• Published 9th Dec 2012
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Succession - Helrael



Twilight awakens in a world beset by eternal night, caused by the death of Princess Celestia and Luna and the destruction of the Canterlot palace. Can Twilight bring back the sun, save Equestria, and bring history's most vicious murderer to just

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9 - The Sun and the Sword

Succession

Chapter 9 - The Sun and the Sword


Twilight’s ears twitched as somepony banged at her door. Loudly. With each knock, she spasmed with annoyance at the unwelcome interruption. For a moment, she considered ignoring the pony outside the library, but knew that would only result in another series of knocks and called out to the visitor instead, annoyance clear in her voice.

“What is it?”

From her vantage point at the railing of the library’s second floor, through a mesh and maze of glowing chains, Twilight saw Applejack open the front door and close it behind her as she entered. For a moment the farmer just stood there, jaw slightly agape as she regarded the odd structure that floated in the air before her.

The unicorn supposed the sight might be surprising to most ponies; spanning the entirety of the main part of the library was a hugely magnified version of the model of her solite spell, its multihued glowing strings forming a three dimensional cobweb of such complexity that only a mage who had followed the spell from the beginning could begin to understand its many different mechanisms and interactions.

“What is it, AJ?” Twilight asked again, her irritation palpable.

The earth pony was brought out of her momentary stupor and cast her head about, looking for her friend. She finally spotted the unicorn through the glowing tangle of illusory strings. “Ah, uh, just came ta let ya know the last of our solites at Sweet Apple Acres has gone out... Again.”

Twilight’s left eye twitched slightly. “I lit it two days ago. It can’t already have gone out. Who’s tampering with my solites!?”

“Now, Twi, remember what I told you about calming down?” Applejack said in a tone that Twilight could only perceive as condescending, circling the spell model to better see the unicorn. “An’ it’s been five days, not two! Tell me again how long you’ve been studying up on this giant solite thingy?”

The two ponies were quiet for some time. When the farmer had traversed the stairs to stand before Twilight, the unicorn finally spoke. “That… was a rhetorical question, wasn’t it?”

Applejack shook her head. “Nope. Ah wanna hear ya say it, ‘cause Ah reckon you’re wrong. Ah mean look at you! Rarity would prolly faint if’n she saw your mane, your eyes are more red than white. Twitchy too. An’, well, you’re shaking all over! Last time you were this upset, ya made half the town fall in love with a stuffed animal! And now you’re workin’ on makin’ a giant ball o’ fire right above Ponyville! Ah reserve the right to be just a tad worried. So tell me. When do you think the mayor ask ya ta make a sun fer Ponyville?”

“A little more than a week ago?” The unicorn tried, her annoyance melting away before the earth pony’s stern gaze. “Ten days, maybe?”

“Three weeks,” Applejack answered flatly. “It ain’t just time you’re losing track of Twi... Ah mean, what happened to finding Fluttershy? She’s been gone fer five weeks now!”

“I don’t know!” Twilight hissed with irritation. “I can’t do a thing without the Elements, and the council is really dragging its hooves; it hasn’t answered any of my letters! That’s why we’re waiting! And waiting, and waiting and waiting!

“Well, maybe we just oughta git on over there and git ‘em ourselves!” Applejack reasoned. “But before we do any o’ that, Ah’d say you’re in sore need of a good rest!” She began pushing her friend backwards. “You don’t look like you’re doin’ much else than starin’ at that thing anyways. Off to bed with ya!”

“But I’m not tired!” the unicorn whined, her sleep depraved body struggling feebly against that of the strong farmer.

“Ah don’t care! It’s midnight!”

“It’s always midnight!”

“Ah don’t care!” With a mighty heave, the earth pony threw the unicorn onto her bed. “Sleep!”

“But my spell…”

“…can wait. Now, Ah’m real busy with the farm an’ all, but you’re forcin’ ma hoof; Ah’m gonna stay right here until ya git the rest you need.”

“But...”

“Don’t make me dig out your first friendship report!” Applejack warned her sternly, seating herself on a nearby chair. “Y’know, the one ya wrote ‘bout me?”

With a frustrated sigh, the unicorn buried her head in her pillow, and the enormous spell model faded away to nothing.


She stood upon a path made up of a luminous band that stretched off into the vast darkness around her, arcing and curving through a landscape she could not see. Most of what she saw, besides the path before her, was nothing but nearly featureless darkness. She did, however, notice three prominent features around her.

To her right, near where the horizon would be if the ground were present, were the sun and moon, the two celestial bodies on the verge of entering into a full solar eclipse and shedding only a minimum of light.

To her left, on the opposite side of the sky, was an enormous six-pointed star glowing a brilliant magenta light. A smaller silver star could be seen behind the magenta one and positioned in a crude circle around the stellar formation were five even smaller stars of silver. All in all, what she saw to her left was an exact replica of her cutie mark emblazoned upon the dark sky, shining much brighter than both the sun and moon.

Immediately behind her, seemingly floating in midair since the ground was invisible to her, were the remains of the Canterlot Palace, the bright marble ablaze with roaring flames that sent almost suffocating waves of heat rolling over her.

With nowhere else to go but forward, she began walking down the winding path of light that led into the darkness and away from the smoldering ruins. She noticed that she could see no more than forty or so feet ahead of her before the impenetrable darkness shrouded the glowing band from her sight.

After what felt like an eternity of walking through a featureless landscape, the darkness suddenly dissipated, revealing a fork in the path before her. The path to her left led to a steep set of stairs that ultimately terminated at the top of a tower made of the same ethereal and luminescent material as the path she stood upon. The top of the tower was several hundred feet above her, while the base pillar of the structure seemed to stretch downwards forever into the infinitely deep abyss below her.

To her right, the path sloped downwards, leading down to the top of a huge pillar that, like the tower to her left, seemed to have no bottom. The top of the column featured a large platform upon which stood her friends and Princess Celestia, all of them looking at her expectantly.

She was about to step forward onto the path to her right when a voice called out to her.

“All that which you know cannot be. None shall be spared. None can be saved.”

The voice belonged to a male, his words laced with such power that she shivered. She looked around, but could not find the speaker.

“Know that only one path will lead to salvation,” the disembodied voice said, and the path to her left brightened remarkably. “The road is not an easy one to walk. You will face many challenges, you will be broken, but it is the right path.” The left path’s glow faded to its natural luminescence. “The plague is coming. When the shadow strikes, all shall fall.”

The presence vanished, and she stood alone at the crossroads once again, not knowing what to do. The left path seemed the most difficult to take by far, but, according the voice, also held the greatest reward. But if it was true that all would fall, could she leave her friends behind? She debated the matter for several minutes, but just as she was about to reach her decision, she was interrupted by a sinister growl from behind her.

She whirled around only to be met by a dark maw. She saw the blackness open up around her and before she could even scream, it had consumed her.


Twilight woke with a start, finding herself lying on the floor halfway between her bed and the second floor’s railing, wrapped completely up in her covers.

For the first time in weeks, the odd point in her neck was throbbing incessantly, and the unicorn groaned from the discomfort. Although the pain was far from as unbearable as it had been in the first few weeks after The Great Tragedy, she had by now grown accustomed to living without such constant pains.

Why hasn’t that thing healed yet? I really need to remember to have somepony take a look at it…

Twilight threw a longing gaze at her bed, but eventually turned her back on it, draping her front hooves across the railing as she summoned her enormous solite spell model.

Resting had helped her a great deal, and she now found working with the finer details of her spell much easier. In fact, it took her just a few moments before she realized that she was on the verge of a breakthrough; a few additional adjustments, and she could create her largest solite to date.

Only three hours later, a triumphant unicorn emerged from the Ponyville library, sporting a confident smile as she trotted toward the town hall. The clock atop the hall and the number of ponies walking about in the streets told Twilight that it was early morning in the small town. Could she have timed a sunrise any better?

For a brief moment, she considered going to her practice fields near Sweet Apple Acres to make sure her new solite spell would work properly. However, doing so would drain her energy too much for her to be able to repeat the procedure before the day was over. Besides, if anything should go wrong, the solite would automatically erect a force field around itself. Even if that failed, she could create a force field manually. And so she decided to just surprise her fellow Ponyvillians by creating the sun right above the town hall.

As the unicorn drew to a halt in front of the building, it wasn’t long before a fairly large crowd had gathered around her, eager to see what the sun pony had in store for Ponyville. Murmurs of excitement rose from the ponies as Twilight’s horn sparked to life, and everypony’s fur stood on end as she poured her powers into the air above the town hall.

A small burst of lightning erupted from her horn and raced far into the sky, striking some invisible point in the air, resulting in a small explosion. Instead of dissipating, however, the fire above Ponyville kept burning fiercely, growing slowly as the lavender unicorn below sent spell after spell into the powerful furnace. As it had done so many times before, the flames turned liquid and condensed into the spherical form of a solite, brightening until all of Ponyville was bathed in weak sunlight.

Twilight’s knees buckled as her magic continued pouring out of her. She was far from done, however, so she pushed on even as her legs gave away beneath her.

It was another ten minutes before, with a scream, Twilight unleashed her final spell, and the solite above everypony doubled in its intensity, turning the dark of night into broad daylight and providing the chilly town with generous amounts of heat. With a deep sense of satisfaction, the unicorn noted that the giant orb in the sky had reached the size of an average house.

Pink hooves wrapped around Twilight and helped her stand on her weakened legs as loud cheers erupted from the crowd around her. “Oh gosh, Twilight, that was amazing! You just created a huge-mongous sun! I mean just look at it! I guess it won’t be long before you can light up all of Equestria, huh?”

“Thanks, Pinkie,” the unicorn panted with a smile. “Can we go to Sugarcube Corner? I need to rest my hooves, and I could really use some sugar right about now.”

“Sugarcube Corner, here we come!” the pink pony cried exuberantly. “Cupcakes for everypony!”

Twilight soon found herself being literally carried toward the town’s most popular confectionary. Ponies still half asleep opened their shutters to see what all the commotion this early in the morning was about, only to join the crowd as they saw the sun shining in the sky above them. The door to Sugarcube Corner was thrown open and within only a minute, the entire shop had been flooded with ponies.

“You sure the Cakes can handle this many customers?” Twilight asked her pink friend as the two settled down by a table, the unicorn glancing around at the increasingly crowded confectionary.

“They’ll be fine!” Pinkie smiled, producing a platter of cupcakes from beneath the table they sat at.

“How..?” Twilight began, but decided to just let the matter go and take a bite out of one of the pastries instead. Only now did she realize that she had neglected not only breakfast, but dinner and lunch as well. When had she last eaten?

“Wowee, you must be starving,” Pinkie Pie commented as she watched the unicorn singlehoofedly wolf down more than a dozen cupcakes in less than two minutes. “Need any more?”

Twilight smiled sheepishly. “No, I’m… I’m fine now, thank you.”

“So what’s it like being the new Celestia, huh? Exciting? Do you want a tiara? No, wait, you already have one...”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said, giving the pink pony a disapproving frown. “Please don’t call me that.”

“But you are!” Pinkie Pie insisted, pulling out another platter of cupcakes. “You just made a sun, right? And you’re gonna make a sun for Equestria, right?”

We are gonna make a sun,” Twilight pointed out. “As powerful as I may be, Celestia’s sun is far beyond my abilities.”

“So the Elements of Harmony...” for a moment, the party pony was lost in thought, visibly becoming more and more confused. “But the Elements can’t be princesses! That’s silly! They’re just jewellery! We should have a pony princess for ponies, right?”

“We aren’t gonna have another princess!” the unicorn retorted, sighing at the earth pony’s strange logic. “We have a council now, remember? A council that doesn’t seem to be of any help when you want the Elements of Harmony. Maybe we should just go to Manehattan like AJ said. I mean, it’s been almost a month, and they haven’t even replied!”

“Ah reckon they’re still mighty busy, what with takin’ over after the princesses and all,” Applejack offered as she appeared behind the three ponies. “Howdy y’all! Came as soon as Ah saw that giant ball o’ fire hoverin’ above Ponyville.” She nudged the unicorn with a grin. “Told ya you just needed a good rest.”

“Hopefully, I’ll keep that in mind during my next experimental session,” Twilight answered with a smile. “But you’re right; the council’s probably too busy to answer every letter they receive. I would have hoped they’d prioritize a letter from the Element of Magic, but I guess not…”

“Then we just march right up to them!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, slamming a hoof down on the table much to the surprise of her friends. “Fluttershy’s been gone for five weeks now! We can’t just wait around anymore! We have to save her!”

“Ya still think she’s alright?”

“‘Course she is!” the pink pony answered Applejack defiantly. “I haven’t had any nosebleeds and knee jerks! Well, I have, but that was about Zecora…” The ponies around the table were silent for a moment before Pinkie slammed a hoof down again. “And I’m not gonna wait around for it to happen to Fluttershy!”

“Pinkie’s right,” the lavender unicorn decided. “We’re the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony; we’ll march right up to Cristallum and demand an audience with the council.”

“Yeah! let’s go!” the party pony exclaimed excitedly, grabbing a large mouthful of cupcakes before jumping off her seat.

“There’s just a single train a day that goes from here to Manehattan,” Applejack informed the others. “Leaves at nine.”

“An hour then,” Twilight concluded before getting up next to Pinkie Pie. “AJ, can you arrange for somepony to take care of Owloysius and Peewee? Pinkie and I’ll try and see if we can’t talk Rainbow into coming with us.”


A few minutes later, the two ponies stood almost thirty feet above the ground outside the front door to Rainbow Dash’s sizeable abode, both ponies held up by Twilight’s Cloudwalker spell.

“How do you even knock on these cloud doors?” Twilight complained as she soon began pounding away at the fluffy door, her blows muffled by its softness. She was soon herded away by the pink pony, however, who calmly gave the door a quick rap, producing the desired sound of a hoof knocking against wood.

A crack of thunder sounded from somewhere in the back of the house before they heard Rainbow Dash’s voice shouting at them. “Go away! No more visitors, no more fans, no more mail!

“Pinkie and I are standing on a cloud thirty feet above the ground!” Twilight shouted back. “Open the door!”

“Twi? Wha- No! Leave me alone!”

“That’s obviously not working out for you!” Summoning her powers, the unicorn teleported herself and the earth pony through the door. As they reappeared in the Wonderbolt’s small but lavish entry, Twilight once again found herself wondering just how cheap cloud residences were.

“Dashie!” Pinkie Pie called out in a singsong voice as she hopped through an archway into the living room. “We’re here to cheer you up!”

“You’ve been up here for a month, Rainbow!” Twilight half-pleaded, half-scolded. “The gang’s leaving for Manehattan to go get the Elements!”

“You don’t need me...” The soft sound of hoofsteps emerged from somewhere above the two non-pegasi, and after a short moment, Rainbow Dash walked down the stairs to the living room. The pegasus’ mane was ruffled to the point where her multicolored streaks were no longer separate but completely blended together, and she was sweating and panting heavily.

“What happened to you?” the unicorn asked, her frustration suddenly replaced by worry.

“Pretty much everything that could go wrong, that’s what.” she croaked. Whether it was perspiration or tears that had made her face damp, the unicorn couldn’t tell.

“C’mon, Rainbow,” Twilight pressed. “Talk to us.”

“We all want you back!” Pinkie Pie added.

“What do you want me to say?” the pegasus demanded, a hint of frustration creeping into her voice. “That I didn’t let Fluttershy down? That I’m helping save Equestria? ‘Cause that would be lying!”

“For Pete’s sake, Rainbow!” Twilight groaned at her friend. “Whatever happened to Fluttershy, it wasn’t your fault! There was nothing you could do.”

“That’s a lie too!” Rainbow Dash insisted. “I could’ve saved her! I could’ve carried her out of there or chased the timberwolves away if I had only been there in time!”

“You mean before it happened. You can’t be everywhere at once, you know.”

“I could’ve been someplace else than lounging around in here!”

“Well, you were,” Twilight told the pegasus. “I was out practicing solites, Applejack was... doing whatever she does at her farm this time of year, Rarity was designing dresses in Manehattan and Pinkie was...”

“Eating cupcakes!” the pink pony added helpfully.

“Point is, we were all busy doing something,” Twilight continued. “Fluttershy disappearing is as much your fault as it’s mine or Pinkie Pie’s, or... Bon Bon! If anything, I should be blamed; I’m the time traveller! I should’ve kept calm and travelled back to warn Fluttershy or something when I saw the wolves. Instead I wasted all my magic on the fight with the ursa.”

“I’m a hero, Twi; you told me that yourself,” Rainbow Dash insisted. “What kind of a hero sits around at home while her friends are in danger?”

“You didn’t know!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed angrily, startling the two others. “Sorry! It’s just, we keep saying it all the time! So listen already!”

“Alright! Maybe that whole thing wasn’t entirely my fault...” The pegasus sighed, falling back on her haunches. She gestured at a window overlooking the town hall. “But look at that! While I’ve been lying around here crying, you’ve made a sun, Twi! A sun! You guys should just go ahead and get the Elements; you don’t need me.”

While Pinkie Pie was at an uncharacteristic loss for words, Twilight frowned. Eventually she decided to try a different approach. “So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?” she asked the pegasus, disapproval palpable in both her tone and expression. “You’re just gonna stay here, kicking around your furniture...” She gestured at the broken sofa and table she had only recently noticed. “...while everypony else tries saving Equestria?”

The pegasus opened her mouth as if to protest, but held her tongue, averting her gaze from the unicorn.

“While we go save Fluttershy? While we defeat Nightmare Moon?”

“N-no...”

“The hero who did nothing? The Bearer who didn’t stand with her friends when she was needed the most, who let Nightmare Moon win and let half of Equestria starve to death? Is that how you want to be remembered, Rainbow!? After the four of us rescue her, do you want Fluttershy to see you as the pony who ‘didn’t really feel up to saving her’?”

“Of course not!” Rainbow Dash defended herself angrily, but remained sitting.

“Tell me, Rainbow,” Twilight said, stepping closer to the pegasus until they were face to face. “If you choose to stay here now, will you ever be able to look anypony in the eye again?”

The pegasus once again exhaled heavily. “No...”

“I didn’t know you did pep talks!” Pinkie Pie commented on the whole exchange after the two ponies had been silent for a while. “You coming with us to Manehattan now, Dashie? There’s no better way to turn a frown upside down than having all of your bestest friends around!”

“I guess you two are right...” Rainbow Dash got to her hooves and shook her head. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have let it bother me that much...”

“We need to carry on,” Twilight agreed. “Especially when we’re the Elements of Harmony.”

“C’mon! Let’s turn you cyan again!” the earth pony shouted exuberantly to the confusion of the two others.

“Uhh, what?”

“Well, you’re all blue now, and you’re cyan when you’re normal, so if we make you happy you won’t be sad and blue any more and you’ll be cyan! Duh!”

“Okay... The train leaves at nine,” Twilight carried on before the silence following the earth pony’s statement became too awkward. “If you need to bring anything, get it now and we’ll head on over to the station.”


“So,” Applejack sighed as she plopped down on her seat in the nearly empty carriage. “Y’alright now, Rainbow?”

“Well enough, I guess,” the pegasus muttered, gazing out the window as the train drew away from the Ponyville station.

“We helped her see she wasn’t doing much good locked up in her house,” Twilight explained, giving the pegasus next to her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry; we’ll find her.”

“I know, I know...” Rainbow Dash was quiet for a long while. “But... it’s not the only thing bugging me. Yesterday... I got a letter from Spitfire.”

Once more, the ponies became silent. “The Wonderbolts?” Twilight finally offered, and the pegasus’ muscles seemed to tighten all at once, though she still gazed vacantly out the window at the dark landscape passing by.

“Disbanded.”

“Are you alright, Dash?” Twilight asked, worried once more.

“I already told you,” the cyan pegasus pointed out. “I’m fine.”

“But the Wonderbolts...” Pinkie began, although she was cut off by Rainbow Dash almost immediately.

“...Were a sinking ship. Ever since Celestia died, I knew we would have to stop sooner or later. It’s gonna be a hard time for the pegasi with temperatures dropping all over Equestria, and we’re gonna need the best of the best pretty soon. We can’t just entertain anymore. I mean, of course I was frustrated when I first got the letter...”

“I guess your furniture can attest to that,” Twilight added, and the ex-Wonderbolt gave a little smile.

“Yeah. I wish it hadn’t ended so soon, though. I worked pretty hard for just two years with my heroes.”

“Well, look on the bright side!” Applejack tried. “You’re now Rainbow Dash: The Last Wonderbolt! Or The Final Wonderbolt!”

“You’re still the fastest flier in Equestria!” Pinkie Pie added encouragingly. “When all this is over, you can just start a new team, right? Ooh, ooh! Twilight could give us all wings and then we could be the, uh, the Rainbowbolts! Or the Harmonybolts!”

The apple farmer gave a short chuckle. “Ah think Ah’ll pass.” She sighed again, looking out at the now barely visible lights of Ponyville. “Y’all really think this’ll ever be over? That everything’ll just return to normal?”

“’Course it will!” the pink pony replied with a smile. “Or, you know, almost. We’ll go get the Elements of Harmony, go find Fluttershy, Twilight makes a new sun for us, and then we beat Nightmare Moon! Then Twilight can be the new Princess Celestia since she made the sun!”

“How many times do I have to tell you!? I can’t just replace Celestia!” the unicorn chastised her friend. “She was a one-of-a-kind pony.”

“Well, so are you,” Applejack reminded her. “So are all of us. We’ve took down more monsters than Ah can count on mah hooves. Both together an’ on our own.”

“But we aren’t-”

“But nothin’!” the farmer said sternly, cutting off whatever Twilight had to say. “Take it from the Element of Honesty: We’re exceptional ponyviduals, alright? We beat Discord, som’thin’ only Celestia and Luna could do. We took on those Tartarus guys one on one, just like Celestia, an’ we lived ta tell the tale, didn’t we? Even more importantly,” Applejack pressed on, driving her point home, “we fixed Nightmare Moon; we brought back Luna. That’s something Celestia couldn’t do! Now, Ah doubt things’ll go back to normal, but we’ll make the best of it. We always do. Ya ain’t replacin’ Celestia, Twi; Pinkie didn’t mean nuthin’ bah that. But you sure as heck can follow in her hoofsteps.” The farmer’s gaze dropped to her hooves. “Y’know, if’n it turns out Luna can’t.”

Twilight was silent for a long while, effectively shut up by the farmer’s both scolding and reprimanding words. “I guess only time will tell,” she sighed after a moment.

Six uneventful hours passed within the carriage before Twilight was poked in the ribs by one of Rainbow Dash’s feathery wings, interrupting her nap. Looking first at the seats facing her, she noted with envy that Applejack was fast asleep, leaning back in her seat with her stetson shading her eyes from the lights in the train. Pinkie Pie’s seat was vacant, meaning she must still be prowling the rest of the train for snacks. Casting a slightly annoyed glance at the pegasus, the lavender unicorn caught her staring intently at something outside.

“Rainbow?” she muttered sleepily, breaking whatever trance that had held the pegasus. “What is it?”

Rainbow Dash folded her wings together and nodded her head out at the window. “There’s something weird out there. It’s all shiny, and it’s moving pretty fast.”

The unicorn frowned and leaned in close to the window to get a better look. Sure enough, a bright light was emanating from somewhere behind a long chain of hills; a pale yellow glow that silhouetted its surroundings.

“Weird,” she concurred. “Mind going checking it out?”

“Not at all,” the pegasus replied, pushing past Twilight to get to the aisle. “Needed some exercise.” The ex-Wonderbolt disappeared into a doorway in search of an exit, and within only a minute, Twilight saw a black shape zooming off toward the horizon.

After another five minutes, the pegasus returned, accompanied by Pinkie Pie, who was carrying a dozen bags of peanuts and an assortment of lollipops.

“Guess!” Rainbow Dash offered after leaping over Twilight and into her seat.

“No,” Twilight sighed, impatient. “What was it? Is it dangerous?”

“Remember those two cider guys? It’s a few years back, so I can’t really say I remember their names…”

“Ya ain’t talkin’ ‘bout those Flim’n’Flam fellas are ya?” Applejack groaned. With her stetson covering up her face, it was hard to see whether she was awake or asleep.

“Yeah! Flim and Flam! Apparently, they quit the cider business.”

“Good riddance,” the farmer grumbled.

“Guess they wanted to annoy Twi more than you and any apple farmers out there,” Rainbow Dash said, smiling teasingly at Twilight.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the unicorn asked anxiously. “What are they doing now?”

“Making suns. Or solites or whatever you call them.”

“What!?” the unicorn shrieked loud enough to make Applejack jump in her seat. “Those two are making solites!? How’s that even possible!? It’s taken me months to learn to make them, and I’m probably the most talented unicorn mage in Equestria! Flim and Flam… aren’t! How!?”

“I think they built them,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “They were driving one of their weird car-thingies. It was carrying two of these huge crystal balls, though the car could carry a lot more. I guess they already sold a few. Flim… I think… one of them, anyway, said that they were powered by unicorn magic.”

“They’re resourceful little buggers, Ah’ll give ‘em that,” Applejack commented, still hidden beneath her stetson.

“But now we have even more suns for Equestria,” the pink pony pointed out. “That’s good, right?”

“Yeah.” The pegasus nodded. “I mean, they were jerks back with the cider an’ all, but those sun-thingies could be a good temporary solution until Twi gets the big one up and running. Might just prevent the whole place from freezing over.”

“Provided they don’t drain Equestria dry of money first...” the skeptical farmer said.

“I really wanna know how they did it, though…” Twilight muttered, gazing after the bright flashing light as it turned away from the train and disappeared from view.


As it turned out when the four ponies arrived in Manehattan the next day, the Flim Flam brothers’ newest business venture was based in the new capital of Equestria. Hundreds of crystal orbs, about fifteen feet across and apparently lighter than air, hovered all over the bustling metropolis, anchored to the ground or buildings by sturdy iron chains. Although not as bright as during Celestia’s reign, the city was still lit up much better than Ponyville.

“Whoah, Nelly,” the farmer gasped, craning her neck as the ponies exited the train station and found themselves amongst the famous skyscrapers of Manehattan. “D’ya still reckon we even need that sun o’ yours, Twi? Ah’m surprised Nightmare hasn’t tried ta shut this place down yet.”

“Rarity mentioned in one of her letters that ponies were working on solites in Manehattan,” the unicorn said, squinting in an effort to study the bright suns hovering above the streets. “I didn’t think much of it, though; I mean of course somepony’s bound to try it out like I did. I just didn’t expect them to be so… successful…”

But then again, as far as I know, all the brightest minds of Equestria are gathered right here. I wonder what I could do in a place like this…

She snapped out of her musings as the bright orbs above her suddenly dimmed at an alarming rate, turning daylight into twilight, and after a few minutes, only the light of Nightmare’s moon lit up the city, reflecting off the lifeless crystal spheres and the glass-and-steel façades all around the four ponies. Another few seconds later, the city’s street lamps flickered on one by one.

“I’m guessing it’s nighttime?” Rainbow Dash offered. “At least I hope this was supposed to happen…”

“Ah think it is pretty late in the, uh, evenin’, so ta speak,” Applejack agreed. “They probably shut ‘em down for the night. Ah know Ah had trouble sleeping with Twi’s solites shinin’ all the time.”

“Getting an audience with the council won’t be easy at this hour,” the lavender unicorn sighed.

“Oh, I know!” Pinkie Pie chirped happily from behind the three other ponies, bouncing ahead of them as they stopped to hear what she had to say. “We can have a sleepover at Rarity’s!”

It took almost an hour of navigating the darkened city before the friends stood before Les Couturiers d'Albâtre, the recently founded fashion boutique run by both Rarity and her friend Fleur de Lis. The shop took up almost the entirety of the street level of the skyscraper in front of them, its window displays full of ornate and elaborate coats, dresses, and boots that seemed to have been designed specifically with the threat of a cold winter in mind.

“The door to the apartments is further down the street, I think,” Twilight informed her friends as she peered in through the glass door of the boutique. “But I think I can see Rarity inside the shop.”

“Workin’ late on a new dress?” Applejack commented as she drew near, giving the door a quick rap to get the white unicorn’s attention. “Sounds just like her.”

The door glowed violet, clicked, and swung open, allowing the four ponies in before shutting again. Instead of Rarity, however, they found Fleur de Lis standing before them, giving them a warm smile. “The Elements of Harmony! Welcome to Le Couturiers d’Albâtre! What brings you all ‘ere to Manehattan at this hour?”

“We were getting the Elements of Harmony from the council,” Twilight explained. “We were looking to see if we could stay the night at Rarity’s. Do you know where she is?”

“Eh oui.” The tall unicorn gestured at an archway behind her. “She’s in the back room. See if you cannot convince ‘er to go to bed at a decent hour for once. She’s a bad habit of staying ‘ere until sunrise.”

“I can hear you perfectly fine from in here!” Rarity called out from inside the back room. “Somepony has to make the money around here, fainéant!”

“See what I must deal with?” Fleur de Lis giggled, shaking her head at her colleague. “Excusez-moi, but I have an appointment elsewhere. I will have to leave ‘er to you.”

“Don’t ya worry none ‘bout it!” The farmer grinned slyly at Twilight. “Ah got some experience with those kind o’ unicorns.”

“And remember to have a look around!” the dressmaker said, gesturing at the mannequins on her way out. “A long winter is coming!”

The four ponies said their farewells to the ex-model before filing into the back room in search of their friend. There they found the master fashionista of the establishment, surrounded by mannequins and long sheets of fabric, needles, and threads, all darting about her in an organized chaos as Rarity put the finishing touches on seven thick gowns at once.

“Darlings!” the white unicorn trilled at the new arrivals, the sewing articles around her slowing down as she split her concentration between working and socializing. “Welcome to the fashion capital of Equestria!” She ducked beneath a roll of white satin and neatly dodged half a dozen sewing needles as she exited the circle of mannequins to greet her friends. “I was wondering when you would come by to visit our little boutique.”

“Little?” The cyan pegasus scoffed. “This place is pretty huge, y’know. Do you really need all this room for… fashion… stuff?”

“Why, yes,” the unicorn replied, taking her friend’s obvious distaste of her profession in stride. “In fact… we have been considering expanding to the first floor as well!”

“Seems like business is going swell,” Twilight commented, glancing at the many clothing articles around her. “So when are we supposed to get you to bed?”

“Oh, the shop’s been closed for almost three hours now,” Rarity replied, waving a hoof dismissively. “I swear, Manehattan must be running one or two hours later than Ponyville. I just have to finish up these dresses here. And this tuxedo for a Mr. South Pole.” She turned her attention back to the dresses, causing the various sewing appliances to once again pick up their pace. “So, finally became fed up with waiting, did you? I must admit, I have more than occasionally felt the desire to simply march straight up to Cristallum and demand that the Elements of Harmony be given to me. Alas, the Council of Nine refuses as of yet to have any audiences with anypony! Really, it’s been half a year! One would think nine ponies of the council’s experience would have gotten some sort of control over the situation by now.”

“If they won’t talk to anypony, how are we gonna get the Elements?” Pinkie Pie asked, but Rainbow Dash just snorted.

“C’mon, we’re the Bearers of the Elements, right? We were on a first name basis with the princesses. They can’t ignore us!”

“Even if they do, this is about Fluttershy and Equestria’s safety,” Twilight said. “I doubt they can prevent us from just teleporting inside.”

The pegasus chuckled. “Can we please do that no matter what they say? I’d like to see their faces when five mares appear out of nowhere in the middle of their throne room or wherever they’re holed up!”

“Speakin’ o’ which,” Applejack said, turning towards Rarity. “We were hopin’ we could hole up here fa tonight if’n it’s alright with ya.”

“Of course!” the white unicorn replied. “Go ahead and make yourself at home, I’ll be with you in a few moments.” From somewhere near the cash register, a small silver key appeared, held aloft by the fashionista’s magic. As it floated toward her, Twilight took hold of it with her own magic. “I do have one condition, however,” the white unicorn added, casting a glance of mock frostiness at Applejack. “With some logistics, there should be enough room for three in my bed, although I do believe it is for the best if it is not shared by Applejack and myself.”

The farmer chuckled and shook her head. “Fair ’nough, partner.”


A few hours after the artificial dawn had broken over Manehattan, the five friends from Ponyville were on their way to Cristallum, leaving Fleur de Lis in charge of the fashion boutique. The palace, built in honor of the Lunar Princess a few years after her return, was the only remaining piece of gothic architecture in the bustling metropolis, and was most likely the only gothic building in the world made from steel, glass, and concrete. Where the outer walls of the Canterlot palace, which most ponies had come to consider as Celestia’s domain, were white marble etched with gold and every color of the rainbow, the outer façade of Luna’s palace consisted almost solely of matted windows of sapphire blue and a black steel frame, molded into the shape of the ancient buildings Luna must have called home a thousand years ago.

“So, anyone ever been in there?” Applejack asked, nodding at the sparkling blue palace as they trotted towards it.

“Once…” Twilight murmured, her ears flattening as unease crept into her voice. “This was where I was named the Heroine of Equestria…”

“Oh, right.” When the farmer noticed the unicorn’s unease, she gave her an almost disapproving look. “Ah thought we’d agreed you’d stop feelin’ bad about that!”

“I know,” Twilight sighed, hanging her head. “I’d just never been away from you all for so long. Sometimes that title leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Too many bad memories.”

“Ya know all that was our fault, not yours,” the farmer insisted. “Ah’d be lyin’ if’n Ah said Ah didn’t envy you defeatin’ that dragon; that was mighty impressive, but Ah don’t envy you having ta actually fight the guy; he could’ve swallowed a house whole!”

“I too must admit I was more than relieved when you told us you would deal with that Inferno character,” Rarity said, backing up Applejack. “Just as I must admit I was more than jealous of you when none of us were named heroines… At least not nation-wide…”

“Heroine of Coltdoba!” Pinkie Pie boasted teasingly.

“Coltdoba is province, dear,” the alabaster unicorn pointed out.

“I know. But it’s still a lot bigger than Las Pegasus!” The pink pony stuck her tongue out.

Rarity gave a frustrated sigh as the other ponies chuckled. “Las Pegasus is such a dirty city, though,” she complained. “I almost wish that Pyre fellow had attacked Prance. Heroine of Prance sounds so much better. It would have done wonders for my business…”

“Ah think Ah’m fine with Appleloosa,” the farmer sighed, and the pegasus nodded in agreement.

“Heroine of Cloudsdale’s pretty sweet too, I’d say. Equestria would have been better, but hay.”

“We don’t envy ya no more, Twi,” Applejack reassured the lavender unicorn. “If anythin’, Ah envy Pinkie and Fluttershy for bein’ there for ya when Ah weren’t…”

“If I can’t feel bad about it, then you shouldn’t either!” Twilight chided her friend, poking her playfully in the ribs with a hoof. “Now that I think about it, it happened two and a half years ago! Why are we even discussing it?”

“Because it was the first time we were on our own against the serious kind of bad guys,” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “No Celestia or Luna to tell us what was going on, and us having to split up to deal with all of the Blazebringers. That was pretty tough. And to wrap it all up there was that whole business with the rest of us getting pretty much ignored while you were named Heroine of Equestria.”

“Frustrating indeed,” Rarity concurred. “But it wasn’t your fault Twilight, and we never should have let you suffer for it.”

“I understand,” Twilight assured her friends. “I mean each of you defeated a Blazebringer, the most vicious and feared enforcers during Nightmare Moon’s rule! You should have gotten at least as much recognition as I did.”

“Maybe not as much recognition,” Applejack reasoned. “After all, yer the one who defeated the leader o’ the bunch.”

Their conversation ended as the ponies finally arrived at the heavy iron gates that led into the palace area, the guards parting respectfully before the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

“Well, that was easy enough…” Rainbow Dash commented as soon as they were out of earshot of the guards.

“I am sure getting into Cristallum shouldn’t be a problem for us. It’s gaining an audience with the council that could get difficult.” Rarity reminded the pegasus.

The ponies crossed the plaza and entered the palace, asking around for directions until they finally stood before the doors leading to the alleged conclave of the Council of Nine. After some persuasion, the guards stationed there reluctantly let the five ponies enter.

The council’s chambers were almost as grand as any throne room, though it lacked the many alcoves and decorative pillars and arches Twilight had grown accustomed to from the palace of Canterlot. Instead, ornamental buttresses adorned the walls, accompanied by beautiful, twisting patterns of silver engraved into the black marble walls and floor. At the far end of the room, an arched ceiling of glass constituted the back wall, curving up and above the newly arrived ponies before terminating at the wall behind them. Tall windows, that were really just a series of less matted panes of glass, topped by pointed arches had been set into the curved ceiling, allowing in the pseudo-daylight of Manehattan. As Twilight craned her neck to take in the surroundings, she noticed two staircases set into each of the walls to her sides, providing access to some hall above the one she and her friends had come from.

Several lines of silver curved around each other in a spiral on the floor, meeting at the center where a round table of solid black marble stood as if carved from the floor it stood upon. Around this table were nine chairs, and upon these chairs were nine ponies, some of which were looking rather irately at the intruders. Spread out on the table were more than a dozen stacks of official-looking papers.

A smile soon formed upon Civil Tenet’s face, and an elderly stallion of white coat and a short, graying mane, whom Twilight judged to be Penning Draft, grinned at her as well.

“Twilight Sparkle,” a female, heavily scarred, pink pegasus simply stated, looking the new arrivals over with watchful eyes. She sported a neatly trimmed scarlet mane with a few visible strands of gray in it. “Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. To what do we owe the honor of the Equestrian heroes’ presence?”

Twilight couldn’t tell whether the mare simply had a very flat, stern voice, or if she was being ironic. Before she could answer, however, a young female earth pony sitting next to Civil Tenet broke in. She had a faded red coat that reminded her of Big Mac’s and her long, curly mane was blonde as Applejacks. “No need ta hurry, Scarlet,” she said, casting a warm smile at both parties. “Perhaps we should introduce ourselves first, am Ah right? Ah doubt they’re as familiar with us as we are with ‘em!”

The five ponies approached the table as the mare gestured at the silver-coated unicorn beside her. “Y’all must’ve seen Civil Tenet before; she’s our head o’ all things cultural and historical.” The unicorn in question nodded her head politely before the earth pony tapped herself on the chest. “Head o’ foreign relations, Amity Macoun, pleased ta meet y’all! Ah like ta think Ah can make friends out o’ anyone!” Behind her, Twilight heard the distinct ‘squee’ of a certain pink pony.

Next, Amity Macoun gestured at a stallion on her left hoof. This one had a green coat and a short, wild mane that alternated softly between red and orange. As he turned to face them with a smile, he also revealed a bushy moustache the same color as his mane. “This here’s Bramley off o’ the Fillydelphia orchards. There ain’t a thing he don’t know ‘bout farmin’, so he’s mighty useful here in these sunless times!” The head of foreign relations pointed at the stallion sitting next to Bramley. This one was a dark gray pegasus with a spiky mane of shockingly bright yellow. As the five ponies looked toward him, he gave each of them an apathetic glance through dull, amber eyes. “Lil’ Mister Sunshine o’er there goes by the name of Quiescent Atonement. He don’t say much, but his words are golden nonetheless, or mebbe because of it. He’s our head o’ judicial matters.”

“My name is Artemis,” the next pony in line said, opting to introduce herself. She was a reddish violet unicorn with an indigo mane set in much the same style as Rarity’s. Fixed to the bridge of her nose was a pair of glasses. “Former Arch Mage of Canterlot, and now this council’s expert on both the arcane and mundane.”

“Magic’n’science,” Amity Macoun explained, earning her a reproachful look from unicorn.

“I have been looking forward to meeting you, Twilight Sparkle,” Artemis told her, smiling winningly at the lavender unicorn. “If you recall, you and I were both nominated for the position of Arch Mage little more than a year ago. I was both sad and relieved to see you decline. Perhaps we can discuss this sun problem sometime in the future.”

“That’s gonna have to wait, I’m afraid,” the battle-scarred pink pegasus cut in, regarding Twilight acutely now. “Scarlet Bolt, military operations and Equestrian security. We have recently discussed your abilities, Twilight Sparkle, and-“

“We’re still short three introductions,” Amity Macoun pointed out, giving the scowling pegasus another of her warm smiles.

“Let us hurry then,” the dark brown unicorn sitting next to Scarlet Bolt said in a tone that could best be described as a well articulated growl. His golden mane fell down loosely around his face and shoulders. “Lucre. Finances.”

“Rain Dancer,” a female pegasus introduced herself. Her coat had a deep blue color and her long, flowing mane was pure white. “I’m in charge of organizing the weather in Equestria.”

“And finally, I’m Penning Draft. Pleased to meet ya!” The elderly stallion seemed to emphasize his own compliment either to compensate for or draw attention to the previous ponies’ mannerisms. “Newly appointed Grand Architect of Equestria! Our princesses’ monument, Cristallum in which we now stand, heck, I even designed your library, Twilight!” the stallion laughed.

Scarlet Bolt opened her mouth to speak, but Amity Macoun beat her to it. “So, what brings our famous Ponyvillians all the way to Manehattan?”

“The Element of Kindness, obviously,” Artemis answered for the five non-officials. “They still believe Miss Fluttershy is alive. Not to call into question the credibility of the… ‘Pinkie Sense’, but all evidence presented in the official report seems to suggest that she has been devoured by timberwolves. Traces of the pegasus’ blood as well as… some thirty of her feathers, I believe, were found in her cottage.”

“Despite the evidence, we are all quite sure she is still alive somewhere,” Twilight started, explaining the situation. “Given the nature of our bond to the Elements of Harmony, I should be able to locate her using the very Elements we are connected to.”

Artemis gave a short nod. “That should indeed be possible. Go on.”

“Well, uh, that’s why we’re here,” Twilight replied, unsure of what more to say. “To retrieve the Elements of Harmony.”

The silence that followed was almost more than Twilight could bear. She could feel her heart pounding as Civil Tenet gave her an apologetic look.

“I regret to inform you of this, Twilight,” she said. “But… we haven’t been able to recover the Elements.”

“What!?” What should have been a gently voiced question came out a shriek as the unicorn’s world began to reel. “You haven’t found them!? How can you not have found them!? They were right there in the ruins!”

“They were not,” Scarlet Bolt said in a reprimanding tone. “We spent weeks, months digging through the molten remains of the palace, but found nothing. The Elements seem to have been destroyed in The Great Tragedy.”

“B-b-but that’s impossible..!” Twilight insisted, her words trailing off as she spoke them.

Nightmare Moon raised her hooves and brought them down on the stone floor with a crack that echoed throughout the palace of the alicorn sisters. The five stone orbs around her bounced into the air and shattered as the black alicorn laughed triumphantly.

Twilight’s claim, however, was backed up by Rainbow Dash. “Yeah, the Elements are too powerful! Nothing can destroy them!”

“They have to be somewhere in the palace!” Pinkie Pie reasoned, but Scarlet Bolt rose from her seat, putting both hooves on the table as she leaned across the table toward the other pink pony, an almost dangerous gleam in her eyes.

“Are you questioning the competence of my retrieval team?” she hissed. “The one I hoofpicked and on several occasions assisted myself?”

The party pony flinched and took a step back, but Applejack took her place. “Ah guess we are. Ah’m sorry, but the Elements disappearin’ like that just don’t make sense. Didn’t y’all at least find the chamber o’ the Elements?”

Twilight nodded in agreement with the orange pony. “Celestia herself designed and enchanted the chamber to be nearly indestructible. If you didn’t find the chamber, then no wonder you didn’t find anything!”

“Nothing,” the battle-scarred pony repeated. “We dug and drilled through every last ounce of marble left in the ruins. After our search, nothing but a hollow, and I assure you, completely marble-less crater remained. Not a single chamber, no walls, no ceilings, no floors. We found no remains of the palace but melted marble and gold. We searched through the entirety of Canterlot and the surrounding area for any scattered debris, but none of them resembled the chamber of the Elements.”

“Let us look,” Twilight offered. “What could it hurt?”

“You. Canterlot is an abandoned city by now,” Scarlet Bolt said, relaxing into her seat again. She gestured at the windows in the conclave. “You’ve seen our progress on solite production. Why do you think we would not have moved to reclaim Canterlot?”

Twilight had to admit that she hadn’t thought about that. After a few seconds, the pink pegasus carried on.

“Pegasus scouts suggest that our once great capital, for reasons none of us have yet discerned, has become the home of a particularly savage assortment of wild beasts. Ursas, timberwolves, rocs, you name it. When ponies moved out, they moved in. My scouts have declared the area within and up to ten miles outside the city to be even more dangerous than the Everfree.”

“Now wait just a minute!” Applejack interjected critically. “Canterlot? Infested by ursas? How come we ain’t heard a thing?”

“It is a recently discovered development,” the pink pegasus explained. “And not the kind of news we are comfortable with blaring out to the rest of Equestria.”

“Like Fluttershy’s disappearance?” the farmer asked, giving the head of military a reproachful look.

Scarlet Bolt returned the stare. “Exactly.”

“The Heroine of Equestria.” The pegasus known as Quiescent Atonement regarded the lavender unicorn with his apathetic gaze. His voice was no more than a soft whisper that she had to strain herself to hear. He spoke slowly, however, making it easier to discern his words. “The Heroine of Cloudsdale,” the gray pegasus looked at Rainbow Dash. “Heroine of Coltdoba.” Pinkie Pie shuffled awkwardly under the gaze of the head of justice. “The Heroine of Appleloosa, and the Heroine of Las Pegasus.” Quiescent Atonement’s gaze regarded Applejack, and finally Rarity. “The Council of Nine considers you all to be public figures of the utmost importance. Any foray into the heart of Canterlot has been deemed suicidal by several independent parties.” The pegasus paused, taking a moment to glance at each of the council members, earning nods from them all. “With the authority given to us by the ponies of Equestria, the Council of Nine forbids you to approach the danger zone known as Canterlot.”

“How can ya even say that!?” Applejack demanded of the council, attempting to stare down the gray pegasus. “We’re the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, fer pony’s sake!”

“We’ve fought all the bad guys on our own!” Pinkie Pie added defiantly. “Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis were way more scarier than Canterlot!”

“What happened to Fluttershy was a mighty eyeopener fer all o’ us,” Bramley offered. “I know I had some kind o‘ idea of you girls being beyond any kind o’ danger, but a few timberwolves seemed to be enough to cripple our most powerful weapon against any threat to Equestria.”

“We have already lost our Heroine of Vyatkiev,” Civil Tenet pointed out. “We have tried to put a lid on it, but once Fluttershy’s death becomes public knowledge, Equestria’s morale will suffer a heavy blow. We are at the brink of mass panic already.”

“She’s not dead!” both Twilight and Pinkie Pie insisted, but the council members were far from convinced.

“Even if the Pinkie Sense should be wrong,” Rainbow Dash added. “Which would be the first time since forever, there’s still a slight chance of Fluttershy being alive! There’s a slight chance of the Elements still being somewhere in Canterlot! And I don’t know about you guys, but if there is the tiniest chance, any chance whatsoever of finding her, then you can’t stop me from going in after those Elements!”

“Don’t be too sure of that,” Artemis revealed, but said no more.

“The beasts of Canterlot are of no threat to us as long as we stay away from the city,” Scarlet Bolt stated. “And I ask of you to trust in my more than forty years of experience with problems like this when I say the Elements of Harmony aren’t there. The five of you going there would be a completely unnecessary risk and a regrettable waste of your abilities, Twilight Sparkle.”

“My abilities?” Had they heard of her solite experiments?

“Twilight, you took down an ursa major almost singlehoofedly,” Artemis pointed out. “A feat of magic I would have previously only accredited to Princess Celestia or Luna or the Elements of Harmony.”

“You have served as the leader of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony for years,” Penning Draft said. “Under that leadership, you have all vanquished Nightmare Moon, Discord, and the Blazebringers of Tartarus, to name but the most prominent of your foes.”

“You played a major role in Queen Chrysalis’ defeat as well, the way I heard it,” Civil Tenet added. “And brokered a lasting peace with Pan.”

“I saw you with my own eyes stand before Manehattan, facing that great dragon, Inferno,” Rain Dancer told her, adding to the list of Twilight’s accomplishments. “One by one, the ponies fighting with you fell, and you helped carry them to safety even as you yourself carried on for much longer than any other unicorn should have been able to. I’ve never seen anypony as resourceful as you either. The way you used Inferno’s own fires to disorientate him was amazing!”

“You are an invaluable military asset, Twilight Sparkle,” Scarlet Bolt concluded. “The council has for a long time been debating on whether to recruit you.”

“Recruit me!?” The unicorn took a step back. “For what? Defeating Nightmare Moon?”

“We read your letter, and had to agree with your theory,” Artemis answered, “but the alicorn is untraceable, is she not? I am working on devising defensive measures should she reappear, but until then, we can do nothing.”

“While Nightmare Moon is dangerous, she is, at the moment, not our biggest concern,” the head of military continued. “Fluttershy has been killed in her own cottage by a pack of timberwolves, and you had to defend the inhabitants of Ponyville from an ursa major. All over central Equestria, animals are behaving erratically, straying beyond their territories and showing highly aggressive behavior. Every day, more ponies are lost and families are crippled due to these animal attacks.”

“The roads are no longer safe,” Lucre observed. “Transport fees are skyrocketing.”

“We suspect the absence of a sun is to blame for this change in behavior,” Artemis explained. “The creatures of the night are becoming bolder and bolder with no sun to shun them.”

“And this is where you come in,” Scarlet Bolt said, once again studying the unicorn. “We are assembling a team, The Sword of Equestria; a team consisting of the most skilled battle mages and royal guards available to us. You are to lead this team, Twilight Sparkle, and deal with threats as they arise.”

Twilight was silent for a long while, mulling the proposition over. “You want me to be in charge of some kind of glorified pest control?”

The council members more friendly inclined to Twilight smiled while Penning Draft burst with laughter. “Haha! Ya hit it on the nail, young’un!”

“Not the term I would prefer, but you could call it that, yes,” Scarlet Bolt allowed. She turned to the other members of the council. “All in favor of recruiting Miss-“

“Wait a minute!” the lavender unicorn shouted, frowning at the pink pegasus. “What happened to me being an important public figure!? You’re just gonna send me out into the middle of the Everfree to fight monsters?”

“It is a calculated risk,” Scarlet Bolt explained. “You will be constantly surrounded by mages and soldiers who, during the last few months or years, have demonstrated remarkable combat skills. The best of the best.” She gave a small nod to the pegasus standing beside Twilight. “With the possible exception of Rainbow Dash, who will remain in Ponyville.”

“Do I have a say in that?” the cyan pegasus grumbled.

“We are not allowing you into the Sword of Equestria if that’s what you mean,” Scarlet Bolt said. “We assumed your second choice would be to help defend Ponyville from any further animal attacks.”

Civil Tenet turned her attention from Rainbow Dash to give the lavender unicorn a pleading look. “Twilight, this is important. Equestria needs your abilities.”

“It does,” Twilight said. “But not to take care of out-of-control animals.” She braced herself for the flurry of questions that would no doubt follow the next thing she said. “I’m working on recreating the sun.”

“A sun..? There have been reports of a… peculiar solite above Ponyville,” Artemis said after a short silence. “The size of a house, I believe. Is it a modified version of the Flim Flam Brothers Solite 1000?”

Twilight wrinkled her nose at the name. “Uhm, no, mine aren’t solid. I make them of magic and air.”

“Now that is interesting,” Lucre broke in. “The Flim Flam model requires numerous diamonds to construct; a costly affair. Making them of magic and air, though…”

“Could you use the air in here?” Rain Dancer asked curiously. “Make one now?”

“Now?”

“A small one.” Civil Tenet smiled reassuringly at the lavender unicorn.

Twilight blinked, but eventually nodded. “I guess I could provide a demonstration.”

“Should we go outside?” Penning Draft asked, looking with some worry at the walls of the palace he had designed.”

“I used to make these inside the Ponyville library,” Twilight reasoned. “This place should do. Now, if everyone’ll just go to the far end of the room…”

The unicorn walked past the large marble table and was soon followed by her friends and the council members. The ponies positioned themselves with their back to the glass wall and regarded the black marble wall from which Twilight and the others had originally come. The lavender unicorn hunched down, and her horn blazed to life.

As she began feeding power into the air above the black marble table, Twilight did not fail to notice how easy it turned out to be, having not performed any strenuous magical activities for almost a full day. It had been a long time since she hadn’t felt drained.

A burst of lightning flew from her horn, and the air erupted into bright flames that, as Twilight over the course of a few minutes saturated them with spells, coalesced into a burning orb more than ten feet across. As she fought to hold back tendrils of liquid fire, the lavender unicorn gazed into the contained inferno of the solite.

And saw Celestia.

“Farewell.”

Thick tendrils of unbridled red energy lance into Celestia, pinning her to the wall with a loud crack while she cries out in anguish, although she does nothing to resist the assault. Her horn is drenched in red lightning, and its whiteness soon begins blackening. Another, larger tendril of energy strikes her, drilling into her exposed but unyielding chest as she truly begins screaming. The horrible scene continues for an unbearably long time, until the tendril at her chest begins inching forward, Celestia’s scream cut off abruptly as she gasps in pain.

Huge gouts of fire erupt out of nowhere inside the room, rushing towards the princess as she suffers, enveloping her gilded hooves and trailing up her body. More and more flames appear until the princess’ study is nothing but an inferno and Celestia herself has transformed into a roaring column of flame. Still she screams and still the murderer’s assault continues.

The blaze grows brighter and hotter, consuming everything. The marble walls crack and begin to fall apart. The windows are long gone.

“Twilight! Snap out of it!” A sharp pain in her horn and a pained yelp brought the unicorn back to reality.

Coiling tentacles of fire were lashing out from the hugely destabilized solite, carving deep gashes into everything around it, setting the very marble on fire and roaring like a waterfall. The solite collapsed, and Twilight instinctively threw a force field around it, aided by Artemis only a second later. Although the fires were contained, the initial shockwave of the explosion evaded the two unicorns. Every single pane of glass in the room shattered and the ponies were thrown to the ground and deafened momentarily.

Twilight breathed in the painfully hot air in ragged gasps as she fought to stand. It took a few more minutes for the ponies around her to start recovering. The lavender unicorn glanced about at the destruction she had inadvertently caused, but was interrupted by a sound of both anguish and anger from Scarlet Bolt.

“What… What in the blazes was that!?” she screamed angrily at Twilight, taking step after shaky step toward her, her scarred face twisted into a mask of red fury. “You could have killed us all!”

The other ponies had gotten up now, all except Rainbow Dash, who was clutching a bloody hoof and wincing in pain. The doors to the conference room burst open, and a score of armored guards streamed in.

“Guards,” Civil Tenet commanded shakily. “Please escort Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack to the nearest hospital and make sure the pegasus’ injuries are tended to.”

“Wait, what about Twi?” Pinkie Pie cried out as she and the others were promptly encircled by the twenty guards and herded toward the doors.

“Leave us,” the silver-coated unicorn commanded of the remaining guards, who dutifully obeyed. Within only a few seconds, Twilight stood alone with the Council of Nine in the ruined conclave. There was a very long, uncomfortable silence in which Twilight desperately feared to speak at all. As the silence continued, however, she realized everypony was waiting for an explanation.

“I’m… I don’t know… I’m sorry-“

“You’re sorry!?” Lucre erupted. “Sorry!? This could very well be classified as an attempted assassination!”

“You vandalized the palace,” Penning Draft pointed out, a mixture of anger and regret plain on his face.

“Economic plans of action for the next two decades!” Lucre gestured bitterly at the ravaged, and very empty marble table. “Took me weeks to finish!”

“Notes on possible improvements on the Flim Flam solite,” Artemis added. “Seeing how this magical experiment went, I suppose I shall have to recreate those.” She gave a frustrated sigh. “Point is, we, the ruling body of Equestria, were almost all killed. Valuable papers containing plans, information, and calculations constituting weeks of hard work have been lost. Our conclave has been damaged nearly beyond repair. This is indeed very serious.”

Twilight flinched at the verbal assaults, knowing full well that she deserved every word of it.

“Ponies have been thrown in the dungeons for milder offenses than this!” Scarlet Bolt sneered aggressively, starting to circle the lavender unicorn. “Don’t think your status as Bearer of the Element of Magic will get you out of this!”

“Given the nature of the incident, however,” Civil Tenet spoke up, interrupting the fuming head of military. “I suppose we can offer you a loophole of sorts.”

Scarlet Bolt gave the silver unicorn an annoyed glare before catching her drift. “Ah, yes indeed.” She trotted over to stand in front of the cowering Twilight, smiling smugly. “Perhaps you would like to reconsider the opening we have for our ‘glorified pest control’, hmm?”