Darkness Before Dawn (RP, not a jump-in)

[SuperNovaNightmare]

Wrath sat quietly off to the side, listening to the rest of the group talking amongst themselves. He didn't have much to say, for all the craziness going on outside wasn't to hard for him to handle, and he was slightly rubbing off on Nova, but he could still feel his fear.

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt seemed to shrink from Tian, a bit ashamed.

Sorry, I... I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that... if it was trying to hurt you, then you had no choice. Nothing more.

[moonlight7starshine]

stardust looked at nova for a few seconds before turning back to laserbolt now what should we do.

[bauccgia0]

I'm just as lost as you are, Star. I'm kind of just waiting to see what's gonna happen.

[moonlight7starshine]

but she said paranoidly what if they barge inside what are gonna do whats gonna happen were gonna stair at enternal darkness whats gonna happen were going to be forgoten were doomed! she said in quick scared voice (like twilight in the season premier)

[The Wandering Magus]

Rarity smiled.  "Don't you worry, darling.  We have four of the Elements of Harmony right here in this room!  If those confounded ruffians try anything, they shall have us to contend with.  I do see what you mean, Applejack; Pinkie does seem to have stashes of absolutely everything under Celestia's Sun wherever we go.  I suppose I shall content myself with a few scarves and a bit of food.  Would any of you like some more tea?"

"Ah'm fine, thanks, Rarity."

The white unicorn nodded, her horn glowing as several articles of clothing and supplies floated into a pair of exquisite saddlebags, custom-designed by her, of course.  It didn't do to keep guests waiting, after all!

"Anypony else?  I am ready when you are."

[Bravo 658]

Wavelength stood and donned his helmet.  "Good to go," he said, shrugging off anything and everything currently on hid mind by replacing them with the memory of Confetty's smile when she drew her first picture.  "Let's get it done."

[ArtVeigar]

"That's how I like it!" - She said with a smile, looking at the now determined Wavelenght. - "So let's waste no more time!" - Leading the way, Tian opened the door of the boutique and looked back to the others. - "So, where to? To the flyer prodigy, the Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash? Or to the fourth Alicorn Princess, the Element of Magic, Twilight Spakle?"

[SuperNovaNightmare]

Wrath got up and stood next to Tian. He flared up at the thought of being on the move again, and was eager to do so.

"Well, I'm as ready as I can be."

He looked into their mind, and saw Nova resting. Wrath decided to let him sleep. He needed it.

[The Wandering Magus]

Rarity nodded briskly, then opened the door with her magic.

And screamed.

An enormous golem, shaped like an evil knight, but made of stone with a diamond head, was standing right at the door of Carousel Boutique, grinning broadly.  Next to it was a mare made completely of silver, surrounded by silver apples which reflected hideous shapes that one could not help but know were truths, the most disgusting, inmost truths hidden deep within one's soul.

[glow=black,200]HELLO THERE, MY LOVE.  I HAVE RETURNED TO RECLAIM YOUR HEART, MY PRECIOUS, PRECIOUS MARE.[/glow]

"t-tom..." whispered Rarity in a small voice, eyes pinpricks as she backed up.  The glowing blue aura about the Boutique shrank dramatically, and the roof was all but torn away by Nothingness as Mirrorjack suddenly moved forward like quicksilver, sprouting horns and wings as her silver eyes looked directly into Applejack's, who swallowed and began sweating.

"[glow=blue,200]You've avoided me for far too long, Abigail Jacqueline the Fifth, of the Fifth line.  You only pretended to have 'gotten over' the Incident a year ago.  THAT is the Cruel Truth.[/glow]"

[moonlight7starshine]

stardust shook her head she shackly stood up she fires a bolt of magical energy towards the two creatures s-stay away f-from t-them.

[SuperNovaNightmare]

Wrath felt a mental link emanate from the silver mare. To were it was directed was beyond him, but he knew a link was made, for he has made mental links with Nova for as long as he could remember. He knew the only thing that holds these things at bay is Hope, and he had one crazy idea. He was going to throw his mind at the silver one, and with whatever Hope was around him, direct it into its mind in the hopes of driving it back.

"Well, here goes nothing..."

He thought, and began to make a link to the silver mare's mind.

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt stood, dumbfounded at Rarity and Applejack's automatic shutdown.

...I fail to see the connection. 'course, I can't really talk. All right! Might as well do something.

He pulled out a book, and began flipping through it. On the cover was written "Advanced Magic Spells, by Gossamer Wing & Tomb Stone".

Here we are... Weaken Enchanted Stone.

He began to mumble under his breath, and make symbols with his hoof. This wasn't traditional unicorn magic. This was old magic, used by Earth ponies before they knew of the Unicorns. His hoof began to glow, as a beam shot from it, striking the Rock Knight, hoping that the spell would do as it said, and turn it to mud. It was a long shot... But it could work.

[Lucien]

"GASP!" Bright Pen awoke. "What an awful dream. I'll need to write it down. Brother! Can you get me a quill?"

"Brother...? Ugh, where is he. BRIGHT SWORD!"

"He must have left. What time is it?" Bright Pen looked up at the clock, which had stopped at precisely 9:12. "Strange, that clock has never stopped before." He brought the clock down with his magic. "There's no sign of anything wrong. I guess I'll just mess with it later... First, I need to go find my brother." He charged his horn for a teleport all the way to Ponyville from his house in the Everfree. The teleportation only sent him about a yard away, yet Bright Pen was ridiculously fatigued from using up so much magic.

"Why did that just happen? Ugh, now I'm tired. I might as well just walk there..."

Bright Pen opened his window, and stared, jaw-dropped.

"What in the name of Disc- Am I still dreaming?" He asked himself this because the shadows from the trees were dancing in front of him. "Well, that's awfully strange. And why is the porch 5 feet further than it used to be, and why-"

He noticed that the thicket to get into the yard was gone. "WHY IS THE BARRIER GONE?!" Bright Pen ran out the door, and saw that the shadows were staring at him. "You guys just need to calm yourselves." The tree-shadows began moving closer to the stallion.

"Uhh.... What are you doing?" The trees moved closer.

"BRIGHT SWORD, LUCID, CECIL!!!!" He called to his friends in vain and began to run on the path out of the Everfree Forest.

[ArtVeigar]

Tian facehoofed herself at Stardust and Laserbolt's try to defeat the opponents. - "You cannot destroy a Concept with pure magic and brute force!" - She looked at Rarity and Applejack. They were taken by surprise, and she could easily see that their past deeds still weight on them. The Hope was fading and Fear was starting to invade. She needed to say something. - "The only way to defeat them is through will power and conviction! You must face them and show you've gotten over them! Face and accept the ugly truth even if it's painful! No one is perfect, and we all have done things we regret and went over traumatic situations. But don't let them hold you back, and instead, learn from them to grow stronger! Rarity! Applejack! Stare them in the eyes and show them your strength! Don't back off now! Your friends need you!"

[The Wandering Magus]

The bolt of magical energy passed right through Tom, and reflected off Mirrorjack's silver-like skin.  The stone-weakening spell fared no better; in fact, it seemed only to make them stronger.

Wrath connected with the alicorn-like creature...

No... this... he didn't want to acknowledge it... he didn't want to remember...

The Truth he had always avoided...

His inmost, darkest secrets...

The Cruelest of Truths.

Applejack cringed, shrinking back at the reflections.

If only you had stayed.  You gave up.  You were a coward.  You threw away your life, threw away everything chasing an outdated and futile life of physical labor and manual farming.  You, of all ponies, should know how futile it is.  Every year, just one harvest away from bankruptcy and abject poverty.  Scarcely able to even afford to send your little sister to school at all.

Unable even to afford to help your own grandmother.

And look at you.  LOOK at you.

Always failing.  Always second place.  Third place.

Last place.

You can't do anything on your own.

You know what could have happened.  The life you could have had.

She saw.  She saw herself, elegant, beautiful.  Gentle.  Generous.  She saw... she... no...

She could have had children... foals... a loving husband... she could have fixed up Grannie... she could have had TWENTY farms, a HUNDRED farms, sent Applebloom to a good school, given her a future, instead of worrying each day about whether she could afford to continue her education after graduating from elementary.

She was a coward.  She had been scared.  Scared of Manehattan.  Scared of learning, of changing.  She ran home like a little girl, unable to last even a single week in the city.  How much could she have gained, if she had stayed just one more week?

It's... it's not fair!  The truth, it's not fair!  Why did it have to be this way?

It's your fault.  It's ALL your fault, and you KNOW it.

You're not good enough.  You can't do anything on your own.  You couldn't even win first place at the rodeo, after an entire lifetime of training for it.  Couldn't win first place in ANYTHING.  Anything at all.

Then you ran away AGAIN.

She did.  She wasn't worthy... she didn't... she...

Rarity was on the verge of swooning as Tom grinned down at her.

"No... no, please... I... I don't want... no... diamonds, diamonds, DIAMONDS!!" she screamed hysterically, hyperventilating as the trauma came back in full force.  Two years of therapy with the doctors, two years, slowly pulling herself back together so she could even look at her own gems without going into shock.  Two years, reminding herself that they weren't alive, that they couldn't hurt her, that she was GENEROSITY, that it was... it was just... it was a spell, it had to be, there's no way that there's even a SLIVER of greed inside her, that consumed her with just one... little... push.

Two years, down the drain.

The aura of Hope collapsed inwards still more.  They could only walk around in an approximately hundred-foot circle now.

*****

Bright Pen was surrounded by Nothing, it was engulfing him, consuming him!  Run BACK, back to the house, back to your home!  Your name's BRIGHT Pen!  You of all ponies should know to bring a lantern!

The road beneath his very hooves was twisting, bending, winding, as though it was alive.  He was going to be completely, utterly lost in this forest, stalked by hideous hairless creatures with long, sharp claws, he was never going to be found again, who knows what's in those shadows...

An inequine screech echoed through the Everfree... triumphant, gleeful, almost.

Don't look... don't... don't look...

[moonlight7starshine]

stardust took one deep breathe and started running towards applejack and rarity. and tackling them out of the front view of the two things. she then finds her self infront of the creatures she does not dare look directly into them her ears were folded back her eyes snapped closed she was haunched over hoping that they don't hit her with anything.

[Bravo 658]

Wavelength looked through the door to see what had terrified everypony, and the mirror caught his eye as it pried into his mind and showed Wavelength himself.  All the truths about him... several failed experiments, slip-ups, the vast majority of GPARC personnel who knew more than he did, the way he constantly failed to say what he truly meant... and he simply cocked his head.  He had already shrugged off every one of those problems when they first arose... why remember them at a time like this?  Wavelength supposed it had something to do with the reflective being he was staring at.

He shook the thoughts off and looked away from the mirror, remembering that Rarity and Applejack were in distress.  He decided what they needed to see was a... "beacon of light"?  No, that would be a self-righteous term... they just needed to see a face that wasn't afraid.  Maybe they could mimic him.

Wavelength took his helmet off and confidently stepped between Applejack, Rarity, and their fears, standing steadfast--almost carefree--even as the nothingness outside gave another screech.  "Why are you afraid?" he asked in a soft, reassuring voice.  "Aren't you surrounded by loving friends?  Tell me what could possibly harm you."

[ArtVeigar]

Tian noticed what Wavelenght was trying to do and did the same, standing by his side. - "Yes. The past is something that stayed behind. Your friends are here now. If your past is holding you back, we will push you foward. Together, we shall learn from our mistakes, to become a better pony in the future." - Tian smiled and raised a hoof toward them, as if calling them to come with her to the uncertain, mysterious, but full of hope future.

****
Arty, in the other hoof, couldn't smile like Tian. The only thing he could do was trying his best to endure his headache while the darkness came closer, and despair and fear filled the heart of those near him. The hope orb he had consumed at Sugarcube Corner has been proved to be useless, and he could do nothing but trust his friends and wait them to recover from their traumas.

[moonlight7starshine]

((OH OK JUST IGNORE THE FACT THAT STARDUST TACKLED RARITY AND APPLEJACK AWAY FROM THE TWO CREATURES))