The six friends stood near the center of the massive, diamond drawbridge, the two unicorns weeping as the embraced their friends. Rarity had nearly tackled Fluttershy, her forelegs now wrapped tightly around the mare’s chest, while the yellow pegasus gently patted her friend on the back, trying to calm the white unicorn; Rainbow Dash and Applejack were exchanging uncertain looks while Twilight held a foreleg around each of them, sobbing apologetically, all while Pinkie was somehow able to wrap her forelegs around the other five in a grand encircling hug. The princesses and the four other mares kept their distance, watching thoughtfully.
“I’m…I’m so happy to see you all,” Twilight managed to choke out between sobs, her legs pulling the unhappy earth pony and conflicted pegasus closer to her. “They told me that the ritual had killed you, and I was so scared, and so sorry,” she explained, as feelings of relief washed over her, her tears of sorrow slowly turning to tears of joy, while Rarity cried tears of her own, babbling incoherently as those tears soaked into Fluttershy’s coat. “I thought that I’d never see any of you again, and that it was my fault, that you were dead because of me.” She looked between the four friends she’d feared gone, smiling. “But you’re all here; you’re not dead!”
Pinkie smiled again, squeezing the assembled group even more tightly. “Oh, Twilight, you silly filly, you should know by now that we’ll always be your friends, but you really need to pay more attention to what other ponies tell you. Especially when those ponies are the princesses,” she admonished playfully. Twilight looked up at the party pony through her tears, not understanding her friend’s statement. “Of course we’re dead,” Pinkie clarified cheerfully, lips stretched in a wide, genuine smile.
Nopony spoke. Nopony moved. Nopony so much as blinked. Rarity, still holding Fluttershy tightly against her chest, was dimly aware that her friend didn’t seem to be breathing, that she couldn’t feel a beating heart beneath the yellow mare’s coat. Yet Fluttershy was still smiling peacefully, the same smile she so often wore while she tended to her animals, safe from the pressures of the world. Twilight focused on her hooves, pressed against Applejack’s and Dash’s necks; neither pony had a pulse, though they were both still warm. Pinkie continued to smile back at the horrified, lavender unicorn as if Twilight had just complimented one of Pinkie’s desserts. The seconds stretched on, nopony contradicting Pinkie, revealing her statement as some macabre joke.
“No…” Twilight finally said, her voice barely a whisper, “you…you’re all right here. You’re right here, and you’re fine.” The unicorn began to shiver. “If you weren’t fine, it would mean that I’d really killed you, that you were all really gone.” She looked at each of her friends in desperation. “If you weren’t fine…I’m going to have to live with your blood on my hooves, forever. Please…please, don’t make me go through that. Please…be fine,” she pleaded. She tried to look each of her fallen friends in the eyes, tried to find some glimmer of hope.
Fluttershy had already turned her head away before Twilight could even look to her, the pegasus’ face hidden behind her curtain of pink hair; she had no kind word to offer, and instead held tightly to Rarity, trying to comfort the designer.
Pinkie held Twilight’s gaze briefly, still smiling, but the smile had soured, and she, too, looked away, releasing her friends from her firm embrace. Her mane flattened, straightened as she stepped back, unsure how to cope with such profound misery as she saw in her friend’s eyes, knowing no amount of laughter would dispel the unicorn’s fears.
Rainbow Dash stared back when her turn came, unflinching, but she, too, had no words of comfort to give her friend; she couldn’t betray Twilight’s trust with false reassurances, instead gently wrapping a foreleg around the other mare, trying to support her friend. In the end, Twilight turned away from the pegasus, unable to meet her victim’s silent gaze any longer, imagining accusations where none existed.
Applejack was prepared when her turn came, her muzzle turned down in a grimace, accusation in her eyes, no sense of hesitation in her voice. “Yeah, Twilight…they didn’t tell us much, but they told us that. We’re dead, and it’s because of you,” she said, refusing to sugarcoat the truth as she saw it.
Twilight was aware that her other friends were shouting, was aware the Applejack was talking, was aware that somepony had called her name. She thought she heard the princesses in the mix, dimly heard a stranger as well, somepony who reminded her of Rarity, only more natural, not as affected. She didn’t pay any attention to the words; she had heard all she needed to hear. There would be denials, and equivocations, and rationalizations, but none of that mattered. She pulled away from the others, her hooves connecting shakily with the bridge. She took a step back, her head hung low, her eyes squeezed shut as she began to cry once more.
‘Well, guess that answers that, then. Two of them couldn’t even look at you, one couldn’t speak to you, and the last…the last speaks the truth, doesn’t she? That’s what she does.’ The voice was practically giddy now, its laughter echoing inside the unicorn’s mind. She offered no protest, no response; she had none to give. ‘Awww…have you finally given up, then? Are you finally ready to acknowledge what you knew, deep down, all along?’ she asked herself, and something cold brushed against Twilight’s muzzle, something so cold it burned. “Finally ready to admit you’re not worthy of having anypony, least of all her?” she teased, breath like ice biting at her ear as the words were whispered, followed by an actual bite, a quick nip, the kind of thing a mother might do to get her foal’s attention. Her eyes sprang open at the pain, just as she realized the last words hadn’t been whispered into her mind, but into her ear.
Standing before her, Twilight Sparkle saw…herself. Almost. The mare standing between Twilight and her arguing friends was darker than she should have been, her coat a deep royal purple, the indigo and purple of her mane and tail darkened to black, the pink stripes now crimson. Her mouth was curled into a sadistic grin, a single fang descending from her upper jaw on each side. The edges of the mare’s body seemed to fade and distort, as if something were constantly pulling at her, trying to tear her apart. But there could be no mistaking the strange unicorn for anypony else, no mistaking the six-pointed star of her cutie mark. The two mares stared at each other, one in horror, one in cruel joy.
“Took you longer to notice than I’d expected,” the dark specter noted, and Twilight, the ‘normal’ Twilight, took an instinctive step back. “Really? You’re really going to try running away from yourself?” The apparition rolled her eyes. “I think we both know that’s never the answer, even in ‘normal’ situations. Never mind that now, ‘yourself’ can chase you down, pin you, and make you listen,” she laughed, licking her lips. “Of course, I suppose there is something to be said for the thrill of the chase…”
‘This…this can’t be happening, this can’t be real, that…thing, can’t actually be me,’ Twilight thought to herself desperately, and her darker image laughed.
‘Oh, I’m still in your head, just so you’ll know,’ the dark voice echoed through her mind again. “I just happen to be outside it now, too. Nice little effect of…wherever we are,” she continued verbally. “Of course, you could be right. Maybe I’m not actually you, or even part of you. Maybe I’m some remnant of Nightmare Moon, of Discord, a parting gift bestowed unnoticed. Maybe Chrysalis did something to your precious little mind without you realizing. It’s a possibility, I suppose.” The darker Twilight shrugged, her shoulders completely dissipating into mist for an instant before they reformed. “Then again…I might just be you after all, some dark little part of yourself you’re so desperate to deny but that you can’t get rid of. There’s really no way for you to know, unless I tell you…but then, how could you trust me to be telling the truth either way?” The dark mare giggled, the normally cheerful noise twisted to hostility. “Honestly, though, if I were you, I’d be less worried about what I am than what you are. A sad, pathetic little recluse who got lucky and stumbled out of her library and into better friends than she deserved. And then what does she do? She stumbles into another library, and ends up killing four of them.” The grin grew broader, the gleam in the other mare’s eyes that of a predator happening upon injured prey, and Twilight took another automatic step back. “Was it worth it, Twilight? Any of it? All that time spent studying, spent practicing, and what do you have to show for it? A teacher who won’t acknowledge you as more than a student, four dead friends, and an eternity to remember how you murdered them, how you stole their very essence to turn yourself into a goddess.” The shadowy mare threw her head back and laughed. “You know, maybe that’s why Luna said being alicorns doesn't make you and Rarity princesses; maybe they’re going to make you a queen,” she reasoned, chuckling as she did. “Twilight Sparkle, Immortal Queen of Tartauros. Maybe they’ll let you out sometimes, as a warning to the foals. ‘Do your homework, or Twilight Sparkle will carry you away to serve her,’ or ‘Be nice to your sister, or Twilight Sparkle will sacrifice you for more power.’ Luna will be so happy she doesn’t need to be the all-encompassing boogeymare anymore. And when you think about it, ‘Twilight’s Night’ flows so much better than ‘Nightmare Night,’ don’t you agree?”
‘No,’ the lavender mare protested weakly, ‘Celestia said she wasn’t going to banish me, wasn’t going to punish me, even though…’
“Even though you deserve it,” the black-maned unicorn finished the thought. Behind her, the black earth pony glared at Applejack, gesturing slowly in Twilight’s direction. “No, you’re right, she probably won’t. Which is a shame, since you so richly deserve to be punished,” she agreed, chuckling again at the images that began dancing through Twilight’s mind. “Oh, well. You’ll just have to find some way to make your immortality tolerable, to distract yourself from an eternity remembering how your friends trusted you, and how they died for it. After all…nothing can kill an alicorn.” The lavender unicorn stared at her counterpart, her vision blurred by tears, as the smile faded from the dark mare’s face. “No matter how much she might deserve to burn for her crimes.”
The cruel presence’s careful suggestion provoked the desired response. Twilight glanced to the side, to the edge of the bridge, to the great chasm filled with one of the most powerful magic substances in existence. It was entirely possible that simply attempting to channel that much power at once would burn her to a cinder; if she could control the magic, she could conceivably wield more power than any other being in recorded history. Either way, she reasoned it might be enough to atone for what she’d done.
“I’m sorry,” she said, unable to keep her voice from shaking, as her horn flared to life. The eleven other mares turned to face her, and she turned to look sadly at her mentor. The white pegasus’ eyes widened as comprehension struck, and she leapt towards her student, propelling herself forward with her wings as Luna’s own horn began to glow. Neither princess was fast enough. Celestia’s hooves closed around empty space as the unicorn vanished with a flash of red-violet light, reappearing in the open air over the chasm, facing the ponies on the bridge. She was vaguely aware that the darker version of herself had vanished, and then she was falling, her horn still bathed in light. She collided with the liquid sunlight, the raw energy burning her coat away, burning the flesh beneath. Strangely, she didn’t even feel it as she drew the power surrounding her into her own body. She felt the power coursing through herself, felt it bending to her command…and, as she felt the power reach a peak, she turned it against her own body.
And she knew pain.
And then, she knew only darkness.
****
“Yeah, Twilight…they didn’t tell us much, but they told us that. We’re dead, and it’s because of you,” Applejack said, grimacing as she did. She opened her mouth to continue, but was interrupted by several simultaneous shouts as Twilight pulled away, pulled back from the harsh words.
“Applejack, how could you?” Fluttershy berated, glaring at her, preparing to bring the full Stare down upon the farmer, when Rarity began to sob, drawing the pegasus’ attention to the friend who held her tightly.
Pinkie’s eyes burned as she glowered at the orange mare. “What happened to not blaming her, Applejack?” the pink pony asked icily, her coat seeming to darken, just for an instant.
“What happened to forgiving her, AJ?” Dash inquired, the hot anger in her voice a dark counterpoint to Pinkie’s cold question.
“Really, Celestia? Really?” the black earth pony called out from further along the bridge, storming angrily towards the center. “Is this what Honesty has been reduced to; a tactless foal who cannot temper truth with reason?” Lovecraft snorted in derision.
“Twilight,” Celestia called out calmly, ignoring the others, taking a step towards the crying mare, her heart trembling at the expression on her student’s face.
“Everypony, let me finish, will you!” Applejack shouted back, still annoyed by the unfamiliar sound of her own voice, her comfortable accent all but gone; even certain words seemed barred from her. “We’re dead, and she’s the reason, let’s not quibble about that,” she said evenly, silently wondering why she’d said ‘quibble’ when she’d meant to say ‘argue.’ “But that doesn’t mean I blame her, which I would have said if you all hadn’t interrupted.” She turned to look at the lavender unicorn, the horrified look on the other mare’s face a dagger rasping at her flesh. “Really, Twi, I’m not saying I blame you, but…you need to accept what happened.”
“Oh, does she, now?” Lovecraft retorted, finally reaching the assembled ponies. “So, after suffering a massively traumatic event, which, as you so kindly pointed out, she has reason to feel responsible for, you take the joy she sees at finding her friends still…present,” the earth pony bitingly asks the farmer, stumbling slightly for the proper word, “and decide that the best course of action is complete, unvarnished honesty, to take that little bit of joy, and stomp it into the ground?”
“In case you hadn’t gotten the memo, Honesty is a pretty important part of who I am,” the farmer deadpanned, matching Lovecraft’s gaze. The other mare laughed coldly, hauntingly.
“You think that’s all you have to do, that that’s all there is to it?” she asked, shaking her head, her mane shimmering as a wave cascaded down its full length. “You have a great deal to learn, child; the truth is not some blunt object to be swung about haphazardly.” She paused, and angrily raised a hoof towards Applejack. “After all, if you aren’t careful, somepony might get hurt.”
“I’m Sorry,” Twilight whispered, and all eyes focused on her as she turned from the edge of the bridge to face Celestia, still some distance away. The princess saw the heart-rending despair on her pupil’s face, had seen the unicorn looking out at the moat, and launched herself forward without hesitation, eyes wide in horror, as the mare’s horn ignited. She beat her wings, willing herself to be fast enough, to reach the distraught unicorn in time. She swung her forelegs closed, grabbing for her student, only to be partially blinded by the flash of teleportation. Her sight cleared quickly…just in time for her to see Twilight Sparkle fall beneath the level of the bridge; she heard the splash an instant later, smelt the terrible stench of burning fur, heard the crack of an explosion.
“Case in point,” Lovecraft remarked smugly.
“Enough, all of you,” Celestia said bitterly, turning to her sister. “Take the rest of them into the castle, to the great hall. If she can’t learn to stay her tongue,” she instructed, pointing a hoof at Applejack, “then gag her.” The Solar Princess sighed, flexed her wings, and vanished.
“It would seem, my dear Applejack, that dear Twilight Sparkle is not the only one capable of performing actions which inadvertently lead to others being harmed,” Luna observed, trotting quickly across the bridge, dutifully accompanied by the plum pegasus.
“But…but what about Twilight,” Dash asked softly, staring at the spot in the air Twilight had appeared at before she fell.
“My sister has gone to retrieve her, Rainbow Dash. Now, come, and let us all hope that Twilight was not harmed overmuch by her most recent ordeal,” she replied vaguely, leading the remaining ponies into the grand diamond fortress.
****
She was surrounded by White…again.
She had felt the pain, had felt the world fade away as her body turned to ash in the crucible of her own magic. And, for the barest of instants, she hadn’t felt anything, save the embrace of oblivion.
Then, her hopes had shattered, as her eyes opened and saw the infernal, unending expanse of White briefly, before her eyes snapped shut in denial, and she wept once more for her lost friends. As the tears flow, a memory forced its way into her consciousness, a memory of a dire warning. That teleportation magic, once shaped, needed to be completed; an attempt to discharge the spell otherwise without a target location would result in…
The purple mare’s horn lit up, and she vanished, her body dissolving as the undirected magic tore her apart, the largest remaining piece no larger than a speck of dust.
Only to reappear immediately, her body whole, completely unharmed.
‘To flashy,’ she thought, trying to reason through the anguish. ‘Maybe…maybe I’m trying to hard?’ She charged another teleport spell, wrapped it around her brain, and aimed five feet ahead of herself. Blackness.
And White again, with no evidence of what had just transpired. She didn’t know how, but she knew she hadn’t moved, knew she was exactly where she had just been, and knew there wasn’t an extra brain lying about. ‘Maybe that’s too quick…slower?’ she thought desperately. A third spell, and her heart appeared before her, floating in her red-violet aura. She looked at it thoughtfully for the brief interval it took her to die…and woke back up, heart back safely in her chest.
Again and again she tried to destroy herself, removing organs, transmuting her blood into acid, igniting her coat, again and again, growing increasingly creative, increasingly desperate. And each time, the same result. A brief glimpse of darkness, only to return to the White. She had broken down into incoherent tears, her efforts abandoned, by the time she felt another pony lay down next to her, a wing draped over her back.
“Feeling any better, Twilight?” Celestia asked sadly, barely holding back her own tears. The young unicorn looked at her through wet eyes, sniffling as she gave a shallow nod. The Princess of the Day nodded back. “I thought as much,” she mused, looking straight ahead, seeing something Twilight couldn’t. “I…had a similar response after…after Nightmare Moon.” She laughed bitterly. “I never thought to apply teleportation spell quite like that, so I’ll give you credit for creativity, but I was prepared to turn my body into a second sun in the throne room, before Watcher and Molehill talked me out of it. I wonder sometimes, in my weaker moments, if it might not have actually worked, but I don’t care to run the risk anymore.” Celestia sighed, flexing her wing to pull Twilight in closer as the unicorn listened in silence. “More likely than not, I would have just found myself here again.” The two mares, a princess and her pupil, sat there, in the empty void, the younger looking at her elder, the elder looking into the emptiness, her breathing slow and rhythmic. Minutes passed, the unicorn slowly regaining her composure, the mere presence of her princess and teacher enough to calm her, if not to dispel the fears that underpinned them.
“I’m sorry for…overreacting, Princess,” the younger mare offered hoarsely, lifting her head to look at her mentor’s face in profile. She was used to having to look up to see Celestia’s face; it was strangely unnerving to not need to crane her neck, or have Celestia bend her neck down, to look the princess in the eyes. Nearly as much as it unnerved her to see the Sun Goddess silently crying.
The pegasus turned to face her student, a small, sad smile pulling at her lips. “No, my most faithful student, I’m the one who should be apologizing to you,” the Princess of the Day responded, making no effort to hide the weariness from her voice. “My sister and I…did not act as we should have this night, Twilight. Luna saw one of the few ponies she has grown fond of since her return, risen to be her equal. A friend to stand with her as a fellow immortal, proof against the ravages of time. That…is a powerful thing, for one like us. And I...” She paused, her smile growing, some of the sadness melting away. “Twilight, there are two ponies in this world I would gladly sacrifice anything to protect, save the sacrifice of one for the other. Luna is one of those ponies.” The goddess stared deeply into her student’s eyes. “I don’t think I need to tell you who the other is, do I?” The unicorn blushed fiercely, a small shake of her head the only reply she could manage. “I know you, Twilight. I knew you would be pained by the loss of your friends, knew that you would fault yourself for their fate. That you would wrongly fault yourself. But I let myself be distracted by visions of you, my most faithful student, standing eternally by my side, as my student, my advisor, and one day, I hope, my partner, my equal, and my friend.
“Those hopes, coupled with…certain experiences from our past, made Luna and I…more cavalier, in our response, than was appropriate.” The pegasus’ features darkened, and she looked away from her student. “I also, when I anticipated how events would progress, failed to consider the stunning lack of tact and diplomacy a certain mare would display.” Celestia sighed, her features softening again, her eyes returning to her student. The unicorn seemed far more composed, and the princess allowed herself to relax very, very slightly. “Twilight…I realize now how badly you must still hurt, and I’m truly sorry to push you once more, but we still have business to attend to this night, business of the greatest importance.” The white mare withdrew her comforting wing, her visage once more that of a noble ruler, despite the softer, more youthful face she wore as a pegasus.
Twilight rose, her legs protesting slightly, the burden of her heart eased from her conversation with Celestia. She still felt responsible, still felt she deserved some kind of punishment, but the Solar Princess’ kind words had acted as balm for her wounded heart, soothing the sharp pain of loss to a dull ache. And, she had to admit, her attempts at self destruction had been disturbingly cathartic. “I’m ready, Princess,” she firmly stated, and with a nod from the elder mare the duo was off.
Had Celestia looked back before she vanished, returning to the Citadel, she would have seen nothing save the endless expanse of White.
Had Twilight looked back, she would have seen her darker self, smirking, dissolving into an oily smoke as the two ponies vanished, a dark blight upon the emptiness, billowing after the pair, laughter trailing in its wake.
****
“I’m still not entirely convinced my sister expected her instructions to be taken quite so literally,” Luna mused, examining the gag which had appeared in Applejack’s mouth, wondering where, precisely, it had actually come from. The farmer glowered at the Princess of the Night, trying to remove the offending object, unable to find any kind of buckle or release…primarily because none existed. “It’s a single piece of leather, dear Applejack; you won’t be able to remove it without help,” she explained as the mare before her became increasingly frustrated. “If you shall promise to strive to be less…caustic henceforth, I shall aid you in removing it.” Applejack’s glower darkened, but she nodded all the same, amusing the dark blue unicorn. Her horn flashed briefly, and the gag vanished. “Mind your tongue, or it goes back in,” the princess nonchalantly warned, and walked away from the furious farmer, towards the center of the gleaming hall, where the other eight mares already waited, sitting around a large, circular table of polished bronze. The chamber itself lived up to its appellation of ‘great,’ equal in size to the grand ballroom of Canterlot Castle, constructed of the same precious materials that had adorned the exterior of the citadel.
“Pardon me, Princess Luna, but might I ask a question?” Rarity asked as the darker unicorn reached the table; the designer had had enough time to largely recovered her composure, though she still insisted Fluttershy remain close to hoof, and her lip still trembled of its own accord. The princess nodded as she sat across the table from the white mare, flanked on either side by two of the strange ponies. “I’m…forgive me, but I’m still a bit confused about…well, quite honestly about everything,” the fashionista said. “I don’t think I’m exaggerating that I, as well as my friends, have had a terribly eventful night, and I’d truly appreciate an explanation of…anything that’s happened in the last few hours?”
“You let your purple friend talk you into performing a ritual with her, and things got complicated,” the plum pegasus offered by way of explanation, accompanied by a wink. “That’s what happens when you trust a purple mare. Can’t trust purple mares. Any shade of it, doesn’t matter. Purple, lilac, lavender, plum…simply not to be trusted.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Dream, while I appreciate the effort, perhaps humor should be left for another time…or, at the least, we should leave any attempts at it to Watcher or Pinkie, for the time being,” the princess responded. Her voice was gentle, but there was no mistaking it for anything less than a royal command. The plum mare offered the princess an apologetic smile, and nodded. “Thank you. Now, as to your request, fair Rarity…nay, everypony, I understand that tonight has been…I should think ‘difficult’ is a rather severe understatement. We are prepared to answer your questions as best as we are able, but we would ask you to hold your questions until my sister returns with Twilight Sparkle, so that nopony need repeat herself.” Luna tilted her head slightly, her ears twitching as seemed to listen for something. “They should both be joining us again presently, if I’m not very much mistaken.”
“But…Twilight died, didn’t she?” Dash asked, frowning in confusion. “Yeah, hold our questions, I know, but…she fell into that fire…light…moat…thing, and it kinda…popped. So…didn’t the Princess…” Luna’s eyes narrowed as she gave the cerulean pegasus a dangerous look. “I mean, didn’t Princess Celestia, who is absolutely not the only princess we have, which is absolutely awesome,” she amended nervously, “go off on some…I don’t know, epic journey to get her back, or something cool like that?” The others stared at her, Rarity, Luna, and Lovecraft all with quirked eyebrows. “What? It’s in all the stories. Somepony dies, you go on epic journey to bring them back to life, or find something to revive them, or something,” the mare protested, her cheeks flushing.
“Okay, so…all anypony ever needs to do to avoid death is make sure they know at least one pony who’d be willing to undertake an epic journey and bring them back from…something? Someplace?” the aqua unicorn, Bridge Watcher, deadpanned, then leapt to her hooves. “Luna, you need to act on this information right away! Set up a new division of the Guard devoted to carrying out these grand quests, gather up those artifacts she’s talking about!” she continued, excitedly, waving her foreleg around for emphasis. “Why, you could very well be the pony who ends death forever, Luna! I wonder why nopony has thought of this before!” Save for Luna, the mares on her side of the table had begun to chuckle, and the Princess of the Night was visibly fighting the urge to join them. Satisfied, the unicorn turned to the plum pegasus, and winked. “And that, Dreamy, is why you leave the humor to me.” The dark purple mare bowed her head theatrically, still laughing as she did.
“No need to be sarcastic about it,” Dash groused from her side of the table. “Not like I have much to go on, ya know? Somepony dies, somepony else says she’s gonna go get her, what am I supposed to think, other than what’s in all the stories?”
Pinkie, sitting beside her friend furthest from the door, laid a gentle hoof on Dash’s shoulder. “Yeah, but think about it, Dashie. If Twilight died when she went into the glowy-moat thing…well, she’s already dead,” the pink mare offered gently. “Where’s she supposed to go, Detrot?”
“You never cease to surprise me, Pinkie Pie.” All eyes turned to the source of the familiar voice, to see that Luna had been correct; Celestia had arrive, accompanied by a tired, yet seemingly serene, Twilight Sparkle. Rarity raised a hoof, about to ask how the Princess had entered the chamber on the opposite side of the room from the only door, but a gentle touch from Fluttershy drew her attention, and a slight shake of the pegasus’ head silenced the unicorn.
Instead, she asked the next obvious question. “I’m sorry, Princess, but…well, there’s no way to phrase this delicately, and it seems to be a fairly important question to have the answer to,” Rarity began, her voice shaking. She didn’t particularly want to ask, but she knew she couldn’t well change her mind. “So…well, you told us earlier that our friends were dead, and now it seems that Twilight…died, a short while ago. So, bluntly put…how many of the ponies in this room are dead?” she asked. Eleven hooves rose slowly as each mare in the hall other than the white unicorn dutifully responded. Rarity’s left eye twitched half-closed.
“Oh, uh, Rarity…you should probably raise your hoof, too,” Fluttershy gently suggested. “You’re, well…kind of dead, too.” The unicorn’s eye twitched again at her friend’s statement.
“So…all of us are dead, now?” Rarity asked, voice rising in panic. She was greeted with ten solemn nods, and Pinkie’s customary rapid head-bobbing. “Follow-up questions, then. One, and my apologies for being self-centered, but was I dead back in the infirmary, or is this a more recent affliction for me? Two, where in Equestria are we now, if we’re dead?” she asked, voice still rising, nearly reaching the point of screeching. “Three, is there any chance there’s some kind of particularly strong alcohol close to hoof? I really feel like I’m going to need it before much longer.”
Celestia shook her head as she sat at the table, Twilight by her side, midway between the two groups of ponies. “To the second question, the short answer is that we’re not in Equestria at the moment, in the strictest sense. To the third, I’m afraid you’d need more than you could drink in a week to begin to feel the effect,” the Princess of the Day answered gently, fighting back the urge to smile at the white unicorn. “And, to the first…yes, and no.”
“Perhaps, sister, now is not the time for puckish non-answers?” Luna offered, flicking her eyes in a brief yet significant glance at the purple unicorn seated beside her sister. The white pegasus nodded, and gestured to her sister, ceding the lead to the Lunar Goddess. “Thank you.” The blue unicorn turned her attention back to the slightly panicked fashion designer. “Let us begin by assuaging what is, I’d imagine, your principle fear. You are not, nor were you during our conversation earlier, dead in the sense that anypony outside of the twelve mares here seated would understand,” she explained. Or at least, she thought she explained; the continued look of panic seemed to indicate to the contrary.
“Rarity…this is a good thing, I think. Sort of. Mostly,” Twilight offered, trying to appear confident. Inwardly, she still wasn’t sure if she truly believe that, but for Rarity’s sake at least it was true. “I think I figured it out after I…experimented, a bit, let’s say. We’re…not really dead, in general, it’s just we’re…not exactly alive, either,” she said, looking up at her mentor to see if her assumption was correct. Celestia nodded once, smiling at her pupil, and the purple unicorn continued. “But…it’s only the four of us that are like this, right, Princess?”
Celestia nodded again, though her smile had faded. “Yes, Twilight, you’re correct, at least mostly, in everything you’ve said. You, Rarity, Luna, and myself fall into an…unusual category of existence,” the Solar Goddess replied. “As for the others here…they, unfortunately, are dead in the traditional understanding.” She spared a glance towards the cerulean pegasus. “And I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash, but nothing will be bringing you back.” The blue mare nodded stoically, doing her best to hide her emotions, for fear of upsetting Twilight further.
Rarity wasn’t quite so concerned in that regard. “Please, please tell me you’re not about to say that those stories about Luna drinking blood are true,” the designer practically pleaded, her voice still pitching higher and higher. Fluttershy wrapped her forelegs around her friend, humming softly in an attempt to calm the high-strung mare, finding little success.
Luna sighed deeply. “No, I do not drink blood. Nor do I sacrifice ponies to some ancient evil force, abduct foals and perform horrifying experiments upon them, raise the dead as some kind of unholy army to once again serve as my soldiers in a war against my sister, or turn into some kind of she-wolf once a month.” She quickly pointed a hoof at her sister. “Don’t say it, Tia,” she warned.
“I was simply going to clarify what we are to everypony, Luna,” Celestia replied sweetly. “Why, what did you think I was going to say?” The younger sister glared at the older, who simply continued to smile as she turned away from the annoyed unicorn to the panicked unicorn. “Rarity, please, calm down. You are not truly dead. Twilight is not truly dead. Luna and I are not truly dead, and nopony is going around drinking blood to sustain themselves,” she said soothingly, her voice oddly melodic. She sat back slightly, and began to survey the younger mares. “The ritual the six of you performed earlier was meant to ‘concentrate the power of the Elements of Harmony within the chosen vessels.’ That much, you knew. Unfortunately, Twilight didn’t know, couldn’t have known, that when the spell was created, there was no distinction between the Elements as an idea, the crystals which focus those ideas into power, and the ponies who wielded that power,” the Princess explained solemnly. “At the time, each pony who wielded one of the Elements was known by three names, so close was the association; their given name, their Element, and the shape their focus took.”
“The purpose of the ritual was to combine the essence of six ponies into two vessels, empowering those chosen two with greater strength, to more effectively combat those who would destroy Harmony,” Luna took over from her sister, a hint of pride in her voice, mixed with a hint of old sorrow. “It was…it was a sacrificial rite, truthfully. Six ponies were offered, their spirits ripped from their bodies. The power of the Elements, augmented by the magic of a ley nexus, tethered those spirits to the world of the living, keeping them from completely crossing the void into true death. There, trapped between life and death, four would be consumed to empower the remaining two, transforming their bodies and binding them eternally to the world between worlds, not longer strictly alive, but spared from death’s embrace forevermore.” The dark blue unicorn heaved a heavy, world-worn sigh. “That was the intent of the ritual’s creator, in her desperation. A dark bargain, struck to stave off an even greater darkness. But…things didn’t quite work as expected. It was thought that the essence of the four ponies who sacrificed their lives would be consumed completely to empower the vessels. Instead…”
“Instead,” Celestia continued, as Luna trailed off, sadness in the unicorn’s eyes as she looked at the ponies beside her, “the power of all three ponies joined into one body, the essences mingled, not consumed; three beings in one form. The pony whose body had been transformed retained control of her body; the others existed within the host’s mind and could extend a certain amount of influence over her, mostly through simple verbal suggestion, though more…forceful means do exist.” She paused, letting the significance of that statement sink in.
“I’m…going to spend the rest of eternity…with Pinkie Pie…inside my head,” Twilight whispered as she realized her fate.
“Yup! And Fluttershy’ll be there, too! Isn’t it great, Twilight?” Pinkie agreed, genuinely pleased by the revelation. The lavender unicorn managed to force herself to nod, looking at the white mare beside her with pleading eyes.
“Oh, uh…don’t, don’t worry to much about me, Twilight. I tend to be a very quiet house guest, for the most part,” Fluttershy tried to reassure her purple friend, meeting limited success.
Rarity’s eyes had resumed twitching as the ramifications of her own situation struck her. “And I’ve been joined…with Rainbow Dash…and…Applejack.” The white unicorn had turned pale, and had a slightly dangerous look in her eyes as she leveled a hoof at the farmer. “Those headaches earlier, those were the two of you, weren't they!”
“Well…yeah, okay, one of them was mine,” Dash admitted sheepishly. “But you know what you were thinking at the time…you have to admit, Rarity, that wasn’t cool, thinking something that…wrong, about Twi’. And the other ones were all Applejack.”
“I’ll see what I can do to help you with that particular issue, darling,” Lovecraft promised sympathetically. “After seeing how she made you react to the mere prospect of shading the truth a little …well, I can’t say I envy you, being stuck with her in your head. It will certainly complicate matters in the immediate future, if nothing else.”
“Listen there, missy, I don’t know who you think you are, but you can’t go around lying to everypony like that. It just isn’t right,” the farmer said, firm in her convictions. “Wait…how did I know that? And how’d I give Rarity a headache when I heard about it?” she wondered, brow creasing in thought.
The black mare across the table sighed, exasperated. “Weren’t you paying attention? You and the blue one with the colorful hair over there are part of your rather polished friend now. So, what she knows, you know, and vice-versa. And if you object to something she intends to do, or be complicate in, you can make your feelings known. She was going to lie, you give her a headache. A bit of an immature response, really,” the earth pony explained, a hoof pressed to the side of her head, massaging in little circles. “As for who I think I am...my Princesses, might I humbly suggest we all…formally introduce ourselves?”
The sisters looked at each other, silently deliberating. Luna quirked an eyebrow. Celestia thought a moment, looking towards the chambers tall ceilings as she thought. The dark unicorn rolled her eyes in mock-frustration. The light pegasus considered her student for several long seconds, then finally nodded, a gesture mimicked by her younger sister. Six mares closed their eyes in unison, and six nearly blinding lights surrounded them, fading slowly to reveal six familiar, yet significantly different accessories.
“I, my dear,” Lovecraft began, a hoof brushing against the silver key pendant now around her neck, “am the Duchess Lovecraft, the Silver Key, formerly Royal Spymistress of the Everfree Kingdom, Breaker of Hearts, and wielder of the Element of Honesty.” She smirked as Applejack’s jaw hung open. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.
The plum pegasus looked at Luna, shifting her own necklace as it lay against her throat. “Well, if we’re doing this now…” she began, clearing her throat. “Dream Catcher, the Ivory Feather, Thief of Dreams, and wielder of Generosity,” she introduced herself, nodding respectfully. “Oh, and before you lot even need to ask, I was stealing from those who really and truly deserved it, to help those who truly needed it, so I’ll thank you not to argue about a thief wielding Generosity,” she added with a practiced ease, her accent growing more pronounced as she did.
“Dame-Captain Molehill, the Opal Axes,” the green earth pony announced as if responding to an order, unconsciously raising a hoof to touch the blue stone of the crossed axes at her throat. “Former Royal Tactician and Pathfinder, Everfree Kingdom, and Element of Loyalty.”
The aquamarine unicorn smiled, realizing it was her turn. “Lady Bridge Watcher, the Sapphire Stream, former Ambassador of the Everfree Kingdom, wielder of the Element of Laughter,” she said with a lopsided grin, the dark blue gemstone suspended in such a way that the golden necklace above mimicked her cutie mark perfectly. “And very well acquainted already with one of your number,” she added with a wink at Pinkie.
The white pegasus stood solemnly, and cleared her throat. “While I’d like to think my dear student and her friends can remember me,” Celestia began lightly, looking down playfully at her seated, awestruck student, “I shall add that I was once known as the Topaz Sun, and that I am, of course, Ruler of Equestria, uncrowned Queen of the Everfree Kingdom, and wielder of the Element of Kindness.” She paused, tapping the orange gemstone circle around her need as she looked between the two groups. “A shortened list, naturally. The last time anypony tried to recite all of my titles, it took nearly three days, and a dozen heralds collapsed from exhaustion.”
The final mare stood, shaking her head in amusement. “In such case, sister, I shall extend the same courtesy. I am…”
“Diamond Crescent…” Twilight interrupted, finally putting the pieces together.
“Indeed, Twilight Sparkle,” the princess nodded regally, gesturing towards the diamond crescent moon atop her tiara. “I am the Diamond Crescent, Ruler of Equestria, Grand Mistress of Sorcery, and Element of Magic, among my many other honorifics. Though I must say I always preferred to use my given name when possible. Wouldn’t you agree, Tourmaline Star?” She winked at the lavender mare, the ghost of a smile crossing her lips before she resumed her formal countenance. “And I fear I owe each of you an apology, after a fashion. After all, I created the ritual which caused this to occur.”