Cracks in Reality - Book One

Darkness.

There was nothing to Twilight’s world but darkness. Even though she had been awake for the past half hour, Twilight Sparkle kept her eyes clenched tightly shut, least she be blinded by the bright light that surrounded and assaulted her senses.

Her armor was gone. The inhibitor ring she could sense around her horn was blocking access to whatever magic she could have used without her armor, leaving her completely powerless. This normally wouldn’t pose much of a problem for Twilight, she had been in, and escaped from, many desperate situations, but this was different. She was fully restrained to the point of not even being able to break one of her thumbs to slide her hand free, and to make things worse, she couldn’t open her eyes to survey her surrounding and plan out a potential escape route.

Twilight violently cursed Seraph, the third Lord of Tartarus who had blinded her with his poison. Darklight had done all he could to restore her vision, but even with all his knowledge and powers, her vison still remained very sensitive to even the smallest amounts of light. But if she had access to even a small part of her powers, she could have used a spell to guard her eyes against the light. But for now, she kept them tightly closed.

Twilight once more tried to budge, but the restraints around her body left her completely immobile.

Somepony was going to pay dearly for this.

Twilight took several deep breaths to calm her mind. Now wasn’t the time for anger, she had to keep calm and figure out a way out of this mess. She may not have been be able to see, but she still had her other senses. To her left, at least two feet away was a machine that gave a loud beep in time with her heart. To her right, several feet away she could hear somepony shuffling around rearranging a few things, and judging by the slight musk she could smell, the pony was a middle aged stallion. He had a slight limp, evident by the uneven gait she heard in his walk.

Twilight took another long deep breath and finally found something worth noting. The subtle scent of magic. And judging by its sour, slightly bitter scent, the magic was most likely runes used to nullify a pony’s powers. Twilight gritted her teeth in anger. She had barely been in this land for two days and during that time she had done nothing to warrant its inhabitants to keep her a prisoner.

They had also stolen her possessions, and cut her off from her magic.

Somepony was going to pay dearly for this indeed.

Twilight’s whole body stiffened as she felt something extremely sharp prick her skin, and several moments later, she lost consciousness and fell into a deep sleep.

Celestia gave a tired, but contented groan as she was awoken from the world of sleep by skillful fingers playing with her wings. She had a vague recollection of making out with Luna in the hospital room before teleporting them both to her room in Canterlot castle. After that, it was just a foggy recollection of intense love making, as she showed Luna just how sorry she was for subjecting her to a thousand years on the moon.

But now matter how much she enjoyed being with Luna once more, Celestia knew she had to find a way to tell her sister this could never happen again as it would a political nightmare if word ever got out they were having a sexual relationship. Back in the old days when they had been freeing Equestria from the horrors of Tartarus, they had used love making as a way to show just how much they meant to each other. It was also a way to help keep them focused whenever they were going through their heat cycles. But most importantly, it also helped connect her to Luna on a much deeper level. But in this day and age, ponies didn’t understand the many subtleties and meanings in this kind of relationship, and it saddened Celestia that she had to try and find a way to tell Luna this was their last special night together.

“Thou art troubled, sister,” Luna said softly as her dexterous fingers preened her wings to perfection. “We can sense thine emotions much stronger now, tell us what is bothering thee so much.”

Celestia closed her eyes and took let out a long breath before turning over onto her back so she could look her sister in the eyes.
“A lot of things have changed in your absence Luna.” Celestia took in a deep breath trying to calm her racing heart. “Things that were once sacred between us are now extremely frowned upon in this modern age.” Another deep breath. Could Celestia do this? Did she have the heart and the courage to tell her sister that their deep emotional and spiritual bond with each other born from their lovemaking was going to have to come to an end because of this society’s views on such things?

Even now she could sense Luna’s worry, confusion and unease. And Celestia knew Luna could sense her hesitation and sadness, it was making her sister fidget nervously on the bed beside her. Wanting to put Luna’s mind at rest, Celestia pulled her into a soft kiss, and slowly but surely, she could feel Luna’s negative emotions flow away and be replaced with feelings of peace and comfort.

Celestia made up her mind then and there that she wouldn’t take their relationship away from Luna, at least not until her sister had become used to this modernized Equestria. Celestia pulled back and gazed lovingly into Luna’s eyes. “We can talk about this at a later date, sister. For now, I must raise the sun.”

Celestia stepped gracefully out of bed and flung open the heavy curtains covering the massive windows in her room. Outside, shining brightly, was Luna’s former prison spilling its silvery light over Equestria. Thankfully, the guilt that had plagued her every time she looked at the moon was no longer there.

Luna stepped up beside her and Celestia drew a wing around her sister pulling her close. “Thou has done a good job in creating the night sky in our absence dear sister.”

An amused smile formed on Celestia’s muzzle. “You should have seen the mess I made of your night sky in the first five hundreds years of losing you.” Celestia felt Luna’s amusement surge through her body, before a giggle escaped from her sister’s throat.

“Thou has forgotten the Ursa Major constellation goes over in the west over white tail woods.” Celestia groaned in embarrassment as she realized just how badly she screwed up. How many astrology books and star map charts were going to have to be destroyed and updated. Thankfully Luna informed her she didn’t mind the new location of the constellation, causing Celestia to give a huge sigh of relief.

Celestia’s horn glowed brightly with fire and several moments later the same fiery aura surrounded the moon, and it began lowering slowly down the horizon, as the sun slowly rose above the horizon. Once dawm was well and truly on its way, Celestia released her magic from the sun and moon and pulled Luna even closer to her until their dark and light fur were intermingling.

“I have a request to ask of thee, sister.” Celestia said in a serious tone. Luna sensed her sister’s previous amusement fade somewhat, only to be replaced with a more serious sense of purpose.

“What is it thou wish to ask of me, sister?”

“I wish for you to remain in my chambers for the day. There is a serious matter I must deal with today and I have no wish for you to be unnecessarily stressed out. This a strange new world for you, one which you need to be introduced to slowly. So please, just for today, stay in here.”

Luna gave a resolute nod. “We will follow thine wishes dear sister. Besides we need to catch up on more sleep, last night’s activities left us drained, tired, and somewhat sore. Go attend to thine royal matters of seriousness.” Luna stepped away from her sister’s embrace and Celestia’s gaze followed those moon adorned flanks until they reached the bed where Luna flopped unceremoniously onto it. The princess of the night gave a brief moan of pleasure as she snuggled into the soft silky sheets and muttered something about beds being so much better these days.

Celestia smiled to herself as she walked to her wardrobe to pick an outfit out for the day.It must have been a pleasant surprise for Luna, going from sleeping mostly on the ground or on lumpy mattresses filled with hay, to sleeping on beds filled with feathers and covered in silky sheets. Celestia selected a gold silk dress and slipped it over her shimmying it over her waistso that it hugged all her curves just right.

Before she walked out of the room Celestia slipped into her royal persona pushing all her emotions to the back of her mind where they would sit until she once again in private. Luna’s head popped up from where she head buried beneath a mound of soft pillows and she gave Celestia a curious look.

“How did thou doest that?”

“Practice my dear sister, born of the need to exert extreme patience while having to deal with the brain dead nobles of this country. It is only by a sheer miracle I haven’t already snapped and pulled their heads off just to see if they do in fact have anything in their heads other than a whole bunch of dry sand. Trust me sister, I cannot wait for you to start resuming your night court. Goddess knows I need a break from these imbeciles.”

Luna gave her confused look, which perfectly mirrored the feelings of confusion Celestia could sense running around Luna’s mind. With a brief chuckle to herself, Celestia bid her sister goodbye and exited the room. Her first order of business was to visit Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight’s mind was groggy and blurry from whatever drugs or posions her captor were putting into her and it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay focused and awake. But a lifetime spent with Darklight who had forced her to become immune to most poisons in the Dark Realm made it so she could stay awake for brief amounts of time.

During those times awake, Twilight had come to learn that she was in some kind of secure medical facility, designed to treat prisoners considered an extremely high threat. And while Twilight didn’t disagree with the assessment of her captors regrading her threat level, she did disagree with their treatment of her.

She had done nothing to warrant this imprisonment, nor had she done anything to warrant having her powers taken away. That still irked her immensely. But what she was more worried about was her satchel and the book it contained. If her captors knew anything of the powers it contained there was no telling what damage could be done to this world. Or worse, if Garro had gotten it into his possession, only Darlight would be able to take down the Fifth Lord of Tartarus, and she had no desire to summon him from Tartarus, not after she had betrayed him like that. So getting that book after she escaped was her first priority, getting her armor and weapons back was a close second, then she needed to kill Garro once and for all, then find someplace to hide and live away from others.

But first, she needed to escape. And she had the perfect plan.

Walking down the halls of Canterlot castle which were empty except for the guards of the royal regent was more than a little strange to Celestia. She grown use to the hustle and bustle of a busy castle, but right now she couldn’t afford to have any innocent bystanders in the same proximity of somepony trained their whole lives by Darklight. It was extremely unlikely Twilight would be able to escape from the secure medical wing, but she had seen firsthand just how skilled Darklight was in the art of escaping from impossible situations.

She also remembered the terrible and bloody messes that became of his captors after he had escaped. So it was for that reason she had evacuated the castle, and it would remain that way until Celestia had talked to her former student and explain everything.

Celestia was only one floor above the secure medical wing, but before she went down the next flight of stairs she took a moment to compose herself. Any sign of emotional distress or weakness would give Twilight the upper hand in the coming interrogation and she needed every advantage she could get when dealing with somepony who spent so much time under Darklight’s training.

Celestia briefly wandered if Twilight had been taught the finer arts of psychological manipulation, she had seen Darklight disable entire armies just by speaking to the commanding officers. Though with the threats he often used against the generals, Celestia wasn’t surprised they were more than eager to disband their attacks on Equestria.

Though it was hard to imagine the sweet innocent filly she once knew making such threats, the reality of the situation was clear to her. This mare was no longer her sweet innocent student. She was a creature of darkness raised in Tartarus by Darklight who knew nothing about innocence or love, so she needed to be treated with great caution. Say the wrong thing and she may never be able to get Twilight to agree with her plan. It would be like walking on a frozen lake.
Celestia came to the thick metal door and used her magic to open it. Before she stepped in however, she took a moment to make sure Luna was still okay. And judging from the serene feelings of peace she could sense in her sister she was more than likely asleep.

Celestia walked into the guard room where the Wonderbolts were busy playing some sort of card game and selected the key to Twilight’s cell. Spitfire Soarin looked up at Celestia curiously and she gave him a negetve gesture. She didn’t want anypony else in that room with her.

The guards of the royal regent were standing as still as statues as Celestia walked past them to Twilight’s cell. She pressed the key against the surface of the glass which once more rippled like water, allowing her to step through it and into Twilight’s room.

The purple alicorn raised her head and Celestia noticed she was keeping her eyes tightly closed.

Celestia had so many questions she needed answers to, but she refrained herself from asking them until she had built a rapport with her student.

“Hello Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said in a warm welcoming voice. “I’m sure you’re extremely confused at the moment.” Twilight Sparkle remained silent, so Celestia continued. “First and foremost, I apologize for this treatment you’re going through. But I’m afraid it is a necessary precaution I had to take to ensure the safety of my citizens.”

Twilight let out a small unamused snarl. “Did I do anything to threaten your citizens?”

“No, but I’m sure somepony like you understands the importance of neutralizing a potential threat.”

Celestia watched closely as Twilight’s body relaxed slightly, and the snarl disappeared from her muzzle. So, Darklight had taught her his beliefs of taking out potential threats before they become a problem. He would have also no doubt throughly drove the point home so it was more of a basic instinct. Celestia took a deep breath, she had to know more.

“I also apologize for taking away your magic, but once again it was a necessary precaution.”

Twilight tilted her further in Celestia’s direction. “I’m not worried about that, by the end of this conversation you’ll be giving me back everything you stole from me, and releasing me from this cell.”

Celestia’s lips pursed thoughtfully. She had not been expecting that, but nonetheless she recovered quickly. “You seem so sure about that.”

This time Twilight turned her head fully in Celestia’s direction, and even though her eyes were closed she could still sense the cold glare Twilight was giving her. “I am sure about that.” Twilight turned away from her looking back up at the celling. “And the reason I’m sure you’ll be giving me my powers back is because I’m the only one in this realm who can save Equestria from something that is far worse then me.”

A cold smile formed on Twilight’s muzzle. “That is of course you want to save your precious subjects from horrible deaths.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed as she realized Twilight was using psychological manipulation on her. Twilight was first going to present her with an impossible situation that could only be solved by her, but in order to do so she needed access to her powers. The only problem was, discerning if there was any truth in what she was being told.

“And what threat to my subjects are you talking about.”

Twilight’s cold smile grew wider. “I’m talking about Garro, the Fifth Lord of Tartarus, and master of snow and ice. Now before you go and send some of your soldiers, or even yourself to your deaths trying to bring down Garro, I want you to think of all the lives that could have been saved if you had simply released me and given me back my armor and weapons. No matter how powerful you think you are princess, I can assure you, Garro will kill and destroy anything you can send at him. The Elements of Harmony might be able to stop him. But because they are being wielded by ponies with no battle experience, it is likely they will die in their attempts.”
Twilight once more turned to face her. “Are you really willing to let so many of your beloved subjects die before you realize you’ve had the perfect weapon here all along. Make no mistake princess, ponies will die, and their blood will be on your hands because of your inability to properly understand and accept the importance of dark magic.”

Celestia moved closer tot he bed and gazed down into Twilight’s closed eyes. Twilight tilted her head curiously at her. “I do understand dark magic Twilight, possibly more than you do. Its purpose is to bring nothing but destruction and death. I have seen no good in the practice of dark magic. The wielders of such powers care for none of the lives they destroy. They care for none of the suffering they bring to this world. They care for nothing but death and destruction.”

Twilight’s snarl returned with a vengeance. “How could you say that?” Twilight hissed venomously. “Darklight told me of the time Equestria was fighting for survival against the demons of Tartarus. He told me of all the times he saved you and your sister’s lives. And if it weren’t for dark magic fighting on your side, Equestria would be nothing but a barren wasteland.”

“I do not deny that dark magic was pivotal in the salvation of Equestria, but Darklight was also responsible for the deaths of so many innocent lives. He once used a death curse to kill an entire village of ponies that one of the Lords had taken hostage. Darklight was just as evil and twisted as the demons we were fighting. But you’re not, I can tell there is still some good in you Twilight Sparkle. It is the same goodness I saw when you were my student, I have faith that I can get that goodness to grow once more.”

Twilight chuckled mirthlessly. “That’s a very sweet thought princess, but it won’t solve the current problem of Garro roaming freely through Equestria. I’ve already injured quite severely, let me go after him and end him altogether.”

A smile grew on Celestia’s face as she realized she could use this request to her advantage. Of course this ideas was completely hinged on whether or not Darklight had taught Twilight his belief on the importance of keeping her word.

“I’m willing to grant you your request Twilight. But only on several conditions.”

“Name them.”

“I need your word that you will not use your powers in any other manner than to hunt down and stop Garro. You will also need to agree to putting a blocking spell on your powers that will be controlled by student Sunset Shimmer. You must also swear to me that you will not harm any innocent creatures pony or otherwise. And most importantly, you must agree to being re-taught pure magic, and the magic of friendship. Swear to me in no uncertain terms that you will do this with your full efforts and I will give you back everything that was taken.

Twilight’s smile grew more sincere. “I swear to obey everyone of your conditions to my fullest ability. I will only break this vow if it threatens my one rule.” Twilight’s voice and face grew grim. “If anypony fucks with me, or my loved ones, I’ll be going after them, and I’ll be bringing hell with me.”