//------------------------------//
// Part VI 
// Story: Falling from the Sky 
// by RD-loves-RA 
//------------------------------//


(I own nothing but the plotline and characters. MLP:FiM is property of Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Any attempts to sue me or my affiliates will be met with crying, pleading, and with negotiation, a written apology.)





Falling from the Sky





By RD-loves-RA





Chapter 28: Infiltration (Part I)




Night had fallen over Canterlot as I made my way up the back of the royal city’s mountain. I hovered a few feet off the ground, not wanting to climb the cliff face, but also wanting to avoid being seen from above. The evening air was warm, cradling me in a humid embrace. Occasional gusts of wind flowed through my coat, rustling the hairs of my mane with a pleasant chill coming from the north.

Nights like this made me appreciate the world I lived in. I wasn’t exactly a lover of nature, but a soothing breeze on a clear summer night was hard to take for granted. Looking up at the starry sky brought me some comfort. I remembered the night I spoke to Twilight on her balcony. The air was colder now, but it felt somehow the same. It could have been the lower altitude, but more likely, I just didn’t notice it the first time around. It was so peaceful that night that the silence seemed to speak to me, filling me with amazement. It was better then. Ignorance really is bliss.

I hoped this was the case with a certain princess. Hell, I hoped it was the case with both of them. Celestia couldn’t be omnipotent. If she was, and she let what’s been going on slip by without intervention, my faith in her rule would be seriously lacking. As for Luna, I’d need to be persuaded into believing she wasn’t somehow at fault. Regardless of the circumstances, she would have much to answer for. At least if I had anything to say about it.

I had flown slowly up the side of Canterlot for about ten minutes time before reaching my destination; A small passage, unassuming in the eyes of a random passerby, but integral to our success. Nova’s lab only scratched the surface of what lay underneath the castle. This much, I had known. What I didn’t know until Rainbow Dash told me (praise that wonderful cyan creature) was that you can access the crystal catacombs if you had a pair of wings and the ability to stuff yourself in a cramped and uncomfortable hole.

This new information basically formed our entire plan. At least my part, anyway. I was going to use the passage to slip into the catacombs and find a way into the lab from there. I wasn’t nearly as stealthy as Aurora, which I didn’t mind at the moment. It meant that I didn’t need to use the front door like she did. Between the two of us, we would be able to locate Fluttershy and Twilight and get them out safe. If one of us ran into problems, we’d have the other for back-up.

Rainbow Dash was our contingency plan. If we both failed, we needed somepony trustworthy to finish the job. She would find a way to do it alone if she had to. It was part of her stubborn and tenacious nature. No matter the challenge, no matter the circumstances, Rainbow Dash would find a way to succeed with (for lack of a better phrase) flying colors. I just hoped it wouldn’t come to that. I tried to get her to go home, but keeping her out of the fight as backup was the best I could manage without making her mad.

I took one last look at the starry night and bid it farewell. The next time I saw the stars I would be a free stallion, or I would die trying to become one. I turned towards the tunnel and entered, slowly crawling forward into the darkness. I just fit in the tunnel; the walls seemed to choke the air around me. I had a few hundred feet until I reached the caverns. Judging by the level of discomfort I was feeling, it would be the longest distance in the world.

“I don’t care what she says.” I grumbled to myself. “Next time, Aurora gets to crawl in the hole.”





*Achoo!*

One of Luna’s corrupt guards looked towards the source of the noise. He never found what caused it however, as a small pink hoof struck him on the head, incapacitating him. Aurora dragged his body into cover, obscuring him from view. Should any other guards come by, the last thing she’d want them to see is one of their friends on the ground unconscious.

“That wasn’t very stealthy. I’m supposed to be a shadow in the night, a whisper in the wind. That was more like a stifled fart in a quiet room…” Aurora thought to herself.

The petite pony collected herself, and resumed her journey. She had made it past the entrance hall, through the main barracks and over many of its sleeping inhabitants, and had been navigating corridor after corridor before her encounter. Though he had been the first to fall to her hoof, the guard was not the first to cooperate unwillingly with Aurora’s will. She had already created a few incidents along the way, such as a guard’s armor “catching” on the tapestries, and even managed the age old “What was that over there?” distraction involving a thrown object and a roll of the eyes.

It was only a few hundred feet before she reached the entrance to the lab, and Aurora felt the pressure. Every step closer felt like a step deeper into her grave. Stealth never felt great to Aurora, which was a shame considering how skillful at infiltration she was. She was always in the shadows; lurking around with ill-intent for those standing in her way, and the entire ordeal just stressed her out and made her angry.

This anger usually came out in the form of cruel and unusual takedowns. The guard she struck had been lucky she was avoiding lethality. Otherwise, her knives may have tasted fresh blood for the first time in a long while. Then again, looking back on some other missions, the guard with a stab wound could be considered lucky in comparison to some of Aurora’s other victims.

Two things kept Aurora going when enacting lethal force on another pony. The first was the fact that the ponies she injured or killed willingly were inherently evil, and deserved to die at least somewhat. The fact that she would be ok with any degree of murder was never a comforting one, but to let herself fall into darkness on account of a few bad ponies souls hanging around her would be stupid. That was something that Thundervolt didn’t get past as easily.

Though his goofy nature didn’t show it, the pegasus was weighed down by a handful of lives he had taken. The first of which wasn’t even his. His guilt convinced him otherwise however. His second was in anger for what he had done to Aurora. Those two lives went on to define Thundervolt as a pony, and the few other ponies that had fallen to him had been necessary casualties. It didn’t make him feel any less guilt, though.

The second, and more sadistic thing that Aurora found solace in was the pleasure she received from the look on their face when a pony half their size took them down effortlessly. Sometimes, she’d even drop her emotionless and systematic demeanor in favor of employing a cheesy one-liner that would make even Thundervolt raise a hoof to his face in shame. She considered it revenge for the puns. The ridiculous puns… A smile formed on the small pony’s face, just for an instant.

With the utmost care, Aurora navigated towards the barracks of Luna’s night guards. Not all of them were fraudulent, and it was hard to tell which ones would present a clear threat. Then again, any of those guards even attempting to do their job would chase her to the border. As a result, sneaking in would have to go without a hitch. As much as she wanted to avoid violence, getting in undetected was more important. Aurora’s conscience was already heavy enough, but it could handle more weight. It could always handle more.

As strong as she appeared to be on the outside, Aurora wasn’t unbreakable. She’d revealed her inner conflict twice in the woods, and each time it put more weight on her shoulders. The times she was vulnerable were the times her friends were at risk. She couldn’t dump any emotions or problems on anyone else. Just because she ran into misfortune, didn’t mean the others needed to be burdened. Sacrificing a little comfort to keep everyone else from losing their focus was a fair trade. Aurora would always put her friends before herself. Then again, her sacrifices were always for the same two ponies. Thundervolt, and…

Don’t think about her… You don’t have time to be distracted. Not now.

Aurora snapped out of her stupor and refocused herself. The barracks entrance was now directly at Aurora’s left. There was a decent amount of idle chatter coming from inside the large room. Aurora identified at least three different conversations taking place between multiple ponies. And those were just the ones she could hear. She needed to go through the front door, and it might as well have been bolted shut with boards nailed to the frame on both sides. The pink pony glared at the room’s entrance in frustration, and looked up at an air vent in the ceiling. A determined look formed on her face.

Because it’s always a good idea to make the air vents pony-sized.

Ten minutes later, she was in the ducts right above the heads of the guards. The vent system was irritatingly complicated for some reason, and with a few dead ends under her belt, Aurora was more than a little frustrated. She was finally on the right path when a field mouse, inexplicably far from any kind of field, started gnawing at her hooves. The cramped quarters didn’t allow for any maneuver greater than a slight bat of her limb, so the mouse kept coming back.

“Mouse. Stop.” Aurora whispered in frustration.

It didn’t stop. The cramped metal interior of the air vents were filled with the echo of voices from the guard’s chamber. Some conversations had died out, others taking positions in key areas of the castle. The important detail was that the sentries would be gone for hours, leaving the barracks with a skeleton crew. Fewer ponies around meant fewer ponies that would hear the crunch of bones and metal when Aurora destroyed the rodent pestering her so avidly.

“You little… you’re the last thing I need right now!” Aurora whispered harshly.

“Hey, did you hear something?”

“Yea, sounded like something in the air vent. Let’s check it out.”

Crap crap crap…

The sound of hoofsteps replaced words as the alerted ponies moved closer to Aurora’s position in the vent. The small pony held her breath and remained motionless. The slightest movement or sound could derail the entire operation. Like the obnoxiously loud pitter patter of a field mouse running errantly over metal.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

One of the guards opened fire with small bolts of magic, aiming straight at the source of the noise. Luckily, the mouse was just up ahead, so none of the rounds were coming close. That was when the mouse ran straight towards Aurora, skittering into her combat vest.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

The volley of rounds shifted and punched through the thin metal in the air duct below. The first round whizzed past her head, the second two shot past her on the right and left, but the fourth round impacted directly into Aurora’s chest. Her vest took the blow, diffusing the killing power of the magic round, but the physical force of the spell knocked the wind out of her. The field mouse took this opportunity to leave her gear, and scurry out one of the holes and into the chamber below.

“Gah, what is that!?” One of the guards screamed in terror.

“Herb, it’s a mouse… Calm down.” The other guard replied.

“Those things creep me out man, I hate rodents.”

You and me both.

“Whatever… Buck, now you have to fix the vents before the captain gets back and sees them like this!”

“Me? You were the one who shot them!”

“No I wasn’t. At least not if you don’t want the guys to hear all about this little trauma of yours.”

“No, my mistake, you’re right! I’ll get right on patching up those holes.”

“That’s what I thought...”

Aurora waited nervously, barely able to breath after being hit, until the guards left to keep moving. Once they were gone, the pink pony sucked in a deep breath to right her insides. That mouse caused a disturbance, and almost managed to get her killed. If they ever met again, they would not be on good terms. A sigh of relief escaped from the small pony as she refocused.

Very cautiously, Aurora crept forward, taking great care to avoid another mishap. About twenty feet ahead, the vent took a slight dip and curved straight down another fifty feet. Without a second thought, Aurora braced herself on the walls of the vent above the drop and slid down, taking care not to slip and fall.

Her hoofs made a soft clink as they connected with the floor of the secondary ventilation shaft. The tunnel continued forward towards a grate, which allowed Aurora to see into the room below; a small, dark connecting room that led out into the main lab which Aurora knew all too well.

Ignoring the persistent nervousness encapsulating her, she pressed left and followed the vent into an adjacent room. There were many small and interconnected rooms that Aurora had never seen before. They were filled with lab stations and strange machinery, including a few computer terminals. Both Aurora and Thundervolt had made sure to keep current with technology while with Nova, just in case they would ever need the skills. Neither of them really did however, so they just had the convenient knowledge of being able to identify equipment for the purpose of description.

I’m sure somepony will benefit from that…

Scenery aside, Aurora made good time reaching the end of the air vent. Another grate in the floor allowed her to peer into the room below. It was devoid of any objects, besides a large structure in the middle. It looked like a metal disc held up by a medley of wires. The disc had a few lights and panels at the top that probably gave access to the control surfaces of the machine.

Carefully, Aurora lifted the grate and slid it behind her. She lowered herself down into the room, and swung from the open vent to the collection of wires, almost losing her grip. She carefully let her hooves out, sliding down the wires and onto the metal disc. A small thump resonated on the machine when she landed, and Aurora could have sworn she heard something stir from below. Pushing the thought from her head, she quickly scanned the room below her and jumped down.

Aurora landed softly and with precision, despite the ten foot drop. The room was curiously bare, even more so than she had imagined. A curious humming filled the air, emanating from the central structure in the room. Upon further review, the metal disc seemed to be generating a sort of magical electric field in a cylindrical pattern towards the floor. Almost like an energy pylon of sorts.

The door on the other end of the room was closed and locked from both sides, with a keypad to the side. Getting through it was going to be an ordeal, and would most likely require a skilled hacker, or an expert electrician. Unfortunately, Aurora was neither of those things, and the one pony she knew that could handle such machinery was most likely still in Manehattan. The door could wait however, as a strange feeling wormed its way into Aurora’s psyche. She suddenly got the overwhelming feeling that the metal disc in the room was more important than it looked.

I hate these hunches; they always mean that everything is going to get worse…

Ignoring her own commentary, Aurora looked around the room and found a control panel on a nearby pedestal in front of the machine. There was another keypad, however this particular panel also had two green and red buttons, as well as a dial. Deciding that pressing buttons randomly would be the best course of action, Aurora began to tenderly massage the control surface with her hooves in an effort to slip through the machines security layer.

*SMACK SMACK SMACK*

Through her gentle approach, the petite pony learned that the red and green buttons were locked by the keypad, which took a passcode she didn’t know or have the ability to find out without rewiring the instrument. What did seem to have an effect was the dial. Aurora turned the dial counter-clockwise and noticed that the energy field being emitted by the disc became slightly transparent. She noticed a solid smudge in the field, and opted to turn the dial more. When it became fully transparent, the pink pony’s jaw dropped and she dropped into an aggressive, yet defensive stance.

“YOU!” Aurora said, her neon eyes cutting into the pony housed in what she now saw as a cell. Lying in the middle of the room as quiet and dark as the very night she ruled over, was none other than Princess Luna.

The midnight alicorn looked up with genuine surprise upon the arrival of the petite pony. A quick flash of anger raced across Luna’s face, but quickly gave way to wary indifference. She stayed on the ground, unwilling to stand for her unexpected guest. Not that she had much room to maneuver in her limited space.

“It is a surprise to find you here, Aurora.” Luna said coldly. “I’d have thought you would remain as far from your captor as possible given the opportunity.”

Aurora didn’t say anything in response. She stood completely still; ready to move at a moment’s notice. The monarch was not a force to take lightly, however her tone of voice suggested something new. Something that Aurora had never heard from the Princess before. She couldn’t quite place it, so she opted to listen to what Luna had to say.

“I suppose I understand what draws you here. The compulsive need for revenge, the unquenchable desire to put an end to the evils that reside below the castle.” Luna shifted her gaze away from Aurora’s neon eyes. “What I don’t understand is why now?”

Once again, Aurora kept listening. The Princess now addressed her more personally, and it was almost frightening.

“I saw you speak to Twilight and the others. With you, a traitor in such close proximity… Forgive me. I know now that you are not what I’ve come to believe. You are just a pawn in Nova’s sick and twisted game.” Luna’s head drooped, her deep blue face contorting into an expression of sadness. “I too have fallen victim to his grand design. What does that say of a pony whose purpose is to set an example for her subjects?”

Aurora’s expression didn’t falter, but her injured ear drooped betraying the slightest hint of sympathy. She did not dare to make a move. Luna had center stage, and she intended to hear all of what the lunar alicorn had to say in her defense.

“It must come across to you as the most ironic circumstance, but I’d like to ask something of you. A request, if you would be so kind as to hear me out.” Luna fixed her gaze on Aurora and continued. “End Nova and his misguided attempt at progress, and when you do… Leave me here, and tell no one of my whereabouts. I let this happen, and as such I deserve to be imprisoned. I clearly wasn’t ready to leave my first exile, as I’ve learned nothing about keeping the ponies of my kingdom safe.”

Princess Luna, the very symbol of betrayal in Aurora’s eyes, was…apologizing. She acknowledged her mistakes, and even offered to spend the rest of her life rotting in a laboratory just to punish herself. Everything here was wrong. Luna is evil. It’s how the world is supposed to be. Luna can’t be good; she can’t admit that she was wrong. She is an evil villain and deserves to be locked up for all eternity!

And yet something did not sit well with her. Aurora knew better than to take things at face value. There was always something just out of reach, scratching away at the surface and ready to be uncovered. Was it possible that the Princess was in fact just another victim? Could she possibly understand what made the two of them fight against her for all these years? The pink pony fought against herself internally, unsure of what to make of the tumultuous sea of emotion churning below her skin.

“Look at me.” Aurora commanded, her piercing neon eyes fixing on the princess. “Look me in the eyes, now.”

The commanding tone of Aurora’s voice caught Luna off guard, but she did as she was told. Luna’s deep blue eyes focused on Aurora, looking directly at the combat ready pony that was now staring at her intently. Their gaze met, and the air remained still. It was as if the world froze in that moment, the intensity of Aurora’s eyes mixing with the daunting presence of the midnight alicorn, creating a thick curtain of uncertainty around their encounter.

Aurora tried to wrestle any deceit, any kind of malice from the expression and feeling of the Princess of the Night. If she was good at anything, it was a staring contest. There would be no victor this time around however, only a decision. What to do next. And that is when Aurora realized what she had heard before in Luna’s voice. That unidentified tone that had escaped her so easily. Remorse. Luna was truly sorry for her actions, and instead of asking to be freed for her realization, she chose to take responsibility.

To sacrifice one’s freedom for that of another was a noble thing, indeed. In this case however, Luna did it as a punishment. Punishment for falling into a trap, and for once again failing the ponies of her nation. This reasoning could be understood, but Aurora was not going to tolerate it.

The pink pony got a running start, and bounded up the wall of the room with just enough momentum to push off the wall and land on the top of the disc. She eyed the numerous panels and lights, and then the broad stalk of wires in front of her. Without a clue as to a next course of action, Aurora decided to once again trust her careful nature and precision skills.

 *SMACK SMACK SMACK*

She peeked her head over the side of the disc, but nothing had changed. The field was still up. For the next ten minutes, Aurora opened panels and rearranged wires, flipped switches and pressed buttons, and even dented numerous pieces of machinery that were not designed to be dented. After all the struggle, nothing seemed to work. It was at that moment, that a small shuffling sound became audible, followed by a tiny squeak.

“Not again…” Aurora said angrily, looking around the base of the disc. Within a moment, the pink pony found the disturbance sitting slightly behind her. “There you are, I hope you enjoyed yourself for the last few moments of your life!”

Aurora raised her hoof, ready to pummel the tiny field mouse, but stopped. She saw in its grip a small, unassuming red wire. Its teeth sank into the wire, snapping the copper filament in two. The machine made a strained groan, and powered down. The mouse, now holding two ends of the wire in its hands looked up at the stunned earth pony and smiled.

“…we’re even.” Aurora finally managed, her eyes wide in disbelief. The mouse crawled up the wire stalk and into the deep recesses of the lab, leaving Aurora to finish a conversation.

“What is this, what are you doing?” Luna asked, turning to face the pink pony as she dropped back down onto the floor. “Why did you release me?”

“You asked me why I was here? Why I came back?” Luna merely nodded her head curiously. “I came back because my…our friends were taken from the Whitetail Woods. Nova has Twilight and Fluttershy.”

“He what!?” The midnight alicorn yelled angrily. “I’ll DESTROY him!”

Luna stood up quickly to start for the door, but no sooner had she taken a step, she was collapsed back onto the ground. Aurora moved to her side to assist her, and looked for an explanation. As she helped her up, she noticed how…normal the princess felt. For some reason, Aurora had imagined the ruler would feel like cold metal and burning hatred. Not of soft hair and a slightly cooling radiance.

“Curse that infernal machine…” Luna said, righting herself on all fours. “It hath drained me of my most basic resource and left me but a husk!”

“Your magic?” Aurora half asked half stated. “Then I suppose getting out of here isn’t going to be quite as easy as I’d have hoped.”

“No, it will not.” Luna replied. “My sister believes I am presiding over foreign affairs at the moment, and won’t be looking for me. The ambassador for Greifenraum may send her a message asking of my whereabouts, but it would be too late by then.”

“I don’t plan on getting out. I still have a mission here. I was talking about your escape plan.” Aurora stated flatly. “I owe a friend, and I’ll be damned if I return to him empty handed.”

“You refer to the safe return of Twilight and Fluttershy, yes?” Luna asked, her mobility returning to her. “They are close friends of mine as well, and I don’t intend to leave them any more than you do.”

“Well what do you propose? You don’t have any magic, and even though you blend into the dark, I hardly think an alicorn of your size can be inconspicuous.”

“I don’t need to be. Nova spends this time of night down in the deeper portions of the lab. He’ll be occupied for quite some time, a window that will give us plenty of opportunity to release our friends.”

“When you say ‘deeper portions’, you wouldn’t mean the Crystal Catacombs…” Aurora swallowed her saliva. “Would you?”
 
“Yes, why?” Luna asked, confused by the question.

“You didn’t think I’d come here alone, did you?”

“I trust the electrical one came in another way?” Luna asked calmly.

“He’ll be passing by Nova any minute now if he’s where you say he is.” Aurora said nervously. “I don’t want him to face him alone.”

“If your friend fights half as well as the day he confronted me, then I have confidence in him.” Luna said sternly. “Not many are able to best the warrior of the family.”

“I hope you’re right…” Aurora trailed off, turning towards the closed door.

“So, shall we go?” Luna said, wandering towards the exit. “I suggest we make haste.”

“The door is locked with a passphrase. Unless you can hack the terminal, we aren’t getting”—

*FWOOSH*

The door slid open instantaneously, clearing the way into the laboratory’s main floor. Luna stood in the doorway, practically beaming.

“How did you…” Aurora was dumbfounded.

“I am skilled with all the technology present in my castle. I do not trust what I do not understand to run the grounds, and so I took time to learn.” Luna stated, walking out into the hallway and towards the main room. “The passphrase, by the way, is lunarstorm6.”

Aurora let out deep breath and followed the princess out of the room, ready to release the captive ponies lying just ahead.

This one is going to be useful…




Chapter 29: Infiltration (Part II)


Still blind, but cramped no more. The dark, twisting tunnel I had initially forced myself into had finally opened up into an equally dim corridor, freeing my limbs from the unforgiving rock on each side. The opening of the cave stretched out before me, undulating randomly with the grooves in the sediment. I had crawled about a hundred yards before the tunnel's radius increased; meaning the opening to the catacombs was close by.

The small walk in front of me would give me some time to prepare for what lay ahead. Despite all of our efforts to stay away from it, the laboratory Aurora and I knew as our personal hell seemed to draw us closer every day. I tried to lie to myself and say that we were coming back for our friends, but I knew better. Though that was the reason we returned today, something else brought us here, and it would have been another reason down the road if not now. Ever since we escaped, all we’ve wanted to do was come back and truly finish what we started. We wanted our freedom.

It'd been so long since I'd been truly free; I didn't even begin to imagine what I'd do with myself. For the sake of the thought, I visualized devouring everything remotely tasty within a mile radius and proceeding to fall into a peaceful coma.

That's the stuff...

Distractions aside, I felt surprisingly focused. The cool air blowing in behind me as a slight breeze steadied my nerves, and though I worried for my friends, I was not afraid. I was ready. The stallion we came to face had been the one to prepare us for this very encounter. He knew us better physically and tactically than anypony else, but the same could be said for us. We knew each other’s tricks, and so the upcoming battle would be hard fought, and even harder won.

A light became visible around the bend, and the sound of rushing water danced across my ears. The light intensified, and my eyes adjusted to the huge cavern. It was twice as large as the castle's main hall, and glowed vibrantly with multiple shades of jade and crystal. The main feature of the room was a bridge about ten feet wide made of thick crystal, which was suspended over a massive drop. Nothing to fear as a pegasus, but any other non-winged race would be hard pressed to avoid vertigo.

I spread my wings, stretching them out after a long period of disuse, and flew silently towards the bridge. I touched down and swiveled around in an attempt to get my bearings when I heard hoofsteps approaching. The echoes reverberating off the walls distorted the sound, but I could tell they were close. I jumped off the bridge and flew under it looking for something to hold onto. Better yet, I found a small opening into a hollowed out portion of the platform.

I flew over to the opening and crawled inside. The hoofsteps were less obscured now, and I could feel the vibrations on the bridge as they walked over. There was a small thread of light pouring into the crevice from the top, coming from a small hole that had a line of sight on the bridges surface. I moved closer and put my eye up to the hole, and I was able to see the source of the disturbance.

Nova.

The dark gray unicorn walked slowly across the bridge. He moved with purpose as usual, but something seemed off about him. He looked distraught and perturbed, as if something had deeply scarred him. This was concerning, and I would have to make it a point to see where he just came from. Right now however, I was focused on staying hidden. I held my breath and ducked out of sight, letting him walk right over me.

I waited a good few minutes before emerging from my hiding place, lest I run into Nova unprepared. I returned to the bridge and glanced in the direction he was walking. He was heading up, back to the main floor of the lab. Aurora should have made it there by this point. I could only hope she’d be smart and avoid facing him if she could.

I turned in the other direction and saw a doorway at the opposite end of the bridge. I moved towards it swiftly, trying to minimize the time I spent separated from the rest of the group. The opening I saw led to a small enclosure with a metal doorway. There was a deadbolt on the door, however it was not engaged. In fact, the door was hanging open. I had never known Nova to be sloppy like that, especially in a section of the lab I’d never seen.

Without hesitation, I pushed open the door and stepped inside. The room was rather small, only about the size of Twilight’s study. The back wall played host to a chest on the ground, and a vent about two feet above it. The right wall had absolutely nothing going for it, save for a small bench. The left wall was what caught my eye. Iron bars, reminiscent of a minimum security prison were inlaid into the crystal.

Memories of my own captivity flashed through my head, bringing forth a sense of dread. Nova could have had a prisoner down here for who knows how long. I took a breath, and advanced towards the center of the room to get a better look. A few more steps were all it took. I was now face to face with the cell, looking at its lone inhabitant. Rage built up within me as I realized that Aurora and I were not the only ones to suffer this fate. I quickly realized however, that I recognized the pony inside.

“T-Tempest?” I asked in utter disbelief. The bright red pegasus huddled in the corner of the cage turned to look at me. His lavender eyes were wide with shock, previously oblivious to my presence. “Tempest, is… is that you?”

The prisoner stood up and turned around, hesitant to interact with me. He seemed dejected and out of place, almost as if he’d lost hope. I felt warmth flowing down my cheeks, and I realized that I was crying. My mentor, my friend…the closest thing I ever had to a father, alive?

“Tempest, it’s me! Thundervolt!” I was overjoyed; my body shuddered with the influx of emotion. “I thought you were dead! I can help you out!”

The bright red pegasus did not light up. He did not smile at the sight of his long lost son. He didn’t even move. I became a bit confused, but pressed on nonetheless. It had been a long time; maybe he didn’t recognize me as quickly.

“Just stay right there, I’m going to get you out of there.” 

I moved up the door of the cell, and focused my energy into my wings. After the charged sufficiently, I flared them out and struck the lock on the door. The metal severed and fell to floor, glowing a bright orange. I pushed open the cell door and walked towards Tempest.

Much to my surprise, he started to back away from me. I kept walking forward, unable to contain myself. His lavender eyes were filled with fear as he continued to move away from me. He eventually pressed himself into the corner, and looked directly into my eyes. The fear in his eyes slowly dissolved and turned into anger. A deep scowl formed on his face, which caused me to halt.

“Please, Tempest, it’s me! Thundervolt! Don’t you remember?” I stepped forward hesitantly, and Tempest bared his teeth at me. My eyes ceased to water and I stepped back, falling instinctively into a defensive stance. “What are you doing!?”

At my question, Tempest ceased to be the father figure I had all but forgotten. His teeth sharpened into fangs, and his powerful lavender eyes turned sickly neon green. They were the eyes of a Changeling. In that moment, I lost myself. I sat down on my flanks and stared at nothing in particular. I couldn’t comprehend what happened, and so I shut down.

The changeling in Tempest’s form ceased to bare its teeth. All previous signs of hostility had disappeared, and it looked to be confused. It blinked, and Tempest’s eyes returned to form. It hesitantly stepped forward, unsure of what action to take. It had clearly been subjected to quite a bit during its captivity, and was very cautious.

“Pegasus…ok?” The Changeling spoke quietly, flawlessly mimicking Tempest’s voice.

Until that point, I had forgotten all I knew about Changelings. They were so rare; there wasn’t a need to know anything about them. I didn’t really think twice when I saw them the day I returned to the lab. I probably should have, seeing their sheer numbers. I just regret not knowing how solidly built they were. Getting hit by one as you attempt to fly away from a failed assassination attempt would probably be painful. And so would the impact of hitting the floor after getting knocked out of the sky by one. And adding to the list of ill effects, Amnesia caused by severe head trauma is probably inconvenient as well.

“I’m anything but ok. I’m going to fix that though.” I spoke, not really sure why I was attempting to communicate with the pseudo-pegasus.

“Help?”

“No, I don’t think I need any.” I said, not sure what a changeling drone could do for me. I almost face-hoofed when I thought about its statement. “Of course, you need help getting out of here. Come on, let’s go.”

I stood up and began to walk from the room. The changeling hesitated at first, but then chose to follow. I walked towards the door, but then stopped in my tracks. I turned around and found the changeling was following me uncomfortably close. Ignoring its presence for a moment, I glanced back at the chest adorning the floor on the back wall.



The changeling looked at the unassuming box and nodded. It raised its hooves, and brought them down on the lid full force, resulting in an earth shattering thud. I almost cringed at how strong the changeling was, thankful that it wasn’t angry at me. The lid of the chest pried easily off the now destroyed hinges, revealing the contents. Another pair of combat vests identical to the kind Aurora wore. They were an older set, but still effective at blocking magic. The only other thing in the chest was, of course, a grappling hook.

I chose not to question its presence and just secured it to my vest in the hopes that it would once again be the invention to save somepony’s life. I secured the other two vests to my gear, and turned to the changeling.

“Thank you. There’s an exit at the top left of the cavern. Just follow the tunnel until you get to tiny passageway. You should be able to fit through that and get outside from there.” I said, prepared to show it the way.

Much to my surprise, the changeling simply moved towards the vent above the chest. Once again baring its teeth, it bit into the metal grate and ripped the cover away from the wall, throwing it across the room. It looked at me, and sent one of Tempest’s signature smiles my way before slipping into the ventilation system. I heard a few muffled thumps, and then nothing. The changeling was gone.

I took a moment to process what had just happened, and began to get angrier than anything. Nova was up to something all this time, and I wanted to know what. And once I found out, I planned on ending him quickly. The less time I spent on him, the more time I’d have to enjoy the rest of my life. I turned towards the door and started in the direction of the exit when I heard a low rumbling that sounded almost like an explosion.

“It looks like they’ve started without me.” I decided to forgo stealth in exchange for speed as I burst from the door towards the disturbance.

Please, everypony stay safe until I get there…





“Hold on, let me survey the floor.” Aurora whispered to the midnight blue Princess in tow behind her.

The petite pink pony quietly moved along the wall of the lab’s main floor, looking for any signs of life. It was eerily quiet, and the entire scene brought back bad memories. Aurora shook them off, and focused on the task at hand. She moved deeper into the lab, using experiment tables as cover to hide herself. In a few short moments, she made it to the main floor and noticed a collection of debris scattered along the floor.

Someone’s been getting messy while we’ve been away…

“We’re clear.” Aurora said. Her words weren’t loud, but the silence of the room carried them audibly.

The scene was very concerning to Aurora. Nova was gone, the lab was torn up, and the air held a deep malice. Something was very wrong, and she couldn’t place the feeling. As Luna walked into the room behind her, Aurora looked around for a place that Nova could be holding their friends.

She almost didn’t want to look, but the sheer irony almost ensured that they would be there. Aurora hopped up onto one of the tables and looked in the direction of her old cell. Sure enough, behind a set of familiar bars were Twilight and Fluttershy sat looking dejected. She would have to be sure to change that.

“They’re over here.” Aurora said, hopping off the table and galloping towards the two ponies. In a matter of seconds, she was right next to them, watching their faces change from depression to happiness.

“Aurora! You’re here!” Twilight said with excitement. “I knew somepony would come, I just…knew it.”

Twilight craned her head over Aurora to look at Princess Luna, who had just entered her field of vision. She looked concerned, and then glanced at Aurora with worry.

“Don’t worry Twilight, the Princess and I have an understanding. Turns out she isn’t the manipulative bitch I thought she was.” The petite pony said, sounding much happier than normal.

“So I am to assume you’ve thought this of me for a long while then?” Luna said, arching her eyebrow at the small earth pony.

“You didn’t exactly give me a reason not to.” Aurora retorted flatly, eliciting a soft chuckle from the Princess of the Night.

“Twilight, I should have known better than to think you would befriend a traitor to our nation. Your new friend has much bravery and tact, and is a much better pony than I have given her credit for.” Luna said, upholding her professional tone. “In short, I whole-heartedly approve of your new bond.”

“Uh, thank you Princess…” Twilight said dismissively.

“Where’s Thundervolt?” Fluttershy asked softly, evidently worried. “Is he alright?”

“Last I checked, yes. He entered through the crystal catacombs on account of his inability to stay quiet. I swear, I need to help him with that.” Aurora said, wearing a disapproving look. “I tell him to hide behind a wall, and I hear ‘How do I stealth?’ along with a stupid laugh.”

“Well I just hope he’s ok…” Fluttershy said meekly, coming out of her shell a bit more at the news.

“Before you ask, Twilight…” Aurora said, glancing at the lavender unicorn to confirm her mouth was hanging open with a question. “Rainbow Dash is safe. She’s our contingency plan. Things go wrong down here, she fixes it. And no, I don’t know where she is. She didn’t tell us how she planned on fixing it, that way we couldn’t betray her if we tried.”

“That doesn’t sound very reassuring…” Twilight said with a sigh. “I’ll just have to believe that she won’t do anything reckless.”

“Rainbow Dash, doing something reckless?” Fluttershy asked in mock disbelief.

“I know… Why do you think I’m so worried?”

“I’m sorry to rush, but I suggest we take our leave sooner rather than later.” Luna said, gesturing towards the door.

“Well then I suggest getting us out of here. We’d have done it already if these bars weren’t enchanted to resist magic.” Twilight said, looking around at the walls of her cell.

“It isn’t just the walls.” Luna said, watching as Aurora studied the lock on the cell door. “This research station was created to develop new technologies and magic applications. The entire area is enchanted to prevent magic from escaping.”

“So you’re saying we can’t teleport out of here.” Twilight said with disappointment. “Great.”

“It most certainly isn’t. To make matters worse, my own magic is currently depleted. The machine our captor had me attached to drained me of my abilities temporarily. My power is slowly returning, but it will be hours before I can even attempt low-level magic, let alone teleportation of that degree.” Luna said, mirroring Twilight’s emotions.

“Oh my, that’s bad…” Fluttershy added, unable to contribute to the conversation effectively.

“Well then I guess you’re lucky to have an amazingly gifted pony here to bust you all out of prison and lead you to freedom.” Aurora said sarcastically as she pulled out a bobby pin from a pocket in her vest.

With precision, the petite pink pony inserted the small metal object into the lock and twisted it carefully a few degrees to the left. She fished out a small screwdriver from the other side of her vest, and applied torque to the lock. With a satisfying ‘click’, the lock disengaged, and the door swung open.

“That was amazing! You make it look so easy!” Twilight asked enthusiastically.

“I heard you’re not too bad at it yourself.” Aurora said, causing the lavender mare to blush.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Twilight said, dodging the look Fluttershy was trying to shoot at her.

The two ponies moved towards the exit of the cell, but stopped when Aurora entered the cell with them. Her neon green eyes looked around the cell, taking in the depressing and yet familiar sight. So much of her life had been spent in this very cell, so many years wasted in such a dreary room. Twilight and Fluttershy remained silent, now aware of what was taking place. Aurora’s homecoming was a very bitter one.

“I wonder…” The pink pony’s gaze fell to the corner of the room. She walked towards the corner and felt a seam running along the wall until she reached a distinct crack. She took a breath, and then punched the wall. The sudden action forced a few pebbles off the crack, and much to everypony’s surprise, a sealed envelope as well. Aurora merely smiled as she picked the dusty letter up in her teeth, stowing it in a secure internal pocket of her vest.

“What was that?” Fluttershy asked softly, her voice barely breaking the silence.

“A promise.” Aurora replied cryptically. “One that I couldn’t keep…”

The three other ponies merely looked at each other as the petite pink pony stepped out of the cell, wearing a disturbingly sad look. Twilight moved closer to her and put a hoof on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Surprisingly, she didn’t break away. She merely sighed, and looked at the lavender mare through glistening eyes.

“It’s not important right now, Twilight.” Her neon green eyes betrayed her calm words. “We’re getting you out of here first.”

*THUNK*

All four ponies looked on in horror as the door leading to the exit closed and a steel wall locked in place in front of it.

“I must say, I didn’t expect to see you here so soon.”

Aurora turned towards the voice and immediately hardened her features. The others searched the room and their eyes finally fell on the same location.

“You weren’t going to leave without saying goodbye now, were you Aurora?” Nova said mockingly. He lifted his hoof, and smashed a panel of buttons into a pile of circuits. “I don’t appreciate that one bit.”




Chapter 30: Sacrifice




“He has disabled the door’s interface. We will not be leaving so easily.” Princess Luna said coldly. The dark grey unicorn across the room merely laughed to himself.

“You’re absolutely correct.” Nova said, smiling smugly. “It’s good to see that our princess is so observant.”

“Fluttershy, Luna. Take cover wherever you can. This is going to get bad very fast. Twilight, I want you on barrier support. Use as much of your magic as you can spare to shield yourself and the others.” Aurora said flatly, not taking her eyes off of Nova.

“What about you? You can’t take him on your own!” Twilight reasoned.

“You’re probably right, but I can buy you time. Between your lock picking and Luna’s knowledge of the lab’s systems, you two should be able to override the doors lock manually.” Aurora retorted. “You can escape while I hold him off.”

“That’s suicide!” Twilight yelled, her anger rising to the surface. “You can’t”—

“I wasn’t asking!” Aurora said, turning to look Twilight in the eyes. Aurora’s emotions were locked away, but her eyes were pleading. The lavender mare’s anger froze solid, and she closed her eyes for a moment. “This was the plan from the beginning. Get you out, and finish what we started…”

“Is that what you both believe?” Fluttershy asked seriously. Her teal eyes were focused on the petite pink pony, drilling her for an answer. Aurora paused for a moment, and then hung her head.

“…No, it isn’t. Thundervolt wants this to end as much as I do, but he’s already planning the rest of his life with you.” Aurora’s eyes shined for a moment before she turned away. “I intend to kill this monster, no matter what it costs.”

Everypony could only watch Aurora as her words sunk in. This wasn’t a game to her, it was life and death. It always had been, and nothing would stop her from killing Nova. Not even if she didn’t live to see the rest of her days.

“Fine. We’ll go with your plan.” Twilight said harshly. “But if you throw your life away, I’ll spend my life learning how to resurrect you with magic, just so I can bring you back and kill you myself for doing it.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Twilight.” Aurora said sincerely. “You’ve been a great friend to me, and I can’t thank you enough.”

“I believe this is the part where I’m supposed to interrupt with a snide comment.” Nova interjected. He cleared his throat and continued. “Aurora, that vest clashes with your coat. It always has!”

“You’re the idiot who ordered them in blue.” Aurora replied almost immediately.

Nova sighed in disappointment. “This is why I like Thundervolt better than you. He’s much funnier.”

“We’ll see who’s laughing when I shove my hoof up your”—

“And he certainly isn’t as brash as you.” Nova said. “How about we just skip to the part where I end your pathetic life and put your friends back in their cages?”

Nova disappeared in a brilliant red flash and reappeared mere inches from where Aurora stood. His hoof shot up towards her jaw, but the pink pony moved her head away at the last second and struck Nova’s chest with her hoof at the opening. The unicorn pulled away and jumped back, gathering some distance. Both ponies were now in defensive positions.

“You’ve certainly improved your reaction time.” Nova said, rubbing the area Aurora struck. “I might actually have to try.”

“Twilight, get those barriers up now!” Aurora barked. “I’ve got this covered!”

The lavender mare said nothing, but focused her magic, casting a powerful shield spell around herself, Fluttershy, and Princess Luna. They moved a safe distance away and took additional cover behind a lab station where they could see. Aurora didn’t check to make sure if they had reached a safe distance. She never took her eyes off the dark grey unicorn in front of her.

“I’m insulted. You really think I’d attack such defenseless ponies?” Nova said with a smirk. “Now where’s the fun in that?”

“You wanted a fight, so shut up and hit me!” Aurora growled impatiently.

“As you wish.” Nova’s blood red eyes hardened before disappearing with the rest of him in yet another flash of red light.

Before she could react, Aurora was swept off her feet from behind. She whipped her head around just in time to see Nova rearing back on his front legs, preparing to buck. Aurora crossed her limbs over her stomach and chest as Nova’s attack hit her full force, sending her flying across the room. Aurora landed in a controlled roll and slid to her feet, her head hanging towards the floor. She brought up her face, revealing constricted pupils and a deranged smile.

“Now that’s more like it.” She said with exhilaration. “I thought you were going to be a pushover.”

“It seems I’ve managed to rile you up.” Nova said, wearing an equally disturbed smile. “This should prove interesting after all.”

Forgoing teleportation, Nova galloped straight towards the petite pink pony, who dropped her defensive stance in favor of a more offensive position. Aurora started a run of her own, jumping towards Nova wildly. The two raised their hoofs to strike one another and launched their limbs outwards. A resounding ‘thunk’ was heard as their two hooves met midair, stopping their momentum. 

Still airborne, Aurora contorted her body and attempted to spin her rear hoof around to strike Nova’s head. The stallion dodged the blow and charged his horn as Aurora landed squarely in front of him. An audible crackling could be heard emanating from Nova’s horn, and his eyes narrowed as he aimed his shot.

“Boom.”

A small bolt of magic shot from Nova’s horn and landed just in front of the small pink pony. Before she had time to fully prepare, the small bolt detonated with a large explosion, sending magical shrapnel in all directions. As the waves shot outward, energy washed over Twilight’s shield spell, distorting their view long enough for them to lose track of the two combatants.

Aurora landed hard on the other side of lab, rolling a few times before coming to an abrupt stop. Her limp body showed no signs of movement. As the dust cleared, they could see Nova standing exactly where he had been before, a transparent red shield erected in front of him.

Aurora stirred slightly, opening her eyes just enough to get her bearings. A sharp pain shot through her right shoulder when she tried to move it. The muscles were torn there, and her body was covered in smaller bruises and lacerations. She struggled to her feet, but couldn’t manage to stay up, and so she collapsed onto her flanks in order to let her body recover.

As soon as she began to take in deeper breaths, her coat became much more radiant, giving off a slight amount of light. Her cuts sealed up, and her bruises slowly began to fade away. She opened her eyes, flashing the brightest green directly at the dark grey unicorn patiently watching her from across the room. In under a minute, Aurora stood up and tested her right shoulder. Satisfied, she planted her hoofs to the ground and assumed a fighting stance.

“It’s good to see that my work is still as functional as ever.” Nova replied, genuinely pleased. “I’ll bet that you’d like a horn right about now, wouldn’t you? It must be tough without one.”

“Well it’d be something new for me to stick in your”—

“Thundervolt is more creative as well. You seem to recycle the same material quite a bit.” Nova said, grinning with malice. “It gets old fast. Where is he by the way? I miss him.”

“Wherever he is, I feel sorry for him.” Aurora said with a smile of her own. “He doesn’t have the joy of smacking you around like I do.”

“I don’t recall being ‘smacked around’. Perhaps you hit your head at some point during your last spill.”

“Oh don’t worry, that was just a warm-up. I just had to make sure you were actually as tough as I thought you were.” Aurora grinned, and her eyes were bright and focused. “Now I’m going to start.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Aurora sprinted towards Nova at an alarming rate. The dark grey unicorn moved into a defensive stance in preparation for the pink pony’s next attack. Aurora came within range of Nova and slid on her back towards him with her rear legs held close to her body. Once next to him she kicked towards him full force. Nova blocked the strike, and moved to counter with his foreleg, but Aurora was faster. She rolled away from his strike as it hit the ground, and swept her leg under his hooves.

Nova hopped over the strike and lowered his horn, ready to charge the pink pony. He lunged towards Aurora and came within inches of puncturing her lung. Aurora dodged away, but managed to get ahold of Nova’s neck. She swung her legs over his back and secured her hold with both hooves, gripping the unicorn tightly. Nova thrashed around in all directions trying to shake the pink pony off, to no avail.

Thinking fast, Aurora drove her hind legs into Nova’s stomach and pulled back on his head, bringing the dark grey unicorn down to the ground. Now successfully pinned, Nova had nowhere to go. Aurora gripped his neck harder until she heard the satisfying sound of his stifled breathing. She moved to finish the job, but didn’t notice the overglow present on Nova’s horn.

“NO!” Nova’s blood red eyes widened in anger and he surged magic from his body.

The telekinetic surge sent Aurora flying into the air. The actual magic didn’t do anything, but now Aurora was high above the floor of the lab, to the point that falling would result in more than a few broken bones. Deciding to make use of her limited time with full use of her body, the petite pink pony reached into her vest and pulled out multiple throwing knives.

One by one she flung each knife directly at Nova, hurling them from her mouth and propelling them from her hooves as best she could. Each projectile streaked accurately toward their target, who was still disoriented. The first knife grazed Nova’s left leg, creating a decently sized gash. The next one narrowly missed his head, cutting a few strands of hair from his mane. The third, fourth and fifth knifes hurtled directly towards Nova’s head until the stopped midair, dropping harmlessly as a result of Nova’s telekinesis.

Aurora frowned at the results and prepared her body for her approaching fall. She reached the peak of her ascension and began to come back down. She spread her limbs outward and tried desperately to control her fall, but nothing was able to prevent her nasty spill.

She closed her eyes and waited to hit the ground. A second later, she felt a much softer impact, and heard the rapid beating of pegasus wings. She opened her eyes calmly, already knowing exactly what had saved her.

“You really meant it, didn’t you?” Aurora said, looking appreciatively into Thundervolt’s golden eyes.

“Of course.” The white pegasus said. “I said I’d never drop you again, and since then I’m three for three.”

Thundervolt looked down at the dark grey unicorn and saw a disturbing smile forming across his face. The pegasus angled himself towards Twilight and the others and went in to land on a controlled glide. He let go of Aurora, who landed solidly on a lab station in front of the group. Thundervolt touched down just in front of her, ready to join the fight.

“Well, isn’t that just wonderful. I was just talking about how much I missed you.” Nova said, staring at Thundervolt intently. “Now that you’re here, I don’t have to hold back any long”—

*BVVVZZZZ*

Thundervolt’s wings exploded into a crackling storm of thunder, halting Nova’s speech. His golden eyes were emotionless and distant. The dark grey unicorn looked slightly confused at this behavior, and readied himself to speak again. Before he had the chance however, Thundervolt’s wings flared, increasing the output of electricity. Without warning, he shot towards Nova at breakneck speed with the intent to kill.





“Contingency… pssh, that’s just a fancy way to say ‘unnecessary’.” Rainbow Dash said to herself, clearly irritated.

The rainbow headed mare sat at the front gate of the castle, unsure of what to do with herself. Thundervolt and Aurora had made it very clear that she was supposed to stay behind. In fact, the phrase: ‘under no circumstances’ still rang in her ears. Those two ponies were down in the depths of the castle fighting for their lives, and she was sitting there being useless.

“How do I even know when to start coming up with a back-up plan?” Rainbow Dash asked herself. “Wait, my plan would only get used if they fail!”

The cyan pegasus stood up, fuming with anger. It had just clicked in her head that she hadn’t just thought she’d been told to be useless, she was literally supposed to be useless the whole time they were fighting. Rainbow Dash pointed her magenta eyes towards the throne room of the castle, an idea forming in her head.

They won’t mind if I make sure somepony knows what’s going on…

The cyan pegasus shot into the air, trailing rainbow behind her as she flew at top speed towards the throne room. Less than a minute later, Rainbow Dash flew through an open window and dodged multiple statues and tapestries upon entry. She cut through a few hallways, taking absolutely no time to be inconspicuous. By the time she entered the throne room, seven guards were right behind her.

The cyan pegasus screeched to a halt in front of Princess Celestia’s seat, only to discover the solar princess was nowhere to be found. Rainbow Dash turned to exit and found herself staring down the guards that were previously trailing her. An awkward look of realization formed on the cyan mares face.

“Uhh…hey there!” Rainbow Dash desperately searched for words. “I don’t suppose you’d believe I’m the royal jester, would you?”

The numerous scowls she received from the guardsponies emanated a resounding no. With no other options, Rainbow Dash prepared herself to take off into the night.

“Well she most certainly isn’t the jester, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t good for a laugh now and then.”

Rainbow Dash and the guards turned to find none other than Princess Celestia standing in the doorway of the throne room. Her loving, royal voice still echoed in the room, filling the guards with awe and respect. For Rainbow Dash, her voice was sweet relief.

“Princess, it is an honor.” One of the guards spoke. “We caught this mare tearing through the castle like she was at an airshow. We chased into your royal chambers and assumed she was here to make an attempt on your life.”

“Well, I appreciate the sentiment. It’s pleasing to know that my guards are so quick to protect me.” Princess Celestia said warmly. She smiled at Rainbow Dash and continued. “I can assure you however, that I am in no danger for two reasons. The first being that Rainbow Dash is an esteemed guest of the royal castle, and a valuable citizen of Equestria that would never present any kind of ill-intent.”

“I see, Your Highness.” The guard said, hesitating slightly. “And the other reason, if I may ask?”

“The second reason is that I’m much stronger than I look.” The Princess said mischievously, sending a jesting wink towards the guard.

“My apologies, Ms. Dash. We shall take our leave then, Princess.” The guard said with a deep bow. He and the other members of the guard left swiftly, leaving the Princess and her guest alone.

“Thanks for that, I thought I was in trouble for a minute there.” Rainbow Dash said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“My guards just caught you causing a disturbance in the castle, my home, in the middle of the night with no explanation as to why. I wouldn’t feel relieved just yet, my little pony.” Princess Celestia said sternly, abandoning her warm smile.

Rainbow Dash gulped, her body seizing up momentarily. When one of the royal princesses disapproves of your actions, it isn’t to be taken lightly. The cyan pegasus took a deep breath, stiffened her resolve, and prepared her response. 

Don’t talk to Celestia, she may converse with Luna who will steer her away from helping us. It would be best to keep her as far removed as possible.

Aurora’s words echoed in Rainbow Dash’s head. Though it was killing the cyan pegasus, the pink pony was right. There were too many factors to consider when involving Celestia. But they needed her help, and Rainbow Dash knew she couldn’t stay on the sidelines any longer.

“I was looking for you because Twilight and I have a surprise for you!” Rainbow Dash said unconvincingly.

“Oh?” Celestia arched her eyebrow curiously, measuring the cyan mare’s intentions.

“Yeah! Meet us in the R&D department in an hour to see it!” Rainbow Dash said, hovering towards an open window awkwardly. “I promise you’ll love it!”

With that, the cyan mare flew out of the castle as fast as she could, heading for the same entrance Thundervolt had entered just before. Princess Celestia stood in silence, trying to piece together what had just happened. After all of her deliberation, one question remained in her head that she couldn’t answer.

“When did we get an R&D department?”





“That…*cough*…hurt.” Nova said flatly as he stood up and brushed himself off.

“The only reason you’re still alive is because I want answers!” I yelled, fixing my gaze on the dark grey unicorn. My wings still buzzed with electricity, filling my ears with the familiar drone.

“Oh good, more talking.” Nova’s face lit up and he began to smile. “I love talking.”

“How long have you been delusional?” I asked seriously. “Have you been crazy this whole time, or did it take a while for your sanity to degrade this far!?”

“What are you talking about?” Nova asked, his smile curiously fading.

“Or are you just that deranged, that looking at it every day made you happy?” I hardened my gaze. “Huh? Is that how you get your sick kicks!?” 

“What are you getting at, Thundervolt.” Nova stated, not as a question but as a demand.

“The Changeling.” I said sternly. “Why… Why does it look like him!? Like Tempest!?”

“…You shouldn’t have seen that.” Nova said, sounding defensive.

“I shouldn’t have seen a lot of things! Now stop dodging the question, why was that thing locked up, and why does it look like the stallion who raised me!?”

“I raised you, not him!” Nova spat, his pupils constricting. “The both of you are products of my intentions; Tempest has nothing to do with you!”

“That thing isn’t Tempest!” I said venomously. “And don’t kid yourself. You’re nothing more than a serial kidnapper with a fractured psyche!”

“He’s right you know.”

“What? How can you agree with him?” Nova said, looking towards the bright red pegasus who appeared next to him.

“Because he’s telling the truth.” Tempest’s lavender eyes bore down on Nova. “Your mind is failing you, and you refuse to admit it. Face it, you’re in denial.”

“I am not denying anything!” Nova said angrily, staring intently at the bright red pegasus.

“Who are you even talking to!?” I asked, watching the dark grey unicorn argue with himself. “Nopony’s there! You’re broken!”

“Shut up! I’m not broken; you’re the one who’s broken!” Nova retorted weakly, unsure if he even believed his own statement.

I backed away from the distraught unicorn in an effort to gauge the situation. I wanted answers so badly, but I couldn’t rely on anything Nova said. It was clear that he was breaking down. How long he’d been like this was a mystery, but it was clear that his view of reality was skewed harshly.

Aurora had been slowly making her way to my side during my interrogation and was now right beside me. I glanced her way and saw her neon green eyes filled with concern and confusion. She had absolutely no clue what was going on, unsure of what to do in the current situation. I motioned for her to follow me, and I took off towards Twilight’s shield, glancing back at Nova to make sure he wasn’t going to act.

Twilight saw we were heading her way and lowered the shield just enough to let us pass through. I landed in front of Twilight and looked back to make sure Aurora got in safely before looking back at Nova. He seemed almost vacant, as if he was having a dialogue with himself in his head. I chose to ignore that detail for a moment and turned around just in time to see a pink and yellow mass shooting toward me.

“OOF!” I rebounded off of Twilight’s shield after being rushed and attempted to catch my breath while being squeezed to death. “Hello Fluttershy, I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you.”

The yellow mare responded by squeezing harder, uncomfortably so. I was surprised to have difficulty breathing.

“F-Fluttershy?” I asked hesitantly between mangled breaths. “You’re killing me…”

“When your special somepony leaves you behind…” Fluttershy said ominously. “GIVE THEM THE GRIND!”

The next few seconds were something of a blur, but I recall a very loud snapping sound, as well as some pained whimpering that was probably coming from me. Fluttershy released her grip on me and stepped back, still wearing an angry look. Her teal eyes cut through me like daggers. I looked directly into them and could see that she was more hurt than angry. I had put the mare through hell.

“I deserved a lot worse than that…” I said remorsefully. “I should never have left, Fluttershy. I just… I just wanted to keep you safe, and you ended up getting involved in this anyway!”

“That’s right. I did.” Fluttershy said. She walked over to me and wrapped me in her arms, gingerly this time. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way, you silly colt.”

“Fluttershy…” I said, holding back tears.

“I’m sorry to break up your reunion, but this is hardly the time.” Aurora said urgently, monitoring the dark grey unicorn from afar.

“I agree, shouldn’t we be coming up with some sort of plan?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“We have a plan. Hold off Nova until you three escape.” Aurora said resolutely. “Now I have back-up.”

“Back-up?” I said, arching my eyebrow at the pink pony.

“Not the time.” Aurora said flatly.

“Acknowledged, but about this plan of yours…” I started, turning to look at the midnight blue alicorn now eyeballing me guiltily. “Why are we protecting her?”

“Thundervolt, don’t. She’s with us now.” Aurora said with authority. “I can explain everything later, but for all intents and purposes, the Princess is on our side.”

“That is correct.” Luna interjected awkwardly.

“…Fine. But I’m looking forward to hearing why the dictator that tried to stomp my head in is suddenly helpful.” I said bitterly.

“I never said she was helpful, just that she was on our side now.” Aurora countered.

“I do not appreciate that.” Luna said dejectedly.

“I don’t appreciate getting my face stomped on.” I retorted snappily. “I’ve been told I have a nice face.”

“It’s true; he does have a nice face.” Fluttershy added, causing me to smile and blush.

“Off topic!” Twilight yelled, snapping us to attention. She gestured towards my combat gear and continued. “Speaking of being helpful, what are those?”

“Oh yea, I took a detour and found these in a locked chest. Two sets of older combat gear, the same kind Aurora wears.” I said, unclasping them from my own gear and tossing them to Twilight and Fluttershy.

“Very functional, though I’ve been told they clash with my coat.” Aurora added bitterly.

“And I have this.” I said, moving my flank to draw attention the grappling hook. “These things are awesome.”

“Wonderful. You have fun with that.” Aurora said, completely unaware of the mystical powers of grappling hooks and their life-saving properties. “This is good; you’ll be fairly safe with those on. You can probably tone down the shielding a bit.”

“I will once Luna gets some strength back.” Twilight said, looking over towards the princess. “I’ve been transferring some of my magic to her through the shielding. She’ll be at quarter strength in a few minutes, plenty to shield herself.”

“Good to hear. I want you three working on an exodus. You’re getting out of here as soon as possible.” Aurora said, taking control of the situation. “Thundervolt, are you up for some special applications?”

“Haven’t had to use any of those for a while…” I said almost nostalgically. “You’re on! Still remember the call-outs?”

“Of course.” Aurora turned to Twilight. “I’m looking to you to keep these two safe.”

“You have my word, I’ll do everything I can to protect them.” Twilight said with some reservation.

“You have to promise me; under no circumstances are you to engage Nova.” Aurora said, drilling her point home. “He’s no pushover, and I don’t want you on his radar.”

“I promise.” Twilight said sincerely. “Get out there and stay alive.”

Aurora’s neon green eyes focused intently on the lavender mare, her gaze betraying her thoughts. The unicorn looked more worried than before, but didn’t voice her concerns. Aurora and I sent one last look of appreciation towards the shielded ponies and then re-entered the fray.

In the time we spent regrouping, Nova had apparently recovered from his outburst and was something resembling normal. His blood red eyes looked far less patient than before, indicating his rising anger. His psychotic outbursts were apparently becoming something of a nuisance to him, especially when being observed.

“You’re done? Good.” Nova said harshly. “I was beginning to grow bored.”

“Save it Nova.” I said with force. “You’re done.”

“Done?” Nova said with mock surprise. He looked himself over and then retorted. “I don’t think I’m done at all. In fact, I think I’m just about to get started.”

“Up and over.” Aurora stated calmly, tapping my back solidly.

At her command, I began to rush forward in curved pattern. My eyes were dead set on Nova, who assumed a protective stance as soon as I started moving. Once about ten meters away, I stopped and planted my hooves firmly on the ground. A second later I heard hoofsteps coming from behind me. Aurora jumped and landed lightly on my back, compressed like a spring. I extended my legs and flared my wings in time with her decompression, sending her high up in the air. Knives prepared in her mouth, the mare spun rapidly, sending a multitude of knives Nova’s way.

The dark grey unicorn focused magic into his horn and generated a small shield to block the projectiles. He stared straight at Aurora, giving me the opportunity we needed. My wings erupted with electricity and I burst forward at an impressive speed. Nova’s eyes turned downward, but he was too late to stop my advance. The knives bounced off of his shield right as I impacted his chest with my hooves.

My blow sent Nova flying towards the wall at an upward angle. Aurora landed beside me, and without missing a beat, caught the knives she threw, still rotating wildly in the air. She prepared them once more and threw them swiftly on Nova’s trajectory. The stallion impacted the wall, and didn’t have more than a second to react to the knives trajectory.

His horn flared red and he conjured up a shield at the last second, ceasing the movement of all Aurora’s shots. Nova’s shield dispelled moments after and he fell to the floor, landing hard on his left shoulder. He stood up shakily and stared us down, ready to respond.

The stallion’s horn glowed a fierce red, and numerous magical bolts began to shoot our way, alternating a steady stream of fire between Aurora and I. Spotting our next opportunity, I spoke up.

“Sucker Punch!”

With that, Aurora ducked out of sight behind cover as my wings burst with energy. I took to the sky and drew Nova’s fire. With his stream of projectiles focused on me, I darted around the sky attracting his attention. I went into a steep dive to gain some ground when I saw Aurora in position. I flared my wings to halt my momentum, and dropped to the ground.

Aurora came out of cover and ran towards Nova at full speed. The stallion immediately turned and resumed fire, forcing the pink pony to take evasive action. She ran towards him in a serpentine pattern, gaining more and more ground by the second. While she moved up, I ran towards him from the other side, wings still crackling dangerously. With his attention divided, Nova was quickly running out of options.

Choosing to prioritize his fire, Nova spun around and shot a large burst of magic at me. I quickly dodged the shot, moving a full ninety degrees before stopping and shouting.

“You suck at shooting!”

Nova responded by sending another shot my way, which I easily ducked under. I looked at him and smiled like an idiot, taking him off guard. He hadn’t noticed the pink pony on his right come within range. With a sickening crunch, pink hoof met dark grey jaw, causing Nova’s head to jerk to the side. Aurora wasn’t done however. She dropped to her back and kicked upwards, landing a solid blow on the stallion’s abdomen.

With the wind knocked out of him, I hurried forward, ready to finish him off. Aurora stood up as well, rushing him from the other side. In our haste, neither of us noticed the red overglow encompassing his horn.

“GET BACK!”

A torrent of dark red magic swept out from the dark grey stallion, forcing the both of us up and away. I struggled to right my tumbling form in the air before flaring my wings and coming to a controlled stop. I looked for Aurora and saw her hurtling towards a group of lab stations. I couldn’t even change positions in the time it took her to land. She had attempted to soften the blow, but miscalculated, her head taking the brunt of the impact. Her body immediately went limp, and she ceased to move.

“Aurora!” I rushed towards her, but was stopped by a dark red energy bolt whizzing past my face.

“Going somewhere!?” Nova yelled in deranged manner. More and more bolts of energy flew past me to the point where I couldn’t do anything but evade.

Red streaks of energy flew past me in all directions, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to avoid them. Even with my wings extra thrust, it was still becoming grim. I contorted my body in every direction, but still I felt the bolts getting closer and closer, first increasing in volume and force, then grazing my limbs. A rogue shot impacted my chest, sending me spiraling down towards the ground. I wasn’t able to pull up in time, and found myself crashing to the ground hard.

Oddly enough, the projectiles stopped. I expected to be hit immediately, but for some reason Nova had decided to cease fire. I looked over, and saw his attention was elsewhere. He scanned the lab stations ferociously, coldly seeking out a target I could not locate. And then there she was.

Ducking in, out, and over lab stations with speed I’d never seen her move with, was none other than Fluttershy. Before I could scream for her to get back to cover, Nova sent out a powerful blast of magic. In what was the longest moment of my life, I watched his deadly projectile head straight for the shy pegasus. She turned her head at the sound and her teal eyes widened when she found its source. She moved to duck just in time, the shot grazing just past her neck and onto the lab station behind her.

Nova prepared another shot, but I had control of myself now.

“NO!” I yelled, ferociously slashing away at the stallion. “YOU DON’T TOUCH HER!”

Nova barely had a chance to pull up two small shields to block my strikes before I was on top of him, a flurry of wing strikes threatening to cut him to bits. He and I moved with all of our speed as I attempted to cut him down, and he attempted to stay alive. His eyes were intense and focused. My eyes were crazed and passionate. I could slowly see his resilience fading, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he buckled.

As soon as that thought passed through my head, I saw my chance. Nova’s back leg miss-stepped, throwing him off balance. I reached forward and grabbed his head with my hooves and yanked backwards. I rolled to my back while still pulling him towards me, and threw him over and behind me with my back hooves. The stallion landed hard, sliding into a work station. I sprung to my hooves and rushed toward him before he could right himself. I grabbed him by the neck and forced his back against the table, then held my glowing wing up to his throat.

“It’s over!” I yelled, rearing back to prepare the finishing blow.

As I was about to strike, something caught my eye. I looked up momentarily and saw Fluttershy looking at me. She wore the same look she had when she had first seen my wings light up in Twilight’s basement. That same look of blank indifference was across her face now. I was about to kill somepony in front of her, and she didn’t have a single emotion about it.

And that’s when it hit me. That look wasn’t devoid of any emotion at all. Her eyes are expressing it all for her. She’s afraid of me. My power had shocked her to the point where she couldn’t react, and now seeing me about to take a life, she was under the same trance. I couldn’t help but stare guiltily at her, realizing what I’d been doing to her all this time. She saw my gaze and snapped back to reality, opening her mouth to say something. I wasn’t sure, but I could have sworn I heard her say ‘look out’.

“You should listen to your marefriend, Thundervolt!” Nova spit venomously. He moved his horn towards me, sticking me in the neck. “You’d be shocked at how helpful she can be!”

In an instant, my entire body seized up. I was unable to move a single muscle and I couldn’t breathe. I smelt burning flesh and realized that the feeling was familiar. I was being electrocuted. I began seeing colors flash before my eyes before I succumbed to tunnel vision. I tried to look around, but all I saw was darkness. My heart rate climbed ferociously, and I could feel how close I was to full cardiac arrest.

Just then I was thrown over the lab station, landing next to an unconscious Aurora. With my limited vision, I could see she was still breathing, giving me a spark of hope. I felt somepony gently prop me up, and saw them step in front of me in attempt to shield me.

“The only reason you aren’t dead now is because I want you to watch while I kill all of your friends!” Nova growled angrily. “I’m going to start with your little lover!”

I tried desperately to stand, but all I could do was watch as Nova walked towards Fluttershy, malice surrounding him. His horn lit up as he prepared an attack. He was about to cast his spell when his eyes darted to the right suddenly. He put up a barrier almost instantaneously, causing a large, lavender projectile to ricochet into a neighboring wall. Nova looked at the source of the projectile and growled viciously.

Twilight stood across the room, wearing a determined look on her face. Her horn glowed a bright shade of lavender, emanating a power rivaling Nova’s. The dark grey stallion smiled as he looked upon the mare.

“Actually, I think I’ll start with the lavender firecracker.” Nova said with excitement.

“Luna, would you mind tending to our wounded for a bit? I’m sure you’ve got enough magic for a shield and healing spell at this point.” Twilight said to the midnight blue alicorn, who immediately moved towards us. “I’ve got a psychopath to deal with.”

“So you’re looking for a rematch, eh?” Nova said with a grin, stepping away from us and into the center of the room. “I assure you, the last time we met was a one-time occurrence.”

“Huh?” I asked groggily, unsure of what he was referring to.

“Twilight smashed him into a tree and almost choked him to death…” Fluttershy said uncomfortably.

I could only widen my eyes at her statement, unsure of how Twilight could possess that kind of power. I wanted to stand up and stop her from getting involved. I didn’t want anypony else to get hurt and that desire was quickly being overridden by my overzealous friends. And I didn’t even want to think about what Rainbow Dash would say should she find out Twilight was fighting our battle.

“That’s right, and now I’m going to smash him into the floor of his laboratory.” Twilight said with sass. “This place is already dingy enough; a few more cracks in the floor couldn’t hurt.”

“Oh my, forget firecracker.” Nova said with enthusiasm. “This one is more akin to a pack of plastic explosives!”

“Care to test that theory?” Twilight said, her boasting rivaling that of Rainbow Dash.

“As you wish.” Nova’s horn glowed red as he sent out a much larger magic bolt towards Twilight.

I tensed up as I could only watch the projectile home in on the mare. Twilight didn’t so much as blink as she stared down the coming spell. The red glow of the shot centered itself in both of Twilight’s eyes, giving her a disturbingly evil look. The lavender mare tilted her horn towards the spell as it came within a few feet.

A large, magical explosion rocked the entire lab as the blast enveloped Twilight. The wave from the detonation curved around the mares form, obscuring her from view. Moments later, the back-blast cleared, revealing Twilight standing in the same spot completely unscathed. She wore a determined frown on her face.

“You’ll have to do better than that.” The mare said sternly, eliciting a chuckle from the stallion.

Nova responded by teleporting out of sight. Not waiting for him to resurface, Twilight teleported away as well, leaving the room devoid of combatants. Luna moved alongside us and cast a small barrier over the group. Her shield was thicker than Twilight’s, giving off a deep transparent blue. Luna then knelt down towards Aurora and scanned her injuries with her horn. I wanted to stop her, but I couldn’t move. Fluttershy seemed to sense this and spoke up.

“Don’t worry, the princess wouldn’t hurt her.”

“I’m merely looking her over to see what I’m dealing with before I begin the healing spell.” Luna said calmly, not taking her eyes off of the unconscious pink pony. “I know you don’t trust me, but that does not change the fact that you two are in dire need of medical attention. Your friend especially.”

Her words made enormous sense, and I hated it. I hardened my stare, but nodded in agreement, turning my attention back towards the center of the room. Twilight and Nova still weren’t there, and I was beginning to get worried.

“What’s going on? Where are they?” I asked, not expecting a response. Luna however knew the answer.

“They’re delaying re-entry. It’s an extension of the basic teleport spell.” Luna said, turning her scan towards me. I felt the familiar tingle wash over me. “Not that teleporting is exactly basic. It’s very high level magic that allows a pony to effectively disappear out of reality for a bit, and then reappear where they would have otherwise popped up immediately.”

“The fact that Twilight can do that so effectively is nothing short of impressive.” Luna continued. “My sister was right about her abilities.”

A flash of lavender appeared in the air as Twilight resurfaced about twenty feet from the floor. She jerked her body around and looked behind her just as a red blaze spawned Nova, his hoof shooting forward to attack. Twilight conjured a small shield to deflect his punch downward, which sent the dark grey unicorn falling to the floor. Nova whipped around and fired a rapid succession of magic bolts towards Twilight. The mare didn’t even flinch, teleporting behind Nova with a thick shield already placed in front of her.

Nova paid no attention to the barrier, and unleashed a huge burst of energy point blank, engulfing Twilight in dark red flames. A small lapse in the flames revealed that Twilight was holding her ground firmly. Her lavender eyes were constricted and focused, and her horn had an overglow. She was pouring an enormous amount of energy into that shield. Nova’s blast continued, but Twilight had other plans. She closed her eyes and her horn glowed even brighter than before. The barrier in front of her cracked all over as if it was going to break.

The shield suddenly broke, but the shards shot forwards like heated shrapnel, bits of hardened lavender magic surrounded by red fire. Nova couldn’t move in time. He averted his eyes as hundreds of shards passed by him, cutting his body up severely. With a final burst of telekinetic energy, Twilight pushed Nova away, sending him sprawling along the floor, a small trail of blood punctuating his roll.

Luna’s healing spell was finally starting to take effect. I stood up and let my own natural healing take place. I wasn’t ready to join the fight, but I could move on my own. I moved to Aurora’s side and tried to get her to wake up. Her eyes were beginning to open, but she was going to need more time. I looked back at Twilight and saw she hadn’t moved. She merely stared at the convulsing unicorn stallion, her horn aglow in defense.

The sheer power of that unicorn was almost frightening. She had immobilized Nova so easily, and she wasn’t even trained to fight. Something told me there was even more to the mare than I could see, but I banished the thought. Speculation could wait for the time being. Fluttershy had an equally impressed stare to her face, but it seemed as though it was more appreciative than worried. It was like Twilight had done this all numerous times before.

“I made it! I made it! Is everypony alright!” I heard a worried cry call out from behind us. It only took me a second to recognize the voice, and another second to locate its source.

Rainbow Dash had just entered the lab in a rush, coming from the direction of the catacombs. She looked like she hadn’t stopped moving at top speed since we left her alone. My nightmare was now complete. All three mares that I cared deeply for were now within range of my worst enemy, and I couldn’t do anything about it. Twilight seemed to echo my concern.

“Rainbow Dash! What are you doing here!?” The lavender mare’s concentration broke as she turned toward the rainbow maned pegasus. “You shouldn’t be here, it’s not safe!”

“Are you kidding, I should say the same to you!” Rainbow Dash shot back, filled with worry. “You went and got kidnapped! We saw the blood, I thought you were hurt!”

“Oh, well…uh.” Twilight started awkwardly.

“That wasn’t her blood, Dash.” I said, finishing for Twilight. “It was Nova’s. Twilight beat his ass there, and she did it again here.”

Rainbow Dash looked over to the stallion writhing in pain on the floor, blood trailing from him on a direct path from Twilight. The pegasus’ magenta eyes widened, her pupils constricting in shock as her mouth fell open. Twilight looked mortified and sank down, barely looking at Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash, I’m sorry… I didn’t want you to see”—

“See what, you kicking serious flank!? Being totally, undeniably, AWESOME!?” Rainbow Dash cheered enthusiastically, running forward and embracing the stunned unicorn. “Twilight, I wish I could have seen you! I bet you were amazing!”

The lavender unicorn blushed, and returned the embrace lovingly for a bit before releasing the cyan mare. “I’m glad you don’t think I’m a monster…” Twilight said softly, looking away with a pained expression, but also relief.

“A monster? Hay no!” Rainbow Dash said before winking. “You may be a beast when it comes to a fight, but you’re no monster.”

Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash with tears in her eyes, and the happiest expression I’d ever seen on her face. She rushed forward and planted a kiss on Rainbow Dash’s lips, who returned the embrace without hesitation. The two mares exuded love and affection that spread throughout the room.

“D’aww…” Fluttershy and I said in unison, before looking at each other amorously.

“Ugh…” Aurora verbalized groggily, looking towards the happy couple. “I regain consciousness and see that? Somebody knock me out again…”

“Some…body?” Luna asked, a bit confused at the changed pronoun.

“Aurora, this is Equestria, remember? We’re all ponies here.” I said jokingly.

“Oh whatever, somepony help me up.” Her neon green eyes looked around the room. Her eyes widened suddenly and she cried out. “Twilight, LOOK OUT!”

The lavender mare broke contact with Rainbow Dash and spun around just in time to see Nova’s horn discharge an abnormally strong bolt of magic. It sped towards Rainbow Dash like a bullet, thanks to Nova’s hindered aim. There wasn’t enough time to react, and so she did the only thing she could think to do.

Twilight stepped in front of Rainbow Dash and took the blow, which hit her in the dead center of her chest, knocking her back with great force. She hit Rainbow Dash, who still had no idea what was going on. The two mares rolled backwards, entangled in each other’s limbs. They finally came to a stop, Rainbow Dash landing clumsily on her stomach, and Twilight lying motionless in front of her.

“Twilight!? TWILIGHT!!” Rainbow Dash rushed over to the lavender mare and scooped her up in her arms. The lavender mare was still conscious, and she looked up at her companion with tired eyes.

“Rainbow…” Twilight looked away and coughed violently, blood splattering onto her lips. “I…I love you…”

The lavender mare mustered up a weak, but genuine smile before slipping into unconsciousness. Rainbow Dash was immobile, gripping Twilight in her arms as tears began to flow steadily down her face. Twilight’s limp body weighed heavily on Rainbow Dash’s resolve. I expected her to get angry, to stand up and try to kill Nova for hurting her. She didn’t move however. The emotions welled up within her were too much for the righteous anger to surface.

I’d have to kill him for her. I stood up, straining every muscle in my body, and stared the aggressor down. He didn’t notice me at first, but once his blood red eyes fell on my hateful gaze, his determination vanished. He looked legitimately worried. I ran towards him as fast as I could, trying to ignite my wings, but the strength hadn’t returned to them. I glanced back towards my flank and saw my cutie mark had returned to its previous design, a white cloud, surrounded by static electricity. I would be without power for a while.

Nova mustered up his own strength and teleported away, towards the door Rainbow Dash and I had come out of. I whipped around and sprinted past my friends. Rainbow Dash cradling an unconscious Twilight, oblivious to the world around her. Fluttershy and Luna rushing to their side in an attempt to help. And Aurora, who desperately tried to move her body to follow me. 

Nova passed through the door, and I poured on the speed, beating my wings in time with my steps to increase my speed. Aurora tried to keep up, but her tired body would only carry her so fast. I saw Nova turn back and charge his horn. He fired a projectile and I braced to evade, but saw it wasn’t heading for me. It was heading for the door control on his side.

I ran even faster as I heard the magical impact on the wall. The steel door began to fall down into place, and I only had a second to react. I dove forward and slid under the door towards Nova. My tail made it under just as the door slammed down to the ground with a resounding ‘thunk’.

I looked up and saw Nova running deeper into the catacombs, trailing bits of blood along the way. The glow of his horn lit up the corridor as he ran, showing his relative position for a bit after he disappeared around the corner. I could hear Aurora pounding on the door from the other side, trying desperately to get in. I wouldn’t be receiving any help this time.

It didn’t matter though. Nova needed to pay for what he’d done. No matter the cost, I had to end him. I couldn’t avoid this any longer. Like it or not, the time had come, and one of us wasn’t walking out of here alive. I sprinted after Nova, rounding the corner at breakneck speed, ready to finish the fight.




Chapter 31: Progress




“Dammit!” Aurora yelled as she pounded her hoof on the steel door in front of her. “That idiot is going to get himself killed!”

Things hadn’t been going perfectly so far, but they had at least been starting to look up for a moment when Twilight put Nova in his place. The mare certainly had talent. That was for sure. Aurora pondered for a moment what she would be capable of with a bit of training, which she fully intended to give to her.

That is if she pulls through.

The reality of the situation hit Aurora hard. Thundervolt was about to enter into the fight of his life alone, and Twilight was on the brink of death thanks to that loudmouthed pegasus she calls her marefriend. That wasn’t entirely fair though. Twilight should have put Nova down the second she had the chance.

Aurora couldn’t blame either of them however. Twilight isn’t even a rookie; she wouldn’t have it in her to take a life in cold blood. And Rainbow Dash was almost certainly blaming herself for what happened, when all she was trying to do was come to their rescue. She didn’t need to have her guilt confirmed.

Aurora reluctantly turned from the door and trot towards the rest of the group, who were now gathered around Twilight. The lavender mare lay on her back unconscious while the princess looked her over, doing her best to assess the situation. Fluttershy was trying to support Rainbow Dash, a role that the caring pegasus was born for. Rainbow Dash had stopped crying, and almost looked calm.

Her magenta eyes craned up at Aurora as she moved towards Twilight’s side. The petite pink pony looked the lavender mare over with a concerned expression. She wasn’t looking particularly great. The chest wound she sustained was bad, and would have been worse if it hadn’t been for that combat vest. Sometimes even Thundervolt has some sense in him.

The section of armor the spell hit was completely torn, exposing the wound. Twilight's chest was thoroughly burned, and was bleeding profusely. Her wound, luckily, was mostly physical, the vest absorbing the majority of the residual magical energy. That was the only fortunate break, however.

"So, what do we have?" Aurora asked the princess, not taking her eyes off the lavender mare.

"Tis more damage than it appears. Though there is no major magical damage, her ribcage was spared no abuse." Luna replied solemnly. "At least three of her ribs were shattered, one of which punctured her lung. We have managed to stop the organ from deflating, but Twilight..."

"Just say it." Rainbow Dash said coldly. "Don't sugar coat it on my account."

"Twilight's chances aren't looking good." Luna said softly.

Aurora watched as Rainbow Dash looked back at the unconscious mare. Tears streamed down her face, but she remained silent aside from her deep, strained breaths. The petite pink pony looked on in horror at the scene before her. Everything had gone wrong, and a veil of misfortune had fallen upon the group, a tragedy at its center.

No, I'm not going to let this happen. Not like this.

Aurora galloped around the lab, frantically searching for what she needed. Within a few moments, she located an intact lab station with a medical supply case. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Aurora yanked it open and scanned the insides.

There were numerous vials and containers for a variety of medical conditions, but nothing immediately helpful other than painkillers. And then she spotted them. An entire row of them. Small syringes, blacked out from the inside and left unlabeled.

He made more...

The unlabeled needles were filled with the very serum used to change the two ponies all those years ago. The dark liquid that transformed their bodies into something unnatural and tainted. That robbed them of whatever chance they had at ever becoming normal again.

The mixture that gave us ridiculously strong healing powers…

Aurora blinked rapidly, trying to formulate a plan from her passing thought. And then she had it. The serum could be used to give Twilight the same healing ability that they possessed. She’d be able to live through this ordeal no problem. But would the cost be worth the reward?

Without debating it any further, Aurora picked up one of the syringes and stashed it in her vest pocket, taking note of exactly where to find the rest should she need to. She scanned the box a bit longer and grabbed the painkillers in her teeth. She quickly galloped over to the unconscious mare and gave her another glance. She wasn’t getting any better, and they had to act fast.

Aurora dumped the painkillers on the floor in front of her and turned to the princess. “Luna, we’ve got to stabilize her. I need a full rundown on her condition.” The petite pink pony paused for a moment, but couldn’t resist. “Stat.”

“Aside from the collapsing lung, she’s suffering from multiple contusions, lacerations, and burns. Her right leg is broken, her horn was stunted, and her blood pressure has dropped severely.” Luna said without hesitation. She turned her gaze ominously toward the pink pony and continued. “The most concerning however is her concussion. It isn’t too serious, but it’s inadvisable for her to be unconscious right now.”

“Well that’s perfect, because she IS unconscious!” Rainbow Dash yelled angrily, Fluttershy at her side trying to comfort her.

“Ok, so then it looks like we’ll have to wake her up.” Aurora said flatly. “Luna, I want you healing her minor injuries. Cuts and bruises. Stop her from bleeding as much as you can. And keep that lung inflated!”

Luna’s horn glowed a deep blue as she went to work, sealing up many of Twilight’s smaller wounds. Aurora reached into a smaller pocket of her vest and pulled out a small white capsule. She moved over to Twilight’s right side and broke the capsule over the mare’s nose, sending a lightly colored powder into her nasal cavity.

The lavender mare suddenly inhaled deeply, as if trying to clear her sinuses. Her eyes shot open and she looked desperately around the room trying to find something to anchor herself to. Rainbow Dash moved closer and Twilight calmed down. A second later, the pain hit her, and she grimaced.

“Twilight, you’re ok!” Rainbow Dash yelled happily. Twilight managed a small smile.

“She’s far from ok, Rainbow Dash.” Aurora said sharply. “Twilight, don’t strain yourself! Take these.”

Luna levitated the painkillers Aurora dropped towards Twilight, who looked at them with confusion for a moment. She obediently opened her mouth and swallowed a bottle’s worth, effectively numbing the major parts of her body.

“I…I’m in bad shape. Aren’t I?” Twilight said feebly. “Wha- What happened?”

“You saved my life, that’s what happened!” Rainbow Dash said, smiling lovingly at the lavender mare. “You took a hit for me! A big one…”

“Good to see I’m not...lying on my back for nothing then.” Twilight inhaled through her nose and winced. “What is that terrible smell?”

“Smelling salt. You’ve got a concussion and have to stay conscious to avoid complications.” Aurora said.

“Why do you carry around smelling salt?” Fluttershy asked softly, her curiosity having reached its limits.

“You never know when you’ll have to wake up an unconscious pony.” The pink pony replied cryptically.

“Oh…my.” Fluttershy responded.

“Your injuries are much more severe than a mere concussion, Twilight.” Luna cut in. “Aurora, painkillers are not going to be enough here. We require a more permanent solution.”

“Well…” Aurora pulled the dark syringe from her vest pocket. “We may just have one.”

“What’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I do not understand.” Luna said cautiously. “Is that not”—

“It is. Nova’s serum.” Aurora replied. “The one that gave us our powers.”

“No way!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. “That stuff gave you your abilities?”

“Yes. It also gave us our extraordinary healing capabilities.”

“The kind that could help Twilight.” Fluttershy interjected, now aware of Aurora’s train of thought.

“Yes, but at a terrible cost.” Aurora looked away, breaking eye contact with the yellow pegasus.

“Terrible cost!?” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Sounds to me like Twilight will get awesome powers with a little medical intervention!”

“Twilight would be subjected to unbelievable pain!” Aurora screamed at the cyan pegasus. “And worse, she’d become something awful…”

“Something like you and Thundervolt?” Luna said, raising an eyebrow at the pink pony.

“Yes.”

“Aurora…” Twilight said quietly. “Just…just do it.”

Everypony’s eyes immediately turned towards the downed lavender mare in shock. Twilight was leaning slightly forward, cringing in pain. She wore a resolute look, her violet eyes piercing the petite pink pony.

“Twilight, are you sure?” Rainbow Dash asked hesitantly, seemingly abandoning her previous enthusiasm.

“Are you not concerned about the consequences?” Luna questioned, looking for any signs of uncertainty.

“Yes, I’m absolutely sure. Besides, you were pretty gung ho about it a minute ago.” Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash seriously. “And as far as consequences go, it doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice.”

“Well then, Aurora?” Luna asked the petite pink pony. “What are we to do?”

Aurora closed her eyes, and let out a deep sigh. She looked at the syringe she had resting in her hooves and frowned. Was she really considering this? Creating another abomination of a pony, furthering Nova’s twisted legacy with an injection? As much as Aurora was thankful for her power, she never went a day without wishing things could have been different, and that somepony else had been there to make this decision for her.

There had to be another way, right? Some other method they could use to help Twilight. Luna’s healing magic could probably fix her if she could get her strength back, but that would take too long. Twilight may not last. If they could just get out of here and get help, any doctor could mend her body easily enough. A punctured lung isn’t the end of the world in a state of the art equestrian medical facility. These options aren’t available though.

“Twilight, I have to tell you that this decision should not be taken lightly.” Aurora said reluctantly. “The pain will be immense, and I can’t guarantee that you’ll live through the change.”

“What do you mean she might not live through it!?” Rainbow Dash jumped in, her apprehension skyrocketing. “What about you and Thundervolt!?”

“We were lucky.” Aurora stated plainly. “Thundervolt’s will isn’t easily broken, and so he fought through it. I almost died during, but he helped pull me through as well. It isn’t an easy time.”

“I know the risks. I still want you to do it.” Twilight said, not faltering in the slightest. “Besides, I don’t have any chance to stay alive without it. You know that, don’t you?”

“Dammit Twilight, I don’t want you to become a monster!” Aurora said, filling with emotion.

“A…monster?” Twilight said softly.

“Aurora…do you think that you’re a monster because of your abilities?” Fluttershy asked, staring at the pink pony intently.

Aurora stayed quiet, merely averting her gaze from the group. Her mind was racing, trying to come up with a response. The yellow pegasus stepped closer, and before she could decide to move away, she was right beside the pink pony.

“Neither you, nor Thundervolt are monsters Aurora. The only monster I know is the one that hurt you and our friends.” Fluttershy said seriously. “That serum is going to keep Twilight alive, not turn her into something evil.”

“Fluttershy…”

“It isn’t what a pony is made of that makes them a monster, Aurora. It’s the things they do that make them what they are.” The yellow pegasus closed her eyes and smiled. “And that’s why you’re not a monster. You’re a hero.”

“I’ve done horrible things, Fluttershy. I’m not proud of my past, and I’m certainly no hero.” Aurora said, trying to argue with the pegasus.

“And yet here you are, trying to save ponies you barely know. And for what?” Fluttershy hardened her brow and stared into Aurora’s neon green eyes. “As far as any of us are concerned, you’re one of the most amazing ponies we’ve ever met.”

Aurora looked at Fluttershy, and saw how convinced she was with her statement. She looked at the others in the group, and they all shared her view. They genuinely believed that she wasn’t some horrible creation of science, and that she was just a good pony. Though she wanted to argue more, Aurora knew that she didn’t have time. She removed the cover off of the syringe and looked at the collection of ponies.

“Twilight, I’m not going to lie to you. This is going to hurt.”





It’s all come down to this.

The sound of my labored breathing filled the halls of the dim, winding path that lay in front of me. The path smelled of blood and sweat, and I could hear the sound of rushed hoofsteps up ahead.

This moment right here. The moment it finally comes to an end.

A bright light could be seen around the bend as I poured on the speed. Losing my target now wasn’t an option. I had to catch up, and I had to stop him. The light rushed closer and closer as my hooves carried me forward. 

Within moments, the dark hallway opened up to the crystalline room I’d previously been through. A small trail of blood could be seen leading across the bridge to its source. The wounded unicorn stood on the far side of the bridge, looking towards me with fervor.

I stopped and met his fiery gaze with a determined look of my own. I gathered myself and ran towards Nova, ready to resume the fight. I expected him to move into a defensive position, but he didn’t even budge. He merely stared at me, his blood red eyes digging into me from afar. A feeling of dread overcame me as I moved within feet of him. I jumped and reared my hoof back for a strike, and was dead set on punching through the dark grey unicorn when I heard a faint buzzing sound. 

The sound grew louder and my eyes widened with realization. I instinctively flared my wings and overshot him, the gust from under my appendages brushing over a small red force field previously unseen by my own eyes. The transparent red of the shield crackled with lethal electricity, as if to inform me of its deadly potential.

I realized what Nova was up to and had no choice but to touch down and wait. Taking precautions, I stayed about ten meters from him. I was close enough to strike him should he give me an opening, but far enough to dodge any attacks he had in mind. Now the only course of action was to stay vigilant, and strike up an intelligent conversation.

“Hey asshat, why don’t you put down that spiffy pillow fort you’ve got going there so I can slap you around a bit?”

“I can assure you, I don’t own a single hat of that variety. And I haven’t heard that adjective in quite a while. Have you been speaking to the lunar princess as of late?” Nova returned my quip immediately.

“I have actually, and it turns out you manipulated her as well. Looks like no one can avoid those grubby hooves of yours.” I replied rudely.

“I suppose not.” Nova said seriously, catching me off guard.

“You need to stop what you’re doing here Nova.” I said calmly. “It’s clear that you’re at the end of your rope. What you see as a tightly woven chain of events has become nothing more than a frayed knot.”

“A charming metaphor, but I disagree with that theory.” Nova replied flatly. “My plan has never been set in stone. Objectives may change often, but my goal remains as clear as ever.”

“And what is that goal!? What was it all for, huh?” I said, demanding an answer.

“After all these years, it still isn’t clear to you?” Nova asked, genuinely surprised. “And what of Aurora? Has she come to understand your purpose yet?”

I didn’t answer. My golden eyes scanned Nova furiously, trying to ascertain his motive. I didn’t want to believe it, but it seemed as though he wanted to speak the truth. A rare commodity for the shady unicorn. I hardened my gaze, and he took it as an invitation to keep talking.

“I spent my early years traveling around the world, gaining an appreciation for what it had to offer, Thundervolt. Contrary to what many in Equestria believe, the world is not stable. Not in the least.” Nova said, wearing a grim look on his face. “I’ve been to every great nation this world has to offer. Greifenraum, Volk Domena, Isla Canguro, even as far as Congelate de Nord…”

“Each of these great civilizations is plagued by strife, stemming from numerous causes. I wanted so desperately to put an end to their suffering, to help them. But it wasn’t to be.” Nova continued solemnly. “I knew that as an outsider, I couldn’t do anything to help them beyond meaningless charity work. I had to go back to my own home, and change it for the better. By changing my nation, I could help better other nations as well. But I needed influence.”

“And so began the rush for power.” I commented idly, intrigued by Nova’s tale.

“It was anything but a rush, my naïve companion. I simply sowed the seeds of change in my name, and tended to my crop over many fruitless years.” Nova said in reflection. “It wasn’t until I’d lost my one true friend that I made any real progress toward my goal. You see it was Tempest who gave me direction, whether he knew it or not.”

“What!?”

“Yes, by forsaking my ‘radical’ ideas of change, he gave me the motivation I needed to move forward with my plan. I remained close to monarchy in an attempt to gain a place here, among the goddesses.” Nova said, rolling his eyes at the term. “I moved along the path that would ultimately give me control of Equestria, so that I might aim to change it for the better.”

“How did you aim to take control? It isn’t as if the citizens would just roll over and accept your rule without question!” I yelled, trying to dissolve Nova’s thoughts.

“Of course not. I’m sure I could have found a way to do away with our current leadership, but that wouldn’t have been for the best. It’s like you said, the public isn’t ready for such a change.” Nova said, smiling confidently. “The princesses remain an integral part of the plan, as I need representatives for this new leadership.”

“You want to keep them alive…just to use them as your puppets!?”

“A crude comparison, but yes. It doesn’t matter whose face appears in the spotlight, so long as the work gets done. Can’t you see?” Nova’s blood red eyes constricted, and tore into my own. “I don’t want to control the nation. I merely wish to steer it in a direction that will lead to progress!”

“I’m sure you could have started driving us forward without running over a ton of innocent ponies in the process.” I said bitterly.

“Innocent, hah! Do you remember who I sent you two after?” Nova yelled, forcing his point. “Ponies who were greedy, cruel to their fellow ponies, and downright disgusting. We were doing the world a service by killing them. Even you and Aurora agreed that they were evil.”

“Anypony else would have thought the same, that doesn’t change a thing.”

“But doesn’t it? Many ponies share the same ideas. I don’t claim to have a unique vision; I merely have the will and desire to make it a reality. That’s where you and I are one in the same.” Nova smiled widely. “We’re two ponies above all the rest, because we fight for what we want.”

“That’s exactly why I’m here now, stopping you from”—

“Stopping me from doing what, exactly?” Nova cut in, hardening his gaze. “What is it that you aim to accomplish from your actions?”

“I…” I was speechless. Nova had caught me without a response, leaving him room to dig deeper.

“You’ve traveled around quite a bit as well, Thundervolt. Tell me, what did you see in your travels?” Nova pressed harder. “Don’t you remember Fillydelphia? Los Pegasus? Trottingham? Manehattan?”

“I remember…”

“You recall the suffering in the streets, the needless violence and the endless cycle of crime and penance? What about the deeply seeded corruption within the hearts of the elite, what did you think of that!?”

“It was awful.”

“Awful!? It was utter chaos, the kind that no goddess can correct.” The dark grey unicorn looked upwards. “Only the strength and resolve of mortal ponies can banish such an evil.”

“Evil wasn’t the only thing I witnessed in my travels, Nova.” I spoke up, determination bursting forward. “I met ponies with nothing but kindness and courage in their hearts. The kind of ponies that make Equestria decent.”

“There lies the natural paradox of our world.” Nova said quietly. “Ponies are capable of both great evil, and of limitless compassion and love. Ponies with darkness in their hearts and blood on their hooves must be cleansed, while ponies with light in their hearts need a virtuous leader to guide them.”

“You’re the farthest pony from virtue I’ve ever seen!” I yelled, almost scoffing at the idea. “If anypony has blood on their hooves and darkness in their heart, it would be you!”

“Which is why I am merely the architect of this new nation. I was put on this world to lay the framework for those that would succeed me, to lay the foundation for a better tomorrow.” Nova closed his eyes and smiled. “I intended to gain power only so that I could bestow it upon a righteous individual worthy of the mantle.”

“And who would that be?”

“It was always you of course, Thundervolt.”

“What are you”—

“You understand more than anypony else what it means to be surrounded by darkness. You were born in the darkness, and still managed to rise above it all, becoming who you are today.” Nova said proudly. “Who better to give the responsibility of leading our world from obscurity than to a pony that already did it himself?”

“You’re even more insane than I thought!” I yelled passionately, ready to charge forward and attack the stallion.

“It doesn’t matter what you think of me now. All that matters is that you learn your place in this new domain.” Nova glared intently at me and lowered his barrier. “Even if I have to force you to understand.”

I leapt forward, wings blazing with the fury of lighting. It was clear that whatever sanity Nova had been holding onto for the past few years was almost completely faded away. No longer would I be killing the pony who imprisoned us all those years ago. All that’s left of that pony is a hollow stallion with the echo of a purpose rebounding off the insides of his mind. 

Soon, he wouldn’t be the only pony with blood on his hooves.





Screams of pain and terror filled the laboratory as Twilight writhed uncontrollably on the ground. Rainbow Dash and Aurora were doing their best to keep Twilight restrained so that she wouldn’t hurt herself any further. If she survived the change, the serum would allow Twilight to heal herself easily. Until then, she was a danger to herself in her present condition.

“Luna, I need you to cast a full body healing spell on Twilight!” Aurora yelled anxiously. “Keep her lung inflated!”

“It will be done!” Luna said as she added another layer to her spell.

“What’s that gonna do?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “Isn’t that medicine supposed to be helping her?”

“The serum is doing more harm than good right now. It’s the healing ability that will fix her lung.” Aurora explained, almost losing her grip on the thrashing lavender mare. “The healing spell will do two things. First, it will keep her injuries at a manageable level. Second, it will make the change happen much faster.”

“How would a healing spell do that?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“Healing spells work by speeding up the metabolic repair processes of a pony. A faster metabolism means a faster adaptation.” Aurora explained.

“You’ve quite the understanding of the arcane arts.” Luna said arbitrarily, keeping her eyes fixed on Twilight.

“The more you know…” The pink pony said dismissively.

“That’s all well and good, but what are we supposed to do? Hold her down until she’s magically fixed?” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes with irritation.

“It’s our only option right now, and I don’t see any others presenting themselves.” Aurora shot back, putting the pegasus down.





“Well, Rainbow Dash did say to come after her if she didn’t come back.” Celestia said to herself as she entered Luna’s section of the castle.

The night guard’s chambers were dimly lit, as if to remind visitors of their purpose. Celestia recalled their mission statement. ‘To remain vigilant and strong in the face of darkness.’ Even after a thousand years without their goddess, Luna’s stallions were still undeniably hers.

The goddess of the sun moved with grace towards the back of the now empty room, following Rainbow Dash’s instructions. She was to look for the stairway down to the Research and Development Department. A wing of the castle Princess Celestia was only vaguely aware of.

She remembered the petition to create the department, and thought of how helpful it sounded. The public wanted to devote some resources to creating new technology for the monarchy, and the actual cost of the department was well within the budget. There wasn’t a reason not to commission such a thing.

Why it was suddenly rearing its head after all this time was a total mystery. It was always a side note in the monthly budget reports, staying underneath its allotted costs, and occasionally offering up a new product here and there. Granted, there were a few refinements to the castle’s electrical power, and the magic diffusing armor it had commissioned. Other than that however, it seemed there was more research than any kind of development.

Celestia scanned the back wall of the guard’s chambers and found the opening she was looking for. Pushing through the opening, Celestia found a small spiral staircase leading downward into a dark hallway. She delicately stepped down the flight of stairs and within a minute, found herself in front of an impressive steel door, complete with an intricate keypad.

“Quite the department if it requires a password.” Celestia mused to herself, her curiosity piquing.

The majestic alicorn began to un-majestically fiddle with the keypad in front of her. No matter how knowledgeable she was, there was always one subject that managed to elude the solar princesses understanding. Technology.

“This is Luna’s section of the castle, so she probably used one of her ridiculous passphrases on this device. Let’s try…” Celestia’s horn began to glow a bright yellow as she tapped the keys on the doorframe.

Luna_Loves_Good…BEEP.

“No…Maybe she changed it back.”

xXLunarxLegendXx…BEEP.

“Not that one either? I’m running out of immature Luna-ism’s…” Celestia furrowed her brow and input yet another code.

Praisemymoon69…BEEP.

“Oh to the moon with this!” Celestia frowned and closed her eyes. Her horn began to glow even brighter, and her body slowly began to look transparent. Within moments, her entirety had become ethereal, and she fixed her purple eyes on the sealed door.

The princess stepped forward with purpose, and her bright white body began to phase through the door. The level of magical output was very high for this spell, and so Celestia had to focus her efforts. Luckily, being the more magically adept of the two sisters, she had no issues. A second after she began moving, she had crossed the threshold of the door.

It took a moment for Celestia to completely process the scene before her. The laboratory she had entered was completely torn apart, lab stations strewn about the room, chemicals and glass littering the floor, and magical damage everywhere. Across the room was her sister, standing over her student, who was being held down by Rainbow Dash and a small pink pony she did not recognize. Fluttershy stood away from the group, looking on in concern. The yellow pegasus turned her head towards the solar princess and her eyes lit up.

“Princess!” Fluttershy’s shout was barely audible over the struggling of the other ponies.

“Yes Fluttershy, what plagues you?” Luna replied, not removing her eyes from Twilight.

“No, I mean the other Princess!” Fluttershy said, raising her hoof to point.

Rainbow Dash and Aurora immediately looked up and found the majestic solar princess watching them from across the room. Her gaze was serious, but afforded a small smile to confirm her intent. This didn’t stop Aurora from seizing up with worry however. Luna removed her eyes from Twilight for a second to look upon her elder sister.

“It seems you’ve arrived just in time, sister.” Luna said calmly. “Would you be so kind as to assist me with your student?”

“Of course.” Celestia said with professional concern. She walked over, exuding elegance, and added her healing spell to the mix. “May I ask what has come over your part of the kingdom while I’ve been attending to my own affairs?”

“I’m aware of the state of things at the moment sister, and I shall explain everything to you later. For now, it would be best to act.” Luna’s eyes fell to Twilight, who had begun to relax with the added strength of healing. The dark princess’s face was stricken with guilt.

“I see. I trust you’re one of the ponies caught up in whatever this is.” Celestia said flatly, her gaze bearing down on Aurora. She took note of her worried expression, and the tattered condition of her clothing. “Are you alright? You seem anxious, my little pony.”

“N-No. I’m just concerned about Twilight.” Aurora replied shakily. The truth was evident in her words as she continued to speak. “I’m more involved than I’d like to be, but at this point my only wish is that nopony die because of my actions.”
 
 “And it looks as though nopony will.” Celestia said with a small smile. “Whatever you’ve done seems to have helped stabilize Twilight amazingly so. With my magic added to my sisters, her wounds are almost entirely healed.”

“Miraculous to say the least.” Luna added nervously.

“Yes, perhaps a little more so than possible.” Celestia said, scrutinizing her sister’s facial expression.

“Don’t worry Princess. It’s…ok.” Twilight said groggily, doing her best to stay conscious. “You have absolutely nothing…nothing to worry…”

The lavender pony fell unconscious before she could finish her statement. Looks of worry fell across everypony’s face, save for the solar princess.

“No worries everypony, Twilight is fine. She’s just getting some well-deserved rest.” Celestia said calmly.

“But her concussion”—

“Is gone.” Celestia replied. “Like my sister said, miraculously.”

“So Twilight is going to be ok?” Rainbow Dash asked excitedly.

“Yes, she’s already made a full recovery.” Celestia said happily. “She’ll awaken ready to tackle anything that gets in her way.”

“Awesome! That’s so awesome…” Rainbow Dash said, looking lovingly at the lavender mare.

“Did I miss something?” Celestia said, leaning in towards Fluttershy.

“Nothing that Twilight won’t want to tell you herself.” Fluttershy said with a smile of her own.

“Well I’m glad that this is settled.” Aurora said, breathing a slight sigh of relief. Her relaxed demeanor was short lived however as her eyes turned to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus picked up on Aurora’s thoughts, and her concern grew as well. “Now could somepony take the time to get that damn door open?”





Bolts of magic shot past my head with frightening proximity as I ran towards my aggressor. I pumped my wings furiously in an effort to dodge them more effectively, but with every step forward, the projectiles became harder and harder to avoid. Nova fired each shot with precision, and wasn’t letting me get through to him that easily.

I broke off and leapt from the bridge, falling just enough to glide under the bridge where he couldn’t see me. My only option seemed to be getting in close. Nova was a very skilled close combatant, but at range he had the distinct advantage. Getting close was going to be a problem however. He took some time to heal up, but he was still vulnerable. He may have given us the ability to heal quickly, but he didn’t take it himself.

That had always made me wonder, but that concern wasn’t pressing at the moment. I gathered myself and focused my energy into my wings. The only way I’d be getting through to Nova would be speed. He was fast, and he was strong. I’d have to be faster, and hit him harder.

I flipped around and flew back up above the bridge, watching Nova the whole way. He held off on the projectiles, but his horn was glowing ominously. I kept flying upwards and gained enough altitude to start my approach. I tilted myself downward and entered a severe dive, folding my wings close to my body to gain speed.

Nova’s horn was glowing even brighter than before, and it appeared that whatever he was going to do was coming fast. I moved closer and closer to the dark grey unicorn and was almost on top of him when he suddenly unleashed a beam of piercing red light. The beam was heading straight towards me, but I kept going full speed until the last second.

With nothing more than a blur, I escaped his field of vision, the flaring of my energized wings momentarily hiding my trajectory. Now behind him, I pumped my wings and was right next to Nova. I moved to strike his neck with my wing, but my appendage was forced away by a small red barrier.

Nova turned his blood red eyes on me, and his hoof shot upward towards my face. I moved out of the way and attempted to attack him again. He blocked me yet again and tried to counter, but hit open air. We soon became engulfed in a flurry of strikes that never found their marks, clashing with each other with no result.

I pushed myself as hard as I could and moved even faster. Soon, Nova was struggling with his blocks, moving to avoid me more so than anything. I saw his change in tactic and pressed harder, scanning the whole time for an opening. Though I had him on the defensive, he was far from helpless.

He fired off the occasional bolt of magic in an attempt to catch me off guard, but my assault continued without interruption, slowly draining his resolve to come out of the encounter on top. I thought I had him on the ropes, so I became even more fervent with my strikes, forgoing technique for sheer overwhelming speed.

Despite the added sloppiness, he wasn’t able to catch any openings I may have created. He soon began abandoning any offense and was just barely able to parry what I threw at him. I finally saw a small opening and took it, my left wing swinging under his head and slicing at his chest, grazing him.

I hastily went for another strike, but before I could swing Nova jumped backwards and stared me down intently, his horn producing an overglow. Without warning, a bright red magical pulse shot forward and forcefully pushed me away. The wave caught me off guard and I tumbled backwards on the bridge for a few feet before falling off the side.

After silently thanking the universe for being born a pegasus, I flew back up onto the bridge and landed opposite Nova. I stared into his blood red eyes and was met with anger. The dark grey unicorn was almost always calm and collected, but now he seemed much more fervent.

“You just have to keep fighting me, don’t you Thundervolt?” Nova said heatedly. “What do you have against progress!?”

“Absolutely nothing, as long as it’s achieved in the right way.” I replied. “Have you ever thought that maybe secret labs and forbidden science wasn’t the way to go?”

“You’re exactly like him, you know that?” Nova said with a sadistic smile. “Tempest was always such a stand-up stallion, an upstanding citizen by definition, and a free-spirit in practice. It seems you’ve inherited his views.”

“I wouldn’t say they’re his views specifically.” I replied, sarcasm evident in my voice. “I’m sure the majority of ponies would believe that kidnapping and murder are to be frowned upon.”

“You speak as if you don’t know what we’ve accomplished together! Don’t you remember all of the evil we rooted out, all of the ponies you saved?” Nova said, trying to persuade me. “I’ll be the first to admit my path is anything but righteous, but the fruits of our labor are sweet indeed.”

“Yea, I’ve done just enough good to keep me from crying myself to sleep. Thanks.” I said coldly.

“You’ve made your sacrifices Thundervolt, and now it’s time to claim what is rightfully yours! Why can’t you see that?” Nova asked in confusion. “I’m asking you to take over, to do what you think is right!”

“I understand what you want from me Nova, but this isn’t the way. Why can’t you understand that?” I said, almost pleading. “Stop all this, and we can help you! You’ve been losing your mind, and it’s making you reckless. You’d have never been so brash otherwise.”

“You don’t know what I’d have done. You don’t know what I’m capable of, boy.” Nova said condescendingly. “Maybe you aren’t ready to take the reins. Perhaps Aurora would have been a better decision.”

“She’d never take your offer, and you know it.”

“I’m not so sure about that. Your friend is just fractured enough to make such a choice. After all, she’s never been able to take as much abuse as you.”

“She can handle anything you throw her way, Nova. She’s the toughest pony I know, she wouldn’t break so easily.” I said assuredly.

“Look closer, Thundervolt. You may find that what stirs underneath the surface is more dangerous than you’d expect.” Nova said cryptically. “With that front she puts up, it couldn’t be more obvious she’s unstable.”

“Shut up!”

“Oh, I’ve hit a nerve now? Isn’t that cute.” Nova’s face contorted into a sly and manipulative look. “She’s done a great job of making you think she doesn’t need your help. That you’re the fragile one. The reality is that she’s been leaning on you since the day you two met. She hasn’t changed a bit.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I reiterate the fact that I know you two better than anypony else. You’re the strong one Thundervolt. Aurora pushes onward because you’re still there keeping her upright. If you were to suddenly disappear, she’d sink down to the depths of insanity and never come back.”

I didn’t respond. I merely hardened my stare and let him continue.

“She was like that her whole life from what I understand. I don’t believe she ever told you about how she came to be in my possession. There was another she had grown fond of, but she managed to hide her from me, the conniving little thing.” Nova sounded proud of that trait. “Once she was separated from them, she fell into a deep depression. I couldn’t get a thing out of her until you showed up. She latched onto you so quickly, pretending to be hard and distant, when really she was just looking for someone that would keep her going.”

“I don’t believe you.” I said weakly, trying not to overthink his words.

“I don’t expect you to. Just ask her for yourself before you kill her.” Nova’s words sent a spike through my heart.

“Before I what!?”

“You’ll have to kill her eventually. Like I said, she’s unstable. You can’t expect her to keep up her charade forever.” Nova said venomously. “Broken ponies like her need to be thrown away.”

“I’ve heard enough! I’m putting you down!” I yelled, my cheeks red with fury.

I rushed forward again, moving faster than ever before. I was right in front of Nova with my glowing wings reared to slash through him. I brought my appendages down on him with lightning speed, cutting through his body like butter. I saw a bright flash of light, and he disappeared, leaving me alone in the room.

“I don’t plan to make it easy for you.”

I turned around to find the dark grey unicorn sending a spike of magic towards my spine. I moved aside and just barely avoided getting hit dead on. The side of my vest tore from the sheer force of the spell, leaving my left side uncovered. I jumped back and moved into a defensive stance in time to see to more blades of magic heading my way.

They came at me from both sides, and I had nowhere to go but up. I jumped, clearing Nova’s attack. I twisted my body around and brought my rear hoof around for a kick, but Nova was much too fast. He disappeared in another flash of light, and I turned my head to look behind me. He wasn’t there however; as another flash of light came from the place he’d been standing.

Before I could turn around, I felt a searing pain shoot through my exposed left side, and I fell to the ground. I looked at my side and found that one of Nova’s ethereal blades had cut deeply, causing fresh blood to gush from the wound. I tried to get up, but couldn’t move. The pain was too much, and I collapsed back onto the ground in a pool of my own gore.

“That looks like it hurts.” Nova said, looking at his own wound with appreciation. “I’m glad you didn’t cut me that deeply. I’m a bit disappointed that you fell for that one, Thundervolt.”

“B-Bite me.” I spat at the dark grey unicorn, blood coming from my mouth as well.

“You’re in bad shape. The only reason you aren’t healing already is because that was pure magic. That’s going to take some time to heal up. I hope that cute little marefriend of yours likes scars.”

I didn’t have the energy to say anything back. I had to regain some strength before acting, or else I’d risk losing to much blood. I lay still, letting the wound slowly close as Nova kept talking.

“I really wish you hadn’t hit me with those wings of yours. If Aurora is any evidence, this cut won’t be disappearing. It looks like we’ve scarred each other.” The dark grey unicorn smiled at that. “I still need to beat my point into you, but I don’t want to leave any more unsightly scars Thundervolt. How do I get through to you?”

Nova brought his hoof down onto my face, causing my vision to blur.

“You know what I’m asking, and you know the benefits it would come with.”

His hoof came down again, forcing my head to the other side. My gold eyes were spinning in their sockets.

“I’ve always wanted the best for you. I wanted you to see what I see, feel what I feel! I wanted you to understand that things could improve. That they can always be better!”

Nova lifted my chin with is hoof and brought my face up to his, staring deeply into my eyes.

“But instead of graciously accepting the mantle I’ve painstakingly prepared for you, you throw it all back in my face.”

Nova threw me back to the ground and struck again, even harder than before. Darkness was closing in around me as I began to slip into unconsciousness.

“And for what? For that stupid bitch you call your best friend? She doesn’t have the capacity to grasp the concept of such an undertaking. Maybe you do it all for that little yellow whore. Perhaps that sex drive of yours is clouding your already tattered vision.”

I was inches away from falling under when I felt my throat close up, and my body lift off of the ground. I saw Nova’s horn glowing red and I knew to expect even more pain.

“Hopefully, coming close to the brink of death will show you what’s important. I don’t know how else to get through to you.”

Nova’s horn glowed brightly and I was sent flying towards the ceiling of the cavern. I struck the top hard, leaving a large crack in the quartz at the top. I felt myself falling down towards the bridge, and was powerless to stop the impact. Feet before hitting the ground, I slowed down and tumbled to the ground as if I was caught and then dropped.

“Yes, I caught you. I am trying to keep you alive after all.” Nova said. I couldn’t see him, but I was almost certain he rolled his eyes.

I heard the sound of rushing water, and a second later felt a cool touch on my left side. It was both painful, and soothing. I looked up towards the ceiling and saw a small flow of water was coming from my point of impact. Nova threw me hard enough at the ceiling that my body must have broken into one of the underground rivers in the cavern.

Nova walked through the waterfall towards me. He didn’t wear a smile on his face as usual. His look was of sheer determination and anger.

“The pain will bring you closer to the truth, Thundervolt. Pain will make you understand.” Nova reared his hoof for another strike, and I braced myself as best I could.

His dark grey hoof shot forward, but a sudden movement crossed my vision before it hit. A bright red blur tackled Nova to the ground, and wrestled with him ferociously. I saw Tempest on top of Nova, attacking him with his hooves fervently. I thought I was going mad until I saw him hiss, revealing sharp fangs and bug-like green eyes.

The Changeling I had released came back to help me. It thrashed on the ground, trying desperately to kill the dark grey unicorn underneath it. The two could barely stay on the bridge with the waterfall pouring down onto it. The two were completely soaked, and the changeling was unable to keep its footing. With a swift movement of his rear hooves, Nova threw the Changeling off of him and fired a large magical bolt at it.

Right before my eyes, the Changeling was engulfed in magical fire and dissipated into ash, letting out a primordial cry with its last breath. I silently mourned the creature, and thanked it for its help. I prayed that it went without much pain, though I knew deep down it suffered immensely.

Nova stood up, soaked with water and stained with blood. My own blood was washing away in the small current provided by the waterfall, leaving my coat stained pink.

“He haunts me any way he can, that red-coated bastard.” Nova spat venomously. “I suppose I shouldn’t have kept his image as a pet.”

The dark grey unicorn looked my way and continued.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore. You won’t be getting any more assists, Thundervolt.” Nova said darkly. “There’s nothing stopping me from beating you senseless.”

His last comment stung, as I realized he was right. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t fight back. I could barely speak. He was going to bring me within an inch of death. Hell, he might even kill me by accident. I looked at him, and saw his blood red eyes cutting through the mist of the waterfall. His soaked form somehow looked even more dangerous as he approached me.

And that’s when I had a plan.

“How do you know…that I don’t have a *cough* plan?” I asked feebly.

“It’s obvious, Thundervolt. You’re done and you know it.” Nova said, dismissing my statement. “No amount of wisecracking will change that.”

“I don’t know Nova, I think…I think wisecracking can always produce a plan.” I mustered up my strength and opened up my wings, letting them fall limply onto the wet ground. “You would be shocked at what I can come up with.”

Nova’s eyes went wide as he realized what I was about to do. It was too late for him though. I surged all of my remaining energy into my wings, sending a powerful electric charge into the water covering the bridge. I upped the voltage as high as I could, attempting to send as many amps through the water as I could.

Both Nova and I were soaked, causing us to be enveloped in the shock. My body locked up, all of my muscles tightening. I smelled my own flesh searing, as well as Nova’s, as electricity coursed through both our bodies. I’d been electrocuted so many times already that one more probably wouldn’t hurt. Nova however, was not prepared. 

His eyes rolled back in his head, and his entire body was locked up like mine. I stopped the flow of electricity, but the residual charge stayed in us both. I went limp, and my vision blurred slightly. Nova’s body ceased tightening, and wilted much like my own. The dark grey unicorn fell to the side, landing hard on the ground and sliding off the bridge into the chasm below.

A pang of sadness hit me as I watched him fall, realizing that there was no saving him. He was dead, and I killed him. The simplest outcome I could imagine, but by far the least satisfying. Darkness started to overtake me and my head began to spin. 

It looked like it was all over. I didn’t know if Twilight was ok, or how Fluttershy was holding up with me in here, but that could all wait. I wasn’t dying here. I just earned my freedom. And my first act as a free pony would be taking a well-deserved rest. 

I kept blinking, waiting to fall unconscious. I could have sworn I saw a small figure standing before me for a moment, but the image was fleeting and I dismissed it as a hallucination. Once the image was gone however, I saw a pink blur in the distance topped with a forest green smudge. I relaxed, and knew that I was in good hooves.

“Nap time…”





Epilogue


“It’s shameful is what it is! How could we let this happen!?”

“Sister, calm yourself.”

“Luna, I will not calm myself! We’ve been letting an insurgent live in our basement for the past couple of decades! He moved under my radar, and played you for a fool!” Celestia said furiously. Her hardened brow and steeled gaze couldn’t focus on a single point with enough anger. “This is unacceptable.”

“I wholeheartedly agree. Indignation however, will not erase this mistake.” Luna replied coolly, attempting to diffuse her sister’s rage.

“I’m well aware!” Celestia snapped at the lunar princess.

“And yet you still choose to exercise your royal vocal chords.”

Celestia broke eye contact with Luna and sighed deeply. She looked out the window of the throne room and gazed at the Equestrian countryside outside of Canterlot. The rolling hills and pure white clouds in the distance were a peaceful sight. Their relaxing aura however, was tainted in the solar princess’s mind. She saw only the vulnerability of it all. How fragile their rule could really be.

“Luna, I have been ruling over this land for over a thousand years. Not once have I ever let anything as bad as this go unnoticed. I’ve become complacent.” Celestia said with evident disappointment in herself.

“Sister, you cannot blame yourself for”—

“I can and I do, as you’re well aware. I’m certain you shoulder a significant amount of guilt as well, Luna.” The midnight blue alicorn hung her head in shameful agreement. “As of right now, I’m personally overseeing the investigation of this incident. You’re more than welcome to join me, as you had a hoof in this too.”

“Very well. And what of our friends?” Luna asked with concern.

“Half of the Elements were present, and so the rest will need to be involved one way or another.” Celestia paused, and then shifted her gaze to Luna. “Those two ponies they were with…”

“Thundervolt and Aurora.”

“Yes. They were at the center of all of this. They’re going to tell us everything, and their cooperation would be appreciated.” Celestia said sternly, closing her eyes pensively. “We’re going to fix this, Lulu. We owe it to those ponies, and we owe it to ourselves.”

“Yes, Tia.” Luna said softly, a hint of sadness hanging from her words.

The sound of echoing hoofsteps could be heard resounding off the castle walls and into the throne room. The two royal alicorns looked at the large entryway and found Fluttershy approaching them, accompanied by Aurora. The mares strode up humbly to the princesses and bowed respectfully.

“There is no need to bow to leaders who failed you, my little ponies. Rise.” Celestia said flatly, looking mournfully at her subjects.

“You didn’t fail us, Princess. We were all tricked by the same stallion.” Aurora said resolutely. “He’s the one to blame, not yourself.”

“I appreciate your faith in us. Not all ponies would be so understanding.” Celestia replied gratefully.

“I assume you have come to inform us of your friend’s condition?” Luna asked.

“Correct. You saw the level of trauma he sustained, and the condition his body was in when we reached him…” Aurora said cautiously.

“Oh no…is he”—

“In the process of a full recovery, yes.” Aurora said with a small smile. “A good night’s rest, a shower, and Thundervolt will be as good as new.”

“He and Twilight are both relaxing in the gardens with Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy added.

“That is certainly good news.” Celestia said happily, still surprised at their recovery rate. “And what about you? How are you two holding up?”

Aurora and Fluttershy looked a bit surprised at the question, and then turned their gaze towards each other as if to silently deliberate. A moment later, they looked upon the two princesses and replied.

“Well, things didn’t end with a bang like I had imagined, but it was still stressful enough. We’re fine.” Aurora said, unsure of what else to add. “We’re both…fine.”

“Sturdy as a couple of oak trees.” Fluttershy said with a sheepish smile, shifting her eyes back and forth between the princess and Aurora.

Luna’s demeanor didn’t change at all, and Celestia merely arched an eyebrow as Aurora let her face fall hard onto her outstretched hoof. The pink pony let out a defeated sigh, and Fluttershy smiled cheerfully.

“I think they are both alright, Tia.” Luna said to the solar princess.

“I’d say you’re correct. Girls, go ahead and gather the rest of your group and walk to the main gate of the castle. There will be a chariot waiting to take you all back to Ponyville.” Celestia said, dismissing the two mares.

“Thank you, Princess.” Fluttershy said, bowing once more before signaling Aurora to leave.

“Oh, and Fluttershy?”

“Yes, Princess?” Fluttershy responded curiously.

“Please tell Twilight that I’ll be contacting her soon, and to get some rest.” Celestia said with a smile.

“I will!” With that, Fluttershy and Aurora took their leave from the throne room.

“Well Celestia, what now?” Luna asked.

“Now…” Celestia said thoughtfully. “Now we get to work.”





“Rainbow Dash, help. I’m freaking out here.”

“Why, what’s going on? Oh, that?”

“This is probably the most disturbing event I have ever witnessed in my entire life. I don’t know if I’ll ever recover from the astonishment of what I’m currently beholding…”

“Yea, he tends to get that reaction from most ponies.”

“I mean, he’s a tortoise…that can walk on clouds. And he even has a little propeller!” I said, marveling at the slow creature before me.

“Yup. Tank’s my little guardian up here. He keeps me safe, ever vigilant in the pursuit of upholding justice in our home. He’s even managed to save my life before!” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing the tortoises shell appreciatively.

“That is so cool. I can’t wait to play with him more!” I could barely contain my excitement.

“Well you’ll have plenty of time for that. After all, you’ll be staying with us for quite a while.” Rainbow Dash flew over to her cloud couch and plopped herself down with her legs crossed.

“I really don’t want to be an imposition, Dash.” I said hesitantly.

“It’s not a problem, seriously!” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and put on a very suggestive smile. “Besides, you just want to stay with Fluttershy so you two can make out all day.”

“That’s totally inaccurate, and I’m hurt that you would think I’d choose her house over yours for such a purpose.” My words were professional, but my red cheeks suggested otherwise.

“Whatever you say, Lover boy.” Rainbow Dash said, wearing a smug grin on her face.

“Equestria to Rainbow Dash, do you copy!?”

“Sounds like your ride is here.” I said, noting the booming voice, and returning Rainbow Dash’s suggestive grin.

“My ride?” It only took a second for the cyan mare to put it together. “Oh my gosh, shut up!”

“Shall we?” I asked, flying out one of Rainbow Dash’s open windows, and down to the ground. Twilight was standing there, horn aglow and eyes on the sky. “Hey Twilight, how are you doing?”

“Hey Thundervolt. Is Rainbow Dash”—

“Right here!” Rainbow Dash yelled, swooping down right behind me, landing next to Twilight. She planted a quick peck on the lavender mare’s cheek and stepped back. “What’s going on?”

“I just received a letter from the Princess, that’s what.” Twilight said enthusiastically.

“We left Canterlot this morning, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash replied. “It’s been less than twelve hours.”

“Yea, I’m still sore. You know, from being stabbed?” I said. “Tell me she doesn’t need us already.”

“She doesn’t, actually.” Twilight said cheerfully. “The letter says that she and Luna are going to sort through some things back in Canterlot and that it will take some time.”

“How much time?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“All she said is that it would be at least two weeks before they’d need to talk to any of us.” Twilight said, showing concern for the princesses. “Princess Celestia even told me to put my friendship letters on hold until then.”

“Well then, looks like we’ll all have plenty of time to kick back and relax.” Rainbow Dash grinned at the both of us.

“I can’t wait.” Twilight giggled as she looked at the cheerful cyan mare. “Oh, that’s right! I made my rounds and told everypony about the letter already. Fluttershy wanted to see you once you got settled in with Rainbow Dash.”

“Well then in that case, I’ll be heading off.” I said as I trotted away. I turned back to the two mares before taking to the skies. “You two have fun!”

“Oh, we will. Don’t worry about that.” Twilight said quietly, batting her eyes seductively at Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare burned a bright red and completely locked up.

I laughed to myself and took flight, leaving the two mares to do whatever it is they had in mind. Something in the back of my mind told me that Rainbow Dash would sleep well tonight. Letting the thought fall away, I looked around Ponyville as the day began dwindling. The skyline showed vague hints of sunset, and the clouds in the sky absorbed a light coating of orange.

It was surreal, looking down upon the town without anything weighing me down. No more pressing concerns, no more looking over my shoulder every second of the day. I finally had some peace, and if I wanted to, I could make a home for myself here. Something about this town just made me want to stay.

The short flight to Fluttershy’s cottage was soon over, and I abandoned my bird’s eye view as I touched down on the small bridge over the stream in her front yard. A moment after I landed, I saw Fluttershy standing on the side of her house watching her animals. I silently approached her, taking in her natural grace with every step.

A few more feet closed the distance between us and I gently brushed against her side, startling her a bit. She quickly realized it was me however and lit up, her anxious gaze quickly melting into a loving smile.

“I didn’t see you there.” Fluttershy said softly, rubbing her head against my neck gingerly.

“Sorry about that, I’m not supposed to be the stealthy one.” I said jokingly. “It’s been a while since we could actually take the time to talk.”

“I know. It may sound silly, but even though we weren’t apart very long, I missed you a lot.” Fluttershy replied bashfully, averting her gaze ever so slightly.

“It’s not silly at all. All I could do was think about you, and how badly I wanted to be at your side again.”

“And here you are.” Fluttershy looked me over appreciatively. “Still as handsome as ever.”

“Thanks. You know, you’re not too bad looking yourself.” I replied sweetly, nuzzling the back of the yellow mares neck.

“Stop it!” Fluttershy playfully pulled away and giggled. “Not in front of the animals!”

I began to snicker myself until I looked over to a nearby fence post and saw a small white rabbit. It stared at me suspiciously, seemingly looking into my very soul. A chill ran down my spine and I became increasingly uncomfortable, up until the point where it scampered away, probably to go commit atrocities elsewhere.

“That’s probably wise…” I said, trying to play off my worries.

“So, I’m assuming Rainbow Dash was hospitable?” Fluttershy said, moving the conversation forward.

“Yea, she has me set up in her spare bedroom. It’ll be just like old times, us in the same house.” I said smiling reminiscently. “It isn’t your spare bedroom, but it’ll do for now.”

“What makes you think you’d be staying in the spare bedroom?” Fluttershy said suggestively, brushing her flank against my side bashfully.

I tried to say something, but ended up babbling incoherently like a moron, my cheeks flushed intensely. I looked around for the death stare rabbit, but didn’t see it, and so I assumed it safe.

I abruptly leaned in and put my lips to Fluttershy’s, feeling the warmth grow in between us. My entire body began to tingle as my surprise kiss soon turned into a full embrace. Feeling her beside me, my heart began to melt. Every thought and emotion I had in that instance collided into one passionate moment that I wanted to live in forever. Much to my chagrin however, we both had to breathe.

“That was wonderful.” Fluttershy said, her eyelids still lowered seductively. “You always kiss well when you’re flustered.”

“Ahem, are you two done?”

Fluttershy and I both jumped out of our skin and gripped each other tight. We turned around and found Rarity standing a few yards away, wearing a satisfied smile on her face.

“You two really are adorable together. I’m looking forward to heckling Rainbow Dash and Twilight as well, as they’re sure to be even more so.” Rarity said, gushing over the thought.

“What brings you all the way out here, Rarity?” Fluttershy said, not bothering to hide the irritation in her tone.

“Well, no need to bite dear. I was merely heading over to Sweet Apple Acres, as I was invited over for dinner. I thought I’d stop by and let you know that Pinkie Pie is planning a party for tomorrow.”

“She is?”

“Of course she is. I’m not sure of the specifics, but the theme is something along the lines of ‘Welcome back to Ponyville’ and ‘Glad you beat the meanie face.’” Rarity said, quoting heavily. “Her words, not mine. We can count on you two lovebirds making an appearance?”

“Of course.” Fluttershy responded happily.

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world.” I added. Another thought popped into my head. “Hey Rarity, where did Aurora end up choosing to stay?”

“Oh yes, well everypony offered up their homes to her and I thought for sure she’d opt to stay with either Twilight or myself. Instead, she decided to accept Applejack’s offer and stay with her in the farmhouse.” Rarity said, almost sounding offended that her home wasn’t chosen. “She mentioned something about not wanting to sit around doing nothing, so she’s set her mind to helping out with the leftover farm work.”

“Manual labor and a good mile of open sight lines.” I said with a grin. “That sounds like her alright. She’ll be fine there.”

“Well, if you say so darling. I assume she’ll be joining us for dinner. Did you want me to pass along a message for you?” Rarity asked, ready to take her leave.

“Just make sure she’s doing alright for me.” I said with concern. “I’ll talk to her soon.”

“I will do just that. Goodbye you two.” Rarity said, walking towards the path out front. She tilted her head back and practically sang her last two words. “Haaaaaave fuuuuuuun~”

My face turned red, and I pressed myself against Fluttershy, feeling her presence beside me. Just having her next to me made all the difference in the world. My life had been lived in constant apprehension, moving from one altercation to the next for so long. Ever since I met Fluttershy, things seemed to look up. Even during the darkest moments of our journey together, she gave me something I had scarcely known.

Hope.

That hope manifested itself into my motivation, my safety, and most of all, my happiness. Once, I had hoped to gain my freedom. To break the chains I had been tied to and escape to a better life. Now, with her help, I have more to hope for. I can hope for a life of peace, and contentment. I can hope our friends find the same bliss, and I can hope for nopony to go through something like what I did ever again.

And I can hope for all of it in a safe place, where I can be loved for who I am. A place that I can call home because it’s where I belong, and it’s exactly where I want to be. I said to myself that I left my heart in Ponyville with this kind, yellow mare, and now I’ve finally made it back to her. 

My home.









The End.





Part VI comes to a close, and so ends ‘Falling from the Sky’. I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Be sure to leave your comments, and if you’re impatient for a sequel, look for me on fanfiction.net under the same name!