I land in front of the Ponyville library, the domain of Twilight Sparkle, my savior. Her friends, saviors of my soul too, stand in front of the shimmering purple shield the pony barricaded inside has erected. Fear and worry is carved into the features of their faces. It is with a slight pang of hurt that I recognize a brief moment of disappointment.
They were expecting my sister, not me.
How could I not come? When they relayed their message to my sister, a scroll delivered not by magical dragonfire, but their speedster friend, I intervened. If Twilight Sparkle was in danger, if she was in need, how could I stay back? I plead my sister to allow me be the one to go to Twilight Sparkle in her time of need.
The four friends who had stayed behind rush to me, repeating in some form everything they had already written in their letter, and crowding my ears with questions to which I could not possibly have any answers.
I bid them to calm down, and I assure them that I will get to the bottom of this mystery. They trust me enough and back down, leaving me to stand in front of Twilight Sparkle’s shield. According to her friends she put it up three days ago, letting nopony pass. She has not answered to the shouts of her worried friends outside, and they are rightly worried. This does not fit her character from what my sister has told me of her, of my own little personal time I spent at her presence, and what I have gleaned from her friendship reports.
The barrier is an impossibility to pass, backed by the magic of one of the most powerful unicorns ever birthed. Few could get through it. Twilight Sparkle’s brother is one that comes to mind, his mastery over shield spells unprecedented. I do not have his intuitive expertise, but I have the power of an alicorn. All I need is to disrupt the shield for a mere second.
I am through.
I open the door, the last obstacle to the interior of the library. It is unlocked, and I quickly go inside, my eyes finally finding some relief. I am used to soothing starlight. The sunlight almost blinds my sensitive eyesight. I take a few seconds to rest my eyes, keeping them closed. Then, I look around me.
The library has been destroyed.
There is nothing left. The windows have been boarded, the shelves have been brought down, the books burned, the furniture shattered, and even the interior walls themselves have been cast down. Everything has been broken apart in tiny pieces, spread on the floor, like a mockery of what this library should be.
In the center of destruction stands Twilight Sparkle with her eyes closed tightly shut.
I do not speak to her yet. I examine her countenance first. Her eyelids are shut, quite forcefully from what I see, yet even so I can see the swollen bags under her eyes, the tired veins that have popped out. I see her cracked, parched lips, dry as a desert. She sits there, and I realize that this is not the Twilight Sparkle I knew and admired.
This is a pony that has been broken.
“Twilight Sparkle?” I utter, gently as I can, careful of my voice as she has taught me.
She suddenly stands more attentive, her body losing the light slack it had, as if she has been jolted from sleep. There is panic in her face and the flattening of her ears. “Princess Luna?” she asks, almost dream like. Then it becomes urgent, full of fear. “Princess Luna, close your eyes! Close your eyes and don’t look towards me!”
“Twilight Sparkle, what has happened to you? What has happened here? Your friends are massed outside, full of worry about you and your young assistant. Would you explain to me what happened?”
She starts sobbing quietly, precious tears inching their way down her lovely face. She lowers her head and whimpers. “Spike… oh Celestia, Spike is- he’s gone.”
“Gone? What do you mean Twilight Sparkle?” It cannot mean what I think it does. Such tragedy cannot have befallen one as young as he, even though I know that death’s scythe has never shown mercy for any age.
“He’s dead,” she cries, quietly. “He’s dead… oh Celestia, I’m so sorry Spike, I’m so sorry. I love you Spike. I love you, I’m sorry.”
“What happened to the young dragon Twilight Sparkle? How did death come to him?”
“He- I came out and he- he looked at me. I didn’t warn him not to, I thought I was safe, I thought for a second that it was all in my head. I came out and he looked at me, and- and- I was scared again. I didn’t want to see it, I didn’t, so I closed my eyes. I heard Spike-” She starts sobbing again, harder than before. “I’m sorry Spike. I’m sorry. If I knew I would have stayed. I should have stayed.”
She lifts up her head and shouts once more. “Keep your eyes closed Princess. Please, for your own sake, keep your eyes closed.”
“Twilight Sparkle, you make no sense. What happened, please, explain.”
She sniffs and wipes her muzzle with a hoof that is already covered with the crust of dried snot on it. “I- I made a portal. It lead to a place that I thought it had created according to my instructions, but- but something lead it astray, somehow it took me there instead. There was nothing, I really thought there was nothing there. There was something, it hid behind me and- and it killed Spike and it waits behind me. I broke down everything like they did, I gave it no place to hide, but I can’t let anypony else come in. Princess, you mustn’t let anypony come in here again, ever. It’s still behind me and it waits. If they see it… I think it doesn’t want to be seen, not until it can be the last thing you see-”
“Twilight Sparkle, cease. That is enough.”
“It’s not enough,” she shouts. “I- I have to do something, but I can’t think, I’m so scared, it’s waiting right behind me and I can feel it-”
“Twilight Sparkle, there is nothing behind you.”
She stops her panicked prattle, stunned with shocked disbelief. “What?”
“Twilight Sparkle, I haven’t closed my eyes,” I explain to her. “I’ve been looking at you all this time. I see the signs of exhaustion upon you, and I see behind you. There is nothing there.”
She is not sure if she believes me. “Re-really?”
“Really. So please, calm down, and let us find out together what really happened. Your friends wait outside. Let us go to them.”
I see the fear and worry slowly fade. The first embers of hope light inside her and soon enough ignite her soul. Her face glows once more as elation fills her noble looks. She opens her eyes.
And terror strikes her. Terror that I have not seen its like. This mare stood in front of Nightmare Moon and challenged her unafraid, her valor unlike anything I ever saw in all my years, and now…
“Princess Luna,” she says in a trembling voice, with fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. “If- if you ever cared for me, if you ever were my friend, then please. Please do as I say.”
She scares me now. What could she-
“Close your eyes, please. Close your eyes and don’t open them again no matter what you hear. Do you understand? Don’t open them until it’s done. Please. Please.”
“Twilight Sparkle-”
“Please!”
She was my savior. I owed her more than I owed anypony in my life. She saved my soul. In her eyes I see fear, yes, but also an understanding and acceptance. The eyes of a pony that knew exactly what was going on and what was going to happen. She had my complete trust and respect. There was nothing I would not have done for her sake. What else could I do?
I obey her. I close my eyes.
“The basement. Go to the basement. It’s all there.” These are her last words.
I do not open my eyes until the screams are over.
Twilight Sparkle is no longer there.
My first act is to replace the shield that must have fallen. No other pony must face this fate again. Then I scream.
I scream out my grief for the friend I have lost.
I scream my denial for the death she did not deserve.
I scream my rage for the thing that took her.
I scream in agony for my actions that did not save her.
I scream. I scream until I can scream no more.
Then I go to the basement.
The portal is still active. In front of it were scattered papers, filled with scribbles. Twilight Sparkle must have tried to write down her experiences, purge out her horror and fear in the way she knew best, even if she did so while being voluntarily blind.
I piece it all together, and understand as much as I can what happened to her. Every word is a blade striking my heart, but I persevere. I find the drawings of the mysterious monument she found. I spend a few minutes gazing at the print of the arrow.
It was pointing behind me now, as it should. It knows I know. It hasn’t attempted to hide its presence for me, like it did not do so for Twilight Sparkle in the end. She tried to kill it after she emptied the library of all available hiding places, in imaginary ways without ever looking at it. She couldn’t know of course, but she assumed she did not even scratch it. She was certain it made it angry however, but did not retaliate as long as she didn’t gaze upon it.
Then this avenue of revenge is closed to me. I am more powerful than Twilight Sparkle was, but if she was unable to even inconvenience it then I am not hopeful for my own chances.
There are other ways too however. I take a blank piece of paper and write upon it everything I know, everything I have learned. I leave a message for my sister. It is a simple one. A declaration of the love I have for her, and a promise that her protege would not go unavenged, that her ponies would not be endangered by what took her student. I bid her not to attempt to find me. It would be too late anyway.
I wish I had more time with Celestia. I wish I had more time with Twilight Sparkle. I wish I did not have to do this.
I step through the portal with no hesitation.
The white welcomes me. I spit upon this world that was the cause of the loss of the best among us.
It is everything Twilight Sparkle had written about and more. Around me I see her small camp. The small desk where she had written down a few of her observations, the promise of an exciting new discovery to the young unicorn. The cot that she never used. The stacks of paper, a beacon of hopeful things to the intellectual.
I leave it all behind me and walk ahead. The former resident of this world stalks behind me, still following me. I can hear its footsteps right behind mine. My fury keeps getting stoked hotter with every reminder of its presence. None of it shows upon me. I keep my expression serene, hiding the volcanic rage that boils underneath.
I reach the monument. The warning that helped none. I search the ground, and I find the layer of dust. What was this individual’s story? Was he or she the last of this world’s people or did it find itself here for the same reasons I do?
It does not matter. I have reached the monument. If you were to look for a way to stop the unseen creature, this is where you would start. I understand of course that the creature would stop me if there really were any secrets to find here. It doesn’t know that I know however. It allowed me to bring it here as it followed mockingly, because it thought I knew what I would do. That was its mistake.
I turn around, and gathering my magical strength I destroy the portal with a beam of pure magic.
I can hear it hiss in anger behind me as the remains of the portal and the camp rain down upon the white ground. It’s the first sound it has made of its own volition. I cannot help the mocking smirk upon my lips and I do not care to.
I lay down on the ground, smiling widely. My task is done. As far as banishments go, the moon was far worse. One day this exile will end too. Maybe another poor soul will one day come onto this monument and discover an equine skeleton lying next to it. I hope not. I hope nopony ever finds my remains.
I lie down and wait for the end to come, no matter how long it takes. If it decides to fight me I shall indulge it. If it decides to stay there, hiding behind by tail, then let it.
I have avenged Twilight Sparkle. I have avenged Spike the dragon. I have kept my sister, Twilight Sparkle’s friends, and my ponies safe.
I am Princess Luna, and I will die out here, away from everything I have ever loved.
It is worth it. I get up and turn around.
I believe I will take this fight now.