1. World of Shadow and Ruin
The Road Not Taken
Chapter 1: World of Shadow and Ruin
"All things begin, and then all things end. I have seen this cycle thousands of times before, and I will inevitably see it thousands of times more. If nothing else, Nightmare Moon was proof of this. It led me to conclude, tragically, that this is only fundamental constant of our world."
-- Princess Celestia, 1722 N.A.
The once lush trees were now dead and barren. The sounds of life that enveloped Ponyville had been replaced with an uncaring whistling wind. The bright summer skies provided by Celestia’s sun had been replaced with a cold sunset that seemed permanently fixed in the sky. Ever since she had woken up, Twilight Sparkle tried to imagine what could have devastated her beloved town in the course of one night. Everything had been fine when she had gone to sleep, to be replaced with the desolate landscape around her.
Twilight replayed that last night in her mind. She had attended Pinkie Pie’s ‘First-Snow-Of-The-Year’ party with her friends, before leaving sometime after 10. She hadn’t felt very well as she climbed into bed, and she had hoped that she wasn’t coming down with something.
She had woken up deathly cold, and shivering. Certain she had come down with a fever, she had called out to Spike, but silence had been her only answer. Grumbling, Twilight had forced herself out of bed, and wrapped the blanket around her. She had the notion that something was amiss, but wrote it off to sickness.
The lavender unicorn ventured downstairs, and had found that the lights had been extinguished and a draft was blowing through the room. She had tried the switch on the wall to no avail, and called again for Spike, again getting no response. Making a mental note to admonish her assistant, Twilight cast a 'light' spell with some difficultly. A weak purplish haze illuminated the room. She had expected to find the dragon with his head in the gems jar, and her usual mess of books spread across the floor.
Instead, she found several of the bookcases face down, and one of the windows smashed inward. She screamed for Spike, and franticly searched for him. Finding nothing, Twilight panicked and charged out the door. Screaming for her assistant, she ran onto the road towards the central square. It was only after she saw the dilapidated town square did the purple unicorn realized that true extent of her nightmare.
In front of her stood the Mayor's residence. The once proud building had been left to rot and decay; parts of the balcony had fallen to the streets below, and the front door appeared to have been kicked in. Catching her breath, Twilight slowly turned around and suddenly saw what her mind had disregarded in her hysteria.
All of the buildings around her had fallen into the same state of disrepair. From Sugarcube Corner to the Carousel Boutique, the same scene played out again, and again. Some of the once proud buildings had broken windows, others still had their doors kicked in, but no matter where she looked, everything was the same. She begin screaming for her friends, naming them off in quick succession. Unable to cope with the devastation around her, Twilight bolted out of the square. Everywhere she looked, the once glorious town had decayed into necropolis. Her fears further realized, Twilight's mind descended into a crazed state. As she approached the edge of the town, the desecrated buildings gave way to a petrified forest.
The cold penetrated deep within the unicorn's spine, and the bitter wind caused her eyes to tear, but the terrified pony couldn't stop galloping. More than once, she thought she glimpsed something lurking in the shadows, but each time she turned, she saw nothing. She didn't know where she was going, but she was determined to get as far away from that nightmare as possible. She thought that this was some horrific dream that she would simply wake up from. The growing pain in her hooves suggested otherwise.
The once well familiar site of the Sweet Apple Acres farm loomed into view. Its once well kept orchids and mighty apple trees had withered and died. Their petrified remains now stood grimly reminding Twilight of the nightmare that she had found herself in. Horrified, she charged across the fields, and towards the lone farmhouse in the middle.
Even from a distance, Twilight could see the building had fared much better than the ones in Ponyville; It was a hopeful sign. Maybe, just maybe, she might even find Applejack inside, and then could work together to figure out this mess.
Twilight finally let up her frantic pace as she approached the farmhouse. Tired and out of breath, she creaked open the door, and let herself in.
"Applejack? ... Big Macintosh? ... Apple Bloom? ... Grammy Smith? ... Anypony?"
She slammed the door behind her, and her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. The farmhouse had been home to the Apple family for generations, and pictures of various ponies adorned the wall. A putrid scent lingered in the still air, and Twilight cautiously made her way up the stairs in her search for Applejack.
With each passing step, Twilight's hopes of finding Applejack had dwindled. She knew that Applejack would have responded to her calls were she capable, but Twilight had to be sure she wasn't here. She simply couldn't bear this alone. As she approached the top the stairs, she found that the landing was cast in complete darkness. With some difficulty, she reached inside herself and cast another 'light' spell.
It only took her a few seconds to regret that decision.
* * *
Twilight lay in a tightly curled ball under a blanket in the safety of her basement. Her mind was still trying to process everything around it. She could barely remember how she had made her way back to the library after ....
The unicorn shook her head, she couldn't think about it. She had prayed that this was some sort of waking dream, or some horrible prank gone wrong. She hoped that she would simply wake up. She thought that she might find one of her friends. All she found was that personal hell around her refused to be dismissed.
She was tired, cold, lonely and terrified. All she wanted was her friends but they would never come, to wake up and Ponyville back to normal. She could see Spike would be there with a nice cup of hot tea, next to Pinkie Pie there waiting with a batch of cupcakes to cheer her up.
'Hear you go, Twilight, it's a beautiful morning'
'Don't you know silly, a cupcake a day keeps the nightmares at bay!'
Rarity would concern herself with Twilight's distraught appearance.
'Now, dear. It was only a dream, nothing to get your mane all frazzled up over. No, no, this won't do at all!'
Applejack would want to hear all about her dream, and reassure her.
'Ah, shucks. It was only a dream here now. Nothing for ya'll to getworked up about about.'
Fluttershy would meekly add her two bits.
'T-that sounds horrible, Twilight. H-how did you manage to handle that all on your own?'
Rainbow Dash would boast that as long as she was around, nothing would happen to Ponyville.
'Bah, it was just a crazy dream. Nothing will happen as long as Rainbow Dash is here!'
With these warming thoughts of her friends in her mind, Twilight fell into an uneasy sleep. As she slept, her mind began to dream.
* * *
I looked towards my sister, and saw that she had finally fallen asleep. Her coat was dirty and mangled, and small leaves and twigs had become nested in her mane. Many of the bruises that covered her body were now beginning to heal; with a little luck, some of the deeper lacerations would not scar. Even now, I barely recognize her for the filly I last saw her as. Had she not called out my name, it was in the realm of possibility that I may have watched her die without even realizing who she was.
I have given up everything I had once held as an unalienable truth, and as such, have been forced to truly see the atrocities I committed in the name of the Spirit of Law and Justice. I will not coat my actions in sugar: I have killed. The guilty, the innocent, the young, and the old, they all fell to my blade. I have torched homes as a warning to others and torn families apart in His Name. There had been no doubt that what I had done was righteous; all for the greater good. Now I can see that I had simply deluded myself.
I suspect there will come a time where she will ask the questions that I can't answer. I fear that she will learn the full depths of my depravity. There is no denying that it would be my 'just desserts', but I cannot bare the thought of being forsaken by my only family.
Yet, paradoxically, I find myself strangely calm. We have been on the run for at least four days, and seen neither hide nor tail of the Royal Guards nor of the Spirit of Law and Justice himself. I had always been taught that the Titans were all knowing, all seeing, and all-powerful; was this simply another lie? Maybe he knows that we will die in here, or should we survive, we will constantly be in fear of facing his judgement. I suspect that I shall never know.
I am but a simple pegasus. My sister is one of the few blessed to be born a unicorn, but her magic alone would not suffice. One could say that we are, at best, ill-equipped to face the wraith of a God. Servitude is life, defiance means death; this was always clear to me. Heretics would be exceedingly fortunate to have a quick death. For blasphemy such as my own, I dare not think of what fate awaits me.
Despite this, and the unclear path that lays ahead, I feel hopeful. For the first time in my life, I do not feel him constantly looking over my shoulder, or gazing down from his throne. I do not hear his voice anymore. My destiny is now my own. I am- no, sister is free.
Free ...
I now understand what might cause one to defy a God. My sins stay my feet; one such as myself has no right to bask in such gifts. But my sister is innocent ...
I quietly lay down, and wrapped one of my wings around my sisters frail form. There was a light grumble followed by a shift in the dirt as we huddled closer to each other.
For you sister, I will challenge the gods. I will do what is considered impossible. Absolution will be forever denied to me, but, in this forest, you will be ever free.
I shall see to it, even if my life becomes forfeit in the process ...
* * *
For a brief moment, Twilight had honestly believed it had been just a dream. A strange, horrible, twisted dream. But as she opened her eyes, she found herself huddled in the pitch dark blackness of her basement.
She was about to light the room again when she hesitated. What-what if she saw- ...
'No', her weary mind answered, 'there was nothing down here, you saw that when you came down, there was nothing to be scared of'. Shaking her head, Twilight cast the spell, and illuminated the basement before exhaling. She had become greatly concerned with the amount of effort to do something as simple as light a room. It was becoming evident that her magic had been severally weakened.
"No, Twilight, you just stressed. A-all of this is a lot to take in, you just need to focus your mind, and figure this out ...'
Somehow, her inner voice seemed far more confident that she was ...
She took in account of her surroundings. Various laboratory equipment lay on various tables across the room. It was obvious that whoever had ransacked her library had missed the trapdoor leading to the basement. Even if they had found it, there had been very little worth taking, some bottled water, and a few boxes of protein bars that had been left down here.
The unicorn strained her mind trying to remember when she had bought it, but found herself coming up blank. It was possible that she had simply forgot. She almost never came down to the basement, and the unassuming packages could have easily been overlooked in the far corner where she had left them.
Regardless of the reason, she greedily consumed one of the bars. It tasted horrible, but she forced herself to swallow. Despite the taste, her stomach finally felt more content. It after all been the first sustenance she had downed since yesterday.
Deciding to face reality, Twilight made her way up the stairs, and into the foyer above. The sky was still bathed in a sea of purple and blues, and Twilight wondered out loud how long she had slept; surely it couldn't have been for a full day, could it?
The strange sky and whistling wind only served to remind her how very much alone she was right now, and how everypony was depending on her to figure this out. It only took a moment's deliberation to decide her upon destination.
The Carousel Boutique was barely recognizable; Its once well kept decorations and windows were smashed and broken. Much of its baby blue paint had been stripped away by the wind, leaving rough patches of blue in a sea of brown. Many of the wooden horses that adorned the top of the building had fallen into the yard, and one of the large bay windows had been smashed in. Twilight hesitated in opening the door; she had already encountered a grim surprise at Applejack's, and was loathe to repeat the experience.
As if almost on cue, a sharp blast of wind shot past the lavender pony. Shivering, she knew that if she was going to figure this out, she first had to find a way to survive long enough to do so. She had shelter, and found enough food and water for at least a few more days, but without warm clothing she was going to freeze to death.
Steeling her resolve, Twilight made her way into Rarity's shop. The scene was worse than she had imagined: broken glass and mannequins lay strode upon the ground. As she carefully stepped around the glass, she looked for anything that might be useful, but whoever had been here before had been extremely through. Only a few small scraps of fabric remained.
Much to Twilight's dismay, Rarity's bedroom was in much the same state. The bed had been overturned, and the dresser had been nothing short of demolished. It wasn't until she searched the closet did Twilight finally have a stroke of good fortune. Hidden in the recess, and sitting on the floor lay one of Rarity’s old winter jackets. Whoever had ransacked the Boutique had overlooked it in their haste. After a moment of hesitation, Twilight wrapped herself in it, and found a much needed relief from the cold air. From where she was standing, Twilight eyed the mostly-set sun over the boutique's balcony. She couldn’t quite place a hoof around it, but something was out of place.
After a moment, Twilight shook her head. She had other things to worry about. For the moment, she had managed to find protection from the harsh winds, and could continue her search.
After what felt like several hours, Twilight slowly made her way towards the library. Her quest for answers had ended in what only could be described as 'dismal failure'. The few buildings she had dared to enter were in much the same state as the Boutique and her library. It had been during the search of the mayor's home that she had finally concluded that whatever happened, it could not have happened in the course of one night, nor could she have simply slept through it.
This realization however had led to more questions. 'Where am I?', and 'How did I get here?' echoed unanswered in her mind. Even plausible theories escaped her; it was simply impossible that she could have gone to sleep one night, and woken up in this dead world. If nothing else, wherever she was, it was clear it would not yield its answers easily.
It wasn't until she looked at the orange sky when she noticed she had missed the biggest clue of them all.
It had been twilight when she first woke. It had been twilight when she left the library today. Horror set in as the unicorn finally realized the sun had been frozen just over the horizon since she had arrived.
2. World of Light and Balance
The Road Not Taken
Chapter 2: World of Light and Balance
“I have come to find that the saying 'it can not get any worse' is more often than not a simple failure in imagination”
– The Blood-Stained Warrior. 17 O.A.
Princess Celestia found herself once again staring at the ceiling of her bed chambers. Her crown and royal adornments lay in a small pile beside her. She could not remember a time in recent memory where she hurt so much. From her wingtips to her hooves, every joint ached in agony. It was a grim reminder of her futile efforts to locate her faithful student. At the end of each day, she would spread her wings and take flight, dutifully determined in her quest of searching every corner Equestria for Twilight Sparkle. Only in the final hours of Luna's night would she finally return to Canterlot, and prepare for the following day.
Her endurance was far beyond that of any normal pony, but even she was starting to reach her limit. Running on at most two hours of sleep a day, and combined with the stress of her day-to-day life were taking their toll. What little sleep she allowed herself had proven futile in relieving her exhaustion. She felt herself nodding off during the many meetings and appointments she was forced to attend. If it wasn't for her oath to the people of Equestria, she would have simply dropped everything to continue her search. Still, without a further lead, she suspected that she too in turn would eventually have to give up the search.
A part of her felt disgusted for even thinking of abandoning Twilight. Frustrated, she rolled onto her side. As she did, she spotted the shelves of scrolls that contained the total sum of Twilight's Sparkle's writings and letters. It was one of the few very personal items she had kept for herself over her many years. Each had meticulously preserved, and served as the only tangible proof of the bond between her and her student. Each one told a different story of her student's life in Ponyville, about her adventures, her friends, or her learnings in friendship. They were her only way know of her student's wellbeing. When a scroll arrived, it served to brighten her day.
She could not accept that those letters may never come again, nor the impossibility of ever see her student's shining face again. Ever since Spike's damn letter arrived, nothing had been the same.
* * *
During the opening hours of crisis, Applejack had been the voice of reason. “Now hold you're horseshoes, we won't be able to help Twilight if ya'll keep arguing!”. The clamor of voices slowly began to subside until ten sets of eyes were fixed on the earth pony. Order momentarily restored, Applejack turned to Spike, “Now, Spike, would you say that again said?”
The purple dragon gave a thankful look before responding, “We came home last night. Twilight said she was feeling tired, and went upstairs. She was gone when I woke up.”
“Alright, Spike, is there anyway that she coulda left without you knowing?”
“No, like I said before, she would have woken me up. She wouldn't just leave without telling me.” Spike's body language betrayed his certainty on the issue. He hastily added, “Even if she did, I would have heard her going down the staircase, or the door slamming.”.
An uncomfortable silence set in, only broken by an inpatient Rainbow Dash. “Well, if she didn't go out the door, how did she go? It's not like she just sprouted wings and flew out the window!”
“Ooooh, oooh, I know! Aliens abducted her in her sleep, and now she's on their spaceship or something!”
Fluttershy stammered at this exclamation and dove behind Rainbow Dash. “A-a-aliens?!”. For her part, the azure pegasus actually managed to contain her most of her exasperation, “Pinkie! There are no aliens! You've been watching too much TV.”
Applejack simply shook her head. Pinkie Pie would be Pinkie Pie, even in the most serious of times. It was simply who she was. Still, it helped pass the time; Spike had sent the letter to Princess Celestia as soon as they had realized that their missing friend wasn't in Ponyville. Much to Spike's surprise, the princess did not respond until several hours later. The reply consisted of one short sentence.
“Collect all those who saw her last in the library.”
It had been a quarter of an hour since, and Rainbow Dash's patience was already wearing thin. She snorted loudly. “Ugh, this isn't getting us any closer to finding her. We need to be out there searching for her; not couped up in here!”
Rarity gasped, “Whaaat? And defy a royal order? Princess Celestia will know what to do.”. The azure pegasus turned to the white unicorn. Before anything else could be said, there was a flash of light, and a thunk as the royal princess herself teleported into the room. On queue, the five ponies (and one dragon) bowed before her.
"Get up, this is not the time for that."
The five glanced at each other as they raised to their hooves. They had recognized the tone in her voice; a telltale sign the goddess of the sun was pissed. Turned around, she brought her full attention on Spike, who had a look of absolute terror on his face.
"Since you sent me the first letter, has there been any additional news, no matter how small, that I should be aware of?"
Spike began to stutter; but managed to get the words out."N-n-n-n-no, Princess. We-we've kept searching until you told us all to meet here."
The Princess sighed; it was expected but unfortunate news. Next question, "From Spike's letter, you were all the last to see her before her disappearance?". There were six nods. "Was there anything odd that night, about her behavior, or perhaps something she said?"
Silence filled the now crowded as they struggled to recall every detail of the previous night and all the various ponies that had been there last time. Of all ponies, Fluttershy dared to break the silence, her voice barely audible. "Umm, she said last night that she was feeling ill."
"Ill? In what way?"
"Like ... her head was spinning. I walked her outside, she was swaying a little bit, then said it was getting better-"
"Fluttershy! Why didn't you bring this up before!". The pegasi let out a small 'eep' and became a small pink and peach ball after Rainbow Dash's outburst. It merely took a look from Celestia to silence the room once again.
Certain that there wouldn't be another outburst, she leaned in as close to the quivering pegasus. "Fluttershy, I know that this isn't easy, but I need to know ...”
A shuttered reply came from within the Fluttershy-ball. “W-we walked outside for awhile, then we went back. A-a-all she said was that, t-that she felt like, like ...”
“Like what?”
A second squeak escaped the shy pegasus. “Like the world was spinning. When we got back, she said she was feeling better. T-then she left with Spike ...”
A nondescript expression crossed Celestia's face before she turned back towards Spike.
“Spike, where specifically was the last time you saw Twilight Sparkle?”
“In her bed, just before I went to sleep”
Celestia's head turned the loft overlooking the main room. She kicked off the floor and with a single flap of her wings, landed on the edge of the upper level. Her eyes surveyed the scene around her. Although she had visited the library on several occasions before, she had never stepped hoof in what was clearly her student's personal domain.
Shelves and various stacks of books surrounded the room, tale-tell signs of the hard studies the lavender unicorn put herself through. She could see Spike's basket laid next to a mess of sheets and blankets that formed Twilight's own bed. Sitting next to the bed was a small set of shelves packed tightly with a set of highly familiar scrolls. The sun goddess couldn't help but be amused that she and her student had a certain symmetry when it came to their personal quarters.
After a moment, the winged pegasus shook her head. This wasn't the time for bemusement. Reaching within herself, she drew forth the smallest amount of magic that she could, and 'felt' out into the room, fully expecting to feel the traces of Twilight's magic.
A deep coldness enveloped the winged unicorn, and the world suddenly went dark. In her own mind, she could feel herself stagger and scream as something completely wrong and alien wrapped itself around her. Fighting for control, she stomped her hoof, and forced her head up, looking straight into the hollowing abyss. Horror surged through Celestia, and she felt herself fighting against the darkness. Whatever this was, it could not be allowed to exist. She spread her wings and tried to fly away, but 'its' tendrils grabbed her, and the god fell.
* * *
“I think she's coming to ...”
Echoes of voices rang in Celestia's mind. Dazed, she opened her eyes. The ceiling lamp swung ominously above her, and everything seem to be fuzzy. Pain ran through her posturer, and she became dimly aware that she was lying on her back. With great effort, she rolled herself onto her side just to find that her wing was screaming at her; it had been crushed. After another moment, the world slid back in focus, and she found herself eye to eye with Applejack.
“W-w-what happened?!”
Celestia blinked; the last thing remembered was seeing that nightmare. As she looked around, she realized she was on the ground floor of the library; she must have fallen off the loft in surprise. Forcing her way back onto her hooves, she surveyed the damage. Her right wing had several crumpled feathers, there were sharp pains in her back, and her crown had fallen off. Had she been a normal pony, it could have been much worse. Her divinity was already hard at work healing her, and the pain subsided. A wink of magic, and Celestia's crown re-adorned itself.
Immediate issues resolved, she looked at her subjects. There was a look of surprise and concern on all of their faces. It was like they had never seen a princess get flattened by a magical remnant.
“I'm quite alright, I assure you. I was simply caught off-guard.”
“Uh, Princess, mind explaining what happened?”
“I suspect I got caught in the backblast of whatever magic took Twilight Sparke.”
Celestia paused over her own words. Remnants were merely traces of magic left behind when a spell was cast. She looked back towards the loft. They shouldn't have been able to blast anypony, let alone send a physical goddess flying across the room. After a moment, she knew that she needed help to untangle this riddle.
A quill, ink, and a piece of parchment took flight from the nearby writing table. Dipping itself in the ink, the quill began to meticulously write Celestia's will. While the day goddess was one of the most powerful and experienced users of magic in Equestria, there was one who could rival her mastery of it. What Luna lacked in raw power was more than made up with the finesse and eloquence that she commanded of her talents. Celestia could only hope that would be enough to solve these mysteries.
As the quill finished its work, Celestia glanced over the scroll before magically rolling it up, and burning her royal seal on the reverse of the parchment. Then with a second bout of magic, the scroll became a shimmer of light that took off into the still night. She now turned her attention to Twilight's friends who were anxiously waiting for answers. She was going to have to disappoint them.
* * *
Rainbow Dash waited until they were out of earshot of the library before going into a full-blown tirade. “We need to do SOMETHING! We can't just sit around while-”.
Applejack interrupted her. “And what do you want to do? We don't know where to even start looking!”
“Does it matter? As long as we're doing something?”
“Look, we're all concerned, but running around like a headless chicken ain't going to solve nothing!”
The two ponies stared the other down. Rarity finally interjected. “Where would you start? Even Princess Celestia doesn't know where she might be!”
“Which is all the more reason to search for her!” The three ponies eyed each other. If it wasn't for a sudden interjection from Pinkie Pie, it might have turned nasty.
“STOP IT! NO FIGHTING! I don't know what happened to Twilight, but she won't want her friends about to brawl over it!”
A sheepish look came over Applejack and Rainbow Dash. For several moments, nothing was said as they walked over the bridge leading into the town square.
On top of Fluttershy's back, Spike finally broke the silence. “The Princess will figure this out, we just need to have a little faith. She will call for us when she knows more.”
There was a few weak words of agreement, but the cloud of gloom had set in among the six of them.
* * *
Patience was not one of Celestia's virtues. That combined with the unfamiliar sensation of uncertainty was putting her on edge. A part of her wished that she kept Spike at hand, but the dragon's safety was paramount.
She watched the minutes tick by as she waited for Luna's arrival, and attempted to avoid her own nagging thoughts. A small voice in her was chewing herself out over her tardiness on reading Spike's letter. She had naively assumed it had come from Twilight instead, and had set it aside to read after she had attended her duties for the day. She had waited until she retired to her quarters in order to give her something to look forward to.
Forcing herself to focus, Celestia's mind went to working out what she had experienced when she touched the remnant in Twilight's bedroom. Never in her life had she experienced anything like it before.
A cold chill ran through her body from the thought, and she started pacing. The remnant was bad enough, but Celestia's imagination was busy vividly creating image after image of her precious student being dragged into the darkness. It was only with Luna's arrival did Celestia's mind calm itself.
* * *
The day goddess rolled over onto her other side, now intently staring down the wall beside her. A part of her wondered if she was fated to eventually lose anypony she cared for. The few ponies she could have called friend had passed on in the the years since the beginning of the New Age. Her relationships with the ponies that followed was always overshadowed by her status as a deity. Even worse, she had lost Luna. In the many years that followed, she forced herself past her loss. She had cut off the parts of herself that hurt. It was what her duties demanded of her, and she would play her part.
Twilight's disappearance was in so many ways worse. Celestia knew that something otherworldly had facilitated her disappearance, and her vision into the abyss had given her new and imaginative ways to torment her in her nightmares. She didn't know if her student was alive or dead, scared and alone, or perhaps just trapped.
“What good was all the power in the world if she couldn't protect what mattered?”
She damned herself. It was through her manipulations and mechanizations that Twilight had value as a target.
It was with these morbid thoughts echoing through her head that the mourning god finally drifted off to sleep.
* * *
I could see the abyss. A howling wound in the world that drew the light into itself, and never released it. It was as horrible as it was beautiful. I could feel its coldness. I could sense the death its wake brought.
It was the antithesis to life itself.
My wings ached, and I felt what little magic I could muster slip away from me. Sooner or later I would fall into its grasp, and Equestria itself would fall into darkness. Dawn would never come again.
Luna would be forever alone. I grimly realized that should I meet my demise, my burden would fall to her. A burden I took to protect her. To protect all of Equestria. A burden I had already failed.
The screams of tormented ponies suddenly echoed forth. Their voices merged into one collective cry for help. Then, in that horrible melody, I heard it.
“AHHHHHHHHH, Help me, Celestia!!”
Twilight's voice had broken through over the screams of the damned. My inaction became intolerable. Without thinking, without considering the consequences, I dove into the mouth of evil. As I approached, it lashed out at me, and wrapped its tendrils around my hind-leg. It immediately yanked me out of the air and dragged me. I screamed, and everything went dark.
I could hear it laughing over my screams. It trapped me, mocked me, laughed at me, and belittled me. I had lost, and failed all those who thought me infallible. It made me see the torments it inflicted on all ponies. At that moment, I thought all hope was lost.
A single tone suddenly reverberated in the dark.
The darkness itself suddenly screamed. Beams of light enveloped me, I could feel its grasp weaken, and in that single moment, managed to kick myself free. Free of the void's grasp, I felt my strength returning.
The light burned through the darkness, and I heard a scream unlike anything that could possibly be described. It was dying. The light grew brighter and bright, and in the final instant, night shown as day. I found myself standing on the ground, watching the light recede. Luna's night became visible again, and I ran through the wood looking for my student. I shouted for her as loud as I could.
As I approached a clearing, I could see her lying on her side. With all my strength, I leapt towards her. As I landed, I carefully approached her, fearing the worse. Her breaths were weak, but steady. The darkness had left its marks, but Twilight had survived.
I always knew she was a survivor, and she would never disappoint me.
I wrapped her into an embrace. There were things I had to tell her, things I hoped she would forgive. I realized though there would be time for that. For this moment, I simply wanted to hold my student as close as possible.
* * *
For the first time in a fortnight, Celestia slept soundly. It was only in the morning did she realize that she was not alone.
