Iris Rising: Dreamfall (retcon planned)

by hujan86

EXILE (EXTRA) - revised

Luna awoke in complete darkness.

“My head,” she groaned. “What happened…? Where…in Equestria am I…?”

She felt a little woozy but at least her eyes no longer hurt. She could feel a slight breeze blowing against her coat. That means she is still alive, just no longer at the castle. Strangely, everything around was in complete darkness, not even a flicker of light could be detected.

Have I somehow winded up in an underground cavern? she thought. But then, there shouldn’t be wind.

The soil underneath her hooves felt rather unusual. It felt like sand but finer and a bit sticky. The rock fragments are so brittle they cracked when stepped upon. As strange the environment may be, she decided to remain rationale. She must be somewhere in a dessert. There is only one way to find out exactly where she had ended up in.

Luna lighted up her horn brightly. In truth, her surroundings were not dark at all. The reason that she was seeing total darkness is that her eyesight was lost. Had the princess able to see, she would have found herself in the middle of a terrain where everything- the soil, rocks and the mountains, are all greyish. Glittering stars spread throughout high above. Instead of the moon, the Blue Marble takes its place in illuminating the sky. All these are what gives the sky its dark bluish appearance.

Unfortunately for the princess, she has yet to figure out that she had gone blind. She lighted her horn with so much brightness, one could possibly be blinded by staring directly at it. Yet from her point view, the darkness is like a impenetrable magic shroud, for the light from her horn would let her see even her own body.

“Why…?” But if this is really Dark Magic, she could not feel it.

So confused, Luna began to panic. “What sort of magic is this!?”

She brushed her eyes as though there is something is in her eyes that caused her to unable to see.

“Why!?” the princess shouted. “Why can’t I see anything!?”

All of the sudden she stopped.

“Wait,” the princess finally realized, “I can’t see.”

***

The Princess of the Night lay hurt on the floor after getting blasted by her elder sister’s beam. She staggered to her hooves to fight back the threat before her. Before she was able to do anything else, energy shackles materialized around her hooves, locking her in place.

Standing on the throne was Trollestia, the alter ego of the Dark Magic-empowered Princess of the Sunlight. Purple mists was flowing up like flames from her glowing green eyes. Under that that cruel grin, the abominable Alicorn Amulet is worn on her neck.

“Cease this foolery at once, Tia!” Luna demanded. “Do not let Dark Magic impair your judgement! Realize that what you’re doing is wrong! You will have us all killed if you do not let sun down at this very instant!”

Yet her words failed to get through the deranged princess. The latter did not seem to care that her actions has a severe effect on Equestria and the rest of the world whereby the bright sun had remained in the sky for weeks, bringing severe drought and heatwave.

“Since you like the night so much ‘Luna’,” Trollestia spoke in derision, “I will make your world dark forever.”

Are you really going to kill me? Luna thought apprehensively. Your own sister? “No, please…!”

“Huh, don’t tell me you’re afraid,” came a recognizable voice.

The Mane Six, each with their own Alicorn Amulet, walked up the throne to join their leader.

“You are the embodiment of the dark, after all,” Twilight Sparkle said mockingly to Luna.

The Princess of the Night was absolutely saddened that the only daughter of Twilight Velvet had fallen to the temptation of Dark Magic.

“And now, we claim your light!” the young unicorn declared.

The Mane Six’s eyes changed the same way as Trollestia’s. Dark aura swirled around Trollestia and her band of traitors. Drawing magic energy from herself and the Mane Six through the amulets, the purple aura enveloping Trollestia’s horn fired a beam at Luna.

Luna screamed in sheer agony as the flash from the beam burned her eyes. It was the last she sensation felt before disappearing from the chamber.

***

After finally understanding the meaning of her elder sister’s last words, Luna slipped into rage. She had never felt so much anger at her own sister before. Purposely crippled in the middle of nowhere, that is a death sentence compared to the physical abuses she received in the past.

“TIA!!!” she snapped.

The sightless eyes made he angered expression look even more frightening. The emotional outbursts caused her to lose all judgment. Driven by only instincts to return to Canterlot, she shot off to the sky. A foolish feat it was, since without her sight, not only she did not where she is, she also lacked any sense of directions. As a result, the princess streaked directly in the path of a mountain afar. She collided with the peak, causing it to collapse down the slope along with herself…

***

“I really can’t believe how selfish my sister can be,” Luna was opening up to someone unknown. “Everything is always about her feelings. And mine!? Has she ever considered my feelings!? All I wanted was to have some fun with her like old times. She also never appreciates the gifts I bought for her from the city! I mean, really! Is that so much to ask for her dearest little sister!?”

It turned out that the princess was delirious and that ‘someone’ is actually a gigantic boulder. To cope with her loneliness, she had started to have one-sided conversations with random objects around the moon.

A herd of extremely fat cows were minding their own business in the vast rocky plain when Luna found them.

“Who do I have before me, kind sir?” she asked, thinking that she had found another pony.

The only response she received was a moo and sounds of crunching rocks.

“Oh,” the princess was quick to realize, “cattle that eat rocks? How strange…”

For days, Luna fruitlessly searched and searched for water. Another few more days like this and she might succumb to dehydration. The lunar cows she encountered before, being simple minded creatures they are were of no help.

Their fatty tissues when metabolized, yields more water for the amount of fat processed. This enables the creatures to go without food or water for weeks, months even. Of course that alone will not sustain them forever. Eventually the creatures will have to find a source to replenish their fluids.

Luna merely needed to find out where that source is. The princess slowly moved across the plain, unknowingly in the direction of the dark side of the moon. She scaled up a short ridge and strode down into the darkness on the other side.

Luna was unaware that she was is deep within the moon’s dark regions. The only clue to her that she was off is the instant drop in temperature around her. Eventually, she could not withstand the cold. Blinded and lost, she could only pray to the Mother Goddess that she will find a way out of wherever she is now.

The princess was trying to cast a warmth spell on herself when she suddenly tripped over an icy slope, slid smoothly down before coming to a rest down a flat ground. She tried to get up but slipped. There is something unusual about the ground surface- hard, evenly smooth, slippery and freezing cold, even colder than the environment. She made a few taps on it. The princess whooped in delight when she finds out she is currently lying on an ocean of freshwater ice.

Luna was feeling the shape of each of the stone slabs lying around. She focused hard to visualize the outline of the slabs in her mind. The shapes, dimensions and positions on the ground were scaled so that they are all precise according to the real thing. Using her Alicorn magic, the princess lifted the slabs up and rearranged them into a simple hut- a wide slab atop several standing stones.

That was just the first attempt. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. For several weeks, Luna repeated the same process over time, her skills getting more refined in the process. Eventually she was able to carve even more complex shapes out of the rocks according to what she imagined in her mind.

After blasting the stones slabs to pieces, Luna projected her beam at the stone pieces, cutting them into smaller pieces. That however is the easiest part of the work. Next she delicately carved those pieces into shelves, tables and chairs.

When everything was done, she brought all the furniture inside the new house that is of her own handiwork, built inside giant stones, complete with windows doors, and shingled roof. Not that she planned on settling there. She built it merely out of boredom, which is better than talking to random lunar cows and rocks. She believed sooner or later her patience will pay off.

After done milking the lunar cattle, Luna carried the loaded bucket (made out of rock) back with her. Later the collected milk will be processed into cheese. The princess was able to find her way to and fro various locations because of the cognitive map she had created of this ‘vast, strange dessert’.

Once arrived in her home, she brought bucket of milk carefully into the kitchen. Soon after, her head popped out the kitchen entrance. She had just detected a faint vibe indicating a presence nearby.

Twinkleshine and Minuette stared with disbelief as they approached rock house.

“I can’t believe there’s a house in the middle of this barren wasteland” Minuette said as she stepped up to the door. “Well, let’s find out if somepony lives here.”

“No, no, no, wait!” The tailless unicorn blocked Minuette from knocking the door.

“What if this is like the story Hensel and Gretel, except it’s not a candy house?” she warned.

“Twinkleshine, your crazy fantasy isn’t helpful with our current situation!” Minuette scolded her.

“Fine!” Twinkleshine said angrily, offended by the word ‘crazy’. “Go ahead! Knock! Don’t blame me if there’s an evil cannibalistic bull coming through that door gunning for your meat!”

The door opened ajar behind her. Minuette’s eyes popped in horror when ‘Nightmare Moon’ appeared at the door.

Twinkleshine was initially clueless. Judging from her friend’s expression, it dawned on Twinkleshine that there is someone or something standing behind her. Slowly she looked behind with apprehension. Even before the princess could say her greetings, the two newcomers skittered off in different directions, screaming.

All the galloping had taken it out of Twinkleshine. As did Princess Luna before her, she is clueless on how to survive in this wasteland. She rested on the ground to regain her energy but since she had not eaten or drank anything since she arrived here, it is unclear how much good it will do.

“Hello?”

Twinkleshine jumped in surprise then, being too weak to escape, shuffled back, her eyes not daring to look at the princess.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she begged. “Please don’t give me nightmares!”

“What nonsense are you sputtering about, young one?” the bemused Luna asked.

“I didn’t mean to trespass into your domain! I know I shouldn’t be here but it wasn’t my fault! It was Princess Celestia! She’s the one who transported me here!”

The princess’ heart sank. “What…? You’re lost as well?”

Twinkleshine looked up at the princess in surprise. “Huh?”

What does she mean by lost? she wondered.

“Do you know where this place is?” Luna queried the unicorn.

Twinkleshine remained wary. “What are you playing at?”

After hearing rumor that the adored Princess of the Night had come under the possession of Nightmare Moon, she tried to make sense of what is in front of her.

“There is no trick!” Luna said impatiently. “I don’t know what place is this, for my sight was taken away. I’ve been stuck here ever since. Now tell me please, do you know where are or not?”

Twinkleshine took the princess’ words in and looked carefully at her. The princess did not appear to be malevolent or hostile. Seeing that her stare is actually unfocused, the unicorn realized she had judged the princess only by outward appearances. She looked up at the Blue Marble in the sky, then at the princess again. She inhaled deeply then began explaining.

Greatly despaired by the truth, Luna dropped to her knees, crying. The only thing had kept her going is the thought that she will eventually return to Canterlot, one way or another. She was comforted by Twinkleshine, who felt her sorrows. Together they are stranded on the moon, with no way of returning to their homes.

***

Since Twinkleshine and Minuette are here now, Luna could not afford to be sad for so long. The next day, she taught the two ponies on how to survive on the moon.

“Be gentle with the udder so they won’t get agitated,” the princess instructed both unicorns on how to milk a cow.

Later the three went to the dark side of the moon to collect water.

Twinkleshine had a lot of spare time on their hoof. She did try exploring the moon but honestly it got boring over time. Everywhere looked the same whether it was the mountains, hills or flat plain- just grey rocks, craters and more grey rocks. So instead she spent her most of her spare time with Princess Luna, talking about their childhoods, their past experiences, share a few stories and so on.

“…instead of hitting the pinata, I swatted Trixie by mistake,” Twinkleshine was telling one of her experiences to the princess.

“So the mare in the white sheet, that was you,” Luna figured.

“Uh-huh,” the unicorn nodded with a wide smile, “I guess I made the eyeholes a little too small.”

Luna really enjoyed talking to Twinkleshine while getting her mane groomed by the unicorn. And so, Twinkleshine was made as her personal maidservant and they had been living together ever since.

As for Minuette, she spent her spare time gazing at the Blue Marble and counting the stars.

Twinkleshine was on her way back home with a bucket load of fresh milk. To pass the time, she sang the lyrics from a song written by Rainbow Dash, Awesome As I Wanna Be:

“Yeah, I’m awesome, take caution

“Watch out for me, I’m awesome as I wanna be

“Yeah! I’m awesome, take caution

“Watch out for me, I’m awesome as I wanna be

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!-”

She abruptly stopped upon encountering another unicorn up ahead.

When she got close enough, Twinkleshine recognized the newcomer immediately. “Amethyst!?”

“Yea.” Amethyst Star’s monochrome color reflects her current mood and voice tone.

“Trollestia got you too, didn’t she?” Twinkleshine asked, even though it was pretty obvious.

“Totally,” Amethyst Star pronounced in a monotonic tone. “I’m like, not be supposed here with those losers but here I am.”

Looking past her, Twinkleshine could see more ponies standing around confused by their unfamiliar surroundings. “Oh, Faust. How will Princess Luna feel about this?”

“Who cares,” Amethyst Star said.

Over the plain, a flash appeared then a pony popped up of out nowhere.

All the newcomers fled in fear at the sight of Princess Luna despite Twinkleshine’s explanation of the truth beforehand. Their reaction is exactly same with Twinkleshine and Minuette when they first encountered the princess.

Amethyst Star was the only pony who did not flee.

“Whatever,” was her only response.

Twinkleshine apologized to Luna, who was notably upset over her elder sister’s actions. She then took her leave to go after fleeing ponies, leaving the princess with Minuette.

“Great,” Minuette said sarcastically, “why don’t she just transport the whole kingdom here?”

After getting scolded by Luna, Minuette bowed apologetically for being unthoughtful of the princess’ feelings.

It had been a year and a half since Princess Luna’s banishment to the moon. Throughout the course of time, more houses were built to accommodate the newcomers and slowly what started a single house in the middle on an empty plain slowly expanded into a settlement.

Today, Luna was readying to lead the settlers out to replenish their water supply when all of a sudden an apprehensive feeling came over her. Something big was heading their way. Yet their vibe is also familiar to her.

No, she thought in dismay, my sister couldn’t be that foolish.

Twinkleshine saw it too. “Your Royal Highness, it’s-”

“It’s the royal guards,” Luna said grimly. “All of them.”

The princess had guessed correctly. Approaching the settlement is the Equestrian Royal Guards in its entirety (minus Captain Discord and the Reserves).

She gritted her teeth in anger at Celestia. That would have meant there is nopony left to guard Canterlot. Having experienced the devastating war with the minotaurs in her childhood, she could only imagine bad things to come to the currently defenseless kingdom.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Luna said immediately.

Twinkleshine was already way steps ahead. “Somepony has to explain to them.”

“You mustn’t haste!” The princess trotted up to Twinkleshine. “Wait and see their reaction first.”

As the royal guards gets closer, Luna thought twice. The elder sister had done a good job of making the her a villain in the hearts of the Equestrians- why should the guards be any different? Their reaction to her presence might be negative.

“Twinkleshine, get everypony back to their homes,” she instructed.

However Twinkleshine insisted that she should remain by the princess’ side.

The royal guards had no problem in recognizing the blue Alicorn before them. They looked amongst themselves and seemed to be in a discussion. Their muttering got louder, eliciting deeper feeling of uneasiness from the princess.

Three ranking officers briskly advanced ahead of the rest of the guards. Each represents the one of three pony tribes- pegasus, Earth ponies and unicorn. Right before Princess Luna, who was still persuading Twinkleshine to leave without success, the officers removed their helmets and go on their knees. The rest of the royal guards followed shortly after.

All the settlers felt relieved that things did not turn ugly as initially feared. But at the same time they were also surprised by this turn of event. The royal guards’ action begged the question of whether they already knew the truth behind Princess Luna’s ‘possession’.

“What just happened?” Luna wondered.

Officer Flash Sentry was the first to speak. “Your Royal Highness, we humbly ask for your forgiveness.”

“Under the orders of His Excellency, Sir Blueblood,” the next officer, Shoeshine said, “we in our shame were committed to withhold the truth in regards of Battle of the Royal Sisters from public knowledge.”

“And we continued to do so despite Princess Celestia’s incarceration in Dr. Horses Asylum,” Officer Trotter concluded.

“Why?” Luna demanded to know.

“We are uncertain of the exact details,” Flash Sentry admitted, “but it may have something to do with Sunset Shimmer, his assistant.”

Sunset Shimmer? It is a name Luna had not heard for a long time. If Sunset Shimmer is now Assistant Chancellor, then a lot must have happened back home.

At first the princess did not understand how Sunset Shimmer could get tangled in the conflict between the Royal Sisters. Then she remembered it. Sunset Shimmer had once trespassed into the treasure chamber where Dark Magic artifacts are stored.

The Alicorn Amulets, the princess realized, she was betrayed.

The notion of Sunset Shimmer being betrayed by her own mentor made the princess go weak on her knees. If only she can go and do something about it. Yet escaping from the moon is an impossible possible feat even for a powerful Alicorn such as her. That and with more of the kingdom’s citizens were getting stranded here on the moon, her misery deepened as days goes by.

Several days later…

The royal guards were on the way back from collecting water from the ice sheets when they saw fire flickering in the distance. Trotter volunteered to investigate. Under the darkness, he was able to make out figure down the cliff.

“It’s a blue bipedal, talking feline who can conjure fires on his paws, Your Royal Highness,” he notified the princess afterwards.

Faust Almighty, this place is getting stranger and stranger, she thought.

After the feline realized the presence of Princess Luna and her royal guards, he quickly called out, “Princess Luna, my name is Lord Zachary Watterson, a knight-errant and also the royal bodyguard of His Highness, Prince Umbra of the Southern Kingdom. I’ve journeyed here because his kingdom and now Ponyville have fallen into the grasps of invaders. You and the Elements of Harmony are our only hope to defeat this threat.”

Luna was uncertain whether or not to believe the feline’s claim. “What you say is impossible!”

“I know this is hard for you to believe, Your Royal Highness,” the feline said. “But I can help you. I can bring you all back to Equestria.”

“How!?” the princess demanded.

“You just need to trust me on this.”

Could it be that his words are true? Luna pondered. I have longed to return home. And if Equestria is indeed in danger, then it is my responsibility as the royal princess to help fight off the threat.

In the end, she decided to take her chance, but with caution. “Very well.”

With that, the unicorn guards lighted up the area with their horns, thus revealing themselves to the blue feline.

***

Celestia writhed in agony on the floor as Dark Magic dissipated from her body in the form of black-purple mists. All this happening was witnessed by Twinkleshine and Godslayer Watterson. Once it is reduced to nothingness, the princess passed out, and thus, the personality Trollestia ceased from existence.

Luna was lying injured close-by after barely surviving her confrontation with Trollestia. In spite of this, knowing that her elder sister is no longer under the influence of Dark Magic came as a great relief to her. Twinkleshine loyally remained by the princess’ side, while Godslayer Watterson rushed off to get help for the Royal Sisters.

Luna commended Twinkleshine for a job well done in freeing Princess Celestia from the influence of Dark Magic. The unicorn however is more concerned with her master’s injuries. For a minute back there, she thought she had lost the princess. The depression resulting from her failure would have been too much to bear all her life.

***

The sun had risen over Foal Mountains, casting its rays over the snowy landscape around Canterlot Plateau. The battle between Ragingheart’s vast forces and the Reserves had already begun in the southern plain across the river.

Once they arrived, Flash Sentry led the pegasus guards from the skies to join Godslayer Dash in distracting the Mecha-Daleks away from the civilians on the bridge.

Luna and the remaining royal guards emerged from the forests of Unicorn Range, along with Godslayer Watterson and Twinkleshine. The latter two helped carry the Elements of Harmony.

Trotter and Shoeshine are one of the royal guards deeply aroused by Blueblood’s pep talk. Godslayer Watterson raised his tek-bow up high and called for the royal guards to fight with him. They returned his call by yelling out their battle cry.

The unicorn guards charged into the battlefield first. As they do, they activated their shielding spells. Shortly, their Earth pony comrades followed not far from behind.

Unfortunately, the charging royal guards soon came under heavy bombardment by the Mecha-Daleks. Many unlucky guards were knocked off their hooves by the force of the explosions as a result. Yet despite the setback, their spirits remain undeterred. Ignoring their injuries, they quickly got back up to keep going.

The frontlines led by Trotter put all their effort in holding their shield against Archer-Mithras’ shots. They were doing well, that is until the Assault-White Bunnehs appeared and began shooting grenades at them. Trotter fell along with many others, stunned by the blow from their shields’ destruction.

The unicorns tried to close the gap between them so as to prevent more arrows from getting past them. Shoeshine was one of the unfortunate Earth ponies who got their armor penetrated. Wincing on the ground, she tried to pluck the arrow from her shoulder as others pressed on.

The distance between the two opposing force on the explosion-riddled battlefield now closed. On one side, MBPs came in from the rear, Archer-Mithras and Assault-White Bunnehs holstered their projectile weapons for melee-based attacks. On the other, the unicorn royal guards deactivated their shields and drew their weapons. All-out close quarters combat ensued. Seeing the frontlines are being battered down by the savage MBPs and are about to be finished off the Mithras and White Bunnehs, the Earth ponies steamed ahead to aid their comrades.

He saw it. Flash Sentry was fighting a losing battle against the Mecha-Daleks when five strange pillars of light shot out from the river then the fighting ceased abruptly. The enemy seemed to be awed as he is, which is strange for the beings of inanimate nature.

Once the lights vanished, the stallion thought he had caught a glimpse of two Alicorns other than the Royal Sisters. The new Alicorns resembled somewhat like Trixie and Sunset Shimmer. He easily recognized Lighting Dust but the rest he did not know. They were all wearing ornaments that have the same corresponding color as the lights. Then disbelief came over the pegasus, upon realizing that the six are Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, which was claimed to be the most powerful magic artifact ever to exist by Princess Luna.

With awe, Flash Sentry witnessed the Element Bearers soared towards the clouds. The pegasus snapped to his senses when he heard Princess Celestia’s call to protect the Element Bearers from above. For a brief moment, he and his fellow subordinates were off-guard, letting the Daleks get past them. The constructs appeared to be no longer interested in fighting the royal guards.

As the constructs launched themselves from ground, they were immediately brought down by Diamondian infantries and archers. Flash Sentry fell into total disbelief. The foreigners, having answered the Princess of the Sunlight’s call, are fighting to prevent harm from coming to the Element Bearers. All the while, he was standing there doing nothing. Not about to lose to the Diamondians, he ordered his subordinates to follow him to the skies.

Yet to fully come round from his daze, Trotter tried to decide on whether he should go join his subordinates in the fight against the Mecha-Daleks far ahead of him or help the nearby Earth ponies holding the line against the rest of the invading force. In his hesitation, the unicorn did not notice a Fighter-Mithra had crept up behind him. The moment the construct is kicked away by Shoeshine, only then he realized what is going on. When the Mithra tried to fight back, Trotter blasted a perforated hole on its midriff.

The pegasus guards went after the ones that are beyond the Diamondian archers’ range. They grouped into clusters, each dropping down on a single winged tank. The guards slashed hard through the metal plating in hope of crippling the tank. One of the tanks was finally damaged enough and it plummeted down. The pegasus guards hanged onto the damaged tank to make sure it crashes.

All but one managed to leap off from the transforming tank in time before it plowed into the snow. Apparently the Mecha-Dalek was not out yet. After the construct got back up, it has Flash Sentry in its vision. With a stomp from its massive foot, it prepared to finish off the injured guard.

Fortunately for Flash Sentry, Godslayer Watterson came to his rescue. Armed with a tek-bow, he leaped up high above the pegasus. The knight-errant pierced the mech through its eye. The tek-bow then instantly turned into dual fiery swords, which the knight-errant used to strike down the mech with.

Twinkleshine grimly shook her head. She told Princess Luna and Sir Blueblood the bad news. Despite all her best efforts in treating and patching up the badly wounded changeling, he had been bleeding so profusely there was no telling if he can hold up much longer. The disturbance in the clouds prompted all three to face skyward. Luna did not need her sight to notice it. She could feel a tremendous amount of magical energy from the Elements of Harmony building up. Something big was about to happen.

Shortly, they witnessed brilliant energy beams, each of different color, punched a gaping hole through the clouds, creating bright energy sphere that rapidly expands in size. Twinkleshine and Blueblood anxiously watched the enormous sphere burst into an energy wave of massive proportion. Luna however remained calm. With so little time to react, they were all swept over by the wave...

Trotter and Shoeshine were horrified how their comrades and enemies alike are getting wiped out by the energy wave. They both knew they cannot outrun it. They hold on to each other and turned away with their eyes closed just moments before being engulfed by the wave.

Almost instantaneously, the wave passed. Trotter and Shoeshine remained exactly where they were, unharmed and still holding to each other. Feeling that they have survived somehow, they slowly opened their eyes. To the pair’s surprise, the Earth pony guards were still there, confused as they are. But the enemy constructs were all gone. Seeing that energy wave continued its sweep across to the south, Trotter and Shoeshine felt relieved that only forces that is of evil nature are affected by it.

Flash Sentry was clueless to what had happened just now. There was a blinding white flash and he could have sworn he saw a glimpse of the enemy evaporating. He thought he too was a goner. But instead here he is now standing with his comrades, unscathed. Yet the enemies were nowhere to be seen

Up ahead, Godslayer Watterson proclaimed the battle is over. They won. The kingdom is free from the invaders.

Flash Sentry somehow believed it. All his comrades did. Soon, the Elements Bearers were spotted coming down from the sky. They all cheered ecstatically not only to herald their victory, but also the arrival of those who made it all possible. Once the Elements Bearers are on the ground, sure enough the two other ‘Alicorns’ did turn out to be Trixie and Sunset Shimmer.

His cheeks blush upon staring at the latter. He is awestruck by how stunning Sunset Shimmer looked in that elegant dress. From his chance encounter with her at the castle before, he has always regarded the Assistant Chancellor as attractive. It is so hard for him to believe that this beautiful, friendly, hardworking mare could have anything to do with the Battle of the Royal Sisters.

He immediately shook off his infatuation. Being of two different working classes, it is of his own personal belief that he is not good enough for a mare like Sunset Shimmer. That reason alone was enough for him not asking her out a long time ago. Having composed himself, he went on to show his fair support to the Element Bearers as heroes of the day.

Twinkleshine opened her eyes. The flash was so bright she thought she was about to go blind. But somehow she did not. At the same time, the wounded changeling’s eyes flickered open. She felt so relieved that the guard had pulled through much sooner than possible.

In the meantime, Luna could tell that her sights have returned from the nauseous feeling she is having. She squinted as her aching eyeballs are still adjusting to the sunlight. When they finally did, the princess’ vision, initially hazy, slowly came to focus. The very first thing that came into her view is Twinkleshine dancing around happy on her hind legs, because she had gotten her tail back, then Nova, whom began to recover from his wounds and also baffled by Twinkleshine’s display, and finally Blueblood, her nephew whom she had cared like her own son.

Tears shed from her eyes as joy overcame her. By that time, she came under the tight squeeze by Twinkleshine who was also happy for the princess. When Luna gazed upon Twinkleshine for the first time, it struck her that the unicorn’s appearance vaguely reminded her of a young Celestia. Yet all the princess could say was how beautiful Twinkleshine is. Longing for Blueblood, the princess asked for him. Without objection, Blueblood let him come under her auntie’s embrace.

With the war over, all Luna could hope for is that the kingdom will be able to able to pick up the pieces and revert to the way it was before- peaceful and happy. She would also like to make amends with her elder sister. The ordeal she experienced on the moon has taught her how important family togetherness is.

In the distance, Canterlot was visible even all the way from Unicorn Range. Amazingly, where Appleloosa and Ponyville were badly affected by Ragingheart’s devastating campaign, the capital remains largely untouched throughout the ordeal. Despite this, the scar left on it by Ragingheart would always remained, as unbeknownst to anypony, even Princes Luna, a political change was about to come to the kingdom in the not too distant future.

Comments

[Muranuse]

Hmmm... Looks interesting. Weird that no-ones noticed it yet. It will take a while to read though...

[hujan86]

6491080
By reading the Extra act first, you've just given yourself away a few plot twists.

[Muranuse]

6497007 I am not sure how this works, but it seems that when you comment on the story page, it posts it under the last chapter.

[hujan86]

6818126
This chapter was meant to be comedy (rather, it was funny in my imagination the first moment I conceived the idea), before things get a bit dark.

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

6818791 I figured, just looked a bit weird from my point of view