The halls of the castle were dark and filled with shadows. Outside, the sun and moon both sat upon the horizon on opposite sides of Equestria, their light crossing the horizon, their light falling through the thick clouds above.
Few alive still remembered the day when the sun had become red over a century ago, when Celestia had nearly fallen. Twilight did, however. She could never forget that color, the way the world seemed saturated in blood as Celestia lay dying, poisoned by Choggoth Oblivion. Now that color had come again, and while most of Equestria dismissed it as yet another impressive sunset, Twilight was terrified.
She galloped quickly through the dark halls. There were few if any ponies around her. In the past several decades, Celestia and Luna had slowly relinquished their power, allowing the various nations of Equestria to resume ruling as they had in the Second Era, led by Princess Twilight. The castle still had several guards, as well as a staff of servants, but not nearly as many as it had when Canterlot was the capital of Equestria. The castle, like the city outside, was dying.
As she moved, she passed through the dim-lit stained glass windows commemorating events of the history of Equestria. Through the gray and strange light that came from outside, they all took on an ominous hue. Some brought back memories that were both beautiful and painful- -the defeat of Nightmare Moon, and the reformation of Discord, and even the battle against Choggoth Nil. Others, however, brought only pain. Twilight could not even bring herself to look at those concerning the Crystal Empire, or the one commemorating the battle of Reedakh
Soon, though, she came to the grand door for the royal throne room. Standing outside of it was a tall figure, leaning against the wall.
The mare standing outside looked to Twilight, her eyes narrowed, and Twilight saw that she was not even a mare at all. She was a demon, clad in white, angular hard-armor that covered most of her body. Her violet hair was shaved in the back, leaving only a pair of antenna-like projections that protruded between her horns.
Twilight searched her memory, because she knew that she recognized this demon- -or succubus, as she would technically be called- -and remembered seeing her when she was much younger. Back then, both Twilight and Spike- -now the Grand Magus of Draconia- -were rotation lecturers at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.
“Bluntforce…Bluntforce Gelding?” said Twilight, gasping for breath.
The demon nodded. “Princess Sparkle,” she said in her characteristically deep voice.
“What’s happening?” asked Twilight. “I was summoned, and the messenger told me to get here as quickly as possible!”
“It’s not good,” said Bluntforce, shaking her head. “Two is already with Luna, and, well…you’ll see. But you need to get in there.”
Twilight looked into the demon’s yellow eyes. It was rare for her to find a pony who did not need to look up to see her. Demons were characteristically difficult to read, but Twilight had been acquainted with Bluntforce for decades- -and with the ponies she traveled with. She knew that the demon was serious.
“Right,” said Twilight.
The demon nodded, and pushed open the immense wood and stone door, allowing Twilight to enter.
Twilight did, finding herself once again in the long and high-ceilinged room. It had been built at the beginning of the Third Era, just after Nightmare Moon had been banished from Equestria to her prison in the moon. Originally, it had been built only for Celestia. More recently, however, it had been modified to accommodate a throne for Luna. They had even offered Twilight her own throne amongst them, but Twilight had declined. At the time, there had still been several thrones remaining in her own palace in Ponyville. Now, though, there was only one. Rarity had died almost fifty years before. Twilight was now alone, save for the Princesses.
Sitting atop the larger of the more lightly colored, gold-adorned throne was Celestia- -and Twilight immediately knew that something was wrong. Celestia normally glowed like the sun, her white body almost luminescent with warmth and kindness. Now, however, she seemed dim and dull. Her body was thin and nearly skeletal. Even her hair, which was normally a pastel-rainbowed plume of magic, had resolved into normal pony hair.
“Twilight,” she called. Even though she sounded terribly weak, she also sounded so happy. With some struggling, she managed to stand from her chair and slowly descend the stairs to the throne. Twilight saw that she was limping, favoring her front left leg.
“Princess Celestia,” said Twilight, wrapping her mentor in a hug. Even with Twilight’s alicorn height, Celestia was still taller. Her body felt strange, though. She was not warm or soft, but so very cold.
“Twilight,” said Celestia cheerfully- -even though it was apparent that speaking was difficult for her. “How long has it been since you yourself became a princess?”
“One hundred twenty three years,” said Twilight.
Celestia laughed weakly. “And in all that time, you could never managed to address me just by my name?” She sighed. “Of course…even ‘Celestia’ is just another lie, isn’t she?”
“Princess,” said Twilight. “What’s wrong?”
Celestia looked down at her student, and smiled- -but it was not a cheerful smile at all. It was dreadfully sad. “I’m dying,” she said.
Twilight was momentarily speechless. “What- -what happened? We can’t just stand here!” Her mind sputtered, trying both to comprehend what she was being told and a solution. It was difficult, though- -inside, Twilight was panicking. “We need to get you to- -to a hospital!”
Celestia shook her head. “A hospital will not help us.”
“Us?”
Now Celestia’s expression truly revealed her pain, and she stepped away from Twilight, trying to return to her throne. “Luna is dying as well.”
“But- -but why?”
“Because we are old,” said Celestia. “So, so old…” She looked into the darkness of one corner of her throne room. “I am so tired…would you be so kind as to explain it to her?”
“Yes,” said a voice. The darkest corner of the room seemed to shift and a tall, bipedal figure emerged. Its body was armored in thick blue plates, and it had no apparent head- -but it did have an insignia on its chest: two triangles, and between them, a circle.
“You!” cried Twilight, charging her horn. Even after over a century, the was still not used to her alicorn power- -even causing her horn to light with magic had enough force to shake the windows of the throne room.
“Twilight,” said Celestia, sternly.
“Princess?”
“She can destroy this body if she wants to,” said Choggoth Obivion. “It changes nothing.”
“Why are you here?” demanded Twilight, angrily.
“Because he is my friend,” said Celestia as she lowered herself into her throne, panting.
Twilight turned toward Obivion. “What have you done to her?!”
“Nothing,” said the creature, stepping only partially into the light. “In fact, at this moment, several hundred of my bodies are on both the sun and the moon, attempting repairs. We are making progress, but not nearly enough. We can give you at most a few minutes.”
“It is all I need,” said Celestia, nodding. “But explain to her. To understand what I have to say, she must know.”
“But be quick,” added Oblivion. He turned his insignia toward Twilight. It was, she knew, a kind of eye, or something similar to an eye, bearing a line for every world he had destroyed. “The Red Sphere and White Sphere were never intended to last this long,” he explained. “They are meant to be pulled into existence for at most a month, to power a Finality Core and then be consumed. This pair has existed for over one million years. They were also never intended to be linked to organic bodies.” He gestured toward Celestia.
“But- -they’re the sun and moon!” cried Twilight. “They can’t- -they literally can’t fail!”
“They are Order technology,” explained the Choggoth. “Nothing more than machines built to accumulate and store magical energy. And this pair has been used twice. That, and Nil probably removed several decades to centuries of power during his brief remission.”
Twilight stiffened, and the tiny voice in her head that tortured her endlessly broke through again: that it had been her fault. If she had just been faster, or smarter, she could have stopped Choggoth Nil. If she had been stronger, she would have been able to stop him before draining the Princess’s power, shortening their lives so sharply.
“You- -you have to fix it!”
“I can’t,” replied Oblivion. “At this point, there is only one possible outcome.”
“But they’re alicorns!” screamed Twilight. “They’re immortal! They can’t die! You can’t let them!”
“We were never immortal,” whispered Celestia. Twilight turned toward her sharply, and saw her sunken eyes staring back from the top of her throne. “In a way, I always knew that this day would come. I feared it. By the Madgod, I feared it. I never intended for us to live this long. But now…”
Twilight ran up the stairs to Celestia. “You can’t- -you can’t die!” cried Twilight, throwing herself at the base of the throne. “You- -you can’t! Please! Don’t leave me!”
“Twilight,” said Celstia, pulling up her former student. She was smiling- -but also crying. “I don’t have much time. I am so old. I have so many regrets. I have done so many terrible things to this world.”
“I- -I know,” said Twilight. The images that had been burned into the inside of her mind flashed briefly through: the executions, the genocide, the centuries of fiery destruction that had rained down upon Equestria during the early part of Celestia’s rule.
“No, you don’t,” said Celestia. “Because my biggest regret is you.”
Twilight was almost physically knocked back. She did not know what to think, or exactly what to feel- -but she would have felt far better even if Celestia had actually struck her.
“Me?” she said, on the verge of tears. “Wh- -why?”
Celestia smiled, and pulled Twilight into a hug. “Not you yourself. You are perfect, Twilight Sparkle. I love you like a daughter. But what I did to you is unforgivable.”
“You didn’t do anything to me,” said Twilight.
“Yes, I did. You know I did. I didn’t even ask for your permission. Why didn’t I see it? I made my sister immortal, and watched it crush her- -only to repeat my mistakes on you.”
“I don’t understand, princess.”
“Yes you do. How could you not? Why don’t you hate me? A Princess of Friendship given immortality. What have I done to you, Twilight? Why did I do it?”
“Princess…”
“I’m sorry, Twilight Sparkle. I am so sorry.”
There was a sound from behind Twilight, and she turned around quickly. Oblivion was still standing where she had left him, but he was now watching a pair of ponies that were approaching the throne slowly. One of them was clearly Luna, her blue body thin and pale, just as Celestia’s was. Her mane, like that of her sister’s, had collapsed into normal hair as her lunar power was beginning to fade.
Unlike her sister, however, Luna was not able to hide her pain so well. The expression on her face was heartbreaking, even as she tried to maintain the illusion of strength. She was also mostly unable to walk. Assisting her was a far smaller pony, a gray-coated chiropteran with two large earrings in each ear and her hair split into three long, neat braids that parted to reveal the protrusions that ran down her skull and upper spine. The strangest part of the pair, however, was that their eyes were identical in appearance.
“Sister,” said Celestia, struggling to rise and then descending the short steps to her sister.
“Sister,” said Luna, her eyes shifting wildly around the room. Twilight was not sure, but she believed that Luna might be blind.
“Oh, Lunar Vision,” said Celestia, taking Luna in her forlegs, her tears running down her sister’s back. “I have failed you again. You’re dying, and I am powerless to stop it!”
“Solar…Solar Spectra,” said Luna, distantly, as though remembering it for the first time. She put her own front legs around her sister and smiled. “You have done much for me. More than I could have ever asked.”
“I’m so sorry!” wept Celestia.
“Do not worry,” said Luna. “We have been alive for so long. We have seen so much. Perhaps it is finally our turn.”
Celestia seemed to calm, if only slightly. She pulled back from Luna and nodded. They both turned toward Twilight.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle,” said Celestia, now lying on the floor with Luna, “as our last act as the dual rulers of Equestria, and with Choggoth D27, Anhelios II, and the demon Bluntforce Gelding as our witness, we transfer rule of Equestria to you. We hereby declare you to be Twilight Sparkle, Queen of Equestria.”
“You are Twilight,” said Luna, “you are the bridge between Night and Day. I wish you luck, and ask that you please see my sister’s vision to fruition. That this land might continue as one of peace and love, and that Equestria will never fall to greed, hate, and intolerance.”
“No,” said Twilight, wrapping them both in her forlegs. “You are the Princesses- -I can’t! I can’t do that! I’m not strong enough! Celestia, Luna- -please don’t leave me!”
Celestia smiled. “We love you, Twilight.”
The two sisters held each other closely, and each one shook as they took a final gasp. Then their bodies disintegrated: Celestia’s into golden flecks of light, and Luna’s into specks of silver, their pony forms breaking apart into plumes of material that swirled in an unseen wind, merging and combining before darkening and falling to the floor to ash. Their crowns and necklaces fell through Twilight’s arms, clattering to the floor below.
Luna’s form reacted somewhat differently, though. As her body vanished, part of her flank did not. The black material that surrounded her cutie mark shuddered and separating, releasing a high shriek of pain as its host died. For a moment, Twilight could see the grotesque architecture underneath, and she realized that it went far deeper into Luna’s body than anypony had ever suspected.
The black material shuddered, and then flashed sideways like a plume of liquid. Before Twilight could attempt to kill it, it adhered to Anhelios. She screamed in agony as it poured over her flank, its tendrils piercing her body as it surrounded her cutie mark. There was a hissing sound, and Twilight smelled burning flesh.
Anhelios fell to the floor and writhed in pain as the shadow finished integrating into its new host. Eventually she stopped and lay there for a moment, panting heavily from the pain, her flank still smoking. The mark that had now bonded to her looked like it had on Luna, except it now surrounded a cutie mark of a crystal instead of one of a moon.
Then she stood. She took a deep breath, and Twilight momentarily saw a glimmer of cat-like turquoise eyes. Without a change in expression, she crossed through the pile of alicorn ashes and lifted Celestia’s crown and necklace.
“What- -what are you doing?” cried Twilight, grabbing the chiropteran’s foreleg. “Those- -those are hers!”
“There is currently no ‘her’,” noted Anhelios, emotionlessly. “And these artifacts contain cerorite. As a Guardian of Order, I cannot allow them to be obtained by the incorrect hooves.”
“Then let me take them,” said Twilight. “I will keep them safe.”
Anhelios’s eyes- -Luna’s eyes in a different body- -narrowed. “Cerorite is the only substance that can be used to kill an alicorn. At this juncture, your hooves are the ones I seek to prevent it from falling into.”
Twilight jumped back as a blue spark struck her hooves, and Anhelios pulled away the crown and necklace. Her demon familiar approached her from behind, and Twilight watched as Anhelios walked back out of the ashes. “You may keep those that belonged to Luna. They are of no consequence. I will return the crown and necklace to you once the cerorite has been removed.”
She gave the necklace to the demon, and looked up at the looming Choggoth, which was now holding a crystal that was lighting the room- -outside, both the sun and moon had been reduced to ash and were now raining across Equestria.
“Father,” she said.
“Anhelios,” it said back.
Just before leaving the room, Anhelios turned back to Twilight, who was now crying silently over the piles of ashes and horseshoes and jewelry. Anhelios bowed almost comically. “And congratulations on your ascension to the throne, Queen Twilight. I will be sure to send a gift to the proper coronation.”
Then, finally and unceremoniously, she left. Her demon looked down at the scene, a deep from on her face, but then joined Anhelios, closing the door on the way out.
“I am sorry,” said Oblivion.
“You did what you could for them.”
“No,” said the Choggoth. “Even if Celestia was foolish enough to consider me a friend, I still maintain that her choice was incorrect and dangerous. This outcome was inevitable. If not now, perhaps a few million years from now. Either way, eventual. I am apologizing for the curse that has been given to you.”
Twilight could not look up at the creature, but she looking at the ashes hurt her. She had of course known exactly what Celestia had been talking about, and knew what Oblivion was now apologizing for. It was the curse that Celestia and Luna had both been afflicted with- -immortality.
“I suppose I am witnessing my eventual fate,” said Twilight, perversely taking comfort in that fact.
“No,” said the Choggoth. “Celestia and Luna were makeshift alicorns, built by jury-rigging their souls to celestial bodies. They were prototypes at best, built by Celestia using incomplete equipment. You, however, exist by the will of a living Lord of Order. You are far more perfect. You will never age and never die. Not like this.”
“I- -I will outlive everypony.”
“Yes. You will,” said Oblivion. His body began to shift, and pieces of it began to break away, dripping off as liquid and floating away as a kind of blue ash that was quickly reduced to nothingness. “This is what your kind never understood. That you are not supposed to exist. Creatures like you, with souls, with the capacity to love- -you were not made for immortality.”
Twilight momentarily considered what had happened, and wept. “I- -I can’t do it,” she whispered. “Not- -not without them. They were all I had left.”
“The path you choose is yours,” said Oblivion, his body now mostly disintegrated. “I cannot interfere. This world belongs to you, now. Please take care of it.”
With that, he collapsed completely, his remote body destroyed. The crystal he had been holding clattered to the floor. It flickered and went out, revealing that the room was not entirely dark- -even with the sun, moon, and stars gone, the sky outside was still filled with a thin strip of light that surrounded the black sky above.
It was in this darkness that Twilight collapsed over the ashes of her last two friends, weeping and screaming in protest of a fate that she could not change.