Twilight, after being found in a self induced isolation at a lunar prison, is taken in by Celestia as a student and to save Equestria from Nightmare Moon. Then she finds out Luna isn't on the moon with her nightmare. and then Luna finds out that Twilight, who is a part of a strange and powerful mercenary group know as the Night's Guard, just might be more of a nightmare than Nightmare Moon. In all the right ways, of course. (new cover and description)
“This way, Princess.” The rather seedy looking guard said as he lead Celestia down a long hallway riddled with cells. Celestia hated this prison. Not just because it was a prison, though. This was a prison for lunar extremists. People who commit crimes in the name of Princess Luna. And even then, it wasn’t because they were directly opposing her. It was because Celestia herself agreed with their cause. Freeing Luna from the banishment she forced upon the lunar princess. Their means were just criminal and incredibly dangerous.
These people hated her, too. She had already narrowly avoided being spat on a dozen times and had ignored more jaunts and insults than she would have liked.
“Why are we here, anyways?” Celestia asked, a bit of spite tingeing her voice. She chose to ignore the blood spattered cell being hosed down they passed.
“You told me you needed someone powerful, powerful enough to level a mountain in the blink of an eye. You also said you needed someone who, given the chance, would save your sister instead of destroying or banishing her again should the nightmare return. There is but one person I can think of, at least that’s still alive.” The guard explained.
“And who might that be?” Celestia asked. They stopped and Celestia caught something that was flying towards her. Confused, she looked at the projectile and found that it was a very large padlock that had been nearly shattered. Looking around, she saw that the padlock matched those that kept the cell doors locked.
“I don’t appreciate it when those morons you call guards lock my door...” A very intimidating voice said from the source of the padlock-turned-projectile. It was feminine and seemed to hold power all on its own. Celestia looked into the cell and saw only two things. The first was somebody sitting on the cot, shadows hiding their face, and a peculiar scar on the back of both of their hands. The scar was of a six pointed star with a similar but much smaller six pointed star between the points of the original.
“To answer your question, Princess, that would be her.” The guard said.
“Oh? So Princess Celestia is looking for me?” The person said, interest evident in her voice. The scars on the backs of her hands slowly began pulsating a deep purple glow and Celestia caught a glimpse of the girl’s face. There was a very large scar going from her left brow, down past the eye and through her lips, curving slightly right at her chin and finishing at her collarbone. It may have been her doing it intentionally, but the eye was shut as if the scar kept it so.. Aside from that, though after looking another moment she realized the scar certainly didn't degrade it, the girl sitting in there was rather beautiful.
“Twilight Sparkle, the only person in here that isn’t a criminal.” The guard said. The low purple glow flashed bright and the girl was gone, only to appear soundlessly behind Celestia. Startled as a hand touched her pristine white wing, she turned around to find the girl studying her.
“So you’re here of your own volition?” Celestia asked after a moment. The girl simply nodded and slowly walked around Celestia to again touch at her wings. Celestia shivered slightly, but chose to let this girl do as she pleases.
“I leveled an orphanage and half of the surrounding village when I was little, on accident of course, but ever since then my life has been filled with people trying to hurt me. I killed those who tried to do the same to me, but it was only in self defense. That’s the only reason I haven’t committed a crime, though, because they came at me with the intent to kill.” The girl explained in that intimidating voice. Though, now that she wasn’t pissed at what she was talking about, Celestia could definitely hear compassion and even maybe kindness in her voice.
Celestia flinched as she felt one of her feathers being plucked, though since said feather would grow back in minutes she decided to ignore it.
“That doesn’t explain why you’re here...” She said. She raised an eyebrow as she saw Twilight coming back around to her front, gently rubbing the feather against her lips. The girl’s lips twitched in a slight smile and she stopped in front of Celestia and turned to face her.
“I wasn’t finished. I didn’t want to risk hurting anyone unintentionally, since after the killings my mind became incredibly unstable. I would sometimes even lash out at inanimate objects and obliterate them. Before I did that to a person, I decided I’d go and lock myself up in a place that I couldn’t destroy with magic. This prison is the only place that would accept a ‘volunteer’.” Twilight explained.
“So I’m guessing that scar happened when those people tried to kill you?” Celestia asked. The girl just chuckled lightly and shook her head.
“Nope. I gave myself this scar.” She said, grinning now. The eye opened then and Celestia didn’t know whether to be amazed, appalled or afraid of what she saw. The eye was pitch black, the entire thing, except for that same symbol that was on her hands. It looked like it had been branded onto the eye in red. Celestia looked back at the symbols on her hands and thought back to when they glowed.
“They’re glyphs, aren’t they? But I can’t figure out what kind it is or even what branch of magic...” She said. Twilight looked down at her hands and chuckled as the eye closed once more.
“They aren’t of a single branch. This is a general glyph, the first of its kind. I invented it when I was twelve. And by general, I mean all I need to do is guide it to do what I want and it can accomplish anything given the proper power.” Twilight explained.
“When you were twelve? Exactly how long ago was that?” Celestia asked, curious.
“Seven years ago, I’m nineteen now. Some people swear I’m in my mid twenties though, apparently I’m much too matured to be barely out of my teen years.” Twilight shrugged again as she leaned against a wall.
“Why the fuck are you talking to that scum?!” A prisoner in the cell next to her growled and spat. The retaliatory elbow shattered his jaw before the spit even hit the floor. The guard chuckled, but Celestia didn't to think it was a good thing.
“Anyways, why are you looking for me?” Twilight asked, her left hand glowing as she dragged it over her blood spattered elbow and the blood disappeared.
“Nightmare Moon is returning.” Celestia started. Before she could finish, though, howling cheers and applause shook the entire area.
“SILENCE!” Twilight’s voice resounded, echoing off the walls. It was magically amplified and the entire prison did as it was told. You could hear a pin drop, if one was foolish enough to disobey Twilight’s order that is.
“Continue.” Twilight simply said, as if she hadn’t just shut up an entire near-rioting prison with a single word.
“...But I cannot destroy it, nor do I wish to banish her once more. I want someone powerful enough to hold their own against her like I can, yet have the strength and purity to save the woman within from the nightmare. That is something I cannot do, but apparently you can.” Celestia explained. Twilight cocked her head, her expression looked almost confused.
“Why can’t you?” She asked.
“This is something we cannot discuss in a place like this. If you are here of your own volition, then will you come with me and at least hear me out?” Celestia asked.
“Hm... First, tell me something. Why are you putting so much faith in me being able to do it? I’m powerful, but not as powerful as you.” Twilight said. Celestia didn’t answer. Instead, she simply beckoned to the girl and started walking.
Twilight liked this Princess. As she thought that with a small smile, she uncrossed her arms, following said Princess, and the feather she held fell to the floor before crumbling to dust.
“So tell me, Celestia, why exactly do you need me?” Twilight asked the Princess. Celestia had offered her a bath, which she took, and a meal before they sat in her quarters to speak. Now that she was clean, as was her outfit, Celestia got a good look at the girl. She had relatively long, dark purple hair and lavender eyes. Well, eye. She wore a loose black sleeved shirt that, even after being cleaned, was full of wrinkles. She wore black cargo pants and combat boots to match.
“I’m going to be completely honest with you. I’m simply not strong enough to defeat the nightmare, should she return. I can’t tear the innocent Luna away from her nor do I have it in me to destroy them both.” Celestia answered.
“And you think I can? I’m just some powerful psychopath you found in a prison dedicated to tearing you from your throne.” Twilight asked. Celestia put a hand to her chin and smiled at the girl.
“Let’s just say I see something in you. If I didn’t, then I wouldn’t have invited you here. What do you know about the elements of harmony?” Celestia said. Twilight answered by putting her hand up, as if she was holding something, and the glyph on her hand flashed and a book appeared. Celestia knew that book. It was called ‘The elements of Harmony and the Mare in the Moon’.
“Primordial forces that you and the old Princess Luna commanded to bring peace in Equestria. She lost the rights to it when she succumbed to the nightmare, and you did when you banished her. Am I correct?” Twilight asked, looking up from the thing after flipping through a few pages.
“Exactly so, I had wondered where that book had gone. It seems you know a lot more about our history than most ancient historians.” Celestia replied.
“I have copied or acquired every single book in the royal library, even in the most restricted sections. I keep them in an artificial rift that I created, as well as a great many other things. I started it when I first found that prison not long after inventing this glyph. Had to keep my mind busy somehow, and I was still recovering from blowing my face open.” Twilight explained.
“You still haven’t told me how that happened.” Celestia cut in. Twilight smiled and reclined, the book disappearing once more.
“You never asked. When I created the glyphs, I carved them into my hands. After they recovered and I got used to them, I decided to brand it like a blood glyph. I didn’t tell it to brand my eye, but that’s where it went, and the force almost literally blew my face open. My face and half of the village.” Twilight answered.
“So I’m guessing that not only does the glyph on your eye do whatever you want it to, it also stores ambient magical energies and acts as a focal point to focus and create even more power. Correct?” Celestia deduced.
“Exactly so. Except for one thing, I can use it to absorb magical energy in general.” Twilight replied. She then opened the eye and the red glyph pulsated slightly. Celestia gasped as she felt her strength fading. It stopped and returned to her before she collapsed.
“What most magicians and mages don’t know is that their life force is directly tied in with their core magical power. You can’t use up that core power in any way, at least through normal means. This core power is what keeps you alive, what constantly generates usable magical energy and what gives you strength. It’s immensely potent, but takes a long time to recover once lost. And if too much of it is lost, your body no longer has the energy to live.” Twilight explained, closing the eye again.
“I know of core energy, can your eye sap that energy away?” Celestia asked, recomposing herself.
“It can. It doesn’t just sap it, though, it steals the energy and adds it to my own. You should know that the core energy can last for days after a person has died. Every person I’ve killed, the exact number being seven, I’ve stolen their core energy for my own. It is also how I subdue people I do not want to kill, I leave them with just enough to stay alive.” Twilight answered.
“That is genuinely frightening that one person can do that...” Celestia said lowly. Twilight just giggled and crossed her legs.
“Thank you. I have my morales, though. Just like you could send the sun crashing into the earth, I can steal the life force of other people. But we won’t, not without reason at least.” Twilight explained simply.
“I see your point. I trust you to make the right decisions with that ability.” Celestia said.
“Good. Now, back to the original subject of me being here, what do you know about the return?” Twilight asked.
“It will happen in the next few months. During that time I will personally teach you what I can and then send you to a little village called Ponyville. That is the most likely place for her to show up, and that is also the place that I can detect the most harmonious energy gathered up.” Celestia replied. Twilight adopted a thinking pose and sat forward in her seat before speaking.
“So what makes you think I can do anything with the elements, if that is in fact what you’re asking of me?” She asked.
“Just a hunch, really,” Celestia started with a shrug. “but I’ve had hunches like this before. They’ve always been right, so I’ve learned to follow them.” She continued.
“Well if it means I get to learn from the best and vacation in a nice little village I’ll try my best.” Twilight said with a grin.
“Good. So, before we start anything, what do you know about friendship?” Celestia asked.
“So we’ve spent a month teaching me what I need to know, now what?” Twilight asked Celestia as they relaxed in a field they had been practicing advanced magic in. Celestia grinned as a man walked onto the field. He seemed unphased by the fact that the two of them were there, so Twilight assumed Celestia had planned this. He was wearing the uniform of a royal guard officer and had a two toned blue hairstyle. It was up in a neat tail.
“Commander, this is Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, this is Commander Sh-” Celestia began introducing the two to each other but, while The man’s face finally registered surprise, Twilight put her hand up to Celestia.
“Princess, we know each other.” Twilight said. The commander nodded.
“Commander Shining Armor, last I heard you were just a lieutenant.” Twilight said with a grin, standing up. They bumped fists and hugged. Celestia’s expression was of utter surprise, Shining chuckled when he saw.
“We were foster siblings for a little while, then she blew up the orphanage.” Shining explained.
“I didn’t know you were an orphan, how old were you?” Celestia asked, sitting up.
“I was seventeen, eighteen was the age they kicked you out at. And Twi, last I checked you were in self-induced isolation at the lunar prison.” Shining said, giving Twilight a serious look. The girl shrugged and plopped back down next to Celestia.
“That would be my doing. I already told you the situation, remember?” Celestia asked.
“She’s the girl you found? Well I’ll be. Anyways, Twi, I’m here to teach you how to fight. If you’re anything like you were last I saw you, I won’t need to teach you much personally. I had planned on teaching this student of Celestia’s what I know in private and then putting her through royal guard training, but now I’ll skip the tutoring I think.” Shining explained.
“Well, that simplifies things. Isn’t your squad coming here soon?” Celestia asked.
“Nah, just a bunch of newbies. Hey Twi, you think you can summon up one of those uniforms I gave you a while back with your fancy dimensional magic?” Shining asked. Twilight thought for a moment and grinned. Her hands flashed and her clothes turned into a bellyless training tank with the royal guard insignia on it and training shorts.
“Had to make them a lot bigger, but seems like it.” Twilight replied with a grin. She looked down and saw her combat boots were still there, but it didn’t matter much. Celestia was about to ask why she had that, but Shining answered before she could.
“When I first got in the guards, we were kinda short on clothes so I swiped a female uniform for her.” He explained.
“Really? Maybe I should look more into the orphanages to make sure they’re up to snuff...” Celestia said. Shining was looking Twilight over and laughed. They both gave him a questioning look.
“Damn girl, you’ve got some abs.” He said. Twilight rolled her eyes and punched him on the arm. He chuckled and turned towards Celestia. “Most of them are, it’s just that with her... reckless use of magic, cloth and fabric are so fragile when you think about it.” Shining said.
“So is my face, apparently.” Twilight deadpanned, though they both chuckled at that. “So, a bunch of new recruits are coming here and I’m supposed to fall in with them?” She continued.
“Originally, that was the plan. Now, though, I have a feeling you’ll be more of a teacher to them than I am. I’ll just be teaching you advanced tactics and protocol that the guards use.” Shining replied.
“Is that the Princess?!” came a slew of voices. The three turned to find a small group of people entering the field. Some of them had wings, though not as majestic as Celestia’s, and some seemed a bit too big to be just recruits.
When a person has wings, they’re referred to as a Valkyrie. Then there were mages, who had a knack for magic and could almost unlimitedly expand their magical knowledge, while valkyries or others that aren’t mages had to work much harder and had much more restrictive limits. And lastly there were normal people, sometimes referred to as earthmen, who had a natural attunement to the land. This meant they were great with agriculture and they were almost always physically stronger than the other two kinds of people, though valkyries definitely had them on agility.
Celestia was a different story entirely. She had wings like a valkyrie, but over centuries, she worked to gain the natural attunement to the land. She was also practically unrivaled in magical prowess. Her kind were simply referred to as Princesses, since the only ones that are or ever have been in existence were princesses of one kingdom or another.
There was once a valkyrie who was able to reach a mage’s level of magical prowess, but lacked the attunement to land. He was referred to as an Archmage.
“I thought you specialized in training battle mages, Commander.” Celestia said, noticing the variety of people.
“You should know better than anyone that any of the three races can be an adequate battle mage. All they need to know how to do is imbue their weapons with magic and protect themselves from it to be considered such.” Shining explained.
“Is that one really wearing that ridiculous hat?” Twilight asked, unamused, as one of the mages had a tall and large wizard hat on.
“Yes, she is... That would be T-” Shining started, but was cut off as the group arrived by said mage.
“The great and powerful Trixie will not stand to have her choice of wardrobe insulted by a lowly recruit!” The girl exclaimed. Twilight raised an eyebrow and stopped herself from bursting out into laughter.
“... Trixie, she is your comrade in arms. And besides, look at her, does she look like you want to get on her bad side?” Shining said to the girl. They both looked at her at the same time to find Twilight’s scar gone. He looked down and saw that the scars on her hands had disappeared. He detected a very well hidden illusion spell.
A voice in his head made him realize that he hadn’t noticed it. She showed him.
‘I’d rather not go total badass on these guys unless I have to. And besides, if training goes the same way as I remember then I’d rather not have her chickening out’ Twilight’s voice echoed through his mind. He rolled his eyes.
“I see nothing special!” The girl exclaimed, but still fell into the line that had lined up in front of him.
“Funny, neither did I.” Twilight said, taking a spot at the end. Trixie didn’t take too kindly to that, but lucky for her she didn’t act on it as Shining had started walking down the ranks. The girl next to her giggled and Twilight looked at her sideways.
She had magnificent teal eyes and her hair, which was in a very rough tail, was a deep midnight blue. She had pristine blue wings, not as big as Celestia’s and slightly darker instead of the majestic marble. Twilight smiled and winked, earning another giggle, just before Shining passed.
“Right, we’re ding things very simply for the first day of your training. Some of you may know everything I’m going to teach you, while others know nothing. Either way, you’re here because you tend to be worthless sacks of shit when it comes to any of it. Be it magic, fighting, tactics or even taking a piss; you’re no good.
You are in my domain now, and I will beat your asses into the ground. When you get up, I’ll do it again and kick you while you’re down. I will push you and push you, and none of you will ever pass until you can not only push back, put push me down.” Shining explained. A normal commander would be screaming his head off, but Shining was talking normally. That just made it even more intimidating.
At least to most of the others.
“Trixie will not stand to have her amazing magical prowess diminished!” Trixie exclaimed, her angry red face a glowering contrast to her white hair.
“Amazing magical prowess, eh? Fine then, give me your best shot. I will warn you though, my name is armor for a reason.” Shining said simply and turned to face the flustered girl. With a huff her finger lit up and a trail of magic followed it as she traced a complex diagram in the air.
Best shot it must have been, since the solid stream of offensive magic pouring into a beam to bombard Shining actually made the day seem darker with how powerful it was. After a solid ten seconds, it ended and Trixie fell to her knees. So much energy was used up, Twilight was actually impressed she had kept it going for so long and was still breathing.
Meanwhile, Shining hadn’t even flinched. He still held his pose of having his hands behind his back with his feet together, standing up straight. The symbol on his armor was glowing, though. It looked like a shield with a large star surrounded by smaller ones. Twilight remembered it, she helped him invent the glyph. It wasn’t a general glyph as hers was, though, it was an incredibly powerful shielding one. He inscribed it onto his chest plate, which had appeared at the last second over his uniform.
“Hm... Well I guess you’re not an absolute sack of shit when it comes to magic. At least by normal standards. There are one, two, three and four people in this field that could wipe the floor with your magic. Two of them are in the line with you.” Shining said to himself and turned to continue his walk.
“Anyways, as I was saying earlier, Today is going to be rather simple. You will pair off two at a time and spar. We will all learn from the two of you, and not just who is stronger. Then you will finish and the next two will go. Any volunteers?” He continued.
Two people stepped forward.
Twilight grinned to the blue haired girl next to her and she grinned back.
“Right then, Give your names, shake hands and begin.” Shining said. “Private Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight said.
“Private... Nightshade.” The girl said, omitting a first name if she had one. The pause made Twilight suspect she was hiding something.
“So how will we be going about this, Twilight? A brawl or a duel?” Nightshade asked. Twilight put a finger to her chin in thought.
“Well all I’ve ever done is brawls or desperate fights, so let’s try dueling. I’ve never fought another good mage before.” Twilight said, using the same thing trixie did earlier to draw glyphs in the air. Hers were even more complicated, however, and there were much more of them in less time. They were warding spells, to protect her from all sorts of magical attack. She could handle physical ones herself.
Twilight’s memory of what a duel is was perfect, an honorary match between two combatants- usually mages- in which they continue fighting until the other is incapacitated or yields. Further rules or restrictions were set in place by the combatants.
“Shall we say no teleporting or running out of the field?” Nightshade suggested as she put up her own wards.
“Sure. Also, let’s add a physical aspect to it.” Twilight replied, drawing an even more complicated string of glyphs in the air and her hands started glowing before metal blades sprouted from them. They pulsed with magic, but were still as physical as any metal. Luna did the same.
“When you’re ready.” Shining said, moving everyone else back. The two charged at each other with inhuman speed and clashed, locking the magical blades together.
“Oh, and another thing. We should be a bit more truthful with each other. I can just barely sense illusions around you.” Nightshade said so only Twilight could here.
“Sure, but if I were to guess then what you’re hiding is the fact that your first name is Luna.” Twilight said said with a grin, the scars on her face and hands returning. Nightshade grinned back and Twilight noticed symbols along the girl’s blades. A few of them started glowing and Twilight was forced to jump back as a series of raging fires sprouted where she had just been standing. Soon the fire expanded and encased a good section of the field, and Luna stayed in the center of it.
“Sneaky one you are.” Twilight said with a grin. She kicked off her boots, which had been singed ever so slightly, and charged back in Now barefooted, the fire seemed to not even make her flinch as her feet fell upon the scorched ground.
When she reached the center of the inferno, she found Luna staring at the sky. Twilight followed her gaze and found that it was midnight. That was strange, it had been two hours before nightfall when the fight started.
“You somehow figured out who I am, I’m impressed. If you’re wondering why we’re looking at the night sky it’s because this is my magic you’re surrounded by. Time is also slowed in this particular field of fire, though I’m surprised your feet aren’t burned. Not even fire wards can keep this inferno at bay for long.” Luna explained.
“I’ve used this exact spell before. I already have an incredibly high pain tolerance, that coupled with me knowing how to counter the spell means all I feel is a little warmth. Kind of tickles, actually, when I’m just standing here.” Twilight said. Luna giggled at that.
“My sister chose well. We will have to talk alone when we have the chance, but Celestia will notice this spell before long. Let’s see who fights better, I am quite rusty.” Luna said, readying herself as night turned to day, the moon back to the sun. They were on each other before either of them could blink.
A/N so no idea when the prologues are gonna end. Probably when moony comes along, besides these first few chapters are too cutesy or just not dark enough : P
It took until the aftermath of the duel, in which Luna was conscious and Twilight was barely hanging on to her own consciousness, for the others to see what she really looked like and how powerful the both of them were.
“Is...she alright?” Celestia asked Twilight, pointing to Luna. Twilight nodded and caught her breath, stumbling a bit as she tried to stand.
“Shit... Man, we went all out. I almost had to use my eye. She’s just unconscious, lucky kick to the head.” Twilight replied, cracking nearly every part of her body. Her glyphs flashed and a bottle of ice cold sparkling pomegranate juice appeared in her hand.
“She was always stronger than I was... at least when it came to fighting... And dare I even ask?” Celestia asked.
“My favorite drink, at least that’s non alcoholic. In my dimension that I created I’ve got everything needed to make it. It’s made with mana water, too, so it helps recovery.” Twilight explained.
“Damn, I never expected to see that kind of a fight between anyone other than the best. Were either of you even using your full power?” Shining asked as Twilight chugged half of the bottle. It held about two liters.
“Fuck that burned... Nah, almost though. Not so sure about her though, she seemed like she was holding more back than I was. But hey, we weren’t trying to kill each other. C’mon then, get up.” Twilight said, walking over to the unconscious girl and patting her cheeks a bit. After a bit she put the very cold bottle against Luna’s face and that woke her up.
“Damn... you kick really, really hard.” She groaned, sitting up and wincing as she noticed one of her fingers were bent back at an odd angle.
“Great, I’ll get a medic...” Shining sighed.
“Don’t worry about it.” Twilight said. “This is going to hurt like a bitch.” She continued, gently grabbing Luna’s wrist and holding her hand out.
“Um... Do you know what you’re doing?” Luna asked, very cautious.
“I’ve put more than a few broken limbs back into place before, mostly my own.” Twilight said. Luna sighed and nodded. Twilight gave her time to get ready for it and in one fell swoop she grabbed the bent finger and expertly put it back into place. Her hands were glowing at the same time and the barely contained scream of pain from Luna faded away.
“Here, finish that.” Twilight said, handing Luna the half empty bottle she had placed on the ground. The dark girl didn’t even bother asking what it was as she greedily gulped it down. She coughed a bit afterwards but slowly got to her feet. She tossed the bottle back to Twilight, who sent it back to where it came, and cracked her neck and back.
“Normally I’d tell the two of you to get back in line and watch the rest of the fights, but with a broken bone and such an intense fight you guys should head to the infirmary to make sure you’re really alright.” Shining said.
“Come on, I’ll walk you.” Celestia said, beckoning with a move of her head as she started walking. To the others it seemed like their princess was concerned for her recruits. Twilight knew better, though. While she probably was concerned for them, the reason she was coming with them was probably because she wanted to talk.
This was enforced when they turned towards her quarters instead of the palace infirmary.
“How’s your finger?” Twilight asked as they walked.
“Better than I expected. I’ve broken a finger before, and that time I had just set it back in place and sent a steady stream of regenerative magic to it and after a few days it was right as rain. Right now it feels like I’ve been doing so for two days. Whatever magic you cast when you fixed it was very potent.” Luna replied.
“That drink had mana water as a main ingredient, and the spell was a gradual regenerative one.” Twilight explained.
“I see.” Luna said. It was kind of an awkward walk, seeing as Celestia was walking silently. Neither of them could see her face, but it certainly wasn’t the best feeling. It was the kind of feeling you got when you think you’ve done something wrong.
“Speaking of that drink, you said it was from a sustainable dimension you created?” Celestia asked. Apparently she sensed their unease. She turned to face them and she was smiling brightly. They hadn’t done something wrong.
“I told you I created it a while ago. Imagine you had this bubble of space where you could manipulate anything within. Now imagine if that bubble was potentially endless.” Twilight started.
“Ooh this sounds interesting.” Luna said, listening intently.
“Well what if you were to, say, get a bunch of stone and metal and wood and a whole bunch of other materials and decided you wanted to build a castle with acres of fertile land around it.” Twilight continued. Celestia stopped.
“Exactly how did you acquire all of these materials?” Celestia started. “I mean, a castle? How could you afford or even find all of that while in a prison.” She continued as she started walking again.
“I didn’t steal any of it. Well, not technically at least. Anything I took from somebody is from somebody that tried to kill me and I beat them, so I guess you can say I won it. Most of that was metal and stuff. Most of the stone and wood I get when I find particularly good sized trees and boulders when I go out and about.” Twilight explained.
“And people have tried to kill you? Why?” Luna asked.
“Well, I’ve made some enemies in my life. Mostly because I’ve dabbled in mercenary work against particularly corrupt individuals who did not take kindly to it. I’d spare the details, but said mercenary group would rather not be known.” Twilight answered.
“Not to mention you being a threat with how powerful you are. And by the way I know of the Night’s Guard. I even contract them sometimes.” Celestia added.
“Oh? That’s interesting. Anyways, technically I live wherever I want, but everything is usually in my dimension. If I had a big enough plot of land I could probably plop it all down here, though.” Twilight said.
“I just imagined a huge castle falling out of the sky. A rather amusing image.” Luna said with a giggle. They rounded a corner to see a rather large and ornate door with four royal guards standing in front of it.
“You are relieved, thank you.” Celestia said to them. They bowed and left without a word.
“I didn’t know you kept guards at your door.” Twilight said, as whenever she was here with Celestia the corridor was always empty.
“Only when I have particularly valuable or dangerous things inside. You both should know that aside from documents I never keep anything in here worth even looking at.” Celestia explained.
“Maybe worth taking to you. I wonder if they ever found that underwear of yours.” Luna snorted. Celestia groaned and quickly shut the door.
“One time, damnit... And I did find it, burned the thing when I finally got it back. Some strange man out in Manehattan apparently paid nearly a hundred thousand bits for it on the black market. He wasn’t happy about it, but I smoothed things over.” Celestia explained lowly.
“Oh I imagine so. You can’t exactly argue with a pissed off princess while you’re cuddling with her favorite pair of panties.” Luna said, casually plopping down on the loveseat. Celestia laughed at that and then gained a sad look.
“Those really were my favorite... They had a moon on the back of it, thought that was rather amusing. Whenever I wore them I was ‘mooning’ everyone.” Celestia said, bursting into laughter. Luna chuckled and Twilight, who had been staring in a mixture of confusion and uncertainty, nearly fell on the floor laughing so hard.
“Good lord, if this is what it’s like to have a sister I think I wish my younger brother had been a girl.” Twilight said when she finally stopped.
“Younger brother as well? I’ll have to meet him sometime.” Celestia said, sitting down on a big comfy chair. Luna was sprawled across the loveseat, Celestia had the chair, so the only place left for Twilight to sit was either on one of their laps, the bed or the floor. SHe was tempted to go with the first, but settled with sitting on the corner of the big bed.
“Not likely, He left for the dragon lands a few years ago. Our family, a long long LONG time ago, were descendants of dragons. According to what little I could research, apparently the blood resurfaces every now and then. Spike is the first Dragon Mage in our family for a few hundred years.” Twilight explained.
“Ah, a shame then. Anyways, we should probably get to why I brought you here.” Celestia started, stretching and sitting up straight. Luna, on the other hand, relaxed and reclined into her seat.
“I’m going to go ahead and guess it’s about me and Luna.” Twilight said, following Luna’s lead and plopping back on Celestia’s bed.
“Yes, though that can wait just a moment. First, I want to know how you figured it out.” Celestia said. Twilight shrugged and kicked her boots back off.
“She asked for a duel, resembles every description I’ve ever seen of her and her magic had a certain age to it that I’ve only ever felt with you. What I want to know in return is why Luna, who’s supposed to be on the moon, is here. Didn’t you find me to prepare for her return?” Twilight asked.
“No, I found you to prepare for Nightmare Moon’s return. Luna has been in a coma for centuries, locked away in a very special chamber that is now her quarters. She only recently awoke, just under a few years I believe. When I defeated Nightmare Moon, I didn’t do much at all. The Elements of Harmony split the Nightmare from Luna and I just sent it to the moon.
Jealousy, hate, envy and all of the other feelings and emotions are part of every living thing. Having a chunk of what you are ripped away and banished took a heavy toll on Luna, so she fell into her coma.” Celestia explained.
“So how did she wake up without her returning?” Twilight asked. Luna answered this time.
“Nightmare Moon has been gathering her strength. She does not have physical form, as she is simply an amplified manifestation of dark magic and negative emotion. Since my awakening, and actually causing it, she is slowly reforming the connection to her physical form. Me. Once she’s strong enough and the connection is complete, she will return and I will be consumed by it once more.” Luna explained, her happy smile falling to a frown.
“Is there anything you can do about it?” Twilight asked, sitting upright to look at the darker girl.
“Not much. I can slow the connection, but that’s about it. I say about a month left and then shit hits the fan for whoever I’m near.” Luna continued.
The room went silent for a little while.
“Well shit, looks like we need to keep getting stronger.” Twilight said simply. That broke the silence and the other two smiled.
“That you do, both of you. If I know shining, then he’ll want to see the both of you back in the field. Tell them you got the OK from the medics, and Twilight? Keep that eye of yours a secret. Last time someone had an ability that powerful, they had it stolen from them. I wouldn’t put it past some of the more desperate and corrupt to try and pluck your eye out of your skull.” Celestia warned. Twilight got to her feet, did a two fingered salute, pulled Luna to her feet and they left.
A/N so this gets a bit saucy in the first half, enjoy.
Twilight had no idea when it would happen, but it was much sooner than she had expected.
Twilight and Luna were alone together.
But, they weren’t just alone together. They were alone together in the showers, as they had been the last ones to turn in after a day of sparring. It had been two weeks since they met and they had become the best of friends.
Now, though, Twilight was seriously thinking friend couldn’t quite describe their relationship.
Why you ask?
Well, when the girl in the big mass shower comes up behind you while you’re shampooing your hair and grabs your chest and starts giggling like mad, friend just doesn’t quite cut it.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“No, REALLY?!”
“Yes, really.”
The two bantered back and forth, Luna’s hands still cupping Twilight’s chest from behind. She rolled her eyes and flicked the hands away. When she turned around, she burst out laughing at Luna’s overexaggerated pouty face. She even had those strange ridiculously huge tears threatening to come out.
“What?” She dared ask. Luna’s pout fell as she smirked and put her hands on her hips. And damn, were they some mighty fine hips.
“I was trying my hardest to embarrass you, but you just shrugged that off.” Luna said, playfully annoyed. Twilight chuckled and turned back around to finish her hair.
“You’d have to try harder than that to embarrass me.” Twilight said. As soon as she said it she regretted it, knowing Luna that’d be a challenge.
“Well then how would you like your shower, sensual or sexual, my dear?” She suddenly heard the other’s very low voice in her ear. The warm breath breathing against her neck. She shivered ever so slightly as she felt one hand very gently caress her neck, and the other touch her abdomen and very slowly drift downward. They both stopped, one right before Twilight’s mouth and the other before her... unmentionables.
“Which is it then? Come on then, or I’ll have to choose for you.” Came Luna’s voice in her ear again, the tone seductively serious. Twilight grinned and grabbed the lower hand and pulled it up back to her abdomen.
“Well for that particular path you’d need to buy me dinner first.” She started, both of them giggling. “So I guess we’ll have a go at sensual.” She finished, stepping back so her body neatly fit against Luna’s.
Luna grinned.
“You’re a tough cookie to crack.” Luna giggled as the hand that was near Twilight’s mouth grabbed one of her breasts, then very slowly and gently traced up to the collarbone. She proceeded to trace the scar.
“Hm, well let’s just say the mind wanders.” Twilight retorted.
Luna’s hand froze a moment and Twilight heard the faintest little giggle.
“I think I know what would get you.” Luna whispered. It was more than a normal whisper, though. It was a kind of whisper that made Twilight genuinely afraid of what was coming next.
Not afraid as in ‘oh shit i’m going to die’ afraid, though. Afraid as in ‘oh fuck I don’t know how to deal with this’ afraid.
Luna must have sensed it, because the giggle that Twilight heard made her shiver again.
The hand moved again. It gently turned her head towards Luna who was, surprisingly, a bit pink in the face. The way she was looking at her, though, caused Twilight to blush as well.
And then Luna kissed her.
Then she kissed back.
Then she was against the wall, the kiss deepening.
Neither of them had any idea of who’s hands went where, but either way both of them had hands caressing their bodies.
---
“Fuuuuuuck...” Twilight groaned.
“What is it?” Luna’s voice asked from nearby. Twilight looked and saw Luna sitting at Twilight’s study in the tower. She was in her bed and she sat up. It took a moment for her to remember why Luna was in her room at two in the morning, but the memory of them studying a particularly ancient dictionary of advanced glyphs Celestia had given her flooded back in.
“Dream.” Twilight said simply and plopped back down.
“Was it a steamy shower dream?” Luna asked, closing the book and standing up with a stretch. Twilight froze.
“You can... see people’s dreams?” Twilight asked, her face going a bit red. Luna giggled.
“Oh what’s this? Little miss badass embarrassed?” She said and giggled some more. She proceeded to plop down next to twilight and put an arm around her shoulders.
“And for the record, while I can and did look into your dream, you were restless and endlessly tossing and turning. I was expecting to soothe a nightmare. Instead I got... well... I still don’t really know what to think about it.” She said, though her grin was still there.
“Is it wrong that I dreamed that?” Twilight asked after a few moments.
“Not at all, the mind does indeed wander. And to be honest, I kind of took your dream version of me’s place about halfway through. My actions were still what you dreamed up, but I felt every bit of it just as you did.” Luna admitted. It took a minute or so, but Twilight finally recomposed herself into her normal demeanor.
“Well shit, want to go do something sometime?” Twilight asked, looking sideways at the girl laying next to her. That earned a rather powerful bout of laughter.
“Hm, would that something involve showering later than everyone else?” Luna teased. Twilight blushed but still rolled her eyes. “In all seriousness, though, we do need to spend some time together as friends. We rarely see each other outside of training or studying.” She continued, closing her eyes and relaxing on the bed.
“True. We do have tomorrow off.” Twilight said.
“It’s a date.” Luna said with a giggle. Twilight laughed weakly at that. At that moment, Luna decided to snuggle up to Twilight, holding her around the abdomen.
“You’re comfy and I don’t feel like going back to my chambers.” She said. Twilight just rolled her eyes and decided to just ride this one out. She had to admit, Luna was pretty comfy too. Her eyes shot open when Luna kissed her on the cheek, and she would have stared at her, but the girl had snuggled into her neck as her breathing slowed. She was out before Twilight could say anything.
“Shit, you really are something.” Twilight said to herself before she followed suit.
“Well that’s convenient.” Celestia said. It was a week until the estimated return of Nightmare Moon and Twilight was standing in front of her, asking to have a few days off of training. The Night’s Guard, the mercenary group Twilight was a part of, asked for her in Ponyville.
“What’s convenient?” Twilight asked.
“The file they sent along says you’re going to Ponyville. I was going to send you there tomorrow. Take Luna with you as well, won’t hurt to send her a day early as well. She can probably help out with your mission, or rather missions of this briefing is correct.” Celestia explained.
Twilight was contracted to do a series of minor and major work all in one trip. Her tasks were to collect and deliver incredibly rare and dangerous to get materials to the local alchemist, assassinate a series of corrupt leaders in order to reinstate the mayor the village needs, defend against a small assault from the everfree creatures estimated to take place within the next few days and to slay a particular member of the Night’s Guard that greets her upon her arrival.
She will have to tell them from one of the two there, and apparently she’ll know which one. There will also be a few members of different races joining her.
“Let Luna know that we’ll be leaving in three hours and that I’ll be in my room getting ready. Also, tell her to be ready to kick some ass if need be.” Twilight said as Celestia handed the briefing folder back to her. Celestia nodded with a smile and Twilight turned and left.
---
“Still here?” Luna called, knocking on the astronomy tower door as she opened it. Her question was answered by a peculiar sight.
Twilight was in the middle of the big room, surrounded by weapon and armor racks.
“Ah, good, you’re here.” Twilight said, turning around. She was wearing armor herself. It was a full set of armor, though the material was unknown to Luna. It looked like a sort of glassy metal with a very dark purple coloration. All of the weapons and armor were made from it. She wore a cloak that was more like a mantle in that it covered her entire body. The hood was currently down.
The set’s helmet was incredibly intimidating. It looked like it was a skull, though not quite human. The gauntlets had talons, though they were strange indeed. The things were more like claws than armor.
The entire thing was very slim and looked so form fitting it couldn’t possibly fit anyone else. All of it was intricately engraved with strange designs and symbols, most likely glyphs. The material still intrigued and baffled Luna. Twilight guessed what the confused look was for.
“It’s a type of crystal created by melting obsidian with magic and pressurizing it, using magic to pack it into what I call Black Crystal. I can adjust things to fit you if you’d like, you’ll need to be better equipped.” Twilight explained, pulling her helmet off. There was a strange tattoo on her face now, around her right eye. It looked like a crescent moon.
“And this is the mark of a veteran Night’s Watch. Pick any armor and any weapons you like and I’ll bind them to you and set them aside to be stored in a dimension you can access.” Twilight continued. Luna was still a little confused, but she browsed everything. She hard armor and weapons of her own, but it was in severe disrepair after a thousand years.
In the end she settled for armor that, except for the helmet gauntlets and boots, was nearly identical to Twilight’s. The last two were rather normal, but the helmet had a removable mask that looked as if someone had taken a perfect mold of a fox’s face. For weapons she chose a rather elegant longbow, though it had no string an an empty quiver, and a dual bladed staff called a Glaive.
“What are your weapons?” Luna asked. Twilight answered by causing all but one rack to disappear. There was a Nodachi, a long two handed katana, and very strange and intimidating bow with an empty quiver on the rack. There was a very simple battle scythe, seemingly made of simple black wood and steel. The thing gave off one of the darkest and most intimidating auras Luna had ever felt. It caused her to shiver.
“Don’t worry, she only hungers for those I tell her she can.” Twilight said softly. She tied the Katana around her left side and secured the bow on her back. Instead of walking over to where the scythe was and grabbing it, she simply raised her hand and it flew to her. She proceeded to put it into place next to the bow on her back. There was no magic involved in it, though. That much Luna was sure.
“It’s almost time to leave, isn’t it?” Luna asked, trying to shake off a very dark feeling. Twilight simply nodded and replaced her helmet, which was more like a mask.
“Prepare yourself, we’re about to enter a dimensional hub. Only members of the Night’s Guard use it. I doubt even you have walked across the dimensional planes and pathways.” Twilight said, her voice being filtered through the mask. It came out as what sounded like a whisper that echoed through your mind. It actually unnerved Luna, but she shook her head and stepped up next to Twilight.
“Please, who do you think perfected the method 1200 years ago?” She said.
“This is different, Luna. Do not speak unless you must, do not wander and stick with me. Whatever you do, do not take your mask off until we are on the train. There are certain members of the Night’s Guard who would slaughter anything without the mark.” Twilight warned lowly, her whispered voice making the message all the more frightening.
“I understand.” Luna said simply, replacing the fox mask. Twilight simply nodded. gradually but quickly, parts of her armor and cloak started to glow with the energy of her magic. Parts of the bow glowed as well. Twilight turned back towards her as she started to float in the air, and suddenly an image flashed through her mind.
A memory of a being
A being from more than a thousand years ago that nearly cost the world its existence.
The first and, presumably, last Reaper.
This was different, though. The being before had red coloration where their magic glowed, Twilight’s was of her own pure lavender. The same horrifyingly powerful presence was still there, and Luna was almost afraid to find out just how powerful the creature giving it off was, but there was no sense of hate and destruction and evil.
She let herself relax as a strange hole appeared in the air. That hole grew quickly to become an intricate doorway. The black ‘hair’ of Twilight’s helmet, as well as the hems and edges of her attire, seemed to fade slightly and shift. They were almost ethereal. Dimensional magic always had that effect, though in this particular case it seemed to actually complete her look. She touched back down the the ground, beckoned with her head and opened the door.
Luna followed without hesitation, though whether or not that was because she was actually afraid to disobey Twilight or she was just ready for it she couldn’t decide. Twilight put her hood up, hiding her mask, and stepped through. It seemed like she was floating, though. Luna was right behind her and once the two of them were in the door vanished. There wasn’t even a magical residue left afterwards.
Luna was used to simply walking through a tunnel that came out where you wanted it to. This was incredible, it looked like a massive medieval courtyard, though there was what looked like a train station adjacent to it through a massive drawbridge. Twilight pulled her hood down further and started walking. There were a few people walking around, as well as a few strange creatures.
Luna followed so closely it seemed like she knew exactly where she was going as well, though in truth she could have lost herself for weeks in this place. As they walked towards the station, two people fell into step with them. Though, when Luna followed Twilight around a corner she was able to catch a glimpse of them, they weren’t human. One of them wore light armor over what seemed like a dark exoskeleton, though her face looked completely human. She was vaguely insectoid and that was complemented by insect-like wings.
The other looked as if a wolf was mixed with a human. The air around her chilled and there were tribal markings down her lightly armored body.
“Is there a reason you’re following us?” Twilight’s whispering voice asked without slowing or even turning.
“Chrysalis, Changeling soldier, one of the three supports for your mission.” The insect-like one said so lowly Luna barely heard it.
“Frostbite, Wendigo warrior, the second of the three. The third will meet us there.” The wolf-like one said. Twilight simply nodded as they stepped onto an unmarked train car and sat down. As soon as the door closed. The two newcomers removed their helmets and reclined in their seats. Twilight and Luna sat up normally, though Twilight was looking out of the window. They both had the moon tattoo on their right eye as Twilight did.
“Newbies?” Frostbite. Twilight didn’t move or speak, so Luna answered instead.
“Not exactly.” She replied.
“It’s always polite to let your comrades see your face, these train cars are impossible to spy on.” Chrysalis said with a mixture of politeness and annoyance. Luna looked to Twilight, who simply nodded, though still didn’t look at them.
“Go ahead.” She said. Luna was going to have to get used to that voice, but she pulled the mask off and then the helmet. Frostbite snickered and Chrysalis frowned.
“By not exactly I suppose you meant not supposed to be here.” The Changeling said lowly.
“What about your friend there? Why so distant?” Frostbite asked. Luna looked at Twilight again.
“I honestly don’t know.” Luna started with a shrug. “I’m just along for the ride.” She continued.
“Yet the both of you are wearing rather impressive and similar gear. ‘just along for the ride’ my ass.” Chrysalis growled, pulling a strange blade partly out of its sheath as she leaned forward.
“She speaks the truth.” Twilight said, though the tone nearly caused Luna to shiver in fear. The two gave her very strange looks. She turned to look at them then, the glowing parts of her mask just barely illuminating it. The two gasped and glanced at each other. Chrysalis quickly replaced her weapon back in its place and they looked like they were ready to run or bow.
“Twilight Reaper...” They both whispered. Twilight flung her hood back and the mantle around her armor dissolved into lavender particles of magic. It was at this point that Luna noticed a difference in the set that wasn’t on the phantasm she remembered.
It was made for a female instead of a male, meaning things were a bit slimmer and had a bit of a form. The mask was also slightly more angled and elegant.
It was still the most intimidating set of armor she’d ever seen in her life, though. Twilight pulled the helmet off, mask and all, and sighed as she fixed her hair.
“If you tell or show anyone this face without my permission then you will die an incredibly excruciatingly painful death at the hands of your own life force.” Twilight said calmly, as if she was used to saying it as if it was a ‘Hello’.
“What the hell? The Twilight Reaper is barely out of her teens?!” Chrysalis exclaimed.
“You’ve been doing work with the Night’s Guard for four years... What the hell?” Frostbite said a little less loudly.
“I started working for the Night’s Guard when I was fourteen and I took this mantle a year later. You won’t hear the story of that particular event, though. For now you are under my command, both of you. Nightshade is here because I want her to be, and that is that. If you disobey my order without ample cause I have my right to punish you accordingly, and I will not hesitate to kill you if you betray me. Are we clear?” Twilight explained short and quick. The two lightly hit their chest, creating a clang with their armor, and nodded their head swiftly. It was some sort of salute.
“Good. You should know my arsenal well if you know my mask. Nightshade has a longbow and a long Glaive. What do you carry into battle?” Twilight asked. Chrysalis pulled out her strange blade, a much larger version of it and what appeared to be a warped crossbow.
“Wendigo warriors fight with their own teeth and claws,” Frostbite said.
“Chrysalis, I am unfamiliar with Changeling weaponry.” Twilight said.
“The leaf blade is made to have the cutting strength of a cutting weapon, like a Katana, yet still retain the thrusting power of a longsword or estoc. This is a one handed version of it and a heavy two handed version. The crossbow is made from the warped trees around the Changeling hives, which is why they have such shapes. The arrows are designed to spiral, effectively drilling through even the heaviest of armor. I noticed that neither of your bows have strings or arrows in their quiver, if you don’t mind I’d like to know.” Chrysalis explained and asked.
Twilight answered by pulling out her bow. She touched the tip of the top and then pulled nothing down to the bottom. The bow physically strained, as if she had strung it, and a small line of her magic appeared in a string’s place. And then from the quiver, which was horizontal on her back, She pulled nothing. It looked like she was holding something, though, and quickly tendrils of her magic flooded into her hand and the quiver to form strange ethereal arrows. She then, in one very quick shot, put an arrow through Chrysalis’ head. She yelped and tried to dodge, but it went straight through her forehead.
It literally went straight through, she could only feel a slightly overpowering sense of magic, and the arrow stuck into the other end of the car. It then slowly dissipated into what looked like a lavender vapor and flowed back into the quiver to form into a new arrow.
“That’s interesting.” Luna said as suddenly the arrows and string disappeared and Twilight was back to looking out of the window. Chrysalis quickly recovered, it was obviously a demonstration of how she could control what she hit whenever she wanted.
“What’s a reaper without her scythe?” Frostbite asked. Twilight had replaced her helmet and the mantle reappeared. Luna looked and saw what looked like a city in the distance.
“Zweilicht only comes out when she hungers, and she only hungers when I tell her to.” Her whispery voice came. Luna shivered slightly, but noticed that the other two did as well. Apparently Twilight had that effect on everyone.
“I suppose we’ll see when you fight.” Frostbite said.
