Point of No Return

by Wild_Heart

Ninth Adjournment

The resistance had believed all was lost. Their leaders were gone, their spell had technically failed, and the elements were most likely gone. There had been a debate among them, and the majority had decided to turn themselves in, so that the populace might be spared Queen Nyx's wrath. A few had left already, though for different reasons: they were not ready to make such a sacrifice. These deserters were spared resentment, for to march to one's own certain death required more than the usual amount of resolve one could expect of a pony.

It could be said that a coward's own actions always leads to their own downfall, besides. And that was proven when Applejack and Trixie teleported into the ritual chamber, and with them were the rest of the Elements of Harmony. Silver stood with mouth agape, as the ritual he was leading was completely ruined by the arrival of ponies they all thought to be dead. The designs on the stone floor let off a surge of magic that ruffled manes, as a wind blew from the room and down the hall. "What - I don't - Commander?!" Thankfully, the others present were quicker to regain their presence of mind, and a cheer rang out among them. Rainbow Dash puffed her chest out, and fluttered above the rest of the group, enjoying the looks of wonder she got from just being there.

"Yea, I know, I'm awesome. Don't all crowd me at once, th-AAGH!" She yelped out as Applejack tugged her back down by her tail. The farmpony gave her a disapproving glare, and Dash shuffled her hooves and coughed. "Uh, well. I do autographs too."

The farm-pony rolled her eyes, then called attention to herself by clearing her throat. "Silver, we ain't got much time ta explain. We're gonna march on the palace. We might be outmatched and outgunned, but we got all of us together now, and we're not gonna lose this chance."

Trixie looked about the chamber while her lover spoke, raising a brow. "This was a sending ritual. What were you doing?"

The stallion bowed his head. "I am sorry, but we were about to surrender ourselves to Queen Nyx. We did not want any innocent lives to be lost on our account. You disrupted the ritual at it's apex, and it seems... It seems it went off despite being unfinished. Nightmare Moon will receive it shortly, no doubt, and be on her way here."

Rarity started with a look of horror on her face, and Fluttershy bowed her head, sniffling. Rainbow Dash jumped in front of Silver, butting heads with the stallion as she growled out, "Well, that's just-"

"PERFECT!" Both the pegasus and unicorn jumped at the outburst, their eyes turning to a grinning Pinkie. Beside her, Applejack had an equally wide smile. "That's just what we need, Mr. Unicorn!"

The resistance commander's underling only reacted with confusion. "E-Excuse me?"

Applejack turned to her friends, looking as triumphant as a pony could. "Nightmare Moon ain't gonna underestimate us, after all the trouble we caused. She'll send a lotta soldiers out here to come fetch us all."

"Applejack, dear, I really do think that is a bad thing," Rarity carefully offered, just as bewildered at the farm-pony's declaration. Fluttershy, however, smiled as she realized what Applejack was getting at.

"Nope! Not in the slightest! See, when she sends that army out for us, we won't be here. And that's one less thing to worry about when we storm her castle! Get ready, everypony. We're gonna need to get a new ritual together. We're gonna get all of us to Ponyville as soon as we can!"

Silver was less enthusiastic about this plan. "Commander, teleporting an army? That simply isn't possible without an enormous amount of power."

"So instead," Trixie stepped forward to speak. "A portal ritual. We'll go through."

The stallion liked this idea even less, and grit his teeth. "Miss Trixie, such a ritual would require all of those casting it to stay put. We would be captured."

"I-It's alright..." The resistance members in the room curiously looked about for the source of that soft voice. Fluttershy, however, was hiding behind Rarity as she continued, "They want you alive... I-If you just surrender, you won't be hurt before we use the Elements. W-We promise." When Silver hesitated, she slipped out into view, and unsurely strode forward. "Please. We have to save Equestria, and this is the only way!"

Silver couldn't take those pleading eyes. He felt as though ignoring the pegasus's request would be breaking some inviolable rule of the universe. With a defeated sigh, he nodded. "We were expecting to be captured either way. At least now it will serve a purpose beyond martyrdom." He turned to the others. "All who are willing and able to perform this ritual, join me in preparing it. Everypony else, go with the Commander through the portal once we say it is safe. As for all of you," he said to the gathered Elements, "You don't seem to have what you need."

"Yeeeea..." Applejack rubbed the back of her head, with a sheepish look. "About that..."

"Oh, don't let that worry you, darling!" Rarity beamed as she put in, "I can get those back. I'll simply need a distraction, and an army at the palace gates is a very good distraction indeed!" Dash glanced over to the unicorn, one brow raised.

"Yea, about that. How did you get to be so good at picking-"

"Oh, Rainbow Dash, let's not waste the gentlecolt's time when he has a ritual to perform! Now, is there a place I could possibly straighten out my mane while I wait?" Rarity beamed, her smile unconvincingly nervous. Trixie cleared her throat before Rainbow could press the subject, and nodded to the door. As she began leading the way, Rarity quickly followed suit, very grateful for the assistance.

"Just you wait, Rarity! I'm gonna find out eventually," the weather-pony called after her, even as the door slammed shut.

---

"I want you on your best behavior, Nyx," Twilight stated to the filly hitching a ride on her back. "This is going to be hairy enough as it is, so I can't afford any problems." She'd considered hiding her daughter elsewhere, but eventually had to dismiss the idea. Twilight didn't want to think about what might happen if one of the guards or servants in the palace found the young pony and caused a ruckus. Nyx would be best off with her.

"Yes, momma." The young alicorn was still very confused about what was going on here, but her mother had assured her it would make sense soon. For her part, the mare was very glad Nyx had been so quiet. As it was, she had problems getting past the checkpoint at the top of the stairs leading to the jail. She had, quite simply, forgotten it was there due to the stress of her conversation with her friends. That was solved with an easy illusion, an invisibility spell, but she hadn't had time to explain that to Nyx before casting it. Twilight had talked her way out of that by assuring the guards that the surprised squeak had come from a mouse that scurried by just then. There'd been a small hole just above one of the steps, so they'd bought it. The filly was visible again now, but her mother moved quickly enough that no one could get a good look at the black shape on her back.

When Twilight came to the door she was searching for, her heart was pounding. She hoped the shock of Queen Nyx seeing... Well, herself would help her dodge awkward questions when the unconscious guard came too. With all luck, he might have a concussion, the unicorn thought. She almost instantly berated herself for that, since she wouldn't want to wish that on anyone. After all, what if Celestia had a concussion? That would have been just awful.

She raised her hoof and knocked. The response was a quiet, "Shhh", and Twilight tilted her head, but slowly opened the door. Queen Nyx had been smiling at a small lump under the blankets of her bed, she herself laying behind it with her legs under her. Twilight was about to inquire about the shape when a loud gasp came from her back. That sudden noise, no doubt from the filly Nyx seeing her adult counterpart, drew the monarch's attention, and she widened her eyes, staring. "What on Equestria?" The two regarded each other with absolute shock, and some degree of fear. The young Nyx saw what she most feared in herself once, and the elder was forced to face, once more, a past she would rather just forget.

Twilight felt very awkward being stuck in the middle of this. She sighed, lifted the foal from her back, and whisked her to the bed to sit next to her older counterpart. "Nyx, meet yourself, I guess. I found her on the way back here. She must have found a way to come after me." Queen Nyx was too taken aback by this meeting to respond, and her younger self broke the silence.

"Does this make you happy?" The accusation in that voice was sharp, and Twilight facepalmed.

"Nyx, I said to be on your best behavior-"

"But I'm not," the foal retorted, looking to her mother before glaring up at the tall alicorn, who was now sitting up on her haunches, pushing herself back as if to escape the harsh look. "You should be ashamed of yourself! Didn't you learn anything when momma-"

"M-Mother?" The foal looked to the source of the quiet voice, and both she and Twilight gaped at the white unicorn who rose from the blankets, wiping her left eye with a hoof. "What's going on...?"

It was now Twilight's turn to be stunned into silence, as Queen Nyx tried to give Adagia a reassuring smile that only managed to look nervous. "Nothing, Adagia. Go back to sleep."

"I'm not tired anymore, mother," she replied as she looked to the two guests in the room. The young alicorn smiled as their eyes met, forgetting the lecture she was about to deliver.

"Hi! I'm Nyx, what's your name?"

If Adagia was shocked by the resemblance of form or name to her mother, she didn't show it. She shyly smiled and answered, "A-Adagia... It's nice to meet you, Nyx."

The older alicorn saw her chance, and took it. "Why don't you take your new friend to your room? You may play until you're tired again, but I don't want you staying up too long."

Adagia smiled and nodded, hopping off of her mother's bed before waving a hoof to the filly still upon it. "Want to play with me...?"

"Sure!" Nyx leaped from the bed too, and the two foals trotted off together. With a sigh of relief, the monarch let herself drop to her bed, flat on her stomach with legs spread out. Twilight watched the two fillies leave with a worried expression, but turned back to her other "daughter". She stood on her hind-legs, bracing herself with her fore-legs on the edge of the mattress, and laid her own chin atop the blankets.

"So, yea. My daughter."

"I'm your daughter." Queen Nyx's eyes were closed, but the lids trembled, and Twilight could see tears forming in the corners. Whether that was from her other self's rebuke, or Twilight's statement, the unicorn couldn't venture to say.

"Yes, Nyx, you are. But you don't need me as much as she does. I still don't agree with what you've done," said Twilight, shaking her head slowly, "But I'm proud of how strong you've become in my absence. You don't need me anymore."

"I don't want you to leave." She opened her eyes, and moved her head to face the unicorn.

Twilight sighed, and pressed her snout gently to the alicorn's much larger muzzle in an attempt to comfort her. As Queen Nyx didn't flinch away, she counted that as a success. "It's not just her. My friends need me. I'm the Element of Magic, I have responsibilities to them and to Equestria." She lifted her head a bit, and looked as stern as she could. "Just like you have responsibilities to your kingdom."

The monarch scoffed, and raised her head again. "I am fulfilling them. Those rebels shall die."

"Is that for your kingdom, or your pride?" Twilight didn't mean to sound so accusing, yet it hit home in her daughter.

"My kingdom!" The alicorn rose to her full height, spreading her wings out threateningly. "Do you think I wish my subjects to starve? To languish? To stagnate so?"

"You're the one who made this mess in the first place!" Twilight couldn't help her anger at this point. She jumped to her four hooves, and all but pressed her face into that of the dark queen's. "Your eternal night made their crops fail! It made them cold and scared! Not the rebellion!"

"The rebellion keeps them from accepting my rule," she retorted coldly, turning her nose up a bit, "Their dissolution will show my subjects that accepting my help is the only option. I will protect them, and cause them to prosper. What has this foalish resistance done to help them at all?!"

Twilight smirked, though there was no joy in it. Only spite. She jerked one of her saddlebags open, and lifted out a note. "You're right. They haven't done anything but call your 'righteous wrath' down on them." Almost at once, Nyx's wings folded back against her sides, and she stared with wide, fearful eyes at that scrap of paper. It could only be one thing, according to Twilight's reaction to it. The alicorn's mouth dried up, as she struggled to find the words to deny everything as Twilight began reading, "An order from H.R.M., Queen Nyx: A battle-group 100 strong are to surround the village of Halter's Way, which has been chosen for its distance from both Ponyville and Canterlot, and take it into custody." Twilight's voice cracked, her anger slowly bringing tears to her eyes. "Every Stallion, Mare, and foal are to be held for 2 weeks under martial law, then escorted back to Ponyville and be declared resistance members, then executed, unless the fugitive Applejack and all of her personnel surrender to the mercy and justice of Queen Nyx."

The unicorn threw the paper to the floor, and glared up at her daughter. Her purple cheeks were stained a darker shade by tears, and she grit her teeth, speaking through them with a growl, "How could you? That's going too far, Nyx. I can't believe you would do that!"

The larger alicorn shrank back, and lowered herself. Watching such a large pony curl up like a frightened foal under the rage of somepony so small in comparison would have been comical, were it not for the circumstances. Nyx trembled, stammering out her explanation. "I-I would rather h-have a few die if it saves the m-many. If they listened to me in the first place...!"

"YOU CAN'T BLAME THIS ON THEM!" Twilight stamped a hoof, it thudding onto the sheets. "You made this decision, not them! Those ponies are innocent, and you know it!" She panted a bit, chest heaving as she glared down at the quivering ball of black fur. Nyx had no reply, and Twilight seethed in silence for a few moments, before pressing the matter. "You aren't going to say anything? You won't even change your mind?"

"Mother... I-" She was cut off by a sharp rapping at the door. The alicorn forced herself up, trying to look perfectly natural. She barely bit back a sob as she called out, "What is it?"

Spitfire's voice came from the other side of the door. "Your Majesty, we just received a message from a sending ritual. The resistance has surrendered, and we know their location. What are your orders?"

Twilight stared, dumbfounded, as Nyx's expression brightened. "Wonderful! I want a battalion of troops to move to that location and capture them immediately."

The pegasus hesitated a bit at that, before continuing. "An entire battalion? Are you sure? I mean, these guys are trouble, but..."

"Spitfire. It may be a trick. They'll expect us to underestimate them, and I've already made that mistake far too many times. Yes, an entire Battalion. However," She added with a smile. "I want you and my other lieutenants to remain on the palace grounds, just in case. I hope that allows you more confidence in my safety?"

"Yes, your Majesty! I'll get right on it." As the pegasus trotted away from the door, Nyx beamed at her mother.

"See, now? It didn't come to that. We won. It won't happen."

Her smile instantly faded at her mother's next words. "You still ordered it in the first place." An awkward silence prevailed as Queen Nyx bowed her head. As time passed, and Twilight let her anger cool, she tried to break that silence. "So. You have a daughter."

Nyx lifted her head just slightly, regarding the lavender mare. "Adagia? She was adopted. I wanted to..." Provide for a foal, be a mother myself. Not abandon her. "... I wanted to know what motherhood was like."

"That's not a good reason to become a mother."

Do you just want more stones to sling at me? Despite her inner monologue, Nyx couldn't work up the will to be truly angry with the unicorn. After all, as Nyx spoke aloud, "You're right. It isn't. I realize that. But I've been a good mother. At least... I've tried to be. I've provided for her, but I didn't spoil her. I give her affection."

"Do you love her?" Twilight looked up to the alicorn with a suspicious expression. Queen Nyx wilted from it, wondering why she couldn't at least stand up to the mare.

"I... I suppose? Mother, please... Please stop trying to hurt me like this. I am sorry for what I've done, I really am, but I couldn't go back on it..."

"Those orders," Twilight began, making Nyx wince once more, expecting more venom, "Were very interesting in how they were phrased, weren't they?"

"I don't understand."

"It says specifically for for resistance to surrender themselves to the mercy of Queen Nyx," Twilight reminded as she walked to the bedroom's door, "I hope you remember what that word means."

The alicorn shuddered, but as the door opened, something inside of her started a fire. Something in her mind growled at her to grow a spine. It told her she was a goddess, not some foal to be scolded and punished. She pulled herself up, and scowled. "I do. And I hope they remember it well when I offer each of them a quick death, instead of the slow, torturous demise they had to offer my subjects at the hand of starvation and freezing. And I hope you remember it when I remind you of how you attacked me, Twilight Sparkle, when I was at my most vulnerable."

Twilight only offered the monarch a cold glare over her shoulder. "You really are a monster now." She slammed the door on her way out. Nyx, Queen Nyx, mistress of the night, Mare in the Moon, goddess and ruler of Equestria, collapsed onto her bed, and wept.

Comments

[Marching Thunder]

wow, important chapter. and glad to finally see an update.

[Rhulain]

Its not long enough.

[Wild_Heart]

120524

Is a build-up chapter. Next chapter? Action. LOTS OF ACTION. And it'll be pretty long.

[Lucefudu]

This is alive! PRAISE THE GODS!

[Zobeid]

Very happy to see this update!

Also surprised to find out the orders from Queen Nyx were genuine. I figured it was some kind of hoax. That really casts a dark(er) shadow over the whole story. But then, I have to remind myself she still has NMM's corruption skewing her personality and views of everything.

Which reminds me. If there's anything that seems to be missing here, it's any attempt by Twilight or by Nyx The Younger to explain to Queen Nyx about the true nature of NMM and how it was purged in the other dimension. I'd think that's sort of important for her to know.

[Wild_Heart]

120653

Twilight was too upset to bring it up, and so was little Nyx. It'll come up in the next chapter.

[Silvertie]

Nice to see this is alive - I do enjoy quality.

[Dream Catcher]

Hmmm... Nice interpretation, I must say. Good on you, and please keep up the good work. Personally, I have no idea why this isn't 5/5 stars across the board. I haven't noticed any errors, the story's good, we have emotional conflict (though at times, perhaps not as strong as it could be - it comes across as a little rushed at times - given, you can only build up so much without being redundant, and especially so if a precedent was already set), and it flows well. Sure, it's no Past Sins, but that's because the title is Point of No Return. Anyway, some of the things that come across as weak are probably like that because of a lack of information and development. Because we missed 6 or so years or events, it can be harder for us to fill in the gaps, and thus characters or actions may seem a bit shallower (in accordance with my opinion on some emotional events that may seem a bit weak - I.E., Nightmare Nyx crying in this chapter without us seeing a torrent of other associated emotions, which is due to any number of factors) - but with all things considered, I think this is great, and I hope the above wall of text helps you out, even if marginally, Wild Heart.

[Sgt. Brony]

I'm surprised that Queen Nyx didn't noticed younger Nyx's cutie mark, being how she is a blank flank.

[Wild_Heart]

123568

No fic is perfect, and while the petty side of me would like to say it's not five stars just because people hate Past Sins, as you said, the fic does have problems.

127484

She didn't really get a good look.

...Yea, I have no good excuse for that.

[Jirodyne]

Hmmm..... Why no update?! It's been... *checks first comment for chapter* over 5 weeks, and 2 days!

[Wild_Heart]

225483
It's left up to the reader to decide how much foul play is involved there. The next chapter, Dash and Spitfire will be duking it out, so stay tuned for that.

225601
CHeck my blog. When it updates, everyone who is tracking my stories gets notified. I want you to read it because I leave progress notes there, since quite a few people told me I shouldn't just make notification chapters.

[Ali della Morte]

Silver couldn't take those pleading eyes."

Shouldn't that be pleading eye?