Just like before, Twilight found herself in a void of white. She could sense nothing around her nor inside of her. It was as if she didn't exist on any known plane. A vast emptiness filled with the hollow existence of time and space. It had freaked her out the first time she did this all those years ago, but now she was too determined to even think of fear.
Slowly, reality began to form. Lines and colors of the past finally started to come into shape. Twilight felt her insides slowly turning as she shut her eyes to handle the dizziness. When it felt like all was still again, Twilight lifted her eyelids to a familiar scene that had confused her greatly. She had been here before. The ruined castle throne room. The night sky with the stars burning brightly above. The marks of battle from deadly spells mixed with feathers of white and black. How could she forget the sight of the two powerful beings locked in deadly conflict that decided the fate of not only Equestria but also the world?
This was the first appearance of Nightmare Moon as well as her banishment.
Why am I here? She wondered, rubbing her head. She had designed the spell portion of the potion to send her back to the time where Celestia received the means of which caused her death. She had expected to be sent back a few weeks, months, even a year or two. So why am I one thousand years in the past?! Did I make a mistake?
Before she could ponder further, a sharp cry of pain sent a chill down her spine followed by a harsh and sinister laugh echoing with it. Looking up, Twilight panicked upon seeing Princess Celestia's body fall from the sky and land with a deepening crunch. Even though she knew that this Celestia was not only a vision from the past, therefore unable to feel or hear her, Twilight rushed to her anyway.
Just seeing her mentor, somewhat alive after everything that had happened, drove the invisible alicorn to tears as she sat beside the downed princes. Gently, Twilight tried to touch her. To even feel just one feather from those great white wings, only for it to pass through like a ghost. That's right... this is just a vision... I'm not really in the past...
Of course, she knew the Princess was alright. She had lived for over a thousand years afterward. Until recently...
Twilight watched as Princess Celestia opened her eyes and stood up, staring into the night sky where the insane alicorn continued to laugh. "Oh, dear sister. I am sorry, but you have given me no choice but to use these!" With her horn glowing, Princess Celestia turned around and began to levitate a hidden loose rock under the ground of the throne room. It opened up, revealing a mechanical stone pillar with a center rock on top. It's arms held five different colored gems that Twilight recognized immediately.
The Elements of Harmony. Even those couldn't save you, thought Princess Twilight. It had been Pinkie Pie's idea, and it was a brilliant one too. The Elements were some of the most powerful magic in Equestria with the ability to heal as well as destroy evil. Despite the Tree of Harmony needing them, it was a risk they were willing to take. Discord held off the vines as long as he could for them to use them on the Princess. Yet, to everyone's dismay, it didn't work. If the most powerful magic of friendship and harmony couldn't save Princess Celestia, what could have?
Summoning the one hidden in the center stone, the Element of Magic, Princess Celestia began to circle it around her along with the other Elements until they were one strip of rainbow. An ethereal light of warmth and power began to shine from Princess Celestia as she summoned all the power she could from the Elements and flew towards Nightmare Moon.
The two sisters, one of dark and one of light, stared down the other before summoning their power. Nightmare Moon's dark energy met with the golden power of the Elements as they stood locked in combat for a short time. Yet, even with all her strength, Nightmare Moon was nothing compared to the power of friendship. She screamed in defiance as the Elements overpowered her, sending her far into the sky. The beam of light continued heading towards space until it reached the moon. A ring of rainbow energy erupted from it as slowly the shape of the Mare On The Moon began to take place.
The prison where Nightmare Moon would rest in for over a thousand years until the time came for Twilight and her friends to face their destiny. It was here that her first trip to the past ended, but the young alicorn saw that she was still standing and not back in her lab. Wait, what's going on?
She watched as Princess Celestia slowly descended to the ground. The Elements were now the six stones she first saw them as during her first trip to the castle. "Oh, Luna..." whispered Celestia as she gasped for breath. Tears flowing down her cheeks as her mournful eyes stared into the moon. "Why didn't I see it? Your pain...Your loneliness...What sister am I to ignore your feelings for so long?"
Closing her eyes, Princess Celestia began to weep. More so than any other time Twilight had ever seen her. It was the first time she had seen Princess Celestia look so...defeated despite winning a victory. Looking up, Twilight wondered if she would feel the same way if she had to banish Shining Armor, or Spike, or any of her friends. Could I even do it in the first place?
Twilight wanted nothing more than to hug her mentor, but she would just phase past her. Instead, she only shed a tear.
Then the crying stopped. Celestia's eyes widened as she placed a hoof over her stomach and her mouth. Confused, Twilight moved in closer for a better look. Slowly, Celestia removed her hoof and saw something that made both her and Twilight gasp in horror.
It was where Nightmare Moon has stuck Celestia with her spell. Right there, on the very spot, was a dark and pulsing purple bruise that was spreading throughout her once white coat. Her veins could be seen from the wound, slowly turning from red and blue to pitch black. A thick ooze of pus was slowly beginning to form around it. Twilight had never seen such a thing before and from Celestia's horrified view neither did she. Whatever spell that Nightmare Moon had used, it wasn't just one that caused immediate pain, but seemed to have an after effect as well.
"Hnngh," Princess Celestia moaned as she began to cough into her hoof, fresh tears pouring from her eyes. Only these were of pain, instead of sorrow. When she removed her hoof, she gasped upon seeing what lay on it.
Twilight stood there in horror as she noticed it too.
It was blood.
Celestia's blood.
Eyes rolling into the back of her head, Princess Celestia fell to her side and was silent.
"Princess!" a voice shouted, but it was not Twilight's. She was still in shock before noticing a group of ponies making their way into the throne room. A good number of them were guards in the royal armor, but it looked much older and crafted with bronze instead of the golden steel they were known for in her time. Two individuals, however, stood out that she recognized instantly.
The first was a female pegasus in silver like armor carrying a bloody spear in her hooves. The scars around her purple coat and limbs were also slightly bleeding, but nothing looked fatal. Her mane was ocean blue with a streak of white lightning down the middle, similar to her cutie mark which showed white lightning splitting a rock. The pegasus landed next to the princess and started checking her pulse with halted breath while her fellow guards searched the area.
The other individual was a male unicorn, dressed in a black and red hooded robe with blue rune marks on them. It was ruined by the dust and burned marks from spells that decorated it's once illustrious look while ripped in some areas that showed his ash grey coat. His mane was long and black, covering one side of his face that was scared from something sharp. A familiar medallion hung around his neck that showed the sun and moon circling a magic circle with a pentagram in the middle. Twilight had seen it many times before in the National Museum of Equestria. It was the Medallion of the Archmage, the advisor, and keeper of all mystical and arcane lore. One of Princess Celestia's most essential advisors before one of them sought to betray her years ago, and she ended the position permanently.
Calibrating her brain, Twilight realized that the two before her were some of the most critical ponies in history. The pegasus was none other than Captain Thundralot, the first female Captain of the Royal Guard who held the peace through valor and determination during the months following Luna's fall. She would play a big part in the formation of the E.U.P. Guard which would be the first peacekeeping army of Equestria. The unicorn, if her memory served her correctly, was Archmage Nightwish, who had been one of Celestia's greatest advisors until his mysterious suicide. Princess Celestia once said everything she was she owed to him.
"Captain Thundalot, is she okay?" Archmage Nightwish asked, staring at his ruler's fallen form with wide eyes.
"She lives, but her pulse is getting weaker," the captain answered. "Something is wrong."
"Turn her on her back, she may have been injured." The two proceeded to do so, only to gasp at the strange wound that was now on halfway across Celestia's chest. Twilight took this moment to observe it's pulse dark aura and the poison like qualities it was spreading. Her brain tried to come up with something to answer what this sort of dark magic was, but nothing came to her organized mind. Even the section where she kept King Sombra’s experiments on dark magic held no answers
"Wh-what in the Sun and Moon's name is this?" Thundalot asked, looking ready to puke. "I've seen dozens of wounds, both magical and martial, but never something like this."
"It's dark magic, but I do not know what kind," Nightwish muttered, as he spread his magical aura over the strange wound. "Any signs of Princess Luna?"
"No, but I have questions for her," Thundalot growled, as she looked around. "Causing everything to suddenly become night? Having her own guards attack us? Not to mention all that fighting we saw in the sky against Princess Celestia? I've lost good ponies this day, and I want answers!"
"Perhaps Princess Celestia will answer them for us," Nightwish answered, as he motioned for three unicorn guards to come over. "Help me get her to the hospital wing. I can work better there."
They nodded as the four of them lifted the limping princess up into the air and slowly exited the throne room. One of the other royal guards rushed over to Captain Thundralot and saluted, "Ma'am, we can't find Princess Luna anywhere, but there are great signs of a battle." He then looked upwards at the moon. "And there is that."
Captain Thundralot looked up as well. "That's never been on the moon before..."
"Looks creepy," a guard replied to Twilight's right.
"For now, have the entire castle under guard. Find any survivors of the Solar Guards from the surprise attack and aid them. If you find any Lunar Guards, kill them or capture them. I want to know what the hay happened. Nopony else is to enter or leave unless I say so, understood?!" Captain Thundralot ordered which got her a salute and numerous "Yes Ma'am!" in return. "Good, move out!"
Twilight stood there in the center of the ruined throne room. Trying to process what had happened while Thundralot flew out of the room. Princess Celestia never told her about any of these events, nor had any history book. She was witnessing something that history often didn't talk about: the first few days after the banishment of Princess Luna. Before she found the book about Nightmare Moon, history only mentioned that Princess Celestia had a sister who died a long time ago. When Twilight asked one time during her early fillyhood, Celestia just looked sad and said she didn't want to talk about it.
It was only after she found the book about the Tale of Nightmare Moon did Twilight find out the truth. Even though Princess Celestia denied it, and sent her off to Ponyville, she had always been hoping for Princess Luna to return. Thanks to Twilight and her friends as the new Elements of Harmony it became possible. Needless to say, everyone around the world was shocked by her return, and the truth of her so-called "death." It led her to be distrusted until Luna managed to win their hearts over time.
Although, Twilight though with a frown, even now there are those that distrust her.
Princess Luna wasn't kidding in all honestly when she said Equestria would have preferred if she died instead of Celestia. She had only been back a few years since being cured by the Elements, but there were still those who feared her as Nightmare Moon. Even now, rumors were saying she killed her sister in secret to assume sole leadership.
And yet, if what she was seeing was true, then there might have been truth to it.
But how does all of this tie to Princess Celestia's death in my time? Does it have to do with that wound? Twilight though and a horrifying thought came to her. If the injury... really is dark magic... and it caused Celestia's death after all these years of building up...
That would mean Princess Luna was responsible for it all those years ago. She had read that some wounds could shorten the life spans of ponies and there was no telling what dark magical ones could do. She recalled the funeral, and how Princess Luna did her best to stay stoic and calm under all the sorrow underneath. Even now, long after Celestia was placed in her tomb, did it seem that Luna was struggling to keep it all in. If she knew that she was responsible for all of this...
Shaking her head, Twilight pushed those thoughts out of her mind. She was jumping to conclusions. She had to see the rest of what was going on. To that end, she followed Thundralot as fast as her wings could fly her.
***
The battle that Thundralot had been talking about between the Royal Guards could be seen everywhere. Guards, servants, maids, advisors, and more could be seen struggling to get help for their injuries or were being piled up with the rest of the dead. Twilight couldn't recall either Princess telling her about this, but then again they often avoided it. More questions and still fewer answers, Twilight thought as she did her best to hold in her tears for the lost. Even though they had been dead for over a millennium in her time, it still was sad to see so many lives lost. How long had Luna been planning this?
Princess Luna told her that the resentment for her sister hadn't started until after their failure to save the Crystal Empire. If Twilight had her dates right, that was over forty years ago by now. What words or promises did she use to turn the entire Night Guard to her side during her coup? What would have happened if she had succeeded? No, I know what happens. I saw it when I was fighting Starlight in time, thought Twilight with a shiver. Just thinking of such a cold, dark and sunless world with her friends submitting themselves to her rule. If the carnage she was seeing was only a fraction of such a world...
Twilight paused in her flight to stare at small colt who seemed to be dressed as a simple page. His throat had been slashed open with his blood still leaking out of his pale body. His eyes were wide and dried tear marks could be seen from his face as a reflection of his final moments before oblivion. A guard gently closed his eyes and carried him to the piles of the dead. Just another victim of a senseless tragedy.
Twilight shook her head and continued to follow Thundralot, yet she could no longer hold back the waterworks in her eyes. It made flying harder, but she managed to make it to a giant door with a red cross on it. Thundralot pushed it open, revealing what looked to be chaos. Dozens of doctors and nurses were rushing back and forth to treat dying patients. Some were screaming for the pain to stop. Some were crying for their mothers. A few wished to just die out loud.
Whenever a pony had died in bed, they removed them to put a new one waiting outside or on the floor. The only times Twilight had seen such a scene was during the aftermaths of the Changeling Invasion and the Battle of Canterlot against the Storm King. Yet, they didn't feel as depressing or dreary as this. The spells the doctors were using to heal were outdated in her time. The techniques, from leeches to oils, were primitive with very little advanced equipment. Twilight knew over two hundred healing spells that could save nearly every life in this building, and she couldn't do a damn thing. She was just a ghost. An echo of the future trapped in an image of the past. And that hurt the most as she continued to see the horror before her.
Mops charmed with magic worked overtime to clean the bloody floors while some doctors amputated limbs with saws. A small pile forelegs, rear legs, hooves, tails, ears, horns, wings, and even bits of flank were piled in buckets beside the operating beds. A nurse wrapping medical tape over an eyeless pony. A filly begging his limp mother to wake up as nurse gently placed a white sheet over her body. A robed priest giving last rights to a soldier who was close to eternal sleep. All over an echo of orders, tears, and screams.
It was a miracle that Twilight didn't throw up, but she wanted nothing more then this nightmare to end. Thankfully, they didn't stay any longer as Thundralot pushed through a set of doors with golden crosses. There had to be at least ten doctors, robed in gold and red, surrounding a bed in the middle of the room. Even from her place in the sky, Twilight could see Princess Celestia being tended to as the wound continued to spread its vile blackness across her barrel. Watching with halted breath, was Archmage Nightwish in the back corner who Thundralot rushed over to without hesitation.
"How is she?" the captain asked with halted breath.
"Bad. She's alive, but its bad. None of us have seen this dark magic before, and I have all my pages..." he winced before continuing, "the remaining ones searching for anything that could help. Even in the forbidden section. Did you find Luna or Nightmare Moon or whatever accursed name she has?"
"No," Thundralot answered, shaking her head. "We searched, but no sign. Either she's dead, or she escaped. I'm hoping for the former."
"Can you even kill an alicorn?" Archmage Nightwish asked, shaking his head. "And to think we were just starting a golden age."
"We have to do something about the moon and sun. We can't let Princess Celestia do it in her condition, and we don't even know if she will live through this!" Captain Thundralot sighed and rubbed her head. "What do we do?"
"... we activate the backup summoners," Nightwish answered. "We made plans for this just in case. We don't tell anybody about Luna turning into...whatever she became and we do not tell of her coup attempt. We just say the princesses were attacked and are currently recovering, but cannot perform their duties right away."
"You realize there is a good chance most of the backups will die doing this, right?" Thundralot pointed out.
Shifting his hooves a bit, Nightwish nodded. "I do, but they took the vow, and they have to follow it."
"Fine, I'll get my best men to do it right away," replied Thundralot as she made way to leave, but paused. "If both princesses are dead, what becomes of us, Nightwish?"
"... I don't know."
***
Twilight waited beside Archmage Nightwish throughout the entire procedure of healing. Occasionally, one of his pages would come over and hand over a book or scroll which he took to reading like there was no tomorrow. Twilight read with him, hoping to maybe learn something of this dangerous spell as well. Yet nothing seemed to help as both she and Nightwish ended up with nothing to answer. Twilight could only stare at the doctors, bags under their eyes, who continued to work on Princess Celestia's still form.
She had also used this time to wrap around her head of what was going on. Princess Celestia never mentioned this in all the years she knew her. Was there a specific reason for it? First I came here with one question, now I'm here with a dozen more! Twilight thought with frustration. She wished Starlight was here, or anypony for that matter. Maybe somepony could see something that she was missing right in front of her.
A few hours later, Twilight saw the first glares of the morning sunrise above much to both her and Nightwish's relief. An hour later, Thundralot arrived yet holding so much pain in her eyes.
Nightwish saw her before closing one of his scrolls and asked, "How many?"
"All of them," Thundralot replied as she rested against the wall. "All the summoners are dead. Their magic completely drained them. We barely managed to do it. I already ordered the ones for the moon to get ready just in case."
"Send their bodies to their families along with a sack of bits," Nightwish ordered.
"Already done," Thundralot answered, before lowering her head. "I pray we don't have to do it again, but something tells me that even if Princess Celestia survives this... we'll have to keep sacrificing unicorns until she recovers."
"We have no choice. We need to keep the sun and moon going less we see the world fall into ruin," Nightwish said. He then asked, "Has word of what happened begun to spread?"
"Rumors are already spreading about what happened. Some are saying the princesses were both assassinated by a foreign government. Others are saying Discord or Tirek returned for revenge."
"We need to address the rumors as soon as possible," Nightwish sighed, as he rubbed his temple in thought before giving an answer. "For now, just say that the princesses were attacked by a suspicious and powerful individual, and many lives were lost. Tell them, Princess Luna has been killed, and Princess Celestia was wounded but is being taken care of."
"What if she's not dead?" Thundralot asked.
"Then we'll deal with it. If she is dead, then we don't have to worry about it. If she isn't, we don't know what other allies she had in this coup attempt. Maybe we can get them to act or hide away if they think she failed."
Thundralot was about to say something when one of the doctors working on Princess Celestia came forward which made her, Nightwish, and Twilight all stand up in attention. "Good or bad news?" The unicorn doctor asked.
"Good. I need something, so I don't crack," Nightwish answered.
"The good news is she'll wake up soon. I'd say in an hour or two," he replied before lowering his head. "The bad news is she that in three days she'll be dead."