The Empress of the Iron Bridle

by Piccolo Sky

The Empress of the Iron Bridle, Part 1

The sun was shining on yet another bright, beautiful summer day in Ponyville. The sky was clear and beautiful. The mountains were capped with just the right amount of snow, the breeze was cool, the weather was warm but not oppressive, and Canterlot gleamed like a precious jewel far on the horizon. Even the Everfree Forest seemed to be a pleasant, healthy shade rather than a dark, mysterious, and almost rotten-colored one. It was the perfect day for an outing.

On a grassy meadow south of Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Spike were enjoying the beautiful day with a friendly game of kickball. A field had been hastily marked out, and the teams had split up so that Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy were on one team, and Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow were on another. Spike stood behind what was "home plate", wearing an umpire's uniform. He soon gave the call.

"Alright, coming up next to the plate, it's the star hitter...Rainbow Dash!"

The spunky pegasus soon walked confidently up to the designate plate, tapping her hooves against the ground to knock off some dust.

Out on the field, Applejack was on the pitcher's mound, Twilight was to the left of her, and Fluttershy was to the right. Although the first two were smiling and had their eyes narrowed at Rainbow, Fluttershy was looking like her traditional nervous self. Pinkie and Rarity were already on bases.

"Knock it out of the park, Rainbow!" Pinkie said excitedly. "I've been waiting all day for a chance to eat my genuine kickballpark Home Run Victory Celebration Nachos!"

"Yes, please do!" Rarity called in, reaching up a hoof to fluff her mane slightly. "It would be nice to have a casual trot back to home plate so I don't end up kicking a great deal of dust around my hooves."

"Heh, no problem!" Rainbow confidently retorted. "I'll kick that ball so hard it won't come down until next Autumn!"

Applejack chuckled in response. "Ha! In your dreams, Rainbow! No pony can hit the patented Apple Family Curve!"

"And after Applejack strikes you out, we win the game!" Twilight added with a smile of her own.

"Heh, you wish!" Rainbow retorted. "We're going to score so many runs this inning you'll give up! Now come on! Give me your best shot!"

Fluttershy swallowed a little. "Um...good luck to everyone...but, um...Rainbow, if you do hit the ball, could you please not hit it over to-"

Before the pegasus could finish, Applejack stuck her tongue out of the side of her mouth, planted the kickball on her hoof, twisted it in a bit of a circle, and then let it go as she rolled it forward. As a result, the ball got a spin on it when she released. The ball rolled straight for Rainbow, spinning in a spiral as it did, almost like a corkscrew. Rainbow, in turn, went wide eyed in surprise for a moment...but then smiled and narrowed her gaze. A second later, as the ball reached her, she quickly spun around and lashed out with one of her hooves, smacking it and knocking it into the sky.

Applejack gaped in surprise. "No way!"

Twilight likewise looked rather nervous, and turned her head. "It's coming your way, Fluttershy! Catch it!"

The shy pony swallowed. "Uh...um..."

The ball continued to sail into the air for a moment, crossing right in the path of the sun, and therefore vanishing from view. Nevertheless, Fluttershy looked up and began to backpedal, holding out her hooves to try and catch it. She continued to back up and look, growing more nervous all the time, until finally the ball came out of the path of the sun and was visible again.

"There it is!"

"It's all yours, Fluttershy!"

The pony swallowed, and her knees began to shake as she planted herself, looked away, and held up her hooves to try and catch the descending ball. She stayed that way for a moment as the ball kept coming down.

But then...something happened at her feet. Abruptly, some of the ground began to crack. Bits of dirt and plants began to sink into the soil.

Fluttershy heard this, and opened her eyes. "...Huh?"

She looked down, even as the cracking and collapsing increased. She suddenly went wide-eyed as the ground beneath her began to give way all together. Closing her eyes in fright, she let out a scream...just as it completely collapsed, and she sank into the ground. A moment later, as she continued to scream from in the hole, the ball sailed by and landed simply on the ground.

The others spotted this, and instantly looked shocked.

"Fluttershy!"

"Fluttershy!"

In a flash, the other five ponies and Spike forgot about the game and ran up to the hole that Fluttershy had fallen into, even as the screaming continued to ring out from inside it.

Within the hole, Fluttershy continued to scream in panic and frantically wave her hooves, trying to find something to grab onto to keep herself from going further. She kept screaming on and on for a bit longer...not seeming to realize that she had hit the bottom almost as soon as she vanished under the surface. The other ponies soon moved up to the edge and looked inside with worry...but that worry faded when they saw a very safe Fluttershy sitting on the ground at what looked like the beginning of an old tunnel under the earth. They simply stared in puzzlement for a few moments...before Fluttershy opened her eyes...and noticed her situation. Her screaming soon cut off, and she pulled her hooves in and looked around.

"Oh my...that wasn't so bad."

The ponies on the surface all grimaced slightly...except Rainbow, who looked to Spike excitedly.

"Since she didn't catch the ball, does that mean our team won?"

---

"THE EMPRESS OF THE IRON BRIDLE, PART 1"

---

About thirty minutes later, and the ponies had trampled around the ground a bit more on the surface, breaking loose the rest of the weak soil, until nothing else crumbled down inside and all was stable again. Fluttershy had long since flown out. However, as it turned out, Twilight soon climbed inside of it to look around a bit, her natural curiosity getting the better of her. And not one to leave her alone, Applejack, Rainbow, and Spike had entered as well while Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy stayed on the surface.

It was dark inside, but that was fixed easily enough by Twilight, who used a light spell from her horn to make a beacon. Likewise, Spike removed his umpire mask, flipped it inside out, and transformed it into a miner's helmet, which he quickly put on his own head.

"Well, I'll be." Applejack commented as she looked around herself. "This cave was right here all these years and we just now stumbled on it."

"Well...maybe, maybe not." Twilight responded, shining her light down the passage. "Lots of things could have caused it. Erosion, an internal collapse, maybe diamond dogs searching for jewels..."

Abruptly, Twilight was blinded as a light was shone in her face by a hungry-looking Spike. "Did you say jewels, Twilight?"

The unicorn began to recover...only to wince again as Rarity, suddenly in the hole and abruptly wearing a fashionable miner's helmet, popped in next to Spike. "Yes, did you say jewels?"

Twilight shook her head, putting a hoof in front of her eyes to keep any more light from entering them. "Rarity...I thought you said you'd rather stay outside the hole than get dirty?"

"Oh, we all have to make sacrifices for the greater good, dear." Rarity responded with a casual wave of a hoof. "And so long as it's for gems, I can put up with a bit of mud."

Twilight grimaced a bit, but then moved away from their lights and looked back down the cave.

"Hmm...I'm no expert on how caves form, but this looks almost like a tunnel...and too neat of one to be natural. Maybe this was caved in at one point and the last spring thaw finally cleared out the debris in it."

"Well...whatever did it...it's scary." Fluttershy stated timidly, cringing a bit around the lip of the hole. "Maybe we should go back to town now and tell the mayor about it."

"Aw, don't be a wimp, Fluttershy." Rainbow retorted, momentarily flying out of the hole to wave a hoof at her. She snapped back to the others. "This is better than any kickball game! We can go on a little adventure!"

"An adventure?" Pinkie echoed, immediately breaking into a grin. "Yay! We can find buried treasure and old pony skeletons and big ugly spider webs and pits filled with snakes and lots of trapdoors that could seal us underground for a million, billion, trillion years, and-"

Fluttershy, who had been cringing a bit more with each description, abruptly rolled her eyes and fainted. Pinkie turned to her curiously. "...What'd I say?"

"I'd steer clear of this hole, just the same." Applejack added. "Could be an abandoned mine for all we know that's too unsafe for travelin'."

Rainbow groaned. "Ugh, you guys can be so boring sometimes."

"I'm with Applejack." Twilight added. "We can't just go wandering into some dark hole that could be dangerous. Let's head back to Ponyville and-"

Abruptly, the unicorn was cut off...as a loud hiss came from far, far, far down the tunnel. It took a while to reach them from that distance, and therefore was much quieter when it did...but it was still loud enough to make everyone pause and look down the tunnel.

Twilight saw nothing but endless darkness for a moment...but then, very small, just the tiniest twinkle of light. She immediately looked up at that.

"Hey...there's something down there after all!" She paused a moment, then suddenly brightened up. "It could be the ruins of an ancient Equestrian civilization! Or even an ancient shrine from one of the great unicorns! I have to check it out!"

With that, she immediately broke into a trot down the passageway. Spike immediately blinked and held out a claw.

"Wait for me, Twilight!" He stated before running after her.

The remaining five ponies stood in the back, dumbfounded. After a moment, Applejack lowered her head and grimaced. "'Can't just go wanderin' into some dark hole that could be dangerous', eh?"

Rainbow shot to her side and waved a hoof at her. "Lighten up, Applejack. This could be cool!" With that, she turned and shot off after Twilight.

A moment later, Pinkie happily bounced by...having somehow found a safari helmet and now wearing it. "Yay! Adventure time!"

Soon after that, Rarity moved by with a smile as well. "Hurry along, Applejack. We can't keep those jewels...I mean, our friends waiting!"

Applejack, on seeing them all go by, let out a sigh, and then turned her head back outside the hole. "Fluttershy, you go on and wait for us to come back out here. I gotta make sure those five don't wander into a rattler hole." With that, she turned and took after them as well.

Fluttershy blinked for a moment. "You mean...stay here?" She hesitated. "Sure, I can do that...sit here...all by myself...staring into a deep, dark hole...that could have been made by anything...like a diamond dog...or a troll...or a dr...dra...dragon...!"

Scaring herself with that last statement, Fluttershy immediately shot into the hole after her friends. "Wait! Don't leave me by myself!"

---

A bit ahead of the others, Twilight was still trotting along, using her horn to light the way. However, after going only a bit further, a panting and rushing Spike came up behind her.

"W...Wait Twilight! Slow down!"

This distracted the unicorn from her goal, and she turned a bit. "Huh?"

She soon spotted the tired baby dragon hot on her heels, reaching feebly out to her. A moment later, she exerted a bit more of her magic to pick him up and set him on her back. "Don't fall behind, Spike!" She retorted, before turning forward and picking up the pace. "This is so exciting! Who knows what we'll find in here? It could be a major historical breakthrough...and I could be the first one to see it! I could get published in an archeological journal for this!"

Spike looked a little less enthused, looking around a bit. "Uh...Twilight...we seem like we're heading pretty far underground... Are you sure it's safe to be here?"

Twilight confidently smiled. "Of course, Spike. I can get us out of any problem we run into. Besides, I think this tunnel is perfectly sa-"

The unicorn was cut off a moment later as she stepped on a suddenly downward slope, the result of not looking where she was going. Soon, both she and Spike were crying out in terror as they found themselves on a sleek, downward tunnel that was practically like a slide. They could only gape and scream as they whipped around sharp turns and great spirals, going farther and farther underground as they did so. Although it lasted for less than a minute, to the unicorn and the dragon, it felt like they were endlessly falling into oblivion.

Finally, however, the cave opened up much larger, and became flat again. Twilight and Spike shot down the last bit of inclined tunnel, and then landed with an "oof" on flat, stone ground. Both sprawled out a moment and lay for a few seconds. However, as Spike continued to look a bit senseless, Twilight raised her head and shook it. Blinking a few times, she looked back the way they came. A moment later, she looked to her dragonservant, who seemed a bit out of sorts, and immediately used her magic to pluck him from the ground and set him upright. Once on his feet, he shook his head a bit. Afterward, he gave Twilight a frown. The unicorn, in response, merely smiled.

"Heh...well...that really wasn't so bad."

A moment later, however, her smile vanished as Rainbow slammed on top of her...and Applejack landed on top of her...and Rarity landed on top of her...and Fluttershy landed on top of her. By now, Twilight was looking rather crushed and in pain.

Finally, Pinkie slid down and landed on top of the others lightly. She threw her hooves up in joy. "Whee! That was a lot of fun!" She looked below her. "And look! This nice soft pillow was set up at the bottom to break my fall!"

A groan came from Rainbow, before she suddenly heaved to dump all of the ponies off of her and rise herself. "Ugh, everypony get off of me!"

The ponies all shook their heads and got up, one after the other, and began to look around. However, the only thing immediately clear was that they were in a very large, very wide chamber. The rest was too dark to see. They all looked about momentarily.

"Where are we?" Applejack asked after a moment.

"I don't know..." Twilight responded. "Let me try a bit more light..."

Focusing, Twilight's glow from her horn increased...enough to where a dim glow was now filling the entire chamber. And when it did...everyone gaped in surprise.

It appeared to be a hollowed out rock cave...but not any cave that they had ever seen before. It was large enough to fit an entire city...no, an entire kingdom. And that's exactly what was there. However, it was not a living kingdom, but a long extinct one. There were many great and grand palaces, but all of them were broken and in disrepair. There were many other buildings, but they were broken to bits and ruins. Most of all, there were pieces of strange machines and bits lying around everywhere...things that most ponies had no knowledge of, such as gears and pipes and even ruined engines. They were not just in the streets, but many built into the ruins of the buildings and subsequently wrecked with them. The place was so massive that it did indeed seem more like a large city rather than just its ruined remains. The ponies were overwhelmed.

"Amazing... Just look at this place!" Rarity remarked.

"Who would have thought this sort of spot was right under Ponyville?" Rainbow spoke aloud, moving over a bit to one side and looking over what looked like a chasm, only to see it was a platform suspended over part of the ruin that had once been a higher pathway to access more of the city.

Fluttershy, meanwhile, was nervously patting one of the machines with her hoof. "What...what are these things? They're everywhere..."

Twilight moved over to the same machine and looked at it a moment, before shaking her head. "I don't know. But it looks like it's some sort of thing from the future. That's impossible, though." She turned and looked back to the ruins. "I mean...just look at this place. It looks like it got wrecked or destroyed, but even that happened a real long time ago. A lot of it is erosion." She paused a moment afterward, but then smiled widely, looking to the others.

"Girls, do you have any idea what this means? I was expecting a historic site...but not this! This is the ruins of an entire kingdom! A very old one too!"

The others looked surprised on hearing that.

"But which one, Twilight?" Rainbow asked after a moment.

The unicorn shook her head. "That's just it. I don't know."

Applejack recoiled in some surprise on hearing that. "Twilight, you read up on books all the time and remember everythin' you ever read, more or less. And you're tryin' to tell me that you never heard anythin' about a kingdom underneath Ponyville?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not a thing. But there's a lot about Equestria that ponies don't know. I mean, a lot of history went by before ponies even started writing things down." She soon lit up again. "Isn't this exciting? What if this is a totally new, previously unknown kingdom? We just contributed to the history of Equestria!" She turned her head around to the machines again. "And from the looks of it...a part of Equestria that had innovations and discoveries that no other place had, as far as we know."

She looked into the air after this, frowning a bit and rubbing her chin. "Just one problem... I could have swore I saw a sparkle in here when I first looked in the tunnel, but there's nothing here that isn't stained, blackened, or rusty. Where did it come from?"

Abruptly, Pinkie shot in front of Twilight, frantically waving her hoof in the air.

"Oh! I know, I know!"

Twilight blinked a moment, then sighed and pointed at her, like a teacher calling a name. "Pinkie?"

"That scary looking statue over there!" She said, pointing a hoof.

Twilight immediately turned and shone her horn on it, and the rest of the girls plus Spike gasped at what they saw.

Perched in the middle of the ruins and wreckage, there stood an odd crystal formation, shimmering in the darkness. Mold and grime had grown on it for obviously a long time, but it was still translucent enough to see inside...and what was in there was shocking. An earth pony, of the older days, was inside, as was evident by the shreds of an old burlap cloak she wore. Her coat was a strange purple color, and her mane streaked with colors like the northern lights. Her Cutie Mark was a crown of stars. A simple necklace and pendant was around her neck. She looked dirty, tired, and haggard. However, she also looked to be in terrible fear. Her face was frozen in an expression of terror, her mouth open and caught in mid-scream, and one hoof held to her chest while the other was held outward in a stopping gesture.

"Whoa..." Applejack remarked.

"Uh...I'm no art critic...but that thing creeps me out." Spike threw in with a gulp.

"How ghastly!" Rarity added. "Who would have crafted such a terrible statue?"

Pinkie, on her part, wandered up to the front of where the pony's face was, revealing that she was taller than most other ponies...even alicorn-sized. Nevertheless, she soon began to make several funny faces. After a few moments, she stopped, and shrugged. "Nope! Can't match that face."

Fluttershy, who had begun to cringe and put her hooves over her face, nervously responded. "That's because...I think she's...scared..."

Twilight, however, had a different reaction as she came forward. "Girls...do you know what this is?"

The other ponies and Spike looked to her at this, as she waved her horn over the front of the statue. It gleamed a bit...and the crystal seemed to resonate with it for a moment. Twilight gasped in shock, and turned to the others. "Girls, this isn't a statue at all! It's a prison!"

The others reacted in surprise as well. "A prison?" Applejack questioned. "What d'ya mean?"

"It's a very ancient..." She paused a moment, swallowing slightly. "...and forbidden...spell. Anypony struck by it is sealed in crystals. Then they're forced to live forever trapped inside, never aging and forever frozen in time. Before the modern Equestria was founded, unicorns used to use it to punish wrongdoers...but it was considered cruel and inhumane, because they could leave ponies like this for eternity if they got buried or covered up by a disaster..." She gulped again, and looked back. "...Just like this pony was."

The girls were rather horrified at this point. "Can...can you set her free, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"I don't know... It would take somepony really skilled at magic..."

"But Twilight, you're the best pony at magic in Ponyville...in Canterlot, even." Spike maintained. "If anyone can set her free, it's you."

Twilight paused and thought about this for a moment. However, Rainbow suddenly ducked her head in.

"Hold on a second...you just said that this was used to punish wrongdoers. What does that make this pony?"

This made the unicorn hesitate. She looked to the prison again. She studied the pony inside for a moment...saw how fearful she looked, how terrified...and how she had been forced to feel that for who knew how many centuries. After a moment, she softened. "...Even if that's true, she's been punished long enough if she's been forgotten in this hole. It would be cruel to leave her like this." She soon gained a determined look. "I'm going to try and free her."

With that, Twilight moved back over to the frozen pony. She held a moment, then closed her eyes and touched her horn to the crystal prison. Immediately, it began to light up far greater than before, becoming almost blinding. The others recoiled, but still anxiously waited. As for Twilight, she began to sweat and strain, clearly putting a lot of effort into it, but she didn't give up. The power continued to flow out for a moment...until it finally happened. Like ice thrown into magma, the crystals began to melt away into nothingness, and the pony beneath was exposed.

The girls began to light up on seeing this. However, even as Twilight was finishing, and before any of them could congratulate her, the instant the pony was free, she immediately snapped back, gazing up in horror at nothing.

"NO! Please! I beg you! Have mercy!"

In a panic, the earth pony immediately scrambled backward, cringing, and shrinking back to the nearest small indentation within the ruins of the kingdom. She crawled inside and hid, frantic and scared half to death.

The other six were stunned for a moment. Spike frowned after a moment. "Uh...you're welcome?"

Twilight gave him a look. "Spike, the last thing she remembers is what happened before she was sealed in that prison."

She looked forward, as did the others, and they began to venture closer to her. The pony, in response, cringed in the darkness, eyes wide in terror and breathing hard.

"I...I saw her...right before me...the Destroyer... Her mane like wildfire... Her eyes like lightning... She...she pointed at me...and...and..."

The girls arrived, and Twilight saw what was happening. She paused a moment, then turned to one of her friends. "Fluttershy, you think you can coax her to come out?"

The pegasus raised her head, and then nodded. Immediately, she flew over to the edge of the hole and ducked down. "There, there... It's all over now. You're safe and sound..."

The pony, however, took one look at her, and immediately screeched in panic. "A pegasus! No! Stay back!"

Of course, Fluttershy reacted with even more panic, letting out a yelp and immediately flying for cover. Twilight, seeing this, quickly leaned in as well. "No, no...it's ok. Everything is al-"

"Unicorn!" The pony cried. "Pegasi and unicorns! All is lost!" She shot out of the darkness...and went right to Applejack and Pinkie Pie, immediately hiding behind them and cringing, looking nervously at the other four. "Stay...stay back! Don't come any closer!"

Both Applejack and Pinkie looked rather confused. "...Huh?"

"What now?"

"And just what, pray tell, is wrong with being a unicorn?" Rarity said a bit crossly on hearing this.

"Yeah! And what's wrong with being a pegasus?" Rainbow said with an angry huff.

Twilight, however, quickly crossed in front of them. "Girls, ease up! We don't know how long she was down here! For all we know, she's back from when earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi were still hostile to each other!"

She turned and looked to the pony, who cringed more, but kept looking at her.

"Please...there's nothing to be afraid of. You were imprisoned by a crystal spell. Times have changed. You're in Equestria now. Earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi are united. No one is going to hurt you."

The pony blinked a moment. "Equestria...?" She echoed. Slowly, she began to lift her head up. "Now...now that you mention it, there were many unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies uniting in Equestria before all of this happened..." She lit up a bit more. "Could it be our great queen managed to finally unite all under the banner of Equestria? Oh...how wonderful! Then that means that the kingdom wasn't destroyed! It means-"

However, the pony let out a gasp as she looked around herself. Her eyes filled with surprise and horror again. Suddenly rising, she began to look around. "What...what happened to our kingdom?"

She ran out from behind the earth ponies as the six and Spike watched, seeing her going over to where she was standing before and scratching at the ground...revealing a cracked emblem. "This...this was a town hub of our great city..." She leaned up and rushed over to the ruins of a building. "This...this is where I used to dine with my family..." She ran over to another ruin. "And...and this is where my friend used to work..."

She looked up, her eyes shimmering. "It's...it's gone. Everything's gone. My home...my friends...everything..."

Hearing this, the group looked to each other uncomfortably, the reality of what happened to this pony settling in. They all developed sorrowful looks. As the pony bowed her head and gaped in a mixture of anguish and astonishment, the six moved over to her and began to surround her. She looked up, and recoiled only for a moment from Twilight...before she saw her giving her a look of kindness. When that happened, the pony relaxed, and let the others move about her.

"I'm sorry...I'm really, very sorry." Twilight said quietly. "We found you imprisoned down here just by accident. We don't know how long you've been here. What year do you currently think it is?"

The pony swallowed for a moment, but then bowed her head and thought for a few seconds. "Year 127 of the Equestrian calendar."

The others reacted in quite a bit of surprise to that.

"That's..." Twilight began to say.

"A really..." Applejack added.

"Really..." Rarity threw in.

"Long time." Fluttershy finished quietly.

"I'll say! That's almost a thousand years!" Rainbow added.

The others snapped to her at this, but the damage was done. The pony reacted in absolute shock. "One...one thousand...years?!"

Twilight immediately turned back to her. "I'm sorry...I know you must be really shocked and really horrified right now...and I can't imagine what you're thinking or feeling." She paused, but then smiled slightly. "But I promise my friends and I will help you adjust as best as we can. I know it won't be easy, but we'll support you until you're able to stand on all four hooves again."

The pony continued to look distressed for a moment, but then looked over everyone. They all smiled warmly and encouragingly back at her. After a moment...the pony managed a weak smile of her own.

"Thank...thank you." She managed to say. "My name's Corona. Corona Light."

"Well, come on, Corona." Rainbow interjected with an eager smile. "Let's get you out of this ruin."

---

Some time later, and the six were making their way back up. It was a bit slow going, considering how steep the path had been leading inside, but it was just level enough to allow them to carefully climb their way out. As they did, Corona looked around, noticing how the ponies helped each other climb, and how happy they were. She noted Rainbow flying gracefully in the small space of the cave and Pinkie bouncing for joy.

"Amazing..." She remarked after a while. "You all are so full of happiness and energy. It warms my heart."

"Well, of course!" Pinkie responded. "I mean, why wouldn't we be?"

Corona paused a moment, then bowed her head a little. "...No reason, I guess. It's just...Equestria wasn't a very 'happy' place when I was around."

She reached the lip of where the tunnel leveled off, and Applejack moved in behind her and gave her a bit of a push to help get her up, while Twilight took her hoof and helped her from the other side. Once up, and the others were there, she smiled again and nodded. "Thank you." She looked forward and sighed again as she moved along. "King Sombre was to the north, devastating the Crystal Kingdom... Discord was to the south, leaving chaos to reign everywhere he went... Nightmare Moon had arisen, and cast us all into darkness... And then came the Destroyer...the one who ruined our kingdom."

Twilight gave Corona a curious look. "I've never heard of a 'Destroyer' before in the history books. Who are you talking about?"

Unfortunately, the earth pony only winced and trembled at that. "...We made it a point never to speak her name. Just the thought of saying it chills my blood. Maybe when I've been out of this hole for a while I'll feel strong enough to say it..."

"Well, you won't have to wait much longer." Rainbow said with a smile as she flapped a bit ahead and pointed, showing a sunbeam shining down from the initial hole they had made. "Here we are!"

Corona looked up, and brightened a bit more to see the sunlight. The ponies continued to lead her onward, until they reached the lip. Once there, Rainbow and Fluttershy went ahead out, followed by Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Rarity and Twilight were last. Rarity used her own horn to lift Spike out of the hole, and Twilight herself raised Corona out of it, and set her on the ground. The moment she was out, she froze, her jaw loosening and her eyes going wide. She looked about herself in total amazement...at the shining sun, the snow-capped mountains, the full forests, and all of the other wonderful sights around her. She stared in awe for a few moments, until her lip closed and almost trembled.

"What do you think, Corona?" Twilight asked with a smile.

"It's...it's...it's so beautiful..." The pony said breathlessly. "It looks just like when our kingdom was at its zenith, before all of the bad things started to happen." Her eyes actually shimmered, and she closed them as tears ran down her cheeks. "I...I never thought Equestria would be this beautiful and alive again. Even if our kingdom is gone and I'm the only one left, knowing that this land returned to being so rich and wondrous fills me with hope."

Fluttershy moved down in front of her with a smile. "Oh, Corona...I'm so happy to see you smiling already. I'm glad you're already starting to feel better."

"Well, let's not dawdle over this dirty hole any longer." Rarity added. "Come on! Let's show you to Ponyville and everything that's there!"

Corona looked up and nodded. "Please do."

---

A few hours later, and the group finally moved to the library. It had been an eventful time. Corona was shown all over Ponyville. The residents were a bit puzzled to see a new earth pony around, especially one that was so large compared to normal ponies, but they soon were happy to welcome a visitor, for that's just how the ponies of Ponyville were. There was no place they left untouched...Fluttershy's garden, Rarity's boutique, Sugarcube Corner, Sweet Apple Acres, and everything else. They even had enough time for a quick trip in Twilight's balloon to shoot past Cloudsdale and get a view of Canterlot. Once all was done, they had come back down and agreed to convene at Twilight's. The door had hardly opened before an energized and amazed Corona walked in.

"Everything...everything is so...wonderful! The air is so clean and pure, the water is so cold and refreshing, the flowers are so fragrant, the food is so delicious... After everything that happened to our kingdom, I thought I would be in a nightmare...but this is a dream come true!"

The six smiled as they walked in after her and shut the door behind. "And you also made seven new friends in just your first day!" Pinkie happily cheered.

Corona looked up at that for a moment, but then smiled. "I...I did, didn't I?"

"So how 'bout it, darlin'?" Applejack asked. "Thinkin' of settlin' down in Ponyville?"

The pony paused and blinked a moment. "You mean...I can just move right into Ponyville, just like that?"

"Well, duh!" Rainbow said with waving a hoof at her. "I mean, of course you can! Why wouldn't you be able to?"

Corona paused a moment, then blushed and bowed her head. "Seems I've still got a lot of customs to learn... But this is one I'm grateful has changed. I would love to. Except..." She blushed a bit more, rubbing the back of her mane.

"What is it, Corona?" Twilight asked.

"I'm...still rather behind the times on many things..." She mentioned. "I think before I go about finding a job and getting a house, I need to learn what's happened in the past thousand years. I don't suppose I could stay with one of you until then, could I?"

The unicorn immediately brightened. "Of course. In fact, you've come to the right place. I live in the library in Ponyville. There's plenty of research materials here. And I have a spare bed for guests too."

Corona's head raised again. "Really? Thank you so much! This is the best way I'd like to learn about Equestria. I'm an avid reader, after all."

Twilight's own ears perked up at that, a smile spreading. "You are?!" She nearly outburst, then quickly shook her head. "I mean...you like to read too?"

"Of course I do!" Corona responded. "I used to do all sorts of research in my kingdom! Everypony did. We were always interested in learning more and bettering ourselves. We thought understanding everything was the best way to do so. I'd read at least three books a day when I got the chance."

Twilight nearly hopped in delight. "So do I!"

As Corona and Twilight continued to talk, Rainbow, nearby, groaned a bit. "Oh great...now we've got two bookworms living in Ponyville."

"Oh...we have more than two, Rainbow." Fluttershy mildly responded, pulling a book from a shelf and opening it up to reveal a family of seven bookworms sitting down to an evening meal at a tiny table and chairs. "See?" She looked to them a moment later. "Now...you all eat quietly so you don't upset Twilight." She said before closing the book and putting it back.

"This is just totally awesome!" Pinkie exclaimed for joy nearby, as a fly buzzed in and hovered around her. "We went cave exploring today, and instead of buried treasure or gems, we found a real live pony! Who else can say they did that? Usually you only find mummies or skeletons or something if anything...not anypony that's still alive!"

"I'm glad she's such a neighborly filly too." Applejack answered, even as her tail began to swing away at another fly buzzing around. "If she's the only pony left of that kingdom, I'm glad she ended up bein' such a sweetheart. I wonder if all the ponies who came from there were like her."

Rarity, meanwhile, swiped a hoof at two flies buzzing around her head. "I enjoyed walking with her myself and showing her around today...but I do wish it could have happened in autumn or spring. These summer flies have barely been giving us a moment's peace today."

At that moment, both Twilight and Corona laughed at a joke they shared, regaining everyone's attention. However, Corona broke it off when she looked a bit surprised. "Oh...I just realized... I can learn a lot about Equestria from your books, Twilight...but not about my new friends. Would it be too much trouble to have everyone stay for another hour or two and tell me all about themselves? I mean...I've been so overwhelmed today by Ponyville I know almost nothing about any of you."

The unicorn paused momentarily, but then smiled and nodded. "That would be just fine." She looked to the others. "None of you have a problem staying a bit longer, do you?"

Immediately, they all shook their heads and gave comments in the negative.

Soon after, Twilight looked to her assistant. "Spike, could you make us all some tea? I think we could all go for a spot of chamomile."

---

And so the next few hours passed. Night fell and the moon traveled across the sky, and Corona, seated in the center of the main room of the library, listened to each of the ponies speak with rapt attention. It was a lovely evening, even with the occasional fly buzzing in where it wasn't wanted.

"...And I don't mean to brag...but I'm not just a good applebucker. I'm quite the rodeo gal. It's a nice pastime in between the harvest seasons. Why, there was this one time I went all the way to participate in the Equestrian Rodeo. I won a bunch of ribbons too! Well...none of them were first place, but the fact that I even got a ribbon in every event was pretty good! Of course, heh...I had a little blow to my pride then. I figured all the ponies in Ponyville would be ashamed of me, so I didn't tell them the truth for a dog's age. But when they all came to see me and practically chased me down and ran me ragged, I came clean...and they all helped me see I didn't have to be a great athlete to earn their respect..."

"...And all the animals are so wonderful in Ponyville. I love them all so much. They're always very friendly and courteous and kind...except when they aren't, but that's alright. I think kindness is the best policy, even if it means people think you're a little timid and meek as a result. For a little while, I thought that if you didn't want people to walk over you, you had to be mean and nasty. I even said some hurtful things to my friends because I thought they were trying to take advantage of me. But they didn't give up on me, and I finally learned that just because you're assertive doesn't mean you have to stop being kind and gentle to others. Occasionally, I think I need to remind myself of that..."

"...I say, everything's better with a party, so long as it's the right kind of party! Sure, there can be balloons and cake and games and songs and presents and dances and even a few pranks, but the only way a party is really a party is when everyone's having fun! And the best way to have fun is to make people smile and laugh! I love to laugh and make everyone laugh with me! Alright...there was this one time that I thought all of my friends had abandoned me, and that they were avoiding my parties on purpose, and for a while I didn't feel like laughing or making anyone else laugh. But then, it all turned out for the best! It turned out the girls were throwing me a surprise party the whole time, so they had to turn down my party so I could go to it! And it was totally awesome..."

"...As you can see, I am quite the fashionable pony. One would think that a lady like me would be best at home in Manehattan, Filydelphia, or the elite streets of Canterlot. And I certainly would fit right in there, to be sure. After all, my style is to die for. However, there is far more to life than just being fashionable and having a lot of trinkets and baubles. Ponyville is the rarest treasure in Equestria because it's the only place that has these six 'rare jewels', and the only true happiness to be found is giving of yourself to your friends. I'm ashamed to admit I lost sight of that once on a trip to Canterlot...where I was so wrapped up in being the pony-about-town that I neglected to give Twilight's dress the time it was worth...but thankfully they came to help me remember..."

"...So I'm definitely the fastest, most athletic, and coolest in Ponyville, and there isn't any doubt about that. I'm quite the envy of everypony too. But...you know, there's really no point to being able to do all these cool things if you can't do them for your friends. That's why I wouldn't ditch these girls for anything. I mean...I know there was this one time I got so full of myself, so wrapped up in my own talents, I kind of left them by the wayside so I could be the biggest and most famous pony in Ponyville. But...heh...they kind of served me up a slice of humble pie. And while it may have gone down a little hard, I'm glad they did. After all, it's great if people think I'm awesome because of all I can do...but it's better if they think that because I'm a good friend..."

"...And the best part, the very best part, about Ponyville was meeting these wonderful ponies. They really are the greatest things that ever happened to me. I never thought anything could make me as happy as when I became our princess' star pupil...but it did the day she announced I could live here. I think the worst time of my life was that one day when Discord corrupted them...and I was so blind and foolish that I thought they had all just abandoned me and each other. And for a moment...for a little while...I lost faith in the power of our friendship. I was that close to abandoning them and Ponyville. But the princess helped me remember everything we had gone through. And it made me realize that together there's nothing we can't do."

When Twilight had finished, it had grown late, and Corona looked tired...but she kept her eyes open and kept smiling at the ponies.

"You six...you're wonderful. You have a magic together that I've never seen before in Equestria. Perhaps if you six had been in our kingdom...it would still be here to this day."

The six smiled and bowed their heads slightly. However, Spike abruptly popped his head in. "Hey...now that they're done, how about you tell us about yourself?"

Corona blinked a moment, but then smiled and yawned. "I'd love to... It's getting late, but after you've all been so kind to tell me all about your adventures and friendship, I should probably at least start. My kingdom was the premiere one in Equestria, the kingdom that united all lands together under the one land's banner. It was technically known as the Greenwood Kingdom, but all of us only called it the Magnificent Kingdom. It was filled with such wonders and delights..."

She let out another yawn. "But...I'm so tired..." She paused a moment, then raised her eyes a bit. "Hey everypony...I know you've all done so much for me already, but could you do me one small favor tomorrow?"

"Shore thing, sugarcube." Applejack answered.

"Why certainly. Just name it." Rarity added.

"Could you come back with me to the ruins?"

On hearing that, the six turned puzzled. "Huh?"

"You mean...back down that dark scary hole...?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"But everything down there is wrecked, Corona." Rainbow added. "Why would you want to go back there?"

"I mean...if you want to, then you want to..." Twilight added. "But...aren't there only bad memories there for you?"

Corona's smile faded, and she bowed her head a bit. "Perhaps..." She admitted, before raising her head again. "But...I was thinking...there might be a chance that the royal archives survived. You see, we used something other than books to record our history there."

This only confused the others more. "Other than books...?" Twilight echoed.

"I can't really explain it in a short period of time...but...if some of it did survive, it will give me the chance to not only tell the six of you about the Magnificent Kingdom...it will let me show it to you. And trust me, you'll have to see it to believe it. At its apex, there was no other place in all of Equestria or even the world that could come close to it. I know it will be painful if it's gone...but if it's still there, then that means not all of my kingdom was destroyed. It would mean all the world to me." She looked at them more imploringly. "...Please?"

The girls hesitated for a moment, looking to each other for a few seconds. They looked back to Corona, who was insistent. After a moment longer, Twilight managed a smile.

"...Sure."

"I said I'd do you a favor, and I'm always honest. You bet." Applejack threw in.

"Yeah, no problem!" Rainbow threw in.

"And I'll pack a lunch and a beach ball and we can have another outing down there! It's the first time I've ever had a picnic in a deep hole underground!" Pinkie cheered.

Corona smiled again. "Thank you, everypony. You're the best friends a pony could ask for." With that, she rose from where she was seated and let out a long yawn. "I'm heading to bed. Today has been exhausting. Thanks again for letting me stay, Twilight."

"Oh, no problem, Corona." The unicorn answered with a smile. "Stay as long as you like."

---

Once the ancient pony had gotten in bed and gone to sleep (and Spike had passed out in his own bed), the five, in turn, walked out the front, led out by Twilight, in order to head back to their own homes. As soon as they were out and the door shut behind them, Applejack let out a sigh.

"Well...this outin' shore turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be. Big Mac and Apple Bloom are probably worried sick."

"Likewise with Sweetie Belle." Rarity added, brushing back part of her mane.

Pinkie let out a long yawn. "Yeah...and I still need to plan tomorrow's underground picnic before I can head to bed..."

"And I still need to tuck Angel in." Fluttershy added.

"Alright, I get it." Twilight said with a smile. "We all stayed out a bit too late, and we'll all be making another full day tomorrow...but we have to admit, Corona is kind of a unique friend, so this isn't terribly unusual." Suddenly, she raised her eyelids a bit. "Oh, I almost forgot. I meant to hand these out after the kickball game, but I forgot when we stumbled onto that tunnel..."

Twilight cracked open the door to the library and used her magic to open her saddlebags hanging on a rack on the other side. Soon after, small bracelets made of colored cords and a single gem, a different color for each bracelet, came out. She turned to the others and proceeded to split them up so that one flew over to each pony and tied around their ankles. Once done, they looked at them all a bit curiously.

"Oh...what are these, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"Princess Celestia sent me a six-faceted memory stone, so I split it into six parts and made special 'memory charm bracelets' out of each one. Each one corresponds to one of our Elements of Harmony. By touching them, we can remember and relive the events that gave us those elements."

The ponies looked up to them for a moment, but smiled at the description.

"Hey, that's kind of cool! I don't own a whole lot of things that are magic." Rainbow admitted.

"It is a little on the simple side...but I love it just the same. Thank you, Twilight." Rarity added.

"Goes perfect with my Cutie Mark!" Pinkie said with an excited hop.

"Glad you all like them." Twilight answered. "Anyway...good night everyone! See you bright and early tomorrow, so hit the hay!"

"Good night, Twilight!"

"Night, Twilight!"

"Sleep tight, Twilight!"

The other five turned and went away. Twilight herself turned and began to open the door to the library, when she froze, her smile fading. "Oh my gosh...I totally forgot!" Immediately, she rushed in the rest of the way.

Once inside, she paused only to shut the door before she tiptoed on her hooves upstairs to the sleeping area. Corona was dozing quietly, and she carefully moved up to where Spike was sawing logs and leaned down to his ear, whispering in it.

"Spike...Spike, wake up! I need your help!"

The baby dragon shifted a bit, and then grumbled slightly before cracking his eyes open and rubbing them with a claw. "Uh...huh?" He turned to the unicorn. "What's the matter, Twilight?"

"It just occurred to me...we stumbled on a massive civilization buried underground. Apparently one that no pony knew about. I think we should probably report that to the princess."

Spike groaned and began to lean back down. "Can't it wait until tomorrow...? It's been there for a thousand years...I don't think it's going anywhere in one night..."

"No, Spike!" Twilight retorted, lifting him out of bed with her horn. "We'll be too busy tomorrow! Come on, I'll need you to send it!"

Spike made a futile grab for his pillow and blanket, which was taken away as Twilight turned around and began to carry him into the main room.

---

About twenty minutes later, the writing room was lit up with a few lamps as Spike yawned and slowly transcribed Twilight's dictation at the writing desk.

"...And there were many things made out of iron and wood lying about everywhere. The Magnificent Kingdom appeared to be almost a thousand years old, from the same time period when Equestria was in chaos. Oh...and the buildings were all in ruins, but not from age. They appeared to have been blown apart by some sort of destructive force. It is my impression that the tunnel that led into it was filled until recently, likely cleared by a geological event, or a dragon shifting, or even some of the cast off magic from-"

Spike abruptly sighed. "Sheesh, Twilight. You should have had me get a bigger parchment. I'm almost done with this one, and you haven't even mentioned Corona yet."

The unicorn paused, and looked up in surprise. "Really? Oh...guess I was a tad too long winded... But all of those things are important. Detail is key in a discovery like this. Just sign it, 'Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle', and we'll talk about Corona in the next letter. I'm sure the princess will want to talk to her personally. After all, she can tell us a lot more than the ruins can."

Spike finished the letter, rolled it up, sealed it, and then ignited it to send it swirling in a plume of vapor out the window and toward Canterlot. "It's kind of late, Twilight..." He mentioned as he moved to get another parchment. "I mean, Princess Celestia is probably asleep. She's taken up sleeping more at night now that Princess Luna is back."

"You're probably right..." Twilight admitted. "But just in case, I don't want to keep her in suspense. I don't think we'll have a chance to do this tomorrow." She exhaled. "Alright...let's get this over with so that we can get to bed."

The dragonservant chuckled at that. "Heh...now you're speaking my language." He answered as he dipped the quill in the ink...only to suddenly twitch, spasm, and then abruptly open his mouth and let out a blast...and formed a scroll which immediately plopped on the ground.

Twilight looked rather surprised. "A response? Already? Huh... I guess she was still up after all." She immediately used her horn to raise it off the ground, break the seal, and unroll it.

"But how?" Spike answered with a shrug. "As big as that last letter was, I wouldn't think she would have had time to read all of it..."

At any rate, the scroll was open, and Twilight soon began to read over it. As she did so...her eyes soon widened a bit, for she could almost hear the tone of voice that the princess was using from the bold lettering and fierce strokes of the pen written on it.

---

Twilight,

It is imperative that you do exactly as I say in this letter. You are not, under any circumstances, to go into those ruins again. Please cover the entrance that you found and steer all other ponies away from it immediately. Do not venture inside, do not pay heed to any noises, and do not investigate any other things inside the ruins. You are to leave them completely untouched. I will send an envoy of Canterlot knights to investigate as soon as possible. Make sure no one enters before then. Once they have concluded their investigation, you are to forget that you ever uncovered the entrance. Most of all...never mention the name of "the Magnificent Kingdom" again.

Princess Celestia

---

Twilight was stunned. She blinked at the letter a few times. Spike, seeing her change, looked up to her curiously. "What does it say?"

The unicorn blinked again, and then used her magic to send the letter over to Spike. Plucking it from the air, he read it over a moment, and then looked confused. "Huh? What's all this about?"

"I...I don't know." Twilight answered. "It sounds like she thinks those ruins are dangerous...or forbidden. But she's still sending an envoy of knights... Knights! I mean, I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I'm her star pupil, and the girls and I helped save Equestria a few times now and have gone on dangerous assignments for the princess before. Why doesn't she want us going back in there?"

"Forget that..." Spike responded as he rolled up the scroll. "What are you going to tell Corona? You all already promised to take her back there tomorrow."

Twilight hesitated a moment, then bowed her head, beginning to tense.

"I...I don't know..."

---

The sun was still just clearing the horizon the next morning, but that wasn't what awakened Twilight as she leaned back on her pillow. Abruptly, her nose scrunched a bit, and she snorted a little, getting an unpleasant expression. A moment later, her eyes opened, and she looked up and overhead to see something that immediately made her gasp and shoot up in bed. A thick black cloud of smoke was wafting by. She gaped in response, and then quickly hopped out of bed. She saw that Corona's was unmade, but Spike was still sound asleep. Immediately, she rushed over to him and gave him a shake.

"Spike, wake up! We've got a fire downstairs!"

"Uh...what?" The baby dragon answered as he opened his eyes. He sniffed the air a bit, and smiled. "Mmm...something smells delicious..."

Rolling her eyes, Twilight immediately snapped away and ran downstairs. Seeing the path of the smoke, she turned and bolted straight for the source...the kitchen. She charged inside, but soon froze and gaped at what she saw.

A rather nervous and panicked Corona was going about trying to cook breakfast, by the looks of it, and having a rather hard job with it. She tried to hold three pans at once with three of her hooves and was nervously balancing the fourth. However, when Twilight popped in, she immediately spotted her, and looked nervous.

"Uh...hi Twilight... I'm...not quite used...to wood-burning stoves..."

The unicorn ignored this odd comment and quickly moved in and used her magic to turn down the oven, move the burning dishes aside, and start clearing out the smoke. Corona tried to help as best she could, but was clearly clumsy.

"So sorry about all this...but I couldn't sleep." She said as they worked. "I was so excited about going back to the ruins today. And I had to do something to pay you girls back for being so kind to me."

Twilight paused in her work and looked to Corona, who smiled back at her.

"You six...you're the most incredible ponies I've ever met. You've made me feel so happy and welcome...helping me to not think so much about my old life and home and showing me I have so much to look forward too. And even today, you're taking me back so I can get a measure of closure. I can never thank you enough for all you've done for me. If all the ponies in this Equestria are as kind and gentle and friendly as you, I know I'll have no trouble adjusting. Thank you so much."

The unicorn was cut to the quick. She stared back at Corona, who smiled back innocently and sweetly at her, with nothing but affection and appreciation in her eyes. Twilight had no idea what to say or do. She thought of Celestia's message, but also of her friend. After a moment of gaping, Corona caught onto something. Her own smile faded.

"It something wrong, Twilight?"

The pony paused momentarily. She thought for a moment longer. However, in the end, she managed a weak smile.

"...Nothing. Nothing at all. Let's hurry up and clean up so we can get to the ruins."

Corona immediately smiled and nodded in response. "You bet!"

---

About an hour later, the group was headed back for the hole. Corona was leading the way, seemingly eager to get there, and the rest of Twilight's friends were around her. Rarity was fiddling with her miner's helmet from yesterday, Applejack was trotting along with fresh saddlebags, Fluttershy was sticking to the ground this time as Rainbow launched loop-de-loops around them, and Pinkie, laden with a picnic basket, was hopping along. Corona grinned as the hole came in sight.

"Thank you everypony for coming with me. I was horrified about what happened yesterday...but now that I see how beautiful and peaceful Equestria is, and now that I have friends in this time period, I'm just hoping something of the archives remains so I can treat you all to what my kingdom was like! You'll never believe half the things that were there!"

"Oh really? This should be quite interesting!" Rarity responded. "I just hope we're quick in getting there...these helmets are dreadful for my coiffure."

"And I'm eager to dig in to the cupcakes I made for dessert!" Pinkie said with a smile.

Rainbow paused in one of her loops to turn behind them. "Come on, Twilight! You'll slow us down!"

Looking behind the group a short way, one could see the only pony who looked hesitant to be there...Twilight. She swallowed a lump when her name was called as she moved forward nervously. "Uh...coming!" She said as she trotted onward. Spike was riding on her back, and had his arms crossed as he gave her a look.

"Twilight, have you-"

Immediately, the unicorn snapped to him and "sshed" him. Sighing, Spike spoke more quietly.

"Twilight, have you lost it? Princess Celestia told us not to go back inside!"

Twilight groaned. "I know, I know... But Corona said such nice things about us this morning, and the way she looked at me...how she had her heart set on coming back here... We already said we'd take her before we got the princess' letter, Spike! We can't go back on it!"

"Just tell her that Princess Celestia said no! She mentioned Nightmare Moon, so she must know who Celestia is."

"You can't just say 'no' to a thing like this and be done with it, Spike! This is really important to Corona! This is all she has left from her old life! It'll just be this one time. After this is over, she'll have her closure, and we can bury the entrance and forget about it. So long as we all keep our mouths shut, Princess Celestia will never have to know."

Spike still frowned, but didn't protest it any longer.

"I know it doesn't look like much now...but the Magnificent Kingdom used to be a wondrous and beautiful place." Corona spoke up. "The jewel of all of Equestria, greater than any of the former kingdoms of the earth ponies, the pegasi, or the unicorns. It was so beautiful, great, and peaceful that all wished to live there and share in its wonders and bounties."

Twilight looked up at this, especially the mention of "Magnificent Kingdom"...which made her wince slightly.

"Say, what kind of fruit did they grow in the Magnifice-"

Abruptly, Applejack's question was cut off as Twilight rushed forward and stumbled into her, cutting her off. However, Corona spoke none the less. "Oh, all kinds. Every kind you can think of...and many you can't."

"How about sports and competitions?" Rainbow asked, grinning as she threw a few hooves in the air. "They have a lot of big arenas and tournaments in the Magnific-Hey!"

Rainbow was cut off as Twilight suddenly bucked her head up as she passed, jabbing her with her horn. The pegasus immediately turned and gave her a frown, while Twilight, beginning to sweat a bit, just grinned innocently.

"The greatest stadiums were there...and only the greatest athletes participated." Corona responded.

"Oh, oh...and what about the animals?" Fluttershy asked. "Did they have many animals in the Magnific-"

Fluttershy cut herself off with a panicked and pained cry as Twilight subtly stepped on her hoof, causing her to immediately cringe and pull back. By now, the others had noticed that she seemed to be bumping into them a lot, and gave her a look. She could only innocently grin back.

"All the animals in Equestria and beyond, both natural and magical, could be found there." Corona responded. She soon halted afterward, because she was at the hole. "Here we are. Let's go!" She immediately hopped inside. One by one, the others followed after her, vanishing into the earth. As they all went in, eventually there was only Twilight and Spike left. The baby dragon sighed when it was their turn.

"Might as well get it over with, Twilight...if you're going to go ahead and go through with this..."

"I am." Twilight responded. "But Spike...I've got a special assignment for you."

The assistant turned curiously to her. "Huh?"

Twilight proceeded to lift him off of her back and set him on the ground. "I'm going to tell the others I had something important for you to do and to excuse you. Meanwhile, I want you to run back to the library and start looking up the Magnificent Kingdom."

Spike immediately frowned. "Twilight, that's, like, the opposite of what Princess Celestia told you to do!"

Twilight, however, gave him a serious look. "Spike...you and I have both read a lot of history books, haven't we?"

The baby dragon paused at that, and gave a shrug. "Well, yeah."

"Do you ever recall even once, in everything we've read, ever hearing anything about a 'Magnificent Kingdom'? I don't recall glancing over it even once...and Spike, I don't forget references when I read about them. If Corona's right and this kingdom really was this great and powerful, don't you think there would be something about it in one of the history books?"

The dragonservant thought about this for a moment, and then shrugged. "I guess you're right. But I still don't feel good about this. I don't want Princess Celestia mad at me any more than you, Twilight."

The unicorn hesitated a moment, and exhaled. "I have to know, Spike. Please."

Spike held out for a few moments, looking uncomfortable the whole time, but then exhaled. "...Alright, I'll do it."

Twilight smiled in response. "Thanks, Spike. I know this is asking a lot of you."

Abruptly, a voice sounded from the hole.

"Twilight! Come on, already! The longer we wait for you, the longer it'll take to get to the cupcakes!"

The unicorn turned back. "Coming, Pinkie!" She looked to Spike soon after. The baby dragon gave one last defeated sigh before turning and beginning to walk back to Ponyville, before Twilight turned back to the hole and leapt down it.

---

Not long after...Twilight, still trailing, was the last one to slide down the earthen ramp and land back in the midst of the ruins. The others were already down there. Soon after, Twilight stood up and turned on her light spell again, filling the cave with a glow once again that illuminated everything. Pinkie hopped up and down.

"Whee! That was even more fun the second time! We should charge admission!"

Corona looked around a bit, but then put a hoof to her mouth. "Everything about the kingdom has changed...but it was intact only yesterday to me...which means the royal archives must be...that way." She pointed out with a hoof, and then turned to the others. "Come on, let's go."

Leading the way, Corona began to walk into the ruins. Twilight quickly filed in alongside her, keeping her horn aimed forward, and the others soon moved in next to her. The light continued to burn brightly, filling the ruins with a glow. Corona looked around them a bit as they passed, and let out another heavy sigh. She soon turned to the other ponies. "Thank you all again for coming with me. This place has so many memories tied to it...I don't think I could make it that far without you helping me."

"Not a problem, darlin'." Applejack answered.

"Besides, on the bright side, we're away from those awful flies..." Rarity said with a sigh. "Honestly, I don't think they've ever been so bad."

"Still...this place is...uh...rather creepy..." Fluttershy said as she inched along, keeping her head low and staying in the midst of the others.

"It does kind of remind me of 'Daring Do and Empire of the Crystal Horn'." Rainbow admitted. Suddenly, she brightened up. "Hey, maybe we'll run into some booby traps!"

Hearing this, however, only made Fluttershy gulp. "Booby...traps...?"

"Yeah! That'd be awesome! Maybe pits full of poisonous scorpions, or spikes that drop from the ceiling, or if you step on the wrong tile the whole cave collapses and buries you alive!"

Each mention, of course, only made Fluttershy cringe and whimper more. "Um...I think I hear the chickadees calling back home..." She nearly turned to run off, but Applejack quickly grabbed her by the tail...leaving her fluttering in midair and beating her wings in an attempt to escape...but not getting anywhere fast.

"Don't worry." Corona reassured. "This kingdom didn't have any traps. There's no danger to be found here."

Even as Corona gave these reassurances, the group left the dirt-covered portion of the chamber and stepped onto paved ground again. When they did, Twilight's hoof stepped on one of the emblems etched on the road. Unseen by her or any of those with her...the tile groaned ever so slightly as it was depressed into the ground. Could Twilight or the others see beneath it, they would have seen that depressing it released a latch, which let go of an automatic crank, which began to pull a cord which moved an old piston, which set off a further chain reaction of events that extended far, far deeper than the level the ponies were on...

---

Far, far below, on the lowest level of the multi-tiered ruin, there was only darkness. However, the events that had been started by pressing the tile overhead triggered gaslights to start coming on, still operational after a thousand years. And as they came on, they illuminated something...an old, giant, metallic, flan-shaped chamber, dotted with rust and age from years and years of being buried underneath the ground, with hundreds of pipes leading to and from it. Yet as the chain reaction continued, something triggered a heavy set of sealed doors...which immediately broke and hissed, before cracking open and sliding apart.

All it revealed was thick mist billowing out. However, after a moment passed, lights inside the chamber came on as well...revealing what looked like a giant icebox. The inside was blue with cold and thick with ice. Great crystals hung like stalactites, and the floor was coated with it. Yet that wasn't all.

Six shapes, each vaguely the size of a pony, were inside the ice. Each one had been turned into a frozen statue, and had been that way for many, many years. Yet now that the freezer was at last open, heat began to leak inside. As it did...the ice began to drip and melt, and to do so rapidly, as if something was heating it up and not just letting it thaw. Perhaps the lights in the chamber. At any rate, water was soon swiftly moving off of the six shapes.

Abruptly...the ice erupted around one of their legs, and a thickly-armored hoof slammed down on the ground so strongly that it fractured the ice beneath it.

Ice erupted around the eye region of another...revealing an inclined, glowing, red light where the eye should have been.

---

Corona continued to lead the ponies deeper into the ruins of the city. As she did, she looked about the various ruins. It became clear now that not all of them were small buildings. Some had been quite large in their time. Everywhere, there were more devices and bits of devices, although all were smashed or broken in one way or another. Twilight kept her light burning as she shone it about the interior of the cave. Corona sighed again, and looked at everything with some fondness.

"Even as a ruin...I can still tell how great it was. Perhaps it can pass some of its greatest on to the modern Equestria."

"Uh...greatness?" Applejack asked incredulously as they walked along. "Don't mean to sound cynical, darlin'...but there just seems to be a bunch of metal and junk around here."

Corona let out a small laugh. "Oh...just look a bit closer, Applejack. Look over there, for example."

She pointed out to the distance. The cowgirl pony looked, and soon saw a set of frames on large buildings that stretched so far and long that they covered areas even larger than Sweet Apple Acres. The frames had glass frames still here or there, and among the buildings there were big devices that looked like odd wagons with metal gears and the like piled on top of them.

"Do you see those?" She said. "Those were our great greenhouses. And these were only some of many throughout all of the Magnificent Kingdom."

Applejack went a bit wide-eyed. "Greenhouses? Shucks, I've seen those before...but never that big."

"That's because they didn't just trap heat, Applejack. They had special devices in there to give light at night, warmth during the winter, rain during drought, and it could adjust the climate and soil to conform to anywhere in Equestria at any time of year. It meant an endless supply of food."

"Wow..." Twilight remarked. "That must have taken a massive amount of magic..."

Corona merely chuckled again. "No, Twilight. That was part of the wonder of the Magnificent Kingdom. It didn't require magic at all."

Hearing this, not only Twilight, but everyone with her, turned in alarm to Corona. "No...no magic?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, we still had some, but we didn't need it to survive." Corona responded. "We used technology and science. All the ponies were so learned and our queen so wise, that we could build things that would operate without any magic at all to help us. And see those?" She pointed to the other devices. "We call those tractors and combines... Big wagons that ran on their own to plant and harvest the food. Barely any toil was needed by earth ponies. They were free to simply enjoy the fruits of their work."

Applejack looked justly amazed. "Well...I'll be."

Pinkie moved on a bit longer, starting at the place, when she turned, and suddenly gasped. "Ooo...what is that?"

Corona looked forward, as did the others...and soon the group saw what looked like a series of metal rails on various hills, old, rotted carousels with the remains of chariots, wagons, and other animals on them, a great metal wheel, and many other strange devices. The ancient pony smiled at the sight of it. "Ah...that was our amusement park."

Pinkie blinked. "'Amusement' park? What's that?"

Corona laughed. "A place to have fun, Pinkie."

The pink pony lit up. "Fun? I love fun!" She quickly shot over to it, running past the group and up to the closed gates. However, once there, her face sank. "But...it doesn't look that fun to me..."

Corona moved up closer to her. "You aren't looking at it when it was fully operational. Using the power of technology, we had these wonderful rides. Coaches that would shoot up and down high speed twists and turns...cabs that would turn in a great circle to where you could see the whole kingdom...carousels with all the animals of Equestria on them...stands that served all sorts of delicious food and candy, like caramel apples or cotton candy or ice cream...and games! Every game you could think of!"

Pinkie's eyes grew progressively wider as she gazed at the ruins of the amusement park, taking all of this in and her smile only growing wider and wider as it did so. "This...this sounds like...paradise...! It sounds like a magic land where all you have to do all day is have as much fun as possible!"

"Well, it sort of was, Pinkie." Corona said as she walked along. The others gazed through the gates as they passed, one after the other, marveling at what was there. Gradually, they all turned their heads and left, however, following Corona along.

Once they had passed...a shadow popped up its head from behind an old food stand for a moment...eyes gleaming red as it looked through the darkness at the ponies.

Twilight, walking along, suddenly sensed something. She turned her head and looked behind her, back to the amusement park.

Nothing was there any longer.

Looking a bit uncomfortable, Twilight reluctantly turned her head back and kept walking.

"Well, that 'amusement park' was all well and good, but I dearly hope that it was more beautiful back in its day." Rarity responded. "I mean, so much of this town seems so rigid and unfashionable. It wouldn't hurt for there to be a touch of beauty in..."

Abruptly, her hoof kicked something. Pausing, the unicorn looked down, and scratched at a bit of the dirty ground for a moment...before something inside gleamed out, and reflected her face. Immediately, her eyes lit up and her face broke into a smile. She used her magic to lift it up and put it in front of her, revealing a rather large, gleaming, and beautiful diamond.

"My word...I've never seen such a lovely gem in all my life!" She exclaimed. "Look at how radiant it is!"

The other girls began to marvel at it. However, as Corona looked to it, she merely chuckled again. "What, that? That's one of the small ones at best."

Rarity blinked in surprise. "What...'small ones'?"

Corona gestured. Rarity and the others looked, and saw that this gem was only one of many, cast about like refuse, along with many fine things of gold and silver, leading all the way up to a ruined building that appeared to have been elegant and majestic in its day. "Behold...the Venus Jeweler Company." She announced. "Using the wonders of technology, we built great mining vehicles to tunnel deep into the ground and find gems, gold, silver, platinum, and almost any valuable and precious thing you could think of. We collected so much of it that we incorporated it into all of our art. All our paintings, sculptures, fashions, designs... It was almost a requirement for gold to be a part of every dress and artwork, and silver was so common you couldn't even buy an apple with it. All the riches of Equestria were either found here or flowed into here."

The white unicorn was almost at a loss, her eyes glittering almost as much as the gems. Slowly, she smiled. "Marvelous...simply marvelous! I've been using my magic to mine gems for years for my greater works of fashion art, but are you saying you built machines that allowed you to collect them far faster? Amazing!"

"Hmm..." Fluttershy suddenly spoke up. Her attention was on another thing already, something that was just a bit farther ahead. "Look at that over there."

The others did so. What they saw was what looked like the twisted, splintered, and rotted remains of what was once a lush forest, one that had once been large and strong...but had now decayed away from lack of light. Corona sighed a bit on seeing that, but still managed a smile.

"That was our great menagerie. There wasn't an animal that existed that couldn't be found there. Even great dragons could live there. We cared for them and learned about them in that place. Just like the greenhouses, we could adjust places in it to fit the needs of any animal that was brought in. Here we learned how to cure animal afflictions as completely and easily as pony afflictions. I'm so sorry you have to see it like it is now. When it was lush and alive, it was like no other natural habitat in all of Equestria. Pipes running underground kept it supplied with water...great lights overhead gave it plenty of sunshine...and massive amounts of food were brought in on locomotives to feed the appetites of all the animals that lived there. Not horse-drawn locomotives, mind you...ones that ran on technology."

"Oh my...that sounds simply amazing." Fluttershy admitted. "But...weren't you afraid to have a dragon in there?"

"There was no need to be afraid." Corona responded. "Every animal in Equestria wanted to be there. They received the royal treatment if they moved into the menagerie, and experienced care from the kindest and gentlest of our subjects."

"How lovely." Fluttershy said with a smile.

"How booooring." Rainbow groaned, suddenly flying in and flapping in front of her fellow pegasus. "Sure, it's great to take care of animals and all, and that amusement park was alright, but how about some sports? Some action? Some real fun?"

Twilight looked to Rainbow at this as they walked along. But as she did...a shadow streaked in between two of the ruins. She snapped her head to it...and, this time, was just in time to see one of the shadows vanish behind a ruined wall. She tensed a bit more at that, and looked forward again. Before she could say anything to Corona, however, the pony gestured ahead.

"Well...look no further than the Magnificent Kingdom's Coliseum." She said as she pointed up and over many of the ruins to show a giant, half-crumbled coliseum rising up from the ground in the distance. Rainbow saw it, and her jaw dropped.

"That's...that's even bigger than the one in Cloudsdale!" She remarked.

"Well, it had to be." Corona answered. "It had to be large enough for earth ponies to host one of their games, unicorns to host one of theirs, and pegasi to host their own...and all at once. There had to be room to bring in clouds and the like for pegasi obstacle courses, great creatures for unicorn competitions, and places for food and souvenirs for earth pony games. The greatest athletes from around the world would flock there. There would be magnificent contests...races, jousts, kickball games, decathlons, plays, pageants... Everypony made it a point to visit there at least once a week to see the amazing athletes. Oh...I'd give anything to show you all one last performance or game there..."

Rainbow was rather enthused at this point. "And I think I'd give anything to participate...show those ancient ponies what the amazing Rainbow Dash can do!"

Twilight looked to it momentarily, tensing up...and soon had her eyes widen again. For a moment...she saw two glowing lights, like eyes, gleaming out of the shadows of a ruin, before fading again. Swallowing, she turned to Corona. "Um...Corona? I don't want to upset you, but-"

Hearing this, Corona turned to Twilight. "Oh...I'm so sorry, Twilight. I just got so caught up in reminiscing, I almost forgot the main reason we're here. But as it turns out, that's not a problem... Here we are!"

Twilight looked forward...and soon went wide-eyed as well. A massive building, much larger than all the libraries of Canterlot put together, stood before them. Mounted on either side of the entrance was a pair of unicorns in togas with laurels on their heads, holding great books in their arms. On seeing it, Twilight almost forgot about the shadows. She approached slowly, her jaw still hanging, and barely able to contain her excitement as she moved up to it. Corona was at her side and the others followed, right up until they got to the entrance. Once there, Corona ducked her head inside and looked around.

"This..." Twilight said, her jaw nearly hanging on the ground. "This is..." At that, her mouth turned into a smile from ear-to-ear. "The biggest library I've ever seen! This is incredible! I could spend the rest of my life trying to read through all the books that must be in here! I can only imagine what's stored here...works from over a thousand years ago! Countless stories and maps and spellbooks and history books!"

Corona saw this and smiled as she turned back. "And it looks as if this place still has power too... Our queen claimed that it would last for five thousand years, if need be. I'm glad she was right." She immediately began to pass into the entrance. "Come on in, everypony. Although...Twilight, I think you're in for a bit of a surprise."

The six looked to one another for a moment, but then back to the entrance. Twilight's smile had been replaced by a bit of confusion, but she soon ventured in none the less.

Just inside, the interior was being illuminated by a few dim lights that seemed to come from glowing stones. Some were out, but enough were on to still cast some light into the chamber and see inside, even without Twilight's assistance. But as she came in and the others filed in around her, she soon looked rather puzzled.

"Huh?"

There wasn't a single book in the place. Rather, there were rows and rows of crystals arranged on all the shelves, each one of a similar size and shape, but having different unknown lettering on the bases. The shelves themselves were all arranged in rows along the floor, which itself was at the bottom of a series of descending stairs right in front of the group, to allow even more room in the already large building, and up and down the walls, reaching all the way to the ceiling. There had to be thousands. The others soon filed in, and all looked as confused as Twilight as they gazed around.

"Hey, what gives? Where are the books?" Rainbow asked.

"Nothin' here by lots of weird crystals..." Applejack responded, moving over to one, picking it up, studying it a moment, then setting it back down.

"Isn't this a library?" Twilight asked curiously.

"No, it's the royal archives!"

The unicorn looked out, and saw that Corona had already descended to the ground level. She looked over a few rows of crystals for a moment, but then lit up. "Here it is! The last crystal that was recorded in our kingdom!" She quickly snatched a crystal off the shelf, then balanced it on her back, before looking back up to the others. "Come on! I think at least one of the viewing rooms should still be working!" She turned and began to walk along the rows for the back soon after at a steady pace.

Twilight hesitated, but then took off down the stairs. The rest of the girls quickly followed. Soon, they reached ground level, and Twilight went up to Corona's side and fell in alongside her.

"I still don't get it... The statues outside made it look like this was a place for storing books or scrolls..."

Corona chuckled yet again. "I already told you, Twilight. We used a system different from books. These are all Lore Crystals."

Twilight turned her head. "'Lore Crystals'? Do you mean they're like memory crystals?"

"Oh no, Twilight. Those use magic. These ones record data right on the crystals. Another wonder of the great technology of the Magnificent Kingdom. You'll see what I mean shortly."

The unicorn was still confused, but she followed along, as did the others, until they reached the rear wall. Several sets of identical large doors were present, but Corona led them to just one of them. Opening the door, she let them all file in one after another...even as a flickering, pony-shaped shadow shot overhead, stared for a moment, and then departed once again.

Inside, Twilight and the others were confused again. The room looked like little more than the inside of a sphere, blank and smooth. The only thing of note that stood out was some sort of strange device in the center of the room. Once all were in, Corona entered as well, shut the door behind them, and then began to walk over to the device.

"I still don't get it. What do they do?"

Corona looked over the device, and soon smiled. "Excellent! There's still power! That means you'll all get to not only see the wonders of technology...but also get a chance to see my kingdom in all of its glory."

"But how?"

Corona turned to Twilight and showed off the crystal. "There is tiny etching and grooves all over this Lore Crystal. When placed in a device like this that can transmit light through it..."

Here, she dropped it in the top of the device...and, immediately, light was channeled into it. Twilight soon gaped at the result, as did all of the other ponies, as three dimensional images popped up on all of the surrounding walls, creating a fresh, new landscape of what could only be Equestria. All of the ponies marveled at the sight. It looked as if they were really back on the surface.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy remarked.

Rainbow flew over to the image of a tree and tried to touch it, only for her hoof to go right through. "This is...totally awesome!"

"Yay! A romp in the grass!" Pinkie said on spotting some of the landscape, and immediately tried to jump into it...instead smashing into the stone wall that made up the chamber. She made a rather loud noise as she did before slowly peeling off and falling to the ground. A moment later, her head popped up with her eyes swinging every which way due to being dazzled. "Uh...anypony get the number of that clover patch?"

Abruptly, however, the image changed. Different ponies began to walk into view, all of them of a different type and wearing the older style dress, dating back to the founding of the modern Equestria. When this came forth, Corona stepped away from the device a bit and narrated.

"As you all know, Equestria was founded on the first Hearth's Warming. The assistants of the leaders of the pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies persuaded their leaders to work together to found our country. However, just because they were living together didn't mean all was well. The matter was still left up for grabs of who would be in charge of what, and how the three races should decide things among each other. As a result, some distrust and hate lingered. It was particularly bad for one race..."

Abruptly, a unicorn, decked out in finery and elegant jewels, trotted in front of the viewer.

"The unicorns, with their handle on magic, had power over the day and night. Considered the wisest and most graceful and elegant of all the races, they founded the great city of Canterlot, where they continued to expand in power and knowledge of magic."

The unicorn moved aside, and a fully-armed and armored pegasus came next.

"The pegasi, with their ability to fly, had power over the weather. They were the strongest, fiercest, and most passionate of all the races, and they founded Cloudsdale for all pegasi to live among the heavens and to sharpen their skill."

The pegasus flew aside...revealing a shabbily-dressed earth pony who only slowly and nervously moved into view.

"But the earth ponies had neither magic nor special abilities. Their sole power lay in the ability to grow things. They were neither the smartest nor the strongest, neither the most beautiful nor the most passionate. As a result, they were considered the lowliest of ponies before long, almost beneath the pegasi and the unicorns. They were desired only to grow food. But since many beasts of burden on farms are used to grow food...they were soon considered little better than them."

The shot changed again, to something that made the other ponies look stunned. It showed a pair of armed pegasi escorting an elegant unicorn to a shabby, run-down farm, where rather miserable and dirty looking earth ponies, a family of them, cringed before them as the unicorn gave a decree.

"Some groups of unicorns and pegasi conspired to cheat the earth ponies... They charged them heavy taxes or portions of their crop yields for the privilege of sunlight and good weather. If they could not pay..."

The unicorn finished, and pointed out to the half-fallen, small homestead. Two more pegasi came forth and went up to it. As the earth ponies begged, the pegasi ripped the entire home from the ground and began to bear it away. However, what happened next shocked the six even more...as two more pegasi came forward and seized the earth pony's mother and one of the children. The family members clung desperately to each other, but the unicorn used his magic to put a wall between them, and the pegasi dragged them away.

"...Their property was seized, and their family broke apart...members sent off to work as servants for the well-to-do ponies to pay off their debts."

"You mean..." Fluttershy nervously asked. "They...they had slavery in Equestria?"

Twilight grimaced. "Unfortunately...I know they did. That much is in the history books. Initially, the quarrel over who had the right to rule all ponies featured all three races...but over time, the earth ponies were viewed less and less favorably by the pegasi and the unicorns, to the point where they essentially tried to make the decision of who should rule Equestria without their input."

"Times were horrible." Corona continued. "Earth ponies were treated with less and less respect, and feared that the unicorns and pegasi had finally united together only to put them under their hoof. Without magic or special abilities, there was nothing special about them to call any attention to them. The earth ponies were left poor and bitter."

The scene showed the remaining family members bursting into tears, falling on the ground and sobbing greatly. It wasn't just the loss of the family...but the fact that their entire livelihood had been taken away, leaving little ability to stop further family breakups from happening.

"Earth ponies began to believe the lies of the other two races, that without powers...they were nothing. Nothing but dull beasts of burden, unable to survive without the unicorns and pegasi giving them everything they needed to grow food both to feed themselves and their hungry families. They were that close to giving up hope, and had they done so, Equestria might now only be for the unicorns and pegasi.

"But then...she came."

On the image screen, a hoof, armored in resplendent silver and decorated both elegantly and powerfully, touched down on the ground. When it did, the broken family looked up to who it was, and reacted in some amazement.

The shot shifted to show the entire form of the arrival, showing that it was a majestic and stately earth pony, clad from head-to-toe in a beautful suit of seemless, gleaming silver...or even mithril. A long, flowing cape extended behind her. She wore a great helmet complete with decor, although the most conspicuous thing was not that so much of her head was enclosed by it...but that the rest of her face was covered with an intricate silver mask. Her mouth was still visible, however, turned into a caring, soft smile, and her eyes were large and beautiful.

"Queen Greenwood...our fair ruler...lovely, graceful, wise, and by far the greatest of all the ponies in Equestria. Most remarkably...she was an earth pony, but one of such unsurpassed beauty that no one could even bear to look at her face, and so she always kept it covered with a silver mask."

The scene changed to show the queen laying out parchment that showed many designs on it, and talking in a muted voice to surrounding earth ponies. She directed them to several things, and soon the ponies went about their work. Some tunneled into the ground and emerged with buckets of black rocks, while others felled timber. These materials were crafted and shaped and put together to build devices such as what had been in the greenhouse.

"Queen Greenwood had neither the magic of the unicorns nor the ability to manipulate the elements like pegasi, but what she did have was an amazing mind, and with it she planned the construction of fantastic devices."

Soon, the ponies began to till the earth and plant it with their new machines, yielding new and greater bounties, much to the delight of the earth ponies. They, in turn, sold them to the pegasi and unicorns, who were astonished at the amount of crops produced.

"Tractors for tilling the soil... Machines to sow the seed in hours for what used to take weeks... Concoctions to keep away bugs and disease... And the land blossomed for it. The yield was tremendous, and no family ever needed to be broken up again. No family ever needed to starve. Everyone who followed Greenwood's directions had more than enough."

The scene changed again, showing numerous new devices, being used to cut lumber, refine iron ore, and many other things. A larger group of earth ponies was soon building much larger and more stable houses.

"She continued to share her knowledge with the earth ponies, and soon, they were improving everything in their lives. Everyone had nicer homes and plenty to eat. But she gave us more wonders than that."

Another shot showed ponies digging underground plumbing, and then lighting up as they showered their crops with water. Another farmer frowned as the sun went down over his own field...only to light up when artificial lighting was moved in.

"Everyone was so happy and prosperous, that in time, the unicorns and pegasi too began to come around, and wanted to join us."

Sure enough, envoys of Canterlot unicorns and a legion of Cloudsdale pegasi landed in the next scene, right before an assembly of earth ponies around Queen Greenwood, who smiled softly and nodded to them.

"The queen let them all in, and working together, with no more inequality or divisions, the ponies united to build the Magnificent Kingdom."

The scene changed again, and this time, it showed even more...huge cranes and other building devices, trains bringing in stone and steel, and ponies working everywhere...building, constructing, tilling, growing, and making a magnificent and beautiful kingdom the likes of which didn't exist in Equestria. Twilight and the others could only gape in surprise at it.

"Everyone worked together and had more than enough, adopting the greatest practice that the queen gave to us: 'Industry'."

Scenes of teams of ponies tunneling into the ground both for black rocks and ores as well as precious jewels were depicted, and other ponies clearing large forests were included. The materials streamed into large buildings and factories within the Magnificent Kingdom, where hundreds of ponies made them into thousands of goods, fine crafts, foods, and many other things.

"We were the most beautiful and prosperous kingdom in all of history...having reached a state of wonder and culture never before seen..."

Scenes of fillies running through the gardens and playing with all of the various animals went by, while other ponies cried in delight as they rode the magnificent rides in the amusement park. Fantastic contests and games were played in the Coliseum to thousands of cheering fans, while, outside, ponies in dresses of fine jewels walked by while silver and gold was plated over the buildings and roads. Numerous pony farmers moved their great devices along to harvest huge bounties from the greenhouses while a score of scholar ponies headed to the centers of learning. And above it all, in a great palace looking over everything, Queen Greenwood smiled as she surveyed the Magnificent Kingdom.

"We continued to grow in knowledge and power, ever becoming richer and greater, and the queen's rule and our prosperity seemed secure."

Suddenly, the skies overhead began to turn dark, and the queen, her smile fading, looked to the sky.

"But it wasn't to last. The dark times came..."

The scene changed to a bolt of lightning in the sky, and then shifted down to reveal the Crystal Kingdom...and thousands of ponies chained to heavy yokes and being whipped by taskmasters.

"King Sombre took over the Crystal Kingdom and imposed a harsh rule on the ponies there, introducing cruelty and savagery the likes of which were never known to Equestria beforehand."

A scene showed one team of ponies suddenly halting, looking around a bit, and then quickly producing a hastily-made lockpick and undoing their chains. Once gone, they turned and fled south. The scene shifted again, showing the weary, starving, and half frozen ponies stumbling into the Magnificent Kingdom, where some of the residents came to their aid.

"Some managed to flee to our kingdom...but many remained cruelly enslaved. And to the south..."

The scene showed something that was total chaos. Trees were turned upside down so that roots grew in the air while branches grew in the soil. Ponies walked by soaking wet in the sun while ponies in a downpour were dying of thirst. Sheep chased around lions with saber teeth, and some ponies swam in the air while others breathed and walked underwater. Over it all, the cackling, twisted, amalgamation of evil did the backstroke.

"Discord reigned."

Once more, a few confused and dizzy-looking ponies stumbled into the Magnificent Kingdom before collapsing, and again they were aided.

"And then...one day..."

A scene of one street showed happy citizens of the Magnificent Kingdom walking by...when the sun suddenly went out, and darkness came over the land. Blinking in confusion, they looked to the sky...just in time to see the laughing, midnight-black form of Nightmare Moon shoot across the heavens.

"Nightmare Moon arose, and sentenced all of Equestria into eternal night."

Immediately, electric lights began to turn on all over the kingdom. The ponies showed some relief at that, but the shot went to the highest tower, where Queen Greenwood looked troubled. She soon turned away and began to walk back into the tower.

"Our queen sheltered many ponies, and the wonders of her technology spared us the wrath of an invasion from Sombre, chaos from Discord, and even the gloom of eternal night by Nightmare Moon. Yet our kingdom was overcrowded with refugees, and our resources stretched to the limit. Queen Greenwood was forced to make the difficult decision to expand our territory and enlarge our kingdom so that we could support everyone. Yet even as she was about to make this decree...the worst of all came..."

Suddenly, a hoof wrapped in shadow slammed down on the balcony where the queen had been. She spun around in fright. The image showed who was there, but all that anyone could see was a dark shadow with lightning flashing behind it, eyes gleaming in the darkness.

"The Destroyer."

Queen Greenwood shrank back slightly as the shadow stepped forward. Soon after, it pointed a hoof at her.

"The Destroyer appeared before the queen one day and demanded that all of our factories be shut down, all of our great machines be turned off and destroyed, all of our designs burned, and our entire way of life abandoned forever. Furthermore, she demanded that she abdicate the throne and that every earth pony, every pegasus, and every unicorn swear allegiance to her. The queen tried to reason with her, telling her how much the ponies would suffer if they were so suddenly and abruptly deprived of their technology, but she wouldn't listen."

The queen held back a moment longer, but then her eyes became firm. She leaned up and shook her head no.

"And when Queen Greenwood refused to accept such demands..."

In response, the shadow turned around and produced a unicorn horn...which immediately shot into a dark storm cloud in the heavens. On striking it...six smaller dark shadows popped out of it, each one clad in cruel-looking armor, eyes gleaming, and faces beneath their helmets twisted in malice and evil.

"...The Destroyer called forth them...the Six Dullahan. We don't know if they were ponies, or merely were ponies once but were now something different...but we knew they were evil."

Immediately, the six went over the kingdom. One of them swept over to the city and began to throw balls of flame at it...blowing up large portions of the buildings and sending ponies fleeing in terror. Another one swept into the jewel exchange and proceeded to violently rip all of the jewels off of everyone within, before going about the city and stealing all the wealth of everyone there. A third went into the park, grinned maliciously at the children, and then began to smack them around, stomp on their tails, snap at the animals, and burn every tree. A fourth flew into the midst of fleeing ponies looking for relief from the first, and motioned them all to seek refuge in a building. They all fled in...and as soon as the last was inside, she laughed darkly before taking off...revealing the "building" was a fake set right in the midst of train tracks, and was struck by a rampaging locomotive, sending ponies everywhere. Another went to the amusement park and began to blow up all of the rides and snack stations, turning laughter into screams and tears. The sixth and final one was confronted by the guard of the Magnificent Kingdom, but she single-handedly batted them all aside, and went about torturing them as she did.

"Their cruelty was unmatched...their capacity for destruction unequaled... It wasn't long before our kingdom was thrown into despair and chaos just as much as the rest of Equestria. And it wasn't long before all of us learned to fear their emblems...so innocent-seeming and pure...and yet now signs of fear and destruction..."

Then, something was shown on the screen that made all six gasp in unison.

The Six Dullahan turned and showed that they wore emblems...an apple, a jewel, a balloon, a butterfly, a lightning bolt, and a sparkle...the last of which was mounted on a headpiece.

"That...that can't be..." Twilight exhaled.

"That...looks just like...my..." Pinkie began to exhale.

"Those...those couldn't truly be...the Elements of Harmony?" Rarity stated in disbelief.

They weren't the actual elements…rather images of them. But they matched them perfectly.

The scenes continued. With the guards defeated, the six continued to wage destruction. At last, Queen Greenwood, eyes filled with shock and fear, wandered out into the street. She gazed about in horror at everything that was going on.

"Unable to contend with such fearsome enemies," Corona continued. "The queen again used her knowledge to trick them instead."

The Six Dullahan soon spotted her, and grinned in malicious delight. Immediately, she turned and ran for it, even as the six either ran or flew after her, nipping at her heels and lashing out again and again with their weapons and blows.

"There was a large freezer in the Magnificent Kingdom used for food preservation. The queen lured them inside..."

Soon, she ran up to what looked like a large container with hundreds of pipes streaming through it, and halted right in front of the entrance. She snapped around and looked behind her, seeing the six almost ready to lunge. At that, she moved a hoof to her breastplate and pressed it down...activating some sort of rockets in her legs that made her shoot in the air...and right over the six as they charged forward and landed inside. She immediately landed soon afterward, and pressed another button to shut the doors and seal them. The Six Dullahan, finding themselves stuck, tried to escape...but the doors slammed shut just in time, and immediately hissed and sealed. A moment later, all of the pipes pumped cold mist into it.

"...and sealed them in, freezing them."

Queen Greenwood sighed in relief...just as a shadow slammed down on the ground behind her...the Destroyer. She turned and gaped in shock.

"Seeing her champions defeated...the Destroyer was enraged."

Again, a horn flew into the air...and thunder began to shoot down from the heavens and started to shatter and destroy whatever the Six Dullahan had spared. Queen Greenwood looked around in shock...before the Destroyer lowered her head and glared at her with flashing eyes. Soon after, the lightning came down and began to strike at her as well. Fearful, the queen turned and fled, with the Destroyer nipping at her heels.

"She set about to finish the work the six had begun, and to strike down our queen once and for all. Whether Queen Greenwood fled in fear, or if she had one last plan awaiting her within her palace, I don't know...and probably will never know. All that I saw of her was what the few of us who hadn't already fled saw...her running back into the palace..."

The queen charged through the gates of the now abandoned palace and threw the front door. As for the Destroyer, she didn't follow, but soon swept around and flew to the same window she had landed on to begin with, before charging inside. For a moment, there was nothing but silence and stillness.

"...And then, the cornerstone of our kingdom falling."

Some sort of force erupted from within the palace, and immediately the foundations were shattered. As the ponies looked on in shock, the entire bottom of the palace was annihilated, and the rest of it collapsed like a house of cards...leaving nothing but rubble behind within moments. The citizens of the kingdom looked on in a mixture of shock and terror. They gazed in horror, children clinging to their parents, battered warriors lowering their heads and letting their helmets fall.

"Finally, came the last thing I remember...which must be the last thing any remembers, for this is where this record ends…"

Abruptly, on the ruins of a tall building nearby, the shadow came down, hunched over. The ponies gasped and shrank back, as lightning flashed around, turning it into a shadow.

"I remember seeing her clearly...seeing her face to face...right before she cast the spell that imprisoned me and the rest of the people of our kingdom...and being so terrified to see her look at us..."

The lightning died down...and the shadow raised its head, showing off its horn and unfurling its wings. Finally, in the dim light, a dark and stern face appeared and became clear.

And on seeing it...the six friends watching all paled and gave a unified gasp at who they saw.

"Prin...Princess Celestia...?"

At once, the image cut off, and the lights came back on...the result of Corona suddenly shooting forward and slamming into the device. Her eyes had gone wide, and she gaped in shock and terror at the six.

"You...you know the name of the Destroyer?!"

The six blinked in astonishment. They looked to one another, in total disbelief...still unable to process what they had just seen. After a moment, they looked back to Corona.

"There...there has to be some sort of mistake...some sort of error... Maybe...maybe your records became corrupted..." Twilight asked.

"That couldn't have been her! It couldn't possibly have been her!" Rarity protested.

"Maybe it was somepony who just looked a lot like her...?" Pinkie asked...her own voice no longer merry but rather unsettled.

Corona, however, advanced on the group, her look tightening.

"How do you know of the Destroyer? Tell me!"

The six looked to each other uneasily again for a moment, and then back to Corona. Twilight swallowed.

"That...that was Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria."

Corona's pupils shrank. "You...you mean to tell me the princess you spoke of...your teacher...was none other than the Destroyer herself?! The one who plagued our kingdom with destruction and misery?! The one who destroyed our civilization and turned us into a ruin?! The one who unleashed the Six Dullahan upon us?!"

Twilight swallowed again, and shook her head. "There...there has to be a mistake, Corona. Celestia would never do anything like that. It had to have been an error..."

"There was no error!" Corona almost shouted back. "I remember her! I remember how innocent she seemed...and how vile she was at heart! I remember how her mane fluttered like a rainbow, how her tiara gleamed like the sun, how she looked so gentle and kind...but had nothing but hatred for us! How she was deaf to our pleas for mercy!" She paused momentarily, and bowed her head.

"Then it must have been an imposter, Corona." Twilight insisted. "I swear, I know Princess Celestia. She couldn't possibly do any of those things."

"She's so sweet and gentle and kind..." Fluttershy added. "She's always been so nice to all of us..."

"It had to be a mistake...a cruel joke." Applejack threw in.

Corona looked at them all for a moment. As she did, realization seemed to come over her.

"...So that's what she did."

She turned her head away and began to pace. Meanwhile, the six continued to look confused...and still troubled, in spite of their own assertions. "What are you talking about, Corona?" Twilight asked.

She looked back to him. "You six...you looked like you had never heard of the Magnificent Kingdom before when I told you about it. And now I know why..." She turned fully to them. "There's no record of it, is there? In none of your history books. And the ruins of it are right here...buried down in this hole."

Twilight couldn't answer. However, the look she and the others gave was proof enough. Corona bowed her head again.

"That's what happened... She completely destroyed our civilization and buried all evidence of it...and imprisoned all of our people. Then she only released them on the pledge that they revere her and make her ruler of Equestria. They must have missed me somehow...because there were thousands of ponies living in the Magnificent Kingdom... It's easy to see how that might have occurred... And then, with all evidence of our kingdom and queen gone, she was free to become the most revered and praised individual in Equestria, to be adored and loved by all future generations..."

The unicorn could hardly bear to hear what she was saying. For a brief second, she almost took it in...before her senses came back and she shook her head. "No...no, Corona. None of that happened. Like I said, it was either a mistake or an imposter."

The ancient pony looked to her. "Then why is there no record of our kingdom, Twilight? Why did she not chronicle who we were? Why did she not share our knowledge with other ponies so that part of what we built would endure? And if she wasn't the Destroyer...then why did she let the Destroyer ravage our kingdom? Why did she not come to our aid?"

Twilight had no answers to any of that. She opened her mouth to respond...but could think of nothing.

"...Oh, this is stupid." Rainbow suddenly interjected...forcing herself to speak boldly, for even she was uncertain. "Everyone knows Celestia would never do those things. I mean...heh...if she did, and she really didn't want anypony to know the truth, wouldn't she be trying to keep ponies out of here? You know...have a guard or something?"

Twilight's pupils shrank in shock.

"Yeah, or get somepony to cover the entrance as soon as it was opened up again?" Applejack threw in.

The unicorn's face began to turn to horror. And, unfortunately, it didn't go unnoticed. Fluttershy soon moved in.

"Um...Twilight, are you alright?"

The unicorn hesitated, but then shook her head. She snapped out of it, but her brow was sweating and her look uncomfortable and uneasy. "Uh...sure, Fluttershy. I'm fine." She swallowed a bit afterward, and hesitated.

All of the evidence seemed to be pointing to a rather dark conclusion...and the conclusion was like a weight on Twilight's heart. She tried to see the image of the good, kind, and noble Princess Celestia, the one who had literally taken Twilight under her wing, surrounded her with love and encouragement, and had ruled Equestria justly and fairly. Yet in spite of her best efforts...she kept seeing the image of that dark Celestia superimposed on it, saw the flashing lightning...and the Six Dullahan bearing the images of the Elements of Harmony... Yet before she indulged these thoughts too long, she shook her mane.

"...Princess Celestia has always been kind and honest to me, and I have no reason not to trust her." She stated more firmly and resolutely, forcing back her doubt. "Before I go believing any of these things, I think I owe it to her to let her explain her side of the story. And when she does, I'm sure this will be a gigantic misunderstanding."

With that, the unicorn turned and began to walk out. "Come on, everypony. Let's get back to the library and Spike. I need to send a letter to Princess Celestia right away."

Emboldened by Twilight's confidence and assurance, the other five began to feel their own faith in Celestia restored, and the moment of doubt chased away. They began to follow her soon after. Corona, however, still looked fearful. As they passed out through the doors, she soon shot out and came in front of Twilight, crouching to the ground and cringing.

"Twilight, I beg you...don't do it. If she's truly not what you think she is, then you can be sure mentioning our kingdom will make her reveal her true nature, and I fear what she'll do to you when that happens."

The unicorn paused only a moment, but then grew firm again.

"I'm sorry, Corona...but I trust the princess. And I believe in her. There has to be a reason for all of this, and after how good she's been to me over the years, I owe it to her. Not only as my teacher, not only as my princess, but as my friend."

Corona looked on a moment longer, still insistent. In the end, however, she closed her eyes, bowed her head, and sighed.

"...If that's what you wish, Twilight, then I won't stop you. I have no right to." She looked up a moment after. "All I ask is that you be careful."

"Don't worry." Twilight said, her smile returning. "Everything will be fine. You'll see."

At that moment, however, something suddenly peeled through the darkness...a cruel, biting laugh. On hearing it, Corona's fear doubled as she went rigid. But she wasn't the only one. The others looked around, tensing up and gazing about fearfully.

"Wha...what was that?" Applejack asked.

The only answer was another bout of dark laughter, followed by a shadow shooting through the ruins of the archives. The ponies turned to it, only to have another black shape shoot past two windows behind them, and causing them to snap back around. Soon, they all began to cringe together...as another laugh went out.

Pinkie gulped. "I normally like a good laugh...but this is starting to scare me..."

"Who in Equestria could that be?" Rarity asked nervously as yet another shadow darted by.

Corona was almost white as a sheet. "It's...it's them."

"Them who?" Rainbow asked, trying her best to look bold, but not really doing that great.

"The Six Dullahan..." Corona responded. "I know their laughter anywhere...I'll never forget it as long as I live."

"The Six Dullahan?!" Twilight responded. "But...you said they were imprisoned!"

"Did the freezer run out of ice or something?" Pinkie gulped.

"It couldn't have." Corona answered. "It was designed to run for as long as the royal archives..." She stiffened. "Something must have let them out! Some sort of trigger or trap if someone wandered in here!"

Another laugh, joined by a second, as the shadows began to dart around faster.

"What...what do we do?" Fluttershy said nervously, her wings pressed against her and her legs trembling.

"There's no way we can fight them, especially not underground!" Corona cried. "Run!"

Instantly, the seven pitched forward and began to run for the entrance. As they did...chaos already began. Bookshelves were knocked over, and a few of the crystals on the wall cast down and shattered. The laughter grew and grew as the shadows kept moving about. The girls looked about in fear, but kept charging for the exit. Finally, they reached the stairs. Twilight and Corona in the lead began to move toward them to run up...

When a ball of flame shot down from the sky and ignited...spreading a wall of fire in front of the stairs. Crying out in shock, the seven ground to a halt before they could run into it, and quickly shrank back. The laughter only grew louder and louder around them, biting, cruel, and mocking. The girls looked about in terror as the flames burned...before they started to see a dark shadow on the other side of it. They all focused forward. Corona went back, while Twilight forced herself to stand her ground and point her horn at it.

As the laughter continued...a pony clad in dark, cruel armor finally leapt out of the fire and landed on the ground in front of it, eyes gleaming red from beneath her helmet. Her mouth was twisted in an evil smile. However, what shocked Twilight most of all was what was on her head...

She wore an iron crown on top of her helmet. Although it only had the shape of it...there was no mistaking it bore the shape of the sparkle of the Magic Element of Harmony.

"Well, well, well..." The armored pony hissed. "And here I thought, after sleeping for a thousand years, there wasn't anypony left to torment in the Magnificent Kingdom." She chuckled, and took another step forward...making everyone else back up. "So glad I was mistaken..."

A more demented laugh suddenly went off right next to the girls, and they snapped to it...just in time to see a twisted, half-crazy-looking pony in dark armor and an emblem of a butterfly around her neck move in on armored wings, giggling at them. "Let's have some fun with them, Nova!" She giggled...before reaching out and seizing Fluttershy's mane, giving it a violent tug. "Let's rip out their manes and tails and hang them upside down by them!"

Fluttershy gave a cry of panic, and quickly pulled back when the pony released her.

"No..." Said another voice, and the others looked just in time to see another armored one pop up next to Rarity, this one with the shape of a jewel. "Let's see if they've got any jewels or valuables on them first... No sense in letting such pretty things go to waste..." With that, she snatched Rarity's miner's helmet off and began to look at it. "Ooo...pretty!"

"You scoundrel!" Rarity retorted. "Hand that back this-"

The pony snorted...and swung her own helmet down, which bore a unicorn's horn, and slapped the end of her nose. Rarity yelped and recoiled, and the three giggled in delight.

Twilight looked back to the leader at this with an angry frown. "Leave my friends alone!" With that, she aimed her horn forward, and shot out a beam of purple light straight for her. In response, the leader yawned, and held up an armored hoof...causing the beam to ricochet harmlessly off and to one side. Twilight cut off her spell soon after, and gaped at what she saw. However, the leader only laughed.

"You call that a spell?" She laughed. "The ponies here look like they're going to be much less fun that the ones from the Magnificent Kingdom..."

Twilight didn't know what to do. Swallowing a bit, she readied another spell, despite how useless it might have been. Applejack and Rainbow moved to either side of her and tightened up too. Even if they couldn't win, they had to try. However, as they prepared to fight, a voice called out.

"This way, ponies! Run this way!"

Hearing that, Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow snapped their heads up and around, having heard the voice from that direction. They saw a shadow beckoning them. By now, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were so frightened that they instinctively ran that way. However, on seeing this, Corona's own eyes widened, and she overcame her fear long enough to look up. Immediately, she shouted. "No, don't!"

In a flash, she was on her feet and ran over in front of them. Before they could get too far, she passed them and held her limbs out, blocking them from going any further. And a good thing too. As they ran into her, they pushed Corona slightly...until her hoof touched one section of the floor...which collapsed, revealing a pit of spiked crystals. A moment later, a grinning pony in dark armor with an apple emblem around her neck came out and shrugged innocently.

"Oops...did I forget to mention to mind the spike trap?"

The four gaped in shock and fear...but even as they did a fifth armored pony stepped out and moved over to them. "Oh, don't be so quick with them... Our fellow Dullahan is right...we should have some fun with these ponies." She soon revealed herself to have the balloon emblem as she walked right over to Pinkie. She stood next to her a moment, before she lashed out with her teeth, bit her ear, and gave a sharp tug, pulling it back so hard that when she released it, it snapped back and slapped the side of her head. Pinkie yelped in pain, and immediately began to cry. In response, the pony grabbed her by the chin. "I want to savor each and every one of their tears..."

Rainbow, at this point, had enough. She grit her teeth and shot into the air, putting her front hooves up.

"Ugh, let us go you bunch of bullies, or I'll-"

"Oh...this one has a bit of fight in her."

Abruptly, the pegasus paused, and then looked behind her, finding the sixth and final Dullahan, her neck emblazoned with a lightning bolt, hovering next to her.

"Tell me, my little pony, what exactly are you going to do if we don't let you go?"

Rainbow immediately frowned. "How about this?"

She swung a hoof out for the Dullahan's head...but she merely ducked underneath it, and then snapped around and gave Rainbow a potent kick that send her flying back to the ground hard. She smashed into it so badly that she battered a small hole into the floor. Her friends were soon at her side, and helping her up, but she was dazzled as the Six Dullahan laughed. They all looked up, and soon tensed and came together as they started to close in.

"Which one first?" The leader asked.

"The yellow one! I want to hear her squawk!"

"No, the spunky one! I want to break her down!"

"How about the little hero who tried shooting you, Nova? Let's snap her horn..."

As the Six Dullahan closed in, the girls only grew more and more nervous, cringing more from them as they're cruel eye lenses gleamed. However, as their shadows passed over them, Corona, panicked, looked around momentarily, before she spotted something. A rock was on the ground. She looked up, and saw a control button against the wall. Quickly, she lowered her head, seized the rock in her teeth, leaned up, and tossed it across the room to smash into the button. The moment it did, pipes in the ceiling broke, and sprinkler water began to rain down. The Six Dullahan froze, and looked up in confusion.

"Huh?"

Even as they did, however, the fire was drenched...and the way made clear. Corona straightened and cried out. "Run!"

None of the others needed to be told twice. They quickly charged for the entrance. Three of the Dullahan were in front of them, but they were soon smacked down and nearly trampled as the seven ponies charged by them, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. Soon, they were up the stairs, out the door, and running away. The leader, left on the ground momentarily, shook her head, and sneered at the opening.

"Get them!"

The seven continued to charge onward, but it wasn't long before the Six Dullahan shot out of the royal archives, mostly pounding holes through the walls to do so, and charged after them. By now, it was clear two were unicorns, two were pegasi, and two were earth ponies...but the pegasi seemed to be the fastest in Equestria, the unicorns used their magic to make themselves move onward, and even the earth ponies were incredibly fast. As they charged through the ruins of the Magnificent Kingdom, they didn't take long at all to start catching up.

As they passed, Applejack tried kicking an old wagon machine into their path, but they merely kicked it out of the way...shattering it in the process. Fluttershy tried weaving around the ruins of trees, only to have the Dullahan smash them to splinters without slowing. Rarity tried picked up a few circular gems from an old cart with her horn and rolling them behind her, but the Dullahan picked them up all up and stashed them before running on. Pinkie tried hiding among some debris as she ran along, only to have her pursuers pop out behind her every place she popped up. Twilight tried casting a barrier spell...but the Six Dullahan shattered it without halting and kept after them. Finally, Rainbow tried whipping up a tornado in a flash and using it to bar their way...but the Dullahan smashed into it, turning it into a shower of lightning bolts and flying back at the others, nearly zapping them.

"It's no good!" Applejack yelled. "Nothin's even slowin' 'em down!"

"We aren't going to make it out in time!" Rainbow cried.

Corona, as panicked as the others, looked around a bit, before she spotted something. One store was broken into, and what looked like camera devices were scattered on the ground. She quickly ran forward and snatched one up. "Everyone, grab one of these and hope they still work!"

Having little other option, the ponies did so as the Six Dullahan closed in. Just as they were reaching striking distance, Corona snapped around as well as everyone else, and held the cameras up.

"Cheese!" Pinkie called as they all pressed the buttons together, letting out a blinding flash.

The Six Dullahan were stunned for a moment, before the flash hit them in their glowing lenses. Immediately, sparks came out from the helmets, and they all reared back, winced, and shook their heads. They appeared to be quite blinded by the move. Not waiting for them to recover, Corona threw her own camera down and ran for it. The others quickly did, one after another...except Pinkie, who tried to snap another picture before Applejack leaned in, seized her by the tail, and yanked her along with them.

"That'll only stun them for a moment! We need to get out of here!" Corona called.

"But how did you know that would work?" Twilight called back as she ran along.

"Ask me when we get out of here! Hurry!"

"We're almost out!" Rainbow shouted, pointing ahead. "Look!"

The seven looked up ahead, and sure enough...they were right back where they found Corona. The sloped tunnel was just up ahead. Soon, they reached it. Applejack was first and tried to charge up it, but running only made her slide back down. Rainbow quickly slammed in behind her and tried to push to get her up. However, the others soon got there too. Fluttershy tried to push Rarity, but she wasn't nearly as good as Rainbow. The others tried to climb, but they could only walk.

As they struggled, a voice called from further back, echoing through the cave, that made every pony freeze in terror.

"You seven will pay for that! We'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget!"

They turned to each other soon after.

"It's hopeless!" Rarity called. "We can't run up this ramp!"

Twilight paused a moment, lowered her head and thought, but then looked up. "No...but we can do what I did back in the Crystal Palace! Everypony hold on!"

Before anyone could question anything, Twilight raised her horn and produced a bright aura...and the world abruptly seemed to invert. The other cried out a moment as they suddenly shot up to the ceiling, which was now angled downward, and began to slide down, or rather up, the passageway.

"Wow, that's brilliant, Twilight!" Fluttershy remarked.

"Who would have thought I'd use this spell again so soon?" Twilight responded. "And they told me back in school there was no use for gravity reversion...ha!"

The ponies continued to slide down for a moment, before they heard a booming laugh from behind them, echoing up the chamber. They turned in shock to look behind them.

"They're still after us!" Applejack cried.

Corona looked back up to Twilight. "Douse your horn! At least they won't be able to see us!"

Twilight hesitated a moment. Doing so would put them in near total blackness. However, on hearing the wicked laugh of the Six Dullahan, she sighed, turned forward, and doused her horn again. The group was almost in complete darkness now, with only the aura from Twilight's gravity spell lighting the way. It was rather fearsome, but hopefully provided more cover. They continued to slide on into the gloom...

Finally, the area leveled out, indicating they were back on the smooth tunnel again. When that happened, Twilight's horn immediately flared, and the seven gave out mild cries as they were dumped on the floor of the tunnel. Once that was done, they all lay in a heap for a moment, before quickly snapping to attention and getting onto all four hooves. Rainbow and Fluttershy took to the air, and immediately brightened up. "Look!"

The other five did so, and saw, far at the end of the tunnel, daylight shining into the cave.

"We're almost there!" Fluttershy called.

"Come on, everypony! Run!" Rainbow threw in.

Quickly, the other ponies got to their feet, and one by one began to move...Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Twilight, and finally Corona, who took one step away from the edge of the dark drop back to the ruins...

...When the snout of one of the Dullahan shot out and bit down on her tail, instantly yanking back into the shadow. Corona cried out, and immediately went flat on her stomach, before she was yanked back toward the lip. Her front hooves scrambled out, and managed to seize some rocks...but they soon began to crumble.

Hearing the cry, Twilight froze, and instantly snapped around. The others halted and looked back as well, but the unicorn gasped and began to run back. "Corona!"

"Twilight...stay back...!" She managed to call as she strained. "Get out of here...ugh...while you all can!"

One of the rocks broke free, and Corona slid halfway into the darkness, holding on desperately by one remaining hoof.

"We aren't going to leave you!" Twilight shouted back.

"You have to...ugh! I'll...hold them...back...as long as I can! AH!"

With that, the other rock snapped...and Corona immediately vanished over the edge and into the darkness. Twilight gaped in shock.

"Corona!"

She tried to shoot out...but Applejack and Pinkie immediately moved in front of her and seized her by either shoulder, dragging her back toward the light. She struggled against them a moment. "Let me go! We have to help her!"

"But those ponies are way too strong!" Pinkie protested.

"She's right, sugarcube!" Applejack retorted. "We can't help Corona now! But she'll have got caught for nothin' if we stay!"

Twilight's eyes shimmered as she stared back into the darkness. She held a bit longer. Hard a decision as it had been to let Spike deliver the Crystal Heart...this was a far, far harder decision. She was being told to sacrifice Corona, essentially. Biting back tears, she turned away and went with the others, running back toward the cave entrance as fast as she could.

It was the longest run of Twilight's life, although it couldn't have taken more than half a minute. The welcoming sunlight shone larger and brighter as they came forward. All the while, they looked behind themselves, expecting the Six Dullahan to pop out of the darkness and drag them into it. Twilight almost wished they would...if only so she could try and get Corona. However, they didn't come. Only a few faint dark laughs, fading in the distance, were heard from the gloom and shadow. At long last...they reached the tunnel entrance. Fluttershy and Rainbow quickly flew out, then stood on the lip and leaned in for the others. First Rarity and Pinkie were yanked out of the hole, and then Applejack and Twilight. With one last yank, Twilight found herself pulled out of the darkness and placed on the grassy ground and the sunlight again.

She held there and panted for a few moments, just long enough to catch her breath. The others were much the same. However, she swallowed first, and soon looked up. "We've got to-"

Instantly, she froze at what she saw. The others soon looked up as well and did much the same.

They were surrounded by two rows of fully armed and armored Canterlot guards. They didn't aim anything at the group, but they bore their normally cold and stoic expressions as they stood there at attention, and their looks were anything but friendly as they stared at the six. For a moment, there was silence as they looked around. Twilight soon began to cringe, while the others only looked around in confusion.

"Huh?" Applejack called aloud. "The Royal Guard?"

"What on earth are they doing here?" Rarity asked.

Abruptly, the guard shifted. Twilight looked to the source as they parted. When they did, she immediately began to grow nervous, suspecting the reason. A moment later...it was confirmed.

Rainbow mane floating in the wind, tiara sparkling, and coat flawless and dazzling white...Princess Celestia stepped forward. Whereas normally she had a kind and caring expression on her face...not so this time. Twilight had not seen Celestia look so dark and stern since the day she had hurled her accusations at "Cadance". Although they ultimately turned out to be justified, at the time she had given her the look of condemnation reserved for a pony consumed with petty jealousy. This may not have been the same...but if anything, it was worse.

The six actually stared a moment. Normally, they would have immediately given a respectful bow. However...the image they had seen in the ruins flashed through their minds momentarily, and even Twilight felt, deep in her heart of hearts, hesitation. Yet in the end, they all lowered their heads and shoulders to her. Princess Celestia did not change as she approached them and halted.

"Twilight Sparkle." She stated, her voice resonating and soft...but this time, only so much as a gentle thunder building on the horizon. "What are you doing here? You were told not to enter these ruins again and to cover the entrance. Did Spike fail to deliver my letter?"

Twilight gulped and raised her head slowly, but the others quickly looked up and stared at her.

"Huh? What's she talking about, Twilight?" Applejack asked.

"When did that happen?" Rainbow added. "You never told us any of that."

Twilight paused a moment, and swallowed. In the end, she spoke. "...No, he did, princess."

The five looked up a bit at this, surprised, and stared at Twilight.

"And so that means you willfully disobeyed my command." The princess responded darkly.

"I...I can explain..." The unicorn began.

"There is nothing to explain, Twilight." Celestia cut off. "I warned you to stay away from these ruins. Instead, you let not only yourself but your friends inside. And what was the result? I am assuming not good considering how dirty and tired you all look."

"Twilight...why didn't you tell us she said not to go back?" Fluttershy asked timidly.

"After what nearly happened to us, how could you do such a thing?" Rarity asked.

Twilight continued to look embarrassed, but raised her head again.

"...It was irresponsible of me, and I know it, princess. I'll accept whatever punishment you wish to give me. But please...there's another pony down there! She was caught by something evil... Some things called the Six Dullahan!"

On hearing this, Celestia's look broke. She actually reared back slightly, raising a hoof, as her eyes widened. "Did you just say...?"

"You have to help her, princess! It's my fault she went down! You see, we-"

Abruptly, however, Twilight snapped her head back...for Celestia's own suddenly lowered...and her look became fierce as she glared at Twilight.

"You are never to speak to anyone of the Six Dullahan or the Magnificent Kingdom again, Twilight Sparkle...nor to mention one word of what you saw down in those ruins. That is not a request...but a command." She soon looked up to the others. "And that goes for the rest of you."

Twilight blinked...and hesitated. The change that had come over Celestia was almost...frightening. For a moment, she seemed like a different alicorn... The others actually recoiled a bit in fear on seeing this...

After a moment, the princess leaned up and stood upright.

"...You and your friends are to return to the library and remain there, without speaking to anyone of what you saw, including Spike, until I come to speak with you personally. As to whoever is still down in those ruins...I will address them shortly. That will be all."

Twilight hesitated momentarily, but then spoke up. "Princess Celestia, I have to ask-"

Immediately, Celestia's eyes and horn flashed momentarily with power. "I said that will be all."

The unicorn actually shrank back a bit from her...but Celestia did not change. She continued to look fiercely at her. After a moment, Twilight, bowing her head again, began to slowly walk around the princess and through the crowd of Canterlot guards. The others soon began to follow after her, also moving with heads bowed and slowly. Fluttershy actually used her wings to cover her eyes as she shrank back Celestia, and Pinkie offered an innocent smile...only for it to melt away quickly when she saw Celestia was continuing to glare at her. Soon, the six had all passed, and were headed through the ring of Canterlot guards, beginning to move back.

---

A short distance away, Twilight slowed in her step, looking especially dejected. The others passed her, but she didn't care. She had never heard Celestia sound so angry at her before...but neither had she seen such a change in her before. Although she had always secretly feared Celestia's wrath...only now did she begin to realize that she couldn't honestly picture the alicorn having a cruel bone in her body. She never really expected such a severe reaction...and it filled her with sorrow and anxiety...

...But also, as much as she tried to deny it, suspicion.

At any rate, she realized she had to try and speak to the princess again. Angry as she might be at her, it was worth her getting angrier to explain about Corona. Furthermore, she wanted to apologize more formally...and, most of all, to speak with her about what she had seen. Even if Celestia was coming later, she wanted to know now. After walking a bit further, she looked back, and saw that many of the Canterlot guards were beginning to enter the hole. A few remained, including the current captain who had replaced Shining Armor after he moved to the Crystal Kingdom. Celestia seemed to be conversing with him.

Twilight hesitated. She looked forward, and saw her friends move on ahead, heads still bowed, and then looked back. She paused a moment...but then used her horn to make herself vanish in a flash.

A moment later, the unicorn reappeared behind a large boulder near the area, concealed from view. From here, she could overhear the conversation. She quickly slipped behind the rock and pressed herself against it, and waited for an opportunity to speak to the princess. However, as she held there, she heard what she said.

"Are you sure, your highness?"

"Yes, I am." Celestia's voice responded. "Destroy everything. Leave not a single thing intact down there. Make sure absolutely nothing is left, especially the records in the royal archives."

Instantly...the unicorn froze. Her eyes became the size of saucers as her pupils shrunk into pinpricks. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. It was like someone had told her that she was banished from Ponyville for dropping her quill. In disbelief, she leaned up ever so slightly and turned her head to look and confirm it. Soon...she saw the captain and Celestia talking.

"And once everything has been destroyed, bury it." Celestia continued. "No trace of this kingdom must ever see the light of day again."

Twilight's mouth opened, and she barely suppressed a gasp. There was no denying what she just heard.

"What if Twilight Sparkle was right, and there are ponies down there? Shall we bring them out?"

"You are to immediately detain them." Celestia responded. "Put them in shackles and do not speak a single word to them nor listen to anything they have to say. Simply bring them before me and I will deal with them."

Twilight's lip quivered. She actually leaned back against the rock and slid down. She reached out and bit her own skin, thinking she was having some sort of nightmare she needed to wake up from. However, nothing changed.

"I must return to Canterlot to see to a few things, but then I shall return." Celestia's voice continued. "And when I do, I will assist you in erasing the last remnants of the kingdom of Queen Greenwood. And once we are done...remember, you and your guards are to forget everything you ever saw."

"Yes, my lady."

With that, Twilight heard a beat of wings as the princess no doubt took off and headed straight for Canterlot. As for Twilight, she looked to the ground...as if someone had just stomped down on her heart, her eyes wide with betrayal and horror. She still couldn't believe it. She refused to believe it...that it could possibly be true. And yet, her heart could no longer accept the contrary on blind faith anymore.

"It...it can't be...it's impossible..." She breathed aloud. "Corona...Corona was...right?" Immediately, she shook her head, slamming her eyes shut. "No...it's not true! I won't believe it! I can't!" She held a moment...but then, her eyes opened and tears began to form in them.

"Or...do I just not want to believe it...?"

She looked back behind her to where Celestia had been.

"Princess...could...could you really...have done all that?"

She held for a moment, looking behind her. Tears ran down her cheeks. Her teacher...her princess...her friend...one of the dearest creatures in the world to her...almost a second mother to her... She tried to remember all the times they had been together...all the warm memories...and yet they were all tainted with the images she had seen in the Magnificent Kingdom...and only brought her pain and the feeling of being stabbed in the back...

Finally, the tears stopped...and Twilight's own face became stern as her eyes opened, now solid and firm. A moment later, her horn lit up, and she teleported again.

A moment later, closer to Ponyville, and Twilight snapped back in existence...right in front of the five. They immediately halted, and looked up...and saw Twilight's own face hard and determined, void of any mirth or warmth. It was enough to make them all pause.

Rarity blinked. "Twilight, what on earth are you-"

"Everypony...do we have enough bits between us for a train ride for all of us to Canterlot?" She asked. "We can still make the last train of the day."

The others stared a moment, but then lowered their heads a bit and frowned.

"After all the trouble we just got into, Twilight?" Pinkie asked.

"You mean the trouble Twilight got us into." Rainbow snorted.

"Sorry, darlin'..." Applejack added. "But after you didn't tell us the whole truth before we went into those ruins...I'm afraid I-"

Abruptly, they were all cut off and stunned as the unicorn slammed her hoof down with such a loud noise that they all went silent.

"I'll explain on the way why we have to do this." Twilight responded. "And I'll tell you all everything this time...including what I just heard."

---

The sun was still up, but afternoon was waning quickly when the Ponyville Express began to near Canterlot. Twilight had been right...they had caught the last train of the day. As it pulled in its gates, the six sat quietly in their own car. After all, they were mostly still taking in everything that Twilight had told them. It was almost impossible for them to believe. It sounded like such a bold-faced lie...and had they heard it from anypony else, they might have claimed that. But as it was, they were devastated.

"I...I just can't believe it..." Applejack exhaled.

"This can't be... This is so...so horrible..." Fluttershy added.

"It...it was a joke, right?" Pinkie weakly suggested. "I mean...she was kidding about all of that, right?"

"No matter how many times I think over what you told us, Twilight...I just can't accept it..." Rarity responded. "It's like Discord has returned and turned Equestria upside down once again..."

"Twilight..." Rainbow said, looking up to her. "You...you don't really believe what we saw, did you? That Celestia really did all of that?"

Twilight's sadness had long since gone. Her face was expressionless now. She stared at the ground as the train continued to roll by.

At length...she closed her eyes.

"...I don't know what to believe anymore, Rainbow. I keep trying to think of something to make me doubt what I saw, but I can't. That's why I have to do this. I have to see Celestia personally...and let her tell me the truth. Whether it's something I want to hear..." She paused. "...or something I don't want to hear...I have to know. I want to hear her deny it or admit it."

The others looked down in response. After a moment, Fluttershy timidly looked up.

"But...Twilight...what if...what if..." She swallowed at the thought.

Applejack, realizing what she was going to say, nervously forced herself to say it. "...What if what Corona said about Celestia is..." She swallowed herself. "...True?"

Twilight paused on hearing that, but then opened her eyes again.

"...Then at least I can stop living a lie."

---

The train pulled into the station, and the six freely dismounted. After all, there was no reason they should have been accosted. After that, they made their way to the royal palace. Canterlot was nothing if not accessible to the citizens, and though there were many locked doors, ponies could freely come and go as they pleased for the most part. In particular Twilight, for she had been the star pupil of Princess Celestia for some time, as well as a champion of Equestria thrice now. There were few areas that were not off limits to her. On the contrary, the true danger lay in her being too recognizable, her and her friends. After all, they had all been immortalized in the royal hall more than once. However, the guard was lax, no doubt due to many of them being called away to Ponyville. In fact, there seemed to only be half of the normal Royal Guard on duty in Canterlot. Obviously, many more guards than just the ones they had seen had been deployed.

As the sun continued to lower and the shadows grew long, the six managed to make their way to the uppermost hall of the royal palace, and finally met one last obstacle. There were numerous royal guards posted all up and down the hallway leading up to the sealed doors that led to Princess Celestia's inner sanctum. However, they weren't a problem. As Twilight neared, she rounded her head just a bit about the corner, and then used her magic to do a rather unorthodox diversion...an illusion of a giant pink elephant right in the hall, which she made run around the corner and quickly call the attention of the stunned guards to chase after. Once that was done, the doors were clear and unprotected.

Twilight turned to the others. "Alright...here we are." She paused a moment, and then sighed. "...I guess if any of you are afraid of what's going to happen, I can't let you come any farther."

However, the other five only looked to each other a moment, then turned back to Twilight with weak smiles.

"We're with you, Twilight." Rainbow responded.

"Besides...I think we all want to know the truth." Applejack added.

Twilight managed a weak smile back, and then turned forward. She soon led the others around the corner, and marched right up to the doors to the inner sanctum. The sounds of their hooves clicking against the floor was long and hollow, almost like a funeral drum. The images of Celestia along the way, once so bright and comforting, now seemed dark and oppressive, their shadows hanging heavily over the group. Yet in spite of their fear, their faces turned firm and resolute, and they marched all the way up to the doors. Once there, Twilight halted. She breathed in and out only once to steady herself, and then focused on the door. Her horn soon lit up, and a moment later...the doors snapped open in a rush, slamming against the walls and sending a booming echo throughout the upper floor of the palace.

On the other side, Princess Celestia was soon revealed on the other end of the hall...and the six soon saw what she was doing. Using her own horn, she was loading the last of the Elements of Harmony into a chest. However, she froze when she heard the noise, and immediately turned to the front...seeing six stern and grim ponies staring back at her. Her face turned to surprise.

"Twilight...what are you doing in Canterlot? I told the six of you to stay at the library until I came to speak with you!" Lowering the chest, she turned and fully faced them. "Young lady, this is the second time you've disobeyed me today!"

Twilight didn't buckle this time. She didn't blush or bow her head. Instead, she began to walk forward.

"Princess Celestia...I wanted to ask you something very important back in Ponyville...but since I didn't get the chance, I'll ask you right now. It has to do with what we saw down in the ruins."

The alicorn folded her wings and stepped forward slightly so that she could fully face them. "Twilight, I do not allow anyone to just barge into my private-"

"We saw the Six Dullahan face to face, princess." Twilight cut off, continuing to advance. Celestia looked surprised. This was the first time Twilight had ever thrown propriety out the window and had cut her off. "And we saw what they were wearing...the emblems. They matched the Elements of Harmony."

On hearing this, Celestia froze. Just like before, she reared back, her eyes widening. "...You saw them?" She spoke, her voice sounding rather shocked.

"And that's not all we saw." Twilight continued, her tone building as she spoke and continuing to advance. "We saw what had happened to the Magnificent Kingdom... We saw how something called the Destroyer appeared and commanded that all of the things that had made ponies' lives so much better be destroyed. We saw how the Six Dullahan, under the command of the Destroyer, ruined everything that the ponies had worked so hard to build...the very things that had kept them from being sold into slavery! We saw their queen struck down because she refused to give allegiance to her! But most of all...we saw the face of the Destroyer herself!"

Celestia stiffened on hearing that, her own look growing tense. By now, the six were almost to her. However, Twilight halted before her, and the others did as well. For a moment, Twilight's face softened as she sighed, closing her eyes and bowing her head.

"Princess Celestia...you've been my friend and mentor for so long...and I respect you more than anypony else in Equestria. Because of that...I'll believe you no matter what you say. But I have to hear it from you... I have to know the truth about what I saw..."

With that, she raised her head again and looked Celestia straight in the eye.

"...Did you destroy the Magnificent Kingdom?"

Celestia paused. She looked to the others. All of them gave the same look that Twilight gave her...like a group of children having caught their parent doing something terrible after looking up to them for years, and then looking at them and begging them to "say it isn't so". She looked back to Twilight a moment later...saw tears beginning to form in her eyes as she gazed at her.

After a long period of silence, Celestia's own face became firm and resolute, and her own eyes slowly closed.

"...Yes, I did."

It was as if Equestria had just ceased to exist. The ponies couldn't even gasp. Their mouths only hung open as they stared at the princess. But she made no move to defend herself, and took back nothing. She bowed her head slightly, but stood there, eyes closed, and unmoving. Twilight's eyes shimmered...and soon the tears began to roll.

"How...how could you...?" She spoke, her voice so tight and hoarse that it came out only as a choked whisper, but still audible in the chamber. Yet after a moment, her eyes filled with passion, and she shut them tightly to try and stop the tears as she shouted angrily. "How could you?! I trusted you! I believed in you with all my heart! I loved you as my dearest friend in the world! Why? Why?! Why did you do it?! All those ponies ever wanted was a chance to live in peace! All Queen Greenwood ever wanted was to give them prosperity and happiness! Even if, somehow, someway, the way they were going about it was wrong...they didn't deserve that! Tell me...how could you do such a thing?!"

Twilight's voice echoed loud and long through the royal halls. Celestia never moved. She didn't say a word or change in expression until the last sound had died, and the six, all of their eyes now full of hurt, gazed up at her in mixtures of pain and betrayal.

Finally, Celestia opened her eyes. They were firm again, but no longer harsh.

"Come with me."

With that, she turned and began to walk out of the hall and toward the side chambers. Twilight held a moment. The thought occurred to her to stay behind...to refuse to listen to her ever again. However...there was loyalty yet in her heart, and even something like this couldn't break it so easily. After a moment, she began to walk after her. The others soon followed.

They walked through a few side halls, past numerous stain glass windows depicting great events in the history of Canterlot and Equestria. But at length...they came to a large set of heavy stone doors, and they were locked with a massive padlock attached to heavy chains. They were emblazoned with runes, making them invulnerable to magic. Celestia moved straight for these doors. Without looking behind her, she spoke grimly.

"...Almost a thousand years ago, I made a promise to all of Equestria that I have kept faithfully until now. But if it will let you six know the truth...then I must break that promise."

Arriving at the lock, she inserted her own horn into the keyhole. Magic flowed through it, and a moment later the lock gave a massive click before vanishing, and the chains recoiled and disappeared into nothingness. That done, Celestia turned back and looked to the group.

"You said you had to know the truth about the Magnificent Kingdom... Very well. See it for yourself."

She turned forward and used her horn to open the massive stone doors...and expose a new hall...one that had been sealed for countless generations. Decay was everywhere. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling and walls. Rats scurried away when the doors opened. Yet none of that caught the attention of the ponies, or made them gasp. What did was the images they saw in the stain glass windows...

Ponies being worked to exhaustion on barren fields...

Ponies toiling to collapse in mines...

Starving, haggard ponies crawling up to the gates of the Magnificent Kingdom and being driven off by armed warriors...

A wicked and powerful ruler with six henchmen gazing over all...with a silver mask.

The six were slack-jawed again as they followed Celestia inside, gazing at all of the windows. Each one was a scene of more terror and oppression, each one more terrible than the last. Once they were all in, Celestia closed her eyes and held up her horn. It glowed with pure light, and a moment later, the images seemed to peel off of the windows and began to form overhead. Much like the previous chamber, these images came together and began to form pictures. But unlike before, which had an air of artificiality and illusion to it...these all looked far more vivid and real, almost like looking through time to the past. Celestia soon began to speak as a familiar sight appeared...toiling earth ponies who were being broken up by debt collectors.

"Years ago...after Equestria was founded, but before the modern kingdom was formed, there was indeed lingering inequality. Earth ponies were sometimes harshly oppressed and even enslaved to pay their debts to pegasi and unicorns. It was a condition that begged for a cure... But to some, it was only an opportunity."

Once again, a family was left in the dirt...and a hoof stood before them. But this one was not gracefully armored, but cruelly done so, with twisted metal that was thick and deadly looking. The image changed, and soon showed the image of Queen Greenwood...if you could really call it the same. The armor was far less lovely and more intimidating and fierce. The mask was still more or less the same, but the eyes...they were different. They were serpentine pupils...the telltale sign of a pony who had fully given their heart over to darkness and hate. She did not smile...but rather grinned, like a hungry predator.

"That was when she appeared. Initially, she called herself Queen Greenwood...as did others. She claimed to be a friend and ally of all ponies who were oppressed."

The scene shifted again, once more showing the planning and construction stages. Mostly, it was the same as what they had seen before.

"She offered to help the earth ponies escape their poverty and lower status, and taught them many ways to do so via technology. She increased their wealth and freed them...at least, from their old taskmasters. And under her guidance, they built what she called 'the Magnificent Kingdom', possessing such wealth and power that unicorns and pegasi flocked to it. She promised that they would all be equal once there. And technically...she was right. For a while, everypony enjoyed peace and prosperity, and wealth and privilege increased. However...it didn't last."

The scene showed farmer ponies sowing seeds and tilling the soil...but getting nothing. They looked in confusion at the fields as the days went by, but they remained barren and lifeless.

"Queen Greenwood pushed the ponies to pursue wealth and prosperity too greedily and too eagerly. They planted too much and harvested day and night...exhausting the soil in a matter of years. Soon, nothing would grow without the special fertilizers that she had created. And even they lost effectiveness...giving less and less yields with time. Meanwhile, as the farmers put more and more of the fertilizers into the soil..."

The scene shifted to show rains falling...and leeching out the fertilizers from the fields and into the rivers, turning them murky and discolored.

"...More and more escaped into the water, filling the lakes and streams, until the fish would no longer spawn, the birds flew away, and nothing grew any longer."

The scene changed again, now showing a barren wasteland of stumps, and lumberjacks looking around for more trees and finding none.

"She pushed the ponies to build ever larger and ever more elaborate homes and factories, and in doing so, she commanded the forests of Equestria to be stripped and the land plundered...until there was nothing but wasteland above ground..."

It next changed to exhausted, filthy ponies struggling to mine and move carts out.

"...And the bounty of the land below ground was depleted, forcing the ponies to dig ever deeper and harder. And that was when Queen Greenwood showed the true price of her so-called 'prosperity'...what the ponies had to give up in the name of 'industry'."

The scenes changed rapidly now, showing the queen, flanked by dark-armored guards, going to farms and handing out decrees, much as the unicorns once had. The children were dragged off from their tearful parents, who were slapped in chains and whipped by taskmasters.

"For food, everyone now depended on Queen Greenwood for everything...from the water in the ground which had become polluted and dried up normally...to the fertilizer to replenish the exhausted soil...to the very light, for the smoke from the engines of her machines had dimmed the sun itself. She levied heavy costs on all of these things, and when the ponies could not pay, she made them slaves...just as the unicorns and pegasi once had. But now...those two races fared no better."

The scene changed to the factories of the Magnificent Kingdom, where pegasi and unicorns were chained to weights and whipped furiously to go about making more fertilizer and products, as well as to make the weather continue to operate as the queen saw fit...while a cruel-looking Queen Greenwood looked on with a twisted smile.

"They too were enslaved. And by harnessing the magic of the unicorns and the weather-changing properties of the pegasi, the queen was able to withhold both the light of the sun and the rain, so that all were forced to pay her for the privilege. And when they could not, she enslaved them as well, forcing them to work in her factories both day and night, filling Equestria with more darkness and poison."

The scene changed back to the mines...where ponies of all three races, all looking almost dead, were being beaten as they toiled endlessly. The refineries had fillies attached to them, practically collapsing as they worked the treadmills and the wheels.

"Most of them ended up in the mines...for the queen's lust for power was matched only by her greed. She commanded her subjects to toil and dig ever deeper for gold, silver, and jewels. Most of them ended up right in her palace and treasury..."

The scene shifted to the wicked-looking queen, digging her armored hooves through a pile of gold and gems and chuckling all the while.

"And despite her great wealth, she taxed ever more from her subjects, and, having grown dependent on her industry, and their lives controlled by her technology, they had no choice but to obey."

The scene changed again, this time showing the building of the gardens, the amusement park, and the overlaying of the city with gems and precious metals.

"As her true nature became known, she tricked more ponies...decorating her city with the valuable metals, building massive parks, and using technology to make amusements."

The scene showed crowds of ponies coming in, marveling at everything, delighted, and being greeted by friendly neighbors...all of whom were guards in disguise, while the real citizens, dirty, unwashed, unhealthy, and oppressed, were being kept behind locked and windowless doors to continue to slave.

"Visitors came and saw these...and, like flies in a web, were lured to their doom. They indulged in everything the Magnificent Kingdom had to offer, and gladly signed up to move there, believing this to be the greatest and the most prosperous kingdom in all of Equestria. And as soon as they consented to be subjects and pledged allegiance to the queen..."

The scene showed a stallion signing a document before Queen Greenwood herself, and then bowing to her. The queen grinned darkly in response...and soon the stallion snapped up in alarm as guards leapt on him, tore off his clothes, and slammed a yoke on his neck before whipping him to get to work.

"...They became its victims."

The scene changed to a small hut elsewhere...and a shot of a pony slamming a picture of Queen Greenwood against a wall, before pulling back to reveal a crowd of angry civilian ponies yelling and screaming at it in anger.

"The queen's greed and lust for power grew so terrible, that eventually the truth came to light. The rest of Equestria found out. And when they did...the Magnificent Kingdom ceased to be known as that to anyone except the queen and her closest followers. All others called it 'the Empire of the Iron Bridle'. And as for the queen...she ceased to be known as Queen Greenwood. All others in Equestria simply named her 'Empress Wormwood'."

The scene shifted to the tall tower from before. But no longer did the queen, or empress, stand out and bask in the delight of her city. Rather, she scowled as she looked out like a vulture over its prey, always greedily scanning for more to devour below. She rubbed a hoof against her chin.

"Wormwood saw the plots coming against her, and realized, for all of her wealth and power, she could not stand against a unified Equestria that rose up against her. And so..."

Suddenly, the empress smiled wickedly.

"She spread her poison elsewhere."

The scene changed to show the Crystal Kingdom...in particular the throne room of the dark King Sombre...and Empress Wormwood bowing humbly before him, before looking back up to him with a cruel smile.

"Wormwood coaxed King Sombre in the north to oppress his own people even more viciously and violently, so much so that the ponies there began to forget ever having been happy or cheerful in their lives."

A scene showed families of ponies fleeing the kingdom in the frozen wastes for the south.

"And when scores of ponies managed to escape to avoid such a fate...there was nowhere for them to go except the Empire of the Iron Bridle."

The scene changed to show the haggard ponies arriving at the city. But rather than being helped or welcomed, chains and collars were placed on them.

"And Wormwood would not help them unless they swore to serve her forever."

The scene changed to a dark temple next, where chained unicorns were forced at spearpoint to cast dark spells.

"Not satisfied with that...she commanded the unicorns in her kingdom to unite their magic to cast many powerful and violent spells...enough to where the natural balance of the world tipped violently...and, as a result..."

The scene showed a pony village to the south...and suddenly being turned chaotic as lightning flashed, and a chimera burst from the ground laughing his head off.

"...Discord came forth and conquered almost the rest of Equestria, forcing those who wished to flee the chaos to again become servants of Wormwood."

A scene now showed the Empire of the Iron Bridle...which was now dank, miserable, filthy, and filled with nothing but misery and cruelty. All of the ponies walking about were starving, sick, coughing, and barely moving. A cut to the palace showed Empress Wormwood, meanwhile, living lavishly and indulging in fine food and thousands of gems, all the while stepping on living stairways of unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies.

"The land rotted away...and despair and desolation was everywhere... Equestria, which had been founded only a hundred years earlier as a bastion of peace and plenty...was now little more than the plaything of the cruel and heartless."

The scene soon showed battered, weary, and weak ponies dragging themselves up the golden stairs of Wormwood's palace and into her presence.

"The ponies came before Wormwood...and on their hooves and knees pleaded with her for help... To use the power that she once wielded to benefit them to deliver them from this pain and misery and to restore Equestria. But when they did..."

In response, the empress looked down to them dully for a moment, before snorting and looking away, casually throwing a fine chocolate into her mouth while raising and admiring another ruby. The ponies stared at her aghast for a moment, but then bowed their heads and began to drag themselves away again.

"...She would not lift so much as a hoof to help them."

The scene cut to one of the dark shacks in town...and to the inside, where a filthy and sick family put their hooves together and looked to the sky.

"And when there was no one left to take their part..."

It shifted outside next, to the rest of the country...to the barren wastelands where ponies in shacks did the same...to the north where slaves called out to the heavens...to the south where ponies knee deep in talking bananas called out as well.

"The ponies of Equestria...earth, pegasus, and unicorn...all called out loudly to whoever was listening...calling for help..."

The scene looked over the land of Equestria for a moment...and then shifted to the heavens, an endless sea of stars. It held there for a moment on the beautiful sky, far more wondrous and majestic than anything Empress Wormwood had ever built.

"...And we heard them."

A pair of lights flashed in the heavens...and then two streaks of light shot down toward Equestria. The scene closed in on them...and revealed the pair of alicorns, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

No words were said here...only a collection of scenes. They showed the two alicorns turning to the ground and going up against their foes. They flew to the Crystal Kingdom, and the two of them together battled King Sombre as one, eventually breaking him and his power and casting him down. They flew to the south, where Discord, on spotting them, laughed loudly for a moment...before the six Elements of Harmony came forth and encircled both alicorns, who focused their power to blast the chimera and turn him to stone...restoring the land. These were only two of many foes they conquered, moving about Equestria and purifying the land and water once again, putting an end to oppression, and driving the three races to unite of their own accord.

"Through many toils and struggles...and no small amount of the Elements of Harmony...we began to restore Equestria to what it once was. We showed the ponies of Equestria to no longer embrace industry and cruel oppression as the only way to survive in this world...but to turn to the very things the elements represented: loyalty, kindness, laughter, generosity, honesty, and magic...which itself represented all that was seemingly impossible for anypony, but was possible through the uniting of the rest of the elements. Eventually, we took over the day and night, wresting control away from all unicorns and bringing the sun and moon without exception or condition to everyone. When that happened...a great deal of Empress Wormwood's power was taken from her."

The scene shifted to the Empire of the Iron Bridle, and the topmost tower...just as the sun rose. And when it did, Empress Wormwood emerged, gritting her teeth in fury, as she saw, on the horizon, Princess Celestia bring the sun to the land of Equestria. She boiled in anger for a moment, before looking away...and seeing something else...

Princess Luna, still lingering in the break of day, hovered for a moment, and looked down to the ground below...seeing all the ponies in the Empire of the Iron Bridle cheering and rejoicing as the sun rose...and bowed her head a bit, frowning slightly, before turning and flying away into the rescinding night.

Wormwood saw this...and began to smile.

---

Princess Luna looked rather surprised at what she saw, taken aback a bit by it. A lovely night bathed in the light of the moon hung overhead...and within the pale light, there were six hooded and cloaked figures standing before her...with gleaming lights for eyes. They all knelt before the princess on the grass, presenting a chest in front of them. The one in the lead smiled slightly, her voice having a sinister edge, as she spoke to her.

"Greetings from Queen Greenwood of the Magnificent Kingdom, Princess Luna, great alicorn and mistress of the night. The queen has learned of your victory over Discord to the south, and is eternally grateful for removing him from Equestria forever. To show her appreciation, the queen had her unicorns make a wondrous item...and now she presents to you this mighty gift..."

The lead one pushed the chest forward, and proceeded to open it up. Luna moved forward and looked inside.

What rested there was a set of armor black as night.

---

"Empress Wormwood knew she could never defeat us when we were united...and so she did what she was best at...poisoned us against one another. You see...it was she who gave Princess Luna her dark armor...which, once worn, was infused with all the dark magic she could wring from her enslaved unicorns...which made Luna forget her devotion to the Elements of Harmony...forget her love for the people of Equestria...even forget the love we had for each other. She became someone you know all too well..."

---

The storm raged around the two alicorns as they stared at one another in the midst of the sky. Both of their wings flapped furiously. On one side, face tight with emotion and a mixture of shock and fear, as well as no small amount of desperation, was Princess Celestia. But on the other side, wrapped in a mantle of midnight, body and armor having turned blacker than a moonless abyss, eyes gleaming like jewels yet slit like serpents, was the dark goddess Nightmare Moon.

"Luna...please!" Celestia cried. "Don't make me do this! Remember me! Remember us! I beg you...end this eternal night!"

"Silence!" Moon snapped back. "I'm through with you, Celestia! You've taken all the love of all the ponies in Equestria! They don't even know me, but they practically worship you! They've treated me with nothing but fear and hate when I have given them pleasant dreams of the future and peaceful starry nights...enabled them to sleep in safety and security! No longer! If they insist on fearing and hating me, then I will give them something to fear and hate! They will wallow in this endless night until they learn to love me as they love you!"

"But they'll never love you for this, sister!" Celestia maintained. "If you think they hate and fear you now, what about after this?"

"Then I shall take their fear and hatred and turn it to obedience!" Moon retorted. "If they will not love the night, then they will forget the dawn! If they will not praise Princess Luna, then they will cower before Nightmare Moon!"

Celestia stared hopelessly at her, closing her eyes and letting tears run from them.

"Sister...can't you remember that I love you? That I love you more than anyone else in all of Equestria?"

Suddenly, the alicorn cried out as a beam of black light struck her, knocking her back through the sky.

"Enough!" Moon shouted. "You're not my sister anymore, Celestia! You're just an obstacle to what I deserve! There should never have been two goddesses of Equestria! There is room for only one!"

Celestia managed to stabilize herself, and looked up to Moon...but saw not even a shadow of Luna on her. Even her voice was no longer the same. She had been completely consumed by hate and jealousy. Seeing this, her face tightened as she bowed her head, again letting the tears come forth.

"Luna...you left me no choice. If there's anything of you still in there...please...please forgive me."

With that, light gathered in her horn...and then blasted out full force. Nightmare Moon could only gape for a moment, before she was slammed by the beam and immediately ripped out of the sky and into the heavens. As she cried out, the dark storm was broken and the sky was opened, the beam carrying her further and further into the sky...straight to the full moon beaming down over the world below. Slowly...it vanished into it. And when it did...a dark emblem appeared in the vague shape of Nightmare Moon herself etched over the great rock in the sky.

Celestia, crying more freely, bowed her head, turned, and began to fly back to the ground.

---

Far away, within the Empire of the Iron Bridle, a loud and resounding laugh boomed throughout the great palace. Inside, seated on a throne of gold, again being fed and fanned by slaves as her feet rested on the back of a chained earth pony, Empress Wormwood reclined on her throne. Behind her, flanking her, were her latest acquisitions...six cruelly armored ponies grinning wickedly at her amusement. Wormwood leaned her head over and pulled off a grape with her teeth, eating it casually.

"I must say!" She boomed. "I don't think I enjoyed a show like that in a long time! I only wish I could have seen the look on that meddler's face..."

Abruptly, however, a powerful gust of wind blew through the chamber, blowing away the fruit bowl and the fans, and disturbing the slaves to where they cowered and ran off. As for Wormwood, she frowned at this and leaned up.

"Who dares enter my royal chamber unbidden?"

She looked forward, and paused.

Princess Celestia, her face tight with fury, stood on the balcony glaring at the empress.

In response, she merely grinned. "Ah...if it isn't the alicorn who's been making a name for herself...the great Celestia." She suddenly made a mock thoughtful look. "Strange...I could have sworn there were two of you... I do hope there hasn't been a falling out with Nightmare Moon..." She suddenly pretended to cover her mouth in alarm, as if she had made a slip. "Heh, I'm sorry. I mean Luna, of course." She punctuated this with a sinister grin.

Celestia began to walk forward. "...Empress Wormwood...for that is a true name befitting you...you have gone too far. We were lenient with you because we thought you once truly cared for the ponies of Equestria. But now it's clear to me that the only thing you care about is your own power and wealth, even if it means grinding every other pony in this world beneath your hoof. You've ruined the bountiful land of Equestria for everypony and stolen what's left. And now...you've corrupted my own sister against me."

"Aw...what's wrong, Celestia?" Wormwood said with a snicker. "Why didn't you just warm up to her with a bit of honesty? Or kindness? Or laughter? Or the rest of that rubbish you love so much?" She laughed a bit more before leaning forward in her throne. "If there's anyone to blame here, Celestia, it's you. You're the fool who embraced such pathetic things as your highly-touted 'Elements of Harmony' for years. And look where it got you...nowhere. Those simple things didn't help you one bit against Nightmare Moon, did they? And what was it that your sister wanted more than anything? Not generosity or loyalty or even magic...but power. That's the only thing that matters. However you get it is the only thing of consequence."

"How do I free her from that armor?" Celestia demanded. "I know you tricked her into wearing it. Tell me!"

Wormwood sneered at this. "How dare you come into here and make demands of me! Me! The queen of Equestria!" She paused momentarily, then smiled. "Besides...it's quite simple. All you need is your precious Elements of Harmony. Oh wait!" She again formed the mock-thoughtful look, and then chuckled as she glared at Celestia darkly. "That's right...the only reason you could wield the Elements of Harmony at their full potency before was because you and your dear, beloved sister personified them so well...but now that you've had your 'falling out'...you can't control them fully anymore, can you?"

Celestia began to quiver in anger. Wormwood only leaned forward and chuckled.

"Feeling it now, Celestia? Hate? It feels so much better than sickening 'love', don't you think? So much more powerful...so much more potent... You know...I could make another set of armor for you..."

Abruptly, Celestia stomped a hoof on the ground...blasting out force that slammed Wormwood back into her throne, leaving her shocked.

"Enough!" She bellowed in what would one day be known as the 'royal Canterlot voice', as the room darkened and the skies above began to grow turbulent and fierce. Her eyes glowed with radiant light as the very air shook with her words. "Thou art aptly named 'Wormwood', for every word thou speakest is poison! Equestria will no longer suffer from thy greed! Thou will shut down thy factories, ruin thy constructs of devilwork, and abdicate thy throne once and forever!"

Wormwood was stunned at this for a few moments. Even her six assistants peeled back. However, after a moment, she hissed in rage.

"How dare you! Miserable wretch! I am queen of Equestria! I will not succumb to the petty orders of one miserable alicorn! Who are you to order me about? Who are you to defy my will?!"

Celestia merely continued to glare. "We do not issue this order on our behalf...but on that of all of Equestria."

With that, she stood to one side, and revealed the view outside the window. Wormwood looked up, and let out a small gasp at what she saw.

Thousands of ponies now surrounded the Empire of the Iron Bridle, from all three races. Only a few had weapons and armor, but all of them were fierce and determined. All of them glared hatefully at the kingdom and were prepared to fight to tear it to pieces. Fed up with oppression and the ruining of the land, they wanted Wormwood gone. And the force that now stood was far above and beyond that of even Wormwood's own army. Even her own power couldn't contend with it.

Celestia soon turned back and faced Wormwood again. Her eyes dimmed and her power subsided slightly, but her look lost none of its ferocity. "It's over, Wormwood. The moment your people see this force rising against you, they will break their yokes, snap their chains, and rise against you. Your reign is done."

Wormwood looked shocked a moment, looking out the window. Her eyes glanced around...and after a moment she looked behind her...and spotted the six. Immediately, she grinned.

"Over? My dear Celestia..." She hissed...her hoof reaching out for the arm of her throne. "It hasn't even begun."

With that, she smashed down an ornate design on it. Immediately, the armor on the six behind her changed. Celestia looked up in puzzlement, and over to the six. As she did, they grinned wickedly...before having parts of their armor fall off and reveal the shapes of the Elements of Harmony. The alicorn reacted in surprise, but before she could do anything, the six charged forward, right past her, and leapt right out the window. Celestia turned and looked to them as they went, and quickly ran to the edge and looked down. She watched as the two pegasi flew, the two unicorns floated down, and the two earth ponies merely ran along the side of the tower all the way into the streets below...but then saw them split up and move about...and then do something horrible.

To the alicorn's shock...they began to attack the very people of the Empire of the Iron Bridle. Not just slaves and adults...but children and servants and even the royal guard, blasting them with magic, kicking them through walls, flying them into the air and dropping them, spreading fire and destruction.

Celestia couldn't believe it. She soon turned around. "Wormwood...what are you-"

However, she cut herself off again, as Wormwood mashed another button...dropping a microphone in front of her. As she grinned wickedly at Celestia, she spoke into it...and her voice was broadcast all over the Empire of the Iron Bridle.

"My faithful subjects...the alicorn known as Princess Celestia has gone mad! The Six Dullahan, those who bear the Elements of Harmony, are waging war and destruction on our kingdom, attacking both guards and innocent alike! She means to destroy every last one of us and burn down our homes and very livelihood! Even now she leads an army to trample your families and foals underfoot! Stand and fight! Every last stallion, mare, and filly...fight to the last pony! Fight for your lives!"

She smacked the microphone away after that...grinning wickedly at Celestia...who gaped at her in horror.

"You didn't think I was going to make it that easy, did you?"

Celestia's face tightened in fury, and soon she charged for the throne. Laughing wickedly, Wormwood pressed one last button...and the entire throne and where it sat flipped over...revealing an empty throne on the other side of a trap door. Celestia froze in confusion, and looked about, but saw nothing.

Fearfully, she turned back to the balcony...hearing the fighting beginning.

---

"Wormwood's final cruel act worked. Thinking the army had come to destroy, not to liberate, the city was thrown into chaos...leaving thousands of ponies prey to the Six Dullahan or raw confusion. What should have been a peaceful overthrow turned into a violent revolution. I knew only Wormwood could stop this, and I tore apart the palace searching for her. At long last...on the ground floor, I found her..."

---

Celestia looked outside the front gates for a moment, her face filled with fear. There were thousands of ponies running rampant out there in a violent crowd, charging every which way, screaming and panicked. She hesitated for a moment...thinking of going out to try and alleviate it. As a result...she didn't see a panel in the ceiling open up...revealing Wormwood with a cruel and twisted blade mounted where a unicorn horn would be. Aiming it at Celestia's back, she leapt out from the ceiling and surged for her.

However, the alicorn spotted this on a reflective metal bit of flooring, and quickly turned and looked up. Gaping, she immediately leapt back, and the horn stabbed only the floor. Summoning her power, Celestia blasted Wormwood with a ray of light. The empress gaped in shock for a moment, before the beam struck her and made her vanish in a blast momentarily...

Yet when Celestia cut it off...she gaped at what she saw. Aside from some smoke, Wormwood was unharmed. Chuckling darkly, she grinned at Celestia and aimed her blade for her.

"Seems I've got another winning invention..." Wormwood chuckled. "Crafted from the rarest gems, this armor can negate the strongest magic in Equestria. Even you can't pierce it, Celestia."

Narrowing her gaze, the alicorn instead lunged forward...shocking the earth pony for a moment. Immediately, she grit her teeth and braced herself...and the two locked horns. Sparks flew from either one as they pressed against once another, both straining and pushing.

"Call your army off, Wormwood!" Celestia demanded as they clashed. "If you have any shred of decency in you, put an end to this fighting! It will gain you nothing in the end!"

"Fool!" Wormwood snapped back as they clashed. "What do I care if every last pony in Equestria suffers?"

Giving a grunt, Celestia shoved forward, and threw Wormwood off of her and across the chamber. She managed to put out her legs to stop herself, and immediately used her armor to shoot blasts of fire energy at Celestia...approximating magic. However, the alicorn merely swung her horn to and fro, and battered each blast away with her own magic. Screaming in rage, Wormwood dove right at her, aiming her blade for her heart. However, Celestia saw her coming, and snapped to one side, swinging her horn down with such force that it cleaved Wormwood's clean off.

As the severed blade clattered to the ground...Wormwood landed on the golden floor and slid to the stairs, stunned. She soon shook her head and raised it, but then gasped. Her hoof raised to her brow, but all that was there was a severed bit of metal. Eyes filling with shock and fear, Wormwood looked up to Celestia, even as she aimed her horn at her and advanced.

"Now...call off your army!"

The beaten empress glared at Celestia, her eyes narrowing, and she practically hissed at her.

"You think you've beaten me, Celestia...but all you've done is 'jump the gun'. I knew it would come to this ever since you started floating around Equestria. I've been preparing for this for years, and had I even a single day's advance warning, I could have stopped you cold right here and now and swatted you like the overgrown fly you are. But since you insist on making yourself such a nuisance...I'll have to withdraw...but only for a little while. I'll be right here, in this very kingdom, Celestia...right until the day I bring your doom out of it and take my place as the true goddess of Equestria. Just you wait until I bring out my masterpiece..."

With that, the empress abruptly snapped her cape up in a flourish. Celestia snapped back in response as it waved before her...before hearing a clatter of metal against the ground. She held back a moment longer...as the cape fell to the ground...revealing Empress Wormwood's helmet and mask lying there.

Realizing what this meant, Celestia looked up. For a moment, she saw an earth pony fleeing into the panicked crowd...and then vanishing inside.

---

"In all the years of her reign, Empress Wormwood had never done one thing...shown her true face. The moment she removed her mask and armor, she became just another earth pony, and seamlessly blended into the panicked crowd. I chased after her...but it was useless. She was gone in an instant."

The scene showed Celestia moving over the kingdom and desperately looking about.

"I tried to find her...but to no avail. She had vanished. And I knew what she was doing. She was moving freely about the city, no doubt finding and unleashing whatever horrible device she had come up with. I had no idea what it would do, but I didn't want to give her the chance to find out. Yet she had brought enough chaos into her own kingdom that she ensured I would never find her through traditional means. And so...I did the only thing I could do."

Sighing in defeat, Celestia raised her horn into the heavens, which glowed with a new light...and then let out a unified flash over the entire kingdom. When it was done...the entire Empire of the Iron Bridle was populated by ponies sealed in crystals from both sides.

"It was a forbidden spell...but I had no choice. I had to cast it on everyone. It was the only way to ensure she couldn't escape."

The scene changed again, showing Celestia moving about the streets, freeing the ponies who had sided with her one by one.

"Determined to foil Wormwood's final plot, I moved about the streets. First, I freed everyone in our force."

Another change, this time showing the ponies standing about a confused citizen of the empire as she was freed. She looked about for a moment in horror and fear, and shrank back from Celestia...until the alicorn came forward and gave her a warm, kind smile. The pony hesitated a moment, but then gradually calmed, and even returned her smile.

"Then, one by one, I went to every citizen in the Empire of the Iron Bridle and freed them. One by one, I examined their hearts to see if they were full of darkness, and, once realizing they weren't, I let them loose and explained to them all that had happened. In doing so, I was able to convince all that they had been lied to by Wormwood, and they sided with the rest of the Equestria."

More scenes followed, this time of both Celestia's force and the citizens beginning to rip apart the buildings and machines with all they had, whether it be magic, wings, tools, or bare hooves.

"Hating the lies and empty promises that Empress Wormwood had given them, despising their own devices for turning Equestria into a waste, and determined to keep her from ever making any new abominations, all united in decimating the kingdom. As ponies searched every nook and cranny of the kingdom for ponies imprisoned in crystals for me to free and persuade, those who had already been freed destroyed every last trace of Wormwood's tyranny, ensuring that none of those foul devices could ever be used again. All day we worked...and at night, we slept in camps outside of the city, for none wished to spend another night in that foul place...while I took on the duty of bringing both the sun and the moon each day."

The scene changed again to a group gathered outside the limits, with the kingdom now looking a lot like it did today.

"After one week, we had ruined all but the lowest portions of the city, and had only one final sweep to do of the entire kingdom to ensure that all of the prisoners had been freed. But right before we could do so..."

Celestia turned to lead them in, but then froze as the world started to shake. She looked about in shock along with the others as the ground heaved and shook, and soon after began to crack and swell. The alicorn and those with her pulled back, and as they did, they watched the ground break open...and all of the Empire of the Iron Bridle sank deep into the earth. In moments, the ground covered it again...and it was gone.

"...Wormwood enacted a failsafe. She no doubt thought I would try something like this, and to ensure we wouldn't find her last plan, she triggered her own kingdom to be swallowed into the earth. We believed we had freed everyone...but the fact of the matter remained that we never found Wormwood or the Six Dullahan."

The scene changed to a brighter day, with the world already recovering. It focused on a grand pavilion, where several ponies of all races were gathered, and Celestia watching from the side.

"A meeting was called on what to do next. The ponies agreed to move to the healthier areas of Equestria while the land recovered. However, they made a solemn oath that day that all agreed upon and swore to...that the very name of Empress Wormwood and the nation of the Empire of the Iron Bridle would be removed forever from history. None of us ever wanted another to aspire for the power that Wormwood had possessed using the methods she had used, to be tempted to make her cruel devices, and, most of all, to let any knowledge of the sunken kingdom come forth, so that none would ever try to unearth it, its secrets, or Wormwood and the Six Dullahan who were buried there. All agreed...and none of it was even mentioned to the children of the next generation.

"One problem remained, however. With the Crystal Kingdom vanished and the Empire of the Iron Bridle gone...the three races were once again independent, and there was the danger that there would once again be discrimination and oppression. Those present vowed that they would uphold the principles of the original Hearth's Warming...that all would be united and equal. But even then...they feared that one would arise who would violate it. They decided there should be a ruler among them who would hold sway over the nobles of all three races, one who would not rule with an iron rod but would embody and promote the principles of the Elements of Harmony. And after all that had happened...the three races mutually and uniformly agreed that only one could fill the position..."

The scene finally changed to the halls of Canterlot...where by decree of the rulers of the three races...Celestia received the blessing of the ponies of Equestria and great acclaim by all gathered.

"Although I was a princess by a higher authority...the earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns wished for me to be a queen by their acquiescence. I did not come to Equestria to become part of its royalty...but when they told me that I could teach them and show them how to embody the Elements of Harmony within themselves...I consented. The history of our land was modified to eliminate Wormwood and her kingdom...but I retained the portion about Nightmare Moon...for always, I held onto the hope that one day others would arise who could wield the Elements of Harmony...and reunite me with her at last."

Celestia bowed her head and let her horn dim, causing the images to vanish.

The six stared quietly. Silence reigned within the hall, as they all stared at her in a mixture of awe and amazement. Where just a short while ago their faith in her had wavered, their respect for her had now grown twofold. They stared at the fair alicorn for a few moments more...before, one by one, they closed their eyes, bowed their heads, and dropped to one knee before her...until only Twilight was left...staring in open-mouthed awe at her. In spite of all she had seen...there wasn't a trace of doubt in her mind that it was Celestia who had told the truth, not the royal archives.

She stepped forward slightly, causing Celestia to look to her...her look turning a bit stern again. This made Twilight hesitate, and she spoke only timidly.

"Why...why didn't you tell me at the start? I would have believed you..."

"Would you have, Twilight Sparkle?" Celestia responded.

This comment caught the unicorn off guard, making her recoil a bit. Celestia, meanwhile, sighed and bowed her head.

"We've known each other for years, Twilight... We've shared many things, and not just missions or lessons...but time together. I call you to Canterlot not just for assignments or learning opportunities but because I enjoy spending time with you. You're very, very dear to me...and I thought that I might be the same to you. I thought our friendship meant something. I thought it was a strong bond that transcended mere obedience to authority or age."

Twilight blinked, and stepped forward. "It is, princess! You're very important to me!"

Celestia's eyes opened...and, to Twilight's surprise, they had hurt in them.

"Then why couldn't you believe me, Twilight?" She asked. "After everything we've been through together...why did you doubt me? Look at me, Twilight... Would I have ever hurt the ponies of that kingdom willingly? Could I? Do you think so little of me...do you have so much distrust and uncertainty about me...that you thought I would ever have done such a horrible thing?"

Twilight couldn't answer. She could only stare. And at once...she realized that the true crime here, the true betrayal that had occurred, had not been from Princess Celestia at all. As she stood there, seeing the hurt in Celestia's eyes...she knew the only real betrayal had been her own. After all that Celestia had done for her for so long...in the end, when something arose that was a crisis...her faith in her beloved mentor and ruler had wavered.

The unicorn held for a moment longer...but then dropped into a kneel as well. Her head touched the floor.

"I'm sorry, princess... I'm so sorry... Please forgive me. As to what I said earlier...right now, I don't care if you don't want me to be your student any longer or want to banish me from Canterlot...just please...please...forgive me for doubting you..."

Celestia looked down over her for a moment. The hall was quiet. Twilight's friends looked up anxiously, waiting to see what would happen, but Twilight herself kept her head down and waited.

When a sound slowly broke through the silence.

Two hooves slowly clapping.

At once, Twilight's eyes opened as Celestia stiffened. Both of them looked up and turned to the source. The other five ponies quickly rose and did the same thing...and soon, they all found themselves staring at the same location...the doors to the sealed hall.

A shadow of a pony was there, hooves slowly clapping together.

"Bravo." A voice flatly stated. "What a wonderful story that was, Celestia. Such a superb plot. What a well-executed climax. The perfect villain. And...oh yes, the most important thing...your favorite hero. Of course...she's the hero in all of your stories...isn't she?"

The ponies tensed up on hearing this, not liking the tone of voice. However, the figure soon stepped forward. The light was dim now, and only as she slowly entered the room did the light move up enough to totally reveal her. Her burlap cloak was gone, but her necklace remained. Her face was still fair and beautiful...but now void of anything good. Instead, it looked twisted and dark.

On seeing it, the ponies reacted.

"Corona?" Rainbow asked.

"What the... How'd you get away from the Six Dullahan?" Applejack asked.

"When did you get here? You weren't on the last train...unless you were in the bathroom the whole time." Pinkie commented.

"What...what are you doing here, Corona?" Twilight asked.

To this, Corona's face momentarily turned to a bit of confusion.

"...Corona?" She echoed. "Now...who in Equestria is Corona?"

Hearing this, the six stiffened, and looked more unnerved. As for the ancient pony, she suddenly seemed to realize something, and immediately let out a laugh...no longer merry or kind but sinister and dark.

"Oh...oh yes, now I get it. I quite forgot..." She gazed at them all darkly. "There was one secret of the Magnificent Kingdom that I never revealed during our last visit." She leaned her head down, and her eyes seemed to flash.

"There isn't a Corona Light. There never was."

Twilight stared on in confusion at that...but only for a moment as the truth hit her. Her face soon turned to aghast horror.

"No..."

As for the ancient pony, she continued to smile wickedly as she reached up and touched her necklace...pressing a small button on it.

Abruptly, holes were punched into the walls from outside. They were small, but potent...and bits of metal flew through them. Stained glass depicting the oppression of the Empire of the Iron Bridle was shattered, and more metal came in through there. Meanwhile, 'Corona' planted all four hooves and stretched out...letting the metal make contact with her and snap around...first her forelegs, then her hindlegs, then her breast and torso, then her flanks and back, and then her neck. As a long cape flowed out from the last portion, she closed her eyes and held her head high...as a helmet crashed through the ceiling and landed on her head...before a wicked, curved blade shot down and locked into where a unicorn horn should be. Finally, a bit of metal emerged from the necklace itself, and unfolded...until it formed a familiar-looking silver mask, which planted itself over her face.

She lowered her head here, causing the ponies to shrink back and Celestia, shocked as she was, to plant her feet and unfurl her wings. The eyes of 'Corona' soon opened...revealing serpentine pupils.

"I am..." She paused, then snickered. "Heh...well... I was about to say 'Queen Greenwood'...but you know something, Celestia? After a thousand years...that title kind of grew on me. So why not?" Giving a shrug, she grinned wickedly. "The name is Empress Wormwood."

Celestia tightened up, and nearly stepped forward...but before she could, Twilight stood forward instead and glared at her furiously.

"You twisted monster..." She growled. "It wasn't enough that you had to trick us into helping you, was it? You tried to poison me against my teacher and best friend!"

Hearing this...the fear left the others. They soon began to rise as well.

"She's got a point, 'darlin''." Applejack snorted. "That's pretty low by my standards."

"You're a horrible pony!" Fluttershy added, trying to sound intimidating. "And...um...I...er...I wouldn't be your friend even if you asked me to!"

"You're a meanie and a bully!" Pinkie threw in, giving Wormwood a raspberry.

"How could I have ever turned away from Celestia and listened to a creature as vile as you!" Rarity snapped.

"We all agree... We want to be the ones who kick your tail!" Rainbow snorted.

With that, Twilight held her horn to the sky, and immediately it flared. A moment later, and Wormwood's eyes raised a bit before she looked behind her...and then ducked as the chest from the previous chamber flew in and rapidly landed in front of the girls. A moment later, the lid came open, and out came the Elements of Harmony. Each pony held out their necks proudly as Twilight's magic put the appropriate element on every pony before she donned the crown of the Magic Element. That done...all of the ponies held out their elements...and it began.

A ringing went through the air as each pony was surrounded with radiant light. Twilight's five friends all began to hover as the power of the elements coursed through them, and each one chimed and rang forth...until they united in one accord...and sent out a beam of dazzling rainbow light and energy, bursting forth from them, arching through the air, and headed straight for Wormwood. The empress looked up in shock, her mouth loosening...before the rainbow slammed into her, immediately enveloping her in a vortex of power. As she vanished into it, Twilight opened her own eyes, shining with radiance...and the power reached its climax as Wormwood was blasted, igniting into a brilliant flash of purity.

A moment later, the light died as well as the sound of the elements, and the six ponies all returned to the ground. Twilight, on her part, shook her head and blinked a few times, and then looked forward.

Nothing was left except a swept over cape on the ground.

"Alright...we did it."

"Hooray!" Pinkie cried for joy.

"You know what...this is getting a bit routine..." Rainbow threw in. "But that time felt really good."

"Glad we nipped that one in the bud, sugarcube..." Applejack threw in with a smile.

"Did you, now..."

Applejack's eyes immediately bulged as she heard that voice...and the others with her. In total disbelief, they looked forward and stared blankly.

For a moment, there was only cast up dust and mist from the blast...before the cape swung out and brushed it all away...revealing a very much intact and unharmed Empress Wormwood standing there, smiling wickedly.

"Oh...I'm so sorry..." She cooed. "Was that supposed to actually do something?"

The six couldn't answer, and neither could Celestia. They could only stare in horror as Wormwood let her mocking laughter echo loud and long...

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TO BE CONTINUED