//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 - Destination Reached // Story: Old Mare Luna // by Leondude //------------------------------// With their journey finally over, Luna, Discord and Settler sat down and waited for the ponies Discord was delivering the package to show up. Everypony was exhausted, having just escaped a grim fate from the unlikeliest of sources. Discord seemed to be the most shaken up, his body trembling and his breathing a little shaky and rapid, almost on the verge of crying. "You still shook up about Flurry Heart?" Settler asked, concerned for his friend. "Her parents gave her to me and trusted me to look after her, the same way Luna's husband trusted me to look after Luna. And yet here we are having barely survived an attack from the very alicorn filly I was supposed to protect all those years ago. How did I screw up so badly?" "Hey, it's not your fault buddy," Settler said. "Yes, it is! If I have learnt to move on sooner, maybe I could have been a better guardian to her!" "Don't beat yourself up, mate," Settler said. "Grief is a hard thing to get over, even if you are a thousand plus year old draconequus. Especially if it's a pony that saw the good in you and helped you become a better person." Settler then passed a handkerchief over to Discord, who loudly blew into it. He then passed the handkerchief back to Settler. "Thank you," Discord said in between sobs. "My pleasure, though it would be nice of you to keep that thing away from me," Settler said. As everypony continued waiting patiently, Luna glanced at Discord's backpack. She caught a glimpse of some vials with a purple glowing liquid inside, guessing this must be the package Discord was delivering. "If you don't mind me asking, Discord," Luna said, "What is inside those bottles?" Discord then looked at Luna and quickly moved the backpack to the front of him away from her. "That's classified," he said. "Well, since they're apparently so important that you gave me Tartarus for nearly letting it slip into the hands of the lava demons, I thought I might satisfy my own personal curiosity while waiting for your acquaintances." As Luna said that, a chariot pulled by some bat-ponies flew through the sky and descended right in front of everypony. The door facing them opened up and what walked out of the door was an Earth pony with a small red moustache and a white coat, along with a pair of blue eyes. The Earth pony bared a striking resemblance to Discord's friend Flibberty. "Discord, my friend!" the pony said excitedly, "So good to see you! I thought you would have been captured by Tirek's forces or some other unfortunate incident like that." "I've had worse, Gibbet," Discord said with a shrug. "Why the long face?" Gibbet asked. "We've...had some trouble," Discord said, with everypony else nodding in agreement.  "Oh...Well, I trust the package is still safe and sound," Gibbet said casually, "Mind if I take a look?" "Be my guest." Discord handed the backpack over to Gibbet, who took a good look at the potions before turning away and gagging. "Why does it smell like mouldy salami?" Gibbet asked. "I didn't bring a bigger backpack. So, what do you think?" "I think you've done a fantastic job," Gibbet said,  "Soon we'll have our own army of super-ponies with strength rivalling that of Tirek and Grogar combined. They'll never see it coming!" Luna raised an eyebrow at that statement. "What do you mean by that?" Luna asked. "Simple, my alicorn friend," Gibbet said, "These potions give those who drink them the magical power of four alicorns and two draconequi. Or that’s what I heard anyway. No idea how they were made and, in all honesty, I don't think anypony wants to know." Discord then leaned close to Luna and whispered in her ear. "Gibbet and his brother Flibberty are resistance members trying to take down Grogar and the other villains once and for all." "I see," Luna said. Luna then looked at the chariot and noticed a hooded unicorn sitting inside. The unicorn's horn was glowing with a dark aura. Before she could warn Discord about this shady individual, she, Settler and Discord were shot up with several dark crystals. The crystals were small and merely stuck to them, depowering them in the process. "Good job, Flibberty!" Gibbet said as he turned towards the chariot. Discord could only stare in shock as a hooded unicorn walked out of the chariot. The unicorn unhooded itself and was revealed to be Flibberty. "Why?!" Discord said. Flibberty chuckled. "Simple, my draconequus friend. We like money. Grogar has lots of money. He pays us to pretend to be resistance members so we can deliver real resistance members to him so he can execute them personally. Speaking of which, nothing personal." And with that, Flibberty and Gibbet whipped out some batons and knocked everypony out. It was another day at the School of Friendship, but with one big difference about it. Namely, that Starlight has been left in charge of the entire School of Friendship. While Twilight and her friends headed off to the Crystal Empire to deal with Sombra, Starlight sat in her office organizing a school trip. She thought the best way to commemorate Twilight ruling all of Equestria, as well as to make sure she knows she's being appreciated, was to have the students from the School of Friendship take a tour of the castle in Canterlot that belonged to the two sisters.  While making her way over to the city with Spike, she noticed that everypony in Ponyville looked a little...off. Their eyes were blank and glowing a sickly green colour, their faces devoid of emotion. She then felt a chill behind her. And when she turned around, she was face-to-face with King Sombra, whose eyes were glowing the same shade of green as everypony else. Sombra then blinked menacingly at Starlight. Within a brief moment, everything changed. Starlight was no longer in Ponyville. Instead, she was in a dark void facing a group of ponies whose cutie marks were all equal signs, just like the ones when she ran her own town. She noticed a puddle of water right next to her and took a quick look at it. Her reflection looked exactly like how she did before encountering Twilight Sparkle.