Black Sun

November 11th

To anypony who was simply out on their day-to-day business, it looked like it would be a day like any other. Clear morning skies with a crisp wind blowing from the west, enough to keep anypony's wits sharp when outside. There was something more to it though. A faint hint of foreboding carried across the skies. As she stepped out onto the throne room's private balcony and looked over Canterlot, Luna already knew. One way or another, the situation with Tantabus would reach a critical point before the sun set tonight.

She could feel it. Today was a day for endings.

She sat herself down at the railing and slowly looked out at the view, the unhindered sight lines allowing her to commit it all to memory. To the north were the great grasslands, a region that had remained untouched by strife for centuries. A representation of the peace they were still fighting for, and hopefully may return to soon. To the south-east, just at the limits of her vision, the battle scarred remains of Ponyville. A painful reminder of the devastation that may yet be coming if anything went wrong. And here she was, stuck in the middle, not knowing which one of those two futures was coming, or whom would be leading them there. Twilight, or Tantabus...

Luna hunched over and clung tightly to the railing, silently cursing herself for thinking about her other half. If she focused hard enough on something else, anything that wasn't Tantabus, she could keep the worst of her symptoms suppressed and focus on what few duties she could still handle. Now that was gone too, and the weight of the hole inside her was bearing down in full force. In an instant her head was swimming, feeling like sparks of magic were firing off inside her brain. She wanted to vomit but there was nothing to bring up. Deep inside her heart, she could practically feel her body, her very soul attempting to shut down without Tantabus to keep it stable. How long had it been since her last magic infusion? It had to have been before Celestia went to sleep. That must have been fourteen hours ago at least. At this point, anything over ten was getting dangerous.

"Luna, you fool..." She grunted to herself as she gripped the railing tighter, starting to sweat. She'd never gotten used to the feeling of lekli withdrawal and this was the worst she'd ever felt it. If she hadn't skipped breakfast, she would have been just fine. If she'd just been thinking straight...

She hardly heard the hoofsteps behind her, her ears growing so sensitive she could hear the blood rushing inside them. The urgency and speed in them told her all she needed to know about who it was though. Her world went backward as she was pulled away from the edge of the balcony, magic gripping her hooves hard enough to yank them away from the railing. Then she was on her back and something was pressed directly to her chest, right over her heart. She could only close her eyes and focus on her breathing. After a few seconds a soothing coolness began to pool in her chest and spread through the rest of her body. The damage was halting for now, but it wasn't being repaired. That didn't matter in the moment though. She felt normal again. Exhausted and utterly derelict in her duty, but normal.

However bad she was feeling right now, she also knew it was nothing compared to how her sister felt.

After a few moments the soothing feeling faded and she was gently moved back onto her front, hooves coming back into contact with the ground. Luna opened her eyes again and took a deep breath. She'd been turned around and was facing the door back to the throne room. As she'd figured, Celestia had been the one who had been there, and the infusion had taken it's toll on her. Her mane had stopped flowing altogether and although she physically didn't look any worse, there was a look of pure desperation locked behind her eyes. A fear of losing her sister again that was only growing stronger with each passing day.

As soon as the magic connecting them ended, Celestia went limp and slumped forward. Despite her own weakness, Luna managed to catch her and pulled her into a close hold. She knew that she had the stronger will at this moment, her stubborn refusal to accept her current limitations both aiding and hindering her in equal measure. She carefully lowered them both to the ground, panting slightly as she checked Celestia over. Thankfully it looked worse than it was, she had merely fainted from the strain rather than anything more insidious. Even as she finished the thought, Celestia stirred back into life and looked at her, tears forming in her eyes.

"It gets harder, every day..." She said quietly. Luna simply nodded, not needing to ask which meaning she was using. It was all of them at once.

"I know, sister. I have to ask though. You feel my condition every time...How long do I have left?"

Celestia practically wilted at the question, looking away for several long seconds. Luna simply waited. She couldn't deny she was afraid of the answer, but she would rather face her increasingly likely fate than let it remain an unknown. She had never been willing to let the unknown remain as such if she could help it. Eventually Celestia looked back at her, the tears coming in full flow.

"Two weeks at most, before I have to choose. The drain on my magic grows stronger with every cast though. It..It will likely be even quicker than that...Luna, h-how can you just sit there and be calm when we're about to be torn apart again? For good this time!"

"I've always been the better at hiding feelings like those," Luna replied simply, standing up and making sure she wasn't having any trouble doing so. "There's something I want to show you."

Celestia stared at her before shakily getting to her hooves as well, following Luna's gaze. She was looking down from the balcony, into Canterlot's Celestial District. Most of it was housing for the city's most renowned citizens, but there were a few notable landmarks in the area, including the one Luna was indicating. The Royal Canterlot Archives.

"Your efforts to help Twilight find herself again succeeded and now she is returning the favour," Luna continued, her resolve increasing with every word. "She and her friends, you and I, we have already come so far in finding a way to reconnect me to Tantabus and now their efforts have redoubled. Do not be the one to lose faith now."

Despite the pressure she was under, Celestia couldn't help but crack a smile at the reversal of situation. Her mane steadily started flowing again as she nodded, regaining her composure and stepping a little closer to her sister.

"You're right. Our roles have not changed and we must trust Twilight in hers." She said, sounding reassured.

Luna smiled and nodded, looking back in the direction of Ponyville. Somehow, it didn't look quite so ominous anymore. Maybe it was due to feeling closer to whole in the moment. Maybe it was her need to stay strong for her sister giving her newfound confidence. Or maybe it was just that suborn determination. Whatever the cause, she saw it in a new light. Not so much a portent of the end, but as a benchmark to do better than. To raise back up once this was over, and ensure such calamity never befell it again.

"Besides," She commented. Partly to Celestia, partly to herself. "I feel that we are much closer to the end than anypony thinks."

Twilight clicked her teeth together as she looked through her notes for what felt like the hundredth time that hour. Over a dozen sheets were laid out on the table in front of her. Rach one containing concepts and weaves for a unique spell that would pull Tantabus from Sunset and return her to Princess Luna. Every one would work in theory, but only two that had been modified by the princesses would do it without killing Sunset in the process. On top of that, there was the ever present issue of what to do about the Tomb of the Gods. Even if there was no way to destroy it as things were, something told her that it still had some role to play. If only she could figure out what...

She lowered the flashcards and looked round at the others, needing something else to focus on for a few minutes. Her remaining team had set up in the restricted section to ensure they would not be disturbed, going through every book in the archives that may provide a hint or idea of how to proceed. Spike and Aurora were impressing her once again, keeping pace with her notes and making their own additions. The two of them were currently seeing if any of her spell ideas could be mixed for a better result. Applejack, Sweetie Belle and Deep Note were practically buried in books as they attempted to find any further information. Apple Bloom and Peace Walker, while the least academic members of the ground, were doing their part by ferrying any books and supplies needed back and forth.

Any one of them could end up finding something that would tip the scales, and part of her hoped it would be so. They were every bit as capable of doing good as she was. She would always regret forgetting that in her dark moments of the past month. Maybe that was why she wasn't fully focused now, listening to their small conversations while they studied. She needed the sense of camaraderie. They all did. It was paying off though, the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed than she could remember.

"So, Spike, just a thought," Aurora mused as he put down a copy of 'End of an Era: The Great Celestia-Luna Rift'. "How hard was it for you to learn the basics of dreamwalking? Just the part about projecting yourself into other ponies dreams."

"Easy to learn, hard to master," Spike replied as he glanced over the combined notes Twilight and Aurora had set up, drawing invisible lines between them with his claws. "Depends what you want to do with it."

"Well, it's a long shot. But I thought if Twilight could somehow project herself into Tantabus' mind, she might be able to fight an a ground her opponent's not prepared for, or help Sunset Shimmer take back control. It would make separating them much easier."

"That...Actually sounds pretty clever." Sweetie Belle commented, twirling a book in her magic as she moved it back onto the bookshelf next to her. She sounded weary, but optimistic. Twilight couldn't help but silently admit that she was radiating a lot of the pleasantness that was keeping everypony going. Rarity and Pinkie would be proud.

"Normally it would be," Spike mused as he turned to face Twilight. "But dreamwalking requires a lot of focus to instigate, undivided attention. I don't think you'd be able to get that if you're close enough to do anything."

"Right...Right. Good effort but...Not quite what we need." Twilight sighed and tapped a hoof against the table, ears flicking in frustration.

"It's still a step forward," Peace commented as she watched from the side, looking like she was trying to lean against a pile of books without knocking it over. "And if anypony can figure out how to make an impossible idea work, it's you three."

Twilight nodded and looked back at her notes. Peace was right, they were steadily inching toward a workable solution. The answer was right in front of them, it was just a case of how long it would take for somepony to look at things the right way to see it.

"Okay, possibly an even stupider idea but worth a shot," Aurora mused, leaning back in his chair. "Twilight, do you know where the Tomb of the Gods is right now?"

"Yeah, I do. It's not too difficult to pick up something that powerful. Especially when it's relatively close."

"Right, good," Aurora nodded, drawing a few looks of surprise from those that heard him. "And if you opened it, do you think Tantabus would go for it?"

"Without question, everything she wants is inside...Aurora, you may be good at thinking tactically, but I'm not sure what leading our enemy straight to her target is going to do."

"Think about it," Aurora said as he sat forward, the cogs in his mind turning fast enough to almost be audible. "If all those safeguards you mentioned are still intact, then the Tomb of the Gods is basically indestructible in its current state. I mean, even Celestia wasn't able to do much and she was putting out huge amounts of magical energy. You're still stronger than Tantabus is, and it's the one place in Equestria where you're free to hold nothing back."

For a few moments, Twilight was amazed by the ideas her nephew could come up with. If she went to the tomb, it would effectively be forcing a showdown with Tantabus on a near equal battlefield. There was always the risk of the entombed lekli, but she had no desire to let them out and Tantabus would never risk damaging them until they gave her what she wanted. Caligo would be the only one who might get in the way. That said, the amount of power they'd be throwing around would hopefully convince him to keep away, especially while the memories of Ortasin were relatively fresh in his mind.

"Very smart," She acknowledged, smiling at his look of contained content. "That's a very good start. Now, we just have to...Still figure out exactly how to separate the two of them."

"Have to admit, right now a few extra heads wouldn't go amiss to bounce ideas off of," Applejack commented, staring down at the book in front of her before sighing quietly. "I mean, Trixie were able t'do some flashy tricks. She could've given us a new way t'look at things...Suddenly, ah wish Bounty was here..."

"Me too," Deep Note said, looking over to her sadly. "If nothing else, his ability to siphon off his magic could have been used to give Twilight a boost. Always found new ways to put a spin on things too."

"And Starlight," Sweetie mused as she rested her chin on her hoof. "Imagine if those three could have given their magic to Twilight. Tantabus wouldn't stand a chance!"

Everypony was silent for a few moments as they processed the idea. The sound of a quill dropping to the table broke them out of it near simultaneously and they looked round to see it had come from Twilight. She was staring back at them, a look of dawning realisation on her face and a glint of pure elation in her eyes.

"That's...That's it. That's it!!" She exclaimed joyously, pulling fresh scrolls, quills and ink toward her before starting to write quickly. "You two are geniuses! Okay. Deep, Applejack, can you tell Spike everything Bounty told you about his ability? Spike, get every detail you can written down. Aurora, go to Ponyville and see if the doctors there are willing to give information on the same."

As Aurora nodded and teleported away, Sweetie Belle came over and watched Twilight's enthusiastic writing from over her shoulder. Her new papers, held out in front of her with her magic, were already a mess of diagrams connecting across scrolls and using terms she'd never even heard of. Virtually all she could figure out was that it was the blueprint for weaving a whole new spell together. Everything beyond that was far above her level. None of the others were paying it any mind, each of them simply enjoying the boost. For the first time in far too long, the dominant feeling among the gathering was one of hope.

"You genius!" Applejack told Deep while he waited for Spike to gather extra parchment. "Ah knew there was another reason I wanted to keep ya around."

"Ah. Somepony would have come up with it eventually," He replied, blushing slightly as he rubbed his cheek. "Wait, what's the first reason?"

Now it was Applejack's turn to blush. She looked down for a few moments, tripping over her words before looking back up at him.

"Oh, you know...Ah've been thinking about what might happen. Could go right, could go awfully wrong. May not get another chance to show you what our talk meant. Point is, you've earned this."

Before anypony could ask what she meant, she leaned over and her lips met Deep's. Apple Bloom's jaw dropped while the others watched with a mix of dawning surprise and knowing grins. The kiss only lasted for a few moments before Applejack pulled back again and pulled her hat over her eyes, momentarily overcome by awkward shyness. Deep simply stared back at her in stunned awe before chuckling softly and placing a hoof under her chin.

"Well...Glad you feel the same way." He said, bringing it up to stroke her cheek and then lifting her hat up enough for her to see his smile.

"Guess I shoulda seen this comin'," Bloom commented once she found her voice. Though there was still the faintest hint of pain behind it, nopony either noticed or drew attention to it. "Congrats sis."

As the others joined in offering their congratulations, Twilight put her work to one side and watched them with a small smile on her face. This was what she'd been shutting herself away from, these small moments between her friends that lifted everypony's spirits. It may have just been her imagination, but things suddenly seemed much clearer, so much easier. They were all back together and she was already making a breakthrough. Granted it involved a highly experimental weave of magic that nopony had ever attempted before, but she had every confidence that she could make it work.

She had to. She wanted to make it up to them for everything she had subjected to them to through her carelessness.

It was a small mercy that none of the others could follow the spells she was working on. The ideas she had in mind were dangerous and they would have tried to talk her out of it. She already knew she wouldn't take any undue risks though. As it was, one of these spells could only be used as a last resort. Combined with the others suggestions though, the two spells she held had the potential to stop Tantabus and end the lingering threat of the lekli once and for all.

Possibly at the same time.