Students of Heaven
31-40
 
Post 31
 
>Midnight came.
>My dear sister wrought her magic, and I kept her safe.
>Dawn, and Princess Cadance asks to replace one of us.
>"I have never needed sleep" I tell her, "and Luna has been an Alicorn far longer than you."
>"Enjoyable as it may be, I doubt she requires it any longer."
>Reluctantly, Cadance had acquiesced, and we continued our vigil.
>Noon, but you wouldn't know it by my sun.
>Here the shadows are dark, and the waters deep,
>but my gaze penetrates it all:
>I see *things* lurking around us:
>Nightmares oozed, putrid and malevolent from cracks in reality.
>Products of evolution and feral magic also slink and crawl.
>None of these are creatures born of my work, but still they know me.
>And they dare not approach.
>Hours pass in uneventful, if oppressive silence.
>I glance at my sister, her eyes open, but unseeing, and still as a frozen lake.
>Exactly as she has been since Cadance left us.
>The steady light from her horn is the only clue that she is more than a statue,
>or a corpse,
>and even that is swallowed by the hungry gloom.
>I feel it then,
>a warm glow of swelling empathy: kindness!
>Luna's eyes bat furiously as she pulls herself from her trance.
>Our gazes meet for an instant, then wordlessly, we look about,
>scanning frantically for what we know is coming.
>There! across the swamp, a purple light among the vine-cowed trunks,
>fantastically bright in the darkness.
>Then another, and another, each following as quickly as thought.
>As one they open in to gates, and Luna rushes toward them.
 
 
Post 32
 
>Something leaps through from the swamp, and immediately returns
>pursued by a small, though terribly loud purple creature.
>They leap from puddle to tuft, and fall from one portal to another,
>their distorted shadows casting wildly about by the sunlight spilling from the portal's mouths.
>The glare doesn't hinder me, and I look through them.
>Bushes, grass, portions of a brick wall, 2 humans,
>and there, just as sister said!
>A pendant, floating around the neck of one, blazing in it's insane melange of sorceries.
>She's almost there, but already, I can see one of the humans wrapping her hands around it.
>Sister won't make it in time, and they are too small for her to fit through anyway.
>As quickly as only a goddess can, I reach through the portal with my mind.
>My senses stretch, searching for Twilight and...
>Sunset! Oh Sunset!
>My heart leaps as I brush her essence.
>Then, without warning, I see only the swamp again.
>The portals have closed, but that doesn't matter.
>I have already discovered what I needed to know.
>The amulet's base magic is undoubtably siren, but the one wearing it is only human.
>Worryingly, there were also the elements of Generosity, Laughter, and Kindness.
>But more than anything else, there was Sunset.
>"Sister, are you hurt? Why are you crying?"
>I blink in surprise as happy tears fall from my eyes.
>"No Luna, I found Sunset."
>She bobs her head and touches my nose with her own.
>"Tears of joy then?"
>"Mm-hmm." I nod.
>"And Twilight?"
>I shake my head
>"She's not there."
>"That is why you let them collapse?"
>"Yes. And Sunset... Sunset is close."
>Luna looks at me quietly in response, her thoughts nearly hidden behind her deep, placid eyes.
>"So she must solve this problem on her own."
>It wasn't a question.
>It didn't need to be.
>A few more tears fall, and I whisper so softly not even Luna can hear.
>"Good luck."
 
 
Post 33
 
>Twilight did not go through the mirror.
>We finally knew, but the question still remained:
>where was she?
>The query burned within us all,
>but with no more clues, there was precious little we could do.
>I was all but certain we weren't under attack,
>but it was conceivable the Yaks, or Changelings would learn something was amiss,
>and try to take whatever advantage they could.
>So, Cadance continued her organisation of Equestria's defence.
>Luna resumed her patrols,
>no longer calling the rifts, but instead, keeping my ponies safe from them.
>I returned to Twilight's castle, in hopes of finding something,
>*anything*, that would tell us what had become of her.
>I wandered about, inspecting each room, and every strange device I found.
>Twilight infused the place.
>Her scent, her magic, her very essence.
>The hard crystal walls glimmered and shone and reflected images of her from my mind.
>But my search was fruitless.
>Sister called me some time later,
>her disembodied voice breaking the silence of the dark halls to tell me of another portal.
>I felt it then, too; Honesty.
>But it didn't close.
>It grew, and grew, and I knew it would be trouble.
>Luna told me later that the swamp's carnivorous plants pushed their tendrils through the portals.
>Some of them even fit their entire heads through.
>But they were far from Ponyville, and no longer held the promise of Twilight's delivery.
>She was content to watch from afar until they winked out of existence,
>and I was content to let her.
>Moments after it closed, another opened.
>Loyalty, that time,
>and worse, it wasn't in the forest.
>But it too, was short-lived, and vanished.
>The siren-magic was getting out of hoof, but I remained at my task;
>Luna and Cadance would protect my ponies, and I would find Twilight.
 
 
Post 34
 
>Eventually, I make my way to her grand hall.
>The roots of the Golden Oak hang in the gloom like some tentacled horror from the Immaterium.
>This isn't working, and I must not fail.
>I have to go deeper.
>I expand my awareness, and in an instant know everything there is to know about the palace.
>Every facet, every groove,
>every mote of dust and every atom.
>All the forces and energies binding them together,
>and each tiny measure of the time which stops everything from happening all at once.
>Here, far below the threshold at which I normally leave my senses:
>the lingering scent of an unfamilliar pony, and a faint frisson of magic.
>Time magic.
>I recoil in horrified surprise.
>Could their shared presence really be a coincidence?
>Unlikely, but of course,
>I wouldn't have believed that Twilight's and the portal's disappearances were either.
>Even though they seem to be just that, there's more here.
>Fear. Twilight's fear,
>and the other pony's scent stinks of anger.
>For the thousandth time, I cast my sight across Ponyville,
>but there were none I didn't recognize.
>I search more broadly, sending my awareness down roads and rivers,
>Through woods, fields, and buildings.
>All throughout my land I search,
>but find not a trace of Twilight, or this other pony.
>If Twilight entered a portal through time, this pony probably went with her.
>I loathe time magic, but Twilight must be found,
>and I'm the only one who can do it.
>So I gather my strength, ponder how best to use it,
>and beg the multiverse itself to give her back to me.
>That's when the screaming started.
 
 
Post 35
 
>Normally, the walls and distance between us would have prevented me from hearing them,
>but now, with my senses honed, they roared like thunderclaps,
>rising and falling with the tidal wave of siren-magic crashing over me.
>Another portal,
>spewing it's noxious stew of eldritch energies like debris in a flash flood.
>At once, my sight is beyond her castle, and I see it:
>yawning beneath a tree, right in front of the Town Hall!
>A half-dozen ponies are in panicked flight;
>it must have been them I heard.
>Beyond it's mouth floats a creature of terror:
>a human mare, bewinged, crowned with a single, malformed horn,
>whose mad glinting eyes are limned in cold fire.
>With easy waves of her hands, she tears hole after hole between our worlds;
>I can see Manehattan, Appeloosa, Rainbow Falls, and many others.
>Too many,
>and all of them echoing with the fearful screams of my ponies.
>This has to be stopped!
>Effortlessly, I begin casting all the spells I'll need at the same time:
>teleports to take me there,
>and to move any ponies or humans on the wrong sides of the gates;
>masking spells, so she won't sense my arrival;
>shielding spells to protect me from attack, in case she does;
>numerous closure spells, for the portals themselves;
>and a variety of attacks to annihilate her,
>before she can bring harm to any of my dear, dear ponies.
>Everything will happen in an instant,
>and it will be over before anypony knows anything is happening at all.
>Suddenly, my heart stops.
>Sunset Shimmer.
>Straight-backed and stern-faced,
>resolute, even beneath this monster's unhinged glare.
>"Twilight, you can't do this!"
 
 
Post 36
 
>An image flashes to my mind:
>Sunset, still a filly, in Canterlot with me.
>We'd spent the day learning about Starswirl's victory over the sirens.
>"Celestia," she'd asked, "how could he be so brave if he was afraid?"
>"Oh Sunset," I'd replied, "that's the only time you can be."
>Pride and love swell within me.
>Oh Sunset...
>Magic hums and races along my horn, fighting powerfully to manifest,
>but I hold it in check, and watch; can she really handle this?
>"Why not!?"
>"There's a whole other world right there, and it's just filled with magic!"
>A flash of light, an extended limb,
>and she gleefully blasts another hole through the multiverse.
>Twilight told me there were human versions of her friends over there.
>Uncannily exact right down to their names.
>Knowing that, it makes sense that "Twilight" would be the one to make the locket.
>And seeing what she's doing with it
>is a sobering reminder of what my Twilight almost became.
>Of what Sunset *did* become.
>Until Twilight pulled her back.
>"But you're destroying this world to get it!"
>"So what? There's more magic there, and I want to understand it all!"
>I see it coming before Sunset does.
>The glimmer in the monster's eyes, the curl of her lips,
>and a thousand and one other clues that tell me an attack is imminent.
>But at the last moment, Sunset begins to dodge, and I know she'll be ok.
>The beam slams to the ground,
>sending clumps of dirt erupting from the gaping maw of another portal.
 
 
Post 37
 
>Another one.
>This isn't the way!"
>The largest one yet.
>"I know you feel powerful right now. Like you can have everything you want."
>Another portal to crack my world, and endanger my ponies.
>"I've been where you are. I've made the same mistake you're making."
>I'm sorry Sunset.
>"I put on a crown and just like you, I was overwhelmed by the magic it contained."
>This is far too dangerous to let go on.
>"I thought it could get me everything I wanted."
>With images of Nightmare Moon's banishment flitting before my eyes,
>I tally the gates, take note of where each pony and human is,
>and begin to unleash my blitz.
>Dimly, I'm aware of my sister approaching.
>She must have come all the way from the Everfree.
>It doesn't matter now though, this will be over before she arrives.
>I loosen my hold, and feel the bottled energies begin to slip...
>and my heart stops again!
>Another power touches me.
>Familliar, potent and wholly unexpected.
>The Elements!
>Passing in brilliant, colored streamers to the locket held defiantly over Sunset's head.
>There's something else too.
>I focus my attention on her,
>and start as Something else stirs.
>Not in the locket, but inside her.
>Suddenly, I'm laughing like a mad-mare among Twilight's dark, vacant halls,
>This is it! It must be!
>Instantly, I drop the other spells, and teleport to my sister's side.
>She must not interfere!
 
 
>Post 38
 
>Here, above and away from Ponyville, I watch Sunset slam the locket to the ground.
>It's pilfered magic bursts from the fragments,
>then quickly reforms and engulfs her.
>A shiver runs down my spine, and I know Cadance is watching, too.
>Luna says something to her eidolon, but I don't care to hear.
>I'm laughing and whooping and gliding to the surface.
>Out of the corner of my eye, I see Cadance materialize beside her.
>They trail me to the ground, regarding me with uneasy concern.
>They must think I'm mad.
>"Watch!" I flick my nose to the portal. "Can't you feel it?"
>Probably not, but I can!
>The seed inside Sunset is cracking open!
>It's roots are sprouting and setting her soul aflame!
>Divine fire burning away her mortality and forging her anew!
>My Sunset! My Sunset!
>My student turned protege,
>my protege turned devil,
>my devil reformed, and now, at long, long last:
>my demi-goddess!
>And I can FEEL it all!
>My sister and niece gasp as the radiance fades,
>I simply lay down in the soft grass.
>Sunset raises her arms,
>and in a flash the portal is closed.
>Two by two, all over my planet, I sense the rifts slamming shut,
>until only one remains.
>Cadance and Luna settle to the ground beside me in silence.
>I know they're watching me intently,
>but I am focused elsewhere.
>Long ago, when I was put to the test,
>my wrath bested me, and my sister paid the price.
>Now, across the multiverse,
>Sunset faces her own crucible.
>With furious eyes and terrible power she lashes out,
>the human wailing desperately as she's overwhelmed.
>Overwhelmed, but not destroyed.
>Sunset's visage is hard, and the girl cowers,
>but I can already read her intention.
>Closer she floats, in a column of light.
>"Take my hand Twilight. Let me show you there's another way."
>"Just like someone once did for me."
>I watch her take Sunset's hand.
>I watch the light of friendship burn away her bitter callousness,
>and sigh euphorically as the last portal is seared closed.
 
 
Post 39
 
>My song birds are singing again.
>Their high melodies perfectly suit my mood;
>Twilight has returned!
>I can't keep the smile from my face as I set out a table in my gardens.
>With my own 2 hooves, no less.
>And horn.
>Cups and saucers here, sugar and cream there.
>Leaves of my newest prize strain steeping in the kettle,
>and an assortment of cakes and treats laid out just so.
>I'm partial to the banana cake myself, but there are plenty of others.
>Twilight is coming for a visit,
>and she's bringing a new friend with her.
>It turns out, the pony I'd smelled earlier, was just as guilty as I'd thought.
>Starlight Glimmer, quondam leader of Our Town, had hunted my student down,
>and tried to take her revenge by taking Twilight's past.
>Of course, the multiverse being what it is,
>such a plan would never have worked anyway.
>Nevertheless, incredibly, Princess Twilight not only thwarted her vengeance,
>but actually turned her in to a friend.
>Ostensibly.
>Although she'd used Starswirl's magic, instead of her own to create the time-bridge,
>it was still a remarkable feat,
>so I am VERY eager to meet her.
>I trust Twilight's judgement here, but I also trust my own experience,
>and would much prefer to have a pony who is both so gifted,
>and so recently adversarial, somewhere she can be watched.
>Just in case.
>But, my ulterior motive does not counter my putative one.
>I truly hope her penitence is genuine, and until I know otherwise,
>will treat her as a friend of Twilight's deserves to be treated.
>So I prance about the table, humming to myself,
>and match my voice to those of the birds.
 
 
Post 40
 
>I hear a pony approaching.
>I don't need to look to know who it is.
>"Aunt Celestia!"
>"Hello, Cadance" I smile. "Are you here for the party?"
>Her ears perk up as she surveys the table.
>"Party?"
>"Mm-hmm. For Twilight and her new friend. I've invited them to have tea with me."
>"Ummm..."
>She looks down and awkwardly scrapes the floor with her hoof.
>"Actually, I have a message from Twilight."
>"Oh?"
>"Yes...she asked me to wait a little before giving it to you, though."
>she pauses
>"I wouldn't have if I'd known you were having a party."
>"What was the message?"
>"Yeah, well...oh boy."
>"Cadance?"
>"She read the book you gave her. The one to communicate with Sunset?"
>"Mm-hmm."
>"You know how excitable she is."
>"Mm-hmm."
>"Well, she didn't let me explain what happened,"
>"and just rushed off through the portal as quickly as her hooves would take her."
>"Oh."
>Well, darn.
>"So she won't be coming. What about her friend?"
>"Twilight didn't mention her. I don't think she knows."
>I nod.
>"That sounds like something Twilight might do."
>Cadance nods, still looking sheepishly at the floor.
>"She does love pop quizes..."
>Her voice trails off and we look at each other for a few moments.
>"Well, my dear niece, there's no reason to let this all go to waste."
>She perks up again
>"Would you care to spend the afternoon with me?"
>"You bet!"
>Shortly after we begin, the sound of a door gently opening filters down to me.
>I ignore it, and the clip-clop of hooves on marble.
>"Twilight!" Cadance shouts through a mouthful of cake.
>"Hi Cadance, thanks for your help!"
>"Anything for my favorite filly."
>Twilight smiles somberly, then turns to me, her purple eyes heavy with import.
>"Princess Celestia, There's a vital matter we need to discuss."