> Sweet Celestia
>  by Rust
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Sollumination
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


S W E E T ~ C E L E S T I A
an mlp:fim fanfiction by: RUST
with editing and proofreading by his pet cat



"The oldest stories say she came to us from above, gently sailing in from the heavens.
But I know the truth, have looked into the eyes of fire and burned for my arrogance.  
She is a beautiful, terrifying thing.  She is not merely the Sun.  She is its Storm..."

~Starswirl The Bearded, 23 AC






Something glided through the tranquil dappled glades of the forest.  Something large.  Something pale.  Something with impossibly huge wings that barely stirred the morning dew from the petals of flowers.

Tree trunks, old and knotted, passed her by in slow blurs of mossy brown.

The phantom flowed through the forest like water, rolling and tickling herself with low-hanging boughs.  Great white wings caught and shaped the still air into playful eddies and whorls, somehow finding purchase in the thick gloom, catapulting their owner forwards as a bolt of lightning caught in the slow stream of time.

Here and there a bright glare would shimmer through the trees, soft paleness caught for an instant in the dappled sunlight.  Diving over and under and all around, the world parted gently around it until the sky above opened up.

A snowy alicorn delicately tumbled out from the treeline, where old forest met the cutting bite of a river.  Willowy legs stretched out as she touched down at the edge.  Streaks of dirt and grime stained her coat, though she paid it no mind.  A windblown pink mane dangled limply all behind her, held in a loose ponytail by a band of reeds.  

Small frogs were chirping among the cattails and lillipads.  The sun was shining brightly, not a cloud in the sky.  Birdcalls echoed like whispers through the forest.  The alicorn breathed deeply, slowly, savoring the pure taste in the air.

It was a fine day.

Lowering her long, swan-like neck, she waded into the river, letting the current wash her clean.  She sat down, then lowered herself completely under the clear water.  It was ice cold at first, but then pleasantly numbing to her sore muscles.

She allowed herself to open her eyes, seeing sunlight streaking in in shafts of brilliance.  Fish darted in and out of these, making their homes in the reeds that grew closer to the edge of the river.  A few bubbles leaked from her nostrils.  She idly watched them tickle the edges of her delicate white snout.  They did not bother her, for she could hold her breath for a long time.  Her lips parted, and some water spilled down her throat in hungry gulps.  It tasted wonderful, like rocks and trees and cold mountain winds.

Sitting there at the bottom, she idly wondered if the river would carry her away.  It did not.  But she could feel the currents running through her feathers and fur nonetheless.

Her current home was well stocked; a cozy cave not far away, one that she'd been comfortable in for the past few decades.  She didn't need to forage today.  The water store was high enough.  No predators had been seen in her part of the forest for some time.  She resigned that it might be another day where she did nothing but wander.

Her ear twitched, sluggishly fanning outwards in the current.

Somepony was calling her name up above.

"--ime to waste, you have to hurry!"  Her head lifted out of the river, dripping water.  Pale pink eyes drifted over her shoulder.  One of the ponies from the village was on the riverbank, breathing hard and sweating from exertion.  He looked familiar.  What was his name?  Stone Strider?  Or was it Sand Striker...  Or was this his grandcolt?

She'd honestly stopped bothering with the names.  None of the faces stuck around long enough to put the two together.

"Why have you sought..." she began, then paused coughing.  Her voice was rough.  She hadn't used it in a while.  

She scrutinized the pony again.  None of them would have sought her out by themselves.  She'd hoped she was nothing but a story to them by now, a spirit in the forest who occasionally aided the lost traveler or two.  Certainly it had been long enough.  A century?  Maybe two.  No, somepony who knew the truth had sent this one.  

Her pale pink mane drooped over her eyes.  She blew it off her face, and found her voice again, "Who sent you?"

"A letter, m'lady," he gasped, trying to catch his breath.  The pony flopped to the ground, clutching at his gut.  "Ungh!  From the North.  Your sister is rallying the guard.  Hurry..."

An eye eyebrow raised.  Luna was mustering soldiers?  Strange.  Usually she could handle things herself.

In a rush of river and mud, the pale alicorn unsheathed her wings and pumped down, hard.  Catapulted straight out of the water, she banked and rolled, throwing off the excess moisture, before another few strong flaps sent her jetting above the forest canopy.  The splash had stirred up enough sediment to streak her ivory coat again.  She ignored it.  Appearances mattered little to her.

She made for Luna's village, an ugly little blister in a clearing at the heart of the forest.





By the time she'd arrived, half of the guard had already assembled by the town barracks, in a roughly flattened dirt square.  She caught herself staring.  When had they built a barracks?

Some of the ponies on the ground saw her coming, moving the others out of her way as she glided in over the thatched rooftops.  She touched down, sliding smoothly into a trot and not bothering to converse with the guards.  All those before her parted, some gazing at her in open awe, others suspicion or even confusion.

Let them stare, she thought moodily, ruffled by the presence of so many eyes upon her.

Her sister could be seen in front of the barracks, going over some spread documents with a few other ponies at a low table that had been dragged out.  She was still wearing the crown of ivy they had made for her when they founded the town.  Celestia resisted the urge to snort at the sight.  She must have put a spell on it to make it last so long.

Luna looked up at the sound of heavy hoofsteps.  "Celestia!" she cried, breaking into a weak smile.  "It is good to see you again.  I did not think you would come."   Some of the other ponies at the table called out welcomes of their own.

"Luna," Celestia dipped her head in greeting, ignoring the others. "What is all this?" she pointed to the assorted pile of papers and writing.

Luna's face immediately soured. "It's from the Empire.  I... I wish we were meeting under less grave circumstances." She hesitated.  

"Our sister has fallen."

"What, tripped on her inflated ego?" Celestia grunted.

"No... she's d-dead.  Crystal is dead."

The ivory alicorn froze.  Suddenly, the world rushed in with intense focus.  Time caught up with her.

"T-that... what?  How!?"

Luna brandished a letter before her face.  Scowling, Celestia shoved it aside.  The letters on the page made no sense to her, as she had not bothered to learn their language yet.  What was the point?  It was just going to change again in a few millennium.  "I want to hear it from you," she demanded.

Luna frowned, beginning slowly, "Several months ago, I began to hear word of a new power growing within the Empire.  A unicorn, calling himself Sombra.  Reports of this unicorn wielding dark magic were brought to me, but I did not think..."  The alicorn paused.  "Crystal herself occasionally spoke to me of him.  Beneath her preening, I could tell it was an issue that began to gnaw at her.  Her letters became increasingly distressed over the months, especially when this Sombra began growing in influence.  Senators, bankers, nobles... through force or wit, he began to consolidate himself as a key member of the court.  Sometimes weeks of silence interrupted her reports.  When I would hear from her again, the situation had only become more dire."

"You thought only to tell me of this now?" muttered Celestia.

"I have been hunting you for weeks.  Every night I combed the forest for your essence, but it seems you've gone into hiding again.  Only this morning, out of desperation, did I exhaust myself with one last search."

Celestia said nothing, staring blankly down at her breast, ears splayed backwards.  

The darker alicorn continued in a somber tone. "Finally, I received one last message from her, taken down by one of her servants as she lay chained in a cell."  Luna pointed again to the paper she had tried to show to Celestia.  "Her final words...  Sombra had led a coup, and had imprisoned her in her own Palace.  She was to be sent before him and dealt with... personally."

"When?" Celestia murmured, horrified by the news.

"Yesterday."

Luna swallowed, before adding, "this letter arrived here by pegasus courier as the sun rose.  There was no faster way to know of this tragedy."

Celestia whimpered, looking at the letter.  A few droplets had wetly splattered on the page.  She sniffled.  Was it raining?  Not a cloud in the sky...

Something boiled in her gut.  Something ugly.  She didn't like the feeling.

"Are you going to the Empire to face this... Sombra?"

"Aye.  And if he could best our eldest sister, I will not be able to do it alone."  Luna held out a hoof, reaching across the table to rest it on Celestia's shoulder.  "I understand if you wish to mourn... though I ask that you wait until justice has been dealt."

Celestia flinched away, burying the hurt of the news deep down.  "I... I just c-can't believe it.  Crystal was arrogant, yes, but not incompetent.  How could she have let this happen to herself?"

"Sombra gathered many of her own subjects against her, through cunning and guile.  She would not strike against the ones she loved," said Luna.

Then she was a fool for loving them in the first place, Celestia thought.

"When do you make for the Empire?" she asked.

Luna grimaced.  "Once we have assembled enough ponies to throw the stallion from his throne."

"Why involve them in this?"  Celestia gazed around at the smaller equines, who had remained silent this whole time, watching the two alicorns speak.  "This is not their fight.  They will burden us, as it is."

"You propose we simply go there ourselves?"  Luna frowned.

"Yes."

"Madness."

"How?"

"We... we cannot simply march into the seat of the Empire!"  Luna started.  "It is heavily protected, defenses engineered by Crystal herself.  Not to mention Sombra now commands a sizable force to bring against us.  We would fly into sure death."

Celestia stared at her.   "What has happened to you, sister?"

"What do you mean?"  Luna glanced down at herself, as if there were some blemish upon her.  There was not.  Looking back up, she scowled.  "Speak not in riddles."

"You have spent too much time among these ponies," Celestia swept a hoof all around.  At the ponies around the table, who looked at eachother in confusion.  At the barracks, a freshly constructed building that defiantly rose towards the sky.  At the town, which until a century or two ago had not even existed.  "You forget that we are stronger.  Faster.  Wiser.  Much, much longer of life.  We are above their limitations.  They shall not touch us."

"And you forget where you come from!"  

Luna slammed a hoof into the table.  A thunderous crack split the air as the thick piece of furniture splintered down the middle, collapsing into itself and spilling documents everywhere.  The ponies around her jumped backwards, muttering among themselves.

"A force of nature does not entangle itself within the lives of those it affects," Celestia argued.  "Crystal thought otherwise, and I see now that you have begun to make the same mistake.  We have always existed beyond their scope."

"Aye, but neither have we always existed.  I have not forgotten my roots, Celestia.  I tired of living like some kind of ghost out in the wilds.  I wished to help my kind.  Like Crystal.  And so I have."  Luna gestured all around her, at the very things Celestia had pointed out.  "I am proud of what I have done!"

Celestia grunted.  "Aye, and Crystal thought much the same."  She leveled her gaze at her.  "I will not waste time raising a mortal army.  I will not entangle them in this, any more than they already have been by Crystal and yourself.  The only blood that need be shed is that of Sombra.  I fly for the Empire, and vengeance for our fallen sister."  She narrowed her eyes.  "I hope you can see reason in time to be there when I deal it."

With that, the larger alicorn took off, huge white wings sending up a storm of loose parchment.  Luna watched the receding ivory form disappear over the horizon, her teeth grinding in her jaw.

A pony stepped beside her.  "The stories describe her as... different, m'lady."

Luna let her head hang.  "She was.  I suspect she has lost too many friends to the passage of time to care about making new ones."

"And you?" the pony asked.  "If I may be so bold."

"You are too bold," Luna snapped,  then added more gently, "though I have.  With every year it grows harder to remember all their faces.  But... as long as I have souls I can call my friends in the present, I will not dwell in the past."  She looked again at the horizon had swallowed her sister whole.  "Or the future..."

The pony shifted from side to side.  "M'lady, I think I might be able to lend some assistance in this unfortunate matter.  I hate to see family grieving.  Even more so than quarreling.  If this Sombra is as strong as the news implies, if Celestia flies alone, she flies to her doom.  If you fly after her, I suspect even together you may fare ill.  I could not bear the world suffers another tragedy."

Luna looked at him.  He was stocky and oldish, with a horn that was a bit bent, but held a youthful sparkle in his eyes that echoed in the jingling of the bells that adorned his traveling cloak.  "Who are you, bold one?"

"Some call me Starwswirl, m'lady.  Wanderer, wizard, and whisker aficionado." the unicorn said, stroking his beard.  "And I have just the spell you need."





Her armor wasn't fancy.  It didn't need to be.  

She'd made it herself, like most everything in her possession.  Hewn from simple slabs of ironwood bark, forged a hundred times over in the fires of raw magic, hammered by bare hooves packing the force of falling boulders, cooled in a pure mountain stream where starlight glittered just under the surface.

At the center of the storm, she stood as one with the breeze, her body actually swaying with the impacts as each piece roughly slammed itself over her frame, straps snaking themselves together as if they were alive.  Haunchplates, scorched with the rising sun.  A sturdy battle-saddle, empty holster dangling between her shoulders.  A thick yoke, worn down by the centuries but still strong.  Epaulets, studded by thorns and tangled in ivy. teeth.  A tall gorget, choking the swan's neck.  The hoofboots were next.  She'd used the roughest strips of bark for them.  She wore no helmet, no circlet, no symbol of authority.  Her elegant horn was all the crown she needed.

The alicorn grabbed her only weapon.  A long length of ash rose up before her in a telekinetic grip.  At the end was a simple pink crystal spearhead, one of the finest her elder sister had ever produced.

What a waste...

Swallowing something that tasted like bile, the alicorn turned from the inside of her cave home, away from the soft nest made from her own feathers, from the phosphorescent moss that spattered the walls like ancient paintings, away from all the safety and comforts exile could bring.

She took to the air before she decided to stay there and fade into eternity.

The forest fell away from her, slowly sinking beneath the few clouds in the area.  She burst through one, droplets exploding outwards all around to trail a rainbow.  Skimming the surface with an armored hoof, the mare eyed a distant mountain range.  There marked the edge of her territory, where the forest ended and a tundra began, the land Crystal had chosen as her own.

She never pretended to understand her sister.  Crystal was strange, even more so than Luna.  The last time she had laid eyes on the rosy alicorn, there was the roots of a civilization taking hold around her hooves.  How she could stay in one place long enough to see it come to fruition was beyond any gaze the pink eyes could muster.

Still.  They were family.  For all her disappointments, that meant something.  They had been raised together on the same endless stretch of grass, by blurred faces and warm embraces that she could no longer clearly remember, to her surprise.  Even if Crystal had ascended last out of the three --- which was odd, considering she was the eldest --- she was a sister first, alicorn second.

She was left with her thoughts for the majority of the flight, covering vast distance with the strength of her huge wingspan.  Below, she could faintly pick out a streak of darkness racing along the ground, keeping pace.  Funny how she cast such a large shadow.

Rivers and marshlands passed with every stroke.  Thick forest covered most of the land, as nature intended.  Here and there, though, small pockets had been carved out of the wilderness, small clusters of buildings clinging to the earth like barnacles on the side of a whale.  None of them were as large as Luna's village.  She felt a twisted sense of pride at that.

The mountain range loomed.  She was making good time.  

Three mountains rose higher than the rest, giants among giants.  The clouds were too afraid to near the snow-capped peaks, a thick and huddling halfway up, choking out the rest of the range.  Grunting, she hammered through the cloud barrier, punching a hole clean through and emerging into the scalding brightness reflected off the trio of icy tips.  She hurled herself between the peaks as if they were goalposts.





Hunger...

That's what woke her.  Knives in her gut.  Clawing, ripping, tearing.  There was an emptiness that needed to be filled, roaring it's displeasure every second it went unsatisfied.

"Nrrrrghhh..."

Trembles.  The fever had passed, at long last, and the seizures had gradually faded.  Now she just felt... empty.

And alone.  So, so, alone.

Trying to stand.  Too weak.  She twitched.

Something clacking onto stone.  Didn't sound right.  Was that her hoof?  Seemed... lighter...

Couldn't think straight.  Couldn't remember. Too hungry.  Need to eat first.  Food now.  Think later.  Can't scratch the itch!

Alone in the abyss.

"..."

She passed out again.





She had not expected this.

The Empire's shining capitol lay before her, a shattered corpse of the city it once must of been.  Even she was impressed with the scope, for it stretched from horizon to horizon, punctuated by a mighty spire that occupied the exact center of the urban jungle.  The sky was ugly here, unnaturally red and tinged by a sickly smog.

The mighty defenses constructed by her sister tracked her movements, though did not trigger.  The turrets and shields and constructs lay silent, undamaged, eerily observant.  They were letting her pass, though to what end...?

She had heard stories of the glorious Crystal Empire, secluded as she was in the hidden glades of the wilderness.  The sad wreck of a kingdom below was disheartening to witness, even for somepony with so little stake in such things.

She flew slowly, only a length from the ground, daring any to challenge her entry.

None did, though many witnessed her arrival.

There were equines watching her pass among the ruined buildings and pitted streets.  Some stood above rooftops, armed with crossbows, though none fired upon her.  Many wore thick, ugly metal collars, bound by links of chain.  A small amount wielded whips, though no lashes fell in the wake of her passing.  As if stirred merely by her presence, some of the bound ponies would strike out at their bindings calling out rallying cries to their comrades.  Some responded.  Most did not.  Maybe they thought she was here to free them?  Small uprisings broke out as her shadow carved a path through the city.

They did not lay a hoof upon her.  Like they expected her to come.

She cared little, she was here for one reason and one reason only.

The ugly feeling in her stomach pulsated as she neared the Palace.  She could make out the form of a pony atop the high balcony overlooking the city.  Drawing even closer, the figure of the one she knew as Sombra became clear.  He was taller than the average pony, a smoky gray unicorn with a horn twisted by evil magic that she could taste even from a distance, striking an imposing yet regal figure in armor of his own, capped by a jeweled crown that doubled as a helm.

He too, watched her approach, eyes steaming with fel mist as he leaned casually upon a grand war-scythe.  "I was expecting somepony shorter!" Sombra called down to her as she settled down in the large square below the balcony. "And last I heard, Lady Luna was not the color of snow!"

Nostrils flaring with indignation, she snarled back, "Sorry to disappoint, cur.  Now get down here, that I might stab your black heart more easily."

"At least you have the same fighting spirit," he laughed, jumping off the balcony to drop several stories, crashing down several yards away.  Cobblestones shattered beneath his hooves, though he seemed no more jarred by the impact than if he'd hopped off the last step of a staircase.  "But I do insist, m'lady!  I thought there were only two alicorns.  One of them the dusky Lady Luna of the Everfree, and the other... well, that one is undoubtedly the business that brings you to my doorstep.  So which does that make you?"

"Infuriated," she said, and shot him in the chest with a spell.

It detonated upon his breast with a metallic clang, sending the stallion skidding backwards.  The energy dissipated as quickly as it touched him though, an ornate pendant around his neck glowing crimson.  "Impressive!" he snorted.  "That actually tickled."

She stared at the unicorn, open-mouthed.  That spell had been powerful enough to level fully grown ironwood pines.  And he had simply... shrugged it off.

Sombra snickered at her expression.  "Aren't so high and mighty anymore, are we, my mysterious visitor.  What's wrong?  You seem surprised."  He began to chuckle.  "Haahahaha-ghaachk!"

The solid shaft of her spear took him at the top of his throat, punching right through and out the other side in a shower of red blood and black mist.  Gagging and sputtering, the unicorn shuddered, held upright by the ivory grip clenching tightly to the other end of the spear.

"Most call me Celestia," she said.  "It will be the last name you ever hear."

With that, she whirled, ripping the weapon out of him in a flourish.  Blood and fel magic poured from the ghastly wound, but the unicorn remained upright, defying convention.  What was even more worrying, he laughed, grossly spraying out of the gaping hole in his neck.  "Ohh-ho-ho-hoo..."  Before her eyes, it began to close, his amulet igniting crimson once more.  "I think you're going to have to do better than that, Celestia."

She gasped in shock as he lunged faster than should have been possible and dropped an armored shoulder into her side.  It felt as though she'd been hit by a small mountain, one that sent her skipping across the cobblestone square to smash clean through the front of a building.

Dust clouded her vision, her head rang.  Sprawled out on her back, splinters from broken objects poked at her through the cracks in her armor.  Suppressing a groan, she fought to dig herself out.

The air crackled with the hum of magic.  She had time to rip a fallen beam off her muzzle to register the sight of a bloody red fireball growing larger and larger.  It struck the building just above the hole she'd torn.  There was a bright flash of light.

Sound abandoned her.

She was dimly aware of being tossed about like a leaf in a storm.  Debris pelted her, pinging and knocking against the ironwood plates.  Which way was up?  It was impossible to tell.  She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and braced for the colossal impact that eventually came.  When the world stopped heaving, she found all was darkness.  Wreckage pressed in around her from all sides.  The scent of burnt wood singed her nostrils.

"Nrrrrgghh..."

Unsteadily, a long alabaster spire sparked to life in the darkness.

An impressive telekinetic shove cleared the space, ripped a hole to open sky.  She dragged herself up out of the rubble, shaking off dust and splinters and rock.  Somewhat unsteadily, she surfaced.

Sombra was waiting for her.  The mad unicorn stood in the square as he had before, nonchalantly leaning upon his weapon and bearing her a fanged smirk.  "Good morning!" he called.  "Sleep well?"

The only response from his grim counterpart was a sudden bracing.

A solid beam of light slapped him in the face.  "G'AH!  My eyes!"

The white alicorn swooped down from the wreckage and followed up with a colossal bicycle kick.  Sombra's chin snapped upwards, his body following into the air, the sound of bones audibly snapping heard across the plaza.

Before the body could even begin to fall, she wrapped it in a golden vice and slingshotted it around in a wide circle, slamming him through every storefront and building ringing the open space.  Buildings shuddered and collapsed one by one as the smoky meteor carved a path of destruction, before finally arcing back and being released bonelessly at her hooves.

Sombra twitched, groaned, then smiled, though his eyes were cold.  "Still here."

She grabbed his own fallen scythe and swung, hard.

The severed head plopped wetly to the cobbletones.  It laughed at her.  "Try again, little goddess!"

Horrified, she backpedaled into the air, gaining altitude over the mutilated body.  In a fit of panic, she doused it with a solid tide of golden fire.  Stone cracked beneath the punishing onslaught, metal turned to slag, and dirt and gravel became a rough glass.

Yet still, Sombra remained.  The head attached itself to the body in a flash of shadowy magic.  He stood, stretching, as if he'd just had a nice walk.  His amulet pulsed bloody red.  "Are you finished, yet?" he called up to her.

This time, a blinding beam of pure sunlight erupted from her horn and streaked down from above.

"Evidently not," the unicorn snorted, before firing a shaft of inky black up in retaliation.

The two magic lances collided head on, slamming into each other and producing a painful shriek, like two mountains attempting to grind the other to dust.  Slowly, ever so slowly, the bright, golden beam staggered backwards, giving way.  All at once, it shattered like ice, and the alicorn yelped as the dark energy slammed into her breast.

Black lightning sparked across her body.  Unbearable pain clawed at her body and mind.  It felt like her soul was being ripped out of her chest.  She shrieked and fell, plummeting in a tangled mess of feathers and smoking armor.  The impact with the ground stole what little breath she had left.  

Sombra loomed over her, grinning his sharpened grin.  Almost lovingly, he caressed her limp neck with the blade of his scythe.  "I'm almost hurt, Celestia.  Your kin put up much more of a fight."  He leaned closer.  She could smell the foulness of his breath.  "If this is what it means to topple the gods themselves... I'm almost a little disappointed."

"M-monster," she rasped.

"No.  No, no, no."  Sombra chuckled darkly.  The amulet pulsed again.  Up close, she could make it out, a metal alicorn with ruby eyes that sparked malevolently.  "You are the monster.  All your kind.  Falsely believing yourselves divine.  Immune.  Immortal..."

A spiked horseshoe pressed to her neck, steadily increasing in pressure.  She shuddered at the touch of cold metal, willing herself to move, but her limbs were numb and lifeless.

"I am a savior, a cure to the disease that is your twisted presence."  Ruthlessly, he shoved harder on her neck.

She gasped, hitching, struggling with the sudden lack of air.

"No more gods.  No more fate.  Only ponies."

Wheezing, she managed to spit. "A-and... tyrants."

Sombra's face soured at that.  He whirled his scythe above, a spinning blur of death and metal.  "Tell that to Empress," he snarled.

The last thing she saw before sweet nothingness overcame her was the glint of steel on sunlight.





A full moon rose over the forest.

Midnight blue feathers shivered in the cool breeze.  Luna watched the horizon as she chased the sun over the edge of the world.  When the spell faded, the sound of hooves on stone announced itself.  She turned, finding the mage had returned with his reagents.

"The guards let you in without too much trouble?" she asked.

The elderly unicorn gave a harrumph.  "Trouble I can weather."  Starswirl set a bulging pack upon the thick table that took up the center of the room.  It fell over, spilling a strange assortment of items.

Luna gave the reagents a glance.  A small knife glittered at the top of the pile.  She quirked an eyebrow at this, then cast her gaze to the town below, choosing to let the wizard go about his business.

It was a small village, but it was hers.  

Her breast swelled with pride at the thought.  The militia had mustered, and ponies from farther reaches had begun to trickle in, answering her call to arms.  Those from other cities and towns often wore armor, hoof-me-down and spare.  The most distant of travelers from the wilderness often carried nothing but the bright, colorful paints of the tribes, slathered across their bodies in curious patterns.  They eyed the buildings and metal-clad militia with wonder.

It was a small army, but it was hers.

Couriers sent far and wide had spread the plea.  Once news of the Empire's struggle broke, those who led the scattered bands of ponies in this region had been quick to consolidate their efforts towards Luna and her blossoming fiefdom.  They were right to act so quickly; for the mighty nation in the north was the only barrier keeping the horrors ponykind had fled from once before.  If the Empire wavered, all equine civilization would be in danger.  The winds of winter would sweep southwards, covering all once again in a blanket of snow and despair.  And so ponies rallied under the first banner to strike the colors --- the Black Moon of Luna.

There was a small hope... but she could share.

With Celestia drowning in pride and vengeance, with Crystal all but lost to throes of revolution, Luna was the last of her family in Equestria with any hope of truly facing this foe.  She debated stalling her march to send word to some of her more distant --- in both blood and travel --- relatives, but decided against it.

Gazing down at the slowly-swelling host, Luna knew she must be away with all haste.  She would lead them, yes, but they would be the ones who held the line and broke the new King.  It was time to finally step aside from the divine crown they believed she wielded... and step forward into true rulership.

"M'lady, I must give fair warning.  This may not be pleasant for you."  Starswirl's voice from the chamber broke her reverie, and she gave one last look at her legacy before returning to the wizard's side.  She eyed the small knife, which was carefully being sheathed into a small silken pouch by as he spoke.

"Great deeds are not founded upon sand and glass," she said carefully.  "Though I do wonder if your arts are legitimate within the Platinum Circle."

"The Circle may wrap their lips about my horn and blow,"  Starswirl chortled as he dug out a jar of red powder.  He squinted at it.  "Hmmm.  Should be enough.  Not all magic is as noble as many make it out to be.  Magic is... mmmrrgh... many-faceted."

"A means to an end?"  Luna wondered.

The unicorn snorted.  "Magic is magic.  It is a tool, and grants the user a beautiful, terrifying responsibility.  Corrupt the wielder, corrupt the tool.  Corrupt the tool, corrupt the wielder.  I suspect the unicorn Sombra encountered this pitfall and did not have the stomach to resist the allure."

"Responsibility is indeed a frightening thing," murmured the alicorn, noticing the silvery glint of her moon peeking in through a window.

For the next several minutes, she let the wizard work in silence, only watching as he arranged his many tool and reagents along the table.  Eventually, he gave a satisfied nod.  "I have everything I need."

Luna sat at the table, before letting out a shrill whistle.  A servant entered the room with a plate bread, cheese, and broth.  Thanking the servant as he placed it before her, she nibbled thoughtfully at the bread.  "How long will it take?"

"If I work without rest, the rune will be ready by tomorrow afternoon.  You understand your presence is required for the final ingredient?"  Starwswirl arched an eyebrow as he lifted the sheathed knife back into the back.

Luna nodded.  "I shall have the courtyard blocked off for your preparations."

With that, their business was concluded.  The wizard gathered his belongings and left.  Luna was left alone in her tower with her meal, which she ate despite a sudden lack of appetite, and then promptly retired for the night.

For once, the nightmares did not trouble her.





Cold.

Dark.

Not silent.  Gentle clinking of metal.  Droplets landing in a puddle.  Scurrying of rats.  Wet, shallow breathing.

A single shaft of moonlight cut through the pit through a barred window.  Slowly, it crawled across the filthy stones and struck an alabaster visage.  Battered and scorched armor creaked with every slow breath.

She stirred.  An eye opened, blinking against the icy illumination.  Thought soon began to stir behind the rose-colored iris, and with it, a sobering realization, one that had not even registered as a possibility until recent events.

"I... lost?"

Only two words, but they shattered like glass against the cold floor.

It baffled her to no end.  Confused her.  Enraged her.  Frightened her.  She should not have lost.  She could not have lost.  There was no explanation in all her years of experience that served well enough.  Curling up upon the fetid ground, ignoring the clanking of chains, she hugged herself and fought the tears that crept down her snout.

Not once in all her many days had she tasted the bitter tang of defeat.  How could she have?  She was an alicorn.  She was divine.  Hers was the cause of righteousness and harmony... and good always triumphed over evil, right?

Didn't it?

And yet, a foe had bested her.  A murderous, snake-tongued cur, but a foe nonetheless. And a mere unicorn, at that!  Sure, she had many close scrapes over the centuries; the Exile of the Dragons had almost done her in, but the alicorns had prevailed in the end; banishing Fenrir to Tartarus was harrowing, yet they had won the day; even Tirek had met his maker at sharp end of a horn and the strong beat of a wing.

But never, not even once, had she been routed so thoroughly and so... easily!  It were as if the fool had been toying with her the entire time, ending the bout only once she had ceased to amuse him.

It was unfair.  She smashed a hoof into the floor, hairline cracks spiderwebbing across the stone.  But the tears still came, no matter how angry at herself or the wicked, wicked king she became.  Burying her face into the crook of her foreleg, she cried and cried until the hurt slunk back into her chest and the tears became salty stains upon her face.

And when she was done, she heard a rustling coming from the other end of the cell, the one not bathed in moonlight.

Two eyes now peered at her from the shadows just under the barred window, tinged a strange mixture of blue and green, slitted like a dragon's.

Ashamed that somepony had caught her in a moment of weakness, the alicorn rubbed at her face furiously and tried to stand, but collapsed, heavy chains holding her close to the ground.  She settled for a baleful glare in the interloper's direction.  "Stay away from me, whatever you are," she rasped.  "I could break you in half with a thought."

But the creature saw through the obvious bluff; she was so drained she doubted she could lift a feather, let alone snap a spine.  It murmured, "Such pride... such remorse... you taste of heat and smoke..."

She only gazed back, furrowing her brow.

The eyes rose, lifting higher and higher from the ground.  A jagged spire cut through the moonlight first, followed by an almost translucent mane, and long, narrow ears.  The creature's face was hidden by it's own shadow, though she thought she could see a glint of fangs.  Whatever it was, it was tall, and equine.

"Stay away from me," she repeated.  "I will not say this again."

The eyes blinked, hungry and amused.  "You will do no such thing," the creature whispered.  It had a voice that seemed to echo loudly within her skull.  "You will lie there in your misery and broken spirit until this palace crumbles around you.  You will not struggle, having never needed to use heart.  You are a hollow pony, and beneath your prized exterior, there is little worth saving."

"Silence!" shouted the alicorn.  "You lie."

Chuckling.  Sandpaper on granite.  The figure stepped forward, allowing the moon to illuminate a long, swan-like neck, draped by ghostly mane, and a pair of insectile, jagged wings that trembled and sparkled in the light.

"I speak nothing but the truth.  I can taste the souls of ponies, Celestia.   Yours is by far one of the most wretched I have encountered."

"How..."  the alicorn flinched backwards.  "How do you know that name?"

"How could I not," said the creature, though a tinge of uncertainty had crept in.  "We were different, last time I saw you, I think."

Celestia, started, then realization dawned.  Tears began to well anew.

"Crystal?  Is t-that you?"

Green fire leapt up from the floor before them, bathing the room in gentle heat and emerald light.  The thing that stood across from her grimaced.  From jagged horn to holey hooves, every inch of her had changed.  Chitin where once grew fur.  Her crown had turned into some kind of subterranean plant.  Fangs jutted out of a face that was barely recognizable.  

"Once.  Not anymore"

"Stars above, what did he do to you?" Celestia tried to look away, fearing she'd be sick, but she could not tear herself from the sight.

"Did what...?"

"Sombra.  The usurper.  I heard that he'd led a revolt.  Cast you down.  I thought you were ---"

"--- Dead?" Not-Crystal finished for her, whispering, "no, no, much worse... I am remembering, finally.  Your soul is leaking, the hunger isn't as strong anymore.  I..." she paused, frowning.  "They broke me down, flaying me apart until they found the very soul in the heart of every pony.  And then, with darker magics than I have seen, changed it.  Warped it.  What stands before your now is not the pony you once knew.  That one has gone, and the tatters pieced together from the wreckage to inhabit the empty shell."

"Then he really did kill you..." murmured the alicorn.

"Brought me to life, more like."  Not-Crystal bared her teeth in a grimace.  "What good it did.  This hunger is maddening."

"Hunger?"

"I crave... emotion.  Soul-energy.  I need... love.  But I see other things can suffice."

Despite everything, the alicorn smirked.  "You always were needy for attention."

"And you are arrogant," Not-Crystal hissed back.  "Like the one who dwells above."

She winced at that.  "I am better than that wretch, in every way."

"You are a mockery of the ideals we once embodied," Not-Crystal whispered flatly.  "I have tasted of your dreams, have stepped through your mind...  I know what faults lie in your heart of hearts.  Power, without temperance, without perspective, drives one mad.  Your Crystal retained herself by devoting her time to creating a better world for those she called subjects, and in return, they loved her, which she desired more than anything else, perhaps to the point of fault.  A foolish desire, maybe, but a simple one, and so she remained pure at heart with such an outlet.

"Luna, to an extent, has purpose in sheltering the weak from the terrors of the night and the beasts of the wild.  She does not crave their affection like Crystal did, but takes great joy and pride in that they respect and care for her.  Luna holds herself aloof, as you do, but only as the position of leadership demands, no more.  She walks among the common pony and they need her because of it.  And so she, too, remains pure at heart, because she has purpose."

Not-Crystal bared teeth and hissed at her.  "While you are a pathetic waste of a soul.  You wield great strength, perhaps more than the others, but you hoard yourself away from all who would care for you.  It is as if you are afraid to bare your soul to all but yourself, as if we would find a fault in it that you could not.  You demand perfection, but view yourself as the only perfect thing, and so you did not remain pure at heart, giving into the coldness of isolation and misbegotten pride."

"I... I was not always so solitary," she stammered.

"What, then?" demanded Not-Crystal.  "Lost a few to the passing of time?  Feh!  What were they?  Friends?  Acquaintances?  Lovers?  Crystal loved all her subjects, as much as they loved her, and each passing was a dagger in the heart.  Even Luna has fondness for a few, I bet.  At least she does not fear the sting of time and hide away within a fetid cave in the hills!"

There was no noise in the cell aside from the pitter-patter of teardrops upon the stone.

"Your fear of loss lead to your own exile, and your isolation gave birth to your false pride, and that has led you here to be broken and cast into the darkness.  Nopony can bear the passage of time alone, Celestia.  Even us..."

Something cold and smooth nestled to her side.  She stiffened, but gradually relaxed again at the creature's touch.

"We are cursed to have broken free from the cycle of life and death.  It is an unimaginably terrifying fate, but remember we were chosen because ponies needed a guide though the grand adventure of existence.  We do not have to bear this burden alone.  We can share it with them, and both shall only become better for it.  If we give ourselves to them, they will return the favor ten-thousandfold."

Not-Crystal laid her neck across ivory shoulders.

The alicorn buried her face into the cold, hard breast of the thing that might once have been her sister and surrendered to her grief.

"If you cannot believe in yourself, at least believe in them, and endure..."





The next day, a crack of thunder split the air in the very heart of the ruined city.

Steam and cinders spewed up from the epicenter, the cobbled square beneath the palace itself.

An area that covered nearly the entirety of the gathering place had vanished beneath the thick cloud.  Overseers and soldiers cracked their whips and beat down the heads of the curious, bellowing commands to their minions to get in there and figure out what had occured.

None were eager.  Drawing straws, they elected one of their own to test the swirling depths.  Uncertainly, one vanished into the fog.  The others waited on the edge of the square.

They did not come out.

In the crimson sky, something was happening.  Shouts around the city, pointing hooves upwards.  A great black orb was swallowing the sun whole.  The land darkened.  A bloody eclipse.  Mutterings of what it could mean.

The slaves knew.  Had dreamt of what was to follow.

The Lady's Black Moon had been struck.

From the epicenter, on an unseen signal, a tide of war surged forth from the mists.  Ponies of every shape and size, painted in terrifying patterns, armed to the teeth, roaring battle cries that came from across half a continent.  The veil of steam cleared as they surged to the palace, ignoring the city itself.  A mighty runic circle had been scorched into the stone where they appeared.

At the center of the pack, clad in silver chainmail and black marding, a midnight-blue alicorn galloped, shouting her orders to captains and spurring the army onwards.  A starry-cloaked wizard tried to keep up beside her.

"M'lady," Starswirl the Bearded wheezed, "I do believe you owe me a constellation!"

"A bargain well earned, wizard," Luna panted beside him, grinning.  "You have gotten us here.  That itself is miracle enough.  You shall have your prize!  Stay with the vanguard, keep safe, help search for Celestia if you can.  I would hate to see you injured, after your effort."

"Why, Luna, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were concerned for my well being!"

"Aye!" laughed the alicorn, "For too long have I gone without a suitable victim for the chessboard!"

The horde swarmed the bewildered guards at the palace gate, raced through the cavernous entry, and began ascending the stairs into the palace proper.  Sombra's forces they encountered within the winding passages were simply trampled by river of bodies.  Luna remembered this place well, from her visits in the past, and soon split them off to take sections of the palace, and seal it from the inside.

The battle was over in less than an hour.  Taken completely by surprise by the abrupt appearance of Luna's small army in the middle of their city, Sombra's forces could not rally themselves in time to save the palace before it had been completely overwhelmed.  Those trapped outside had no link to the chain of command, and vainly tried a disorganized assault, but were easily repelled.

Those inside the palace under the service of the mad king were put to the sword.  There were no trials or prisoners.  The slaves liberated did not mind that one bit.

Finally, Lady Luna herself stood before the last place in the palace not yet breached by her army.

The throne room.

Massive doors barred the way.  Luna eyed these with little interest, instead addressing her captains.

"Pegasi take the ramparts and outer defenses," she ordered.  "Should those outside gather their siege engines, have squadrons take flight and smash them before they can reach the palace.  Unicorns and earth ponies mind the palace entrances.  Seal the doors with barricades, then enchant them shut.  Nothing comes in or out from there."

She paused.

"Also, a token amount should scour the dungeons for any Sombra may have imprisoned during the coup.  Find a jailor to aid in determining those who were imprisoned by the Mad King and those who were placed there before by my sister.  Any wrongly imprisoned pony who wishes to take up arms shall be allowed to do so."

Her captains saluted her, and took off to follow her orders.

Alone, she now looked to the door.  A tall, ornate thing, covered by an evil-looking magical barrier.  No doubt Sombra had erected it before sealing himself away beyond.  She was not eager to test the spell.

"I know you are in there, Sombra," she said.  "And I know you can hear me.  You are trapped like a fly in honey.  You have no escape.  There is only one way off the throne, and I stand before it.  Your castle is mine.  Your kingdom's back is broken.  Your soldiers will abandon you, as they do all tyrants.  I ask that you surrender yourself now to justice, and I garauntee that your death will be painless and swift."

No answer came from beyond the barrier.  

Luna smiled.  Her teeth seemed sharper in the ruddy light of the eclipse.  "I can wait here.  I will not fall prey to ignorance like my sisters.  I know exactly how you came to power.  Your reign, short as it will be, is based on hypocrisy.  Before this is over, you shall rue the day you defiled the cosmos for such trivial gains.  That amulet around your neck... it is not what you think it is."

"Mark my words, Sombra.  Your nightmare is only just beginning."





Deep in the cavernous tunnels beneath the palace, an elderly unicorn shuffled along.

Starswirl the Bearded paused for a moment to catch his breath.  Not as young as he used to be, it seemed.  He looked over his shoulder to the small party of soldiers who had come with him, and the sickly-looking pony in charge of the dungeons.  "There's a turn up ahead.  Which way?"

"That depends," the jailor said.  "Maximum or minimum security?"

Starswirl thought a moment, and replied, "Take me to the prisoner Sombra hates the most."

"Go left."

They did, descending even deeper into the bowels of the palace foundations.  Here the air was thick with moisture, and mold grew up the rough walls.  They passed innumerable cell doors, some solid metal, others pure crystal.  Starswirl peered in through a few of these, but could make nothing out save darkness.

And then... They came to it.  A cell door at the very end of the hallway.  The very last one.  Thick chains criss-crossed it every which way, and a massive padlock held it all together.

The jailor removed a simple silver key from his keyring, and inserted it into the lock, saying darkly, "I'd stand back if I were you.  These two are here for reasons.  Don't know why, they don't tell me nothin'."

"Hmmm," was all the wizard said.

The chains crashed to the ground, a noise that seemed all too loud in the echoing stone passageway.  The jailor gave the door a hard shove, and it opened into a large cell.

Starswirl calmly walked through, eyes missing nothing.

At the very center of the cell, chained to the floor my hooves and wings, lay a snowy white pony in battered ironwood armor.  She looked as though she had been burnt, beaten, cut, and smashed through a building or two, but he recognized her from Luna's village nonetheless.  They'd found her!

Standing over the fallen alicorn was something else entirely, bound by no chain and staring defiantly at him.

"And who might you be?" he asked the thing.

Fangs glinted in the dark.  "You may call me... Chrysalis."






She awoke in a feathery bed, to the smell of hot tea next to her on the dresser.

She blinked.

"Where..."

A creak.  Doors on the other side of the room opened.  A midnight blue head peeked inside.  Spying her awake, Luna bounded inside, crying, "Sister!  'Tis good to see you!"

Finding herself swaddled in a tight clutch of dark feathers and limbs, she managed to gasp back, "'S good to... be... here..."

Luna eventually pulled away.  In a quiet voice, she said, "I was worried I'd lost you again."

"Again?"  Dazed, the ivory alicorn rolled from the bed, groaning as she stood on sore limbs.  It felt like she'd been burnt, beaten, cut, and smashed through a building or two.

Oh, wait...

"Your appearance yesterday was the first time I'd laid eyes upon you in centuries."  Luna shifted somewhat uncomfortably.  "Even for us, that is a worrying amount of time.  I... didn't want to make a scene in front of the others before, but we are alone now."

"So I see."  Shaking off the lingering effects of sleep, she looked around, finding herself in a stately bedroom.  "And where exactly are we?"

Luna grinned.  "Guest chambers in the Crystal Palace.  We've taken it out from under Sombra's hooves, and he's locked himself in the throne room for the moment."

"We...?"  She limped across the room, Luna at her side, into the hallway.  Jerking back in surprise, she barely missed striding into a troop of wild-looking ponies in war paint trotting past.  They gave a salute her way, and she almost returned it before she realized they were saluting Luna, not her.  "I recall you assembling an army.  How did you get them here so fast?"

"A friend," Luna mysteriously said, and nothing more.

Not bother to see if she'd follow, the white alicorn began to stalk through the palace, making for the throne room.  She knew the way, had been here a millennium or two ago.  Here and there the signs of conflict painted themselves across the walls and floor.  It was strange to see this place in such a manner.  Never once had she imagined being here as a conqueror...

"You said Sombra has sealed himself within the throne room?"

"Aye.  We are preparing to storm it presently."

She eyed her younger sister carefully.  "He is stronger than you think."

"He cheats," Luna replied.  "Though working together, I have no fear that his paltry trinket can overcome us."

"Trinket..."  She anxiously thought back to her encounter with the insane unicorn.  "The amulet?"

Luna merely nodded.

"You have a plan?"

Another nod, this one accompanied by a wicked smirk.  

Fine, then.  Let her have her secrets.  The alicorn would play the cards dealt.  Eventually, they arrived in before the throne room, still blocked off by the mighty doors and the swirling magical barrier.  Many members of Luna's army had assembled there, some sharpening weapons, others working fresh dents out of armor, others still applying bandages where needed.

A large black creature stood off to the side, looking rather out-of-place and awkward.  Unburdened by the confines of the cell, she was even taller than the alicorns, though not by much.  A bearded white unicorn in a starry robe stood next to her, seemingly unconcerned with the strange looks his counterpart was attracting from the soldiers.  "Crystal?" murmured the alicorn, moving to them.

"Chrysalis," snapped the creature, tossing her translucent mane.

Somewhat taken aback, she pressed forth, "Are you going to help us against Sombra?  To reclaim your throne?"

"It's not my throne," growled Chrysalis.  "Luna has spoken with me already at length at the subject.  I will help, if only out of respect for the husk I inhabit."

"Then you are welcome here with us," she smiled, and truly meant it.  If the creature still harbored any traces of the soul that came before her, she would prove to be a formidable foe.  She almost passed over the unicorn, but paused, "And you are?"

"Starswirl," the elder answered, cryptically adding, "the friend."

"Good enough."  And it was, for the moment.

The time they spent before the final bastion was well spent.  The three who face the king's wrath prepared themselves for the final confrontation.  Somepony had found the alicorn her spear from the battlefield, and she relished in giving the fine weapon a twirl.  Luna whetted her own blades, two white scimitars, presents from an old desert kingdom.  Chrysalis shrugged off any attempts at armament, stating flatly that she wouldn't require it.  The wizard, meanwhile, busied himself in examining the magic barrier before the actual door.

The ivory alicorn allowed her mind to wander.

Things had changed... irrevocably, undeniably.

The ponies before her ebbed and flowed, streaking through sight and along the river of time.  Such fragile things, she thought.  And yet, they had succeeded where she had failed.  Stormed the castle, put the king into rout, struck fear into the very heart of an evil empire.  And they'd done it with nothing but eachother.  The sparkle of magic in the eye, the wind beneath their wings, the earth underhoof... that was all they needed.  No cosmic anointing, no divine responsibility.  In an age where the alicorn could be cast down from her pillar, perhaps...

...Perhaps the time had come for the common pony to take the pedestal?

Perhaps they were capable enough to watch over the world.

Ah, but who would watch over them?

She supposed she might.  Maybe.  She didn't like change.  Her forest had remained in eternal summer for as long as she'd shepherded it.  But that was the way of things, too often.  Even she answered to the rule of nature.  Change was a part of this world, and she was more deeply bound to the ebb and flow that originally thought.  Perhaps it was time to step once more into the light.  Not today, or tomorrow, but... as the sun rose and fell, she would have to follow one day as it came high over the land for all to see and rejoice beneath.

If she could not believe in herself... maybe she could believe in them.

Sighing, the alicorn dragged herself back into the proper passage of time.  She stood and slowly crossed the room.  "When do we move?" she asked her sister, who looked up at her from a pile of papers.

"Are you ready?  'Twill be a reckoning."

"I am."

They left the papers and documents.  Chrysalis saw them and trailed behind, scowling and baring fangs at any who got too close.  Together, the three came before the door.  Starswirl sat on his haunches before them, a grim look on his face.  His word was fitting the expression.

"Before you stands one of the most perverse machinations of magic I have ever witnessed," he began.  "This is what some of my colleagues would label as the spawn of necromancy."

"Soul magic," breathed Luna, brow furrowing.

Starswirl blinked, surprised by this knowledge.  "The spell is powered by the spirits of the living, ripped from their bodies, essence crushed and beaten into a crude replication of a true spell matrix.  What has been done here is an abomination of nature itself."

"Interesting," Chrysalis drawled, "but what does it do?"

"In this case, it acts as a skeleton keyhole."

"Come again?" queried the creature.

"A skeleton keyhole.  Any pony that wishes to pass through may do so, but their soul is used as a key, and the key itself is warped by the hole.  The results will be... nyerghhh... unpleasant."

The three exchanged looks.

"I will go first," declared Chrysalis.  Before any could stop her, the black creature stepped forth, crossing the barrier with a ripple of magic.  Once on the other side, she stood, examining herself, unimpressed.

"Do you feel any different?" asked Luna.

"No.  Just hungry."

"Very well.  I shall go next."  Luna trotted forwards, hesitating before the barrier, but lowering her horn and charging through anyways.

Immediately, there was a tremendous magical reverberation.  From the other side of the barrier, ponies could make out a sudden storm of lightning and shadows, obscuring the events from sight.  A pained shriek came from within the tempest.

"Luna!?"  The white alicorn anxiously kneaded the ground.  "Are you well?"  No response.  "Answer me!"

"She is well," came the wheezing cackle of Chrysalis.  "If a bit black of feather... and heart."

The cloud passed away, and the thing struggling to it's hooves beside the insectile creature was not Luna.  It too, was dark-coated, though with luxurious fur.  An ethereal mane sparkling with stars swayed and crackled in the breeze.  Draconic-pupils set into pale blue eyes.  Sharp fangs gnashed together.  Feathers of shadow cut the air like blades.

"Luna...?"

"I'm... fine," she whispered back.  "I think.  I feel... different..."

The white alicorn did not allow herself to hesitate.  She rammed into the barrier and carried clear on through.  There was a flash of light, and she suddenly found herself on the floor, staring up at the ceiling.

Both Chrysalis and the New Luna were staring down at her.  

"What?"

"You have a rainbow on your head," New Luna stated flatly.

"And evil coming out of your eyes," Chrysalis pointed out.

It was true.  Drawing her mane close with a hoof, she could see the strawberry locks had been joined by streaks of poisonous-looking green and ghostly blue.  Even her tail had turned.  And from the corner of her eyes, she could see a fel mist wafting away.  "Why do I have this affliction?  The blasted unicorn's eyes steamed like this."

"From here, it seems that the gate exacerbates some of the more... negative aspects of a soul."  The wizard called over.

"I'm not evil!" shrieked the alicorn.

"Evil is an application, not a state of being," he replied.  "How do you feel?'

How did she...?  Like she wanted to rip Sombra's intestines out by his throat.  Like she wanted to burn this entire palace to the ground.  She.  Felt.  Goooooooood.

Deigning not to answer, the alicorn rolled off her back and shrugged her wings a few times, before putting a hoof against the door itself.  With a savage cry, she shoved it open, and stalked inside the throne room.





Three stood before the Mad King.

Sombra looked down on them all and smiled.  "Well done... it seems I am thoroughly outclassed."

"My offer still stands," said the one that was blacker than the darkest night.  "Surrender yourself peacefully, and your execution will not be a drawn affair."

"Surrender?" he chuckled.  "No.  That's not an option.  You see... I've already won."

"How?" Celestia demanded. "The heart of your kingdom is ours.  Your forces are routed, and you cannot hope to defeat us all together.  There is no other option."  She advanced forward a few steps, towering tall.  "You are finished!"

"I am the beginning!" roared Sombra, and reared, before charging down the stairs at them.

The battle began.

In a splash of shadowy magic, Sombra's scythe appeared before him, and began to spin.  With a bellow, he hurled himself at his three foes.  Crashes of steel on steel echoed round the room as the titans brawled.

Celestia came in from high, pumping her wings once for height, then blazing down with spear extended, trailing an aurora of color behind her.  The whirling scythe swatted her spear aside, and she ungracefully ricocheted off its haft.  

Sweeping low, Sombra spun to the side, dodging Luna's first thrust while slicing out at Chrysalis.  The creature simply deflected the blade with her jagged horn, before sending him skyward with a blast of green fire from beneath his hooves.

The black alicorn chased him into the air, sinking both swords into his neck and rolling forward, whipping the king around in a tight circle before ripping free.  Sombra was flung back to earth in shower of blood, but somehow the unicorn flipped himself around and landed on his hooves.

Celestia was on him again, not giving him the chance to breathe.  She rammed him from behind at full speed, a magical shield acting as a wedge between them, driving him completely across the room and into the wall, which shattered from the impact.

Sombra's amulet pulsed, repulsing her with a shower of crimson lances.  Tearing himself from the wall, he raised an armored hoof just in time to slap Chrysalis' horn away from taking his leg off.  His other hoof followed, punching straight through a torrent of green fire and catching the creature in the jaw, sending her reeling, spitting out a broken fang.

The shadow came at him again, a tornado of whirling blades.  Sombra roared in defiance and met it with his scythe.  The exchange of blows came so swiftly and with such force that the crystal windows began to crack with each concussive slam of steel on steel, and small contrails traced the path of each sharpened edge.

Step by step he was driven around the room, unable to handle two blades at the same time, until the dark alicorn overextended her reach by a hair.  Sombra danced forwards and lashed out with the butt end of his scythe, sweeping long black legs out from underneath their owner.

She crashed to the ground, and Sombra sent his scythe screaming down for a coup de grâce.  Clang!  It bounced off an armored shoulder, and then Celestia was everywhere at once, wrenching his own weapon from his grasp and laying into him with both it and her spear.  He fell, his own blood flying through the air in every which way.

His amulet ignited once more, sputtering a bit.

A colossal wave of crimson surged forth, and Celestia squawked as she was carried off her hooves and sent skipping across the throne room floor.

Jumping over the flying body, Chrysalis brought her horn down, an emerald inferno blazing from the tip.  The gout of flame enveloped the unicorn momentarily, before another scarlet pulse bought him a reprieve, his own bloody beam of energy pushing back.

The black alicorn regained her footing and joined her ally, arching her back, flaring her wings out, and then hammering downwards with a barrage of lightning bolts that tore deep gashes through Sombra's armor.  Another pulse --- this one weaker than the last --- and the crimson shield deflected these, pinging and zinging off its surface.

Suddenly, a jagged black crystal came up underneath him, catching him he gut and carrying him upwards even as it impaled him.  Celestia stood with the others, now, fel mist boiling along her horn.  Sombra screamed all the way up, until the crystal crushed him into the ceiling with a titanic crash.

A burst of bloody light, and the pillar of crystal shattered, and then Sombra plummeted down from above, flailing wildly.  He twisted, desperately attempting to square himself up for the landing ---

A foot and a half of jagged black horn took him in the chest, bursting out his back with a sick shower of bone and guts.  Chrysalis bared her fangs in savage delight, before whirling mid-air and flinging him, amulet now sparking haphazardly as it tried to heal the damage while he flew through the air.

Twin comets of white came up to meet him, the unicorn helpless to defend himself as the dark alicorn caught him in her sharpened embrace.  Blood flew, bones were smashed, and suddenly Sombra found himself lacking most of his limbs.  The amulet flickered, already regrowing the lost appendages, but it was taking longer, too slow now, not fast enough to keep pace...

With a wet smack, what was left of a unicorn hit the floor.

Celestia stood over him.  "You don't deserve this quick death," she stated softly, before giving his own scythe a twirl, and sending it screaming down.  Sombra's head rolled off to the side, amulet still pathetically trying to mitigate the ferocious wound.  The king was still roaring his defiance with every ounce of strength.

And then, in a cataclysmic explosion, all three bent their heads as one, sening a tide of multicolored hellfire at the screaming head.  

KRAKA-BOOOOOOOOM!

When it faded, nothing was left but darkened amulet lying on the floor, and an evil looking black mist hanging in the air above it.

Celestia's eyes burned.  She gasped as the fel mist pouring from their edges suddenly vanished.  Luna, too, yelped, and in a wash of darkness, the black left her coat like ink dripping off paper.  Both their manes remained ethereal.

"Is... it over?" rasped Luna.

"One would think," Chrysalis panted alongside her.

Celestia raised her head to answer, but when she opened her mouth, something else spoke in her stead.

"You... arrogant fools!"  The dark mist began to coalesce, thickening and swirling together until a face appeared from it's midst.  Sombra's visage hatefully snarled at them, "All of you... everypony... will pay for that!  I'll take you all with me!"

And then he vanished.

The three looked around at eachother.

Chrysalis spat, "Well, that could have been wor---"

The ground suddenly shook.  A terrible, howling roar split the air, and darkness seeped in from the shattered windows.  Outside, the sky was beginning to darkening with swirling streaks of smoke.  Unholy magical reverberations thundered in their ears.

"Hurry!  To the others!" cried Luna, picking up the amulet and stowing it beneath her cloak.

They raced out of the throne room, to find their allies huddling against walls and under furniture.  The wizard, in particular, was staring in horror at the mounting catastrophe outside.  He rounded upon them at the sound of their hoofsteps.  "We have to leave.  Now!"

Bellowing orders, Luna marshaled her captains and sent them galloping as fast as she could.  The instructions were simple; abandon the Palace!  A frenzied evacuation took place as those who followed the Black Moon's banner scrambled to drag their wounded and account for missing ponies.

Starswirl met them on the cobblestone square below the palace.  The runic circle that had brought the army here was still smouldering.  "We can use it again!" he declared.  "If we alter it just a bit, we can quickly escape the blast radius of the mad king's spell!"

"What spell is he casting?" wondered Celestia.

"He's ripping a hole in time!"  the wizard barked.  "He wants to bury us in an instant for all eternity!  I can feel the matrix of the spell forming --- time spells are my specialty --- and I assure you, if we do not escape this city very, very shortly, we are never going to leave it again."

"Can you stop it?" demanded Luna.

"I can mitigate it," said Starswirl.  "Weaken the length of the imprisonment some, but no, there is no counterspell invented that could stop this."  With that, the unicorn raised his horn, igniting in an aura of pale gold, and began to mutter strange words under his breath.

Luna turned to the others.  "I know enough of runecrafting to tend to our escape avenue."

"Don't just stand there, then!  Do it!" screeched Chrysalis.

The smaller alicorn shot off like a rocket.

Celestia, not sure of what she could do to help, stood helplessly by.  Ponies were pouring from the palace, gathering on the rune.  Seeing no sign of Luna, and wary of Chrysalis, they congregated around Celestia.  She soon found herself at the center of the army, tolerating their presence but not really sure of what to do about it.

After several agonizing moments, everything was set.

As one, the unicorns pointed their horns to the sky, each igniting their aura and pouring power into the focal point of the spell, the wizard, standing at the exact center of the rune, who directed the the flow into the lines themselves.

Celestia felt, rather than saw, a titanic crash of lightning, and then they were in the snow.  The sky was perfectly blue, and the tundra around them blossomed with life and new growth.  Some distance away, the ruins of the Crystal Empire were encompassed in a swirling vortex of roiling darkness.  The ponies pointed and whispered amongst themselves at the sight.

And then, the smoke faded away.  

When it cleared, the city was gone.

For a long while, they were speechless at the sheer loss of it.

Eventually, Celestia turned away from the devastation of it, and began to limp across the tundra.  There was only one direction she cared about.  South.

Another joined her.  Then another.  Soon, the entire army began the long trudge home.  They were going home.

Celestia was okay with that.








Scholar's Log,  23 AC, 2nd Age of Light

After the Battle of the Crystal Palace, those involved went their separate ways, for the most part.

The various wild tribes of the forest, who had came to the aid of Lady Luna, returned to their lands, telling stories of great stone cities in the snow and the angels with wings and horn who walked among them.

The majority who answered the call from other keeps and holds stayed with Lady Luna in her blossoming town, a fledgling settlement that would remain outside the influence of politics and conflict for several decades after words.  Everfree, they began to call it, and so it was that the foundations of a mighty castle were laid for their ruler to call home.

The few crystal ponies who managed to escape from the Mad King's chrono-spell chose to remain in the North, eeking out a living on the vast tundras and mountains.  They dwindled in number without a city to call their own, though, and eventually they faded into obscurity and legend, dying out or breeding away until there where none of their kind left save those still trapped in time.

Chrysalis vanished almost as soon as the army completed their journey.  A nearby settlement vanished with her.  Some time later, documents recovered from the Crystal Palace were looked over, and a startling truth was found; Empress Crystal herself had been executed by Sombra immediately upon successful revolution, and her body given to his wolves.  The thing that came out of the dungeons had been there since before Sombra's short reign.  To this day, nopony knows why she fought alongside the Sisters.  Or, for that matter, what she plans to do with her freedom.

Lady Luna returned to her little town, and was content in watching it grow over the years, welcoming all who sought her haven out in the middle of the forest, and was fortunate enough to spark the beginning of a new Golden Age of peace and prosperity for the region.  She would forever on be plagued by nightmares, though, growing increasingly worse after contact with the Mad King's soul-warping spell.  Over the years, she became reclusive and distant from her subjects.

Celestia eventually joined her sister in Everfree.  While not involving herself directly in the affairs of common folk for many years, she had to step up and fill the more public roles of government that her sister did not bother with in her increasing isolation.  The ponies love her, even though she can be a tad aloof and haughty at times.  I, for one, think she'll do just fine, with a few centuries of work, perhaps.

Speaking of me, I couldn't find it in me to end my traveling habits so soon.  After spending another twenty years on the road, learning all I could, I finally settled down in a small mountain village a day's travel North from Everfree, called Canterlot by the ponies who dwell here.  I visit the Ladies --- excuse me, Princesses --- every now and then, teaching all who care to lend an ear about mysteries of magic.

The matter of the imprisoned Empire is yet to be resolved.  One day, in the far future, it will return, along with the shade of what once was the unicorn Sombra.  

Hopefully, by then Celestia and Luna have a more permanent solution ready.  

Heavens willing.

---Starswirl the Bearded