A Circle Has No End: Volume I

by Gladi Writes

Short: The Manehatten Project III

Author's Note:

Credit for 'Burning Dawn' goes to Pseudonymous
(Who really should write something, he's great.)

Archer put down the phone, and steeled himself to what he had to do. His work, and his work in this facility in particular, required a certain moral elasticity, but that didn't mean he enjoyed some of the things he had done. He knew they need to be done though, and he did them just the same.

Apparently Luna had ordered the Night Guard on alert, and had departed the castle with her sister. Mezza Luna suspected that they were on their way here- to Manehatten. The order was to put the facility on lock down- nopony in or out. As for the fate of their guest, she had a stay of execution. Twilight would stay with them until such time they were sure eyes were elsewhere, and then they would evacuate. Until then she would be made to produce more alicornium, and they had several sticks at their disposal to see this through. When and if Luna managed to find them, Archer was prepared to take the fall for his commander, just as long as he managed to make some more alicornium. Hopefully Cast Iron was just as fervent in his loyalty, he was the only one outside right now that knew their location.

Of course, even if they did find them- the wall outside was meters thick. It would take days for even Princess Luna to blast it down.

"Remember Baltimare," he reminded himself.

No cost was too high to prevent that from ever happening again.

Was destroying the griffons, forever, right? He considered, once again.

No. Of course it wasn't. But it was necessary. The long pax equestria had been broken, and if they didn't show to the whole world that any violence against them would be met with total annihilation the griffons, even when defeated now, would try again. The Saddle Arabians, the Zebras, the independent states... all of them, they would all try it eventually. If committing the greatest war crime in history was the cost of ensuring that no war crime ever again happened, that war itself became a horror of the past, and that peace reigned eternal under Queen Luna...

Then so be it. They would erase her sister as well, the nation was in much better hands without that naive fool speaking in her ear. It was a grudge they had harbored for centuries, and now they had the power to act on it.

History would call them villains, history would call them criminals; and there was a good chance that if they pulled this off they would all end up executed for their crimes. He would go to the block proudly, knowing he had helped do what nopony had the guts to. He would win.

"Remember Baltimare," he repeated.

He picked up the phone again, and patched himself through the public address.

______________

Flankenstein was in his office, in the back of the alicornium laboratory, combing through his notes. He was going through them with a frantic pace, and most of them lay scattered behind him. He was looking for some way, any way, to put the genie back in the bottle. He had been able to steel himself to ending the griffons, but killing innocent young mares was too far, and Celestia had certainly done them no harm. This had gone too far.

He had been so blind to the reality for so long, afraid to face the horrible fact that maybe there wasn't a rational solution to this war. There was no singular scientific solution.

If he didn't stop them nopony would remember Baltimare. They would remember Canterlot, and it would be his own fault.

"Attention all staff," The speaker in the corner of the room buzzed, Flankenstein paused in his scramble.

"As of now the facility is on lockdown, and we are at watchcon one. You all know what that means, guards are to remain armed at all times and keystones are to be locked. Civilian staff remain in quarters, anypony outside will be unable to enter. Keep your armour on, keep your eyes sharp, and await further instructions," Archer said.

"Lockdown, fantastic! I can't even lea...."

It all came to him, the horrid realization. Twilight wasn't the only tool.

He was never going to go home after this. Nor was his staff. They would all be discarded so this could be covered up. There would be no long retirement, looking back on what he had done. He wouldn't look back on it at all.

With that thought he realized the solution. There was a way to destroy the facility, but it would take a great deal of explosive, or magic, power. The explosives testing room was under the ocean, designed so any explosion that was too large for it would explode through the roof, and vent into the ocean. That way not only would the facility be protected, but the only thing the public would notice would be a little bit of steam from the ocean.

If you didn't seal the room, however...

Flankenstein grinned, and abandoned his search. He didn't have the power himself- medicine and minor teleportation was about as far as his magic went- but there was a certain alicorn princess that could help. He swung his medic bag over his back, which he still kept around since he was still a doctor after all, and left his office.

Striding into the hallway, he sighed to hear a shout from behind, and glanced back to see an armoured bat pony cantering towards him.

"Hey, you!" The gruff voice shouted. Flankenstein knew this one- Halberd. He was about as smart as a brick, and as well built as one too.

"Hey.. Halberd," Flankenstein said, slowing turning around to face him.

"We're on lockdown egghead, get to your quarters," Halberd ordered, hefting a polearm.

A polearm, despite the fact they had an armory full of rifles.

"I have to see Princess Twilight, and make sure we gave her the right dose of poison," Flankenstein said, standing his ground against the decidedly larger bat pony.

"No. Quarters. Those are your orders. Lockdown,"

"Halberd, do you want the Princess to die because of you?" Flankenstein asked.

Halberd considered this for a second, and then gave a great toothy grin (less a few missing teeth)

"She dies anyway, who cares?" He laughed. "Stupid doctor," He added.

"Halberd, if she dies now who's going to make us more alicornium?" Flankenstein asked.

Halberd considered again, "Fine, follow me," He ordered, and spun around.

Flankenstein followed at his heel down the empty halls. Every lab had a guard, and they were all armed. He suddenly regretted signing up for this, he should have been smarter then to think the Night Guard saw them as anything less then tools. They had as much respect for him as he had for a petri dish cell culture.

Inwardly, he sighed deeply. At one point in his life he actually, apparently, had a chance with Princess Luna. Now he would be lucky if he could convince her to not cut off his head next they met.

"Remember Baltimare," he muttered to himself.

Everything they did here had a price, and if he had to die so the Night Guard could end the griffons, then so be it. Granted he would rather not die, but he would be far from the first in this war.

Wait a second, that's is insane. I'm smarter then this? What happened?

He put the thought away for no, no time for introspection.

He also knew full well the Night Guard planned to keep Luna in power as long as possible, but he never thought they would go as far as regicide. He should have though, he was so focused on his project it kept him blind to that truth too. Now, the princess he had played a large role in betraying was his only hope.

"Queen's room, make it quick," Halberd said, gesturing ahead to a pair of wooden doors.

"Twilight got the Queen's room? Lucky," Flankenstein noted as he approached the doors.

"Not for long!" Halberd exclaimed, and was taken by a fit of laughter.

Flankenstein shook his head, and entered the room. Twilight, he saw, and managed to crawl half way to the door at some point, and lay face down on the carpet. She didn't look very comfortable. So he quietly closed the door and trotted up to her, gently rolling her on her back before taking out a syringe. Thankfully she was already under, so she wouldn't notice him drawing a little blood after ensuring, to his relief, that she was still breathing. Her heartbeat was weak, but still there as well.

When he did, his light green magic circled the syringe and in his mind a series of chemical symbols flashing before his inner eye. He closed his outer and focused in on it, the stream of symbols starting to take a more coherent form.

"Sweet Celestia, they dosed her with Kathazine," he mumbled to himself as his eyes flew open with horror.

Kathazine, banned in most places civilized nations, and most of the independent states too. It had the effect of knocking the victim out for a half day, and barely able to move for a week after.

Flankenstein rummaged through his bag, and pulled out a pair of syringes, one full of a pale white fluid and the other empty. Kathazine worked by blocking adrenergic receptors, and by simultaneously binding to epinephrine itself. Combine this with a little bit of sleeping drugs, and that would do it. In layman's terms: it turned adrenaline off, while simultaneously putting you to sleep. Too much could still kill you, but it took a large dose, certainly not deliverable through food.

So he jabbed her with that needle- which contained a dose of epinephrine, and then bathed her with a green magic light as he plugged an empty syringe into her arm. It was a delicate task to separate a poison from the blood of a pony, but he was one of few unicorns able to do it skillfully.

The syringe slowly began to fill with a brown substance, which was blood saturated with the poison. When it was filled, Flankenstein quickly disintegrated it with a bright green flame.

Flankenstein sat back, and watched the colour return to her body. "Well that's that, hope she doesn't kill me when she wakes up," Flankenstein said to himself.

"This isn't your lucky day," Twilight growled.

---

"Oh." he said, and was quickly taken by a magenta field.

"Princess, before you do anything rash..." He said, and was lifted into the air.

Twilight stood, he began to regret not waiting to give her a shot of epinephrine, and looked up at at him with a purple fire in her eyes. The purple fire flowed down from her horn and lit her mane ablaze, as the purple colour from her coat faded and was replaced with a bright white. Her eyes turned red, and her horn lengthened to become a sharped point. Her eyes turned red... and even her teeth changed. They became sharpened daggers that she bared at him. The carpet was scorched by embers that fell from her fiery mane, and Flankenstein knew that he was beholding the true power of an alicorn. It was terrifying.

"Rash? You're telling me not to be rash? You, the idiot that followed these goons into creating their weapon, lied to me, poisoned me, and probably wants to kill me?!" She screamed up at him.

"I don't want to kill you, I want to hel-"

A vast force pushed on him from all directions, and Flankenstein yelped with pain.

"You want to help me? Is that it? Why in Celestia's name would I trust you after all you've done? I'm going to tear this place down- starting with you!" She yelled, and the force doubled.

"I... cu.. cured the poison..." Flankenstein managed to get out. Breathing was starting to become difficult.

"So? I'm sure you just wanted some more alicornium for your twisted plans." Twilight said.

The door swung open, and Flankenstein gasped for air as the pressure momentarily weakened with Twilight's distraction.

Halberd stood in the doorway, hefting his pike. "What's going on i-" He began to yell, but a powerful magenta wave threw him back out of the room, and he slammed into the outside wall with an audible crack that made Flankenstein grimace.

The door slammed shut, and Twilight turned back to her prisoner.

"You're all nothing more then cowards. You're so afraid of the griffons that you'll kill them all, even their children and the innocent, to avoid having to fight them fairly. Let's take the logic out shall we. You want to kill all of them, because a few of them are evil. Why then, should I not kill you, because you've been evil?" Twilight asked, and the threatening pressure returned.

Flankenstein desperately searched for an argument, but he found nothing. Maybe she was right, maybe it did make him a coward. If they had succeeded, what then? His desire to solve the solution with rational science had blinded him to the ethical ramifications of it all.

"Remember.... Baltimare..." He gasped.

"Really?" Twilight asked, doubling the pressure. "That's all you have to say? 'Remember Baltimare'? I remember it, not a single innocent citizen died. You propose killing millions, you're worse than the griffons!" She yelled.

"If you do this... are you any better?" he asked, starting to succumb to a darkness overtaking him.

Twilight released him, and he dropped to the carpet gasping for air.

"Fine, you live- since you're too weak to pose any real threat to me," Twilight said, and magically flung him at the door, which he slammed open, and rolled out into the hall with a grunt of pain.

"Princess!" Flankenstein shouted, forcing himself to stand despite the pain of his body. He was fairly certain something was broken, somewhere. Glancing to the side, Halberd was far worse off. Those eyes would never open again, his spine had probably shattered when he hit the wall.

"I'm no Princess of yours, you treasonous evil wretch. You're a mockery of a scientist, and I'm ashamed to breathe the same air as you!" Twilight returned, striding out after him, and glowering down at him.

Flankenstein groaned, now all he had to do was anger Cadence and he would be four for four on pissed off alicorns.

"Look, Princess, I had no idea they were going to do this to you, I'm ju-"

Twilight took a stride forward and slapped him across the face. It hurt.

"Don't you dare try and feign ignorant. 'just a scientist'. If I told a child how to make mustard gas, does that make me 'just a teacher'?" She asked.

"I-"

Slapped again.

"The answer is no, you idiot. It makes you evil. Now you can either help me fix this, and accept justice..." she growled, and leaned in close.

"Or you can run, like the coward you are," she growled, grinning madly. Flankenstein could feel the heat of her fire all around him.

He glanced down the hall, and for a second, he felt like taking her up on her offer.

With a sigh, he turned his gaze back to the twilight princess, still burning with anger. He had pursued science without regard for the ethical ramifications before, and he would never be able to truly fix what he had done. This time he still had a chance.

"I'll help, but you really do need to calm down," He said.

Twilight laughed, a deep dark laugh. "Calm down? I'm just getting started. Lead me to Archer's office, I'm going to have a word with him," Twilight ordered.

"Just hold on a moment, his armour is magically sealed, that's why he always wears it- I think he's paranoid of all the unicorns down here," Flankenstein warned.

"Well isn't that convenient." Twilight said. "Fine, you're an ethically blind stallion- what do you suggest?" She asked.

Flankenstein took it on the chin, it was less then she had called him before- and he had to admit some truth to the insult.

"You have the power to blow the roof right off the testing room. Once you do the ocean will come pouring in, and if we leave the door open..."

Twilight grinned. "I can drown this fire, perfect," She said, and gestured down the hallway.

"Lead." She commanded.

Flankenstein did as asked, leading her down the empty hall.

"If we get out of here..." He said, with a glance back at the glaring, flaming, Twilight. Embers wafted from her mane, and the floor bent with the heat of her footsteps when her hooves touched it.

"You'll be tried for treason," she said.

Great.

____________

Luna, with her sister by her side and five centurions behind- those that had happened to be in the castle when they started out a few hours ago, stopped at the door to an apartment. Word on the street, as gathered by Luna 'politely asking' one of the patrolling Night Guards, was that their station chief was up here. Command structure of Night Guard intelligence had several stations in the larger cities, each reporting to a city commander. If Archer was that commander, this station chief would know how to get to him.

Centurions, she was forced to rely on her sisters own ancient order of what were effectively veteran window dressing. They were well trained, of course, but the Night Guard had always taken the active role in the nations protection. Their armour was designed more for looks then for practicality- white and gold with emeralds studding it. These were all pegasi, there were unicorns but they had to fly here after all. Rifles were slung over their backs, and clanked against the armour as they marched.

They would have to change some of their tactics if they wanted to become more then an honor guard, starting with that damn armour.

Luna had gotten rather impatient with her rebellious section out here, and without hesitation bucked the door inward, tearing it off it's hinges. Now was not the time for asking nicely and walking quietly, it was time to swing the big stick, hard.

"Cast Iron!" Luna yelled, storming the room along with her party. Dead ahead an extremely startled bat pony found himself quickly surrounded by a half dozen rifles, and Luna's horn glowed slightly just in case he tried anything.

"Y... your highness?" He asked, and turned with his back to the window.

Luna was smarter then that, and shut it before he could fall out of it backwards.

"You. Take me to your leader," She ordered.

Her underling hesitated, glancing to the side and looking for some way out.

"Now." She demanded, that one of the centurions prodded him with his rifle reminded her of the fact she was relying on them to fight her own Night Guard.

"I can't!" Cast Iron exclaimed. "They're on lockdown, I had to leave my keystone, I can't get in- nopony can!"

"I don't care!" Luna shouted. "Take me to this place, and I'll find a way in," She said.

"You can't... I-" Cast Iron searched for some argument, but Luna had quite enough of this ridiculous play for time and lifted him up- by his neck- magically.

"How dare you tell me, Queen Luna, what I can and cannot do!" Luna shouted, and yanked him towards her through the air.

"You will take me to this facility or I will pass my judgement on you, right here. The penalty for treason is quite harsh." She threatened, Cast Iron dangling in the air before her.

"As... you... wish..." He gasped, and Luna released him to fall to the floor.

"Good, now lead on," Luna ordered, and stepped aside for him to leave. Hesitantly he did so, and the rest of their party followed, two of the five centurions taking his side.

Luna felt a great deal of emotions at the moment, but one in particular she hadn't in a very long time: embarrassment. A section of her own Night Guard had gone rogue, which did not look well on her. Even if the treachery was limited to only this section, that she let the cancer spread at all was a personal failure. This embarrassment only fed her rage, and as soon as she found the pony responsible he would know a fate worse then death, a fate that only an alicorn could possibly endure.

Her sisters hoof on her shoulder calmed her somewhat.

"Save your fire, this one's just following orders. If you start executing the underlings like him, the others will be too afraid to come forward; back to the light as it were," She whispered.

"Treason is treason," Luna replied, just loud enough for the bat ponies sharp ears to hear.

"But I can put off my judgement... for a time," she added.

The trick was to keep them not afraid of you- but afraid of what you would do if they failed you. She had let the Night Guard run itself for too long, it was time to show them what failure meant. She would start with this section.

Reward the good, destroy the bad.

_______________

Flankenstein glanced down the next hallway, and to his chagrin spotted a Night Guard before the heavy door to the testing room.

"Alright, there's one guard. But Princess Sparkle, I d-" A scorching hoof stopped him, as he yelped with burning pain.

"The Twilight has fallen, Doctor. A Burning Dawn rises in its place," Twilight said, striding into the hall.

Well, there's something to be said for style, and Twilight certainly had learned how to be terrifying with style rather quickly.

"You! Surrender or be destroyed!" Twilight shouted, gesturing the down the hall with a glowing hoof.

"Y... what.. who are you?!" The guard exclaimed, Flankenstein moved into the hall behind Twilight to see him shuddering in his armour, but holding his ground.

Bad move.

"You may call me Burning Dawn, and I am here to exact justice for the horrors you've done. Your dreams of genocide end here, cowards," She said, her powerful voice echoing down the hall as she slowly strode forward, the walls glowing as her fire grew to a fever pitch. Flankenstein held back last he burst into flame himself.

"Stop! Stop right there!" The guard shouted.

"Make me." Twilight cackled, flapping open her wings.

The guard fired his rifle, the crack of it deafening in the enclosed space. The bullet melted in the air before it got within a meter of Twilight. His aim was so shaky that she wasn't even in any danger regardless.

"Oh buck this, game over!" The guard shouted, and tossed his rifle before taking hoof in the opposite direction. He didn't get far before a deep purple field closed around him.

He yelped, and gave into fearful screaming. "Help, Princess Twilight has gone insane!" He shrieked down the hall.

"Oh I'm insane?" Twilight bellowed, pulling him toward her through the air. "I'm insane? You're trying to destroy an entire species," she continued, and spun the guard around to better see her.

"And I'm insane?" She asked.

Flankenstein darted around, and pulled the fire alarm beside the testing chamber before entering. Hopefully anypony still in the facility would have enough time to get out before they took this place down. Now, how was he going to live through this? If his plan worked the facility would be flooded, and it would be a long time before the Night Guard was able to access that alicornium again. Long enough, he hoped, that cooler heads would prevail. This also had the benefit of destroying all their notes and research, the secret would remain only known by his staff, and himself. They were hopefully smart enough to sit on it, but even if they didn't only the alicorns could physically create more of this weapon. It was probably smarter to just rush the exit, but Archer expected that. They would have to destroy the place from inside, and force him to evacuate.

"Princess Twilight, don't do anything you'll regret later," Flankenstein warned, as the alarm klaxons echoed down the hall.

"You're right, strangely. I can't judge without a trial," Twilight said, and dropped her captive to the ground.

"What's your name?" She demanded. Flankenstein sighed, they had no time for this- there was sure to be reinforcements on the way.

"I... my name's Buckshot, Princess," He replied.

"Princess Twilight, we have no time for this!" Flankenstein shouted, and was met with a harsh glare.

"I am Burning Dawn now, and we'll have time for whatever I please!" She shouted back, and turned back to Buckshot.

"You stand accused of treason, how do you plead?" She asked.

Flankensteins hoof met his face. They really didn't have the time for this grandstanding.

"I.. uh... innocent?" He ventured.

"Very well. The evidence against you is your participation in this farce, but that, I suppose, doesn't mean you actively participated. I, therefore, I find you not guilty," Twilight said, and released him.

He immediately blew past Flankenstein, screaming with terror.

"You're going to give Princess Luna a run for her money, Burning Dawn," he said, and trotted inside the chamber.

"I choose to take that as a compliment," Twilight said, and followed him in.

"Okay, so what do we do?" She asked.

Flankenstein gestured towards the roof, which was notably lighter then the rest of the walls.

"Above the roof is the ocean, the room is designed to focus explosive force upwards, so that an explosion large enough to threaten the facility would vent into the ocean. Facility safe, Manehatten never notices any tremors, and we can just seal it back up and pump out the water. If we leave the door open though you can 'drown this fire'," He explained.

"Good, and I have a further idea," Twilight said, and fired up her horn.

Flankenstein did not like the sound of that...

"By the way, this means you'll live to see justice, instead of dying here," She added.

That he did.

____________________________

Luna noticed, as they trotted down the street led by the night guard with their escort of centurions, that a few other night guards had taken to following them in the air. Every once in a while one would fly off, probably to report their movements. Luna thought of commanding them to stop, or surrender, or something- but that would make the fracturing of the Night Guard itself public. In this time of chaos it was important the citizens not know just how splintered their government really was. So she allowed it, for now.

When she got back her and Mezza Luna would have a very long talk indeed. Everything pointed to her being treasonous, as much as Luna didn't want to admit it. Her treason looked badly on herself, and to have let it get this far was a heavy mark on her competence.

Cast Iron stopped beside a doorway, which looked to lead into the cellar of a pub. "Here we are, follow me down into the sewers and..."

"Wait, hold on. Centurions up front, you go in the middle. I'm not going to have you run off in the dark," Luna ordered.

A pair of said centurions opened the door, the others into a formation around the. Cast Iron frowned, he was trapped.

Luna had never seen the Night Guard act like this

Had a thousand years really changed that much?

On second thought, how stupid could she have been to think she could leave them to their own devices for an entire millenia and come back to find nothing changed? Everything else had certainly changed. She had failed as much as her sister had- assuming the present was only an image of the past, and the world a stable rock. It wasn't, it was a fluid medium traveling through a chaotic void. Chaos was the norm, the order imposed on it by us only a break in it.

Perhaps the time of the sisterly rulers was over, but that was a thought for another day.

Luna followed down the stairs, finding at the bottom that it did indeed lead to a cellar. The floor, however, had fallen into an old rail tunnel a few meters below, creating a ramp that led into the dark abyss. Luna was blessed with the same night vision as the bat ponies she loved so much, but her sister didn't share this. Thusly, she lit her horn to lead the way.

Cast Iron peered down, and glanced back at the party. "It's rather muddy and stuffy down there, perhaps Princess Celestia..."

Celestria strode forward, and towered over the stallion, whom meekly cowered in her presence.

"You would be wise not to call into question my strength, or willingness to get my hooves dirty. Others have, Cast Iron, they're displayed in a row in my garden for all to see," She said.

Luna grinned as he shuddered and silently trotted down the ramp. An odd thing had happened recently, Celestia was learning to be more... aggressive. It almost seemed like a weight as lifted from her, and now she was more able to act freely. If she had been like this the whole time Luna would never have had to become Queen.

Entering the tunnel, the group was startled as the ground shook, and they covered their heads to protect themselves from falling debris.

"What's going on!" Cast Iron exclaimed, glancing around. The centurions closed in as a group, weapons drawn and pointed outwards.

Luna had never thought about it before, but these ponies were probably the only real competitors with her Night Guard- and they hadn't existed before she had... well she had tried to take over the state. Perhaps if this institution was grown it could provide a balance to keep the Night Guard in check....

"Why are you asking us you damned fool? Guide us, quickly!" Luna commanded, as her sister extended a shield to protect them from tiny falling rocks.

"Uhh.. go straight, take a le-" Cast Iron began to say, and was pushed onward by Luna as the group galloped onward.

The cavalry is coming, Twilight Sparkle. Fear not.

______________

Twilight released the pent up energy in her horn, blasting the roof into oblivion- along with the half meter of mud above it. She did this and turned back to Flankenstein with the wrath of Neptune stopped behind her, a purple field holding it back.

She didn't even look phased by this.

A shout from behind made Flankenstein turn, and he could only imagine what the dozen night guards saw. Doctor Flankenstein, with a young alicorn princess burning with magical fires of pure rage, holding back the powers of the ocean itself.

"Surrender, or be destroyed!" Twilight demanded.

Archer pushed aside the others, and strode through the line of his minions.

"That's real funny Princess Twilight, but I'm not scared of you- not in any form!" He yelled back.

"Archer... I don't think that's very wise," Flankenstein commented, before behind shoved back by Twilight.

"Oh you will be, you will be!" She shouted, and attempted to grab him with a purple field, which simply fizzled out of existence.

"The armour princess, the armour!" Flankenstein reminded her.

Archer grinned, and pointed forward with an old style crossbow.

"I think this ab-" He started to speak, but suddenly seemed to gasp for air, and clutched at his throat. His breath seemed to shimmer faintly.

"T... Princess?" Flankenstein said, unsure of how exactly- or what exactly- she was doing.

"Your armour may be protected, but the air around you isn't. Drop your weapon, and I will accept your surrender!" Shouted down at him.

Flankenstein saw the terrified followers drop theirs and back off, as the crossbow slipped out of Archers hooves to be swept up by a cloud of purple.

She's created a vacuum around his head, sweet Celestia I never even thought of that. Never, never, anger Princess Twilight. Flankenstein noted to himself.

"Good, now you others- arrest him. I will forgive you for this, but not him," Twilight ordered.

The guards didn't hesitate, and grabbed Archer by arms. Twilight strode forward, the ocean seeping into the facility behind her.

"Now let us leave this place, where are the others?" Twilight asked

The guards glanced at each other, and prodded one of their own to speak.

"The civilians all evacuated with the fire alarm," He said.

"I see now, you're too weak to actually kill anypony, aren't you? All talk and no action," Archer spat.

"Says the pony that wanted to wipe out civilians, sure. Take off his armour," Twilight ordered.

The guards glanced at each other, but quickly realized that only Archer's armour was magically sealed. In a flash, that all clanked to the floor.

Twilight continued forward, them backing down the hallway before her.

"Good, now another word out of you, and I..." Twilight's voice trailed off, and Flankenstein noted the fire in her mane had stopped burning.

She dropped the crossbow, and he quickly grabbed it.

"Shoot her!" Archer ordered.

Twilight fell into his hooves, but still managed to keep her shield up. She returned to her normal form as well, just a purple alicorn.

"You idiot, if I shoot her we all die!" Flankenstein shouted back.

"If you don't, this is all for nothing! Remember Baltimare!" Archer returned.

"No, you can go buck yourself Archer, this ends here!" Flankenstein yelled, and the princess gave him a weak smile.

Archer growled, but realized he had no hope here. His guards ran, and himself shortly afterwards.

"This isn't over!" He shouted as he ran.

Flankenstein dropped the crossbow, and bent over to put Twilight on his back. If he could get her out of here then he could take solace in the fact that he had at least managed to clean up this mess of his.

"Archer, you're gonna regret all this," Flankenstein commented, and starting forward. With a glance back he noticed the shield seemed to... sparkle.

Then he ran.

_________________________________

Cast Iron skidded to a halt, the rest surrounding him as he pointed forwards to a section of wall.

"There, the lab is behind there!" he shouted.

Luna wasted no time, and sparked her alicorn to blow down the wall. To their surprise however, she didn't need to- it opened on it's own and a dozen ponies ran out, one of them taking flight down the tunnel before the party could react to the suddenly blinding change in light.

"Halt and surrender!" Luna ordered, throwing up a blue field to cut off the escape for the rest.

They glanced at each other, and threw up their hooves as they backed away from the door on two wobbly legs. A dozen more came out and followed, but whatever one had gone down the tunnel was long gone by now.

"We'll do anything, just don't let her get to us!" One yelled, and the others glanced fearfully at the open door.

"Who? Who has you scared so badly? You're Night Guards, get a handle on yourselves!" Luna ordered, rather ashamed that they were so afraid. She herself wasn't afraid, but was greatly worried that whatever scared them so much was loose with Twilight inside.

"Princess Twilight! She's gone insane a..." The guard trailed off, and glanced back to the door where the sound of rushing water could be heard from within. Outwards into the tunnel it sprayed, two ponies riding on the wave.

"Twilight?!" Celestia exclaimed, and parted the water to see her student laying on the muddy floor, her mane scorched by some unknown heat.

"Princess... Celestia..." Twilight said weakly, as her mentor gently picked her up.

"What did they do to you Twilight? Are you hurt?" Celestia asked frantically.

Luna noticed a second pony, and gestured for a pair of centurions to surround him. They darted over and kept him at gunpoint as Celestia worriedly checked on Twilight.

"I don't think so, I just feel... tired," Twilight said, brushing off some mud and coming to a wobbly footing.

"You were poisoned, Twilight, we came as soon as we could. Where is Archer, the mastermind behind this dark plot?" Luna asked.

The guards glanced around, and then as one looked to Luna with pure terror in their eyes.

"She killed him!" One of them shouted, gesturing to Twilight with a shaky arm.

Luna scoffed. "Princess Twilight, kill? I don't think..." The terror in their eyes forced her to reconsider, and she glanced at the young mare leaning against her sisters muddy flank.

"No, Princess, he escaped," The other said, still under the gun.

All the better, when I find you, Archer...

"Who are you?" Luna asked, peering down at him. An older looking unicorn stallion, probably a researcher. Just barely visible through the mud on his white coat was a red cross.

"Doctor Flankenstein, at your service," He said, leaning his head against the mud in his best attempt at a bow.

Celestia was shocked, and pulled Twilight behind herself.

"You again? I should have known only somepony like yourself could have the lack of foresight to try something as foolish as this. Arrest him!" Celestia ordered, and the two centurions grabbed him by his arms.

"What about the others?" Another asked.

"They are merely pawns, let them go. I suggest to you that you spread the word through the rest that I'm going to start cleaning up this mess," Luna growled.

They took the hint and ran off down the tunnel, Luna wasn't sure which looked more pathetic, the ponies tripping in the mud after their failure, or the night guards following fearfully. She would find their names, and they would all be arrested in time.

"Now, what are we going to do with you?" Luna wondered, approaching Flankenstein.

"I submit to your authority, Princess Luna. I only wish i had the courage to do so sooner," He said.

Luna was confused, and as her sister glared at the stallion and shook her head frantically she pushed further.

"Sooner? What other crimes have you committed you wretched stallion?" Luna asked, prodding his chest.

"I stole dozens of years from your life, and months from your memory. Princess Luna, I'm the reason your mane shimmers," Flankenstein explained.

Luna gasped, and fell back on herself. She had never thought about, but... it made sense. She didn't actually remember anything between when her sister defeated her once again with Twilight Sparkles help, and just before Nightmare Night. It had just never occurred to her to look, and she found...

"I can't remember..." She muttered, and looked up at the stallion.

"I can't..."

Her saddened gaze turned to anger, and then to rage, and then to fire in rapid succession. She leapt forward and tossed the two centurions to the side like rag dolls as she threw the stallion to the ground.

"I'll kill you for what you've done!" She screamed, drawing back a silver shoed hoof. With one swipe it would be over for him.

"Luna, stop! He's not worth it!" Celestia yelled, wanting desperately to pull her off but having to keep her student steady.

"He's not worth the air he breaths!" Luna countered, tears began to stream from her eyes as the realization of what he had stolen really hit home. All those moments with her sister, adventures she might have had and friendships she might have formed- erased. The good and the bad, the ugly and the beautiful, all lost permanently thanks to this colossal waste of flesh. Along with all that, years of her seemingly endless, but still mortal, life cut from it. What would she have seen, what could she have done, with the time stolen?

"Why, why did you do it!" Luna demanded, holding her blow back for the moment.

"Because I loved you," Flankenstein said. tearfully opening his own eyes.

"Luna stop, don't do something you'll regret!" Celestia warned.

"You... what?" Luna asked, this was not helping her confusion at all.

"Princess Luna..." Twilight said weakly, and Luna glanced at her.

"He... helped me, he... cured the poison... let him live his miserable life. Don't be Nightmare Moon," she pleaded weakly.

If he cured the poison... why was she so weak?

Luna sighed, and backed off the stallion.

Gesturing to two of the centurions, whom had all been watching the scene as if a strange stage play, she gave her order.

"Take him away, and put him in the deepest, darkest, cell in the Canterlot Caves. Keep him alive- barely," She ordered.

They glanced at Celestia, whom nodded, and then they dragged Flankenstein through the mud back towards the exit. Luna noted their hesitation- power had shifted.

She sighed, this was getting to be too much for a single night.

"Twilight, if you're not poisoned, why are you so weak?" She asked.

"I.. uhhh..." Twilight coughed, and collected herself. "Y'know how when you get really mad- and you sort of... change?" She asked.

Celestia did a take in shock, as did her sister.

"I see, most of us have- although I think Cadence remains 'pure'", Luna noted

Celestia wasn't taking it so lightly. "Twilight, you know full well what that sort of power leads to. I... experienced it myself lately. It is a demon that must remain caged," she warned.

"I know, Celestia, but without that demon we wouldn't be here right now," Twilight said.

Celestia sighed, and began to slowly walk her student down the tunnel. "The past is the past, but you must learn from it," she said.

"I certainly have some history to catch up on, who was that stallion- really?" Luna asked, taking their tail.

"Talk to him yourself sometime, I'm sorry I kept it from you but it just felt more... right," Celestia said.

"I would have done the same, I understand, even if I still want to rip his head off," Luna said.

Twilight glanced back at her, and Luna shrugged.

"We were worried about you Twilight, turns out we should have been more worried about them," Luna noted, gesturing backwards where the retreating cowards had run.

"So what's your alter-egos name? It took weeks for me to find one that fit me," Luna asked.

Twilight hesitated, but after Celestia whispered something in her ear she giggled.

"Oh that's silly," She said.

"Burning Dawn, It just sort of came to me. It's all quite a blur really, but I seem to remember making a few impressive sounding monologues," Twilight replied.

"Welcome to the club, Princess Twilight Sparkle, you really are one of us now," Luna said.

She was right. Twilight had experienced the true power of an alicorn, and seemed to have a level of control over it somewhere in-between Celestia and Luna. If she could learn to harness that power as Luna did...

Luna grinned. Perhaps the student needed a new teacher...

Comments

[SPark]

4150535 Gave it a skim, it looks good to me.

[Salizar65]

Burning dawn, nice really catchy. Nightmare Moon, Burning Dawn and Solar Flare. Can we say trifecta?