Blackest Knight
The sun had set at last over Canterlot, and the Gala had begun. Ponies from all over Equestria, those with the greatest clout, or incredible wealth, or the just plain lucky stood before Canterlot Castle’s imposing marble edifice, drawbridge open to receive guests warmly and welcomely after they trekked across the bitter cold spray thrown up by the falls in the distance. Normally each Gala was a grand spectacle at the gates, all pomp and circumstance as ponies showed off lovely gowns and striking suits after climbing out of gilded carriages. But tonight was not a normal night. The Guard, normally there in full dress uniform as part of an honor guard, instead swept the crowd with their eyes, watchful for sudden danger. Their hooves tightened around real spears, and they huddled against the gusts of biting wind coming down off of Canterlot’s mountain, which was obscured by cloud. The night was not welcoming, and the city felt…uneasy, as if something was not quite right with the world. The air hung heavy with the promise of upheaval, and though they did not consciously know it, each attendee sensed the potential violence hanging in the air around them.
And it wasn’t just in Canterlot either. Across Equestria, ponies huddled in their homes against some unseen but still barely perceived threat. A full moon glared balefully at them from a pitch black sky filled with innumerable harsh points of light, poised like distant daggers ready to fall on the unprotected world below. Though the Gala was not aware, tonight was the last night of Old Equestria. Tomorrow would dawn in blood, and fire, and in that terrible crucible of conflict something new, something both greater and lesser than what was would be formed.
But tonight was a night for celebration! A time to celebrate the Moon’s reign, though she had not been seen in well over four years. Her sickness kept her abed, and she was rumored to be kept in some secret part of the palace, where she could rest and regain herself until Celestia could restore her magic to her. So too was this a night of mourning as well as celebration, for the grievous injury inflicted upon her by that rebel, Twilight Sparkle.
It was to this gathering of the hoi oligoi that Sweetie Belle, Night Light, Scootaloo, and Glimmer had arrived, fifteen minutes apart and with each couple in a separate carriage. Glimmer and Scootaloo had already arrived, and the carriage Sweetie was sitting in was filled with a tense silence, one that was rapidly approaching a breaking point. Sweetie Belle was nervous, and rightly so. She was being thrown into a lion’s den without any prior experience, and the fate of a rebellion rested on her shoulders.
“Nervous?” Night Light asked, tilting his head curiously and breaking the silence. Sweetie Belle gave him a terse nod. He reached across the carriage. “I know this is big. We’re all nervous. Doing this sort of thing never gets easy, and this is pretty big for a first-timer. But we’ve got this covered. Sure, knowing we’re expected doesn’t make this any easier. But that’s just it, we know that we are expected.”
Sweetie Belle looked at him reproachfully. “I just can’t help but think that things are going to go horribly wrong. Canterlot’s in lockdown already, which is only going to make things more difficult for us.”
Night Light knew full well that the odds were stacked heavy, but he knew that both Sweetie Belle’s survival and his depended on her confidence in herself. “Look out of the window, Sweetie Belle. And tell me what you see.”
The carriage rattled over a bridge. If Sweetie Belle had cared to look down, she would have been dizzied by the drop underneath. She looked out over the edge of the tier she was riding along. “I see the city. Everything’s dark. Ponies are home tonight.”
“Good. And past that?”
“The moon’s full tonight, so I can see the plains below the city. I can see the river going into the distance, and I think I can even see Ponyville below us. Maybe. And past that, I can see the Everfree Forest.”
“And past that?”
Sweetie Belle craned her head. “Darkness.”
Night Light’s hoof thumped on the windowsill. “Exactly. Do you know what tonight is, Sweetie Belle? It is the longest night of the year, and in the darkness lie hidden things. Take that tower for instance.” he said, pointing at a prominent spire rising near the palace. “Who would guess that in that tower waits a Gryphon who is without doubt the finest shot in Equestria? And once you put your earrings in, you’ll be able to hear every word she says. We’ll see a surprise coming from a mile off. Or the Rounds. Never could you ask for a more perfect night to see something pass so gloriously from this world. Everything quiet and still. But mostly what I want you to see is that moon.”
Sweetie Belle looked. “It’s beautiful.”
Night Light nodded emphatically. “Indeed it is. And tonight, on the longest night of the year, shrouded in shadow, we will free the Princess who rules it. Sweetie Belle, if we can get Luna into the moonlight, then there is no power in this world that can stop us.”
Sweetie Belle found the words oddly comforting. Something still nagged at her, though. “But what am I supposed to say to Rarity? How can I convince her to follow me, when I’ve been following in her hoofsteps for years?”
Night Light caught her up, kissing her gently. “If anypony can do it, Sweetie Belle, it would be you.” he said seriously, staring at her and into her, a single perfect moment of intimacy. “You are stronger than you know. There’s velvet around you, yes. But inside, you are the purest steel I’ve seen in a long time. You’ve trained with the Changelings, you’ve uncovered the Ever Free with no help, and when I first spoke to you, you were recovering from torture, torture I found out you had endured to protect a filly you had met only days before. Your sister is a hero, Sweetie Belle. No doubt can be had there. But you are a fighter, and never let anything different be told to you.”
The pastel unicorn sat quietly for a moment. It was not the same silence of a few moments previous, however. This silence hung heavy with a different kind of promise. “Night Light, I want you to promise me something.”
His voice was completely serious. “Name it.”
“Don’t leave me. I think I can do this, as long as you’re there with me. But if I lose you, if I can’t find you…I don’t know what I’ll do with myself.”
The carriage rumbled into the castle grounds. They were about to arrive. “I swear to you, as long as I live I shall never, ever leave you. I’ll be right here, Sweetie Belle.”
They came to a stop. For one last time, they met in a kiss. Chaste though it was, it was an entire conversation in one expression of love, not yet deep, but young and full of hope. The door opened, and Rose and Silver Sparks stepped forward, ready to face the Gala.
For better or worse, they had arrived.
Celestia’s wards held true, and Luna was unable to reach her moon, her beloved moon. This night, of all nights, was difficult for her. Even when she had been exiled she had never been separated from her power for so long. And on this night, she could hear it calling to her, louder than ever she could hear the sweet voice of the moon and the song of the stars. How it ached, to know that glory awaited above while she was bound below! Those foolish ponies up above her danced and honored her, not knowing the one they paid homage to was bound beneath their hooves, alone in darkness.
Luna screamed again, slamming herself into the wall with force enough to bruise her back. She wrenched at the chains Binding her close, and her horn fairly burned with need, the need to be used, to create vast and terrible miracles of the night once more, to break her free and strike down her enemies, those that dared to chain the Night! And yet…that was not the worst part.
She was Balance incarnate, created to ensure that neither Celestia nor Discord was too powerful. And she had failed in that task. But she was still connected to them both. Indeed, her magic, true Breaking magic, straddled the spectrum between Chaos and Order, using the one to promote the other or vice versa. And though Celestia had done well in insulating her from her power derived from the moon, she had one more option available to her.
She had resisted for four years, but tonight might be the night that she could no longer resist calling upon her darker self. When she had worn that mask, had favored that Power instead of the moon, she had been consumed by bloodlust and rage and pride. She had believed herself an empress, a Queen made to rule a night eternal and so keep creation in proper balance. She had favored Chaos, then. And she had admitted to no one, not Celestia or Discord or Twilight or any of her many, many lovers that she could just as easily draw upon the darkness as well.
Even now, she could feel that nagging whisper at the back of her mind. It told her that she could control it this time, that she had every reason to use it, that she could put it away when she had fought her way to the moonlight once more. And then the moonlight called to her once more, and Luna groaned. Well she knew the corruption of her darker self. Ponies had called her Nightmare Moon, as had Celestia. Luna herself used that term, on the rare occasions when she discussed it with others. But she had another name for her darkness, one she used in the privacy of her mind. Not once had the word escaped her lips, but the name even now burned at her. The Shadow. Every part of herself that she kept under lock and key, the very emotional freedom she had so long indulged before realizing what harm it caused, had created a quite separate entity. And well it should have, repressed for time indeterminable before she had let herself succumb in a moment of weakness. And she had spent one thousand long and lonely years on the moon for that weakness.
But that was on your own, with nopony else to guide you. Celestia was strong then. Now is the time to take up The Shadow! Twilight has weakened her! The sunset shall herald the night!
No. Down that road lay only a slow seduction into madness and bloodlust. Twilight Sparkle would surely free her soon. Celestia thought she hid her emotions well, but Luna could hear the strain in her voice when she visited, to wheedle or gloat or to inflict some petty cruelty upon her. Twilight’s rebellion was taking a toll on her, that was for certain. And unless she was very much mistaken, she had felt a familiar pulse of magic permeate the heart of the mountain. Cadance’s soulbind had started today, which meant that Celestia would be distracted. Tonight was the perfect time for her to strike. She closed her eyes tightly as the voice pressed forward again. This time it spoke with open malice.
You grasp at straws. She has abandoned you, or worse she cannot rescue you. And well you know what the soulbind means for Celestia. She will have her offering. The Element will be reforged. Your work and plans, all for naught! If you wish to save your ally, then take up The Shadow!
Luna refused to listen. She could not, would not, take up that darkness. Holding that abomination close to her breast was a daily challenge, and one that she had undertaken for three millennia before she let herself succumb to her baser urges. If she could not do the same for four years, four short years, then she was hardly worth the title she claimed.
But you had the moon. The voice whispered to her again, slowly and sensually. You never had to go without one power or the other. And it’s driving you mad, knowing that you could take your bonds away at any moment, step forward into the light, and take retribution for what’s been done to you. Listen to the moon Luna, pretty little Luna. It calls to you. Can’t you hear it? Your birthright, your charge. Your Power. It’s calling you.
Luna trembled in her chains, and it was at that moment that the song of the moon reached a crescendo. For one shining moment, she could almost feel it resonate within her. But then it faded, and once more she was in the dark. And the loss of that barest taste of power hurt more than the past four years, combined.
You know what to do, Luna. The Shadow waits faithfully. All you have to do is nothing.
Luna opened her eyes. They began to glow white with Power, save for one spot. One sliver of black remained, the eyes of a predator. The shadows around her began to writhe like serpents.
Twilight Sparkle watched calmly from the shadows as Applejack sat alone in Zecora’s hut. Though she could not actually see it, she could feel the raw power of Applejack’s Element from her position, as it attempted to assuage the emotion of its Bearer. The moonlight gleamed off of her unprotected coat as she observed the pony from behind an illusory screen. She turned to a slender pony, dark brown.
“What is she feeling?”
The Changeling shuddered. “Her mind is not the calm and centered place it once was. It is a maelstrom, a fractured place of fear, betrayal, and worry. But I can feel one thing more, Milady. Her anger burns hot, like newly forged iron. If you go out there alone, then…I worry for you, Lady Twilight. She is liable to kill you, or at least try.”
Twilight nodded thoughtfully. “Is Spike on the way?”
The Changeling nodded. “He comes, Milady. He will bring you news of Trottingham, though I have already heard it from my brethren.”
Twilight tilted her head curiously, careful not to disturb the filly on her back. “What news?”
“The city has fallen. Your banner flies above the Governor’s Spire, the streets are made ready to push back Celestia’s soldiers, and Rainbow Dash is in your custody. She has removed her Element, as well.”
Twilight winced. She knew that effects of relying too heavily on any powerful magic were detrimental at best, fatal at worst. “How is she?”
“I do not know, Milady. Only that she is injured, near death. Her strength left with her Element. She is a broken pony.”
“That much easier, then. Thank you, Azure. You may return to the lines.”
The Changeling bowed her head before retreating into the night. “Lady.”
Twilight inhaled, taking a step forward and dispelling her illusion. She would have to draw on all of her self control for this. She knocked politely on the door of Zecora’s hut and waited. She didn’t have to wait long. The door flew open to reveal a disheveled Applejack, her hair mussed and her eyes red. She had been crying. The Earth pony’s eyes narrowed, and she spoke with murder in her voice. “You”.
Twilight levitated the filly onto the ground nearby. “She’s under a spell, Applejack. Has been since she was taken at the schoolhouse.”
A hoof swung through the air, impacting Twilight Sparkle’s jaw with a crack and sending her spinning. Applejack stepped out of the hut as Twilight tried to keep stars from her eyes. Her head rammed into Twilight’s, dazing her, before the Earth pony turned around, locket jangling, and bucked Twilight as hard as she could, right in the chest.
Twilight coughed blood, dark and crimson, as she hit a nearby tree. One of her legs was broken, bone protruding through the skin, and her ribs were shattered. Applejack stalked forward, consumed by rage. Twilight huddled into a ball at her approach, trying to defend herself against the bloodlust of the farmer.
Applejack reached her, and began to speak. Occasionally, she punctuated her words with a kick or a stomp.
“I told you, Twilight. My family is off-limits. I ain’t never done nothin’ to you, ain’t raised a hoof against you. That fire you caused nearly cost me everything. I turned a blind eye. War took ponies I know from me, ponies I loved and cared about. You were the cause of it all. And I kept quiet. But now you’ve gone too far. You done bucked the wrong tree, darlin’. And now you’re gonna pay.” She raised one hoof, a pony consumed by anger about to end a life in defense of her child.
Twilight released her wards. She screamed in agony as all the damage inflicted on her was suddenly and violently undone, and she forced herself into the air before the pain caught up to her and forced her to shut down. There was a struggle, short and violent, before Twilight’s horn found the locket around Applejack’s neck.
The clearing lit up brighter than day, and a thunderous roar filled the air as Applejack stumbled back in shock, her locket blazing with amber fire. She stood transfixed as it dissolved, coming to rest around her neck as fiery chains before it vanished completely. A warm breeze swept through the clearing.
Twilight forced herself into a kneeling position. “Hail, Applejack. Hail, Wielder of the Power of Honesty.”
Twilight’s eyes widened as she realized that she may have miscalculated Applejack’s emotional reaction to her plan. A shield flickered into place, and Twilight was bowled back by the magically enhanced hooves of her assailant as she tested herself against one of the unbound Powers of Harmony.
Twilight cast another shield spell, this one more permanent and self-sustaining, over Honey Crisp. Her horn lit up just as Applejack hit the ground where she had stood, cratering it easily. Her appreciation for Applejack’s newfound strength was shoved roughly to one side as she fought to pull her back from the brink of a berserker state.
“Applejack, listen to me! There was a reason for this, a reason we had to kidnap Honey Crisp!”
Applejack didn’t even acknowledge that she had spoken, charging the unicorn again. She was moving faster, becoming acclimatized to the new power she Wielded. Twilight thought of and discarded a half-dozen options before she had to blink away then.
“Coward!” Applejack howled, mad with rage. “Kidnapper! Liar! Stand and fight!”
“I don’t want to fight you, Applejack!” Twilight called from the other side of the clearing. “I just want to talk. If you would just-“
A torrent of amber flame lit the air in the clearing, coiling around Applejack sinuously before it struck with the speed of a viper. Twilight huddled behind her shield, which was rapidly failing despite the power she was pouring into it. She managed to blink away just in time, before the inferno ate a hole in the ground where she had stood.
“Applejack! Calm down! I’m not trying to hurt you or Honey Crisp! I needed you free tonight, because if you weren’t-“
Applejack leapt through the air, and again her hooves flew out in a perfect bucking motion. Twilight’s wards, now active, flared as the hooves impacted her side and sent her tumbling limply through the air. She slid to a halt in a spray of earth before staggering to her hooves. Her horn flashed, and again the earth sprang up around Applejack, holding her in place. “Will you slow down and listen to me? Please?”
Applejack’s phenomenal strength was put to the test, for one brief moment. Then the earth around her shattered, and the apple farmer stepped out of her rocky bonds. “You coulda’ talked to me a long time ago, Twi. A long time ago.”
Twilight realized that she had truly, grievously, underestimated the lengths Applejack would go to in order to protect her daughter. She spoke softly, her voice cracking. “Applejack, I’m not asking you anymore. I’m begging. Please, you have to listen to me. This was the only way to help you.” Her horn flashed. All of her magic in the clearing vanished. The wards on her coat flickered and died. “Please, Applejack. Please.”
The Earth pony said nothing, merely growled as she advanced on her onetime friend. She was stopped short, however, by a small voice behind her.
“Momma?”
Applejack was still for a brief moment as what had just happened sank in. “You clever little…you knew that I’d get angry.”
Twilight nodded, seeing that Applejack finally understood. “Of course I knew. That was the only way. You needed to be freed, tonight. Go to your daughter.”
Applejack rushed to her filly so that she could comfort her. “Honey Crisp, are you feelin’ alright?”
The filly nodded, rubbing her eyes. “I fell asleep. Where are we?”
Applejack searched for an explanation. “We’re here to, ah…to visit somepony that I used to know.”
Honey Crisp pointed. “Her?”
Twilight nodded. “I’m here to talk to your mother, Honey Crisp.”
Applejack shook her head. “We’re done talkin’.” she said shortly, before lifting Honey Crisp onto her back. “Come on, lil’ sugarcube. We’re headed home.”
Twilight remained calm. “It’s about Applebloom.”
Applejack ground her teeth as she stopped. “Ah suppose this is why you needed me tonight?”
“Among other reasons, yes. She’s in trouble, Applejack. Big trouble. And you couldn’t have done a thing for her before our…talk.”
“I’m listening.”
The air was suddenly disturbed with the sound of heavy wingbeats. Three ponies looked up to see a massive shape blotting out the moon above, and Twilight lit her horn as Honey Crisp gave a low cry of fear, huddling against her mother.
Applejack drew her in close. “It’s alright, Honey. That’s someone else that we ain’t seen in a while. And ah know you remember him, too.”
The shape tucked its wings, and Spike the dragon landed heavily in the clearing, scales glinting in the moonlight. Twilight smiled, and stepped to one side, allowing Honey Crisp the opportunity to see who had come for her.
The filly’s eyes were wide. “Is that…are you?”
Spike nodded. “It is. I am.”
Honey Crisp lit up. “Spike!” she careened across the clearing, tackling the now-grown dragon in a massive hug. “I haven’t seen you in so long!”
Spike hugged her back, carefully. “It’s good to see you, Honey Crisp. You’ve grown!”
The filly giggled. “So have you! But, if you’re Spike, then she’s…” her already wide eyes got wider. “Twilight? Aunt Twilight?”
Twilight turned to Applejack. “Aunt?”
She shrugged. “It stuck. She didn’t believe a thing anypony told her about you two, by the way. But why is Spike here?”
Twilight smiled. “I can’t teleport all of us to the Regia. He’s our ride. And he wanted to see Honey Crisp.” She walked towards the dragon before climbing up one wing and settling onto his back. The unicorn offered a hoof to Applejack. “I know we still need to talk, but…need a helping hoof?”
Applejack stared at the appendage for a long moment. She reached out and took it. “Thank you, Twilight. Thank you.”
She nodded. “Come on. We’ve got a lot to discuss on the way.”
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Honestly... I expected more rage even after she Broke Honesty free.
I mean, yea... AJs still angry at Twilight, but she seemed to switch gears and go along with her a bit too readily.
That went...better than I expected actually.
Well, shit. Looks like I'm about five hundred words short, folks. I'll get the proper version up tomorrow, but for now I need sleep.
Night Light will protect Sweetie Belle as long as he's alive... But what about after Applebloom bucks his skull in?
More, more, more!
No, Luna! Don't give in!
2012859
2012870
2012972
2013811
2013862
There. Full version published. Sorry about that, all. I need to stop staying up until three to publish this stuff.
Superpowah ponies!
2013893
It's the little things.
2013896
Two more ponies need to realize their true powers. Wonder how they're gonna handle Rarity.
2012859 well theres also the fact that when sweetie belle was forced loyal to celesia still she struck out at the changling twilight, so i would assume that that would fuel applejacks rage and be taken away when she was unbound.
2013884
Ah.
2014467
Ah. Ah? AAAh.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Ah.
Poor Luna... But how will this go along with Twillights plans? Because i see Luna the one who kills sweetie bell in her form as Nightmare moon and crashing the party while sending back all of Twilights plans...
well fuck...
damn, i knew AJ would be pissed but....
man...twilight got her flank handed to her
glad it all turned out for the better though
i do not like the sound of that.....that is grade A+ foreshadow material there
2165772
I was expecting super saiyan Applejack.
Did aj just use Inferno against twilight? Its super effective. Aj sure jumped on the bandwagon real quick after she got honey crisp back.
oh my aj is STRONG!
Of course she gives in the one night she doesn't need to. Over a thousand days, and she chooses the ONE night she was be rescued. Talk about contrived.
Oh Applejack, how wrong you are. How full of hate you are.
You haven't done anything to Twilight, is that right? How about the fact that you turned on her in her greatest hour of need? About how you- willingly or not, you still were there -turned her over to a monster to be a sacrifice to birth yet another monster.
I feel sorry for Honey Crisp; she shouldn't have to be used in that manner.
I have absolutely no sympathy or pity for any of the Elements; they done made their hay beds when they turned their backs onto a pony that had never lied to them to follow the commands of a pony that is nothing but lies.
6416630 And never forget that it was the third time they had done so.
*Spit-take!* The Shadow??
Ahahahahaa hahahaaa haha ha ha oh dear Luna who art in the basement, that's hilarious. But only because of these student movies I saw many times in college.
The Gamers, and The Gamers II: Dorkness Rising are classics that everypony should see.