• Published 12th Oct 2014
  • 3,852 Views, 518 Comments

DayBreak - MyHobby



After an attempt is made on Celestia's life, Twilight Sparkle must assemble a team to track down the assassin and bring her to justice. Danger awaits as they delve into the origins of both the attacker and alicorns.

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Arise

Princess Luna stood upon her sister’s throne. It was meant to be shared; Celestia’s in the day, Luna’s at night. But the sun was high in the sky, and banners with the solar symbol hung between the stained-glass windows. There was no question whose throne it was.

There was no question that Luna was out of place.

A large, green-scaled dragon filled the audience hall. Her kind eyes looked down on Luna with uncertainty. “Um… Hay.”

“Greetings, Shardscale, Chronicler of Dragons and Equestria.” Luna bowed her head. “You are a most welcome sight. I hope you find your accommodations acceptable?”

“Oh, sure, sure. It’s nice. Good bed. Lots of gems. I’m a simple gal.” Shard fidgeted a moment before pointing a claw at Luna. “Nice to finally meet you, Princess Luna.”

Luna blinked before raising her foreleg. Hoof met claw. “Likewise.”

Silence. Luna resisted the urge to fidget as well. “So, perhaps you could tell me what usually happens when you visit Equestria?”

“Oh, sure!” Shard blew a jet of fire which hung in the air. She swirled her claws through it, forming a large scroll and pen. “Usually I have a little talk with Celestia about what’s going on, then I observe whatever I came to, you know, observe, then I talk with witnesses… that sort of thing. I write it all down for posterity and stuff.”

She put pen to paper and scribbled.

Luna nodded. “What might you be writing right now?”

“I’m transcribing this conversation.”

Scribble, scribble, scribble.

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yup.”

Scribble, scribble, scribble.

Luna watched the pen dance. “It sounds a bit exhausting.”

“Not really, once you get used to it.”

Scribble, scribble, scribble.

“How very odd,” Luna said. “So, do you have any specific questions?”

“Not at the moment.” Shardscale dotted an ‘I.’ “I’d like a general overview of that night before getting into the specifics. Just so I know what’s what right away. How things went down. What can you tell me about the event?”

Luna slowly sat down. She looked at a nearby stained-glass window, depicting her sister and her raising the celestial objects. “So it is an ‘event’ now.”

Smoke billowed out of Shardscale’s nostrils. The scales around her eyes slid together as the skin tightened. “Well, what am I supposed to call it? ‘The greatest tragedy of our time’ comes to mind.”

“She is not dead ye—” Luna clamped her mouth down hard. “She is not dead. She is injured and recovering.”

“Then why can’t I see her?” Shardscale bit her tongue. “Sorry. I’m just—sorry. I can guess that you’re dealing with a lotta junk right now.”

Luna winced. “Yes, I am. Perhaps since it is high noon, we should retreat to the gardens for lunch.” Her horn glowed, and she whispered into Shard’s ear. “And a more private conversation.”

Shardscale glanced back at the ponies waiting their turn to petition the crown. Most of them were hiding behind the massive doors leading into the hall, while a few waited on the sidelines, all but passed out from shock. She grimaced. “Maybe that’d be a good idea. Lunch sounds great.” She shuffled her way backwards out of the audience chamber.

Two bat pony guards stood at Luna’s side. She leaned to her left to speak with the one named Snipe Hunt. “Have the artisans prepare a pile of gemstones, high quality, and bring it to the gardens. She will also require an archaeopteryx steak, well-done.”

Snipe nodded. “At your command.” He spread his webbed wings and sailed off silently.

The guard on her right, Skyhook, walked alongside her on her way to the garden. “Do we have anything to fear from Shardscale, my Lady?”

Luna lit her horn to whisper in Skyhook’s ear. “Not fear, but concern. She is an old friend of my sister’s, but she is also a thorough record keeper. We must all watch what we say. The lie cannot be undone yet.”

“Understood.”

The warm colors of fall leaves belied the chill in the air. Luna slid a light blue shawl around her shoulders. Her hooves swooshed through the leaves that hadn’t yet been cleared from the paved path. When she eventually arrived at the center of the garden, with its stone benches and tables, its patches of dormant flowers, and its centerpiece of an ancient tree, a picnic had already been set out. Snipe Hunt stood watch in the boughs of the old oak, nearly invisible unless one was looking for him. Even then, all that stood out was a faint shadow among sticks.

Behind the tree, Shardscale struggled to get comfortable in surroundings that weren’t designed for dragons. Her tail slithered through a hedge maze. Her wings pressed tight against her back to prevent them from blowing the falling leaves into a whirlwind. Her claws nestled themselves between bushes and flowerbeds.

“I am sorry, Chronicler,” Luna said. “I can assure you that your accommodations in the courtyard will be a great deal more… roomy.”

“S’okay. M’used to it.” With her limbs positioned, Shard flopped to the ground with a satisfied sigh. Something crunched beneath her belly. “Oops.”

“A small matter.” Luna lay down on a soft blanket. She grasped several items in a bubble of kinetic force: A cup of water, a bag of dry beans, and two sugar cubes. The beans ground themselves into powder, the water heated itself, and the sugar was mixed in with the rest. In a moment, Luna had a perfect cup of coffee.

Shardscale smiled. “Like to brew your own cuppa, huh?”

“A habit from my younger days.” Luna took a sip. “Do you drink coffee? I can’t imagine the bill, if so.”

“Nah, you can never get it hot enough to notice. It all boils away before it even feels warm.” Shard snapped her claws. “Cold drinks, that’s where it’s at. Don’t much care for the brain-freeze, though.”

“Aye, it is enough to drive a mare to…” Luna held herself back from saying “insanity.” “Distraction. If we could get rid of brain-freeze, I feel my consumption of frozen drinks would triple.”

The wind blew leaves between them. Luna held up a foreleg to shield her face, but Shard just snorted them away. Shard tapped her claw tips together. “Look, about your sis—”

“She is alive, but hurt.” Luna set her hot coffee on the blanket and met Shard’s eyes. “We have a lead on who her attacker might be, and we have ponies searching for her. Celestia will heal, and then this whole thing can be over with.” She lifted her chin. “That is the gist of it, as you requested.”

Shard nibbled a scale on her lip and pried it loose. She summoned her scroll and pen in a plume of flame, then scribbled down her notes. “Well, I guess that’ll do it, then.”

Luna brushed a lock of shimmering mane out of her eye. “I’m sorry, but to tell you more could place many, many ponies in mortal danger. If word got out, into the wrong hooves, it could cost everything.”

“Look, I trust you to try to do the right thing.” Shard gripped the scale between her teeth as she wrote. “I really do. It’s just that others are gonna have questions. President Mangle, Seabreeze, King Andean, they’re not gonna be satisfied with that. They’re gonna want to know what happened to Princess Celestia.”

Luna stood up. “She was hurt. That’s all there is to it. Hurt by a madmare who needs to be put down. Nothing I say to you, or to Andean or Mangle or Seabreeze, will help anything.”

A pony walked up, rolling a cart full of gemstones behind him. He set it before Shardscale and hurried off.

Shard popped a ruby into her mouth. “Maybe I wanna help. Maybe Celestia’s my friend, too, not just a person I write about. Maybe you could use a giant kick-butt dragon on your side.” She lit her scroll on fire and watched it vanish back to where it came. “Please, I’m asking as a friend, please tell me what happened.”

Luna’s eyes grew hard. “And then what of your duties? What of the reprimand you will undoubtedly receive from Leviathan should he find out you neglected to record something?”

“Who said he has to find out?” Shard made a fist. “Can I trust you not to rat me out? Can I trust that guard next to you?” She glanced at the tall oak. “Or mister ‘don’t-look-at-me-I’m-a-tree’?”

Snipe Hunt grumbled in the branches.

Luna set her jaw. “What you ask is a hard, dangerous thing.”

“Hay, maybe if you tell me about it, I can help you make up a cover story for Andean. He’s coming soonish, you know. You can’t just tell him what you told me.” She gave Luna an uneasy grin. “You think I’m pugnacious and tenacious? Yeowch.”

A pegasus flew in, bearing a platter. She uncovered the steak with a flourish and left it steaming before Shardscale. Skyhook eyed it, a bit of saliva collecting in his mouth. He pointedly ignored it and continued to scan for threats.

Luna shut her eyes. “Celestia was stabbed in the heart with a Royal Guard spear, stolen from one of her personal guards. She is currently lying in a comatose state, surviving with the help of an oxygen pump and all the ambrosia we can spare. Her brain activity is consistent, but she hasn’t moved since that night at the opera.” Luna glared up at the dragon. “I don’t care who you tell, as long as you keep this a secret until the investigation is over and Celestia is once again in her proper place.”

Shard’s lips trembled. “Okay.”

“If words gets out, and somepony gets hurt, and I find out it was your fault,” Luna said, her voice shaky, “you will die. Do you understand?”

“Hay, I can dig it. It’s cool.” Shard zipped her lips. “Tight lid.”

They ate silently, Shard her steak and Luna her salad. When she was done, the dragon picked her teeth with her loosened scale. “Do you have any clue why Andean’s coming to visit?” she asked

“He is not too fond of Equestria as a whole. I doubt it is a holiday.” Luna pulled the shawl tighter. “The timing is awfully coincidental.”

Shard frowned. “You don’t think he had something to do with the assassination, do you?”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Luna pressed her wings against her sides to hold off a sudden breeze. “Celestia would say it is dangerous to assume anything.”

“Yeah, and maybe add something about pointless speculation.” Shard blinked. She wiped her eyes, leaving her claws sizzling. “Dang, she needs to get better. I’m gonna be a wreck until she does.”

Luna nodded. “I recommend a quart of ice cream. Or in your case, a bath.”

Shard tossed an emerald into her mouth. She sucked on it, letting it dissolve away. “Maybe if I start saving up gems instead of eating them. Maybe then I could afford it.”

***

The hospital was quiet. Deathly still. Luna let her hoof fall soft against the floor, as if making a sound would be a deep offence. Snipe Hunt and Skyhook were even more quiet than she was, the flutter of a wing the loudest noise they made.

There was a nurse reading at her desk. Luna broke the stillness. “My little pony.”

The nurse squeaked, dropping her book. She bowed hastily. “Your Majesty. What can I do for you?”

“I am here to see my sister.” Luna pointed her horn towards the heavy metal doors. “Please guide me to her room. My guards will stay here.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the nurse gasped out, “but nopony is allowed to visit Princess Celestia.” She swallowed a lump in her throat and added, “Doctor’s orders.”

Luna narrowed her eyes. “Doctor Fine is not in right now, is he?”

“N-no, ma’am.”

“Who is in charge?”

“Well.” The nurse gave several false starts. “Well, I am, but I’m under orders—”

“Nurse”—Luna read the pony’s name tag—“Flower Wishes, who am I?”

“Um.” Flower Wishes shook her head. “Princess Luna?”

“Yes.” Luna rested her hoof atop the desk. “High Princess and Diarch of Equestria. Mover of the Moon and acting Setter of the Sun. Former Bearer of the Elements of Harmony. Watcher of Dreams.” She leaned her head close to Flower’s. “Tell me again, Nurse Wishes, who is in charge right now?”

“You are, your Majesty.”

“Thank you. May I see my sister?”

“Uh huh.”

Flower Wishes opened the metal door and let Luna through. Skyhook and Snipe Hunt took up positions on either side of the door. “Her room’s at the end of the hallway,” Flower said. “I-I shouldn’t leave my post for long. In case of emergency.”

“Agreed.” Luna walked down the hall, her head high and her wings half-extended. “Thank you, Nurse Wishes.”

The door shut with a decisive click. As Flower passed, Snipe touched her shoulder with a wingtip. “Sorry about that, miss. She’s going through a lot.”

Flower Wishes smiled and scurried back to the desk.

Skyhook chuckled. “Softy.”

“Hay, it’s a habit.” Snipe smirked. “A good habit, at that.”

***

Celestia was still. Still motionless. Still unresponsive. Still breathing with the help of a tube. Still taking in ambrosia. Still dead to the world.

“Ten years, Celestia.” Luna paced before the hospital bed. “Ten years I have been back. Welcomed to society with open arms. Crowned princess and loved by thousands of thousands. Praised in song and ceremony.” She hung her head. “I have no idea what I am doing.”

She pulled up alongside the bed and stared at the tubes leading into Celestia’s body. “I never expected ten years to undo several lifetimes of wickedness and isolation, but I hoped to understand more about what I am supposed to do.” She turned to the window. “No. A lie. I wanted to understand what you do. I wanted to be as strong as you. I wanted to be able to fill your horseshoes if the need arose. I wanted to be equal.”

She sat down and lifted her hooves. “Now that chance has come and I am left without a guiding hoof. I am without knowledge of where to go next. I still need you, and if you are not here—”

She let her forelegs drop. The heart monitor ticked away just at the edge of her consciousness. “I understand Twilight. I understand her need to be useful. Now I have to be useful, but I have no clue how. I am lost.”

She stood up and walked to the door. She paused. “I was lost before.” She studied her rump, where the dark hair grew around her cutie mark. “So very lost. I do not wish to lose myself again. I refuse to lose myself!”

She punctuated her statement with a stomp of her hoof. The sound was unsatisfactorily muffled by the walls of the room. Luna bit back a groan. She opened her wings and dared to rest a wingtip on Celestia’s leg. “Sister, I miss you so. Please come back quickly. Please.”

Air flowed from Celestia’s mouth, guided by the magic-powered machine at her side. If Luna looked closely, she could see the gentle, gradual rise and fall of her sister’s chest.

“Beloved sister.” She blinked her eyes. “Oh Creator, why did this happen?”

The deep wound in Celestia’s heart was felt in Luna’s own. She clutched her chest and slumped to the ground. Tears poured from her eyes as she allowed the sobs to come. “Please come back. Please come back. Please come back.

She pulled herself up to look at her sister’s face. “Please… please give me a sign that you’ll come back. Please give me something to hold on to.”

Celestia said nothing.

Luna dried her tears and calmed her cries. She took several deep breaths before heading towards the door again. “Good bye, Celestia.”

Above the beep of the heart monitor, beyond the hum of the breathing tube, something caught Luna’s ears. A strange scratching sound. Luna turned her head and narrowed her eyes.

A roll of paper came out of a machine that scribbled jagged lines with several different colors. The wires from the back led to Celestia’s head.

Luna’s eyes widened. “My stars. Consistent brainwaves.”

She staggered over to the bedside, her knees trembling. She sucked in a deep breath. “Sister, do you dream?”

She licked her lips, her pulse quickening. She skipped to the door and down the hall, almost not daring to hope. She called her guards to her side as she moved, her wings already spreading to their full length. She gave a nod to Flower Wishes and then was off to the entrance.

Once outside the hospital, with its many instruments that could be disturbed by powerful magic, she teleported the three of them to the tallest tower in Canterlot Castle: The Dream’s Keep. The guards shook their heads to rid themselves of their daze, then took up position beside the entrance.

Luna hurried up the spiral stairs. She tripped halfway up, nearly sending her nose into the steps. She broke free of the staircase and spent a moment catching her breath.

The room was rounded, with several mirrors set into the walls. From the gilded, domed ceiling, a bell hung, ready to be rung in case of emergency. At the far side, a telescope sat on a balcony. Luna set foot on the marble tiles that formed the shape of her cutie mark. She sat down in the center of the room.

The mirrors came to life. They were not as lively as they would be late at night, but each mirror still held a dream. Ponies who slept during the day and worked at night, elders taking a siesta, college students asleep on their textbooks…

Luna scanned them, her breath coming in spurts. Every muscle in her body tensed. She shook, half hoping she was right, half expecting crushing disappointment.

There. That mirror. A glimpse of something few ponies would understand. A flicker of something few ponies still alive had ever experienced. Luna leaned forward, squared her shoulders, and cast a spell.

Luna’s sleeping body curled up in the center of the room as the Watcher of Dreams set out to greet her sister.

***

A young alicorn mare landed at Luna’s feet. Luna stumbled back, kicking up dust as she went. She reached to help the mare up, but froze at a word.

“Come, Luna. We begin again.”

Luna’s eyes snapped up. Her wings extended as everything inside her told her to run. It was her.

Commander Hurricane walked across a wide circle of dirt. She wore light armor over her pale blue coat. It was tough but soft, enough to defend against hoof-to-hoof strikes, but not enough to stop a spear point. “Get up. Thou art not learning from the dirt, but from me.”

Luna’s mouth dried out. She looked down as the young alicorn mare groaned. The mare’s coat was dark blue, while her mane was lighter by far. Her knees were barked. Her hooves were chipped. Her feathers were a mess. Her lip was bloody. She staggered to her hooves.

“Thou can do it, Luna!” a voice called from the sidelines. Luna turned her head to see that the speaker was another young alicorn, one with a white coat and pink mane. “We believe in thee!”

Hurricane crouched low, her wings spread. “Keep thine hooves up. Go.”

The young, blue alicorn lunched, her hooves a flying frenzy. Hurricane barely moved as she caught each strike. She flapped her wings, catching the young one in the sides of her head. A quick jab to the chin knocked her onto her back.

Hurricane stood victorious above a bruised and battered Luna. “Thou art striking with thine heart, not thine head. Think. Do not allow anger to control thee.”

Luna watched with held breath as her younger counterpart stood up. She cantered up to the sidelines and sat beside a unicorn mare, who ignored her. She looked past the unicorn to look at the pink-maned alicorn, who sat on the edge of her seat.

“Pray tell, young one,” Luna said. “What transpires?”

“The Commander tests our skills in the martial arts.” The alicorn did not take her eyes off the match. She giggled. “I am to be next.”

Luna nodded slowly. “Dost thou think thou shall be victorious?”

“Nay, but I shall give a good showing.” The mare winced as the younger Luna fell to a powerful punch. “Though I think Luna may wish for more training.”

Commander Hurricane pulled the young Luna to her feet. “One more round, then I am finished with thee.”

Luna ripped herself out of Hurricane’s grip. Her eyes smoldered under her mussed mane.

“For today,” the commander said, her own eyes emotionless.

The elder Luna gasped as a memory flashed by in her mind. She stood and raised a wing. “Wait! Look out!”

The young Luna’s horn flared white, grabbing Hurricane and smashing her into the dirt. She bared her teeth and threw a lightning bolt at the prone commander.

Hurricane rolled. The lightning turned dirt into glass. She gave her wings one powerful flap and threw herself at her opponent. Her forehead impacted against the young Luna’s eye. She wrapped her forelegs around Luna’s neck and held her down. “Thou fool! Magic shall not aid you in every event! Enemies shall counter it, spells shall negate it, monsters shall feast on it!”

“Let me go!” young Luna screeched.

“Thou would put thee and thy allies at risk with thy foolhardiness.” Hurricane’s muscles strained to hold the adolescent alicorn down. “Thou shall learn thy lesson or others shall suffer for it.”

The pink-maned alicorn stood up and hesitated. The unicorn put a hoof on her shoulder. “Wait a moment, then go to your sister, Celestia.”

The elder Luna looked down at the little unicorn mare. She wore a full-length cloak that hid her body from view, save for the reddish braid pulled over her shoulder. “You are certain that—?”

Hurricane let Luna get to her feet. “Five minutes,” she called out before flying off.

Celestia rushed to the young Luna’s side and spoke in a hushed voice. Luna stood up to move closer, but the unicorn mare touched her shoulder. Luna looked down and saw two magenta eyes.

“I can only hope Luna grows out of her hubris before she hurts herself.” She sighed. “And her sister.”

Luna looked at the two young alicorns. Celestia had Luna in a gentle embrace, and was rubbing a damp rag over her cuts. “I fear not, Clover.”

“It is her heart’s promise to make, of course,” Clover the Clever said as if she hadn’t heard Luna. Considering how similar the dream was to memory, perhaps she hadn’t. “When I first read those prophecies, I did not believe they would be fulfilled like this.”

Celestia stared at Clover, her ears perked. She pressed her lips together and rubbed Luna’s back. “Thou just needs be a little swifter in thy movements. Then thou shall take the Commander by surprise!”

“Thou jest, sister.” Young Luna brushed the damp cloth away. “My strength lies not in the hoof, but the horn.”

Celestia smiled. “Aye, but thee and I have the potential for our strength to lie in hoof, horn, and wing. The wizard told us.”

Young Luna’s forehead furrowed. “His beard is as long as his tales are tall.”

The elder Luna chewed her bottom lip. She trotted over, barely noticing that Clover had ceased to exist. “But he speaks the truth this time, young one. You are more than you realize.”

Young Luna didn’t respond, instead taking the time to stare at the glass she’d burned into the small arena. Celestia looked surprised. “How could you know such things, your Grace?”

“Because she is not your sister,” Luna said with a pointed look at the memory of herself. “I am.”

Celestia squinted as, all around, the memories faded to a dull blur. “Luna? Thou lookest…” She pulled back her upper lip. “Old.”

“And thou lookest just out of diapers.” Luna chuckled. “Oh, sister, I can’t tell you how good it is to see you up and about.”

“Of course,” Celestia said with a chipper smile. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Luna’s merriment dissipated. “You… you see, Celestia, you—”

“If thou truly art my sister, then stop being so formal!” The world returned to sharp contrast as Celestia grabbed Luna’s hoof. “Come, I must show thee all the things we have been doing! Even now, Centurion Pansy says, diamond dogs are amassing for an attack on Fort Everfree!”

A fort it was, and a hastily built one at that. The walls were firm stone, but held together by weak cement. The watchtowers were staffed by overtired soldiers weary from a running battle. Armor bearers worked constantly to sharpen weapons and repair armor.

“All shall go as planned,” Celestia piped up. “The Commander and I shall lead a force to draw them into the open, and thou shall cast buffs on us to protect us! All the while, the Centurion’s Elites rain down arrows. And more than that…”

Celestia stood proud before the ugliest diamond dog Luna had ever seen. Chains restrained every limb. His fur was ratty. His teeth were crooked. His eyes were red and bloodshot. He smelled of filth and decay. His tail had a chunk removed. Scars ran the full length of his body, centered around his thick neck. He grimaced at them. Or maybe it was a smile.

“Since we have captured their leader, Wulf,” Celestia said, “they will be completely confused.”

Luna’s heart raced. “No. No, no, no, no, of all the days to be reliving, sister…”

Night came without Luna’s command. She spun around, reminding herself that it was just part of the dream, not someone stealing her control. Campfires burned as most of the soldiers did their best to rest after a long struggle.

Luna was alone next to the chained diamond dog chief. He chuckled faintly to himself. Celestia was nowhere to be found.

“Celestia!” Luna ran through the camp. “Celestia! Wake up! To arms! To arms!”

No one could hear her. They weren’t real, just figments of imagination in a dream built from memories. The memories, however, were real. As were the first screams.

Diamond dogs erupted from the earth beneath her hooves. Luna stomped them back down, but they popped up elsewhere. They grabbed hot coals with their bare hands and flung them onto the tents. They slid blades into the chests of sleeping ponies. After they could no longer keep themselves quiet, they howled at the full moon in triumph.

Hurricane woke first. “To arms!” she shouted as she burst from a burning tent. She laid a diamond dog low with three well-placed strikes. “Arise! To arms! The enemy is among us!”

Celestia stumbled out of a tent, the young Luna behind her. She shrieked and planted her rear hooves in a dog’s chest, sending him flying into a nearby inferno. The younger Luna screamed and lifted two diamond dogs into the air on a current of magic. She threw them over the wall.

The elder Luna met Celestia. “We need to get out of here! You don’t need to live this again, sister. You have already dealt with this!”

“I cannot leave them behind!” Celestia grappled with another dog before throwing him to the ground. “I have to protect my people!”

She brushed past Luna and barreled into a dog, knocking it down before it could slay a soldier. Ponies and diamond dogs crowded into the melee, obscuring Luna’s view of her sister. She flew above the battle and searched with wild eyes. She didn’t want to be here. She didn’t want to see this again. She had to make sure Celestia didn’t.

But she failed. The dream moved forward, as they often do. Wulf was free from his chains, which were instead used to hold Hurricane, Clover, and Pansy. Two of the strongest diamond dogs held Celestia steady with their burly arms. All around, dogs and ponies lay dead and dying.

The younger Luna cried out when Wulf stomped down on her wing. He lifted a sword shaped like a jagged fang. “Diamond Dogs!” he shouted.

“Diamond Dogs!” came the response.

“Gems we find!”

“Gems we hog!”

“Moving rock!”

“Digging dirt!”

“Gems uncovered!”

“By our work!”

“Carts to ride!”

“Swell with pride!”

“Smash their bones!”

“Flay their hide!”

He grabbed young Luna’s light-blue mane and lifted her up. “Pony prophesies say you savior?”

She raged as her horn glowed.

He slapped the flat of his blade against her horn, halting the spell. “Talk with horn? Then I talk with hands.”

The elder Luna dove at the scene. She flew through the diamond dog chieftain without even fazing him. Nopony else noticed her, once again.

“Let her go!” Celestia wailed. “Let her go, thou monster!”

“Release my chains, dog!” Hurricane said. “See how brave thou art!”

Wulf slapped Luna across the face, leaving a cut in her cheek. He snarled and tossed her towards the Founders. “This what happen to pony saviors! This what happen when you try take our land! Our gems! Our soil!” He howled at the moon, and his dogs with him.

The elder Luna swung a hoof that trailed right through a diamond dog’s head, leaving him unscathed. She grabbed another, who turned to shadow in her grasp. She held down the lump in her throat. “Celestia… you need to wake up.”

Celestia glared at the trampled grass underfoot. Her body trembled as she lifted her gaze to Wulf.

Wulf sauntered over to the young, blue alicorn. “We show you what happen to all pony if little annoying ponies ever come back!” He twirled his blade, letting it come to a rest against her back.

“Enough!” Celestia said. “No more!”

The diamond dogs holding her tightened their grip. Her eyes flashed with visible light. “Let her go!”

Wulf’s grin disappeared, replaced with a confused scowl. The grimacing smile soon returned. “Sorry. Can’t hear little pony whine over Wulf’s own laughter. What?”

Celestia closed her eyes and strained. Sweat appeared, rolling down her forehead and sides.

Wulf shuffled his feet. He shook his head and raised his sword. “Don’t worry. She not feel it. Much.”

Celestia howled. Her eyes opened, emitting a blinding whiteness. Wulf froze in shock, his mouth hanging open. Light appeared over the fort’s east wall.

All ponies and diamond dogs turned as one to see the sun rise, deep in the middle of the night. The moon was obscured from view as the darkness ceased to exist. Celestia rose into the air, her entire body shimmering with sunlight. Her captors dangled from her sides.

She burst into flame. The diamond dogs at her sides dropped to the ground, shouting and rolling in the dirt as fire licked at their hides.

Wulf let out a high-pitched whine as what was left of his tail tucked itself between his legs. In the next moment, he snarled. “Pretty light show… over!” He lunged, his blade outstretched.

A pillar of fire came down from the sun and landed on Wulf. His bronze sword melted in his hands. His fur turned white and blew away in a strong, hot gust of wind. His skin turned black, before it, too, turned to ash.

Celestia crashed to earth. The fire went out. The sun set. There was only silence, save for the crackling pit of embers that had once been Wulf.

There was a shuffling, a sound of dirt moving, and the diamond dogs had retreated.

Fort Everfree disappeared, leaving Luna, Celestia, and the embers. Celestia stared at the orange glow, her mane hanging around her face, her eyes bloodshot, her mouth agape. Her breaths came short and quick. “I killed him.”

Luna sat behind her sister. Celestia was small enough to fit into the space between her front legs. She held her tight. “I’m sorry, Celestia.”

“I k-killed him.” Celestia choked. “I could have just broken his leg… or taken his sword… or threw him across the fort. B-but I killed him.”

With her final words, she broke down. Tears flowed freely as sobs wracked her chest. Luna rocked her, her cheek pressed against the top of her sister’s head.

“It is good that you cry, Celestia. Crying helps us heal.” Luna blinked back the dampness in her own eyes. “I only wish your dreams had not reopened this wound.”

Celestia buried her head in the blue hairs of Luna’s chest. Blue feathers encircled her in a warm, comforting embrace.

Luna’s ears swiveled at the sound of hoofsteps. She turned to glare at whoever would intrude on their moment. Clover the Clever stood a scant few meters away, her face obscured by her cloak. Magenta eyes shined in the shadows.

“‘I saw a pony with eyes of lightning. Her heart was hard and strong with a yearning for justice. She carried the sun on her right wing, and the moon on her left. Fire rained from heaven and consumed her enemies, and all trembled at the sight of her.’”

Luna clenched her teeth. “Please, for once just leave the prophesies out of this. Just let us be.”

Clover’s head tilted. “I saw a second pony with eyes of shadow. Her heart was merry, though encased in a prison of stone. She carried the moon on her right wing, and the sun on her left. Darkness was her enemy and constant companion, but she would not surrender.”

Then Clover was gone.

Luna held her sister close as Celestia wept over her first time raising the sun.

Author's Note:

Headcanons firing on all cylinders, sir!

Batten down the hatches, boys, we're going in full throttle!