//------------------------------//
// Chapter 24: All That Remains Is Dust 
// Story: Favorable Alignment 
// by Ice Star 
//------------------------------//


Sombra:


To Luna's delight and my quiet appreciation, rain assaulted the island. An unrelenting gray withheld mostly all sunlight, so even the day would be blanketed in darkness. The steady whooshing of falling water woke Luna in the early dawn, and she thought it the perfect time to wake me. It wasn't. However, she wisely promised a trip to the Sky Scraper to get me coffee after I had just given her a weary look that strongly suggested she should have let me sleep in until nightfall.

The sly smile she had given me in response was almost as devious as the knowing smirks I gave her. She knew that even though I had an ego, I was not susceptible to shameless attempts at cheap flattery, nor could somepony as genuine as her attempt such dull banter. I should have known how much she had been paying attention to me - the degree to which she had been was flattering in itself - and the knowledge she had of my actions certainly made it easy for her to have plenty to say. I let her charm me. It isn't like anypony has ever praised me before - and certainly not sincerely or for anything worthwhile. It was nice, so I stayed awake for her and the promise of coffee.

As she had made the coffee for me, I managed to smartly direct her attention elsewhere with whatever food I could find so I could make something that wouldn't eat the cup away. Luna devoured her breakfast in a way that made me privately regret being in the same room, as her since I'd never seen somepony eat and actively enjoy doing so. 

She didn't mind when I slipped out of the dining area and onto the deck to watch the rain fall. She even came to join me when she was done. I wasn't sure how to feel about how she snatched my coffee cup and drank from it before spitting out the contents in the ocean, muttering how anypony could love the stuff was beyond her.

I gave her a brief glare, and didn't neglect to mention that I was going to drink that before I visit Fish and pack a few books and things from pocket dimension in saddlebags. I had frowned at the missing pile of letters I wrote to Mac before setting out with Luna to explore the rest of island. She had said there was something important here, and brought me along for more reason than one. I heard her say something about my knowledge of archaic magitech being relevant, which certainly piqued my interest.



...



Above me, I could hear another flock of birds take temporary flight away from their home because a certain blue goddess was happily bounding about in the rain, her silent steps turning into leaps of joy, coupled with her clear laughter. She flew among the leaves, dumping buckets of already-settled drops into the showers that fell to the grassy ground below.

I merely watched her rowdy antics and walked on, metal boots warded against mud as I walked through the uncharted forest in a more orderly fashion. Though, I aimed to follow her graceful form as I did. Rain rolled off the fabric of my cloak, and I caught a few drops on my tongue as they fell from my hood.

I was in no mood for conversation but kept more than just my eyes on Luna as she soared above and below the treetops in the blink of an eye. She sang, belting out melodies I had only heard in a quiet hums under her breath. Sometimes, in short bursts, she would land roughly and dash over to my side while I was stoic - her playful side was not strange to me - and though I did tense up slightly when she rubbed up against me the first few times, I received the kisses she bestowed on my cheek with ease before watching her disappearing into the sky above once more.

"So, I'm supposed to look for a castle?"

"There is no need," she called from above the rain and trees, "I can see it from here, we just have to walk there."

"Why does it have to be a castle? Barely anypony interesting lives in those. Can't we go to a tavern, a robber's den, or ancient ruins?"

"Does it please you that this castle is in ruins?" While I could not see her expression, I heard amusement in her tone.

"If it isn't important, or another good reason to justify what I'm about to propose comes up, do you think you and I could burn it?"

I heard a snort followed by laughter through the layers of leaves and rain. "That would be some date, hmm?"

"I have high standards," I call up to her, stepping over a tree root. "Since you can see the castle from here, would you mind giving me an estimation of how much longer we'll be walking? Or at least the size of the island?"

"The island takes about a day to cross, and is a crescent-like shape with the back pointing east. We landed to the north of the island, close to the rocky hills on the east side. It's hard to tell with all this rain how far we have to go. I was here most recently over a thousand years ago, and before that..."

"Could you come down here, Luna? It's getting harder to hear you with that rain."

"Are you sure you don't simply just want my attention?"

"Oh yes, of course. That too." 

Luna landed next to me in the next moment, folding her wings at her side, ruffling the wet feathers, and smiling. I light my horn and cast a transparent shield above us, even though we were already drenched in rain.

"Would you tell me any stories about this place? You did say you had come here before, and any information about the magictech would be helpful before I see it."

Luna nodded eagerly. "It all started when Celestia and I were fillies and travelling the world. This was even before we met Discord. Tia had fallen ill in the middle of the desert; we had no medicine and she was unable to travel..."



...



As we walked on, her tale continued. I took in every detail I could in order to figure out what we might have to be dealing with, if any antagonist was to be encountered. I'm surprised a filly as young as she was then had such intelligence, considering the offspring of any species are usually held to be wholly immature, impulsive, and overall lesser when compared to their grown counterparts. What idiocy that is. Stupid children make stupid adults. Do I need to even bring up the positively idiotic Lavender Lack-wit who is heralded as a national hero and prodigy? 

The rain droned on, making Luna's voice stand out more against the constant pattering noise. I continued to keep silent, except for a snort of amusement or similar noises while looking over the land, and trying to pinpoint all the magic I felt as I looked at the trees and plants - many of which I had never seen before. I was tempted to pull out paper to take notes for later, since I doubted these were in any records except for personal notebooks, and perhaps not even that. Maybe nopony but the past residents ever thought to record any information about the life here.

The further uphill we went, the more details from Luna's retelling of her foalhood tale I was able to see. Large pieces of stone, worn down to the point of indistinction in the eyes of an uneducated peasant became more prominent. Almost all had what little carvings that remained on them obscured by mosses and dirt over a millennium old. The climate here wasn't particularly favorable for anypony like me who wanted to study some of things found here.

"Whoever lived on this island really had faith that time would take its toll on their former dwelling." 

Luna paused her tale and I heard her muffled giggles. "I never thought you would be so formal in any situation. Why choose to refer to the castle we shall soon see as a 'dwelling' over a home?"

"Hmm? It was automatic on my part. Is there really any difference?"

Luna looked saddened for a moment, a brief cloud of what appeared to be disappointment crossing her face, as though I had forgotten some esoteric detail in my statement. What was so important about me calling some place home? It's just an informal way to say where I live, and a temporary residence that merely houses any worldly possessions I have.

I'm about to ask her what is so important to her about this particular word, but she's already resumed her tale. She said the castle was on the highest hill, and that these stones worn beyond almost all recognition and almost entirely overtaken by the island's plant life belonged to that castle.



...



When we first reach our destination by following piece after piece of once intact stone to what remained of the 'castle' that Luna had found, all I could do was stop. 'Castle' was hardly a fitting term to describe the ruins in their current state. Only a single spire remained of what was already a small structure to begin with.

Next, I looked up in bewilderment, not just because the tower was tall and looked as if it too would be in complete ruin at any moment but because I felt a very familiar trace of magic in the rain. Before I could determine what it was, a garish bit of green appeared in the sky - presumably from a window on the tower's other side - and flew down to greet us.

He smiled widely, white mane plastered in front of his eyes, and began to speak despite each glare I gave him that offered him a kindly reminder of how I had the ability to be merciful and remove him from this mortal plain, and burn his entire family tree with a few scathing remarks. My mane is also far better than his. 

"Oh my gosh, how did you two get here? Hi, Princess Luna! Hi weird homeless Sombra guy! Isn't this island cool!? I live here! The magical gate led here!"

I bless that gate for removing this cursed child from my life and damn this island for not allowing the pest to drown. I may threaten foals - not in the same way I would an adult pony - but I wouldn't actually dispatch one unless they were an exception by being anything like Onyx was: dangerous. Any threat I make to them is insincere, but if that gate had led to his death, I wouldn't lose sleep. 

"I've been here for a while, or like, a year or something. One of the plants turns my tongue blue and makes me dizzy, so I stopped eating it. What are you two doing here? Where's this island even supposed to be? All I've had with me are a bunch of comic books, some chips, and granola but I ate those a long time ago. Not the comic books, of course! It's really fun here! Did you know that I found a frog here and-"

"Shut up," I growl, and watch the annoying colt squeak before doing as I ordered. Luna looks as if she's about to roll her eyes. but instead gives me a look of slight disapproval, suggesting I don't act beyond simply harassing him. Eventually, her expression relaxes, but I still see reproach in her eyes.

"Do you know this colt, Sombra?"

"Yes. He's but a worthless mayfly to me."

"My mom always told me I was special," Mayfly pipes up.

"I'm sure she did."

Luna looks at Mayfly. "What is your name, young one?"

"My name is Firefly, and I can glow." He smiles widely at her. "This Sombra guy-"

"It's just Sombra," Luna and I say in unison.

"Yeah, he keeps calling me Mayfly. I dunno why. Princess, do you think he's deaf?"

"Princess," I mimicked, purposely trying to make my voice come out in as terrible a squeak as it would, "do you think I'm really the deaf one here?"

Mayfly takes a moment to comprehend that I still exist before slipping into a look of blank confusion. I make note of the odd glowing pest with a stylized arcing lightning in a trail behind it on his flank. Ironic, that the bug is glowing for one as dim as him, but fitting that the mark is that of a pest.

"Firefly, is your mane naturally white?" Luna asks, even though we both know the answer. Of course, she would be kind enough to converse with an inferior that I merely tolerate. If one can get through something without associating or informing with these inconvenience, than that corner should be happily cut. Any result from doing so would be more beneficial, anyway.

"Nuh-uh."

Luna gives him a smile; it's slightly distant, but still kind and honest. It's not as much of a sight to behold as the ones she'll give me, but it's pretty all the same. "Why don't the three of us step out of the rain and have some lunch?"

Mayfly gives us a fool's wide smile that makes me imagine he'll do something reckless while I give him a scornful look. He nods and flies right into a door made out of bound sticks, and no doubt made by him, as it's so weak and poorly constructed I'm certainly not surprised when it shatters. He continues to fly up the stairs, which Luna and I can see the foot of.

Once he's gone, Luna comes closer and gives me a quick kiss, which unlike any time spent around pests I cherish.

She gives me one of the private smiles I have never seen her give another when she's done. "I know you probably don't like foals-"

"I don't care about them, Luna, but I hold no grudge against them until one actually bothers to irritate me. Mostly, I just think of them as less significant, naive - although, often imaginative - and slightly bizarre ponies. They have yet to grow up into mostly unremarkable imbeciles."

I watched her intimate smile shift to what - and my eyes did not deceive me - appeared to be one of relief, although I wasn't sure what for. Was it because she had been a foal once herself?

"So, you do not hate them?"

"Onyx is the only foal I have ever hated. To truly hate something or somepony, you have to know them. That's true hatred. Ignorance of your foe limits your anger to cheap prejudice, squandered time, and brutish immaturity. There is never a justification for that; you're simply annoying."

"You'll put up with 'Mayfly' a bit more, then? You're doing a good job already."

"Of course I am, and I will... on one condition..." I say, looking into her bright eyes.

"Oh? What might that be?" Luna replied, leaning closer.

I smirked deviously, my tone warm and teasing. "Double or nothing."

Luna smiles and leans away, yanking my hood over my head and in front of my eyes with a forceful tug of her magic. By the time I have it pushed back to where it was, she's already started walking up the stairs and my shield has dissolved, leaving me to follow her in the rain.

I'm not sure why I'm find myself laughing as I stand alone.

Call it wonder, I suppose. Such a feeling was something that had been robbed from me, no matter how new to the world I was. That changed the moment I met her, and I was surprised again and again by all the little ways she manages to impress me.



...



If only pre-made coffee came in cans. I'd steal it by the cartload, and threaten Mac into buying it for me since her coat is too vibrant for her to even dream of being a proper thief. Her mane isn't improving her chances much, either. She'd make a better distraction, since she can be noisy from time to time.

I stare at the can of reddish soup I hold in my aura. I wish it had a conscience, if only for a moment, so it could feel guilty for not being coffee, as it should be. I could judge it into self-loathing, or some other desperate state of mind before snuffing that mind out. Repeatedly, if necessary.

I should see if Luna and I could work on a spell sometime that would turn soup into coffee. There's so many fun things I'll have to show her when I get the chance: arbitrage, calculus, coin-melting, the art of being a public menace, theft, sassing the matriarch every time she insists I learn to write to make communication easier by sending a pony to Canterhorn instead of coming herself, and burning the contents of assorted garbage cans in Canterlot alleyways.

Luna clears her throat and our eyes meet. Her look tells me she's wondering if I'm doing okay, and I nod in reply. If she needed to worry about me, I'd let her know. I slumped further against the cold wall of the room Luna, Mayfly, and I were eating lunch in. I heated three of the four cans of soup I had brought, while Luna sat on a collapsed column. It was incredibly weathered, but still retained some signs of once belonging to a building instead of just looking like it wouldn't be out of place in the forest as just another large stone.

I continued to recline in shadow, folds drying crimson fabric rubbing against rough stone. Luna had created a few werelights that floated around the room, as if they were creatures that could do so at a whim instead of orbs of luminescent magic aura. The slight blue tint their light bathed everything around them in a similar hue, whether it was intentional or not, was a nice touch.

There was no window in the room, but the collapse of the column Luna and Mayfly sat on caused the ceiling of the bare chamber to cave in. Slants of silver light scratched across the walls with the soft white of an evening sunset blocked by rain that could be heard outside because of this.

Any objects that had once been in here would have been priceless relics that could have offered some clue about the owner that Luna had seen a message from ages ago. More recent occupants had cleared them out, tossing them, burning them, and replacing them with a few trinkets that the island could not provide. None of them were in this room, and Luna had noted my disgust at the disposal of so many things on the lower floors. Only about twelve rooms remained, if I was to believe that the original architect wasn't an idiot, and that when the castle was whole, it looked as ready to topple as it did now. I greatly doubted this, but still bristled at the fact that this foal - a 'Sage', as Luna called him - had thrown out anything of historical importance that he could move.

Luna nodded at something unimportant Mayfly said before placing her empty can of soup down, and rising from where she sat, walking over to me.

"May-Firefly has offered to take us to the upper rooms."

I float the soup can around, watching the tomato broth swirl with a gloomy expression. It was almost cold, but I wasn't hungry anyway so I might as well waste this; it wasn't important. "Do we need a guide?"

"The upper floors aren't in the best condition, and this is his home Sombra."

"If we did things my way, we would have been out of here by now."

I looked into Luna's sympathetic eyes and offered her the can of soup. She accepted and began to drink it, careful to avoid slight tears in the metal where my eyeteeth had gripped it, and I had chewed the edge in thought. She spoke in between sips.

"I'm aware of that, but I enjoy talking with foals. They're sweet... well, most of them," she adds when I give her a bitter look. "I wanted to check on the next Sage, too. They usually get a little lonely until they build boats that will take them from here to mainland Germaneigh to purchase supplies."

"Fine," I mutter, "we let this fool pretend that he's guiding us, but the next time we encounter other ponies, I strongly suggest you let me deal with them my way, got it?"

Her eyes don't leave me the whole time, I'm talking in a low whisper loaded with the aggression I don't want the pest to pick up on, even if it's meant for him... why, I bet he even burned books. She places the empty can on what was once a mantle over a small cave's mouth of an old fireplace before she pulls me into a short hug.

"I'm not happy about that either, Sombra, but if we listen to him just a little bit, then we can be sure he'll leave us alone if we decide to ask him. If you can handle putting up with him a little longer I'll give you that second kiss."

I nuzzle her cheek as discreetly as possible. "Fine. I'll do it for you. Just make sure he doesn't ask any questions about me, to me, if you will."

"Of course," she says, pulling away with the shadow of one of our smiles on her face.

From his seat on the column, Mayfly gives us both a curious look.

"Are you two, umm, in love or something?"

Luna looks at me and laughs, weaving a forehoof through my mane and pulling me close again. "Maybe just a little..."



...



Mayfly chattered nonstop with Luna as he hopped up the winding stone stairs that had yet to decay as time wore on. Luna listened to the nonsense he went on about in earnest, but the determined focus she often has about her never left her eyes as she allowed the silly colt to lead her up the stairs. He acted as if knew what he was doing, calling out directions as if he thought one as capable as her needed them.

In her shadow, I walk a few steps behind them both. Doorways without any doors loom desolately as we walk up the stairs. Mayfly doesn't bother with them, but I see Luna note whatever changes have occurred since she last visited. Her eyes caught mine, briefly glimmering with something I knew well: a fleeting affection before she gulped and ducked her eyes.

"Only a little? Are you sure about that?" I make sure to keep my voice low.

Luna shies away from my teasing, but only out of a kind of embarrassment I've seen before, and she resumes listening to Mayfly's chatter. I never stepped too close to them, and constantly poked my head into ancient chambers that had little to nothing of their original furnishings within them. Instead, tokens and other custom made pieces - like a table crudely built from silvery island wood - were sitting in various locations. Tattered buffalo dream catchers with worn feathers and magic swung forlornly in bare windows. 

Just by looking at the everyday assortment of things that felt more out of place each moment I looked at them, I could sense a fire that wanted to burn within me. These could be replaced, they belonged to none who had tomes of research chronicled so carefully. Each and every piece was simple and inadequate - too utilitarian even by my tastes, as I did enjoy some style - compared to what knowledge could have been salvaged if a truly bright mind had stumbled across the papers and signs Luna had seen upon her first arrival here. If only something had been hidden away, there might be more clues. If Luna had been older when she found this place, she would have known what to save, and I know she could have too.

And it is Luna's voice, saying my name with knowing concern that only barely manages to pull my thoughts away from all the things that could have been, if only others put thought into anything. She enters, and I feel her forehoof slips around my withers, bringing me into a hug.

"I'm sorry. There really should have been more. This place appears bare even to me."

"And it's all because of the stupid children you see fit to shelter."

"Sombra, I do not shelter them directly, and they may be naive but I would hardly see fit to call them stupid."

"I need to burn something," I said tersely, "Now."

"Are you sure? Maybe you just-"

"Do you know how sick and tired I am of putting up with everypony's stupidity?!"

I didn't mean to sound like I was so close to shouting at her, and after a pang of regret upon seeing a slight shift of apprehension in her face I lower my voice to something that borders on a growl.

"I was literally created because of a child's stupidity, and just for once in my life it would damn nice to have-"

Luna no longer focuses on me, and quickly grabs the front of my cloak and pulls me into a kiss, the last two words dying before I get the chance to say them.

-an escape.

For a few minutes I care not to count, I do get my escape and Luna allows this to last. I don't try to push away like I would have the first time we met in the Crystal Empire, even if it took me a while to admit to myself how extraordinary it felt in the years after the event.

It still feels extraordinary, maybe even more so now that I know the mare who bestows such affection upon me, and because of how much I care about her.

She only stops when Mayfly - the damned pest - calls out our names, his voice echoing from farther up the stairs into this darkened room.

"We had better go..." Luna begins, eyes reluctantly darting to the doorway, her tone breathless.

"Yeah," I agree quietly, unable to tear my gaze away from her, "if we don't, he might break the magitech before I have a chance to look at it."

Luna nods, eyes unfocused. "I guess that is the second kiss you were so adamant about..."

"Whoever said a third was out of my reach?"

Luna still realized she held me close to her and removed her hooves from my cloak, letting the fabric settle once again before she began to head towards the doorway.

"Don't push your luck, Sombra."

"Luna, I've had to push what little luck I've had my entire life. Do you really-"

I don't get a chance to finish before Luna gives me yet another hug, even if this one is momentary. "Come on, Sombra. We can talk later, right now magitech awaits you."

I let her pull my hood over my head before we leave the room, my anger quelled but never forgotten.



...



I promised Luna that I would put up with the colt who lived here as long as she kept him from talking to me. Part of this included me not manipulating or threatening the inconvenience. Thankfully, she was skilled in pest control and managed to get Mayfly to keep his voice down, focus only on her, and listen to each worthless thing he said, since she didn't hold the quiet resentment for the pegasus that I did. With no effort and a kind and utterly Luna-like smile she was able to convince him to go play outside where he'd hopefully get stuck in a tree and forget how to fly or talk.

The last part was probably wishful thinking, but I think anypony with their wits about knows that foals are like worms: somepony out there wants to care about them, but it isn't me. Just let them figure out something out on their own: teach them to read, then lock them in a library, or just a box with books. Leave them with nothing more than a loaf of bread - or maybe a few more for the chubbier ones - and fine ale. I can't think of what could possibly go wrong.

Most foals are too focused on every distracting thing that lead to pesky habits. Then, those habits grow into their entire character, and are part of the reason they grow more unbearable with age and accomplish nothing. Other foals are starved for their own worlds. I may have never been a particularly young foal, but as a youth I thought the white spaces between lines of text were the perfect place for me to find something and write the life I wanted to have. There, I could ask all the questions only I could answer if I searched far enough, as horrid as those years were.

To encourage ponies to integrate into a mess of lies and indistinguishable faces where no ability of difference - not a hint of challenge or rebellion - is fostered disgusts me. They have no idea how to find themselves, even if there is a mark on their flank. They're supposed to write their own story, not let others pen it for them. If I were in charge of foals, at least I would know that there's no way that I'm supposed to remain part of that story forever as a looming presence to dictate every action. Especially since my life is by far the more interesting one, and it isn't my job to look after everypony at all times.

Every time I look at Mayfly and other foals, I see the product of a culture that only knows how to ask questions instead of find answers, but thanks to Luna I don't have to look at him or hear him for much longer.

The door closes and Luna gives a sigh of relief. "Now, we can finally get some answers. Be careful where you step."

Wind blew curtains of rain into the tower's topmost room and the evening sun's light managed to show through the rain, which was not nearly as fierce as it was in the morning. I actually liked the steady drumming in the background. It would be nice for when I worked. The right side of the room was only a gaping hole, which is where the rain was coming from. Shards of glass were buried under thick carpets of dust and windblown dirt, bleached of almost all color. I was thankful for the metal soles of my boots as they crunched underhoof.

Under varying sized rubble that was strewn across the middle of the room, I found the remains of an old fire pit choked with debris, and a cluster of dead leaves among dirt that had completed its windblown journey. Beneath all this, I could see the dusty outlines of crystal prisms that hadn't seen the sun or the moon in a long time.

Luna nodded over to the left where the room was shadowed, except for the dull gleam of something buried under the rubble that extended in this direction as well. I walked over carefully, as Luna had said since there were fragments of crystal that I would need to find under all this. At least this room was the only one undisturbed by the more current residents in the skeleton of a castle that managed to withstand the weather in such a sorry state.

Behind me, I heard Luna pick out an uncluttered area of the wooden floor to sit on. According to Luna, it had been replaced many times in other parts of the castle. I said nothing and simply lit my horn, beginning to pull away stone after stone, each casually left floating in the air beside me until I found the source of the faint, distant gleam: and old magitech crystal projector. In an instant, all the stones were consumed by rushing blazes of blue fire hot enough to dissolve each into dust at the most, once that was done I dusted it off with a faint whish of aura sweeping over the surface.

"Luna?"

I heard her voice; it sounded like she might have been resting, so there was light confusion in her slurred speech. "'Mmm? What is it, Sombra?"

"I found it."

"Oh? Does it still work?"

I pried off a side panel that was about to fall off long before Luna and I arrived. "It will, but I'm going to need to fix it up a little first, and then piece together the crystal you mentioned losing."

"Oh," Luna mumbled flatly. I heard a yawn follow. "Anything else?"

"We're going to be here a while. At this rate, it'll be late into the night. Do you want anything?"

"No, but I am going to go wrangle Firefly and get him under control. He was telling me of these particularly tasty plants-"

"They had better not be mushrooms, Luna."

"...They are not, but if they require no cooking, then I'm sure I can get some dinner ready for him easily. I shall have him off to bed with a proper story too, so he won't be in our way."

"Good thinking. Come back in an hour or so, and I'll tell you how this is coming along."

"Very well then. Are you sure you don't need anything?"

I snort and inspect the machine - it's only about the height of a young filly. "No. It's custom made, but has too many mechanical parts instead of spellcraft to be impressive. At most, it'll be a nuisance. Everything I need to repair it is in my head."

Luna laughed lightly. "I see but I was wondering if you needed anything. If you are to be up into late into my night after having been awake for all of Celestia's day. would you want a cup of coffee? I need to stretch my legs, and I'm sure Firefly would want to see a 'real' airship."

"How about that third kiss?"

"Only if you can fix the machine."

I lower my head and look at the stilled gears behind the metal exterior, chuckling at her response. "Do you really doubt me? This may be more advanced than anything I've seen in this day and age, but it's still a piece of junk compared to what was available in that era. The condition it's in isn't the best, so that hardly does anything to contribute to it being 'advanced' at this point. It's not a matter of if I fix it but when."

"I'll be on my way, then. Have fun, Sombra."

"I might. See you later, Luna."

"You too," she replies, and though I may not be looking at her, I could tell she was most likely smiling.

"Luna!" I called just as I heard her begin to leave.

"Yes?"

"If you lose that kid in the woods, I'll keep it secret."

"Very well then," she said, and her hoofsteps became quieter with each step she took away from me. When I felt only the brief layer of her magic that hung over the room, I knew she was gone and began to work.



...



Three hours later, Luna came rushing up the stairs and bursting into the room. The floor was now cleaned, for the most part. Crystals were stacked neatly next to the crystal projector, exactly thirty eight of them, and all of them were still dusty. Little debris remained, which allowed Luna to enter speedily, only halting her gallop once she stood inches from the fire pit. The warm glow of red fire works bursting outside in the cloudy night sky glowed faintly upon her face.

"Are you that eager to kiss me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and offering a sly, flashy smirk.

Luna made a tsking noise in the back of her throat. "I received your choice of a signal, and must say that the bright display was lovely. Thank you," she said, smiling gently. "Did you fix the contraption?"

"It's called a crystal projector, and yes I did."

I stood and waited for her. She stared at the crystal projector behind me and then at the floor, pawing a previously unexposed area with her hoof. A short groan comes from the surface, and I know that it won't last many more years.

"Do I have to?" she asked, voice small and wings shifting defensively as her ears lowered.

"Luna?"

She bowed her head... in what looked like shame to me.

"I know I promised, but..."

"Luna, is something wrong?"

I heard her gulp, and brought her gaze back to mine by lifting her chin with my forehoof. She didn't resist the careful gesture.

"Was it something I did? Or said?"

She just made a small choking sound.

"Luna, what's wrong? I can only glean so much from your body language. I need you to talk to me."

I see her mouth move and hear her whisper something.

Not this again.

I sigh and sit down on the floor and refuse to look at anything but her as directly as possible.

"Where's Mayfly?"

"Asleep." Her voice is choked.

"Won't you look at me?"

She looks like she wants to be as still as the stone around her, so I take my forehooves and cup her face in them using a split-second teleportation spell to inch even closer to her.

"It's not me, is it?"

I relax my light hold just enough for her to nudge the metal soles in a shake of her head: no.

"And it wasn't anything I did?"

Another 'no'.

"What then?"

Luna indicates herself with her forehoof.

"I'm going to listen to every word you say, Luna."

"It's just... it felt like too much. Like..."

"Luna."

She doesn't like something in my tone, so I repeat her name but with less authority. Her ears prick up again.

"Luna, I want you to look at me. You need to hear what I'm about to say."

Luna listens, but still looks as if she's anticipating something heart-crushing. I can't imagine what, but it's most likely why she's so anxious.

"If you don't want to do something as simple as giving me a kiss, I'm not ever going to pressure you to. I know what it's like not to have choices, and to have others try to reign over me. I know that you know that feeling too. We're equals, which means that even if you doubt yourself or feel that some part of you is filled with similar thoughts, it's not true. You're just as great as I am. I know that even though you don't lie, you might not realize that you are lying to yourself even if you don't want to."

I watch her nod 'yes' and I go on.

"I truly won't make you do anything you feel you don't want to do, alright? Just refuse as bluntly or as subtly as you want. If for some reason, I don't get a clue at any time, you have my permission to seize Fate from its sheath and whack me over the head as many times as you like."

It looks as if she's starting to smile again, and not an 'I'm okay, stop asking' smile but an 'I'll be better', genuine smile.

"You could also smite me with lightning if that's more your style; just don't stay silent like this, where I'm left fretting over you. This would be an awful tactic in a larger conflict, which I think you're aware of. Be bold, arrogant, brash, vocal, something. I don't care if you push me off a damn cliff, because if it ever comes to that then I'm going  to have to apologize all over again, aren't I? You could also just walk away. It really doesn't matter to me, as long as I perish in a manner befitting my glory, and you get your point across that I'm making you uncomfortable. Not everypony is able to put up with extremely intelligent, witty, handsome, and skilled demons like you do."

Luna blinks and slowly removes my forehooves with her own before she tips over and awkwardly nuzzles my right wither. Initially, she says nothing to me and instead sinks into the hug I've got her wrapped in.

"Could we take this slower at times?"

I clear my throat and when I speak, it's with her own voice, courtesy of my magic. "Maybe a little..."

Luna bursts out laughing before tilting her head up to look at me, eyes wide with a quiet admiration.

She knows how glad I am to have her smiles and laughter back, doesn't she?

"I thought you had to light your horn to do that."

"No, I don't. That was just to show you what kind of magic I was using. Now, why don't we see what those crystals have on them? I repaired the broken one that was almost shattered by the machine. Most of the shards were still where you left them, but I couldn't find all of them. I had to improvise with repairs, since using heat to seal shape the crystal instead of seal lost fragments could damage it."

"And the other one?"

"It's still in there. I figured we should play that one first, in case the repaired crystal could cause problems."

I feel her head nod against my chest. I help her up and we walk over to the device together.



...



There's a faint clicking sound as I snap the door on the side of the mess of gears and 'whirlygigs', as Luna has termed the other mechanical parts she couldn't identify, or simply didn't want to. It's pretty clear she's never seen many things like this. I imagine an enchanted icebox could be the most  technologically advanced thing she encounters on a daily basis.

"Ready, Luna?"

Luna dips her head into a nod, horn lighting as her Alicorn magic glows, and I pull a few levers down. Then, Luna shoots a bright beam of magic into the machine. It glows white once the machine is able to convert her magic into what the original inventor built it to run off of. I didn't dare risk any of mine when the magic of a demon was all too likely to make it backfire.

From the machine, a vapory substance like the mountain mist rolled across the room and shifts its hue once again. Varying shades of color find their way into the lacking mist, and form a three dimensional painting on the wall of a white-maned, middle-aged, alicorn mare with an amber coat and purple eyes. She sits next to an iridescent fire, which like everything else shown is magic-captured motion and images from the crystal reflecting off a small mirror within. It blazes in the daylight, and looks like it might even scorch this mare. She sits so her mark isn't visible, and she can only be seen from the withers up.

Her expression is that of deep despair, eyes haunted and her eyes wet with tears. Bits of her mane hang in her face in a manner that comes across as sloppy rather than a choice of style. This mare is alone in a room then-cluttered with buffalo staffs, potion bottles, dream catchers and more. She hugs herself with her wings. An amber aura glows on her horn.

She begins to speak in a thick, abnormal accent that makes her words sound odd. Part of it sounds much like how the buffalo speak, but the majority of her pronunciation is something unknown to me. I have no idea which of the southern languages it is, since the maps of the south have changed drastically since this mare's time.

"Well, after all this I suppose it is time to create my final message and test the Equish out to see if it is as still as good as it once was. It is the most common language after all, and I shall be speaking it for the last time, for any creature at all to find before I destroy all my research. I will start with introductions for those who know me not in the age you, Survivor, have found this artifact. I am Princess Amira Fire-sight, the last pupil of Queen Elinora of the long-destroyed land of Al Far'iimbra."

Luna stared at the mare, hoof moved over her heart and only able to look the apparition straight in the eyes.

"Amira..." I say, words spoken quietly as I too look at the image of this mare, "She was a famous inventor upon her graduation. I've read some of her work..."

We both watch as the image reaches for something to dab her eyes with.

"I still cannot believe that these are my last words. This message, it feels so freeing, that these are the last words of the last demigod, and the last Sage of the buffalo."

"Demigod?" Luna questions, looking just as confused as I at the term.

"The prefix 'demi-' meant 'part' in one of the Lost Languages. It's biologically impossible for her to have wings and a horn unless she was a born god..."

"...or made in our image with great magic." Luna finished, still looking at the projection of Amira that was brought to a brief halt by a layer of her own magic, tinting it turquoise.

"So, a 'demigod' must be a way to say 'alicorn'. It certainly makes much more sense than what I've seen before. Gods, things would be so much simpler if that term was reintroduced."

Luna nods in agreement, and the projection resumes when her magic withdraws its grip.

"In all the years I have lived, I have no apprentice, nopony to take my place and learn the special magic an accident had bestowed upon me. Because of this, I have removed the last bit of magic and hidden it with medicine; such precious objects could heal any ill leftover from this catastrophe. Each bottle is stored inside the chest underneath the floor over towards the left and there is a brew for each species, including the gods themselves, as unneeded as it is now in the world's fallen state. I cannot say that I could ever come close to replacing such great, powerful, and truly divine beings, even if demigods could become Alicorns. I was never the best student, nor was I the worst, but if I regret anything it is that I should have gone with the others. They needed me more, I think that maybe I could have done something."

"She really did believe they were all gone. See her eyes, Sombra?" Out of the corner of her eye, Luna catches my nod. "They're the eyes of a pony who has lost all hope. She says that it is her last year, but she doesn't realize that she's already dead the moment she looks within and finds despair and nothing else-"

"...So that not even she remains," I finish, knowing all too well what ponies like this looked like. All Amira needed was a crystalline coat... I shudder and shake the thought away... for now.

"I shall not live much longer, as this is my 1,100th year and over what is my last few days in this world before I accept whatever judgement... Before I try to lose this knowledge in whatever realm I find myself in: Paradise or Tartarus. I stayed to protect the buffalo, to keep the magic going in hopes that somepony would have made it, but all the citadels are ash. All that remains is a dust that only meager plants will grow upon."

Luna stared with stark recognition as Amira's image hid her face with her hooves and make whining, strangled cries before she was able to compose herself.

"Maybe if I had gone with them, perhaps even a demigod like me could have made a difference and saved somepony who was worth more, or helped one of the gods last just a bit longer. I had known Hasad - he was Elinora's little brother! How could this have happened? If I had gone, maybe I would not feel this way and still wake crying out the names of those who are no more: Elinora, my dearest mentor, Stellaura the second queen of my father's nation, and the highest of them all, the two we followed into battle. Their own nieces and nephews were just old enough to step onto the field of battle."

"No," Luna whispered, "Amira can't possibly know - my parents, my three cousins Flora, Fauna, and Terra, all born to my mother's younger sister... were they all so artlessly broken? There was a war... Tia and I..." Her voice sounds as distant as the call of birds that flew above the Sky Scraper, her face bathed in starlight and eyes gleaming with budding tears. "We saw the signs once the world was born again, the lack of villages and landmarks. Dust and ashes only made way for new forests and new rivers... we suspected in our hearts... and... Sombra who could do this?"

Only when she says my name do I realize that she's talking to me.

The monster I've sought out my whole life.

"The greatest monster the world has seen," I say instead.

Luna reaches up to wipe one of her eyes, mane rippling in the dark.

"And if anypony or any creature finds this island and all that I have left in this cold pyre of a land, know that you may be alone in the world. A world that has yet to fall again as he is most likely still out there."

Hasad. It sounded like a masculine name. He was the younger brother of a goddess, if I'm hearing this right. Was he what I had to seek? The author of the Book?

"Know you are alone in a world of mortals doomed to deteriorate without art, knowledge, and those who were eternal - such a wicked tense to use for them! It is because of their loss that all shall be ushered into godless death, since there are no gods of Midgard any longer. This world is doomed; it is only a matter of time before all is lost once and for all. To the darkness, to ignorance, it is inevitable either way. I had such cowardice, and even my death in battle could have made a difference but I stayed to protect a tribe that was going to follow this planet to its grave. A planet that will be your grave too, Survivor."

I know it was part of their culture for Alicorn youths  to be sheltered and hidden until they were properly trained, had their mark, and talents discovered. Were Neptune, Luna, Celestia, the last true Crystalline ruler, and the Alicorns of the dead worlds all that was left?

Even if I were foolish enough to mourn a world, cultures, and ages past where Onyx could not exist, and I would have been culled for just existing with less mercy than fifty Celestias, I still wished that in the end of this journey Luna finds something - or somepony as improbable as that is - to give her the closure she seeks.

She needs it.

She was only a filly, as young as Onyx was when he first began to wield a knife, but she is so much more than he could ever comprehend being. She was Luna, only more naive.

She's the last Alicorn ever born, and her desire is reasonable. It is I desire I want to help her attain. Perhaps she'll be able to lend a hoof with answering some questions of my own too.

I know that even if it is a subconscious feeling, her closure is also the want to prove that others were wrong because she cares. She feels so much about what others and herself think and feel in many of the right ways, and some that are almost unfathomably strange and eccentric. I love them anyway, because unlike the meaningless empathy glazed over a population of unremarkable dolls who don't put their concerns or charity, kindness, and devotion into progressing themselves or anything and pony of true value till they end up caring about everything that's nothing. Luna knows what and who to care about in a raw, honest way.

Somehow, her 'what and who' includes me.

"It is not just me, the dying mare, who needs you to trust nopony, roaming is dangerous; hide yourself where Hasad cannot get you. As you can plainly see, I did and I paid dearly for it. I have felt my mind slip away with each and every last bit of physical health I possessed and if possible, if there is a hope out there, know that it is false. Only a god that survived contains anything close to what is needed to find any solace. I do not know the entirety of what happened, not from my island grave, only when I used my powers of fire did I see the plains of ash where Marecca once stood. I have one last thing to say, Survivor, before I fly until I fall until even I am lost. Once more I beg you do what I could not and fight on: make a move! Find something!"

There's that name again: Hasad. An Alicorn of-

I closed my eyes and tried to think of a map, but all I saw was blood and bone. I heard screams all over again, tearing at the eternal second.

Something dark and dangerous that felt like falling, but with a horrible realization.

Of course I'm not some mad sorcerer's bastard project. No mortal could ever amount to what I am, and that's not my ego speaking.

It's every cruelty and injury I've ever seen, and flesh consumed by fire as the only mercy I could offer, and no sleep... and seeing everything...

...and no sleep, and Luna wasn't there, and pages and pages of books that could only answer so much of everything...

Something in my mind sounds loudly above everything and the world feels silent, a burning sensation rippling through me. It feels like I'm on fire under this cloak and the room is getting smaller. I don't dare breathe.

I'm not the first demon.

I'm the last.