“Then why’d you get sent to the moon last time you did it?”
Applejack wasn’t angry, but she was far from happy. More than anything, she was just worried. Worried about Luna, worried about becoming a Princess, worried about failing as a Princess. It was all just so… Worrying.
“I got banished because I did it for the wrong reasons,” Luna said. She sighed and slumped down onto her bed. “I know it’s risky, Applejack, but so is waiting for whatever else the fortune might have been referring to. At least this way, we would have some modicum of control over the situation.”
“Couldn’t you have at least told me about it? If you hadn’t kept it a secret I wouldn’t feel so blindsided by all this.” Applejack huffed. “Frankly, I feel like I was lied to.”
“I—” Luna paused and looked up at Applejack’s hurt and concerned expression. “I’m sorry. I should have thought things through some more.”
Applejack’s expression softened. “Thank you, Luna. And yeah, you should’ve, so let’s do that.” Applejack walked over to Luna and ran a hoof through her mane. “Fill me in. Why’d you wanna—”
There was an explosion in the throne room. The smell of smoke filled the air.
Applejack and Luna exchanged a glance, then shot up and ran for the door. Just as they reached it, another sound shot out, a whoosh like a sudden gust of wind.
Applejack was to the door first, and she blasted it open and ran through, but by then it was too late. The throne room was empty. All that was left to see was the pile of ashes that sat in the middle of a huge black stain on the ground. Even the smoke had vanished, and only the faintest hints of the smell lingered.
Luna rushed out behind Applejack, and her mouth fell open when she saw it all. She and Applejack stood there in silence for a long moment, unsure of what they could possibly make of it.
“Well,” Applejack eventually said, “that ain’t good.”
“No, I can’t imagine it is.”
Luna walked forward into the blast zone, her hooves getting covered in soot with every step, and knelt down to examine the ashes. She ran her hoof through them, but there was nothing left. She pursed her lips.
“There’s a lot of ashes,” Luna commented.
“Guess whatever it was that got burned up was pretty big,” Applejack replied.
Luna nodded. “And yet not a single bit survived. I don’t know if even Nightmare Moon could burn something so… Efficiently.”
“So what’s that mean?”
Luna walked back over to Applejack and did her best to dust off her hooves. “It means we’re in danger. We may want to call Twilight.”
“It’s that bad?”
“It could be,” Luna said. “Then again, it’s possible we’re in just the right amount of danger to make you a Princess if you save us.”
Applejack made a sour face. “I really don’t think we should stake Equestria on that.”
“No, I suppose not,” Luna agreed. “Let’s not dally, then. We should go to—”
Luna’s eyes went wide and she cut herself short. “We have to go,” she said as she stared at something over Applejack’s shoulder.
“What?” Applejack turned around, and immediately she saw it. Outside the window, from somewhere past the horizon, a spire of flames had erupted into the sky, and it was growing fast. It was too far to have any sense of scale, but it was only seconds before it started to pierce through clouds, and hardly a moment after that it stretched higher than she could even see through the window.
Applejack gasped and took a step back. “We need Twilight.”
“Somepony in Ponyville will see that and tell her,” Luna said. “We need to be there.”
“You sure it’s safe?”
“Not in the least.”
Applejack sighed. “Well, let’s go anyway I guess.” Luna nodded, and with a flash of her horn the two of them blinked out of existence.
Twilight sipped her tea with a smile on her face as she trotted through the halls of her castle. She was nice and cozy, fresh out a shower with slippers and a bathrobe on, and she could only see her day getting better.
She was carrying with her a massive stack of paperwork. It was all long and dense, filled with confusing legal jargon and unnecessary tangents. To anypony else, it would have been a daunting pile of work, but to Twilight it was one of the best parts of the week.
She checked to make sure she was alone before she slipped into the library, and then checked again to make sure the library was empty. She grinned and soaked in the beautiful silence that greeted her. The smell of books filled the air, the lights were just bright enough to read by, and she was home.
She meandered far into the recesses of the library, into a section that almost nopony ever visited. It turned out there wasn’t a whole lot of need for Theoretical Ornithology, but that was fine by her. It suited her needs just fine.
She pulled out one of the books, and there was a soft click.
The entire bookshelf started to slide down into the floor. It wasn’t fast by any means, but Twilight wasn’t in a hurry. Bit by bit, it revealed the tiny office space concealed within. It had dark wooden walls, a soft carpeted floor, and a desk that took up almost the entire room. There was a single lamp to read by, and any space that wasn’t taken up already was filled with piles of books that Twilight was in the middle of. It was her own little sanctuary, a place nopony knew about but her.
She stepped inside and took a deep breath, letting the familiarity wash over her as she plopped the paperwork down onto the desk. Then she flicked a switch, and the bookshelf started to rise back up. Soon enough the little alcove was sealed off again, and as far as anypony else knew, Twilight Sparkle had vanished from the world.
The air was almost unbearably hot at the rock farm. The world shimmered in the heat, dancing around Daybreaker as her flames died down. She looked up at the sky, closed her eyes and let out a deep breath as the final bits of the column of fire disappeared.
Then she grinned wickedly. When she opened her eyes again, they were sharp with focus.
She was just about to leave when light flickered in the corner of her vision. She turned and saw Luna and Applejack, staring at her with stunned expressions, and she shot them a toothy smile. Her razor sharp teeth glinted in the harsh sunlight.
“And here I thought I would have to come to you.”
“S-Sister?” Luna took a cautious step back. “Tia?”
Daybreaker tsked. “Close, but not quite.”
“Did you do something to her?” Luna’s eyes narrowed.
“Ooh, you’re getting warmer.”
“Luna, what’s goin on?” Applejack asked. “What’s wrong with Celestia?”
Luna swallowed hard. “I think… I think she’s like Nightmare Moon.”
Daybreaker laughed. “Oh, sister, you always were so clever. Although I must say, I’m hurt that you never thought to tell me how wonderful this feels!”
Luna frowned. “Celestia, you don’t have to do this. You can fight her, I know you can! You were always stronger than me.”
“I’m sorry, I’m afraid Celestia can’t hear you right now,” Daybreaker said.
“I know that’s not true,” Luna said. “Don’t forget how long I’ve lived with Nightmare Moon.”
Daybreaker scoffed. “Oh, I know your experience with Nightmare Moon perfectly well. Do you really think that after watching you fight for so long, I’d still let that weakling listen in? Celestia’s gone. She’s a heap on the floor of the throne room.”
Luna scowled. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?” Daybreaker laughed. “I suppose we’ll find out. Or not! I don’t plan on giving up control any time soon.”
“If you’re not Celestia,” Applejack spoke up, “who are you?”
“Why, how kind of you to ask!” She started to stride slowly closer to them. Luna couldn’t help but back away, but Applejack stayed put. “I’m the upgrade. I’m the only pony with enough of a spine to lead Equestria. “I’m Daybreaker, and I’m your new Queen.”
“Yeah, right,” Applejack said. “You ain’t the only Princess, they won’t let you just declare yourself the ruler.”
“It’s simply adorable that you see my sister so highly that you still have the delusion she can stand up to me. She said herself, I was always the stronger one.”
“You go on thinkin that,” Applejack said. “We’ll see how it all shakes out.”
Daybreaker made it to Applejack and stopped, looming over her like a predator gazing down at its prey. “Oh, I can’t wait.”
“Applejack, she’s right,” Luna said. “We need to leave.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Daybreaker shot a hoof into the air, and a long, winding tendril of flames burst out of the ground and wrapped itself around Luna, tight enough that she couldn’t move her wings. “Careful, now,” she said. “I can’t stop an inferno once it’s burning. If you blink away, who knows who that thing could go after?”
Luna growled. “You would threaten innocent ponies?
“Absolutely!” Daybreaker laughed sharply. “If it means protecting Equestria, I have no qualms about harming a single pony.”
“Listen to yourself,” Applejack said. “You ain’t protecting Equestria, you’re the one puttin it in danger!”
“You stay out of this!” She waved a hoof and another fiery whip lashed out and wrapped around Applejack. With another gesture, the ground at Applejack’s hooves erupted into little flames, just barely hot enough to feel. “This is between me and her, and you’ll keep your mouth shut if you don’t want to get burned.”
Applejack growled, but she restrained herself from speaking up.
“Let her go, Daybreaker!” Luna shouted.
Daybreaker shifted her attention back to Luna. “I’m afraid you’re in no position to make demands, dear sister.”
“Well then tell me what you want so I can give it to you!”
“Oh, what I want is quite simple,” Daybreaker said. “Bring out the beast.”
Luna leaned back in shock. “What?”
“Nightmare Moon! We have unfinished business.”
Luna grimaced. “Fine. You asked for it.” She shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. As she did, she grew into the menacing form of Nightmare Moon.
Nightmare Moon glared up at Daybreaker with an intense fury. “Release us,” she demanded, “and I will consider putting you back on the sun instead of someplace worse.”
Daybreaker snarled at her. “Oh, get over yourself, you cretin. You have no sway over me.”
“At least release her,” Nightmare Moon said. “I did as you asked.”
“What, you think that was it?” Daybreaker laughed. “Not in the least. Prepare yourself, Nightmare Moon, because this is the day you cease to exist.”