Chapter 01: "The night is long..."
The halls echoed with the hoofsteps of guards as they made their patrols through the Canterlot Castle. The flames of the streetlights danced as the quiet wind gently nudged and played with their light. Princess Luna stood atop her tower in the north wing of the castle to guide the moon across the starry ocean of the sky. The warm air of a late spring night blew through her dark mane and with a restful sigh; she sank to her pillow and began her watch.
“O’ see, O’ see, at the forest’s end, there’s the smallest of trees and the plains without end. And look, yes see, out beyond the trees you will find the greenest pastures…” She whispered as she gazed out across the sleeping city. ‘The Summer Sun Celebration is only days away. Has it really been ten years since my return?’ She bit her lip as she fought back the tears and dark thoughts that crept into her mind from dark corners. ‘And still no one yet trusts me…’ The dark alicorn stood and paced her tower. ‘Have they not seen how much I have changed? How much I care for them? My subjects, my little ponies…’ She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the tip of her wing.
‘Maybe I haven’t changed, even after this time,’ she thought with a shiver. She gazed skyward and stared longingly at the moon, the silent beauty and soft glow calmed Luna’s mind and soothed her heart. She smiled and whispered softly, “Mother, I know you are watching over us from the Ever After. I hope you see me and how much I’ve grown.” A tear fell from her eye and she could no longer keep hold of her emotions as she went on. “I hope I have made you proud, mother. I miss you so much…”
. . .
Princess Celestia watched from a nearby window as her sister wept. The soft light of the moon reflected off Luna’s tears as if they were calming kisses from mother herself. Celestia knew her sister’s pain. For the one thousand years Luna had been locked away, Celestia had many sleepless nights where she sent her guards away from her door and wept for their mother.
Luna had never known their father. He had been a captain in the royal army during the war against the dragons. Captain Skyforge fought bravely in that war for many decades. Sadly, the great pegasus never returned home. He and all of the stallions with him were lost to dragonfire before the war’s end. Celestia still remembered the nights when she could hear her mother praying to the stars for his safe return. One year after Luna was born, the news came. Their mother was never the same after that.
There was a sudden rush of air and a glow of red light as Celestia’s pet phoenix flew into the room and perched on her shoulder. Philomena nuzzled her master’s cheek and cooed softly in her ear. The warmth radiating from her body brought a smile to Celestia’s face.
‘I should do something for her,’ Celestia thought to herself as she turned from the window. “Maybe, some ice cream and talking it out will make her feel better. What do you think, Philomena?” She asked. Philomena cawwed in enthusiastic agreement.
Celestia brought a wing to her chin as she passed through the halls in the direction of the castle’s kitchen. ‘Vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry?’
. . .
“Shining Armor, I don’t want to go without you two. You’re my family and you should be there. This is the future of Equestria we’re talking about,” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle as she paced back in forth in her chambers. The soft blue glow of the fireplace illuminated the room, as King Shining Armor pulled his face from his hooves.
“Twiley, I explained this to you this over and over again, I’m not leaving without Cadance,” he said as he stood and approached her bedroom window. He stared out toward the south for a moment, took a deep breath of the sweet cold air of the Crystal Empire, and turned back to look at his alicorn sister.
‘She’s grown so much,’ he thought to himself as he reflected on the last few years while watching his sister pace. Her intelligent violet eyes, which had at one time sparkled with curiosity and wonder, now burned with determination and passion. She was just as tall as he was now, most alicorn were. However, there was something about his little sister being so mature now that warmed his heart. Shining Armor couldn’t help but smile.
The world seemed to fall back into place all at once as he crossed the room and rested his hoof on the shoulder of his frustrated little sister. “Twiley,” he said softly. “Don’t worry about this. Philomena has already carried the letter off to the princesses. What’s done is done.” Twilight’s brow furrowed and she opened her mouth to protest. Shining Armor pressed a hoof to her lips and shushed her.
“No,” he said in a soft, calm voice. “You don’t need me there, Twiley. Cadance hasn’t been feeling like herself and she hardly sleeps. I have to stay here and take care of her and the children, you know this. Why do you keep fighting me?” Twilight took a step back, disharmed by her brother’s demeanor. She dropped her head and stared at her hooves shod in gold shoes. The howling of the cold northern punctuated the silence between them.
Twilight’s lower lip trembled and her eyes stung with tears. She sniffled and Shining embraced his little sister. “Shh, shh, it’s okay Twiley. It’s okay… Tell me what’s wrong. I’m here.” he whispered. Twilight cried brokenly in her brother’s hooves until she was able to speak. “I’m sorry, It’s just- all of this! I- I don’t know what’s going to happen and I’m… I just don’t know. I feel like if I g- If I go, I’ll never see you again! I’ll never see my BBBFF again!” She stared into his eyes with an undeniable fear. The look sent a chill through Shining’s heart and he pulled her tighter to his chest.
“Twiley, nothing is gonna happen to me,” he said, trying hard to control his breathing. The fear she felt was starting to gnaw away at him from within. “Just go to the summit for us, and when it’s finished you can come back home and we can take care of Cadance. Okay?” He said with a smile only a shaken heart could force.
Twilight sniffled again and returned his false smile with a genuine one before hugging her brother again. ‘It was enough,’ he thought to himself as he left her room and entered the dimly lit hallway.
. . .
Shining Armor slipped into his quarters as quietly as he could, hoping not to wake his wife. To his surprise, and dismay, he found her pacing back and forth infront of the foot of the bed. He entered the soft light of the burning candles aligning the walls and thought to himself, ‘I guess it’s true what they say about birds and feathers.’ He chuckled softly and approached his clearly distraught queen.
“My Armor,” Cadance said as she stopped her pacing, meeting him halfway across the room with a warm embrace. “I am so glad you’re here. The general just left and….” She paused for a moment before continuing. “How is Twilight?”
Shining Armor closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “She doesn’t want to go to Canterlot alone,” he said softly while brushing his hoof through Cadance’s mane. “She is afraid that she won’t be able to return once she leaves. She’ll… miss us all, greatly,” he lied.
Cadance pulled away from Shining Armor and huffed in agitation. “Perhaps she has reason to fear,” she said with a malice that took Shining Armor by surprise.
“What do you mean by THAT?” he asked.
Cadance scoffed, “Surely you cannot be ignorant to this, Shining Armor. That ‘Princess Luna’ is nothing more than a liar.” She poked a hoof to his chest and said, “I saw the way she was eyeing our throne. The way she speaks is nothing but honey laced with poision.” Cadance looked out her window to the south, towards Canterlot and shook her head. “She wants nothing more than to invade our home and enslave our people! I doubt that Celestia would even attempt to stop her this time around… She’d give Luna OUR home and OUR people while she keeps the rest of Equestria!”
Shining Armor advanced to his wife’s side and said, “How can you say this? We ARE a part of Equestria! Celestia and Luna has been nothing but kind and loving to us and our family. How can you speak ill of your aunts at a time like this?”
Cadance rounded on her husband, nostrils flared. She screamed, “They are not my family! The only family I have are here! You, Twilight, the children, and our people are the only family I need!” The candles flickered and a rush of dark energy filled the air around Cadance before being absorbed into her form. “I won’t let anyone stop me from protecting what is mine, not even the princesses!” She shouted as the room shook and the large bookshelf was sent crashing to the ground. The floor of the bedroom cracked and the crystal walls splintered, as the sound of rushing wind and evil laughter resonated in Shining’s ears.
Shining Armor turned and bolted out of the room and down the corridor shouted for the guards as he went to find Twilight. ‘She’d know what to do, she has to…’ he thought.
As he made his way to the castle courtyard the ground below him split open and the crystal flagstone slanted down, sending him sliding into the open maw crackling with dark energy.
. . .
Luna’s ears perked up and she turned her attention to the north. “No,” she whispered as a cold bead of sweat rolled across her brow. “This cannot be.” She turned toward the castle and hesitated. ‘If they have returned I am the only one who can confront them,’ she thought. She glanced back towards the Crystal Empire and her heart sank. She didn’t want to confront her demons alone, but Luna knew that any reservations she had needed to be set aside. The more time she spent thinking or going to find her sister, the more lives could be lost. ‘Just like last time,’ she thought bitterly.
Luna spread her wings and, with a single flap, to the air. She flew as hard and as fast as her wing could carry her. “I won’t let that monster have another chance to them again,” she cried as she raced to the Crystal Empire.
. . .
Twilight Sparkle jumped out of the window of her room and took flight. She circled the Crystal Castle just as the tower housing the royal quarters crashed to the streets in a heap. “No!” She screamed as she sped to the collapsed tower. Twilight skidded to a halt upon landing and flung stone after stone away, with her telekinesis. “Please no, please be okay!”
“Princess Sparkle, over here,” came the muffled voice of the general pony Iron Bar from beneath the rubble. Twilight stepped up her digging and spotted a tuft of the general’s dark gray mane. “Hold on,” she shouted.
Taking a step back she sent a burst of telekinetic energy through the section of rubble. General Iron Bar was in the fetal position under the fallen tower when Twilight uncovered him. Blood seeped from his fresh wounds and his right hind leg was bleeding profusely where a large slab of crystal had crushed it until it was pinched completely off. Twilight winced sympathetically as she stared down at the bloody and broken stallion. He just smiled back.
“I saved them,” he said. “I saved the children.” He uncurled from his balled up position and reveal two colts no older than six years old. Twilight’s eyes brimmed with tears as she levitated her nephews away from the downed tower. “I was so worried,” she whispered as she nuzzled the two sniffling ponies. She glanced back down at the writhing stallion as he hacked up blood. “Oh, Celestia… I’ll- I’ll go get help,” she said as her eyes darted frantically over his wounds.
She turned to go find a doctor, the colts safe on her back, but felt a hoof on her back leg. She stopped and glanced back to the gray stallion as he shook his head in protest. “No, my princess. Get the children to safety. I will find King Shining Armor. He disappeared after giving the command to evacuate the castle, and it is my duty to ensure his and the queen’s safety,” he said as he struggled to rise to his hooves. Twilight didn’t have the heart to say no to the brave stallion. With a nod, she flew away from Iron Bar and the Crystal Castle to find a safe place for her nephews.
. . .
Twilight flapped her wings and took off into the cold night air of the tundra. She still needed to find her brother, and the situation at the castle was rapidly deteriorating. There wasn’t a moment to lose. “Don’t worry my Twilight, I will take good care of them. And if worse comes to worse… I know the what to do,” the shy yellow pegasus said in a low voice as she watched her friend go.
Twilight trusted that Fluttershy and knew she would do whatever it took to keep Sword and Shield safe from harm. Her concerns now were finding the rest of her family and stopping whoever was attacking the Crystal Empire. Once Twilight ascended beyond the crest of the wall on the southeast side the city, she could see the ball of dark magical energy beginning to diperse. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw what was contained within.
“C-Cadance?” she gasped. The once kind eyes of her foal-sitter were now alien and full of hatred. Twilight could barely recognize her anymore. She had never seen anypony who heart had been so given to hate before.
Princess Sparkle descended to the broken courtyard and flew over the crystal city as crowds of ponies filled the street, climbing over one another to get out of their queen’s path of destruction. Twilight levitated as many colts and fillies back to their hooves before they were trambled beneath the desperate crowd. Sadly, she was only one pony and could do nothing to save the many who needed her. Twilight’s heart skipped a beat everytime she heard a young one’s cry go silent. She knew what that meant, but there was nothing she could do.
“Twiley! Twiley, over here!” Shining Armor called. “I need you!” Twilight spotted her brother on the far side of the crowd, waving his hooves to get her attention. She swooped down, tears pouring from her eyes as she buried her face into his chest. “Br-brother, I was so w-worried,” she cried brokenly as he held her. “It’s Cadance! She’s causing this!” Suddenly, a bolt of crackling black lighting ripped through the house across the street, showering the crowd with dust and debris. Shining forced Twilight’s sight away as pieces of the building fell into the crowd, killing several ponies beneath its weight.
Shining Armor looked into his sister’s frantic eyes and shook her. “Listen Twilight, you have to get to the Crystal Heart. That may be the only way to stop this,” Shining looked over his sister’s head and spotted one of his captains leading a group of elderly ponies out of the city. “I have to help my men get as many out of here as I can. Did you find the children?” Twilight nodded and cleared her throat, in a hoarse voice she said, “Yes, they’re already out of the city. Fluttershy has them. I told her that if worse comes to worse, for her to take them to Canterlot.”
Twilight gasped and exclaimed, “Princess Luna!” Shining shook his head. “There’s no way we could get word to them in time.” She pulled away from her brother and pointed a hoof to the sky. “No, look, it’s Luna!”
Shining Armor turned his eyes to the night sky and watched as a streak of blue light pierced the sky and slammed into Cadance, sending them both crashing through the roof of the castle. Shining’s mouth dropped open and he turned back to Twilight. “Okay, Luna can keep her distracted while you power the Crystal Heart. I’ll find you once everyone is out, alright?” he said. Twilight nodded in affirmation and the two departed.
. . .
Princess Luna and Queen Cadance punched through the ceiling on the side of the atrium. Cadance hit the bank of the ponymade pond and rolled to her hooves without coming into contact with the water’s surface. Luna’s body was sent crashing hard to ground, she skidded across the crystal floor before coming to a stop on a column. Cadance lifted Luna with her telekinesis and slammed her into the ceiling. “So this is the best you have, Princess Luna?” scoffed Cadance. “You come all this way to kill me and take my throne, and this is all you can muster?”
Luna rose shakily to her hooves and winced. Her left foreleg gave beneath her, almost sending her back to the ground. “I did not come to slay you, but the darkness that once plagued me as it plagues you,” Luna said in a soothing voice. “I do not wish to fight you.”
Cadance snorted agitation. “Why do you attempt to waste my time with your lies?!” She snarled as she stomped her hoof, lowered her horn and sent out a bolt of dark energy. Luna quickly dove to the ground and was forced to roll as another bolt whizzed inches away from her head. “Cadance,” she shouted. “Stop this madness!”
The crystal queen laughed maniacally as she advanced the prone princess. “Stop? Why, so that you and your sister can take over MY kingdom?” She stopped laughing. “No. No, this ends tonight. Your schemes, your plots, and all of your little games stop NOW!” Another volley of energy bolts whizzed through the air, several of which made contact with Luna’s side sending her slamming into the far wall and creating smoking little holes in her flesh. She tried to stand and collapsed back to the ground as she cried out in pain. She channel her strength to her horn and cast a healing spell.
“You’re pathetic,” Cadance exclaimed. “It should be easy keeping my people safe if the rest of you are like this.”
“The rest? What are you… you talking about,” Luna struggled to say. Her wounds were healing, but the pain had her on the edge of consciousness.
A smile broke out across Cadance’s face and her violet eyes sparkled despite the dark aura surrounding them. “You really think I don’t know? This is all a ploy! You think I didn’t know that Twilight was spying for you and your sister?” She chuckled darkly and her horn blackened with power. “Once I’m done mopping the floor with you, I’ll go after that weakling Twilight Sparkle and her brother. And once all those two are gone. I’ll kill Celestia… Slowly.”
Luna’s eyes widened in shock and the pain she once felt was forgotten. “No,” she whispered as she brought her legs beneath her and stood. “As the co-ruler of Equestria, I will not allow you to do this! You will NOT take her away from me! I’ll… I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you before I let her go!” Cadance fire several bolts of black energy at Luna, but she shots were washed away in the light surrounding the Princess of the Night. Luna grabbed Cadance in her telekinesis and smashed her through the arium’s wall.
The baffled queen could do nothing to defend herself as the enraged princess broke her against every wall, column, and ceiling. Cadance cried out in fear and agony as Luna grabbed her by the foreleg and slammed her up through the eight floors of the castle. She continued to rise higher and higher until they were in the open air, far above the destroyed Crystal Castle.
Luna’s eyes glowed a brilliant white as she looked at the bloody and beaten queen. “You will harm no one,” she told her calmly as the physical embodiment of moonlight let her go.
Cadance was too weak to even scream as she fell from the great height, nor would she have. Her mind was too full of hatred; hatred toward Luna, toward Celestia, and hatred for being slain in such a manner. She knew it was impossible, but she swore to get revenge on Luna and her sister. To kill them the way they killed her.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light from the city’s center and a beautiful aurora spread across the night sky. The aurora’s light reached every corner of the Crystal Empire, bathing it in the rich glow of hope and love. The darkness within Cadance could no longer stand the light was destroyed. Sadly, it was too late.
Queen Cadance did not scream as she fell to her death from the great height. With the darkness gone and only seconds remaining, she cried.
. . .
Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor were not watching the aurora like the other ponies outside the city, their attention was elsewhere. They watched Luna let Cadance go, they watched Cadance fall to her doom, and they watched her body break as she slammed into the ground. They watched it all happen, and neither of them could say a word. Twilight couldn’t utter a word to comfort her brother for the death of his wife, nor Shining Armor to Twilight for the loss of one of her closest friends. They just stood their, watching.
. . .
Luna descended to the ground. She was tired and in pain, but she was proud that she had saved Equestria. She glanced at the mangled remains of the former queen of the Crystal Empire and shuttered. All of the pride she felt had been drained away when she looked at the body. ‘That could have been me,’ she thought soberly.
She felt grieved to her heart as she thought about what she had done; how it would effect her friend Twilight Sparkle and her brother. ‘Would the children blame her? Would the crystal ponies?,’ she thought she stared at the remains of Queen Mi Amore Cadenza. ‘I have to find Twilight and King Armor. Surely they will understand, surely they can explain it to the others.’
Princess Luna turned and felt a sharp pain in her chest. She shuttered, backed up and coughed violently. Reaching a hoof to her chest she felt something warm and sticky. She thought, ‘What is this? Why would there be blood there? Why do I feel… feel so.. Co-’ She swayed from side to side before her knees gave and she spotted Twilight Sparkle off in the distance levitating something shiny, almost translucent.
A moment later she got a closer look as the shard of crystal pierced her skull. She no longer felt grieved to heart.
--End of Part 01--