//------------------------------// // Revisions Part 1 // Story: Revisions of Past Mistakes // by SC_Orion //------------------------------// Princess Luna groaned and shifted her hooves, immediately drawing Nightfall's attention back to her. Nightfall smiled at the weakened alicorn and anxiously awaited her complete awakening. She briefly glanced at Fluttershy beneath her wing, then slowly inhaled and exhaled. 'Well now... you will wake soon... Perhaps I should wait...' "Is-is she okay?" Fluttershy finally asked. Nightfall let herself chuckle at the pegasus's question. "She... will be fine," she answered. She looked away from Luna, gazing off down the street. 'It would prove useful to disable her, corrupt her, or have her on my own side...' She ran her tongue over her teeth, then slowed her motion down as she ran her tongue over her front teeth. They were so dull compared to what she was used it. She calmly inhaled, then exhaled and looked down at a water puddle she was standing in. Fluttershy also had a hoof standing in the puddle of water, and her hoof was very close to her own. She venomously glared at the yellow hoof, then took a second to regain her composure. Luna groaned again, drawing Nightfall's attention back to her. Fluttershy stepped forwards and lowered herself closer to the injured princess. Nightfall absently folded her wing back to her side. 'She's so... so weak right now. It would be easy to eliminate her now, and I wouldn't have to deal with her later...' Nightfall tilted her head to the side as she considered it. 'I need to do something about her... If I don't, I will have to fight five alicorns and potentially Discord...' She grimaced at the thought. 'I... don't have the power to take them all on...' The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth, and a knot in her throat. She bared her teeth in disgust at the feelings. 'This is beneath me! These insolent... foals think... Eclipse, you insolent foal...' She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. 'I need a plan... Think... I cannot match them in terms of power, and they have a clear numerical advantage. I may have the experience in fighting alicorns but even if I use that strategy, I'll still be fighting them head on... Which is suicide...' She turned and walked down the street. 'Maybe it isn't... I have no idea what condition any of them are in... Discord, however, will be a problem...' She snorted in disgust. 'What will I have to do to get you off my back, Discord?' She turned around and looked at Fluttershy. She squinted at her, pondering her options. 'You love her... she would prove a valuable asset... But I would be taking a very big risk...' She clenched her jaw. 'Too big of a risk, in fact... You didn't intervene in this fight to our knowledge...' The thought was deeply agitating for her. If Discord didn't partake in any of the battles that happened the previous night, he would have all of his power, and she knew she couldn't face him in a one on one battle in her current state. She groaned under her breath as she exhaled, then walked back over to Fluttershy and Princess Luna. 'What about us?' she wondered. 'What state is... Twilight... in..? What state is Eclipse in?' If they were weak enough, she could potentially act fast enough to eliminate both of them in one fell swoop. That idea gave her pause. 'Unless I can kill all of them at once, and instantly, they will... feel... my pain...' She grimaced at that thought. She steeled her resolve, 'They abandoned me... Celestia made me into this...' She looked at Fluttershy and felt that resolve waver. 'She was... she tried to be there for me...' Princess Luna's eyes parted open. The alicorn immediately winced and closed her eyes, then slowly opened them again. Her entire body hurt, every inch felt like she had been trampled by a herd of earth ponies. She groaned again and took a shallow breath, not feeling up to expanding her chest as much as she could. "Pr-Princess Luna?" Fluttershy called. Luna tilted her head towards the source of the sound and smiled at the timid pegasus. Fluttershy stepped back as Princess Luna slowly forced herself onto her stomach and then pushed herself up. She stood on shaky hooves, squinting at the ground as her memories slowly came back to her. "Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked. Luna absently nodded, then slowly looked up and met her gaze. "I... believe I am, yes... I will be fine," she answered. She blinked, then took in her surroundings. The shattered buildings brought back memories of her battle and her attempt to slay Nightfall. She looked to her right and felt a cold shiver run down her spine, seeing the alicorn she had fought standing completely still, watching her unblinkingly. For a few seconds, both of the alicorns looked at each other, their expressions were neutral. Luna finally broke the standoff by stepping forwards and falling into a defensive posture. She flared her wings out and gently coaxed Fluttershy behind her, then lit her horn and pointed it at Nightfall. "Wretched creature," she spat. Nightfall regarded Luna dismissively, not bothering to ignite her own horn or prepare her own defenses. "You won't attack me first. You have neither the strength nor the will to," she taunted. Luna's expression of hate and her posture remained unyielding. "S-stop!" Fluttershy called out, finally breaking out of her trance and forcing her way passed Luna's wing. Luna lifted her head up in surprise and reached out with a hoof in an attempt to call the mare back to her, to no avail. Fluttershy stopped midway between the two, then looked at both of them, mustering as much courage as she could. "It-it's over! Starlight has been defeated, you're not enemies anymore!" she pleaded on the verge of tears. Luna could almost feel her heart breaking, seeing Fluttershy's innocence on display through her actions. She took a deep breath and refocused her attention on Nightfall. "I am sorry, Fluttershy, but you do not know what this vile monster has done!" she cried out. Nightfall's face scrunched up in disgust at Luna's display. "Hypocrisy," she snorted. "You have the audacity to call me a monster for what I have done." She tilted her head and looked at Luna mockingly, "Have you perchance looked in a mirror, lately?" Luna glared at her. Nightfall pulled her head back in mock surprise, "Oh. I suppose you haven't had the opportunity, have you, considering that I brought you and your sister to your knees." Luna's nostrils flared at the insult. Nightfall stepped forwards, ignoring the look of shock on Fluttershy's face. "You defeated Discord once with your sister. CONGRATULATIONS!" she said in mockery. She waved it off with a hoof. "I did more for Equestria than you and your sister combined," she spat. Luna felt her resolve weaken at that, and she looked away from the corrupted alicorn. For a split second, her gaze was directed at the broken street beneath her. The worn street had minuscule cracks in it, and it was shattered from her battle with Nightfall. She wanted to destroy Nightfall for her actions and insults, but she had a point. Luna looked back up at Nightfall and met her gaze. "So you did," she admitted, taking the alicorn by surprise. "You have done more for Equestria than we may ever know," she continued. "But you have also committed great transgressions against her and her ponies," she finished with finality, stomping her hoof into a puddle of water. She was careful with the stomp so that no water would splash. Nightfall broke out into a chuckle. For a few seconds she laughed, and each second found the laugh emptier than the last until eventually nothing remained. She directed her intense gaze on Luna, and she almost felt like Nightfall was staring into her soul, the sensation was unnerving. "Eclipse has committed no lesser crimes than I, Luna." 'Perhaps this is the opportunity I need...' she mused. She thought about her options carefully for a few seconds. "You nearly destroyed the world, and you would have if you weren't stopped," she nodded. "Eclipse and I both succeeded. If we had not used our magic to come here, Twilight would have as well." "You can't know that," Luna retorted. Nightfall waited for a few seconds before nodding in agreement. "In the grand scheme of things, this is completely true. None of us can know for a fact how things would have turned out here, but I do know for a fact how they turned out for Eclipse and myself, which makes it a one hundred percent chance that Twilight would ultimately be responsible for the destruction of the world." "Eclipse is nothing like you," Luna said evenly. Nightfall bobbed her head. "No, she isn't..." She looked off at a broken building, 'She really is different from me...' "We are... almost complete opposites, and yet at the same time, we are the same..." she trailed off, pondering what she said. 'She and I are similar...' She snorted and shook her head, then looked back at Luna. "Regardless. My agreement with Eclipse is completed if Starlight is dealt with," she smiled at Luna. Luna's aura grew stronger and she pointed her horn at Nightfall, aiming at her chest. Nightfall snorted, "So quick to judgment..." She shook her head, then glared at Luna. "I will only say this once, Luna. I am not your enemy." Luna looked at her in confusion for a few seconds, but she still kept her spell prepared in the back of her mind. She did not trust Nightfall as far as she could throw her. The alicorn had done things that were unforgivable, but so had Eclipse. She gritted her teeth, then slowly lifted her head so that her horn wasn't pointing at Nightfall. Nightfall smiled at her. "Then what are you?" she asked. Nightfall pursed her lips. She raked her mind for an answer but found none. She squinted at Luna, then turned her back to her. "We should locate the others," she said quickly. Eclipse peeked around the corner of the building. Seeing the scene from the ground was completely different from seeing it from the air. The rubble of collapsed buildings caused her to shiver. 'Did... Starlight do that or did... Twilight do that?' she wondered. She swallowed and looked at the ponies behind her, each one counting on her to lead them and protect them. She flashed them a smile, then peeked around the corner and looked at the two ponies lying against a damaged but still standing building. Starlight laid slumped back against the building, she was clearly incapacitated. Eclipse felt her heart shake at the sight, she felt pity and remorse for the unicorn. In the end, it had really been her fault what happened to her before, and then it was her fault again now. She suppressed a sigh, then turned her attention to the alicorn sitting calmly beside her. When she had spotted the two of them from the sky, she was surprised to see that Twilight was sitting still and that her horn wasn't surrounded by dark magic. At first, she feared the worst, but upon closer inspection, she realized that Twilight was indeed alive. She was relieved to find out that Twilight was alive, but she was worried what the cost of that would be. Twilight's battle with Starlight had obviously taken its toll on both of them, and the city. She was glad that her friends were with her. If they weren't, she knew she wouldn't have had the courage to keep going. She felt exhausted, but she had to keep going. She turned back to her friends. She looked over each of them in turn and smiled. "Wait here," she said. They all looked at her uneasily, but nopony said anything. They all trusted her. She slowly looked back around the corner, then tentatively stepped out passed the building. She was unsurprised by the lack of reaction from either of the two mares. She glanced down at the concrete, then strode forwards. She carried herself with authority and regality, trying to mimic Princess Celestia as best she could. She knew she wasn't worthy of their trust, especially not Celestia's trust. She had killed her in her own timeline, in cold blood. The thought made each step feel much heavier than it should have been. She slowed as she reached the other side of the street. Twilight still didn't look up from the ground, nor make any attempt to acknowledge her presence. She came to a stop before the sidewalk. She could feel that Twilight wasn't corrupted, which relieved her, but she could see by how Twilight held her head that she was in emotional duress. "Twilight?" she said gently, attempting to coax the mare into looking at her. Twilight jolted slightly at Eclipse's voice. The motion almost went unnoticed by her older self. Twilight opened her eyes and stared at the wet concrete. For a few seconds, she just sat there, then she swallowed and took all of her remaining courage and looked up. She met Eclipse's gaze, and although no words passed between them, Eclipse felt the same weight that Twilight did. Eclipse closed her eyes and felt her heart tear in two. For several seconds, she felt the entire weight of her sins come crashing down on her, and she felt like she was drowning, lost in an ocean with no end, and that there was nopony there to help her. Every word of anger or hatred she had said played through her mind again, accompanied by the reaction of the pony she hurt. The faces of each pony she hurt and the look of pain they held haunted her memory. Everything she should have said, but never did say. Everything she shouldn't have said but did. She finally opened her eyes, then slowly walked over to Twilight and pulled her into a reassuring hug. She wasn't sure if it was for herself or Twilight, both of them needed it. Twilight returned the hug and clung to Eclipse like she was the only thing preventing her from her own death. Eclipse sat down on her haunches, ignoring the water, and pulled Twilight closer, then nuzzled her neck. The pair sat like that for a few minutes, then the remainder of Eclipse's group made their way over to them. Twilight eventually pulled away, but her movement was sluggish. Eclipse let her go, then watched her walk over to Princess Celestia, who warmly embraced her. She looked away from the scene and looked at her hooves. 'I threw that away,' she said to herself. She looked up and took a deep breath. 'I will fix this...' she reaffirmed. Eclipse slowly stood to her hooves, despite the added weight of her leadership and memories weighing her down. She slowly walked over to Starlight and looked at her sadly. The unconscious unicorn was a victim. "She was my student, for a time..." she said aloud to nopony in particular, but anypony who would listen, though she doubted that anypony was listening to her or cared about the unicorn. She sighed at that thought but knew they were comforting Twilight for a reason. "I failed her. I blamed myself. Then when... I changed... I blamed her for what happened between us, and I hated her... I came back here, and I still hated her..." she trailed off guiltily. She sighed, then looked up towards the dawn sky. Eclipse looked back at Starlight and pondered what to do. She turned her head and looked back at her friends. She clenched her jaw. All of them were gathered together in a group hug, with Twilight at its center. The sight warmed her heart, yet also felt condemning. Twilight's soft sobs made her feel her age. She wasn't a fraction as innocent as Twilight was, and neither was Nightfall. The years hadn't treated either of them well. 'Maybe I can still fix this for her...' She swallowed. 'If... If Nightfall helps me, we still might be able to ascend them... Will... Will she help me?' The thought was oppressive. 'Did we do enough..?' she wondered. The growing fear in the back of her mind answered her question. 'We... We didn't do enough, did we...' 'I will fix this,' she repeated. 'Even if it means I have to die...' She shivered at the thought. She didn't want to die, but she would if she had to. She held her composure in check and looked at each pony in her group. She lingered on each face a little longer than the last one. Each face brought with it a wave of memories, and the tide was almost overwhelming. Each memory felt like a lifetime ago, and like another pony had been there instead of her. She smiled fondly at the memories, realizing that they were lifetimes ago, lived by another pony, a much more innocent pony. A good pony named Twilight Sparkle. Her smile wavered, but recovered. The memories were her own memories, but they were lived by a different pony several centuries prior. Each laugh, each smile, each tear, and each hug, were her own. But the bad memories were her own too. Each mistake she made and every pony that she hurt. Pinkie's crestfallen expression. It brought painful memories. She had pushed her away, and Pinkie stopped smiling because of her actions. Applejack's solemn and forlorn look. Her argument with her and the lasts words she ever spoke to Applejack before she died echoed through her mind. "I hate you!" Eclipse looked over them indifferently. She steeled her resolve, then lifted her head towards the sky. "I will stop you," she mumbled under her breath. Nightfall, Luna, and Fluttershy walked in silence. All three of them knew their destination without having to speak it. Nightfall and Luna were at the head of the group, with Fluttershy walking between them, separating them while they protected her: the unspoken agreement between Nightfall and Luna. 'If we can reach Twilight and Starlight before Eclipse does, I can further increase our chances of success...' Nightfall mused, still pondering her plan. 'Disabling Eclipse...' she frowned, going over her own memories along with what she knew of Eclipse. 'Perhaps... it will prove simpler than we anticipated... Targeting Rainbow would likely... No...' she nearly stopped walking. As it was, Luna glanced at her curiously. She shot a glare at Luna, then refocused on walking. 'Are they or aren't they the same ones who betrayed me..?' She still wasn't actually sure about it. She ground her teeth at her indecision. 'I'm Nightfall... I am the alicorn who brought the world to its knees... I killed Princess Luna! Why do I...' she once more slowed, and once more Luna looked at her curiously. She ignored the stray look from Luna. Over a few seconds, she returned to her previous pace and directed her attention to her thoughts. Her mind went into overdrive. 'Okay... I need to figure this out... Why do I hate them..?' she asked herself. 'They betrayed me. They left me behind, and they abandoned me,' she answered. 'Why is this bothering me?' she asked. 'I loved them, I cared about them, then they betrayed me,' she answered. 'Why did they betray me?' she licked her lips. She tasted a hint of blood but pushed the taste aside. She frowned, not finding a clear cut answer to her question. 'I betrayed them, didn't I? That is why they betrayed me... I am at fault...' She scowled at the ground and came to a stop. 'I was the first betrayal...' Luna and Fluttershy slowed and looked at her curiously. 'No... Celestia betrayed us first. This is her doing,' she argued. 'Regardless, I betrayed them and they betrayed me. The order of betrayal is irrelevant, if they were actually my friends, then...' She frowned. 'They were my friends, though... I cared about them, I loved them... They cared about me and loved me... We were friends...' She licked her lips and noticed Luna and Fluttershy looking at her. She lifted her head and glared at Luna. 'Irrelevant... It's too late to alter course... Is it... though? They forgave you, Eclipse...' She redirected her gaze to Fluttershy and let the scowl leave her face. 'She forgave me and tried to be my friend.' She shook her head, 'This is your plan, isn't it Eclipse? You seek to stop me from killing them... Killing them.' She snorted, then resumed walking. For a few seconds, the only hoofsteps she heard were her own, but eventually, Fluttershy's light hoofsteps and Luna's heavier hoofsteps joined in. 'This is a lie. My entire purpose is a lie...' She squinted and turned down a street to her right. She didn't need to look back to know Luna and Fluttershy were following her. 'That doesn't matter. I will be sparing them so much pain and suffering. I will be sparing everypony so much pain and suffering. Is... that just an excuse?' She pursed her lips and scanned the tops of the buildings for any threats, despite knowing there would be none. 'Why am I even thinking about this? It's irrelevant. My fate is sealed.' She stomped the divergent thoughts out with an iron hoof, then refocused her mind. 'The primary threat to me now is Discord, followed by the five alicorns I will fight,' she mused, once more walking with her air of superiority. 'Each of them is likely just as weakened as I am, if not more... Of those alicorns, Eclipse is the primary threat. She will do whatever it takes to protect them... Discord will do whatever it takes to protect Fluttershy... Twilight... She is not a threat. Cadance... is just a nuisance. Luna...' She glanced back at the alicorn and looked at her evenly. Luna met her gaze with firm determination. She turned her head back and looked down the street. 'She is weakened and vulnerable. Celestia... no available information. Worst case scenario, she's...' She tilted her head to the side and did a quick calculation. 'Still not much of a threat... Although all of them together can likely beat me...' Nightfall pursed her lips. 'The Elements of Harmony aren't a threat... neither they nor their bearers... Discord... how shall I disable you?' She glanced back at Fluttershy. The timid mare looked up at her with a hopeful gaze. Nightfall regarded her expressionlessly, then returned to her thoughts. 'You know my goal... If I don't... Which has a better outcome, threatening Fluttershy or leaving her alone? You know my goal... Even if I leave Fluttershy alone, it will likely just delay your involvement. Killing Fluttershy might be traumatizing enough to incapacitate you... Although it could cause the exact same thing that happened before...' She felt a cold chill run down her spine but she paid it no mind. 'Discord is my primary threat.... Eclipse is the second greatest threat to me... Tentative opening move?' She swallowed. 'Kill Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash... Discord and Eclipse will be disabled.' She ran through the general idea in her mind, looking for flaws and potential problems. 'That still leaves the question of how I am going to destroy the sun... I cannot use Starlight... The Elements could do it, but they...' She felt a smile pull on her lips. 'That... would be oh so sweet... Can I do that, though? That's risking everything on the assumption that I can redirect the magic of Elements of Harmony... If I did manage to redirect the Element's power...' She grunted. 'I have the Elements... how do I.... I cannot just give them the Elements, Eclipse wouldn't buy it... Or would she? She would seek to use them against me immediately...' She grimaced, 'I still would have to explain it... Would she even buy a sudden change of heart?' She came to a stop at the intersection. She looked down each street and pondered the direction of the others. The back of her mind said to keep going straight. She hesitated until Luna and Fluttershy were at her side, then proceeded to walk straight through the intersection. 'I still have the option of attempting to corrupt Luna... that might prove enough of... Oh... Oh yes... that might work...' She smiled. 'If I can corrupt Luna, then I would have a reason to give them the Elements of Harmony... That is still somewhat convenient, and Fluttershy might figure it out... Discord might realize what I am planning... Eclipse would suspect something. And I would still have to redirect the Element's power...' The thought was troubling. While she knew how to direct the Element's power, she wasn't going to be in control of it. It could backfire on her, or she might be completely unable to redirect it for the sun. She wasn't even sure what effect it would have on the sun, but she was sure what effect the Elements would have on her. She shivered as she remembered the pain. 'Do I even want to do this?' she asked. 'No, I don't,' she immediately responded. The thought gave her pause. 'How... curious... Why is that?' "Nightfall?" Fluttershy asked. Nightfall blinked and looked at the small pegasus standing beside her. "What?" she demanded. Fluttershy, to her surprise, didn't back down from the forcefulness of her voice. "Are you doing okay? You look... distant," Fluttershy said softly. Nightfall snorted. "Distant," she repeated. "I am preoccupied with my thoughts," she sharply corrected. For a few seconds, she stared at Fluttershy and Fluttershy stared back at her, then she started walking again. Fluttershy's gaze followed Nightfall as she walked forwards. Luna stood beside her, watching Nightfall with a mixture of curiosity and distaste. "Do you want to talk about it?" Fluttershy asked. Nightfall stopped, then methodically turned around and faced Fluttershy. "You know that if Starlight is disabled, my agreement with Eclipse is completed, and you know what I will do." She paused to let it sink in, then she looked off at a building and continued, "And yet you still offer to... be my friend," she mused. For a few seconds, silence reigned, then she shook her head. "Why?" she implored. "You know what Eclipse and I have done, and yet you, kindness, Fluttershy, you extended a hoof of friendship to me, and you are Eclipse's friend." She tilted her head and looked at Fluttershy with curiosity, "Why?" Fluttershy took a deep breath and summoned her courage, then stepped forwards. Luna watched her silently, choosing to stay on the sidelines. "Because you're hurting. You were hurt. You lost your friends, and you felt alone. You said so before, that we were your friends. I want to be your friend. We will be your friends again if you just-" Nightfall shook her head and sighed. "You are so naive... It's..." She shook her head again and looked at the wet pavement. She looked up thoughtfully at Fluttershy, "If our positions were reversed, I would kill you." Fluttershy didn't back down. "You are a better pony than me, Fluttershy." Her gaze lingered on the pegasus for a few seconds, then she turned around, putting her back to her and Luna. "So naive and foalish... You would be wise to kill me now, but you won't. You can't, because you are the good ponies..." she shook her head and bared her teeth in disgust. She lowered her gaze in thought, "You keep offering me opportunities to accept your friendship, opportunities to change..." She looked up from the pavement. "Nopony else did. They avoided me whenever they could," she said as she turned around. Nightfall smiled and snorted. "Irrelevant..." she said softly while shaking her head. "Perhaps Eclipse does deserve the title of Princess of Friendship..." she mused. "In a different time, we were friends. And... If things were different, perhaps we could have been friends again," she said with regretful finality. "Why can't we be friends again?" Fluttershy asked innocently. Nightfall swiveled around on a hoof and looked Fluttershy in the eye. "Do you really want to be friends with somepony who is responsible for millions of... deaths..." she trailed off and looked away from Fluttershy's gaze. "You... are friends with Eclipse..." she mused, realizing that Fluttershy knew what Eclipse was responsible, and still chose to be her friend. She shook her head and sighed. "Do you really think that if I say I'm sorry, that it would fix anything?" she asked. Fluttershy's expression was strained at that. Nightfall's expression sharpened. "It doesn't. That belief is naive and... so... innocent. It is archaic to me, considering what has happened over the course of my life. You? You're but a foal compared to me." She looked at Luna thoughtfully. "We were similar, you know. Nightmare Moon and I... But where you failed, I succeeded..." she tilted her head and narrowed her gaze. "Though, I suppose you wouldn't want to succeed now, would you?" Silence. Luna looked at her evenly. Luna eventually nodded. "You remind me of myself," she said. "Though, you are still Twilight. I can see her qualities in you, and you have something that I lacked." Nightfall raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh?" she asked. "And what might that be?" Luna remained silent for several seconds, much to Nightfall's annoyance. "You really don't see it, do you?" she finally asked. "If you are attempting to make me beg for an answer, it won't work," Nightfall snapped. Luna looked at the street and shook her head sadly. After a few seconds, she looked back up and met Nightfall's gaze. "You were bound with your friends," she answered. Nightfall looked at her with disgust. "Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom," she said. The mention of Rainbow's name drew Nightfall's muzzle into a blank line, and her expression became unreadable. "The six of you standing against me, then using the Elements of Harmony against me in order to purify me," she continued. "You six had a bond that I had never had with anypony, not even my sister." Nightfall looked at her evenly, and unblinkingly. "That bond was broken," she stated firmly. "Even if it wasn't... They. Are. Dead." "And you're still alive," Luna noted. "You remember them, don't you?" Nightfall looked at Luna like she had said something stupid. "Of course I do," she answered. "Do you miss them?" Luna asked. Nightfall sighed and nodded. "At times, I do, yes." Luna nodded at Fluttershy. "You can have them back," she said simply. Nightfall snorted and shook her head. "Perhaps," she answered. "But it's irrelevant." "Why?" Luna questioned. "I made my decisions a millennium ago," Nightfall answered quickly. "Eclipse would detest that," Luna responded. "She made her decision a millennium ago too," Nightfall said. "It is not set in stone. You can decide something different now," Luna said carefully. Nightfall said nothing. "What would they say, if they saw you now?" Luna asked. Nightfall's neutral expression slipped for a brief second, and in that second, she looked a thousand years older than she did. Her mane looked dull, her coat looked pale, and her eyes weren't as vivid. "We both know the answer to that," she said at length. "So change that," Luna commanded. Nightfall looked at her questioningly. "You miss them. That means you must still care about them, which means you don't actually hate them, do you?" Luna questioned. Nightfall snorted. "I hate them for leaving me," she replied simply. "And even if I chose to be with them again, they will leave me again." "You would have an opportunity to make up for the time you lost with them," Luna said with a reassuring smile. "It would end the same way," Nightfall countered. "Would it?" Luna questioned. "That is up to you to decide," she added. Nightfall snorted and looked at her derisively. "Even if I did choose to be with them again, and they didn't leave me, they aren't my friends. They are not the ones who left me, Luna. You know this." Luna sighed and looked at the street sadly as she nodded her head. "They are not them, and they can never be them now," she replied softly. Nightfall nodded melancholically. "My friends are dead," she stated emotionlessly. "I have no way to return to my own timeline, even if I did, I cannot change anything, nor is there anything to return to. Even if there was, I cannot bring them back." She looked at Fluttershy, who looked on the verge of tears. "I don't even know if I would see them again when I die, and... honestly, I do not know if I want to. As much as I want to see them again, I would have to answer so many questions, and... answer for so many crimes. I cannot simply say 'sorry' and fix all of this." She averted her gaze from Fluttershy and looked up at the morning sky. It felt almost mocking, the day had a new start, and she couldn't, even if she didn't care. "I made my choices," she said bitterly. Luna stepped towards her. "Then make a new one! Choose something other than the path you are on now!" Nightfall met Luna's gaze. "You know that the path you are on leads only to your own destruction," Luna chided. "Change it." Nightfall's gaze became serious. "I can't." "Why not?" Luna asked. Nightfall grunted. "My success is my own undoing. Unlike you when you became Nightmare Moon, there is literally nothing standing between me and my victory. You had the Elements of Harmony to purify and restore you, I don't have that luxury. You are still haunted by what you did," she said forcefully. "Compare that to me," she commanded. "I am responsible for the deaths of countless hundreds of thousands, if not millions. You know who I once was, but Twilight is dead. Some scars are permanent, Luna. You know this. The Elements purified you, but your crimes are orders of magnitudes lesser than mine. If you used the Elements against me, I would die." "Nightfall, you cannot know that," Luna retorted. Nightfall chuckled. "But I do, Luna. Surely you remember what it felt like when you were hit by the Elements the first time?" Luna felt a shiver run down her spine as the burning sensation replayed itself in her mind. Luna mustered her strength, "The second time was not... like the first." Nightfall looked at her curiously. "It was... pleasant," she added. Nightfall snorted and shook her head at that. "Perhaps... But even if it did purify me, I would die. I would no longer be Nightfall, but I could not be Twilight either. You would be left with... a mess of a pony, nothing more than a shadow of some semblance of a pony who died so long ago. A pony who wouldn't be able to function," she spat. "You're afraid, aren't you?" Luna inquired, feeling her jaw go slack at the realization. Nightfall shook her head and snorted. "Regardless, we still have to find the others." She turned around a second later and started walking again. "You did not answer my question, Nightfall," Luna stated. Nightfall paused and turned around again. She met Luna's gaze and raised an eyebrow. "Which question?" she quipped. "Why can't you change?" Luna asked. "I do not need to explain myself to you," Nightfall retorted. "W-what about m-me?" Fluttershy asked. Nightfall opened her mouth to answer her, then stopped and closed it. Her lips drew into a neutral line as she watched Fluttershy silently crying. "Well, here we are again, Eclipse," Nightfall called out as she and the two mares following her rounded the corner and surveyed the street before them. Their attention was immediately directed towards the collapsed building blocking the other entrance to the block. Nightfall found it symbolic, she had them cornered. Fluttershy almost immediately burst out into a dead gallop over to her friends, all sitting around Twilight, who hung her head low in shame. Nightfall watched Fluttershy run from her side and narrowed her gaze at the pegasus. She was unsurprised by the act, but it still stung. Nightfall turned her gaze to Eclipse, who sat against a brick wall, watching her. Luna looked at Nightfall and hesitated, then walked across the street and met her sister. Celestia pulled Luna into a big hug, and Nightfall bared her teeth in disgust at the display. Eclipse closed her eyes and sighed in sorrow and regret, a sound that nopony heard. She opened her eyes and glanced at Starlight and grimaced. Cadance and Shining Armor looked at Nightfall with a mixture of disdain, curiosity, and worry. The remaining four mares looked at her cautiously. Nightfall turned her gaze to Eclipse as she slowly stood up and revealed Starlight's unconscious form lying against the building. Nightfall felt her heartbeat rise rapidly as Eclipse purposefully walked into the middle of the street, then stand beside Luna and Celestia, matching height with the former. Twilight still didn't look up from the ground. Nightfall turned her attention to her younger self. Her ears were pinned against her head, and her mane sagged, weighed down by water, knowing what she had done, what she had almost done, and the knowledge of what had happened in her future. Fluttershy pulled Twilight into a hug and rested her head against her shoulder, but the young alicorn didn't react. The four other young mares turned their attention away from Nightfall and settled on Twilight. Each of them wore pained expressions, sharing Twilight's own pain. Rainbow pulled both Fluttershy and Twilight into a hug, then the others quickly joined in. Nightfall tore her eyes away and met the gazes of the four princesses standing against her. None of them looked as regal as they normally did, their coats were damp and their faces were heavy with exhaustion, both physical and mental. Neither Luna nor Celestia's manes flowed as quickly as normal, either. Each of them was tired and drained. Cadance looked the most vibrant of them, but even she looked drained, to say nothing of her inexperience with actual fighting. Nightfall looked around the block, at the damaged and destroyed buildings. She was surprised that the destruction wasn't more extensive, but she didn't care either way, it didn't matter. She saw no sign of Discord as she looked around. 'What are you up to?' she wondered as she directed her gaze back to her opposite. She frowned at Eclipse, she looked older than the last time she had seen the mare, and they hadn't been separated but a few hours. Eclipse still wore the same resigned but determined expression that all but said she would stop Nightfall at any cost. If anything, her older appearance made her resignation even more pronounced. It made Nightfall pause in thought, 'Do they... not see the resignation in your eyes? Or do they see it and not care..? Or do they not realize what you will do? That you will sacrifice yourself to stop me...' She tightened her jaw at that thought, then scrutinized each one of them in turn. None of them looked like they were in any shape to be destroying any cities, but she knew her own magic was severely drained too. She mentally cursed at herself for using her magic to regenerate her physical body. "We don't have to do this, Nightfall," Eclipse stated with a somber voice. Nightfall formulated a retort, but before she could say it, Luna joined Eclipse. "Choose a different path," she coaxed. "Come back to me, Twilight," Celestia pleaded, immediately drawing Nightfall's attention to her. Nightfall locked eyes with Celestia. Both of them could see the pain and in the other's eyes, but where Celestia's eyes held despair, Nightfall's eyes held vengeance. "What you're doing is wrong," Cadance gently added. Fluttershy tore her head from Twilight's shoulder and smiled at Nightfall gently through her tear stained eyes, "We're your friends," she said weakly. After a few seconds, Fluttershy looked back at Twilight, who was still unresponsive. Nightfall groaned in disgust and looked at them dispassionately, then she raised an eyebrow and looked at them in mock shock. "Is that the best you can do?" she asked. She snorted and shook her head. She met Celestia's gaze. "Pathetic," she stated harshly, cutting Celestia's heart to shreds. The mares surrounding Twilight looked up at her. She looked at Luna indifferently. "Weak," she chided. Then she looked at Fluttershy. "Naive," she stated softer. She briefly met Rainbow's gaze and sighed internally, then moved on to her double. "And all together, foalish," she nodded to herself, then ignited her horn. "You all know what I am going to do." She looked over each one of them. "Yet you all delay," she surmised. "Because you're good," she mocked. Eclipse closed her eyes and sighed, then nodded and stepped forwards. She ignited her horn and met Nightfall's gaze. "You don't have to do this, Nightfall. None of us want this." Nightfall nodded. "I know." She looked at the ground and let her mind wander for a few seconds. "But we both made our choices," she added as she looked back up with a cold and hard expression.