Gods and Monsters

by Revel Montaro


Chapter 19: Into Dust

Luna walked the train as it clanked and swayed slightly, racing down the tracks back towards their starting point, Canterlot. The fires from the day before had been easy enough to put out given that most of the buildings were made of crystal and the water systems in the ground had not been compromised. The physical damage had taken longer to clean off the streets and much of the northwest section of the city was still under quarantine until the guards, rescuers, and qualified medical ponies could confirm the number of missing or dead. The final numbers were grim no matter how nicely it was worded. Many innocent ponies had died in addition to the loss of soldiers.

Luna had suffered little physical trauma beyond scrapes and cuts as did Cadence. Sunset, however, had received four broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken wing, a ruptured kidney, and numerous lacerations and bruises. The doctors had cut out and remove two pieces of armor that had been bent in and were penetrating Sunset’s underbelly. After that they worked their potion and salve magic on the goldenrod alicorn, Luna also assisted with some of her healing magic to help stabilize her niece. Sunset would live, she would be sore for a while, but the life threatening damage was seen to.

The psychological damage would take all of them longer to deal with. Of the twelve guards Sunset and Luna had brought with them only four were still alive. With the enemy gone and no way of tracking him or Flurry Heart accurately, Luna had suggested they regroup in Canterlot to plan the next move. Sunset protested, wanting to stay and help the wounded more, but even after an entire day in bed to recover enough just to walk around she was in no position to assist search and rescue or perform her own healing magic.

After a heated exchange, Cadence assured her cousin that the crystal ponies had it under control and that all those that could be assisted would be. And so that evening the train was reloaded for an express trip back to Canterlot, with considerably less company than it had departed with. Cadence had further assured Luna, Sunset, and Prince Thicket that as soon as she was sure the empire was safe, she would be bringing an expeditionary force to Canterlot and help in any way she could to bring her daughter home safe.

Luna paused her stroll to glance out the train window as the landscape sped by. The moon was nearing its apex and the stars twinkled just the way they should. Let them sleep. Let them all enjoy a worry free night in blissful ignorance of what has been unleashed and is yet to come.

Luna spotted a familiar pony standing in the hall outside one of the sleeper car rooms and smiled warmly. He really was the perfect choice for the position he now held. The dark gray bat pony had his helmet off making it easy for Luna to catch his tired eyes and slightly ragged, dark brown mane. Still, he remained vigilant. “Captain Gauge, as strong and resilient as you are, even thestrals need sleep from time to time. I know for a fact that you stood by her side the entire time she was in the hospital.”

Gauge bowed to Luna. “Just fulfilling my duty to my princess, mistress.”

“How is she? Not what she tells you, I want your obsidian sharp observation.”

Gauge nodded. “Heartache at the loss of so many innocent ponies. Burning anger at the loss of so many soldiers. Disappointment at being unable to recover Princess Flurry Heart. I know she wanted that last one the most, for the other princesses. It troubles her still. I checked a few moments ago, her sleep is… restless. I would do more if I could.”

Luna touched the thestral’s armored shoulder and bent down, planting a kiss upon his forehead. “I know you would, Fog. You know your duty and fulfill it well, but now it is my turn. Go, rest, I will see to my niece.” Gauge bowed once more and made his way to the back of the train where the other soldiers were still resting.

Quietly, Luna entered the room and shut the sliding door. It was as the captain had said. Sunset Shimmer was on her back, wings twitching, head swiveling from side to side while she mumbled something incoherent. Luna took a seat and closed her eyes, her horn taking on a white glow as she dove into a dream walk.

Tall, unfamiliar buildings of brick, glass, and steel were all around her. Luna was on a sidewalk of a city she had never seen before while strange carriages of all kinds of shapes and sizes sped by with no ponies pulling them. In fact, there were no ponies around at all, just tall biped creatures wearing too many clothes and walking along the sidewalk in both directions. The human world, Luna concluded. This was not just a dream, but a memory, episodic, she had heard some doctors call it.

Luna spotted Sunset and who she assumed was her wife, human Twilight Sparkle, sitting in one of the carriages that was approaching the intersection. The vehicle came to a stop and Sunset and Twilight were talking about something. Luna made herself invisible and stepped into the back of the vehicle so she could hear better.

“Babe, I don’t need a GPS to tell me where the restaurant is. I’ve been driving in this city for years, besides the garage across the park has better available parking and comes with the added bonus of a lovely stroll with you.”

“Pffft,” Twilight responded with a raspberry and an adorable giggle. “No one would ever believe me if I told them you were such a romantic at heart… maybe Rarity ever since the Tippy Toe incident.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let's not bring up the Tippy Toe, please,” said Sunset, looking to the left while Twilight continued to fiddle with her phone. “While I’m thinking about it, we should get your parents a small gift for this, you know, as a thank you for watching Aurora so we could have a real date night. Feels like it’s been forever since we had a night where it was just you and me.”

“Oh! That’s a great idea! How about a-”

The sentence never finished. Luna was left standing in the road as the car Sunset and Twilight were in was struck from behind by another vehicle. Luna blinked rapidly as she watched the car with the two young women in it be propelled into the intersection. Before its forward movement came to a stop, the car was struck again by a cross traffic vehicle, slamming into the side door where Twilight was sitting. The entire street and surrounding area erupted in panic screams, screeching tires, metal and glass fragments skittered across the road everywhere. The other vehicles soon began honking while some onlookers dared to move in to help. Luna had to remind herself it was only a dream memory and nothing she could do would change that. She could of course calm Sunset, but there was something about the memory that was important or why her sleeping mind had chosen it. So she stayed invisible and let it play out for now.

Poking her head back inside the thoroughly wrecked vehicle Luna found Sunset slumped over the steering wheel. When Sunset tried to move, she screamed in pain and found a piece of metal had broken free and was now impaling her side near her kidney.

“Twi,” she groaned through the pain, “you okay? Babe?” Sunset turned her head and found Twilight slumped in her seatbelt. Her glasses had been knocked off and half her face was covered in blood that was dripping onto her blouse top.

“Twilight!” Sunset bashed her door with her shoulder, further impaling herself until the door gave way. She pulled the metal rod from her body and pressed the wound with her left hand. Luna watched as Sunset shoved bystanders away so she could hobble to the smashed passenger side. Sunset tried the door handle but it broke off. With a grunt and growl of frustration Sunset gripped through the broken glass and sharp metal frame cutting into her hands. A bystander tried get Sunset to stop, pleading that she was hurting herself. Sunset shrugged the man off and after one final grunt the metal buckled as she ripped the door off its hinges. She immediately checked Twilight’s head wound. Thankfully, Twilight was breathing, but still had not moved and the cut was deep. It was going to leave a nasty scar right under her bangs. Sunset's eyes burned bright teal and her teeth clenched through pain that was stabbing from everywhere. She turned her attention back to the other vehicle that had a smashed front end, the one that had hit them from behind.

“What the hell is the matter with you?! How could you not see we were stopped at the light you fucking moron! If I find out you had a fucking phone in your hand, I will shove it so far up your ass it will make a gastrologist cry!” Sunset started to hobble to the other car when a purple hand grabbed her arm.

“Sunny… I… don’t feel very… well.”

Sunset turned her attention back to Twilight, her anger instantly replaced with dire concern. Sunset shuddered and dropped to her knees. When Luna looked over Sunset’s shoulder though Twilight was no longer covered in blood and cuts, but was instead in a simple ugly green gown like one worn for hospitals and she looked considerably older. Her skin was pale and heavily wrinkled, her hair color gone grey and glasses were as thick as telescope lenses.

“Sunny, you have to let me go. If you run I know you can make it to the portal in time. I don’t want you to be alone.”

“No! I can’t leave you… I don’t want to forget you!”

Twilight smiled, turning paler by the second. “Letting go is not forgetting, letting go is setting yourself free to live your life. Please, don’t make me an anchor that drags you down. You have to keep living. You have a destiny that is beyond all of this. You always have.” Twilight turned ashen and began to crumble to dust. Sunset just held on until there was nothing left to hold on to and the ash slipped through her outstretched fingers.

Luna was about to reach out when another voice called out from behind.

“Sunset?”

Luna turned and found Princess Twilight standing at the foot of her throne, concern evident on her face, eyes filled with tears about to fall. When Luna looked back, she found Sunset, now an alicorn, limping towards Twilight. Her armor was scorched and broken, one wing hanging limp with broken bones, body bruised, cut, with fresh and dried blood in her fur and mane. Even one eye was swollen shut from damage.

“Twily, I… I tried to save her. I tried so damn hard to save all of them. I fought harder than I’ve ever fought before. I… just don’t know if it’s enough, if it will ever be enough and I’m tired, so damn tired. I just… I can’t keep losing people or ponies I love.”

Twilight caught Sunset as she collapsed and pulled her close into her lap, carefully removing the last of the broken armor and circlet helm. “Shhh, it’s okay, Sunny. I’m here. I’ll always be here for you.” Sunset shuddered as tears fell from her one good eye. After a few minutes of silence she smiled and snuggled into the embrace, sighing as Twilight healed the wounds little by little.

“I just want to be held,” Sunset whispered and Twilight obliged by giving her another tight embrace.

“I just want to be touched.” Twilight smiled and stroked Sunset’s fur and the side of her face. Sunset turned and craned to look up, now muzzle to muzzle to Twilight. “I just want to be loved.”

“I know. I love you, Sunset Shimmer.” Twilight’s lips met Sunset’s for a long, intimate kiss and Luna smiled. She quietly slipped out of the dream as things began to steam up more than she wanted to intrude upon.

When Luna finished blinking her eyes, she looked down to find that Sunset had ceased her thrashing and was now smiling while snoring lightly. She admired her sleeping niece a moment longer, brushing some of the red and gold mane from her face.

“I know we have all said this before, but we are all very proud of you and of how much you have accomplished. How far you have come. None more so than your mother. You even make me wish a little bit that you were my daughter. But that’s okay, I get to be the wild and fun aunt and as soon as this ordeal we are now facing is over I am taking you on an island vacation where we can have all kinds of inappropriate fun with the locals just to make Celestia shake her head and roll her eyes. In fact, we’ll bring Twilight along and make my sister run things while we enjoy our relaxation. It will be well earned, beloved niece.” Luna sat down on the floor and closed her eyes, just listening to the light snores and the ambiance of the train.

The train had arrived in Canterlot just after dawn and was greeted by Celestia and Twilight Sparkle. Once news of the severity of the attack had reached the capital, Twilight had put a hold on open court and delegated the council to see to the necessary operations of the government and early disaster readiness for the citizens while she and the other alicorns planned for the next confrontation.

The four remaining guards and Gauge were the first to exit and held themselves at attention while saluting Princess Twilight and Captain Fury, steeling their ragged emotions. Prince Thicket and Tule Spring exited next, also with downtrodden expressions. Twilight stiffened, her reaction not going unnoticed by Celestia, at the sight of Sunset Shimmer. She still had a few bandages wrapped around her barrel and numerous bruises that had not fully healed. The circlet crown was dented and the accompanying chest piece armor plate was badly damaged and missing sections even though the fire rubies still shined bright.

Sunset and Luna both bowed respectfully to Twilight who quickly motioned for them to rise. “I’m glad you’re both safe, but we need to jump all hooves right into this. I talked to Cadence already, but any additional input you two can offer we need to discuss right away.” Luna nodded and gestured towards the castle. Sunset, however just turned her head towards the horizon and stared off to the north. “Sunset?”

“I’ve never fought anything that strong before. And you saw what I saw in the dreamscape. There are four of these… Horses of the Apocalypse.”

“Athanatoi, The First Children,” said Celestia with an underscore of seething and bitterness. Sunset looked back at her mother and then Twilight, who nodded. “Come, we have much to discuss and it is best not in the open.”

The entourage left the train station under heavy guard and made their way back to the palace compound by carriages. Once back in the safety of the palace grounds, Sunset waited to talk to Tempest who was having a quiet discussion with Gauge. She gently touched his shoulder guard and the two captains nodded to one another before the bat pony flew off in the direction of the barracks. Tempest noted that Sunset was standing a respectable distance away waiting.

“I’m sorry about the guards we lost. I… I tried to save everypony I could. And I’m sorry about the damage to your Great Grandmother’s armor. I don’t know how much can be repaired, but I’ll get on it as soon as I have time.”

“Did it save your life?” Sunset nodded, still refusing to meet the captain’s eyes. Tempest risked the breach in protocol and touched Sunset's chin so that the alicorn was looking her in the eye. “Then that’s all that matters, Your Highness. She would have been happy that her armor kept a princess alive. Great Grand was a very duty focused pony from what I was told. Would have done anything to keep Princess Twilight safe after she was named captain. According to Gauge, you were lucky to come back at all. I’m not sure if I should be fuming for vengeance or weary to face such a monster.”

Sunset touched the circlet and sighed before straightening her posture. “Both.”

The princesses and company made their way to the larger banquet hall where a spread of breakfast foods and refreshments had already been prepared. Twilight gave them a few minutes to get something in their bellies before jumping right back into her role as leader. She summoned the two tomes to an empty spot on the table along with her stack of notes. Sunset made herself a cup of coffee and grabbed a fruit filled pastry and came to stand next to Twilight.

Before starting, Twilight leaned over and whispered into Sunset’s ear. “I’m glad you’re okay. Cadence said you were hurt pretty badly… I… I was worried about you.”

“Thank you, but we can talk about it later,” was Sunset’s terse response, her eyes never leaving the table.

Twilight ears flattened for a moment. She shook it off and pushed her personal feelings aside. Sunset was right, there would be time for that later. “So, what we know as of this moment is that Princess Flurry Heart is not in her right mind. How much control she has over her own decisions is unknown, but no witnesses spotted her participating in the attack, which would imply that she is not entirely under their thrall.”

“That would be Scylla’s doing,” said Luna with underscores of venom. “She wants her victims to willingly serve. That demon wants her victims to see what she is saying is truth and through isolation and manipulation of the truth her victims beg for more power. The forked tongue, foul licker of goat scrotum will not give up so easily. This I know to be truth.”

“A cunning enemy is a dangerous enemy,” said Isabella after pouring a cup of tea for Twilight. “A well known griffon proverb, but still true.”

“But why attack the empire? That’s what I did not understand,” asked Twilight, accepting the cup. “They had Flurry release Aethon, why not just quietly move on to where ever the next one is imprisoned? You heard them in the dream realm just as I did, they wanted Celestia dead. The Crystal Empire did nothing to them.”

Luna looked to her sister, then to Sunset and quickly replayed the fight in her head and how it had progressed. After a moment Luna spat a curse in Old Ponish. “The attack upon empire was a distraction that succeeding in its intention, but only barely failed in execution. They wanted to capture or kill Sunset Shimmer to draw Celestia onto the field of battle. Cruel as it is to think, I believe it would have worked.”

Sunset growled, her coffee suddenly bitter and undesirable. Nothing tasted good when you suddenly realized you were almost turned into bait. “We need to find those prisons and head them off before they unlock another one. Twilight, any clues in those old tomes about where the other prisons might be, even a hint?”

“No, and while fascinating, the journals are essentially useless for what we need. We do know Aine designed the prisons to be strong enough to hold the Athanatoi for all of time and that no creature of sufficient power would have wanted to let alone been able to break them open. She never anticipated an alicorn wanting to do so though. Even when they took control of Luna, Nightmare Moon went after Celestia not the prisons.”

“If it was not in the journals how do you know that?”

“Because my mother spoke to me while you were away," said Celestia, her expression bitter. "Unhelpful, as usual.”

Luna scowled. “And only to you and not me? Also, as usual.”

“If I may, the solution is simple if albeit dangerous,” said Prince Thicket cutting the melancholy. “We need to split our forces to search for the other three prisons. If one was in the far north we can safely assume the others are in equally far flung and difficult to reach places.”

“That’s a bad idea,” said Sunset immediately earning a scowl from the deer prince. “I know you want to help your friend, we all do, but you didn’t face off against Aethon and to be honest, I’m glad. Because it hurt, a lot. He carved through dozens of well trained and well armed guards like tissue paper. Anything less than three alicorns or an entire mage corps would just be sent to their deaths.”

“If I may offer an observation, princess.” The gathered royals turned to the thestral, Dew Drop, who had been standing silently near the back of the room with the other guards. “They may be immortal, but they’re not invulnerable. I tossed a set of my warlock killer blades at the enemy, more in desperation than anything else, but they penetrated his shields and his flesh. He is alive and he does bleed. If we better outfit all our forces with runic charged, cold iron tipped weapons we stand a better chance than certain death.” The royals all nodded their thanks to the guard.

“Can you pass that information on to the arms master?” asked Twilight.

“Captain Gauge is already taking care of that, Your Highness. It will take some time for the smiths to enchant more weapons, but at least we won't be caught completely flat hoofed,” said Tempest with a nod to Dew Drop.

“With proper weapons, smaller expeditionary forces would be able to move across Equestria more quickly and protect the princess leading them. If able to catch our enemy by surprise it may be possible to secure Flurry before more damage is done. I volunteer to search south for clues. I have a good relationship with the Union of Badlands and can easily cross from territory to territory. Ambassador Spike may also wish to join me. He is an excellent negotiator when it comes to dealing with our surrounding nations,” said Luna proudly.

Sunset sighed, crossing her forelegs. “I still think we have way too many missing variables here, but if this is the plan then I guess I’ll take a force to the eastern shore and hope what we're looking for is not across the ocean. If nothing else, like Luna said, we can search for rumors and clues on the location of the prisons.”

“Then I will go west and do the same,” said Celestia and Sunset was about to protest, but Twilight beat her to it.

“Uh, no, not happening.”

“And why is that?” Celestia asked with a challenging arched eyebrow.

“First of all, you are on their hitlist! Secondly, your health. If an alicorn is needed out there then I’ll go west.”

“I’m afraid that is not how this works, Twilight. As valuable as I am, you are far more important now than I. The entire nation if not the entire world would be in danger if you were captured or worse. Until Sunset is officially coronated you are still the sole ruler of Equestria and the primary keeper of the celestial bodies. As such you are both empowered and bound to the throne.” Twilight wanted to protest, but instead just groaned. Celestia could not keep from smiling at her former student's frustration. “As I've said before, now you truly understand how I felt when I kept sending you and your friends on your little adventures while I had to sit on my plot and just hope for the best.”

“I hate this. It should be me. What is the point of being in charge if I can only lead from a throne?”

Celestia stepped over to Twilight and pulled her into a side hug. “You are more than the ruler now. You are a symbol. And ponies need to see you sitting strong and proud, having faith in your charges. There is power in that, believe me.”

Prince Thicket puffed out his white and brown chest fur. “I will go with Celestia. My herd has many contacts in the west and relatives I can call upon to help us search as well. I can watch her and help maintain her health as needed as well as guard her life. By the time we reach the coast I’m sure Princess Cadence will have arrived in Canterlot to further assist or bolster the effort.”

Reluctantly, Twilight nodded. They had a plan, it was not a good plan, but it was better than nothing. The first thing she would need to do would be contact Spike and Smolder so they could work out arrangements regarding their new hatchling. Each team would need their own train... or would airships be better in this case? Probably. Much of the outskirt lands were harsh and the condition of the tracks were likely unknown. Airships mostly just had to worry about air sick passengers. She needed a new list of who had a tendency to get easy motion sickness. Twilight was about to speak again when an explosion in the distance caused the walls and chandeliers to jingle and vibrate.

Tempest slid her helmet back on and ordered her guards to stay put while she left to investigate. The walls rattled again, louder, closer. Against better judgment and small, useless protest by the guards, the royals approached the dining hall balcony and opened the windows to look out.

A beam of red fire laced out and raked the city below, leaving a burning trail of destruction in its wake. In the sky a red alicorn turned his gaze upon a fleeing crowd in the market and summoned his glowing blades that slashed down without hesitation. Many died and turned to ash before the screams could leave their charred throats. Sunset snarled and summoned her sword and Luna her axe.

They both extended their wings, about to jump out the window when a shadow caught Twilight’s attention. “Sunset, wait!”

The balcony exploded. The dining hall windows all shattered and the ponies, griffon, and deer were thrown back into the room rolling amongst the debris. Heavy wing flaps scattered the broken glass and four armored hooves touched down, entering the room.

Twilight shook her head and looked up, her heart sinking to her stomach. “No,” she whispered breathlessly.

Flurry Heart stood above them, or at least a creature that had once been Flurry Heart. Her once pastel pink and blue mane waved about now muted to near grayscale. Her fur had darkened to a bluish gray from what Twilight could see, the rest was covered with a black, obsidian-like armor. Worse yet, Flurry Heart’s eyes, once a bright and shining blue that always reminded Twilight of her brother’s eyes were now glowing red and slitted like a serpent.

“Give me Celestia or die.”