Darkest Before Dawn - 4

>Dash's cooking is honestly leagues better than you would've guessed before.

>For a minute there, sitting at the table, happily munching away on a fairly tasty meal while conversing with her, you forget how awful things have become.

>You're... content.

 

>And then the door opens, and a haggard looking Twilight stumbles in.

>"Anon!  You're up!  That's... that's great!"

 

>"You uh, you alright there?"

 

>She wobbles a little, then steadies herself.

>"Yeah, I'm fine.  More importantly, how are YOU?"

 

>You rub at one of your wingy bits.

>"Been better, been worse."

 

>"Well, once you're feeling ship-shape, I've got a potential job for you.  I'm sure you understand that we need to do something before... well, before it's too late."

 

>"I think I've got the gist of it."

 

>She nods.

>"Good.  I really just came by to see if you'd be ready to talk soon - not now.  I need to tend to Spike and get some sleep.  You're not planning on going anywhere, are you?"

 

>Silence.

 

>"Heh... right.  Okay then.  Well, there are two approaches we can take, one of which needs your cooperation and... well, I've only done it once before, so safety's not guaranteed.  I'll tell you all about it and answer whatever questions you have when I come back."

 

>"Sure."

 

>She smiles, then steps out the door.

 

>You turn to Dash and frown.

>"Tend to Spike?"

 

>She winces.

>"Yeah, I don't really know what's gone on with him, but he's in some sorta freaky magical coma."

 

>"So is he just in bed back at the library?"

 

>"There... is no more library."

 

>Wait, what?

>"Wait, what?"

 

>"Anon, why do you think you're at Flut... Why do you think you're here instead of your place?  A lot of Ponyville is gone."

 

>"What do you mean, gone?"

 

>"I mean what I said.  Gone.  Not there anymore.  Twilight and Spike are in some magically fortified cave where she can keep some experiments and books and junk safely, and Pinkie Pie and Rarity are staying with Applejack."

 

>"We're in some pretty deep shit, huh?"

 

>"...Yeah."

>She breaks eye contact and fidgets a little.

>"So, no messin' around, do you really think my cooking is alright?"

 

>You chuckle.

>"Definitely.  I mean, you're no five-star chef, but I expected you to burn water."

 

>"That's good.  Well, I guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing there, then.  And whenever you feel ready, I can start coaching you on the basics of flight."

 

>You raise an eyebrow.

>"Awful attentive, when you could be helping out more elsewhere."

 

>She sighs.

>"I... was talking to Jennifer.  A little before the disaster."

 

>You tilt your head, not quite following.

 

>"You... you're going through a lot, aren't you?  I mean the whole life-upheaval thing-"

 

>"As if any of you have it any better!"

 

>"Yeah, but then you had your NEW life ripped apart, changes to your body that you don't understand... and I can't say for sure exactly what you felt for Jennifer after all this time, but I darn well know it wasn't nothing.  She definitely didn't feel nothing for you.  She was important to your life, even if only for the time you spent together in the past, and you don't just lose someone like that and walk it off."

 

>"I'll be fine!  Really!  I appreciate you nursing me back to health, but I'm alright now and I'm sure you're needed more elsewhere."

 

>She shakes her head.

>"I'm really not."

 

>"I'm sure that-"

 

>"You don't get anything, do you?"

 

>"...Apparently not."

 

>"It doesn't matter.  I get what I deserve, and I'm gonna do my best to make sure you do, too."

 

>You scratch your head.

 

>"Just let me know when you're hungry or when you need something.  Whenever I head out, I should be back in an hour at most."

 

>"I need something now."

 

>Her ears perk up.

>"Yeah?"

 

>You scowl.

>"I need to know what's going ON with you.  You're... off."

 

>"Why wouldn't I be?" she huffs.  "I've had plenty of crap happen to me recently."

 

>"Applejack is still running the farm.  Twilight's still trying to solve problems.  What are YOU doing?"

 

>"Being a selfish idiot who's apparently a masochist, to boot," she spits, rolling her eyes.

 

>"Why are you being so freakin' CRYPTIC?"

 

>She flaps off the ground and throws her front hooves in the air.

>"Because I can't afford not to be, okay?!  I made a really stupid mistake that had a huge cost, and I'm just doing what I can to shift that cost to myself since I'M the one responsible."

 

>"No no no, you don't get to do this.  You don't pretend everything's your fault when NOTHING is.  Even if you were there, we don't know what happened and we have no way of knowing if you could've helped or if you would've died, too!"

 

>"Yeah, well maybe I couldn't have saved the world, but it would've been nice if I hadn't doomed Jennifer!" she yells.

 

>You stop and run a hand over your forehead and down your face.

>"And how do you think you did that, huh?  What exactly did you say to her that lowered her magic anti-doomsday forcefield?"

 

>"Don't be stupid, Anon."

 

>"Well what am I supposed to take away from that?  You did... something, that somehow condemned her to a fate she seemed to already be heading for?"

 

>"No, I PUT her on that path.  She would've gotten away!  She... would've gotten more than that.  So would you!  I ruined everything by being an idiot, okay?  Not only did I not get what I wanted, but I took away your chance to be happy.  And hers."

 

>You close your eyes and exhale through your nose.

>"I'm still not following.  What exactly did you DO?"

 

>Dash groans and tugs downward on her mane.

>"I'd tell you if I could, but I'm not gonna break ANOTHER promise.  I owe her that."

 

>Why can't anything be simple?

 

 

>Next... day?  No real days anymore...

>You're lying down on the couch frowning at the ceiling.

>Dash is out, but should be back any minute.

>Twilight barges in without warning, startling you and making you jump off, falling to the floor.

 

>"Okay Anon, there's not a lot of time to waste.  I want to get right into plan A and plan B, so you can decide whether or not you want to risk yourself, but I should probably give you a chance to ask me a few things.  Go."

 

>Uh... shit, what did you need to know?

>Think...

>You scramble to a sitting position.  Gogogo!

>"Sun.  Moon.  Etc.  Gone?"

 

>"Affirmative."

 

>You shake your head.

>"No, like, what KIND of gone?  Are they missing?  Destroyed?  Inactive?"

 

>"Missing to the best of our knowledge.  I've tried reaching out for them with my magic, but I found nothing.  That doesn't necessarily mean they're not there, though.  I might just not be powerful enough to reach that far."

 

>That's... good?  You're not sure.

>"Ponyville.  Gone?"

 

>She looks away.

>"Destroyed, mostly."

 

>"Survival?"

 

>"We're scraping by with what we can grow from my artificial sunlight, but it won't matter once the temperature drops low enough.  There's plenty to burn to keep the area warm for now, but that's not a permanent solution.  Lots of ponies have resigned themselves to death, spending what remaining time they can with loved ones."

 

>"Spike?"

 

>"I'm not totally sure.  The second letter I tried to send to Celestia disappeared, and then he blanked.  He's breathing, but not responsive even though nothing seems to be wrong.  Just a slightly elevated level of magic energy around him."

 

>You don't really even CARE about much else.  Immediate survival is under control, long term, everything's fucked.

>"I think I'm good."

 

>She smiles.

>"Excellent.  Basic idea of plan A: we send a projection of you to the moment in space-time when everything went wrong.  You gather information, and we work with that.  It's... not the most brilliant idea ever, but it's almost all we've got."

 

>"So what's the problem?"

 

>"The PROBLEM is that we can't actually change anything.  There's too much localized energy for me to actually send anyp0ny back in time to that point, so we have to resort to information gathering only, and the only thing we can really do is project the consciousness of someone who was already there."

>She breathes in.

>"Also... if the link between your projection and your body is severed, you'd be lost."

 

>You wince.

>"Ah.  What's plan B, then?"

 

>"It's already sortof underway, and it's the longest shot in Equestrian history.  If my math is right, we're already behind schedule as is."

>She clears her throat.

>"We instruct every living unicorn to ration their magic use, storing as much as possible per day into special canisters.  We wait until it's about as cold as we can take, and then I unleash all that magic to create a new sun."

 

>Your eyes get huge before something bothers you.

>"Wait wait, wait a minute.  Why can't we do both?  Higher odds that way, right?"

 

>"No, I'm afraid not.  I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'd be the primary driving force for that, and if I project you back in time, I'll be using up a lot of energy.  If we want to create A NEW STAR, we're going to need every ounce of power we can possibly muster."

 

>You sit and think for a moment.

>"So either we risk my life to possibly get information to come up with a better plan, or we shut off all other options to gamble on something that has totally awful odds?"

 

>A grim frown weighs her head down.

>"Yeah."

 

>You stare solidly out the window, then look back to Twilight.

>"Whatever you think has a better chance.  I'm willing to do whatever I need to."

 

>"You understand that whatever happened was dangerous, and if you're not careful, you're done, right?"

 

>You nod.

 

>Dash glares at you from the door.

>"How stupid ARE you?"

 

>Twilight turns around.

>"Rainbow how much of the plan did you even hear?  He's-"

 

>"I heard plenty, and you're an idiot too!" she snaps.

>"Not only do you not know if you'd even learn anything at all, but we have no idea whether or not anything you could figure out would help!  Maybe there's no way to 'fix' any of this, huh?  What then?  Then you've wasted your chance to do something useful to... to LEARN some crap!"

 

>"Rainbow, if we don't-"

 

>"No!  Shut up!  Maybe you wouldn't guess this, but I know all about sitting and trying to think or learn my way out of a situation.  And do you know what I figured out?  Do you know what I learned - the hard way?  That that's STUPID.  You're going to miss your chance to make a difference, and in the process everything's gonna get even more screwed up than it already was!  There's a time for thinking, and there's a time for action.  But thinking takes TIME and the clock is ticking, Twilight!  Don't be an idiot.  Don't be a coward.  Don't overthink this.  Just DO it.  Make a new sun.  You're the most overpowered unicorn that's ever lived, and if ANY pony can do it, it'd be you."

 

>Huh.

>You wonder where the hell THAT came from.

>You also wonder if she's right.