What they found inside that box, was something that scared them a little: Four Energy Swords, like the one Celestia lost her hand to.
Also inside was a note:
Princess Celestia,
If you are reading this note, then your circumstances are indeed dire. Me and my cohorts know what happened last time you encountered one of these weapons, and thus, would not be surprised if you and the Elements that are with you choose not to. However, should you choose to, the package also contains a training holo-program, and each sword has been customized in color for you and the others.An interested third party.
Celestia smiled a bit seeing this, and quickly reached in for the holo program, so that they could get right to training once they got them.
"Princess, wait," Rainbow said. "How can we be certain it isn't some kind of mind control spell that will cause you to go crazy?"
"That's just a risk I shall have to take, Rainbow," Celestia said, reaching for the nearest sword hilt. She picked it up, and nothing happened. She brought it up, worry on the Element's faces, and activated it. The two blades were golden yellow, matching the shade of her magic.
"Awwwww yeaaahhhh," Rainbow said as she admired her blades.
"Ah, what the hey?" Applejack said and reached for hers. She brought it out of the box and activated it. It's blades were apple red. "Whoa."
Twilight was the only one who didn't reach for one, saying, "I would rather not. It's because of one of those Celestia lost her hand."
"I appreciate your thoughtfulness Twilight. But it will be alright."
Twilight showed that she had grown by saying, "No."
This actually brought a smile to Celestia's face. "Well, at least you aren't afraid to see me as an equal now."
A day later, at the NLR's Base
"So...Now we're planning to invade and take Manehattan huh? What's the plan there hmm?" He asked looking to Luna. "And I wonder what caused Celestia to have her General send us that notice about this 3rd party...what do you think Moony?" he asked looking to her.
"Though she may be our enemy," Nightmare said, "does not mean she's lying about this. We should at least take percautions."
"Agreed," Chrysalis said.
"As for the plan," Luna said, "That's still in progress."
"Fair enough then....Hmm...Perhaps Lone may know more about this third party then..." Red suggested, thinking it might be an idea.
"Indeed," Nightmare said. "It's a shame he's making sure that Cadence is ready to lead from the front back in the Empire."
"Well," Luna said, "there is still the dragons. Even though it's been a while since Celestia sent for help, they are mobilizing, and they will be ready in a few months, so the war must end by then."
"I agree Luna....We should move to try and end it before she get the dragon's assistance..either that, or try to beef up our strength so that we can fight against dragon enemies assuming we can't end the war before then." Red spoke, trying to think of what they could do.
"It's a shame that Celestia has so many species on her side. The griffons are too embroiled in their greed to help either side, the Minotaurs their own civil war, and all others are split, with most of their populous leaning towards Celestia, though I wouldn't know why, considering her forces are killing civilians," Chrysalis said.
"That's totally unlike her...we wouldn't kill civilians...Nor would they...something's off...I think we've got some bloodthirsty jackasses in the middle who want this to go on." He said looking at all of them. "I mean...Didn't we get blamed for that slaughter in Appleoosa? Including the death of Braeburn? AJ's Cousin?" Red asked "We NEVER did that...hell we were never even IN that town.."
"That still doesn't explain the mass murder in Trottingham. That was an area loyal to us, and we had no quarrel with them, so it had to be Celestia's forces," Nightmare said. She and Red may be lovers, but that doesn't mean they don't have disagrrements.
"Regardless," Chrysalis said, "we alos need recon for both Manehatten and Ponyville."
"Just because Celestia's the enemy does not mean she was the one to slaughter Trottingham...just like how we were blamed for Appleoosa, a peaceful town that was on their side that we never thought of attacking....Either way....for Ponyville, I can send Barb to check it out..." Red sugested.
"Are you sure, Red?" Nightmare asked. Even before she and Dawn had been reunited, she saw Barb as a daughter, and, as such, did not want to lose her.
"I know...I trust her though...Barb should be fine...they don't know about her." He explained, as he too did worry about her, seeing her as a daughter since she had been with him for many years.
"In that case," Luna said, "It would be best to do so after Manehatten, as you will need her piloting skills."
"I know...What do we know about Manehattan though, out of curiosity?" he asked, wanting to find out what Intel they knew.
"That one of my former guards who remained loyal to Celestia is in charge of the defenses," Luna said "We do not know much else."
"I see....do you see him as a traitor for choosing to take Celestia's side? Despite the fact that he was a member of the Lunar Guard?" Red asked, simply wanting to make talk with Luna for the time being.
"No. He had made it clear before the war that he would fight for her, and he has stuck true to it," Luna said, "It was his choice, and me getting mad will change none of it."
"That's a nice choice Luna...I'd imagine that your sister also doesn't blame Rarity, Fluttershy or Pinkie for joining our side...and possibly not Cadence either..." He said, showing clear sympathy for Luna's opinion on the matter.
At this moment, the holo-table they were standing around lit up, indicating a message from Cadence.
"Accept!" Red said, to trigger the holo-table's message.
The table lit up, with Cadence appearing, but not Lone.
"Cadence," Luna said. "Where's Lone?"
"Checking to see how Lightning's taking everything, as our alliance means Flash is either in prison or against us now."
"Probably in prison as his loyalty would come into question...perhaps....he could join us, if only to ensure the protection of his family."
"Perhaps," Chrysalis said, "but we can not be certain."
"Of course, auntie," Cadence said. She had started calling Nightmare "auntie" a day after Crystal Sword. "And how is Chestnut, Red"
Red smiled, seeing that Cadence had begun calling Nightmare 'Auntie' a day after Operation Crystal Sword succeeded. the reason being was because of the fact that Nightmare was technically her aunt due to being part of Luna when she was first around, now that Luna and Nightmare were separate, it stood to reason that she was still Cadence's aunt. "She's doing just fine, she and Dawn have bonded fairly well and Fleur loves Chestnut as her own daughter. I thank you for allowing myself and Fleur to officially adopt her. So thank you for that. I will be sure to both train her to fight, as she herself wants to do...but also she's very happy to be accepted, not only by our faction, but also is happy to be around some other thestrals like her." Red said explaining.
"Well," Cadence said, "that's good."
Red nodded "yeah, it's good so far." He said smiling happily.
It was here that Lone, wearing his armor, minus the helmet, walked into view.
"Hey there Lone. bout time we got ya..." Red said, as he explained about the new force that Celestia had mentioned to them.
Lone nodded, saying, "I'll help get her there once it's underway."
This helped allay some of both Nightmare's and Red's fears as to if Barb would survive, as they both knew Lone wouldn't allow harm to come to his allies.
Red nodded agreeing to it. "Okay then...Got an idea for what we could do for a plan with Manehattan though? or for that matter, any information to give? All we know is that a former guard of Luna's is leading the forces there."
"Actually," Lone said, "yes. A friend and intelligence officer in Celestia's forces told me the defenses. They have radar, sonar, visual, and magical means of early warning, so they'll know once we get there. The general, named Shadow Strike, is residing in the tallest building of the city. Defenses for that one in particular, though, he wasn't able to get. His estimates put troop numbers between four--thousand and ten-thousand. As far as he can tell, they also have their own mechs."
"Mechs?" Red asked, as Nightmare spoke up.
"Mechs could prove to be very useful for us....." She said thinking it over.
"Do you know what they look like, as well as their capabilities ," Luna asked, knowing what Nightmare was thinking.
"I've got a few things here." He said as he switched it to a holographic display of what some would describe as a bipedal giant robot. "From my information, some units, like this one, are capable of transforming into a vehicle mode, are able to fly, and have access to powerful weaponry, such as a larger version of our lightsabers, referred to as Beamsabers, or rather, beam weaponry...as they can be very different, they can also wield powerful weaponry long range weaponry as well." He explained, pointing it out.
"This is what he is most worried about," Lone said. "He's seen the prototypes of it, and it's devastating. It has the ability to fire missiles from the shorter cylinders, while the singular one looks like it's meant to fire guided artillery. He also reports that it can generate shields from it's left hand. It also has what appear to be magnetic grenades. It's designed to be a one-pony army, far as I can tell."
"Then perhaps we should make it OUR mission to take control of that suit..." Red said, proposing the idea.
"Wouldn't work," Lone said. "It's got a defense system that's similar to the Nightbringers. Though it creates a Nuclear crater instead."
"Even better..." Red said, thinking it over. "Still we should try to take control of it, or of them...how similar to our Nightbringers?" he asked.
"Genetic signature, as well as magic. If even one of those are incorrect, and a code isn't inputted," Lone paused, "boom. If neither is, it expldes with out the code input time."
"Gee that's friggin smart. have it genetically coded and magically sealed to ONE SPECIFIC PONY...who the hell could it be?" Red asked finding it overkill...though it IS justifiable...
"If we ever got close enough, we'd probably have an army with us," Lone said, his hand still on his chin, "If I had to guess, I'd say it's for Shadow Strike."
"No idea...Luna, You know Shadow Strike....would that be like something he'd do?" Red asked her.
"Possibly," she said. "He always has been one for ensuring secrets stay secrets."
"Hmm....Fair enough...I suppose I'll assume it's him then..." Red said, as they went to a map. "Where's the facility building these suits at?" He asked looking over a map of Manehattan.
"Don't know that yet," Lone said, shrugging. "He's working on it, though."
"Okay..." Red replied, before looking back "Wait...He Who?" he said as all of them looked at Lone.
"''He' meaning my contact."
"Things just got a whole lot more interesting...Hmm..you tend to enjoy being so damn vague...it's annoying." Red spoke, shaking his head a bit finding it annoying.
Lone shrugged, saying, "Force of habit," cryptically, which reinforced Red's point.
"I'm going to punch you...SO damn hard when you get back here to us." Red said clearly getting annoyed by Lone.
"That will have to wait until Manehatten. I'm leaving the Empire tomorrow to check with my contact and a few others, and it'll take a while."
"Yeah yeah, right..." Red said rolling his eyes, though the left was hidden from view.
Meanwhile-Canterlot
Celestia and the team, minus Twilight are all training with their Energy Swords.
The program had been through with basic moves, while also placing an emphasis on creativity, which meant all three had already developed their own fighting style.
"Ah neva' thought ah'd be using one of these puppies," Applejack said.
Dash smiled widely "You better believe it! this is Awesome!" She said landing from her aerial attack practice.
Twilight had also left the room, deciding to go and visit her brother and Flash Sentry and check on them.
Celestia, however tuned the conversation out, instead wanting to practice her own combat style, which included brute force attacks with her earth pony strength, liquid grace flowing attacks with unicorn magic augmenting her speed, and rapid, furious attacks using her flight, all to ensure she would be able to hold her own against the pony that had taken her left hand.
Twilight had arrived at the holding area where her brother and Flash Sentry were at as she hugged Shining again, still clearly worried about him.
"How are you doing, BBBFF," Twilight asked, teary eyed as she saw Shining in the cell, pulling away from him.
"Considering," Shining said, "good. Wish I could say the same for Flash, though. Kid's worried sick about his family, seeing as how all of them but his younger brother were in the Crystal army
"If he wanted to join the NLR, to make sure they are okay...I wouldn't fault him...I mean...sure Cadence joined them but, put yourself in his place...if Mom, Dad, and I were living in the region that was recently claimed by the enemy, wouldn't you want to go make sure we were okay? even if it meant joining that enemy?" She asked, as she was thinking about helping Flash leave to be able to get to his family.
Shining sighed. "Yeah, I guess so, but that still doesn't help Cadence out with my problems with her," he said angrily.
Twilight chuckled, then said, "Maybe not, but she probably did it for the citizens of the Empire."
"What's your problem with Princess Cadence? Is it REALLY because she decided to join the NLR? You realize she did it likely to protect everypony there at the empire! Not because she hates you or anything...She's probably worried sick about you now, possibly afraid that you two would have to fight if you aren't on her side..." Flash spoke being nearby hearing the conversation.
The sorrow in his voice was obvious.
"Of course it is!" Shining yelled. "She betrayed her own aunt."
"And joined her other two, sir, or did you forget that Princess Luna and, by blood relations, Nightmare Moon, are her aunts as well?" Flash asked, his voice surprisingly accusatory of Shining, and he heard it.
Twilight was snickering a little, but she sighed, seeing just how pathetic Shining was "Shining Armor, really? REALLY?! THAT'S THE REASON?! My god your an idiot....YOU practically left her for a bug queen. WHO BY THE WAY she's now working with. I'm surprised your this quick to judge her and abandon her again...And should I forget to mention the fact that I was completely right about the fact that the Cadence you were marrying at the time was a fake, YOU were the most stalwart accusor that I was wrong and that the mare you were with was the Real one when she most certainly was NOT." Twilight said calling him out on how stupid he was being.
"And yet she came back once. She'll do so again, only I'll say no," he said cruelly.
Twilight then did two things Shining wouldn't have expected. The first was slap him. "That's for disrespecting Cadence," she said before kicking him, with an armored boot, mind you, in the groin. "And that's for sounding like Blueblood." As he rolled on the ground in pain, she walked over to Flash.
Flash's mane looked horribly ruined, dirty, and unkempt as heck, locks of it being everywhere, He looked horrible. there were bags under his eyes from a clear lack of sleep, and his eyes were bloodshot red and puffy from what was likely hours of crying. his fur was madded and his wings were ruffled, as he looked to Twilight "I know...I sound like a traitor...but...I want to join them...if only to just protect my family...and make sure they are safe...and I know how I'm going to sound for this....but...can you help me get to them Twilight Sparkle?" Flash asked of them, knowing he sounded like a traitor, AND a desertionist for asking TWILIGHT of all of them to help him get to his family, but the desperation in his voice, which as horse from his previous hours of tears, and in his eyes was very clear.
Twilight shook her head before saying, "I wish I could, but I'd probably get thrown in as well." She then left the room, grateful she wasn't the Element of Honesty as she grabbed a pair of keys from the rack near the entrance and teleported them to Flash, as well as casting an illusion spell to buy him time.
Flash smiled "Thank you...Thank you so much." He said as he quickly worked to free himself, and escape the cell, leaving Shining locked inside as well, as he fled, soon taking a disguise and going to the train, leaving for the Crystal Empire after hijacking one.
As he fled, Twilight went back to the training room so she could analyze the others moves, and come up with counter strategies. For science she said to herself as assurance. Wait, why am I justifying my own thought to myself? That's crazy, Twilight.
Twilight was paying particular attention to Celestia for this reason.
As she was watching, a thought occurred to her.
If she hid the fact Nightmare had a daughter, what else did she hide?
She decided to act on this thought, and soon, went to the library, to be able to investigate this line of thought, though she would probably regret it.
NLR base, a few hours later
Luna was in what constituted the park in the underground base of the NLR, an enclosed space with plenty of night time plants. She was here for two reasons. The first was because she enjoyed the scenery.
The second was to remember her dead daughter.
Red approaches her, putting a hand on Luna's shoulder, giving her a small hug. Though Red was planning to marry Nightmare Moon by the time the war was over, Luna, was almost like a lover to him, though soon enough, she would be his sister in law due to marrying Nightmare. Red did love Luna like a sister, but at the same time, like a lover. "You okay Luna?" He asked, as he looked around at the park that she was at, before looking to her.
She sighed before saying, "No, it isn't. Though I am happy we have Cadence with us, seeing Nightmare and Fleur play with Dawn and Chestnut has brought up painful memories from before I was banished."
Red gently pulled her into a hug, stroking her mane a little "Would you like to talk about it perhaps?" Red asked, giving her a gentle nuzzle.
Luna sniffled a little, indicating she was on the verge of tears. "Of course," she said sadly. "A few years before my banishment, before Nightmare had control of me, I had given birth to a unicorn filly. I had cared for her until Nightmare had control, and even then, she took care of the child. She was alive when I was banished, and I had hoped, due to her being half-alicorn, she would still be alive when I returned." Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she remembered asking Celestia if her daughter, whose name she couldn't remember for some reason, was alive. "I asked Celestia if she was alive. She had said that she had indeed lived longer than other unicorns, but she had still died of old age twenty three years ago."
Red held her, as he sat down with her on a bench, wiping away those tears "I see...Tell me...do you at least...remember what she looked like? This daughter of yours? Who...would be an older sister to Dawn?" he asked her, genuinely caring for Luna.
"Yes. She had a green coat , the most beautiful smile when she was happy, deep, blue eyes like mine, and a lighter shade of green as her mane." She began to outright sob here, attracting the attention of Nightmare and Fleur, as well as their daughters, who came over in concern.
Red gently held Luna close, stroking her wings, and kissing her head, giving her a show of affection, and to try and calm her down, as well as relax her, as he looked to Nightmare, who knew exactly why Luna was crying so much.
"Why is Lulu crying?" Fleur asked.
"Because of my niece," Nightmare said, also tearing up
Red gently held Luna close "It is alright Lulu...I promise you, everything will be alright......" He cooed gently into her ears, to calm her crying.
"H-h-how? You all have a reason to fight. All I have is a desire for revenge for what Celestia did, and that's not going to help me when this war is over," Luna said, sobbing.
"Because you also have a reason...You fight...to protect the memory of your daughter Luna...and to respect the memory...to remember the time you had with her." He explained, as he held Luna, to console her, and help to calm her.
"Plus," Nightmare said, "you have us standing with you," giving Luna a "can-do" hand gesture when she looked up at her by giving her a simple thumbs-up.
Red nodded, kissing Luna's nose. "You no longer will be alone....you have me...you have Fleur...and you have Moony...but more than that, you also have your two nieces here...Dawn, and Chestnut, who love you dearly, just as they do their mothers." Red said, as he held Luna close, smiling.
Nightmare and the others joined in the embrace, as well as Dawn and Chestnut, all of them smiling.
MEANWHILE IN CANTERLOT
Twilight had been in the Canterlot archives for hours, searching for something she didn't know, but knew she had to find. She laid her head down in frustration, unable to find anything close to what she thought she was looking for.
Unbeknownst to her, in the shadows, the guard who had delivered the package containing the energy swords, Nightengale, was watching, knowing what she was looking for unconsciously, and knew where to find it. Using his magic, he reached out to a library only he and a few others knew, looking for the book. He found it within seconds, and used his magic to teleport the book in front of Twilight.
Twilight noticed, and began to look into this new book for what she was investigating, curious if the answers were there.
If she had paid attention, she would have seen that the book was titled Equestrian Royal Genealogy, though she could take a guess with the random pages she read. With Nightengale still watching, she eventually stopped at a page that appeared random, but wasn't. What she read here shocked.
The page, marked the name of Luna's long lost daughter. Her name, was Aurora Nebula, and she would have been roughly 2000 years older than Twilight was at that moment. She was a Unicorn who was half Alicorn, AND had Twilight's physical build...but her Mane color, Eye color, and coat color were completely different, and yet the similarities were so obvious....
This...This explains everything. Why I always felt different than the others...Why I always loved to look out at the moon and stars...why I had always idolized Luna, and even Nightmare Moon to an extent, when Luna returned..my goodness.....it's impossible...I'm...Luna's daughter!? She thought to herself in utter shock as she looked the page over, in utter shock.
As this came to her mind, Nightengale left the room as a blot of shadows, sending a mental message to Lone Shadow that Twilight knew the truth, or at least suspected as much, and told him to get everything greased for every possible out come.
Luna blinked, feeling a strange tingle at the base of her skull...a connection that was to her daughter, back when she was around. No...it's impossible...my daughter? She thought, as she began to reach out in the connection, as back in Canterlot at that exact same time, Twilight herself felt the same sensation at the base of her own skull.
Aurora!! Luna mentally shouted in happiness, only to be surprised by the pony who responded.
Princess? How am I able to hear you? And why'd you call me 'Aurora'?
Twilight Sparkle? Why is it you I speak to when my mental connection is. . .with. . .my. . .daughter? Luna mentally asked before coming to a realization.
What do you mean?
The way I am speaking with you is a mental connection all alicorn parents share with their offspring, regardless of their race. The fact I'm speaking to you when I thought I felt my dear Aurora can mean only one thing.
Both mentally and physically, Twilight gasped. I'm your daughter.
So it would seem. And since Celestia said you were dead, that can mean one of two things, the first being she kept you alive all this time and implanted false memories while removing actual ones, making you think you've always been the bookish unicorn you'r friends know.
And the second, Twilight asked, fear being evident.
She somehow made it to where you were in a magical slumber, then awoke you on the supposed date of your birth.
That would be twenty-seven years ago.
Exactly when she told me you died.
But that means-
Indeed. She has turned us, mother and daughter, against one another. A terrible evil. One that should not go unpunished.
Well then...what can I do Luna - Uhh...I mean Uh...M....Mo... Even with this new revelation, of complete fact, Twilight couldn't bring herself to call Luna her mother. Though it seemed hurtful, Luna understood why, and simply smiled, knowing that soon, her dear Aurora would be back in her arms, and would call her 'Mom' soon enough once again.
Red looks at Luna, and nuzzles her, seeing her tears of joy now "What is it Luna? Is everything okay?"
Luna let out a gleeful chuckle, saying, "Yes, Red. More so than you can imagine."
"What do you mean, Luna?" Nightmare asked before seeing the happy smile on Luna's face, and she was the only one here besides Luna who knew wht it meant, as it was the same she wore when she had found out Dawn was alive.
"She's alive, isn't she?"
Teary eyed, Luna replied, "Yes. Oh, my dear Aurora, I never thought I would see her again, when Celestia had manipulated my memories and her appearence, I did not know that I had seen her more times than I thought."
"What do you mean, Auntie Luna?" Dawn asked.
Letting out a laugh of happiness, Luna said, "It means you have a cousin."
The looks on Red's, Fleur's, and, on the other end of the mental link, Twilight's expressions were almost comedic.
Luna then answered Twilight/Aurora's question. Simple, my sweet daughter. What do you wish to do?
At that same time in the Crystal Empire
Flash Sentry arrives at the Crystal Empire
He was instantly surrounded by Crystal guards, one of whom said, "Halt, traitor. If you wish to live, explain why you are here." The guard was expecting to kill Flash anyway, which is why he was surprised by what Flash said.
"To join the NLR," he said, holding his hands up to show he held no weapons.
"Why?" the guard said, holding his blaster closer to Flash's face.
"I'm here, to Join.....Because I want to protect my family...I want to see them so much right now, to make sure they are okay..." He explained.
"Then you'll have to see Empress Cadence," the guard said aggressively before he and the others got into a circle around Flash to lead him to the Crystal palace.
"Empress huh? Always wondered why she and Shining Armor weren't called that..." He mused as he walked there, allowing himself to be led to the castle.
The walk took ten minutes, during which Flash saw multiple guard patrols, all with some kind of saber. When they arrived at the base, without the guards answering any questions, the lead guard said, "I'll escort you to the throne room, but if you do anything remotely suspicious, I will not hesitate to kill you. Is that clear?"
"Yes," Flash said, wanting to get to see his family as soon as possible.
"Good," the guard said before leading Flash into the palace.
As he led Flash through the palace, he saw numerous paintings, pictures, and other depictions of Nightmare and the other leaders of the NLR. They walked for another five minutes, encountering palace staff only, before they made it to the throne room.
Empress Cadence sat upon her own throne now, looking over everything before she noticed Flash being escorted in. "Flash Sentry, you've returned! Are you okay?" She asked him, getting up to approach him.
Flash nervously bowed, saying, "Yes, your Highness."
"And why is it you have returned?"
"Because I wish to join the NLR."
"Oh. And why's that?"
"To make sure my families alright."
Cadence smiled in approval, and understanding. "Rise then, Flash Sentry...I can take you to your family...your little brother Lightning's been very worried about you." She explained.
With that, Cadence dismissed Flash's escort, and led him to the room in the palace where his family was living.
Meanwhile-Canterlot
Simple, my sweet daughter. What is it you wish to do?
This, Twilight/Aurora knew, was going ot be the moment in which her life changed. Did she stay with Celestia, who was her mentor, and like a third mother ot her, but had torn her away from her real mother, or leave her and join Luna, and make Celestia pay for it. The bright side to the latter would be she would see Rarity and the others again, as well as see Dawn, who was apparently her cousin. Now that Twilight thought about it, a fair portion of her family was in the NLR, but, at the same time, most of her friends were with Celestia.
It was neither of these thoughts that gave her an answer, but rather the memory of Luna's first Nightmare night.
That was one of the best nights of her life, when before she thought she could only have that much fun with Celestia. Sure, it had had it's downsides, but it was still the most fun she had had that year, and now, she knew why.
She mentally and physically sighed before saying, I want to help you, Mother.
Then my dear Daughter...Come here to me.....I'll send an escort to meet you, who can lead you inside to us.......more importantly, to Me... Luna told her, deciding to send someone to lead Twilight/Aurora from the outside of the home, into the base.
But where will I meet him?
Just outside the barrier srrounding Canterlot.
Then I'll be there, but who is it?
My dear sister's and My, Lover, Captain Zero Star...you might know him, as Red. Luna explained, referring to Red as being her own lover just like he was Nightmare Moon's Lover. She looked to Red and smiled "Go to Canterlot, wait outside the barrier surrounding it. My daughter will meet you there and you will escort her there." She told him as he nodded, kissing her again, before going to leave.
Okay then. Just let me know when he gets close. Don't want Celestia to know I've discovered the truth.
Of course, daughter. That leaves only one matter before you arrive.
And what's that?
Do you wish to continue to go by your current name, or the name I gave you?
Twilight thought about this for a second before answering, Aurora Nebula. And once I'm in the air, I'll use magic to go back to my actual appearance.
Very well, Aurora...I can't wait to see you...how much you've grown...I can't believe she hid this from me...or us rather...Well. Red just left on that Motorcycle he has. I'm sure he'll arrive soon enough. She explained, as Red chose to go on the Motorcycle since it would be much more subtle than going in a ship, plus it would be faster than on foot or by flying with wings.
With that taken care of, the pony now known as Aurora went to her room, where the energy sword she used to be apprehensive about using, but would probably be using often, to retrieve the weapon. Along the way, she, ran into Nightengale, who had come across her intentionally.
"Sorry, Ma'am," he said. "Should have looked where I was going."
"It's alright captain," she said. "I should have looked where I was going too. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to head to my room."
"Of course, Ma'am," he said as Aurora went to her quarters.
Inside her Quarters, she found the sword sitting in a box, as she had wanted to leave it alone, on purpose. Now, she picks it up, along with some of her other belongings, as she quickly leaves with the important things of hers, and goes to leave, to meet up with Red outside Canterlot.
It took her only a few minutes to get to the edge of the barrier, but she hesitated. She knew that if she took that step, she would be labeled as a traitor by her friends. So she waited for a few minutes, and when she heard Red's motorcycle, she knew it was time to choose.
She took one step towards the shield, then another, then another, until she was mere inches away. She knew this was the last moment for the choice.
She took a step.
And exited the shield.
Red soon pulled to a stop, smirking when he notices Twilight as he looked at her, the Solid Eye's light flashing. "So, you're Luna's daughter eh? Why am I not surprised. Get on...." He said, as he moved to help her get on.
Twilight got on the motorcycle, detailed in Red's color scheme, and the two made their way to the NLR headquarters.
"So," Aurora yelled to be heard over the wind, "with you being Nightmare's love, does that mean I have to call you uncle? I am older, so it would be wierd."
"If you want to, Aurora," Red said. "I'm surprised you agreed to let me take you to the base."
"Well," Aurora, "it's not like I had much choice in the matter."
"True enough...and honestly it's true, you can call me uncle if you want, I don't care that much. I'm Nightmare's love, AND to a degree Luna's lover...mostly due to how she and Moony used to be one and the same, but at the same time, it's sorta like, if I fell in love with Luna from the start, I'd still be with Nightmare anyway." Red said, explaining how he was Luna's love as much as Nightmare's. "Actually Aurora, to let you in on a little secret, I plan to marry Nightmare soon...much less, propose to her....also if you wish you can change to your original appearance now." He said as they made their way to the base.
"I'd rather wait until we've stopped, and good luck with Nightmare."
"You aren't calling her aunt?"
"She may be my mother sister, she still has to earn that title."
"Fair enough," Red said. "Now hold on, I'm bringing this thing to full speed."
"Wait, What!? I thought we were already going at full speed!"
How do you think I got here so fast?"
"I assumed you were close by!"
"HA! not exactly." Red said, as he took her hand, and locked it in place around his abdomen, before shifting gears and the two practically disappeared into a blur.
At the speed they were travelling, Aurora thought her skin was going to be ripped off, but it fortunately only lasted for a few seconds before they noticeably slowed down and entered the above ground building that was the recon vehicle hangar for the NLR, where Luna, teary eyed at finally being reunited with her daughter, and Nightmare, as well as Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were waiting.
The door opened and the two rode in slowly. As soon as it stopped, Luna ran to Aurora, and embraced her in the tightest hug Aurora had known, and cried even more, saying,
"Oh, Aurora, how I missed you!"
The fact that Twilight was Luna's daughter left the Elements shocked, their jaws hanging. Except for Pinkie, who hopped and said loudly, "Knew it. Knew it. Knew it." Fortunately for us authors, the others had gotten used to her crazy antics, and didn't ask.
Aurora held Luna close to her "Mom....." She said smiling just as tearyeyed as Luna was, as she channeled her magic, and began to change, into her true coloration.
Her coat, horn and wings turned a dark purple, a very dark indigo, like her mane was, as her mane and tail soon turned midnight black, with navy blue replacing the pink and fushia stripes in it, along with her wings gaining navy blue accents. Her eyes stayed their purple color, her transformation completed, Twilight Sparkle was no more, Now, she was Aurora Nebula, the Daughter of Luna, once again.
Luna was trembling in happiness that she and her daughter were reunited at last.
Nightmare walked over and hugged Aurora as well, sayinh, "Hello, my niece," in a gentle, motherly tone.
"Hello, Auntie," Aurora said, her eyes closed to stop the tears of joy.
One week later
Red had finished his preparations as with the help of Aurora, they were now ready and equipped to take Manehattan and get some extra help in the form of the mechs that were being built. Red went to approach his beloved Nightmare, as for some reason, there was a pit in his stomach about the mission that he couldn't shake, but, more than anything, he wanted to do this. Going to her, he smiled.
"Nightmare Moon?" He asked her, as she turned to look at him.
"Yes Dear?" She cooed lightly, smiling at her lover.
"Will you marry me?" He asked, as he bowed, and presented to her, a gorgeous ring, silver, as the band was decorated with small aquamarine gems, And on top, was a larger Aquamarine, cut in the shape of a Crescent moon, with diamonds outlining it.
Nightmare was silent for a while, making Red think that it wouldn't happen.
That was before she grabbed him in a large hug, squealed like a school filly, and said "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Red giggled lightly as he held her as well, kissing her lovingly "Hurray!" Was all he could say, due to the hug practically causing him to be crushed by her strength.
