//------------------------------// // Dreams of the Past // Story: What Didn't Happen // by Zeg //------------------------------// What Didn't Happen by Zeg Chapter XII – Dreams of the Past Spike was literally scratching his head, raking one of his claws over the side of his scaly face as he glided through the air toward Ponyville. He was trying to make sense of the complicated situation that his Princess had just told him about. Nightmare Moon ruling Equestria, a changeling hive in the Everfree Forest, and to top it all off, Twilight’s own student turned out to be Chrysalis. And now, both he and Twilight were in flight toward Ponyville to team up with the infamous Queen of the Night in an attempt to fight back against the changeling swarm. From his own relative perspective, it was quite a shocking change from the rather normal old boring day that he had woken up to earlier that morning. While Spike was pondering over the seemingly crazy string of events that had occurred, he still held Twilight tucked securely against his chest with his other arm. She had grown quiet after telling Spike of the last few weeks worth of her experiences, and had turned her attention toward studying the underlying enchantments of the band fastened around one of her forelegs. Being able to freely use her unicorn magic once again, she was able to scan the enchantments to study their individual components. She had learned long ago that enchantments were like magical mechanisms, made up of smaller base spells that acted like parts that could be assembled into a more complex spell. The fetlock bands had a strong anti-magical component that would nullify most of her innate earth pony magic, which in turn would diminish her overall power. They also had a component that was much like a lock that secured the bands around her fetlocks and prevented them from being removed. It was this particular part of the enchantment that she had taken interest in, and by using a small amount of her unicorn powers she had been poking and prodding at the enchantment to discover exactly how it worked. It was akin to what a locksmith might do with a set of specialized tools to jostle the tumblers in a lock until they lined up just right. Finally, the fetlock band released its hold with a click, and Twilight let go a relieved sigh as she flicked her foreleg, sending the loose band flying off and to the ground below. She didn’t waste any time turning her attention to the band on her other foreleg. “Hey,” Spike said when he noticed Twilight’s actions. “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” “I can do this much,” Twilight said as she squinted at the band. “It doesn’t take a lot of effort, and I really need to get these things off before we come across any more changelings.” The second band came loose much quicker than the first, and Twilight flicked the band away. She reached one of her back legs up, holding it steady with her forelegs as she went to work on one of the two remaining bands. Spike’s chest heaved at a slight sigh. “So, I was thinking.” “That can be dangerous,” Twilight said with a slight grin, still keeping her focus on releasing the restraint. Spike snorted at her comment. “Hah... anyway. I’m sure nopony in Ponyville is going to expect a dragon carrying a princess from the future to land in town.” The third band clicked, and came loose. Twilight kicked it away, sending it sailing toward the ground before she stretched her other leg upward to turn her attention to the final one. “You’re probably right,” she said as she focused her gaze on the last band. Spike silently glided for a moment, glancing down to Twilight when he didn’t get anything further from her. “So... what should I do about it?” “Don’t be seen?” Twilight offered. Spike could feel her give a slight shrug, and then noticed the small vibration when she didn’t quite manage to mask her silent snickering. He let out an annoyed grunt as he rolled his eyes. “I’m just joking with you, Spike. Hm, let me think about it for a second.” The final band clicked, and with a swift motion Twilight kicked it free from her leg, sending it on its way to the ground below. She let out a light, relieved sigh and tapped one of her forehooves to her chin as she gave Spike’s plight a moment of thought. “Well, the library does have a balcony, right off the loft. Think you can land up there?” Spike’s chest rumbled with a low hum. “That’s worth a shot, I guess. I just hope I don’t break a chunk off the library, that wouldn’t be very stealthy.” “No, that wouldn’t be, so try not to do that.” Twilight knew that asking Spike to sneak his way into town was easier said than done, but there really wasn’t any other way they could approach this situation if they wanted to get to the library as soon as possible. Under the cover of darkness, it was likely that anyone who might happen to notice them in the sky wouldn’t be able to make out much more than a shadow. Hopefully, no one would be around to see the shadow land on top of the library. They needed to get to the library as soon as she possibly could. There was no telling what state Nightmare Moon would be in when they got there, or if she would still be there, but the sooner they reached the library, the better their chances would be of locating her before anything unfortunate happened. Twilight only hoped that once they did find Nightmare Moon that she could be reasoned with, since the only option left was to reveal the whole truth to her. Twilight glanced to the ground when she noticed a few small lights below. Her mind had been wandering, and only now did she realize that they had arrived at their destination. Ponyville was mostly dark, only speckled with a few lit street lamps and windows, which Twilight gave a silent thanks for. Eternal night made it difficult to tell at a glance exactly what the hour might be, but it had already been nearing the nighttime hours a few hours ago when Twilight had last checked while she had been in her tower within Canterlot. Most ponies would likely be asleep by now if they were still sticking to traditional sleeping hours. This seemed to be the case, since most of the homes had their lights out. Spike began to descend toward a large treetop that rose above most of the thatched roof houses around it. The full moon’s light reflected from the leaves causing them to appear deep green, and the various balconies jutting out from the branches could barely be made out as Twilight squinted her eyes at the Golden Oak Library. “That one, right there,” Twilight said as she pointed her hoof to the balcony that connected with the lower level of the library’s loft. Spike gave a quick nod, angling his descent toward the balcony. As he came in closer to the landing, he stretched his legs out and flapped his wings vigorously as he tried to ease his descent as much as possible. The branches near the loft wiped around and the leaves rustled at the rushing wind that swept over them, and Spike finally touched down when he could no longer hold at a hover just above the balcony. The supporting branches complained at the sudden addition of a dragon’s weight, letting go creaking noises and even one cracking sound that caused Spike to grit his teeth together nervously. “Yeesh,” he said as he held out his free hand, ready to grasp at anything nearby should the balcony decide to give way. The two stood still there in the silent darkness for a short time, until it seemed likely that branch was going to hold. “Well, that was exciting,” Twilight said as she looked up over her shoulder to Spike. He slowly lowered himself, attempting to avoid any sudden movements. He lowered Twilight to the balcony as well, and once her hooves touched the wooden flooring she turned her attention to the glass pane door that led into the loft. Her horn lit for only a second as she reached out with a telekinetic spell to lift the latch that was on the other side, allowing the door to freely swing open toward her. Twilight walked into the loft just to the other side of the doorway and immediately stopped. Laying there sprawled out on the floor was the dark figure of Nightmare Moon. Her onyx crown had fallen from her head and rolled a short distance away, and her gilded onyx slippers had come loose from her hooves and lay scattered on the floor about her. Her billowing, deep purple mane and tail seemed to spill out like a shimmering puddle onto the floor around her as she lifelessly laid there. Once she got over the initial shock, Twilight quickly trotted over to Nightmare Moon’s side where she gently laid her hoof. She felt slightly relieved when she felt a gentle rise and fall under her hoof, finding that Nightmare Moon was only unconscious. “Wow, it really is her,” Spike said quietly from the doorway. He had leaned down to peek his head inside, but the frame of the door was much too small for any more than his upper body to fit through. “Yeah. Something’s not right,” Twilight said as she gently shook Nightmare Moon with her hoof. She didn’t stir, even when Twilight shook her a second time more vigorously. “She isn’t waking up.” “Is she hurt?” “No, at least it doesn’t look like she is,” Twilight said as she looked Nightmare Moon over for any injuries she might have missed. She was gently tilting the Queen’s head to search for any head trauma when she noticed something. Her jawline was twitching ever so slightly, and underneath her closed eyelids, her eyes were darting back and forth rapidly. “Wait, she’s dreaming.” “I didn’t know long distance teleports caused sudden naps,” Spike said, a grin turning up the corner of his mouth. He reached back to scratch at the scales behind his ears when Twilight shot him a look. “Heh, sorry.” “This could be serious, Spike,” Twilight said as she looked back down. “If Chrysalis did something to her that is keeping her from waking up, then I need to figure out how to help her.” Twilight closed her eyes, sitting back on her haunches as she rubbed the back of a forehoof under her chin. She let out a quiet hum in thought, and then after a short moment slowly opened her eyes again. “There is something I could try, but it’s been a while.” “Anything you need me to do?” Spike asked, even though he knew his ability to directly help would be limited by the tiny doorway. Twilight glanced back over to Spike. “Well, if you wouldn’t mind, make sure I’m not interrupted. I’ll need to keep my focus if I’m going to go on a dream walk.” Spike had heard of the magic that Twilight spoke of; an ability that she had learned from Luna herself. Luna’s ability to visit another pony’s dreams was a rather unique one, and as far as anyone knew, Twilight was the only other soul to have ever learned the spell out of the four known alicorns who could even attempt it. “Uh, well. I can hang out here until you get back and make sure nopony bothers you,” Spike offered as he made himself comfortable on the balcony. “Thanks, Spike.” With that decided, Twilight turned her attention back to Nightmare Moon. It had been decades since the last time she had used the dream walking spell that Luna had taught her. Luckily, the spell wasn’t a complicated one, and simply required her to maintain focus over a semi-lucid dream state while tapping into her alicorn power. Twilight slowed her breathing first, drawing in deep breaths and letting them out slowly as she closed her eyes. She laid herself down next to Nightmare Moon, folding her forelegs under her chin as she rested on them. Her features relaxed as she drifted off, and just as she seemed to fully pass into a controlled sleep, her eyes reopened, half lidded and glowing a bright white with her power. “There she goes,” Spike said quietly, resting his own chin upon his folded forearms and focusing his watchful gaze on his Princess. --- Twilight’s eyes opened, and she quickly stood from where she was laying. Doing a quick turn, she looked around herself, seeing an endless expanse of misty clouds that stretched from her hooves off to a distant horizon. All around her the horizon was painted with hues one would expect to see at sunset, a mixture of reds, oranges, and purples. The sky above the horizon was covered with a light cloud cover that mirrored the misty surface she walked on. Her hooves made no noise as they moved, and only caused the misty surface beneath them to stir slightly, a wispy trail following her hooves when she lifted them. Her thoughts echoed clearly through her mind in this place, almost as if the words were spoken out loud. Okay, so I made it to the dreamscape. Good. Now I need to find her dream. Twilight knew that her close proximity to Nightmare Moon in the physical realm should put her relatively close to the dream on the dreamscape. Her ears swiveled around, attempting to hear any sounds that might lead her in the right direction. The dreamscape was a place where nothing existed unless the dreamer willed it to be so, which included sound. Twilight found the perfect silence of this place a bit unnerving, even though she had experienced it before. While she could will sounds to manifest in this place if she chose to, leaving the silence as it was would make it easier to pinpoint the dream, so she opted to simply listen. Both of her ears swiveled back when they picked up a very slight noise of a breeze whisking by. She turned her head quickly, and could see something attempting to take shape nearby. As she turned to approach the vision, it solidified into an open balcony that looked out onto a star filled night that had a crescent moon hanging low in the sky. The wispy clouds slowly pulled away from the tall balcony, revealing walls, a high ceiling, and a polished floor that connected to it. The moonlit room continued to slowly build itself from nothing as the clouds retreated, and something sitting at the balcony began to take form when a misty mass of midnight blue clouds coalesced there. It wasn’t too much longer before Twilight could make out what appeared to be a young, blue alicorn nearly the same size as herself taking shape from the clouds, sitting at the edge of the balcony as she stared out at the moon. The dream continued to solidify around Twilight, forming the rest of the room until the wispy clouds finally dissipated all together. The details of the dream became indistinguishable from reality, and Twilight found herself standing in the center of what appeared to be Luna’s bedroom within the Canterlot Palace, though it appeared somewhat different than what she remembered. Mostly, it was how the room was decorated, and the locations of the furniture that seemed out of place. And Luna, she seemed much smaller than she should have been, and her mane and tail were both simple locks of normal blue colored hair, not the shimmering ethereal starscape that was unique to her. There had only been one time that Twilight had seen Luna with such an appearance, and that was shortly after she and her friends had defeated Nightmare Moon by stripping her dark power away from her with the Elements, an event that this Luna had never experienced. The tall, dark mahogany double doors that guarded the entryway to Luna’s room suddenly flew open, causing Twilight to leap back a step in surprise. A mass of white and pink clouds billowed in through the doorway, and as they did they began to collect together into a more solid form. Twilight’s ears picked up on the sound of a voice coming from the clouds, at first sounding like a hollow echo that she couldn’t quite make out, but as the clouds took shape the voice became easier to discern. “Luna?” the shape asked as it paused only a few steps away from Twilight near the center of the room. Twilight knew that in her current state, she was merely an observer and her presence here would have no effect on the dream, but she still felt the need to back away to give the cloudy shape some room. As Luna turned her gaze away from the moon and toward the shape, it quickly solidified into another alicorn whose coat was a pearl white, and whose mane and tail were both solid pink. Her cutie mark was the unmistakable sun emblem of the Sun Princess, Celestia, but like her younger sister her mane seemed to lack its unique ethereal quality. “Luna, are you alright?” she asked, cautiously approaching her younger sister by a few steps. Luna turned her gaze away back out to the moon. “There is no reason for concern, sister.” The look of concern did not leave Celestia’s face. She seemed unsure how to approach the situation, shuffling nervously on her hooves for a moment in silence. “I thought you might be ill. The moon has not set,” she said, her voice having an edge of hesitation. “I am not ill, only tired,” Luna said, her sides heaving heavily. “Tired of being shunned by our subjects.” The worried look on Celestia’s face became pained, and she began to walk the rest of remaining distance to her younger sister’s side. “Oh, Luna. We talked about this—” “And solved nothing!” Luna snapped as she quickly turned her head to look to Celestia, causing the elder sister to freeze in her tracks. The anger and frustration on the younger sister’s face was undeniable, and seemed to come as a shock to Celestia. “Nothing has changed. Our subjects still view you as their ruler and me as some sort of demon that you keep caged!” Celestia retreated a single step, unsure how to handle the sudden outburst. “That is not—” she quietly started, but was quickly cut off. “Enough!” Luna bellowed, her voice carrying out into the halls and causing echoes. “Enough with you trying to make excuses for their behavior. For just one day, I want them to live under my moon; to appreciate it and realize that it is just as important as the sun instead of hiding from it.” Luna stared harshly at her elder sister for a time before she let go a frustrated huff and turned her attention back to her moon hanging low in the sky. “They can live without the dawn for one single day,” she said in a quiet but firm voice. “Luna, we cannot allow this. You have to know the panic that this would cause.” Luna let an indignant snort escape from her nostrils. “If they panic, it will be their own fault, not mine,” she said, dismissively waving a hoof out toward the balcony. “There is nothing to fear from my night. Our subjects invented lies of evil things that prey upon ponies from the darkness, and used them to scare their foals into obedience. And as the generations have gone by they have all come to truly believe just that!” Luna punctuated the last word with a stamp of her hoof. Her gaze turned around back toward her stunned sister. “They truly believe that my night is something evil that they must hide themselves from.” Celestia shook her head as she cautiously drew herself a couple steps closer. “Forcing the night upon them will not solve this,” she said, her voice pleading for reason. “Neither will doing nothing!” “...Luna, please reconsider this. It is too sudden. Perhaps we can find another way—” “No, Celestia,” Luna said with all her conviction. “I have made up my mind. My moon will not make way for the dawn. Not this day.” She turned her gaze toward the horizon once again, her voice calming to the point of almost a whisper. “And once this day passes and nothing evil befalls the world, they will all see just how foolish they have been.” “This cannot be happening,” Celestia said, mostly to herself. Her head hung low and her brow furrowed as her eyes closed tightly. “I never wanted this day to come.” Luna twisted her gaze back toward her elder sister, a disappointed frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Are you babbling about your prophecies again?” she asked in an accusing tone. Celestia looked up, raising her head slightly. She silently regarded her sister for a moment, then steeled herself with a deep breath as she stood to her full height. “Every single one of them has come true, you know this,” she said, her pleading tone having been completely replaced by a regal demeanor. She had obviously given up on acting the part of the elder sister, and was now filling her role as co-ruler of Equestria. “No I do not know this. I can only go by what you have claimed,” Luna said as she stood and turned toward her sister, trying to match her stance even though her stature was easily half that of the Sun Princess. “And now you are suddenly telling me that this event is among one of your prophecies? Why tell me this now and not beforehoof? To be honest, I am not sure I believe you. You could be simply crafting stories to persuade me to reconsider.” Celestia stared forward into the younger sister’s eyes, masking her inner emotions with the stoic glare that she put forward. “Luna, please. Lower your moon,” she asked levelly. Neither sister so much as flinched as they stared each other down. Only Luna finally made a motion, her eyes narrowing slightly as she said, “You have my answer.” The muscles along Celestia’s jawline flexed as she ground her teeth in frustration. She let go a defeated sigh, once again allowing her head to hang low. She simply stared at the ground for a while there in the awkward silence, her eyes seeming to trace some invisible lines on the floor as she pondered over the situation. Finally, she pulled her gaze back up level, and with slow, deliberate steps, she made her way toward the balcony. Luna watched her with a harsh glare that only intensified as the elder sister approached, and then walked by her. Luna stepped slightly to the side, eyeing her sister as Celestia stopped at the edge of the balcony and glanced down to whatever was below. The elder sister looked down in silence for some time while the younger watched her closely, saying nothing. Suddenly, Celestia glanced up, locking her gaze onto the moon on the horizon, causing Luna to flinch slightly at the sudden motion. “What are you—” Luna began to ask, but stopped when the golden aura of Celestia’s magic lit the area around them. Luna’s eyes went wide with fright as she looked from her elder sister out to the moon, and saw that it was now slowly beginning to lower toward the horizon. “Stop!” Luna commanded, taking a braced stance as she lowered herself slightly. Her horn crackled to life with a dark indigo glow, arcing raw power around her to the floor and surrounding walls. “Celestia!” she screamed as she lunged forward, simultaneously letting go a blast of power directly at the elder sister. Celestia matched the power evenly with a shield at her side, absorbing most of the blast and deflecting what remained around herself in a cascade of magical sparks. She stood unmoving at the balcony’s edge, only turning her glance toward Luna long enough to direct a spell at the younger sister to push her away. Luna stopped in midair for a split second before the spell took full effect and sent her backwards. Her slippered hooves came in contact with the ground, scraping as she skidded back across the balcony to a nearby wall. She let go a grunt of air when her side impacted it, but recovered quickly. She immediately adopted her braced stance again, and pushed off the floor with a powerful thrust from her legs and wings in an attempt to physically tackle Celestia, but was stopped immediately when she found a barrier between herself and her elder sister. A golden glow shimmered over the barrier as it warped against the impact. Luna let go a furious growl as her magic ripped at the barrier in an attempt to destroy it, but the barrier held strong against her attacks as Celestia continued to bring the moon low to the horizon. Luna screamed her elder sister’s name again and again, each time the screams slowly growing less furious and more pleading. Her attacks weakened with each blow until Luna simply slumped to the floor, pleading for her sister to stop. The moon disappeared beyond the horizon, and a few short seconds later the stars began to dim in the sky as the night began to give way to the day. Celestia’s aura dimmed until it blinked out completely, and she closed her eyes tightly, the fur just beneath her eyes damp from her tears. Taking a shaky deep breath, she attempted to compose herself. She turned toward her younger sister, who was a sobbing wreck sitting on her haunches near her. Luna’s blue locks of hair hung down limply around her face, hiding it from view. Celestia nearly lost her composure right then and there, the thin line of her mouth quivering on her muzzle. She opened her mouth, attempting to speak when she finally found her weak voice. “Please try to understand, I—” “Get. Out.” Luna’s voice was clear and solid, despite the sobs that wracked her body. Celestia flinched at the words, drawing herself back a step. Luna shifted ever so slightly until one of her eyes could be seen glaring a hate-filled stare directed at her elder sister from between the locks of her mane. Celestia only lingered for a short time, her mouth moving as if she wanted to say something, anything that could make up for what she had done. However, the glare that pierced into her soul seemed to sap any resolve that she had remaining, and her royal demeanor crumbled as sorrow overtook her. She only managed a slight whimper as she turned herself away, her head hung lowly as she moved to leave the room. Her form dissipated into a cloud of mist as it crossed the threshold of the doorway that lead out of Luna’s bedroom. Twilight found herself sitting off to the side, a hoof clutched over her chest. She blinked when she noticed something blurring her vision, and lifted a forehoof to her eye to wipe a tear away. She knew what she was seeing was only a dream, but the dreamscape had a way of magnifying emotions. She wasn’t entirely sure what she had just been witness to, but it hadn’t been anything like she had been expecting and had definitely not been pleasant. The vision had been so vivid, so lifelike, she had temporarily mistaken it as reality, only being brought back by the fact that Celestia had vanished into the cloudy mist billowing just outside the doorway. Twilight’s attention snapped back to the scene before her when a frustrated scream radiated through the room. Luna’s horn crackled with dark blue energy, and a matching electrified aura appeared on the two mahogany doors. The two doors swung violently on their hinges, slamming closed against the frame and causing a cracking noise to fill the air. Splintered lines crawled out from where the hinges attached to the door panels as a shower of small wooden splinters flew through the air to land around the doorway. Luna stood fully braced against the floor, her head lowered as if she were ready to attack anything that would dare face her at this moment. Her body shook with anger, and her eyes drilled the door with a hate filled glare. Her sides heaved from the ragged breaths that she drew in and out. She began to pace, her eyes glaring at the doorway as she passed by it each time. Her fury didn’t seem to bleed off any at all as she moved back and forth across the center of her room. Finally, she let go a frustrated growl as she turned fully away from the doorway, walking to the other side of the room. There she stopped just in front of a dresser, and after a moment of staring down at the floor she looked up into the vanity mirror mounted to the wall just above it. She stared back at the pitiful image of an Alicorn in the mirror that stared back at her. “Why?” she said to the reflection in a whisper before gritting her teeth. “Why?” she asked again, growling the word between her teeth as she slumped against the top of the dresser. Her forelegs folded just on top of the dresser, and she buried her face there as quiet sobs escaped from her. Twilight felt an urge to rush to Luna’s side to comfort her, but knew that interfering with the dream at this point would likely only cause confusion. Instead, she continued to silently watch, hoping for the reason behind this dream to reveal itself soon. “Because you are weak.” The voice sounded exactly like Luna’s, but the way she suddenly snapped her attention upward and swiveled her ears around indicated that she was not the one who had said the words. She glanced from side to side, looking around the room to try and find the source of the voice, until she froze and eyed the mirror with a side-glance. Her wide eye stared at her reflection, and what she saw staring back at her was another alicorn that appeared to look just like her, but was staring back in contempt. Luna’s lips quivered as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. “Who?” she managed to ask in a weary voice. “You know who I am,” the image answered back, narrowing its eyes at her. “You created me, a long time ago, split me off from yourself and gave me the power that you didn’t want to deal with. Then you buried me so deep within the recesses of our subconscious mind that it is only moments such as these that I am able to even speak.” Luna’s rage and sorrow had completely vanished, the startling situation having filled her with fear instead. She drew herself away from the dresser slightly, holding a foreleg up defensively against her chest. “Oh, do not be like that,” the image said, scrunching her muzzle in disgust. “You are making us into a hypocrite. You speak of how you want our subjects to respect us, to revere us instead of fear us. But yet, here you are, afraid of your own inner reflection! You fear your own power so greatly you have buried it and forgotten it. You reduced us to something so far beneath our sister, it is a wonder that she has not done this to us sooner.” Luna shook her head, wanting to deny the claims the image was laying before her. “There was nothing I could do.” “There was nothing that you were willing to do!” The image slammed her hoof against the dresser on her side of the mirror, causing the mirror itself to shake on the wall. Luna flinched, landing on her haunches and drawing her own forehooves back to herself. “You allowed her to steal our moon from us! You are pathetic. The only thing you have proven to our sister this day is that she can walk all over us whenever she chooses and we will not fight back. Nothing we want matters to her any longer.” Luna cast her glance aside. “What else could I have done? I tried to stop her, but she would not listen to me.” “We have just as much right to rule this land as she does. We were gifted power in equal measure to hers, but you simply refuse to acknowledge it, hiding from it like some scared little foal.” The image leaned forward, close to her side of the mirror. “Stop running from who you are, and embrace the power you were gifted so long ago. You said so yourself, there is nothing to fear from our darkness.” Luna glanced back to the image in the mirror. She apprehensively approached the dresser again, stopping just short of actually touching it. “I... I do not believe I can,” she said, allowing her head to hang slightly in shame. “Then I will.” The confident declaration from the image drew Luna’s attention back to the mirror. “Allow me to shoulder our burdens for us. Allow me to right this wrong, to bring justice forth.” The image raised a hoof, placing it against her side of the mirror, causing a small ripple as if the mirror itself was the surface of a still pond. She closed her eyes momentarily, and then slowly opened them, her pupils appearing as long draconic slits instead of the circular irises they should have been. “Bring me to the surface,” she said, her voice seeming to resonate with a second one just underneath. From across the room, Twilight could only watch the display play out before her with a horror-stricken look. Luna reached out slowly, her shaking hoof hesitating as her eyes darted from the hoof against the mirror to the draconic eyes staring at her and back. For a few fleeting seconds, it looked as if she were going to reconsider, but then she steeled herself, her fear being replaced with determination as she reached forward and placed the flat of her hoof against the mirror. The very instant she did so, the scene exploded with a light so intense that Twilight had to shield herself from it with her wings. When the light died down, Twilight found herself once again standing on the endless plane of the dreamscape surrounded by nothing but gently billowing clouds. She was certain that the vivid visions she had just beared witness to were more than just a mere made up dream or nightmare. Sometimes a pony would dream of past events that occurred over their lifetime, and the stark details of the dream were too precise to be anything less than memories. She had just witnessed the pivotal moment in Luna’s life where she had given herself over to her darkness over a thousand years ago. What bothered Twilight even more so than witnessing the advent of Nightmare Moon were the events that had led to it. The legend never spoke of Celestia wresting control of the moon away from Luna when she refused to lower it, but then legends were not to be taken as detailed factual accounts of events. They were merely stories passed down through history that often had a loose basis in true events, and even written history itself usually favored the victor when dealing in past conflicts. Before Twilight could properly gather her thoughts, a loud sound echoed from her right. She reflexively looked to her side in time to see a set of towering ivory double doors appearing as they were being thrown wide open. The clouds quickly retreated from the doors, causing a long, tall hallway to form as they flowed to and then past Twilight. Her eyes followed the clouds as they rippled away to the other end of the hall, and saw them end at a stairway that lead up to two thrones, one midnight blue, and the other gold, leaving herself standing in the center of what appeared to be the long hallway of a throne room. What remained of the misty clouds collected into shapes that began to look more like ponies standing in a semicircle just before the thrones, and another larger form on the golden throne itself. In only a few seconds, they solidified into a group of stalwart royal guards standing in front of Princess Celestia. The Princess sat upon the throne in all her regal glory, staring back down the length of the hallway toward the doors that had been pushed open. Instead of her normal regalia, she now wore a set of golden armor not too far unlike that of her royal guards, complete with a helm upon her head formed in such a way that allowed her now ethereal pastel colored mane to hover freely about her head. “Well well,” a familiar voice echoed from the other end of the hall. Twilight’s attention snapped back to the opened doorway when she recognized Nightmare Moon’s voice just in time to see the dark mare herself walking in, clad in her armor and flanked on either side by three Nightguard each. She appeared exactly as she had the first time Twilight had ever laid eyes upon her. “Perhaps your prophecies are not all falsities,” she said, a dangerously playful tone on her voice. “It seems you were able to properly prepare for our arrival.” “Luna—” “No!” the dark mare’s voice boomed through the hall, cutting Celestia off before she could speak. “Not Luna. Not any longer. The one who you knew as ‘Luna’ was a sister that you consider to be weaker than yourself. A princess whom you believed you could control with your superior power.” Twilight stepped backwards to the side of the hall as Nightmare Moon and her entourage found their way to the center of the throne room. The dark mare stopped there, her pose tall and regal as her draconic eyes glared down the length of the hall toward her elder sister. “We will no longer be associated with that weakness.” A heavy silence fell over the room, tempered by a tense feeling in the air as the two groups stared each other down. Celestia held the gaze that she exchanged with her younger sister for some time before she glanced down to the guards that stood vigilant between herself and the perceived threat before them. “Your quarrel is with me. There is no reason to bring others into our disagreement.” Celestia’s guards glanced to each other, seeming unsure as to what their next action should be, still holding their ground against the dark Alicorn and Nightguard forces standing opposite of them. Finally, Nightmare Moon responded, closing her eyes as she gave a single nod. “Agreed,” she said calmly. “Leave the room, all of you,” Celestia said, her command both gentle yet firm in tone. Her guards hesitated at the order but for a short second, and then carried out their Princess’s wish, each of them cautiously making their way from the throne’s steps down the hall toward the doorway. Nightmare Moon had silently commanded her guards to follow suite, nodding to them when they looked to her for further direction. Once both groups were just outside the doors, Celestia rose from her throne, stepping to the edge of the stairs. She raised her voice to be loud and clear to everypony present. “Hear me! The doors to this throne room do not open for any reason. Is that understood?” An acknowledgement of the order came from Celestia’s and Nightmare Moon’s guards alike. “Then seal them.” With that final command, the large, ivory white doors to the throne room groaned as they were pulled closed by the guards. A dull thud echoed through the room at the moment they fully sealed. Nightmare Moon turned her attention from the closed doorway back toward her elder sister. “What exactly is your game here, dear sister?” she openly pondered now that the two were alone within the throne room. She had likely expected Celestia to attempt something, but to see the Sun Princess clear the room of all others only seemed to make her curious. “No game. No others need to be involved,” Celestia quietly said as she shook her head. “This matter must be settled between us.” “Yes, it must,” Nightmare Moon said with a dangerous undertone as her horn lit with power. Just before her, the air crackled with electric fury as her magic seemed to rip a small hole in the space. Something took form from the fissure, starting as a mass of sparkling darkness and solidifying into something much more intimidating. Nightmare Moon’s magic took hold of a long ebony shaft that ended with a cubic hunk of midnight blue glowing metal at the end. Twilight recognized it as a weapon. More precisely it was a war mace, a blunt weapon with unparalleled devastative potential if wielded by one with the proper skills. Even more precisely, it was a particular war mace conjured directly from the dark mare’s own alicorn power; a celestial weapon bearing the name of Fallen Star. Twilight had never seen the weapon herself, but she had heard of its terrifying power. If Nightmare Moon were bringing the weapon to bear against her own sister, then it meant only one thing; she was not holding anything back. “We demand your surrender,” she said as she levelled the weapon directly toward Celestia. Celestia did not flinch before the demand. Though she managed to maintain her regal pose, her eyes spoke volumes of the internal conflict raging inside her. The dark mare before her was a threat, but was also her younger sister. She took a tentative step forward, her demeanor softening slightly. “Luna, let’s not—” “I told you to stop calling us that!” As her booming voice screamed toward Celestia, Nightmare Moon unleashed her weapon, sending it hurtling across the room. Celestia crouched to the floor and then pushed herself upward, launching into the air just as Fallen Star whirled through the space she vacated. The mace crashed and imbedded itself into the golden throne, exploding it into golden shrapnel that peppered the back wall of the throne room. From above, Celestia focused her power, conjuring a length of golden chain that glowed with the light of the sun just above herself. She had brought out her own celestial weapon, Sunray. She wasted no time trying to take the offensive, wiping the length of chain with her telekinetic magic toward Nightmare Moon. The chain seemed to magically create additional links from nowhere as it extended toward its target, stretching over the distance at surprising speed. Nightmare Moon glanced up when she heard the metallic ringing of the chain links coming toward her. She pushed off the floor, flying directly at the golden links, and once she closed the remaining distance she extended her armored forehoof out just before herself, allowing the end of the chain to snap around it. With a quick circular motion, she wrapped the chain and secured it within the crook of her fetlock, and then yanked back pulling the chain taut just before she gave the chain a solid whip. The force traveled back up the length of the chain to the opposite end, and caused the end of the weapon to snap suddenly and wrap around Celestia’s neck, ensnaring her in mid air. She only had a split second to cry out as Nightmare Moon thrust her wings, diving back to the floor and pulling the chain and the ensnared Sun Princess with her. Nightmare Moon’s armored hooves hit the floor with a loud clank that cracked the stone around her and caused the red carpet to billow from the impact, and a second later Celestia crashed into the floor equally hard, crumping to the ground as the sound of her armor clattering filled the room. Nightmare Moon flicked her foreleg, tossing the loose chain aside as it flickered and blinked out of existence. She calmly walked toward Celestia, who was struggling just to lift her head from the floor, a trail of blood dripping from each of her nostrils. Nightmare Moon’s horn lit with a dark indigo glow, and from behind Celestia there was a sound of metal scraping against metal as a telekinetic spell wretched Fallen Star from the mangled remains of the golden throne. The weapon sailed over and back to Nightmare Moon’s side just as she stopped before Celestia. She levelled the weapon only an inch from her sister’s face. “We are not nearly as powerless as we once were, as you now see. You are beaten. Surrender.” Celestia coughed, the motion causing a few flecks of blood to speckle the floor at her hooves. She peered over the mace up to her younger sister’s eyes. “Sister, please. Think of what this will do to Equestria.” “I have!” Nightmare Moon declared, the burning fury in her eyes seeming only to grow more intense. “The end of the sun’s rein over this world will usher in a new era. One where those who embrace the moon’s light will find prosperity beyond their wildest dreams, and those who shun and fear the night will find their truest nightmares beneath my moon.” Nightmare Moon seemed to get lost in her own words momentarily, the weapon she had levelled at her sister dropping slightly. “Yes... that is what it shall be. The name that will be known the world over. The name that will strengthen our allies and strike fear into the hearts of our enemies.” Nightmare Moon looked back to Celestia from her thoughts, a sinister grin working its way across her muzzle as she steadied her weapon in her magical grip. “Our name, Nightmare Moon.” Celestia’s eyes searched the fury-filled eyes that glared back at her over Fallen Star, but the gentle eyes of her younger sister were no longer there. All that met her now was the hard glare of an angered alicorn, bent on defeating the day once and for all. “It all came to pass...,” she said just barely above a whisper, her eyes blinking a tear away. “If your prophecies have told you of these events, then you must already know what is to happen next,” Nightmare Moon suggested, her tone bubbling over with confidence. “Yes... I do.” “You were defeated the moment this began.” “No,” Celestia said calmly, which caused Nightmare Moon to flinch back a step at the unexpected statement. “I only hoped in vain that there would be some other way. It seems I was wrong.” Suddenly, Celestia lost the pitiful look of defeat, sitting tall before her enemy. “There is no other way.” Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes at Celestia when she noticed her golden aura glowing. Something shimmered across Celestia’s helmet and chest armor, revealing five diamond shaped cut gems of multiple colors encrusted into her armor, and a single, slightly larger six-pointed star shaped magenta gem inset on the forehead of her helmet that had been hidden there. Nightmare Moon drew herself back in shock, recognition flicking across her eyes. “The Elements,” she said, her voice quivering with fear. She had obviously not expected her elder sister to bring the powerful artifacts to bear against her. Nightmare Moon quickly steeled herself, bringing her weapon to the ready as she braced her stance. “Whatever scheme you have concocted, it will not work!” She began to lunge at her sister, not wanting to allow Celestia the time to conjure the power of the Elements against her. However, something had reached out and snared her back legs. Her eyes snapped back and there she could see the golden links of Sunray extending from the floor in two locations, each length of chain shackling around her fetlocks. Two more lengths of the golden chain shot out of the floor before her, snapping shackles to her forelegs as she reared back in surprise. The four chains retracted into the floor, pulling tight and drawing Nightmare Moon’s legs out from under her and to her sides. She grunted as she was pinned to the floor, and looked up to see a brilliant white glow coming from Celestia’s eyes as she poured her power into calling forth magic from the Elements. Nightmare Moon let out an animalistic scream as her power arched from her horn. She put everything she had into her telekinetic grip on her weapon, and sent Fallen Star hurtling at her sister. The weapon appeared to find its mark, causing a blinding shower of sparks when it impacted its target. However, Celestia was left unharmed, sitting just behind a chromatic shield that had protected her from the weapon’s impact. Fallen Star fell to the floor with a loud clank and then vanished as Nightmare Moon’s power blinked out. The power saturating the air began to trace out arcane lines on the floor, encircling Nightmare Moon. The lines formed concentric circles of every color of the rainbow, each circle filled with dozens of runes that spun either clockwise or counter clockwise with its circle. The entire floor began to glow and pulse as each ring intensified, and a low rumbling filled the air as the entire hall vibrated. The last thing Twilight was able to clearly see was Nightmare Moon thrashing against the floor in vain as the Elements’ power washed over her. The last thing she heard as the entire world went white was a scream near identical to what she had heard when she had found Chrysalis attacking Nightmare Moon in the throne room. The bright light lingered for some time after the scream had faded into a distant echo. Twilight tried to calm her ragged breathing, finding it difficult to keep her emotions in check. These visions were far more intense than she had expected them to be, and just witnessing them was taking a toll on her. She could only imagine what reliving these events was doing to Nightmare Moon. Okay, focus. Focus! You have to find a solution to this. Is this what Chrysalis was trying to do; force her to relive these horrible memories? It was a possibility that made sense. Trapping Nightmare Moon within a nightmare of her own past was a simple way to remove her from the picture. Twilight blinked when she noticed that the white beneath her hooves was not clouds, but instead was a fine sand. She looked around herself, noticing that the endless dreamscape had once again shifted, this time to what appeared to be a barren wasteland of white beneath a black sky. Her shadow stretched out a far distance ahead of herself, which registered as an oddity to her given the sky’s darkness. She turned herself around to find the source of the light, and momentarily had to shield her eyes with her wing as they adjusted to the brightness. As she squinted out from beneath the feathers, she saw something off in the distance beyond the wasteland. A colorful globe of blues, whites, and greens hovered in the sky just over the horizon of the wasteland. The source of the bright light came from the sun that shined brightly from behind the upper edge of the globe. The moon... this is the moon. Twilight found herself standing upon the surface of the moon, glancing around herself and taking in the complete solitude that surrounded her. She had only just realized where this dream had now lead her and could already feel the loneliness creeping in around her. She endured this for a thousand years? Twilight pondered what one thousand years of true solitary confinement would do to herself and shook at a chill that ran down her spine. Shaking her head, she tried once again to focus on her task ahead of herself. I have to figure this out. There has to be a reason why I’m seeing this. Just at that moment, Twilight’s eyes went wide as her subconscious screamed out to her with a single, instinctual desire; to run. Twilight blinked out of existence with a quick teleport, appearing only a short distance away near instantly. Simultaneously, the area that she had just been standing within exploded in a white dust cloud. Twilight braced herself as she turned fully toward the cloud, readying her magical power should she need it again. She watched the cloud closely as it dissipated, noticing a shadow emerging. Nightmare Moon stepped from the cloud wielding Fallen Star in her telekinetic magic, her grim visage focused intently on Twilight. Dark blue magical electricity arced from her horn, some of it connecting with the intimidating weapon that floated at her side. She stopped, narrowing her eyes at Twilight as she grit her teeth together in seething anger. A quick flash, and the dark mare and war mace were gone. Twilight felt her mind scream out once again, and she vacated the location she had just been standing at with a teleport just as Fallen Star swung horizontally through it from behind her. She came out of her teleport only a few trots away and had to rapidly teleport yet again when an arc of lightning careened toward her. Twilight hadn’t prepared herself for this. Using magic in the dreamscape was different than in the physical realm. It operated to the same effect as one would expect in reality, but its strength was dictated by the strength of mind of the wielder. She had only prepared her mind for a journey into the dreamscape as an observer, not for a battle with Nightmare Moon. All she could manage was to stay barely ahead of the destruction as the dark mare tore apart the dream around them. Again and again, Nightmare Moon lashed out with her relentless attacks against Twilight as she desperately tried to stay ahead. She knew this was a losing battle if she didn’t choose to fight back in some way, but she didn’t dare chance being touched by Fallen Star, even if it was only a mental reconstruction of the weapon. Between the moments of blinking in and out of the teleports, Twilight formulated a tactic to attempt to stall the attacks. If only she could manage to get through to the Moon Princess beneath the surface, it may stay the attacks for at least a short moment. Twilight came out of a teleport slightly behind Nightmare Moon. “Luna!” she cried out, but Nightmare Moon had already loosed Fallen Star, sending the weapon whirling directly at Twilight. The slight delay that she had taken to call out the Moon Princess’s name left her with too little time to cast another teleport to get herself clear. She instead quickly cast a flat shield, shifting her stance to the side as she slid her right legs across the sand toward Nightmare Moon and angled her right wing down over her legs toward the ground. The motion forced the shield to tilt and cut into the ground at an extremely shallow angle just above Twilight’s side. Fallen Star impacted the shield, causing a mixed shower of indigo and lavender sparks to explode from the impact. Twilight stumbled sideways from the impact as the weapon careened off into the sky. She cried out at the searing pain that shot through her horn, down her neck, and through her spine, feeling as if someone had just poured boiling water down her back. Just the feedback from Fallen Star glancing against her shield was enough to cause serious pain. Twilight’s shield broke and fell apart like shattered glass, leaving nothing between herself and Nightmare Moon. Fallen Star whirled around through the sky back to Nightmare Moon’s side, and she immediately began to charge. Her hooves thundered across the short distance to Twilight, who was struggling to just stay standing where she was. With one final leap, Nightmare Moon lunged toward her target, bringing Fallen Star directly overhead as she prepared to bring down the final blow. Twilight instinctively cringed as the weapon was brought down upon her, her eyes pressing closed as she prepared herself for the strike. The air filled with a ringing sound of something metallic striking something else very strongly. However, Twilight found herself unharmed, despite the fact that she had lacked the time to get a proper spell prepared to defend herself. She forced herself to look up, and just above her head she could see a midnight blue wing sheltering her from Fallen Star’s wrath. Twilight followed the wing to its owner standing at her side. There, the Princess of the Night, Luna, was standing guard over Twilight as she stared down Nightmare Moon. The raw power of the strike that Nightmare Moon had tried to bring down on Twilight had been stopped by nothing more than Luna’s wing. Luna narrowed her eyes slightly only a split second before her wing flexed. She sharply drew her wing around in front of herself, causing a shockwave that flicked Nightmare Moon backwards, sending her dark alter ego’s body tumbling over the dusty white surface of the moon like a ragdoll. Fallen Star was sent spinning into the sky, arcing some distance away until it came back down and imbedded itself into the sand. Twilight stared slack jawed at the trail of dust clouds that had been left in Nightmare Moon’s wake as she had tumbled across the moon’s surface. She slowly glanced to her side, looking up to the Moon Princess who was folding her extended wing back to her side. “Princess Luna?” Twilight asked. She appeared like she had just earlier in the dream, like the young alicorn that was barely any taller than Twilight. Luna shifted her gaze to look at Twilight for only a second before turning her attention back to Nightmare Moon. She began to calmly trot across the distance between herself and where the dark mare was recovering from her rough landing. “Whu... why?” Nightmare Moon said as she struggled to catch her breath. She pushed herself back up to all fours, but nearly lost herself completely when she attempted a shaky step forward. Instead, she fell back to her haunches, her forehooves only barely managing to keep herself from toppling face first into the sand. “Why would you side with her... with an enemy!?” she screamed as her sides heaved in and out heavily. Twilight shook her head, coming out of her shocked stupor, and quickly stood and galloped forward to catch up to Luna, calling out to her. “Luna, be careful—” “You stay out of this!” Luna’s words seemed to cause the entire moon to quake, causing Twilight to skid to a halt and cringe away from the stern glare that the Moon Princess had shot back at her. When she seemed satisfied that Twilight would not interfere, Luna turned her attention back to Nightmare Moon, closing the remaining distance to stand just in front of her other self. For a short time the two only silently stared at one another, Luna standing taller than Nightmare Moon only because the later was crouched so lowly to the ground. “Have you forsaken me as well?” Nightmare Moon asked as she searched the depths of Luna’s eyes. Luna reached out and firmly struck Nightmare Moon across the face with the side of her hoof. The strike was more of a shock than painful, causing Nightmare Moon to gasp and raise a hoof to the spot as she blinked back at her smaller alter ego in wide eyed surprise. “Have you gone completely mad?” Luna asked, furrowing her brow in disappointment. “Do you even know where you are?” Nightmare Moon seemed to consider her surroundings seriously for the first time as she slowly looked around herself. Her eyes darted back and forth as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. “Why are we here?” she quietly asked. Her eyes wandered a bit more, finally falling on Twilight who was sitting where she had stopped earlier. Luna glanced over her shoulder, looking to Twilight for only a short second before she turned her eyes back toward her alter ego. “She is of no consequence... at this moment. However, you did very nearly kill the one who saved us.” Nightmare Moon blinked and looked back directly to Luna, confusion still playing on her face as her mind worked to unravel what was happening. “The throne room,” she said as she began to recall the earlier events of the evening. “We were in the throne room. And... and then.” Nightmare Moon furrowed her brows as she strained to remember something important. She glanced around herself, as if grasping for something that might spark a memory. Her eyes once again fell upon Twilight, and in that moment she recalled everything. Twilight had been there. She had been the one who had come to her rescue. The one who had stepped in and stopped the pain. The one that had stopped her. Nightmare Moon grit her teeth together. “Chrysalis,” she hissed as she recalled the source of her suffering. “Yes. I see you remember now,” Luna said with an approving nod. “So, do you know where you are?” “A dream,” Nightmare Moon said with a heavy sigh. “How did she defeat us so easily?” “I have a feeling she may know,” Luna said as she once again cast her glance behind her toward Twilight. She looked back to Nightmare Moon, gently putting a hoof forward to rest just atop one of hers. “You are not to blame. If anypony is, it would be myself.” “But, we are one and the same,” Nightmare Moon said in confusion. “No. No, we never have been,” Luna said as she shook her head and lowered it in shame. “And that is my fault. I never once accepted you as a part of myself, and instead only forced my responsibilities off upon you when I could no longer bear them on my own.” Luna looked back up to Nightmare Moon, her eyes taking on an apologetic glance. “I have been dormant for too long. While I slept within our subconscious, you suffered for a thousand years for my shortcomings. I may never be able to correct the injustice you suffered, but now I am prepared to face my burdens... our burdens, together.” Luna lifted her hoof, reaching it forward until she pressed it against Nightmare Moon’s chest. “I will no longer fear what should have always been a part of me.” Nightmare Moon’s breath seemed to catch in her throat. The dark mare blinked her eyes, and Twilight saw something that she had never thought possible. The Queen of Night, Nightmare Moon, smiled as tears of joy fell from her eyes to the white sands at her hooves. She leaned forward, nuzzling against Luna’s dusk blue mane, softly speaking only two words that carried on the silence around them. “Thank you.” --- Twilight awoke from her trance with a gasp, the glowing light from her eyes quickly fading out as she blinked them. Nearby, Spike snorted, and quickly raised his head from where he had been resting it on his folded arms. He misjudged the height of the door frame that his head had been laying in, and ended up knocking the top of his head against it. A low growl rumbled in his throat as he rubbed at the spot where the back of his head had contacted the cursed wood. Twilight slowly raised a single eyebrow as she eyed him with a sidelong glance. “Spike...,” she asked in a drawn out tone, drawing his attention toward her. “Were you... sleeping?” Twilight was unable to hide the grin that was curling the corners of her mouth. Spike froze in his motions, one hand still on the back of his head. Being caught off guard, he sputtered a bit before clearing his throat. “I was just resting my eyes,” he said with a forced, toothy smile. “Uh huh,” Twilight said, the grin morphing into a full on smile as she pushed herself to sit up. Spike nervously tapped his claws on the wooden floor for a few seconds, then let go a sigh. “Alright, maybe I kinda drifted off for a minute, but I was still listening!” Drawing his arms together and folding them under his chest, he huffed and then added, “I’ve flown like three hours straight tonight. Doesn’t help that it’s all dark and quiet here.” Twilight let a light giggle escape from her, which in itself seemed to make him a little less defensive when he heard it. Her laugh had always been one of the things he liked most about his Princess, and just hearing it after everything that had happened to her lifted a decent amount of worry from his heart. “It’s okay, Spike. I know you’re tired, and honestly I’d be a little surprised if I hadn’t found you asleep. I’m not sure how long I was in there. Time kinda gets away from you in that place.” Spike craned his neck back to glance over his shoulder to the full moon in the sky, then frowned and lowered his head to glance back in through the doorway. “Doesn’t look like any time has gone by at all, the moon is still right where it’s been ever since I got here. How the heck do you even tell time when the sky always looks the same?” “Yeah, that’s been a bit of a pain to deal with,” Twilight said with a tired sigh. “So... is she going to be alright?” Spike asked as he pointed a single claw at the sleeping Nightmare Moon laying next to Twilight. “I hope so. To be honest, I’m not completely sure of what actually happened, but with any luck she’ll wake up at least.” Twilight reached a hoof over and gently placed it upon Nightmare Moon’s side, once again feeling her gentle breathing as her sides slowly rose and fell. Twilight jerked her hoof back when she noticed something else unexpected. At the roots of the dark mare’s mane, the purplish ethereal glow was darkening to something closer to black, with only a very slight hint of midnight blue. The color change slowly spread, and the shimmering and sparkling effects within the her mane became even more intense than before. Upon a closer look, one would find that it was more accurate to say that her mane and tail were changing to appear as if they had been formed directly from a piece of the star filled night sky, giving them a depth that seemed impossible. The fur across her body also seemed to change very slightly, giving off a dark blue shine wherever the moonlight happened to touch it. After the transformation had finished, both Twilight and Spike only silently stared at the still sleeping alicorn for a while before they finally looked to each other with unsure glances. Their attention was drawn back when a small noise came from her. She let out a quiet groan as her eyes squeezed closed even tighter. Eventually, her hooves began to shuffle and she managed to roll off her side, drawing her legs fully under herself and managing to weakly pull her head up off the floor. She reached one hoof up and touched the side of her head as she drew in a hiss of air, her ears pinned back as she rubbed at the spot. Her eyes fluttered open for the first time, revealing the deep teal, circular irises of her eyes. She blinked once and focused her still squinting eyes on Twilight, and then once again glancing across the room at the dragon staring in through the doorway at her. “Princess Luna?” Twilight asked, her voice sounding quiet and hopeful. The dark mare definitely looked different than Nightmare Moon, but also different from the Moon Princess that Twilight remembered as well. This alicorn was still every bit as tall as Nightmare Moon had been, but her fur and mane were not the same violet and pitch black shades. The Alicorn glanced back to Twilight, allowing her hooves to rest just in front of herself on the floor. She seemed to consider the question that had been asked of her for a length of time before she acknowledged with a single nod, simply saying, “Yes.” Twilight let out a breath in a single, relieved huff. “Oh, thank goodness,” she said as she momentarily clutched a hoof over her chest. “I was a little worried. Are you... feeling alright?” she asked, unsure how else to ask if this was the same ‘Luna’ she knew. The Moon Princess once again lifted a hoof and touched it gingerly to the side of her head. “I feel as if I have been struck,” she said quietly, her facial expression giving off the slightest hint of a pout. “Oh,” Twilight said as she shrunk back a bit. “Sorry, that may have been my fault. When I teleported you, I sent you quite a long distance away and my aim may not have been exactly perfect. You may or may not have been... dropped on the floor,” she finished, a sheepish look overtaking her as she wilted a bit under Luna’s glance. “I see,” Luna said, closing her eyes as she rubbed at the spot a bit more. Glancing up again, she once more looked toward the dragon peering in through the doorway at her. “Uh, hey,” Spike said as he waved back to her. He went back to nervously scratching a claw at the wooden floor boards when all he got in response was Luna silently raising a questioning eyebrow in his direction. “That’s Spike,” Twilight said, drawing Luna’s attention back to her. “He’s a friend.” Twilight fidgeted with her hooves a bit when Luna only silently stared back at her. “You’re probably wanting an explanation for... well, everything. There is a lot that I need to tell you.” “Obviously,” Luna said as she folded her forehooves in front of herself. “Foremost among those being how one such as yourself could possibly know how to dream walk.” “Oh, right. Uh...,” Twilight started as she tried to find the best way to explain something that was likely going to sound unbelievable, no matter how she tried to word it. “This probably won’t make a lot of sense yet, but I learned it from you.” Luna closed her eyes, drawing in a breath and letting it out slowly with a hum. She silently considered the impossible claim for a time, Twilight growing more nervous by the second as she waited to hear the reaction would be. “Time travel,” Luna said simply as she opened her eyes. Twilight balked at the answer. “How did....” She shook her head, wondering how Luna could have possibly known the truth. “Am I correct?” Luna asked, glancing down to Twilight. When she nodded an affirmative in response, Luna smiled back. “A lucky guess,” she said, seeming to take some pride in her correct answer. “I did not actually know, but as far fetched as the thought might have been, it was the only one to occur to me.” “Well, it’s true. I know you from Equestria’s future.” Twilight found herself thinking that this might actually end up being easier than she thought. Well, slightly easier. She wrinkled her muzzle when she remembered that the situation was already beyond ridiculously complicated. “Actually, it’s more accurate to say that I know you from a different future. Things have already changed because of what’s happened here, and it’s possible the future I come from won’t even exist now.” Luna seemed to seriously consider Twilight’s explanation for a moment, and then another question came to her. “Did Celestia send you?” “What? Oh, no. Both you and her stayed behind to watch the other side of the spell, while Spike and I came through to follow the one who created the time tunnel.” Luna thoughtfully touched a hoof to her chin. “I thought she may have been trying to alter something. I wouldn’t put it past her to do so,” she said as she looked off somewhere within the loft, her brow furrowing slightly. “There’s no way your sister would do such a thing,” Twilight blurted out, her voice laced with an offended tone. However, her attitude quickly changed when Luna turned an unpleased glare back down to her, causing Twilight to wilt under the hard look. “Um, well, that is to say that I feel I know her fairly well, and it just doesn’t seem like something she would do. Perhaps I should mention that I mentored under her for most of my young life?” Twilight offered with a weak smile. Luna’s glare quickly softened, and was replaced genuinely curious look. “Go on,” she said as she crossed her forelegs before herself. --- Twilight had unleashed a whirlwind of information, holding nothing back. Even Spike had seemed to be enthralled by the details that Twilight had packed into her story of Equestria’s true history. She talked of how her friends had become the Bearers of the Elements, of how they had faced and defeated Nightmare Moon with their power, and how Luna and Celestia had ruled Equestria together ever since. She even explained how the power of the Elements had elevated her from a unicorn to an alicorn, a claim that seemed to cause the Moon Princess a great deal of surprise. Once Twilight had reached the end of her story, Luna had spent a silent moment considering the tale that she had been told. Twilight Sparkle and her friends appearing in the Everfree Forest had obviously been no coincidence. “You are very good at being deceptive, Twilight Sparkle. I never did suspect that you and your friends were moving against me. Nor did I suspect your... true nature,” she said as she gently reached a hoof over and nudged one of Twilight’s wings. Twilight looked away from Luna down to her forehooves. “I never wanted to lie to you. I just felt that you might not be in the best frame of mind, no offence. I felt that I had to find some way to help, however I could, even if it meant I had to deceive you.” “Equestria,” Luna said, drawing Twilight’s attention back up to her. “You were trying to help Equestria.” Twilight nodded in response, to which the Moon Princess smiled slightly. “Well, I can say your assessment was correct, I was not in the... best frame of mind... as you say. Had you revealed yourself to me as an alicorn upon our first meeting, I would not have trusted you.” “Do you trust me now?” Twilight asked, her eyes looking hopeful. Luna’s face betrayed no emotion at the question. She blinked and looked away toward the window in the upper level of the loft, staring out at the sky in silence. Twilight felt her nervousness growing, worried that the Moon Princess might actually feel betrayed by her secret intentions. The silent tension reached an uncomfortable point just as Luna glanced back down to Twilight. “I have no reason not to,” she said simply. “As outlandish as your story may seem at first, you know far too much for it to be anything but truth. And, you did risk yourself to save me, to which I am eternally grateful. Chrysalis managed to completely take me by surprise. I still cannot grasp how she was able to bypass my ward with such ease.” Twilight’s ears splayed back. “That... is probably my fault,” she said through a groan. “You used a counter ward, didn’t you?” she asked as she looked up to Luna. Twilight’s suspicion was confirmed when the Moon Princess nodded slightly in response. “Those ward types have a flaw. They work really well when they intercept magic that’s intended for the ward’s caster, but if you target the ward directly with the right kind of counter spell, you can disable it very easily if you know how they work.” Luna tilted her head curiously. “I fail to see how that would be your fault. It only means that she predicted my actions and out maneuvered me.” “I taught her how to tell when to expect a counter ward, and then how to counter them.” Twilight noticed the intense confusion that was playing on Luna’s face. “She posed as a unicorn, calling herself Crystal Charm, and I took her as my student for a few years before... all of this happened,” she explained, waving her hoof in a circle before letting it clunk to the floor. “Crystal Charm,” Luna said, speaking the name as if it were a reminder of something unpleasant. “That is a name I have not heard in a millenia, but one I could scarcely ever forget.” Twilight stared back, wide eyed in shock. “You know that name?” Luna slowly nodded. “It’s a guise she used long ago, before she changed.” “Changed?” Twilight asked sounding completely perplexed, tilting her head. Luna silently regarded Twilight at her side for a moment, her brow slowly rising a bit. “It appears there may be things that I should explain as well. I take this to mean that Celestia never told you of the origin of changelings?” Twilight silently shook her head in answer to Luna’s question, prompting a displeased groan from the Moon Princess as her ethereal tail flicked quickly back and forth at her agitation. “Typical. It would not be the only time she has buried history. I would tell you to ask her about the entire mess directly, but I suppose that is no longer possible, being that I turned her own imprisonment spell against her.” Luna let out a huff of air as the hairs on her neck bristled in annoyance. “Well, actually, that could be possible,” Twilight mumbled, chewing at her bottom lip as she considered an idea. With the Element of Magic now missing, using the Elements to free Celestia would no longer be an option until it was recovered. But, while it was true that no single alicorn would be able to break the imprisonment spell, more than one working together possibly could. “Yes, I think if we were to work together we could possibly weaken the imprisonment spell enough for Celestia to escape it. It’s not guaranteed to work but....” Twilight trailed off when she noticed Luna staring off to the side. It was easy to see the deep frown upon her muzzle, and the turbulent motions of her mane and tail told of her frustration. “I saw in your dream,” Twilight said, which was enough to draw Luna’s attention back to her. “Is it true that she took control of your moon to force it down?” Luna only silently stared back for a time before finally nodding with a short hum. Obviously, the past conflict between the two sisters was still a sore spot for this Luna. It was possible that she wasn’t going to want to forgive and forget so easily. “I understand how you must feel—” Luna cut off Twilight’s statement with an indignant snort, scoffing at the statement. “Do not attempt to patronize me, Twilight Sparkle. Simply peering into my memories does not give you the right to claim that you ‘understand’ my pain. The moon is as much a part of my being as your right hoof is a part of your leg, and having somepony else wretch it away from me was beyond the worst possible feeling I could have ever imagined, one inflicted upon me by my own sister.” Twilight cringed, her ears splayed back. “I-I’m sorry. Really, I apologize, that was very inappropriate of me.” The topic was definitely hitting a nerve with the Moon Princess, but Twilight knew she had to try to convince Luna to help free Celestia. They needed every ally they could get at this point. “Still, I do understand if you would be reluctant at all to free your sister, after witnessing what really happened. But—” Luna raised one of her forehooves slightly, causing Twilight to halt her plea. “I am not the same mare that was so blinded by vengeance that I would doom our nation over a power struggle between myself and my sister. What I want is not as relevant as is what needs to be done.” Luna drew in a deep breath, letting it go slowly through her nostrils as she calmed herself. “I will help you free Celestia,” she declared stoically. Those simple words brought a smile to Twilight’s muzzle, but before she could form any words of gratitude the Moon Princess quickly spoke. “Do not thank me. I’m simply doing what is necessary. Celestia will side with our cause once she hears what Chrysalis has done, and that is all that matters.” Twilight’s smile withered away quickly. While she had hoped for peace between the two sisters, it appeared that might be asking too much too quickly. At least Luna had agreed to bringing Celestia back, though with everything that had happened so far Twilight found herself left with the nagging feeling that things were not going to turn out nice and simple. “I hope you’re right. To be honest, I’m not a hundred percent sure of that,” Twilight said as she considered the possible outcomes of the Sun Princess’s return. “I’m sure you remember the report, that there was evidence that Celestia had given over convicts to Chrysalis. She was working deals with the changelings.” Luna actually grinned at that, slowly shaking her head. “That is not evidence of Celestia working with changelings. If anything, she probably believed she was using them to fulfil some sort of purpose. My elder sister may not always be forthcoming with her long term plans and her actions often seem to make little sense at the time, but she does always have a plan.” Twilight remembered the mention of ‘prophecies’ while within Luna’s dreams, though she couldn't fathom what sort of prophecy could drive Celestia toward such a plan. It still seemed too unreal, knowing that Celestia had agreed to such a thing, but perhaps she didn’t know her former teacher as well as she had believed, or the whole of the situation. Silence fell upon the room as Twilight quietly pondered over the possible excuses that Celestia could have had to justify her actions, prophecy or not. Twilight was a being that had always been very well attuned to the flow of magical power within the environment around herself, a trait that had only developed further as time had marched forward. Fluctuations in the ambient magic near her manifested as a sensation. Like being able to feel warmth when under the sun or cold when a chilled breeze blows by, Twilight could feel magic just as easily as she could feel somepony touching her. And like most sensations, the feeling could be gentle or intense. What Twilight felt at that very moment within the loft was a shift in the magical aura all around her that was so intense, the hackles on her neck stood up straight as she drew in a sudden loud gasp. The change had been very sudden, and very powerful, rippling its way across the land like a shockwave after an explosion. To all but a very select few, it would go completely unnoticed, but for Twilight it might as well had been the aftershock of a bomb going off. Spike hadn’t noticed the change itself, but did realize quickly that something wasn’t right. He knew his Princess better than most, and he knew that this reaction could only mean one possible thing; something bad just happened. “...What’s wrong, Twilight?” he asked, concern weighing heavy on his voice. “You felt that as well?” Luna asked from Twilight’s side. She seemed to share the same shocked look. “Yeah,” Twilight said in a heavy breath. She clutched one of her forehooves close to her chest. “How could she even do that? Why?” Luna visibly shuddered. She turned her glance upward toward the loft window, her worried glance looking out to the night sky. “I am not certain. But, I am certain of one thing; the situation just got much worse.”