Canterlot had always been the shining city on a hill for Equestria, with its elegant marble palaces and shining crystal spires. It was the regal princess of Equestrian cities. But when the six friends disembarked at the central station, it looked like that princess had been on a three day long bender.

“Good heavens!” Rarity strutted to a higher vantage point, steadying herself on collapsed marble column so she could look over the wall at Canterlot castle. “This… this is just dreadful,” was all she could manage. There were plumes of smoke all around the city. Ash and soot had marred many of the great temple faces and elegant estates of the Canterlot gentry. The bright marble and alabaster were now as black as sackcloth.

The orderly streets were now mazes of debris and people’s belongings hastily evacuated from their homes in the earthquakes that came before. Ponies scurried about, slowly beginning to clean up the mess. Weather ponies appeared to be preparing quite the downpour, to knock out the rest of the fires and perhaps wash away some of the ash.

“How many…” Fluttershy started to ask. She glanced left and right nervously, as though it were taboo to ask what everyone was thinking. “How many ponies do you think…died?”

There was a dreadful silence, while everyone contemplated the question. Applejack finally responded. “Too many,” was all she could say.

Twilight hadn’t felt this down and defeated before ever. Not even seeing Celestia leave, or when she was at the nadir of recovering the Elements of Harmony from Discord’s first reawakening. It was one thing to hurt her, or to attack her friends. But bringing so many innocent ponies into it was simply unforgivable. She hated the feeling of powerlessness she’d had. But slowly her sadness turned to anger. Good; anger gave her focus and a purpose. After grinding her teeth, thinking about what she’d do to Discord if she ever caught him in this plane again, she began trotting forward from the train platform. “Girls: we’ve got a job to do,” she said, “I don’t think you can help me much searching through the Princesses notes. But you can help the people of Canterlot.”

“I think I can see where you’re going with this, sugarcube,” said Applejack. “There’s bound to be a lot of wrecked building. I’ll help the rescue crews, while Fluttershy can help tend to the wounded.”

“I’ll see if those weather ponies need some first class help,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Pinkie and I will go see if we can organize some provisions for those who’ve lost their homes,” said Rarity. Pinkie Pie nodded, bouncing along after the alabaster mare.

A surge of pride swelled up in Twilight’s chest. It was great to see their zeal in helping others. Whenever she was down, it was something that could drive her forward. “Stay safe girls,” she called out to them as they went their separate paths.

Finding her way to the palace proved to be an ordeal. The streets of Canterlot were turned into a maze by the fires, collapsed buildings, and rubble barricades. Still, Twilight pressed on, and just as the downpour started, she was climbing the last steps to the palace main gate. The normal guard detail seemed to be vacant.

“They’ve got better things to do then guard an empty palace,” Twilight said to herself. She felt a little bit guilty entering the palace without checking in or at least informing someone of her presence. She may have been Celestia’s protégé, but rules were rules. They probably wouldn’t mind this time.

What immediately struck her was just how dark the palace was. Normally, its interior was brightly lit, either by torch or by great skylights. But the skylights were covered with soot, and the torches had long gone out. Just enough light filtered in to give the interior a dusky appearance, like a perpetual evening twilight. Otherwise, it seemed to have fared well. The glazed marble floors were mostly unblemished, though many of the tapestries and painting that adorned the walls had fallen into heaps on the floor. The palace was remarkably sturdy.

Twilight slowed to a canter as she entered the great hall. She was out of breath and panting from the run and stairclimb to the palace. “I figure I can stop here for a bit…and catch my breath.”

She heard a wizened voice call out, presumably at her. “Young lady, are you lost?”

The voice was some ways away, but steadily moving closer. “Don’t worry, I won’t harm you.” He said.

Twilight pulled her ears back in embarrassment. She felt like she had her hand caught in the cookie jar. She could hear his hoofs clacking on the marble floor now. The stranger soon rounded a corner, and came into view.

Seeing the stately old earth pony brought a flash of recognition. “Old Rook! I’m so glad to see you!”

Twilight rushed over to nuzzle with him, but she quickly caught herself. She wasn’t a little filly anymore, this would have been improper.

He hugged her anyway. Rook was, as he put it, a bit over the hill. His tan coat had lost its luster with age, and his mane and beard had long since turned gray, but he still looked fairly spry and dignified in his court uniform; a dark blue single-breasted coat with a stand collar, and gold oakleaf embroidery across the chest as well as on the collar and cuffs.

She felt safe in his embrace ever since she was first apprenticed to the Princess. This was no different. He felt like a grandfather, in many ways.

“It’s been a long time, my lady,” he said. “So what can I do for you? I’m afraid if you’ve come to visit your mentor, she’s indisposed.” He looked around cautiously, as though he were looking out for any eavesdroppers. Twilight noticed quite immediately.

“I already know, Rook. Don’t worry about it,” she interrupted, “The Princess sent me a letter the night before last. We were to meet her in the Everfree Forest to confront Discord and recover the Elements of Harmony.” She wordlessly ushered for the both of them to retreat further into the palace. It might have been paranoid, but it wouldn’t be a good idea to take any sort of risk of what she was about to say to get out. It could cause a panic; the last thing Canterlot or anywhere else in Equestria needed right now.

They took cover in a secluded alcove, and Twilight continued. “Discord had managed to best both of the Princesses before we could arrive. My friends and I fought him, and managed to recover the Elements of Harmony.”

Twilight stopped for a minute, her stomach bunching up in knots as she tried to tell the rest of the story. “But somehow, that was his plan. The Elements were corrupted by Discord. When we activated them, they became wildly unstable, and they were destroyed.”

Old Rook recoiled in shock upon hearing this. It didn’t seem possible, but in all the years he had known Twilight, he’d never known her to lie. Especially about something this great. Before she continued, he cut in. “My word! I must inform the Privy Council immediately, this is a terrible disaster!”

“Wait! It gets worse. I’m still searching for answers myself, but the Princess told me something that…well…rocked my world.”

“Oh right, the earthquake, yeah” she said, feeling a bit sheepish. “I’m still trying to make sense of all that she told me. Princess Celestia said that she and others forged the Elements of Harmony an eon ago, pouring much of their collective power into the artifacts. She said that they world couldn’t support their magic otherwise, it needed special artifacts to keep the world from tearing itself apart in her presence. So when the Elements were destroyed, these catastrophes started.”

“The Princesses are gone. They said they had to leave, and they didn’t know if they ever would be able to come back. So much of it still doesn’t make sense, which is why I came here. Princess Luna said I might be able to find more answers and a solution by searching the Princesses’ private chambers.”

There was a pregnant pause. Old Rook apparently didn’t even notice the part about the young mare asking for total access to the most secluded centers of the Equestrian government. He was still stuck on the “the Princesses are gone” part.

“They’re gone Rook. They had to leave this world entirely. I don’t know where they went, they didn’t say. But they’re gone, and I have to find out a way to bring them back.”

Rook felt a crushing burden fall onto his shoulders. He’d served faithfully on Princess Celestia’s Privy Council for almost the past twenty years. The son of a cobbler, he was one of the few commoners on the Privy Council. This made his elevation to First Lord of the Treasury—the de facto head of Her Majesty’s Government—five years ago quite the slap in the face to the Canterlot gentry. And now the weight of the world was on his shoulders. In all his years of service, he’d never once imagined that the Princess wouldn’t be there. He had known with absolute certainty that she’d still be ruling long after he was dead. Now he’d have to lead the people of Equestria through this time of crisis.

Twilight helped the old pony steady on his legs. Soon, his overwhelming sense of duty took over. He pulled a keychain from his pocket, and handed it to Twilight. “Go Twilight, find what you need. I have a succession crisis to deal with.” He trotted off, smiling back at Twilight as he left.

Twilight smiled back at him, and then rushed upstairs to the Princesses’ royal chambers. In all the years she’d been in and out of the palace, she’d never actually been in the princesses’ private chambers. She didn’t know what to expect.

There was a large gilded door at the top of the stairs, adorned with a mural of the two princesses raising the sun and the moon. There was small keyhole about eye level directly in the center. The golden key that Rook had given her slipped in without any trouble. As she turned the key, the whole door began to glow with magic, opening to reveal an antechamber. Twilight crossed the threshold, itching with nervous energy. On the right side of the room, there was smaller door, made of solid jade adorned with a golden sun. On the left, there was another door, carved from black obsidian decorated with a silver moon.

“Okay, which one first?” she said to herself. “I know I should go to Celestia’s room first, but I don’t think I’m ready. But if I’m going to find what I needed, it’s probably in there. Hardest one first, that way it will be all downhill from there.” The peptalk seemed to calm her nerves. She casually strolled over to the solar door. Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin when it opened automatically as she approached it.

Celestia’s room had a certain lived in quality, to say the least. There were papers and books strewn about the entire room. The bookshelves that covered the walls were full, and the surplus of books spilled out into great stacks spread around the edges of the room, piled on sofas and coffee tables, or left haphazardly on the felt rugs.

There were some tea and coffee cups scattered across various sitting areas, and a couple small plates that had presumably been used for pastries of some sort.

The only part of the room that didn’t seem messy was the desk, which seemed to be neatly organized. So Twilight rummaged through it first, destroying the lonely island of organization in the room. She didn’t really find anything there, except for some state documents, some writing supplies, and some reference dictionaries for Old Ponyish.

Twilight spread her search, tearing through the legions of books in the room, tossing them carelessly into piles when she found them to be irrelevant. Her frustration mounted, and she found herself interrogating the books as she examined them.

“Record of the Lotus War? Nope!” The thick tome bounced off a pile of discarded books as she moved to the next. “Hmm… Principia Magus? Seems irrelevant. Critique of Critical Criticism Against Brony Bower and Company?” Twilight nearly had an aneurysm reading that one. “Starswhirl’s beard, that is the worst title I have ever heard!”

That particular volume was not set aside lightly. It was thrown with great force. Twilight continued sorting through a thousand years of different scholarly works for almost half an hour. Finally, wiping the sweat from brow, she sat back on her haunches, her ears pulled back in defeat.

“Oh for the love of…I’m never going to find what I’m looking for!” she cried.

Just then, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Perched by itself on an almost empty shelf on the bookcase, there was a purple leather book that bore Twilight’s cutie mark on the cover. Twilight quickly snatched it, opening it to read the first pages.

My Dear Student Twilight Sparkle,

If you’re reading this, then I am no longer with you. I truly never wished for you to have to see this, and I’d much rather have answered all the questions you must have in person, rather than have to have you find it out after whatever cataclysm has separated us.

If I am gone, that means Equestria will be in peril. Remember, my student, that I have the utmost faith in you and your abilities. There is no one in this world I’d rather trust my legacy to than you.

Twilight teared up reading it, trying to keep her tears from staining the book. She noticed that some of the next lines had been whited out and written over. The note in the margin explained that the book had originally prepared before Princess Luna had been returned. Twilight took a moment to compose herself, and then continued reading.

I’m sure that you have so many questions right now. And truth be told, I probably do not have all the answers. This is why I have entrusted my dear sister to help me prepare for this contingency. I had originally intended for you to read this book in its entirety as my last will and testament, but I’ve found after my sister’s return that my own recollections of the past were not as complete as I had hoped. Nor were they as objective as I would have liked. So, rather than have you read this, I’d much rather you hold onto it as a keepsake.

Luna, if you haven’t already learned, is the master of dreams. With this magic, we’ve created a way for us to show you, rather than tell you, what you need to see. You’ll find a crystal orb in Luna’s chambers, right near the stellarium. Touch your horn to it, and you’ll have your answers.

This is hard to write. I don’t want to think about leaving you. But always remember this, my little pony: I love you as though you were my own daughter.

Your dearest friend,

Celestia

Twilight sat for a moment, just staring at the last few words, tears streaming down her cheeks. After having a good cry, she found the resolve to get up, and go see just what the princesses had in store for her.

The door to Luna’s chambers owned automatically as well. The contrast inside, though, was literally night and day. The dark blues and violets of Luna’s chambers were a stark contrast to the warm, earthy colors of Celestia’s. Luna’s room was also the picture of orderly efficiency. Nothing, not even the slightest book or scroll was out of place.

The center of the main room was dominated by a great stellarium. It was a curious clockwork contraption, unlike anything Twilight had ever seen before. It’s gears and pinions continued to spin inexorably, powered by some unseen force, tracking the movements of the major celestial bodies. Just as the letter had said, there was a dark blue crystal orb sitting on a desk beneath the slowly circling orbits of the stellarium.

Twilight eagerly trotted over, and touched her horn to it without a moment’s hesitation. There was no time like the present.

The orb suddenly glowed with dark purple magic, and soon Twilight felt the warm glow of the magic wrap around herself. It was soothing, almost familiar, so Twilight suppressed her urge to panic. She just went with the flow as best as she could. Both she and the crystal levitated, and lazily floated over to a collection of fluffy cushions in the corner of the room. After settling down into the cloudlike bed, Twilight felt her eyes get heavy. She finally stopped resisting, and soon she fell deep into dream.

When she came to, Twilight found herself standing in a lush green field. The sky was dark, and a cool summer night’s breeze gently rustled the shoulder high grass around her. The smell of salt was in the air, so she couldn’t be too far from an ocean.

She breathed in the fresh air, enjoying the view of the rolling hills, and the subtle song of the rolling surf on a beach perhaps just over the next hill. This was a good place. Then she noticed the sky.

“It’s… it’s all wrong!” she said. She pranced around nervously, looking for familiar constellations, or nebula. But the worst was that there was no moon. She’d never seen a night sky without a moon before. Nor had she seen the stars shine so bright. The night sky was alien.

Twilight heard a rustle in the grass behind her. Startled, she spun around. She recognized the figure instantly.

“Princess Luna?” she said, finally allowing herself to breathe a sigh of relief.

“No, my little pony, I’m afraid not. I’m just a ghost of the pony you know. Think of me as a recording. I’m here to guide you through these memories.”

“Oh,” Twilight said disappointed, “Well, I guess that’s kind of a bummer. What had you planned to show me?”

“The nightmares of the past. I can offer you nothing more or less.” Luna then pointed up at the sky. There were brilliant red streaks, screaming across the night sky. They were larger and brighter than most shooting stars, and they seemed to only get larger and brighter as they streamed towards the horizon. They looked strangely beautiful though, and hardly harmful.

When the first one touched the horizon, there was a flash brighter than sunrise. As it dimmed, a red-orange ball of churning magic was revealed. A wave seemed to emanate out from it, rolling across the open grassland at incredible speed. When it reached her finally, it nearly knocked Twilight off her feet. After the loud bang of the shockwave, the air was filled with a roaring sound.

More of those shooting stars touched down all around her. Though she was many kilometers away, each one shook the earth, and filled the sky with a burning roar. Twilight huddled down on her belly, her hooves clamped on her ears to protect from the noise.

“What the hell is going on!?” she shouted, too scared to realize she was breaking her normal politeness.

“The destruction of our homeworld,” Luna replied, as the roar of the destruction slowly quieted.

Twilight soon found herself pulled upwards off the ground at great speed. No, an optical illusion. The ground was falling away from her while she remained stationary. The strange planet stopped receding, leaving Twilight and the Luna recording standing in a position where they could see the whole of the planet. The destruction seemed universal.

“Celestia and I are not from your world. We were refugees, fleeing across the cosmos. The six of us left our homeworld just in time. We broke through the barriers erected by the forces of Chaos, and hoped others would follow in our wake. Instead, we watched helplessly as our world burned.”

The Luna recording seemed to choke up a bit. “Sorry, ‘tis difficult to give thee this memory. Sometimes we slip back into the old grammar when we lose focus.”

“We were young, headstrong and reckless, and now we were the last of our kind.”

The view soon departed from the blackened cinder of a world. It now centered on six alicorns, sitting around in a circle on a barely habitable plane. They all looked to be no older than their late teens, yet they all had the same thousand-yard stare. They seemed more like shell-shocked veterans than adolescents.

Twilight quickly recognized two of them. Celestia and Luna were sitting close together, each trying to put on a brave face to comfort her sister. Honestly, it didn’t seem to be working.

Luna continued to narrate. “The tan filly with the leaf cutie mark is Gaia. She had been Celestia’s dearest friend in our youth.”

Twilight nodded, watching as Gaia went over to nuzzle with Celestia, as though a hug could ease that kind of pain. Another pony stood watch upon a rocky outcropping, gazing up at the stars. Her coat was a dull gray, which contrasted sharply with her coal-black mane and tail. Though she looked at the sky forlorn, her blue eyes seemed full of life. She soon turned back towards the rest of the group, and rushed over to comfort the other two.

“That one is Azrael,” Luna continued, seeming to notice where Twilight Sparkle’s attention was focused. “Her cutie mark is a naval chronometer.”

“I was just about to ask that,” Twilight remarked, not taking her attention off the memory playing out before her.

“The colt she’s trying to joke and play with is Lupercal. He always tried to be brave and strong, but I deep down he was the one who was hit the hardest by this.”

The red colt seemed to hide it quite well. His buddy, an orange yellow mare with a red starburst pattern cutie mark, was dozing off beside him, while he whispered for Azrael to keep quiet. “The last one is Lillith. She’s a bit of a trickster, but she’s always been loyal to her friends.”

“Our race had been powerful, and greatly skilled in magic. But our hubris led to our downfall, as we were torn apart by power struggles, letting new demonic enemies slip past our defenses from the warp. Though we didn’t know it yet, our people had entrusted us with the legacy of their magic. As we went from world to world like vagabonds, never staying in once place for long, our power grew. Occasionally, we had to fight, but we learned to be good at that. As we honed our skills, and strengthened our magic, we tried to stay out of the rest of the universe’s way. We would bide our time until we could either fight back, or be secure enough to settle down on a world that wouldn’t be so inhospitable to us.”

Twilight’s dream vision showed her hundreds of different worlds as Luna spoke. She had never imagined that the cosmos could be so diverse. All the twinkling stars looked the same, but up close they were all so unique.

“Finally, though, we found that we could not ignore the universe forever. One morning, we all felt a powerful psionic call echoing through the warp. It was a cry of pain and distress, and a subconscious call for help we simply couldn’t ignore. We had always tried to stay away from lesser creatures and avoid interfering with them. But this was too much for us to just walk away from. So we followed the emanations to its source. That is when we found Equestria.”

Twilight gasped at what she saw. She instantly recognized the utter chaos that had engulfed the entirety of the world. It was a dark time in pony history, only dimly remembered until Discord had awoken again.

“We first came to Equestria over one thousand years ago,” Luna said mournfully, “We found, though, as we pierced the veil of your world that we had grown far too powerful for any world to support us for long. Discord’s long reign had already badly damaged the foundations of the Equestrian plane. It wouldn’t be long before the cancer spread elsewhere. We knew we had to fight him directly.”

The six alicorns were adults now. As they stared down at the world in chaos below, they burned with righteous anger and magical zeal. They set about their plans, working diligently on the surface of a small planetoid on the edge of space. They seemed to be forging something, under the watchful direction of the gruff stallion Lupercal.

Twilight was intensely curious. This was a part of the history of her people that had long since been lost. “So…why was this part of our history hidden from us?” she asked, not taking her focus off the visions before her.

The six alicorns in the vision soon each began pouring immense amounts of magic into the devices they had been working on. When the mana storm ceased, Twilight finally recognized the fruits of their labor.

“It’s the Elements of Harmony! They look nothing like I remember, but they seem to function the same way.”

“Good observation,” said Luna. “We decided to turn our magic towards order. We sealed away much of powers into the Elements of Harmony, which would stabilize Equestria, and weaken the grip that Discord had on reality. As long as we held the Elements, and were in tune to this purpose, we could use our vast powers safely, without threatening the fabric of the universe.”

The six alicorns soon descended to Equestria like avenging angels. As they stretched for their might, the skies began to clear. Harmony would return to Equestria.

“Discord didn’t go down without a fight, though. We had to wage bloody war on him, and tragically many ponies in his thrall opposed us. Discord and the lesser chaos gods in his thrall were empowered by the worship and fear of the mortal ponies they lorded over. It took several long years before we could assemble a host of allies strong enough to assault his capital.”

Luna spoke softly as she narrated the scenes of war, carnage and devastation that played out before her, as though she felt ashamed or guilty for her part in this. The younger Luna, and indeed all the rest of the alicorns in the visions didn’t seem to share this concern. Now in the thick of battle herself, Twilight ran frightened to cover, while arrows and magical blasts whizzed about the battlefield.

Luna’s comforting didn’t help. The screams of the dying and the smell of charred flesh made Twilight want to vomit. Somehow she managed to keep her breakfast down. Twilight cautiously peered out from behind the overturned carriage. She saw the younger Luna, clad in her dark blue nightmare armor, engaged in a magical clash with a chimera. Not Discord himself, but probably a lesser chaos god. After a short struggle, she slew the creature. She smiled, relishing its defeat, before moving onto the next foe.

“Y-you’re not catching me at my best,” the older Luna said while she stood behind Twilight. She was clearly embarrassed at the folly of her younger self. She sighed heavily, “I was always so sure, so right about everything back then. I couldn’t see the larger picture. None of us could. Since my return, many of speculated of my character, thinking me timid for not appearing to others or holding court like my sister. If only they knew the truth: I hide from them out of shame, not fear.

“Celestia has had a thousand years to adapt to peace. But at this point, none of us had ever known anything other than war and strife.” Luna paused for a moment to collect herself. “Twilight Sparkle, what I’m about to show you next is going to shock and horrify you.”

Twilight stared back incredulously. Did Luna really think this wasn’t shocking and horrifying to her?

The scene soon shifted to Discord himself being turned to stone by the alicorns’ magic, channeled with the Elements of Harmony. They had fought the final battle alone, lest some lesser being be harmed in the crossfire. As they stood in a circle around the statue, they began talking about what would have to come next.

Celestia spoke first. “We’ve come too far to go back,” she said, her voice cold and emotionless. “These lesser creatures here are infants. They need our guidance and our strength, lest they turn upon one another as spoilt children.”

“Do mine ears deceive, or hast thou laidst claim to rule o’er these mortals?” Luna said, scowling at her sister’s presumption. “We have already been worshipped as gods by some among them. Perhaps the adulation hath gone to thy head, sister.”

“I can sympathize, Luna,” Azrael replied, “But wherefore did we come to this world? Clearly, we came to make things better for these mortals. Thou hast felt their cries as keenly as I. What else have we but to give them our guidance?”

“Forget not that our own people hath been consumed by chaos. Lest these poor creatures suffer that fate, we must gift our wisdom to the three tribes,” said Lupercal. “We must teach them to learn from our hubris.”

“I have not forgotten, friend. Have ye forgotten that it was our people’s own vanity that led them astray?” said Luna. It was hard for Luna to tell if her anger was righteous or self-righteous. “I know of no greater vainglory then making thee another’s master.”

“Thou speakest of vainglory, yet thy own pride is great!” said Gaia. Twilight could immediately tell that such outbursts were uncharacteristic of her. “We have always worked together, wherefore art thou so obstinate?”

Luna seemed wounded by her accusation. “Dost thou beggar my loyalty, Gaia? Very well, if it be put to a vote, I shall obey. I have said my piece.”

They put it to a simple show of hooves. Celestia, Gaia, Lupercal and Azrael immediately voted in favor of the idea. Lillith reluctantly raised her hoof eventually, as though she felt she was betraying Luna.

Luna herself stormed off in a huff at her defeat. She waited on the edge of the field, while the other five discussed dividing the duties and how they would announce it to the world. Gaia would rule over the plants and lesser animals, teaching the ponies to care for them, and how to manage the world’s ecology in harmony. Azrael would be in charge of domestic administration, teaching the ponies how to manage their towns, bring joy to the living and comfort the dying. Lupercal was given dominion over industry, and would teach the lesser tribes to make machines and magic that would bring abundance, and how to share that abundance fairly. Lillith would teach the ponies law, and how to administer it honestly and justly. Celestia, as the first among equals, would preside over the day, and take on the herculean take of bringing order back to the cycles of day by raising the sun. Luna would preside over the night, raising the moon to shine brightly over the sleeping ponies.

The older Luna started narrating again, as the six alicorns separated. “For a time, everything seemed to work out. We took our roles as their immortal guardians seriously, and for the next few generations, things went smoothly. We rebuilt the world ravaged by war and chaos, and brought some measure of peace and prosperity to the land. Twilight, if you don’t want to see the next chapter, I understand completely.”

The scene of the happily rebuilding ponies faded away. It was night now, and the young Luna was sitting on a balcony in the old castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest of present day. The thousand plus year old structure was new in the vision, and surrounded by rolling green fields, interspersed with small well groomed forests. The young Luna sat, looking out across the sleeping ponies. She seemed sad and lonely, yet too proud to admit it to anyone except herself.

“At first, I threw myself into my duties. I told myself that the loneliness and isolation that came with being the lady of the night were duties that only I had the strength to bear. But it still ate at me. At first, the job was simple benign neglect, and I watched over the night unseen by any of them. We had banned the worshipping of us as gods back when we took over. But it proved to be resilient, and soon I found out that the others were quietly encouraging it after we had lifted the ban as ‘unnecessary’. It felt like a betrayal of everything we stood for. I still stood with them, because they still were my friends, and had the best interests of everyone at heart.

“But as time went by, that became harder. The ponies came to know and fear me. Rather than respecting me for watching over them while they slept, they blamed me for what went bump in the night. Slowly, I became bitter, not just towards them, but towards my sister and our friends. I was enraged that they coddled their superstitions, and even drew nourishment from it. They kept them ignorant and weak, while I did their dirty work to keep their precious little pets safe.”

Luna spoke with shame. She was on the verge of tears, reliving her mistakes again. Even though Twilight knew it was just a shadow, she still hugged Luna out of instinct, watching the tragedy unfold before her eyes.

“I let my experiences make me hard and unkind, and I was too proud to do anything constructive about my grievances. Instead, I let them fester. I simultaneously despised the lesser ponies, yet considered myself their champion, and the one who would free them from the despicable condition that they had been placed in.

“The worst part was that I was right about so much, yet oh so wrong about others. The bitterness turned to hate, and it poisoned my soul. I became convinced that overthrowing my friends would be the lesser ponies’ only salvation. I longed to purge the world of vice and sin, and I saw corruption everywhere…except within myself. The others were opening the door to the return of chaos, and the same cataclysm that had befallen our own people. Because my self-righteousness was unassailable, I could not see that I had become the doom that I had been struggling against.”

The amulet of loyalty around the younger Luna’s neck soon turned gray, and fell off her neck. Luna stared down at the world hate and vengeance in her eyes. With a flash of black magic, she donned her nightmare battle form. She roared at the top of her lungs into the night sky, “If all you can see is a monster, then I’ll show you a monster!”

“I flew off to gather forces, both among ponies as well as the other magical creatures of Equestria. There is one thing you must understand, Twilight: I am responsible for everything you are about to see. What you’re going to see is going to shock you. I can make no excuses for my actions. I let myself be consumed by Nightmare Moon.”

Twilight could only nod. As Nightmare Moon gathered her armies in the opening days of the Long Night, the rest of Equestria descended into panic. The five rulers were paralyzed by indecision about how to face Luna’s gathering force. No one could have ever imagined that element of loyalty and prelate of truth could fall so far.

“Lillith decided to take matters into her own hands,” Luna said mournfully. “She tried to confront me, to talk some sense into me. But I could not hear it. Your histories of this event only record that I was a cackling, cartoonishly evil tyrant, driven mad by jealousy. As though I were the type of villain who tied maidens to railroad tracks for the jollies. But the truth is far worse, and it’s why honesty from a friend could not stop me.”

A feeling of dread filled Twilight as she watched the orange alicorn met with Nightmare Moon alone; trying to convince her that it wasn’t too late to turn back as passionately as she could.

“I remained 'righteous', but self-righteous. I continued to rule and order things for 'good', and the benefit of my subjects according to my wisdom. This is why I was the worst tyrant imaginable. I wasn’t a robber baron or a mad queen; my justice had simply lost its compassion. A mad queen’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, her cupidity may at some point be sated, and since she dimly knows at least that she is doing wrong she may someday repent. But someone who mistakes her own cruelty, lust for power, and fear for the mandate of justice will torment others indefinitely because she does so with the approval of her own conscience. I thought myself a dark messiah to right the wrongs done to me and others.”

Lillith’s sobs fell on deaf ears: their argument soon came to blows, and as the two goddesses clashed, the whole world shook beneath them. But she as great as she was, Lillith was simply no match for Nightmare Moon, empowered by rage and the taint of discord. Nightmare Moon struck down the pale alicorn, leaving her lying broken and bleeding in a crater. Nightmare casually cantered over to her, ready to deliver the finishing blow.

Nightmare Moon thrust her magical blade through the fallen pony’s heart. She seemed confused at the tears that were in her eyes. It was as though she couldn’t even acknowledge her own emotions anymore. In spite of everything, Lillith had a look of peace on her face as she closed her eyes forever. Soon, her body glowed with brilliant light, transforming into pure magic, and then disappeared in a flurry of white feathers.

Scenes from the ensuing war flashed before them. The world was ravaged yet again by battle as ponies were once again forced to take up arms. One by one, the other alicorns fell to Nightmare Moon. The plants and crops began to die as the night wore on for weeks, until finally Nightmare Moon’s armies were laying siege to Canterlot. Celestia sat alone upon her golden throne, clad in her golden battle armor.

She contemplated her next move, wondering what had caused her sister to fall so far. As the sound of the siege engines grew closer, and the castle’s magical defense crumpled, Celestia summoned up all her courage. She strode out of the throne room, dismissing her guards. They would tend to the walls elsewhere. She would face her sister alone.

The loyalists cheered in the streets upon seeing their mighty sovereign gallop towards the battlements. She ordered the gate open, and trotted out in front of the battlements alone, ordering it closed behind her. She was wearing the element of magic proudly, and its golden halo forced all but the strongest of Nightmare Moon’s champions to shrink back.

“We would face Nightmare Moon alone!” she called out in the deafening official voice now known as the Royal Canterlot voice. “This battle is between us. Ye shall cease all attacks upon Canterlot lest we destroy you.”

Nightmare Moon soon stepped to the fore, staring down her elder sister dispassionately. “It is good of thee to come, sister. Thou might spare thy subjects a terrible slaughter if thou would abdicate and welcome the new order.”

Celestia’s anger only burned brighter. Her flaming mane whipped in the wind as she scowled at her sister. “Of all my friends, why thee? Thou wast stronger than this!”

“I am stronger than thou could ever imagine. I can feel the universe tremble at my approach; even the Lords of Chaos cower at my name!”

“No one will remember thee, traitor!” cursed Celestia. She launched her attack, charging headlong at Nightmare Moon, brandishing her magic as a burning greatsword. Nightmare Moon met her charge with her own shadowy blade, and the two alicorns clashed through the air, each trying to get the upper hand.

The two opposing armies each cheered on their champion while the world shook from their battle. After a few minutes of dead heat, Celestia missed a crucial parry. Nightmare Moon’s duskblade cut deep into Celestia’s golden armor, and the magical force of the attack sent her careening down to the ground, creating a decent crater with her impact.

Nightmare Moon hovered down over Celestia while she cradled the wound, struggling to stand. “Pathetic!” Nightmare shouted, “Thou wast great once, before guilt and doubt addled thy will; before they rendered judgment upon these mortals, before thou murdered the innocent and the guilty all in one stroke! Thou weak, sorry fool! How must it feel to have slain millions, to have betrayed thy own blood!?”

Celestia staggered to her hooves, raising her blade to defend. “Thou art right, sister. I did betray them, just as I betrayed thee.” With her admission catching Nightmare off guard, she pressed her attack, pushing the black alicorn back, stunning her followers to silence.

“Because I have failed thee. I will not let thee make a greater error, sister, because I love thee, and I am truly sorry.”

The duel continued unabated in between their verbal jabs. Celestia seemed to have taken the advantage now. Nightmare could only look back in stunned silence.

Tears were streaming down Celestia’s cheeks as she fought on. “I once thought myself just, Luna. I told myself that the innocents who we purged along with the guilty died so that equidae could live, and that I had ended their suffering. But I was wrong, Luna, so wrong! Thou art committing the same sins as I. It is my fault, because thou counseled me against my vanity, yet I ignored thee. I was angry, and I shut thee out of my life. I wanted not to hear what thou said. So I let my sister sulk alone in the night. I wronged thee greatly, sister. But I also cannot allow you to magnify my mistakes.”

“No, dear sister, I am not. Can’t thou see the damage that thy night is bringing? The air is chilled, the trees and grass are dying. Soon, the ponies will be too. I beg thee, stop this madness! Let us resolve this with words, like two loving sisters ought?”

Celestia was tiring. Even before the wound she received, Nightmare Moon was considerably stronger than her. The gash sapped her strength and stamina, and soon her attacks faltered. Nightmare Moon regained the upperhoof, and soon she sent Celestia careening through the brown trees, scattering their leaves upon the ground.

“It is too late for words, dear sister,” said Nightmare Moon as she approached the dazed champion of ponykind.

Celestia shook off her confusion, and slowly rose to her feet. “I’m sorry sister,” she said, “but thou leavest me with no choice. I hope that we can meet again one day, whether this works for not. I will not yield to thee, nor can I permit this night to continue. Know this, sister: I would have died to spare thee this agony.”

Her halo began to glow as bright as the dawn, as she summoned up all of her magic. Nightmare Moon continued to advance undeterred by her sister’s last minute gambit. The element of magic glowed as Celestia slowly levitated off the ground. She didn’t know if this desperate act would work, if she could activate an Element of Harmony now that they were marred by betrayal and death, but she had to try, even if the magic drain killed her. After what seemed like a short eternity, the Element of Magic fired, sending a stream of golden magic straight at Nightmare Moon.

It over whelmed her defenses, sending her hurtling into the night sky. The ray of magic continued until it struck the moon, imprisoning Nightmare in it. As the spell ended, Celestia’s halo dimmed and failed. Her armor faded to gray, as did the Element of Magic, and the fell to the ground. The fire wet out in her mane and tail. She slumped to the ground in exhaustion, though she allowed herself a small sigh of contentment upon seeing the moon begin to move across the sky again, along with Nightmare Moon’s forces scattering in a total rout.

“I have lost the magic of friendship because I have lost my best friend,” she said to herself as she fell unconscious with exhaustion.”

Twilight Sparkle found herself waking up as the vision finished. Luna’s voice echoed in her head as she woke, telling her to stay strong. Her eyes slowly cracked open as she started to stir, feeling the luxuriously soft pillows of Luna’s room. She got up quickly, almost in a panic.

It was nightfall by now. The crystal ball was set on the pillows next to her, broken in two. Inside the hollow crystal there was a note. It was a list of authors and book titles, and where they might be found, so that Twilight could fill in the details. She didn’t recognize a single title or author among the list; it was knowledge not meant to be seen.

She pocketed the list quickly, setting it in her saddlebag along with the book that Celestia had prepared for her. She cantered out of the palace, heading towards Old Rook’s residence to inform him of the news.

The city seemed different than before as she ran through the streets. While clean up wasn’t done, there were a whole lot more guards out on the streets, along with armed unicorns wearing a strange uniform she didn’t recognize. They looked like brown business shirts with ties, but they had strange armbands and what looked like rank badges on them. As she cantered by them nervously, they stared back at her somewhat menacingly before invariably muttering something like “It’s another unicorn, let her pass.”

This was most odd. She decided to quicken her pace towards Rook’s house. When she arrived, she found the door left ajar. Worried, she let herself in, calling out to see if anyone was home. She heard a friendly voice from upstairs and went up to investigate.

She found Old Rook upstairs, packing his bags. “Um… what’s going on?” she asked.

“Well, my dear, it appears that I’ve been sacked! Well, that’s what they’ll call it. It’s actually more like a sort of coup d’état”

That turned out to be a bit longer than I expected. I thought I'd give a few notes about some artistic liberties I took. This fanfic will deal with a bit of political intrigue as well, so I figured I'd explain some choices I made about the Equestrian government. It impresses me to be less of a benevolent autocracy, and more like a mother knows best kind of constitutional monarchy, where Celestia delegates powers to a mix of appointed and elected advisers. I modeled the system off the British constitutional system post-Glorious Revolution, but before the rise of parliamentary democracy. The Privy Council is basically like a cabinet, and consists of appointed individuals, usually nobles, who run various government functions in lieu of Celestia directly running it.

Old Rook, I figured would have a name a bit like Granny Smith; he's called Old Rook now because he's old, just like Granny Smith is called that because of her age and the fact that she's the family matriarch. I see him as sort of the best of 19th century British gentlemen put in pony form :P

The book titles that Twilight are some references to anime, science, and philosophy respectively. Don't worry if you don't get them.

I think I've also set a new record for creating the most posthumous characters in a single chapter. I hope you enjoyed my reinterpretation of what little has actually been revealed about Equestria's past and mythology. Anyway, see you around! :)

Twilight of the Idols

by Ponisattva

II. You're off the Edge of the Map