> The Fake Sun - The Tale of a No one that became Princess
>  by ratedoni
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> The Land of the Free Moon 01
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever asked yourself how it would be if you had the power of a nation in your hands? To be able to hold the lives of countless faceless creatures and decide their outcome with just a phrase or even a single word? To have the power to create laws and rules and make every single creature that lives in your country live by them for decades and centuries? To make plans and see the world be shaped in your image? Well, I’ll tell you right now what will happen if you do that. You’ll get bored.

That’s it, you’ll get bored, point; I’m not even joking. After centuries of ruling every single aspect of the world; or at least the part of the world were ponies lived, you’ll get bored out of your mind if I start telling you all the reasons why it sucks to have become the head of government for so long with no one really trying to do some kind of rebellion or coup. It gets so boring these days with nothing happening to take your mind or save you from utter boredom.

I mean, sure, the first years were awesome; after all, I am the head of the most powerful kingdom that resides in this planet, not to mention one that is the head of every single technological discovery; although, that last one usually is very slow considering how little the creatures on this planet think about mechanical innovations.

I’m in total control of a huge kingdom, just like Spain or Britain at their pinnacle, or maybe Rome considering how very much like their senate ponies try to emulate without even realizing. Families and men of power gaining their positions and never looking backwards; always forgetting the little ponies that have to suffer the decisions of those in power. Well, that will be the case if it weren’t because of me.

It took me some time before I could detect those seeds of danger that wanted to be brought to the senate’s floor; like new taxes to ponies that hold no royal title. You can imagine what happened to the fool that wanted to do that. Their families don’t exist anymore; but at the beginning it wasn’t easy, I had to learn how to read them and play around them like nice little chess pieces. I wonder if that’s how Celestia felt the first days on the throne.

It didn’t hurt that I had common sense, something so strange that has become a super power in recent years. Nah, it has always been a powerful trait to have considering how utterly stupid ponies became the higher they climbed the social ladder.

What? Why are you looking at me like that? Still don’t know what I am talking about? Oh; right, sorry about that; I forget that not everyone has an idea of what has been going on in Equestria; after so many years doing these kinds of things like that has become a habit; now, let me introduce myself. I am The Eternal Sun; I am The One that sits in the Throne of Gold, Owner of the Gold Plume of Peace, Sun Incarnate, Ruler of all Ponykind, Princess Celestial Radiance.

Literally, those are my titles and I’ve been working the last couple of decades to shorten them to something a little bit more manageable; considering there are still some titles that I hold from way back when that many don’t even remember, the fact that all of them are omitted doesn’t affect, but between us, you can call me Celly, and a couple of centuries ago I was but a mere human being.

Still with me? Good that I didn’t lose you with all that, but it is nice to have some kind of introduction to know exactly what is going on or to paint the bigger picture. Yes, I know, right now you are wondering what is going on, right? Where do I even start? And don’t say that is easier from the beginning, because I don’t know where the beginning is anymore after all that has happened. I have some problems trying to discern where this whole adventure began… I like the word discern, I don’t know why, maybe it is because it sounds so intellectual; I have to use that kind of image sometimes to throw ponies out of balance from time to time.

Why don’t we start our story in the classical way? In the magical land of Equestria, there lived two sisters; one raised the sun while the other raised the moon. Both of them helped the inhabitants of Equestria, their little ponies, to find harmony in life, but the older sister -being a queen bee bitch type- tried to hog the limelight and love of the cutesy wutesy little ponies and left her poor little sister in the shadows; left her at the mercy of something dangerous… and no, I’m not talking about drugs, it was something called the Nightmare Forces. Believe me, if it were drugs things would have been way easier. Although, the idea of Luna going into a dark/emo phase to rebel against her popular sister is hilarious in hindsight.

I’ll try to make the story short, so let’s say that there were some awesome beams of magic like something out of a Dragon Ball Z fight and finally the poor little sister was sent into the moon where she had awesome adventures finding three different stones to come back home, wait, that’s a different story.

Anyway, the younger sister was sent to the moon and the big sister had the biggest guilt trip you can imagine, waterworks and all; it was quite sad. Looking at it on the positive side, at least it made her grow up from that diva mentality and become the ruler she had to be; of course, it wasn’t that simple considering that now she had to look over the whole kingdom herself, but she did it, I’ll give her that. The difference is that the kingdom was so much more manageable than how it is today; they didn’t have to deal with so many problems like logistics, public services, taxes, zoning and other stuff that made games like Cities: Skylines so awesome.

So why am I talking to you right now instead of Oh-So-Holy Sunbutt? Well, the truth is that she made a mistake, like a really huge one that put everything in jeopardy. She fell in love. NO! Don’t think wrong! I didn’t mean it like that; there is nothing wrong with falling in love, especially when you have so much stress and responsibilities. Sometimes having someone at your side to deal with that stress is a blessing. The problem with this particular situation is that, well, things didn’t work out really well for our heroine. One thing I can tell you about this, Celestia always had bad luck with love.

She was a nice mare at first sight; something of a workaholic, somewhat cute in that librarian kind of way I suppose. She was smart too, which probably was the reason why Celestia got so much into her at first. Sadly Celestia had the bad habit of never taking down that ‘perfect ruler’ mask of hers, which led to two different problems when she tried to connect with others. They either had the pedestal where they put Celestia broken and they saw the real Celestia or they got obsessed with the Eternal Sun. Guess in which little category the mare felt into?

Which left me in my current dilemma, mainly the fact that I was left in charge of a body that was not my own, ruling a place that was not my own and with no idea how to deal with any of this stuff. Thankfully I had some time until I could find some solution.

That solution never came.

Now, as I live my new life in this foreign land, I do what I can to guide these little creatures known as ponies on a road of peace and harmony the best I can. Sadly there are some exceptions in the case of some ponies that want to be too smart for their own good. Take for example sweet little Safe Vault; he is a great help when it comes to almost anything that has to do with bits and economy, but when it comes to projects he tends to, well, listen to some not so honest ponies. I swear, some of them think they can outsmart me, as if I haven’t played this game longer than they have been alive by this point.

Waiting for a moment to strike, I arch a royal eyebrow while looking directly at the cream colored earth pony making the presentation. It was a gesture I have perfected a long time ago which has been very useful. I gotta admit it, his plan has been presented very well, with good charts showing the different ways money will flow if we introduce the reform he wants; the problem is WHERE exactly it will flow.

You see the kind of things that I have to do? Usually these kinds of stories are filled with misunderstandings and perilous adventures until the hero is capable of returning home. Sadly that time of adventures is over and instead I have turned into a ruler with only bureaucratic problems to slay. I guess that’s why no writer continues the story when the hero has gained the throne.

“My dear Safe Vault, your advice has helped Equestria and even the Duchy of Gryphony, so I know you are very good at what you do, but in the immortal words of Compound Taxes -sun bless his soul- ‘have you gone loco in the coco my boy?’”

I swear that’s what he said one day when one young banker a century ago wanted to take a one million bit loan to build a mansion that would rival the Blueblood line. The poor pony fled in terror at the subsequent chewing that he received from the seasoned veteran in matters related to money. Oh Compound Taxes, he was a blast to have in any party… imagine Voltaire but in a pony, that’s how I remember him, the best of all possible worlds when I had to deal with idiots.

Safe Vault cringed at my words, but he didn’t start crying when I stopped his explanation; good, he was starting to grow a backbone- wait, nope, start the waterworks and the pout; is like dealing with a toddler sometimes with these ponies.

“But… but… Princess,” I raised a golden shoed hoof and all sounds stopped in the throne room… I love to use this gesture; there is something cathartic in the way one movement can bring a whole audience to attention.

“I know, the plan you are presenting sounds great, but only on paper,” the smile that was growing in Safe’s muzzle disappeared, alongside the one of Gold Rush, another good mind for money, but in this case for all the wrong reasons. If anyone could be found guilty of planting the seed of this idea into Safe Vault, it could only be him and his wife. The one point of letting other people attend the court is because the ponies that are involved in a plan ALWAYS attend them to see the outcome. Sometimes I wonder about their intelligence, “tell me Safe, after the initial 4 years in the credits for the mortgage that your plan talks about, what will happen if the owners aren’t capable of paying back?”

“Well your Highness, to solve the problem the bank will have to sell these debts to recover the original payment,” Safe still seemed a little confused of where I was going, although Gold seemed to have lost all good humor and was starting to feel something was happening. Now, let’s close the net around him and really make him shiver in fear.

“And let me guess, these debts will be bought by private companies and loaning houses… probably situated in Canterlot, am I right?”

“Yes your highness,” this is too easy sometimes, the way ponies don’t ever see the danger closing on them. What is it with ponies that make them so trusting of others? I mean, it is good to spread harmony, but there must be some limit to how naïve good ponies are.

“Don’t you think that it is a little weird that the places where the mortgage credits will be in effect are places like for example Trottingham and Ponyville, which by the way, are cities with low GDP compared to other cities like… say, Manehattan or Canterlot? Now, I’m not an expert at this, that’s your area of expertise after all and I don’t want to intrude, but hypothetically speaking, if these ponies wanted to pay the mortgage of their houses, what options would they have if they cannot get the bits needed by themselves?" Come on Safe Vault, I know you can do it.

“Well,” the young stalling took a second to think “if they have no money to solvent the mortgage then some of their possessions will be seized to pay back their debt, although another way would be to… get… a loan,” his eyes were little by little growing bigger and I swear Gold Rush was starting to sweat a river “probably from the same people that could hypothetically buy those same debts from the bank,” YES! YES! YES! I KNEW IT! Oh my dear Safe Vault how proud I am of you, I swear that if we weren’t in front of at least a dozen ponies I would rush and glomp you!

“And THAT is the reason why I don’t feel comfortable with the idea,” I said with a very bright grin on my muzzle that I always felt was perfect for situations like this; nothing like beating someone’s scheme to be openly mocking.

“Yes, yes I see your highness,” Safe Vault said looking directly in the direction where Gold Rush had been standing a minute ago “I think I will have to talk with the original backers of this reform,” he said trying to find the now retreating pony, not that there was any chance of that considering that he was in MY court.

“Good to have that cleared… ah, Gold Rush, is so good to see you,” I said aloud stopping the pony on his tracks as my guards stood in front of the doors to block him; it was so damn funny to get them when they were not expecting it “I was wondering when you will appear, I got a letter saying that you were interested in getting a permission to start building something; I believe it was for a new house and according to the letter, you said you were wanting to build a mansion that would make Fancy Pants green in envy, although I do wonder how that would be possible considering that stallion never gets angry at other’s success.”

“Really?” continued Safe Vault, obviously with an idea on his mind “now that I remember, one jewelry house in the artisan market was spreading the word that your wife had acquired recently new sets made of gold and diamonds apparently to have them made as necklaces in the same design of our highness,” really? That’s news for me… what? I am not omniscient okay? That’s why I have people like Safe Vault.

“Oooohh, that’s really interesting, please tell me more because this is some juicy gossip,” oh, to see your ruler act like the mean girl of a teen movie, it must be priceless; that is if ponies weren't used to things like this by now.

“Yes your Highness, I believe that our illustrious Gold Rush has something to talk about with my brother Clear Vault,” I could practically hear the gasp of everypony in the room. Even I felt a shiver traveling on my back at the name drop.

Gold Rush whined like a puppy that had been admonished while looking at me for salvation… which of course was never going to come considering how much I enjoyed the full retribution that will be dropped on his head. I just waved them goodbye with a grin on my face and grinned at his face of terror while Safe Vault kept pushing him out of the court. The whole show was enough to make me almost lose composure in front of everypony and start rolling around in laughter. Not that I have much composure considering the way I act most days.

As the good commander Lightning Rapier said to me once before the campaign in the Zebrican savanna ‘Send me next to my enemy’s spears, and as far away from the IRS you can’.

And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is how you can fight boredom, Long Live the Princess indeed. But to be truthful, this kind of moment was far and between, like small islands in a sea of boredom.

These days I find the most joy in teaching more than politics or adventuring. Back in the day I was quite the daring explorer, but that was when I had the time to waste. Now, Equestria is expanding far and beyond my imagination and things are more or less settled down on a routine. If it weren’t for my two girls and their accomplishments I would be overwhelmed by the sheer boredom of routine in which I have settled. What an irony; I’m a human trapped inside the body of the pony monarch and even this has become just another day in my life.

I was about to start calling for the last petitioner of the day when the unmistakable ashes of a message came from one of the windows and floated all the way up to me and materialized again in a flash. Oh my dear Twilight, let’s see what silliness you have gotten yourself into; last time it had been about a certain magical experiment that exploded in the face of almost all the students.

For a whole day the whole classroom had found themselves in the horseshoes of the other gender; Twilight looked so funny wearing that purple dress as her, well, his punishment that day. Alright, let’s see what she has to say.

My Dearest Teacher;  yes, I know, I know, not very creative, but you should have seen all the time we spent talking about the way she would address me in her messages. For some reason the silly filly had the idea that she should put every single title I currently own or had owned at one time in the scroll; poor Spike would have finished with a hurt claw before he even started the letter, so this was the simplified form we agreed upon.

‘My continuous studies of pony magic has led me to discover that something bad is going to happen, for you see, the mythical Mare on… the Moon. Fuck.

That was today? Well, I kinda forgot. And here I was saying that things had become routine and boring. That’ll teach me to be complacent in my job again. The problem when you inherit a 500 year old plan in motion is that sometimes you forget it even exists as it enters a new stage.

I swear, I would strangle Celestia if I knew where she was, but no, she had to go and get herself stabbed by the love of her life. But if it weren’t for that I wouldn’t be here talking and planning for her; I would be six feet under after being trampled by the metal and carbon fiber monster so if I can finish this plan and bring back her sister, no, OUR sister from the madness of the Nightmare then, by everything that is holy and right in this world then I will do it!

If only I could find the original plan.

IT MUST BE AROUND HERE! PLEASE TELL ME IT WAS STILL HERE! Celly, why cannot you be more organized! You had like, three hundred years to learn that. Why do I always put everything everywhere? Kibitz is looking at me with one eyebrow raised but hasn’t said anything; he is only holding the scroll that I was looking for. I knew there was a reason why he was my scheduling advisor. I had to create that position considering how good he was; he even had an answer to Twilight’s letter already made. Damn, he’s good. And that is the reason why I never organized myself properly; there were others that did it for me

So now, I can only wait until night. God, if you exist in this universe, please give me a hand, claw, hoof or whatever so everything goes perfect, but I know my part wasn’t over in this pantomime.

Inside my heart is breaking.

My make-up may be flaking.

But my smile still stays on.

-----

If I could find Celestia, or what is left of her I would gladly give her back the body I currently possess, but no amount of wishing can change what happened or what will happen. I can only live with the consequences of that day that in a way saved my life.

So there she was, Celestia with a dagger close to her heart, me trapped under a car, two instances so far away and so close that became one; the opportunity for life. While the unicorn that had betrayed Celestia’s love burned alive trying to contain the energy she wanted from the most powerful magical being in the world a new opportunity was born and I was the result of it.

There were not even ashes of her body at the end; only whispers from Celestia, only memories of people that even now haunt me, among them those about poor Luna. Now here I am; a no one that was thrown to the wolves that had to grow into the role Princess.

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever asked yourself how it would be if you had the power of a nation in your hands? To be able to hold the lives of countless faceless creatures and decide their outcome with just a phrase or even a single word? To have the power to create laws and rules and make every single creature that lives in your country live by them for decades and centuries? To make plans and see the world be shaped in your image? Well, I’ll tell you right now what will happen if you do that. Nothing but pain and regrets.

I could only stare at the visage full of rage and hate in her face. A face so well known to me and yet only the first time I have seen it.

“Hello Luna.”
> The Land of the Free Moon 02
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The most common trait of all ponykind seemed to be how completely adorable they could be, which was only multiplied when they were young, like little fillies and colts can give you diabetes just by watching them play or be naturally adorable little terrors. I think that is one of the reasons why I like to spend time with the little ones; it also doesn’t help that they find me hilarious with all the jokes and gags I do around them.

Watching the snarl on a pony that was as dark as the moonless night and with serrated teeth that looked out of place on a pony, well, that was something you don’t see every day and for that I was grateful for that. Now, it looked cool as fuck to tell the truth, but it felt just wrong. Probably that was the reason why Nightmare Moon decided to go with this appearance such a long time ago.

If you wanted to separate your past self from the current one, then go as extreme as you could go. If the situation wasn’t so dire right now I would make a comment of NM being Luna’s gothic years. I can imagine Luna screaming how it was only a phase. Maybe someday in the future I will make the reference.

She does seem to be in a bad mood, but if you were also forced to spend a thousand years in the Elements of Harmony version of ‘go to your room young lady’, then I would be this angry. In fact, having that look directed at me was bad enough to almost send me running for the hills; it was one thing to be a ruler of ponies, another to fight against demons from Tartarus, or in this case from the moon.

If there was a time when I hated to be Celestia, it was this kind of moment, I mean, I’ve been forced to protect all living beings in the planet at several times; and that’s not even counting some of the disasters ponykind create by themselves due to sheer bad luck, or some new would-be dictator that wants more power.

Celestia had a very precise plan before I hijacked this body for some reason or another; confront Nightmare Moon, let her imprison her inside the moon or the sun, depending on the mood of NM, then the villain will go to Ponyville, confront the Elements of Harmony and if everything goes right Luna would be saved. You know, the basic stuff when it comes to crazy stuff and plans to defend the status quo and all existence.

Of course, that was Celestia’s plan, not mine.

“Hi Loony!” I say to the dark alicorn with a huge grin while I wave my hoof in greetings; the dark magic bolt was all the answer I got as it traveled across the sky, practically disintegrating the curtains on the window behind me. My body stays paused with that same grin and my hoof in the air in response as if I had been surprised about that kind of response from the Nightmare.

“Celestia… finally the time has come for me to return to Equestria, did you really think that your precious Elements of Harmony would be enough to keep me away from what is my right?” I can tell you right now, Nightmare Moon was the most clichéd villain I have seen and I have seen many cliché villains over the years; the voice, the mannerism, the words, really, the only thing missing was a mustache for her to twirl like that old cartoon. I could have slapped her on the back of her head and give her lessons on how to be a proper villain, but I was afraid of receiving a dark blast to the face after all that.

“So… should I cancel the ‘Welcome Back Nightmare Moon’ party I had prepared for today?” I think I heard a record being scratched with how fast the whole mood in my office changed with that phrase. Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened in confusion and it was hilarious how much I got her out of balance with that joke.

“What?” that was all Nightmare could articulate at the moment.

“Yeah, I even had a little Nightmare Moon made out of sugar and everything, although I didn’t know if you would prefer a coconut cake or the chocolate one,” I said with a wide grin enjoying the sight of my nemesis’ face flabbergasted, oh, how I enjoy doing things like this.

“Surely you jest” Nightmare had recovered quicker than I had planned; if it had been Luna I was sure she would still be trying to understand if I was joking or not; the poor girl was never good with things like humor or jokes with how surly she usually was back then.

The damn Nightmare had a lot of experience when it came to darkness and magic, but it had a critical weak spot that I have been planning to exploit to the max. Nightmare could only do as much as the host was willing to do, that’s why I was relaxed. That my hooves were slightly shaking was due to how cold the office was at this time of the day of course.

“Of course I jest; I just wanted to break the ice a little bit.”

“The only thing broken will be your head tonight!”

“Jeez, touchy, no need to be like that, can’t we talk like two sisters? Well, we are fighting so that could be considered normal for sisters,” you must be wondering, what the hell am I doing? Why am I antagonizing somepony that was my equal in power?There is a very good reason why I do all this in fact. One, Nightmare Moon was not at the height of her power; just leaving the moon must have used almost all the energy she had stored for a millennia since even from where I am standing I could see she was still panting lightly. She wasn’t as steady and menacing as she thought she was so her regal pose was a little spoiled. Second reason you may be asking? I’m an ass, I cannot avoid annoying the hell out of everypony, and at this point it was almost pathological; almost like a defense system that I developed through the long years.

 “Enough of this!” nice firework show, so when she gets mad wind gets stronger, strong enough to destroy the windows of my office; great, something more to add to the budget; I hate having to work with budgets “you know what I am planning!”

“Well yes, but where are we going to get 20 lobsters, a barrel of chili powder and a buzzer?” I said while placing my hoof under my chin as if thinking. At this point I’m milking the situation as much as I can and looking at how annoyed and confused she is, it was well worth it. As much as I enjoy trolling the hell out of her, there were more important things to do “Of course I know what you are planning, the same thing that has kept you alive and awake, the one goal that led you right into the shadow embrace of the Nightmare, to be the sole ruler of Equestria and plunge this world into eternal night” I told her doing a complete one eighty in my approach, I always found this tactic super effective.

“We are getting down to business, for a moment I have thought that you have gone down into madness after losing your precious sister” the Nightmare tried to gain some much needed advantage after the games I have played with it.

“Please, if that is the best you can do in barbs I have a rose bush much sharper than you, but yes, we are getting down to business, so tell me Nightmare Moon, how do you plan to get  control of Equestria this time?”

“I will do what I should have done in the castle a millennia ago, kill you on the spot!” with that she started to focus her energy the same way that she did that night, but I was quicker and she now knows that considering that I have the spell prepared before her.

“I incarcerated you in the moon for a thousand years.”

“But that was only because you had the power of the Elements of Harmony, but not this time, I cannot feel their power, this time you are alone.”

“Like I said, for a thousand years you were on the moon, but this time is different, I AM different, who’s not to say that I will do something drastic to save my… no, OUR little ponies.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“What do you think Luna? If our positions were reversed I know you would have done the same.”

“Silence! There is no Luna anymore, the name is Nightmare Moon!”

“Say whatever you want, but my little sister is still inside; I know you Nightmare, I know what you can do and how you operate, you cannot surprise me, but instead of a direct fight, which we know you would lose in your current situation… why don’t we have a nice contest?”

“A contest? What are you talking about Celestia?”

“Simple, you believe it is your right to rule, that because of me you have been relegated to the shadows, well… if you think you are good enough for this go ahead, prove it,” goading someone to fall for the trap they know is in front of them is not easy, is never easy.”

“What contest do you have in mind?” Bingo! There is a sucker born every second!

“Very simple, my current student is now in a little town not so far away from here called Ponyville, just outside of the forest where our old castle was, she is there to check on the Summer Sun Celebration, and I know she will search for the Elements of Harmony, so here it is, my little contest” the next part is critical “if you can stop her from retrieving the elements I will step down as princess of Equestria and give you full power over our Kingdom as is your desire.”

“You will leave the destiny of Equestria in the hooves of a filly? Is that your plan?” Just at that she let out her patented evil laughter, although I gotta admit it was excellent; I wonder how much she practiced it.

“Well, yes, but I still have a couple of rules for you, don’t kill or hurt them, just scare them, besides, you know how skittish our ponies are, just show yourself and they will probably ran away screaming in terror,” The glare that she send my way was enough for me to mark another tally in the score, I swear, villains are the best in reactions to my jokes.

“You have always been a fool Celestia, and this time it shows, soon all of Equestria will be mine!” she said before turning to mist and flying faster than I could see in the direction of Ponyville, while watching the night sky and waiting for the future of Equestria to unfold in front of me I could only do one thing.

“Well, would you look at that? Celestia has the ball, she dribbles and she shoots! No rim! Ballin’!” I do a little celebration in my office all alone, oh, how I love it when they fall for the bait as eagerly as the Nightmare did.

“Please tell me that that dance will not be in vogue for the next ball aunty,” I hear a voice in my office and I would like to say that I acted as a true royal member, as the soon to be half of the diarchy of Equestria I handled it with royal poise, but even though I love to lie the truth was that I was send backwards with the surprise. Standing up I saw a member of the nobility smirking slightly at my reaction, but instead of getting angry I just grinned.

“Bluey!” I said this to him and gave him a big hug.

“Agh! Aunty! No! Careful with the fur! I just got a grooming!”

“Oh Bluey! Everything is awesome! Soon you are going to get a new Aunty! Or get back one, I’m still not sure how this works” I said while I practically danced with Blueblood around the office, of course by dancing I refer to me twirling around the office with Blueblood flailing in the air.

“That’s great, but please, be careful! I’m not exactly made of steel like you are Aunty!” Finally calming down and placing him in the carpeted floor, Blueblood adjusted his very stylish vest and reviewed his mane on one of the mirrors in the office before turning back to me, “so, by your dancing and frolicking I believe it went great then?”

“I don’t frolic, but if you want to know, hook, line and sinker, the Nightmare went straight to Ponyville without even blinking.”

“I suppose it must be expecting a trap.”

“From me perhaps, but not from Twilight.”

“Wait… Twilight? What was your plan? How is she going to defeat the Nightmare?”

“By making friends and waking the Elements of Harmony,” I said while Blueblood arched an elegant eyebrow, I swear he was trying to mimic me.

“Twilight? Miss I-don’t-have-time-for-friends bibliophile? She is your secret weapon?”

“Have some fate, besides, I do remember a certain unicorn that always thought that he was on top of everyone else and never had friends,” Blueblood blushed slightly at that, I think he did remember some of the things that had happened when he was younger.

“Alright, I yield, I just hope you know what you are doing, I don’t know how I will live from now on without my daily tanning sessions from now on if Nightmare ends in control, besides, I would look horrible with dark fur,” I know where he was going, but I had to give him this.

“Why would you have dark fur?”

“Well, the nobility is always following the trend of the Princess, how can I say that I am the greatest Prince if I don’t emulate our divine ruler?” he said, puffing out his chest while I rolled my eyes at his peacock-style jokes.

Now comes the most difficult part of being a ruler, the waiting.

-----

Or it would be if it was still the same Celestia, but guess what? I am Celly, like hell I will play by the same rules, so here I was, finally in the Everfree after all the tumbles and shenanigans that those six ponies have done.

I have to be sincere, Pinkie is hilarious, reminds me a little of Surprise, although considering she is the great aunt of Pinkie is not that weird, but just looking at Fluttershy I had to contain my urges to run to her and hug her until she squeaked like a rubber ducky.

You may be thinking, but Celly? How do you know when to appear or start running if things go wrong? Very simple, nothing like seeing the colors of the rainbow explode out of a window to tell you what happened.

It has gone as Kibitz, Raven and I had predicted; Twilight went to the library, the other 5 following after her and there they go into the Everfree with Nightmare Moon hot on their heels placing traps and trying to make them turn around.

How did I know she was going to follow the rules? Like I said, she was in a symbiotic relationship with Luna; she was not going to break the rules of a contest, especially if she would hurt a pony by doing so, at least that’s what the memories of Celestia told me. You have no idea of how weird it is to have two sets of memories in your head, it makes you lose focus sometimes when something triggers a strong memory, it has taken me years to be in control of these moments.

And sometimes these memories were not nice. Whenever I met ponies that resembled their ancestors, sometimes they activated flashes of memory, you should have seen when I met Twilight Velvet, my memories went back to Dream Valley! That was freaky alright. But sometimes what I remembered was the last time I saw friends and loved ones, those that I have never met but I will always remember thanks to my situation.

Either way, time to stop my moment of melancholy, time to embrace the future!

Is time for the sun to come up and say hello to a new era!

“… but reckon, we do represent the elements of friendship” that southern twang said, oh how I love to hear that accent, never in my life have I been able to replicate it.

“As your brother would put it, eeyup” I said while walking into the room seeing everyone quickly bowing down at me, why do they keep doing that? It gets a little on my nerves to be sure… what? Were you expecting me to do a grand entrance or something like that?”

“Princess Celestia!” Well, at least there was someone that didn’t bow, and she tried to nuzzle me in that neck hug that ponies do, of course I would have nothing with that. Hell no, there is nothing that can be better than a full royal hug; I swear Twilight’s cheeks were a little red while I had her in my hooves like a big plushie toy, I guess she was a little embarrassed for being part of it in front of her new friends. Teenagers, always trying to maintain decorum in front of their peers.

“Twilight! Do you have any idea how proud I am right now?”

“But princess, you told me that it was just an old pony tale!”

“Really? Twilight, the only thing I told you was that you had to stop reading dusty tomes and get out there and make some friends, really, I was this close to start making play dates so you could make some… although it is obvious now that I won’t be forced to do that,” All the other ponies were showing different reactions to my little hug with Twily.

Both Rainbow and Pinkie were obviously trying not to start laughing their flanks off at Twilight’s reaction, Rarity and Applejack were more than a little confused and shocked at the antics of their princess, while Fluttershy did merit her name and was hiding behind her mane.

“But before we continue with this, there is something even more important that I have to do right now” I said trying to switch the focus and my voice was enough to make everyone look at the place where Nightmare Moon was a minute ago, now only the remains of the armor existed around a small alicorn that seemed to have had all the energy zapped out of her “Princess Luna,” I said hearing the gasp coming from the other six ponies in the room.

“Wait, did she say Princess Luna?”

“Look, she looks just like Woona!”

“Woona? What are ya talkin’ about Pinkie?”

“You know, that story, Moonstuck!” I didn’t listen to any of that, all my senses and my attention were put only on the small alicorn that was finally reacting to the world around her, her eyes darting everywhere but on me. I could feel my own heart beating a mile on my chest.

She wasn’t my sister, not really, I was only a thief here, living in borrowed time; I am The Fake Sun, but I felt tears falling from my eyes and happiness from seeing my sister, because after all this, all the memories and heartaches, I can say that this alicorn is my sister now.

“It has been so long, a thousand years since we were face to face” she was now shaking and it breaks my heart seeing her this week, this scared; time to put an end to this “and I have only one thing to say… I’m sorry little sister.”

“Little sister?” the voice of the other ponies didn’t interrupt, for now we two only existed in this world. Luna’s eyes looking directly at me.

“I’m sorry for all I did to you, for how long I ignored you and how little I did to help you, would you ever forgive me?” I swear this felt something directly from a movie, I could feel the looks from the elements of harmony behind us but everything was alright in the world. I felt my sister embrace me and both of our tears hitting the floor. We were united once again.

“I can forgive you, if you forgive me first big sister, how I missed you Celestia.”

“And I you Luna.”

“Hey, you know what this calls for? A pa…” the sound of a party popper interrupted Pinkie Pie’s words.

“A Party!” Everyone’s eyes were on me at the confetti flying around Luna and me, from where did I exactly get the popper or where I had it stashed? Magic! “What? Now I can’t celebrate?” I said with my classic grin. Luna’s inquisitive eyes looked at me up and down.

“You… seem to have changed big sister” You have no idea Luna, you have no idea.
> The Land of Celebrations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Major villain defeated, top of the world in feelings and everything nice under the sun and moon for the first time in a long long time, so basically, you may be thinking this is the perfect time for me to cease to exist and let the real Sun be part of the world and everypony will be happy with that; the crazy guy that ended up trolling everything and continuously confused and perplexed ponies, dragons and griffins by the hundreds will finally go back home and everypony will live happily ever after.

But things don’t work that way. They never do.

I don’t know what happened to Celestia, nor am I brave enough to tell ponies what happened to their beloved leader so I will be able to research the whole thing, and more importantly; how the hell am I supposed to tell Luna this?

I don’t even know how it worked the first time, I was sure I was in some kind of coma-induced dream for the first few minutes, then I felt the pull from something inside me pressuring me into getting into action, trying to guide me into something that I needed to do, while the pain made me quickly realize that this was, in fact, very much my reality.

Trapped inside a pretty pony princess… I was trying for a longer alliteration but couldn’t do it, didn’t know what other word to put there… anyways, I was a pony, and not only a pony, but one that could talk, could still think and basically was in charge of a whole kingdom.

I don’t think anypony was quite sure what to make of me at the beginning, but I’m sure they all thought it was the trauma of the ritual that was supposedly made to steal the power of an alicorn and the whole being betrayed by a loved one. For what I discovered it was a sound theory behind the plan, but that unicorn didn’t have the full data, she didn’t have the full information about the power of an alicorn and specifically the one of Celestia.

So the pony was burned to a crisp due to so much power being poured into a mortal body, it is like replacing all the blood with lava apparently… not a good image, I know.

So there I was, one minute feeling the pressure of a heavy vehicle on top of me and the next one being put into a completely different body and situation, thank god that I’m a good liar, I don’t know if to feel proud or sad with the fact that I am only getting better and better with the years.

But it feels cheap; here I am, living even beyond my expectation of life as a human and for all purposes a Highlander with the whole hair and the whole not-dying-of-old-age thingy, and of the real Celestia not even a whisper, all I have is her memories stored in this big old head. I swear that if the perks of being royalty and having all kinds of weird ass whacky adventures and awesome magic weren’t there I’ll probably would have considered suicide, besides, after 3 centuries, or almost, the whole idea of me going out and saying that the princess was upon a time in fact a big hairless male monkey from another reality won’t probably end well for me.

So, for the time being it will be me saving the world, planning everything like a master chessman and annoying the shit out of every single living thing in this whole world, just like it should, maybe one day I’ll be able to find Miss Prim and Proper Pretty Perfect Pony Princess… hey! I did it!

-----

(Earlier that day)

Twilight’s sigh practically made the chariot rumble due to how deep and sincere it had been; it seemed like Princess Celestia had another of her usual set of orders ready for her this time.

Is not like she hated them, but sometimes the princess seemed a little too focused on the whole ‘make some friends’ plan for her that it irked her. Twilight already had friends, she had Spike, she had Shining Armor, even Princess Celestia was her friend, well, she was more like the crazy, random world traveling Aunt that was always doing something insane that the rest of the family didn’t know how to react to, but she was fine, more than fine.

For as long as she had memory, Princess Celestia was an enigma, one moment she could seem to be the rock that anchored the whole kingdom and the years and things that she had lived through will shine through eyes full of experience and love; And then, the next moment she will summon a kazoo and do a full rendition to Equestria’s Anthem in C minor, and yes, she had seen Celestia do it once, it made her laugh like crazy, but that was only because she was still a little filly and felt a little too overwhelmed by being Princess Celestia’s protégé.

Twilight was a little more used to the eccentricities of the princess now, but from time to time it still made her do a double-check on the things that happened around princess Celestia or the things that she said, just like the letter. It didn’t have the usual zing or humor of the princess but it was clear that she had been involved in doing it, just like the whole message, make some friends.

Princess Celestia had always pushed her to make more friends, sometimes even throwing her to the wolves… or the middle of a party, just before Princess Celestia herself jumped into it; Twilight had no idea a mosh pit could be so terrifying and confusing until that night, how could ponies enjoy that was still a topic that could create several thesis.

But beyond that, even with all the insanity Princess Celestia was the pony she respected the most, even when she practically destroyed the most fundamental ideas Twilight had about how royalty had to conduct themselves both in public and in private, but that she loved her as part of her family, she did, there was no doubt about it.

-----

“You know Twilight, she reminded me of Princess Celestia” Although thinking about it, maybe Twilight could put Celestia inside a bag and throw it in the middle of the ocean, that way she will be able to have a normal life.

-----

“Too… much… food!” Why did Twilight have to be so susceptible to anything sweet that was put under her nose?! But those Apple Fritters were so good that she was so very tempted to put her face on the plate, eat all of them and then lick the plate clean of every crumb in it as if it was a hay burger.

Bad Twilight, never do that… again… she blamed the royal kitchens and the way they spoiled her when she was younger, all those cakes and cookies made life more than sweet for her in the castle and if it wasn’t for Princess Celestia’s idea of getting into the more physical parts of magic she was sure that right now instead of walking like a normal pony with a bulging stomach for over eating, she would be at least 200 kilos pony eating everything sweet around her.

But she had to be sincere, it was such great cooking that the Apple family had, and that pie, she could eat Applejack’s pie all day… Twilight stopped at that moment, her face showing the blush even through her fur, it was a good thing she hadn’t said that aloud or she would have been mercilessly teased. Oh Sun and Moon, the last time she had said something that could be taken as a double entendre Princess Celestia didn’t waste any time, Twilight almost fainted due to lack of blood from constant blushing.

And talking about all that exercise, her reflexes were top notch from having to dodge and parry spells and attacks, that’s why she was capable of jumping backwards before a streak of colors hit the ground at Mach speed, sadly for Spike he wasn’t trained and was thrown around the mud.

Twilight sighed after taking the mud out of her eyes, great hit, great mud wave being splashed everywhere, what else would she have expected?

-----

“Let’s run while she is distracted!” Both dragon and unicorn came out of the store as if a wendigo were after their tails; it had been mortifying, crazy and unusual, in conclusion, nothing new for the purple unicorn. At her side Spike was trying to ineffectively hide his grin.

“That reminded me of the last time Blueblood tried to get you ready for the Equestria’s Consul Ball,” Those three words together made Twilight cringe at the literal mountain of clothes, accessories and lessons that Prince Blueblood had thrown her into to make her presentable. She cringed just thinking at what would happen if the Prince and that crazy white unicorn met; it would be a nightmare for the usually practical magic apprentice.

-----

“IS THERE ANYPONY NORMAL IN THIS TOWN?!” Twilight all but screamed into her pillow at her current predicament, and that predicament was practically everyone in town dancing and partying in the middle of the Ponyville Library. Was this some kind of unusual and sadistic punishment from the part of Princess Celestia? She was known to be a jokester and getting into ponies’ minds and nerves, but this was just ridiculous.

“Twilight? What are you doing here? The party is just starting.”

“Who cares about a party when Equestria is in danger Spike?”

“Is the Summer Sun Celebration’s Eve after all, it is traditional to celebrate the night and wait for the sun to raise, I thought you didn’t mind it.”

“I don’t when it is just a small reunion, like the ones in the castle, just Princess Celestia, Blueblood, Sunset, Raven, Kibitz, Shining, Cadence, you and I, but this… this is unnecessary!”

“Come on Twilight; don’t be so grouchy, they just wanted to welcome you.”

“But that’s the problem, once I am finished with this we will go back to Canterlot, we don’t have time to make friends or meet all these ponies since we won’t stay here, we will never see them again.”

-----

And, oh how wrong Twilight had been, because now that it was over, Nightmare Moon stopped, princess rescued, a whole nation saved, she didn’t want to leave. Now she understood what other ponies meant when they said that you had to eat your words. They tasted sour. It must have been obvious in her face because she felt her new friends scooting closer to her.

Sun bless her soul, Fluttershy could be scared of almost everything and shy as her name indicated, but if you ever felt wrong she had a heart as big as her wings, meanwhile on the other side she could practically feel the happiness radiating from the pink fur. Pinkie Pie also was hugging her and that made her feel safe, loved.

Princess Celestia was right when she talked about friendship and camaraderie among ponies, how they needed others to feel complete, that it was something fundamental in life and boy was she right.

“Ya feelin’ better over thar Twyla? Ya look just like Applebloom when her favorite bow fell down on da pig’s mud,” the Apple family accent felt like a fresh breeze for some reason.

“Now I do, thank you girls,” the smile that spread on the group of six ponies was enough to banish all sadness in the air.

“I have to be sincere, I never thought that Princess Celestia could be so… animated,” Rarity had a small glass of Apple Juice in her magical grip while looking at the huge crowd that were partying like if their lives depended upon it, right in the middle a big white alicorn dancing alongside her small sister, trying to teach her how to dance apparently, and on her back a purple and green dragon that had a white kazoo with the insignia of the sun. It was probably the most valuable kazoo ever made.

“You have no idea Rarity, I have been her student since I was little and yet she always finds new ways in which to surprise me, you can think that you know how she is going to act or answer, but I believe not even Princess Celestia knows what she is going to do, that’s the fun part of being around her,” And as much as Princess Celestia irked her, bothered her and made her embarrassed at what she said and did, she loved her. She was that crazy fun-loving aunt that always found new way to break curfew with you and inject happiness into her day, specially the bad ones, it will hurt not to be around her every day, but now she understood why she needed to be in Ponyville, she will learn everything about friendship and Princess Celestia will be proud of her.

-----

“Thou… have changed elder sister,” outside of Ponyville, stepping into the new and majestic castle away from the smaller and now crumbling Two Sister’s Castle, Princess Luna seemed to have grown smaller and quiet, all those smiles and peace that she had found in the small town seemed to have evaporated, and it almost broke my heart.

“It has been a long time Luna, maybe we will be here for eons, but society moves even without us, customs and traditions change faster than we can track them sometimes, the only thing we can do is change with them. There were many things I learned after you were gone, most of them weren’t nice.”

“Really? What are thou talking about?” Inquisitive and always curious, I have no doubt she and Twilight will be great friends.

“Hard liquor and alicorn magic don’t mix well, it tends to be… a little volatile, I swear, my fur was pink for several years afterwards, I think you can find figurines of me with that image, they can get a nice price for collectors I heard,” The image of me being a life size replica of the original toy of Princess Celestia was enough to send me to the floor with laughter, but I made the look work, especially after all the nobles started to dye their pelts pink to emulate their Princess, some of them looked ridiculous.

At my side I swear that Luna was trying to hold her laughter at the mental image, it just made me so happy to see her smile. Probably the best part of being Celestia was that it brought me the opportunity to cheer everybody, be it a pony, dragon, gryphon, zebra, they were all important to me, even if I had to grow into the role of a ruler, if I didn’t have a lot of help back then there wouldn’t be an Equestria for Luna to come back.

“Thou are ridiculous Elder Sister, but thank you for being… so forgiving.”

“It wasn’t your fault Luna, it never was.”

“Thank you… but are thou sure thy apprentice will be in good hooves in that small meadow?”

“Luna, if there are ponies I can trust, is the ones of Ponyville, you saw how they received you, she will grow even stronger and happier than in Canterlot… and yes, it will hurt, it hurts to grow up, but having ponies at your side can help you learn even the most hurtful lessons.”

“Wish… wish I had the chance back there to learn that.”

“Nononono, no sad faces tonight, tonight is one to finally rest from the nightmares, tonight you are free, tonight is your first night in Equestria… tonight you sleep among friends and family little sister,” I said to her watching that smile grow a bit, still shy and insecure, but soon it will show that spark of knowledge and power that made the night so awesome!

“Thou are correct Elder Sister, this is a night for me to rest, finally to fall into the dreamless embrace of sleep at last… goodnight sister,” Luna finally rested her head upon the pillow and closed her eyes, practically falling asleep in an instant, I guess she wasn’t ready for a party yet.

With a huge smile on my face I practically danced my way to my personal chambers knowing that tomorrow will bring much more fun and work in our way. The chambers that I had prepared for Luna were practically the same as mine, of course with less colorful decorations, poor Lulu wasn’t quite yet ready for things like drums, cannons and the rest of my paraphernalia that I had accumulated in 3 centuries.

Finally resting my eyes after a day full of shenanigans and knowing that the moon was finally at the hands of her rightful companion I let the sweet embrace of sleep come to me, just to get thrown into the world in the worst way, with the feeling of fire.

I was immune to fire but this felt weird, it felt horrible, I felt weak, alone and hurt, and I knew very well what was in front of me. The flaming wreckage of steel and carbon fiber that once were cars in the middle of a highway.

Looking at my hands with fingers still showing shallow cuts and blood only confirmed my fears. This was my worst nightmare come true. This was my human body.
> The Land of Darkness and Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 04: The Land of Darkness and Fire

The intensity of the fires going on in the middle of the highway were more than enough to serve as a pseudo campfire, one that had been started on blood and suffering; just looking at it, the young man that had almost forgotten the sensation of his extremities and different anatomy was sure that he had already lived through this moment.

Just trying to close his hands were enough to make him want to shout and curl into a ball to survive it; he was sure that at least one of the fingers was broken. It was an odd sensation; he realized not too long ago when he knew what movements to avoid in the near future. Also, he had to be sincere in this, it felt strangely cathartic to feel something like that after having no fingers and legs, but something was even more important than having the bizarre experience of being back into his original body.

It was simple, why was he even in his original body?

Last thing he knew he had been on his bed as Celly after tucking his little sister, of course, after having one of the best parties in the last century, sadly it wasn’t cider season yet or it could have been even funnier, he was still wanting to know how would Twilight behave under the effects of that surprisingly effective beverage.

“If this is the reward that I have after all the things that I have done for Equestria, then there is something very wrong with the universe and I will have to find the responsible for this, I’m pretty sure they don’t know how hot the Sun can be but I’m going to teach the guilty party in all this the real temperature in a very close field study!” the young man almost shouted, not that there was anyone that was listening to him considering  that the two cars had been totaled.

“How the hell am I outside? I’m pretty sure I was being crushed under the other car, not thrown aside like this, at least I think that’s what happened, all these centuries can do a thing to your memory… oh please, don’t tell me all this was just a dream? That will be the most cliché thing in the book,” he said with a half-smile at his own joke.

Now that he had at least got back his breath and in much more control of his hurt limbs he got into his feet. It was an odd feeling, being biped after so long, but it was like a bicycle. With that out of the way he was ready to see if there was anything he could do, but there was no phone or anything in his pockets, odd, both that he remembered what he had to have in that moment and that there wasn’t anything; not even his wallet and ids.

“I don’t think I hit myself that hard to lose all my things… I still remember I had my phone with me, it wasn’t the newest, but at least I had my own… weird that I can remember that, I guess I’m going native again, not that I forgot things, I still remember I dressed like the pony version of Alice Cooper for Twilight’s first Hallowtide Night… or did I?” Now his mind was working against him, that was enough to shake his head, there more important things to do now, like trying to see what the hell happened and if there were other survivors “please, if I got out of there like this, I’m pretty sure SHE got out of all this with barely a scratch, I swear she could be an Apple with that kind of muscle she has,” but before he could even take a step there came the magic sound followed by blue and red.

Never in his life had he felt so happy to see a police car appear in front of him, but in this case it was more than needed; now the paramedics and firefighters could appear to solve these entire problems.

Turning off the siren, the policeman got out of the vehicle, weird, he could remember that most police cars had two officers in them or maybe it was just his mind filled with too much internet and television.

“Oh my God, kid, are you alright?” gulping back his words he simply smiled and nodded, he didn’t want to give a police officer his own sarcastic comment, this time he was a mere human being, not a powerful alicorn in charge of a whole kingdom.

“I feel my body is broken in several parts, but beyond that I’m okay,'' okay, yes, he had to say that or he would feel worse. How could he say something like that even if something as horrible as human death happened not even a hundred feet from him? Maybe because he was still in shock after not only surviving but coming back to the human world, it was causing chaos in his head.

The police officer didn’t even bat an eye at his response, maybe he was used to people saying that to him, some cop thing maybe. He only nodded and said something to his radio, meanwhile the former alicorn was trying to get to grips with all of this. If it had been a dream after almost dying, then he had to take a long look at all this and go on with his life, but if it wasn’t… then he hoped Celestia was back on the chair.

If she had no idea of what happened all these years then she was in for a very nice surprise, nothing big, just a student, her sister returned to her glory and a world that was used to their leader being goofy and mysterious, hopefully they didn’t think she was a copy. THAT would be ironic.

Just as he was imagining Celestia’s face a certain click caught his attention, just like the glint of flames on the barrel of a handgun that had been released from its holster and a resounding gunshot that pierced the night.

And he stood there, his hand raised and the bullet levitating in the air after stealing all the kinetic energy from the projectile. A spell he had used several times before and that had saved his life 239 years ago when he was on a visit in Saddle Arabia.

“You are a monster!” the police officer said, raising once again his gun after being surprised about the freak’s ability to stop the bullet in midair.

“No, this is Patrick!” he said, throwing a small sleep spell at the officer not wanting to deal once again with bullets; he had barely reacted with the first one. The officer felt as if he was a puppet that had his strings cut “alright… that was new… change of plans, run like the wind bullseye!” he said quickly turning around and unlike his words he barely walked away due to his own injuries “okay, this sucks, that’s official, so it would be nice to know why a freaking police officer would want to kill me, I mean, yeah, cops DO have bad reputations back home but this is ridiculous… unless… maybe I’m not in my own dimension? Sun and moon I hope that’s not the case, but I have my magical powers, cool as long as I don’t become Sailor Sun or something like that… cosmos, I just imagined Luna as Sailor Moon, not the time now brain, if I come back home I’ll make her cosplay but later!” First he had to know what was going on while he got out of the highway and started to walk among the trees, slowly getting deeper into the woods; it wasn’t the first time he had suddenly gone camping in the wilderness, but not in this situation before.

“So, let’s see what is going on,” he said resting for a minute against a tree several minutes later “I find myself in the middle of a forest, I think, I’m back home or maybe not and a crazy policeman almost killed me, alright, a normal weekend then,” he said, the sarcasm heavy on his voice.

This was not the night he was expecting after finally helping save Luna “so since I still have my powers maybe this is not my original dimension… but the circumstances are still too similar, only probably the theory of Bullet Point can explain this, but I don’t see where the energy needed for that tarquial beacon of her hypothesis could be reunited, I don’t think I could create that kind of container in my sleep. Besides, if I was in the human world with enough magic in the environment to create spells I’m pretty sure my skin and hair would look different,” he said looking at his slightly tanned skin and he was pretty sure his hair was not a multicolored mess, so Sunset’s home was out of the question.

Remembering Sunset he felt that slight worry come back to him; it had been close to 6 months since Sunset’s last letter, she seemed to be having everything under control on her side, specially the Twilight of the other side of the mirror much to Sunset’s embarrassment… he missed her old student but they usually had so little time to get together due to their own responsibilities “If my time in Equestria wasn’t a simple dream, then I’m sure that I will find you again Sunset, then you better have a good excuse for not sending your letter, no fair for you to worry me like this.”

He said finally getting up and walking again, besides, he still had more important things to finish, among them the reason why he still had his abilities but all the squishiness of his normal human body, the blood on his several cuts was still running… and thinking on that made him stop in the middle of his step.

Why weren’t his cuts hurting him anymore? And also, blood hasn't stopped flowing, at least he must have felt a little lightheaded by now, but these things didn’t add up, just like everything else. By all purposes he shouldn’t even be here, well, he should have been in Equestria, but that was due to energies out of the scale, so why now? It was almost like... like a dre…

Lights appeared everywhere at once, policemen with their guns ready and pointing at him, he was trapped.

“Police, get on your knees, you are surrounded,” He rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, because that wasn’t obvious by now you blockhead!” he said obviously not withholding his tongue now that he knew what was going on “besides, you haven’t even told me for what I am being wanted, with all of you here it seems you were after a president killer… or the music police after Beyoncé,” he said finally getting warm enough.

“Shoot to kill!” The guy that seemed to be in control of the whole spectacle screamed while bullets and rifles fired at him, all of them becoming dust when they touched his own shield, a smirk on his face showing how entertaining this was “he is a monster!”

“Well, I am not alone in that department, right my dear?” he said with his grin growing by the second while the sergeant, by the looks of his uniform and badge, was getting angrier.

“I don’t care what you say; you will be brought down for all the murders you commit.”

“Now murders, really, that is news to me, so who did I kill?Thousands of people? Did I start shooting in the crowd? Are you trying to make me the new Hitler or something like that? Although I’m sure you have no idea of what I am talking about… you are not human… Tartarus, you are probably not even a pony,” he said, making the rest of the officers blink in surprise and the sergeant flinch.

“Sir… what is he talking about?”

“He is only trying to confuse your mind, shoot him now!” the sergeant said more than agitated while shooting himself, of course he would, if he still had bullets on his own revolver.

“Surprised? Guess you aren’t very good with handguns, but I’m pretty sure you have never seen weapons like this before, after all, it has been a thousand years since you were in the dream world, right?... Nightmare?” Celly said with a huge grin on his face making the creature roar in anger, his form twisting in an inhuman form while the rest of the officers disappeared.

“You… you are more resilient than most creatures, it has been so long since my prey was this stubborn, but no matter what, your magic and body will release me and my vengeance will be complete.”

“Oh Tartarus, you are even worse now, but really, what were you thinking? You got bitch slapped in the face by a rainbow, how was the taste by the way? But after being drained of all your energy here you are back again!”

“You are but a mere foundation for my return creature, I don’t know what kind of monstrosity you are, but your words and jests will not matter in the end when I steal your body.”

“Is that it? Really? You don’t even know who I am? Was it just convenient? And monstrosity, really, does that make you the kettle or the pot? Because dude, they won’t let you compete in an ugly contest, you have an unfair advantage… you make me laugh, first you get into my dreams not knowing what the hell was going on, I’m pretty sure you just followed Luna but since she was purified you cannot even get close to her without turning into nothing, so let me guess, you picked the first thing you could sense, seriously, your luck has really run out.”

“Shut up, you are nothing compared to me, I am the Night, I am the terror!” The mass of energy was now nothing more than a cloud of black mist and its voice showed its anger.

“Yeah, the terror that flaps in the night, really, you have so little energy that you won’t even be able to scare the residents of Ponyville’s Retirement House,” his words seemed to make the Nightmare angrier, just like he wanted “but seriously, you just did an incredibly stupid thing, so let me inform you of what will happen.”

“You do not give me orders creature, I am your owner now,” It said trying to hold Celly with black tendrils, it was going to immerse him into the worst nightmares to gain his powers and finally destroy Celestia, but the moment it got close it was unable to move due to chains made out of pure light pining it, they hurt it, it was like being burnt alive by the sun itself, he could only see images between the strange creature and him.

“Now, please, settle down, I just want to teach you what happened in the past… you are not the first nor the last that has tried to conquer MY world,” different ponies, monsters, sirens, changelings and more creatures appeared as if they were summoned, but they were nothing more than images created from light “Black Brain, Captain Starburst, Doctor Drizzle, Queen Majestic, The Order, Roaring Horn, there have been oh so many… but tell me, who stopped them all?” and image after image showed these monsters be defeated time and time again by one mare, one alicorn, one goofy and crazy alicorn that never stopped fighting and like that, the human stepped through that image with a smile that threatened to split his face in half.

“Hello,” the human said with politeness “my name is Celestial Radiance, but you can call me Celly,” the nightmare recoiled at the name, its tendrils shaking, its mass convulsing trying to escape from its bonds, but the magic hurt and didn’t let it move “you did a very, very stupid thing my dear…basically… you screwed up… I’ve been waiting for this moment for long time; you see, I’m not like Celestia, I am Celly, she may have tried to help you, maybe just imprison you like she did to other criminals, all in the hope of seeing them being reformed,” as he kept talking, the chains began to tighten up, the sky began to change, a small sliver of light appearing on the horizon.

As it kept on happening, the Nightmare cloud tried to escape, to destroy the chains, but it was impossible, it was trapped and it knew what was going on.

“Mercy! You are not a killer!”

“I don’t like to kill, that is true, but you are not going to stop, not now, not ever, you are a predator that feeds on the fear and suffering of others and that will never change, so really, I think I’m doing a favor to all existence when I say this,” Celly then began to float upwards, his hair moving with an ethereal wind and changing color, his body began to morph, and soon she was ready to deliver the final words “here comes the sun,” was all said before the night was vanquished, light appearing on the horizon and magical energies poured over the fields making the Nightmare cloud squeal and scream, convulsing into itself as the light of the magical sun began to burn it away.

The human Celestia smiled at herself, enjoying the peace and quiet after vanquishing that terror, her body completely healed now after regaining all control on her dream “well, that was nice… I love a good reference,” she said before the world began to fade.

“That was a good job... Celly” that voice made her turn around, but in the middle of waking up she could barely make a hazy figure close to her and before waking up she was truly at peace.

She opened her eyes, once again back on her alicorn body, nothing more than a battle in her dreams, the nightmare defeated and it won’t be a problem for some time, but that wasn’t important.

Getting up from the bed she opened the doors of her balcony, looking at the calm night Celly relaxed knowing that happy days followed. Of course, she still had a lot of work; just like helping a little sister get used to modern life, finding what happened to Sunset and… finding out that woman in her dreams, or better said, that princess in her dreams.

“Oh, once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more… nah, Shakespeare is too serious… How did Oddball put it? Oh yes, woof woof woof , that’s my other dog impression,” Celly said while she raised the sun like she has done for the last 3 centuries, but maybe she won’t have to for long, all the while she kept whistling an old song, one about soldiers in a war, with full insanity and gold at the end, it felt quite fitting.
> The Land of Concerts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5: The Land of Concerts

At the beginning of everything, there is always nothing. Only space and silence exist… no sound, no heat, no nothing. A big ball of emptiness really, which obviously makes it very boring, I mean, there is really nothing to see or to talk about, there’s not even light that will work, which makes the day to day a very boring experience.

But I’m taking too long… so like I said, there was nothing in the world, just a big emptiness that was a very bad thing for life considering that life needed things and emptiness wasn’t a thing, imagine a bowl of cereal with no cereal on it, just milk… no, well, almost similar, you know what? Just forget the analogy, I can never nail those for some reason, but no matter, there was no life in the universe, until one second… it was finally morning.

A beautiful morning that blew the darkness away for a time and darkness was intrigued, what could have defeated him in just a moment? And when darkness saw who created morning he felt in love in an instant, a match made in perfection, for she was the fires of life and creation, the perfect soulmate for the void and sleep… and from that union was born the first immortal, the only immortal, a white alicorn with fiery red hair as her mother and the mind of her father, she was creator of all, shaper of pony kind and protector of life, the patron of curiosity and imagination, she was the All-Mother of Equestria… Faust.

And she is the mother of the body I currently live in, not that there is any fear of repercussions, I mean, that mare doesn’t even call to say hello or ask how things are going, would it hurt if she came for a cup of tea at least to check out existence? I would think not, but of course, some things are harder to have; take for instance, one time I wanted to have a Chocolate Museum made from actual chocolate, of course there were a million things that didn’t let me make it a reality, sadly no Pinkie Pie back then so it was just an ephemeral dream.

Going back to Faust, why did I just go and remember the whole story about the All-Mother? I don’t know, I’m in a weird mood today, having to fight in the dreamscape takes a toll on you even if you win so don’t expect me all lucid right now, not that I am, believe me, sometimes I’m even worse. 

There’s not much in the list, I mean, I just made morning appear which is cool. I had breakfast alongside Luna; she was really interested in the tea set for some reason, maybe because it is made in blue and silver… yes, that's the regular tea set, it was not for this special occasion specifically, I always take tea in the blue and silver set. 

First thing I did when I was good enough to walk and use magic was to get rid of that ridiculous orange tea pot that Celestia used, I mean, it was really horrendous, the only reason she had it was because the color was in vogue at the time, no sentimental reasons, she used it because it was the fashion of that year, do you have any idea of the horror of realizing Celestia was a fashion victim? Enough to make you shiver.

So what else was for breakfast? Great bagels with cream cheese, also fresh milk and apple juice, can never start the day without those two… oatmeal? Do I look like a horse to you?... sorry, old joke, but seriously, I despise that thing, every time I see it I think I am Oliver Twist asking for more.

Besides food, what else? Luna is still chronically tired, she was in stasis on the moon, never really conscious but enough for her body to still be tired and weak, so a lot of sleep and bed time were prescribed, so no picnics, concerts, dinners and parties… I still feel a little guilty, here I am taking care of Luna, having her at my side and Celestia is not here to enjoy it, that would break my heart if it weren’t for the battle last night.

Really, what else could it be? Of course, that woman’s voice was distorted and there is not much in clues or evidence to say it is her but there can be nopony else but Celestia in my head, unless is something completely out of left field and leaves everypony stumped, very low chance of that I believe, also, why left field? Why not Right field… never made much sense.

So, what is new? Beautiful day, perfect weather according to the pegasi schedule that was brought to me a week ago in preparation for the Summer Sun, good breakfast, good company and a bright future can leave you with a smile on your face, so with all that I bid adieu to my usual retinue and decided it was good enough time to visit somepony that I feel I have left unattended for a while. 

After making sure that Luna was resting in her room and that Raven would get to work on the report of Clean Vault… and will not spend the rest of her day ogling at the new maids, I was ready to do something that I enjoy, walk on broad light with none knowing that it is me.

-----

 So, how do you hide an alicorn that towers over every single pony in the city? You hide it in plain sight, making it look like any other unicorn, a simple resizing charm mixed with an illusion spell that has been a salvation for Celly for several decades now.

Looking at the windows’ reflection, Celly checked her pink hair once more to see that everything was in order; being satisfied with how she looked she once again started to walk in the direction of the Grand Concert Hall of Canterlot, one of her favorite places to simply relax.

With another happy sight she quickly got inside the cavernous building full of red velvet, acoustic halls and calm environment. 

This was the feeling she needed after so many events and trouble in the court, something that would get her mind out of problems and what ifs for a while, the angelic sound of a cello in the hooves of a dear friend.

-----

“So is Princess Luna alright?” the earth pony asked before taking a long sip of her coffee, sometimes the black gold was the only thing that made it possible for her to survive long practices. On the other side of the table was the white unicorn; once the disguised princess had offered to bring coffee from the castle to their reunions but the small shop’s merchandise was the only thing that could hit the spot for Octavia.

“Beyond the obvious side effects like being really tired she is perfect, although maybe that crazy party at Ponyville had something to do with it.”

“Please tell me that Pinkie didn’t go overboard this time?”

“She was on her best behavior… although that is like saying I was on my best behavior at a formal party,” Celly’s grin was the only answer that she had for Octavia’s glare at those words.

“I swear that’s one of the reasons why I don’t go to Ponyville… is she doing okay with the Cakes?” she asked, almost sounding insecure.

“She is fine, she is having the best time of her life every day; she found out her calling, just like you did, just like Limestone, Marble and Maud did, you don’t need to feel bad,” by this time it felt like a script, but Octavia still felt those thought nag at her.

“Yes, I know, I just wish I could find enough time to visit Pinkie… and extra days to rest after returning, I swear, that mare gets more hyperactive with the years, she is worse than a filly,” she said shaking her head making the long hair swish around like a curtain before settling her eyes on the deep abyss of the coffee cup “At least she kept her real name, that sister of mine in the other hand… Photo Finish, really? That’s the best she could come up with?”

“And what about you miss Octavia Philharmonic?”

“Octavia Onix Pie may sound normal compared to my dear cousin Pinkamena, but in my job? Not really, besides, everypony changes their names when they start working in the music or movie industry; would I like to change my name back? Sure, but I think I am a little bit late to do that considering most people know me like that.”

“It is never too late, those that love you and cherish your friendship won’t care either way.”

“Thanks, I needed to hear that” said the gray mare. It was weird, here she was talking face to face with the now co-ruler of Equestria but like always, she made it seem as if it was the most normal thing, she still remembered how she freaked out when she found out that her fan was none other than Princess Celestia, she was sure Celly still had the picture of her face.

“No prob dear, that’s what I am here for.”

“So, changing the topic, what are you planning to do now? I mean, you got back your sister; your number one student is now living alongside my cousin (All-Maker, preserve her sanity), so now what?”

“I don’t know, I mean, I still have to get in contact with Sunset… but beyond that? I’m just living day by day; the only thing that seems even remotely interesting is the Great Galloping Gala.”

“Is Blueblood in charge of the preparations? Please tell me it is him.”

“Of course he is, when it comes to high class parties he is the first to start the preparations, sometimes even months in advance, I learned my lesson of trying to give that responsibility to someone else.”

“Thank Celestia… right… forgot who I was talking with, anyway, he is the only one that makes those things bearable, especially when no one knows when the next prank will hit.”

“I know, I’m so proud of Bluey… this year looks like a quiet one Octavia, nothing out of the ordinary will happen.”

-----

Somewhere outside of time and space, pages and books traveled through the air before landing in their exact place, just like the white alicorn wished for; paintings, drawings, letters and stories were meticulously cataloged, rejected and studied before being sent to their places like every day.

The tall alicorn seemed to work like a machine, not one second seemed to be wasted in her job, and not even her blinking was out of rhythm or out of schedule... which made the next second be a complete anomaly in the record books.

A lone scroll had been next to be cataloged, inside two names together, something that caught her attention and made her talk for the first time in what seemed eons.

“Celestia… and Celly… my child, what did you get yourself into this time,” the tall and regal alicorn stopped her work, a first in a long time “maybe I should prepare a visit… it has been such a long time since I was needed in Equestria… the Journey will be required,” the alicorn said in a clear voice before turning to see a small cube made of sapphires in one stand.
> The Land of the Family
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The scribbling noises made by the quality quill was like music to her ears, every single brush and dip in the inkwell represented progress and Raven loved nothing more than progress… well, almost nothing more, she thought with a little smile on her face.

Of course, right now her amount of work had augmented due to the return of the diarchy, so now she had to do all the paperwork needed, not only to make Princess Luna a legal citizen again of the Kingdom of Equestria, but also to reinstate her to the throne in a smooth transition to the parliament from having one princess at the top to having two now.

Also things like royal alimony, expenses, doctor checks, psychologists and many other things were needed and there was no pony that could deal with that in a better way than Raven according to Princess Celestia; that alone made her feel pride in her work.

With that in mind she went back to the paperwork that for others would seem boring as Tartarus, but Raven found enjoyment in the simplicity and logic of it, sadly her work was interrupted when from the floor a huge pink sphere appeared from a secret compartment and sirens started to blaze accompanied by pink lights.

“Oh no… oh no… she is back…. SHE IS BACK EVERYPONY! PINK ALERT! I REPEAT, PINK ALERT! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! MAY FAUST HAVE MERCY UPON OUR SOULS! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!” The screams of Raven and the alarms were more than enough to make every single maid and soldier in the castle scream alongside her.

Just a normal day in Canterlot Castle.

06: The Land of the Family

A creaking door at the right hours can do a lot for the imagination, it can create the image of somepony being there when there wasn’t supposed to be somepony there; as patron of the night Princess Luna was more than used to the ideas that brought the night terrors and nightmares, she had to if she wanted to protect ponies from them.

But at 2 PM if the clock in her room was right, the only thing that made the creek of the door do was to make the inhabitants of it focus on her, making Luna feel more than a little awkward.

Fortunately she had the right door this time, only her sister and what appeared to be an aide; the first door she had tried was the guard’s training room, then a meeting room, next a room full with balloons and a bizarre pool full of multicolored balls made of a strangely plush material. It had taken all the Princess-like decorum she had not to jump immediately into it.

But finally, there she was, awake and in the company of her older sister who simply grinned and waved her foreleg around to show how happy she was to see her… at least that’s what it seemed like; so far the white alicorn have showed a bizarre side and mannerisms that have astounded her. Gone was the rigid and almost stoic princess that she remembered, the sister that at all times showed an almost unbreakable mask of royalty and power, never flinching or smiling.

It was hard to really talk with Celestia those last years before her banishment, both of them always busy with one thing or another, always going into discussions and arguing about the minuscule things but at least it seemed that now things would be different… how different exactly? That’s what scared her considering the rambunctious way in which Celestia seemed to behave, but after all, 1000 years are a long time.

“Hey Luna! Good morning! Well, more like good afternoon but the same meaning, well, I think, well, maybe, well, not all the time, Kibitz, does it have the same meaning?” The old pony at her sister’s side slightly rolled his eyes without even losing his composure as if he was already used to the idiosyncrasies happening around him, Luna was almost jealous of his aplomb.

“In this case it is your highnesses; in case our dear monarch of the sun hasn't said a thing, allow me to introduce myself, I am Kibitz, pony in charge of scheduling and all affairs that happen in the castle… and morning clock alarm for the aforementioned monarch.”

“Sadly it doesn’t come with a snooze button.”

“If it existed, then I am sure you will ‘snooze’ as you said, until the next ice age your highness,” he said and Luna had to contain her desire to start giggling at the bantering between her sister and her aid; it was obvious that the two had already perfected their answers like an old show “anyway, I welcome you to Canterlot Castle, if you need any help or have any question pertaining the day to day happening of the castle I’ll be here to answer them,” one thing had to be said, when it came to ponies that seemed to be perfect for the job, Kibitz was the one that took the price.

She was ready to answer when a sudden noise put her ready to defend herself… not that she had much power to do that considering her height and magical reserves. From the ceiling a pink orb descended while alarms resounded on the castle much to her surprise.

“WHAT IS HAPPENING SISTER? ART WE BEING ATTACKED BY THE ENEMIES OF EQUESTRIA?” for some reason, the Royal Canterlot Voice seemed to be strong enough to even dwarf the pink alarm currently issued around the castle, but while Luna was ready to strike down any invader both Celestia and Kibitz were looking at the spectacle outside of the room with a stony expression.

Getting under control at least for now, Luna blinked at the way those two were so calm, maybe Celestia already had a plan and that’s why she didn’t seem worried? It would not be out of the question concerning her.

“No matter how many times I see it… it is still outstanding the ways our little ponies can go completely bunkers in a second… still entertaining though,” she said watching the madness that had arrived at the castle while Luna seemed to be developing a tic on her left eye. Ponies were running on their hind legs and shaking their hooves in the air while screaming like maniacs, a soldier was currently running on the ceiling, another one was shaking a book in his hoof.

“I told you it would happen! I told you it would happen! She foretold it!” he said and Luna had to focus on what the book said.

“The visions of Madame Cloudy Ball?” she said questioning the veracity of such a book.

“She got lucky once when she said that a wild snow storm would appear a couple of centuries ago, and suddenly everybody thought she could see the future, I’m pretty sure she ate mushrooms from the Everfree Forest to get those ‘visions’ of her,” her sister said using her hooves to make quotation marks it seemed.

“You didn’t help making ponies believe that some of those ‘visions’ happened, your highness.”

“You gotta admit the whipped cream dragon was a hilarious sight,” she answered back with an impish grin on her muzzle. While they talked the insanity continued when a guard suddenly ran inside the small office and began to scream while running in circles.

“The memories! They haunt me! I don’t want to go through that experience again! I don’t want to die!” he said before throwing himself through one of the windows making Luna’s jaw hit the floor, mind boggled at what kind of terror this alarm signaled an arrival of, what kind of monster or nightmare could summon this type of mass pandemonium?

“… sometimes I wish they weren’t so skittish about everything, I need to talk with Shining Armor about the current quality of guards, really, doing all this because of her?!” Now Luna was beyond confused and worried, if soldiers couldn’t stop this menace and they were trying to escape their impending doom then that meant that only Celestia and she could do something.

“Soldiers! Do not fret! Do not panic! We are the few and proud! We are guards of Canterlot Castle! We will… OH FAUST SHE IS HERE! AHHH!” And just like that the doors opened up while soldiers were sent flying into the office and once more Luna had no words beyond looking at what… or who was now standing with such an impossibly huge grin on her face. None other than an impressively pink alicorn that was now running in the same place as if she had way too much energy and couldn’t contain herself.

This?

This was the great impending doom? A pink alicorn? A PINK ALICORN!?

“Hey Cadence,” Her sister said, obviously not even worried at what was going on.

“WHEREISSHEWHEREISSHEWHEREISSHEWHEREISSHEWHEREISSHE?” The pink pony constantly said while the white alicorn pointed with one of her hooves at the dark blue princess before she was tackled by a pink bulldozer “IS YOU! Oh, how I have been waiting for this moment! I have a new aunty! I have a new aunty!” Luna was sure it was still day, so why then could she see the stars dancing in front of her eyes at the moment?

“Cadence, you won’t have a new aunty for long if you don’t let her breathe,” she heard her sister talk and suddenly the pressure evaporated and Luna took a much needed breath of air.

“Sorry, it was just that I am so excited! Oh, look at you! Aunty Luna, you look so adorable!” The pink pony seemed to be having fun at her expense but the world still seemed to be moving in circles around her so there wasn’t much that could be done.

“Help,” was the only word that Luna could say in this dangerous situation.

---

Fortunately order had been restored, or at least as much as it could considering the terror that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza had unleashed into the dwellers of Canterlot Castle without noticing.

“Do you feel better now Luna?” Celestia asked to a still scowling alicorn while they all enjoyed a late breakfast/early lunch while a red faced Cadence was giving her all attention to her own cup of tea.

“We still feel as if our moon had decided to roll over us several times, but beyond that we are fine,” she said in the most deadpan voice she could muster, making Cadence get redder if that was possible.

“I’m so sorry aunty; I do tend to get excited about things, so knowing that I had an extra aunt now really made me go full power on this.”

“Again with that word, Aunt. Dear sister, have thou been courting stallions to create a strong bloodline?” It was a good thing Celly hasn’t started drinking tea, because she would have spit it out like a cannon due to those words.

“Cadence is not of our direct blood, she was chosen by Equestria to be a new alicorn and after that I decided to adopt her as my niece so she will be part of the royal family… and no… no stallion has ever been in the royal quarters in that way Luna, don’t start fantasizing.”

“Wait, what? Fantasizing? Sister! We would never do something as low as that!” the answer she got were polite chuckles from the other alicorns “oh… was that perhaps a joke? It seems that we have some difficulty understanding the art of smiles of this time.”

“Well, you are now free aunty,” again with that word, maybe one day she will get used to that sound “you have a whole new world to discover, new places, new magic, new friends! Imagine all the ponies you will get to meet!” It was obvious that Cadence was a very excitable pony, her energy made Luna almost forget that she was supposed to be angry at the youngest Alicorn, but it was hard, oh so hard to not smile in the presence of so much sugar.

“If only that would be so easy, we fear that the current generation will receive us in the same way as a millennium ago, especially considering our past deeds as Nightmare Moon.”

“Past deeds? What are you talking about? Everypony knows that you let yourself be possessed so the elements of harmony could affect the Nightmare, you are still a hero to this day,” Celestia’s smile grew more as Luna’s eyebrows reached height enough to be comical.

“What kind of story, pray tell, are thou saying? Yes, we were corrupted by the Nightmare, but hailed as a hero and not the villain? What is the madness our niece is spouting about sister?”

“Is like Cadence says, let’s just say that being the only living pony in the world that saw the event did some things to paint her sister in a more benevolent role… the world has been waiting for a thousand years to celebrate the return of one of their most written about heroines,” Celly had been waiting for close to 250 years since she started to change the story, the payoff seemed to be more than worth the time. One of the many things she had done was trying to change the public opinion of her sister. Like hell Luna had to come back to a world that only thought of her as a villain, that’s why she had spent so much time and different plans to change that and it seemed that it had worked.

“Sis… sister… did thou were the architect of all that… for me?”

“Of that and a hundred more little sister, never doubt that,” Celly said while hugging her sister while Cadence smiled at the scene in front of her, love in all forms had to be cherished and nothing made her happier than occasions like this.

“So, we have the whole family together… or almost,” Cadence said remembering a certain red and gold colored unicorn so far away but quickly dispelled her worries, Sunset was a resourceful girl, Cadence was sure she was okay “what do you say we celebrate this occasion?”

“Celebrate? Again? But what about thou work? How can Equestria work without their leaders?”

“Luna… this week was declared national holidays to celebrate your return, there is not many things to do and most of them can be done by the congress, that’s why they exist, so don’t worry, we can finally spend time together and I can tell you what happened while you were… indisposed… yeah, let’s go with that.”

“Are thou sure sister? Well… I suppose it will be alright then” Cadence seemed to be almost literally shaking with excitement and the three quickly finished their own meals and got ready to walk around in peace… or the closest to it “Although… we still do have a question pertaining to our niece.”

“Yes Luna?”

“Why did the whole castle panic at her arrival? Sure, her strength is comparable to old warriors of the Coliseum, but why so much fear?” she asked seriously confused about it while Celly and Cadence simply turned to each other with identical grins.

“Well, let’s just say that most workers here have not forgotten last Hearts and Hooves day.”

“Oh so many new pairings created! So much love shared! So many chocolates and candies… I swear I don’t remember half of that day due to so much sugar,” Cadence said still with foggy memories of that debacle. 

“We… see, that does explain much, but why does everypony start acting as if the sun and the moon themselves would disappear from the horizon?”

“Weelllll… you see, me and Cadence enjoy a little bit of fun and craziness.”

“And we tend to do a little bit of insanity,” Cadence said and the next moment the music started to sound, the classical musical moment had started in Equestria once more.

We’re cutey, we’re toony
We’re both a little loony

Both started to sing in a duet, each of them being at her sides.

And just for our Moony
We make dreams reality!

Both took her and put her on a chair while they continued singing.

With comic dispenser
We crack up all the haters

Cadence put a weird book full of images on Luna's hooves showing two stylized versions of both Cadence and Celly in a stage with fireworks and dancers; meanwhile Celly threw out of the window a sign of forbidden.

On alicorn adventures
Get a dose of comedy

And here is the castle
It’s a whole wide world apart
Our home sweet home, it stands alone
A modern work of art

Celly pulled down a map showing how big Equestria right now was, before pulling another one showing their current home, Canterlot castle while a strangely cheery sun, with a big smile and eyes nonetheless, was on the sky in the photo.

The scripts were rejected
Expect the unexpected

Luna jumped in surprise when a pink pony appeared from inside a bowl full of cookies without explanation just to sing that last line.

On alicorn adventures
It’s about to start

To say that the situation had turned into the surreal was saying the obvious for the completely overwhelmed alicorn, but the tune was catchy and upbeat and she found herself moving her head with the rhythm and smiling without even noticing.

We’re furry, we’re funny
We are Caddy and Celly Looney

Both her sister and her niece presented themselves again with the addition of big signs with their names on them above them.

Kibitz has a schedule fully

The old unicorn didn’t even blink when he was introduced; he just adjusted his small glasses and continued his work.

And Raven is a perv

Cadence pulled from somewhere a full mirror that showed Raven looking at the destruction of Cadence’s path not too long ago while ponies were fixing it, as if she had heard them she turned into the mirror’s view.

“Wait... what?!”

 With Rarity and AJ
Rainbow’s a little lazy
Spike is unlucky
And Pinkie’s quite insane

At each name the respective pony and dragon was shown, Applejack working, Rarity looking at a mirror, Rainbow Dash sleeping on a cloud and Spike the dragon falling down from a ladder after trying to put a book. Finally Pinkie appeared alongside Celly and Cadence at the side of the mirror wearing goofy glasses with spirals in them and a party horn in her mouth.

We’re cutey, we’re toony
We’re both a little loony
Is Alicorn’s Adventures
Come and join the fun.

And now our song is done.

“Yay! Encore, encore!” the pink pony with the puffed up mane said jumping up and down.

“Hi Pinkie, sorry but it was fun to do it once, doing it again so soon makes it less funny,” Celly answered back as if Pinkie appeared from an impossible location was a daily occurrence, after seeing everything that had transpired maybe that was the case.

“Who is your friend aunty?”

“Cadence, let me present to you the current holder of the element of laughter, Pinkamina Diane Pie.”

“But all my friends call me Pinkie, so, are you an alicorn too? Oh my Celestia, we are both pink! Are we family? I mean, none of my sisters are pink but it is so cool to meet another pink pony,” Cadence let the hyperactive pony keep talking with an amused smile in her face, once again the perfect image of royalty.

“You okay Luna?” turning to see her sister Luna was finally capable of relaxing after so many surprises together.

“We… do believe so sister… is every day as crazy as this one?”

“Not really… sometimes is worse,” Celly said to her in a whisper as if it was a big secret making Luna giggle at her big sister's antics, feeling a warm fire in her chest, something that she hadn’t felt in such a long time, happiness.

“Hey, I got an idea, why don’t you go to Ponyville? That way I can introduce you to all my friends! Well, that kind of already happened with last night’s party”

“Wait, isn’t Ponyville where Twilight lives now?”

“Yes”

“Can we go aunty? Please? I want to see her after so long,” Cadence’s patented puppy dog eyes were too much for the diarchy of Equestria and with their destination chosen the four were soon traveling in the direction of the small town.

“Sister… we still do have a question”

“Yes Luna?”

“How did the pink one appear on the bowl of cookies? Is not she an earth pony?”

“Luna, one thing I understood pretty fast, and now I give you this piece of knowledge, never, ever try to understand a Pie, it is impossible.”

“We are clear on that sister.”
> The Land of the Rising Sunset part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was not only a special day; this was the most important day for Sunset Shimmer in her whole life. This was the day where she would finally get her deepest desire and find out after all this time the secret that was hiding behind those doors.
She would find out what Donut Joe’s Zap Apple Frosted Donuts finally tasted like today.

Those rainbow colored apples were something of a national treasure after being found by almost accident in the terrible and creepy Everfree Forest. Really, a little of magic-free spaces and most ponies will start screaming as if the end of the world was coming, mind you, most of the times it seemed like it with weird ponies popping out now and then, but seriously, everypony made a ruckus out of a free butterfly. 

Of course, the Everfree Forest wasn’t the only place in the whole planet that worked outside of the rules of normal rules; there were the twin obsidian towers on the border with the Zebrican territories and they were beautiful. Sunset still remembered the sight of Princess Celestia working on that sunrise and how awe inspiring it looked, obviously not just for Sunset but for the leaders of the different Zebrica tribes. Thankfully it worked and the rest of the reunion was a complete success, now the Zebrica tribes were coming closer to having a true central government for the first time in 500 years.

Not only does magic-free environments (in the sense of not having to be guided constantly by pony magic all the time, as if it were a little colt that wanted to buy a new and shiny toy but his mother was dragging him out of the store) are terrifying and amazing at the same time but in the process of existing they did something even better, created things that were so good for others that it was well worth the risk of getting your own body parts gnawed by an angry beast like a nice pancake stack in the royal buffet room.

And the little pieces of nirvana called zap apples were worth that risk according to the Princess so today she had been prepared, waking up an hour earlier than usual and walking to the central hub of news and gossip better known as coffee shops and restaurants. For Sunset it was also the entertainment center especially when a so called ‘royalty’ member decided to get on her nerves. Last time one particularly bigheaded member of the bourgeoisie hinted that the biggest position Sunset would be able to hold in the social hierarchy would be under the sheets of his bedroom... it didn’t end up well for him. 

The end results of said words were a rather messy and funny conclusion, at least in the eyes of Sunset and it had ended with Blueblood asking Sunset to explain how exactly two liters of tartar sauce, a parrot, a guard’s spear and a professional camera ended up being used in her retaliation, not to mention the two and a half miles of hose required for the complete plan and the proper uses for deep body cleaning.
Leaving those happy memories behind Sunset quickly arrived at the counter of Joe’s Donuts and looked at the delicacies presented to her, a veritable cornucopia of flavors and colors that had gained popularity among all inhabitants of Canterlot.

Placing one hand under her chin she started to check the list of current donut variations in her now trademarked thinking position as Rarity once had said to her.

“Miss Sunset?” the employee said while arching an eyebrow on his face, he was currently placing more donuts on a tray with help of pliers and magic, meanwhile Sunset took an empty tray to put her selection of donuts in with her hands before quickly recognizing something wrong about the whole situation, she had hands.

“This can’t be right”

“Miss Shimmer!” the now incongruous female voice coming out of the stallion’s mouth was the last thing she needed to realize something important.

“Great, I felt asleep” quickly the jarring sensation of being ejected into a world full of sensations assaulted Sunset before opening her eyes into the scrutinizing sight of Miss Harshwhinny looking at her with the same look she gave Rainbow Dash every single time “yes miss?”

“Would you be so kind to tell us the answer of the last question I asked the classroom?” holding her arms right under her rather prominent bust, although she never even used cleavage or anything of that sort, gave Miss Harshwhinny a rather intimidating look.

Sunset quickly searched in her memories the last point she remembered from the classroom, did a couple of additions with a quick glance to the clock and having knowledge of the speed in which the teacher in this specific topic gave the class and considering how much she gushed (in her no-nonsense voice of course) about this it was at the end an easy answer… well, for her.

“The summer Olympics of 1988 were hosted by South Korea, they were the Olympic Games number 24, it started on September 17 and the closing ceremony was October 2” she said much to the shock of the rest of the classroom which were expecting an epic tongue lashing from the infamous teacher and instead there was a soft smile on the older woman’s face clearly satisfied with the answer.

“Well done Miss Shimmer, it seems that asleep you are capable of learning more than other students even when they are full of energy drinks” with that Miss Harshwhinny went on with her class while Sunset smirked.

Yep. She was THAT good.

-----

So, with that whole deal of almost being impaled by a very pointy looking stake by the most ruthless and heartless teacher in the whole universe, at least according to Rainbow Dash, although one couldn’t really trust her tirades when she believed that x-games where the next best thing since oxygen. Not saying that x-games where bad, Sunset just didn’t give a quarter of a dollar about them, she was fine with other sports but that was not the point. The point was that she was free of danger for today, although something had to be done for her now chronic disease known as fall-asleep-almost-everywhere-this-last-few-days… Sunset would probably have to find a better name, she was starting to use the kind of speak found in specimens like Pinkie Pie.

These last few nights had been quite worrying, not just because they were plotting into destroying any kind of good sleep she might want to have for the rest of the century no matter how much that specific plot was apparently working. At night she was lucky if she had maybe an hour of sleep before being rudely awakened by her own subconscious. Miss Harshwhinny’s class was a nice respite but Sunset wasn’t counting on more.

No, the most horrible thing about the last few weeks was the very intriguing show her brain was putting for her in the land of dreaming. 
It was like being in a theater (or the cinema considering her current home) and she was planning on seeing a nice comedy or maybe a cartoon but instead finding out that you have made the wrong turn and instead of laughter a movie by Stanley Kubrick was starting; sadly for Sunset, it was that bizarre, the only thing that she had been able to remember from weird night experience it was something about a silver box.

Sunset could be many things, cocky, the most powerful unicorn back home, an incredibly hot looking teenager and a very humble friend but stupid, nope, she wasn’t. Having a dream that more or less was repeating itself could only mean two things: one, she was going insane or two, she was having a premonition, and for her own sake she was praying for the second.

So what to do? Was this the reason why Celestia had shown her the mirror and practically pointed in the direction before making Sunset’s bags and a nice lunch, before sending her into another dimension with intention of learning everything she could about this world and find out if there was anything magical left behind, considering that it was Starswirl the Bearded favorite dumping ground for everything he deemed dangerous?

To say that Sunset was more than a little curious and ready to embark in her own adventure was like saying that Applejack had passing interest in tending to apple trees, Sunset was pretty sure she had squealed when asked to do it, but now she wasn’t all sure about the decision, especially with the broken communication between worlds, another thing that she had to look into. 

But first, there was something that called for her attention at this moment, which was in the presence of a nice, timid girl with pink hair that was right now fidgeting and trying to do something, apparently calling the attention of a pair of lovebirds that were flirting while making sickly sweet eyes at each other,  once again Thunderlane and Cloudkicker with their little romantic games and as if it was prerequisite, it had to be done in front of Fluttershy’s locket and like always the girl was too scared of her own shadow and too nice to even consider raising the voice beyond the sound of a munchkin to tell them what they were doing.

Thankfully it was all quickly resolved by Sunset with a quick cleaning of her throat and a sound slap behind Thunderlane’s head when that didn’t work either, the end result making him almost fall forward while Cloudkicker began to laugh at the spectacle; with a tired sigh at the shenanigans in which she seemed to be perpetually chained, Sunset threw a quick look at the shy flower known by all as Fluttershy and the look of sincere thanks while shyly hiding behind her long flowing pink hair was something that could make a person survive hypothermia with how warm it made you feel.

Quickly recovering from the adorableness she quickly found her way to her own locker finding a certain someone already at her side with that same knowing half smile that the fashionista was known to use when she saw those kinds of scenes.

“That Fluttershy, so nice and beautiful as silk… sadly with the same kind of backbone as the fabric but is good to know that there is a knight with shining armor ready to defend her honor, well, more like a rebel with a shimmering Harley” the fashionista said while Sunset knew she was imagining the scene on her head, right now she was fighting a losing battle against the facepalm.

“Are you done for now Rarity?” The gold and crimson haired unicorn turned teenager said before opening her locker to get another book, this one of Biology, another class that was quite interesting considering the differences between worlds.

“My dear Sunset, sorry for making just a little fun of it, but you have to admit that it is quite entertaining to see how much you look out after poor Fluttershy”

“I don’t look after her, it is just easier to deal with those things quickly than let Rainbow get involved, my eardrums are still healing after your squeal from meeting Sapphire Shores” at this Rarity also opened her locker to retrieve a hairbrush from it to give some touches to her perfectly curled hair.

“I did not squeal, I was just, vocalizing my joy after meeting such a big star and I don’t need to be an expert to know you are not entirely honest”

“Is nothing major, is just… well, Fluttershy reminds me of someone back home” Sunset said without mentioning that said home was a parallel dimension that instead of humans had ponies, zebras, gryphons, dragons and all kind of mythical creatures in it. And it was true, seeing such a quiet, shy girl made her remember the day she had met Twilight and how shy and demure she was before the studying and craziness that was being Celestia’s student began. Sun and moon, that little filly was simply too adorable those days.

“And here I was thinking that maybe you were starting to fancy our dear flower, wouldn’t that be such a nice story?”

“Really? Rarity, I’m not interested in Fluttershy that way, why are you trying so hard in trying to pair me with her?”

“Well, I still believe that you two would be a lovely pairing, although the other reason is that you have to admit that our nice little pond that is Canterlot High seems to lack much in the sense of excitement or hot topics to talk about, not since last time that everyone thought that Rainbow Dash had the ‘hots’ for Applejack. Poor girl had a hard time convincing that it wasn’t true”

“What’s with everyone thinking that just because she has rainbow hair she is about to join a gay parade? Everyone in this school is crazy!”

“I know, poor girl was crazy for Applejack’s cousin at the time, it was good that all those talks ended quickly”

“It was good that you cut that rumor fast enough”

“Well my dear, I may be the supreme fashionista and the number one news girl of the school but a lie like that I will never tolerate” That Rarity, if it was a lie that would hurt someone she was going to fight it with teeth and nails and good luck on the poor soul that tried to stop her. Now she understood Celestia’s view on friendship, they didn’t made you an easier target, they made you tougher like a diamond, especially if that diamond was Rarity “Also something that I could never tolerate would be bags under the eyes, which you darling seem to be developing, is something the matter?”

“Nah, just… dreams I suppose, nothing to worry about… AHH!” Sunset was about to close her own locker before something made her almost jump out of her skin in surprise, making Rarity almost drop her hairbrush in surprise.

“Sunset! Are you alright? Are those bags looking as bad as I thought?”

“No, no… it was… for a moment I thought there was something looking at me from the mirror” said mirror had been one of the first gifts that Rarity had gave her, especially made to fit her locker door and like all gifts that Sunset had received she had put to use.

“Something in the mirror? I believe you are more tired than I thought, I would suggest you to take a breather and rest, maybe you could take the rest of the day to sleep a bit, with your grades I’m pretty sure the teachers will understand” Rarity said quickly getting to Sunset’s side and placing a hand on her shoulder looking as worried as when Sweetie Belle had caught the flu last month.

“Yeah… yeah, maybe you are right, maybe I need to rest” and she definitely needed that rest, because apparently she was now seeing ponies looking at her through the mirror, more specifically, a red haired white alicorn, how crazy was that?

-----

(In the other world, at somewhere that was not Canterlot or Ponyville)

If you had told me that I would be right now trying to drink peacefully a very nice cup of tea in the company of a rather scared and worried young gryphon of name Gilda while waiting for our generous hostess to see if she was trying to help us or secretly murder us I would have told you in response that I have been through stranger things, hello, human here? I have been a female alicorn princess for close to 300 years, believe me, craziness was my middle name, no, wait, I don’t have a middle name, forget I said that.

So, in returning to our current location and predicament, isn’t that a funny story?

Well, most crazy adventures and great comedies usually start that way, isn’t that a funny story?

But in this case everything started with a golden ticket Willy Wonka style better known as the Grand Galloping Gala ticket and from there everything just became weirder and weirder. After all this I should probably get in contact with Twilight Velvet, this deserves to be put into ink.

So, while I try to see where this whole reunion will lead to why don’t we go back to the beginning of why in the name of the sun we are right now in the land of the rising sunset… weird name for a place, right?

> The Land of the Rising Sunset Part 02
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you asked Rainbow dash what was the best feeling in the world, her answer would be taking a long nap on top of a cloud after doing your job to perfection. One day she would love to say that it was the day she made it into the wonderbolts, but that would be in the future, for now Rainbow could take a breather and get comfortable in her fluffy and cool cloud and enjoy a moment of silence and peace.

“Hey Rainbow Dash!” if only it were that simple, but no, leave it to one Pinkamina Diane Pie to break that perfect moment.

Looking from the edge of her cloud Rainbow quickly found the owner of the voice, it was very hard not to notice the pony that screamed considering she was completely pink.

“What is it Pinkie Pie?” since they had found the elements of harmony and gained a new addition to the town, Pinkie Pie decided that they were now very close friends, not that Rainbow could see herself more time than it was necessary in the company of someone as prissy as Rarity or as annoying like Pinkie. 

Fluttershy could be her childhood friend but she could only take the silence and awkwardness that came with trying to talk with the yellow pegasus; Applejack was okay if she needed a challenge but not to spend a lot of time talking to her and Twilight… she was an egghead, that she wasn’t afraid going into an adventure was one thing but she was a books mare to the core.

“Hey Dashie!” Oh how she hated that nickname, it wasn’t enough that she had to listen to her mother say it constantly when she was a little filly, now she also had to listen others say it, this was definitely pushing all the wrong buttons “I just wanted to know if you wanted to help me with a couple of pranks that I prepared” the pink pony said with a huge smile that the rainbow haired pegasus was sure it was physically impossible due to how wide it was, but well, Pinkie being Pinkie.

“Wait, pranks? You even know how to prank ponies?” Rainbow said with an eyebrow arched that would make Applejack proud.

“Well, duh, of course I know, I’ve been pranking since I was a little wittle Pinkie Pie filly, I have researched the art of pranking almost as much as the art of partying” she said with a completely serious demeanor, it was almost scary.

“Pfft, you, knowing how to prank? I’ll believe that when I see it”

“Really? Wanna make a bet Rainbow?”

“Sure, how 'bout this? If you are capable of pranking me I will wear one of Rarity’s frilly dresses, htta good enough for ya?” to even say something like that it meant that Rainbow had no doubt in her head that it would be an easy gamble to win, she was after all an expert in pranking, she could even smell one coming so there was no way Pinkie Pie could get her… and what was that noise coming from? It sounded like a mosquito, but it was growing stronger as if it where… something getting closer.

“rrrrrRRRRRRAINBOW DASH!” oh damn… this was going to hurt, was the last thing that passed through Rainbow’s mind before the force of a storm impacted against her sending her into the floor in a cloud of dust. Pinkie in the meanwhile stood smiling in her place while her mane and tail flew around with the force of the impact.

Once Rainbow could blink away the stars in her eyes she finally found out the culprit of that tackle, none other than a friend she didn’t thought she would see in her town.

“Wait... what? Gilda? What the hell are you doing here?” the face on the gryphon was one she wasn’t used to see, fear and worry all at the same time, and that was enough for Rainbow to also be worried.

“Rainbow, I need your help, I need you to… why do you have talcum powder in your coat?” Rainbow quickly took a look at her usual cyan colored coat just to see that half of it was now completely white, but why? It was as if the cloud she was napping a moment ago was made of… talcum. Looking at her left she saw that Pinkie was still smiling.

“You clever girl” Rainbow could only say at how not-so-innocent Pinkie looked now, that should teach her to open her muzzle.

-----

The smell of wood, paper and ink filtering through the air, the slight breeze from the window, the sight of books put in order on the walls, one quick on his feet drake serving tea and a little purple unicorn about to start hyperventilating.

It means that I did it! The world is safe and everything is right in the world!

Well, almost.

Because everything was screwed up to the limit, really, here I am still Celestia, Luna is back and Twilight living in Ponyville and still the real owner of this body is gone and lost who knows where and the only clue I had was a shadow in my dreams.

Good thing you don’t need to breathe to make a rant in your head.

Either way, things were starting to start… did I really just say? Things had been in movement since the moment I arrived here, but now this… feels important for some reason, maybe because now is Twilight who will be in the middle of it.

If I remember correctly this year nothing out of the ordinary happens, no serious opponents or eldritch abominations suddenly appearing out of nowhere (RKO!)… sorry, couldn’t resist.

“This is the perfect place, don’t you think so Luna?” I said with my soothing smile, or royal smile as Raven use to say, at my side Luna was enjoying the cup of chamomile tea that Spike prepared for us.

“I must say, the place is quaint and full of knowledge, perfect for one of your apprentices, thou can surely find the most appropriate places dear sister” I really have to do something about that speech, if she continues talking like that it will stop being cute and will get annoying at one point.

“I suppose, but now you have a new place to continue your studies Twilight, how do you feel about that?” Start with something small or she will start to panic.

“Oh, is… great, really, I mean… uh… I guess… ugh”

“Twilight”

“Yes princess?” I put a hoof on Twilight’s mane, the royal golden shoes back in Canterlot.

“Is me, you don’t need to be like that with me, remember?” Twilight can be so cute when she goes into overdrive or panic mode, but right now I just want to spend some time with Twy, now that I won’t be able to see her every day.

“I… you are right princess, I’m sorry, is just that everything is so new, I guess Spike and I are barely starting to get used to this new place, not to mention a new way of life… but I’m happy too, there is a new form of magic waiting for me, the elements, friendship, all of that is so new and… so wonderful” I swear… my little Twilight can’t be this cute!

“That’s good to know, changes can always be scary, but they sometimes bring us the greatest things in our lives, so don’t be afraid and remember that you have your new friends with you, I’m sure they will love to make you feel better”

“You are right, thank you princess”

“The way you both behave is as if a mother were watching thy daughter open her wings and fly away from home”

“I believe it is a little bit of that too Luna” the nice idyllic moment had to be broken, this time in the way of the library door being opened by two figures, one was Rainbow and the other… that can’t be “Gilda?”

“Princess! Please, you need to help me! If you don’t do something, Gryphon Spire will declare war on the world!” Well… there goes my idea of a calm year.

> The Land of the Rising Sunset Part 03
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you know what the worst thing about wearing a mask is? I don’t mean the ones you use when you go to a carnival or whenever Halloween comes close. I mean the mask that you have to put every day for fear of what could happen if someone sees the real you; or maybe the mask that I had to put on my face when I realized what I have become and what was needed of me.

I couldn’t leave them alone, couldn’t leave them live by themselves. Ponykind doesn’t work like mankind and to my shame I have to say that I would prefer them to be braver, but they are apathetic in so many cases, even more than the human masses. Ponies are lethargic, easily spooked and too many times they hesitate and balk at the choice of fighting or running, opting for the last.

I’m not ashamed of them, they are after all a race that offers a hoof of friendship, whenever they are not too scared of the unknown, but sometimes I wish they could be braver, more like Sunset than the average Joe in the streets. This would be a lot easier if that were the case.

If they weren’t so nice, then other races and idiots wouldn’t be so stupid to think about war or raids against ponykind. Is it maybe that I cuddle them too much, or that they are sure of the power of their monarchs and powers. I suppose when you are ruled by the very being that controls the sun that orbits around the planet, well, it is a huge bargaining chip, except in those cases when the other side is too stupid to back down.

God, if you exist, please, don’t let this be one of those times. I say that to myself as I keep watching the clock in my hooves, watching the minutes go by and thinking about how the world has changed and shifted from the ideal and idyllic land that we all saw safe behind the screen. We all thought that the land was perfect and in many ways it is, but people forget that Equestria hides darkness like no other, darkness that I had to battle alone time and time again.

My companion is barely a chick, just old enough to live by herself and is this young little gryphon that came to give us the news. It is bizarre since the only time I saw her she was a rather abrasive chick and so close of becoming just another bully. I never had the chance to see if she ever got some episode to redeem herself, so what has been changed in this timeline? What else I have changed?

“You are too quiet, something the matter? I’m not going to do the cat got your tongue pun so please, before I am forced to do that, talk to me.”

“How can you be so calm?! I just told you that my kingdom wants to enter a war with yours! What’s wrong with you?!”

“My dear Gilda, you have no idea about that last one and it will take too long to tell you exactly what’s going on with me, besides, this is not my first rodeo against someone trying to destroy my home, nor will be the last considering all the crazy things thrown at us,” some of the things I could say to Gilda will probably leave her brain completely destroyed, not that she will believe half of it.

To think that I left a tea party with Twilight to fix this; although I could have send Twilight and her friends to fix it. Nah, I’m not Celestia, I am the Fake Sun.

If there is a problem I will be the one to fix it. I think that’s the only thing I can do for now, until the day I can return home.

I don’t know why, but something tells me that things are being pushed to the point I will have to find Celestia, the real Celestia.

Maybe that was what I heard in that dream, or at least a part of her. I just wish there would be some kind of hint to guide me to her. You hear that whatever piece of Celestia I have in my head? You better help me in this thing because like hell I will let you sleep while I do all the work. I could have went on and on, trying to get any kind of answer from my head, which sounds crazy or at least crazier than I usually am; but there was something different at the window of my floating carriage. The mountains are beautiful this time of the years and there’s serious changes form the last time I was here; no more are they bare and the cities filthy and almost crumbling. Now there were factories rising across the peaks and gryphons milling around working hard on things. Weird, this has been quite the change and way too fast; when did Gryphon Spire industrialized?

“So Gilda, tell me, what made you look for me? What made you so afraid?”

“I… I saw the change in my people; the higher ups have been pushing for factories and they’ve been blaming ponies for all the hardships we’ve had over the years. Bunch of bullshit if you ask me; we were too busy fighting among each other and over every single gold coin. There is something happening and I could only think of you Princess Celestia.”

“Really? Why’s that?”

“Because there is a saying in Gryphon Spire; Hope rides alone, and it has a white coat,” well, with that kind of recommendation, who am I to let Gilda wanting? So, shall we? Let’s find out what is all this mystery and maybe, just maybe, let’s find the real sun.

For now at least, is time for a good pony to go to war.
> The Land of the Forgotten
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My steps feel heavy for a reason, as if something was beginning to drag me down all the time, but that is only my imagination as I kept on watching the world around me. The mountains being strip mined for resources and one could say that it is the sign of progress, but what you may see at first may not be the truth. I have seen many things like that before and this is no different. To get all this metal and minerals they must have workers working all the time.

“How long since the city looked like this,” I ask my new companion as we walk across the streets while no gryphon bothers us. I can see their weariness behind their eyes, but more than that, I can see their hunger and desperation; that is a look that I have never seen on my little ponies’ eyes. No matter the hardship, there will always be food for all, rest for all and justice for all. I’ve spend years across the planet trying to repair the damage from wars, draughts and monsters. To see my work undone like this? There is no joke that can lift the darkness that has settled in this city, but you can bet everything you have that I will mock the living daylights of the guilty ones.

“It has been getting worse the last two months; first they opened new mines and brought new jobs. What a joke, gryphons don’t belong inside a mine, we belong in the sky!” This was definitely a sore topic for Gilda because as she basically screamed and as she did that several gryphons avoided her eyes; maybe ashamed of what they have done? This is definitely bizarre and something to think about. I knew that gryphons were really proud, maybe not to the extreme of Yaks, but to considering working as miners a huge offense? Something to be ashamed of? This is definitely bizarre. It feels almost like whenever necromancy is brought on a conversation with a unicorn, or the idea of being capable of doing spells by an earth pony.

“And these mines? Who controls them? The crown?”

“Nah, the crown is basically a puppet now; everything is being controlled by a new company. Some fluffed gryphons just came one day and began to sell us the idea of gold and power. Every gryphon went crazy with the idea of getting gold, they all signed contracts. Idiots never read the damn paper, now we are in trouble,” even when having a beak instead of a mouth or snout, it doesn’t deter on a gryphon’s ability to show their emotions. It is painful to talk about the problems that have in the city; like a good gryphon, Gilda is proud and showing weakness to another species must be killing her. I like that of gryphons, the pride that is, guess I find it refreshing after spending so much time with ponykind. In a way it reminds me of mankind and their pride on everything they discovered and build.

“But when I see the gryphons living here, I don’t see that amazing wealth they promised.”

“There are gold and steel, coal and many other things, but is not for us; they are all getting richer and richer, the ones that control the mines eat and scheme, while we all stay down here and work to our last breath.”

“Let me guess, no one really read the contracts?”

“They never saw the fine print, they all just went into the dark with a pickaxe and only got crumbs as the fluffed gryphons pocketed everything; then others came and build furnaces, then others came to build factories, one after another,” that Gilda not only used the word fluff, not once, but twice, was serious. To call a gryphon fluffed or anything similar was a great offense; if I remember correctly from my studies about gryphons, there have been duels to the death and even several clan wars after uttering that word in public. But beyond that, there is something even darker at work here; that gryphons first came with information about mines and then little by little more arrived to start purifying the minerals and then build what must be war stuff? This is a larger operation for sure.

“What’s the crown been doing all this time? No one is doing something?”

“Who will do it? They became a union and simply bought the crown with the money they started mining! They even bought the guards! Now they work as factory security! The fluffed bastards even have the Idol of Boreas in their main office!” Okay, now this was serious; I should have never let them continue their absolute monarchy. It would have been a good idea to push them into the constitutional monarchy way. Stupid Celly! I still have too much trust and faith that the good of the creatures in this world will win. I should know better after the last several centuries.

This is bad, this is beyond bad; whatever these gryphons are planning, things are even worse than I thought at first! Not only they were able to make a plan and organize each other, they were capable of striking fast enough for me not to know, but what’s their plan? They really cannot hope that they will win an open war against me and Equestria. Like I told the nightmare, many have tried, none have ever come close.

No, this may go even beyond war, but what is it that they are looking for? If it is power and money, they already have it here, so what then? Is there something in the mines? Probably, which will also explain how they knew about these underground mines? Gryphons have always been more focused on open veins in the surface, unlike Earth ponies and their love for the underground deposits of crystals and minerals. The Pie family was a master of that department.

Is there some kind of power hidden underneath Griffonstone that I didn’t know? Possible, considering all the dark energy accumulated across the millennia. The wendigos are not the only dark creatures that have been seen in this world. Apparently, as harmony began to spread its touch across the world, pockets of dark energy still existed, strong enough that began to pull energy similar to it.

It was an extremely rare phenomenon that could be counted on one hand, well, if I still had a hand that is. The Gates of Tartarus were summoned due to one of those Dark Nodes as it had been called by several unicorns on my academy. Another brought the Nothing King to life in Equestria before it was destroyed. Those days were nightmares and I cannot believe things like that could be present in this world. What that creature could do was beyond forgiven and I will not waste more time thinking about that… ‘thing’. I have more important things to do, basically save two species before something catastrophically bad happen.

Well, it seems that Gilda and I finally got some attention from the local kingpins, because a group of four guards began to get close to us.

“Halt in the name of the King!” The one that looked like the leader, due to the strip of gold on the side of his beret, said to us as he and the other guards stood in front of us. It was quite interesting considering that the other three were basically dumbstruck while the other was either too drunk on his power or was a moron “what is a cub and two dumb ponies doing in the streets?” Dumb ponies? I took a look at my good helper Kibitz who had stayed behind me and Gilda all this time. It was basically impossible for him to not be on one of my adventures; if I didn’t bring him with me he would suddenly appear out of nowhere. I swear that stallion must have Pinkie somewhere in his family tree.

“Okay, can you please repeat that?”

“What? Not only dumb, but deaf? I said what are you all doing here? Ponies need to have a permit on them at all times! What? Because you have a horn and wings you feel important?” just as he was saying that, he began to poke me with a finger on the chest, right on my pendant -well, it is not called a pendant, but I never remember the official name- and with a voice that shows how much power has gone to his head. As he is doing this, I can see that the other gryphons are now colorless and look more like The Scream by Munch.

“Let me guess, he is new right? So, you really don’t know who I am?” I’m not even mad, this is entertaining for sure.

“I don’t care if you are the Queen of ponies!”

“Fun fact, the senate wanted to give me the title of Empress, but no, I prefer things to be as they are, so I just kept my normal title; you know, Princess Celestia?” As that name was dropped, the gryphon began to rummage on his uniform until he found a small book. After looking for the notes talking about me -because there was no other thing he may be looking for- the gryphon clearly reached the notes about me.

As he kept on reading, his expression changed from haughty to ‘oh shit, I’m screwed’ in record time. What I did, since I’m such a nice person, was to get right into his face with my patented grin.

“Hey, how ya doing?”

“Well, I, I mean-“

“Is okay, I mean, I get no respect I tell ya, no respect at all, it is always like this Gilda, especially in restaurants; last night I went to a restaurant with my sister you know? Everypony is always like that with me” Gilda at this point was too stunned to say anything so she just nodded her head “We ordered a full pizza with breadsticks on the side, then the waiter turned to Luna and asked her what would be HER order, I tell ya, I get no respect,” maybe it was my imagination, but I definitely heard a rim shot somewhere in the city. Just as I told the joke, the guards finally recovered from their and began to battle with a serious attacks of laughter and just as they were laughing I kept on going “but you know in what I get some respect? Pool, there is something on it that makes me a champ and you will not believe the adventures I’ve had, now, let me show you. Kibitz.”

“Yes princess?”

“Break out Lucille,” in a few seconds, a pool cue was soon on my hooves, the irritating guard inside a magical sphere and with a simple hit, it was send against the other guards  sending them all on different directions and inside doors, barrels and such “yeah, I still have the touch, don’tcha think so Gilda?”

“I’m not even going to comment,” and just when I was finally enjoying my trip, the earth beneath us began to shake, making every gryphon take flight. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t react and instead I was hit by a wall of magic. My body and mind were affected by the wall, because instead of standing in four hooves, I was up and about in two legs.

The world around me had shifted and it remained the same. Like a vision of destruction or as if a great cataclysm had been present. It was Griffonstone, but it was destroyed, abandoned, grey and lifeless. It was a husk that no one will remember. Was this the future? The present? A vision?

“Hello Celly,” that voice.

I know that voice.

I just turned around and saw her standing there.

“Celestia?”
> The Land of the Forgotten 02
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was there, but she wasn’t, at least not like I think she should be; I mean, I have seen her on the television when I was still alive and kicking, although, she wasn’t there for most of the episodes I watched. Most importantly, I saw her reflected countless times on the mirror, every single morning she was there; the same smile and poise -most of the time anyways- that showed how regal and powerful she was as the sole ruler of the Kingdom of Equestria.

Well, those were moments when I needed to be serious and those didn’t come very often. Most of the time, it was just me goofing around and making every pony dance on my tune, thankfully a benevolent tune, but I was guilty of manipulation and trickery; I am pretty good at that by this point and if I ever go back to my world, I’ll go straight to hell for all the things that I have done. Ask me if it was worthy.

So, here she was, right in front of me, the one responsible in part of all that has happened and basically the main reason why things are starting to slowly veer off their normal path. Although, technically speaking I was the one that was mostly in charge of all that chaos to begin with, but when you are thrown back hundreds of years before what you saw on TV; well, things tend to get a little bit complicated.

Trying to stand up showed me also a couple of strange things; mostly that my body reacted particularly well, unlike the last time I was thrown back into my old body. Gone were the aches and bloodied limbs that I had the last time I human, or at least a facsimile of one. It was disorienting to feel pain of that magnitude considering there were plenty of muscles I haven’t felt in a long time due to being a quadruped most of the time.

This time, thankfully, it was pain free, just some minor nausea due to being blasted by what could only be magical feedback; believe me, after spending time with some of the finest minds this kingdom can offer, you tend to know something like that very well. So, no blood or broken bones this time around, so that could mean this is not a dream caused by a nightmare or something similar, which is good; last time was shocking and a little painful. Not physical, it was just that being on a place that looked so much like my home back on Earth hurt more than I could imagine.

Looking down at myself, well, I swear I would have been a lot more confused and panicky if it weren’t for the situation I have been thrown for the last three hundred years. You see, it is one thing to be a big pony; sure, I was female and that brought a couple of things to get used to, but beyond some small things, the whole thing of having a completely alien body was bigger than the fact that I was suddenly female.

You see, the whole thing of becoming a mare was dull in comparison to the whole, ‘oh look, you are a pretty pony princess prancing around’, all with sparkles and what not. This is something else compared to that. It is interesting that after so long, there are still things that can surprise me… that’s good.

It may have something to do with being an immortal pony, because my memory hasn’t deteriorated at all since I woke up in Equestria, so that meant that I could recall most of my life as a human being; so this time, it felt a little weirder to stand up with two legs instead of four. Maybe it was the whole thing of me not being able to see my feet due to the size of my… breasts! I swear this is getting stranger by the second.

Since Sunset went to the human world -mostly to see what kind of effects magic has on a magically-void world- I have tried to never step into the mirror. The whole thing of being a couple of steps away from a human body was too tempting, but I quickly arrived at the conclusion that the human body would be of Celestia, not mine; so with that out of the way, I never thought twice about stepping into the mirror, just put several people in charge of fixing the whole closed thing with help of the journal Sunset and I had. This, well, this is not what I signed for; I was supposed to be an immortal alicorn mare that could fly and do magic while searching for the owner of said body, not… whatever the hell I am right now.

My hands were pale, even paler than I used to be as a human being who was mostly tanned due to having friends and family that loved the outdoors; also, living on the coast didn’t really afford you much in the sense of avoiding the sea and sun. This was basically eastern European kind of pale, which kind of tied around with the whole ‘Princess of the Sun’ thingy Celestia had going on. Luna would probably be more Mediterranean probably, not that I could guess much since even the Luna on the other side of the mirror was as dark blue as the young looking alicorn on this side.

Without a mirror I wasn’t quite capable of seeing all the differences that I had, beyond the size of my hands and… other attributes that I obviously had now, but my inspection was cut short when I heard a voice that I usually only heard when I was talking. She was giggling, probably in response of what was going on. Standing in front of me was the whole reason of why I was in this situation. Or maybe not, that would be too easy.

Staring at me was a regal looking woman, wearing a flowing and almost ethereal gown flowing down her body and spilling down the floor. She looked so out of place considering the abandoned and dilapidated remains of Griffonstone. Her hair was flowing on a non-existent wind and she looked like the real deal, just in human form.

In contrast, even though we probably looked the same in terms of body, I was wearing an off-one shoulder long black shirt with the cutiemark of the sun, accompanied by a jacket very similar to the one Sunset has on the other side, but this one was pure white and was definitely not leather. Some jeans and low heeled boots finished the ensemble. Gotta say, this is not the worst thing I have ever been wearing and I do hope Rarity doesn’t know some of those things or she will kill me.

“I take it the clothes reflect our personality?”

“For what I gather, that’s purpose of this space; in a way, it is to reflect not only the personality, but also the experience and demeanor of those that travel into the mind,” the voice was like the same person talking to herself, although thankfully with minor differences.

So here we are, two minds trapped on a place that looks directly taken from Fallout and we are simply talking about clothes and why we are wearing it. I suppose at this point it is clear that very few things can make me lose composure, unless I want to show some kind of joke or humor to make the others hesitate; sometimes, those few seconds are the seconds that I needed to defeat them in the past.

“So, shall we talk about the day? What about the weather we are having? Crazy, right?”

“Celly, I have to say, it is a treat to hear you deal with petty nobles and wannabe villains; you have a very special way of behaving that makes everything look almost effortless when it comes to manipulation.”

“Manipulation is such an ugly word, like kumquat, never quite liked them since that whole travel to the Heaven Gates, it was a nice adventure, but never got the chance to play the tourist there. Anyway, are we going to ignore the part where I am talking to the number one reason of why am I in this problem?!” I never lost my patience, not even when I was a human boy back on Earth, but this was seriously playing with my reserves of patience.

“Celly, you very well know that is not the case; you have been training and studying for this kind of moment before, you know why I’m here,” Celestia -or at least the part of Celestia that I was talking to- said before walking to a wall that had fallen and sat down on the part of it that was still sticking up; crossing one leg over the other, it was clear how elegant this woman was, because there was no way this Celestia was an alicorn, or at least not completely.

“Yeah, that will be too convenient for me; but no, you are not Celestia… or at least, not the whole package. I guess I can be proud of the fact that I am very well versed on everything magical at this point.”

“It helps when you have the greatest minds working for you.”

“And that we are not afraid to hit the books or work our hooves off; so yeah, I’ve been studying a lot, trying to find you or at least understand what the hell happened that night,” I sigh, having to resist the desire to pace around; it was something of a habit that I developed through the years, but the cracked stone street did not look inviting whatsoever. Instead, I looked around the abandoned town, watching its houses and buildings and how, instead of prosperous or at least habitable buildings, now only dark stone and broken glass remained.

“So, what do you think is happening?”

“Don’t try to play the teacher here Celestia, this is not even happening, this is all in my mind; whatever magic explosion occurred, it must have triggered something on our head, pulling you back from the sub conscious, somewhere so deep inside of me that remained sleeping for all these years, only awakened by a combination of something pulling our sub conscious and memories from the locker and whatever energy we were hit with; tell me, am I getting closer?”

“There is a reason why you became the leader of ponies so fast.”

“Nah, mainly because they get scared out of their wits whenever they see a flying feather thinking it is a bee; I’m not even joking, that happened one time and almost caused a riot.”

“Oh dear, seems our little ponies haven’t changed.”

“Ah, ah, she said it, she said it!” with a huge grin of my face and pointing at her, it was clear that Celestia understood what I was doing, because she just rolled her eyes at that.

“Was that reference even necessary? We are in your mind and we are the only two in it,” Would you look at that; I am capable of annoying Celestia too, this is awesome!

“One, because is funny, two, because people and ponies usually tell more stuff when they are annoyed; is an old trick I picked with the years. So, then it is true, we are inside my mind and you are not the true Celestia, or at least, the complete Celestia.”

“Yeah, I am… an image I suppose, an imprint of an old Alicorn that lives inside of someone that is basically a walking pop reference.”

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

“I know.”

“You are doing this just to annoy me, right?”

“Even old dogs can learn new tricks.”

“Did you just call me a bitch?”

“I didn’t say that, you said that.”

“Would you please take this seriously?”

“I am; that doesn’t mean I cannot have some fun with this, still, it was nice to know some part of you survived inside my mind. I guess that explains why I couldn’t really remember much of Celestia, it probably had something to do with you, as in maybe it could just give me so much information because there is not much from where to pull it, and it slowly let me get used to being an Alicorn and magic in general. But that still doesn’t explain why I was pulled inside my mind with you right here.”

“I think you are forgetting the most important thing so far; if I am just a part of Celestia-“

“Then that means there are… other parts? But why wake up now? Why not hundreds of years ago when I was getting used to be Celly?” at this point I just gave up and began to walk back and forth; thankfully, the low heeled boots were rather comfortable so walking was no problem.

“I don’t know, I was asleep, but sometimes I could hear or see something; images and flashes of information, maybe from your past or what is going on with the world right now.”

“So, that’s why you got the reference.”

“Maybe? I don’t know, I don’t think something like this has ever happened before, but I know I feel incomplete, as if I wasn’t myself.”

“Beyond the obvious of having a human body perhaps?”

“Maybe, although that would explain a bit, after all, this is our body now, right? Maybe? This is confusing and neither of us have much experience on something like this; let’s look at this calmly, so far we only know that whatever kind of energy that wave was part of, brought me completely from your sub-conscious into the front.”

“Well, that is obvious, I mean, the only reason it could do that is if it targeted a specific… part of the brain… oh fuck,” was the only thing I could say before the haziness where I have been trapped finally vanished and once more I was on four legs. My body was once more of an Alicorn and at my side, the young griffon was clutching her head, obviously in pain.

That had been a bizarre experience and I am the one that turned from a human, into an alicorn; but whatever kind of mental plane I had, it was related to what was going on and now I had information that was useful to solve all this.

“Gilda, has something like this ever happened before?” shaking her head and sending her feathers flying back and forth with that action, the punk-like griffon recovered quickly, although her eyes looked a little bit less bright this time around.

“Yeah, several times through the last few weeks; they say it is something with a new kind of invention that they are creating, something that will allow the workers work better, but the only thing it does is give me a headache every time. How can anyone get used to something like that?”

“Is easy, it makes you get used to it, that’s the dangerous thing about mind control magic; this one is so subtle that no one would be able to shake it off, since no one would even recognize the effects soon.”

“Wait, what?!”

“Oh Gilda, that’s only the tip of the iceberg, because, if I am right about this, then things will get even more dangerous than ever.”
> The Land of the Forgotten 03
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was… bizarre, to say the least, to walk among these ponies, one that she had visited several times; she had seen the beginnings, she had seen the crisis that fell upon this world, one that she had carefully wrote about, and in all that time, she had always found fascinating they way the little creatures around… Equestria, right? That was the name given to this world.

The way the little creatures around Equestria behaved and acted, entities that enjoyed every day, but the differences were enormous with every single iteration of the world that she had seen, with many having simple problems about misunderstandings, where the biggest threat was not being invited to a party or a cake being burn, not dark forces threatening the very fabric of reality like what the current princess in charge of the government had to deal with across the years.

She had seen them time and time again, in one way or another, but this time she felt… different, yes, it was different in a way, as if this was the world she had envisioned, but at the same time it had been touched, molded by other hooves, as if the form and destiny of such place had been irreversibly changed by an enormous force, and that force felt warm, it was the love of the sun.

The white pony smiled at the feeling she got from the small little town called Ponyville; she had lived a long time and she had grown used to places like this, quaint, relaxed, almost idyllic some may say, what with being so far away from centers of urbanization and stress and work, and movement, this place felt slow in comparison, but instead there was a feeling of joy, of contentment that made her smile and be in awe at what one crazy alicorn mare could build given enough time and passion.

She didn’t ask for directions, she didn’t stop to smell the flowers, or even take a little bite, no matter how yummy they looked, but she wasn’t trotting aimlessly, oh no, she already knew where she needed to be, where her curiosity will be finally sated and in a couple of minutes of lazily walking she got to the place where she needed to be, after all, an alicorn was never late, nor was she early, she arrives when she means to, and she truly meant it this time.

With one unadorned hoof she lightly tapped the wooden door of the local library and waited, after all, she didn’t want to be a bother and just waltz in, the little pony in charge may be the librarian in a way, but she still wanted to be civil.

The door was quickly opened, but not by the pony she was expecting, instead the young dragon opened the door and stood there, completely frozen at seeing her.

“Spike? Who is it?” She heard the voice from deeper in the library, then got closer and closer after not getting any answer “Spike, are you okay? What happe-” and for a second, Twilight Sparkle stood there, gawking before falling over unconscious due to the surprise.

“Was it something I said?” The white alicorn named Faust asked no one specifically, worried at what had happened to the two inhabitants of the library.

-

“Wait, what?” Gilda was definitely not prepared for what the alicorn at her side had just uttered, it came out of nowhere “ woah, hold on, you can’t just say something like that and keep on walking!” Taking to the air, Gilda began to float in front of Celly to stop her in her tracks, meanwhile the alicorn sighed, rolling her eyes, she didn’t need more distractions, she already had one with the piece of Celestia that had been awakened.

“Can we leave that part for later? I need to do something about what is going on, so if you’ll excuse me,” a golden hand appeared in the air due to celly’s magic and with the index and thumb, the hand grabbed Gilda by the scruff of the neck and pulled her aside as if she was a misbehaving cat.

“Hey, it is not fair! At least give me something! You cannot just drop a mountain like that on me, please, this is serious.”

“I know, I’m even using my serious face,” pointing at herself with one hoof, Gilda really couldn’t see if the princess was being serious or just her usual self, but while it may have been heard like a joke, the eyes of the princess were completely focused and there was an intensity that made Gilda shiver; this was probably what most wannabe conquerors saw before being annihilated.

“Okay, I get, just, try to explain a bit, alright?” Celly sighed once more before making the magical hand disappear, Gilda was right, she deserved some answers, or at least some information considering this was her home and these were her people.

“Yes, you are right, you deserve to know, basically what you have been feeling? It is a very dark branch of magic, one that has been monitored strictly by my academy; the more ‘traditional’ forms of mind control magic, let’s put it that way, is very easy to break those enchantments and spells because it is really easy to notice the mind control. Creatures don’t act like themselves, mostly they act like puppets, without much autonomy, but this… this is dark magic of the worse caliber, I don’t know how they have been able to do it, but something tells me that whoever is behind this, well, they got their claws on some very dangerous artifacts,” with that information already given, the princess then began to walk, not in the direction of the mines as they were before, but instead she began to walk in another direction, to the manor and home of the current ruler of Griffonstone.

While it was true that there was no gryphon kingdom anymore, the city states of the griffons still worked together and they all recognized different rulers of the cities, so what had happened in the last few months to become like this? This was beyond bizarre, so she needed answers and what better way than to go directly into the epicenter of it.

“Hold on, are we just going to just walk into the King’s manor?”

“Eeyup.”

“Are you going to pummel anyone that tries to stop you?”

“Eeyup.”

“... can I help?” It was funny how giddy Gilda’s voice became with that answer, so Celly grinned back and nodded.

“Eeyup,” she simply said before continuing the trek across the city, keeping an eye out for the buildings, the people, how they all seemed almost listless, even when they got into the nicer parts of the town they all looked the same, without hope, lifeless and lost, whatever was happening left no one safe.

Finally they reached the doors, but besides a couple of griffons who, admittedly, were way over their heads, everything had been rather easy; Gilda took one of the swords from one of the unconscious guards and kept on walking behind Celestia, ready to start a revolution by herself if it was needed; the combative nature of griffons was always one of the major obstacles for a united Gryphon kingdom, but this time it may be useful.

Reaching the inside of the manor, the trio were ready to start their investigation when they were stopped by another trio, several guards that were getting closer, two griffons and a… unicorn? He had a midnight blue coat and he was wearing the Griffonstone bronze armor of the guard, how was that possible?

“Holy shit dude, that’s Celestia!” The unicorn's words made something inside Celly wince, it was a bizarre voice and an even more bizarre choice of words, for his part, one of the griffons simply rolled his eyes at his companion.

“Man, chill out, she is just an NPC,” excuse me? She was definitely not an NPC and… hold on, what did he say? Looking at the other griffon with darker plumes in search of answers, she only got a shrug of shoulders.

“Hey, you are as lost as me, these two and many others have been talking nonstop about NPCs and skills and hive knows what else, is complete nonsense, I haven’t understood a single word they have been saying,” well, that just made things even more confusing, but the unicorn simply turned to look at the darker gryphon as if he was insane.

“I still don’t know if he is another player or if he is just an AI, but man, is too realistic.”

“The whole thing is, but look, our ‘job’” and at that point the gryphon even used air quotations, wait, Celly was the only one that did quotations around, what is going on? “is to stop creeps and weirdos from getting inside so let’s just take care of Celestia and go back, hell, maybe we could get a level up from it,” it was way too creepy to hear him say that with such glee, but once he took out his sword Celly made him meet face first one of her favorite creations.

The white hammer impacted directly into the face of the gryphon, sending him spiraling into the air before crashing against one of the walls, instantly knocking him out in less than a second, making the unicorn guard stand gawking at the hammer.

“Wait, that’s not fair, since when does Celestia have a weapon!”

“Since I made it myself more than a century ago, do you know how hard it was to synthesize enough Ark Nova Adamantine to create this weapon? Of course you don’t, you probably don’t even know what adamantine is or even what is happening, so start talking buddy or my hammer is going to make you regret even thinking about getting into this world!” The guard was suspended into the air by the force of Celly’s magic.

“Woah, hold on! Dude, aren’t you going to help me or something?” He was clearly talking about the guard at his side, but this one simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

“Why should I? I work for her after all,” and with a snap of his fingers, the disguise fell off, green energy traveled across his body turning the feathers into dark chitin, in a second a dark insect-pony hybrid stood where the gryphon once was.

“Holy shit! You are a changeling? How didn’t we get the option to be a changeling? Besides, aren’t changelings and ponies at war or something like that?”

“At war? What the heck are you talking about? Princess Celestia, please tell me you have an idea of what is going on, because since I infiltrated this garrison all I’ve been hearing is absolute nonsense.”

“He… he thinks this is a game… he thinks this is a video game.”
> The Land of the Forgotten 04
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It shouldn’t be possible, surely this must be a joke or something similar, there was no way that something like this could be happening, because to make such jokes was more her style, to be on the receiving end would be ironic, and it was better to think this was a joke because otherwise it would be even worse… because then she won’t be the only one that jumped dimensions.
 
“You know who I am, but not because you are my subject, so what is your name?” The guard that had been apprehended by Celly kept trying to squirm out of the magical aura of the alicorn, but the difference in power was clear due to not being able to even move.

Meanwhile, Gilda was surprised at seeing a changeling, she knew about them, or at least she had heard about them, they were rather infamous and had been something that she had been told stories about, the classic ones about a changeling taking kids that didn’t behave, something that mothers used to say their kids to keep them under control, but as she grew older she began to learn that not only changelings existed, but that they were really secretive and there were even some changelings that worked as the perfect spies.

Most griffons simply laughed at the idea of insect ponies being capable of infiltrating their home, as if they could do that, well, seeing one in front of her really did make those rumors more believable, she also wondered how many changelings worked for Celly because she had a hunch that this one was not the only one on the field.

As she continued to eye the stoic changeling, Kibitz had taken a long rope from his pack and with expert moves he had the unconscious gryphon completely tied up and his weapons stashed securely on his belt and back, no reason to have something like this being wasted. The older pony had taken a look at both the short sword and dagger from the gryphon guard and was amused at the high quality of the weapons. Griffons were not known for their capabilities as smiths, that honor went to both the deer and the saracens far to the east, so how did the griffons could have created these weapons and gained the technology to do it in such a short time?

“Look, calm down okay? My name is Blue Lights! I am just a simple guard,” it was so obvious how much the young unicorn was trying to lie, but he was so bad at it, his eyes betrayed him and really, celly at this point of time had become a lying detector what with having to deal with diplomats, the court and so many other creatures the last three centuries.

“Nice try, but we both know you are lying to me, so one last chance, what is your name!” pulling the unicorn towards her, Celly glared at him, knowing very well that she was close to the truth, at least of what the heck these two were doing in Equestria.

“Oh shit, you an admin? Of course you would be an admin, why wouldn't you? I mean, considering how powerful Celestia is in the cartoon it is obvious” yep, that just confirmed it, just perfect “that’s my gamer tag too,” she was getting nowhere with this idiot.

“Okay fine, I’ll take your word for it, for now, what is more important right now is, what are you doing in Equestria?”

“Look, I’m just another beta-tester, is my job to check if there is anything wrong and just play along while the admins and developers are doing their own thing,” So there were more, dear Faust there were more like him, not only was him and the unconscious gryphon in here, but also others? This was maddening.

“Yep, that’s what he and the others keep talking about, I swear, all the new guys are making absolutely no sense, is as if they are talking a completely different language, they keep being in awe and saying how realistic everything is, I would have given you that information in my report but, well, you can see how everything is so screwed up out there, I needed to do a couple of other things before I could do that.” 

“Wait, so you are working for Celestia? What about Chrysalis?” the changeling simply leaned his head, clearly confused about what the pony was saying, none of what the unicorn had said made any sense, what was he talking about?

“Who’s Chrysalis?"

“You know, your queen?”

“Are you stupid or just ignorant? Changelings don’t have a queen, we have a consul! Princess Celestia, what is he talking about?”

“I wouldn’t even know where to start with this one, but if you need to know, ask Sweetie Drops.”

“Ah, confidential information, got it, no more questions your highness.”

“Now that we have that under wraps, back to you mister,” after finishing her business with her agent, she bopped the unicorn on the nose, making this one wince a bit “you keep saying that you are a beta tester, that this world is just a game, bla bla bla, why would you say that? Have any proof of it?”

“Ah, yeah, I mean, this project is very hush hush, we even had to sign an NDA contract and all, how the heck this company got permission form Hasbro to create the game, but really, who wouldn’t like to be part of the first full dive MMO game?!” Celly just sighed, she couldn’t believe what he was saying, and sadly, the pieces of the puzzle kept falling into the spaces with every word that the unicorn kept saying.

“Oh boy, so how long have you been, ah, ‘playing’ then?”

“For… about two or three days? At least in this instance, the people that hired us told us that it would only be a couple of hours in the outside world while here it would be, what’s the word?”

“Time dilation?” Celly already had a very bad feeling about all of this.

“Yeah, that one, so how long has your session been since then? Sorry about attacking you, we thought you were an NPC,” the unicorn, Blue Lights seemed a little contrite about it, he didn’t seem like a bad guy, but it was clear that he had really bad luck considering his situation.

“Ah, how do I put this, this world that you think is a video game? Yeah, got some bad news for you and your partner, but you are in Equestria, as in, you know, the real Equestria,” The white alicorn was known around as a goofball, a completely badass and dangerous goofball, but she was known for her relaxed attitude and jokester personality, but that mask wasn’t needed right now, this was so absolutely weird that she needed to be Princess Celestia more than Celly.

“Yeah, nice joke, next you will tell me you are the real Celestia,” the blue unicorn began to laugh before he took a look at all those present in the hall and looking at the completely serious faces he then quieted down “what? Are you insane? This is just a simulation! there is no way I am in Equestria, everybody knows that is just  a cartoon! Look, I even have a status screen! Isn’t that proof enough?” Once he said that he seemed to activate something with a thin bracelet, or at least tried to, before remembering that he was floating on Celly’s golden aura; she nodded and put him on the floor as this one pressed the bracelet with one hoof and a blue screen floated in the air, it was a status screen like those in video games, but something was wrong about it.

“Hey, look, the dog has his personal tag and collar,” Gilda was clearly annoyed by all this, and why wouldn’t she? For all she knew these were simply mercenaries that were living the high life as the rest of her people suffered under their yoke, if only it was that simple, as Blue and Gilda were glaring at each other, Celly focused her magic, she knew something was going on.

“Excuse me if you feel any… discomfort, shall we say.”

“Wait, what?” Without wasting time she fired up her horn, using one of the many medical spells she had learned on one of her many adventures in the past few centuries, Blue Lights began to squirm while Celly kept on going on her scan until she found… something. There was something embedded on the stallion’s head, close to his ear and it was not natural; gripping Blue once more on her magic she began to extirpate the small sphere out of his body in the least painful way possible “okay, this feels weird, this feels so weird!” It was as if his body was made of clay with the way the sphere was brought out of him.

“Okay, I have never seen something like that before, that looked so gross… can you do it again?” No wonder Gilda was a good friend of Dash.

“That is a very ancient medical spell Miss Gilda, not many have the power and control to do it, but those that do are a blessing in the medical field,” Kibitz had seen many ponies in his long tenure as Princess Celestia’s assistant and he had seen very few that could not only use the spell, but have enough control to use it in the field, those ones were always ponies that ended up making enormous contributions in saving lives.

Soon, the sphere came out and poor Blue Lights could only shudder at how strange it had felt, but once he focused once more on what was going on he saw that the small sphere was… transmitting the status screen?

“Wait… what? What is going on?”

“I’m sorry Blue Lights, if that is even your real name, but this is a Theater Beacon, it was developed some time ago,” The blue unicorn kept looking at it, before with one hoof, he lightly touched the bracelet on his foreleg, seeing how the screen turned off and on, it wasn’t possible, this was not possible.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is a very old model, a D6 if I’m not mistaken, they were all the rage when I was just a runt back at the hive,” the changeling got closer to the sphere, quickly recognizing the model due to his years of study.

“You are not wrong, Sprinkles, this is a very old model.”

“Wait, your name is Sprinkles?” Gilda had to contain her desires to roll around the floor laughing at such a dumb name.

“If you were the opponent, wouldn’t you find it utterly humiliating to be defeated and outsmarted by a being called Cupcake Sprinkles?” The changeling agent said with a proud smile on his face and after a few seconds of thinking about it, Gilda did have to admit he was right.

“Okay, that is devious,” while these two kept going back and forth, the blue unicorn was slowly losing his mind, pressing the button over and over, not quite understanding what was going on.

“A what? What is that thing?” Poor Blue Lights couldn’t quite comprehend what was going on at the moment.

“A Theater Beacon is technology that we use these days, newest models are not only capable of saving images, but also several channels of music and information, it is used now mostly as a way to save messages, it has also revolutionized our movie making industry; but this model is old, it has very few functions, like saving just a few screens that you can interact with… I’m sorry Blue, but they were lying to you."

“This… this is not possible, you are wrong, you are just playing a prank on me,” the young stallion was just a notch away from starting to panic, they were just joking, there was no way the alicorn was right “I can prove to you that this is just a game! I am not in Equestria!” Pressing several other places on the bracelet, the fake status screen changed to just one word, the log out screen, but once he pressed the Yes option Celly felt it, a surge of energy coming from the sphere and quickly casted a shield around it.

It was a good thing that she did because as soon as he accepted the option to log out, the sphere began to overcharge and soon bolts of lightning began to appear all across its surface, thankfully all that energy had been absorbed by the shield spell, but what had happened was clear as the morning light.

“What in Tartarus was that? Why did it malfunction in that way?” Sprinkles was curious, that was one of the main traits of changelings, that’s why it made them really effective as agents, but both Celly and Blue were shocked at what had happened.

“That… that was the logout option? Oh god… Oh god! I’m really in Equestria! Those mother fuckers wanted to kill us all!” It wasn’t a logout option, it was a killswitch, what kind of monsters was Celly going against this time?
> The Land of the Forgotten 05
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The last thing Crescent Talon remembered was the blinding light and then, well, a ton of pain being delivered at terminal velocity, he was basically unconscious before even hitting the wall, so first he winced at the pain that he felt on his head, it wasn’t migraine level exactly, but the second thing he did was wince due to the lights and how much they were increasing the first thing, AKA, lights made head hurt.

He couldn’t quite remember what exactly had happened, but his head was throbbing something fierce, but when he tried to put a hand… a talon over his face to rub his sides, he was incapable of rising an arm; quickly blinking away the small spots over his eyes he found himself tied up by slightly glowing golden chains that circled all over his body, basically turning him into a binded mummy.

Quickly looking around himself, Talon was slightly less worried when he saw his friend Blue looking at an odd sphere in the floor, it looked burned out, but that wasn’t that important right now, he just needed some answers right now.

“Ah, can you please explain to me why I am like this?” Whatever Blue was thinking about was soon dispelled when heard the voice, before putting his eye son his old friend, but instead of trotting up to Crescent to help him he only had a look on his eyes that the gryphon recognized after more than a decade of knowing each other, it was the looks Blue always had when he had to give bad news.

“Yeah, I… Princess Celestia and the others thought that it would be a good idea to keep you like that until… until I give you the news,” Blue was looking at everything except at Crescent, so the gryphon knew well that this would not be good.

“Oh god, are we banned?” He had been quickly dispatched by Celestia, that was true, so they had failed their jobs as guards on this trial test, but really, it wasn’t their fault that they found out a boss at this point, they had met some rather obnoxious NPCs before wanting to get inside, but the Princess was something else in terms of power.

“Well, it has something to do with that, hey, Crescent, ah… can you do me a favor? Can you activate your status screen? I think you can reach it,” it was obvious Blue was trying to take as long as he could to explain exactly what was the reason for him to be in chains, but he thankfully had enough movement range on his arms to do that, now if only could Blue help him out of those same chains that would be great.

At the moment one of his claws touched the bracelet on his wrist, a screen appeared, not in front of him, but from another sphere not too far away from where Blue was sitting, this made Crescent curious and then began to turn on and off the screen and the situation just made something in his stomach drop.

“Blue… what the fuck is going on?”

“Yeah, ah… we had that thing in our heads, it transmitted that screen from inside to make it seem like a status screen just to fool us,” while Blue was a very chill guy, the look of complete seriousness and almost contrite was not something he had seen many times in his life, hell, that voice he only used in the most serious of cases, like when he told Crescent that his parents were getting a divorce, or when he broke out with his girlfriend since High School.

“You… you are not saying this thing is fake right? I mean, this is pure VR, crazy things like that can happen, look, we just need to Log Out and find out what is goin-”

“NO! Crescent, do not try that, okay? Look, I already tried to log out, this is what happens,” hs friend pointed at the identical sphere at his side, but that one was completely burned, his confused looks must have been pretty obvious because Blue filled the blanks “that option only makes this stupid thing overload, the Princess explained the principle behind it… basically someone tampered with them and whenever someone tries the log out option they get a fatal shock.”

“Well… fuck,” Crescent simply said before relaxing, that was not the kind of thing he was expecting but… it made sense really, he already had some doubts about what they were doing, but this was the last piece he needed to get that theory and turn it into reality “we got isekai’ed to Equestria, i did not see that coming.”

“Ah, buddy… you are taking this strangely well.”

“Oh no, this is still just the culture shock. You wait till I’ve settled down into the situation and found my bearings. Then I’ll start panicking.”

“Nice, Hitchhiker’s, but really, you are taking it better than I did.”

“Really? How did you react?”

“Gilda had to slap me out of my babbling, it was that bad… so what now?”

“Now? We find the assholes that did this to us and then we kick their collective asses, just get me out of these chains okay?”

As both friends got up they went deeper into the mansion, it was their first time visiting the second floor, usually they just stayed on the ground floor due to the people in charge telling them that the other floor was still in development, well, what a great feeling it was to realize that it all had been a lie. They were looking at things in a new way, slightly overwhelmed at the whole situation.

After a few minutes not knowing where to go, they quickly followed the noise, finding two gryphon guards knocked out in front of two big doors, neither recognized them as ‘beta testers’ so, probably mercenaries? Anyways, they both went into the room. They both then stood in confusion at what they found.

In the middle of the children’s room was Princess Celestia and a very young gryphon chick playing patty cakes?

“Hello, are you my new guards? My old ones took a nap, they must have been very tired,” the chick had white and pink feathers, and the slight slip on the little chick’s speech only made her more adorable in the eyes of both friends.

“Is she like the princess of this place?”

“No, she is Princess, I’m Gloria, daddy and mommy are the… the… is a big word, but cannot remember,” she put a claw over her mouth trying to remember what the grown ups called her parents.

“Miss Gloria’s father is the Seneschal of Griffonstone, apparently that information was omitted in your debrief,” the older pony with glasses said, scaring both friends as he seemed to have come out of nowhere.

“Geez, dude, wear a bell or something, you almost gave me a heart attack,” poor Crescent put a claw over his chest due to the surprise, but unlike him, his friend simply walked up to the alicorn and bowed as best he could.

“Princess Celestia, I… I’m ready to tell you everything that we know about what is going on, please, if you can help the others, I fear we are all caught in one big trap.”

“Go ahead, while you may not be my subject, I will gladly give you my help, so tell me, who is behind this,” and Blue then began to talk, about how the unicorn and the gryphon landed in this world.