• Published 19th Jul 2013
  • 7,447 Views, 717 Comments

The Return of Tambelon - RainbowDoubleDash



After 500 years, the island of Tambelon returns, and all of Equestria is threatened...

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Ceremonies of Light and Dark

The conflicting need to either eat or sleep occupied the thoughts of the six ponies as Luna teleported them back to Ponyville, after making a brief stop on Wingsong to ensure that the ship hadn’t been attacked by Solrath at any point. In the end, sleep had won out, and so Luna had brought each of them home, Carrot Top a little greener from the teleporting experience but not exactly minding it as an alternative to Wingsong. When she’d asked Luna why she hadn’t just teleported them straight to Tambelon in the first place, the alicorn had gone on about the interacting of teleportation magic with the then-phasing in city and the odd effects it could have had. Carrot Top didn’t understand most of the explanation, but she did know that it gave Luna a chance to talk about and focus upon something other than Corona, which the farmer suspected the princess desperately needed.

Carrot Top found that her farm was now home to several pitched tents, the colt scouts having apparently turned their trip to Ponyville into an impromptu camping trip in addition to a farming expedition. She also saw, though, that her fields seemed to have been well-tended over her absence. Luna had said she would have them move off tomorrow, and asked Carrot Top to join her at Trixie’s home the following afternoon. The earth pony mostly wanted to sleep through the following afternoon, and quite possibly the one following it as well, but had agreed.

And so, after around ten hours of a dreamless sleep and a long, hot bath, Carrot Top found herself once again in Trixie’s living room, alongside her friends – but not Princess Luna. The earth pony raised an eyebrow as she joined them, apparently the last to arrive. “Where’s the Princess?” she asked. She noted that, like her, everypony had their Element foci with them, though not everypony was wearing them.

Raindrops made to answer, but Cheerilee reached out and placed a hoof over her mouth. “No, let this one be a surprise,” she insisted.

Carrot Top looked strangely at Cheerilee, but the teacher only grinned playfully. Deciding to let her friend have her fun, she trotted over to one of Trixie’s couches and sat down on it, next to the Representative herself. “So…” she said.

“Yeah,” Lyra said. She was holding onto her lyre, strumming it gently. “That happened.”

Carrot Top pressed her lips tightly together, looking around at her friends. With hours of time and leagues of distance now between them and Tambelon, the six of them had at last begun to come down from their adrenaline highs, their focus on solely what was ahead rather than remembering what had already passed – and just how close to disaster they had been since setting hoof on Tambelon.

Lyra’s hooves on her lyre moved slowly and deliberately – hiding, Carrot Top noted, a slight tremble to them. Raindrops was sitting with her eyes closed, breathing in and out steadily and focusing entirely on that. Trixie and Cheerilee both looked jittery, fidgeting as they sat, while Ditzy kept glancing at the clock in Trixie’s room, no doubt thinking about Dinky Doo and wondering when she could get back to her foal. Carrot Top knew this because she, herself, kept looking at the same clock, wondering when she could get back to her fields. Plowing and planting and tending was simple, and rote, and generally there was nothing around that tried to kill you – no golems, no evil princes, no crazy zebras, no insane alicorns, no dragons, no demons, no liches…

Carrot Top noticed Trixie looking at her, and the farmer put on a small smile. “I think…” she said, “I think that things are going to be different, from now on,” she said.

Trixie tapped her front hooves together, looking down at them. “I think things have been different since the Longest Night, and it’s only just now hitting us,” she said. “Every other time…every other time, everything happened to, to everypony.”

Carrot Top blinked, unsure what Trixie was getting at. Raindrops explained without opening her eyes. “The Longest Night was Corona striking at everypony. Same with what happened to Ponyville when all our alcohol was poisoned. And those salamanders weren’t after us, we just happened to be there. And…and nopony in the Night Court wanted to kill us.”

“But this was different,” Carrot Top agreed, understanding now what Trixie had been driving at. “We were at Tambelon because we’re the Elements.” She looked down at her hooves, tracing a circle in the cushion beneath her with the point of one. “This is how our lives are going to go from now on.”

“Until we stop Corona,” Cheerilee said. She was wearing a smile, but had put a surprising amount of force behind her words. She held up the Element of Laughter. “That’s going to happen. We have these for a reason, I’m sure of it.”

Carrot Top looked to her own Element, worn around her neck. In hindsight, she wasn’t even sure why she had brought it along. Luna hadn’t asked them, after all. Maybe it was because of how much she had been running around with…Stars Above, Carrot Top thought, eyes widening. Was that all only yesterday? She looked around to her friends. But today, I’m here at my friend’s home. Like…like it never happened…

“Uh…e-excuse me,” Carrot Top said, getting down from the couch and heading for the two-way door that connected Trixie’s living room to her dining room and, more importantly, her kitchen. “I think I just need to do something to get my mind off of everything, I think I’ll start making – ”

Carrot Top reached out a hoof and pushed the door inwards – and found herself rewarded with the door thunking into something on the other side. “Ow!” said Princess Luna Equestris, Shepard of the Moon, Caretaker of the Sun, Mistress of the Star Beasts, Sovereign of the Three Tribes, et cetera.

Carrot Top froze as the door glowed blue with telekinesis, opening inwards and away from her – and revealing the Princess, one hoof to her snout, rubbing where Carrot Top had hit it with the door. Part of Carrot Top noted that she didn’t look particularly hurt. In fact, that same part of Carrot Top noted, given who this was, she probably wasn’t hurt at all. This was the same being, after all, that had spent most of yesterday dueling with Corona or Grogar. The exclamation had almost certainly been born from surprise, not pain.

The rest of Carrot Top had simply begun a count of how long it would take for her to be banished to the Griffin Kingdoms – most likely with a complimentary apple shoved in her mouth, spit shoved into another part of her anatomy, and a nice salad on the side.

Her horror was interrupted by Cheerilee a moment later, as the school teacher couldn’t keep herself under control any longer than that. Her laughs were, in fact, hard enough to send her tumbling from the couch and onto the floor below. “That – that – ” she gasped out. “That is so much better than what I thought would happen!

Carrot Top wasn’t even really aware of Cheerilee. “I – I am so sorry!” she exclaimed, dashing forward. “I can – there’s a first aid kit somewhere here, I’m sure…”

Luna took her hoof away from her muzzle. “It’s fine, really – ”

“…accident, didn’t mean – didn’t expect – so very sorry…

“Carrot Top,” Ditzy tried, having come over to the farmer, draping a wing over her. “It’s okay, the princess is fine – ”

“…shouted at you and slammed a door in your face and now I just slammed a door in your face…

Luna closed her eyes and shook her head, a bemused smile on her face as she decided to wait out Carrot Top’s little panic attack, which had progressed to Trixie coming up to her and offering her hat to breath in and out of, lacking as they did a paper bag. Cheerilee got over her laughter and trotted over to her friend, alongside Raindrops and Lyra. Working together, the five other ponies got Carrot Top under control after a few minutes

“I am so, so sorry,” Carrot Top repeated when at last she’d calmed down.

Luna shook her head again. “Accidents happen, Dame Carrot Top, don’t worry,” she said, then looked to the ponies as a whole. “Brunch is ready.”

Carrot Top froze. “B…brunch?” she asked. For the first time, she realized that the table in Trixie’s dining room was fully appointed, and more importantly, full of food. Loaves of bread, bowls of fruit and vegetables and nuts, a full cheese wheel, jugs of milk and juice, eggs scrambled boiled and in every other form, omelets and pancakes and pastries galore adorned the table – enough food to feed a large party, it seemed. Carrot Top’s stomach all but roared at the sight of it all, though, and she knew that the food wouldn’t last long against the six ponies and one alicorn.

Luna trotted over to the right of the table’s head. She smiled at Carrot Top’s staring at her. “As busy as affairs of state keep me, I have still had a lot of spare time over the past few thousand years to pick up hobbies,” she explained. “I’m quite the cook when I want to be.”

Carrot Top strongly suspected that Luna could have been an awful cook and the meal would have nevertheless looked just as enticing right now. Everypony piled around the table, Luna insisting Trixie take the table’s head since it was essentially her house, regardless of who technically owned it. The Princess took to the meal just as fervently as the six ponies, the portions she helped herself to rivalled in size only by Carrot Top’s and Raindrops’.

“This is what I thought you’d freak out about, incidentally,” Cheerilee said to Carrot Top as they ate. “The Princess cooking us food.”

Carrot Top’s eyes narrowed as she buttered a bread roll that had been lightly seasoned with cinnamon. “I think I could have handled that,” she objected, though she admitted to herself that the odds were probably only fifty-fifty.

Cheerilee grinned. “I needed the laugh,” she said, then looked to Princess Luna. “No offense, Princess.”

The princess offered a warm smile of her own, nodding in understanding as she carefully salted the scrambled eggs in front of her with the kind of precision one expected from handling dangerous chemicals. Carrot Top remembered Trixie mentioning once that Luna was a picky eater, and indeed, while her portions were large, Carrot Top noted that the princess’ plate was nevertheless fairly plain fare.

“I have been in more life-and-death struggles than I care to remember,” Luna said after a moment. “The first priority, on surviving them, is to find something afterwards to restore a sense of normalcy.”

“Normalcy?” Trixie asked after finishing drinking from a glass of orange juice, one eyebrow raised as she smirked. “So you cooking for us is going to be a normal thing from now on? I can get behind that.”

Relative normalcy,” Luna appended. She looked around at the six ponies. “Although…equally important is confronting what happened. We…need to talk, I think.” The mood around the table became somewhat more somber after that. Luna straightened herself, collecting her thoughts. “Put simply,” she said, “things…did not go as planned.”

The six ponies took a moment to consider that. “Depends on how you look at it,” Raindrops said after a moment. “We went there to stop Grogar. Grogar was stopped.”

“That wasn’t just why we were there, though,” Lyra pointed out. “We wanted to figure out why the Elements worked differently for us than they did for Princess Luna. We didn’t.”

“But that’s not our fault,” Ditzy objected. “If Corona hadn’t shown up – ” She stopped then, wincing as she looked to the princess. Luna had grimaced herself, but nodded. “It’s Corona’s fault,” Ditzy began again. “But…but maybe it’s good that she showed up.” She looked back to each of her friends. “Things would have gone so much smoother if she hadn’t been there. But I think her being there, being forced to work with us…changed her.”

Luna looked between them. “I noticed that too,” she said, though she shook her head. “Though not enough. Whatever revelation she has had, she seems as determined as before to overthrow me and take control of the land.” She looked to the six ponies. “And with her power restored…we must be more vigilant than ever. As I said last night, I fear I will be putting you in harm’s way much more often from now on.” She looked to each of the ponies, or more precisely, to the Element foci that they still had near them. “If…if there was some way to take the Elements back, to keep you safe, I would take it. I’m sorry.”

There was silence for a few moments. “Our lives are different now,” Carrot Top said, shuffling a grape between her hooves. “We’re…just going to have to learn how to deal with that.”

Luna nodded. She looked back down to her meal, picking at it for a few moments. “You spent so much time with her. I know you never knew her before she…” Luna shook her head. “Tell me, did you see…see anything in her? Any sign of the mare she used to be?”

The six friends looked between each other. Their first reaction had been to say no, instantly. It was a reaction born of growing up with stories of Corona, the Tyrant Sun, for their whole lives. But they had checked themselves, thinking back to their time on Tambelon, their time with Corona. What they had realized about her when she had had them at her total mercy, after they had betrayed her – how she hadn’t harmed them. She had healed them.

“Somewhere,” Ditzy Doo said after a moment. “I think…I think she’s in there somewhere.” She looked to Luna. “But she still has a long, long way to go.”

Luna considered a moment, again focusing on her food rather than the ponies. After several long minutes, Carrot Top thought she saw a small smile on her face, though she wasn’t sure. “I see,” she said, taking in a deep breath, then letting it out. She looked back up to everypony. “Let’s finish brunch,” she said. “And then…we’ll see what comes next.”

---

The crust of the Earth was riddled with natural caves and caverns, air pockets and voids caused by dried underground rivers, imperfections in stone, crystal growth, or even magical interference. They created a twisted maze like no other, full of dead-ends, deadfalls, and loops. The deepest stretches even transcended solid stone and instead became a morass of magma flows that, as far as any being that had ventured into them could tell, just went down and down forever, until its sheer crushing pressure created a deadly tomb from which there was little escape.

These lower domains could be traversed by few mortal creatures, for obvious reasons related to the heat and pressure of flowing magma, not to mention the lack of breathable air. But two creatures that could traverse such depths were salamanders and, if they could find an ingress large enough to accommodate them, dragons.

This particular cavern was near the boundary that separated solid rock from liquid magma, two miles beneath the surface of the world. It was mostly empty space that was hundreds of feet across, its walls composed of rock and crystal, but a deep crevice that stretched down thousands of feet played host to an open wound in the cavern through which magma flowed freely. Through some quirk of its formation, the cavern was full of breathable air, though its current occupants – a quintet of salamanders – did not need to breathe to live. They did need air in order to speak, however, as did their new master.

The salamanders had been waiting for the better part of a week here in this void pocket, their prize contained within a case of solid crystal that would not melt when transported through magma, and magically enchanted to keep its contents cool. Although the five had gone through unspeakable lengths in order to obtain their prize, none of them were near it. None of them particularly wanted to be. They were afraid of it, and rightly so – but for all their fear, they feared the one that had sent them to obtain it, their master, even more.

“How much longer doess he expect uss to wait?” Behir, who lead the salamanders, demanded. “He'ss doing thiss on purposse. Making uss ssuffer.”

One of the salamanders with him, Cerastes, slithered up to his leader. “We sshould leave,” he insisted. “The whole tribe. The dragon can’t hunt uss down – ”

“No, but the alicorn can,” Behir countered, shuddering as he remembered what Celestia had done to Queen Medusa. “The dragon wantss alicornss dead.”

“He wantss uss dead!” Cerastes exclaimed. “We sstole from him for yearss! Dragonss do not forget ssuch thingss!”

Behir was all to aware of that. But he really didn’t see any alternative at the moment. His tribe was totally at the mercy of the alicorn Celestia and the dragon Solrathicharnon. Celesita was not immediately hostile to their continued existence, Solrathicharnon was. But Solrathicharnon could not wipe them out, not while Celestia could easily kill him. Survival for the tribe of salamanders, then, depended on carefully playing the two against each other until an escape option presented itself, or at least until they could make one.

There was a noise from far below. The salamanders started at it, though Behir recovered fairly quickly, going over to the lip of the crevice that lead down to the magma and peering. Climbing from the lava was a massive, red-scaled form: Solrathicharnon the Red, possibly the eldest dragon in all the world. There wasn’t enough room to fly, but that wasn’t an impediment for the dragon as he climbed up the crevice with little effort. It wasn’t long before he managed to lift himself out of the crevice. His gold, blank eyes didn’t look directly at any of the salamanders, who were not so magical as to be perceived by the dragon, but his flaring nostrils told Behir that the dragon was more than aware of their presence.

“Well?” Solrathicharnon asked after a moment, lips curling back. He had not forgotten that the salamanders had stolen from his horde over the years – he simply had chosen not to act upon that fact. Yet.

Behir slithered forward, indicating the other four salamanders behind him to follow with the crystal box. “We found the Charon Gatess,” he said. “We bypasssed the guardian hound. It wassn’t easy, even for uss.”

“I do not care if it was easy, little thieves,” Solrathicharnon responded with a snort. “Did you succeed?”

Behir paused a moment, remembering the trek. Tartaros. Alternatively a kingdom or a prison, it housed some of the greatest evils to have ever tormented the mortal world. Sealed deep beneath the earth, guarded by an immortal monster Ceberus, it was almost impossible for a mortal creature to gain entry. Of course, whoever had designed its defenses had, like so many others throughout history, forgotten the abilities of salamanders. Entering Tartaros was possible only through the Charon Gates, but there was no reason why the Charon Gates had to be approached head-on. The salamanders had melted the stone nearby and slipped past Cerberus without the dog noticing. They had entered the fabled and feared Midnight Castle through its dungeons. Through dusty halls and forgotten passageways, the salamanders had made their way to the throne, and the cell, of the dread Lord Tirek.

And there, they had taken, without Tirek even noticing, for the demon had seemed drained and broken for some reason…

Cerastes opened the crystal box, and Behir withdrew the item contained therein. It was at once slick and yet clinging to the touch, like some kind of tar or oil. It pulsed, like the beat of a heart. Its very sight seemed malignant and evil, and looking at it, all Behir wanted to do was throw it into the magma that lay below, and damn the conseqences to him.

But Behir had to think of more than just himself. He had an entire tribe of salamanders to protect. And so, when the dragon stretched out one claw, palm up and waiting, Behir did the only thing he could.

He gave the Rainbow of Darkness to Solrathicharnon the Red.

The dragon drew his claw up to his face, breathing in deeply. It seemed so simple a thing…a bag, nothing more, to the touch, to the scent. But to his eyes, it glowed – not with light, but with absolute blackness.

Solrathicharnon smiled. “Excellent.”

---

A week has passed since Celestia had ventured to Tambelon, and Celestia had returned to her volcano lair after picking up Zecora and Solrath. The salamanders were still here – she was fairly certain it was a different set than who had been there when she had left, but as long as they were in the palace and ready to convey her commands to their tribe, she had little care for which individual ones were in her palace. Solrathicharnon, too, had made himself scarce not long after Celestia had returned, which was just as well. Celestia was in no mood for his false loyalty.

Zecora had lingered, however, waiting on her as a loyal servant should, though Corona’s orders had been few. She had defeated Grogar, yes, but she had had some rather eventful revelations about the nature of ponies in this day and age, and needed time to contemplate those revelations and the effects they would have on her plans to retake the Throne.

“No armies,” she said as she paced amongst her stolen treasure. “No mercenaries. Unreliable anyway – and we cannot march to war.”

“Of course, O Queen,” Zecora said. She sat at the base of the throne, observing Celestia. Flitting about the roof of the chamber, meanwhile, were a number of phoenixes. The firebirds seemed drawn to Celestia, and the Alicorn of the Sun found their presence…comforting, enough so that she had decided not to risk repulsing them despite their presence being a potential lead for finding her hidden palace. “But then, how to defeat the Princess Selene?”

To herself, Celestia admitted that she was rather impressed that Zecora knew that title for Luna; it was archaic even before Celestia had been trapped in the Sun. Aloud, however, she stopped next to one pile of treasure, which had a small sculpture of a throne. “There are great and powerful artifacts scattered across the land,” she said, reaching out a hoof and touching the throne. “Powerful magic that can be bent to my will. I seem to recall a story of a…mirror, or a pool of water, that could create copies of whomsoever entered it. Or perhaps I can find what Luna did with my throne. It could not have been destroyed…”

Zecora bowed her head in acknowledgment. “I will see what I can learn, your…majesty.”

Celestia looked to see what had led to the pause in Zecora’s speech that had thrown off her meter, and saw the zebra stifling a second yawn. It was late, the alicorn knew – or early, rather. It was nearly dawn. The alicorn made a sweeping motion with one wing. “Go, Zecora. Sleep. All my previous plans have been thrown into chaos. I will call for you when I have created new ones.”

The zebra bowed gratefully, then trotted off. Celestia watched her go a moment, then grunted, resuming her pacing.

She was restless. Grogar had been defeated, yes – but not by her hoof. The Element-bearers, the ponies, had destroyed the lich. Part of Celestia didn’t much care how Grogar had been destroyed, only that he had been – but another part of her could only shake her head in disappointment, not at the ponies, but at herself.

The simple fact was that the ponies who currently bore the Elements were mortal. Even if they could defeat any being that rose to challenge them, they had only…what? Fifty, sixty years left to them? Less if one of them took ill? And then what would happen to the Elements? Who would protect Equestria then? Scattered amongst six ponies, they were so vulnerable…

She needed the throne. She needed the power, to protect everypony, to keep them safe…why couldn’t they see that? Why couldn’t Luna realize that?

Celestia grunted again, looking to the doors to her palace. After a moment’s consideration, her horn glowed, and she teleported outside, into the night air above. Stretching her wings, the alicorn soared around the dormant volcano she currently called home, at length finding a cloud large enough to accommodate her and settling down on it, though making sure to quell the flames of her mane and tail before doing so. The cloud was cool, and so too was the night’s air. It was a…welcome respite, she supposed, from the heat of her caldera. Fire didn’t burn her, no matter how hot, but it could become tiresome.

Celestia’s eyes looked up, at the stars overhead, and the Moon on the distant western horizon. Her sister really did have an artist’s eye. For uncounted millennia the constellations, the positions of the stars, hadn’t really changed, and yet somehow Luna managed to make every night more brilliant than the last, each one a unique gift to her ponies below.

She felt something in her heart – pain. She looked back to the Moon. “Why can’t you understand?” she asked aloud, though her voice was nevertheless low. “You say you want to help me. That is all I want to do for ponies! I want to help! Why can’t you see that?”

The Moon didn’t respond, of course. Luna couldn’t hear her. Right now, the lunar princess would be in Canterlot, guiding the Moon down beyond the horizon, making way for the Sun. Celestia closed her eyes, remembering back when the two of them would stand side-by-side, perform the sacred duty together. Somewhere it had all gone wrong…when Luna had stopped showing up to the balcony room, more than a thousand years ago. She had still lowered the Moon, but had kept herself isolated. That should have been Celestia’s hint, that something was wrong with her sister…

The Moon and the Stars settled beyond the western horizon. Celestia sighed, turning east, waiting for her sister to raise the Sun – her Sun. She could battle for control of it, but doing so would be violent – it would case the Sun to swing wildly through the sky, oscillating between horizons, drawing closer to the world below and being pushed away. Celestia had no doubt that she would triumph in the end – it was her Sun – but she equally had no doubt that it would be a contest measured in days rather than minutes or hours. She didn’t want to frighten her little ponies that much, cause so much unnecessary disruption to their lives…

The alicorn of the Sun paused, frowning. She realized she had been contemplating for several minutes – several entire minutes where the Moon remained beyond the western horizon, but with no sign of the Sun in the east save for a faint glow.

Celestia stood upon her cloud, gazing east. What was…was Luna…?

Cautiously, Celestia set her horn alight, and reached out towards the Sun. She found it easily enough – how could she not? – and, just as easily, felt Luna’s power touching it as well. But only the barest amount, enough to hold onto it but not move it. As Celestia spread her magic through the Sun, Luna’s receded. It wasn’t a retreat; rather, it was more like Luna was passing it to her.

Celestia was still for several long moments, unsure if this was a trick, a trap of some kind. But after waiting for three full minutes without Luna appearing beside her in a flash with the Elements, ready to battle her, Celestia realized what it really was: a gesture of faith.

Was Celestia beginning to get through to Luna? Convince her that what she was doing was right? Was her sister finally beginning to accept that she couldn’t rule Equestria alone, that only Celestia had the strength to be Queen – but that she would be eternally happy to have Luna rule beneath her as Princess?

Celestia closed her eyes, and spread her wings wide, horn glowing brighter. “Thank-you, little sister,” she said, beating her wings and rising into the sky. The Sun followed her ascent.

The Alicorn of the Sun didn’t know Luna’s motivation. But she did know that if she and Luna were ever going to resolve their differences, if Celestia was ever going to show Luna that she was right, then sooner or later they were going to have to trust each other more than just whenever there was a monster that needed battling.

They might as well start here, with the dawn of a new day.

Author's Note:

Done! It's about two hours later than I promised. Sorry about that. But it is done!

Comments ( 85 )

Cautiously, Celestia set her horn alight, and reached out towards the Sun. She found it easily enough – how could she not? – and, just as easily, felt Luna’s power touching it as well. But only the barest amount, enough to hold onto it but not move it. As Celestia spread her magic through the Sun, Luna’s receded. It wasn’t a retreat; rather, it was more like Luna was passing it to her.

Luna... seditious jackal... j'acuse... traitor... Enjoy your moon side seat as Equestria is turned into a new slice of Hell, and I pray somehow the screams of all those you've failed reach your fool ears.:ajbemused:

Second!

Awesome story dude. This ending really gives me hope of ol' sun flanks.

4361615
Celestia...tyrant...despot...tin god...arrogant overlord...Corona, enjoy the fact that your every action cements you as a monster in the minds of those you claim to love, may you bask in loneliness and your insanity. :ajbemused:

4361675
In short... may she rot in the hell she's made for herself

Well, this is interesting. Luna needs to somehow reach out to Celestia in hopes that she can burst through the labyrinth of rage, fear and distrust that is Corona.

4361684
And may you waste away in the mental prison of your own contempt and fears.

Comment posted by Ebony Gryphon deleted May 9th, 2014

Hehe, the scene with Luna getting le bonked was very amusing. At least at this rate perhaps, Luna and Celestia can perhaps be reunited, Celestia is no longer the fire and brimstone madmare, she is more of an overprotective mother now who doesn't realize that her children have grown and can stand up for themselves and that Luna is willing to let her help, but as an equal, not a Queen.

He gave the Rainbow of Darkness to Solrathicharnon the Red.

Awaiting expectantly to the evil mutant army.

“Until we stop Corona,” Cheerilee said. She was wearing a smile, but had put a surprising amount of force behind her words.

That's questionably optimistic given the events of this story. Being an Element Bearer means being an enemy of and target for more than just Corona.

Glad to see they all recognize that Corona changed as a result of the events on the island. Hopefully we'll be getting less insane rants about her from the L6 from here on. (I swear, if Ditzy starts ranting about what happened to Dinky in any story past this point I'm probably going to start drinking.)

Hmn, so Tartarus either contains or simply is Midnight Castle? Neat.

He gave the Rainbow of Darkness to Solrathicharnon the Red.

:rainbowderp::twilightoops:

Yeah, this guy is going to need to be taken down hard in a future story. Any plan that involves the Rainbow of Darkness is probably a plan that makes you irredeemable.

A different set of salamanders waiting for her in Corona's lair? I have a feeling that it didn't end well for the set that stole the Rainbow. Dead salamanders tell no tales, after all.

Hmn, so Celestia’s former throne has a certain power of its own? Interesting.

And Luna let her sister raise the sun? How literally and metaphorically wonderful. :pinkiehappy:

4361615
You remember that Corona doesn't want to cause eternal day, right?

That was amazing, I think the scene with Corolestia was the most powerful, but the Salamanders and L!6 were fantastic as well, not a weak moment in this chapter really. The L!6's fears and nerves after everything they went through, Luna using her greater experience to guide and comfort them was great.

I did not see that coming, even slightly, oh the dragon betraying Corona, or trying to, sure, but not this, this is a massive upset if the Rainbow is as powerful as it was in the original series. I can't imagine where you're taking it, but I can't wait to see. (Part of me wonders if Discords going to be reserved for S3 starter villain territory now as opposed to S2 season finale villain.) I could roll with that.

Coronalestia's own improvements, but still shudder inducing levels of madness and misunderstandings was magnificent, lovely and unsettling at the same time a perfect blend.

I just had a thought, seeing as we do seem to have episode numbers, what if, assuming the "following episode" has been started or completed, we provide a link at the end of each story?

4362292
That's not a bad idea...

4362294
Thanks :pinkiehappy: Happy to contribute.

4362268
Oh, I know! And sorry... I may have been a little harsh, but hear me out.

She just handed off control of perhaps the most vital resource any world has to an incredibly imbalanced mare. Kinda seems she's letting her sentiment get in the way of common sense,

4362356 Or think about it as progressive therapy. By letting her do certain tasks that are important to her (moving the sun), Luna is showing Corolestia that she still cares for her despite the current situation. By simple gestures like this, it will open Corona a bit more to not being so hostile.

Oh, wow. This was a lovely end to a lovely story. Brunch with Luna was sweet, and her question was heartwrenching. Then you gave Celestia's thoughts at the end - and Luna giving her back the sun... it was just beautiful. She's so broken, but she's a step closer to who she used to be - and I eagerly await the end of the Lunaverse S2. Overall, this was a great read, and I'm glad to have followed it.

Also, the Rainbow of Darkness. Oh dear.

Top notch stuff right here.:pinkiegasp:

And so our true queen rises to the fore! Solaris Invictus!

:trollestia:

He gave the Rainbow of Darkness to Solrathicharnon the Red.

Well, that's about a 9.5 out of 10 on the oh-crap-ometer. :twilightoops:

In any case, a fantastic close to the season opener. Thank you for this, RDD. It was an outstanding piece by all accounts.

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And you know why? because the RoD is Tirek´s One Ring... so by bringing it to Equestria Solrathicharnon is giving The Liar and Thief the means spread his influence over the land and eventually gain enough power to escape from Tartarus.
Ahhh, the old "Evil is not a Toy". I wouldn´t be surprised if Solry ends consumed by the Black Rainbow and turned into a brainwashed monster to Tirek´s beck and call.

Loved this epilogue! It was a good end.

Only an Alicorn could consider giving another Alicorn control over one of the heavenly bodies a first step in extending trust. Still, there is enough sanity in Celestia to see this as a gesture of faith rather than a long scheme of betrayal, and perhaps this will be one more step towards her eventual return.

The more I think about it the more I love that Luna passed responsibility for managing the sun back over to her sister. I'm not exaggerating when I say I've been grinning all morning from that development.

Is this the opening story of season two? It rather has the feel of a season opener considering everything that happened in it.

4362811 or a new body for the Tirek to replace his broken one!

4363323
Yep, though RDD took a long time to write it, this is the opening story for Season 2.

"But two creates that"
creatures

Wow! What an ending! : D I've been seriously enjoying this story, but right now I'm not really getting a feel for the entirety, considering the time that has passed since the first chapter. Not that I'm complaining; this is definitely one of your better ones, but I need to re-read in order to fully appreciate it : ) Thank you so much for your enormous effort! Reading your stories is always a positive experience ^^

Huh. I thought ol' Ty had been discorporated, or something along those lines. Didn't know he was stuck in his castle.
:derpytongue2:
Guess I should'a been paying more attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGb_4oWXVnc
That's all I see instead of the dragon. Lol.

He gave the Rainbow of Darkness to Solrathicharnon the Red.

This is going to end... badly.

my-walls.org/wallpapers/2013/01/Dragons-World-Of-Warcraft-Deathwing-Artwork-Cool-Games-900x1440.jpg

JAG

I really like Luna's gesture of faith and goodwill at the end, there. It was a perfect note to conclude on.

Beautiful ending to this story. The only thing I wish is that such things had happened with Celestia before to show she had more of a chance at redemption and was more a tragic figure. That being stronger in her introduction would've only made everything stronger. Barring that concern this was a great story. Did drag slightly in the middle, but overall very solid and I'm eager to see the next story that moves this universe along. Honestly, though I would like to see another glimpse of the past though. More of what Luna and Celestia went through. Perhaps through the eyes of Trixie. Luna getting lost in a dream or something and the L-6 having to save her and seeing more of their past through that mechanic. Something like that would be very nice to experience.

Slowly but surely, Celestia shall return....

4368422

More of what Luna and Celestia went through.

In fact, the upcoming Penultimatum (the one set immediately before the season finale) is going to be based around that. Specifically it's going to give insight into the events around Celestia snapping and Luna having to steal the Elements from her.

4370157
Great! I look forward to reading it then! Now please give me a semi-public place we can meet so I can stand behind you with a whip until it's done. :)

Gotta ask, was Bray's ultimate fate meant to be a cautionary example as to how Corona could end up if she "wins" the way she wants to?

All in all, glad this story got finished.

That climax was just UNF so good, almost too crazy.

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Gotta ask, was Bray's ultimate fate meant to be a cautionary example as to how Corona could end up if she "wins" the way she wants to?

Nah, I just thought it was funny.

4362694 Really? It's only a 6.3 on mine...oh wait I have it set on General Multiversal Basis, not Local Universal Basis. *click* There we go, I'm getting a 9.4 now.

The RainBow Of Darkness is dangerous both to its bearer and targets. I see no way that is can possibly go wrong.

4361615 You know... I'll be the first to say Celestia's eventual coming around can't be easy, or a bunch of other things that will get me yelled at, but dude!

Anyway... yeah. I do have some problems. They're ones I don't think I'll get over, at least right away. But overall... great fic. Thumb-up from me. Good to see Celestia kicked in the face! :rainbowlaugh:

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Which is why sometimes it's nice to have supreme judicial authority...:twilightsmile:

4500841
I don't mind. Though I would be grateful if maybe you could drop a link back to this story?

Sorry for the delay in posting this comment

Just wanted to say that this was a great finish to a great opening story of Season two. It was grand and epic, like all season openers should be, but still took the time delve into the characters emotionally. It also helped to set the tone for how this season is going to play out.

I do agree that this more sympathetic approach to Corona is a lot better way to go with her, especially if we were hoping to redeem her.

I will admit that solrath is starting to intrigue me. It would be interesting to see what he does next. I could see him remaining as an antagonist even after Corona gets redeemed.

Thank you for another awesome story. :pinkiehappy:

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It's actually just a saying that I myself use whenever I'm feeling down.

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The Quorum of Canon.

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To prevent fatigue, and to prevent him from overshadowing the Lunaverse's other significant villains, like Corona.

4567292
To be fair, this is Corona's opinion of her, so it's reasonable that the Tyrant Sun would exaggerate the negative.

So, chapter titles taken from Bayblon 5? I can dig it.

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