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I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.
-Robert Frost
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To There and Back Again
Twilight's Palace
A large, round table sat in the middle of a high room, the light of the infinite sunset draping across the pristine, marble surface. Around it were eight tall chairs, also made of marble, with velvet cushions above the seats. A ninth chair, this one made of mere wood and velvet, was placed next to the tallest of these chairs. All of them were occupied, seven with robed ponies, a mixture of unicorns and earth ponies alike. One was a small, not-so-young dragon, who ironically occupied the wooden seat. And one, who sat in the tall chair alongside the drake, was an alicorn princess, and the leader of the last nation on Equus.
All eyes in the room were on Twilight Sparkle as she skimmed through various reports and findings, all presented by the scholars in the room with here. "Absolutely nothing," she murmured to herself. She looked up. "You've found absolutely nothing," she repeated, louder this time, addressing the room. "One of the largest, by my calculations, arcane disasters in the history of the world and you didn't even detect a shudder in the fabric of magic?"
There was a collective muttering and shaking of heads.
"Your highness," an older unicorn spoke up. "Is it unreasonable to think you may have experienced an, um... a condition similar to Princess Luna?" He instantly shut his mouth as Twilight glared at him.
"You are all dismissed," she ordered, not taking her eyes off of the stallion. "I want extensive research conducted into the plausibility and existence of these other 'planes' and a full report within the week confirming their existence." She turned away finally, looking at the group as a whole. "If you can't prove their existence, keep testing and researching until you can."
The ponies in the room all stood, bowed, and left the room silently. When the door shut behind them, Twilight let out a defeated sigh and slumped in her seat. The past few weeks had been tiring.
Upon their return to Equestria, Twilight had learned that they arrived at the exact same time they had left. It caused a bit of a stir with her royal guard force, as they were all hastily shipped back from the dig site in the badlands. However, none of them remembered Discord interfering. They only recalled Twilight and Spike disappearing into the Changeling structure, and then getting word that they had arrived back at the palace.
Any attempts Twilight made to contact Discord had also failed. The draconequus either didn't care to respond, or was unable to. The lavender alicorn had a fearful suspicion it was the latter.
She was left alone in this world she had come to love. All of her scholars refused to believe in the existence of this plane of magic, this "elysium." They had put more effort into coming up with excuses as to why it couldn't possibly exist, rather than actually researching its existence.
"Comeon, Spike," she said as she stood from her chair. "Let's go see how she's doing." The dragon beside her obediently stood, and followed her out of the room.
As they exited the chamber, they walked past an anxiously waiting Rainbow Dash, who jumped to her hooves as soon as she saw them. "Well, how did it go, Twi?" she asked hurriedly. "I saw all of your monk-pony guys leave, and none of them looked all to happy. Do they still not believe? I mean, I'm here, right? How can they-"
"Rainbow," Twilight interrupted. "I don't want to talk about it."
The cyan pegasus shut her mouth instantly, falling in line behind Twilight.
"They still don't believe any of it. They're doing everything they can to try and prove me wrong, instead of proving me right." The alicorn hung her head. "They think I'm going insane." She felt Spike draw closer to her side, one of his hands brushing up against her leg. The contact made her feel better. At least there were still some who believed her.
"I thought you didn't want to talk about it," Rainbow's voice piped up behind her.
"Rainbow Dash, shut up," Twilight replied, unable to keep the traces of a smile from her muzzle.
The trio continued down the hall, and headed towards the East Wing of the castle. Twilight had christened this section the "Redheart Wing," after an old friend of hers who had been killed when Ponyville was attacked. The pony had been a nurse, and her profession suited this area of the castle. The entire two floors of the eastern side was an infirmary.
Extra precautions had to be taken now, in this new world. Some of Equestria's best doctors resided in the Redheart Wing, ready to tend to the Princess or her aids at a moments notice. Outside physicians could not be trusted with the care of Equestria's last princess.
However, it now served a different purpose.
Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow came to a stop in front of the first door, identical to one of many that lined the hallways of this wing. This was the only room that was occupied. With a sigh, Twilight lit her horn, and pushed the door open. The three followed her inside silently. The scene in the room had not changed since the last time they were in here, spare a new vase of flowers on the bedside table.
Luna lay comatose in the bed, her torso angled upward slightly. An array of arcane constructs stood beside the bed, each connected to her horn with wires. They all served a purpose. One was keeping her brain active, another was keeping her heart from stopping, and another one was providing her body with artificial nutrients so she didn't atrophy.
Twilight's eyes became watery as she stared at the former princess laying in the bed. The dark alicorn had been this way since they had returned, and showed no signs of recovery. The doctors, experts in their field, all said that there was no hope.
And Twilight was starting to believe them.
2 Months Later
"So, in theory, a thaumaturgical event of that proposed scale could exist, but it is highly unlikely."
The briefing room fell silent once again as Princess Twilight Sparkle mulled over the mage's results.
The unicorn who had given the report spoke up again, breaking the stillness. "However, we still have been unable to detect anything, and our instruments should have been able to."
A lavender hoof slammed into the crystal table with a loud thunk. "How?!" screamed Twilight, making all the ponies in the room flinch. "How incompetent are you that you cannot detect a magical earthquake?" The violet eyes glared at each of them in turn. "You've had almost three months to research and go over your results. I have presented you with countless theories and explanations as to how exactly this could occur, and how to go about detecting it!" She took a deep breath. "If I didn't have to run a nation singlehoofedly, I would be able to successfully detect this by now!"
An unfortunate older stallion across the table nervously raised a hoof. "Your h-highness," he stammered. "Might I suggest yet again t-that you may-"
"SHUT UP!" interrupted Twilight, her eyes piercing into his soul. "At least everypony else in this council has learned to stop informing me that I am most likely insane!"
The old unicorn quickly deflated in his seat, closing his mouth and looking fearfully at the table. Twilight was breathing very heavily, so much so that her chest was beginning to ache. She placed a hoof firmly against her breast, and tried to calm down.
"You are all dismissed."
The group of mages stood, hastily bowed, and almost scuttled for the doors. The room was soon empty, save for Twilight Sparkle. Spike had stopped coming to these meetings a while ago, for reason he had not told her. He spent less and less time by her side, and while everypony seemed to see that as a form of recovery from the mess they had all been through, Twilight saw the truth. He was getting scared of her.
Spike had always spent time with her, even before the invasion. Now, they were rarely seen together. The guards no longer saw the adorable sights of the drake sitting next to Twilight in her throne. They no longer saw the small dragon by her side everywhere.
It was this simple fact that kept Twilight from fully falling into her insanity. The truth was, she lavender mare was becoming afraid of herself. She saw the telltale signs of obsession grasping at her vision. And she was terrified that it would take hold of her. Spike's fear of her kept her grounded in reality. It was a constant reminder that she was slipping, and she needed to return. She was trying, but there was little progress.
Her efforts had grown desperate. She had reached out, trying to find the one being who could possibly save her, but he never answered. Even Discord had left her. Never before had she wished for his aggravating meddling so much. Chaos was reigning in the shattered remains of Equestria, and its god was nowhere to be found.
Not fully realizing what she was doing, Twilight stood and left the room. Her mind wandered the labyrinth that was now her thoughts as she slowly walked the halls of her castle. Before she knew it she was seated in another room.
Luna lay in the bed next to her, the magic keeping her alive pulsing steadily. The vase that once held beautiful, vibrant flowers now only held black, dead petals. Luna herself was no different than when they had returned. The months passed, and she neither got better, nor any worse. She simply lay there, in her coma.
She sat there, staring at the limp Princess, thinking of everything that had happened, and wondering how it had come to this. The light in the room slowly dimmed as the sun began to slip below the horizon, welcoming the night. As the room slowly grew dimmer, Twilight could have sworn she saw some of the sparkle return to Luna's mane.
Wait a minute.
As if just realizing, the lavender alicorn bolted out of her seat, and stared out the window at the setting sun. "That's... not... possible..."
A passing earth pony doctor jumped out of her skin as the door to Luna's room burst open, and Twilight Sparkle galloped out of it. She ran out of the Redheart Wing and down the corridor. "Guards!" she yelled. "Wake the council! Assemble them in the west briefing room!"
"At once, your highness!"
The alicorn ran faster than she ever had in her life. She hastily opened the door to her own bedroom, and quickly grabbed the stack of reports sitting on her desk. Her crown was quickly plopped upon her head, and the prepared to leave.
"Twi?" Rainbow's head peeked around the corner, having been in the private bath. "Why are you up so late? It's getting dark outside."
Rainbow Dash squealed as she was suddenly pulled towards Twilight and locked in a deep kiss. When they broke apart, Twilight smiled at her. "Exactly," she said, and then bounded out of the room.
The pegasus cocked an eyebrow, wondering what that was all about. Then it hit her. Her eyes darted to the window, and she gasped. "Holy horseapples..."
Twilight raced to the other side of the castle, throwing open the doors to the briefing room and startling the gathering of mages.
"Your highness," one of them began.
"The sun is moving!" cried another.
She silenced them all by placing the stack of papers down in a huff. "Yes," declared Twilight. "The sun is indeed moving. As a matter of fact, it is setting." Her gaze looked around the room as chambermaids rushed to light the lanterns for the first time. There had not been a need until now.
Another mage spoke up, his brow furrowed in confusion. "But how can this possibly happen?"
Twilight focused her gaze on him and smiled. "Only one pony can move the sun." All of the eyes in the room widened.
The windows to the room suddenly slammed shut and all of the lanterns blew out. An unsettling silence filled the room. Nopony dared move. Then, the light coming from the setting sun began to glow brighter, and brighter, until it appeared that it was high noon. Then, a familiar voice rang out across the land.
"ONCE IT SETS, IT SHALL NEVER RISE AGAIN! EQUINE FALL HAS COME."
As the bellowing voice of Princess Celestia faded away, the sun dimmed back down, and the lanterns lit again.
With silence once again filling the room, Twilight turned towards the old mage who had criticized her at every turn. She raised an eyebrow at him as she calmly sat back down at the briefing table.
"Well," she said. "I think you need to go back, and double check your calculations on my theories." The stallion hastily nodded, and left the room. She turned to the others. "Obviously, if my theories are correct, we had best get ready for the end of the world."