When the Everfree Burns

by SpiritDutch

Chapter 42: A Traitor and A Queen

Day

“So how did you say the sun reappeared again?” Twilight shaded her eyes with her hoof, staggering a bit from walking on three hooves. It was the hottest it’d been in her time in Ponyville; One could say the sun had come back with a vengeance after being hidden.

Iillor was accommodating Twilight's slower pace, but not without passive glances of mild annoyance. “I don’t know. I was napping at the time. Everypony has a different claim." She shrugged. "The knights claim it rose from the south, but Risky says it just popped up. What sounds more plausible to you?”

“I’m no expert. Celestia was never too keen to share when it came to-” Twilight twitched; Unbidden, a flurry of memories came to the front of her mind, somehow forgotten but inexplicably remembered, as if on cue. “I, uh…”
Twilight tried not to drool as she tried to parse the images assaulting her. She felt sick.

"Yo, you okay?" Iillor apparently noticed her discomfort.

Twilight rubbed her forehead. "I remember... Princess Celestia. I remember her explaining the metaphysics of her mother sun." It was unnervingly peculiar that Twilight could not place the context of the memory at all, as if it had just appeared between day-to-day activities.

"That's cool I guess." Iillor blinked.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Uh huh. And it's why I'll posit that how the sun disappeared would depend entirely on the manner of it’s absence.”

Iillor frowned. “What does that mean?”

“Princess Celestia told me the sun is magical more than anything else. Certain patterns or spells could theoretically effect it in a way that would be impossible for a physical mass even a millionth its size. Ergo Princess Celestia raising it during the Summer Sun." Twilight said. "So... If I'm doing my mental math correctly. A magical phenomenon slightly stronger than Princess Celestia would be able to conceal it in various ways."
A magical phenomenon slightly stronger than Princess Celestia: AKA, Nightmare Moon.

"And?"

"So either the sun was hidden but still where it usually is..." Twilight motioned to the blue skies. "Or it was removed from this world somehow. It might take years of scholarship to know exactly what happened."
Or, simply asking the aforementioned Nightmare Moon. Twilight's idea lurched at the prospect.

"Well here's your first little conundrum to do with said scholarship." Iillor hummed. "Why did it come back?"

They were very close to the library, the Golden Oak. Twilight was torn between her twin desires to go check in with Spike (who knew what trouble he had gotten into waiting for Twilight to wake up), and continuing the conversation.
"Most likely, whatever form of concealment was hiding it was removed. Unless..." Twilight sighed. "The sun was connected to Princess Celestia on a level deeper than we could ever understand. They were literally a part of each other. I don't know how things are going to go if our princess is truly gone for good. Maybe somepony else might be communing with it.” Twilight decided not to address the immense theological problems of what she’d just said. “Princess Celestia was the sun's hierophant. Without her there's so much uncertainty, so much we can't know."

"A lot of things hinged on Celestia." Iillor agreed.

"Yeah..." Twiligtht mumbled, holding back tears.

Iillor wasn't paying attention to Twilight's affect anymore, trotting along and thinking aloud. "There might be clues in the Everfree. Who knows what Duke Lightdowser finds in there. Well, you know, or knew, ha ha. There might even be other survivors with a more intact memory than you."

Twilight brooded on that. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had both acted very strangely. There was a change, however slight, that they knew something she didn't. But in her emotional state Twilight didn't feel like doing anything but going home and talking with Spike.
"Doesn't matter at this point." She said softly. "The sun is back. End of story."

"Until the next time it disappears." Iillor agreed, throwing Twilight a sidelong glance.

They stepped into the little plaza in front of the Golden Oak. Twilight paused before opening the door. “I guess this is my stop." She cleared her throat. "Do you want to come in?”

“Nah. You need more rest and I’ve got stuff to do. I need to make up for I the time I spent babysitting you.” Iillor ribbed. “I don't know how much work a noble like you has in a day but you've probably got a backlog of your own. Hee hee.

“Not really. A viscountess isn't responsible for much.” Twilight sighed. "And without my princess, that's... that's all I really am. I may not even be that. I'll find out when I go back to Canterlot if I still have that stupid gatehouse castle Celestia gave me."
She closed her eyes and sighed again. "There is a turbulent future ahead for all of us."

"We survived the night. The future's no problem" Iillor winked. "Lord Lightdowser will get back from his expedition into the forest soon, maybe tomorrow, maybe not. You should talk to him."

Twilight said nothing to that.

"Anyhow, I'll check back on you if that's okay." Iillor bowed.

“I’m fine, really.” Twilight tried to smile but could pull it off convincingly. She wasn't sure she wanted the earth pony following her around anymore. She was nice, but nosey. "I'll find you."

“Your perogative, my lady. Till next time.” Iillor did a laughable impression of a curtsey, and pranced back up the street out of Ponyville.

Twilight waved her farewell and pushed through the library door. Books were scattered everywhere, like somepony had been looking for one in a hurry.

“Spike! I’m back!” She called out, but the only response was the cheerful chirping of birds from out the window.

---

The Night. The Eternal Night. The Night of the Summer Sun

It was night outside the Vacuous Arcanum, but it was always dark under the mountain.
Yet even for creatures of that perpetual dark, the Eternal Night was proving treacherous.

Agana, cackling to herself over the pain she was causing Ripple Wreath and the alicorn linked to him, felt silent.
The great creature's joyful expression slowly transformed into a scowl. ”Something is not right.”

“Yes, I’ve come to realize that.” Ripple Wreath tried to laugh at his own weak joke but painful numbness had spread over him entirely. It was all he could do to continue breathing.

“NO, you fatuous ass! She is fighting back.” Agana sounded both infuriated and shocked, as though the concept of dispute had never even occurred to her. “There is more to this... ” She was silent for a long while, while she processed the scope of what she was facing. ”Ahh, the Celestiaan is with her. That is going to be a problem.” She clacked her beak and her eyes came alight with delight once more. “And an opportunity!”

---

Ancepanox’s pain stopped, leaving a fuzzy sensitivity in all her nerves and a haze over her mind. Similarly, the apocalyptic seizing of Twilight’s dreamscape died down to a tolerable tremor. The alpha strike was over, and they had survived.

She recomposed herself from her curled position, cracking her eyes open. Celestia’s sun had clocked up to high noon, it’s symbolic energy coursing down to it’s avatar. Celestia was raised off the tower, her entire body alight.

“Thank you, Twilight, for much needed insight.” Celestia intoned. “I desire life again, and my star has renewed her link with me. By her phenomenal power, the decay of my mind is revived.”

“Stars are fickle bastards. And so are you.” Ancepanox groaned, rolling to her hooves. She would have to save her suspicion of Celestia's intentions for later. “Still, thank you for saving me, however you’re doing it.”

“I took the liberty of sequestering your connection to your dark progeny.” Celestia said with a hint of distaste.

Ancepanox snorted in displeasure. She felt a pang of possessiveness of Ripple Wreath. "Oh did you now?"

"Agana was using him as the vector of attack. Feeling me through the link has thrown her off. Limiting the connection will give us the time we need to prepare." Celestia said. She descended back to the ground, still glowing radiantly. “And by 'we', I mean you. Dead though I am, I can still bear Agana’s onslaught. I have decades of experience fighting creatures like her.”

“Agana...” Ancepanox repeated, but a name to the pain. The bizarre avian face she’d seen through the link was very unlike the pony-morph alicorns. “Another stupid old bag, thrown in my way to distract me.”

“Mindless is the last word I would describe her by. Distraction is a close second-to-last.” Celestia warned. “Set aside your contrarian hatred for me for a moment, please, or we will not survive her.”

“Don’t be a bonehead. I already offered you my friendship. I want to help you more than I want to hate you.” Ancepanox said with a surly sigh. “I’ll everything I can, obviously, but don’t think for a moment that I’ve dropped my grievances against you.”

“Fair.” Celestia nodded.

“So…” Ancepanox nibbled on her lower lip, tried to get a feel for the tumultuous dreamscape around them. The Tower seemed sturdy, but there was a indescribable hint of fragility to the air, like it all might shatter if pushed too hard. “How can I help defeat this tart.”

“Defeat? Nothing for now.” Celestia said simply. “We will sever the link and the Suzerain of Sin will have no avenue to attack us.”

“What? No! I need to stay connected.” Ancepanox protested. “She’ll kill Wreath and I won’t let that happen!”

Celestia approached her. “Agana is not to be underestimated. Did you not hear me say she was designed to attack dreams? The Dark Lady herself vested Agana with enormous psychic power. My mother star may have given me a second wind, but I still can not hope to match her.”
Celestia sighed. "Thought it was centuries ago, she and I fought a battle like this before. Even then, at the height of my power, I could only run from her dream attacks. Her weakness lies in her physical form, which obviously we have no way of hurting right now.

"I'll put myself out there and confess I have no idea what the hell is going on. What is Agana?” Ancepanox brooded. “A designed alicorn, you said. What does that mean?"

"All alicorns are designed. You met Myriadess, one of the ancient alicorns of Light, who were made by their father Wintertide. You must have heard from her about their counterparts of dark, made by Anima Astral Nacre." Celestia said. "Even my sister and I were made, my our celestial patrons. You were..." She trailed off.

Ancepanox clucked her tongue. "Yeah but what's Agana."

"A creation of Anima Astral Nacre, the Dark Lady, but made after the fall of the gods. She was made after the fall of Everfree in fact. As such, she incorporates lessons the Dark Lady while she roamed the earth. As alicorns go Agana is a young one." Celestia said, summoning faint visions of the towering peacock-hippogryph alicorn appeared in the air. "She lies in bondage under the Mountain of Canterlot, in the lost Vacuous Arcanum of Lord Starswirl, waiting for wayward ponies. She, well, consumes them, eating their sins."

"Bondage?" Ancepanox quirked a brow.

"She was not meant to roam the surface, at least not until I was gone. She is held in place until such a time she will reign undisputed. Another of the Dark Lady's creatures, a dark vine, binds her." Celestia said. "Agana is not too pleased to be held in place, and let me know how wrathful she would be once I was gone and she was free. She is very arrogant, even for a Deava-"

"Woah, what the buck is a deava?" Anceanox demanded.

"Byword for dark alicorn. Deava and Ava, light and dark. Hippogryph Maredian terminology." Celestia explained. "I somewhat misspoke since Ava and Deava are used in religious contexts primarily, and-"

"Thanks, just needed the first part." Ancepanox interrupted again. "A dark alicorn, strapped up under Canterlot, and this is the first I learn of it. I thought Myriadess would be the end of this night's surprises." She chuckled. "Any other alicorns just laying about, posing a tripping hazard? Should I be worried about a tentacle god under my bed?"

"I understand you are upset but it was vital the ancient alicorns remain veiled in secrecy. What if ponies turned to worshipping Anima Astral Nacre?" Celestia posed.

Anceapnox suppressed a laugh. "What if indeed."

"Don't be trite." Since getting her second wind Celestia had been calm and patient, but her annoyance with the dark alicorn was showing.

"I'm not being trite. I'm just confronting what I see as a fundamental injustice here, exemplary of what you JUST SAID you weren't going to do! I'm not going to let you cut off Ripple Wreath. I'm not going to abandon him to a gruesome death." Anceapnox scowled. "Your bullshit light/dark politics will not cost a pony their life, especially since you caused this whole situation with your apathy.

"You were never this foul mouthed before, my student. Even now you amaze me." Celestia said, half-snide, but still oddly respectful in her tone. “How you have formed a relationship worth dying over in so short a time is beyond my ability to understand.” The grudging respect came with qualifications. "Let me sever the connection, my lady."

Ancepanox bit back her anger and just sighed. “Beyond your ability to understand...” She glanced to the ground, brooding. "Then the one who does understand has to take charge. I'm going to fight, and fight back hard."

---

“Damn that Celestiaan!” Agana roared from her beak, sending flecks of spittle raining down on Wreath, and her psychic voice turned from melodic to shrill. “She's going to stop the fun before it even started!”

The magenta magic surrounding Wreath was starting to constrict his ability to breath even worse than the black vines had. “Wa-” He ran out of breath and started again. “What does that mean?”

“She is vulnerable. But still they are going to get away! ” Agana seethed with limitless rage. “Your link is so pitifully underdeveloped that I can hardly push through it at all!”

Wreath bit his lip to stifle the sudden urge to make a dirty comment on that statement, but found himself devoid of the ability to talk even if he wished it, as Agana squeezed him with bone-crushing magical force. He heard several cracks and unbearable pain lanced through his limbs. She was going to kill him.

“I cannot let the Celestiaan flitter away from me again. I'm so close to freedom.” Agana clacked her beak in consternation. “Little earth pony, sacrifices must be made to achieve this victory..."

Wreath wheezed futilely. How had Agana gone from talking about Ancepanox to Celestia. Wasn't Celestia dead? It had been Ancepanox that told him so.
Before he could dwell on it further, the magical ring between Agana's spiral horns flared with brilliant, awful dark light.

"I must break through. Thus I will make full use of your darkness right now, for you see that I have greater need of it than you. My condolences to those who loved you.” The bound alicorn said.

Enormous burning pain blossomed from every inch of Wreath’s skin. Roaming his form with her unblinking alien eyes, Agana tore away the Dark influences that had settled into his body. Like millions of hairs being pulled out by the follicle, she assimilated the nightmarish corruption Ancepanox had gifted him with.
With ravenous malus, Agana cracked her beak open in glee as she felt her horns burn with the stolen energy.

“POWER! You will die, Celestiaan!” Agana cackled, the magical ring between her twin horns turning black and maroon. She tossed Wreath away like a used towel into the forest of statue. “Die and I'll be free. DIE! DIE! DIE!”

---

Twilight Velvet was somewhere between awake and asleep, trying to focus on the words in front of her face. She had so much left to do, and nopony could tell her to stop, not even Night Light. Yes, it was a little embarrasing to hide from him on top of Chateau la Garde, but needs must.
Running a functional government for a city of hundreds of thousands was a whole different beast than managing a few captains and their followers. The depths of the unnatural night were a darling opportunity to reshape things how she wanted, but the limits of her middle-aged body could not be pushed further.
Velvet slumped forward, then jerked back up. "Maybe Night Light is right..." She rubbed her eyes. "Maybe I should take a nap."

Just then, a jolt, and her eyes flew open. There was something in the air, something unnatural. She felt it at the tip of her horn like warm sunlight, a looming change peeking above the horizon.
She stood up. Where was it coming from? She trotted to the edge of the roof and stared over the valley.

"Is it you?" She asked the small black dots hanging near the horizon. The picket of airships from Cloudsdale fleet had gotten closer, and now a number of larger ships were among their number, but no, Velvet did not detect any anomalous magical forces from it.
"Hmm..." Her gaze roamed to the city below. Like her, it was drifting between sleeping and awake. Ponies were staying inside except to get necessary supplies. Even the usually zany spots like the university were still and silent. The ponies were subdued, waiting for her to impose her will over them.
"Then where..." She backed up from the edge and looked strait down. She narrowed her eyes. "Did one of my naughty captains wake something up down there?"

She tried to summon up a letter with her magic, so she could send a scathing message to subordinates telling them not to meddle with things outside their lane. Without warning, her magic up out, and the sheet of paper drifted to the floor.
Gasping in surprise, she tried again, and was only able to produce the faintest aura of green magic around her horn, like when she was channeling a dragonfire spell. She took a few deep breaths, moved closer the to the sheet, and tried again: Still nothing.

Even as tired as she was, Velvet knew she should still have been able to tap into her magic. The feeling in the air was disrupting her.

"Whelp. I'm taking a nap." Velvet sighed and made for the stairwell. "I'll figure it out later."
If her Astral, the Cloudsdale ships, or something else caused trouble, then her husband would have to deal with it. Not that he hadn't been completely willing to take the burden, but Velvet didn't trust his mettle. Oh well.

“Mother!” Astral’s psychic wail mingled in her head.
A swarm of tendrils rose over the lip of the parapet and latched on, hoisting the otherworldly flesh alicorn up to the roof. Astral Nacre was jittering with anxiety, unable to control her bone wings. “Velvet I need your help!”

“There's my little darling." Velvet said flatly, half-lidded. "Have you come to apologize for your rudeness at dinner?"

"Ehh? Sure whatever. Ancepanox and I are friends now." Astral rushed to explain. "But she gave me a pony and I lost him! I need you to summon him back!"

"Ancepanox... gave you a pony?" Velvet sighed. "Astral, darling, I don't want to deal with this. Loath though I am to admit it, I need sleep.

“The cage ATE him, and I need him alive!” Astral refused to be still, trotting in circles around Velvet’s desk. “Please! Please! I'll be good from now on! I don't want to disappoint her!"

What the hell was she on about? Velvet turned fully to Astral, her grimace wavered into a confused frown. She could hardly focus on what Astral was saying. “You- You put a pony in the dragonfire cage? Why didn’t you just activate it to bring him back?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t… I didn’t know!” Astral tantrumed, beating her hooves against the floor. It was like a drumbeat across Velvet’s mind. “Please, Velvet, help me.”

“Astral... calm down.” Velvet pleaded.
At the same time, a flare of joyous glee rose in her. Astral was promising to be good? Could it be that Velvet finally had the leverage she needed to control her alicorn.
"Astral..." She cleared her throat and tried again. "Astral, do you trust me?"

Astral froze. “Trust?”

“Yes.” Velvet propped herself up by leaning on the desk. She steeled her expression, but she knew there was no hiding her weariness from Astral. “Do you trust me, my daughter.”

“Daughter?” Astral swished her fleshy mess of a tail around in anxiety. “Velvet… Mother…” She sat down, her beady eyes focused fully on the little mare in front of her. "Lady Velvet, what kind of relationship do you think we should have? I'm not good at this. I don't know what to do or say."

“Astral Nacre, I created you to be a tool. A means to an end. I won't lie, my daughter, but I brought you into this world never considering that you might self-actualize. ” Velvet did not mince words, watching Astral’s tail move when she knew it could be used at any moment to kill while she was vulnerable. “Control is the aspiration of any sentient being. We desire control over own own lives, but sometimes, we feel the hunger for control over others as well. You understand this as well as anypony, because you embody my hunger for control.”

"Yes..." Astral's psychic voice came softly. "Without lie and pretense and show... I'm a tool."

Velvet locked eyes with those unblinking black beads she had brought into the world. “The most magnificent tool in the universe. A tool to bend reality itself, once calibrated. You wish to know and change everything to how it should be, and so do I." Velvet said. Tired or not, once she was in her groove Twilight Velvet was a master orator. "I am a tool as well. I'm a servant of a dream far greater than any of us. The inheritance of generations of House Twilight, is a dream that can rival the gods. We must reach that end. We WILL reach that end. No shame and no dishonor can come from any action that drives us towards our goal, Astral."

"But mother... I can not dream." Astral said anxiously.

Velvet held up her hoof, made sure Astral was watching, and smashed it against the stone underhoof. "See that? Not a dent, and of course not, for stone stands against muscle and bone." She nodded to the spot Astral had stomped in her tantrum. "But like a chisel, you can break what I can not."

"Individual chisels never feature prominently in the stories of architectural masterpieces." Astral countered. She was getting wise to Velvet's tricks.

"Bad analogy." Velvet hummed.

"Then think of one that reassures me that I have a place with you when I can not dream." Astral said, practically begging. "We can help each other not because of coercion and trickery, but because we trust each other! Because we want to!"

Velvet squeezed her eyes shut, trying to work through the haze in her mind. "The House of Twilight... it can be more than a dream. What use is a dream unless its implemented. The- no..." She cut herself off and tried again. "You feel what you must feel to have my plans fully realized. Even your confusion is- no, no... damn." She ground her teeth together.
What was Astral looking for? Honesty? Earnestness? Velvet had a VERY had time with that. It was worth a shot though.
"Astral Nacre... I want to control this planet." She began slowly. "My plans, with or without you, brings to me absolute control over every second, every split moment, across this entire world. It is a very grand, very alicorn-like need, to dominate everything." She leaned in. "With you I'm getting close. But if you try to deny me, like history, like the Celestiaan, like the Stars, and like everyone else has tried to deny our house throughout eternity... I'll kill you."

Astral was completely still, save a few errant twitches from her tail.

Velvet tilted her nose up, settling into a smug smile, and chuckled. "Come on then."

Astral, as if hesitant, tilted her head too. "Mother..." She began quiet, then mimicked Velvet's goading tone. "Ditto."

Velvet barked a laugh. "Good show! That's what an alicorn should be: You dominate, you rule, you assert yourself. We could be transactional, but I say no. Let us be slaves to each other's needs, and self-actualize together!" She closed one eye and tilted her head to the side. "So you'll get your pony back, I promise. I don't need another reason besides that it's what you want."

“Velvet, tell me who denied us?” Astral whispered, tense yet eager. “Mother I will destroy them. I will destroy them for you. Mother I would destroy the gods for you.”

“Ohh.” Velvet sucked in a deep breath and let it out with a laugh. “That won’t be necessary yet. I just want to know, my beautiful third-born, if you share our dream.”

“Always my dear Velvet, mother.” Astral’s beady eyes stared into Velvet’s. “I feel so many things, but I what I feel most of all is a deep need to please you.”

“Ahh.” Velvet smiled. “I am very, very happy. Will you prove that to me? Will you do anything for me?”

“Yes mother!” Astral straightened out. “Anything!”

“Very good, and while you do, I will see about bringing back the pony you lost.” Velvet smiled in earnest pleasure. She took a step towards the stairway. “Let us start out with something small then. Destroy Clousdale’s blockading fleet. Leave none alive.”

---

Night Light was getting agitated. He thought he could be useful, but everywhere he went the underlings assured him that everything was taken care of. He didn't even recognize some of the ponies patrolling the streets or manning the checkpoints. Blueblood and Aurthora had pulled in lots of ponies and Night Light was more than a little hesitant. If Velvet's lethal wrath wasn't 100% assured, Blueblood may have been tempted to try something with his mass of ponies. More than just cruelty, whipping the 'prince' every now and then kept him from even considering disloyalty.

But that left Night Light rather out in the cold. There was seemingly nothing for him to do.

"Velvet is up to something." He grumbled. His wife told him she would rest when he left her, but he highly doubted she actually was. She was probably pulling in paperwork with her nifty dragonfire spell, keeping it out of everypony else's hooves.

With the Blackhorn Sword strapped on his side, Night Light wandered into the Old Town. He was the only pony on the street, for it seemed the crowds that had turned out before at the Opera House had realized the true peril of the unending night.

He passed by the plaza near the royal garden. He passed the spot Sel Lech had been sulking in after the events of the Opera House. Blueblood was cowed, but Sel Lech was different. Sel was an emotional, whimsical pony at times. Hitting him had done no good: The lesson faded as quickly as the welts. In fact Night Light was at bit of a loss when it came to Sel: What was he good for? Why did Velvet keep him around? His apologetic earnestness was going to be a liability.

"hm." Night Light dragged his hoof over the ground a bit. "When did I get so cynical?"

Night Light stopped for a moment in front of the Musican's Guild. The facade was a mess, with broken windows and debris scattered everywhere; A real eyesore for the prim and clean Old Town. The inside was even worse. He wondered how many former guild ponies were still around, hiding in safehouses around Canterlot. They probably didn't know Velvet was the one behind the Wonderbolts's attack, but there was still a risk. It could also be an opportunity, if the new regime found a way to being the guild ponies on side. Trained assassins had many uses.

"Hmm." Night Light was not especially proud of having to rely on assassins, as Velvet had against the Bright brothers in foal, but they could potentially be used to avoid more wasteful methods. Thankfully nopony else in Canterlot was making trouble, so no more be killed yet. Indeed, a surprising number of ponies were still showing up for their government posts, save the mass exodus from Canterlot Castle the IHG had orchestrated.
On that note, Night Light wondered how the guard lads from the Chateau la Garde gatehouse posting were doing now. Another gate perhaps?

It was becoming cold, and the supply of wood and coal was dwindling. Peasants came in twos and threes from the countryside, escaping from shortages caused by the trade breakdown. The situation was probably worse for ponies further out in the hinterlands, where opportunistic animals or bandits prowled the dark.

He tracked down the new posting for his acquaintances the city guardsponies . He joined them at the city’s small western gate that guarded the skydock. But standing around wouldn't do. He wanted to help, in what little way he could.

“Not like that. Hold it like this, so the shock of a strike doesn’t break your teeth.” Night Light guided one of the guardsponies with his swordsponyship while the others watched. He adjusted how the stringy unicorn held his longsword in his mouth. “Make sure the crossguard is far enough out so that your nose doesn’t get cut off.”

Unicorn guardsponies too weak with their magic to lift a weapon were often deprived of vital training. Night Light’s stamp as a duelist was to be proficient in any situation, knowing how to use any sword with his mouth, hoof, and even his tail in dire situations. Who better to instruct? Took his mind off the frustration.

The guardspony practiced slashing at the air, but the sword’s hilt slipped out of his mouth and clattered on the cobblestone road. Night Light cringed at the possibility that it would be nicked, but it was a relatively generic blade; Not like the Blackhorn Sword he’d lain against the wall while he instructed. It was a beautiful sword of a shining silver metal, with a wooden hilt of the same lacquer as the armor. He couldn't help but glance to it every minute. Nopony would risk to use such a work of art in a practice battle.

“Try again.” Night Light sighed, fetching the longsword back with his magic. “That sword is balanced perfectly, so you don’t have to clamp down on it when you’re not swinging. Save your jaw some strain.”

Was this what he was good for, Night Light wondered. Was the the only task that would not be taken from him.

“Uh, some ponies are coming m’lord.” One of the guards behind him said. Night Light grunted in acknowledgement and continued his lesson.

It was a small convoy, three covered wagons pulled by two ponies each. The lead wagon was pulled by two mares, concealed by black hoods and shawls. The taller of them, strands of yellow and orange hanging out of her articles, was in front, confidently leading the other. Her voice was smooth and somewhat commanding. “Mind opening the gate for us, Gentleponies?”

“Uh, this the gate to the skydock. You know that, right?” The guardspony looked baffled, looking over the laden carts.

“Yes, that’s why I’m going this way.” The mare said with a chuckle.

“Well, uh, okay then. What’s your business, going through to there?” The guardspony began at the top of the list of standard questions while his comrade fetched the ledger. Night Light kept watch on them from the corner of his eye while he criticized his trainee's form.

“Take wild guess.” The mare snarked.

“Do you own an airship moored there?” The guard looked over the wagons and the other ponies, who hurriedly pulled their hoods closer.

“I’m in the market for one. I thought I might take a look at what’s in stock.” The yellow mare smiled broadly. She flashed a quick glance at Night Light, and he could have sworn she’d winked at him.

“Uh… Ok. Umm, FYI the admin don't like sarcasm and if I write that down I'll get chewed out, so please tell the truth. Let's, uh, start with your names.” The guard took the ledger from his friend, being the only literate one of the squad.

“Dances-on-Graves.” The lead mare pointed to herself. “And my friend is Entanglement Theory.” She pointed to the mare behind her.

“Two unicorns… Dances-on-Graves… Entanglement Theory…” The guard murmured around the quill in his mouth as he wrote. He spared a look at the stallions pulling the two carts behind, but scrawled a small addendum for them, deciding the peons’ names were unimportant. “It's a funny name you got, Mis.”

“Funny nose you got.” The Dances-on-Graves quipped.

The other guard blushed to the sound of snickering behind him. “What’s in the wagons?”

“Some tools and stuff.” Dances-on-Graves said. “Furnishings for the airship, if you will.”

“Uh, anything to declare mis?”

She shrugged. “I’d like to declare my undying love for Celestia, but I don’t think you’re the pony to talk about for that.”

The guard sighed. “Okay, whatever. We're all tired.” The guard had an uneasy feeling, but didn’t see the harm in letting them through. There wasn’t much damage they could do from the isolated skydocks. “We’ll have the gate open in a jiffy, ma’am.”

The sword clattered out of the trainee’s mouth once more. Night Light scooped it up with his magic, but instead of returning he brought it to his side. He slowly approached the mares, also snatching up the Blackhorn Sword. Seeing this, every guard froze.

“Leaving Canterlot?” Night Light said, tapping the flat of the training sword against his shoulder impatiently. "Dances-on-Graves... You carry yourself like a noblemare, but I would have remembered a name like that." He looked her up and down, but the robes and dark of night obscured her. “My friend might have forgotten, but the city is closed. There's no leaving without approval."

"S- Sorry, my lord." The guardspony muttered. "The shift before us didn't mention-"

"That's okay." Night Light grunted, his attention fixed on the defiant mare. "Why are you abandoning the city? Things aren't better anywhere else. In fact this is probably the safest place in Equestria right now."

Dances-on-Graves’s grin grew wider as she sized up Night Light. “It's more dangerous than you think. Besides, we're after green pastures, not safety."

“Who are you loyal to?” Night Light tried to get a good look at the smaller mare (Entanglement Theory, she'd said), but she pulled her hood down hastily. “Let us cut to the chase. What you are trying won't be abided. Depending on how truthful I feel you are being, I may let you leave from the main gate, without your wagons. If you lie I will have to conclude you are an enemy of the lawful government of Canterlot.”

“I have always held a deep patriotic love for Celestia and her laws.” Dances-on Graves said with exaggerated pride.

Night Light stood there silently for a moment. Then he used the point of his blade to push back her hood. She was an orange unicorn, with unruly red and yellow hair. Her cyan eyes stared back impetuously. "You had to go and do it."

Night Light jet his jaw. "Yes I did." He dropped the practice sword and backed away slowly,

The guards looked confused. "Sir?"

“A traitor, lads.” Night Light warned softly. "The Traitor is back."

Sunset Shimmer laughed at the seriousness of it. She didn't even bother to unyoke herself from the cart. "It's me." Her decade of exile was over.
That boded poorly for the future of Equestria.
“You’re wondering why I’m bothering using this gate, why I’m talking to you.” Sunset watched Night Light, reading his expressions carefully. “You’re wondering what I have planned, and why I’ve let things go as they have up here in Canterlot.”

“Those are all very reasonable things to wonder, Lady Shimmer.” Night Light controlled his breathing. He knew that Sunset could level the block in the time it would take him to draw the Blackhorn Sword. He threw desperate glances at the bewildered guards, praying they wouldn’t do anything rash.

“Lord Light, what is going on?” The lead guardpony asked, looking confusedly for his superior's directions. “Do we apprehend this mare?”

“Back off.” Night Light ordered. When the guards hesitated he repeated sternly. “Back off now!”

Sunset Shimmer snorted flippantly. “The pseudonym 'Dances-on-Graves' isn't just for show, you know. Come on then, don’t pussyfoot around." She glanced south. "Nopony's coming to help so don't try to stall. At this moment, everypony is distracted."

"You've had a long time to plan." Night Light acknowledged.

"Fight or Flight, Lord Light?” Sunset glanced over at the smaller mare yoked beside her. The little mare was shaking with fright. That seemed to mellow Sunset’s arrogance with a touch of caution. “Let's not cause trouble. Not here at least. Let us pass. As I said, there are greener pastures for us.”

Night Light fidgeted, unsure what to do.

“And you going to try to stop us?” Sunset cocked a brow challengingly.

“You’re a criminal and a traitor.”

“So what? Who isn’t? Not you, I’ve heard. He he!” Sunset giggled. “Just letting you know, but the amount of time for you to open this gate voluntarily is running out.”

Either roll over for a dangerous maniac or fight a hopeless battle. Night Light had never faced odds like that before, usually being on the side of the maniac. He was a generally confident stallion, but he could see no positive outcome in this dealing.
What would Velvet do? He imagined she would probe for weakness and feign submission then strike when the moment was ripe. Unfortunately Night Light lacked her uncanny perceptiveness, and he doubted he would even be able to exploit any dents in the traitor’s armor.

“We’ll be well rid of you.” Night Light tried to sound stern. He took another step back and toward the gate operator, who initiated the opening mechanisms. “Canterlot will be much safer without your treachery.”

“Oh if you think I’m the most dangerous thing in this city, you’ve got another thing coming.” Sunset cautioned, leaning into the harnesses to pull her cart forward. “This whole mountain is teeming with monsters. Get prepared, Lord Light. Real monsters aren’t as laid back as I.”

Briefly puzzled at that cryptic warning, Night Light withdrew from the convoy as it rolled through the gate. He could feel the looks of the guardsponies on him, lost and unnerved. If they had known who she was, would they have been braver and least tried to stop her?

“Gods damn it all.” He cursed acidly.

He snapped the practice sword back to his side with his magic and, with a moment of quick calculation, chucked it at the mechanism above the gate.
The dingy sword nicked the side of the tensioned rope which, with its integrity compromised, frayed and unwound in the blink of an eye. The heavy wood portcullis came crashing down but did not, as Night Light expected, flatten the third cart. The wheels snapped and the wooden frame splintered, but the bulky cargo under the tarp held the gate’s weight.

A gust of wind whistled through the gate, flapping up the edge of the tarp. Night Light could see the cargo, stacks and stacks of small copper cylinders, tied together with thin wire in an elaborate array. Unknown, extrinsic, technology.

“Very cheeky, Lord Light.” Sunset’s mocking tone echoed through the barbican. She unyoked herself and \ jumped atop the lead cart to stare him down. "I know you're a good stallion, or you want to be... But the most annoying obstacles are always the ones like you. I'm surprised your wife hasn't crushed that out of you."

"Whatever you hope to accomplish-" Night Light started to call out, but his voice died when he saw flickering light gather at Sunset Shimmer's horn.

"I'm going to have to punish you, my lord." Sunset barked. "Shame I have no time to dance after."

Surreal light flashed from above them, banishing shadow with blasphemous illumination. Night Light had just long enough to unsheathe the Blackhorn sword before Canterlot felt the wrath of the Traitor.

---

It was space without space, time without time, the world of the absolute other, that Ancepanox awoke to. A black, blacker than could possibly exist in the physical world, filled every corner of the void, oppressive in its greedy nothingness. Rings of burning, devilish magical fire rested in the infinite distance, outlining the profile of incalculably huge, alien eyes of black. From six directions they watched her, reading her every movement, tearing away all secrets with their lidless stares.

It was like the mind of Myriadess in overdrive.
"What just... happened?

A point of light blinked into existence, then expanded into the form of that horrendous ancient alicorn Ancepanox had seen through Wreath’s eyes. An upright grey equine body, with a fanned feather tail and falcon wings, topped by the severe eagle head with swirling horns and a exotic crest. Her legs were shackled with trailing black vines, like those that had borne Myriadess.
It was like something out of mesoequestrian mythology, though its cephalopod eyes betrayed it’s undeniable abnormality.

Anaga spoke with amused apathy in a resonant hum of a voice.
“Don’t worry, you are not dead yet. I requisitioned you progeny’s connection to you, and you were pulled from that other dream into mine.” She floated in a position stationary relative to Ancepanox in the turbid abyss, her vines and fur rippling in an absent wind. "I am Agana, the Suzerain of Sin, daughter of the Dark Lady. Deava. Adversary. Oracle."

"Hey what's up." Anceapnox grunted.

"Celestia has told you about me? So it seems." Agana clacked her beak. "What she has said is not lies. By her words, you likely want nothing more than to destroy me.”

“You’ve got that bucking right.” Ancepanox barely stood out in the void, with only her gleaming fangs, glowing eyes, and streaming hair to remind her that she had not simply stopped existing. “I swear to Celestia, I will annihilate your every atom if you hurt Wreath or Twilight.”

“Swear to Celestia, hmm? Then I suppose I should discard pretense right away and say that I have hurt your boy. He’s dead, most likely. Whoops.” Agana shrugged. “That notwithstanding, I hope you can take a moment to hear me out before we commit to this feud fully.”

Ancapanox had nothing but looks of pure hate for the ancient alicorn.

“It is not as if you have a choice. Your formative powers are no match for mine in this realm of the wanton.” Agana continued. “Sins flourish in the dreamscape, and so we Dark ones flourish. Ponies store here their pride, greed, desire, etcetera. You sequestered away all your wrath, which is now coming back to the surface.”

“You’re keeping me here so you can talk at me, lording over me with your pseudo-philosophical blather?” Ancepoanox sneered. “Puh-leese! I can get the same treatment from any number of idiots!”

“Do you like hurting ponies?” Agana asked.

“What?” Ancapanox was caught off guard.

“Oh, don’t be alarmed. Until you develop your psychic defenses you should expect to have every crevice of your mind available to curious gods.” Agana opened her beak in mimicry of a malicious smile. “So I ask again: Do you like hurting ponies? It certainly seems like you do.”

“No. I don’t.” Ancepanox objected. “I used to be afraid to defend myself, but that's compleately different."

“Society would have you believe ponies had a deep adversity to killing, and that it is something unnatural to your race.” Agana said. “Do you still believe that?”

“Yes.” Ancpeanox thought about the gentle ponyvillians, like Applejack and Fluttershy, and her dear acquaintances in Canterlot like Laurel, Manered, Moondancer, and many others.
And then she thought about Rarity, whose madness seemed to put her on the edge of murderous, and Velvet, whose disregard for life had ended hundreds of innocents. She thought about Skratchy, Glori, and innumerable thugs that paraded themselves around Canterlot, in the couture of nobility and law enforcement.
And the she thought about Astral, if that deranged creature could be called a pony, and Nightmare Moon, and about herself, all whose restraint were seemingly gone. “It depends...”

"Your race had a chance to organize itself in a more just, harmonious way. It rejected that. In fact, it tried to destroy the pony who offered it to them." Agana said, clearly reading into Anceapnox's doubts. "You ponies tore down the principality of the Everfree, Celestia the First's beacon of hope, and only once she was angry and bitter enough did ponykind chose her and their leader. They want to be coerced. They want to whipped."

Ancepanox let out a sigh. If Agana liked to hear herself talk as much as the other alicorns, the next while was going to be a slog. "That's culture, not pony nature."

"Ooh, it's just their culture. Was it culture that made you kill those hundreds of ponies? When it comes to oppression, you are the pony to beat.” Agana’s laugh was like a cacophony of chimes signaling a funeral. “As soon as you tapped into your true self, you became a butcher, cutting away mortality from the many helpless victims as a butcher separates fat.”

“That's not a revolutionary idea. I’ve heard all these terrible things before." Ancepanox raised her voice, feeling like she had a whole audience, with how the distant eyes in the void were trained on her. "I might be pushing the boundaries of morality with my self defense, but I am not a monster."

“A monster? A monster is a wild beast, unable to reason, lurking in the corners of the ill minds of ponykind. I could be called a monster, but not you, not yet. You have the chance to descend to this level... If that is what you wish.” Agana offered with misplaced allure. “On the other hoof you have the capacity for less barbaric expressions of the Dark. Use your power correctly, and the sum of ponykind could bow to you.”

The flattery was worming its way into Ancepanox’s heart, but she kept a cautious tone. “I doubt I’d like your definition of correct.”

“You speak of proprietary and morals. Such things come and go obviously. I mean correct in a very objective sense: That which gives you the most power is that which is right. ” Agana elaborated. “For example, allowing you to live is objectively incorrect, for doing so deprives me of power and establishes a threat to my life.”

“Let’s hope you come to regret your decision.”

“Is that really all you have to say?” Agana frowned. “You yearn for vindication. I can feel it in your heart. I can see it in your eyes. Nothing in your past can offer the solace you seek."

"You think you can sell me on a worldview that can satisfy me." Ancepanox squinted incredulously. "If you're reading my mind, you know I already killed an oracle that tried that."

"So you will go back to being repressed? Why do you not express your heart as you yearn to?”

“Let loose, you mean.” Ancepanox grunted.

“To kill.” Agana crooned. “There is no greater declaration of your existence than to end another’s. For we Dark ones, power always comes at the expense of another. Do not tell me than siphoning away a weakling soul does not fill your mind with joy!”

Ancepanox chose to sit in silence rather than answer the peacock alicorn. Finally she spoke. “I will hear you out.”

“It is difficult to overstate how wise you are, little dark one.” Agana grinned. “And I would know, for I am the suzerain of sin.
“Consider the senseless, guileless animals of the earth, devoid of sentience or sapience. There are two things which separate us from the beasts: Knowledge and sin. They are one and the same! Is it not the case that the purest among you are those living simple, ignorant lives? Yes, the sliding scale runs from those most like privative cattle, to those approaching the divine in weight of power and sin.

“I can hear what Myriadess told you. flashing through your head, about the fundamental forces of Light and Dark. She was not wholly incorrect. She was correct in saying that they are at their core the two competing influences of energy: Dark is the aspect of Will, Light is the aspect of Destiny. You understand now that Light, and its associated influence of Destiny, takes control out of the hooves of ponykind. Without control, there can be no will, knowledge, and sin.

“Myriadess could not tell the whole story. She was limited to that which he knows, which by her nature was narrow. Your expression shows your confusion, so I shall explain. The Light is a centralized energy, a force of consensus and collectivity. Before the fall of the ancient alicorns, the Lord of Light, who came to be known as Wintertide, was the conscious instance of that collective drive. He has since decayed, and the course that destiny dictates flows from parts unknown, even to me.

“I, unlike Myriadess, am able to tell you everything I desire to tell you. Free will, insofar as your instinct, personality, and situation allow it to be free, exists! Dark is inherently decentralized, for while it encompasses a great many things, they all act independently under its veil. The Dark Lady did not create her children by synthesis as the Lord of Light did, but by fission, splitting off one of her many distinct Wills to make us.
You see, while all Light is linked to the founding moment of the Giver and Lord Wintertide, all Dark is separate from the Dark Lady and yet was a part of her. The one Myriadess called the Twisted Sinner, was no more and no less the representation of Anima Astral Nacre's true form than any random pony with Dark in their heart.

“Don’t give me that look! Yes, you hold a fragment of the original Dark Lady, Astral Nacre, as well. She waxes and wanes with the eras, just as the moon princess, mortalkind, and the moon do in the shorter timescale.

“With this long night, my lady’s power is ascendant. The night is death and danger, where even the most powerful can be brought low. The Dark Lady yearns to have her powers exercised, to be used by an against the willful creatures of this planet. Wherever she may be now, I know she looks upon this fluctuating world with ardent glee, awaiting the time that her servants, willing and unwitting alike, bring about her promised reign."

Ancepanox sighed. "Okay... And?"

Agana's alien eyes flashed with anger. "Before to long, you shall understand things my way."

"Okay great. Is that going to stop be wanting to tear you guts out?" Ancepanox asked, matching the larger alicorn's scornful gaze. "You're not hard to read. You want me to betray Celestia, help you kill her, and let you free. But you'll betray me as soon as that's done."

Agana laughed disdainfully. "Celestia is your natural enemy. Betraying her should not even be in question."

"And yet it is. How's that for free will you feathered bastard?" Anceapnox shook her head. "Send me back to the Tower. We'll be waiting for you."

Agana lifted one of her forelegs and pointed into the void. "We will see if your mind changes once battle commences. Yesss, go back to the Tower. I'm soon to follow. It won't be long before you realize Celestia is not worth suffering over."

The eyes in the void winked out, and Ancepanox left the strange realm.

Comments

[SpiritDutch]

I shouldn't write while tired

My insomnia aggravated authorial woes aside, I'm getting apprehensive of what headcannon shattering new stuff will be in season 5. I don't know if I might go back and make accommodations in old stuff (I probably will, I obsess over consistence). It's pretty obvious I've included much of the Extended Universe, as it were, of the comics and EQG, but I'm not enterally caught up on the former. In any case, once I've wrapped up Act 2 here I'll be ducking back for another storm of editing.

I've had IRL friends pester me about what it is I spend all my time writing. I've not yet revealed my equine amusements to them, so I'm naturally cautious of showing them any of this that I've written. I do awfully like the thematic and philosophical parts of this little narrative, so at some point in the far future I might rewrite this as a more standard fantasy world, befitting people who like reading about humans and stuff.

And next chapter y'all have to look forward to is three concurrent fatale battles.

[SpiritDutch]

2015 Editing this again... It's just lots of talk, nothing too bad I suppose, just really boring. All instances of Daeva changed to Deava.

Most of you probably aren't familiar with persian mythology and the elements I borrow from it. Zoroastrianism, and later gnostic religions like Manichaeism and gnostic christianity, feature a dualistic worldview: A heavenly world of light blessed by the angelic ava, and a dark world of the earth tainted by human sin and the dastardly deava demons. I've flipped the equasion: Heaven is dark and evil, and this world of ours is all the light that exists in this universe. The cosmic horror angle isn't optimistic, it's horribly, depressingly bleak. The Dark Ones and the deava are all-encompassing and all-powerful, and it's a miracle they haven't obliterated all of earth's light already.

2018 Editing this again. I want to die.