her ear up to the furthest wall away from the door and tapped at the concrete walls. "Both Dawn and Light need to learn Dark Magic. They can't use normal magic. But Light would have a lot less control. Ah, here it is."

Twilight stepped back and jabbed at a specific point in the wall.

"Why hope?" Cadance asked. "You'll be there to make sure it happens."

A small slab of the wall slid open to reveal a secret compartment. Inside, a pouch Twilight grabbed and stuffed into her armor, no doubt next to her journal.

"I'm not too sure about that, Cadance." She turned and faced the Princesses. "As Queen it's always been my duty to protect my subjects. As a mother, it's always been my duty to protect my daughters. I trust my babies to fight for Psera..."

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "But I will still have to weaken her first."

"How many times must we tell you that you won't be alone?" Luna stated.

"And how many times must I point out that something always goes wrong?" Twilight sighed deeply. "Narmeelah and I had a brief discussion during the commute here. She knows you're here too. She wants to humiliate me, and she may use you to do it."

"Why are you telling us this?" Celestia asked.

"Because this is the plan. I will weaken Narmeelah myself. But I want you three to fight alongside Dawn. Not me."

Before they could object to such a ridiculous and almost selfish plan, the light in the room and the hall suddenly died. Darkness purged the facility.

Dawn and the army slowly trotted to a stop and looked around.

"Hmm," Celestia hummed. "What happened to your machines?"

"Those models don't just go out. Which means one thing." Twilight reached up and pulled down the mouth guard attached to her helmet. Runes lined her gear, illuminating the room.

"We're not alone."

---

Dawn and the army finally made it to the last pair of sliding doors. This time, the doors had a logo they highlighted with flashlights, plastered above them in the frame.

"Serl," Flurry read. They stopped at the entrance so a soldier could work on the doors. "What's on the other side?"

"The shipyard. Once we cross to the other side, we'll be heading back up to higher ground."

The doors finally unlocked and opened. Immediately, high winds and the cacophony of crashing waves and creaking steel blasted into their faces. Lying in front of them was another facility. But a facility made out of the walls of rock and support beams they were walking through.

Beams of light shone down onto massive Aquatas held above a massive crevice filled with water from the outlying ocean, lined up in two rows undergoing construction. The line was long. Two Aquatas made up each row, and one above another. A simple look to the left informed Flurry that there were over twenty rows of Aquatas. They weren't normal boats. Heck, they weren't even finished. Some of them looked like they could go underwater!

Below the boats were splashing waves, entering the facility through the open face that lead out to the sea. From here, Flurry could make out the crashing storm waves of Psera. The ocean was calm the last she saw it. How much time has passed? Was there a storm in Psera?

Of course, that was after Aunt Twilight showed up and they officially declared war on Narmeelah.

A sudden burst of wind forced her to grab hold of the rails attached to the walkway they were standing on. The Aquata in front of them, dangling over rough seas was pushed into the Aquata behind it. With a bang, they collided. Flurry felt the impact wash over her. That wasn't the only one it happened to. Every few seconds, another Aquata in this massive queue bashed into another one thanks to this wind.

A handful of guards stepped out first before they did. Dawn raised a hoof up to her face and spoke over the wind.

"We can't fly in this!" She pointed to a banner nailed above their heads with words written in Old Pseratopian. "No Flying!"

"This is the shipyard?!" Shining asked. "It looks like a death trap!"

"Don't be so dramatic!" Dawn pointed down their walkway. "Stay out of the air and you'll be okay! The closest path across is that way!"

"Then let's go!" Flurry was the first to move, followed by Dawn and the rest. Soon, they would make it above ground.

---

Thanks to Twilight's glowing armor, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance were able to see ahead of them down the hall. They carefully but urgently trotted through for the entrance to the laboratories while speaking on Twilight's plan.

"Twilight," Cadance said. "We agreed that you wouldn't be fighting alone."

"I won't be," Twilight replied. "You will be there. But Dawn will need your help a lot more than I will. Narmeelah may be overpowering and dangerous..."

Twilight glanced back to them upon nearing the exit. "But I'm experienced in dealing with dangerous situations. Dawn isn't. Protect Dawn and make sure she sticks it to Narmeelah unharmed."

"Twilight..."

Twilight slowed to a stop at their hallway entrance. "After everything I've done, I know I don't have a right to request anything. But right now, I'm asking you to not protect me, but protect my daughters. They're all I have. So please, just do it. Now, get back to the others while I find our attacker, and get above ground quickly."

This time, they didn't fight it. With a sad expression, They all flew up to the walkway from before and left Twilight in front of the same door the army took to leave the labs.

Celestia paused in her steps. Without turning away, she spoke.

"I've known you for years, Twilight. I will always watch over you. I promised your mother, and myself to protect you, always and forever. Especially when you were a filly. In return, you've helped my sister and I so much. So, even after everything you've done, do not be afraid to ask for requests. I'll always answer."

Twilight's ear flicked, but she refrained from answering. Celestia swiftly took her leave.

Once they were gone, Twilight looked around the darkened floor. There was something out there watching her. She could feel them. Running through the shadows. They were tall, their movements sloppy.

"I know you're there," Twilight said. "I can feel each step you take."

As much as she wished she had her sword, it was definitely better if Dawn had it. She would be a lot more protected. For this, Twilight would have to use her hooves and a small knife hidden in her armor.

She posed into a defensive position, watching the shadows. Where are you? Come out of the dark and face the light.

Two small balls with a metallic luster were suddenly tossed over the bridge, rolling to a stop at Twilight's hooves. They were red and black in color, bearing a very familiar shape and color scheme that made Twilight's eyes widen.

Projectile explosives. Bombs.

"Buck!" Twilight turned around and bolted into the hall as fast as her hooves could carry her before they finally exploded in massive balls of fire.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the late upload, and the incredibly teasing attack. It's coming in a day or two, I promise.

Comments

[Wakijima]

AMAZING I WANT MORE KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK MY GUY <3