> TiM: Cost of Defeat
>  by Twidashforever
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Hope Dashed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Ponyville

 
“C’mon slowpoke, you keep that up and I’ll just leave your flank behind!” Nighttide yelled.
 
Taz looked up at the pegasus, in the light of his mom’s sun she stood out in the worst possible way. Her dark blue body was almost a match for his. She was a dark dot in the sky.
 
He did not care about her coloring, or anything else his other friend had said about her for that matter. Apart from his family, Nighttide was the only friend he had near his age. While it was true that they had gotten off to somewhat of a rocky start, she quickly made up for it. The two had become inseparable over the years. Together, they had sleepovers, went to movies, and he even invited her along on family outings.
 
In the eight years that he had known her, Taz could honestly say he never had more fun with anyone else. Some of his family even started making jokes about them eventually getting married. He wrote that off, Nighttide was a friend. 

He only felt that way about one pony, and she was not the one.
 
“Slow down!” Taz yelled out as the pegasus flew overhead. He knew it was pointless; her favorite game was to tease him with her speed.
 
“Nope! You speed up!” Nighttide said in a singsong voice.
 
Taz smiled, it was always the same with her. He grinned as he ran through the streets of Ponyville. This time… this time he had a small trick up his sleeve. He had been training with his mom for a while now, and it was time to put all that training to use.
 
Concentrating, Taz looked inward. He found the one thing that was uniquely his, his special ability. Twilight told him that before he was even born he had canceled out the majority of her power. That alone made it special. When he was five, he was able to use it in a concentrated area.
 
He had improved since then. He focused this power in a narrow beam and released just the smallest bit. Before, when he cancelled a pony’s magic, it would take a while for it to come back. Now… now he could control it.
 
The invisible beam hit Nighttide square in the chest. It did not cause her any harm per se, but it did cause her to fall several hooves in the air before she could catch herself.
 
“Ahh!” Nighttide shouted at the sudden loss of control of her flight. She quickly caught herself and glared down at the grinning stallion. It was obvious that she had not been expecting that.
 
Taz’s grin became even larger at that realization. Nighttide landed next to him and knocked him over onto the dirt. “You jerk! You didn’t tell me you could do that.”
 
Taz laughed as he pulled her over him. The two rolled down a hill, each toppling end over end. When they made it to the bottom, Nighttide landed on top him, their muzzles inches away from each other. 
 
Taz playfully rolled her to his side when Nighttide tried to close that gap. “What, you expect me to tell you all my secrets?” he said between giggles.

“I tell you all of mine,” Nighttide replied. Her voice carried a dejected tone from his casual dismissal of her advances, advances that only he seemed not to notice. She rolled over and looked at him. “What else are you hiding in that skull of yours?”
 
Taz stopped smiling. “Nothing,” he lied.
 
Nighttide’s face became a frown. “Taz, I thought we were friends?”
 
“We are!”
 
“Then why are you keeping secrets from me?”
 
“I’m….” He tried to deny it again; one look at her face told the young stallion that she had him dead to rights. “It’s complicated. I don’t want to discuss it anymore,” Taz said as he got up, his head downcast. “We should get going; we don’t want to be late, do we?”
 
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Nighttide said as she followed him up the hill. When she looked at him, there was a tightening in her chest that she did not understand.

The two walked in silence from that point on. This should have been a happy day, a day of days for him. Neither of them really felt like smiling.
 
Today was the day he would finally get his cutie mark.
 
Nighttide already had hers. Four years ago, the mare bowled him over one day in excitement of her new mark: A blue lightning bolt with matching fire coming off it.
 
Reproach quickly replaced her excitement. As a memory returned to both of them. “You’ll get yours,” she had told him. “I’ve been trying for two years longer than you and I just got mine.”
 
He had smiled then.
 
That was four years ago.
 
Over the past few months, Taz had become even more of a pest to his family. Taking up Rainbow’s age-old advice to try as many things as he possibly could as quickly as he could. 

Rainbow had paid for that comment, they all had.
 
After the third time Twilight had to rebuild an entire wing of Celestia's Palace, she threw her hooves up in defeat and made him an appointment with the Crusading King.
 
The Crusading King, the title given to Astelan. Astelan was the son of Shining Grove, who had grown up as the daughter of two of the original Cutie Mark Crusaders: Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell. He hated that title. However, just like all such names, once he had it there was no way to get rid of it. He got the nickname because it fit him.

In an ironic turn of events, the Crusading King killed the Cutie Mark Crusaders. There was no need for them anymore, not with him around. Astelan’s special talent was finding the special talent of others. What need was there for foals to run around causing property damage (and personal damage to themselves) when one visit from the Crusading King would ensure that they had their cutie mark? 
 
Needless to say, his schedule was booked solid. Even Princess Twilight had to pull strings in order to get him to see Taz on such short notice. Normally he would work with ponies much younger. However, Taz had wanted to do it himself. 
 
Taz tried, Luna knows he tried, and he had the scars to prove it.
 
When Nighttide looked at him, she saw those scars all too well. The stallion kept his light blue and purple mane long, but it did little to hide the large gash down his side, a result of his second experiment with explosives. His face had more than its fair share of cuts, each and every one a memory, a fun memory at that.
 
“Thank you, thank you for coming with me,” Taz looked back at her, a frown on his face as they approached the Crusading King’s door.
 
Nighttide just smiled a small grin as the two went inside.
 
In truth, she felt honored that he invited her over all the others. Astelan had one rule, when you see him you have to bring your best friend with you. There was a very specific reason for this rule, as it worked ninety-five percent of the time. 

Taz had a close relationship with both Blaze and Flash, the twin sons of Firestar and Radiant Star. Ana, one of the two daughters of Ataxia and Shimmering Night, found every reason she could to be around the stallion. Nighttide actually found herself jealous about that. However she knew that Taz had no interest in his niece, not like that anyway. She shook it off; Taz and Ana’s relationship was more akin to that of an older brother and younger sister. Nothing she felt threatened by.
 
Although she knew he was hiding something, something he had not told anyone. Not even her. That part hurt.
 
Nighttide paused as that realization hit her. ‘It really does hurt me that he doesn’t feel like he can trust me.’
 
 “You coming?” Taz turned and asked her.
 
She looked around, realizing that she had stopped in the entranceway. “Yeah,” Nighttide put on a faux smile and followed him into the room. Right to the Crusading King. 
 
Astelan was a tall stallion, one that almost matched the height of the alicorn princesses. He kept his light-brown mane short. His green eyes matched the carpet in the room.

“Prince Taz, I take it?” The stallion looked at the young colt that entered the room. 

“Just Taz though,” Taz corrected. He hated it when someone called him prince.

“And your friend?” Astelan looked over Taz’s shoulder to the pegasus that stood behind him. 

“Nighttide.”

Astelan bowed to them both. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, both of you. Nighttide, how long have you known your friend here?”

“Eight years!” She said proudly.

“Very good.”

“Mom... mom says you can help me get my cutie mark?”

Astelan just smiled. “It’s what I’m known for. Although, normally I work with ponies much younger than yourself. Tell me, what caused Princess Twilight to schedule you an appointment with me?”

“Well… I….” Taz looked at the ground, sheepishly.

“There was a minor incident involving high explosives and a wing of the palace in Canterlot,” Nighttide covered the question for him, “three times.”

Astelan just laughed at that. “Don’t feel too down, most ponies do manage to find their own special talent, my clients are normally the ones that take it a little too far for their parents liking.”

“Isn’t this like cheating though?” Taz looked at him. “Shouldn’t ponies find that out for themselves?”

Again Astelan laughed. “Let me tell you a secret, there’s no difference. A cutie mark is a cutie mark. I’ve helped so many ponies find their special talent that I couldn’t hope to track them all. Yet, not one of them is any different than any other pony out there.”

“How do you do it though?” Nighttide asked. 

“With but a question,” The Crusading King said with a small grin on his face. 

“Ask away,” Taz said. He knew this would not work, there was no question this pony could ask him that would help him realize his special talent. 

“Oh, the question isn’t for you, it’s for your friend. Nighttide, what would you say is Taz’s one true talent. What can he do better than any other pony out there?”

Taz was taken aback by that. He looked at Nighttide with a shocked expression on his face. Not once did he consider asking her.

Nighttide thought about it. “I guess it’s his special ability to nullify magic.”

The stallion looked at her; he had helped thousands of foals all over Equestria. Astelan had never heard of such a talent, especially from an earth pony. “Come again dear?”

“He can nullify magic,” Nighttide restated. 

Taz just nodded. 

“I’ve… I’ve… I’ve….” Astelan was at a loss for words.

“I’ll show you,” Taz said with a smile on his face. He turned a predatory grin back to Nighttide.

Nighttide just sighed as she started to hover in the air. With light flaps from her wings, she was able to harness the pegasus magic that came natural to all such ponies. However, she kept herself close to the ground, knowing full well what would happen. 

Taz closed his eyes and looked inward. Just like earlier, he found that part of him he needed, the very part that his mom had taught him to lock away and was now teaching him to use. It was as a force inside of him, one he could control now that he had the training.

He used it now, with just a little bit of effort, Taz directed it at the pegasus hovering a few hooves away. The effect was the same as it was earlier. Nighttide fell to her hooves even though her wings were still flapping. 
 
Taz looked back at the other pony in the room. A smile on his face as he said; “See, told you.”

“That’s amazing young stallion. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” Astelan shook his head in an effort to clean out the cobwebs. “I think we now know what your special talent is.”

“No, that’s just… that’s just… that’s my special talent?” Astelan smiled as he saw the look on Taz’s face. That was a look he had come to know all too well. It was so common for ponies to underestimate what they could do. To look at their special talent as nothing more than a common thing that any old pony was good at.

“Wait, then where’s his cutie mark?” Nighttide gestured a hoof at his flank.

It was still blank.

Taz spun around as he tried to look for it. For something that was not there. When he stopped, they both looked at him, inquisitive expressions on their faces.

In truth, Astelan was at a loss for words. He had no doubt that they had found Taz’s one true talent, the thing that should have been his cutie mark. As soon as Taz realized his special talent, it should have appeared. 

It did not.

‘Odd,’ he thought. ‘Time for plan B.’

…………………………………


Celestia's Palace


Ana rolled her eyes again at her grandma's lesson. She did not want to be here, she wanted to be with Taz. He chose her though. ‘Bring your best friend’, and he brought Nighttide. 

Nighttide was his best friend. The one pony that he thought knew him best over any other. That hurt, and that hurt made it hard to care what Twilight was saying at this time. She buried her head in her hooves. Her long, beautiful purple mane fell over her face. Taz and she had always been close, yet the more time he spent with Nighttide the less he spent with her. 

“Ana, are you paying attention?” Twilight paused her lesson to ask the obvious question.

“No,” Ana said aloud.

“Why not?” Twilight was taken aback by that, she knew that Ana was not paying attention; she just had not expected Ana to be so honest about it.

“‘Cause I don't care right now!” Ana shouted the words as she teleported away. 

“Should I go after her?” Starlight asked their mentor. 

Twilight shook her head at the blue unicorn. Starlight had her name from her eyes. Dark blue eyes with white specks that resembled starlight. Even Twilight found that if she starred in those eyes for too long, she would forget just what she was thinking. She looked away before saying, “You know what the problem is, she just needs time,” Twilight smiled. “Besides, I’m sure her mom will distract her from it.

Starlight nodded at that. They both knew that Ana had just teleported to Ataxia’s side. It was one of the first spells she had ever learned. That young mare seemed to have a teleport beacon on Ataxia at all times. Once she made it to her mother, there was no getting her back. After all, Ataxia would never send her daughter away.

……

Ataxia yawned loudly, an over-exaggerated maneuver that was designed to let everyone know that she was sick of this conversation more so than to display that she was tired.

In reality she was both, however, the first one was the more pressing matter at this time.

“Tired babe?” Shimmering night leaned over and placed her hoof on Ataxia’s shoulder, she lightly begun massaging a cramp that appeared there. Ataxia smiled at her, grateful to have someone who understood, well… somewhat understood. In truth, she just hated this, all of this.

Being a princess sucked, having responsibility sucked, having to listen to this drivel day in day out from every pony that though their problems somehow mattered to her sucked. In a word, everything sucked.

Well, almost everything. She had one thing that made everything else worthwhile. The one thing that made this bearable, that made it worth the effort. Her wife.

Ataxia stared into Shimmering Night’s eyes. She could get lost in the purple irises of her wife's eyes. She managed to shake her head clear. “Can we go yet?” 

“Not yet,” Night said with a smile. Ataxia’s faux yawn proved infectious, Night found herself yawning as well. “We gotta deal with the water supply to Manehatten before we go to bed.” 

“We can’t pawn it off on your mom?” Ataxia asked with a smile.

“No, I promised that we would get this done before we called it a day.”

Ataxia groaned loudly. The dignitaries across the table simply cleared their throats. 

“Shut up,” Ataxia said as she glared at them. Earning a light smack across her ass from her wife. 

“Be nice,” Night brought Ataxia’s head down into her lap and kissed her lightly on her horn. “And I’ll make it up to you before we call it a day.”

Ataxia smiled, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Just then a filly teleported right next to the two of them. The action earned a slight jump from the dignitaries across the table and a smile from her parents. “Done already?” Ataxia asked her daughter.

Ana just looked at the two of them. “No,” she admitted. “I just couldn’t take it anymore,” the dejection in her tone told them both that her mood had nothing to do with her morning lessons. 

“Take care of her, I’ll finish up here,” Night whispered to Ataxia.

“I still get my reward, right?” Ataxia asked hopefully.

“Only if she’s happy,” Night said with a smile.

Ataxia gulped at that, she knew what Ana’s problem was. It would be quite the challenge to put a smile on her daughter’s face. 

It was a challenge that she was more than willing to meet. She had a few ideas of how to cheer up her daughter. Of course, these might take a little longer and delay her ‘date’ with Night. For her, for Ana, it was worth it.

“Let’s go do something fun,” Ataxia said to her daughter, the upset unicorn just nodded. She knew her mom would provide a distraction from her thoughts, from the hurt. It was just a question of whether or not it would be enough of a distraction.

………………………………….


Ponyville


Plan B was largely more of the same. The hard part was done; Astelan knew what Taz’s special talent was. It was obvious to the stallion, he knew it in the same way he knew that his coat was black, or that the princesses lowered and raised the moon and sun. 

It was just a matter of getting it out of this stallion, this stallion with an oh so unique talent. One he had never heard of before. One he had never seen before.

For three hours he tried everything he could think of. He put Taz through his paces, having him use it more and more until he was sure it would appear.

It did not.

A thought began forming in his head, an awful thought he could not believe he was even considering. As time went on and the three of them encountered failure after failure. Astelan had no choice but to acknowledge the impossible in a young stallion's impossible talent.

Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.

“Taz.” 

Both Taz and Nighttide turned to him, each of them was dripping in sweat from the day’s exertions. 

“I know why your cutie mark is not coming out,” The Crusading King looked down at that, he had never failed, not once, until today.

“Why?” Nighttide asked.

“It’s your special talent.”

“I know the cutie mark represents my special talent, why isn’t it coming out though?” Taz looked him in the eye as he asked the question.

“No, you misunderstand; your special talent is to nullify magic. Cutie marks are magic,” Astelan said the words, knowing that he was about to deliver heartbreaking news to the stallion. However, he also knew it was the truth. “Cutie marks are magic.”

“What are you saying?” Nighttide asked. Her mind already put the pieces together in her head, but she wanted to deny it. It was too cruel to be true.

Sadly, it was always a possibility that it would, eventually, one day, happen. Regardless how horrible it might be. 

There was no easy way to break the news, and he would not try to sugar coat it. The young stallion deserved to hear the truth, regardless if it will break his heart. “You will never have a cutie mark; your special talent will not allow it. I’m sorry, but what makes you special will not let you have one,” Astelan looked him dead in the eye. He watched as Taz’s heart broke in his eyes.

Taz sat back on his flank. He ran those words over and over in his head. He was trying to make sense of them, trying to make them real. Tears started falling from his eyes. 

He did not even notice when Nighttide wrapped a wing around him. “I’m so sorry,” her voice came out a soothing purr in his ears, as she tried her best to comfort her friend.

It did not work.

Anger began radiating in Taz. “You’re lying,” he spoke through the tears, through the heartbreak. “Everypony has a cutie mark, I’ll get mine, you’ll see.”

Astelan shook his head. “Taz, my special talent is finding the special talent in others. What I told you, it’s what my cutie mark is telling me. I’m sorry, you won't.”

“It doesn’t matter Taz,” Nighttide hugged him tighter. “I don't care if you….”

Taz shrugged her off him. “If I’m what!?” A blank flank! Forever!” His anger turned to her. It was misplaced, but right now his young mind did not care. He wanted… no, needed something to vent his rage at. To release his frustration and anger. “You don’t care if I get my cutie mark because you already have yours! Just one more thing you can hold over me, like your wings!”

“Taz, no, I…” 

“Leave me alone!” Taz yelled as he ran out the room. Nighttide and Astelan tried to follow him, but as soon as they turned the corner he was gone, vanished from sight.

It was not the first time Nighttide had seen him do this, or the last. She knew from experience that there was no point in looking for him. This was his ‘other’ ability, his other talent. 

Astelan wrapped a hoof around her. “He just needs time to process this. He doesn't blame you for this.” 

She looked up at the tall stallion, “I know.” Tears fell from her eyes as she said the words. 

………

Taz ran as fast as his legs could take him. All around him he saw the ponies of Ponyville going about their daily lives. Each of them looked like they did not have a care in the world. 

‘Why would they? They all have their cutie marks.’ The thought was like venom in his mind. Each and every pony’s cutie mark was taunting him with what he would never have, with the one thing he wanted, but would never get.

The more he saw, the faster he ran, the faster he ran, the more he saw. It quickly became a self-fulfilling prophecy. 
 
In his mind’s eye he saw each and every cutie mark staring at him, taunting him, laughing at him. He had to go, he had to get away, get to some place without cutie marks. 

No such place existed. 

He changed tactics; he went to a place where he would not be surrounded by cutie marks. He went to Sunshine’s.

Over the years their relationship had grown, whenever Taz needed to be away, whenever he needed someone to talk to, someone that would not treat him like a foal, he would go to Sunshine’s place. The yellow unicorn that never talked down to him, he never dismissed his problems as irrelevant or immaterial. He was always honest, always open, and he was always there for Taz. 

Sure, he had a cutie mark. A large wheel and axle, but that was largely irrelevant. Taz could deal with one cutie mark; it was the hundreds that surrounded him that he could not deal with right now.

He got to Sunshine’s tree without incident. It was easy for him to go unnoticed. Just a matter of not wanting to be seen by others and his curse… talent would take care of the rest. 

Other’s called it his special talent, others said he should be proud of it, learn to control it. Despite everything they said, he only thought of it as a curse, and it had just struck again.

For the rest of his life, he would be a blank flank. He would be the only pony that did not have his cutie mark. Tears were falling freely now. He did not want Nighttide to see him like this, he did not want anyone to see him like this, save for Sunshine.

He barged right into the tree. The familiarity the two were used to long since evolved beyond the need for knocking. “Hey Taz, you want something to eat?” Sunshine did not even turn around. The yellow stallion was busy at the stove, cooking something that smelled sweet.

“How did you know it was me?” Taz asked, his tears temporarily abated. 

“Other than the fact that I’ve never gotten another visitor?” Sunshine laughed.

“Fair enough,” he managed through sobs.

That got Sunshine's attention. He continued stirring the soup with his magic and turned around. He looked at Taz, really looked. The young stallion looked worse for wear. By most standards, he would be considered handsome, however those did not include days he had just ran two miles. 

His long hair hung over his eyes, doing his absolute best to hide the tears falling from his face. His light blue and purple mane did little to hide the redness in his face. 

It took Sunshine ten whole seconds to deduce the problem. He knew what today was, what Taz had planned for the day. Yet he was here, he was still a blank flank. Astelan had failed; Taz did not have a cutie mark. 

Sunshine knew what Taz’s special ability was, nullification. If Taz did not have his cutie mark, it meant that his power was working against him. It meant he could not have a cutie mark.

“I’m so sorry,” it broke Sunshine’s heart to see Taz like that.

Taz lost it, the worst fear of every filly and colt was to be a blank flank for the rest of their lives. He was living that now. He broke down and cried, letting out everything that had been built up during the run over here. 

He felt safe here; he knew that Sunshine would not judge him for this. He knew that Sunshine was his friend. He just wanted what was best for Taz.

In many ways, he felt lucky to have someone like that, someone that would always be there for him. He knew this all, but he could only feel sorrow over what he would never have. 

Sunshine walked over to the young stallion and placed a hoof on his back. Sitting down on his flank he scooted the stallion's head into his lap. Letting Taz cry out into his coat as he did so. 

Five minutes passed before Taz ran out of tears to cry. He looked up into Sunshine's blue eyes. “Thank you.”

“No thanks are necessary,” Sunshine said back with a smile. “Tell me what happened.”

“Can I… can I get something to drink first?” 

“Sure.” Sunshine reached out with his magic and fetched two glasses from the cabinet. He filled them both up and passed one over to Taz. The young stallion got up and took a drink out of his.

“I… I went to see Astelan like I was told….”

Taz recanted the day from the beginning to end, going over the small details of what Astelan was like and what he had him try. Near the end, he found that having someone to talk to about it, having a voice to listen too. It made it that much easier to bear. 

“And then Nighttide…”

“Wait, you went with Nighttide?” Sunshine interrupted.

‘Buck me, I meant to leave her out.’ Taz thought. The two of them had this fight almost every time he came by. He told Sunshine that he would stop hanging out with her last time he came for a visit. 

He had just ratted himself out.

“Taz, you promised me,” Sunshine had a very serious look in his eye. 

“Only because you won't drop it. Why do you think I don't come by that much anymore?” He felt his anger rising again.

“Taz, she’s not your friend, she’s not someone you want to be around.”

“She’s the only friend I’ve made!”

“What about your family? Your cousins?”

“They’re family, not friends.”

Sunshine just shook his head. “Am I not your friend?”

“Yes, but that’s different.”

“How so?”

“You’re a lot older than me for starters. I need friends my own age.”

Sunshine started pacing around. He needed to find some way to get this through the young stallion’s thick skull. He paused, a thought occurred to him, a very bad thought. “Taz, answer this next question truthfully.”

Taz just nodded.

“Do you love her?”

“Luna-dammit! Why does everyone think I’m in love with her?! She’s just a friend, nothing more!”

Sunshine sighed in relief. That was at least something.

“Although, I think she loves me,” Taz added.

Sunshine looked at him. “What do I have to say to get you to leave her alone?” He was starting to get angry.

Taz backed up. “There’s nothing you can say, she’s my friend and I’m not going to stop hanging out with her.” 

“Taz-”

“No, I’m done. If you think you can tell me who I can hang out with and who I can’t… well, maybe I was wrong to call you a friend at all!” Taz took off out the door, no longer wanting to look at his friend… ex-friend.

“TAZ!” Sunshine shouted as he followed the earth pony out the door. It did not surprise him when Taz was just gone. There was no point in trying to find him with magic. Sunshine knew from experience that when Taz got like this he was untraceable. 

“You dummy,” Dayspring said to the wind. 

Dayspring mentally berated himself about being so lax in watching him these past few months. He vowed then that he would keep a much closer eye on his little brother.


> True Love
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Celestia’s Palace


Twilight walked along the well-worn hallways of the palace. She paused for a second and truly took in the details the builders had carved into the walls. All over were markings of the two royal sisters. Twilight realized that even though the palace was nearing sixteen years old, she never really paused to admire the love the builders had poured into it.

Memorials of Celestia were all over the place, imagery of her sister Luna joined her. Together they were Yin and Yang, light and dark, sunrise and sunset. Twilight noted that there were even a few of her. It seemed as if the builders and sculptors truly put their heart and soul into this place. 

It pained her to see them some days. Celestia had been Twilight’s mentor most of her life. Her loss… her death was a pain that always haunted Twilight, all because she lost herself in grief. No, that was not quite true. It was because of that thing… that revenant.

Once upon a time Nightmare Moon was the scariest thing she could think of. She was the one thing that would haunt the dreams of every little filly that lived. If Twilight knew the truth back then, if she knew then what she knew now, she would have laughed at those legends. 

Gods, Titans, and revenants, they all existed. They and Luna know what else was out there. Her and her friends had fought and defeated them all. In her grief, Rainbow had even killed a God.

In Twilight’s grief when Rainbow died in front of her, she had killed the Grim Reaper. 

Of course, that was before they had even got together. That time felt like another life, a life before… before all of this; if that event would happen again, if she were once again faced with that fate? Twilight shook her head to clear that thought. Rainbow meant everything to her; she could not imagine a life without her. She would not imagine a life without her. 

Looking at the memorials on the wall of the two alicorn sisters, Twilight smiled as she realized a certain truth. Rainbow was her Yang, she was Twilight’s other half, the half that she was missing. Rainbow was what Twilight was not. She was daring, bold, and hardheaded, she was the do first and ask questions later kind of mare. Twilight was calm, cool, and collected. She would analyze everything before doing anything. They were two sides of the same coin. Two spots on opposite ends of the same spectrum. 

Over the years, they had moved towards each other, Rainbow began taking on more of Twilight’s qualities. The mare learned to slow down, to take her time, to think. Not always, of course, but she was getting better. Twilight smiled as she realized that she also took on some of Rainbow’s qualities. She learned to enjoy life, to dive in headfirst, sometimes anyway.

Truly, their relationship made them each a better pony.

Thoughts of Rainbow made her long for the mare. Twilight’s frown turned upside down when she realized she knew just where Rainbow would be. 

Twilight teleported on top of the palace, she closed her eyes and felt the wind blow through her mane. The cool breeze flowed through every fiber of her fur, caressing her skin and relaxing her just like a gentle massage. The warmth of the sun shone down on her, augmenting the breeze just enough so it was not too cold, but not too hot. In a word, it was perfect.

There was not a thing she would change about that moment. Well, almost nothing, but that would soon be corrected. Twilight shot a magical signal up in the sky, it left her horn with all the force of a cannon going off. The magic she sent shot up in the air as it traveled at several times the speed of sound before detonating. 

The magical explosion Twilight let loose came into being three miles above the palace. For hundreds of miles away, every pony could see a magical symbol above Celestia’s Palace, one that took on the shape of Twilight’s cutie mark.

An eye blink later, Twilight was suddenly in the sky. She felt a set of hooves wrapped around her, holding her in place as the two ponies shot through the air. She opened her eyes to see a set of magenta eyes staring at her, and a cyan-blue muzzle smiling down at her. Twilight smiled back at the mare she so loved. “What took you?” Twilight asked her beloved.

“Sorry if I kept you waiting, egghead,” Rainbow said jokingly.

“I forgive you, this time.”

“I wasn’t expecting you three to be done so soon. Let me guess, Ana?”

“Ana,” Twilight nodded. They both knew the young mare’s hurt at Taz not asking her to go with him to the Crusading King. Honestly, Twilight was a little worried. Ana liked Taz, a lot. 

Maybe too much? 

She shook her head to clear it of that disturbing thought. “Yeah, she just left, couldn’t concentrate on the lessons. I’m sure Ataxia is taking care of her now. I canceled the lessons and let Starlight go early.”

Rainbow nearly dropped Twilight at that comment. “You… canceled... lessons?”

“Well there’s no point in just teaching one of them. What did you mean by that?” Twilight asked with her brow crossed.

“Oh nothing,” Rainbow smiled. “I’m surprised you didn’t just go to the library.”

“I was heading there actually, but then I wanted to spend time with you.”

“I beat books? Sweet!” 

“Now I’m starting to think I may have made a mistake.”

“Ahh, c’mon!”

“Don’t ever change, Rainbow,” Twilight said with a smile as she raised her muzzle up to her wife’s. Rainbow reciprocated and met her halfway between. She lost herself in that kiss. The feel of Twilight’s lips pressed against her. The taste of lilacs in her mouth as their tongues met like life-long friends.

Had Rainbow thought about it, she would have agreed with that analogy, well once someone told her what analogy meant anyway. After they broke apart, Rainbow landed on a cloud and let Twilight get her bearings. The alicorn looked around, she took in the beauty of the land as far as her eye could see. 

They looked down at a perfect reflection of Canterlot Mountain in the crystal-clear waters of the lake below. To the south, they could see fish jumping up stream in Night River. Lavish green foliage sprouted from the banks. Plants that never should have been able to exist in that location thrived. 

A clear sign as any in Twilight’s book: Even though the darkest night, the light will shine and bring new life. 

Twilight smiled as she realized that was something Zecora might have said. 

A thought occurred to her, “You know Rainbow; I’ve been wondering why you still do this.”

“Do what?” Rainbow asked before Twilight had an opportunity to finish speaking.

“Why you still fly, It’s not exercise for you. You’re not burning calories flapping wings made of magic. Logically, there’s no reason for you to fly as much as you do. I mean, regardless how out of shape you become no one can hope to beat you in a race. Well, a fair race anyway,” Twilight laughed at her own joke. Rainbow just sat there and let her finish.

“I think I know,” Twilight smiled as she looked her wife in the eye. Rainbow’s eyes perfectly reflected the landscape behind her. Twilight felt like she was drowning in those eyes. The magenta glow of them sought to swallow her whole. 

She let it.

“It’s the view, isn’t it? It’s so… it’s so…” Twilight never got to finish that sentence. Rainbow interrupted her by pressing their lips together, cutting of the risk of Twilight ever spilling her secret. The alicorn fell on her back, allowing, just this one time, Rainbow to be on top. 

She felt every inch of the smaller pegasus. Over the years, Twilight’s growth had put her on par with Luna in terms of sheer size. Rainbow stayed the same size though. Neither of them cared all that much about it. Well, save for when Twilight would ask her if she wanted a piggyback ride. 

She had only done that one time though, okay maybe twice, and that was just to get a laugh from Taz.

Twilight loved the feeling of the smaller pegasus on her. She got to feel every inch of the smaller mare, every fiber of her hair, every gram she weighed, all of it. Rainbow pulled her head up and looked her in the eye.

Twilight simply smiled back. She lightly bopped the pegasus on the noise. “Don’t worry Rainbow, I won’t tell anyone your secret.”

“You better not, Mistress Sparklebutt,” Rainbow said with a small grin.

Twilight responded by wrapping her large wings around her wife and squeezing her. “I’ll remember that tonight.”

Rainbow gulped, but it was just for play. She knew Twilight would do nothing that would actually hurt her.

Of course, hurt was a relative term here. The two had figured out a long, long time ago, as long as you had trust, nothing else really mattered. Rainbow trusted that Twilight would never do anything to really hurt her. In fact, there was no one Rainbow trusted more than Twilight, and she knew that the reverse was just as true. 

Rainbow shut her eyes as the cool air blew by. She was not tired per se, but they had a full days’ worth of work and meetings. Besides, she never needed an excuse to take a catnap. 

The fact she was on her favorite bed? That was just a bonus. Twilight laid a hoof on the nip on Rainbow’s neck. She left it there as the pegasus drifted off to sleep. She knew, logically, that this would put them behind. Twilight would let her sleep a lot longer then she should. They would be late and several nobles would be pissed about waiting. 

Yet, at that moment, she did not care. She was laying on a fluffy cloud in perfect weather. The sights and sounds around her soothed her, relaxing her in a way unlike she had known in quite some time. Her wife was falling asleep on her chest. Twilight could feel her warmth, her weight; she could see everything there was to see.

The cute way Rainbow’s face scrunched up, the relaxing of her taunt muscles in her legs and barrel, and even the way she lightly snored. All of it, Twilight took in every detail she possibly could.

In her eighty-one years of life on this planet, Twilight had many memories, some good, others not so much. Yet, of everything that had happened. Instances like these would live forever in her mind. She would never forget a single detail of these moments. 

Nothing was going on, nothing was happening, yet she knew without a shred of doubt that she would remember this time forever.    

………………………………………..


Warclaw


Empress Princess Aurora Flash had a thought. One that no one could ever know she had at this moment, one that if her subjects – or Luna forbid, her husband – ever knew, it would change the way she was viewed the entire empire over.

She had a bad thought, it was a horrible thought, a thought that she never should have ever had in a million years.

She really, really, really wanted to kill this diamond dog.

She did not know why, but everything about him was offensive, everything he did, every breath he took she took as a personal insult. 

‘How dare you breath my air?!’ 

‘Don’t you dare touch my table!’

‘Why are your feet touching my floor?’

These thoughts and a hundred others played through her head. She wanted… she needed to hurt this dog. She just had no bucking idea why. He was just a normal diamond dog, over for a simple race-relations brunch. Yet…  yet she wanted him hurt. 

Facts did not really matter; the knowledge that he had done nothing wrong did little to change her feelings on the subject. Aurora considered for the hundredth time telling her husband to get his spear, or better yet, just getting it herself. 

Contrary to her inward thoughts, Aurora managed to keep it from showing outwardly. She smiled and nodded at the comments the dog would send her way. She managed to give a faux chuckle at jokes her husband would throw out. She even managed to accomplish a little small talk.

Icarus saw through all of it. He knew his wife like no other. The emperor knew that something was wrong, that something was amiss. Her body language gave it away. Icarus was more than familiar with such tells, having personally experienced his fair share over the years.

“Ibizan Collie, it’s been wonderful having you here, but I’m afraid I forgot an important meeting today. I’m going to have to call it early.”

Ibizan stared at the emperor with a shocked expression on his face. He quickly regained his composure. “Then let me say thank you Emperor Icarus, Empress Aurora, it’s been a pleasure.” 

His breath almost drove Aurora over the edge. “That’s Empress Princess Aurora,” Aurora corrected him with a not-so-friendly tone in her voice.

“Forgive me, Empress Princess Aurora.” Ibizan got up from his seat and bowed low to the two rulers of the Griffin Empire. He walked around the table and shook Icarus’s claw. He went to kiss Aurora’s hoof when Icarus politely directed him to the door at the other end of the table. Distracting the diamond dog from the death glare she had been giving him.

“Allow me to walk you out.” Icarus said with a smile as the two left the room.

Aurora felt like a huge weight lifted from the room. She immediately wanted this entire room scrubbed from top to bottom, whatever it took to get the memory of that diamond dog out of her mind. 

She logically knew that there was no point. No matter how much they scrubbed every surface of the room, she would always remember that ‘thing’ being in here. She shivered at that thought. 

‘Maybe I should just have the room burned; we can rebuild it as something else.’ Despite herself, that thought made her smile. She was smiling as thoughts of all the other uses she could put this space to flashed through her mind. She thought about mounting a few diamond dog heads on plaques in the room

She failed to notice the first two pokes at her side. It was not until the third time a claw poked her in the stomach that she even became aware of it. Fuming, she turned and went to chew the flank off whoever would dare interrupt such enjoyable thoughts.

“Mom.” The voice came out like a squeak. Immediately, Aurora’s dark thoughts were gone, in front of her was a little hippogriff colt, her son, Dayspring.

Her heart broke at that little face. She saw the one thing written in it that she never thought she would ever see. Her son was afraid, worse, he was afraid of her. That fear was leading him to cry.

She swooped up the brown hippogriff with her hooves, and lightly stroked his blue feathers. “Shh, it’s ok little one. Mommy’s sorry.”

“You… you scared me,” Dayspring cried.

“I know, I didn’t mean too.” Those words were a dagger stabbed repeatedly into her heart. She had not meant to scare her son like that; she did not even know why she did it.  

“I’m so sorry,” Aurora said again and again, trying desperately to undo her mistake. To make it have not occurred. 

“Hey Day, why don’t you go play with Vela.” The voice came from across the room. Aurora turned to see her husband walk towards them. There was a knowing smile on his beak. “Mommy and I need to talk for a minute.”

“Can we… can we play after?” Dayspring asked meekly. 

“Sure son, we can go flying when we’re done.”

The little hippogriff smiled. Climbing down from his mom’s lap – a task made harder by the fact that Aurora did not want to let him go – he ran up and hugged his father before running off to find his older sister. 

Aurora watched him leave with tears in her eyes. She looked down at the table and her half-eaten meal.

“What was that about?”

“I don’t know, something about that diamond dog, it… it….”

“Oh I couldn’t care a buck less about him, if anything I’m grateful to be done with that. I was talking about Dayspring. You’ve never been that way to our kids before.”

Aurora glanced up, for the first time she looked her husband in the eye. There was love there, but also something else. Something she had not expected to see, concern. He was afraid, not of her, or what this would do with their relations with the dogs. He was afraid that something was wrong, that she might do something that could not be undone.

The tears started again, Aurora began crying over her actions. The look on her son’s face flashed in her mind, over and over, like a broken record. She knew that face would haunt her for some time. “Something’s wrong with me!” she cried out the words.

“You sure you weren’t just tired? Dogs are hard to deal with even on a good day,” Icarus laughed a little, a laugh that died in his throat when he looked Aurora in the eyes. A face as beautiful as hers, it should never have tears on it.

Yet there they were. He felt it then, the loss, the pain she felt. It was weighing on her, dragging her down. Something had happened to her and it pained her more so than anything else she had ever experienced. 

He cleared the gap between them and pressed her head to his chest. Wrapping his wing around her, he held her tightly. Icarus was trying desperately to transfer her pain to him. He could handle the worst pain the universe threw at him. In his time, he had wings and limbs cut off, burns, breaks, concussions, and he was even placed in a full-body cast.

None of that was as painful as seeing his wife right then. He could handle his own pain. Her being in pain? That was another story altogether. 

“Let’s go to Canterlot.” 

“Really?” Aurora asked, her tears falling freely into his coat.

“Really. Whatever happened, I’m sure your mom can figure it out.”

She returned his hug for all her worth. In truth, she was scared, more-so than she could ever remember being. The events of her life were tragic, yet this time it was not some outside force that freighted her, this time she was frightened of herself.

…………………………….


Appleloosa


Luna moved through the remains of Appleloosa. The ghost town was silent, unmoving, and dead. A decade and a half ago Lord Tirek killed every single pony here in an effort to get more power. It was all for naught, Princess Shimmering Night and Ataxia put a stop to his evil once and for all. 

“Had you listened to me back in the day sister, this never would have happened,” Luna hated fighting with her sister’s memories. She argued a millennia ago that when dealing with such creatures there should be a ‘finality’ to their solution when it was all said and done. Celestia had disagreed, and won. 

Luna was still not sure how Celestia always managed to win those arguments. She could not completely fault her sister’s methods; they did work for over a thousand years. It was hard to argue with results like that.

Then again, maybe it had more to do with luck? Maybe what happened to her was simply a result of that well having run dry. Celestia had always taken risks, some small, others huge. Her death… was that just a result of having taken one too many risks? Of having rolled the dice one too many times?

Luna could not say. She shook such thoughts off. It would not do her any good to think about her sister right now. Not while she was on a hunt.

Over thirteen years ago, she had lost her horn, for a time anyway. During that time, Luna had been unable to perform her duty of lowering and raising the moon. As such, Princess Shimmering Night took command of that heavenly body. 

There was just one thing no pony had been counting on. One thing even Luna did not suspect. She enjoyed having no responsibilities. When Twilight fixed her horn, Luna let Night stay in charge of lowering and raising the moon. She still walked in pony’s dreams. However, she left the moon and the night court to Princess Night.

Luna elected to take over Ataxia’s job. At least until she decided she wanted it back. 

That had been thirteen years ago. Ataxia would simply deflect whenever anypony would bring it up, or change the subject. They all settled into their new jobs without issue. In all honestly, Luna preferred it this way, she had all the joy, yet none of the responsibility.

As she walked around the town, she sent out a magical wave. A sonar pulse looking for anything that lived, anything that might be alive, that might be hiding here.

She got a hit. The creature, Luna had no idea just what she was hunting. This one was slippery, one of the few last remaining Tartarus escapees. They had all been this way lately. They had to be. The hunts had been very successful over the years. The ones left knew they were being hunted, they knew that they did not stand a chance against Equestria’s greatest defenders, so they hid.

Luna only knew about this one by chance, a wandering traveler reported a strange occurrence in the ghost town of Appleloosa, something that should not have been there. He ran of course, not wanting to incur the wrath of whatever was hiding here.

It was more than enough for Luna to go investigate. She made all haste to Appleloosa and began scanning for the creature.

As she rounded the corner, Luna came face to face with a being she had not seen in over a thousand years. A sphinx.

A sphinx is a creature with a body of a cat and wings of a great bird. Looking at it, Luna could see that the sphinx’s wings were larger than her’s. Its golden fur and great brown wings only added to its overall presence. While Luna was physically bigger than the creature, the sphinx more than made up for it in sheer subsistence.

Luna smiled at it. She was sure that most ponies would run from it as soon as they saw it, not her. She had faced down the worst creatures imaginable, even going face to face with a Titan. To her, this sphinx was just one more threat, one that she would deal with.

“Peace, Princess Luna,” The sphinx’s voice was soothing; the type a mother would give her young. 

“Am I supposed to spare your life because you know my name?” Luna asked.

“No,” the sphinx smiled as it spoke. “My life is in no danger here as I pose no threat; I’ve only come to talk to you.”

Luna, taken aback by that, gave a curt response. “Creature, I’ve no desire to talk to the likes of you,” she began powering an energy blast with her horn.

“Now, now, is that what your sister would’ve wanted you to do?” The sphinx smiled. 

That gave Luna pause. She quickly shook it off and went to attack. Her blast shot out of her horn, but it was too slow to land on its target. The sphinx flew up and landed on a nearby rooftop. “You’ve no desire to hear what I have to say?”

“Lies and slander do not interest me,” Luna fired again; each shot came closer and closer to hitting their target. However, the sphinx had a cat’s reflexes. She landed nearby Luna with a smile on her face. 

“Princess Luna, your time on the moon made you miss so much. Do you not know that a sphinx cannot tell a lie?”

That made her pause; she had remembered something about that, something from a long, long time ago. She somehow knew that what the creature had said was true.

Luna sat back. “So you just want to talk? Then what? Go terrorize more ponies?”

The sphinx laughed. “I’ve never terrorized anyone.”

“Then why were you locked in Tartarus?” 

“That was your sisters doing; I know the answer to any question asked of me. It is my nature, however, to get this knowledge the asker has to answer three riddles. If they fail? Well, then I get to eat,” the sphinx said with a smile. 

“She locked you in Tartarus because you ate ponies,” Luna said with a disgusted look on her face. “Why should I not kill you again?”

The sphinx frowned at her. “I’ve never hunted anyone, those who approach me are told the risks, yet in their arrogance they seek my knowledge anyway.”

“You’ve eaten ponies.”

“I told them the risks, they chose their fate.”

Luna smiled. “If you know the answer to any question asked, try this one on for a second. Am I going to kill you?”

The sphinx frowned as it heard the question. It raised its wings and formed a magical barrier around itself as Luna lowered her horn and shot out a blast of energy. The two forces met with the barrier proving to be a little less effective against the energy shot than the sphinx would have liked. She could already see cracks beginning to form in the energy shield. 

“Fine Luna, you don’t want to talk, I’ll leave you with my message anyway.”

“Silence creature!” Luna poured even more energy into her blast. The sphinx released the energy shield in a blast wave. Temporarily stopping all the energy Luna shot out at her but the action left her defenseless. However, her goal was not to defend, but to escape. 

She left her message on the wind.


“Closer than you expect but never seen,

Fighting for a love never known,

Older than eyes can see,

What am I?”


Luna feverishly scanned in every direction for her signature; she cast every spell she knew looking for wherever the creature went. There was no sign of the sphinx. Every scan came up with nothing, every trace she ran proved fruitless. After another hour of searching, Luna had no choice but to admit defeat. She did not know where the creature went, but if it ever turned up again she would not waste her time talking with it. 

Despite her best attempts to do otherwise, Luna found that she was unable to get the creature’s riddle out of her head. 

Her flight home found her mind replaying it over and over again in her head.

……………………………………………….


????????????????


“Did it work?”

“What do you think? I told you I’m not strong enough to change minds from a distance, yet you ran your mouth and made me think it was a good idea to try.”

“So you failed,” Timespire said matter-of-factly.

“We failed,” Mindsink corrected. ”We’re in trouble, Timespire.”

“We? You mean you failed, you’re in trouble,” Timespire countered his brother’s acquisition that he was somehow responsible for their failure. They both knew that their older brother could forgive a lot: Betrayal, backstabbing, and murder? These things were fine, expected even. Failure? That was unforgivable.

“What, you think for a second I won’t rat your ass out?” Mindsink glared at his brother. 

“I didn’t fail,” Timespire countered. 

“Yeah, but it was your idea, and if you think for a second that I’m not going to point as much blame as I can on you, you’re dumber than you look.” 

Taken aback by that, Timespire merely snarled at his brother’s words. He knew, logically, that Mindsink was right. It had been his idea after all. Use the diplomatic meeting between the Griffin Empire and the diamond dogs to start a full-scale war. 

Mindsink told him it would not work. He told him that for his power to be effective he had to be close to his target, close enough to look his victim in the eyes. Timespire had denied that. He was the one that said it would work just fine at range. That instead of changing memories, Mindsink could simply plant a suggestion from far away.

It failed. Aurora did not kill the diamond dog; she did not start a war between them and the Griffin Empire. 

If that were not bad enough, now she was going to the center of power for these ponies, she would soon be in Princess Twilight’s company. From there it did not take a genius to know what would occur.

They would be found out; Twilight would know that someone tried to implant a suggestion in her daughter’s mind. Worst-case scenario: They just ruined all the plans their brother put into play. 

“What are you two doing?” 

They both looked up. A large red unicorn walked into the room. The very air seemed to part in front of him, afraid to come into contact with his frame. His very presence seemed oppressive, almost as if reality itself wanted to reject his presence. He was an anathema to the world. He was a being that never should have existed, reality tried to set it right.

Reality never stood a chance. In terms of raw power, he had more, more than any being ever should.

Timespire and Mindsink both lowered their heads in subservience to him. It took him less than a second to size up that they were hiding something. He looked at Mindsink and spoke, “What did you do?”

“It wasn’t my idea, it was Timesp-“

“He lies!” Timespire shouted. 

The older brother just glared at Timespire, in a flash of his horn; claws suddenly reach up from the ground. They wrapped around the earth pony with a strength that such limbs should not have possessed, they sought to pull him INTO the floor. 

The floor was made of obsidian, its construction was sound, and it would not bend regardless how much pressure someone to it. The claws were magical, created by a being that defied existence with his very presence, they would not break.

Timespire’s bones were just that, weaker than either the claws or the floor, they did give. The pressure of the claws and floor forced on white earth pony squeezed him alive. Bones snapped as the pressure increased exponentially, seeking to drag him through a solid structure. 

He screamed and screamed as pain became him, organs pulped in his body. Until, just as quickly as it started, the pressure was gone. The claws stopped, disappearing back into the ether. 

Timespire looked up, fresh blood running from his nose, eyes, and ears. His older brother just glared at him. “I do believe I was talking to Mindsink; try not to interrupt. I might not be in such a good mood next time.”

Looking back at Mindsink, he said one word, “Continue.”

Mindsink gulped and looked down at the floor. “We… I tried to instigate a war between the Griffin Empire and the diamond dogs. I… I failed.” 

“What did you do?” Mindsink looked into his brother’s face. His expression was unreadable, unknowing. 

Mindsink gulped as he proceeded to recant his tail from beginning to end, he said everything, everything that had happened, in every detail. There was no exaggeration, no shifting of blame, not now. 

When it was over, the pegasus found that he could not look his brother in the eye. It had been a gamble; if he succeeded, he would have had the lion’s share of the credit. It had not succeeded; it failed in the worst way possible.

He now had the lion’s share of the blame. 

When the tale was told in full, Mindsink did not look up. He did not want to see the look of anger in his brother’s eyes.

What happened next shocked him. He heard the last sound he ever expected to hear, laughter. Looking up, he saw that his older brother was laughing. “I think I can work with this.” There was a grin on his face as he said the words.

Mindsink felt a weight lifting from his shoulders at that, whatever was going on in his older brother’s mind he had no idea. Nor did he want to know.

Some things were better off not known.

The red unicorn turned and went to leave. Plans began forming in his head as he considered this new development. Mindsink felt a wave of relief wash over him as his brother only had three more steps to take before he left the room.

That relief died in Mindsink’s throat as at one more step, the unicorn stopped. “Oh, about your punishment.”

Timespire found that even he could not stomach watching the torture Mindsink suffered at their older brother’s magic.
> Runaway
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Crystal Empire


“Flash, get back here right now!” Firestar shouted as she chased after her son. Onlookers in the Crystal Empire watched them both fly by. 

His only reply was to increase his speed and fly faster. If someone were to ask Princess Firestar about it – on a day when she did not want to kill him – she would actually say that she was impressed. Her two sons Blaze and Flash were both superb flyers. She honestly did not know if it was genetics, her training with them, or their Great Aunt Rainbow’s training that made them so good.

Right this second, she did not give a buck. She just wanted to pluck his feathers out one at a time for what the little shit did. 

It had all started as a simple prank. Blaze and Flash had quickly taken up their great aunt's more eccentric nature and began pulling pranks on everyone around them. Firestar swore she would chew Rainbow’s flank off for that the next time she saw her. 

At first, they were relatively harmless; the twins took it in turns to prank each other, and even their parents. Firestar was not without a sense of humor; she could even laugh at herself a few times when they would put a bucket of milk over a halfway opened door.  

She even laughed when Radiant woke up one day to an all pink coat. He did not.

However, when Princess Cadance came downstairs today and somepony shaved a stripe from the top of her head all the way down her back. That was the end of the line. A quick search of each of their rooms found a razor with pink hair in it. Flash had tried to clean it; he just failed to get behind the blades themselves. 

He took off as soon as she found it. Straight out the nearest window. Firestar followed, her rage at this latest prank getting the better of her. “Flash, if you don’t stop right this second, I swear to Luna I’m gonna have Twilight banish you to the bucking moon!”

It was all for naught, he was running to try to avoid punishment, yelling at him about more punishments just caused him to fly faster. 

Flash had speed, endurance, and youth on his side, his natural talent and training shown through. It all allowed him to pull off a level of speed that should have been impossible for any normal pony to keep up with. Unfortunately for him, Firestar was not a ‘normal pony’ by any definition of the world. While it was true that she would never be as fast as Rainbow, nor did she have the speed Ataxia did when she transformed, and she could not augment her flight with magic the way Shimmering Night or Twilight Sparkle could. She was the daughter of Spitfire, before she became Commander of Cloudsdale and married Prince Radiant Star; she had served as Captain of the Wonderbolts.

He never stood a chance. 

She caught up to the white pegasus before he even made it out of the Crystal Empire’s airspace. Wrapping her hooves up under the base of his wings, she grabbed him in a bear hug. The effect caught Flash completely by surprise. With the added weight of his mom on his back and the loss of lift from his wings, gravity jerked him down and left him with the sensation of lightheadedness. 

Firestar was more than prepared to take on her son’s weight. She caught him midair and spread her wings wide. Her years of Wonderbolt training included more than her fair share of narrow escapes where she would have to rescue a pony from an out of control maneuver. She spread her wings as wide as they would go, increasing lift to accommodate the extra weight of her son. With a slight change of angle with her wings, Firestar slowed them down enough to safely land on the hills below.

A million and one thoughts went through Flash’s head at that moment. Each and every one of them focused on escaping whatever punishment his mom would dish out, punishment that included, but was not limited to, banishment to the moon. 

He looked at his mom. Her face was teeming with rage, anger, and worse… disappointment. Of all the emotions, Flash hated that last one the most. It was easy to deal with someone who was mad at you. Disappointed? That was another story altogether. He considered running again, for a second anyway. That thought died as quickly as it came up, he flew as fast as he could as she still caught him before he made it out of the empire. 

She paced around on the ground, walking back and forth in a small circle of her own making. Any other time, Flash would have been laughing, as she was starting to leave an indenture in the ground. This was not one of those times. 

Firestar glared at him, every time she did it was a look of utter disgust at what he did. She could not look at him for long, yet every time she turned away it was the only place she wanted to look. She wanted to see why, why he would think that was an appropriate thing to do to his grandmother. 

A part of her, a rather large part wanted him to have a good reason, it wanted him to say something along the lines of, ‘she had a tick that I could only get by shaving her back’. Given, it was not a good excuse by any means, but at least it would make some sense. She kept looking back at him and then to the ground until something gave her pause, something she never thought she would see on her son’s face: Fear. He was afraid of her, or more accurately, he was afraid of what his punishment would be.

Her rage died in her chest, she sat back on her flank, closed her eyes, and sighed loudly. When she opened her eyes, her son was running his hoof through the grass. A small part of her was surprised that he did not try and run. ‘You’re smarter than you let on,’ she thought.

“Why?” 

Flash looked up, surprised how one word spoken so softly could have so much meaning. That it could have so much implication to it. Worse, he was surprised that he did not know the answer to it.

“I… I… I…” he tried to say something. Nothing came out; he had no real answer for it. 

Firestar sat there, patiently waiting for her son to give a reply to such a simple question. Yet regardless how much he tried, nothing came out of his mouth, she knew that nothing would. 

“You think it’s funny don’t you? You know that the crystal fair is today, you know that Princess Cadance has to give a speech in front of the entire Crystal Empire. Yet you, you, you…” Firestar found herself as lost for words as her son was.

“You’re in so much trouble,” experience let her find her words much faster than her son could. “Get back to the palace, now.” 

Firestar turned around and took off in the air. She did not even turn her head back to verify that he would obey.

“I’m sorry.” 

She paused, unsure if she had heard that correctly. Turning around, she hovered in air and looked at him, “What?”

Flash looked up at his mom, “I’m sorry. It was dumb, I… I shouldn’t have done that.”

Firestar glared at him for a few seconds; she let the time drag on and on. For Flash, each second felt like an eternity, like each one that passed took a hundred years to do so. Once she felt her anger subside, she spoke to her son, “It’s not me you have to apologize to.”

He gulped, “You mean?”

“Oh yes, you need to get back to the palace and apologize to Princess Cadance. I’ll let her decide your punishment.”

His eyes went wide, his breathing heavy, and sweat started visibly pouring off the young stallion. “But… but… but-.”

“No buts, now get your flank moving,” Firestar gestured for him to lead the way. 

Every inch of the stallion wanted to run, wanted to flee for his life rather than face whatever punishment was about to be dished out from his grandmother. Memories of the stories Ataxia told the twins played through his mind a hundred, no a thousand times.

Cadance’s legendary rage during the battle against Tartarus. How she single hoofed brought a God to its knees with just a glare alone, allowing Rainbow to finish the job. How you should never, never, never, NEVER get her angry.   

Firestar watched her son slowly spread his wings and began the long journey back to the palace. She had to do her absolute best not to break out in laughter as she watched the poor stallion fly as if he was going to his own funeral. His white coat, light-blue and white mane lead the way. His yellow lightning bolt cutie mark seemed to droop. 

His twin brother had an identical cutie mark; thankfully it was red. That day forever ended the game of ‘which one are you talking too’. Firestar still considered that day one of the happiest of her life; Twilight was even able to remove the spells from their heads.

One time Blaze tried to paint his cutie mark yellow. Radiant grounded him for a week straight after that. He left the colt with the distinct impression that if he or his brother ever painted over them, they would both be subject to six months under their grandmother’s care. 

Despite her best efforts, Firestar could not fully hold back her giggles. They all knew the story Ataxia told the boys and while the other foals discovered the truth soon enough, Blaze and Flash still believed that Princess Cadance was the Spirit of Vengeance. 

…

Flash landed in the throne room of the Crystal Palace. His head downcast, his eyes glued on a spot at the floor. Princess Cadance sat on the throne, glaring at him, judging him, calling out every single fault she could find with the stallion, revealing them, and showing them to the world for all to see. 

Or that’s what his mind’s eye saw.

Firestar starting biting her tongue. Princess Cadance was indeed sitting on the throne, with a stripe shaved from the front of her mane all the way down her back. It was the most hilarious thing she had ever seen in her life. 

Radiant Star was right next to his mom. On the outside, to any observer, he looked pissed. His face scrunched up in a frown at his son. His normally stoic resolve fully intact.

That was only to a pony that did not know him. Firestar knew every inch of the stallion. She could see the small tales, the subtle hints that anyone who knew him intimately would know. He was dying on the inside. She could see it, he was doing his absolute best not to laugh at the state his mom was in.

For her part, Cadance looked like she did on any other day, minus the obvious of course, and the smile that she normally wore around her family. This was anything other than something to smile about. 

“Prince Flash, look at me,” Cadance spoke with authority, the type of tone that commanded obedience from anypony that heard it. 

Flash did not want to look up; he did not want to face the pony that had defeated a God. He did not know why he looked up, maybe it was the tone of her voice, or maybe it was because she used his title. Whatever the reason, he looked up.

Princess Cadance had always been a mare that smiled, always one that radiated love and compassion. Looking at her gaze now, he saw none of that. He only saw the Princess of Equestria that had his life on the line. 

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I’m sorry!!!!” he bawled out. No longer able to hold his cool under her direct gaze. All the stories from Ataxia flooded his mind in an instant. The terrible, powerful, vengeful ruler shone through his mind, overlapping the image of his grandmother.

Cadance kept up the stare, “What are you sorry for?” 

“I’m sorry I shaved a line down your back, it was stupid. Please, please, please don’t kill me!”

Princess Cadance could no longer hold back her laughter at that. It started small at first, a slight giggle, one that exploded outward in a full on laughing fit. Radiant and Firestar soon joined in, each of them had been holding back as well, doing their best to keep up the facade. They could not hold back any longer. All three adults in the room soon found themselves on the floor at this whole situation. 

Poor Flash could only look around in confusion, he had been expecting a lot... a lot of very, very bad things. This? This laughter coming from his parents and grandparent? This was not on the list, not by a long shot. 

“What?” was all he managed to say to the ‘adults’ in the room. His mind was not comprehending how his parents could laugh about his impending death at the hooves of his grandma. 

Cadance broke out from her laughter first, “Dear Flash, do you honestly think I would kill you?” The visage he had over her, the one of the vengeful spirit of vengeance, it was gone. In its place he only saw the mare he had grown up around, the one that helped raised him. The one that laughed with him, cried with him, and loved him more than anything else in the entire world. 

Despite the situation and the tears in his eyes, Flash’s frown became a smile, he soon started giggling himself, “It was all a lie wasn’t it? You didn’t defeat a God with a glare. I should’ve known,” Flash was amazed, he actually found himself laughing.

“Oh no, that part's true,” Cadance said with a straight face.

“What?” Flash stopped laughing.

“Kidding,” Cadance smiled at him. “Rainbow Dash killed Tartarus, Ataxia and I only helped.”

Flash ran a hoof through his mane and over his face, “Sweet Luna, Vela was right, we are dumb,” He was laughing at his own joke. 

Firestar walked over and placed a hoof around her son. “Sweetie, you’re not dumb. Just a little gullible is all. Hey, don’t look at me like that; It’s not necessarily a bad thing. It just means you’re very trusting,” she playfully rubbed his mane. 

“Thanks mom,” he smiled at her, gone was the look of rage and anger, and most thankfully, the look of disappointment. In their place, he only saw the love she had for her son. A love that would always be unconditional regardless of what he did. 

“Although, you are still in trouble,” her gaze took on a stern glare. One that brought back the memories of what he did.

He looked from her to his grandmother. He had to stop himself from smiling when he looked at her. The stripe shaved from the top of her head all the way down her back made her look ridiculous to say the least. Even if it had been a little too far, the prank was still awesome. 

“I understand. Grandma, I’ll accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate.”

Cadance held a hoof to her chin and thought about it for a minute. “Hmm, let’s see. Radiant sent your brother to Canterlot to get Twilight or Shimmering Night to come fix this. However, whichever one comes up, I will need a source of replacement hair. I think it’s only right if you volunteer for that.”

“I… I… “ he did not know what to say about that. His mane and tail where a LOT shorter than Cadance’s. He could see it now; they would have to take his entire mane off and a large amount of fur. He would be completely bare until it grew back.

A portal opening up in the Crystal Palace Throne Room sealed his fate. The portal was a bridge that connected it directly with Celestia’s Palace. A little trick Twilight figured out to transport her son from one location to another in the blink of an eye. 

A very groggy Shimmering Night, a very excited Ataxia, and a very worried Blaze walked out of it. Eight years ago, Twilight taught her daughter how to open up the bridge in order to help her get Ataxia from one location to another without worrying about her legendary dislike of teleportation. It was something that normally left her sick more than anything else.

“Ataxia?” Radiant asked; he had no idea what the mare was doing here. He had expected Twilight or Night to simply teleport up here on their own.

Night answered his question, “As soon as Blaze woke us up and told us what happened, she insisted that she come along.”

Click! 

A blinding flash emanated from the device strung around her neck as Ataxia started to take pictures of what Princess Cadance looked like. Radiant could easily tell by her shit-eating grin that she was really enjoying this.

“Oh, and she brought a camera. Sorry about this,” Night said with a sigh, based on the grogginess on her face it was easy to tell she had just woken up.

“No problem,” Radiant said with a smile back. In the blink of an eye, three magical blades sliced the camera and the film into ribbons. 

“Hey!” Ataxia complained.

“Shut up,” Radiant glared at her. He gave her the sort of look that said, ‘you had to have known this was coming’.

Ataxia grumbled something about it being a waste of a trip now, but Radiant chose to ignore it. With a mare like Ataxia, you just had to let some things slide. 

Flash walked up to Night, “It was my doing; I’ll volunteer my hair to replace hers.”

Night just looked at him, “What are you talking about? All I have to do is simply regrow her hair.”

Flash’s jaw dropped, “But… but… bu-“

“No buts, now move aside. I wanna get back to sleep,” Ataxia said with a snarl as she forced the young colt out of her wife’s way. 

Flash was just stunned. He looked up at his mom and saw the smile on her face. It was then that he knew they just played for the second time that day, “Why did you make me believe that?”

“Pranks aren’t so much fun when you’re on the receiving end, are they?” When she spoke, it was with understanding and knowing. This was not her being mean; this was her teaching her son a lesson, one he needed to learn the hard way.

“I’m sorry,” he looked at his mom and smiled. He really did mean it.

Shimmering Night approached the princess sitting on the throne. She had to do her absolute best not to laugh at the sight before her. Princess Cadance was always so beautiful; she had the most gorgeous pink hair and purple/yellow mane. Seeing it like this, with a stripe shaved from the top of her horn all the way down her back. It was one of the funniest sights she had ever seen. 

Cadance smiled at her, “You can laugh if you need too,” in truth, when she had woken up and seen herself in the mirror, she laughed too.  

Night did chuckle, but that was all she did. “I’ll have you fixed in an instant.”

Cadance nodded at her to go ahead. She had tried to do it herself, but when she put her magic to it, she could only accelerate the growth by a factor of ten. In three days she would be back to normal, however she did not have three days to wait, she did not even have one. 

As such, Cadance needed Twilight or Night to come over and fix it. Their magic was on another level. Even beyond alicorn magic, God magic. 

Night used that magic now, or more accurately, she commanded that magic now. As the Demigoddess of Magic, Night was able to command the forces of magic that existed all around the world. She directed that magic to reform what should have been there. Atom by atom, centimeter by centimeter, the magic rebuilt what was lost. The hair follicles regrew at an insane rate. Causing the hair Cadance lost to regrow on her back. Her mane grew even faster, in the blink of an eye; it had two weeks’ worth of growth on in, then four, six, eight, twelve. 

Night’s eyes flashed white as she channeled this much power. She was careful not to overdo it; else, she would leave the princess as a hair monster. Radiant smiled as he watched her work. Back in the day, she had always been impressive, but this was something else entirely. He glanced over to his wife and watched her lower jaw meet the floor.

Radiant walked over and picked it back up for her, “You always were so easy to impress.”

“How, what, when...” Firestar was at a loss for words.

“You forgot why and where,” Radiant kissed her, bringing her back to reality. “Some days I forget that you’re not used to this sort of thing. That you didn’t grow up around it. You’ll get used to it, eventually,” The last decade had been so peaceful; it was rare to have such a display of raw magic potential like this. He smiled as his forehead made contact with hers. Even after fifteen years of marriage, he was always finding new things to love about her. He hoped… he knew that would never change, and he could not be happier about that fact.

“You idiot,” Firestar whispered the words. 

“Can we go back to sleep now?” Ataxia’s words brought him back to reality. He glanced over to see that Night had finished her work. Ataxia was walking over to her wife with an over-exaggerated yawn on her face. 

“Yes Ataxia, let’s get back to bed,” Night replied with a smile as she turned around and opened a gateway back to their room in Celesta’s Palace. She turned back to Blaze before they stepped through, “Do me a favor, next time try and find Twilight.” 

Blaze just shrugged, he really did try to find her, but nopony had seen Twilight or Rainbow for hours. He had been left with no choice but to wake up Princess Night, which of course woke up Princess Ataxia.

When the two were gone and the portal closed, Firestar turned to her son. “So, about your punishment.”

He looked at her, “What? That wasn’t enough?”

“What do you think?” Firestar glared at him.

“Actually Princess Firestar, I think I remember you saying that his punishment was left up to me,” Cadance said matter-of-factly.

Firestar turned to her, “Yeah, but-“

“No buts. It’s what you said is it not?”

“Well, yeah….” 

“So I’ll decide his punishment if you don’t mind,” Cadance smiled as she got up and walk towards the young colt. “Let’s see… as I don’t think you did it alone or without at least some corrosion from your brother over there.” 

Cadance glared at Blaze, he wanted to deny it, but under her gaze, he just could not do it. After all, it was his dare that caused Flash to shave the stripe in his grandma’s fur after all. 

“I think you should both go down to Canterlot and get flight training from Rainbow over the weekend,” Cadance said with a smile.

Both Blaze and Flash went from worried to happy as soon as those words left her mouth. They flew over and dogpile the alicorn, “Thanks grandma!”

“What do you mean thanks? This is a punishment after all,” Cadance said with no amount of sincerity in her voice. 

They both got off her and grinned to each other, “Oh no, not flight training with Rainbow. We’re so sorry,” they said with a deadpan voice.

“Sorry boys, but I have to lay down the law. Now go and pack your things, you’ll be leaving for Canterlot tomorrow,” Cadance winked at them as they each made to leave to their rooms. 

They could barely stop themselves from dancing out the doorway.

Firestar and Radiant each gave Cadance a death glare of their own. The alicorn just smiled. “You were supposed to punish them,” Firestar said.

Cadance turned to her daughter-in-law, “They may like training with Rainbow, but you know as well as I do that she will put them both through their paces. With what she’s going to do to them, they’ll be exhausted for a week. Besides, the point of discipline is to make sure the action never happens again. With the lesson we taught Flash, I highly doubt he will ever pull such a prank again. He now knows what it feels like.” 

Radiant actually smiled about that, “I think they were punished enough, don’t you dear?”

Firestar frowned as she saw the shit-eating grin on her husband’s face, “Well, I guess I’m outvoted here.”

“Firestar, it’s not like that!” Radiant tried to reason with his wife.

“No, no. You two are right and I guess I’m wrong,” she looked up and away from her husband.

“Firestar, I tell you what. Since I’m kind of tired today, why don’t you lead the crystal ponies in the Crystal Heart ceremony this year.”

“That’s your thing Cadance; I wouldn’t want to take it away from you,” Firestar played it off, acting as if she did not want too.

Cadance saw through that clear as day, but she played along, “Oh no, I insist. I want you to do it.”

“Well, if you’re sure about it, and it’s what you want me to do. I guess I can find the time,” Firestar said as she walked out of the room. 

Radiant and Cadance both grinned at her as her wings were sticking straight up from the excitement she felt. “Masterfully played, mom.” 

“What can I say, I caused the fight, and it’s only fair that I ended it.” She turned to Radiant and noticed the grin on his face, “What?”

He smiled at her, “That was a funny prank.”

“Yeah, it was,” Cadance smiled as she admitted the truth.

………………………


Equestria


Rainbow awoke to the feel of water hitting her fur. She grumbled as she soon realized that it would not stop on its own. “Taz, cut it out!” she yelled without opening her eyes. 

It kept up.

“Taz, I swear to Luna if you don’t stop.” 

Still more water droplets. 

“Son of a…” Rainbow opened her eyes. What she saw surprised her. She was not in bed; she was on a cloud. Well, more precisely, she was on an alicorn that was on a cloud. Above them weather ponies were moving several hundred weather clouds for the rainstorm tonight. 

Looking down, Rainbow saw that she had fallen asleep on Twilight. Who fell asleep on a cloud. The only reason her wife had not woken up to the rain dripping on them was due to the fact that Rainbow’s coat caught all the water. 

Rainbow felt torn, with one look at the sun’s position she knew that they had overslept. It was well past noon; in fact, it was almost time to set the sun. Twilight would be pissed about sleeping so late, about missing all the meetings she had planned for today and her entire schedule being off balance. 

On the other, it was such a nice bed. She could easily raise them above the rain clouds and go back to sleep with her wife. 

It was a very, very, VERY hard choice. 

In the end, after a lot of internal debate, Rainbow went with what her wife would want her to do. Rainbow knew that Twilight would be upset about this, so she did her best to make the wakeup as enjoyable as possible given the current situation. 

She started off slowly. Simply placing her muzzle on her wife’s neck. Rainbow left light kisses up and down Twilight’s neck in just the way she knew that her wife would like it. 

The response was as expected as it was welcome. Twilight practically purred as she felt the kisses up and down her neck. Rainbow upped the ante; she began nipping lightly on Twilight ear. With every bite, Rainbow softly blew into the ear lobe. The effect left goose bumps in her wake. 

Twilight slightly tilted her head to give Rainbow better access. She responded in kind and lightly bite down on her wife’s neck. When Twilight did not respond, Rainbow bit down even harder. 

Her efforts were rewarded with a loud gasp from Twilight. Rainbow softly began to suckle on the spot as a newborn would from their mother’s teats. 

She felt a hoof run through her mane as Twilight gave the first conscious response since Rainbow began her ministrations. “Well, someone’s in a playful mood.” 

Rainbow congratulated herself on a job well done but she did not stop. There was no need, a timer formed in her head and started counting down. ‘Three, two, one….’

“Rainbow! What time is it?!” Twilight jumped off the cloud and started panicking as her mind went through everything they missed.

Rainbow laughed even as she ended up on her flank. “Relax Twi, it’s not the end of the world.”

“Relax, relax, how can I RELAX?!” 

“I thought we were doing a pretty good job of it myself,” Rainbow said as she gave her little cocky smile.

Twilight wanted to rage, she wanted to fume, she wanted to blow, she wanted… she wanted Rainbow to quit smiling at her like that. She lowered her head in defeat. “How did you do that?” 

“Do what?”

“How is it, with one grin from you, I lose all my anger?”

Rainbow flew up and wrapped her hooves around her wife. She looked Twilight straight in the eyes. “What can I say? I’m just that awesome.”

“Yeah, you are,” Twilight closed her eyes as her muzzle closed the distance between them. Rainbow reciprocated and they met in the middle. Had Twilight thought about it, she would have been amazed. Even after all these years, every kiss felt just as good as the first. 

Sadly, they had forgotten about one thing, as it was at that moment the weather clouds opened up over them. The rain drenched the two lovebirds instantly. 

They did not care. They each held the kiss despite the rain. Some things were worth getting wet for. When it was over, they both opened their eyes and stared softly into their counterparts. 

They laughed. 

“Shall we get going?" Twilight asked as soon as they calmed down.

“Do we have to?”

“Yes Rainbow. Besides, you started something that I expect you to finish.” She lightly bopped the cyan mare on the nose with a hoof.

Rainbow smiled, “Then what are we waiting for?”

“Just a sexy little wet featherbrain and I wouldn’t want her any other way.”

They both turned and flew towards the palace. While it would have been quicker just to teleport there, Twilight wanted to spend this time with her wife. 

“They’re going to be pissed, aren’t they?”

“They’ll get over it,” Twilight replied. “I’ll just have them reschedule the meetings to Saturday.”

“Saturday? Ahh man. You mean we gotta work over the weekend?”

Twilight caught up to her wife. Turning upside down in midair she flew under her and kissed her. “All part of the fun of being a princess,” Twilight smiled.

Despite the thought of losing half her weekend, Rainbow smiled back. Some things were just worth it.

Twilight was definitely at the top of the ‘worth it’ list.
> Fear
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Ponyville


Nighttide sat outside the train station. Her eyes darted back and forth from all the different ponies coming and going. She was looking for someone, someone important, someone special. Someone she had not seen for several hours. She was looking for her friend. 

She smiled at that thought, ten years ago if someone told her this would happen, that she would have a friend. She would have laughed herself to death. Now? Now it simply felt like she needed him, that she needed him around, like it was a requirement or something.

It was not that she needed him to get back to Canterlot and the home she was staying at. Most obviously she was a pegasus, easily able to fly the distance if she had too. That was not even counting her ‘other’ abilities. With those she could travel around the world if she needed too. 

No, that was not it at all. She did not need him; she just wanted him to be here. She wanted him to be by her side. She… she was happy when he was around and sad when he was not. Her eyes went wide at that realization. 

‘When did that happen? That wasn’t…’ her thoughts betrayed her. She almost found herself laughing about it. She was laughing about the absurdity of it all. 

‘If they knew I’d be in s-‘ her thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind her.

“Hey.”

Nighttide turned around. She saw him then, the young stallion. Her heart broke upon seeing his face. It was obvious Taz had been crying. She supposed that was logical, he had just received the worst news someone could get at his age. He was a blank flank and would be for his entire life. 

She did the only thing she could, the only thing that actually mattered. She did what her heart told her to do. She walked over to him and wrapped him in a hug. Her hooves rubbing his back as tears fell down her face. She could feel his breathing; he was doing his absolute best not to cry again.

“You can let it out,” Nighttide said as she cried for him, her outside tears were mirroring the ones he shed on the inside. 

“No,” there was conviction in his voice. He spoke with the certainty of somepony that had made his mind up about it. “I’m done crying over this.” He really was, after his fight with Sunshine, Taz had cried for almost thirty minutes. He cried partly due to his permanent status as Prince Blank Flank, and partly for the loss of a friendship, one that he severed. 

“Taz, I-“ the train whistle in the background killed any further conversation. Taz shook her off of him.

“We should get going, don’t want to be late getting home.”

“Sure,” there was not much she could say or do. Nighttide could only be there for him. Nighttide took one last look at the town and shook her head. She followed the young stallion into the train. 

Watching him board the Train, Nighttide noticed something strange, something different about him. Taz seemed to be carrying himself slightly different when he walked. It was not anything obvious; she doubted that any outside observer watching would even notice, but she did. 

He had a different aura around him, almost like the stallion had extra years added to him that had not been there this morning. She let another tear fall at that realization. This experience, that news, wherever he went, it had changed him. 

The adversity of today had matured him. He was harder now, colder. Another tear fell from her eye. Taz, the playful little colt was gone. He had died when the Crusader King broke his heart.

A large part of Nighttide wanted to go kill Astelan. It wanted to skin that stallion alive for what he did, for the little colt he killed. 

She almost found herself smiling at that thought. 

Almost.

She would not do any of that. Never mind that it would be the dumbest thing she could do and get her in more trouble with her ‘family’ than she cared for. Regardless how good it might make her feel, she knew that this was not Astelan’s fault. If anything she was thankful to the stallion for being so direct, for making it final. 

It may hurt, it may be the worst news Taz could have heard, but now he could heal and move past it. Had he left Taz with hope that it might one day come in; Taz never would have stopped trying. He would have spent his life thinking he was simply a failure, that the problem was that he was just too stupid for not being able to get it when everyone else around him had one. 

This way, he at least knew it was not his fault. That the problem was not him, but it was simply that his ability would not let him get one. It may have been devastating, but at least now it was done.

So Nighttide did not smile, she could not, not at a time like this. Yes it sucked, but now they could move past it. She just had to help him with the fallout and picking up the pieces. 

“You want to come over for dinner?” Taz looked up and asked her the question. 

Taken aback by the sudden question, Nighttide jerked her head up. “What?”

“I asked if you wanted to come over for dinner,” Taz repeated the question as they both found their seats. 

“Will she be there?” Nighttide’s eyes went wide as she asked the question. 

Taz sighed, loudly. “Nighttide, I’ve told you a million times there is nothing to fear from Princess Luna. She hasn’t been Nightmare Moon in over fifty years. Heck that was before we were even born. You can’t tell me you’re still afraid of that old story.”

“Sure, mister teddy bear,” Nighttide said with a small smile.

Taz glared at her. “You said you wouldn’t ever tell anyone,” he said through gritted teeth.

“And I haven’t. I’d never break your trust like that. I’m just pointing out that we all have things that we’re afraid of. You got yours and I got mine. That’s the thing about fears, they’re not always rational.”

Taz just sighed, “I think you two would get along fine, if you’d only give her a chance you’d find out there is nothing to be afraid of.”

“I know, I… I… I just can’t, not right now. One day, maybe, just not now.” Nighttide looked down at her hooves. Taz grabbed ahold of them. 

She felt it again, that strange feeling she got when he was happy. It made her happy, when he was hurting, she hurt. Somehow him wanting her to be happy, made her want to be happy. Nighttide almost laughed. “I thought I was supposed to be cheering you up.” 

“We’re friends; we can cheer each other up,” Taz said with a small smile. 

“How do you think the others will take it?” Nighttide asked the unasked question. While she had little doubt that Rainbow, Twilight, Ana, Starlight, and Night would be supportive of him. That still left Blaze, Flash, Vela and Luna-forbid, Ataxia to deal with.

Based on her time around them, the latter was the one that caused her the most concern. 

As soon as she asked, Nighttide wished she had not. Taz’s face lost the smile he had. He let go of her hoof and leaned back in his seat. “I know Ana will be there for me,” somehow, when he mentioned Ana first, it caused Nighttide’s heart to skip a beat. 

“Starlight won’t care. Of course my moms will be supportive. Blaze and Flash will give me some light teasing, but I can always beat them up if they take it too far,” he smiled at that last part.

“Vela… I’m not sure about. You know how she is. She’ll either not care or she’ll never let it go.”

“Well if she tries something, tell her I’ll whoop her flank,” Nighttide said with a grin. 

Taz laughed, he knew from their wrestling matches that Nighttide could not fight to save her life. Vela was a scrapper though. 

“What about Princess Ataxia?” Nighttide asked as Taz managed to skip over the one she was the most worried about.

“Buck me, I forgot about her,” Taz’s eyes went wide. 

“Just talk to Night first.” 

“Yeah, ‘cause she has such great control over her wife.” he rolled his eyes sarcastically. “You sure you won’t come with me? I could use all the help I can get.”

She looked down and shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’d be more than happy to spend the night next time Nightmare Moon isn’t there, but I… I can’t… I just can’t.”

To her surprise the strangest thing happened. Taz moved to the seat next to her. He held her head up and wiped a tear from her eye. A tear she was not even aware she shed. “I’m sorry, I’ll quit asking.” 

He felt bad about opening up this line of questioning again. Nighttide told him about how her family would always scare her with stories about Nightmare Moon, and about the event on Nightmare Night that would forever go unspoken of again. 

He placed her head on his chest. Just letting it rest there while his hoof slowly trailed down her mane.

They stayed like that the entire train ride. The two got some looks from the other ponies in the train, but Taz ignored them. As a prince, he was more than used to the attention. For Nighttide’s part, she did not even notice. She had no idea why, but this just felt… safe?

Was that the word? Nighttide did not know. She only knew that she wanted this moment to last forever.

Sadly, all good things.

The train whistle caused the two of them to wake up. Taz’s cheeks were red as soon as he realized just how they had fallen asleep. During the train ride she fell asleep with her head on his chest, at some point of time his head must have drooped down into her mane. 

He did not want to wake her, but he also did not want to be caught like this. Sadly, both of those events were too late to stop. 

“Hey, you two!” A female sing-song voice caught his attention. Worse, it was one he recognized. 

Nighttide glanced up at the pony that just spoke. “Hey Starlight, what’s going on?” she yawned.

Starlight was on the other side of them. Despite how much she did not want anyone to believe she cared about her looks, it was obvious to Nighttide that Starlight put a lot of effort into keeping up the appearance of not caring about her looks. It was a shame, with her blue coat and short rainbow mane, Starlight could be quite the looker if she tried.

Her cutie mark even fit her name; it was a constellation of stars in the shape of a large tree.  

“It’s not what it looks like,” Taz said the words, knowing that Starlight would not buy them for an instant. 

“Oh, I’m sure it’s more.” 

“Starlight, what are you doing here?” Taz was in no mood to play this game.

“Lessons let out early, so I figured I’d come and pick you up. Why? You don’t want to be seen with your little niece?”

Taz groaned, they were all practically the same age yet she felt the need to point that out. Although something she just said dawned on him. “Wait? Mom let you out early? Is she sick?”

“No, there was a problem…” Starlight paused before going on any further. 

“What happened?” Taz moved Nighttide off his lap and stood up. He was a big stallion for his age, easily taller than Starlight. 

“Nothing major, just an issue with Ana,” Starlight tried to deflect. “She wasn’t feeling well and had to leave early,” she lied. She had pinkie promised to keep her sister’s secret. Although, Starlight did not really believe it was a secret. 

“Is she ok?”

“Yeah, she’s fine now. We would have gone back but Twilight went out flying with Rainbow, no pony has seen either of them for a while.”

Taz laughed at that. His mom was always a stickler for following rules and keeping to a schedule, unless Rainbow got involved. Only she could make Twilight relax; only she had that power. 

“Well, come on love birds; let’s get back to the palace.”

“Actually I got to head home, my family should be back in town later today,” Nighttide interrupted Taz before he could shout at his niece for what she just said.

“When am I gonna get to meet them anyway? It seems like we always hang out at my place,” Taz asked. They always stayed at his place, always hung out at the palace. He never got to stay over with her for a night. 

Nighttide bopped Taz on the noise. “Soon, you know they spend most of their time traveling. Besides, the palace is a LOT nicer than our little house,” without giving him a second to reply, she kissed him on the forehead and flew off out of the train.

For that alone Taz considered turning his ability against her, of making her pay for that. He decided against it, for starters he was sure Starlight would rat him out if he used his ability maliciously against another pony.  

Taz simply walked past Starlight and smacked her muzzle with his tail in an effort to get the grin off her face. He was sure there would be teasing about this later on. 

He was right.

“So, when is the wedding?” Starlight asked when they were almost home.

“Shut up.” 

“I just think you two would be so cute together.”

“Shut up.”

“C’mon, you two have matching coats. She’s obviously into you. Just…” she placed a hoof on his shoulder and turned him around. “Answer me this one question. Why not?”

“Why not what?” Taz sighed. When Starlight got this way, you just had to go with it. Her mind would not rest until it figured out whatever problem it was working on.

“Why don’t you like her, you know, like that?”

Taz looked up into the sky; he could not get out of this now. Unless… “I’ll answer your question on one condition.”

“You pinkie promise to answer it truthfully and sure.” Starlight said.

“There are NO follow up questions, I’ll pinkie promise to answer it truthfully if you pinkie promise to let it go when you hear the answer.”

Starlight nodded, and then they both proceeded to go through the age-old motion at the same time. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

“Because I love some pony else,” Taz said matter-of-factly and turned to walk the rest of the way to the palace. 

“But… you… I… what…” Taz had to laugh; he had never managed to leave Starlight speechless before. “You can’t do that!”

“Do what?” 

“You can’t drop that bombshell on me and not tell me more!”

“I think I just did.”

“Yeah bu-“

“Uh no, you pinkie promised remember?” Taz had her dead to rights.

That one sentence deflated all the air in Starlight’s tires. “I hate you,” she said sarcastically.

“I know.”

They walked in silence after that, until Starlight could not take it anymore and bumped into the colt. This of course led to him bumping her back. It was not long until both of them were smiling and giggling. 

“Thank you,” Taz said out of nowhere.

“For what?”

“For not asking,” he gestured to his blank flank.

She looked at it and nodded. “Honestly, I always thought that might be a possibility. I just kept it to myself. I didn’t want to invite trouble. When I saw you on the train, it confirmed all my fears.”

“Sweet Luna you’re just like…” he stopped himself.

“Just like who?” 

“No one.” Taz tried to cover his lax comment. It did not work.

“Uh no, who am I just like?” 

“Just a fr-“

“I know all your friends,” Starlight cut him off. The mare second guessed what he was about to say.

“I guess that’s true. Now,” even though Taz said the last word under his breath, Starlight still heard it. Her ears flopped down; her tail drooped at that news.

It did not take a genius to read the subtext of that line. Taz did have a friend that she did not know about, or at least, he use to have one.

Watching him walk away was painful to the young unicorn. She thought of something, something her grandma told her. “You know, grandma always said that friendship is magic.”

“Yeah-yeah, I know what my mom always said about it.” He rolled his eyes at that lecture all over again.

“Well it’s too bad you weren’t paying attention then. Twilight said that it’s magic because friends forgive each other. When you have a friend, you accept them for all the good parts, and the bad,” she teleported directly in his path to cut him off; he had no choice but to listen to her now. “You can’t expect your friends to be perfect, Taz. Even the best of us will stumble from time to time. If your friend did something bad, and that’s the reason you’re not friends anymore, maybe you should look at yourself. Figure out what sort of friend you are that you can’t forgive them.” 

“Some things can’t be forgiven,” Taz said with a tear in his eye.

Starlight walked over and hugged him. “I know, but you need to figure out if what they did was really that bad, or are you just making it into something that bad.”

She let him go and turned around to head into the palace. She paused and left him with one more line, “I don’t know who your friend is Taz, but I know you. You never would’ve been friends with them in the first place if they were that bad. Just… just ask your heart what the right thing to do is,” she smiled as she saw it, that look he would always have when he figured something out. 

“You may never have a cutie mark, but you’re the best uncle I could ask for. I think you already know the answer.”

Taz watched her go with a smile on his face. He wiped the tear from his eye. ‘Dammit Starlight, I was so angry at him too. How did you do that?’

He resolved that the next time he saw Sunshine; he’d apologize and make amends. Although, Sunshine would have to get over him hanging out with Nighttide, that was not going to stop any time soon.

…………………………


Canterlot


Nighttide pushed open the door to her ‘home’ and walked inside. In a word, it stank. There was water damage everywhere, mold growing all around, and cobwebs lined the walls. Not that she actually stayed here. She just found it useful to have an address in Canterlot. 

There had been a few times in the past eight years when Taz or one of his moms would ask where she stayed, they would ask her about her history, or Taz would ask to come over. 

“As if,” Nighttide said to no pony in particular. She would never bring the colt here, but she did have to register an address for school. That part still bugged her. That she had to go to school at all was humiliating enough, but she also had to keep up the facade. 

Nighttide hated having to pretend that ‘he’ was her parent, her dad, her true dad could never simply walk into a public building, heck he could not walk into Canterlot without giving everything away. No, she had to pretend that Timespire was her dad. 

Of her two ‘uncles’, it had to be him. Of course it did.

Not that she liked Mindsink all that much either, but still… that would have been preferable, especially as Timespire was the one that caused her to be this young in the first place.

As she walked in, Nighttide realized something, she was not alone. It took her a few second to figure out who was watching her. She smiled at that realization. 

“Using my own trick against me?”

Nothing happened.

“You can come out now, Dayspring. I know it’s you.”

A figure walked into the room. Dayspring smiled at her. “I figured turnabout is fair play.”

“I’m so not in the mood,” Nighttide turned away from him.

“Oh? And you were so lovey-dovey on the train; I figured that you’d be in a happy mood.” 

That legitimately surprised Nighttide, she had no idea that Dayspring had been watching her the whole time. 

“Last time we spoke, I told you that interference would not be tolerated. Did you come here because you want me to rat you out?”

“You won’t rat me out,” When Dayspring said those words, it was with certainty, almost as if it were simple fact.

“What makes you say that?” she turned to him, already tiring of this game.

“Because, then you’d be revealed for what you are, you wouldn’t be able to be around Taz anymore.” 

Nighttide felt her heart jump into her throat at that thought. “What makes you th-“

“Don’t lie to me, I’ve seen you, I know how you feel. You’re in love with him.”

“I am no-” she tried to shout, Dayspring cut her off.

“Yes you are. You’d never do anything to jeopardize that. However, you’re planning something, or if not you, your masters are planning something. It’s something that will hurt him, something that will use him and break his heart. You know this, don’t you?”

“I’d never tel-“

“I didn’t ask you to tell me. I may not know what you are, I may not know who you serve, but I know who you love. You’ve fallen for my brother,” when Dayspring said that line, it was not a question. “It’s conflicting, isn’t it? You’re afraid of losing him. You know what you have to do, you know what you’re told to do, but it doesn’t match what you want to do.”

The young mare paused, speechless. Her confusion turned to anger as she glared daggers at the stallion in the room with her. 

“This wasn’t part of the plan, was it? He was supposed to fall for you, not the other way around.”

Nighttide was really, really beginning to hate this stallion. He was far too smart for his own good. Around the outside of the room, shadows began snaking around; they were metamorphosing into something, responding to her unspoken will. 

“What oh what are your masters going to do when they find out?” Dayspring shook his head.

More and more shadows snaked the walls and ceiling, all of them out of sight. They were all converging just behind the stallion. 

“The discordance between what we know and what we feel can tear even the best of us apart.” When he spoke that last line, it was not accusatory, it was not with malice. Rather, he spoke with understanding, almost like he was sympathizing with her.

She hated that the most. Nighttide’s eyes flashed black and the shadows behind Dayspring attacked. They sought to impale the stallion with a hundred different spears.  

………………………………………


Celestia's Palace


As Starlight walked into her room, it did not surprise her in the least to see Ana curled up on her bed in the fetal position, sulking. Ataxia had tried her best, for three hours she used every trick she knew to cheer up her daughter, it did not work.

You cannot fix a broken heart by giving it cakes and ice-cream. In the end, Ataxia had no choice but to admit defeat and go to bed. Ana was left just as she was: A useless wreck. 

Starlight hated thinking about her sister in those terms, it was wrong on more levels than one. Sadly, the analogy just fit. 

She walked in the room and jumped up her sister’s bed. Starlight began lightly stroking her sister’s mane, seeking to give her some comfort. It always amazed her just how soft Ana’s mane was. Her long, beautiful purple mane was always so soft, always so well kept. It matched her dark blue coat perfectly.

Her mane’s texture made some sense; Ana’s cutie mark was of a long mane with a golden hairbrush running through it. Ana’s magic was directly related to style, to grooming. It was her special talent after all.

Ana mumbled something in her pillow when Starlight ran her hoof through her mane. She could not make it out, but she did not need too. It was definitely something along the lines of ‘go away’.

Starlight sighed at that, “You should have come with me.”

More mumbling was her only reply, Starlight almost laughed as she knew exactly what her sister said without having any comprehension of her actual words. 

“Yes she was on the train with him, but he would’ve appreciated you being there anyway.”

More mumbling

“Yes I know you don’t like her and you didn’t want to go because you didn’t want to see her.”

More mumbling

“Yes he made it back safely.”

More mumbling

“He doesn’t have one.” 

As soon as she said those words, Starlight knew what would happen next. Ana shot up and looked at her. 

“What do you mean he doesn’t have his cutie mark?!”

“Exactly as I said, he doesn’t have one.”

“The Crusading King failed?”

Starlight shook her head. “No, he doesn’t have one because he can’t have one. His special talent won’t let him have one.”

Ana started crying again. “Taz! He must be devastated! I gotta… I gotta….” She jumped out of bed and ran to the mirror, seeking to make herself presentable. 

“You gotta calm down.” 

“Calm, calm, I AM CALM!”

“Obviously,” Starlight rolled her eyes. “Listen, he’s trying to move past it, not be reminded of it. I won’t stop you from going to him, but please, for the love of Luna, don’t make him relive it. If he brings it up you can talk to him about it. Just don’t force him to talk about it.”

Ana simply nodded her head in agreement, in truth Starlight suspected that she just did that to get her to shut up, that Ana had not heard a word she said. Her sister threw down her brush; it was getting her nowhere fast, and fast is what she wanted. 

She shut her eyes and concentrated her magic on her mane, tail, and face. It took a LOT out of her, but in a flash of blue magic, her hair was fixed. Ana got up and ran out the room, leaving a very flustered Starlight behind.

“They should have stuck with your first name,” Starlight sighed as she plopped down on her bed, before rolling over and picking up a book to read. She remembered that conversation all too well. Years ago, Starlight asked Ataxia why Ana was named Ana. 

Ataxia’s reply stuck with her all this time. “Because Night wouldn’t let me name her Anarchy.” 

Apparently they had compromised. 

“That name would've been much more fitting.” Starlight said to no pony in particular.

………………………………………


Canterlot


A flash of light temporarily blinded Nighttide, as for the first time in forever, the house she called ‘home’ was lit up, albeit not by actual light. When she regained her vision, the stallion was still in the room, he was still looking at her with that same look in his eyes.

Sympathy, he felt compassion for her. 

She hated him, she hated everything about him. Worse, she hated him for reflecting her own feelings right back at her.

“What are you even doing here?!” Nighttide yelled the words, screaming just like a teenager would at a stubborn parent that was telling them something they did not want to hear. 

Dayspring’s expression never changed, the power drained from his horn. In the blink of an eye he had neutralized all the shadows she summoned, he did it without even turning to look at them. 

He sighed, somehow that just made Nighttide feel worse.

“Consider this a professional warning. I haven’t been lax these last eight years and I will be watching you, I will be watching both of you closely from now on. Taz considers you a friend and nothing I say or do will change his mind. When it happens, when you or your masters spring your trap, I will be there. I will stop you, regardless of what it costs me.”

“Get out,” Nighttide mumbled the words.

“What was that?”

“Get out!” she screamed. “Get out, get out, get out!” The rage that had been building in her chest overloaded. She yelled with all the force she could muster, unable to physically eject the unicorn from her house. With that display he just put on, Nighttide doubted she would win against him even at full power, so she fell back to the old adage, yelling. 

Dayspring shook his head, “I’m going,” He turned around to leave out the front door. He stopped right before leaving and said one last thing. “You know, I actually feel sorry for you. I don’t know what they have over you, but I can tell you’re not all bad. Whenever I look on your face when you’re with my brother, I can see that much. Whatever they have on you, is it really worth what’s going to happen? Is it worth you having to break your own heart?”

“GET OUT!” She bucked an old table at him. The wood shattered on a purple shield around the unicorn.  

Dayspring turned his head and left. As soon as he was out the door he teleported away, back to wherever he came from. The cool breeze from the evening air blew through the house; it caressed the fur on Nighttide’s back in all the wrong ways. Nighttide found herself in a rage, she began kicking and destroying every odd piece of furniture that was left in the old abandoned house.  

When it was over, when there was nothing left worth destroying, nothing left to take her rage out on. She went with the only option left to her. She cried. 

“Mum’s worth it,” she sniffled, trying to convince herself of the truth more than anyone else. After all, there was no one else there.

‘Is it worth you having to break your own heart?’

His final words stayed with her. After all, the truth has a way of penetrating you to your core.
> Late Night (c)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Celestia’s Palace


Twilight and Rainbow snuck into the palace. Of course, ‘snuck’ was a choice word here. Can you really sneak into your own home? Even though the palace was named for the mare that ruled all of Equestria by herself for over a thousand years, it was by all rights, theirs.  

For both mares, it was nothing more than a cheap thrill. Rainbow could have easily dashed in with without being seen and Twilight could simply have teleported in. However, both of them had unintentionally been gone most of the day, a little issue with having too good a company with too relaxing a landscape. Although, Twilight had woken up to set the sun on time, so no one would be worried about something having happened to them. 

The thought alone was ridiculous. Even on their worst day, either one of them would be a force to reckon with. Together, they could conquer the world. 

However, having been gone all day, there would be questions when certain ponies found them, lots of questions at that. Neither of them felt much like answering said questions. Twilight wanted time alone, time for Rainbow to finish what she started on the cloud.  

That was something Rainbow was more than happy to oblige her with. 

When the night guards made their rounds, the two mares darted from one tower to the next. Each a little giddy at the thought of being caught. Part of Twilight actually wanted to be caught. Somehow the thought of being called out for doing something so juvenile was exciting to the mare.

It had been Rainbow’s idea. She sold it to Twilight as a way to ‘test the defenses’ of the palace. A way to see if the royal guards were sticking to the strict patrol routes that Twilight had planned out to the very second. 

Twilight had agreed to that. It made sense to run such tests. After all, you can never be too relaxed.

That’s the way it had started anyway. She soon found herself laughing with Rainbow as they went from shadow to shadow. They darted between guards that were obviously a little too comfortable with their duties. 

It was obvious to her that they had become complacent in their routine. It was nothing major; each set would come out and perform their search as expected. The issue was timing; each area should be checked two times every fifteen minutes. They were doing eighteen. 

Even while her conscious mind was with her wife, Twilight’s subconscious mind was establishing new ways to fix it, new ideas to shake things up for the guard and keep it new. 

Things had been a little too peaceful lately, with no real threats in almost fifteen years. They were victims of their own success. After all, as the old saying goes: Success breeds’ complacency, complacency breeds’ failure. 

“Ready?” Rainbow looked at her, a sparkle of mischief in her eye. Twilight just nodded. This was the hardest part. They were in position and simply had to make it up to their room. 

Rainbow gave a small countdown with her hoof. The signal was simple enough, they would go on three. Twilight flexed each wing as Rainbow had taught her all those years ago. She made sure they were nice and limber for this last part, something she was sure would be needed for more than the dash up to the window. 

On three they both took off. Twilight did the math in her head; they had four seconds to fly a hundred hooves from their current location to the window in their room before the next patrol passed by. Twilight pushed herself as hard as her wings could take her. She found herself giggling at how silly it was. She could easily add magic to her flight and make it in a second, Rainbow would be up there before one could blink an eye, but that was not the point. After all, they were ‘testing the defenses’ and any attacker would not have their abilities. 

She knew it was a lie. She knew that this was simply Rainbow going after a cheap thrill. However, when you marry someone you make certain compromises, you do things the other wants to do even if you have no interest. Twilight had learned this lesson the hard way over the years. She learned that relationships are not one sided, you have to give and take in equal measures; so on this she gave, after all, you might find it’s actually fun. This was the case for Twilight. She had almost given away their location three times when she started laughing. It was only by a hoof from Rainbow that she had not. 

For this part there was no laughter. Twilight calculated the odds with her current abilities in flight and it did not look good. She would have to push herself as hard as she could to make it in time. As she leapt into the air, Twilight felt the muscles in her wings burn from the sudden use of energy, she felt her lunges demand more and more oxygen to replace what her body was using. 

Her mind registered the wind resistance, the feeling of gravity trying to pull her down, the fear and thrill of possibly getting caught. She cataloged all of these things and more, storing them away so she could concentrate on making it, so she could concentrate on that one objective alone.

She would not make it. Her brain told her as much. Based on the evidence around her, Twilight’s best guess was that she was flying at ten point two wing power. She needed to be at ten point four to make it. It was small, slight gap, but that was the difference between success and failure.

At the last second, she felt herself increasing in speed. A force was pushing her on, giving her an extra burst that allowed her to clear the remaining distance just in the nick of time. 

Twilight laughed as she felt Rainbow’s hooves tighten around her barrel. Her wife spread her wings and rolled them both over in her grip. Rainbow stuck the landing perfectly, right into their alicorn-sized bed. 

They rolled over each other on the bed. Twilight found herself giggling and laughing from Rainbow’s touch. It was easy for the alicorn to see that her wife was enjoying this. 

Rainbow was enjoying it. Being married to Twilight for so long had taught her everything there was to know about her wife’s body, in more ways than one. Including the spots where she was the most ticklish. 

Rainbow put that knowledge to good use now. She quickly ran her hooves over the best spots. That action caused her wife to giggle like a school filly. 

“Rainbow, I… I…” Twilight tried to get out the words. She kept interrupting herself with laughter.

“You what, Twi?” Rainbow smiled but never once let up with the tickle torture.

“I’m going to pee!” Twilight shouted a little louder than she intended too. 

Rainbow stopped tickling, “Oh,” she watched her wife climb off the bed and run to the bathroom. Her eyes were glued to the princess’s flank. Watching the way her butt slightly jiggled as she ran, the way her tail would bounce up and down just enough for her to steal teasing glances at the prize that lay underneath. 

Rainbow licked her lips at that thought. Briefly, she considered just ravishing her wife in the bathroom. Rainbow thought about taking her in the shower, on the sink, and even on the floor. It was nasty, filthy, and dirty, but hey, that could be fun too. 

Such is the fact of life, anything, even good sex with the one you love, gets boring after a while. It was Twilight that figured out how to fix it, how to shake things up. It all revolved around trust: Trust in your partner to care about you, trust in your partner to not judge you for suggesting something different, and trust in yourself to try new things. 

Once they figured that out, everything became open. 

Rainbow’s thoughts turned away from bathroom sex and to something else, something that would be a lot of fun for both of them. A little toy she had just got, albeit ‘little’ was a choice word here. And it was not their only toy by a long shot; over the years the two of them had quite the collection of such toys.

Each of them bought by Rainbow, Twilight would always blush and make up some excuse when Rainbow would bring up going to ‘that’ shop. In truth, Rainbow thought it was a little cute; her wife was so shy in the public eye when it came to sex. Get her alone with no one else around and she was anything but. 

All in all, the two kept a very healthy sex life, although their kids would disagree with that. Rainbow laughed at that. It had been Twilight’s idea to not try to hide it from them. Her explanation had gone along the lines of ‘If we show them what a healthy sex life looks like, they will know the right things to do when they grow up’, or something like that. Whatever she had said, Rainbow thought it sounded good at the time. In her eye it just meant more sex, so there was really nothing to complain about either way.

The two would never actively have sex in front of their kids; Rainbow drew the line at putting on a show for them like that. However, if they walked in, or overheard something, Rainbow did not give a buck. Dash would normally smile when she saw the looks of horror on their face. Part of her wanted to ask, ‘How do you think you were born?’

Based on how they turned out, Shimmering Night with Ataxia, Aurora with Icarus, she would say they did all right. 

Then again, based on some of the screams she heard in the middle of the night from Night’s room, she would say they did better than just alright. That was the curse of having such good hearing; she heard everything that went on with them. 

Rainbow did not mind, Night needed someone like that, someone who would push all her boundaries. She had always been worried about her youngest daughter. At best Rainbow could only describe her as a little prudish. 

‘That description doesn’t fit anymore,’ Rainbow laughed at that thought. Those two were just like them, and they had the sex life to prove it. “If you could see her now, Rarity.” 

Rainbow’s mood almost went sour at that, almost. Yes, her friends had passed on, but she still had Twilight, and Twilight still had her. As long as that did not change, the rest she could deal with.

So Rainbow shook that thought out of her head, jumped off the bed, and went to retrieve the toy she wanted.

… 

Twilight finished up and left the bathroom. They made a pact between themselves that they would not use having to pee as an excuse to try and get out of anything. Once Twilight had done just that, Rainbow caught on and did not let her go next time. 

Needless to say, they had both paid for that little mess up. 

When she walked out of the bathroom, the first thing she noticed was Rainbow’s grin. The cyan-blue mare was spread out on the bed, her body formed a straight line with her head resting in her right hoof and her left one running circles on the bed sheet. Rainbow’s eyes were glued on Twilight’s.

“Been waiting long?” Twilight joked.

“All my life.” 

“Well, I’d say that’s long enough,” Twilight leapt up on the bed, her body easily overshadowing the smaller pegasus. Rainbow had other ideas though; using her wings, she applied just enough force to cause Twilight to roll right over her.

Rainbow held onto the larger pony and rolled with her. They ended up with Twilight on her back and Rainbow on top. “Rainbow, what-“

“Shh,” Dash placed a hoof over Twilight’s mouth. “You told me to finish what I started, right?”

Twilight just nodded, “Well, if I remember correctly I was on top,” Rainbow Dash smiled as that realization hit Twilight. Tonight, this time, Rainbow would take charge. Twilight did not know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

She decided to go with it and see what happened. She tilted her neck ever so slightly to give her wife better accesses, to truly allow her to continue where she left off.

Dash looked at the mark and whistled, “Wow, I really did a number there, didn’t I?”

“I’ll say, don’t worry about it, I’ll heal it when we’re done.” 

“No.”

“No?”

“No, keep it.”

“Rainbow?”

“Keep it, for at least one week. It’s my mark on you, I want you to keep it for at least that amount of time.”

“Rainbow, I can’t go to meetings with this giant hickey on my neck.”

Rainbow just smiled her cocky grin. “Yes you can, for me.”

Twilight was speechless at that. “Rainbow, I-” she never got to finish that sentence. Rainbow resumed suckling on the spot, soothing the bruise with just the right amount of kisses and licks. The combination left the alicorn speechless. 

Rainbow glanced up at her wife’s face as she went to work. She wrapped her hooves around her wife to pull her a little off the bed and began rubbing just the right spot on her wife’s back, the area directly between where Twilight’s wings connected. 

The moan Twilight let out was the sexiest noise in the world to Rainbow. She smiled as she continued her ministrations. Slowly, ever so slowly, Rainbow began working her way down her wife’s body. She left a trail of licks and bites at all the right spots, they were spots that had taken her a lifetime to learn, but it was worth it.

Twilight’s thoughts were lost in a wave of blissful pleasure from her Dashie’s expert tongue. Dash pulled her hooves down and lifted Twilight’s ass in the air, she ran the tip of her wet nose from the base of her wife’s slit all the way to the nub at the top. Smiling that thrice-cursed cocky grin of hers when she looked up.

Twilight lost herself when she saw Rainbow’s tongue come out and lick her nose clean. “So, will you?”

“Luna-dammit Rainbow, yes I’ll do it, just…” there was a longing in Twilight’s voice, a needing. At this moment, at this time, Rainbow could have asked for anything and Twilight would have willingly given it without a second thought. Whatever it took for Rainbow to get back to work.

“I’ll take that as a promise,” as a diver would when they jumped off into a pool, Rainbow dived right into Twilight’s sweet nectar. She loved everything about it, the smell, the taste, and the wetness, all of it. It was a taste that she simply could not get enough of; the smell was heavenly in her nostrils.

Not so much for what it smelled like, but because what it implied. It was the way her wife’s body showed her desire. It showed that Twilight wanted her in the same way that Rainbow did: Mind, body, and soul.

The feeling of Rainbow’s tongue sent shivers up Twilight’s spine. Her wings shot out as soon as the rough texture made contact with her intimate parts. Rainbow knew what she was doing, the two of them had years of practice making the other scream in the best ways they knew how.

Rainbow started with one long lick, from the bottom to the top. She then started in on the sides, enjoying how the extra sensation caused the blood to flow into all the right areas. She watched in amazement how her wife’s lips puffed up and parted. Just like a flower opening up to the sun’s light.

Rainbow realized that she was that light, she was the one thing that brought substance to her wife. Dash was the thing that caused her wife to open up to the world and display her true beauty. All at once, this small action was the greatest showing of love Twilight could give her, an invitation, and an offering. 

Rainbow accepted all three and dived back in. Her tongue went to work on the inner folds of her wife’s love passage, she licked from top to bottom, from right to left, and from side to side. She went as deep as she could one second, and barely scratched the surface the next. 

Through it all she kept her eyes on her wife’s face, looking for that one tell, that one signal that would let her know when it was almost too late. 

She saw it; Twilight’s eyes went wide as the pressure building up from her loins was about to overflow. Just as it was about to cause a cascade of reactions in the young alicorn, Rainbow stopped. 

Twilight’s focus was on her wife’s face. She was looking for the reason why, why Rainbow would stop like that when she was so close. Incapable of speech at a time like this, Twilight had to hope Rainbow would answer the unasked question.

Rainbow saw the look on her wife’s face all too easily, she knew what Twilight was thinking, in truth a small part of her was asking herself the same question. However, she had a plan, she had a new toy to try out and Rainbow knew that Twilight would only do so if she were wanting. 

Besides, it’s no fun if your partner is not into it. 

Rainbow licked her face clean, enjoying the taste of the mare she loved and not wanting to let a drop of the salty liquid go to waste. The look of indignation on Twilight’s face somehow made it all the more satisfying. 

“Relax, egghead. I’d never leave you waiting, I just want to try out our new ‘toy’.”

Twilight started to worry, the last ‘toy’ Rainbow brought into the bedroom had been an extra long set of anal beads for them both to enjoy at the same time. While they were fun in their own right, it definitely set a dangerous precedence. Rainbow liked to up the ante in the bedroom. She could only guess what Rainbow would be bringing now. 

She had no clue.

Dash reached under the blanket and pulled out an extra long, double headed phallus made out of rubber. It’s intended purpose was obvious; but what did surprise Twilight was the size, the thing was massive. It was easily able stretch her past the point of being comfortable.

“Rainbow, I-”

She never got to finish that sentence; with the speed that only Dash was capable of, Twilight found her mouth completely covered by Rainbow’s own. Her tongue darted in and quickly began its hundredth match against Twilight’s own. 

Rainbow slowly pulled back, Twilight looked up into her eyes. They were full of love and lust, passion and desire, hope and longing. Twilight’s mind gave up the fight in the time it took the string of saliva that connected the two to break. 

What did surprise Rainbow was the grin that overtook her wife, she had been expecting ‘reluctant acceptance’. What she got was ‘devious idea’. 

With a flash of magic, their positions were reversed. Rainbow found herself laying on her back with Twilight on top. She looked down at the cyan mare she loved, her new grin never leaving her face. 

“I do believe I said I would make you pay for a certain comment earlier, didn’t I?”   

Rainbow feigned fear, “Oh no.”

“Oh yes,” Twilight smiled as she picked up the toy and examined it. “Hmm, before we use this, I got to get you ready.” 

Twilight placed the double-headed dildo on the side of the bed and went in for a kiss. Based on the wetness on her knee as she slowly grinded it up and down Rainbow’s sex, there was no need for this foreplay.

However, making a Rainbow cum was never the hard part, keeping one down after was the challenge.

She went in for the kiss, all the while keeping the pressure on Rainbow’s vag with her knee. Briefly, Twilight wished that she could stimulate Rainbow’s wings the way she would do with hers. It always drove her wild when Rainbow would do that. Sadly, that just was not an option. Rainbow’s wings were made of magic energy; they did not have nerve endings like Twilight’s.

She moved past that, while Twilight could not return that favor, Rainbow did have a few other spots that produced the same effect. 

History had taught her that trump card. For Rainbow, her erogenous zones were primarily located in her hooves. Twilight suspected that this might be due to the extra nerves that ran into her hooves. This led them to be overly sensitive when somepony touched them, while this would normally only cause her discomfort, if done by the right pony at the right time, it could be very pleasurable to the cyan mare.

Twilight was the right pony and history had taught her that anytime she had Rainbow’s motor running was the right time. 

Twilight smiled as she spread her wings and ran a feather lightly over her wife’s hoof. The effect was immediate and welcome. Rainbow’s eyes went wide as Twilight’s ministrations over her lower half never stopped. That plus the extra sensations from Twilight’s feather almost sent her over the edge. 

Almost.

Twilight was taken aback by that, “Rainbow?”

“What, you… you think I… I haven’t been training myself?” Rainbow said between her deep breaths. 

She had never told her wife this, but over the years Rainbow had been training herself to reduce the sensations from her hoofs. She barely scratched the surface of what she needed to do, but it was still enough to cause her wife to become flustered that her ace in the hole was anything but. 

Twilight recovered in the blink of an eye. “Well, I guess I’ll have to up the ante,” she smiled a devious smile as she looked at her wife. Rainbow was close, but close was never enough when it came to Rainbow. The only thing that had ever come close to her libido was her endurance.

Sadly, one complimented the other, Rainbow’s endurance easily transferred to her libido. 

Keeping the mare satisfied was almost a full time job for Twilight, one she did not complain about.

Twilight thought back to their last time, the last time Rainbow brought in a toy to the bedroom. Her smile increased, showing her teeth. “Twi, what are you thinking about?”

“Oh, a few little balls,” Twilight smiled back. Rainbow’s grin left her at that.

“Bring it on, egghead.”

Twilight complied with her wife’s wishes. She teleported the beads and a large bottle of lube directly into the bedroom. 

Rainbow heard the bottle of lube open; she heard the sound of large plastic balls being coated in the lubricating liquid. She felt the magic of her wife probe against her back door, lubricating the area fully to make it all the more fun when things really got going.

Twilight noticed the smile on Rainbow’s face. “Rainbow, what’s going on in that head of yours?”

“Oh, nothing.” Rainbow lied. She had put the pieces together by now and knew what was soon to happen. Twilight leaned down and kissed her. 

“Why are you smiling?” Twilight rephrased the question. 

“I thought you didn’t like the beads,” Rainbow said through the kiss. 

Twilight laughed, “I just didn’t want to put any other ideas in your head. Although I think that ship has sailed.”

“You can say that agi-“ she never got to finish that sentence. As at that moment, Twilight’s magic pushed the first ball directly into Rainbow’s ass. With such things being relaxed is key, one has to be accepting of it, for if not, you can do some real damage. 

Twilight knew from experience that the best way with Rainbow was by surprising her. As such, when she took the cyan mare’s attention off the beads, that was the perfect time to strike. Rainbow looked up at her after the first and largest ball made entry.

Twilight smiled, the look of dejection was cute, however it was the next thing Dash said that really got her motor running, “Again.”

“As you wish,” with her magic, Twilight popped the next three balls in, each one after the other. With the lubrication from the first ball, and the reduced size of the following balls, they each went in slightly easier. It was not long before her share was fully inside. 

“Your turn,” Rainbow said with a smile. Twilight nodded, once this was started there was no backing out. She took the other half of the string and lubed it up herself. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of looking at the balls that would soon be inside or her, or more specifically, the first ball that would be inside of her. 

“Rainbow, I….” 

Rainbow flexed her strong muscles and reached up to capture Twilight’s mouth with her own, just like with her, it was best to distract the other before inserting. 

While Rainbow wrapped her hooves around her wife and kept her tongue busy with her own, Her left wing went to work. 

Rainbow’s wings were made from pure magic energy, a gift from Twilight. They existed because Twilight gave up being a God, and all the power that came with it to save Rainbow from her fate. A fate the God of Death engineered for her. They did not fly like normal wings, rather, they responded to her very will. 

This allowed her to grow and shrink them as her will wanted, she could make them hard enough to cut a mountain in half, or soft enough to catch a falling baby pegasus. 

Over the past few years, her practice with these wings found that she could perform delicate maneuvers with them too. It took a lot of concentration, but she found that they could operate as a second set of hooves when the need arose.

Like right now.

The wing picked up the balls between two feathers and softly reached around to Twilight’s flank. The lavender mare did not notice at first, she simply wrote it off as one of Rainbow’s hooves being a little frisky. Of course, had she been in a different mindset, she would have wondered how Rainbow had three front hooves.

When the first ball popped in, Twilight screamed into the heavens. The sudden unexpectedness of it caught the mare completely by surprise. While it was a little painful, however, with everything else she was experiencing at the time it only added to her overall pleasure. 

Twilight glared at Rainbow with a look of displeasure on her face, Rainbow just kissed her again before saying, “That’s one.”

The next three were easier. After that Twilight took over and finished the job with her magic. Looking back, she saw that the two were now connected by a string of anal beads they were both using at the same time. She grinned, “Just think my little Dashie, we’re only halfway done.”

“Wha-“ Rainbow never got to finish her sentence. Twilight picked up the new toy with her magic and showed it to her. It took a simple adjustment with her magic but soon both ends were pointed in the same direction. She hardened the center to ensure that the elastically would not cause it to simply slip out. 

Rainbow got a grin on her face as she watched her wife go to work. Despite the sight of Princess Alicorn Twilight Sparkle inserting a large dildo into herself with the intent to fuck Rainbow’s brains out, her mind could not help thinking of a very different memory.  

As with all relationships, theirs was not a perfect one. Rainbow was far more horny than Twilight ever was, this led to it’s own share of arguments between the two.

Once upon a time, Twilight told Rainbow to just take care of herself, she made an excuse of just being too tired, and that if Rainbow needed it that badly she should just rub one out. 

Rainbow immediately cut the papers that Twilight was working on in half. “What’s the difference between sex and clopping?” Rainbow asked her wife with a straight face.

“Rainbow, I don’t have time for this.” Twilight tried to pick up the pieces of the papers, but Rainbow simply blew them all away with a gust of wind from her wings.

“Answer the question, and no I’m not talking about the obvious.” The look on Rainbow’s face scared Twilight. However, she was not in the mood.

“I don’t know Rainbow, you tell me.”

“When you clop, you’re pleasing yourself. It’s all about you getting your own pleasure. When you have sex, you’re pleasing the one you love, it’s about giving them pleasure.”

“Rainbow, I don’t have ti-“

“Shut up, Twilight. I’m not done.” The look on Rainbow’s face caused her to shut her lip.

“I love you, I want to be with you, I want to fuck you. Not because I want my own pleasure, not because I’m looking to get off. If I wanted that, I’d go take care of it myself. The most beautiful sight in my eyes is the look on your face when it’s filled with ecstasy, ecstasy that I caused by my own hooves." Rainbow paused as she let out an annoyed breath.

"Rainbow, why are you so mad?"

Rainbow ceased her pacing, "How did you think I would feel when you tell me to go fuck myself like that?”

“Rainbow, I… I didn’t me-”

“We both know what you meant, don’t lie to me.” Rainbow shook her head and extended her wings, her intent clear. 

When she looked back, it was with a tear in her eye and a disgusted look on her face at the pile of scraps Twilight was reassembling with her magic. “I don’t know what those papers are, but if they beat me for your time, I hope they’re important.” 

Twilight watched the mare fly out the room with a disgusted look in her eye. ‘All this because I don’t have time to fuck you.’ 

She was able to fix the papers easily enough. However, the words Rainbow said stayed with her a lot longer. 

It is said that to each individual, sex means something different. Some do use it as nothing more than a tool for self-pleasure. Twilight had always assumed it was something like that for Rainbow. Now? Now with the liquid falling from her eyes, causing the ink she was using to run across the paper, Twilight knew the truth.

The papers were forgotten, Twilight teleported to her wife’s side with tears in her eyes. It was the last time Twilight ever made such an excuse. There were times when one or the other simply could not do it for whatever reason. However, they were always honest, always open about the true reason why. 

From that day forward, to both mares, their love for each other became the priority. it was not something to try and get out of, it was something to make time for.

A tear fell from Rainbow eye as she remembered that day. Luckily it just so happened to coincide with Twilight finishing inserting her end into herself, so Rainbow had time to wipe it away. “Ready Rainbow?”

“Is there any other way to be?”

Twilight laughed as she positioned herself. Rainbow had to admit, this was much better than what she had been expecting. As she felt the head tip enter her well-lubricated pussy, Rainbow admired their position. Twilight was on top, a double headed dildo in both their vaginas, a large set of anal beads connected their asses, and to top it all off, she got to look her wife in the eye the entire time.

Twilight stopped pushing when she noticed something; a tear fell from Rainbow’s eye. “Are you ok?”

Rainbow's only reply was to wrap her wings around her wife and pull herself up. The action caused the dildo to bottom out in both mares at the same time. She caught her wife’s sudden scream with her mouth. Trapping it in a kiss. 

When Rainbow pulled back she smiled at the slightly different sight before her in Twilight’s eyes: Love and trust, hope and joy, passion and desire, it was all there, all of it, just for her. 

“I love you, Sparklebutt.”

“I love you, Featherbrain.”

Rainbow forced the alicorn on her back and took over. This was no longer the time for holding back; this was the time to see her scream in ecstasy. 

She got her wish. 

After two minutes, Twilight’s eyes were glazed over, the smaller mare did not let up, not even once. Rainbow’s natural endurance was able to push harder, longer, and faster than anything Twilight was capable of. 

In Twilight’s mind, her pleasure was an ocean only held back by a dam, one that was cracking with every single push Rainbow made. 

One that busted open as soon as Rainbow’s teeth bit down on the hickey she had left earlier that day. The sudden addition of the new sensation caused Twilight’s mind to burst with pleasure. Rainbow grabbed ahold of Twilight with her hooves and road out her wife’s orgasm with her. 

When it was over and Twilight could finally open her eyes, Twilight saw that she was in the hooves of the mare she loved, the one she trusted more than anyone else in the entire world. 

She was sweating, she was filthy, and she was wet. However, even if given a million wishes, she would not change a thing about this moment. 

Rainbow noticed her wife was awake, but said nothing. She merely kissed her one more time before resting her head back on her wife’s chest. Twilight raised a hoof and ran it through Rainbow’s mane. 

“I love you, Rainbow.”

“I love you, Twi.”

They smiled as they said the words at the exact same time, right before drifting off to sleep. 

It did not matter that the toys were still firmly held inside of them, it did not matter what they smelled like, or what they felt like. The only thing that mattered was the moment they shared and the love they had for each other.

With that, they could sleep for a lifetime.
> Keeping your Promise (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Celestia’s Palace



Taz awoke with a groan as the light of his mom’s sun shone brightly on his face. His only thought was, ‘I forgot to close the curtains’. He swore his mom gave him a bedroom with a window to the east on purpose.

It was another day, another day of having to put up with his rather unusual family. Worse, it was another day he knew he would put off doing what he had to do. He wanted too… he needed too… he had to go see Sunshine. He needed to apologize for what he said yesterday, he needed to try and explain things. He needed to have that awkward conversation; he just did not want to have that awkward conversation.

As such, he found himself making every excuse under the sun not to have that conversation; he even agreed to go out with Ana today, something that always made her happy. He stumbled out of bed only for his hoof to get caught on some garbage on the floor. 

“What I need to do is clean up my room,” he laughed at that. Yes, there was a lot he needed to do, yet little he would actually do, at least physically anyway.  He’d make up excuses to get out of the stuff he did not want to do. After all, being lazy is a full time job. 

“I wonder if my moms made it back in yesterday.” 

He groaned as he realized that to find the answer to that question he would have to leave the room. Such things involved movement, movement hurt, as such he did not want to move, he wanted to crawl back in bed go to sleep. 

“Best get this over with.” 

He moved, as expected, it hurt. However, there was a reward waiting downstairs. The aroma of pancakes could be smelled all throughout the castle. No doubt something the designers did on purpose. It was accompanied by the smell he knew would get his parents downstairs soon: Coffee. 

“That’ll get everyone up,” he chuckled. Taz tried it once when he was younger; it was not his cup of tea, although he did enjoy the smell. 

Amazingly, he managed to put one hoof in front of the other and found himself moving out the door. His intent was to head straight to the kitchen, but a pressure from his bladder informed him that he needed to make one stop on the way there.

…

A sight greeted him when he made his way downstairs, a sight that was as foreign to him as the thought of Ataxia being polite. Princess Luna was at the table, reading. He rubbed his eyes, thinking that maybe he was imagining it. When that did not work, he lightly hit his own hoof. 

The pain informed him that he was not dreaming. “Luna?” Taz asked.

The night princess did not look up.

“Princess Luna?” Taz asked again as he made his way to her.

She jerked her head back, the bags under her eyes let him know that it had been quite the late night for her. “Prince Taz,” Luna yawned. “What time is it?”

“Seven-thirty. What are you looking at exactly?”

She looked down at the book, as if to double check it was still there. “A most infuriating book. Seriously, how does Twilight stand to read such trifle all the time?”

Taz just laughed. With a wave of his hoof at a nearby serving pony signaling for him to bring his breakfast, he joined the princess at the table. “I think it depends on the book, Luna. What book is it anyway?”

Luna shut the book and slid it over to him. “Equestria’s Big Book of Riddles? Luna, why are you reading this?”

“I had the most infuriating hunt yesterday. A lead came in that an escapee was on the loose in the remains of Appleloosa.”

“Oh, what was it?” Taz always enjoyed these stories. He was never allowed to go on one himself, something about him being too young. Although, he suspected it was for another reason though. After all, even Starlight had been on a hunt, albeit with Night and Luna there.

“A sphinx actually.”

“A sphinx?!” A noise startled the two. They both turned their heads at the speaker to see Princess Night walk into the room. “I thought they were all gone.”

“They’re rare,” Luna admitted, “but they’re not gone, at least not all of them. This one survived because my sister locked her in Tartarus.”

Taz cringed when Luna mentioned her lost sister. He had never known such loss in his lifetime. While he had lots of stories and pictures of his lost brother, it was not the same. That was all he was to him, pictures and stories. He had never known Dayspring personally; as such the true depth of that suffering were a mystery to him. 

Although, based on the breakdown his family would have every year on the anniversary of his death, he was very glad not to know such pain. 

“What did it say? What did it look like? What did it…“ Night was on a roll, she could go on for days if no one put a stop to it.

“Night, after breakfast,” Taz said in a loud voice. He was already rubbing a headache that was starting to set in.

She blew her brother a raspberry before sitting across from him to join them for breakfast. 

Night noticed the book sitting in front of Taz and slid it over with her magic. She smiled as she read the title. “Luna, this isn’t going to help you.”

“Trust me, I know that.”

“What was your riddle anyway?”

“Closer than you expect but never seen, fighting for a love never known, older than eyes can see, what am I,” Luna spouted the words off from memory, as much as she tried otherwise; she could not-not forget them. 

Night whistled, “Good luck with that.”

Taz’s jaw dropped, “Wait, you’re not going to help her?”

Night just smiled. “Nah, it seems to me that the riddle was meant just for her, it’s up to Luna to figure it out on her own. I’ll let it go.”

“Night… not… solving… a… problem? My head hurts,” Taz went back to rubbing his head with his hoof. 

“Shut up,” Night said with a smile at her brother’s overblown display of frustration.

Breakfast arrived soon after for Taz, he took to eating and found that it did wonders to sooth the pain in his head, he knew that logically it would be something about the nutrition entering his body causing it to settle down, or something like that.

All he cared about was that the headache was going away.  

Or at least the headache was going away. “Taz! Are you ready for a fun day!?” 

He looked up, a little bundle of troubles was walking down the stairs with a big smiled plastered on her face at the sight of the stallion. “Hey, Ana.”

“Is Starlight up?” Night asked her daughter.

“Yeah, she had to use the restroom though.”

Taz went back to his breakfast as the two of them started talking; girl talk was never an interest of his. While he enjoyed the meal, he did notice that the book Luna had been reading vanished in a flash of purple magic. A quick glance at his sister’s horn confirmed his suspicion. Night was indeed interested in Luna’s riddle.

‘Let it go indeed.’ Taz smiled as he figured out what was going on. He knew his sister all too well.

“Hey champ! What did you end up with?” 

The voice brought Taz’s eyes back to the doorway. He looked up in time to see his moms come down the stairs. Yesterday, he had told everyone what had happened, everyone that was awake and there that is. He knew that such news would quickly disperse throughout the palace. However, Twilight and Rainbow were not in the palace. The two of them went missing for the entire day. 

It seemed they had not heard the news yet. 

“He didn’t get one,” Ana answered the question for him. He looked up at her, grateful.

Rainbow’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean?” 

“It’s your talent, isn’t it?” Twilight asked. Taz just nodded. “Son, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok, mom, I’m done with that,” every time he said those words, it reaffirmed it in his mind; it made it that much easier to deal with. Ana sat down next to him, she ran a hoof softly down his back. 

He appreciated the gesture, but it was unnecessary. He really was done with it. 

“So, it’s true then?”

All eyes turned to the newest mare to walk into the dining room. Ataxia paused at the doorway. She had heard the rumors, but this was not the same, this was the truth, straight from the pony’s mouth. 

They all held their breath as Taz answered the question. “Yes, it’s true. I’ll never have a cutie mark.”

“That sucks. What’s for breakfast?” 

Every jaw in the room dropped at once, disbelief permeated in the air. No one present could believe this turn of events. Ataxia just looked on, confused at what they were gawking at. “What?”

“That’s it? That’s all you got to say?” Night asked; her own shock was palatable at her wife’s words.

“What? You want me to make a big deal out of it?” Ataxia asked, surprised at her wife’s reaction.

“You’ve been teasing me for months for not having a cutie mark, and now you just…” Taz could not finish the sentence; it was all too unreal for her not to care.

Ataxia laughed. “Only because then it was your own fault, but now we know it’s not. I’m not going to give you shit about something you can’t control,” Ataxia walked by Taz and ruffled his mane with a hoof. “Trust me; I’d never tease you about something that’s not your fault.” The mare looked down at that, she knew from experience what that felt like. 

“I asked her not to,” Ana whispered in his ear. Taz just nodded, that made a lot more sense than Ataxia suddenly growing a conscious. While Ataxia always had the tough mare persona on the outside, when it came to Ana, she was nothing more than a big old softy.

“Where were you two yes-“ Night cut her question to her mom short when she noticed a dark blue bruise on Twilight’s neck. “Mom, what happened?” She tilted her head to get a better look at a bruise. One that looked rather painful to the mare. 

Twilight blushed, she had thought her hair covered it, it did not. Rainbow just wrapped a hoof around the alicorn. “Oh, that was my doing,” Rainbow said with a grin on her face as she kissed her blushing wife on the cheek.

“Aren’t you two a little old to be leaving each other hickeys?” Ataxia asked with no small amount of sarcasm in her voice.

“I hope that day never comes.” Rainbow replied.

“Only my parents,” Night sighed as she moved her eyes back down to her meal. For his part, Taz just shrugged, he did not get the big deal of it all. His parents loved each other, that was a good thing as far as he was concerned. That Night seemed embarrassed by it at times seemed more like her hang-up than a problem with them.

He did notice a predatory grin on Ataxia’s face when she looked back at her wife, or more specifically, when she looked at her wife’s neck. Taz had a feeling that his youngest sister would soon have a bruise matching Twilight’s.

“So Taz, do you want to go flying today?” It was nothing for Rainbow to carry him while she flew, something that Taz enjoyed as much as Dayspring had.

“Sorry, he’s going out with me today,” Ana practically shouted the words; her excitement at spending time with her favorite uncle was obvious.

It was something that caused Twilight and Rainbow to chuckle and Shimmering Night to frown.

“You sure Taz? I’ll gladly take the day off,” Rainbow said with a smile, tactfully ignoring the death glare she was getting from her wife at ‘volunteering her time’ despite them being a day behind to cheer up their son.

Taz turned around, “Sorry, I did promise I’d spend today with Ana.” 

That settled it for Rainbow, a promise was a promise. Twilight simply looked at Ana and sighed. “Well, I guess you can have another day off your lessons. Besides, it’s not like we don’t have to play catch-up or anything.” 

Ana gulped, “Sorry grandma, I didn’t have a chance to ask you before.”

Twilight walked over and placed a hoof on her granddaughter’s shoulders. “It’s all right; we’ll just call this a friendship lesson.” 

“You two want company?” 

Taz and Ana looked over at the stairs; Starlight was walking down for her breakfast. A look at Ana’s face told Taz all he needed to know about inviting her sister along. 

“I’d invite you along, but Luna and Night need your help to figure out a riddle,” Taz grinned a devilish grin at his sister as he said those words. Night and Luna both glared at him. 

“Riddle? What riddle, I love riddles! C’mon, what’s the riddle?” 

Luna and Night both gave the young stallion a death glare. He simply blew them a raspberry in response. 

In the middle of her sister’s rambling, Ana brought him closer to her, “That was mean you know.”

Taz just smiled. “I know.”

Twilight and Rainbow soon joined their son for breakfast. Twilight even found herself interested in what Luna’s riddle could possibly mean, however, after missing the entire court yesterday, she simply had no time to figure it out. They were backlogged with meetings today.

Something the royal guards came in and tactfully reminded her about.

A white unicorn in royal armor walked in, saluted, and promptly gave his report. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, your first meeting is in three minutes.” 

At first Twilight did not notice, lost in her own head at what ‘closer than you expect but never seen’ meant. Rainbow prodded her back to reality. “Hey Twi, we got three minutes and you haven’t touched your breakfast.”

“Oh shoot,” she began eating as fast as she could. Rainbow just smiled, it was not the first time she had to remind Twilight to eat. Many a nights would see her up late working on some report, a cold dinner pushed to the side. Rainbow made it her job to remind Twilight that she had to eat regardless what she was working on.

“What are you two doing today?” Ataxia asked the two kids, a yawn overtaking her as she did so.

“Oh, I got a great line up of events planned today!” Ana shouted, much to the detriment of everyone at the table. The fair was in town and she wanted to go to it with him.

Taz turned to her, “Don’t ruin the surprise,” his smile lit up her world. 

“Okay.”  

Ataxia laughed at the sudden one-eighty her daughter did, Night did not.

“Princess Twilight, it’s time,” the royal guard pronounced. 

Twilight groaned, got up, and sighed at a half-eaten meal. Rainbow simply kissed her on the cheek, “C’mon, I’ll sneak you some food later.”

“Easy for you to say, you’ll just sleep on the throne like you always do.”

“Do you want my help?”

“No, no, no, no, no, no…” Twilight started panicking at that, last time Rainbow actually tried to help do something to run Equestria, well… some things were better left unremembered. No, Rainbow served better by just being there. Her presence more than made up for the distractions she would cause. 

A sound dampening spell over her muzzle helped too. Twilight knew jackhammers that were quieter than Rainbow’s snoring.

Taz got up too. He looked at Ana and smiled. “Well, shall we get going?”

“Yep!” Ana laughed as she jumped up out of her seat and followed Taz out the door.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Ataxia shouted.

Taz just laughed. “So we can do anything we want?” 

Ataxia chuckled. 

Night elbowed her in the gut when they were gone. Ataxia just rubbed the spot with her other hoof. “What?”

“Don’t tell them that.”

“Oh relax. They’re just kids.”

“Yeah right.” 

Ataxia sighed inward. ‘Great, she’s mad.’ “If you didn’t want them to go out, why didn’t you just tell her no?”

“Because she’s thirteen, telling her no is the surest way to ensure she does it.”

“What’s your problem, Night?” Ataxia glared at her. Every set of eyes turned to the two mares at the table. Night was about to reply when she noticed the looks their argument was getting them, including a look from Starlight. 

“We’ll talk about it later,” Night's voice was deadpan as she turned her attention back to her dinner. 

“Oh I don’t bucking think so,” Ataxia’s tone became serious. Even at her best, she hated the passive aggressive bullshit that Night would pull once in a while. She lit up her horn and teleported the two of them upstairs.

Something that did her stomach no favors, but between that and sitting next to a mad wife, she chose the lesser of two evils. 

“Ataxia!” Night shouted as her rump suddenly made contact with the floor of her bedroom. Ataxia simply grabbed her stomach with her hoof in a desperate attempt to get it to settle down. 

Even though she was mad at Ataxia for what she did, NIght could not help but feel sorry for her at the same time. “You ok?”

“I will be, give me a minute.” 

Night just laughed at that. “You know that was dumb, right?”

Ataxia just nodded when her cheeks puffed out, “I think I’m gonna-”

Night levitated a basket close to the mare. For a second it looked like she was going to use it. The moment passed without issue though. “Lay down,” she gestured for her wife to get on the bed.

Ataxia just nodded. She moved to the bed and stretched out, letting her stomach settle on her side without any pressure from her weight or the bed. 

Night went and sat next to her wife, she stroked her mane with a hoof. “You know teleporting has never sat well with you, but doing it after a meal, that was a new level of stupid even for you.”

“I know,” she rubbed her sore stomach with a hoof. “But I’m tired of having this fight with you.” 

That made Night feel worse, Ataxia’s suffering, her using the one spell she hated most in the entire world, it was all because of her. “You know I don’t think they have a healthy relationship.”

“Yeah, but you’re not exactly the Princess of Good Decisions yourself,” Ataxia laid her head on her wife’s lap. Her weariness of being up all night was making itself known. Something made worse by the fact that the night court was especially busy last night.

Night laughed at the old joke. “I suppose that’s true. Still, I don’t like the looks Ana gives him.”

“You’re still worried about that?”

“It’s wrong.”

“Night, it’s just a silly crush. You know nothing will come of it.”

“How do you know that? She is your daughter after all.”

Ataxia rolled her head to the side to get a better look at her wife. She smiled at how cute Night looked right now. Her Rainbow mane was starting to cover her eyes. “She might be my daughter, but she’s a lot smarter than me. Besides, she's more like Fluttershy than me.”

Shimmering Night smiled at memories of her Aunt Fluttershy. It was true, although Ana preferred styling to helping animals, there were still a lot of similarities between them. “So, you don’t think we have anything to worry about?”

“Nah, I don’t think Taz likes her like that.”

“Oh, why not?”

“'Cause she’d be pregnant by now if he did,” Ataxia laughed at her joke. 

Night did not. 

…………………………………………………………


Canterlot


Taz followed a very excited Ana out the palace and down the steps to the city. The two of them received several glances from the palace guards as they walked by. Manly due to the way Ana was acting in front of them.

“Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” Ana shouted as she bounced around the larger stallion. Taz just smiled at her antics. Ana was always so calm and reserved, or at least that’s what every pony else told him anyway. That was a side of the mare that Taz never saw, he only saw the energetic, hyper young filly that was simply happy when he was around. 

He soon found a grin had appeared on his face. With someone like that around, it’s hard to be anything but happy. “So, where to first?”

“Oh, let’s go to the fair!” 

Taz laughed, “I figured you would want to go there, however, there is just one problem.”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“It’s doesn’t open for five hours.”

Those words stole the wind from her sails. 

“But we can probably catch a movie while we wait.”

“Really? Sweet!” Ana started down the street. 

“Other way!” Taz called out.

“Oh, I knew that.”

“Sure you did,” Taz smiled as he led the way, Ana quickly caught up and started talking his ear off about all the new designs she wanted to try out with manestyles. 

That’s when Taz really started to pay attention. More than one of them got caught absentmindedly agreeing to be her new test pony and ended up in some cockamamie new hair due. The Twin’s manes had yet to fully grow back after last time.

“No, Ana. I’m alright,” Taz caught that last question. 

“Please, I know the perfect haircut for you, it’s not too short and not to fancy, you’ll love it!”

“I like my hair as is.”

“Oh, I do too, I just think that if you trim up your bangs, get an ACV wash, detangle the knots, and then we do a protective styling at the ends you’d look so pretty,” Taz glared at her, “I mean, handsome,” she corrected.

“Yeah, I don’t think so. Besides, what happened to liking my hair as is?”

“I do, I just think I could make you look better is all,” Ana tilted her head to get a better view of his mane. 

“I’m still going to have to go with no.” 

‘Luna please don’t let her…’ Taz did not even have time to finish that thought. 

“Please!” He knew not to look, every part of his being told him to look forward, it told him to keep his eyes off the young mare, to look anywhere else but at her face.

He looked.

Ana’s eyes were puffed up, her brow crossed and her lips pouted forward. She looked… she looked… she looked adorable.

“Ana…”

“Please…”

Taz hated himself for being so weak, but he had no choice. His fate was sealed as soon as he saw those eyes. “Fine.”

“Oh thank you thank you thank you! I promise you won’t regret it!”

“Too late,” Taz said under his breath. Ana heard it, but said nothing. She pressed her coat up to his as they walked the rest of the way to the movie theater. He thought of something, “What is an ACV wash anyway?”

“Oh that’s an Apple Cider Vinegar wash; it’s great for cleansing the hair and scalp, treating dandruff, and restoring the pH of your mane!”

“Great… so my mane will smell like vinegar for a week. Is it too late for me to change my answer?”

“Yes,” Ana glared at him, Taz just shrugged. “Besides, I’ll put some oils and spearmint in it. I promise you it won’t stink for long.”

“Pinkie promise?”

“Pinkie promise.”

Somehow, as they approached the ticket booth, that did make him feel better about the whole thing. 

……………………………….

The movie was a disaster. It was a cheesy action fic that had way too many fake explosions and not enough plot. Taz walked out of the theater shaking his head at the waste of bits. 

“C’mon Taz, it wasn’t that bad.”

“Wasn’t that bad? How many explosions did you count?”

“Ah….”

“I lost track at eighty-six.”

“So? I thought you liked action movies.”

“Yes, when the action supports the plot, not the other way around. I swear to Luna that’s the last Misaki Barb movie I ever see.”

Ana just shrugged, “Your loss.”

“Wait, you liked it, how?”

She tapped him on his head with a hoof. “Sometimes you just gotta turn your brain off. I was expecting two hours of explosions going in, and, well, that’s what I got.”

Taz just stared at her, speechless. ‘Is it really that simple?’

“C’mon, you’ve seen his other movies, if you were honestly expecting anything different at this point, I’d say the problem was with you.”

“Keep your logic out of my bitching!”

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” she walked by him on her way to the next destination. “Lets go slowpoke, I want to whoop your flank again!”

“Wait, what?” Taz asked, Ana gestured to their destination. An arcade was set up at the corner of the street: The Button Mash Arcade. 

“Oh no,” Taz sighed as he followed his niece into the arcade. At this time of day it was relatively empty, save for a few ‘way too old to be in here’ ponies, but he really could not blame them. ‘The day fun has an age limit is the day I kill myself.’ Taz thought with a smile. 

Of course, that was not going to help him now. Ana was already heading to the one machine he did not want to play, but of course it was the one machine she wanted to play. 

He cringed as she put the bit in and the two words he hated most in the world popped up. 

“Pony Kombat!”

“Do we have to?”

“Yes, now get your flank over here before I get an easy kill.”

“Ugh, fine.”

It truth, Taz was quite good at the game. He had logged hundreds of hours playing his favorite character: Sorraia. He could easily place in the top ten of any competitions held in all of Canterlot, heck, in all of Equestria.

There was just one problem. His opponent was hoofs-down number one.  For every hour Taz had on the game, Ana had six. 

Seconds passed before the ending sounded. “Finish him!”

Taz could only groan as his favorite character’s spine was torn out through her mouth.

“Fatality!”

“Sweet, look at the blood.”

Taz glared at her, everypony else always talked about how passive she was, how nice, charming, kindhearted, and subdued Ana would be. 

He did not see it, ever.

“Okay, you won now, can we play something else?”

Ana reached in her pouch and dropped a large bag of bits on the game controls. “Oh no, we’re done when you beat me or when this bag runs dry.”

The look on her face told him that yes; those were indeed the only two options. 

……


Three hours later…


Taz tried every trick he knew, every single thing he could think of to pull off that ever elusive victory. He was sure that his skills in the game increased several fold during this course of playing. Sadly, it was not meant to be.

He reached into the bag to pull out another bit. ‘I got her this time.’

Nothing, there were no bits left. “Horseapples.”

Ana smiled as she looked down in the empty bag, “You were so close that last time too. Oh well, let’s get going.”

“Wait, one more!” 

“Taz we’re out of bits.”

“I got some,” He started reaching into the bag. 

“We can play more at home; we gotta save some to get into the fair.”

“Oh, sure,” he started to walk out of the arcade, downcast. 

“Relax, you did almost had me that last time.”

“Yeah, I did. Didn’t I?”

“Yep!” She walked closer to him, pressing their coats together. 

She stopped, dead.

Taz looked back, wondering why Ana was suddenly no longer by his side, why she no longer had her coat pressed to his. His answer came from a very familiar, very unexpected voice directly in front of him.

“Hey Taz! I was wondering where you made off to.”

Taz looked forward, the pegasus filly was standing right in front of him, a smile on her face that spoke of someone very happy to see him. “Hey Nighttide, what are you doing out here?”

“Looking for you actually, I swung by the palace, but they said you weren’t there, they said you went to take your niece out on the town.”

“Yeah actually,” Taz looked back, his smile left his face upon seeing Ana. Gone was the fun little energetic filly that was way too good at video games. In her place was a shy little unicorn that seemed way too interested in a rock on the ground. “I promised Ana that I’d spend the day with her today.”

“Oh, can I tag along?”

There was a whimper sound, so small he could barely hear it, yet he knew exactly what that sound was and what it meant. Memories of the disapproving look Ana had over Starlight wanting to come with them came back to his mind. 

Nighttide was fun, a lot of fun. He knew that if she tagged along they would do fun things together, or at least, they’d do things he enjoyed. He wanted to say yes, he was about to until a memory came back to his mind, unbidden. The words Rainbow told him all those years ago.

“Remember Taz, a pony is only as good as their word. When you promise something, you're making a pact; you are saying that you're good for it. Intentionally breaking a promise is the sign of somepony who has no loyalty, no honor. Never make a promise you can't keep, and always keep the promises you make, even if you don’t want too.”

“Sorry, but I did promise to take her out alone,” while the ‘alone’ part was not the letter of the promise, it was the spirit of the promise. 

“It’s okay. Hey, my family will be available this weekend; if you can find time you should come meet them.”

“I’d love too.” 

“Catch you later?”

“Later.”

“Good talking to you Ana!” Nighttide said with a smile at that old joke and waved them both goodbye.

As soon as she was gone, Ana walked up to Taz. “Thank you for that.”

It sucked seeing Nighttide go, but Taz figured they would catch up later, right now he had a promise to keep. “Hey, I promised I’d spend the day with you and I’ll keep that promise.”

> Keeping your Promise (Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Canterlot


It was Friday afternoon and the one pony she wanted to be around, the one pony she wanted to see, he was with someone else. Left with no other alternative, Nighttide went to the one place she did not want to go, the one place she really, really hated being; she went home.

She hated the old house.

It was especially bad because ‘he’ was there. 

“Hello Nighttide,” the white earth pony said through a toothy grin on his face, one that spoke with nothing but condescension.

“You can leave Timespire, he’s not here.” 

“Oh, I thought your objective was to bring him.”

“Yeah, well he’s not coming today.”

“So you failed?”

“No! He’s not coming today, he’ll meet with everyone this weekend.”

“That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“Yeah, well plans change. Deal with it.”

The smile left the earth pony’s face. “You’re a cocky little shit, aren’t you?”

Nighttide had enough. She walked right up to his face. “Buck you, Timespire.”

That made him laugh. “Oh how I’ve missed our conversations. Still, your father won’t be happy.”

“Like I care what that asshole thinks.”

“I’ll tell him you said that.”

“Be my guest.”

The laughter stopped. Timespire glared down at the young mare, power began radiating off him in waves. The shattered splinters of wood that were all that remained of the furniture in the house began decaying. Years, decades, and then centuries were added to their lifespans in the blink of an eye. In a matter of seconds, the entire house was hundreds of years older. The walls began creaking, the ceiling bowed in under the weight of itself, weight that the wood could no longer support.

Even with that casual display of power, Nighttide did not retreat. She hated this pony; she hated him more than anything else in the entire world. “I’m not scared of you,” she really was, however, her anger would not let her back down.

“I’m not the one you need to be afraid of; you know what your father can do. He may tolerate your failure, your excuses, because you’re his daughter, but his patience is wearing thin. You said he was ready, you said he had the ability, and you were told to bring him to us.”

“And I will, just not today.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow.”

Timespire grinned, “That should be sufficient,” his form started dissolving, fading into the shadows of the house, a house that was even now caving in on itself. “Understand Nighttide, we will implement the plan based on what you said. Fail to deliver and his patience with you will reach its end.”

Nighttide glared at him as his form completely dissolved into the shadows. Her anger was palatable at the condescending ass. Even as the house crumbled around her, even as her own powers blocked the roof from falling on her, she never took her eyes off the spot where he had disappeared.  

When the last bit of the roof fell in and the dust settled, Nighttide heard a lone voice call out to her from the past, a voice that the house seemed to have stored away and with its destruction, could no longer keep to itself. 

”Is it really worth you having to break your own heart?”

A wet feeling on her face stole her anger from her. She reached a hoof up to wipe off whatever water had managed to fall on her face from the collapsing roof. Her surprise overtook her; it was not water at all. It was a tear.

More tears started falling from her face as Nighttide faded into the shadows. Ponies would have noticed the old house crumbling; they would be arriving soon to make sure no one was hurt. It would not be wise to be caught here when that happened.

She would miss the old house.

…………………………………


The Crystal Express 


“Are we there yet?”

“Nope.”

“How about now?”

“Nope.”

“How about… now?”

“Still no,” Radiant grinned as Blaze started in. They seemed to play the same game every time they would go anywhere. Blaze would know when they arrived by the train coming to a stop. A little tidbit Radiant did not know if Blaze forgot, or if he just enjoyed playing the game.

He suspected the former, but hoped for the latter.

“Hey bro, you think Rainbow will be impressed by how much we’ve improved?” Flash asked.

“I don’t know; mom did just whoop your flank in that race yesterday. So how much can you say you've really improved?”

“Hardy har har, I’m still faster than you,” personally, Flash would say he did pretty good, considering how long it took his mom to catch him.

“In your dreams.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright you two, enough.” Radiant raised a shield around Flash before they could start in on something more serious. 

“Dad, that’s not fair!” Flash yelled as he tried to break out of it.

“Yeah, well who said life is fair?”

Flash pouted, Blaze stuck out his tongue in triumph at his brother getting in trouble and not him, and Radiant just sighed, again. He wished more than anything that Firestar or Cadance could have come along. They were much, much better at dealing with these two than he was. 

Sadly, both of them had an excuse for not being able to make it. In truth, he suspected it was collaboration on their part to make him suffer. He did not know what he did to deserve such punishment, but he had a funny feeling that he did deserve it. 

Over the years he had come to accept that when it came to him, his mom, and his wife, he was the one in the wrong. 

He did not mind, he was used to his mom always being in the right, and besides, Firestar more than made it up to him. 

Thinking about her just brought back his melancholy. He and the boys would be gone for the weekend, which meant he would be away from Firestar for the weekend. 

He turned back to his boys to try and distract himself from that thought. “So what are you two going to do tonight?”

They each stared at him with a questioning expression on their faces. “What do you mean? We got training with Rainbow,” Flash asked.

“I doubt she’ll be able to train you two today. Besides, by the time we arrive it will be way too late for that anyway.”

“I didn’t think of that,” Blaze ran a hoof under his chin. Radiant almost laughed at that comment. 

“Well, luckily I did. There’s a fair starting today and going through the weekend, why don’t you two go to that?”

“Really?”

“Really, you two could probably get with Starlight, Ana, and Taz and go as one big group.”

“Will she be there?” Flash asked with a look of disgust on his face. All three stallions knew who ‘she’ was. Last time they had a family get-together, Vela and Flash got into a fight, and a bad one at that. By even the most conservative standards of measurement, Flash did not win.  

Blaze began laughing at his brother, again. Flash just glared at him. “It’s not funny.”

“It kind of is,” the smile on his face agreed with his words.

Flash sighed, Blaze tended to laugh at everything. He personally did not find anything humorous with getting his front teeth knocked out by a hippogriff with a bad attitude. 

Vela had a tendency to be honest, always, about everything, regardless of the situation, often brutally. When she had started in on Ana about her always wanting to hang out with Taz, Flash could not just sit by. He jumped to the unicorn’s defense without a second thought.

The problem was that not only was Vela a jerk at times, she had the strength to back it up, and her father’s legendary temper to boot. 

Twilight was the one who separated the two; she fixed his injuries and grounded Vela for a week straight, a punishment that Aurora continued for two months after they made it back home. He smiled as he remembered the conversation he had with his father afterward. 

“What happened?”

“She was picking on Ana, calling her names. Dad, Ana, she… she was crying.”

“That’s why you jumped in?”

“Yeah, I told her she could shove her opinions up her ass.” 

“One last question, if it happened again, if you were faced with the exact same situation, what would you do different?”

“Duck, her right cross hurts.”

Radiant placed a hoof on his son’s shoulder. “That’s my boy,” the smile on his dad’s face told Flash all he needed to know.

Of course, his mom had not been as approving of his behavior as his dad was.

To this day, Flash cannot remember another time Radiant stood up to Firestar like he did on that day. It is also the only time he could remember his dad winning a fight with his mom. 

The feeling of lurching slightly forward broke him free from his memories. The train was coming to a stop.

“I highly doubt it, son. Vela should be down in the Griffin Empire for the length of our visit,” Radiant answered his son’s question.

“Are we there yet?” Blaze asked, again.

“Yep, we’re there.” 

“Sweet!” Blaze jumped up, a little too fast as the train had yet to come to a complete stop. He fell down as soon as the train’s forward momentum was completely cut, laughing as he did so.

Flash and Radiant just shook their heads at his antics. They could only watch as the pegasus flew off the train, totally forgetting his bag on the way. Radiant just smiled and grabbed it for him. 

Flash almost laughed as he finally saw it. All the ‘jokes’ Vela would make about them being dumb. After his stunt yesterday, he saw his brother and even himself in a different light. They really were dumb. 

“Sweetie, you’re not dumb. Just a little gullible is all.”

His mom’s words came back, unbidden to his mind. He smiled at that memory. So what if they were a little gullible? They were both happy, they had fun, and they had the most awesome family they could ask for. In the end, that’s what really mattered.

Starlight and Vela might be right more often than they were wrong, but neither of them really seemed happy. 

The old saying is true; ignorance is bliss. 

Flash and Radiant both picked up their bags and left the train. “By the way, I just wanted to say that you’re a good brother.”

“What do you mean?”

“Not ratting your brother out yesterday.”

“Oh, that,” It had been Blaze’s dare to shave their grandma’s fur.  However, Flash knew he was the one that ultimately did it. Besides, he’d never rat out a friend, or a family member for that matter. “No big deal, it was my doing, I was the one who deserved the blame.”

Radiant ran a hoof across his son’s neck and brought him in for a hug, “You know what they say right? Big brothers are born first so they can take care of their siblings.”

“Dad, I’m only like a minute older than Blaze.”

“That still makes you the big brother.”

Flash smiled, but said nothing. 

Blaze flew back to them from the other side of the train station, panic on his face. “I forgot my bag!”

“Got it right here,” Radiant levitated his son’s bag to him; Blaze took it and sighed. 

“Oh good, I was worried I might need to buy more whip cream.”

“Wait, what?” Radiant glared at him. A nagging suspicion that he should have checked their bags before leaving came back to his mind. Something Firestar told him to do. 

“Oh nothing,” Blaze lied.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Radiant opened his son’s bag with his magic; sure enough, it was full to the brim with cans of whip cream. From the looks of it, Blaze had emptied the entire stockpile of it from the Crystal Palace before leaving.  “I don’t think so,” Radiant proceeded to simply toss the entire suitcase in a nearby trash receptacle.

“Dad!”

“Tough, let’s get going.”

“Party pooper,” Blaze said with a pout as he walked beside his family, head downcast. 

‘Wait until you have your own kids.’ Radiant found himself both excited and disturbed by that thought at the same time. Excited because it meant he would have grandkids that he could spoil rotten. Disturbed because that meant Blaze actually managed to reproduce. He knew as a father he should not have such thoughts, but he did.

He shook that thought free from his head and led the way to Celestia’s Palace with his two sons following close behind. “Hey Flash, you think Taz will be able to come with us to the fair?”

“Of course, after all he did promise he’d hang out with us next time we came to town, and we’ll be way too busy to do anything the next two days,” training with Rainbow left little time for anything else on the best of days, and neither of the boys wanted anything less than the worst she could dish out.

After all, by last count they were tied for who could last the longest before passing out, this weekend would be the tiebreaker.

“Oh yeah, and Taz always keeps his promises,” Blaze found the spring in his step when he remembered that tidbit.

………………

Ana and Taz made their way to the fairgrounds. The pair could easily make out the fair in the distance. Large rides and attractions loomed overhead. None of them were operating, yet. However, that would soon change. It would open up in the hour and lines of ponies would begin forming for the coasters, food courts, and various attractions.

A rumbling sound came from his left. Taz turned his head to look at Ana. She merely smiled meekly as her stomach made itself known. “Hungry?” Taz asked the rhetorical question.

“I… I didn’t eat much for breakfast.”

“Much? I barely remember you touching your plate.”

“There was a lot going on.”

Taz laughed at that, there was always ‘a lot going on’ at the palace. It was sort of the reason why it existed. “Why didn’t you say anything? I would’ve gotten you something at the movies.”

“I… I was saving my bits for the arcade.”

He nodded at that; she must have used a month’s allowance at that game today. He was about to comment that it would have been his treat when his stomach joined Ana’s in complaining. “Let’s get something to eat, my treat.”

Ana just smiled and lead the way to the nearest fast food palace. A Hay Burger restaurant loomed across the street. 

Taz motioned for Ana to find them seats as he went to the counter to order their food. The unicorn working the register was a little old to have such a job, but Taz did not pay it any mind. 

“Welcome to Hay Burger, home of the hay burger, what can I get you?”

“Let’s get two hay burgers, two large fries and two drinks.”

“Anything else?”

“Oh, no onions on one of them,” Taz almost forgot that Ana hated onions. 

“That’ll be eight bits.”

He sighed as he pulled out the bits. He had asked his mom once why they had to pay for anything; they were the rulers after all. Her response was long and quite boring. Something about ‘not abusing power or forcing their will on the ponies they ruled over’. Frankly, if there was no benefit to being a prince, he really did not see the point of being one.

We can’t control what we’re born as, but we can control what we do. 

He sighed at that; despite his mom’s words there was so much that he could not control, including his feelings for a certain pony.

“Taz, over here!” Ana shouted from across the restaurant. He took his number and went to join her. Placing it at the edge of the table he joined his cousin for their meal. “Did you remember no onions?”

“Yep.”

“You’re the greatest!” 

“Thanks,” Taz said with a smile. He glanced out the window as something caught his eye; in the distance he could make out the fair starting up in earnest. Looking at the time he noticed that they were a little late to catch the opening. ‘That’s ok, I don’t really like to be in a huge mass of ponies anyway.’ He could not help but laugh, “I think I might come back with Nighttide tomorrow.”

That killed Ana’s smile. A weight came crashing back on her; she could not hold it in any longer, the question that had been nagging her for what felt like forever. “Um, Taz?”

He turned his head back at the mare, noting that she seemed to be focused on a spot on the table rather than him. That worried him, it meant she had something to ask, something important. “Ana, you don’t have to ask me permission to ask a question. I’ve told you this before.”

“I know, but….”

“But what?”

“I… I wanted to ask why… why you….”

“Ana,” Taz stopped her from talking, he reached across the table and rose her head with a hoof; to his shock her mane was hiding a tear that was falling from her eye. 

“Why her?” Ana finally asked the question that had been crushing her for two days now. Ever since she found out that Taz would bring Nighttide when he went to Ponyville and not her.

Taz sat back, downcast. He knew this question would come, eventually. It did not mean he was ready for it though. He did not even need to ask what she was referring to; or who for that matter. He thought of the lie, the one he had concocted when he was on the train with Nighttide to Ponyville.

‘He says to bring your best friend, not your super-best friend.’

It sounded good in his head, that is to say, it did sound good in his head. He knew she would believe it, whatever he said, she would take it as fact, Ana would not even consider that he might lie.

Somehow, that knowledge just made the prospect of actually doing it worse. When he looked at her face, when he saw the tears that he was once again reasonable for, he could not do it. He could not lie to her like that.

She deserved better than that. She deserved the truth.

“Ana, I-“ 

“Here you kids go, enjoy!” the pony from the counter dropped of their food. 

“Yeah, thanks,” looking at it, Taz realized he was not hungry anymore. 

“Forget I asked,” Ana looked down at her food, “I didn’t mean to ruin our day out,” she sniffled. “Let’s just forget the whole thing; after all, I’m supposed to be cheering you up. Not the other way around.” 

The faux smile she had on her face just made him feel worse, not better.

“No.”

“No?”

“No, you deserve to know the truth. Ana, we’ve been friends forever. I honestly can’t remember a time I did not know you. I use to watch you, when you slept you know. You would always be curled up to Ataxia with a big smile on your face,” Taz smiled as he recalled those memories. Growing up, Ana and Ataxia were attached at the hip. In a lot of ways that was still true. Although it seemed to be reversing on who needed whom the older Ana got. 

“I… I… I asked Nighttide to go with me because…” he really did not want to say it.

“Because what?” Ana looked up, “Please tell me, I need to know. Even if it’s bad, please tell me.”

“Because…” he looked down again, “if it didn’t work I wanted someone who was strong. I wanted someone who could pick me up, not someone who would break down with me.”

For anypony, regardless of age, it is hard to admit your own weaknesses. 

Part of Ana wanted to be mad; it wanted to yell at him for calling her weak, for insinuating that she could not be strong for him. That part died as soon as she looked at his face. She realized the truth; he was not calling her weak, he was calling himself weak. “Taz, I-” 

“I’m sorry,” Taz was crying now, “I’m weak and a coward. I wanted to invite you, I did, but I… I was afraid of what would happen. I didn’t mean it.”

She moved to the other side of the table and pressed his muzzle against her coat, cooing softly into his ear. “Taz, you’re not weak.”

“Yes I am,” he sobbed, “I’m... I'm pathetic.”

“Taz.”

“Everypony else has something special, everypony else has some claim to fame. My sisters, my moms, you guys, even my late brother was special. I’m… I’m just Prince Blank Flank,” the wall he built up around his emotions, the emotions he locked away behind a new brick wall of self-denial, crumbled.

It had all been a lie, a facade, everything he told his friends and family, all of it. He was anything but over it, he was anything but strong, he was weak, a coward. This latest development, it only added to it, to everything, it was just one more thing that everyone else had that he did not. 

“I have no wings, no magic, and I can’t even grow crops to save my life. I’m a nothing, a nobody. I can’t even call myself a blank flank. I’m a blank pony.”

“Taz, look at me.”

He looked up; as soon as he did he was expecting to see a look of compassion, expecting to see a look of sympathy filled with tears. 

What he got was a slap upside the head.

“What?” Taz rubbed his sore muzzle with a hoof.

Ana started crying again, “How dare you, how dare you think so little of yourself! You think you’re a nobody, a nothing? I… I can’t even….” This was the side of Ana no one else saw, the side of her that only came out around Taz. 

“Ana, I-”

“No, you listen to me Taz. You are the son of Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle. You are the brother of Shimmering Night and Aurora Flash. That alone makes you hooves down more special than any other pony in Canterlot. Yet you are even more special than that. You can cancel magic, in the history of Equestria no pony else has ever been able to do that.”

Each word the mare said was like a dagger into his heart. Regardless how many times you are told otherwise, it is so easy to discount your own self-worth, to think that what little you can do does not matter, that it is somehow not special. When slapped in the face with the arrogance of that belief, it is a lot harder to ignore. 

“You don’t see your own self value. You… you… you devalue yourself that much, despite everything. We all look to you Taz, we’re all inspired by you; we’re all motivated by the example you set for us all. When you kick yourself, you’re kicking all of us too.”

“I’m no leader, that’s Starlight.”

“My sister’s a tool that spends way too much time seeking her grandma’s approval.”

Taz’s jaw dropped at that. He had never heard Ana speak so frankly about her sister like that. Heck, he had never heard her speak about anyone like that.

“Yeah, you’re right. We all have special talents. Starlight and I can use magic. As such Twilight goes out of her way to train us, to help make us the best we can be. Blaze and Flash can fly, so they get special flight training from Rainbow every second they’re down here. Vela, well she’s a bitch just like her dad.”

Taz almost choked when he heard her use such language.

“You… you have none of that, you have none of the advantages that the rest of us do, yet somehow, you persist. You made your own path. You took the nothing you had to work with and made something out of it," Ana paused to wipe a tear from her eye.

"It’s easy to build something when you have the tools; the real test is to do it with nothing but your hooves,” she grabbed his hoof, “Taz, you’re the strongest of us all. It’s insulting that you can’t see it.”

After that Taz was left speechless. He had no idea what to say, no idea what he could say. He did notice that everyone else in the restaurant had turned their eyes to his table. Ana noticed it too. “Excuse me; I've got to go to the little filly’s room.” 

He watched her get up and leave. Her immediate departure, what she said; it felt like a huge weight was suddenly dropped in his stomach. With some dismay, he let her leave the table.

Something he immediately regretted when she suddenly ran left, right out of the Hay Burger’s front door.

“Dammit,” Taz got out of the booth and ran after her. 

“What about your food?” the pony behind the counter called out.

“Buck it!”

He heard several cries of alarm as he said the words. It did not matter to him, not right now. He had to catch Ana, he had to apologize. He could not lose her too, not like he did with Sunshine. It was just too painful. 

Ana ran, she ran as fast as she could. She had not meant to say all of that; she did not mean to say it. She had to get away, to get away from him. Her mind was far too chaotic right now to try and teleport, she could not focus on the simplest spell, she could only run, run until her legs burned. 

So she ran, she ran away from the fairgrounds, away from the stallion she loved, the one she went off on, the one she… she hit.

A weight tackled her to the ground, the two ponies spun end over end in the dirt. Until, they both came to a stop at the end of the street. Several onlookers paused to watch what was happening. Ana did not even rise from where she fell; she simply laid there, crying.

A hoof made contact with her own. It belonged to a night-black pony, a pony she recognized but wanted to leave her alone.  

“I’m sorry,” Taz closed his eyes as he said the words, “What you said is the truth, all of it. I’ve just been blind, you know. Blind to what I had, blind to all I’ve done. I’m sorry I made you mad at me. You’re my best friend Ana. I mean that. You always have been and you always will be. Please, please don’t be mad at me.”

She looked up, “Taz,” there were tears falling from her eyes.

“Eyes as beautiful as yours should never have tears in them,” he helped her to her hooves and wiped the tears from her eyes.

Ana grabbed him and hugged the stallion for all his worth. Taz returned the hug with all the strength he could muster. That action earned him a small ‘eep’ from the mare for his trouble. 

Taz found himself with the oddest reaction at a time like this, he actually found himself giggling at that sound. Something that even Ana started doing. 

When they broke apart, she was smiling, sincerely. “You want to go back to the palace?” he asked.

She shook her head.

He smiled, “What do you want to do?”

“I want to go to the fair with my favorite uncle.”

“You know what; I’d love to take you there too.”

The two started walking back, covered in dirt from the impromptu tackle. Taz laughed as he looked at the two of them. Together they made quite the pair.

“Hey Taz?”

“What’s up?”

“I’m… I’m sorry I hit you,” Ana looked forward at that, she had never hit another pony in her entire life. Not once.

“I’m not.”

She looked at him, “What?”

“I said I’m not. I needed that; I need someone to slap the stupid out of me every once in a while. Otherwise I might end up like the twins,” they both chuckled at that. It was not meant as an insult, they were simply poking fun. 

“Still, it was wrong of me to do that.”

“Ana, will you promise me something?”

“Pinkie promise.”

“Whenever I need something like that, I want you to be the one to do it.”

“Wait, what?”

“You heard me, I want you to always slap me when I’m being dumb,” there was a serious expression on his face, one that told Ana he really wanted her to do this for him. 

“Ok, I pinkie promise I’ll slap you when you're being dumb.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Taz said with a smile. 

The two managed to move past the event from the restaurant together. They had each said things they did not meant too but needed to say, that purging, while not intentional, did cause some relief; relief for finally letting it go, for getting that weight removed from their shoulders.

“What do you want to go on first?” Ana asked as Taz paid for the tickets. 

He thought about it, “Perhaps we should go on one of the bigger rides first.”

Ana looked around, the bigger rides looked… scary for lack of a better term. With the exception of one, “You mean like the Ferris wheel?” She asked, hopefully. 

He laughed, “Oh no, I’m talking about the Enterprise.” Taz gestured with a hoof to a large ride that looked somewhat like a Ferris wheel, yet that is where the similarities ended. The ponies got into their own separate compartments in small groups and then were spun around from centrifugal force. At full speed you were almost completely vertical off the ground. 

“Or the Windseeker!” he gestured at a ride on the other side of the fair. In this one ponies would get in swings in teams of two, the ride would lift them all off the ground, and spin them around at an insane speed. 

Ana felt her knees go weak at being in any of these rides. She was legitimately scared at the prospect of being on one. However, she remembered what Taz said in the restaurant, about being strong, about needing someone who could be strong for him. 

‘Nighttide would do it.’ 

“Ok,” she hoped her voice did not give away her fear. 

It did.

Taz looked at her. “I know they might be intimidating to look at, but I figured it would be best to do the big rides first, we didn’t exactly eat before. After we do, these are the rides that will make us throw up. If you don’t want to, we don’t have to.”

“It’s ok. I want to, really.”    

“Really?”

“Really, as long as you’re by my side the entire time.”

“It’s a promise. Now come on, lets go hit the Windseeker!” He took off running, showing all the enthusiasm that Ana did not feel. 

While Taz could not wait to put one hoof in front of the other, for Ana, every step was an endurance test. She had to force it. “You coming slowpoke?!” Taz shouted.

“Yeah, I’m coming,” Ana said back. 

When Taz could not hear her, he stopped and started laughing at his stupid mistake. He had gotten too far ahead, Ana was going back, back to the way she was when he was not around.  He started walking back.

Ana felt herself growing smaller and smaller in the crowd, despite not getting there at opening, the crowd was not letting up, in fact it only seemed to be increasing in size. With Taz no longer by her side, it was bad for the young unicorn, really bad. 

As if by magic, she suddenly felt better. The crowed did not seem like that big of a deal, she felt more confident, more sure of herself. She did not even need to look for the reason why. The coat pressed against her own told her that much. “Thank you.”

“No need,” said Taz, “I shouldn’t have run off like that, sorry.”

She rested her head on his shoulders at they walked. It did not matter that she was scared of some of these rides, or that she had not eaten since breakfast. All that mattered was that Taz was by her side. As long as that was true, she could take on the world.

“Hey Taz!” 

They paused, unsure if they heard that correctly. Taz looked over, his suspicion confirmed. “Blaze, Flash! What are you two numbskulls doing here?!”

The pegasus twins flew to the two young ponies. The looks on their faces spoke of no good, at least not to Ana’s eyes. “Oh, we’re being punished.”

“Yeah, totally.”

“You guys do know the definition of the world ‘punished’ right?” Taz asked, a grin on his face. Even at their worst, these two were always fun to be around.

Blaze snickered and Flash just sighed, he got the joke, his brother did not. Not that Blaze needed a reason to laugh at something. “Anyway,” started Flash, “Dad was a little tired, he said we could come here for the day before our training started in earnest with Rainbow tomorrow. We asked Starlight if she wanted to come but she made up some excuse about studying a new spell.”

“Give your old man a break, he’s pushing sixty after all.”

“Yeah-yeah, anyway. Lets hit the fair up together. We’re going to be way to busy to do it over the next two days and we have to head back after the weekend’s over.”

“I…” Taz paused, he did promise to hang out with them next time they were in town, but he also promised to spend the day with Ana. 

“I’m sorry, Ana. I gotta keep my promise, my first promise. You can come with if you want.”

Ana looked at him, her eyes wide, “But... but, it was just supposed to be just me and you,” her voice was barely a whimper.

“Speak up girl, you’re not a mouse,” Blaze said with a laugh, Flash punched him in the shoulder.

“I know, but I promised them last month, I’m sorry, but I gotta honor that. If you don’t want to hang out as a group, we can come back tomorrow, just the two of us, if you want.”

The world was growing bigger and bigger, while there were only three sets of eyes on her, to Ana, it felt like a million. She started shaking, thoughts ran a mile-a-minute in her head. 

“Okay,” she barely managed to squeak the words out.  

“Thanks Ana, you’re the best,” Taz placed a hoof on her shoulder before turning around to join the twins on a fun night out. 

He failed to notice that the young unicorn started to cry. 
> Keeping your Promise (Part 3)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Southern Equestria


“Mom, I’m bored!” Vela groaned in the chariot as they entered the back half of the journey. She always hated this trip, a two day trip just to go see her stupid in-laws and stupid family that thought they were all smarter than her.

They were, but that just made them that much more stupid, in her opinion at least.

“Nice to meet you bored, I’m mom,” Aurora laughed at her joke; she was the only one. 

“You gonna stop making that joke?” Vela asked.

“You gonna stop stating the obvious?”

“No.”

“Then no.” 

Vela rolled her eyes and sighed. “I still don't know why you wouldn’t just leave me behind. I’m old enough to look after myself you know.”

“Because the serving staff threatened to put your head on a pike next time we do,” Icarus turned to his daughter and frowned. “I swear I don’t know what’s wrong with you girl.” 

‘She takes after you,’ Aurora thought with a smile. She did not say it, but she really did not need to. Icarus was dense, but he was not that dense. The stubborn jackass had been blessed with a daughter just like him. 

This was just that tree bearing fruit. 

“Sister…” a little voice behind her caught Vela’s attention and cut off her epic retort to her dad’s statement. 

Vela turned and looked at her brother. As with every time she saw his face, her heart melted. Anyone else: Griffin, pony, dog, whatever, she would not care, she would not give them the time of day or not even a minuscule of her attention. 

Little Dayspring, there was just something about her brother, something that brought out her protective nature. She would take on the entire world to prevent him from coming to any harm. 

Woe be it to the world should that day ever come.   

“Yes brother, what can I do for you?” her voice was changed, gone was the arrogance, the jerkiness, the condescending nature. In its place was a sister’s love for her younger brother, pure and unconditional. 

“Thank you… for coming with,” Dayspring hugged her. 

Vela wrapped a claw around her brother, “No problem.”

He looked up at her, “You’re cold, here, have my blankie,” the little hippogriff took his favorite blue blanket from around his body and wrapped it around his sister’s. It was much too small to do any good but she knew better than to try and deny the gift. 

Dayspring, quite literally, owned nothing. He gave everything he had away to everyone he met. Those in the palace quickly grew accustomed to it. They would thank the small hippogriff for his gift and tactfully place it back in his room when he ran off. 

Anything else and Dayspring would start crying, Vela would get pissed, and, well, that's when things would go really bad really fast. After the second time it occurred, Aurora ordered all the weapons in the palace locked up when not in use; especially Siros’s Vengeance, which, much like her father, seemed to be Vela’s go-to for solving any problem. 

“Thanks, little brother.” 

“No problem,” Dayspring said with a grin as he started shivering from the wind. Vela reached a claw around him and brought him close, blocking the wind from hitting his body with her own. The extra warmth did wonders to warm him up. 

His smile was all she needed to find her own.

Aurora pressed her muzzle against her husband’s. They had considered telling Vela the truth of why they were going to Canterlot, but they decided against for one worrisome thought: The actions Vela might take knowing her mom might be a threat to her brother.

However much Icarus and Aurora wanted to dismiss the thought of their daughter attacking Aurora, neither of them could fully do so. Especially after the incident at Dayspring’s pre-school, an event that caused them both to be homeschooled from that day forward. 

“You gonna be alright?” Icarus whispered in his wife’s ear.

Aurora looked back at her two children, she felt both happy and sad in equal measure. “As long as mom finds out why…” she left the last part unspoken. Some things were better off unsaid.

Icarus simply wrapped her in a hug and brought her in close. He wished he could spare her from this, the feeling of deep regret over her actions. The mare had been through some of the worst events in his history, faced down some of the worst things imaginable, but nothing like this.

He’d face a horde of rampaging dragons if it meant he could take away his wife’s pain. Sadly, it would only add to it.

How do you protect someone from themselves?

“It’s Twilight, she’ll find something,” Icarus said the words, but he did not believe them. His greatest fear was not that she might find something, but that she would find nothing, that his wife simply lost control of her emotions.

A world where he could not trust his wife around her own children, he could not imagine such a world, he would not imagine such a world. 

“Honey, you’re squeezing a little hard,” Aurora barely managed to squeak the words out. 

Icarus let his wife go and almost had to laugh. Her dark-blue coat was somehow darker. “Sorry.”

“Hey mom, you think Blaze and Flash will be there?”

Aurora turned to her son, a hopeful look on his face at the thought of being able to spend time with his second cousins. 

“I doubt it honey,” Aurora said with a smile, one that faded when she looked up at her daughter, “but if they are, what are you going to do Vela?” 

Vela sighed, loudly. “Apologize for knocking Flash’s teeth out of his empty skull.”  

“Uh hu,” Icarus started in, “and if you don’t you know what will happen.”

“But Dad!” Vela protested.

“No buts, laying into your cousin like that is uncalled for anyway, but disobey your mother and so help me,” her dad seemed larger to her at that moment. 

The palace in Warclaw was huge, staffed with a small army of guards and servants to take care of it. As with all such places, rumors would travel around.  Most of them were simply hearsay, she knew because it was always a different story, told a different way. However, there was an old rumor that never changed; the one about her dad, and his temper. That one was always the same.    

“Yes, father,” Vela looked down, no longer able to meet his glare.

“Good girl.”

“Sis, why are you so sad?” Dayspring asked as he looked up at his sister’s face. The little hippogriff rolled over and made to bat at her beak, a little game he loved to play with his big sister. 

Vela’s frown turned upside down at that. She playfully batted at his stomach with her own claw. 

Icarus laughed before remembering something. He asked his wife, “How about you? You gonna be able to get along with your brother?”

Aurora’s smile left her. It had been almost two years since she last saw Taz, every single time they met he found some new way to get under her fur, he would do something that would force her to yell at him. Thankfully, during their last few visits, Rainbow and Taz were out with one excuse or another. Aurora had a feeling that due to the impromptu nature of this trip, she would not get that lucky again.

It had been that way forever, she hoped, she prayed he’d grow out of it, or at least that he’d leave her alone. Heck, she’d take passive aggressive at this point.

Sadly, it was just not meant to be. She was sure that as soon as Taz found out she was there, he would start in all over again. After all, he had almost two years of teasing her to make up for.

‘Two years and yet it feels like only yesterday,’ she thought, ‘hopefully he’s grown out of it?’

She did not bet on it.

“We should be in Canterlot tomorrow morning, empress,” The griffin pulling the flying chariot called out. 

“Thank you, good sir,” Aurora lie down, letting herself rest and tactfully ignoring her husband’s question. It would have been easier to fly there herself, but that would have raised too many questions. Instead they took the whole family and went to see her mom.

‘A family get-together’ was easier to explain then ‘I almost attacked my son’.

She just really hoped Twilight would find something.

………………………………


Canterlot


“Dude, you suck.”

“Shut up, Taz.” 

“No, I mean it, I’ve seen you suck before, but this is a whole new level of it, this is like Shimmering Night level of suck.”

“Dude, shut up,” Flash turned to him, a look of indignation on his face as he held the small ball in his right hoof. Turning back to the stack of nine cups he had to knock over, he pulled his hoof back and threw with all his might.

And missed, again, for the third time.

Blaze started laughing; Taz just sat back with a look of smugness on his face. “If you think it’s so easy, why don’t you do it?” Flash asked him.

“I would, but I don’t want to show you up.”

“Sure, chicken.”

“Hey, I’m not a chicken.”

“If you don’t do it, you kind of are,” Blaze looked ready to begin the chicken dance. Taz cut him off before ‘that’ could start. 

“Fine, I’ll win the stupid game,” he placed two bits on the counter; the earth pony behind the stand reached down and grabbed three balls from behind the counter. “First one is just a warm up,” Taz stated to his friends.

He reared back with his hoof and threw with all his might. He missed the cups but hit his target, a spot just up and to the left of the stack.

“Who sucks now?” Flash asked, teasingly.

‘Dumbass, what part of ‘the first one was a warm up’ did you miss out on?’ Taz thought with a smile. He then considered a way to make this even more interesting, he thought, briefly, of throwing the second ball too. He could then make a wager with his cousin and easily knock down the stack will ball three.

He wrote that off, sure he could do it, but it was not right. 

“Keep talking,” Taz smiled, “I’ll get it this time.” 

He picked up his second ball and threw it dead center at the stack of cups. It hit the bottom of the stack with enough force to knock all the cups off the platform. 

“We have a winner! What would you like young stallion?”

For the first time since they walked up to this game, Taz looked up at the prizes. He had not considered what to get, as his motivation for playing had been simply to show up Flash. “I guess I’ll get… let me get the earth pony, the black one.”

The pony behind the counter picked up a stick and took the small earth pony plushie from off the rack. He gave it to Taz with a smile. 

‘Ana would really like this.’ 

The thought came unbidden and unwanted to his mind. Suddenly, it was not that much fun being out with these two. He suddenly wanted to be back with Ana. However, Taz steeled his resolve, he had made the promise to the twins first, that had to be the one he kept. 

That’s what his mom told him anyway, ‘if two promises clash, go with the one you made them first’. 

It sounded good, in theory.

“You coming, Taz?” Blaze called out behind him. Taz looked up; the twins were already on the way to the Windseeker. It was only by simply happenstance that they had stopped here to play this game.

“Yeah, be right there!” he yelled as he ran to catch up. It was not a long run, but it was made a little more difficult by the plushie he had to keep in his mouth, not having the time to put it in his bag.

“Dude, you look funny,” Blaze laughed as they made it to the back of the line for the ride. 

Taz managed to open his bag and place the toy in it, not an easy task when his mouth had to carry the plushie. “Shut up,” Taz said as he achieved victory over the complex task.

“Oh man, this ride looks awesome!” Flash was practically jumping up and down at the prospect of riding the Windseeker. 

“Really?” Taz just raised an eyebrow at that, “I didn’t think you two would get much enjoyment from it, you know as you can fly and all.”

“Flying’s awesome, don’t get me wrong, but it’s the feeling of flying that really makes it cool. This is all the enjoyment with none of the work!”

Taz glared at him, but said nothing. Personally he’d rather be able to fly any day of the week. However, they seemed happy about it, so he wrote it off. 

It took fifteen minutes for them to reach the front of the line, time spent bullshitting with each other and ogling the occasional mare that walked by. Not loud enough for them to overhear, they all put on a brave face for each other, but none of them were that brave. That being said, the mare behind them looked utterly disgusted at their behavior. 

“Sweet, we’re next!” Flash shouted.

“Wow, that took forever,” Taz shook his head; again he could not believe a prince had to wait in line like this. 

“Alright, how many in your party?” The operator asked. 

“Three,” Taz replied.

“Oh, I’m sorry boys, these are two-seaters. One of you will have to ride by yourself.” 

The twins just looked at each other than at Taz. “Go ahead,” Taz replied, “I’ll ride by myself.”

“Sweet!” Blaze yelled as he ran forward.

“Thanks, Taz,” Flash said as he flew forward to catch up with his brother. 

Taz just watched them go with a faux smile. Placing his bag down on the ground in a safe spot, he got into his compartment and waited, and waited, and waited. 

Suddenly, the feeling from earlier came back. It was not as much fun as he thought it would be. His mind looked out at the fair. It was still going, it was still in progress, nothing had changed that should have affected his mood.

Yet, it just seemed bland, tasteless even. He turned his head to look at his cousins; they were having a blast together. Every few seconds one of them, most likely Blaze, would point a hoof at something in the distance and laugh. 

Taz thought of his bag, he thought of the plushie he had won without intending too. He thought of Ana. 

He could not stop thinking about her. About how happy she was when he was around, about how much she helped him, about when she hit him, how it just seemed to fix everything. 

About how hurt she must be that he went off with the twins. 

“Alright son, time to get off now.”

Taz snapped back to reality. His mane was a mess, he felt a lot colder, and a pony was standing outside his compartment waiting for him to get off. 

“Wasn’t that awesome?!” Flash yelled from behind the pony.

Taz simply nodded, in truth he had been so lost in thought he missed the whole thing. He did not think it was ‘awesome’ at all. He thought it sucked, the whole thing, all of it. Suddenly he did not want to be here, he wanted to be alone. He wanted to be away from everypony.

“Hey guys, I need to use the restroom,” Taz made his excuse, retrieved his bag, and left before even hearing their reply. 

…

The restroom was down the hill and to the left, Taz walked in the opposite direction. He just wanted to be away, away from all the hustle of the fair, from all the ponies having a good time. 

He was not having a good time; he was having a shitty time. ‘What did I do wrong?’ he never felt bad about keeping his promises before. Heck, he was always proud of himself for doing so. It always left him feeling good. This time… this time not so much; he felt like shit. 

His eyes darted to and fro, looking for anywhere he could go that would let him be alone, let him figure out his own thoughts for a minute, without all the ponies in the fair around him. 

As if by happenstance, they fell upon a cutie mark. One he recognized even though he only caught a glance of it, a large wheel and axle on a yellow coat. “Sunshine?” Taz said aloud without intending too. 

The pony just kept walking, as if he had not heard his name being called out in the screaming mob of ponies all around. Taz growled in frustration as he gave chase. He did not know why, but he just wanted to talk to him. Sunshine Spring always had good advice; he was always just trying to help. ‘Well, if I can fix one mistake today maybe that will offset the other one I made,’ Taz rationalized why he was running after him.

It was a rational thought, a way to try and balance the scales. With that one thought in favor and none against, he ran. He did his best to push through the mob and try and find the pony he wanted… needed to find. 

It was madding how well Sunshine seemed to stay hidden, every time Taz swore he was just about to catch up to him, that yellow coat would be turning yet another corner. Taz ran around the latest ride and paused. 

Sunshine was simply sitting there, at the top of a hill, all by himself looking at him. Somehow, the pony had found the one secluded spot there was in the entire fair, he had led Taz here without Taz telling him he even wanted to talk, much less that he wanted to talk alone.

Taz laughed, it was just like Sunshine to know what he needed. ‘His cutie mark should have been a crystal ball,’ the young stallion joked in his head. 

When he took his next step, Taz paused. The memory of the last time they spoke came back to his mind, the reason why Taz wanted to talk to him before… before this place. He told Sunshine he was not his friend anymore. 

Taz lowered his head in shame, but kept walking. He stopped three hooves away from his friend… ex-friend “Sunshine, I-” 

A hoof placed on his shoulder caused him to look up. He was expecting to see, well, he did not know what to expect honestly, but looking at that friendly smile. Taz knew this is what he should have expected.

“I know you didn’t mean it,” Sunshine said with a smile.

Taz returned it, “Thank you, but still, I’m sorry. I never should have said it to begin with. It was wrong and stupid of me to say something like that.”

“I was wrong too; I shouldn’t have tried to come between you and Nighttide. It’s obvious that you care a lot for her, and she for you. I may have my personal reservations against her, but I shouldn’t have tried to make you choose like that.”

“Friends?” Taz asked.

“Always,” Sunshine brought the young colt in for a hug. One that Taz happily returned.  

“What are you doing here anyway?” Taz asked the obvious question. In truth he had never seen the stallion out of his house. Seeing him anywhere else, much less so far away, was an enigma. 

“What? You think I’d miss out on the Canterlot Fair?”

“You like these things, really?” Taz looked at him, disbelieving.

“Well, I like the rides that simulate flight,” Sunshine laughed, “Ever since I was little I always wanted to fly. I would look at pegasus with such jealousy because they had access to a world that I would never know.”

Taz just stared at him, shock evident on his face. “But you have a horn?”

Sunshine just looked at him, “What does that have to do with wanting to fly?”

“But… you… can… do… magic,” Taz started rubbing his head again. In too many ways, this felt like his talk with Shimmering Night all over again. 

“Ah, you think because I can do magic, I'd never want to fly,” Sunshine lay down on the ground, relaxing as he enjoyed the wet grass against his coat. “Taz, we all have times we want more out of life, when we look at what someone else has and think ‘what must that be like’. I’ve known plenty of pegasus who wonder what it would be like to use magic, and plenty of unicorns who wish they could fly. While earth ponies may sometimes wish for both, unicorns and pegasi alike are jealous of their strength. ”

“What do alicorns wish?" Taz copied the older stallion’s pose. 

Sunshine laughed, “I don’t know any personally, but if I were a betting stallion, I’d say they wish they could be just like everyone else.”

“Huh?”

“Well, think about it, if you’re an alicorn, you stand out. You are never-not an alicorn. All three races may sometimes be jealous of each other, but alicorns are always a target for such emotions. What do you suppose that must be like for them?”

Taz paused; he had not considered that before, he had not considered a lot before. “Wait, so is no one happy?”

Sunshine laughed and rolled over on the ground, playing like a little school-colt. “Happiness comes from being satisfied with who you are, and having true friends, not from getting what you want.”

“Doesn’t getting what you want make you happy?”

Again, another laugh, “Nope, because what you want never ends. If you made a list of everything in the world you ever wanted and checked every item on that list off, you would simply have a new list tomorrow, the day after that, and the day after that. You would forever be hunting the things that you thought would make you happy.”

“I… I…” Taz was at a loss for words.

Sunshine rolled back over the other way, placed a hoof on the young stallion’s shoulder, and gestured for him to look back at the fair. “Look over there, tell me what you see.”

“The fair?”

“Accurate, but not what I meant. I see ponies having fun. They’re playing games, riding rides, just hanging out with their friends and family. Few if any are actually getting anything. If anything they’re spending bits they shouldn’t on stuff that’s just going to be thrown away in a week anyway.”

“So, it’s not about what you do, but it’s about who you do it with?”

“Exactly, as long as you’re with good friends you could have a job where you have to hoof-scrub a toilet and have the greatest time of your life. Alternately, you can be prince of an entire nation and be miserable. Station in life, what you are born as, how much stuff you have, none of these things give happiness. Rather, it comes from right here,” Sunshine placed a hoof on Taz’s heart.

Taz looked down on the ground, “I’m not happy.”

“Why not?”

“Mom… Rainbow always told me to keep my promise, that I should be a stallion of my word.”

“An admirable quality, does that not make you happy?”

“No, it does, normally.”

“Normally?”

“I… I made a promise to take Ana, my niece, out for the day. We came here together, I… I… I left her alone.”

“So you broke your promise?”

“No!” Taz shouted a little louder than he intended too, “My cousins came into town for the weekend, I… I didn’t know they would be here. I told them last time I saw them that we’d hang out. They won’t be able to do much this weekend, so it was today or never. I… I had two promises and I could only keep one. Mom… she said if that should happen I should go with my first promise. The one I made before the other.”

Sunshine nodded in understanding, “I see, normally keeping your promises makes you feel good, doesn’t it?” Taz just nodded, “but you’re conflicted because even though you know you did the right thing, it doesn’t feel like the right thing.”

Again, Taz nodded. 

“Taz, in the end, regardless what promises you make, you have to be true to yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let me ask, who do you think it means more to, Ana, or, Blaze and Flash is it?” Taz nodded that he had gotten their names right. “Blaze and Flash that you spent the day with them?”

“Ana.”

“How do you feel now that you left her alone?”

“Like crap.”

Sunshine smiled, it was one that only spoke of warmth. 

“So I shouldn’t keep my promises?” Taz asked after a few second of contemplation.

Sunshine frowned. “Taz, it’s an honorable trait to have. You should always strive to keep your promises, but in a situation like this, where you’ve made two and can only keep one. There is more to consider than which one you made first. In the end, there is no checklist for the right thing to do and the wrong thing; you simply have to make the choice that you can live with. After all, only you can make you happy.”

Taz nodded in understanding, he had been telling himself the same thing the entire time, he was just not listening to himself. 

“I… I know what I have to do. I need to go to the palace and apologize to Ana, again.” He added the last part under his breath. It seemed to be his lot in life today to apologize to that mare. 

“What makes you think she’s in the palace?” Sunshine asked.

“She’d have gone home after I left her alone.”

“Would she? That’s not the mare you told me about, the one who’s uncomfortable around everyone except when you’re around.”

Taz had a look on his face that said he did not get whatever point Sunshine was trying to make, “Taz, look back at the fair.”

He did as he was instructed, “And?”

“How many ponies are there?”

“Hundreds.”

“So think of everything you know about Ana, about everything you’ve told me she’s like. Picture that young mare left alone by you in the middle of that crowd.”

Taz bolted away from Sunshine as fast as he could. A string of curses left in his wake that would make sailors blush in shame.

Sunshine smiled, “That’s my brother.” 

His smile faded as he heard a voice come from behind him. “Dayspring, we need to talk.”

Dayspring frowned as he turned to the speaker, part of him was simply grateful that she waited until Taz left before revealing herself. Although, given what a crappy job she was doing at hiding, he figured he should simply thank Luna for small favors. “Not here Nighttide, let’s go someplace a little less open.”

To his surprise, Nighttide actually looked worried. He knew whatever she wanted to discuss with him, it would be important, very important.

Dayspring teleported the two back to Zecora’s hut with a flash of his horn.

………….

Taz ran as fast as he could through the fair, desperately searching for any sign of the young unicorn he left… he abandoned in the middle of this throbbing mass of ponies. 

He searched every area he could, looking in a futile hunt to find her. It was all for naught. Even if Ana was a full sized adult, she would be one of thousands in an area way too big to search by hoof. He needed… he needed… he needed Starlight. She could organize this area into grids and plan out the most efficient search patterns that would guarantee their odds of finding her.

Yes he needed her right now; however, what he got was the twins, “Hey Taz, where did you run off to?!” Blaze shouted.

Taz did not stop running to answer. Indeed, it was only when Blaze landed directly in front of him and Flash behind him, that he stopped at all. “Guys, I’m sorry, I can’t hang out with you any more today. I gotta find Ana.”

“Is she in trouble?” Blaze asked, worried.

“No, she’s hurt,” Taz admitted. 

“What, by whom?!” Flash started glaring around the fair, looking for whoever would dare hurt his cousin like that.

“By me,” Taz admitted, downcast. The twins both looked at him, a confused expression on their faces. “I hurt her when I kept my promise to you two. I know I promised we’d hang out next time you were in town, but I promised her I’d spend the day with her yesterday. I didn’t know you two were coming in or that we’d only have today. I’m sorry; I kept my promise to you two when I should have kept the one I made to her.”

Blaze laughed, earning a disgusted look from the other two ponies present. “That’s what this was about? You should ‘a just said so.” 

“What?” 

Flash lightly punched Taz in the shoulder. “Yeah man, it’s fine if you wanted to go hang out with her instead. We were looking forward to spending the day with you, but not at the cost of disappointing her.”

“Then why’d you let me go with you?”

“I thought you two were good with it,” Flash admitted. 

Taz facehoofed, “Ugh, whatever, I hate to ask, but can you two help me find her? I think she’s still here but I’m afraid she’s hidden herself in a corner somewhere.” 

Blaze and Flash looked at each other and smiled. “I think we can help you with that,” at that, both twins took off up into the air, they zigzagged all around the fair, attracting quite a bit of attention while leaving white streaks in their wakes. 

“Thanks guys,” Taz said to himself as he continued his search.  

In the end, it was Blaze that found her. He drew a lightning bolt symbol in the sky before both brothers flew off to whatever trouble they could cause next. Taz wanted to facehoof again as he watched them leave, ‘What if I didn’t notice it or couldn’t see it?’

He wrote that off and ran to where the lightning bolt pointed before it faded away. The twins were never big thinkers, so he could not really fault them for that. It took a little searching on his part, but he finally found her. 

Ana looked awful. The unicorn seemed to have run here from where he left her, she was crying, and from the looks of things, she had been for quite some time. Her eyes were covered by her hooves. Her once immaculate mane was a mess, covered in mud and dirt from where she lay. It was obvious to the stallion that she would have stayed in that position until the fair closed and she could leave without being seen. 

At two a.m. tomorrow. Ten hours from now.

‘Luna, what did I do?’ Taz asked himself as he walked closer.

“Go away! I’m fine; I just want to be alone!” Ana called out as she heard someone approach, her shouting was on reflex to the noise alone, and not who was coming. 

“I don’t think that’s true,” Taz said back, his voice full of sorrow. 

Ana looked up, that was the last voice she had been expecting, “Taz?” 

Taz walked up and sat in the mud, right beside her. He did not care about getting muddy; he only cared about what he did to his friend. “Ana, I’m so, so sorry.”

“About what,” she sniffled as she said those words, “you were just keeping your promise. I… I don’t fault you for that.”

“What good is keeping your promise if it makes you feel like shit afterwards? Ana, I should have kept my promise, my promise to you,” he closed the gap between them. As she got up out of the mud; he wrapped her up in a hug. 

The action earned a little ‘eep’ from the mare, but he did not stop, he would not stop.

“I’m getting you dirty,” Ana cried as she realized how brown his black coat was becoming. 

“I don’t care,” Taz said.

They stayed like that for a while. Taz hoped and prayed that Ana believed him, that she understood the truth in his words. 

She did. 

When they separated, Taz looked her in the eye, “You know, I think it’s time for you to keep your promise.”

“What’s that?” Ana asked.

“You promised you would slap me when I needed it.”

She raised a muddy hoof and lightly tapped the stallion across the muzzle, an action that just caused him to get even dirtier.

Ana found herself with the oddest of sensations as she looked at his dirt covered coat and muzzle. 

She laughed. 

Taz soon followed.  

“If it’s not too late, if you still want to enjoy the fair with your favorite uncle that is.”

“I’d love too,” Ana looked down and noticed something that caused her some concern, “but, we’re filthy.” 

Taz noticed it too, “I don’t care if you don’t.”

She pressed her coat against his, “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve heard all day. But seriously, we’re not going out into that looking like we do. Let’s find a hose or something first.”

It took a little searching, but Taz eventually found one on the outskirts’ of the fair. He put both of their packs to the side and Ana sprayed them down by lifting the hose over them with her magic. 

In the end, they were both soaking wet, with horrible looking manes. Yet, none of that could remove the smiles on their faces. 

“Hang on, let me fix our hair,” Ana started casting her spell; Taz lightly tapped her horn with a hoof, stopping it dead. 

“No.”

“No?”

“No, I want to spend the day with you like this, with how you naturally are. Besides,” Taz added with a smile, “your spell wouldn’t work on me anyway.”

It flew in the face of everything Ana stood for, everything her cutie mark told her to do. Yet, hearing Taz say those words, she could not help but blush as she gave her reply, “Okay.”

The two made their way out into the fair, Ana had been expecting looks of shock and horror at what they looked like, instead, she got nothing, no one seemed to care. To them, they were just two wet ponies having fun together. 

She found something else, in his company, she did not care either. 

Ana had been expecting Taz to lead her to the Enterprise, or the Windseeker, or the roller-coaster in the distance. Instead, he led her to the food court. 

“Taz, I-”

“Let’s get something to eat, my treat,” Taz said with a smile as he found them a table and let her sat down. The stallion moved off to get their favorite food.

The two found themselves quickly able to put it all behind them. They ate together, went on rides together, and laughed together. Although, Taz made a point of avoiding any of the thrill seeking rides. 

To him it did not matter what they did, with company like Ana, the two of them could sit beneath a tree and study geometry – his least favorite subject – as long as they did it together, he would be happy.

At sunset, the two found themselves on the Ferris wheel; they had a bird’s eye view of his mom’s sun going down in the distance. Ana pressed herself up to his side, a smile over her unkempt mane. 

Taz remembered something, he reached into his bag and pulled out the little plushie he had won earlier. “Hey, I got this for you.”

Ana took it with a smile on her face and hugged it close to her breast. “Thank you! I love it!”

He wrapped a hoof around her. “What are you going to call it?”

“Thrakerzod, destroyer of Taz!” she playfully began attacking Taz’s muzzle with one of Thrakerzod’s hooves. 

Taz just laughed as he held her tighter. Together they admired just how different everything looked at twilight time, just how magical the world was. 

He looked back at Ana, grateful that she was his friend, and that she forgave him for all his faults. Moreover, that she was his friend even knowing all his faults the way she did.

‘Well, not all my faults, but no one knows that one.’ Taz dismissed that last thought; some things were better not dwelled on.

His sudden melancholy was quickly forgotten, as together, the two watched the sun set in the distance and all the lights turn on in the city. 

His last thought as the moon rose was, ‘you were right, Starlight. Friendship is Magic’.

He could honestly say, at that point in time, that he was truly happy. 

It would be the last time he felt that way for a long, long time.
> Vile Acts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Crystal Empire
Seven forty-five a.m.


“You’re not getting cold hooves, are you Mindsink?”

The pegasus turned and laughed at the shadow that his brother now occupied. “You’re joking right? We’ve spent almost two decades planning this out. Learning everything that we could about this world, and now we get to see all of that come to fruition. I may be shaking brother, but it’s from excitement, not fear.”

The shadow laughed. “Really, you’re not scared at all? Even though it’s your life on the line should you fail?”

Mindsink grinned. “If you’re worried about failing brother, there is one simple solution.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t,” Mindsink’s form disappeared; he faded into the shadows and shot forward like a bullet to his destination, or more precisely, his target. 

Timespire impassively watched him go. “So many years and it all comes down to this. Don’t buck it up, Mindsink.”

…………………………………………..


Celestia’s Palace
Seven thirty a.m.


“Aurora!” Rainbow yelled from across the breakfast table, she swooped up and shot over the table to greet her oldest daughter as fast as was safe. 

For Aurora, her recognition of what happened was a shout and then a spin through the air as her hooves suddenly lost contact with the ground. 

“What brings you here?” Rainbow asked as she sat her slightly motion sick daughter down on the ground. 

“Ac-“

“Wow, you’ve grown, Vela!” Rainbow did not even pause before seeing her granddaughter, “and is that… little Dayspring?”

Dayspring hid behind his sister as Vela adopted a defensive position to protect her younger brother. 

It was all for naught, she did not have a hope in Hades of keeping the young hippogriff from her doting grandmother. Rainbow easily swooped behind her granddaughter and had Dayspring in her hooves. 

Poor Dayspring was at a loss. He found himself plucked off the ground and flown in wide circles as Rainbow took this opportunity to lavish the grandson she had not seen in two years with kisses and hugs.

“Mommy!!” Dayspring cried out, an action that only caused Rainbow to double up on her affection.

Twilight chuckled to herself before teleporting the poor young hippogriff away from Rainbow’s hooves. The little colt latched onto his saivor like she was a gift from above. Rainbow turned to her wife, “You’re no fun.”

Twilight merely held Dayspring tighter as she blew her wife a raspberry. 

Vela’s eyes glanced around the room before coming to a stop on Flash. Who met her gaze stare for stare, ‘Hmm, someone’s asking for another dental appointment’.

Flash would not back down, he glared at her, angered about their last encounter and the fact that she was here at all.

“Sorry to come up unannounced, Twilight. We figured this would be a good time to get the family together though.”

Twilight just nodded, “Icarus, you know you’re always welcome. Please, join us for breakfast.”

“After that trip, don’t mind if we do,” Aurora said with a smile as she stole Rainbow’s seat next to Twilight. With such a full table it was the only way she could guarantee that she got to talk to her mom. Also, it ensured that she would get her son back, something she was insistent on. With some disdain, Twilight eventually passed her youngest grandfoal back to her daughter.   

Rainbow landed and gave a little pout. “So I lose my chance to spend time with my only grandson and my seat. I see how it is.”

Aurora just smiled at her in response. 

“How long can you stay?” Twilight asked the emperor as he took a seat across from her. 

“Just for the weekend I’m afraid. It was kind of an impromptu visit.”

“Oh?” Night asked, “Why’s that?”

“Actually, I need your help, mom. I’m not feeling too well and I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind taking a look with your magic?”

“Anything serious?” Rainbow asked as she took another seat, worry for her oldest daughter permeating her voice.

“No, nothing serious, just something I’d like Twilight to look at. In private if you don’t mind,” Aurora gestured to the two boys sitting at the other end of the table; an indication that whatever it was she did not feel comfortable talking about it in front of them.

Rainbow just rolled her eyes about that. Sure whatever it was might make them uncomfortable, but they’d get over it. When it came to family, you should not keep secrets. However, she said nothing. It was Aurora’s call, even if she did not agree with it; she could at least respect it.

“I hear you’ve gotten a lot better with that,” Radiant gestured to the spear Icarus carried with him. 

“Let’s just say I don’t slack in my training,” Icarus said with a smile.

“I’ve always wanted to see who could take who; up for a friendly sparring match later?”

“Sure, I’m game.” 

“Do it and I’ll cut your wings off in your sleep,” Aurora said with a growl at her husband, who immediately looked down, sheepishly.

“Ahh, come on!” Radiant pouted.

“No, I know you two want a go at each other, my answer is, and always will be, no,” Memories of Icarus’s fight with Ataxia were fresh in her mind, and the way he was after… it still gave Aurora nightmares to think about. 

“No fun,” Icarus said with a pout, an action that caused a laugh from his daughter. 

Aurora wanted to slap him upside the head for putting on such a juvenile display in front of the young ones; she would have, if not for a voice coming from the other end of the table. “Hey Taz, oversleep?” Starlight asked the black earth pony that was dragging his body down the stairs like a walking carcass.

“Food… need food,” Taz absentmindedly replied as he made his way to the table.

“Well, someone had a late night,” Radiant commented, “Did you at least have fun?”

“I hope they did, I think Ana is still asleep. You two didn’t get home until midnight.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Taz started in on his breakfast as soon as he was served. It was a fun night, but he needed more than six hours of sleep.

“Hey Taz, we got some unexpected company today,” Twilight figured it was better to let him know now and get whatever the stallion would do out of the way while he was still groggy. 

Taz looked up and noticed the griffons at the table. His eyes darted to Vela and Icarus, before finally coming to a stop on Aurora.

Aurora held her son a little tighter than she intended when her eyes met her brother’s. 

“Oh, hey,” Taz said before going back to his plate.

The table let out a collective breath as the ponies eating relaxed. No one was more surprised than Aurora. Her mind was doing a small jig, ‘Yes! Passive aggressive for the motherbucking win!’ she did not care that he basically blew the news off. The fact that she did not have a mane full of orange juice right now was a huge victory for the mare; one that she was more than satisfied with.

Aurora looked up at Twilight with hope in her eyes. ‘Maybe I can use this momentum for other good news?’ she thought. “Hey mom, would you mind if we talk in private, about it?”

Twilight looked up at her daughter. It did not take a genius to figure out that she was hiding something, something she did not want everyone to know. “Sure, let’s go to my room.”

Aurora got up and passed her son off to her husband. She noticed the look of indignation on Rainbow’s face. “Yes, you can come too.”

Rainbow reluctantly got up and followed them out of the room. Although Night could not help but smile as she saw her mom practically strut out of the room. She knew it was not so much of what they were going to talk about, simply a matter of Rainbow wanting to be included in the conversation. Chances were good that she would get bored halfway through and come back downstairs anyway.

Even with that knowledge, Night could not help but worry. It was her sister after all. Ataxia noticed this sudden melancholy in her wife and wrapped a hoof around Shimmering Night. “Relax alright; I’m sure whatever it is Twilight can fix it.”

Night sighed; Ataxia had a lot more faith in her mom’s abilities than she did. Ever since ‘the incident’ Night had come to see her mom in a different light. Twilight was not the all-knowing mare she thought she was. She was just a normal pony that had to solve problems like everyone else.

Given, ‘normal’ in this case meant an extremely powerful and smart pony, but she did not have all the answers to life’s questions. It was something that became more and more apparent the more Night paid attention to it. 

In a way, it kind of felt like that knowledge stole her fillyhood from her. 

“Hey, what did I just say?” Ataxia began shaking her when she did not respond. 

“That Twilight would fix it,” Night said in a deadpan voice.

“That’s right, so get that look off your face,” Night did not comply with that order.

Ataxia lightly bit the hickey she left on her wife’s neck.

“Ouch! That’s still sore you know!”

Ataxia just smiled as Night punched her in the shoulder. ‘Yeah, but it got your mind off it.’

At the other end of the table Starlight found herself caught in a very awkward situation. When she sat down, it was just to eat. Not thinking anything about it she took the seat right next to Radiant’s oldest son Flash.

Unfortunately, all the other seats filled up. All but the one on the other side of her, the one Vela took. 

Awkward did not seem like the right word anymore. Sitting between two immature babes was a new form of hell. She would have just left, if not for the nagging concern that they would start throwing punches as soon as she did. Still, that knowledge did not make the holes they were boring into each other through her any easier to deal with.

“You two should just make out and get it over with,” Blaze said with his iconic smile plastered over his face. 

Radiant’s magic was the only thing that stopped Vela from jumping over and attacking him. “Enough you three, you don’t have to say another word to each other as far as I care, but you will not fight.”

That got Icarus’s attention. “Vela, don’t you have something to say?”

“Now?” she looked at him, her gaze full of indignation at the thought of having to do that in front of everyone. 

“Now,” Icarus’s tone left no room for disagreement. 

“I’m sorry,” Vela mumbled under her breath.

“Vela, if I have to get up,” Icarus left the last part out; there was no need to say it.

Vela sighed, “I’m sorry I beat you up Flash. It was wrong and I won’t do it again.”

Flash did not exactly believe the ‘won’t do it again’ part, but he knew getting such an apology from her was more than he could ask for.

“I accept your apology,” Flash said.

“Why did you two get in a fight anyway?” Starlight asked, she knew what happened, and what happened afterwards, but she never knew the reason why it happened in the first place.

“Vela was picking on Ana,” Blaze blurted out, absentmindedly.

“You were doing, what?” Starlight spoke the words with magic radiating off her whole body. Every set of eyes turned down to them, seeking what had happened that could cause such a reaction from the young mare. 

Suddenly Vela did not feel like this was such a good spot to sit. “I… I gotta use the restroom.”

She got up and left with a hurry. Starlight’s power only increased as she finally put all the pieces together in her head. She never knew why a pony as nice as Flash would actually get into a fight with someone. Now she knew, now she took a side, and it was not Vela’s.

“Dude!” Flash glared at his brother. He knew this would lead nowhere good; as such he wanted to keep this from Starlight. 

“Oh, sorry, forgot,” Blaze’s eyes went wide as Starlight’s anger became palpable.

There would be a reckoning this weekend. Starlight’s mind was already planning out the little details of what would happen. Consequences be damned, no one picked on her sister. 

………………………………………


The Crystal Palace
Seven fifty a.m.


Princess Cadance awoke with a start. She noticed two separate things right off the bat. As if someone had hit her over the head with them as soon as she woke up. These things were not equal in any way, shape, or form, but she did still notice.

The first thing was that she overslept. She supposed, logically, that it was due to the twins not being in the palace. That made some sense, she overslept because she could oversleep. That thought made her smile. Not that the twins were gone and not here to jump on her bed, make a lot of noise running up and down the stairs, or generally be the big nuisances they could be, but that she finally had a day to herself.

Or she would have if not for the second thing she noticed. This one caused a lot more concern to the mare than simply oversleeping. This one sent her adrenaline running, her heart pacing, and caused her horn to channel magic in it. This one was an issue. She was not alone.

“Who are you?!” Cadance glared into the shadows, she was ready to call the guards, to alert the entire palace that someone was in her room. 

“Peace, Princess Cadance.”

A green pegasus with a sky-blue mane walked out of the shadows. He did his best to wear a kind smile.

Cadance was not buying it for an instant. “Gua-“

“Don’t you remember, Princess Cadance, don’t you remember that you invited me in?”

“I… I invited you.”

“Yes Princess Cadance, we had a meeting, remember?”

“Yes… no. No, I…”

Mindsink was taken aback by that, no one had ever resisted before, not at this range. Something in the princess was resisting him, he doubled down, “Remember, Princess Cadance, remember our meeting.”

“Yes, I remember now, “ Cadance felt like her mind was resisting her, she remembered though. She did have a meeting with this pony, she… she told him to meet her here today, in her room, at this time. Why did she have doubts before?

She shook it off, “So you said you had important news for me?”

Mindsink smiled, it was a smile that showed way too many teeth, “Yes Princess Cadance, I bring the truth to you.”

“Truth, what truth?” Cadance looked at him, confused. 

“The truth of who is really responsible for Shining Armor’s death, the truth about what that mare is doing to your family, what she plans on doing to your grandfoals.”

“What?”

“Don’t you remember Cadance, don’t you remember? Don’t you remember that Firestar is the one who killed Shining Armor?”

“I… I…”

………………………………………………



Celestia’s Palace
Seven fifty a.m.


Rainbow’s worried expression deepened. Something was wrong, something was wrong with her daughter. With every step they took Aurora’s shoulders would slope that much more, like something was weighing her down, like she was worried about something, something big.

This in turn just caused Rainbow to worry. Which caused her wings to harden; they began growing as they responded to her subconscious will to do damage to whoever made Aurora worry like this, to whoever was responsible for making her daughter feel this way.

Briefly, putting aside everything Rainbow knew about him, her mind considered Icarus. That the griffin might have done something to hurt her daughter, that he might be abusing her in some way, physical or mental, it did not matter. She would flay him alive either which way.

“Rainbow,” Twilight spoke aloud as the scraping against the walls was getting to her. 

Rainbow’s mind came back from its vacation in fantasy land. She realized that her wings had started to cut into the palace walls as she was walking. “Sorry,” Rainbow said as she shrunk her wings and mentally facehoofed.

‘Icarus loves Aurora; I’ve seen that first hoof. He’d never do anything to hurt her, he’s not that dumb.’

Rainbow shook her head clear and resolved to just wait to find out. 

The three ponies took a right into the master bedroom. Aurora smiled as she noticed a few objects on the floor that the two had yet to put back, but she said nothing. 

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

“I… I don’t know how to say this.” 

“Just say it Aurora,” Rainbow smiled as she placed a hoof on her daughter’s shoulders. Aurora looked up and smiled at her. 

“Something happened Thursday in Warclaw, something bad. I… I wanted too….”

Rainbow walked over and wrapped her wife in a wing. They both sat back on their haunches to listen to their daughter’s tale. Aurora was a mare used to the spotlight. She had posed in magazines most of her life, this side of her, this… this hesitation to speak about whatever happened… it was unnerving to say the least. 

“Hey, breathe Aurora,” Twilight gestured with her hoof; she placed it on her chest and slowly took it away and back, away and back. Aurora smiled as she saw Princess Cadance’s old breathing exercises. 

“I guess I should start at the beginning,” Aurora said after a few deep breaths. 

“As good a place as any,” Rainbow replied.

“It started on Thursday; we were having a race relations lunch with the Diamond Dog Kingdom. Just a simple platter, nothing too fancy, you know how they are,” Rainbow and Twilight chuckled at that. “Anyway, during the meal, I… I wanted to hurt him.”

“Hurt who?” Twilight asked.

“The diamond dog, it was like a primal need to just inflict as much damage as I can. I wanted him dead mom,” there were tears in her eyes as she said those words. “I didn’t care that he did nothing wrong, I… I just wanted his head mounted on a plaque.”

“You sure it wasn’t just because he stunk?” Rainbow started laughing at her joke; she stopped as soon as she realized she was the only one. Twilight just glared at her.

“Is that it?”

Aurora was fully crying now, she could not stop if she wanted too. “No,” she sniffled out the words. “How I wish it was though.”

“What happened next?”

“I… Icarus saw the change in me. He… he led the diamond dog away before I did something we’d all regret. I… I….”

“Aurora, it’s ok, you can tell us,” Rainbow spoke with all the softness she could. She was legitimately frightened of what would come out next. Not so much what Aurora did, but because of what it was doing to her daughter. 

Aurora looked up and wiped a tear from her eye. She did not want to tell them, she was afraid of what they might think of her with the next part, of what they might do. It was unfounded, but fears are almost never grounded in reality.

“I almost attacked my son,” Aurora felt like she would puke when she said the last part. She broke down at that, any semblance of control was gone from the mare. 

Of everything Rainbow expected, including the possibility of there being a dead diamond dog in the griffin empire, this was not on the list. That little colt, the little hippogriff she had spun in the air not more than thirty minutes ago, her daughter almost… “No.”

The word came out unbidden; she had no more control over it than the colors in her mane. “You would never… No, not my daughter.”

“Something’s wrong with me!” Aurora shouted the words louder than she thought possible. “I love my kids, I do, I’d never hurt them. Please, please tell me something’s wrong, something you can fix,” she looked up, her eyes pleading with Twilight’s, begging the mare to find something, anything that would explain it.

Twilight was in a state of shock, her mind heard the words, but her brain would not comprehend what was said. It was unreal, too unreal to be true. 

Rainbow shook her free, “Twi!” 

Twilight blinked twice, “Huh, yeah, ok,” yet she did not move. Rainbow jumped over, landed right in front of her wife, and wrapped her in a hug, the action did wonders to bring her back to the real world. 

“You with me, egghead?”

Twilight blinked a few more times, her mind coming back to reality, “Always Rainbow.”

“Good, because we need you here.”

“Yeah, sure,” she shook it off; the news had shaken the mare to her core. “I’ll take a look Aurora, it might be something magical.”

“Please,” Aurora lied on her stomach and raised her head. Twilight hugged Rainbow one more time and walked the rest of the way to her daughter. She leaned her head down and touched her horn tip with Aurora’s forehead.

Rainbow watched as Twilight’s wings became taut. Power radiated from her core, from her very being, from every wing tip and flowed to her horn, so thick Rainbow could see it.  

Twilight focused the power on to the tip of her horn, using it she concentrated on her daughter’s amygdala. She was checking for signs of over activity or external stimulation.

She found… nothing out of the ordinary.

Frowning, Twilight refocused her efforts on her daughter’s hippocampus. The books she read on brain function indicating that new memories are stored there. As memories take a while to transfer from short term to long term, whatever happened to her daughter should still be there.

This search was a lot more delicate. She had to use enough power to be thorough but not so much that she could do any real damage. Otherwise she might risk her daughter’s short-term memory. 

Twilight’s eyes went white as she channeled this much power. Rainbow stayed right by her side the entire time. She had no idea what was going on, but here were two of the three mares she loved the most in the entire world, there was no place else she would rather be. 

The search was taking its toll on Twilight. Sweat began pouring off her brow as her concentration was split. She had to hold back just enough yet ensure that she used enough power for a definitive answer. 

Aurora deserved that much at least.

Sadly, it was all for naught. 

The power began to dissipate in the room. Twilight slowly backed out of her daughter’s brain, careful not to pull back too fast least she leaves any magical residue behind. “Aurora I-”

“Please.”

Twilight was taken aback by that. Despite her best efforts to do otherwise, her daughter obviously felt some discomfort from this whole event, yet she anticipated her mom’s response. She anticipated what her reply would be would not accept it.

“Aurora, you don’t understand. I checked you aggression center and your short term memory. There’s nothing there.”

“Check again,” Aurora said with tears in her eyes.

“Aurora, I was thorough, there’s no need.”

“Please, you have to find something.”

“Aurora…”

“Please, please, please, please,” it broke Rainbow’s heart to see her daughter crying out like that.

“Hey Twi, you said you checked short term memory?”

“Yes Dash, what about it?”

“Well, is there another memory you could check?”

“Long term? That’s not-“

“Do it,” Aurora looked up from the carpet. Her expression was on that brokered no disagreement.

“Aurora, that’s dangerous.”

“I don’t care; I’d rather something happened to me than my kids.”

There was no arguing with her, no convincing her otherwise, in truth; Twilight could appreciate her point of view. If she was in her daughters horseshoes, she would do the exact same thing.

Still, the risks… if something went wrong here, if she was not careful, she could damage her daughter’s memories, forever. 

Twilight breathed in deep and released it in on fluid breath. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

Aurora nodded and lowered herself back to the floor; she closed her eyes and relaxed so as not to offer any undue resistance.

“Little warning, this might hurt.”

That was an understatement.

The pain lashed through her body as her mom invaded every single memory the mare had. Twilight saw it all, everything Aurora could remember became something Twilight would forever remember; the good, the bad, and the naughty, all of it. 

Twilight focused her power; she channeled more and more of it as she went, shifting through everything and anything that might give a clue as to what happened. Why she would do something like that. 

She saw it; it was residual, faint, barely even registering on the charts. A foal had more power than what was left here. Yet it was there, a faux implant, a memory of a memory of a memory. It did not belong and her body was rejecting it. Someone, something had implanted it in her mind. 

Carefully, ever so carefully, Twilight pulled it out of her daughter’s mind. She wrapped it in magic to prevent further degradation. When it was clear, Aurora’s head fell back to the ground, the tears in her eyes spoke of the pain she had suffered in her mind. 

Rainbow was no longer by her wife side, she had moved over and lay next to her daughter, wrapping her wing around her in a protective gesture to try and save her from as much pain as she could; the action only served to provide emotional support, not physical support.

She noticed the change when her daughter stopped screaming. Rainbow looked up at her wife, “Please, tell me you found something.”

Twilight’s eyes were still white; her expression changed to one of anger, with a flair of power from her horn, Twilight broadcast the memory in the room, letting the degraded thought play for her wife to see.

It was horrible, the memory showed the diamond dogs committing the worst acts imaginable. They were killing old ponies, raping foals, murdering and slaying everyone that tried to stand up to them. Entire families were slaughtered before their wrath.

They used their natural affinity for digging to attack Ponyville. Rainbow saw ponies she knew, ones that helped her raise her foals, she saw them subjected to the very same atrocities. 

She saw Rarity taken as a sex slave, she saw Fluttershy barbecued alive, and she saw… she saw… she saw too much, far, far too much.

Twilight canceled the replay.

“Twilight. What. The. Buck. Was. That?”

“That was our daughter’s memories,” Twilight spoke with a snarl. 

“That never happened.”

“I know, someone implanted it into her long term memory, based on the state it was in when I found it, they did a crappy job too. It wasn't permanent, it was only held in place by its own magic.”

“But they’re fake.”

Twilight shook her head as she looked at Aurora, her daughter was barely able to raise her head, but overall she looked like she would recover. A quick scan of her magic conformed it. 

Aurora had gotten lucky, she was exhausted by the ordeal, but she would make a full recovery.

“Not to her, this memory was buried in her frontal lobe, hidden. To her this was as real an event as the day she started school. She may not have known why, but this is what caused her hatred for the diamond dogs, to her they did this.”

“But that’s not what happened to Fluttershy or Rarity,” Aurora spoke, her voice dry.

Twilight was taken aback by that, she was not aware her daughter was able to talk. “It doesn’t matter; you couldn’t recall details of any of this, could you?” Aurora shook her head, “I thought not. It wasn’t about the actual event, but the emotions that they brought forward.”

“So Dayspring?”

“Collateral, he was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. Aurora, you would never hurt your children, someone, something did this to you.”

“Who could do something like this?” Rainbow’s mind went into attack stance. She wanted to hurt something.

“I… I don’t know,” Twilight felt just as angry, this was the worst sort of violation, as with this sort of power anypony could be made to commit horrible atrocities that they would never normally do. In the wrong set of hooves, this would be the worst thing ever. “But I’ll find out.”

There was no need to hold back this time, Twilight wanted, needed to know who was responsible. When she went into her daughter’s mind, she had to use a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of her full power. Not anymore, this was a violation of someone’s being. 

A quote she had read from Starswirl came back to her mind. ‘To be mortal is to be made of the past, all the moments of what has been piled up to make up the present.’

If that were true, such power could make anyone do anything. Twilight wanted to stop whoever was responsible before something truly bad happened. She HAD to stop them.

It had been years, decades since she last accessed her full power, the power from the God, Gaia. This was not a fraction of a fraction of a fraction like she was used to using; this was her full power, all of it. 

With her razor focused mind, Twilight began a search of the entire continent. In the magic realm, her power was a bubble, ever expanding outward, looking for whoever would dare use such power against another, the one that would commit such a violation. 

A task what would normally be impossible, unless you knew what you were looking for. Twilight knew just that, the magical residue left on that memory was still fresh in her mind. 

In the magic plane, the bubble expanded to encompass the entire palace, and then all of Canterlot. She found nothing; no one was in the city who gave off such power. Twilight poured more power into it. The bubble expanded; encompassing all of Ponyville, still it found nothing.

Her frustration was evident on her face as she increased it even more. The bubble grew even more, until, much like an actual bubble, it burst upon touching The Crystal Empire, or more precisely, The Crystal Palace. 

It was not the user, but the aftereffect of the user’s power. Whoever it was, they just finished doing it again, to Luna knows who in the Crystal Palace. She instantly came back to the present, back to the room where her wife and daughter wanted answers, answers she did not have time to give them.

“Aurora, stay here, Rainbow with me,” Twilight spoke, her voice deep and commanding. 

“Wh-” Rainbow never got to finish that sentence, Twilight did not have time to answer questions. She teleported them both to the Crystal Palace, they arrived in the throne room with a pop of magic. 

“-at?” Rainbow finished the word. Twilight ignored it and looked around, she saw it in the kitchen, something was happening. With a wave of her horn she disintegrated the walls between her and her target while running forward. 

Dumbfounded by her wife’s sudden onset of destruction, Rainbow simply ran forward. If Twilight was doing something like this, it was bad, very, very bad. She may not know what had happened, but she knew her wife, she trusted her wife. That was enough for Rainbow.

When they reached the kitchen, they both stopped dead in their tracks. What they saw… it was unreal, it was fake, it could not be.

Mi Amore Cadenza, Cadance, Princess of Love, Twilight’s foal sitter, wife of Shining Armor, mother of Radiant Star, grandmother of Blaze and Flash. She was standing over the bloody body of Princess Firestar, her daughter-in-law. A butcher’s knife held in her magic. 

There was blood, everywhere.

Cadance turned to face Twilight with tears in her eyes. “Twilight, I did it, I killed her before she could kill my grandfoals, before she could hurt us anymore. Shining Armor’s murderer has finally been made to pay.”

In the distance, the clock rang eight a.m.



> Outed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Celestia’s Palace


Breakfast finished without incident, which considering the ponies present was a small gift from above. However, for two ponies, their eye kept glancing up at the stairs, wondering just what was going on with their parents and sister.

“After that I could use a nap,” Icarus patted a full stomach. He had not slept well on the trip up here. Worry for his wife causing him to stay awake for more of the journey than he cared to admit.

“You’re not worried about…” Night pointed up the stairs with a hoof.

Icarus shook his head. “No, I’m sure that Twilight will be able to help her,” he really was, his trust in the purple princess was absolute. The stories he heard from Aurora combined with the years of experience from knowing his mother-in-law removed all doubt from the griffin’s mind.

Night did not share his viewpoint and neither did Taz. They both knew that their parents should have been back downstairs by now. After they missed their meetings on Thursday, Twilight had rescheduled them for today.

She was late.

It was small, the first meeting was secluded for eight thirty, and she was only four minutes late. However, no one who knew her would count any amount of tardiness as a small thing. There could only be one of three options for this: 

One, Rainbow had somehow managed to convince her to take the day off, again, for the second time this week.

That was unlikely to happen back to back, albeit it was not impossible.

Two, whatever Aurora wanted to talk about was more important… so much so that Twilight did not take three seconds to send a notice that she would be late.

Possible, although it would mean something was really wrong with her. Judging by what little they had to go on and that Icarus was not too concerned, that was less likely than one; unless he was just putting on a show to keep his kids from worrying about their mom.

Three, something happened that was really, really bad. It would have to be something that required their immediate attention. This one worried Night. Given that large magical buildup she sensed from upstairs thirty minutes ago, this one was very likely.

Night just wished she had acted upon it instead of dismissing it. Sensing magic was never her forte; she figured if it were something important that Luna, Ataxia, Starlight, or even Radiant would have said something.

Looking across the table she realized just how foolish she had been for dismissing it. It was slight, barely noticeable save for someone looking for it, but all four of them were worried. It was in their body language, their casual glances up the stairs, almost as if they were waiting for the other horseshoe to drop.

“Hey Night, you mind showing me that… that photo album in your room?” Taz asked, stumbling over the lame excuse.

Night caught on to the true comment in a second, he did everything but say, ‘Hey Night, let's go check on our moms’.

“Sure, I think I remember where it is.”

Night got up, followed by Taz, and then Ataxia. “Honey, can you go check over the signatures on the night court transcripts? I think I might have missed one.”

Ataxia glared at her, “You checked those three times before we came to eat breakfast.”

Night wanted to facehoof, she forgot how dense Ataxia could be at times. “Check again,” her tone brokered no argument, drawing strange glances from everyone around the table, “for me,” Night corrected her voice to try and cover her small gaffe.

Ataxia rolled her eyes and frowned, “Fine.”

Night kissed her on the horn. “Thanks,” she said before following her brother up the stairs.

“Wow, your wife,” Taz said as soon as they got out of earshot.

“Shut up.”

“What… what do you think happened?” the stallion looked at his sister. Concern was evident in his voice

“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out.”

The two walked in silence after that. Any thoughts of idle batter were forgotten, something happened, and it was bad.

Something that was only confirmed by the crying they heard on the other side of the doorway. For Taz, he could not register who it was, as at thirteen he had never heard it before. Shimmering Night had heard it before, rarely, but she heard it before.

It was Aurora crying. Her big sister was crying over something. That alone was enough to cause Night’s blood to run cold. She threw open the doors to her parent’s bedroom, not caring about interrupting anything that might be going on.

When it comes to your family’s safety, privacy is the least of your concerns.

“Night?” Aurora looked up from off the bed at the sudden intrusion.

“Aurora, what’s going on, what’s wrong?” Night looked around, looking for something, anything out of the ordinary. She could not help but notice the lack of her parents in the room.

“It… it… it was me.” Aurora said as she lowered her head back down to the bed, “Someone implanted a memory in me, I… I almost attacked my son.”

“Who?!”

That voice startled Aurora; she looked up to see her brother walk into the room. “Taz, whatever you’re going to do, please, not now. I can’t take it, not right now.”

“Who did this to you?” Taz spoke with a maturity that belittled his years.

“Twilight and Rainbow went to find out,” the words flew from Aurora’s mouth unbidden. She could not-not answer her brother’s question.

“Problem solved then,” Night said with a conviction that she did not entirely feel. Given, when Rainbow caught up to whoever did this to her oldest daughter, Hades itself would tremble before her wrath.

“If you say so,” Aurora laid her head back on the bed. Even with the faux memory removed and the knowledge that what had happened was not her fault. It did nothing to change her feelings on the subject. Regardless of the situation, she had almost attacked her son.

Such things do not go away overnight, nor are they ever truly forgotten.

Night picked up her brooding sister with her magic and placed her hooves first on the floor. “Let’s go,” she said. Thanks to her brother’s earlier comment, she just got an idea in her head.

Aurora just looked at her sister with a look of indignation on her face at being handled like that. “Don’t do that.”

“Come with me and I won’t have to,” Night gestured to the door.

“I’m not going anywhere, mom said to stay here.”

“Aurora, you’re either coming with me of your own volition or I’m carrying you with my magic. Those are the only two options.”

“But mom said-“

“She told you to stay here, right?”

“Yeah,” Aurora looked unsure what Night was getting at.

“Here would be the palace, dummy, not their room.”

“Oh…” it was as if someone slapped her across the head with the truth, “okay.”

As they walked past Taz, Night turned around and looked at him, “You’re coming too.”

“What?” both Taz and Aurora said at the same time.

Night just laughed, “This is a family issue, and our family will deal with it, I don’t care If you don’t like her Taz, you’re coming along and you will play nice.”

“Fine,” Taz said as he looked down at the floor and followed his sisters.

“Where are we going anyway?” Aurora asked.

“The storage room, top tower.”

“Why are we going there?”

“You’ll find out,” there was a spring in her step as Shimmering Night led her two reluctant siblings to the room.

Taz and Aurora reluctantly followed the alicorn. Neither of them felt like saying two words to the other, so they went with the golden rule, ‘silence is golden’. For her part, Night wanted to slap them both upside the head. Taz because she had no idea why he did not like his sister, they hardly ever saw each other; there was no reason for it. She wanted to slap Aurora because; to her at least, Taz seemed to be making an effort to not do anything. This was a great time to bridge that divide.

One of them just had to go first. Since they were both stubborn jackassess, she’d force it.

Although, first she had to cheer up her sister, ‘How do they say, two birds, one stone?’ she thought with a smile.

…

The storage room was a mess. In retrospect, Night figured that she was to blame for that. Ten years ago, Twilight asked her to oversee the move of all their belongings from their house in Ponyville to Celestia’s Palace. 

Even then she knew they would never return. Celestia’s Palace was their new home. 

Night said she took care of it, she said she organized everything properly and put it in the storage room.

She had meant too, she was going too, and then Ataxia got involved, wanting her own personal attention. So Night lied, then she lied about the lie, and then she lied to cover up the lie about the lie. It was only by happenstance that Twilight never found out.

This was that lie coming home to roost.

“Night, what are we doing here?” Aurora asked, again, for the third time.

“Hey, shut up or help me look.”

“You won’t tell us what we’re looking for,” Taz complained, again, for the sixth time.

“So I guess that leaves you with only one option right? Shut up.”

“This is stupid, Night.”

“Taz, what part of shut up do you misunderstand? The ‘shut’ or the ‘up’, I’ll gladly explain both.”

Taz sat back on his flank and sighed, loudly, but said nothing. Night took that for a win and went back to searching.

It was in the third box on the latest stack that she finally found it. “Ah ha!”

“Finally? And only after thirty minutes of searching.”

Night glared at her sister, but said nothing. “Come here you two.”

Aurora and Taz both walked forward, they glared at the book that Night held in her hooves like it was a snake that would bite them.

Night noticed this and smiled. After she blew the dust off the book the look on Aurora’s face turned from one of confusion to recognition. “I know what that is!”

“I figured you’d remember,” Night said with a smile.

“I don’t get it, what is it?”

“Come here little brother,” Night patted her left wing on the ground as an indication for Taz to join her. After a moment’s hesitation, he did just that. Aurora took a seat on the other side of the book. It had been decades since she last saw its contents.

“This is a very special book,” Night began the lecture as if she were talking to a little filly and colt. Taz rolled his eyes, but it was only for show. He would never admit it, but he was enjoying this moment. Times like this, when he could simply be around family, they were rare as of late. He suspected it would only get worse the older he got. “For this is a book on our family.”

Shimmering Night opened the first page. It had a picture of Rainbow in a hospital bed; she was holding a little light-purple unicorn with a rainbow mane in her hooves. Twilight lay next to her, and a little dark-blue pegasus lay between them.

Rainbow looked exhausted, more so than Taz had ever seen her before. Despite it all, she had the best smile on her face. Her smile spoke of happiness, joy, love, laughter, and friendship all in one look. How such a thing was possible Taz could only guess at.

“This is the day your older siblings were born,” Night said with a smile as she slowly ran a hoof over the picture. Aurora gasped as her sister’s hoof was about to touch the image of her lost twin. “Don’t worry sis, mom cast one of her most powerful enchantments on this book, it would survive a volcano eruption unscathed.”

She turned the page.

The next thing they saw was a picture of the two in diapers; they were both playing in a crib in what Taz could only assume to be the crystal castle in Ponyville. “I… I remember, we used to live there.” Aurora said with recognition fresh in her mind. Night nodded, it was before her time, but she had heard the stories.

Night smiled as she flipped the page again, on and on the memories came back. On the next page the twins were learning to walk, they were sitting being potty trained; they were flying and casting spells for the first time. 

Rainbow and Twilight each had their own fair share of pictures in it too, they were vacationing on the beach, holding hooves, laughing together. 

It was at times like this, times when the situation seemed hopeless, that one only needs reminded of family, of everything that family represented: Love, hope, and friendship.

It was not long until the pictures started including a purple alicorn with a rainbow mane. Night laughed at pictures of herself as a filly, the silly antics and games she used to play. 

Even Taz had a smile on his face as the story of his family played out. Given these pictures occurred decades before he was born, but it did not matter. Seeing them happy made him happy, 

Aurora felt a tear fall down her face as the story continued. Pictures of Dayspring soon became prominent as he hit the apex of his life. There were magazine articles that features his theories and accomplishments, his high-profile visits to the Crystal Empire, his time working with the earth pony, unicorn, and pegasus guard, and even his graduation from the highest schools of learning with record speed. 

Aurora looked at her sister with a smile on her face, “Thank you for this.”

“I figured you’d like it,” Night said back as she placed a hoof on her sister’s.

She flipped the page and then immediately flipped it back, a blush on her face. 

Both Aurora and Taz looked at her, a puzzled expression on their faces. “What?”

“Maybe we should call it here?” Night asked with a sly smile.

“Night, just flip the page,” Taz said with a groan. 

“Yeah, let's see,” Aurora found herself actually agreeing with her little brother.

“I’m not sure it’s a good idea, Aurora.” 

“Just flip it.” 

“You sure?”

“Night. Flip. The. Page.”

“Ok, you asked for it.”

When she did, Aurora immediately regretted wanting her to do so. This was not a picture but a magazine, somehow magically held into the book despite the fact that it was larger than the book itself. She had no doubt that Rainbow had insisted that the magazine be kept in the book, and that it was Twilight’s magic that made it so.

Regardless what her kids did, Rainbow was proud of all their accomplishments, this magazine just proved it. 

It was not just any magazine at that, Luna knows that at one point in time or another Aurora had been featured in every magazine in Equestria. That was precisely the problem right now. She was in every magazine. Including this one.

Playcolt Magazine, and they had no problem putting risqué images on the cover. The picture was a rear shot that showed Aurora lying on her side, her face looking down the curves of her body and towards the camera. Her face was that of the seductress, of the mare that knew you wanted her and loved it. 

Her tail was flared out behind her, clearly showing the not so subtle curves of her flank, the engorged folds of her slit, and the puckered little hole of her anus. 

The magazine sold out five minutes after reaching the shelves. 

Night whistled as she admired the pic, Aurora’s jaw dropped, and Taz just blushed. The poor colt could not look away to save his life. 

“I had no idea they had a copy…” Aurora stared at the picture. It was twenty years old, but you could not tell by looking at her. She still looked just as good today as she did back then. 

“Damn, Aurora, you’re looking fine!” Night joked. Aurora slammed the book closed with a hoof. 

“That’s enough of that.”

“Ahh c’mon, you’re not embarrassed are you?”

Aurora shook her head no.

Night kept going, it was rare that she got to tease her sister; as such she would not let a moment like this simply pass by. Moments when Aurora was flustered and did not have the upper hoof were rare enough. “Let's see some of the old moves then,” Night said with a grin on her face.

“Night, no. I’ve got a family now. That part of my life is done.”

“C’mon it’s just us.”

“Exactly,” Aurora gestured to the colt still sitting by the book. His jaw had yet to pick itself up off the floor. 

“Bad news for you there, sister, he’s seen it,” Night said with a grin, “It’s not a mystery anymore,” the obvious discomfort it was giving Aurora was simply goading Night on. She could not-not poke the bear on this one. Sister law would not allow it.

Aurora sighed, her pictures really did not embarrass her, and in truth, she was flattered that so many wanted to see them. However, she did not want to do this, but she knew that her sister would be insistent. 

She actually found herself laughing at that. Growing up, Night would have been embarrassed by the sheer thought of such pictures, but now she was actually egging her on. ‘It seems Ataxia has a bigger influence on you than I thought.’ A fact reinforced by the large hickey plainly visible on Night's neck. 

“Fine but only two poses,” Aurora reluctantly agreed.  When it came to her younger sister it was best to just give her what she wanted. As far as Taz goes, well judging by the obvious discomfort on his face it was simply payback for all the hell he put her through. Besides, Night was right. He had seen it all already, that magazine took care of that little tidbit.

“Sweet!” Night used her magic and constructed an impromptu catwalk for her sister's performance. 

“You seem really excited by this,” Aurora joked as she walked to the other end of the ‘walkway’.

“What can I say,” Night said with a smile, “I’ve developed a healthy appreciation for the female form.”

Aurora laughed about that. One of the benefits of being a famous model was that the job came with its fair share of admirers. Over the years she had tried both mares and stallions, they each had their pros and cons.  

She got up and started trotting to the other end of the room. Night whistled as Aurora put a little more bounce into her steps than was necessary, causing her well-developed flank to jiggle as she walked. 

Despite herself, and the fact she was basically putting on a show for her sister, Aurora found herself excited by it. It had been years since she last performed on a stage. She knew it would not lead anywhere. It went unspoken but they both knew this was a competition to see who would put a stop to it first. 

It was a competition they were both determined to win. 

Her first pose was nothing special, she trotted down the makeshift runway and paused at the end, her body stretched out and her butt arched back in the just the right way to show off her finely tuned muscles. She tilted her head up and away from her sister as she did so. The look all but said, ‘Yeah, I’m hot, what of it?’

If there was one major difference between now and the pictures from back then, it was that Aurora was not quite in such good shape. Rearing two foals would take their toll on anyone. It was small, a tad bit of extra fat she just could not work off regardless how much she tired. 

You would never know by the cheers Night gave out. “Yeah, keep it up!” 

The catcalling only served to drive Aurora forward. The promise of two poses was quickly forgotten as she sought to win this, to do more and more. Her poises quickly became more lewd.

Soon her stances from the professional magazines were quickly forgotten; she started pulling out tricks from the less-reputable ones. After a few minutes, all else was forgotten; the only thing either sister cared about was winning this immature contest to embarrass the other. Neither of them noticed, but their brother was quickly becoming flustered about the whole situation. 

After the latest pose, one in which Aurora lay on her side and slowly moved one leg from behind her, as far up as she could take it, and all the way in front of her, Night did something she never thought she would do. She smacked Aurora’s flank with a hoof while calling out, “Yeah, who’s a good slut?!”

“Don’t call her that!”

The yell put an end to their fun. Both ponies immediately stood up and looked at the yeller. Taz was glaring at them both, an angered expression on his face.

Aurora started blushing, in truth she forgot that he was even here. Her competition to embarrass her sister became all-consuming in her mind. 

Night just glared at him. She figured he would have left, looked away, or been to dumbfound to say anything. “What, are you the only one allowed to pick on her?” Night asked with a smile.

“Don’t call her that,” Taz repeated with a snarl.

Princess Shimmering Night was taken aback by that; however, she was not in the mood to let him win. Too many times Taz would automatically get his way, he would be right simply because he was the younger one. 

“Maybe we did go a little overboard, Night?” Aurora tried to defuse the situation.

“Why do you care?” Night did not listen to her older sister, “You do nothing but pick on her the entire time she’s here. It’s been a small miracle to all of us that you’ve done nothing today, but I guess the day’s still young, huh?”

“Night, let it go,” Aurora placed a hoof on her sister’s shoulders. She could tell that this might go someplace bad.

She was right.

“No,” Night shook the hoof off her, “I want to know. What the buck is wrong with you Taz? What makes you care now? Why are you always such a little shit to Aurora?!”

Taz did not reply. He merely kept up the death glare he had been giving her since his impromptu shout.

There is a problem with being a night-black pony. It does nothing to hide dirt or stains. When you get dirty, it stands out, when you get muddy, it stands out, and when you bleed, it stands out. 

The same is true when you blush.

“Sweet Luna, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re in love with her or something!” Night shouted.

Taz blushed.

They both saw it. Aurora found herself returning the blush as that realization kicked in. Night found her rant stopped dead in its hooves. Her mind finally started putting the pieces together:

He always made her mad because he wanted her attention.

He always went out of his way to bother her because he did not understand how he felt.

His sudden turn around, his sudden nonchalant attitude with her around, after not seeing her for two years; it occurred after he hit puberty. After he finally knew what these feeling were.

“Taz, I-“ Aurora was cut off from finishing that sentence.

“Oh. My. Luna. You love your sister. You want to fuck her, don’t you?!”

“No, I-“ Taz’s anger was quickly forgotten, his reply sounded weak even to him. He had never imagined in a million years someone would discover his secret, his hidden shame.

“You do?! You sick fuck. My brother is in love with my sister.”

Thoughts of how wrong that was came to Night’s mind, thoughts of how disgusting it was. Night’s thoughts were aggravated by the knowledge that her daughter Ana was in the same boat, although she was much less subtle about hiding it. That was something that just made the whole situation worse. 

This was not Night thinking, this was her taking out her aggression over her daughter's sick inflation with her uncle, this was Night taking out her pent up anger on an easy target before her. 

It did not matter that it was her brother. 

If anything, that just made it all the sweeter. After all, you can only truly hurt the ones you love, simply because you have to trust someone for them to be able to hurt you. 

And whom do you trust more than your family?

“You want to rut your own sister. You want to stick your dick in her, don’t you?” Night softly spoke the words as she walked towards the flustered stallion. “You imagine how it feels at night, don’t you? I bet you rub yourself raw thinking about her. The fact that she’s your sister just gets you off, doesn’t it? I bet you cry out ‘sister’ when you cum, don’t you?”

“NIGHT!” Aurora shouted, this was way too far, way too far.

Night ignored her. Her mind was not in the right place of mind for anything resembling rational thought; rationality went out the window as soon as she learned her brother’s disturbing secret. 

She had three more steps to take before she was face to face with the red-faced stallion. “You do, don’t you? You masturbate to her every night.”

Two more steps. The obvious hurt on his face from her words only served to drive her on.

“I bet you got hard seeing those pictures, didn’t you. I bet you’re thinking of a way to take them to your room right now.”

One more step. Every word she said stabbed him like a knife. 

“You sick fuck.”

She was face to face with him. Rational thought was gone, Night logically knew she should not do this, she knew this was bad, yet she did not care. This was payback for every imagined slight against her. Despite herself, she wanted to hurt him, in ways that only a sibling possibly could want to hurt someone. 

“I’m going to tell everyone your filthy little secret.”

Taz lashed out with a hoof and struck her in her face. She fell on her side as the earth pony exploded on her. 

Aurora could only stare on, dumbstruck as her little brother rained blow after blow dead center on Night’s muzzle. Taz was crying as he landed each and every blow. 

Shimmering Night momentarily tried to lift her little brother off her with her magic, the spell failed, as it could not land purchase on the colt. So instead she punched him in the gut with a hoof as hard as she could. 

As an alicorn, Shimmering Night had the flight of a pegasus, the magic of a unicorn, and the strength of an earth pony. She put that strength to use now. The blow landed squarely on his exposed barrel with all the power she could muster. It knocked him several hooves off her and onto his side. 

They both quickly recovered. Taz groaned from the bruise to his ribs, Night wiped away the dripping blood from several cuts on her face.

Both of them were glaring at each other. This was not the fight of enemies; this was not some epic duel to save the word. This was a fight of siblings, of family. This was a fight between two ponies that simply wanted to hurt each other, who wanted to cause as much pain and suffering on the other simply because to them it would prove they were right. 

In many, many ways, it was so much worse because of that fact. 

Gone were the barbs and words, this had evolved far beyond that. Shimmering Night flew forward, intent on making the little shit pay for the blood she lost. 

What she failed to realize was that the next generation loved to wrestle with each other. Often Taz, Blaze, Flash, and even Vela would get into sparring matches for the fun of it. As such he had more than his fair share of experience dealing with ponies that flew. 

Aurora could only get out of the way at this point. She knew this had proceeded far beyond any hope of a semi-peaceful resolution. They each wanted the other’s blood and only someone more powerful could stop it from happening. 

With Night involved and her parents away, there was no one around that fit that bill.

Taz ducked low and spun about at the last possible moment. Night’s momentum worked against her, with the slight change in direction from Taz’s hoof, Night crashed into a pile of boxes. Breaking Luna knew how much stuff in the process. 

She got up, a fresh cut over her right eye bled freely. The stinging from that eye only caused her anger to grow. “You little shit, I’m the demigoddess of magic!” Night powered her horn and caused all the inanimate objects in the room to levitate upwards. 

Aurora cried out in surprise as she felt that much raw magic activate in the room. The sudden unexpectedness of it caused her to fall back as the box she had been hiding behind lifted away.

That cry only served to anger Taz. “You think that matters to me, you stupid bitch!” The control, the walls he had hidden his own abilities behind crumbled. His own power, the power to negate magic spilled forward. This was not focused, this was not targeted, this was raw and unfiltered. It created a large bubble around him several hundred hooves wide. All magic in that zone was nullified in an instant. All the boxes and supplies that Night had levitated fell to the ground as gravity asserted its rightful dominance over them. All around the palace several pegasi that were caught in the bubble fell out of the sky, their flight cut off with the sudden loss of their magic. Unicorns in the bubble found that their magic was suddenly gone.

Aurora managed to avoid any of the objects crushing her, but her tail was not so lucky. She found herself trapped in place as a large pile of boxes fell directly on it.

As the realization that she was without her powers dawned on Night, Taz sprang forward. He ran and jumped at his bigger sister with as much speed as he could muster. 

The impact caused them both to hit the door, hard. It shattered under the force and their combined weight. The impact carried them through the door, causing both ponies to roll out the room and down the hall. Blows landed on each other as they continued what was now an all-out physical brawl. As an alicorn, Night was stronger, but Taz was faster. For every hit she got in, he got in three.

Aurora heard them carry on outside the room, based on the fading volume of it, the fight was moving away from her. Where it would end up was a mystery to the mare but she had a feeling that everypony in the castle would soon know what was happening. 

She ‘felt’ every single blow. Every time Night would yell out ‘sick fuck’ or Taz would reply with ‘stupid bitch’ she empathically felt it. They were her brother and sister, they were her family, everything they said to hurt each other, to scar the other, it left that mark on her too. 

“I have to stop this,” Aurora said as she looked around for something, anything to get her unstuck. The box was way too heavy for her to lift, but she needed to be free. 

Her freedom came not by removing the boxes, but by cutting off a large amount of her tail. When all the boxes fell, a mirror must have shattered nearby. She found a shard of glass and went to work cutting off the portion of her tail that she could not save. 

It took awhile, but when it was over Aurora was left with a super short tail and the taste of copper in her mouth. She spat out the glass noting with some distain that a small amount of blood went with it. 

It did not matter, she spread her wings to try and fly after her siblings. 

She went nowhere. ‘Taz’s power, it must be out of control,’ she thought.

With no way to fly after them, Aurora took the only option left, she ran. 

Their trail of violence was easy enough to follow down the stairs. Broken statues, pictures, and a small trail of blood were all left in their wake. At one point in time the two ponies had managed to crash through a wall. Aurora noted with some distain just how many ponies were aware of what was going down. Several royal guard platoons were mobilizing even as she ran by them. 

She could hear the yelling, blows, and shattering glass in the distance. Aurora found the window they crashed out of soon enough. Looking down from the second floor window she could see that the two were in the courtyard. From the looks of things, Taz was losing, and badly.

Night had a large gash across her body and a broken wing lying limp on the ground. She was cut and bleeding from multiple locations. Taz was nursing a bruised rib, his own body layered with new cuts, bruises, and blood. Most of it his own.

It was easy enough to tell that Taz had landed on his sister's now broken wing. However, the alicorn's endurance was greater. Taz was spent, Night could keep going.

All around the two royal guards looked on, unsure just what to do in this situation. Starlight was down there too, a look of horror on her face at her mom’s actions. 

Aurora jumped down and rolled with the impact. She suffered a few cuts herself, but having been prepared for the fall she got off with no impediments. 

“Stop please!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. All around other ponies were showing up, more and more royal guards were arriving by the second, Icarus, Radiant, Blaze, Flash, and even Vela were appearing now. Each alerted to the situation by the sudden onset of violence in the palace. 

“Don’t come any closer!” Taz shouted at the approaching ponies, “I can’t control my power right now!” he had lost himself in the battle before, but now his body was exhausted beyond his ability to continue the fight.

They all paused, giving the two combatants a wide birth. 

Night looked around, as if she was just now noticing the huge crowd that built up around them. She turned back to her brother and grinned an evil grin.

‘Don’t do it,’ Taz mouthed the words. 

Night was far, far beyond rational thought, or caring about the consequences. She practically shouted the words, “All this because you're a sick little fuck that’s in love with Aurora.”

There was a collective gasp from all the assembled ponies. They all stared at him in shock. A collective murmur started between the watching groups, one that grew louder as the seconds went by.

Finally Taz could not take it anymore, “She’s not my sister!” he shouted as loud as he could.

Everything stopped, dead. He continued as he looked at Aurora, “Not really, we didn’t grow up together, we weren’t raised together, I’ve barely even seen you. I… I’m sorry I treated you so poorly when I was younger. I didn’t understand how I felt. Every time I saw you, you were always so beautiful. I just wanted your attention, I… I wanted you to notice me. It was only a year ago that I realized how I felt,” Taz sat back on his haunches crying as he said those words. He wrapped his tail around his hooves and stared at the ground.

“I know it’s wrong, I know were related, but I can’t help how I feel. I do love you, Aurora. I always have.”

Aurora actually found herself blushing at that. She was used to sudden declarations of love from her fans, but this was different. This was from her brother. 

Even with the knowledge that this was from her brother, she could not help but feel touched. However, it would never happen. “Taz, I’m honored, really. But while I love you like a brother, I’m married, I already have a husband that I love. You had to know that it would never happen, that it could never happen.”

Shimmering Night smiled. Even if her sister was letting the little freak off easy, it was still satisfying to see the look of hurt on his face. “How does it feel knowing everyone knows your sick and twisted secret? You’ll never be able to show your face around here again without getting looks of disgust from everyone you meet.”

“Night! Shut the fuck up!” Ataxia yelled as she ran forward. She did not know how this started, but that comment was too far. Even by her standards.

Night glared at her wife and then back to her brother.

He was gone, just gone. Everyone in the crowd, everyone present did a double take, then a triple. They all knew of his ability to practically go invisible, but this is the first time he had ever done so in front of so many sets of eyes. 

“Fre-“ Night’s final insult died in her throat as she turned to walk away. Her eyes, as if magically drawn to them, fell upon Ana’s. Who looked as if she had just crawled out of bed. The reality of what Shimmering Night just did hit her like a ton of bricks as soon as she saw those eyes. In that one look every vile thing she had said to her brother was thrown back at her a hundred times over.

The look on her daughter’s face spoke of someone that felt utter betrayal, and venomous hatred. All of which was directed right at her mom. 
> Unreal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Crystal Palace


The relationship between Princess Cadance and Princess Dash has always been an interesting one. They first met during Candance’s royal wedding to Twilight Sparkle’s brother, Shining Armor. While she was more than happy to perform her iconic sonic rainboom as the couple shared their first kiss as mare and stallion, Rainbow had not considered her any more than a friend.

It was not until her marriage to Twilight Sparkle that Princess Cadance became something more to Rainbow, she became a sister-in-law. In such a way did their relationship grow. More times than she could count, Rainbow and Twilight would rely on Cadance to watch their twins, and later their alicorn daughter, in order to have a moment to themselves.

Rainbow found herself very grateful to Princess Cadance. Twilight’s old foal-sitter was always there when they needed someone, they could always count on her to pull their flanks out of the fire when they needed it. Indeed, if it were not for mares like Cadance, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, Rainbow doubted their family would have lasted as long as it did.

While she had not been born that way, Cadance truly was Rainbow’s sister.

Which is why what happened next weighed heavily on Rainbow’s heart. There was no malice in her actions, no vengeance; this was something that, as far as she was concerned, simply had to happen.

Upon seeing the blood, the princess of love standing over the body of her daughter-in-law, Rainbow did what she always did, she acted. Her mind put the pieces together faster than her consciousness could process it. Cadance was not under her own control. Whoever implanted that… that memory in her daughter had already gotten to the pink alicorn. She was not Princess Cadance anymore, worse, she was a threat. She was a threat to everyone around her, including Twilight. Without thinking, without letting her emotions get any say so, Rainbow acted.

With a speed only achievable by her, Rainbow slammed Cadance into the wall on the other side of the room. The Princess of Love looked up in shock, a look that was short lived as Rainbow’s left wing came about and cut off the alicorn’s horn.

To Cadance, the pain came suddenly and without warning, it was someone cutting off a limb. She screamed in pain before Rainbow rammed her head against the wall with enough force to knock the alicorn unconscious.

That scream was enough to snap Twilight out of her shock. She raced forward and wrapped the tan pegasus body in her magic. Channeling as much energy as she could in her situation, Twilight started magicly pumping Firestar’s stopped heart. She stimulated the pony’s bone marrow into overproduction of blood cells. She healed the stab wounds up and down Firestar’s back, she magically grabbed ahold of her lungs and forced them to inflate and deflate.

Twilight’s magic caused Firestar to breath in and out. Her magic caused the blood to flow through Firestar’s body. Her magic healed the wounds to keep the blood inside. Her magic did it all.

Twilight wasn’t even aware she was doing it. It did it all because that’s the way it should be. Her only thought was of all the things that should be happening in Firestar’s body. All the ways it should be. She sought to correct it, to make it that way.

With the threat of an out of control alicorn out of the way, Rainbow walked back to her wife. She wanted to wrap a wing around her, but at this stage, when every second counted, when one mistake could cost Firestar her life. Rainbow would do nothing that might interrupt Twilight’s concentration.

‘You can do it, Twi. I know you can,’ she thought. It was then she noticed the tears. Tears falling from her own eyes, ‘When did that happen?’

Twilight’s mind was one-hundred percent on the body wrapped in her magic, it monitored everything, every vital statistic that could be measured was measured in triplicate, compared with medical textbooks she had read over the years, and cataloged for comparison with future measurements.

Minutes passed as she kept the blood flowing through Firestar’s veins.

She kept her heart pumping.

She kept her lungs breathing.

She kept her alive.

She felt like someone walked over her grave.

It was slight, but Twilight felt it. her entire body shivered as the sensation was like a cold wind blowing through her. Like it cut through every single cell in her body, blowing through the connections that held them together.

It was a feeling like no other.

Worse, she had experienced it before. She knew what caused that feeling even though it had been almost sixty years since she had last felt anything like it. With that knowledge she connected the dots in her mind. She knew what had just happened. The Grim Reaper had just claimed his target.

Twilight paused, she was indeed keeping Firestar alive. She was keeping Firestar’s body alive. There was no brain activity. It was too late for that. Far too late.

Firestar was gone. Radiant’s wife… he’d never see her alive again. His foals just lost their mother.

Rainbow noticed the change in her wife; it was like a switch had been flipped in her. Twilight gingerly placed the body on the ground and folded her hooves across her chest. “I… I… I gotta tell Radiant… I gotta… I gotta… I gotta…”

Rainbow wrapped her wife in a hug and squeezed her as hard as she could. “You don’t have to do anything, Twi.”

“I… I…” Twilight’s muscles in her legs gave out; she slumped in her wife’s grip. The ability to stand was simply beyond the mare.

Rainbow held her in her grip. A realization crossed her mind as Twilight gave into Rainbow’s strength, she realized just how easy it was to hold the alicorn. ‘She’s so light, yet she carries the world on her back.’

Rainbow saw her wife glance up at her, her expression was blank, as if her mind was working on a million problems all at once, as if it wanted to be somewhere, anywhere other than where it was. 

When their eyes connected, it brought Twilight back to the present. Tears started falling from her eyes, tears over everything this would mean, over how devastated everyone would be. Rainbow pressed her wife’s head to her chest, allowing her to cry out as much as she needed.

Out the corner of her eye, Dash saw several crystal guards standing outside the room. All of them were in mourning. They placed lowered their heads at the tragedy that just occurred in the Crystal Palace and the loss of their princess.

…………

She awoke to a throbbing ache in her mind. It felt like someone had just gone into her brain with an egg beater and went to town. When her eyes opened up, the light only made the situation worse. “It’s too bright,” Cadance called out.

“You’re awake.”

She knew that voice, “Twilight, what are you…?” the pain caused talking to hurt, it caused everything to hurt.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake,” there was no joy when those words hit Cadance’s ears. Every word was full of nothing but sorrow.

“Twilight?” Cadance questioned just what was going on.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake,” Twilight repeated the phrase, if anything she seemed sadder the second time around.

“What’s going on?” Cadance asked again.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake.”

“Clap your hooves and do a little shake,” Cadance finished the phrase.

Those eight words seemed to cut through the tension in the air. Almost as if everything was simply resting on her saying them. Cadance tried opening her eyes again, she immediately shut them. “You mind telling me what’s going on?”

Cadance could not see the purple princess, she could not see anything, however, she could feel her in the room. Her mind put together a mental image of what was happening. She was laying down in a bed, her hooves were free but she got the distinct impression that she would not be able to get up if she tried.

Twilight was in the room, possibly someone else too, at least if her hearing could be believed. If she had three guesses, she’d only need one, it was Rainbow Dash. They were both agitated, more so than she could ever remember them being before.

“Cadance, what is the last thing you remember?” Twilight asked with a deadpan voice. The sorrow was no longer there, there was no emotion at all. Somehow, that made Cadance feel worse, not better.

“I… I…” Cadance tried to answer that question, she really did. Every time she thought back to it, every time she tried to remember, it hurt.

It was like reaching into a bucket of ice water for a small key at the bottom. She could see it, she knew it was there, but the act of grasping it was simply beyond her. “I don’t know,” she gave up.

“I was afraid of that. Cadance, do you remember Flash shaving off your fur?”

“Yes, yes I remember that!” Cadance perked up at that memory. “I… I sent him and his brother to Canterlot for the weekend for that.”

“Yes, yes you did. Cadance, do you remember them getting on the train?”

“I… no, I don’t.”

“Cadance, do you remember waking up today?”

“Twilight…” Rainbow cautioned.

‘So Rainbow is here,’ Cadance thought.

“Cadance, do you remember waking up today?” Twilight repeated the question.

“I… I… I don’t. What happened?” Cadence reached up to touch her head. The headache was forgotten as soon as she felt the top of her head, or more precisely, as soon as she failed to touch her horn. Her eyes shot open, causing her headache to double in intensity.

As her eyes adjusted, there were no more words said between them. Twilight and Rainbow waited until Cadance could speak again.

Her vision took a while to return, it was out of focus, blurry, almost as if her brain could not process the signals sent from her eyes. It took a few minutes, but eventually she could make out their faces.

She wished she had not opened her eyes. Both Rainbow and Twilight looked as if they had been crying for quite some time. Their manes and fur looked awful. Something was wrong, something bad had happened, something really bad.

“Are you two ok?” Cadance asked.

Twilight ignored the question. “Cadance, do you remember Aurora and Night?”

“Did something happen to your daughters?!” Cadance tried sitting up at that, as she suspected, there was a magical field in place blocking her.

“Cadance, you… you…” Twilight could not bring herself to say it.

The look on her sister-in-law’s face was heartbreaking to Cadance. “Twilight, just tell me what happened.”

“Are you sure about this, Twi?” Dash asked.

She shook her head. “No lies, no half-truths Rainbow. We talked about this.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t remember.”

“And it will break her heart when she learns the truth,” Twilight finished her wife’s sentence. They had talked about it at length, however, Twilight resolved that there would be no secrets. This was too big to try and cover up. “Cadance, you… you…”

Saying you are going to do something and doing it are two separate things.

“Cadance, you killed Firestar,” Rainbow blurted it out with her usual tact, “Your memories were changed to one where Firestar committed the worst acts imaginable and you thought you were stopping her from killing everyone you loved.”

Twilight glared at Dash. She did not care. So what if it was tactless, so what if it was the worst way she could deliver the news. She saw a way to spare her wife the pain of doing it so she did it.

Cadance had been expecting the worst sort of news. This… this blew that out the water. Her jaw dropped as she realized that Rainbow was not joking, she would not joke about something like this. “Fir… Firestar is… dead?”

“Yes,” Twilight responded coldly.

“I… I killed her?”

Twilight could only nod at that, the tears in her eyes spoke more than words ever could.

Cadance’s hoof found her head; this was all too much, too unreal to be true. Again, her hoof found the stump that remained of her absent horn. She cringed as she felt it, “My… my horn?”

“I cut it off,” Rainbow stated it like it was the simplest thing in the world. Almost like she had said, ‘Hey I went to the store, picked up the bread, cut off your horn, and got the cheese.’ “You were an unknown threat; I couldn’t risk you doing something else.”

“I… I… I understand,” she looked down at her hooves at that, and then asked the next question. “How come I don’t remember any of it?”

Twilight took this question, facts and figures was something she could grasp onto, “Whoever did this to you, they did it by directly implanting the memory in your frontal lobe. They tried something similar on Aurora, don’t worry, she’s ok,” Twilight cut off Cadence's question before she could ask it. “That experience taught me what to look for. However, they did a far better job on you than they did her. It should have been a permanent part of your memory.”

“Should have?”

“Something in you was rejecting it, it wanted it gone. My theory is that Eros was all that stopped it from being a part of you, she gave you some resistance to it, bear in mind, that’s just a theory on my part. Not something I recommended we test.”

“Lot of good she did,” Rainbow said, “I want to know why she didn’t just stop it.”

Twilight ignored her wife’s statement. “We’re lucky for what she did do. Otherwise the only way I would have been able to remove it is by lobotomy. As it stands, it looks like you just lost the last twenty-four hours of your memory.”

“That’s why you asked those questions?”

Twilight nodded.

“Oh,” Cadance found herself crying. The weight of it all was too much to bear. However, she had one more question to ask, one more she did not want the answer to, but needed to know regardless. “Does… does Radiant know?”

“No. We’ve kept the knowledge to a hoof-full of ponies, so far it’s only the three of us and a few crystal guards.”

“I… I should tell him myself. He’s… he’s going to hate me,” Cadance sobbed the last part of those words.

Twilight wanted to go to her, she wanted to grab her sister-in-law’s hoof and hold it, to tell her that everything was alright.

As usual, Rainbow somehow cleared the cobwebs from Twilight’s noggin. Although this time it was simply by bumping her on the flank, “Go.”

“Rainbow?”

She whispered in her wife’s ear, “Twi, with everything we’re responsible for over the years, this is small potatoes. She’s still your sister-in-law, she’s still family. That’s one fact that will never change.”

It was simplicity in itself. Family always had your back, whatever happened, that would never change.

No matter what, you can always trust your family to be there for you, for them to have your back, no matter what happens.

Right?

……………………………………………..


Canterlot


What few ponies knew about Taz, is that he could not go invisible. Not in the literal sense anyway. Rather, his ability nullified the perceptions of those around him. After several days of testing, Twilight speculated it had more to do with the nullification of the magic senses in others, through a yet known process when he activated this ability it would cause those who looked at him to not notice.

He was still there, just not visible. Not to any known form of detection anyway, or that would have been the case if he had control of his ability. Had someone the wherewithal to look, they would have been able to track him by the sudden crashes of flying pegasi and reports of unicorns losing their magical abilities.

He did not have control, control and his mind were simply incompatible right this second. As was looking at anyone he knew.

‘You’ll never be able to show your face around here again without getting looks of disgust from everyone you meet.’

He ran through Canterlot as fast as his hooves could take him. Every single breath hurt; a courtesy of the bruised rib his sister left him with when the fight first started.

‘Freak.’

‘Sick fuck.’

The words had a way of hurting much worse than the pain of his wounds. He remembered something his mom told him once when he was getting another lecture about treating Aurora better, ‘the only difference between physical abuse and mental abuse is that physical abuse heals’.

It took being on the other side for that lesson to hit home. Taz welcomed the physical pain; it took his mind off the mental pain. It made him think of something other than his sister’s words, of his shameful secret being revealed.

He tried to outrun it. He might as well try to outrun a flying dragon.

His pain was one beast that would not be denied its next meal.

…………………………………………………………………


Celestia’s Palace


Fourteen years ago the fight with Ataxia had taken its toll on Night. During that fight the mare almost died to Ataxia’s speed. Ataxia caused more pain and suffering than Night could ever fully understand and she nearly lost several members of her family in the process. All in all it was one of the worst days of her life, only coming in behind the days she lost a family member.

That day was just knocked down another notch.

Ana’s eyes, she could not-not see them. Although her daughter had long since ran off to Luna knows where. Those eyes still haunted Shimmering Night. She found herself wandering the hallways of the palace, completely oblivious to everything around her. Several ponies were talking to her, several even yelled at her, and one was following her.

She did not notice any of them. Whenever she closed her eyes, whenever she caught something out of her peripheral vision, she saw those eyes.

They were a mirror to her soul, they reflected every vile thing she said to her brother and magnified it back a hundred times over. She could no longer picture her brother when she thought of that fight, of saying those things. She only saw Ana. She saw herself yelling, hitting, and cursing at her daughter.

The pain of her broken wing was forgotten, as compared to this, it was nothing.

After all, when your daughter hates you, truly hates you, such things tend not to matter anymore.

She walked muzzle first into a door.

“You back with me yet?” Ataxia asked her wife. She was the one that closed the door with her magic.

“Do I have a choice?” Night said as she rubbed a hoof against her muzzle.

“Well, at least you’re talking again.”

“Where… where am I?”

“Wow, you really were lost in thought, weren’t you?”

“I’d rather not go back,” Night said as she looked around. Somehow, she had walked all the way from the courtyard to the royal throne room. It was fitting in a way.

“Tough.”

She looked back at her wife with a disbelieving look on her face. Ataxia met her gaze eye to eye. She did not flinch away or try to play it off. Night found herself stared down by her wife. “Wh-“

“Get inside,” Ataxia’s tone became dead serious when she said that. She spoke with a conviction that allowed no disconcert. Night found she had no choice but to obey.

“Okay,” she pushed the door open. The palace throne room was deserted. Stacks of papers from the night court still lined the tables in the back. However, there was no sign of anyone in here. “Where is-“

“I told Luna to have it emptied. She’s quite cross with you, we all are.”

“You?”

“Yes, me too,” Ataxia glared at her wife, “I wanted this time to talk with you though, just us.”

“Can we not?”

“Nope, we’re going to talk. I don’t care how you feel, or if you’re kicking yourself. We’re going to have a chat. It’s time to pull up your big girl panties and deal with your mistake.”

“Are you lecturing me about taking responsibilities for my actions?” Night tried to laugh at that.

Ataxia walked over and slammed her hoof down on her wife’s broken wing. Night screamed out as she felt the wing break in two additional spots as the weight of the unicorn shattered more of the hollow bone that lined the wing. “What the buck!”

Ataxia glared at her, “I acknowledge you’re powerful Night. Heck there's a running pool over who is actually stronger, you or Twilight. However, right now, you have none of that power, do you?”

Night tried to show her up, she tried to heal the wing to remove her wife’s minor victory. When nothing happened, she sighed, “No, I don’t.”

“I figured as much. So for now, until your power comes back, I’ll take advantage of being the one with the power in this relationship.”

“What, are you going to transform?” Night rolled her eyes. It had been over fourteen years since Ataxia last did that.

Ataxia slammed her hoof down on her wife’s wing, again. This time around it caused the alicorn to buckle to her knees. “Buck me!”

“Don’t forget who you’re talking too.”

Night was legitimately scared at this point. This was not the Ataxia she had been married to for almost two decades, this was her before that. This was the mare that shut herself off from everyone else, the one that did whatever the bucking hell she wanted whenever she bucking wanted too, regardless of the consequences. The fact that she was callously hurting her like this proved that much.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Shimmering Night was crying at this point. Unable to hold back the tears she felt from the pain.

“Because you’ve never been that stupid before in your life,” Ataxia replied coldly, “What I saw out there, that wasn’t my wife, that wasn’t Princess Shimmering Night. That was a pony viciously hurting someone she loved.”

“He’s a fi-“

Another stomp, another shattered bone. Night was rolling on the floor at this point, crying. “Please, stop.”

“Why do you think I wanted the room emptied?” Ataxia walked around the room, giving her wife a wide berth, “You know what’s fucked up? I don’t even feel bad about this. I would never, NEVER hurt my wife, but you’re not her, are you? You’re a bigoted bitch that destroyed her brother. I actually find hurting you somewhat therapeutic right now, like if I can just cause enough damage you’d disappear and my wife, the mare I raised two daughters with, she’d come back.”

“Ataxia, please,” Night cried aloud. The pain in her wing was too high to ignore, it became all-consuming in her mind.

“I hate you,” Ataxia looked away from Night at those words.

The words hurt worse than any amount of pain her wing could cause her. Hearing Ataxia say those words, she wished she would just break her other wing instead.

“I hate you for bringing out this side of me again, the side that I thought I put to bed, the side I never wanted to take control ever again. I hate you, because, I know you’re better than this, I know this is not you, this is not us, yet you made us this way.”

“I’m sorry!!! Please, I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry.”

Ataxia looked back, her own tears were falling from her eyes, “What are you sorry for?”

“Please, it hurts.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“I’m sorry!” she could barely say the words, much less articulate a response.

“Can’t talk huh? Well I’ll fill in the blanks and you'll tell me if I’m correct. You, Shimmering Night, are sorry for destroying your brother. You’re sorry for calling him a freak, for outing him in front of the entire palace, destroying his only safe place, his only home. For telling him that he can never show his face in Canterlot again, for making him feel so bad about himself that he ran away to Luna knows where. Is that what you’re sorry for?”

“YES!!!” Night screamed out the words.

“We’ll be lucky if we find him alive.”

It is said the brain can only process one pain at a time, the most extreme pain. This far exceeded the firing nerve endings in her broken wing. Those words were like an injection of morphine, suddenly the pain in her wing was forgotten. This was a possibility that Night had never considered, “What?”

“You heard his speech. It was obvious even to me that he felt conflicted by that. That he’d been hiding it for the longest time, the feelings he felt for his sister. I promise you no one felt worse about it than he did. From the sounds of it he even justified it to himself somehow. You OUTED him, you took his most embarrassing and intimate secret and held it up for the world to see,” Ataxia sighed before continuing.

“He may kill himself because of it. Because of your actions your brother may not be found alive.”

“No, I-” Night tried to stand, this new development… it was the worst case scenario, a scenario she had never considered. Her actions could not lead to that, it would not lead to that, not if she had anything to say. Unfortunately, she had nothing to say on the subject as standing up was beyond her. As soon as she tried Night immediately fell back over from the pain in her broken wing.

Ataxia lowered her horn and with a quick spell eased some of her wife’s suffering. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“We gotta find him!” Night shouted.

“And we’re looking, however, you know if he doesn’t want to be found that’s a near impossibility.”

“I don’t care!”

Ataxia sighed inward, ‘there’s my wife.’ “I know you don’t, and we’re looking, every single royal guard is out in Canterlot, Aurora and Icarus are flying around town, Luna is monitoring the dreamscape, and with the exception of Ana, who locked herself in her room, and Starlight who is trying to get her to come out, the kids are out checking all their old haunts. However, you’re not going anywhere. For starters your wing is busted and none of us have the ability to heal it. Secondly, right this second if he saw you he’d just run further away. You have to stay here, wherever Twilight went off to, you need to tell her what happened when she gets back.”

“Mom… I ran off her only son.”

“Yes, yes you did.”

Night laid her head down in her hooves and cried again, the realization of everything she did caught back up to her. Her crying was interrupted as she felt her wife kick her in the flank.

“What… what was that for?” Night looked up, surprised to see a sad smile on Ataxia’s face.

“That’s for making me be the grownup. That’s your job and I don’t want it.”

Despite the pain in her wing and the horrible feeling in her gut, Night found herself with a smile on her face. Ataxia laid down next to her good side and pressed their coats together. “Somehow, I don’t think stomping on my broken wing to get my attention is acting like a grownup.”

“Have you met me?” Ataxia replied coolly, “besides, Twilight already has to fix one break, fixing a few more should be no big deal.”

“Fair point,” Night said softly she lay her head down, “Thanks for this.”

“Anytime,” Ataxia cooed back.
> Power
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Night River


Taz had no choice but to stop when he reached the eastern half of Night River. He wanted to run farther, he wanted to escape everything. He just could not. Despite any desire he might have had, his body would go no farther. The mind was willing but the flesh was weak.

He collapsed next to the edge of the river and what he wished for more than anything else right then was that he could take a drink. Sadly the river was more salt water than fresh. It would not be healthy to drink even for someone in his state.

Off in the distance he could see Foal Mountain, the tips capped with snow that promised at least freshwater to drink. It was only a few miles, but to Taz it might as well have been on the other side of Equestria

A splash caught his attention. Several fish were working their way upstream.

‘Did you really carve this river, mom?’ Taz thought about it, it seemed almost unreal that Rainbow would be able to create this, that she’d be able to cut a gorge across Equestria like this. However, if one mare could do something like this, it would be her.

Thoughts of his mom only served to exacerbate his mood. Gone was the smile at how awesome his mom was, only to be replaced with depression that he would never see her again. ‘When Night tells them…’

Such thoughts were unfounded, unwarranted, and unjustified. Yet he could not stop thinking them, of the horrid looks his parents would have on their faces when Night told them, of how disappointed they would be when they found out.    

His thirteen year old mind could not help but assume the worst case scenario. Briefly, he considered climbing into the river and simply letting its current wash him downstream.

‘Maybe I’d end up with my brother’, despite the implications of such thoughts, he could not help but smile. ‘Dayspring Gleam, the brother I never knew.’

He rolled over while looking up at the sky and wondered for the thousandth time what he was like. Taz had heard stories, but they never painted the true picture.

‘Maybe I will. After all, what’s the point of continuing?’ when the thought entered his head, he could not stop thinking it. It was a simple solution, after a fashion anyway. The idea and the possibility of finally meeting his lost brother, of being by his side, even in death, it had an attraction that he could not fully describe.

The longer he thought about it, the more he wanted it. The more he wanted it, the longer he thought about it.

‘Freak’

His mind was made for him. ‘I’m coming brother, after all, why stay?’

“What the buck!” it was as if the universe itself gave him his answer. As at that moment a pegasus cried out from above as the unfortunate flyer entered the area of effect of Taz’s power. He could not help but look up at that noise.

“Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!” The dark blue mare shouted as she angled her descent into the river, creating a huge splash as she hit the surface of the water hard.

To Taz’s horror, two thoughts went through his mind at that point. The first and most prevalent was that the mare did not come back up, the second was that it was a mare he knew. “Nighttide!” he shouted as he dove in after her, his own fatigue and thoughts of ending it were forgotten. He had a friend to save, that came first and foremost.

The water chilled him to the core. He felt the rapid current push at him, forcing him along the rocks. Diving under, Taz willed his body to continue; the adrenaline pumping through his veins gave him all the strength he needed.

He spotted her in the distance, her dark coloring stood out easy enough in the water. She was unconscious being dragged along by the current. Several times Taz would cringe as he saw her body scrape along rocks or crash against the shoreline only to be forced back.

Taz forced his limbs to move, he forced them to push himself along the current; propelling himself along in order to catch up to his fallen friend. Despite his best attempts, he could not stop the water from entering his mouth. His need for oxygen was quickly winning versus his attempts to hold his breath; something that his bruised rib did not help with.

His luck turned when she was momentarily stopped by a rock at the edge. He grabbed onto her hoof and pulled her body to his, gasping for breath as he lead them both to the surface.

The trip to the shoreline was a lot harder. The adrenaline in his system was wearing off, his oxygen starved muscles protested every time he pushed himself and the soaking wet pegasus another inch towards the shoreline.

It was with a final herculean effort that he tossed the pegasus onto the shore. At that point his muscles gave out on him. No more could he fight the current than fight his need for breath. He let it take him, his final thought before closing his eyes was, ‘At least I did one thing right’.

………..

He went nowhere. Surprised caused him to inhale another lungful of water. “Oh no you don’t!” Nighttide shouted as she held onto the stallion’s back hoof.

She caught the stallion just in the nick of time, one second later and he would have been swept away. She yanked back as hard as she could, pulling Taz to the shoreline where he rolled over and coughed up the water he had inhaled.

Nighttide made several attempts to stand, but it was all for naught. She settled for crawling over to his side. “Thanks.”

He finished hacking up a lung, “You… you can see me?”

“Now I can, I had no idea you were here when I flew over. I guess you were practicing with your power or something?”

“Or something,” Taz repeated, “What, what are you doing out here anyway?”

“I could ask you the same question,” Nighttide rolled over on her side and lay next to the stallion.

“I asked you first.”

“Fair enough. My dad wanted to see me over at Foal Mountain, I was just flying back from there actually.”

“I thought you said he was in town?”

“He is, was, it’s... it’s complicated. He never stays anywhere for long, I consider him close by if I can get to him in a day’s travel.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Nighttide looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s gotta be tough, living on your own like that.” Taz’s melancholy took ahold. “I’m not sure I could ever live like that….” He did not know if he could, or if it was even worth trying. Thoughts of the river came back to his mind.

“I think you could,” Nighttide said with a small smile. “You’d be surprised what you can live through, provided you have good friends anyway.”

“Friends… yeah.”

“Your turn,” Nighttide poked him in the stomach.

“For what?”

“What are you doing out here? I don’t see anyone else with you and we’re pretty far from Canterlot. Did they drop you off to practice alone?”

“Oh, that… I don’t want to talk about it,.” Taz rolled over to his side.

“Too bad, it’s your turn.”

“You’re not going to drop it are you?”

“Nope,” Nighttide said with a chipper smile, one that faded when she noticed the bruise on his side, “What happened?”

Taz looked down, “Oh, that. Yeah, it hurts a little.”

“Was that from saving me?”

“It was my fault that you crashed, so I wouldn’t say I saved you, but no. I had that before I got here.”

“What happened?”

“I guess you’ll find out eventually. My sister and I got into a fight. It was a bad one,” Taz looked downcast at that.

“Didn’t your parents stop it?”

“No, they weren’t there. It was dumb but some things were said. Some things that I never wanted to come out into the light were brought up.”

“What?” Nighttide sat up at that. She knew Taz was keeping some secrets from her, she had known that much for a while, but this was the first time she had heard anything of it. “Taz, if everyone knows I’m going to find out soon enough. Whatever it is I’d rather hear it from you.”

It was simple logic, the best arguments usually are. “I… I’m in love with my sister, Aurora.”

Nighttide did her best to hide her surprise at that. ‘So that’s why…’

“I know it’s wrong, but I can’t help how I feel. I was hoping it would go away, that it was just a silly crush or something. I kept telling myself she’s my sister; I’m not supposed to feel that way about her. That’s what I tell myself anyway.”

“We don’t control who we love Taz, trust me, I know what it’s like to love someone you shouldn’t,” when Nighttide said those words, it was with the tone of someone that had experience with that issue. Taz could not help but notice.

“You’re talking about me, aren’t you?” he had always suspected that she loved him, he even admitted as much to Sunshine, but this was the first they talked about it.

“You big dummy,” Nighttide bopped him on the nose, “Of course I’m talking about you. We’ve spent the last eight years doing everything together. Who else would I love?”

“Why aren’t you supposed to have feelings for me?”

“My father wouldn’t like it,” Nighttide said with a sigh.

“Yeah, well I’ll just have to kick his flank then.”

“I’d like to see that,” it came off as a joke, but to Nighttide it was anything but, “So I’m guessing Night outed you?”

“Yeah, in front of everyone, my whole family. She told me I can never show my face again without getting looks of disgust from everyone I met.”

“She’s a bitch.”

“Yeah, but the damage is done, I can’t go home again. Sure my moms might not know, but they will soon enough.”

“What makes you think Twilight and Rainbow wouldn’t want you back?”

“Well…” now that he thought about it, he really did have no reason to think that, “They probably would, I just… I just can’t. What’s the point of going back if only two ponies would want you back?”

“What are you going to do?”

“There are some questions you really don’t want the answer too.”

“Taz.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

Nighttide sighed, ‘boys can be so dense at times’, “Never mind.”

They both lay in an uncomfortable silence after that, neither really wanting to say the next thing. In the end it was Nighttide that broke it, “You should come meet my family.”

“You know I was just joking when I said I’d kick your dad’s flank for you.”

She laughed, “Yeah, I know, but now seems like a good time.”

“It would have been a good time five years ago,” Taz joked; Nighttide lightly popped him in his bruised rib for that one, “Hey, that hurts!”

“Yeah, that was kind of the point.”

“That’s how you treat the pony that saved your life?”

“Well, being that per your admission it was your fault in the first place, yeah.”

“Using my own words against me?” Taz glared at her.

“Yep, now quit stalling, do you want to meet them or not?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“But what?”

“I’m not sure how fast I can travel right now,” Taz gestured to the bruise on his side.

“Don’t worry, I have a shortcut.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Taz,” Nighttide’s expression changed, gone was the mare that was just looking to tell a joke, just looking to have fun at his expense. In its place was one that was serious, “I’ll take you, but I need to know, do you trust me?”

“What kind of question is that?” Taz sat up in uncertainty at this change of events.

“I need to know, this trip, what happens, it’ll be… strange. You’re going to see some odd stuff, things you’ve never seen before. I need you to trust me. So, do you?”

“Nighttide, you’re scaring me.”

“Do you trust me?”

Taz thought about it, this… this was different, this was strange. He had never seen Nighttide act like this before. “I… Nighttide,” Taz looked her in the eye, “I do trust you.”

Nighttide almost cried when he said those words, ‘I just hope you remember that’. “Let’s go,” she stated as she got up and started walking towards a nearby tree.

“I told you I’m not going to be able to make it far.”

“And I told you I know a shortcut,” she said back with a smile.

He groaned and got to his feet, his knees buckling as he put pressure on his legs to make himself stand. “Nighttide, I don’t think I’m going anywhe-“

His sentence was cut off as soon as she pressed her body to his, supporting his weight on his own, “Put your hoof around me.”

He did as he was instructed. They were both soaking wet and cold, however, at that moment, he could not help but feel a sense of warmth, “Thanks.”

“No problem,” she looked away before he could see her blush and started walking forward.

“You know, you seemed really cool about it.”

“What, the whole you love your sister thing?”

“Yeah, that. I’d figured you’d be yelling at me or something.”

“Taz, you know how I feel about you. I… I could never yell at you for having feelings for someone, it wouldn’t be right.”

“My sister sure didn’t see it that way.”

“Night… she was probably just venting on you about Ana.”

“What about Ana?” Taz asked as the pair hobbled along.

“You really are dumb, aren’t you?”

“Shut up and answer the question.”

“Ana loves you too.”

“What?” Taz stopped, he had never noticed that before, “No she doesn’t, we’re just friends.”

Nighttide laughed, “Wow, stallions can be so dumb at times. Taz, think about it, think about how much she hangs on your every word, about how she’s different around you. Tell me that’s just friends behaviour for someone like her.”

“I… I…” Taz drew a blank on what to say, it was as if someone just dropped a bombshell on his mind, “How did I not notice?”

“Probably because of how you felt about Aurora, we tend to put blinders on for everyone but the one we love. By the way, great choice. I mean I’m not interested in mares myself, but if I was, she’d be in my fantasies too.”

“Oh, you fantasize a lot?”

Nighttide blushed at that, “No!” she said a little too defensively.

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

“You want me to drop you?”

“Ok, I’ll let it go, if you answer me one question. You don’t have to answer it but if you don’t, that’s kind of answering it. Do you fantasize about me?”

When she did not answer, Taz found himself blushing. He found himself with a new outlook on his relationships after that talk. Looking back at his memories, he saw the way Ana would hang on his every word, the way she was when it was just the two of them, he saw it all in a different light. He also started seeing Nighttide a little different.

Nighttide interrupted his musings, “We’re here.”

Taz looked around, “Nighttide, this is just a tree.”

“I told you, you need to trust me.”

“I do.”

She looked at him, a serious expression on her face. “I need you to remember that, okay. Some things are going to happen. Please, please remember that,” there was desperation in her voice when she said those last words.

“Nighttide, I don’t think this is such a good idea.”

“Taz, you were about to kill yourself, weren’t you?”

He jerked his head back. Nighttide merely continued. “What’s going to happen, it needs to happen, but you gotta trust me. Look at it this way; you’ve got nothing to lose by trying.”

He closed his eyes and sighed, “I’m guessing you won’t just tell me?” she shook her head, “Okay, let’s get this over with then.”

Taz’s eyes went wide as he saw her form suddenly grow darker. Shadows began tracking from her own and spread up the tree, crisscrossing each other in an intricate pattern that spoke of someone very familiar with magical rituals.

“What…?” Taz tried to find the words, nothing came out as he watched a pegasus use magic for the first time in his life.

It was over before he realized it, a pony-sized portal was open up in the tree. A cold wind blew from inside and bit at Taz’s bones. He got the distinct feeling that this was a bad idea, a very, very bad idea.

“Let’s go,” Nighttide said as she started walking the pair forward. Every rational part of Taz told him not to, it told him to go back, that the river was less of a threat than stepping through that portal.

’You gotta trust me.’

The words kept replaying in his mind. It left him with the distinct impression that she had to do this, she had to get him through that portal. ‘Buck it,’ Taz thought.

He went with her.

…………………

What surprised him the most was the size of the room he stepped into. The walls seemed to go up forever, so much so a fully grown dragon would have been able to stand without issue. Pillars lined the walls, each of them decorated with macabre posters and artworks. None of which he wanted to look at.

The cold, he knew from the wind blowing from the portal that it would be cold, however, that knowledge did nothing to prepare him for actually being in it. The water on his fur froze to his body, chilling his bones and rattling his teeth.

Nighttide wrapped a wing around him and brought him in close. The wing brought with it warmth that did little to help overall, yet raised his body temperature just enough for him to be grateful for it.

“He’s here; you can light the torches,” Nighttide spoke out to the other side of the room. While it was not dark, it definitely was not bright. He could not see whoever she was talking too.

That all changed when the torches around the room lit up. If he thought the room was massive before, this put that to shame. It went on for as far as his eye could see.

“Prince Taz, I take it?” a voice echoed from the other side of the room. Taz could barely make out a throne from where the voice originated.

“I take it that’s our destination,” Taz said through chattering teeth.

“Yeah,” Nighttide squeezed her wing around the stallion, causing him to be pressed even closer to her as she did so. His mind noticed that despite the freezing temperature, she seemed warm, “Remember what I told you.”

“Trust you, I remember,” Taz whispered the words as they walked down the hallway. “Is… is he really your father?”

“Sadly, yes.”

“Is he going to kill me?”

“What? No, I can assure you that no harm will come to you.”

Somehow, that did little to calm his nerves.

Before it should have been possible, they crossed the distance to the throne. Taz did a double take, then a triple wondering how they covered so much ground so quickly. He quickly gave up before he drove himself insane. Looking at the pony that had called out to him, Taz could not help but feel a little intimidated. The pony was massive, easily the size of Shimmering Night. He was blood red with green scales running down his back. From his current position, Taz was unable to see his cutie mark.

On either side of him sat another pony, on his left was a white earth pony with a dark blue mane. His cutie mark was that of an hourglass that’s sand dropped in both directions. On the other side of the unicorn was a green pegasus with a sky-blue mane. His cutie mark was of a pony’s head being bombarded with waves.

“I have waited so long to meet you, Prince Taz. I cannot begin to express my gratitude that you’re finally here. That my daughter did not fail to bring you.”

Taz glared at Nighttide at that comment. She merely mouthed ‘Trust me’. He nodded, whatever this was, she had to make it happen. He looked back at the red unicorn, “Nighttide’s father I take it?”

The red unicorn smiled a toothy grin at him. “Yes, you could call me that. Allow me to introduce my two brothers,” he gestured a hoof to his right, “this is Mindsink, and the other is Timespire. They help me raise Nighttide for quite some time.”

“And your name is?”

He laughed, “I will make you this promise Prince Taz: I shall only tell you the truth. However, that is something that I will not tell you.”

“What?”

“Prince Taz, names have power, the more that know your name, the less of it you have.”

“That’s a lame excuse,” Taz raised an eyebrow, “We use names to refer to someone, to refer to what something is, not to have power over something.”

“How naïve you are. However, we’re not here to discuss me, rather, we’re here to discuss you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you are special, young prince, very special.”

“How so?”

If anything, the unicorn’s smile just seemed to grow at that comment, his two brothers chuckled a little themselves, “Control is made from knowing what we have and what we want; power is having something someone else wants but cannot have. You, Prince Taz, you’re in a unique position. A position no one else in this world can claim, you have power over me.”

Taz’s eyes went wide at that. He watched the unicorn smirk as he sat on the throne, “Now you know why I wanted this meeting, why I wanted my daughter to bring you to me. I wish to… correct this situation we find ourselves in.”

“What could I possibly have that you want?” Despite the cold, and the obvious power that radiated from this pony, none of it impressed Taz. He was used to dealing with ponies that most would consider insanely powerful. What he was not used to was one of them wanting something from him. That was a new development to say the least.

The unicorn chuckled, “Let me ask, do you know of the four Gods?”

“You mean Gaia, Eros, Tartarus, and Chaos? Yeah, my mom taught me all about them.”

“What do you know about their nature?”

“What do you mean?”

“Gaia, she is the God of Life and Magic,” the unicorn paused to let Taz continue.

“Eros is the God of Love, Tartarus was the God of Death, and Chaos is the God of Change,” Taz rambled off the rest of the deities, “Like I said, my mom taught me all about them.”

“I have no doubt that she did; did she tell you that they hate each other?”

“Yeah, she told me that the first time she saw all four together they almost destroyed the Crystal Palace from a stupid augment.”

“Consider that Prince Taz,” the unicorn smiled, every time he called the young stallion by his title he took joy in the obvious discomfort it caused him, “Tartarus the God of Death, the God that commanded the force of death itself, he hated his brother and sisters. Gaia, the God of Life and Magic, the God that commands all of magic, she fought with them as well. Chaos, the God of Change, the God responsible for the creation of the universe, he did as well.”

“What’s your point?”

“Patience young one, all things come to those with patience. That is a lesson you would do well to learn. The question for you is simplicity itself. Why didn’t the God of Death simply kill the other three? Why didn’t the God that created the universe simply un-create the others? Why didn’t the God of Magic simply rob the others of their magic?”

“They… they can’t,” Taz took a guess at the answer.

“Correct. They could not. The power of Death did not extend to another God; the power of Magic would not extend to another God’s magic. They might be the most powerful beings in the entire universe, yet their power could not touch another’s.”

“I still don’t see what this has to do with me.”

“Still don’t see it? Very well, don’t worry, we’ll get there. Tell me something first, tell me about your sister.”

“What do you want to know about Aurora?” Taz glared a little at the thought of these beings doing something to his oldest sister. It was an action that did not go unnoticed by the unicorn’s siblings.

“No, the other one.”

“Night? She can take a bucking leap off a cliff for all I care.”

“Yes, that’s the one, tell me about her, tell me about what she is.”

“She’s an alicorn,” Taz was surprised that he did not know that.

“Is that all she is?”

“She’s the Demigoddess of Magic.”

“Bingo, she’s the Demigoddess of Magic, it is her birthright, no?”

“I guess, mom said that she was born with the help of Gaia. That it’s her birthright to command magic. She’s impressive, but I still think mom could take her.”

“So let me ask, if the Gods could not influence the power of another God, what do you suppose about their children?”

“Their kids cannot be affected?” Taz asked.

“Exactly, a God is immune to another God’s control; a God’s immediate offspring is immune to another God’s control as well.”

“So, Chaos can’t affect my sister?”

“Indeed, each God’s power is absolute; to be absolute it must be infallible. While they can and have fought each other, they are unable to affect each other. Not when it comes to what they command.”

“I still don-“ Taz shut his mouth, his mind was finally understand what this unicorn was getting at.

“There it is; there is the crux of why you have power over me, why you are special. You can do what nothing else in the entire universe is able, what not even a God is capable of doing. You, Prince Taz, you can cancel out a God’s magic power.”

“I… I… I…” he could not find the words.

“As I promise you Prince Taz that is the truth; the reason why you are the only one that can claim power over me, as you are the only one that has something I want.”

“Why would you want that?”

“What, did you believe that your sister is the only Demigod in the universe?”

“And that’s all I needed to know,” a voice came from behind a pillar. Every set of eyes turned to look at the speaker. Shock and awe was written on every face as they saw a yellow unicorn walk out to face them all.

“Sunshine?” Taz asked, dumbfounded at his sudden appearance.

Sunshine playfully ran a hoof through the young stallion’s light blue and purple mane, “You did good kid; I’ll explain everything as soon as I take care of business.”

“Will you,” the unicorn grinned and made to get up. With a wave of his horn, Sunshine cast a powerful enchantment over the throne. To the unicorn’s shock, it blocked his path. He lightly tapped it with a hoof, testing a theory about what was cast, “Hmm, a triple-layer reverse magic inverse enchantment. Very clever, time-consuming, and specific,” he glared at his daughter when he said that last word. Nighttide found she could not meet her father’s gaze, “It won’t hold me forever.”

“I don’t need to hold you forever, just long enough to rescue these two,” Sunshine replied.

Laughter could be heard from the other two in the room, “Like it matters, we’ll deal with this upstart,” Mindsink said with a grin.

“Yeah, leave him to us,” Timespire said as he walked forward.

The unicorn relaxed back in his throne, “Very well, I’ll leave him to you two.”

Sunshine grinned as the two approached. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy this,” he said with a smile.

> True Cunning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Crystal Palace


“Are you ready for this Cadance?” Twilight asked as they all gathered together in the throne room. The Princess of Love was shaking in her hooves.

“Ready to tell my son that I killed his wife, ready to tell my grandfoals that they have to grow up without a mother? No, I’ll never be ready for that.”

Rainbow walked over to her side and pressed herself up against Cadance’s body, both for moral support and physical. It was easy to tell that the effects of getting that memory removed from her mind were still taking their toll, the loss of her horn only made things worse. “You sure you don’t want Twilight to restore it?” Rainbow asked as she gestured a hoof to the missing appendage.

“Yes, I’m sure,” it was her mark, her cross to bear. Nothing would be normal again so she did not want to be normal.

Pulling out a hastily made checklist, Twilight double-checked it before leaving. “Ok, we got the council ponies notified that they’re going to have to lead for a while, Firestar’s second in command was notified, we took the… to the…” she could not bring herself to say body to the morgue, “We've got all the supplies we need for an extended stay for everyone in Canterlot. Anything else I missed?”

Cadance and Rainbow shook their heads. In any other situation Cadance would have laughed and Rainbow would have sighed at this behavior, however, this was not a normal situation. If anything it brought them both a little joy, it was a sign that regardless how bad things got some things would never change. Even with the death of a loved one, Twilight would always be Twilight.

They tried to take solace in that fact, they failed, but they still tried.

“You know you don’t have to do this Twilight.”

“Yes I do and stop saying that,” there was a tear in her eye when she said those words, “We’re family, we’ll get through this together, as a family.”

Cadance smiled, it was a faux smile but it was the thought that counted, “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Okay, let’s get going,” Twilight said as she powered up her horn. In a flash of purple magic the three ponies were teleported from the Crystal Palace all the way to Celestia’s Palace.

…

A flash of purple magic preceded their arrival. Twilight looked around, expecting ponies to be rushing to her with a list of documents that she’d have to make them stack in a corner so she could review them later. What she saw was a mostly empty room, mostly, save for her daughter and Ataxia lying side by side.

From the looks of things Shimmering Night had been through a warzone. She was covered in bruises and her left wing appeared to be broken in more than one spot. How she was not crying in pain could only have been because of the mare next to her.

“What happened?” Twilight and Night both asked at the exact same time. Twilight’s eyes were glued to Night’s wing; Night’s eyes were glued to Cadance’s missing horn.

“You first,” Rainbow said with dead seriousness in her voice. Far too much bad had happened today and she wanted someone to beat up on. Someone other than a pony that she cared about.

Night looked down at the floor, she knew this moment was coming, but that did not make it any easier to deal with. “Moms I… I did something dumb.”

“Twilight!” Rainbow shouted.

“On it!” the alicorn ran to her daughter and scanned her with her magic several times. It was nothing more than a surface scan but it was more than sufficient to detect the residual magic anything added or changed this soon after.

“Mom, what are you doing?!” Night was taken aback by this.

“Shh, I need to know if you were affected too.”

“Mom, no one implanted a memory in me,” Night stated, “What I did was nothing more than my own stupidity. I can’t blame anyone else.”

“What did you do?” Cadance asked with sympathy in her voice. It seemed today was a bad day all around.

“I… Taz, he…” Night found the words were not as willing to make themselves known as she was to get them out.

“She got into a fight with Taz and he ran away,” Ataxia blurted out.

“You… what?” Twilight asked.

Night just glared at her wife. Ataxia raised an eyebrow that all but said, ‘really’.

“Tell me you found him,” Rainbow stated, “Tell me he’s not hiding from everyone in a way that we’d never find him. Tell me that much at least.”

“We’re… we’re looking,” Night replied, downcast.

“Is he the one that broke your wing? And I’m guessing he lost control and that’s why you can’t use your magic to fix it?”

“Yes.”

“Everyone is out looking for him?” Rainbow asked. Night just nodded in response.

“Ataxia, go and bring everyone back, there is a new development that everyone needs to be made aware of.”

“Twilight, are you sure?” It was Twilight’s turn to nod in response. Ataxia got up and took one look back at her wife. She did not know what would happen, but a large part of her did not want to leave, that part of her did not want to leave Night to face Twilight’s wrath all by herself.

‘Twilight’s wrath,’ she almost laughed at the thought, almost.

Not that Ataxia was worried about Twilight hurting her daughter, if anything Ataxia knew she hurt Night far worse than anything Twilight would ever do. Of course, physical pain was only one type of pain. No, what Twilight might say would hurt Shimmering Night far worse than a few broken bones.

A nod from Night let Ataxia know that she was okay with her leaving. Over the hours the two had waited for Twilight’s return, Night had come to accept this fate. Whatever would happen had to happen. It was her self-inflicted punishment.

Ataxia nodded back and left to fetch the others, it would take her a while to round them all up.

When Ataxia left, Twilight used her magic to shut the door behind her. Turning back to her daughter she met her gaze with a glare, “Tell me everything.”

Night gulped at that, there was so much she did not want to say, that she did not want to admit to. However, she had no choice, her parents deserved to know what happened to their only living son.

………….

Three hours, for three bucking hours Starlight sat outside the door asking to be let in. For three hours every time she teleported to the other side of the door, Ana would simply teleport her back outside. Starlight suspected it was an automatic reflex on the part of her sister by this point. Based on the few glimpses she got of her sister Ana appeared to be in no position to cast such a spell. Yet that did not stop her from being deposited back outside on her rump time after time.

“Ana, it’s my room too!” Starlight yelled. As suspected, there was no reply.

She pounded on the door, “Don’t make me break it open!” To her surprise, she could hear the door unlock. With a simple push from her magic, the door opened the rest of the way and she walked inside.

The room was dark, in the corner of the room Starlight could make out whimpering. She did not seek to turn on the light, Starlight merely shut the door behind her. It completed the darkness but she did not need to see. She had grown up in this room and knew it like the back of her hoof. There was no risk about tripping over objects left casually on the ground as both sisters were very neat.

She slowly walked over to her sister’s bed and jumped up on it. She laid down next to her sister’s body and ran a hoof down Ana’s mane. Such actions caused a small shiver to be felt through the covers. Starlight did not say anything, now was not the time for words. Ana would talk when she was ready.

“I hate her.”

The voice came out of nowhere, for minutes or hours the two sisters had been sitting in the dark, saying nothing. Then suddenly, that voice. It was shaky, strained from too much time spent crying, from too much time sobbing, however, there was conviction in it. These were not words spoken in haste; rather, they were spoken from someone that truly believed them.

“Ana, I-”

“I hate her so much right now,” Ana moved, she rolled over to look at her sister. Even in the darkness of the room, Ana could make out Starlight’s eyes. After all, it was from those eyes that she got her name, “Everything she said, everything she did to him, how can I forgive that? How can I ever look at her again?”

“I… I don’t know,” Starlight said. She really had no clue. Everything her mom had said could easily be said to Ana. It could all apply to her daughter. When she thought about it, Starlight figured that part of the reason Night had been so awful about it was because of that fact; it was because she was taking out her anger over her daughter’s feelings for her brother.

That made a certain kind of sense. Ana was nowhere near as good as hiding her feelings as Taz was. The stallion was at least coy about it, Ana was very upfront. It was largely known as the worst kept secret in the palace.

Even if Starlight found that disturbing at times, it did not change the fact that she loved her sister, she was family, and the actions her mom took against her own brother were incomprehensible to the young mare, “Just… just remember, she is your mom. Regardless what she does that will never change.”

“She’s not my mother,” those words scared Starlight. The way it came out, it was not out of anger, but simply stated as a fact.

“Ana, you don’t mean that.”

“Shimmering Night can go to Tartarus for all I care.”

Before she could say anything, the light was turned on in the room, blinding both ponies and startling them into inaction, “Girls, your grandmother is back, she wants everyone in the throne room as soon as possible.” Ataxia said before turning around and leaving a little quicker than she would have liked; However, one look at her daughter almost brought her to tears.

When her vision returned, Starlight was shocked to see her sister already moving. She cleaned up her face but did nothing for her ratty mane. “Ana, your-“

“Come on Starlight, let’s see what Twilight wants,” Starlight could only stare on in shock as her sister left the room.

‘You don’t really mean that, do you?’

She had the distinct impression that her timid little sister was gone, and that she did in fact mean every word she had said.

………………………………………………………………………….


Canterlot


“You check over by the old bakery yet?!” Flash shouted over to Blaze.

“No, not yet.”

“Well, get to it.”

“Can I??” The question went unfinished, however it did not have to be, Flash knew his brother had quite the sweet tooth when it came to surgery treats.

“Yeah, fine.”

“Hey Flash!” a shout from behind him made the white pegasus cringe, he looked over to see Vela flying up to him, “I just checked by the old creek, where next?”

Flash wanted to facehoof, ‘Why are you even here?’ he asked himself for the umpteenth time. Vela knew next to nothing about Taz or what places he liked to go. It was actually a little surprising, or a mark of the pain she saw in the earth pony during that ‘event’ in the courtyard that she was helping look for him.

He had to shake that off, sure Vela was a rude tactless bitch at times, but she was never mean. She was cruel but only in her honesty. She’d never set out to hurt you.

It was a small thing to realize, but when he did Flash could not help but see her in a different light. “Thanks, check by the fair-“ he never got to finish that sentence. A pegasus royal guard flew up to the three of them and interrupted his next set of orders.

“Prince Flash, Blaze, Empress Vela, you’re needed back at the palace,” The royal guard saluted as he relayed their orders.

“We’re busy,” Vela countered.

“Understood ma’am, however Princess Twilight ordered everyone back, don’t worry the royal guard will continue the search for Prince Taz while you're away.”

“Twilight’s back?” Flash and Blaze asked at the same time.

“Yes prince.”

The three flyers each looked at each other, “C’mon, let’s get going!” Blaze shouted.

“What about…?” Vela asked.

“Vela, if anyone can figure out a way to find him, it would be Twilight,” noticing her reluctance, Flash flew over and placed a hoof on her shoulder, “Come on, I don’t think Starlight is going to do anything to you right now.”

She looked at him in shock that he figured that out. She considered playing it off, but that was as likely as Taz suddenly flying past them with newly grown wings. Somehow the pegasus had cut right to the heart of her issue. ‘Maybe you’re not as dumb as I thought you were’, she smiled at that realization. Somehow Flash never failed to impress her, “Okay, let’s go.”

The three flew back to the palace.

……………


Celestia’s Palace


Oddly, the hardest pony for Ataxia to locate was in fact Aurora. The former model left the search for Taz citing 'personal reasons', Ataxia eventually located her in the storage room. Despite having no magic or any ability to lift or sort through said boxes, Aurora was going through each of their old memorabilia. She was sorting it by what was broken and what was still good.

“There you are!” Ataxia interrupted her sister-in-law.

“Oh, hey,” Aurora acknowledged her, but she did not stop doing what she was doing.

“You okay?”

“Well, I just found out my brother is in love with me and then my sister took a fight way too far, so, no. I’m anything but okay.”

Ataxia smiled as she walked closer. Hopping up on the box Aurora was trying to go through she merely grinned at Aurora, “So what?”

Aurora just glared at her, “So what, what?”

“You’re a bucking model Aurora, you’re the masturbatory fantasy for thousands of young colts, probably some mares too, is it so shocking to learn that you’re in your brother's fantasies? That a colt that actually got to be around you would fall in love with you?”

“He’s my brother!”

“I ask again, so what?”

“It’s not right, I mean, sure I guess I should be flattered, but still.”

“Hey, I’m not saying you gotta invite him in your bedroom or anything, I’m just saying I understand. Hell, I’ve done worse.”

Aurora looked up, “What?”

Ataxia smiled, “Trust me, once you’ve made use of a few glory holes in nightclubs, not much will bother you after that. Heck the only reason I know I didn’t fuck my brother is because I don’t have one. As far as I know I could've had sex with Radiant or even your husband. I wasn’t exactly paying attention.”

“You’re horrible, you know that?” Aurora raised an eyebrow.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Ataxia grinned, “Hey it pissed off mom, so I did it. Not to say I didn’t enjoy it mind you.”

“I bet,” Aurora smirked.

“And I know you’ve done some things that you don’t want anyone knowing about, miss model.”

Aurora blushed, but said nothing. Ataxia was right; at the top of her career she had done a few things of her own.

“Imagine how you would feel if a family member found out about them and brought them out into the light?” Aurora’s blush went away. She knew how she would feel about that happening to her, but that was not really the problem right now.

“I’m just trying to put things into perspective for you,” Ataxia joked, “You’ve got nothing to worry about, and if anything I’d say you dealt with it nicely. There’s no reason to beat up on yourself. Come, let’s go beat up on Night.”

“Ataxia, that’s your wife!”

“So? Did you forget who you’re talking to?” Ataxia smirked, an action that caused Aurora to punch the mare in she shoulder.

“Be nice to my little sister. She’s just in a bad place right now; I know she didn’t mean it.”

“I’m not the one you gotta tell that too. Come, Twilight wants us all in the throne room.”

“Mom’s back?” Ataxia just nodded in response. “She’s pissed, isn’t she?”

“I think there are bigger things going down. Cadance came with her… well, she’s missing her horn.”

“What?!”

“I don’t know the full story, but we’ll find out when we get to the throne room.”

“Oh my…”

“Come on, you’re the last one I need to gather.”

Aurora looked at Ataxia with a disbelieving glare; however, she went with her. Whatever was going on was big, bigger than big. Soon she’d have all the answers she could want.

Including those answers that she did not want.

…………………………………………


Celestia’s Palace
Royal Throne Room


It was a rare day to see such a concentration of power sitting together in one room, but that was exactly what was occurring. Ataxia noted this as she walked into the room with Aurora. Twilight, Rainbow, Luna, and Cadance were all sitting near the thrones, although it was a mark of the situation that no one was sitting on a throne. The symbolism was obvious even to her. It all but said: ‘Although we’re in charge, we’re all still family’.

She saw her wife over by the side of Rainbow’s throne, sometime when she was away Twilight must have fixed her wing. Strangely, Ataxia did not feel bad about breaking it as she did. To her she had not been hurting her wife, she had hurt a stuck up bitch that took her own personal bias way too far against someone she loved.

That pony was gone now, when Ataxia looked at Night now she only saw her wife. She saw it in the tears that Night still cried. She saw it in the downcast expression on her face as she was forced to confront her mistake head on. What really shocked Ataxia was the conviction in her stance. Something had happened, something Ataxia missed out on had occurred between Night and Twilight. Something they would all know soon enough.

As Ataxia walked over to join her wife, Aurora went to join Icarus. The griffin wrapped a claw around his wife and brought her in for a hug. When she looked around, she saw looks of concern on Radiant and the children. They each noticed the missing horn on Cadance’s head but from the looks of things they had not been told what had happened.

Twilight patiently waited for the two mares to take their seats before beginning.

She looked around at her assembled family, all the foals were sitting up front, although Ana and Starlight were potently going out of their way to not look at Night. The rest seemed to take comfort in their parents.

They were family, they were stronger together.

Which is the reason why she hated what she had to do now.

“I don’t think it comes as a surprise to any of you that we’ve suffered today. However, what will come to a surprise is how badly we’re hurting. My son, Taz, he’s run off. Looking for him will largely be an effort in futility due to the nature of his abilities. I don’t know if we'll ever find him.”

“What happened to my mom and where’s my wife?” Radiant blurted out, no longer able to hold his tongue. For her part, Cadance just cried.

“I’m getting to that, before I do though I want to reinforce something. We all have to make choices in our lives, some big, some small, yet they all have consequences. When we choose to do something, we accept the consequences for those choices, even if we don’t know what they will be.”

Twilight paused before continuing, “There is a creature out there that's able to make that choice for us. I don’t know how, but today Aurora came to me because she was assaulted by such a creature,” Icarus squeezed his wife tighter, he knew it might be bad, but he never thought something had actually attacked his wife. His left claw reflexively grabbed at Siros’s Vengeance. His desire to seek such vengeance himself was clear.

“They changed her memories, almost making her do something she would never do.”

“Is there any way to fight against something like that?” Starlight asked.

“No, you are the sum of your experiences; they make you who you are. The nicest, kindest mare in all of Equestria can be made to do the worst things of her own violation simply because, to her, she’s always done things like that. It’s the worst power I can think of, and…” Twilight paused and gestured over to Cadance to continue.

“And it’s already happened,” Cadance closed her eyes, not wanting to look at anyone when she said the next part, “Sometime earlier today it happened to me, I was assaulted by whoever did that to Aurora.”

A sickening feeling developed in Radiant’s gut as Cadance continued, “They changed my memories to make me attack Firestar. Twilight got there, and Rainbow cut off my horn before I could do anything else, but… but it was too late… Radiant, Flash, Blaze, I’m… I’m so sorry,” she cried out the last part.

“What are you saying?” Radiant’s eyes went wide, he knew what had happened, he just would not accept what had happened, “What are you saying?” He repeated.

Twilight walked in front of Cadance, “Radiant, I’m so sorry; there was nothing I could do to save her. Firestar’s gone.”

Flash started bawling at that. Ana walked up and wrapped the pegasus in her hooves, allowing him to cry out.

Blaze simply looked up at his dad and asked, “Where’d mom go?”

That one question, it broke Twilight’s heart, more so than anything else that happened that day. Radiant picked up his son and squeezed him tightly in his hooves.

“Daddy, where’d mommy go?” Blaze was puzzled.

Everyone in the room cried out at that. Much to the confusion of Blaze and Dayspring, the latter of which found himself in his mom’s hooves.

Twilight did her best to continue, “We suffer much under the actions of someone else, someone that used one of us against ourselves. That can never, NEVER happen again. As such consider this a standing order for all of us. No one is to go anywhere alone until I revoke this order. Icarus, Aurora you two are together. Vela, I trust you to look after your brother,” Vela just nodded at that.

“Flash, look after your brother for us, Night, Ataxia, you two are together. Starlight and Ana, you two.”

Candance spoke up for the last set, “Radiant… if you don’t want to be with me,” Cadance looked at her son, uncertainty on her face.

For his part, Radiant was still in shock, this news, he was still processioning it in his head, his son seemed to be in doubt as to what it even meant. His gaze traveled from Twilight to his mom. “I… I…”

“If you want another partner Radiant, just say so. We’ll pair you with Luna instead,” Rainbow said the words. This was it, the moment that would decide what happened next, no one knew how he would react, if he would hate his mom or not.

He wanted to say no, his anger was taking hold, he wanted to yell, he want to curse, he wanted… he wanted… “Daddy, where’s mommy?” Blaze asked again.

“Mom, I…” he glanced down at his son still in his hooves, “I don’t know what to do. What, what do I do now? I… I…” his tears were falling on his son’s face.

Cadance could not sit back any longer, she ran to her son and grandson and wrapped them both up in her wings, crying as she did so.

“I need you; I need your help, I… I need you …” It was too much for his mind to take. Part of him, a large part wanted to be angry. It wanted to rage and scream at his mom for her actions. Regardless of what Twilight said, it had been her that killed his wife, it was Cadance that had that blood on her hooves.

He could not do it; he could not lose the two most important mares in his life in the same day. The confused little pegasus in his hooves reinforced that much. Blaze and his brother tipped the scales in his mind. They needed their grandmother; they could not shut her out, regardless of what she did.

Some things were more valuable than personal feelings.

Twilight cried at the sight of mother and son reunited. She had ran the math in her head, it was not good. Yet, somehow, the two had beaten the odds. Radiant chose to use this moment of horror to strengthen his family, not weaken it. ‘You would be proud of him, Firestar.’

‘I am.’

Twilight heard it, but she did not know if it was her own mind playing tricks on her, if it was Gaia, or if it was something else. Much like the pinkie sense, she chose to let it be. Some things were better off not known, just appreciated.

“Luna you will be with…” Twilight looked around; in truth she had overlooked the night princess.

“I shall take care of myself,” Luna said with a smile on her face. Before Twilight could object she cut her off, “Twilight you may have taken my sisters spot as ruler of Equestria; however, I still outrank you. I’ll deal with my own safety. Trust me, if they come for me they’ll find more than a match for anything they try.”

“It doesn’t work that way Luna; relying on brute force will only work against you in a mental confrontation.”

“Indeed, but you forget that I walk in dreams, I know how the mind works, including my own. They will find my defenses more than prepared for any such actions.”

Twilight did not agree, but technically Luna was right, Twilight had no right to command her to do anything. Besides, the spell she was about to use only worked in twos. She powered her horn and released her magic across the room. Each pony found themselves magically bound to the other. They all looked at a barely visible magical wire that connected them to their opposites. Even Twilight had such a wire connecting her to Rainbow.

“Mom, what is this?” Aurora asked.

“A little spell I worked on with Night. This will prevent you from being more than ten hooves away from the other at any given time. It’s also designed to warn you if the magical energy I sensed in Aurora and Cadance comes into its range. It will only break if there is a life-threatening emergency or I break it. I don’t care how embarrassing it gets, we’re a family and we will protect each other.”

There were a few looks of concern; however, in the end they all nodded their heads. It made a certain kind of illogical-logical sense to do something like this.

“Yes we were hurt by the actions of others, but we were also hurt by our own actions,” Twilight glared at her daughter when she said those words, “Shimmering Night told me what happened to my son. She told me everything, every little detail.”

“I’m sorry,” Night looked down when she said those words.

Twilight nodded but continued, “Whereas Cadance committed horrible acts under someone else's control, your acts were your own doing. Shimmering Night, do you accept my judgment in this regard?”

“Of course.”

“Very well, Shimmering Night, you are hereby banished from Canterlot, until such time as Taz returns to us.”

Almost every jaw in the room dropped at that, “But… but she’s family!” Aurora jumped up to her sisters defense.

“Yeah, Twilight that’s too far,” Icarus commented.

“Twilight, are you sure about this?” Luna asked.

“Very well, I accept your judgment,” Night stood up, silencing any further debate on the subject. No one present had ever expected Twilight to do something like this.

“Ataxia I’m afraid that you'll be forced to go with her,” Twilight looked on, saddened by the action.

“You can’t do that?!” Ana shouted, “You can’t banish mom too!”

Night cringed, the implications of that shout was not lost on her. “I have to; otherwise Night would be stuck by herself,” Twilight said.

“I don’t care about her!”

New tears fell out of Night’s eyes at her daughter’s words. Starlight looked back at her parents, both of which were heading to the door. She nodded once, understanding crossing her face, “It’s ok, grandma, I understand.”

Twilight nodded at her granddaughter. She figured that Starlight would catch on, “Ana, I’ll explain it to you another day,” Starlight whispered to her sister.

Ana pouted, but said nothing.

As Ataxia and Night walked out of the door, Twilight magically shut it behind them, the symbolism clear.

“I can’t believe Twilight would do something like that!” Ataxia complained, “I never, never, never thought she’d kick her own daughter out of Canterlot.”

“It’s genius, isn’t it?” Night said with a small smile.

The comment caught Ataxia completely by surprise, “What?”

“Think about if for a second. Taz ran away, it’s my fault that he did, I’m the only one that can bring him back.”

“Yeah, what if the royal guard find him?”

“Ataxia, they’re not going to. You know what he’s like. Only Twilight or I have any hope of tracking him, and it may take a long time to do so.”

“I… I don’t get it.”

“We both have responsibilities, we have a family. As things stand we can’t just give up all that to go hunt him down. This way, this way I’m free to do what needs to be done. No pony will expect anything from me. I can concentrate one-hundred percent on finding him.”

“What about Ana and Starlight?”

“Starlight already figured it out; I saw the look on her face. She’ll take care of Ana for us. Besides, this also makes me pay for what I did to Taz, Ana will see it in time; she’ll see me making reparations for my behavior. It'll go a long way to helping her forgive me.”

“Wait, Twilight planned all this?”

“She never ceases to amaze me. Somehow, even with these horrible events going on, she managed to keep her head and look beyond her personal feelings. This makes her seem more like a ruler in a time of crisis and increases the likelihood of us all getting through this; while giving me some pity for having to suffer for my actions. That’s why she couldn’t tell anyone what was truly going on. It had to be real to, well, be real.”

"I still don't get it."

"Ataxia, everypony hates me for what I did, heck, I hate me for what I did. This way everyone will see me suffering and want me back, this way I'll be able to get my brother back even though I'm a princess and have other responsibilities. It's the best of a horrible situation. Plus this takes a small part of the sting away from Firestar's death. It gives everyone something else to consider other than breaking down in mourning during this time of crisis."

Understanding crossed Ataxia's face, “That’s devious, was this your idea or Twilight's?”

Night just grinned at that but did not reply to the question. In truth they had come up with it together, the real challenge had been getting Rainbow to play along. She did feel bad about one thing though, “I'm sorry that you got caught up in all of this. If you want I can break the ties that bind us and you can go back.”

Ataxia laughed at that, “What makes you think I’d want to be anywhere else? Besides, this way I’ll be with you always, and you know I love showering with my favorite mare.”

Night sighed as they left the palace gates, “I guess this will be a punishment after all.”

Ataxia punched her in the shoulder for that comment.

> Someone to Fight For (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


????????????????????


Sunshine’s eyes locked onto those of the white earth pony’s, Timespire. That was his name according to what Nighttide had told him and what the unicorn had said. The pony was not tall, but he was built. Even from twenty hooves away Sunshine could see his taunt muscles, the indents where they easily rippled out of his fur, the way they stretched when he took each and every step.

Timespire’s dark blue mane lay flat on his back. Sunshine saw his cutie mark, an hourglass in which the sands poured in both directions. Sunshine saw it starting to move, the sand appeared to be flowing on the pony’s cutie mark as he walked towards him.

His dark blue eyes were a match for his mane and tail. They were oceans of hate that could drown a pony in their depths if you were not careful. Nighttide hated this one, she hated him with a passion, this pony… this creature had control over an object’s time. He could speed it up or slow it down according to his own personal whim. A threat for sure, but to Sunshine he was nothing compared to how horrid his brother was.

Mindsink, everything about that pony was evil. The pegasus was green in coloring with a sky-blue mane. His cutie mark gave away his power as much as his brother’s did; although, at least Timespire’s cutie mark was somewhat ambiguous.

Mindsink’s cutie mark was that of a pony’s head being bombarded by his talent, his special ability. Mindsink can control your memories; he can change the very nature of who you are just by talking to you. It worked somewhat at range; however, it was most effective when you could hear his words, when you could see into his eyes. When he could directly implant the memory into your head.

There was no telling who was affected or who was not, at any moment your best friend could betray you for something he was made to think you did. For a change in his past he was made to think happened to him.

Sunshine suspected that the only reason Nighttide did not mind him that much is because he had her in his thrall. That she was under his power to not hate him. The thought was not a happy one, this pony, this creature; he could change the nature of his target. There was no way Sunshine could confirm or deny this theory, if Mindsink did do something to Nighttide it was already permanent, it could not be undone by anything Sunshine knew.

It was a risk trusting her, however, it was a risk not too. She had told him everything he knew about these three, including how to temporarily incapacitate her father. Based on the fact that the unicorn was not getting up and killing him, that information was at least somewhat true.

Sunshine watched as the two ponies walked closer. ‘Ponies my flank’, he thought. ‘These creatures were no more equines than a God is.’ He knew that much just by looking at them, they radiated magical energy as they approached; their power seemed to be an anathema to the world.

“Brother, shall I take this one?” Mindsink smiled at his brother, “After all, it would be awfully boring if we were to break such an amusing toy too quickly.”

“I don’t know Mindsink, I think we should make him pay for this, I want to hear him scream.”

“I’ll tell you what, I’ll let you take him first then, but just don’t kill him Timespire, I do want a turn after all.”

“You’re both going to need to come at me at the exact same time,” Sunshine said with a grin, “Otherwise, you won’t stand a chance.”

The grins on both brothers’ faces disappeared. “He’s a cocky little shit, isn’t he?” Mindsink asked.

“I think he is,” Timespire replied.

“He must be desperate to die seeing as he wants to face both of us at once.”

“Who said it was two on one?” Sunshine asked.

“There’s only one of you here,” Timespire said with a snarl.

“You might want to count again,” Sunshine spoke, but not from the pony in front of them. Both brothers looked directly behind them, to the right and left of the unicorn sitting on the throne, two more Sunshines had appeared.

The unicorn glared down at the first one, “How is the possible?” It brought a smile to Nighttide’s face that there was something her father did not know.

The first Sunshine laughed, “The legend of the mirror pond,” each clone spoke a different section of the rhyme. With the main one starting and ending it.

“And into his own reflection he stared,
Yearning for one whose reflection he shared,
And he solemnly swears not to be scared
At the prospect of being doubly made." 

The rhyme was changed a little from the books he had studied, but as Sunshine suspected, it was not gender specific.

“Clever stallion, thank you for finding it for me. I’ll be sure to make good use of it after we torture its location out of you,” the unicorn spoke with a deep booming voice.

“It’s location would do you no good,” the Sunshine behind Mindsink spoke.

“We destroyed every trace of it before coming here,” the Sunshine behind Timespire said.

“Past, present, and future, there is nothing to bring back,” the Sunshine in front of the two added.

“You’re not that powerful,” Timespire glared at him.

“You would do well not to underestimate me. Sure, there was a cost, but what does not have a price?” The front Sunshine smiled back at him.

“You have no chance of winning this, the creations of the mirror pond are not the same as the original. For each race it’s different, but for unicorns they split their creator’s magical power.”

“Indeed they do, we each have roughly a third of my full strength. However, that should be more than sufficient to deal with these two.”

“Now who’s underestimating who?” Timespire said with a grin, “Mindsink, end this.”

“With pleasure,” Mindsink grinned as he walked closer to the front unicorn,.”Don’t yo-“ he tried talking to the Sunshine in front of him, he tried anyway. The one behind him lashed out with a magical blast from his horn and shot him clear through the back of his throat. The Sunshine directly in front of him tilted his head as the energy continued on past him, taking the creature’s tongue with it.

Timespire and Mindsink’s eyes went wide at that. Mindsink covered his mouth with a hoof, doing his best to stem the tide of blood. Had it been any other pony, any one that was actually a pony, that shot would have finished him. However, as Sunshine suspected these two were anything but ponies, he doubted they were even mortal.

Mindsink’s body was already starting to heal his wounds, however, he would not be able to speak for some time. Sunshine magically lifted the tongue up from off the floor, “What’s the matter, Mindsink? Pony got your tongue?”

Timespire growled as he powered up his own ability, whatever this pony was he would not be a threat at seven hundred years old.

…

“Sunshine, what are you doing?” Taz whispered the words to the wind, hoping and praying that he would get an answer. Already, he had seen the stallion display more magical power than he had in the past eight years. It was unreal to Taz, Sunshine was never that good at magic, as it was not his talent.

That Sunshine and this was not the same pony, this one was all about confidence and power. This Sunshine was not the wise pony Taz went to for advice. This one scared him, not necessarily for his power – Taz was more than used to being around power – but for the aura of confidence he seemed to radiate.

Nighttide pressed her coat next to him, trying to lead him away from the battle going on around them. ‘Sunshine’ did not need to be worried about accidentally hitting the two of them with a random spell, “Taz, we need to get away from this.”

Taz went nowhere; he refused to move from this spot. He heard her words; he was just not listening to them, “Nighttide, what is he doing here anyway?”

“D- Sunshine is here for us, actually.”

Taz looked at her, he caught the small gaff but did not comment on it, “He’s never been like this, this is a completely different pony. Sunshine’s special talent is not this.”

“Taz please, remember what you promised me.”

“I promised to trust you.”

“Yes, he’s here to save us, please believe me when I say that,” she was crying when she said those words. It was the aura of desperation that she had in her voice that caused him to consider it.

Taz looked back at the combat, unsure if he should keep that promise or not. What had Sunshine told him? ‘There is more to it than just keeping your promise?’

Nighttide pressed her muzzle up to his, she wanted him to get away, and she wanted to get away. However, she could not simply leave him, he’d freeze in here in no time at all, “You didn’t randomly find me, did you?” Taz looked back at her.

Nighttide shook her head no, “No Sunshine told me your general location.”

He glared at her at that. Sunshine had spent the last eight years trying to keep them apart, “What else are you not telling me?!”

“I swear I’ll tell you everything, just please… trust me.”

He did not know if he could, he had trusted his sister, and that had ruined his life.

Would history repeat itself?

…

When Timespire activated his ability, all three Sunshines teleported away at the last possible second. Timespire’s power sent itself off in every direction. In a radius around him he caused everything that he could affect to age seven hundred years in the blink of an eye. Unlike his early display of power to Nighttide, this was not controlled, this was him unleashing it to its fullest.

Mindsink glared on, unaffected by his brother’s power. The same could not be said for the pillars in the room. Seven hundred years were added to their lifespan in an instant, the radius of power affecting every object in sixty-three hooves.

Exactly sixty-three hooves.

At sixty-four hooves; all three Sunshines looked on with a smug grins, at one hundred hooves away Taz watched with grim fascination as a column gave out under its own weight. The rest of the columns groaned as they took on more weight than they should.

“Timespire! I like this place,” the unicorn shouted from his throne-prison.

Timespire looked back, a cringe on his face. It was not so much that he almost destroyed a large part of the throne room; it was that he almost destroyed a large part of the throne room and failed to get his target, “Sorry.”

That action cost him. A clone teleported directly in front of him when he turned his head and bucked him square in the jaw.

The earth pony was sent flying; he crashed into his brother with a groan from the two of them. Sunshine smiled as he noticed that the impact caused the two noticeable pain. Pain that even his blast to Mindsink failed to cause.

‘So they can hurt each other, interesting.’

Neither brother landed. Three sets of eyes went wide as they both dissipated into the shadows.

Taz noticed that all the Sunshines were back to back now, their eyes tracking the shadows.  Even Nighttide increased her grip on the earth pony. The same ability she used to get them here was making itself known now. He saw lines of shadows flow out of the mare; they traced the ground in a defense posture, ready to strike any threat that came into range.

Taz almost laughed as he simply let loose with a little of his special talent. Nighttide’s protective barrier was gone, nullified as soon as his power canceled out the magic around them. He limited it; it would only work within ten hooves of their location. Regardless, it got the job done, the two shadows would not reveal themselves to try and attack them.

“Why do you think I wasn’t worried about being this close?” Taz asked his… friend? Could he call her that? He did not know.

“You truly are special,” Nighttide looked at him, she felt the same sense of wonder that she always did when they were together. It was not supposed to be this way; he was a colt, not even fourteen; she was a LOT older than him, and yet she loved him.

She loved him. Despite her age, her goals, and everything she had been raised to believe, everything she should have considered important, she truly did love him. It had been that love that brought Sunshine here.

It was that love that gave them a fighting chance.

Dayspring had been right; it was not worth breaking her own heart.

…

Mindsink and Timespire ignored the ‘children’ and went in for a pincer attack; there was no way they could take any of the three Sunshines by surprises, so they sought to take them with speed instead.

The shadows collected around them, increasing their speed ten-fold as they charged from two directions at the exact same time in a feat of timing worthy of a Wonderbolt’s performance. They zigzagged between pillars, using the natural shadows of the room to line up their attack perfectly with the three stallions in the room. When at last their vector was perfect, they attacked as one.

It would have worked on anyone that had not grown up with the parents that Sunshine had. His eyes were more than used to tracking fast moving objects without fail.

When they came into range, the two Sunshines that they meant to attack teleported away. They found their targets suddenly gone and the third one smirking at them. His horn flashed in a blinding white light as their shadows were forced away from their forms.

At the same moment, the other two teleported back in; they appeared directly behind the two confused brothers and lashed out with a binding circle.

It was a smaller version of the one used to trap the unicorn. The one that seemed to be effective on him should work on the other two just the same.

They each cried out as a symbol was stamped on their backs. Fuming, they turned to look at the three stallions. Each of which was smiling at them with a condescending grin on their faces, “Whaaaattt dod you do to usss?!” Mindsink tried to shouted at them his tongue was regrowing rapidly but he still had limited use..

One of the Sunshines walked forward, “Shadow melding can be such an annoying ability. We have simply, leveled the playing field,” he said with a smile.

“How do you know all of this?!” Timespire shouted, this pony had outplayed them at every turn. He was anticipating every move they made.

“We’ve beonn betrrrrayyyyed booother,” Mindsink mumbled out as he looked over at the two foals on the other side of the room, his face all but said: ‘You will pay for this betrayal, Nighttide.'

Nighttide shrunk her head down at that look, despite himself and all the contradictory feelings he felt, Taz covered her body with his own, symbolizing that she was under his protection for everyone in the room to see.

“This knowledge is not her doing,” Sunshine said, “Let’s just say, I have personal experiencing in the ability and know how to counter it.”

“You’re saying she didn’t betray us?” Timespire asked with one raised eyebrow.

“Oh no, she betrayed you. That’s how I’m here, I’m just clarifying that this was not her.”

“Oh, welllll I gosss that’sss nots so bad,” Mindsink tried to say. He was starting to worry Sunshine, his speech patterns were improving by the second.

“Would you two just kill him already!” the red unicorn yelled out. His face hidden by a hoof he was currently rubbing against his head.

At that they both attacked at once. Shadow’s shot out from the darkness seeking to impale the unicorns with their attack, “This again?” Sunshine was actually bored by this point. Their attacks were no more dangerous than Nighttide’s had been back at the old house.

This time he did not simply dissipate the magic heading at him. This time he redirected it. His opponents were powerful, of that there was no doubt, but it was apples to oranges when it came to his power.

Without the use of their abilities, it was almost foals play to redirect such an easy attack. Mindsink’s eyes went wide when he saw his attack heading to his brother and his brother’s attack heading to him.

Both brothers ended up impaled on their opposite's attack. Mindsink grunted in pain on Timespire’s spike, the same happened to Timespire. However, in his case something far worse happened.

Timespire’s body ended up striking the nearest column, one that fell under his own power not more than five minutes ago. The seven hundred year old column could no longer stand up with the additional force of his body slamming against it.

The entire thing came crashing over as the bricks that held it up gave out, Sadly, for Taz and Nighttide, they were right in the way with Taz’s power still blocking Nighttide’s.

“Look out!” Nighttide yelled as she dived to the right with barely enough time to avoid being crushed by a mountain of falling bricks. Taz dived in the opposite direction, while his power may protect them from any form of magical attack that came within his area of effect; physical damage was still a very real possibility, especially from that much falling debris.

He rolled as he jumped out of the way, extending his fall and avoiding any real damage. When he got back to his hooves, there was no sign of the pegasus that had been keeping him warm. The cold immediately took over, assaulting his body with its numbing presence. His teeth started chattering in his skull before he was even aware of it.

“Nighttide!” Taz shouted as he ran back to look for her. Of the pegasus there was no sign.

That yell cost Sunshine. The plan was that Nighttide would look after his brother while he was fighting these too. That yell only meant that things were not going as planned at her end. Which while unexpected, still had a butcher’s bill to pay.

In this case that bill came from a momentary distraction. The Sunshine closest to Mindsink found himself momentarily distracted by the sudden cry from Taz’s location. He looked; it was the last mistake he made.

Mindsink quickly capitalized to this opening, he lashed out with shadow spikes at the unicorn, impaling him four times through the torso and neck. The unicorn gasped in pain as his body suddenly found eight new holes, four on each side, bleeding out his life.

In the end, it was the one through his throat that ended his life. No longer able to take on oxygen, the unicorn died in one rasping breath of air, “One dooon,” Mindsink grunted as he cut apart the last of his brother’s spears that held him in place.

“Careless,” both remaining Sunshine’s said at the exact same time. They looked at each other, then back at the pegasus that was approaching. Together they both shot out a magical energy blast at the creature.

Mindsink dived to the right, dodging both attacks and wishing for the fiftieth time this battle that he had not been so careless himself when this started. His natural ability would have ended this. Sadly, it would still be some time before he could use it again.

Those thoughts made him miss one small detail. His opponent expected him to dodge; their attack was well timed, but easily choreographed. Mindsink found himself diving right into a magical bomb that Sunshine set up for this exact purpose.

The explosion went off as soon as his body touched it. Pure magical energy met the matter that made up his body. He felt the heat wash over him, the energy released caused him to cry out in agony as his front hooves were blasted apart. Huge swaths of meat and flesh suddenly found themselves detached from his form.

The largest part of him came to rest thirty-fives hooves away from where his body landed. His smoldering remains giving off steam in the cold air of the room.

Sunshine could already see the shadows gathering to heal the creature, to restore his form to life. He shook his head at that. He had expected that bomb to do a lot more damage; it seemed as if this battle was taking its toll on his magical reserves after all.

“One down,” Sunshine said with a smile as he mimicked the very same taunt Mindsink used against him. Unfortunately, the pegasus's distraction served to steal way Sunshine’s attention. A white earth pony jumped on the last remaining clone and pinned him to the ground.

Underneath the earth pony, the unicorn looked up in horror as the pony simply grinned down at him. sure, he could not simply use his ability nonchalant like he wanted too, but at this range, with his target directly under him, he was free to do as he wished.

Timespire grinned as he focused straight down, he grinned as the pony directly beneath him was suddenly twenty, thirty, fifty, a hundred, five hundred years older.

Sunshine’s bones were no longer able to support his own weight, never mind the weight of the pony that was on top of him. He cried out as they were crushed to powder. His throat dry and raspy from the sudden onslaught of age.

In no time at all the pony was reduced to dust. Timespire grinned as he finished his target. He was still grinning as the pony became nothing more than an outline of dust.

“From dust we come, to dust we return.”

“You shouldn’t have done that,” the first and last Sunshine said with a smile.

“Oh, why? Because I removed your last advantage?” Timespire asked with a smile.

“No, because now my power has been fully restored,” Timespire’s smile faded as Sunshine grinned at him.

The power returned to the unicorn in waves of magical energy so thick Timespire could see it. The energy coalesced around Sunshine’s horn. He lowered it at his target and fired.

The red unicorn on the throne watched it all, in truth he was impressed. ‘Sunshine’ was quite powerful, more so than any simple mortal ever had the right to be. He knew that Sunshine’s boast about destroying all traces of the mirror pond was anything but a bluff.

He smiled as he saw his brother’s body torn asunder right in front of him. He knew it must have hurt, but Timespire had been through worse, heck, he had put him through worse. Sure he was out of the fight, but he played his role in this little shindig.

Sunshine blinked clear the afterimage of the shot. The remains of the pony were splattered on the back wall of the room. He could see the shadows beginning to heal him, although it would take a long while before he was anywhere near back.

“What does it take to kill one of you?” Sunshine asked the room.

“In this place, more than even you are capable of. Had you fought them outside they'd both be dead,” the red unicorn replied. Sunshine turned to look at him, “Tell me, if you have this sort of power, why did you split it among clones of yourself?”

“I may be your enemy, but even I know not to tempt fate. You only had to get lucky once, meanwhile I had to deal with two different opponents.”

“Smart.”

“Your brothers are gone, I’ll be taking those two home now.”

“Those two?" The unicorn asked, placing special emphasis on the second word.

A chill went down Sunshine’s back at those words. He turned and saw the reason why.

Taz was desperately trying to remove the bricks from around Nighttide’s body. He kicked, tossed, and bucked as many as he could off her, “Nighttide! Wake up!” He shouted to the mare, “I can’t… I can’t lose you!”

Sunshine looked on in shock. The young mare’s body was silent and still. Sunshine could see that there were no shadows gathering around her.

> Someone to Fight For (Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


???????????????????


Sunshine took in everything in a second. He saw the broken pillar, the same pillar that he sent Timespire into. It was one of many that Timespire had weakened with his ability. He put the pieces together, Timespire had aged it with his ability, so much so that it crumbled upon impact.

It crumbled during the fight; somehow Taz had managed to avoid it. He was grateful for that small favor; however, Nighttide was not so lucky. The young mare was still covered in debris; Taz had only managed to uncover her head and part of her chest.

Taz was crying as he worked, the tears in his eyes froze to his face as he sought to uncover his friend, “Nighttide! Wake up!” He shouted.

Sunshine took in all these factors in a second. However, the main thing he noticed was that unlike her uncles, there were no shadows gathering around her, she was not healing.

In truth, he did not know if she was even alive.

‘Why isn’t she healing?’ Sunshine asked himself. She should be healing; she should be able to draw upon the same magical energy that the others were using even now to recover from their fight with him. Yet she was not. The reason why quickly became apparent.

“Taz, you’ve got to get away from her!” Sunshine shouted at the frantic young stallion.

“No, I’ve got to save her!” Taz replied back.

“Taz, she’d heal on her own but your power is preventing it!”

He looked up, “But I’m not using it.”

“You are,” Sunshine could see the aura of nothing surrounding Taz, he was using his power. He just did not know he was using it, “You’ve just lost control right now.”

Taz nodded in understanding and backed away, more tears falling from his eyes as every step seemed to do nothing. It was when he got fourteen hooves away that the shadows returned to the young mare. They both gave a sigh of relief when they saw it.

As soon as they did, Sunshine uncovered the rest of the mare by removing the remaining debris with his magic and then he floated her over and onto his back, “We’ve got to go,” he said with urgency in his voice.

“Is she okay?” Taz asked as he took a step closer to them.

“No! Taz, you’ve gotta stay back, you don’t have control of your power right now, she needs to heal,” Sunshine did his best to keep the young stallion away from her.

Taz paused in his walk, “Oh, okay.”

“Hey, it’s okay. Let’s get back home,” Sunshine said with a smile as he started walking back to the other end of the room. Taz nodded and soon followed him. He could do nothing about the concerned look on his face but he did manage to keep his distance from the two of them.

They both paused when they heard a sound that caused them to shiver from something other than the cold. It was an explosion of a magical shield, one that Sunshine put up not that long ago. “Run!” Sunshine shouted at the young stallion.

They went nowhere. Directly in front of the group a red unicorn glared at them. He did not say a word but he did not need to; the temperature in the room increased by thirty degrees simply due to the magical energy radiating off him.

“I told you it wouldn’t hold me forever,” he said with a grin.

“Cast it again!” Taz yelled out.

Sunshine shook his head, “I… I can’t,” It was the truth; the spell took him over an hour of preparation time, with several runes and incantations to get right. It was only usable because he knew to use it, because he had time to prepare it. He had Nighttide to thank for that information.

The memory of her warning came back clear as day.

”Dayspring, if you’re going to do this there are things you need to know. The first is my two uncles. You will most likely face Mindsink and Timespire before my father ever gets off his lazy ass and does something. Mindsink commands memories, he can change your very nature; make you believe things happened to you in the past that will suit his purposes.”

“However, his ability is only truly effective at close range, at a distance he can put his words into the wind and implant suggestions that you can fight against. At close range it’s irreversible. If you hear his words, you will be his puppet. Do not let him talk to you.”

“Timespire is a true bastard. He can control an object's time, he can make anything he chooses be younger or older as he sees fit. As with Mindsink, his power is absolute. If he ages you, you will die. There is nothing you can do about it. There is nothing I can do about it…” she looked down at that.

“What do you mean?” Dayspring asked.

“I’m not as young as I seem,” Nighttide said with a small frown, “He used his power to make me this young.”

“How old are you?”

“It’s rude to ask a lady her age.”

“Funny.”

“Timespire might be an asshole, but there are limits on his power. It only works on things that are within sixty-three hooves of him. If you can stay farther away, you can beat him.”

Dayspring thought about that, “Tricky, but not impossible,” he admitted.

“You will face both of them at the same time.”

That gave him pause, “I’m not sure that’s doable, a two on one situation would be hard enough but with those sorts of powers they only need to get one luck shot in.”

Nighttide looked at him, “I never said it would be easy.”

He snorted, “No, you didn’t. I may know a way.”

“I figured you would.”

“And the last?” Dayspring asked.

“My father?”

“Yes.”

“Understand something Dayspring, my father is a singular foe. He’s arrogant and cocky to the extreme. However, he has the power to back it up. I’ve… I’ve never seen the like of his power, let’s just say, there is a reason why his brothers follow his command.”

“What is he?” Dayspring asked.

“In truth, I don’t know,” Nighttide looked down at her hooves at that, “But I need you to understand this: If he fights, you will lose.”

“You’d do well to not underestimate me.”

She looked up, her eyes said the truth of it; she was very serious about this, “Dayspring, I know you’re strong, stronger than even you realize. But it’s apples to oranges. To defeat someone like him, it would take your mom or sister, maybe both at the same time. I beg you; under no circumstances should you ever engage him in a fight.”

“How do I avoid it?”

“There is one spell that will keep him from doing anything; it should buy you time, ten minutes at least. However it takes an hour to set it up. I’ll show you how it works and how you can prep it in advance.”

“This is going to cost you, isn’t it?” Dayspring asked. He was not referring to the spell.

“More than you could ever know,” there was a tear in her eyes when she said that; “However, you were right, it’s not worth breaking your own heart.”

It had only been five minutes yet the pony in front of Sunshine was free. It only took a glance to see the strength in his features, the definitions of his muscles as they bulged out from under his fur. Physically he was far more intimidating than any earth pony Sunshine had ever known in his life.

Yet it was not his physical strength that caused the lump to build up in Sunshine’s throat. The honor of causing that was due to this pony’s magical presence. As physically impressive as this pony was, it was totally eclipsed by his magic. Every time he breathed magical power went with him. It was almost as if with every inhale he was getting stronger, absorbing every iota of magic in the room.

A room that was chocked full of it. Sunshine did not know where they were exactly, yet the entire place seemed to be made of magical energy. He even toyed with the thought that the place was merely the extension of something greater.

He had no time to consider that line of questions, this pony… this creature demanded his undivided attention just by being in his presence. 

“I must admit, you’ve grown very powerful, Sunshine Spring,” the red unicorn practically hissed the words.

“Let’s test just how powerful,” Sunshine said with a snarl. If this was to be the end at least he would go out fighting. Sunshine lifted the mare off his back and placed her on her side well away from the three of them. She needed to heal, being in this fight might see her dead, and placing her next to Taz might just cause the same problem.

Sunshine unlocked his potential. He dug deep into his reserves and called up all the magic energy he could. It had not been a simple boast, his comment to Nighttide, ever since her visit eight years ago Sunshine had spent every waking hour for the sole purpose of protecting Taz.

He found out what everyone learns, when you have someone to protect, it makes you that much stronger.

He put that strength to use now, “Taz, I need you to stay back and watch this," he did not want his brother to get involved as this would be the first time any of them would ever face this creature. 

“Okay,” Taz said from the sidelines. Even he could see the power these two had. While he could not feel it like someone else could, he did not have to. He could see it, all of it.

In truth he was a little scared, his eyes kept going from Sunshine to Nighttide. The energy was red versus purple, their magical auras repelled each other when they met. It was as if they could not exist in the same space at the same time. Taz watched as Sunshine’s eyes went pure white; the unicorn’s eyes went pure dark as he matched Sunshine power for power.

Sunshine grunted as he tapped into more and more power. He had grown strong over the years, very strong. His power was a mighty river with next to no end to its reserves. Such power came from decades of training and experience. His time with his favorite teacher and mom. His time spent as the headmaster for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and his time spent as the host of the Night revenant. All of it, it all lead back to this.

It was all for naught, he could feel that much just by looking at his opponent. This unicorn… this creature, he was on another level altogether. If Sunshine’s power was a mighty river, then this creature’s power was an ocean with its depths uncharted.  Nighttide had been right. No one… no one with mortal power could ever hope to defeat this creature.

Briefly he considered going darker, of activating the spells he tried to forget, the spells that caused his first death. The spells that almost caused him to become a threat greater than any other that Equestria had ever known. He wrote that off, he would rather pay his life now for a later victory than achieve it through such a result again. Yes, that option was better, he may not win, but he could help another win. All he had to do was cause a wound, a crack in the armor that another pony could exploit.

Twilight, Shimmering Night, Rainbow, heck even Siros’s Vengeance could make use of such a wound. His sacrifice now would ensure their victory later.

“That’s your max, isn’t it?” The pony across from him asked, “Well, it’s impressive for a normal pony, I’ll give you that much. However, we both know this is the end.”

“On that we agree,” Sunshine said with a small smile. They both lowered their horns and aimed at each other. While everypony was expecting a stand-off, the two competing powers to slam into each other and for the stronger to overpower the weaker, Sunshine had a different idea.

 When it happens, when you or your masters spring your trap, I will be there. I will stop you, regardless of what it costs me.

His promise to Nighttide rang true in his ears. He focused his power not as a blast, but as a beam. It would do nothing to stop any of his opponent’s power; it would however leave a mark on his opponent. Sunshine knew his fair share about shadow melding; he would forever rob this pony of that ability, as his target would no longer be able to draw any shadows to him.

They fired at the same time. A huge channel of magical energy desired to rid the world of Sunshine, a small focused beam designed to hit its target and deliver a crippling blow that would rob him of his ability. They both caused an echo like a cannon going off in the confined room.

…

In the next second, Sunshine noticed two different things: The first and foremost was that he was still alive, something that should have been impossible. The second was that his eyes were still closed.

He opened them.

A pony stood in front of him, one he knew, one he wished did not stand where he did. Taz had jumped between them, effectively nullifying both magical shots without blinking an eye. His power radiated out at max range, encompassing both ponies and eliminating any chance of the battle continuing.

He was staring at Nighttide’s father, “I won’t let you hurt him!” Taz shouted. He could no longer sit on the sideline while his friends life was in danger. That had caused him to act without thinking. His anger caused him to lose what little control he still had on his ability.

The unicorn laughed, “Tell me, why not?”

Taz’s eyes went wide at such an obvious question. “He’s my friend!”

“Oh, do friends normally lie and betray each other?” The red unicorn asked with a smirk, “You’ve been lied to Taz, lied to and ostracized for having your own secrets. Yet others, everypony around you walks around with theirs fully intact. And still you fight me?”

“You’re lying!”

“What did I promise you when we first spoke? I’d only give you the truth, I only have, and I only will.”

“Because liars wouldn’t lie about being liars?” Taz asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Because everything I say I can provide, or rather, you can prove.”

“What?”

“Taz, get out of here,” Sunshine tried to say. He could barely stand, much less anything else. He had put everything he had into that shot.

Taz ignored Sunshine, “What are you talking about?”

“Like I said, your friends over there, both of them, they’ve been lying to you. You can prove it if you want evidence.”

“I… I…” Taz was speechless at that.

“By all means, don’t take my word for it, simply look behind you.”

Taz did not trust him, he did not want to take his eyes off this pony, yet, for some reason, he could not come up with a reason why not to turn around. This pony was under his power, he could not use magic again, and even if he ran out of Taz’s range, anything he did to anyone in the power would simply fade away in much the same way their energy shots had when he jumped in the middle.

So he turned around.

And his world was forever changed.

…

Sunshine had a yellow coat and orange mane; he had a large wheel and axle cutie mark. He lived in the Everfree Forest and fixed broken carts for a living. He was wise beyond his years, but other than his intelligence there was not much special about him.

This pony was not that one. This one was light purple, this one had a rainbow mane, and this one had a square academic cap cutie mark. Taz knew the yellow unicorn, he knew him as a friend, and he knew him as his mentor.

He knew this pony too, he knew him from stories, from pictures, and from the tears his family would cry every year when they got together at the anniversary of his death. He knew his name too.

“Dayspring… Dayspring Gleam?”

Dayspring looked up as his younger brother used his real name for the first time. He did not have the energy to stand much less try and explain why he had lied to him over the last eight years, why he was pretending to be someone he was not.

It had been unfortunate, in an effort to save his friend Taz revealed his secret. Taz’s ability is absolute; it is unique in the entire universe as having the ability to do what should have been impossible. He could cancel out a God’s magical power; Dayspring’s glamor spell never stood a chance, regardless of how good he was at using it.

“I… I… I can explain,” The effort of talking was almost too much for the unicorn. He lay his head back down, no longer able to keep it up. Dayspring had put everything he had into that last shot; after all, there was no reason to hold back.

Taz’s jaw dropped. He had been expecting some strange denial of it, some epic reason that would explain how his friend was not really Dayspring, that he was not really his brother. That he had not been lying to him for eight years now masquerading as someone he was not.

Thoughts flew into his head, thoughts of every time he would see Twilight breaking out into tears when someone mentioned her oldest son. Thoughts of how Rainbow would suddenly go for a around-the-world flight whenever the new headmaster of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns would swing by. Thoughts of his sisters crying at night when their thoughts turned to their lost brother.

“You’re… you’re… you’re alive? All this time… you’re…” Taz was crying as he tried his best to articulate a response, he might as well been trying to capture wind. His mind only turned to all the times Sun- Dayspring would suddenly show up and help him when he was in some bind, how he always went out of his way to help with whatever Taz needed help with.

He was always there, he just… he was just not there.

His tenth birthday party: The strange gifts that were in his room, the ones that Twilight seemed shocked about.

His first day back at school: He fell down the stairs and landed on pillows that had no business being there.

All his uneventful trips to and from Sunshine’s cottage through the Everfree, not once did he ever encounter anything threatening. He had always been told it was so dangerous.

It was all there, all of it. All the little tidbits in his life that made no sense, they were all Dayspring’s doing.

He was always there, he just… he was just not there.

Taz had no idea why Dayspring lied, why he did not come back, but he did not need the reason. There was one thing that he could not get out of his head, one thought that kept replying like a sick movie in his head, one that was stuck on repeat, playing over and over.

His parent’s tears; he could not-not see them. The betrayal was not Dayspring betraying Taz; it was Dayspring betraying his family. The hurt he put Taz’s parents through, the sad look on Night’s face. The pure pain Aurora lived in, all of it. Dayspring did not hurt Taz with this action, Taz had not known him. Rather, Dayspring hurt everyone Taz loved with this action.

That he could not forgive, that he could never forgive.

His hoof made contact with Dayspring’s muzzle, “You BASTARD! You know what you did, you know how much you hurt everyone, while you what?! While you played this stupid game with me?! Do you not CARE?! We’re family and you… you …” Taz wailed on his brother, his first hit slammed the unicorn back, his second and third blacked his eyes and busted his nose.

Dayspring did not have the strength to fight back, he simply lay there, taking the verbal and physical beating his brother gave him. Every word Taz said he had said to himself a thousand times before, every hit felt like it was deserved, justified.

He knew that even if he did have the ability to move or fight back, he would not. Part of him wanted this; even if it could not come at a worse possible time.

Taz stopped when the blood hit his face. Dayspring’s rainbow mane was now mostly red. He bled freely from his nose, several cuts on his face, and his left eye was too swollen to open. When he saw what he did, Taz moved off his brother and to a column.

He threw up.

“Prince Taz, are you tired of being lied too?”

Taz wiped his mouth clear and looked back. He was relieved that Dayspring was still moving, it was small but he could see his stomach moving up and down as he took in short choppy breaths. Somehow the stallion had not screamed or cried; he took his beating in silence.

The red unicorn was waiting for his answer. The stallion had not moved the entire time. He was on his stomach with his front hooves tucked under him. There was a knowing look on his face that was both smiling and frowning.

“Yes,” Taz answered. 

"I think it's time I end his annoying interference then."

"No!" Taz said reflexively. He would not have the death of any pony on his hooves, there was enough blood there already.

"Taz, he will not be the only one to die."

“You said I have power over you?”

“Yes I did,” the unicorn replied.

“So, that means you’ve got to do what I want?”

“Yes, yes it does, provided it serves to give me what I want in the end,” the red unicorn was smiling now.

“Help those two, keep them alive,” Taz gestured at the two bodies on the floor. Nighttide had yet to wake up and Dayspring's magical exhaustion and blood loss would see him die without help, help Taz was unable to provide. Regardless of what they did, he did not want to hurt anyone… no more than he had anyway.

“If I let them go it will create problems,” the unicorn said.

“Understood,” Taz replied, “You don’t have to let them go, just don’t let them die.” He paused, thinking about something else, “No one I know dies.”

“I can promise that from this moment onward, no one you know will die by our actions.”

“This moment onward?” Taz raised an eyebrow at that choice of words.

The unicorn shrugged, “Even I can’t change the past.”

Taz thought about it for a while, he was sure there was some context in that statement he was missing, but this could save the ones he loved. If the unicorn kept his word it would stop anyone he loved from being killed. He’d just have to give him whatever it was he wanted and hope he went away afterwards. 

It was quite the gamble, but at least the unicorn had been honest up until now, “Fine.”

The unicorn sat up, “You agree without knowing what I want from you?”

“I don’t care what you want, if it’s something I have that I can give you and that will keep everyone safe, so be it,” Taz said. His face a frown as he looked over at sun- at his brother’s body, there was a small pool of blood forming around his head. Taz looked down at his own hooves, there was blood caked on them, “Now keep your word, save them,” Taz looked up and regained control of his ability, an action that allowed the red unicorn to regain his magical abilities.

“As you wish,” the unicorn bowed before the young stallion and directed the tiniest amount of his power to the unicorn he had just finished dueling with. Dayspring’s wounds were healed instantly; however, he did not awaken.

“What’s going on?” Taz asked.

“Thing will be simpler for all of us if he doesn’t awaken right now. He’s alive and his wounds are healed, just as you asked.”

“And Nighttide?”

“My daughter’s in no danger of dying, not here. Allow me to make accommodations for them both.”

“You’re going to lock them up, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“They’ll be safe?”

“Yes, I told you that you have power over me, I will keep my word. After all, something won with lies is worthless. I have and will only give you truth, Prince Taz.”

“Stop calling me that,” Taz said with a snarl.

“You should embrace it, not be ashamed of it. After all, it’s part of who you are.”

“I’m…”

“You’re concerned how the others will see you, aren’t you?”

Taz looked up; he did not say anything but he did nod, “I thought so, others see you however they wish. Trust me; there is nothing more fickle than the court of public opinion. From my perspective you’ve ensured the safety of your family, you prevented your brother from sacrificing himself, you saved the mare you loved from any retaliation for betraying me, and you did it all without fighting.”

“Love?” Taz asked as he looked over at the body of Nighttide.

“It comes in many forms, Taz.”

"You said she lied to me?"

"Her objective was to make you fall in love with her."

Taz went to run a hoof through his mane. It was all too much to consider, he paused when he saw the blood. “I… I want to go to bed,” today was easily the worst day of his young life. He suspected he would have a lot of bad days from now on.

“Of course,” as if it simply responded to his will, a door appeared behind the throne. Taz walked over and opened it up; he was rewarded for his efforts by a cold wind blowing through his bones. 

“And for the love of Luna, turn up the heat,” Taz said through chattering teeth as he walked down the hallway.

“As you command,” the unicorn said with a smile.  



> Fallout
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Celestia’s Palace


“Twilight, that’s too far!” Aurora protested as her sister was banished from Canterlot for however long it would take her to find her missing brother and bring him back home.

Twilight just turned her head and looked at Aurora, Aurora shut up as soon as she saw the tears in Twilight’s eyes, “I don’t pretend to want to do this, but it has to be done. We’re a family,” she glanced at everyone in the room, pony, griffin, and hippogriff, “We stand or fall together. It’s been a decade and a half since we’ve been through an event this tragic,” Twilight looked at Radiant and Cadance when she said that.

“A lot of you have never known this level of tragedy, we have to be united to get through this, we have to stay together. It’s the only way to see us through this threat.”

No one could meet her gaze, they all looked away or took what comfort they could in each other, “Aurora and Icarus, can you make arrangements to stay in Canterlot? Radiant, I’ve already made arrangements for an extended stay for you and… and your family,” Twilight almost broke down at that, the memory of the dead mare still weighing heavily on her mind. Firestar had not gone easy, the stab wounds, the blood, all of it, it… it….

She felt a wing wrap around her, Twilight looked over to her left and saw the mare she loved more than anything else in the entire world press her muzzle next to her own. Somehow, with that one action, Rainbow gave her a reason to keep going. The cyan mare’s very presence gave her that strength.

It was all she needed, “I will protect you all; however, I need you to look after each other too. That's why Ataxia had to go with Night. I may have had to banish my daughter, but she’s still my daughter. She’s strong, but one pony can only do so much. I know that with her wife by her side she’ll be safe. Ana, Starlight, I’m sorry.”

Ana looked up, she was still running a hoof down Flash’s back. The poor pegasus was still crying into her coat. There were tears falling from her eyes, but not from the banishment of her moms, these were due to the empathy she felt for her cousins.

Starlight walked over and sat on the other side of Flash; she wrapped a hoof around both of them and squeezed as hard as she could, “You two are victims in all of this, but you’re not alone, no one is alone,” Twilight looked around as she said that, “We’re all here for each other, we must come together… we must,” she paused as her gaze fell upon Radiant, Cadance, and a confused Blaze.

“I shall send a letter and assemble our forces,” Icarus said as he pulled out his spear, whoever did this just declared war on the Griffin Empire, the Crystal Empire, and Cloudsdale. Our mutual defense pacts stand. We will get revenge for these actions,” as if to put further emphasis on this point, Icarus spun the large spear in one claw. It was an action that left a trail of power from where the point of the spear cut into the air.

A clear indication that Siros approved of his son’s words.

Rainbow nodded her head in agreement. She was sure that when everyone found out what happened to their rulers there would be hell to pay from Cloudsdale, the Crystal Empire, and the Griffin Empire. Equestria would not simply sit idle; the entire continent was now at war. Only one question remained: At war with whom?

“We appreciate any help you can give, Icarus. However, keep it small and elite. I doubt whomever we’re up against has an army behind them, as such they will be mobile, we have to be able to respond in kind. Moving an entire army around would be a logistical nightmare that we can ill afford to deal with,” Twilight said matter-of-factly. It was simple logistics, sure they could bring up an army, but without a dedicated target it would be nothing more than a drain on resources. Never mind the state of panic it would cause in every country.

Icarus nodded to Twilight’s words but said nothing. In truth he wanted every one of the soldiers under his command up here to kill whoever had attacked his wife. However, there was wisdom in keeping his forces small. He grinned at that, there was an elite guard he could call upon, one that no one knew about yet. They were soldiers ready for just such an event.

They were a new creation he came up with five years ago, similar to Luna’s guard: The Shadow Knights. The Shadow Knights were griffins that trained with spears and shields, and much as their name suggested, they were experts in fighting in shadows. The first year of their training required every member to be blindfolded while going through the hardest training that Icarus could come up with. To date two thousand griffins tried out for it, only ten had passed. He would order them to stay in teams of five and shadow his family.

A look at Radiant and Cadance told him that Twilight was right, privacy be damned. He was not going to lose his wife, son, or daughter. He COULD not lose them. He would do whatever it took to make sure that did not happen.

“There is one more order of business,” Twilight said as she looked around the room of crying faces. She lowered her horn and shot a beam of magic directly at Princess Cadance. The Princess of Love yelped in surprise as her horn regrew to its full length.

She looked up at Twilight with a pissed expression on her face. Twilight met her sister-in-law’s gaze glare for glare, “I don’t care if you don’t like it Cadance, we need everyone to look after each other. I will not risk anyone’s safety on you wanting to carry a scar of this travesty.”

Cadance made to interject when a voice interrupted her, “She’s right mom, what if Blaze’s life was on the line and you needed magic to save him?” Radiant’s voice was full of sorrow; however its truth was undeniable. Cadance turned from her son and  glared back at Twilight, but said nothing.

“Have you been able to locate this perpetrator?” Luna asked.

“If she had, do you really think we’d be here having this conversation?” Rainbow growled the words. It was true; Twilight and Night had spent an hour on separate scans, looking for any sign of the power Twilight described. They found nothing on this continent or any other.

“I’ll keep looking,” Twilight looked down at that, she was doing her best not to cry, “I got to keep looking for them. I will keep looking for them, I… I….”

“Oh no, egghead. We’re going to bed! Consider that an order,” Rainbow flew above her wife.

“How can you sleep at a time like this?” Twilight asked.

“I can’t, however you can cast a sleep spell. We’re both getting at least eight hours of sleep before we do anything else.”

“We agree,” Luna stated, “It’s almost time to set the sun anyway. I think we can all agree it has been a trying day for all of us?” Every head nodded up and down at that comment. No one would fall asleep that night without a sleeping spell; however, they had plenty of ponies that could cast such a spell.

“Luna?” Radiant asked.

Luna looked over at Radiant. “Yes, dear prince?”

“No… no dreams tonight. I… I can’t,” he held his head to his mom’s coat. He was worried; he was worried he would see her in his dreams. Such an action, seeing her face right now… it might cause him to do something that could not be undone. Radiant did not know if it would break his heart or save it, he did not want to know either.

“I understand, prince,” Luna could not bring herself to fake a smile; it was simply beyond the mare right now.

“Luna?” Twilight asked, she turned around to look at the princess, “You’ve been up for quite some time, are you going to make it all night by yourself?” There was some worry to her question, for the past fifteen years Luna had company at night, now that was gone.

“Tis’ not my first long shift, I’ll be fine.”

Twilight nodded at that, but said nothing. Without warning she took one further precaution. With a sudden buildup in magical energy, she duplicated her brothers shield spell all around Canterlot, “That should at least give us some warning,” it was not her most powerful spell, but those spells kept everyone and everything out. She did not want to isolate the ponies that lived in Canterlot from the outside word. Not unless she had to anyway, “I’ll leave the city in your hooves for tonight.”

Luna nodded as everyone started making their way out of the throne room. Twilight watched them all go with a sad smile. There would be some room changes as well; she lost another tear as she saw Cadance and Radiant leave with the twins in tow. She did not envy them having to explain to Blaze what happened with his mom.

Twilight suspected his crying would be heard all through the palace once he understood.

And she was right.

Ana and Starlight left next. Amazingly Starlight looked worse than her sister. For lack of a better term, Ana seemed like she just did not care. Like all her bucks were simply used up and she was out of fresh ones to give. Twilight suspected that she would have to keep a closer eye on her granddaughter. Even if she did not care about her mom’s banishment, she would take Taz’s absence hard. Ana might try to run away to look for him herself.

Starlight should be able to stop her; the two of them were now magically connected. Of course, that’s assuming Ana does not convince her sister to go with her.

That was something Twilight figured had a fifty-fifty odds of happening.

Vela placed her young brother on her back and led them out of the throne room. She had to pry the little hippogriff from her mom’s hooves, something only Vela had the tenacity to accomplish. It had been a tossup with who to attach little Dayspring to. Twilight won the argument about putting him with Vela. While she had no doubt that Aurora or Icarus would give their lives to save his, no one would go to the length Vela would go to for his safety. That was the bigger worry, she might endanger her partner’s life to save his.

Aurora and Icarus followed their kids out of the room with a sad expression on their faces. Twilight was sure that Icarus had his own plans for the future, things she would have to take into account for. However, he was giving up a lot to be here, whatever he decided she would just have to adjust her plans for them.

Before she was even aware of it, there were only three ponies left in the room: Rainbow, Twilight, and Luna. Luna walked up and placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, “You would have made her proud.”

Twilight looked down with a frown on her face, “I thought these days were done.”

“Twilight, you would do well to know that these days are never done. In the thousand years I watched from the moon there was always some crisis, always the next event around the corner.”

“So we’re doomed to repeat these events over and over?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes,” Luna responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“How?” Rainbow asked.

“You must answer that for yourself,” Luna said as she walked to the window with Twilight, both princesses were getting ready to move the sun and moon around in the sky.

As Twilight started lowering the sun, Luna turned around and looked at the cyan mare, “Think about everything you’ve been through, the good and the bad, then ask yourself that question again.”

Rainbow watched as Twilight finished lowering the sun. She did as Luna said, she thought about everything she had been through, everything her family had been through, the good and the bad. She thought about it all.

By the time Twilight finished lowering the sun, she had her answer. It was worth it, all of it. The bad sucked, but it was only awful because of the good. The good made the suffering through the bad bearable.

When Twilight turned around, she was greeted by a set of lips pressed against her own. She quickly overcame the surprise, shut her eyes, and returned the kiss, finding strength in it as she did.

When they broke apart, Twilight opened her eyes and was greeted with her wife’s eyes looking into her own, “We’ll find him Twi, I promise you that.”

“I know you will, Rainbow,” Twilight said with a real smile, the first one she had had since breakfast. Watching everyone leave like they did, she felt awful that she almost, almost envied them, even Cadance and Radiant. None of their kids were missing, her son was. It had affected her more than she cared to admit.

Rainbow’s promise, she could take that to the bank. All of Rainbow’s promises were that way; she had never failed to live up to a single one of them in almost sixty years of being married.

“Come, let’s put everyone to bed,” Twilight nodded at her wife’s words. They would visit each room and cast a sleep spell on whoever wanted it. She knew that they all needed it that night.

…………………


??????????????????


Nighttide shot up when she came to. She looked around, taking in stock of her situation and soon as she did she knew things had not gone to plan, that much was obvious. The bar cells told her that much. Dayspring must have failed. She was now a captive.

That alone was strange; if they lost she should have been dead. They lost, yet she was not dead. She was still alive, the pain in her body told her that much.

“Taz?!” Nighttide shouted into the darkness. She did not expect a response, but she got one anyway. It was just not the voice she wanted to hear.

“You really do love him, don’t you?” Her father’s voice carried through the wind.

“Why am I still alive?”

“Because he loves you back.”

Nighttide’s heart fluttered in her chest at that, “What?”

“My daughter, the hopeless romantic, its so cliché I could kill myself,” the unicorn said sarcastically.

“I wish you would,” Nighttide looked away from the voice’s location.

“I bet, you know you owe him your life, he made a pact with me that no one he loves will die, that included you.”

“He doesn’t love me.”

“He does,” the unicorn said as he walked into sight.

“Why are you telling me this?” Nighttide glared at him.

“Because, you did follow orders. Sure you betrayed me, betrayed us, but I cannot accuse you of failure. I can forgive betrayal, just not failure.”

“I’m not working for you anymore,” she grunted and faced the other way.

“You’ve never stopped working for me, besides, don’t you still want your mother back?”

A lump built in her throat at that, “What… what do you mean?”

“Like I said, I can forgive your betrayal, dear daughter. So as far as I’m concerned we’re still good, we can still bring back your mother, if you still want her back that is.”

“I… I… I-”

“Taz has agreed to help me, he’ll be staying with us for the time being. So it’s your call, if you like this dungeon that much, you can stay here for the rest of your long, long life. If you want to be around Taz, if you want your mother back, you can join me.”

“I hate you,” Nighttide said with tears in her eyes. Her decision made, not that there was much of a choice to begin with.

“I know,” the unicorn said as he unlocked the door to let his daughter out, “Your uncles are not as forgiving as I am, I’d do your best to stay out of their way for the time being.”

“Where’s Taz?”

“He’s sleeping, I doubt he’ll want to see you though, he knows that your true purpose was to make him fall in love with you. Such deep betrayal is hard for anyone to forgive.”

“It was your orders!”

“You’re still the one that carried them out. You’re still the one that went on camping trips with his family all the while having exterior motives. I only told you to make him love you, how you did that was all your call.”

Nighttide looked down at that, it was true, she was the one that did it, “You can still have what you want,” he said.

“What?”

“The amulet is fully charged, if you still want your mother back, I’ll give it to you. You and Taz can continue this little game of yours if you want.”

“It’s not a game!”

“If you say so. Personally I don’t understand what you’d see in someone thirteen years old.”

Nighttide glared at him, “If you got to know him you wouldn’t say that.”

He thought about that for a while, “Based on what he said to me, the reason why he agreed to help, I think I can understand that,” he smiled, “It will be interesting talking to him again.”

She glared at him, Nighttide would give her right hoof to keep them apart, “Saving others, that would be the only reason why he’d ever agree to work with you. Are you going to keep your word?”

“Have you ever known me not to?”

Nighttide did not want to give him the satisfaction of answering that question, so she said nothing.

“I won’t even ask you to fight them, well, not until it’s time anyway.”

“Time for what?”

“Time for you to get your mother back, of course.”

She glared at him again, unsure if she should trust him again, if she could trust him again. He merely smiled with a grin that showed too many teeth, “There's no reason for you to fight me on this, Taz is with me, he’s doing it to save his family. If you want to get your mother back, if you want to be with the stallion you fell in love with, then you want to be on my side. It’s really that simple.”

“There’s no way you’ll take them, they’re stronger than you give them credit for.”

“I know how strong they are, and I know you’re right. However, I’m more than prepared for them.”

“How?” Nighttide asked.

“You forget who you’re talking to,” the red unicorn smiled and directed his power to the other side of the room. Magic energy coalesced from around the room. It gathered together into different colors that were easily visible in the darkness. One color formed into red, the other blue as the unicorn poured more and more power into them.

Nighttide watched as shapes began taking forms, eyes and teeth became visible in the clouds of magic. Her father cut his power and the shapes became self-sustaining energy, “Welcome to life, Fire and Ice,” he said as he created two new lives in the blink of an eye.

Nighttide had never seen her father give life to revenants before and she never wanted to again. Luckily it was something he could only do once a year as even his power had limits.

“Fine, I’ll follow you again,” she gave her word, however, she did add a caveat, “Only as long as Taz is with you, the second he’s had enough of your shit, I’m going with him. I’ll always stay by his side.”

She thought about something, “How… how long until you can get it?”

“With Taz’s help, I’ll be able to retrieve the key during the summer sun celebration, in three months time. I take it we've got a deal?”

‘Three months until he can get the key, then six until the gate opens…’ Nighttide thought about it for a while, she finally made up her mind, “Deal.”

……………………….


Canterlot


“Night, I’m bored.”

Shimmering Night turned around and glared at her wife with venom in her eyes, “Ataxia turn your head the buck around.”

Ataxia did as she was instructed. The palace was right behind both mares, “It’s the palace, so?”

“We’ve barely bucking left the palace, never mind the city, and you’ve already said you're bored three bucking times. You say it once more today and I’m teleporting your ass back to my mom!”

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re cute when you’re angry?”

Night wanted to buck her in the mouth, she also wanted to kiss her for that comment, she went with the latter, this time, “How am I going to survive being banished with you?”

“Consider it… motivation to get the job done,” Ataxia said with a sly smile, “You know it has been awhile since we’ve spent any quality time with just the two of us.”

“Ataxia it’s been a day.”

“I’d call that a while.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Night said with a smile.

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

Looking at her, Night saw her mane blow in the wind. It highlighted her wife’s face in just the right way to bring a smile to her. Night’s eyes went wide looking at her, a realization just hit her like a ton of bricks, “I know how to find him! Well… how to start anyway.”

Ataxia just glared at her, “I’m guessing you’re not talking about me anymore?”

“No, Taz, I know where to start looking!”

“Well, that’s something I don’t know,” Ataxia joked.

“It’s the wind!”

“What?”

“How do you find the wind, how do you detect that the wind is blowing?”

“I… What?”

“You look for evidence of what it’s effecting! Your mane is blowing in the wind, it’s how you know it’s blowing, you simply look for evidence of it.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Taz’s ability nullifies magic, we just need to track him by the ponies he runs by that are losing their magic.”

“Oh,” Ataxia said with a smile as she followed her wife down the street. It was not too hard to find such reports, and they eventually got a direction. He headed east out of the city.

From that point on things got a lot more difficult. They both soon had to give up the idea that this might be an easy search.

……...


Celestia’s Palace


Starlight laid in bed listening to her sister breathing in and out. Twilight had come and gone, offering to put them both to sleep if they needed. Starlight had been grateful for the offer, but she politely refused. She was more than capable of casting the spell on both of them.

Of course, Ana did not want her too, the mare told her sister in no uncertain terms what would happen if she tried. Needless to say, she was not going to go down that road if she did not have to.

That just left the other problem. Starlight did not want to leave her sister up with nothing more than her own thoughts. Such things have a tendency to leave you in a bad place. A place Starlight would not leave her sister in.

Ana was grateful that her sister stayed up with her, even if she did not admit to it, “You gonna be ok?” Starlight asked.

Ana ignored the question and just continued staring up at the ceiling, she wanted to laugh at the absurdity of asking such a stupid question. The crying in the distance was more than answer enough, “He… he must be so alone.”

Starlight sighed; she did not need to ask who ‘he’ was, “He’s tough, you know that.”

“I know, but there is a side to him, one that he doesn’t let everypony see. He needs someone Starlight, he needs someone with him.”

“I know Ana, I know. Mom will find him, I know she will.”

“If she’s even looking,” Ana said as she rolled over.

“I promise you Ana, I promise you with everything I can, every fiber of my being, Night will find him. She won’t stop, she won’t rest until she does.”

“It’s her fault he’s gone.”

“She made a mistake and she’s paying for it. I know it’s hard for you with Ataxia gone too, but it’s for the best. Ataxia would not do well if she thought Night was in danger.”

“So you said,” Ana replied, “Hey Starlight?”

“Yeah?”

“The twins…”

Suddenly Starlight did not feel much like talking, the pain those two felt was on another world, another plane of existence. They lost their mom in the same day Ana lost Taz. However, the girls still had their parents, they just did not have them.

At least for the girls, their moms were still alive, “We need to be there for them, Ana. It’s… it’s going to be hard for them, you know what they’re like, they… they need our help.”

“I know,” Ana said, “I can’t believe something like this could happen,” the sobbing started up again after that, joining the cries echoing down the hallway. It was a sound Starlight hated that she knew she would grow used to hearing as her sister and Blaze cried themselves to sleep night after night.

They cried for the twin's missing mom, and for Taz.
 
 




> Revenge or Justice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Celestia’s Palace


“Ana, can we go?” Starlight complained as her sister sorted through yet another stack of books. It was almost funny, six months ago she would have been shocked, happy, and supportive about her sister spending so much time in the library. Now… now it was becoming tedious and boring to the extreme.

Given, she had been supportive at first. They would come here as soon as possible each and every day looking for a clue, some sort of evidence of where Taz might be. Something their grandma might have overlooked. They found nothing, because, well, there was nothing to find.

It took three months to beat that lesson into Starlight’s head; it seemed that Ana had a harder head than even Starlight thought.

“No, I haven’t found what I’m looking for yet!”

“Ana, do you even know what you’re looking for?” Starlight asked the rhetorical question.

“I’ll know it when I find it.”

Starlight sighed, loudly. This was the part she could not support, not anymore anyway. It is fine to spend this much time researching something specific, when you have a goal in mind. This… this was trying to find a three inch needle in a stack of four inch needles, without even knowing if there was a three inch needle in the first place.

She had enough, charging her horn she teleported the two out of the library with absolutely no warning at all. Ana was still in the same standing position she had been in when she was pulling books off the top shelf of the stack. The sudden change of perspective and loss of the ladder she was standing on caused her to fall to her flank with a loud thud. Starlight cringed, she had not intended to physically hurt her sister and knew it would cause another set of problems.

“What the buck, Starlight!” Ana shouted as she got up and rubbed her sore flank. Starlight smiled, on the inside anyway.

“You need a break, heck, I need a break. We’ve been spending way too much time in the library and watch your language,” Starlight gestured to where they were. Ana looked around and noticed that they had not been teleported anywhere in the palace; rather, they had been teleported somewhere else entirely: Joe’s Doughnut Shop and every head was turned to the new arrivals.

Ana just glared at her sister with a look that said ‘this is not over’; however, her growling stomach ended any further debate on the subject, “Fine, let’s take a fiver.”

Starlight smiled, she just wished she could have gotten her sister to take a shower first. They both kind of stunk, “We’re taking a shower tonight,” Starlight said in no uncertain terms.

Ana glared up in insult, then got a whiff of her own scent. She just nodded her head at that comment. Starlight was right; they had been spending way too much time in the library these days.

……………………….


?????????????????????


Taz sighed as he picked up the bowl of food with his mouth and began the long trek down the stairs. As with every time he made this journey the hallways were too bucking dark, the stairs made too much bucking nose, and the ‘food’ stank in his noise.

But he would not let anyone else do it. This was his journey to make and he would be the one to get it done. Even still, he could complain about it, at least to himself anyway.

There were three different doors he had to pass through; each of them was magically sealed to prevent anyone other than the caster from opening them. They never stood a chance against his power. He directed the tiniest amount of his ability to them and they popped open like they were nothing. The thought of just how easy it was to override such powerful spells almost made him smile, almost.

He arrived at the last door; of course door was not the correct word, not for this one anyway. Sure it was technically a door, a door to a cell. This one he would not open, he had no reason to open it.

Taz placed the food bowl down on the ground and scooted it into the cell. It was with a heavy heart that he pulled the old bowl out. He noted with some distain that only a small portion of it had been eaten.

Dayspring was eating just enough to stay alive, but that was it.

“You think this is a game, don’t you?” Taz asked his brother.

There was no reply, there was never a reply. Dayspring had not said a word to him in the last two weeks, “Luna damn you to Tartarus, Dayspring.”

Taz banged his head on the bars. It was the same thing every single day, he would come down here to give his brother food and water, he would curse his name, get pissed, and walk up stairs in a foul mood. He was sick of it, he was sick of hating his brother, he was sick of hating this place, but mostly he was sick of hating himself for feeling so crappy about everything.

It had been almost two weeks since he last felt like smiling.

“I’m tired of this, brother,” Taz said as he watched his brother’s breathing. It was the only sign he had that Dayspring was still alive, “Tell me what to do, tell me anything at all,” there were tears in his eyes now, “Do you want me to help you escape? I will, I’ll do whatever you want me to do. Please… please… I don’t know what to do,” he fell to the ground, utterly lost at what he should do next. 

“I’m bucking thirteen years old, this is too big. I can’t do this, I can’t make decisions like this, I… I can’t.”

There was no response, there was never a response.

Taz got back to his hooves, “Tell me what to do!” He shouted at the top of his lungs as his anger took hold. “TELL ME!” He bucked the bars as hard as he could. Dayspring had been his mentor for the past eight years, he always knew what to do, he always steered Taz down the right path. He was his center, his rock. Taz found himself lost without him.

The loud ringing that echoed all throughout the room was his only reply.

“Timespire said you wouldn’t talk to me, he said you’d never talk to me. I thought he was lying, looks like I was wrong,” Taz said as he stormed out of the cell.

Unbeknownst to Taz, Dayspring started crying. He never talked, he never moved, because he could not. Mindsink implanted a suggestion in his mind that would not let him. The pegasus only allowed him to eat enough to keep himself alive; anything extra and he would be too big of a threat.  

The older brother had promised Taz that he would live, but living is a broad term. Dayspring suspected that this was his true punishment for daring to defy them. They kept him alive, conscious, and aware so he could listen to the suffering his brother had to go through alone.

He should not have been able to cry, but not even a Demigod was powerful enough to hold back those tears.

…

Taz ran back up the stairs with tears in his eyes. He paused before going back into the throne room to compose himself. It would not due for them to see him in such a state. After a few minutes he felt like he was ready. Taz walked into the room with his head held high, “Hey Red, what’s up?” Taz asked the red unicorn sitting at the throne. Timespire was sitting across from him, of Mindsink and Nighttide there was no sign.

Timespire smirked at that nickname. He knew that ‘Red’ hated it, but that just made it more hilarious to him.  

Red took it in stride, on the outside at least, “I take it our guest is comfortable?”

“Dayspring, yeah,” Taz looked down at that, “He’s barely eating though.”

“He is eating though?” Red asked.

“Yes,” Taz conformed.

“Then all is well,” Red said with a smile.

“Yeah, I don’t bucking think so,” Taz glared at him, “He’s not doing well, and you need to do something.”

“Oh, well I’m sure that Mindsink would love to pay him a visit when he gets back.”

The look on Taz’s face told Red ‘that’ was not an option Taz would agree with, “Very well, I’ll return Dayspring to your family after I get the key, does that sound like a fair trade?”

“Alive?”

“Of course, that was our arrangement, no?”

Taz nodded at that, although he did have another question, “What is this ‘Key of Ages’ anyway?” Taz asked.

“I didn’t think you cared.”

“What can I say; two weeks of waiting have caused me to become curious.”

Red smiled, “Curiosity killed the cat, you know.”

“Shut up and tell me.”

“Very well, first you must understand something; there are things in this universe that are absolute. Like your power, Taz. These things exist according to their own set of rules; they supersede anything else in existence. Much like our banishment to the moon, even with all of our power, we could not escape. Only when the moon broke where we set free. The key, well, that’s the gateway to one of these things. Our ultimate objective, sort of speak. We need the key to get to the sands.”

“Sands?” Taz pounced on the slip of the tongue remark. 

“That I will not tell you about,” Red said matter-of-factly.

Taz knew that was the end of the questioning, Red was very open, very honest, save for things that might prevent him from achieving his goals. Taz largely suspected they were just his goals too, that the unicorn could not give a buck about either of his brothers. They seemed to know it too, which gave him a few ideas that might come in to play later.

Ideas that were interrupted when a pegasus walked into the room. Taz glanced at the newcomer for only a second before looking away in disgust. Nighttide’s heart sank when she saw that look on his face, “Hey Taz,” she said hopefully.

It was a fool’s hope, she knew it and so did he. Taz had not said a word to the pegasus in two weeks’ time. Regardless of what she said or did to try and bridge that gap. Nevertheless, she could not stop trying. It hurt her so much to see him at times, she longed simply to feel his coat pressed up against her own one more time. They were living under the same roof, they were on the same side, yet she never felt further from him in all her life.  

Red smiled at the obvious discomfort she felt, “Were you two successful?” He asked his daughter.

“Yes, father,” Nighttide said with a snarl.

“Good job, my daughter.”

“Successful with what?” Taz asked, unsure about this new development.

Red smiled at him, “At your gift, of course.”

“Gift? I didn’t ask for a gift,” he glared at Nighttide with an expression that all but said, ‘What did you do?’

She shrunk down at that, this was not her idea. The necklace she now wore cut into her fur with its moon crescent shape. “This was my idea, Taz. Not hers,” Red said, “Although she did help me put all the pieces together.”

“What. Did. You. Do?” Taz repeated every word of his question, one syllable at a time.

“Oh, you seem to be ungrateful and you don’t even know what I got you.”

“I never asked you for anything.”

“Know the value of a thing before you refuse it,” Red said.

Taz did not want to know, but he suspected that ignorance would not be bliss in this case. Whatever it was he doubted it would be good. Nothing had qualified as good in quite some time, “Fine, let’s see what you got me.”

“It’s three things actually,” Red gestured over to the wall. A door appeared and Mindsink walked out with a silver plate held in his mouth, after placing it down on the floor Taz saw that there were two bracelets with a dark gem set in the center of each laying on the plate, “I need you to put these on. This part is non-negotiable.”

Taz looked down at them, “What are they, and if you don’t tell me I won’t do it.”

The unicorn smiled, “They’re essence stones, don’t worry they couldn’t hurt you even if they were dangerous. Rather, they absorb the power of their wielder and radiate it outwards for some time after. They should be enough to work on a pony, sadly, nothing bigger.”

Taz picked on up in his hooves before dropping it, “You want to use these against my moms!” It did not take a genius to figure out that much.

“Yes, yes I do.”

“No!”

“This is part of the deal, Taz. You want me to not kill them then I need to find another non-fatal solution.”

“So don’t work for you and you’ll kill my moms, then don’t let you use my power against them and you’ll kill my moms. What’s next, don’t brush my teeth and you’ll kill my moms?”

“Listen you little shi-” Timespire tried to say, Red shot him across the room with a wave of his magic. The earth pony hit the back wall with a sickening thud.

It only lasted for a second, but that caused a noticeable grin on Nighttide’s face.

“Taz,” the unicorn got up and walked over to him, “I’m doing my best to come up with these solutions. There is no point in me holding to my word if it doesn’t achieve my aim. This is a win-win for both of us. Your parents are powerful, very powerful, and they will find us sooner or later. These essence stones lock to the bearer’s hooves for six months. Of course they won’t work on you, but they will disable your parent’s power. I need you to wear these for one days’ time. After that you can take them off and you never have to think about them again.”

“This isn’t really a gift then.”

“It’s the gift of knowing that I don’t have to kill Rainbow or Twilight.”

Taz picked up one of them, “Understand something Red, if you ever mention or even hint at killing my parents again, or you use this threat against me again, consequences be damned, I’m done with you,” Taz snapped the first bracelet around his hoof.

No pony saw it, but Nighttide perked up at that statement.

“What’s your next so-called gift?” Taz asked. He wore the bracelets now, to him they felt like nothing more than lumps of metal, he had a bad feeling it would feel very different around somepony else’s hoof though.

“Mindsink,” Red said.

“As you know we’ve been keeping you up to tabs with the comings and goings of your family. Well, we’ve found ourselves with a very unusual development.”

“What’s that?” Taz asked, unsure where this line of questioning was going.

“Aurora and Icarus have left the castle to go personally check in on Night and Ataxia.”

“So?”

Red sat back down at the throne, “So we thought we’d give you a gift, Taz. It took some work on Mindsink’s part, but he was able to implant a suggestion in the two from far enough away where they would not notice him and where Twilight’s spell would not detect him.”

“What are you getting at?” Taz asked.

“What happened between Night and you two weeks ago?” It was a rhetorical question, they both knew the answer.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Let’s go watch and see for ourselves,” Red said with a smile as he opened a portal for the two to Night’s location.

Reluctantly, Taz went with him. Something told him not to, that this was not something he wanted to see. However, whatever would happen would happen regardless if he went or not. Mindsink had seen to that much.

…

He noticed the forest first. The fresh air hitting his fur was like a gift from above; Taz paused as he breathed in deep. The air was always so stale in the castle; this… this was anything but. This is what he missed, what he longed for.

He looked around, it was almost sundown. The noises of the forest rang in his ears like nothing else. That was something else he had to get used too. The castle made no noise, for lack of a better term; it was almost as if it were dead.

He closed his eyes and took another deep breath. Upon opening them again he saw a sight he had not seen in two weeks: Canterlot.

‘Run,’ his thoughts told him, ‘Run as far and as fast as you can, he can’t take you back, he can’t teleport you, you can get away.’

“You can run if you want, but then I’d have no use for Dayspring anymore.”

Taz glared at him.

“I didn’t say anything about your parents.”

Taz realized Red was right, he did not. So Taz silenced those thoughts. He did not ask how Red knew what he was thinking; in truth Taz suspected it was kind of obvious. “What are we doing here?” Taz asked him.

“We’re here for your gift,” Red stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“What gift?”

“That’s coming soon, do stay within five hooves of me though,” Red said as Taz was about to leave him behind.

“Why?”

“I created a magical barrier that blocks us from being seen or noticed, however it won’t work if you leave the circle.”

“And I need to stay hidden because?”

“Because we’re going to see your family,” Red said with a smile.

Taz perked up at that, “Really?!”

“Yes, of course you cannot talk to them, they cannot know that you’re here.”

Taz did the one thing he never thought he would do, he hugged Red, “Thank you.”

“That’s just the first part of your gift.”

“There’s more?”

“Wait and see,” Red said with a smile, one that killed the little bit of joy Taz felt. Something was going on that he would not like.

‘It doesn’t matter, I’ll just stay close by and if he tries something, I’ll take away his power.’ Somehow, his thoughts did little to crush the doubt he felt at this whole situation.

The two trekked through the woods; Taz took this small time to enjoy the feeling of grass beneath his hooves, the wind flowing through his mane, and the sounds of the forest. He never imagined he would miss all the little things this much, but he did. It was these small things he had always taken for granted; these things that he never would have noticed until he had to live without them.

He missed them; he missed them so much it hurt.

A tear fell from his eye when he realized that he was not thinking about the forest anymore. It did not matter what he wanted to do, that ship had sailed. If he left they would kill his brother. While Dayspring might be in a physical prison, Taz’s was just as real; it just had a different set of bars on it.

Sure, they gave him options, let him move around on his own, but it was all for show. He had a choice, but only the choices they let him have. It was a sick and twisted game they were playing with him.

The worst part was; he knew it.

“Come Taz, our destination is right up the hill,” Red said as he paused to look at the young stallion. Taz was almost outside of his bubble.

“Can we just go home?” Taz asked. He hated referring to ‘that’ place as home, but it was the truth. It was his home now, regardless of what he wanted.

“No, we’ve gone out of our way to get you this little gift; I want you to see it.”

“You’re not going to hurt them, are you?”

“No, this will be anything but painful,” Red said with a smile, “Let’s go.”

Taz swallowed the lump in his throat and followed. ‘Like I ever had a choice’, he thought.

They crested the hill and arrived on top of it. When they looked down Taz saw a small camp set up in the middle of the woods. ‘Whitetail Woods’, he realized he knew these woods. His sister took him camping here when he was younger. It was so much fun then.

The camp was amazing. It had a huge tent set up with a fire going in the center of the camp. Taz’s heart almost jumped for joy when he saw Ataxia walk outside. She looked worse for wear but still strong and healthy.

He wanted to cry at that. He knew they were all alright, he had been told as much, but seeing it was totally different. He had to check his instinct to run to her and hug her with all his might.

“You should know time moves a little different where we are.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s been three months for them.”

Taz made to respond but the lump in his throat returned when he saw a purple alicorn with a rainbow mane walk outside after Ataxia, “Night,” Taz said without meaning too. Last time he saw his sister it had not ended well. A large part of him never thought he would see her again, it thought that she was gone from his life forever. Seeing her here and now, it brought up a whole different swell of emotions.

Oddly, none of them were that negative. Sure there was still some hatred for the things she said and did, but after everything he had been through, everything he had seen, he did not care about that anymore. He just… he just wanted her back.

He watched as they hugged and Night followed Ataxia into the woods.

“The final two players are arriving now,” Red said as he gestured into the sky. Taz followed his hoof and his heart really did skip a beat as he looked at the two newcomers. Aurora and Icarus were both arriving by flight. He smiled as he saw his oldest sister, even after everything that had happened; she was still so beautiful to him.

His smile faded as he realized that they did something to her. That led to another question altogether, “How did Mindsink use his power against her? I thought you told me mom cast a spell preventing that.”

“She did, Mindsink cannot use his power to change anyone’s memories without being detected.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Indeed. Mindsink can do more than simply change memories, he can also, how do I put this, remove inhibitions.”

“What?”

Red laughed, “Your parents drink, no?”

“Yeah, Rainbow loves apple cider. She won’t let me have any though.”

“Is it normally foamed over when she drinks it?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s because there is alcohol in it.”

“And?”

“Alcohol removes your normal inhibitions. Inhibitions are those little voices in your head that checks your desires, your wants. It makes you stop and consider the consequences before you do something that might be a bad idea later on.”

“Mindsink messed with that?”

“He… turned it off in those two for the rest of the day,” Red pointed at the pegasus and griffin that landed in camp.

“Why?”

“Everyone has secret desires Taz; everyone has little things they’ve always wanted to do, that they just couldn’t bring themselves to do. Your sisters are no different.”

“I don’t want revenge on my sister,” Taz said as he realized something, it was the truth. He really did not want revenge.

“Who said anything about revenge? This is justice. Now, do keep up,” Red said as he started walking to the tent. Taz had no choice but to go along, whatever would happen he was forced to watch and do nothing.

“If I’m right, you’re in for quite the show,” Red said as Ataxia and Night arrived back at the camp and greeted the two newcomers. Aurora and Icarus both returned their hugs with equal gusto, “You should enjoy it too.”

Taz suspected that no, he would not enjoy it.

……………………………..


Canterlot


Ana found that time away from the library actually did do her some good. Starlight and Ana actually managed to put it behind them for now and enjoy themselves for the first time in what felt like forever. That realization caused her to lose the fun; Ana’s smile soon went with it.

“What’s wrong now?” Starlight asked, she noticed the look on her sister’s face.

“I… nothing, it’s stupid.”

“Ana, just tell me.”

“No, it’s dumb.”

“If it were dumb it wouldn’t be affecting you like this.”

“…” There were times when Ana really hated her sister’s logic. She was far, far too much like Night for Ana’s liking, “Is it wrong to have fun right now?” Ana asked.

“What?” Starlight said, taken aback by that question.

“Well… you know, with everything going on, it doesn’t feel right to have fun, to laugh,” Ana looked down at that.

“Ana, we’re looking; we’re all looking for him. We’ve scoured most of this continent and the next, it’s wrong to give up, but not to have a little fun.”

“What about…” Ana did not finish that sentence; they both knew who she was referring too. Lately, Blaze had only gotten worse. He would break out into a crying fit every other hour, regardless of what was going on. Flash, he… he just seemed cold and aloof.

Starlight suspected that Flash was that way because of his brother and his brother was that way because of Flash. At a time when they should have come closer together, they could not be more far apart. It was heartbreaking to watch.

Starlight had tried everything she could think of, everything anyone could think of. Starlight, Ana, Vela, and even little Dayspring did everything in their power to try and cheer them up. It was all for naught. Flash was simply out of bucks to give, about anything.

Radiant and Cadance did their best but they were suffering just as much. ‘It must be hard being an adult’, Starlight realized. Radiant was in just as much pain, if not more than his sons were in. Yet he could not break down, not in front of them anyway. He was the adult, the one the others had to rely on. That did not stop Starlight from hearing his cries when he thought he was alone.

“If we could find Taz he’d know what to do,” Starlight said the words without thinking; it was like they simply wanted her to say them.

“You think so?” Ana perked up at that.

“I know so,” Starlight said with conviction in her voice.

“I-” The ringing of the bell over the door interrupted what Ana was about to say. She looked over Starlight’s shoulders and saw two pegasus walk in. They were chatting with each other, and loudly.

“Man I tell you, it was the strangest thing!” The dark red pegasus shouted.

“You sure you weren’t just drunk?” the light blue pegasus asked.

“Dude, I’ve been drunk. This was not that. I was flying over the Crystal Empire, minding my own business, when suddenly, bam! Just like that I start falling out of the sky.”

“I think you were just drunk.”

“Dude, I wasn’t drunk, it happened right over the northern border to the frozen north, just yesterday.”

“What were you doing all the way up there anyway?”

“What, I can’t go for a flight?”

“You were trying to impress a mare, weren’t you?”

Just then a flash of magic singled the departure of two unicorns from the shop. The two pegasus grinned at each other and took their seats for themselves.

“That was almost too easy, Fire,” the dark red pegasus said.

“Like taking candy from a baby, Ice. Or in this case, milkshakes from some dumb mares,” the light blue pegasus replied as he picked up their unfinished shake and started drinking it.    

They both started laughing.
> Despicable (C)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Whitetail Woods


“Aurora, Icarus!” Shimmering Night shouted as she saw her sister and brother-in-law standing next to her tent. She ran up to greet them, an action that earned an ‘ugh’ by her wife when the tether tying them together pulled her along, whether or not she wanted to go.

Ataxia sucked it up and went with, willingly. When Aurora reached over and hugged her sister, Icarus did likewise to Ataxia. The action was a little disconcerting to the mare as Icarus was never that touchy-feely, but she wrote it off. They were their first real company in almost three months after all. She’d be lying if she said the hug did not feel somewhat nice.

She doubted Icarus found Twilight’s company all that fulfilling anyway. Although she was sure that Aurora’s company was always worthwhile.

“What are you two doing here?” Night asked the obvious question.

“I just wanted to see my little sister,” Aurora said with a smile, “Although, little doesn’t really qualify anymore, does it?” She laughed as she had to look up at Night’s face.

Night blushed at that, but said nothing else on the subject, “You know what I mean, I’m banished remember?”

“Big sister’s prerogative, besides, she only banished you from Canterlot, not you from us. And don’t think for a moment I don’t know about the letters you two write back and forth to each other every day.”

“So, then you know the search is ongoing,” Night looked down at that. She tracked Taz’s hoof prints to the eastern side of Equestria at the bank of Night River and Foul Mountain. From there she knew he met up with someone but the trace on that pony ended at the oddest location: A tree.

It may have taken the Demigoddess of Magic to figure it out, but she knew that whomever he met up with must have used a portal spell on the tree. Sadly, while she knew what was used and where it originated, she could not figure out where it ended up. Every spell she had tried and Twilight suggested, ended in failure. It was as if someone or something had erased the event from happening but only on the other side.

It was absurd, but she was stuck playing guessing games from that point onward. After tracking a few false leads, she found herself in Whitetail Woods for the time being. They took some solace in the little evidence that Taz was still alive. Although Ataxia and she would not give voice to that fact, they both knew they were thinking it, and that was enough.

After that news Rainbow broke her tether to Twilight and was currently searching the other side of the world, and based on some of the royal correspondence hoof-delivered to Canterlot, she was not being very diplomatic about it. She’d come home every night with her head held low at another days’ failure. That part still made Night smile to think about. Not that Rainbow failed, but that her parents still refused to sleep without the other in their embrace.

Some things were truly meant to be.

“I know you’re still looking, I’m willing to bet that all of Equestria will know the day you find him simply by your yell of excitement,” Aurora said as she held her head against her sister’s.

“Although, damn if this is what it’s like to search for somepony, sign me up!” Aurora looked at the ‘tent’ with her mouth agape, “Night, this is nice!”

“Aurora, it’s not that nice.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Aurora walked into the tent, it was bigger on the inside, “Aurora this is nicer than the royal bedchambers in Warclaw. Icarus, you’ve gotta see this!” Icarus felt the pull of the tether as he was forced to go along. Although when he got inside he had to admit that Aurora was not simply boasting about her sister’s accomplishment.

Inside, the tent was easily five times bigger than the outside lead one to believe. There was luscious furniture all around, a staircase leading to an upstairs area, and even a kitchen. All of it was jaw dropping to the griffin, “How in the heck?”

Night was blushing at this point, an action that earned her a kiss on the cheek from Ataxia, “It was just a few simple spells.”

Ataxia laughed at that, “You’re cute when you’re modest. Guys, it was anything other than a few simple spells, she created this place in a pocket dimension, the tent is nothing more than a gateway that we can tear down and set up in less than a minute.”

Aurora walked over and whispered something to her husband, it was not loud enough to make out, but it seemed to cause Icarus to smile. She turned back to her sister, “Night if I didn’t know better I’d say you’re in no hurry to find Taz at all,” Aurora said without thinking.

“How could you even say that,” she started crying at that, “You know how hard I’ve looked for our brother, what I’ve done? I… I… I-”

Aurora ran to her sister, “No I didn’t mean it like that, I know you’re looking, I do,” she wrapped her sister up in another hug and pressed Night’s muzzle to her chest.

“She really is looking,” Ataxia confirmed.

“I know, every night Twilight reads us the letters she sends,” Aurora raised Night’s head to look her in the eye, “We all know how hard you’re trying, we do. Heck, I’ve had to talk mom down three times from joining you out here.”

Icarus placed Siros’s Vengeance down and walked over to Night, “We all know you’re looking, we do,” he sandwiched the mare between them.  

Aurora actually caught sight of Ataxia’s face. It had the strangest expression on it. In a word, Ataxia looked left out. Aurora removed her hoof from around her sister and waved for the unicorn to join them. Ataxia hesitated the appropriate amount of time to act like she did not really want in, then relented and joined them, “You big wuss,” Aurora joked.

Ataxia just stuck out her tongue in reply. Then Aurora did the strangest thing, she winked at her. Before Ataxia could say anything, Aurora lifted her sister’s head with a hoof, “You know; you’ve done so much to look for Taz over the last three months that I think you deserve a break for tonight. I think you deserve a night that’s just about, well, Night,” Aurora said as the sun’s rays poured in from outside, a clear sign that Twilight was lowering her celestial body.

“No, I gotta kee-” Night’s reply was cut off when a set of lips covered her own: Her sister’s lips.

Night was so shocked she failed to notice that Icarus’s grip on her was tightening. The griffin started lightly teasing Night’s horn with a feather, an action that was at once arousing and prevented her from using her magic.

Night did manage to pull back from Aurora’s lips, “Aurora, what the buck are you doing?” Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

“Come on, sis, I know you’ve thought about it,” Aurora said with a smile as she began lightly kissing Night’s neck, “I know I have. Let me give you this. I want too, we want too,” Aurora whispered the last part in her sister’s ear.

All the while Icarus never stopped playing with Night’s horn; he licked from the base of it all the way up to the tip. When he got there he lightly blew on it, as one would to insight goosebumps on a lover’s skin.

This played to all the right spots of the mare, Night had thought about it, jokingly, but she had. The sensations on her horn and the kisses on her neck were quickly overshadowing her logic and reason. She had to do something to stop it before it went too far.

“Aurora, I… I…” it was too much for the mare, the combined assault of her sister’s expert lips and the sensation on her horn was beginning to override her better judgment. She tried focusing on something else, anything to get her self-control back. All she could do was look at Ataxia with pleading eyes. She had to hope that her wife would put a stop to this.

Ataxia did not want them to stop; she did not want anything other than to join in. This was a dream come true for her. However, Night wanted them to stop. Swallowing her own wants; Ataxia spoke up, “Hey guys, if this is a joke it’s gone a little too far.”

“Who said this was a joke?” Aurora said between kisses. As if to emphasize the point, she rubbed a hoof right up her sister’s sex. An action that caused Night to go weak in the knees as the two kept up their assault on her senses.

“Oh if this is a dream, Luna please don’t wake me up,” Ataxia said as she felt her own desire coming back. Night was a fine wife and kept her more than happy, but Ataxia was used to so much more. She had checked so many of her own desires over the years only for them to be served up on a silver platter right now.

“Come and find out,” Aurora winked at her, “I know we’ve both done things like this in the past, what’s one more go?” Aurora once more ran a hoof lightly across Night’s clit, the little button that was standing at full attention now. The action caused two different reactions: The first was a noticeable moan from the alicorn. The second was for her to fall to her knees. The latter reaction just made Icarus and Aurora’s ministrations that much easier.

Ataxia was never the smartest mare; she was never the brightest, or what you might call a forward thinker. She was a mare that did what she wanted when she wanted, because, well, that is what she wanted to do. When she had found out about Taz seeing the playcolt magazine featuring Aurora, she almost laughed. Ataxia had several first print copies of it in a storehouse in Las Pegasus. ‘If he wanted one all he had to do was ask’, she had thought with a smile.

This was a dream come true, and regardless how much she tried, she could no longer think of a reason to fight it. The argument that Night did not want it lost all grounds in Ataxia’s mind when she heard her wife moan. She knew the details of Night’s fight with Taz. It took a long time to drag it out of her but when she did she almost wanted to laugh. Night comment about Taz masturbating to his sister; Ataxia had done just that, multiple times in fact.

Aurora had always occupied a permanent spot in Ataxia’s spank-bank. The fact that she married a griffin only made it hotter. Often Ataxia found herself fantasizing about being in the very position Night was in now, sandwiched between them. The fact she was now being offered a four-way with them and her wife? This was too real to be true.

“Buck it,” Ataxia said as she joined in the fun. She took over Aurora’s position on Night’s mouth; an action that earned her a look of hatred from the alicorn, “Let’s see if we can turn that frown upside down,” Ataxia said with a smile. She knew all her wife’s best spots, “Icarus, directly under the wing joints.”

The look on Night’s face went from hatred, to betrayal, to putty as Icarus’s claw found the right spot. With her wife more than distracted from Icarus’s expert claws, Ataxia turned her attention to the other mare she wanted to kiss, the one she wanted to kiss since they were in fifth grade. She followed Aurora's trail of kisses on the other side of Night’s body with parallel ones of her own, When Aurora started to lick, Ataxia licked. When Aurora came to the center, Ataxia did the same. Their mouths met right above Night’s teats.

For the first time ever, Ataxia felt Aurora's tongue enter her mouth. The wet appendage made easy work of her own. The taste of the mare was like nothing else in Ataxia’s mouth. She tasted of strawberries and… and of Night.

“Guys, we need to stop this,” Ataxia wanted to whoop her own ass for saying that. Every fiber of her being wanted to continue, it wanted to take the supermodel empress, the emperor of a whole nation, and the first alicorn ever born to bed all at the same time. The little voice in her head had made a last ditch effort to do what she knew her wife would want.

Even if it went against everything she wanted.

“Oh… I guess you’re right. She obviously doesn’t want it,” Aurora gestured with a smile as she pointed over at her sister, who was even now having her horn sucked on by Icarus. All the while the emperor’s claw’s never stopped working over the spot Ataxia told him to go for.

She was on the verge of her first orgasm. Night’s moans told Ataxia that much, “Why are you doing this?” Ataxia asked as the fight was leaving her.

“I haven’t seen my sister in three months,” Aurora said with a frown on her face, “I’ve thought about this ever since our trip to the Dragon Kingdom all those years ago. I can’t explain why, but I… we,” Aurora smiled at her husband, who was riding her sister’s first organism out with her, “Agreed that now was the perfect time to try something new.”

“You’re… you’re serious?”

Aurora pressed their lips together one more time. The taste of Strawberries came back to Ataxia’s mouth, “Very, but if you want us to stop,” she walked around the mare, lightly stroking Ataxia’s very damp nether regions with her wing tip as she did so, “I guess we have to stop.”

“Well… let’s not be hasty. She is enjoying it after all,” Ataxia said as she swallowed a lump in her throat.

“There’s the Ataxia I know,” Aurora said with a smile, “Come, let’s see how many times we can make your wife cum in one night.”

“My record is seven,” Ataxia proudly admitted.

“Just seven?” Aurora asked, “I know we can beat that.” Aurora walked over to her sister’s very stiff wings and began preening them. She had tons of experience of just what felt right to a griffin’s wings over the years. As she suspected, it was just as effective on an alicorn’s wings, “We’ll save you first dibs on the fun bits,” Aurora said with a smile as she hinted at what she wanted Ataxia to do.

Ataxia did not need to be told twice. She could easily see her wife’s innermost folds opened up to the world, her clit poking out like an engorged nipple. The pair were very effective at what they were doing to her. Night was not given a chance to recover any form of consciousness. They were keeping her sedated in the most cruel and fun way possible.

‘Buck it,’ Ataxia thought. This was a one-in-a-million opportunity and she would not pass it up. She dived straight into her wife’s love bucket. A little surprised at just how wet it was already.

…

“I don’t want to watch this anymore!” Taz practically shouted the words as he watched Aurora go after her sister like a dog in heat. He did not know if yelling like that would give them away, he did not really care either.

“Oh, why’s that?” Red asked.

“Because I don’t want to watch my sister being raped.”

“Taz, rape implies forceful sex against your consent. Did she, one time, say no to this?”

“Well… no, but she didn’t consent either.”

“Really, this looks like consent to me,” Red said with a smile as he watched Ataxia’s expert tongue bring Night to another orgasm.

“She wouldn’t want this!”

“Why, because it’s exactly what she accused you of wanting?”

Taz paused at that. He finally understood what this was about. This was Red’s idea of getting justice for him, “Stop it,” Taz said under his breath.

“I’m not Mindsink, Taz. I don’t have power over another’s mind. The only way for me to stop this would be by direct interference and we both know that’s not an option.”

“Then take me home,” the scream coming from Night’s mouth caused his eyes not to look at Red when he said that.

“I’ll make you this deal. You turn away and look at the wall for two minutes without glancing back, and I’ll take you home,” Red said with a smile on his face, “Otherwise, we’re going to stay here until this is done. We’ll watch the one that called you a freak, a sick fuck, a pervert get her mind blown over and over again by the very actions she blamed you for.”

“She wouldn’t want this,” Taz was shaking with rage as the old memory was brought up again.

“Taz, she’s the Demigoddess of Magic, if she did not, on some level, want this, do you really believe it could happen?! That she couldn’t just put a stop to it? Think about it.”

Taz sat back on his flank, he did not say anything, but notably, he did not look away either.

Red smiled, “You know, over the years it was actually very normal for families to, how do I put this, intermarry. Only in the last few centuries has that been considered abnormal.”

“Aurora seems really into it,” Taz noted.

“We all have our innermost desires, Taz. The little thoughts and feelings that we keep to ourselves. The secret desires that society says are shameful, that it says we shouldn’t feel. Aurora is no exception, no pony or griffin is. They just, hid it better than you did. If anything, you should be commended for accepting yours the way you did. All Mindsink did was remove the little nagging voice that told them those thoughts are bad, that those feelings should be hidden and suppressed, that they are somehow shameful.”

Taz’s eyes went wide as Aurora left Night’s wing alone and moved behind Ataxia. Ataxia stopped licking at Night’s pussy and lined up her horn ever so nicely with the entrance. Meanwhile Aurora began making her way to Ataxia’s soaked rear. Both Ataxia and Night found a new appendage entering them at the exact same time: Ataxia’s horn and Aurora’s tongue.  While Ataxia made use of Night’s front door, Aurora opted to give the unicorn a rim job instead.

“And tomorrow?” Taz asked.

“What about tomorrow?”

“You said that this only lasts for about a day,” he replied, never once taking his eyes off his sisters.

“Well, best not be around for that,” Red said with a smile.

…

Ataxia tensed up and then immediately relaxed when she felt Aurora’s tongue enter her ass. It was not her first time by a long shot of having her ass played with during sex, but it had been a while. Night was never a big fan of that opening; although Ataxia could get her to play every once in a while. However, that was usually on special occasions and only when she got her nice and warmed up first.

Even then it was never returned. So when she felt Aurora go right for it, her mind did a little jig. She grinned as she slowly, ever so slowly inserted and removed her horn from Night’s pussy. She took her time, allowing the ridges of her horn to grind against every nerve ending her wife had.

The effect caused her wife to scream out in pleasure, the only reason it was not ear shattering was because Icarus trapped her mouth in a kiss. It seemed the griffin had gotten good at kissing ponies over the years. Judging by his wife’s skillful tongue, he had many reasons to as well.

She knew he’d be fucking all three of them tonight. ‘One more thing to check of my bucket list’, Ataxia thought with a smile. Ataxia’s smile became a moan when Aurora brought a feather around to Ataxia’s own, untouched, clit.

She felt every sensation of her horn entering and exiting her wife, of Aurora’s tongue painting a picture in her ass, and of the feather lightly brushing her clit. It was too much for even Ataxia to hold back. She squirted her mare-cum all over Aurora’s face as she gave into the tidal wave of pressure building up inside of her.

Aurora retracted her tongue and bathed in the salty liquid. She vastly enjoyed the sensation of being covered in another mare’s cum. It only lasted for seconds, but to her it felt like ages. When it was over she whistled, causing Ataxia to remove her horn and look back at her, “I didn’t know you were a squirter, Ataxia,” Aurora said with a smile.

“I wasn’t at first, it took some training,” Ataxia replied. She found that it was just more fun all-around. Or at least the mares she had been with said so. Turns out, they were right. Stallions had known it for ages; it is your way of marking your partner.

Aurora licked her lips,” Tastes good too,” she said with a smile.

“Really, can I have a taste?” Icarus asked.

“Of course dear, here let me take over my sister’s horn, while you please Ataxia. Ataxia, I think it’s only fair if you return the favor,” Aurora winked at her.

“I think that’s only fair too,” Aurora could not wait for what was to come. Without even thinking of the consequences, she raised her rear one more time and moved her tail out of the way. Icarus licked his wife’s face clean as she positioned herself right above Night. The alicorn was in a permanent orgasmic daze, lying on her back with her wings spread out wide as she was up to three orgasms in as many minutes. Aurora straddled her sister, allowing Ataxia an unobstructed view of both their slits, one on top of the other.

Ataxia did not even wait; she dug into Aurora’s slit like a fat foal into an ice-cream cake, “Oh, someone’s eager,” Aurora said with a smile as she began licking Night’s horn. Her skill with pleasing her husband over the years was equally effective on her sister right now. She even gyrated her hips in such a way as to rub her and her sister’s clits together.

Ataxia just grunted, she did not stop as she felt the emperor mount her. She did not even pause when he hilted himself in her with one go, her pussy was more than ready to take every inch of his throbbing member, a member that had been untouched until now.

She wanted this, she wanted every inch of him, and she wanted to lick her sister-in-law’s pussy raw. The taste, the feeling, it was indescribable. It was so much better than using the sex toys Night and she would conjure up on their anniversary.

That caused her to pause, she may want this, but she did not want to betray Night. Fun was one thing, having someone else’s kid was another; Ataxia looked back at Icarus, “Don’t cum in my pussy.”

Icarus nodded in understanding. The sight of all of this was a lot to the griffin, almost too much. As expected his first load was coming quick. As such he pulled out and stuck in into the well-lubricated back door of Ataxia. The knowledge that it was his wife’s tongue that lubricated it only made it that much better.

That action caused Ataxia to scream in pain and pleasure. Icarus was easily massive, not the biggest she ever took, but still impressive. Her rear hole had not seen much use over the last decade or so, as such it was ill prepared for such treatment.

She loved it, she loved how the pain gave way to pleasure, she loved when his throbbing member pulsed with life, depositing wave after wave of his baby making juice as deep inside of her as he could get it.

On any other mare it would have been too much, she would have collapsed right there on the spot. Overcome with such bliss. Not Ataxia, she had the greatest dish right in front of her. Two ready to go tacos that were just begging to be eaten.

Eat she did, she did not just stay on Aurora either. When one was close to cuming, she would switch to the other, building both sisters up as close as she could to orgasm and then pulling away. It was an action that caused them both to want more.

She knew just how to accomplish that too. First she had to pay Aurora back for that little stunt earlier.

Aurora knew a lot more on how to please a phallic-like object than her husband did. She was an expert at deep-throating such things, a skill her husband would never match her on. As such she was able to give her little sister a treat most stallions would dream of.

Doing her best to block out the attention that Ataxia paid to her own nethers, Aurora licked from the base of the horn all the way to the very tip. She noted with some dismay how pointy it was. ‘Guess I’ll just have to be careful’, she thought with a smile.

Aurora surrounded the tip and suckled on it for a split second, letting her tongue run across it. Then just as quickly she opened her throat and began taking it all in, all at once.

Night squirmed in surprise as she let loose with another gasping orgasm. The feelings were indescribable to the mare. Something that Aurora noted with satisfaction. When Aurora got to the bottom, she was able to give her not so little sister a kiss on the forehead before slowly raising herself off of her.

She almost gagged when Ataxia tongue made its way up her ass, almost. ‘Guess I deserve that’, she thought with a groan. What she did not suspect was what happened next. Aurora momentarily relaxed when the tongue left her anus. Deep-throating her sister’s horn took a lot of upper body strength to lift herself up off her sister and onto her horn. She relaxed and sat back down.

Only for Ataxia’s horn to enter her ass instead, all in one go. She yelped in surprise at the sudden intrusion; an action that caused Icarus to look up in concern. He still had his member buried in Ataxia’s ass, cum leaking out from the overstuffed colon. “You ok?” He asked.

Aurora took a few moments to adjust to the feeling of being filled that like. She looked down at Ataxia’s head; the mare was smirking as she continued licking her wife raw, “Yeah, I’m fine dear,” Aurora said with a smile as she started going up and down on the foreign object.

Slowly at first, but soon she was going full speed. Enjoying the ride as she felt every ridge of Ataxia’s horn enter and exit her anus. She gently placed her hoof on her sister’s muzzle and brought Night in for another kiss, “You’ve got the best wife.”

Night had given up. She was in an ecstasy-driven daze unlike any she had ever known before. Over the years Ataxia had introduced her to all sorts of new experiences and ideas. This… this was something completely different. This was taboo, which alone brought a new level of thrill she had never known before, that she had never considered before.

There was still a voice in her head, a voice that was screaming about how wrong it was, how she should stop this now. That voice was drowning in a wave of orgasmic pleasure as her wife and sister brought her closer to yet another mind boggling orgasm. She could no more listen to it now then hear it at all.

Ataxia chuckled to herself as she felt Icarus’s dick leave her ass. When he pulled up it was with a wet slopping sound, taking some of his cum with it as her abused sphincter took a few seconds to close. ‘It must suck being a guy’, she thought with a smile. She had already cum once and was working on a second, Icarus had to stop and rest for a minute before he was good for another round.

The sensations running up and down her horn were bringing her close to another orgasm. She wanted… she needed to make this a good one, one that all three of them would enjoy. As she felt the tight passage lift off her horn one more time, Ataxia thought of how to make that happen. When it was at its zenith, Ataxia rammed her horn back up, releasing a wave of mirror magic out of the tip as she did so. At the same time she stopped licking Night’s pussy and wrapped her lips on her wife’s clit; suckling like a newborn foal as she did so.

All three mares came at that same time at that. Aurora from the dual sensations of being penetrated and penetrating, a little gift she owed to Ataxia’s magic. Night from the sensations of her love button being suckled on after being so close to orgasm for so long from her wife’s ministrations. Ataxia from the dual shower she got from both sister’s nethers at the exact same time, not that the cum leaking out of her ass did not help.

…

Taz watched as the three mares got each other off, an action that took Aurora a little longer to do because of the object in her rear. He could not-not look; it was a world he had yet to know, a world that every fiber of his being wanted to know, it wanted to join in.

He could not, his legs felt heavy, his own member was loose now, it was so engorged that it hurt. Taz knew he would have to take care of that, probably several times before he went to bed tonight.

Through its own volition, his thoughts turned not to Aurora, but to Nighttide. That snapped him back to reality. Seeing this, being forced to watch this, it somehow brought the pegasus to his mind.

Thinking of the unicorn’s daughter brought his mind back to her father. He looked up at Red. The unicorn seemed to be enjoying the show, almost like it was a pleasure he had not known in quite some time. Taz thought of something, something he could do to make this despicable situation mean something, other than destroying the relationship between his sisters that is.

While Red was watching the mares and griffin change position, Taz started rubbing his left back hoof on the ground behind them. He only hoped that Red would be too distracted to notice the message he was leaving for them. It was only three words, but it should give his family all the information they needed to know. 

…

Icarus licked Ataxia’s face clean of her shower, enjoying the dual taste of both sisters at the same time. It was a taste unlike any he had ever known in his life, both salty and sweet. Aurora cleaned off his member for him, her nose twitched at the smell at first, but she soon had it spit shined and ready to go for another round.

“I think it’s time my wife had her first dicking in a few years. Don’t you agree?” Ataxia asked with a sly smile.

“Few years?” Aurora asked.

“She doesn’t like using the clones a lot,” Ataxia shrugged as she admitted the truth. There was no worry about Aurora spilling the beans about it; the mare was the only one that knew about that little experience.

“Clones?” Icarus stopped licking.

‘Crap, he didn’t know,’ “Never you mind. Now, shouldn’t you be getting to work?” Ataxia asked.

Icarus smiled and climbed on top of the alicorn. Night had not gotten up the entire time, of all of them she was the only one that did not speak, because she could not speak. They had all taken their turn to make sure the mare got the most attention.

Icarus did not waste time with foreplay. He immediately went to work on Night’s well lubricated pussy. The mare was more than accepting of his member, every time he bucked into her, she met him with just as much force. When he pulled back, there was actually a noticeable whimper.

‘Fuuuuccccckkkkkk yyyyyyeeeeesssss.”

It was the first words Night had said since this started in earnest, Aurora and Ataxia smiled at each other. Both of them got an idea at the same time, Aurora moved to Night’s right wing while Ataxia moved to her left. As one they started to gently preen the alicorn’s feathers. A skill that Ataxia had grown more than sufficient at over the years being married to Night; Aurora knew first hoof from her own wings and those of her family. The action served to push Shimmering Night over the edge as yet another orgasm overcame her.

“I think I can finally cross this off my bucket list,” Ataxia said with a smile as Night’s shaking body made it too difficult to continue preening her wife's wings.

“Oh, what’s that?”

“Two sisters at the same time.”

“Really?” Aurora was legitimately surprised by that. She figured Ataxia would have had experience with that already.

“Really, I’ve actually had a mother daughter combo, but this is the first time I’ve had two sisters… well, two sisters that weren’t twins.”

“Ah,” Aurora smiled at her. Only Ataxia would separate those two categories, “By the way, how do you like seeing your wife getting rammed by another mare’s husband?” All through their conversation and Night’s orgasm, Icarus never stopped, he never slowed down. The griffin was in excellent shape and it showed. He got the easy one out already; as such he was more than prepared to go the distance this time around.

“Honestly?” Ataxia asked. Aurora just nodded, “I just love seeing her face when she cums. That’s all that really matters to me.”

Aurora smiled as Ataxia pulled her wife’s mouth in for a kiss, “You really do love her,” It was not a question. As Aurora walked around to Ataxia’s side, she asked another question, “Why do you count twins different than sisters?”

Ataxia released her wife’s face and smiled, “Twin are actually easier than sisters, they’re used to doing everything together so getting them both involved at the same time is not as big as a feat.”

“You managed to get a mother daughter combo and yet not sisters?”

“That’s… that’s another story altogether. Let’s just say, a lot of events lined up just nicely,” Ataxia said as Aurora brought her in for a kiss. Their tongues met in an intricate dance as they shared in all the tastes’ that still lingered in their mouths. They broke apart when Icarus started grunting with the effort of holding himself back.

“Where do you want him to cum?” Aurora asked as her husband was about to finish.

Every part of Ataxia wanted Icarus to cum in her wife. It wanted him to release his baby making juice in her so she could eat it out. It wanted him to impregnate her, to cause her belly to grow and grow. In Ataxia’s opinion, it was just that much more to love. The increased sex drive was a bonus too. Plus she loved sharing in the milk her wife would produce for her foal.

However, she could not do that. Not to Night, it would be a betrayal of her trust, something she was sure she already broke. This… this would be too big though. So she shook her head, “Cum on her instead.”

Icarus pulled out and shot his load on Night’s stomach. The sudden sticky liquid caused Night yet another shiver and a minor orgasm took hold. Aurora and Ataxia grinned as a string of the white cum hit Night in the muzzle with the first shot. The second made it to her chest, matting the fur where it hit. The third, fourth, and fifth only covered her pussy. Icarus smirked as he examined his work.

Ataxia and Aurora looked at each other with a sly smile, “I think she needs a bath, what do you think, Aurora?” Ataxia asked.

“I think you’re right,” Aurora replied.

Both mares went to work ‘bathing’ the alicorn princess with their tongues. Icarus sat back and watched it all, rubbing himself back to stiffness as their twin tongues made quick work of the mess he covered his sister-in-law in. In the end, Ataxia was the one that cleaned off his dick. Every lick of her tongue felt like magic over his member.

When she knew he was ready, Ataxia said, “You know, there still one more mare you need to fuck tonight.”

“I have an idea,” Aurora said with a smile.

“Oh?”

In way of reply, Aurora mounted her sister again; she pressed her clit up to her sister’s; rubbing them casually together to make sure they were properly lined up. She could see her sister’s face grunt in displeasure as she was becoming over-sensitive to the point of pain. Aurora knew this would be it for tonight, any more and it would be more painful than pleasurable, and that was not the point.

“Fuck us both at the same time,” Aurora said with a smile.

Icarus and Ataxia both looked at each other in confusion before they put the pieces together. Icarus smiled as he got up and stuck his dick in between the two mares. Their sweaty bodies pressed together made for an artificial vagina.

It took him a few pumps but soon he was able to get the hang of it. Icarus positioned himself just right to rub himself against both of their clits at the same time; an action that caused the two sisters to press themselves tighter together.

Ataxia grinned as she got an idea. Lowering her head to Icarus’s ass, she preceded to suckle on one ball, than the other. When the time was just right, she stuck her tongue up the griffin’s anus.

He grunted in surprise, but did not stop. The extra sensation only served to edge him on, “Where do you want it?” Icarus asked.

“Inside me,” Aurora said with a smile.

Icarus pulled out of the ‘fake’ vagina and hilted himself in the real one of his wife’s at the last possible moment. Aurora screamed as she felt the load of semen empty into her. Icarus collapsed to his side, his endurance spent after thirty minutes of constant motion.

Night was out; the last orgasm she owed to Icarus had seen her fallen into a cum-induced coma. After eight mind blowing orgasms and several smaller ones, she could not see straight, much less think. She easily fell asleep in a dream like haze. Aurora wrapped her wings around her sister and closed her eyes. She breathed in the pungent smell of sweat and cum that filled the room, “I told you I’d make you feel good,” Aurora said as she lay on top of her sister. She kissed her one last time.

Ataxia just grinned as she made to do the last thing she wanted to do. She walked up and enjoyed the cream-pie that was even now leaking out of Aurora’s slit. Ataxia took her time; this was not a quick meal that she wanted to gobble down as fast as she could. This was the ice-cream cone at the end of a full-course meal.

Icarus watched Ataxia go to work on Aurora as she licked every inch of his wife’s pussy clean. Her tongue dug as deep as it could into Aurora well abused love canal, seeking every drop of the warm salty fluid it could find.

A fluid that was soon accompanied by another as Ataxia’s slow ministrations caused Aurora to cum one more time. Ataxia grinned as she took the mare’s spray to the face again. Enjoying the sensation of being covered once more in the supermodel’s love juices.

Afterwards, Ataxia walked over to the right side of her wife and lay down, careful to not put too much pressure on Night’s wing as she lay her head on her wife’s hoof. Icarus crawled over to the other side and lay in parallel to Ataxia. Night reflexively wrapped them both up in her wings.

The four bodies lay unmoving together as they drifted off to sleep.

…

“Now, we can go,” Red said with a smile as he looked over to the young stallion. Despite his earlier complaints, Taz had not once looked away.  

Taz just nodded and waited for the larger unicorn to lead the way. He did this for two reasons: One, he was sitting on the message he had carved out for Night, a message he did not want Red knowing he left. Two, he did not want Red to see his stiffening erection. One that was quite painful at this point. How Red did not have one was a mystery to Taz.

Red got up and led the way, Taz followed after. As soon as they left the tent, a portal opened and both ponies stepped through it.

Taz’s message was left undisturbed, written into the dirt with his hoof.

It was three simple words.

‘Key of Ages’.

A set of eyes saw the lettering as soon as Red and Taz were away. One of the five Shadow Knights that kept vigil over the emperor and empress moved to see what it said. He immediately pulled out his weapon upon seeing the foreign words on the ground. With a silent gesture the rest formed a defensive perimeter around the four bodies, unseen, and unheard. 

The Shadow Knight made a mental note of what it said and erased the lettering. The griffin would make sure that Emperor Icarus knew what it said later, for now it would not due to leave it in place. It was too big a risk that it might be part of some spell to be used against Emperor Icarus or Empress Aurora.  

The five stayed on high alert the rest of the night. Their orders were to reveal themselves if and only if a member of the griffin royal family was in danger. They would keep to that order, their training would not allow for anything else. 


> Vital Clues
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Crystal Express


“Hey little brother, time to get up,” Vela cooed softly as she lightly poked her brother with a claw. Little Dayspring rolled over as the contact did more to tickle him than anything else. “Come on, wake up,” she lightly whispered into his ear.

Dayspring opened his eyes and looked at her, “You need my blankie?” Dayspring offered his sister his treasured blanket, for the eighth time that week.

Vela just wrapped the blanket around herself and started lightly tickling the young hippogriff with her claw, “Come on, it’s time to wake up,” she teased.

Dayspring started giggling as the claw hit all his most ticklish spots.

“Is it wise to bring him along, Starlight?” Ana asked her older sister.

Starlight turned from the playful display and whispered to her sister, “C’mon, you act like we had a choice.”

“I heard that,” Vela said as she finished tickling her younger brother, “I told you you’re either taking me with or I’m telling Twilight what you’re doing,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, but this puts Dayspring at risk.”

“We’re going to bring back Taz though,” his little voice cut through their conversation, “I want to go.”

“You heard him, end of conversation.”

“He doesn’t even know who Taz is,” Starlight groaned.

“What does that have to do with wanting to help?” Dayspring asked.

Starlight was at a loss for words at that one. That one could be so innocent and kind to put himself in danger to help someone he did not even know. It robbed her of any response she could give.

“Besides, you’re the one who insisted we do this ourselves,” Vela gestured over to Ana.

“It’s our clue and he’s our friend!” Ana practically shouted the words. She had enough of waiting for ‘her’ to bring back Taz. If Night had been serious, if she really, really wanted him back, she would have succeeded by now. The delay, this three-month wait was proof in Ana’s head that Night did not care enough to find him. Telling someone else would just lead to the same result. She wanted… she needed to find him.

Starlight’s first response was to tell Twilight, of course. Ana had insisted that they handle this personally. She called in every favor, every outstanding pinkie promise her sister owed her. Starlight was basically browbeaten into going along.

“Would you quiet down?!” Blaze yelled, “Some of us are trying to sleep.”

“It’s time to get up anyway,” Starlight stated as she walked over to the twins. They each took a bunk bed to themselves. Only Twilight’s tether kept them together. There was a time not that long ago that they would have been inseparable. That time had passed, in fact the only reason Flash was even here is that he had to come for Blaze to go; something that basically took kidnapping him to make happen.

Flash did not even fight it; he just went along, carried in Ana’s magic. The pegasus just did not care. Only Blaze seemed to care.

Blaze was the one that snuck them out of the palace. With a large amount of help from Ana who kept his brother close by, not allowing him to be hamstrung by the tether that connected the two.

Flash just rolled over and looked at the ponies that had woken him. It was his eyes that hurt the most, the deadpan expression in them; it was as if he was there, just not there. Not in any real sense anyway. When he learned of his mother’s death three months ago, the pegasus just gave up.

Years ago, Starlight was told of the time after Shining Armor’s death. His son Radiant had lived under the shadow of that sacrifice, looking for a way to overshadow his father with a noble death of his own.

In Starlight’s opinion, this was not that, this was a pony that just did not care. Flash was simply waiting for whatever death came his way, good or bad. He just wanted to be with his mom again.

Blaze was the opposite. It had been three months and he still could not stop breaking out in random crying fits. Starlight suspected it was for that very reason he was here. He was here so he could make sure no one else died, that he did not lose anyone else.

He would give his life to ensure that did not happen. She hoped it would not come to that, this should be nothing more than a retrieval mission. They had no reason to believe there was any such threat.

Although, there was still the wild card in play, no pony had seen or heard from Nighttide since Taz disappeared. That still rubbed everyone the wrong way. Starlight, Ana, and Twilight all investigated the missing young mare. Twilight pulled some records to try and locate her home. All they found was a collapsed abandoned house that was several hundred years old. Which was quite the accomplishment as the records indicated it was built fifty years ago.

The filly herself never existed. She existed, just not on any records; that made everypony worry. Nighttide had been a trusted friend of Taz. They even invited her into their home, yet she was hiding something, she was not who she appeared to be.

Ana had almost gone ballistic when she heard the news. She wanted to tear the pegasus’s feathers out one at a time. Starlight suspected that had Nighttide been in the room at that moment, that event was exactly what would have occurred. It mattered not as it changed nothing, whatever Nighttide was up to; it was far, far too late to stop it.

She was gone, most likely with Taz.

While the others lamented that fact, Starlight found some comfort in it. Sure Nighttide might not be who she claimed to be and while it was true that Ana hated her as a potential rival for Taz’s heart, it could not be denied that Nighttide did love Taz. Starlight saw it every time that pegasus would look at him.

It was love; she knew that for a fact. Starlight suspected that if Taz ever got over his crush for Aurora, he might feel the same for her too. If Nighttide was with Taz – something Starlight put at ninety percent odds – then Taz was okay. She would never let anything happen to him.

Starlight was able to take some comfort in that.

Truly, the pony she felt bad about was Ana. Her sister was only going to get her heart broken. That train was travelling at full speed off the cliff with no way to stop it or even slow it down.

Ana’s love for Taz was doomed, not because he did not like her, but because he did not like her that way. The two of them had always been friends, but that is all they would ever be, just friends. Starlight could only hope that when the day finally came for Ana to confront that reality, she would be ready for it.

“Hey guys, I think we’re about there,” Blaze stated as he looked out the window. Starlight followed her sister to the side of the cabin to verify that yes; they were in fact there. The six of them would have to move carefully now that the sun was up. They knew it would not be long until Twilight and Rainbow found out they were gone from the palace. If they wanted to do this it had to be now.

…

Two pegasi sit on top of the train watching as the six young ponies disembarked. Ice and Fire grinned at each other as their prey so easily took their bait. Of course these six were not their actual prey as they were merely bait. Bait to keep others, more powerful prey busy.

Who that would be did not matter. The heroes of Equestria had many powerful defenders. Their job was to pull a few away from what would happen that day. They knew it would be a day that would change everything.

…………………………..


Whitetail Woods
Two hours before sunrise 


Shimmering Night felt sore, worn out, dehydrated, and wonderful all at the same time. Without even opening her eyes she could smell sweat and sex in the room. She smiled at that, Ataxia and she must have had a wild night last night. Although it would be nothing compared to what she did in her dream.

Ataxia fell asleep on top of her, that was a little abnormal, but she went with it. Wrapping her hooves around the mare, Night squeezed her tighter to her breast. Had she been in a different state of mind, she might have wondered why there were two different heat sources pressed up against both of her sides. Right now, with her mind in post-dream state, she did not give it a second thought.

“Morning love,” Night said with a smile as she felt her wife’s warmth against her, earning an unconscious ‘mm…’ from the mare in her hooves for her actions. Night rubbed her hooves down her wife’s primary feathers. Enjoying the feel of them in the morning.

‘Wait… feathers?’

Sleep left her; Night opened her eyes to a sight she never in a million years expected to see. Ataxia was not on top of her, her sister was. Her sister, Empress Princess Aurora Flash was laying on top of her. Aurora was snuggled into her sticky coat like a foal to her mother’s breast. Aurora’s fur was matted to her coat, her mane looked stuck to the side of her head, and her eyes were still glued shut. To make matters worse, two small movements to either side let her know that she was not alone.

A glance to her right and left conformed it. Ataxia and Icarus were both sleeping next to her. Based on the quick glances she got of them they were in the same state that Aurora was in. That could only mean one thing, one thing she really, really did not want to be true.

Night shut her eyes and opened them again; she repeated this action ten times. Hoping, praying that the vision would change, that the feeling of her well-used pussy, the sight of her sister sleeping on top of her, and her wife and brother-in-law on either side of her meant something other than what she knew it meant.

The dream came back, save it was anything but a dream. She had sex with all three of them last night. They rode her to orgasm after orgasm time and again. She had been licked and fucked by all three of them at one point in time or another.

Those memories made her disgusted and aroused in equal measure. She felt so dirty and so turned on all at the same time. Unfortunately, the former emotion won out.

“Get of me!” Night shouted as her magic took over, she teleported all three bodies off her and three hooves up in the air. They all landed with loud thuds as their bodies hit the ground.

“What the hell?” Ataxia rubbed her head.

“Night, Ataxia, what are you two…” Aurora looked around; her eyes went wide as the memories came back.

Icarus did not say a word, he knew better than to say anything at this point in time. Like his wife, his memories returned a few seconds after waking up; however, he also knew that saying something right now would only put his neck or something slightly more valuable out there to be chopped off.

When one gets drunk, their inhibitions are lowered. Things that seem like a good idea at the time are taken at face value. No regard for the consequences is made at the time. This should not be taken to mean that you do not know there are consequences, just that you do not care at that time that there are consequences. There is a saving grace though; you tend not to remember every detail of what you did. The alcohol obscures some of your memories.

This was not the case for these four. They remembered everything.

“Aurora, why did you…” Night tried to say something, anything that resembled something intelligent that did not imply what they did last night, what she did last night, having sex with her older sister.

“Night, I… I…” Aurora was equally lost for words. She had fucked her sister, her husband had fucked her sister, and it was all their doing.

“Aurora, you… you and Icarus,” Night pressed her hoof to her lower torso, feeling the slight pain of so much usage from her cooter. The contact was a mistake, while Aurora and Ataxia had given her a ‘bath’ after Icarus came on her, they did not get every spot. Her fur was matted a few inches above her slit. A left over ‘gift’ she would have to deal with.

Icarus suddenly felt very exposed without his spear. Night was a singular foe, if she took offence or made to get revenge, he would be in a world of danger. He glanced over to where it lay; sadly his spear’s location was on the other side of the room, next to Night. With his fight or flight instinct in full gear, he made to fly, or in this case, hide. He did the one thing he never thought he would do in his entire life; he hid behind his wife.

“If you three are done with this vocabulary lesson, let’s get something to eat,” Ataxia said with a yawn as she made for the kitchen.

Aurora and Night glared at her, she merely shrugged, “Well if you two are not hungry, how about you, Icarus?”

Icarus wished more than anything that his name was not spoken right then. However, the noise coming from his wife’s stomach answered the question for him, “Sure,” Aurora said as she moved to the kitchen with her husband in tow.

Night was again dumbfounded, “What. I. You can’t. I. Wait.”

“Night. Food. Yes or no?” Ataxia stated like it was just another day. It was almost as if Ataxia was saying: ‘That was a great family orgy last night, who’s hungry?’

In retrospect, Night figured that was EXACTLY what Ataxia was saying. Night hung her head when her stomach answered the question for her. She was indeed sticky, sweaty, disgusted with herself, and a little aroused by the memories. However, she was also hungry. It just took Ataxia’s mention of food for the last part to kick in.

They all ate in silence; only Ataxia would actually look at anypony or griffin as the case may be and none of them would meet her gaze for long. Finally she had enough, “Hey, relax alright!”

Night glared at her, “Ataxia, do you have any idea what we did?!”

“Duh, I was there, remember?”

“We all had sex together!”

“So?”

Night’s eyes went wide. She had no reply to that so she just glared daggers at her wife instead.

Ataxia rolled her eyes, “Alright, let’s break this down to its most simplistic. All four of us are adults. None of us were forced to do it against our will, what’s so wrong with last night?”

“Speak for yourself,” Night mumbled under her breath.

Ataxia rolled her eyes at that, “Night you were enjoying yourself more than any of us last night. I don’t want to hear it from you. You could ‘a stopped it any time you wanted too.”

“No I couldn’t! He was giving me a horn job!” Night shouted as she pointed a hoof at Icarus. As soon as the words left her mouth she blushed and tried to take them back with her hooves. She was far, far too late to achieve that feat.

Icarus looked down at his food at that. He really hated being the center of attention in all of this.

Ataxia had never heard anything hotter in all her life, she decided to push it further, “Night, you’re an alicorn for Luna’s sake, are you telling me you couldn’t push a single griffin off your horn long enough to do magic?”

“Well… I…”

“Thought so,” Ataxia said with a smirk, “Of course that still leaves one question, what the hell happened with you two?” Ataxia looked at Aurora and Icarus at that question.

“I just wanted to cheer up my sister,” Aurora practically mumbled the words.

“And your idea of cheering me up is to fuck my brains out?” Night looked at her, dumbfounded.

“I don’t know why, it seemed almost like ‘why not?’ Like it was just natural for me to want to you make you feel better,” Aurora said honestly, “Almost like there was no reason not to.”

“When she mentioned the idea to me, I thought the same. It just seemed like a good idea at the time with no down side,” Icarus added, thinking it was safe to talk now.

It was not.

“No down side?! You stick your dick in my wife and I, and you think there’s no downside!” Night shouted.

Ataxia really, really wished she had a recorder to catch her wife’s comments. Then it dawned on her, ‘Dayspring’s old recording spell!’ She cast the spell and egged the conversation on, “He even fucked me in the ass.”

Night glared at Ataxia, “Yeah, but that’s just you,” she turned back to Icarus, “Wait, you fucked me afterwards!”

“I licked him clean before…” Aurora almost gagged as she realized what that meant.

If there were a picture in the dictionary next to the phrase shit-eating grin, it would be of Ataxia’s face at that moment. Which was ironic as it would literally apply more to Aurora then her; however, this was getting out of hoof and quickly.

“Guys, enough!” Ataxia shouted. Both Aurora and Night turned to look at her, Icarus just wanted to be anywhere else right that second.

“And you!” Night started in on her wife, “What was your excuse in all of this?!”

“My excuse? Have you met me?” Ataxia just glared at Night. Just this one time Night looked away. It was a stupid thing to say.

Night thought with a groan, ‘Of course she’d just jump in on something like this’.

“What’s done is done, even if we wish we could take back some of what was done,” Aurora said with a gag, “We can’t change the past. All we can do is decide here and now what we will do in the future.”

“How are you so cool with it?” Night asked. She did not feel like her sister at all.

“Once you’ve been in a bukkake, something like this is not that big a deal,” Aurora said before blushing. She had never meant to tell anyone that.

Night’s eyes went wide, Icarus almost choked, and Ataxia looked like she wanted to give her a high five, “Aurora, you dog.”

“Pinkie promise me now that none of you will speak a word of that to anyone!” Aurora shouted.

“How about we promise each other that nothing said or done here today will ever make it out outside these four walls,” Night added. Two nodding muzzles singled their agreement, “Ataxia, you promise?”

Ataxia sighed, “Fine, only if Aurora promises to eventually tell me that story.”

“Why do you want to hear a story of my sister covered in cum?” Night asked before she remembered just whom she was talking to, “Never mind, I already know the answer.”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” all four of them said at the same time.

“So, are we all good?” Ataxia asked hopefully.

“I don’t know about good,” Night looked around, blushing as her gaze met her sister’s, “I think we can put this behind us though.”

“Speaking of behind,” Ataxia said, she could not-not poke the bear on this one, “I need a shower, who’s up for one?”

“We all need a shower, INDIVIDUAL showers,” Night started with a snarl as she snapped the tethers connecting the pairs together, eliminating any hope of anything else happening today.

Ataxia got up and grunted something along the lines of ‘You’re no fun’ as she made for the upstairs bedroom.

When Night heard the shower come on, she turned to Icarus. “There’s another shower downstairs you can make use of.”

The griffin left without issue, he could read the writing on the wall clear as day. The sisters needed to talk.

“Ok, it’s just us,” Aurora said as her hearing picked up the second showerhead turning on.

“Rainbow and Twilight can never know about this!” Night pleaded with her.

“That was our arrangement.”

“They can never, never know.”

“Night, what are you getting at?”

“Icarus didn’t use protection.”

“It wasn’t high on our list of priorities last night.”

“I’m in heat.”

Aurora’s jaw hit the table as the realization kicked in. Icarus may not have cum in her, but she could still get pregnant. There was more than enough pre-cum released during sex to achieve that result. Part of her had wondered why Night went along with it so easy. It must have been early in her cycle too for no one to notice before now.

“Are you?”

“I don’t know; it’s too early to tell.”

Her worry made sense, Rainbow and Twilight could never know, but how would they explain it if Night gave birth to a hippogriff? That would be a pretty big giveaway. They knew the ‘orgy’ excuse did not actually work the first time, never mind now that it was kind ‘a true.

“You should tell Ataxia,” Aurora said with all seriousness.

“How can I-”

“Night, your wife loves you, she loves everything about you. She won’t care. You know what she told me last night when I asked her if she was okay with you getting fucked by Icarus? She told me that, to her, the best thing is the look of ecstasy on your face when you cum.”

“How about you?” Night cut off her sister’s platitudes, “How do you feel knowing your husband may have fathered another foal with your sister?”

Aurora looked down at the table at that. She thought about it, really thought about it, “Well, if it had to be with somepony else, I could think of worse circumstances. Although we might be over thinking things here; trust me, if it were easy for a griffin to knock up a pony I’d have like fifty foals by now.”

“it doesn’t take much?”

“Not often. I’ve been told we’ve gotten lucky, in almost twenty years I’ve been knocked up three times. So maybe you don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Yeah, and maybe pigs will fly. You forget our parents are two mares that had four kids of their own. I’ll be lucky to not have twins,” Night said as she buried her head in her hooves, crying.

Aurora got up, groaning a little as her insides adjusted to the sudden movement. She was sticky and sweaty, but none of that mattered to her. She flew over and sat next to her sister; wrapping her up in a hug as she let her cry out into her chest. “It’s ok,” Aurora cooed softly, “Even if you are pregnant, we’ll deal with it together.”

“Really?” Night sniffled.

“Hey,” Aurora raised her muzzle so she could look her sister in the eye, “You’re my little sister; whatever may happen, that will never change,” she lightly brushed a rogue hair away from Night’s face

Both sisters smiled at each other before a voice interrupted, “You two gonna kiss and makeup?” Ataxia asked, hopefully.

Night chucked a plate at her wife. Ataxia dodged the first one but not the second. She ended up with a plate full of pancake syrup in her mane, “Night! Dammit, now I gotta take another shower.”

“I’ll join you,” Night said with one final smile at her sister.

“Really?” Ataxia asked.

“Yeah, I gotta tell you something anyway.”

Aurora watched them go upstairs, “You really do have one great wife there Night. Treat her good,” she said to nopony in particular before her hoof caught in a portion of her matted fur. That made her think of the other shower in this ‘tent’. Or more specifically, the other occupant in the tent.

“Oh, Iccccaaarrrruuussss,” Aurora called out in a sing-song voice as she went to join her husband in the shower. It did not matter that it was not an oversize shower; they would make it work.

Aurora would be the first pony to say things had not gone to plan, but she would not say things went bad. Their visit had been rather fun after all, eventful, but fun.

If Aurora was being honest with herself, she would not be opposed to doing it again someday. She even suspected that Night might be open to it too, albeit with protection this time around.

……………………………….


Celesta’s Palace


Twilight was surprised to see a griffin and a pegasus flying towards the palace when she raised the sun, “Hey Rainbow, Aurora and Icarus are back!”

“Already? I’d figured they’d spend a little longer than that with Night,” Rainbow flew up to get a better look, sure enough Icarus and Aurora were returning.

She flew out and guided the two back in, not so much because they might get lost, but simply so she could bug her daughter that much longer, “So… how’s Night? You four have a fun time? Did ya, did ya?”

Aurora grounded inwardly, it was almost as if she knew. When she landed in the palace, she finally answered, “Well, it was eventful. I’ll say that much.”

Icarus smiled at that, but said nothing. He left the three mares to catch up as he went to check on his kids. Twilight noted with some dismay that their tether was no longer connected. However, she did not say anything of it. Aurora would fill them in on what had happened with that during her conversation, whether she wanted to or not.

When Icarus turned the corner he noted with some dismay that he was being followed. It meant someone was either trying something against him, or one of the Shadow Knights was being sloppy. With the amount of training he put them through he hoped for the former.

After three more steps, he knew it to be the latter. No one would be this obvious if they were really trying something. He closed his eyes and sighed inwardly, “You can come out now.”

When he opened his eyes a pitch-black griffin was standing in front of him, “I know you’re trained better than that,” Icarus said with a snarl.

“Indeed, emperor. I’ve only revealed myself to give you notice about something that happened last night.”

“You saw that,” Icarus suddenly regretted his decision to throw privacy to the wind. He wrote it off, it was too late now, “What about it?”

“There was a message left in the dirt after you were finished.”

“A message?”

“Three words emperor, I erased them just in case it was part of a spell, but you should know what they said.”

“And?”

“Key of Ages.”

“Thank you, you may go,” in the blink of an eye, the Shadow Knight was gone back into his enteral watch over the protection of the royal family. Icarus paused as he thought about those three words. ‘I know I’ve heard of the Key of Ages before, but where?’

He shook his head and went back to the smartest mare he knew, “Hey Twilight!” Icarus called out from across the room. The alicorn looked away from her daughter and to the griffin.

“Yes, Icarus?”

He flew the rest of the way as to not shout out the next part, “Have you heard of the ‘Key of Ages’ before?”

“Key of Ages?” Twilight thought about it, “It’s a legendary key said to open the gateway to the sands of time. Why do you ask?” When she started dealing with Gods, Twilight took to learning everything she could about the ancient times. What was the real trick was sifting through what was a real legend or what was fiction.

“My guards just told me it was left in the ground outside our tent last night.”

Aurora’s eyes got wide at that. She shook her head as to tell her husband not to go there. Icarus just nodded his understanding not to go into ‘that’ event. However, while Rainbow noticed that, it was Twilight’s expression that really got her worried, “Twi,” Rainbow asked, “What do the Sands do?”

“Well, and this is just the legends mind you, it’s the physical representation of time. If you could influence the sands you can control time,” her eyes got wide, “You don’t think?”

Icarus shook his head, “I honestly don’t know. You know everything I do.”

“Wait, what guards?” Aurora asked.

Icarus looked at her, “I’ll tell you about them later.”

“If somepony left this hint for us… wait, it was left in the dirt?” Rainbow asked the emperor.

“Yes, the guards said they found it after we fell asleep.”

“The guards watched us last night?!” Aurora’s eyes got wider.

“They wouldn’t be much good as guards if they didn’t,” Icarus said matter-of-factly.

“What happened last night?” Rainbow asked.

“Nothing!” Icarus and Aurora said at the same time. Rainbow grinned at that, but said nothing.

“Wait, could it have been Taz?” Twilight asked.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow questioned.

“You said it was undiscovered until it was already left?” Icarus nodded at Twilight’s question, “Only Taz can pass undiscovered like that. What if… what if he found out something’s going on. What if he left that message for us?”

“Maybe that’s where he is?” Aurora asked.

“Where is the key?”

“That’s the thing, Icarus. The key is in… if the legends are true, it’s in a place that doesn’t exist anymore: Tartarus.”

“Wait… does it?” Rainbow asked.

“What do you mean, Rainbow?” Twilight asked.

“We know Tartarus was killed, the body he used was killed. What happened to the actual place? I always kinda wanted to know just where the escapes were coming from. Were they all simply teleported out of Tartarus when he died, or where they escaping from it? What if his death just threw open the doors?”

“If that’s true, Dash, than the key still exists.”

“Wait, are you two suggesting that we trek through Hades to get to a place that may or may not still exist to get to a key that may or may not even be there to keep it from someone that may or may not want it?” Aurora asked.

“Well, when you put it like that,” Rainbow rolled her eyes.

“If there’s a chance that Taz is involved, and he left us this message, we’ll go,” Twilight spoke with conviction. It had been three months; she wanted her son back.

“Hey Twilight, have you seen the kids?!” Cadance shouted from across the room. Twilight, Rainbow, Icarus, and Aurora all turned to look at the newcomers.

“What do you mean?” Icarus said with a knout in his stomach. This was news he did not want right now.

“We went to check on the twins. Flash is not in his room, neither is Blaze or any of the others,” Radiant said.

“They haven’t been asleep either,” Luna teleported into the room, “I’ve looked all over, apparently they purchased a train ticket to the Crystal Empire last night.

“Horseapples, we don’t need this right now,” Rainbow said.

“We’ll go get them. They’ve got to have a reason why they left like that,” Aurora said as she looked at Icarus, he just nodded back. She had a sickening feeling that her daughter was up to something.

“Everyone else, we may have a clue as to where Taz is. I won’t ask you to come with me bu-”

“You don’t have to ask us to come with, Twilight. We’re going,” Cadance said with a smile. Radiant and Luna nodded in agreement.

“The five of us will go see about this key,” Rainbow said.

“Seven,” Twilight corrected.

“Seven?”

Twilight nodded, “Let’s go pick up Night and Ataxia too. We’ll do this as a family.”

Twilight teleported the five of them to her youngest daughter’s location while Icarus and Aurora took flight to the Crystal Empire. They did not know what they were getting into but for the first time in three months, they had something resembling a plan.

Sadly, no plan survives contact with the enemy. It was a lesson they have learned the hard way over the years.
> Ambush
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Crystal Empire


Fire turned to his brother as they watched the foals depart the train. It shocked them when they did not turn to move into the empire; rather, the six friends started walking around the empire towards the northern edge.

“What do you suppose that’s about?” Fire asked.

“They probably want to avoid being seen. The two pegasi are from here, you know.”

“This is a problem. The others won’t know where they went.”

“Less of one than you might think,” Ice gestured to a few ponies eyeing the six suspiciously. As Ice said, the pegasi were the princes of the Crystal Empire and Cloudsdale. With the loss of its commander, most of Cloudsdale was still mourning. Needless to say, Blaze and Flash would attract attention anywhere they went near this area.

“Indeed. Let’s get everything ready,” Fire said with a smile before taking off. It would not due for the foals to be lost in the frozen north. Their orders had been quite clear that they were nothing more than a division. That nopony or hippogriff was to die from this and after the two months it took to get into Canterlot in the first place, neither of them was eager to screw it up now.

…

“Wow…. It’s so crystally!” Dayspring shouted as he kept trying to run towards the crystal structures at the heart of the empire. His eyes twinkled with the reflection of the Crystal Palace in the center.

Blaze found the oddest expression on his face as he watch the little hippogriff get yanked back by the tether every time he would get too far away from his sister. He actually found himself smiling.

Vela hated it. She wanted to go into town and show little Dayspring everything he wanted to go see. To show him all the sights and sounds, the new food, and the crystal ponies themselves. It was cruel to show him something like this and not let him see them up close.

It had been Starlight’s insistence that they go around the town. Blaze and Flash would simply attract too much attention. Not that the rest of them would get away scot free either. They were all famous for who they were related too, for who they were, and the titles they held.

‘We all live under quite the large shadow’, Vela thought as she was left with little choice but to watch her little brother get pulled back onto his flank yet again. Any other time she would have said ‘buck it’ and just gone with him anyway. However, it was Dayspring’s laughter every time it would happen that caused her not too. The little hippogriff was enjoying himself.

And if she was being honest, she found it funny too.

“So where exactly are we going?” Blaze turned to Ana.

“The pegasi at the shop said they lost the ability to fly over the border to the frozen north. We need to go there and start looking.”

“Ana, the border to the frozen north is huge, I’ve seen it, do you have any plans to narrow it down?”

Ana stopped and glared at him with the look one reserves for someone who merely finds fault with everything they can while offering no solutions of their own. Blaze’s eyes went wide as he flew down to hide behind his brother, who thankfully was walking by himself now. 

“Flash, she’s going to hurt me!”

“Leave me alone.”

Everypony stopped when they heard him speak. It had been his first words since they started this whole journey.

“Flash, did you just?” Starlight looked at him. He simply glared back. Which in and of itself was something to celebrate. It had been too long since he had anything other than a deadpan expression on his face.

She would take what she could get; even anger was a welcome change in his behavior.
Ana did not read the subtext as well as her sister did. She leaped on the pegasus and rolled him over in the dirt. A shout of, “He speaks!” accompanied her joyous outburst.

Her face quickly became friends with his hoof as he kicked her square in the jaw, “Get off me!” Flash shouted as loud as he could.

Ana rolled off and rubbed her sore muzzle, “Flash, I-”

“Don’t touch me,” Flash glared at her.

In an ironic turn of events, Vela jumped between them, “That’s enough from you, Flash. What the buck is wrong with you?! How could you hit her like that?!”

Flash was only able to meet her gaze for a few seconds before he turned away, “Leave me alone,” he said under his breath.

“No,” Vela stated.

Flash glared at her again, this time he held her gaze.

Vela walked up to him, “You’ve always been the first to jump to a pony’s defense. You’re the one that stands up for what’s right, the one that’s always there for anypony that needed him. Yet now you act like you don’t care; you act like others don’t matter, that nothing matters. Why?!”

“’Cause my mom’s dead!” Flash yelled, his entire body was shaking with rage, “She’s dead and nothing will bring her back! Anypony, any of us can die at any time, we can just go, just like that,” he was crying now.

Flash lowered his head to stare at the ground, “We don’t matter ‘cause we can just die at any time. Why… why should I care about somepony, why should I go through that hurt again if they can just die? If they can leave me like that at any time,” his sobbing grew louder at that. Blaze soon followed his brother in crying.

Vela sighed; she walked up to the pegasus, he would not even raise his head to look at her anymore. With one claw she picked him up and brought him in for a bear hug. He bawled at that. All the pain, the hurt, and the anguish he had felt over the last three months, all of it. It all came back at that one moment. 

Vela lightly stroked his mane as she held him in her grasp, “She didn’t leave you,” Vela cooed softly as she stroked his fur.

“Yeah she did,” Flash sobbed.

“No, she didn’t. Your mom was taken from you, taken in the worst way imaginable. It wasn’t her choice to go; she would never choose to leave you, either of you. Someone did this to her, to you.”

Flash could no longer speak, not in any way that might come across as coherent, so he did not try. He merely sobbed and cried out into Vela’s fur. Every part of him needed this, it needed this release, to vent the pain, rage, and anguish he physically felt.

Over the past three months he had tried to keep it in, tried to numb himself to the world around him. He had tried to push everypony away to keep himself from feeling that hurt. It was all for naught, they were fake walls that hid very real, very painful feelings. Feelings he did not know how to deal with, feelings nopony knew how to deal with. 

The pain of loss hits everyone differently. There is no checklist of actions to take to make it go away, because, well, it never does.

Some pain is always there, regardless how old you get or how much time passes.

His first awareness of something else happening in the world was when he felt a little claw grab his hoof and start tugging on it. Using his other hoof to wipe away the tears from his eyes Flash looked down at the small hippogriff that was trying to get his attention.

Dayspring looked up at him with pure innocence in his eyes, “You wanna share my mom?” he asked.

Everypony’s eyes went wide at that. Flash looked down at the little hippogriff with his mouth agape, “What?” he managed to say through his sobs.

“Well… your mom was taken from you and everyone should have a mom to tuck them in at night and read them bedtime stories. So we could share... if you want,” Dayspring said the words like he was offering to share his teacup.

“I… I… I…” Flash was at a loss of words.

“Mine too,” Ana said as she walked forward and placed a hoof on little Dayspring’s shoulder, “He’s right, everyone should have a mom. You can share…  you both can share mine.”

“Ours,” Starlight corrected as she wiped a tear from her eye, “We’re all one big family anyway, there’s no reason we shouldn’t act like it.”

Vela let go of Flash and stood by Starlight and Ana. Blaze flew over and landed next to his brother, “You guys mean it?” he asked.

“Of course,” Vela said as she picked up her younger brother and placed him on her back, “You’re both family. We stand and fall together.”

“Thank you,” Flash started crying again, albeit for a very different reason, “Thank you all so much.”

They all gathered together for a group hug after that. One held for quite some time as not one of them wanted to let go of any of the others. In the end it was Ana that brought them back to the reality of the situation, “We’re not done yet guys,” she said.

“You’re right,” Flash replied as the group broke apart, “There’s still one of us missing. Come on, let’s bring him home.”

“We’re going to get Baz back?” Dayspring asked.

“Taz,” Ana corrected him as she playfully ran a hoof over his head.

“Do we have any idea how yet?” Blaze asked as he hugged his brother tighter.

“Same way they found him in the first place,” Ana said with a smile, “We look for where we can’t use our magic.”

“Magic?” Dayspring asked her inquisitively.

“We all have magic, Dayspring. It’s what enables you, your sister, Blaze, and Flash to fly,” Starlight said as she brought her muzzle close to his.

“And your horn,” Dayspring poked at it with a claw.

“Yep, my sister and I can channel magic in our horns. Ours might be a little more obvious than yours but that doesn’t make your magic any less impressive.”

Dayspring flapped his wings excitedly at that, “Sis, did you know I had magic?!”

She grabbed him from off her back and snuggled him, “You are magic, little brother.”

“I’m magic?!” Dayspring said with wide eyes.

Ana, Blaze, Flash, Vela, and Starlight all chuckled at that, “Yes, yes you are,” Starlight confirmed without a doubt in her heart. One so cute and innocent could be nothing else in her mind. Even if it was not a literal statement there was no doubt in her mind that it was still true.

The mood changed after that. Gone was the oppressiveness from the twins, the fear and self-loathing that Vela felt about bringing Dayspring here (even if she never gave voice to that fact), and the worry and concern of Ana and Starlight.

Somehow, the little hippogriff that by all rights should have stayed home brought them all together by reminding them what was really important in life: Family.

It was a feeling that did not last when they reached their destination, “Wow,” was all Ana could say when she took a glance at the wall of ice that signified the border to the frozen north.

It stood hundreds of hooves tall in places, ice as blue as the mountain lakes that glistened in the sunlight. In several places where trails that led to ready-made paths to the north. Trails that were maintained by the ponies that made their living up here.

Of course, how they managed to do that was anypony’s guess. Although Starlight was sure that powerful magic was definitely in use here.

“Isn’t this where grandma said King Sombra was sealed away?” Ana whispered the question to her sister. Starlight just nodded discreetly.

“What now?” Vela asked, “Do we just fly over and wait until we find a spot where we fall out of the sky?”

“Umm, yes,” Ana said meekly.

“You’re joking, right?” Vela looked at her, “Please, for the love of Luna, tell me you’re joking. Tell me that’s not your plan.”

Ana looked up and stared her in the eye, “If you got a better idea I’m all ears. That was the one and only clue we have had for all of this. The pegasi encountered an area while flying up north where one of them fell out of the sky, and only Taz has the power to make something like that happen.”

“This is… this is so stupid.” Vela sighed.

“C’mon sis, let’s find Taz!” Dayspring said excitably as he grabbed ahold of the feathers on her back.

“Looks like you’ve been outvoted,” Starlight said as she blew the hippogriff a raspberry.

“Oh shut up.”

“Stay close to the ice when you’re flying. That way if you do fall out of the sky you won’t get hurt,” Flash took the lead, “Vela and Dayspring, you two take the west side. Blaze and I will take the east. Starlight and Ana, you two take directly ahead of us. Teleport around and look for places where you cannot cast spells any longer.”

“Well, look who’s back,” Ana said as she winked at him.

“Do not overdo it,” Flash ignored her playful behavior and got serious, “We have no idea what’s going on and I do not want anypony getting hurt.”

Vela and Starlight looked at him, impressed. It was indeed a good plan. Twilight’s tether would prevent the groups from separating further and any real exertion might cause problems if something did go bad. They nodded their approval.

It was a good plan, too bad it was all for naught.

“What the buck!” A shout came from the north. Every head snapped in its direction. They all watched as a dark-red pegasus suddenly dropped several hooves in the air. From the looks of things the pegasus simply lost the ability to stay in flight.

He spread his wings as wide as he could. While a pegasus’s wings were not sufficient in size to achieve lift, he was able to catch the wind and glide forward enough to escape whatever had caused him to lose the ability to fly. After a few heart-wrenching moments, he flapped his wings again and started regaining altitude.

“Or he’s right over there,” Flash said, everypony and hippogriff nodded in agreement.
“It was a good plan,” Vela tried to encourage him.

Flash nodded, “It doesn’t matter; the point was to find him, now we have.”

“Very grown up,” Starlight replied as she ran a hoof through his light blue hair.

“Thanks,” Flash said.

…………………………………….


???????????????????????????


Taz followed Red out the portal, noting with some distain just how quickly it closed up on him. He had to yank his tail out of the way to prevent it from being cut short, “You don’t have to be an ass, Red,” Taz snarled at the unicorn.

“Hmm? Oh, sorry about that,” Red said with a smile as he looked back, “I’m sure you’ll want to be calling it a night?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Taz replied as he started walking away. They both knew just what he was going to do before he fell asleep that night. He could not hide that fact if he wanted too. His member was almost touching the floor after seeing that display.

For some unknown reason, every time he tried to clear his head, to think about anything at all other then what he just saw, his mind went back to it. Beyond the few times he had walked in on his moms when he was younger, he had never seen anything like that in person. This was not that, that… that did nothing for him. This was something else; this was almost like a primal needed that his body was begging him to fill.

‘Maybe it’s just puberty?’ he asked himself.

He couldn’t think of an answer. His mind filled in the empty gap with images of Ataxia being rutted by Icarus. He pictured Aurora riding on top of Night. He saw Icarus fucking both his sisters at the same time. He saw himself riding on top of Nighttide.

‘Wait… that didn’t happen.’

He closed his eyes and refocused his thoughts on what did happen. Every time he did the image started off correct. It would be those very same ponies in the same crude acts that he witnessed first hoof. Then the oddest thing would happen. They would no longer be there, they would change, the pony on the receiving end would become Nighttide; the pony giving would become him.

He was bucking Nighttide. He was getting a rim job from her. He was kissing her, he was making out with her. She was sucking him off. Every image, every act became him and her. It was maddening. He had never, never thought about her like this before today.

He could not-not think about it. The thoughts and ideas became him. He stopped being able to picture the event as it went down and could only picture the changed ones. He could only imagine himself in that very same situation he watched Aurora, Ataxia, Icarus, and Night in but changed with him and her.

He walked head first into another pony.

“Hey, watch it!”  Taz yelled as he fell back on his flank and started rubbing his head.

“Sorry,” a sweet voice said back to him.

A lump formed in his throat as he heard that voice. He stopped rubbing his forehead and looked up. It was as if fate itself just played its hand. He had walked right into the very pony he had been thinking about, been fantasizing about.

Nighttide slowly got to her hooves after Taz’s head had collided with her side. She glanced over in his direction and her face immediately went red as she noticed that ‘little’ Taz standing at full mast. She quickly looked away, “I’m sorry,” she said again as she made to leave.

“Nighttide,” Taz saying her name froze her in her tracks. It had been two weeks since she had last heard him call it out. Now, now hearing him say her name was almost as if he had used his talent to take away her ability to walk. She could not move from the spot even if she wanted too, and honestly, she did not. 

She also could not look directly at him, not with him in his current position anyway.

“I… I…” Taz did not even notice what he was showing off. Seeing her here and now caused his mind to go blank. All the poor stallion felt was that primal need deep in his gut. He wanted to take her and make her his. He wanted her, he needed her. It became all-consuming in his mind.

Despite herself, Nighttide kept stealing glances, “Taz, you may want to…” she motioned her hoof down to his lower extremities.

Taz’s gaze followed her hoof. He cringed when he saw what she was talking about. His member was at full mast with no small amount of precum coating the tip, “I gotta go!” Taz shouted as he ran past her to his room. Embarrassment about being so revealed in front of her overrode his mind. Embarrassment and something else, something he could not fully describe. It was something that just made the whole situation that much more… more exciting.

It would be a long night for the poor colt. Oddly, whenever he would take care of his recurring problem, his thoughts turned not to the sex act he watched that night, but to Nighttide and the rather cute blush on her face.

For Nighttide’s part, when she watched him run off, she could not help but feel a wetness both between her legs and from her lips. Wiping her mouth clean she noticed with some distain that there was blood in it. She had bit her lip so hard it was bleeding.

She debated, and not for the first time, of following Taz to his room. However, she did not. It would have been lust, not love. He would have only hated her in the morning. That was something she could not deal with.

She loved him, she wanted him, she needed him in every definition of the world, but she would not simply take him. Not like that. It was meaningless unless he felt the same. She would not blow her chance with the stallion on a meaningless one night stand.

Even if she was sure that she would rock his world.

There was just one small problem with her plan to leave him be for the night. Her room was right next to his.

After being awake for an hour listening to the more than occasional ‘thump, thump, thump,’ from his bed hitting the wall, Nighttide could not take it anymore. She got up and walked out of her room to his. “Taz, I’m coming in!” Nighttide shouted. She knew what to expect and was not disappointed when she walked into his room.

Taz quickly threw a blanket over himself when she walked in on him, “What are you doing!” he shouted in embarrassment. Despite her warning she gave him no time to cover up.

Nighttide smiled as warmly as she could, “Relax, I know what you were doing, my room is right next to your’s. I know every time you do it.”

Taz had a black coat but you would not know it now. His face was beet red at that, “What… what do you want?”

Nighttide walked over and jumped up on his bed, “I know what my dad showed you. I’m… I’m sorry you had to go through that… through this.”

“Nighttide, I-”

“No, I’m not just referring to what happened today, I mean all of this, Dayspring as well. I… we wanted to help you; we wanted to take you from here. I… I’m sorry.”

He placed a hoof on her shoulder when he saw that she was crying, “It’s ok,” Taz said.

“No it’s not; you shouldn’t have seen that, it was wrong. I know… I know you’re a good stallion Taz. That… that was evil of him.”

“Hey, I don’t blame you for it,” Taz realized something when he said those words, he really did not. Nighttide might have lied to him all this time, she might have been ordered to make him love her, but she was still his friend, possibly more.

“I… I still want to help you.”

“Help me?” Taz asked, his question was answered as he felt Nighttide’s hoof move up the sheets, when her hoof ran over the sheets that did a rather poor job of hiding his throbbing member, he felt a pleasure that he had never experienced before. It was as if a spark traveled up and down his spine at the smallest touch, sending jolts of pleasure to every part of his brain. His mind instantly knew what she was referring to; he jumped back at that realization, “No need for that!” he pulled more and more blankets to cover himself up.

She paused, unsure what he meant.

“You don’t have to do that, Nighttide,” Taz said again when she made to restart.

“I want to, it’s the least I can do for you,” Nighttide said with a sad smile. After everything he had been through, everything she put him through, it was the least she could do for him. She owed him that much.

“Yeah, but I don’t want you to.”

If there was one phrase that could break her heart at that moment, it was the one he had just said. “You… you don’t?”

He noticed that she took it in the worst way possible, “It’s not that I don’t want you to, it’s that I don’t want you to right now,” Taz clarified, “Too much has happened today, I don’t want you to be mixed in with all of this.”

She looked at him, confused.

“I’d want it to be something I want to remember, not something mixed in with memories of seeing my sisters fuck like bunnies,” Taz looked down at that. He suddenly felt dirty for lack of a better term, “If… when we do something, I… I want it to be something memorable, in a good way.”

“Oh, you want me to leave then,” Nighttide said as she noted all the used tissues on the other side of his bed.

“Well… would you mind if we just talk for a while?” Taz asked.

“I’d love too,” Nighttide said as she wiped a tear from her eye. Despite what he said, she reached over and wrapped the stallion in a hug. It was one he was self-conscious about as little Taz was still at full mast, but he quickly started returning her hug.

She smiled as she felt it, Nighttide new, deep down in her heart, that there would come a day she would know everything there was to know about the stallion, including that, however, that day could wait. Right now, she was happy just to be talking to him again.

And talk they did. For an hour the two of them spent chatting away like the old friends they were on his bed. Talking about absolutely nothing and everything at the exact same time. It was in that conversation that Taz finally found the relief he had been craving for that night. Their conversation was only interrupted when a loud bang came from outside of the castle.

“What in the world?!” They both shouted as the same time.

They got up to see what had happened, or as the case may be, to see who had just arrived in Tartarus.

….


The Frozen North


The six friends ran as fast as they could towards the direction the pegasus had fallen out of the sky. When they approached they found exactly what they had expected. In the wall of ice was a cave that led down, leading to a deep chasm that they knew would led to a place a pony might hide, that one might be able to escape detection.

A place Taz could have easily hidden.

“It’s dark,” Dayspring said as he looked down the hole.

“You’re not afraid of the dark are you?” Blaze asked as he playfully crouched low.

Dayspring shook his head, “No, just saying.”

“I’ll light it for us,” Ana said with a smile. Before she could even try Flash interrupted.

“It won’t work, Taz cancels magic, remember?”

“Oh, yeah, right,” Ana said sheepishly.

“C’mon guys, let’s get our friend back,” Starlight said as she led the way.

“Actually, why don’t you let Blaze and I lead the way,” Flash said.

“Yeah, we’ll do it!” Blaze chipped in.

“You guys coming or what?!” Ana shouted from in the hole, “We don’t have time for some dumb chivalrous attitude.”

“Try and do something nice!” Flash yelled as he ran after her. In retrospect, he should have guessed that she would not wait for them. This was the end of the journey for her. After three months they would finally get Taz back.

The others followed suit. Ana leading the way as she went deeper and deeper in the cave. The further in they went the darker it got. The darkness forced the party to slow down as they could no longer safely move at any real speed for fear of running into a wall.

It was wrong, very wrong, and they all knew it, “Guys, if Taz has been living down here, how does he see?” Starlight gulped as she asked the obvious question.

“TAZ!!!!” Ana called out, removing any pretense of stealth.

“Ahh, she misses her friend that much.”

“Blaze, shut up,” Flash said.

“Um, I didn’t say anything.”

“Then who was that?” Ana asked. She had a bad feeling about this, one that she could no longer deny.

“Six little foals, walking alone. One of them cries out for their amore and none are seen again,” a sing-song voice called out from the shadows.

Starlight suddenly knew two horrible truths: Taz was not here and they were not alone. She verified them both with her next actions. Charging up her horn, she lit up the entire cave.

It was the splash of water they all needed. They were indeed in the middle of a cave of ice and not alone. At the other side of the cave a shadow moved across the ground until it coalesced into a physical form.

One Ana and Starlight recognized. It was the blue pegasus from the shop in Canterlot.

“You!” Ana shouted.

“Me,” Ice replied with a smile, “You were so, so desperate to get your friend back that you came here all by yourself. I thank you for that. Foals like you make my job so easy,” he said maliciously as he approached the group, one step at a time.

All three tethers snapped at once. A clear indication that their lives were in danger. “Run,” Flash shouted as he jumped between the group and this pony.

“There’s nowhere to run to,” a second voice called out from the cave entrance.

Ana looked back and saw a dark red pegasus walking down to them. 

The same one that was with the other in Canterlot.

The same one that ‘lost’ control of his flight not ten minutes ago.

They had walked right into a trap.
> Crossing the Threshold (C)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Whitetail Woods


Shimmering Night opened the door to her bedroom. She could already hear the shower going in the bathroom. ‘No doubt Ataxia is going for another record’, she thought with a smile. The mare had her father’s habit of using up all the hot water that was available.

She slipped quietly into the bathroom and smiled upon seeing her wife in the shower. Ataxia seemed to be enjoying herself. The mare had her muzzle held up to the showerhead with a smile on her face. Water was dripping down her body and off her coat. Her magic held up a loofa that was working in and out of her nethers. No doubt it was something else that she was enjoying.

Oddly, Night found herself a little jealous of said loofa. She frowned upon seeing what Ataxia was doing with it. With a devious smile, Night entered the shower and teleported the loofa to the moon at the same time.

“Hey!” Ataxia complained, her first awareness was the lack of something scrubbing her pussy clean, and the missing feeling of enjoyment that came with it.

“That’s my job,” Night said matter-of-factly when she stepped into the shower.

Ataxia turned and grinned at her, “Well then, better get to work.”

Shimmering Night smiled as she looked around. With her magic she levitated several bottles of shampoo up and squirted them out on her wife’s coat. Using her hooves she began massaging her wife’s shoulder blades, paying close attention to the joints and tense muscles that surrounded them.

Ataxia collapsed onto her flank at that. She always loved her wife’s massages. The tender way her hoof caressed all the right spots. The feeling of her lover caressing her fur and moving up and down her back was just… just bliss. She closed her eyes and purred like a kitten as her wife’s hooves moved down her flank and to her cutie mark.

Shimmering Night smiled, it mattered not that she was only giving pleasure right now. Her happiness came from seeing her wife happy. She reached under her wife’s flank and gently started to wash her breasts. Caressing each nub as she did so.

Ataxia rolled over to give her wife better access. In all reality she was more than clean, but this was not about washing up. This was about their connection to each other, showing each other that they were trusted and loved beyond a shadow of a doubt.

When Night started lightly going over Ataxia’s nipples, she said, “I remember how much you enjoyed breastfeeding Ana and Starlight.”

That was the wrong thing to say, Ataxia’s face grimaced at that, “Did you have to remind me of her?”

Night’s eyes went wide as she stopped her ministrations, “Oh, sorry I didn’t want too...”

“It’s ok,” Ataxia said with a sad smile. That had been the hardest part of this ‘banishment’; Ataxia missed her daughter so much at times that it hurt. She would still write to her, but it was not the same. She wanted to pick Ana up and never let her go.

Both of them missed their daughters, but Ataxia and Ana had a special connection, one that went beyond the normal. One that was broken apart by this punishment. Several times over the past few months Night would catch Ataxia crying. She would tell Ataxia to go see her and each time Ataxia would refuse.

Ataxia’s reply still held a special place in Night’s heart: “I love our foals more than I thought possible, but they’re not the most important ponies in my life, you are.”

Night felt the same. She smiled again as her hoof moved lower on Ataxia’s extremities, past the rock hard nipples and to her mound, where slowly, ever so slowly, she began rubbing. Up and down, up and down her hoof moved with the tender caress and experience of somepony that knew what she was doing.

Up and down, up and down.

She leaned her muzzle down and took her wife in a kiss. When she pulled back Night smiled as she saw the look on her wife’s face. The look on Ataxia’s face was one of purest trust and love, it was the look of somepony that truly loved her. Under the shower head, with the water hitting Ataxia at just the right angle, Night swore she had never seen anything more beautiful in her life.

Up and down, up and down.

Ataxia closed her eyes as her wife’s hoof continued slowly rubbing her to orgasm. Up and down, up and down; it never stopped, never slowed down. It just felt… it felt right; it was so different than doing it herself.

Up and down, up and down.

Knowing that it was somepony else, that someone else loved her enough to give her pleasure without any thought of their own; it was a bliss like no other.

Up and down, up and down.

Soon Ataxia felt that all too familiar feeling building up to a crescendo inside of her. She closed her eyes and road out the wave of pleasure that accosted her body.

Up and down, up and down.

Ataxia’s sudden intake of breath and vibrations let Night know what was happening even before she felt the squirt come from her wife’s pussy. She smiled as she continued rubbing her wife. Even now, with the job done, she did not give up.

Up and down, up and down.

Ataxia continued riding the wave of pleasure as her wife would not let her get off, for five, fifteen, thirty seconds she felt that high as her wife continued her hoof work. This was not a sudden explosion of pressure, this was not a quick wave of release. This was gradual build up from somepony that knew what they were doing, from someone that loved her.

When it was over and she was able to open her eyes again, Ataxia felt – for the lack of a better word – content. Every muscle in her body just felt right, relaxed, and well used. She opened her eyes just in time to see her wife bring her well-lubricated hoof to her mouth and stick out her tongue. 

“Hmm…” Night said with a smile, “So that’s what a recently fucked pussy tastes like.”

“I’m guessing it tastes like cherries.”

“How do you know?” Night asked.

Ataxia laughed as she gestured to the cherry-scented shampoo bottle, “No reason.”

Night saw it and facehoofed, “I should’ve known.”

“Your turn?” Ataxia asked as she made to get up.

Night shook her head and pressed her wife’s body back to the floor of the shower. She laid down next to her and snuggled up, letting the warm water wash over both of their bodies at the same time, “Trust me, I’m still good, and a little sore if I’m being honest.”

Ataxia laughed at that, “You know, you normally have to pay good bits to be satisfied like you were last night.”

“Or be married to someone like you,” Night said with a smile as she leaned in for another kiss, one in which Ataxia was more than happy to return.

“Are you still mad at me?” Ataxia asked as she pulled back and looked Night in the eyes.

“Oh I was, but you’re you. I could no more fault you for being you than I could stop loving you.”

“And you’re cool with fucking your sister?”

Night hit her in the gut with a hoof, an action that earned her an ‘ugh’ from her wife, “Never mention that again.”

“C’mon, it wasn’t all bad, was it?”

“No…” Night mumbled.

“You had fun?”

Night glared at her, she did not confirm it, but more tellingly, she did not deny it either.

“I know things might seem strange for a while, but it’ll pass in time. Although you may never be able to look her in the eye again.”

“Thank you for ruining my relationship with my sister by the way.”

Ataxia got serious, “Night, it’s only ruined if you let it be. If you let this define you two, or if you try to deny that it occurred. However, if you embrace it, if you accept it for what it was, you two can move past it. You can be stronger for it.” 

Ataxia picked up the bottle of shampoo and began rubbing it on Night’s coat. She did not have the skill Night did when it came to massaging, but it was the thought that counted, “It’s only if you fight against it, or try and deny what occurred that you will hurt each other.”

“Hey mom, my sister and I fucked. What’s for dinner?” Night said sarcastically.

“Hey sis, that was a great gangbang, let’s do it again sometime!” she continued.

“How about, hey sis, I’ll admit it was a lot of fun last night, let’s go catch a movie like we used to?” Ataxia said.

“What, you think I should ask her out on a date before trying to tap that ass again?” Night joked.

“Well, she is a refined mare; you should probably get her chocolate and flowers before asking.”

“Think Icarus would mind me rutting his wife again?”

“Well, you’ll probably have to let him watch or join in,” Ataxia said with a smile, “Me too,” she added.

Night laughed, “We can have weekly orgies!”

“What just weekly?”

“Nightly?”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Ataxia said as she started rubbing a little lower. Night’s nipples were as hard as her own, but when she went a little lower the response she got from Night was a sudden tensing as she hit the all-too-sore spot. It seemed Night had not been joking when she said she was still sore from last night. ‘A pity, although there’s one place that she’ll still enjoy’, she thought.

Ataxia pressed on the joint just below Night’s left wing, an action she knew from experience would cause it to extend out to its fullest. She paused for the briefest moment to admire the wing, pegasus wings were always impressive to her, but an alicorn’s wings put them to shame. 

Night’s wings were massive, one of them alone could easily wrap around a mare and cover her completely. Both could cover three or four other ponies. ‘Just like she did last night’, Ataxia thought with a smile.

Her first experience with another mare had been with a pegasus, twins in fact. Needless to say, Ataxia was more than skilled with all the right ways to illicit pleasure from somepony’s feathers. 

She started by a simple telekinetic spell, one that ran lightly across the tips of each and every feather in the wing. Lightly at first but then with just a tad bit more force. Night cooed softly when the felt the tender caress of her lover’s magic on her wing. 

Ataxia’s magic pressed a little harder as it ran across the primary and secondary feathers, starting at the ends and working its way inward. Even with the water beating across the wing the touch felt heavenly to the large alicorn. Slowly, ever so slowly, she made her way to the quill of each feather. adjusting each and every one, one at a time. 

“Hey,” Night said as she looked back at her wife, “Not with magic.”

“I know,” Ataxia replied with a smile. Night enjoyed being preened, but she had an aversion to magical preening for some reason, “I just wanted to get you in the right mood,” with that she reached out with her mouth and lightly nibbled at the tip of Night’s outermost primaries. She concentrated a minor bubble over the wing to prevent the water from falling onto it. 

“What you do that fo-” Night’s question was cut off when Ataxia lightly blew on the calamus that held her feathers in place. Her warm breath caused the water laying on it to lightly flow down the length of the wing. The sensation was akin to lightly running a hoof across the tips of your fur. Ataxia stuck out her tongue and lightly licked the membrane, causing the smallest amount of oil to seep out of it. 

She did not really care for this part, but the effectiveness could not be denied. She lightly coated her lips with the oil and started to straighten and adjust each and every feather. Starting with the largest one at the end and working her way inward. 

Each one was individually done, one at a time. Albeit it was the least efficient way to do it; however, it was by far the most effective. At least for her purposes anyway. Night’s lower extremities might be sore right now, but there was more than one way to skin this pony.

Given, after her and Icarus’s ministrations last night, there was not much left to do. But this was not about making her wings physically better, it was about making Night feel good. When she got to the most secondary coverts she lightly nipped at the calamus holding the quills. 

The sudden pain only served to heighten her pleasure. The dam in Night's mind burst as her body released all the endorphins that had been building up. Ataxia watched with a smile as her wife arched her back when she was overcome with waves of bliss. 

“Time for the other one,” Ataxia said when Night opened her eyes and smiled at her. She said not a word but simply replied by closing her left wing and opening her right. 

…

When it was over, Night lightly ran a hoof down her chest, she basked in her wife’s ministrations and just how ‘right’ every part of her body felt. However, when her hoof reached her stomach, her smile left her when she remembered the ‘other’ thing she needed to do with her wife. It was something that would cause her little joy to discuss, “Ataxia, I need to tell you something."

“Oh?”

“About last night.”

“Night, I don’t care that someone else fucked you, I was there for it, remember?”

“No, not that, well, about that actually. Icarus…  Icarus may have.... Sweet Luna how do I say this?”

“Just say it,” Ataxia said as she stopped rubbing shampoo into her wife’s coat.

“Just like that, huh?”

“Not everything has to be complicated you know.”

Night laughed, “I supposed that's true. Ataxia, last night Icarus didn’t use protection.”

“I know, trust me I got enough of his cum in my ass to remember that.”

Night rolled her eyes, “I went into heat yesterday.”

“So?”

Night facehoofed, “So, I might be pregnant.”

“Nah, he shot it out on your chest. I know it, I licked you clean,” Ataxia said as she licked Night’s muzzle just to emphasize that point.

“Ataxia, you do know that ‘pulling out’ is not an effective contraception?”

The blank stare Ataxia gave Night told her everything she needed to know, “Ataxia,” Night sighed, “You can get pregnant even if they don’t cum inside you.”

“Really?”

“Yes Ataxia, really.”

Ataxia paused as she considered this new information. She lay her head down on her wife’s stomach as she did so, “I know last night was about fun, but there may be big issues for me because of it,” Night said as she started to stroke Ataxia’s mane, “IF, and it’s a big if mind you, if I am pregnant, what do you think?”

Ataxia rolled her head and looked at her wife, “Do you even need to ask?”

Night looked her dead in the eyes, “No, but I need to hear it.”

“Night, I love you, I love everything about you. When we were pregnant and we both got as big as a house, it was just that much more of you to love. If you are, or if you’re not, that will never change.”

“I love you too,” Night said with a smile at such a touching comment.

“Besides horny Night is the best Night, and I loved the taste of your milk.”

“There’s the Ataxia I know,” Night laughed as she pressed her wife’s head into her chest, “Of course you do know there will be less milk this time around.”

“Can we have Icarus impregnate me to? That way I can feed the foals and you can feed me,” Ataxia asked with a smile.

“You’d get pregnant just so you could have my milk all to yourself?”

“What can I say, I love the taste,” Ataxia smiled.

“Yeah, no. Starlight was five before I finally stopped lactating.”

“Don’t remind me,” Ataxia pouted, “I’m still mad at you for that.”

“Hey, we needed someone to go to the Prance for the meeting, I’m sorry I couldn’t go with.”

“Don’t lie to me, I know you planned it.”

“It was getting embarrassing. When Starlight began asking questions that was the last straw.”

“I hate you,” Ataxia said joking.

“You can’t hate me, you looooooove me.”

“Well…. Okay, you got me there,” Ataxia repositioned herself so she could lie face to face with Night, “So what do you think?”

“About?”

“You know,” she gestured down to Night’s stomach, “If you’re pregnant, knocking me up as well.”

“You’re still asking about that?”

“C’mon, think back to when we were both pregnant and all the good times we had.”

“I remember holding each other’s mane back in the morning.”

“The other times.”

“Ataxia, I’m not Icarus’s slave master, even if I was cool with it, which I’m not saying I am, It’s not my decision to make.”

“So I need to talk to Aurora then…” Ataxia trailed off, trying to play out that conversation in her head.

Night cuffed her on the ear, “Icarus too. He may not want to father a foal with you.”

“Pish posh, like he wouldn’t want another crack at this ass.”

“He’d also have to fuck you somewhere other than your ass.”

“I know that,” she thought about something, “You know… it wouldn’t even take him!”

“Umm, yes it would.”

“We can just create a clone, or we could simply create SC and turn him into a griffin!”

“Well, I could just use that transmutation spell to change him from an alicorn to a-” Night cut off her own sentence, “Are we really thinking about knocking you up or is this just a joke?”

“When have you ever known me to joke?”

“ALL THE TIME.”

“Okay, fair enough, but no, this is not a joke. If you are pregnant, I want to go through it with you, again.”

“You know odds are good I’m not, it was just one time, and Aurora told me that it’s hard for a griffin and a pony to conceive.”

“Odds are good we all should have died a hundred times before now,” Ataxia said matter-of-factly, “Never tell me the odds. We live our lives to spite the odds,” Ataxia closed her eyes at that, the feeling of her wife’s fur was simply too relaxing, even wet.

“That’s true,” Night said as Ataxia laid her head on Night’s chest. Night simply placed a hoof on the nip in Ataxia’s neck.

“How did somepony as wonderful as you ever fall for somepony like me?” Night asked.

Ataxia yawned as the steam in the shower relaxed her even further, “You know, I ask myself that very question every single da…” she fell asleep before she could finish that sentence.

‘You were right Aurora; she is a pretty great wife. Maybe what we did isn’t such a big deal?’ Night paused in her thoughts before remembering something, ‘Taz I’m so, so, so sorry’. A tear fell from her eye at that thought.

…

Ataxia regained her awareness by a little nudge to her side. She felt way too good to acknowledge it though. She merely cooed softly and shut her eyes that much tighter.

“Ataxia, don’t make me do this,” an annoying voice spoke to her. It was not that the voice was annoying per se; rather it was because the voice wanted her to get up. She was lying on her favorite bed in the world, with warm steam all around the place as a relaxing flow of water from the showerhead continued to lightly massage her back.

Needless to say, getting up was not on her list of priorities.

“Okay, I guess you leave me no choice then,” Night shrugged as she reached out with her magic to the control knobs on the showerhead. She really, really did not want to do this to her wife, but she had been trying to wake her for almost five minutes now. They both needed to get up, something was going on.

She turned the control knob from warm to cold.

The temperature of the water lowered forty degrees in an instant. Ataxia shot up as any thought of continuing to sleep left her. She jumped off her wife and away from the cold water that disturbed her rest, “What the buck!” Ataxia shouted.

Night laughed as she turned the water off, “I knew that would work.”

“I hate you!”

“No you don’t.”

“Hey, leave your logic out of my bitching.”

“Get over it; we can’t stay in the shower all day.”

“We both know that’s not true, remember that day in Los Pegasus?”

“I remember the maids coming in and finding us both passed out from dehydration.”

“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it.”

“Shut up,” Night smiled, it had been a lot of fun.

“Why did you do that anyway?”

“Someone’s here.”

“Aurora and Icarus came back for a little more, huh?”

Night kicked her in the gut for that one, “Actually, they’re the only ones not here. Everypony else came, save the kids.”

“Wait, did something happen to the kids?” Ataxia got serious at that, Night as well. Any further conversation was forgotten as with a quick spell Night removed the water from their coats and they quickly left to rejoin the others.

The two quickly made their way downstairs to the middle of the ‘tent’.  Rainbow, Twilight, Luna, Cadance, and Radiant all turned to look at them. Notably, the five ponies had avoided the middle of the living area and all the stains that covered the ground. Stains that were far too big to only have been made by two ponies.

Night really, really, really regretted taking such a long shower. She was unable to clean up before her unexpected guests.

“Night!” Twilight yelled, ignoring the smells she ran and wrapped her daughter in a hug. It had been three months since she last saw her.

“Hey mom, what’s going on, are the kids okay?”

“They’ve ran off, but Aurora and Icarus are getting them back, we came here because we might have found a clue, but first, let’s talk outside,” Rainbow said, everypony in the room nodded their heads in agreement.

Ataxia smirked at the leftover evidence, ‘Have fun trying to explain that, Night’, she thought with a smile. It did not matter to her, which was the fun of being who she was, such things were expected. She took one last look around and followed everypony else outside.

“What do you mean ran off?”

“They went to the crystal empire last night, without permission,” Twilight sighed.

“Something for Blaze and Flash?”

“Maybe…” Twilight did not look convinced about that explanation. However, the kids were not the reason why she was here, “Night, have you ever heard of the Key of Ages?” Twilight asked.

“The key to the sands of time, it’s an old legend, said to unlock any door that exists. Why do you ask?”

“Icarus told me his guards found those words written in your tent last night.”

“His… guards… were… in… my… tent?” Night’s jaw dropped and the color started to drain from her face at the thought of some griffin she did not even know having watched her last night.

Rainbow glanced over to Ataxia and noted the rather large grin on her face. Rainbow’s mind put two and two together: She remembered the way Aurora’s answers seemed to dance around the questions asked when she came back, and the odd looks exchanged between her and Icarus. All that plus the rather large sex act that obviously occurred in the tent, the look of utter embarrassment by Night, and the shit-eating grin of Ataxia. It lead her to one conclusion.

Her first instinct was denial, denial that ‘that’ could have possibly went down. However, living with Twilight as a wife for so long, she could not help but connect all the dots and form a hypothesis about what had occurred. ‘Wow’, she mouthed but said nothing out loud.

The look on Twilight’s face was one of blissful ignorance. However, Rainbow knew she was smarter than that, she either put the pieces together and did not care, or she put them together and was tactfully ignoring it so everypony would save face.

Either way, Rainbow could not wait to tease both of her daughters about this. She would not do anything obvious, just little hints and tidbits here and there. It all promised for some fun times later on.

“Aurora had the same reaction,” Twilight replied, “Apparently Icarus did not tell anypony he was stationing them on lookout.”

“They watched…” Night could not-not say the words, as much as she did not want to.

“Watched what?” Twilight asked.

‘Hmm, Twi’s going for option B, playing ignorant’, Rainbow thought.

“We had a rather eventful night,” Ataxia said, “Nothing relevant to this, so what’s this about a key?”

“We believe that the message might have been left by Taz, that he’d be the only one that could sneak in and leave it unnoticed.”

“Taz watched...” Night mumbled, her mind still trying to get around the idea of guards watching her fuck, much less her own brother.

Cadance spoke up, “The key itself was said to be hidden in Tartarus. So we’re going there to see what we can find.”

“I thought Tartarus was destroyed?” Ataxia asked.

“Not the place, but he was,” Rainbow chimed in.

“They’re one and the same, Rainbow,” Twilight replied.

“I know, I was saying the place was not destroyed but he was.”

“Okay, you know what, I don’t care. So we’re going there to see if we can find a key that might have been left for us in a message by Taz?” Ataxia asked.

“Pretty much,” Luna replied.

“Why didn’t you just say that?”

“I thought we did,” Twilight replied.

“Yeah, no. Night you get all of that?”

“Huh?” Night was still brain dead.

“Night, your brother might be in Tartarus!” Ataxia yelled right into her wife’s ear.

Night cringed, “You don’t have to shout.”

“Yeah, I kinda did.”

“So we’re going to Tartarus to get the Key of Ages?” Night asked. Her brain tactfully filed the ‘other’ information in a box labeled ‘shit I can’t deal with right now’ and chose instead to focus on the task at hoof.

“And to find Taz,” Radiant added.

“Um. We can’t all go,” Night stated.

“What do you mean?” Luna asked.

“The sun and moon? We still got to raise and lower them.”

“I doubt it would take that long,” Rainbow replied as she flexed her wings, “We’ll be in and out in an hour.”

“Rainbow, you really don’t remember do you?”

“Remember what, Night?”

“Time moves differently in Tartarus. Every hour there is fourteen here. You spent a day there last time and two weeks passed here. At least according to the report Celestia had on file about the incident. And the summer sun celebration is tomorrow, we can’t just miss it,” Night had made extensive studies of those reports after the Titan incident almost two decades ago.

“Yes we can,” Twilight stated as her eyes began glowing with purple energy, “My son has been missing for three months; I don’t give a damn about protocol right now.”

“But we still have to raise the sun…” Night mumbled as she shrunk away from her mom. Even as the Demigoddess of Magic, Twilight’s power scared her.

“I know what we can do!” Ataxia practically shouted as she put the pieces together.

Every set of eyes turned towards the mare, “What?” Radiant asked.

“SC!” Ataxia said.

Night’s eyes went wide, but before she could stop her Ataxia created SC.

In front of them all was an exact replica of Shimmering Night. Complete with her purple coat, her rainbow mane, her rainbow tail, her horn, her eyes, and her wings. There was just one little problem, she was not a she at all.

She was a he.

“What the…” Rainbow gasped.

Ataxia just grinned, “C’mon Night, just bring it to life with your magic and we can have him raise and lower the sun and moon in our absence.

“Night, Ataxia, what do you use this for?” Cadance said as she walked around the pony.

“Rutting, of course,” Ataxia said with a smile. A glance over to the pissed expression on Night’s face confirmed it for Cadance.

“Can you teach me how to?” Cadance asked.

“MOM!” Radiant yelled.

“Oh, get over it,” Cadance blew him a raspberry.

“I trust we will get an explanation sometime, Night?” Twilight asked.

“Umm, yeah, just not now.”

“That’s fine, later is okay.”

“Night, let’s go!”

“Ataxia, even if I do this he won’t be around for that long.”

“I might be able to help with that,” Twilight stated, “If we combine our magic it should make him last longer.”

‘Last longer’ was the wrong choice of words at that moment, Radiant, Cadance, Luna, and Night all blushed at that. Rainbow and Ataxia looked ready to fall over with laughter.

“Let’s just do this,” Night grumbled.

Rainbow and Ataxia did laugh at ‘that’ comment. Both ponies were rolling on the dirt as their minds went right into the gutter.

Night just huffed and walked over to her mom, together they concentrated their energy and directed it right at SC. Night brought it to life and Twilight extended the duration of the spell. “That… that should do it.”

“How do we know if he works?” Twilight asked.

“Oh he ‘works’ just fine!” Ataxia yelled from the ground, Night slapped her in the flank with a twig she levitated in her magic aura.

“Oww!”

“You deserve it,” Ataxia said as she blew her wife a raspberry before turning to the SC clone. “Step one hoof forward.”

The clone did as he was commanded.

“Your name is SC, your task is at six a.m. to lower the moon and raise the sun. At six p.m. you will lower the sun then raise the moon. You will continue both of these tasks until we get back. Until then you are not to obey any other order or step outside that tent. I want you to wait inside my tent and only come out to perform your set task. Nod once if you understand.”

SC nodded.

“Good, go wait inside of the tent.”

The clone turned around and went into the tent.

The odd look from Twilight told Night that she needed some sort of explanation now, “He’s a direct clone of me, with all my ability and power, he’s alive just not alive. He’ll only respond to commands given to him.”

She nodded her head in understanding then whispered a question she had into her daughter’s ear, “Ana and Starlight?”

Night closed her eyes and nodded yes.

“Ahh, that makes sense now. Don’t tell Rainbow they work like that.”

“I wasn’t going to,” Night almost laughed at that.

“When’s the last time you created something like him?” Rainbow asked as she stuck her head back in the tent.

“Been about a year,” Night said honestly.

‘So much for that theory’, Rainbow thought. She had thought that maybe her initial idea about what occurred last night was wrong, and the obvious smells were from the clones. Night’s quick and honest answer had conformed that no, she had not been wrong.

"You said we’re going for the Key of Ages right?” Night asked Twilight who just nodded, “We should hurry then.”

“Why’s that?”

“Based on the books I’ve read, it can only be retrieved during the summer solstice. If Taz really did leave us that message, the timing couldn’t be more perfect.”

“Then let’s get going,” Twilight glanced over to her daughter, Night just nodded. Opening a portal to Tartarus was not the same as opening one across Equestria. Tartarus existed on another plane of existence. Such portals required incredible amounts of power to open and could only be done one way. That meant they had to pour enough power to open it and keep it open for their return trip.

Twilight went first. Her eyes turned white as she channeled more and more power into her horn. Her body levitated off the ground and her wings spread wide. All around her a purple aura of power surrounded her, waves of it came off every wingtip and channeled to her horn. She lowered her head and fired.

The shot flew off at the speed of light, it hit the side of a tree and coalesced into a portal wide enough for two ponies to cross at a time, “Night, your turn,” Twilight stated in a voice deeper than her normal one.

Night willed… no, she commanded the magic of the world to obey her will. She forced the ambient magic of the forest to flow into the portal. It became a black hole of magic. Already she could see the tree and ground around it getting a little less bright.

Such was the cost of connecting two planes of existence through a fixed portal. How the pony that took Taz did it was a mystery to her, not one she could concentrate on right now. She did the math in her head, “We have two hours, tops. Any longer and we might cause real damage to Equestria.”

“Let go then!” Rainbow took off and flew through the portal before anyone could stop her. Night and Twilight smiled at each other, as one they lowered their head and raced after the cyan pegasus with the golden wings.

The rest of the group quickly followed suit. Every second mattered too much for them to lollygag any longer.

None of them knew what waited for them beyond the gate, but what they found would change everything.

> Belly of the Beast
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Tartarus


Night gasped in shock when she crossed the border into Tartarus. The entire area was layered in shades of grey. In the distance she could make out several mountain peaks with pitch blackness hanging over them. There was no wind, no sound, and the only thing she could smell was death. It was a smell that seemed to permeate her nostrils.

For lack of a better term, the entire place seemed dead.

“Took you long enough!” Rainbow shouted as she looked down at her wife and daughter, “I’ve been waiting for over a minute!”

“Nopony told you to rush off like that, mom,” Night said with a smile. Twilight just smirked; Rainbow was never the type to wait for anything. She knew that much from decades of experience.

“You forget the time distortion, Rainbow,” Twilight replied, “Time moves about six times faster here. Every second we spend in here is six and a half in Equestria.”

“So we got another minute before the rest show up?” Rainbow asked, Twilight and Night just nodded in response, “Good, I’m going scouting.”

“Rainbow no!” Twilight shouted, but it was too late. In a rainbow and golden blur, the cyan mare was gone. She took off into the distance, a sonic rainboom left in her wake, “Stubborn as always,” the alicorn sighed.

“It seems like a good idea to me, why didn’t you want her to go?”

“Last time we were here, Rainbow almost died to a Titan’s fist,” Twilight looked down as she sat on her flank. Those times were both the best and the worst of her life.

“Yeah, but all three Titans are dead.”

“Well, two for sure,” Twilight replied. Night just raised an eyebrow in response, “You and Luna killed Cronus and Rainbow got Hyperion. However, we only have Tartarus’s word that Crius is dead.”

“You mean we might have another Titan to deal with!?” Night’s eyes went wide at that.

Twilight thought about it for a while, “Unlikely, there’s nowhere else Cronus could have gotten his new arms, besides, I’m sure we would have seen Crius by now.”

“Seen who?” Cadance asked from behind them. Twilight and Night looked back as the rest of the group came across the threshold. Radiant and Ataxia looked around in awe and a little disgust at this new plane of existence. Cadance and Luna simply looked uncomfortable to be here. Twilight knew that the last time those two were here was when Lord Tirek banished both of them and Celestia during his failed attempt to take over some sixty years ago. 

She could forgive them for being a little apprehensive about returning. Even if the place has changed a lot, “I was just saying that it’s doubtful, but a possibility we might encounter the last Titan, Crius.”

“A Titan?” Luna actually seemed excited about that, “I’d relish another go at so worthy a foe.”

“Not going to happen,” Rainbow’s voice came from above. The rainbow mare had zoomed back to them with all haste. “She’s dead, I just found her body, but you gotta come see this.”

“Spotted something?” Radiant asked.

“It’s the palace, and it’s inhabited,” Rainbow nodded to her wife, once. Twilight just gulped in understanding. 

‘Tartarus’s palace, the one where we got the first piece to the scythe’, suddenly, the mare was overcome with very different instincts. She wanted to grab Rainbow and go home; just to guarantee that nothing could happen to her again.  

She squished that idea like a bug, after all, they were her for a reason. She was here to get her son back. Come what may, she would not leave here without him, “Which direction and how far?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow gestured with a hoof to their left, “About fifty miles that way.”

Twilight nodded, “Come down here, Rainbow.”

Rainbow flew down and landed next to her wife, “Alright everypony, let’s make this quick. Ataxia, I’m sorry but this will not be easy on you. I don’t know what would happen if I try to open a portal in that direction so I gotta go with a simple teleportation spell.”

Ataxia gulped but nodded her head. Shimmering Night walked over and stood by her wife. She stretched out her left wing and wrapped Ataxia up in it, “Don’t worry, I’ll stay by your side.”

Ataxia pecked her wife on the cheek with a kiss, “I know, I’ve always known that.”

Twilight smiled at her daughter and niece. She then turned back to the group, “Our mission here is twofold. The first and most important thing is to find my son. The second is to find the Key of Ages and keep it from anyone that might be attempting to use it.”

“Um, Twilight. What if this is just some trap?” Radiant asked the question that had been weighing heavily upon his head.

“Then we’ll kick the flank of whoever dared buck with us,” Rainbow said as she smiled at Radiant.

Cadance wanted to say something but she bit her tongue. Whoever their enemy was, he had already caused her to kill her son’s wife. They were not facing a foe that they could just ‘kick the flank of’. Their victory would come at a cost. In a way, it already had, and she was afraid of it happening again.

However, it would do no good to voice such concerns. They all knew it even if some of them would not admit to it.

“Alright, gather up everypony,” Twilight said as they all walked slightly closer together. It was not necessary but it did make the teleportation easier on Twilight. Shimmering Night walked with her wife under her wing. She led the unicorn to the edge of the circle of ponies and made sure that she was facing outward. While Teleportation had been getting easier on Ataxia, Night knew that this would not be one of those cases. Here, in this place, they would be lucky if Ataxia was able to stand up afterwards. There was no doubt in Night’s mind that Ataxia would lose her lunch over this.

And she was right.

Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated on her magic. She sought out the destination in her mind. Her sight left her body and traveled the fifty miles to her left in a second. She saw what Rainbow was talking about, the palace. She ignored it for now as her mind found a suitable spot for them to teleport to. She focused on that spot and in a flash of magic, they were all there.

The cloud of smoke was soon accompanied by the sound of Ataxia puking. Everypony cringed in sympathy as the unicorn failed to hold down her lunch. Although none of them felt quite right after that teleport, Ataxia by far had it the worst.

“It’s ok, let it out,” Night cooed softly as she rubbed her wife’s back. 

Rainbow grinned at Twilight, “They really do love each other,” she softly whispered in Twilight’s ear.

“I know,” Twilight whispered back before the smoke cleared and she started looking around. She needn't have bothered, directly in front of them was the largest castle Twilight had ever seen. It was massive, easily bigger than the entire city of Canterlot. Made out of – what appeared to be – black marble, the front walls stood hundreds of hooves high. They surrounded the entire castle with a dark, foreboding presence that all but said, ‘You are not welcome here’.

The castle had more towers than Twilight cared to count. Each of them reached into the skies above. Their walls were decorated with macabre bones that were hung unceremoniously from out the windows.

Some, much to Twilight’s horror, were still moving. The bodies were left alive, decomposing where they hung. Their souls had no place to go to, after all, they were already in the deepest pit of hades.

“I’m guessing that’s where hope goes to die,” Radiant said as he walked forward.

Rainbow shook her head, “No, I’ve experienced that before, this is nothing like that feeling. This is nothing more than where a God used to live.”

Twilight stretched out a wing and wrapped it around Rainbow. The cyan mare looked down at the ground, a tear formed in her eye as memories of ‘that’ event came back fresh to her mind.

It was the truth, nothing had broken the mare worse than the day Tartarus killed Twilight. That had been the day she wished for death, the day when death was preferable to a life lived without the mare she loved.

When the prospect of seeing her wife in the afterlife was taken from her, that destroyed her. She was gone at that moment. Her mind was a blank, unable to think or act on its own. At that moment she truly knew what it was to have no hope. Only the impossible, hearing Twilight's heartbeat again, saved her from living the rest of her life in a vegetative state..

This, this was foal’s play compared to that. This was nothing, a mild inconvenience; a rock, a pebble to be thrown out of the way.

“Ahh, now that is just adorable.”

Every head snapped up at in the direction of the new speaker. They all saw an earth pony walking out of the castle to greet them. He had a white coat and a huge muscular frame. The pony’s dark blue mane lay flat on his back. His mark was that of an hourglass, one that was even now spinning on his flank. They all gasped at him, amazing that something lived down here other than a damned soul that could not escape.

He smiled a toothy smile at the group of seven ponies. “Wow, you all came in force, didn’t you?”

“Who are you?” Radiant asked before one of the others simply jumped to violence.

“Of course, introductions are in order I suppose. As none of you have had the pleasure to meet me yet, allow me to go first, Radiant Star. My name is Timespire, the Demigod of Time.”

Every jaw dropped at that, shocked that another Demigod existed; nopony suspected that might even be a possibility,  “How is that…” Night tried to ask, Ataxia stomach interrupted her though.

“Oh, dear niece, how are you doing over there?” he smiled, “Oh, your wife’s not doing too good is she? Sorry about that. Now, about your question. I do believe you were going to ask how that’s possible? You see, when a God and a mortal love each other very much, they do a special hug. Then, in a little less than a years’ time, a Demigod is born.”

“Shut the buck up!” Rainbow shouted as she extended her right wing’s primary feather to silence the pony’s smart mouth.

Timespire actually looked surprised when the feather made it to almost ten hooves of him. The magic feather dissipated into nothing as time took its toll. Rainbow pulled her wing back to her face to try and understand what in all of Tartarus had just happened.

Her largest feather on her right wing was gone, just gone. It was almost as if it never existed in the first place, “How in the hay? “ Rainbow asked allowed.

Twilight took one more look at the pony and then at her wife. She lowered her horn and touched the wing, transferring her magic energy into it until the feather started to regrow. She poured more and more, only stopping when Rainbow’s wing was returned to normal, “You’ve sped up time around you, didn’t you?” Twilight turned to ask, a pissed expression on her face.

“Indeed, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“And you know our names too.”

He nodded again.

“Why did you call me your niece?” Shimmering Night asked as she approached from behind her parents. Ataxia was left laying on her side as she sought to relax her upset stomach, but there was nothing more Night could do for her right now. This… this had to have priority.

“Well, you are the Demigoddess of Magic, Princess Shimmering Night. That means my father was related to your mother. That makes you my niece,” Timespire said with a smile.

“Your father?” Twilight asked.

“The one that banished me and my two brothers to the moon for all time. By the way, Princess Rainbow Dash, thank you for releasing us. None of this would be possible without you.”

“Buck you,” Dash said with a snarl.

“You’re welcome to try,” Timespire smirked as his mark kept spinning, “However, I think even you are smarter than that, after all, you saw what happened to the feather.”

“You’re Tartarus’s son, aren’t you?” Twilight asked.

He grinned at her, “The brilliant intellect revealed at last.”

“How’s that possible?” Rainbow failed to catch herself before she spoke.

“Oh, do you need a lesson on the birds and the bees too?”

“What she means, Timespire, is that Tartarus was self-righteous bastard of a God at the best of times. It seems unlikely that he’d take a mate,” Princess Cadance stepped forward as she spoke.

“The crystal princess herself, It’s my honor. Tell me, how did you enjoy your time under my brother’s thrall?”

Fifteen swords shout up out the ground, directly below Timespire’s hooves. They lasted less than a second but that was enough. He jumped up as two of them cut into his back hooves. Blood poured freely from the cut as the swords dissipated into nothing as fast as they appeared.

Radiant Star was pissed, “WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS THE BASTARD THAT KILLED MY WIFE?!” Anger radiated off the white unicorn as he stared daggers at his polar opposite.

Timespire licked the blood from his hooves, “Relax prince, the one you want is Mindsink. However, I’m not letting you pass that easily. Besides, the one that killed your wife is your mom.”

Radiant stepped forward, his eyes spoke of all the anger and hate he felt at that moment. Luckily for him, a golden feather blocked his path before he could take the next step into Timespire’s aura, “What you’re saying is we have to go through you to get to the others?” Rainbow asked.

“There’s no going through me, I won’t let you. Try and teleport and I’ll simply follow you. Yet this time I’ll make sure to appear right in the center of your group. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Is my brother here?” Night asked.

“Indeed he is, he’s been such pleasant company too, by the way, thank you for providing him with entertainment last night.”

Night did not rise to take the bait, “You’re going to get out of the way and let everyone pass,” Night said with a level head as she walked closer to him

“Why would I do that?”

“Because, I’m your opponent,” she took another step forward until she was right next to Radiant.

“Night, watch it,” Rainbow spoke.

“It’s fine, mom, you can lower your wing.”

“Night?”

“I’ll be fine,” she turned to look at her mom. Rainbow started to say something, but bit her tongue and said nothing instead..

“It’s okay, Rainbow. Let her do it,” Twilight said, she did not know what her daughter was up to, but she did not need to. She trusted that Night knew what she was doing.

“One more step, little pony, and you’ll be a thousand.”

“Somehow, I’m not worried,” Night said as she took one more step closer.

Timepsire’s face became a frown, “How did you know?”

“Simple, As soon as you pulled that little stunt with my mom’s wing, I tried to remove your magic. Radiant’s blades disappearing confirmed what I suspected. In much the same way that I couldn’t affect your magic, your time magic won’t work on me. It’s because we’re both part God, isn’t it?”

Timespire laughed, “Indeed, my clever niece.”

“You never answered my question,” Cadance commented.

“You’re right, I didn’t. You’ll have to ask my older brother that one.”

“Mindsink?” Radiant hissed, “I plan on doing a lot more than asking.”

“I’m sure you do,” Timespire said, “However, no. Me and him are twins, you need to ask my older brother, the one Taz has affectionately nicknamed Red. Not that you’ll get tha-”

His reply was cut off as a hoof made contact with his muzzle. Shimmering Night hit the earth pony as hard as she could. Timespire was a well built stallion, he had the strength and muscles to match Big Mac’s in his prime, even if he was slightly shorter in stature.

Shimmering Night as an alicorn, the perfect mix of all three races, he never stood a chance. Her blow sent him flying into the wall, crashing into it with all the force of a freight train, “I never want to hear my brother’s name come out of your mouth again.”

“Holy cow,” Radiant said. All the other’s just nodded their heads in agreement.

It was the unwritten rule of Equestria: You do not buck with an alicorn.

Or in this case, with an alicorn’s little brother.

“Go,” Night said as she stared at the pony that was doing his best to dislodge himself from the wall, “Find my brother, bring him home safe. I’ll deal with him.”

“Fair Night. We won’t leave you alone,” Luna stated.

“She’s not alone, I’ll back her up. Just… just give me a minute,” Ataxia wheezed as she made to stand. She was doing better but was not quite a hundred percent yet.

The rest just looked at each other, with a nod they ran forward. Twilight smiled as she ran past her daughter and through the gate that Timespire came out of. Rainbow took a second to fly up to the earth pony, “Buddy, you’re fucked,” she said with a smile before rejoining her wife. Radiant, Cadance, and Luna ran past without saying a word.

Timespire freed his hoof from the wall and reset his jaw. That hit hurt, a lot, but he had taken worse in his day. It was nothing compared to what he experienced from Red on a daily basis or for that matter what Dayspring had done to him just the other day.  

The shadows were already at work healing him, “Well, it seems my little niece has a temper, I’m impressed.”

“You'll be more than that after I get through with you,” Night said with a snarl.

“Sure I will,” he forced himself the rest of the way out of the wall. Fading into the shadows disappeared and reappeared right next to Night, “Let me ask, what’s stopping me from simply going after them right now?”

“Simple, I’ll destroy this whole bucking castle if you do that.” His smile became a frown when she said those words, “As I thought, this place is important to you and your brothers. You don’t want it destroyed so you will have to let them pass.”

“You’d hurt your family if you did that.”

“If you go after them you’d kill them all anyway. They’d be dead either which way. So I might as well make it a pyrrhic victory for you.”

“You really do have a vicious streak, I’m impressed. I’ll let you in on a secret thought, you see, I bluffed. I’m not allowed to kill anyone. Orders and all.”

“So you’re just a puppet, interesting.”

Timespire’s smile left his face, “I’m no one’s puppet.”

“Really? You’re under the command of somepony else, you have to do what they say when they say it. You cannot follow your own wishes, and if they say jump you have to jump. What part of that doesn’t make you a puppet?”

Night barely reacted in time as seventeen spears shot out from her shadow. She raised a shield that deflected them into the sky, “Touched a nerve, did I?”

“Shut up.”

“I guess the fun part's over,” Night said with a sigh as she brought forth the magic energy of this place. It came as a shock to her, the magic was everywhere, and everything. The entire place seemed to be made of it, from sky to floor.

Timespire smiled as he saw the look of confusion on her face, “You forget where you are, my niece. This is Tartarus, well his corpse anyway. The entire place is made of magic, God magic.”

“I’ve… I’ve never felt anything like it.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. We’re not in some form he chose to wear so he could walk amongst mortals. We’re in his real form. A form he brought into existence so he could trap his ‘other’ sons and daughters.”

“You’re referring to the Titans?”

“Indeed. They were the first children of the Gods, the direct offspring between my father and your mother actually, a huge colossal mistake by any standards.”

“From where I’m sitting it looks like he made three more.”

Timespire laughed, “He’d agree with you, actually. However, the Titans were power incarnate. While they had no magic, their size was a physical representation of their power. Outwardly, they were impressive, however they had nothing more than what you saw. We, my dear niece, are the exact opposite. We look like every day normal ponies but command forces that can topple mountains.”

Night lifted a hoof and flexed it, now that she opened herself up to it, she could feel the power here, the pure magical energy that made up this place. However, there was something else, something was wrong with it. It was wrong on a fundamental level.

She suddenly knew what it was. “This power is dead,” she stated.

“What was that?” Timespire asked.

“The power you’re drawing from, the one that permeates this place. It’s dead, this entire place, much like the God it represents. It’s all dead.”

“Your point?”

“You’re corrupting yourself with this power. You can draw on it but it will take its toll on you, on all of you. You’re dying, aren’t you?”

Timespire gasped, taken aback by her response. She nodded as that was all she needed to know, “Your older brother didn’t tell you, did he? Let me guess, he told you to feed on this power, to use it to increase your own strength. But I would bet you’ve never once seen him feed on it. He lets you do all the work while he reaps all the benefits with none of the consequences.”

“You couldn’t possibly know that.”

“You forget who you’re talking to, Demigod of Time. I’m the Demigoddess of Magic, all magic falls under my domain, even here. Sure I might not be able to control your ability, but everything around us is made of magic, dead magic.”

“Even now I can see its effect on you. It’s killing you cell by cell, isn’t it? Tell me I’m wrong.”

“You’re lying.”

“Denial, one of the five stages of grief, well I guess it’s not too big of a problem until you get to anger,” Night said before looking back at him, “Anger it is,” she sighed.

Timespire was pissed, he glared at her with all the rage and indignation he felt about what she just said, about what it meant. If what Night said was true then he had just been betrayed and sentenced to a slow, agonizing death from magic poisoning from his older brother.

“That can’t be true!” he shouted, although his mind was in a race against the words his niece had just said.

The truth has a way of being the truth, even if you do not want to believe it.

Night nearly failed to react as he rushed forwards, trying to hit her square in the jaw like she did to him earlier, however Night only nearly failed. Quickly covering herself in a mirror bubble his hit ended up slamming against his already injured jaw. Timespire wailed in the pain he had caused himself.

‘Interesting, it seems his own hits hurt much more than mine.’ Night cataloged what had just occurred and smiled at Timespire. It was something she intend to use against him no matter the risks. Her smile fed his anger and Timespire gave up any pretense of holding back. With a scream of hatred and anger he formed a blade out of the shadows, grabbed it with a hoof, and took another try forward, activating his magic on the way. He already reached Night as his error dawned on him.

Night just continued to smile, unaffected by his power as he came closer and closer. Night timed it just right, as soon as he was in range, she commanded her magic to create several caltraps. To Timespire’s shock, he never saw the spikes below his hooves. The next thing he felt was pain from his own hooves as he cut them open from stepping on the caltraps while Night simply flapped her wings and flew out of reach. Throughout it all she held that condescending  smile on her face.

With his ability going, the spikes on the floor where short lived, but they served their purpose. In his arrogance Timespire had let Night know everything she needed to know about his ability. Yes he could age magic, even hers, but for a split second, if timed just right, she could still use it against him. 

“You’re a cocky little shit, aren't you?” Timespire hissed as he looked up at her. 

Night’s grin left her face when she saw what he was doing next. All around the earth pony shadows were gathering, hundreds, then thousands. “Horseapples,” Night cursed under her breath as thousands upon thousands of shadow spears shot up out of the ground. 

‘If he can age my magic...’ It was a theory, but one worthy of testing. Night poured all her willpower into what she did next, she commanded the spears back in upon each other.

She almost laughed as the thousands upon thousands of spears collided with each other. At the same time Timespire reacted too slow. He was not used to facing an opponent that stood on equal footing with him, had that not been the case he could have altered enough of the spear’s flight paths to continue his attack, but his reflexes were too dulled by anger. Every spear was sent impacting into another and Timespire had no choice but to force them back to where they came. Timespire howled his rage at Night.  

He lost his composure again and tried another attack, this time with his shadow’s reaching for the alicorn. Coming closer and closer they formed solid, sharp objects, each shaped as a different kind of weapon. Night suddenly got an idea. She prepared a small portal in her mind, but did not open it yet. She waiting for the objects to come closer so she could time the spell to the point where Timespire would not be able to alter them.

The stallion smiled deeply as the objects were a hoof away from Night. A smile that dropped as with a sudden plop a portal appeared in their way and they flew in. Before he could react he heard the same sound behind him, then he felt pain. Every single one of the objects cut through his body. When he looked down, thirty spears were sticking out of his chest. On his flank his mark started spinning in reverse. He could age an objects time as well as reverse it. He would simply make it so these spears never existed in the first place.

Nothing happened, his eyes widened in shock at this new development.. He wasn’t able to interfere with them, he could feel their magic, he could sense their time, but they were like water. Every time he’d grip them, they would simply flow out of his grasp.

Timespire fell onto his knees and shot Night a hateful glare, “What did you do to me?!” he shouted, his voice filled with pure venom, “What the hell did you just do?”

“You and I, we the children of Gods, Timespire. Our power is absolute. Even from each other's. That gave me an idea. What would happen if I were to combine our powers? What would happen if the Demigod of Time were to have his own power adjusted and turned on him by the Demigoddess of Magic? I think we both know the answer now.” 

“Why…” he hissed.

“Because I’m at a disadvantage here. You’ve killed yourself to use this power, I will not. But thankfully your power is filtered out. So you continue using dead magic, and i’ll continue turning your own power against you.”

“There’s just one problem with your plan, little niece.” 

“Oh, what’s that?”

“I can shadowmeld,” with that Timespire faded into the shadows, the spears in his chest fell to the ground.

“Like it matters, do anything, I’ll simply turn your power back upon you.” 

“So arrogant, my older brother would like you,” the pony said as he reappeared directly below her. She looked down and blew him a raspberry. At this distance he could never reach her, never mind actually touch her.

Or so she thought.

“There’s a funny thing about time. It’s constant yet always moving, always in motion, and it effects everything,” He looked down at the ground. Night’s eyes went wide as the floor began to rumble. 

Timespire poured more and more of his power into the ground, with a shake the very earth he stood upon shifted and split. Huge sections of it shot up into the sky as he caused some parts to regress and others to age forward.

In less than a minute, the entire area was now a labyrinth of rocks. Night flew higher in an attempt to keep her distance. She knew that if she could just see his attack coming, she would be alright. 

That was the problem. Before, their battle had been on a flat surface. Now it was anything but. There were millions of places to hide, millions of different attack vectors.

The first spear shout out from directly behind her. Night knew it was just a diversion but she deflected it back to it’s spot all the same. A loud ‘clank’ sounded as it hit a rock confirming what she already knew.

Timespire learned from his mistake. He would not stay in the same place for long enough for her to pull that trick twice, “As much as I love a good game of hide and seek, let’s skip to the end!” Night shouted. 

Laughter echoed throughout the land, “Now, now, what would be the fun of that?”

“I’ll just destroy it!”

“Go ahead, draw upon the magic energy of this place and destroy our new fighting ground,” two more spears shot up, each from a very different angle. Night cause them to collide without effort. “Poison yourself with the very magic energy you accused of killing me.”

Night gulped, he was right. if she drew upon that energy she could destroy everything he created, but doing so will see her dead. Her own personal reserves were sufficient to do the job, but then she would be tapped, easy prey for him to pick off.

“Besides, Shimmering Night. I think you forgot something.”

“What’s that?!” she yelled in response.

“You left your wife down here.”

“Get off me, you bastard!” the yell could have only come from one pony.

“Ataxia!” Night yelled as she flew down into his maze, his trap.

> For Those We've Lost
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Tartarus


“What do you think happened?” Taz asked Nighttide.

“I… I don’t know. It looks like someone just forced their way into Tartarus.”

Taz’s face turned into a smile, he only knew of two ponies that could make something like that happen, “Mom’s here,” he said without intending to.

“Indeed she is,” a voice spoke from behind the two ponies. Nighttide and Taz both turned back to look at him. Somehow, Red had entered his room without even opening the door. The stallion continued, “I’ve already sent Timespire out to ‘welcome’ our guests. Nighttide, it’s time.”

“Red!” Taz shouted with a stern warning on his muzzle.

Red simply smiled, “Relax, he knows not to kill any of them. They all do.”

“All?”

“Understand something, Taz. This is the first step to getting the sands. It will not come without bloodshed. But, per your wishes, there will be no loss. After all, I keep my word. Now, why don’t you pass over those two essence stones.”

Taz looked down at the bracelets he had on his hooves. He considered – and not for the first time – of smashing them to bits before passing them over. However, such actions would be juvenile and simply put everypony’s life in danger.

With a sigh, he took them off and passed them to Red. The unicorn simply opened his satchel and indicated that Taz was to drop them directly into it, “Nighttide, go join Mindsink,” Red said after Taz dropped the bracelets in his satchel.

“I’m going with!” Taz shouted as Nighttide made to leave. She took one sad look back at him before rounding the corner. Her necklace lightly moved on the chain around her neck,

“I think you’ve already enjoyed my daughter enough,” Red said with a smirk.

Taz was taken aback by that, he looked down at the floor with a blush, “We… I didn’t do anything.”

“Really? Shame,” Red simply shook his head, “We only get so much time, Taz. You need to learn to take pleasure in what little time you got.”

“She’s not some tool to use for my self-pleasure!” Taz shouted in her defense.

“How naive. Taz, that’s all anypony is. We are either their tools for others to use, or we use them.”

“You’re wrong! I don’t really know what she is to me, yet. But there is something I do know. She’s not just a simple object to satisfy my needs. She’s way more than that and I will stay at her side. You want to get in my way? Fine, try it,” Taz replied, putting the danger of upsetting Red far from his mind.

Red’s expression turned surprised. It wasn’t the way he had thought it would go, but at this time, his plan was way too far advanced to be interrupted. On the other hoof, he needed Taz at his side right now, “Taz, you can’t. I simply need you at my side, trust me, she can handle herself, even in her current 'state'.”

“You said I have power over you! You have to let me go!” Taz shouted, in his opinion Red’s promise written on a piece of paper was not worth the paper.

“You have, but if I let you go with her it will ruin everything we've accomplished so far. Is that what you want? Do you want to ruin everything we've done so far? Everything we've sacrificed for, do you want to ruin the chance to see your family alive after all this?”

“I… I….” Taz was at a loss about this.

“It’s almost over, Taz. I only need you to do this one last thing for me, then you can go home, you and your brother can go back to your family and forget that this ever happened. Stay by my side, stay out of the way, obey my orders, and you will have saved them all. You will have done that without raising a hoof in violence.”

“But… Nighttide,” Taz was almost in tears now. Red had a way with words that made what he wanted you to do seem like what you wanted to do. It was maddening at best, so he focused on the one thing he could that did not fit into Red's nice neat plan.

Red laughed, “I tell you what, after today I’ll have no use for her. You want her after this is over, she’s yours. Take her, use her, love her, whore her out, I don’t really care.”

“She’s your daughter!” Taz shouted at such a casual dismissal of a family member.

“Your point?” Red said with a frown.

It was the coldness of his voice that caused Taz to shut his mouth. He could not think of a single thing to say. They were talking on different worlds, with different understandings of what family meant. There was no use trying to get him to understand, because, conceptually, the word just did not have the same meaning. To Red family was just a tool to use and discarded as he saw fit, “If you don’t give her the family she needs and wants, then I'll do it! I'll be her family, her foundation, and her cover from every storm, maybe even more. That’s the meaning of family, something you seemly will never understand.”

“As I said, I don’t care what you do with her,” Red said as he gestured for Taz to follow him.

Taz could only nod and follow, ‘I’ll save you from this hell, Nighttide, I promise you’, the thought caused a single tear to fall from his eye. Over his life Taz had made his fair share of promises, some big, others small. However, at this moment, only one mattered to him. Only this one.

‘I love you', he cried again as the thought came unbidden to his mind. The truth of it cut him to his core, he did, and he really, really did. He only wished he had one more moment alone with her, so he could tell her directly.

This time, unlike with Aurora, he knew that she loved him back. Somehow, that knowledge just made the whole situation worse.

...........................................


The Frozen North


Blaze whimpered as he slowly started backing up into the others. The red pegasus in front of him was intimidating in every aspect of the word. The visible aura around his body spoke of somepony that simply wanted to hurt others, that wanted to cause pain, and death.

Blaze glanced back when his flank backed into something soft. Flash was standing right behind him. His twin brother gave him a curt nod while never taking his eyes off of the pony in front of him, “Who are you?” Flash asked as he glared at him.

Blaze could only look at his twin in admiration. All the fear and hopelessness he felt, he expected Flash to feel the same, and yet Flash displayed none of those things, at least not visibly. This was not the same pony of the last three months; this was the pony before that. This was his older brother, the strong one.

“The little foal wants to know my name, brother,” the red pegasus said with a smirk.

“Oh yes, introductions. How droll. Very well, my name is Ice. My brother over there is Fire. We will be your captors for the next few years,” the blue pegasus grinned at them.

“Why?” Ana asked.

“Why? Because this is what we were created to do, what we were ordered to do. You see, you six are here as nothing more than bait. Our masters have plans for your parents and they need to, how do I say, thin the herd a little,” Ice said with a smile.

“You lured us here? That whole scene in Canterlot was staged just to get us to come here?” Starlight replied, shocked.

“Indeed. You made it so easy to, so desperate for any information for dear lost Taz. All we had to do was put out the smallest of baits and you came running.”

“Where’s Taz?! What did you do to him?!” Ana shouted.

“Do to him? What makes you think we did anything to him? You all are the ones that hurt him, the ones that drove him from his home. We simply took him in,” Fire said with a grin.

“No we didn’t!” Ana wanted to run at him and punch him in the gut for even saying that. The only thing that prevented her from doing that was Starlight’s touch. Her sister placed a hoof on her back, seeking to calm her nerves.

She did not run forward, but she did not let it stand either, “Where is he?!”

“He’s with our masters, not here. Not that it will do you six any good, being our captives and all,” Ice said with a smile. He loved torturing others, and nothing was more tortuous than the truth.

“Sis, what’s a captive?” Dayspring asked from Vela’s back.

“Something we’re not,” Vela said with a growl.

“You don’t have a choice, young empress,” Fire replied.

“Wait… how did you two get into Canterlot? Grandma’s protection spell was going strong.”

“Indeed it was, and it did delay us for quite some time. However, all good things come to those who are persistent. All we had to do was transfer from body to body while two ponies were crossing the barrier.”

“So you couldn’t find your own way through such a simple, basic spell? Wow, you two have a lot to learn,” Starlight said with a smirk. She knew every part of the spell Twilight used, having studied it extensively. This was nothing more than poking the bear. The spell itself might be basic, but it was powerful, beyond powerful.

Two things affected the strength of a spell, the complexity of its casting, and the pony that casts it. Any spell cast by Princess Twilight Sparkle was nothing to scoff at.

“Somepony’s got a mouth on her,” Fire said as he took offense.

“Calm down Fire, we can’t kill anypony, remember?”

“True, but maiming is not off the list,” his form seemed to combust as his power overtook him. The pegasus lit up like a phoenix protecting her young, encompassing the entire area in heat, “Let’s see what happens when I barbecue the little one for a few seconds.”

“I’m scared,” Dayspring whimpered into his sister’s coat. Every part of Vela wanted to place her little brother on the ground and charge forward. To make them pay for scaring him.

Starlight beat her to it. The young unicorn blasted out magical energy at him. Fire laughed as he expected it to do nothing. He was in for a shock. Starlight was a genius when it came to magic. Trained by her grandma and her mom, she was easily the best magic user of this generation. She was smart too.

She combined her magical blast with a water spell. The water doused the inflamed pegasus while the magical blast slammed into him with all the force of a point-blank shot from a party cannon. The kinetic energy alone slammed him back against the wall, his bones cracked with the impact. A sickening breaking sound echoed through the cave.

“Run!” Starlight shouted at the group.

They did not need to be told twice. Vela ran out first with Dayspring on her back, Blaze followed close behind with Flash flying over the group, watching to make sure that everypony made it without issue.

Not a one of them made it up the ramp. Vela skidded to halt right before she was about to slam beak first into an ice wall that crashed down in front of them.

“Move out the way!” Ana shouted before she directed her own magical energy at the wall. She created a heat beam to melt the ice so they could escape.

While Starlight was impressive at magic, Ana was not. Despite her tutors, her magic was no more powerful than a normal unicorn’s. Sure, she knew several advanced spells, but she had no hope of breaking through a revenant’s power.

Starlight wanted to help, she could knock down the wall in five seconds, but that was time she did not have. Fire was getting back up, “I do believe this one is playing for keeps, Ice,” he said with a smirk as his coat lit up in flames.

All the while Ice slowly approached Ana with an evil smile, “Oh, I think we will have some fun with them. Too bad we can’t kill them. But he never said anything about not hurting them,” with that his eyes glared in a scaring blue, just mere moments before a stalagmite of ice shot down at Ana.

Flash saw it all; he flew directly at the mare and pushed her out of the way. The impact slammed her against the wall of ice with a sickening thud. That noise was nothing compared to the scream Flash let out as the stalagmite pierced his hind leg.

“Flash!” Blaze shouted as he tried to pull the large chunk of ice out of his brother’s leg. Every time he moved it the action only caused his brother to grunt in pain.

“Don’t touch it!” Starlight yelled. She had no doubt that he would bleed out if they tried to remove it.

“Bad mistake, little pony,” Fire said as she took her eyes off him. With a blast of heat, Starlight was engulfed in his fire. She screamed as her coat caught alight in his flames.

“No!” Ice said as he coated her in ice crystals, extinguishing the flame, “Remember brother, we can’t kill them.”

“Ruin all my fun,” Fire pouted.

Vela found herself in the most awkward position in her life. Starlight was down, burns covering most of her body. Ana was most likely unconscious from slamming into the wall of ice, and Flash was wounded. She felt the one thing she had never felt before in her life: Fear. She was afraid, not for her own safety, but for her brother's. Little Dayspring was holding onto her coat for dear life, shaking in fear, “Sis, please save them,” he cried out.

“Somepony, please save us,” Vela did not even recognize the words when they left her beak.

...........................................


Tartarus


“Which way?” Cadance asked as they rounded yet another corner. Rainbow grunted at the question. She had only been here once some sixty plus years ago. Even during that time she had a guide. It was not like she had a bucking map that said ‘the bad guys are here, your son is here’, on it.

“That way!” Twilight shouted as she made to head down the right corridor. Rainbow did not even question it. Twilight said to go to the right, so they went to the right. It was as natural as breathing to her by now.

“How do you know where to go?” Radiant asked as he ran a few paces behind them.

“Simple,” Twilight said between breaths, “I’m just looking for the dead spot.”

“Prince Taz’s power!” Luna shouted a little louder than she intended, “Curious though, why not just teleport by his side?”

“Last time we teleported down here we ended up in a pack of hellhounds.” Rainbow said with a smirk, “It’s just not worth the risk.”

“You teleported us outside with no problem.”

“And gave our position away, I think that’s how Timespire found us,” Twilight replied.

“Ah, best to avoid confrontation if we can.”

“Luna, I’ve never known you to back down from a fight,” Cadance raised an eyebrow.

“My sister used to have a saying; when God’s play, mortals lose. Make no mistake, fair Cadance; we play in the realm of Gods now.”

“How right you are,” a voice came from their left. The sudden unexpectedness of it caused the group to stop and look. The hallway led to a rampart outside. Sitting in the gateway was a green pegasus with a sky-blue mane staring at then. However, while Luna, Cadance, and Radiant eyes were drawn to him. Rainbow and Twilight could only look at the mare next to him.

“Nighttide?” they both asked in stereo.

The young mare was glaring at one of their party; the venom in her gaze spoke volumes about the hate she felt. Twilight looked back to see that she was staring directly at Princess Luna.

“Oh, you haven’t put the pieces together yet? She works for us, she’s always been working for us,” the green pegasus said with a smile.

“Who are you?” Rainbow asked.

“The names Min-”

He never finished that sentence, Fourteen magical blades slammed into him from the front. The blades Radiant hit him with embedded themselves in his eyes, ears, neck, chest, hooves, and head. The impact sent the pegasus flying backwards, out the doorway, and onto the ramparts behind him.

Radiant ran forward at full steam. As soon as he said that first syllable, Radiant knew he now faced the one responsible for Firestar’s death, “I’LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!” his shout echoed down the hallway.

Before he could do anymore, Nighttide’s glare switched to him, causing him to slam into the wall with her magic. It hurt her to assist her uncles like this, but right now she had no choice but to help her family.

“Why, Nighttide? Why are you doing this?” Twilight asked, “I saw you with my son, I know how you truly are, so why?”

“I don’t have a choice!” Nighttide shouted back, “I want something back and to have Taz safe. I have to do this or everything, every tiniest bit of my work would’ve been for nothing.”

“There’s always a choice,” Rainbow cut in, glaring at the younger mare, “That’s the only constant in life, the only thing we get for sure.”

“No, not for me….” her gaze focused on Rainbow, “I love him. Despite everything I’ve done, I love him. He will be safe and you will be too; as long as you surrender now and don’t fight us that is,” with that she focused on Luna again, “I’m afraid you won’t be that lucky though.”

The night princess looked taken aback by that, “Me, I’ve never even met you before?!”

“You stole her from me!” Nighttide shouted. The force of her scream caused the walls to bow outward from the magical pressure released by the young mare.

Twilight's eyes went wide. She had never seen a pegasus with raw magical abilities before, it was unheard of.

Cadance ran forward to help her son. In his current state of mind he was liable to get himself killed. Rainbow and Twilight made to follow her but a black hoof placed on Twilight's shoulder caused her to stop, “Leave them to us,” Princess Luna said.

Rainbow shook her head. Luna just sighed in response, “You have to get your son back. After all, that’s the whole reason why we’re here.”

“She’s right, Rainbow,” Twilight said with a frown, “Stay safe, Luna.”

“You too,” Luna said as Twilight made her way back down the hall. Rainbow hesitated for a fraction of a second before she followed.

“Now about you, young filly,” Luna said as she turned back to Nighttide. The young mare gave the princess a death glare worthy of the vilest traitors imaginable.

...

On the ramparts, Mindsink picked himself up from that last attack. It came out of nowhere and left him with no time to even defend himself. ‘Oh, I like you,’ Mindsink thought with a smile as he pulled the sword out of his brain.

Radiant quickly made his way back to his hooves. Even though the filly had hit him, he did not give her a second thought. His world was the pegasus in front of him, his very being dedicated to one thing and one thing only: Killing him.

He would avenge his wife. It mattered not if he would die in the process; it was a price he would pay, willingly.

Cadance saw all of this written on his face and more, she teleported right next to him, but even with the speed of instant transmission, she was far too late to stop what occurred next.

…

Nighttide continued her glare at Luna. The Princess of the Night looked at the young mare and made a mistake. She hadn’t seen the mare for what she truly was, for her true power. She underestimated Nighttide by a mile.

Nighttide raised all her anger, her fear, and the desire in her. She focused it, causing it to power her abilities like never before. With a scream, a ball of shadow made its way to Luna, who just had time to teleport away, but just barely.

With a curse, Luna reappeared several hooves away from the incident, the place where she had been standing was burned black and a several hoof deep hole left in the wake. Her tail was smoking and she focused on Nighttide with a surprised expression, “You’re one of those foul creatures! How can you even say you love somepony? How can you say that you will keep him safe? You creature, do not know the definition of love!”

Nighttide did not want to explain anything to her but when she denied her love for Taz like that it was far too much for her to keep quiet. With a growl, shadows formed around Luna’s legs and kept her in place, “How dare you! How dare you say that my love isn’t real! Just because I’m one of them? What right do you of all ponies have to judge me?!”

Luna tried to wiggle free but the shadow’s grip was just too tight. She formed a blast and pointed it directly to Nighttide. The blast came close, but Nighttide concentrated her power while glaring at Luna. The princess was sure she would score a hit, but suddenly the blast reflected on a mirror shield, and went into a new direction: Luna's.

At the sight of her own spell reflected back at her, Luna tried a desperate act and teleported. Luna reappeared some inches to the right, just to be grabbed by smoke and immediately thrown back to her former place. A second later the blast hit her straight in her chest. She screamed her pain out loud while the power burned through her fur, luckily the mirror spell was the work of somepony without experience in casting it, and it drained a lot of the spell’s power after being mirrored.

“Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?” Luna screamed, as much as she tried, she could not think of a single reason why this young mare would hate her so. She knew she had never seen her before today.

“The fact that you don’t know simply makes this sweeter,” the anger and hatred in Nighttide’s voice told Luna that for her, this was personal. Luna knew that she had to get serious or this mare would kill her.

She never wanted to hurt that mare, but she had no choice. She just hoped that Prince Taz could forgive her actions. Focusing on much stronger magic, Luna connected her power to her source, the heavenly body that she had always controlled. With that, bright magical spears appeared in the air, glowing as they were powered from the moon itself. They all shot forward, directly at Nighttide.

“So you’re finally fighting with full power. This will be fun,” Nighttide said as shadows rose from her hooves, forming various blades. They were much bigger than the spears, but stayed at their position. As the spears came closer all of them were just shredded by Nighttide’s blades.

Luna stood, jaw nearly hitting the ground, “How can you defend against the power of the moon itself? This is impossible! Nopony has ever stood against this power of us!”

“Don’t let my young appearance fool you; I’m several hundred years older than I look. I know more about the true way of power and fighting than you would ever imagine,” Nighttide said, as the blades stirred; moving towards Luna.

…

Cadance teleported to her son just in time to catch the afterimage of his teleport. She spun around upon hearing the cry of pain coming from the pegasus. The sight before her was unlike any other she had ever seen, wanted to see, or wished to see again.

Somehow, the green pegasus was still alive. He looked to have been pulling out the swords from his hooves when Radiant teleported above him.

What she saw Radiant doing disgusted her to her core. Her son, Prince Radiant Star, the last physical thing she had of her husband, Prince Shining Armor, he was skinning the pegasus alive.

Ten small blades worked under his coat as they sought to remove it in one clean cut. Radiant looked down at the mulling wretch in utter disgust at his presence, it was the look normally reserved for a pile of excrement lying on the ground.

However, it was the slight grin on his muzzle that sent a chill down Cadence's back. ‘He’s enjoying it.’

Cadance’s heart almost broke seeing her son be so cruel, so callous about causing the suffering of another. In her time she had seen much, even fought a God with hatred and anger in her heart, but this was not that. This was pleasure from somepony’s pain.

‘If he does this, he’ll be gone, forever’, Cadance thought.

She surrounded the stallion in a aura of magic and lifted him off his prey. He growled at her, seeking to get free, to get back to the one that had hurt him more than he ever thought possible, “Radiant Star!” she yelled at him.

His gaze focused on her. For that second she saw not her son, but a vile pony that saw her as something standing between him and what he wanted, “You’re better than this.”

Her words cut deep into the fog that covered his mind, but not deep enough, “I’ll make him pay for what he did!” Radiant shouted.

“What would Shining say if he saw you now; or for that matter, Firestar?” Cadance asked the wind.

That cut all the way through the haze of his mind. He stopped struggling; the red fog that outlined his vision disappeared. He looked down at his hooves; they were red, blood red. The body below him was half flayed alive, a pool of blood leaking out, “I… I…” Radiant tried to say something, nothing came out.

Cadance saw the change and teleported her son to her chest, “It’s okay,” she cooed softly into his ear. Radiant could not respond, tears started pouring out of his eyes at the dishonor he almost did to the memory of his family.

Sadly, when fighting a Demigod, the one thing you do not do is to give him a chance to recover.

…

Luna focused her power as that of the moon, she tapped into her own personal reserves and created a shield in front of her, not for the purpose of blocking, Nighttide was too powerful for that. Rather, she simply angled it so the mare’s spears would strike the shield at an angle and deflect off.

Nighttide looked on in shock as the image of the moon suddenly flashed before her eyes, “You think that will save you?!” she yelled. Luna noticed something then, there was a small necklace hanging from the mare’s neck, one in the shape of a crescent moon. ‘That may be the source of her power!’ she thought. It was a small hope, but it might be true.

She resolved to change tactics. Nighttide was expecting a direct attack, but if her target was not her, but her necklace. she would not be expecting that.

Luna imagined a small teleport followed by an attack in her head and then spread her wings, rushing forwards. Nighttide was prepared for just such an event but then Luna teleported away, just to appear on Nighttide’s right side. The blast of her horn shattered the chain holding the necklace.

“No!” Nighttide shouted as she made to grab the fallen medallion in her hooves. Luna was faster; the alicorn captured the moon medallion in her magic and levitated it up and away from the young mare.

Nighttide turned and glared at Luna, “You… you dare?!”

“With this taken from you, you will be nowhere near as powerful,” Luna said with a smirk.

“My power doesn’t come from that,” Nighttide growled as she let loose a point-blank blast into Luna’s chest. The Alicorn of the Night was ill prepared for such an attack and thus could not defend herself. She slammed through the castle walls and outside. The hit stole the wind from her chest and she could not even bring herself to cry out.

Nighttide followed; at the apex of Luna’s trajectory the mare had dropped the medallion, no longer able to hold it in her magic. Nighttide caught it in her hooves and brought it to her chest as she might a lover.

‘Taz’, the thought of the stallion came to her mind unbidden but quite wanted. ‘He wouldn’t want this, he wouldn’t want me to hurt her, but...’, the paradoxical nature of her desires conflicted in her mind. Nighttide found herself torn between two very different, very powerful desires in her heart.

Is it worth you having to break your own heart?

Dayspring’s words came back to her mind. Try as hard as she might, she could not forget them. They were always there, always playing like a damn broken record that she simply had to listen to.

She wanted her past back, everything her father had promised her. But there was an aching in her heart. At least she thought it came from her heart. It told her that she could have a bright future. A bright future with Taz.

The fight between those desires hurt. How long had she longed for her mother back, how long had she prepared for it? But the thought of Taz shattered the image in her head, replacing them with her and Taz on a bed, the stallion snuggled upon her, their love and emotions carried on the air.

“What do I do if they’ll both break my heart?” Nighttide asked the wind, clutching the medallion tighter to her chest. She expected the action to bring her some relief, to answer her burning question. It did not. To her it was everything she needed, but not what she wanted. She wanted to feel Taz’s coat pressed against hers, she wanted to feel his lips, to know him, to taste him, to take him, and to love him, forevermore...

A tear fell from her eye, followed by another, then another. In the middle of a battle against her sworn enemy, all she could do was cry, cry over all the various feelings in her. What shocked her most was that even though the feelings from her heart were making her cry a lone spark somehow shot through her.

She somehow knew what the spark meant. No matter how much she longed for her mother, and the past, the spark was stronger. She, everything she was, everything she would ever be, all of her wanted Taz… no, it needed Taz, and she needed him forever. Something that collided with her goals about her mother.

She suddenly knew what was most important. Not which one she wanted, not which one she needed, but rather, which one she needed and wanted. she had the answer, and it was not the medallion in her hooves. She looked down at it and smiled. “Goodbye,” her voice rang out before she went to throw it away, forever.

A magical shot punched through her gut before she got the chance. Nighttide looked down as blood started to pour freely from her chest. A glace to its source confirmed what she suspected. The broken Princess of the Night was glaring at her, her left forehoof was broken at two separate places, her horn smoked with the power of the spell she had just let loose.

Nighttide knew what it meant, but somehow she wasn’t sorry for herself. She was sorry for Taz. She looked at Luna one last time. The look on her face and the words that followed shocked the Princess of the Night. “Please, tell Taz that I love him,” she said before falling out of the sky.

At that moment, Nighttide knew she would not be able to heal. Her entire focus, the one thing that worried her to her soul, her heart, and her mind, was Taz. It was the thought about a life without him that broke her willpower; it was that thought that kept her nature from being able to heal her.

Nighttide slammed into the ground with a sickening thud, unmoving, and bleeding out from the hole in her chest.
> In Gold and Ice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Tartarus


Twilight ran forward, doing her absolute best to not pay attention to the noises coming from all around her. Outside, she heard a sound that could only be the very ground itself moving to somepony’s will. Behind her the sounds of fighting continued to echo down the hallway.

She did her absolute best to ignore it; her best was simply not good enough.

“Twilight, we’ve gotta keep going forward,” Rainbow said as she landed near her wife. Twilight was moving too slowly, they would not make it anytime soon at that speed.

Twilight stopped, “We should go back, they need our help,” despite everything, how close she was to her missing son, she could not ignore the plight of her family and friends.

“I want to go back too,” Rainbow said as she wrapped a wing around her wife, “However; we’ve been through enough to know that back is not an option. We win by going forward, not backwards.”

“Our daughter is out there,” Twilight said as she looked out a nearby window, “She’s fighting the Demigod of Time.”

“I’ll put my bits on the Demigoddess of Magic any day of the week!” Rainbow said with pride in her eyes as she flew up and hit a hoof to her chest.

“You’re really not worried, not even a little?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow flew down and landed beside Twilight. She raised Twilight's muzzle with a hoof so she could look her in the eye when she said the next part, “Of course I am. But I know our daughter. I know that she won’t let that thing beat her.”

Twilight smiled back, slightly blushing, “Thanks, Rainbow,” she said, “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Become so enraged that you try to take over the world?”

Twilight hit her on the shoulder with a hoof for that; the action earned her an ‘uph,’ from the mare. Rainbow playfully rubbed her shoulder, pretending it hurt a lot more than it did. Twilight did not buy Rainbow’s pain for a second.

“Quit your whining you big baby, let’s finish this,” Twilight’s expression changed. This was the part of the lavender alicorn Rainbow loved the most. Twilight’s drive, her tenacity, and her determination; for lack of a better term, it was sexy as hell.

At least to Rainbow.

They continued down the hallway. Twilight running on the ground while Rainbow flew overhead. In the cramped space of the corridor there was simply not enough room for both of them to fly. Rounding the next bend Rainbow suddenly stopped, her eyes glued to the door on the right.

Twilight noticed it almost instantly, “Rainbow, we need to go to the left.”

Rainbow did not answer; she simply stared at the door, “What is it, Rainbow?” Twilight asked.

“I’ve… we’ve been here before,” Rainbow said. A creeping sensation crawled down her spine.

“This is Tartarus’s castle.”

“No, that room,” Rainbow pointed a hoof at the door. It was then it clicked for Twilight. Rainbow was right, they had been here before. She would recognize those double doors anywhere. In more than one way, they still haunted her nightmares.

“That’s where…” Rainbow started.

“…Tartarus kept the first piece of his Occulous,” Twilight finished.

Rainbow fell to the floor when Twilight finished her sentence. She knew it to be true; she just did not want it to be true. It being true meant she had to face the reality of the whole situation. They were in a God’s domain, fighting against the children of the Gods.

This was not some random pony with an evil streak, this was for keeps. Ponies could die, easily. Loved ones could… die. That realization hit Rainbow, hard.

Twilight saw this almost immediately. She hated this side of Rainbow. It was so easy to assume Rainbow was always strong, always in control of herself. The mare was always so sure, so confident in her own abilities. When things went bad, when she lost that self-confidence, it was painful to those that loved her.

A kiss on her cheek caused Rainbow to turn and look. Her forehead brushed against her wife’s, her eyes locked onto those lavender eyes she had grew to love over the years. They reflected her own gaze right back at her.

She saw herself in the exact way Twilight did. She saw her downcast expression, the look of doubt and uncertainty that covered her face.

Dash hated her expression, she hated how Twilight saw her because she knew she could be better, she wanted to be better, she had to be better. For her family, for herself, and for the most important pony in her life: Her wife, Twilight Sparkle.

She reached in and pressed her muzzle against her wife’s neck. Twilight wrapped a wing around her and brought her in for a hug. Neither of them said a word, but they did not have to. So much is said without being said, so much is felt without the need for words. Words just cheapen things. Even the greatest poets, philosophers, and wordsmiths pale in comparison to what is never said, what can only be felt.

This was one of those times and they both knew it.

“Thanks,” Rainbow said as they broke apart.

“Always,” Twilight started

“And forever,” Rainbow finished, wiping a tear from her eye as she did so.

This time they both ran upon the ground, side by side. They had been right; they had been here before. Sixty plus years ago, Tartarus led them from his throne room down here to retrieve the first piece of his Occulous, which meant they had only to retrace those steps.

They both knew where this would end.

…

Rainbow bisected the door in sections before Twilight blasted the shards with her magic. The four shards flew across the room with the force of a cannon going off. They skidded to halt, right in front of a black throne with a red unicorn on it.

“It was unlocked you know,” the voice carried over the air, reaching further than it had any right to. Twilight saw the unicorn almost immediately, she saw him for the power he had, for the sheer presence he radiated.

It was almost comical to the mare, she had expected so much more. With a flash of purple magic, Twilight teleported them both right in front of the throne.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Rainbow Dash, it’s my honor to finally meet you,” spoke the unicorn.

“Should we know you?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.

He shook his head, “No, we’ve never met before. However, you, Princess Rainbow Dash are the one that freed the four of us from our prison. Something I thought was impossible. For that alone you have my thanks.”

“I don’t want it,” Rainbow scowled.

“The devil his due,” the red unicorn smiled.

“Who are you?” Twilight asked, aware that Rainbow’s line of questioning was not going to go anywhere productive.

“I am the son of the Gods, the first born of Tartarus. As far as my name goes… well, that’s why we’re here.”

“What?” Twilight asked.

“Twilight Sparkle, you know the power of words, yes?”

“Words merely convey meaning, they’re a form of communication to express ideas,” Twilight rambled of a condensed definition of the word.

“Yes, and no. Words do convey meaning, they shape what an idea is in our head. Now, imagine that to the extreme.”

“I don’t…. I don’t understand,” Twilight admitted.

“I was afraid of that, let me ask you another question, when did you receive your name?”

“My mom named me,” Twilight admitted.

“As I suspected. When she gave you your name, she assigned that name to you. You became Twilight Sparkle; one has to only mention the name Twilight Sparkle to reference you. In essence, you become your name and your name became you. Now, imagine if you were never told your name.”

“What?!” Rainbow shouted. Her head hurt; a lot. ‘Rule number one: Never try to get too deep into the talk of eggheads’.

“Imagine that world, where this thing existed that described you, that was you, yet you didn’t know it. Imagine a world where your parents kept it from you, they had it, yet you did not. Imagine that if you will.”

“I… What difference would it make?” Twilight glared at him, “So what? You can just go by whatever name you want.”

“For mortals, that may be true, but for the children of the Gods, it’s a piece of us, a piece I’m lacking. Without it, I can never become what I should have been born as, what was my birthright!”

“Birthright?! What were you the Demigod of?!” Rainbow yelled out her question.

“Who said I was a Demigod?” the unicorn questioned.

Rainbow and Twilight paused; they both looked at each other. “Your mother was another God.” Twilight said; it was not a question.

“I knew you were the smart one,” the unicorn said with a smile. “My mother was Eros, she saw my future, my destiny. Disgusted with what she had a hoof in creating, she left me with my father for him to raise me and name me as he saw fit. However, he never gave me my name; he never treated me like a son because he knew it was my destiny to surpass him, to overshadow him in every way imaginable!”

“Looks like your shit out of luck!” Rainbow said with a smile, “I ran the bastard through with Cronus’s Sickle. He’s gone, forever! You’ll no more get your name then I’ll crap rainbows.”

“Indeed you did, Princess Rainbow Dash. You’re the one that killed my father, you’re the one that stopped me from ever getting my name,” he laughed before looking down, “My father denied me my place, he denied me my name, and after the Titan incident, he locked me and his two ‘new’ sons in the moon. I’ve hated the rotten basted with every fiber of my being.”

“So you’ve never said what we’re doing here,” Twilight replied.

“You should know this by now. While I doubt that your wife could connect all the dots, I’m willing to bet that you can,” his smile sent shudders down Twilight’s spine.

“Are you calling me dumb?” Rainbow hissed the question.

“Yes,” the red unicorn turned his gaze to her.

Rainbow went to fly right towards him, hatred in her eyes. Twilight expected this and placed a shield in her way. She knew Rainbow could break it without issue, but it would make her pause. Rainbow’s muzzle hit the shield with a loud ‘oww’, “Twilight, what the buck?!”

“Rainbow, don’t you see that he’s just trying to get to you? He wants us to act before thinking and you were about to play right into his hooves by launching a frontal attack!”

The cyan mare rubbed her muzzle and glared at her wife but said and did nothing more at that time. She knew that Twilight was right. She knew that Twilight was always right and would always be right. In simple words; she trusted her and thus waited.

“We’re here for the key, the Key of Ages, it’s the only thing that can unlock the Sands of Time,” Twilight worked through the problem out loud, “But… but it won’t do you any good, even with the sands you can’t change time. The timeline is static, anything that’s already happened takes into account changes from the future,” she knew that much from her own personal experience.

“You don’t know anything about my plans, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” the unicorn’s smile broke a bit, his energy waving out.

“Enough of this egghead stuff!” Rainbow yelled, “Where’s my son!”

The unicorn laughed, “He’s joined me, don’t worry, he’s safe.”

“Joined you?” Twilight asked.

“You should be proud of him. I told him if he helps me I will ensure that none of you are killed, he joined my side to save you all.”

“In other words, you’ve just used him,” Rainbow spit the words out, “And I bet you still intend to kill us.”

“When I get what I want, you will all be ants to me. Sure, I can step on you, but why bother? And yes, I am using him. I have to use him.”

“Your plan is missing an important piece,” Twilight laughed.

“My plan is perfect.” the red unicorn hissed.

“You forget who I am and that Taz is my son. No matter how powerful you are or will be, you will fail. Taz can nullify everything; he was even able to nullify my magic while still in my womb. Even if you did succeed, he’d just make you mortal,” Twilight’s laugh turned into small giggles.

The unicorn laughed, he laughed so loudly it echoed down the large chamber and back at the three, “I know; that’s the linchpin of my plan. You see, Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Gods protected the key with their magic; they hid it inside of my father and locked it away behind a barrier so that no mortal, Titan, or God could ever reach it. That’s why Taz is so important, that’s why, as soon as I learned from my daughter Nighttide that Taz could focus his ability, I sprang this plan. Taz will unlock the barrier and free the key for me. He’ll do it for the most noble of reasons, to save his family.” he paused and grinned at her. “But it won’t be the only reason. He will do it for love too, if needed.”

“What?!” Twilight and Rainbow shouted in stereo, surprised by that additional information.

“Your little son loves my daughter dearly. When he found out that she betrayed him? Well, it weakened his willpower to fight against me. You see, I ordered my daughter to make him fall in love with her. After he heard that, most of his willpower left him and it was amusingly easy to push him into my plans,” he chuckled at the end.

“You… how could you, he’s just a young stallion?!” Rainbow gasped.

“And my daughter is a several hundred year old being. So? Maybe you’re interested in more information. My plan nearly backfired because my daughter fell in love with Taz. However, improvisation is the key to any victory. I adapted, and, well, things just got a whole lot better. I can use them both now,” he closed his eyes for a second as he sensed something. He opened them and grinned. “Well, we don’t have to worry about my daughter anytime soon, but I would start to worry about the health of your daughter, it seems Timespire is tired of playing games.”

Purple energy slammed against the sides of the room, power, pure power radiated up and over everything, coating the grey and black room in shades of purple. Rainbow and the unicorn were forced to look away from the alicorn princess as Twilight felt an emotion she had not felt in quite some time, an emotion she thought long gone: Hate. She hated this creature; she hated this Godly being for what he just said, for his casual dismissal of not only her own son, but his daughter, and their feelings.

Her eyes opened up and stared directly at him. Purple energy radiated off every cell in her body, “Before we began, explain one more thing to me,” Twilight stated, “What are you planning to do even if you get the sands, as I said before, you can’t change the past. Tartarus will still be dead by Rainbow’s hooves.”

The unicorn looked up, he did his best to maintain his cool in the face of such power, “You’re right, the past is the past, it cannot be changed. However we can change the present. With the Demigod of Time I plan on rewinding the clock, and with my power I will clone my father at the time of his death. Tartarus will live once more, and then the old fool will have to tell me my name so that I can take my place among the Gods!”

The power Twilight was giving off increased tenfold. Inside, the unicorn gulped. His insults and teasing went too far. It was never his plans that the purple alicorn would activate all her powers, not right away. He felt something weird, familiar, something he had not felt in a millennia but shook it away. This was just a small stone in his path. He could crush them all with his power and he would do exactly that if needed. That was when he felt it; he felt something gripping him, something that wanted to end him. Something that he could not simply shake away.

“Gaia…” he whispered, eyes widening in shock. The memories came back, the last time he had felt the full strength of the God of Life and Magic was when the Titans were put down. There was no doubt in his mind, this was that all over again.

Before he could do anything, the power strengthened its grip on his hind leg and threw him across the whole hall.

“Touchdown for Twilight!” Rainbow snickered, enjoying the sight of her wife sending the stuck-up unicorn flying. “And that’s why you never buck with my wife!” she yelled.

The walls of Tartarus's palace were nothing more than an extension of his will, his magic made flesh made form. They were stronger than steel and they never stood a chance. The unicorn’s form collided with such force that he knocked over the wall in the back of the room, as well as the next three. His form impelled itself on a spike that came out of the fourth wall.

“You want to resurrect the GOD OF DEATH,” Twilight’s voice echoed across the chamber and down the hallway. It was unthinkable, absurd. The God of Death was a monster in every definition of the world. To willingly bring him back, to force the world to endure his wrath? It could not be allowed to pass. “And you would… you would use your own daughter and MY SON to that goal? I don’t bucking think so.”

“I think you got him, Twi,” Rainbow said, her eyes were glued to the spot he landed upon.

“Don’t drop your guard, Rainbow. He’s not that weak,” Twilight warned her.

“Indeed, I’m not,” the voice echoed around the room. Rainbow gasped in surprise when she saw that his body had disappeared. “Oh, I never did tell you what you could call me; your son affectionately gave me the nickname of Red.”

“When you see it, attack,” Twilight whispered the words to her wife. Rainbow did not know what she was talking about, but she nodded anyway. Looking inward, Twilight focused on a bubble in her mind, it was small, but would only break upon contact with a living form. She released the bubble in an ever expanding arch of power.

Rainbow saw it, it was moving fast, well, fast by anypony else's standards. The bubble left the outline of a form directly to her left, a form that could only be one thing. She flew towards it at best speed, lashing out with her left wing extended in a cutting angle.

She never hit it. The form surrounded her wing and angled her power back, making her crash into the opposite wall.

“Rainbow!” Twilight shouted. She tried to focus on the form that just put down her wife.

The form came to a stop in front of her. “I think your wife has too big of an ego,” it said and pushed towards the downed mare, right into a blinding wall of purple energy.

“YOU. DO. NOT. HURT. MY. FAMILY. AND. ESPECIALLY. NOT. MY. WIFE.” Twilight scowled, but it wasn’t exactly Twilight’s voice anymore, instead it was way deeper and louder than ever.

Purple energy wrapped around the form, squeezing it until it popped like a bubble. Red looked out in shock as his shadow form was taken from him in the most painful way possible. Slowly, ever so slowly, tendrils began working their way across his hooves; he could feel his legs being pulled apart as the alicorn simply glared at him. Anger was radiating off her in waves, purple magic flowed from the corner of her eyes.

“You truly do have Gaia’s power,” Red said as his legs were being pulled out of their sockets.

“A percentage of it,” Twilight said back, her voice several octaves deeper in volume.

Red laughed. That action alone was strange to the alicorn; it caused her to stop pulling. “What… what’s so funny?”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, what’s a percentage of infinite?”

“Probably your death or at least I hope so,” came a muffled voice from the back of the hall. Rainbow was already trying to dig out of the rubble of the wall that had collapsed upon her.

Twilight paused as she took in the full truth of his words. She had never encountered a depth to her power, never encountered something she was unable to do; physically, maybe, but not magic wise. The realization caused her power to slack on Red’s form, not fully, but just enough.

He pulled apart the bonds that held him in a surge of raw physical strength and magic. “You were the first mortal made God, Princess Twilight. You were the only Incarnation that has ever existed!” he walked towards her with each breath, “Do you really think such power can be surrendered, can be given up? Are you that naive? The only thing stopping you from taking your place among the Gods is your mortal form. You have a God’s power, but a mortal’s endurance. It’s such a shame to see such wasted potential.”

“Now, when I have that sort of power…” Red whispered to himself.

Twilight was still lost in her mind, still trying to take in the new information, so she was not fully aware of his movements. She finally looked up after what seemed like minutes, Red was standing directly in front of her. “It’s also a shame that you won’t use any of that power after this day. But don’t worry; I can live with your death. Although, it might be hard to explain to your son,” without warning he pulled forwards and shot a magical beam into Twilight.

She had less than a second to respond, time that was just not enough for her reflexes. While she already had a mirror spell in her mind, she did not have time to cast it. Red hit her and the force of it rushed through her, sending her flying, but not for long. Red shot after her, a small blade forming in front of him, pointing at her stomach.

The blade never hit. Golden wings shielded Twilight as a cyan hoof caught her mid-flight and wrapped her in a protective embrace. The wings blocked the blade, causing it to shatter into various pieces. Rainbow slowed their flight with her will. Slowly, Twilight opened her eyes from the sudden shock and saw the golden light from her wife’s wings light up her face, a face filled with fear. “Twilight, are you okay?” Rainbow was panicking.

“Yeah,” Twilight gasped, it had been years since she last came that close to death, not even the Ataxia incident came that close. Even if what Red said was true and she did have a God’s full power, she was still mortal, with a mortal’s reactions and weaknesses.

However, she had one advantage Red did not, she was not fighting alone. She had family and friends. But the most precious thing she had held her now in her eternal, golden wings. It was her wife, Rainbow Dash, and right at that moment she was more than glad for it. She showed that appreciation and leaned in for a kiss. It did not matter that it was a horrible time for it; some things were worth taking the time out for.

Six shadow blades shot out for the pair, they shattered upon Rainbow’s wings that seemed to grow around her and Twilight, without her even looking up. Her natural instincts would always protect Twilight.

“You two are getting on my last nerve,” Red growled his frustration as he tried over and over to break through the shield of Rainbow’s wings.

Twilight looked lovingly into her wife’s eyes. She knew, on a conceptual level, that Red had been right. She had the power of Gaia at her command. However, what he did not seem to know was that it was not just her with the power. She shared that power with her love, her wife, Rainbow Dash.

Red could try for an eternity to break through those wings, it would never happen. Sure, the two of them had limits, Twilight was already starting to feel exhausted as her body channeled so much energy, Rainbow can and has been beaten before, given, it took an out of control, nigh immortal dragacorn fueled by fate itself, but she had been beaten.

Twilight smiled once more at her wife before turning back to Red. Her eyes lit up with magical energy and turned white as she channeled more and more power. “You seem to forget something, Red.”

“Yeah? What’s that,” he growled.

“I may have a mortal’s endurance, but I don’t fight alone, I have family and friends to protect. That puts me on a completely different level than you,” as soon as she said the words, Rainbow removed her wings and they both attacked as one.

……………………………………..


The Frozen North


With Starlight lying on the ground, moaning from the pain she felt, Blaze trying desperately to help his brother, and Ana out cold, Vela did the one thing she absolutely did not want to do. She removed her brother from her back and placed him gingerly on the ground. “Dayspring,” Vela cried as she said what might be the last words she would ever say to him, “I need you to stay put, okay? I need you to stay here until that wall falls, and then you fly. You hear me? You fly as fast as your little wings can take you. You fly to the Crystal Empire and you get help.”

“Sis, no!” he yelled, “I’m not leaving without you!”

She held his head in her claw, “I need you to promise me you will do this, I need you to say it.”

He shook his head no, the tears in her eyes said this was a lie, that she was about to do something bad.

“I’ll let you help me preen my wings again,” Vela promised.

“But mom said not to…” Dayspring looked up at her.

“She said never to ask others if they wanted help, she never said anything about asking others for help,” Vela said back with a smile.

“Promise?” Dayspring asked her.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Vela went through the motion.

Dayspring giggled at that.

“Do you promise, Dayspring?” Vela asked, she wanted to hear him own the words.

“I promise,” the little hippogriff said as he looked back at his sister, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Vela smiled at him with a sad look in her eyes, she had a gut feeling it would be the last time she ever saw her brother. It mattered not; she would either save him or die in the attempt. That became all that mattered to her. Turning around, Vela made for the two revenants.

“I’ll help,” Blaze said as he held his brother’s hoof. There was nothing he could do for the pain Flash was in, the stalagmite held him in place.

“You’ll help best by being there for your brother. As I’ll be there for mine,” Vela added the last part under her breath.

It is said that older siblings are born first so they can protect their younger brothers and sisters. Those words never rang more true than right now. Vela was not a magic user nor was she that smart. What she was the daughter of Emperor Icarus and Empress Princess Aurora Flash. She carried the genetic lines of both families, her mother’s protective nature, and her father’s legendary temper. She knew she could not win, but that was not her goal, her goal was to protect, to save her brother. That was a task she would sell her life to complete.

Fire and Ice were walking around them, gazing at them like wolves would do with a herd of sheep. It was a creepy feeling and Vela could do nothing against it. While one of them was in front of her, the other could catch her without warning from her unprotected flank.

For them it was overkill, this little hippogriff was not a threat to beings of their power, even if they gave her all the time in the world to attack them she did not have a shred of hope in defeating them. They did it for the thrill of the hunt, for the fear they could smell off her.

Vela saw her saving grace out of the corner of her eye; her friend was finally coming around. “Ana.” Vela started, whispering low enough so their enemies could not hear them. “Do you know a spell that can blind someone?” she asked and Ana nodded, confused. “I’ll make them attack me, and then you blind them by powering up that spell right in front of me. Get everyone at the other end of the cave while they’re distracted.”

Ice paused, he could see them whisper, but he was too far away to hear anything but loose mumbles. “Hey you two, you can talk later, or did you forget us?” he laughed a laugh that froze on Vela’s response.

“How could I ever forget such ugly faces like the two you have? Oh my, even the stinky barracks of Warclaw smell better than you two accidents,” she screamed, breaking out in laughter. “Did your mother drop you at birth? I think you must have landed on your faces!” Vela flexed her claw in front of her, “Come on, I’ll take you both.”

Fire howled and wanted to sprint forwards but Ice held him back. “Don’t do that, brother. When we attack, we’ll do it together,” Fire scowled in response, but held his temper in check. Something that broke loose at the next words she said.

“What happened? Gobbled down your tongue, you dumb ugly bastards?” Vela asked, and that was enough, with a scowl, both of them bolted at her. “Ana, now!” she screamed, quickly covering her eyes.

Fire and Ice were too slow to understand the action. Approaching the hippogriff; they were blinded by pure light burning into their eyes. They screamed and fell, falling to the ground, they rubbed at their eyes trying to get the burning sensation out.

Vela turned to face Ana with a fearful expression on her face, “NOW! It won’t hold them for long! Move now or it will all be for nothing!”

Ana did not need to be told twice, she powered up her horn and used the most powerful teleport she knew, it was too risky to try and teleport through the other side of the ice wall, not with so many ponies in tow, so she teleported them all to the other side of the cave, just like Vela wanted.

“Hey Fire, you’re nothing but a big pussy!” Vela shouted as she ducked low. She had already deduced that Fire was the more temperamental of the two, being that a huge wall of ice blocked their escape; she could use that to her advantage.

Fire responded just as she expected him to, the blind pegasus lashed out with his magic, directly at the spot where she had called out from, not caring if he killed her. Vela avoided it, but not without a few burns of her own. However, when she looked back, she took some solace in the fact that her plan had succeeded. There was now a huge gaping hole in the wall of ice.

“Dayspring, now!” Vela screamed. Ana was too weak to try another teleport, not with everypony else. Besides, she was needed to try and stem the flow of blood from the gaping wound in Flash’s leg. A wound Ana had opened up when she teleported them all away from the blast zone. With Starlight out for the count, Blaze looking after his brother, and Ana looking after Starlight, that only left Dayspring to try and get help.

“You idiot!” Ice yelled as he finally understood what the young hippogriff did. She gave her brother an escape route. He tried to open his eyes, the after image of the blinding magic spell still burned in his retina. Squinting, he could barely make out shapes. He willed another ice wall down where he thought it should go.

For Dayspring, the very last thing he wanted to do was go. He wanted to stay, he wanted to make sure everypony and his sister would be okay. However, he knew he had to keep his promise. He promised his sister that he would fly away, that he would get help.

Every inch of his will was bent to that one promise; he flapped his wings harder and faster than ever before. Pushing himself onward. The ice wall began shutting down over the gap his sister managed to create. He cried out as the muscles burned in his wings.

“I love you, brother.” The words were nothing more than a whisper in the wind, yet he heard them all the same.

Those words gave him all the strength he needed. In the blink of an eye, Dayspring flew outside right before the wall shut. Vela let go of a breath she was not even aware she held as her brother made it to safety. Releasing it, she sighed, “He’s safe.”

“You won’t be.” Fire said as he and his brother got to their hooves. His expression spoke of a murderous rage.

“I don’t care. Seriously, you should’ve already checked that. And you know what enemy is the most dangerous one, don’t you?”

“Are you trying to play for time now?” Ice asked before turning to his brother. “Okay buck the orders, let’s just kill her quickly.”

Vela unfolded her wings and let out a scream, a scream she had often heard from griffins in Warclaw before a fight. It meant death or glory in combat. “The most dangerous enemy is the one that has nothing left to lose, the one that thinks he will die no matter what happens!” she screamed and rushed forwards at the two confused beings.

It was a heroic charge, one worthy of myth and legend. It was the lone fighter that sold their life to save their family. Mythos were built around such warriors overcoming the odds and winning. Of those that sold their lives to battle back the evil just one more time.

There is a problem with such myths, that’s all they were. As soon as she got in range, Ice back-hoofed the hippogriff with enough force to break something, “Impressively foolish. Fire, kill her.”

“With pleasure,” Fire smiled before focusing his power into a blast, one meant to finish her life once and for all.

The attack never came. Five spears flew down from the ceiling, impelling the pegasus on the floor of the cave. Ice and Vela looked at him, confused.

Five night-black griffins were pinning the pegasus to the floor with their spears as they glared at the other one. The lead Shadow Knight simply glared at Ice with a look that all but said, ‘No one threatens the life of the empress’.

While Vela had wanted the hole so her brother could escape, it had the unintended side effect of letting others in. ‘I’ll see Dayspring again’, there were tears in her eyes when she recognized her saviors. They were the elite of the elite, the best of the best, and while she knew not what they were doing here, she was grateful for their presence all the same.

Ice underestimated the Shadow Knights. With a scowl, he leapt towards the young empress, intent on killing their charge while their spears were still buried in his brother. With preternatural speed, the Shadow Knights left their spears in Fire and jumped in front of Vela with shields raised. The impact shook the whole cave as the new fight begun.

He doesn’t have the slightest idea of how good they are or about their equipment’, Vela thought with an evil smile. They were meant to be trained in secret, her father’s own personal task force, but Icarus could not keep secrets from his daughter. She knew everything that happened in Warclaw.

Fire and Ice thought the battle was over but it had only just begun.
 


> A Noble Sacrifice 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Tartarus


Shimmering Night flew down into the labyrinth created by Timespire. Every one of her senses was stretched to the max trying to be wary of whatever trap the earth pony had in store for her. She could make out the sounds of struggling as her wife fought with her captor.

“Let me go!” Ataxia’s scream echoed all around her.

“Quit fighting me…” Timespire grunted as he sought to strengthen his hold on the unicorn.

With a smile on her face, Night stopped flying forward. She landed on her flank and just waited for what she knew would come next.

“I have your wife,” Timespire’s voice echoed amongst the rocks, it was augmented by grunts coming from both parties as Timespire sought to keep his captive under control and Ataxia sought to escape, “If you don’t… ump… do what I…. Stop BITING! say I’ll….”

Night had to bite her tongue to stop from laughing.

Timespire seemed to notice this, “What’s so…. Stop it! funny?!”

“Two things,” Night replied with a smirk, “The first is that you’ve already told us that you can’t kill us, so there is no threat that you will actually do anything to end her life. The second is that you OBVIOUSLY don’t know my wife.”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

The loud yell should have been deafening, it echoed off every rock in every direction and back in upon itself, increasing in volume and pitch. It became so loud that it left a ringing in Night’s ears. Yet, the only reaction the alicorn gave was to let loose the laugh she had been holding back. She laughed loudly, rolling on her side and simply letting it out.

“Got your BALLS, bitch!” Ataxia yelled as she ran out of his grip and into Night’s view. Held aloft in her magic were two very bloody sacks of meat.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” the shout seemed to come less from a Demigod and more from a wounded animal.

Night stopped laughing, chasing after her wife were four shadow spears flying at close to the speed of sound. She forced them into the ground, surprised when they seemed to go several hundred hooves in. ‘He’s pissed’, she thought with a grimace.

“The time for games is over!” Timespire shouted. “Fuck my orders, fuck you both! I will definitely kill your wife, and then it’s your turn.”

The shadows themselves seemed to respond to Timespire’s command, Night had no idea how he was controlling them the way he was, if she had to guess she would say it was more of a family trait than anything else; however, she was out of time to try to figure it out. She could see it; each shadow coalesced into something real, tangible. All the spears they formed, every last one of them was pointed at one thing and one thing only, Ataxia.

They struck out in the blink of an eye, shooting for the mare that was still running away from her would-be captor. Even though Night did what she did next to save Ataxia, she still whispered a “Sorry,” to her wife before she powered up her horn.

Ataxia heard it before it happened; she looked up to see a grimace on her wife’s face just as Night teleported her away. Ataxia’s prize fell out of her magical grip and landed on the ground. Only to be impaled by the very attack Timespire wished to use to against Ataxia.

With his ire up, Night needed to get his attention back on her, “So, I gotta know, does that count as hitting yourself in the balls?”

Timespire’s rage exploded. The rock Night was sitting upon crumbled to dust, along with everything else within sixty-three hooves of Timespire. Her enemy was in sight now. She could already see more and more of the dead magic gathering around Timespire. He was imbuing it into every aspect of his body. He was powering himself with it, poisoning himself with it.

With every bit he took in, she saw his cells growing weaker. It was real power, a God’s power, but it did not come without a cost. A large part of Night felt guilty about this. She had driven him to this extreme, driving him to poison himself this much. He may be her enemy, but she did not wish him dead. “You should stop that,” Night knew her words would fall upon deaf ears, but she had to say something.

“Why should I stop now? Is it because you want to kneel before me and plead for your life?! Or the life of your wife? This is the end; you know it and you are simply trying to play for your last seconds. It won’t work!” he shouted as new shadows started to form in front of him.

Two spears shot out from either side of Night, heading at speed directly towards both of her flanks. She deflected them up with her will, but the speed increase could not be denied, and sadly, they were not his only attacks. A spear pierced her leg from the last place she had expected, beneath her.

She forced it out and took flight, ‘Careless, had he been more focused that could have ended me’, the thought was not a pleasant one. She forced some of her own personal reserves to heal her hoof, but the reality that this was for keeps finally hit home. If she screwed up, she would die.

Timespire capitalized on this second’s distraction by regressing one of the rock pillars directly below Night. It shot up with a speed she had not been expecting or known he was possible of achieving. She dodged it, but was forced to teleport away from the shadow spears that shot out from behind the large pillar.

“Two can play this game!” Night shouted as she concentrated her magic and shot the pillar with everything she had. It exploded into millions upon millions of rock fragments. Each shard of which rained down upon the battlefield.

Timespire knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid all of them. He had no choice but to open himself up, drawing more of the power into him. It started to hurt now, but he could not stop. He absorbed more and more, forming a shield of shadows around him to deflect the shards and fragments that fell like a sick parody of rainfall.

Night smiled when she saw the shield form beneath her, it was powerful, very powerful. However, that had not been the point of her attack. She merely needed to know his location. With a quick teleport spell, Timespire found himself looking her eye to eye several hundred hooves up in the air, held aloft in her magic.

“You can’t hold me!” Timespire spit his venom at her as his cutie mark spun the other way, seeking to age her magic into nothingness.

“I know,” the smile on Night’s face caught Timespire by surprise. He did not catch on until it was too late. Night’s shield faded into nothingness and he suddenly realized that had been her intention all along.

Night’s smile only grew wider as she watched him fall out of the sky. It was a smile that cost her as two shadow spears stuck out from either side of the alicorn. They cut into her wings and forced her to cry out in pain. It was simple work for her to remove them, but the damage had been done. She was falling too.

While Night was able to teleport to the ground, avoiding the fall, Timespire could not claim any such luxury. He was too far away from a shadow to shadowmeld. His body hit the ground with the sound of breaking bones.

Night could already see that the shadows were gathering around him. Timespire might be taking more damage than her, but he could easily heal his wounds. She could not do that as easily, every blow hurt that much more, took that much more out of her. She was already finding it hard to concentrate enough magic to heal her wings.

“I need to find some way to end this, and quickly,” Shimmering Night grunted.

…………………….


The Frozen North


Ice fell on his flank as he bounced off the griffin’s bucklers. That alone was strange, ‘What are those damn things made of!’ the thought was like venom in his mind. Whatever gear the griffins had was not normal. They had to have some sort of magical properties in them if they could block his attack. “Fire, get your ass up.”

“Ughm…” The incoherent ramblings of his brother caused him to glance back. Fire was still impelled upon the ground. The spears the griffins used had him pinned more effectively than should have been possible. Ice shot spikes through his brother’s body, forcing the spears all to pop out of the ice they pinned him to. However, such actions came at a cost, the Shadow Knights capitalized on his distraction.

The Shadow Knights moved as one coherent unit, two of them flew directly at Ice, bucklers facing him. His awareness of the attack came as one of them slammed against his head, causing the revenant to see stars. The other hit him square in the chest. Together, their combined force knocked him to the wall where they pinned him in place.

Two more Shadow Knights flew to the free pegasus with well-practiced ease, they picked up two spears and slammed them back home. One imbedded in Fire’s brain, the other his flank. One of the pair kicked up a third spear and tossed it up into the air where the final Shadow Knight was waiting to retrieve it. He flew at full speed towards Ice.

Vela only caught what happened after the fact, from the looks of things the fifth Knight had turned traitor and was about to attack his own teammates. Yet, at the last second the two Knights that had Ice pinned with their bucklers moved out of the way. The fifth Knight buried his spear up to the hilt in Ice’s neck, almost decapitating the pegasus in the process.

They did it all without saying a word to each other. Fire watched all those actions and got an idea. All of the griffons seemed well trained, very well trained. Almost like they could read each others movements before they happened. He was never a thinker, but Fire knew that if they could force the griffins into rash action, if they could make them do something they could not coordinate their efforts upon, the brothers could get the upper hoof for sure.

Fire concentrated on the spears inside him as he increased his ability, his flames licked over the spears, but they weren’t harmed by it. He cursed everyone and everything that went into making such weapons. ‘How can something solid resist my flames?! Fire burns everything’, the thought made him angry.

With a smirk Fire gave himself to the shadows and escaped the spears, but not without a strong, piercing pain at the spots they were imbedded in. They were magically crafted and enchanted, he was aware of that now. With a howl he deformed and hid for a second after giving Ice a small signal, hoping he would catch on.

Ice caught onto it, and with the same agonizing pain that Fire experienced, deformed his body as well. With their target no longer in front of them, the three Knights jumped back. Their preternatural senses caused them to avoid the ice spears that shot out after them.

Two of the Knight’s spears flew through the air, tossed from their comrades. Without even looking, the two unarmed Knights caught them with ease and forced them directly up into the ceiling; right where Ice’s essence was hiding. Even in this form he felt the impact and the following pain.

Fire turned to Ice as he heard his painful howl despite his form. The spears were more than he thought they were; they could hurt them, no matter what form they took.

Fire’s mind was forced to admit the truth, they were outmatched. While the griffins would not last one on one, or even two on one, the five of them working together operated as a well-oiled machine. The griffins used tactics and strategy to their advantage. They knew their teammates would back up their actions. 

‘We’re losing’, Fire thought the words without intending to, but as soon as he did, he knew it to be the truth.

‘We’re losing’, the thought was an anathema to him.

‘We’re losing’, he felt his rage boil over.

‘WE’RE LOSING!’ his form reappeared, surrounded by blue fire, fire that burned hot enough to melt the ice in the cave, causing a small stream of water to rain down upon him.

As soon as his form appeared, three spears impaled themselves into it. They pierced his neck, chest, and wings. The revenant gave no thought to it. Pain was secondary to his rage. He picked his target at random, he picked the first soul he saw and let loose with all his frustration, all his anger, and all his rage.

A torrent of flame shot from him straight and true, straight to Empress Vela.

It happened in the blink of an eye. Empress Vela saw Fire’s form reappear and in the next second, she felt a torrent of heat wash over her. She shut her eyes, feeling a tear evaporate from her cheeks. The thought of never seeing her brother again and not her own imminent death caused that tear to fall.

…

To Vela’s amazement, she opened her eyes. ‘I should be dead’, she knew the thought to be true, but she was not. Her fur felt like it was on fire, she had lost several feathers, but she was still alive.

She was not dead, she was not, but someone else was. Directly in front of her was the charred remains of one of the Shadow Knights. There was no fur left on his body, his wings were gone, simply burned off. In several places his muscles had boiled off, revealing the bones that lay beneath; bones that were blackened by the extreme heat.

The smell, the sight, all of it, it all simply added up to something that made Vela want to gag. Yet, she could not, she could only watch as the Knight’s buckler fell to the ground, no longer held up in front of him by a working muscular system, a loud clank followed in its wake as it bounced a few times before coming to a stop.

Ice appeared back by his brother’s side and pulled out the spear from his neck. With an evil grin the two revenants looked at each other and then at the foals. The four remaining Knights gripped their weapons that much tighter.

The nature of the battle had just changed, and not for the better.

……………………………


Tartarus


Radiant went to pull back from his mother’s hooves, but she was not ready to let him go just yet. Their family had been through the worst sort of pain imaginable and she was not willing to release him, not until she had no other choice.

Prince Radiant Star did not even fight it, when he felt her resistance he just went back and hugged her tighter. He did not know why, but hugging his mom just reminded him of holding his wife. He cried as these feelings brought back those memories.

Cadance poured a little more power into her horn as she stroked those feelings in her son. He was right, this did feel a lot like hugging his wife, or more specifically, hugging his wife felt a lot like this.

When you are in somepony’s hooves, somepony that loves you with every part of their being, you cannot help but feel that. The feelings of nurturing and protection, love and trust, honesty and kindness, all of it, they all combine into something that you just know.

He felt that with Firestar, Cadance made sure he felt it now too, stronger than ever.

“Whhhhaaaatt, a toucching mommenntt,” the voice sent shivers up Radiant’s spine. It came from behind him, from a body that should be unable to move, much less speak. He let go of his mom and turned around to face the one who had just spoke.

The sight before him made him throw up a little in his mouth. With disgust he gagged it down. In front of him the green pegasus was standing back up, the skin from his muzzle was hanging loosely over his chest. His muscles were fully on display, his teeth no longer hidden by lips.

Already Radiant could see shadows trying to reattach the removed skin. It was stitching him back up, slowly, one inch at a time. Yet it was his eyes that demanded Radiant’s attention. They spoke of pain, but that was a given, they also spoke of hatred and rage. Hate reserved for the one that almost flayed him alive.

As soon as his jaw was fully intact, the revenant spoke again. “I think I like you, prince. You did this to me with no hesitation, no regret, and no remorse. What a fine warrior you will make. I can’t wait to add you to my collection. Although, there is one thing I’ll have to teach you. When your opponent is down, make sure you finish the job.”

Prince Radiant Star is the premier swords stallion in all of Equestria. Sixteen years ago the only pony that could match his skill with the blade was Celestia, yet even she had commented that he would surpass her, and soon. His magic fully lent itself to his talent. Over the years he could fully manipulate and control up to fifty-seven different magical blades at full effect. He was literally an army of one. A lifetime of training had paid off in more ways than he could count.

Yet even he was having difficulty now. Mindsink attacked with shadow spears upon shadow spears. Each from a completely different angle, striking for blind spots that were barely protected by the prince.

“You were such a dangerous foe,” Mindsink said with disappointment in his voice. “What happened?” he asked, bored. “You more than anypony should know what happens when a blade loses its edge, when it becomes dull. That’s what happened to you, isn’t it? You’ve lost your killing edge, didn’t you?”

When there was no reply, Mindsink kept taunting, “What? No heroic words?”

“Nope, just deeds,” Radiant said back as his swords destroyed three more of Timespire’s shadow spears, the action created the opening he needed to take this fight back to his opponent.

“You really think that it’ll be that easy?” Mindsink snickered.

Just as Radiant thought he got the path he needed, several more spears came up out of the ground. Just in time he blocked their attack, but only for them to be replaced by more and more. He missed one of the spears that replaced the others. Radiant knew he would not be able to block it at its angle of attack.

Cadance saw it; she saw it before even her son did. Her view gave her a perspective he did not have. There was not a second to spare, she teleported him out of the way and behind her, saving him from being impaled in the gut. Unfortunately, Mindsink made this spear special; he had it track the white unicorn. The spear shot forward on a direct path for Radiant, a path that led it through Cadance.

The Princess of Love gasped in surprise as it pierced her front left leg. Her wings shot up in shock as the pain hit her brain. Only for three more spears to follow the first, shooting through the alicorn’s wings and her front right leg as well.

She coughed up blood.

“MOM!” Radiant shouted upon seeing the condition his mom was in. He knew she saved his life, but those actions came a cost. A cost he did not want her to pay. Mindsink smiled at the display. Seeing the look on the prince’s face gave him a thought, a thought that would be a lot of fun. Well… for him at least.

Radiant howled and charged after him, but Mindsink already deformed into shadows. After appearing next to Cadance, he began implementing his idea. He wouldn’t directly attack the prince, no… that was boring to him now. He would let his mother do it, it would be way, way more fun this way, and the fact that it would destroy the mare after was just a bonus.

After all, nothing beat the look of horror on a pony’s face as they were attacked by somepony they loved. Well, save for the look on the face when they realized what they did when he would restore their true memories.

……………………


The Frozen North


Vela stood by her friends and watched the display in horror. She was grateful that Dayspring was not here. While Blaze and Ana did what they could for Flash and Starlight, Vela’s attention was on the battle itself. She held the fallen Shadow Knight’s buckler in a death grip with her claws.

She just wished he had been the only one that fell.

Vela had lost track of time, it could have been minutes, hours, or even days. In truth, time seemed to have no meaning anymore. Each of the Shadow Knights had sold their lives at great cost. The second one fell ten minutes after the first. Cut in half by an ice spike that would have ended Starlight’s life. The third one died ten minutes after that; he was crushed pushing Ana out of the way of a firewall that came crashing down over her head. The poor griffin’s charred corpse joined his comrade’s.

The fourth had happened five minutes after that. After impelling Ice with two spears, the revenant had trapped the griffin in a bear hug. Piercing his body with the same spears that had impaled the pegasus.

They had fought, they had given everything for their empress, but it was over, and everypony and griffin knew it. Including Fire and Ice.

The two revenants stood by the ice wall that barricaded the group inside. They looked at the last Shadow Knight as a predator would look at wounded prey. “You all where some tough sons-of-bitches, I’ll give you that much,” Ice said between deep breaths.

The Shadow Knight did not reply. He merely held his buckler and spear tighter, his wings spread wide, his body shielding his charges.

“I won’t give them shit,” Fire said with a growl. “Well, I’ll give him one thing, brother,” he winked at Ice. 

Ice got his meaning almost immediately; he smiled and nodded back, “Let’s do it.”

The Shadow Knight saw it. Both revenants started building up a giant blast of energy before them, and he knew without a second’s hesitation that it would end his life. He knew that he would die protecting the empress. But it was the end he was meant for, the end he trained for. He turned to Vela and gave her a quick salute and a bow.

“It’s been an honor to serve you, empress. I hope you all will get free,” he said the only words he had spoken the entire time before turning again and raising his buckler against the incoming attack that would take his life. He just had to hope that his body would be sufficient to save the life of his young charges.

A huge blast of magical energy filled the room. It hit with enough force to double the size of the ice-cavern. Water poured forth from the evaporating ice, lukewarm as the heat from the blast easily raised the temperature of the water from below freezing to a comfortable seventy degrees. The blast washed over the Shadow Knight and the foals, but oddly, it did not harm them. However, the same could not be said for the two revenants.

The blast that hit came from Icarus. The griffin emperor held Siros’s Vengeance in his claw, pointing it down the cave. Twilight, Night, Luna, and Cadance forged the God weapon years ago for the new emperor. When it was first picked up Emperor Icarus vowed to use it to protect those he loved and it took on all the properties necessary to carry out that vow, forevermore.

When the steam cleared the room, Vela broke down weeping at the sight before her. Aurora and Icarus walked down into the cavern. Her little brother was crying on his mom’s back, no doubt refusing to let go. At least until he saw his sister.

The little hippogriff jumped off Aurora’s back and into his sister’s claws. She had no choice but to drop her buckler and catch him. Her own pain was forgotten, in truth she had never expected to see him again. All that matter to her was that she got to hold him one more time.

“Sister! I left and got help! Never ask me to leave you again!” he cried his tears out into her coat, “I was so worried.” Dayspring said as he snuggled against Vela.

“No need to worry, little brother. After all, I have a promise to keep,” Vela said as her tears fell upon his head.

“You still want me to help you preen?” Dayspring asked.

“Of course, my wings could really use it,” she laughed as he buried his head even further in her coat.

Icarus and Aurora shot her an amused glance at the memory of their ‘family affair’ last year. “I’ll always want your help, little brother,” Vela said as she buried her head in his feathers. She meant every word of it too, she loved her little brother more than her own life. Seeing him again brought back all those feelings and more.

Five more Shadow Knights appeared next to the lone survivor. Without any visible form of communication, they were all caught up on the situation.

Icarus gave his daughter a slight nod before turned back to the end of the cavern. He could already see the two his son had told him about starting to reform. Their bodies were healing as shadows formed unnaturally around them. “Aurora, Knights, take the kids and go,” when he spoke, the order did not sound like it came from Emperor Icarus; rather, it seemed to come from his late father, Emperor Siros.

“Icarus, I’m not leaving you,” Aurora replied.

He ran a claw through her mane and brought her in for a kiss, “I’ll be fine.” There was a certain conviction in his voice. Almost as if he just knew it to be true, “But the kids need a doctor. Take the Knights and get them there. That need comes first.”

“You promise?” Aurora knew he was right, but that did not make leaving him alone any easier to deal with.

“Pinkie promise,” Icarus said back with a wink. He spun Siros’s Vengeance in a claw as he said those words. The tip of the God weapon seemed to cut the very air, almost as if it was sharp enough to cut right through existence itself.

Aurora hesitated, but eventually turned and made for the exit, “Vela, Dayspring, we go.”

Vela looked at her in utter disbelief, “We can’t! We have to help him fight!”

“You can’t help him! Now let’s go, we have to take Starlight and Flash to a hospital.”

“But…” Vela stopped at the sound of painful groaning that came from across the cave. “... fine… Dayspring, let’s go.” she said and her little brother hopped on her back, continuing to snuggle into her feathers.

It did not surprise her when she looked back and saw that the Shadow Knights already had the others gathered up. Starlight and Flash were carried carefully in their claws, Blaze and Ana were between them. Their gaze was locked on their friends. Vela followed her mother up the cave entrance before turning back to say one more thing to her father, “Dad, kick their flanks!”

He grinned, “This is your old man you’re talking about. I’ll make this quick.”

“Quick huh?” the voice came from the back of the cave, raspy and broken. It almost caused Vela to run to her father’s side, almost. A blue wing lightly butted against her flank, forcing her to keep moving as her mom was by her side.

Icarus watched them leave and then turned back to the speaker. “It’ll be quick,” he said with all the certainty of a fortune teller.

The two pegasi dragged their bodies out of the shadows. Each of them was covered in blood. Huge holes and missing limbs in their bodies signified that his attack had left its mark. ‘And I wasn’t even aiming for you’, the thought made the griffin emperor smile.

They attacked as one, their movements sloppy and unfocused. Icarus deflected their spears with ease and lashed out with his own attack. Even at a distance Siros’s Vengeance cut through the air and into their bodies. Huge gashes of blood appeared on Ice and Fire’s stomachs as their bodies lost even more of their life essence.

“You two think you can threaten our foals, and what? There wouldn’t be consequences?” there was a focus to his eyes, rage and anger caged behind training and duty. Over the years Icarus had learned focus and concentration. That’s not to say he lost his rage, he just learned how to control it, how to make it work for him, and not against him.

It made all the difference in the world.

Ice rolled with the attack, clutching at his stomach to prevent his host’s internal organs from spilling out onto the floor. “You kill us, you kill our hosts,” the revenant spoke through gritted teeth.

Fire had not gotten off so lucky, the attack cut deep into his host, forcing him to fall to his stomach as he could no longer stand. Unlike the other attacks the two had suffered, the damage Icarus’s caused would not heal quickly, if at all, “Yeah,” Fire spoke, “Aren't you like the good guy or something?”

“I’m not that good,” Icarus said; his glare spit daggers at his opponents. True, the two pegasus they possessed might die when he killed these two, but anypony that threatens his family, directly or not, deserved to meet such a fate.

Fire’s eyes went wide as the spear cut off his host’s head.

“No!” Ice yelled as he shot out with a shadow spear, while his attack barely hit Icarus’s back hoof, it did manage to elicit a small cry of pain from the emperor, a cry that did not go unnoticed.

…

Just outside of the cave, only a few feet away, Vela heard that small cry. She heard it and her heart froze. Under orders, the six remaining Knights flew ahead, transporting Flash, Starlight, and the others to the hospital, they would be safe. Without any word, Vela placed Dayspring on the ground, turned around, and shot back into the cave. She ignored her brother and mother’s yells for her to stop that followed after her.

………………………………..


Tartarus


Mindsink stood at Cadance’s side, slowly whispering into her ear. Radiant wanted to do something, anything, but he knew that if he attacked now the risk was too great that he would hurt his mother.

Despite his ministrations, Cadance was showing resistance to his ability. Mindsink gritted his teeth and added even more strength to his whispers.

“Don’t you remember Cadance? Don’t you remember that, that’s not your son, but a changeling? It’s the queen, the one that almost took your late husband from you,” he spoke again. This was too good of a plan to rush. His studies told him everything that had occurred when the Crystal Princess had gotten married. She may not bring herself to kill the ‘queen’ but she would hurt her and that is what he really wanted.

Cadance tried to resist, she knew it was futile, and she knew he would win. However, something seemed to help her, deep inside. A strength that was not her own helped her fight against it, somehow.

Radiant looked on in shock as the murderous glare of his mother met his gaze. Satisfied that she was under his thrall, Mindsink disappeared completely in a loud laughing howl. Before Radiant could do anything at all, the expression on his mother’s face turned from murderous, into fear, and then sadness.

Cadance knew she didn’t have much time left. The resistance inside of her grew weaker and weaker with every passing moment. Alicorn’s were hard to kill, but love had a power all of its own, with love you can do anything. She knew that for a fact, with a last sad look at her son, she set her path on the only other option left to her. Either she would be forced to fight her son, a fate worse than death, or she would choose the other option.

‘I can’t even tell him goodbye, or that I’m sorry’, was all Cadance thought as she called up the forbidden spell, a spell banned by Celestia herself hundreds of years ago. It was a spell that she knew would work right now.

It was one of the most disgusting spells she had ever learned. Hundreds of years ago a unicorn mare had created the spell when her love had broken her heart. She loved a stallion deeply and passionately. Her revenge was to create a spell that would turn her love into a weapon, a weapon she used against that very stallion.

Cadance almost threw up when she heard the story. The unicorn mare killed the one she loved with her love. It affected that mare on such a deep level that she used the spell one more time, on herself. The spell attacked the one that hurt her the most, first her ex-lover, than herself.

Cadance never thought she would ever use the spell, but her nature caused her to learn it. She almost laughed as she used it now. It was a fitting end; she rejected the fate Mindsink laid out for her in exchange for one of her own choosing. Between killing herself and attacking her son, it was never a choice.

Radiant looked at his mother and saw a tear falling down her eye as her magic began to glow stronger and stronger. He reached out with a hoof, before he could take another step forward the light turned upon itself and imploded with a huge, loud crack of energy. As for Princess Cadance, her body became nothing more than dust in an artificial wind that blew through Tartarus.

“NOOOO!” Radiant screamed as the blast threw him against the palace walls. ‘No’, it was the last word he would ever say to her.

As he recovered, Radiant walked slowly forward to the position where Cadance had stood, finding nothing but a small burned outline in the ground of four hoof prints. He collapsed as his legs were unable to support him anymore. His tears fell freely from his eyes. Suddenly, a small breeze blew around him, causing the prince to shudder. It was warm, inviting, and full of love.

I could never hurt you or force you to hurt me. Please forgive me. I love you, come what may, don’t ever forget that.

Radiant looked around, trying to search for the source of the noise. He knew it was the voice of his mother. At the edge of his vision he saw some glimmers of dust in the outline of a pink alicorn fading into a soft breeze, and even through the tears, somehow he managed a smile. 

His mother had found a way to say goodbye, even though she wasn’t there anymore.


> The Power of Love
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Tartarus


The reality of the situation weighed heavily on Radiant’s mind. ‘My… my mom is gone…’ the thought sent a cold chill down his spine, penetrating him to his core. Yes, she had found a way to say goodbye, but that did not change the fact.

The fact was she died; Princess Cadance took her own life rather than bring any harm to her son. To her, death was the preferred choice.

How she did it, he would never know. He did not want to know either. It would not change the fact. Nothing could do that.

“He, he, ha, ha, ha,” the sound of laughter was like a dagger in his back. He did not move, not yet. There was nothing to move against. Radiant Star grabbed onto his rage and held it close in a lover’s embrace. He would release it, but only when the time was right.

“It’s amazing how well things work out sometimes,” the voice was cocky, so sure of itself.

“You bucked up,” Radiant replied, his voice spoke of the venom he now felt.

“Oh, how’s that?” Mindsink asked, his form still hidden in the shadows.

“You were told not to kill any of us,” Radiant said sternly.

“I know. That’s why this was perfect.  You see, I didn’t kill Princess Cadance, she killed herself. I’m off the hook.”

Radiant tasted copper in his mouth as he bit into his tongue. Somehow, he did not say a word. He merely sat at the last spot his mother occupied.

“She sacrificed herself for nothing, you know. I wasn’t going to have her kill you, not like she killed your wife. Her death is on her own hooves, not mine,” Mindsink teased as his form reappeared behind the white stallion.

Radiant released that rage and burst into an attack, he rolled over and sprang to his hooves, three magical blades appeared on either side of Mindsink, they chopped as one, set to take his head clean off.

Mindsink’s form became shadows again, he laughed as the blades cut into nothing but air, “There’s that killing edge! Impress me Radiant Star and maybe I’ll let you be my personal lapdog when this is over.”

With a scream of rage, Radiant charged forward, his horn started glowing with power as he created three wide-faced molecular blades directly beneath the shadow. He shot them up, bisecting the area with ease.

“Impressively foolish,” Mindsink laughed.

“I’m not done!” Radiant yelled as he created another set of blades and then another. Mindsink soon found himself in a cage of sharp edges.

“You know you can’t cut a shadow, right?” Mindsink grinned.

“Do you know what happens when two swords clash? Sparks appear,” at that the two largest blades clashed with each other directly over the shadow’s form. The sparks it let off lit up the cage, the magical sparks reflected upon the edges of the magical blades, the entire cage soon begun to glow. “When fighting a shadow, all you have to do is shine a little light on the situation.”

Mindsink grunted in pain as the magical light was reflected upon magical blades. While it had not been intentional, Radiant's tactic multiplied his magical power by a factor of ten. Mindsink grunted in rage as he felt that power flow through his shadow form. It did what all light does best, it dispelled the shadows. In this case, it dispelled his shadow.

The swords blew out in every direction from Mindsink’s anger at being so hurt. Radiant deflected each blade with ease. “Now you’ve pissed me off,” Mindsink growled.

“Now you know a fraction of my pain, let me introduce you to the rest,” Radiant replied as he glared at the pegasus.

Three blades shot at the pegasus’s unguarded flank. Without even looking back, Mindsink deflected all of them with shadow spears. “Pain? You haven’t even begun to experience pain. You face a Demigod! Or did you forget?”

Radiant felt his back hooves pulled out from under him. He was flipped onto his back by the sudden pull as Mindsink grew tired of this little cat and mouse game. Radiant tried to cut himself free, but his blades were met by Mindsink’s and deflected away.

Then he felt the pain, shadow spears shot out from either side of him and cut into his skin, just deep enough to get under his fur. Slowly, with practiced precision, Mindsink begun cutting off the unicorn's fur. “I can’t wait to skin you alive, don’t worry, I’ll re-attach it later. Then you’ll forget all about me doing it. Rather, you’ll believe those I want you to kill did it to you. The look on your son's faces when you go to claim their coats will be priceless.”

Radiant screamed out, not in pain, but in rage.

“Scream all you want, nopony is coming to save you,” Mindsink said as he made another cut.

Just then a blinding light of pink magic appeared between the two. The light alone dispelled all the shadows and lit up Tartarus in a way it had never known before. It was a soft light, gentle, and full of love.

The spears holding Radiant down and the ones under his fur vanished when they were touched by the light’s embrace. Radiant felt nothing more than warmth and love, his body felt like it was covered in a lover’s kisses. Each and every one of them healed his wounds and his soul.  Mindsink howled in pain as the feelings he was washed over with were the exact opposite of Radiant’s.

Radiant looked directly into the light as he started to make out the form of a pony. That pony soon did the impossible; they walked right out of the light. His eyes told who it was, his brain told him it was not true, that his eyes were playing a trick on him, but his heart told him that it could be nopony else. She was a pegasus mare with a tan coat and a light blue and white mane. Her eyes matched the light blue of her mane, she spoke no words, but she did not have too.

So much was said in those eyes alone. All the love she felt, all the sorrow at having been gone for so long, at having to spend so much time away from the one she loved the most. She took a step forward, her form translucent, created by pink magical energy.

Radiant could not stop himself, without intending to; he said her name, “Firestar.”

…………………………………….


The Frozen North


Icarus's blows rang down faster and faster against Ice. The revenant did his best to dodge and block what he could, but it was all for naught. He was losing, and badly. Each swing of the spear took its pound of flesh from his form, a pound he could not easily grow back.

“We have to use it,” the voice came to him. He knew what it was; Fire’s essence was still around. The spear did real damage though. It sounded weak, almost like it was barely there anymore. If Icarus got one more hit against his brother Fire would be no more.

“You know our orders!” Ice hissed in pain as he lost a limb to Icarus’s next downswing.

“We’re dead either way,” Fire said in his ear, “I’d rather die knowing we got one of them.”

Ice smiled, Fire had a way of making everything sound simple. He supposed that was the point. “Alright, let’s do it.”

Icarus saw his chance and bisected the pegasus in two. With one swing of his blade, Ice’s top half fell off his bottom half; both sections fell to the ground with the sicking sound of spilling meat. He did not spare the poor pegasus another look. He knew it should not have been that easy, his opponent had let him do that.

And he was right.

Two clouds of magic formed at the end of the cave, each a different color. One of them was light blue, the other dark red. “Your true forms?” Icarus asked.

“Yes, and it’s the last thing you will ever see,” The dark red cloud of magic hissed. At that they started to merge together, becoming one.

Icarus watched in fascination, “What’s that supposed to do?”

“We're opposites, our natures cannot exist with each other. I’d say you have about six seconds left until we explode and this entire place becomes your tomb. Sadly, it’s nowhere near enough time for you to escape,” Ice answered sarcastically.

Icarus laughed, “Why escape? My father will protect me.” Gripping Siros’s Vengeance with both claws, he forced the blade tip into the ice and held on tight. He knew it was not a simple boast. He had less than four seconds before this entire place would explode, but he also knew the spear would protect him. After all, it carried the essence of his father.

And what father would not save his child?

……………………………...


Tartarus



“Firestar,” the revealment shook Radiant to his bones. A mixture of every emotion one could feel flowed through the stallion. He was so happy, so full of joy at the sight of his wife again, but another emotion filled him at the same time, an emotion that had no place in his heart: Fear. He did not know why, but he was afraid.

Every step the pegasus took radiated with magical energy. The vibrations of her hoof on the ground sent shivers through his spine. He felt everything she did in his very soul. Warmth spread through every cell in his body. A warmth he had only known when she held him in her embrace. The sight of her brought back the feeling of her kisses on his fur, followed by memories of the touch of his lips on hers.

When she was but a hair’s breath away, he could feel her energy penetrating him, it radiated through him, merging with his very essence. He wanted her to grab him so that he could feel her touch one final time. He wanted to caress her, to hold her with all his might, and never let her go again. Every part of his being wished he had spent his life doing that and only that. He wished that he had spent his life holding her during every second of every day. However, it was all for naught. He knew that he could have held her, kissed her, loved her a million, no, a billion more times and it would have never been enough. It would never fill that hole her absence left in his heart. That did not stop him from wishing for it. He wanted all of that and more, so much more; even if he could only have it just one final time.

Sadly, it was not meant to be, the pegasus did not reach a hoof around her love. Rather, she did something better, she leaned in and pressed their lips together.

His jaw went slack and his mind blank. The fear he felt was utterly destroyed in his mind. That one kiss became everything, it became his world. Nothing else mattered to him at that moment, not their mission, not the twins, nothing. That kiss was the sum total of all the times they had kissed before.

When one falls in love, they never truly know if the one they love loves them back, not in the same way they feel it. Regardless of what you say or do, your partner is always left with a lingering doubt, a small nugget of uncertainty that maybe, just maybe, their love is not returned.

In this kiss Firestar poured all her feelings for the stallion she so grew to love, the one she married, the stallion that she had a family with. In that kiss he knew her, he truly knew her, he knew everything about her. How she felt, all of it. It was all shared with the stallion.

Radiant saw in her feelings a reflection of his own. He truly knew, without a shred of doubt in his mind, that she loved him; that she loved him with every fiber of her being.

The mare transferred more than just her feelings with that kiss. Radiant felt it, he felt power, a power unlike any he had ever known… no, that was not true. He had felt this power once before, almost sixteen years ago when the Titan was about to fall on Firestar. He felt it then and he felt it now.

Only this time it was not a quick source he could draw upon to do the impossible, this was a reservoir of energy. He felt the true source of power, the power that is imbedded in everypony from the moment of their birth, the power, and the strength, of love.

Love of a foal for their mother, a mother’s love for their foal, a lover’s feelings for their special somepony, the love of others, the love of brothers, sisters, family, friends, and finally... finally, his love for his wife.

It overrode his body. He knew what to do without having to be told. His entire coat lit up with pink magic. Firestar, the mare he loved more than his own life, stepped to the side. She had a smile on her face as she got to watch her husband go to work one final time.

A blade formed in his mind. The physical world copied it, it reached up out into the heavens radiating with pink magical energy. The energy his wife shared with him.

“What’s that going to do?!” Mindsink hissed as he saw the blade forming.

Radiant did not say a word, words were meaningless right now. He let his feelings take control. With one downswing of the massive blade, he cut the Demigod in twain, but the blade did not stop there, it cut through the castle. The blade bisected it in half with the magical energy of its creation.

The castle shook, the ground shook, and Tartarus itself shook from the destructive power Radiant unleashed upon his enemy. He unleashed that power on the being that took the two mares he loved more than any other away from him. He attacked the entity that claimed both his wife and his mother using the gift Firestar gave him.

The shriek that filled the heavens echoed throughout the destruction of Tartarus's Castle. A full half of it fell into a crater caved into the body of a God. In that one moment, a Demigod met his end.

Mindsink was gone, forever.

After the worst of the shaking had passed, Radiant looked up, just in time to see the beautiful smile of his wife directly in front of him. “Firestar… is that really you?”

Yes.

The voice wasn’t spoken, not with words. Her sweet voice echoed in his head, seeming to come together from his memories of the mare. It did not matter to him, he heard it as clear as day. To Radiant it sounded like she was whispering sweet nothings into his ear as he held her tight at night. He would never forget that voice, he could never forget that voice.

He could not stop himself; tears fell freely from his eyes. Never in his life did he think he would hear her voice again, not anywhere else but his dreams.

“How is this possible?” he asked, cursing his mouth for questioning this small, wonderful gift.

Eros visited me. She asked if I wanted to help her save you. Of course I agreed. She gave me a gift for you, a gift she said she owed you. With her power, she broke me free of my Elysium and sent me to you so that you could finish off the one that hurt you so much, my dashing prince. 

“Thank you, both of you.” Radiant buckled under the weight of his body and fell to his knees, weeping openly in front of his wife.

There is no need to thank us. I love you, even if I still think that you’re an idiot, at least sometimes.

He knew he would never forget the smile Firestar had on her face as she said those words.

Radiant, you’ve made me so proud of you. I’ve seen everything you’ve done, everything you will do, and I couldn’t be more pleased to have known you, to have been your wife. 

Firestar paused to look into the distance; her eyes went wide as she saw something only she could see. Her ears twitched as she heard something only she could hear. When she looked back at Radiant, there was sorrow in those eyes.

I have to depart soon. You’ll never know just how much I miss you. 

“Then let me go with you! I can’t take it,” he sobbed out loud, “Being here without you, having to go on, I can’t do it. The days are killing me; I can’t live this life without you! Please let me go with you and spend an eternity by your side!” Radiant pleaded, tears pooling at his hooves.

Radiant, that’s not my wish. 

He felt the touch of her magical form as she placed a hoof on his chin, wiping the tears from his eyes with the kind gesture. Every second they made contact, it felt like the greatest gift and the greatest curse Radiant had ever known. He loved that touch, but he knew that it was temporary. That knowledge was a pain unlike any he had ever experienced before. This, living this life without her, it was the truest form of hell he could think of.

I want you to stay with the kids. They’ll need their father. They’re my gift to you, the last bit of me that you have. Please, protect them and yourself as you would me. Live your life to the fullest; even now that Cadance isn’t here anymore. Please, please promise me that you will stay alive as long as possible. When your time does come, I’ll be waiting for you, we will have our eternity. I’ll wait for you forever, Radiant, my dashing prince. 

Her voice sounded unsteady now.

Radiant wanted to rage against it, he wanted to jump off the side of the castle so he could go with her, so that he could be with her. Yet… the knowledge that she did not want that; that she wanted him to stay with their kids, to be there for them, to be their father, it stayed his hoof.

This, this was the hardest thing he would ever do in his life. He knew it would break him at times, it would test his willpower to the max, it would force him to do the one thing he never thought possible. He would have to live on without her. Yet, the fact that it was her wish, it meant that he could do nothing else. She wanted him to do it, so it became his drive. At that moment his new mission in life became to fulfill her last wish, the last thing she would ever ask of him.

“I promise you! Once my time has come… I’ll look forward to that day, but I’ll also do my best to stay alive, for our kids… for you. I love you, Firestar. I will love you forever. I just... I just wish I could hold you one final time,” he whimpered, looking down as more tears fell from his eyes.

There was a bright flash of light and Radiant had to shut his eyes. Soon, the light faded and he dared to open them again, not caring if it blinded him. If his light sight was of his wife, so be it. However, that was not the case, in front of him, like she was alive again, stood Firestar. This was not some magical outline of her body, this was her true body. The one he had known, the one he had loved.

“Radiant. Eros can only give me a few seconds in this form,” Firestar said as she started to cry and unfolding her wings. He heard her voice, her true voice, it was easily the loveliest thing he had ever heard in his life.

Radiant did not need to be told twice. He rushed forward and straight into the wings of his wife. He met solid flesh, flesh covered by soft fur. She was really there, even if it was only for a few seconds. When she wrapped her wings around the stallion they both broke down in tears and shared a long, passionate kiss as they held each other one final time.

It was not his lips pressed against a magical form, it was his lips pressed against hers. A fact that made all the difference in the world.

“Please, never forget me Radiant. I will wait for you, forever.” Firestar said before her form started to glow with magical energy.

All too soon, Radiant felt her fur and flesh fade away; slowly it was replaced by pure magical energy. He looked up at his wife with tears in his eyes. “Thank you, thank you for a life full of happiness and love, a life of family. You gave me a reason to live, Firestar. You saved me from a life spent in meaningless sorrow; a life wasted chasing after my father’s legacy. Until the day I die and our souls are finally reunited, I swear I’ll never forget you and I will keep my promise, I’ll ensure our colts grow into the strong, confident stallions I know they will become. I’ll do it for you; I’ll face the future with my head held high. Know that everything I do from this point on will be done with you in my heart. I’ll prove myself worthy of the love you gave me in life so I can look you in the eye when I join you in eternity,” he sobbed, blurring the words out, but Firestar heard them all the same and nodded, giving him a last, warming smile.

My prince, you still don’t understand. It was I that was unworthy of your love.

Her voice echoed in his head once more as her form disappeared into the wind, leaving Radiant alone on the ground, sobbing in sorrow, but also in happiness over being able to see his wife.

One final time.

…


Shimmering Night watched Timespire heal on the ground. Part of her wished more than anything else that she could stop that ability. She tried, whatever let him do it was a part of him, she could not take that away. Worse, he was getting really good at it. Every time she saw him do it, he would heal that much faster, no doubt something that was attributable to the dead magic he was eating.

“You should really stop doing that,” Night said again.

“Shut up,” the earth pony growled as he got to his hooves, shaking in rage. “How… how are you beating me?!” he had never expected the fight to go this way. Timespire had been alive for eons, and he had all the experience to match. Only one had ever bested him, and that was his big brother. For this mare to be wiping the floor with him was unthinkable.

“Let me ask you this. Why do you fight, Timespire?” Night said in all seriousness.

“What type of question is that?!” Timespire yelled.

“A simple one, one I don’t think you have an answer to,” Night said with a frown.

“I fight because it’s fun, because I enjoy taking lives.”

“If that were true, you wouldn’t be down here right now. You’d be up there,” Night said as she looked up, Tartarus was not in a physical place, rather it occupied a separate dimension. Still, Timespire got her meaning. “You’d be up there right now reaping a harvest of lives with your power.”

“Red won’t let me!” Timespire growled out, part of him was shocked how easily he took to using his brother’s new nickname.

“You’d really let him stop you? If that was what you really wanted, you’d have found a way to be doing just that.”

“What do you know!” Timespire shouted at her, “You haven't been alive for a fraction of a fraction of the time I’ve been and you dare lecture me?!”

“You’re right, I haven’t been alive for nearly as long you,” in truth, Night had no idea just how old he was, but she heard the truth in his words.

“Then you admit you know nothing,” Timespire hissed.

Sighing, she re-asked her original question, “I may not know much, but I can answer that most basic of questions. Let me ask you again, why do you fight?”

Timespire was surprised by that, he could not deny it though. He did not have an answer, not a real answer anyway.

Night paused when the stallion begun coughing up blood. She knew he would just write it off as his body still healing, but she also knew that it was more than that. He was dying, slowly, painfully, and with each time he drew upon the power down here he would simply speed it up. True, while he was here he could just draw upon more and more to heal himself, but each time would last that much less, until, at last, even the power he gained would not be enough to save him.

“I fight for those I love, for my family, and my friends,” Shimmering Night looked up into the sky when she said those words. There was nothing there, but for a second, just a split second, she thought she saw starlight shining down upon her. Thinking about starlight caused her to think about her daughter. Thoughts of her daughter filled her with warmth. She wanted to hold her in her hooves again, to line her face with kisses up and down her snout. She knew Starlight would hate it, but she did not care.

“You get your strength from family?” Timespire looked up at her, wiping blood from his mouth with a hoof as he did so.

“You misunderstand, they are my strength,” Night said with a smile.

“Hey Night, you bucking suck!” Ataxia yelled as made her way back to her wife.

A look passed between Night and Timespire. Night’s eyes grew wide in fear as she saw his intent clear as day. “NO!” she shouted, but it was too late.

Timespire disappeared and reappeared right next to Ataxia and wrapped her in a hoof. Before she could even register what was going on, his cutie mark started spinning backwards.

Night could only stare in shock as years began falling off her wife’s frame. Ataxia felt every bone shift in her, every muscle change position as it was forced to adjust to her new age. It was physically painful to the unicorn. Her body fought against every change that was forced upon her.

“Transform!” Night yelled at the top of her lungs. It was the only way Ataxia could get free. She knew Timespire was playing with her, he was going this slow on purpose, he could regress her age in an instant if she tried something. The decades he aged and regressed the rocks in the blink of an eye let her know that much.

Despite the pain, the look of fear in Ataxia’s eyes was undeniable. The mere thought of becoming that ‘thing’ again was abhorrent to her.

Timespire noticed this too and took his hoof off her muzzle, letting her speak.

“Ataxia, please, you have to transform!” Night sobbed as she watched her wife get younger and younger. She was already a teenager again, about Ana’s age.

“I… I…. I can’t. I can’t do that, not again,” Ataxia cried out. The memories of last time, all of the ponies she had hurt, and all of the lives she had taken, all of it. It all weighted too heavily on her mind. Whatever happened, even this, she could not bring herself to do that.

“Surrender, Demigoddess Shimmering Night,” Timespire said as he held a little foal in his hooves.

“If I do, you will turn her back?” Night looked at him pleadingly and he simply smiled.

“Easily, reversing what I do is simple, easier than taking candy from a foal. Surrender and you’ll have your wife back. Otherwise, you’ll be married to a little foal,” Timespire said, grinning while the foal continued to get even younger.

“Okay, you win… please, please change her back,” Night’s hooves were tied. Even if she were to free Ataxia and beat Timespire, age spells were not permanent. Timespire had regressed her and only he could undo it.

“Not without some fun first” Timespire laughed as dozen of spears impaled Night, cutting through her body with ease and lifting her up into the sky.

Shimming Night spit up blood as she was impaled a dozen times over. Her wings, her hooves, and her stomach, all of it simply hurt. While he had avoided hitting any vital spots, he knew how to cause pain; lots of pain.

Ataxia cried as she saw it all, she cried as she was tossed unceremoniously at the base of the shadow spears that held her wife.

“What a disappointing ending,” Timespire said as he shook his head, “You think your family gives you strength, I’m sorry… you think your family is your strength. I hope this proves to you the folly of that line of thinking. Family is not strength, it’s a weakness.”

“You think so? Maybe you think like that because your family only gives you death. Because your family made you use that dead magic that will kill you soon,” Night spoke through gritted teeth as she sought to hold back cries of pain.

A spear shot up out of the ground, it stopped inches before piercing her lower jaw. The sharp point forced the alicorn to keep her head raised less she wished to impale her mouth upon it, “I didn’t believe your lies then and I won’t listen to them now. Check the scoreboard dear niece, I won, you lost. That should tell you everything you need to know.”

Night keep her muzzle up and tried to speak. “I may have lost this small fight, but you lost everything. You’re hopeless.”

Timespire laughed as loudly as he could before turning to leave, “Be lucky I’m not allowed to kill you, else you’d already be dead.”

“My wife!” Night shouted, afraid that he would not live up to his promise.

He looked back, “Oh, I almost forgot. It’s hard to remember all the ants you step on.” With that, his cutie mark began to spin the other way, ageing time for everything around him. Ataxia’s form regrew to normal age in an instant. “Dead magic, as if,” Timespire said before fading into the shadows, leaving his foes to wallow in their grief. Timespire was so caught up in his victory that he did not pay attention as blood starting to flow out of his nose.

Ataxia is the Avatar to Chaos, God of Creation. As with anything Chaos does, it’s, well, chaotic. This went doubly true for Ataxia’s magic. With tears in her eyes and a wave of her horn, she transformed all the shadow spears holding her wife in the air into pillows.

Night fell onto the pillows and cried out in pain, the fall itself didn’t hurt but the movement did. The fight had taken almost all her reserves, with what little magic she had left, she concentrated on healing, on preventing herself from dying from blood loss. In Equestria these wounds would be simplicity itself to heal; she could just command the ambient magic all around her to do her bidding.

Here, it would be a death sentence.

Ataxia ran up to her wife with tears in her eyes, “Night, I’m so, so sorry!”

Night looked up; she could barely speak, not now. Staying conscious was taking everything she had.

“Take my magic,” Ataxia said as she nuzzled her muzzle into her wife’s coat. “Heal yourself, please, for me.”

Night saw the look of conviction in her wife’s eye. Without transforming, it would drain Ataxia, and at best she would only be able to close the most severe wounds. However, Ataxia demanded this, she would not take no for an answer.

Night lowered her horn. Ataxia followed suit and they touched. Ataxia felt her magic leave her body and flow into her wife’s. It was the equivalent of running ten Running of the Leaves at once, but not once did she pull back. It was her fault Night lost.

It was all her fault.

When Ataxia collapsed in front of her, Night stopped. She pulled her head back, relieved that her most severe wounds had healed over. “Are… are you okay?” Night asked Ataxia, concern in her voice.

Ataxia laughed at the absurdity of the question, then stopped when it started to hurt, “You know, it only hurts when I laugh.” She started to giggle again before grunting in pain, “Night… I’m so, so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Night said between deep breaths.

“It is!” Ataxia sobbed. “My transformation, all those I killed, and now you. All this pain, losing to that bucking prick, it’s all my fault. I’ve hurt so many ponies, and now I hurt you, again. Can you ever forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive… because I don’t blame you, Ataxia. I shouldn't have put you in that position. I know how you feel about transforming. I’ll get him… next time.”

“What if there isn’t a next time? Night… that moment he aged me back… I felt so helpless. I felt like I would stop existing at some point and never see you again. I know, I’m mostly rude and overbearing on you, but I love you dearly Night. Nothing will ever change that,” Ataxia said as she looked down at the ground. She hated this type of conversation, but she could not stop herself from saying the words, not now.

“Shh, as long as we’re together everything will be fine. And I know how you are, I wouldn’t want you any other way,” Night replied with a smile and gently kissed her wife’s muzzle.

“Night, I love yo-” Ataxia cut off her own sentence as she saw something in the distance. “What…” Ataxia tried to find the words as she watched a little filly get blasted out of the sky from a dark-blue magical energy shot.

“What’s wrong now?” Night asked. She could barely move her head, much less fight somepony else.

Ataxia just responded by gesturing over to the distance. The pair of them watched a heavily injured Princess Luna walk over to a prone body that was lying still on the ground.

…

Princess Luna cautiously approached the prone body of the little filly. In truth, she had not expected to win. Nighttide matched her step for step, blow for blow. As much as she hated to admit it, the little filly was stronger than her. When Nighttide paused in the air, Luna jumped on it, it was the only opening the night princess needed.

Still, she did not fully believe that the fight was over. As she approached Luna expected some final subterfuge, she expected the filly to jump up and finish the job she had almost completed. Luna knew she was on her last legs, literally as the case may be. She could not fight anymore, not in any serious way at least.

However, she could not bring herself to just ignore the little filly either. Even if she was not what she appeared, it did not matter. To Luna she was what her appearance showed her to be. It was not in her nature to ignore that.

When she got right above the filly, Luna almost jumped out of her fur. Nighttide sucked in a deep, painful breath of air, “You… you’re still alive?” Luna asked the rhetorical question.

The only response was another painful breath, followed by another, and then another. The filly was alive, but only just. The gaping holes in her chest and back bleed out profusely. Each breath she took drained her life that much more.

Something, some small part of Luna that she did not understand made her do what she did next. Maybe it was because of the last words Nighttide had said, maybe it was to save Taz the pain of losing her, or maybe it was something deeper, something instinctual. Luna couldn’t call it. She lowered her horn and pointed it at the filly’s chest. With the last of the magic she possessed, she healed the filly’s wounds to prevent her from dying, “I was wrong to question your love for Prince Taz,” Luna admitted as she channeled the power.

When Luna opened her eyes, she saw it, the moon medallion that the filly clutched to her breast. “What was so special about it?” Luna asked. Again, she expected and got no answer.

She wanted a better look at it but the filly’s hooves were wrapped around it. Princess Luna raised a hoof to lightly scoot it out of the filly’s grip.

As soon as she made contact, the area was overcome with a dark blue funnel of magic, magic that stood out in stark contrast to the column of pink energy that shot above the castle.


> Cost of Defeat
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Tartarus


Luna lightly tapped the medallion in the little filly’s hooves. Her intent was nothing more than to get a better view, to see what was so important with the crescent moon-shaped object that the little filly had clutched to her breast. Nighttide had held onto the medallion despite being blasted out of the sky and falling fifty hooves to the ground.

Something of that nature, something that near and dear to her had to be important. So much so that Luna actually felt a little guilty that she had tried to take it from her.

The contact was a mistake. As soon as her hoof touched the medallion she was overcome with an energy she thought was long gone, an energy they had all assumed was destroyed when it was driven from Nightmare Rarity.

The energy in the medallion latched onto her body like a spider. It grabbed onto her very soul. In her weakened condition it easily overcame every defense the lunar princess had. Laughter filled her thoughts and mind like nothing else as it easily took dominance over her very being.

A dark-blue energy column shot up into the sky. It spun slowly in a swirl of power as the revenant reclaimed what it had lost. It reclaimed the body it had existed in for a thousand years. A body it thought was long since denied to it.

Soon, the laughter that was in her head started to surround her. Luna realized what was happening but was powerless to stop it. She could only watch in horror as the revenant reshaped her body into a more familiar form. Her front teeth grew fangs; her dark-blue coat became black as night, and her mane and tail become nothing more than a cloud of blue smoke flowing off her.

As the laughter continued, she truly knew horror when she realized that it was coming from her.

Ataxia and Night could only watch with their mouths agape as Nightmare Moon was reborn into the world. Neither of them had ever seen her before, their parents defeated her long before they were born. However, they both knew of her. Often aunt Luna would dress as her in fun for Nightmare Night.

This was not that, this was not fun, this was not meant as a scare. This was the true horror personified; this was the rebirth of the alicorn that had tried to cover the world in eternal night.

Somehow, someway, she was back.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!” Nightmare Moon shouted her joy up into the sky, “I never thought I would have this form again!”

The column of magic ceased to be, the mare in the moon landed and took a quick look around, taking in her surroundings in an instant. “So, I’m in Tartarus… interesting.”

It was at that moment that the entire world shook with the death of a Demigod. Ataxia’s head snapped to the castle as what looked like a huge sword of pink magical energy cut through half of the castle and carved a large crevice into the world. 

A huge portion of the castle fell into the crevice; the shifting foundation it stood upon could no longer support its weight. She could only watch, dumbfounded as such a large, powerful, intimidating object collapsed under its own weight.

The ground itself shook with the tremors of an earthquake. Ataxia and Night had no choice but to lower their heads to the ground and ride out the worst of the quakes. Nightmare Moon simply flapped her wings and hovered a few hooves in the air. She smiled in grim fascination as she watched the castle fall.

Nightmare Moon landed back on the ground with a grin on her face, “Such destruction, such devastation, I cannot think of a better way to celebrate my rebirth into this form!” In her was power unlike any she had ever known; whatever adjustment Red had made to the revenant while it was in the medallion made her stronger, stronger than she ever thought possible.

Her eyes went wide as shock hit her mind. With her rebirth back into this body, into this world, she got back all her memories that Mindsink took from her. The extra power easily smashed through the blocks he put in place. “I owe you a kick in the balls, son of Tartarus,” Nightmare Moon hissed.

“Mommy?” the voice was weak and feeble, newborn foals would cry louder than that voice could speak. Yet the voice carried over the stillness that hung in the air after the destruction of Tartarus’s Castle to all three mares in range.

Shimmering Night and Ataxia’s eyes went wide at that. They both instantly recognized the sincerity of the voice and the speaker. It carried the same sincerity that their daughters would have when they said the word. It was the voice of a filly crying for their mother. Of that they did not have a shred of doubt.

No mother would.

However, the speaker caused both of their jaws to drop on the ground. It came from Nighttide.

Nightmare Moon looked down at the dust covered pegasus lying on the ground. She saw Nighttides’s wounded body and once more, she laughed. “This is just too precious, my darling little angel,” Nightmare Moon said sarcastically. “Look how cute you are…” her face made little kisses in the air, “How droll. I feel like I could puke at the sight of you.”

The small smile on Nighttide’s face vanished as she stared up at her true mom, she didn’t understand why she was being so mean.

“You really let Timespire regress you? And you have the gall to be my daughter? I don’t think so. You are such a disappointment, such a waste of time. When I left you were a four hundred year old pegasus, you were a powerhouse, easily the equal of either Timespire or Mindsink. I won’t say I was proud of you, we both know that could never be, but at least you could hold your own. Now look at you, you’re just a stupid little foal all over again. You weren’t worth the effort to raise the first time, what in the world makes you think I’d go through that again? Although, I do have to give you credit for avoiding Luna’s presence for all this time. But even then… as far I can remember from the bits in my mind you spared her. To make matters worse, you let her spare you like a little foal. I guess you really are a nothing more than that; you’re nothing more than a little foal again, aren’t you? You should stay like this for your failure. Just look at you! Even I can’t stand it, you’re disgusting!”

A tear started to fall from Nighttide’s eye, followed by another, then another. She got what she had sought after, what she was promised by her father, and it was the worst feeling in the world.

Nightmare Moon picked up her daughter and held her tightly to her breast, cooing sarcastically. “Oh dear daughter, you are three times the failure. Letting yourself get regressed, letting Mindsink change your memories, and then failing to finish off Princess Luna. Don’t cry just because you're worthless and I never wanted you, cry because of what I’m going to do to you because of that fact. Cry for the knowledge that you will never again be with your little lover. Surprised? Every mother can feel that. Maybe I should kill that little colt after you? How about that? But let’s start with you, it will be much more fun and I will finally be rid of you!”

At that Nightmare Moon tossed her in the air and hit her with an energy blast. The pegasus cried out in pain as she rode the blast up into the sky. Several hundred hooves up Nighttide fell off the wave of magic and plummeted into the remains of Tartarus’s Castle.

Forced to watch it all with no recourse to take, Night was left in stunned silence as the filly met what could only be her end. Despite the horror of it all, the sheer viciousness of seeing a mother kill her foal, a memory came unbidden to her mind.


Closer than you expect but never seen,

Fighting for a love never known,

Older than eyes can see,

What am I?


Nighttide had always been close to Luna, but the night princess had never seen her. She fought to bring her mother back, even though her mother had never shown her love, and as Nightmare Moon said, she was at least four hundred and sixty-two years old. As it had been sixty-two years since Nightmare Moon’s defeat.

“Your daughter,” Shimmering Night said the answer to the riddle without intending to.

If Ataxia noticed what Night said, she gave no sign. The unicorn stood up to her hooves, shaking in rage at such a causal treatment of one’s own foal. “She’ll pay for that,” Ataxia said as she started to look inward, to look for that which she had hidden away for sixteen years.

Ataxia could only imagine Ana in the place of Nighttide. She could only picture her own daughter being treated that way. Seeing a foal mistreated like that, seeing a mother do it, it triggered something in the mare. She wanted; no… she needed to hurt her, to make her suffer for what she did.

It made her angry, very, very angry. So much so that she sought out the side of her she had denied, a side of her she had not unlocked for almost sixteen years. Consequences be damned, she wanted to make her pay for what she just did, for an action that was so abhorrent to Ataxia that she stopped caring about what would happen.

“No.”

That one word caused Ataxia to pause. She turned and looked back at the speaker. Shimmering Night’s eyes were wide in terror as she shook her head, “No, don’t, I’ll… I’ll take care of it later, when I’m better. If you… if you do it you’ll kill Luna. I… I can save her, just… just not right now. I’ll do to her what I did to the Night revenant.”

“She. Killed. Her. Own. Daughter,” Ataxia grunted through each and every word.

“I know, and it wasn’t just her daughter; it was Luna’s daughter too. But there is nothing we can do right now. If we want to save Luna, if we want her back, we have to let her go.”

Ataxia was fuming and was about to attack anyway when a hoof touched her shoulder. She looked down at the appendage. Somehow, it calmed her nerves in a way she had not known was possible. She looked down at her wife’s face, it was pleading with her, asking her to do this one thing, for her.

Ataxia let loose a deep breath and lowered her head. “You’re right,” she said.

“Aren't I always?” Night joked.

Ataxia giggled a little before she fell over from exhaustion as the adrenaline left her body. Night lightly kissed her muzzle after her wife landed on her side. “We will get her back, I’ll set everything right.”

“Promise?” Ataxia asked.

“Pinkie promise.”

Nightmare Moon watched with a smile as her daughter plummeted into the rubble. She continued watching as Nighttide hit the ground, cut open, and bleeding from more scrapes than she could count, well, at this distance anyway. “At least she’s good for one last thing, she can decorate this place with her blood,” she mused.

Her gaze was stolen by a feeling from the castle. She smiled as she felt her ‘lover’s’ power in the castle. “Now, about that kick to the balls,” she flew off towards the castle with laughter echoing behind her.

…

Red found himself completely dominated by the pair. One on one he could barely hold off Twilight's attack, against her and her wife he was getting destroyed. For every time he would block Rainbow’s wing, Twilight would blast him against the side of the wall. For every time he would counter Twilight’s energy blast, Rainbow would cut off a limb.

“ENOUGH!” Red shouted as he sent out a wave of magical pressure. Rainbow flew to Twilight and wrapped her in her wings.

Red glared at the two with hatred in his eyes. “It’s time to end this.”

“I agree,” Twilight replied as Rainbow removed her wings.

Red began channeling his power, he gathered up everything he had into a form behind him. A huge red hellhound started to take form. It was completely made out of magic energy as it became something real, something tangible.

“That’s the best you got?” Rainbow asked sarcastically as she looked at him. However, it was not the cyan mare that had Red’s attention; it was her wife, or more specifically the huge golden alicorn that was appearing behind her. As soon as he started to form his construct, Twilight did the same with her own.

Twilight channeled her energy into the form of a golden magical alicorn. One that barely fit even in this large throne room. Whereas Red’s construct was more akin to a hellhound, a vicious creature that focused only on attack, only on going for the throat, Twilight’s construct was majestic, regal; power given form.

Red screamed in rage as he saw it. His construct attacked at the same time, leaping at the alicorn with murderous intent in its magical eyes.

The large golden alicorn merely lowered its horn and let loose an energy blast. The blast destroyed Red’s construct with ease. The magical energy continued on, it hit Red with such force that it blasted the red unicorn against the throne. It destroyed the throne and continued on to the wall directly behind it. The energy easily disintegrated the wall before ceasing to be in the room beyond.

It just stopped.

Twilight gasped as she saw the reason why. Through the hole in the wall she saw a golden key held in a stasis of magical energy, a God’s magical energy. She saw the key for what it was; the form it took was of a six pointed star with a golden shaft. She knew it was just for show, the key was not something physical, as such it could take any form it wanted, any form it desired, or should she say, any form those who looked at it desired.

“The Key of Ages,” Twilight said the words as she looked at it. It was protected, so much so that its barrier stopped her attack.

“I can’t believe how easy that was,” the voice came broken and weak from the unicorn on the ground. Twilight and Rainbow both turned to stare at him. He was bleeding and bruised. Third degree burns covered most of his body, his hoof was still regenerating, albeit slowly. He would heal, in about five minutes, but that was five minutes he did not have. Not if Rainbow had anything to say about it anyway.

“It’s not going to do you any good!” Rainbow shouted as she flew up to his form, a wingtip pressed against his throat as she spit her words.

Red looked up at her, his face was no better off than the rest of his body, yet, he smiled all the same. With a grin that was missing too many teeth he spoke, “This was the hardest part, I knew it would come at a cost, but I got it done.”

“Got what done?” Twilight asked.

“The barrier I could not break, the wall... only a God could take down that wall. Or a mortal with a God’s power anyway.”

“You needed me to remove the barrier,” Twilight stated, her eyes wide.

“Yes,” Red laughed, grabbing his side as he did so.

“It’s not going to do you any good!” Rainbow repeated as her wing tip started to cut into his neck. Even now, even after everything he did, she could not bring herself to take his life, not like this. It’s one thing to kill somepony in the middle of combat, or when you’re trying to protect something, quite another to kill an injured opponent that cannot fight back.

She growled in frustration as she was unable to take his head. She wanted too, Luna knows she wanted to, but it was against her nature. “We’re going to take our son and leave. You can spend forever looking at the key, seeing what you will never be able to get at.”

“I agree,” Red said with a deep breath.

That almost caused Rainbow to drop him in shock, almost. “What do you mean?” she asked, unsure why he would give in that easily.

“You should take your son and go, It’s only right after all,” Red said with a smile.

“Just like that?” Twilight asked.

“Just like this,” Red said as he powered up his horn and teleported their son to them.

In a flash of magic, a pony appeared right behind Rainbow. A small shriek caused Rainbow to turn her head to look at whatever had caused Twilight to make that noise, although she kept an eye on him as she was weary of whatever trick Red might be playing.

What she saw caused her to drop Red altogether.

Behind her was a light purple unicorn stallion, one with a rainbow mane and tail, just like his mother’s, well… just like his birth mother’s. Rainbow’s eyes traced over his form, taking in every detail of his muscles, every small painful rise and fall of his flank. However, what they came to rest upon was his cutie mark. A square academic cap cutie mark.

“Twilight… tell me this is a trick, that it’s a sick joke…” Rainbow said with her eyes open and mouth agape as she fell out of the air and onto her flank.  She could not believe it, it was too painful… it had to be a trick; she could not… would not bring herself to believe it to be true.

Twilight shook her head with tears in her eyes. She had scanned him; she had scanned him up, down, left, right, inside, and out. She had scanned him thirty seven times looking for something, anything that would prove the unicorn lying in front of her was not who he appeared to be.

He was exactly who he appeared to be, younger than he should be, but there was no doubt in her mind of who it was. “It’s… it’s our son,” Twilight sobbed the words.

That sealed it in Rainbow’s mind; Twilight said it was so, as such any hope of denial was crushed with her wife’s words. It was her son; the son that died sixteen years ago, the son that had given his life for his sister’s. somehow, someway he was alive. “Dayspring Gleam… my foal,” Rainbow spoke the words without intending too.

Her heart skipped a beat when the unicorn opened his eyes and looked at her. Those eyes, she would never… could never forget those eyes. He opened his mouth and with a voice that was weak, dehydrated from weeks of having nothing to drink, he spoke one word. “Mother?”

Click, click.

The sound, albeit soft in nature, was so unexpected in the silence that followed Dayspring’s word that it took Rainbow and Twilight completely by surprise. Somehow the little sound had an echo all of its own. 

‘That wasn’t an echo’, Rainbow realized the truth, it didn’t echo, it just happened twice. That is when she felt it. The cyan mare was so distracted by the sight in front of her that she failed to notice when it happened. There was an extra weight around her hoof. She looked down to see what it was and gasped in shock to find a golden bracelet attached to her hoof.

She looked over at Twilight who had a similar bracelet around hers.

“What the…” Rainbow tried to say the words before the stone centered on the bracelet pulsed with life as the essence stone did what it did best. Rainbow felt a sting of pain as the wings at her side faded away. The magic of their creation no longer able to keep them in existence, at that moment they simply ceased to be.

Her shock was nothing compared to Twilight's. The lavender alicorn almost cried out as she felt her power leave her. It was like losing the touch of a lover, she felt so alone, so empty without it.

Rainbow bit at her bracelet, she tried to bite it off, to do whatever it took to remove it. When that did not work, she tried to bash the bracelet against the floor.  It was all for naught, everything she did ended in failure. The bracelet would not come off, the stone would not shatter.

“What did you do to us?!” Twilight yelled at Red with tears in her eyes before she turned and looked at her wife. It was like seeing a butterfly with its wings torn off. It was abhorrent to her, something that was simply not natural; Rainbow without wings, the universe should not be able to exist with that condition in place.

“They’re called essence stones. A little gift from your ‘other’ son,” Red laughed as he channeled more of his power into healing himself. There was no need to hold back now, the fight was over, and he won. “You can stop trying to take it off, Princess Rainbow Dash. They’re locked onto your hoof until the power drains from the stone.”

“What are they doing?” Twilight looked at the stone in her bracelet. Unsure just what was going on.

“They radiating with the power of the one who wore them last. In this case that would be your Taz. They’re not magical in nature; rather they simply absorbed his natural talent and are now releasing it. When they’re exhausted they will open back up, of course that will take roughly six months in Equestria, or about four weeks if you stay in Tartarus.”

“Night will just remove them!” Rainbow yelled.

“How? They’re powered by Taz’s ability. She cannot affect them any more than I can.”

“I’ll just cut off my hoof!” Rainbow said.

“Indeed, you might be able to remove them that way, but it doesn’t matter. If you cut off Twilight's hoof she will be in far, far too much pain to regrow it. If you cut off your own, Princess Shimmering Night may be able to regrow it, but not today. Timespire has exhausted her magic far too much to do something like that right now. Either way, I still win.”

Red’s eyes grew wide as he sensed the summer sun celebration approaching its zenith. “Looks like we’re out of time. Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Rainbow Dash, it’s been a pleasure.”

At that moment, Radiant’s sword came crashing down at the same time Red blasted both of them with a magical wave of pressure. He was far too exhausted to put any real strength into it, but that had not been the point. He had simply meant to blow their bodies against the spikes on the back wall; however, the wave of magic forced Twilight, Rainbow, and Dayspring out of the giant hole cut into the back of the throne room by the sword swing.

“The universe definitely has a sense of humor, doesn’t it?” Red joked as he watched the bodies fly out of the back of the throne room. They were tossed out of the castle’s grounds and landed in Tartarus with a sickening thud. With one final look he turned and made to his final goal. “The Key of Ages, you will soon be mine.”

…………………………………….


The Frozen North


The laughter Ice and Fire gave off at Icarus’s comment died upon seeing the seriousness on his face. They knew he was not joking; it was not some boost to throw them off guard, to make them reconsider. It was the truth; the weapon he held would save his life.

They would die for nothing.

With two seconds remaining Ice saw something that brought back his humors, “What about her?” the magical cloud asked.

Icarus’s head snapped in the direction of the entrance. What he saw made his heart sink. For some reason Vela had come back down. His daughter was in the cave. His daughter would die when the explosion hit.

What happened next happened in less than a second’s time. Without considering just what he was doing, in one smooth motion Icarus tossed Siros’s Vengeance to his daughter.

Vela caught the spear on instinct alone, confused about why her father would toss her his weapon.

“I love y-” he never got to finish that sentence. At that moment Ice and Fire’s essences finished combining; they exploded in a huge fireball of pressure that destroyed everything in its path.

Everything that was not protected by a God weapon.

…

Aurora wrapped her son in her wing to protect him from the huge magical fireball that spit out from the cave. The kinetic energy caused her to be tossed to her flank where she rolled over to place her body between the scalding heat and her son’s form.

Dayspring cried as he held onto his mother’s coat for dear life. Aurora could not stand, the impact broke her left leg, instead she looked up in horror as the cave entrance begun to collapse in upon itself.

“Vela, Icarus, no!” Aurora shouted at the top of her lungs.

…………………………...


Tartarus


Red looked at the key with a smile on his face. Defended as it was by God magic, no one, not even another God could approach the key chamber. That’s why he had to wait until Taz could focus his power like a beam. Thoughts of the stallion caused him to smile.

“Time to bring in the pony of the hour,” Red said as he opened up a portal to another room. Out of it stepped a night-black earth pony, one with a pissed expression on his face.

“And the point of that was?” Taz asked, annoyed.

“To use you as bait, of course,” Red said like it was the most natural thing in the world. “It’s time to finish this.”

Taz looked around; he took in the key, the shield protecting it, and the state the castle was in. Taz took in all of it and more, including Red’s current condition. “What happened?” he asked.

“Does it matter?” Red asked.

“If you want me to free that key, yes it does.”

“Very well, you’ll be pleased to know that Dayspring is back with both of your parents. All three of them are alive, but worse for wear. With the essence stones I didn’t have to take their lives,” while it was a half-truth, it was still somewhat true. “Timespire defeated Night and Ataxia; he left them alive, albeit in a lot of pain.” Red said with a smile.

“And?” Taz asked; he knew there was more to the story.

“Mindsink is dead; he met his end when my mother interfered in his battle. Radiant Star is his killer, he’s also the one that cut the castle in half,” Red said as she gestured to the missing back wall.

“What about Cadance, Aurora, Icarus, Luna, and Nighttide?” Taz growled.

Red almost laughed, almost, “Aurora is fine, Taz. Don’t worry about her. Luna will be joining me shortly, although that’s another story. Nighttide, well, my daughter could be dead or alive, honestly I’m not sure.”

“YOU PROMISED ME!” Taz yelled.

“Like I said Taz, I’m not sure. However, events occurred beyond my will. The revenants I sent after Icarus and Aurora were a little... overzealous, Icarus is dead. As well as Princess Cadance, although she took her own life. The rest of your friends are fine though,” Red said with a smile, “Now that I’ve answered your questions, let’s get this over with.”

“BUCK YOU!” Taz screamed out, “You broke your promise! We’re done! I’m not helping you do shit!”

“How cute,” Red said in a condescending tone, “You still think you have a choice.”

Taz charged him in a rage. He went to tackle him to the ground. The red unicorn only smiled and teleported away, he appeared right behind Taz. “Is that the best you can do? Is that all your family meant to you?” Red taunted.

Fuming, Taz charged again and again. Each time Red would let him get a little closer before teleporting away. Always just out of reach, always with another taunt on his lips.

Taz quickly grew tired of this cat and mouse game. He looked inward and found his ability, the same ability Red had tried to get him to use for his own purposes. Focusing it into a tight beam, he shot it at Red.

The unicorn’s eyes went wide as he teleported out of the way, but only barely. When he reappeared Taz shot at him again, and again. It was on the fourth shot that he was simply not fast enough to avoid it. Red felt his power removed, his strength taken away from him. Well, his magical strength anyway.

“Now you’re nothing more than an earth pony,” Taz hissed. “Try and teleport away this time.”

“There’s just one thing that you forgot, Prince Taz,” Red said with a serious expression on his muzzle.

“What’s that?” Taz asked. The stallion was taken aback by the unicorn's nonchalant attitude. He had taken away his power, he should be scared.

The answer quickly made itself apparent as the unicorn walked towards him. Taz was a big stallion, tall for his age, but even he had to look up to see Red’s face. “I’m bigger than you,” Red said with a smile as he back-hoofed Taz in his face. The one blow sent the night-black earth pony to the dirt.

Taz was seeing stars when he came too, he tasted copper in his mouth as he spit up blood. Somehow, he managed to raise his head. Just in time for Red to pull back his hind legs and kick him with all his might.

Taz was sent flying through the air as Red’s physical strength made itself known. He went through the same hole his parents went out of with a cry of pain left in his wake.

Red smiled as he saw the shield around the key was no more. It had not been Taz’s intent, but he had freed the key with his third shot. ‘Like mother like son’, Red laughed at his own joke. “It was novel to play nursemaid for a time, Prince Taz, but that time is at an end,” Red said as he turned around.

“How droll,” a voice sounded from above. Red looked up as he saw the speaker, she was a night-black alicorn with a mane and tail made out of blue smoke. Her white fangs were in stark contrast to the rest of her body.

“My Nightmare,” Red said as he looked up at her.

“Hello lover, or should I call you father? I’ve never been quite sure,” Nightmare Moon asked.

“Depends on what the situation is,” Red said with a wink. “Personally, I’ve always liked daddy when we’re in bed.”

Nightmare Moon growled, “I should kill you, you know. I could do it right this second, it would be easy.”

“My Nightmare, why would you want to hurt me?” Red asked as he slowly walked up to her.

“You had your brother take away my memories as I was set free by the stars!” she growled, “You tricked me into leaving when you knew what would happen!”

Red was taken aback by that, “I’d never send the mare I love to her defeat. I had Mindsink remove your memories to ensure that you weren’t distracted when you came back. I wanted you to succeed, I needed you to.”

“Why should I believe you? You dirty, rotten, baster-” her words were cut off when Red pressed his lips to hers. Her anger melted at the kiss, it became lust, desire, a cardinal need for the stallion that she was kissing.

When Red pulled back, he gazed into her eyes as one would a long lost lover. She lost her train of thought in those eyes; they were a giant pool that she willingly drowned in. “What was I saying?” Nightmare Moon asked.

“I believe you were about to say why you were going to kill me?” Red replied, his gaze reflected in her own.

She wrapped a wing around the stallion and brought him in for another passionate kiss. “I think that can wait for now, don’t you?” Nightmare Moon said as she ran a hoof across the green scales on his back.

“Whatever my Nightmare wants,” Red replied with a smile.

As the two embraced like the long lost lovers they were, the Key of Ages continued to spin around in a column of energy, unprotected, and easy pickings for the two to simply levitate to them now that the shield was down. That’s exactly what they would do after they took care of more… important matters.

> A Promise
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Tartarus


Defeat, it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Your will, your strength, and your ability is all tested against somepony else. Only to be found wanting. They all knew it for what it was, not a one amongst the party dared call it a tactical retreat, a regrouping, or any other platitudes.

Even though they did achieve their objective, even though they did get Twilight’s son back, even though they did win in that regard, they still lost.

Twilight and Rainbow walked side by side, limping as they were forced to nurse a broken leg and the weight of Taz carried between them on their backs. His bruised and bloody body weighed them down, but it was a weight that they would not put on anypony else.

Of all of them, only Radiant was anywhere near full strength. At least physically he was, the same could not be said for his mental state. Radiant walked behind Rainbow and Twilight, he was crying, had been for the entire trek, but he would not say why. The magical field above him sputtered, almost dying as he carried his best friend in the world. Radiant felt numb, almost like his body simply lost the ability to feel anything. The only reason he managed to put one hoof in front of the other was the promise that still rang in his ears.

They figured he was crying because of Dayspring still being alive or the death of his mother. They were wrong on both counts.

Dayspring was unconscious. By all rights the stallion should be dead. He was dehydrated, nutrient starved, and the fall did him no favors. Only his little sister’s magic had kept him alive. The alicorn exhausted all the magic she had left to that end. So much so that she could not even stand on her own anymore.

Ataxia and Night brought up the rear. Of all of them those two were the worst off. Ataxia looked dead on her hooves, her strength was just gone, gone from carrying the mare on her back. Shimming Night was not awake. After spending every little bit of magic she had left to save Dayspring, the mare fell unconscious. Ataxia carried her, she would not let anypony else help.

Seven of them entered Tartarus and seven of them would leave. Under different circumstances Twilight might have laughed at the symmetry. Laughter was the last thing she wanted to do right now. Princess Cadance, her foal sitter, her sister-in-law, she was dead.

Princess Luna was Nightmare Moon once more, and judging by Night’s report, she was far more powerful now.

They failed to protect the Key of Ages from falling into Red’s hooves. Worse, by charging in after the bait of her youngest son, Twilight had actually allowed for its capture.

“Twi,” the voice snapped her out of her melancholy. Twilight looked up, surprised to see Rainbow with her mouth agape.

“What is it?” Twilight asked.

“We… we’re here,” Rainbow said the words in disbelief.

Twilight looked around, there was no portal. “No we’re not, it’s gotta be farther ahead.”

Rainbow shook her head, “No, this is the spot. Trust me, there’s just no portal.”

Twilight glanced around again, Rainbow was right; this is where the portal was. The tracks in the ground showed that much, it just… it just wasn’t there.

“How long has it been?” Twilight thought out loud. They were just supposed to be gone for an hour, but the trek back here had taken forever, a lot, lot longer than an hour. She fell onto her knees at that. unable to stay up at such soul crushing news.

Rainbow caught Taz’s head and gently laid him down on the ground. “C’mon Twi, there’s gotta be something we can do.”

Twilight shook her head, “Not until these things are off,” she looked down at her bracelet.

“Dayspring won’t survive a month,” Radiant spoke as he placed the unicorn down next to his brother. They looked so peaceful next to each other.

“I know,” Twilight replied.

“I’ll… I’ll do it,” the voice was weak, feeble, and it came from a pony that just woke up.

“Night!” Twilight yelled, “You can’t, you’re exhausted.”

Ataxia collapsed under the weight of her wife, no longer able to stay on her hooves when Night started moving. Shimmering Night groaned a little as she rolled onto her stomach. “I’m exhausted, but there’s other magic I can use down here.”

“NO!” the shout came from Twilight, Ataxia, and Rainbow all at the same time.

Night just tried to smile, it did not work, “You all act like we have a choice. SC wasn’t meant to last, if we don’t get back before he fades Equestria will be without day and night. Besides, I just got my brother back, I’m not going to lose him again, not if there’s something I can do about it,” she took one more look at her older brother.

“You said it was dead magic and that it will poison you,” Ataxia looked at her with tears in her eyes.

“It is and it will,” Night replied.

“No, Night, we’ll find another way,” Rainbow said.

“Do you have another way now? Because I don’t think Dayspring will make it that long! We can find a cure against the poison at home, but for now we have to leave!” Night’s voice grew louder with every moment.

Twilight hung her head low; this was her versus logic all over again. Logically, everything her daughter said made sense; it was their one and only play, at least if they wanted to save Dayspring. She knew it had to be done, she just did not want it to be done.

No matter how much you might wish otherwise, the truth has a way of simply being the truth.

“Do it,” everypony, even the speaker was surprised at who gave the order.

“Rainbow, no!” Ataxia yelled.

“We don’t have a choice,” Rainbow gulped. "We’ll just have to deal with it later, and we will deal with it,” there was a spark in her eye when she said those words.

Twilight looked at her wife; she saw confidence, but also fear in those eyes that she loved so much. No matter how much she wished Rainbow to be wrong, she wasn’t.

“Rainbow is right. Do it.” she whimpered before burying her muzzle into her wife’s coat. She just couldn’t stand to see what would happen next.

“Night no!” Ataxia yelled as she turned back to her wife. Her mouth fell agape when she saw Night’s eyes, they were pitch black.

“It’s already started,” Night said as she opened herself up to the power of Tartarus. The God magic, the dead magic, she could not deny its existence, but she could command it. With her force of will she commanded it to reopen the portal. Forcing the magic to the state of being that she wanted it to be in.

Already she could feel it, like a burning sensation when one drinks something too hot. There was power, intoxicating power, but underneath all of that came the poison, the thing that would kill her.

She sent more and more power into the portal. In a flash of black magic it opened wide, offering the party their one and only home, ”It’ll be open for only a minute.”

Taz

“Uh… Nighttide?” a weak and low voice spoke up, causing them all to turn and see Taz slowly awaken.

“Good you’re awake. Taz, we’re leaving.” Rainbow said with a frown.

“What? Where’s Nighttide? We can’t leave without her!” he shouted after seeing that the mare was missing from the party.

Ataxia slowly crouched to him. She wasn’t good with words, but she tried anyway. She nuzzled his coat softly before speaking up. “I’m so sorry Taz. She’s not here anymore… she’s dead…” a single tear made its way down her muzzle at the thought about how Nightmare Moon killed her own daughter.

Taz jerked his head away. “What are you talking about? I just heard her! She just called out my name, she’s alive!”

Ataxia slowly shook her head. “No, Taz. Night and I saw it w-”

“No! We have to go back and get her!” Taz shouted again.

“Taz, Ataxia is right. We should leave now while we can. Eeh, I’m not good with math, but I think we only have seconds left before this thing closes on us,” Rainbow pointed at the portal.

“Then leave me here! I’ll rescue her!” Taz replied as he jumped up, only to immediately collapse back on the ground as his wounds made themselves known in the worst sort of way.

“You’re not in any state to do anything, besides it would be for nothing. Also you couldn’t come back on your own. You’re coming with us and that’s my last word,” Rainbow clarified before lifting him back up.

Taz fought, kicked, bucked, scratched, and bit against his mother's grip, but regardless what he tried, Rainbow would not let him go. Taz felt his ears hang low, “Nighttide…” he whispered. Even if the others did not hear it, he did. He knew she was alive and that is all that mattered.

He wanted to go, he wanted to search for her, rescue her, but Rainbow would not let him. He was forced against his will to leave with them.

“I’ll come back for you, Nighttide! I promise you that!” he yelled and howled his promise throughout all of Tartarus as Rainbow dragged him through the portal.

“I’ll come back for you!” Taz shouted one more time.

“I’ll come back for you!”

“I’ll come back for you!”

The echo of his words carried all throughout Tartarus.

Against all odds his promise was heard.