Moondancer’s eyes very, very slowly opened. She felt like she’d been run over by two carriages, a train and then a small herd of bunnies. Just to add insult to injury.
She ached so much. Everything sounded so strange and distorted. More than that, she head a killer headache. Slowly she started to sit up, letting out a low groan. She was in a hospital bed, surrounded by a curtain. Well, she was alive. That was-- TWILIGHT!
Oh no.
“Moondancer?” a voice asked. The curtain was shoved aside, revealing three other curtained off areas and a stallion. He let out a sigh of relief when she saw him. “Please, don’t sit up. You’ve suffered a major injury and--”
“Twilight,” Moondancer said. “Where’s Twilight? I saw her, she was wounded. Is she okay? Is she--” The words caught in her throat when she saw the look on his face. The way his eyes lowered. Moondancer collapsed onto the bed, her strength vanishing. “I failed. She’s… I couldn’t protect her. I couldn’t do anything, could I?”
“No,” he said softly. “It’s not your fault. You did all you--”
“I sent her,” Moondancer said, the tears welling up in her eyes. “I should have had her come with me. To deal with the dragons. Instead I sent her off on her own. I left her to be captured by those… things. This is my fault. I should be banished. Executed.”
“Please, Moondancer, this isn’t your fault,” he said softly.
“Then who’s fault is it?” Moondancer asked.
“The umbrums,” Twilight’s voice said.
Moondancer froze in place. It wasn’t possible. She sat up quickly, sending the world spinning again. “What? Twilight? You’re alive?!” Her horn glowed and the curtains around the other beds instantly parted.
Twilight was sitting up in the bed besides her, face wrapped in bandages. “Of course I’m alive,” the earth pony said with a teasing chuckle. “I’m an earth pony, remember? We’re made of tough stuff.”
“Twilight, you’re… you’re okay,” Moondancer said, unable to stop fresh tears from falling. “I thought…”
“I would hardly call either of you ‘okay’,” Nightmare Moon’s voice echoed through the room. Moondancer couldn’t help but notice the way the color drained from the stallion’s face and how quickly he started to back away towards the door. A moment later the alicorn appeared in the center of the room.
The pressure in the room seemed to raise astronomically, making it difficult to breathe. Moondancer shivered, pulling the blanket up close to herself. Nightmare Moon then glanced towards the fleeing stallion, her horn glowing before she lifted him back into the air and pulled him back. “Tell them, doctor. Exactly what you told me.”
“Y-your highness, I, uhh, I mean, err, a-as you wish,” he said nervously. “The damage to you both was incredibly severe, especially when her highness arrived. It took all we had to stabilize you both. Unfortunately, err…”
“Go on,” Nightmare Moon said.
“Y-your highness…” Twilight said softly, pulling back from her. “Please.”
Nightmare Moon let a low growl out and let the stallion go. He squeaked and dropped to the floor, quickly catching himself and looking between the two. “Err, we tried to do what we could. But, uhhh. Moondancer, Twilight. I’m afraid the wounds you suffered were incredibly severe. There were very tiny shards of whatever that crystal was embedded in your bodies and it made it incredibly difficult to tend to your wounds, even after we removed them. Moondancer, your left ear, Twilight, your right eye… I’m sorry. They’ll never function again.”
“And that is where we are,” Nightmare Moon said bitterly before nudging the doctor away. He took the opportunity to flee for his life. “The umbrum have escaped. Sombra is our prisoner and will remain so until we have managed to use him to find them again. We are now the teacher of a half-deaf student and the ruler of a half-blind bard.”
Twilight didn’t say a word. Moondancer, on the other hoof, collapsed onto the bed. “This is my fault. If I’d just been smarter, if I--”
“Silence, student,” Nightmare Moon said.
“But I--”
“WE SAID SILENCE!” Nightmare Moon yelled, making the window of the room crack. “You are to blame for many things, but not this. This falls on our head, and our head alone. We erred again.”
“Is Spike okay?” Twilight asked softly.
“The dragon?” Nightmare Moon asked. “Indeed. He awaits your return in the castle. As do we all.”
“What about the other ponies there?” Twilight asked. “The… ummm…”
“The crystal ponies will learn to serve their new queen,” Nightmare Moon said. “They are frightened for now. But they will learn that this is where they belong. The Crystal Heart is no more. Its power gone.”
“Crystal Heart?” Moondancer asked.
“Nothing you need worry about,” Nightmare Moon said dismissively. “Recover, both of you. Once you have regained your strength you will return to the castle. We vow, this will never happen again. We will ensure it.” The alicorn then turned, her body turning into a small wisp of darkness, before flowing out the window.
Moondancer stared at where Nightmare Moon had been. “That’s ominous, right? I’m not imagining it?”
“It is,” Twilight said softly. “Moondancer, it’s not--”
“It is,” Moondancer said softly. “All of this is my fault. You can try to say it’s not, you can act like it isn’t. You might even believe it. But it doesn’t change the fact that I did it. I sent you on your own. I left you vulnerable. If I’d been there, I could have protected you. If I’d just brought you with me.”
“You couldn’t know this would happen,” Twilight said softly.
“Nopony could have,” Moondancer said before rolling so her back was to Twilight. “It was just another mistake in a long line of mistakes. That’s all I’ve ever really done, Twilight. No matter how hard I try, no matter what steps I take. My cutie mark, my studies, the Elements of Harmony, now this.”
“Moondancer, you’re not--”
“Just let it go, Twilight,” Moondancer said, cutting her off. “Just hate me. Just let me hate me, please. Just… please. If it just affected me. If my mistakes only hurt me, then that’d be fine. Then I’d be fine. I just… please.”
“Moondancer…” Twilight said softly.
Moondancer didn’t respond. What could she possibly say? Her mother was right, she really was just a long line of mistakes culminating in failure. Every time she started to believe that, maybe, just maybe, she had value… it all came crashing down on her head.
She hoped that whatever terrible thing Nightmare Moon had planned once they recovered, for once it would fall on her head and only her head. She was just so sick of ruining everything.
------
Twilight kept her head down, struggling to silence the growing sense of unease when she walked through the halls of the castle.
Recovery had been a slow, tiring affair. Nightmare Moon refused to allow them any visitors and, on top of that, Moondancer barely spoke to her. No matter how much she tried to cheer the unicorn up, nothing she said could help.
Though, to be honest she wasn’t surprised. They had, technically, won that battle. But it didn’t feel like it. New shades now walked Equestria, ponies trapped in that strange limbo. Fathers. Mothers. Sisters. Brothers. She’d heard of the ponies who had begged Nightmare Moon to save them, to try and return them to the state they had been.
But there was nothing that could be done. While their ruler now believed the shades could never be stolen by the umbrum again, she was unable to free them from their new condition. At least, not yet. Perhaps with time a way would be found. Even stealing the power of Sombra hadn’t been enough to allow it.
On top of that, the crystal ponies were lost. She’d managed to learn a little about who they were. More importantly, what the Crystal Heart had been. Apparently the moment it had been shattered had been felt all over Equestria, creating despair in many ponies. While most had recovered, she couldn’t deny that something still felt wrong. Like some piece of love, joy and happiness had been broken. The crystal ponies felt it most of all, their hearts an only slightly brighter version of the shades.
If Nightmare Moon cared, then she didn’t show it. She hadn’t shown much of anything, actually. She’d only passed by the hospital room a few times, barely saying anything. Merely checking on them. But the rage and anger she felt enveloped them all. Every step threatening to shatter the everything she touched.
They’d won, but so much had been lost. A darkness hung over Equestria that most could feel, yet none could really place. Twilight was trying to resist it, trying to keep her spirits up, but even she was struggling to feel hope in these moments.
The empty halls of the castle were doing nothing to relieve any of this pressure. She prayed that whatever Nightmare Moon desired of them would be simple. She doubted it, though. If she sent all the guards away, it likely was going to be rough. All she wanted was go to her room, hug Spike, cry and sleep. She couldn’t wait to see him again.
Twilight gave one last encouraging smile to Moondancer once they stopped outside the throne room. “Ready for this?”
“If you want to go hide, I’ll try to stall her,” Moondancer offered.
“Whatever she wants, we’ll face it together,” Twilight said. “We’re a team, right?”
Moondancer just gave a sigh and opened the door with her magic.
Twilight thought she was prepared. However, when the door opened and she saw Nightmare Moon sitting on her throne and Tirek standing besides her, she realized she really wasn’t.
Moondancer took a single step back, her eyes wide and not looking any more confident about this than Twilight felt.
Nightmare Moon, however, looked incredibly pleased. “Ah, my faithful student and bard. Come in.”
“Your highness,” Twilight said before making her way forward. She gave Tirek a nervous glance. Worse, he looked so incredibly smug. This didn’t bode well at all. She and Moondancer bowed their heads, the pressure in the room making it hard to breathe. Even now, smiling as she was, the anger could be felt from the alicorn. Nearly burning them.
The door slammed shut behind them and they both jumped. Nightmare Moon rose to her hooves and began to walk towards them. “My bard, to you we owe the greatest apology,” she said softly.
“Your highness?” Twilight asked.
“Please, lift your head,” the alicorn said. “We left you weak and vulnerable. Helpless against what came. Once more we allowed you to be hurt due to our own selfish desires.” Her wing moved out, gently touching the earth pony’s chin and raising her head so their eyes could meet.
“It’s not your fault,” Twilight said. Something about this chilled her to the bone.
“But it is,” Nightmare Moon said. “Your wounds were severe. Were you an alicorn, this never would have happened. Even if it had, the damage could have been far easier to repair. Now, it cannot be undone. But I can ensure that it never happens again.”
“Your highness?” Twilight asked, the dread only rising in her.
“Once more, we ask you. Join us at our side,” Nightmare Moon said. “Surely after this event you see that you are vulnerable. You must be protected. Join us at our side, forever.”
Twilight gulped and looked between Tirek and Nightmare Moon. Now, at least, she knew why he looked so smug. Slowly, she shook her head. “My answer is still the same, your highness. I can’t. I won’t. What I…” She trailed off before giving a soft sigh. “I can’t. I’m sorry.” Especially not now. Not when she felt this darkness in her heart.
“We see,” Nightmare Moon said, a hoof digging into the stone of the chamber and causing it to crack. “We would be lying if we said we didn’t expect this response. We had hoped it wouldn’t come to this. Moondancer?”
The unicorn went tense, her eyes wide. “Y-your highness?”
“You will aid us in this ritual,” Nightmare Moon said.
“Wait, what?” Twilight asked. She let out a yelp when suddenly she was enveloped in dark magic. “Hey! What are you doing?”
“What we should have done long again,” Nightmare Moon said. Black crystals rose up from the ground and lowered from the ceiling. Twilight was lifted between them before dark magic flowed out, holding her there. “We had hoped you would relent, willingly. That you would see the wisdom in joining us at our side. We had hoped you would become like us of your own will. We had hoped you would make the correct decision. We see now that we should have asked forgiveness, not permission.”
“W-what?” Twilight asked before flailing her hooves. “You can’t mean to, you can’t be serious! You--”
“The ritual must be done willingly,” Nightmare Moon said. “Under most circumstances. However, there are ways around this. Tirek will aid me. Moondancer?”
The unicorn stared, her eyes wide as she looked between Twilight and Nightmare Moon. “Your highness, you can’t be serious.”
“Put me down!” Twilight yelled. “You can’t do this! Nightmare Moon! Stop this!”
“There is nothing we cannot do,” Nightmare Moon said. “In time, you will forgive us. This… will likely hurt. But when it is over, you will be stronger. More powerful than you ever imagined. You will not be harmed again.” She started to walk forward, standing before the earth pony. “We are sorry, Twilight Glow. We will not ere again.”
------
Moondancer stared, her mouth agape. Nightmare Moon couldn’t be serious. Making Twilight an alicorn was one thing. But to force it on her like that?
“Student,” Nightmare Moon said, glancing back at her. “Go stand with Tirek and we can begin.”
“Please,” Twilight begged. “Don’t do this. You can’t force this on me! I’m not an alicorn! I’m not supposed to be!”
“You say this now,” Nightmare Moon said. “But you will thank me eventually.”
Moondancer felt her eye twitch. No she wouldn’t. Twilight wouldn’t forgive her for this. Could Nightmare Moon really not see the problem with this? Forcing this onto another pony? Did she really think that taking away the choice would somehow end well? She looked between Tirek and Twilight for a moment, before slowly walking to his side.
She couldn’t even do anything. If what Nightmare Moon said was possible, then there was nothing that could be done. So long as she had Tirek, she could do as she pleased.
Another mistake.
Moondancer closed her eyes and tried to hold back her tears. Even as Twilight begged the ruler to not do this. She’d helped Nightmare Moon bind Tirek to her will. Helped her enslave him. If she had done something, maybe this wouldn’t be possible. But no. She’d obeyed, the good little student. Another long line of mistakes that resulted in somepony else suffering for it. Just like everything else she did. Everything she touched.
She could practically hear her mother’s voice in her ear, yelling at her. Telling her she’d failed. How, once again, Moondancer had bucked everything up. How she couldn’t do anything right. How all she ever seemed to do was cause pain with her actions.
Buck.
THAT!
Moondancer ground her hoof into the ground and grit her teeth. She was scared, but she didn’t care. She’d already lost so much. Her respect. Her ear. Her friends. Maybe it would cost her, but this time she’d do something she could be proud of. She’d do something for the right reasons. She’d protect a pony she cared for.
Moondancer glanced to Tirek before leaning forward. “Run,” she said. She then tapped her horn against the bonds on his body. Bit by bit the gems across it dimmed before, finally, they fell to the ground.
Tirek stared at her, confusion on his features. “What?”
“RUN!” Moondancer yelled before her horn illuminated and he disappeared in a flash of magic, teleporting to the entrance of the throne room. She then turned on Nightmare Moon and unleashed a blast of purple magic in her confused face when she turned around.
It would cost her dearly, but at least this time SHE would be the one to suffer for it.
Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes, her face lightly singed. “We see, student.” Her horn began to glow. “So you have chosen poorly.”
Moondancer gulped, but she stood her ground. “No. I have chosen correctly. I won’t let you do this to her.”
Nightmare Moon turned to face her, before glancing back towards the door Tirek had fled through. Her eyes narrowed to slits when they turned towards her again and she bared her fangs. “He won’t get far. You, however, will not exist to see this.”
“Moondancer, run!” Twilight yelled. “Forget about me, just go!”
Moondancer’s horn glowed and she narrowly avoided a blast of magic from the alicorn. She couldn’t win this, she knew that.
But she could delay Nightmare Moon. Buy Tirek enough time. Maybe he could get far enough away. Maybe Discord would grab him. Who knew? But she knew she wouldn’t let her do this to Twilight without a fight. Not to her friend.
------
Tirek chuckled when he galloped through the empty halls of the castle. Things were going so much better than even he’d expected. It had taken him so, so long but now his goal would finally be achieved. Power. So much power. He was almost drooling at the notion.
To imagine, Moondancer would be the pony to finally free him. Such foals. Love. Friendship. When would they learn, the only thing that mattered was power. Why fight it so when it was offered? That earth pony truly was an idiot beyond his wildest imaginations.
Soon, it wouldn’t matter. He could feel it. Calling to him. Step by step he ran up the steps towards Twilight’s room, where his prize awaited. He stopped outside the door for a moment, gripping the knob and turning, shoving it open.
Only to freeze when his eyes fell on the eyes staring up at him. Spike? What was the dragon doing here?
“Tirek?” Spike asked. “What are you doing-- you’re not bound! You escaped?”
Tirek’s eyes narrowed but, slowly, a smile formed on his face. Perhaps this, too, was another opportunity. “Indeed. I have come to collect something before I go, however. A small trinket I had lent to Twilight.”
“Huh?” Spike asked.
“Worry not,” Tirek said before walking into the room. He could feel it, he pulled open the desk drawers and paused. Pens, papers, a weird tail ring that had a blue and orange glowing gem on it, a weird key and then finally, the medallion. The medallion that had once been his brothers. He reached out and grabbed it. Finally, his moment of glory was at hand, he--
“You need to leave,” Spike said. “If Nightmare Moon finds you, you’ll be in danger! You’ve got to get out of here while you can!”
“Oh, I intend to,” Tirek said before he began to drain the power from the medallion.
And finished.
The centaur froze, his triumph fading away. Impossible. He’d done it perfectly. The medallion should have been slowly drawing from Nightmare Moon’s power, storing it bit by bit. Yet there was so little there. He had felt the might of the alicorn. This trivial amount couldn’t even make her stumble, let alone give him what he needed to overrun Equestria and steal all their power for himself.
His own heart sunk and he felt the small inklings of despair. Another plan, another hope, ruined.
Another failure.
Bah. No matter. He would come up with a new plan, a new way to triumph. He would take all their power for himself. Somehow. He would…
He would triumph.
He would rule.
…
It felt so hollow.
He stared at the medallion. It had been a gift from his brother, so long ago. The second to last gift he’d ever received. The last being a small, chocolate moose from a very strange dragon. He glanced towards Spike.
“Tirek, you need to go!” Spike said. “You’re in danger the longer you stay!”
“Come with me,” Tirek said.
“What?” Spike asked.
“Come with me,” Tirek repeated, his confidence growing. Of course, it all made sense now. So what if this plan failed? He could just come up with another. “You are a dragon, are you not? A creature of raw, primal power. You don’t really wish to stay here, a slave to mere ponies, do you?”
“I’m not a slave,” Spike said.
“Are you not?” Tirek asked. “Can you not go where you wish? Do as you wish? Dragons, or if what I heard was true, are the fiercest of creatures. With power beyond even the strongest of ponies. Dragons rule with might and ferocity. They do not cower before ponies.”
“I’m not cowering,” Spike said. “Twilight is my friend. You need to go. When Nightmare Moon gets here she--”
“Forget about Nightmare Moon,” Tirek said. “Together, we could defeat her. We could rule Equestria, together. You may be a baby now, but given time, with my magic and your eventual might, we--”
“Pass,” Spike said.
Tirek blinked a few times. Ugh. Just like the earth pony. “Truly? Are you not a dragon?”
“I’m a dragon,” Spike said defensively. “I just… don’t want to.”
“Don’t want to?” Tirek asked. “Do you not wish to rule? To own these lands? To make the ponies of these lands pay you tribute in precious gems and magic?”
Spike’s eyes widened. “Tribute?”
“Tribute,” Tirek said, a grin forming on his lips. Finally. He knew he could get through to the dragon. One could not forsake their nature. Already there was some drool from the dragon’s mouth. Slowly, he held out his hand to him. “Join me, Spike. Become the dragon you were always meant to be.”
“Meant to be?” Spike asked.
“Of course,” Tirek said. “After all, why else would a dragon be here amongst ponies, if not to rule them?”
“But… I was sent here,” Spike said. “To deliver a message. I was never… well…”
“And before that, what were you?” Tirek asked. “A dragon. A future lord of your domain. You were--”
“Miserable,” Spike finally said, the smile on his face fading.
“What?” Tirek asked.
“I was miserable,” Spike said. “Dragons aren’t like ponies. I wasn’t sent here because I was strong or useful. I was sent because I was weak. Because everybody abandoned me.”
“And you will be strong,” Tirek said.
“So?” Spike asked. “Even if I’m strong, even if I’m more powerful than any pony, just look what that does to you. Look at Nightmare Moon, she’s always upset. I gave her a chocolate moose and she practically panicked. If my choices are being here with my friends or being strong, I’ll take my friends.”
Tirek went still, his mouth falling open. Even a dragon? What were these ponies? Some kind of infection? A disease? HOW? “You would give up what makes you a dragon? You would give up everything you could be? You would give up what you once were, to live like… this?”
Spike was quiet for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, I think I would. I’ll just be a dragon of ponies.”
Tirek stared at him before sighing. “Then you had best go to the throne room.”
“Huh?” Spike asked.
“Your precious friend, Moondancer, has already angered the Tyrant of the Night. It may be your last chance to say goodbye before she perishes.”
Spike’s eyes went wide and he leaped off the bed, darting out of the room and down the stairs.
Tirek sighed and stared at the door. Even a dragon. His brother. His father. Discord. Even a dragon.
He rubbed a finger across the medallion.
Power. All he wanted was power. All he cared about was power. But, for once, he found himself questioning why. The earth pony had asked him. Was power for power’s sake not enough? He wasn’t like Nightmare Moon. He didn’t crave their love, their adoration. He longed for power.
Tirek had spent so long looking for power. Dedicating his everything to power. For a thousand years it was all he had dreamed of. Every scheme, every ploy, every lie. Everything. It had cost him so, so much.
What had it gotten him?
Not nearly enough. He’d watched others with power. Seen others with power. More power than he had ever held. Yet…
Yet they seemed to see something he did not. Seemed to understand something he did not.
Power was enough.
Power had to be enough.
What if power wasn’t enough?
…
Power was always enough. It was all that mattered. It was all he had. If he didn’t have it anymore, what else did he have?
He clutched the medallion tighter.
What did they see? What did all of them see? How could a baby dragon see it and yet he was so blind?
Tirek clutched the medallion so tightly that the edge of it dug into his hand, cutting and making it bleed. But he ignored it.
What was it? Why could he not see? A dragon. A stupid earth pony. A stupid unicorn. His own brother. His father. What did they all see that he couldn’t? Why was this so hard?
Tirek felt warmth going down his face and, slowly, he reached up and felt the tears going down her face.
He didn’t understand. He couldn’t understand.
But for the first time he wanted to understand.
He lifted the medallion up and put it around his neck.
Once it had been a cold, dark reminder of how useless others were. How in the quest for power it didn’t matter. Nobody else did.
But now it felt oddly warmer. Very well. If power wasn’t the be all, end all, then he would discover what was. His eyes narrowed and he turned, following after the dragon.
He didn’t notice as the pink gem on the tail ring began to glow.