> No Elements, No Harmony
>  by Fret
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> New Spell
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Twilight, I don't get why you're so excited," Spike grunted, "I mean, you learn new spells all the time."

"Well, yes," Twilight answered, turning around to meet his eyes, "but Celestia's never asked me to help her work out a Starswirl the Bearded spell, has she?"

"Umm... yes?" he answered. Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, and when was this?"

"When you cast a spell, even though you didn't know what would happen and swapped your friends cutie marks?"

"..."

"..."

"She wasn't in the same room as me. Doesn't count," she confirmed, turning back around to face the door. It had been about an hour since Twilight had gotten the letter informing her about the task she was about to be given. She was starting to get impatient. Then again, Celestia was always caught up in royal duties and things. She let out a sigh, followed by Spike putting  his claw on her leg.

"Aw, c'mon Twi. Y'know how busy Celestia can be. She'll be here soon."

Twilight shook her head. "It's not that. I mean... I know I've rambled on about this stuff before... but sometimes I worry about... well... taking her place one day. If I ever do." She looked around her kingdom she had gotten just a couple of weeks ago. "I have a kingdom... a throne room to share with my friends, even the title of the Princess of Friendship. But will it ever go beyond all of this? And more importantly... will I be able to handle it?"

Spike was silent for a second. "Eh, you've defeated a lot of evil guys in the past. Who says you can't handle the dreaded paperwork?" He put on his sarcastic tone Twilight had come to love these past few years. She smiled at his support.
"And if you can't, I'm sure you'll be able to wing it," Spike flicked a feather on her wings as he said that.

"No offence, Spike, but that pun was awful." The voice of Rainbow Dash surprised her. "Sup Twilight?"

"Um... Hi, Rainbow. What are you all doing here?" She noticed her four other friends trotting up behind her.

"We were gonna meet up for a picnic! Remember?" Pinkie answered, still bouncing despite having stopped in front of Twilight.

"Oh my... I totally forgot!" She put a hoof on her mouth. "Sorry girls... I've been given a task by the Princess today, and she'll be arriving soon," Twilight sighed. She couldn't hang out with her friends as much as she used to now she had wings and a kingdom. Now she could actually find the time to be with them she throws it down the drain. And she was usually so organized!

"Aw, that's alright, sugarcube," Applejack smiled, "we can always do it tomorrow or somethin'. So what's this here task she's givin' you?"

"Oh, just another mysterious spell by Starswirl the Bearded." She tried to act casual, despite wanting to squeal so much at the thought. She still didn't know what the spell did or what it was for.

"Hah, yeah, you should have seen her first reaction. She totally geeked out!" Spike folded his arms. "Just a matter of time 'til she gets here."

"Do you think she'll mind if we stick around?" Fluttershy asked.

"Of course I won't," Celestia's voice surprised each one of them. Everyone but Twilight bowed down as she walked towards them, with a surprise appearance to her younger sister. Twilight went up and hugged her former mentor, and nodded a 'hello' to Luna.

"Before you ask, I'm here because we don't know how much magic this spell will require," Luna explained, "also, I was bored."

"So, what exactly does this spell do?" Twilight asked, closing the doors and started to walk down the hall.

"We're not exactly sure. But with your help, Twilight, I'm sure we can find out. That is why I've called you on this task," Celestia smiled with pride.

"Maybe this spell will be able to make those beautiful wings I got all those moons ago!" Rarity sighed, drifting off into a daydream, only to be cut off by Rainbow Dash.

"NO. No more alicorns, I can't take it! Though, I suppose Princess Rarity is better than Princess Discord..."

"Um... what?" Celestia looked at Rainbow with confusion.

"Never mind..." the pegasus muttered.

Eventually, they all got into a lesser spaced room to start working on the spell. Out of her saddle bag, Celestia pulled out a book, and turned a few pages in. "He asked me to try and complete it, because he knew he couldn't. For years I couldn't either, and eventually I forgot about it. I only just recently found this book again and decided to give it another try."

"Can't be too complicated for Twilight. She worked out that last spell in a matter of hours. Which somehow seemed like twenty-two minutes." Spike shrugged.

"Exactly. However, I'm not even sure what it even does," Celestia said, turning back a page, "all I've worked out so far is the first step out of six."

"There's six steps to this spell?" Luna asked, scanning over the page. "I don't get it," she said flatly.

"I'm not sure what it is with Starswirl and not rhyming things," Twilight shrugged. "Okay, let's read this properly."

"The world we stand in
Is what we call home,
But are we grateful?
We may never be sure-"

"Hey, he could of said 'known' instead of 'sure' and it would gave rhymed!" Rarity complained. Twilight rolled her eyes and continued reading.

"The first step to this spell
Is to look in a mirrored surface
Concentrate on your magic
Let consideration fill your mind."

Twilight stopped reading, and looked at a nearby mirror. She closed her eyes, and a spark escaped her horn. Soon, her horn was barely visible in the bright light it gave off. Celestia stood next to her and did the same, and Luna levitated the book in front of her and continued the riddle.

"Guide yourself to your reflection
To complete you must blurr
All you love here
Think what you hate- Okay why would I do that? Also, what do I hate?" Luna grew a confused look. Celestia opened her eyes and looked at her.

"That's where I get stuck. Is it telling me to hate Equestria or something? There aren't many things I hate."

"Discord?" Rainbow Dash guessed.

"Not really."

"Not having cake?" Pinkie Pie suggested.

"That is depressing, but no."

"Well, it says to blur everything that you love here," Twilight began, "maybe it means, imagine an Equestria where nothing you love exists?"

Pinkie gasped, "No PARTIES?!"

"Alright, let's try it."

The three princesses faced the mirror, and each blanked out all they loved about this world. Friendships, sunlight, moonlight...

"Uh, girls, what's happening?" Applejack asked as each princess' magic darkened.

"...Did they actually think through what would happen?" Spike whimpered.

"Oh no, it's that Magical Mystery Cure episode all over again!" Pinkie screeched as the whole room seemed to be erased by their magic.

Twilight opened her eyes and looked in horror. "Um... Celestia... Luna... should we stop?"

"What?!" Celestia yelled above the gales that blanked our their voices.

"I said, should we-"

"STOP!" Luna yelled with her Royal Canterlot Voice. Each glow from the princess' horns stopped immediately afterwards. It took them time to adjust their eyes to the unfamiliar scenery surrounding them. For a while, the three of them stood there confused. Then Celestia spoke up,

"What did we do?"

---

The bright light disappeared, and the remaining six friends brought their eyes to where the alicorns had stood less than a few seconds ago. But that all was left was a singed floor.

"Where did they go?" Spike quivered.
> Familiar to the Unknown
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The three princesses looked around. They were now no longer in Ponyville, but in a dry and dull area. 

"What is this place?" Twilight rasped. 

"Why does it remind me of the moon?" Luna said, tilting her head. "We're not on the moon are we?"

"Stop panicking, I'm sure it's not the moon," Celestia answered.

"How would you know? You've never been there."

Celestia simply pointed at the sky with her hoof. A bright moon shone in the black sky.

"Oh," the night princess sighed with relief. "Well, should we look around? Maybe it will narrow down where we are."

"I suppose but... where do we go?" Twilight pointed out.

"Maybe we can cut the search short?" Celestia suggested, spreading her wings to prepare for flight. The two other alicorns nodded, then followed her lead. They all took off into the air at different times, but they managed to keep together.

---

"This is so not good," Spike breathed. "Okay okay, maybe it's not too bad. Let's see, the two alicorns who are the only ones who can move celestial bodies like the sun and moon have disappeared along with the Princess of Friendship who usually takes over their jobs when they're captured or whatever.
...
Oh what am I kidding, this is AWFUL!"

"Spike!" Applejack covered his mouth with her hoof. "Calm down. Surely they know what they're doin', wherever they've gone."

"And... this has happened before. Remember when Twilight went to that place to get her wings? They'll probably be back by tonight!" Rainbow sounded chill, but it was obvious she was at least a bit worried.

"Of course. They've all been summoned to get a second pair of wings." Spike rolled his eyes. "Oh, and I don't think there will be a 'tonight'. If you haven't noticed, the Princesses of both Night and Day are gone."

"Well, there's Cadance," Pinkie Pie told them.

"She can't raise the sun and moon. Heck, Luna's said herself that she can barely raise the sun!" Spike retorted.

"I know that, silly!" she giggled, "But if the princesses don't arrive soon, somepony will have to take their place in ruling at least!"

"...Oh. Right."

Rainbow Dash then slapped a hoof on her face. "Don't you guys think we should be worrying about our friend rather than who's gonna bring night and day?" she groaned.

"We are, darling. But losing three princesses in Equestria out of four can cause great havoc for everypony, not just us," Rarity explained.

"Yeah... I suppose," she sighed.

"With that being said, who's gonna raise the sun or moon just in case they don't come back, which I'm sure they will?" Applejack asked, keeping her tone calm.

"Discord?" Fluttershy suggested. Rainbow gave a skeptical look.

"Hey, I know we've forgiven him and all... but don't let power go to his head. And what does he know about moving things in the sky like harmony-maintainers?"

"Well, we could ask someone with unlimited power, or explain to a bunch of unicorns that the princesses tested a spell and now while we wait for their return they have to do their jobs," the shy pegasus pointed out, at first with an assertive tone, "...but it's your choice," she added quietly.

The blue pegasus sighed again, "Fine. Discord it is... that is if they don't come back soon."

---

The three ponies scanned the ground below them, searching for any clue to where they were. The area seemed somewhat familiar, but not one was aware of each other's epiphany to where they had been summoned to.

Below them, was a small, poor-looking village with a few farms, most of them with no crops. Next to it was a forest with dying trees and dull green grass, a lot of it have been replaced with dirt. Then after that came a ditch with a broken bridge hanging off the edge... then a castle...

"That's not possible," Luna gaped, "sister, tell me I'm seeing things."

Celestia shook her head. "I see it clearly."

"What?" Twilight asked them.

"It's our castle. Our old castle. When we were younger. But it's fixed." Luna could barely say the words.

"So... that forest is the Everfree? And that village was Ponyville?" she put everything together, "But... how?" Twilight looked at her former mentor, who was still looking at the castle.

"It must of been the spell... but I can't tell if we're in another Equestria or..." she gulped, "in the future."

Twilight put a hoof under her chin. "Only one way to find out." A grin spread across her face.

"Yes?" Luna edged closer.

"History lessons!" The little alicorn squealed.

"That's a smart thought, Twilight," Celestia complimented, "but how? Your library doesn't exist. In either world."

"There's a library in your castle though."

"Well yes but..." her magenta eyes turned back to the castle, "it looks occupied to me. I don't want to cause disturbance. Especially if this is another dimension. I don't want to cause a rift."

"Surely we can't cause a rift by walking in a castle?" Luna assured her.

"I don't want to take risks. Don't you remember the last time I caused a rift?"

Last time Celestia caused a rift...



"No, I don't remember that. I got knocked out because your evil counterpart knocked the other me out, which knocked me out."

"..."

"..."

"You two are supposed to be smart and pick up on complicated sentences like that."

"Never mind the last time we caused a rift," Twilight told them, "look, we can be extra careful to not get caught. If we hear somepony coming, we can teleport back here!" She clapped her hooves.

"In the air?" Luna asked, her wings slowing down their flapping from exhaustion.

"Um... down there then," she pointed down to the start of the broken bridge.

"Okay..." Celestia breathed, "let's go."
> Knowing the Unreal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The three alicorns tip-toed through the hallways, praying silently they wouldn't be discovered, whether it was an ally or not. They knew nothing of this world, and history lessons was the only answer they had right now.

"Okay... here's the library," Celestia breathed out. She'd been holding her breath ever since the entered the castle. "Now, me and Twilight will research anything about this place. Luna, I want you to keep watch."

"Alright," her sister nodded, putting on a serious face to listen out for hoof steps.

"I get to study with my old mentor! This is great!" Twilight exclaimed, only to be hushed by Luna.

"Unless we get caught," she muttered.

"Come on Twilight, we have to be quick," Celestia prompted her into the library. The lavender alicorn trotted in there, and she followed, leaving Luna outside.

"This library looks in the same condition as it does now in our world..." Twilight said, surprised. "Don't they have any respect for these books? Mine got blown up!"

"Well, they're readable, that's all that matters." But you're right, they should respect my books... Celestia thought to herself.

--

Luna was starting to think this was pointless. There were no sounds but her own breathing in this hallway. Maybe nopony even lived here...

"Queen Solar Flare!" A voice called out. It made Luna jump out of surprise, and her first instincts were to hide. She crouched behind a nearby pillar, listening as the hoof steps came closer. She could make out a bat pony guard walking through the hall, unassumingly looking for that pony he had called earlier.

Wait.

Queen Solar Flare? One, why was an unknown Queen in her and Celestia's old castle, and two, who is this Queen?

"Queen! Your sister is waiting for thou in the throne room!" The pony seemed to be speaking to somepony she couldn't see. Luna looked to her right, and saw an orange glow coming from around the corner. She kept staring as the glow got brighter, until he pony causing stepped into vision. Luna's jaw dropped. A luminous white alicorn, bigger than herself, surrounded by a flame-illusion for a mane and tail, and a white flare escaping her eyes.

But that's not what shocked her.

"Well my sister needs to learn a thing or two about patience."

That was Celestia's voice.

---

"You want me to do what now?" Discord raised as brow.

"Well... Princess Celestia and Princess Luna tested a spell and now they've disappeared. We need you to raise the sun and moon," Spike explained.

"Where did they go exactly?" the draconequus smirked.

"We don't know!" Rainbow Dash yelled, loosing her patience.

"Will you do it? Please?" Fluttershy smiled.

"I didn't say I wasn't going to," Discord laughed, "but what exactly were those three doing?"

"Celestia wanted to complete a spell Starswirl gave to her long ago, and got help from Luna and Twilight," Applejack explained fully.

"Will that sunbutt ever learn..." Discord muttered to himself.

"Oh, and, Discord?" Rainbow asked, "Why are you upside down?" She stared at the draconequus as he hung from a branch with his tail wrapped around it several times.

"Why are you rightside-up?" he retorted.

---

"Everything here is the same!" Celestia grunted, "Is there any difference whatsoever to my library?"

"Well, I haven't found the Elements of Harmony guide. That's all though." Twilight shrugged, still looking through the shelves.

"Wait... you haven't?" the sun princess' interest perked, "Have you looked in mine and Luna's old reading room?"

"No... Oh! That gives me an idea. Maybe your journal tells something about this Equestria's history."

"Oh yea- wait. You read mine and Luna's journal...?"

"Err... maybe?" Twilight gave an innocent grin.

"I didn't write anything personal in there, did I?"

"Not that I remember."

"...Good," she sighed with relief. Twilight watched her as she activated the doorway to her room, and they both walked in to look for the journal.

"Weird. I found it on here," she commented as she put her hooves on the stand where the journal had been set for goodness knows how long back at home.

"It's alright, I found it," Celestia told her, as she levitated the book from the shelf. "I think I know why you didn't find it there. After I banished my sister, I read the journal to help myself get over the depression. It helped a little, but I decided that maybe it would be best to leave it where I found it."

"Oh. Wait... you went through depression?" Twilight's eyes widened.

Her former mentor nodded. "I went through the five stages of grief, to be honest. It took probably years to get through them," she shook her head, as if erasing a memory. "but, that's the past. Luna's here with me, that's all that matters," she said, as she opened the book and began reading.

"Princess... if it's alright with you, can I ask you a question?"

Celestia looked down at her and smiled. She walked over to one of the beds and summoned Twilight to sit next to her. The younger princess trotted to her side.

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to face anything half as hard that you did... what if something like that came up in my life?" Twilight sighed, opening the journal to re-read the adventures the two sisters had went through.

Celestia paused for a moment. "I'm sure you could handle it." She gave Twilight a motherly nuzzle. 

"You think so?" Twilight still sounded uncertain, and kept looking through the journal.

"You handled Discord, despite him having corrupted your friends," she pointed out.

"That's another thing I've wanted to ask you for a while. How did you know to send me back those friendship letters? If you hadn't... I would've given up."

"I didn't. Discord managed to corrupt me-"

"He what?" Twilight's jaw dropped. "But how did he..."

"I have my weaknesses Twilight, just as you, your friends, anypony."

"How did he corrupt you though?"

The sun princess blinked. "He showed me what he had done to you all, and told me that whenever I used the elements it broke my heart. Which is... not entirely false."

They were both interrupted by Luna stumbling in the reading room, panting.

"Luna? What's wrong?" Celestia got up and ran over to her. Luna didn't reply, just buried her muzzle into her older sister's chest.

"I want to get out of here! We have to get out of here!" she cried, tears possibly falling down her face. Twilight couldn't tell from her angle.

"Wha- why?" the younger princess asked, coming to stand next to her.

"I just want to leave!"

"Luna..." Celestia held her head up with her hoof. "You've seen something. What was it?"

---

"You want me to do what now?" Princess Cadance put her hoof on her mouth.

"WE JUST EXPLAINED IT!" Rainbow Dash yelled, but covered her mouth straight afterwards. "I mean... yeah. Just rule Equestria until they get back."

"Please excuse Rainbow. She's stressed about one of our best friends disappearing, she just won't admit it," Rarity smirked.

"It's fine. And I'd be fine doing that, but I'm afraid I can't raise the sun or moon for you..."

"That okay. We've got Discord on that," Applejack grinned.

"Oh. So the Princesses weren't drunk this morning? Or high on caffeine?" Cadance raised a brow.

Pinkie giggled, "Nope! That was all Dis- wait, drunk?"

---

Maybe it was just a coincidence that she sounded like her sister. Or two coincidences she supposedly lived here. Or three coincidences that she was a princess - no, queen.

Or they really where in another dimension.

Luna followed her 'sister', doing her best to stay in the shadows. And... what was this other 'sister' that Celes- Queen Solar Flare was talking about. Why would she ever decide to rule with this?

Well, keep following her and she may find the answer. She watched as the bat pony guard stood by the entrance, along with another whom looked very similar that was already there. Solar Flare walked in the thrown room with her head high, probably looking at who would be Luna's counterpart. How would she find out though? There were two guards at the entrance, and she couldn't risk teleporting in just in case she appeared right in front of their faces. All she could do now is listen.

"What took you so long?" That sounded a lot like her voice. Just... slightly deeper.

"Nothing. I'm on time if you recall when we timed this meeting?" Solar Flare retorted.

Then it came to her. That was her voice, she could trick these two guards to leave. She'd just have to make her voice sound slightly deeper.

"My two guards, this is a private matter. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Surprisingly, she didn't have to strain her voice to deepen it.

"That was nicer than usual," one of the guards whispered.

"Don't question the Queen... remember last time?" the other one answered.

"Good point. Let's go."

Luna waited until they had passed her, and went to peek through the door. She didn't open it much further so she didn't attract unwanted attention. She had to strain her eyes to see the two ponies clearly. At first, she could only see Solar Flare. But then...

"No... it can't be true..." Luna rasped. It wasn't clear, but she could see the familiar silhouette of whom she'd though she would never have to face again.

"So Nightmare Moon, what did you want to discuss?" Luna's sister asked.
> Lost Solution
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"...And that's when I ran," Luna finished, wiping her eyes. Celestia pulled her under wing to calm her down.

"Don't worry sister, that wasn't you. At least... not you you."

"It was once," she replied quietly.

"Oh my... Princesses, I think you should read this,"  Twilight picked up the journal with her magic and dropped it in front of them. Luna didn't bother, but Celestia scanned her eyes through the few pages, and started to read it out.

"Dear Diary,

I knew nopony appreciated my night. So I thought, I could either sit out in the dark, alone, for the rest of my life, or stop being such a doormat and step up from the little sister I am. I must say, Celestia's face when I transformed into the bigger and better me was rather hilarious. I almost had her. I shot her down, and she was almost done for. But she managed to get up, so I came down and stunned her. I gave her a choice. I could let her rule beside me as not a princess... but a Queen. We could still be sisters. That, or she would be thrown in Tartarus, and left to... well... die. I was surprised when she chose the second option, but I persuaded her eventually to live in eternal night with me. Can't wait for this new era of darkness!

Queen Nightmare Moon."

"That's what I would've done if you didn't banish me?" Luna started her weeping again. Celestia put a hoof on her face. Why did she read that out loud?

"Of course not. This is an alternate universe... it's not you," she tried nuzzling her, but the smaller alicorn pulled away to glare at her.

"Then why is everything in this journal the same? Mine and your personality is the same... so the same goes for Nightmare Moon."

"There must be a gap that we don't know about!" Celestia told her, not wanting to talk about this anymore.

"Um... Celestia?" Twilight spoke up.

"What?!" Her mentor covered her mouth when she saw Twilight flinch at her tone. "Sorry... Um... yes?"

"I think I might know what's missing."

---

Spike repeatedly made an imaginary circle with his foot's edge. Unlike usual, he wasn't drooling over Rarity as she worked. There was just a stone in his stomach that just wanted him to go back to bed.

"Um... Spike, darling?" his thoughts were cut by his crush's voice.

"Um, yes?" he straightened up.

"Spike, are you alright? I know it's been a whole day since Twilight disappeared. You really don't have to help if you don't want-"

"Uh, no! I'm always happy to help Rarity!" he laughed nervously. Rarity wasn't buying it, but carried on.

"Well, I was going to go and look for some more gems, since I'm out of them. Would you like to come help me?"

"Uh... sure!" Spike lightened up. Maybe some tasty gems would cheer him up. After all, Twilight would come back soon... Hopefully.

Eventually, Rarity and Spike arrived at their usual spot for looking for gems. But unlike usual, not a word was spoken to each other.

As Spike was summoned to dig up the first batch of gems, Rarity finally broke the long silence between them.

"You know Spike, you don't need to do this if you don't feel like it. I'm fine with... digging them up myself," she cringed at the though of getting dirty, but friends came first.

"No Rarity! I'm always happy to help," Apart from now, he silently added.

"You really don't need to worry about Twilight, you know," Rarity told him, putting a hoof on his shoulder as soon as he dropped the gems in the wagon, "she's got two Princesses at her side, and whatever she's doing right now, I'm sure she could handle it herself either way!"

She had a point there - for the most part.

"I know she's with two ponies who have lived over a thousand years and all... but name one time she's ever completed some sort of task without us."

Rarity blinked at him. What he said was true, she couldn't remember the last time Twilight had ever defeated a villain... or any other task on her own. She's always needed her friends with her. Even when she had three other alicorn's magic on her side, she wasn't able to defeat Tirek without the help of her friends. Without giving up her magic.

Then again, it wasn't just her five pony friends and Spike who were at her side that day.

Discord had just as big a role as the rest of them. Because of friendship.

So who was to say Celestia and Luna wouldn't have the same effect as the master of all things chaos?

"She has two close friends with her. Whatever she's doing, she'll be fine."

---

"You're right... I'm positive we wrote something about the tree of harmony here. Everything else is the same... but the tree's not even mentioned," Celestia went over her journal over and over, but there was no mention of it, "and the other me didn't banish the other Nightmare Moon to the moon. Was the tree never discovered here?"

"I suppose there's only one way to find out," spoke Luna, finally getting up to escape the comfort of her sister, "we know where the tree is. We'll be able to know if the elements are untouched when we see them." Without further explanation, she let her sister and Twilight follow her to where they knew they'd find the Tree of Harmony.

"Wait, we don't need to sneak out," Twilight stopped the two of them.

"Huh?" Luna turned around.

"We can just teleport. Remember?"

"...Oh. Right." Each of their horns started to glow, and the three of them disappeared.

They then re-appeared at their meeting spot, each looking at each other to make sure they were all in the same place. All of them knew where the cave was, so no words were needed in order to all fly down there.

"It's really dark in here..." Twilight commented, her horn starting to glow for a light spell.

"Speaking of darkness, why is it still night time? I'm sure it's been longer than twelve hours by now," Luna looked up to the sky.

"Because Nightmare Moon is the Princess around here," Celestia replied.

"Queen," Luna corrected her.

"This can't be right..." Twilight murmured. 

"What is it?" Celestia asked.

"The Tree of Harmony isn't here."

For a few moments, silence erupted them.

"Actually, that does make sense. For the most part," Celestia started, "no elements means I couldn't banish Nightmare Moon to the moon, leading up to all this chaos. But, speaking of chaos, that's a question I have."

"Yeah?" Twilight urged.

"Me and Luna couldn't defeat Discord without the Elements. So why isn't he ruling?"

"Err..."

"Well maybe we..."

Before they could think of an answer, they were all interrupted by a somewhat familiar voice.

"Did someone say my name?"
> Immortal Imprisoner
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Discord landed in front of the entrance to the cave, each princess looked nervously at each other. They were sure what to say, or how to react.

"Are you three going to keep staring at me like that? I thought everyone knew who I was," he scoffed.

"Err... sorry, we just didn't expect to see you there," Twilight laughed nervously, giving him an awkward smile.

"Why not? I always come here when I'm kicked out of the castle," he shrugged, taking a step into the cave.

"Kicked out of the... castle?" Luna echoed.

"Yeah, that one up there, y'know." The draconequus pointed towards the castle the three ponies had been to not long ago.

"I know what one you mean," she rolled her eyes. Discord was the most visible out of the four of them, since the little existence of light could only reach him. However, he mostly was a moving silhouette, either way.

"Why'd you ask then?" Discord chuckled.

"Because you don't live-" before Luna could finish her sentence, Twilight messily covered her mouth with her hoof.

"We still don't know much about this world. We can't correct things we have no knowledge on!" she whispered in her ear drastically.

"We know what's wrong though. There isn't any Tree of Harmony. Nightmare Moon wasn't banished. Now she rules with eternal night. The end," Luna answered her defensively.

"We don't know anything detailed though. So we have no idea what this Discord's back story is," Twilight retorted, neither of them realizing their voices were getting slightly louder.

"Ask him!" Luna suggested, as if it were obvious.

"Ask him what? That we're from another dimension and we need to hear the story of your pa-"

"I hate to interrupt the argument," the two mares were interrupted, "but err... why is your friend staring at me like that? It's starting to creep me out."

Twilight and Luna looked at Celestia, who wasn't exactly making eye contact with Discord, rather just glaring at his two front limbs. The two other alicorns followed to where she had locked her eyes upon, and almost noticed straight away why she looked so shocked. Or should they actually say, haunted.

Finally, Discord looked down at what they were all staring at. Unlike the others, he wasn't so bothered.

"Yes, they're cuffs. Have you never seen a chain before?" he taunted, holding up his two limbs, both connected to each other by a metal chain.

"Does that answer your question?" Twilight spoke hoarsely into Luna's ear.

"Yes, but I think my sister's just all the more confused," the princess whispered back, nodding her head to Celestia, whom was now struggling to decide to look at Discord's face or chained limbs. Then she simply said,

"What did I do to you?"

---

"How do Celestia and Luna do this every single day and night?" Discord moaned, as he watched the sun ever so slowly lower.

"You think that's irritating?" Cadance scoffed, "Look at all this paperwork I have!" She levitated three tall piles of letters yet to be answered by the crystal princess.

"Point taken," the draconequus grunted, "but do you know how boring watching the sun going down so slowly is when you're me?"

Cadance just rolled her eyes, "no, I don't. But to be honest, I'd rather tend to you when you're 'sick' than do Celestia's job."

"Well, that's saying something," Discord floated over to her, but in the process, made the sun zoom behind the hills, causing complete darkness. The sudden lack of light caught Cadance's attention almost immediately.

"Discord! Concentrate!" she scolded. Discord dashed back to the balcony, allowing the sun to bounce back in the sky.

"Since when does moving where you're standing effect the speed of the sun?!" Cadance couldn't help but giggle at Discord's lack of patience.

"Hey, remember to raise the moon," she taunted. He just snarled in reply.

"At least I don't have to come up with stupid excuses on why Celestia or Luna aren't here."

"My excuses weren't stupid!" Cadance replied defensively. Discord just raised one of his furry brows, snapped his fingers, and took them to a flashback.

"Princess Cadance, if you don't mind me asking, where is Princess Celestia?" asked a guard.

"Um... well... she's...making breakfast in bed for Luna right now!" the past Cadance awkwardly grinned.

"But you're majesty, Luna has breakfast in the evening," another guard pointed out. Cadance blinked.

"Well... Luna was up all day yesterday!" she replied, keeping her innocent smile.

"But that doesn't explain why-"

"Oh! Look at the time, I better go see how Celestia's doing. She's not very good at cooking bacon," Cadance looked at her wrist, though it lacked a watch.

"But princess, you're not wearing a watch."

"And ponies don't eat baco-" the past Cadance flew off before he finished.

With that, Cadance and Discord appeared back in Celestia's room.

"Okay. They weren't good excuses," she admitted, "but what would you say in that situation?"

"...Say Celestia and Luna have some discussions they'd like to keep private so they can't be present right now?" Discord suggested, starting to raise the moon in the night sky.

"Wel-" Cadance paused, realizing the Spirit of Chaos had spoken more sense than her. "Just raise the moon," she muttered. Discord grinned in victory.

---

"What do you..." Twilight couldn't tell who was more confused. Celestia, or Discord.

"Um... sister," Luna breathed, disguising her name, "I hope you realize you are giving away our identity."

"Why do you two sound so..." Discord trialed off again.

"So what?" Twilight asked.

"...Familiar," he finished.

"Familiar, you say?" Twilight acted like she hadn't a clue what he was talking about.

"Oh...pegasus feathers," Celestia muttered to herself, realizing what she had just done.

"Who exactly are you?" Discord's curiosity only grew. With a snap of a talon (which looked difficult with wearing chains) a fire appeared in front of them, making each princess flinch back with fright. But what started as a roar had turned into a smaller crackling flame. Just enough for their faces to be visible in the darkness. They watched as Discord's yellow eyes grew wider at the sight of them. But then he calmed down straight after.

"Oh, I get it."

"Um... get what?" Twilight asked nervously.

"I'm dreaming," he confirmed.

"Err... I don't think so. Let me check-" Luna's horn started glowing, and she closed her eyes. Celestia and Twilight looked at her as she opened them again. "No... I don't think we're-" Before she could finish, Celestia covered her mouth with a wing.

"Uhh yeah, you stay with that theory and I'll go with these two and try and work out my own!" she told the draconequus. Without letting him reply, Celestia's horn started to glow, and they were each teleported out of the gorge.

"I have a question," Luna told her sister, moving her wing away from her mouth  that had held it's position as they had teleported on the cliff's edge. "Why did you look so haunted by that?!"

"Because I worked out that it was most likely us who... I don't know... Imprisoned him?"

"Why does that bother you more than the fact there is an evil you who most likely rules this place with an iron hoof along with her psychotic sister?" Luna retorted, "Not to mention... Yeah! We did imprison him. Just in our world, he was set in stone!"

"Why are we getting so worked up over this?" Twilight pushed the two apart by getting in between them.

"Maybe... because we get to see what could of happened if I wasn't banished?" Luna scoffed, "You realize it's a Tartarus of a lot to take in?"

"I understand that," Twilight answered formally, "but we have to put the pieces together before we make any conclusions!"

"I've got a better idea," Celestia interrupted, "how about we work out how to get home?"

For a few moments, each princess was silent.

"How though?" Twilight asked.

"Maybe we can reverse the spell in the book- OH IN THE NAME OF-" Celestia slapped a hoof on her face.

"What?" Luna raised a brow.

"I left the book at the patch where we started!" she groaned.
> Confusion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I hope it's still there," Twilight gulped as they each flew back to where they started.

"If it's not, can I hit my sister in the face?" Luna hinted, giving Celestia a glare. But Celestia just rolled her eyes.

"It's not my fault, I though it was in my saddle bag."

"Which you are not wearing." Luna pointed out, tilting her head towards her back, which had nothing but wings connected to it. The white alicorn pouted. Once they had gotten over the Everfree forest, the three princess started to glide down towards the both more, and yet less familiar ground.

"I still can't believe this is Ponyville..." Despite being quite, Twilight's voice echoed in the silence. She was so used to at least a little chatter in her small village, now she could only hear their wing flaps.

"Hey, it's still there!" Luna pointed to a book in the distance.

"Thank the stars..." Celestia sighed. It didn't take long to finally levitate it and pull it towards her. "Okay, how do we reverse this?" she muttered to herself, flipping through the first few pages. "Where did we read up to?"

"Something about hating Equestria," Luna shrugged.

"Oh, right," the sun princess stopped on the page they had finished on, then carried on reading out loud.

"Now all you know is washed away
And you may wonder where and why
The place you stand is far different
Than the place you call home. And this isn't helping." Celestia sighed.

"Keep reading..." Luna told her.

"...What you have learned so far
Is that things are different
But you can not go back
Only forwards is safe..." That was the last straw. Celestia buried her face in the book and started to whine, leaving Luna and Twilight to stare at her, concerned.

"She's lost it," Twilight said dryly.

"Dear me, today I've learned that everything is my fault because I'm too ignorant to notice the simplest details. Sincerely, yourself," The princess breathed. Her sister blinked at her.

"Yep... she's gone insane," Luna agreed, "Celie, don't be ridiculous, how is this, or anything, your fault?"

"You out of all ponies asked me that question?" her voice was on the edge of a snarl.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Luna marched over to her sister, who was now lying on the floor with her head buried in her hooves. She crouched down next to her, and nudged one of her hooves.

"It's my fault you were banished. It's my fault Discord betrayed Equestria. It's my fault we're here in the first place!" she yelled.

"That... None of that were your fault Celie. You're blaming yourself because you're the Princess, you feel like you're going to succeed in everything," Luna soothed. Celestia looked at her.

"Isn't that what I'm suppose to do?" she whimpered.

"Of course not! That's impossible for anypony - anyone to do!" the Night Princess let out a giggle, in which her sister echoed.

"I... I guess not," she smiled, only looking slightly uncertain.

Twilight just stared at the two. She had no idea her former mentor could descend into madness so quickly. "Are you okay, Celestia?" She asked, still concerned for her.

Celestia nodded. "Sorry Twilight, but that happens a lot more than you may think." She rubbed her head as she stood up.

"Uh... what does?"

"Me breaking down like that. Only Luna knows about it but..." she trailed off, "no matter," she cut herself off, going back to reading the spell.

"You have reached the second step of your quest,
And now you must learn,
Only you can save this place
So learn how it's so evil."

"Oh, so we've passed pretty much three steps already?" Twilight piped up. "Three more to go!"

"Well... almost three..." Celestia sighed.

"What do you mean? We know how this world got in this condition! No Tree of Harmony, can't banish Nightmare Moon. The end, eternal night," Luna summed up.

"Yes but... isn't it wise to know the smaller details?"

"Like what?"

"Like how Discord's a slave?"

---

"How long have they been gone?" Rainbow Dash sighed, as she and Pinkie Pie followed Applejack through Sweet Apple Acres.

"Three days," Applejack muttered, bucking an apple tree as she said so.

"Actually, it's been two days, twenty-two hours, fifty-three minutes and sixteen seconds," Pinkie corrected, "well, now eighteen seconds. Now nineteen seconds. Now twenty-"

"We get it," Rainbow Dash cut her off. "I wonder what they're doing..."

"Maybe they're blasting some sort of villain with magical lazer beams, oooor maybe they're running away from some sort of avalanche!"

"Whatever they're doing, they should hurry up. I can just imagine what sort of nightmare Princess Cadance is having right now."

"What sort of nightmare?" Pinkie asked.

"Paperwork."

The pink pony gasped with pure terror.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Discord was having a nightmare either," Rainbow scoffed.

"Why would he be having any trouble? He can raise the sun with a snap of his fingers," Applejack said.

"Yes, but he has to be organized," the pegasus told her.

"It can't be that hard."

--

"This is so hard..." Discord rasped.

"Calm down... all you have to do is organize these letters into piles," Cadance instructed.

"Organize? Organize? HAVE YOU EVER MET ME?"

"Yes. Don't you remember when faked that illness? That was the first time I ever met you."

"It was an expression, you pink alicorn," he mumbled. She glanced at him with a dead-panned expression.

"Was that suppose to be an insult?" she raised a brow.

"Yes... the worst kind."

--

Applejack handed some cider to her two friends. They both gulped it down quickly, letting out a satisfied gasp as the taste still remained in there mouths.

"Y'know, it's pretty weird," Rainbow Dash started.

"What, the cider?" Applejack quickly asked.

"No, the ciders awesome. I mean, Twilight going on an adventure without us."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Applejack smiled.

"I know but... we've done so much together. Defeated so many villains... been so many places. It's just weird to even be here without knowing where Twilight's gone." she ranted.

"I suppose..." the farm pony sighed.

"Who knows? Maybe she's in another dimension with other versions of us!" Pinkie laughed.

"Pfft... I doubt that," Rainbow scoffed.

---

"A slave?" Twilight echoed.

"Well why else would he be in chains?" She shivered as she remembered the cuffs locked around his two different limbs.

"Maybe he's just imprisoned. Considering he can't be turned to stone," Luna suggested.

"But why would he be kicked out the castle? Or why doesn't he just escape when he can just teleport out of his chains?"

"We could always ask him," Twilight told them.

"Oh, now you agree with me!" Luna rolled her eyes.

"Well, Celestia wants to find out the small details, and I couldn't find any history books in the library about Discord!"

"Everything has to be in a book in your world, doesn't it?" Luna muttered to herself.

"I'm not sure how we ask him though," Celestia said, "he knows who we are, we weren't always in those forms you described before, Luna. If I were him, I'd be weirded out."

"Either way, we shouldn't go now," Twilight fretted, "we can go tomorrow... maybe, but I think we should wait. Just to space out our appearance. And not cause a rift."

Celestia nodded. "But Twilight, there isn't a tomorrow. It's eternal night, remember?"

"Well surely the sun must come up at some point. I mean, the plants and crops need to perform photosynthesis, but without the sun's light, they cannot make their own food, and I highly doubt the moon's reflection of the sun will be even close to the amount of light needed to stop the land below it to freeze under absolute zero."

Celestia and Luna just stared at the smaller alicorn.

"I didn't think my eternal night plan through very well, did I?" Luna realized.

"Nope," her sister giggled, "speaking of absolute zero, I'm getting cold. I think we should go and find shelter."

"Yeah, my wings are starting to shiver," Twilight agreed, shaking up her feathers in the cold atmosphere.

"Cold? This weather's mild!" Luna retorted.

"Says the Princess of the Night," Celestia smirked. Luna gave a cute grin.

"Point taken. Okay, let's find shelter."

---

The three managed to find a cave in the Everfree forest. None of them realized they were tired, since they didn't know they'd been up for so long.

"Well, this cave's still really cold, but it's something," Twilight yawned, "we could rest in this patch right here..." She poked a soft patch of grass, and settled on it, her eyes already starting to droop.

"I know I say she's all grown up often, but I still see her as a child," Celestia smiled, walking over to her so she could lie next to her like a mother would. Luna followed, and rested her hooves on Celestia's back, like the little sister she was.

"You really see her as a daughter, don't you?" Luna commented, as her sister put a wing over the shivering alicorn.

Celestia nodded slowly. "I'm glad she's stuck with me all these years... I've failed so many. Even you."

Luna looked at the ground. "You didn't fail me. If you did, I wouldn't be your little sister," she gave her an affectionate nuzzle.

"Thanks Luna. You don't know how much I missed you," Celestia returned her nuzzle, smiling.

"I can say the same. But... I'm glad you banished me. I never wanted Equestria to become... this," she looked outside, and cringed as she stared at the dying trees.

"I know. Which is why we have to save this place."
> Bright Light
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight blinked open her eyes. She felt warmth covering her, and came to the conclusion she was home in bed.
But eventually she recognized her surroundings, and remembered she was in a different dimension, in a cave, under eternal night. She'd fallen asleep next to Celestia and Luna, most likely shivering. That would explain why her mentor's wing was over her. She gave off a long yawn, and rubbed her eyes. She felt a lot warmer than usual, so she decided to gently escape the blanket she called Celestia's wing. When she was on her hooves, she shook her ruffled feathers out.

Weird, she was still really hot.

Maybe some fresh air would cool her off. The lavender pony trotted outside, where it was a lot brighter. She breathed in, and let the cool air surround her.

But why was she still warm?

She opened her eyes, and immediately got blinded by a bright light. "Gah!" Covering her blinded eyes with her hoof, Twilight backed back into the cave.

She looked outside. It was daytime. Confused, the alicorn trotted over to the two sisters who were both cuddled up next to each other. Twilight would of called it cute if she wasn't full of confusion.

"Princess!" she whispered, poking her mentor.

"No Luna... you can't have any vodka..." Celestia murmured, before blinking her eyes open. "GAH! Uh... Twilight. What is it?" she looked up at her.

"Remember how we thought it was eternal night? Well... it's daytime," she quickly explained.

"Huh? It isn't eternal night... Luna's reformed," she muttered, still getting used to her surroundings.

"We're in another dimension, remember?" Twilight reminded her.

"Oh... so it wasn't a dream? Ugh," the older princess sighed, disappointed. She was about to stand up, before realizing Luna was slumped over her, still fast asleep. Twilight could see there was a bit of drool hanging off her mouth, and couldn't help but giggle at it.

"We should wake her up," Twilight reached a hoof to tap her, but Celestia stopped her, smirking.

"Let me do this..." she told her, turning to her little sister. "THY PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT, WE COMMAND THEE TO AWAKEN THY SELF!" Celestia yelled, using her own Royal Canterlot Voice. Twilight cringed and covered her ears by the level of volume, and Luna woke up straight away and was flown back in shock.

"Ow... my ears... I hate it when you do that!" the Night Princess scolded, rubbing her head. Celestia was just laughing to herself.

"Sorry, you'll have to try and get up earlier then," she teased, "so, what did you say before, Twilight?"

"It's daytime."

"That's totally normal," Luna said.

"We're in a dimension where it's eternal night."

"And now I'm confused," the princess corrected herself.

"Maybe there's something we need to figure out here?" Celestia wondered, walking towards the cave entrance. "Ow... why is the sun so bright?" she muttered, shielding her eyes.

"It's a fiery ball of gas, sister. It's always bright," Luna told her.

"I know that. It's usually not this bright though."

"A better question - why is the sun even up?" Twilight remarked.

"Hey, maybe Solar Flare rebelled and now the world's saved! Yay, fixed, we can go home, we don't have to do anything else!" A grin spread across Luna's face.

"What do you mean, we don't have to do anything else?" Twilight asked, raising a brow.

"Oh, right, we didn't tell you because you fell asleep."

"Tell me what? Celestia?" She turned to the white alicorn.

"I kept reading the spell last night. Once we figure out all we can about this, the next step is to figure out a way to save it," she explained, still looking outside.

"Wait... so Starswirl knew about this dimension all along?!" Twilight figured out.

Celestia nodded. "He traveled through time, he probably came across this place at some point, but wasn't able to save it on his own."

"Why didn't he just come with you?"

Celestia shook her head. "He was old when he gave me the spell... and I was young. I didn't want to complete it," she sighed, "not on my own, anyway."

"Oh... Well, um, how do you think we should find out why it's daytime?" Twilight asked, changing the subject.

"To be fair, we don't know much about Solar Flare. Perhaps there's more information in the journal?" Luna suggested. Celestia and Twilight exchanged a glance, then nodded.

"It's worth a try," Celestia said, "simplest way it to teleport straight there, I just hope we don't get caught."

"Oooor one of us can teleport there and bring the journal here?" Luna added. Her sister looked at her, then gave a sigh.

"Alright. I'll be right back," she told them, and teleported away.

The two remaining mares stood in an awkward silence. Though, it didn't take long to break it.

"Luna?"

"Yes?"

Twilight looked at the floor, hesitating before she asked her.

"Does Celestia blame herself for everything that happened? You know... all that stuff she mentioned yesterday."

Luna paused and squinted, but then nodded. "I think it's safe to tell you Twilight, she has nightmares quite a lot. She's good at faking, isn't she?"

Twilight was quite surprised to hear that. "I would've never guessed, to be honest," she admitted, "but... she mentioned Discord's rule at some point... why did she blame herself for that?"

Luna opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by Celestia teleporting back, levitating the book.

"That was quick," her sister commented.

"It was right where we left it," Celestia said, "now, let's see if we can find out anything more."

And so, they opened the pages.

---

As the sun beamed through the window onto Spike's closed eyes, the little dragon flipped his body around to face the shadows and groaned.

"Spike..." a distant voice called. But he ignored it. "Spike... Spike!" the voice repeated.

"Just a few more minutes Twilight..." Spike muttered, pulling his blanket more over him. That's when he remembered.

Twilight wasn't here.

Spike slowly opened his eyes and became less oblivious to his surroundings. He heard the sound of hooves coming down the hall.

"Spike! Are you awake?" he recognized Applejack's voice.

"Uh... I am now!" he called, rubbing his eyes. The door then opened, revealing his five remaining friends. Pinkie bounced up to him.

"Morning Spike!" she greeted, beaming.

"Uh... hey guys. Why are you all here so early?"

"Early? Oh Spike! We just had lunch!" Pinkie giggled.

"Gah... lunch?" Spike echoed.

"Yes darling, which is why I brought you some left over gems. You've been waking up later and later each day," Rarity smiled, handing him a jar half-filled with different coloured gems. Seeing them made Spike realize how hungry he was, and his mouth started to water.

"Wow... thanks Rarity," a smile spread on his face, before opening the jar and digging his claw into the jar to grab the first gem.

"We are actually here for a reason though." Applejack told him, as he crunched on the shining rocks.

"Really? Wha fow?" he mumbled with his mouth full, spitting some small pieces out in the process.

"Well I came up with this awesome idea-" Rainbow stopped as everyone glared at her. "Uh... we came up with an idea before," she corrected herself.

"Yeah?" Spike gulped down a gem, and went to grab another one. "What is it?"

"We figured out a way to contact the Princesses!" Fluttershy said gleefully. Spike paused.

"Really? You have? How?" He leaped up from his bed and started hopping from one foot to another desperately.

"We can send a letter to Princess Celestia through you," Rarity explained.

"Oh, right. Geez... why didn't I think of that?" Spike scratched his head. "Eh never mind that. Anyone have a paper and quill?"

"Yup!" Pinkie confirmed, pulling some paper and a quill out of seemingly nowhere. They could question her, but this had become everyday stuff for them.

"Alright... what should I write?" he began, getting his quill ready.

"Uh... how about asking them where the hay they are?" Rainbow Dash suggested.

"Good idea," Spike complimented. "Okay...

Dear Princess Celestia,
Sorry it took us so long to work out we can just send you letters through me, but with all our respect, we would like to ask, where in Equestria are you?!?!
-Spike.

Is that too disrespectful?"

The five friends looked in doubt.

"Nah..." They laughed casually.

"Well okay!" he shrugged, then blew at it so it went to wherever it was going. The other mares then stared at him.

"What?" Spike asked.

"We were being sarcastic," Rainbow muttered.

"Yeah... sugarcube... that was a tad less formal than usual," Applejack pointed out.

"Oh," Spike said, "eh, nothing will happen. Princess Celestia isn't a tyrant."

---

The three princesses looked hopelessly at each other. The had skimmed over each entry, but there was nothing useful.

"Well this is a disappointment," Luna sighed.

"Twas indeed," Twilight slumped her head on her hooves, copying the olden language Luna sometimes liked to use.

"Surely there's some other way we can find information," Celestia muttered as she flicked through the pages, bored.

"Hey... Celestia?" Twilight lifted her head up and looked at the white alicorn.

"Yes, Twilight?"

"If it's okay to ask... why did you blame yourself for Discord's rule?"

Her mentor stared at her uncertainly, then slowly opened her mouth to answer. But she was interrupted by a green smoke that seemed to appear out of thin air.

"What's..." Luna started.

"It's a letter from Spike!" Twilight exclaimed, hooking it out of the air with her hoof and opening it.

"What does it say?" Celestia asked.

"They don't know where we are..." Twilight murmured, "does anyone have a quill? And some ink?" she asked hopefully, preparing to rip a page out of the journal. Celestia and Luna looked at each other, then shook their heads.

"I have to find something to write with... they must be worried sick!" Twilight stood up, and galloped towards the cave entrance, only to be stopped by Celestia.

"Twilight, you can't go out there alone!" She called after her, keeping her tail in place with her magic.

"But Princesses, my friends... they're worrying about me!"

"Then we're coming with you," Celestia told her firmly, "but where do expect to find a quill and ink?"

"Uh... the... castle?" The young mare grinned innocently.

Luna shook her head. "Too risky for writing tools. Maybe Ponyville have some?"

"Oh, Celestia can get a book but I can't get a quill?" Twilight scoffed.

"Because she knew where the book was. We don't know where to find anything to write with. Ponyville's less risky."

"But..." she trailed off

"Twilight... do you not want to go to Ponyville?" Celestia held her chin up with her hoof. Twilight's eyes drooped, and she shook her head. "Why is that?

"If the elements don't exist... does that mean... my friends don't exist either?"
> Friendship Rebuild
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Twilight..." Celestia called, trying to keep up with her. The young mare didn't slow down though. "Twilight!"

"What?" she grunted, turning her head back to her.

"Why wouldn't you think your friends exist in this world? And even if they do, what does it matter?" Her mentor finally caught up with her, putting a hoof on her shoulder.

"What does it matter?" Twilight echoed. "How would you feel if you saw your friends suffer under the rule of two ponies who in your own world you look up to? And considering we're the Elements, what if they don't even exist? Are we throw away characters that were taken out of this universe because they were the one thing that could stop your sister and yourself from wrecking Equestria? If you ask me, Princess, that's a lot to take in." She shook her hoof off of her shoulder and continued towards the castle.

"Okay, I get it, you're confused. But just because the tree doesn't exist here, doesn't mean your friends don't."

"Why would they? We're the spirits of the Elements of Harmony. Why would we exist?"

Celestia squinted, then teleported in front of her. "You're ponies. Just like everypony else. Those two other universes you went to... you six existed. And it's not just them suffering under... well... our rule, it's everypony... no, everyone! That includes Discord for Harmony's sake!"

Twilight looked up at her. "I... I guess. But this world works so differently..." she sighed, turning away from her.

"You'll never know unless you find out."

The lavender mare paused.

"...You're right, Princess," she admitted, looking back at her with a smile. "Sorry for flipping out like that."

"It's alright Twilight. It's nothing compared to my breakdown yesterday," the alicorn giggled.

"Oh, and Celestia?"

"Yes?"

"About Discord..." Twilight began, only to be interrupted for the third time.

"Hey you two, can you not leave me behind like that?" Luna growled, panting as she galloped towards them. "It's so hot... I feel like I'm melting."

"Says the Princess of the Night." Celestia said.

"Be quiet. I'm used to the cold," she grunted, "anyway, are we going to find a quill or what?"

Twilight chuckled, "Sure, off to Ponyville we go!" She grinned, trotting the opposite way she had ran before. Luna looked at her curiously.

"Since when did she change her mind?" she muttered to her sister.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just persuasive." Celestia shrugged, following her student.

---

Fluttershy carried her tray which held tea and biscuits, then set it on the table, in front of the draconequus who slouched on his seat.

"Is it really that bad?" she asked him, pouring out her tea.

"Bad?" Discord repeated her words, "It was a nightmare persuading Cadance to let me even be here for ten minutes," he groaned, watching as the teapot poured it's liquid in his cup by itself. "I remembered her less of a pain, if you ask me."

"Well, I'm sure Celestia, Luna and Twilight will come back soon. Spike sent them a letter, and it should get to them, wherever they are," she reassured. Discord wasn't so sure though, and sipped his tea, holding it with his tail.

"How long ago was that exactly?"

"Um... about three and a half hours ago," she said.

"Ugh... I can't believe I actually miss Celestia and Luna," he mumbled under his breath.

"Twilight not included?" Fluttershy leaned forward over the table a little, having heard his words.

"She's my friend now, remember? You all are," he replied, using a fishing rod to hook a cookie out of his teacup.

"I know. But why be surprised to miss Celestia and Luna?" A tiny smirk started to show on the little pegasus' face.

"Um... complicated," Discord simply said, wrapping his tongue around the cookie and dragged it in his mouth.

Fluttershy just giggled, "Whatever you say."

Discord gave a confused look at her. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing."

---

Being under the shelter of the Everfree forest was bright enough, but being out in the open was like standing in a fire. They had to shield their eyes from the bright sun, which seemed to be in every corner of the sky. Twilight squinted her eyes, trying to get used to the brightness. She looked around her, realizing Ponyville was just ahead of them.

"Okay, so we'll get some ink and a quill, then come back?" Luna summarized, starting to trot ahead. But Twilight stopped her with her hoof.

"Um... don't you think it would be wise if you two stayed hidden?" the young mare suggested. Luna raised a brow.

"Why is that?"

"Well, you're both alicorns that share cutie marks with these ponies' rulers," she explained, "imagine their reactions, they'd be quite confused. And like Celestia said, we don't want to cause a rift."

The two sisters looked at each other, then nodded.

"Alright, but what if something come's up?" Celestia asked, trotting up to Twilight.

"I doubt anything will. What could possibly happen in a town like this?" she scoffed, pointing at the dull and wrecked village.

"Good point. We'll stay here, meet us back at this area soon," Luna told her. Twilight nodded, then started to gallop towards Ponyville, when Celestia stopped her.

"Twilight!"

"What is it?" She turned around.

"Do your best to hide your wings. Or horn... one of them."

Twilight took note in what she meant. She wasn't even sure if Cadance was an alicorn in this place, never mind herself. She looked around, looking for something she could cover her wings up with. At first, there was nothing usable, but as she kept walking, she spotted an abandoned curtain that she could tie around her body. Using her horn, Twilight covered her back with the grey-ish blue sheet, and tied a knot around her neck. With that out of the way, she slowly made her way through the seemingly abandoned town. There weren't many houses, mostly just farms and small huts. And it was nowhere the size of Ponyville in her own world, in fact, this village probably wasn't even named Ponyville.

That wasn't the main focus right now though. She needed some tools so she could contact her friends before they worried about her and the other Princesses even more. But there wasn't a library or anything similar in sight. She'd have to find a pony and ask.
If there was a pony around, that is. She refused to knock on any of the doors around her, they'd probably give her a weird look to why she seemed so desperate for a quill and some ink.

But the further she walked, the less crowded it seemed to be, despite there being nopony around. It took her a while to realize she wasn't exactly in the village anymore, instead surrounded by trees that seemed half dead. Everything was all the more silent. There wasn't even a breeze.

And yet, that seemed to be a good thing. From far off, Twilight could hear a slamming noise, most likely from a pony. She slowly started to walk towards where it was coming from, being careful not to startle who or whatever it was. Eventually, Twilight could make out the image of a pony with a ruffled coat and untidy mane. She seemed to be bucking the trees behind her, but not much fell from any of them.

Then Twilight stopped in her tracks as she realized who stood in front of her.

Applejack!

The violet mare wasn't sure how to react. The farm pony looked so different to her healthy counterpart. It actually hurt to even look at how ruffled she looked.
But she needed something to write back to her friends with, and asking Applejack seemed like the best option.

"Err... excuse me?" Twilight asked awkwardly.

Applejack jumped at the sound of her voice, then looked around drastically to look for where it came from. Once Twilight came into vision, she calmed down.

"Oh... err... yes?" she asked, "Who are ya? Haven't seen you 'round this place before, I don't think."

Twilight blinked in surprise. Applejack didn't know her? Did any of her friends know each other?

For now, it would be best to play along.

"Err... no, I'm not from here..." she answered, trying to act normal.

"Thought so. I didn't really expect to see anypony out at the sun's hour," she didn't stop bucking the trees around them as she spoke. Twilight noticed drops of sweat rolling down her face.

"Uh... sun's hour?" she echoed.

Applejack looked at her with surprise. "Haven't y'all heard that phrase before? It's just our name for when Queen Solar Flare raises the sun."

"Oh... no I didn't know that. Heh..." she trailed off, not knowing what to say. "Uh... can I ask you a question?"

"Err... sure, go ahead," the mare shrugged, not stopping her bucking. Her tone surprised Twilight. She would of thought she would act differently to her original counterpart, but she was pretty much acting the same.

"Well... uh... why does the sun get raised, exactly?"

Applejack paused, and gave her a curious look. "Uh... you're not from Equestria, are ya?"

Twilight's eyes widened. "Um... technically no..." she laughed nervously.

"Well... every now and then, the sun must come up so the plants down 'ere can make at least a bit of food. There's no date for it, it's just raised randomly," she explained.

"But... I was walking through the town before... and it was empty. Don't the ponies like the daylight?" Twilight tilted her head.

Applejack scoffed, "I dunno where you're from, sugercube, but the only daylight we're allowed to know is the moonlight."

That did make sense. Nightmare Moon wouldn't want her ponies eagerly waiting for the sun's return.

"So why are you out?"

The farm pony sighed, "I have to gather all the food we can, whether the moon or sun's up."

"When was the last time you slept?" Twilight only just noticed the bags under her eyes.

Again, Applejack shrugged. "A while back. Last time my brother Big Mac was awake. He's havin' a break right now."

Twilight looked at her hooves. This was a mare who was overworking herself. Without a choice.

"Surely you can take a break now?"

She shook her head. "I appreciate your concern, but I'm afraid I can't."

Wait, why was Twilight here again?

Quill. Ink. That's what.

"Oh... uh, one last question."

Applejack nodded. "Yeah?"

"Do you have some ink and a quill?"

The mare gave her a curious look, but nodded and motioned her to follow.

---

Twilight spotted Celestia and Luna sitting in the shade of a surprisingly healthy tree, and sped up her pace. When they noticed her coming towards them, they got up and went to meet her half way.

"Oh hey, you got them," Luna looked in surprise at the writing tools she levitated.

"Yep, but that's not all," Twilight grinned, "I got them from Applejack."

"Your friend?" Celestia raised a brow.

"No, the muffin mare. Yes, my friend," Twilight rolled her eyes, a slight smirk picking up on one side, "but I got some information about this place too!"

The two Princess' interest perked. "Really?" They both asked.

"Yep. Apparently Solar Flare raises the sun randomly so that the plants can only just survive. Oh, and ponies aren't aloud to enjoy daytime."

Celestia gave a huff, "Can they even? Not even I'm enjoying it."

"Yeah, it's way too hot. Anyway, here's your paper," Luna levitated a blank page ripped from either the journal or the spell book, and gave it to Twilight to start writing.
> Can I erase this?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"My dear friends,
I ask you not to worry about us. Celestia and Luna and I are safe, but don't bother looking for us either. We're not in Equestria... well, technically we are, we've worked out we've been transported into another dimension. I won't go into detail... there isn't enough room on the paper for that. However, I don't know when we'll return. According to Celestia, we have to save this world or... something. I will tell you this, it isn't pretty here. I don't know how things will turn out but... I do miss you guys.
Oh, and Celestia and Luna asks, who's raising the sun and moon?
Love, Twilight."

Spike flipped the paper around, but there wasn't anything else. On the back, it was just a cop out of some sort of book.

"Is that it?" Rainbow Dash asked, folding her hooves as she hovered in the air.

The dragon gave one last scan before answering. "Yep..." he sighed, "well, looks like we can't go and save the day and rescue them."

"Are you kidding me?" Discord sunk his head into his talon and paw. "I can't take the boredom of raising those two celestial bodies any longer!" he groaned. Cadance just gave an annoyed shove with her hoof.

"Forget that. I'm running out of excuses. It's been... I don't know... three days?" She rubbed her tired eyes as she said this.

"Actually, it's been three days, twenty-two hours, forty-two minutes and forty-two seconds," Pinkie corrected. This caused everyone to look at her.

"Are you counting every second Twilight's gone?" Applejack raised a brow.

"Mhmm." The pink mare picked up a small clock out of nowhere and looked at it. "So far, they've taken longer than any other time we've defeated any villain."

"Where did you-" Cadance began, only to be stopped by Rainbow Dash.

"Don't question her... it never works," she whispered into the princess' ear.

"Defeating Nightmare Moon only took eleven hours, four minutes and two seconds," Pinkie continued, "defeating Discord took one day, two hours, seven minutes and fifty-nine seconds."

"Is that all?" Discord sounded disappointed in himself.

"Yep. But that's okay, I suppose you could say defeating Chrysalis only took twenty-four hours, three minutes, and one second. I don't really know how long she was disguised as Cadance, but I don't count that part either because I wasn't there. Oh, and I think defeating Sombra only took nine hours, six minutes and twenty seconds."

"Um, what about Tirek?" Rarity added.

"Oh yeah! Again, don't know how long he was released, wasn't there. But ever since Celestia got that weird vision, I'd say two days, seven hours, twelve minutes and forty-two-"

"Okay, we get it!" Rainbow scolded, covering her mouth.

"So... we can't do anything?" Fluttershy whimpered, "We just wait until they come back?"

Spike sighed, then looked at the crystal floor below them. "Not a surprise it's taken them longer than usual."

"Why? Because this is a fanfiction?" Pinkie tilted her head.

"This is a wha - um... no. Look, I don't care that Twilight has Celestia and Luna. It's us she needs." He folded his arms, and started to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Fluttershy called after him as he made his way out of the castle.

"To the Castle of the Two Sisters," he simply answered, closing the door behind him. This left everyone else to look at each other with confusion.

"Oh Spike..." Rarity sighed.

---

Celestia watched the sun descend behind the mountains in the distance. She could tell bu just looking at it that it was being lowered too quickly, she'd been controlling it for so long. The warm air, however, still lingered. It was hard to ignore, however she had managed to get used to the burning rock she kneeled on. An insect landed on the end of her muzzle, and she snorted it off with surprise.
"Um... Celestia?" her student's voice alerted her, causing her to turn around.

"Yes Twilight?" she smiled.

"You've been up here for a while... and the sun's going-" She looked over to where the sun was a few seconds ago, in which was now replaced with the moon rising ever so slowly. "-Gone down." She finished. "Don't you want to come rest?"

The princess blinked at her, then shook her head. "I've just been thinking."

Twilight kneeled next to her. "Thinking of what?" There was a side to Celestia she had never been able to work out. Sometimes, she was just hard to work out altogether.

"Just... events," Celestia began, "from a long time ago."

The smaller alicorn tilted her head. "Why?" It was a sort of question she'd ask when she was a filly, but next to the older Princess, she felt so much younger than she really was.

Celestia just shrugged. "I feel like they could help us," she said, looking towards her castle.

Twilight looked at her own hooves, then took a deep breath. "Where you thinking about Discord?"

That's when the white alicorn paused. She slowly looked at Twilight in surprise. There were a few moments of silence, then Celestia found her words.

"How did you know?"

Twilight stopped to think. "I guess I just knew. I've yet to be answered why you were so haunted the other day. So I just worked it out myself."

She saw her mentor's eyes sparkle with a bunch of contrasting emotions in a split second. She could recognize guilt in there, some sadness, even anger. All of it added to a tear, which rolled down her face.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked guiltily. "I didn't mean for you to..."

"No, it's fine," she breathed, "it was no one's fault but my own."

"But I don't understand... how did everything come to this? Between you two?"

Celestia looked down at her, then she looked forward. "I misunderstood him. I know now what I did was wrong... both of us were in the wrong, I just didn't see it back then."

"Well... the past is in the past, right? Maybe..." Twilight was stopped by Celestia raising her hoof and hovering it in front of her.

"I'm afraid not, Twilight. Thank you for trying to help, but me and Discord..." she grunted as she stood up, "where never meant to be." With that, Celestia glided down to the ground, and trotted inside the cave, leaving Twilight alone on top of the cave. She sighed, then murmured, half to herself, half to nopony.

"Things must have changed..."

--

Ponies surrounded Luna on every side. She could barely hear her own thoughts over their excited conversations. She wanted to eavesdrop so she could find out what was going on, but anypony she paid attention to seemed to speak gibberish. The Night Princess pushed her way through the crowd to the large space in the middle, since the lack of room made her uncomfortable. That's when she spotted a familiar mare.

"Twilight!" Luna called, trotting over to her. When she got closer, she noticed Spike comfortably sitting on her back. "Twilight, what's going on?"

But she didn't seem to hear her. Luna also noticed she didn't have her wings anymore, she was a regular unicorn.

"Twilight! Twilight, can you hear me? Why am I in Ponyville?" No matter how much she raised her voice, she couldn't get the message across. Then a bright pink pony flashed before her.

"This is so exciting! Are you excited? Because I'm excited, I've never been so excited! Well, expect for the time I went GAAAH!" Luna recognized Pinkie Pie, whom was speaking so fast it was hard to take in. But what caught her full attention was how concerned Twilight seemed. That, or why she wasn't standing with her friends.

Then the lighting in the room went down, and birds started to sing a tune. Turns out, Fluttershy was composing them, like she would have done in Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding. The Mayor Mare then started to speak, but Luna didn't listen to her. She was trying to work out what Twilight was so worked up about. The young unicorn looked to the window, in which Luna followed her gaze. She then noticed something strange.

There was a symbol on her moon.

And stars seemed to be closing in behind it.

Then the symbol seemed to disappear. Luna looked back at Twilight, who seemed even more concerned than before.

"Twilight Sparkle... I don't understand what's going on!" The unicorn still didn't hear her. Instead, she turned back to the Mayor Mare.

"...The one who raises the sun and the moon..."

"Surely you mean, ones?" Luna corrected her.

"...Princess Celestia!"

How dare she? It was herself who raised the moon, not her sister!

...Except for the one thousand years she was banished.

Luna watched as Rarity pulled the curtains, revealing a blank space.

"Ooh! Is she playing hide and seek?" Pinkie squealed, as the ponies started to wonder where she may be.

Wait... Luna knew when this was.

"She's gone!" Rarity exclaimed, allowing all the ponies below her to gasp.

"Oooh... she's good!" Pinkie commented. "Gaah!" she suddenly screeched. Luna looked back up at the balcony, spotting a blue, sparkling cloud of smoke.

"Oh no..." she heard Twilight whisper. "Nightmare Moon!" The blue smoke revealed a tall, black armored alicorn, gazing down at her subjects with hatred. Spike fainted off of Twilight's back, and Nightmare Moon started to speak.

"Aah... My precious little subjects... it's been so long since I've seen your little sun-loving faces." Those last few words were spat out like they were a pain for her to say. Though Luna knew she wasn't really there, and that no one could hear her, she couldn't help but yell,

"No! They love you equally! Bring my sister back... you monster!"

From what Luna could remember, Nightmare Moon would start speaking again. But the whole scene instead seemed to pause. around her. Everything... everypony but Nightmare Moon, whom swung her head to look at her and smirked.

"Now now Luna, whom are you to call yourself a monster?" she cackled, "You know why you did this-" the black alicorn glided down to stand in front of her. "-don't you?"

Luna wanted to tremble and cower in front of her former self, but she stood up and glared into her cat-like eyes. "Yes... I do. But it was wrong of me," she retorted, "and I know just what would happen if I didn't change." By this point, Luna could tell she was dreaming. She knew where she really was right now.

Nightmare Moon gave her a smile, which might of suppose to be comforting, but to Luna, it just scared her. She felt an armored hoof settle under her chin, the cold metal making her shiver.

"So who do you talk to every night?" she asked her, her smile turning into a scoffing frown. Luna hesitated, opening her mouth slowly to answer her.

"Many. I help my subjects in their dreams... or nightmares, usually. Caused by their own real life troubles," her voice was quaking, dream or not.

The taller mare huffed in disbelief. "So you admit you only speak to them in their imagination?" Luna widened her eyes.

"What makes you think that?" she spat at her.

"'Real life troubles', you said. Why not visit them  in 'real life' then? Oh, I forgot, they're asleep during the night," she explained, being quite sarcastic. Luna shook her hoof off of her, then glared at her.

"Stop trying to manipulate me! You're not me, you're... you're..." She trailed off.

"A monster?" she finished for her.

"Exactly."

Nightmare Moon leaned closer to her. "Your sister didn't think so."

"SILENCE!" Luna screeched in her Royal Canterlot Voice, before opening her eyes to the cave she had fallen asleep in. Her breath was shallow, making it a struggle to calm down.

The blue alicorn blinked a few times, then got used to her surroundings. Not far from her, Twilight slept peacefully, with a smile spread across her face. Luna guessed she was dreaming of being with her friends again.

However, she couldn't say the same for her sister. Next to her, Celestia was twitching and muttering words she couldn't understand. The easier way would've been to just nudge her until she wakes, but that may cause her to have the same dream tomorrow night.

Or, at least, the next time they rest.

Luna closed her eyes, letting herself try and focus on her sister's thoughts, trying to find the location of the dream she was in. It didn't take her long to finally step out of the darkness of her closed eyes into a bright scenery. Around her, everything was unorganized and chaotic. She immediately recognized the time when Discord was in power. Luna started to walk around, looking for Celestia. In a place so turbid, she would of thought it would take forever.

Though, it didn't. Despite the fact it was an exact replica of Discord's imagination, there was only a small patch of it. Celestia wouldn't possibly be able to remember every single detail of anarchy that was spread across Equestria when he ruled. She spotted the shape of her sister only a few feet away, whom was looking up to somepony. Or, some draconequus, should she say. Eventually, she got close enough to hear what she was saying.

"How could you do this? I trusted you!" she cried. Luna couldn't see Discord clearly, since she had to duck behind a mound that stuck out the checkered ground, but she heard him cackle.

"You're not as bright as I thought you were. I'm the Spirit of Chaos, what were you expecting, Princess?"

Celestia shook her head, "I expected you to at least thank me for freeing you..."

"Celestia!" Luna called. She leaped from her hiding place, and blasted her magic at Discord, which turned him to stone. Her sister stared at him, then looked at her.

"How did you-"

She put a hoof over her mouth. "You're dreaming," Luna told her.

At first, Celestia looked at her in disbelief. But then she sighed.

"Discord's reformed. Don't worry about it," she assured her.

"I know..." she murmured, as the scenery around them became normal. "I wish I could forget about this."

Luna blinked. "We all want to forget about something, but we can't," she told her. Celestia looked at her hooves.

"Unfortunate, really," she muttered, as the background started to fade. Luna realized she was waking up, and waited to appear back in the cave they were lying in.
> Expanding the Plan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bitterness at the back of Twilight's throat made her shudder. The grass in her mouth felt too dry to swallow, causing her to hack it back up.

"Ugh... my tongue feels numb..." she mumbled, her tongue lolling over her jaw.

"It can't possibly be that bad," Luna bent down and picked up some half-dead grass in her own mouth. She started to chew, but ended up throwing it up to the side, her vomit almost landing on Celestia's hoof, if she hadn't moved it away.

"Thy shouldn't even be allowed to be called food, tis so vile!" Luna hissed, trying to get the flavor out of her mouth. Celestia sighed.

"We have to eat something. This is all I could find," she told them both.

The two looked at her disbelievingly.

"What about in Ponyville?" Luna pointed out, scraping her tongue with her hoof. Her sister gave her a surprised look.

"Why should they waste their little food on us?" she retorted, "and don't say because we're going to save this place. Considering we don't even know how we're going to do it." The alicorn started to walk towards the cave entrance. "Without the elements... how do we stop not one, but two dark-magic-possessed tyrants?"

Twilight tilted her head. "You mean three. Discord counts, right?"

When she said that, Celestia turned her head to glare at her. "Why? He's in cuffs, for harmony's sake. What threat is he?"

"He isn't reformed. Once he's out of slavery, he can do anything. You never got Fluttershy to reform him - he's still evil, slave or not," Twilight explained, silently hoping she didn't offend her. Celestia looked at her hooves, then nodded.

"I suppose you're right," she admitted, "And I think he'd spite those who forced him to use his magic for good, without his free will." The alicorn looked back outside, staying silent for a few moments. Then it hit her. "That's it..." she whispered.

"What's it?" Luna asked. Celestia didn't seem to hear her.

"Use his magic for good!" she exclaimed. It only half answered her little sister, but then again, she wasn't paying attention to either of them. Before they knew it, Celestia spread her wings and flew off. "I'll be back soon!" She called to them. Twilight and Luna looked at each other, confused.

"Should we follow her?" Twilight wondered. Luna thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"I think she knows what she's doing," she said, "I don't know what she's doing though."

Twilight shrugged. "Well, I'm hungry. No matter how horrid, I'm gonna eat that grass... err... gross hay... whatever it is."

---

No matter what book Spike read, he couldn't find anything that could help him get to Twilight. He growled at the book he was holding, then threw it backwards. He heard it thump somewhere behind him, but he didn't care.

"This is hopeless," he muttered to himself. For a moment, he sat in the middle of the library to think, before he sighed and stood up to leave.

"Spike?" He hadn't taken even a few steps when he heard somepony call his name.

"Rarity? What are you doing here?" the dragon asked as he spotted the white unicorn entering the large library.

"Looking for you. You've been gone for quite a while," she explained. "Spike... what's wrong?" She looked at the baby dragon, whom didn't seem so thrilled to see her, unlike usual.

"Isn't the answer obvious? It's possible we may never get to see Twilight again," he folded his arms. Rarity tilted her head.

"What in the world makes you think that?" she asked calmly.

"Well, apparently she had to save this weird... other world she's trapped in to get home, as far as they know, and we're not there to help her!" he grunted.

"Didn't we talk about this?" Rarity set her memory back to about two days ago. "I'm sure three alicorns are able to save an alternate Equestria."

"We usually have four alicorns here, yet it's always us - you," he corrected, "who saves Equestria."

The white unicorn blinked. "You've helped save Equestria too. Remember the Crystal Empire, or the Equestria Games?" she reminded him.

"Yeah, I guess..." Spike huffed a small chuckle.

"You need to have faith in Twilight. We don't always need to blast the villain with friendship and rainbows," Rarity giggled.

"Yeah, I guess," Spike sniffed. "Are we ever going to have a cool magic lazer beam explosion defeat?"

"Now that would be something."

---

Celestia hovered above the gorge below her. It was hard to see the bottom, however, she could tell where the cave was where they last saw Discord. Taking a deep breath, she started to lower herself towards the bottom. Yet, uncertainty still gnawed at her hooves.

What if this didn't work? What if this was a ridiculous plan to start with? Why didn't she tell Luna or Twilight?

Non of those questions she could answer. She just had to hope.

She landed right in front of the cave's entrance. Inside, it wasn't exactly visible, so a spark escaped her horn, in which turned into a light spell.

"Hello?" she called, waiting for an answer before she stepped inside.

"Ugh... what do you want now?" a voice came from the corner. Celestia turned her horn towards it, and spotted a slender body curled up there, his back facing towards her.

"Um... Discord..." she started awkwardly, slowly making her way into the cave. The draconequus lifted his head then turned to her.

"Just spit it out quee - huh?" He flinched in surprise when he saw her. "Great, I'm having another lucid dream," he muttered.

Celestia paused, then shook her head. "You're awake. And... you were awake last time you saw me too."

Discord stared at her in confusion. He turned his whole body around so he could face her completely, and started to crawl towards her on all four limbs. She cringed as she saw the cuffs once again.

"I'd say something, but I don't know what to say," he said, as he stood up on his two hind legs.

"I understand," Celestia answered calmly, "if you're willing to listen, I can explain how I'm standing here."

Discord tilted his head, then scoffed disbelievingly. "What? You just chose to take on your old form?"

She sighed, then shook her head again. "Are you going to listen to me?" she spoke more firmly. Discord glared at her for a few moments, then shrugged.

"Go ahead," he said to her, sitting down. Celestia settled right next to him.

"This will sound crazy. Even for you."

---

Twilight stared out into the dying woods. There was no breeze, in fact, it felt like there was no atmosphere at all. Everything seemed silent, until she heard Luna come up from behind her. She turned to the dark coloured princess.

"Still thinking?" the older alicorn asked. Twilight sighed.

"Yeah... I haven't really thought of anything though," she mumbled. Luna knelled next to her.

"...Luna?" Twilight said after a few moments of silence. Luna looked at her, and waited for her to speak. "How hard is it being here?"

The princess blinked at her, as if she didn't expect her to ask her that question. Then she spoke,

"Difficult. I'm watching my own doings. All the suffering and pain in this world... caused by me."

Twilight gave her a pitiful look, trying to think of a way to cheer her up. "But this isn't you," she pointed out. Luna swung her head around to face her and gave her a glare.

"It is Twilight Sparkle! This is what would of happened if I wasn't stopped! Heck - I threatened to burn my own sister in Tartarus. Do you know how that feels? Knowing I was that close to plunging our home into utter destruction, all because of my own selfish desires," she spat. Twilight didn't flinch at her tone because she was yelling at her, rather yelling at herself.

"I meant, Nightmare Moon isn't you," she corrected her. Luna looked at her.

"But I was once."

"No... that was your inner demon that you've locked away. We all have one, just like Celestia in this world. It just takes something to trigger it." She put a hoof on the other alicorn's shoulder, but Luna shook it off.

"Jealousy? Everypony feels that at some point. Do I see them transforming into some sort of demonic version of themselves? No I don't."

"You were an easy target. Especially since you hold great magic, being an alicorn and all."

Luna huffed her doubt. "Not that I wish it upon her, but I'm surprised Celestia's inner evil didn't corrupt her. She suffered one thousand years of loneliness and despair, suffering depression and blaming herself for all what was but my own fault."

"Well... that's because she still knew she loved you," Twilight said. Luna's jaw dropped when she heard her say that.

"You're saying I became Nightmare Moon because I stopped loving her?" her voiced raised as she narrowed her eyes at the younger princess. Twilight did her best not to cower in her intense gaze,

"I'm not saying that..." Twilight rasped, "I'm saying, you let your envy and hatred overtake your positive emotions for Celestia. You didn't not love her, you forgot."

Luna kept her angry gaze on Twilight for a moment longer, then calmed herself. "That makes sense," she admitted. The two sat in silence for a while longer, then Luna sparked in realization. "Wait... so if I transformed into Nightmare Moon because I forgot that I loved my sister more than I despised her... what does that say about Solar Flare?"

Twilight blinked in confusion. "Uhh... repeat that?"

"This Equestria's Celestia isn't corrupted. She became what she is unwillingly, for the sake of being with her sister!" Luna stood up. Twilight was still trying to get her head around what she was saying.

"Do you know what this means?" Luna picked Twilight up by the shoulders. The lavender mare shook her head. "Solar Flare may still be our Celestia!" she exclaimed, dropping Twilight on the floor. "I have to tell Celestia, we could be one step closer to getting home!" With that, Luna took to the night sky, leaving Twilight at the cave.
> Different Ideas
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"...And alternate world?" Discord finally spoke. Celestia nodded. "And I'm reformed?"

Again, she nodded. "You sound like that's the part you're most shocked about," she giggled. Discord just rolled his eyes.

"As if that little pegasus Fluttershy would be able to do that," he gave a disbelieving snort. Celestia leaned her head forward to get his attention again.

"It's true. But it's not shameful- wait... you know who Fluttershy is?" she paused. The draconequus turned his head to face her again.

"How can I not? The little brat thinks she's the boss of me," he grunted.

"What do you mean? What is she like here?"

Discord blinked at her, then started to explain. "With her 'special' talent of communicating with animals, Queen Nightmare Moon gave her the job of controlling all the animals in the Everfree. This includes me. She doesn't know it, but I know what she's really like. She acts all tough, like she's the queen of the forest, when in reality, she's a total wimp. I'm guessing she's a coward all the time in your world."

"She isn't a coward. She's just.... afraid of a lot of things," she said, quite quietly. "But I'm telling you the truth when she reformed  you. Her kindness showed you that friendship is something you wouldn't want to loose."

Discord stared at her, his expression unreadable. Then,

"Why would you want to reform me?"

Celestia wasn't sure how to answer. Her usual excuse was 'to use his magic for good', but she knew deep down that wasn't true. And the more she thought about it, it sounded like she was using him.

"I forgave you," she rasped, "and I'm willing to forgive again... but..." she trailed off, thinking of a way to put it, "I can lead a pony to water, but I can't make it drink."

"So... what you're saying is...?" he signaled her to keep going with his talon.

"Will you accept my forgiveness?" she finished. Discord looked at the ground for a moment, then he stood up on his hind limbs and walked slowly to the cave exit.

"I would, but I'm not going to," he simply said. Celestia's ears drooped.

"Why?" she asked, more curious than angry.

"It's not you who should be apologizing to me. It's them," he looked up at the castle nearby, "it's... her." That last world was hissed.

"But I'm still her. Everypony - everyone is the same here. She may have not said it to you face to face..." she trotted over to his side, "but she feels it. Somewhere."

"No she doesn't... she's not you. Not anymore anyway," Discord denied, turning away from her.

"Except... she is," another voice came from outside the cave. The two of them turned to where it might of come from, and saw a blue head peeking around the corner, before she showed her full self.

"Luna! Where you eavesdropping?" Celestia scolded.

"Only the last part. I'm here for a reason though..." she trotted up to her sister. "You see, me and Twilight were talking. Eventually, we got on the subject of whether Nightmare Moon is me or not... okay that part isn't important." She shook her head. "Anyway, Twilight said I transformed into Nightmare Moon because I forgot my love for you," the younger princess put a hoof on Celestia. "Solar Flare... I realized... did not."

Celestia tilted her head. "Did not what?"

"She didn't just stop loving her... me... whatever. She stayed because she wanted to be with her sister. If dark magic isn't possessing her... she's faking it."

Celestia and Discord blinked. "How could she be faking a tyrant for this long?" Discord huffed.

"She probably doesn't know what to do. She's blinded by her love for a sister, she can't put her subjects before her," Luna explained, pacing around in circles, as if she was making this up as she went. "Do you get what I'm saying?" She looked at her sister again, freezing in place. Celestia nodded.

"I guess it makes sense," she sighed.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I will now yell at you." Her sister stopped in front of her, and looked up to make eye contact. She coughed, then began, "What where you thinking, you fool? Twilight said he wasn't reformed in this world, and you know it! Now for all we know he'll tell those two psychopathic tyrants about us and we'll be killed on the spot!!"

"Calm it Luna," Celestia raised a hoof to hush her huffing sister. "I did it for a reason."

"And just what reason is that?" she spat.

"The same reason I freed our Discord," she explained, quite defensively.

"Oh, of course. Use his magic for good," Luna rolled her eyes.

"Well... yes. But also to give him a chance to redeem himself," Celestia looked at the confused draconequus.

"And... forgiveness?" he finished for her.

"Oh, and that too."

Luna kept glaring at her for a few moments, then sighed, "Okay, yes. You make some good points. It's clear that he is totally helpless here," she glanced at his cuffs, "but what happens when he - wait... why don't you just break the cuffs? Your magic can do anything..."

Discord looked down at his chains. "You think I haven't tried?" he smugly looked at her, "they're enchanted. I can't." He demonstrated by trying to pull at them, only for the cuffs to spark magic.

"Teleportation?" Luna raised a hoof at the suggestion.

"Oh, I tried magic like that. But each time I do, these things absorb it and become even more harder." He gave an irritated look at them. "Oh yeah, those two queens can sense when I use magic. They can tell whether it's a harmless spell or not."

Celestia and Luna looked at each other.

"How convenient." Celestia said flatly.

"Well, that's a dead end." Luna sighed. The three of them weren't sure what else to say beyond that. Then another voice came from outside.

"Would you please do the pleasure and not leave me in the middle of the Everfree Forest alone at night?!" Twilight trotted over angrily over to Luna. "Do you know what in Equestria could be out there?" She gave a scared glare at the dying trees. Luna just blinked, not thinking she was serious.

"I doubt anything lives in a forest full of dead trees." She muttered. Twilight looked at the ground and tilted her head.

"Easy for you to say. You can communicate with nocturnal animals."

The Night Princess' eyes widened. "How do you know about that?"

"You put it in your journal." Twilight answered.

"Oh yeah..."

Discord raised a brow at the youngest princess. "Um... who's she?" He turned to Celestia. Twilight flinched when she realized he was there.

"That's Twilight Sparkle. She's my student... or was. She's a princess now. Also the Element of Magic," Celestia explained, pride glowing in her eyes.

"Um... he doesn't know what the Elements of Harmony are," she pointed out.

"He does now. Thanks Celestia." Luna tipped her head towards her sister, who nervously grinned and blushed out of embarrassment.

"You told him everything?! I said he wasn't refo-" Twilight was interrupted by Celestia lifting her hoof over her mouth.

"I thought I'd at least escape the everyday lectures by being here," she muttered through gritted teeth.

"Oh... sorry," Twilight giggled awkwardly. Celestia just gave a smile of amusement.

"Oh, I remember now!" Discord suddenly exclaimed. Everypony looked at him in confusion. "I knew I that I knew that name somewhere." He pointed one of his talons to Twilight. Twilight put a hoof on her chest in surprise.

"...My name?" She blinked.

"Yeah. There was another Twilight Sparkle. Years ago... one of the only ponies who stood up to those two." 

"What happened to her... or... me?"

Discord shrugged. "Nightmare Moon did something to her. I don't think even Solar Flare knows, to be honest. I guess she's dead or something."

Luna cringed as he mentioned it. Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder to assure she wasn't angry.

"Oh..." Celestia looked down.

Discord then started to hover in the air. He flapped his two different wings, in order to pull himself towards Luna. "So, you were Nightmare Moon once?" He laid a talon on her chest. "Why are you still standing here?"

At first, Luna wasn't sure how to reply. Then she took a deep breath. "Well... Twilight Sparkle freed me with the Elements of Har-"

"Yes yes, I know that part," he interrupted, covering her mouth with his fluffy tail tip. "I mean, why do you still want to rule with your sister? She banished you for a thousand years, after all."

Luna's eyes narrowed, and glared at him like fiery blue pits. "Because, I wanted to put my mistakes behind me... and I didn't want to be alone anymore. Do you think I'm that heartless?" she scowled.

"No need to get your mane in a twist. If that's possible, that is." The draconequus held some of her dark blue flowing mane in his tail tip, which acted like a hand. Luna used her hoof to move it away from him. "I was just asking. I wanted to know if it was worth it."

His statement made her calm. "Of course... but why ask me?" She tilted her head.

"Think about it. We were both evil, and in your world, we are both good." Discord shrugged. "You know, I'm considering being reformed already." He leaned on just his goat leg, so he could bend back to hover next to Twilight.

"Eheh... great," she rasped.

"And I think I will help you, Celestia."

Celestia's eyes widened. "How did you know I wanted you to..."

"Before you mentioned 'use my magic for good', I worked it out," he stated, kneeling in front of the alicorn, and looking up at her.

"Oh... well thank you. I'm truly grateful." She smiled. Then Luna raised her hoof.

"Wait... what about my plan?" she asked. "Are we going to reform Solar Flare or not?"

Celestia looked at the ground. "I suppose, but..."

"If you don't mind me interrupting... I have a plan too..." Twilight said, quite quietly. "I was thinking that if I could unite my friends in this world, maybe we could use the elements after all?"

The white alicorn just blinked. "So we have three plans?"

Everypony nodded.

"Okay... how about this. I'll work something out with Discord, Luna, work something out with the other me, and Twilight, you unite your friends."

Luna and Twilight looked at each other uncertainly. "Are you sure that's a good plan?" They both asked.

"...No. But are any of my plans good?" she asked. "The whole Tirek event, I'm still not at all proud of that plan."

Twilight shrugged. "It was the best plan available."

"Yes but, okay, Crystal Empire appears. I send you to save it just so you can learn a lesson."

"...Yeah that was kind of extreme."

"That's what I was saying!" Luna exclaimed.

Celestia shook her head. "Okay, that out of the way, is it settled?"

Twilight and Luna nodded.

"Then I recommend you two start now."
> I'm sending you to Ponyville...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Dear Twilight, Celestia, and Luna,

Are you sure there isn't anything we can do? Is there a spell we could use to get you back? Princess Cadance is running out of excuses.
Well, she's ran out of excuses.
A long, long time ago.
Oh yeah, Discord's rai-"

Celestia stopped reading so that she could let out her chuckles of amusement. Twilight twiddled her hooves in impatience.

"What?" she urged her. Her mentor managed to hold in her giggled and continued.

"Oh yeah, Discord's raising the sun and moon.
-Spike."

"...I don't get why that's so funny," Luna grunted.

"I can just imagine him trying to do my job..." she breathed out her final huff of laughter.

---

Discord hatefully watched the sun slowly fall down from the sky. So boring... so slow... he couldn't take it...

"That's it," he said, finally giving up. With a snap of his fingers, the sun dashed down behind the hills, the moon zipping up straight after, much like the two celestial bodies did when he was in power.

"That's cheating!" Cadance complained. "You can't just-" Discord wasn't about to hear one of her lectures all over again. Without turning around, he snapped his fingers again, causing her mouth to literally zip shut. Her voice turned into frustrated mumbles.

"Stop talking, or I'm quitting. You're not making anything better," he told her. Cadance's horn glowed blue magic, then in a bright flash, the zip on her mouth disappeared.

"I'll try and take no offence from that then," she muttered.

---

"I agree, I'd hate to do her job. And who's Cadance?" the chained draconequus added.

"She's the Crystal Princess. Surely the Crystal Empire exists here?" Twilight raised a brow.

Discord nodded. "Yes... but Sombra rules there right now. Kinda."

When he said that, Twilight choked on her own tongue. "What?!" she gasped. "But where's Cadance?"

"She's not a princess here," Celestia said, "there's no reason why she would be. She's probably still a pegasus."

Twilight's ears drooped and her eyes began to grow more moist. "She probably doesn't even know me..." she sighed.

Celestia put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "No, but your friends don't either. Then again, we're going to rebuild relationships in this world like they are in ours."

"I know... but what if Cadance-"

"We can't put any focus on Cadance now - we have to stick to our original plan," Luna said. Twilight hesitated at first, but then nodded in agreement.

"Maybe I should go," the young alicorn suggested, "for all I know, my friends may be scattered around Equestria." With that, she galloped out of the cave and flew off into the night.

"Be careful!" Celestia called after her. She doubted that she heard her though.

"What is she, your daughter?" Discord rolled his eyes, causing Celestia to turn on him.

"No, but I like to think so," she scowled.

"Sister?" Luna tapped the white alicorn, whom turned her head back to her, "Should we follow Twilight?"

Celestia looked at the cave entrance for a moment, then shook her head.

"We each have our own plans, we each stick to them."

---

Twilight trotted through the Everfree, recapping the plan that she didn't have. She knew very well she had reunited her friends in her own world before, but there, she reunited them with the friendship that was already there, and was just forgotten. Here, it most likely didn't exist at all. Her counterpart wasn't Celestia's student, was never sent to Ponyville to make friends, and they never united in the first place.

...So she had to start from scratch.

She hadn't noticed her hooves leading the way back to Applejack's dying farm. Though, it was a good place to start, considering she'd already met the farm pony before.

The princess was confident, but it sickened her to walk in her friend's home where the place they lived was crumbling around her. Nor did it help this was under two of the ponies whom she looked up to's what-could-be rule. It was rather awkward to stand around the two good versions, if she could admit it to herself. Especially Luna - she hoped nopony noticed her flinch when she felt her hoof touch her.

Twilight escaped her thoughts when she heard the same sound she had last time she was here. It still being night, she couldn't track down much by vision, she was forced to use other senses. Her ear perked up as she followed the sound, not even noticing herself maneuver around the rotting trees. Relief flooded her when she found herself able to use her eyes again, for she saw a familiar orange coat not far from where she stood.

At first, she though Applejack was bucking, since that's what she had heard at first. But at a closer angle, she could see she was no longer doing that. Instead she seemed to be separating one type of apple from another. Those being bad and... well not good. A better word would be...average.

Twilight took a deep breath, then she stepped forward.

"Hello again." She said, trying sound as un-sinister as she could. Despite her efforts though, Applejack still flinched at the sound of her voice. But once again calmed when she recognized the pony who had greeted her.

"Howdy." She answered back, still concentrating on the job she was doing. Twilight slowly trotted up to her, glad she wasn't intimidated, but still unsure how to begin.

"Why do you seem so... startled when you hear me?" She asked, tilting her head.

"I'm not sure... I guess 'cause nopony speaks around 'ere." The ruffled mare shrugged. "I'm not used to it."

"Oh..." Twilight looked at her hooves. "Does that mean you don't have any friends?" Because that would be such a good start... She added silently.

Applejack shook her head. "Can't be distracted by that stuff, y'know?"

The alicorn widened her eyes. "But... you love making friends!"

"I know that, but... wait, how'd you know that?" For the first time, she looked up from the three buckets she was shuffling her hooves in and gave a suspicious look.

"Uhh..." Twilight stuttered. "Everypony loves making friends!" She grinned in a not-at-all-suspicious style.

"Pshh," Applejack scoffed, "y'all maybe right about me, but out of the few ponies I've talked to, I defiantly know the most unsociable pony you can possibly meet."

Her first guess was her counterpart, but then she remembered what Discord had said. So she ran out of ideas.

"Uhh... who's that?"

"A rock farmer named Pinkamena," she told her. Twilight paused. Why did that name sound familiar? She knew no one in Ponyville called Pinkamena...

Then her jaw dropped. Oh yes... she did indeed. She had just never spoken the name, because there was never a need.

"P...Pinkie?!" she gasped, frozen in place. How could that be possible?

"Uh... yeah... she is pink. Ya know 'er already?" Applejack raised a brow, more curious than surprised.

"Gah... not exactly?" Twilight nervously chuckled. That's when the farm pony thrust her face forward.

"Okay... why y'all acting like that?" she narrowed her eyes.

"Acting like what?" the lavender mare rasped,a few sweat drops starting to roll down her face.

"Y'all are acting like ya know me... yet you said the other sun's hour that you've never been 'ere before. Also, I can tell in your tone that your hidin' somethin'."

At first, the mare's quick thinking surprised Twilight. Then she realized.

Dear Princess Celestia, never lie to the Element of Honesty in any world. Because it never ends well. She noted to herself.

"Applejack, I can explain," Twilight assured. But this just made Applejack gasp.

"I.... I haven't told ya my name. How'd y'all know? Did somepony tell ya?"

The thought of lying occurred to her again, but she saw no point. She'd get found out sooner or later.

"No, I already knew," she sighed. Applejack's eyes widened.

"H-how?!" She didn't even blink. "Have ya been spyin' on me?" her tone changed to a more bitter style.

"Of course not!" she gasped, "It's... complicated."

The farm pony gave an uncertain huff, "Complicated? How'd ya mean?"

"I promise I'll tell you, but I must gather four other ponies first... or there would be no point." Reminding herself she'd saved them before helped. That, or it was Cadance's method of keeping calm and collected.

"Um... what four other ponies and why?"

Twilight shook her head. "You'll find out why. But I need your help finding them first, it'll make things so much quicker."

Applejack stared at her, not sure how to respond. Then her eyes slowly trailed towards something that wasn't on her face... more like on her body. Twilight raised a brow.

"What are you staring at?" she gave her a confused look.

"Tell me the four ponies, Princess," the farm pony bowed before her. Twilight gasped, and looked at the two feathered body parts on her back.

You don't have to call me that...
> Honestly
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight stared down at the farm pony bowing before her. Though she'd excepted the fact that she's royalty, seeing one of her friends act like a peasant in front of her was beyond her comfort zone. Not knowing what to say, she reached out a hoof and prodded her shoulder, causing the mare to look up.

"Applejack... Please stand up..." she sighed. Applejack did so, but looked in surprise.

"What is it Princess... err...?"

"Twilight," the alicorn completed for her.

"Princess Twilight," Applejack echoed. Twilight took a deep breath.

"Please, just call me Twilight."

Applejack raised a brow at this. "Why's that?"

"Well... I.... I'm not anymore important than anypony else."

As the earth pony opened her mouth to reply, Twilight covered it with her hoof. "No. Don't go through the whole 'but you're a princess' speech. I've heard that one too many times!" Then she put her hoof back on the ground. "Anyway... about those four ponies..."

Applejack nodded. "Name them. Hopefully I can tell y'all."

"Pinkie - uhh... Pinkamena... Rarity... Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy."

She tilted her head. "Strange combination..." the mare commented, tapping her chin. "Well, like I said, I know Pinkamena. She lives on a rock farm not too far from 'ere. Fluttershy... uhh..." her voice trailed off, staring into the distance.

"Yes?" Twilight urged.

"She lives outside the Everfree Forest," she finally rasped, "I wouldn't risk it though... she controls all those animals in there."

Twilight raised a brow. "But... she cares for them... right?"

Applejack shrugged. "Heck if I know. Never met her in person."

"Oh.... what about Rarity and Rainbow Dash?"

"Rainbow Dash? She's a weather pony who lives in Cloudsdale. Rarity... I know who she is, I don't know what she does though."

Twilight looked towards the village and thought for a second. "I'll leave those two until last," she said, "anyway, can you show me where  Pinkamena lives?"

Applejack grew and uncertain look, glancing at her work, then back to Twilight.

"I'm not sure I can... It would be best if I stayed here and worked."

"Why? What are you afraid of?" Twilight gave a pitiful look to her would-be friend. The farm pony hesitated to answer, but then she sighed.

"It's how it is. If I abandon my duties, I get my punishment."

"Do you want it to be like this?" The alicorn raised a brow.

"Nopony in their right mind would wan' it to be like this."

"Then come with me, Applejack. Help me change this world... help me bring harmony back!" She picked up her orange hooves with her own, staring to her eyes. Applejack blinked, then looked at the ground.

"Why me though? I'm just a work horse on a farm, with just my two siblings. What change could I make?"

Twilight smiled. "Just trust me on this one."

---

Luna trotted around the perimeter of the castle, staring up at the tall pillars that towered over her. Seeing her old home should bring back happy memories - but it didn't. She couldn't actually name anything different about the castle's appearance, but there was something about it that seemed so... sinister.

No matter, Luna, she thought to herself, you're here to reform your sister. Or... your other sister. You get the memo...

Her face was hidden by the shadow of her black hood she was wearing, which was made by Discord. Thankfully, making cloths wasn't on the list of forbidden spells for him. Though she wasn't really aiming to be spotted by anyone, if anything unfortunate happened, she'd remain a mystery.

Luna made sure her hoofsteps were light as she slowly walked through an entrance that she knew not many ponies used. So far so good. She kept walking down the corridor, being cautious that she didn't attract any unwanted attention.

And with each step, her uncertainty grew.

I don't even have a plan...

Pride had convinced her to come here without the help of her sister.

"Maybe you should analyze your plan first..." she had said. But Luna had refused to wait any longer.

"I'll know what to do, honest."

To think she once wielded the Element of Honesty. Or any of those elements... Honesty, Loyalty and Laughter. She hadn't realized any changes within her in the time of her return, until that one Nightmare Night.

"Fun? What is this 'fun', thou speakest of?"

How could the Element of Laughter forget what fun is? She always had fun as a filly - scratch that, all her life, minus those thousand years isolated from home. When she asked Celestia about this, her explanation confused her.

"When you transformed into Nightmare Moon, you betrayed your elements. When you were reformed, you were also reborn. I think that's why you looked like you did. But you no longer had connection to the elements you once had, meaning all things to do with them was forgotten. At least... I think."

You think. You always think. She was thinking right now. You think automatically.

So that's how this was going to work.

---

"But... I don't get it. You said you've never been here before, yet y'all know about some of the most least known of ponies?" Applejack asked, as the two ponies trotted through the worn out area.

Twilight looked uncertainly to the side. "Well... uh... I'll explain once I've got those four ponies together. Saves me explaining it over and over again, because it's a long, complicated story."

The farm pony gave her a confused and curious look, then drew her attention back to the path ahead. "Welp, there it is," she stopped, and raised a hoof to a small house up ahead, surrounded by a field with dead trees and of course, rocks. "Tell me about what happens when I see ya again," she said, as she turned around to leave.

"Wait!" Twilight called, making her stop, "You're not coming?"

Applejack shook her head. "Once y'meet Pinkamena, half ya happiness is thrown out the window. She's that miserable," a light hint of bitterness appeared on her face, "y'all need skill to make a pony more miserable than they already are in Equestria."

What she said really shocked Twilight, but she moved it aside. She knew they had to stick together.

A true true friend helps a friend in need...

"She wasn't born like that. Trust me when I say, she can bring joy to a whole town by literally singing a three minute song."

The earth pony shrugged. "Maybe once, but I can't imagine her turning back now."

That made the princess all the more curious. "What do you mean by, 'maybe once'?"

Applejack hesitated, then she sighed, "It all started 'bout fifteen years ago..."



Pinkamena watched as her father closed the door, despite herself still standing outside. She sighed, again, recapping the little life that she had. Wake up... go outside... farm rocks... not eat all day... then eat maybe a small dish of stale hay, farm more rocks, keep farming rocks, then stop once you drop out of exhaustion. Oh... how there was something missing. Something that could make her life all the more better. Something-

A loud noise and a bright, colourful light interrupted her. She looked up into the night sky and gasped as she watched seven colours, all at once, scattering along the sky above her. A strong gale also followed it, not quite keeping up, however. It was so strong that it blew back her mane and puffed it up. She blinked open her eyes as soon as there was no need to shield them from the slicing wind, and they widened at the sight that had been left over from what the heck just happened.

A curve in the sky... with seven colours. She surprised herself when she could name them all in order... Red... Orange... Yellow... Green... Blue... Indigo... and Purple. What was it called when those colours appeared in the sky?

A rainbow! That was it.

Oh, she never thought she'd see one! No, scratch that, she never thought she'd seen anything beautiful at all! She had never considered herself lucky... so lucky to have seen something to make her...

Smile.

A wide grin was spread across her face. An expression caused by a feeling she'd never felt before.

Happiness.

The little filly didn't want to stop. She wanted to stay happy... she wanted to bring joy to the world! And she knew how, she would show her family the beautiful rain-

Her frown returned as she watched it fade away. It didn't stop her happiness exactly, since she still remembered it, and she was grateful for seeing it in the first place. But how in Equestria was she going to make family smile?

Hmm...

---

"I know this part..." Twilight sighed. Pinkie, at home, had told her many times. She didn't need to hear it again.

"Err... how?" Applejack tilted her head.

"You'll find out soon enough. But yes, I know, she makes a party for her family, they get happy, and she get's her cutie mark."

The farm pony blinked. "H-how did y-"

"Nevermind... just tell me how she's now... miserable."

Applejack nodded. "Well... you see, after that, she wanted to spread the happiness to our little village..."

---

"Hello there! What's your name?" Pinkamena asked a scruffy and battered grey-blue filly. The first thing the small pink mare noticed, however, was her eyes, which were strangely crossed over.

The filly seemed rather scared to speak at first. Pinkamena gave a smile. "I won't hurt you or anything, I just want to know your name!"

"D-Derpy..." the filly whispered.

"Well hello Derpy!" Pinkamena grinned, "I'm Pinkamena. But that's a mouthful, don't you think? What do you think would be an abbreviation of that?"

Derpy looked away (both left and right in her case). "Umm... what does abbreviation mean?" she whimpered.

"It means like... a shortening of something. Why did you seem so afraid to ask?"

The pegasus sniffed, "I'm stupid... I can't do anything right."

"Aww, who told you that?" Pinkamena tilted her head, giving the poor filly a pitiful look.

"Everpony," she murmured, "I mess everything up."

"Like, you're clumsy?"

Derpy nodded. Pinkamena tapped her chin. How could she cheer her up?

"Well, it's not your fault you were born with cross-eyes!" she gave a grin. Her sentence didn't really cheer the pegasus up though, so she carried on, "But that's what makes you special! You should be proud to be who you are!" She gave her a nudge on the shoulder. Derpy didn't smile, but her frown was gone.

"You think I'm special?" She widened her eyes.

"Are you kidding? I'm sure you're  more than special!" Pinkamena almost lifted her up the ground with her two front hooves. That made Derpy, not only smile, but laugh.

"Gee... thanks Pinkieme... uh... Pinkam-" The mispronounce of her name gave Pinkamena the idea.

"Pinkie! That's it!" she cheered. Derpy gave a confused look.

"Huh?"

"Remember when I said I wanted an abbreviation for my name? Well, of course you do, it was a few moments ago, but I just came up with a brilliant idea! Pinkie, that'll be what ponies call me," the newly named 'Pinkie' announced proudly. She then turned back to Derpy. "Thank you Derpy, it's a much more happier name!"

Derpy gave a shy smile. "It was nothing... I just made a mistake pronouncing your name..."

"See? That's what I mean. You may be clumsy, but your 'errors' can become really good ideas! Say, wanna help me with something?"

"Sure you want my help?" Derpy cringed a little.

"Duh!"

"Okay then..."

"I want to throw a party for all of the ponies in this village! Everypony's so miserable. It's really depressing."

"A... a party?" Derpy echoed.

"Yeah! You'll see what it is once I'm done setting it up. It's be a surprise! But a really fun surprise!"

---

"If she was so cheerful, then how is she so miserable now?" Twilight asked. The two were now sitting down, it was taking so long to tell the story.

"I was gettin' to that. So... she and Derpy set up the party for the ponies, of course, a few things fell over and smashed with Derpy helping, but they managed to get it complete. And we all gathered... with a ton of convincing. But, like sompony just flicked a switch, the party just lighten'd us all up. We partied for hours... smiles everywhere... until..."

---

"Oh, this little rabbit is so cute!" Pinkie squealed as the yellow pegasus held a white rabbit on her hoof.

"Oh... um... thank..you?" she murmured. How Pinkie heard her voice above the loud cheering and music was a mystery.

"You're welcome! Also, I didn't quite catch your name."

"M-my name? Oh... err... it's... Fluttershy..."

"It's what?" Pinkie moved her ear closer the her mouth.

"Um..." The pegasus coughed to clear her throat. "I'm... Fluttershy..." she whispered. Hearing her name just made Pinkie beam.

"Well, nice to meet you Fluttershy!" the pink filly took hold of her hoof to shake it, but ended up shaking her whole body.

"Please stop..."  she rasped as she was shaken in the air. Pinkie probably didn't hear her, but she stopped anyway.

"So... where abouts do you-" Pinkie was interrupted by a loud crashing sound. She turned around, her eyes wide, and was shocked to see a familiar, yet frightening face towering over all the ponies around her. The music stopped, no, everything stopped. Everpony bowed. But it was more out of fear than respect. Everpony except for Pinkie, that is.

Pinkie stayed standing, looking in horror at the destruction the pony had caused. "My party! Oh no!" she wailed. But as she finished, she was suddenly lifted off the ground and brought face to face with a dark coloured mare.

"Oh... um... hello Queen Nightmare Moon..." she whimpered, forcing her smile to stay on her face.

"So thy is the one hosting this party, art thou?" she growled, "We do need a word with you."

"But there's only one of you..." Pinkie pointed out. Nightmare Moon raised a brow, but then shook her head back into her original expression and glared into her with her sharp pupils.

"Okay, one, that's how the Royal Canterlot Voice works, and two, no there isn't," she hissed. Pinkie looked over the Queen's shoulder, and noticed a white, fiery figure. Though, she paid no heed to Solar Flare, and focused on the one holding her tightly with her magic.

"Look, my Queen, I'm sorry I didn't invite you here but-"

"I didn't come here to be invited!" she interrupted her, "I came to collect my food storage today, and guess what? Nothing and nopony was there-" she moved closer to Pinkie's face until their noses were touching, "-all because of this party, which was hosted by you," as she said the last word, the magic around Pinkie's neck tightened even more, causing her to give out a choking sound.

"Hey! Put her down, you're hurting her!" Derpy called from behind her.

"Silence!" Nightmare Moon commanded, followed by Solar Flare leaping over to the little filly and covering her mouth with her fiery mane.

"MMMPHMPPHM!" Derpy mumbled. Pinkie managed to strain her neck over to look at her, and saw Solar Flare giving Derpy a pitiful look. But Pinkie knew it was all for taunting.

"What was that, dear?" the white alicorn urged, loosening her grip on the mouth.

"Your mane burns!" the cross-eyed pegasus repeated.

"Then don't interrupt my sister," she spat, letting the filly go. Derpy immediately bowed back down, not making eye-contact with either of them.

"Back to you," Nightmare Moon turned back to Pinkie, "I do not allow my subjects to waste their lives partying when they should be working for their Queen. Now, if I ever catch you doing this again, I'll-"

"Do what?" Pinkie screeched, making everypony gasp, "I threw this because sadness was everywhere. We need more joy in this place, and that's just what I was born to do! I even have a cutie mark representing it!" She showed her flank to the Queen. It was a struggle for her to speak, however, when there was a tight magic around her neck.

But then it got tighter, to the point where she couldn't speak, barely breath. She tried to protest, but she couldn't work her voice. Nightmare Moon snarled, showing her unnatural-looking fangs.

"Listen, you little filly. I don't like it when ponies question my orders. This... partying... is banned, for the reasons I've given you. Don't answer back - that's how it works.

"Th...then why won't you let ponies be happy?" she rasped, using all her energy to even make her words understandable. And it was those words than made the alicorn snap.

"Because, it's not fair!" she screeched, throwing the pink mare across the room. Everypony watched her in mid-air in awe, and cringed, even Solar Flare, as she smashed against the wall. Derpy stood up and rushed over to her, ignoring everypony's wild panic and fleeing. The Queens had left, had making their point.

"P...Pinkie? Are you okay?" she whispered, nudging her. The back of her head was bleeding, and her mane was no longer puffed up and fluffy, but instead straight. She could also see her colours were more dull than before.

Just when Derpy thought she wasn't going to respond, the filly stood up on her two front hooves, but kept her back ones spread out on the floor.

"Don't call me that..." she murmured, rubbing her neck. Derpy saw that there was a scar marking it.

"Huh?"

"I...there's no point, is there?" a tear rolled down her face, "I don't know why I even tried..."

"Pinkie-"

"I'm Pinkamena, not Pinkie," the filly groaned. "Just leave me alone Derpy... I don't want to face anypony right now, if ever."

"Pinkie..."

"GO!"

Derpy flinched at her sharp tone, and fled out the destroyed room. Leaving Pinkamena in the dust.

In depression.

---

Twilight stared at Applejack.

"How do you know all of this?"

The farm pony closed her eyes and sighed, "she told her story at that party - I was also there. I watched as she got hurt, and I eavesdropped until Derpy ran off. I felt bad for leaving... but I didn't know what to do. I was so shaken up."

The princess shook her head. How can two of her idols be so cruel, to the point where the Element of Laughter becomes Discord-ed without magic?
> Making Sense
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia repetitively scanned her eyes over every word in the book in front of her. Yet, no matter how long she thought for, nothing made sense. Giving up, she let out a sigh, and set the book at the back of the cave.

"Nothing?" the draconequus asked.

"Nothing," she echoed, letting her eyes droop. "None of Starswirl's spells make any sense... why can't he just of told me this whole thing straight-forward?" The alicorn then rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, even though it wasn't visible.

Discord gave a scoff, "Says you."

Celestia turned her gaze to him. "...Meaning?" she prompted him.

"Well, from what you've told me about your oh-so-perfect world, you're not so straight-forward yourself," he explained, a smirk threatening to spread across his face.

"Name one time," she challenged.

Discord gave a surprised look, but cleared his throat. Then, in a poorly-made Twilight voice (probably because he didn't know her very well) he then said,

"But you told me it was just an old mare's tale!"

Then in her voice,

"I told you to make some friends, nothing more."

Celestia blinked. "I'm never telling you my exact words ever again..." she muttered, "okay yes, I'm subtle with Twilight's lessons. I just barely notice myself."

Her humorous tone faded as she started sinking in her own thoughts again. "It's kinda strange..."

"Hmm?" Discord's interest perked, floating over to her. Celestia waited until he was directly above her and began.

"So many ponies look up to me... like I'm their mother. Yet... they don't realize just how flawed I am."

"Pshh. The great Princess Celestia of Equestria? Flawed? Don't play with my intelligence," he gasped, managing to reach his eagle claw up to his forehead.

"That's just it. They're looking up to somepony who doesn't exist. Being a Princess doesn't stop me from being... well, me," she lifted a wing off the ground and looked at her horn.

"I became a Princess because I'm an alicorn. Not because I'm Celestia. I know how to be formal, I know how to teach lessons even, but that's about it. Nothing more, nothing that I should be able to do. Like fight a villain on my own," her mind flashed to when she stood up to Queen Chrysalis, only to be overthrown.

Discord was stuck on how he should reply. "Well... I've never really battled anyone. Yet I personally think I'm a rather good villain."

Celestia raised a brow, not at his vanity, but at his first statement. She then pointed a hoof at herself to correct him.

"I was defending myself... doesn't count. Either way, I don't need to battle everypony around me to be a good villain. You don't need to battle everyone around you to be a good hero... Princess... whatever you prefer."

At first, she was unsure about what he'd said. But thinking about it more deeply, she realized it made sense. Her ponies looked up to her because she was wise and experienced... not because she could defeat every villain around her with one zap of her horn. Twilight loved her like a mother, not a superhero. Luna loved her like a sister, not a role model.

Sure, they may see her that way, but don't love and know her that way.

"Looks like we finally found something in common with each other" she commented, giving the draconequus a smile.

"Oh great, now the universe is going to break."

---

"Enough hiding things from us Princess Cadance, nopony's seen Princess Celestia or Princess Luna for over a week!" A royal guard snarled at the alicorn upon Celestia's throne. "Tell us where they are! You must know."

Cadance panicked. What should she tell them?

"I promise you all, I haven't a clue!" she cried as a spear moved closer to her.

"Maybe Princess Cadance has imprisoned them somewhere, so that she can take over Equestria all for herself!" another guard suggested, giving a harsh glare at her.

"Now that is just ridiculous!" Cadance defended herself, "I'm very happy with just the Crystal Empire as my kingdom. Also, Celestia's job is awful, why in her name would I want it?" She raised a hoof to cover herself from the spear moving all the more closer.

"She's right... Princess Cadance is way too nice to take over Equestria," the guard holding the spear sighed, moving it slightly away from her. Cadance lowered her hoof and gave a grateful look.

"Thank you..."

"She must be the changeling Queen!" he spat as he flung the spear even closer to her, flattening her to the back of the throne.

"Look... err... I know you're worried for your Princesses and all... but don't you think you're getting a tad ridiculous?"

"Silence, Changeling. You may be able to trap Celestia and Luna somewhere, but Princess Twilight will defeat you easily!"

"Actually," another guard pointed out, "she's gone too, according to news from Ponyville."

The stallion with the spear gave an uncertain look. "Oh... Well either way, don't think your changelings can get to us, Chrysalis!"

At this point, Cadance was just annoyed. "You know, Chrysalis had a green aurora. My magic's blue," she said, demonstrating by levitating the spear out of the guards grip and threw it aside. "And you're all just acting like idiots-no offence. I really don't know where Celestia, Luna, or Twilight are right now. Either way, you should be grateful that I'm even taking the time to sit here and do my aunt's job."

The three guards looked rather guilty when she said that, passing on the same feeling to her.

"I'm just as worried as you all are. I don't know when they'll be back. Except... I'm not worried because I need them to lead me, I'm worried about them because they're my family. But family's never leave and never come back without saying goodbye... they're just somewhere right now, figuring out how to get back..."

---

"She should be around here somewhere," Applejack wondered out loud, looking around the barren and dry rock farm. "Aha! There she is."

The farm pony pointed her hoof to a pink figure in the distance, whom was hitting at something on the ground.

"Great!" Twilight grinned. "Come on let's go-" A mouth dragged at her tail, not allowing her to complete her sentence.

"Er... maybe we should approach her more... calmer?" Applejack suggested. Twilight hesitated, then shook her head.

"I want to remind her just how great it feels to be happy. I need her to be her old self again."

The mare gave a doubtful look. "But... Twilight, this is the old Pinkamena. Her happy self was... well... a one time thing. It hardly lasted four sun-hours."

She raised a brow. "But do you know just how long that was?"

Applejack gazed at the ground, then shook her head.

"That could of been a day... a week... a month... we don't know! But either way, it doesn't matter. A personality doesn't just happen like that, Applejack. It was there all along, you just need to activate it. It was just unfortunate that Nightmare Moon deactivated it. And I think I know just how she did it," she explained as she kept trotting towards the pink mare. Applejack trailed behind, but kept up with her.

"Yeah, she almost strangled her and threw her across the room," she said.

"I know... but there's something more. Something that I know Nightmare Moon and Pinkie have in common..."

The farm pony's eyes widened. "Somethin' in common? Who, beside Queen Solar Flare, would have something in common with that monster for a ruler?"

"Like I said, I'll explain everything."

Once Twilight said that, Applejack stopped asking questions, to her relief. They kept trotting towards the alternate Pinkie, slowing their pace as they were mere lengths away.

"Follow my lead," Twilight instructed. The farm pony gave an accepting nod. The alicorn stopped just behind the pink mare, before taking a deep breath to start speaking.

"Um... hello?" she began. A small gasp escaped the mare, before she whipped her head around to face them.

"What?!" she hissed. Her bitter tone made Twilight flinch.

"Erm... you're Pinkamena right?"

"And?" Pinkamena turned her full body toward them.

Twilight nervously rubbed her hoof on her leg. "Help me out AJ," she rasped in her friend's ear, stuck where to go to next. Applejack gave an uncertain look, then took a step forward.

"Pinkamena, the Princess here wants to talk to you," she highlighted the word. The flat-maned pony gave a quizzical look, then moved her eyes up and down at Twilight. Surprise struck her when she noticed the horn and wings both on the same body, but her expression didn't turn into excitement. Instead, it transformed into a burning hatred. Pinkamena pressed her muzzle up to her own, and glared straight into her eyes.

"Yeah? What did I do wrong this time?" she growled. Seeing Pinkie staring at her with nothing but bitterness was rather terrifying.

"Nothing! Nothing at all, you never did anything your whole life!" Twilight gasped.

Though Pinkamena's gaze calmed once she said that, there was still no welcoming atmosphere around her. "Well, I clearly have, haven't I? Though, of course, you wouldn't know what I'm talking about if you're not from here."

Twilight blinked as she moved away from her face. "Actually, I do. Applejack told me all about-" she was stopped by a hoof slamming on her mouth.

"She means, she doesn't rule here, but she knows a heck of a lot of stuff about ya!" Applejack nervously laughed, before leaning to Twilight's ear, "She doesn't like it when ponies talk about that event... her reaction's never great either."

The alicorn gave her a subtle nod before her gaze returned to Pinkie, who was rather confused.

"Where you eavesdropping on the Queens or something? So they like to talk about it for a joke huh?" she grunted.

"...Yeah, let's go with that." Twilight shrugged, "and before you ask, I am indeed here for a reason."

"What reason could that be?" she prompted, not acting all that interested, however. She started playing catch with herself, using a rock as a ball.

"Well, I know I said I don't rule around here, which I don't. And I don't belong here, but I'm stuck here. And I must ask..." she gulped, knowing her reply wouldn't be good, "Equestria clearly isn't doing well right now. Why don't you help?"

Pinkamena's eyes widened. For a few moments, she was stuck for an answer, but then she gave an aggressive huff.

"Did you not just say you knew about what happened?" she growled.

"Yes, I'm totally aware of it. But just because of one small event.... doesn't mean it should stop you from-"

"Listen Princess!" she stuffed her cracked hoof in her mouth to shut her up. "What I've learned is, not matter what I do, no matter how hard I try... all my good deeds go down the drain. The Queen was right about happiness being worthless, because in a world like this, it is! I can't change anything. I tried, I failed. I nearly got killed."

Twilight's eyes glistened, then she gave a sigh when Pinkamena removed her hoof from her mouth. A few moments of silence passed by, and it surprised her when Applejack was the next one to speak.

"Y'all still have your cutie mark though," her voice quaked, like she was scared of something. Pinkamena glanced at the mark on her flank, then returned a burning gaze at the other farm pony.

"I know. I have a useless talent. Thanks for reminding me!" she growled, before turning her back on the two. But Applejack was stubborn, and she wasn't backing down.

"There's no such thing as a useless talent. That's like putting the words 'dark light' together. Pinkie-"

"Don't call me that!" she spat, without even turning around.

"No, Pinkie, I won't. You know you like that name, you like it better than your real name, because it represents you better. The happy you. The optimistic you, why can't y' accept that?" Just by looking at her, Twilight could tell Applejack, though scared of the upcoming reply, knew every word she said was true.

Pinkie's head drooped. Neither of them could tell what her expression was, what impact those words had on her. Until finally, a whimper escaped her.

"I'm scared."

The two other mares stared at her, then at each other. Again, Applejack took the next move.

"We all are though, sugarcube," she put a hoof on her shoulder to make her look up, as if they were close friends already.

Who says they never were...?

"We're all controlled by Queen Nightmare Moon and Queen Solar Flare. But... that doesn't mean we should just accept it. Of course though, we all have. We're not just scared - we're terrified. There have been ponies who have stood up to those two tyrants, many whom we don't even know the name of, since they never succeeded."

"Exactly," Pinkamena sighed.

"I think i know why they failed," Twilight said, trotting up to them both.

"Why?" Applejack blinked.

"...They went alone. They thought they could do it single-hoofed, but I know very well... that's never the way." Twilight knew very well who exactly she was talking about. "That's why I need you," she gave a pleading gaze to them both, "I can't stop Nightmare Moon and Solar Flare alone, alicorn or not."

Pinkamena's face was unreadable. "Why us?"

Twilight chuckled, "Spoilers."
> Introduction
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Books fell around Luna as she stuffed her hoof in between them one the shelves. The book she was looking for, however, wasn't here. Nor was anything relating to the genre she wanted.

"How does this place not have it?" she muttered, frustrated. Another one was again tossed to the ground. "Hopeless..."

Eventually she gave up, and let her wings carry her back to the ground. After giving a sigh, the alicorn looked up, then gasped as she realized how much of a mess the room was.

"I'm surprised nopony even heard me," she commented, before focusing on every book out of its place so she could lift each of them up with her magic. Once she did, the books dashed into a random space on the shelves. Luna didn't care that they weren't in order, no one even came in here anymore, she could tell.

Maybe there's a book that  can still help me...

The Princess walked towards the open doorway that led to her reading room. Just in case, Luna had decided the bring her old journal back to the castle before coming here. Good thing too - she didn't have to go all the way back to the cave to fetch it.

"Ugh..." she groaned as her search failed once again. The last page in the journal was just the entry made by her own counterpart. Strangely enough - her eyes started to read it again without her permission. Each word angered her all the more, to the point where she let out a screech, and ripped the page out with her magic.

"Stupid me! Stupid, tyrannical, evil me!" Luna yelled. She opened her mouth again to speak again, but another voice interrupted her.

"Hey! Who's in here?"

"...Celestia?" Luna responded.

"What? Who... who said that? Discord?!"

The Night Princess' heart dropped as she realized her mistake. That wasn't Celestia... no matter what the voice.

Her panic grew with each hoofstep that echoed in the large room. She thought fast... a black cloak may not be convincing enough. Yet, nothing appeared in her mind.

Stupid me...

---

"So, what do you say Pinkamena?" Twilight held a hoof out. "Are you with us?"

The flat maned pony stood in silence as she stared at the purple hoof before her. She hesitated for a while, then spoke.

"I... I don't know. I don't get how I can do anything to help... all this!" she used her own hoof to present the broken and wrecked worked around the three of them. "And why won't you just tell me? Tell me why I'm special... there's no need to keep me waiting!" She grabbed hold of Twilight's head and pulled it closer. "Or are you lying?"

The lavender alicorn pulled away and shook her head. "Of course not. I'd never make a lie like that!" she denied, "I can promise you, promise you both, you're the only ones who can stop the Queens!" she gave a sigh, "I assure you of that... "Cross my heart and hope to fly..." As she did the motions with her body, Pinkamena seemed to faintly copy them, with her eyes wide.

"...Stick a cupcake in my eye..." she rasped. "How... how do you know what a Pinkie Promise is?"

Twilight smiled. "Because I know you.... and that sounds really creepy doesn't it?" she turned to Applejack and cringed.

"I'm on the same page as Pinkie though... how'd you know anything 'bout us? Let alone our own foalhood."

I'm going to have to tell them, aren't I? Twilight thought to herself and sighed out loud. But what if it isn't a good idea to tell them now? Ugh... I need another opinion...

That's when she thought of something.

"Okay, before I tell you, I need to confirm something. But I gotta go somewhere in particular to do so... Pinkamena, and even Applejack for that matter, are you both coming?"

Applejack's response was almost immediate. "'Course I am, sugarcube," she grinned. It warmed Twilight's heart to see her green eyes sparkle with the same feeling her well counterpart always had.

She then turned to Pinkamena.

"Well?"

The mare looked at her hooves, looking thick with uncertainty.

"Err... how long will we be?" she asked.

Twilight just shrugged. "Not that long, I just need to ask somepony something, then we can come back here."

Pinkamena tapped her chin and let out a faint 'errm....'. Then,

"Okay then."

"Great!" Twilight literally bounced up in the air.

"So uhh... where exactly are we goin'?" Applejack leaned forward. Twilight then paused.

"Oh... err..." she wasn't sure how to start, "well, first we're gonna go through the Everfree Forest, and then we'll stop just before the gorge next to the castle..." she told them nervously.

"What?!" Pinkamena screeched, "They'll spot us you idiot! Or... or are you trying to lead me into a trap?"

"No! Pinkamena, I Pinkie Swore!"

The mare raised a brow. "Hmph, well, if you do happen to break it, I'll find a way that'll torture you... forever." The last word was rasped, and was even more terrifying than the actual happy Pinkie doing it. This was a threat more than a reminder.

"Point taken..." Twilight whimpered, "And you can just wait in a hiding place, and I'll be back. You can stay here, but I think it would be more convincing if I showed you the pony I need to go to."

The two eventually nodded, to her relief.

"Okay, follow me."

---

"...And that's why you're friends with Fluttershy," Celestia finished. Though, despite her efforts, he still gave her a smug look.

"I'll believe it when I see it," he muttered. The Princess just smirked to herself.

"And I don't believe you'll have to."

She picked up the quill again, which was actually a feather from her own wing, and continued to write out ideas to stop her counterpart and her sister. Once she finished writing one or two sentences, she picked up the book to read over it clearly.

"Okay... so I could learn how to actually banish someone to the moon without any Elements of Harmony..."

"That is ridiculous," Discord muttered.

"Ugh... I know," Celestia sighed, dropping the book on the floor again. "You're the one with the wits. Help me."

Discord floated over to her until they were face to face. "Surprisingly enough, I haven't thought of anything either."

The two sat, staring at the page full of crossed out words and scribbles. They stayed like that, until a voice called out.

"Celestia?"

The alicorn looked up towards the cave entrance, and saw that Twilight was standing there. She stood up, and trotted over to her.

"Twilight! I didn't expect to see you back to early. Did you unite your friends already?"

She shook her head. "I need your help. So far, I've managed to find Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Applejack's agreed to help me, but Pinkie Pie isn't so sure...."

Celestia tilted her head. "I thought Pinkie Pie was the Element of Laughter. Why-"

"She's not exactly our Pinkie," she quickly explained, scratching the back of her head. "Err... you'd have to meet her to understand completely," she turned her head towards the top of the gorge, "anyway, she doesn't know whether to trust me. They know I know things that they wouldn't think I'd know. For all I know, I've creeped them out."

"Why would they be creeped out?"

"I didn't tell them I'm from another world and that I'm best friends with their counterparts," Twilight answered, not needing to think for more than a second to know what her mentor meant.

"Oh. Wait, why?"

"That's why I'm here," the younger alicorn said, "I'm wondering whether to tell them now, or wait until I've gathered everyone."

Celestia remained confused. "Why wouldn't you tell them now? I'm not saying you should - I need to hear your reasons first."

"Well, if I tell them what they can do in the other world, I'm afraid they'll think that they can... I guess... 'Rainbow Power' up without thinking. If I don't tell them until the end, they'll be actual friends - not just blindly following me because I unite the spark."

There was a small silence between them as they both thought of what to say next. Then it was Celestia who finally answered,

"They're your friends, it's your choice."

And her answer made Twilight let out a small groan of annoyance. Celestia raised a brow.

"No offence Celestia, but I'm not your student anymore. You don't have to be so subtle with me."

"I told you!" Discord called from inside the cave, who then floated out into moonlight.

"Oh shut up..." Celestia muttered to him, "anyway... yes, Twilight, I'm not your mentor anymore. Which is why I can't make the choice for you. They're your friends, not mine. What do you think would be best for your friendship?"

Twilight looked up at her, then breathed out.

"Made your decision?"

She nodde. "I won't tell them about the Elements. It may interfere with their trust. However, I'd like to introduce them to you," she looked up at the gorge again and grinned, "they're up there."

The two alicorns flew up to the top, and met two scared looking mares.

"Gah!" Applejack gasped as she noticed the larger alicorn show up. "...Oh. I thought for a second you were Queen Solar Flare..."

"I can see why," Celestia chuckled. Though, she looked rather surprised at the state of them. Applejack was thin and ruffled, with bags hanging under her eyes, and Pinkie was a dull colour with a straight and dirty mane with cracked hooves.

"So who's this?" Pinkamena tilted her head to the older princess.

"This is my teacher and mentor- well, was my teacher and mentor, Princess Celestia. I've graduated from being her student, if you're confused," Twilight began, "we also have another one - Celestia's sister, Princess Luna. Err... where is she?" she looked at Celestia.

"She's in the castle, finding more information about our counterparts," she looked rather concerned, but she didn't sound it.

"Err... what does she mean by 'counterparts?" Applejack asked.

"Time to give you some of our back story..." Twilight took a breath.

---

What do I do? What do I do? Luna's heart raced faster. I'll get us all discovered, we'll fail this world, and we'll never get home!

She looked around drastically for somewhere to hide, but she couldn't think of anything fast enough. So, out of hope, she leaped forward against the wall that was next to the doorway, so that if Solar Flare looked in, she wouldn't see her.

"Hmm..." she heard her say, her hoofsteps getting all the more louder with each heart beat. Luna got to the point where she was holding her breath, she didn't want to make a sound. Horror filled her as she watched the fiery figure slowly move into the room, glancing around with her flaring eyes.

"I know somepony's in here, I heard you."

...Forget the mission, I have to get out of here!

Luna's horn started to glow as she got prepared to vision her destination, but just as she was about to disappear-

"UGH!"

A strong force pressed her against the wall. Her eyes struggled to open, and terror struck her as she saw Solar Flare holding her in place with her hoof. Luna tried again to teleport, but the hoof on her neck was choking her too much to focus.

"Who are you?" the queen sneered, moving her muzzle closer. Luna knew if she revealed her voice, it would all be over. She stayed silent.

"Don't ignore me!"

The princess turned her head away, so that the light given off from Solar Flare wouldn't reach her face. But that one action angered her all the more. The hood's collar started glowing, and she was pulled even closer to her alternate sister's face.

"Tell me your name or I'll kill you on the spot."

The threat finally made Luna speak.

"I shouldn't think I'd need to."

Solar Flare's eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head. The comment made her loosen her grip on her throat, allowing Luna to reach up to her hood. Slowly, the blue alicorn revealed her face, and she watched as the fiery alicorn's eyes widened to a point where Luna thought wasn't possible. But she kept her formal tone, and said,

"Hello, sister."
> Lifting Your Hoof Up
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Twilight and Celestia finished their explanation to the two mares in front of them, Pinkamena and Applejack were stuck for words. Scratch that - stuck for actions. When no reply came, a certain draconequus appeared behind the two Princesses and spoke for them.

"Are you gonna speak or...?"

The two earth ponies jumped at the sight of him. Applejack narrowed her eyes.

"What's he doing here?" she scowled, "Don't y'all know the trouble he can cause when he gets the chance?"

"Yes. Yes I do," Celestia said flatly, "trust me, I know what I'm doing."

The farm pony gave an uncertain look at her, while Pinkamena wasn't really focused on him. From the looks of it, she was still deciding whether what Twilight and Celestia had told her was trustworthy.

"I can hardly believe you're Queen Solar Flare's counterpart," she finally spoke "got any proof?"

No words were said, instead Celestia just angled her body so that her flank was visible. "Does this cutie mark look familiar to you?"

The pink mare blinked at the sun on her rump, then sighed, "Yeah... I guess."

"Glad I've finally gotten your trust," Twilight smiled, "I... do have your trust, right?"

Pinkamena nodded. "I'll join you. But I want to be as subtle as possible," she angled her head to the castle not far away.

"I agree," Applejack joined in.

"Don't worry, we're staying as secretive as we can," Twilight assured them both, "the closest any of us are going to get to the queens right now is where Luna is - and I doubt she'll get caught in the act any time soon."

---

Neither of them were sure what to say next. Solar Flare was by far the most shocked, but Luna was just downright frightened. This could be the end of everything. Her eyes followed the fiery alicorn as she paced around her, her flaring eye sockets piercing into each part of her body. Once Solar Flare had finally completed a circle around her, she opened her mouth.

"Nightmare Moon... are you-"

She was cut off by Luna smashing both her hooves on her mouth.

"Don't you dare call me that..." she hissed. But she knew, all she was doing was confusing the Queen rather than helping her.

Once Luna removed her hooves, Solar Flare gritted her teeth. "I don't get it... how are you-"

"Free? Oh, I'm not. Your sister isn't anyway. Except I kind of am your sister... err... well, no, I'm not actually free."

Yep, the Queen was totally lost. She didn't even move her white pupils around, she was so mixed up in the head. But then she started to growl.

"Discord, if this is some sort of ridiculous prank of yours..."

"Pfft..." Luna tried her best to hold in her laughter. "You think I'm... Discord? Bfftaahkaay... that's kinda funny," she covered her mouth before another giggle escaped her.

"Well, who are you then?!" Solar Flare thrust her face back up to hers.

"I could be a changeling... oh wait, you wouldn't know what that is. They wouldn't bother coming to Equestria, not a scrap of love to feed on!"

"I'm still waiting for an answer."

How else could I stall her?

"Like I said, I shouldn't need to introduce myself. You know me very well," she said calmly.

"But..." Solar Flare began, "you're... you're Luna! You can't be here... you're long gone!"

Luna's ears drooped at those words. "Sad but true..." she sighed, "even a monster like yourself could admit that."

As the Princess started to trot towards the exit, she heard her counterpart sister snarl.

"Just whom art thou calling a monster?" she rushed to block her path.

"You. And me," with that, Luna broke into a gallop. She dodged around her sister and started to make a break for the exit. Good, now she could teleport out of here!

She closed her eyes, letting her horn glow and her mind picture her destination. She was about to finally escape, when she felt something pull her back by the head. She opened her eyes in shock as she spotted a chain at the corner of her eye. It hooked onto her glowing horn, cutting her blue aurora off, and pulled her down to the ground.

The impact hurt her head and spine, and kept her still for a moment. But that was just about enough time for two other cuffs to appear around both her hooves. She tried to breath, but her heart was skipping ahead of her.

Still lying on her back, she looked up at the bright figure towering over her.

"You'll tell me what I want to know. And you'll tell me now."

---

"Alright, now that we're willingly doing this," Twilight continued, "let's gather our next pony - Fluttershy."

As Twilight began to walk into the depths of the Everfree Forest, Celestia put a hoof in front of her, causing Twilight to look up to her in surprise.

"About that," she began, "don't you think it would be a good idea to take this one?" she pointed a hoof to the draconequus floating next to her.

Twilight wasn't so sure. "A few flaws with that, Princess. Is there any need? I mean... he's already agreed to be reformed," she kept her voice low, as did her former mentor.

"Twilight, may I remind you this is Discord we're talking about?" she muttered, "yes... I do trust him right now. But when it comes to the Lord of Chaos, an opinion on friendship can be very... well... imbalanced."

"Don't worry Princess, Fluttershy reformed him in a day!" she grinned. But it didn't convince her.

"A couple of moons later he betrays Equestria. I know why Twilight... It's hard for him to accept friendship," her violet eyes angled towards her hooves. "All blame goes on me for that one."

Twilight tilted her head and laid her hoof on Celestia's leg. "You have to stop blaming yourself, Celestia," she soothed her. "Look, I don't know exactly what happened between you two, but that doesn't matter. I guess it would be a good idea to get Fluttershy to befriend him! Shouldn't be too hard," she continued towards the forest, but Celestia stopped her again.

"It will though... their relationship here is... off."

"Off? How do you mean?"

"Discord sees Fluttershy as an abusive owner rather than a caring friend," she quickly explained.

"...Oh," Twilight blinked, "err, well, surely we can get Discord to see just how kind she really is? But another problem..."

"Mhmm?"

"Won't the Queens eventually notice Discord's disappearance?"

Celestia's muzzle crinkled up, "Well, if they try anything, they can kiss my two back hooves."

Twilight was rather surprised at her talk of violence. "Wouldn't you technically be kicking yourself?"

"When you put it that way..."

Getting off the subject, Twilight turned to the three candidates before her. "Alright, we're going to Fluttershy next."

"Ugh..." Discord moaned, "good luck with that."

"You're coming too."

"What?!"

"Celestia's idea."

"I hate you Celestia..."

"I love you too, Dizzy," the white alicorn just pulled a tongue. Again, it was rather strange to see the princess act childish.

"So, I don't exactly know where Fluttershy lives. Does anypony know?" Twilight urged on. Pinkamena then raised a hoof.

"I do. We've talked a few times... she lives that way," she directed the four of them towards the other side of the forest. Of course, that wasn't enough information to go by.

"Mind leading the way Pinkie? Er... do you mind if I call you Pinkie now?"

Pinkamena gave an unreadable expression. "Just call me Pinkamena... it's easier."

"But Pinkie's shorter," Applejack pointed out.

"It's quicker for me to reply to though."

---

The four ponies and draconequus traveled through the dead forest, Pinkamena leading the way. Celestia kept looking around, picturing what it looked like back at home, in her own universe. She tuned to Discord.

"Remember when we used to play here?" she murmured, half expecting him not to reply.

Yet he did. "It's the only thing worth remembering, when you have my life."

Celestia's ears drooped. "Agreed..."

Discord's eyebrow perked up. "I thought life in your world was good?"

She nodded. "It is... but..." the princess was unsure how to put it, "not the same." She couldn't help but notice her former student's ears directed towards them from ahead.

"So much fell apart... I had to turn you to stone, banish my sister to the moon. A whole millennium of loneliness... no fun... nopony to talk to."

"This is what would've happened if you didn't though," He held up his chains, and pointed his tail to practically anywhere.

She nodded again. "Luna blames herself for this, but... this no one's fault but my own."

"Celestia," Twilight suddenly spoke up. "Please, don't blame yourself! It isn't your fault."

She ignored her. Because she knew that what she said was false.

"If I told you, you'd understand me," she murmured, though directed at Twilight, she didn't speak loud enough for her to catch her sentence.

Again, they fell quiet. Ahead, Pinkamena was slowing her pace, and was glancing around the dead trees.

"I think she's usually around here," she said.

"Buuut she's not," Discord pointed out, "perhaps we should give up right now."

"No. We need Fluttershy just as much as any of the other ponies I need with me," Twilight glared at him. Discord gave a pout and half-folded his chained arms.

"Wait!" the pink mare suddenly stopped, holding her hoof in front of the others to block their path, "I hear something."

...

"I don't hear anythin'." Applejack whispered, only to be immediately hushed by Pinkamena.

"Listeeen."

Everyone's ears were perked as the tried to pick up some sort of sound. But not a trace was found.

"Oh. She's gone silent again..." the pink mare sighed, beginning her walk once again. Above her, a bird darted about tail-length above her head, which suddenly came to a stop. Then, out from the branches, flew a yellow pegasus, who was glaring straight at the little swallow.

"What did I say about leaving the bird house?" she scolded, with a surprisingly sharp bitterness in her tone. When Celestia looked at Twilight, however, she could see her violet eyes sparkling with excitement, totally ignoring the helpless bird dashing into the opposite direction.

Once the bird disappeared, the pegasus calmed, then landed. At first, her back was facing them all, but she eventually turned around, and flinched at the sight of them.

"Um..." she murmured, lowering her head a little. Her pink mane was about to cover her eye when she noticed the draconequus standing near the back of the crowd, triggering her to shoot back up into the air and fly up to him. "What are you doing here exactly? From what I have heard, you're still on your time out."

"You're still on your time out, uuurh!" Discord echoed her, with a taunting tone in his voice. "Nice to recap things I already know!"

"Umm... excuse me?" Twilight stepped towards the arguing couple. "You're Fluttershy, right?"

Fluttershy turned her head to the smaller alicorn, totally forgetting her debate with the draconequus. She landed in front of her, allowing both Twilight and the others to get a clear look at her. Her mane style was much like Applejack's - the same style as her counterpart, just ruffled. But that's not what caught their attention. The whites in her eyes were tinted red, and her coat had small but just about noticeable patches missing, along with a few bruises scattered across her body.

"Err... who are you? And why are you with him?" she pointed a hoof to Discord.

"My name is Twilight, and this is Celestia." She angled her head to the larger alicorn, whom smiled at the timid pegasus, though it had little effect on her.  "I'm guessing you already know these two ponies," Twilight continued, turning to Applejack and Pinkamena.

"...Yeah..." she faintly replied, "um... again... why are you with Discord? He shouldn't be here." A hint of harshness edged her voice with the last sentence.

"Many reasons," Celestia simply answered.

"I'm sorry, but that's not good enough," Fluttershy's voice level grew as she flew up to Celestia's height. "I'm in charge of what Discord does. The queens would of let me know about... err... whatever this is," she glanced at the ponies around her, but immediately broke eye contact with any of them.

Celestia wasn't at all phased by her attempt to be intimidating. "Well perhaps the queens don't know that he's here," she suggested, raising a brow on Fluttershy.

"Well I'll just have to take him off of you," she told her, floating over to the draconequus and hooking a hoof on his chains, "come on. Let's go."

"Fluttershy... I thought you cared about the animals here," Pinkamena trotted over to her, "why are you so mean to them?"

The pegasus stopped trying to drag the Embodiment of Chaos with her, then turned towards the pink mare.

"Mean to them?" she blinked, "I'm... I'm not mean to them! I just..."

"Control them?" Pinkamena finished. Fluttershy landed in front of her and opened her mouth to protest, but the mare stopped her from speaking a word with her cracked hoof.

"Don't deny it! I can spot overpowering like hay in a hay stack," she growled.

"But I... I don't harm them or anything... that's just... awful!" she gasped. Pinkamena rolled her eyes.

"You don't need to. Living a life under somepony's shadow is the worst way to overtake somepony," she looked at the ground, "I should know."

Fluttershy's expression looked rather horrified. "I... I wouldn't abuse... I..."

"You're eyes! They're almost red, Fluttershy. They're red from your stare, you use it that often!" Pinkamena was literally shaking the pegasus at this point. Once she let go of her, Fluttershy regained her balance, then looked back at the pink mare.

"I... is that why they're red? I never worked it out..."

"You're an idiot," Discord butted in, only to be elbowed by Celestia. "Ow..."

Fluttershy didn't notice anyway. She was just hanging her head in shame. "I'm sorry... I..." she paused, and turned to Discord, "I was too afraid to be kind."

Twilight pitied the shy mare. She took a step to stand by Pinkamena, then started speaking.

"It was the queens, wasn't it?" she concluded. "They took advantage of your talent..."

Fluttershy nodded. "But... um, if you don't mind me asking that is, why are you asking me these questions?"

Twilight glanced at her former mentor, who nodded. She took a breath, then faced Fluttershy. "I'll start from the beginning."

---

With each pull, the chain around Luna's horn seemed to just get tighter. Her teeth gritted with pain, but she couldn't give up now. She'd yank the metal out with a chunk of wall with it if she had to.

Nothing was working though.

"Struggling will just make it tighter, dear," Solar Flare settled her hoof under her chin, "just talk and you can go free."

Luna snarled, "I have."

"Yeah... no, there's more than saying you're Luna. Considering my sister doesn't even share those looks."

"Pshh. Your sister you say?" the princess scoffed, "nice play of words, Celestia!"

In reply to that, the Queen smashed Luna against the wall with her hoof. Luna felt a huff of her breath stroke her - which also stank of dead hay - but despite the rather threatening display, Luna's fear of her had died down.

She's faking... she has to be!

"No one knows my real name... Unless of course you are Discord."

Luna choked down her laughter. "Look, if you truly don't believe I'm not Discord, go outside and look in that cave - you'll find Discord there."

She knew it was the wrong thing to do, but she couldn't think of anything else. If her sister got caught, which she rather doubted, then they'd possibly work it out from there. That, or Solar Flare would probably believe her when she says she's not faking.

The alicorn looked rather skeptical at first, then gave another huff. "Fine... don't you go anywhere though."

"I would if I could," Luna muttered as she walked out of the cobweb-filled prison they were in. She watched the door close, as Solar Flare trotted to where the draconequus was sheltering.

---

Solar Flare landed in front of the cave entrance, not even squinting at the darkness that haunted the inside. She allowed her mane to provide a light, so she could see whatever was inside. The first thing on her mind was Discord.

"Discord? Where are you?"

No answer.

After she scanned the entire area of the pace, Solar Flare was about to leave, with a smirk on her face. However, as she moved one hoof towards the exit, something nudged her. She looked down, and noticed a book, open, facing up towards her. She picked it up with her magic, and scanned over the scribbles and cross outs. However, the lines through the words weren't enough to stop her from understanding the language.

"What is that draconequus playing at?"
> Keep Calm, You're Choosing One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fluttershy stared at them with wide eyes. Her jaw was itching to move, but it didn't seem to respond. She closed it, gulped to swallow her shock, then began to speak.

"How can that be possible...?" she rasped, "Even if there are other worlds out there... How can they meet?"

"Oh, trust me when I say, our worlds have not met. We're just trapped here," Celestia muttered, her mind flashing back to the time when she caused a rift between her own and another world. 

Fluttershy looked uncertainly at the ground. "But... how can such magic exist in your world? How can it just fix everything?" she looked up, her eyes sparkling with some sort of emotion that Celestia couldn't identify.

"Like I said. They come from something called the Tree of Harmony. The gems, of course, represent all that is harmony. They have powerful magic," Twilight explained.

"...No further explanation?" Fluttershy pulled her head back.

"As far as I know, I don't think there is," The alicorn shrugged. She turned to Celestia, hopeful for a small explanation, but she shook her head. Slight annoyance flared inside her that she still was the answer to everything.

The pegasus used a hoof to scrape at the ground. "How do I know you're not lying?"

"If they were, we woulda found out by now," Applejack said.

"Aaaaand if they are, I'll make them pay," Pinkamena clapped her hooves together, making Celestia and Twilight flinch. The two glanced at each other, begging the other mare's protection.

Fluttershy's ear twitched. "Why did you tell me though?"

Twilight moved across the dried out grass over to the mare and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Believe it or not, we need you for what we're gonna do."

The yellow mare gave a skeptical glance at Applejack and Pinkamena, but they just gave a shrug.

"Don't ask us, they didn't tell us yet," they answered spontaneously. Twilight gave a sigh.

"What is it you were gonna do?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh... right. Okay, I know what I'm about to request of you is a big order," Twilight breathed in. "We need your help to stop the queens."

That's when time seemed to stop for the pegasus. She stared blankly into the Princess' purple eyes, as if what she had just said was the craziest thing she had ever heard. Then finally,

"WHAT?!"

The volume of her voice would be a whisper next to Luna's Royal Canterlot voice, but in Fluttershy's case, this deafening. As she lifted herself into midair, Twilight leaped back in surprise, also to avoid getting hit by the mare's hooves that she spread out. Once Fluttershy realized her sudden change in attitude, she quickly reverted back to her shy self, giving a cough to lower the level of sound in her voice. She landed herself back onto the ground, then blinked so her pupils grew back to normal size.

"I mean... um... you're serious?"

"Yes," Twilight nodded, "I know it's a big task, but let's be honest, nopony who's sane likes how things are around here," her hoof pointed to 'literally everywhere'.

"But... how would I possibly help?" she turned her head towards the two other mares already on their side again, who also groaned.

"Again... we don't know," Pinkamena muttered.

"That's actually what we were sayin' before. We already knew what they were doin'," Applejack pointed out.

"Oh my... I'm... I'm not sure I can..." she whimpered, lowering her head to the ground. Next to her, Celestia watched as Discord's frustration grew even more. His clenched fists shook as he groaned through gritted teeth.

"You are such a wimp..." he hissed. Celestia guessed he wasn't expecting her to hear him, since when she looked up towards him, Discord's eyes grew slightly wider. But it only lasted half a second. His brows folded in and his groans turned into a snarl. The draconequus' wings carried him over in front of her, and he began his rant.

"Perhaps once in your life you should stop being such a doormat. Perhaps once in your life you can stop being forced to abuse the creatures you oh so love. Perhaps once in your life, you can be useful!" he thrust his face up to hers, "you're getting offered that chance now. So you can either take pride in at least trying to stand up for Equestria, or you can let everypony down and stay in the shadows, because you're too cowardly to deny the fate our precious queens had forced upon us."

Fluttershy blinked, unsure how to reply. Her mouth was slightly agape, and her pupils had shrunk with the realization. Celestia stepped forward so she could pull Discord away from her with her hoof.

The pegasus still remained silent. The four ponies and draconequus awaited for her answer. It felt like forever had passed by the time she finally gulped and took a deep breath.

"Okay..." she murmured just loud enough for them all to hear. Twilight beamed, and she picked up Fluttershy to give her tight hug.

"Yes! Thank you!" she exclaimed, unaware she'd cut off the mare's breathing cycle.

"Can you please let go..." she choked. Twilight opened her eyes and dropped her, giving a nervous laugh to follow on.

"Eheh... sorry," she squeaked, "anyway, I'd love to continue the search for Rainbow Dash or Rarity, but I'm pretty beat," a yawn escaped her.

"I don't even know how long I've been awake for," Celestia sighed.

"Ever since you found me?" Pinkamena turned to Twilight. "About three or more hours, I'd say."

"...How do you know that?"

"Comes naturally," she shrugged, "farmers of all sorts have to know how long their shift is," she glanced at Applejack, who nodded in agreement.

"Well... we've been awake far longer than that..." Twilight gaze angled to Celestia.

"Well, I personally think we should rest, either way," the white alicorn confirmed, "should we go back to the cave?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "You can sleep in my cottage... if you want to," she quickly added.

"That would be great! Thanks Fluttershy," Twilight smiled.

"Yeah... uh... I'd love to stay and all, but I think I better go home before my family notices I'm gone," Pinkamena said.

"Oh gosh... I've been gone for hours! I better get back before my family suspects anythin'. I better tell them what's goin' on," she began to gallop her way home, but Twilight called after her.

"You can't tell them!" she blurted out. The farm pony turned around and raised a brow.

"Why exactly? They're my family."

"Because it might put them at risk if they know what you're up to," she quickly answered.

"How?"

"Well... if the queens somehow figure out what's at stake, they might go after the obvious victims for information."

Celestia, next to Twilight, laid a hoof on her own face. "...Twilight."

"Yes Celestia?" she looked up to the princess.

"When I told you to do that with Tirek around, did it end well?"

She thought back to the event.

"Well... no," she murmured through gritted teeth. She turned back to the awaiting Applejack, "Alright, you can tell them. Just not too much detail."

The mare nodded, then galloped off. Pinkamena didn't say goodbye, just dashed off in another direction. Celestia watched the pink pony until she was out of sight, then turned to Discord.

"Do you want to go back to the cave?"

Discord, seemingly unnaturally, looked uncertain. He looked back towards the direction of the castle, then back to her. "Well... I could..." he slightly stuttered, twiddling his fingers, "I mean, I guess it would be a good idea and all..."

Celestia had heard enough. She laid a hoof on his mouth, then stared at him. "It's okay to be afraid," she whispered, knowing that his pride wouldn't want the others to hear her tell him that.

"You two coming?" Twilight called, suddenly further away than she was. Celestia smiled and nodded, following the two winged ponies. Neither of the two ponies ahead said another word, which contrasted from her and the draconequus, no longer letting his wings doing the work, but instead reverting on his two different hind limbs. Celestia felt his warmth increase, despite him not actually touching her. She had to force herself not to blush.

"Why is it okay to be afraid?" Discord murmured into her ear. Celestia didn't make eye contact.

"Because you're not an outcast," she rasped.

---

The ground below Twilight was considerably worse than the cave. Despite looking similar to her counterpart's cottage on the outside, Fluttershy's home couldn't be more different on the inside. The glass windows were smashed, and the little furniture was torn or broken. The floor had no carpet, just wood with splinters poking out of it and into her skin. On top of that, she would of been freezing because of the draft drifting in through the gaps in the walls or glass. Luckily, Celestia had offered her a wing for a blanket.

Either way, she couldn't sleep. Twilight tried her best to keep her eyes closed, but they kept blinking open. A small, frustrated sigh escaped her, as she looked at the white figure next to her. She envied how she could sleep so well under this roof.

Then she felt her shuffle.

"Celestia?" she whispered, "are you awake?"

A few moments of silence passed until she finally got an answer.

"I'm barely ever asleep," the princess murmured.

Twilight flattened her ears, "Why's that?"

The larger alicorn turned her head so she could at least see Twilight from the corner of her eye. Twilight could only look straight ahead, and even so her shoulder blocked half of her mentor's face.

"Well, why are you awake?"

Twilight's head sunk into her hooves. "I guess I'm just... worried."

"Imagine your worries times one thousand years."

She lifted her head up again, "But... you've gotten over the whole Nightmare Moon thing. Luna's back..."

Celestia had to move her whole body in order to face her head on.

"That doesn't change the past though," she murmured, a hint of noticable regret in her voice, "you can heal mistakes like your wounds heal themselves, but that doesn't change the fact that your skin is different than it was."

The younger mare moved closer to her. "But after the wound is healed, it's better than before."

Celestia let out a slight scoff, "Then maybe I'm still bleeding."

Twilight tilted her head. "Celestia, I can't name one mistake you've even caused."

The white alicorn raised a brow. "Would you like me to go through the list, Twilight?"

The purple mare shook her head. "Er... just tell me one I don't know much about," she suggested.

Celestia glanced over to a torn sofa across the room, which held a sleeping draconequus, "you've been curious of our past, as I understand it."

Twilight gave a slow nod, prompting Celestia to begin.

"Me and Discord were good friends - no, scratch that, best friends. And we were like that for a very long time."

"But... if that was the case, why would you never mention it in your journal?"

Celestia's eyelids drooped. "Our friendship was... forbidden. At least, from my point of view," she added. "Allow me to explain - I had no idea what a draconequus was. So, of course, I asked the only pony around who was most likely to know. That pony was Starswirl the Bearded. Apparently draconequi... err... draconequuses... whatever... were evil, and that was that. Of course, I didn't see any evil in Discord, and I was right, there wasn't."

"Well there clearly was, since he betrayed you."

A shimmer of light sparked on Celestia's cheek, enough to make Twilight realize it was a single tear drop. She reached out her own hoof and wiped it off, seeing it was heart wrenching to watch the tear complete it's journey.

"Sorry," Twilight mused.

"No need," her mentor told her, "but he... he didn't betray me. I betrayed him," she scraped her hoof on the floor, "it's ironic really. I told him our friendship was 'forbid', and he understood. It's when I had to give up our friendship, that's when he snapped."

"Why did you have to give up your friendship?"

Celestia huffed, "I didn't. I just thought I did. I knew very well he wasn't evil, and he would stay that way if I had just stayed his friend. But no, I just went with everyone else's thoughts. I was his only friend, and I fired back at him because I didn't want to take the 'risk'. What a wonder that he was so hesitant when it came to excepting anyone as a friend."

Twilight stared at her, unsure what to say next. "...I thought Discord said he never had a friend before," she murmured quietly.

"Why would he consider a traitor a friend?" she muttered. The smaller alicorn looked at the ground.

"I didn't think of it like that..." she whispered, "I...I'm sorry that happened, Celestia."

"Don't be sorry. I'm the one who should be apologizing," Celestia swung her head the other way, out of Twilight's sight.

"Apologizing for what?"

"Every single thing."

---

Celestia trotted through the castle, staring at the rusted pillars, wondering how they were still standing after all these years. But it wasn't this place's appearance that had drawn her here. In fact, she had no idea how she got here in the first place. Yet she didn't stop to think about it, she just kept walking to wherever her hooves were taking her.

Her hooves should have been echoing throughout the halls, but they weren't. Instead, another voice seemed to be calling her. It seemed familiar, but she couldn't yet tell. It was too faint and vague. She tried to gallop, but she couldn't even trot. Take your time Celestia, you have many, many years left.

Eventually, she came to the door where the yells were coming from. She slowly lifted a hoof to make it ajar, allowing her to see who was in here. And what she saw made her heart drop.

She saw herself, standing over her sister with a smirk on her face. Her horn was glowing her gold aurora, while Luna was lying on the floor, seemingly helpless. Then, Celestia realized the voice wasn't calling out for assistance. They were cries of pain.

"Sister! Please stop hurting me! Just stop! I haven't done anything!" Luna screeched as another blast of magic hit her on the wing, followed by hooves kicking her so she'd stay down. Celestia tried to move forward to stop herself, but she couldn't. Her hooves still had a mind of their own.

"No! Luna! I don't want to! Please!" she began to yell, but Luna didn't hear her. Horror stuck her - if the other her kept this up, she was going to die. By her hooves.

And she knew this wasn't just a dream.

Celestia woke up, screaming. Her heart was pounding, but unlike usual, it didn't slow down. She knew it wasn't just a dream.

"LUNA!"
> Stranger from Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight's eyes shot open at the sudden jump scare. She pulled her head up and glanced around so she could spot what had woken her up. Next to her was her answer. Celestia held a hoof on her chest, as it rose and fell rapidly.

"Celestia! What's wrong?" Twilight asked, not even bothering to keep her voice down. She knew there was no point - her mentor's scream was loud enough for Discord and Fluttershy to be awoken.

"I... I..." she stuttered, still trying to calm herself, "we need to find Luna. Now."

The smaller alicorn blinked. "But we don't know if she's still in the castle or not."

"I pray to myself that she isn't," Celestia stated, getting onto her hooves, "you can stay here if you want. But I need to go," with that, the princess turned towards the door.

"Wait! I don't get why you're leaving," Twilight stood up and galloped after her. Before the white alicorn took a step outside, she paused briefly.

"I can interpret dreams, Twilight. And the dream I just had wasn't pretty," once that was said, Celestia carried on, preparing to make a break for her alternate home.

Despite her having longer legs than Twilight, she could keep up with her from a short amount of time at least. Long enough to ask her a question.

"Should I come with you?"

"...Personally I think you should focus on finding Rarity and Rainbow Dash. But whatever you think is best, you do."

Twilight nodded. "Okay, I'll keep looking for Rainbow and Rarity." She may be going crazy, but did she just hear Celestia groan at that? Either way, she turned around back towards Fluttershy's cottage. At the doorway, a tired looking Fluttershy and a confused Discord awaited, though standing far apart from each other as possible. Though, the most effort in doing that was Discord.

"Wh... Where did your friend go? Why did she leave?" the pegasus rasped, her throat still dry from sleep. She rubbed her eyes to get a better view at Twilight. "Did I do something wrong? I know my house isn't all that great and all..."

Twilight shook her head. "No, everything's fine. Err - at least in our case," she looked back to where Celestia had disappeared to "I don't know about her."

"Oh dear, did something happen?" Fluttershy leaned her head forward in concern.

"Perhaps. She's went to... 'check', you could say," Twilight shrugged.

"Check on what, exactly?" Discord raised a brow.

"Er... Luna."

"Oh."

"...Who?"

Discord slapped his lion paw over his face. Twilight cringed at his reaction.

"Celestia's sister, moron," the draconequus muttered.

"Oh, right," Fluttershy murmured, flattening her ears.

"Well, since we're awake, perhaps we should start looking for Rainbow Dash or Rarity?" Twilight suggested, getting off of the subject. Fluttershy tapped her chin with her hoof.

"I'm afraid I don't know too much about Rarity, but I know Rainbow Dash from when I was a filly," she said. This sparked some hope for the princess.

"You do?" Twilight grinned, moving closer, "I know she lives in Cloudsdale, but things may be easier with your help."

Fluttershy gave an uncertain look, then glanced around the land surrounding her cottage. "All the way to Cloudsdale? Are you sure?" she gasped, "what if the queens realize I'm gone? What if they throw me in a dungeon? What if they do something horrible to me?!?!" She started biting her hooves in fear.

"You agreed to help. Go with her, for Discord's sake! ...Oh wait, that's me," Discord said in a rather snark way, leaning against the wall with his arms folded as much as his arms could reach.

"...I suppose. But really, what if something bad will happen while I'm gone?"

The draconequus rolled his eyes. "Look, if it makes you happy, I'll stay here while you go to Cloudsdale and cover for you if they, for whatever unknown reason, come along!"

"He's got a point. Also, Celestia will be coming back here anyway," Twilight agreed, I'm agreeing with Discord... I need therapy. "So, you'll be okay staying here?"

"Yep, you two just do your whole... friendship stuff," he shrugged.

"Let's go, Fluttershy!" Twilight announced as she took off to the skies. Fluttershy weakly followed.

---

Celestia's hooves thudded on the dry earth as she galloped. No breaks were allowed - not if her worries were true. She ignored the sweat dripping into her eyes, whether the liquid was created from exhaustion or panic, she couldn't tell. Probably both.

When she finally came to the gorge, she took some time to hesitate. Should she just barge in? Should she be subtle? Well, if she barged in, she would most likely get caught. Being subtle may take too much time.

She sat down and thought. Where was she in her dream, anyway? She didn't recognize that part of the castle.

Well, it was in ruins, she began, what would it look like if it was still standing?

She was lost in her mind, trying to set back her memory to a thousand years ago.

I know where it is! She leaped off the ground, floating in the air with her wings. Why did me and Luna make a dungeon anyway? We never used it.

She let her horn spark, picturing where she wanted to appear. It crossed her mind for a split second that it was possible she would teleport right in front of one of the queen's faces, but she put it aside. That was the least of her worries right now. With a final effort put into the spell, she felt the breeze brushing past her disappear. Her eyes opened - relief flooding her when she realized she was alone in the area that had visited her dreams.

However, she was uncertain in which direction she had to go. Both ways of the hall looked exactly the same; each end swallowed by darkness.

I think I was going this way... she thought, taking each of her steps gently to prevent any noticeable echoing.

The lack of light eventually forced her to spark a bright glow from her horn. With the provided light, the door in her dream eventually came into sight.

Celestia raised a hoof in front of the rather battered wood, then hovered it there and took a deep breath.

Then she swung it open.

"Luna!" she gasped, skidding across the floor as she barged in. But what was in front of her made her jaw drop.

"...Next time you come to save me, knock first," Luna rasped. She was grappling a chain around her neck with her two front hooves. while her two hind legs were splayed out behind her.

However, Celestia wasn't fully focused on that. It was who was on the other end of the chain - who was also looking at her with wide eyes. The chain dropped out of her mouth, and she started to stalk towards her steadily. The pony leaned her head forward, leading to Celestia moving hers back. The other mare lifted one of her hooves off the ground, then the other. Once she had a good look at them, she put them down, and made eye contact with her once again.

"For both of your's sake, yes, that is your counterpart from another dimension!" Luna choked, still trying to pull the metal necklace off her throat.

"Who are you talking to?" The fiery alicorn turned back to her.

"Both of you!" the night princess huffed.

The two alicorns looked back at each other.

"She's not me." They both said, raising a brow at how in sync they were.

"Yeah... you're right. Only one of you would take off these chains."

Celestia blinked, then let out a quiet 'oh'. Solar Flare's white pupils moved across her... 'whites'... towards Celestia, and raised a brow as she watched her horn spark. The silence in the room only lasted half a second afterwards, before a shot of light struck from Celestia's horn onto Luna's chain.

The blue alicorn let out a gasp, before another beam collided with the cuff locked on her horn. With that done, Luna took over, her blue aurora shattering the last of the metal connected to her. The two sisters broke for the exit, but the door slammed shut, inches away from their noses. They tried to use their magic to yank it back open, yet it was no use. The handle was controlled by somepony else. Celestia and Luna turned to the keeper, who was snarling at them both.

"You're not leaving. Try and teleport and I'll chain you back down. Try and break down the door and I'll shoot you back down."

"Well... buck you!" Celestia grunted, spinning around so she could kick Solar Flare in the head. The fiery alicorn's pupils rolled around her sockets as she stumbled, following her falling to the ground.

"Ignoring the fact I just bucked myself, let's go," Celestia turned back to her sister, whose horn was already glowing. Then, they disappeared in a flash.

---

Twilight and Fluttershy both flew through the air without a word. The alicorn couldn't help but give the other mare a concerned look, since she was looking downwards uncertainly. If she knew how to start a conversation, she would. Instead, Twilight just looked forward again, scanning the sky for any evidence of a floating city.

"...Uhh... Where exactly is Cloudsdale?" she finally asked.

"Don't worry... I know where I'm going. I think," Fluttershy rasped.

"Fluttershy? Are you okay? You seem kind of... distant."

The pegasus glanced at her, then back ahead.

"You can tell me, I won't laugh or anything."

The mare finally held a gaze with her. "You promise?"

Twilight nodded her head. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," she said, as she used the hoof motions.

Fluttershy blinked as she witnessed her knowledge to something like the Pinkie Promise, then began.

"I don't know about this whole 'saving the world' thing, Twilight. I mean, I believe you and all... but that's not why I joined you. Discord's words just... got to me." Her ears drooped. "I've always seen my life as a book. I have a prologue, I have a beginning, a problem, and a solution. I just don't know when my beginning will end."

Twilight stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean... well... my prologue was my childhood - before my cutie mark appeared. I was teased, I was bullied, I was frightened. Then I got out of it by falling from the sky. My beginning started when I found my special talent, for I found a new life on the ground. Yet that life never seems to end! Every day, ever since then, I have been controlling all the animals in that forest. I didn't want to, but my two queens told me to. If that's my beginning, what's my problem? How can anything get any worse?"

The princess hesitated, unsure how to respond. Oh come on... you know all about books!

"...I think most of your life has been your problem already. Solar Flare and Nightmare Moon didn't just find you straight after you finished singing-"

"How did you know I sang a song?" she raised a brow.

"...You'll find out. Anyway, you had a small beginning. When exactly did they tell you to do what you did?"

"Err... just after this party Pinkamena thre-" she covered her mouth before she could finish.

"I know about the party, don't worry."

"...Oh. Well, yes, after they invaded the party, they found me. The admired my ability to speak to creatures on a different level, and they ordered me to control them the way they wanted me to."

"That's when you're problem started then," Twilight said, "And, not to be vain or anything, but I think I'm your solution."

Fluttershy had an unreadable expression. She just stared into oblivion. Then her mouth moved again,

"We're here," she murmured. Twilight looked ahead, seeing they had reached their destination. The two landed on the cloud below them, and started their search for the blue pegasus. Yet half of Twilight's mind was drawn away from Rainbow Dash, turning to the yellow pegasus by her side. It was hard to remind herself that she shared the same personality as the Element of Kindness in her world.

What if she's more complicated than I thought?
> Take to the Sky
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It may not be the prettiest location, however Cloudsdale looked like heaven next to Ponyville. The clouds were still the clouds that they were in Twilight's world, just gradually drifting apart. There weren't many houses that were plausible, but they looked in better condition than the ones on the ground.

Despite this, though, Twilight couldn't help but shiver at a different feature Cloudsdale owned. The few pegasi around Twilight were less than healthy, the feathers on their wings ruffled and some even hanging by their roots, and large bags had made their home under their eyes.

Twilight turned to Fluttershy. The mare was staring blankly into nowhere, just going wherever her hooves were taking her.

"So... Where exactly are we going?" she asked, feeling uncomfortable in the silence.

"Wherever Rainbow Dash is, I suppose," Fluttershy shrugged.

"Er... do you know where she is?"

"No. But I do have an idea where she might be," she picked up the pace, denying any more questions. Twilight allowed her to stay a few lengths ahead, giving her a chance to study the scenery around her.

Eventually, a fact caught her attention. All but the small amount of fillies roaming around the city, and a very tiny fraction of full grown ponies, were wearing a band around their hoof. Some wore orange, some wore green, some wore yellow, some wore blue... and so on. At this point, nothing was considered weird for her - especially anything to do with grouping ponies together. That was completely normal in this world. And yet it still sparked her curiosity.

"Why is everypony colour coded?" Twilight raised a brow.

"Those are ankle bands to mark what area of Equestria they are going to work at. I can't remember the codes for each colour... I think our village is red," she explained.

"Does that mean Rainbow Dash may not be here?" her heart dropped.

Fluttershy shook her head, however, "She should be here. When I was last here - back as a filly - she was training to be a lead weather pony. They usually don't go along with the parties that they're assigned to."

"She leads the weather ponies?" Twilight blinked.

"Why wouldn't she? She's a really good flyer," the pegasus replied. "Still have no idea why she would stand up for me... I was always going to be at the bottom of the barrel. Good thing I got out of it," she sighed, "or... that's what I've always thought. Now I'm not so sure..."

Twilight's ears drooped, as she continued to follow the mare.

---

The bright flash disappeared, revealing the two princesses to be standing right next to the Everfree forest. It was a relief to see that they were pretty much unharmed. Celestia let out a sigh.

"Oh, that was pretty quick," a draconequus in front of them commented. He looked at a watch that had appeared on his arm, "Just under an hour I'd say."

Celestia blinked, then turned back to Luna. "Luna... how did that happen? How did you get caught?"

The younger alicorn looked up at her and breathed out, "Long story... I lost my temper with something and Solar Flare heard me and caught me."

Discord's eyes widened. He seemed to be sipping a cup of water for some reason, but he immediately spat it out, the spray making contact with Luna's face.

"Ew!" she stuck her tongue out, wiping the saliva and water mixture off of her coat with her hoof.

Discord rubbed the water off of his mouth. "You're saying... Solar Flare knows about you now?"

Luna's hoof drew imaginary circles on the ground. "Yeah..." she mused.

"Does she know what we're trying to do?" Celestia urged. Thankfully, Luna shook her head, followed by a sigh of relief from the two of them.

"However, she has the book with the spell."

"WHAT?!" Celestia's jaw dropped.

"It gets worse!" Luna interrupted, "She found those scribbles you two did at the back of the book. She knows Discord's up to something."

With that being said, Discord planted a palm on his face. "Well I'm screwed. Thanks Lulu..." he said in a muffled voice.

"She isn't going to come after us any time soon, however. And either way, she can't find us immediately," Celestia said. However, Discord gave her a smug look.

"Actually, this will be the first place she'll look. Not for us, but for Fluttershy, because she's my 'owner'," his muzzle crinkled up.

"Ugh... I've messed everything up!" Luna sat down and covered her face with her hooves.

"Of course you didn't..." Celestia looked at her sister.

"Err, she kinda did." Discord pointed out, only to get elbowed by the alicorn in reply. Luna just looked up from her hooves so she could get lost in her thoughts.

"Hey... where's Twilight?" she suddenly asked with the realization.

"Went to find Rainbow Dash with Fluttershy." Celestia said, "but Discord's right - it would be wise to get out of here before the queens take note that he's gone."

The three started to walk away from the cottage, but then they stopped.

"How will Twilight know where we're gone?" Luna pointed out. Celestia tapped her chin.

"Luna, you take Discord back to the cave we were in a few... err... rests ago. I'm going to find Twilight," with that, she spread her vast wings in preparation for flight. Her sister didn't consider asking any more questions, instead watched her sister take off into the air.

Once the white alicorn had reached the grey clouds, Luna turned towards the Everfree Forest and galloped towards their original shelter, not looking back to check if Discord was following her.

---

"She should be around here," Fluttershy glanced around the pegasi flying around them in organized chaos. Twilight had no clue how they would find the mare they were looking for in the huge flock of ponies.

"Any idea on how we're gonna find her?" Twilight murmured into Fluttershy's ear. The yellow pegasus looked at her, then turned her head ahead.

"Yep. By looking forward," she tilted her head towards a familiar blue pegasus on the edge of the clouds. She stood next to a red flag, and seemed to be directing ponies to different areas of Equestria. Her hoof never pointed in the same direction, but they were around the same territory. Other ponies standing next to other coloured flags did the same - however pointed in much different directions. Some north, some east, some west.

"I knew she'd be a lead weather pony," Fluttershy smiled, picking up her pace again. Twilight copied, and the two both trotted over to the edge of Cloudsdale. As they did, they began to hear Rainbow Dash's voice.

"I don't care if there are two clouds or twenty clouds. They need to be all moved to Canterlot in the next hour. You got that?" She glared at a black stallion with a ice-blue mane. He sighed, then saluted at her. "Good, now scram," the blue mare ordered. The stallion obeyed her and fled.

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy called, "Rainbow, over here!" The timid pegasus seemed out of character to be so excited to see somepony. Rainbow turned her head with her brow raised, as she glanced around for who just called her. It was hard to hear voices too clearly, there were quite a few ponies chatting and yelling in the background.

Eventually, Rainbow's rose eyes fell onto Fluttershy, causing them to widen.

"Err... Flutter...shy? Is that it? Is that you?" She turned her full body around to meet her.

"Yep! It's me!" Fluttershy grinned.

"Huh. Didn't expect to see you in Cloudsdale. I thought you moved to the ground back at flight training."

She nodded. "Err... technically I fell. But either way, I preferred it down there. I felt more comfortable doing something I liked rather than something I was terrible at."

The mention of that made Rainbow glance at her flank. "Oh hey! You got your cutie mark. So did I, while the race was going actually. I wanted to show you it... but you were gone when the race ended."

The yellow pegasus' ears drooped. "Sorry. I should've at least said goodbye first. But it's funny, I got my cutie mark while the race was still going too." She glanced at the three butterflies on her rump. "It represents my talent of understanding animals on a different level. That's how I've lived my life ever since I left," a hint of guilt sparked in her eye just for a moment.

"Well, it's nice to see you Flutters," Rainbow told her, turning back to the edge of the huge cloud they stood on. "I'd offer you to stay longer, but you should probably go back to the ground," she said flatly. Fluttershy just blinked.

"Wha... but I just got here!" she protested.

"It's not that I'm not happy to see an old friend, because I am. But pegasi or not, you chose your life down there-" she looked downwards. "-and you know the queens don't let pegasi on the ground back into Cloudsdale. That is... if they allowed you to stay on the ground."

Fluttershy paused. She squinted, then spoke.

"No. They didn't," she said, to Twilight's surprise. She trotted up to her side and leaned over to her ear.

"But Fluttershy... you told me they did!" she whispered, only to have a hoof stuffed in her face.

"Shh..."

"Uhh... who's this?" Rainbow Dash raised a brow at Twilight. Fluttershy took her hoof out of her mouth.

"Oh... this is Twilight," she explained, "she's a Princess."

Twilight's eye twitched, followed by a hoof being planted on her face. "You weren't suppose to say that until later..." she groaned.

"Oh.... sorry," Fluttershy murmured. A sigh escaped the alicorn as she took her hoof off of her face to look at Rainbow Dash again, who's facial expression was blank.

"Wha... huh?" the pegasus turned back to her old friend for more of an explanation.

"If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't of taken the risk in coming here... but I think I should leave the rest to her," she glanced at Twilight.

The alicorn sighed again, "This is going to become a thing, isn't it?" she muttered, before beginning the story on how she was standing here.

---

The cave was dark, and empty. There was no sound, not even a wind attempting to be heard in the little shelter it may have. The Princess sat in the corner, staring at her own hooves. She was giving them discipline for taking the wrong direction, and revealing everything in the most simplest task. She ignored the voice trying to catch her attention on the other side of the cave, and stayed lost in her thoughts.

Everything would be better if I just wasn't here...
> Rainbow after the Storm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow Dash gave an arrogant pout, her expression showing nothing but disbelief.

"An alternate world? Heh... yeah... I'll believe it when I see it," she scoffed, her eyes scanning the skies around her, "y'know you can't just go around with strangers who just happen to be a species of royalty and expect them to save the world, Fluttershy." She turned her head to the pegasus.

Fluttershy moved her head back in surprise. "But... she's not lying!" she protested, "How do explain the fact that she's an alicorn in the first place?"

"Um... she was born that way?" Rainbow answered as if it was obvious.

"Err... I wasn't. Did I not mention it was only about seven moons back when I was a regular unicorn with an interest in magic?" Twilight managed to keep her cool.

"No, you didn't. Either way, that isn't possible. You can't just become an alicorn," Rainbow turned her back on them to face three pegasi waiting for orders. They all started to discuss weather meanings, with some other stuff neither Twilight or Fluttershy would get.

The two mares waited until the blue pegasus finished ordering them before continuing their discussion. Once she faced towards them again, Twilight continued.

"I get that it's hard to believe Rainbow. Tell me what I can do to prove it to you," she laid a hoof on her own chest, her eyes begging the blue mare to believe her.

Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes and looked at the cloud that she was standing on. "You say you're here with Queen Nightmare Moon and Queen Solar Flare's counterparts..."

Twilight nodded slowly.

"Show me. Show me the same cutie marks, the same voices. Then maybe I'll just consider believing you," she rubbed her hoof clean on her chest, with a rather smug look on her face, as if it were impossible to obey the command.

The alicorn sighed, "Does that mean I have to fly all the way back to Fluttershy's cottage?"

"Luckily, no," a voice came from behind them. Twilight and Fluttershy swung their heads around, only to see Celestia standing behind them.

"Well that was convenient..." Fluttershy muttered under her breath.

"Celestia!" the purple mare yelped in surprise, "Why and what are you doing here?"

The larger alicorn pulled an uncertain expression. "Well... I'm afraid to say, Twilight, we're on the move. Solar Flare knows that Discord's up to something," she explained. Twilight's eye twitched.

"Wha... why... how?!" her jaw dropped.

"Err... Luna... accidentally... got caught. Long story short, Twilight, but we need to be more cautious from now on."

Twilight stood still for a moment, then breathed out, her head drooping. Then, she lifted it up again.

"Oh well... not a huge problem. At least she hasn't seen both of you... right?" she squeed hopefully.

"Unless the buck I gave her in the forehead wiped her memory... yes."

A purple hoof planted on Twilight's face. "Well... she doesn't know exactly what we're doing, at least." She spun back around to meet Rainbow Dash once again. The pegasus was just staring at the two in awe.

"Huh... you're both alicorns," she concluded, "well, that still doesn't prove to me that she's Solar Flare's counterpart. She has a similar voice, but hey, many ponies have similar voices."

Celestia flattened her ears at this. She didn't sat a word, just rotated so her cutie mark was visible. Rainbow blinked.

"Now I just don't know what to think," she said flatly. Fluttershy just grinned, going to stand next to her.

"You could always decide to believe us and join our mission to save Equestria," she suggested, her ears and eyes perking straight after. She then cringed and lowered her head. "...If you want to, that is."

Rainbow jumped back. "Um... repeat that last part?"

"Oh... I forgot to tell you that part. Me and Celestia, and her sister Luna are here to save Equestria from Solar Flare and Nightmare Moon," Twilight began, "We came to you because you are one of the ponies I need to help."

The blue pegasus stared at her with wide eyes, not blinking. For a while, she didn't even open her mouth.

"...You're kidding me," she huffed.

---

The alicorn's head was ringing as she so lifted her lids off of her eyes. She attempted to yank her head off of the ground, but it dropped back onto the floor an inch up, flaring dust into the air. The little particles tickled her nose, causing her to sneeze. A shake of her head snapped her back to reality. Her forehead still ached, and her rubbing a hoof on its surface made it no better.

She sat up, blowing the strands of orange hair out of her face. After a few moments of silence and wondering what to do next, the door opened.

A familiar black shape stood in the doorway. "What exactly do you think you're doing?" she scolded, bringing herself up in front of her.

"Recovering from being bucked in the face," the white alicorn grunted.

"Well, Solar, I suggest you get your hind side back in the throne roo- wait, what?" her sister's interest perked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," Solar Flare muttered, still not at all thrilled by what had happened. Paying no attention to her sister, the fiery mare just trudged past her, urging the other alicorn to scamper after her out of curiosity.

"Who exactly kicked you?" she prompted her on, a brow raised. Solar Flare just rolled her eyes.

"Hard to explain," she muttered, "I think I was hallucinating or something, because all I remember is seeing our original forms." She turned to her sister, who was giving her a disbelieving stare. "I'm not joking, Nightmare."

"You're right," she agreed, "you probably were hallucinating."

"Well... yeah but... I still can't explain how I got knocked out," Solar Flare squinted. "Unless Discord really is up to something."

That made Nightmare Moon pause. "What was that?"

Solar Flare also stopped in her tracks, and looked back at her sibling. Her horn began to glow, in order to conjure up a book. "I found this in the cave we sent him to," she explained, flipping to the back of the book, "I found quite a few crossed out, but understandable scribbles in here."

The book was immediately snatched by Nightmare Moon's blue aura, so that the alicorn could scan her cat-eyes over the book. Solar Flare stood in place, waiting for the predictable reaction to come from the mare.

Once there was nothing else to be seen, the alicorn had a strangely calm reaction.

"What kind of pony banishes their enemy to the moon?" she questioned. The white mare shrugged.

"Either way," Nightmare Moon slammed the book shut, followed by her sister taking back the book, "I want a little talk with that excuse for a creature." She started to head for the exit to the castle, only to be stopped by Solar Flare.

"Yeah... he's not there."

The black mare paused. "Excuse me?"

"I looked. He's nowhere to be found."

"He's ran off?!" she screeched, her blue, formless mane beginning to flare as her temper was lost.

"Mhmm," Solar Flare crinkled her snout.

Nightmare Moon's horn began to glow again. The fiery Queen watched as a helmet that she had seen too many times before to not recognize.

"Well, I'll have to bring the punishment up a notch," a smirk started to spread across her face as she rested the silver armor on her head. More of it appeared; a chest plate and four shoes. Before speaking, Solar Flare waited until she had her whole outfit on her body.

"Where do you expect we start looking?" she asked calmly. The creature of darkness' grin grew, and her eyes narrowed.

"A little pegasus friend that we know...

...

"Really... you saw that coming. Why'd you even ask?" Her grin transformed into a smug gaze. Solar Flare's only reply was to give an annoyed glare.

"Can we just go?" As she cantered past her, she gave Nightmare Moon a frustrated shove with her shoulder.

"What have I told you about shoving me?" she spat, trotting after her.

---

"You seriously think I'm gonna do that?" Rainbow gritted her teeth. "Are you crazy?"

"I'm sure I've been crazier," Twilight assured her, her mind flashing back to her break downs that she had in the past, "look, Rainbow, we're not trying to force you to do anything. The choice you make now is your decision."

The pegasus glanced around the city in the sky. "Well... what exactly do you want me to do?" she asked, "Abandon the ponies here? I've trained all my life to be the best  leader I can be - which is by the way, the best one in Equestria," she added brashly, a hoof being laid on her chest in pride.

"But..." Fluttershy spoke up. "But what is there to be proud of here? Is there really anything to fight for?" She looked towards a few pegasi flying in straight lines, their expressions less than joyful. Rainbow's proud grin faded.

"Well..."

"I know you like to boast, Rainbow, but why would you want to even share that you're part of this?"

The rainbow maned mare glanced at the environment around her, then moved her rose eyes at her old friend. There was a glimmer in them both that said something, but Twilight couldn't tell what. She had to time to figure it out, either, for the eyes closed as Rainbow Dash sighed.

"What else is there, Flutters? I've always wanted to be looked up to. To be part of something great. What could be better than a leader?"

"A pony who helps make our country better, maybe?" Fluttershy tilted her head. The statement made Rainbow Dash make eye contact once again.

"...You're right," she murmured, her face growing more stern, her head now directing towards Twilight again. "Tell you what, Twilight. I'll help you in whatever way you need me to. But keep in mind - I'm still pretty unsure if it's even possible to save Equestria from Queen Nightmare Moon and Solar Flare."

Twilight grinned, but kept her cool. She nodded at her would-be friend's order. "Thank you Rainbow Dash! I really do appreciate it. I'll be back in Cloudsdale to find you whenever I need you."

"I'll keep an eye out," she saluted with a hoof, "see ya whenever. And it was nice to see you again, Fluttershy." She turned to the yellow coloured pegasus, who gave a hug instead of saying 'goodbye'. At first, Rainbow was hesitant, but she eventually returned it with a slight embarrassed-from-sappiness blush.

The three ponies then left the lead weather pony in the city, following Celestia towards wherever they were hiding out this time. The journey was silent, just each of them looking around at the clouds which gleamed nothing but grey, not even a shine of moonlight being shed upon them.

Soon, the cave that was their shelter was in front of them. Everyone but Celestia let out a relieved sigh that they could finally put away their wings.

"You're sure about not staying in your cottage, Fluttershy?" Twilight turned to her.

"Oh, defiantly not! The Queens might find me and do something awful for lea-oof!" Before she could finish, the pegasus bumped into one of Celestia's hind legs. Fluttershy shook her pink mane out of her face and looked forward at the alicorn in front of her.

"Discord? What's wrong with Luna?" Celestia blinked at her sister, who was laying in a corner on one side of the cave, her back the only thing visible to them all. Discord just shrugged from the ground he was sitting on.

"She's been like this ever since we got here," he said casually, playing with the chains holding his limbs together. The white alicorn crept towards the Night Princess.

"Luna? Are you okay?" she asked calmly. Luna just gave a grunt. "Please answer me properly..."

"Just go to sleep..." the blue alicorn muttered.

"Huh?"

"Just be quiet and go to sleep and stop wasting your pity on me," she spat, still not turning round. Celestia was taken back by her behavior, but decided not to argue at this point.

"Alright... but I'll be talking to you when I wake up," She warned her, gradually moving over to Discord's side to find a place to rest. Twilight wasn't sure whether Celestia was aware of who she was edging towards - or if she was just very bad at being subtle.

"Why not talk to Luna now?" Twilight couldn't help but asking.

Celestia waited until she had laid down on the floor before she answered, "She's easier to talk to if you wait for her to calm down."

The purple alicorn didn't reply, just watched as Fluttershy went to sleep in an area where no one was in, before she decided to settle under one of her former mentor's wings herself.

---

Two shapes lumbered in the forest. It was difficult to recognize their faces from a distance, but that's all she could see. She stayed silent, watching as they reached a familiar door. Instead of formally knocking, one of the shapes spun around and kicked the door down with her two back hooves. With the first obstacle our of the way, they both galloped with rage into the cottage, yelling one name.

"Discord!"

It wasn't her own fear, it was someone else's that was nibbling at her heart. Either way, she had the ability to get out of there.

Luna blinked her eyes open. However, unlike her usual reactions to dreams that meant something, she didn't turn toward's who's mind the vision belonged to. In fact, she didn't move a muscle. Just whispered,

"They're coming sister... they're coming for him..."

A few moments later, she dared to risk being seen. She figured her eyes would still be outlined red from the water that originally was pouring from her eye's corners not too long ago, but all other eyes were shut. She saw her sister whimpering, despite being unconscious, instinct telling her to move her head closer to the sleeping draconequus next to her.

Oh sister... you can do that just fine when you think you've escaped reality... Luna thought to herself, Yet now is not different to when we're awake, when will you learn to accept you're not destined to hate him?
> We're On Our Way
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight blinked open her eyes, wondering what it was that had dragged her out of her dream. She shook the indigo tresses off of her face so that she could see clearly.

The first thing she noticed was a white shape pacing around the cave floor. Once she had adjusted from the dream world back into reality, Twilight spoke.

"Celestia? What's wrong?" she croaked, her mouth dry from lack of water.

"The queens are on the move," the princess muttered, not even bothering to give Twilight a hint that she had her full attention.

"Huh? How do you… wha...?" The young alicorn unsteadily stood on all fours, shaking her head to gain focus on the world around her.

"A vision," another voice answered. Twilight's ear flicked to the other side of the cave. Luna was still in the same place - except now her face was visible. Twilight gave both of her eyes a rub with her hoof to scrape the dryness away.

"Oh... you sure that was the message?" she asked. Celestia stopped pacing so that Twilight could see her nod in reply. Soon enough, a quiet yawn came from the pegasus lying nearby the youngest alicorn. Fluttershy slowly lifted her lids up from her eyes. At first, her expression was calm, but as the world began to become more clear, her eyes widened as she became more alerted. Unlike Twilight's groggy wake up, the butter-coloured mare shot up on her hooves, glancing around.

"Wha... why am I... oh." Hoof on forehead, she managed to relax as memory seemed to catch up. "Now I remember why I'm here..." 

Twilight tilted her head. Despite having seen ponies talk to themselves before (including herself), the way Fluttershy did it was... different. It was as if she didn't care when there were others around her, and she was the only one who could reassure herself. Perhaps she was overthinking it, but how distant this Fluttershy seemed to be did nothing but weigh down in Twilight's gut.

'I need to know more about her...'

The brush of the pegasus' ruffled feathers on Twilight’s side snapped her out of her unanswered thoughts.

"Did I miss anything?" she perked up. Despite her efforts, however, no one payed any attention to her aside from the alicorn standing next to her.

"If we’re counting Celestia's vision as something, then yes." She held a slight sarcastic tone in her voice. When no reaction came from Fluttershy, she continued. "The queens are after Discord. Right?" She turned her head back to Luna, who nodded. When she faced the mare once again, her expression was unreadable.

"Oh dear. That's bad news," she said, her tone revealing nothing as she began to trot forward. Twilight opened her mouth again, but was interrupted by the rumbling of her own stomach. This caused Fluttershy to look back, blinking at the distracting rumble.

"When was the last time you ate?" she asked. Twilight blinked, and looked at Celestia, who just shrugged.

"...A while ago. We've barely stopped to sit down and eat because we have been so focused on finding you and the others," she answered.

"I could go back to my cottage and see if I have any spare food," the mare offered, cantering towards the cave's exit before anypony could answer. But before she could set hoof outside, a gold aura seized hold of her tail. She let out a surprised yelp, stopping in her tracks so that she could look back to see who was holding her tangled pink tresses.

Celestia's horn stopped glowing once she had her full attention. "I'm afraid I cannot let you do that, Fluttershy," she sighed.

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "But... why not?"

"The vision - I think the queens are looking for you... “ 

“How do you know?”

“In my dream they were invading your home. Your cottage is nothing but a danger zone now. Thank you for the offer, however." She nodded in gratitude, though it went unnoticed by the frightened mare.

"M...my...home? Why would they be..." She lifted two hooves up to her mouth, failing to resist nibbling them. “That means they’re looking for me… what would they want with me?”

"They want me - I'm your pet." The draconequus piped from where he lay upside down on his back. Celestia's muzzle scrunched up in response.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked, in a rather irritated voice. Discord just chuckled at the fact.

"Long enough. What a pleasure that my life is now at danger. I really do owe you one, Lulu." His gaze flashed over to the dark mare, who was still sitting in the corner idly. A snarl grew across her face.

"Zip your mouth up before I sew your lips together," the dark alicorn spat defensively. Twilight looked at her mentor, taking note on her rather irritated sigh.

"Err... perhaps instead of arguing," she jumped in. "We should go find something to eat." Her stomach yelled for attention again.

Celestia nodded in agreement. "You're right, Twilight. But, is it possible to find something that isn't the stale grass I found before?"

Behind her, Luna gagged at the memory of the awful taste. Her sister rolled her eyes. Twilight tapped her chin, thinking of a place where they could get food easily.

"Well, I'm all up for helpin'." A familiar voice came from outside. All heads jerked forward, all eyes seeing Applejack standing not far from where they were.

"Applejack!" Twilight exclaimed, trotting over to her gleefully. "I didn't expect to see you back so soon. Did you tell your family about us?"

The farm pony's smile faded. She squinted, breaking eye contact with violet alicorn. "Gah...yeah...no," she admitted. "I couldn't bring myself to. They'd think I was insane!"

"Oh. But... didn't they ask where you were?" Twilight lowered a brow.

"Nope. They hardly noticed - and before y'all ask, no I'm not bothered by that. My family rests more than any other ponies, so not much time past them at all for them while I was gone."

Twilight was unsure how to answer, so she stayed silent, letting the others come up closer to the two of them.

"But either way," The orange mare continued, "I can go get some food for y'all, I should still have some left." She began to trot backwards to leave, only to be interrupted by Twilight.

"Er... thank you Applejack, but will there still be enough for you and your family?"

She nodded. "I'm givin' y’all the half that's to be given to the queens."

The princess' eyes widened. "Won't you get punished for that?" she gasped. Applejack was already facing towards the direction of her farm, as a smirk grew across her face. Her spring-coloured eyes angled towards Celestia and Luna.

"No, 'cuz I'm still givin' it to 'em."

----------

The six friends sat in silence around the checkered blanket, not a word escaping any of their mouths. Spike held a cupcake in front of his face, swirling his claw around the icing. After a few passing moments, he caught the attention of Pinkie Pie, who frowned.

"Spike, you know you eat the cupcake... not play with it, right?" she questioned, however unlike usual, her voice was calmly spoken. The baby dragon snapped out of his day dream, almost dropping the cupcake as he flinched his head up.

Then he sighed, "Even when you're not hungry...?"

Pinkie tapped her chin, and licked her lips. "Well, I know I would!"

He put the cupcake back down on the plate that was set out in the middle of the picnic blanket, along with the other foods that were free for grab. The five other mares sat around the map gave him a pitiful look. However, Spike didn't appreciate it.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't patronize me like that."

The girls blinked and looked at each other with confusion. Applejack was the one who spoke up.

"Hun, we ain't patronizin' you," she said.

"Yes you are. You do it everyday, but I usually put up with it because I know that I'm a baby." He hesitated before saying the next sentence. "I'm Twilight's assistant."

The words silenced every one of his friends.. He glared up at them. "But ever since Twilight disappeared, I've just been thinking... is that all I am? Without Twilight, am I just an... orphan." His spines drooped. Rarity lent a comforting hoof, but Spike pushed it away. "I wanna know who I am without Twilight. I wanna prove I'm not just a piece of her. It's not that I need her..." He stood up. "I just want her."

The five ponies watched him leave, then they stared at each other. Then another pegasus stood up, and cantered after him.

"Spike..." she called. It took a while for the dragon to stop and turn around. He didn't say anything in reply, allowing her to continue. "I've been in your position before, trust me. And usually I'd try to convince you but..." She looked back at her friends. "I've kind of gotten over it."

"Then what is it that you want to tell me?" He folded his arms, gazing at the ground.

"I know someone who's going through the same phase." She smiled. "And I think it's better you both go through it together and find your own way. If you just copy how I found my importance, nothing will change."

Spike raised a brow. "Who though?" he urged.

The pegasus held his gaze. "You'll find Discord in my cottage."

----------

After a while of waiting, Applejack returned with a filled up sack dangling in her mouth. Once she stepped a hoof inside the cave once again, she let out a relieved sigh. The sack was dropped on the ground, causing a few apples to roll out, along with some good hay - the first the three princesses had seen in a while. Celestia felt her mouth begin to water, but she trapped the saliva in. Formal or not, she wasn't drooling in front of everyone.

"Well that's more than I expected," Twilight complimented, despite it being a meal only big enough for about three ponies, and among them were five, plus a draconequus. "Is this how much the queens hog?"

Applejack shrugged. "They take it - whether if they eat all of it, is beyond me."

The six of them sat down around the pile, and began to fill themselves up. Celestia swallowed a mouthful of hay, then looked to her left, noting that Discord had left his share untouched.

"Aren't you hungry?" she asked him. He appeared to be lost in a daydream, but was broken out of it at the sound of her voice. His red pupils moved in her direction, but he refused to move his head from leaning on his two limbs.

"Yes, but I don't need to eat that stuff," he told her. "A draconequus can eat a lot of things."

Celestia tilted her head. "Are you saying you're being generous?" A smirk grew on her lips. Discord blinked.

"...Maybe."

The alicorn giggled, giving him a friendly nuzzle. However, she instantly pulled back once she realized what she'd done.

"Speaking of which, we need to find Rarity," Twilight said, glancing at Fluttershy and Applejack, who both screwed up their muzzles.

"Like I've said before - I know who she is, no idea what she does." Applejack shrugged.

"Uh-huh." Fluttershy agreed, nodding her head. The lavender alicorn's ears drooped.

"But," the butter coloured pegasus spoke up, catching Twilight's attention. "There are rumors that the pegasi leaders know who exactly she is - I mean, personally, not just by name." She looked outside, up to the sky. "And we've teamed up with a leader."

Hope sparked in Twilight. "You think that's true?"

Again, she nodded slowly. "I think so."

"Woah there nelly," Applejack interjected. "What exactly have y'all been doin’ while I've been gone?"

"Well..." Twilight grit her teeth. "We went to Cloudsdale and found Rainbow Dash, who agreed to help us..."

"Lulu managed to get caught in the act..." Discord continued.

"My hatred and annoyance for Discord increased," Luna snarled, glaring at the draconequus.

"And we lost the spell book to the queens," Celestia finished.

"Oh yeah, we lost the spe- wait, WHAT?" Twilight swung her head round to meet Celestia, who blinked.

"Oh... did I forget to tell you that part?" She circled a hoof on the ground. "Mhmm... the queens have it now."

The young princess' eye twitched. "This is awful!" she cried. "How will we know what the next step of the spell is?"

"Twilight..."

"How will we know if we're doing the right thing?"

"Twilight."

"How will we know when we're done with the spell and we can go home?!"

"TWILIGHT!" Her mentor sat her back down by dragging her tail to the floor with her magic. "It's fine, we'll get it back eventually. But for now, the spell isn't what matters.."

The smaller alicorn held her mentor's gaze for a few moments, then she relaxed and lay down on her belly again. "You're right..." She gave a nod. "I should be focusing on finding Rarity." She turned her head towards Fluttershy. "And it looks like Rainbow's our best option to find her as soon as we can."

"Should we get going?" The pegasus asked.

"Soon, yes." Twilight smiled. "But I think I'd prefer to finish eating before anything."

> Rare Knowledge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight looked right and left before taking a step into the open. "No sign of them," she confirmed, prompting her friends to follow her. Fluttershy stood on one side, and Applejack the other. The farm pony then leaned over to the alicorn.

"Err... finding Rainbow means we're goin' to Cloudsdale, right?"

Twilight gave her a nod.

"Then where am I gonna stay while you two are up there?" She tilted her head. The violet mare paused.  She tapped her chin, thinking of some way Applejack could possibly come with them.

“Well… I do know a spell that can allow wingless ponies to walk on clouds,” Twilight suggested. Her friend suddenly gave a concerned look.

“Err… walk on clouds? Is that safe?”

“I’m sure we could stop you from falling off the edge.” The alicorn gave a chuckle. However, Applejack still seemed uncertain.

"I reckon I’d rather pay Pinkamena a visit, just to let her catch up."

“...That would be a wise suggestion. It’s a good idea to keep everypony up to date.” She turned her head to Fluttershy. "Anyway, I think we better get going."

The pegasus nodded, spreading her wings. Twilight did the same, and the two took off into the air. As they flew higher into the sky, she couldn't help but notice the increasing number of clouds surrounding them. She licked her dry lips.

"...Is it possible to drink from clouds?"

Fluttershy raised a brow. "Well... they are water... um, may I ask why?"

"I'm just thirsty. I can wait though." She told her, trying to blank the images of water out of her mind and continued onward in the direction of Cloudsdale. She began to scan the ground below her, once again spotting the worn out village that would be Ponyville in her world. It was then that something occurred to her. 

"Fluttershy... does your village have a name?" she asked. The pegasus blinked and followed her gaze to the ground below them, before shaking her head.

"It's just a place for us to work and grow food, there's no reason to name it." She shrugged.

"Oh..." Twilight's ears drooped. "Well... in my world, it's called Ponyville."

"Ponyville?" Fluttershy echoed. "How do you know it's the same village?"

"Because..." She held her gaze. "It's in the exact same place, and the exact same ponies live there. Well... aside from Rainbow Dash, who I'm assuming lives in Cloudsdale."

At first, the yellow mare didn't answer, too focused on flying forward. But then she swung her head towards her again. "Wait... you know a Rainbow Dash in your world?"

Twilight tensed. "Uh... yeah." She nodded. "I know all of you..."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Personally?"

"Mhmm..."

"...Oh," the pegasus mused, her attention seemingly fading. The rest of the flight was silent, with the pace of time going even slower. It was a relief when the large white city came into view.

With a bit of flapping Twilight and Fluttershy passed the last few clouds and landed on the soft floor, and began to canter through the city of clouds. Just like her last visit, pegasi were flying in rows,  bands around their hooves, focused intently on what lay in front of them. Then it struck her.

"I'm surprised none of them noticed I have wings and a horn," the princess realized.

"I'm not. Even if they did notice you, they're not allowed to fly out of order. I don't think they're even allowed to glance to the side." She explained. Twilight bit her lip as they walked, eyes glued to the distant pony silhouettes.

Soon enough, the two ponies made it to the same place they had visited before, and began looking for the blue pegasus. Unfortunately, she wasn’t in the same spot as last time.

"She isn't here," Twilight sighed.

"I know," Fluttershy replied.

"Where did you expect she'd—" Before the alicorn could finish, a hoof prodded her shoulder. She swung her head around, meeting familiar magenta eyes.

"Hasn't been long since I last saw you two," Rainbow Dash commented. "What's up?"

Twilight turned her whole body around to face her. "Hello Rainbow," she began. "Before we take action in saving Equestria, I need to find one more pony."

"Uh-huh..." The cyan mare rubbed a hoof on her chest.

"Fluttershy told me you might know where to find her."

"Name her."

"Rarity. Do you know her?"

That's when Rainbow froze. She stared at her, then at Fluttershy, who prompted her to answer with a head motion. The blue pegasus held Twilight's gaze again, then dragged her answer out.

"I... know... of her." She pursed her lips.

"Great!" A grin spread across Twilight's face. "Do you know where she'd be right now?"

"Well... yeah..." The pegasus blinked. "But I can’t tell you. There's a reason why nopony knows what she does."

"I don't belong here, so it won't matter to me. And I'm sure it has something to do with the queens, so after we're through with them, it won't apply to anypony, whatever it is," she assured her. "So please, Rainbow, take me to her."

Rainbow Dash stared into the distance, then sighed. "Alright, I'll take you. But you can't freak, okay?" Two nods in response. "Good." She trotted to the edge of the clouds. "I'm guessing we're going straight there, then?"

Twilight shook her head. "I need to pick up two more ponies from the ground, but then we can go straight there. Is that alright?"

The pegasus nodded. "Hey... um... Do I know these ponies?" She trotted up to Twilight's side who was on the edge of the clouds with her wings spread, along with Fluttershy, who kept her mouth shut.

"I don't think so," the alicorn replied. "But you will soon enough, so let's go."

---

Luna lay on the cold floor, her head resting on crossed hooves. Nothing had been said after Applejack had left to find Pinkamena, for there was nothing that anyone could think to say. There was an occasional sigh between the three of them, but that was the only sound Luna could count.

There was a rustling sound, and then the feeling of feathers brushing against her side. From the corner of her eye, the blue alicorn watched her sister sit down next to her.

"You've been silent," Celestia began. Luna gave a shrug.

"We all have," she grunted.

"You especially, I mean." The older mare nudged her with her hoof. "And I’ve been meaning to ask you, sister, what's wrong?"

Her soothing tone didn't help anything. "Why do you care?" Luna huffed. "Why should you care?"

Celestia was taken back by this. "You're my sister. How can I not?"

The dark mare snorted. "Everything would be better if I hadn’t come here."

Her sister blinked at her. "Don't say that, Luna! You know that isn't true-"

Luna covered her mouth with her wing. "Don't say that. Everypony says that." She stood up on her hooves and began to drag herself towards the cave's exit. Celestia lifted herself onto her hooves, but she didn't follow her.

"Luna...Where are you going?"

"Just... outside," she sighed, her head drooping. Celestia stood helplessly in one place, her staring blankly at her hooves. After her little sister had turned the corner, out of sight, Discord slithered next to the older alicorn.

"Not going to do anything?" He pouted.

"Some situations are best left alone. For the moment, at least." She pulled her gaze up from  the ground looking toward the troubled draconequus. "Luna's impossible when she's like this. She needs time to think things through." She sat down, and watched as Discord floated in front of her.

"You act like this happens often," he mused.

"It does."

He raised a brow. "Then why do you go through the same motions over and over?"

Celestia blinked. "Explain?"

"Well, if this has happened before, then maybe you shouldn't treat it the same way each time." He gave a shrug. "Better to fully heal than to cover up now, isn't it?"

The mare looked away. "If only it was that easy." She mused.

The sound of hooves broke the two out of their thoughts. They both turned their heads to the entrance, spotting two familiar earth ponies.

"Um... where is everypony?" The pink mare asked.

"I think I saw them flying over here while I was outside," Applejack replied. "We'll just wait here."

"Hello, Applejack, Pinkie Pie," Celestia greeted. While the orange farm pony nodded back politely, Pinkamena just snorted.

"Don't call me that," she snarled.

"Oh... my apologies..." The alicorn avoided eye contact with the mare. Despite her not being as close to Twilight's friends as she was, it was rather sad to see them in this state.

"Wait... where's your sister?" Applejack glanced around the cave.

"...She went to sit outside," Celestia told her. "Did you not see her?"

The mare shook her head, putting her on edge.

"I'll be back, I just need to check on her."

As she began to trot towards the cave entrance, three more ponies landed on the ground. Relief flooded her as she saw Twilight safe once again.

"Hi, Princess." She smiled. "Where are you going?"

Celestia breathed out. "Luna's still a bit... off. I just want to check on her."

The smaller mare tilted her head and raised a brow. "Where is she?"

"Outside."

"I didn't see her."

"I'm sure she's out there..." With that, the Princess left them. Twilight turned her attention back to her friends.

"So... maybe I should introduce you all to each other." She grinned, however the four ponies didn't give any reaction. She sighed, "Well, you might as well, we're all going to be travelling together from now on."

Next to her, Rainbow Dash screwed up her muzzle. "Er... no offense Twilight, but you've gathered some real... odd ponies for a rebellion."

The alicorn gave a slight chuckle at this. "I'm aware."

"Hey, who’re you calling odd!" Pinkamena protested.

"Uh...In a good way." Twilight added, allowing the mare to relax. But the blue pegasus’ attention was no longer focused on the ponies, but rather to the chaotic-looking creature sitting on the other side of the cave.

"You never said he was gonna be here." She squinted. "In fact, scratch that, how did he even―" A mouthful of feathers cut her off mid-sentence.

"Long story. All we're doing is wasting time, we can chat while we're finding Rarity." She removed her wing from Rainbow's mouth and settled it back to her side. She then nodded at her, prompting the pegasus to lead the way out of the cave. Twilight stood back so that she could watch the ponies follow her on, and waited until she was the last one standing in the cave. But someone interrupted her as she went to follow them.

"Twilight?"

She turned around, locking eyes with Discord.

"Yes?"

He stood up on his hind legs. "Would it be okay if I... tagged along?"

She blinked at him. "Why would you want to do that?"

He gave a shrug. "Celestia told me about my counterpart's... relationship with you and your friends." His ears drooped slightly, "And he sounds a lot happier than me..."

Twilight gave a smile. "As long as Celestia's okay with it, I don't see why not." She paused outside, turning toward where Celestia had disappeared. "Celestia? Is it alright if Discord comes with us?" 

There was a long pause, and then, "Yes, go!"

Discord grinned. "Thank you, Twilight." He floated in the air above her so he could get in front. "I do appreciate it."

They began to follow after her friends. "It's fine." 

------

Later, the five ponies and draconequus ventured through a ditch in rugged territory. Dust rose up from the ground with each weary step. Barren rocks towered above them, threatening to topple down onto them.

Twilight knew exactly why the ditch was uneven.

"I know this place..." she murmured, mostly to herself. 

Rainbow Dash turned. "Uhh... nopony ever comes here. It's kinda forbidden."

"Not in my world. I've only been here a few times, the last time being just over a year ago."

The pegasus raised a brow, and seemed like she was about to continue the conversation, however a clang on the ground behind some rocks up ahead turned all heads.

"What was that?!" Fluttershy gasped. 

Rainbow Dash was unfazed."That was Rarity."

The six of them wasted no time hesitating, and began to gallop toward the sounds. Eventually coming to a stop behind a large boulder. Craning their heads, everyone could easily spot the white shape marching along the dirt covered ground. Every now and then, she stopped, and scraped her hoof at the ground. Though after about five scoops of dirt, she'd carry on.

"Stay here," Rainbow whispered, before revealing herself to the unicorn. "Rarity!"

The mare looked up from her work. Her words were a little hard to figure out from the distance. "Rainbow Dash." An impatient snort could be heard. "What is it now? I have done everything you ordered me to. What else could the queens possibly need?"

"...Nothing. I'm not here to give you orders. Not now."

This caused the unicorn to pause. "Then why are you here?"

The pegasus said nothing, just turned back to them. They understood this as a signal to come out from hiding. Twilight was the first to step out in the open, followed by Applejack, Fluttershy, and finally, Pinkamena. Discord, however, stayed behind. Understandably as well… it was abundantly clear the others didn't trust him very much.

The unicorn blinked, confused. "Rainbow Dash, why did you bring other ponies here? These lands are forbidden."

"Then why are you two allowed here?" Twilight asked.

Rarity glanced at her. Twilight, now being closer to her, had noticed the state of her mane - it resembled nothing of her counterpart. It was tangled and was not at all gleaming - instead dry and covered in dust. It wasn't in the same style either, instead it hung low, some split ends curling while others straightened.

"How do you not know that..."she trailed off, eyes sweeping over the violet mare. "Wha... You're a..."

"An Alicorn Princess? Yes, I am," Twilight completed her sentence.

Rarity's mouth quivered a moment, before she slipped into a deep bow. The alicorn just let out a groan of frustration, which raised the unicorn's curiosity. Twilight just held out a hoof for the mare to grab onto, so she could pull herself up. She did so, also bringing the chipped and mud stained hooves to Twilight's attention.

"I'm sorry but... I'm very confused," Rarity said. Rainbow Dash stepped forward again.

"This is Twilight. She er... needs you."

The white mare tilted her head. "Needs me? My only job is finding gems..."

"Yeah, we - I know," she corrected herself. "But Twilight doesn't work for the queens... she's not even from here, as far as we know."

Rarity peeked over the pegasus' shoulder. "Why have you got so many ponies?"

"Because," Twilight began. "We're going against the queens. And we need you."

----------

"Celestia? Is it alright if Discord comes with us?" The alicorn with the blazing mane heard a voice. The mare in her grip struggled to get free, a metal chain wrapped tightly around her horn, suppressing any magical sparks before they could escape. The fiery mare chuckled at the sight, pleased by how weak her victim was.

The white mare widened her eyes, and struggled all the more to break out of the other mare’s grasp. It was only when she finally kicked the other pony in the stomach that her enemy’s grip weakened.

“Yes, go!” she called. She began to order Twilight to run, but was quickly interrupted.

"Oh shut up..." The fiery alicorn muttered, stuffing her hoof in her counterpart's face.

"You can tell I don't miss her old ways," a midnight black alicorn remarked, a smirk spreading across her face, as she swept her horn toward the now powerless Princess Celestia .

"Liar!" a smaller, blue mare accused. "Thou art just jealous!"

The Nightmare cackled. "Jealous of what? Tell me, Lulu, what do you have?"

Luna glared into the cat-like eyes. "Everything. Everything thou-” She shook her head, a metal chain similar to Celestia’s rattling upon her horn and body before correcting herself, “-you. I mean everything you are fighting for, but you can't win," she hissed through her teeth.

"And what about her?" Nightmare Moon dipped her head toward Celestia, still chained, and pinned by Solar Flare.

Celestia scrunched up her muzzle. "I have my sister back. That's all I need." She lifted her eyes to Solar Flare. "I understand why you sided with her, but it's doing more harm than good. All you really want is to be with her."

Solar Flare’s eyes blazed, then she gave a snort. "Silence!  We will focus on the problem at hoof... we're missing a draconequus."

The white alicorn blinked. "I can see that."

"We need him back."

"You want him back."

The blazing mare narrowed her flaring eyes. "Why would I want that demon?"

"Why would you keep that 'demon'?" Celestia scoffed.

"Both of you, zip it," Nightmare Moon scolded. "We can leave the chimera alone for now. I want to know why you lot are here, and what you're planning."

Luna rolled her eyes. "You will get nothing."

Her counterpart snickered. "Then neither will the poor... innocent ponies out there."

Celestia raised a brow. "What do you mean by that...?"

Nightmare glanced at her sister, who was also grinning menacingly. "They'll get no light."

> Faithful Friend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A small purple dragon twiddled his fingers as he trekked through the garden that led to Fluttershy’s cottage. He slowed as he began up the hill until, finally, he stopped at the door. He hesitated before grappling the door’s handle with his claw as the door began to open, a creaking sound arose from it.

The dragon let go of the door and let it finish opening itself. He then stepped inside, and began his search for a draconequus. At first, he imagined it would take forever, since it was impossible to predict where the embodiment of chaos may be. Yet, to his surprise, he found Discord sprawled on Fluttershy’s couch, staring up at notes that he seemed to be levitating.

The little assistant slowly ambled up to him, giving him a tap on the shoulder.

“Er… Discord?”

“GAH!” The draconequus leaped up from his comfortable-looking position, spinning himself around to look at the floor to see who was there. “Dear me, Spike. Did no one ever tell you it’s rude to sneak up on ponies… draconequi… whatever…?” He put his paw on his chest to match his mocking tone.

Spike assumed he was supposed to laugh, but he couldn’t bring himself to. “Err.. yeah.”

Discord pouted. “Something’s bothering the number one assistant. Hey, you try doing Celestia’s job one day, then you’ll know what true pain feels like.”

Spike raised a brow. “I thought Princess Cadance was doing her job…”

The draconequus gave a shrug. “She has her own work to deal with too. How inconsiderate – leaving me with all this infinitely boring paperwork.”

“Eh, that’s princess-hood, I guess.” The dragon shrugged.

“Well, ‘Spikey-Wikey’,” he said in Rarity’s accent. “What is it? I’d prefer to get these done than hear one of Cadance’s lectures, surprisingly enough.”

Spike rubbed his arm with a claw. “Err…” He wasn’t sure where to start. “I’ve been thinking lately…”

“Me too! I think of a lot of things. Usually I attempt to explain it to Fluttershy but, when I do, she just stares at me as if my head just exploded.”

“Well…” His ears drooped slightly. “I’ve been wondering who I am without Twilight.”

Discord paused. “Um… why are you telling me this again?”

“Fluttershy told me to come to you because you’re going through the same phase.” Spike just shrugged. “If she was wrong, I don’t mind leaving…”

The chaos embodiment lifted a talon and opened his mouth, but no words escaped. Spike stood there patiently, awaiting for an answer.

“Err… well... “ Discord’s voice began to tone down . “I suppose I can understand where you’re coming from.”

The assistant widened his eyes. “You do?”

“What is and what’s not…” Discord leaned his head on his two front limbs so that he didn’t have to look straight down at the dragon. “Sometimes I wonder what I am without my friends.” He conjured up a mirror and held it with his tail tip. “I think it’s obvious – the Spirit of Chaos. But is that all?” His tail pulled the mirror out of view.

Spike stared at the ground and sighed. “Yeah… I sometimes wonder – especially now – what I’d be without Twilight… or any of them. Would I just be a baby dragon with no one to care for me?”

Discord’s ears drooped. “Sometimes I wonder what I’d do if something happened between me and Fluttershy…” Something unreadable glistened in his eyes, something Spike didn’t recognize. Was it a distant memory?

“Once, I got a vision… when I went to the Crystal Empire as it returned for the first time…” He tapped his fingers together as the memory became more clear. “I saw Twilight telling me to leave. It wasn’t real, but…”

“At least you could wake up from that…” He heard Discord mutter through gritted teeth. This just raised his curiosity.

“What do you mean?” he asked. The draconequus’ eyes flinched open at the realization that Spike had heard him.

“What does what mean?”

“What you just said.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Spike folded his arms. “I know you said something!”

Discord gave a frustrated groan at the dragon’s stubbornness. “Look. Something happened a long, long time ago. It doesn’t matter now, it’s long forgotten by everypony.”

“But if it’s like my situation, then it could help me…”

“Somepony left me, Spike! A long time ago!” Spike flinched at the sudden raised voice. At first, Discord looked as if there was fire in his eyes, but then he quickly calmed. “Err… Sorry,” he murmured awkwardly, breaking eye contact with him.

“Err… you’re not mad at me… are you?” the dragon asked nervously. Discord shook his head without turning back to look at him.

“You’ve done nothing. Someone else did… a long time ago.” He lay on his back again, looking up at the ceiling. “She was the cause of my… fall into madness."

Spike’s eyes widened, though he himself was not paying any attention to his newfound knowledge on Discord’s history. “Are saying that if Twilight leaves me, I’ll go crazy?!”

“What? No!” Discord moved his eyes to look at the dragon again. “In all honesty, Spike, if you ever chose to leave Twilight or the other way around, I doubt you’d want revenge. It depends…” He tapped his chin. “Usually the more hurtful the parting is, the more hurt that you’ll get. But I don’t think it will ever come to that, anyway.” Discord flipped on his side to get full view of the dragon. “I think you’ll be Twilight’s assistant for a long time to come.”

Spike shook his head. “But… that’s not what I want to know!” he protested. “I want to know who I am without her! I love being her assistant, don’t get me wrong, but I want to be my own dragon!”

“Oh, is that all? Simple: You’re Spike.”

The assistant blinked. “That’s not an answer.”

“Yes it is.”

“Well, how would you describe ‘Spike’, then?”

“Hmm… loyal; caring; a bit sarcastic; and, overall, a helpful friend.” He looked at his fingers that were all lifted, each representing a feature of his character. Spike stared at the talon.

“But… what about my crush on Rarity? Or the fact that I’m Twilight’s assistant…” He then covered his mouth. “GAH! No! I don’t have a crush on Rarity, that was a joke…”

Discord chuckled. “Those are just parts of you, Spike. What I said about you is what matters. It’s your personality, and your heart. It makes you who you are. But you still need Twilight to help you grow up to be even better. You’re still just a kid, you know.”

Spike blinked at the draconequus. “Is… is that it then?”

“Yep.”

“Well… can I tell you who I think you are, then?”

Discord was about to lay back on the couch when the little dragon’s words caught his attention. “...Good luck with that, I suppose.” He gestured his paw to get the dragon to speak.

“You’re someone who uses his chaotic nature to trick his friends into doing the right thing and, overall, is still learning the magic of friendship in order to make up for his past mistakes and betrayal.”

Spike looked pretty proud at what he said, while Discord just deadpanned, “Well… if that’s what you think, then… I guess I’ll take it.”

---

Rarity continued to stare at the alicorn.

“An alternative universe? How is that even possible?”

Twilight gave a nervous grin. “The universe is full of things we don’t understand, both inside and out. You just never know what you may find once you step outside of your own little world.”

“...Err… repeat that?”

The lavender mare, before being able to give another answer, noticed a draconequus slithering up behind her, causing a surprised reaction from Rarity, who let out a yelp.

“What is that thing doing here?” She took two steps back, keeping one front hoof off the ground and tensed up, just in case he did something unethical.

“How rude. I have a name,” Discord scoffed. Twilight sighed.

“Okay, I’ll be honest. I don’t want any of you addressing him by using ‘it’. He’s with us, and he should be treated just like anypony else.”

“Why should we? All he does is cause trouble,” Rainbow Dash retorted.

“Yeah, just how do ya' know we can trust him?” Applejack added. Twilight opened her mouth to answer, however she couldn’t think how. That’s when Fluttershy stepped forward.

“He may cause ponies trouble, but it’s not his fault. It’s mine.” Her head drooped. “I may not have ordered him to do so but, from the way I treated him, I don’t blame him for wanting to bother the kind that was hurting him the way they were.”

Twilight blinked. Discord was silent. Fluttershy wasn’t finished. The pegasus then turned around to face him.

“And if you don’t want to be my friend or forgive me, I can understand why.”

As the timid mare took a few steps back, the others couldn’t take their eyes off of Discord, who seemed rather stunned by Fluttershy’s speech.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Twilight forced out a cough. “So… er… Rarity,” she continued. “Now that I’ve told you why I'm here, are you with us?” She gave a wide, convincing grin, as did the other ponies. Rarity, being taken back, wasn’t sure how to answer.

“Well… eheh…” She rubbed her leg with a hoof. “I don’t know if I should really leave these lands…”

“Pfft… who cares what the queens say?” Rainbow leapt up into the air. “I, for one, have had enough of following orders from those two tyrants! I think it’s time we show ‘em who’s boss!” She finished by clapping her hooves together. Her energy seemed to pass onto everypony else, as their expressions all seemed to lighten up. The rainbow maned mare turned back to the white unicorn, who had seemed to warm up to the idea, thanks to her. “So, what do you say, Rarity? Are you gonna stay here, unnoticed by everypony you walk past, or are you gonna be a hero and help us defeat the queens once and for all?”

The white mare blinked, “I… well...um…” She glanced toward the surrounding dirt and rock and in that brief moment made her final decision. “Yes, I will.” Despite it being overthrown by knots and split ends, her mane bounced on her hoof gracefully. “I am both happy to help you defeat the queens, and get out of this barren land!”

“Now… before I tell you what we need to do, let me tell you why I’ve gathered you all in the first place.” She turned around and began trotting back towards the forest. “I might as well tell you on the way back.”

Her friends began to follow, keeping close behind. And so Twilight began her story about how she met their counterparts, and how they defeated each of the villains that had attempted to take over Equestria or destroy their friendship. While each villain was a shock to them all, they were all the most surprised when she told them about their first problem – Nightmare Moon.

She could sense some uncertainty mixed up with pride as she began her explanation about the Elements of Harmony and what element each pony represented. It didn’t concern her, though, she was lost in her excitement over the fact that she had finally gathered them all.

By the time she had finished telling her tale, they had reached the edge of the Everfree forest.

“So what about all of you? Do you know each other very well?” Twilight decided to bring up the subject.

“Well, I obviously know Fluttershy from our fillyhood,” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“I met most of them before, a long time ago,” Pinkamena began. “I just don’t know Rainbow Dash, since she’s lived in Cloudsdale the whole time.”

“That’s a shame.” The pegasus leaned over to look at the pink mare upside down. “I’m sure that anypony would have loved to know me sooner!”

Twilight couldn’t help but cringe a little. Don’t overdo it Rainbow Dash…

“I’ll admit it… I do kind of miss meeting everypony.” The flat-maned mare sighed. “I’m still kinda stumped that I’m the Element of Laughter in Twilight’s world.”

“Well, ya’ woulda wanted to carry on with your dream of makin’ ponies laugh. There was no abusive queen to stop ya’!” Applejack stated.

“I guess…” she replied. It may have just been her, but Twilight was sure she could see the corner of her lips move upwards.

“I don’t really see how I could be the Element of Kindness…”

“Well, you were really kind when we were friends all that time ago!” Rainbow smiled, and after a moment, so did Fluttershy.

It was a joy to see her friends getting along so easily. “Can I ask you all a question?” The alicorn spoke up. Her friends all looked at her.

“Of course, darling. What is it?” Rarity prompted her to continue.

“How is it you all got your cutie marks?”

“Well, I actually tried running away from the farm when I was a little filly. I don’t know how far I got, but all that mattered was the rainbow that I saw pointing me home – to my family. Once I returned, my cutie mark showed up.” Applejack glanced at the mark on her flank, a small smile appearing on her face.

“I fell from Cloudsdale during a race, and found all the woodland critters.They heard an explosion and I realized I could communicate with them when I comforted them. Then my cutie mark showed up.” Fluttershy explained.

“Funny, I heard an explosion when I got mine. My horn was carrying me somewhere – I had no idea where – until I eventually bumped into a rock. At first I was confused, but then there was a huge explosion. So big, in fact, that it broke the rock in half, revealing all these gems. That’s when I found out my horn had a specialty in finding precious jewels!” She may not look her best, but the white unicorn certainly acted just like she did in Twilight’s home world.

“I was just minding my own business one day, when I all of a sudden saw a big, colourful explosion, with a rainbow to go with it. It taught me how to smile, so I decided to share my newfound knowledge. I threw a party for my family, which made them happy. It also gave me my cutie mark,” Pinkamena told them. Once she was done, Rainbow Dash excitedly told her part.

“Oh! I love telling that story. I was defending Fluttershy from these two school bullies by beating them in a race. While doing so, I performed a sonic rainboom and got this thing here.” She tilted her head to her rainbow lightning cloud, a proud grin glued on her face. “Oh, if you don’t know what a sonic rainboom is, it’s a huge, rainbow coloured explo....sion.” Her tone slowed as the realization hit her. The five friends stared at each other in awe.

“It can’t be.”

“No way.”

“The same explosion?”

“It’s highly unlikely…”

“But true!” Twilight laughed. “Your destinies are all connected!”

The five mares were unsure how to react at first. Then Rainbow Dash squealed.

“That is so awesome!” She put her hooves on her face as she did so.

“But wait!” Applejack interjected. “What about Twilight? You’re one of us, did you get your cutie mark at the same time as us too?”

Twilight’s smile faded. “Well… in my world I did.” She stared up at the mountain that would have held Canterlot. “But it would be impossible here.”

“Why’s that?” Fluttershy tilted her head.

“I got my cutie mark from a magical outburst I had while doing an entrance exam to get in a special school. It was the explosion that caused the outburst.”

“Why wouldn’t that happen here?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I wouldn’t have gotten a cutie mark to represent magic if I wasn’t inspired to try it in the first place,” she replied sadly. “I was inspired by the most amazing pony I’ve ever met in my world. Here, she’s an awful tyrant.” She lifted her head up, gazing into the forest filled with dead or dying trees. She wasn’t sure if she was, but she was attempting to stare at the castle that was up ahead.

“I thought you said Nightmare Moon was banished in the moon until we were all grown up?” Rainbow Dash raised a brow.

“...She was. I’m not talking about her.” Twilight explained. “I’m talking about Celestia. I already told you she was my mentor…”

“Err… who’s Celestia again?” Rarity asked.

“Queen Solar Flare.” Rainbow told her. The unicorn’s eyes widened with disbelief.

“Queen Solar Flare? How in the name of Nightmare Moon can she possibly be inspiring?” she scoffed.

“You’ll get to meet her once we get back to the cave. Then you’ll understand.” Twilight attempted to assure her, but Rarity refused to believe it.

“Here, Solar Flare is just a coward hiding in her sister’s shadow! There are rumors that she’s the older sibling of the two, but I don’t see where in the world they’re coming from.”

“She actually is. It’s… a long story,” Twilight sighed, her tongue aching from telling so many backstories. “How did that rumor even survive? I would have thought that Nightmare would kill the theory straight away.”

The lavender mare then heard a snicker from a draconequus who she forgot was even there, he was being so silent. “...Of course.” She couldn’t help but chuckle at his antics against the two tyrants.

“I think at one point I spread something about Solar Flare being alive ever since the beginning of time.” A smirk had appeared on his face as he thought of the memory. “She found out though, and she severely punished me for it.”

“To be honest, if you spread some sort of rumor that she was that old in our world, she probably would’ve done the same,” Twilight laughed.

“I don’t remember that happening. When was that?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh, long before I met you. At least a century ago.” Discord told her. Fluttershy murmured an ‘oh’, before it struck her.

“Discord… how old are you?” She blinked. “I’m not sure why I’ve never asked before.”

“You were too busy ordering me around.” Discord told her. “Either way, I’m almost as old as Solar and Nightmare – and they’re veeery old.”

“Wait… almost as old?” Twilight echoed.

“Yep. They’re a couple of years older than me. You learn something new every day!”

The young princess’ eye twitched. Some things I don’t expect to learn.

After a bit more trotting, they all reached the cave where Twilight expected to find the two other princesses.

“Celestia! Luna! We’re back!” Twilight called into the cave. She waited a few moments, but no reply came when expected. “Celestia? Luna?” She stepped into the cave, scanning the area for either of the alicorns. “Where are you?”

“Twilight!” She heard Applejack call her from outside. She turned around and quickly galloped back over to them.

“What? What is it?”

“Pinkamena hears somethin’.”

Twilight turned to the pink mare, who was holding her hoof next to her ear. “There are voices coming from over there.” She pointed towards the direction of the castle, raising Twilight’s curiosity.

“Should we go and investigate?” Rainbow Dash wondered.

“I suppose. It might have something to do with Celestia and Luna,” the alicorn answered, slightly uncertain. “Just keep your distance.”

---

The six ponies and one draconequus eventually made it to the edge of the Everfree, all stopping at the point where it cut off. They all kept behind what was left of the vegetation, doing their best to stay out of sight.

Below, in the gorge, ponies all from the what-would-be Ponyville were gathered, all staring up to the other side of the cliff. There, Nightmare Moon and Solar Flare both stood with smirks on their faces. It seemed liked Twilight and her friends were just in time to hear their speech.

“We assume thou art wondering why thine are–”

“For your sake, Nightmare, just use modern day language,” Solar Flare hissed. Nightmare Moon gave an irritated snort, then started again.

“We are both assuming that you’re wondering why you’re all gathered here,” the black alicorn announced. “Both my sister and I are looking for a certain draconequus and a little yellow pegasus, who seemed to have… disappeared.” She began to trot along the edge of the gorge. “This, of course, was an act of betrayal...”

“Err… Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash whispered to the pink-maned mare next to her.

“Um… yes?”

“Didn’t you say that the queens didn’t allow you to stay on the ground before? Why are they acting as if they know?”

The yellow pegasus paused. “Uhh… they’re talking about how I… uhh… left Cloudsdale…”

“The yellow pegasus should be known by you ponies, since she lives nearby you all, next to the Everfree forest. Usually a mere pegasus would be of no concern, but I can only assume that she knows where Discord is,” Nightmare Moon continued.

As Nightmare Moon spoke, Fluttershy’s lie became clearer to the blue pegasus.

“Fluttershy… what aren’t you telling me?”

The timid mare gave a whimper and flattened her ears. “Err… I…” She gulped. “I… was forced to stay on the ground. That’s why I never came back to Cloudsdale to say goodbye.”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “Why did you lie to me...? I-I’m your best friend.”

Fluttershy sighed. “I… I didn’t want to–”

“Quiet, you two! We’re trying to listen!” Pinkamena scolded them. Her harsh tone silenced them for the moment.

“And so, does anypony know where to find them?”

Only a few quiet mutters reached them from the bottom of the gorge, most of which were confused. The rest stayed silent.

“Of course none of you do,” the queen grunted. “Surely some of you have at least seen a light purple alicorn walking around?”

Twilight gasped as her heart seemed to stop. How did she know about her?

“Let’s try this again. Find me these ponies, or you’ll never see your precious sun again!” A cackle escaped her throat, followed by panicked and even more confused ponies from below.

“What do we do?” Applejack whispered to Twilight. “Without the sun, we can’t grow our crops!”

“We can’t grow them anyway,” Pinkamena pointed out.

“We grow enough get by,” Rarity stated. “What do you suppose we do, Twilight? You are a princess and all…”

“I…” The alicorn’s nerves made her bite at her hoof. Before she could think of a plan, the queens resumed their speech.

“I see… well, just in case those ponies are watching…” Nightmare Moon carried on. “I just want them to know I have two of their friends.” She turned around, watching her sister drag out Celestia and Luna forward, down on their knees. From what Twilight could see, their horns and hooves were all locked up in chains, which would also explain why they weren’t fighting back.

“I doubt they are, but if any of you ponies find them… tell them they need to come and rescue their damsels in distress.”

“You have quite a way of describing yourself.” Luna snorted, only to get a slap in the face by Solar Flare.

“Don’t you even think of doing that again…” Celestia threatened.

“Oh, shut up,” Solar Flare groaned lazily.

“Ooooh, great comeback. Literal burn, right there!” Luna gasped overdramatically.

“...Oh for my own sake, JUST ZIP YOUR MOUTHS!” Nightmare Moon screeched at the three of them. Almost immediately they obeyed. “Good. Now, for all of you…” The queen expected to still have a crowd of ponies at her hooves, but they were already scattering towards the stairs. ”How rude…” she huffed. Luckily for the six ponies, they were far from the path the crowd was taking back to the village.

All except for one.

One pegasus decided not to follow the rest, and ended up crashing right into Pinkamena, since she didn’t spot them hidden among the dead bushes.

“Oh! Sorry… huh?” The blue-grey mare looked at who she had tumbled onto in surprise. “Pinkie-I mean, Pinkamena!” she yelped. “I haven’t seen you since…” Her sentence faded as she turned her head away. Then she looked up, and spotted everyone else. “Uhh…”

Twilight laughed nervously. “You’re Derpy… right?” She tried to keep her distracted, but it was no use.

“You’re an alicorn! A light purple alicorn! Err… the queens have a message for you…”

“Yeah, we know,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “We were listening.”

“Oh…” Derpy stepped off of Pinkamena, then looked back at the castle.

“Do you happen to know what will happen to our friends?” Twilight asked her. Derpy looked at her, then shook her head.

“But I need to tell them that you’re here....” she whimpered. “Or there’ll be no sun…”

“NO!” Pinkamena stood straight up and shoved a hoof in her mouth. “You can’t do that!”

The blue-grey mare removed Pinkamena’s hoof from her face. “B-but if I don’t…”

“We know… but we’re gonna try and fix this,” the farm pony explained. “Please don’t tell them, Derpy. It’s them who are in the wrong, not us.”

The yellow-maned pegasus tilted her head uncertainly. “Does this mean you’ll be happy again?”

Pinkamena blinked. “Huh…?”

“Happy. Will you be a happy pony like you were all those years ago?”

The pink mare stared at the ground. “Well… uh…”

“If whatever you’re doing makes you happy, I’m not going to stop you.”

With that, Derpy flew off into the forest, out of sight, leaving Pinkamena lost in her own thoughts.

Twilight felt a tap on her shoulder. She flinched, then spun around to meet Discord.

“I think I know what they’ll do to Celestia and Luna,” he said to her. She blinked at him.

“What? What will they do?”

Discord twiddled his fingers. “Well, you see…” His attention started to fade from the six mares in front of him, and focus more on the queens on the other side of the gorge.

“So, what exactly is it you’re going to do to us?” Luna scoffed. “Kick us repeatedly in the face?”

“Better we show you. It’s far more entertaining!” Nightmare Moon patted the blue alicorn on the head before turning around, facing away from the cave that should have housed the Tree of Harmony, towards an unknown sight. The black mare lifted her hoof to her mouth and blew, creating a whistling sound

After a few moments of silence, a loud stomping was heard from underground. It seemed to shake the earth below them, causing them to stumble a bit.

“What’s that…?” Celestia was only just heard over the loud crashing coming from ahead.

No one but the noise answered. The loud crashing grew louder, until finally a creature came into view. A scaled being, crawling out of the gorge after making its way out of a cave that Twilight could only assume didn’t exist in her own world. Her eyes were glued to the beast as it climbed out of the gorge with ease, and stood on its two hind legs to look all the taller and more menacing. Its sharp eyes glared at the two captured princesses, as a fork tongue licked the outline of it’s lips. While everyone apart from the queens, Discord, and, for some reason, Rarity stood in awe, Twilight was frozen for a different reason.

She wasn’t shaking because it was big. She wasn’t shaking because it was most likely a weapon against Celestia and Luna. She wasn’t shaking because it was scary.

She was shaking because she knew who it was. And she couldn’t stop herself from screaming out the name for everyone to hear.

“SPIKE!”
> Discovery in Greed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She wasn’t going to say anything else, but even so, Twilight’s mouth was met with a lion paw slamming it shut.

“SHUSH!” Discord scolded her. Her chest began to slow its rise and fall motion, but the enlarged version of her assistant was impossible to stay calm over.

The alicorn and the others then risked glancing towards the Queens again. It was unlikely they hadn’t heard Twilight scream, but they could only hope otherwise.

Guilt nabbed at Twilight’s heart as her eyes came into contact with Nightmare Moon’s.

“Oh dear, looks like they’ve already given themselves up.” She cackled, turning her head to Celestia, who scowled back at her.

“And just how exactly do you plan to capture all of them?” she retorted.

A smirk grew on the ebony alicorn’s face. “Simple, really.” She turned to Solar Flare. “Sister?”

“Yes?” Celestia answered sarcastically.

“Not you! The other one!” Nightmare spat at the princess. She faced the fiery alicorn once again. “You know what to do.”

Solar Flare nodded, then trotted over in front of the huge reptile next to them. “Look, boy! Go fetch!” She grinned as she pointed the ponies and draconequus across the gorge. A forked tongue stroked across the edge of his lip as he stared at them. Almost hungrily, Twilight might add.

“Uh… guys?” Everyone turned to Rainbow Dash. “Don’t you think we should… you know… run?”

“...Oh,” They all answered flatly. The all spun around and began to gallop away from the dragon, but Twilight remained rooted to her spot a moment longer.

“Wait! What about…” She glanced towards Celestia and Luna.

Celestia shook her head. “ Twilight, run!” she ordered.

The young princess hesitated, but the rampaging dragon was enough to get her to scram. Spike’s claw was now grappling onto her side of the gorge. She could hear a low growl rumble from his throat, raising her adrenaline. She began to run faster.

Twilight was no athlete and struggled to catch up with her friends up ahead. She had barely reached half of the distance they had covered before she began to pant with exhaustion. The trees she had to dodge did not help either.

“Come on Twilight…” she gasped out loud. “You've beaten Rainbow and AJ in a race before…”

The alicorn felt a warm breath brush over her hindquarters, causing to glance over her shoulder. Spike’s muzzle was inches away from her tail. He paid no heed to the trees being crushed under his claws around her, and neither did she. Most of them were dead. All she cared about was escaping the perceived jaws of death. But she would be achieving anything but that if she continued to run at her increasingly slow pace.

“Okay, Twilight… focus…” Her eyes remained glued to the reptile, but this did not stop her from sparking up her horn. She began to concentrate on a place to go to in her mind, and almost got a clear image, but was interrupted by a claw swinging towards her. She gasped and managed to duck under it before it could touch her, then tried to cast her teleportation spell once again.

In the process, the lavender mare forgot to look ahead. Too focused on Spike and her spell, she slammed into a tree standing directly in her path. She lifted a hoof to rub her head before she was snapped back into the current situation. She flinched her head up to the dragon towering over her, as he roared in amusement.

“Oh Spike… What did they do to you?” Twilight croaked. Then she shook her head back into reality. “Right… about to get eaten by my own assistant’s counterpart…” She stood up shakily, only just scarcely dodging his attempt to grab her with his claw.

She finally found the right moment to spark her horn, before disappearing from another attempt to trap her in his hand. She reappeared a few tail-lengths behind him and began to run in the opposite direction.

“Over here, Spike! Your prey is escaping!”

Spike let out a frustrated snarl as he struggled to spin his whole body around to face her - giving the alicorn a head start.

I can’t let him touch my friends… she thought as she focused on running. Again, she dodged the trees as best she could without tripping until she reached her original starting point. She glanced up, seeing the queens, who were still in the same place, except this time they gripped Celestia and Luna’s chains possessively. Nightmare Moon lifted a brow in surprise.

“Hm. Pretty quick, that one.”

“...What planet are you from,” Twilight said dryly. The  sound of crushing trees behind her made her swing her head around. Spike had caught up with her. She backed away slowly, wondering if she could lose him or tire him. His eyes narrowed as he stomped an arm down on the floor, crawling towards her as she moved. One of her hind hooves hit air as she took another step back. She froze and glanced behind her, seeing there was no ground left - just a cliff.

She lifted her head back up, aiming to look at Spike, but something behind him caught her eye. A gap between the ground and his belly allowed her to spot a familiar face. The orange mare’s mouth opened. No sound escaped from it, but Twilight knew what she would have heard if there were a voice. She couldn’t help but give a slight smile - she had done this before.

She looked up at Spike. Even if I escape, they’ll have to stop you somehow.  “Sorry about this.” She closed her eyes, then let herself fall back, off of the edge.

“Twilight!” She heard Celestia yell. She hated to scare her, but Twilight knew that nothing would happen to her.

The alicorn wasn’t at all scared of meeting the rock-hard ground below. She knew she’d meet something else. Because of this, she didn’t even open her wings.

After a few moments of gravity taking its toll, her back landed on something soft. She finally opened her eyes and smiled as she saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy carrying her upwards, far faster than she would be able to fly herself. They flew far above Spike, until Fluttershy let out a tired sigh.

“Err… I think this is high enough…” she stuttered, looking down.

Rainbow ignored her plea, instead looking out for something in the lower clouds.

“You can fly too, you know,” she muttered to Twilight, who blushed, embarrassed.

“Oh...sorry.” She let go of the two pegasi. Her brow raised as Rainbow continued her search. Finally, she stopped her head from moving, and nodded to something Twilight couldn’t see.

“Okay, the three of us start flying towards the ground as quick as you can in three...two...one.”

“Wait, straight down?” Twilight blinked.

“Yep, just do it!” Rainbow ordered, already starting to flap her wings as she dived below. Both Fluttershy and herself did the same, struggling to keep at the blue mare’s speed.

The three continued to fall for a little while longer, which began to panic Twilight. They were far too close to hitting the ground than she would have liked.

They were at about Spike’s height when something metal was thrown in front of her.

“Grab it!” Rainbow instructed as she trapped the chain in her mouth. Twilight and Fluttershy did what she said, before unexpectedly being yanked by the blue pegasus across the air.

“We need to hook this thing around that dragon’s feet!” she mumbled through gritted teeth. It was only then when Twilight realized just how long the chain really was.

Spike let out a loud growl, as he reached out a claw to drag them down from the air. The winged ponies dodged it by flying over his grip. They managed to hook the chain around the first limb.

Twilight moved herself away from the middle of the chain to leave space for his limbs. As she did so, she let out a regretful sigh.

“I’m sorry Spike...”

“What was that, Twilight?” Fluttershy perked her ears. Twilight glanced in her direction, then shook her head.

“I’ll tell you later.”

She and Fluttershy were about to wrap the chain around the dragon’s second limb, when a blast of magic flew just above Twilight. She looked to where it had come from and saw that Solar Flare was coming straight for them.

“Oh no, you don’t!” she yelled, her horn sparking again. The smaller alicorn almost dropped the chain from her mouth as she called to the yellow pegasus next to her.

“Fluttershy! Watch out!”

Fluttershy glanced towards where she was looking at, then accidentally lost grip of the metal when she let out a startled cry. The fiery alicorn’s attention turned away from Twilight and onto the yellow pegasus.

“YOU!” she spat. “You little traitor!” One thing Twilight had noticed about Celestia’s counterpart is that her eyes always had a translucent flare escaping at the corners, but now they seemed to become more opaque and intense as her anger grew.

Twilight spat the chain from her mouth, seizing it instead with her magic. Her mind becoming clearer with what was happening, she found the focus to be able to hover in place while wrapping the chain around Spike’s hind legs. For a split second, she took her eyes off Fluttershy and Solar Flare to check on Rainbow Dash. The pegasus had already flown around the dragon as far as she could go and was waiting for the other side of the chain.

In the small amount of time it took to look at Rainbow, Twilight also realized that Spike was spinning around, trying to keep up with her own end of the chain. This caused Rainbow Dash to be dragged around in a circle along with the dragon. Twilight quickly pulled the chain around Spike’s hind legs and wrapped it around the opposite end tightly.

“‘Bout time!” She heard Rainbow Dash mutter. Twilight ignored her, instead looking for the fiery queen chasing her friend. She eventually spotted her chasing the yellow pegasus around the large reptile that she hovered under. Her horn sparked as she prepared to fend off her former mentor’s counterpart.

She eventually spotted Solar Flare again, floating just above the ground. Fluttershy had seemingly escaped. Twilight was about to blast her with magic, when the sound of her name distracted her.

“Twilight!” She heard Applejack call. She turned her head searching for the voice, and spotting Applejack, Pinkamena and Rarity yanking at a different chain, which interlocked with Rainbow’s and her own. “Get out of there!”

The alicorn froze in place for a moment, confused. She then looked up to see Spike’s belly falling down towards her. She wasn’t sure how to move. She was about to get crushed by her own-

A heavy weight crashed into her before anything could suffocate her. She and the mass rolled across the ground and well out of Spike’s way. It took her a while to comprehend what had just happened; not just a few moments ago, but all together. Everything happened so quickly, she couldn’t take it in.

A hoof nudged her, but it didn’t feel friendly. In fact, it felt annoyed. Twilight blinked open her eyes, only to be surprised as the first thing she saw was Solar Flare lying next to her, panting.

“You idiot - why would you stand under a gigantic dragon, like that?!” she hissed, getting back onto her hooves and shaking out her fiery mane so that it would return to its normal flowing motion.

Twilight was still in shock.

“But… Why did you… Why did you save me?” she gasped. “You were trying to kill us all a few seconds ago…”

Solar Flare snorted. “What makes you think that?”

“You sent out a dragon after all of us!” She also stood up, glaring at the queen. “You also tried to zap Fluttershy to the ground personally!” Twilight hadn’t taken any notice of her rising volume. It was hard to believe she was talking to Celestia right now.

The queen raised a brow. “I sent the dragon to fetch you, not eat you.” She turned and began to stalk towards Spike, who lay helpless on his belly, unable to move his limbs. Everything else, however, he had in full control. His tail furiously lashed back and forth, knocking down any vegetation there was, dead or alive, while he simply kept his head still, letting out enraged roars from his throat. Twilight shyly walked over to him. It wasn’t her assistant - but it was still Spike, regardless. And she had helped bring him down to the floor.

Twilight saw her friends gallop up towards her, worried and shocked expressions glued on their faces.

“Oh dear me… Twilight, are you okay?” Rarity gasped.

“You were almost crushed!” Fluttershy whispered.

“You ain’t hurt, are ya?” Applejack held out a hoof. However, Twilight ignored them. She was fine - but Spike wasn’t.

Solar Flare got to Spike first. “You foalish dragon… how hard is it to catch a pony?!” The reptile narrowed his eyes at the queen, a low growl rumbling in his throat. “Don’t give me that look. Ugh… even this size and you can’t do anything right…” The alicorn turned her back on him, ignoring the smoke he flared from his nostrils. Twilight scrunched up her muzzle, then stormed up to confront the queen.

“Don’t you dare speak to him that way!” she scolded her, her tone icy cold. “Big or not, he’s anything but useless!”

Solar Flare stared down at her and raised a brow. “As if you’ve ever owned a dragon, little pony.”

It was the same voice who objected to her statement. “Indeed she does! Just so happens that it’s the same one you’ve turned into a mindless beast!” Like dogs on leashes, Celestia and Luna were pulled forward by Nightmare Moon - except they were hooked by chains.

“What a lovely story.” Nightmare mocked her alternative sister, sitting down not too far from the others.

Twilight hadn’t heard her friends trot up behind her.

“Twilight! Okay, one, how do you have a huge dragon as an assistant, and two, we’ve got to get the hay out of here. The dragon’s down, we better go. Right now,” Rainbow said, flying up next to her. The young princess opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a blue aura wrapping around the pegasus’ wing.

“Ah ah ah!” Nightmare Moon tutted, taking a few steps closer to them. “Now that I’ve gotten you all into view… it’ll make it a bit easier to keep an eye on you all.”

Twilight raised a brow. “Oh really? Would it saved the hassle of foalnapping us before?”

“The dragon doesn’t usually miss. Then again, it’s probably because usually the victim doesn’t run, or they can’t escape. I’m still surprised you managed.”

Rainbow growled. “Well, if we can escape a huge beast like that, I’ll bet we can run from you.”

The ebony alicorn’s response was to slam the mare’s wing to the ground, causing her to yell in surprise.

“Would you like to repeat that?”

The pegasus glared at the queen, but said nothing. Nightmare Moon gave a deceiving smile, then patted her on the head.

“Good girl!” she praised her. “And I must say, Princess Twilight, I’m surprised you have such courage to keep a huge beast like this as your ‘assistant’.”

Twilight scrunched up as she gave an icy stare at the queen. “He’s not a beast! Not in my universe!” She cried. “He’s my number one assistant. He’s always been there for me, his whole life. He’s never left my side, not for anyone.” Her mind suddenly flashed back to when he left her for Applejack, for the sake of being a noble dragon. “At least… not for long. No one is perfect…”

“But… how can he possibly assist you? He’s a dragon! And a really big one at that!” Pinkamena protested.

“He’s not actually… Well, he’s not quite as old as he may look.” Rarity spoke up, her voice thick with guilt. Twilight tilted her head, waiting for her to continue. “There’s a reason my job was always kept secret from everypony…” She glanced at her cutie mark, the lavender alicorn following her gaze, and almost instantly understood what she was getting at.

Rarity could find gems.

Spike liked gems.

And he is a dragon.

“Y...You did this to him?!” Twilight’s jaw dropped. “You just kept feeding him gems until greed consumed him?!”

Rarity’s head drooped. “I never wanted to… I just had no choice.”

Twilight continued to glare at her for a few more moments, but she managed to calm herself by breathing in deeply, then out again. “I...I know. You were forced, I can only assume…” 

“But that doesn’t matter!” the unicorn protested. “I’m still the one who fed him greed until he turned into a completely instinct-driven dragon! I’m the reason why disobedient ponies are easily pushed aside and eaten by him! I’m the cause of all of it!” Tears began to form in her eyes. But a blue pegasus nudged her on the shoulder.

“Hey, the queens forced all of us to do things we don’t want to do. Sure, what you did was bad, but you’re not the one eating ponies!” She flew over the dragon, hovering directly infront of his face. “Look here, mister! I don’t care if you’re normally like this, under a spell or what! You should just back off when it comes to punishing ponies who haven’t done anything wrong! You’re nothing more than a cowardly monster!”

The dragon’s pupils turned into thin slits as Rainbow finished. He lifted his head off the ground and curled his lips. The growl escaping him grew louder. However, it didn’t phase the mare.

“Rainbow, get back!” Twilight told her, yet she didn’t seem to hear her.

“Yeah, yeah, growl at me all you want. You might as well just start thrashing your tail again, not that it’ll get me!”

Spike began to growl, baring his teeth as a green light began to glow brightly in the back of his throat. That’s when Rainbow realized her mistake.

“Uh oh…” she rasped as the threat of being burned alive came even more clear. Twilight gasped, as she was sure that he would actually do it, but somepony interrupted them.

“NO!” Another pegasus screeched, flying up to land on the dragon’s muzzle. “Don’t. You. Dare,” she growled, before she widened her eyes and stared directly at the reptile. At first, the young princess had no idea what Fluttershy was doing. But then she realized, once she got a closer look.

“No… Fluttershy… stop… you can’t!” she begged. “Please Fluttershy, don’t use your stare on him, please!” The pegasus didn’t move. “Please!”

Finally, the mare shook her head. Spike was still stuck in his trance, however.

“Oh… oh no…” she whimpered, floating back down to the ground guiltily. “I don’t know what got into me…” she murmured.

“You’re just used to it, that’s all,” Rainbow snorted, trotting back to the others, leaving Fluttershy looking hurt.

Twilight shook her head. “Ugh… none of this would be necessary if it weren’t for-” She glanced at the spot where Solar Flare originally was, but was no longer there. She looked at Celestia. “Where did-”

She saw Celestia’s ears droop as a cry of pain was heard from behind Spike, who was still on the ground. His tail had stopped moving, and no more growls were heard. Instead, he just glared hatefully at the ponies who had gotten him in this state - including Twilight. It pained her to see him do such a thing towards her, whether he knew her or not.

Solar Flare coming back into view drew her attention once again. Her horn glowed as she dragged a certain someone across the ground by his cuffs. Twilight watched as Discord refused to get back on his feet.

“Did you think that I’d let this slide, Discord?” the queen growled, slamming his cuffs on the floor. The draconequus grunted in pain. “Because I won’t. Not at all.”

Discord clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. “I’ve had enough of you…” he snarled. “I’ve had enough of you!” The words were screamed as if he wanted the whole world to hear him. The six friends, Celestia and Luna stared in horror as the embodiment of Chaos pounced on the queen and pinned her to the ground, his chain clamping over her chest, making her unable to fight back. His limbs held her hooves, so she wouldn’t be able to hit him. A groan escaped through her gritted teeth. She blinked, looking a little dazed. Twilight could only guess that she had hit her head pretty hard. However, the draconequus took no notice of her hazed expression.

“Everyday! You just torture me over and over again! Every night, you throw me out like I’m a worthless piece of trash! And I’ve had enough of it!” 

Twilight could see that there was liquid beginning to drip from his eyes. Yet he still went on.

“Whenever you want to ‘tame’ me, you just throw me in somepony elses hooves! You make her like yourself, you make her cruel! Easy target as well - you choose the most cowardly pony you know, someone who just can’t bare to say the word ‘no’ to anyone!” He pressed her further against the ground. “If I’m so useless; so worthless; so… disgusting to you, then why don’t you just kill me? It’s not like it will change anything for either of us!”

For a while, nopony, not even Solar Flare, knew how to react. Discord just kneeled there, huffing his rage. She shook her head to regain full focus, then managed to pull the draconequus off of her with telekinesis.

Then a smirk appeared on Solar Flare’s face. “If that’s really what you think, then why would you even bother helping her?” She tilted her head to her own counterpart, who was still in awe by what Discord had said.

Discord raised a brow. “She’s not you, if that’s what you’re getting at. If anything, she’s better than you could ever be.”

A grin with a mixture of amusement and irritation spread across her expression. “Is she though, Discord? Is she?”  Twilight never thought she’d hear such a tone in her mentor’s voice. “Shouldn’t you be grateful that I let you at least roam - well, not freely - but be able to move throughout all these years?” She stood back onto her hooves.

“I at least acknowledge your existence… do you think she does this at all?” She took a step towards him. “Do you think that she uses the freedom she has? Do you think that she can stand to be seen with you in public?” Her voice began to shake, sounding all the more intimidating as she descended further and further into enragement. “Do you think that she can trust you to not commit a crime? That she knows you feel you should stay true to your nature of chaos?” Her eyes flared more furiously. “That she doesn’t think you’re no good? That she doesn’t throw you on somepony else when she can’t be bothered with you? That she didn’t even consider freeing you from a stone prison until she could find a use for you?”

Discord didn’t reply.

“Well? Do you?”

Twilight’s gaze drifted from the two, instead her eyes landed on her mentor. She looked aghast at everything that her counterpart had said.

“Answer me,” Solar Flare ordered. “Look me in the eye, and tell me she hasn’t done any of those things to you.”

He did no such thing. He instead stared at the ground, not letting a single word slip from his mouth.

“Oh my, are you not able to?” The queen chuckled. “And I’ll tell you something else, dear.” She lifted his head with a hoof. “She’s worse than me. You know why?”

Discord was silent.

“Because she claims she’s the good guy.”
> At the Sun's Core
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord sat on the grass, not moving a muscle. He continued to stare at the fiery alicorn for a long while, paying no notice to the satisfied smirk spread across her face. He bit his lip, as if he were trying to bite back either a sob or a sentence.  Celestia stayed completely silent, unsure how to react to the situation. Discord still kept his mouth shut, then looked at the floor, yet he still couldn’t find any words that he could say.

When no one spoke, Twilight suddenly stepped in between the two of them. Solar Flare frowned at the sudden intrusion.

“Celestia isn’t like that!” she growled at her. “She’s nothing like you. For all we know, you’re just jealous of the life she has!” The alicorn’s angered expression then turned into a more confused one. “Uhh… how do you even know about her past?”

“They got us to speak eventually…” Luna muttered, now laying on crossed hooves. “My side still hurts from where they whipped us.”

Twilight gasped. “They whipped you?” she echoed in shock.

“Does that surprise you?” the navy alicorn replied flatly.

Twilight paused, then shook her head. “From what I’ve seen? No.” She glanced over her shoulder towards Spike, who still lay on the ground. He seemed to have given up trying to break out of the chains, which were still wrapped around his limbs.

Celestia followed her former student’s gaze back to Solar Flare. The young princess began to speak again.

“Even if what you said was true, it wouldn’t matter. Our Celestia is twenty times better than you could ever be!”

The queen scrunched up her muzzle, the flares in her eyes growing more violent in their movements as a low growl rose from her throat. Her horn began to glow, bringing the smaller mare to her level.

“Foolish child. We are one and the same.”

Celestia tensed at the sight of Twilight caught in her counterpart’s grip. She began to move forward, but the chain clamped around her neck yanked her back in place.

“You’re still in your time out,” she heard a deep voice whisper in her ear.

“Oh, shut up. You’re not threatening, if that’s what your aim is.” Luna rolled her eyes. Nightmare Moon gave a brief cackle.

“Is poor wittle Woona trying to cover up her fear?”

The Princess of the Night grit her teeth.

“No comment?”

“Be quiet…” the smaller alicorn hissed, clenching her teeth and her eyes turning to blue fiery pits. “Otherwise, you may just find yourself unable to take a single gasp of air.”

The black alicorn gasped dramatically. “Oh my! I’m absolutely terrified, I really am! Because I have no idea how you’re going to get out of those chains.” She smirked.

Celestia flicked her ear turning her attention back toward Solar Flare and Twilight.

“A little princess like yourself to go up against me? I am a queen.”

The younger alicorn snorted. “Oh dear, you have a higher title than me. I’ve already lost! Somepony find me a white flag, quick!”

Almost straight after she finished speaking, Twilight let out a gasp as the magic tightened its grip around her.

Twilight attempted to spark up her own horn in preparation to cast her own spell, but Solar Flare was already one step ahead. The golden aura thickened around Twilight’s, preventing the use of her magic.

“Put me down!” she exclaimed, only to be ignored. Instead, the alicorn narrowed her eyes, glaring at the smaller alicorn. What was to come next, was beyond Celestia’s knowledge.

Next to her, the two versions of her sister carried on with their bickering.

“No use in thrashing about… you know very well my strength is greater than yours.”

“Mentally? You’re weaker than a piece of straw.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense.”

“Yes it does.”

“No it doesn’t.”

The Sun Princess shut her eyes. I can’t take this anymore… Celestia lifted her hooves to her ears, hoping the muffle their bickering. She thought it might have worked, but she was wrong. Even covered, the voices still managed to find her ears. She groaned through clenched teeth.

“Do tell me, my little pony! What is the difference between your Princess and myself?” She heard her own voice say with a menacing tone.

“Well… aside from the fact that you look like you’ve caught on fire and she looks like a decent mare?” Rarity chimed in.

“The first thing that comes to my mind is that she knows how to smile.” Pinkamena said flatly.

“Or… y’know… the fact that one’s a queen and one’s a princess,” Rainbow suggested.

“What’s the difference? They’re both rulers. Speaking of which - Celestia seems like somepony who actually treats her subjects with respect. I reckon that’s somethin’ you lack.” Applejack scoffed.

“Well… um… you could also say that Queen Solar Flare speaks in a pretty mean way… Celestia has a nice, motherly voice. That’s just my opinion though…” Fluttershy whimpered.

“...And most of all,” Twilight began, “Princess Celestia has a heart. You don’t, and anypony would be able to tell, even if they were deaf and blind!”

Celestia heard Twilight let out a choke, along with,

“I’m not a coward. You’re the coward!”

“We were the same once, you know!”

“Yes, but I’ve changed!”

“Perhaps, but have you learned?”

“That if I didn’t do what I did, my sister would become a monster?”

The white alicorn finally opened her eyes. She saw that Twilight’s friends were trying to reach the lavender alicorn, only to be held back by Solar’s magic. Drops of sweat were visible on Twilight’s forehead, as she strained to get her horn working again, only to fail.

Celestia’s magenta eyes widened. No… I won't let you! I won't let myself fail anyone else!

She stood up on her hooves. Especially not by my own doing!

The alicorn tugged on the chain that was locked around her neck, trying to pull it out of Nightmare Moon’s hold. At first, she failed, swiftly dragged back by Nightmare’s telekinesis. Celestia landed on the floor, only just saving herself from falling flat on her face with her hooves. She managed to stand up, and tapped the black horn with her hoof, causing Nightmare to yelp in surprise. The magic around her chain disappeared as Nightmare rubbed her head where Celestia had hit it, giving the princess a chance to gallop forward, granted, her footing was a little awkward, due to the cuffs that stole her ability to take long strides.

Solar Flare, distracted by Twilight and her friends, was completely unaware of her counterpart slamming into her side. The shock made her lose focus on the younger princess, allowing her to break free at last. The fiery mare grunted as she hit the floor, then looked up at the pony who had knocked her to the ground.

Celestia gave an aggressive snort, while Solar gave a scoff.

“Now, now, Celestia. A regal pony such as yourself wouldn’t do anything violent now, would she?”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’d be surprised.”

With that, she raised a hoof in the air, just above the blazing alicorn, whose eyes had widened.

Celestia was about to slam her hoof down on the mare, causing the queen to gasp, but before the princess could act, something took hold of her hoof, which was still in midair. She blinked, then glanced to see what was holding her limb back; a talon.

She reluctantly turned her head, locking eyes with the draconequus.

He narrowed his eyes at her. No words were spoken, but she understood the intention. Celestia lowered her hoof, then let out a breath, once she realized she’d been holding it ever since he had stopped her from harming her counterpart.

A few moments of silence passed by, with the two immortals staring at each other. The alicorn bit her lip, trying to think of what to say. She didn’t have to though, for Discord spoke first.

“Is she right?”

Celestia’s ears flattened. “What?”

“About you being like her. Is she telling the truth?” The draconequus raised a brow.

“Of course she’s not right!” Twilight leaped forward in her mentor’s defense. “Would you like me to go through the list of reasons we mentioned before? Because there’s a lot of them!”

Discord didn’t even look at her. “Indeed you did. But how many of them don’t match up with Celestia?”

The smaller alicorn tilted her head. “From what I can count? All of them.”

He squinted, then locked his fingers together. “What Solar Flare said is true, though. To me; she’s done nothing of use.” He then thrust his face towards Twilight. “You can see her as the most kindest pony in all of Equestria, because she can bear to be kind to you. That’s not true, in my case.” His hands then broke apart from each other, then were clenched into fists.

Twilight gave him a pitying look. “That’s not true. Why would she free you if-”

“Why do you think it wasn’t her who reformed me in your world?” He interrupted her, his tone becoming more enraged with each word. “It’s just like this world, isn’t it? She can’t possibly deal with me, so she justs throws me into somepony else’s hooves! It’ll all be fine!” He splayed out his limbs in front of him as his actions became more active.

“Discord, calm down...” Twilight raised a hoof as a sign for him to settle, but he refused.

“Perhaps if I just pretend nothing happened, it’ll be forgotten! Sure, just act like nothing that happened to me matters, because I’ll obviously believe it if she forces it down my throat.”

“Discord, I’m finding it hard to follow-”

“I’ll be able to live with everything that you ever did to me, because only one of us cares about it. And as long as you’re the one not caring, it’s fine! Because you’re the pony princess everyone loves, everyone looks up to-”

“Shut up!” Finally, Celestia found her words. Both Discord and Twilight clamped their mouths shut at how loud she had yelled. The alicorn took a step towards the chaos embodiment, who was now fully facing her.

“For once in your pitiful life, shut up!” she spat, her eyes replaced with piercing magenta slits. Twilight froze, shocked at her mentor’s outburst, Discord however remained unfazed.

“You really think that’s all there is to me? That I just abandoned you and forgot that anything happened?” She gritted her teeth, doing her best to control her anger. “You really believe that I don’t regret imprisoning you? Leaving you to the wayside? That I don’t wish our roles had been different?”

She flickered her ear as she heard her sister call out,

“Celestia, that’s not true! You don’t have to be....”

“Don’t Luna!” Celestia cut her off. “It doesn’t matter whether we had to become enemies or not. It happened, and I can’t change it!”

Discord gave a snort. “And just whose fault was it that we became enemies in the first place?”

Twilight’s ears were flat against her head as she stared at the two in shock. Never before had she seen Celestia in such a state. The closest she had ever seen her come to this was back when…

Discord returned.

Celestia blinked once. Twice. Three times. Only the fourth time did she figure out her vision was being blurred by tears. She felt a hoof touch her leg; she knew it was her student.

“Please, Princess… don’t cry. It’s not your fault! It’s-”

“Then whose fault is it?” she cried.

“This isn’t even our universe-”

“Everything happened the same!” the white mare retorted. “All of this would’ve happened if the Elements didn’t exist! Solar Flare’s right, Twilight. We’re one in the same.” She turned her back on all those around her, not wanting to face anyone.

---

Quiet sobs were heard from the alicorn, to Twilight’s dismay. Seeing her former mentor like this saddened her to the brink of tearing up, she wasn’t really sure how she managed to keep herself from echoing Celestia’s sobs.

“Twilight?” She heard Rainbow call. “What.... what exactly is going on?”

“Yeah… I haven’t the slightest clue to what’s happenin’ right now,” Applejack echoed.

She took a deep breath, then spun around to meet Solar Flare, who had stood back up on her hooves.

“If I could request one thing from you, Queen,” Solar Flare’s interest perked as Twilight continued, “...it would be that you tell me your history with Discord.”

I promise, Celestia. This will be the one and only time that I’ll ever want to prove you wrong.

Solar Flare gave a look of disbelief. “And just why should I do that?” She glanced over to Discord, who still held his hateful glare.

Before the young princess could reply, Nightmare Moon trotted up to them, dragging Luna along with her, whom possessed a rather infuriated expression. Solar Flare turned to her curiously.

“I say that you do so, sister,” she simply said, to Solar’s surprise.

“Why would that be?”

“Oh… I’m just curious to what the outcome would be.” Her slitted pupils moved towards the direction of the Sun Princess, who still sat there, silently crying to herself.

Luna then tugged away from the taller mare. “Let me go to her,” she commanded her. When Nightmare just raised a brow, the navy princess calmed herself.

“Look, I won’t be running away. I’d find that rather difficult; all chained up like I am. I just want to-”

“Fine,” Nightmare groaned, letting go of the alicorn. “Don’t try anything smart - or else I’ll release the dragon.” She tilted her head to the large purple reptile, who lay on the ground, his eyes lazily staring into the distance. Luna rolled her eyes, then fled towards her sister, sitting next to her and laying a wing over her back. Celestia, however, seemed to ignore the comforting gesture.

Twilight then noticed a blue pegasus fly up to her, her voice ringing in her ear. “I say that this is the perfect chance to get the hay out of here!” she whispered, hoping no one but the two of them had heard the statement. Unfortunately, someone had indeed.

“What did I just say about the dragon?” The dark queen narrowed her eyes. “And to be honest, I think I can deal with you myself.”

Rainbow gave a frustrated snort, then went back to stand next to her friends. The lavender alicorn sighed, then turned to Solar Flare, who was waiting her cue.

“So… what happened between you two?” Twilight prompted.

The fiery mare breathed out. “Well… if you must know…”

---

Celestia lay in her bed, staring out of her window. What was once a beautiful sight, with blue skies and peaceful nature, was now replaced with a nonsensical purple coloured sky, along with nothing but active chaos spreading all across Equestria.

She sighed. There was nothing that Luna or herself could possibly do.

They had tried everything. Negotiating, convincing, even fighting, but they just couldn’t win.

This is all my fault…

The sound of a creaking door made her flinch in her place. She lifted her head and turned towards the sound, only to see her sister, while battered and bruised, trotting over to her confidently.

“Celly… I came in contact with Starswirl again.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Oh, great. Was he here to tell me that I should’ve never met the stupid brat in the first place, and none of this would have happened?”

“Well… no,” the younger sister replied, before letting her horn glow. The white mare raised a brow as she pulled something out from behind her.

Luna held in front of her some metal chains, which confused Celestia.

“He says that these will possibly work…” Despite being the one who had introduced them in the first place, Luna still gave a curious observation towards them.

The Sun Princess gave a disbelieving scoff. “Cuffs? On Discord? Don’t be ridiculous.” She then turned her back on her sister, flopping back onto her mattress.

“No, sister, apparently, these are… a special kind of chains. If we manage to lock them onto Discord’s limbs, he won’t be able to use his magic. That is, as long as we keep the spell cast.”

Celestia raised a brow, but didn’t lift her head.

“You’re saying that if we manage to somehow lock those chains onto Discord’s limbs… he can’t use magic anymore?”

“Indeed, this is what Starswirl has told me.”

“Hmm…” She lifted herself up again. “How do you suppose we do that, though?”

“Well!” Luna then developed a smirk. “I was thinking that, while you hide somewhere, ready to cuff him, I knock him out so that it’ll make the task so much easier!” She clapped her hooves together in excitement.

Celestia blinked. “...Easier said than done, Luna.”

“It’s worth a try. I mean… we have the rest of our lives to do this. And our lives won’t end for a loooong time.”

“You have a point, I suppose…”

---

“Quickly, sister! Now!”

Celestia obeyed her sibling, leaping out from behind a large mound she had been hiding behind. Discord’s arms were in full view, allowing her to easily clamp the chains around his wrists. She had to be quick, too; Discord had only been knocked to the ground for a mere ten seconds.

He didn’t even seem to notice the metal locking around his hands, instead more focused on Luna.

“Geez, Lulu, don’t you know violence is never the answer?” He gave a chuckle of amusement. However, Luna just grinned at him, to Discord’s surprise. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

The dark blue alicorn tilted her head towards his limbs. The draconequus glanced at them, then looked quite surprised at the fact that there were suddenly chains clenched around his wrists. His gaze then moved up to Celestia, who he also hadn’t notice enter the scene. He let out a scoff.

“Oh my, am I under arrest? Oh, woe is me!” He raised his eagle claw up to his forehead dramatically, then gripped his chest with his lion paw. His melodramatic action was followed by his mocking laughter. Celestia tried her best to show no emotion.

“Really, Celestia. Did you actually expect a piece of metal to stop the Master of Chaos?” He smirked, before snapping his fingers so that he could conjure the cuffs away.

Except, they didn’t go away.

Discord raised a brow, before snapping his fingers again. Nothing happened. He tried snapping the tuff of his tail, but that didn’t seem to work either.

“Impossible…” He muttered under his breath, continuously trying to order the chains to disappear from existence. But nothing was working, no matter how hard he tried. The white alicorn couldn’t help but let a smile appear on her face at his frustration.

“It’s over, Discord,” she said firmly.

“No!” Discord tried all he could to concentrate on the cuffs, but still, nothing worked. “What did you do?”

“Sorry, Discord. But I’m afraid my sister and I have disabled your magic.” Luna trotted up next to her sister proudly. The chaos embodiment was not impressed, however.

“That’s not possible! In no way could you have…” He clenched his hands into fists. “You can’t do this to me!”

“We had no other choice.” Celestia narrowed her eyes. Then, Discord didn’t speak. At least, not for a while.

“...What are you going to do to me?” he said in a quiet voice.

“I say we throw him in the pits of Tartarus.” Luna snorted. Celestia sighed, then lay a hoof on her sibling’s shoulder.

“No…”

“What? Why? It’s the least he deserves!”

“I can’t do that, Luna,” she mused. “I feel that him not having any magic is punishment enough… well, almost.” She then glanced around to the chaos surrounding her. “Perhaps cleaning it all up, however, would be.”

“No!” Discord then bit the chain that bridged his two wrists together, and began to yank at it. “You can’t just take away my magic! It’s not fair!”

“Yes it is! And I don’t think either of us need to explain why!” The younger mare stepped forward, her eyes narrowed into aqua slits.

“And stop trying to pull them off. It’ll just make them feel tighter,” Celestia added. It took a while for the draconequus to actually take her advice into consideration, though.

“So, that’s it?” Discord growled. “You’re just gonna chain me up and lock me in a dungeon?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Celestia confirmed, “but I think I’ll take the ‘clean up after yourself’ option into consideration.”

---

The white mare tread down the corridor, her hoofsteps echoing louder than usual. It was probably because each time she took another step, she slammed her hoof harder onto the ground.

Half of the castle had been destroyed. And it was her fault.

She turned a corner, finding herself in the vast library, which didn’t seemed too wrecked, at least, compared to some other parts of the building. Strangely enough, though, none of that was her main concern.

She let out a frustrated groan, then swung her body to face her reading room. Her hooves carried her over to the pile of pillows, before giving up and just letting her drop onto them.

The mare thought that perhaps she could lay in silence, which she did manage. Though… only for about a minute.

“Geez, Celestia, what’s gotten your mane in a twist?” There was a pause, then, “...Or caught it on fire.”

The alicorn didn’t reply.

“My gosh, Celestia, do speak up.”

“...You shouldn’t call me that anymore,” she rasped.

Another pause passed. The next time he spoke, the alicorn could tell he was closer.

“Repeat that for me, dear?”

She then lifted herself up from the bed. “Just… I’m not called that anymore.”

A snicker escaped the draconequus. “Okay… could you just tell me what’s happened?” He tried to calm himself. “I wake up from an afternoon nap today, half past four, to be exact. But when I do, I see that it’s nighttime. I also hear some crashing; I can only assume that’s what awoke me. And now I find you, and you look like you’ve caught your mane on fire.” Discord gave a chuckle. “I must say though, good job on causing chaos.”

She swung her head around to face him, and noticed him flinch as he first made eye contact with her.

“Did your eyes catch fire too? Sounds painful.”

A low growl escaped her throat. “Don’t think this is funny.”

He gave a pout. “Aww… but it is!” He then gave a smirk. “Like I said, I appreciate some good chaos, even when it’s not from me.”

Then she slapped her hoof down on his tail, causing him to yelp.

“Ouch…?”

“I said, don’t think this is funny.”

“But Tia, you’re always telling me to be honest!” He gave a helpless expression, before bursting out with laughter. “But seriously, Celestia, I’m legitimately curious to what’s going on.”

“I said to not call me that.” She leaned in closer, her tone becoming more threatening with each word. He remained unfazed, however.

“Are you a no-name then? Should I just call you ‘it’ from now on?”

She didn’t give a response.

“Okay, ‘it’, now can you tell me what’s going on today?” He gave a grin, but then frowned. “Nah… can’t keep calling you that. Hmm…” He tapped his chin. “What about… Really-angry-and-won’t-tell-me-anything-tia?”

She raised a brow.

“Yeah, you’re right, too long. How about Copyrighted-sun-rip-off? Wait… no, you own the sun. But we’re getting there!” Discord playfully patted her on the head, only to get his paw slapped away by a hoof. “Hey, be patient now would you? Thinking of names takes time and effort, and you really have to look deeply into the thoughts of one’s mind, and think; what name describes my personality? What do you think - okay, forget this, can I just call you ‘Solar Flare’?”

She tilted her head. “Solar Flare?” she repeated dryly.

“Well, what else do you suggest?”

‘Solar Flare’ then gave a sigh, turning away from him and landing back onto the pillows beneath her. “I don’t care. If you want to call me that, then fine. Do it.”

“Oh goodie. So, Solar Flare, can you tell me what’s going on now?”

“...No.”

“Rude.”

She gave a snort. “Look, if you want to know, go and find my sister.”

Discord shrugged. “Seems like a sensible option. Where is little Lulu anyway? I haven’t seen her.”

“...She’s not called Luna anymore.”

The draconequus gave a frustrated groan. “Well, if that’s the case, then I’m not thinking up a name for her! What’s with the name changes?”

“She already has a name.” Solar Flare glanced at him. “Her name’s Nightmare Moon.”

---

“Must I go on?” she muttered, her gaze drifting back to her sister, who was smirking. She didn’t answer the fiery mare, but instead turned to Discord.

“Course, she didn’t mention the countless times she threw you out the castle, hit you in the face, or… other places…”

Discord winced.

“...Yeah, I’m glad I’m female...” Nightmare Moon bit her lip, as if she were thinking of herself in Discord’s place. “But either way, from what I can tell, there isn’t too much contrast between Solar and Celestia.”

“I still find you both to be complete idiots,” Pinkamena muttered. Nightmare narrowed her eyes, then shoved her face close to hers, to the point where she had to lean back. “It’s called ‘personal space’?”

“What? Do you lot think that just because you’ve teamed up with some good-four-hooves versions of ourselves, it gives you the privilege of speaking to your rulers as if we were a couple of commoners?” she snarled.

“...Yup,” she replied, taking a step back from her.

“I don’t do that…” Fluttershy whimpered from behind.

“Yeah? Well, I don’t have a problem with it!” Rainbow Dash spat.

“I don’t know if I can agree…” Rarity gave an uncertain look.

“I surely can.” Applejack gave an aggressive snort. “You both are just a couple of egotistical rulers who rule over us just because ya can!”

Rainbow and Pinkamena nodded in agreement.

“Also, you’re an idiot,” Luna piped up. “How did you not expect the vegetation to die without the sun?”

Nightmare Moon lifted a hoof and opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted.

“Let me guess. The whole ‘sun hour’ thing was added last minute?” Luna raised a brow.

“...Maybe.” She scrunched up her muzzle. “But-”

“Stop.”

The bickering between them paused, so they could all turn their heads to who had said that. Some looked at Solar Flare, who shook her head, while others glanced at Celestia. The mare was now standing on all four hooves, her magenta eyes glaring at her counterpart.

“Just… stop.” She stalked over to Solar Flare, stopping with only a small gap between them both.

Solar Flare scrunched up her muzzle at the new closeness. Then, Celestia opened her mouth, while attempting not to let her voice shake.

“There’s no point in arguing about this, everypony,” she began, “Because Solar Flare is right.”

A gasp arose from Twilight and Luna.

“Don’t say that, Princess!”

“I think she’s gone insane again.”

“I can’t not say it.” She turned away from her counterpart. “From the outlook, our differences are obvious, but...” She shook her head, “I know myself better than anypony here. And I’m telling you now, there is no contrast between us.”

Twilight widened her eyes, then cleared her throat.

“Forgive me, Princess, for this is the only time I may ever say this to you, but… you are acting completely and utterly ridiculous.”

“Uhuh.” Her friends nodded in agreement.

“Sister, how can you possibly think that fiery-maned, abusive, tyrannical, big, freaking piece of-”

Luna found her mouth full of lavender feathers before she could finish her sentence.

“...I think you’ve made your point,” Twilight stated.

Celestia’s expression was unreadable. She didn’t give a response. Instead, she silently stalked away from the group.

“Celestia…?” Twilight rasped, raising a hoof to run after her, but not finding the strength to do so.

“Just leave her. It serves her right.”

She spun around to meet who had said that to her. Violet eyes met red and yellow.

“How can you say that?” Twilight gasped, “Celestia doesn’t-”

An eagle talon was slammed on her mouth before she could defend anyone.

“Yeah, yeah, ‘she doesn’t deserve any of it, blah blah blah’, convince yourself all you want, Twilight.” Discord narrowed his eyes, as did herself. “You may have spent half your life with Celestia, but so have I. We’ve both seen the different sides of her.”

She pulled away his talon from her mouth, then opened it to deny his statement. Yet… nothing was to be said. She had no idea how to start, what to say, or how to finish.

Usually, Discord would be smirking at this point. But now… no. Like her, she could see tears begin to build up in his eyes. He didn’t sob, he just let the drop roll down his face. He also had one last thing to say.

“I know. I didn’t want to believe it either.”
> You Can't Run in a Nightmare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cadance was lazily rummaging through a drawer. Her frequent trips to and from the Crystal Empire left her feeling fatigued, simply adding to her exhaustion from her extra duties. Never mind all the work she still had to do. If that wasn’t enough, she still needed to reassure the ponies that were beginning to seriously worry about the disappearance of the three other princesses. It occurred to her that she could share what really happened, but she doubted it would help.

Also, why exactly was she invading Luna’s drawer?

This isn’t her personal drawer, from what I can tell, she justified. Besides, she wasn’t reading anything written on the papers.
She hit the back of the drawer with a ‘thump’, feeling the hard surface against her hoof.

Wait… no, it was too small to be the back…

Cadance shuffled her hoof around the supposed object - confirming that it wasn’t part of the drawer itself. Soon enough, she lifted it out of the drawer with her magic. She looked at it, seeing it was a notepad, and a thin one at that.

Her magenta eyes narrowed at it, until curiosity got the best out of her. She flipped open the front cover, revealing a paragraph of writing. She tilted her head to the side, finding that she was already scanning her eyes over the page.

Dearest sister,

It is unlikely you should uncover this, but for the sole reason that I will not e’er show it to you. This letter is a more private side of us Sister… and should you find these please do not become alarmed. Suffice to say, We are bored. That is what the ponies say… correct?  Anyhow, as we were saying, there are, at times, things that trouble us. While 'tis true I've returned to Equestria, I am unsure what is to come of this. There may be a possibility that I return to my old ways, or that the current citizens of Equestria may choose to reject us for the current pony we are now.
And the most important question I must ask... are you mad at me?
How did thou cope for these many years, all alone? We know it must've been hard to watch over thine citizens of Equestria in this way. This even applies to the fact you may have made some acquaintances along the way, for those acquaintances would be long gone as of now.
We are rather unsure how to end this letter... perhaps I'll end it with one simple word: sorry. Plus, I admire you for still standing after a millennium of hurt. With that in mind, we are willing to accept any anger you may have towards us.

-Luna

P.S Don’t be mad at yourself. For any of it.

Cadance slammed the notebook shut.

Stop nosing through your aunt’s things, Cadance! she scolded herself, before placing the book back into the drawer. She then found herself left alone in the middle of Luna’s room, with nothing else to entertain herself.

“...How long is this going to last?” she sighed. "I don't think I can take the role of Princess of all of Equestria much longer..."

---

Twilight continued to stare at Discord for a few more moments, before tearing her gaze away and turning her back on him. She stared at the ground, her mane trying its best to cover her face. If it was longer, it would.

“No… you’re wrong, Discord!” she growled. “Celestia and Solar Flare took different paths! I don’t care if you think they’re one in the same, because you’re wrong!”

Luna watched as she trotted over to her friends, who all shared a similar expression - confusion.

Twilight sighed, before lifting her head up. “I’m sorry I’ve dragged all of you into this… you could call this my life once every two weeks…” she forced that joke out, trying to lighten up the mood, but not even she could give so much as a chuckle.

“I-it’s fine, sugarcube. Besides…” Applejack glanced to her left, then her right. “...We’re the ones who dragged ourselves into this… err… situation.”

“Really? I’d say we only have to take twenty percent of the blame…” Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath, only to earn a slap on the shoulder by Applejack.

“Ow.”

“Either way,” Twilight continued, “I don’t think it matters whether Solar Flare is-”

“Okay, I hate to interrupt, but can I just point out something?” Luna suddenly spoke, quite loudly at that. Each pony (and draconequus, or dragon. Maybe.) turned to look at her.

“What?” Twilight blinked.

“We are not running,” she replied.

“Yeah… we know,” the younger mare grunted, pointing a hoof at the two queens standing next to Luna. “We don’t really have a choice, do we?”

“Not if we’re following their rules,” Rainbow Dash sighed, slowly beginning to fly a few steps in front of Twilight. Both Twilight and her friends looked confused to what Rainbow was trying to do.

“But here’s the thing,” she continued, a slight smirk appearing on her face. Then, she dashed forward until she was only a couple of inches away from the queen’s faces. “We’re not following them anymore!”

With that, Rainbow swung both her front hooves up so that they would collide with the queen’s lower jaw.

“Gah!” Nightmare gasped, holding her jaw with her hoof. Luna snickered to herself as she began to sneak away towards the castle, while also keeping an eye on the six other mares fled away from the two tyrants. Once they were far enough to be safe, Luna attempted to break into a gallop, yet to no avail. It was only a few seconds before she tripped over her own hooves.

“Ugh…”

She tried to lift herself up once again, only to feel a weight pressing her down against the ground. Luna almost choked on her own breath as her lungs felt like they were being crushed under - she could only guess - Nightmare Moon pushing her down.

“Why you little…” the larger alicorn bared her fangs, glaring down at her counterpart. Luna managed to turn her head enough to look up at the queen.

“Are you going to let me go?” Luna raised a brow.

“What do you think?” Nightmare snorted in reply.

The smaller mare grunted as she used as much strength as she could muster to throw the huge weight off of her back. However, instead of making a run for her sister in the castle, she swung her whole body around and faced the mare. She refused to let her have any advantage over her (aside from the fact that Nightmare still had her three physical abilities; magic, strength and flight). Luna stood her ground, getting ready for Nightmare to pounce on her again. The black alicorn had already got back into balance, and the two ended up piercing both of their gazes towards each other. Despite their differences, they both ignored Discord’s statement. 

“Welp, this is gonna end well.”

Neither of them took any notice of the draconequus, and instead, Nightmare attempted to tackle her counterpart - darting forward towards her. Luna managed to stumble to the left out of harm’s way, however she was immediately met with the unwelcoming feeling of a sharp pain on her side. She yelp as she toppled onto her side, glancing at the burn which still faintly glowed blue - a colour which matched Nightmare’s magic aura. Before Luna could pull herself off of the dried floor, the queen finally succeeded in tackling her, causing the two to begin rolling as the two tried to claim dominance over the other.

“Give in!”

“No, you give in!”

“Oh, great comeback, Little Miss Perfect!”

Out of rage, Luna managed to swipe her hoof over Nightmare’s head; her original attention to knock her helmet off of her head. And while she did succeed in doing so - her head gear landing onto the dried up floor with a clang, she also ended up throwing the alicorn onto the ground along with it, since Luna had grappled her hoof over her horn.

Nightmare Moon let out a groan of pain, rubbing her head - or rather, her horn. Luna saw that, even though the rest of her mane was formless, she still kept the same styled forelock that she herself had.

“They always go for the horn, don’t they?” the black mare muttered.

“Give up yet?” Luna sneered. Her counterpart gave a disbelieving snort.

“As if.”

Blue once again sparked from her horn, despite the noticeable strain to do so. Her fangs were more than clear, and Luna just had to wonder how she kept them so white after all of this time. That thought merely last a fraction of a second, however, for Nightmare’s eyes were beginning to glow a piercing white.

Luna flattened her ears against her head, stepping backwards, only to find herself right on the edge of the crumbling cliff. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure she was indeed about to fall, then back at her counterpart. All she hoped for right now was that the cliff didn’t give way if she dared to yank herself off the ground.

“You need to be taught a lesson, little filly!” Nightmare Moon hissed, her horn looking loaded enough. 

Luna knew what was to come next if she stayed in the same place. She tried to drag herself away from the edge of the cliff, only to feel the fragile ground beneath her begin to give way as her weight shifted.

Curses… she thought to herself.

She squeezed her eyes shut, getting ready for either being blasted off of the cliff, shot in the chest, the cliff to give way, or maybe even-

“Sister!”

She opened one eye - and slowly at that. She saw Nightmare turn her head to where the voice had come from. Once Luna saw nothing was to happen to her, she quickly crawled away from the cliff’s edge, cringing at the sound of some of the ground crumbling off the edge and fall to the bottom, but also sighed in relief. She tried to sneak towards the bridge, only to be dragged back by the tail with Nightmare’s magic. She muttered insults under her breath in annoyance.

“I’m still not done with you,” the queen muttered to her. Luna snorted dust she had picked up from the ground into her face in reply. The alicorn blinked the particles out of her eyes in an irritated manner, then raised her head towards Solar Flare, who was hovering in front of Spike, who held five certain ponies in his mouth by their tails.

“Ugh… I’m already dizzy,” Rarity complained.

“We’ve been like this for about two minutes,” Rainbow scoffed at the unicorn.

“...Still.”

While the five mares perceived to bicker about their current position, Nightmare wished to do nothing but smirk.

“These ponies make it too easy!” She cackled, though her grin soon faded. “I’d ask dear Princess Twilight why she chose such a poor choice in heroes, yet she doesn’t seem to be here…” Her eyes narrowed at her sibling - her pupil slits seemingly piercing through her. Solar gave an uncertain look at first, but soon shook her comment off and returned to her usual expression - that being a complete grump.

“She can’t have gone far - I doubt she’d abandon her oh-so-useful friends.”

“Y’all wanna repeat that?” Applejack growled through gritted teeth. Solar glanced at her - both brows raised accompanied with a pout, before the dragon holding them tossed the five mares into the air to flip them upwards. They all tended to yell or scream in surprise until they were all caught in Spike’s claw.

“Now - what did that princess call you? Spike?” She scorned at the name. “Well, Spike, you keep hold of them while I go look for your would-be mommy.” With that, she flew down the ground, then began to look around.

“Erm… one question?” She glared at Nightmare.

“What?”

“Where’s Discord?” She tilted her head. Nightmare blinked, her pupils moving to her left, then right.

“I… got distracted.”

Solar gave an annoyed snort through her nostrils, along with slumping her shoulders. “Great. Now we’ve lost him again because of you two and your little catfight.” 

“HEY!”

“IT WAS NOT A CATFIGHT!” Nightmare Moon hissed through her fangs, now bared..

“Uh-huh. Sure,” Solar rolled her white pupils. “Either way, I can only guess we’re throwing them in the dungeon?” She turned to her sister. “Just making sure, considering I don’t know how long it will take to find Twilight and the other one.”

“Until we can find a reasonable punishment for each of them, that will be so,” she nodded, a smirk appearing on her face.

“Punishment for what?” Rainbow Dash screeched from above. “Trying to save Equestria?”

“Well… yes,” Nightmare Moon replied flatly.

“For Pete’s sake…” the pegasus muttered, quite loudly at that.

“Who’s Pete?” Pinkamena raised a brow, though it was as if she was talking to a brick wall.

Rainbow snorted her annoyance, “I don’t see why it even matters.” She stared down towards the floor. “Good luck getting us all in those dungeons! What do you plan doing? Getting the dragon to lift up the roof so he can drop us all in there at once?”

“...I have my magic,” Solar replied, her hoof now tapping the ground impatiently. “Have fun escaping that.”

Rarity then leaned over to Rainbow Dash and whispered something in her ear.

“Wait… do you know a lock-picking spell?” Rainbow said a little louder than she should have.

“Ssh!” Rarity scolded, slapping her hoof on the pegasus’ mouth.

“Don’t even think about it,” Nightmare told them dryly, using her magic to pull Luna over by her chain, making her gasp, since the action was unexpected. “We still have these.” She held up the cuffs connecting her hooves together.

“Knowing you, I would’ve thought you’d just kill them,” Luna couldn’t help but mutter under her breath.

Nightmare Moon flickered her ear, having heard her words. She glared at her, then whispered,

“Do you think that I’m nothing more than a monster?”

The smaller mare nodded, keeping a smug expression. She waited for a harsh retort to answer her, but instead, the queen’s lids drooped a little as she looked at the dried grass, her brows also raised, before slowly lifting her head back up to look at the six mares. Luna tilted her head and scrunched up her muzzle at the unexpected reaction.

Nightmare then leaned over to her sister’s ear to whisper something. Solar jerked her head away from Twilight’s friends and blinked a few times, before nodding, and looking back at the struggling ponies.

“Where did Discord run off to?” she asked them with a calm tone.

They all glanced at each other for answers, yet not finding any.

“No clue,” Applejack replied.

“Then where’s Twilight?”

“...We don’t know,” Fluttershy whimpered.

Nightmare scoffed at this. “You have to know. She can’t have just abandoned you.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “We’re not saying she did. We were just scattered when running from this guy,” she pointed to the dragon, who snorted a cloud of smoke on them as a response, causing them all to cough and sputter as soon as the black cloud faded from them.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Discord did, though,” she cocked her head up to the dragon. “Perhaps you know what direction they went in?”

His slit pupils moved towards the Everfree Forest, then he sniffed through his nose. He then looked back at the queen and let out a growl, while pointing in a specific direction with his tail. 

“Why don’t you just go look for them yourself?” Rainbow Dash scowled. Fluttershy gasped at her tone towards the queen. However, Solar remained unfazed.

“Well, I was going to, but why put effort into something that someone else has already done for me?” She gave a casual shrug.

Rainbow’s eye twitched. Though she could do no more than shuffle her wings, her two front hooves were free, and was proven when she threw them up in the air.

“You’re both worthless! You’re not rulers! This would be the point where I’d say, ‘you might as well kill me now,’ except I’m not, because being killed by either one of you would be the most dumbest way to die yet!”

While Nightmare did not react,  Solar gasped at her words. She spread her wings so that she could fly up to the pegasus’ level.

“Oh, is that so? Such a way to talk to your fellow ponies that have died in our hooves, is it not?” she snarled, the flares that endlessly flowed from the corners of her eyes picking up in speed again. Luna also heard that her voice was beginning to sound distorted, similar to a changeling’s.

“I was going to keep you alive anyway, but maybe it’s a better punishment to crush you with the dragon’s teeth, if that’s what you find to be the worst punishment!”

Rainbow Dash fluttered her eyelids, before bursting out with laughter. Solar curled her lips, as well as raising a brow. Soon enough, Rainbow wiped a tear from her eye and caught her breath, despite her friends seemingly shaking at her words being said to the queen.

“Oh, I don’t mean that! Being killed by a dragon would be the awesome way to go.”

“Rainbow!” Rarity gasped in disgust.

“Hey, dragons are cool, at least!” Rainbow shrugged. “No, what I mean, Queen,” she leaned forward as far as she could over the large finger holding her back. “Is you killing me. As in, with your horn, your hooves. Whatever method you use, I really don’t give a flying feather!”

The fiery mare flinched her head back, followed by the rest of her body. As all of this happened, Luna couldn’t help but notice a smirk appearing on her own lips.

I’d like to see you try, Celie!

Rainbow pouted, tapping her hoof impatiently on the purple scales. “Well? I’m waiting!”

Solar flattened her ears against her skull, before shaking her head and returning to her firm expression.

“I’m not insane. I’m not just going to kill you on the spot.”

“So called it,” the blue mare gave a simper.

A growl was heard from the queen’s throat, before she flew away from them, towards the Everfree Forest, glancing around for any evidence of a draconequus.

Luna couldn’t care less about Discord’s safety, and instead turned back to Nightmare Moon.

Perhaps I can get more information about Solar Flare from her…?

“You’ve been awfully silent,” she taunted. Her counterpart just flickered her ear once again.

Luna stood up on all fours so that she could get closer to her ears.

“Reminder; you haven’t put your helmet back on.”

The cat-like eyes widened a little.

“...Oh, right,” she said to mostly herself, levitating the helmet that was still on the grass, then settling it on her head, ignoring the few pieces of grass that had stuck to it.

Luna groaned, “I didn’t want you to put it back on!” She then swiped it back off of her head again, to the mare’s annoyance.

“Then why’d you remind me, imbecile?”

“I’m just curious,” she lowered her voice, “why do you wear armor, while your sister wears simple regalia?”

Nightmare Moon gave her a curious look. “Why’s that so important?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Make me.”

Luna growled in frustration. Solar’s regalia was hard to make out, with her flaming illusion for a mane blowing everywhere, but Luna had come to recognize her with a reverse of her sister’s regalia; her crown, yoke and shoes all a mixture of dark maroon and purple and an orange gem placed in the center of her crown and breastplate. At first glance, Luna had thought that the regal attire was simply a part of Solar, it blended into her volcanic feel.

Hm… now that I think about it… I feel like I’ve seen Solar Flare before… she mused in her head. But where? In a dream? I just can’t put my hoof on it… perhaps it was in my fillyho-

She was broken from her thoughts when she heard a familiar voice in the distance.

“Run!”

---

Twilight broke free of the branches scratching and tugging at her coat, escaping her hiding place. Discord climbed down from the tree he was hiding in.

“Run!” she yelled, seeing Solar Flare’s figure drawing closer to them.

While Discord did follow her, he still moaned, “I don’t see the point in running. She’ll catch up to us, anyway!”

“There has to be somewhere else where we can hide in this forest, right?” she half answered his question.

“Twilight, it doesn’t matter! She’s already coming!”

The alicorn glared back at him. “Don’t say that! We’re getting those chains off of you, and that’s final!”

“You can’t!”

“I can!”

“If I’ve never figured out anything, how can you?”

Twilight swallowed her frustration as she began to gallop faster. “Why do you have to be such a pain?” she grumbled under her breath. She then glanced back to see if Discord had reacted to her statement, and she was thankful that he had not seemed to. She then drew her attention to what was ahead of her, continuing to flee from the queen.

However, her next step did not reach the ground, instead she found her hoof waving in midair. She ended up being hung upside down by her tail, seeing that Solar had already caught up to her.

“Nice try, my little pony!” she sneered.

Twilight blinked a few times, before attempting to teleport away again, but Solar’s mane wrapped its orange tresses around her horn before any aura could spark from it. Her ears drooped in disappointment at first, but then she yelped.

“OW!”

“What?” Solar tilted her head.

“Your mane! It’s… hot!”

“Mhmm.”

“How does that make any sense?” she groaned.

“Magic,” the queen replied, before holding up Discord along with her, also by his tail.

“You’re both coming with me,” her eyes narrowed, before dragging them along with her, also keeping them in front of her.

With Solar’s questionable mane having taken hold of her, Twilight sighed in defeat, while Discord just folded his arms and pouted, as if he were a child being dragged to his room.

Twilight twisted her neck around to see her friends in Spike’s hand and Luna sitting beside Nightmare Moon, then managed to lean over closer to Discord’s ear and rasp,

“Do you still think she’s like Celestia?”

Discord just gave a snort, “Do you think that she’s like Solar Flare?”

She blinked, then opened her mouth to reply, only to shut it again.

Never mind that, Twilight. Think, think! How do I help my friends escape without anypony getting hurt?

She tapped her chin with her hoof.

Running’s no use. Those chains just cause problems. Can’t hide from Spike. What else is there?

For some odd reason, seeing Solar Flare gave her a final idea that she hadn’t yet used.

Well… it’s what I do best.

--- 

“Well, that didn’t take long,” Nightmare Moon chuckled as Solar approached them with Discord and Twilight in her grip.

Luna cringed a little, not being able to help herself as she glanced up at Twilight’s friends stopping their struggling to look at their friend - some with fear, the others with disappointment.

“Well, now that we’ve gotten you all gathered, it seems there is no chance of escape,” Solar Flare sneered as she dropped the mare and draconequus, while still keeping her mane wrapped around Twilight’s horn, which made Luna a little curious to why; though she could figure it had something to do with disabling her magic.

Twilight snorted at the queen’s statement, “Wow, what are you gonna do? Stand by me for the rest of my life with your mane wrapped around my horn?”

“Really? Her mane is what’s stopping you?” Rainbow called from above.

“Hey, you try using your wings while they feel like they’re burning!” Twilight retorted.

“Oh, hush. You’ll have enough time to chat in the dungeon,” Nightmare silenced them, taking a step forward.

“And y’all really think you can keep us in there forever?” Applejack scoffed, a brow raised.

“Well, no. This is just your current punishment for each of your betrayals,” Nightmare Moon stated. “That excludes your pretty princesses, by the way. They’re as good as dead.”

“Oh, so you expect us not to fight back while you feed us to a dragon?” Twilight scoffed.

“Of course I do. Who wouldn’t?” the black mare chuckled.

“What even is there to gain from feeding us to your…” she visibly gulped, “...pet.”

Luna planted a hoof on her face. This is no time for a lecture, Twilight!

Nightmare, however, just stifled her laughter. As she did, Twilight raised a brow.

“What?” The lavender mare tilted her head.

“Oh, you think we’re actually going to feed you to the reptile?” A smirk grew on her face. “Oh, no, way too easy!”

“Too easy?” Luna echoed. Her counterpart glanced at her in amusement.

“But of course. Both my sister and I are planning out some fun way to punish the three of you.” Her grin spread as she began to stalk towards her, making her shift her wings uncomfortably.

“Um… what are you doing?” Twilight’s tone had become noticeably cautious.

“I’ve left Celestia’s punishment up to Solar Flare. Yours, however, I’ve already decided.”

She took a final step in towards Luna, making her lean so far backwards that she ended up falling onto her back.

The queen then lowered her voice so that only Luna could hear her.

“I’ve been planning this long before you came here…”

Luna gasped as her horn began to glow. The aura looked anything but friendly; a darker outline accompanied the normal cyan colour. That was the last thing she saw before a bright flash blinded her, causing her to black out.

---

“Luna!” Twilight exclaimed as she watched her fellow princess flop onto the grass, unmoving. She raised a hoof to run towards her, but something had already grabbed it. Something cold. She looked at it, and flinched in surprise when she saw a metal chain clamped just above her hoof. She gasped as she felt it on her horn as well.

“Let me go!” she snarled as she turned to Solar Flare, who hadn’t moved from her position.

“It wasn’t me,” she simply answered. Twilight raised a brow, before glancing to her left. Her eyes widened when she saw Discord gripping the other ends of her shackles.

“Wha… huh… no! Discord, you can’t!” Her heart began to race.

Yet Discord’s expression didn’t change; it remained a dead-pan.. “Do tell me the reason why…”
> Fire Fire, Through the Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight continued to glare at Discord, wondering just how to react. Seconds went by, though they felt like hours, before she began to pull her hoof back towards her, hoping the cuff would somehow slip off of it before it could tighten itself any more than it had. She also began to do the same with her horn, trying to spark any kind of magic she could to loosen the metal off of her.

It was to no avail, as she soon became fatigued from the struggle. She took a couple of breaths before trying again, even taking a few steps away from the draconequus, yet she could literally feel the cold material choking her horn and hoof by that point.

“Twilight!” She heard Rainbow call from above. It was hard for her to turn her head to look up at her with something pulling it in the opposite direction. “Twilight, you have to fight back!”

“You think I’m not trying?” she retorted, now holding her gaze with Discord again. “My magic is gone! What am I supposed to do at this point?”

“You didn’t use your magic before!” Applejack pointed out. “You still have your wings free, use them!”

Twilight then let out a breath, before flapping her wings away from Discord, while still keeping an eye on him. Though, all she managed to do is hover in the same place, despite her feathers pushing any sort of breeze in front of her so that she could fly the other way.

“It’s no use… I’m still not a strong flyer…” she half said to herself. It wasn’t at all loud enough for her friends to hear.

“Solar Flare,” Nightmare Moon suddenly caught her attention. She landed on her hooves again and glanced at the black alicorn, noticing an unmoving mare next to her.

What did they do to…

“Mhmm?” Solar answered.

“You and Discord take care of these lot. I have something I must do with this one here,” she told her, pointing to Luna.

The queen nodded, watching the two being teleported to what Twilight could only assume to the castle.

“What the hay did y’all do to her?” Applejack yelled, still stuck in Spike’s claw.

Solar, for a moment, didn’t even react. Then she jerked her head up to the farm pony.

“None of your business,” she replied coolly, before turning to Twilight. “Either way, you lot are all coming with me.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Pinkamena scoffed.

“Erm… I don’t think I really want to,” Fluttershy chimed.

“I know very well it won’t be a fun experience,” Rarity commented.

“Pfft. Come at me, scumbag!” Rainbow challenged.

Applejack didn’t say anything, but knowing her, she probably just raised a brow, giving a disbelieving glare.

Twilight gave a snort, smoke almost appearing out of her nostrils. “You know what? Fine. Take me. Just leave them out of this, they’re not part of this as much as I am!”

“Well, no,” the alicorn began to stalk around her. “However they did commit their own crimes, whether they believe what they’ve done is wrong or not.” She stopped moving once she got to Discord.

“You may be punished after this, but not so harshly since you’ve seemed to come to your senses.” She lay a hoof on him, however he was quick to shake it off.

“Whatever…” he muttered.

Twilight’s muzzle scrunched up. “Discord, how could you do this? I thought you wanted to help us!”

Discord shrugged. “I did. It’s a shame though, really. Not even six of you could save the day…” He dragged Twilight forward by her chain. “I’d give friendship a chance if it could break these chains.”

Twilight remained confused for the next few moments, before erasing Discord from her mind as she turned away.

Yet, when she did, she had no idea what her next move would be. She was pretty certain Solar Flare wasn’t going to show any mercy towards her or her friends, so there was no use lecturing her to submission. There was no point in fighting back when there was nothing to fight with…

Oh, Celestia… I really wish you were here…

---
Luna had no idea where she was. From what she could tell, the floor below her was solid and grey, with a rough feel as she ran her hoof over the surface. It also had a slight shimmer of light shining on it, but from where, she wasn’t sure. Above her, the sky was dark - no moon, no sun, no stars. Nothing. In fact, from what she could tell, she was in a crevice; she had just noticed two black silhouettes of the walls of a gorge towering above her and surrounding the path ahead.

“Do you know this place?”

She whipped her head around to see who was behind her, though she knew that voice all too well. It was a voice she heard every time she opened her mouth.

“No, I don’t.”

Nightmare Moon raised both of her brows as she stalked towards her. Unlike the last time Luna saw her, she wore no armor on her body.

Once the black mare had reached her side, she continued to speak.

“You’ve never dreamed up this place?”

“No, I have not.” Luna glared at her. “Why?”

“I come here every slumber.” Nightmare didn’t look at her, instead stared ahead, where the pathway faded into darkness. “I never move, though. There’s no point in going over there… there’s nothing.”

Luna raised a brow and followed her gaze.

“...Why are you telling me this, exactly?”

Nightmare didn’t respond for a moment. “I… I was just wondering if you’ve had the same experience,” she stated, shrugging. “Just curious… and wondering if we had at least that in common.”

“...Sorry to disappoint you?”

The black mare shot her a disbelieving glare. “Disappoint?” she echoed, rolling her slit pupils. “Oh, no. I’m glad.”

Luna watched the mare begin to trot closer to the end of the gorge, before pausing and her ears perking as she stared down there.

“Why, exactly?” Luna tilted her head. Nightmare did not reply. “Typical. You just never know the answer to anything, do you?”

“You’re one to speak,” she retorted, still refusing to look at her.

“Yes, I am; I’m over myself - you are not.” Luna’s ears were flat against her head at this point.

She then could see a smirk appear on Nightmare’s face. “...Are you?” Her head finally turned to face her. “Tell me, Luna, what do you dream about?”

“...What?”

“Just answer the question.”

The princess’ ear twitched and she bit her lip. “I… just normal dreams.”

Nightmare raised a brow. “Are they, now?”

Luna slowly nodded.

“...Liar.”

“You’re not one to speak,” she spat. Nightmare just rolled her eyes.

“Neither of us are,” she stated, trotting to Luna’s side to glare down at her, before pacing around her repeatedly. “I’ve asked you these things simply to prove we’re one in the same.” She turned away from Luna to focus on where she was walking. “Honestly, Luna, do you really think Equestria would just forget about what you did?” She gave a smirk as she glanced back at her counterpart, who was glaring right at her.

“Of course I don’t.”

---

The footsteps of the seven mares echoed down the dark hallway. Twilight unwillingly lead her friends to the edge of a flight of stairs, which seemed to fade into black as they got further down. She paused at the top, thinking that maybe there was still a chance to run… but there wasn’t.

“D-Do we have to go down there?” Fluttershy whimpered, her tail in between her hind legs at this point.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “No, they’re gonna take us to a beautiful paradise where everything is fixed.”

“Quit it, Rainbow!” Applejack scolded her. The pegasus glared at her, but didn’t speak.

“Discord,” Solar Flare called for the draconequus, who was following behind them silently. At her command, he slithered forward until he was at her side. Once he was, Solar continued. “Take those five down to the two guards who are already down there. They’ll take care of them.”

Discord glanced at the five mares she was talking about. “...What about Twilight?”

“I need to take care of her myself. Now go.”

The draconequus nodded, before signalling the five ponies to follow him down the stairway. They reluctantly followed him until they were out of sight, leaving Twilight alone with her teacher’s counterpart. She stared at her.

“What?”

Solar Flare bit her lip as she glared back at her. Twilight shifted nervously under the flaming gaze.

“...What did you need?” Twilight tried to get her to speak again. Solar Flare finally blinked for the first time, her blank expression replaced by her usual look.

“Twilight Sparkle,” she began. Twilight glanced to the left, then the right, not having a clue how to respond.

“Err… yeah?” she responded slowly. “What do you want?”

The large alicorn then lowered her head so that both of their eye level was equal to one another. Twilight scrunched her muzzle and jerked her head back a little, the stench of the queen’s breath making her hold her breath.

“...I know you.”

The lavender mare blinked.

“...Could you repeat that?” she rasped, feeling tiny under the queen’s gaze.

“I remember you,” Solar said. “You were only young…”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight took a step back. “I’m… I don’t exist in this universe! Not anymore, anyway…” She looked away from her.

“...I know. I was there.”

Twilight’s ear flickered as she glanced back at the mare. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

When she looked at her, she saw something she didn’t expect. Solar Flare’s ears were drooping, and no longer had a serious expression glued onto her face. Instead, she frowned, and gazed at her with solemn eyes.

“She’d still be here… if it weren’t for me,” she muttered through gritted teeth. Twilight fully turned her head to face her, while also taking a step towards her.

“...What are you getting at?”

“What’s your life like in Equestria?” she suddenly asked, ignoring her previous question. The princess’ eye twitched, but even so, she answered.

“...It’s… good? I mean, I have a new castle which I’m still trying to get used to... but other than that… everything’s fine.” She paused for a few moments, wondering what else to say. “Why’d you ask?”

Solar Flare sat down on the cold stone floor. “Do you like magic?”

“...Yes? Yes, I love studying magic. But why-”

“What got you into magic?”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “What are you trying to do?”

“Answer the question.” Solar Flare’s tone suddenly changed. She glared at her, awaiting her response. Twilight sighed.

“...Celestia got me into magic,” she replied, making sure there was no fear of any sort to be heard in her voice. “She inspired me to do what I do. Obviously, though, that didn’t happen here.”

The queen then relaxed her tensed up muscles. “I wonder how you figured that one out…”

Twilight gave a scoff. “Don’t try and joke with me, not after what you did to my friends!” She stalked right up to her. “I’m not interested in having a conversation with you. I’m just interested in their safety!” Her hoof was raised so that it pointed to the dark hallway that lay at the bottom of the stairway.

“You’re just like her…” Solar murmured.

“Wha… What are you talking about?” Her voice’s volume was beginning to rise.

“I’m talking about you. You were much younger… it was only five years ago, and yet I keep thinking it was much longer than that…” She moved closer to her, their muzzles almost touching.

“What was five years ago? My death?”

The queen was quiet for a moment, before nodding slowly.

“Yes.”

“...Oh.” Twilight bit her lip. “That’s… nice to know-”

Her mouth was then shut by the cold touch of Solar’s hoof armour.

“No need to be nice, Twilight.” At this point, the heat of her mane could be felt by the princess.

“Then what do you want me to do?” Twilight arched a brow, jerking her head back so that the flaming tresses wouldn’t touch her.

“I want you to listen,” she murmured, her bright pupils moving away from her. “I didn’t get a chance to say this to you all those moons ago… so I might as well say it now.”

“...Say what?” Twilight pouted, the sound of her hoof scraping across the floor echoing in the hallway as she tried to distance herself from the alicorn.

“I… I’m sorry,” she sighed, her gaze now piercing right through hers. “For what’s about to happen. I don’t even know what’s about to happen, I just know that it won’t end well… at least not for you.”

“What…” Twilight shook her head, before using her hoof to push the queen away from her. “Why are you apologizing? You can stop this!” She began to raise her voice. “My friends are in grave danger, and you’re apologizing, despite the fact that you can stop all of this!”

Solar Flare’s ears drooped. “I know that I should… but I can’t.”

The princess’ lip curled. “Except you can! You could’ve stopped this one thousand years ag-”

“No, I can’t,” she spat back. “You don’t know me like you know your precious mentor. That is unless…” The anger in her voice was replaced by a taunt, however she didn’t smirk, to Twilight’s surprise. “You consider Celestia and I to be one in the same?”

Twilight glared at her, her body unmoving. Her eyes darted up and down Solar as she searched for an answer. Then, she let out a loud sigh, before turning towards the stairs.

“Don’t think that I’m giving up, because I’m not,” she rasped as she sauntered down the stairs. As she did so, she could’ve sworn she heard Cele- Solar Flare whisper in reply,

“I don’t doubt that.”

---

“So you admit it,” Nightmare chuckled. “You can never escape what you did.”

Luna stayed silent.

“Aww, I have seemed to forgotten how adorable I was when I was you.” She raised her counterpart’s chin so the two’s eyes met. “No comeback? No nothing?”

“I didn’t let myself escape what I did,” she answered. Nightmare flickered an ear at this.

“How so?”

“I wasn’t about to let myself off easy,” Luna hissed, slapping the black hoof away. “Nor was I about to let myself forget what I did.” She took a step towards her. The queen didn’t move from her spot, however. “I made sure that I reminded myself, every slumber, just how much of a nightmare you were to Equestria.”

“By what? Giving yourself the same nightmare every night… or whenever it is when you sleep?” the queen snickered.

“Well, yes.”

“...”

“...”

“I seemed to have also forgotten how dumb I was when I was you,” Nightmare stated. Luna rolled her eyes and snorted.

“Oh, you’re one to speak,” she snapped back at her. “Your life is probably boring at best. Everyone, even your own guards, fear you.”

Nightmare snorted and flickered her ear dismissively. “Not true. My sister doesn’t fear me.”

Luna gave a scoff of disbelief. “How do you know that? Maybe that’s why she hasn’t dethroned you yet.”

The black mare’s muzzle scrunched up and her lip curled - her fangs visible. “She’s had a thousand years - she’s clearly not planning such a thing.”

“Probably not. I have not a clue to what her motives are-”

“She has no motives,” Nightmare interrupted. “She’s quite happy where she is, thank you.”

Luna had to stifle her laughter. “Mhmm… sure she is. I can tell by the angry glare she gives towards literally everything.”

Nightmare’s eye twitched as she said that. “Alright, you know what?” Her horn began to glow its blue aura. “I was going to try a different method of punishing you, but it seems you’re not going to cooperate.”

“Different method of what now?” Luna tilted her head, only to gain a magical glow around her neck as a response. “Okay… nevermind…” she choked out, trying to pull away from the grip on her throat.

“Enjoy your time in the black pit of torture,” the queen said in a joyful tone, dragging Luna off of her hooves and holding her above a gorge which bottom was swallowed by darkness. The princess stared at it, not looking very phased.

“You could’ve named it something less obvious,” she muttered.

“Nonsense! The name simply adds more fear to the situation!” Nightmare giggled excitedly. “I haven’t actually used this nightmare in a while, so it’s nice to return to some old punishments!”

“How fun,” Luna said dryly, before shooting a blast of her own magic at her counterpart. Nightmare stumped to the side, only inches away from the singed space on the floor. She stared at it for a few seconds, then looked back at Luna with an unamused look among her face.

“Well, if that’s how you’re going to be.” She noticed another glow coming from Luna’s horn; this spell did not look like it was going to harm her. A bright flash replaced the shape of the princess, however she was still there after the light faded, to Luna’s dismay.

“Wha… why am I still here?” Her eyes darted back and forth as she realized her teleportation spell had failed her.

“Sorry, my dream, my rules,” Nightmare stated, giving her a pout. “Can’t let you teleport out of my sight now, can I?” The alicorn tapped for a moment, acting as if she were thinking what she had just said through. “Oh wait! Yes I can. Bye bye, woona!”

With that, the aura around her horn and her neck faded, allowing the princess to fall into the blackness below. Nightmare watched calmly as her counterpart disappeared from her sight, and was about to walk away, satisfied, when the alicorn came shooting back up, her wings carrying her.

“Ha! You forgot about these, didn’t you?” Luna gave a proud smirk. Nightmare blinked, her expression not changing.

“Oh, right. I did. Oops.”

Poof.

Luna glanced at her left and then at her right. The bright light had seemed to stolen her wings - now she was merely a unicorn. She had to think quickly - her own horn began glowing again, hoping that her magic would allow her to get her wings back. She focused hard until her horn went numb.

Wait.

She ran her hoof over her head. No horn.

“You can’t do that!” Luna protested desperately, being held by the hoof by the queen’s magic.

“My dream, my rules.”

“It’s my dream too!” she retorted. Nightmare chuckled to herself.

“Oh, no. You’re simply in my dream. Now, bye bye!”

With that, the blue aura around her hoof disappeared, and the next thing Luna knew was that she was falling into the abyss below her.