Archmage: Beyond the Crystal Mirror - “Deity”

Tags: Tragedy, Dark

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Twilight had to remind herself to breathe. The first step through the mirror was both disorienting and frightening. She thought there had been a mistake made somewhere. That Luna had sent her somewhere else. But when she looked at the landscape a second time, she realized she was in Equestria.

If one could call it that anymore.

The ground beneath her hooves was scorched black. Jet-black. To the point Twilight could have sworn she was walking on a sea of ink. What remained of the vegetation was brittle and shuddered in the wind, the thousands of charred husks making a terrible, bone-charm like sound in the stiff breeze. She could smell the sulfur in the air. It permeated her senses, clinging to the back of her throat like a stray popcorn kernel. She nearly gagged on it. After steeling herself, Twilight took the first few steps forward into this new and dark world. She remembered, however, and withdrew the stake and red scarf from her saddlebags. Using magic to drive it into the ground next to the spot she had appeared, Twilight returned her attention to the new world.

She couldn’t feel the wind that ruffled the charred grass, nor could she feel the husk-like remains of the vegetation beneath her hooves. But she could smell the destruction around her; the sickening stench of a dying world. What madness was this? What had happened here? Twilight shuddered at the thought of what had occurred to cause such widespread destruction. She walked for a long ways, knowing she would have about a week or so to spend here. The entire time, nothing changed, and nothing was different. It was the same charcoal-black landscape from horizon to horizon, broken only by the vaguely familiar shape of the mountains. Canterlot should have been around here someplace. But as Twilight searched the peaks, she found no trace of her home. It was almost as if Canterlot had been wiped from the face of Equestria.

What was more disconcerting than the blackened grass and lack of any other sort of vegetation, though, was the sky. Twilight looked up at the dull grey cloud cover, frowning intently. From horizon to horizon, the entire atmosphere was overcast. The clouds, if she could call them that, weren’t even pearly-grey. They were dark and leaden, shot through with veins of even darker almost-black colors. The entire world, it seemed, was cast in this terrible, depressing pall. Twilight didn’t want to be here anymore, and she had just arrived. But there were questions that had to be answered. First and foremost among them being: Was this really what would have become of Equestria if she had chosen to become a Goddess?

Twilight walked for a very, very long time. She left the vaguely familiar mountains around Canterlot, intent on reaching where Ponyville should have been. As she entered the hills surrounding the quaint farm town, she saw no sign of anypony. No homes, no farms, no pastures or orchards or even the railroad. The entire world had been wiped almost completely clean, leaving nothing in its stead but ashes and the burnt husks of fields of grass. There weren’t even any trees.

She came upon it by accident. Her hoof passed through something solid, hidden in a larger stand of charred grass. The act of passing through a solid object was shocking in and of itself. She felt as if her hoof had fallen asleep, much like it did if she stood up too suddenly from sitting down for a long time. But the effect was so sudden it was almost painful. She gasped and jumped back, shaking the sensation out of her leg. “What in the…”

Upon closer inspection, Twilight saw the dark edge of something that appeared to be a brick jutting out of the ground. She leaned in, squinting at it. It was, most definitely, a charred and burnt brick. She looked around the landscape once more and realized she was standing where the outskirts of Ponyville began. This brick was all that was left of Pinkie Pie’s bakery. The closer she looked at the ground, the more she realized. The remains of all of Ponyville lay scattered throughout the dark, charred grass. What had once been happy and bright homes were now nothing more than a scattered collection of burnt bricks and charred wood. None of it stood taller than six inches out of the ground, and none of it was distinguishable from the rest of the black and ashen grass.

“Wiped from the face of Equestria. By the heavens, nothing is left.” Twilight breathed. “It’s all gone… Ponyville, Canterlot… None of it exists anymore.”

“She blames you, you know.” Twilight gasped at the sound of another’s voice. It was hauntingly familiar, but the tone and delivery was so sad and melancholy, she knew it couldn’t possibly be who she thought it was. As she spun about, though, her fear turned out to be true. There behind her stood a very depressed-looking Celestia. Her mane had been liberated from the vibrant and colorful hues of the mid-day sky, and instead hung limp and grey around her neck. She was thinner than Twilight remembered. And smaller. The solar princess was maybe the size Twilight was before she herself became a princess. Her wings looked ratty and shrunken, and her horn was broken. But she was still unmistakably Celestia; from her cutie mark to the irises of her eyes. Twilight took a tentative step forwards.

“C… Celestia?”

“I cannot hear you.” Celestia muttered in a sad, tired voice. “But I can see you. The memory is vivid. I remember the day you died. You looked so peaceful and calm. We suspected you would come back. The prophecy said you would. Well… It said you’d live forever.” Her bloodshot and sad eyes began to well with tears. “Why didn’t you live, Twilight? Why did you leave us?” Her head hung low, and she dripped tears into the charred, black earth. Twilight watched, unable to do a thing, unable to console this poor pony. She could only stand there and watch as Celestia, her mentor, her sister, sagged with the weight of this terrible tragedy on her shoulders.

It took her some time, but Celestia finally recovered. She sniffed and wiped a hoof over her eyes, frowning at Twilight. “I know you cannot speak, or if you can, I can’t hear you. But you can hear me. Do you want me to tell you what happened? Why our world looks like this?”

“Yes.” Twilight choked, her throat tight with apprehension. She almost didn’t want to. The story of how this place came to be the way it was almost certainly wasn’t a good one. Still, she needed to know what happened here. She needed to know why the world was burnt away, why there were no more trees, or ponies, or anything. Celestia was still frowning at her. Twilight remembered she couldn’t be heard, so she nodded her head and sat down. Celestia sighed and mirrored her, though the act of sitting obviously pained her. Twilight realized, then. Celestia looked old. Very, very old.

“The day you died, Banner was named Archmage. Nopony celebrated. There were no cheers. We didn’t even make an announcement. Luna was utterly distraught. No one could console her. She locked herself away in the chamber we held your body, locking herself in behind barriers and shields. I tried to reach her, but when Luna wants to be alone, there isn’t much I can do. So I went at it alone. I handled the problems of Equestria, guiding Banner as best I could. But I knew I would fail him. In the end, I failed everypony…” Celestia’s frown intensified. Her eyes glazed over as she recalled something that had happened long, long ago.

“It appeared in the sky a week after you were sent to the stars. Your constellation never came out, by the way. That was the first sign… We were shaken by it, but the night had been flawed and imperfect ever since your passing anyways… But this. This was something else entirely.” Celestia visibly shuddered with the memory of what had happened. Twilight leaned in, silently urging her to continue. “It started small, but began to grow more and more. I had our astronomers look at it, but they couldn’t define it. It was almost as if there was just a void in the sky. A large, black gap in the space and time of the world. And it was growing. More and more each day.

“I finally managed to rouse Luna. And upon seeing it, she placed it almost immediately. She knew what it was, and when she spoke it, I realized something myself. The day had been lacking of late. The sun hung further away from Equestria. Its light is muted. Almost as if it were sick, or apprehensive. Like it didn’t want to be there anymore. And Luna said she felt the same thing about the moon, that it had shrunken away from Equestria. That would explain why I felt so weak at the time, too…” Celestia’s drawn expression became even more stressed. “But this blackness wasn’t about the sun or the moon. It was the fallout of your prophecy.”

“You know a magical imbalance occurs when a prophecy fails. Well, you died. We don’t know how, or why, but you died. And as such, the prophecy failed. This void, this blackness… It was the void left in the world when your prophetic influence left Equestria. Instead of being violent and quick, like many are, this was slow, and very deliberate. Luna and I watched as it grew larger and larger, so large in fact, that it touched the ground. And where it touched, it left this.” Celestia kicked a hoof through the brittle grass, sending up another bone-chilling, rattling sound that Twilight was coming to despise.

“It spread, far and wide. Everypony that was touched by it disappeared. Just gone. In the blink of an eye. Luna and I were okay touching it, but if we tried to cast any spells on it…” Celestia gestured to her horn. “You can imagine. It’s an excruciating process, particularly for a princess. To have your magic taken from you. To have it ripped away.” Celestia spat the word, several tears dripping from her eyes. “I was powerless. I am powerless. So I get to watch as she tortures herself. I get to watch as she dances to and fro trying to find a cure, or a way out, or something. Something to turn back the tides of time, and restore what we’ve lost. All the while, she gloats and boasts. Saying she told me so.” Celestia hung her head further. In the silence that fell, Twilight heard something. Something other than the bone-rattling sound of the charred grass around them. It was flapping. Like wings.

“She’s coming. She can sense you. Just like I did. You don’t belong in this world, Twilight. You don’t need to see the devastation that we’ve subjected ourselves to. If I were you, I’d run away, go back to where you came from. Don’t return here. Don’t ever come back to this wretched, miserable place.” Celestia looked up at her then, eyes brimming with tears. And unless Twilight was mistaken, hatred. “Leave. Now.”

Just then, Twilight turned her attention to the sky. Through the leaden grey cloud cover came a figure. Winged and darker than the skies it came from, the beast descended from the clouds, falling fast. Twilight watched, awestruck, as whatever this creature was fell faster and faster still. It curved its path, turning towards the two of them. She figured even Celestia’s dull coat stood out like a sore thumb on the bleak and desolate landscape. Twilight winced as the thing landed before them, raising its head high and proud.

She knew what this was.

No, she knew who this was.

“Luna.”

“Princess.” Luna’s voice reverberated with the power of the night. Twilight shuddered at the feel. Only this wasn’t Luna standing before her. This wasn’t the warm and loving, mysterious sister she had loved in the other world. She was Nightmare Moon; night incarnate. If Twilight had a corporeal form, she just might have been afraid for her life. There was an aura of energy radiating outwards from her, a palpable feel of magic and power in the air. When that power washed over Celestia, the solar princess winced and began to cry harder. Twilight realized that, without her horn to guide her own magical energy, Celestia was being hurt by the mere presence of Nightmare Moon. It had to have been excruciating. Agonizing, even. Nightmare Moon spoke, her voice deep and filled with mysterious energy.

“Are you some shade conjured by my sister, or a visitor from another plane?”

Twilight rose her head to look at Nightmare Moon fully. She wore the inky-black hoof-cuffs and crown that Twilight remembered so well, but her coat was a dark, ashen grey, only slightly lighter than the blackened ground around them and marginally lighter than the dark, leaden sky. The way the hoof-cuffs covered her legs, she seemed to almost melt into the landscape. Where Celestia’s mere presence seemed to fight her surroundings, Luna appeared to have adapted to it. She could stand on the horizon and be almost completely invisible. Twilight reminded herself she had no connection to this world; that it wasn’t real at all. She found solace in that fact. That she had a real home to return to. That gave her courage. She raised her head to look straight into Luna’s serpentine eyes.

“I come from a different world.”

“Good, you can hear me, not like the last one.”

Twilight froze.

“Last one?” She managed to choke.

“Oh yes, Twilight. You’re not the first memory come to haunt us.” Nightmare Moon grimaced at her, her hooves padding through the husks of grass in a slow circle around the alicorn princess. “I doubt you’ll be the last, either. You see, my sister was foolish enough to try and fight the coming tide of darkness. I welcomed it. After all, I’m more at home in the dark. Where you left me.” Twilight didn’t turn her head to follow the lunar princess, or at least, what remained of her. Luna continued to speak, even as she walked a circle around her.

“When you passed, both Celestia and I expected you to return. After all, the prophecy said you would. That you’d live forever, just like us. Instead, we get this. Not that I’m complaining, mind you…” Luna emerged into Twilight’s view once more, but disappeared at the other edge as she continued her circular pacing. “I accepted our new fate. Welcomed it, even. Celestia tried to fight it, and look at what good that did her.” Twilight looked at Celestia once more. Truthfully enough, Celestia looked more like a regular pony than she did a princess. With her shattered horn and pitiful wings, she might have even passed for an earth pony at a distance. Luna, on the other hand, looked like something else entirely. She wasn’t a princess anymore, she was a monster. Twilight swallowed as Luna continued speaking.

“I held out hope for you, Twilight. That maybe, just maybe, you might return to us one day. That you would set things right.” Luna chuckled. “I have that hope up six millennia ago… Instead, I tried to take matters into my own hooves. To right the wrong that you blighted the world with. You see, the last visitor opened my eyes, Twilight. She let me see things I never knew possible.” Luna grinned at Twilight. She couldn’t see it, but she could feel it, burning into the back of her neck. “Other worlds, Twilight. Parallel dimensions where things never went wrong. Where you and I lived a full, happy life. I want those worlds, Twilight. I want to live in them, to see my sister smile again, to feel the blessed moonlight on my coat… Is that too much to ask of you? Of the gods?” Luna emerged into Twilight’s sight again. Her serpentine eyes brimmed with tears. She was crying.

“I just want to have a home again, Twilight. I want to feel your embrace again, to touch you, to kiss you and hold you and listen to you tell me everything will be okay again. Oh, by the moon, I want to make love again, Twilight! To know you’re alive and well and here, in my hooves, where I can hold you forever.” She sobbed then, the tears breaking free to trace long lines down her face. Luna sobbed for a few long moments. Twilight almost felt sympathy for her, but one small, nagging doubt kept pestering her. She spoke quietly.

“What happened to the other visitor? The other Twilight?”

“Oh,” Luna sniffed. ”Her. Well, let’s just say there’s a reason I can speak with you, Twilight.” Luna straightened up and wiped a hoof over her eyes. Gone was the sadness, replaced instead with a look Twilight was completely unfamiliar with, at least on Luna’s face.

Malice.

“It turns out, we may not be able to touch you, or some of us might not even be able to hear you speak, but magic works just fine against one another. You can cast spells on us, and we can cast spells on you. See?” Luna lifted her torso up. Twilight saw a long, pale scar on her chest, previously hidden from sight. “Your counterpart was skilled. She didn’t have wings like you, though… Which makes me wonder…” Luna grinned at her again. This grin was pure evil. Twilight felt the hackles raise along her spine. “If obliterating that shade will grant me the ability to speak and touch you, what will destroying you do?” Luna rose to all four hooves. Both Celestia and Twilight shared a look of shock and panic.

“Maybe, Twilight… Just maybe…” Luna’s horn began to glow with a dark, ominous aura.

“Luna…”

“I can go home.”

She barely reacted. The first bolt of dark energy sliced through the air, whistling as it passed through the finest layer of Twilight’s coat. The razor-thin line would have cut her in half if she hadn’t moved. Using her wings to propel her forward, Twilight took off. More magic screamed after her, and she followed her instinct.

Shadow bolts, indirect, requires aim and precision, weave left and right to throw her off. Twilight’s hooves dug into the earth, but didn’t leave any prints. But Luna’s magic did. Long rivulets of black soil were torn up to her left and right as she dodged. She had to jump over the ruts left behind when she weaved back towards the direction she had gone. Still, Luna fired projectile after projectile at her.

Vaguely, Twilight remembered a memory long, long ago… Hundreds of years past. Of a lesson in humility and unstoppable power. Instead of the Canterlot gardens, however, she was running through the scorched ruins of Ponyville. And instead of a kind and benevolent mentor, she was being assaulted by a very deadly and serious Luna.

Oh how the times change.

Huffing, Twilight decided it was time to test out Luna’s demented hypothesis. She couldn’t touch or interact with the world around her, but her magic could. With a grunt, her horn became a blaze of lavender light, and she lifted a massive wall of earth from the ground. Luna’s spells crashed into the earth, cutting partially into it, but not penetrating it. Twilight took refuge behind her earthen barrier, to catch her breath. Her pack was weighing her down, so she shrugged out of it and hollowed out a small hole to deposit her supplies in. She was exhausted from the long hike to Ponyville from wherever it was she had come into the world at, and after running from Luna, she felt even more fatigued.

But she couldn’t die here. Luna was waiting for her. Six days left until the portal opened. Six days until she could leave this world and go home.

When Twilight bounded around the barrier, her horn was already glowing.

“Turning the offensive, Twilight?!” Luna roared at her. Twilight grimaced and poured the heat on, galloping faster towards her lover. Her mentor. Luna just cackled and summoned a black veil around her. Twilight focused her mind and began casting the necessary spell.

The pillar of light came as if from the heavens. The dirty grey clouds parted as she cast the smite spell on the ground where Luna stood. The veil burned away like cobwebs before flame. Luna screamed and writhed in the light, cursing as she, too, was burned.

“What did you do to me?!” Luna screamed, stumbling out of the pillar of light. Twilight stood in front of her, lathered in sweat, panting and crying.

“I’m not like the other Twilight you met, Luna.” Twilight grunted, slowly walking towards the nightmare-esque Luna laying on the ground. Her coat was burned away, leaving only charred flesh and pink, mottled skin behind. She had survived the onslaught, albeit barely. Twilight saw her horn had been shattered. She didn’t have to fear the imposter’s magic anymore. “Where I come from, I’ve studied magic to the extent that even your counterparts have come to respect my power. I am considered their equal in many aspects. But I surpass them in this one.” Twilight closed the distance between her and Luna, looming over the shade of her lover with a dangerous expression. “I am the most powerful being in Equestria. And you… You are but a shadow of my Luna. Your moon is veiled, and the night’s presence here is weak. You are weak, Luna. Almost as weak as Celestia.”

“T-twilight, please…” Luna whimpered. “I-I just want to go home-“

“This is your home, Luna.” Twilight shot back. “Your plane of existence. It’s dismal, and terrible, and everypony you know and love is dead. But it’s your home. I cannot bring you back with me, nor can I fix what has been done here.” Twilight felt the tears build up in her eyes. She knew what had to be done. Celestia had been wrong. The Celestia in her world. Luna, as well. Twilight could interact with these worlds. She could cast spells within them. And with some experimentation, she might even be able to feel the black, charred ground beneath her hooves.

Celestia had warned her against interacting with copies of them. But this was pathetic. Seeing Luna and Celestia like this hurt more than Twilight could ever hope to express. She had to do something. She had to…

She had to end it.

“I can’t fix your world or bring you to a new home.” Twilight nearly whispered as her horn began to glow. A brilliant bolt of lavender energy materialized before her, humming with power. She looked up at Luna, tears spilling from her eyes. The energy began to get thinner, more and more dense. It hissed malevolently. Soon, Twilight’s magic had formed itself into a sword, razor-thin and powerful. Luna’s eyes went wide. Even Celestia was shocked.

“But I can bring you peace.”

“TWI-“

The blade screamed through the air, cutting off more than Luna’s words.

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“Welcome back, Twili- oh.” Luna stopped mid-sentence. Twilight looked up at her with red, bloodshot eyes. Her coat was ruddy with the black ash from the charred world. Her tears had cut long streaks through the blackness on her face. Twilight looked like and felt like a complete mess.

“Luna-“ She croaked. Her voice was gone from long hours of crying. “Kiss me. Please.”

“O-of course.” Luna set her book aside; she was barely a page into it- before stepping into Twilight’s embrace. They kissed then, a sweet and simple motion. They had done it hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of times before. But it was more sweet and meaningful than any they had ever shared before.

This. Twilight thought to herself. This is real. This is the reality. This is what’s true. Not that other world. Not that Luna. Not that Celestia. This. This right here.

“What happened?” Luna asked once the kiss was over. “What was that world like?”

“Please,” Twilight shook her head, fresh tears spilling from her eyes. “Please don’t ever ask me to tell you that story. Luna, I will raise the sun and moon for a millennium… I’d fly around the world a hundred times… I’d do anything you ask of me, but please… Don’t ask me to ever tell you that story.”

“Twilight.” Luna lifted her chin, and even she was crying. Her Luna. Beautiful and serene. Understanding. “Don’t worry. I won’t ever ask you about it again.”

“And please,” Twilight grasped at Luna. “Please don’t ever send me back there.”

“I won’t.

”Promise me.”

“Twilight, I promise.” Luna didn’t shy away or break Twilight’s hold on her. If anything, she pressed closer. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” Luna gingerly led Twilight out of the chamber, back up into the castle. Twilight looked over her shoulder at the mirror, its surface clear and serene.

And nothing had ever filled her with more terror.