//------------------------------// // Prologue - Celestia's Fall // Story: Eldritch Designs // by MaeceusMan //------------------------------// Deep in the northern reaches of the arctic, nestled between the Yak's and the Ponies, was a place of much wonder and renown. Some called it the 'Jewel of the North'. Others, the 'Crown of Celestia'. But to the crystal ponies who lived their, The Crystal Empire was simply called, 'Home'. An inauspicious name, to be sure. But nonetheless, it was a well earned one. An independent colony of refugee ponies were the earliest recorded inhabitants, after the Fall of Discord allowed for the reinvention of the written word. A treaty with the Equestrians allowed for free trade to benefit both nations of ponies for many years, until the throne was taken by King Sombra, and prosperity turned to war. By the end of the Thousand Year Sleep, and the heroic work of The Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious saved the whole nation, the great empire was more than happy to become a part of Equestria. Years of peace came and went, and the crystal ponies were content under the leadership of Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor. But laced into this contentment was a thread of fear. The science ponies had a very important, and highly dangerous job to do. King Sombra was never idle while he ruled. He seized power by experimenting with forbidden knowledge. And he had left in his workshop countless devices, made from crystals and magic, and all but a few of completely unknown use. And so the scientists worked in secret, in their workshop of horrors, learning what they dared, to try and keep the empire safe from any future Sombra's that might one day appear. This is the tale of the time they failed in their duty, and of the horrors that followed. This is the tale of when item 52B was turned on. • The throne room of Canterlot Castle had seen much in the one thousand and six years since Princess Celestia, freshly heartbroken from her sisters banishment, had commissioned the empty field high on the slopes of Mount Canter to become the site of her new, sister-less, castle. It had seen the coronation of new Princesses, and their weddings. It had hosted many a summit and gala and charity dinner. It had been the site of no less than seven separate takeover attempts on the loosely defined Oligarchy of the crown. And in a time of crisis, it served as a command bunker, allowing the Princess to plan and prepare from a place of both comfort, familiarity and authority. This night, however, it did not serve any of those functions. No, tonight, the throne room sat empty. Instead, the only sign of life came from a small and secluded workroom, adjacent to the throne room. And in this small workroom, made for a palace scribe to quietly sit and take down transcripts of important royal meetings, sat Princess Celestia herself, eyeing over reports as they appeared in fitful flashes of colorful light on her worktable, the only sign of life in the otherwise quiet, dimly lit room. She liked the spot. It was quiet, unassuming, ordinary, and just about the last place anypony would expect to find her. The unicorns charged with teleporting in her new reports had been working overtime of late, and the stack of scrolls was growing faster than the princess cared to think about. Certainly faster than she or Luna had been able to keep up with the past few days. Insurrection in The Griffin Parliament, droughts in the Mild West, and a complete embargo on trade with The Camelu Alliance, just to name a few! Celestia listed to herself, feeling frustrated. She sighed in resignation, and pulled the next scroll off her stack. It was from a minor noble house clamoring for a meeting on food subsidies. Midway through a reply, a classic polite denial she had used on many occasions through the years, Celestia paused. What am I doing? She thought, tired surprise overtaking her frustration. Tonight is Luna's special night. A new holiday, made just for her. A real, honest attempt at making the night as loved as the day. And here I am, not only avoiding the ceremony, but avoiding it to write a form letter? Celestia shook her head, rejecting the idea outright. This can wait. I will clean up now and then go to that party. Ringing a tiny bell that sat beside her bottle of dimly glowing fireflies, Celestia rose from the golden silk cushion she had been seated on, and stretched as a side door in the room opened, revealing a brunette mare in a white coat, black spectacles donning her plump, smiling face. "Yes, princess?" The young mare asked, appearing no more tired than she had when providing Celestia's supper several hours beforehand. "Are you finished for the evening or will you be needing anything else?" Celestia smiled and shook her head, saying, "No, thank you, Raven, I am calling it an evening, and will be heading to the ceremony right after I get cleaned up. Please see to these scrolls until tomorrow." Raven smiled sweetly, and stomped a hoof on the floor twice. A moment later, and a couple of servants in their traditional brown vests and white shirts appeared from behind the mare, grabbing the table, the cushion, and all the scrolls between them with a surge of their horns before rushing off, Raven giving a quick bow to Celestia as she followed them, calling for the princess's bath to be prepared. Celestia smiled to herself as the side door closed smoothly behind Raven. She loved all her subjects, but hiring Raven had clearly been a good choice. She reminded Celestia of her childhood nanny at times, in the days before Discord had forced her family into hiding and dismantled the original Equestrian Triumvirate. The memory made Celestia's blood boil just to think about, but she immediately snuffed it out. Discord had served 1000 years in a stone suit prison, and the 'mostly' good things he had been doing these last few years were a start on reparations, but as far as she was concerned, Discord would owe her for another thousand years before she could forgive him for all he had done. Forcing her thoughts and her hooves to move along, the princess turned from the closed service door she had been staring at, leaving her quiet hovel with its isolated freedom, and trot over to the room set immediately behind the throne room. Inside, she found a table set aside for private receptions. It was set low to the ground so those present for meetings could sit on floor cushions in comfort regardless of species or size, within reason. Looking towards the far side of the meeting room, she found what she was looking for. An innocuous looking wall at the back of the room, with an oil painting of ducks splashing on a lake hanging from it. Celestia smirked as she approached the seemingly commonplace landscape. It was a secret passage she had had built in this castle, one of many. Only I don't need an organ in the basement to control this passage! Resisting the urge to giggle aloud, Celestia looked at the painting with the utmost solemnity and said in her most serious voice, "Quack, quack, quack." With that, the sound of a deadbolt thudded from behind the painting, and the entire wall swung in on smooth hinges, revealing a dimly lit passageway to its far side. This time Celestia did allow herself a chuckle of satisfaction as she walked into the hallway, lighting the way faintly with her horn, the entrance sealing with a muffled thump behind her. The pathway led Celestia along the edge of the castle, with its inner wall to her one side, and the bare side of the mountain to the other. After a few minutes of peaceful silence, save for the sound of her own breathing, and the muted clicking of her hooves on the dusty floor beneath her, she found another fake door, this one clearly visible as a door from this, its secret side. Twisting the lock with a magical twitch, the door swung inwards to reveal a tapestry hanging across the gap of the opening doorway. Pushing her way through the tapestry horn first, Celestia found herself in her private bath. Unlike the more public baths of the palace, this one had been done to Celestia's personal tastes. No marble, no statues, no gold. It didn't even feature running water. No, instead this room was built in an exact likeness to the bathhouse she had used in her youth, with hardwood planking, woven wall tapestries featuring scenes of nature, and in the room's center; soft, woven wool mats for lounging on while a pony rubbed herself down with a soft sponge after dipping it in a steaming tub of hot, soapy water. A second tub of cool, fresh water sat beside it, and by the door, a stack of fresh, folded towels and a neat row of brushes sat in a pile. Perfect. The princess thought with satisfaction, seeing the neat arrangement. That Raven really does know what I like. Celestia sat down on the soft mat and picked up her sponge, cleaning the stress and the grime of the day away. As the heat began to soak into her muscles, she finally felt like she could relax, and began to hum to herself as she worked. Before long, the soaping was done, and Celestia began to weave ribbons of the cool water over herself in a spell, exhilarating in the temperature contrast from the prior heat. By the time she got to the brushing of her mane, Celestia found herself singing aloud what she had been humming before. It was an old song her sister Luna had once written, and that the two of them had sung during bath time when they had lived with the deerfolk, and had studied both magic and leadership. She sang: Gil-Galad was an Elken King, Of him the harpers sadly sing. The last whose realm was fair and free Between the Mountains and the Sea.   His hooves were sharp, his antlers keen, His shining helm afar was seen. The countless stars of Heaven's field Were mirrored in his silver shield.   But long ago he rode away, And where he dwelleth none can say. Into darkness fell his star In Annudûr where Shadows are. Where shadows are... and the Dark Lord. The thought came unbidden, but it made her shudder, despite the warmth of the steam permeating the room around her. "Don't think about such things, Celestia." The princess muttered under her breath. "Think about this celebration you are headed to instead." But she didn't. Despite the cheery regal face she wore as she left the washroom through its non-secret door and fell into step with her escort of four guards, adorned in gilded helms and barding to her chariot stable, she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that had settled into her. Something is wrong. • The events of the next hour are lost to all records, and are debated to this day. What is known is this. On November 5th, 1005 C.E. at 10:07pm, a massive blast of golden magic was unleashed from the palace. The force of the onslaught was massive, light and heat pouring from the south courtyard near the Gala courtyard in a raging torrent. Anypony nearby who was looking towards the palace at that moment was struck blind by the light for several days. Even those who had solid walls between them and the source of the blast had vision problems for the next month. However, at a much safer distance, over in Ponyville: Twilight Sparkle sat on a hill, watching the night sky with her friends: • "I mean, not to imply it isn't fabulous darling." Rarity said in her most reasonable tone. "But honestly, an eclipse just doesn't, well, seem that fabulous... The moon goes away, and then it comes back. Nothing more to it than that!" Chuckling to herself at her old friend's comment, Twilight continued to offer the eyepiece of her telescope expectantly with an extended hoof as she answered. "I can see how it might seem that way Rarity, but you have to look at this from a historical perspective." As Twilight continued to elaborate on how greatly honored they should all be, Rarity put on her politely attentive face, an expression usually reserved for a dinner she had attended where either the company or the cuisine left one with a bad taste in the mouth. The six ponies and one dragon present this evening had a perfect view for the evening's show, spread out as they were on a grassy hilltop with the golden lights of Ponyville spread out to their south. The glowing rectangles of the shops, houses, and boutiques that had remained alight were far enough away that even they appeared to be nothing more than additional stars from the sky, come down to gently land among the ponies in the town below. Fluttershy was hosting a parliament of owls for the occasion in a nearby tree, under which Applejack was lounging, her Stetson pulled back to give her a proper view of the event. Rainbow Dash had a similar plan, though she had chosen a low hanging cloud as her perch for the evening. Even Pinkie Pie seemed enthralled by the special occasion, jumping around only just enough to keep everypony's punch cup full or to dance around Gummy before returning to her bed of balloons, streamers, and the squashed remains of a chocolate cake. Spike was also occupied, either providing an assortment of cakes for the occasion, or sitting dutifully between Rarity's red satin couch and Twilight's towel spread out on the soft, dewy grass. "This ceremony was designed to celebrate how Luna left, and was finally able to come back, and all thanks to the work we did," Twilight said, concluding her lesson, "This is to honor us Rarity, the least you could do is try and get a closer look at it like the rest of us have!" Letting loose her most exacerbated sigh, Rarity at last complied, taking the proffered telescope and looking in it, still somehow managing to maintain her poise in a way that Twilight had never been able to imitate, even with all the training she had received as a princess these last few years. Sure enough, moments later, Rarity exclaimed, "My word Twilight, but you were right! There is so much more detail on the moon's surface than I imagined! I could do an entire fashion line on the crater patterns alone! Tell me, dear. However do they dim the moon like that?" Grinning at the opportunity to talk some more about the ceremony, Twilight said, "Oh it was nothing really, just Princess Luna. She is changing the refractivity of the lunar topsoil by about sixty three and a half percent while a group of pegasi and another of unicorns are maintaining the atmosphere and stability of the derig..." Twilight suddenly realized that the entire group was now looking at her with slightly confused expressions. Clearing her throat and grinning slightly, Twilight said, "Uhhh... Princess Luna is using her magic on the moon." "Ohhhh!!" Came the simultaneous replies of all present. Over the next few minutes, the group of friends sprawled on the grass and enjoyed watching the moon grow smaller and smaller, until at last, the barest sliver remained, before it too vanished, as the group members took turns looking in the telescope. "So Dashie," Pinkie Pie said with poorly suppressed excitement in her voice, "Who is he? Come on, we all know you are seeing somepony now, and as far as my Pinkie sense is concerned you have been seeing them for a whiiiiiillllleeee. SO WHO IS IT?!?! Tell me tell me tell me tellmetellmetellmetellme!!" Lounging on a low hanging cloud nearby, the voice of Rainbow Dash carried down to the others, saying, "Huh? Oh, uh, sorry Pinkie, can't really hear you from up here in these clouds! Too bad!" "But Dashieeeeeeee! Coommmmeee oooooon! He's a unicorn, I know he is!! My pinkie sense says there is a doozie of a surprise involving a magic pony coming soon, what else could it be?!" Twilight and the others were laughing at the whole exchange, but a sudden bad feeling made Twilight stop short. Sitting in the faint light of the stars, she looked around the hillside warily, not knowing what exactly she was looking for, until... "Ummm... Twilight?" Spike asked, looking off to the side, no longer admiring the eclipse through the telescope. Turning towards the young dragon, she saw what he was pointing to, and realized with surprise what had set her on edge. Canterlot was glowing. She hadn't thought about it because that was how the magical city on the mountaintop always was at night, but... Tonight they dimmed their lights more than anywhere else as part of Luna's celebration, so what is that...? Reaching out with her magic, Twilight grabbed the telescope, nearly knocking Spike over in her haste. Apologizing quickly, she looked in the telescope, turning it quickly from the now growing light of the moon and aimed it towards the now growing light of the city on the mountain, only to see with horror... "It... it's..." Came the horrified words from Spike besides her. "Burning..." Came Twilight's equally horrified reply. Quickly turning away from the inferno of white fire that seemed to have suddenly consumed the city towards her friends, she yelled, "CANTERLOT IS BEING ATTACKED!" • Deep in the underbelly of the Crystal Empire, a group of scientists spoke in hushed, nervous tones. These was not the nervous tones they normally used as they carefully tried to study and catalogue the many devices in the old labs of King Sombra. No, these were the hushed, nervous tones that oppressed, fearful ponies had once used when King Sombra himself had ruled over them all. Despite the great strides the crystal ponies had made since they had been liberated from the shackles of enslavement by The Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious, and despite the benevolent rule they had been privy to under Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor, some said that it would still be years before the crystal ponies would ever be able to fully trust anypony again. Not to say that the fear these scientists felt on this night was not justified. For only moments ago, off in a far corner of the large room, a red gem on a shelf of yet to be studied items had begun to glow, and it was growing brighter. Thankfully, the scientists had not had to wait long before a flash of intense blue light came from outside the lab, and in stepped their Princess, still faintly illuminated in the dissipating afterglow of her teleport. "Where is it?" She asked, sounding tense. Her hair was still up in rollers from bed, though she still looked every inch the commanding princess. The lead scientist, a doe eyed crystal unicorn mare with a caramel mane and olive coat, gestured for the princess to follow, and explained as she moved off between the shelves full of items. "Thank you for coming so quickly, Princess. We followed your standing orders exactly. Nothing has been done since the device activated except to call for you." Cadance nodded as she walked besides the scientist, and asked, "That's good, Doctor Corona, but what is it? What do we know about this thing?" The doctor hesitated a moment before she replied, "We... don't know, Princess Cadance. I'm sorry. This entire section of the lab hasn't even been looked over since we did a preliminary sweep for active items when our work here began three years ago, but this thing was very much inert at the time. We only found out it was active now by chance. The janitor noticed the glow while making his nightly rounds and alerted us right away. And we have not started to work on any new relics today, so it certainly isn't reacting as part of a set of paired devices. Or..." "Or what?" Cadance asked as the dusty shelf with the glowing red jewel came into sight in front of the them. The doctor hesitated again, then finally she added, "Or at least, not a set that we have both pieces of." Frowning, Cadance bent forward, and looked at the device in question. It was a small stand, a rusty shade of copper, with a slot on top that held the now glowing gem. It pulsed regularly with red light, and there seemed to be something visible inside the gem itself. Recognizing the image she saw inside the gem with sudden alarm, Cadance quickly asked, "Is the light pulsing perfectly regularly, or have the flashes been getting faster?" "How did...? Yes, Princess Cadance, it is pulsing with a regularly increasing rhythm the whole time we have been observing it. We estimate an increase of about 46 BPM in the last hour or so. Why, what does it mean?" Cadance turned from the light and began to rush for the door, the scientist quickly falling into step behind her. "It means," Cadance said urgently, "that we need to hurry and get a warning to Celestia. I think that this device is a trigger, and the light is the countdown." "But how can you know that, Princess?" came the exacerbated reply. "You only just looked at the thing!" "Because," Cadance replied, as she picked up her speed again, "I can see Canterlot Castle through that gemstone, and I doubt Sombra was in the habit of building communicators with countdown timers!" • The cry of alarm from Twilight had spread as quickly as the flames had engulfed Canterlot. Ponies all over were galloping, flying, or somewhere in between. Twilight had tried to take command of the situation, but she had never quite figured out the knack to crowd control. Rainbow Dash on the other hoof had already coordinated most of the town's pegasi, and was finishing off with the last of them. "Thunderlane! Milky Way!" She yelled from the point on the hilltop where she hovered, "And where the hoof it Cloudchaser? Sassaflash, get back here! You all need to get any other flyers gathering as many rain clouds as you can find. And somepony, uhhh, Featherweight, you're pretty quick. Go send the alert to Cloudsdale, pronto! We need every drop of clouds they can make! Well? What are you all flapping around for? Let's go, go, go!" The group scattered, wings flapping hard as ponies went off to do what they had been told. Still stunned, Twilight blinked and stared, wondering what she should be doing herself. Only moments had passed since the fire had been spied, but already the dread had made it feel to Twilight like hours. What is happening? She thought. That fire is golden. That means it isn't natural, it must be magic fire... and golden, so it must be... "Celestia!" Twilight cried aloud, suddenly realizing the implications of golden fires in Canterlot. "Celestia is under attack! We have to help her!" Twilight realized that everypony seemed to be running around already, gathering supplies, waking others, or heading for the train station to try and reach the capital to provide further assistance. Looking around frantically, she spied a coifed violet mane bobbing in the crowd, and rushed towards it. "Rarity!" She called as she galloped and flapped. "RARITY!" At last, Rarity turned and spied Twilight through the crowd, rushing over to meet her. "Twilight!" She called over the din, plainly looking horrified. "What is going on? What can we do?" "I don't know what is going on," Twilight yelled back over the cacophony, teleporting a wagon out of her way as she approached. "But we need to do all we can to help. Dash seems to have a grip on the fliers, but I need you to help get the others working together. If we come at this with calm heads, we will be much more effective in helping with whatever this is." "And what about you?" Rarity asked, exacerbated. "In case you forgot Twilight, you are the princess, not me! Not that I wouldn't mind being a princess mind you, of course nopony ever thinks to ask Rarity about such th-" Twilight cut her off, "I am going straight to Canterlot. That is golden fire, Rarity, which means Celestia is in some kind of magic battle. She probably needs all the help she can get, and I am the only princess who can get to her quickly right now, with Luna on that flying platform and Cadance up in the Crystal Empire. I'm sorry, Rarity, but I need to go!" Smiling warmly and nodding, Rarity gave Twilight a quick hug, and as Twilight turned towards the mountains of the capital, kicking off from the ground and flapping her wings hard for altitude, Rarity called after her, "Be careful, Twilight. I have a bad feeling that this is Pinkie's doozie..." Surprised that she hadn't thought about it before, Twilight looked towards Canterlot and the raging golden fire that was consuming it. As the sounds of running ponies faded behind her, Twilight played in her head again what Pinkie Pie had said only a few minutes ago, but already felt to her like a lifetime. But Dashieeeeeeee! Coommmmeee oooooon! Pinkie had whined. He's a unicorn, I know he is!! My pinkie sense says there is a doozie of a surprise involving a magic pony coming soon, what else could it be?! Twilight shuddered despite herself. And not because of the sudden wind chill her rapid mountain ascent had brought on. • With a quick surge of magic, Celestia wrenched a collapsed bookcase out of her makeshift tunnel, stepped into an open room, and threw the bookcase back behind her, breathing heavily. Okay, she thought. That should seal the exit... For now... It had taken a lot of magic for her to break through that first hallway, and the screams of Lieutenant Haze had filled the room behind Celestia as she managed to overcome the void stones. I am so sorry, Lieutenant. All four of you, I am so sorry. Celestia thought, sipping the bitter cocktail of guilt, regret, duty and pride that always followed somepony sacrificing themselves for her sake. Looking around the dusty room she now found herself in, Celestia tried to orient herself. After a few moments consideration, she identified it as an old storeroom, long forgotten and covered in dust. "I am the first pony to set hoof in here in a very long time," she noted under her breath. "It should be safe to teleport from here, if I just knew where here was..." Celestia quickly ran around the room, knocking over a few dusty crates full of old blankets. Finally, against a wall in the corner of the room, she found a framed map of the palace, and a red line drawn on it from a room labeled 'storage' towards a red X labeled, "Emergency Exit". Celestia grinned, chuckling to herself in tired triumph. Saved by a 500 year old safety briefing map! Feeling victory approach her grasp, Celestia grabbed the map with a quick tug of her horn, and then froze in shock. The underside of the dusty map that had been supposedly leaning against a wall for half a millennium was also covered in dust. Looking around the room, she noticed that the underside of a crate she had knocked over was also evenly covered with dust, as was everything that had been in it. And then she looked behind herself, to where there should be a trail of fresh hoof prints disturbing the dust on the floor. There weren't any. "It's another illusion..." Celestia whispered aloud in horror. "I am still in the trap..." Turning an ear back to the opening she had made in the wall, she frowned, listening hard. "No noise from behind, and no pursuit..." She noted to herself. ...that I can hear or see. she added silently. With growing dread, Celestia now felt certain that this was indeed a trap, and it had been one the whole time. From my washroom to here, everything that has happened has been planned. Mess with my mind, hold me until I 'escape'. And then, slam the trap shut! So that means that it wants me to either follow this map or to teleport to safety. There is probably some ancient artifact nearby that would divert my destination... So what do I do about it? she considered, perplexed. Chance it on that theory being wrong? Wait for it to catch up and then desperately face what part of it I can even see, without help from either Luna or the Elements of Harmony this time? Blast through more walls until I have used up all my strength? I have no choice. She said to herself with resolve. I mean, what else can I do? Summon Discord? Celestia blinked in sudden surprise at the idea. Summon Discord! That is something it would never see coming! And Discord's magic shouldn't be affected by very many artifacts besides the Elements of Harmony, so he might actually be able to get me to safely! Celestia closed her eyes, and reached out with her mind, quieting all thought and her growing sense of panic. She reached out towards all the anger and frustration Discord had caused her over the years. She reached out to the infuriating way he managed to do everything. She reached out to the memory of the pain he caused the world, the desperation of the rebellion against him, and the fear she had felt when Discord had almost killed Luna in the Everfree Forest. And finally, she reached out to all of the joy and satisfaction she, and every other living being on the planet had felt when he was finally imprisoned, and especially to how satisfying it had been to set him by a hedge maze in the palace gardens as a lawn ornament. "Lawn ornament?! LAWN ORNAMENT?! I'll show you lawn ornament you llll..." Celestia opened her eyes, revealing Discord standing in front of her in the room, quivering with fury. Blinking in surprise to himself, he finished with a calmer, "...lllovely princess!" Apparently suddenly realizing where he was, Discord said, "Wait, how did I get here?" He began looking around the room, seemingly confused. Turning back to Celestia, he said enthusiastically, "Wow, princess! What a coincidence meeting you here! I was just... uh, at home, uh, taking a bath, and then poof! Here I am, not spying on any more ponies memories just like I promised I wasn't doing the last time!" As he spoke, Discord in a flash became dripping wet, a towel quickly rapping itself around his midriff, a shower cap adorning his head, a rubber duck clutched in his tail. He topped it off with his best, and most infuriating, 'innocent' smile. Celestia was not certain whether she more wanted to hug Discord for showing up or to strangle him for spying on her thoughts. She hadn't actually cast the spell that would summon him yet. Not trusting herself to make the right choice, Celestia said in quick, hushed tones, "Discord listen! You have to get us out of here, right now!" "But... I..." "No time," Celestia said urgently, adding, "Get us out of here, and I'll explain everything. Now just do it!" Sighing dramatically and adjusting his shower cap, Discord squeaked his rubber duck. A flash of stars later, and the room was empty. There was not even dust on the floor. • Among the hooves of a hundred frantic ponies, Spike the Dragon skillfully ducked, dived, and dodged. To the untrained eye of the average pony around him, Spike may have appeared to be no more than a baby. Yes, he was about the twice the size as a newborn foal. But he was actually on the tail end of 19 years old! Still, he conceded to nopony in particular, I suppose by dragon standards I'm, what? A hatchling? Ugh, it doesn't matter Spike, it's not like you hang out with dragons anyways. No matter what everypony thinks, you... are a man! He just wished that made him taller. But alas, he had grown only a solid half a hoof since he had first come to Ponyville, and that meant dodging and weaving between the legs of ponies. The price of longevity, Princess Celestia had once called it, the one time he had gotten her to speak to him about either his own people or even what it was like to live so long. But that had been all he had gotten from her on the subject. He had wanted more, of course, but knew better than to push it. After all, as Princess Celestia herself had put it, they had plenty of time. Of course, Spike considered, looking back over his shoulder at the expanding golden glow of Canterlot Castle up on the mountain, maybe not quite as much as we ever think we will have. He didn't mean to seem callous, but he was more concerned about getting the information she owed him about where he came from than he was about her safety. For one thing, he considered, a dragon does not grieve for the death of an elder who has lived so long, as nodragon can say that they didn't live a full life after so much time had passed. And for another, he added with a confidence he hoped was justified, Celestia is one of the most powerful beings alive, and one with incredibly powerful allies. If anypony will be okay, it would be her. Or Twilight. Twilight... he considered, feeling concerned. He had seen her fly off in a hurry, and he had confirmed from Rarity that Twilight was headed right into the thick of it without bothering to wait for anypony else to assist her. Not like she might need the help of the Element of Harmony or anything! He mused as he executed a quick roll to dodge a cart laden down with water barrels being pulled by a pair of rushing ponies. No, he added semi-sarcastically to himself, she gets taller and gets wings before I do. Twilight gets all the luck... she'll be fine. Still... he added, as he glanced towards the burning city yet again, why couldn't she have at least taken me? I can ride on her back just fine! I don't even fall off anymore! Finally, Spike reached the far side of the throng of moving ponies, and ran into the crystal tree house. He charged up the stairs and grabbed a blank scroll, some quills, and a bottle of ink. Flexing his stomach muscles and diaphragm, he wreathed the materials in a quick belch of flame, watching them spark and fizzle as they were swept up and out the window. There! He thought, feeling quite proud of himself. If Celestia is really in trouble, she can now easily send me a message! Feeling suddenly uneasy as he glanced out the window at the golden glow of the distant city yet again, he added, unless she is really in trouble... • It did not take Twilight long to reach Canterlot, flying directly from Ponyville. Within 10 minutes of hard flapping, and with no discernible tailwind, the young Alicorn came upon the city, confused and troubled by what she saw. The south side of the Castle, rear wall to the princess's stables and the gala banquet hall, was destroyed, apparently the result of a powerful blast of power. From that point of origin, a line of damage was carved into the ground, and everything along its path was consumed with Celestia's golden colored fire. The flames had quickly spread, and several buildings on the periphery to Canterlot City proper were already engulfed in the golden flame. The fire department was out, attempting with some success to stop further spread of the fire through a combination of water hoses, flyover sandbag drops, and strategic use of oxygen choking magic spells. Twilight considered for a moment stopping to help, then thought the better of it, quickly gliding over the heads of a group of on-looking ponies, some garbed in night clothes, others with packs of hastily gathered belongings being dragged from homes near the ones that burned. She landed into a gallop, charging horn first into the large, smoking hole that had been blasted from the side of the palace while she tucked in her wings. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight called out as the acrid smoke filling the air began to make her cough with some vigor. "PRINCESS CELESTIA!" Twilight's mind began to race. What happened to the Princess? Is she okay? What happened here? The smoky air growing thicker around her, Twilight concentrated. A small bubble of fresher air appeared around her head, contained in a glowing, magenta colored field. I have to find her, quick! She thought with growing dread. Please don't let this be Pinkie's doozie! And on Twilight charged, deeper into the smoking palace. • As soon as the writing materials had disappeared into the darkness of night, Spike had turned and ran back outside, before headed straight for the gang's designated emergency meeting stop: Fluttershy's cottage. It wasn't far, even for somedragon with legs as short as his own, but since Fluttershy hosted everything from shy bunnies to giant bears to Discord out at the cottage, its separation from the rest of town only made sense. That same separation was what had made it the designated meeting spot in case of trouble. Finally, with the Everfree Forest almost upon him, Spike spied the cottage, and saw the silhouettes of ponies inside. Not even bothering with the main door, Spike jumped head first through the bunny door, landing in a pile on the floor. Groaning and panting, a stitch forming in his side, Spike pulled himself to his feet and looked around. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, he counted. Applejack must still be out hauling water and Rainbow Dash would be either coordinating the weather ponies or working with the Wonderbolts. And Twilight is... Quickly, while still catching his breath, Spike told the others that he had sent materials to Celestia in case she needed anything. And that he had figured he might as well meet with everypony else while he waited. "Oh my," Fluttershy commented when he was done, fluffing her wings in nervous agitation while she held tightly onto Angel Bunny. "I do hope everypony is okay." "Oh come now Fluttershy," Rarity said reassuringly from an armchair, her croquet needles clicking rapidly. "If anyponies can handle themselves, it would surely be Princess Celestia and Twilight!" But Spike could see the doubt on her face as she turned to look out at the dim glow of the night. The room was quiet for a moment, the only sound the crackling of the wood in the fireplace and Spike's sporadic panting; everyone just looked out the window while Canterlot burned. "Ohhhh!" Pinkie said excitedly as she started moving about sporadically, interrupting the silence. "Stiff neck, knee twitch, different knee twitch!" "Oh come on Pinkie!" Spike said, scooting rapidly away from the hall and the twitchy pink pony. "You can't seriously have a combo right after a doozie! What was that one, anyway?" "Hmmmmm...." Pinkie said, thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure that would be an unexpected guest appearing. Or, a guest who is expected, but appearing in an unexpected way? I dunno, it depends on which two knees twitch, and in what order. I don't really get that combo often enough to be sure. Like, this one time..." Spike stopped listening to Pinkie as she continued. He normally paid more attention than most to the details of her prophetic twitches, but his mind kept going back to Twilight. He felt sick with worry. Really sick with worry. In fact... "I'm gonna be sick. Gotta go!" Before anypony could react, Spike turned and threw himself through the door out of the cottage, before he collapsed to the ground in a patch of short grass, his stomach hurting fiercely: tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "Spikey? Hey, are you okay?" It was Rarity. Oh, I really don't need this right now. He thought desperately before saying, "No, I'm, I'm fine, Rarity. I just... want to be alone for a little while." Rarity nodded. Turning as if to go back into the cottage, she instead hesitated, before saying, "I understand, Spike. But don't worry, Twilight will be okay. I'm sure of it." Spike sniffed, then looked up at Rarity and asked urgently, "How can you be sure of that Rarity? HOW?!" Spike looked away from Rarity in shock, then lowered his head, and curled up in a smaller ball in the dirt. He didn't think he had ever shouted at her like that before. Leaning close to him, she smiled and whispered, "Because I need her to be. And so do you. And I feel like this need is one that I can actually help with. Though, much like Pinkie and her twitches, I don't really know how." Spike nodded, but said nothing. The pain in his stomach was still there, but otherwise he felt a bit better. Continuing on, Rarity added, "Now you just hold on, Spike, and I'll get you a nice cup of tea. I'm sure Fluttershy has something for an upset stomach." Looking up at her smiling face, Spike said quietly, "Thanks, Rarity." Before he knew what he had done, he was back on his feet, wrapping Rarity in a hug. She hugged him back with one leg, and gently pat him on the back. That pat on the back was what did it. Before Spike could hope to move to a better, or at least less embarrassing, position, he let out a huge belch. Massive flames erupted, and Spike was shocked to see Rarity's hair get singed from the heat. She quickly let him go and ducked away from the flames, shrieking in surprise as she began to beat out her own hair. Finally, the belching stopped, and Spike collapsed back to the dirt, though this time from relief. The stomach pain was gone! Laying there with his eyes closed, Spike heard a gasp of shock come from the house. Pinkie yelled out, "I KNEW IT! IT WAS AN EXPECTED AND AN UNEXPECTED GUEST BOTH SHOWING UP UNEXPECTEDLY IN AN UNEXPECTED WAY!" Sitting up, Spike opened his eyes, looking at the burned circle of ground where most of his fire had been launched. Curled up on the ground surrounded by burnt, smoking grass, neither one of them moving, were Twilight Sparkle and Discord. Everypony rushed up at once, with Spike not a moment behind. "Are they..." Spike asked as Fluttershy looked them over carefully. "They're fine." Simultaneous sighs of relief were the only response. "Or, at least..." she added, hesitating. "Twilight is. I don't actually know if Discord really needs to breathe. Because if he does..." "He's NOT BREATHING?!" Pinkie exclaimed in surprise, rushing up from behind to look the spirit of chaos over carefully, somehow wearing a nurses outfit Spike didn't remember her wearing a moment earlier. "Well..." Fluttershy paused, considering. "He's not doing anything. I don't think he would be doing so little even if he were sleeping. Or faking..." "That's true..." Rarity added aloud. "This is the first time he hasn't done something over the top. Not so much as a dramatic pose after appearing in such a spectacular fashion." "Maybe he needs mouth to mouth?" Pinkie asked, looking over to Fluttershy curiously. "Oh no." Fluttershy said, shaking her head and growing more flustered by the word, red spots appearing on her cheeks. "You are assuming he has lungs, or that he needs to breath, or that he has a heart, or that he isn't just a big faker!" "Fine! I'll do it!" The arguing cut out immediately, and three sets of eyes turned towards Spike. From the looks on their faces, they had all but forgotten he was even there. Oh great, he thought. Nopony objects to the guy doing the dirty work! Muttering to himself under his breath, Spike lay Discord on his back, straightened his head, and began to apply compressions to the center of his chest. "One, Two, Three, Four..." The night was quiet. The only sound besides Spike's counting was the faint hum of commotion back in Ponyville, and some quiet muttering from Fluttershy as she, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie all worked to carefully carry Twilight's prone form into the cottage. "Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty!" Spike sighed, then pulled back Discord's head, opened his mouth, leaned in, and blew. "OOOOOOOooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhH!!!!!" Spike was thrown back from the force of Discord's yell. A commotion of charging hooves, and Spike was soon accompanied by the others, all looking tense, Rarity wielding a frying pan she had acquired from inside. "What happened?!" She exclaimed, the pan hanging dangerously in a light blue shimmer above her head. Spike however, was a little busy licking the ground with his tongue to answer. "I'll tell you what happened!" The no longer prone form of Discord said, looking frustrated as he stood there in the dim moonlight, quivering with anger. "I rescue a princess from a horrifying trap by getting consumed by dragon fire, the one form of magic out of the castle that isn't being blocked, while shielding her with my own frail body, and you thank me by having, not one of the lovely ladies and best friends of the princess I just saved go ahead and save my life, but instead you just leave me for the dude to kiss?" Spike pulled his head up from the dirt long enough to say, "I know, right?" before going right back to his licking. Ignoring him, Rarity turned back to Discord and demanded, "So, what is going on in there? Who is behind all this? Is Celestia okay?" Discord sighed and shook his head, sitting down on a chair shaped pile of dirt that rose up to meet him. "I don't know who I'm afraid," he said grimly. "Who, or, whatever it is, it can actually block some of my own magic, which I didn't even think was possible!" "Well...", Fluttershy noted softly, "Tirek managed to take your magi..." Discord visibly recoiled from the mention of his former betrayal, an event that had set his reputation in Equestria back for years. "Oh!" Fluttershy exclaimed, blushing again. "I..., I'm sorry Discord, I didn't mean to..." "No," he cut in, standing stiffly, the chair reforming into a smooth plot of grass once more. "It... It's okay Fluttershy. Once again, I'm the one who is sorry... I..." "It's hardly the time!" This time Rarity was the one to cut in. "What happened Discord?!" She rushed up to him, standing snout to snout as she stared him down despite his height and demanded, "What happened to Twilight? Where were you two? What happened at the Castle? Is Celestia all right?" Pushing her back, Discord began to pace back and forth, a curled pipe appearing in his mouth as he did so, saying, "I was summoned by Celestia, who, well, isn't doing so well right now. I thought she was the target of this attack, but I'm starting to think she was just bait! Otherwise, why let me, or Princess Twilight Sparkle, or Princess Luna in there to try and help her? I can only assume Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor are well on their way to the castle by now as well, if he is going for the complete set." A light bulb suddenly appeared above Discord's head, bathing the dark yard in intense light, making everypony squint and turn away. "That's it!" He said, seeming both excited and pleased with himself. "That thing can't stop me out here, I'll be right back!" Without another word, Discord snapped his claw, and vanished in a sparkle of stars. For a moment, nopony said anything. They all just stared at the spot Discord had been standing in, wondering what had just happened. Finally, Fluttershy asked, "So, shall we go see about waking Twilight up then?" Spike pulled his head back up from the dirt, apparently done at last with his licking and said, "Finally, the first good idea I've heard all night. But first, I'm gonna go brush my teeth." As he walked past the spot of grass still smoking from his fire, Spike spied something among the charred stalks. Reaching down, he picked up a scroll, slightly singed, marked with a crescent moon in a background of stars, the personal seal of Princess Luna. It was addressed to Spike. Opening it quickly, Spike began to read, his eyes growing wider with every word. • Discord had been to the Crystal Empire before, a few years ago. He hadn't done so appearing as himself in millennia more. It had been a dream of his once, back when he was conquering the world, to bring this Crystal Jewel into his empire. But the nature of the power here was crystalline, and that meant he could never pass the gates himself without permission of those who ruled here. As such, it was never a conquest, always a siege. He had suspected that one of the main hubs of ancient resistance to him had been in this city. And he had known of the other one for sure, deep in the Forest that would be called 'Everfree' in defiance of his rule. And yet now, here he was, walking the streets of the city he once dreamed of seeing in flames; with his banner - the red and yellow eye- hanging from every structure. Instead, it was calm and crystalline, though with a lingering tension in the air that he suspected was not entirely directed at himself. It didn't mean he was entirely welcome, of course, crystal ponies had long memories even before you considered that most of them were alive long enough ago that they hadn't even heard of Nightmare Moon when King Sombra had done what Discord himself could not. And the incident with Tirek... Discord shuddered despite himself. That had been a mistake I may never fully live down, he said to himself for the millionth time. Finally, several suspicious questions and angry glares later, Discord was allowed to approach Cadance and Shining Armor; the stallion was ordering guards to prepare chariots; the Princess was deep in urgent discussion with a unicorn in a lab coat. It was the prince who noticed Discord first. Moving with surprising speed, Discord was astonished to see the prince snatch a spear from one of the guards with his magic, and was aiming it directly at the Draco's heart. Of course, Discord didn't actually have a heart in that location at the moment, he was already moving them both down to his knees. "What do you want, traitor?" The prince asked through gritted teeth, staring daggers at Discord. "Shining Armor! Put that thing down!" It was Cadance. Rushing over, she enveloped the spear in a glow of her own, and floated it back to the guard as she added, "How many times do we have to go over this Shining, if Celestia and Twilight still trust him, then so do I. And so do you!" Shining Armor relaxed his stance slightly and nodded to Cadance before turning back to Discord and asking in a much calmer tone, "What do you want, Discord?" "I... well... that is... I was going to offer you both... uh..." Discord smiled nervously and shrugged as he added, "fast transportation to Princess Sparkle and her friends?" He paused a moment, then added in a sudden rush, "Oh yeah, and Canterlot is under attack, an unknown enemy has Celestia and Luna trapped, and I barely managed to get your sister and myself out of there in one piece." The two royal ponies eye's got wider by the word, until by the end, the room was dead silent. Finally, Cadance added in a quiet voice to her husband, "I think that crystal bomb in Canterlot Castle will go off soon. We have to get there fast." Shining Armor nodded grimly, then said to Discord, "Take me to my sister." Discord didn't respond, the sudden revelation of a crystal powered bomb being in the castle he just been trapped in had thrown him for a loop. If I hadn't been able to escape... he let the thought hang their, he really didn't want to imagine what would have happened to him if he had been hit by a crystal weapon. Instead he snapped his clawed hand, and the three of them vanished in a cloud of stars. • Applejack was on edge. She had been ever since the evening had begun, though she had no real idea why. It just... felt wrong. Like a shadow was cast over the entirety of Equestria. A shadow that felt... hungry. She hadn't said anything, of course. After all, Granny Smith said 'when somepony walks over your grave, don't hide in bed all day, that might just be where the boogiepony gets ya!' Okay, she admitted silently, maybe not the best of Granny's stories for this situation. Regardless, she kept silent about her uneasy feeling as the gang sat on the grassy knoll watching the moon ceremony. She considered asking Rarity if she was getting the same feeling, but that was when... "CANTERLOT IS BEING ATTACKED!" The next couple hours were a rapid blur to Applejack: filled with running ponies frantically trying to bring water to Canterlot as quickly as possible. She helped of course, between her and Big Mac she suspected they had drained nearly half their excess water supply into barrels being loaded into train cars. And yet... that uneasy feeling didn't change. That shadow was still over everything, and the brighter Canterlot glowed in the distance, the darker it almost felt to her like that shadow was getting. It was... focusing on that area? It was only when Discord found her that Applejack remembered she was supposed to meet her friends at Fluttershy's in case of an emergency like this. "Why didn't I realize that?" She asked Rarity, the two of them sitting in the warm living room of the cottage, Twilight laying prone on a blanket, still asleep. She continued, "We should have used the Elements of Harmony by now and just fixed everything! And now look at us... we scattered like June bugs in August as soon as this whole mess started! Some friends we are!" She yelled the last in frustration and worry. But Rarity just sat their quietly, staring into the crackling flames. Finally, when Applejack began to think that her friend might simply have not heard her, she opened her mouth to repeat her thoughts when Rarity said... "You say... a shadow? I think I know what you mean, except I was going to call it this maddening buzzing noise in my ears. And I can't... I just can't think clearly because of it. I think..." She suddenly turned towards Applejack, and silhouette as she was in the red glow of the flames, her drawn features made her look slightly wild. AJ suddenly felt relieved that Rarity's didn't have glowing green eyes at the moment. Rarity continued, "I think that whatever this thing is, it has been planning tonight for quite a while now." She looked down at Twilight, breathing peacefully, yet utterly unresponsive where she lay by the fire and said in increasing frustration, "We separate instead of work together, and now Twilight is put in some kind of magical sleep as soon as she escapes capture, so even though we are getting everypony back together now, we still can't use the Elements!" "Maybe so," said a new voice from the door. The ponies turned with surprise to see Shining Armor and Cadance entering with Discord. Cadance continued as Shining rushed over to check on his sister, "Whatever this enemy is, it has been planning this attack for a long time. It somehow figured out exactly what to do to incapacitate nearly every single one of us. And if I understand Discord correctly, it appears the next part was to hold Celestia, Luna, Twilight and Discord as bait while the five of you walked head and horn first into the castle to save them, where it would then set off a bomb made my King Sombra hidden somewhere in the castle, and take you all out in one fell swoop!" Sudden realization made Applejack ask, "And what about y'all? The Crystal Empire ain't exactly next door, if this was a plan to take out every threat in 'one fell swoop', how were, or are, the two of you gonna be taken down? And fer that matter, in case you didn't notice, Princess, Canterlot's kinda on fire, I think that bomb of yers as already done and blown its top!" "Umm... excuse me, but what's this about a bomb?" Fluttershy asked nervously. It was Shining Armor who answered, standing up from his sister to join the gathered group. "Cadance found a device had been activated in the empire which suggested a bomb was in Canterlot, and is going to go off soon. But there is no way it has gone off yet. The countdown timer we found still has a good hour or so on it." "No," he continued, pacing as he spoke, "No, leaving that timer for us to find must have been bait, to pull the two of us out of the safety of the city..." "A place that even I couldn't enter without permission," Discord added helpfully. "Yes..." Shining Armor said, glaring at the Draco as he continued, "So I'm willing to bet there was a surprise waiting for us on the carriage ride here." "So...?" Cadance said to him, gesturing with a smile at Discord. "So..." Shining Armor grunted, "I guess I should thank you, Discord. You probably saved our lives by coming to get us like you did. I... appreciate it. Thank you." Applejack expected Discord to shrug, or laugh, or at least to frown. She was instead surprised to see a tear form in the Draco's eye as he said, "You're welcome.", before turning to look at a nearby wall. The room was filled with a muted silence for a moment, the only sound that of the fireplace as the wood continued to crackle and pop. Until a sudden series of rapid pounding beats on the front door made everypony jump out of their hooves. "Come in!" Fluttershy called as the door flew open, revealing a dark silhouette, cloaked and hooded. "Oh-oh-oh goodie!" Discord yelled in delight upon seeing the new arrival, appearing outside behind it in a flash, asking how the trip went, ushering the figure inside as he did so. Nopony else either moved or relaxed a half a hoof until the pony threw back her hood, revealing a vibrant, rainbow colored mane. The cheers cut through the tension as several ponies rushed forward to greet Rainbow Dash. Applejack was among them, though she thought she spied another cloaked figure out among the shadows of the trees for a moment as the cottage door closed with a thud. • It didn't take long after Rainbow Dash rejoined the others for a decision to be reached. The fact that Discord had been ensnared so easily was of particular concern, as was the fact that whatever this thing was, it wanted them to go attempt a rescue of the two princesses. "So..." Rainbow Dash said, having been apprised of the situation. "We can't go to the castle without getting trapped, Discord is as vulnerable as the rest of us against this threat, and we can't use the Elements of Harmony until Twilight wakes up, which there may not even be time for, as there is probably an ancient magic crystal-bomb thing created by King Sombra expected to go off at any moment hidden somewhere in the depths of the castle. Is that all? Or did I miss anything?" "Shoot!" Applejack added crossly. "I hate to say it, but I reckon we lost this one, ponies." She hesitated, looking at the ground dejectedly, kicking at the flooring with her front hoof. "I think we gotta treat this one like the vampire bats a while back." Applejack looked up at Fluttershy, who immediately turned away from that gaze, saying almost under her breath, "Better to lose some of the orchard for sure..." "Then lose all of it and starve..." Rarity had added that last bit, suddenly understanding that pulling need in her head. She added, "I hate so say it, but I think you may be right, Applejack. We need to pull everypony away from the castle, and evacuate Canterlot quickly. And we have to hurry! Half of Ponyville will have arrived there with water by now!" "But there's no time!" Cadance cut in over the urgent babble of ponies, silencing the group. "That bomb is probably only going to last minutes, not hours! And that is what we will need to evacuate such a large group." "Then I'll buy you all some time..." Everyone turned with surprise to Shining Armor, who stepped forward into the center of the procession. He had been nearly silent since his arrival, constantly checking on his sister. "I'll head in there, and try to stop that bomb." Shining said. "Protection and shielding spells are my specialties, maybe it will be enough to save Celestia and Luna. And if not..." He paused, looking towards the dim glow of the capital through the window, still visible, even through the trees, and added, "It may give you all the time you need to save some lives." A few minutes later, and a plan was set. Spike, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie would be teleported to Canterlot, and begin the evacuation. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash would do the same for the airborne. Cadance and Shining Armor were going for the castle. And Discord was to stay behind to guard Twilight, after teleporting everypony off to their destinations. "And remember Discord," Cadance said as she tightened the last strap on her saddlebag. "The instant anypony gets where you can safely reach them, you teleport them to safety, got it?" "Yes, yes..." Discord said, sounding bored as he snapped his claw, a dozen more Discord's appearing behind him. As a group, they said, "We'll be covering all the exits, and ready." The front Discord then added something under his breath, which Rarity could have almost sworn was, "Stop copying me." "Okay," Shining Armor said, nodding in approval at the state of the group before turning towards the Discords, and said, "Do it." The front Discord nodded towards the other Discord's, who vanished in a large flash of stars. He then turned to the party, and said, "Good luck." A snap of his fingers, and everypony vanished. As the last of stars faded from his sight, Discord turned and walked to the back of the house. He walked over to the bedroom, and peeked in. Twilight was still unmoving, just like they'd left her, sleeping. "There is no way to stop it," he said sadly. "I'm sorry princess, but it's better you just sleep through what's coming. I'll wake you when it's over." As he left the room, closing the door softly behind himself, he added, "I don't think any of us will have a good night's sleep again after tonight." • On a hillside outside of Ponyville, near Sweet Apple Acres, sporadic flashes of star-filled light began to light up the moonlit night. As they faded, groups of ponies were left standing, confused and dazed. Before long, most of Ponyville found themselves surrounded by apple trees, followed shortly thereafter by a steady torrent of flashes containing Canterlot ponies. Another flash, and Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Spike all appeared at once. Spike blinked the stars from his eyes, and began to look everypony over, looking for anypony from home who was still missing. "Everypony's here!" He almost cheered the word. "We did it! We..." Spike suddenly realized that not everypony was there. The only princess he could see was Twilight, and she still seemed to be asleep, even now. Discord stood near to where she was curled up on the grass, and he was talking quietly with another one of himselves. As Spike approached Twilight, he overheard one say to the other in hushed, urgent tones, "Yes, but you don't think it could really be behind all of this, do you? I thought we were free of it?" "No, surely not." The other replied harshly. "The loss of the palace doesn't necessarily mean that... ah Spike, you made it!" Spike jumped. He hadn't meant to overhear, but it wasn't often one saw two different bodies take the roll of talking to yourself. Shaking it off, Spike said in surprise, "What do you mean, 'you made it?!' You teleported us here! And forget that, where are the other princesses and Shining Armor?" The second Discord turned to the first and said, "We'll talk about this later," before it walked into the first Discord, the two of them becoming one. "Passive teleports," Discord said absentmindedly, looking off towards the capital with wide eyes. "...so as to keep myselves out of range as much as possible. I didn't want..." Suddenly, Spike noticed that Discord was not the only one looking towards the castle with wide eyes. Turning around quickly, he looked off at the distant castle, and gasped. The golden fires consuming Canterlot were replaced by arching waves of red and violet lightning, silently pulsing from the castle. For a moment, everyone stood there in shock, as the city became consumed by the bomb. And then the shockwave hit, like a brick wall of sound, knocking everyone back. A sharp pain cracked the back of Spike's head, and everything went to black. • Deep in the burning hallways of Canterlot Castle, Shining Armor galloped. "Celestia!" He cried out, in growing desperation. "Luna! Cadance!" He and Cadance had split up upon entering the castle, in a hope to cover more ground, but it was proving fruitless. And now the fires were changing, the intense glowing gold being replaced with an odd mix of red lightning smoking off of purple flames which seemed to writhe along the walls, and sometimes seemed to form into faces, twisting into grim expressions. Feeling desperate, he reached out with his mind once more, using his horn to try and sense strong magic, but with all the madness around him, it was like trying to pick out one voice yelling in a crowded amphitheater. Not going to happen. Turning the last corner, Shining Armor found himself face to face with one of the princesses he had been seeking. Princess Luna was normally a sight to behold. But with her flowing mane that seems to hold the entire night sky within it blowing wildly in all directions, her wings widespread, and her stern countenance enhanced by intensely glowing eyes, it became immediately obvious why she had become one of the rulers of Equestria all those many years ago. No one dared to mess with her. "Your Majesty! Princess Luna! We have to get you out of here!" Shining Armor cried, his princely position forgotten to the instinctual training of a young captain of the royal guard. Without turning to face him, her horn blasting surges of power at a particularly large coiling of red lightning, she boomed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, "NOT WITHOUT MY SISTER, PRINCE. FOLLOW." With another powerful surge of magic, the hallway cleared of magic flames enough for a path to become clear. The princess charged into the opening, Shining Armor barely managing to get through behind her before the flames returned, thicker than ever. As they ran, Luna yelled, though no longer in the Royal Voice, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU KNOW THIS MUST BE A TRAP. YOU ARE NO ROYAL GUARD ANYMORE, SHINING ARMOR! YOU HAVE YOUR OWN PEOPLE TO PROTECT NOW!" "IT'S A LONG STORY," he yelled back over the cacophony. "WE CAME TO BUY SOME TIME WHILE THE CITY IS EVACUATED! THERE'S A..." A pillar collapsed in front of them, but with a quick surge from their horns, it was quickly knocked aside. He continued as they entered the grand foyer, the sound of the flames growing fainter behind them. "There's a bomb King Sombra once made that seems to have been activated, and we came to try and stop it before it was... too... late?" He stopped running, panting, as the princess had stopped in her tracks midway through that last sentence. "And how do you know about this?" She asked, seeming tenser than before, staring off into space. "Was there by any chance a pedestal with a small gem on it that began to glow somewhere in the toy box of the old mad king?" "I... yes!" He exclaimed, suddenly confused. "But how did you know...?" "Because," she answered, turning and heading down a new passage than the one she had been heading towards, "We hid that thing on purpose. This isn't Sombra's toy. Come! I know where Celestia and your wife will be. Follow." And so they ran, the multitude of magic energies closing around them. • Twilight's head hurt. Her horn hurt. Her lungs hurt. Why would my lungs hurt? Smoke inhalation. She tried to look around, but couldn't seem to move. A heavy blanket seemed to weigh her down. Hello?! She tried to yell. Can anypony hear me?! What happened? she thought. I was in the castle, and I found Celestia, and she was... laughing? The heavy blanket engulfed her thoughts, and Twilight blacked out. • Twilight awoke again. This time, she could just manage to open her eyes. She didn't know what she was seeing, it was all happening so fast. Golden flames, purple waves, red lightning, black bars of light, wings beating, horns glowing, empty eyes. Her eyes fell closed again. The heavy blanket was weighing her thoughts down again, but Twilight had almost thought that she had found Celestia and... Discord? She tried to concentrate but something was making it difficult to stay... • conscious. Wait, did I just black out again? How can I tell, my eyes are still closed? Why does it smell like Spike's breath? Am I on fire? • Voices... hello? Who is that? "Are they..." Spike? "They're fine." Fluttershy? "Or, at least... Twilight is. I don't actually know if Discord really needs to breathe..." Darkness. • A kiss on the forehead pulled Twilight out of the darkness this time. She heard a familiar voice, though she didn't know how it could possibly be here. "... hope you know how sorry I am Twily. I'm your big brother, I should have been able to keep you safe, like I promised mom and dad I would. I..." Twilight suspected she blacked out again, because the next thing she heard was, "... it will be dangerous, but I have to do this. I have a responsibility to Celestia and Luna as well. I am, well, I was Captain of the Guard in Canterlot. I guess in my heart I still am. So Cadance and I are going to try and save them. But, just remember, in case the worst happens... I love you Twily, and I always will." The blue and white blur moved away from Twilight, and as everything went dark, Twilight whispered aloud, "I love you too BBBFF." • Again, Twilight awoke. She was outside, and the sun was up. This time, her wing hurt, as though she had fallen on it. But her head felt clearer. Getting to her hooves, Twilight took in her surroundings. All around her were ponies, sprawled among damaged and leafless apple trees. Some were looking towards the sky, seeming nervous. Others were looking towards the castle... "The castle!" Twilight said aloud in shock, though not very loudly, her voice was still horse. She tried to flap above the trees for a clear look, but found her wing hurt too much to try it. Probably a sprain, she thought, a book on Pegasus wing anatomy flying through her mind. Before she could take that thought beyond wondering if Alicorn wing anatomy worked the same way, Twilight was knocked to the ground again, this time as a ball of cotton candy jumping on her, yelling, "...sssssshhhhhhhheeeee's aaaaawwwwwaaaaaakkkkkeeeeeeee!" A moment later, and several new shapes jumped on the pile, as all Twilight's friends cheered and yelled in celebration. Finally, everypony got off, and Twilight looked around, smiling at all her friends. They all seemed frayed, and looked tired, but they were all there. But something was off... "So, what have I missed?" Twilight asked, her head still faintly buzzing. "I've been unconscious since last night, you would think they would-" "Um, Twilight...?" Rainbow Dash said, hesitantly. "- I mean sure, the castle caught on fire, but obviously if everypony's here, it was taken care of, but then why are we at Sweet Apple Acres? I can't ima-" "Twilight!" "-but at least we didn't have to use the Elements of-" "TWILIGHT!" This time Twilight managed to notice that something was wrong. Her friends were smiling at her, but they had fear in their eyes. Hesitating, she asked, "What now? What's wrong?" Applejack stepped forward, and put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. She sighed, and said, "It's two o'clock in the morning Twilight. Look at the sky." Confused, Twilight glanced up at the sunny sky, only to realize, that the other half of the sky was a starry night, lit by a full moon. Twilight felt the buzzing in her head get louder, but she pushed back against it. Looking back to her friends, her voice firm, she said, "Tell me everything." Before anypony could begin, Discord appeared in a shower of stars, looking frightened, running past the group towards the barn, yelling, "THE CASTLE! IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN! EVERYPONY GET BACK TO THE SHELTER!" Twilight and her friends ran behind Discord, and a thousand unanswered questions flew through Twilight's mind as the sky began to glow red and purple behind her. • "And then we tie off the flow with a surge, pulled from the red one and pushed into the green one at the same time?" "Yes, and that should be able to contain the power, while dissipating any excess energy at the same time." Cadence nodded. The sweat poured down her face and into her eyes. She was bent over a panel of glowing crystals, being given instructions by Luna, who stood opposite her, working with her own magic on the other panel on the device. "You better hurry..." Shining Armor called, his voice straining from effort. "I don't think I can contain this thing for much longer...!" Cadence didn't comment. She had noticed the room was turning red tinged with purple again. The bomb was trying to release another wave of power, and Shining had been holding that shield for a while now. "I am ready on this end, Princess Cadence. Make haste!" She barely heard. All of her concentration was being taxed as she moved the final piece of the amazingly complex spell into position. "I've got it!" She yelled as the device locked with a satisfying click. "Shining Armor, you ready for this?" A sad chuckle answered her, which she understood to mean, like I have a choice? "Very well!" Luna was having to yell now, over the deafening sound of the charging blast. "Into positions!" Cadence ran over to Shining Armor, and smiled at him. He smiled back. "NOW!" Luna cried, as waves of colorful light emanated from her horn. Shining Armor dropped his shield, and as the room became consumed in an inferno of powerful and dark magic, Cadance and Shining Armor touched horns, and all three of them pulled the red and pushed the green. The spell matrix locked, and they knew no more. • It took a few minutes for the hundreds of ponies hiding in the Apple Family farm to realize that the bomb wasn't going to blow again. Twilight was still slightly dazed, but had found herself entranced as Discord had casually mentioned how he had made the inside of the barn larger than the outside so it could hold everypony safely. It took several minutes more for everypony to get outside again, as Discord insisted making the door larger on the outside was somehow far more difficult than the feat he had just pulled. At last, the crowd of ponies was out, and all looked towards the castle in awe. The castle was glowing. But not the purple and red glow of the explosions, but a pure, golden light, tinged with traces of light in a wild mix of light blue, deep blue, and rose colors. Twilight looked at the glowing spectacle and felt tears come to her eyes. She recognized those magic colors. She knew who must be casting that spell. "I... I think I need to be alone for a little while..." She said to nopony in particular. But luckily the ponies seemed to understand, as they left Twilight alone to walk among the apple trees. What do I do? She asked herself, feeling dazed. Is it safe up there? Are they... are they all okay? Should I risk sending some ponies in to see if it's safe now or wait? What if there are survivors in need of rescue? Her musings and self doubt were interrupted by a claw tapped Twilight on the shoulder. She looked down at Spike, who, much like he had a thousand times before, was holding out a scroll for her to read. She smiled as she looked at the letter, then did a double take. By the sun crest seal that had held it closed, it was from Princess Celestia. Twilight opened the scroll in a quick surge of magic, and began to read, her eyes going wider with each word read. It was the last will and testament of Princess Celestia, set to magically be sent to Spike in the event of an incident. It took Twilight only a moment to see that he was holding a second scroll of the same size, this one with the crescent moon seal of Princess Luna holding it closed, the seal still unbroken. Fearing the worst, she plucked this new scroll from Spike's clawed hand, cracked the wax seal, and confirmed. It too, was the last will and testament. Only this was the one for Princess Luna. Twilight felt numb. She couldn't think. She couldn't... With sudden dread, Twilight realized that Spike had a third scroll, held in his other hand. She felt sick with worry now, as she checked the scroll. Seeing it did not contain the crest of the Crystal Empire almost made her cry out in joy. Cadence and Shining Armor must still be okay! The new scroll hadn't been sealed, and was actually written on Twilight's own personal stationary. From the state of the letter, it appeared to have been hastily written, and charred around the edges more than was normal for a message sent by dragon fire should have been. And the spellwriting was unmistakably Luna's. She read, then read it again, and then again a third time.   Twilight Sparkle, I am sorry to be the one to tell you this, but it seems fate has forced my hoof. You are all that remains of Equestria's leadership. Celestia is gone. A horrible and ancient weapon has been unleashed. In a desperate bid to stop it, Prince Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, and myself, have put in place a powerful shield to protect everypony from a truly horrid fate. I fear however, that we may have to hold the shield in place for a very long time until it can be safely turned off. Until then, we are trusting in you, Twilight Sparkle, and your friends, to keep all the ponies of Equestria, and us safe. We wish you all the luck in the world. Princess Luna Princess Cadence Prince Shining Armor   The letter contained one final message, a poem, written by Celestia, with the clear instructions for it to be read at her funeral. Twilight read the note, and smiled. It seemed appropriate, somehow, that these would be Celestia's last words. "Celestia was a Golden Queen, Of her the ponies sadly sing. The last whose realm was fair to see, From the far off ocean to the Everfree."   "Her horn was long, her pride was great, But in the end it was too late. The burning sun in Heaven's sky, Will be there much longer than I."   "Yet if indeed I now must go, I love you all more than you know. But into darkness I now fall, In Annudûr, where Shadows call." With love, from Alicorn Princesses Luna and Celestia of Equestria Formerly known as: Pegasus Lunar Glow and Unicorn Celestial Light, daughters of King Solaris and Queen Aurora of the Equestrian Triumvirate. Á na márië   By the time she finished reading the note, Twilight found herself crying. She couldn't help herself. She let the tears flow. She turned to see a crowd of faces, all looking to her expectant, worried, or nervously hopeful. I'm still a princess, she thought. Even now they still need leadership... Especially now. Her voice still a bit horse, she spoke to the gathered crowd, using a spell to amplify her voice.   "My fellow Equestrians! Today-"   Twilight didn't recall the words of her speech. But by the time she had said her piece, the ponies looked to her with a new level of respect. But she didn't care about that.   Instead, Twilight turned to each of her friends in turn, and looked them each in the eye, questioningly. They all nodded back to her, giving their silent approval.   With a faint smile, Princess Twilight turned back towards the city, and said in a loud, clear voice, "Come on everypony. This night - has only just begun... We have work to do."