//------------------------------//
// Ashes to Ashes 
// Story: Luminous Atonement 
// by Metool Bard 
//------------------------------//


Luminous Atonement Chapter 5:
Ashes to Ashes


"This has to be the work of Nightmare Moon."

"Why isn't Celestia doing anything about this?"

"I heard that Princess Luna was corrupted by Discord."

"Mommy, why is it still dark?  I'm scared."

Luna's heart felt heavy.  As she and her allies traveled the streets of Fillydelphia, all she could hear were the rumors of Nightmare Moon's return spreading.  Everypony was either scared or angry, sometimes both.  She had to wonder if things were fairing any better in Canterlot, where her sister was her only staunch defender.

"Oh, don't look so sad," said Fluttershy. "Once we get to Ponyville, we'll be among friends.  I'm sure my friends will believe us."

"I certainly hope you're right, Fluttershy.  If only because these rumors seem to be getting worse and worse," echoed Discord's voice from above.  The two mares looked up, and saw that the draconequus had taken the form of a constellation in the sky.

"Subtle," said Luna, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sure nopony will notice you."

"Why, Lunatic.  I'm hurt," said Discord. "Do you honestly think I didn't take the necessary precautions?  You and Fluttershy are the only ones who can hear me."

Luna was in no mood to argue. "Let's just get to the Everfree Forest.  We have a lot of ground to cover."

"Um, Discord?  What did you say about the rumors getting worse?" Fluttershy inquired.

"Hmm?  Oh, nothing," said Discord calmly. "Just that ponies are wondering why Celestia hasn't sent her sister back to the moon yet."

"Oh," said Fluttershy, regretting her question. "Well, then let's hurry to Ponyville."

"Agreed," said Luna.  She then stopped in her tracks. "Uh oh."

The path that led to the Everfree Forest was being guarded by two unicorn stallions wearing police uniforms.

"Okay, apparently we didn't get the memo that Fillydelphia was under marshal law," said Discord.

"This has to be the work of the local government," Luna mused. "Tia wouldn't have made such a decree."

"Well, what are we going to do?" asked Fluttershy, looking up at Discord.

"Fluttershy, you can't expect me to fix all of your problems," said Discord, folding his arms. "Especially since somebody else has other ideas."

"Somebody else?  What do you...?"

Before she could finish, Philomena flew over to the patrol ponies.  She positioned herself between the two stallions and began tickling their noses with her wings.  The unicorns soon devolved into fits of laughter, and Philomena flew off into the forest, beckoning the others to follow.

"And that's why she ranks above you in my book," Discord told Luna.

"I didn't ask," Luna said flatly.  She then sighed. "Why did Tia insist on her joining us?  It's bad enough that Discord doesn't take anything seriously.  Between him and that mischief maker of a bird, I'm going to get a splitting headache long before we reach Orthrus."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," said Discord. "Now come on, Lunatic.  The way is open, and we've got no time to lose."

The stars then scattered as Discord reappeared in his normal form, standing next to Philomena.  Luna rolled her eyes and followed after them, with Fluttershy and Angel not far behind.


***


The trek through the Everfree Forest was not all that pleasant.  Discord's deer antler and goat horn kept getting caught in the high branches, eventually causing him to make it so that the trees would move out of his way as he walked.  Meanwhile, Philomena was having a bit of fun with Angel, brushing him with her feathers and cackling as she flew about.

"Philomena, behave yourself," Fluttershy scolded. "What would Princess Celestia say?"

"I don't know, Fluttershy.  I think she has a point," said Discord, stroking his goatee with his eagle talon. "That rabbit of yours has been nothing but a grump this entire trip.  Almost like somepony else I know."

"I hope you're not implying me," Luna said. "Keep in mind, there's a reason I'm so grumpy."

"Believe me, Lunatic.  I'm no happier about any of this than you are," said Discord. "But stressing yourself out like this isn't going to make everything better.  If anything, it'll just make things worse."

Philomena seemed to squawk in agreement as she perched herself on Fluttershy's back, lightly batting Angel's head with her wing.  Angel looked up at the phoenix and glowered.

"Actually, I think Discord might be right, Your Highness," said Fluttershy. "I know things don't look good right now, but we shouldn't give up hope."

Luna opened her mouth to reply, but stopped herself as she processed Fluttershy's words. "I suppose you're right, Fluttershy," she said with a sigh. "I guess I'm just..."

She was interrupted by a howl echoing through the forest.  As the sound continued to resonate, she stopped in her tracks, gripping her head and moaning.

"Princess Luna?  What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked, quickly dashing to the alicorn's side.

"I-I don't know," Luna grunted, still reeling from the pain. "Th-that didn't sound like Orthrus, but..."

Another howl rang out, and Luna gasped as another jolt of pain racked her body.

"M-maybe we should get moving," said Fluttershy nervously. "We can't stay in one place for too long."

"I-I agree," said Luna, struggling to her feet.  Another howl was heard, and she collapsed again. "Augh!  It hurts!"

"I'm beginning to sense a pattern here," said Discord. "Ugh, never thought I'd hear myself say that."

"Yes, I've noticed too," said Fluttershy. "But I don't think we have the time to think about that.  If those howls are what I think they are, we really can't stay here."

As the howls persisted and Luna continued to suffer, a pungent odor filled the air.  Angel was the first to notice, and began gagging.

"Oh, Angel!" Fluttershy exclaimed, noticing her pet's complaint. "Is something wrong?"

Angel continued gagging and pinching his nose.  Before Fluttershy could inquire anymore, the smell hit her own nostrils and her eyes widened.

"Your Highness, we have to get out of here now!" she said, panicking as she tried to get the princess to her feet. "That howl, it's a—  It's a—"

A low, deep-throated snarl interrupted her train of thought, causing her mane to stand up on end.  Slowly, she turned and came face-to-face with a fearsome creature made entirely of wood.  As soon as it fully emerged from the shadows, it reared back and let loose a roar that shook the skies.

"TIMBERWOLF!"

Scared out of her wits, Fluttershy darted as far away from the beast as fast as her legs could carry her.  But she soon found herself running straight into another one.  Rushing back to Luna's side, she realized that they were surrounded by an entire pack of timberwolves.

"C-come on, Your Highness!  Let's go!" said Fluttershy, her voice a high-pitched nervous whisper.  A few of the wolves howled, forcing Luna to her knees.

"I-I can't!" Luna yelled, writhing in agony and clamping her ears down with her hooves. "I-it hurts!  I-I can't get those howls out of my head!"

"Oh no, oh no!" Fluttershy yelped. "Wh-what are we going to do?!"

Discord smirked. "As if you really have to ask," he said with a snap of his fingers.

Suddenly, the timberwolves began to fall apart on their own accord.  The branches that made up their bodies joined together, reforming into a large statue of the Master of Chaos himself.  Discord looked over his handiwork as if he were a sculptor looking over his latest masterpiece.

"I'll admit, it's not my best work," he mused. "But considering what I had to work with, it didn't turn out half bad."

Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Discord.  I don't know what we would've done without you."

"Probably fly away," said Discord with a shrug. "You do have wings, remember?"

Fluttershy blushed. "Oh, right," she said, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Well, we shouldn't dally any longer," said Luna, regaining her composure. "We must make haste to Ponyville.  There's no telling what—  Ah!"

A ghostly howl interrupted her thoughts, causing her to stagger once again.  The wood that made up Discord's statue began to glow an eerie green color as they began to rearrange themselves again.

"D-Discord?" Fluttershy asked apprehensively

"I, honestly don't know what to make of this," said a very perplexed Discord. "I thought I lifted that stupid enchantment.  If this is more of Orthrus's doing, he's really asking for it."

"W-we shouldn't be worrying about that right now!" squeaked Fluttershy. "We need to get out of here!"

But it was too late.  The twigs and branches had already formed a giant timberwolf that towered over all of them.  It let out a roar that dissolved into an ear-splitting howl, which only caused Luna more pain.

"GET OUT OF OUR HEAD!" Luna wailed in her Canterlot voice as the pain paralyzed her to her very core. "DISCORD, WE BESEECH THEE!  THOU MUST..."

Just then, a loud screech drowned out the timberwolf's howl and interrupted Luna's cries.  The Princess of the Night looked up, her mouth dropping open in astonishment.

"Philomena?"

The regal phoenix flew in front of the large creature, spreading her wings and blinding it with her plumage.  The timberwolf roared, recoiling back and shaking itself.  It then snapped at the bird with its powerful jaws.  Philomena darted out of the way and began flying circles around the wolf's head.  The timberwolf snarled in annoyance, swiping and snapping at the phoenix.  Each and every time, Philomena was just out of reach, until finally the wooden beast slapped her out of the sky with its paw.

"Philomena!"

Fluttershy made a mad dash towards the falling phoenix and managed to catch her in her hooves.  She looked down Philomena, tears in her eyes.

"Wh-what in Equestria were you thinking, Philomena?" she asked.

Panting, Philomena pointed upward with her wing.  Fluttershy looked up, and gasped as she saw that the timberwolf's paw had been set ablaze.  The large wooden creature roared in pain as the fire spread up its leg and all across its body.  Yipping frantically, it bounded off into the distance.

"Okay, I think I see where this is going," said Discord, snapping his fingers.  Oddly enough, nothing seemed to change.

"Nngh.  What did you just do?" asked Luna, slowly recovering.

"Oh, not much.  I just made the forest fireproof," said Discord with a shrug.

Luna looked around.  Sure enough, the rest of the forest remained unscathed while the timberwolf still burned brightly in the distance.

"Huh, wow," she said, genuinely impressed. "A real act of benevolence on your part.  I never thought I'd see the day."

"Let's not get the wrong impression here, Lunatic," said Discord. "You and I are being blamed for enough as it is.  We don't need anything else adding fuel to the fire, pun very much intended."

"Whatever you say," said Luna with a smirk, finally getting to her feet.  She then walked over to Fluttershy and Philomena, looking down at her sister's pet phoenix.  Philomena looked back at the lunar princess and cawed weakly.

"She wants you to come closer," Fluttershy translated.

Curious, Luna leaned in closer.  Gingerly, Philomena reached out and began tickling the princess's muzzle with her wing.  Luna's expression quickly changed from confusion, to annoyance, to mirth.

"I-it looks like you're going to be fine," Luna said between giggles.  She then smiled warmly. "I guess I owe you an apology.  I thought you were just going to be a nuisance, but what you did back there, well, it was really brave."

Philomena cawed.

"She said she was just looking after you, just as Princess Celestia told her to do," said Fluttershy with a smile of her own.

Luna chuckled. "You have me there," she said.  She then nuzzled the bird with her muzzle. "Thank you, Philomena."

Discord cleared his throat. "I hate to ruin the moment, but perhaps we should get going."

Luna blushed and regained her composure. "Right, of course," said she.

"Will you be alright, Your Highness?" Fluttershy asked.

"I think so," said Luna. "Although I'm still not sure what that was all about.  Why did those howls cause me pain?"

"What I want to know is how those timberwolves resisted my magic," added Discord. "I could've sworn I had gotten rid of that enchantment."

"Well, we can think about that later," said Fluttershy, creating a makeshift basket to carry the wounded Philomena in. "Right now, we should hurry and get to Ponyville."

"Agreed," said Luna with a nod. "Lead the way, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy nodded, and trotted onward into the forest as Luna and Discord followed at her heels.  Unbeknownst to them all, a shadowy figure watched as they disappeared into the undergrowth, and then took off into the sky...