The inspection of the troops went better than she expected, the reports of the lack of moral were obviously exaggerated. Celestia entered the temple as she did the last twelve centuries, with the guards bowing down while her escort went back to their barracks. At least it was until she noticed the gate's guards were missing, but she was already inside when her brain recorded this strange omission. At this point, the missing guards were the least of her concern as she looked around the temple.
Every window had been covered by sheets which was obscuring the inside of the old building. It was so dark she couldn't make out most of the temple's furniture. It was obvious the servants were as missing as the guards. She was about to pull the sheets off with her magic when she felt a presence nearby. She wouldn't let herself feel fear; after all she was a goddess.
"Hello? Luna, are you there?"
"Welcome back sister," a voice replied from the darkness. It was Luna's voice, but not really at the same time; it was deeper and full of emotions, different.
"Did you do this? What's going on?"
Something moved in the shadows. "You left us in the dark. All alone. Everyponies did," the voice hissed in pain.
Celestia was more confused than she would ever admit it. "What are you talking about? Is this a prank?" Something passed back her left side and she spun around to face it, but she was rewarded with an empty corner.
"You never felt loneliness. Ponies play under the Sun. But they sleep or fear the night," Luna said in her back. Celestia jumped around but once again there was nothing in front of her.
"You know it's not true!" she shouted. "There are ponies that live in the night too."
"I'm trapped. Trapped in a nightmare, in which I'm alone. Alone forever, since the beginning of time," the voice said from every corners of the room at once as if Luna was everywhere.
"You’re not making any sense!"
Something was very wrong and Celestia felt the need to flee the temple. At that point, she didn't care what the ponies would think of their goddess running in fear. She could always explain it was for the best. But first she needed to see where she would run. She focused on one of the nearby sheet and pulled it off the window. Morning light batted the room and while her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she ended facing Luna.
At least she thought at first it was Luna, but the pony in front of her was taller, slimmer and darker. If it was her sister, her deep blue coat was now deep black and her kind soft look was replaced by mean green snake's eyes. But far more frightening was her mane which somehow was flowing all around Celestia similar to a vaporous mist, it was several time the size of her sister’s body.
"Luna, is that you?"
The black winged unicorn winced in pain. “Luna… No. No, I’m not. Luna was a fool, trapped in your shadow, a naïve filly that for centuries hurt in her corner while her sister played god.” She stepped forward. “But now I know, I know how to make the pain go away, how to make it stop.”
“Luna! Snap out of it!” Celestia screamed.
The black pony roared. “Luna is no more! If I’m to be trapped in the nightmare, then everypony will be with me!” Her mane leaped toward Celestia before she could run or charge a teleportation spell. Celestia tried to move, escape or to cast some spell but something was disrupting all her attempts, she felt her strength being drained.
“If trapped… I’ll become… I am the nightmare!”
"He did take it well." Fluttershy said about Dawn who was walking in the lead of the group. The tree line of the forest was now in sight and they were moving toward it at good pace.
Rarity shook her head. "Dear, I think he simply does not believe us. Or taking us for a group of crazies.”
"You have to admit it's a lot to take at once," Freewind commented. Last night, Dawn sat down and asked a bunch of questions which everypony tried to explain as best as they could. It ended up with them recounting a good part of their adventures, almost from the beginning. Lot of smaller details were skipped but they didn't feel it would affect his view on the subject. They were not sure if Dawn was actually listening to them as he just kept nodding to their story. Twilight knew what was happening in his head as her brain worked the same way, he would take all the information in and let his neurons sort them all out. She was quite sure the blue unicorn didn't manage to sleep that night.
Dawn stopped and spun around. "I just... it's... I... you don't... Arg!" He turned around and continued walking.
"Well, that was enlightening," Twilight said with a smile.
"I think his brain needs a reboot," Mark said to the Doctor.
"At least he didn't do a blue screen of death," the Doctor replied. Mark laughed, surprised the Doctor would know that reference.
Twilight frowned. "What are you two talking about?"
"Computer stuff," Mark replied without thinking.
"And what is a computer?"
Mark and the Doctor looked at each other quite uneasy with the question. The Doctor looked back at Twilight and blinked a few time. "Well, it's complicated. It would take a lot of time to explain." Twilight shot him an angry look.
"Once we are out of all this, I promise I will explain it all. Alright?" Mark proposed.
Dawn stopped once more. "Look, it's not that I believe you or not," he said speaking to nopony in particular. Everypony stopped and stared at him, which didn't help putting him at ease. "I'm a soldier, it's not my role to evaluate that kind of situation. I will bring you to the goddesses and they will decide what's true or not." Twilight pouted, so much for his brain sorting information like her, he blocked it all out and ignored whatever he couldn't understand.
"Good enough for me," Rarity said with a smile.
"You could drop the nervous look, sugarcube," Applejack added while pointing at Dawn. "We ain't gonna hurt you."
Freewind walked pass them, his ears twitching around.
"Now what?" Mark asked while looking at the gryphon.
Freewind gave a quick look back. "I'm hearing a pony crying," he answered before looking once more at the forest line ahead of them. "A mare or an old filly. It's coming from the forest."
The six mares looked at each other and then sprinted or flew toward the forest without a word leaving the males in the dust. Dawn and Freewind quickly followed.
"Oh come on!" Mark shouted. "I can't run that fast!"
The Doctor started trotting toward the forest leaving Mark behind.
"Bleh!"
Rainbow Dash was without a doubt as fast as her reputation says, as she arrived to the source of the cries way ahead of the others. However, what she found made her stop in her tracks and stared at the mare rolled on the floor crying. Applejack, sprinting as fast as she could, turned around a tree and almost collided with Rainbow.
"Ow, Rainbow! Don't just stand there!"
Rainbow didn't answer and simply pointed at the crying mare. Applejack looked passed Rainbow and had to work double time to prevent her jaw from dropping on the ground. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Twilight finally caught up with them and they all stood silent as they watched what the two found in the forest.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight finally shouted.
The white mare with a pink, green and blue pastel mane, slightly smaller than Fluttershy, turned around to face the source of the shout with her eyes red of tears. "I'm a goddess and you will show the respect I deserve!" she tried to shout between sobs.
The mares looked at each other and with a silent accord bowed down in front of the small winged unicorn.
When Dawn Sparkle and Freewind caught up with them, the first one flatten to the ground trying to not look at the divine mare while the gryphon simply stood there surprised. "That's the pony goddess?" He whispered to himself. "I thought she was bigger."
"Hey Doc! At least I'm running faster than you." Mark came out running out of a bush, looking back and almost collided with Celestia. He stared at the white mare that was as small as him. "And who the hell are you?"
"I'm your goddess and you will bow before me!" she screamed very close to a nervous breakdown.
"What? I don't know what's wrong with you but you won't get anything by shouting at people's face," Mark said not knowing how to deal with the crazy in front of him. This close to the her, he was unable to see any detail of the mad pony beside her face.
The mare stepped closer to him and screamed with a voice strength Mark never thought possible. "You will bow and show me respect!" His whole body vibrated under the verbal assault and his head hurt. His hoof moved on his own to defend himself from the attack and slapped the hysteric mare in the face.
"Calm the hell down!" he screamed back with the same intensity, surprised at his own voice. The mare stepped back and sat on the ground with a hoof on her cheek, obviously more stunned then hurt. She was staring at him with tears coming back to her eyes. "I can't stand spoiled brat," he added more calmly while looking around. He noticed for the first time Dawn lying on the floor with his eyes wide in surprise and six mares displaying faces of pure horror.
"What?"
Freewind starting laughing but still managed to say "You punched Celestia!".
"You really have a way to introduce yourself," the Doctor said behind him as he finally caught up with them.
"And screaming at someone's face is better? Well, I'm not sorry, after all she put us trough, she deserved it," Mark said.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "No wonder she will threaten you in the future, Mark."
"Your name is Mark?" Celestia asked with a soft voice.
Mark looked at Twilight, who displayed the same surprise he did. "Well, look at that," he said facing Celestia. "You can be a good pony when you don't take yourself for a goddess. Yeah, name's Mark." He extended his right hoof forward, which put Celestia on the defensive. "Nice to meet you."
She stared at the hoof and after a while raised her own and bumped it. Her face took a pastel pink color as she took a few steps back. "I'm Celestia. Don't you... Don't you remember me?"
"What? Yeah, you're Equestria's ruler," Mark answered confused as Celestia wasn't acting like anything he thought she would. "Right?"
Celestia appeared to shrink down at the answer. "Yes, I am," she said with a voice as soft as Fluttershy as she looked at her hooves.
"Aren't you supposed to be bigger?" Freewind asked while leaning against a tree.
Dawn jumped on his hooves and ran in front of the gryphon. "You will show respect to her divinity!"
Freewind grabbed his head with a claw and pushed him aside. "You have a weird notion of respect. I'm a prince... or was, and your first reaction was to try to stab me."
"Will you two cut it out?" Twilight snapped with anger. "I can't believe how you're acting." The gryphon and the soldier looked away like two kids who were caught fighting. She turned around and faced Celestia. "Princess... I... I mean goddess, what are you doing alone in the forest? Why are you crying?"
As time passed, Celestia appeared to regain her composure. "I was attacked." The mares and the soldier gasped at the news. "My sister... Goddess Luna, something happened to her. She transformed in some kind of monster."
"Luna attacking Celestia, why I already heard that somewhere?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Silence! Let her finish," Rarity replied.
"Her mane... was weird, unlike anything I've seen before," Celestia continued. "It grabbed me and drained me of my power." She looked at her small body. "I guess it's the reason I'm so small now. At some points she... her mane dropped me and I ran with what little strength I had left. I couldn't find any guards or soldiers in the city, so I decided to run to the nearest camp of the army." She looked down in shame. "With the emotion... I... I guess I got lost."
"Fear not Goddess! The reinforcements are here!" Rainbow said as she punched her chest with pride.
The winged unicorn appeared skeptical. "You are very young and you are no soldier. You are obviously not fit to face this kind of challenge."
Rainbow Dash deflated in midair and was ready to say something rude when Applejack got in front of her. "What she meant is, we will only escort you to Canterlot. No doubt the guards are hiding near the city and are waiting for orders."
Dawn stepped forward. "Your highness, I agree with them. Canterlot must not be left without your presence."
Celestia sighed and closed her eyes. "Fine. But you shall take no risks," she said as she looked at the ponies. "You are not suited for this kind of situation."
"We would never do that, your highness," the Doctor said with a huge smile while nine pairs of eyes rolled at the comment.
She nodded. "Soldier!" she called while pointing at Dawn. "Take the lead."
They were all walking on some kind of small dirt road, following Dawn Sparkle who were obviously used to the path leading toward Canterlot. Celestia was in the middle of the group while Mark and Twilight was ahead of her, talking about shield magic.
"...and that how you cast a force field," Twilight finished.
"I'm surprised, it sounds easier than levitating objects," Mark commented.
"In theory, it is. The spell is simpler. However, it requires far more magic than basic telekinesis and a finer control over it," she explained.
Mark looked disappointed. "I see." He walked a bit in silence before talking about what he had on his mind. "Sounds like you know why Luna attacked Celestia."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Maybe. You know Luna was sealed on the Moon for a thousand years?"
"I think... I think I read something about that in one of your history book."
"History is a bit... vague about what really happened." She sighed. "A bit over two years ago, I found out her banishment was about to end by some kind of weird prophecy. That story only said there were two sisters ruling over Equestria and that at some point, the younger one, overseeing the night, decided to prevent her sister from raising the Sun. The eldest was forced to use the Elements of Harmony to seal her on the Moon."
"That's all?"
Twilight grimed. "Yeah, the history books has no detail what so ever on what really happened. There's about a dozen loopholes in that story. I never managed to find out what really happened."
"You never asked Celestia?"
Twilight looked away. "I did."
"And?"
She looked uneasy. "She didn't want to talk about it. I always assumed she felt terrible for sealing away her own sister."
Mark thought about it for a moment. "So you think we are living that event?"
She sighed. "I don't know. Nightmare Moon, the way Luna was calling herself, is an experience I don't really wish to repeat."
"You talked of loopholes in the story?" Mark pressed.
Twilight looked at the bright blue sky as two small birds raced each other. "Yeah. When we faced her, we used the Elements of Harmony to free Luna from Nightmare Moon. I still don't know what truly happened. Wasn't Nightmare and Luna the same pony? Didn't Luna changed by her own choice?"
"What make you say she didn't?" He asked.
"Luna is a very kind and intelligent pony. I meet her a few times after we defeated Nightmare. I still don't understand how she could decide to become that... monster. Or even how she could change that much, Nightmare was physically different from Luna too."
"Magic?" Mark said with a smile.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "It's not the answer to everything you know."
"And?"
"Why Celestia sealed Nightmare on the Moon while we managed to free Luna? Couldn't Celestia do it as she was using the same Elements?" Twilight pointed out.
"I admit that is weird."
"Also, every time we used the Elements of Harmony, we had to be six ponies that each represent an Element; kindness, honesty, loyalty, generosity, laughter and magic. When we faced Discord, at some point Rainbow Dash was missing and we couldn't make the Elements work at all. How did Celestia managed to do it alone, but couldn't do it after?"
Mark blinked at the revelation. "I... I don't know."
"Luna was said to be a bearer of the Elements too. Why didn't she fight back with them? Some say when she became Nightmare Moon, the harmony was broken and she couldn't use them. If so, if the harmony was broken, how could Celestia use them at all?"
"Good question."
"On top, why the Moon? A seal spell is already complex enough without the need to teleport it that far away. She could have sealed her in a mountain, a forest or even a rock! Some say Celestia was too weak to heal her sister, but sealing her on the Moon, such a distant object is probably harder."
Mark stayed silent, not knowing what to say.
"And who wrote that prophecy? It was weird, it said Nightmare Moon was sealed forever, but a thousand years after her banishment, four stars would release her. I saw those stars releasing her, but I still don't know what they were. Obviously not real stars! I'm guessing some kind of spells, but who cast it?"
"That's... disturbing."
"Celestia knew that Nightmare would be released that night, she probably knew that prophecy better than me, and yet she pushed me to go around in some quest to make friends. How did she know I would make five friends and would find the Elements of Harmony? That's really big! Leaving the safety and future of the whole planet on six very young mares. She's not the kind to stay out of the fights for the safeties of everyponies!" Twilight almost shouted.
"Keep it down, she could hear us," Mark noted. "Alright, that's loopholes the size of a house."
"Want to know the biggest part?" She asked. Mark nodded. "She didn't fight back when Nightmare Moon was released."
"What?"
"Two unicorn as powerful as them make quite a mess when they fight with magic. Yet that night, there was no fighting, no spell casting, no fireworks, no nothing. For all I know, Celestia let Nightmare seal her in the Sun without any resistance."
"She gave up or she knew?" Mark asked.
Twilight thought about it for a while. "I think she knew, she’s not the kind to give up. But she is not a prophet; somepony told her everything... wrote that weird prophecy."
Mark hummed. "You obviously thought a lot about it."
"Yeah, quite a few nights without sleep thinking about it," Twilight admitted.
"Got any theory?"
She looked down. "That's the problem; I got nothing, nothing that matches all the loopholes, nothing that makes sense of it all. Every time I get something that solves one or two of the inconsistencies, it doesn't fit the others."
"Well, if we really are to live that event, you will know what truly happened," he noted.
"I told you, Nightmare isn't something I wish to experience again. And I still don't see why we are here... or now. Right now, I just feel we are messing with the timeline more than anything else. We probably messed up Freewind's future."
Mark looked back at Celestia, who was walking behind them. "You know, Celestia doesn't really look in shape to do any kind of fighting."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Why? Because she's as big as you?"
Mark pouted. "That's low. I meant, she said Luna drained her magic or something like that."
"I guess that's why she's going to use the Elements."
"Yeah, I guess. You want another mystery?" Mark asked.
"One more... At this point, I don't think it's gonna change anything. Shoot!" she answered with fake enthusiasm.
Mark looked at Twilight and nudged his head in Celestia's direction. "Why is she staring at me?"
"She is not! She..." Twilight gave a quick look behind her. "Alright, she is."
"So?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "That's no mystery! You slapped her. On the face! She's thousands years old and rules Equestria. I doubt many pony slapped her before."
"Over such a long life, I would have guessed many did." Mark noted.
"Would have done it when she is at her normal size? You know, when she 'threatened' you? I doubt your hoof would have reached her face."
Mark swallowed hard. "I guess. So... you think she's plotting my death or something?"
Twilight gave another quick look at Celestia. "No, she is not like that. I think she's surprised. Maybe mad. Yeah, a bit mad."
Mark looked up at the sky. "Alright, I guess I need to apologize after all."
"Would be a good idea. Before, how did you manage to use the royal Canterlot voice?"
Annoyance showed up on his face. "Why do you always assume I know what you're talking about?"
"How did you shout like that, the same way Celestia did?"
"Don't tell me you don't know how to shout?" he asked, puzzled.
She rolled her eyes. "It's a magic enhanced shout."
"Really? Sorry, didn't notice. I guess I learned it from when I stayed with Fluttershy. She is pretty good at shouting too."
"What?"
He ignored her question, waved a hoof and slowed down. After a while walking slower, he ended up beside Celestia. He noticed in her eyes that she was pondering between running away and staying beside him. He also noticed that Dawn, a few meters behind Celestia, was giving him a dangerous look. No doubt the soldier didn't take it lightly that the small unicorn touched his divinity. The message was clear that he would be in a world of pain if he tried to repeat his assault on Celestia. Mark kept his sight forward and cleared his throat. "Dear goddess," he started, but the words sounded wrong to him. "I would like to apologize."
Celestia looked at him surprised. "You don't need to. I don't normally act like this and you only defended yourself from an unprovoked... verbal assault."
"Still, I want to apologize. I've been in way too many fights lately and some could have cost my life."
"Then I accept it."
"Thanks... goddess," Mark replied.
Celestia stared at him for a while. "You sound like you disapprove of my status as divinity."
"I... Hmm," Mark managed to say while looking away.
"Speak your mind. I prefer that, but nopony does."
Mark stared back at Celestia and noticed for the first time something weird in her eyes, but he couldn't place it. "Alright. You are no goddess."
She let out a soft laugh. "That is honest. And why do you say that?"
"Because I've met creatures more powerful or older than you and they are no gods."
"Really?" She asked with a skeptical smile.
"I know you're getting some extra magic from the Sun." Mark pointed at the purple mare in front of him. "Twilight, she is getting her own from the time flow itself. She has more potential power at her disposal that you will ever have. She just needs to learn how to use it properly. I saw her vaporize a whole planet when she lost control."
Celestia raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Mark nudged his head backward. "As for the brown stallion back there, his appearance is only an illusion. He is no pony, he is a Timelord. He is most likely much older than you. He traveled to countless worlds. At some point, he took part in a terrible war that devastated hundreds of worlds."
Both eyebrows were now high on her face.
"So yeah, and I doubt any of them would call themselves god."
Some time passed before Celestia spoke again. "Never judge a book by its cover. I guess that's quite true with your group.
"I'm surprise you accept my words like that."
She smiled back. "I sense no intention of deception from you. And how about you, what's your special talent?"
Mark swallowed. "Not much I'm afraid. No crazy power or... Well, I guess if I say I was born a hundred twentyish thousands years ago can be a bit impressive, but I'm not even thirty. Or am I? I kinda lost track of time with all this crazy traveling. And that I used to not be a pony." Mark stopped. "Sorry, I'm babbling."
"Not used to be a pony?"
"It's a long story."
They walked in silence for a while and she didn't push the topic forward. Something about Celestia was making Mark uneasy, as if there was something familiar with her. Someone in the back of his head kept him on his guard for no obvious reason.
"Do you think I'm bad for being called a goddess?" She asked with a weird smile.
The question caught Mark off guard. "I... Probably not if you take it only as title like any other title. But you started a war that cost the life of thousands of ponies and gryphons and nopony managed to give us a good reason for it."
Celestia's smile faded as she looked down at the ground and it took a long moment before she spoke again. "When everypony call you a goddess for well over a thousand years... I guess... I guess you start to believe it yourself. When the gryphon's king came to Canterlot and refused to bow in front of me and my sister... I... Everypony..." She looked up. "No, it's my fault; I decided that this offense could not be tolerated. Everypony accepted my decision without questions."
"And things spiraled out of control."
She stared at him. "Yes, it did."
He stared back. "How far are you ready to go to protect the lives of your population?"
She took a step back, surprised by the question. "I... I'm not sure."
"Then yes, I think you're a bad leader." Celestia looked truly shocked by his words. "You should take their lives and safety above your pride, your title or even your own life. The only war that is acceptable is to defend their lives."
"You truly believe that? How about their pride?"
"Their pride in what? Their country? In you? I've never been the leader type, so take what I have to say the way you want it." He took a deep breath. "Countries, flags, titles, names... They all come and go. People stay, always. People love to have an icon to gather under, it's normal as it put a visual representation of their feelings. But it's never for the image that you fight, it's for the people. There's no country, flag or whatever without them. You can become an icon, that's not a problem. It becomes one when it's put before the well being of the people that support it."
She gave him a weird look. "Are you sure you're only thirty?"
Mark laughed. "Yes, quite sure."
"You looked much younger."
Mark pouted at the comment. "You don't look very old right now."
"True." She looked up. "You remind me of someone I used to know, a very long time ago," she commented.
Mark looked surprised. "That's why you were staring at me?" She nodded back. "I see. What happened to him?"
Celestia looked uneasy, the memory was obviously painful. "He died, eaten by a wild beast."
He looked away. "I'm sorry."
"No need to be. After so long, I've learned to accept that other ponies would not live as long as me," she answered back. However, something in her face made him think she wasn't telling everything about those feeling she claimed to have come to accept. "I have a few other questions if you don't mind."
"Of course I don't mind! From what I understood, we are still an hour of walk from Canterlot."
"Yes. We should reach the city just before the Sun set." She looked behind. "I'm not ignorant of the gryphon's royalty and if I remember well, the one following us is the only heir of the throne."
Mark nodded. "He is. Or was."
She looked surprised. "Now, how did he come to follow your group like that?"
"First of all, I would say Twilight is more the leader of the group. As for why... It appears I claimed his life after defeating him in a fight to the death."
Her look went back and forth between the unicorn and the gryphon. "Really?"
He smiled. "I was lucky and he was overconfident."
"And as for one of my army's sergeant, I don't think he would leave his duty," she asked while looking at the armored unicorn.
He grinned. "He did not. We were under attack by a large group of gryphons..."
"And he saved you," she interrupted him.
Mark laughed. "No, he came after the fight was over. Since there was corpses of over twenty gryphons and an unknown threat, he decided to protect the ponies under his command and sent them back to their base. His idea was to face us alone."
She laughed. The sound reminded Mark of birds singing. "That's an impressive feat. You got my curiosity, that should have been a impressive fight."
Mark didn't look happy at how lightly she took their death. "Gryphons are living beings the same way ponies are. Rainbow Dash didn't mean to kill them."
"You have to admit that ponies are superior to..." She stopped when she noticed anger painting his face.
His voice was dry. "They are not. Different, yes, but not superior. I'm not a pony and to the timelord's eyes, we are probably not much more than primitive beasts that can't even travel to other worlds. Compared to some species living out there, we are nothing."
"I... I'm sorry."
They walked a long time in silence.
"Rainbow Dash, I would guess this is the mare with the prismatic mane?" She asked, uneasy with the tension between her and Mark.
"Yes, she is."
"How did she?"
Mark sighed. "I guess they were very..."
"Overconfident?" She interrupted him.
"Yes. They were in a tight formation and she performed a sonic boom in the middle of their group," he explained, understanding she would not drop the topic.
She frowned. "A sonic boom?"
"She calls that a sonic rainboom. When something is traveling faster than the speed of sound, the compression of the air increases its density to the point where it's similar to the shockwave of an explosion."
Celestia stared at Rainbow Dash for a moment. "Is that really possible?"
"I thought it was impossible for a living being to fly that fast. Well, that was until I saw her do it."
She blinked a few time. "I understand now why she looked unhappy when I said she couldn't handle the situation."
He smiled. "She's quite proud and she acts before thinking, but she always has good intentions."
"I see." She raised her head. "We are reaching soon Canterlot."
Mark looked forward and noticed a wall of blocks of rock coming over the tree line, not unlike human medieval town. "I will go see Twilight. Thanks for the talk, I enjoyed it."
Celestia replied with a weak smile. "So do I."
Mark sprinted forward and reached Twilight in a few quick steps. She didn't miss the wall and looking at it. "Old Canterlot?"
She nodded. "Yes. You would be surprised the lack of information about this place in history books, even if it was the capital of Equestria for over a millenium." She looked at him. "How was the princess?"
Mark thought about it for a minute. "I guess... I don't know. Not what I was expecting." She laughed.
Dawn walked back to the town square where the others were waiting with Celestia. They had promised to defend her on their lives as he walked away to investigate the absence of guards and soldiers at the city's gates. When he came back, he found them in a dark corner, trying to avoid attention as much as possible, which proved quite hard with a large gryphon and a winged unicorn mare that shared striking resemblance with Celestia, if only for her size. Other ponies were whispering and giving them weird looks as they walked by.
Rarity somehow produced several cloaks from her saddlebags which somehow helped camouflage their more visible members. Pinkie Pie was trying to make Celestia laugh with some joke only she found funny. However, the goddess appeared to genuinely enjoy the effort and was politely laughing at some of the bad puns. When Dawn came to them, Celestia, Twilight and Rarity moved closer to him, while the others listened from further away.
"It's like we saw when we entered the city," he said. "There's no guard at the gates and the barracks are empty."
Twilight nodded. "We overheard some ponies talking. After some royal guards fled the temple, a group of soldiers entered it in formation, but they never came out."
"A merchant said he saw soldiers run out of the city. He assumed they were couriers, but was surprised at their numbers," Rarity added.
"My goddess," Dawn said his sight fixed at the ground in front of Celestia. "I'm afraid I was wrong. There's no presence of the army in the city or near it. It would be safer to go to the nearest army outpost."
Celestia shock her head in negation. "You were right back then, my place is here. I think I'm quite safe with..." She was interrupted by a loud voice that appeared to come from every corners of the city.
"My subjects, your presence is required at the temple."
The voice was loud enough to shake the glasses of the buildings' windows. Fluttershy curled in the smallest ball she could become. The other mares looked at each other, as they knew that voice before.
"Hey!" Pinkie Pie said, almost joyful. "Was that..." but she was interrupted by Applejack's hoof on her snout.
"Yes," Celestia said while looking at the sky. "It’s my sister, the goddess of the night." She looked down. "Even if her voice changed as her body did, it was definitely her." She closed her eyes and sighed. "We should go see why she wants everypony at the temple."
"Your divinity!" Dawn shouted. "It's not safe! She already attacked you and..." He stopped and backed off when she shot him an angry look.
"We can always blend with the crowd," Twilight said. "Rarity, you got more of those cloaks?"
The fashionista smiled. "You know me, I'm always prepared for those situations."
They were standing at the edge of the crowd of ponies that came to the large esplanade in front of the temple. The crowd was buzzing with whispering of ponies wondering why they were summoned. Some recognized Luna's voice while others claimed it was too different to be hers. All in all, over five thousands ponies were waiting for answers.
"I thought the city had more population than that," Mark whispered to Twilight.
She looked at him from under her dark purple cloak. "And I was expecting the city to be bigger. It's only about twice the size of Ponyville."
"And I must say," Rarity said while wearing a white cloak embroidered with golden leaves. "I never saw a city so dirty. The smell is terrible."
"Well, many things we take for granted, like running water, will only come in a few centuries," Twilight explained. "But I admit, the salubrity of the city is far worse than I imagined."
"I thought you all looked a bit too colorful when I first meet you," Mark said. He noticed somepony staring at him. "No offense, Rainbow."
"None taken," the mare replied with a weird smile.
"But this... They all look grey, depressed." He noticed the soldier unicorn looking around. "Dawn, how is the war going on?"
"Well, it is..." He quickly stopped when he noticed Celestia waiting for his answer. "It's going great!" he said with a forced smile.
"Well look at that," Applejack said. "if I aint found a worst liar than me."
"I want the truth sergeant," Celestia said with a voice that could cut rock.
He swallowed hard. "I'm sure the goddess knows how the war is going more than I do."
"And I want your honest opinion," she said staring at him.
The soldier was sweating and looking around for help. "It... It's... It's terrible. We are losing, slowly but surely. Gryphons are stronger than pegasi and since three years ago, their warriors use armor plating that nullifies all unicorns’ magic. The only reason we still stand is because of the earth ponies’ resilience. They are cutting our supply routes one by one and it's been over a year since we managed to do any kind of successful attack," he spitted out in one breath.
"Really? I didn't feel we were making any kind of significant progress, and not just because my father was holding back," Freewind noted.
"We are great to cover our defeats," Dawn countered. "But lately, we were putting more efforts into that than into battles."
Celestia sat down on the ground and looked at her hooves. "I knew the generals were lying to me."
"But we cannot lose, goddess! You are to support us. You are testing us and we will overcome the difficulties you put on our path. We know you will make us prevail!" he said with a weak fanaticism, trying to cheer her up, not really believing it himself.
She stared at him as if she saw a ghost. She then slowly turned her head toward Twilight. "Twilight... Your name is Twilight?" The mare nodded back. "What's your honest opinion of the situation?"
"Well... After seeing both Canterlot and the gryphon's capital, I must say the ponies aren't in good shapes." She took a long breath. "The gryphons are mass producing magium alloy, no doubt that within a year or two all their troops will be armored with it."
"Seven months," Freewind added.
Celestia frowned. "Magium?"
"A metal that turn any magic that touches it into heat," Twilight explained. Some part of her brain wondered if she just historically named that metal, but she quickly remembered that Gryphons were already using it and had already named it.
"Is there anything to do against it?"
Freewind shock his head. "We are mixing it with our best steel. It makes it slightly more brittle, but you don't need a huge quantity of it to render any magic useless. The only downside is that after a long battle, the metal can become quite hot."
"So, with enough magic it could melt it?" Celestia asked.
Freewind shrugged. "In theory. But nopony has that much magic. Maybe a hundred unicorn aiming at a single gryphon could overcome his defenses."
She closed her eyes. "I should go on the front line."
Dawn jumped forward. "You can be serious!" he shouted. He stopped in his tracks once he noticed her staring at him with an angry look. "It's... It's dangerous," he managed to add in a whisper.
Celestia turned around and looked at Freewind. "Did your father ever go in battle?"
The gryphon sat down. "More times than I can count. He made sure to always be in the frontlines."
"Why?"
He let out a small laugh. "When I was assigned to a platoon, I asked him the exact same thing." His sight drifted away. "If you can't be out there and share the pain and death of those who carry your orders, you don't deserve to give them in the first place." He smiled. "Back then, I didn't understand his words. When I got a command on my own, I had lost enough friends to understand he was right about that. Besides, he was the best warrior, his presence alone on the battlefield meant far better chances of success." He looked down and his shoulders dropped. "I... I missed him."
It didn't take long before Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy rushed to hug him. He was surprised by the sudden support and didn't make him at ease, but he didn't push them away.
Celestia frowned. "The king is..." but she was interrupted by a loud shout.
"Population of Canterlot."
Everypony turned to look at the source, a tall black mare standing on a balcony, high above the esplanade. Behind her, the Sun was going down, quickly hidden by the temple. As the Sun disappeared, her mane poured out of the temple and spread around her. The crowd of ponies was now fully silent and focused on the new comer.
"Luna," Celestia whispered, her eyes locked on her sister.
Mark got close to Twilight. "Is it?"
"It is," she answered.
"Why does her mane look like the space creature we defeated on the Moon?" he asked, as calm as he could.
"What?" Twilight almost shouted while staring at him.
"Well, it's smaller and the color is slightly different. But the shape, sparkles and motions are the same," Mark explained. "Doctor?"
The brown stallion stepped forward. "I admit this is uncanny. The temporal disturbances could have been it being sent back in time."
Twilight's eye couldn't be wider. "You mean... You mean we created..."
"I am Nightmare Moon," the black mare shouted, interrupting Twilight and sending shivers in her spine.
"I remember her to be much smaller than that," Rarity noted. "Her mane could cover the whole esplanade!"
"This explains how she drained Celestia's power," Mark added.
"I'm here to bring you great news!"
"Ten bits on 'bring you eternal night'." Rainbow Dash said. Applejack shot her an annoyed look.
"From this moment forth, the night shall be eternal. We shall live under the Moon, forever together!" the Nightmare shouted as she took flight. The Moon rose from behind the temple, following the mare's altitude.
The crowd of ponies started whispering loudly, unsure of how to take the news. Some ran away, but most didn't understand what was going on. Once the Moon was high in the sky, Nightmare Moon flew back to the balcony.
"We know my ponies. It is a great change and it will take time to accept it. But in time, we know you will come to enjoy the gift we offer you today!" she shouted. After a while, she turned around and disappeared in the temple.
"Oh, this is bad," the Doctor said. Everypony turned to look at him. He standing back in some shadows in his biped form and was looking at something off his screwdriver only him could see.
Celestia's eyes went wide in surprised and she put a hoof to her mouth. She looked at Mark. "What you said was true?"
"All of it," he answered, slightly insulted that she thought he was joking.
"Quite bad..."
"Doctor?" Twilight asked.
The Doctor raised his head, suddenly aware he was speaking his mind. "Oh, sorry." He pocketed his screwdriver and in a blur he was back as a brown stallion. He gave them a fake smile.
"Doctor!" Twilight shouted.
"What?"
"What is bad?"
"Oh... Hmm... I have a good and a bad news. Which one you want first?" the Doctor said with a playing smile.
"Doctor!" Twilight shouted again.
"Let's go with the good one first," Rarity said.
The Doctor bowed down slightly. "The good news is the Nightmare didn't just stop Earth's rotation. She tilted the planet's axis."
"And how is that good news?" Applejack asked.
"It is a good news because the tidal waves will continue and there will be enough air current to mix the atmosphere a bit. Stopping Earth's rotation suddenly could have been devastating," the Doctor explained.
"And the bad news?" Fluttershy asked, still clamped to Freewind and shaking from fear.
The Doctor chuckled. "Ah yeah... The bad news." He put a hoof behind his head. "The planet's part facing away from the Sun will lose about fifteen degrees Celsius every day. In two days, snow will start to fall and in four, we will freeze to death."
"I admit, this is a bad news," Rarity commented in surprise.