Deathlight

When the morning sun shone into his eyes, Toni sat bolt upright. Memory of the previous night came flooding back and he shuddered at the mental image of Minuette's mutilated remains. His hand reached out automatically for Twilight, but she wasn't there. He'd let the mare sleep in the living room while he took the attic. Neither of them would feel comfortable in the basement for a while, not so soon after Minuette. He would have to clean it a few more times before every trace was fully gone. They couldn't risk the upstairs room either, not with how many pegasi flew around Ponyville these days. A few times he'd done it, but neither of them felt comfortable with the constant threat of being spotted, despite the curtains.

There was nothing to it; the sooner he could get the basement clean, the sooner they would sleep in the same bed. More importantly, the basement had the strong chain embedded in the concrete floor. Other than the metal ring driven deep into the hardwood under the couch, no other place in the house was equipped like that. Even if Anton had been willing to risk them being seen in his bed, Twilight had been too angry to move upstairs. It meant his night had been cold and lonely and Toni consoled himself with the thought that it wouldn't be much longer. She always calmed down after the first day, two at the most.

He firmly pushed the thought away and hurried downstairs to check on his love.

She was sitting pretty much where he'd left her, staring at the sliver of sunlight peeking through a slit between the curtains.

"Morning," Toni said cheerfully, "how did you sleep?"

"I don't sleep," Twilight replied flatly. "You know that. I can't sleep."

He almost asked her if she wanted breakfast, but thought better of it. Twilight couldn't stomach regular food, and it just resulted in her being sick. The thought of what she might throw up made his own stomach queasy.

"Feeling better?"

The mare pierced him with a silent stare, as if unable to believe what he'd just asked. Her muzzle scrunched up and Toni thought she would snarl at him, but then her ears splayed and her gaze went to her hooves. "Are you going to let it end this time?" she asked quietly.

"I can't. Twilight, you know I can't! Not after everything we'd done!" He came over and sat beside her at the couch. He reached out his hand, but then hesitated inches before touching her back. When he finally laid his hand on the mare, her fur was cold to the touch. "Here, you're freezing. Come, let me warm you up."

Twilight didn't fight as he pulled her closer against his side and wrapped his arm around her withers. She let out a comfortable sigh as his body heat seeped into her.

"Thanks. Um, could you get me some water?"

Toni reached for the blanket, which was hanging across the arm rest, and paused when he remembered how it had slipped from Minuette's shoulders. She'd been straddling him, and all he could think about was how to get her into the basement. He squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds to collect himself, then draped the cloth around Twilight. She didn't object, but neither did she help him settle the blanket on her. It would soon be too hot for the aging cooling spell on his house, but for the moment he desperately wanted to keep Twilight warm. Without his body heat, she quickly became cold.

Cold like a corpse.

Toni jumped to his feet and hurried to get that glass of water. Keeping busy helped against these horrible thoughts. He soon had it back, and held it to Twilight's muzzle so she could drink.

"Thanks," she said after she'd drained about half. "I need to brush my teeth again. Will you help me?"

"Yes, of course!"

His hand went to the chain, but Twilight's hoof on his arm stopped him. "In a bit. Let's just sit here for a little longer."

"Yeah, whatever you want, Twilight."

"Toni," she began, and paused until he turned to face her. Her eyes, still beautiful and violet, stared straight into his soul. "I don't want to keep doing this." Immediately he tensed up and opened his mouth to argue, but the mare caught his hand between her forehooves and gave it a light squeeze. "Hush, let me talk," she implored. After his jerky nod, she continued: "What we're doing is bad, Toni. It's really bad. It worse than Tirek or Sombra ever were. I don't want this."

"You said you love me..."

Twilight kept her gaze on his face. "I did. I do. We had something really special. Had," she emphasized. "What you're doing now. Minuette. Rainy Day. Cherry. It's evil, Toni. We have to stop. You have to go and tell the Princesses."

He was shaking his head, but at least he hadn't interrupted her, which Twilight took as a good sign and plunged on. Her hoof sought out his cheek and she stroked the fresh stubble.

"I forgive you. What we did is horrible, but I forgive you, okay? It's gonna be fine. Celestia will know what to do."

"She'll toss me in jail for the rest of my life, or worse!"

Twilight didn't respond immediately. She watched his face, and then her shoulders slumped. "Okay, so we don't tell her. You were right. It would break her heart. We can't do that to her. We still have to stop. You have to end this, Toni. I need you. Let me go."

"No, stop talking like that!"

Toni was about to say something more, but he was interrupted by a knock on his front door. His gaze went to the curtains to try and gauge what time it was. Early, even if the sun was already up.

"Mailmare, probably. You know how they pride themselves on the personal touch."

He briefly considered hiding Twilight in the basement, but decided against it. It would take too long, and probably cause noise. Not to mention that he couldn't fully trust Twilight while she was like this. No, he would get rid of Muffins, or whoever it was, and then he'd finish his talk with Twilight. Already she was a lot less angry than last night. She would soon come about. Toni paused in the hallway and adjusted his shorts, then briefly debated whether he should get fully dressed before opening the door. That would also take time, and might cause whoever was out there to worry and try to come in, so Toni settled for snagging his bathing robe from a hook on the bathroom door, and threw it over his shoulders. It wouldn't matter - the ponies walked around naked most of the time anyway.

The knocking sounded again, and he hurried to the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

He threw the door open, mouth already shaping the question why they were bothering him at such a time, but the complaint died on his lips.

For long seconds he couldn't comprehend the scene before him. Rising sun glinted off gold armor. The silver spears glittered in the dawn like ice. The mare before him stared him right in the eyes as her rainbow mane billowed out in the ethereal wind.

The look in her face was harder than steel and her voice was icy cold: "Anton Post, you are hereby placed under-"

Toni reacted mindlessly. He swung the door shut in her face and turned to run. His foot truck the edge of the cabinet, but he ignored the pain and pushed himself from the wall to gain that little bit of extra speed. In a shock he realized the terrified gibbering was coming from his own mouth.

The door exploded behind him and Toni dove for the floor. A yellow glow of magic wrapped him up before he could hit the hard wood.

"Toni?!" came Twilight's shout from the living room. The chain rattled as Twilight climbed over the backrest to see better. Their gazes locked and her eyes widened when she saw his terror.

"Twilight Sparkle?!" came the astonished question from just behind him. Toni was flung forward and he shut his eyes as the door at the end of the hall hurtled toward his face. The magic jerked him to a bone-jarring halt just before he smashed against it, then slammed him against the floor with an impact which drove all breath from his lungs. He couldn't see what was happening behind him, but he could hear hooves clattering on the floor.

"Princess! Please help! You have to kill me. You have to end it! We- I've- I'm sorry!" Twilight's words devolved into relieved, wordless sobbing.

Toni began to scream, too, but a part of the golden magical cloud which was still pushing him against the hardwood forced its way into his mouth, effectively shutting him up. He struggled, but there was no escaping Celestia's vice-like magical grip. All had gone quiet and Toni strained to turn his head, to see what was happening. That was when the magic picked him up and threw him across the hall, and Toni caught a glimpse of Celestia standing just inside the living room, wings outstretched so they almost touched the walls. He couldn't see her face, but her horn was blazing with light. There was a golden aura around Twilight, too. It was only a momentary image he could see before Toni landed in the dirt outside his house.

"Hold him, Aegis. Nopony is to enter this house! Wait for me outside! He's dangerous, do not let him escape!" Celestia's voice was ice cold, but had an urgent edge to it. There was no question whether it would be obeyed.

The magical grip around Toni was replaced by a bright blue one, and the force on his back increased, as if a pony was physically standing on him. It made it hard to breathe and the view he struggled to get of his front door was wavering. As soon as he was out of the house, a shimmering surface of white light covered the entrance, and moments later every window Toni could see from his prone position.

Once again he tried to struggle, but the unicorn guard who was holding him in his magic bared his teeth, and the magical grip tightened, making it even harder to breathe. He began to fear he would pass out from the lack of oxygen. He tried to plead, but there was not enough air in his lungs to make a sound. The unicorn had taken Celestia's orders to heart and was not taking any chances.

All Toni could do was watch the silent house through blurry eyes, as tears flowed freely down his face.

It was over.

They would kill his Twilight. This time Celestia would make sure he couldn't get her back.

~ END