Celestia's Dusk

Scenes happened in Celestia's eyes. Ponies came. Ponies went. There was a system in place for this kind of disaster, one created by Celestia herself... But from the state she was in, she could not recognise it. She never left the throne room and she was hardly moved from one place to another. On none of these occasions could she feel anything.

She could still think and hear. Though sadly most aspects of those senses were locked off; combined together, she felt trapped in a cell without the key. To make matters worse, she could not move a bone in her body, as if she was trapped between life and death...

Hours went past... Or were they days? Minutes? She didn't know. She couldn't sleep either, being sleepless while trapped in a vortex of worry and confusion was nothing anypony would ever want to endure... Few ponies hit with the same affliction would ever have to endure such a fate, they would suffer a miserable conclusion to their life beforehand.

Light came... Sunlight... From the sun... Through the royal smashed window. It was a relief to see her element living on. It reminded her of who she was, unbinding her from a portion of the curse like a spell of healing. She developed an understanding of what was happening; reminding herself of who she was. Soon that rejuvenating feeling returned her conscience... Only to be warped into more clueless doom.

“Agh...” The princess moaned. Doctor Ocean was treating her, the most skilled physician in all of Equestria, present with a blue fur coat and a brown mane. His cutie mark appeared to be a vial with some sort of green liquid inside. This wasn't the first time the pegasus treated her for a dagger wound, and he couldn't figure out why his method was vastly inferior to his success in the last incident.

They remained in the throne room to give the doctor as much space and silence as possible. With that there was a much better chance of Celestia surviving the wound.

“I do not understand. The wound is hardly deep and everything looks like it should be clear.” He grumbled to himself, watching over Celestia. “I'm sorry... I've tried for hours, Celestia, I don't know what's wrong.”

She could only stare at him. There was certainly something which he was missing, but he couldn't see what. It was the morning after the attack, ponies who were close to the princess were alerted. Canterlot knew about the tragedy and they awaited the response from her professional doctor, expecting a perfect recovery less and less with each passing hour that no news was given.

The wound was clean, the dagger extracted and yet she could not heal. “Come on. Please speak.”

She listened... He needed a response, that was obvious, but could she give that to him? She was weak, she hadn't been able to move since the crime. Her best attempt at cooperation was all she had to offer. “Doctor...”

“Yes?!” He jumped up, thrilled at the reply however quiet and cricked it was. This was hopeful, if she could talk then maybe she was beginning to heal, never minding the fact that her voice was very weak and almost silent.

“I know what the poison is...” She paused to cough.

“Poison?”

“The dagger. It was poisoned with Gar's fury.”

“Gar's fury? That's a name I haven't heard for so long.”

“I know...” She was regaining control of her voice, but slowly, and she could still not feel her body enough to move. “Do you know the cure?”

“I think... The tears of... Claud?”

“Plaud the Unbound. That is my only hope.” Speaking was straining, becoming harder and harder to invoke energy from within her throat to emit into words. There wasn't much more she could say.

“Plaud? He hasn't walked Equestria for centuries.”

“I know... But I know where his remains lie.” It became crippling. Just speaking caused a tingle throughout her body.

“Where?”

“Ugh...” She was beginning to feel strain on her throat, and it wasn't long before speaking would become too painful. “Get... Get Twilight Sparkle.”

“Of course.” He left the room, notifying guards that the request for the young mares presence must be demanded at once. He wanted to know where to find the tears badly, but her commands were the priority. He walked back towards the princess who laid on a bed in the middle of the throne room. “Sleep, you need to rest before your friend arrives.”

She obeyed, knowing this to be his area of speciality. Doctor Ocean had never failed her before, and they both prayed this would not be the first time.

Afternoon swept across the land. It still felt like morning. Mainly due to the delay of the sun rising, while Celestia was paralysed there was only one other who could raise the sun: Luna. Even though she was not in her element the sisters had managed to adjust their abilities into different situations. However, Luna hadn't raised the sun in over a thousand years, she was quite out of practice. Even worse, Luna's days of harmony were at an end. She wasn't as strong as Celestia, she was locked on the other side of the moon for a thousand years; liberated of some slight essence of her magical powers. Raising the sun and the moon would be something she'd have to get used to if Celestia's fate was sealed.

“Princess Celestia!” The sweet mares voice echoed into the throne room, disturbing the alicorn from her attempt at rest. Twilight ran up to her teacher, not daring to touch her at the doctors command, indicated by the raising of his right hoof.

“I assume you are Twilight Sparkle.” Doctor Ocean predicted.

The purple mare nodded. “What happened?!”

The Doctor sat down, his mind recalled on the events of the night before. “The castle was attacked, all we know is a unicorn of some kind jumped out of that window.” He pointed a hoof towards the smashed glass window, seeing the sharp glass which still remained on the tiled floor. “And a cloak was left along with many dead guards.”

“And what happened to the princess?!” She awaited the most important answer of all.

“She took a dagger to her back. I healed her as best I could, but it's worse than I thought.” He paused to look at the princess, staring anxiously. “She managed to speak a few hours ago, this is when she told me about the poison... The dagger was covered in the Fury of Gar.”

“What's that?” Twilight asked. She was calm, but horrified. The situation was already terrible, and the fact that there was some sort of poison which she had never even heard of was even worse. As was any other occasion where there was something Twilight was not aware of.

“You wouldn't know it... For the safety of everypony we avoid revealing the facts about the substance. If you survive a few seconds of the fury in your blood then you suffer a week long death of constant pain...” He covered his eyes, he did not want to see the sight of the students heart breaking.

That's exactly what Twilight displayed. Tears bulged in her eyes. He mind was filling with more and more clouds, potentially blocking any other thought. She wanted to help, but to hear the princess was suffering something like that horrifying. Her teacher. Her majesty. Her friend... Twilight was the pony who Celestia raised her to be, a master of magic. The last thing she wanted was to see was pain prying life from her friends dying hooves.

“Twilight. Stop crying.” Ocean commanded, lifting his head from concealment behind his hooves. He didn't want to hear the pony sob, nor did he want to listen to the sound of hope shattering. All she wanted was what any other citizen under Celestias ruler ship wanted: to save their princess. “Keep strong, listen to what Celestia has to say.”

Twilight looked towards the alicorn, wanting to hear the true reason for her summoning. A way to save her? Last words? Whatever it was, this may have been the most important moment of her life so far.

“My student...” The deity tried to smile, but it was vague and hardly noticeable, she was in too much pain. Her voice was stronger than before, but still croaking painfully.

“Princess Celestia.” Those were the only words she could urge to say from the shock. Tears were soaking the fur coat below her eyes, steadily creeping down her cheeks.

“I don't have much time... I need your help to survive...”

Twilight listened patiently. Her eyes were misty and wide open, paying maximum attention to her master.

“I've lived for so long now. I've done so much. I've done good, but I've also done bad... I've created life, but I've also caused death... Luna knows that well, but there are some who know better. The attacker last night, I was familiar with. He comes from a family known as the Defiers, they used to be good friends of mine many years ago... Until they became corrupt. They demanded power for themselves which wouldn't be fair for me to grant, so I had to do what was necessary before they formed their uprising.”

She stopped, leaving the story unfinished. Twilight was left shuddering for the end, but dreading wherever this story could go, and what relevance it had to what was happening. “What happened?”

“Maybe you should-” The pegasus tried to speak, but his sentence was cut short by the princess continuing.

“I set a trap in the home of the Defiers... A disgusting trap... It was not fair of me to cast judgement so soon... The trap burned most of them, I knew one escaped with lasting wounds. The other, Cawthrux, was the one I met last night... I never spoke with him much, he was well atoned with the shadows and that is what drew me away from trusting him. I was surprised to see it was him who escaped, with the ability of the others I was in doubt that he would be the one to survive. I guess I saw last night his true skill.”

Silence came. Silence passed. Celestia knew this story grew depressing, mainly for herself, but they both knew this story matched a very obscure legend involving similar characters.

“Twilight Sparkle. I need you to find the cure for me. The Tears of Plaud the Unbound.”

“What are they? Where do I find them?” She asked with some obvious anticipation in her voice. Anything, it didn't matter what, she would save her.

“That is the difficult part. I know where you can find them. I don't want to put you in that kind of danger though. It's a long journey, one which I do not want to send you on.”

“Anywhere. I don't care where you want to send me if it means I can save your life.”

“Then I have a request. I want you to travel to Mount Fausmor, beyond Direlake Forest. The remains of Plaud the Unbound sit at the top, a single drop will be enough to heal me... But if you do not wish to go then I will not be disappointed. It's not a task which anypony should ever have to endure.”

Give up? Not a chance. Sparkle would not give up. If there was a chance it was a chance worth taking, regardless of the risks. She had a time limit too, this was going to test her ability to the absolute toughest. But nothing else mattered, her teacher was in danger. That was the mare who was needed throughout all of Equestria. Even if there was a pony to take her place, the world would never be the same.