It's been six whole years since the Changeling war, and with the Elements missing, Princess Twilight Sparkle faces an ancient force bent on seeing the end of not only Equestria, but the whole universe.
It's been six years since the Great Changeling War. Now, with the Elements of Harmony having been presumably killed defeating Chrysalis, Princess Twilight Sparkle has become the lone ruler of Equestria, and has run out of hope. But with knowledge that one of the Elements might still be alive, Twilight will stop at nothing to find her.
However, there are ancient forces at work in the universe. A Primordial Prophecy has come into play, and the Planes of Existence are falling apart. As Twilight searches for her lost friend, the universe begins to fall apart. With little hope, and even less of an idea of how to stop it, she must find a way to save not only the world... but everything that ever existed.
It's been six years since the Changeling War. Six years since our world has simply been turned upside down by fires and warfare. How we survived... I don't know. We just did.
They attacked suddenly, and randomly, starting with Canterlot. Our capitol didn't stand a chance. They rained down upon it like hail, and destroyed everything in their wake. Princess Celestia barely made it out, and Luna... Princess Luna didn't make it. And even Celestia' s escape was in vain. She was killed on her way to Ponyville. Taken down out of the sky; tossed carelessly on top of a hill, halfway between the burning ruins of the majestic city, and the safety of my palace.
"Princess Twilight!" The royal guards burst into the chamber with an urgency that the element of magic had only seen when Canterlot was under attack during the wedding. "Princess!" their voices echoed across the room. "Canterlot has fallen, and their dead... both of the princesses."
There had been a monotonous tone to their voices, as if they had been trained all of their lives to speak those words. They probably had been.
The Crystal Empire fell next. They were utterly unprepared, they had no idea that they were even under attack until the very end. Chrysalis herself personally slaughtered Cadence and my brother.
I remember hearing the news.
"They're dead?" There was the hope of doubt in my voice. First Celestia, and now Cadence and... my brother. There was no possible way that this could actually be happening. "I'm sorry your highness. But I'm afraid it's true," the informant relayed the news with a genuine tone of regret and sympathy. "Citizens are fleeing the north as we speak."
It wasn't long before they targeted Ponyville. Perhaps Chrysalis had a personal vendetta with me as well. It was clear that she wasn't merely attacking to try and take control of Equestria. She was seeking revenge for those who had caused her the pain she undoubtedly felt. And I had definitely played a role in that. If it wasn't for me, she probably could've succeeded in taking over Canterlot during the wedding.
Luckily for us, she underestimated the power of the Elements. If she even knew about them. Unlike the other villains we had defeated in the past, we, as the Elements, didn't play a part in her downfall. She had fallen to the power of Cadence' s love alone. This fact would later be used to our advantage.
The five others lined up next to me. We took that infamous stance, one of our front hooves outward, breasts pushed out in an authoritative stance, sending a clear message that we were going to defend Equestria at any cost. And we did. The rainbow arched up and outwards, coming down on Chrysalis, encasing her in a glow of white light; pure magic. We had defeated her.
But victory always comes with a price.
I rose up, unsure of when I had fallen. The brightness was beginning to clear, and I looked around.
Sometimes the price is small, something that can be forgotten in time.
At first the situation was unclear to say the least. But the actuality of the results came to me pretty soon afterward.
And sometimes the price is too high to bear.
In the places where each one of my beloved friends stood, was a corresponding amulet and a patch of scorched grass. They were gone.
So, here I am six years later. Princess Twilight Sparkle: bearer of the Elements of Harmony, and the single ruler of Equestria.
--- We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. - Joseph Campbell --- Divisions 006 PCT (Post Celestial Rule) Memorium of the Sunset
Twilight stepped back from the podium. She had finished her speech, as she had done for the five years since the new government had organized this. A mass memorial for all of those who had died protecting the land. Maybe they were trying to prove to the citizens that their deaths weren't in vain. Maybe they were trying to spread hope. Maybe it just felt right. Does there need to be a reason to justify a broken world mourning their dead? Maybe. Maybe not.
Proceeding out and away from the stage, Twilight kept her eyes focused on the guard's helmet in front of her. Looking at the sorrowful faces of her broken ponies did nothing to help her mood. The crowd cleared for her, and the alicorn stepped into her regal carriage. She knew that she could fly perfectly well, and had insisted to for several years, but apparently that wasn't professional, whatever that meant. The guards insisted that she take a carriage, and after years of objection, she resigned to just doing it. She supposed that it gave her a sense of power. It helped her stand out. After all, she was the single-hooved ruler of an entire land. 'Now I know how Celestia felt for centuries...' she thought to herself, without any sort of humor.
Twilight chuckled mirthlessly to herself. 'Me, Twilight Sparkle, town librarian. Oh, also the ruler of Equestria. Amazing how fast times can change.' These events always seemed to make her look back upon her past. It must have been all the memories that were dug up each year. Her aids had told her that the feeling would pass, that it would become easier over the years. They were wrong. It didn't.
As usual, Twilight spent the entire trip staring out the window. Watching a desecrated landscape pass by below her. The horizon was tinted that ominous shade of orange and dark grey that they always describe in stories. How ironic. She focused her attention on a crystal spire rising up out of the ruin on a hillside. A beacon of hope in a land of disrepair.
The carriage landed and the lavender princess stepped out, briefly fluttering her wings in annoyance at the assistants insisting on helping her walk. She could walk perfectly fine. Hay, she could even gallop. And yet, she was too fragile for them to let out of their sight.
She walked in through the grand oak doors into the vestibule of the palace, and was instantly assaulted by a blur of purple and green attaching itself to her foreleg. "Twilight!" cried Spike. "I missed you." Indeed, even Spike, the brave and fearless assistant, had not been immune to this new world of fear, loss, and sorrow.
"Hey, Spike," said Twilight, forcing a cheerful tone into her otherwise depressed voice. "I missed you too." She wasn't lying. While Twilight had only been gone for three days, he was still the only real friend that the former element of magic had left. She honestly didn't know what she would do without him. Some days, he was the only thing that kept her from sinking into the overwhelming self-pity and depression that constantly haunted her.
The pair walked to the new throne room. Twilight sat in the golden throne, and Spike cuddled up next to her, pretty much in the alicorn's lap. In the time before, he would've said he was too old and too mature to sit in anypony's lap. But times have indeed changed, and now we all need the comfort. Plus, the citizens adored the scene of their Princess letting her young dragon sit in her lap. Twilight was pretty sure even the guards thought it was cute. But they'd never tell you if they did.
Thankfully, the Princess had very few visitors that day, most of them having reserved the day for the ceremony prior. The emptiness made the time pass swiftly. Soon, she was in her personal suite, Spike still clinging to her side. Twilight enjoyed his company. It was relaxing. He was her best friend before, now he was like her brother. Again, she don't know where she would be without him.
As Twilight sat there gazing into the sunset, her thoughts drifted. Eventually they found their way to a certain pony. It was foalish of her to be thinking of pointless things in this day and age, but Twilight really couldn't help it. "Why do I miss her more than the rest?" she asked out loud. Spike knew whom Twilight was referring to. They had discussed this far too often over the past few years.
It seemed to be their way of coping with the loss, discussing their old friends.
The small dragon beside her sighed. "Well, you loved her." He just spoke what he knew was true, because trying to spare his caretaker's heart was a moot point. It was already broken beyond repair. "You just never got to tell her."
That was what had killed the lavender mare. Twilight had loved the mare so much that it had almost driven her crazy. And then she died, not even knowing Twilight's feelings for her. Every single day, that fact just ate away at the alicorn. And that perhaps was the reason she hated this new life. Everything she had dreamed of, everything she had hoped for, everything she had planned... was gone. And there was no getting it back.
It was too often that she found herself dwelling on the past. And yet, it couldn't be helped. Twilight couldn't stop thinking what her mind wants to think about. It just does it. Not like anypony can control it.
Twilight and Spike continued to state into the sunset. Even today, when the sky was stuck eternally in that phase, being there nopony to raise or set it, it was still quite a beautiful sight. It reminded Twilight of Sunset Shimmer, and her human friends. 'I should really go see them,' she thought. But The Crystal Empire was not in her list of places to visit. And the portal she had made is a twisted mess of trash somewhere in the ruin that once was Ponyville.
That was another thing that tore at her heart. Ponyville was gone, and instead, The Twilight Castle, her palace, was atop a hill, high enough to overlook what was left of their beloved Equestria. The hill really didn't have to be so high...
The two gazed out into the horizon, Twilight wishing for what one was, and Spike probably just numb. That's a good way to put it. Twilight was forced to immediately attempt to overcome her grief, and become the ruler of this Celestia-forsaken land, but Spike has had six years to mope around in this place. Well, Twilight really wouldn't call it moping. More like a state of depression so deep that you just become used to it, stuck in a point where you don't care anymore.
"You don't know that they're dead." Twilight must have really looked bad. Spike only had brought up that possibility once before, when all of this seemingly started and then ended at the same time. "You didn't see them dead," he continued. "For all we know, they could've just teleported somewhere."
In the previous conversation, Twilight had stopped him as the topic began. But now, either she genuinely wanted to hope, or the mare just want strong enough to argue with him. Probably the latter. But, he did make a very scientific approach. The alicorn used to like that, science. To bad she didn't have time for it anymore. "Come on," Twilight rubbed his back. "Let's get you to bed." He didn't complain. He rarely does anymore. For both of them, sleep is the escape from reality.
The princess tucked him in, another action he would've hated prior to mass apocalyptic destruction of their known lives, and kissed him lightly on the forehead. 'Forget older sister, I'm practically like his mother now.' Twilight stepped out of the room, and walked down the maze of hallways to another room. Releasing the magical seal of the oak door, Twilight walked in, reconstructing the seal behind herself.
The crystal lights hanging above the table before her slowly came up to full brightness, illuminating the room. Twilight's attention focused on the crystal dais before her. On it was a translucent projection of former Equestria. She had an accurate one in a main room levels below her, but she kept this one. The alicorn had salvaged it from the ruins of her old palace. As a reminder of the land she had grown to love.
It still works. She had tested it a while ago. Gave the guards a scare when their Princess suddenly appeared in the ruins of Canterlot. Now they overestimate her magical powers. She didn't know why she had lied to them, maybe she was convinced that they would take this last memory away from her. Twilight doubted they would. However, the display was not the reason she had come in here. No.
In the corner of the room was a circular marble pillar. He had told her when he left that all she needed to do was etch a tally mark in the side of it to call him. The surface of the marble was pristine. 'I wonder if even after all this time he will still come...'
Signing, the royal alicorn summoned up her magic. A faint dot appeared on the side of the pillar, and it moved swiftly downward, leading behind a deep scratch. The glow dissipated, and Twilight sat back waiting. An hour later, still no sign of him. Figures. Why would the exact opposite of harmony come to help harmony? True, he was reformed, and there really wasn't much that the lavender mare could hold against him anymore, but still.
Eventually, she decided to go back to bed. It wasn't worth waiting for him to show up this late. Twilight was the sole Princess of Equestria, and she had to wake up early tomorrow just for that reason, whether there was work to do or not.
Spike was fast asleep when the alicorn walked in. She smiled at the sight of him snoring peacefully, blankets clutched up to his chin. Twilight savored the moment, for genuine smiles were a rare thing nowadays. Walking over to her own bed, she pulled the covers away with her magic. Then she screamed. Discord was laying in the bed.
The baby dragon on the other side of the room was at his caretaker's side in an instant. "What?! What?" Twilight's heart was racing. "You couldn't just show up in the other room could you?" she questioned the draconequus in her bed, probably much more harshly than was needed.
Naturally, he just shrugged the question away. "I tried," he began. "But somepony put a spell around the room, and I couldn't get in. So I decided the most reasonable thing to do was take a nap." He looked up at the alicorn. "Now, did you need me, or did you just miss me?" Discord had a smug grin on his face. Twilight really wasn't up for this.
"You can teleport to any pony you know, right?" she asked. He nodded in confirmation. Sighing, preparing herself to ask the next question, she raised her head to face him. "Take me to Rainbow Dash."
He laughed. He actually laughed. Discord was lying on her bed, laughing at her. She would kill him if she didn't need him. "Twilight, my dear," he managed to choke out. "You do know that they are no longer... of this world, correct?" He looked at the mare with what appeared to be genuine concern for my mental state. Twilight just glared back at him.
"Do it," she commanded. "Now."
He grunted in an annoyed manner, and looked at the wall across the room, apparently concentrating. Suddenly, a peculiar expression came across the master of chaos' s face. The room grew with a brilliant white light, and then, Twilight and Spike were no longer in the palace. He had teleported the trio somewhere. And that meant he had located Rainbow Dash. And that he had sent them to her.
The blinding light cleared, and Twilight looked around, her heart aching, longing to see her long-lost friend. They were in a flat, barren, desert landscape. Crooked spires rose up in the distance. And even further away, a summit boasting the ruined spires of what was once Canterlot. However, she saw no sign of the prismatic mane that her heart so longed to see.
She looked over to Discord, thinking that this was just some cruel joke. He looked back at her, seemingly just as confused as Twilight. Spike just stood next to her, too drowsy to even begin to contemplate the situation. "Well," poke Twilight. "Why did you take us here?"
Discord scratched his head. "Because, like you said, I can sense ponies, and I seem to sense that the late Rainbow Dash is here." Twilight looked around again, hoping that she had just missed some key detail or something of that measure. There was another blinding flash, and suddenly, Discord was gone. "Great," she grumbled. He had just left them here. In the middle of the desert, alone.
Then, as suddenly as he had left, he reappeared, holding the amulet belonging to the element of loyalty. "How did you get that!?" cried Twilight in utter disbelief. He looked at her with a strange look on his face. "It's not like it's locked up anywhere," he spoke with a tone of confusion at the alicorn's own confusion. "It's on display in that lovely doll house you call a palace." Twilight rolled her eyes in frustration. "Under maximum security..." He just chuckled.
He placed the necklace on the ground at his feet. "Uh huh, just as I thought," he said. "What?" Twilight questioned impatiently. Discord looked at me. "She's alive," he said simply. Her heart swelled immensely with rejoice, however Twilight kept a doubtful look. He cocked his head at her. "What? You're the one who told me to take you to her. Obviously you knew this already."
The princess gestured around the area. "Well, where is she?" He looked around. "I'm not sure." He, too, gestured around me. "Here, I guess..." She looked around again. 'If I had enough proof, I could just...'
"Oh, screw it!" cried Twilight. What was the harm in false hope?
---
The hole was already a few hundred hooves deep within an hour. The crews Twilight had brought were working tirelessly, all on the premise that somewhere below us lay what may be the element of loyalty, alive. The pegasi had already returned, convinced that there were no clouds above the area that Rainbow Dash could be residing on.
Iron Clad, head of the guards, had already confirmed that we were in the bad lands. This just added to the pile of questions that were already forming in the studious alicorn's brain. Especially those pertaining to the theory that the Changeling Hive was located somewhere in the bad lands. What a coincidence, right? She doubted it.
Discord was sitting in a hammock that had somehow spawned in, with Spike leaning against one of the supports. Two guards were standing on either side of them, eyeing the draconequus wearily. Understandable, especially with what these guards had heard of him. It probably didn't help that he would occasionally spring up a conversation about someone named Jean-Luc. Who in Equestria names their foal Jean-Luc?
After two hours, the whole was another few hundred hooves deep, and still nothing. They ended up waiting another four before they managed to get something.
Seven hours into the dig, Twilight heard a soft shout come from the hole. Approaching the edge, it appeared to be easily a mile deep. Small specks of ponies at the bottom were moving around excitedly, focusing on what appeared to be a patch of black rock in the center of the hole. She couldn't really make out what they were trying to say so the alicorn teleported down, Discord following along with Spike.
It turned out that the black rock was the center of attention. Its surface was rough and patchy, with pores dotting its exterior. The crew kept uncovering more and more of it as they kept digging. It soon became apparent that it had a slight curve to it.
"Can you dig though it?" Twilight asked. She was genuinely curious. Forget major. this was the first development in the "missing elements" case, if you could even call it a case. It became a legitimate idea only about seven hours ago. However, all she got in return to the question was negative shakes of ponies heads.
She decided to take matters into her own hooves. Twilight's horn flared, and a thin sheet of purple magic encompassed a section of the foreign material. In about three seconds, all that Twilight had learned was that it was made out of organic matter, and it was too thick to determine what was on the other side.
There was a grunt of disapproval from behind her, and Discord walked forward. "Now, now, my little ponies," he said in a disappointed voice. "Time to run along! This is a matter for the adults to handle." 'All right, why did I bring him along?'
Instantaneously, all of the crew teleported back up to the surface, and Spike, Discord, and Twilight were the only remaining at the bottom of the hole. "Well, Twilight. I guess it's time to see if you're old pals really are still alive." There was a flash of white light that Twilight had somehow become accustomed to in the past day, and the world vanished around her.
---
The light gradually faded, and Twilight found myself in a dark place. The constant noise of dripping could be heard echoing around the area. Forcing herself to stand, she looked around at the apparent cavern she was in, and took in the details.
The roof and walls were made of a familiar black stone with large gaping pores in the surface, large enough to fit at least 2 ponies through comfortably. A viscous greenish-blue liquid was dripping from random holes, and pooling on the floor in large puddles. The goo was seemingly luminescent, and was providing the only source of light in the room. Other than that, it was pretty much and ordinary cave.
Upon further inspection, the alicorn concluded that the walls were made up of the same material as the rock that the crew had found in the dig, and that Discord tried to teleport through. Wait... he took Spike with them! WHERE ARE THEY?!?!
As if on que, a voice echoed off the walls of the cavern. "Twilight, Twilight, Twilight..." Discord's voice was mocking. "Quite a pickle you've gotten yourself into. Unfortunately, I seem to be in an even bigger one." A cacophony of shouting could be faintly heard in the background. "Your petty guards seem to think I have killed you or something atrocious like that. So, I am needing to be gone now." The voice faded, and then issued a reprise: "I believe you'll find what you're looking for down there." And that was it. The voice of Chaos was gone, and Twilight was left to her own thoughts.
She wandered around the labyrinth of caverns, not even caring if she got lost. Discord thought that Rainbow Dash was somewhere in here, and unbelievably, she trusted him more than herself. The mere hope that Rainbow was in here kept her pushing herself to her limits. Time was countless, and pointless. Twilight had no idea how long she'd been in here, or how much longer she would stay. Hours felt like minutes, and minutes felt like hours. All that mattered to her was giving herself a point to be in here, and hoping that the conclusion would be in her own favor.
These thoughts and more were running through Twilight's head as she turned the next corner. But the sight before her made her stop in my tracks. Nothing could have prepared the lavender mare for what she saw, even though she had been warned and hoped for it for however long it had been. Walking across the expanse in front of the princess was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane.
--- "Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." -Nido Quben --- Elysium Location Unknown
She wasn't facing Twilight. Just slowly walking through the cavern's expanse, not even glancing in the alicorn's direction. Twilight opened her mouth, and raised a hoof out as if to grab her, but no sound came out. She just stood there stupidly. But Twilight must have made some noise, because Rainbow suddenly looked in the lavender mare's direction.
Twilight didn't know why, but she tried to duck behind a porous black, pillar to the side of her. "R-rainbow?" she somehow managed to get out. Suddenly something changed in her eyes. It was no longer surprise, only anger. "Damn you! Why do you keep finding me!!!" cried the cyan mare. And then she charged at the alicorn, her eyes full of a passionate hatred that could only have been built up over time. Twilight did the first natural thing that came to her; she ran in the opposite direction.
Dash didn't let up, just kept chasing her. 'Why was she doing this? Did she want to see me?' No, her teeth were practically bared. Twilight tried to teleport herself behind the charging mare, but for some odd reason, her horn only gave off a few dim sparks. Now she really started to panic. Twilight was nothing without her magic, and friend or not, Rainbow Dash was appearing very un-friendly at this moment!
'What could've made her hate me so much?' The hatred present in her eyes could only be the result of something that had been created and pent up over time, slowly brewing and never being aired or released. 'She probably has hated me for the past six years for some unknown reason that I can't possibly know how to fix!'
The extensive labyrinth just seemed to go on forever, an endless series of caverns. There was nowhere for Twilight to go. She just kept running, hoping, praying that something would turn up. And something did.
A few hooves ahead of her as the princess turned a corner, she spotted a hole in the wall that appeared different from the rest. There was a light coming from it. It was dim, but still extremely noticeable in the dim light of the caverns. Twilight dodged for it. Then, she was encompassed by a white light...
'WHY DO I KEEP GETTING TELEPORTED TO EVERY BUCKING LOCATION IN EQUESTRIA?!?!?!'
The light dissolved around her, and she saw trees. Where were there any trees left in Equestria? Even the Everfree forest had burnt when the Changelings came. The only trees left that she knew about were potted or planted by ponies trying to make the land look beautiful again. Before she had time to ponder the odd situation further, there was a popping sound, and another bright flash from behind her. Dash had followed her.
Twilight no longer had a desire to find Rainbow Dash, or even try to talk to her. Ironically, her only desire at the moment was to lose her. Or more accurately, for Rainbow to lose her. Twilight planned to follow her after she had given up, and try to understand what was going on, because at the moment, it made absolutely no sense. She was pretty sure anypony and anything would agree with her there. But for now, all Twilight could do is run.
The two mares had been chasing each other for about 20 minutes now, and it was taking a toll on the lavender alicorn. As always, however, Rainbow was in top shape. 'Great.'
Twilight tried to push herself harder, telling herself just to get to that next bush, and the next one. It worked for a while, but she could only last for so long. Especially without her magic. 'Hay, if I had my magic, I could have just teleported somewhere, and we wouldn't be going through this right now.'
Another thing that concerned her was that they were in a forest. There were no forests left in Equestria, not since the war. So where could they be? True, there were other nations like Prance and Zebrabwe, both of which contained prominent forests, but were both populated. So where could they be?
In her thoughts, Twilight failed to notice one very important fact. Dash was literally right behind her. So it didn't help that she had to go and trip. Twilight fell face-first into a fairly deep mud puddle, with Rainbow Dash careening over her. The lavender mare quickly sat up and wiped the mud from her face, but her former friend was quicker. She was on top of the princess in seconds.
Twilight felt a searing pain in her right wing as she brought her hoof down on it. "Haha! I got you now!" she cried with almost demonic glee. "Rainbow!" cried Twilight. "Please!" These statements seemed to only make the prismatic mare laugh even more. "Oh, and by the way 'Twi,' thanks for giving me a way out of that hayhole... it was getting pretty lame!" Her hoof came down on the wing again, and forced Twilight to cry out in pain.
The look in her eyes was pure hatred. Why? The alicorn tried to use my magic to pull the assaulting mare off of herself, but to no avail. The cusp just sputtered out a few sparks and then died. Rainbow smiled wickedly, and her hoof came down on her wing again, and was accompanied by a harsh pop. Twilight shrieked in pain, her wings searing. "Rainbow! Please! You're hurting me!"
"Ha! And why would I care about hurting a change-" her voice broke off as she looked back into the lavender mare's tearing eyes. Rainbow's gaze had suddenly become surprised, and then slowly translated into confusion. "Your eyes aren't green." She stated it with such confusion and hesitancy, that Twilight really had no idea what to make of it. Perhaps if she hadn't been trapped under an aggressive pony, and not in so much pain, she would've at least attempted to comprehend the situation, but for the reasons above, she didn't. "Why would my eyes be green, Rainbow?" she hissed through clenched teeth.
The look in the mare's eyes quickly changed from confusion to horror. "Twilight! Oh my gosh! How did you even find me?" Her eyes had a panicked look to them. "Oh my gosh... I just... did I just break your wing?!" Her voice rose in fear. She quickly helped Twilight up, and attempted to give the mare a hug, but Twilight pushed her away forcefully. The alicorn took off limping in the opposite direction from here, as fast as she could go.
After the recent turn of events, Twilight was totally lost. Not only in a physical sense, but in a mental one as well. 'Why had she tried to attack me? She looked almost ready- almost ready to kill me!' This was not the Rainbow that she remembered, and Twilight was scared of her.
She didn't get very far. Twilight tripped and fell, hitting her head on a very unfortunately placed stone. Her wing popped again, and she felt a sudden sense of relief from its intense pain. Then pain began to spread from other various places on her body. With her vision was going blurry, and her sensory perception quickly diminishing, she lay there, sobbing quietly. Rainbow had dashed to the fallen alicorn's side, and was shaking her. Her voice echoed in Twilight's ears, but she couldn't tell what she was saying. She could only watch through ever-darkening vision as Rainbow picked up the lavender alicorn, and carried her away into the thickening brush. Gradually, Twilight's vision turned black.
---
I was staring at a fire. I could see, but I couldn't hear or move. Or feel. It was an odd experience, as if I were having a dream, but couldn't control it. Well, to be fair, the ability to control your own dreams sort of left with the death of Princess Luna. However, the experience was still new to me.
Suddenly my vision swung, and I was staring at myself. I instantly concluded that this was a dream. If I were still alive, or even dead, I wouldn't be able to see myself. Not in this view anyways. My head was laying across my lap, and I was slowly stroking my mane with my... cyan hooves? This wasn't a dream... I was in Rainbow Dash's mind.
Why was she treating me like this? Wasn't she just trying to kill me? As if she could hear what I thought, and thunderous representation of her voice rang throughout the dreamscape. "I tried to kill her... She'll never forgive me!" This proclamation was followed by several tears falling onto my cheek. "I haven't seen her in Celestia knows how long... and I try and KILL HER!" The voice was filled with regret and self-pity. "How was I supposed to know that she wasn't like the others? It isn't fair..."
The distraught mare stopped stroking my mane, and instead decided to take comfort in burying her entire face in it. "I'm so sorry, Twilight. I thought you were one of them." I could not see her face, but her own voice grieved for her. It was a voice full of sorrow and regret. And I was instantly overcome with pity.
I tried to tell the cyan mare that I forgave her, but I couldn't do anything. I could only watch as she wallowed in depression, thinking that I hated her. "Why did you have to die?" Okay, what?
Those words startled me greatly. I'm not dead, I tried to tell her. Why would she- oh no. It was then that I noticed the light trickle of blood seeping out from under my mane, presumably where I hit my head. I also happened to notice my distinct lack of breathing. How was I witnessing this if I was dead? It would be impossible! There was no explanation for it.
Countless minutes passed until Rainbow finally lifted her head up. "I'm sorry, Twilight Sparkle. I've failed. I'm not loyal, I'm not a good friend, I'm not even fit to be near normal ponies anymore. I'll just attack them." Her gaze turned back towards the fire, and locked on to the hypnotic glow. "I'm sorry."
The glow continued to get brighter and brighter, until my vision was a bright box of nothingness. White surrounded all of me. Or so I thought. Behind me was a single box. It was black, and it seemed to push me away. Or the white was pulling me in. Either way, I felt secure not going near the box, and just letting the white have it's way. I had turned my back on it when suddenly, it erupted with the life of a familiar voice. "I'm sorry."
The sound rang across the great expanse of nothingness, making me casually wonder how it echoed if there was nothing in here except for me, and a black box that had a voice.
Something made me hesitate continuing to let the white expanse pull me away from the box. I dug in my hooves and tuned back around. "Please, Twilight. Come back!" The voice speaking sounded almost as if it was dying, fading away quickly. I took a step towards the box.
"Twilight! Wake up! You've gotta' be ok!" The box slowly changed as I approached it. It begain to play a sequence of images, and I realized that it was playing memories backwards from the time where Rainbow Dash had held me by the fire, all the way to when she turned and saw me for the first time in six years.
"Go to her Twilight. You can still go back."
What was that? Princess! Is that you? The voice had seemed distant, yet powerful. It was as if somepony were talking to you from afar, yet you could hear them perfectly clearly. It had a very strange effect. It was mysterious, and yet comforting at the same time.
"Twilight! Now is your last chance! Go to her!"
With no more doubt in my mind, I lept forward, sailing through the black box, and into a void of nothingness.
---
The nothingness quickly faded into something, and Twilight slowly opened her eyes. Her head hurt, a lot. "Rain-bow?" she croaked out, trying to turn her body to rid her vision of the glaring fire. "Twi!" The sound pierced the alicorn's ears, and Twilight groaned from the sudden spots that appeared in her vision. She felt hooves wrap around her, and helped the mare to turn her body so that her back was facing the fire.
"Rainbow." Twilight said again, this time her voice much clearer and with more certainty. She was still in quite a daze from what had just happened. Twilight curled up as much as her body was willing to let her do, and cuddled up against the cyan fur in front of her.
"I'm so sorry, Twilight!" Rainbow cried into Twilight's mane softly. "You're okay... I'm here." Twilight tried to drone out her voice as she breathed in her scent. Trying to grasp her unspoken love tighter, trying to snow her that she was forgiven.
For the first time in six years, as Twilight drifted off to sleep, she felt safe, and happy. And hoped that nothing could change that. 'Well, perhaps it would be better without my head splitting open.' And as she slowly let the fatigue take her, she heard the sound of her long-lost friend crying tears of relief and joy as she held Twilight's body tighter, never letting her go again.
--- "It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light." -Aristotle Onassis --- Inhibitions Location Unknown
Twilight could never remember waking up in a more comfortable position, on a more comfortable pillow. It was like slipping out of Elysium, and going straight into heaven. She slowly cracked her eyes open, and was met with a very unusual blue swath of fur. 'That's funny, my pillow should not blue...' Opening her eyes further, she noticed that her blue pillow also had a- 'WOAH!'
Her body rocked upwards into a sitting position, putting as much distance between her head and Rainbow's lap as possible, with her cheeks burning furiously. It was strange how even after the apocalypse, Twilight found it embarrassing to see another pony's belly button. Rainbow Dash, of course, slept through the whole affair. Even after six years in hell, that pony managed to keep her uncanny ability to sleep through everything.
Glad that no one had seen her spastic actions, Twilight gently lay her head back down on the sleeping pegasus, glad that she had finally found her. 'Maybe I should admit my feelings to her now, before I lose her again... No! I won't lose her. We're sticking together.' Besides, it would probably be best to wait a little, She didn't mind as long as they were together. She snuggled her cheek back into the cyan tummy, causing Rainbow to giggle slightly in her sleep. Twilight smiled to herself and wrapped her legs around her partner waist. She really didn't mind waiting for a bit longer.
The comfort lasted for a little while longer, and the lavender alicorn managed to get a little more sleep. But soon, Rainbow started to stir, and eventually wake. Of course, this had to happen while Twilight was asleep, and had no warning to exit her embrace before she woke up completely.
"Uh, Twi?" The voice rang in her head, but the studious mind ignored it, instead choosing to squeeze her long-time love tighter. "Twilight?" The voice was louder now, and it attacked Twilight's brain, coercing her to listen. She slowly opened her eyes, finding to be met with magenta eyes that had a slightly confused look in them. The alicorn mumbled something about what Rainbow wanted, only to receive a slight chuckle in response as a puff of hot air blew out of her muzzle onto the pegasus's tummy. "Five more minutes..."
More giggling. "You comfy, Twi?" She opened her eyes again, and finally took into full account of the situation. 'Rainbow is awake, and I am cuddling with her tummy.' Twilight's face flushed and she quickly sat up, trying to pull it off as a casual stretch.
"Are you okay?" The question kind of startled her. Okay, maybe the sight of a princess of Equestria desperately gripping your torso to her face is a bit concerning. "Well," she began, desperately trying to be witty and sarcastic at the same time. "Besides nearly being killed by my long-lost friend, and recovering from what I think was a concussion, I'm A-OK!"
My comment caused a look of hurt and sadness to flash in the Alicorn crush's eyes. "I- I'm really sorry Twilight. It was just-" she paused, looking anywhere but Twilight. "I just had been through so much, so many changelings that disguised themselves as you- I just thought you were another one!" Rainbow began to open sob in front of her, and Twilight immediately regretted her choice of words. How stupid was she? Even Rainbow wouldn't joke about nearly killing someone when she had come so close to actually doing it!
"Rainbow," she said, leaning in to embrace her friend. "It's okay. I forgive you." Dash looked up at her, not truly trusting her words. "R- really?" her voice choked out that one word, the one word that seems to describe the feelings people have in every situation where they need to know the answer to something.
"Yes. I saw what you went through." Her gaze turned to disbelief. "I think it was Celestia."
Now it was Rainbow's turn to try and explain things to Twilight. "Twi, even I was around then to know that she died. I literally watched her hit the ground!" The Alicorn just stared back. "I know Rainbow, but I heard her, I heard her voice when I was 'dead' and I saw what you were going through!" She turned so that her entire body was facing the mare. "I watched myself die."
Those four words seem to have an impact on Rainbow. "Oh my gosh..." she finally returned Twilight's embrace, clutching her as if to never let go again. "I'm sorry! I killed you!" Her body racked with sobs again, and the former princess once again hated her choice in words.
'Of course she would think that she killed me. Of course she would blame herself. Why wouldn't she?' "Rainbow Dash." Twilight spoke using her full name, which she rarely did even when the world wasn't falling apart. "Listen to me. I forgive you. It's not entirely your fault. Without you, I probably still would be dead." She lifted her chin up with a hoof. "You were the reason I came back, Rainbow. You're the reason I'm alive."
The pegasus's features slowly lost the tragic look they had held for almost as long as Twilight had been reunited with her. The lavender mare held her, doing her best to comfort her, as she visibly recovered. Twilight looked back into her eyes, and for the first time in a very long time, she saw those magenta eyes smiling back at her. And it made her happy.
However, whatever joyful feelings she had felt, they dissipated as soon as Twilight tried to stand up. A searing pain ran through her wing and upper back, causing her to collapse back on top of Rainbow with a grunt of pain. Dash let out her own small "oof" at the extra weight being slammed down on her stomach. "Twi!" she cried, immediately concerned for her revived friend.
The alicorn's head felt like it was suddenly splitting open, and closing her eyes did little to relieve her of the pain. Suddenly, all of the pressure in the mare's skull was gone, and all that remained was a dull popping noise. Then, Rainbow Dash gasped.
It took a lot to make that mare gasp. And after being through hell and back, Twilight doubted that there was much that even made her flinch anymore. So you knew that when Dash gasped, there was good reason to it. Something important must have happened. Twilight opened her eyes, and screamed.
Her horn was lying on the ground in front of her.
---
This was not good. Normally, the separation on a unicorn's horn from its body results in catastrophic stroke, or if you were lucky, instant death. However, none of those came to the shocked mare as she stared at the purple cusp on the ground next to Rainbow. Twilight just felt... normal?
She felt no pain or discomfort, which was unusual, because unicorn horns were extremely sensitive. It was how we were able to manipulate the currents in the air to harness "magic." Twilight should have at least felt a numbness, but didn't. She felt, nothing. The only noticeable differences was her lack of horn, and therefore lack of magic. The entire situation soon became too much for the poor alicorn to comprehend. Twilight broke down... HARD.
She had absolutely no idea how long she sat there, curled up in a ball against Rainbow, sobbing. It could have been days, honestly, she couldn't care nor tell. All that she knew was that she was completely devastated.
Magic was her talent. It was the talent that earned her her cutie mark, a symbol that would forever define exactly who Twilight was. Without her magic, she wasn't an alicorn anymore. She wasn't anything special. She wasn't a ruler of Equestria. Twilight wasn't... her...
At some point, a hoof began stroking the dark purple mane and head, carefully avoiding whatever was left on her forehead. It was obviously trying to soothe her, and Twilight did take as much comfort in it as she could, however it was not enough. Even her own amazing brain simply could not comprehend exactly what was happening.
As Twilight lay there in a ball, sobbing herself dry into Rainbow's tummy, Dash realized that this was far beyond a "I need someone to pet my mane" disaster, to a "I need someone to hold me and lull me to sleep" disaster. Because that's exactly what she started doing. The pegasus shifted her body under the lavender mare so that she was in the grasp of all four of her legs, and held the sobbing alicorn tightly, all the while still rubbing her mane.
Gradually, her sobs became quieter and quieter, slowly receding off into a gentle sniffle. However, she did not, or more accurately, could not, fall asleep. Twilight desperately wanted to. She just wanted to just give up and not take life anymore, but she couldn't. Instead, her tears just dried up and Twilight just lay against the cyan coat, her only pillar of reality left in this unknown hellhole.
"Twilight," the coltish voice found its way into her dormant brain and awoke it. "Everything will be alright." The last thing that anypony ever expected from Rainbow Dash was for her to try and comfort someone from their fears. But then Twilight realized that she had been doing that ever since she was formally reunited with her. The boastful pegasus had never once left the alicorn's side since they found each other, and that alone could be portrayed as an act of comfort, especially for a mare as emotionally traumatized as Twilight was. Yet... her mind didn't register it as comforting as it was implied.
"ALRIGHT?!?!" she screamed in Rainbow's face. "ALRIGHT?! Rainbow!!! My bucking horn just fell off my head!!!" The pegasus appeared visibly scared of Twilight's reaction as she slowly dropped her hooves off of the now enraged mare.
"You don't understand!!! I should be dead, or in a coma..." Twilight trailed off, her mind once again going to that "safe place" where it didn't need to focus on the current events. The result of this mental shutdown was Twilight collapsing back onto the ground, crying pitifully to herself.
With her friend having visibly calmed down a bit, Rainbow must have felt it was safe to approach her again as she draped a foreleg over the alicorn's back once again. "Twilight, you're wrong," she said softly. "The fact is, you're still alive, and you're pretty much normal!" She chucked a bit. "Well, as normal as an egghead like you can be." Twilight wasn't paying attention. She was still trying to get over the fact that Rainbow Dash, a 'slow-minded' pegasus, called her wrong on a topic that the alicorn had done years of research on and that the party claiming she was wrong had only just been introduced to.
"You're the princess of friendship, Twi! I find it hard to believe that you are unable to see that you are more than just magic." She gestured to the lavender mare's cutie mark. "Sure, you're the element of magic and all that jazz, but there's more to you than just magic."
Dash lifted Twilight's chin up with a hoof, an action the alicorn had previously thought would be too impossible to come from Rainbow to even imagine before. "You're smart, brilliant, funny, cool, and most importantly, you're a great friend." She smiled. Twilight didn't. For some reason, "friend" bothered her. Why couldn't they be more than friends?
"No, wait, not friend, you're more than that."
Twilight's ears perked up. Really? "Yeah, we're closer. I've always felt a closer connection with you. We're like, best friends ever. We're like sisters!" Awesome. The alicorn's ears drooped back down. It's socially unacceptable to be in a relationship with your sister. Something along the lines of incest or something? Her brain was seemingly in a sarcastic kind of mood. Her heart wasn't; It was busy trying to find all the little pieces of itself that were scattered throughout the mare's stomach and large intestine.
"R-rainbow," she mumbled. "Why don't we j-just stick with b-best friends, o-okay?" At least then we can move upwards... The statement sounded much more accepting in her head than from her mouth. When spoken aloud, they sounded like they came from a mare defeated. Probably because they did.
Luckily, the prismatic mare knew better than to ask why. Something about really bothered Twilight, and she was glad that she was at least able to convey that, even if she sounded like a little foal. The only thing that could really help her right now was to stay in those cyan hooves that held her, and never leave.
A lot of other species don't understand the difference between horse hooves and pony hooves. They mainly associate "hooves" in general with a hard black thing that makes a "clopping" noise. Horse hooves do that. Pony hooves are different. Pony hooves are covered with the same fur that cover the rest of their body, making them soft to the touch, and nice and comfortable. Soothing, really. They still make a "clopping" noise, but other factors are involved, and it has nothing to do with walking.
Being held in those soft, cyan hooves now was the only thing that kept Twilight from going back over the edge. She put thoughts of her horn, her feelings, she put all of those catalysts of negative emotions out of her mind, and just focused on the forelegs holding her in a tight squeeze. "Can we just stay here like this?" She spoke into the fuzzy breast of her companion. Twilight liked that word, companion. It didn't give away hope or dismay, it just stated it in a non-argumentative form.
"Sure, Twi. Just let it out." Rainbow rubbed her hoof through Twilight's mane again and along her back. "Take as long as you need. I'm here for you..."
Twilight just cuddled deeper into the soft, blue fur in front of her, drowning herself in it. Taking comfort in the sole fact that it was there. She would face the real world when she wanted to. But right now, her fantasy awaited. A fantasy that included being held in those forelegs for eternity. She had mentioned Elysium before, and if she had to define it, this would be it. Her in Rainbow Dash's grip, snuggled up together to protect themselves from whatever horrors lay beyond the concepts of this perfect dreamscape. She prayed to the fallen alicorn sisters that it would never end.
Eventually it did, as was inevitable. Her living, stuffed pegasus let out a very loud grumble from her stomach. This forced Twilight to giggle, as if against her will. She pulled her muzzle out of the hungry mare's chest and looked at her face, which had flushed an impossibly cuter shade of pink. "You sound like you're hungry."
She was shocked at the sound of her own voice, and judging from Rainbow's reaction, she was too. Twilight sounded raw and scratchy, as if she had drank molten lava. She cleared her throat in a vain attempt to clear out her vocal chords. "I could go for something to drink myself..."
The two struggled to get up, Twilight still being weak from earlier, and Rainbow having had her lower half fall asleep from her laying on it. They looked around and saw the saddlebags that Twilight had thankfully thought to take with her to the dig site, and picked them up. The alicorn then carefully scooped up her dismembered horn, and placed it gently in the bag with all of the self-control she could muster, which resulted in only a few stray tears to trickle onto the ground. She was just happy she didn't have to break down again. Truthfully, Twilight was a slight bit embarrassed from earlier, even though she was pretty sure that the entire situation was justified.
Turning back to her long-time love, Twilight gave a weak smile. "Better take it with me, just in case." The rainbow-maned mare nodded with a symbol of understanding.
The alicorn again gave a small smile at all that Dash had done for her so far. One that she hoped would only grow stronger as they found their way out of this mess. "Come'on Rainbow, let's find something to eat." The two ponies left the camping area they had made, and set out in search of something new to improve their situation. After all, it could only get better from here, right?
--- The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering. -Ben Okri --- Breaking Point The Bad Lands
The royal guards were completely stunned. One second, their Princess was in the dig hole, and the next, she was gone. Discord however, walked up out of the pit on some invisible staircase, with Spike close behind. A unicorn member snagged the dragon in his magic and pulled him away from the offending symbol of chaos, and lowered his spear at him.
"Oh please! You think you can stop the very catalyst of disharmony with a spear?" The draconequus eyed the royal guards wearily. "I know Twilight is much smarter than that..." He snapped his claw, and the spear turned into a snake, quickly slithering out of the guard's hooves. He then proceeded to jump back with a startled yelp. Discord then turned himself into a snake, and slithered in between the hooves of the barricade to a very disoriented Spike.
"Hello there, Spike! You trust me, don't you?" He transformed back into a miniature version of himself, and wrapped one arm around the teenage dragon. "I-I guess... you did help Twilight after all!" Discord smiled. It was nice to have friends, even as strange as that concept may be. "That's great, Spike! Now come along, there are things to be done! Fates to be written! Destinies to be forged!" He grew back into his full size, and with a snap of his fingers, the purple dragon was gone.
"As for you fellows," he said, turning to the Royal Guards. "You can kiss my-" Discord then vanished as well, leaving in his place a very confused donkey.
---
Location Unknown One Week Later
Finding food had been easy. Scattered in the area around them were a multitude of berry bushes and grass patches that could easily sustain two mares for at least a few weeks, if not months. The two didn't even know how long they would be in this place. However, they had both agreed that it would be wise to settle down in this area, closer to where they had teleported from, in case anypony else managed to make it through.
Wherever they were, it was a strange place. The clouds seemed to move without any assistance from the pegasi, and the sun an moon rose and set on their own. Granted, it was a welcome change from the eternal crepuscular landscape of Equestria, but it was still disconcerting.
Twilight had constructed a small lean-to out of sticks large enough to fit the two ponies comfortably, with a little room to spare. That's where they had spent the last few night sleeping, but other than that, they hardly spent any time in it. Rainbow would normally go out and collect food, and Twilight would fly out, mapping out the surrounding area. The plan was to learn as much about this place in as little time possible, not knowing exactly how long they would be here, or if when they left, ever return.
Rainbow had told Twilight soon after arriving that she had, for some unknown reason, lost her ability to fly. The alicorn had completely lost it, and cried into the pegasus's embrace, not knowing whether she was trying to comfort herself or Dash. Either way, they had both felt better afterwards, even though the athlete mare said she had gotten over the fact years ago.
But that wasn't all that was strange. Rainbow had been acting weirdly ever since they had made the lean-to. When Twilight asked her about it, Rainbow had tried to pass it off as just being concerned about where they were and if they would ever see Equestria again.
Twilight saw through the lie easily. It was clear that the "strange" thing about Rainbow was not an effect of worry or concern. That didn't cause ponies to blush when they were in close proximity to each other. Anyways, whatever it was, Twilight didn't pressure Rainbow into answering, even if she had suspicions.
Today, Twilight returned to the campsite just as Rainbow was walking out of the woods with her makeshift basket full of sweet blue and purple berries. "Hey Twi," said the cyan pegasus. "Find anything?" Twilight just shook her head; her answer being the same for the past three days since they started their routine. Rainbow just shrugged, and went to go deposit the berries in the makeshift home, while Twilight went to go get the fire started, as it was beginning to get dark.
"Rainbow!" she called out. "Can you get the fire starter?" While Twilight's horn may not have been able to conduct magic freely, it was still able to focus magic. Rainbow came out and handed the broken cusp over to the lavender mare, and watched solemnly as a few tears trickled down the alicorn's muzzle. Twilight lifted the horn up to her forehead, and lightly tapped the broken base to its partner, and a shower of purple sparks rained out and onto the pile of dried wood, igniting it.
"Thank you, Rainbow." She handed her horn back to the prismatic mare. After a brief interlude to deposit the item back in the lean-to, Rainbow came back out side and wrapped a comforting hoof around the now-sullen mare. No matter how many times she thought about it, Twilight could just not cope with the fact that her horn was gone, most likely forever. The only time an alicorn's horn grew back was during the second Equestrian War.
Celestia's horn had been broken off by the evil Adolf Hoofler some two thousand years ago, when he had started rounding up unicorns and earth ponies, declaring that the pegasi were the "master race." Celestia had defeated him by grasping the tan pegasus, still without her horn, and shooting him into the sun. Somehow, an eternal link was created between the two enemies. This caused Celestia to have an uncanny ability to control the sun; and it was also the first time a pony's cutie mark had ever changed. Celestia's had turned from a yellow star to a blazing sun. Somewhere in the process, her horn had also regenerated, along with a pair of wings. She had become the first alicorn.
Since then, every other unicorn whose horn had been separated either died on the spot, or soon after. Twilight had little hope.
"But Twilight, you're alive! That's rare, right?" Rainbow had tried to cheer her up. It had helped somewhat, and it fueled the small fraction of hope that the alicorn had. Besides, a horn only served as a focus point for magic, she could still harness the ability without it, but it would take years if not decades of practice. Hoofler had Celestia imprisoned for 4 long years before she was able to use magic again to defeat him. Then again, in this forest, Twilight seemingly had all the time in the world...
And yet there was still the uncertainty of it all. Twilight had eventually decided that if she tried to live life without the prospect of getting her horn back, then if the opportunity arose that she could, it would feel all the much better. So the pair had just decided to try and forget about it, yet even then a few tears couldn't help but be shed at the sight of the disembodied cusp.
Rainbow Dash went back into the lean-to and brought out some berries, and put them onto a slightly curved rock that Dash had found whilst searching, and began to mash them with a rounder stone from the small creek nearby. This "jam" had been the breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the two, being much more pleasurable to eat the paste than to crunch through the harder skin surrounding the meat of the fruit.
"Hey, Twi?" asked Rainbow.
"Yes, Rainbow?"
The cyan pegasus visibly gulped, then collected herself. "I wanted to ask you... something." The alicorn looked up at this, intrigued. "Ask away," she said, then giggled. "I'm pretty much an open book out here!" Dash forcibly smiled at that comment, then lost it as she opened her mouth to ask her question. "Would you- do you..." A small blush was growing on her face.
"Twilight, would you like to be my..." The lavender mare leaned forward, her expression giving away that she was desperately hanging on to every single word the anxious pegasus spoke. "...would you like to be my, um, helper tomorrow? When I go out looking. It's kinda' lonely all by myself, especially since I can't fly and all." The alicorn visibly deflated. "Sure Rainbow."
After the pair finished their dinner, the two stared into the campfire, the night air chilling around them. Twilight was holding a stick over the cackling flames, watching as it slowly burnt away. 'I wish I had a marshmallow...' Rainbow was sitting on the opposite side, staring at Twilight. The former princess had noticed it, but she didn't give a hint. She just passed it off as Dash daydreaming or something. About her? 'No,' she thought. 'She doesn't like me like that...' She forcibly shook her head. But what had happened earlier?
Tearing her eyes away from the fire, she looked over at the cyan mare, who very quickly looked away, with a light blush on her cheeks. Twilight cocked an ear. "Dash?"
The pegasus looked back to her companion. "Y-yea Twi?" she said, clearly still skittish about whatever that was. "Are you alright?" the lavender alicorn asked, concerned. The pegasus was acting very strangely, especially considering to her lack of brashness. But then again, she did just loose her ability to fly... and had also been alone for six years...
"Of course I am!" Rainbow defended. "Why wouldn't I be?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"You've been acting strange today, and actually yesterday too." She leaned a little closer to the fire, and in turn, the nervous mare across from her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" cried the pegasus. Twilight shrunk back, hurt. All she was trying to do was help. Rainbow looked up and saw the hurt in Twilight's purple eyes. And she realized that she was the one responsible. The emotional shield crumbled around her, and she visibly became solemn and almost... were those tears?
"Rainbow?" Twilight asked again, quickly rushing to her friend's side when she heard an audible sniffle. "Please tell me what's wrong," she said softly. "If we're gonna' get through this, we need to help each other."
Rainbow looked up at Twilight, their muzzles centimeters apart. Then, without any warning, the cyan mare suddenly closed the gap and kissed Twilight with a passion that the lavender mare hadn't even imagined possible. But as soon as Twilight began to melt into the kiss, Rainbow pulled away, panicking. "I- I'm... sor- I gotta' go..." The light blue pegasus turned tail and ran into the two's makeshift home, pulling the curtain of vines over the entrance hastily, ripping a few off.
Twilight just sat there, her eyes wide, and her heart soaring. Rainbow Dash did love her, she was just scared of admitting it. But how do I approach her...
But the lavender mare was experiencing conflicting emotions. First of all, she was ecstatic that Rainbow liked her, but then she also realized that if she jumped in, she could possibly scare her away. Then there was also the notion that Rainbow Dash had acted in a spur the moment fashion, and really didn't mean the kiss. Too many thoughts were plaguing the alicorn's mind at once, and she began to get a headache.
"Okay, Twilight, think. What would be the best way to approach this..." Then a thought occurred to her. 'I could ask her to talk about it! Then she could answer, and I could base my next actions around her answer!' Twilight got to work formulating an extremely complex plan with so many variables, she doubted that even she would remember everything.
---
Rainbow Dash lay on her mat of pine needles for the past hour, silently sobbing. How could she have been so stupid? Now she has to live with a pony who most likely hates her. Dash had seen Twilight's face. It was surprised, and showed no sign of pleasure about the kiss. How could she have been so stupid!
Now Twilight hated her. And Dash was forced to live with her for eternity. 'What if she eats me when we run out of food? All she has to do is stab me with her horn!' Rainbow pushed those thoughts out of her mind. Even if Twilight hated her, she was pretty sure that the alicorn wouldn't do THAT.
While still deep in her moping, the vines behind her rustled, and she felt the presence of another pony behind her. Said pony lay down on the other pine bed next to Rainbow, and then there was silence. Dash tried her hardest to hold in her sobs, yet her body still shook occasionally. The fact that Twilight was ignoring her only confirmed her fears. 'She hates me...'
"Dash?" a small voice rose up from behind her. "Are you okay?" Rainbow just lay there, afraid of whatever this was. 'Why does she care?' She tried to tell Twilight to go away, but instead, a light whimper came out. "Do you want to talk about it?"
'Preferably not, but you're not gonna' give me a choice, are you?' The cyan mare's sobs only worsened when she attempted to choke out a "No."
Suddenly, there were lavender hooves wrapping themselves around the distraught mare, and pulling her over onto the other mat. She lay curled up against Twilight's stomach, with her head in the crook of the alicorn's neck. Rainbow felt a warm, moist breath against her ear as Twilight rested her head above Rainbow's, the purple muzzle settling in the prismatic flow of colors.
"It's okay Dash," a voice whispered in her ear. "I'm not mad at you." She felt a hoof gently stroke the rainbow mane cascading over the pair, felt as it traveled down her back, then back up to rest in between her ears. Gradually, this action soothed her, calming her down, and stopping the flow of tears. Eventually, all that could be heard was Twilight's soft cooing.
"I'm s- sorry Twilight." It took the lavender mare a moment to comprehend the unnecessary apology. Then, she realized what had to be said. All memories of her plan were forgotten, and Twilight just spoke freely.
"You don't need to hide yourself around me. I love you too, just the way you are. As a matter of fact, I love you even more when you're like this; soft and gentle and caring. You can open yourself up to me. Nopony else is watching, just let yourself be who you really are." Twilight smiled into Rainbow's mane, and squeezed her tighter as the mare began to cry again.
"Rainbow, it's okay," Twilight assured her. "All that matters now is that we're here, now, and that we're finally together. It doesn't matter how we got here, or where we started. All that matters is us, in this moment, right now." Rainbow finally seemed to relax, and let the soft lavender coat absorb her. It just felt so right.
The two ponies cuddled there, in that embrace. Twilight couldn't help but be slightly surprised. Whenever she imagined this, it was always Rainbow holding her, Rainbow being the pillar of strength, comforting Twilight, not the other way around. And yet here they were. How the times have changed.
"Why?"
The question was spoken so softly, Twilight wasn't even sure she had heard it. She was only assured when the question was repeated, louder and with more vigor. "Why?"
"Why, what?" Twilight answered into Rainbow's ear, her lips brushing against it, causing the cyan mare to shiver. "Why are you doing this?" Twilight pulled her head back, and let go of Dash. She didn't want her to do this? But she had kissed her... and, and...
"B-because, I t-thought-" Twilight began, but was cut off by the now seemingly angry pegasus. "Just go," she said plainly. "I don't want to get my hopes up."
The lavender alicorn's ears folded down over her head as tears welled up in her eyes. "R-rainbow..." She reached out a hoof to the prismatic mare. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE TWILIGHT!" Not being able to bear it any longer, Twilight got up and ran out of the makeshift home, and into the surrounding woods. Right as the last bit of sun dipped over the horizon.
Rainbow Dash rushed out after her, about to cry out her name and say she was sorry, but the mare was nowhere in sight. "Twilight!" she called, desperately hoping she hadn't gone far. No answer came, and the pegasus sat there, watching and waiting as her only companion for six years slipped from her grasp.
Did she love her? Maybe. She screamed in frustration. Why was this so difficult? She felt happy, safe, when Twilight had held her, so why did she go an ruin it. Fear.
The answer to the problem sought it's way into her mind, and she realized with no hint of doubt whatsoever that it was the answer to her problem. Rainbow had built an image around herself out of fear of being rejected. This same fear caused her to react the way someone would react with no emotion. So naturally, when Twilight said she loved her, Rainbow felt the fear of loosing her, and she automatically made a decision to never loose her; by ignoring the fact that she was there.
"TWILIGHT!" Rainbow cried again, the tears forming now. She had to fix this, she had to make this right... But the question that now assaulted her mind was one that brought more fear to the mare than she had ever felt before.
Could she?
---
Twilight ran, not knowing where she was going, only knowing that she didn't care, and that her love didn't either. Her heart fell out of her in pieces, leaving a trail of tears as she crashed through the underbrush.
Branches whipped at her face, but she didn't care. She just ran away from it all, heeding Rainbow's demands. 'At least this way, I can make her happy...'
She wasn't paying any attention to where she was going, and crashed headfirst into a tree. Her body yanked around it with a yelp, and rolled, coming to a stop at the edge of a very tall cliff. Twilight randomly thanked the tree, for had she not crashed into it, she would have galloped straight off the precipice. However, her head hurt again.
Off in the distance, she could have sworn she heard somepony call her name, but she was in too much pain to acknowledge it. 'I'm sorry Rainbow. I should have waited. Maybe then we could still be friends...'
Slowly, the Princess of Equestria slipped away from the world, and ceased moving as a trickle of blood found its way down from her mane...
--- Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky. -Rabindranath Tagore --- Iridescent Dreams Location Unknown 3 Seconds After the Death of Twilight Sparkle
Twilight awoke to the feeling of sunlight hitting her face. She relented against it, forcing her eyes to stay closed. She turned over, snuggling her face deep into the pillow on her... bed?
The alicorn cracked her eyes open. She was in her old bedroom. Her OLD bedroom. Twilight recognized the loft she was in, and the assorted bookshelves lining the walls, and the small corner desk where she would stay up late working at. Some rational part of her brain tried to tell her that what she was seeing was not possible, that she was hallucinating. But it was too real, and there was no denying it. She was back... before the world had been thrown into chaos... before she had moved into a palace... before she had even become an alicorn... Twilight was laying in the bed of her old Ponyville treehouse.
She climbed out of bed hesitantly. 'There is no way the past seven years of my life was a dream...' However, there was no denying it. Twilight was in her old home. One she hadn't seen in over seven years. Tapping the floor with a tentative hoof, she finally convinced herself that it was real.
Twilight opened the door and went downstairs, only to find a very busy Spike. "Spike?" asked the unicorn, still trying to comprehend the absurdity of it all. "Oh Twilight! You're finally up!" he said happily returning to his dusting. "Y-yeah. I really enjoyed sleeping in," said Twilight, a sense of joy suddenly seeping into her voice. She was back. The world was fine. It was all just a very long and a very bad dream.
"Woah, you okay?" asked Spike, suddenly concerned. "You ENJOYED sleeping in? Who are you, and what did you do with Twilight?"
The lavender mare chucked, a smile appearing on her face. She had almost forgotten how much of an egghead she was before everything happened. Her smile widened at the fond moniker Rainbow Dash used for her. The rest of Twilight's friends thought that the nickname was annoying, but the way Rainbow said it... a shiver ran up the unicorn's back.
"Spike," spoke Twilight. He turned towards her, eyebrow raised. "Do you happen to know where Rainbow Dash is?" There was something that Twilight wanted to do, and this time, she wouldn't wait for the apocalypse to make the decision for her. "Um, no?" he replied questioningly. "Why would I know where she is?" The mare just rolled her eyes and walked out into Ponyville.
Making her way to where her friend's cloud home was, she looked around town. It felt like forever since she was last here, even if it was only a dream that lasted the night. The question of how such a long dream popped into her head somewhere along the way, but she easily answered it as the fact that psychological time was distorted and could play by faster than real time, and that years or even decades could pass within the course of a few hours, as opposed to how-
"Yo! Watch where you're walking!" The lavender mare let out a small 'oof' as she collided with another pony. She fell, rubbing her sore muzzle, and still in a bit of a daze. "Oh, hey Twi! What's up?" The unicorn looked up into the magenta eyes of Rainbow Dash, who was currently holding out a cerulean hoof to help her up. She reached up and took the hoof.
Twilight OS featured one of the most powerful processors in the world, and could handle any problem, computation, or "EXTREME" graphics. However, as soon as it discovered "awesome.exe" and tried to process its extreme beauty, it brought up the first blue-screen-of-death in it's 2 Yottabyte memory.
"Uhhh, you okay, Twi? You're kinda' zoning out there," said Rainbow, poking the unicorn in the nose. This caused Twilight to blush even harder. "I'm p-perfectly fine, R-rainbow..." she mumbled back.
She accepted Rainbow's outstretched hoof, and hoisted up, coming up right next to the cyan mare. Very close. Their coats brushed together, and Twilight, caught in an immeasurable bliss, unconsciously slipped under the pegasus's wing. "Twilight?" Dash raised her ear at the purple mare now snuggled under her primaries. "Are you sure you're okay?" She nudged Twilight. "Cause you're kinda' acting strange..."
The unicorn noticed what she had done, and immediately slipped out from the embrace. "Sorry! So sorry! I was um..." she struggled to think of some excuse, any excuse. "Cold! I was cold!" Exclaimed Twilight, as she sweat profusely. 'Please don't comment, please don't comment!'
"Twilight." Rainbow threw her wing back over the anxious mare. "If you wanted me to put my wing around you, you only needed to ask." Twilight's muzzle flushed as the feathers brushed against her flank. "Now, it seems you have something you want to tell me?" Dash grinned wickedly at the unicorn now trapped against her.
'Does she know?' Her heart fluttering in her chest, Twilight forced herself to calm down. "N-no... there isn't really anything-" Rainbow cut her off with a half-sigh half-laugh. "Twi, I'm the awesomest mare in Equestria. I know what people look like when they have a crush on somepony!" Squeezing the mare closer, she added, "So, wanna' tell me who she is?"
'You!' cried her brain as the studious unicorn fought to find an answer. "I, um- wait! How do you know if it's a mare?" she did a double-take. The athlete just smiled smugly at her. "Because I know what gender I am, Twi."
Twilight, who was now in full-out panic mode, desperately tried to make whatever Rainbow had said appear as misinformation. "Oh... well, I guess that makes um.. sense? You being a mare and all... um... yeah! It would make sense that you know your own gender!" She internally face-hoofed at the lame whatever-she-just-did.
Dash cocked an ear. "What?" she asked, completely lost at what Twilight had just said. Twilight, more composed now, said, "I said that it makes sense that you know that you're a mare. But I don't see what that has to do with me being homosexual." She internally smiled at the excuse.
"Actually, bisexual," she added as an afterthought to herself.
Rainbow visibly deflated. "I thought- nevermind." She lifted her wing from Twilight, who immediately missed its presence. Then her gaze turned cold, and her voice devoid of emotion. "Well, good luck with that. You should just tell her, it'll make everything easier." Then she turned and took off into the air, soaring towards her cloud home. The lavender unicorn reached a hoof out to her, as if to try and stop her, but she was already gone.
"BUCK ME!" cried Twilight into her hooves as she curled up into a ball in the grass. "Why couldn't I just tell her! She practically said she liked me! So why didn't I just come out and tell her?!" She refused to ever forgive herself for this... First in her dream, and now here, in real life...
---
Location Unknown 7 Seconds After the Death of Twilight Sparkle
Rainbow crashed though the brush, crying Twilight's name, trying to find her. She had only been searching for a few minutes, so she knew the lavender alicorn couldn't have gone far. Yet it still concerned her that she wasn't even answering her. "I'm sorry!" she finally called out, feeling that Twilight might be more inclined to emerge if she knew that Rainbow wasn't mad at her. It didn't work.
Growing more concerned with each passing second, Rainbow ran faster, almost running off of a cliff that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Looking over the edge, she saw it went down for easily about a few thousand hooves before it met the lower landscape. With the darkness of the night, and the heavy cloud cover, she couldn't see what was below, but it still impressed her.
However, now was not the time to be enjoying the view. She had to find Twilight before something bad happened.
Following the edge of the cliff, she started walking alongside the drop. Then, she froze. Up ahead was a vaguely lavender form, laying on a small precipice dangling over the edge of the cliff. It was not moving. Dash galloped over to it, confirming her worst fears: it was indeed Twilight.
"Oh my gosh..." Rainbow collapsed onto the ground next to the non-moving alicorn, staring directly at the half-broken horn that was now pushed deep into Twilight's skull. Upon placing her head on Twilight's chest, she confirmed that her remaining friend's heart was no longer beating.
Twilight was dead.
She had her chance right in her hooves. Twilight had returned her feelings for her. So why did she have to go and get angry? Dash didn't know. All she had known was that at the time, she felt an aggressive charge towards Twilight because she had felt conflicted. What had taken her so long to come and check on her. At the time, she didn't believe that Twilight truly did love her. And now... she was dead because of it.
Rainbow had killed her best, and only friend. And in that action, she had destroyed her love.
As awkward as Rainbow would have normally seen it to be cuddling with a dead body, that's exactly what she did. Tears streaming down her face, Rainbow pulled her friend into a tight embrace, crying softly into the ever-cooling lavender coat. Slowly, she cried herself to sleep.
---
Location Ponyville 14 Minutes After the Death of Twilight Sparkle ~5 Days After Meeting Rainbow Dash~
Twilight trotted back and forth in the meadow beneath Rainbow's house restlessly. The cyan pegasus had not returned home yet for the day, and Twilight was waiting for her to. Dash had been avoiding Twilight all week- ever since the conversation. The unicorn had decided it was time to pony up and tell the prismatic mare about her feelings before she lost her chance.
Alerted by a sudden streak of cyan and rainbow flying towards the cloud above her, Twilight hastily prepared a teleportation spell. As soon as Rainbow landed, Twilight cast the spell, instantly appearing in front of the pegasus's front door.
Dash jerked back as a sudden lavender pony appeared in front of her. "Dash, I-"
Looking back on it, Twilight felt incredibly stupid. She wasn't an alicorn, no matter how real the dream had felt, which meant she couldn't walk on clouds. She hadn't cast a cloud-walking spell either. So naturally, she fell through the clouds when she teleported.
Flailing her legs and screaming, Twilight plummeted towards the ground. She even cast the cloud-walking spell on herself, whatever good that would do. However, with only inches left between her and the grass, she was swept sideways by what felt like a giant, furry bullet. Rainbow Dash held her tight, and came to a stop in an area shaded by a tree.
Twilight had her face buried in Rainbow's coat, refusing to let go. "Twilight," spoke Dash gruffly. "Let go." The usual tomcolt in her voice wasn't here, it was only replaced by a tone dead of any emotion. Twilight couldn't take it. She hated her now. 'Forget relationship... I had ruined our friendship too.' Twilight began to softly cry into the cyan coat as she unhooked her legs from the mare. Dropping onto the ground roughly, she didn't care anymore. Twilight had woken up from a terrible dream to a nearly similar reality.
Rainbow looked down at Twilight, instantly feeling regret for her hatred. It wasn't Twilight's fault that she didn't like her. She supposed it was just the fact that she had let it slip that she may have liked Twilight. But still, that was no reason for her to hate on her friend. After all, how loyal would she be if she just saved her friend, dumped her, and didn't even ask if she was alright?
"Hey, Twi." Dash lay down next to her. "I'm sorry. I- I didn't mean it like that..." She gingerly placed a hoof on Twilight's chest, trying to calm her down. It seemingly did nothing to calm down the distraught mare. Reminiscing back to earlier, Rainbow had an idea. She opened up her wing, and slowly placed it around Twilight, pulling her into a wing hug. "Shhhhh," cooed Dash. "I'm sorry I was rude, okay? Shhhhhh..."
Rainbow Dash suddenly realized how stupid the whole situation was. Twilight was crying because Rainbow told her to let go. 'Maybe it was more of the shock...' However, her hypothesis quickly deteriorated as the wing calmed Twilight down substantially.
"R-Rainbow... there is s-something that I need to t-tell you," she stuttered, half mumbling into the wing. Twilight figured she might as well savor it's touch. Who knows what messing with the cyan mare's emotions would do to the potential relationship. Twilight didn't even know if Rainbow still had feelings for her after the mistake.
"Go ahead," Rainbow nudged the unicorn with her hoof, insinuating that she should continue.
"Rainbow, I-I lied when I spoke to you earlier t-this week," began the purple mare. "I-it really was y-you that I like." Twilight tried to shrink in on herself, ready to receive a scolding for playing around with the pegasus's emotions. To her surprise, she felt the prismatic mare only pull her tighter.
"No kidding."
Those simple words. Those two simple words clashed in Twilight's skull. 'Just because she knows doesn't mean she returns the feeling.' And from the lack of action and voice on her part, she most probably didn't.
Twilight began to cry again. Why did she have to go and buck things up with Rainbow Dash? For her, this was like a second chance, a way to start over fresh. And she had ruined it. She looked at Dash, hoping for some sort of forgiveness, and instead, she saw a sardonic smile plastered on the cyan pegasus's face. That was it. She couldn't take this.
Rainbow looked down at Twilight with her signature smart-ass grin, but it quickly vaporized as she noticed the the lavender mare was crying again. Twilight pulled away from her now stunned grip, and ran a few steps before leaping, almost as if she were trying to fly-
"Twi?" she asked nervously as the unicorn hopped around, straining her back muscles. She really looked like she was trying to take flight, but without the proper anatomy. "Are you trying to-"
"NO NO NO NO NO!" cried out the unicorn as she collapsed to the ground in a fit of chest-heaving sobs. "PLEASE SOMEPONY MAKE MY LIFE JUST END!" she screamed into the night sky.
Wait. When had it turned nighttime?
Twilight seemed to almost seemed to shrink into herself as a sweeping cold swept over the unicorn. She turned to look at Rainbow, seeing if she had the same reaction. Instead, she watched as the love of her life slowly melt away into a puddle of molten pony.
"RAAAAAAAAINBOOOOOOOW!!!" she cried, leaping towards the puddle. As she approached it, however, the liquid shot upwards, rapidly taking the shape of a larger pony, this time, with wings and a horn. It was an alicorn.
Slowly slinking away from the new creation, Twilight gasped in awe as the form exploded, leaving Princess Luna in it's place. "Princes Luna!" she said, automatically bowing.
The goddess of the night waved an unclad hoof at the unicorn. "There is no need to bow to us, Princess Twilight Sparkle. More stressing matters are at play than mere formalities."
Shock coursed through Twilight as she fell back onto her flank. Luna had called her "princess." What in Equestria was going on? "Y-you called me a princess, Princess?" she asked, confused.
Luna smiled softly at her. "Indeed I did, Twilight," she spoke without her royal tone this turn. "If my inferences are correct, you are in the illusion that Equine Fall was a dream?" She looked at the "unicorn-alicorn-princess-maybe" knowingly.
Twilight nodded slowly. "Yes- wait, what's Equine Fall?" she asked. The studious mare had never heard of before.
Noticing Twilight's contemplative look, Luna sighed and smiled again. "It is not a tale you can find in any known book, Twilight. It is legend. However, unlike other legends, this one holds truth." She gestured for the mare to sit next to her. "It all began a very long time ago..." she said, spawning a large tome out of nowhere.
---
When the universe was first created, it was meant to be chaotic. Back in those days, chaos reigned supreme over harmony, with no control whatsoever. But it was not long before two gods, Celestia and Luna discovered the Elements of Harmony, a fail safe created in the event that the universe's chaos turned cataclysmic. The used its power to banish the chaos.
The Creators, in return, swore that to ensure that nothing like the downfall would ever happen again, they created the Five Planes of Existence. These planes would be separated by raw magic, and could not be crossed easily, or without the aid of the Creators.
They divided up the current species by their power and aggression. Eventually, the one world that used to be a home to every living creature in the universe, was slit into fifths. Each section designating their own ethereal power and abilities.
The first plane is known as the Magic Plane. It is, visually a perpetual grid suspended in an endless Twilight. The grid directs and coordinates the flow of magic, supplying it to all those who have been granted the power to access it.
The second plane is known as the Original Plane. It is a pristine, unblemished paradise. Uninhabited, this world is beautiful, full of forests, and rivers, and majestic oceans. It is considered by many to be Elysium. This world has unlimited access to the Magic Plane, without any necessary catalysts. Nothing in this world can truly die. Upon "death," they are set into a dream state while their body heals, which portrays the world as they wish it, however, unlike a dream, do not have any major control over its events.
The third plane is known as the Physical Plane. It is an inhabited world, where the inhabitants have full control over every force. They can control the weather, rotate the planets around a star, and control the orbit of their moons. They also have access to the Magic Plane, however, require a catalyst such as a unicorn horn to harness its power consciously. This is the location of Equestria.
The fourth plane is known as the Universal Plane. Its inhabitants are at the mercy of the elements, and cannot access the Magic Plane without an extremely powerful catalyst, such as the Elements of Harmony. Their world is vast, stretching far beyond a single star system. This is the location of the Human World.
The fifth plane is known as the Ethereal Plane. It is a vast void, filled with swirling energy. It has no access to the Magic Plane, but doesn't need it. The place is filled with raw power. Little else is known about this world, other than that it is the location of the Creators.
These planes were designed to be in separate existence of each other. Nothing should be able to cross the rifts. However, in the case that an extreme cataclysm ever occur, each world was given one portal that would only be accessible every 30 moons.
Any other means of getting through the rift were sealed, and the Creators created the Changelings to patrol the rift. These creatures live in massive hives located around the "holes" between worlds. They have the ability to take the form of whatever species may interfere with them, so that their existence may remain a secret. They are also the only known creatures who can kill immortals.
Celestia and Luna were placed in charge of the domains on a Magical Scale. They oversee the use of magic by the intended users, and end any conflicts that may occur when magic is involved. They have been granted eternal life, however, in the case that they should die, their existence shall be unending in the Magic Plane and the Ethereal Plane, so that they may continue to watch over the realms. Which plane the one chooses to prevail over upon their demise is their choosing.
This effect will remain in place for the next 14 Aeons. Only the Creators have the power to restore the universe to its original state. Each world has its own designation for the time in which the planes will unite:
1: Ad Finem 2: Resurrection 3: Equine Fall 4: Armageddon 5: Revelation
Until that time, wait.
---
Twilight slowly closed the old book. "What did I just read?" she asked quietly. She was particularly alarmed at the fact the universe was "created" almost 13.8 billion years ago, which was exceedingly close to 14 Aeons.
Luna looked down at her solemnly. "The history of our universe."
The pair sat there for what felt like hours, before Luna spoke again. "Why did you run away from her?" she asked the lavender mare softly. Twilight looked up at her. "Why didn't you explain to her what you felt?"
Tears began to flow down the unicorn's muzzle. "I was afraid that she would hate me." Luna raised her eyebrow, and opened to respond, but was cut off before she could. "She kissed me. And then she ran away. Then, I tried to comfort her, and tell her that it was okay for her to like me, and she rejected me."
Twilight took a moment to pause, as she choked out a strangled sob. "A-after she had kissed me! I couldn't take it. She didn't like me, and now she hates me... so I ran." She looked back up at Luna. "I'm dead, aren't I. We were in the second plane, Elysium, and the collision killed me." She randomly waved her forelegs about. "T-this, this is just a dream. A dream I'm stuck in until my body fixes itself."
Luna gently rubbed the distraught mare's back. "You are very smart, Twilight. Yes, you were in Elysium, and yes, this is indeed the death slumber. However, as you have probably also realized, I took reign over the Magic Plane upon my fate. Therefore, I have access to greater amounts of magic that you will ever use in a thousand lifetimes." She stood up and away from the lavender unicorn. "I also have power over dreams. That is how I am speaking with you now."
She tuned back to face Twilight. "I can increase your healing. In the the real world, you have only been dead for half of an hour. I can finish the healing process in another three."
Twilight quickly did the calculations in her head. "So, for me... I'm stuck in this dream for another month?" 'With a vengeful Rainbow Dash?' she added to herself. Then she realized the state of the Rainbow back in the real world. "O-on second though, and you just let me die?"
As if reading her mind, which she probably could do, having supreme power over the night, Luna smiled and replied, "Rainbow Dash doesn't hate you, Twilight. As we speak, she is cradling your dead body in her arms as she despairs." A blurry image of a cyan mare curled over a non-moving purple one hovered next to the goddess.
Luna walked up to Twilight. "And as for the dream, I can make it last only a second longer."
Twilight's vision of the Princess began to fade away to black. Realizing what was happening, she cried out one last question. "Is Celestia in the 5th plane?" Right before the darkness took her, she heard the faint reply.
"She sacrificed her domain there to save Cadence and Shining Armor."
--- Out of difficulties grow miracles. -Jean de la Bruyere ---
Domain Location Unknown
Rainbow Dash awoke, and was initially confused as to where she was. However, as soon as she felt Twilight's unnaturally cold body next to her, it all come flooding back to her in a wave of emotion. She stood up shakily, and gazed down at the lifeless body of Twilight Sparkle. It almost appeared as if she were trying to memorize the entire body of her dead friend.
The pegasus sat there, just staring at the dead alicorn, for what seemed like an eternity. A professional might have said she had gone into shock, but only Rainbow could know exactly what was going through her mind at the time.
Finally coming to a decision, Rainbow slowly walked away into the woods. Moments later, she came back, a small pile of stones on her back. She did this several times, until there was a relatively large pile of stones next to her dead friend. Then, she got to work.
Stone by stone, she began to cover up her lost friend. A solemn silence hung over the precipice, only interrupted by the soft sound of stone hitting stone. The entire situation was peaceful and serene, yet all Rainbow Dash could think about was how much better it would be if her friend was here with her. Silently, she placed the last rock, obstructing Twilight's beautiful face.
Unable to bear it any longer, Rainbow stood, and began to walk away from the grave, heading back to the camp. She trudged into the underbrush, but paused before entering the forest proper. Her ear flicked backwards. Then she heard it again. The sound of stones shifting ever so slightly. Then a muffled cough.
Slowly, she turned around to face the grave, not believing her ears. Then her eyes widened as she watched as the pile rustled, and a stone tumbled off.
Rainbow dove at the pile and began throwing off the stones around where the alicorn's head should be. She quickly uncovered the muzzle, which in turn opened wide to take a deep breath. Frantically, Rainbow cleared off the rest of the stones, revealing a very-much alive Twilight Sparkle.
"T- Twilight?" asked Rainbow, not believing the situation that she was in.
Twilight slowly opened her eyes, only to be met with a blinding light. However as the light gradually faded, she saw a cyan head fade into her view, gazing down at her with a look of surprise. Twilight gazed back up at Dash hesitantly, and tried to speak. But all that came out of her mount was a cough. Then with a panicked look, she started gagging as bile appeared in the back of her throat.
Realizing that the alicorn was about to vomit, Rainbow quickly turned her on her side so she wouldn't choke. She softly rubbed her back as the mare heaved for several minutes, the stray though running through Dash's mind as to how she could have this much in her stomach after being dead for several hours.
When it finally seemed as if it were over, Rainbow softly pulled Twilight closer to her, and nuzzled her cheek. "Twi?" The lavender mare's eyes once again opened, and she looked back up at the pony hugging her tightly.
"Rain-bow..." she rasped, her throat still raw from before. "I- I can't move!" Her voice reached a crescendo as she began to panic. She only calmed down as Rainbow shook her gently. "Twilight, just calm down..." she ordered. "Tell me what it feels like. does it hurt?" Her magenta eye's shone with a hint of worry.
"N- no, I, well, I can't feel anything at all below my neck!" Twilight started to panic again.
"Stop! Twilight, calm down!" Rainbow pulled her friend into a bone-crushing hug as the alicorn began to sob uncontrollably. "Shhhh! Come on Twi, just calm down..." she cooed into her ear. "Why don't we just look on the bright side of things, huh?"
Twilight lifted her head as far as she could to look her prismatic love in the eyes. "W- what could possibly be bright about me b- being p- paralyzed?!" she cried incredulously.
Rainbow smiled down at her. "Well, for one, you're alive."
Twilight couldn't disagree with that one. She suddenly realized how Rainbow must have felt at seeing her dead body. And now she was complaining about a paralysis, which if she understood Luna correctly, would probably eventually go away when she was fully healed. "Rainbow I-"
"And also," the prismatic mare cut her off, and nudged Twilight's forehead. "Your horn is back." Twilight looked up, and sure enough, she could see a purple point right at the edge of her vision.
With some of her self-control and confidence restored, she used what was left of her limited mobility to weakly snuggle her head into Rainbow's fuzzy breast. "Rainbow I'm so sorry..." Twilight mumbled as she felt Rainbow pull her head up into the crook of her neck.
"No, Twilight. It's me who should be sorry," she said solemnly. "I shouldn't have pushed you away... I should've put the logic behind me, and just welcomed the affection. Instead, I questioned it, and you went and..." the pegasus's voice choked up. Shaking her head, she continued. "The point is, I love you, Twi. I can't believe it took your death to convince me, but in the end, I love you." Rainbow turned the lavender alicorn's limp body so that they were facing each other.
Then she leaned down and kissed her.
Twilight was extremely grateful that she could feel and have full use of her mouth. She graciously parted her lips to accept Dash's intrusive tongue into her mouth. It tasted strange, not unpleasant, but, unusual. It was a mix of the taste of breathing in fresh air, combined with a unique sweetness that she somehow knew could only come from kissing Rainbow Dash. Eager for a better taste, Twilight swirled her own tongue around the pegasus's. The intricate dance played out for what felt like hours, until they finally broke apart for a shared breath.
"Wow," whispered Twilight, as soon as she could speak again. "That was..."
"Exquisitely slimy?" finished Rainbow Dash in a perfect Rarity expression. Twilight giggled along with her, but couldn't help feeling a slight twinge of pain at the reference. She still missed the rest of her friends dearly. Even after the hope returned of them being alive somewhere.
"Come on," Rainbow got up and maneuvered Twilight onto her back. "Let's heard back to camp. It's a slightly far walk, and it's getting late." With that, the pair headed into the forest, back towards their new, and hopefully temporary home.
---
The sound of Rainbow's hoofsteps crunched through the forest. The two had been walking for almost and hour, and yet they still had not gained sight of the clearing with the lean-to.
"Are we lost?" asked Twilight, exasperated.
"N- no..." panted Dash. "We, we're just almost... almost there!"
Two hours later, Twilight was flopped down onto her mat, a panting Rainbow standing over her. She let out a small "oof" as she felt the air got knocked out of her lungs, but was more relieved that she could feel that than anything. "Why are you panting?" she asked Rainbow. "I thought you were athletic!"
Rainbow waved her hoof at her. "I -gasp- am! It's -cough- just that, that I'm not used to carrying something that -gasp- that heavy without my wings!" she panted out between deep breaths.
"Are you calling me fat?" Twilight replied playfully, a smirk running across her face as Rainbow collapsed on her own mat next to her.
"What?! No! No!" the cyan pegasus hastily tried to retract her former statement, having not meant what the alicorn was implying. "I didn't mean that!" Dash rolled over so that she was closer to her love, and wrapped a wing around the shaking mare. "Twi, I-" Suddenly, she realized that the mare was laughing, not crying.
"Heh heh! I so had you there!" she giggled as she buried her head in the prismatic mare's wing. Rainbow just rolled her eyes, and rolled Twilight closer to her with her wing. "I know I'm a bit generous around my flanks!"
Rainbow just sighed, and planted a kiss at the base of the lavender mare's horn. "Twi, you have the most beautiful flank that I have ever seen!" she assured her.
Twilight giggled and looked up. "You saying I have a cute butt?" she asked humorously. Her partner smiled down at her.
Rolling so that Twilight was on top of her, Dash replied, "You bet I'm saying you have a cute butt!" This time, she kissed the tip of Twilight's horn, taking a small point of the cusp into her lips.
Twilight emitted a gasp, and the room popped with a flash of purple magic. "D-don't do that R- rainbow!" she stuttered as she tried to recover from... whatever just happened.
"What... what was that?" asked Rainbow, trying to recover from her surprise.
"It... it happens when unicorns receive stimulation to their horns..." explained Twilight, blushing a deep crimson.
"Oh, uh," Rainbow, for once, was at a loss for words. "Just, uh, don't burn the 'house' down, okay?"
Twilight giggled in reply, gently kissing her lover's lips. "I won't."
---
Three Months Later...
Twilight stood on the precipice, gazing out over the vast landscape stretching out below her. The setting sun painted the land with a myriad of red, orange, and yellow. It was a canvas of beauty, and the lavender Alicorn took it all in.
She was amazed really, at how much had happened in the short three months that the couple had been confined to this mountaintop. A few days after Twilight woke up, she slowly regained the ability to move. Eventually, she even regained the ability to use her magic.
With the help of Rainbow Dash, she also trained her wings back to their working order, and the Alicorn soon became able to fly even more gracefully than she had before. After regaining her flight, Twilight soon became Dash's wings; caring the cyan mare on her back for short fights. Rainbow was convinced that she could eventually teach Twilight how to break the sonic barrier.
"We'll have to come up with a name for it..." she had said excitedly. "Maybe the 'Magic Flash' or something."
Twilight smiled at the fond memory. It was overwhelming at how many of those she had from her time with Rainbow, than in the past six years. How did that happen? She honestly didn't care.
Turning her head slightly, she looked back towards the clearing where her marefriend was currently working on vigorously chopping down trees. In the center of the clearing stood a roughly rectangular platform of stones. This would later act as the foundation for the small cottage the two had planned on building. Smiling, Twilight looked back out over the terrain. It was a difficult decision, building the cottage. In truth, neither of them truly knew how long they would be here, or even if they would ever leave.
Out of her own personal decision, Twilight had refrained from telling Dash about her encounter with Luna. She didn't feel it was right to give her new marefriend false hope.
Twilight looked to her side, toward a small garden by the cliffs edge. In it was a flourish of multi-color flowers, organized into six groups. Yellow, Orange, and White lined the perimeter of the garden, and an inner row of purple surrounded a large circle of lavender and cyan. At the side facing the future cabin, a large flat stone protruded from the shallow dirt. And on it was a crude engraving; "Friendship is Magic."
At the moment, all thoughts of the mysterious "Equine Fall" that Luna had mentioned was out of the lavender mare's mind. Even if it were a true threat, there was no possible way that either Rainbow or herself would ever live a long enough life to see it through. For now, all that mattered to Twilight was her love for the cyan pegasus that was now standing beside her.
"Rainbow," she said.
"Yea Twi?"
Twilight sighed. "I'm happy."
The two mares leaned into each other, wings wrapped around the others flank.Then, the most unexpected thing ever happened.
Descending out of the sky, clutching a pink and purple polka-dotted umbrella, was the master of chaos himself.
"Hello, my dear ponies! Enjoying your Elysium?"
The two mares in question stared back at Discord in surprise, shock, and disbelief. Then their gazes slowly transitioned to anger.
"Not anymore," replied Twilight and Rainbow simultaneously.
The two ponies sat opposite of the draconequus, who was now idly floating himself around in miscellaneous positions. Both bore annoyed faces, contesting to the strange feelings of awe they felt at seeing another living being besides themselves for so several months.
Twisting his body around in an "O" shape, Discord popped his head though and spoke, "Well? Something amiss? You seem to be awfully quiet today, especially you Rainbow." A muzzle spawned around the cyan pegasi's mouth, and then removed itself. "Feel free to speak freely. I know it isn't Equestria, but there is still free speech in this dimension!" Rainbow Dash growled in return.
Upon not invoking any response on the equine part, Discord frowned. "Aren't you two happy to see me? After months of being trapped in this devoid place?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly.
Twilight cleared her throat. "Not if you're the one who put us here."
The element of chaos feigned shock. "Moi? My dear Twilight, you must be confused!" He glided closer, saucily rubbing a claw under the alicorn's chin. "I have absolutely nothing to do with you being here. You jumped through that portal out of your own free will!" Twilight bit his finger.
Jerking his claw back with distaste, he continued. "Besides, even if I was the reason you're here, I did what you asked. I brought you to Rainbow Dash." He folded his arms and took a diplomatic stance behind a desk that suddenly appeared. "You can even ask my lawyer."
Twilight sighed and rubbed a hoof on her temple. This conversation was already giving her a headache and it had just begun. "Discord, can you please just tell us why you're here?"
The makeshift office dissipated and Discord turned his attention back to the mares. "Oh yes, of course!" Turning to Twilight he said, "I have something of yours." Reaching under his tail, he pulled out a rather large box wrapped in purple paper, neatly tied with a green bow. Twilight's magic went to open it, but was counteracted by a flash of random colors. "Tisk tisk, don't open it until I say so!"
Discord turned back to Rainbow, reaching his hand into his grey, mangled mane. He retracted his arm, holding a smaller, blue box. "And this, I believe is yours." Rainbow accepted the box, looking at it curiously, and shook it lightly. "Don't shake it!" cried Discord, holding both of her forelegs still. "You have no idea how much trouble I went through to get it!"
Now, with both ponies having their respected boxes, the draconequus took a step backwards. "Now, before I take my leave, let me tell you one thing." He spoke very seriously, with almost a hint of darkness to his words. "Time works differently here than it does in Equestria. While for you, it's been only three months, thirty years have passed in Equestria." Twilight gasped. "I can't bring you back just yet. It is not the right time. Equine Fall is coming, and you are the only two ponies who can stop it."
Rainbow looked at Discord, confused. "What the hay is 'equine fall?'"
Twilight winced. She had wanted to keep the whole "apocalypse imminent" out of the way. But now, there was no way around it. She would have to tell Rainbow the truth.
Discord opened his mouth to begin the explanation when the lavender alicorn jumped in and cut him off. "Equine Fall is the Equestrian name for the apocalypse, Rainbow," she said gloomily.
Rainbow Dash just raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh, Twi? Isn't 'apocalypse' the Equestrian word for 'apocalypse?'"
Twilight facehoofed. "Yes, but... never mind. Anyways, Equine Fall is going to be catastrophic, and is going to happen relatively soon." The mare went on to explain about the creators and separation of planes. When she was finished, Rainbow Dash just started at her.
"What? Did you read that in a book somewhere?" asked Discord sarcastically.
Twilight just shook her head. "Princess Luna told me."
The draconequus raised an eyebrow. "Princess Luna died before anything related to Equine Fall could even be perceived as relevant," he said in a serious tone, the first time any pony had heard him use such. Then, as if a lightbulb had popped up over his head, he didn't had a revelation.
He smiled down at Twilight evily. "My dear Twilight, how on Earth did you manage to find a way to die here in this lovely place?" Discord looked around, and feigned a gasp. "You feel off the cliff, didn't you!" A fence suddenly appeared along the precipice, reflective tape and blinking lights adorning its surface.
"No," said Twilight in an irritated voice. "I ran into a tree."
"Headfirst," she added as an after statement.
Discord spat out the tea he had suddenly begun drinking. "You what?" he cried, laughing hysterically. "Y- you died by crashing into a t-tree?" He fell over, clutching his stomach in bouts of laughter.
Twilight just shot an evil glare back at him, refusing to dignify his comment with a response.
However, Rainbow had other plans. "Her horn had fallen off you idiot!"
Silence immediately filled the air; Discord's laughter cut off as if stopped by a plug.
"What?"
Dash glared at him. "Her horn fell off, and when she crashed into the tree, the base of it crushed into her skull." The pegasus emphasised her point by slamming a hoof on her forehead.
The master of chaos looked quizzically at the lavender alicorn. "Why- how did it fall off?"
Twilight just shook her head, muttering, "I don't know."
The draconequus gazed over Twilight for a few more seconds. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, smiled brightly. Rearing back, Discord smiled. "Well, no matter. It's back now, everything is fine! Don't forget to open your presents later!" And in a blinding flash of light, he disappeared.
"Well," said Rainbow. "What the actual buck."
---
The two presents sat on the stone foundation to the future cabin, unopened, as Twilight and Rainbow stared down at them.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash spoke. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, seemingly downcast.
Twilight just sighed and shook her head solemnly. "Rainbow, you seemed too content..." she looked up at her. "I didn't want to ruin that." Twilight smiled softly, trying to hopefully lighten the mood.
The alicorn gestured to the boxes in front of them. "Come on, let's open these presents!" she exclaimed cheerfully, and pulled the purple one towards her.
Rainbow begrudgingly pulled her blue one closer, and the two ponies began to tear at the paper, revealing the boxes beneath.
Suddenly, Twilight held up a hoof to signal the pegasus to stop. "I can sense magic inside of these. Be careful when you open it."
Rainbow looked worryingly at her marefriend. "Oooookay?"
Then, the two ponies opened the boxes.
Twilight shrieked as a purple and green blur popped out of her box and took a deep breath.
--- Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. -Francis of Assisi --- Moving Forwards Location Unknown
Spike and Twilight rushed together to embrace each other in a loving hug. The months apart had left the lavender alicorn constantly worried about her surrogate child's well-being. For once, Twilight figured she should thank Discord for doing something good.
"Spike, I missed you so much!" she cried, tears leaking down her furry cheeks. "I was so worried about leaving you alone!"
Spike wrapped his arms around Twilight as much as his little stature could handle. "I missed you too, Twilight," he said, memories of the chaotic dimension where Discord had brought him still fresh in his mind.
Rainbow Dash sat on the other end of the pair, smiling at the reunion. Then, remembering she had her own "gift" to unwrap, she tor away the wrapping paper to find a small horseshoe box with holes poked in the top. Curious, she lifted off the lid. Upon seeing what was inside, her eyes began to water.
"T-tank!" she said, joyously lifting the long-deceased tortoise out of the box. "But... but how?" Tank had disappeared many years before the Changeling War, and having never found him, everypony just assumed he had gone somewhere quiet to live out his final hours.
Spike and Twilight separated, Twilight sharing an equal look of joy and disbelief. But Spike had the answer.
"Discord went back in time to get him," explained the young drake. "That's the reason Tank just disappeared that day."
Not knowing whether to kill Discord, or give him a hug, Rainbow clutched her pet close to her warm body. "I missed you so much, buddy," she whispered, as the shelled creature affectionately nuzzled his head against her neck.
After the few moments of reunion, Spike finally popped the question. "So, where is this place?" he asked, climbing out of Twilight's grasp, and walking around the stone foundation to the edge, and staring out over the beautiful landscape that lay out before him. "Wow. That's a lot of trees."
Twilight couldn't help but giggle. "Yes, Spike," she said. "Those are a lot of trees." She walked over to him, and stood beside her draconian friend.
"What is this place?" he asked, hugging his caretaker's foreleg.
The lavender alicorn smiled. "This, Spike, is Elysium," she replied, rubbing his scaly back.
Her draconian friend looked up at her with a strange look. "Isn't that a place in tartarus?" he asked.
Twilight laughed. "Elysium is in the underworld, Spike, not Tartarus," she corrected him. "And I can assure you we are not in the underworld."
Spike lowered his voice, and pointed over towards the area where Rainbow Dash was playing around with Tank. "Then how is she here?"
Twilight gazed over at the cyan pegasus. "That's a long story, Spike," she muttered. "A long story."
Calling over Rainbow Dash, Twilight went to the precipice hanging out over the wide, sweeping forests below them, and took a seat. Spike sat next to her, gently wrapping his arms around one of her forelegs. Dash came over and sat down as well, softly patting her hoof over the tortoise in her lap.
Together, the two ponies recounted the story of their time here, and all that had happened. Rainbow, however, very pointedly left out the part where she tried to kill Twilight, and Twilight left out the part where she had died right on the precipice where they all sat.
Spike just sat there, his face a mask of complete shock at what Twilight and Ran bow had just told him. "So, you two have just been hanging out in this place for months while the entire outside world has completely lost it."
Twilight now mimicked his look of disbelief. "What?" she asked.
The young dragon shook his head. "From the times when Discord would pop back into reality, I saw some bad things happening," he said softly. "The ponies aren't taking the dissapearance of their only remaining Princess lightly, Twilight..." He sighed. "They're scared and lost."
The lavender alicorn was literally shaking as she stood, and slowly walked to the edge of the cliff. She stood there, frozen, as she gazed out across the beautiful landscape of the setting sun. It still amazed her that the celestial bodies here moved without guidance, but she supposed it didn't really defy the laws of physics too much. Twilight then began to run random equations, calculating just how big the sun would have to be in order for what she assumed was happening, and what Luna said, to be true.
As she was doing this, he gaze slowly began to shift downwards, until she was staring at the canopy of the wide, beautiful forests sweeping out across the landscape below her.
"T-twilight?" a worried voice came from behind her, yet unable to break her deep spell. "Twi?" the voice came again. The alicorn just mumbled some incoherent mutterings in reply.
A pair of strong forelegs turned her around, and she was staring into loving eyes of her marefriend. "Twilight, are you alright?"
Twilight's lip quivered, and tears were running down her muzzle. "R-rainbow, what d-do you know ab- about entropy?" she choked out.
Rainbow saw right through the scientific cover easily. Of course she didn't know anything about entorpo or whatever. But this question was just a mask. A poorly made mask to disguise her true feelings.
"Twi, what's wrong?" she asked, wrapping her marefriend up in a feathery hug.
Twilight whimpered as she leaned into the embrace. "All those ponies out there, Dash," she said softly. "They were all counting on me, and now... I'm not there for them." The lavender alicorn buried her face in Rainbow's breast, now sobbing uncontrollably.
Rainbow Dash held her marefriend, and comforted her. "Twi," she whispered. "You disappeared trying to save them. You didn't let them down."
Twilight extracted her head from the comforting, soft blue fur, and looked up into Dash’s magenta eyes. "No, Dashie. I wasn't trying to save them." The pegasus's eyes widened at the confession. "I was selfish. All I cared about was finding you."
Dash didn't know what to say to that, so she merely let Twilight continue while she stroked her mane gently.
"I loved you forever, Dash," spoke Twilight softly. "And when Discord said there was some hope that you might be alive, I pulled all of my resources to get you." She began to choke up again. "I took troops away from our defenses just so I could find you. And then I disappear trying to." Twilight began to cry again, only able to hold herself together for that last comment.
"I've failed Equestria, Dash."
Rainbow could only hold Twilight tighter as she sobbed. "You didn't fail Equestria, Twilight," she said softly. "You used everything in your power to find one of its lost heros."
The lavender alicorn sniffled. "But I did it for a selfish reason," she said softly. "The ends don't justify the means, Dash."
The pegasus chuckled. "Well, I think they do in this case," she reasoned. "Now we just gotta find a way back."
Twilight extracted herself from her cyan lover, and wiped her muzzle on a foreleg. "You're right," she sighed, putting on a brave face. "We gotta get back."
She walked back over to Spike, who was sitting there awkwardly. Rainbow Dash was close behind. Twilight spun around to her and she froze, trapped by the lavender gaze.
"Dash, watch Spike for me, I need to talk to Princess Luna."
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in panic, while Spike just stared at her confused. "Twilight, how can you talk to Princess Luna? She's dead, remember?"
--- "If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive." -Martin Luther King Jr. --- Replacement Location Unknown
"I have to Dash, it's the only way."
Two ponies and a dragon sat at the makeshift wooden table, set upon an unfinished stone foundation. Rainbow Dash, often considered the be the bravest and boldest of the three, was openly sobbing.
Rainbow glared at Twilight, pure anger and hurt flashing through her eyes. "I'm not going to let you kill yourself just to go talk to Princess Luna!" she cried, slamming a cyan hoof onto the table. "That's stupid!"
Twilight sighed. "Dash, this is the only way. I need to know more about this place, and how we can get out of it," she explained calmly. Dash refused to listen to her. "Please, Dashie! Besides, we already know that you can't truly die here!"
The pegasus let out a primal growl, one that caused Spike and Twilight to shrink back slightly in surprise and a little fear. "And how are you going to do it? Huh?" she screamed, her voice echoing around the forest around them, and drifting off the cliff. "And what if something goes wrong? What's going to happen then?" She jumped out of her seat and on top of the table, shoving her face into Twilight's. "You are the only pony here who can get us out of this mess, and if you die," she paused, taking a few, panting breaths. "And if you die, how the buck are going to get out of this mess."
Dash shrunk back, her gaze lowering, and voice seeming to melt with pure misery. "And how am I supposed to let my marefriend die?"
Twilight's heart broke at that comment. But, in the end, if she didn't do this, her emotions wouldn't even matter. Everything would be lost. The literal weight of the world was resting upon her back. The alicorn may not be able to easily stop the Equine Fall from coming, but she could at least spare Equestria the torture of having to deal with it alone.
"Listen to me, Rainbow Dash." Twilight leaned forward and rested her hooves on her marefriend's shoulders. "The entire universe will be destroyed if I cannot get back to Equestria, and mount up a sizable defense. Both you and I do not know what horrors await us when that day comes, and I'm positive all of the ponies in Equestria don't know." She gazed deep into Dash's watering, magenta eyes. "I have to do this."
A choked sob escaped from Rainbow's throat. "Isn't t-there any other way? C-can't you just, like, s-sleep and let Luna come into your d-dream?" she pleaded.
Twilight smiled softly. "Can you tell me the last time you had a dream, Dashie?" Rainbow paused, and her face contorted into one of confusion. "There are no dreams in this place. There haven't been any in Equestria. With Luna trapped in the magical plane, she is powerless to patrol the dreamscape." Her smile faded. "All that there are now are nightmares."
Rainbow Dash physically wilted, slumping back into her seat. Silent tears trickled down her muzzle, and all that she would let out were sullen whimpers.
Spike just sat there, silently watching the affair. He very little grasp of what the two were talking about. All he knew is that in order for Twilight to talk to Luna, something very bad would happen.
"Is this really that important?" Dash finally spoke.
Twilight nodded firmly. "Yes."
Rainbow let out a sigh. "Alright. Gimmie a sec... I have to..." she let out a shuddering sigh, her voice cracking. "Just give me a minute, will you?" She stood, and jumped off the foundation, heading over and taking a seat at the precipice.
"Twilight?" a small voice asked. Twilight turned and looked down at Spike. He looked very small and worried, gripping onto Twilight's tail as if her were a baby dragon again. "What's going to happen to you?"
"Oh, Spike," Twilight leaned down and wrapped her forelegs around her surrogate brother. "You remember where I told you Luna was?" He nodded. "Well, in order for me to get there, I have to let my... energy... leave my body and travel to that realm." She squeezed him a little tighter. "And the only way for me to do that, is well," she paused, not knowing exactly how to tell a child, and her oldest friend that she had to die. "I have to..." Twilight began to tear up. "I have to d-die," she told him bluntly.
Spike wrapped his arms around her neck, squeezing her for dear life. "Twilight..." he whimpered, tears rolling onto the soft, lavender fur. "No..."
"It's okay, Spike," she said, rubbing a hoof across his back as she began to cry as well. "I'll be alright in a few hours. This place heals you. You can't die here"
A heart-wrenching sob echoes across the clearing. Spike shook his head, his face brushing into the fur lining Twilight's neck. "No, you can't die Twilight!"
"I have to, Spike."
The two could only hold one another as they sobbed, until a shout rang out from the precipice behind them.
"TWILIGHT!" shouted Rainbow Dash.
Twilight turned around, separating from Spike. "Dash..."
Rainbow was standing up on her hind legs, and she stared deep into Twilight's eyes, a deep connection forming between them. "I love you, Twilight Sparkle."
Then, with little fanfare, the pegasus fell backwards off of the cliff, plummeting towards the lower ground.
"DAAAAAASH!" cried Twilight, rushing forward, and scrambling to look over the edge, only to see her lover crunch sickeningly into a thick, wooden limb, and then disappear into the lush canopy of the forest below.
The alicorn sat there, unable to move or note anything around her except for the small, dark gap in the leaves where Rainbow Dash disappeared. Time passed around her, but Twilight remained frozen in it, her brain not able to focus on anything else.
It was The Day The Sun Set all over again.
---
Six separate piles of charred ash lay on the scorched ground around her. Each one held a jeweled element loving in their grasp, cradling it until it could be received by its new caretaker. Twilight was down on her knees, hurt and loss reigning a hold on her heart. Her eyes managed to remain focused on the crippled skeleton of Queen Chrysalis that lay before her, yet she somehow knew that not one of her six friends had survived. Not one of them was left standing from this pyrrhic victory.
Ponies soon gathered around the circle, staring at the aftermath of Equestria's victory. Nopony spoke, dared to make a move as they looked on with varying emotions. Some faces showed complete and utter shock, while others showed pity. Some displayed sadness. Many just showed a pony in complete disbelief that victory could come at such a cost.
Tears streaked through the ash coating Twilight's face, clearing away the grime of a battle fought. She shakily stood, her eyes still locked on the dark, empty holes of the Changeling Queen's skull. Slowly, she gazed up into the sky, a fired a single, lavender beam up into the sky.
Everypony watched on in solemn silence. Then, one by one, the unicorns among them did likewise, aiming towards the endless sky and firing beams of their own aura into the sky.
A rainbow erupted off of the planet, an array of colors shooting off to all ends of the universe. Their beams would not end, continuing onward eternally. Forevermore they would represent what great loss Equestria had suffered on this day.
One by one, in a like manner to how it started, the beams disappeared, their owners stepping back away from the carnage. This continued until Twilight was once again the only pony remaining. Then, she too cut off her own beam, and leveled her vision.
The alicorn finally looked at all the remained of her friends, taking each one in as if in silent prayer. Then, she turned her attention to the gathered crowd.
"We have won this fight!" she cried into the masses. "Equestria is again victorious among all of its threats. Let this show all those who dare to challenge us that we will stand victorious among them." Twilight's voice rose in power and volume. "Let this show them that we will suffer the greatest of losses to win, to make sure that our citizens will forever have the freedom that they hold dear!" She paused, looking around the gathered crowd of ponies around her. When she spoke again, her tone was softer and more caring. "But lest we forget the great sacrifices that we make to keep it that way!" Her voice raised one again, with power and authority. "Never shall we forget the cost of our freedom! Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and the hundreds, the thousands of others who have gave their life in these last few days to defend Equestria."
Twilight Sparkle, the sole Princess of Equestria, took to the air, her voice as loud as the trumpets that sounded her coronation, reaching to all ends of the world. "From this point forwards... for the rest of history, let this day be known as The Day The Sun Set!"
Her command was shrouded by the endless, twilight sky, it's crepuscular haze an eternal testimony to the devastating events that took place on that day.
The alicorn set back down onto the charred earth, looking at the devastation around her. Then, one by one, she went to each ash pile and collected the elements, stopping at the last one that remained. A pure, blue sapphire encased in a flawless, gold circlet.
Her eyes once again teared up, as she gazed at the remains of the pony she cared for most. The pony who she loved, but had never had the chance to tell.
A silent, final tear rolled down her cheek as she spoke her love's name for the last time. "Dash..."
In the years to come, Twilight Sparkle would slowly learn to live on her own, the memories of her friends staying with her forever. She would attend the yearly Memorium of the Sunset. She would fulfill her duty as the leader of Equestria. Until, one day, a dragon gave her an idea. An idea that would formulate a plan to get back her friends. A plan to get back her love.
---
Finally, as the Elysium Sun began to set, normal time began to flow around Twilight, and she drifted back into reality. A steady wind flowed around her as she sat on the precipice. She tore her eyes away from the spot where Rainbow Dash had disappeared, and rose to her hooves. She wiped her muzzle with a fetlock, before turning and walking away from the cliff face, nearly tripping over a sleeping Spike.
She smiled to herself, gently shaking him awake. "Spike," she whispered into his ear. "Spike, wake up."
The dragon stirred, and cracked open his eyes. Upon finding Twilight's face in the dim light of the sunset, his eyes immediately began to well up with tears again. "T-twilght," he said, crying. "D-dash-"
Twilight silenced him with a gentle "shhhhh" as she placed him on her back. She did not know where her sudden resolve and strength came from. She knew that there was no real danger of anypony dying in this place, but the fact that she had just watched her lover die had certainty shocked her. Yet, here she was, somewhat alright, and able to continue on.
Perhaps it was the knowledge that this wouldn't be like last time. The knowledge that Rainbow Dash would come back to her again. That pegasi's loyalty somehow managed to span time and space; her Dash would always fly home to her, no matter what.
"It's alright Spike," she said softly. "She'll be awake in the morning."
And the two headed towards the lean-to to rest for the night.
--- "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion." -Albert Camus --- Falling In Reverse Location Unkown
Rainbow Dash felt an incredibly painful snap in her back just as she saw Twilight lean over the edge of the cliff. Her gaze was quickly swallowed up by lush, green leaves, before she felt a strong impact on her head. However, she did not feel the rest of her body fall with her. As a matter of fact, as she was staring up, she saw the end of her tail slowly swaying in the breeze.
She darted her eyes around, taking in everything around her.
The branches of the trees around her softly rustled about in the low wind. A cloud of dirt lay suspended a few inches in the air around her, frozen. She could hear the gentle gurgle of a nearby brook, flowing over rocks and sand.
The entire scene was quite picturesque. Peaceful. Calm. Beautiful. She closed her eyes, and let all other senses absorb into her, letting herself relax. This was quite nice.
Then, a low, buzzing hum interrupted her rest, and she opened her eyes, annoyed. Everything around her was slowly being encased within a dark, navy blue hue. Dash darted her eyes around, watching as she heard the hum grow louder and stronger.
She watched in awe as the dirt around her suddenly drifted back to the ground, and her body began to lift upwards. The action around her quickly began to speed up, until it was moving in a manner much to fast to be normal time. Rainbow was back at the top of the cliff in no time, watching in awe as a sorrowful Twilight clutching a sobbing Spike.
Time began to flow backwards even faster, to Discord's return. Faster, to the night when Twilight had died. Faster, to when she first saw Twilight in the Changeling's caves. Faster, to the last day the six of them stood together to defeat Queen Chrysalis. Faster, to when she first met Twilight all those years ago. Faster. Faster. FASTER.
The world around her became a rapid blur, key events popping out to her among the countless others. Her twelfth birthday. Her first Wonderbolt's show. Her birth. A myriad of time taking place in a mere matter of seconds. Then, it froze.
Rainbow Dash was staring a a single scene frozen in time. Bolts and beams of pure, molten magic hung like sizzling rockets in the sky. Giant, equine creatures of mass proportion stood frozen, gazes of pure wrath directed at each other, and their ethereal manes as still as statues. She gazed at the battle in awe, amazed by the power and scale of what was... what had taken place.
"Amazing, isn't it?" came a regal voice from behind her.
Rainbow turned around to see Princess Luna slowly walking up behind her. "P-princess!" she said, hastily bowing.
A soft smile graced the old alicorn's face. "You need not bow, Rainbow Dash," she said. "For I am no longer a ruler of Equestria. Please, address me as Luna."
The pegasus straightened herself upwards, still taking in the massive warzone around her. "What is this?" she asked in a breathless whisper.
Luna too gazed at the expanse around them. "This is the first and final battle of the patriarchs." She gently floated off of the ground. "The battle for the universe." Rainbow began to float as well. "A war to determine whether chaos or harmony would rule the times to come." The two were a safe distance above the battlefield, and with a flash of Luna's horn, time once again resumed.
Massive explosions of raw energy exploded in Dash's magenta eyes as watched the scene unfold before her.
"A Pyrrhic Victory that would see to set the natural laws of the known universe." The mare focused her attention once again on the rainbow pegasus next to her. "What you are witnessing is the creation of the universe."
Rainbow focused her eyes more closely, and she realized with awe that Luna was right. Each time two of the bolts collided with one another, thousands of spiraling galaxies burst outwards, flinging off into infinite directions. These ponies before here were literally creating the universe right before her eyes.
Suddenly, her attention was grabbed by a trio of equines in the middle of the battlefield. They looked as if they were teamed together; their flanks to each other, firing blast after blast of radiant magic outwards. A cloud of galaxies lay around their hooves, rising up like a mist around them.
"Wow..." whispered Dash to herself. "Who are they?"
Luna smiled softly as she turned her attention to the trio to whom Rainbow referred. "Those are the winners. Andromeda and Milky Way."
Andromeda was a beautiful mare, with a sleek, dark violet coat, and an ethereal mane which glittered with stars. Milky Way was a pure white stallion, his face locked in a rigid grimace of determination. His deep, blue eyes gazed hardly at his current opponent, sending a chill up Dash's spine.
Then, she looked at the third remaining pony. His figure was shrouded in a dark cloak. Only a glimpse of his pitch black mane was present, illuminated by the glow of his blue aura. "But who is he?"
Luna looked back at the trio of ponies. "It is unknown who he is. He had never been seen before, and has not spoken a word since."
Rainbow Dash lifted a skeptical eye to gaze at the former princess. "How do you know all this?" she asked.
The mare smiled down upon the pegasus, mirth filling her voice. "I just spoke to them recently."
Before Dash could question what she meant, a strong wind swirled about, the setting around them disintegrating as if it were made of dust. Soon, the two were in a vortex of swirling, colorful sand. Rainbow began to rise up, with Luna likewise.
With the roar of the wind in her ears, Luna shouted one last thing to the pegasus. "Tell Twilight: Ad Rimula et Ultra!" Then, with a grand sweep of her wings, she backed out of the spiraling column, and got swept away in the sand.
"WHAT?!" cried Dash into the myriad. Then she too, was lifted away into the vortex and was gone.
--- If you want to shine like a sun, first burn like a sun. - A.P.J. Abdul Kalam --- Downfall Location Unknown
Twilight and Spike sat at the rickety, makeshift picnic table. Both were silently contemplating the chess board between them. Twilight, was of course, winning, and her draconian assistant was desperately trying to fight back and gain the upper hand. With a resigned sigh, Spike eventually pushed one of his last pawns a step further, only to have his last rook taken by Twilight's bishop.
The board itself was made up of a large piece of tree bark, stripped off the tree. A checkered pattern was carved into it, giving the illusion of white and black places. Each piece was composed of either white or grey stone, magically carved away into vaguely chess-like features. But, when you're stuck in the middle of Elysium, there was only so much you could do.
"Checkmate," said Twilight dully, knocking over Spike's king with her own rook. The little dragon let out another, long sigh, having now been beaten three times in a row. "Aw, don't get that upset, Spike," the purple alicorn said softly. "You're getting much, much better! This last game took almost 20 minutes, which means you put up a much better fight!"
Spike merely let out another sigh, and leaned back, lying down on the wooden bench. He gazed up into the pristine, blue sky, his eyes locking on the leaves of a tree above him.
"Do you want to play another game?" she asked, chuckling at Spike's exasperated groan at the suggestion of more chess. "I'll take that as a no."
She lifted the board and pieces with her magic, and placed them into the crude, wooden box that had also been carved.
"When is Rainbow Dash going to be back?" the dragon asked, still laying back and gazing towards the sky.
The alicorn sighed. "I don't know. All I know is that she will be back," she replied. 'She has to be...' Twilight suddenly felt very sullen. She hadn't been worried about Dash before, which was strange, but now she was. What if this place didn't always work like how Luna said it did? What if ponies could die here?
That's Spike suddenly noticed something very odd.
"Twilight," he said, trying to attract her attention. But the former unicorn was just staring at the wood of the table, a distant look across her face.
"Twilight!" he said again, this time a little bit louder. Still no reaction.
With a groan, Spike stood on the bench, and climbed up onto the table. He waved a claw in her face. "Twilight! Snap out of it!"
Twilight started, looking quickly at the dragon frantically trying to get her attention. "What Spike?"
"There's no wind."
The lavender alicorn froze, and her eyes darted around quickly. Indeed, Spike was right. There was no wind. Not even a gentle breeze rustled through the leaves. Curious, Twilight stood up from the bench and walked slowly towards the cliff's edge. She stared out over the expanse of land that stretched out below them. Everything was still.
There was no reason for it. Hell, there wasn't a reason why it should even happen. Twilight's equine mind raced, trying to figure out what was going on, and why. No matter how hard she thought, staring out into the expanse, she could not come up with a logical explanation. The wind was just... gone.
Then, her eyes picked out something peculiar. A butterfly... frozen in time, about forty hooves out from the cliff's edge. A butterfly, in a land that should hold no living creature. It just hung there, suspended. It was alone in the world, and it was wrong. So, so wrong.
Something was very, very wrong.
Twilight just stared at it, trying desperately to figure out what this meant. Various thoughts and theories crossed her mind. She rooted out the impossible, and then moved to the improbable. Hallucination? Improbable, but possible. Temporal loop? Probably not, but not impossible. As these ideas shifted through her mind, she picked out yet another peculiar occurance.
There was a faint cry in the distance. The lavender alicorn's ears flicked towards the sound. The cry came again, stronger and louder than before, but still too quiet to be heard clearly. All that could be made out was the noise of somepony crying. It repeated itself over again, and Twilight strained her ears, focusing on trying to hear the voice more clearly. It barely helped.
Wait a second. That wasn't a butterfly, it was a pony! And it was flying right for the cliff! She stepped closer to the edge, desperately trying to hear the voice, and finally...
"Twilight!"
With the volume of a hoarse whisper, the distant cry finally reached her ears.
"Brace yourself!"
Luna. The voice belonged to Luna! Twilight smiled for a moment, welcoming the return of an old friend, before her face quickly flipped into a frown. 'Wait, brace myself for wh-'
--- The Great Journey waits for no one. -The Prophet of Truth --- Ad Rimula et Ultra Location Unknown
The sheer force of the explosion threw both Twilight and Spike back several hooves. Two other ponies landed on the ground next to them, but the force of the shockwave forced Twilight to keep her eyes closed. She brought her forelegs up and over her head, and focused all of her energy into a small shield to surround herself, and the three others.
With the arcane forcefield in place, the noise from outside was muted, and the wind was no longer assaulting them. This allowed Twilight to raise her head, and take in her surroundings. Spike lay on the ground, a few paces away from her, knocked out from the blase. Rainbow Dash was one of the two ponies who had crashed next to her, and was also unconscious. However, she was surrounded in a pale blue glow.
Next to her was an instantly recognizable dark blue alicorn, her horn alight with a blue glow, weakly trying to stand up. One of Luna's rear legs was bent at a painfully wrong angle, and it was clear that the princess was in a great amount of pain.
Twilight rushed to her side. "Princess!" she said in a worried voice. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay? No, you're obviously not okay! Wait, I think I know a few healings spells! Just let me-"
"Twilight!" Luna's voice interjected her. "I'm fine, it's just a broken leg. Make sure Rainbow and Spike are okay!"
Twilight nodded, and quickly went over to Spike. She wasn't too worried about Rainbow, as it appeared Princess Luna had managed to protect her with her own magic. Spike lay on his back, breathing softly, but still unconscious. The lavender alicorn gently shook him on the shoulder, causing his eyes to flicker open, and let out a soft groan.
"T-twilight?" he muttered. "What h-happened?"
Twilight helped him back up to his feet. "I don't know, Spike," she replied. "But it can't be good."
The shield surrounding the four ponies suddenly shook, the result of a tree falling on top of it. Twilight watched with worry as it slowly rolled off the dome, landing on the burning forest floor with a thud. "Princess!" she called out. "What do we do?"
Luna was using her magic to lift Rainbow up, the pegasus still unconscious. "We need to leave this place, Twilight Sparkle!" she called back, her voice straining to rise above the roaring flames quickly consuming the forest around them.
"How?" called back Twilight. "We've been trapped here for months. The portal we used to travel here disappeared right after we came through!"
Another tree fell, shaking the ground and sending up a cloud of sparks. The flaming glow around the forest was steadily growing brighter with each passing moment, as the fire of the exploding sun drew closer. Twilight was beginning to panic. If they didn't think of something soon, all four of them would be burnt to a crisp. The magical shield protecting them was beginning to glow more orange than purple, and the heat was starting to leak through.
"Luna!"
The Princess of the Night draped Rainbow over her back, and closed her eyes. Focusing, she charged as much energy into her horn as she could. Moments passed, and Twilight kept anxiously looking between Luna and her weakening shield.
Then, with a deep, resonating boom, Luna let her horn discharge, splitting open a hole in the fabric of reality itself. The portal widened, and without hesitation, she jumped through, Twilight and Spike quickly following her.
The portal slipped shut behind them, and Twilight Sparkle's shield vanished. Fire consumed the land where the four once stood, and the very last tree in Elysium burned away with it...
Twilight hit the cold, stone ground with a muffled cry. Groaning, she shook her head, and pushed herself up into a sitting position. The alicorn's vision wobbled, the setting around her blurring into one blob of matter. It was impossible to tell where she was.
Blinking helped, it seemed, as her vision cleared. Spike groaned beside her, and she swung her head towards him. While still a little bit fuzzy, Twilight was able to make him out, one of his claws rubbing his head as he too sat up. The lavender mare shook her head again, trying to focus the rest of her vision.
With her sight almost completely back, she looked around the desolate area around them. Twilight instantly recognized where they were, and the realization brought a sharp pain to her heart.
They sat in the toppled ruins of Canterlot, in the middle of where Celestia and Luna once held their court. The crumbling stone bricks lay scattered around, the tattered banners swaying in the faint breeze. Once beautiful stained-glass windows now lay as shattered shards, only their iron outlines remaining intact. Those murals had displayed the long history of Equestria, and now they were broken, destroyed. Just like the hopes and dreams on the ponies who lived here.
Looking to the sky, it was impossible for Twilight to tell what time it was. The sun was still locked to its position just above the horizon, leaving half the sky bathed in its warm, orange glow, and the other half was a starry night sky.
The stars reminded her, and the alicorn stood, looking around for the other two. She saw Rainbow lying on the ground, still unmoving. Twilight stumbled over to her, and leaned down against her. The lavender mare let out a sigh of relief - the pegasus was still breathing.
Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Dash, pulling her close to her breast and holding her head there. "Oh my gosh, Rainbow," she said softly, rocking gently. "I was so worried about you." Rainbow let out a low moan in reply. "Don't you ever pull a stunt like that again." The two mare sat like that for a while, Twilight just holding her love close.
"T-twilight," Spike's voice broke through their reunion. "You'd better come over here..."
Gently, Twilight let go of Dash, and walked over to Spike. He was standing by the edge of the room, where the floor broke away into a steep drop down the mountainside. "What is it?" Spike merely pointed down the cliff.
It was at that moment that Twilight had a sudden thought. She was missing something, what was it? They were back in Equestria, Rainbow and Spike were alright, everypony was accounted for- Luna.
Fear building in her heart, Twilight leaned over the edge to look down.
Roughly thirty hooves below her was the "rest" of the throne room. The steps leading up to the throne were half-buried in rubble that had slid down the mountain. The throne itself was leaning at an angle over the side of the mountain. And in a sick twist of fate, the limp body of Princess Luna lay draped across the throne.
In a flash, Twilight teleported down to the floor just in front of the throne. She rushed up the steps, and fearfully approached Luna. "Princess?" Twilight almost whispered. "Luna?" She reached out a timid hoof and softly pressed against the dark alicorn's shoulder. A ragged breath escaped Luna's mouth, and she weakly tried to open her eyes.
--- I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. -Robert Frost --- To There and Back Again Twilight's Palace
A large, round table sat in the middle of a high room, the light of the infinite sunset draping across the pristine, marble surface. Around it were eight tall chairs, also made of marble, with velvet cushions above the seats. A ninth chair, this one made of mere wood and velvet, was placed next to the tallest of these chairs. All of them were occupied, seven with robed ponies, a mixture of unicorns and earth ponies alike. One was a small, not-so-young dragon, who ironically occupied the wooden seat. And one, who sat in the tall chair alongside the drake, was an alicorn princess, and the leader of the last nation on Equus.
All eyes in the room were on Twilight Sparkle as she skimmed through various reports and findings, all presented by the scholars in the room with here. "Absolutely nothing," she murmured to herself. She looked up. "You've found absolutely nothing," she repeated, louder this time, addressing the room. "One of the largest, by my calculations, arcane disasters in the history of the world and you didn't even detect a shudder in the fabric of magic?"
There was a collective muttering and shaking of heads.
"Your highness," an older unicorn spoke up. "Is it unreasonable to think you may have experienced an, um... a condition similar to Princess Luna?" He instantly shut his mouth as Twilight glared at him.
"You are all dismissed," she ordered, not taking her eyes off of the stallion. "I want extensive research conducted into the plausibility and existence of these other 'planes' and a full report within the week confirming their existence." She turned away finally, looking at the group as a whole. "If you can't prove their existence, keep testing and researching until you can."
The ponies in the room all stood, bowed, and left the room silently. When the door shut behind them, Twilight let out a defeated sigh and slumped in her seat. The past few weeks had been tiring.
Upon their return to Equestria, Twilight had learned that they arrived at the exact same time they had left. It caused a bit of a stir with her royal guard force, as they were all hastily shipped back from the dig site in the badlands. However, none of them remembered Discord interfering. They only recalled Twilight and Spike disappearing into the Changeling structure, and then getting word that they had arrived back at the palace.
Any attempts Twilight made to contact Discord had also failed. The draconequus either didn't care to respond, or was unable to. The lavender alicorn had a fearful suspicion it was the latter.
She was left alone in this world she had come to love. All of her scholars refused to believe in the existence of this plane of magic, this "elysium." They had put more effort into coming up with excuses as to why it couldn't possibly exist, rather than actually researching its existence.
"Comeon, Spike," she said as she stood from her chair. "Let's go see how she's doing." The dragon beside her obediently stood, and followed her out of the room.
As they exited the chamber, they walked past an anxiously waiting Rainbow Dash, who jumped to her hooves as soon as she saw them. "Well, how did it go, Twi?" she asked hurriedly. "I saw all of your monk-pony guys leave, and none of them looked all to happy. Do they still not believe? I mean, I'm here, right? How can they-"
"Rainbow," Twilight interrupted. "I don't want to talk about it."
The cyan pegasus shut her mouth instantly, falling in line behind Twilight.
"They still don't believe any of it. They're doing everything they can to try and prove me wrong, instead of proving me right." The alicorn hung her head. "They think I'm going insane." She felt Spike draw closer to her side, one of his hands brushing up against her leg. The contact made her feel better. At least there were still some who believed her.
"I thought you didn't want to talk about it," Rainbow's voice piped up behind her.
"Rainbow Dash, shut up," Twilight replied, unable to keep the traces of a smile from her muzzle.
The trio continued down the hall, and headed towards the East Wing of the castle. Twilight had christened this section the "Redheart Wing," after an old friend of hers who had been killed when Ponyville was attacked. The pony had been a nurse, and her profession suited this area of the castle. The entire two floors of the eastern side was an infirmary.
Extra precautions had to be taken now, in this new world. Some of Equestria's best doctors resided in the Redheart Wing, ready to tend to the Princess or her aids at a moments notice. Outside physicians could not be trusted with the care of Equestria's last princess.
However, it now served a different purpose.
Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow came to a stop in front of the first door, identical to one of many that lined the hallways of this wing. This was the only room that was occupied. With a sigh, Twilight lit her horn, and pushed the door open. The three followed her inside silently. The scene in the room had not changed since the last time they were in here, spare a new vase of flowers on the bedside table.
Luna lay comatose in the bed, her torso angled upward slightly. An array of arcane constructs stood beside the bed, each connected to her horn with wires. They all served a purpose. One was keeping her brain active, another was keeping her heart from stopping, and another one was providing her body with artificial nutrients so she didn't atrophy.
Twilight's eyes became watery as she stared at the former princess laying in the bed. The dark alicorn had been this way since they had returned, and showed no signs of recovery. The doctors, experts in their field, all said that there was no hope.
And Twilight was starting to believe them.
2 Months Later
"So, in theory, a thaumaturgical event of that proposed scale could exist, but it is highly unlikely."
The briefing room fell silent once again as Princess Twilight Sparkle mulled over the mage's results.
The unicorn who had given the report spoke up again, breaking the stillness. "However, we still have been unable to detect anything, and our instruments should have been able to."
A lavender hoof slammed into the crystal table with a loud thunk. "How?!" screamed Twilight, making all the ponies in the room flinch. "How incompetent are you that you cannot detect a magical earthquake?" The violet eyes glared at each of them in turn. "You've had almost three months to research and go over your results. I have presented you with countless theories and explanations as to how exactly this could occur, and how to go about detecting it!" She took a deep breath. "If I didn't have to run a nation singlehoofedly, I would be able to successfully detect this by now!"
An unfortunate older stallion across the table nervously raised a hoof. "Your h-highness," he stammered. "Might I suggest yet again t-that you may-"
"SHUT UP!" interrupted Twilight, her eyes piercing into his soul. "At least everypony else in this council has learned to stop informing me that I am most likely insane!"
The old unicorn quickly deflated in his seat, closing his mouth and looking fearfully at the table. Twilight was breathing very heavily, so much so that her chest was beginning to ache. She placed a hoof firmly against her breast, and tried to calm down.
"You are all dismissed."
The group of mages stood, hastily bowed, and almost scuttled for the doors. The room was soon empty, save for Twilight Sparkle. Spike had stopped coming to these meetings a while ago, for reason he had not told her. He spent less and less time by her side, and while everypony seemed to see that as a form of recovery from the mess they had all been through, Twilight saw the truth. He was getting scared of her.
Spike had always spent time with her, even before the invasion. Now, they were rarely seen together. The guards no longer saw the adorable sights of the drake sitting next to Twilight in her throne. They no longer saw the small dragon by her side everywhere.
It was this simple fact that kept Twilight from fully falling into her insanity. The truth was, she lavender mare was becoming afraid of herself. She saw the telltale signs of obsession grasping at her vision. And she was terrified that it would take hold of her. Spike's fear of her kept her grounded in reality. It was a constant reminder that she was slipping, and she needed to return. She was trying, but there was little progress.
Her efforts had grown desperate. She had reached out, trying to find the one being who could possibly save her, but he never answered. Even Discord had left her. Never before had she wished for his aggravating meddling so much. Chaos was reigning in the shattered remains of Equestria, and its god was nowhere to be found.
Not fully realizing what she was doing, Twilight stood and left the room. Her mind wandered the labyrinth that was now her thoughts as she slowly walked the halls of her castle. Before she knew it she was seated in another room.
Luna lay in the bed next to her, the magic keeping her alive pulsing steadily. The vase that once held beautiful, vibrant flowers now only held black, dead petals. Luna herself was no different than when they had returned. The months passed, and she neither got better, nor any worse. She simply lay there, in her coma.
She sat there, staring at the limp Princess, thinking of everything that had happened, and wondering how it had come to this. The light in the room slowly dimmed as the sun began to slip below the horizon, welcoming the night. As the room slowly grew dimmer, Twilight could have sworn she saw some of the sparkle return to Luna's mane.
Wait a minute.
As if just realizing, the lavender alicorn bolted out of her seat, and stared out the window at the setting sun. "That's... not... possible..."
A passing earth pony doctor jumped out of her skin as the door to Luna's room burst open, and Twilight Sparkle galloped out of it. She ran out of the Redheart Wing and down the corridor. "Guards!" she yelled. "Wake the council! Assemble them in the west briefing room!"
"At once, your highness!"
The alicorn ran faster than she ever had in her life. She hastily opened the door to her own bedroom, and quickly grabbed the stack of reports sitting on her desk. Her crown was quickly plopped upon her head, and the prepared to leave.
"Twi?" Rainbow's head peeked around the corner, having been in the private bath. "Why are you up so late? It's getting dark outside."
Rainbow Dash squealed as she was suddenly pulled towards Twilight and locked in a deep kiss. When they broke apart, Twilight smiled at her. "Exactly," she said, and then bounded out of the room.
The pegasus cocked an eyebrow, wondering what that was all about. Then it hit her. Her eyes darted to the window, and she gasped. "Holy horseapples..."
Twilight raced to the other side of the castle, throwing open the doors to the briefing room and startling the gathering of mages.
"Your highness," one of them began.
"The sun is moving!" cried another.
She silenced them all by placing the stack of papers down in a huff. "Yes," declared Twilight. "The sun is indeed moving. As a matter of fact, it is setting." Her gaze looked around the room as chambermaids rushed to light the lanterns for the first time. There had not been a need until now.
Another mage spoke up, his brow furrowed in confusion. "But how can this possibly happen?"
Twilight focused her gaze on him and smiled. "Only one pony can move the sun." All of the eyes in the room widened.
The windows to the room suddenly slammed shut and all of the lanterns blew out. An unsettling silence filled the room. Nopony dared move. Then, the light coming from the setting sun began to glow brighter, and brighter, until it appeared that it was high noon. Then, a familiar voice rang out across the land.
"ONCE IT SETS, IT SHALL NEVER RISE AGAIN! EQUINE FALL HAS COME."
As the bellowing voice of Princess Celestia faded away, the sun dimmed back down, and the lanterns lit again.
With silence once again filling the room, Twilight turned towards the old mage who had criticized her at every turn. She raised an eyebrow at him as she calmly sat back down at the briefing table.
"Well," she said. "I think you need to go back, and double check your calculations on my theories." The stallion hastily nodded, and left the room. She turned to the others. "Obviously, if my theories are correct, we had best get ready for the end of the world."
--- "How am I supposed to believe that there’s a heaven and a hell when all I see now is hell?" -Aaron B. Powell --- Sunset Twilight's Palace
The light of the setting sun washed over Equestria for the first time in many years. The castle halls were once again alive. Aides and scholars rushed about, but none of them got in the way of Nurse Golden Hoof. She weaved her way through the crowd of ponies, her destination just ahead. To her left, a maid almost tripped trying to light once of the wall sconces as darkness began to flood the hallway. At her destination, she pushed open the doors to the sanctum and stepped inside.
Countless books lay sprawled open across the large table in the center of the room. The archmages of Equestria were fruitlessly flipping through tome after tome of magic, only to turn up with nothing. Or, Nurse Golden Hoof assumed that. In all honesty, she didn't have the faintest clue as to what the unicorns were doing.
Princess Twilight Sparkle sat at her chair at the head of the table, flipping through a book of her own, albeit a bit more slowly. Whatever it was, it must have been more interesting than what the others were flipping through. Either that, or she was just not as panicked as the rest of them.
"Uh, Princess Twilight, your highness," Golden Hoof said, bowing. "I think there is something you should come and see..." the nurse trailed off as Twilight raised a single hoof, silencing her. "Your highness?"
"Nurse Golden Hoof," the lavender alicorn began, raising her head to look her in the eyes. "I would like to apologize for my treatment of you, and the rest of the medical staff here over the past few weeks. You see, I haven't quite been myself lately, and I'm deeply sorry for any distress I have caused you." Twilight smiled softly, her face showing that her words were true, and she very much regretted what she had done.
Golden Hoof nodded quickly. "That's all well and good, your highness, and I of course forgive you, but you must come quickly." The nurse turned, and beckoned the alicorn to follow her.
Twilight blinked at the immediate return to her frantic state. "It's only the end of the world, why is everypony going mad?" she mumbled before following the nurse out of the room. It was a far longer journey through the halls back to the infirmary than Twilight ever remembered it to be, probably due to the commotion in the halls. After going for so long without the darkness of night, there were quite a few preparations to be done. However, the two eventually wove their way through the commotion and made it to the medical wing of the castle.
Golden Hoof quickly closed the door behind the pair, and the noise in the corridor was shut off, leaving the two ponies in the silence of the medical ward. "That's much better," sighed the nurse as she leaned against the door. "I don't much care for the the hubbub that's currently happening."
Twilight nodded with a look of understanding. "The world can get pretty hectic at times, I suppose. Now, what was so urgent down here that it required my immediate attention"?
With no more hesitation, Golden Hoof left the support of the giant oak door, and continued down the hallway. "It's Princess Luna, your majesty," she said, the mention of the princess immediately capturing Twilight's attention. "She's no longer in a coma."
"Oh my gosh!" said Twilight, refraining herself from hopping up and down on all fours. "She's awake? And she's okay?"
The nurse paused at the door to Luna's room before looking back up at the lavender alicorn with a look on her face that Twilight could only describe as uncertain. "Well, she's still unconscious, but ever since the announcement, her vitals have risen to the point where it's almost like she's just sleeping." With that, she opened the door, and beckoned for Twilight to step inside. The alicorn promptly obliged.
Luna lay on her bed just as she had for the past month, her face calm and her breathing steady. Another nurse stood beside the bed, scratching down the readings from the various thaumaturgical devices onto her clipboard. Twilight approached the other side of the bed, sitting up on the tiled floor so she was eye level with the dormant princess. "How is she?" she asked.
The nurse in the room with her smiled with an optimistic grin. "She's definitely doing much better. We're almost certain she'll wake up soon, and with little permanent damage," she replied. "Don't worry, Princess Twilight. Alicorns are tough. It takes a lot to drag them down."
Twilight chuckled at the comment. "Believe me, I know." Noting the nurses wings, she thought back to the time she shared with Dash in Elysium. "You pegasi are pretty sturdy as well."
The nurse smiled kindly at the comment. "I'm all done here, so I'll leave you to be." With that comment, she left the room, leaving Twilight alone with the sleeping Luna.
With a sigh, Twilight stood and crossed the room to look out the window as the last rays of the setting sun finally slipped below the horizon. The sky was a beautiful shade of dark purple, the last shade before the night's comforting blanket of blackness.
"Crepuscularity," came a raspy voice behind her.
Twilight spun around quickly, only to find Luna looking at her with the eyes of somepony waking up from a long nap. "Luna..." she breathed, relief evident in her voice.
"Crepuscularity," Luna repeated, her voice a little clearer. "It's referring to the time of day. It means Twilight."
The lavender alicorn smiled as she sat back down next to the bed. "I know what it means, Luna."
Somepony had already taken the time to light a candle in this room, so that they weren't shrouded in complete darkness. The two ponies took a moment to just look at each other. Neither had seen each other in such a long time, and they had not been able to enjoy each other's company much with all of the chaos occuring in the second plane.
A single tear rolled down Twilight's cheek as she nuzzled into Luna's side. "I missed you so much," she mumbled into the navy fur. "Equestria feels so empty without you and Celestia. When the war was over, I was lost. I- I didn't know what to do." A comforting hoof weakly draped itself across Twilight's shoulders as she softly cried. "And then, I found you again... and then... I didn't t-think you would m- make it..." Twilight trailed off as more tears came.
"Hush now, Twilight," Luna said softly. "You no longer need face this crisis alone. You have me, you have Rainbow. We will help you."
The two ponies stayed there unmoving for a few moments, Twilight crying softly while Luna did her best to comfort her. It was eventually Twilight who spoke again. "I'm just so tired," the lavender alicorn admitted, wiping the tears from her eyes as she pulled her muzzle out from Luna's side. "So very tired of working so hard to come up with the answer, and then finding no solution. I haven't slept in days, and when I do sleep, I do a horrible job of... that..." She shook her head. "My life is turning into hell. Somehow, I find it hard to accept that it wasn't that already." Both her and Luna shared a weak chuckle at the dark humor.
"I am the princess of dreams, my dear Twilight," Luna said softly. "I can aid your attempts at slumber now." The lavender pony at her side was already dozing off. The reassurance that the lunar princess was going to be alright was akin to a massive weight being lifted from the young princess' shoulders.
With little argument, Twilight clumsily climbed into the bed next to Luna, and curled up against her soft fur as Luna lit her horn and magically lulled her to sleep. As she began to snore softly, Luna gently extended a wing over her, and used her magic to press the call nurse button by her bed.
Golden Hoof responded almost immediately, a look of pleasant surprise overtaking her face at seeing Princess Luna awake. Luna hushed her quickly, motioning to the sleeping princess at her side. "Go and inform Rainbow Dash that I am awake, and Twilight is with me," she whispered. Golden nodded and quietly slipped back outside.
Luna turned to look back down at the sleeping Twilight Sparkle beside her. "Rest now, Twilight. There is a long journey ahead of us."
When Twilight woke up, she was very disoriented. She did not recall much from before she fell asleep, aside from Nurse Golden Hoof bringing her down to see Luna. And then, Luna woke up... Luna woke up!
Twilight blearily opened her eyes, the candle lit room coming into focus around her. She was laying in a hospital bed, the same room that Luna was in. However a quick scan of her surroundings revealed that the princess was no longer here. All of the monitoring equipment for her health was missing from the room, replaced by a single cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane.
"Rainbow?" Twilight called out to her dozing marefriend.
The pegasus stirred, and opened up her eyes. "Twi!" she said, brightening up as soon as she saw the purple alicorn. "You're finally awake!" She leaned in, crushing the alicorn in a hug. "Luna said you might be out for a while, but I didn't know how long that would be!"
Detaching herself from the pegasus's death grip, Twilight rubbed her muzzle, trying to get the last bits of sleep out of her. "And how long was it, exactly?"
There was a brief pause before Dash answered. "Oh, about seventeen hours or so." That woke Twilight up.
"Seventeen hours!" she cried, throwing the blankets off. "I've got to check in with the mages, see if anything has turned up." She hopped out of bed and headed for the door.
Rainbow chased after her. "Woah, Twi! Calm down for a second, will ya'?"
"No time Dash!" Twilight said. "Walk and talk. What happened while I was asleep?"
Dash shrugged as the took off into the air, hovering alongside Twilight. "I dunno. As soon as I got the the medical ward, Luna left. She told me to tell you that the 'coming of night' or whatever gave her a whole ton of strength, and that she would go and talk to some ponies about magic stuff."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Very specific, Rainbow. Thanks." The pegasus stuck her tongue out at her as she followed Twilight through the castle. "Real mature, too." Twilight couldn't help but smile. It was good to have a little bit of the old days back in her life.
Before long, the two were back at the meeting room, Twilight pushing open the doors and stepping inside. Rainbow closely followed. Inside the room were the archmages of course, but new to the scene was Princess Luna, sitting where Twilight normally sat, a pile of books beside her.
"Twilight!" Luna called out upon seeing the alicorn enter the room. "You've awoken at last I see!"
The lavender alicorn smiled. "No thanks to your sleeping magic," she replied with a smile.
Luna laughed lightly. "It was a well-deserved rest. It looks as though the nap did you wonders." Twilight could only nod in thanks. "While you were resting," the night princess continued. "I discussed our current predicament with your archmages. They offer their sincerest apologies at their previous ignorance."
The elder scholar from before stood from his seat at the table and cleared his throat. "It was not our direct intention to discredit you, your highness," he said. "We apologize profusely for not trusting you."
Twilight nodded at the act. "I forgive you, archmage. It is good that you are questioning me, rather than just following blindly," she said. "But I would suggest looking into all evidence on a topic, rather than casting it aside as outrageous." Nodding, the archmage sat back down.
The alicorn turned back to Luna. "So what should our next course of action be?" she asked, taking a seat at the table across from her.
Luna sighed, leaning forward in her seat. "Considering the fact that power over the celestial order has been returned to the control of the plane itself, I fear we do not have much time to take action," she said grimly. "Soon, this world will begin to collapse as well." She pointed to the window. "My power and my strength have greatly improved with the coming the night, however, as I mentioned to the mages earlier, my connection to the magic plane has been completely lost."
Twilight furrowed her brow. Now that Luna mentioned it, her magic wasn't working. She looked at the princess, her eyes growing wide with panic. "My magic-"
"You magic is lost, Twilight," Luna interrupted. "Hopefully temporarily. We need to give time for the arcane auras to pool in this plane. The first plane may well have been destroyed, and if so, the second is soon to follow. The raw magic will need a place to go, and it will most likely begin to collect in this plane," she explained. "But when it does, that is the sign that our world has begun to decay."
Everypony in the room was silent. It was Rainbow who finally spoke up. "So what's our best bet?"
Twilight nodded, looking at Luna. "Yeah, what should we do?"
"We must traverse to the next plane," the princess replied. "Our best bet is to outrun it. From there, we can then move on to the fifth, and the final plane. The plane of Revelation, the residence of the gods."
"You are going to just... abandon this world?" one of the mages asked. "You're going to go on without us, and leave us here to be consumed into oblivion?"
Luna looked at him, her eyes hardened. "Endless night has already set upon this world. There is no way to reverse it. In a few days time, all of your crops will have died. The temperatures will have dropped significantly, and the weather of the frozen north will sweep down to consume the rest of Equestria in the days after that." Nopony dared to interrupt her. "And even before those things occur, darkness brings out the fear in ponies. This world is already lost."
The weight of her words set upon the room in a heavy silence.
"I guess that's that, then," said Twilight solemnly.
Luna nodded. "We must travel to the fourth plane, the human world."
Rainbow looked between the two of them, confused. "But how? Twilight used the mirror to travel there, but it was destroyed with her castle."
Twilight looked up at her. "You forget, Dash. There is another way to that world." The pegasus looked at her, cocking an ear as she tried to think about what other ways a pony could get there.
It was Luna who finished what Twilight couldn't bring herself to say, "The original mirror still remains, Rainbow Dash. We must travel to the Ruins of the Crystal Empire."
