The shocked silence that had settled over the royal hall was crushing. The two Princesses looked at each other, horrified expressions etched into their faces. The five captive ponies looked at each other, wide eyed. It was Applejack that finally broke the silence.
“Don’t do it, Princesses! Yer both the only hope that Twiligh-“
“SILENCE!” Shadow Star roared, the power in her voice shaking the hall. Quickly, Applejack’s gag was replaced. “If you speak again,” the purple alicorn snarled, “then I will kill Fluttershy extremely slowly, and it will be YOUR FAULT.”
Applejack sank back into a corner, eyes wide with fear.
“Now,” Shadow Star turned back to the Princesses, “what say you, oh royalty of two? Will you fight until one of you lies dead upon the floor? Or will you have the blood of an innocent pony on your hands?”
“You haven’t left us much choice,” Luna hissed quietly. Celestia turned a surprised eye on her sister.
“’Lu-“
“’Tia, we don’t have a choice!” Luna whirled on her sister, fires of rage burning in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter if Twilight isn’t the one up there! We can’t let her friends die!” Quieter, she added, “I can’t let them die. She wouldn’t want that…”
“Luna…”
“You OWE it to Twilight, Celestia,” Luna said, backing away from her sister slowly. “You owe her too much to not let her friends die.”
“I can’t kill you!” Celestia cried. “I just got you back! We just started becoming sisters again!”
“Don’t you think I feel the same way?” Luna cried out in response. “I don’t want to kill my own sister! I hated fighting you last time! But this goes beyond what we want!” The midnight blue alicorn turned a hateful eye at the black and purple alicorn. “We’re going to die anyway,” she said quietly. “So we might as well do as much as we can to save Twilight’s friends.”
Celestia blinked back the tears that had sprung to her eyes. Luna was just letting them flow freely. The Lunar Princess wasn’t completely sure why she was crying. She was crying for the miserable situation. She hadn’t even been back in Equestria for two years, and here she was, standing in the exact same place as she had when she challenged her sister’s rule.
She was crying for the caged ponies, feeling the pain radiate off of them. They were witnessing one of their best friends being taken over, against her will. They saw her friend act with extreme cruelty, and they were having trouble separating Shadow Star from Twilight Sparkle. If they survived, they would never forget the pain of this day.
But mostly, she realized she was crying for Twilight and herself. She had only known the lavender unicorn for a short while, but she had developed a bond with Twilight that was one of the strongest Luna had ever made. They had grown close, far closer than Luna had thought possible.
Wistfully, Luna levitated out the stretch of parchment that Applejack had presented to her back in the library. Unfurling it, she gazed at Twilight’s rendition of Luna’s sky, smiling slightly as she found herself among the stars.
“Oh, what is this?”
The parchment vanished from Luna’s control, appearing in front of Shadow Star, her lips curled in a sneer.
“I thought Twilight had burned all of these,” she said coldly. “Oh well, I’m sure I will be more than capable of finishing the job.”
And before Luna could protest, before she could even move to stop the purple alicorn, the parchment was engulfed in a black fire. After a brief second, the parchment crumbled into ash.
As the ash drifted to the floor, Luna felt a rage that she hadn’t felt in a thousand years well up inside her. Dark blue electricity sparked from the Lunar Princess’s horn, and her entire body shook with fury.
“’Tia,” Luna’s voice was deceptively calm, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold myself back.”
Celestia nodded sadly, her own horn giving off yellow sparks. Her eyes narrowed into focused slits, and her body became enveloped in a radiant glow of sunlight. Opposite of her, Luna’s quaking body became illuminated in a darker light, like that of the moon. The two alicorns tensed their muscles…
… and leaped at each other. The glows surrounding the two of them were focused into two blades that extended from either side of the alicorns; Celestia’s blades burned with the fires of the sun itself, and Luna channeled the fierce energy of the stars into hers. They clashed together; throwing sparks of fire and darkness onto the ground, and landed opposite of where they began.
Luna was quicker to recover, whirling around and galloping toward her sister. Celestia stamped her hoof against the ground, sending a wave of blinding white energy towards Luna. Luna brought her blades together and nimbly cut through the oncoming wave of energy, sending the two halves careening off in opposite directions. One half of the energy wave hit an invisible shield that surrounded Shadow Star and dissipated with a hiss and a shower of black sparks.
Luna ferociously swung her blades down, aiming at Celestia’s head. Parrying the blow with her own sunfire blades, Celestia aimed a counter blow at Luna’s side, forcing the alicorn to twist out of position. Turning swiftly, Celestia bucked her hind legs into Luna’s chest, sending the smaller alicorn sprawling.
“Excellent!” Shadow cried, clapping her hooves together excitedly.
Luna snarled with a feral intensity and scrambled back to her feet, swinging her blades up defensively. Celestia pushed her advantage, delivering blow after blow against Luna’s guard. While Luna may have been quicker, Celestia was the stronger of the two, and Luna began to stagger backwards. Seeing an opening, Celestia gave a quick thrust of her blades towards Luna’s left side, leaving a sizable gash.
Instead of trying to dodge it, though, Luna leaned into the blow, knocking away the burning blades with her own body and slashed at the white alicorn’s right wing. Hurriedly, Celestia clamped her wing against her side, but not before the starry blades drew blood, sending quite a few white feathers to the ground.
Growling, Celestia detonated a small shock wave between the two, blasting the both of them backwards. The larger alicorn took the blast in stride, landing on her hooves on one side of the hall. Luna, however, went sprawling again, landing in a bloody heap on the opposite side.
Shadow Star laughed manically, relishing the conflict. The caged ponies and dragon looked on with horror at the deadly bladed dance between the two royal sisters, gasping around their gags every time one of the ponies landed a hit.
Hissing in pain, Luna struggled to her feet, her horn glowing. Glancing at her side expectantly, she sighed. No matter how much magic she pumped into her wound, the bloody gash refused to heal.
“I forgot,” Luna’s raspy voice signaled for a brief reprieve for the two combatants, “that wounds inflicted by our magic can’t be magically healed.”
“It certainly is an annoyance,” Celestia replied flatly, preening her wing. The wound was small, but deep, and was bleeding profusely.
“Simply fascinating,” Shadow Star said, sinking back into the throne, her voice laden with sarcasm. “But since neither of you lie dead on the floor, there’s no reason to stop fighting.”
The sisters glared at Shadow Star, tensing their muscles. The purple alicorn raised her eyebrows.
“I dare you to try.”
Cursing under her breath, Luna turned back to her sister. Celestia did the same, although she voiced her opinion of the situation much louder.
“You have no idea how badly I want to destroy you.”
The purple alicorn blinked in surprise, then chuckled lowly. “If only you could, hmm?”
Celestia and Luna gave each other an apologetic look, refocusing their ethereal blades.
“If you win, ‘Tia,” Luna said quietly, “kill me quickly.”
Celestia nodded sadly. The two alicorns tensed their muscles and leaped into battle once more.
~*~*~*~*~
Twilight was aware.
The first thing she was aware of was how cold she was. Am I dead? she wondered idly. Do the dead feel this cold?
The next thing she was aware of was that she was huddled against a corner, with her tail in her hooves. A corner means walls, she thought slowly, and walls mean a room.
She was aware that she couldn’t see. The room she was in was completely black. Slowly, she reached out for her magic, searching for the glimmering pool of her power.
She found nothing.
Panicking, she tore through her mind, vainly searching for that comforting presence that had been with her ever since the day she was born.
Nothing.
She felt as though she wanted to cry. However, touching a hoof to her face, she realized she had been weeping for who knows how long. Her coat directly under her eyes were soaked through and through, and matted with dirt and grime. Why was I crying…?
Hopelessly, she continued searching her mind, looking for anything she could cling to. Here and there, faint wisps of magic lingered in her mind, but as she gathered these wisps about her, she felt something wrong with them. They were tainted with a blackness that Twilight could not identify.
She continued to gather the whispers of magic left within her mind. Soon, she found that the wisps of magic were accompanied by memories. Reaching out for a particularly bright wisp, she felt a memory slam into her mind…
… memories of dull, cruel, twisted ponies she had so mercilessly slaughtered to achieve her own end, turning her back upon all the lessons that her friendship with Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy had given her…
… her own cruel actions back on a more real plane, where she had treated her friends like weaklings, abusing them both physically and verbally…
… and, the most painful of all, coming across her beloved Luna, only to not recognize her and push her to the side, like a forgotten relic of the past.
Twilight had thought that she had run out of tears. She quickly discovered she was wrong as several more flowed down her face, dropping to the floors with soft plips.
I’ve been horrible. I deserve this.
A soft light began to glow from behind Twilight. Turning her tear soaked face towards the source, the purple unicorn gasped as a translucent Luna stood there, giving Twilight a kind smile. Twilight reached a hoof out to touch her, but her hoof went right through the image of the pony she loved, hitting the wall on the other side. A sad look came across the still-smiling Luna’s eyes, and she vanished, plunging the room into darkness once more.
Twilight wailed, sinking back down into a heap. Tears continued to flow freely from her eyes as she slowly cried herself into exhaustion. She cried for minutes, her wails reducing to sobs, which eventually declined into the occasional sniff.
Twilight forced her dull mind to gather the wisps of magic she had collected and, ignoring the nausea brought on by the taint within it, she projected a weak light source onto the wall.
She instantly recognized the room she was in. It was the same room that she had entered so naively, opening it and herself to the horror that lurked within.
Nightmare Moon, Twilight recalled, still feeling that sinister presence heavy on her conscious. She had been waiting in here, for me. And I trotted like a good little fool, right into her trap.
Her eyes wandered to the entrance of the cave. The locks hung from the large wooden door loosely, broken from the keys that Twilight had provided. The dust of the crystalline tools littered the floor in front of it.
Strange. I could have sworn that I used the keys from the other side…
The thought was lost, though, as she gazed at the broken locks. A sadness took root inside of her, growing until it filled her up inside. A rotten apple, a deflated balloon, a flawed gemstone, a crushed butterfly, and a shattered thundercloud seemed to gaze right into the unicorn’s soul, and it filled her with anguish.
They probably hate me. This is probably symbolic of their feelings for me now – broken, fractured, decayed….
… Discarded.
Before, Twilight new, she would have felt an irrational anger. She would have lashed out, striking at anything close. She would have turned on the ponies who loved her for who she was, and would have thrown them aside.
Hauling herself up, she walked slowly towards the door. Moved by something she couldn’t quite explain, she reached up and gently touched the rotten apple with her hoof.
“Heya Twi’.”
Twilight whirled around. A transparent Applejack was standing in her prison, a stern, yet kind expression on her face.
“A-Applejack!” Twilight was shocked to see her orange friend standing in the chamber.
“Yeah, that’s mah name,” Applejack said with a grin.
“How are you- Why are you here?” Twilight’s face fell. “I’m sorry, that was rude… You probably hate me after all I’ve done…”
“Hate you, Twilight? Ah don’t think Ah could ever bring mahself to hate such a kind pony.” Applejack held up a hoof to silence Twilight’s protest. “Ah know what yer thinkin’. And yeah, Ah was a mite surprised when ya came home after yer date wit’ a princess, actin’ the way ya were. But Ah realized t’wasn’t you. Ah can’t blame ye fer what happened that day, Twi’. You got it the worst outta all o’ us.” The apparition of Applejack walked over to the stunned Twilight and gave her a ghostly nuzzle. It felt like wind on Twilight’s neck. “Ah still love ya, Sugarcube. That ain’t ever gonna change.”
Twilight closed her eyes, letting her friend’s words wash over her. “Thank you, Applejack.”
She heard Applejack chuckle, but when she opened her eyes, the orange pony had vanished.
Turning back slowly towards the door, she noticed that the apple lock no longer looked rotten, and the crystalline key had reformed itself within the lock, gleaming with a new light.
Looking at each of the locks in turn, Twilight knew what she had to do. But which one do I choose next?
“Haven’t I learned anything?” Twilight reprimanded herself. “My friends don’t care who goes first or last. Well, except maybe Rainbow Dash. But I think she’ll understand…”
Twilight gently reached her hoof up to the next lock, touching the deflated balloon gently.
“Twilight! I’m so glad to see you’re okay!”
A rush of air hit Twilight’s back as an ethereal Pinkie Pie fell through her purple friend, vanishing beyond the door. With a sheepish look, her pink head reappeared on Twilight’s side of the door.
“Oops, forgot about the whole ‘apparition’ thing. Sorry writer, I’ll do better!”
Twilight just stared at Pinkie in confusion, while the earth pony bounced back into the room.
“I heard your conversation with Applejack, and while I don’t think I would have worded it the way she did, I agree with everything she said, and you’re an awesome friend that I love to PARTY with!”
Twilight felt a smile blossom across her face.
“There’s that smile that fills my heart with sunshine~!”
“So, you don’t hate me either?”
“Well, DUH, you silly filly! Isn’t that what I’ve been saying this entire time! I love you just as much as Applejack! Although,” Pinkie broke off with a very serious look upon her face, “there might be one other pony that loves you more than all of us put together!”
And with that, Pinkie Pie vanished. Unsurprised, Twilight turned to see that the balloon had inflated itself, and the jeweled key was resting in its lock.
Reaching up, Twilight brushed the diamond with her hoof, and jumped at the resulting squeal.
“Eeeeeew!! It’s all dusty in here! Twilight, how CAN you tolerate being here?!”
“Uhh, Rarity. I’m kinda trapped in here.”
“Oh, oh, right.” Even as a ghostly figure, Rarity still shone with a beauty that anypony would kill for on their best day. The white unicorn looked at Twilight radiantly. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief to see that her glamorous friend was not blind.
“Now, I’m positively sure that you’re going to hear this entire shindig from Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, but I wanted to let you know that you will always be a darling in my heart, no matter how awful your worst day can make you.”
Twilight flinched, and Rarity looked mortified. “Oh, Twilight, do accept my apology! That was ill-thought out. Forgive me!”
“I should be the one asking for forgiveness.”
“Nonsense. We all love you in our own way, and we’ll always forgive you before you even ask for forgiveness!” Rarity tossed her purple mane with a flick of her head. “You’re a beautiful soul, Twilight, one that a pony such as me can be jealous of.”
Twilight blinked, surprised that she had anything beautiful Rarity could covet. “Thank you, Rarity.”
“No need to thank me, love. But I really have taken my lion’s share of time, haven’t I?” And with a kind smile, Rarity vanished.
Twilight felt warm all over. At least three of her friends had forgiven her for her actions. She could only hope that the remaining two were like minded. Noting that the diamond lock now gleamed just as brightly as the reconstructed key within it, Twilight reached out and gingerly touched the crushed butterfly.
“Oh, Twilight! Are you hurt?” Fluttershy’s worried tones filled the chamber.
“No, Fluttershy, I’m alright.”
“A-are you sure? I don’t want my friends to get hurt, you know.”
“Fluttershy, I think I was the one doing most of the hurting recently,” Twilight said sadly.
“Now, we’re going to have none of that!” Fluttershy said with surprising assertiveness. “I firmly believe that you were not yourself that day, and even as you were in your fit, I found it within my heart to forgive you. Your kindness is akin to my own, Twilight, and I love that about you. There was no way that the Twilight I know and love could do such mean, hurtful things. You’re the strongest out of us,” Fluttershy concluded, “and I know you’ll recover from this.”
“Fluttershy…”
“Oh, I do hope that was an okay speech. I had to rush it together since Rarity took so much time. Which was fine, of course.”
“It was great, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, tears shimmering in her eyes. “Thank you.”
And with a smile, Fluttershy disappeared too.
The butterfly on the door seemed to move as it cast a soft light over the door, gleaming with life. Twilight smiled. “That leaves only one…” Gingerly, she touched the shattered thundercloud.
“A PRINCESS? Oh, man, tell me you’re kidding! You, Twilight, got with a PRINCESS?”
Of all the things Twilight was expecting, this was not one of them. “W-well, we didn’t exactly get together-“
“But you went on a DATE!” an excited Rainbow Dash squealed. “Do you know how totally AWESOME that is?”
Twilight shrugged. Rainbow Dash frowned and leaned in close to her purple friend’s face. “Hey, you’re not STILL moping, are you? What, did you expect me to not forgive you? Come on, Twilight, you’re smarter than that! I’m the Element of Loyalty, for Pinkie’s sake!” Rainbow waved her arms wildly. “I would have been the first to forgive you!”
The tears that had built up in Twilight’s eyes spilled over as she smiled. Her heart seemed to thaw the ice that it was encased in, and Twilight felt warmer.
And a whole heck of a lot happier.
“Such a silly filly, as Pinkie would say. You know we all love you,” Rainbow Dash pointed at the door, “and I think it’s time for you to admit something else.”
Twilight knew what she would see before she turned. A crescent moon had appeared on the door. “Do you love her?”
“I do.” There was no doubt in Twilight’s voice.
“Then go rescue her already!”
Rescue?
As Rainbow Dash vanished, the door slowly swung open. A huge lake was shimmering on the other side, sparkles of light floating up off the surface of the water. Carefully approaching it, Twilight gazed into it’s depths to find an image that was not her reflection.
~*~*~*~*~
Shadow Star cackled with glee as the two alicorn sisters stood panting, blood dripping from various cuts and gashes. Luna’s left eye was closed as a cut above it seemed to continue to drip blood, and Celestia’s breathing was labored.
Then they tensed for what seemed like the millionth time. Luna leapt at her sister…
… but Celestia held herself back, her horn glowing. The two large sunfire blades split into dozens of tiny daggers. Luna’s eyes widened and she extended her wings, trying to dodge the daggers.
She was too slow. Celestia sent the wall of daggers flying at Luna. They pierced her wings, her body, and her legs, and Luna loosed an unearthly scream as the burning daggers pinned her too the wall of the hall.
“Good!”
With a sad look in her eyes, Celestia walked toward her weakened sister, who hung limply from the wall.
“Now, finish her!”
Celestia took a deep breath, giving Luna an apologetic look…
… and the daggers disappeared. Luna fell to the floor in a heap, groaning and bleeding from multiple wounds.
Shadow Star frowned. “What do you think you’re doing? I. Said. Finish her.”
“No,” Celestia said quietly.
“What?!”
“I SAID NO!” Celestia screamed. Her mane began to spark as her entire body began to glow. With her voice more under control, the white alicorn said slowly. “Luna was right. I owe much to my student Twilight Sparkle. And if I were to destroy the only love that my student ever had, she would never forgive me.”
“How touching.”
Celestia’s mane and tail continued to spark as it gradually changed color. It ceased to be a flowing cascade of soft, bright colors, and instead began to burn a bright crimson. Celestia closed her eyes, slowing her breathing significantly. The air around her shimmered with heat, and flame began to erupt from her horn.
Shadow Star began to smile as Celestia said,
“I think it’s about time someone challenged your claim, ‘your highness’.”