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// Chapter 1- The lesson begins 
// Story: The Last Rays Of The Sun 
// by DougtheLoremaster 
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The navy blue filly Unicorn stared up into the midnight blue eyes of her Alicorn teacher, fidgeting nervously as she examined the research paper that had been turned in.
“Not much is known of her, but it is believed Princess Luna once had a sister by the name of Celestia…Interesting.”
Princess Luna sat on her throne, thinking about it in the moonlight. Her blessed moon shined brightly down onto the crown that graced her brow. It was a strange crown; partially melted, and patches of it had black scorch marks. The gem in the center was long gone; all in all, it resembled trash, and yet Luna refused to take it off.
She sat quietly upon the golden throne; the proud ruler of not just Canterlot, but Equestria itself. Under her tutelage, the country had quietly grown and evolved, to become the most desired to live in, in the whole of Equus. The sun never shone in Equus, though ponies never even noticed. Nopony noticed nopony that is, but Princess Luna.
Luna spoke softly to her young charge.
“Tell me, my faithful student, how did you come by this information?”
Luna chuckled as Twilight slowly pulled forth a book from her saddlebag; a book written by none other than the Princess herself. Of course she would find it in a book, why am I so surprised?
“Come with me, there is something I wish to show you.”
Slowly, as Luna staggered to her hooves, her fearsome appearance was fully revealed. 
The Alicorn’s body was a sight to behold. She was missing a wing, and half of the fur on her face and barrel was missing. Apparently, it had been incinerated, if the blackened, pitted flesh was anything to go by. When asked about it, the Princess would just reply.
“Trophies of freedom.”
Afterward, she would refuse to comment further. She also had vehemently refused medical attention whenever a subject had offered.
“Leave it. I don’t want it to heal. I don’t want to forget.”
Twilight watched in awe as the oldest being on Equus rose from her throne. Above her in the luminescent glow of moonlight, hung a tattered and frayed banner. 
The banner’s age was indeterminable; believed to once have been a vibrant navy blue and the distinct outline of two alicorns, one black, and one white could be discerned by one staring intensely at it. Faded rusty red letters declared in a strange dripping style: For Everfree!
The Alicorn slowly and purposefully walked alongside her student, down the corridors of the Royal Wing of the Castle of the Two Sisters.
The castle from which she ruled was in disrepair; a large chunk of the throne room was in ruins. There was no rubble but the edges of the hole appeared to have been melted by an intense blast; the stone twisted and distorted from an assumed searing wave of heat.
She refused to have it rebuilt. When asked why, she just gave a sad smile, replying.
“Let the Two Sisters stand in pieces, as a reminder to all of what it cost being ever free.”
She knew they spoke behind her back, claiming she was crazy; there had never been two sisters, so why name the castle in such a fashion? Regardless, she refused to change the name. It didn’t matter if they understood or not. As long as she didn’t forget, that was all that mattered.
“Tell me, my faithful student, how many Celestial bodies are there?”
“Just one, Princess.”
“And that would be…?”
“The moon, Princess Luna.”
“Very good, Twilight- the moon...Oh, here we are.”
Twilight looked at her teacher in confusion, why stop here? The two had stopped in front of a bare stone wall on the side of the corridor, just opposite of a strangely placed stained glass window depicting some creature, though it was too dark for Twilight to make out. 
The Princess, however, had closed her eyes as her horn glowed with the mystical power of the moon. Apparently deep in concentration, Luna seemed to be muttering some inaudible incantation under her breath. 
Though at first Twilight attempted to discern the words, she gave up upon realizing that they were of a language she had never learned; Old Ponish. The ancient language hadn’t been spoken since before Equestria was founded.
 Instead, she turned to look at the strange glass window. As Luna’s whispers continued, the moon’s light slowly drifted onto and began radiating through the stained glass. Before Twilight’s eyes, the darkened figure within the glass grew lighter and lighter in tone until a pure white Alicorn mare was revealed, smiling down at them, causing the light to hit the stone wall. 
Moving closer to the window revealed the Alicorn had a mane that resembled the aurora, Its cutie mark seemed to be something Twilight had never known, and it was clearly wearing the same crown Luna now wore; though it wasn’t melted and boasted a massive sunstone in the center and cast in rich shiny gold.  
Once fully enveloped in the moonbeams an open archway formed in the stone bricks, behind which sat a set of stone stairs, leading up towards the rafters. Peering upward at the spiraling stairs, Twilight noticed much to her surprise, she was unable to see where the stairs ended. They went up so high, they seemed to vanish into the aether.
“Quickly now, Twilight. And pay attention, this is your lesson for the day. I will be expecting at least 2 rolls of parchment on the topic in my hooves by tomorrow.”
Swiftly, she followed behind as Luna began to ascend the stairs, speaking to her in what Twilight affectionately referred to as her “lecture” voice. Pulling a quill and parchment from her bag with her magic, Twilight started taking notes, as the stairway wound ever-upward. 
“Before Equestria was founded by me, before Canterlot, there was the Everfree. No, not the forest of the same name, but a small village of Alicornborn. 
If you recall from your studies, The original practitioners of magic; the Alicornborn were primitive and unpolished when compared to the likes of today’s spellcasters, but most certainly paved the way for the likes of Starswirl the Bearded and Clover the Clever. You must remember that the Alicornborn and the Alicorn before you are two very different beings. While born with the features of an Alicorn, they sorely lacked the magical potential of an Ascended. On the other hoof, the ascension to Alicorn was granted to those whose unique abilities changed the world in a significant way, by the powers that be.
  I originated from the quaint little village though I was no Alicorn. No, I was born a Unicorn. Now you are probably wondering why I am telling you this when you just wrote a 10 scroll report on my origin. That’s very simple-”
Luna paused to sharply inhale as though the very idea of what she was about to say caused her untold pain.
“I was not the only one. I was one of two; twins born to be ‘chosen ones’ as the village called us. We were very different, my sister and I. She had a gentle warmth about her, always willing to see the good in others. While I raised the moon, she would lower the sun-
“Um, Princess Luna? What’s a sun?”
Stopping halfway up the steps, Luna turned to see the curious, eager face of Twilight. She gave a sad smile and told her.
“The sun was a Celestial body like the moon, Twilight. A ball of blessed fire, of unimaginable size. While the moon slept, there was this thing called daybreak, during which Celestia would raise the sun and the world would be filled with the light of the sun. At the end of the day, she would lower it and I would raise my moon to caress the creatures of the land in its gentle calm for the night’s rest.
To understand what day was, picture nighttime, but brighter and the air was warmer. My sister lovingly embraced her duty to raise and lower the sun. She loved to spend mornings enveloped in the rays of the golden sun as its light flooded the land, bathing all in its warmth.” 
As Luna spoke, a single tear fell as the memories flooded back. The only response; the furious scribbling of quill on parchment as Twilight took notes. Turning, Luna once more started up the winding stairs, with Twilight hot on her hooves.
“Around the time of our 5th birthday, a horrible shift began across the land. A creature of unfathomably destructive power began sewing discourse across the land, destroying any semblance of harmony. Discord was loose. A being that was born of the chaos itself; delighting in wreaking havoc regardless of the outcome.
 Everything from storms of chocolate rain, destroying crops to mountains made of rubber ducks, creating avalanches and crushing all in their wake. His power was no joke, though to him life itself was. Over the years, one by one, the free nations of Equus fell to the tyrant. Creatures surrendered their will, accepting Discord or perished in horribly comical fashions. That is until one remained; the village of Everfree.
It happened at our cutieceanera, our 15th birthday. Our village fell to the horrible onslaught of Discord’s chaos. It was a complete massacre. A simple village, we had no protection wards to defy his power and in the aftermath, only my sister and I remained; having been hidden from his sight by our guardians. It was that day, my sister declared war on Discord.”

***

The ground was littered with 50 pineapples, the exact number of village inhabitants, aside from the two sisters. Celestia stared in silence at the carnage; huts were covered in boiling honey, while the sky above was a maelstrom of cotton candy clouds from which frogs fell. The whipping wind, though icy, smelled of sulfur.
“Where is everypony, ‘Tia? What’s with all these pineapples?”
“They’re gone, Luna.”
“Gone?”
The words were spoken in a soulless, destroyed tone. Luna had never seen her sister in such pain. It was as though the normally warm and gentle Unicorn had just had her heart ripped out.
“Yes, Luna, gone.”
Looking down at a pineapple that sported the same necklace worn by the village chieftain, Celestia’s eyes narrowed in sudden hatred. As she slammed down her hoof, Luna watched as her inner fire ignited. Celestia roared out loud, in a voice that echoed her resolve across the land. The shout heard ‘round Equus. The beginning of the end.
“We’re all that’s left. And I swear by The Harmony itself, Discord will pay for what he’s done to Everfree!”

***

“We set out immediately, with my sister leading the charge. We knew alone we would stand no chance, so we sought allies to mount a rebellion. Though it was easier said than done. We were eager, full of fire and vinegar, but horribly green in our endeavor.
It was slow going at first, no matter where we went, we found it impossible to convince the populace to join us; neither of us could perform our Celestial duty while Discord had control. 
Neither the moon nor the sun could rise or set, it was utter chaos, and nopony believed we could deliver on freeing them. That is until my sister showed the world he wasn’t untouchable.
News of horrible new powers rising rode upon the whispers of the wind.  I’m not being metaphorical here, by the way, the news quite literally was spoken by the wind. In an eerie whisper, the wind told everypony of two creatures by the names of King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis; born of Discord’s ever-growing chaos.
To the East, King Sombra had laid siege to the Crystal Empire, dethroning its current ruler. To the west, Queen Chrysalis had established a hive of soul-sucking insect-like equine monstrosities known as Changelings and they were ravaging the countryside.”
Pausing, Luna turned to see Twilight furiously scribbling diligently, and a rare smile of pride shown on her face as she addressed her.
“Pop quiz, what made a Changeling so dangerous, Twilight?”
Taken by surprise, she struggled to answer the sudden question, nearly losing her magical grip on her parchment and quill in the process.
“Oh, er-um, according to the history books, Changelings were imbued with the power to mimic other lifeforms, by transforming into a perfect copy, but what made them truly terrifying was their ability to then use all abilities and skills of said creature. Once the imitation was complete, the Changeling would then seek to eliminate the original by devouring them. 
Specifically, they tortured the individual until they went completely insane before eating the poor soul. Only then was the victim deemed ‘seasoned’ enough to physically consume. After eating them, they would then permanently imitate the creature, living their life and luring loved ones into the grip of the hive to be devoured by their brethren.”
Luna nodded approvingly.
“Good. I’m glad to see those tutoring sessions with Advisor Shimmer have been paying off. That is correct, now let’s see what you’ve learned from the royalty of the Crystal Empire. Tell me, Twilight, what do you know of the late King Sombra?”
“Princess Glimmer told me that King Sombra had been a Unicorn that controlled the shadows and fears of others. During the siege, he is believed to have used others' fears to control them to do his bidding, by way of magical masks?”
“Very good. How is Princess Glimmer by the way?”
Twilight grinned.
“Oh, she is doing wonderful! And she told me to tell you that she is looking forward to midnight tea time with you tomorrow night, mo- er- Princess Luna.”
Luna's face was stern, causing Twilight to backtrack quickly, but as quick as her frown appeared, it vanished, and Luna lectured her hapless student.
“Do try to remember we are at school, my child. Honorifics only, until classes end for the night. You know better.”
“Yes, Princess Luna.”
“Good girl, Twilight. And how wonderful, I’ll have the chef put on some herbal Dragonfruit Darjeeling. And of course, you will be attending; you are old enough now, after all. Now back to your lesson, King Sombra, though his reign was over quickly, was not to be taken lightly, and as it was just my sister and me, Celestia came up with a plan-”

***

“Okay, so we go in there and blast him to smithereens.”

***

A faintly amused smile played on Luna’s lips at the memory as she turned and once more started up the staircase, with Twilight on her hooves.
“-It was pretty much what you would think an angry Unicorn would come up with.”