Random Elements: Coincidences can Happen

by Stryke

Chapter 4: A Canterlot Reckoning

Nightmare Moon sat on her throne with a few too many ponies for company. Her captain of her royal guard was rolling around on the floor as he clutched at his head trying to find some relief from the pain inflicted by the magical backlash from his barrier being broken. A number more ponies had just entered into the room, but what was taking up her full attention right now was Cadance. How dare this whelp of the vile Royal Unicorn bloodline stand up to her. The rage helped. It was giving her certainty.

"Look," she snarled harshly. "I honestly do regret what I did to you, but—"

"You should have taken my horn," Cadance said flatly. She'd stopped in the middle of the room drawing herself up with all her former royal airs.

Interrupted in her flow by the unexpected statement Nightmare Moon had to recollect her thoughts. "But that would have been too cruel! Even if you do descend from the old king and so probably deserved even worse treatment anyway."

"I was adopted actually," Cadance replied levelly, still keeping her words to simple statements of fact. "My parents passed away when I was very young."

"You have my condolences of course for your loss, but I don't think I understand?" Nightmare Moon said, her brow furrowing. "Of course I do admit burning those false imitations of yours was a harsh action taken in the heat of the moment."

It had all happened so quickly, Nightmare Moon remembered. It had been about a week after the burning of Stalliongrad and she'd only just got out of taking the captain of her Shadowbolts suitably to task for going way too far. She'd been meeting with some nobles to give their concerns a fair hearing and had been quite impressed by the quick mind and compassion of stallion called Fancy Pants. Then there had been the announcement by some deeply unwise palace adjunct.

"Please rise for the arrival of Prince Blueblood and Princess Mi Amora Cadenza."

She had stormed over with the red mists already descending that somepony actually would have the gall to still lay claim to a royal title. Blueblood had been loudly remonstrating with some poor maid who had got in his way while Cadance had been tactfully standing off to the side which had not made a good first impression of the pair. Then Nightmare Moon had noticed that this mare had both wings and horn and things had all got a bit fuzzy. After that she only recalled the sound of Cadance's drawn out scream as her wings had burned under remorseless black fire and the crescendo of hooves as everypony had fled her wrath. She'd gone way too far that day, but worse she hadn't been in control when she had done so.

Nightmare Moon looked back up at the unicorn standing in front of her. "Still consider it a mercy, as severing your horn would surely have killed you. Perhaps some form of recompense could be offered?"

"You took my wings!" Cadance roared, the red fires burning fiercely in her eyes reflected in the glow playing around her amulet. "They were mine and you took them from me! It wasn't enough you had to humiliate me and my brother, rob us of our lands, our wealth, even our very name! But that wasn't enough was it?! You just had to take the only thing I had left when I was all on my own when I was barely older than a foal!"

"Oh... Oh!" Applejack hit her head hard with her hoof. "I think I understand now. Remind me that I owe a pony an apology for passing on a story that was apparently just based on hearsay."

Rainbow Dash shrugged her wings. "Feel free to explain any-time you like as I'm lost entirely."

"She's a pegasus," Applejack said and breathed out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

"I was a pegasus," Cadance corrected, who had very good hearing.

"But that's impossible!" Nightmare Moon said, as she shook her head sadly that the former princess was clearly completely delusional. "That would mean you would have had to have ascended if you weren’t born an alicorn and nopony has done that since before the very first Hearts and Hooves day."

Cadance reared up to her full height. "It happened nonetheless. I'm glad you're here to see this, Twilight,” she said, glancing back over her shoulder. “Forgive me if I don't do the shake as it would be inappropriate in such company, but I am glad you can watch me crush this monster like I used to do when I read you your bedtime stories."

Nightmare Moon was starting to shake badly. I couldn't have done such a thing like that to hurt her so harshly, I shouldn't have, I shouldn't... Her panic was met by another wave of anger, but this had a new target who was only just now unsteadily propping himself up.

"You, Shining Armour!” she yelled, rounding on her captain. “You told me they were fake. Why?!"

Shining Armour looked down at his spiked shod hooves. Without meeting her gaze he started talking. "You were... not like yourself when the, ah, the incident took place. Rather more like the Nightmare Moon we'd been expecting when you first took over if you understand me. When you regained your senses and all the nobles had fled you were completely distraught and I feared the truth might doom Equestria if it pushed you over the edge so I lied. I imagine it doesn't particularly help, but I really am sorry."

Nightmare Moon sat her rump heavily back down on her throne as guilt and shame washed over her.

"I... I did not know," was all she could manage to say.

Cadance's beautiful face was marred by a nasty sneer as she advanced upon the throne.

"Should we be doing something?" hissed Pinkamena to Fluttershy. The Shadowbolt wasn't anywhere to be seen as Pinkamena looked around for her. The throne room was dark, as the only light sources was the occasional red light burning upon Cadance's horn and amulet that drenched the room in the colour of old blood. Other than that there was just the moonlight streaming in through the various stained glass windows and the torchlight coming from the open double doors. Even in the gloom Pinkamena was stunned by how uncared for the room seemed to be. Ragged large bits of purple velvet were draped haphazardly about the place and dust was everywhere aside from on the central carpet. She spotted Fluttershy who had hung back in the shadow of one of the great wooden doors looking just as guilt stricken as her princess was.

"Fluttershy?" she said, after stepping back to join her.

"I wasn't there," Fluttershy moaned. "I could have stopped her, or at least helped her to get over it if I’d have known."

"Nightmare Moon, I thought about trapping you with my love magic and then spurning you, but that would be far too easy." Cadance laughed lightly. "So instead I thought I'd start with burning your wings just like you burned mine..."

"Trixie, how do you know about that amulet anyway?" Sparks asked, as they watched Cadance rant at Nightmare Moon who was just sitting there and taking it seemingly completely paralysed by her shame.

"Oh, my uncle told me about it," Trixie whispered back. "It's supposed to give you unlimited magical power. Apparently it was first worn by the pony lich, the Dread Mare, who clashed with the spirit of chaos himself in the lost ages."

"And you never thought about finding it for yourself?"

Trixie gave her marefriend a look. "Sparks, I work in showpony business. What do I need with that kind of power? Anyway you'd have to be on like, I don't know, rock farmer money after a massive haul to have the bits to pay for an artefact like that."

They turned their attention back to Cadance who was ignoring Nightmare Moon now and was completely caught up in her private monologue. "...And then I'll take your skull, decorate it with only the most beautiful crystals and wear it as a tiara!!" She concluded into an uncontrolled maniacal laugh.

"It also drives you insane apparently," noted Trixie dryly.

Cadance smiled. "First though I really should rectify something I've been neglecting." She stalked over to Rainbow Dash and before she had a chance to protest nipped out one of her feathers from her wings.

"Hey!" yelled Dash, managing to overcome her fear with annoyance.

"Hold this for me if you'd be so kind, darling." Not bothering to wait for a response Cadance shut the magician up by pulling off her cloak and throwing it in the pegasus' face. Cadance swallowed the feather in one gulp as her horn burned even brighter to the point of blinding intensity. Her sides started to bulge unnaturally as muscles and bones shifted seemingly of their own accord. From the sound of what came next Rainbow Dash was profoundly glad for the black cloak completely covering her face.

When she finally dared to pull off the cape and look Cadance was admiring a pair of extended pink wings from her sides of such flawless beauty that anypony couldn't help but to be impressed to look on them. Of course the effect was somewhat ruined as the feathers were still lightly dripping fresh blood onto the floor.

"Aren't they pretty?" Cadance marvelled, inspecting each new feather seemingly individually.

"But that's body manipulation!" shouted Nightmare Moon, completely aghast by what she was seeing. "That's even higher level unicorn magic than even age spells. There's no way, even if you really were truly an alicorn, at your age to manage casting like that."

"I am the highest level alicorn now! Care to try it yourself?" Cadance said, her eyes narrowing slyly.

Nightmare Moon harrumphed. "As if," she said. "Sure throwing around spells like you’re Clover the Clever might make you feel cocky, but you still have no chance against me."

The floor started to give way and collapse as huge cracks formed and opened up into nothing. Cadance seemed now to be standing on the edge of an almighty dizzyingly high precipice. She confidently stepped forward into the abyss and onto the red carpet leading to the throne as the room returned to its previous state as the illusion failed.

From Nightmare Moon's throne smoke poured out till it covered the floor in a dense fog. Noises slithered and gibbered in a most alarming fashion as if anything could be hiding within. Apparitions loomed out of the dark. Thin limbed and grinning they came. Huge fanged maws gaped open and dripping drool formed all around Cadance to swallow up the challenger to the throne.

"Hah." Cadance laughed contemptuously just the once and the apparitions popped back into nothingness.

Nightmare Moon's form grew large till it seemed to fill the height of the large room as her mane grew wild and bestial and her tail grew a scorpion's stinger that whipped dangerously back and forth. Cadance looked up with nothing showing on her face other than bemusement.

"What exactly are you doing?" she asked. "If you think I'm going to be scared off by a few illusions more appropriate to Nightmare Night then you really are underestimating me."

Nightmare Moon collapsed back in on herself until she sat once more in her armour upon her throne. "I... I just want to scare you away. I really don't want to hurt you. Not again, not ever, not anypony." Her head dropped down low. "Why must that be so hard?"

"Not a problem I have any-more," answered Cadance harshly. "Not after what you did to me." She leapt at Nightmare Moon with a fierce, blazing corona of deadly balefire dancing on her armoured hooves. Cadance landed on the empty throne cracking it in half and spun around to find the now entirely missing object of her revenge.

Having dissipated into smoke Nightmare Moon reformed by the double doors right next to Fluttershy. "You took your time, my Captain," she said, with a happy smile. Then her expression froze till her smile was a rictus of disbelief. "That's the Element of Loyalty... I used to be it’s bearer along with two others, so I'd know them anywhere. No matter what cutie mark they're mirroring now! What exactly are you doing wearing one of the Elements, Fluttershy?" Nightmare Moon looked at the other five ponies who had entered with her captain of her Shadowbolts as her eyes grew ever wider. Applejack wearing the Element of Generosity looking embarrassed on Fluttershy's behalf by proximity. Rainbow Dash wearing the Element of Joy gleefully making rude faces behind Cadance's back while she had the chance. Sparks wearing the Element of Kindness had rushed to her brother's side and was concentrating hard on her horn trying to cast some spell to soothe his pain from the magical backlash, but was not appearing to have much success. Rock wearing the Element of Honesty and worst of all the pony that had laid siege to her palace all by herself in her multitudes; Pinkamena Diane Pie with the Element of Magic resting in amongst her untamed pink curls.

"How... how could you?" Nightmare Moon just managed to choke out to the only pony she'd ever counted on was clearly here to not help, but just cast her down too. "So you were truly loyal, just not ever to me..." she whispered then trailed off before falling silent. She wrapped her wings around her, pulled her hooves into a tight ball on the floor and started to weep.

Cadance howled with laughter to see her despised figure of her hate hurt so badly. Her normally boundless love completely overwhelmed now by the amulet's corrupting power. "And I was wondering how the old regime would serve under me when I took what was rightfully mine. Looks like you're going to work out just fine." She hopped down from the broken throne while gazing at Fluttershy approvingly. "Now get out the way so I can put this pathetic sight out of her misery once and for all."

She was tackled to the floor as the full weight of the heavily muscled stallion body of Shining Armour bore her down with full force. He lifted her up her legs bucking uselessly in the air in a twisted parody of a lover's embrace.

"You will not hurt her," he managed to grunt out as he tottered backwards unsteadily on his back hooves as Cadance flailed her new wings against him.

"Let me go!" Cadance screamed, far too incensed to remember to use her magic.

"No matter what, she's still the Princess and that makes protecting her my duty," he said still gripping on to the alicorn hard.

With one mighty heave Shining Armour lifted her over his head and smashed Cadance right through the stained glass into the night air outside. For a briefest moment he looked triumphant before he was pulled out of the window by a tendril of red magic and both of them disappeared as they plummeted out of sight into the inky blackness.

"Big brother!" Sparks screamed, rushing to the window to look for any sign of her sibling.

Rock joined her at the shattered window and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "He'll be fine. After all she's got wings now, remember?"

"His barrier is still up," Sparks said looking out, her voice shaking though with a note of relief creeping in.

"The throne room is one of the highest points in Canterlot," Fluttershy noted dispassionately. "They've probably not just hit the ravine below yet." She was shushed into silence by the others as that really wasn't helping. Fortunately Sparks didn't appear to have heard her.

Rock glanced over to the sobbing wreck of a pony that had been Nightmare Moon, as she stood at Spark's side. "C'mon, lets just get this done. There'll be time to find him later."

"Right," said Pinkamena, reaching up and adjusting the Element of Magic on her head. "I think all we need to do is this."

Her Element started to glow as her eyes grew wide as the magic picked her up gently into the air. Rainbow beams of light burst out of the headpiece linking the six together lifting them as well as their own Elements started to glow in unison. However when the rainbow light hit Fluttershy's amulet the beam turned grey, then black, before shattering apart entirely. The elemental magic winked out dumping the ponies unceremoniously back onto the floor with a bump.

Pinkamena picked herself up and glared angrily in Fluttershy's direction. "Fluttershy, we've got to be in harmony, or this isn't going to work!"

"I can't do it," Fluttershy said, pulling off her Element and dropped it to the floor. "Can't do it and won't do it."

There was a general chorus of "you what?!", "you've got to be buckin' kidding me..." and a very distressed, "but, Fluttershy!"

"Nightmare Moon might be a bad pony and she might have made bad decisions, but she still doesn't deserve this," Fluttershy said, as she lied down next to her Princess.

"Fluttershy, I know it might be hard for you to do this, but we've got to bring the sun back for everypony in Equestria!" insisted Pinkamena.

"Just give me and her a chance, please."

"Fluttershy?" Nightmare Moon looked up and said, her eyes red raw from tears.

"I'm not going to let them do anything to you," Fluttershy said warmly, reaching out to dry her friend's tears with one of her wings.

Nightmare Moon attempted to smile, but failed. "It's okay," she said her voice cracking. "I don't mind if you use the Elements on me. It's no less than I deserve for what I've done. The moon is really not that bad when you get used to it..." she added weakly.

"No," Fluttershy said with steel in her voice. "It's not going to happen."

Nightmare Moon looked into the only pony's eyes that she'd ever been able to truly call a friend and began to laugh. It was quiet at first, but built rapidly into a victorious echoing cackle. "Fools!" she yelled, "then the night truly will last forever!!!"

"Well was a nice try I guess," Rock grumbled as Rainbow Dash groaned.

"And that's not going to happen either," Fluttershy said, putting her hoof down firmly.

Nightmare Moon's face dropped and she glanced nervously at Fluttershy. "Are you sure? I mean it's only been a year. I'm sure everypony will learn to get used to eternal night eventually," she added with a note of hopefulness entering into her voice.

"Please, for me, but more importantly do it for yourself," Fluttershy said taking Nightmare Moon's forehoof into her own. "You know that many ponies love and appreciate your beautiful nights now, so what have you got to lose bringing back the sun for some of the time? I know you're not the pony you were a thousand years ago. I'm sure of it."

"I..." Nightmare Moon looked around wildly as she tried to get out of having to actually think about and deal with this.

"I believe in you," Fluttershy said looking directly into her eyes.

"I'm not sure that I can," moaned Nightmare Moon. Her armour looked like it was boiling against her body though it wasn't getting even noticeably warmer at all to Fluttershy. Quite the opposite in fact as the temperature was dropping like a rock. Thick plumes of vapour were emanating out of the armour and drifting sullenly into the air. One of the vapours turned to look at her with baleful eyes. "They must... no, I must have eternal night. I promised them and I must fulfil that promise. I invited them in, me!"

Fluttershy refused to move as the vapour curled in between her limbs and blew about her mane. The streams of thick smoke were cold like only the very deadest of nights were. She thought for a moment she could see a different throne than the broken one by Cadance in the room right now. One permanently exposed to the void and all the silent emptiness that entailed.

"Fluttershy," Pinkamena said in a clear tone of concern of what she was seeing. Fluttershy waved a hoof in response signalling for the moment to let her try to handle it.

"Who is stronger?" Fluttershy asked firmly. "You or them?"

"Fluttershy!" Pinkamena yelled in alarm as the leaving vapour coiled ever more around her friend. Fluttershy flashed her a quick, confident smile as the Nightmare engulfed her entirely.

'Look at her she's pathetic.' It was less a whisper in her mind than a vibration on the back of her neck that chilled her to the bone. The walls around her seemed to recede till there was only uncaring, distant stars above and the dust of forgotten millennia beneath her.

The misshapen forms of the Nightmare were around her and yet she could only grin. 'You're actually trying to turn me against her now? Right after I refused to allow the use of the Elements of Harmony against her?' she thought back. 'Are you really that delusional?'

'She is weak. You are strong. Why bother to serve somepony like her when we could give you such power beyond even your wildest dreams? All we want is your hate and we can give you everything.' The cold around her burned like fire as they spoke to her in discordant chorus.

Fluttershy could see now an image of herself in her mind. Terrible and mighty as a new dark alicorn ruling unopposed over an eternal night and all she had to do was say yes. It would be so very easy to say yes. Nightmare Moon was so minuscule she was even barely worth considering. Not compared to her.

The sight of her princess in front of her was all Fluttershy needed to resist. Betraying her now would be as impossible for her to will herself to stop breathing. She felt rather than heard the scream as the Nightmare released her.

With Nightmare Moon willing herself to resist for the first time in over a millennia and with Fluttershy's rejection the shadowy vapour boiled outwards. The vapour sort out any opening available as they leached in through the gathered pony's ears right directly into their minds.

'You despise the pointy headed fools that have brought the land to this.' Visions of Equestria as Rock had always feared it flooded into her mind. Unicorns grown obesely fat in fatuous self-indulgence and idle luxury bathed in scented oils as the other pony races starved during the grim cold of the never-ending night. 'Give in and you could build a new Equestria on proper values of an honest night's work. Just think what you could accomplish with our power and all we ask of you is your hate,' the Nightmare whispered into Rock's mind.

Rock was now witness to a new Equestria of majestic spires reaching into the night sky and plunging down into the very core of the earth under her direction and all she had to do was relent. She could see herself in the now mighty tower in Hoofington risen far above the broken and forgotten unicorn city of Canterlot. A dark alicorn goddess, her dirty white coat a distant memory and with three sparkling stars instead of cogs on her flank. All of it was within her grasp and all she had to do was be the mare she was always meant to be.

'That's not me. I know what I am in my hearts of hearts better than you I think and while I ain't never claimed to be the best kind of pony, I sure as Tartuarus don't hate myself enough to ever give in to the likes of you,' Rock thought. 'Anyway let down this bunch?' she added as she looked around at her new friends, 'nah, that just isn't me either. Plus my little sis' would kill me!' The smoke around her cinched tight for a moment as if it wanted to choke her for her defiance before releasing her and drifted away

Rainbow Dash tried to laugh, but everypony was pointing and laughing at her instead. To all of them she was just a big fat joke. She tried to win them over like she always had with a wink and an easy smile, but the stony audience only jeered. Even those that she'd found comfort in the past now mocked her as another version of herself and Chrysi merged into a terrifying gestalt pegaling to lead them in chanting their hate of the one who'd only ever wanted to see them happy.

'It doesn't have to end like this,’ the whispery voices promised. ‘You know they'll tire of you soon enough in your heart. What will you do when the audience ceases to care? When the ones close to you leave you behind like the pathetic one-note joke that you are? We can make them stay, we can make them love you, we can make you the most mighty magician without ever having to fake it, and we can truly make you a goddess. Isn't that really what you deserve?'

'Silly cloudy,’ Rainbow Dash thought back, warmed by the sight of Trixie and Sparks huddling together even when surrounded by the Nightmare themselves. 'I've only ever truly wanted happiness for others and knowing I helped would see me happy even if they did leave me behind. Anyway I've never needed to be any kind of big snooty alicorn to have fun and if I'm having fun what more could you ever offer me other than boring responsibilities that I've never wanted in the first place?'

'But we could make you great and powerful.' Being only met now by laughter in response the cloud streamed back out of her ears.

'Now you are truly magnificent, Pinkamena. With us you could be greater than any other being that Equestria has ever known, even She that came before the royal sisters. Stars would tremble at your step. No pony would do anything without your consent. None would even dare,' the Nightmare in her mind promised Pinkamena.

Pinkamena considered the offer carefully as the Nightmare boiled both about and within her. It would be the culmination of everything that she'd spent her life working towards. Sure total control was probably not a good thing in any sense of the word good, but if there was going to be a benign dictatorship under an immortal goddess then why not her? 'No, I built my financial empire through my own self, nopony else's, and I certainly don't need to enter into a business deal with potential colleagues like you.'

'You used the mirror pool,' the cold voice pointed out. 'Would this really be so different? We only wish to serve as facilitators for your own desires as long as the night continues to reign eternal.'

Images threatened to overwhelm her as she saw her magic, no longer wild and inexplicable, but truly channelled through the new horn upon her forehead as she effortlessly remade Equestria itself in her image under the everlasting jet-black skies.

Pinkamena's head was starting to throb. There was a pressure on her skull now, as if a point was just waiting to push itself through. Yet she couldn't quite shake the feeling there was another her watching and she was chuckling her bouncy tail off. Pinkamena grinned as she realised she was indeed being silly. 'Who needs a Nightmare to reshape the world now that I've have friends to stand by my side. True, I may not be a unicorn, still I have done my share of reading and you may not have heard, but friendship is magic!' Her cutie mark blazed brighter than it had done on the day that she had earnt it as a young filly and the shadows round her boiled away into nothing.

'We could give you wings, Twilight Sparkle. Remember how Cadance made you those cardboard ones to wear when you were just a little filly so you could look a like a princess? We could make that dream real.'

'I've never wanted to be a princess,' Sparks protested, as she shivered under the cloud's caress.

'Oh really?' the cold voice that spoke in a mocking, but not unkind tone that sent all the hairs standing upright all the way down her spine. 'You wanted so much to be like Princess Celestia after the summer sun celebration, but no matter how much you studied you weren't even good enough to take the test for entrance to her school. Not like her." Another Twilight Sparkle was summoned up into her mind. One that looked at her like she was nothing. She was after all nothing compared to the most faithful student that she could never be. 'Why shouldn't it be you who has a perfect life in Canterlot, you who has a dragon to call your own, and you to get everything that you've ever deserved?'

"Sp-Sparks, I-I'm so cold." The sound of Trixie's voice overwhelmed the whispers of temptation in a heartbeat. Spark's eyes snapped open to see her special somepony almost completely engulfed by the Nightmare. What caused Sparks the most alarm though was Trixie's cutie mark. From behind her wand and magic trail upon her flank a new full moon had risen.

"Trixie," Sparks said, taking the other mare's face in her hooves so she could look right into her eyes. "I'm here for you."

'You don't need her,' the voices in her head hissed. 'Did Twilight Sparkle need another pony to lean on to be the best?'

'She's in another Equestria, but I'm here and she matters. They all matter and with her we're stronger together than any magic that you could provide.' Sparks thought back as she held Trixie close. The alteration to Trixie's cutie mark faded away as the shadows lifted from both their hearts.

Nightmare Moon was still struggling as the Nightmare forces that had been bonded with her for long thrashed against her. Looking up she could see them railing against Fluttershy too, but she stood solid as a rock and looked back at her with clear belief that Nightmare Moon could prevail shining in her eyes.

"Are they really stronger than the one that controls the moon, the stars and the night sky itself?" Fluttershy asked, knowing full well the answer to her question.

Fluttershy really did believe in her and Nightmare Moon figured that mean she could believe in herself too and if she couldn't she'd make herself a pony worthy of that trust. "No," Nightmare Moon said and ripped off her helmet letting her starry mane flow freely. "No, they're not!"

She pulled off the rest of raiment of the night which was crumbling to dust as it billowed out the Nightmare vapours. Shapes with eyes filled with eternal hate formed for just moments then dissipated again as they boiled out of the broken window and into the night sky.

"Nice look," Fluttershy said, grinning as she looked at Nightmare Moon's unadorned form. "It suits you."

"Thank you," Nightmare Moon replied and blushed lightly. Her coat was still as velvety black and her cutie mark was the same as it had been, but her eyes had changed. Her iris was no longer the dragon slits they had been and were now the same as any other pony though of course still glittering with ageless beauty of the alicorn that she truly was once more. "But for you," she breathed as even after what she had just achieved this would still be oh so very difficult for her, "You may call me... Luna."

"Luna," Fluttershy said, enjoying the sound of it. "Surely that should be Princess Luna?"

"For you, Fluttershy," Luna said, back smiling gratefully for what she'd done, "it will always just be Luna.” She turned to address everypony in the room. “Now please follow me. I think you will want to see this”

They followed her out onto the balcony where Luna stood facing the moon. It hung low in the horizon as the dark day gave way to darker night.

"Now you may want to be ready to shield your eyes," Luna said. "If it wasn't around the right time I really would wait for tomorrow for fear of inadvertently blinding anypony or anything looking in the wrong direction."

With a single beat of her wings she lifted herself into the air with her head flung back till she was silhouetted against the setting moon. A point of light on her horn formed, tiny at first and then grew larger till it was a ball of blazing light. Far off hanging low above the horizon the moon started to burn. An inferno that spread out from the centre until the whole moon was aflame. The light of the revealed sun banished the darkness of the day completely in a warm yellow light.

Rock stared in awe at the newly revealed sunset. She suddenly remembered how she had felt when she had been younger after spending weeks down deep mines and then upon returning to the surface being welcomed back by the natural light of the sun.

All over the lands of Equestria and beyond ponies, griffons, dragons and every other sapient race that lived on the surface and a few that usually didn’t, looked up into the sky with wonder as light returned to the world. Birds started to sing once, more after being silent for so long.

The sun seemed to burn red in the sky before it finally set in the natural order of things returning the true moon and a night that this time would not last forever.

~~~

As the night set once more the rolling fields between the Everfree Forest all the way to Canterlot had been devastated. Once verdant grass was now torn turf, mud and strewn wreckage. Given the battle that was still taking place there was relatively little evidence of the fallen like in a more conventional fight on this scale. While the pink horde had returned to their place of origin on their individual destruction deep in the Everfree Forest, many of the beasts and creatures had either fled from the shock of food that swelled and then exploded upon eating into coloured sparkles or had been forced to depart after taking far too many hoofbucks than they could happily stand.

There were a few still littering the fields though. Leaning against a hillock a gargantuan hydra was nursing three impressively brutal headaches. A small once quite pretty lake now contained a very upset sea serpent wailing over the torn horror that had been his beloved moustache while a few naga desperately tried to calm him down. A couple of ettercaps had fled into the nearby town of Ponyville and were now getting roundly stomped into the turf single hooved by a red earth pony stallion. There was still one beast fighting on though. As the lesser timber wolves had fallen their nature spirits had coalesced into the mighty alphas; the feared lords of the forest. These too had fallen apart under the onslaught of so many earth pony hooves and now there was but one. Equal in size to an Ursa Major and towering far above any construction built by pony hooves. The true Forest King himself had come with the spirits of the all those born ever-free beating in his wooden chest.

The Forest King popped another bunch of the now very few Pinkamena's remaining on the field under his mighty paws. Yet another bag of green dust bounced off one of his immense legs to completely no effect resulting in a truly vile zebra oath being yelled at the top of Zecora's lungs.

Zecora paced in an attempt to calm herself down. "It is a notion I do now rue, but I may not have entirely thought this one though," she muttered to herself. The strange mood that had taken her seemed to have gone entirely now and finally she could think clearly again. It had been like an insanity to think that she could rile up so many, admittedly for a worthwhile cause, but not have any form of control. To make things even worse the sun had even come back as if to personally taunt her for what she had wrought.

"Heya, stripy pony!" said Pinkamena happily without any hint of enmity, as she popped up beside her.

Zecora had always known to trust her instincts and they were telling her right now this was the same pony that had if anything saved Canterlot from annihilation by her stupid, but brave, instinctive reaction. She still even had that silly tie around her head, though now it was a lot more muddy and burned than it had been. Then if the Forest King wasn't stopped here he'd rampage for hours causing unimaginable damage before dispersing back to form the timber wolf pack of the Everfree Forest. "If he swallows this he'll return back to the trees," she said, showing Pinkamena the last bag of mystically prepared powder. "But I cannot even land it above his knees."

The Pinkamena placed a small stone down carefully. "Now, Rocky Junior you stay safe here, okay?" She formed a rough box shape in the air with her forehooves and looked through it carefully with her tongue stuck out for several moments as she worked something out. "Can you make him go towards that small bobse of cheese over there, Miss Stripy?"

Zecora looked around for whatever the mad pink pony was talking about before realising she meant the copse and nodded. She galloped towards the Forest King who had just dispatched all but one of the Pinkamena's back to their mirror pool home. Looking for around for new prey he spotted the zebra and broke into a loping run causing the ground to shake under the impact of his immense paws.

She reached the copse just before the Forest King and turned to look up the gargantuan timber wolf. The pink pony was nowhere to be seen. Zecora closed her eyes and tried to make her peace with the spirits before the inevitable happened. Maybe they could explain what exactly she'd been thinking...

The Forest King opened its cavernous jaws and roared. Zecora could barely stay standing as the trees bent double and were stripped of their leaves under the force of the gale. It was then she spotted that the pink pony who had somehow managed to get into the timber wolf's mouth and was waving the last bag happily back at her while leaning against a fang bigger than she was. It was almost making Zecora dizzy just looking up at her.

Zecora fought the urge to facehoof and yelled, "Throw it in and make him swallow the contents, you fool! Please quickly or you'll—"

With a horrible snap the Forest King's jaw slammed shut causing Zecora to gasp out in horror as the pony disappeared from sight. The giant timber wolf looked down at Zecora where she could almost swore she saw herself reflected in the massive green orbs that were it's eyes. Then it coughed and pounded it's chest once and then twice. Zecora barely had time to get herself behind a solid-looking oak before the Forest King exploded sending branches, logs and even a few moderately sized full-blown entire trees flying through the air to crash down over a substantial radius.

When it had finally stopped raining twigs Zecora poked her head out. She hadn't even thought to ask the strange pony her name, but even so she would commend her to the spirits as a true pony of worth for her noble sacrifice. Zecora sat down and stared at the smoking crater in the ground as she considered just what she could possibly ever do to make up for her actions in kicking the pebble and then thinking she could control the resulting landslide.

"What are you looking at, Miss Stripy?" came a familiar chirpy voice from right behind her head. "It's not profit, is it?"

Zecora jumped a good foot into the air before spinning around where she then still had to do a double take at seeing the Pinkamena completely unharmed. If a bit somewhat drooled on causing her normally bouncy mane to hang slickly down around her face.

"That just was not actually possible, I mean that could not have happened at all!" she exclaimed, staring at the pink pony as if she might just grow a second head as an encore.

Pinkamena cocked her head to the side. "Hey, did you hear that?"

"Heard wh—" Zecora started to say, but was interrupted as they both disappeared in a flash of magic.

~~~

When they eventually returned inside from watching the spectacle that had not graced Equestria for over a year they discovered a mint green unicorn waiting patiently for them by herself in the middle of the throne room.

"Lyra!" Rock said loudly and with a certain amount of surprise. "So that changeling..?"

"Safely locked up in the palace dungeon." Lyra turned so she could give Luna a significant look. "Which I'm pleased I must say to see were otherwise empty. Though I perhaps am not so enthused by the discipline of the royal guard these days." She glanced sidewise towards the open double doors through which a fair amount of enthusiastic kissing and wuvy talk could still be heard.

"Who is this Lyra exactly?" Luna asked Fluttershy who shrugged, before staring intently at the mysterious unicorn. "I feel like I know you, but I apologise for I cannot quite place you."

Lyra smiled. "Perhaps it would be easier to just get this over with all the sooner."

She spoke again, but this was with a somewhat more uncertain tone. "Will it hurt?"

The first tone of voice answered, "I will try my utmost that it does not do so."

Ignoring Luna and the other ponies deeply puzzled expressions, Lyra's horn ignited. For a moment she was standing in an intensely radiant sunbeam that blinded everypony watching. When the light faded and the spots cleared from their eyes where there had been one pony there were now two. Lyra was still there and flat-out on the floor with eyes shut while the other pony was just barely standing, though was clearly unsteady on her hooves, and was only just the larger of the pair. Her coat was pale, her mane was pink and there was a cutie mark of the sun upon her flank.

Fluttershy gasped in recognition. "Oh no," she whispered almost imperceptibly. "Oh no, no, no! She's not ready for this yet."

Luna strode forward wordlessly as if she was walking through a dream before she was towering over the other alicorn who had collapsed onto her knees. "Tia?" she said in a small voice.

"It's been awhile, my sister" answered Princess Celestia who attempted a friendly smile.

Pinkamena bowed low and the others followed her lead with the exception of Fluttershy who was too busy nervously chewing on her forehooves to be worried about protocol.

"Is she in good health?" Luna asked slowly.

"Lyra was not harmed," Celestia nodded to Lyra who was now loudly snoring. "Though the expenditure of such magical power has taken it's toll..." she trailed off as she looked down at reduced form and then added, "and on myself as you can see."

"I hope," Luna swallowed, "I hope you are not too disappointed in me, my sister. You were right, you know back then, right about everything."

Celestia shook her head. "No, not wise enough to see how much you were suffering. I should never have let it progress so far until the only option was to..." It was a sentence from her body language that screamed that she clearly did not want to finish it. "I am so sorry, my sister. I have missed you and it has very long time to think about what I could have done differently."

Luna's face was frozen. Behind her Fluttershy had already retrieved her Element of Harmony and was hurriedly gesturing for the others to get ready for the inevitable.

She bent down and hugged her now little sister to her hard. " Oh Tia, I've missed you so much!" Unnoticed to the reunited royal sisters Fluttershy slumped to the floor in blessed relief.

When the two were finally hugged out Princess Celestia tapped her hoof to call everypony's attention. "You have all done very well, but there is one last matter still remaining."

"If you do not mind my asking, Princess," Pinkamena said respectfully. "But what thing could that be?"

"Coincidences can happen," she replied, "but that certainly doesn't mean that they will.”

“Tia, I don’t think I understand either?” Luna said uncertainly.

Princess Celestia smiled back at her sister with an ageless look filled with wisdom to reassure her that in moments all would soon become crystal clear.

“Discord! Show yourself!" she commanded in a voice far more imposing than her younger, reduced form would suggest she was capable of.

Comments

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Great first half of the end. :D I did love those temptations so. And Cadance with the Amulet...

[Puzzle Reader]

Ooh, Discord? SWEET. And yeah, that would make everything make sense.

[TheGreatEater]

It's supposed to give you unlimited magical power. Apparently it was first worn by the pony lich, the Dread Mare, who clashed with the spirit of chaos himself in the lost ages."

You wanted so much to be like Princess Celestia after the summer sun celebration,

Cap.
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Shining Armor
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NMM in this fic was a better, more subtle villian than in the show were it took a WoG to say that it was a parasite. Rather than showing the full temptation / awesomeness of that evil being.

[DiscountDiscord]

Okay. I LOVE what you've done with this story.
5530031

NMM in this fic was a better, more subtle villian than in the show were it took a WoG to say that it was a parasite. Rather than showing the full temptation / awesomeness of that evil being.

I concur.