Penumbra

by Y1

Chapter 2: The Tune

When Luna’s essence coalesced into Equestria once more, her first thought was not really a conscious idea; rather, it was a sensation. That sensation of feeling muscles returning to their natural position after being stretched taut for far too long. Every molecule of her being was overcome by relief, as the parts of her essence that were blasted across the surface of the moon formed together in their natural place for the first time in a thousand years.
The second thing she thought was vocalised perfectly by her first words in a thousand years. “Freedom!” the alicorn shouted in her full Royal Canterlot Voice. “Joy and Jubilation!” she hopped up to her hooves and began doing a giddy little dance. “Free from the Moon!” she screamed as loud as she could. “And free from The Nightmare!”
Her thoughts were her own, her actions were her own, her joy was her own, and the way she rolled onto her back with a gargantuan grin on her face was definitely her own. Just the thought of grass, fresh green grass, was enough to make her giggle at the possibility. “I think I shall have a plate of grass,” she said to herself. “NO! Pass on the plate; I shall perish upon pasture from the plains!” That alliteration alone was enough to send her into a fit of giggling once more.
“Ahem.”
Luna rolled to her hooves and lowered herself to a combat ready stance instantly. Her eyes narrowed on two white unicorn stallions watching her. Both were dressed in the golden armour of Celestia’s solar guard. Well not exactly the same armour. The design was slightly different, but the colour and heraldry were unmistakable.
Celestia… Luna found herself frozen and unsure what to do. She could kill these stallions. Or she could run and try to escape the punishment her elder sister would no doubt have planned for her. However the truth was she felt she may have deserved it for what she had done. So many ponies had died for what she did. But then no matter how she felt about herself, the thought of being seared to ashes by a beam of solar energy still terrified her.
She was too long in her thoughts apparently, because one of the stallions telekinetically raised a scroll and burned it with a green flame.
Well that was it then. Celestia was alerted to Luna’s return. Yes she could run, but she would be found. Yes she could fight, but even without testing, Luna knew she was at but the merest fraction of her own strength. And even at full power it was questionable that she would be able to defeat Celestia in open confrontation. Without The Nightmare’s power to bolster her own, she’d never been able to overpower her sister. Plus, if Celestia still had any kind of control over the Elements, then in her weakened state Luna would be lucky to last more than a few seconds. No, she would face her punishment regardless of what action she took.
So she took no action, rather standing in awkward silence with the two stallions watching her nervously, which was fair enough she supposed. After all, she was the Nightmare Moon. Not to mention she had been rolling around on her back and giggling like a foal until a few moments ago. Actually that raised an important question. Where was The Nightmare? Luna supposed it was possible the being had been destroyed when she was scattered across the moon just a short millennia ago. But for some reason that didn’t seem like the right answer. Very little was understood about the nature of the Elements of Harmony, but Luna doubted that Celestia had been in sync with them enough to unleash their full powers. True, almost anypony could do something with the Elements. But it took the true bearers to harness them.
As she stood there, Luna took the time to observe the room she was in. A large crumbling hall complete with dilapidated columns and walls with missing windows surrounded her. The whole place seemed oddly... familiar. Turning around, Luna noticed something that made her gasp in astonishment.
The Elements of Harmony.
They were inactive, she could see that straight away. The sixth wasn’t present, but then that was a given when the rest of the elements looked like little more than spherical rocks. Sadly, in this state the Elements were almost entirely useless. They still occasionally showed a spark of magic, but nothing compared to what they were capable of when active and even then such sparks were rare.
With the Elements identified, Luna realised the she was standing in the main hall of Canterlot Castle. Of course it seemed familiar, but it was no wonder she didn’t recognise it in the state it was in. What happened to this place?
The pop of a teleport made Luna turn around. Emerging from a magenta burst of light were two ponies, a young dragon and Celestia. No… that wasn’t Celestia. This was an alicorn, but it wasn’t Celestia.
That’s impossible…
“Luna,” the being that was not allowed to exist greeted her.
As it stood, the creature that could not possibly be an alicorn smiled at Luna. It was tall, being only a little bit shorter than Celestia was. In terms of structure it had a fairly thin and lithe body. Without a doubt the being’s most striking feature was its eyes, or more specifically its lack of them. Rather than eyes, it had two patches of scar tissue. That was concerning. Very, very concerning.
After her shock wore off, Luna examined the others that had arrived with the alicorn. The two ponies were fairly unremarkable except that they were strangely garbed. One was a pegasus and the other was an earth pony. Both were mares, and the most remarkable thing about them was the pegasus’s hair colour. The dragon however was interesting. Dragons were rare, and judging by its size (assuming it wasn’t currently in a greed induced growth spurt) this dragon was in the later years of its adolescence. Why the alicorn had a pet dragon was a question that Luna filed away for later pursuit.
No, this couldn’t be a real alicorn. This had to be a disguised changeling or something. Tapping into some unicorn magic, Luna examined the being with her now magically fuelled sight. Luna fell onto her haunches in shock. This being had the same level of power as an alicorn and it had alicorn magic in it. But it just couldn’t be… No, it just couldn’t be an actual alicorn. But there was nothing else this could be. Magic radiated off the creature in waves. The sheer amount of magic here was staggering. There was just as much as Celestia had had at the height of her power, if not slightly more. The magic radiating from her filled the room; Luna knew without a doubt that she could not face this creature. Not in her current state or possibly even if she was at full power.
She must have not responded for too long because the mysterious alicorn soon spoke up. “I guess you weren’t expecting to see another alicorn.”
Switching back to normal sight, Luna gathered her thoughts. “Who art thou? And where is Celestia?” she said, sounding rather forceful with her Canterlot voice.
“She sounds pretty nightmarish to me,” the pegasus said, lowering herself to the ground in a combat ready position.
The alicorn’s jaw clenched. It was a quick thing and easy to miss but Luna spotted it.
“Spectra,” she said very evenly. “This is not Nightmare Moon, I do not want to hear you suggesting otherwise again. Do you understand me?”
The pegasus, who was apparently named Spectra, glanced between Luna and the alicorn. “Yes mother,” she said returning to a normal position. But judging by the looks she was casting at Luna, she was still sizing the moon princess up for a fight.
Wait… mother? Did she just call her mother?
The lavender alicorn ‘mother’ turned back to Luna. “I’m sorry about Spectra, she is… aggressive, at times.” She gave a polite smile. “My name is Penumbra.” She waved a hoof at the dragon. “This is Spike, my assistant.” She waved a hoof at the two ponies. “And these are Spectra and Malus…” she hesitated before continuing, “my daughters.”
Impossible. There was no way that these normal ponies could possibly be directly related to an alicorn. True, if a Bearer ascended then that Bearer’s existing family could be considered related, but an alicorn could not directly conceive a normal pony.
Penumbra continued speaking. “As you can see… I cannot see. But if you would allow me to touch you with my magic I will be able to ‘see’ you. But I understand that this makes some ponies uncomfortable.”
It took Luna a second to realise that the lavender alicorn was asking for permission, and she hesitated to answer. Penumbra’s lack of eyes was highly concerning. Those were scars, and very few things could permanently damage an alicorn. One of those few things being other alicorns. Had Celestia inflicted those wounds on penumbra? And if so then why?
“Where is Celestia?” Luna asked after a few seconds, this time being careful to speak in a normal tone. “Where is my sister?”
Penumbra hesitated to answer. “Luna… I’m afraid that…your sister, Celestia, is...”
“She’s dead,” Spectra interjected.
“Spectra!” the alicorn snapped, turning her head in the pegasus’ direction.
Luna felt the air rush from her lungs; she could have sworn somepony just punched her in the gut. “That’s not possible…” she said, feeling the shock course through her. Even as warring emotions clouded her mind, part of Luna was thinking logically about the ways that that could have happened.
Penumbra turned back to Luna. “Twenty years ago, there was an event where…” she paused before sighing and shaking her head. “Perhaps this would be easier if I showed you.”
Luna didn’t respond as her mind continued to run rampant inside her head. Strange alicorn that should not exist, is scarred, The Elements are inactive and gathering dust, they claim Celestia is dead. Did they kill her? Is that how she got those scars?
No matter how she looked at it, this was a highly confusing situation. There was no way Celestia could be dead; that simply wasn’t possible. Add to that this ‘Penumbra’. Where did she fit into all this? With the Elements inactive, there was no way that Celestia could have created another alicorn. Nor for that matter would she have really wanted to... unless she needed a replacement for Luna… But no, Luna was not needed. Celestia could manage the sun and the moon well enough without her. Luna could not see a reason for Celestia to create another alicorn. Whatever the case, Penumbra was here, even if she shouldn’t be, and Luna needed answers.
“Show me what?” the smaller deity asked.
“Celestia’s grave,” Penumbra answered while walking towards Luna. “I assume you’ll want privacy. I’ll drop my daughters and these guardsmen off, then I shall take you there and you can see for yourself.”
Luna nodded slowly, but then remembered Penumbra was blind and voiced her permission. “Very well.” She still didn’t trust this mysterious entity but she needed more information, and she had no doubt that a thousand years would have decayed, if not destroyed, all of her old information networks.
Penumbra turned towards the other ponies in the room. “You four shall go back to the party and ensure that the celebration lasts until I’m finished talking with Luna. If I’m late then… improvise.” She turned to the dragon. “Spike, go with them.”
He nodded.
The taller alicorn’s horn started to glow, and soon the whole room was bathed in the magenta light. The energy coalesced and built while Luna watched on with a little awe. Penumbra had incredible control over her magic. Of course the spell was going to take a moment to cast, but Luna knew that, even at her full power, she’d require perhaps five or ten minutes preparation to cast such a spell. Here Penumbra was doing it in just three.
Everypony disappeared in a flash of light except for Luna and Penumbra. The spell was now being cast again, though Luna noted subtle differences in the spell. It was impressive; the slight adjustments that were being made to maximise the efficiency of the magic. Without a doubt Penumbra was skillful, not just powerful. In a moment, there was a flash of light and the ruins of old Canterlot were empty once more.

Vinyl’s hoof pumped the air overhead as the repeated thunk of the bass entranced the dancers into movement. This was it. This was her talent and her activity of choice. Sex, drugs, alcohol, whatever. None of those compared to this. Nothing, absolutely nothing, gave Vinyl the same buzz that she got from this.
Still, being a good DJ was about more than just mixing the tracks. You had to keep an eye on the dance floor to make sure everypony was having a good time. Vinyl liked to think of herself as a good DJ who just lacked experience. If she’d had experience, or had lived in Ponyville for any extended amount of time at all, she would have known one of the first and most important rules about partying: keep an eye out for the beast in pink.
“Hi there!” an unnaturally cheery voice exploded in Vinyl’s ear.
Vinyl jumped into the air and turned around with her hooves ready to fight whatever screeching abomination had found its way into her booth. “What the f-”
The being pressed a hoof into Vinyl’s mouth. “No, that’s a bad word and not a happy word.”
With both front hooves, Vinyl shoved whoever this pony was away and tried to spit the taste of dirty hooves out of her mouth.
“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!” The thing bounced right up into Vinyl’s face like it was the natural thing to do.
“Swell,” Vinyl said as she spat out the last of the taste of… “How the heck do you get your hooves to taste like cotton candy?”
“They do?” Pinkie paused and licked her own hoof. “Oh wow!” Her ears perked up. “They do! I never tasted my own hooves before! I mean I’ve tasted lots of hooves because ponies are always shoving them in my mouth-”
“Yeah, I wonder why.”
“-but never my own! Maybe I could make a flavour out of them or something!”
Vinyl stared at her for a second trying to decide if she was joking. “I for one would not buy that.”
Pinkie tilted her head to the side. “Silly, how do you know you won’t like it if you won’t even try it?”
Vinyl looked at her for a second before her default grin split her face. Fastest way to end a conversation is to smile and nod. “That’s a good point. I’ll be sure to try Pink’s ‘hoof flavoured’ milkshakes next time I’m in Ponyville.”
“Oh that’s great,” Pinkie said happily. “I’m glad you can be more open-minded.”
Yeah... Cause that’s what’s wrong with me.
“What are you doing up here anyway?” Vinyl asked as she fixed her slightly askew glasses and turned back to the table.
“Oh, well you see, I always throw parties for ponies who are new to town and when I saw you up here tonight I was like ‘gosh, that DJ’s new here, I should throw a party for her!’ but then I realised you were already at a party so I was like ‘maybe she wants a smaller party’ and then I had the greatest idea ever it was like ‘I can have a small party up there with her, because she’s already at a big party so it’d be like a small surprise party inside an even bigger party,’ which makes it a party in a party and here I am to have a party in a party up here with you!” There was a burst of confetti over her shoulders as she reared up and held her forelegs out wide as though presenting something.
Vinyl watched this over her shoulder. No one else could see it due to her shades, but one eyebrow was firmly raised and her eyes held a highly incredulous expression. Everyone else just saw her usual trademark grin. “Did you… breathe while saying that?”
Pinkie paused and tapped thoughtfully. “I’m pretty sure… But I don’t really remember.”
Vinyl blinked. “Of course… Um… listen, Pinks… I can see from here that you’re not quite all there,” she tapped a hoof against her head.
The less than sane mare interrupted. “Oh no I’m totally all there…” she paused. ‘Depending on where ‘there’ is. If there is here then I’m totally there, but if there is down there then I guess I’m sort of there.”
Nodding, Vinyl started again and decided to ignore what Pinkie had just said. “Look, the idea of a party in a party sounds… Kinda cool in a crazy sort of way but… I’m kinda happy with just the one party at the moment.”
The smile on Pinkie’s face only grew wider. “Then imagine how much you’ll be smiling with two parties!”
Those blue eyes bored into Vinyl, and everything about them just screamed ‘I want you in my basement’. At that moment Vinyl had no doubt that, if she wasn’t wearing shades, her soul would have been sucked out and consumed by the bottomless depths of the pools of blue that lay before her.
Pinkie continued. “And I live to make other ponies smile,” she placed heavy emphasis on the live.
That was so creepy that Vinyl’s grin almost dropped. Almost.
Normally Vinyl was a clear and concise speaker. But at this moment she was just a little bit creeped the buck out. “Listen, Pinks, um… DJ’ing is my special talent… and while I appreciate the thought, I’m happier just being the DJ for this party at the moment than I would be if you were to have a second party up here.”
“Oh…” Pinkie’s grin faded and her eyes looked like they were taking on water.
“But what would make me happy,” Vinyl rapidly continued, “is if you were to go down to the dance floor and have a good time yourself.”
Also just staying the heck away from me while I’m in the middle of my gig would be nice.
“Oh…” She looked like she was starting to perk back up. “In that case I better get down there and have a super fun splendiferous time! Cause then you’ll have a super fun splendiferous time!”
Is splendiferous even a word?
“Exactly,” Vinyl nodded and her grin started to feel a bit more genuine. Relief was a good emotion. “So why don’t you head on down there and have a…” She coughed. “‘super fun splendiferous time’?”
Pinkie gave a firm salute before turning and heading out the door. Just as she was about to leave she paused. “Oh, I still don’t know your name. Who are you?”
Damn it.
Vinyl shrugged. “I’m DJ P0N-3. I know I’m not famous yet but I scratch the records pretty damn well.”
“Is that your name?” Pinkie asked quizzically.
“Huh?”
“Is DJ P0N-3 your name?”
“It’s my stage name.”
“Well what’s your real name?”
“I-’”
Vinyl didn’t answer that question, because at that moment Mayor Mare came up the stairs.
“Oh excuse me Pinkie,” Miss Mare said to the pink pony. “Mind if I have a word with Miss…” She paused and turned to Vinyl, “I’m sorry but I still don’t know your name.”
“Oh that’s fine,” Vinyl said with a wave of her hoof.
“Yes…” Mayor turned back to Pinkie. “Mind if I have a word with the DJ in private?”
“Sure thing Miss Mayor,” she said with a nod. “Bye Scratchy!” she waved to Vinyl enthusiastically as she walked down the stairs.
Ok, that’s just gotta be coincidence.
“Yeah, see yah Pinks.” Vinyl gave a wave too. The moment she was out of sight Vinyl turned to Mayor Mare. “Ok, what drugs is she on and where can I get them?”
Miss Mare chuckled a little at that. “Pinkie is… well… Pinkie is Pinkie.” She paused and shook her head. “Anyway, Scratchy was it?”
Vinyl shrugged. “It’ll do.”
“Yes…” she paused for a second. “I’ve just received word that Penumbra may be late for the ceremony and raising of the sun.”
The DJ’s eyebrow rose.
Yeah, sorry to be late in raising the sun and all but I’m just a little busy at the moment... I swear I’ll get around to the whole daytime thing real quick, I promise.
“Why?”
“I wasn’t told, but I was instructed to try and delay the opening ceremony until the princess can get here.”
“Okaaay…”
“So I need you to play some more music then we originally intended. Just to help keep the ponies distracted for as long as possible.”
Vinyl shrugged, “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Good,” Mayor Mare seemed very relieved. “I better go and warn some of the other organisers about the change of plans and put out a few other fires while I’m at it.”
What evs.
“Cool. I better get back to my table before anypony notices that it’s just on a play list.”
The mayor said something else but Vinyl didn’t pay attention as she returned to doing what did best. Finally, back to what she loved. Her small bit of bass-fuelled paradise could only last so long before it had to be interrupted again.
This time it was a tap on the shoulder that grabbed her attention.
Oh for bucks sake! First gig in months that’s actually cool and some idiot keeps interrupting me!
“Sup?” she asked as she turned around with a grin. A grin that barely stayed in place when she saw who it was that had tapped her on the shoulder.
A purple iguana with green spines was staring at her with a ‘this be serious business’ expression on his face. “You’re DJ P0N-3?” Vinyl was surprised to hear that the lizard could talk.
“Yeah,” she glanced past him and blinked when she saw Spectra and Malus, the two royal princesses, standing there.
What the buck are they doing here?
“Right.” The iguana stopped to examine some papers in his hands. “Did Mayor Mare stop by to tell you that-”
“Penumbra doesn’t feel like raising the sun just yet?” Vinyl grinned, this time genuinely. “Yeah, what’s up with that?”
Spectra moved closer while hovering and chuckled. “Yeah, it’s the craziest thing. You know Nightmare-”
“Spectra!” the iguana shouted. “That’s probably classified.”
“Pfft, whatever,” the princess waved a hoof dismissively. “She’s gonna know in the morning anyway. Come on Spike, it’s not like it’s a big secret or anything.”
The iguana, who was apparently named Spike, sighed in an irritated way. “Regardless, I think the princess would want us to keep it quiet for the moment. Okay?”
She rolled her eyes. “Like I care. Anyway as I was saying, Night-”
“Spectra,” Malus said quietly.
Spectra stopped and looked back at her sister. Malus shook her head firmly.
“Fine, whatever.” Rose coloured eyes were rolled. “Not like it matters anyway.”
Spike turned back to Vinyl. “Anyway, I’m here to discuss your pay in regards to tonight.” He glanced up at Vinyl and she nodded her head in understanding, so he continued. “We’ll pay you for any hour overtime. Just keep the party going for another hour or two until Penumbra arrives.”
“Yeah, no worries,” Vinyl nodded. “But I’ve only got so many tracks on the list she gave me. Should I repeat songs or just mix some other songs onto the list?”
Spike shrugged. “Whatever works for you.”
Vinyl was still grinning, but now she was smiling. Complete freedom to run the party? Tart yeah, I can live with that!
“Alright, now that that’s sorted, what else needs doing?” Spike muttered to himself as he shifted through the papers in his hands. He mumbled under his breath as he turned and walked away, heading back down the stairs.
Facing her turn table once more, Vinyl paused when she noticed that Malus hadn’t left. Spectra hadn’t followed the iguana out either. Spectra paused to watch her sister who was staring at Vinyl with an expression of… Ok, Vinyl was actually really great with faces and expressions but she seriously couldn’t read Mal.
“Uh… Sup?” Vinyl asked hesitantly, feeling a bit nervous about the scrutiny.
Mal only continued to… Ok was she glaring? Or was that just how she looked at most ponies?
“Mal, what’re you thinking?” asked Spectra.
“Who’re you?” Mal asked while staring at Vinyl.
“Just the DJ,” Vinyl said with a flick of her mane. Ok this was really uncomfortable.
“Why’d Penumbra hire you?” Malus asked as she slowly moved closer to Vinyl.
“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug of her shoulder. “Maybe she likes my work?”
“Who’re you?” the princess repeated the question.
“No one. Just DJ P0N-3.”
“Why would Penumbra hire you? Ah’ve never heard of you.”
“Maybe you should get out more?” Vinyl grinned like her life depended on it. A nice big toothy smile that showed off her pearly whites.
Malus reared back on her back hooves as she lifted Vinyl with her forelegs and pressed her against the wall “Who. Are. You?”
“No one special.” For Vinyl, it was a struggle to keep her smile in place. Her glasses were askew on her face revealing her crimson red eyes. She tried to shift the limb that was being pressed against her throat. Damn, this princess was strong! It was like trying to shove a boulder with your bare hooves.
“Mal…?” Spectra moved into Malus’ field of vision. “What the buck are you doing?” her head was cocked and she was looking at her sister curiously.
The earth pony was silent for a second as she glared (and now Vinyl was sure it was glaring) into Vinyl’s uncovered eyes. “Something’s happening.”
It took a second for Spectra to come up with a response. “What? What’s happening?”
“Something…” Mal glanced over at her sister. “Ah’m not sure what but… It’s big. Something important is happening.”
Spectra shrugged, “Well just earlier tonight we met-“
“No not that.” Mal shook her head. “Something… else…”
“And you think she has something to do with it?” Spectra indicated Vinyl.
What the buck could Vinyl possibly have to do with this…? Whatever this was.
She considered her for a second longer before Malus stepping back from Vinyl and dropped back onto all fours. “No.”
Vinyl used her magic to place her glasses back over her eyes.
Spectra just shook her head. “You are such a bucking retard.”
“How fast can you get to Canterlot?” Malus turned to face Spectra.
Silence hung in the air for a second.
“Well that was a sudden turn in conversation,” Vinyl said aloud.
“…What?” Spectra asked sounding confused.
“Canterlot. How fast?” Mal repeated
“Er… I don’t know, an hour maybe?”
“Go there.”
“What? No! Why?!” Anger crept into her voice.
“Ah need you to go to Canterlot,” Malus stated.
“I don’t take orders from you,” Spectra said, sounding really pissed off.
“Ah don’t care,” Malus said. “Go to Canterlot. Find out what Penumbra’s doing.”
“What?” Spectra asked confused. “Why do you need me to check up on mum?” Then her face darkened. “And why the buck do you think you can order me around?”
Malus quietly said, “Please.”
Spectra continued ranting angrily. “For that matter what the buck do you… Please?”
Mal stared into Spectra’s eyes. “Please.”
There was a moment’s silence, and all Vinyl could do was try to figure out what the heck was going on and hope these two forgot she was there.
“Alright,” Spectra said and continued after a second. “But you owe me, right?”
Malus nodded.
The pegasus turned to fly away but was stopped when Mal said, “Spectra.”
She paused and glanced back at Mal.
Malus hesitated before saying, “stay safe.”
Spectra blinked in surprise before snorting and rolling her eyes. With that she took to the air. She flew up over the dance floor and down towards the building exit. This left Vinyl alone with Malus; A not unfrightening prospect.
“Okay…” Vinyl said aloud. “Not that that was really weird or anything, but could you go away now? You know, let me do the job that you’re paying me to do.”
Malus just looked at her for a second before she said, “You lie to everypony.”
“…What?” Vinyl asked exasperation creeping into her voice and her smile dropping. “Enough with the freaking crazy! How could you possibly know that!?”
Vinyl honestly hadn’t even lied to Malus.
Mal paused. “That’s a good question.”
“…What?”
Malus turned and walked down the stairs.
Shaking her head, Vinyl tried to make sense of anything that just happened. “Whatever.” She shrugged. Facing her turntable once more, Vinyl genuinely grinned and set back to doing her job. It was time to get these tracks off the play list. With her magic, Vinyl pulled a new record out of her saddlebag and replaced one of the records currently sitting on the turn table. Twitching her head to the left produced a satisfying crack. Back to doing what she loved.
It was time for DJ P0n-3 to own the night.

Reality was a nice place, Luna decided upon arriving there. She was well used to teleporting, but nopony could make a jump from the old Canterlot ruins to… wherever this was anything but painfully uncomfortable. It was a sign of Penumbra’s power that they hadn’t simply popped like blood-filled balloons on their return to this plane of existence. Nopony, other than Luna or Celestia, ever attempted such long distance teleportation. Well, apparently Penumbra did. Luna doubted that in her current state that she could manage a jump like that without some serious assistance.
Once the sensation of the world collapsing around her died down, Luna raised her eyes and saw a city. And not just any city. A grand white city made from marble. It had palaces and fountains and… It was just an impressive, healthy looking city. What was more impressive was that it was set into the side of the mountain.
“Welcome to Canterlot,” Penumbra stated.
Luna could feel the other alicorn’s gaze in the form of the tendrils of magic gently slithering across her skin. Penumbra was frighteningly powerful. Luna knew that all it would take for the princess to kill her would be a sharp tightening of those thin streams of magic. A mere thought and they could snap taut, splitting Luna into nothing but meaty chunks and bodily fluids.
For an alicorn, who once wielded the power to control the moon, to shift the tides and set the stars, it was deeply disturbing. Only once before had she felt so powerless.
“This cannot be Canterlot. The ruins from whence we left were Canterlot,” Luna denied aloud.
“The city was destroyed in the wake of the final battle between Nightmare and Celestia. Celestia ordered a new capital city to be built here and the ruins were left to their own devices.” Penumbra paused. “I think she didn’t want to be reminded of what became of you.”
Luna stared up at the grand city, feeling morose. It was horrifying to think that she’d destroyed an entire city and that her own sister had rebuilt it elsewhere just to try and forget her. “What of the Elements? Why did she leave those behind?”
Penumbra paused for a moment. “I’m unsure.”
Having lived for centuries, Luna recognised a lie when she heard it. A well-told lie that would without a doubt deceive most, but not well told enough to slip past an immortal being.
“I believe she was planning on using them to cure you upon your return,” Penumbra continued.
Luna couldn’t help but doubt that. She knew what she did, and she knew that for that there would be no forgiveness. Even from Celestia.
“What of you… From where did you come?”
Penumbra sighed. “That’s a more complicated explanation I’m afraid; one that may have to wait. It’s a tale that will take some time to tell, and I have the sun to raise in less than an hour. For now, we should discuss the fate of Celestia.”
Luna felt her hackles rise. Dodging the question like that was not the way to set Luna’s mind at ease. She still did her best to keep her body language unreadable, though she could feel her heart rate elevate slightly.
“There is one more teleport for us to make before I must leave you and return to my duties. But rest assured that I shall explain everything in due time.”
And with that, Luna felt herself get dragged through a hole in existence once again, though this teleport was much better controlled. She did not feel as though the energies of the universe were trying to turn her inside out. That must have meant they were teleporting somewhere that wasn’t as far away.
With a pop they arrived in…
Luna fell to her knees in shock. Her mind reeled at the sight before her. There was no way, no way that… No, this simply couldn’t be.
She checked her magical sight to make sure that this wasn’t just some illusion. No, her magically enhanced eyes told her the same thing her normal vision did. Still there was no way she could accept this. This simply couldn’t be.
But it was.
“This is an illusion.” She tried to believe it but couldn’t convince herself.
“No it’s not.” Penumbra’s voice didn’t tremble or waver. It sounded detached and empty. “This is reality.”
Stretching out before her, as far as the eye could see, extending from one horizon to another was a graveyard. Row, upon row, upon row of grave, after grave, after grave. Small square grave stones, simple and blocky, carved from common rock types dotted the flat earth. The amount of dead was… It was mind boggling. Luna wasn’t even sure that there were this many ponies alive in Equestria a thousand years ago.
And in the centre of it. Standing before Luna was a monument that was almost 20 feet tall. A statue of a pony with her wings folded and her eyes closed. Her face seemed to be one of a pony at peace. At the base of the statue was carved, “She guided us all in life. She guides our loved ones in death.”
This was not a statue. This was a tombstone.
“What did this?” Luna asked her voice trembling as she was faced with her sister’s remains.
Penumbra was silent for a second. “Twenty years ago… There was an… event. Where all over the world, millions of ponies-” She paused. “Well I suppose we’re not just talking about Equestria; we’re talking about the larger world too… hundreds of millions of people everywhere simply slumped over dead. Almost one quarter of Equestria’s population, dead in an instant. I don’t know the statistics of the whole world, but I do know they were similar. The Griffon Collective was the worst hit, with almost a third of their population gone. The yaks were the least affected, losing only an eighth.”
Luna was stunned. She tried to speak but couldn’t think of anything to say.
“During the twenty years since, almost one quarter of all pony children have been stillborn. Though, counting the mismatches, thirteen out of every sixteen births could be considered at least partially successful. Mass graves like this are now found outside every major city in Equestria and most major cities across the world. This is Canterlot’s mourning site. Almost five hundred thousand ponies are buried here. Stillborn foals are also buried here. Those newer graves are towards the back.”
‘Mismatches’…? What? That- what? Stillborn….?
Luna crushed her emotions and brought logic to the fore. Now was not the time for that. Slowly climbing back to her feet, Luna turned to face Penumbra. “Did you kill them?”
There was a pause. “What?”
Luna repeated the question. “Are you responsible for their deaths?”
Penumbra hesitated before answering. “Some of them.”
Luna blinked in surprise but didn’t say anything.
“No one pony is responsible for this.” Penumbra said as she turned to face the graves. “This is the collective weight of all our sins. Mine included.” She sighed. “It’s a complicated situation. It involves things you would never have believed existed. I want to tell you everything, but that must wait. I have to raise the sun now.” She turned to walk away but stopped when she heard Luna’s next question.
“Did you kill Celestia?”
Silence answered Luna.
“Did. You. Kill. My. Sister?” Anger laced each word.
“…No.” That single syllable was thick with guilt. There was no way that it wasn’t a lie, or less than half the truth.
Luna brought magic to her eyes again, and observed Penumbra once more. Except this time she looked at her as closely as she could. She funnelled more magic than was even practical into her vision, but that didn’t matter. Luna needed to know. There had to be no doubt in Luna that all this wasn’t an illusion. That this wasn’t some elaborate cosmic prank her mind was playing on her while she was still trapped on the moon. It had to be. There was no way it couldn’t be. It had to not be real.
But it was.
Her eyes were gaping black voids, sucking in light with the shadow magic that was her natural talent. Far more magic then was needed was funnelled into her sight to make it as sharp as possible. This was no illusion. It simply couldn’t be. The wave of grief that came over Luna was strong. So strong that it almost overpowered the burning rage that had taken hold of her mind. Almost.
Luna could see something that made her jaw clench and blood rush to her ears. Something that forced her to resist the urge to attack Penumbra right then and there. Chaos magic. There was a fount of chaos magic inside Penumbra. And there was only one naturally occurring source of that in the entire world.
Discord.
Penumbra was not Discord, but she’d obviously been influenced by him. And that was all that Luna needed right now.
“Would you like to come with me?” Penumbra asked. “Or would you prefer to stay here with your sister?”
It took some effort but Luna managed to keep her voice flat as she trotted closer to Penumbra. “I shall go with you.”
The monster smiled. That blind bucking chaotic abomination actually had the nerve to smile. Penumbra raised her magic and began to form the component of a teleportation field. All the while, Luna watched, and when the spell was all but ready, she lashed out with all the fury of an enraged dragon. Long range teleporation was a difficult and potentially dangerous thing, being a far stretch from the quick hops that were appropriate for battle or escape. They were unstable in the extreme and Luna took full advantage of this.
Seizing her magic, Luna lashed out against the delicate fields that were handling the teleport while at the same time seizing the reins on Penumbra’s other fields. It was only because she caught Penumbra by surprise that this worked; otherwise she simply wouldn’t have had the power to affect or influence the spell. But because Penumbra hadn’t expected the attack, she offered no resistance.
With a snap, reality buckled, and Luna and Penumbra were flung apart. Luna used Penumbra’s magic to guide herself back to the ruins of Canterlot. When she returned to reality, she fell to her knees and vomited. A meal that had been consumed almost a thousand years ago now decorated the floor of what was once her home.
Luna couldn’t be sure what happened to Penumbra during that teleport, but it was easily possible that she’d died. When you abuse reality like that, it has a tendency to simply kill you. But if Penumbra had recovered quickly enough, she could saved herself. Still, whatever had happened to her, it would certainly have left wounds. There was no way that the alicorn could have escape from that unscathed.
Standing back on her hooves, Luna took the moment to consider what she’d just done. She’d just made an enemy of what was most likely the most powerful being in existence. Luna couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Oh, it was truly great to be free.
Celestia still tugged at the corner of Luna’s mind, but she tried not to think of that. Now was not the time to mourn something that happened twenty years ago. Now was the time to act. She needed a plan.
To be honest, attacking Penumbra like that was probably not the brightest move. It would have been better to wait until she knew the full situation. But she had a fount of chaos magic in her, and she’d lied about killing Celestia... That was enough as far as Luna was concerned.
She’d need The Elements unbound and active if she wanted to defeat Penumbra. Maybe in a year, when Luna’s powers had returned, she might risk facing her head on, but unless Penumbra was an idiot, which Luna doubted, she’d begin hunting for Luna immediately. So she didn’t have a year to work with. That led her back to the Elements.
For The Elements to become active, she’d need to find their Bearers. Once that was done, Luna would be faced with the choice of leaving The Elements with the correct bearers, or using all six herself with much less effect. She would make that decision when the time came. Who knew? Maybe the new bearers would be capable of dealing with Penumbra without Luna’s help… Or maybe they would be loyal to Penumbra and turn the Elements against Luna… Regardless, Luna needed the Elements.
With that, Luna turned and floated the five inactive elements down to herself. Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness and Laughter. A sob escaped Luna’s throat and she clutched Laughter to her chest.
“Oh Celestia.” Luna squeezed her eyes shut. “I cannot believe that you died…" And the worst part was, the last time Luna had seen her, still trapped in the Nightmare, she’d promised that she’d kill Celestia. Shielding the precious Element of Laughter with her wings and her forelegs, Luna whispered to it. “Celestia, I promise that I’ll find out who did this. Not just to you, but to all the Equestrians. Not even that, but to all the people the world over. I will find out who’s responsible, and I’ll make them pay. I will make up for what I did.”
With that, she dried her eyes and stood up.
Even inactive, there was a magical link between each Element and its bearer. For a spell caster like Luna, it was simple fare to find the link and trace it. Interestingly, three of the links were all pointing in the same direction, while the other two were pointing in seemingly random directions. It was a little hard to say, but she thought one of them was pointing towards New Canterlot. There was no way to tell how far each link was from its original source, and she didn’t wish to return to Canterlot, so Luna decided to head towards the group of three.
Flying there would be sufficient. Luna was faster than any natural born pegasus, teleport hops were draining, and there was no way she’d risk a long range teleport without knowing exactly where she was headed. Plus, with her powers weakened, she wasn’t sure she could manage a very large jump. So flight it was.
And a flight it was. To travel through the air was fun and invigorating at the best of times, but it was especially so after being freed from a thousand year banishment. The Elements she floated in the wind alongside her whistled against the air and Luna felt almost giddy. Yes, she was alone and drained of power in a world that was nearly alien from her own. True, she’d just made an enemy of the most powerful being in existence. But she didn’t give a buck. She was free and flying and loving every second of it.
Sadly all good things had to come to an end. After only half an hour of flight, Luna found herself landing outside the small village that the three Elements had led her to.
“Welcome to Ponyville,” a single picket wooden sign read.
“Original name,” Luna murmured to herself.
It was nighttime, so of course no one was around as Luna walked through the empty streets.
“All still asleep,” Luna couldn’t help but bitterly note.
Eventually though, her ears perked at the sound of… What was that sound? It seemed vaguely rhythmical. There was the steady thump of a bass instrument, but Luna couldn’t identify which. Over the top of that was a weird alien sound that she simply couldn’t describe. It was almost like music.
The Element were all leading her towards the noise, towards a large building that looked like a meeting place. Inside it, Luna could see the silhouettes of ponies moving and dancing in rhythm to that sound. Okay, so apparently it was some kind of music.
Luna felt vaguely sad about that. She’d always had an appreciation for the arts, and the knowledge that she’d missed out on more than a thousand years of cultural progression was a bit upsetting. Imagine all the visionaries that had revolutionized their respective fields, and she hadn’t gotten the chance to appreciate a single one of them.
Shaking her head, Luna chastised herself. Now was not the time for that sort of thought. After all, it was her own petty jealousy that had led to her banishment.
Walking into the building, Luna found herself bathed in a strange multi-coloured light show. Around her, ponies threw themselves about and grinded against each other in some strange approximation of a dance. Luna didn’t stand out too much because she wasn’t as tall as she normally would be. To most, she just looked like another pony until they took the time to notice both her wings and horn. But those that did were soon swept away by other dancers, and she was dismissed as a trick of the light.
The orbs soon found themselves pointing in different directions, so Luna decided to follow Laughter, if for no other reason than this seemed like the place she might find it. She floated the other four and hid them under her wings, which were still larger than normal pegasus wings.
Actually, she kind of liked this music. There was a strange depth and complexity to the various sounds that all layered and complemented one another. She found her head bobbing up and down as she trotted through the party, a smile lighting up her face. Nothing in the world could change your mood as rapidly as music. Sure it was only a quick fix, but the light headed joy she felt now was much better than the melancholy about all the things she’d missed out on.
Soon Laughter led her to the place where the crowds were thickest. Luna spotted her right in the middle of them: a pink pony surrounded by a crowd of onlookers doing an impressive and complicated dance. Her hooves barely seemed to touch the ground as she seemed to smoothly slide across the floor.
The ponies around her were chanting “Go Pinkie! Go Pinkie! Go-go, go Pinkie!”
No prizes for guessing the identity of Laughter. Luna thought as she watched her. It was quite impressive actually. If time was less urgent Luna might have-
“Luna!” a voice shouted out behind her. She turned around and saw a strangely garbed earth pony mare staring at her. “What’re you doing here? Where’s Penumbra?”
It took Luna a second to recognise her. Yes, she was the earth pony that Penumbra had said was her daughter. Another lie, that was simply impossible. Or at least Luna thought it was impossible… She supposed it might be possible to grow a… No, that wasn’t the point. She had to deal with this mare now.
“What?!” Luna shouted out, pretending to be unable to hear over the music. She held a hoof to her ear and shrugged.
The earth pony- Oh that’s right Malus was her name… Malus’ eyes narrowed. Ok, if Luna wasn’t an alicorn she might be scared. That was one Tartarus-worthy glare. The mare herself just looked intimidating too. Her strange garb and remarkable musculature just made her appear impressive.
Luna noticed the dancing around them had stopped and ponies were backing away fearfully. More were glancing at Malus nervously first, then at Luna, but a few frightened looks were cast her way. Why would they be reacting like this?
Malus reached out with one hoof and took the Element of Laughter out of the air. She held it up with one hoof and glared at Luna. Her question required no words.
The music was still playing, but Luna could hear snippets of conversation. “Malus is…”
“Who’s the alicorn?”
“The Demon…”
Demon? What demon?
Luna opened her mouth to speak, but then spotted something towards the back of the club. The dragon that had accompanied Penumbra earlier was in the middle of breathing out a sealed message. On the back of the scroll was Penumbra’s cutie mark. The dragon picked up the message and read it. His eyes widened and he glanced up at Luna fearfully.
Dropping all of The Elements out of her grip, Luna tapped into her pegasus magic and blitzed the distance between herself and Spike. With the pegasus magic roaring through her, she crossed twenty metres of crowded dance floor in an instant.
The adolescent dragon didn’t even have time to drop the paper he was holding before Luna had it floating in the air before her.
“Luna attacked me, alert the-” that was all Luna needed to read. The dragon stood before her and took in a deep breath in preparation for a fire attack. She was not going to let that happen.
Stepping to the left of the jet of flame, Luna wrapped her forehooves around the dragon’s neck and pitched him at the nearest wall. He smacked against it face first, and didn’t even have time to get to his feet again before Luna smashed a hoof into the side of his head. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he slumped back to the ground unconscious.
If he’d gotten a message to Penumbra, then everything would be over. But he hadn’t, so Luna was safe from reprisal for now. At the moment the most she had to fear was a slightly intimidating earth-
Crack!
A blow that sent Luna flying slammed into her, and she found herself smacking into a wall. Looking up, she saw the pony Malus leaping towards her. Luna wrapped her in telekinesis and slammed her to the left. Or she tried to. For some reason the telekinesis was having almost no effect. All she managed to do was nudge her to the left enough that her hooves slammed through the wall next to her head, as opposed to punching holes through her skull.
No normal pony was supposed to be that strong.
Luna decided that she did not want to fight this pony under these circumstances. Teleporting with a pop of magic, she appeared on the other side of the room.
Malus yanked her hooves out of the wall and turned to face Luna. The music stopped playing with a strange sound Luna had never heard before. Silence reigned in the building for a second and Luna had the time to notice the line of ponies she’d bowled over in her rush for the dragon. They were all standing up unharmed but they were looking panicked and confused.
Malus examined the message that had just come from Penumbra. “You just cut our communication,” she said looking up.
Luna nodded.
Malus turned to a white stallion that was in royal guard heraldry. “Get to Canterlot. Find Penumbra.” He nodded and turned to run.
Luna knew that that didn’t matter. It would be hours before Penumbra arrived, and in that time she’d have what she needed. Now seemed like a good time to gather information.
“Who’re you?” she asked. “Why did Penumbra tell me you’re her daughter?”
“Because I am.”
“Impossible,” Luna stated simply.
Malus tilted her head to the left.
Just then an onlooker shouted out, “She’s the Demon!”
Her head snapped around to face whoever shouted that. A black pegasus stallion gulped and shied away under her gaze.
“The Demon?” Luna repeated.
Malus turned her gaze back to her.
“Why do they call you Demon?”
“Because she’s a murderer!” a voice near the back shouted out.
“She killed Blueblood!” another voice agreed, “and took his head as a trophy!”
And like that the flood gates started.
“- is the Butcher of Manehatt-“
“Thousands-“
“-eats ponies!”
“Penumbra’s pet monster.”
“-tame demon!”
Luna could scarcely credit what she was hearing. “Be silent!” she shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Everypony did so. “Is what they say true?” she asked.
Malus didn’t say anything.
Luna switched over to her magical sight and was surprised by what she saw. Malus was radiating earth pony magic. There was more earth pony magic in her then there was in Luna! Even powered down, Luna had truly vast reserves of all three pony magics. Ironically, this confirmed her suspicions that Malus wasn’t actually an earth pony. Luna intensified her magical sight and another magical effect became visible. There were hundreds of tiny lines of chaos magic covering her. They almost looked like stitching, like they were holding her together. Luna could start to see some potential credence in the theory that she was a demon.
“What are you?” Luna asked. “You are certainly not a pony.”
Malus’s eyebrow rose, but her face returned to its emotionless state quickly. “Ah’m gonna have to hold you here till Penumbra arrives.”
Luna smirked. “Your dragon messenger is unconscious, and it will take hours until Penumbra arrives with a pegasus carrying the message. I am an alicorn. Do you think you can hold me here for five minutes, let alone several hours? The wounds you inflicted upon me earlier have already faded.”
Malus shrugged.
“You may be a demon, but do you really think you can stand before a god?”
Malus regarded her for a second. “Do you really think you’re a god?”
Luna tilted her head curiously. “In what measure am I not?”
There was no answer. Malus eventually just took off her hat, and lay it on the ground next to her. “Let’s just get this over with.”
With her magic, Luna looked around and picked up the five Elements of Harmony. Spotting a small alcove overlooking the dance floor, she posited them up there. Remembering something else, she turned and spotted the Bearer of Laughter. She raised her up to the alcove too, though the bearer seemed a little panicked about it.
Turning back to Malus once more she spoke again, only this time aloud for everypony to hear. “I advise everypony here to leave.” But to her disappointment none heeded her warning.
Oh, well. Maybe Luna could-
That line of thought was never finished. Moving at shockingly fast speeds, Malus crossed the distance between the two of them and powered a blow at Luna with her forehooves. With a flap of her wings, Luna pulled herself to the left out of the path of the attack. Malus brought her fore hooves back to the ground and pivoted so her rear legs smacked around into Luna’s head. Luna was dazed by the move and only just managed to block the mighty two-legged kick that followed. Bones in her limbs snapped and Luna was tossed backwards into the wall with the sound of splintering wood.
Ok, this was definitely not just some earth pony, as if that was ever in question.
With a crack of alicorn magic, Luna’s limbs were restored. She ducked down just in time to avoid an attack from Malus that would have crushed her head. She brought one hoof forward and punched the rearing Malus in her exposed gut; punching through stone was easier than hitting that. Mal grunted from the blow, and pulled back. Luna capitalised on this and brought her other hoof around to strike her in the head. Rather than reeling like Luna hoped, Malus’ shoulder charged into her, knocking Luna back. She then wrapped a hoof around Luna’s neck and body slammed her face first into the floor. The alicorn cried out in pain as her horn snapped off. She rolled to her feet as quickly as she could, but wasn’t quick enough to evade the next attack from Malus. With her nose bloodied and her horn gone, Luna resorted to ducking under Malus’ next swipe and striking the offending limb. Malus didn’t have time to respond because Luna slid underneath her and slammed all four hooves up into her torso.
With a flick of her wings, Luna righted herself and tossed Malus to the side. Having bought herself some time, Luna paused to heal her horn with alicorn magic. It was becoming apparent that Malus was a skillful, strong, fast and just plain dangerous hoof-to-hoof fighter. In her weakened state, Luna wasn’t convinced she could overcome her with just her hooves. Well, it was a good thing Luna didn’t need to be close to kill somepony.

Vinyl watched the fight from her booth with a massive grin on her face. By Celestia’s flapping mane was this awesome! She always appreciated a good dust-up, but never had she seen something like this before!
From her booth, Vinyl saw a bolt of magic fly through the air at Malus. She rolled down under the attack before springing forwards at... that alicorn chick, Vinyl had no idea who that was. Malus had to dive to avoid a table that just got telekinetically flung at her before grabbing the table with her teeth and tossing it back. The alicorn flapped her wings and dashed to the left, only to be met there by Mal who coat-hangered her. She went down with a thunk, and Malus moved in to try and grapple with her. But she teleported away with a flash of magic and Malus had to duck another shadowy blast.
Vinyl was already placing odds inside her head on who’d win. It was the alicorn who was taking the most damage, but she just kept healing it. If she could keep that up, then eventually Malus would wear out. Mal didn’t show any signs of wearing just yet, and Vinyl had heard stories of her endurance, but still, the alicorn was an alicorn! Vinyl didn’t know how that reflected her endurance. The alicorn had magic and flight which she was putting to good advantage, and most of Mal’s time was being spent dodging attacks and trying to close in with whoever that pony was. At the moment it looked like the alicorn was winning, but Vinyl wouldn’t count the princess out just yet. She’d heard stories about the battle of Manehattan and Malus the Demon’s fight with Chrysalis. She’d won that, and from what Vinyl could tell, that was a similar situation to this one. Chrysalis with flight and magic, fighting the princess with her skill and ability to break stuff.
Vinyl’s grin was as wide as it could be. This. Was. Awesome!
The ponies on the dance floor had started to catch onto the fact that this fight was gonna have collateral damage, and were now galloping for the door in droves. The room was soon empty of all but the fighters, and those who were far enough from the fight to feel safe.
Pinkie stood up from the floor woozily. When that alicorn had dropped her up here she’d landed on her head. Vinyl had decided not to touch the weird stone balls just in case they were magical or something.
“What’s happening?” Pinkie groaned as she walked over towards the balcony.
Vinyl paused before answering. “That alicorn chick picked a fight with Malus.”
“What?!” Pinkie gasped before she moved to the balcony and looked down at the fight.
The floor was being utterly shredded in the wake of the two combatants. Both had the strength necessary to slam through tables and crack the floor, and the walls were looking ragged. Malus managed to land a a kick with both hind legs that put Luna on the other side of the room coughing blood.
“They’re gonna kill each other!” Pinkie shouted, horrified.
“I know right?!” Vinyl answered happily. “I think that’s Nightmare Moon.” Vinyl pointed at the alicorn. “It is the longest night of the thousandth year, right?” She paused as she stared at her. “You know, I never thought that the alicorn who tried to bring about eternal night would be so adorable.”
Pinkie just shouted at Vinyl, “You have to do something!”
Do something?
Vinyl looked at her for a second before she decided Pinks was right. She had to do something.
With her magic, Vinyl pulled a record out of her saddle bag, removed it from its case and placed it onto the turn table before lowering the needle.
“The mare in the back said everyone attack, and it turned into a ballroom blitz!” the dubtrot remix belted out.
“There,” Vinyl said, satisfied. “That’s an appropriate battle track.”
Pinkie just looked at her in shock.
“What? I did something,” Vinyl said defensively before turning back to the fight. She leaned in closer to Pinkie, “I bet you ten bits that Malus is gonna win.”
“What?!” Pinkie spluttered.
“Damn that earth pony can move!” Vinyl exclaimed. “Go, bitch, go!”
Malus jumped from the top of a table that had just been flung at her and used it as a stepping stone to get closer to Nightmare once more. She didn’t make it far because a well-aimed speaker set smashed apart over her.
Speaker set… Wait, what!?
As she watched, Nightmare pulled up another sound set from the wall and tossed it at Malus.
“No!” Vinyl shouted, slamming her hooves down on the balcony in frustration. “Bitch! Do you have any bucking idea how long it took me to calibrate those?!” Vinyl’s eyes widened, and she threw herself to the ground in time to dodge Malus who just flew overhead and landed in the booth.
Vinyl picked herself up and looked up to see Malus sprawled on the ground. Mal gritted her teeth in frustration before she stood up and walked over to the turn table.
“Oh buck no!” Vinyl shouted. “No don’t you bucking dare-”
Malus picked the entire turntable up overhead and the music stopped as the record scratched.
“No!”
The entire turn table was thrown at Nightmare who dodged it in mid-air, and the entire table shattered to pieces on the floor of the club. Malus growled as she dived out of the podium and slammed into Luna mid-air. The two smashed to the ground on top of the destroyed table.
“You bucking pieces of blood-soaked crap!” Vinyl screamed down at them. “I built that myself! From scratch!”
Pinke sidled up next to Scratch. “I don’t think they really care.”
Vinyl wasn’t listening. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to get your hooves on a flux crystal! Those things are illegal!”
Malus kicked Nightmare and she smashed into the wall just below their balcony. Mal jumped after her, and both Vinyl and Pinkie lost sight of the two of them. Something slammed into the floor beneath them, and the balcony shuddered as wood splintered.
Both Pinkie and Vinyl stiffened. “Uh oh…”
Pinkie dived for the stairs instantly and accidentally caught Vinyl in the kidney with her hind leg. Gasping and falling to her knees, Vinyl noticed the world tilt sideways as the entire balcony began to fall. With a crash, the balcony, with Vinyl and the five Elements, smashed into the floor.
“Ow…” Vinyl groaned as she rolled to her hooves.
She checked herself for damage and was glad to note that nothing appeared broken, though she felt bruised. Her glasses were lying amid some splinters a small distance away. Walking slowly to them, she stopped over the shades and picked them up with telekinesis. There was a crack in the lens, and she scowled.
“Scratchy, are you okay?” She glanced up and saw Pinkie running down the stairs towards her.
“Yeah I’m fine,” Vinyl answered painfully as she quickly put her glasses back on, but not fast enough to stop Pinkie seeing her eyes. She took a ginger step forward, and her hoof bumped into something. Looking down, Vinyl noticed one of those weird stone orbs that Nightmare Moon had thrown up to the balcony. She looked around and noticed that all five of the stones had landed in a circle around her sunglasses.
Magical sparks arced between the stones.
“What are these things supposed to-”
The spark jumped into Vinyl.

“Love is in bloom! A beautiful bride, a handsome groom!” The speakers on either side of Vinyl rang out. She thought this was an appropriate selection of music. Twilight Sparkle was a surprisingly good singer too. “Two hearts, becoming one! A bond that cannot be undone!”
Vinyl still had trouble believing that she was the DJ for the royal wedding. Sure, P0N-3 was a household name, but this sort of event really wasn’t her style. It was Octavia that convinced her to take the job.
Still, the Royal Wedding. It was hard to think of a much bigger event. Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard, and Cadance the royal princss were getting married. And better yet, the changelings had just been defeated, and everypony was celebrating victory.
Everypony was dancing. Even Celestia was off to the side moving with the rhythm. Vinyl pushed up her glasses and watched the revelry for a second before she settled into an eyes closed hoof-pumping action.
The party lasted a long time, though Vinyl was unhappy when she had to stop playing for long enough to let the Element of Honesty, err… Applejack was her name right? Yeah that’s right. Anyway, Vinyl was unhappy when she had to pause for long enough to let Applejack play a song on a fiddle. She was as good as anypony without music for their special talent could be, but Octy was so much better.
Ugh, thinking of Octavia put Vinyl in a slightly darker mood. She should totally be here. It was freaking crap that because Pinkie had wanted the Pony Pokey played at the Grand Galloping Gala, Octavia got snubbed. Tart, Pinkie was here right? It was freaking horse apples that’s what it was. It was unfair that Vinyl, the DJ who didn’t really want to be here all that much, got chosen to host, when Octavia, a great musician who actually wanted to be here, was snubbed.
Stupid upper class ponies and their dumb snooty memories. It just wasn’t fair that Octavia kept getting overlooked for things like this because Pinkie had bucked up the Grand Galloping Gala. Tart, from what Vinyl had heard, all The Element Bearers had done something wrong. Why was it Octavia that got remembered for it? Ok, so yeah, the Bearers had saved Equestria a whole bunch of times, but still.
Eventually Applejack was done, and people called for more of Vinyl’s music. The rest of the party passed for Vinyl as any other would, and she did her job just as professionally as she should, but she just didn’t feel it. Once the party died down and all the ponies had left, Vinyl set about packing up her sound equipment. She was so caught up in her bad mood and rolling up cables that she didn’t notice a large shadow cast over her.
It took a few minutes before she eventually noticed that she wasn’t alone. Turning around, Vinyl found herself looking at the white chest of somepony. A very tall some pony. Vinyl’s neck craned up until she found herself staring into the eyes of none other than Princess Celestia.
She ducked back and made a hasty bow. “Uh, Princess,” she mumbled.
“Ms. Scratch,” Celestia said with a nod. “You know the palace does have attendants who could pack this up for you.”
“What? And let a bunch of nonprofessionals handle my table? Not while Celestia’s alive.” Vinyl then realised who she was talking to. “Oh, uh I mean… no thanks… er Princess.”
Celestia laughed. It was a good laugh, and it made Vinyl feel better. “I see you’re unused to royalty.”
Vinyl’s relaxed grin returned. “Yeah, Octy was always better with you upper class types than me.”
Celestia tilted her head. “Octy?”
“Oh! Uh, Octavia,” Vinyl corrected. “Octy’s just my nickname for her.”
“Ah.” Recognition dawned on the princess’s face. “So you two are close?”
Vinyl was surprised that the princess was taking interest in her. “Uh… yeah.”
“Why wasn’t she here at the wedding then? I’ve heard her music and I recognised her contrabass in a few of those songs you played.”
“I’m not sure. I think her invitation got blocked because of that Grand Galloping Gala thing last year.”
Celestia smiled. “Personally I quite enjoy the Pony Pokie, and am just a little sad that I didn’t get to see it played.”
Vinyl laughed. “Yeah, those stupid upper-class gits like Blueblood should just sit on Celestia’s horn and rotate.” She began to laugh at her own joke and then realised who she was talking to. She covered her mouth with both hooves. “Oh, buck me dead.”
Celestia stood there with an eye brow raised and an amused expression on her face. “‘Sit on my horn and rotate’? I’ve heard my name used in vain before, but never quite like that.”
Vinyl just stared at the ground embarrassedly. She coughed awkwardly. “Um… Is there a reason you came over to speak with me, Princess? Because I should probably clear all my stuff out before you need to use this place for uh… royal… stuff?”
“Yes, there was a reason I came here. I meant to ask about where you get your flux crystals from,” she asked with a coy little smile.
Vinyl straightened to ramrod stiffness. “I don’t have a flux crystal.”
Celestia’s eyebrow rose. “No? So there isn’t one mounted inside that… Actually I’m afraid I don’t know the technical terminology for this device.”
“Uh… MCI, your highness,” Vinyl mumbled.
“Regardless, I know that you have a flux crystal in there.” Celestia turned to Vinyl with a glare. “You do know that they’re illegal.”
“Not if you have a license.” Vinyl grinned.
“Do you have the technical qualifications to even apply for a license? Let alone actually possess one?”
Vinyl coughed into her hoof.
“Why did you think it wise to bring a flux crystal to the royal wedding?”
“It’s been stabilised,” Vinyl defended herself. “I know what I’m doing, and I’ve got low enough magic levels to be unaffected by them. ‘Side’s, I have it mounted in a vibranium case and everything.”
“You have a mana fount small enough to safely handle it?” Celestia asked with what sounded like genuine curiosity.
Vinyl blushed and mumbled, “one fifth of the safety minimum…”
Celestia blinked with surprise. Her eyes glowed white as she turned on her magical sight. Vinyl couldn’t help but feel embarrassed about her utterly tiny mana pool. By Tartarus! Most foals have a fount much bigger than hers by the time they learn to reliably access their magic. By the time they get their first surge they usually manage at least four times what Vinyl could do on a good day.
Celestia’s eyes returned to their normal state. “Even if you would be unaffected by flux, most of the ponies that were present at this wedding have quite large founts. The Sparkle family is present, and they’re quite the powerful bloodline, but both Shining and Twilight are particularly powerful. Twilight especially. My sister Luna and I are both powerful enough to move heavenly bodies. Cadance is nearly as strong as Shining. The unicorn royal guards are all well above average. And this is just counting the unicorns,” she said, sounding stern.
Vinyl was busily staring at the ground
“If we include the pegasus and earth ponies, most of them manage an average bit below a unicorn, but I know for a fact that the royal guard has a minimum for its pegasi that’s well above the minimum font size for flux crystal safety. Then Rainbow Dash has almost as much pegasus magic as Twilight does unicorn magic. Oh, and I almost forgot Rarity and Applejack. Rarity is an above average unicorn and Applejack is Apple family. I’m sure as an earth pony she’s approaching Twilight and Rainbow in terms of power.”
Celetia’s voice hardened. “In short, this is a collection of the majority of Equestria’s most magically powerful ponies in their respective fields and you thought it would be wise to bring a Flux Crystal into the middle of that?!”
Vinyl wasn’t looking, but if she had to guess Celestia’s eye were on fire. “Only a tiny one,” she mumbled.
“I’m glad that you do seem to know what you’re doing. If that crystal were to have destabilised, most of the ponies here would be left in a coma, and the royal couple would most likely be dead!” Celestia loomed down over Vinyl. “What possessed you to bring one of those here?” she growled in low menacing tones.
Vinyl was silent for a second. “There’s no better way to manipulate and control magical effects in a complex system. They use less energy than conventional enchantments, conductors and crystal pathways and they make the sound clearer while actually maximising the effects of the spells if you set ‘em up right,” Vinyl shrugged lamely. “They’re dangerous for most ponies, yeah, but they can’t harm me so I use ‘em all the time. I just didn’t think about bringing one of my custom sound systems here… I’m sorry.”
Celestia stared down at her. “You know, I could constitute this as an assassination attempt.”
Vinyl’s eyes widened, and she stared up at Celestia in shock.
The Princess continued. “I’m sure Shining would love to see you behind bars if he ever hears about this… But this is a day of celebration. Get that crystal out of here. Do not ever use any of them again. Do you understand me?”
Vinyl nodded enthusiastically.
“Good. How did you even get it past the royal guards anyway?”
“Oh, well uh,” Vinyl paused. “‘cause it was already mounted in vibranium, all I had to do was set some external facing ley lines to reinforce the casing and further contain the flux. To a magical scan, it would just look like a conductive ball.”
Celestia tilted her head. “How did you get the ley lines to function so close to the flux?”
Vinyl shrugged. “It wasn’t hard. All I needed were some Celestium conductors and a directed magical frequency. Solar magic works best with Celestium, so I set that.”
“That’s quite innovative.” She stated, looking surprised. “And you designed this yourself?”
Vinyl nodded.
“Colour me impressed. Still, it was very foolish and very dangerous to bring that here. Now, I actually did come over here to congratulate you on a well handled party and appropriate musical selection. I was distracted when I felt the flux, but still, I think the original compliment stands.” Celestia’s pleasant demeanour returned. “How is your relationship with Octavia going?”
Vinyl blinked her eyes in surprise. “Oh, um… we’re not in a relationship. I’m not a fillyfooler.”
Celestia looked confused. “Then what about your brief relationship with Vivacious Velocity?”
“That was just a thing. I’m a little bisexual,” she said with a grin.
“What about before that when you had a relationship with-”
“I’m sorry, your uh… deityness but uh… why are you keeping track of my love life?”
“Since fillyfooling and coltcuddling have only been made legal recently, I’ve been keeping track of the more high profile examples of either group.”
“Oh…” Well, that sort of made sense. “But I’m not a fillyfooler so you don’t really need to keep an eye on me.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “But you haven’t had a relationship with a single stallion… ever, as far my recollection goes.”
“Hey, I’ve kissed guys!”
“When?”
Before there was a ‘teen’ on the end of my age.
“Um… Anyway, I’m not in a relationship with Octavia.”
“You’re living together.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. We’re just roommates.”
“You kiss and are affectionate in public.”
“We just fool around.”
“Magazines print that you are a couple.”
“Ahhh,” Vinyl waved a hoof. “The tabloids’ll print what they want. Doesn’t mean anything.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I see.”
Yeah, you do see. Totally not a fillyfooler and I’m totally not with Octy.
“As interesting as this has been, I have to return to my duties. My advisor, Denim Blue, wants to go over the treasury with me. Good luck in your… non-relationship with Octavia. And remember what I said about flux crystals. I’ll be watching you, and next time I will not be lenient.”
Vinyl nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah no worries Princess C. It won’t happen again.”
Next time it’ll be mounted in a melded casing with a leyline bypass. No way anypony’ll detect that.
It wasn’t long until Vinyl’s stuff was packed up and mounted in a wagon behind her. The trot home was frustratingly slow with traffic blocking many of the roads, since many roads were still being repaired after the invasion. More than a few people stopped to ask Vinyl for a signature. She was happy enough to oblige, but had to fight down the urge to hurt the journalist who pestered her about how she got asked to play the music for the royal wedding. The stallion all but stated that there was some scandal or conspiracy or something because there was no way that DJ P0N-3 was an appropriate choice of musician.
Remember Octy. Remember Octy. Remember Octy.
She chanted to herself inside her head as she tried not break the guy’s nose. With images of the calm and refined earth pony running through her mind, Vinyl managed not to do anything that she would regret. Well, actually she probably wouldn’t regret it, but it might damage Octavia’s already wounded reputation. You’d think the guy would have more interesting things to report on, what with the recent changeling invasion and all.
Eventually she arrived at her and Octavia’s apartment penthouse. She left her wagon in the local parking structure and set a protective enchantment around it to prevent vandalism or thievery. She may have had an utterly pathetic mana font, but with the right equipment, Vinyl was pretty certain she could make any magical spell work in a bound enchantment form.
The elevator ride up for her was agonisingly slow. She just wanted to see Octavia damn it! After that reporter Vinyl was feeling edgy and she felt like she needed to feel her totally-not-a-marefriend’s calming presence. She just didn’t like spending time away from her. That sounded weird, but she just preferred to be with Octavia. When they were separated, everything felt… ugh. Vinyl hated trying to identify her emotions. Just let the stuff that you feel be the stuff you feel. Do you really need to name it?
She banged open the door to their apartment with a cry of, “I’m home!”
The apartment was nice and spacious with a generally classical deco. Though she was one for style, Vinyl was not one for interior decoration so that was mostly Octavia’s choice, hence the tasteful paintings on the walls. Only occasionally were there one of Vinyl’s posters or various pieces of memorabilia visible. Vinyl wasn’t one for cleanliness, but Octavia couldn’t stand any kind of a mess, so the place was almost always in immaculate condition as long as Octavia was around.
The earth pony herself was lounging on a sofa with a novel open in front of her. Octavia happily smiled at the sight of Vinyl, though her eyes were bloodshot. Vinyl glanced to the dust bin and saw a large number of rolled up tissues. Checking the sink, she spotted an empty glass of wine with a single drop of crimson liquid lingering at the bottom.
Vinyl’s grin dropped as she made her way to the mare on the couch. “Octy, what’s up?” she asked with concern in her voice.
“Nothing,” answered with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “How was the wedding.”
Vinyl shrugged. “It was fun, would have been better if you were there. Why were you crying?”
Octavia’s smile survived a second longer, fighting to the last to stay in place, before it dropped and she started sobbing. Vinyl moved closer and wrapped her in a hug, and Octavia gratefully accepted the shoulder.
This lasted for brief moment before Octavia sniffed and answered. “I wanted to go to the royal wedding.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it. Think of it as being lucky that you completely missed the changeling attack on the upper mountain districts.”
“Oh, Vinyl. It’s not like that. I’m not some school filly sad about… Just let me explain.” Octavia looked at Vinyl with big pleading eyes.
Even bloodshot and puffy cheeked from crying, Octavia was still utterly adorable with her pink bow tie, silky grey coat and lovely lavender eyes. Vinyl couldn’t resist; she leaned closer and their lips laced together in a slow sensual kiss. After a while, she broke it off and the two separated.
“Yeah, Octy, go ahead. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Octavia smiled. “Vinyl, you’re just so… so wonderful. I… yes. I know you didn’t really want to do the wedding and you only went because you knew I wanted you to.’
Vinyl nodded.
“Well, the reason I wanted you to go was to prove to myself I could stop being petty and jealous about… Ever since that cursed Grand Galloping Gala, my career has been all but dead. I can’t find work, I get passed up for orchestras that I know I’m the best for and critics still use my name as a cautionary tale! As though I’m one of the fallen greats! The only music I play is what you record from me. Your career on the other hoof is taking off. You’re only gaining momentum, and each album you release sells better than the last.
“When you got asked to do the royal wedding, the first thing I felt was resentment. Then I felt so guilty about thinking that way and you were going to turn the job down and…” The look on her face was so miserable and guilty.
“Shhhhh. It’s okay Octy. It’s okay.” Vinyl said as she pulled her in for another hug. “You’ve got nothing to feel bad about.”
“Since you left I’ve just been lounging around all day and thinking about how dead my career is and how wonderful you are and how horrible I’m being and-and-”
“Octy,” Vinyl gently interrupted. “I understand, it’s ok. Your career’ll take off again. You’re a good musician. It’s not like you’ve been taking zapstract or something. Nah, the whole Gala thing will blow over and you’ll be back to work as normal. Meanwhile dubstep and techno’ll fall out of trend, and then it’s downhill from there with me. Then I promise to get jealous of you and we’ll totally be even.” She grinned and pulled back, looking into Octavia’s eyes. “Hey?”
Through the stream of tears Octavia couldn’t help but giggle a little.
“Now come on. Let’s go have a shower. I’m still filthy from those changeling’s and you need to dry those eyes. After that, we can spend the rest of the night watching some shitty rom-com with Jewelia Hoofberts in it and eating two minute noodles.”
Octavia smiled. “That sounds terrible.”
Vinyl chuckled. “Not so bad with you there.”
Together the two of them made their way upstairs to the bathroom rubbing flanks and leaning into each other. When they arrived at the bathroom, Vinyl took the time to take off her sunglasses and give her magenta eyes a look in the mirror. Staring at her reflection, she caught Octavia gazing at her plot and grinned. Swishing her tail as she turned around, Vinyl moved in closer and nuzzled Octavia. With her telekinesis, Vinyl untied Octavia’s bow tie and let it drop to the floor. Octavia slowly backed into the shower and Vinyl leaned in closer to-

Vinyl blinked and rubbed her eyes. She looked around and found herself lying on the ground. Her first thought was, Stupid dreams, always end right before the good bit.
Her second thought, once she’d actually processed what happened, was What the flying buck was that?
“Are you okay?” Pinkie asked in concern, looking down at Vinyl.
“How long was I out?” Vinyl asked as she climbed to her hooves again. She noticed her glasses were gone once again and slid them onto her face with telekinesis.
“Out? You weren’t out, you just collapsed,” Pinkie said with a confused look. “Did you bump your head?”
“I have no idea,” Vinyl said aloud as she looked down at the stone before her. She blinked. It’d changed. Before it was as large as a bowling ball, but now it was the size of a tennis ball. She looked around at the others and they’d all changed too.
Vinyl stopped to think about that… thing. It’d felt like… a memory… one of her memories. Except it couldn’t be. That had never happened, and some of the details were wrong. For one thing Vinyl’s eyes were red, not magenta. Also, that was Celestia, and she’d died twenty years before Vinyl was born. And who in Tartarus were the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony? In that memory, she remembered thinking that they’d saved Equestria.
And perhaps most importantly of all: who in the flying, bucking, foaming pits of Tartarus was Octavia? That mare was hot! Not that Vinyl would know of course, she was straight after all. Though she had dabbled with mares occasionally… That was beside the point. The point was, why was Vinyl in a serious relationship with some mare? (Even if that mare was utterly gorgeous.) Her magenta-eyed self may have been self-deluded, but Vinyl knew a real relationship when she saw one.
Whatever. This was too much to think about right now. Right now she had to worry about-
“Crap!” Vinyl spun around. “Where the buck are Mal and Nightmare?”
“Oh, well they went outside.”
“What do you mean they went outside?” she asked, sounding concerned and confused.
Rather than answer, Pinkie simply pointed over Vinyl’s shoulder.
Vinyl turned around. “Oh…”
There was a giant hole in the wall.
Good. If those two were distracted, it gave Vinyl time to grab and stash her highly illegal flux crystal that was now lying amid the wreckage of her turn table. She started to walk away from the orb at her hooves but paused. Ok those memories weren’t real, they definitely weren’t real… But… She had to know what they were. They just felt so… natural. Carefully, she picked up the five stones with her magic and dropped them into her saddlebags. She could examine them later.
Turning to her ruined table, she began to dig through the wreckage until she found what she was after. Ah, there it was, the little black ball with gold wiring running all over it. The vibranium flux crystal container. She ran a check over it. Yeah, it was fine. Of course a little tap like that wouldn’t break vibranium… except for the massive crack running down one half of the ball!
Oh crap-oh crap-oh crap! How did that get there? There was no way that the table shattering like that could damage vibranium. It was then that Vinyl felt a pulse in her mind. Her eyes widened in fear. She turned her head to look at her saddlebags and spotted a faint glow coming from within them. Then she turned back to the ball in her hooves. There was another pulse, and a tiny chip came out of the vibranium casing.
No. Bucking. Way.
Those five stone balls were causing the flux crystal to destabilize, despite a vibranium and leyline casing. That was simply not possible.

Malus groaned as she picked herself up again. Looking up, she spotted Luna healing once more. A leg that was practically ripped out at the shoulder and wing that was bent completely forwards at an unnatural angle popped into place like nothing was wrong.
Mal on the other hand, was starting to feel this fight. Luna was not as strong as she was, but she was certainly strong enough to leave bruises and a couple of her kicks may have cracked ribs. Then there was the magic. Oh, the Penumbra-damned magic. That was not fair. Flying and shooting lightning bolts as well as those shadow blast things and… ergh. Malus hadn’t ever fought anyone so frustrating.
Well, except maybe Spectra. But that dumb Pegasus was frustrating for a whole ‘nother set of reasons.
“Ouch,” Luna said as she tested her shoulder.
Gingerly touching a hoof to her swelling black eye, Malus noticed that the ground at her feet was… dirt. She found herself smiling. Before, when they were indoors, there had been no stone for her to take advantage of, but now that they were outdoors… She twisted her neck to the side and it gave a satisfying crack.
Mal reached a hoof into her pocket and retrieved her quartz pebble.
Luna decided to make the first move this time, and blitzed towards Malus with pegasus magic. Tapping into her own earth pony magic, Mal punched her hoof forward and the pebble shot forwards at velocity. It met Luna, and the sound of cracking bone was heard as the alicorn’s skull fractured. The momentum carried her into Malus, and the two of them were sent tumbling down the road together.
Mal landed on her hooves, but almost collapsed when she felt a piercing pain in her chest. She looked down and noticed blood flowing out of a stab wound. Luna’s horn had pierced her flesh. Glancing to the left, she saw Luna’s deformed head melding back into shape. Malus gave her no time to heal; with her earthpony magic, she raised her hooves, and a large chunk of dirt floated out of the ground before her. With a punch of her front hooves, the dirt ball blasted into Luna and sent her flying further down the street. Mal galloped after her, ignoring the pain in her chest.
Oh boy, did she wish she knew she could do this when she’d fought Chrysalis. With a kick at the ground beneath her feet, Malus propelled herself into the air with a jet of earth. She crashed down next to Luna, and a shockwave of dirt and debris radiated around her. The alicorn was pummelled; many of the larger chunks had pierced her coat, and her open eyes were bloodied. Malus collapsed to the ground, the pain in her chest too great.
Malus closed her eyes and tried to tune out all the aches and pains across her body that begged her to just stop and give in. A loud pop forced her to open her eyes again. Standing back up was Luna, her coat covered in her own blood and dirt. As Malus watched, Luna’s eyes reformed, and they fixed a glare on the prone earth pony.
Son of a-
Hopping to her hooves, Mal only just managed to dodge the enormous shadow pike that nearly pierced her skull. Rolling to the left, Mal evaded the explosive shadow ball and had just enough time to throw a ball of earth.
The alicorn also managed to dodge but failed to duck the tackle from Mal that sent them both careening into a sign that said, “Welcome to Ponyville!”
The single picket sign was ripped out of the ground rather than snapping, and Malus managed to land on top of Luna. Using the power of her front hooves Mal began to press down on Luna’s chest. She felt ribs cracking and had the pleasure of witnessing blood burble out of that Tartarus-cursed always-healing alicorn’s mouth before she was blasted away by a bolt of shadow magic. Climbing to her hooves, Malus spotted the princess coughing out the blood that had filled her lungs. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she dove forward and smashed a hoof into Luna’s face before bringing the other round and shattering her horn.
Luna cried out in pain, but used her wings to push forward and tackled Malus, landing with the earthpony on her back. She raised her hooves and began to smash them into Mal’s face, sending teeth flying and breaking her nose. Twisting, Mal threw the alicorn off and grabbed the “Welcome to Ponyville” sign between her unharmed molars.
Luna was climbing to her feet as Mal tackled into her. This time it was the princess who was on her back, staring up at the slightly blunted but pointed tip of the sign post hovering above her eye. Without her magic, Luna raised her hooves just in time to grip each edge of the post, and stop Mal plunging it into her eye. It stayed still for a second but then slowly, inexorably, the sign post moved down, Mal’s strength outmatching Luna’s. Malus’ front legs stopping the princess moving her wings or rolling away, it came down to pure strength. Her horn shattered, Luna could only scream and shut her eyes as the bottom of the post pressed against her eyelid. The flesh compressed slightly before the pressure Mal was applying proved too great and the aqueous humour popped. Then that was it. Luna’s pain was too great for her to keep fighting and the sign post plunged through the eye and into her brain, before bursting through the back of her skull and pinning her head to the ground.
Malus gasped and rolled off of Luna, panting from the exertion. She stared at her, waiting for the alicorn to heal. She watched for almost a minute, ready to attack again at the slightest sign of recovery. Nothing happened. Wonderfully, gloriously, Luna stayed dead. Malus collapsed to the ground panting and found herself laughing uncontrollably. Everything died when you put something through its brain. Everything. Some might take a while like snakes or dragons, but they died eventually. Looks like alicorns were no exception.
“Goddess? Huh, my ass!” Malus giggled, blowing blood bubbles out of her broken nose. “Oh, goddesses this hurts,” she muttered as she gingerly touched the bottom of her jaw. After a moment more, her laughter died and she realised the gravity of her situation. With care, she climbed to her hooves and began to slowly limp back through Ponyville towards the town hall.
Even limping, Mal couldn’t help but feel a grim sense of elation. She’d just killed Nightmare Moon. The Nightmare Moon. How could she not feel a bit smug? An alicorn. A mother bucking alicorn! An immortal being with healing powers and access to all of ponykind’s most powerful magics, a pony that recovered from any wound and according to legend had once struck fear into the heart Celestia herself, the creature that once upon a time moved the moon at night. And Mal was the one who stuck a “Welcome to Ponyville” sign through its face.
Blood seeped out through Malus’s broken and missing teeth, and she licked them with her tongue. She hoped those would heal. As far as Mal could tell, wounds inflicted by an alicorn affected her the way they would a normal pony.
At town hall again, she walked through the door rather than the hole in the wall. Pausing at the sight before her, Mal coughed. “Ahem.”
The DJ from before looked up and saw her standing there, next to her was some pink earth pony that Mal didn’t recognise. In the DJ’s telekinesis was a cracked black metal ball.
“Where are the elements?” Mal asked.
“The what?” the pink pony asked.
Malus didn’t answer. It was then that she noticed the glowing coming from inside the white unicorn’s bag. She stepped closer, and the DJ backed away slowly.
“Give me The Elements,” she ordered.
The DJ stopped backing away. With her telekinesis she reached into her bag and took out the five pulsing Elements before dropping them on the ground in front of Malus.
Malus reached out with a hoof and touched one of them-

Applejack grabbed the root with her teeth and stopped her slide down the hill. She glanced up and saw that Pinkie and Rarity were safe in Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy’s hooves. Then she glanced across and saw Twilight sliding towards her certain death over the cliff edge.
Without hesitation, Applejack let go of the root in her mouth and slid down after-

Malus blinked and just managed to stop herself falling over. What the heck was that? Glancing up, she saw the DJ staring at her curiously.
After a second the DJ said, “I want The Elements.”
Mal blinked, and it took her a second to process that statement. “Are you gonna take them?” she asked stepping forward as threateningly as she could, but maybe it wasn’t as scary as it usually was with her limping.
The white unicorn nodded. “Yeah, I am,” she grinned taking another step backwards. “And you can’t stop me.”
Mal took another step forward and felt something crunch under her hoof. She glanced down and saw the cracked black ball from earlier beneath her hoof. Raising her hoof, she saw a crystal lying in the wreckage of the ball. Half a second later the crystal pulsed.

Vinyl had to hold back vomit as she watched Mal die. Oh goddesses, death by flux was not a pretty thing.
One moment Mal was glaring at Vinyl, the next her eyes turned entirely blood shot, and red fluids started leaking from her tear ducts. Her pupils dilated and blood ran out her ears, nose and mouth. She stood there for a second with a blank look on her face before she collapsed, blood now leaking out of her pores and matting her orange coat with brown.
That was what flux destabilisation did. It simply made magic thump. The way Vinyl pictured it was how a sound wave looked at the moment you dropped the bass. The line just spiked suddenly and sharply before returning to normal levels. Well that was what Flux destabilisation did: a violent and uncontrolled spike in any nearby magic. That was dangerous on so many levels for obvious reasons. Flux barely affected Vinyl because she was so weak in magic. For her it just gave a small head ache. For other ponies, it caused massive migraines or possibly permanent brain damage. But for the half-alicorn and possibly-a-demon Mal on the other hoof, who had magic that permeated her blood, it caused pretty much instant death. Vinyl did not want to imagine what it would do to an alicorn; probably just make the entire thing liquefy from the inside out.
Vinyl felt a dim ringing in her ears as the Flux crystal collapsed into dust. Backing away from Mal, she fought down the bile in her throat. That was the first time she’d ever killed someone. Swallowing hard, she stepped forward this time, and gingerly moved over the body lying on the floor. Carefully she moved her prize, The Elements of Harmony, into her saddlebag. Had she really killed for these? Oh goddesses. She’d killed a royal princess for these five rocks!
No, now was not the time for that. Self-recrimination could come later. Pinkie Pie was on the ground clutching her hooves to her ears, probably suffering a bad migraine as her earth pony magic reacted poorly to the flux.
Vinyl moved closer and helped her to her hooves. “Come on Pinks, we need to get out of here.” Murdering a princess, stealing the Elements of Harmony and possession of a flux crystal… Vinyl couldn’t help but grin.
Her criminal record just got an upgrade.

Half an hour later, Malus opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry and unfocused. Her head pounded sharply, and her aches and bruises from earlier seemed paltry compared to the full body ache she was experiencing now. She tried to get to her hooves, but her limbs felt weak and the sudden movement made her lose her stomach.
Oh, there was blood in her vomit. And now she was collapsing. Great, a face full of vomit was one thing, a face full of her own blood another, but both?
Mal couldn’t remember the last time she was in so much pain. Maybe being burned alive by Chrysalis…
She lay there for about five minutes until she felt ready to stand, the pain in her body already fading as her supernatural healing took over. The wounds from her earlier fight still lingered though. Climbing to her hooves and this time staying upright, she glanced around. Great, that DJ and the pink pony were gone along with the elements, the town hall was in ruins, and she felt like she’d just been thrown in front of a train. This was without a doubt going to go down in the history books as a remarkable Summer Sun.
She spotted Spike still lying unconscious on the far side of the room and trotted over to him. “Wake up,” she ordered with a rough kick to the gut.
The dragon groaned and opened his eyes. With a moan, he put both claws to his head. “What happened?”
“Luna’s dead. The DJ destabilised a flux crystal and stole The Elements of Harmony,” Malus stated flatly.
Spike just stared up at her, struggling to process that information. Nope, from the blank look on his face, it was too much and he was in too much pain. Information rejected, come back again later.
“What?” he repeated again, sounding confused.
Mal just sighed. “Just take a note.”
He nodded. Yep, that was something he could do without any need for thought.
Dictating to spike, Malus recalled the events of the night.
“Penumbra,
Luna arrived in Ponyville with the Elements of Harmony, we fought, I killed her and the DJ stole the Elements.
-Malus”
Spike rolled it up and breathed out a stream of green flames onto the scroll. He then settled to lying on the ground and massaging his temples. Mal could sympathize.
She turned around and spotted her hat lying exactly where she left it. She trotted over and picked up. Dusting it quickly she placed back over her head. She then noticed that blood stains and rips all over her duster. Damn, she’d need to replace it.
The sound of reality popping made Mal look over her shoulder. Standing there was Penumbra.
“Luna’s dead?”
Mal nodded as she felt her mother’s tendrils wrap around her.
“Where?” Penumbra asked, her voice sounding strained.
Turning, Malus, still limping, lead her mother through town to where Luna lay dead. A small crowd of onlookers, awakened from the sound of fighting, had clustered around the outside of town hall. They all broke into murmurs when they saw Mal’s bloodied and battered appearance.
Eventually they arrived at Luna’s corpse. At the sight of it, many of the ponies that had been following gasped and threw up.
Penumbra just stood stiffly, staring at it with her magical sight. “What have you done?” she asked after a moment’s silence.
Malus was silent.
“What have you done!!?” Penumbra shouted, turning around screaming. Malus felt tendrils of magic wrap around her throat and raise her struggling into the air. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE APPLEJACK!!?” her voice cracked.
Mal couldn’t answer as she struggled to breathe, futilely beating against the magic that had her by the throat.
Penumbra slammed Malus into the ground with her magic, hard enough to leave a mark in the ground and make the sound of bones snapping audible. She then flung her as hard as she could into a house. Splinters went flying and glass shattered as walls broke.
Mal passed through the building and skidded to a halt along the ground on the other side. There was a pop, and her mother appeared above her.
Penumbra pressed hard into Mal’s chest with her hoof. “Do you think you’re strong? Is that why you kill!?” she demanded. “Why did you do this?!”
Malus resisted with all her might, trying to ease up the pressure on her lungs, but she couldn’t do anything. This was what it felt like to be a bug that was about to get crushed.
“WHY?!” Penumbra screamed.
“Attacked… Spi-” was all she managed to struggle out.
Penumbra paused, and lifted her hoof from Mal’s chest. “What?” she asked again more quietly.
“Luna attacked Spike,” Mal wheezed out.
Penumbra paused. “I’m sorry,” she said after a moment.
Mal didn’t respond, preferring to focus on working the air through her lungs. They were silent for a second, Mal lying on her back and Penumbra standing there. The thing that had saved her had been Penumbra’s motherly instinct towards Spike.
She really isn’t my mother.
With a crack, Malus felt her wounds heal instantly. Her broken nose reconstructed, the stab in her chest healed over and her missing and chipped teeth regrew in an instant. She felt Penumbra’s magic withdraw from her.
“Go back to the palace… clean yourself and get some rest.” Penumbra said with some hesitance. “We can discuss this further in the morning. I’ll clean up the mess here and…” She choked out a sob. “-bury the dead.”
Why was she crying? Did Penumbra know Luna?
With a pop of magic, Malus found herself lying on her back in the throne room of Canterlot. Penumbra turned away and began to address a large number of shocked looking guards ponies.
Mal tuned her out as she stood up and began to walk towards her rooms in the palace. Oh, it felt good to not be limping. All the servants that saw her dishevelled state went wide-eyed and backed away.
Her mind was… a mess. She had a lot to think about, but after tonight her brain just wasn’t working right. She kept remembering that strange flashback that the Elements had caused. That name that she’d thought, “Twilight Sparkle,” kept running through her mind. Why did that name mean anything? Other thoughts kept bugging her, like the confirmation of the fact that she could not be Penumbra’s child. That should have shocked her more but… And there were many other things to. What was that name Penumbra has screamed at her? Applejack? Who the buck was Applejack? And was that it? Were the events of tonight the reason why she’d been feeling so nervous earlier? Was this the big thing she’d been worried about?
And then there were the ponies at the dance; they’d hated her. The rage in their voices as they shouted about her crimes was… No she actually didn’t care about that too much. Ponies could think what they liked, but she’d saved lives during the battle of Manehattan. No matter what anypony said. She’d saved one life in particular…
Shaking her head, Malus tried to clear her head of all thoughts. No, she could process this information later. For now she could shower and sleep.
Shortly she arrived at her private chambers and took off her coat and hat. Dumping the hat on the dresser and leaving the ruined coat on the floor, Malus hopped into her bathroom and hopped under the shower. The hot waters were a blessing as it washed away the events of the day. Her dried blood moistened and slowly rolled off her back along with a lather of shampoo. The bile that had been on her face was the first thing for her to rub away. It wasn’t very long at all until she was clean, but she simply stayed there to enjoy the sensation of hot water running down her back. She lost track of time, but eventually she turned the water off and hopped out of the shower to dry herself with a towel.
Her mane was a knotty mess and she helped herself relax by brushing it clear. That done, she calmly trotted to her bed and lay down for rest. Pulling the blanket up she closed her eyes and-
Somepony knocked on the door. Malus rolled her eyes, of course! That was the only thing that could possibly happen right now. Standing up again, she tied her hair into a single braid and put the hat back in top of her head. The knocking grew louder and more insistent.
Trotting over to the door, she calmly opened it.
“Hey,” Spectra said with a smile.
Mal slammed the door shut and turned away.
She heard a crash as Spectra kicked the door open behind her. Malus walked towards her bed, but Spectra pulled ahead of her and blocked her path.
“Is it true that you killed Nightmare?” she asked, sounding, well, pleased.
Mal didn’t answer; she hoped that this would be one of those ignore it and it’ll go away type deals.
“You did, didn’t you?” Spectra. “Man, that’s so freaking badass! Why do you always get the cool kills?”
Malus ignored her as best she could.
“I mean there was Chrysalis at Manehattan, then there was Blueblood during the rebellion and I could probably name a few others.”
Blueblood was not a good kill. He was a snivelling punk who hid behind his body guards and cried like a foal when they were defeated.
When Mal didn’t answer her they stood in silence for a minute, with Mal staring at Spectra hoping she’d get the hint and leave.
After a moment Spectra spoke up. “So did you know that Nightmare was coming or what?”
Mal glanced at her and raised an eyebrow.
“Well, I mean when you asked me to get Penumbra, were you like, wanting me to actually check on her or like, were you trying to keep me safe or something?”
Mal snorted and rolled her eyes.
Spectra’s eyes hardened. “Yeah well buck you too.”
They stood in silence for a second.
“So uh… Are we gonna hang out?” Spectra asked after a second.
Malus raised an eyebrow.
“Well, earlier today you said we were gonna hang out after the whole Nightmare thing was done, and you took care of that, so now’s the time.”
Mal just turned away. “No thanks.” she said, and walked over to beside her bed.
“Why not?” Spectra asked.
“Why would you want to?” Mal asked, sounding dead serious.
“What?” Spectra asked. “What do you mean?”
Malus turned around. “We hate each other.”
Silence permeated the room.
“Whatever,” Spectra said, “are we gonna hang out or what?”
“No thanks,” Mal said.
“Why not?” Spectra asked sounding annoyed. “You said we would.”
“That was before Ah got mah ass kicked by two deities and a DJ.”
“Lame. Come on Mal!” Spectra whined. “We barely do it anymore.”
Mal just stayed silent for a second. “It?”
Spectra nodded.
Malus snorted. “You know why.”
There was a pause. “Yeah well no one’s here now. They’re all busy with cleaning up the mess you made of Ponyville.”
This conversation was making Mal feel uncomfortable. Why couldn’t Spectra shut up and leave? Malus didn’t want to talk. When did she ever want to talk?
“Come on, you know you love it,” Spectra said as she stalked closer with a smug grin.
Malus shifted backwards, uncomfortable. She shook her head firmly.
“Why not?” Spectra asked silkily. She pressed a hoof against Mal’s chest.
“Ah don’t want to,” Malus said feeling her hind legs bump into her bed.
“Like you said, we hate each other,” Spectra leaned in closer to Mal. “when did I ever care what you wanted?” Her lips brushed her sister’s, tickling them.
Mal felt a heat rising in her. She didn’t say anything as Spectra ran a hoof over her chest lightly caressing it.
“Your move,” Spectra said with a sultry voice, her breath rippling Mal’s coat. She slowly started to pull away.
Mal sighed. She hated it when Spectra left her to take the initiative.
Her lips locked with Spectra, and with one hoof she ripped that stupid black sleeveless jacket off her.
“Buck yeah,” Spectra said as they broke apart for a breath.
The pegasus backed away to close the door and push a cabinet in front of it to stop anypony barging in. She then turned back to her sister and smiled as her wings flared out. With a crack of Pegasus magic, she blitzed the short distance between them and tackled Malus to the bed.

“Buck yes!” Spectra said, out of breath and sweaty. “I love how bucking strong you are!”
Mal didn’t say anything as she rolled over onto her back, her head resting on top of a pillow.
Spectra rolled her eyes. Of course Malus wasn’t gonna spoon. Well if she wouldn’t, Spectra could.
Rolling to the left, she nestled against Mal’s back and began to run her hooves over her sister’s chest. Spectra loved this feeling, just after they were both done and it was just the two of them.
“You know what was weird this morning?” Spectra asked.
Mal didn’t answer. She just rolled over and rested her hooves behind her head.
Now Spectra was using Mal’s chest as a pillow. “This morning I overheard a guard praying... to me,” Spectra said aloud.
Malus snorted sarcastically.
“What?” Spectra said, glancing up at her.
“Did you hear anything?”
It took a moment for Spectra to realise what Mal was really asking. Then she laughed. “Yeah, no… But it was weird; this guy was looking to me like some spirit or something. Praying for me to protect him. He had like a little altar in his room with a picture of Celestia and Penumbra at the top and you and me near the middle.”
They were silent for a second.
“Do you ever think about that? That ponies worship our mother?”
Malus didn’t say anything for a moment. “She ain’t a god.”
Spectra paused. “Isn’t she?”
Mal was quiet.
Now Spectra was curious. What was Mal thinking?
“Twilight Sparkle,” Malus said aloud.
That tickled Spectra’s memory for some reason. “What?”
“Applejack.”
That one also sounded really familiar. “Who?”
Spectra looked up and saw Mal propped up on her elbow’s and looking down at her.
“Rainbow Dash.”
That name felt like someone Spectra should know. “What do those names mean?”
Mal frowned and looked away. “Not sure.”
Spectra rolled her eyes and snorted. “You’re so weird.”
They sat in silence for a while, Spectra enjoying the sound of Mal’s beating heart.
“Ever think about the fact we’re sisters?” Spectra asked after a moment.
“Are we?”
“What?”
Mal didn’t answer. She just left the question hanging.
Spectra grit her teeth feeling frustrated. Come on! How bucking hard is it to hold a conversation! “Come on Mal, what’s on your mind?”
Malus was silent again for a while. “Why do Ah have an accent?”
Spectra blinked. “What?”
“We were raised together by Penumbra, Ah have an accent, neither of you do. Why?”
“I don’t know…” Spectra shrugged. “You’ve just always had it.”
“What about mah hat?” Mal said.
“I dunno… I mean, I remember you buying it and you’ve just been wearing one since. Why does it matter?”
Of course Mal didn’t answer.
“Why do you do that?” Spectra asked.
Mal didn’t answer.
“Why don’t you ever talk? You’re always answering with as few words as possible or just not answering. Tart, this is the biggest chat we’ve had in years and you’re barely making any bucking sense.”
Malus paused before answering. “Ever feel like everything you say is a lie?”
“What?” Spectra just stared at her. “Does this have something to do with that DJ?”
Mal didn’t answer, her face darkening.“Come on Mal, don’t shut me out. I-”
“Shut up!” Malus snapped suddenly. “Why do ah always gotta say somethin’? Shut yer yap. Ah’m sick o’ your voice.”
Spectra rolled out of the bed and turned to Mal with a pissed-off expression. “Yeah, well buck you too!” she spat out. “You know why they call you the bucking demon? Cause you’re a bucking freak! A murderer and a Monster! What happened at Manehattan was your fault! You bucking hear me? Your bucking fault and I hope you go to Tartarus for it!”’
She turned and stormed away, shoving the cupboard away from the door. Stalking down the hallway, Spectra muttered curses to herself. She hated Malus, she hated Malus, she absolutely bucking loathed that stupid freak!
Buck her! Buck her to the pits of Tartarus!
A tear rolled down her cheek and she angrily wiped it away with her hoof.