Twilight Daylight: Dawn of Equus

by thedarktome

Chapter 07 - Fail Peace, Fail Magic

Narmeelah could feel it. She could feel all of Queen Arcadia's magic fluctuating. As if agitated, it fought against the bonds she has placed upon them, desperately pulling themselves from the materials and technology she healed and created with her magic to speed back to their creator. In the land of Psera, Equestria, Mount Aris, Seaquestria. All of them. Except for those who don't use magic in the first place. The magic she's placed upon their lands to keep it all pretty and beautiful was slowly increasing their intensity. They would notice something was wrong soon enough.

Meanwhile, Narmeelah sat in her sanctum brooding away the time, feeling the world dance around her. Soon, she would emerge from the depths of this darkness as their hopeful, their only shining star. Of course, for a limited time before it would all come to an end. A shame that a simple wave of a wing required so much time.

"Mother." Narmeelah's eyes snapped open and trained on Shaoloh. Standing in the same room as her. Hair ablaze with the magic of her predecessor. "I have news. Arcadia Nova . . . is dead."

Yes. She too no longer feels her. At sea, she perished with the waves. But if the magic was returning to their creator, then...

"She won't be for long," Narmeelah warned. She relaxed in her seat. Too much excitement at how effortless this would be. "It does not matter whether she is alive or dead. She has made her decision for the fate of Equus."

Shaoloh approached and stepped over the glowing magic on the floor building up Narmeelah's rune. "What if she changes her mind?"

"She won't. She seeks to start anew. She has given up on those who betrayed her. I can feel her hate." Narmeelah tilted her head back and closed her eyes, relishing in what was surely in the air Twilight's detestation for this world. "She is done."

"Do you think she will survive?"

"Both my granddaughter and great granddaughter will live through the reckoning. One is made of magic, the other controls it. They will survive and assist in fostering this new world. All you need to worry about is keeping them out of the way."

Shaoloh nodded before turning around and walking back towards the basement. "And Shaoloh." She stopped. "Have you located my diary?"

"Not yet," she answered. "But I believe Dawn knows where it is."

"Then you must find out what she knows." Narmeelah narrowed her eyes and snarled, "Find the Diary, and bring it to me."

---

A journey through Equestria was not one to be taken lightly. Almost two days. It took nearly two days to travel all over Equestria to get readings, pictures, reports, and information concerning the Arcadian Obelisks. Runes embossed upon multiple towering structures that reached for the skies. These were definitely no coincidences. They were embossed by Queen Arcadia herself. But the question as to why remained.

After taking over a hundred pictures in two days of these runes, Snap Seed traveled back through the might of Equestria to her laboratory in Manehattan; a basement underneath her actual home. It's lack of windows made it distraction-free. Did Twilight's laboratories look like this? Probably not. She used to be a Queen. Snap bet she had the tallest ceilings, the biggest boards, and the most advanced technology. She probably had her guards carry her things!

But Snap Seed, instead of someone politely opening the door, she had to walk around the back of her home off Manehattan's main street, lugging a bag on her back bigger than her body, and a coat that trapped the essence of summer.

Finally, she made it home. She reached up and flipped back her hood, only to have it fall over her face again. Aw, curse these bargain bin materials. And curse this rotten bag! She was tempted to throw the thing off and into the dirt, but not yet. She was too close.

Snap Seed retrieved her ring of keys fastened to her bag and searched for the basement's. How many did she have on this thing, twenty? Ugh, such an inconvenience.

The keys fell from her hooves and to the ground. Excellent. Thank you so much, fate!!

Snap Seed reached over to them, and unfortunately, so did her bag. She now tilted off her rear hooves and leaned against the door. Stuck. Perfect.

Nonplussed, she knocked against the door. "Lead? You in there? I require your services in granting me access to my laboratory. If you would please—"

The door was quickly unlocked and pulled open. Gravity yanked Snap down a pair of steps leading into the cool basement and crashed into a small contraption-in-progress, ending with her head stuck against its access panel.

The door was shut and a pair of off-yellow hooves trotted into sight, and a long red mane reaching the floor filled her vision.

"Why do you bring so much with you?" Lead Writer asked. With a sigh, she grabbed and pulled Snap Seed from their latest creation. She unbuckled the bag and shoved it off. "I'm surprised you made it back with your spine still intact."

Snap Seed bounced up and pointed to the bag. "I needed to visit those sites, remember?"

Lead Writer stepped through their laboratory, walking around the tables and over the trash littering the floor. The atmosphere was lit only by two small windows near the ceiling that showed the streets of Manehattan. Light pierced through the dust filling the air.

She sat behind a fold-out table as her own desk, staring unimpressed to her colleague. "So, Snap, I wanted to talk to you about my time here."

Oh, here we go again. Snap knew what she was going to say. So she began digging through her bag while she talked. "I feel like we've done a lot of work together, but it's not going anywhere. In a way, I think it's a waste of my time."

"I'm so happy you brought that up." Finding what she was looking for, Snap bounded across the room over to Lead Writer, leaning on her hoof and watching her carry folders in her direction.

She slapped them on her desk. "Check these out." She flipped then open and spread out photos among the little light they had of the runes.

Lead Writer's patented glare of annoyance turned to the pictures, slowly changing from boredom and agitation to interest. She picked up one, then another.

"What are these?"

"Those appeared after Queen Arcadia attacked. Remember those lightning bolts?" She slid over her readings. "Now look at these."

Lead let the pictures go in favor of the readings. Whoa, what? But... "How is this possible?" She referred back to Snap. "Unless their actively performing a function, or your doohickey's broken, then these numbers..."

Snap slammed her hooves on the table with the grin of a maniac. "Exactly. I told you that lightning meant something. Queen Arcadia isn't done." She tapped at the pictures. "These things are everywhere. There's almost thirty of them. I counted five strikes, but there are more all ringing Equestria."

She threw down more pictures. "Vanhoover, Lake Colton, the Everfree Forest, Fillydelphia. They're all over the country!"

"So what do we do? Tell federal agents?"

Snap Seed paced and shook her head frantically. "No. Not at all. We have to investigate why they're there in the first place. If we tell the Royal Guard, they'll be torn down immediately, and we can't risk that." She walked back to her bag. "But don't worry, I have a plan, and I need your help. I'm building a team."

She rolled her bag over and used her magic to pull out a notebook she slammed on the floor between them. Dust propelled into the air, urging a coughing fit.

Lead Writer waved it from her her face. "This place needs to be cleaned."

"No, it doesn't." Snap opened the notebook and flipped to a page titled Equestrian Magical Defenders. "We need to investigate why they're there in the first place. I doubt they're there for some attack. Queen Arcadia was pretty hooves-on, and she doesn't utilize timers like this."

Lead Writer walked closer to the notebook and said, "Wasn't her plan to steal magic?"

"No, it was to destroy magic. Regardless, we can't let any royal officials know of these. They'll want to destroy them."

"Isn't her destroying magic a safer excuse?"

Snap slammed the book shut and shouted, "No! I know it seems like Twilight was going to do something to harm us. But I know her. Well, of her. Everything she's ever done has been to protect all of us. Even now, exiled at sea, she's still protecting."

She pointed to the windows. "Those runes out there ring the entire country, like a wall of protection surrounding Equestria."

"Or a wall of imprisonment to keep us in."

"Or to keep something out." Snap walked to the window and watched the world pass her by. Equestrians going about their day as if they were safe. She's been in that situation before. Then Discord attacked, followed by Tirek, Nightmare Moon. All defeated by Twilight Sparkle. Why turn into the enemy but leave behind a wall of runes?

"I'm telling you, Lead..." She turned around to face her with the sincerity of a Princess herself. "Something isn't adding up here. We have to figure out what those runes are actually for."

Lead Writer could see the faith in her friend's fair idol. The Mistress of Magic. Twilight Sparkle, Equestria's strongest and smartest magician, smarter than Starswirl could ever hope to be. She was the protector of all creatures of this world, and has been for years until recently when the Zebras attacked. Why stop because of them? There was something else at play here.

Lead Writer sighed and gave in. "Fine. But what is this plan?"

Yes! Snap jumped away from the window and rushed past to her notebook. "We need to get the greatest magical minds together and investigate Queen Arcadia entirely before she was exiled. All of her motives, plans, tech, these ponies know about it. We don't. We need info from them."

She flipped to a page with the faces and info of two ponies. Lead Writer read their names aloud. "Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer. Who are they?"

"Two of Twilight's students when she was here in Equestria. They lived with her, learned from her, and even fought alongside her. If anyone knows anything about these runes, it's them. Only one problem: they worked with the Princesses developing the shield that kept her out."

Lead Writer waved it off as if it were no big deal. "Loyalty never dies. We should still be able to talk to them."

"Maybe." She closed the notebook and lowered her voice to a serious tone. "But we should remain cautious. They're in league with the Princesses. Anything concerning 'Arcadia Nova' and they'll throw it out. We have to act carefully."

"So what's your plan of action?"

"Simple." She trotted to her bag and pulled out two envelopes she presented. So she did have something put together. "We'll give them a really good reason to show up."

---

Magic was going to disappear?! Gardeen shot up from behind her desk.

"What?!" She shouted. "Dawn, this is serious, we have to do something!"

"There's nothing we can do!" Dawn replied. "It's automatic. That's what mom was talking about when she said thirty hours. It's already happening."

Gardeen walked out behind her desk for Dawn. "Even if we can't, we have to prepare."

Dawn turned back to the door and closed her eyes. "Thus risking my reputation even more as Arcadia Nova's daughter."

"At least let Molten know." She placed a wing upon Dawn's back. "Don't give them a reason to pin you just like they did your mother."

She has a point. They already looked to Dawn as some type of demon because her mother was Arcadia Nova. They didn't know how right they were. She looked back to Gardeen then the door, coming to a decision.

"...fine. I'll tell her."

"Good, come on!" Gardeen whipped open the door and guided her out. "We have no time to lose."

Dawn begrudgingly followed her out the door, protected firmly and closely by the security and guards in the hallway. Why did she get the feeling that their weapons would be about as useless as their telecommunications in a few hours?

They quickly traveled up to Molten's floor. The urgency of the situation couldn't be more apparent than the heat in the air. So thick with worry that Dawn could feel it dripping off the tips of her feathers to the floor below. Even her pets could feel the downfall of Psera upon this release. Dawn has already come to grips that magic was going to take away a majority of workflows here at home. As for the rest of Psera? The scientists, the interest, the news personalities, the rich ponies from Rayray, the Office of Defense in Lavender, the geeks of SERL...

So many ponies were going to lose their livelihoods because of this.

Too soon, the elevator for Molten's private floor opened. Dawn, Gardeen, and her security stepped out and quickly moved for the two looming doors at the end of the hall, protected by a firm layer of Elite Guard stationed on the side. They tracked their movements, watching them without moving their bodies.

Once they arrived at the doors, Gardeen leaned down to Dawn. "Let me do the talking."

"No." Dawn was tired of everyone speaking for her. As if she didn't have a mind, as if she were too fragile, too frail to follow in the strength of her parents. "No, I'll speak for myself for once."

Dawn stepped past Gardeen and knocked on Molten's doors. "Grandma! We have a problem!"

She could hear the thundering of her hoofsteps, feel how they impacted the linoleum of her kitchen before reaching the carpet at the front of the stairs. The door was swung open and she revealed herself fully. Her face scrunched in worry.

"What is it?" She asked. "What's wrong, Dawn?"

Dawn walked past, letting herself and Gardeen into the suite. Once the door was shut, Dawn took a deep breath and turned around to face her grandmother, the oldest Queen to ever live through Psera's life.

Carefully, Dawn explained. "So, we have an international problem."

"What is it?"

"So you know how mom used her magic to heal all the nations and their lands?" Molten slowly nodded her head. "Well, because she's in a bad place with her health and magic, the magic that she laid down and used to rebuild, as well as power and weaponize Psera . . . is automatically going to return to her to keep her healthy and alive."

Dawn waited for a reaction. Her expression remained the same, failing to make any sudden moves save for when her mouth opened and she spoke her response. "I don't understand."

"So you know how Psera didn't have magic almost twenty years ago?" Molten nodded. "Yeah. It's going to be like that again. But only worse this time because mom's magic makes up about four-fifths of Psera's assets. So, the Obelisks I'm certain will stop working, as well as the Pods, the grass may turn brown and die out because magic restored those to life, some buildings may collapse, etcetera, etcetera..."

Oh my Narmeelah. Gardeen facepalmed on the side. A little professionalism with this matter would do her parents proud. "What Dawn is trying to say is that we are all in danger. Psera, Equestria, Seaquestria, Mount Aris, IHT as a whole, wherever Arcadia used her magic."

"All of that is going to return to her. Mom's magic is going to leave their lands and whatever container they may have had to hold it back is going to break wide open, and society will retrocede."

They awaited another reaction from Molten's still expression. "You're joking," she said.

"I wish I was. But mom told me herself before she was exiled, and that it was out of her control. I'm not sure how long it's supposed to take, but her magic is supposed to leave all of us and return to her within the next two days."

Molten needed a fact check. Before she starts panicking, and then the rest follow along after she discloses this information. She turned around and walked towards the door with Dawn and Gardeen.

"How is that even possible?" She asked.

"I'm not too sure," Dawn explained. "But if I had to guess, mom's magic makes up a good third of all of our materials here on Psera. As well as the energy and method we use to store information."

Molten pressed on the elevator. "I'm not concerned for our information technology, I'm concerned for structures."

"For good reason. Mom's magic makes up the materials we used to build our homes and buildings. Everything that we have, all of it has mom's magic."

"And it just . . . goes back to her?"

"Yes." Molten, Gardeen, and Dawn quickly slid into the elevator and lowered to the third floor. Molten's gaze was set on the doors, thinking, planning. "What are you going to do?"

"Before anyone panics, we need to see if its even possible for magic to hold matter together, or even make up matter. If it's able to change form whenever it wants."

The doors to the elevator opened. They rushed out onto the third floor and began making their way to the one location where something like this could be predicted. Where international communications were exchanged.

The Situation Room. On the same hallway as what was previously the Royal Suite, it now served as an informational hub for Equestria specifically.

She knocked upon and opened the door. The table that served as their meeting place was now vacant. Instead, on the side were consoles and devices occupied by two Pserateps each. So focused were they on their tasks that her arrival had yet to deter then. Only when her voice cut through their haze of practical hypnosis did they acknowledge her arrival.

"Good day," she said. They swiveled their heads in her direction and froze, like dogs caught doing something they shouldn't be. "I need to speak with Princess Celestia of Equestria."

They bounced into action. Hooves danced across keyboards. Eyes burned a hole in their screens. "Locating Princess Celestia!"

"Found her! Stand by for transmission!"

---

She was gone now. A hole has burned into the heart of Equestria. Celestia could see it from the throne room. Even the guards and soldiers standing in the castle didn't seem all that strong anymore. The once blue skies itself casted shadows upon the towns and cities. The winter never seemed colder.

The work Celestia had before her fluttered from her hooves to the floor. She buried her muzzle and sighed deeply. All they had left was the Castle of Friendship, her spell books, and the memories they all had together. But as for Twilight Sparkle herself? They would never see her again. For sure this time.

The door for the throne room opened. Luna strode in with the one character she did not want to see.

Celestia glared at her. "What is she doing here?"

Queen Novo. "I just wanted to speak to you."

"You don't have to say anything."

Luna could see this was about to heat up. She slowly backed out of the room and closed the door behind her. No need to be involved.

Novo approached the throne with a saddened expression. "I know you may be a little upset with me. But please understand, I had to watch out for my own first before others."

Celestia couldn't fight her on that. She sighed and admitted defeat before the battle even begun. "I know that. I understand, Novo, it's just..."

Celestia stepped down from her throne and walked over to the stained windows overseeing Equestria's Western Side. She could see all of Ponyville from here. As if nothing happened, they remained on their hooves.

"I lost her, Novo," she whispered. "It finally happened. It all became too much for her and she fell from grace."

Novo walked closer from behind. "What were her reasons?"

"Magic was being misused and had to be confiscated. Attacking us assured no one would be in her way. She knew we wouldn't let her take control of it."

"So she forced her way in." Novo followed her gaze to the sky. "I mourn for her as well, Celestia. She was a friend and ally."

She laid a wing on her back and held her close, letting the moment overtake them. Equestria would move on. As would the rest of them.

"Princess Celestia."

Celestia and Novo looked behind them to face the hologram of Her Majesty Molten Ice. Uh oh. The only time Psera contacts these days is to warn of danger.

"Your Majesty," Celestia greeted back. "I hope all is well on Psera."

"It is not. I have a few questions regarding magic."

Celestia approached the hologram. "Ask away."

"Recently, it has come to my attention that Queen Arcadia's magic may be more superficial than we thought. Is it possible for magic, at any stage, to take up a physical form that isn't magical at all, and then remain magical?"

Novo inquired, "You're asking if magic is fluid in transmogrification?"

"Yes. Say if magic can turn into a chair, then into a picture frame. The same set of magic, turning into multiple things."

That was out of Novo's league. She turned to Celestia. The conflict upon her mind reflected on her face. "Well, it may be possible. This is magic we're talking about so it more than likely is possible. However, I've never seen it with my own eyes, nor came across any sighting of it, or tales of such."

Of course they haven't. But Molten had what she needed. She glanced away, thinking deeply. Celestia asked. "What are you thinking, Your Majesty?"

"It has been brought to my attention that Queen Arcadia's magic may return to her. I, however, am doubtful. But we are speaking of Twilight Sparkle here. All possibilities are open. The magic that she has given us, and the technology that we created using the same materials that she herself created out of nothing . . . I don't want to take a risk."

"You think Twilight's magic is what created her restorations?"

"More. I think her magic was her restoration. In which case, if Twilight's magic does happen to 'return to her,' then it would render not only Psera powerless. But all other nations as well. Her magic was formed into material to heal cities, seas, forests, farms, mountains. If her magic returns to her, then all of our forms of prosperity will go with it.

"My friends, we are in the way of an approaching international shortage of all materials."

Celestia quickly jumped into action. "We'll send out an urgent message to IHT."

"And we'll be dropping Psera into a Code Yellow. I'll keep you updated."

Once the hologram cut, Molten walked to the corner of the room where a Comm Block lied. She picked it up and dialed for lavender.

"Secretary of Defense," Manny answered.

"Manny, it's Molten. I need you to stop what you're doing, and place Psera into a Passive Code Yellow."

She heard Manny stop whatever she was doing. "What?"

"Psera has to go into a Passive Code Yellow now. I'll be summoning the Senate Board to discuss any further instructions about a possible international shortage."

She hung up before it could be explained and turned to Gardeen, bearing a focused glare. "Gardeen? Summon the Senate Board."

Author's Note:

Yes. We're finally reaching the rising action. Are you excited? I am.

Comments

[Okamiluver]

Damn, you're killing me with these updates, keep up the good work, I think I'm gonna enjoy them running around like headless chickens!

[bkam]

10881464
Same

[XzareAce]

you know, I'm starting to feel better with the situation. there is not a better vengeance then all of civilization crumbling away as a direct consequence of all of civilization screwing her over

in a way its eye for an eye... well if the initial eye is the eye of a god

[XzareAce]

so is twilight going to be reborn as a true god of magic, completely made up of magic. such as dawn

[Dieadmirer]

Their consequences and karma has finally arrived at their destination. If twilight would truly reborn then this is getting very interesting