Luster Dawn galloped down the long, winding corridors of the mostly empty Friendship Castle in a panic. She had to find Princess Twilight ASAP.
"Over there!" A royal guard yelled in her direction. Luster squeaked a bit and picked up her pace. She couldn't let Twilight die. She refused to let her die. Tears started falling as she thought of all the important things she where taught over the years by Twilight, and how that all came crashing down when Gorgon attacked. It was so sudden. One minute, she was sitting with her friends under a tree talking of their latest exploits in Appleloosa. The next they had vanished, the only thing left of them was a black imprint of their bodies on the ground where they were sitting.
Luster ducked into a closet to hide from the guards after turning a corner. If she was quick enough, maybe she could stop her Princess from casting the spell that would ultimately lead to her fate. She peeked her head out to check if the guards were still in hot pursuit. After making sure the area was clear, she hopped out and retraced her steps until she was back on track. The guards had tried to detain her earlier, probably in an effort to prevent her from stopping the Princess.
Luster had tried numerous times to focus on her objective, but every time her thoughts creeped back to haunt her. She just couldn't stop thinking of the events that led to this disaster. She tried to remember why everything had gone to shit in-between labored breaths. Princess Twilight had decreed that all creatures return to their homelands in an effort to focus work on the rising tensions occurring between the Three Tribes of ponies. However, the decree backfired. Many ponies further separated themselves in the following months leading to entire towns forming overnight that only allowed a single type of pony to live in them. Luster's friends had been allowed to stay in Equestria as ambassadors of friendship so that they could go around and try to quell the uprisings forming. It was a real shitshow, and Luster was caught right in the middle of it.
Luster knew that the other Princesses had vanished, but she wasn't allowed access to the files that documented the scenes. Luster thought that their sudden loss was similar to her friends. Although she had little doubt that Gorgon had something to do with their disappearances.
Gorgon was a mysterious enemy. Nopony had ever seen him. The only reason ponies even called him Gorgon was because a newspaper editor thought it sounded cool. It made Luster furious that she had no way of fighting back, no way to retaliate and avenge her friends.
Luster was nearing the throne room at this point, shaking her from her thoughts. There were two guards on both sides of the door, no doubt in response to their detainee escaping. Luster let a smirk grace her face as she pulled the regal rug out from underneath their hooves and knocking them out with their own weapons. The rug was a Rarity Original, probably worth thousands of Bits, but donated to the castle after Rarity visited and saw that the place needed a makeover. She was gone now, but her influence still showed to this dark day.
Luster knew she couldn't just barge in all willy nilly, so she creaked the door and saw Twilight with several royal assistants saying their goodbyes. If Luster succeeded, then their words would be for naught. Luster sneaked in to the dimly lit room, only illuminated by the fiery blue blaze that emanated from the center of the room. After making sure all the assistants had said their goodbyes and left, Luster made her presence known.
"Princess! I have come to talk some sense into you!" Luster yelled at the top of her lungs, for the blaze was nearly deafening.
Twilight jumped a little. She had thought herself to be alone, so the appearance of what she had hoped to be her successor startled her.
"What are you doing here, Luster?! I ordered you to be detained!"
Even her Royal Canterlot Voice was heard through the flame, clear as a crystal.
"I heard what you were doing, Princess. I couldn't let you leave when we need you so badly!" Luster Dawn yelled.
Twilights face softened as she lowered the flames intensity to be able to talk to her pupil.
"I understand your apprehension, Luster, but I must do this. Everypony in Equestria is at each others throats. With all of my friends gone, I need to change the Elements so they can help a newer generation."
"But you will die!" Luster screeched through teary eyes. "How are we supposed to run a whole country when there are no rulers to control it?!"
"Luster, Equestria is gone. Dust in the wind. I tried to rule, but without my friends, the place fell to ruin. Just look outside. The streets are empty. The magic gone. With everypony in those segregated communities, my rule is naught. I am no princess. I am a failure."
Luster, muted by the words of her princess, looked down in sorrow. She was a failure too. She and her friends attempted to ease relations between the Three Factions, but her efforts were met with cold stares and thrown rocks. Nopony wanted to be 'friends' anymore.
"The wendigos are coming, and with this 'Gorgon' character is seemingly hunting down every princess in Equestria and abroad, I have to do this. It's our last hope. My last action as ruler of this tattered state." Twilight looked at her pupil and began tearing up herself. In a bid to raise both of their spirits, Twilight added "But hey, maybe in a couple of years you can stop this madness. Maybe you can bring everypony back together. Can you try that, for me, Luster?" Twilight raised her pupils chin and wiped away her tears.
"I-I-" Luster collapsed in anguish, full on bawling at this point. She knew everything the princess was saying was true, but without her friends, how could she possibly save Equestria? It would be an exercise in futility, if anything.
Twilight then embraced her pupil, comforting her with affection. She knew this was the last time she would see another who cared for her, for this was her final play in a war she didn't even know she was fighting up until a week ago. These were her final moments, her swan song to a life that had done her well.
"I'm sorry, but I have to do this. Goodbye Luster, do me proud."
And with that, Luster felt a magical wind whisk her away behind a closed door which was promptly locked. Luster's last view of Twilight was of her turning away, walking towards the flame that had been rekindled. She screamed as she heard Twilight chant the words to the spell. She rammed the large, gate-like doors, hoping they would open so she could stop Twilight. She tried and tried, but the door barely budged. She tried to teleport, but the room had been sealed magically. Then as Luster was about to go again, the room fell silent. Luster rammed the door one final time, this time flying open because the seals owner had left.
Twilight was gone. Luster cried as she ran towards the three large gemstones now laying in the center of the now empty firepit, where she curled into a ball, crying for her only hope that had just magically disappeared. The servants entered the room then, surprised to find Luster there.
---
"The gemstones were then removed and taken to a vault to be studied, if I remember correctly"
Luster Dawn had taken to talking to herself in the years of isolation since that day. She had tried to integrate communities, but instead of making friends, she just made more enemies. After her failure, she ran as far as she could. To the point where she passed out in a small forest grove tens of miles away from any civilization. She made her home here, as there was nopony brave enough to venture outside of their little communities that arose from the ashes of Equestria.
"And I went to 'Save all of Equestria', but I was to weak" Luster said with a sad look. She closed the storybook she had written and levitated it to a nearby shelf.
She knew that Gorgon was too powerful, but still had no way of fighting him, whatever 'him' was. But she didn't care. She had her garden, her little cottage, and nopony could possibly take that away. Luster got up from her lounging chair and headed outside. No use in dwelling on the past when she had a garden to attend to, after all! Luster had decided to grow carrots and beets this season. A lot of the time she found herself bored of her normal beet and dandelion soup, so she wanted to mix things up. She began to till the rough soil that had only recently been relieved of winters grasp, and planting the seeds with an eager vigor. She loved her little garden, It was the only thing she really had control over after-
*CRACK-RUSTLE*
Luster heard the noise. She identified it as the rustling of bushes, but it was too loud to just be the wind. In the twenty years of being alone, she had never encountered a large enough animal to make that noise. It was a pony, and she had been compromised.
Luster summoned a magical blade and yelled "Who goes there?! I don't want any trouble!"
She then noticed two pairs of ears poke up from some nearby bushes. They seemed to be moving away.
Luster called out to the two ponies "STOP!", an order in which the two pairs of ears promptly followed.
"Um, we, uh, we...", a stallions voice called out. Luster heard the two ponies start to bicker at each other again, as if they were planning how to get out of this situation.
Luster called out to the two ponies again, "Where are you from?! Maretime Bay!? Scarletsville!? Answer me!" Luster had lost her cool. She hadn't really been practicing her social skills, so she lost her ability to communicate well.
"I am from Gainston!" The stallion called out. Luster heard the two bicker for a bit when she heard a mares voice call out "And I am from Yūjō!"
This revelation had surprised Luster. Had the scattered villages started to commune again? Was Equestria coming back? Luster called the pair over to her side of the bushes, lowering her magical dagger. The two ponies begrudgingly obliged, eventually making their way into her view. The stallion was a pegasus, standing at average height. He had a white coat and a grey mane with a strip of hair that seemed to be fluctuating in color at the sight of Luster. The mare, an earth pony, bore a dim grey coat and a brilliant blue mane tied up in a bun. She had a sword on her side and a spear on her back, even though she was a bit small for them. The two stared at Luster, and Luster stared at them. They were all dumbfounded at the sight of each other.
After a few seconds of staring the pair of ponies smiled and said "We need your help, Mare of the Everfree Forest"